American Children Thrown to the Wolves

American society is badly damaged by a lack of virtue and the rejection of wisdom--Does not Wisdom Call Out? Does not Understanding Raise her Voice?

Wisdom Abandoned: American Children Thrown to the Wolves

A society cannot hope to survive without some recognition and preservation of collective wisdom. It is part of each culture’s duty to the coming generation to collect wisdom. We must instruct upon the difference between success and failure, upon character and virtue, and the difference between good and evil.

And yet we live at a time when anything which smacks of tradition is dismissed out of hand. And simple, common sense values which at one time “went without saying” are treated like sewage—only fit for disposal. Now, even the most basic of contrasts, such as that between men and women are dismissed as an unsophisticated joke.

It’s undeniable that American society has turned its back upon the concept of wisdom, allowing its children to drift in society’s open oceans without restraint, like so much flotsam and jetsam. As US society is in the midst of a radial rewrite of the code of cultural mores, the truths of previous generations passed down through centuries are now treated as a laughingstock, a historical fiction, a nonsense of sexist, racist and homophobic myths.

So what is the antidote to the changes now being seen which will certainly destroy the entire society soon—if not challenged and halted? Wisdom! But recovering wisdom is easier said than done. The Old Testament writers personified Wisdom as a female in such books as the Proverbs of Solomon, celebrated as the wisest man of antiquity. King Solomon wrote in Proverbs 4:5-6,
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Proverbs+4

Get wisdom, get understanding;
do not forget my words or turn away from them.
Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you;
love her, and she will watch over you.



In the midst of a perverse, dissipated, faithless and politically deranged day, the present generation must attempt to bring some sense of rectitude and standards back to this society. If we do not at least try to reign in the current infatuation with lawlessness, everything good must degenerate. Without rules of some kind, other than Political Correctness—a bastard creed if ever there were one—no culture can survive against the pressures and threats of our confounding modern age.

I. Problem: Wisdom is no Longer Collected and Passed Down

Society, by definition, is a vehicle for perpetual change. Moreover, a culture is generally either getting stronger or weaker, evolving or breaking down. American society has been in a state of devolution for at least the last 50 years, if not over the last century.

An example of such radical change is the constellation of events centering on the dismantling of the family, including falling wedding rates, and a spike in no-fault divorce. Further, the rise of promiscuous “hookup” culture replaces traditional marriage, described as “serial monogamy.” More than 50% of children born to women under 30 are legal bastards, aka fatherless. Meanwhile, like a strange new flower, “gay marriage” begins to bloom.

Fatherlessness becomes the norm, being the single largest driver of poverty. Such children suffer a stratospherically higher risk of incarceration, substance abuse, mental health problems, and further poverty. Overall, what was once called a “family” increasingly resembles a couplet from Rimbaud’s infamous A Season in Hell...http://www.mag4.net/Rimbaud/poesies/Once.html

“I have withered within me all human hope. With the silent leap of a sullen beast, I have downed and strangled every joy.”

It seems almost redundant to point out that Americans are much less satisfied, are more fearful of the future, and decreasingly confident of a happy ending. Ironically, despite the fact the 21st century has brought an astounding and undreamed of level of wealth, Americans are less satisfied than our parents. Therefore, we must ask—What is missing? Wisdom! But what is it?

II. What is Wisdom?

So if it is arguably wisdom which separates the superficially cheery from the truly happy, being the difference between momentary pleasure, versus deep satisfaction, hadn’t we better study wisdom? And in doing so we also must note there are societal and traditional bodies of wisdom, versus revealed wisdom from spiritual sources—correct?

The general definition of Wisdom is supplied by Webster’s:

a. accumulated philosophic or scientific learning : knowledge

b. ability to discern inner qualities and relationships : insight

c. good sense : judgment

d. generally accepted belief

One normally considers wisdom the result of experience, advice or insight. Wisdom could be both secular and religious. It is mentioned especially in the Old Testament as the goal of life, a perpetual study, and a highly prized insight. King Solomon may well be writing for his own children, as well as his subjects, in his works, as he describes Wisdom in his Proverbs 9:1-6,
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Proverbs%209

Wisdom has built her house;
she has set up its seven pillars.

