curlymae29
09-13-2003, 11:11 AM
I know that some who visit this forum isn't going to agree with this. I'm not posting this to hurt or anger anyone, and if it does I'm sorry. I simply feel this is a wonderful piece that expresses what many Christians feel.
The All-Out Assault on the American Family
By Andrea Garrett
CBN News Sr. Producer
America, once the home of strong families, is now a nation of broken homes, couples living together, teenage pregnancy, and rampant sexual diseases.
CBN.com – From battles over homosexual marriage, to the scourge of abortion, to the undermining of our religious heritage, America's homes are under assault as never before.
America was rocked by the attacks of September 11th, but another kind of assault on America has been going on for years — an assault that threatens to tear our country apart from within. And the main target of that assault is the American family.
"I would have to say that the bulls-eye of the targets in this warfare in the culture happens to be the family," said conservative radio talk show host Janet Parshall.
America, once the home of strong families, is now a nation of broken homes, couples living together, teenage pregnancy, and rampant sexual diseases. How did it all happen? How did a nation, which today is the world’s leading superpower and was once the world leading moral power degenerate into a land of moral decay?
To learn the answers we must go back to America’s origins. In the beginning, biblical values shaped the foundation for the political and social landscape. God was honored and feared. But over time, the nation’s Christian heritage came under steady assault — an assault that exploded in the 1960’s when a humanistic revolution swept America. God was rejected. Bible, prayer and religious discussion were removed from classrooms, community buildings and places of public gathering. Abortion was legalized. No fault divorce became the order of the day. Government power began to marginalize and trivialize religion.
Janet Parshall is one of many experts who believe that, since the 60’s, judicial activists have rendered God "persona non grata," an unwelcome person, increasingly vanished from the public square. Parshall says God is scorned, but tolerated if He stays in His place.
"The courts have moved now from a position they have held traditionally, which is benevolent neutrality, into malevolent hostility. And the believer needs to be very cognizant of the fact that the courts are moving more and more against the men and women of faith, not because of the law, but because of their own personal prejudice," said Parshall.
Ten Commandments displays that once were commonplace on public property are now being challenged by the ACLU in courts across the country.
Jay Sekulow, chief counsel of the American Center for Law and Justice, said, "Make no mistake about it, the American Civil Liberties Union wants to remove every public display of the Ten Commandments throughout the country. They’re not hiding that at all. That’s exactly what they’re trying to do."
And while Christianity is thrown out of public places, last year children in some California public schools learned about Islam by adopting Muslim names and studying passages from the Koran as part of the curriculum.
Liz Lemings is one California mom who was very angry when she found out what her son was required to do at school. "I was just shocked. And then I asked him what of this did you do. And then he had told me that he adopted a Muslim name, had to wear it around his neck," she said.
New Age thinking is now everywhere in our culture, from education to the arts, entertainment, medicine and even cooking. In one instance, public television presented the New Age art of Feng Shui as the way to the good life.
Meanwhile, Harry Potter, the blockbuster movies and wildly successful book series that is read out loud to thousands of public school kids, teaches witchcraft and the occult to impressionable youngsters.
"Our child came home with this being read in his class, and the concern that we’ve had with these books was the violent tones in here. There’s evil, there’s death, there’s lack of respect for human life and there’s the occult," said concerned mother Elizabeth Mounce.
America’s abortion holocaust continues to snuff out the lives of one-and-a-half million unborn babies every year. And in a bizarre new twist, well-known abortionist Dr. George Tiller from Wichita, Kansas offers services of remembrance where women can hold their aborted baby, take pictures, baptize the infant, and more, all in a skewed effort to make women feel better about their abortion decision.
With the cheapening of life has come an epidemic of teen suicide. It is now the third leading cause of death among teenagers.
"And you look at the issues of sanctity of life and, you know, ‘abortion is no big deal’ and now we talk about euthanizing the aged — ‘Well if things aren’t going well for me, I check out,’" said psychologist Dr. Linda Mintle.
As Christian moral values are pushed more and more to the sidelines, America is increasingly a culture where anything goes, often with tragic consequences. A third of the babies born each year are to unmarried mothers, and 50 percent of marriages break up. And as the family unit weakens so does all of American society.
Janet Parshall said, "When you have a strong marriage, you have a strong family. When you have a strong family, you have a strong home. When you have a strong home, you have a strong community, you have a strong state, you have a strong country. There are concentric circles of impact. When you move away from the primacy of the family, then what you begin to do is you begin to substitute it with anything else. These are classic examples of houses built on shifting sand."
America will recover from the physical wounds of terrorism, but America in the 21st century is a nation struggling in a sea of ethical and moral confusion. First it sowed the wind as it abandoned the values of its Christian heritage, now it is reaping the whirlwind. Many believe that if America can not recover what originally made it great, it may face an unexpectedly dark future.
