Lesson 5

1. Lesson 5 Destruction of the Family

2. 1 Tim 2:1-4 1 First, I tell you to pray for all people, asking God for what they need and being thankful to him. 2Pray for rulers and for all who have authority so that we can have quiet and peaceful lives full of worship and respect for God. 3This is good, and it pleases God our Savior, 4who wants all people to be saved and to know the truth. Do you pray America?

3. “America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, she will cease to be great.” Psa. 9:17 The wicked return to the grave, all the nations that forget God. 1835

4. How To Destroy America • Destroy Her Faith in God (Christianity). • Destroy Biblical marriage/divorce. • Destroy the Biblical role of gov’t. • Christians remain silent/retreat

5. How To Destroy America “The philosophy of the schoolroom in one generation will be the philosophy of government in the next.” Abraham Lincoln • Destroy Her Faith in God (Christianity). • Destroy Biblical marriage/divorce. • Destroy the Biblical role of gov’t. • Christians remain silent/retreat

6. How To Destroy America “The philosophy of the schoolroom in one generation will be the philosophy of government in the next.” Abraham Lincoln • Destroy Her Faith in God (Christianity). • Destroy Biblical marriage/divorce. • Destroy the Biblical role of gov’t. • Christians remain silent/retreat Judg 2:10-11 10 After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel. 11 Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord and served the Baals.

7. Two of the best known school books in the history of American education were the 18th century New England Primer and the 19th century McGuffey Readers. It is estimated that at least 120 million copies of McGuffey's Readers were sold between 1836 and 1960. Henry Steele Commager, Jr. Columbia University Historian, educator and scholar (also taught at Harvard & University of Chicago) wrote in the intro. For a paperback reissue:

8. What is most impressive in the McGuffey readers is the morality. From the First Reader through the Sixth, the morality is pervasive and insistent, there is rarely a page but addresses itself to some moral problem, points up some moral lesson – industry,sobriety, thrift, propriety, modesty, punctuality – these were essential virtues and those who practiced them were sure of success…The world of McGuffeys was a world where no one questioned the truths of the Bible, or their relevance to every day conduct.” “That our children, today, are better taught than were their luckless predecessors is generally conceded, though we are sometimes puzzled that we have not produced a generation of statesman as distinguished as the founding fathers.”

9. What is most impressive in the McGuffey readers is the morality. From the First Reader through the Sixth, the morality is pervasive and insistent, there is rarely a page but addresses itself to some moral problem, points up some moral lesson – industry,sobriety, thrift, propriety, modesty, punctuality – these were essential virtues and those who practiced them were sure of success…The world of McGuffeys was a world where no one questioned the truths of the Bible, or their relevance to every day conduct.” “That our children, today, are better taught than were their luckless predecessors is generally conceded, though we are sometimes puzzled that we have not produced a generation of statesman as distinguished as the founding fathers.”

10. Gen 2:20-24 23 The man said, "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called 'woman,' for she was taken out of man." 24 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh. One man One woman For life

11. “Marriage: The act of uniting a man and a woman for life; the legal union of a man and woman for life. Marriage is a contract both civil and religious, by which the parties live together in mutual affection and fidelity, till death shall separate them. Marriage was instituted by God himself for the purpose of preventing the promiscuous intercourse of the sexes, for promoting domestic felicity, and or securing the maintenance and education of children.” 1828 Webster’s New World Dictionary, 3rd ed. 1988: “1. the state of being married; relation between husband and wife; married life; wedlock; matrimony;… 4. any close or intimate union.”

12. “Marriage: The act of uniting a man and a woman for life; the legal union of a man and woman for life. Marriage is a contract both civil and religious, by which the parties live together in mutual affection and fidelity, till death shall separate them. Marriage was instituted by God himself for the purpose of preventing the promiscuous intercourse of the sexes, for promoting domestic felicity, and or securing the maintenance and education of children.” Florida Marriage Protection Amendment BALLOT SUMMARY: This amendment protects marriage as the legal union of only one man and one woman as husband and wife and provides that no other legal union that is treated as marriage or the substantial equivalent thereof shall be valid or recognized. 1828 Webster’s New World Dictionary, 3rd ed. 1988: “1. the state of being married; relation between husband and wife; married life; wedlock; matrimony;… 4. any close or intimate union.”

