Truths about the family are often weaponized and used to fight rather than invite. In this podcast episode, Carol Rice, co-creator of TheFamilyProclamation.org, introduces the website and discusses her hopes that it will equip people with the tools to build families without debating the truths found within the proclamation. Listen to the full episode here.
Tune in to hear why there is “no other site like this in the world” (3:06):
Carol: “The website is basically “The Family: A Proclamation to the World” and we take it paragraph by paragraph and literally sentence by sentence and annotate it. It’s a really beautiful thing to take it line by line and be able to see the scripture, the scholarly science, and people’s personal stories and their own witnesses of what those principles and elements of the family proclamation mean in their lives.”
“We’ve tried to bring together a harmony of faith and reason by using both ancient and modern scripture. Modern, meaning our latter-day prophets and ancient meaning our scriptures (Bible, Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants). And then use that with good science that supports the family proclamation.”
How this project began (4:36):
Carol: “I’ve always really had an interest in home and family. I got my first degree in communications and worked in sales and marketing. But every job I took on was always related, in some way, to the home. It was very home-centric. And through those various jobs I’ve had over the years, I started meeting more and more people who were interested in promoting the family as well.”
“One thing led to another until I was invited to attend the Commission on the Status of Women at the United Nations. I went with a group of delegates who were pro-family and so that matched my values. My experience there impacted me in a very profound and personal way that really opened my eyes to some of the realities about the family that were hard to process.”
“I did see in a very real way that there people there that are actively fighting against the family. That seemed absurd and unbelievable to me, but it’s very real and very coordinated and relentless. It’s strategic and it’s very deliberate.”
How this website can be used as a tool to help people create, strengthen, and heal families (11:20)
Carol: “We want to help people to create families, build families, heal families. The principles taught in the proclamation can do all of these things. if we apply them. We want to be here to give people information to help them do that. There’s no other site out there like this in the world. It’s a tool.”
“Most of the time when we try to defend the family, we are labeled as ‘haters.’ I felt there had to be another way to go about it. I didn’t want to use the truths I knew about the family to fight, I wanted to use them to invite.”
Listen to the full episode here.