1. Religion And Family Religion Is Good For Families
Family Public Policy & Religion
Religious Attitudes
Religion and Gender Roles
Religion and Child Rearing

2. Provides meaning for life (Hood, Hill & Spilka 2009) Brings comfort to those who are suffering (Brotherson & Soderquist 2002) Promotes moral development in children (Hardy et al 2017) Helps couples/families enhance their levels of intimacy (Mahoney 2010) Improves marital stability and decreases likelihood of divorce (Vaugh et al 1997) Reduces domestic violence and aggression in marriage (Ellison & Anderson 2001) Decreases the likelihood of cohabitation (Thornton et al 1992) Increases interaction between fathers and their children (King 2003, Wilcox 2002) Decreases the likelihood of teenage sex and pregnancy (Rostosky et al 2003, Blinn-Pike 1999)
Religion Is Good

3. States where interracial marriages were illegal are shaded red
Public Policy . . .
“Almighty God created the races white, black, yellow, Malay and red, and He placed them on separate continents. And but for the interference with
His arrangement there
would be no cause for
such marriages. The fact
that He separated the
races shows that He did
not intend for the races
to mix.”
Judge Leon Bazile (1959)
1951
1959
1966
States where interracial marriages were illegal are shaded red

4. . . . because God says so. The Curse Of Cain The Tower Of Babel
Ephesians 6:5-9: “Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but like slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free.”
1 Timothy 6:1-3 "All who are under the yoke of slavery should consider their masters worthy of full respect, so that God's name and our teaching may not be slandered. Those who have believing masters are not to show less respect for them because they are brothers. Instead, they are to serve them even better, because those who benefit from their service are believers, and dear to them. These are the things you are to teach and urge on them.”
The Curse Of Cain
The Tower Of Babel
The Curse Of Ham

5. Public Policy . . .
“I do not support gay marriage. Marriage has religious and social connotations, and I consider marriage to be between
a man and a woman.”
Sen. Barack Obama (2008)
“Marriage has got historic,
religious and moral content
that goes back to the
beginning of time. I think a
marriage is as a marriage has
always been: between a man and a woman.”
Hillary Clinton (2000)

6. “Every Man Should Have His Own Wife”
. . . because God says so.
Romans 1:26-27 “Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.”
1 Corinthians 6:9 “Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.”
Adam & Eve
(Not Adam And Steve)
“Every Man Should Have His Own Wife”
Sodom & Gomorrah

7. Religion Can Be A Solution
“I must admit that I have gone through those moments when I was greatly disappointed with the church and what it has done in this period of social change. We must face the fact that in America, the church is still the most segregated major institution in America.
This is tragic.” (MLK 1963)
“It seems I can hear God saying to America ‘you are too arrogant, and if you don't change your ways, I will rise up and break the backbone of your power, and I will place it in the hands of a nation that doesn't even know my name. Be still and know that I'm God.’” (MLK 1967)
“It's all right to talk about ‘long white robes over yonder.’ But ultimately people want some suits and dresses and shoes to wear down here. It's all right to talk about ‘streets flowing with milk and honey,’ but God has commanded us to be concerned about the slums down here, and his children who can't eat three square meals a day.” (MLK 1968)
June 2015: Gay Marriage Legal
(Obergefell v. Hodges)
Still Unresolved
Workplace Discrimination (20)
Housing Discrimination (22)
Public Accommodations (20)
Safety In Schools (26)
In 2016, more than 250
anti-LGBT bills were introduced

8. Gay Marriage and Abortion
White Evangelical Protestants
(25%)
White Mainline Protestants
(15%)
Black Protestants
(7%)
Catholics
(21%)
Unaffiliated
23%)
2016 Election
77% Trump
57% Trump
96% Clinton
52% Trump
65% Clinton
Gay marriage 2017
35%
68%
44%
67%
85%
Gay marriage 2014
21%
60%
41%
57%
77%
Gay marriage 2003
12%
25%
38%
59%
Abortion Illegal
63%
42%
47%
23%
In 2003, 43% of Democrats favored same-sex marriage. It’s now 73%.
Black support (51%) has always lagged behind White support (64%).
Pew Religious Landscape Study

9. “Gender Roles” Traditional Patriarchy Total Egalitarianism
“Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.” (Gen 3:16)
Total Egalitarianism
“In Christ, there is neither male nor female” (Gal 3:28)
Ideological/Symbolic Traditionalism
Men’s Roles (material well-being, spiritual well-being, decision maker)
Women’s Roles (nurturer, child-rearer, housemaker)
Pragmatic Egalitarianism
“Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church. Husbands ought to love their wives as their own body. He who loves his wife loves himself, after all, no one ever hated his body, but he feeds and cares for it.” (Eph 5:21-33)

10. Islam has similar approaches to “separate spheres” in the home:
“Gender Roles”
Islam has similar approaches to “separate spheres” in the home:
Symbolic Traditionalism (Qu’ran 4:34) The men are made responsible for the women, and God has endowed them with certain qualities, and made them the bread earners. The righteous women will cheerfully accept this arrangement, since it is God’s commandment, and honor their husbands during their absence. If you experience rebellion from the women, you shall first talk to them, then deserting them in bed, then you may beat them. If they obey you, you are not permitted to transgress against them.
Pragmatic Egalitarianism (Qu’ran 4:32) You shall not covet the qualities bestowed upon each other by God; the men enjoy certain qualities, and the women enjoy certain qualities.

11. “Child-Rearing”
Well-Defined Gendered Parental Roles and Hierarchical Parent-Child Relationships
More Likely To Endorse And Use Corporal Punishment (Shaping The Will)
Less Yelling And More Hugging (Building The Spirit)
Fathers Spending More Quality Time With Kids
Proverbs 13:24; 23:14 (New International Version)
 He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is careful to discipline
him. You shall beat him with the rod and deliver his soul from hell.
2 Samuel 7:14 (New International Version)
I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him with the rod of men, with floggings inflicted by men.
Hebrews 12:7-11 (New International Version)
Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? If you are not disciplined, then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

12. “Child-Rearing”
Well-Defined Gendered Parental Roles and Hierarchical Parent-Child Relationships
More Likely To Endorse And Use Corporal Punishment (Shaping The Will)
Less Yelling And More Hugging (Building The Spirit)
Fathers Spending More Quality Time With Kids