Home Literature The Fall of the Family
By Bill Tam
Ever since the Separation of Church and State ruling was made by the Supreme Court in 1962, Christianity has een taken out of the American classrooms. School prayers and the Bible were removed from schools and the moral values of students went down a slippery slope. In this “moral vacuum” environment, public schools trained students with a liberal worldview. The effect has been detrimental to the society. To illustrate the consequences, the following are a series of graphs and figures called the Cultural Index, introduced by the former US Education Secretary, William Bennet. When interpreting the following data, it would be helpful to know that the U.S. population increased by 53.5% from 1960 to 2000 (US Census Bureau).
Since 1962, SAT scores dropped quickly while the daily time spent viewing TV rose continuously. From 1960 to 2000, the marriage rate decreased, while the divorce rate increased by 104.3%. In 1999, there was one divorce for every two marriages in the US, the most occurring among couples between 25 and 39 years old.
One would not realize how grave the situation is until they compare the divorce rate of the US against that of the world.
Every year about 1 million children are affected by the divorce of their parents. According to the US Bureau Census, between 1960 and 2000, there was a 200% increase of single parent families. While the rate of marriage decreased, the rate of cohabitation increased by 979%. According to the US Census Bureau’s report in 2005, the sum of non-traditional families surpassed the number of traditional one-man-one-woman-with-children households. From 1999 to 2005, the number of traditional families decreased by almost 50%. As a result, children suffer from the disintegration of their families.
Professor urie Bronfenbrenner of Cornell University said, “Children growing up in such households are at a greater risk of experiencing a variety of behavioral and educational problems, including extremes of hyperactivity and withdrawal; lack of attentiveness in the classroom; difficulty in the deferring gratification; impaired academic achievement; school misbehavior; absenteeism, dropping out; involvement in socially alienated peer groups; and the so called ‘teenage syndrome’ of behaviors that tend to hang out together – smoking, drinking, early and frequent sexual experience, and in extreme cases, drugs, suicide, vandalism, violence, and criminal acts. Without a father at home, many teenage girls trade their virginity for male attention.
The Breakdown of Families Led to Social and Moral Problems
As the divorce rate and co-habitation rate increased, the number of illegitimate births increased even more dramatically, by 566% in the last 45 years. According to data from CDC, in 1960, only 5.2% of all births were illegitimate. By 2005, the rate rose to 35% (i.e. 1.5 million babies were born to unwedded mothers). In 2002, there were about 757,000 teen pregnancies (15 to 19 years old) and 28% of them ended in abortion.
Along with the increase of single-parent families, child abuse and teen suicide rates rose. Teen suicide increased by 257% from 1960 to 2000. Children growing up in broken families have been found to have a higher probability of committing crimes. The rise in prison population not only puts a toll on the country’s treasury, it also reduces the number of men in homes as role models for their children.
The above graphs show the increase of social problems since the 1960’s, when the moral climate of the country began to decay. The sexual revolution during this era also ushered in the rampant increase of sexually transmitted diseases. In 1996 alone, there were 15.3 million new cases of sexually transmitted disease in the US. It is estimated that 1 out of 5 Americans is infected with some kind of STD.
This became a “silent epidemic” because people do not talk about it. About 56 million Americans are infected and it would cost the tax payers $10 billion to treat the STDs, not including HIV/AIDS. In 1992, the cost of treating HIV/AIDS alone was around $10.3 billion. In 1994 the “cocktail therapy” of treating AIDS was introduced and it has cut the death rate by 70%. In many states, the state healthcare departments provide generous free treatments to AIDS patients who cannot afford to pay. As of November 2003, 15 states declared that that the free AIDS treatment had depleted their financial reserves. In the same year, new AIDS cases in America were found to rise again.
In July 2004, California reported that the state’s AIDS patients have increased by 1000% in the past 7 years. Anal sex among male homosexuals is the single most prevalent cause of the rise in AIDS. In February of 2005, a new strain of HIV is discovered that has a 2-month latency period rather than the 10-year period once known to the health authorities. In 2006, CDC estimated that there are 448,871 people living with AIDS in the US. If one includes the HIV cases, the number would increase to 509,681. The cumulative estimated number of US AIDS cases throughout the years to 2006 was 1,014,797. Without Biblical moral values, the government used a non-judgmental “safe sex” approach to educate the mass. The above results clearly indicate the gross failure of such an amoral social policy. Not only many lives are hurt by living in an “everything goes” society, the economic tolls in remedying subsequent health, social, and criminal consequences are tremendous.
Studies show that children who grow up in religious (Christian) families are less likely to have sex outside of marriage and have lower risks of social and behavioral problems. However, public schools and anti-Christian organizations still insist on keeping Christianity out of the curriculum and outside of school campuses. As if the country had not suffered enough from the breakdown of traditional families, liberal politicians teamed up with homosexual activists and introduced same-sex marriage in the late 1990s.