13. Hebrews 13:4 Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.

14. The State of Our Unions The Social Health of Marriage in America 2004 MARRIAGE Key Finding: Marriage trends in recent decades indicate that Americans have become less likely to marry, and the most recent data show that the marriage rate in the United States continues to decline. DIVORCE Key Finding: The American divorce rate today is more than twice that of 1960, but has declined slightly since hitting the highest point in our history in the early 1980s. For the average couple marrying in recent years, the lifetime probability of divorce or separation remains close to 50 percent. UNMARRIED COHABITATION Key Finding: The number of unmarried couples has increased dramatically over the past four decades, and the increase is continuing. Most younger Americans now spend some time living together outside of marriage, and unmarried cohabitation commonly precedes marriage.

15. Introduction In this year’s essay, David Popenoe argues that long-term trends point to the gradual weakening of marriage as the primary social institution of family life. More Americans today are living together, marrying at older ages or not at all, and rearing children in cohabiting or solo parent households. Overall, the U.S. trends are following the far-advanced trends toward nonmarriage in Northwestern European nations, albeit at a slower and more uneven pace.

16. Introduction Popenoe attributes the weakening of marriage to a broad cultural shift away from religion and social traditionalism and toward faith in personal independence and tolerance for diverse life styles – otherwise known as "secular individualism." This cultural shift is a central feature of modern societies and therefore unlikely to be reversed.

17. Past lesson How Abortion Became Law • Darwinian evolution in public education • Alfred Kinsey & 60’s Sexual revolution • No Fault Divorce Law • Feminist Movement / Planned Parenthood • Media/Entertainment’s attack on the Traditional Family & Christian values • Activist Judges

18. Until 1969, every state in the Union had a fault-based system of divorce laws. (The lone exception was Oklahoma, which introduced no-fault divorce in 1953.) Under the fault-based system, a plaintiff (the aggrieved party in the divorce action) had to charge the defendant with certain actions that constituted grounds for divorce. These grounds might include mental cruelty, physical abuse, desertion, adultery, imprisonment, alcohol or drug addiction, or insanity. Without showing grounds for divorce, no divorce could be granted.

19. Matt. 5:32 “I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, for any reasonexcept sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery;…” Matt. 19:5 …leave father and mother and cleave to his wife” Matt. 19:6…”what God joined…let no man separate” Matt. 19:9 …divorce only for sexual immorality “Is it lawful to divorce for every cause? No What does Jesus say?

20. Is Jesus’ Word Final? “The Jesus who modern research has placed in his social environment is not able to offer completely adequate moral guidance for today…Could a simple carpenter in Galilee 2,000 years ago have uttered the final word on human relationship? Is there nothing more to be learned? Can we regulate marriage today with all its complex problems by insisting that ‘man shall not put asunder what God hath joined together’?” (J. H. Randall, Religion in the Modern World, 1929)

21. Florida Law 61.052  Dissolution of marriage. (1)  No judgment of dissolution of marriage shall be granted unless one of the following facts appears, which shall be pleaded generally: (a)  The marriage is irretrievably broken. (b) Mental incapacity of one of the parties. However, no dissolution shall be allowed unless the party alleged to be incapacitated shall have been adjudged incapacitated according to the provisions of s. 744.331 for a preceding period of at least 3 years….

22. Floridadivorce.com • PROCEDURE • How can I get a dissolution of marriage (divorce) in Florida? • In general one party needs to testify that the marriage is "irretrievably broken" in other words it cannot be put back together through marriage counseling or any other means. Generally speaking, few people ever contest whether the marriage is irretrievably broken. Thus, in general you can get a divorce simply by asking for one and there is little that your spouse can do about it. Also, one party to the marriage must be a Florida resident for the six month period immediately preceeding the filing of the petition for divorce. There is nothing else that you need to prove to get a divorce in Florida. This is different than some states where for example you have to prove adultery or violence or some other grounds.

