History Professor Paul A. Rahe of Hillsdale College has recently written an article to reveal the deepest source of our troubles as a nation. He asserts that the sexual revolution and the disintegration of the family, the fundamental unit of society, have resulted in disastrous consequences for our society.
Professor Rahe appeals to history, particularly the works of Montesquieu and Tocqueville, to explain our nation's current troubles. According to Professor Rahe, the anchors that were once firmly planted by religion and moral discipline have been dislodged, societal drift has left a generation stranded, and young people have been discouraged from thinking about the long-term consequences of their choices.
While Professor Rahe is correct in his diagnosis, the purpose of The Good Report is to accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative, and latch on to the affirmative. Therefore, while acknowledging this deep source of our troubles, I wish rather to emphasize the positive. If moral drift and the disintegration of the family are at the heart of society's greatest sorrows, then certainly virtue and family unity are at the heart of our greatest joy (2 Ne 2:25), which joy is the object and design of our existence.
Professor Rahe appeals to history, particularly the works of Montesquieu and Tocqueville, to explain our nation's current troubles. According to Professor Rahe, the anchors that were once firmly planted by religion and moral discipline have been dislodged, societal drift has left a generation stranded, and young people have been discouraged from thinking about the long-term consequences of their choices.
While Professor Rahe is correct in his diagnosis, the purpose of The Good Report is to accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative, and latch on to the affirmative. Therefore, while acknowledging this deep source of our troubles, I wish rather to emphasize the positive. If moral drift and the disintegration of the family are at the heart of society's greatest sorrows, then certainly virtue and family unity are at the heart of our greatest joy (2 Ne 2:25), which joy is the object and design of our existence.
