I have been thinking of a post that might be a bit “un politically correct” and I have been brewing on it for a while because I wanted to be careful about how I worded what I wanted to say. Recently I have been thinking a lot about our economy and the way our president and legislatures would like to fix it by spending more money and making it easier for Americans to continue living in the buy now- pay later (or never pay) mentality we’ve gotten ourselves into. Our “I want it now regardless” attitudes have brought us into this deficit, and I have some thoughts on why we’re there. I believe the economy is just a mirror of the spiritual deficit our country has – they go hand in hand. We have a buy now pay later outlook on morality and on our relationship with God.
I sincerely believe that we have come to the place where we are in the United States both financially and morally because of families without fathers. One of the ways that we have bankrupted our children is by making it easy and socially acceptable for a woman to raise her children without a father.
I am of the mind that children should not be punished by the sins or bad choices of their parents. Unfortunately, I have no answer as to how to help children without perpetuating the cycle their parents fall into. One example I know of where society has made it easy for this cycle to continue is the Denali Kid Care program in Alaska.
I want to be clear that I don’t have a problem with this system for families that need it temporarily or for those that truly cannot afford another way to provide healthcare for their families. My issue lies with how easy we have made it for single women to continue having children because they know they have so many social systems in place.
For those of you outside, DKC a very generous program that pays for services such as: doctor's visits, health check-ups & screenings , vision exams & eyeglasses, dental checkups, cleanings & fillings, hearing tests & hearing aids, speech therapy ,physical therapy, mental health therapy, substance abuse treatment , chiropractic services, foot doctor's services, hospital care, laboratory tests, prescription drugs, and medical transportation. DKC doesn’t cost for eligible children, teens and pregnant women.
Denali Kid Care is meant to be healthcare so that people who do not have medical insurance (or have very little coverage) can be sure to have healthcare for their families. I don’t have a problem with that. What I mean by the program being generous is that a family of five can make up to $4,521 (gross income) a month and be eligible for the program – that’s $54,000 + a year (or about $26/hr). Receiving free healthcare for pregnancy and for children while making $26/hour is pretty generous – would you agree? I’m fine with that. If the state can afford it – I think it’s great.
Here’s where the rub comes in for me – people know the system in and out.
1. They know that if they remain unmarried the income of their significant other does not count and they are eligible for more benefits. So instead of getting married, they remain uncommitted.
2. They know that they can have as many children as they want as a single woman and never feel the discomfort of trying to provide for their children because they have so many services available to them. This perpetuates families with no fathers.
3. They know that these services are “free” (at least to them but not to society, or to tax payers) and expect other things in life to be free too. They are floored that they might have to pay for their children’s clothes (gasp- not everything is free) and are shocked when they see how much it costs in kindergarten to get your kid the supplies they need. “You mean I have to pay for other kids stuff?” I actually heard a mother say that about the list of school supplies for her kindergartner that included buying enough of some stuff so that kids who couldn’t afford it could have supplies. This mother was accepting DKC for both of her children (both were born out of wedlock).
Our country rewards single parenthood. I won’t even try to touch WIC and other social systems. We have perpetuated the problem that has brought our country where it is today. Statistics show that children from fatherless homes are :
• 4.6 times more likely to commit suicide.
• 6.6 times more likely to become teenage mothers.
• 24.3 times more likely to run away.
• 15.3 times more likely to have behavioral disorders.
• 6.3 times more likely to be in a state-operated institution.
• 10.8 times more likely to commit rape.
• 6.6 times more likely to drop out of school.
• 15.3 times more likely to end up in prison while a teenager.
And yet we make it increasingly easier for a single mother to raise her children alone (and at least from my own observation mostly without any kind of male influence) and continue the cycle.
What is the answer? Prayer – for children, for women who are making decisions to be sexually active without considering not only the physical consequences but the spiritual and emotional as well, for men to rise to the standards of sexual purity that God has laid out for them.
We need to quit apologizing for our stance on sexual purity and the importance of family and stand firm in what God tells us in HIS word. God is not a God of rules and regulations, but of love. And His commands regarding sexual purity are all about protecting his children. All of them…from those recently knit in the womb to those entering the next century of their lives.
I was kind of all over the place there, hopefully there is some sort of sense to be found in this. Just curious about what others are thinking.
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