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August 5, 2009
"Saving children from depravity"
I don't normally discuss the culture wars here but it is an issue of some importance. As such, I thought this editorial by Rebecca Hagelin in last Friday's Washington Times to be quite good. I don't have any children of my own so I won't comment further myself but will let her say it for me:
Our teenagers are more sexually active than any generation of youth before them. They also are consuming more pornography and compromising basic moral standards more often. It seems that many of them have lost not only their innocence, but their conscience, too.The plethora of negative and immoral behaviors glorified by a media world that's gone stark raving mad - combined with graphic, nonjudgmental sex education and a highly sexualized culture, in general - causes many of them to lose understanding of what is wrong and what is right.
When a young child's sensibilities are constantly violated, and he or she begins to ignore the natural pangs of guilt after yielding to cultural pressures, he or she can end up being miserable and begin to develop a hard heart and weak spirit.
If we as parents blindly turn our own hearts away from them because we're scared of confrontation, or because we're too lazy to do "the hard stuff" like fight for their integrity, we have a hand in dooming their young spirits to inner torment. And, ultimately, if the pattern continues, to the loss of basic decency and sensitivity to evil.In chapter 32, the Psalmist reflects on the misery that comes with ignoring a guilty conscience:
"When I kept things to myself/I felt weak deep inside me./I moaned all day long./Day and night you punished me./My strength was gone as in the summer heat."
Do you really want your child to live that way?
How To Save Your Family from a loss of conscience
It's critical as a parent to take control and do everything in your power to make certain that the culture does not molest your child's young mind. Setting standards for media consumption can help avoid a lot of regrets, especially when it comes to the evil of pornography. But because we are all sinners, we also need to learn to recognize when our children might be feeling uncomfortable and guilty - and offer them hope and a way out of their despair.
Talk often about God's miracles of forgiveness, redemption and restoration. These concepts are foreign to our modern world, yet they are as tranformational today as they were for the Psalmist and when God offered his forgiveness to a sinful world as He sent His son to atone for the sins of all who would accept Him.
I John 1:9 promises: "When we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
Our children experience the beautiful gifts of wisdom and grace when we help them develop their conscience and teach them how to respond to feelings of guilt. We need to be bold about sharing with them the life-giving power and joy that comes with confession. Tears of repentance over wrongs done makes our hearts strong, yet malleable in the hands of a a loving God. Ignoring our sins turns us into desperate, weak souls with hearts of stone.
In Psalm 32, the author actually begins the passage with what we can look forward to when we confess our sins to the loving and merciful God:
"Happy is the person whose sins are forgiven/Whose wrongs have been pardoned./Happy is the person whom the Lord does not consider guilty,/And in whom there is nothing false."
The forgiveness and joy that comes with sincere repentance is the best news mankind has ever heard! Have your own children heard it?
• Rebecca Hagelin is a family advocate and the author of the best-seller "30 Ways in 30 Days to Save Your Family." For more family tips, visit HowToSaveYourFamily.com or e-mail Rebecca@HowToSaveYourFamily.com.
Posted by Tom at August 5, 2009 8:18 AM
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Comments
First of all, Ms. Hagelin, the author of Psalm 32 was King David. Got that? Not the Psalmist.
Tom. I may get back to on this but Ms. Hagelin is so all wet there may not ne enough towels to dry her off.
I have two daughters, 23 and 21. Maybe we were lucky but they rarely, if ever, displayed anything but common sense.
I am the first person to advise that I think a lot of parents should be doing a much better job.
I think that if a child fails, look at home for the reason, not an assault by "Culture" and pornography.
TLGK
Posted by: The Loop Garoo Kid at August 7, 2009 3:29 PM
My my, Loop. Methinks you doth protesteth too much.
Your reaction is way over the top.
So over the top that your reaction tells me that something is seriously wrong. You're going to get mad at me, but your type of reaction prompts me to think that you're doing things that you're not telling us about. Are you visiting porn sites? Engaging in virtual/on-line affairs, or talking dirty in chat rooms? Enjoying the models in the window of your Victoria's Secret store a bit too much?
You see, this is why I printed this article; to smoke people out. It's like when I wear my "Israel Army" or "NRA" hat; you find out real quick what people are about.
You passed the Israel test. I don't know about your position on the Second Amendment. The cultural test you fail big time.
This isn't necessarily a right-left issue. I know liberals who are disgusted by porn, and conservatives who look at it.
And your snarkyness over authorship is also revealing. Yes, Psalm 32 is "A Psalm of David," which I rather think she knows. But "Psalm of David" doesn't necessarily mean he wrote it. He might have, but opinion is quite divided and many say that it simply means it was written about him, or compiled from things he said. Even if he did write this particular one, the term "the Psalmer" can mean David, as in this case he was the Psalmer. If he wrote a book you could speak about "the author" and we'd all know who you were talking about. Either way, there was no need for the tone of your disagreement.
Nowhere does Mrs. Haglin dismiss the importance of parenting. Of course that's important, so don't be absurd. But so's the culture, and of course it has an effect. I don't have kids, but know enough people who do (including siblings) to know how hard it is to raise them with these influences all around. You can be as good a parent as you can, but the trash out there is so disgusting that what decent person could not be disturbed by it's influence?
Posted by: Tom the Redhunter at August 7, 2009 11:12 PM
