Home
/
RELIGION & LIBERTY ONLINE
/
Why the Market Needs the Family
Why the Market Needs the Family
Jan 2, 2026 5:23 PM

The Family & the Market, an Acton University lecture by Jennifer Roback Morse, uses Christian theology and logic to illustrate unique connections between seemingly unrelated aspects of society, at least to the secular world. Morse is the founder and president of the Ruth Institute, where she discovered that the economy depends on the intact family raising children. This Institute has a dream: that every child is ed into a loving home with a married mother and father. Their goal is to create a lasting and Christ-like social movement, and to clean up the consequences of the Sexual Revolution.

Students in this course learn the importance of both parents raising their own children together, as opposed to divorcing, sharing custody, or placing children in foster care. This is vital in order to “respect, honor, and preserve” the genetic identity and cultural heritage of every adult, without exception. Morse emphasizes that when this practice is violated, it gives way to structural injustice and the political correctness of “Alternative Family Forms.” These terms, such as multi-partner fertility, are indicators of our broken reality, and of life problems for children in these environments, mainly, stirring up feelings of resentment in an unloved child.

Morse goes on to further define the Sexual Revolution, or the secular belief that a good and decent society should: separate sex from babies, separate both sex and babies from marriage, and eliminate all differences from men and women except those explicitly chosen by the individual. We can now create babies without sex, and our society propagates hook-up, divorce, and affair culture. Morse believes the agenda of the Sexual Revolution has, all along, been largely based upon the third point, to “re-construct” identities that were merely “social constructs” in the first place. If gender distinctions are eliminated, then any form of parenting, no matter how broken, can function according to this model.

However, we know this to be impossible, false, and untrue. It is irrational, irresponsible, and ultimately would require force and propaganda to stand on its own. Children really do require both a mother and father. Morse drew attention to a popular argument in the divorce culture: “Children are resilient and tougher than we give them credit for.” She responded in kind with a ment exposing the selfish nature of such a claim: “Parents are precious little snowflakes that will fade and die if they don’t get what they want, and children are supposed to be resilient? No.”

With so many children feeling unwanted and unloved, and with donor conceived people feeling like purchased objects and property, we need to focus on all issues the Sexual Revolution passes. When others do not hear our arguments, Christians need to practice healing friendship, be shining examples to those who are struggling, and above all, show deep and passion. Morse left her audience with forting message of hope: “Heal yourself, heal others, and heal the culture, because the Church will last, justice will last, and friendship and love will last.”

Comments
Welcome to mreligion comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
RELIGION & LIBERTY ONLINE
Life-Long Learners or Good Test-Takers? An Orthodox Christian Critique
The video below of a second grade teacher in Providence, RI reading his letter of resignation has recently gone semi-viral with over 200,000 views on YouTube. What I would like to offer here is an Orthodox Christian critique of the anthropological assumptions that separate this teacher from the “edu-crats,” as he terms them, who in his district so strongly championed standardized testing-oriented education at the exclusion of all other methods and aims. In the Orthodox Christian tradition, there is an...
Hobby Lobby Denied Request For HHS Mandate Relief
The National Catholic Register and Associated Press are reporting that Justice Sonia Sotomayor has denied Hobby Lobby (and a pany, Mardel, Inc.) its request to opt out of the HHS mandate to provide abortifacients as health care to employees. Justice Sotomayor’s decision stated that Hobby Lobby did not meet the legal standard for preventing them plying with the government mandate. However, David Green, CEO and owner of Hobby Lobby disagrees, saying the lawsuit violates his family’s faith. The Becket Fund...
The Year in Commentary: Samuel Gregg
Every Wednesday we publish the Acton Commentary,a weekly article that covers topics related to Acton’s mission. As es to a close I thought it would be worth highlighting the mentaries that have been produced by Acton Institute staffers over the past year. The following list includes articles published in 2012 by Dr. Samuel Gregg, director of research at the Acton Institute: January 18, 2012 The Problem with Compassionate Conservatism March 07, 2012 The American Left’s European Nightmare March 14, 2012...
The Year in Commentary: Jordan J. Ballor
Every Wednesday we publish the Acton Commentary,a weekly article that covers topics related to Acton’s mission. As es to a close I thought it would be worth highlighting the mentaries that have been produced by Acton Institute staffers over the past year. The following list includes articles published in 2012 by Dr. Jordan J. Ballor, Acton research fellow and executive editor of the Journal of Markets & Morality: January 11, 2012 Ministers of Common Grace February 15, 2012 Corrupted Capitalism...
Here’s an Early Christmas Present for You
You don’t have to wait till Christmas to get your present from the Acton Institute. Just head over to Amazon and get a your free Kindle download of the new book, A Field Guide to the Hero’s Journey. The book, co-authored by Jeff Sandefer and Rev. Robert Sirico, has been called a “the modern ‘how-to’ for entrepreneurs working on plishing big things” by Andreas Widmer, and is a terrific book not only for adults but for young people. The Kindle...
The Year in Commentary: Rev. Robert A. Sirico
Every Wednesday we publish the Acton Commentary, a weekly article that covers topics related to Acton’s mission. As es to a close I thought it would be worth highlighting the mentaries that have been produced by Acton Institute staffers over the past year. The following list includes articles published in 2012 by Rev. Robert A. Sirico, co-founder and president of the Acton Institute: July 04, 2012 Creative Destruction and the Pruning Shears September 19, 2012 The Collapse of Europe’s Welfare...
Economic Justice IS Social Justice
All good people are concerned about the plight of the poor, and there are a multitude of ways to address this. The umbrella of “social justice” seems to get bigger every year, with Millenium Development Goals, the ONE campaign, and a host of other foreign aid projects that seek to remove the scourge of abject poverty. However, many of these projects overlook one fact: foreign aid doesn’t work. As PovertyCure‘s Michael Miller has said, While there are some success stories,...
Conference: ‘Catholic Witness in a Nation Divided’
Ave Maria Communications will be presenting a conference on Saturday, January 13, 2013 entitled “Catholic Witness in a Nation Divided.” The conference, hosted by Al Kresta, CEO of Ave Maria Communications and host of “Kresta in the Afternoon”, will be held at Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, MI. The conference hopes to address faith and cultural issues facing Catholics today: The focus will be ecclesial, that is church focused not politically focused… If the Church and its membership and its...
The Year in Commentary: Anthony B. Bradley
Every Wednesday we publish the Acton Commentary,a weekly article that covers topics related to Acton’s mission. As es to a close I thought it would be worth highlighting the mentaries that have been produced by Acton Institute staffers over the past year. The following list includes articles published in 2012 by Dr. Anthony B. Bradley, a research fellow at the Acton Institute.: January 25, 2012 Despite Economic and Social Ills, Blacks Give Obama a Pass February 29, 2012 Corn Subsidies...
The Christ Child and a Culture of Birth
In this day after Christmas edition of Acton Commentary, I take a look at the message the Christ child brings to us, particularly in terms of promoting a culture of birth. In “The Hopes and Fears of All the Years,” I note that “Where evil leaves us speechless, God speaks the Word of hope and salvation.” The Italian greeting Buon Natale captures this a bit better than the English, “Merry Christmas.” It struck me that this Christmas season, especially given...
Related Classification
Copyright 2023-2026 - www.mreligion.com All Rights Reserved