The sins of the parents!

There was a time, in the not-too-distant past, when the majority of the population of the U.K. would have been at least familiar with the Ten Commandments. The extremely disturbing reports of the two young brothers who were convicted of having severely assaulted two other children - almost killing one of them - and having forced them to commit sexual acts on each other have, rightly, caused many to ask what has gone wrong with our society.

There is no way in which such deliberately sadistic behaviour can be condoned, and these boys must now suffer the consequences of thoer actions - although I suspect that the victims, and their families, will suffer more, and for far longer. However, equally disturbing are the reports of the environment in which the perpetrators have been reared during their short lives to date. It would appear that these boys were regularly watching horror films - that would have had an 18 Certificate; that the elder of the two drank alcohol, and smoked cannabis; it has been alleged that they saw their father threatening their mother with a knife. They are reported as having climbed on to the roof of a building, stripped off tiles; and thrown them at passers-by; they were captured on video, throwing stones at a house.

As it is alleged that the authorities knew about much, if not all, of this unacceptable behaviour, questions are also being asked about the part that the Doncaster Social Services played - or failed to play - in the situation. They, it has been reported, did not even act in accordance with legal requirements!

But, back to the top - the second of those Ten Commandments states that Almighty God does not "... leave unpunished the sins of those who hate me, but [punishes] the children for the sins of their parents to the third and fourth generation." (Ex.20:5, NLT). This is not, as some might conclude, the statement of a capricious Deity. It is actually a statement of fact. Children learn by mimicking the adults with whom they have closest contact. That's how, in more 'socially-normal' families, children grow up able to speak and behave with some degree of acceptability. Sadly, far too many parents today - certainly in our "western" culture - blissfully unaware of the Second Commandment (or any of the other nine!), and content to abrogate all responsibility for the upbringing of their offspring, fail to realise the consequences of their own behaviour.

The declared policy of the Conservative Party to enhance, if elected to government, the status of marriage, is a hopeful sign. There will always, in a fallen world, be those who will be willing tools of the evil one, and he will always find work for them to do. May it be that this distressing case will cause people, not only to ask questions, but also to find answers in the right place - the written Word of God!