The father factor

A Sunday editorial in the Baltimore Sun, The father factor by Robert L Ehrlich Jr.

So many social issues tend to break along liberal and conservative lines. This issue, however, stands alone: young children require parental guidance, and fathers play an essential role in providing it. Despite periodic delusional messages from Hollywood to the contrary, this notion still represents a majority view. And everyone from President Barack Obama toJay-Z to Pat Buchanan has said so.

Nevertheless, too much lip service and not enough actual fatherhood has produced too many problematic young people. Our cultural epidemic of fatherlessness is out of control. It reflects a weakening of our cultural values. And there is no one government program to save the day, either. It must be a collective effort to fix our culture, to make such results unacceptable in America. Failure to act will perpetuate our present desultory track, a truly unacceptable result.