April 2023: Join The ConVersation

Let the Conversation begin

The Founder’s Reflection

I recently watched a documentary, the Birthgap , on YouTube, detailing the alarming falling birthrates in almost every country outside of sub-Saharan Africa.  There are many reasons for this – including the campaign against having children since the 1960’s to counter the threat of overpopulation.  Within decades we will reach a point of serious decline in workforce, consumers, and students while seeing an increase in an elderly demographic suffering loneliness and struggling with costly health needs.  Within the shadows of those concerns, we see a growing movement to decriminalize prostitution overtly and covertly, and a Netflix documentary choreographed to elicit sympathy for porn performers and cheerlead for “ethical porn.”  The war against intimacy is on, to be replaced by distraction and dissatisfaction born of entitlement.

These are genuine concerns that will open the doors to future harm to families and communities.  The answer, at least in part, may be making fatherhood an attractive element of identity and measure of a successful life.  This will come as a grassroots shift occurs where fathers come to recognize and celebrate their significance.  It is never too early. Never too late.  Fathers matter, now more than ever.  

Thank you for taking fatherhood, families and communities seriously.

Patrick Erlandson, Founder: Father-Con, and See it. End it. Film & Arts Festival