Not that it matters to many

[HDRider]

And the Pope concluded:

Do not fall into the trap of being swayed by political notion. Family is an anthropological fact — a socially and culturally related fact. We cannot qualify it based on ideological notions or concepts important only at one time in history.

We can’t think of conservative or progressive notions. Family is a family. It can’t be qualified by ideological notions. Family is per se. It is a strength per se.

I pray that your colloquium will be an inspiration to all who seek to support and strengthen the union of man and woman in marriage as a unique, natural, fundamental and beautiful good for persons, communities, and whole societies.

http://spectator.org/articles/61007/...heed-pope-week

[HDRider]

From the same article...

Yesterday November 17, the Pope, at an interfaith convo at the Vatican on the family called “Humanum,” robustly affirmed the divinely created “complementarity” of male and female, the unchanging definition of natural marriage, the family as an “anthropological fact,” and the “right” of children to “grow up in a family with a father and mother.”

Criticizing the growing “culture of the temporary,” the Pope noted: “This revolution in manners and morals has often flown the flag of freedom, but in fact it has brought spiritual and material devastation to countless human beings, especially the poorest and most vulnerable.”

He warned: “Evidence is mounting that the decline of the marriage culture is associated with increased poverty and a host of other social ills, disproportionately affecting women, children and the elderly. It is always they who suffer the most in this crisis.”

[where I want to]

Don't care what the pope says or don't care about the issue?

[JJ Grandits]

I think he pretty much nailed that one.

[TraciInTexas]

As a non-Catholic, I kinda like this Pope.

He seems to be grounded, but realizes his Faith is perilously perched on a precipice... He is trying to help it survive this period of loose morals and nigh-on anarchy.

[BlackFeather]

As I posted before, the family is the basic building block of a nation, if the family fails so does the nation. Look at our nation, in the 50's there were strong families, then came Dr. Spock, don't discipline your child, in the 60's free love, then the "ME" generation, and each generation has gone further away from stable family values. I remember as a child, divorce was scandalous. Now people don't even bother to marry, they "play house" as my mother called it. God in the Bible said he never intended for divorce, he only allowed it because the people had hard hearts. They refused to change themselves for the better, refused to compromise with each other and forgive. The old values are abandoned. Society has crumbled as a result. The next generation has no example and perpetuates the problem. I won't say those of the past were perfect, they weren't but they were ashamed if they did wrong. My grandmother had to marry, (he was so shy, it must have been her idea to...) But she was ashamed and made it known she delivered early because she had a fall. I'm sure no one believed this but since they married it was never discussed. There is no shame now, anything goes.

[plowjockey]

He does make some good points.

[HDRider]

Originally Posted by plowjockey

He does make some good points.

They are simply natural truths. Not based on dogma, but simple and self evident to anyone with eyes opened.

I am not Catholic, but truths are truth wherever they come.

[Tricky Grama]

72% of black children are born out of wedlock. Lots of other races too but none come close...

[willow_girl]

72% of black children are born out of wedlock. Lots of other races too but none come close...

I think it's because the same problems that lead to illegitimate births among other races are exacerbated in the black community.

Look at, say for instance, the unemployment rate for young black men. Think that has anything to do with the fact they aren't becoming stable married fathers?

There's an old saying, "When the white community catches a cold, the black community gets pneumonia." Blacks in a more precarious position to begin with, so the consequences of any sort of downturn are worse.

Bigots think there must be something inferior about blacks, but it isn't necessarily so; it's merely economics. As the employment rates worsen for young white men, we're seeing a corresponding increase in out-of-wedlock births in their community, too. One follows the other. It has nothing to do with race, per se.

[Harry Chickpea]

I'd argue that the family unit of father mother and offspring are just the smallest natural anthropological unit. Historically, and in other cultures, family unit includes grandparents and extended family. I suspect the church "liked" father mother offspring because it was much easier to convert father or mother rather than an entire brood.

[where I want to]

Originally Posted by Harry Chickpea

I'd argue that the family unit of father mother and offspring are just the smallest natural anthropological unit. Historically, and in other cultures, family unit includes grandparents and extended family. I suspect the church "liked" father mother offspring because it was much easier to convert father or mother rather than an entire brood.

But that thought doesn't address the who's the papa issue. As soon as man had property that he could accumulate and leave to someone, he wanted his offspring, not his obnoxious brother's ungrateful kid, to inherit. In almost all cultures, that became the issue that restricted marriage to one father at least.

Besides many early conversions were by converting the king or whatever passed for a king. Then all the subjects were converted too. If they didn't join, they were suspect or even enemies. Religion in common was a political factor.