Feb 6, 2024 | News, Wisconsin Family Voice
February 7th through the 14th is designated as National Marriage Week USA. This is a great time for families and churches in particular to rehearse God’s teaching on marriage and to champion this divinely ordained institution that is good for all people, at all times, in all places.
God’s institution of marriage, designed for mankind’s good and God’s glory, comes with unparalleled blessings—blessings that God in His unfathomable goodness allows to extend to those who do not believe in Him and even to those who blaspheme Him. That’s God’s common grace.
The blessings of marriage include, typically, natural procreation—the bringing of new life into this world through the unique contributions of both the male husband and female wife. Children born to or adopted by men and women in a God-designed marriage are, on average, better off in every way than children in any other kind of family structure. They are considerably more likely to avoid poverty, poor health, abuse of all sorts, educational difficulties, crime, substance addictions, and more.
Men and women in one-man, one-woman marriages also enjoy great—again, on average—benefits, such as better health, especially for men, higher income (even when only one spouse is working), more savings, avoidance of poverty, in particular for women, and more.
All of these benefits have been verified thousands of times by social science research not just in the United States but around the world. And we should not be surprised by that. God’s plan for marriage and family works. When we deviate from that plan, the problems begin—and not only continue but expand. When individual God-designed marriages are numerous, strong, and healthy, the entire society is better off.
Yet another reason to champion marriage was affirmed by the Communio Nationwide Study on Faith and Relationships, which was discussed at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think-tank. The study’s results suggest that the decline in resident fatherhood and the collapse of marriage are likely explanations for the increase in religious non-affiliation across the US. According to the founder of Communio, J. P. De Gance, “those in the church interested in seeing a renewal of faith, need to see a renewal of marriage.”
Churches need to take seriously their role as the champions and the protectors of marriage and family as God designed them. No other institution or organization is equipped to do for marriage what Christian churches can do. Teaching on marriage, strong premarital counseling, marriage mentoring, and marriage strengthening are all best done by and in churches.
To honor both the institution of marriage and individual marriages that have gone the distance, we are looking for Wisconsin’s longest-married couples to be a part of WFC’s Marriage Hall of Fame!
Applying to the Hall of Fame is open to any married couple in Wisconsin who has been married for sixty or more years. Marriage Hall of Fame Inductees will be published on our website by March. By filling out the application, couples consent to have their names, stories, and photos published on our website. 2024 applications are now open. Applications close Feb. 19, and inductees will be announced Feb 29. Nominate a couple HERE.
Every marriage that reflects God’s design of one man and one woman should be celebrated because God’s plan for marriage is universally good and well worth celebrating.
Feb 1, 2023 | News, Wisconsin Family Voice
Marriage is not only the bedrock of society, but it is a sacred institution designed by God for His glory and humankind’s good.. Marriage plays a significant role in the overall health of a couple and their children, and allows for prosperous, well-ordered societies to thrive.
Unfortunately, the institution of marriage is under attack, especially since Congress passed and the president signed into law the so-called Respect for Marriage Act, which distorts God’s design and redefines marriage as nothing more than abstract adult desires. The true definition of marriage, a union between one man and one woman, must be the law of the land in order for families to flourish and society to thrive.
In addition to the redefining of marriage, marriage rates are declining in the U.S. A recent Pew poll shows that only 34% of U.S. adults believe society is better off if “people make marriage and having children a priority,” while 64% believe society is “just as well off if people have priorities other than marriage and children.” As we know, these beliefs are woefully misguided, and our country is experiencing the consequences of a lack of strong families headed by married dads and moms.
This is bad news for individuals and society in general. A major survey published by Harvard Medical School shows that married men are healthier overall and live longer than men who were never married or are divorced. For women, marriage provides security and a safe environment to raise children, who ultimately provide both spouses with life-long fulfillment. Further, married couples also have happier, healthier relationships than cohabiting couples.
Marriage is not only vitally important for couples, but it is also a major determinant of their children’s health and success. A child born into the home of his/her married mother and father “will receive the complimentary love of a mom and dad,” noted Katy Faust in an interview with Family Research Council’s Tony Perkins.
