This is part two in a series. The previous post addressed how illegitimacy pays homage to the image of God in human beings. This series is not a diatribe intended to assign blame, but rather it attempts to link our distinct human nature to a distinctly human condition.
Illegitimacy is a paradoxical state, in that while it does not devalue a person essentially, it does diminish a person existentially. In this case 'existential' denotes the consequences which are caused by a particular condition without affecting one’s innate human worth. Two obvious consequences are the internal shame and the external stigmas. Additional consequences are circumstantial, yet tend to be heavily concentrated among the illegitimate as a subset of racial and socioeconomic groups. Although the Hoover Institution article focuses on the link to criminality, the original Heritage Foundation article addresses a broader range of issues. Further treatment is conducted in other articles concerning illegitimacy and its relationship to welfare, family structure, and public policy. The research and commentary on these subjects is extensive. Interestingly however, I found nothing on this topic on the NARAL or Planned Parenthood websites, and only articles connecting illegitimacy to legislation on the NOW site. I expected more attention on this subject from organizations which claim concern for women’s welfare, empowerment, and reproductive rights.
That notwithstanding, the consequential diminishment of individuals subsists in their illegitimacy to the degree that certain conditions are more likely to occur to their detriment. As written in the prior post, those conditions include poverty, poor health, poor educational achievement, high crime rates, and substance abuse. This does not absolutely preclude a favorable familial experience or upbringing, but such a beneficial scenario is much more difficult to establish or maintain within the context of illegitimacy. The point is that the effect on illegitimate individuals accumulates within the neighborhoods, societies, and nations in which they are citizens. This is especially true when the rates of illegitimacy rise as they have in the U.S. Hence, the detriments of illegitimacy have a cumulative effect by exacerbating social problems. Accordingly, the entire society has a natural interest in addressing illegitimacy as a causal link to certain depredations of life.
But what of those who have directly caused this condition? I speak namely of the fathers and mothers of these children. Are they not to be held to account for the deprived familial condition which they have created? After all, the government did not dispatch agents to impregnate anyone. Nor has it given orders for any man to do so. That notwithstanding, government has subsidized certain conditions and behaviors which lead to illegitimacy and can be held to account for its egregious enabling. Still, as stated at the outset, this is not a blame game. In fact, the purpose of this series is to demonstrate that the truth of Imago Dei is indispensable for understanding human nature and ameliorating the human condition.
Although easily identified, apart from the Imago Dei, these cause/effect relationships are purely materialistic in their distinction. Ultimately, the immaterial soul bears the brunt of the effect. The resulting distress is no less real and lingers for a lifetime. The illegitimate who come face to face with the reality of their state in comparison to those who are legitimate, realize at some point that they possess less in regard to beneficial behavioral knowledge, because they are less by way a lack of the rudimentary knowledge of normative familial experiences. Those experiences are necessary for the formation of natural bonds and normal identity which acculturate us within family and society. Therefore, being illegitimate, they both exist and operate outside of the established norm. Despite varying degrees of tolerance for illegitimacy over time and across cultures, that norm is not arbitrary but firmly established throughout nearly six thousand years of recorded history.
Unsurprisingly, illegitimacy creates widows and orphans by default because it consists of women without husbands and children without fathers. Of course I understand that a widow was once wed, but upon the death of her husband, except for the lack of shame, she effectively becomes much like the unwed mother. Moreover, the shame of unwed motherhood is natural regardless of cultural acceptance. Despite all manner of religious orthodoxies or secular persuasions, it is ultimately the Imago Dei which creates shame in such a situation. Humanity is distinctly favored with the moral acumen necessary for the manifestation of shame and the accompanying expectation of judgment. Still, there is another element which is necessary to incite shame and judgment. That element is the Law of God. More to come…
Humbly Submitted
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