1. Healthy Families Make for a Strong Nation

World Scripture

The Way lies at hand yet it is sought afar off; the thing lies in the easy yet it is sought in the difficult. If only everyone loved his parents and treated his elders with deference, the Empire would be at peace.
Mencius IV.A.11 (Confucianism)

When a family declines, ancient traditions are destroyed. With them are lost the spiritual foundations for life, and the family loses its sense of unity. Where there is no sense of unity, the women of the family become corrupt; and with the corruption of its women, society is plunged into chaos. Social chaos is hell for the family and for those who have destroyed the family as well.
Bhagavad-Gita 1.40-42 (Hinduism)

The natural family, stable and monogamous—as fashioned by God and sanctified by Christianity—in which different generations live together, helping each other to acquire greater wisdom and to harmonize personal rights with other social needs, is the basis of society.
Pope Paul VI, Populorum Progressio (Christianity)

As history testifies, the prosperity of the State and the temporal happiness of its citizens cannot remain safe and sound where the foundation on which they are established, which is the moral order, is weakened and where the very fountainhead from which the State draws its life, namely, wedlock and family, is obstructed by the vices of its citizens.
Pope Pius XI, Casti Connubi (Christianity)

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon

The strongest foundation for the unity of humanity is the universal and essential love generated through the ideal of the true family.
(330:252, August 18, 2000)

Family education determines the future destiny of the entire nation. When there are many families living by the principle of public service, the nation will flourish; when there are many families living with a private standard, the nation will perish.
(31:243, June 4, 1970)

Unrest among today’s youth has created problems throughout the world.¹ The cause of this unrest almost always has to do with emotional issues that result from not having sound parents and brothers and sisters, and from unhealthy man-woman relationships. Considering this fact, where do we look for the clue to correct these destructive problems? It is in the family.
(23:13, May 11, 1969)

All juvenile problems originate in the family. Most of these children have parents, but the parents’ heart is not deeply implanted in their children’s hearts. In other words, these children did not experience parental love down to their bones. The generation gap arose from that point.
(25:60, September 28, 1969)

The most serious problem besetting humankind is the destruction of family values due to immorality and moral decadence. Moral decadence is truly the original sin that pushes people into the abyss of suffering and despair. Whether the world of the future will resemble heaven or hell will be determined by whether we can establish a moral code that sustains the purity of the family and protects family values.
(288:140, November 26, 1997)

America is bound to decline, like Rome in ancient times. Rome was not defeated by foreign invasions. It perished from within, after moral corruption undermined the people’s values of love and family. Today America is vulnerable for the same reason. It is declining from within; it will not continue for long. Despite its developed civilization, America is beset by confusion over sex. The developing countries are too; [they take their lead from America.] Unless we can restore discipline and a strong moral fiber, America and the world will have no hope for a better future.
(118:296, June 20, 1982)