Questions & Answers About United Families International
Q: What does United Families International do?
A: Together with family scholars and legal experts, we provide an intelligent voice for the family at critical policy-making sessions throughout the world. Prior to our involvement at the United Nations, the family had no organized voice. The result was the adoption of policies damaging to the family. We speak for the family at key international conferences, provide the world with a source –- our “United Nations Negotiating Guide” –- highlighting family issues, build pro-family coalitions, provide training and publish books and high-quality written materials. We promote the family as the fundamental unit of society.
Q: What type of family do you emphasize?
A: We promote families in general while emphasizing the traditional family as the ideal. The traditional family consists of a man and a woman bound together in a lifelong covenant of marriage for the purposes of: providing mutual support, protection, love and companionship; satisfying male/female sexuality; nurturing children and continuing the human race; and maintaining bonds between the generation. Husbands and wives respect each other as equal partners and assume separate roles to meet the family's needs.
Q: Why the traditional family?
A: The United States Supreme Court stated in 1885 (Murphy v. Ramsey) that “family springing from the union for life of a man and a woman in the holy estate of matrimony [is] the sure foundation of all that is stable and noble in our civilization.” In recent years, an unprecedented devaluation of the traditional family has occurred. Princeton University family historian Lawrence Stone said, “The scale of marital breakdowns in the West since 1960 has no historical precedent. … There has been nothing like it for the last 2,000 years, and probably longer.” Many now believe it is unrealistic to expect people to devote themselves to a lifelong companion and raise children together. As families unravel, so does the moral fabric of society. The breakdown of the traditional family is the engine driving our most urgent social problems, from crime to adolescent pregnancy to child abuse to violence against women.
Q: What about single parents or blended families?
A: Every family has value and deserves respect. While the traditional family is the ideal, divorce or death of a spouse cannot always be avoided. The family strengthening principles and policies we advocate benefit all families, not just two-parent families. In fact, single parents are amont our most effective family advocates.
Q: What is the outlook for families today?
A: Traditional families thrive in every culture of the world. However, the number is dwindling relative to the number of fatherless, childless, separated and dysfunctional families. In the United States, a third of all children are born to unwed mothers (up from only 5 percent in 1960), more than 40 percent of all marriages end in divorce and three out of 10 conceptions end in divorce – mostly for reasons of convenience. Many intact families are torn by sexual, physical and emotional abuse or neglect. Family deterioration is rampant in most affluent democratic countries, as well as those recovering from oppressive, totalitarian regimes. If present trends continue, the outlook for families is dismal.
Q: What can be done to save the family?
A: The clock cannot be turned back, but people can rediscover the basic values that make nations and families strong. Family strengthening is a worthy goal in helping families guard against destructive forces while creating home environments that emphasize cohesion, cooperation and love and protect quality time for togetherness. Full engagement by the parents in the marriage and the lives of the children is imperative. Successful families prioritize the marital relationship, take child-rearing responsibilities seriously and make positive work and leisure choices. Nurturing institutions can reinforce family values and traditions. Public officials must recognize the important contributions to society made by healthy families by upholding marriage and by respecting parental rights.
Q: Is the family impacted by laws and government policies?
A: Yes. Legal models define the community's interest in preserving and enhancing life, marriage and parent-child relationships. Families are impacted by marriage and divorce laws, tax policies, criminal justice programs, educational programs, child support laws, welfare assistance programs, reproductive health programs, adoption policies, court rulings and so much more.
Q: What about international policies?
A: International treaties, which serve as the blueprint for domestic policies and mandates, are redefining family roles. Operating on the notion that the family has not acted responsibly, United Nations assemblies have adopted restrictions on important parental and marital decisions. Population control, gender equity and individual rights are the rallying cries of feminist extremists, homosexual rights pressure groups and others who have been granted special lobbying privileges at the U.N. Because the stakes are so high and various lobbies are so entrenched, UFI has concentrated much of its efforts in providing a clear voice of reason at U.N. conferences.
Q: What is the history of United Families International?
A: United Families International evolved from two organizations -– United Families America and United Families Foundation (formerly Pro-Family Unity). Founders included Dr. V. Dallas Merrell and Gordon Jones, both from Virginia, and former U.S. Senator Jeremiah Denton, from Alabama. By 1983, United Families was “one of the fast-growing pro-family organizations in America,” publishing a quarterly newsletter called the National Family Reporter with a circulation of nearly 30,000. United Families of America closed its Washington, D.C., office in 1984. United Families continued to function in Utah under the leadership of Ed Pinegar, Rick Bashaw, Roen McClure and Susan Roylance. The organization became known in 1995 as United Families International. Eventually, UFI gained consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations and recognition as a “non-governmental organization” with access to U.N. meetings and conferences. The organization is now headquartered in Mesa , Arizona and operates projects such as Stay Alive, Defend Marriage and has created chapters in California, Idaho, Utah and Arizona.
Q: What is UFI's approach to public policy?
A. As a pro-family organization, we are unique in our use of social science to secure a future for the family. We are not affiliated with any religious denominations or organizations, as are most pro-family organizations. We utilize the vast supply of social science supporting the virtues of marriage and family to point out that parents are primarily responsible for raising their children and should be provided every opportunity to succeed. We encourage policy makers to recognize children as potential assets rather than as liabilities to the world. Rather than pursuing policies to eliminate children or prevent couples from raising their families, UFI stresses good life practices and consequential thinking, educational settings and other opportunities that foster family freedom and prosperity. We support a woman's right to equal employment opportunities and we aim to dispel the notion that full-time motherhood is a second-rate vocation.
Q: Are United Families International's efforts to promote the family making a difference?
A: We have many successes and accomplishment to report from the years. We have contributed to many victories over anti-family forces at the United Nations and other international forums. Our humanitarian program, Stay Alive, has brought about significant reduction in teen pregnancies in Africa and taught hundreds of thousands of pre-adolescents to make healthy choices in order to protect themselves and their families and future families from the ravages of deadly STDs. Our publications have served the public well in achieving our mission of education, and they are highly acclaimed.
Q: What can I do to help families?
A: Strengthen your marriage and family relationships. Utilize UFI's publications resources (website, news alerts, issues guides, newsletters) to access reliable social science facts so that you can articulate pro-family positions in your spheres of influence. Join with others who share our values and concerns. Support United Families International and our efforts to represent families internationally. Consider volunteering with UFI or one of our state chapters.
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