The All-Out Assault on the American Family
By Andrea Garrett
CBN News Sr. Producer
America, once the home of strong families, is now a nation of broken homes, couples living together, teenage pregnancy, and rampant sexual diseases.
CBN.com – From battles over homosexual marriage, to the scourge of abortion, to the undermining of our religious heritage, America's homes are under assault as never before.
America was rocked by the attacks of September 11th, but another kind of assault on America has been going on for years — an assault that threatens to tear our country apart from within. And the main target of that assault is the American family.
"I would have to say that the bulls-eye of the targets in this warfare in the culture happens to be the family," said conservative radio talk show host Janet Parshall.
America, once the home of strong families, is now a nation of broken homes, couples living together, teenage pregnancy, and rampant sexual diseases. How did it all happen? How did a nation, which today is the world’s leading superpower and was once the world leading moral power degenerate into a land of moral decay?
To learn the answers we must go back to America’s origins. In the beginning, biblical values shaped the foundation for the political and social landscape. God was honored and feared. But over time, the nation’s Christian heritage came under steady assault — an assault that exploded in the 1960’s when a humanistic revolution swept America. God was rejected. Bible, prayer and religious discussion were removed from classrooms, community buildings and places of public gathering. Abortion was legalized. No fault divorce became the order of the day. Government power began to marginalize and trivialize religion.
Janet Parshall is one of many experts who believe that, since the 60’s, judicial activists have rendered God "persona non grata," an unwelcome person, increasingly vanished from the public square. Parshall says God is scorned, but tolerated if He stays in His place.
"The courts have moved now from a position they have held traditionally, which is benevolent neutrality, into malevolent hostility. And the believer needs to be very cognizant of the fact that the courts are moving more and more against the men and women of faith, not because of the law, but because of their own personal prejudice," said Parshall.
Ten Commandments displays that once were commonplace on public property are now being challenged by the ACLU in courts across the country.
Jay Sekulow, chief counsel of the American Center for Law and Justice, said, "Make no mistake about it, the American Civil Liberties Union wants to remove every public display of the Ten Commandments throughout the country. They’re not hiding that at all. That’s exactly what they’re trying to do."
And while Christianity is thrown out of public places, last year children in some California public schools learned about Islam by adopting Muslim names and studying passages from the Koran as part of the curriculum.
Liz Lemings is one California mom who was very angry when she found out what her son was required to do at school. "I was just shocked. And then I asked him what of this did you do. And then he had told me that he adopted a Muslim name, had to wear it around his neck," she said.
New Age thinking is now everywhere in our culture, from education to the arts, entertainment, medicine and even cooking. In one instance, public television presented the New Age art of Feng Shui as the way to the good life.
Meanwhile, Harry Potter, the blockbuster movies and wildly successful book series that is read out loud to thousands of public school kids, teaches witchcraft and the occult to impressionable youngsters.
"Our child came home with this being read in his class, and the concern that we’ve had with these books was the violent tones in here. There’s evil, there’s death, there’s lack of respect for human life and there’s the occult," said concerned mother Elizabeth Mounce.
America’s abortion holocaust continues to snuff out the lives of one-and-a-half million unborn babies every year. And in a bizarre new twist, well-known abortionist Dr. George Tiller from Wichita, Kansas offers services of remembrance where women can hold their aborted baby, take pictures, baptize the infant, and more, all in a skewed effort to make women feel better about their abortion decision.
With the cheapening of life has come an epidemic of teen suicide. It is now the third leading cause of death among teenagers.
"And you look at the issues of sanctity of life and, you know, ‘abortion is no big deal’ and now we talk about euthanizing the aged — ‘Well if things aren’t going well for me, I check out,’" said psychologist Dr. Linda Mintle.
As Christian moral values are pushed more and more to the sidelines, America is increasingly a culture where anything goes, often with tragic consequences. A third of the babies born each year are to unmarried mothers, and 50 percent of marriages break up. And as the family unit weakens so does all of American society.
Janet Parshall said, "When you have a strong marriage, you have a strong family. When you have a strong family, you have a strong home. When you have a strong home, you have a strong community, you have a strong state, you have a strong country. There are concentric circles of impact. When you move away from the primacy of the family, then what you begin to do is you begin to substitute it with anything else. These are classic examples of houses built on shifting sand."
America will recover from the physical wounds of terrorism, but America in the 21st century is a nation struggling in a sea of ethical and moral confusion. First it sowed the wind as it abandoned the values of its Christian heritage, now it is reaping the whirlwind. Many believe that if America can not recover what originally made it great, it may face an unexpectedly dark future.