MND Roundtable Discussion on
Fathers' Rights and the Marriage Movement

A four round discussion between experts and advocates;
September 29, October 2, October 6, and October 9.

Introduction to the MND Roundtable on Fathers' Rights and the Marriage Movement

Fathers' rights advocates are generally not opposed to marriage. Some would see an anti-father component in a pro-marriage position as contradictory. Nonetheless, in the broad spectrum of political debate, there have been occasional rubs between those who want government to promote marriage and analysts and advocates who have focused on fathers' rights.

In an effort to sort things out, MND has invited four of the most involved minds to participate in a roundtable discussion on Fathers' Rights and the Marriage Movement. The event promises to provide readers with greater insight into fathers' rights and marriage movement issues and how discussion participants see their relationship.

Rebecca O'Neill, family policy researcher with the independent think-tank Civitas: The Institute for the Study of Civil Society in London has analyzed 30 years of data on changing trends in family life, concluding that the traditional family is best. [1][2][3] Civitas' suggestion that the UK government should do more to encourage people to live in traditional family units drew national attention.

Stephen Baskerville is a professor in the Political Science Department at Howard University and a well known fathers' rights advocate. He organized the first national conferences on fatherhood held in the United States. His articles related to fatherhood have appeared in newspapers, magazines, and journals in several countries. He gives a weekly radio address in Washington D.C. and has appeared on such programs as The O'Reilly Factor.

Tom Sylvester is an affiliate scholar at the Institute for American Values and co-editor of Father Facts, 4th Edition, published by the National Fatherhood Initiative, a government sponsored activity that is not connected to the grass-roots fathers' rights movement. He is also a regular commenter at MarriageMovement.org.

Roger F. Gay is well known for his research on and critisism of child support guidelines and child support policy as well as his reporting, analysis, and commentary at Men's News Daily. He contributed expert testimony in a federal case on child support guidelines, has submitted testimony to Congress on child support numerous times over the past decade, and has advised child support guideline review committee members in several states.