REAPING THE WHIRLWIND
Clifford Hill writes...
Back in the 1960s I was Minister of a large
church in North London. Throughout the ten years I was there we did not
have a single marriage breakdown in a congregation of about 500. Despite
the fact that the 60s are now regarded as the decade of permissiveness,
divorce in Britain was rare and so too were births outside marriage.
We only had two girls in the
church who became pregnant out of wedlock. In each case the boy
responsible married the girl. Both were happy marriages, although when the
news first broke it was regarded as a scandal and repentance was required
of each of the teenagers involved. Their families were deeply ashamed and
a lot of pastoral work had to be done.
How different things are
today! I have just
written the report for a piece of research on The Social Causes of
Teenage Pregnancy which will be published this month. The survey has
been carried out in schools across England and, astonishing as it may
seem, more than a quarter of 15 year old boys and girls say that they have
had sex (26%). Overall, nearly one in five school children under the age
of 16 claim to be sexually active. It is small wonder that Britain has the
highest rate of teenage pregnancy in Europe!
But what about their
parents? Do the
parents know what these school children are doing and the dangers they
face from sexually transmitted diseases even apart from drugs and alcohol?
Or are the parents too busy changing partners and indulging in their adult
promiscuities?
The percentage of babies born
out of wedlock has been rising steeply for the past 25 years and currently
stands at almost 40%. Before 1980 the percentage of live births outside
marriage had not exceeded 10% in any one year for the past 400 years. This
gives some idea of the extent of the moral collapse of the nation in the
past two or three decades.
The moral precepts drawn from
our Judaeo Christian heritage have held the nation steady through hundreds
of years of social and economic change, as well as political upheaval and
international conflict. In our lifetime they have been swept away on a
tide of permissiveness and self indulgence. Strong social constraints
upheld standards of morality that ensured the health and well being of
society. It used to bring disgrace upon a family for there to be an
illegitimate child or a single mother or even a divorce in the family.
These things carried a strong social stigma.
In Britain of the
twenty-first century
we may have erased the
social stigma, but we cannot ignore the cost. The cost to the nation both
financially and in terms of human misery and suffering is incalculable.
Social Science journals are
full of studies that show that a married couple provide the safest and
healthiest environment for children. They also demonstrate the long term
harm done to children by the trauma of suffering a broken home, of being
forced to choose between their parents or being forced to live with
siblings from another marriage.
Children whose parents have
divorced or whose co-habitation relationship has broken down are most
likely to be victims of abuse and neglect. They have more health problems,
emotional problems and behavioural problems. They are more frequently
involved in crime, drug abuse and have higher rates of suicide. They are
more likely to perform badly at school, are less likely to go on to
further education and are more likely to get low paid jobs. They are twice
as likely to suffer divorce or relationship breakdown in adult life than
children from intact families.
Numerous studies
have shown that the risk to children is significantly increased by other
types of family, such as when a divorced mother remarries or lives with a
new boyfriend. The presence of a stepfather or a boyfriend significantly
increases the risk of abuse. For example, the rate of sexual abuse of
girls by their stepfathers is at least six times higher than that for
girls in intact families. Where the mother is living with a boyfriend, the
sexual abuse of girls is thirty-three times higher than that of daughters
by their biological fathers who remain in intact families.
A Canadian study by Professors
Wilson and Daly of McMasters University reports that children two years of
age and younger are seventy to one hundred times more likely to be killed
at the hands of their step-parents than by their biological parents.
It is statistics such as
these that have
convinced most social scientists that family breakdown has long term
ill-effects for children and is responsible for many of the social
problems we see today. Even those well known for their liberal sympathies,
such as Professor A H Halsey, have come to recognise that the married
couple family is the healthiest for society.
British football hooligans
brought shame upon the whole nation during the European Cup games earlier
this summer. More recently we learned that the figures for violent crime
have risen yet again by another 16% over last year, and robberies rose by
a huge 26%. The increase in crimes of violence is related to the breakdown
of the family We are seeing the same thing in the
USA and throughout
the western world. So long as the family continues to fragment, violence
will increase. We cannot go on ignoring the findings of social scientists
who see a strong relationship between the type of family background and
violent crime.
The vast majority of
children and young
people involved in truancy, classroom violence and juvenile delinquency
are from broken homes. This pattern of violent behaviour continues into
adult life and inflates the figures for violent crime. For example, Robert
Sampson, Professor of Sociology at the University of Chicago, found that
the divorce rate predicted the rate of robbery in any given area,
regardless of economic and racial composition. Sampson’s studies in 171 US
cities demonstrated that the lower the rates of divorce, the lower the
crime rate.
