Turn on the television, what do you see?
I see two brothers raising a boy, no mother around, and they're all having a good time. I see latchkey children, sans parents, enjoying their lack of discipline and example. I see women, unhappy with their husbands, sleeping around without consequence.
In a nutshell, I see the idea of marriage and family being made into a joke, into nothing.
It was not so long ago that the media gave a positive light to the idea of family. Parents sat down to dinner with their children. Families had their struggles, but they went through them together, helping each other out and lifting each other up. Morals and principles were taught.
What do I see now?
If indeed at all the shows or movies involve some sort of family, they are more often than not a broken family in some way, minus Mom or Dad from divorce or lack of marriage in the first place. Moral problems are now jokes, not something to be corrected but to be laughed about. Children lack principle, direction, and even manners.
Call me naiive, but it makes me miss Mayberry.
Our society has reached a point where families are not only unneccesary, they are undesirable. The idea of marriage becomes a burden we are taught to avoid. We've all heard the adage "Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free?" Sex is no longer a commitment of any kind. What was once held sacred, a relation to be shared with spouse only after the binding of marriage, is now nothing special, something to be shared when and wherever our bodies desire it. We are now taught that marriage is an unneccessary and burdensome step, one that will only lead to difficulty and misery
As if that wasn't enough, then there's the idea of children. We're not stupid; children are a burden. They cost so much money, and require 100% of our attention and effort to raise properly. There is no falsification in those statements. It's easily justifiable to simply shirk the idea of children. But, not to repeat a hokie 60's song, the children are our future. If we avoid them altogether, or do not give our all in raising and teaching them as they grow, where are they going to learn the principles and lessons that they need to learn?
The children of today become the leaders of tomorrow, and think about what the children of today are being taught. With prominent examples of divorce, children are being taught that marriage is not only unimportant but undesirable and something to be avoided. With the percentages of illegitimate children and babies born out of wedlock rapidly rising, and the numbers of abortions continually on the rise, children are being taught that sexual relations are not to be honored, but to be divulged in, regardless of consequenceor responsibility. And with the media shouting so loudly against marriage and children, our youth are being taught that families are expendable and not something to be considered.
As much as I'd love to never grow old, someday I will. And I worry what damage today's society is doing to tomorrow. Our society needs a wake-up call.
Because in the end, it's not going to matter how successful we were in our careers. It won't matter how much money we had, or how big our house was, or what car we drove. All that will matter is the lessons that we taught and the examples that we set for those around us, our families and loved ones. It's up to us to live those lessons we're trying to teach. We need to be the example of morality and positivity. It's our responsibility, because the future's in our hands. We'd better do our best with it. As Ghandi once said, and I paraphrase, "Be the change you want to see in the world."
Um..where are you getting your information? And where are you finding such things that you mentioned in your first paragraph? We obviously don't watch the same channels.
Abortion rates are falling, and have been for several years. Though that may change if states continue this idiocy of banning hormonal birth control.
If indeed at all the shows or movies involve some sort of family, they are more often than not a broken family in some way, minus Mom or Dad from divorce or lack of marriage in the first place.
Perhaps I'm just watching different movies, but the few movies that I find with people getting along in "broken homes" shows all too well the struggles a single parent has to deal with and the strength it takes to actually do such a thing.
What was once held sacred, a relation to be shared with spouse only after the binding of marriage
That's actually quite a false ideal, especially when the phrase "ONE man and ONE woman" are involved. Marriage, more often than not, has historically been for social, financial, and/or political purposes. Most often, the woman was basically sold to her husband for things like cattle, farmland, or money, or traded for social/political power. The suitor with the highest bid won the woman. A rich enough man could also have several wives.
children are being taught that sexual relations are not to be honored, but to be divulged in, regardless of consequenceor responsibility
Again, where are you coming up with this stuff? Let me guess, you're the type that insists on abstinence-only education?
Comprehensive sex-ed is taught because some people actually realize that some teens will have sex. It's that simple. Sex is a completely natural act and one which most people enjoy. Therefore, it's been deemed better make them aware of the consequences, as well as help them to take steps to protect themselves should they choose to have sex.
When it comes down to it, though, it's the parent's responsibility, whether it's a single parent that was never married, one that was divorced, a gay couple, or the "ideal" hetero couple, to raise their child, not the media, not the government. We're also human, things happen, we make mistakes. I'd rather people realize that such mistakes have happened than try to cover it up or shift the blame elsewhere.
I am treated as evil by people who claim that they are being oppressed because they are not allowed to force me to practice what they do. ~D. Dale Gulledge