grahamg
Old codger
- Location
- South of Manchester, UK
Quote:
"Probably a more basic source of the present crisis in the family is found in the modern emphasis on individualism. Ever since the coming of the Renaissance the watchword of modern man has been individualism. In economics, this emphasis expressed itself in Laissez-Faire capitalism; in politics it expressed itself in democracy; in religion it expressed itself in Protestantism; and in education it expressed itself in progressive education. Now this emphasis on individualism was a healthy revolt against a crippling authoritarianism. But the tragedy was that modern man allowed individualism to run wild. He indulged in the tragic luxury of rugged individualism. This rugged individualism seeped into the family. And so today every individual in the family asserts his or her rights with little regard for the thoughts of the family as a whole. All persons in the family are individualists in their pleasures and individualists in their suffering. Their rights are individual rights, their problems individual problems, their responsibility individual responsibility. Home is now merely a useful place to eat and sleep. It is not the center of communal life where the interests of one are the interests of all, where the joys of one are gladly shared by all, and where the troubles of one are regarded as burdens of all. In the average modern family there is a civil war in progress in which the parents are revolting against each other and the children are revolting against the parents. In the modern family individualism has gone mad. {There is an individualism that destroys the individual.}"
Break
"The first thing that can be done to restore the family to a harmonious unit is for each individual to respect the dignity and worth of every other individual in the family. The parents must respect each other, and the children must respect and be respected by the parents. Men must accept the fact that the day has passed when the man can stand over the wife with an iron rod asserting his authority as “boss.” This does not mean that women no longer respect maculinity, i.e., strong, dynamic manliness; woman will always respect that. But it does mean that the day has passed when women will be trampled over and treated as some slave subject to the dictates of a despotic husband." (Break)
"Women must be respected as human beings and not be treated as mere means. Strictly speaking, there is no boss in the home; it is no lord-servant relationship. The family should be a cooperative enterprise where all members are working together for a common goal.
The child must also be respected as a member of the family. The day has gone forever in which parents can afford to live in a haughty, superior world of their own, in which “children are seen and not heard.” This does not mean that children must not be disciplined; nor does it mean that children should not be taught to respect their parents. It does mean, however, that a child must be respected and treated as a persons with utmost significance. He has his little thoughts and his little rights that must be respected."
https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/...rn-family-sermon-dexter-avenue-baptist-church
"Probably a more basic source of the present crisis in the family is found in the modern emphasis on individualism. Ever since the coming of the Renaissance the watchword of modern man has been individualism. In economics, this emphasis expressed itself in Laissez-Faire capitalism; in politics it expressed itself in democracy; in religion it expressed itself in Protestantism; and in education it expressed itself in progressive education. Now this emphasis on individualism was a healthy revolt against a crippling authoritarianism. But the tragedy was that modern man allowed individualism to run wild. He indulged in the tragic luxury of rugged individualism. This rugged individualism seeped into the family. And so today every individual in the family asserts his or her rights with little regard for the thoughts of the family as a whole. All persons in the family are individualists in their pleasures and individualists in their suffering. Their rights are individual rights, their problems individual problems, their responsibility individual responsibility. Home is now merely a useful place to eat and sleep. It is not the center of communal life where the interests of one are the interests of all, where the joys of one are gladly shared by all, and where the troubles of one are regarded as burdens of all. In the average modern family there is a civil war in progress in which the parents are revolting against each other and the children are revolting against the parents. In the modern family individualism has gone mad. {There is an individualism that destroys the individual.}"
Break
"The first thing that can be done to restore the family to a harmonious unit is for each individual to respect the dignity and worth of every other individual in the family. The parents must respect each other, and the children must respect and be respected by the parents. Men must accept the fact that the day has passed when the man can stand over the wife with an iron rod asserting his authority as “boss.” This does not mean that women no longer respect maculinity, i.e., strong, dynamic manliness; woman will always respect that. But it does mean that the day has passed when women will be trampled over and treated as some slave subject to the dictates of a despotic husband." (Break)
"Women must be respected as human beings and not be treated as mere means. Strictly speaking, there is no boss in the home; it is no lord-servant relationship. The family should be a cooperative enterprise where all members are working together for a common goal.
The child must also be respected as a member of the family. The day has gone forever in which parents can afford to live in a haughty, superior world of their own, in which “children are seen and not heard.” This does not mean that children must not be disciplined; nor does it mean that children should not be taught to respect their parents. It does mean, however, that a child must be respected and treated as a person
https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/...rn-family-sermon-dexter-avenue-baptist-church