One Nation Under God - 4

"The family has always been the cornerstone of American society," Ronald Reagan correctly observed.
This being  the case, it is little wonder that America is proceeding on it. present course.
In a recent survey of 1505 members  of  the American Psychological  Association,  31  percent  responded that the demise of the nuclear family is the single greatest  threat to   the  country's mental  health.   Ranking  second  was unemployment at 20 percent, followed by  drug and alcohol abuse at  18  and 14 percent, respectively.  Notice that at least two of these last three, drug and alcohol  abuse,  are often related to dysfunctional homes.
By  now,  less than one-third of American homes fit the traditional pattern of children  living with both natural parents.
"We  have been dealing with symptoms, not root causes," one psychologist said  in reference  to  the  survey.   The survey,  she added, "represents a major change in thinking" from focusing on symptoms such as drug abuse to  confronting the "central issue - strengthening the family."
"Disruption  in relationships  is  the universal risk factor for a variety of  mental  health  problems,"  another psychologist observed.
What  are the forces, though, contributing to the decay of the traditional family? To begin, the so-called American Civil Liberties Union is doing its part.
Dr. James Dobson, a member of  the Attorney General's Commission on Pornography, quotes a letter sent by the ACLU to the California  State  Assembly Education Committee  In opposition  to  required  teaching of  abstinence  in all California sex education classes.  According to the  letter, the position of the ACLU is that, "monogamous, heterosexual intercourse within marriage as a  traditional  value  is  an unconstitutional establishment of a religious doctrine."
While we are on the subject of sex education, we might consider  the  contribution  that  the  organization called Planned  Parenthood  Is making to the health of the American family.
As was mentioned in another broadcast, one of the goals of Planned Parenthood, or so they say, is a reduction in the number  of   teenage  pregnancies.    According   to   this organization,   this  goal  can be achieved  through  sex education classes and sex clinics in the schools.
Between 1971 and 1980 government  spending  for  family planning increased  from $80 million  to $298.5 million.
That's a rise of about 370 percent.  In the same time  span, pregnancies for women ages 15 to 19 increased from 64.66 per thousand  to 95.9 per thousand.  Extra spending has achieved a gain of  nearly  50 percent  in  the  number  or  teenage pregnancies.
Although Planned Parenthood has understandably worked hard the past few decades to disassociate  itself  from  its roots,  it  remains  that  this  organization was founded by Margaret Sanger  in  1921  as  the  American  Birth  Control League.    One  of  Sanger's  main  goals  was  to  cause  a revolution in sexual values by promoting the  use  of  birth control devices  to disconnect sexuality from reproduction.
She was also well-known, by the way, for her racist views.
She  proposed  sterilization  of  those she considered to be defective  and  inferior,    including   blacks,   Jews   and Catholics
For  40 years our society has lived under the influence of research done by Dr. Alfred Kinsey.  His  ideas  are  the basis for it known to all of us as the "sexual revolution.
A  new  book,  entitled  Kinsey,  Sex  and  Fraud:  The Indoctrination of a People, takes a frightening look at what has been the root  of  many  of  our  problems  today.   Dr. Kinsey's   findings  have  been  used  for  everything  from estimates of AIDS cases to  the  corps  of  present-day  sex education.
According  to  an ex-associate, though, Kinsey's hidden purpose was to  "respectabalize  homosexuality  and  (other) sexual   perversions.     To  accomplish  his  goal,  Kinsey reportedly  sought  out  research  populations  which  would produce  the  desired figures.  Although his results claimed to mirror the sexual behavior of the American population  at large,  Kinsey  appears  to have been careful to construct a survey group of which 25 percent was prison inmates, ex-cons and sex offenders.
Still another force which is actively involved  in the attack on the traditional family is the entertainment media.
Nearly a decade ago the January 1983 issue of "Reader's Digest" examined the effects of TV violence on our children. But,  unfortunately,  the influence of television and movies goes far beyond the obvious.  A 1982 survey of  104  of  the most   influential   television   writers,   producers   and executives  revealed  that   80   percent   disagreed   that homosexuality  was wrong.  Some 97 percent felt that a woman has a right to  decide  on  abortion.   Only  seven  percent regularly  attended  church services.  And 44 percent listed no religious affiliation at all.  Seventy percent  disagreed that there was too much sex on television.