In 1996, Hawaii trial court ruled that the same-sex couples should be allowed to marry. But in 1998, voters in Hawaii passed a Constitution Amendment to restrict marriage to between a man and a woman.
In May of 1998, Alaska trial court ruled that a person should be free to choose any marital partner regardless of sex. That November, Alaska voters passed a Constitutional Amendment to limit marriage to one man and one woman.
In 1999, the Vermont Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples should be granted same protection and benefits as heterosexual marriages. In 2000, Vermont legislature passed a law creating civil unions for same-sex couples. No marriage license was issued.
In 2001, homosexual couples in Massachusetts file lawsuit in state court seeking the right to marry. In 2004, the Supreme Court of Massachusetts ruled 403 to allow same-sex marriage, making this the first state in the US to legalize same-sex marriage.
In February 2004, Mayor Newsom of San Francisco ordered marriage licenses to be issued to more than 4,000 same-sex couples, defying the California law passed in 2000 to limit marriage to one man and one woman. In April, 7,000 Christians rallied and protested on a main street in San Francisco demanding the city to honor the state marriage law. In the same year, similar protests by Christians sprang up in Los Angeles, Sacramento, New York and Washington D.D. In total, hundreds of thousands of Christians showed up in these rallies. Finally, at the end of 2004, the Supreme Court of California ruled that San Francisco Mayor Newsom overstepped his authority in issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, and the marriage certificates became void. In January of 2005, San Francisco Mayor Newsom and Assessor Mabel Tan, who were the main characters in issuing same-sex marriage licenses, announced the dissolution of their own marriages to their respective spouses.
In the fall of 2005, California Senate and Assembly passed bill AB849, introduced by gay assemblyman Mark Leno, to define marriage as between 2 persons, instead of between a man and a woman. Almost all democrats in the Assembly voted for the bill and all Republicans voted against it. In October 2005, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed the bill.
On May 15, 2008, California Supreme Court ruled 4-3 to legalize same-sex marriage. In November, California voters passed Proposition 8 to amend the California Constitution to limit marriage to only between a man and a woman. At the same time, voters in Arizona and Florida passed similar Constitution Amendments. In total 30 states defended their marriage code by passing the Protect marriage Constitution Amendment.
Media and Entertainment Industry
Television viewing is an integral part of families in the modern world. With the internet becoming easily accessible, information around the world is available at the click of a mouse. It is incumbent upon each individual to determine whether the reported information is objective. There are seven multi-billion dollar media giants tat are the primary providers of information: Time Warner, Comcast, Viacom, Disney, General Electric, News Corp and Hearst Corp.
Media Bias
In the post-modern era, news and information are acquired less and less through the printed media. Cable, TV and the internet have become major channels of information transfer. Most of the major TV, cable network and Hollywood establishments favor a liberal bias. In most of the presidential campaigns, the media and entertainment industry tend to support the liberal candidates. When Bill Clinton was campaigning for his election in 1992, he chose MTV and Michael Jackson to help promote his agenda to the young voters. The liberal candidates usually receive more political contributions from Hollywood, the media and even the pornography industry.
According to Nielson Media Research, MTV is watched by73% f boys and 78% of girls aged 12 to 19. Children are the target of the hard-selling of casual sex, drugs, and alcohol. The Parents Television Council reported in their study that children on the average watch 9 sexual scenes per hour, 9 uncensored expletives per hour, and 6 violent scenes per hour on MTV music programs. MTV reality shows have about 13 sexual scenes per hour. There were 52 obscene words per hour in the program Making the Band 2 and 32 sexual segments per hour in the program Spring Break Fantasies. Studies have shown that MTV is influential in changing the attitude of teenagers towards accepting promiscuity and homosexuality. With an hour of watching MTV, teenagers would have less inhibition in resisting sexual desires and temptations. Moreover, MTV is a prime station for beer commercials.
Pornography is degrading to females. It is a major problem in a sexually-charged society and women are direct victims of pornography. Decades ago, pornography was only available in the red light districts of the cities, and there was a stigma of perversion about it. Now pornography is available not only in corner video stores, but also through the cables and internet. With big cable companies joining the profit chase, pornography is sugarcoated to be an adult entertainment. The easy access of pornography has opened a flood gate of mental perversion targeting every age group. A decline of society’s moral standards has been evident.
Studies have shown that in most of the sexual crimes committed against women and children, pornography is found to be a stimulating factor to the offender.
In Oklahoma City, when about 150 sexually oriented businesses were closed down, the rape rate decreased by 27% in the next five years. Meanwhile, rape increased by 19% in the rest of the state where there was no crackdown. A 1979 study in Phoenix, Arizona, also revealed a 500% increase in sex related crimes in neighborhoods where pornography businesses moved in. Similar phenomena are seen in other countries when the restrictions on pornography are removed.
