If you were asked, “What is the greatest challenge facing our nation today?” how would you respond? The economy, national security, immigration, gun control, poverty, racism, crime, pandemics, climate change? While each of these is a valid concern and deserves attention, I do not believe that any of them strikes at the heart of our greatest challenge — a return to family and moral values. To put our prime focus on other challenges is to strike at the leaves, not the root, of the problem. It is, as some have noted, to put an ambulance at the bottom of the cliff rather than a fence at the top.

“The Family: A Proclamation to the World” confirms the essentiality of the family unit to the well-being of society: “The family is ordained of God. Marriage between man and woman is essential to His eternal plan.” The proclamation then warns “that the disintegration of the family will bring upon individuals, communities and nations the calamities foretold by ancient and modern prophets.” It then concludes: “We call upon responsible citizens and officers of government everywhere to promote those measures designed to maintain and strengthen the family as the fundamental unit of society.”