Where are the fathers?

Happy Father’s Day.

The words come tripping off the tongue with such ease, we forget what they are supposed to mean. We forget that this was meant to be the one day in the year where we could pay honor and respect to the men who didn’t just help to create life but helped to grow the lives they helped make. They are the men who stepped up and made sacrifices for the children that bore their name and genetics.

But how common is it to find a father in the home now?

There were 15 million single mother-headed households in the United States in 2019. This is 3 times the number in 1960. In addition: 25% of U.S. families are headed by a single parent, and 80% of single-parent headed households are moms — or 21% of children live primarily with a single mother, according to Census data. And this is the biggest eye-opener of all: 57% of millennial moms are unmarried moms, according to Johns Hopkins researchers.

The statistics are alarming. The results are frightening.

America is unraveling. Lawlessness and violence are no longer the exception, they are the rule. Children who do not have a father figure are now growing in exponential numbers. The new norm is creating a crisis that will not easily be solved. This ticking time bomb is already starting to reach the final countdown to societal collapse.

I am not a sociologist and I can only draw conclusions based on my own life experience. But the evidence seems to pile up every day about the results of not having two parent households.

In 1960, my parents had finished having children. My youngest brother Tom was born in 1959 and we totaled five children. We lived in the suburbs, went to church faithfully, attended school and played out in the yards and woods nearby with very little supervision. We were safe from many of the dangers today’s kids routinely face. We were in the scouts and we did chores around the house. Drugs were unheard of (except the prescribed pharmaceuticals that some people took behind closed doors). You never heard about mass killings. Guns were freely available at a very low cost but they were mainly used for hunting and target shooting. Kidnapping was so rare, it made the front page of the paper when it did happen.

We behaved.

I can assure you that even though we pulled a few pranks as kids, overall we behaved. Why? Because that was how we were raised. We were raised to respect our parents. We were raised to honor and respect the police. We studied the Bible and we knew the Ten Commandments. We prayed together and read the Bible as a family. We tried to live up to the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts codes.

My Father was the core of our family unit. Even though he was a hardworking man that spent countless hours providing for his family, he took the time to teach us. He led by example every day. The deep patriotic live I have for my country comes directly from him. My respect for the flag is tied to the flag raising practice he shared with us. We would never think to be disrespectful to an older person under any circumstances. We loved the Lord because he showed us what that meant.

And my Father taught us about consequences and honesty. Even when it was hard, we told the truth. We respected that others worked hard for their property and none of us would ever consider taking something that wasn’t ours.

My Father had a servant’s heart. He gave freely of his time and talents to so many others. As each of us left the house, he increased that service and did so until his dying day. He taught us to treat all people equally and to never cheat them.

Most important of all, I could talk to him and get advice. We didn’t always see eye to eye on things when I was a teenager, but he had enough love in his heart to wait for me to grow up. In our later years, I came to realize just how much he really knew.

So what about today? Where are the Fathers?

The simplest explanation is that too many are missing in action. As I said, I am not a sociologist but I do read a lot about society, With so many single parent households and so many of those being the mom only, it seems like too many men are just Missing in Action.

There are probably some who have strong reasons. She was a bitch. Our life together sucked. Someone cheated. Alcohol. Drugs. The new attitude where divorce is easier than working on problems. Both parents working. A general falling apart of society. God? Who is that???

Whatever the reasons, we have an epidemic of failure when it comes to families. The results are plain to see. Children raised on the internet. Social networks have replaced real relationships. Addiction to technology has become the new scourge of civilization. You don’t believe it? Try and take their phones and devices away from them. Morals have collapsed to such a degree that anything is permissible in their minds. There are no more rules.

Have you watched any of the videos of young people attacking strangers? With no rules or fathers to give them guidance, they are swiftly devolving back to animal status. They cheer and join in as their victims lay cringing on the ground in fear and pain. They steal their shoes as if this is some kind of trophy. They marvel at how easily they bleed. And they hate the police and they hate you.

Where are the fathers?

If I had tried to do anything like what we are routinely seeing, my father would have swiftly taken action. But to be honest, I would never have thought about doing anything like what I see now. I was raised by a man. My Mom was a key part of that raising as well, but there was a balance between their roles. She helped me to understand love and respect in her own way. But the man that was my FATHER showed me how to be a man.

None of these punks that are participating in the attacks are men.

They are fatherless children that missed an important part of their raising. The jails are full of children that never became men. So are the shooting galleries where drugs flow like water.

So are the cemeteries where the bodies of these untrained children are ending up in increasing numbers.

You better buckle up.

The numbers of children without fathers in their lives are growing. Since there are no more consequences for having children out of wedlock, it is only going to continue to increase. Since there is no more societal pressure to stay married and stay together, it is only going to increase. Since this generation is being raised on the internet instead of in church, God will disappear. When God disappears, so does the last line that separates us from the jungle. With no earthly fathers to help reshape society, the Heavenly Father will let the children reap what they sow.

To all the Fathers who are sticking it out and doing the right thing, God Bless You. I hope your children are kept safe from all the children who had “fathers” that failed to understand that there was more to the role than just a title they could borrow once a year.

Happy Father’s Day in Heaven Dad. (You too Uncle John)

Mister Mac