My friend, author Greg Swann released his controversial book Father’s Day: More Married. More Husband. More Father. More Man on Amazon.com this past weekend. I had already read the advanced release of the manuscript but bought a few digital copies for friends (the Kindle version is less than a buck). This hard-hitting, in your face, 80-page book is an important read for movement conservatives because it understands two things we talk about a lot: (1) families are the most important civil institution in a vibrant society and (2) men need to take personal responsibility for making their marriages work.
Swann is an ideological libertarian, an anarchist perhaps, with a secularist’s eye towards morality. To read Father’s Day though might conjure up images of Jesuit priests lecturiing a classroom of college-aged men or William F. Buckley interviewing Russell Kirk in his small, Michigan village. While many of Mr. Swann’s observations are found in Scripture, Greg relies on reason and human nature to explain the realities of gender roles, how their blurred distinctions are harming marriages, and how men can (and are obligated to) exercise leadership to perfect the most important building blocks of society: marriage and family.
Father’s Day is no quaint manuscript, recalling a 1950s America though. Senator Mike Lee talks about “reform conservatism” and recalls that we are as far away from Reagan’s Presidential election as that event was from D-Day. Lee suggests that positive policy prescriptions must be updated to the era but rooted in conservative principles. One of those principles is the idea that we limit government because we believe it allows voluntary civil institutions to flourish. The most basic and important civil institution is the family.
The modern state of marriage in America is a disaster. Almost half of the marriages end up in divorce and more than 4 out of 10 births today are out of wedlock. This presents a systemic problem for those of us who believe in a self-reliant, self-governing populace because divorce and out of wedlock births often produce more clients for an ever-growing State. Stated differently, if conservatives won’t work to save marriages, our policy prescriptions WILL be outdated because our society will be unable to live in a free one.
Marriage isn’t going to be saved by the force of law. The force of law however is yoking unmarried parents financially– mom is enrolling as a VIP client of the State while dad is having more than a third of his AFTER-tax wages garnished to fund the State’s interference into the responsibilities he rejected. Marriages are going to be saved through advocacy. Conservatives can present the financial, emotional, and health benefits to marital bliss but, without a road map, our sermons might fall upon deaf ears.
Father’s Day might just be the modern day Common Sense which foments a revolution of husbandry. A self-reliant society is going to need strong marriages and families. Swann makes the case that neither is possible without motivated men. Spend a buck and read it one afternoon on your Kindle this summer.
DISCLOSURE: Nether the reviewer nor SDRostra.com, nor any of their affiliates, has any financial interest in Mr. Swann’s manuscript. Greg Swann is a close friend of Brian Brady.