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This article discusses "family values" as a moral and political concept. For the rock music tour, see Family Values Tour . ''Family values'' is a political Buzzword first used in the United States in 1966 to describe a set of moral guidelines for defining the "proper" structure and role of a Family and its members, supported by appeals to tradition. Most often, the term connotes a Conservative ideology that supports what they consider to be traditional Christian Morality or Christian Values . Typically, "family values" is employed as a Code Word for Christian Values as put forth by some groups of American Christians who see their Religion as the sole source of morality and consider the Nuclear Family to be an essential element in society. These groups variously oppose Abortion , Pornography , Pre-marital Sex , Homosexuality , Feminism , Contraception , Cohabitation , Divorce , and depictions of Nudity , Sexuality and Profanity in the media. Some conservative family values advocates believe the government should explicitly endorse Christian morality, for example by displaying the Ten Commandments or allowing teachers to conduct Prayer s in public schools. The view of the United States as a "Christian nation" is widespread among conservative family values proponents. {Link without Title} In contrast to the view of family values held by the Christian Right , Liberal groups such as People For The American Way , Planned Parenthood , and Parents And Friends Of Lesbians And Gays have attempted to redefine the concept in a way that promotes liberal interests and ideology, including normalization of single-parent families, same-sex monogamous relationships and marriage, and unmarried monogamous couples. This understanding of family values does not promote conservative morality, instead focusing on encouraging and supporting alternative family structures, access to Contraception , Abortion , comprehensive Sex Education , childcare, and parent-friendly employment laws. HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE As societies have shifted economically from agriculture to industry, Extended Families have largely given way to Nuclear Families . Family values, also, do not remain fixed and rigid; they change in response to economic, political, and cultural developments. They vary from country to country, and even between different households. Before the 20th Century , for example, in most places and at most times, the idea of a married woman seeking status and recognition independent of her husband would have constituted a breach of family values. Many societies expected women to focus exclusively on household duties. FAMILY VALUES IN U.S. POLITICS Since 1980 , the Republican Party has used the issue of family values to attract socially conservative voters, especially those in the South and Middle America . While family values remains a rather vague concept, social conservatives usually understand the term to include some combination of the following principles, to be supported and enforced by the government through laws and regulations:
The use of "family values" as a political term became widespread after a , says that this brief remark by Quayle about Murphy Brown "kicked off more than a decade of outcries against the 'collapse of the family.'" {Link without Title} "Family values" remains a core issue for the party. It played a significant role in President George W. Bush 's Re-election in 2004 . The Democratic Party has also tried to use the term family values, with their own definition, to attract Social Conservatives to its ranks. However, the Democrat's definition of family values is incompatible with that of Social Conservatives ; indeed Democrats who describe themselves as having social conservative values are now increasingly attracted to the Republican party. Organizations that promote conservative family values
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