"Mommy can I talk to God?

From the very beginning of time religion has been part of our society, it has been all over the world, counties have gone to war over religion. Here in the United States, there are many many religions, you step outside and see a church almost in every corner. Many Americans are religious, but why is religion so important and how does it affect the family, does it even affect family relationships?

Faith in Family Life

What does Faith mean? 
According to Joseph Smith faith is defined as "not only a belief but as a the principle of action in all intelligent beings."
There are many benefits that come with being actively religious

• religious affiliaction reduces the odds of marital infidelity as compared to those who aren't religious.

• in a study conducted with married couples, those who reported to have high religious importance but low church attendance were reported to have higher risk of marital infidelity.
          As we can see there is a strong correlation with church attendance and infidelity. I believe that this has to do in part with when we attend church we are reminded of the things that we should be doing and what we shouldn't. We hear sermons, lectures, testimonies and what not. This tends to keep us on track because if we were to be tempted to be unfaithful then our conscious would not leave us alone. It's one thing to say that you believe but it's another to actually show your belief, though church attendance and through your words and deeds. 
• being religious also has an impact on avoiding pornography, violence & conflict.Greater Church attendance reduces the rate of pornography use. another interesting finding involved those men who attend church more frequently than their wife our partner. When spouses each go to a different church, it increases domestic violence and marital failure.
  • time and time again I have see many families torn due to different religious practices within the home. The church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints councils it's members to marry those within the same faith, for many reasons one being this exact finding, it is much harder to live in a happily marriage when the same religion isn't practiced by both parents, the conflict of which religion will we raise the kids in also comes up.
  "high levels of religious involvement - when dissimilar or unshared may contribute to instability and volatility instead of marital satisfaction, stability and durability.
• now lets shift to a different aspect of religion and mothers. Findings have shown that religious women are more likely to have children. It seems that the the importance religion places on a women's life shapes her desire for having children.
• religion influences important family decisions like, marriage, children, when to marry, what to look for in a spouse. 
• communities also benefit from women who are religious as they tend to have families which in turn help communities grow and succeed

• Men and religion tend to mix very well. There are many things that men do or don't do when they are religious. The more religious they are they tend to 
  • remain sexually chaste before marriage and faithful after marriage.
  • are and remain commited to marriage and children during difficult times, not giving into divorce.
  • highly involved in the lives of their children and their wife and they parent with more love.
  • remain involved with their children when challenges come along.
  • avoid practices that will harm the family, such as addictions, violence, infidelity and so on.
   

• prayers have also show to help strength marriage, especially when the couples pray together.

 Religion seems to bring something into the family and the marriage that you can't find anywhere else. As both the wife and husband strive to worship together and to attend church together the family will be much more united. They will feel a sense of peace, a sense of belonging but most of all a sense of purpose in life.