The cure to loneliness is what we are told to reject

By Walker Wildmon, Op-ed contributor Thursday, August 03, 2023

We are living in the middle of a tragic irony in America today.

Despite being the most connected generation in the history of civilization thanks to the internet, smartphones, and social media, today’s generation is also the loneliest and most depressed generation in recorded history. Multiple studies have found this to be true in recent years. So perhaps it’s no wonder that depression, mental health issues, violence, and gender-identity confusion are all skyrocketing among today’s youth.

It’s absolutely heartbreaking — and that’s only half of the irony. Here’s the worst part of it: The very thing that would CURE our society of these deep-seated wounds is also the very thing our society rejects the most: strong families.

Strong families change everything. They bring accountability, stability, and security to a fallen humanity desperate for these qualities. They’re not easy to build and maintain. Families take work. But the work is always worth it. Because without the essential God-ordained building block of the family, society crumbles into justifying immoral chaos.

And tragically, immoral chaos is a perfect way to describe 2023 America.

Consider all of the cheap imitations our secular culture is trying to replace the biblical family with:

False “gender identities” that fly directly in the face of God’s design for male and female roles within families and societies.
Fleeting “hookup culture” that tells young people it’s okay to jump from one casual partner to another instead of fulfilling God’s perfect design of committing to one man or one woman for life.
Unfulfilling “singleness culture” that tells young people to be selfish and “focus on yourself” because marriage isn’t worth pursuing.
Failing education systems where school officials are forcing their own twisted version of right and wrong onto children instead of letting children learn the biblical standard of right and wrong from their parents.
Inflated government welfare programs that disincentivize strong families and leave Americans — especially impoverished Americans — more and more dependent on government instead of dependent on their family.

As Christians, we know these are lies straight from the enemy. Our sense of morality and identity doesn’t come from the culture — it comes from the family. And the only way to create strong families generationally is to have a biblical worldview.

Satan knows this too. He knows that if he can thwart the biblical worldview by destroying the family, he can destroy our entire culture.

Make no mistake about what this tragic irony really is — it’s a satanic war on the biblical family. And no family — not even strong Christian families — can fight this spiritual battle alone. They need support, encouragement, and resources to counter our culture’s lies and build a solid foundation on God’s truth.

It is vital that we keep families free to build those important foundations. There are a plethora of ways organizations like AFA Action fight to defend the right to raise families according to biblical values:

Legislative battles:

Changing child tax credit language to specify biological parents (which could be the first step to overturning the Obergefell decision— a huge win for the biblical family on par with overturning Roe v. Wade!)
Introducing tax credits for businesses that donate to pregnancy resource centers.
Additional tax credits for adoption agencies and foster care centers.

Legal battles:

Emphasizing a judge’s record on supporting biblical marriage and parental rights on judicial evaluations.

It’s tragic that a generation is being brought up in America without both a mother and a father, without an understanding of biblical manhood and womanhood, and without experiencing the love and self-sacrifice of the biblical family. And many in mainstream culture are determined to permanently eradicate America’s foundation of God and family for good.

It’s up to us to fight for the traditional values that made America great — and it starts with the family.

Walker Wildmon serves as a Vice President of American Family Association (AFA) and as a spokesperson for AFA. He has been quoted by CNN, Fox News and other major news outlets. He also serves as Chief Executive Officer and Member of the Board of Directors of AFA Action. Wildmon graduated from Mississippi State University with a degree in political science. He lives in Tupelo, Mississippi with his wife Lexie and their four children.