Oct. 14, 2009 - Do My Kids Know Right From Wrong?--Review of McDowell and Hostetler's Book |
I recently reread McDowell and Hostetler's book Right From Wrong. I read it the first time a decade ago; since then, my two older children have become adults, and my youngest is ten years old. If anything, the moral foundation in America is collapsing more rapidly than it was in the previous decade, and our youth are hanging onto what truth they have by a thread. And the majority in that generation without truth is now raising their children based upon what they learned from professors, who teach that reality is whatever you make it to be.
As I have gotten older, I am more convinced than ever that the authors of Right From Wrong are correct; it is essential for "adults to equip their youth with the ability to resist the erosion of their values and determine what is right from wrong."
In Part I: A Crisis of Truth, the authors describe the problem: what has happened to erode truth, and how it has affected the current generation. The nature and character of God was dethroned by man, starting with humanism during the Renaissance, and devolving into the so-called Age of Reason, the Enlightenment, when standards of right and wrong began to be determined by human reasoning rather than God. In addition, with the Industrial Revolution man looked further toward man and away from God, and Darwinism presented a ready replacement for God, for those who wished to replace God with man.
The Barna statistics convincingly demonstrate that although churched youth fare slightly better than unchurched youth,churched youth increasingly reject biblical values of right and wrong. They do not believe in objective truth, but have bought into the world's view that each of us can decide right and wrong for ourselves. This has resulted in an explosion of Christian kids who are adopting the world's views and culture of corruption, including premarital sex, drugs, lying and cheating.
I agree that the reason "our children are not adopting our values is not because of the state of American society, but because of how we, as parents, have responded to it." I especially appreciated the example of the Israelites, who gave their children material blessings, but did not teach them what God had done for them. Here in America, we have abundant material provisions, but we are spiritually starving to death.
I heartily concur that "if we wish our youth to remain active in church throughout their teen years, if we desire for them the assurance of salvation in Jesus Christ, if we want them to espouse biblical Christian belief, then equipping them with solid convictions of truth and morality may be the single most influential gift we can give them."
God has made Himself known in His Word; Truth is absolute, not relative. As I have gone back to school at GBS.edu , I hope to become better equipped to transmit God's absolute truth to the next generation, as a mom, a wife, a writer, and a teacher.
If you'd like to try out GBS, ask them about their free Wisdom Literature course. |
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Homeschool mom/author (Co-author "Educational Travel on a Shoestring," "Homeschooling on a Shoestring," Practical Homeschooling columnist), shares frugal family, educational and travel resources and tips. Check back for frequent educational freebies and cheapies, including literature, unit studies, special needs, teens, high school, distance education, homeschooling college, health, home learning freebies (preschool - young adult), debt-free living, avoiding business scams, writers resources, bio-ethics, abortion violence, science, creationism, intelligent design, evolution, internet safety, Biblical worldview curriculum sources and book reviews.
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