Rating: 
Summary: Interesting read ...
Review: I have been a fan of Mr. Bennett's since 1987 and have been following his career and reading several of his books since. I read through this book in a short period of time, as I found Mr. Bennett's outlining and argument of the problems in society that compelling. If you are in agreement with many of his views (i.e., against gay marriages, the need to eliminate the no-fault divorce laws), but have often found yourself weak in the substance area when debating these issues with others, this book is for you. He gives many statistics and examples supporting his views (I especially liked his arguments regarding simply "being in love" with someone and "committed" to them as not enough to support gay marriages or supporting easy divorce laws).The only thing that I found lacking is that he did not propose good ways to implement the solutions. Many of the solutions he proposed, while logical, will not get passed as they are unpopular and will be taken as infringing on peoples' rights (and will ultimately gum up our court system further). In his defense, however, I do agree when he says that our leaders (he pointed out President George W. Bush in particular) need to take a stronger stand on DEMONSTRATING moral leadership rather than just stating it.
Rating: 
Summary: Misses the point
Review: I'm not going to rant and rave and call Mr. Bennett evil, though his homophobia is sickening. He simply doesn't get it, and I don't think many people do, on EITHER side of ANY argument. In keeping with my "third position" thinking, I have a third position here...
I believe that the potential societal collapse Mr. Bennett discusses here could be easily averted if only society would be more accepting of those who choose to live without children. I believe a great many people have children almost because they feel like they don't have an option not to. They aren't bad people by any means, they just aren't parent material for any number of reasons, and unfortunately their offspring (and the rest of society) suffer as a result.
I know many children of divorce, and I know people who cohabitate. Some of these people are my friends. Blaming them for the downfall of society is something I take personally. There's more to the story than what the morality police will admit.
Rating: 
Summary: To Austin Kaiser
Review: If you don't like the book then you should be able to explain why without resorting to a personal attack; the lowest form of debate. Specifically which ideas, remedies, arguments or statistics did you find so objectionable? My suspicion is that you found Bennett's arguments convincing, you were unable to form a well reasoned, rational rebuttal, so you resorted to ad hominem tactics. As Bennett said "facts are stubborn things."
Rating:
Summary: The declining family
Review: In 1960, one in twenty births was out of wedlock. Now, the ratio is one in three. Celebrities such as Madonna and Jodie Foster have been upfront in getting pregnant but not getting married (thank God Madonna finally married her second child's father). Although the divorce rate peaked in 1980 (how much higher could it have gone?), it has not significantly decreased since then. Regardless of the fact that gays have legitimate rights to privacy, many groups advocate sanctification of the gay relationship in marriage. Bill Bennett takes these issues on and, predictably enough, he decries the current situation. He notes that there has been some progress in solving our social ills such as a reduction in the welfare roles and a reduction in crime but, generally, the situation remains grim. I would have liked a better explanation of how the crime rate and welfare roles have decreased when there are so many out of wedlock births ... that seems to be inconsistent. However, I nontheless agree with his premise. A society which encourages strong families is more stable and has less social problems. Certainly, some of Bennett's solutions are controversial, such as making divorce laws tougher. However, I agree that often while a spouse argues that it will be better for the kids if the marriage ends than if the kids live in a house with a rocky marriage, the opposite is in fact true. Unless there is abuse or some other catastrophic problem, how many children would vote to have Mom and Dad divorce if they had the choice? How many children, as opposed to their parents, are actually happier after a divorce? I would suggest very few are. I am very conservative and the instability of the family is of deep concern to me. This book crystalizes my views and will be helpful in my formulating arguments for the preservation of the traditional family. Therefore, since Bennett echoes and elucidates my concerns, I like and recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: A good book if you don't like being lied to
Review: It has been said if the truth can be told so it is understood it will be believed. This is William Bennett's approach when writing about the break-up of the american family. He's driven by a deep concern for his subject (as we all should be) but that's where his personal feelings end. He writes clearly, logically progressing from one irrefutable argument to the next, each step supported with cold, hard facts. Never dull. The conclusions are where the logic trail leads without any detours into social trendiness. His book will be disliked in some quarters for his conclusions but noone should ever question how those conclusions were reached. Good book.
