Where have all the fathers gone?

For many, many years, from the 1970s and onwards, Dads were much maligned and made fun of by the Hollywood script writers, who loved to make sitcom fathers the opposite of “Father Knows Best,” and more like “Fathers Know Least.” 

Sadly, men began to embrace the role assigned them of chief buffoon and irresponsible parent, and the burden of the family shifted from fathers to mothers in terms of leadership responsibility and direction setting.

Meanwhile, fathers retreated to their “man caves” like the neanderthals that they had become, absenting themselves from family responsibilities to sit downstairs with their friends drinking beer, burping, scratching and watching sports.

For the last number of years we’ve seen a decline in family living, for a number of reasons, with materialism and individualism as two culprits along with the internet, cell phones, netflix and other devices that rob families of shared information and controlled family entertainment. Eating around the supper table has become rare, indeed, as “island life” takes over (kitchens with island countertops) and family members make their own meal times whenever one feels like eating.

The tide of life moves swiftly and the TV family known as The Cleavers – Ward and June and their two boys Wally and Beaver, for the most part well behaved and respectful of both pop and mom, seem like a thing of an ancient past.

While we all realize there likely never was a golden time for the family – witness the swift breakdown in family relations between brother Cain and Abel – there is a standard that we should be aiming toward, one that the Bible provides outlines for.

Books have been written about this subject, and many of them worthwhile. But because books may
not necessarily get the mileage that they deserve, this issue provides some family and fatherly advice
and direction that we hope will help set course adjustments for those in need and particularly for
those who read.

A recent conference to discuss the serious problem of sexual assault and how that issue is being addressed in churches (or not addressed) is covered by Glenda Mathes on page 12. Another assault, but this time on infants in the womb, continues to stir up rancor and strife, or joy, depending on what side you are on, as abortion laws either get narrower or wider, from state to state. Hermina Dykxhoorn looks at the changes in her article, “The Deplorables” on page 27. On page 15, Thomas Jipping looks at the implications for Roe v. Wade in light of potential court challenges.

We swim in murky waters both ethically and morally, and on so many fronts, that it is becoming difficult to stem the tide and keep one’s footing against the flood.

Yet we hope in God, our sure anchor.

John Vandyk, Editor
Christian Renewal Magazine

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