The family as best educational environment for faith development

Abstract

Some would argue that different societal organizations, particularly as related to the understanding of marriage and the social role of family life whatever structure the latter happens to take, beget different understandings of religion and the Divine. No wonder that in the past governments would attach much importance to the religious practice of the citizens and the way they lived out their family obligations, realizing that the social order - its maintenance or disruption much depends on certain forms of social structures being maintained or developed. The contemporary challenge to the so described traditional family, by lobby groups with different agendas and at times governments, though defended on the grounds that no government should impose a moral code on the citizens however contains a concern with promoting a different social order with of course different values and surely the emergence of a different social organization from that we knew in the past. How should people respond to this emerging trend? Some might argue that it is up to religious congregations to adapt themselves to this new scenario if they want to keep up the number of their members. Penny Edgell, in a study of how some American congregations have reacted to these changes, argues that, faced with new kinds of "families" rather than fight the trend, religious congregations have opted to adapt themselves and even at times the presentation of their doctrine, placing greater emphasis on individual freedom and personal spirituality. She recognizes the fact that people approach religion with different religious expectations, sometimes based on their gender, and eventually comes to the conclusion that women are more open to change. When approaching this issue, one of the problems is how to define the family. A contemporary definition of family might go as follows A social institution found in all societies that unites people in cooperative groups to care for one another, including any children. Such a definition steers clear of controversies regarding the sexual make up of the family and the relatedness of family to marriage. Having loosely defined marriage, however one must also study the meaning of religion. Again we are on no secure ground [...].