Rating:
Summary: THIS BOOK IS A MORAL COLLAPSE!!
Review: Mr Bennet says nothing every other right wing looney has been sceeching for a decade! The Gays will destroy us! Divorce will ruin us! The Liberals are taking this country to H-E-DOUBLE HOCKEY STICKS!! The Founding Fathers Mr Bennet is so fond of were Radicals, aka Liberals, not Reactionaries, aka Conservatives. Jefferson, Washington, Madison and Paine were the people who started this country,they believed in the rights of the accused, seperation of powers, division of church and state. The conservatives went back to England!! Please Mr Bennet, go back to England: The England of 1777, where your prejudices and narrow mindedness can find a happier home than here in this awful, liberal, radical, wonderful country!!!!
Rating:
Summary: Courageously pro-tradition
Review: Mr. Bennett covers marriage and children with a lot of commonsense and backs up his ideas with statistics. He does put a lot of Christian teaching into the book which is interesting, but I don't think it should be a necessary part of dispensing common sense. While the lengthy chapter on gay marriage was well thought out, I found it weakened the overall thrust of the book (that we should recommit to marriage and family) because I really don't think most people care whether gays marry, and can't see much direct impact on our own families as a result. To devote such a large portion of the book to it was wasteful of the reader's attention to more urgent issues such as the delinquency of our children and their schoolmates, and the fact that divorce makes us unhappier, poorer and lonelier still. Mr. Bennett's overall thrust is ahead of its time in courageously goring the sacred cow of "our right to self-satisfaction". I subtracted one star because the writing style is aimed at the PhD's among us (lots of triple-credit-words)...Mr. Bennett's future editor please take note....and along with the aloof vocabulary, the unnecessary new-testament-thumping, and lost-in-the-weeds march through New Hampshire's gay marriage law. The book could have reached a far bigger audience were it not for this, and I fear it will be lost in the Church reading room instead of put on the high school reading list.
Rating:
Summary: Courageously pro-tradition
Review: Mr. Bennett covers marriage and children with a lot of commonsense and backs up his ideas with statistics. He does put a lot of Christian teaching into the book which is interesting, but I don't think it should be a necessary part of dispensing common sense. While the lengthy chapter on gay marriage was well thought out, I found it weakened the overall thrust of the book (that we should recommit to marriage and family) because I really don't think most people care whether gays marry, and can't see much direct impact on our own families as a result. To devote such a large portion of the book to it was wasteful of the reader's attention to more urgent issues such as the delinquency of our children and their schoolmates, and the fact that divorce makes us unhappier, poorer and lonelier still. Mr. Bennett's overall thrust is ahead of its time in courageously goring the sacred cow of "our right to self-satisfaction". I subtracted one star because the writing style is aimed at the PhD's among us (lots of triple-credit-words)...Mr. Bennett's future editor please take note....and along with the aloof vocabulary, the unnecessary new-testament-thumping, and lost-in-the-weeds march through New Hampshire's gay marriage law. The book could have reached a far bigger audience were it not for this, and I fear it will be lost in the Church reading room instead of put on the high school reading list.
Rating: 
Summary: A Mixed Bag
Review: Mr. Bennett is often insightful and always articulate but he is oddly inconsistent. The premise of many of his proposals is that Big Government needs to be bigger and to actively interpose itself into decisions such as whether a married couple will stay together or not. He does this because of his conclusion (against evidence which is actually quite mixed) that he knows what is best for most couples. It is a very strange kind of conservative who would spread government power more deeply into personal life.
Rating:
Summary: Reverse Negative Social Trends for Your Children!
