Irreplaceable

Presented by faith-based organization Focus on the Family, this documentary was made by Tim Sisarich, a father of five, who is the former head of Focus on the Family's New Zealand branch. Here, Sisarich travels around the world exploring why family no longer holds primacy in many cultures, even though the interviewees share his belief that family should come before everything and is part of God's plan. The participants include authors, historians, philosophers, and representatives of Christian organizations, many of whom feel that the government is now the enemy of the family. Sisarich identifies other contributing factors to the erosion of family life, including abortion, divorce, the sexual revolution, and extramarital sex. Among high school and college students, he refers specifically to hookups. “When you devalue sex,” Sisarich states, “you devalue marriage.” Broadcaster Michael Medved dismisses the oft-quoted mis-statistic that half of all marriages end in divorce, claiming that the number is closer to 30%, citing U.S. Census Bureau data. With the overriding emphasis on heterosexuality here, gay couples and single parents are absent, although conversations with male and female prisoners, who all lacked strong role models, seem less agenda-driven. Hailed by Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, Irreplaceable doesn't seem all that inclusive in a broad Christian sense, but it does raise serious questions while attempting to offer answers from a Christian fundamentalist perspective. A strong optional purchase. (K. Fennessy)