Children born outside God’s design of a life-long heterosexual union are at greater risk for homelessness, drug use, child poverty, teen suicide, academic failure, teen pregnancy, and more. “Every social ill we are facing today is because this country, culturally and legally, is getting the family wrong,” says Faust. Further, A recent study found that children raised in stable homes are “more likely to flourish economically, educationally, and socially.” Marriage is the best way to provide children with a foundation for success.
The good news is that more children are living with their married mother and father, according to the Institute for Family Studies. This is because both marriage and divorce rates are declining, meaning the marriages that do occur are more stable. In addition, fewer unmarried women are having children while the number of children born to married parents has been more stable.
The Institute for Family Studies promotes the Success Sequence, which consists of three steps that ought to be taken in a certain order to ensure the highest chance of success in one’s life. These steps include getting at least a high school diploma, getting a full-time job, and getting married before having children. Young adults who complete the Success Sequence in order, even in the face of big challenges, have a much greater chance of achieving success. This is true for every race and economic background in America. In fact, the latest research shows that 99% percent of young people who follow all three steps are not poor as adults.
As Christians, our mission is to promote marriage in every way we can. “We must encourage the marriage of eligible bachelors and bachelorettes within our circles of influence by not being afraid to be matchmakers. We must be witnesses for healthy and loving marriages and family life to our neighbors and local communities by inviting neighbors over for playdates or dinner, striking up conversations in the barber shop and dentist office, and getting involved in civic life by running for school board and other local, state, and federal offices…We must invite non-believing or fallen away members of our local communities to our churches,” write Dan Hart and Connor Semelsberger of the Washington Stand.
Building a culture of deep respect for God’s design and the institution of marriage is up to us. Until we do, children will fall victim to many societal ills, and couples will experience poorer health and less success. Marriage is every society’s foundational institution, and when that foundation is weak, the society is weak.
Dec 30, 2022 | News, Wisconsin Family Voice
Wisconsin is losing families—families with children—to states like Texas and Florida, where there is no income tax. Last year 10,000 more Wisconsin families left the state than moved here. This isn’t an anomaly; it’s a trend—a trend with present and future implications for our economy and much more. When those families leave, there’s little likelihood of the parents returning to retire or the children coming back for work or to eventually establish their own families.
When Wisconsin’s best natural resource—its married dad-and-mom families with children—leaves the state in significant numbers, Wisconsin’s present and future are imperiled. This family structure is the only one that gives more than it takes in relationship to government “handouts.”
Our state is currently sitting on a projected $6.6 billion surplus, making significant tax cuts a plausible option. The government is taking more than they need out of people’s paychecks. Thankfully, there is agreement among Wisconsin Republicans that taxes need to be cut; but opinions differ regarding how to do so.
Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu (R-Oostburg) wants to implement a flat income tax of 3.5 percent. Senate President Chris Kapenga (R-Delafield), however, wants to join the nine states with no income tax. If we want to keep families in Wisconsin, this is the way to go.
“I think that, if we’re going to do this (tax cuts) and we’re going to do something bold and we’re really going to attract workers to the state and bring more families to the state, (we should) go to no income tax like Florida,” said Kapenga.
Making Wisconsin more economically competitive compared to states that are getting our very best is a smart move, and with this “surplus,” now is the time to give this serious consideration. It would also set Wisconsin apart from other states in the Midwest. At a minimum, such a move might change the trend.
Republicans have enough votes to pass tax reform and a new state budget, but they would most likely not be able to garner enough votes to override a veto from Gov. Evers.
Evers has not yet said what his new state budget proposal will look like, but Kapenga believes he will ask for more money yet again.
“He is going to come to the trough,” Kapenga said. “Basically, I think he’s going to try and take taxpayer money and sift it out to the different special interest groups that he wants to take care of.”
Wisconsin families should not be forced to pay the government any more than is absolutely necessary. Hopefully, Republicans can agree on Kapenga’s plan to eliminate the income tax and convince Gov. Evers that this is the best move for Wisconsin. Families thrive when they are able to keep more of their hard-earned money, and when families flourish, so too does our state. As the family, so the state.
Oct 6, 2022 | News, Wisconsin Family Voice
A new leader abroad is representing the rise of conservatism in Europe, and she provides an excellent example of unwavering commitment to Christian values for our leaders here in the United States.
