The Decline in Family Living
God intended for parents and children to live together as a family (Deut. 6:7-9). When America was first founded and immigrants, armed with a Judeo-Christian heritage, poured onto American soil, the social structure was such that living as a family was the norm. Most families lived on a farm and children spent time with their parents. Then, family living began to decline.
1. The Industrial Revelation made America more urban. Urban fathers worked outside the home.
2. The automobile made the family more mobile, which took them outside the home more, but family still lived in neighborhoods. In the neighborhood, there was a sense of community in that people knew their neighbors and their neighbors knew them.
3. When World War II came, the men left home to go to war and the women left home to go to the factories. When the war was over, the men came home and the women didn’t. The extra income was nice for extra things and there were more things to buy. Nevertheless, although the neighbors were not as close, there was still the neighborhood. Neighborhoods had sidewalks! Homes built before 1974 have sidewalks. Sidewalks gave people another opportunity to meet and greet their neighbors. Many newer communities lack sidewalks, so residents tend to drive (“Where you live affects your life,” Parade Magazine, August 3, 2003, p. 9).
4. Prior to World War II, the radio began to occupy the evenings of many. In the 1950’s, TV began to replace the radio as the activity of choice in the evening.
5. In the meantime, the car, the sexual revelation, birth control, and abortion took teens more and more out of the house and away from the influence and the ideals of the home.
6. As the population grew and cities expanded, American became more and more suburban. In suburbia, there were fewer and fewer sidewalks and more and more driveways. There was less and less sense of family and community.
7. By the end of the twentieth century, the very nature of the family was being redefined. Many had been reared by one parent. In 1960, every state in the United States had a law against homosexuality. Now, homosexuals want to be legally married! As a result of these changes, the definition of “family” has changed. Many are confused as to what a family is supposed to be.
There is more. In many places in America today, once children enter the public schools system, they are taught tolerance is a great virtue, not something that can be a great vice as well, that homosexuality is simple an alternative, not an abomination, and that sex outside of marriage is permissible, provided that you use a condom to prevent a disease and/or an unwanted pregnancy. Then, there are the movies, the music, and those monstrous computer games, etc.
Family living is no longer the norm. What is a family to do? The pattern for family living is in Deuteronomy 6. Parents are to love the Lord (Dt. 6:5), know the Word (Dt. 6:6), and teach the Word diligently to their children, which means spending time with them (Dt. 6:7). It takes a great deal of thought, planning, energy, and discipline to establish and maintain family living in the American culture of the 21st century. We need to pray for the families we know.
© G. Michael Cocoris, 9/30/2003
1. The Industrial Revelation made America more urban. Urban fathers worked outside the home.
2. The automobile made the family more mobile, which took them outside the home more, but family still lived in neighborhoods. In the neighborhood, there was a sense of community in that people knew their neighbors and their neighbors knew them.
3. When World War II came, the men left home to go to war and the women left home to go to the factories. When the war was over, the men came home and the women didn’t. The extra income was nice for extra things and there were more things to buy. Nevertheless, although the neighbors were not as close, there was still the neighborhood. Neighborhoods had sidewalks! Homes built before 1974 have sidewalks. Sidewalks gave people another opportunity to meet and greet their neighbors. Many newer communities lack sidewalks, so residents tend to drive (“Where you live affects your life,” Parade Magazine, August 3, 2003, p. 9).
4. Prior to World War II, the radio began to occupy the evenings of many. In the 1950’s, TV began to replace the radio as the activity of choice in the evening.
5. In the meantime, the car, the sexual revelation, birth control, and abortion took teens more and more out of the house and away from the influence and the ideals of the home.
6. As the population grew and cities expanded, American became more and more suburban. In suburbia, there were fewer and fewer sidewalks and more and more driveways. There was less and less sense of family and community.
7. By the end of the twentieth century, the very nature of the family was being redefined. Many had been reared by one parent. In 1960, every state in the United States had a law against homosexuality. Now, homosexuals want to be legally married! As a result of these changes, the definition of “family” has changed. Many are confused as to what a family is supposed to be.
There is more. In many places in America today, once children enter the public schools system, they are taught tolerance is a great virtue, not something that can be a great vice as well, that homosexuality is simple an alternative, not an abomination, and that sex outside of marriage is permissible, provided that you use a condom to prevent a disease and/or an unwanted pregnancy. Then, there are the movies, the music, and those monstrous computer games, etc.
Family living is no longer the norm. What is a family to do? The pattern for family living is in Deuteronomy 6. Parents are to love the Lord (Dt. 6:5), know the Word (Dt. 6:6), and teach the Word diligently to their children, which means spending time with them (Dt. 6:7). It takes a great deal of thought, planning, energy, and discipline to establish and maintain family living in the American culture of the 21st century. We need to pray for the families we know.
© G. Michael Cocoris, 9/30/2003