It is estimated that about 1 in 3 girls and 1 in 7 boys will be sexually molested before age 18. In almost all cases, pornography is found in the homes of child molesters. In many homosexual child molesting cases, pornography is used as a seducing instrument (see transcripts in Michael Jackson’s case). An average serial child molester will attack an average of 360 victims in his lifetime. About 30 to 60 children would have been molested before the molester is caught. UNICEF has reported that about 1 million children are forced into prostitution and pornography each year. Many women are lured into pornography by drugs and money. In the course of production, there is usually physical and mental abuse, resulting in the transmission of sexually transmitted diseases and AIDS. When children are exposed to pornography, they easily become addicted for life. Some children act out by raping younger children. Many grow up with a distorted view of sex, human dignity and relationships. This type of deep rooted deviant psychology will later compromise their spousal relationships and family harmony. This multi-billion dollar industry is targeting males between 12 and 17 years, with a goal of instilling a lifetime addiction. “Pornography is a victimless crime” is simply a false statement.
In spite of these facts, pornography is protected under the law as a form of free speech as long as the performers are above the legal age of 18.
During the Reagan administration, the pornography industry was under severe prosecution. With the aid of Dr. James Dobson, Attorney General, Edwin Meese, cracked down on child pornography. Under President Bill Clinton, Janet Reno stopped prosecuting pornographers for the next 8 years. In addition, Clinton appointed Ruth Ginsberg, a high power ACLU lawyer, to the Supreme Court. It is a known fact that ACLU has a history of defending the pornography industry. Bill Clinton consequently performed extra-marital acts of pornographic nature in the White House. Under such a progressive political environment, the pornography industry blossomed. The number of official pornographic titled mushroomed from about 1,500 produced per year (year 1990) to 15,000 per year (year 2000). In spite of the geometric increase of 900%, the Department of Justice prosecuted only 169 cases of child pornography in 1994. Pornography became a multi-billion dollar industry. In 1996, pornography revenue totaled about 8 million dollars. By 2004, the number went up to 13 billion. Even companies such as AT&T, Comcast, and Viacom, Marriot Hyatt and Holiday Inn are interested in its promotion. Now there are more pornography outlets than there are McDonald’s restaurants.
When President George Bush took office, Attorney General John Ashcroft started to renew efforts to prosecute pornography. When the attack of 9/11 occurred, he redirected his efforts to fighting terrorism. At the second term of Bush’s administration, new Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has been active in prosecuting pornography. In December 2005, an international child prostitution ring was apprehended and more than 30 underage girls were released from the trade. “Until recently, the worst kind of pornography was mainly limited to red-light districts or restricted to adults or confined by geography, isolated by shame. With the Internet, pornography is now instantly available to any child who has a computer. And in the hands of the wrong people, in the hands of incredibly wicked people, the Internet is a tool that lures children into real danger. We don’t accept this kind of degrading. It’s unacceptable to America. We don’t accept offensive conduct like this in our schools, in the commercial establishments, and we can’t accept it in our homes. We cannot allow this to happen to our children. We’re waging an aggressive nationwide effort to prevent the use of the Internet to sexually exploit and endanger children. That’s what we’re doing.” - President George W. Bush, October 23, 2002
In spite of the White House’s zeal for cracking down on pornography, the Supreme Court ruled (5-4) in June 29, 2004 that banning transmission of pornographic material through the internet is unconstitutional, even in the name of protecting children.
In February 2005the Justice Department sought death penalty for a Florida child pornography suspect charged with killing a Broward County Sherriff Deputy during a raid at his house. A Northridge California company, which produces rape and murder videos, is charged with violating the decency laws of the federal government. According to reports from the Department of Justice, during the Bush administration, the prosecutions of child pornography increased to 2,539 cases in 2006. Sex transportation cases also increased from 37 cases in 1994 to 521 cases in 2006.
When President Obama took office in 2009, David Ogden, an attorney known for defending many cases for pornographers, abortionists, and homosexuals was nominated for the office of Deputy Attorney General.
Looking Ahead
While the US is worrying about the harmful effects of pornography in the US, one would be more so about Canada and other European countries. In Canada, the legal age of sexual consent is 14. That means law enforcement cannot charge pornographers who use children as young as 14 years in their production. In Holland, Spain and Portugal, the legal age has been lowered to 12. Parents of these children should be in distress when they see that they cannot do much legally to protect their children. Many more young teens will be subjected to the extreme exploitation of the pornography industry.
In March 16, 2005, CNN reported that an international pedophile ring was broken up by police in twelve European and Central American countries. The headquarters was located in Spain and a total of about 500 pedophiles were arrested. They were involved in transmitting images of sexual acts against very young children through the internet.
On May 26, 2005, 5 men in Spain were arrested for raping 9 baby boys, some as young as 11 months. The sex crime was videotaped and sold through the internet.
Considering that one of the goals of the gay agenda is to “[eliminate] laws limiting the age of sexual consent,” one can see the detrimental effect of the homosexual movement and the intent of a deviant segment of the society. Yet the liberal segment of the American society is pushing our culture towards the even greater liberality of Canada and Europe.
Home Literature The Fall of the Family