Review: Mr. William J. Bennett correctly points out that the last 40 years in the United States has seen an astonishing rise in the frequency of divorce, unmarried cohabitation, illegitimacy, women working, use of contraceptives, and abortion. One impact of these shifts is that many fewer children grow up in homes with two parents who love one another and spend time being positive influences with their children. Citing many studies, Mr. Bennett points out that this shift is putting future generations at risk, and potentially undermining the quality of American life. Few would argue that sundered families and people having to work who would prefer not to while young children still live at home are anything other than negative influences. How can we change that? The answer is less clear. Basically, Mr. Bennett argues that it has something to do with a lot of factors including media adulation of celebrities who flaunt immoral behavior, a change in social mores to put the interests of adult happiness ahead of family responsibilities, legislation that has made it easier to divorce or secure funds to support illegitimate children, lack of moral leadership in this area by many religious people, and encouragement of gay and lesbian sexual activities. Mr. Bennett basically argues that divorce laws should be made tougher (such as repealing no-fault divorce), illegitimacy should be financially discouraged by legislators (by continuing tough limits on funds for child welfare), gay and lesbian relationships should not receive legal recognition, and religious leaders should come down strongly in favor of building and maintaining traditional, nuclear families. Mr. Bennett comes at the problem from the disclosed perspective of someone who is a lifelong Catholic and who grew up in a family that experienced divorce. I'm not so sure the solutions are as clear as the book indicates. Changing attitudes has to be the base line for improvement in families. Much of such changes will basically come from disseminating information that alerts people to the problems they and those they love will experience as a result of various kinds of behavior. To do that will require a lot more research on questions like when divorce is a better solution than continuing a marriage (few would argue against divorce for those who are in physical danger, for example), how children raised in gay and lesbian relationships fare compared to not being in a loving home, making people see taking emotional and financial responsibility for their children as a necessity, and how to encourage people to build strong and lasting good marriages. For example, one could argue that it should be a lot more difficult to get married. Ultimately, this book raises major questions about where the line should be drawn between public influence on private behavior. I doubt if very many are going to favor reducing choices in personal relationships. Most people do want to be admired and appreciated. Almost everyone wants to have an emotionally and financial secure life. How can those fundamental human instincts become factors in building a stronger society for our children? We clearly need people to take on leadership roles in pointing out ways to improve the lives of children. Workplaces need to become much less toxic for moms and dads in terms of time, travel and emotional commitment away from home. Children need to be taught the negative consequences of personal decisions (people who divorce and remarry are more likely to divorce again than those in first marriages, raising children as a single parent is tough on kids and adults, and cohabiting before marriage doesn't seem to reduce the later rate of divorce). . Ultimately, our best bet is probably the many children who saw divorce not work very well for them and their parents will be more cautious in their own choice of partners and work harder to build and maintain their marriages. Mr. Bennett's views will probably offend many. He sees gay and lesbian sexual practices as being a choice for many people, rather than being an irresistible proclivity. Seeing such relationships as contrary to religious texts and the heterosexual family unit, he wants to see these sexual practices discouraged rather than encouraged. Although he does not oppose divorce for everyone in all situations, those whose spouses are manipulative will see tougher divorce laws as simply a way to make the consequences of divorce even more traumatic for those who justifiably need the divorces. Will more women and children suffer physical and sexual abuse if divorce is more difficult? It's hard to know, but it is certainly possible. I doubt if we can recreate what many people like to think of fondly as the loving families of the 1940s and 1950s. We do need to begin with where we are today and make it better. I don't know how, but I would certainly like to know and would act on that knowledge. I'm sure most other people would, too. I graded this book as five stars for raising an important subject of how to build stronger families, and as one star for solutions. I averaged that out to three stars. Perhaps no one else could do any better with the current state of our knowledge, so seriously consider reading this book as a moral exhortation to give your marriage or committed relationship a better chance to work. Be the parent you would like to have!
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