Marriage & Family Life: P6—The Ideals of Family Life

We continue our study of Paper 84, Marriage and Family Life with §7. The Ideals of Family Life.

Sex mating is instinctive, children are the natural result, and the family thus automatically comes into existence. As are the families of the race or nation, so is its society. If the families are good, the society is likewise good. The great cultural stability of the Jewish and of the Chinese peoples lies in the strength of their family groups. (939.4) 84:7.1

... new mores are emerging designed to stabilize the marriage-home institution:

1. The new role of religion — the teaching that parental experience is essential, the idea of procreating cosmic citizens, the enlarged understanding of the privilege of procreation — giving sons to the Father.

2. The new role of science — procreation is becoming more and more voluntary, subject to man’s control. In ancient times lack of understanding insured the appearance of children in the absence of all desire therefor.

3. The new function of pleasure lures — this introduces a new factor into racial survival; ancient man exposed undesired children to die; moderns refuse to bear them.

4. The enhancement of parental instinct — each generation now tends to eliminate from the reproductive stream of the race those individuals in whom parental instinct is insufficiently strong to insure the procreation of children, the prospective parents of the next generation. (939.6–940.3) 84:7.3–7

...In an ideal family filial and parental affection are both augmented by fraternal devotion. (941.10) 84:7.29

... The enforced associations of family life stabilize personality and stimulate [true morality's] growth through the compulsion of necessitous adjustment to other and diverse personalities. (942.1) 84:7.30

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