Giorgia Meloni, the leader of Italy’s conservative party Brothers of Italy, was recently elected Prime Minister of Italy, making history as the first female leader of the country. Even more impressively, she is standing firm for biblical values and the nuclear family.
Meloni’s leadership is desperately needed in Europe, as the EU’s progressive social and economic agenda is spreading much like the left’s in the United States. Despite tremendous backlash from her adversaries, Meloni has consistently and unapologetically spoken the truth.
During a speech at the 2019 World Congress of Families that has recently gone viral online, she declared, “Why is the family an enemy? Why is the family so frightening?… Because everything that defines us is now an enemy… And so they attack national identity, they attack religious identity, they attack gender identity, they attack family identity…”
“I cannot define myself as Italian, Christian, woman, mother. No… I must be… ‘gender x,’ ‘parent 1’… I must be a number…” she continued.
“We will defend God, country and family. Those things that disgust people so much. We will do it to defend our freedom, because we will never be slaves…”
Meloni has also condemned many of the evils that the left continues to champion such as surrogacy, same-sex marriage, abortion, and child gender transition hormone therapy.
She has even bemoaned Italy’s low birth rate, which is just 1.2 children per woman, reflecting the culture’s poor view of marriage and family. This is an issue we’re seeing in Wisconsin, as we’ve had a below replacement birth-rate since 1974.
Meloni’s commitment to the traditional family unit and Christian values is exactly what we need from our leaders here in the U.S., especially as a growing number of children are undergoing bodily mutilation at the hands of abusive doctors.
This kind of leadership is difficult to come across, as it comes at a high price now that censorship, name-calling, and persecution have become the norm in our political landscape.
The left is criticizing Meloni’s views and politics as “semi-fascist” – although this is blatantly false – simply because her political beliefs align with biblical teachings.
YouTube has censored her speech, claiming that the video “violated YouTube’s Community Guidelines.” In reality, the left-wing platform simply disagrees with Meloni’s politics and is silencing her voice as it often does to conservative speakers.
Our leaders should expect the same persecution if they follow her lead, but it can’t hinder them from fiercely marching forward in proclaiming God’s truth and boldly speaking out for children and the traditional family. Children are being mutilated, and now is not the time for spineless leadership.
Without representatives who refuse to cower to the woke mob and are steadfast in their goal of preserving traditional American values, parental rights, religious liberty, and free speech will continue to diminish.
Thankfully, we have an opportunity this fall to elect leaders who will follow Meloni’s lead and catalyze a return to a pro-family America. Over the next month, we should focus on getting informed about the candidates and encouraging fellow Christians to elect Christ-centered leaders who will guide our country toward virtue and away from the many evils pervading our culture.
We need to elect candidates who are proud to send the same message in the U.S. that Meloni is sending to Italy: “Yes to natural families, no to the LGBT lobby, yes to sexual identity, no to gender ideology, yes to the culture of life, no to the abyss of death.”
Apr 14, 2022 | News, Uncategorized, Wisconsin Family Voice
Divorce has become so prevalent that we often forget how harmful it is to children.
Statistically, children with divorced parents suffer in all areas of life. They are more likely to develop behavioral problems, struggle academically, commit crime, live in poverty, abuse drugs and alcohol, experience illness, and suffer from psychological distress.
Demographic Research claims that divorce has an even greater impact on children than parental death when it comes to their education.
Unfortunately, state laws are not helping the millions of children who will suffer from broken families. With no-fault divorce laws, marriages are now easier to end than cell phone contracts, and they reflect the ever-growing belief that all that matters is what the adults want—what they “need” to be “happy”—regardless of what is best for the children.
Wisconsin in particular has the worst combination of divorce laws in the country. Since the early 80s, Wisconsin couples have been able to divorce without presenting allegations or evidence of fault.
Since the no-fault laws passed, no judge in Wisconsin has denied a divorce. Why? Because there is no legal way for a judge to deny a divorce under our current law.
Each year, thousands of minor children are directly impacted—as truly innocent victims—by divorce in the Badger State.
For the past three sessions, Republican legislators have introduced a bill we dubbed the “divorce-today-remarry-tomorrow” bill. This session, it was Assembly Bill 79. The proposal would have completely eliminated Wisconsin’s six-month waiting period after a divorce before a remarriage. Fortunately, for the third time, Wisconsin Family Action successfully killed this bill that would further erode the institution of marriage and would certainly hurt minor children.
