The Evils of Co-Parenting

It was reported by TMZ that CNN commentator Van Jones got “baby-fever” during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown and his friend Noemi Zamacona also wanted a kid; therefore, they teamed up to co-parent a new child even though they are not romantically together. Most Christians can see the obvious problems here but just in case your theology is a bit merky, I will point out the evils inherent in this type of social engineering.

The progressive left is (and has for decades) trying to reform society into a secular commonwealth where the norms of a healthy community are turned inside-out. This is done intentionally to transform community and family into something antaginistic to biblical doctrine and in direct opposition to the will of God. 

Without shining too much light on the sheer stupidty of  Van Jones and his ill attempt at parenting; co-parenting is not only unbiblical but, if you were a pure secularist who cares about statistics or data, you would not advocate for this form of family formation. 

It is true that America has been trending away from traditional marriage and child rearing for decades now:

This is often used in defense of single parenting or co-parenting. This is an illogical defense. Just because something is trending or popular does not make it correct or healthy for society. Drug addiction and usage are also much more prominent in America than decades ago, it does not logically conclude that drug use and addiction are less destructive to society. In fact, it is the popularity of single parenting or co-parenting that is destroying America. Two Democratic former presidents (Clinton and Obama) have given speeches in affirmation of traditional marriage and the nuclear family structure. It is unwise and selfish to bring a child into the world (intentionally) without a marriage covenant of one man and one woman.

The moral turpitude of America is declining by the decade in tandem with the disintegration of the American family. No-fault divorce, theological liberalism, feminism, and victim culture are destroying the nuclear family and biblical men should be standing in direct opposition to these evil desires.

Theologically this is a no-brainer; however, with the growing trend of biblical ignorance, even among faith-based communities, it is important that Christians realize how important the family structure is to their communities. God designed humans to marry, stay married, obey Him, and have children. It is part-and-parcel of the divine order.

Marriage is so vital to the divine order that it shows up in the second chapter of Genesis when God is creating humanity: “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh” (Ge 2:24–25). This is a biblical decree, given to creation about how God ordains humanity to evolve together. Jocelyn McWhirter writes:

The Bible begins and ends with marriage (Gen 2:24; Rev 22:20). In between, marriage is a frequent topic:

• There are stories of marriages and married couples (e.g., Gen 3:1–4:2; 12:1–18:15; 21:1–14; 24:1–25:28; 29:1–30:24; Ruth).
• There are rules concerning
• getting married (Deut 22:13–21; 22:28–29; 25:5–10);
• being married (Exod 21:10; Deut 21:10–14; Eph 5:21–33; Col 3:18–19; 1 Pet 3:1–7);
• violating marriage (Exod 20:14; Deut 22:1–27; Matt 5:27–28); and
• ending marriage (Deut 24:1–4; Matt 5:31–32; 19:3–8; 1 Cor 7:12–16).
• There are also passages where marriage is used as a metaphor.
• Christ is likened to a bridegroom and His followers are the wedding guests (Matt 9:14–15; 22:1–14; 25:1–13).
• Marriage of a man and a woman is an image of God and His people (Hos 1:2–3:5; Jer 2:1–4:4)
• or Christ and His church (John 3:28–30; 2 Cor 11:1–3; Rev 19:7–9; 21:2; 22:17–20). –

“Marriage,” ed. John D. Barry et al., The Lexham Bible Dictionary (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016).

Anyone can see, who cares for the supremacy of scripture, that marriage is not an option for parenting, it is not something humans can experiment with. Marriage is a covenant relationship that God established and ordained as the only way men and women have at their disposal to create and foster children. Masculine men and biblical manhood recognize this, supports this, and (maybe most importantly) defend this in their community.

What Van Jones is doing is promulgating an evil version of family and exhorting others to live in disobedience to Jesus Christ, who will come again to judge the living and the dead (John 5:25-29). Unfortunately, many people (many Christians) will look upon this as a shift in the Overton window and regard it as not that important. This is dangerous for the Church and society and anyone who claims to be a disciple of Jesus Christ should shun this form of parenting and fight against co-parenting normality.

The Old Testament has a poignant example regarding this. In Deuteronomy 23, the Law lays out who may, and may not, enter into the Assembly of the Lord: “No one born of a forbidden union may enter the assembly of the LORD. Even to the tenth generation, none of his descendants may enter the assembly of the LORD” (Dt 23:2). The importance of this passage is not to focus on bastard children (even though the Bible does not glorify children created outside of wedlock like we do) and their exclusion from entering. We live under a different covenant through the blood of Jesus Christ; however, Van Jones (and all others who deny the divine order of God) does not.

The use of this particular passage is to show the consequences of forbidden unions. Doing something in direct opposition to the will of God will have permanent, and eternal, fallout. You cannot live in defiance of God’s family structure and not reap what you sow. Van Jones may be able to father a child without serious immediate consequences due, no doubt, to his ivory tower but others will not be as lucky. In addition, all of the children of co-parenting, single parenting, and no-fault divorce suffer because of it.