The U.S., Israel, and the Traditional Family

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The U.S. and Israel are teaming up in order to, God willing, successfully win the war against the Iranian Shiites who wish to obtain nuclear weapons and conquer the world.

The foundation of western civilization is the traditional family. It is under attack, and the attackers appear to be winning -- or are they?

The attackers have been pushing a secular, me-first agenda that has given the West the lowest marriage and birth rates in historical memory. In the U.S., in 1975, 91% of women were married by age 30. Fifty years later, that number is 32%. The birth rates in the West range from 1.2 to 1.8 per couple. (2.1 is needed for a society to replace itself). Add to that a rapidly growing LGBTQ identifying population. Encouraged by the current culture, thirty percent of U.S. Gen Z women (age 18-27) are identifying as LGBTQ. This means that thirty percent of many marital-age women are unavailable for traditional marriage. On top of that, divorce rates are now between 40-50%. Given all of this, one wonders if there is any hope for the future of the West? Yet clearly there is.

In America, fifty different organizations have come together to form the Greater Than Coalition, to push child-centered traditional marriage and family legislation. Parents confronting school boards and taking back the education of their children has become commonplace, and are receiving NGO and even some media support. Home schooling by parents, many of whom wish to support traditional values, is also growing precipitously. Today, 3.7 million or 6 percent of school-age students in the U.S. are being home-schooled. Charlie and Erika Kirk’s TPUSA, which has been outspoken in support of the traditional family, has over seven million YouTube subscribers. The Texas Rangers baseball team announced it will hold a “Faith and Family Night” instead of a Pride Night. Representative Mary Miller (R-Ill) introduced legislation to replace Pride Month in the U.S. with a “Family Month” designation. Let’s not forget President Trump, who has been pushing back against the trans agenda and non-traditional marriage in a number of arenas while at the same time offering programs supporting fathers involved in raising children.

Religious piety may be an important factor in America’s success. Religiousness means acknowledging a higher power and a divine expectation for the path one chooses. Romans facing the same challenges millennia ago were unsuccessful with legislation and incentives, perhaps because faith was not part of the equation. Faith communities are growing, and religious belief is increasing, as can be seen in increased church attendance, especially among Gen Zs and Millennials. More and more Jews in the U.S. are identifying as observant or orthodox, returning to the roots of their great-grandparents. All of which means good news for encouraging and supporting more traditional families.

In Israel, even for a non-religious couple, getting married and raising kids is just “cool.” It is a child-centered world. Birth rates in the non-religious and traditional sectors hover around 2.6, perhaps in some sense because the religious communities are role models in this regard. Israeli society is not stratified by race but by religious flavor. Israel’s overall birth rates are the envy of the West, 3.1 for all sectors (4+ in the Religious Zionist sector and 6+ in the Haredi sector) –higher than almost all of their Middle East neighbors. Almost every community has a Tipat Chalav, a well-baby clinic, where new mothers can receive help and advice, such as with breast feeding and challenges with raising newborns.

Israelis marry at least 3-4 years younger than the rest of the West. Marriage and birth rates are a temperature check on hope and how one views the future. Israelis are bullish on both. Because of young marriage rates with spouses of similar religious outlooks, divorce rates are significantly lower, especially in the more traditional and religious sectors. While certain NGOs in the West are trying to push hard with their LGBTQ agendas for Israel, and they have made inroads, their success has been more limited by comparison because of a strong religious community. Interest groups such as Choosing Family -- the Movement for Strengthening Family Values have formed to push back and support the traditional family, and there are even ministers in the Knesset who, despite intense name-calling from the Left, are pushing to protect Torah traditional family values.

Overall, Israel’s data on early marriage, raising children, staying together and minimizing divorce are in some sense, a role model for the western world. America’s efforts in pushing back against anti-traditional family efforts, such as the radical trans agenda, coupled with increasing religiosity and a return to traditional marriage is beginning to change America. All of this, God willing, will ultimately change the world. Together we can win this war and return the traditional family as the foundation of western culture.

The forces of darkness never rest -- but the forces of light are beginning to reclaim and recharge western civilization. With God’s help, Israel and America together will win both wars with stunning success.

Yehezkel (Gary) Schiff is the President of Jewish Family Forever and a resource consultant and guide connecting Israel and the U.S.

Image: Easy Peasy AI