MEN AND FAITH

Father's Day is around the corner, and as Rebecca Hagelin writes in her latest column, the gifts we receive on that one day pale in comparison to the gifts we can GIVE on the other 364 days of the year.

We also see religion’s beneficial effect when it comes to fatherhood. Church-going fathers are more involved with their children “They’re more affectionate, and they’re stricter with their kids,” Wilcox says. “We can see, for instance, in youth-related activities that active Evangelical dads spend about 3.5 hours more per week compared to unaffiliated dads.”

Religion, in short, is a powerful influence for good within families, but why? Wilcox cites four reasons: For one thing, it provides key “family-oriented rituals,” such as baptisms, that give fatherhood a religious character. Second, churches host activities that allow men to spend time with their families. Third, churches are often home to social networks that lend support at crucial times. Last, but certainly not least, is spirituality. As Wilcox puts it:

“There’s a sense that God is a part of their lives and gives emotional security to them. This is important because one of the key factors leading to marital problems and problems with parenting is stress. Things like unemployment, especially for men, or a death in the family can lead to poor parenting or poor marriage behaviors for men. If men can offer these problems up to God, God can provide them with a sense of security and direction in terms of how to deal with these things in a productive way.”