Disobedient Parents.

White Ribbon, Volume 3, Issue 30, 1 December 1897, Page 7

Disobedient Parents.

The causes and effects of disobedience in children are a frequent topic. But how seldom do we hear anything said about disobedient parents ? Yet if we do but trace the disobedience of children back to its original source, we shall inevitably find that it has its root in the violation of physical and moral law by the parents. As we sow, so shall we reap. And in nothing is the truth of this Divine fiat more strongly emphasised than in the marital and parental relations. Young men and women become acquainted with each other, and under the influence of good looks, money* position, and other purely material considerations, aided by sex attractions, agree to marry. It never occurs to them to ask “ Am I fit to become a father or mother ?” Questions of health, hereditary tendencies, mental qualities, moral attributes, are all ignored Their children are born with inherited moral, mental, and physical taints. Luring childhood, instead of wise, loving, and painful effort to cultivate the good and eradicate the. evil tendencies, their parents show a careless indifference. The disobedience and disregard of law shown by the parents is accentuated in

the children, and so they grow up a disgrace and shame to their and a. danger to the community. It may be pleaded that many parents err through ignorance, This is true. The people perish fur lack of Knowledge. But wiiful ignorance is culpable. Our English law does not allow ignorance to be pleaded as a justification for transgression. Nor does the moral law. People who voluntarily take upon themselves the privileges of parentage must accept the responsibilities that accompany the office. Every child has a right to be wellborn. No person has a right to become a parent unless he or she has good reason to believe that healthy offspring will result.

And the children having been healthily born have as much right to careful moral and mental nurture as they have to a good physical sustenance. It is an imperative duty of every man and woman to study the laws that govern our being, and, having lived in conformity with them, to teach them to their children. Were this done, much of the sin and disease that afflicts our race would disappear.