23. Floridadivorce.com • PROCEDURE • How can I get a dissolution of marriage (divorce) in Florida? • In general one party needs to testify that the marriage is "irretrievably broken" in other words it cannot be put back together through marriage counseling or any other means. Generally speaking, few people ever contest whether the marriage is irretrievably broken. Thus, in general you can get a divorce simply by asking for one and there is little that your spouse can do about it. Also, one party to the marriage must be a Florida resident for the six month period immediately preceeding the filing of the petition for divorce. There is nothing else that you need to prove to get a divorce in Florida. This is different than some states where for example you have to prove adultery or violence or some other grounds. Over 80% of no-fault divorces are unilateral. This means that one party to the divorce objects to the marriage ending and no-fault laws take away that parties control over whether or not they can save their marriage.

24. Until 1969, every state in the Union had a fault-based system of divorce laws. (The lone exception was Oklahoma, which introduced no-fault divorce in 1953.) Under the fault-based system, a plaintiff (the aggrieved party in the divorce action) had to charge the defendant with certain actions that constituted grounds for divorce. These grounds might include mental cruelty, physical abuse, desertion, adultery, imprisonment, alcohol or drug addiction, or insanity. Without showing grounds for divorce, no divorce could be granted. California's no-fault divorce law was drafted by Assemblyman James A. Hayes and signed into law in 1969 by then-Governor Ronald Reagan. The rest of the nation quickly followed California's lead. By 1974, forty-five states had passed no-fault statutes of their own. By 1985, every state in the union was a no-fault state.

25. Excerpt from Michael Reagan's Book: TWICE ADOPTEDChapter 2, A Broken World, pp. 42-44 “Dad later said that he regretted signing the no-fault divorce bill and that he believed it was one of the worst mistakes he ever made in office. That law set in motion one of the most damaging social experiments in the history of our nation. “ "Divorce is where two adults take everything that matters to a child---the child's home, family, security, and sense of being loved and protected--and they smash it all up, leave it in ruins on the floor, then walk out and leave the child to clean up the mess." p. 37

26. May 27, 2005 Connecting the Dots by Rebecca Hagelin "In 1950, for every hundred children born that year: 12 entered a broken family 4 were born out of wedlock 8 suffered the divorce of their parents.” “By the year 2000, that number had risen fivefold, and for every one hundred children born: 60 entered a broken family 33 born out of wedlock 27 suffering the divorce of their parents."

27. What Does God Think About Divorce? Malachi 2:16 "I hate divorce," says the LORD God of Israel,…”

28. August 28, 2000 Divorce: Ignoring the cost by Edwin J. Feulner, Ph.D. What would you say if I told you there's a sure-fire way to reduce child poverty, make kids more likely to stay in school and less likely to experiment with sex, and cause crime rates to drop even further? A growing body of social science research shows that marriage is the best antidote to a host of societal ills and that divorce is more harmful to children than most people think.

29. Some Hope? "I think getting a divorce should be much harder when children are involved. . . . Divorce has become too easy because of our permissive laws and attitudes." She goes on to say, "The good news is that attitudes about marriage and divorce seem to be changing. Some states are beginning to examine whether their divorce laws are too lax. Grass-roots campaigns to help preserve marriage are flourishing around the country." William A. Galston, a professor at the University of Maryland and a former domestic policy advisor to President Clinton: "For couples with dependent children, we should eliminate unilateral no-fault -- where one person can readily obtain a divorce without the other's consent -- and return to an updated fault-based system, with the alternative of a five-year waiting period. And even in cases where both parties consent, there should be suitable braking mechanisms: a mandatory pause of at least a year for reflection, counseling and mediation."

30. Remove prohibitions and legitimize prostitution. Make abortion a "demand right“ protected by national & international law, with unrestricted access for teenagers, and make the non-provision of abortion a crime in all cases, even for reasons of conscience. United Nations De-emphasize the role of mothers and increase incentives for them to work rather than stay home to care for children. Reduce parental authority while expanding children's rights. Encourage governments to change religious rules and customs that impede its efforts.

