Illegitimacy, together with divorce, is a scourge that has steadily eroded the sanctity of marriage in America, a nation steeped in Judeo-Christian values that should know better. Over 40% of live births are now to single mothers, and a growing number of women deliberately choose single motherhood, even through artificial insemination. In these situations the father becomes disposable, and fatherhood dwindles to little more than sperm donation. Such living resembles the temporary liaisons of studs and broodmares, an image God Himself uses when He condemns Judah's lustful neighing in Jeremiah 13:27 and 5:8. God did not create the family to work this way. He established marriage as the basis of the family in Genesis 2:24, forbade sexual activity outside marriage in the seventh commandment (Exodus 20:14), and placed a stigma on illegitimacy in Deuteronomy 23:2: "One of illegitimate birth shall not enter the assembly of the LORD; even to the tenth generation." He wanted His people to be a nation of whole families, because stable families produce the best citizens. The pre-Flood world, where men took whatever wives they chose, shows that disordered unions produce a society that ends in disaster. The fifth commandment likewise codifies God's desire for stable families. Fathers are a vital part of raising a secure, well-rounded individual, and more often than not a home with a father is a better environment for children than one without.

Childbearing outside of wedlock has become shamefully common, reflecting the moral state of a nation shaped by the sexual revolution. In 2004 nearly 36 percent of American births were to unmarried mothers, up from 10.7 percent in 1970, and almost a quarter of those mothers were teenagers. Far from liberating young women, unwed motherhood most often dooms them to lifelong hardship. The mother is bound to a baby needing round-the-clock care, usually forfeits college, and lands in low-wage, dead-end work that requires government assistance. Socially, the father typically offers minimal, sporadic, reluctant support, and without marriage she has no legal means to compel him. Her prospects of finding a husband shrink, and living with a man outside marriage falls far short of marriage's benefits. Emotionally, unmarried first-time mothers suffer markedly higher rates of depression than married ones, which in turn puts their children at risk of lasting adjustment problems. Most unwed mothers lack the resources that celebrities have to cushion these hardships, which are inherent in the curse of breaking God's law on premarital sex. Behind the command "You shall not commit adultery" (Exodus 20:14), which covers all sexual immorality, lies great love; God does not want any young woman to suffer the adversities single motherhood brings through sin. The wise, tried-and-true course is to abstain from sexual relations until marriage, which significantly improves quality of life.

Roughly a third of America's births are now illegitimate, a sign of moral decline that followed the spread of divorce and open promiscuity after World War II. Out-of-wedlock sex is nearly universal, and the cheapening of the marriage covenant erodes society, just as it did in Rome, whose decline began when easy divorce and promiscuity undermined the traditional family. Marriage is humanity's founding institution, established by God when He united Adam and Eve (Genesis 2:21-24), and all stable, enduring societies cherish the lifelong bond of one man and one woman. Traditional marriages produce children who extend the nation's existence, ideals, goals, and wealth into the next generation, and traditional families are healthier, more stable, and more productive than other kinds. Hebrews 13:4 declares that marriage is honorable and the bed undefiled, but God will judge fornicators and adulterers. Fornication covers all sexual immorality, so sexual relations outside marriage are defiling. Christian husbands and wives should therefore strengthen their own marriages, honoring God and setting an example of love and unity for their children, so that a stable foundation remains even if society crumbles.

Births outside marriage are part of the breakdown of the family, which God ordained from creation as the one institution that will survive into eternity. Disregarding the fifth commandment, and the family structure it protects, brings a higher mortality rate and more crime. Children from single-parent households account for 72% of teenage murderers and 60% of rapists, and they are eleven times more likely to show violent behavior. The black community shows the effects most starkly. In 1950, five of every six black children were born into two-parent homes; today fewer than two of six are, and over 70% of black babies are born to single mothers. Over the same period, homicide became the leading cause of death for young black men, and their suicide rates, prison populations, dropout rates, and unemployment rose sharply. Life expectancy for black men is 69 years against 75 for white men. These figures establish a relationship between breaking the fifth commandment and a truncated lifespan. A nation's well-being depends on the well-being of its families, because the family is where people learn their worth and learn to honor rules, principles, and law. When the family is undermined, the nation is undermined. Marriage rates have also fallen by about half since 1970, and married people live longer than single people.

Births outside of wedlock have climbed steeply, and the result is fatherlessness. In 1970, 3% of births to white mothers and 24% of births to black mothers were out of wedlock. By 1990 the figures were 18% of white births, 64% of black births, and 34% of Hispanic births. By 2016 they were 28% for whites, 52% for Hispanics, and 69% for blacks. Children in father-absent homes are four times more likely to be poor, and they tend toward higher drug use, more violence, lower grades, and more suicide. Fathers are a necessary part of God's plan for the family. A family can survive without one, but not easily. Once, a shotgun marriage, in which a man married the mother of his child, was the expected response to an unplanned pregnancy. It was not always right, but the child at least was born with a father. Today the world treats marriage as a quaint tradition, abortion as birth control, and fathers as excess baggage or sperm donors. Even a poor father is better than none, since he can learn and improve and his child can decide what to follow, while no father leaves a vacuum a mother can hardly fill. This is no call for a woman to stay in an abusive relationship, and it does not diminish single mothers. Men are responsible to be godly fathers and husbands who take responsibility for their actions.

Richard Ritenbaugh acknowledges that young people display a proclivity to accept socialism, oblivious to the horrendous damage socialist experiments have brought to the world. Politicians of the ilk of Bernie Sanders have fomented hatred toward capitalism by comparing it to an imaginary utopia. Economist Walter Williams insists that the free market, with all its warts, is far superior to collectivism at protecting people from poverty. Poverty is not usually an economic issue but stems from ethical and moral deficits. Socialism simply transfers wealth to the leaders of a government, leaving most of the citizenry in greater poverty. Williams, in his article, "Do These Four Things to Avoid Poverty," suggests that a young person, to keep his nose above poverty or failure, needs to (1.) complete high school, (2.) get a job, (3.) get married before having children, and (4.) be a law-abiding citizen. Poverty is self-caused—not the result of society, bad laws or systemic bigotry. Young people who drop out of school, take drugs, and fornicate set themselves up for failure. The law is no problem for those who obey it, but it will break those who break it, making it difficult to rebound.