The Two-Parent Privilege is both quite insightful and very lacking
November 11, 2023
Melissa Kearney’s The Two-Parent Privilege has caused something of a stir: a mainstream American academic (an economist) at a mainstream public university (Maryland) writing for a mainstream American university publisher (Chicago) in 2023, arguing that the decoupling of childbearing from marriage in America is not a good thing.
Reviewing this book, I am confronted by the Mark 9:40 versus Matthew 12:30 dilemma. Mark (and Luke) have Jesus telling His disciples, “Whoever is not against us is for us,” while Matthew has Him saying, “Whoever is not with me is against me.” Though contrasting, those two positions need not be mutually exclusive. It’s also my approach to this book.