She has prepared her meat and mixed her wine;
she has also set her table.
She has sent out her servants, and she calls
from the highest point of the city,
“Let all who are simple come to my house!”
To those who have no sense she says,

“Come, eat my food
and drink the wine I have mixed.
Leave your simple ways and you will live;
walk in the way of insight.”

An example of secular societal wisdom might include some of humanist Ben Franklin’s famed advice, from his Almanack’s Poor Richard:http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Poor_Richard%27s_Almanack

Distrust & caution are the parents of security.

Three may keep a Secret, if two of them are dead.

Diligence is the mother of Good-Luck.

Whate’er’s begun in anger ends in shame.

All things are easy to Industry, All things difficult to Sloth.

He that cannot obey, cannot command.

Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.

Fish & Visitors stink in 3 days.

III. Example of a Failure to Apply Wisdom: Sex & Family

A. Family
America has become a place where there are no more firm divisions between the sexes, whereas boys used to develop a special relationship with their fathers, and girls, their mothers. And instruction and insights are passed between opposite sex parents to kids so that these children might have role models and a knowledge base for their own marriage. Instead, most families now have 2 parents working in supposed egalitarian harmony. With both parents working, children are latchkey kids, and any child with unusual problems, or in need of more assistance is probably out of luck.

Today, the traditional nuclear family, composed of a married mother and father who have custody of children produced from their loins, is fading. In its place are a myriad of other situations. Many kids live with single parents, usually mothers. Overall, today’s kids are more knowing and sophisticated, but lonelier, less trained and educated, but more unsure of their worth.

B. Sex as “Revolution”
The 1960’s Sexual Revolution unleashed a devastating typhoon of ferocious energy upon the previously circumspect American society. In a sense the culture has never yet recovered, as one after another increasingly dubious explanation is given for why humans cannot corral their reproductive instincts. In a sense, this lie explains much of the current ruin laying waste to modern USA.

It can be claimed, with a great deal of justification, that sublimation, or the act of suppressing the sexual drive, lays the foundation for the conquering work undergirding all civilization. For if the great energy associated with this is harnessed, and future satisfaction arranged, then there can be much achieved. But, should the all-powerful sex-drive be prematurely loosed, than all hell breaks loose—as we see in America today. As M. Scott Peck wrote in The Road Less Traveled: A New Psychology of Love, Traditional Values and Spiritual Growth,

Delaying gratification is a process of scheduling the pain and pleasure of life in such a way as to enhance the pleasure by meeting and experiencing the pain first and getting it over with. It is the only decent way to live.

The incredible damage done by the unleashing of rampant sexuality is truly mindboggling and nearly impossible to accurately quantify. In all sectors of American society, huge changes have been wrought which have almost universally created a deleterious effect upon individuals. For example, modern sexual mores have created a generation of fatherless kids, as the NY Times reports over 50% of 30 and under women have children out of wedlock. The US Dept of Health reported,http://www.photius.com/feminocracy/facts_on_fatherless_kids.html

 “Fatherless children are at a dramatically greater risk of drug and alcohol abuse, mental illness, suicide, poor educational performance, teen pregnancy, and criminality.”

