Book excerpt: Sixty years ago, the UN declared the family to be the "natural and fundamental" unit of society. Today, many people are unsure as to what the word "family" even means. In response to this confusion, The Natural Family: Bulwark of Liberty defines the family based on universal human experience. Insisting, without apology, on the reality of the "natural family," the manifesto issues a personal call to men and women to rediscover this fundamental source of life, joy, and freedom.Carlson and Mero frankly admit that those who should have defended marriage were asleep when the full-scale assault on the family began in the 1960s. Even more seriously, most of them joined the assault by eventually adopting the very assumptions--philosophical, social, and economic--which almost extinguished the family's traditional legal and social privileges. "Family values" is now an empty slogan for those with some nostalgic attachment to the family, but who have no idea what the family really is.Carlson and Mero examine why the family is in crisis, the ways in which the natural family is the source of culture and freedom, and what families can do to preserve the most fundamental and wholesome relationship on earth. Assured that human nature is on their side, Carlson and Mero can be both realistic about the family's plight and relentlessly optimistic about the future. The Natural Family is a road map, especially for the young, for rebuilding a culture of freedom, joy, and love. "Perhaps the most succinct, thorough, and impressive pro-family argument yet made."BOOKLIST