OPINION:
A few months ago, Gallup released a poll showing how evenly divided our nation is on social issues. But it also showed how confused we are as a nation.
The poll found that 32% of those polled identified themselves as conservative on social issues, compared with 32% describing themselves as moderate and 33% as liberal — an even three-way split.
Despite this split, the one view that continues to grow over time is the liberal one — with much of it driven by the leftward drift of the Democratic Party on these issues, as well as the legalization of same-sex marriage nationally and recreational marijuana use in many states.
But here is the quandary.
The same poll found that Americans continue to lean moderate or conservative on economic issues, with only 23% identifying themselves as liberal.
This moral confusion — and leftward drift on social issues — has real and profound consequences for our nation, but it is also an opportunity to engage in a discussion about how liberal social views ultimately undermine moderate and conservative economic ones so we can right the national ship.
For instance, writing for American Compass, Brad Wilcox, sociology professor and director of the National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia, states: “The American heart is in danger of closing to that which matters most: Love, marriage, and family. Dating is down, the marriage rate has fallen more than 60% since 1970, and our fertility rate hit a record-low 1.6 babies per woman just last year.”
These factors mentioned by Mr. Wilcox are the result of liberal social views that have promoted alternatives to marriage such as cohabitation, single parenthood, delayed childbearing and shaming large families in the name of climate change.
Meanwhile, government spending continues to soar as it subsidizes single parents and tax revenue, particularly for Social Security and Medicare, become increasingly stressed as fewer young people pay into the system to provide the benefits for the rapidly retiring baby-boom generation.
Thus, any conservative efforts to rein in this spending immediately come under attack, often by those who profess moderate or conservative economic views, because they are fearful of losing their share of the entitlement pie.
This brings me to the third part of the moral confusion puzzle — the need to encourage young people to get married. Marriage benefits not just men and women but children and society as well. Steve Bateman recently made this point in a piece republished by the Institute for Family Studies.
Citing research from Mr. Wilcox, Mr. Bateman writes that when young adults were asked how they feel they can live a fulfilling life, only 32% said getting married is part of that equation. And only 21% of those who are parents say that getting married is the most important factor, compared with 88% who want financial independence for their children.
Yet marriage and a stable home environment set the table for economic success. They cannot be “divorced” from each other. Countless studies over the past 30 to 40 years have shown that married men and women with children are happier and more prosperous and enjoy a more fulfilled life than the unmarried, who often experience loneliness and despair because of a lack of social connection.
Liberal social views have also led to a generation of confused men who have found their traditional roles as the provider and protector in their marriage under constant attack, leaving them less confident in their personal and professional relationships. Many women who want to be married increasingly have trouble finding men who are prepared to be married because many men have no idea of what women want in a husband and father, let alone possess the skills to be one.
Consequently, as stated earlier, these views undermine marriage, as they directly contradict moderate and conservative economic views calling for restrained government spending, personal fiscal independence and upward economic mobility.
As a result, you have a confused nation that has fallen prey to the consequences of liberal social views while still desiring the economic stability and restraint that come with a more conservative economic position.
In the words of the cartoonist Walt Kelly, “We have met the enemy, and he is us.” If we want a society that practices economic moderation, it is essential that we return to the conservative social values that make such moderation a possibility. By doing so, we will take a big step toward solving our nation’s current moral confusion.
• Tim Goeglein is vice president of external and government relations for Focus on the Family.
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