A Prophet's View Of The "Greatest Challenge Facing" The United States

In April 2003, a few years after the Columbine High School shootings, Gordon B. Hinckley, President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, revered by the Saints as a Prophet of God, spoke at the nearby University of Denver. Among the things he said there is the following important statement about the "greatest challenge facing this nation."

There are ... millions of [young people] whose lives are like smoking candles from which the flame has been blown....  They are the bitter fruit of broken families and fractured homes.  Most of them have no fathers of whom they know.

In my judgment the greatest challenge facing this nation is the problem of the family, brought on by misguided parents and resulting in misguided children....  The family is the primary unit of society.  I believe it was designed by the Almighty.  A nation will rise no higher than the strength of its families.

Lets think together again, soon.

Source: Bruce C. Hafen, Covenant Hearts: Why Marriage Matters and How to Make It Last, (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2005), p. 245.  Citing Gordon B. Hinckley, “Bridges to the Future,” Remarks at University of Denver, 22 April 2003.  For a similar statement by David O. McKay, see the bottom of the previous post.