Resolving The Parenting Crisis


In a recent opinion column in the Washington Post, David Byler makes the argument that more needs to be done by the government for the current parenting crisis. He says, “America is in a parenting crisis. The financial costs of child care are soaring; most new parents don’t take the amount of leave they want; and many face the impossible task of balancing full-time work and caring for their children. The coronavirus pandemic has only exacerbated these problems, with many parents losing their jobs, getting sick or frantically trying to work while filling the void left by not having day care and in-person schooling.”

Who does he think has the answer to this problem? The government. How does he propose to get resolved? Through government programming and policy. He states that whichever party is willing to take advantage of this crisis by making programs and policies that are parent friendly, will reap the rewards at the polling box. His primary focus for the parenting crisis is paid family leave. He appeals, “In the short term, often ignored issues can provide politicians with low-cost, high-impact victories. Paid family leave is a perfect example. From a polling perspective, the issue is a slam dunk: Eighty-two percent of Americans favor either employers or the government paying for leave for mothers who give birth or adopt a child, and almost 70 percent support paid leave for new fathers. The public isn’t committed to just a progressive or conservative method of distributing these benefits, either. Sixty percent support providing paid leave through higher taxes on corporations and the wealthy, and 87 percent favor giving a tax credit to employers that provide paid leave.”

In short; there is a parenting crisis? The government will have the solution to the problem. This is a very good example of the basis of socialism. It is the belief that utopia can be found in the government, on earth. That through the government, a perfect life for all can be created. That unfairness can be wiped away. Support can be generated. Problems can be solved. Crisis can be eliminated. All through government control. But it is more than that. It is a belief that there is no God and therefore utopia must be created on earth. Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky wrote, “Socialism is not merely the labor question, it is before all things the atheistic question, the question of the form taken by atheism to–day, the question of the tower of Babel built without God, not to mount to Heaven from earth, but to set up Heaven on earth.”

But our answer for the parenting crisis is not found on Capitol Hill but on the Mount of Gethsemane. It is in the Gospel of Jesus Christ that we have a regeneration of parenting in our country. Once parents repent of their sin, once they lead their families in the ways of the Lord, once they focus on the spiritual more than the physical, once we start assembling the family according to the way God created it, then we will have rectification for the family.
David tries to make a case that this is not a liberal idea by stating, “And that’s where family policy could help Republicans. Parent-friendly lawmaking isn’t an inherently liberal pursuit. The GOP could push policies that reduce child-care costs for working parents, support those who chose to stay at home while projecting a traditionalist, pro-family message.” Yet this is still socialism. It is still looking to the government, to put it in his words, to “push policies...projecting a traditionalist, pro-family message.” As if the government was the creator and final determinant of what a family should look like. As if the government was an infallible god.

We must be careful of being tempted to look to the government for the answers to our problems. We must be careful not to rely on Washington more than relying on God. He is the one that provides our needs. He is the one that issues the truth about family structure and proper parenting. Karl Marx wrote about how easy it would be to lure the Christian into socialism. He stated, “Nothing is easier than to give Christian asceticism a Socialist tinge.” But be forewarned that all socialism is, is atheism in politics. Christian author Larry Taunton wrote that socialism, “...is a spiritual question, if only because it denies the very existence of the spiritual. It is...atheism masquerading as political philosophy.”

Do we need social change? Yes. Do we have a parenting crisis? Yes. Do we go to the government for the solution? No. We turn to Christ. It is the Gospel that brings about change, by changing the heart. No social policy will ever be able to do that. As Spurgeon wrote, “To attempt national regeneration without personal regeneration is to dream of erecting a house without separate bricks.”

No Comments


Recent

Archive

Categories

Tags

Avoid Bible Christian life Christmas God's promises God's promise God\'s promises Jesus John Transgender abide abortion actions addiction alone anger animals apologetics artificial intelligence atonement belief bride of christ busy catholic character children christ's return christian walk christian worldview church growth church cleanse communion computers confession conversation conviction corona virus courage creation death debate decisions defending the faith denomination depression devil difficult discernment discrimination disease division doctrine dreams easter emotional end of the world end times ethics ethnicity euthanasia evaluation evangelism excuses existentialism faithfulness faithful faith false teachers family fellowship foolishness foolish forgiveness forgive genetics glory god gospel greed halloween healing healthy heart heaven help history holidays holiday holiness holy homosexual honor human hymns idolatry idol imagination incarnation integrity islam judgement judge kids kingdom of God kingdom king laziness lazy lgbtq lies life loneliness lord's supper lord\'s supper lose salvation losing salvation love for your neighbor love loving your neighbor luther lying martyr medium memorial day military missions mission money mone mouth old overreaction paganism pagan parenting pastor persecution perseverance persevere philosophy phone physical podcast politics possesions possessions posse prayer preaching prepared promise prophecy protagonist purpose of life queen race reformation day reformation refugee relationships religion repentance responsibility responsible revelation revival reward righteous right sacrifice salvaion salvation sanctification sbc science scripture security self control self-discipline self-examination serve service serving sex shame sick singing sin sleep socialism southern baptist speach speaking to God speaking speech spiritual gifts spiritual warfare spiritual strength struggle success suicide swearing teach temptation testing theologyl theology time tongue tragedy treasure trials trial truth unite unity unrighteousness warning watch weakness wise witnessing witness words work world religions worldliness worldview worship wrong young