In the last two sessions, we offered two ideas for amendments. The first proposal was to refrain from completely eliminating the waiting period and instead reduce it to three months (or some other reasonable amount of time). Our second offer was to keep a serious waiting period for couples with minor children—because it’s the children who are most traumatized by all that transpires in these tragic situations.
The Assembly rejected the ideas and passed the bill as originally proposed. In this current session, the bill died in the Senate, as it had in the previous session. Marriage counselors and therapists have repeatedly told us the waiting period after a divorce should be longer, not shorter, because of the stress that happens during a divorce proceeding. Changing this waiting period is all about adult desires trumping what is best for children.
On a practical level, we know that every divorce brings both a social and financial cost to the entire society.
Divorce undermines the sacred institution of marriage and weakens the family unit. A weak family unit results in a tumultuous society that rests on a crumbling foundation.
After a divorce, the custodial parent’s income decreases significantly. Families of divorce are nearly five times more likely to live in poverty than those with married parents.
Most notably, divorce causes children to suffer from emotional wounds that affect them for the rest of their lives. They are left with severe deficiencies as they lack a stable home environment while they are most vulnerable.
In order to protect children and honor the sacred institution of marriage, Wisconsin needs to reform its divorce laws in a way that will better protect children. If it means bringing fault back into the process, then we should strongly consider that abuse, abandonment, or adultery should be back on the table as faults. We certainly don’t need to eliminate completely the waiting period after a divorce before a remarriage—in particular for couples with minor children. That would just make matters worse.
When children are involved, adult desires must be secondary to what is truly in the best interest of the children. The bottom line is we need a return to the belief that marriage, as designed by God, is a lifelong, monogamous relationship between one man and one woman, generally not intended to be broken except by the death of one of the spouses.
Mar 18, 2022 | News, Wisconsin Family Voice
Disruptions within the foundation of society are raging throughout the country as children suffer immensely from fatherlessness, single parenting, and divorce.
In 2019, the percentage of households led by single parents was as high as 30-60% in many Wisconsin cities. The issue of fatherlessness, in particular, is rampant. Over 80% of children in Milwaukee are born to single moms. Throughout the country, over 20 million children are living in homes without a father.
Tragically, without a father to act as a role model, these children tend to perpetuate the cycle and repeat their parents’ mistakes.
Children have a right to both their mother and father. Both parents provide different and necessary things for a child. Children need the safety, love, and stability that comes from living with both of their parents. Without a mother or father, children will look for these things in other, often destructive, ways. They are also likely to develop emotional and behavioral problems.
Fatherless homes produce children that are far more likely to become addicted to drugs and alcohol, live in poverty, commit suicide, struggle academically, drop out of school, engage in violence, commit crime, and even go to prison.
Over 80% of children with behavioral disorders and 90% of children who are homeless or ran away from home grew up without a father.
According to the Washington Post, “Single motherhood has grown so common in America that demographers now believe half of all children will live with a single mom at some point before the age of 18…Research suggests that children with two parents fare better in many ways— in school, in their own relationships— than children with only one parent.”
Single parent households are enabled by Wisconsin’s harmful combination of divorce laws. Our state allows no-fault, no-contest divorces, which means there is absolutely no reason for a judge to deny a divorce. No judge has denied a divorce since this law went into effect over 40 years ago.
The root of this issue is that adults have prioritized their desires over children’s needs. The moral framework that God has given us for our good and His glory has been ignored, scoffed at, and shunned. We have many victims as a result, and children have been harmed the most.
The best way to encourage two-parent households is to honor marriage. When children are born outside of wedlock, they are 3 times more likely to live in single-parent homes. Faithful marriages are the solution to so many problems that children face.
Fatherless and single parenting are epidemics that are causing destruction and stripping children of their rights. In order for our communities to flourish and children to thrive, we must address this issue.
Children need strong family units. If we truly are to put children first, we must make sure we approach relationships – marriage especially – with sincerity and responsibility, knowing that our children’s futures depend on our commitment to their well-being. That means ensuring that children are raised in safe, loving homes with a father and a mother whenever possible.
