Defending culture and the family
Freedom needs stability. People who live with too much uncertainty or fear will sacrifice freedom for safety. Just as stability allows people to create and invest in the marketplace, it also lets people build up “social capital”—the network of relationships and trust that undergird any successful society. And at the core of a stable society is the traditional family.
The family is also the most local form of government. When we talk about “local control” and “self-government,” we should think first of the family rather than city hall or the school board. Out of families come other kinds of voluntary organizations: churches, social clubs, sports leagues, charities, and more. We should resist government’s tendency to expand and crowd out family and community. After all, there is a stark difference between social structures based on trust, hope, and love, and government programs that are always, ultimately, based on coercion.
Because the traditional family is at the core of a stable society, and because it is under such fierce attack from the cultural left, it deserves greater support from public policy. Through our research and advocacy, OCPA’s Center for Culture and the Family is advancing public policies which will reverse family decline and promote healthy cultural norms that are under assault by woke radicals.
Promoting family formation by opposing policies that discourage marriage or encourage multigenerational dependency
Requiring public-school students to play sports and use restrooms based on their sex
Prohibiting sex-change surgeries, puberty blockers, and other experimental treatments for minors euphemistically called “gender-affirming care”
Guaranteeing parents the right to review their children’s public-school curricula and other materials
Prohibiting classroom instruction for young children on sexual orientation or gender identity and prohibiting any instruction that is not age-appropriate
Mainstreaming the importance of the “success sequence” (get a skill, get a job, then get married before having children)
Mainstreaming the importance of a non-governmental safety net and all the benefits and protections associated with it
Mainstreaming the value and importance of work
Preserving religious liberty and free speech
Enacting universal school choice so that parents are empowered to raise their children in accordance with their values
Featured Articles
“Traditional family key to economic health of nation”
By Brandon Dutcher
“Family intactness, parental participation, and student performance”
By Wendy Warcholik, Ph.D.
“Oklahoma’s confusing bathroom policy: context and legal background”
By Ryan Haynie and Kimberly M. Richey
“What is ‘pro-family’ public policy? Here are some principles”
By Brandon Dutcher
“Religion helps Oklahoma’s fight against illicit drug use and overdoses”
By J. Scott Moody and Wendy Warcholik, Ph.D.
“A closer look at ‘gender-affirming care’”
By Jonathan Small
“‘Save Women’s Sports Act’ advances in Oklahoma”
By Ray Carter
“For education, fathers matter”
By Jonathan Small
“The negative impact of multi-generational welfare”
By J. Scott Moody and Wendy Warcholik, Ph.D.
"As OU touts ‘gender-affirming’ care, ex-transgenders warn against it"
By Staci Elder Hensley
“Union advises teachers to hide information from parents”
By Ray Carter
“The importance of family”
By Jonathan Small
“The value of the college premium—and the marriage premium”
By J. Scott Moody and Wendy Warcholik, Ph.D.
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