It is alarming what we are doing to the next generation.  I was born to parents having gone through the great depression of the 1930s.  They never had all of the conveniences that we enjoy today.  Most did not have radios, telephones, TVs or dependable cars.  A few still used horses as a means of transportation.  Living during that time people had become dependent upon God and most seemed to realize the importance of being loyal and honest.  Generally people were dependable, hard working and were willing to help each other when a need occurred.

What I see today is nothing like it was years ago.  Society’s principles and values have changed.  It was a rarity to hear about gang activity.  What young people do today was not even thought about years ago.  For a teenage to have a child out of wedlock was a disgrace.  Today 50% of all children born in America come from unmarried women.  Years ago, if a teen became pregnant the baby’s father was expected to marry her.  If he didn’t, the dad showed up at his door with a shotgun and they had a shotgun wedding.  Sometimes it was the boy’s father that carried the shotgun pointed at his son.

There was a time in history when people became so animalistic, cruel and immoral that God decided to start over again and we had the flood during Noah’s time.  Read history that occurred over 2000 years ago and the way people lived and treated each other was inhumane.  There was little law and practically no order in many parts of the world.  I realize that negative news attracts TV viewers and newspaper readers more than positive news.  However, I can’t pick up the paper or listen to local news and not hear about robberies, murders, rapes or muggings.  Are we gradually going back to an immoral society?

I did some research and learned that much of our problems come from homes without fathers.  The following is what I learned:

• 63% of youth suicides are from fatherless homes (US Dept. Of Health/Census) – 5 times the average.

• 90% of all homeless and runaway children are from fatherless homes – 32 times the average.

• 85% of all children who show behavior disorders come from fatherless homes – 20 times the average.  (Center for Disease Control)

• 80% of rapists with anger problems come from fatherless homes –14 times the average.  (Justice & Behavior, Vol. 14, p. 403-26)

• 71% of all high school dropouts come from fatherless homes – 9 times the average.  (National Principals Association Report)

Father Factor in Education – Fatherless children are twice as likely to drop out of school.

• Children with Fathers who are involved are 40% less likely to repeat a grade in school.

• Children with Fathers who are involved are 70% less likely to drop out of school.

• Children with Fathers who are involved are more likely to get A’s in school.

• Children with Fathers who are involved are more likely to enjoy school and engage in extracurricular activities.

• 75% of all adolescent patients in chemical abuse centers come from fatherless homes – 10 times the average.

Father Factor in Drug and Alcohol Abuse – Researchers at Columbia University found that children living in a two-parent household with a poor relationship with their father are 68% more likely to smoke, drink, or use drugs compared to all teens in two-parent households. Teens in single mother households are at a 30% higher risk than those in two-parent households.

• 70% of youths in state-operated institutions come from fatherless homes – 9 times the average.  (U.S. Dept. of Justice, Sept. 1988)

• 85% of all youths in prison come from fatherless homes – 20 times the average.  (Fulton Co. Georgia, Texas Dept. of Correction)

Father Factor in Incarceration – Even after controlling for income, youths in father-absent households still had significantly higher odds of incarceration than those in mother-father families. Youths who never had a father in the household experienced the highest odds. A 2002 Department of Justice survey of 7,000 inmates revealed that 39% of jail inmates lived in mother-only households. Approximately forty-six percent of jail inmates in 2002 had a previously incarcerated family member. One-fifth experienced a father in prison or jail.

There are more statistics but that should give you reason to understand why our society is becoming more immoral.  We no longer can teach children in our schools that there is a God because they want to teach evolution.  Our children are not learning respect, responsibility and being accountable for their actions. This has not happened by chance.  We have people in power who have deliberately planned this to occur.  Don’t ever forget there are millions of evil spirits that are continually influences the decisions of millions and millions.  And they seem to be winning over God’s people and their message of the gospel.  When our country fails, we can all know the reason we have let it.