Will the Real Pro-Family Contestant Please Stand Up? Another Look at Families and Pastoral Care

Abstract

Claims that the contemporary emphasis on the family--often heralded as an exclusive concern of the political and religious right--must not be allowed ownership by any one actor or segment involved in the current culture war dealing with family values. Proposes that at the heart of the family values project is not, as it is often framed, the issues of individualism, divorce, single-mothers, pregnant teens, neglected or problem children, but rather the truly difficult problem of establishing and maintaining genuinely democratic family forms and dynamics. Argues that pastoral caregivers need to reclaim an appropriate space in this contested terrain of the family with pastoral care, counseling, and education's usual commitment to a systematic and compassionate understanding of such complex issues.