Fathers are a biological essential for the fact of our lives, but well beyond this, in a troubled and chaotic world good fathers are needed more than ever.
Hi, I’m Rex Rogers and this is episode #266 of Discerning What Is Best, a podcast applying unchanging biblical principles in a rapidly changing world, and a Christian worldview to current issues and everyday life.
Fathers are more important than ever in modern American society because the culture is increasingly marked by social instability, moral disagreement, and declining religious influence. The role of a committed father remains a powerful source of guidance, stability, and character formation for children and families.
“There is a crisis in America. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 19.7 million children in America—more than one in four—live without their biological dad in the home. Consequently, there is a “father factor” in nearly all of the societal issues facing America today. We must realize there is a father absence crisis in America and begin to raise more involved, responsible, and committed fathers.”
“Research shows when a child grows up in a father-absent home, he or she is…
1) Four Times More Likely to Live in Poverty
2) More Likely to Suffer Emotional and Behavioral Problems
3) Two Times Greater Risk of Infant Mortality
4) More Likely to go to Prison
One in five prison inmates had a father in prison.
5) More Likely to Commit Crime
Family structure significantly predicts delinquency.
6) Seven Times More Likely to Become Pregnant as a Teen
Teens without fathers are twice as likely to be involved in early sexual activity and seven times more likely to get pregnant as an adolescent.
7) More Likely to Face Abuse and Neglect
Compared to children living with married biological parents, those whose single parent had a live-in partner had more than 8 times the rate of maltreatment overall, over 10 times the rate of abuse and more than 6 times the rate of neglect.
8) More Likely to Abuse Drugs and Alcohol
9) Two Times More Likely to Suffer Obesity
10) Two Times More Likely to Drop Out of High School
Students living in father-absent homes are twice as likely to repeat a grade in school.
Father involvement in schools is associated with the higher likelihood of their children getting mostly A's.”
· “85% of youths in prison come from fatherless homes.
· 71% of high school dropouts come from fatherless homes.
· 90% of all homeless and runaway children come from fatherless homes.
· 60% of youth suicides come from fatherless homes.”
“Perhaps a more universal problem is father irrelevance. Too many fathers in our society are not necessarily absent from their homes, but they are certainly uninvolved in the lives of their children. These men are often disconnected emotionally, socially, and certainly spiritually.”
One of the defining features of contemporary life is the sheer volume of competing messages that children encounter every day. Through social media, entertainment, and the internet, young people are exposed to countless viewpoints—many of them morally degenerate—about identity, values, success, and relationships. In such an environment, a father can serve as a steady and trustworthy influence. Rather than allowing a child to be shaped primarily by online trends, vacuous celebrities, or peer pressure, an engaged father helps provide a consistent framework for making decisions and evaluating right from wrong.
Moral relativism has also become increasingly common in American culture. Moral relativism is the idea that moral truths are largely subjective and dependent on individual preferences or circumstances. Many parents are concerned about how to raise children in this relativistic environment, children who then will mature with strong convictions, integrity, and a sense of responsibility. Fathers play a critical role in this process. Through their actions, discipline, and example, fathers can teach virtues such as honesty, courage, self-control, respect, and accountability. Children often learn these values less from lectures and more from observing how their fathers live.
The decline of religious participation has further increased the importance of fathers. For generations, religious institutions helped transmit moral teachings, provide community support, and reinforce family values. For religious families, fathers help pass down faith and spiritual traditions. For nonreligious families, fathers still serve a vital role in helping children develop ethical principles, purpose, and a sense of belonging.
Upstanding fathers are also important because society benefits when families are strong. Research has frequently linked a strong nuclear family unit and a positive father involvement with better outcomes for children in areas such as education, emotional well-being, and social development. A loving and responsible father, one who has “been there, done that,” can help children build confidence, resilience, and healthy relationships.
Importantly, the significance of fathers does not diminish the importance of mothers. Both parents contribute unique strengths to family life. Nevertheless, fathers bring distinctive perspectives, experiences, and forms of support that can have a lasting impact on a child’s development.
“The breakdown of morality in our society is contributing to this disturbing trend. Traditional values that once served as guiding principles seem to be waning, leaving a moral vacuum in which right and wrong are increasingly ambiguous.
The erosion of moral foundations means that young people are less equipped to distinguish between ethical choices and destructive actions.”
In a society buffeted by growing chaos, moral uncertainty, and weakening traditional institutions, the presence of a devoted father with an admirable moral compass provides stability and direction. By modeling responsibility, teaching values, setting right boundaries and accountability, while offering unwavering support, fathers help prepare the next generation to navigate a complex world with wisdom, confidence, and character.
As we’ve noted, “fathers are crucial to the healthy development of children, particularly sons. If there is one great wrong feminism must be held to account for, it is the devaluation of men’s role in the family. In their quest for self-actualization, the second-wave feminists scorned men and fathers, insisting that women were fine on their own. To be sure, men should be held to high standards. Men who fail to honor and respect women deserve obloquy. But by defaming men as a class and dismissing the importance of fathers in children’s lives, feminists committed a grave error. Social science research confirms what ancient wisdom teaches – from roughhousing with sons to offering their daughters unconditional admiration, fathers play a crucial role in children’s lives. Girls who grow up without dads have lower self-esteem, more eating disorders, and lower grades, among other things, than girls who have fathers in their lives. Boys who grow up without fathers do even worse. They are less likely to finish high school, attend college, or be employed as adults than even their sisters who also grew up without fathers.”
“From education to personal health to career success, children who lack a father find themselves at a disadvantage to their peers raised in a two-parent household.”
My father has been in heaven now for eight years. Doesn’t seem possible it’s been that long. He was a hard-working man, a farm kid if you will who could fix anything, and he was a Christian believer who consistently sought to live his life according to the teachings of Scripture. He loved Mom, who misses him to this day, and he loved my sister and me. Beyond this, he taught me most of what I needed to know to begin life as a man, not as a spoiled or immature kid. What he taught me was love for the Lord and Christian commitment, work ethic, and respect for others.
My wife, too, was blessed with a father like this, but not everyone is. If you had a bad father or a deadbeat dad or a father whose choices and behaviors you are ashamed of, then choose by the grace of God to not be him. Fathers are influential but we are still individually blessed with free will and an ability to think and choose right from wrong. It’s the passed baton. It’s our turn now.
Fatherhood and good fathers should be celebrated. This follows Christian teaching, honors right behavior, creates role models for children, and benefits and blesses a free society. Praise God the Father for his love. Thank the Lord for good fathers here on earth.
Well, we’ll see you again soon. This podcast is about Discerning What Is Best.
If you find this thought-provoking and helpful, follow us on your favorite podcast platform. For more Christian commentary, see my website, r-e-x-m as in Martin, that’s rexmrogers.com, or check my YouTube channel @DrRexRogers.
And remember, it is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm.
© Rex M. Rogers – All Rights Reserved, 2026
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