Further, new developments in gay marriage seem to offer a return to sanity to a previously untethered sector. And yet Mark Regnerus’ study from the University of Texas paints a dark picture of the hopes of the children of gay unions...http://www.wnd.com/2012/08/the-gay-activist-science-deniers/#LKDtUqZlrxqWxxZi.99

Of those (adult children of gay unions) in their twenties…58% of the children of lesbians called themselves “gay,” and 33 percent of the children of “gay” men called themselves “gay.” (Contrast these rates with current studies indicating that around 3 percent of the general population is homosexual.)http://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/research/census-lgbt-demographics-studies/how-many-people-are-lesbian-gay-bisexual-and-transgender/

If a person were humane they would certainly note that 1/3rd of gay teens attempt suicide,http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/12/101201124355.htm

 or that according to studies gays suffer much more than others:http://www.narth.org/docs/whitehead.html

 “Homosexual people are at substantially higher risk for some forms of emotional problems, including suicidality, major depression, and anxiety disorder, conduct disorder, and substance dependence…”

A wise person would instead use a common sense or biblical model for family. Instead of a 50% divorce rate, the wise would ponder this quote, “For I hate divorce,” says the Lord, the God of Israel.” (Malachi 2:16)http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Malachi+2%3A16&version=NASB

 And people seeking wisdom would ponder the devastating impact of single parent households and fatherlessness, before they chose to break with long-established standards. If Americans used wisdom, we would back off from the PC standards, and return to common sense ideals for dating, marriage, procreation, child rearing, and other elements of family life.

In many other areas of American life, we see a lack of wisdom or even common sense in approaching decision making. For example, in the political realm we are currently grappling with a wholly self-satisfied, semi-educated Marxist ideologue, and yet is an utter failure. Who would be in office if Americans had asked, “Who is the best qualified presidential candidate in 2007?” Instead, we worry about the candidates color or gender. But, isn’t electing a completely inexperienced person to the US presidency simply begging for trouble?

Or, if Americans used Ben Franklin’s standard for spending, we wouldn’t have $17 trillion dollars of debt and no way to pay it off!

A wise society would never fall for the idea, recently proposed by Obama, that those who don’t want to work will be willingly supported by those who do. Or that a healthcare program is so important that the government has the right to lie about its details to garner support from the people. Or that it doesn’t matter if the individual parts of this program don’t work as long as the idea behind the program is attractive.

Conclusion

American society is badly damaged by a lack of virtue and the rejection of wisdom. For example, there is now no longer a compelling reason for young people to avoid experimenting sexually, regardless the details, unless they are of a religious mind. And society as a whole is expected to not judge the private behavior of others, regardless how notorious such activities might once be seen.

But can this possibly aid the health, well-being, or mental satisfaction of young Americans, when almost 20 million new cases of STD’s occur yearly, and more than a million babies are annually aborted? And 1.6 million babies were born to single moms in 2011.http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/unmarry.htm

 In 2012, over 40% of babies were born outside marriage.http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/360990/latest-statistics-out-wedlock-births-roger-clegg

 Further, 73% of African Americans are born outside wedlock. So does the absence of fathers helps explain why half of US murders are committed by Blacks, mostly against other Blacks?http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2011/crime-in-the-u.s.-2011/tables/table-43

Yet, in 1965,http://www.brookings.edu/research/papers/1996/08/childrenfamilies-akerlof

 2/3rds less—only 25% of Blacks, were conceived by unmarried mothers, and 3% of Anglo children. The FBI states that during the period since 1960,http://www.disastercenter.com/crime/uscrime.htm

 the rate violent crime has increased times four. Might this be related to skyrocketing unwed birth rates, when the most fatherless sector of society is clearly the most criminal and violent? Isn’t it obvious that America’s rejection of wisdom is precipitated by our rejection of traditional religion and authority in our nation?

Perhaps the only way back to wisdom is our original source, as provided by the Pilgrims and Puritans, who sought freedom of religion to express their deepest convictions. Proverbs 9:10-12 states,http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Proverbs%209

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
For through wisdom your days will be many,and years will be added to your life.

If you are wise, your wisdom will reward you;
if you are a mocker, you alone will suffer.

There may be no easy way to return to a society of wisdom, one which avoids obvious and stupid mistakes as much as possible. But certainly, until the US repents and returns to the ways which helped form the USA into the greatest country in history, we will never be able to find greatness again….a strength and faith born of wisdom.

THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX,LIVE OUTSIDE THE CAGE