The End of Families?

I’ve been reading Peter Kreeft’s four-volume work, Socrates’ Children: The 100 Greatest Philosophers. It’s an interesting review of the history of philosophy, and while Kreeft is thoughtful about presenting each philosopher in their own words as much as possible, he is not shy about critiquing dangerous and self-contradictory ideas in modern philosophy. He reserves some of his harshest criticism for Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Karl Marx. In a list of 23 objections to Marxism, this one in particular got me thinking:

“The abolition of families, which Marxism called for but never succeeded in implementing anywhere, even when it ruled half the world, would be the abolition of the only place we are not loved for our workplace performance or utility but for our very person. Thus love would disappear from the world and selfish greed, far from being abolished, would conquer.”

In our current culture, where birth control is widespread and having children is viewed as a purely optional aspect of marriage; and where divorce is likewise prevalent, and marriage is viewed not as a covenant relationship but a contractual partnership that can be dissolved on the whim of either partner; are we effectively on the road to abolishing marriage and families? And if so, what kind of society are we creating?

Image: Holy Family with Bird by Bartolome Esteban Murillo (downloaded from Wikipedia Commons).

Pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet every day for the salvation of souls.