I can hardly believe what I have just read!! Thank you Emily for putting into words what I have been watching for the past 30 years. The fall of our society has truly been through the collapse of the institution of marriage. Children were never intended to be raised without a mother and a father. From the beginning of man, there has been the established union of family, after the recognized rite of uniting a man and a woman to form a family unit before the production of children. What we "modern" people have ignored is the reason behind these nature driven rules.

What I have found more deplorable than anything is the fact that the pill was introduced in the early 60's so that women could achieve more in their lifetimes, free from the historical history of baby making. But, what we have now, is women, girls, having children without providing the complete foundation that is necessary for that child. Women who have children without a committed relationship are only thinking of themselves. They are not thinking about the child that they are bringing into this world. So, what does this really say? Women are truly the ones with the power and women have let their sex, their children and themselves down! By allowing a man to inpregnate them without the committment of legally binding contract, provides no protection for themselves or their children. If we want to change the enconomic tone of our country, then women have to quit having babies out of wedlock and reestablish the legally binding marriage relationship.

On another note, I myself have raised 2 sons with their father in a legally binding relationship called marriage. My marriage isn't great, but it isn't bad, it's life. One of the formost things that I witness was the transformation of my 2 sons from boys who needed and loved their Mommy to pre-adolescent boys who began the separation from their mother to the formation of the bond between them and their father. Boys, more than anyone need the presence of fathers for guidance and instruction! We have millions of boys in gangs who are there because they do not have fathers at home and are desperately looking for a father. It is in their genes!! Women who have children and raise them without their fathers are not hurting anyone but the children that they brought into the world. Again, the true power of the world is held by women, and it is the women who have failed the world.

On closing, I would be curious to see or find a study of how many of our incarcerated males and females came from mothers who had them "out of wedlock" and were raised in single parent family?