Family Values

This set of values is reflective of orthodox Judeo-Christian morality. It is either seen as a central barrier to human progress to be transcended, or a bastion of human progress to be defended.

Those on the right who believe in traditional family values often point to studies that show children raised in two-parent families do better in life. They say that the experience of having divorced, single, or unmarried parents have a negative impact on children, and are concerned that two-parent families are much less common than they used to be. By contrast, those on the left value diversity and believe that children can fare fine in many different family configurations.

Albert Mohler called the breakdown of traditional family values "the age of the advanced meltdown." Conservatives (who are often religious) experience the breakdown as "a dangerous moment for us all and for the culture and civilization we commonly love" and one wherein "the most fundamental values of civilization itself are threatened, and we are witnesses to one of the most comprehensive and fast-paced moral revolutions ever experienced by humanity" with a "velocity and breadth of this revolution are breathtaking, and the consequences are yet incalculable." Mohler concludes, "This society is dismantling the very structures that have allowed for the enjoyment and preservation of human liberty and respect for life. We are engaged in a head-long effort to replace the convictions that gave birth to democracy and ordered liberty with a new set of convictions that will lead to the emergence of a very different culture, society and civilization."