The proclamation is a prophetic document not only
because it was issued by prophets, but because it was
ahead of its time.
It was then, and is now, a clarion call to protect and
strengthen families and a stern warning in a world where
declining values and misplaced priorities threaten to destroy
society by undermining this basic unit.
It warns against many of the very things that have
threatened and undermined families during the last
decade and calls for the priority and the emphasis
families need, if they are to survive in an environment that
seems ever more toxic to traditional marriage and to
parent-child relationships.
Our family-centered perspective should make Latter-day
Saints strive to be the best parents in the world.
It should give us enormous respect for our children, who
truly are our spiritual siblings, and it should cause
us to devote whatever time is necessary to
strengthen our families.
Indeed nothing is more critically connected to
happiness, both our own and that of our children, than how
well we love and support one another within the family.
Our communities and neighborhoods will be safer
and stronger, as people of all faiths work together to
strengthen families.
As we hold up like a banner the proclamation to the world
on the family, and as we live and teach the gospel of Jesus
Christ, we will fulfill the measure of our
creation here on earth.
We will find peace and happiness here and in the
world to come.