So, family values are emphatically not consonant with Christian values in all cases. In Beyond Family Values , Lee cited studies that suggest evangelical Christians both define the concept of family and assign prominence to a hierarchy of family-related values in ways almost identical to the culture at large. In other words, when it comes to how we conceive of family, we really aren't that different from other Americans. Clapp adds that the modern concept of family that most American Christians hold is shaped more by the American part of their identity than by the Christian part. Family is privatized, made a sentimental refuge from the public world of politics and economics.
Romantic love is the major motive for marriage and selecting a spouse.
The woman is made paramount in the home, her special realm. None of these things were true of European families before industrialization. Lee notes that early Americans had a different conception of family than their modern counterparts. For instance, Puritans in colonial New England had a much more public view of family life. There are reasons why this model became the norm.