Even radical sociologists
such as Kathleen
Kiernan of the London School of Economics have been forced to recognise
that the healthiest environment for bringing up children is the married
couple family. Yet despite all the massive body of evidence our Government
refuses to face the facts. Like an obstinate ostrich with its head stuck
firmly in the ground New Labour clings on to its outmoded doctrinaire
political correctness -refusing to distinguish between different types of
family. The Government obstinately refuses to teach ‘marriage’ as the
ideal in school educational curricula on the family. This is on the
grounds that children from other types of family might be made to feel
inferior. But this ignores the fact that 90% of young teenagers say that
they hope to get married at some time in their lives!
Many of these children are
from broken homes, but they nevertheless recognise that marriage is the
ideal and can give them the kind of love and security for which they long.
In the Government’s Learning and Skills Bill which was before
Parliament in July the word ‘marriage’ did not even appear! This is
despite the fact that both Jack Straw, the Home Secretary, and David
Blunkett, Secretary of State for Education, have stated their own views
that ‘marriage is the prime building block of society’.
So where does the
disruptive force
come from that is
tearing family life apart in Britain? The inescapable conclusion is that
it comes from the Blairs who appear stubbornly committed to the promotion
of homosexual rights and alternative family types — a kind of ‘sixties
rebellious streak’ which they have not outgrown. Last year Cherie Blair
pleaded the cause of two lesbians before the European Court of Human
Rights. She is sufficiently senior in her profession to be able to choose
her cases, but she was clearly making a statement in this much publicised
case. Why is it also that Tony Blair has among his close advisors Lord
Ali, a militant homosexual?
One may go farther and ask why
it is that a Prime Minister with a huge parliamentary majority who, until
recently, enjoyed unprecedented popularity is rapidly falling from favour.
The Blair magic is evaporating like a morning cloud. Mr Blair had
everything in his favour, but in three years has thrown it all away. He
followed a highly unpopular Government. Most people breathed a sigh of
relief to see the end of the Major government that had brought about its
own downfall through sleaze and corruption. But the terrible harm being
done to the family life of the nation by this government beggars belief.
It is a clear sign of a nation under judgment.
Amos uses a telling
metaphor to
describe the inevitability of disaster when a nation is under judgment. He
says ‘It will be as though a man fled from a lion only to meet a bear, as
though he entered his house and rested his hand on the wall only to have a
snake bite him’ (5: 19).
As a nation we have abandoned
our Judaeo Christian heritage, spurned the word of God and abandoned the
faith, selling our birthright for a mess of permissiveness. Clearly we
have ignored all the warning signs sent to us and we have brought judgment
upon ourselves.
During the years when John
Major was Prime Minister, the Labour Party got rid of Neil Kinnock, a
self-confessed atheist, and was led by John Smith, a God fearing committed
Christian. But God did not permit him to lead the nation; perhaps in order
to bring judgment upon us. His untimely death allowed Blair, the great
master of spin, to seize the reins of power. For many years God has been
calling this nation to repentance, but both church and people have pursued
the ways of unrighteousness wallowing in the mire of moral decay We did
not deserve a Christian Prime Minister; in fact, we got what we deserved.
We have sown the wind and we are reaping the whirlwind.
Is there any hope?
... even though we are under judgment? Yes of course there is hope!
That is what the Gospel is all about – God’s loving forgiveness when we
recognise that we have made a mess of things and we turn to him for help.
He wipes away our sins and enables us to start afresh.
That is the promise of
Jeremiah 18: 8 ‘If that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will
relent and, not inflict on it the disaster I had planned.’ We need to
remember, as the Scripture shows, that both judgment and repentance start
at the household of God. The word of the Lord to the nation is, ‘If my
people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves I will
forgive their sin and will heal their land’ (2 Chronicles 7: 14). God is
not waiting for the whole nation to repent — just those who claim the Name
of Jesus as Lord and Saviour. Then there will be a great revival!
The breakdown of family
life in the nation
is giving an opportunity to the church both to declare the word of the
Lord and to serve the nation in practical ways where there is great need.
The Family Matters Initiative which is sponsored by the Ministry Team of
which I am a part is being picked up by churches in many parts of the
country.
 On
28 June I spoke at a meeting in the Guildhall York to launch Family
Matters York which is being supported by churches of all denominations
in the city with the cooperation of the city council and local statutory
authorities such as social workers and health visitors. The churches have
set themselves a target that by the end of the year they will be
encouraging every couple who want to get married, whether in church or
Register Office, to participate in a time of marriage preparation run by
committed Christians.
Through the churches in the
city they will also be offering parenting courses and help with household
finance (a major cause of domestic violence and family breakdown).
The aim in York
is to cut the rate of divorce
by one-third in three years. It has been done in America where Christians
are determined to show the love of Jesus in practical ways. It can be done
here where there is a will to work together among the churches. Above all,
Christians have to care — and to care passionately about the plight of
the land. That’s when things begin to happen — as we call upon God for
help and the Spirit of the Living God supplies the power to transform the
life of the nation. It has happened before — in the days of Wesley, and in
the days of Wilberforce, and the Clapham Sect. It can happen again in our
day!
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