The morals and ethics of any society or nation is the fabric that holds it together. The way we relate to each other and treat our fellow man will ultimately influence our entire nation, either for good or for evil. Without a solid moral and ethical frame-work a society begins to breakdown, piece by piece, person by person, family by family, suburb by suburb and city by city.
The breakdown happens slowly over several generations, until it implodes upon itself and is destroyed. Although the decline seems slow from where we stand in history, it is measurable, measured by several factors of which we are all aware.
Divorce rates, crime rates and youth suicide on the increase, the widespread breakdown of the family unit, the huge increase in the number of unwanted pregnancies and abortions in our nation, violence in our schools and streets and gang related crime.
To find a solution to the problems we face as a society we must first identify how they began. Within the 20th Century there were two major revolutions that profoundly affected our society, the first was the industrial revolution and the second was the sexual revolution. The industrial revolution transformed our society from one that was originally based upon an agricultural and farming base, to one that became primarily an industry base.
It took the men and the fathers out of their homes and placed them into the factories and workplaces. They were no longer available 24/7 to raise their sons and daughters and to teach them the way in which they should go in life but were often absent for 10-12 hrs a day 6-7 days a week making a living to support their families financially. Many of you may recognise a similar situation in your own time schedules.
The parenting role began to fall more and more to the mothers as the men went off to work each day. The men no longer had the input into the raising of the children as they had for generations past, and what was previously a co-operative effort between both parents, became almost solely the responsibility of the mother. This fundamental change in the way we raised our children was to have a profound effect over the next two generations, as the father’s role seemed to decrease more and more.
The second revolution that we faced in the 20th Century was the sexual revolution of the 1960's. They called it 'The Age of Aquarius', and with it came a major cultural change. The revolution encouraged free sex and experimentation with drugs, it encouraged rebellion against authority and what is called moral and ethical relativism, where 'if it feels good and doesn't hurt anybody else, do it!' It gave birth to a philosophical position of 'no absolutes', where every established fact or creed is challenged and often discarded.
Psalm 2 says " Why do the nations rage, and the people plot a vain thing, the kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against The Lord and against His Anointed, saying ' let us break their bonds in pieces and cast away their cords from us."
The revolution of the 1960's was determined to free itself from the moral and ethical framework of our society, to reach for a higher goal. They aspired to greater freedom, but a generation later we find ourselves more and more in bondage. The better life that they hoped for has not eventuated. It is time to return to the moral and ethical foundations that made our nations great, a framework that does work and has been proven over many hundreds of years.
Our foundations stones have been laid in the Judaeo-Christian Ethic, The Ten Commandments and the teachings of the Holy Bible. As we as fathers and the leaders of our families, return to moral and ethical standards of the bible, we will strengthen the next generation. We will rebuild the firm foundation for them to stand upon, so that our children and our children's children would know the stability and strength that God has destined for them.
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