31. Remove prohibitions and legitimize prostitution. • Arthur M. Schlesinger wrote in “The Disuniting of America:” • “History is to a nation... as memory is to an individual. An individual deprived of memory becomes disoriented and lost, not knowing where he has been or where he is going, so a nation denied a conception of its past will be disabled in dealing with its present and future.” Make abortion a "demand right“ protected by national & international law, with unrestricted access for teenagers, and make the non-provision of abortion a crime in all cases, even for reasons of conscience. United Nations De-emphasize the role of mothers and increase incentives for them to work rather than stay home to care for children. Reduce parental authority while expanding children's rights. Encourage governments to change religious rules and customs that impede its efforts.

32. No-fault divorce was pioneered by the Bolsheviks following the Russian Revolution of 1917. The triumph of bolshevism, 1918-1929 By, Vikki Goodridge

33. The 1918 Decree on Divorce eliminated the religious marriage and the underlying ecclesiastical law, by replacing them with civil marriage sanctioned by the state. Divorce was obtained by filing a mutual consent document with the Russian Registry Office, or by the unilateral request of one party to the court. The triumph of bolshevism, 1918-1929 By, Vikki Goodridge

34. The Marxist position on the family is found in The Origin of Family, Private Property, and the State by Friedrich Engels. Its basic premise is that the patriarchal family and its subjugation and exploitation of women and children were born out of private-property relationships. The triumph of bolshevism, 1918-1929 By, Vikki Goodridge

35. “Under socialism the abolition of private property would result in relationships between couples founded solely on love, and the emphasis on collective life would diminish the importance of the family as a unit for nurturing children.” The triumph of bolshevism, 1918-1929 By, Vikki Goodridge

36. The opposition to the proposed law seemed to centre around four points: (1) that it would abolish marriage; (2) that it would destroy the family; (3) that it would legalize polygamy and polyandry; (4) that it would ruin the peasants The triumph of bolshevism, 1918-1929 By, Vikki Goodridge

37. The Atlantic Monthly | July 1926 The triumph of bolshevism, 1918-1929 "Men took to changing wives with the same zest which they displayed in the consumption of the recently restored forty-per-cent vodka." by A Woman resident in Russia By, Vikki Goodridge

38. The Atlantic Monthly | July 1926 The triumph of bolshevism, 1918-1929 “Every divorce in the villages brings with it family discords, feuds, trials, revenge, murder, and ruin. One must take into consideration the backwardness of the village population, which feels that the new law will bring polygamy, grief, demoralization, and the dying out of the race.” By, Vikki Goodridge

39. Romania tried it • * divorce rate tripled • by 1960. • * 1957 abortion on • demand • Concern for popula- • tion reproduction and • future labor supplies • Romanian Family • Code • * 1966, abortion was • virtually outlawed, • a new divorce • decree made the • dissolution of • marriage exceedingly • difficult. The triumph of bolshevism, 1918-1929 By, Vikki Goodridge

40. In his book Perestroika, Mikhail Gorbachev reflected on 70 years of Russian turmoil: "We have discovered that many of our problems -- in children’s and young people’s behavior, in our morals, culture and in production -- are partially caused by the weakening of family ties."

41. In his book Perestroika, Mikhail Gorbachev reflected on 70 years of Russian turmoil: "We have discovered that many of our problems -- in children’s and young people’s behavior, in our morals, culture and in production -- are partially caused by the weakening of family ties." Ps 127:1 Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain.

42. When We Divorce Unlawfully • We are covenant-breakers / liars (Rom. 1:31;Eccl. 5:4). • We are doing what God hates and are treat- ing our spouse treacherously (Mal. 2:16). • We are creating for ourselves and our spouse a stumbling block (Lk. 17:1; Matt. 5:32; 1 Cor. 7:5). • We are giving the world opportunity to mock God’s gift of marriage (Heb. 13:4;1 Tim. 4:3-6; Rom. 2:23-24). • We are discouraging and asking our brethren to reject us (2 Jn. 9-11; Eph. 5:11).