A  similar  survey  of 240 journalists and broadcasters indicated that 76 percent disagreed that  homosexuality  was wrong, while  only 47 percent felt that adultery was wrong.
Ninety percent supported the right of a  woman  to  have  an abortion.
In 1989 Ted Baehr, editor of a publication described as a  biblical  guide  to  movies and entertainment" contacted Paramount Pictures to purchase a  publicity  photograph  for the  cover  of  the latest "Christian Family Guide to Movies and Video."  He was told that  the  studio  would  not  sell promotional  stills  to  what  they  labeled "fundamentalist Christians."  After Paramount had time  to  reflect  on  the legal implications of this statement, they changed the reply to,  "One  of  Paramount's  policies is to consistently deny requests  to  use  Paramount's  copyrighted  material   from organizations  advocating  strong  viewpoints  on political, social  and  religious  issues  and  who  wish  to  use  our materials in connection with advocacy."
Of  course,  the  studio  does  sell  pictures  to  and purchase advertising space from publications  that  are  far from politically neutral.  They also advertise in homosexual journals, which are far from socially neutral.
Of  course, the political activists and homosexuals are just practicing freedom of speech.
Just  what  effects  are  secular  humanism,  gambling, abortion and other forces having on the American family?
Over  50  percent  of  marriages now end in divorce.  A recent study revealed that learning,  emotional ,  behavioral or  developmental  problems  afflict  one in five youngsters under the age of 18.
Hundreds  of  thousands  of  adolescents  are   beaten, neglected  or  sexually  abused.   Thirteen million American couples experience some form of violence.  In   one  out  of five  marriages that violence is on-going, with five or more incidents in a year.  Some 1.8 million wives are battered by their husbands or cohabitants each year.  There are also  as many  as 250,000 husbands who are abused by their wives.  An estimated 138,000 cases of sibling abuse occur yearly.
Nearly one out of every  four  murders  in  the  United States is committed by a member of the victim's family.
What  is the solution?  Erma Bombeck, the columnist who frequently reveals beneath her humor a great deal of wisdom, discussed the difference in matrimony and living together in an uncharacteristically serious article entitled,  "Marriage is playing the game by all the rules."
"Anyone  can  play  house," she observed, "but a couple struggling to pay for one in something else."
The  columnist  was  expressing  through  her   insight something which is coming to light in current research.
According  to  a study conducted in Sweden, couples who live together before marrying  have  an  80  percent  higher divorce  rate  than  those  who  don't.  A study among 3,800 Canadian women showed similar results.
The  authors  of  these  studies  also   made   another observation.
"Among  those  who  rarely or never go to church," they noticed.," 47 percent will terminate their marriage before 25 years while only 18 percent of those who  attend  church  at least  once  a  week will terminate their marriage before 25 years.
Billy Graham once observed that the ratio  of  divorces among  couples  with  daily devotionals and family prayer is only one in 400.
A study by an Oklahoma State University  research  team uncovered  characteristics  of  successful  families.  These included spending much time together, being good  listeners, having   a   strong  commitment  to  family,  expression  of appreciation,  buoyancy  through    crisis,   and   spiritual devoutness.
God  gave us marriage.  It is little wonder, then, that the answers to our questions about good marriages are  found in  the Bible.  But we aren't going to look at those answers right now.  I would rather  visit  with  you  personally  to discuss  what  the Bible has to say about marriage.  We even have some video tapes dealing with this  topic.   Why  don't you get in touch with me?
It  is also little wonder that those who reject God are often the same ones who want to eliminate the institution of marriage.
On the one  hand  we  have  forces  which  threaten  to destroy  the family as well as the American way of life.  On the other hand we have the influences which for  nearly  200 years  have  made  us  "One  Nation under God."  One follows human reasoning; the other follows the word of God.  We  are free to choose either.  But only one will keep us free.

Unless otherwise noted, "Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE(R), (C) Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977. Used by permission."