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Every normal human belng
wants to be warm, we/1-fed,
comfortable, protected and
loved. We al/ want to //ve in an
understandlng, warm, chari–
table, protectlve environment.
The lamí/y unlt ought to be
just such an envlronment. ln–
stead our fam/1/es are fa/1/ng
apart at the seams! /nstead
even preteens are runnlng
away lrom home atan unprec–
edented rate. /nstead ol being
a haven lor our young
people-a place ol sanctuary,
warmth and refuge-the Amer–
ican home /s too often the
scene ol alcoholism, bitter
hostility, and even brutal
flghts and beatings. The very
fabrlc of our Western civ-
1/ization ls In mortal jeopardy.
What can
we
do to bring back
the lamí/y?
by
Garner Ted Armstrong
f 1 were to pinpoint one root
cause for so much that is
wrong with the United States
of America today, 1would be
forced to point my finger at
the door of the American
home.
It
is the disintegration
family unit as a medium of
teaching and training children- in
order to instill in them the undying
values of a sense of respect toward
other people, their property and
their basic human rights-tbat is at
the heart of our problems today.
Strong family ties
prevent
prob–
lems! Almost every problem afftict–
ing our Westero societies can be
traced back to our ailing h9mes and
families. And this is especially true
of those problems of the nation's
youth. Our young people have been
dogged by drug abuse, alcoholism,
suicide, crime and juvenile delin–
quency. Are the causes all that hard
to figure out? They
shouldn~t
be.
Not when young meo and women
have to come borne to bouses that
are like "empty" motels, wbere fam–
ily members merely hang their hat
temporarily, get their own meals
and ftop down in front ofthe TV.
20
A million teenagers run away
from unbearable borne condítions
every year. Suicide is tbe second
Jeading cause of death for young
Americans. By age 18, one out of
feo American girls is pregnant and
the vast majority of these are un–
married. One out of nine kids end
up in juvenile court by age 18. Forty
percent of U.S. crimes of violence
and two-thirds of crimes against
property (80 percent are vandalism)
are committed by tbose under 2 1.
And about ten percent of all scbool–
age kids have moderate to severe
emotional problems. 1 won't bore
you any further with the tiresome
statistics, but they do make a point.
There's Nobody Home!
In the past, the family has been
characterized as the giant shock ab–
sorber of society- the refuge where
our " prodiga! sons" (and daughters)
could safely return after doing
battle with tbe world. But no more!
Not even during the times of the
two World Wars has the American
family been under such severe stress
and strain. According to recent sur–
veys, married couples are untying
the knot at nearly twice the rate of
the l950s. Divorce is rapidly escalat–
ing in nearly every Westem country.
Young people are even beginning to
shy away from marriage as an in–
stitution.
The old cliché of tbe kid asking
his new dad to sigo tbe guest book is
more than a bad joke today. Even
couples who stay together pull up
roots and move once every five
years. Thus tbe American borne has
acquired the dubious image of a
place where parents and children
cross paths every once in a while on
their merry way to and from various
and sundry pursuits.
Just moving across the country as
an occupational necessity creates
enormous burdeos and strains on
tbe family fabric. Dad has to adapt
to new co-workers on the job; mom
has to redecorate the new borne and
reorient herself to yet another
neighborhood; the kids have to cope
with a different brand of peer pres–
sure tban before. All is in a state of
chaos and l;lpset for months. And
wben this happens every five years
on the average, it begins to exact a
cumulative toll on the emotional
stability of both parents and their
offspring. Where is the extended
fami ly of au nts, uncles, grand–
parents and cousins in all of this?
They have often helped to smooth
over confticts and diffi.culties in the
nuclear family. But by now, they' re
clear across the country. We left
them behind five moves ago.
Proflle of a Young Couple
Many you ng men are virtually
forced, through circumstances, into
sales as an occupation. And sales–
roen tend to be on the move and
away from home in this modero
world.
Picture the following scenario: A
young salesman sets up house in a
third-ftoor walk-up with the prover–
bial bare light bulb. In a year's time,
bring on a baby. He's not making
quite enough; they're juggling the
bilis. He's repeatedly absent for
days at a time; it's practically a one–
parent family. She decides sbe can't
take it anymore. Out goes the two–
year-old to sorne sort of day-care
cente r. The budget is further
strained because she's got to buy
new clothes to look decent on the
job and a secondhand car to get
there. Sbe's never home when her
husband is, so out he goes to the
neighborhood bar. Meanwhile, hav–
ing been attracted to ber boss on the
job, she's having increasing in–
timacies with him, while ber hus–
band picks up other distraught ,
lonely "pseudo wives" at the bar, or
on his travels from time to time.
They begin to blame eacb other for
tbeir lack of love and understand–
ing, and they assume they can find
real
sympathy and affection in the
arms of strangers. And on and on it
goes with our upside-down Ameri–
can family life. Their poor kid
hasn't got any parents.
Tbe borne. A place of under–
standing? A place of warmth? A
place of forgiveness and friendship?
Forget it in today's society.
But it ought to be all of those
things and more!
The Famlly Unlt In Creatlon
The fami ly unit is not an economic
unit; it is not a social unit. It is a
divine
unit!
It
was invented and de–
signed to function in a certain man–
ner. The interplay and th e
The
PLAIN TRUTH August-September 1977