More from Rick Perry’s On My Honor
“A society that puts the rights of individuals above their responsibilities is in danger of creating a generation of children too self-absorbed to contribute to the fabric of community. Scouting resists this temptation - a temptation I believe is as old as original sin in the Garden of Eden, when man began the quest to become his won god instead of settling for the joy and security of submitting to God and living in communion with Him and His creation.”
“Ask just about any parent, and he or she will tell you that, without proper socialization, our children would gravitate toward their own nature, which is to be selfish without regard for anyone else.”
Now there is a view that is, I think, a little too profound for most of our citizens to grab hold of - or, without a faith in Christ, too contradictory to their fleshly human nature. It’s why so many in our country put their hope in a government and a judicial system that will give them anything and everything their heart desires. But they can’t see the paradox of a society of individual rights without the corresponding individual responsibilities to that society. So what has changed in the last 40 years? Governor Perry:
A Community of Shared Values
“It was merely assumed, in a community where parents shared the same interest of raising children to respect authority and live by established values, that other adults exercise their authority in a manner consistent with what was best for the child.”
And now so many parents expect the institutions of public education, athletic programs, or even church to instill character into their children. And when their children exhibit bad traits, they want to blame someone else. And Governor Perry points out:
“This often comes from an unwillingness to set firm rules and enforce guidelines for our children who, I believe, are crying out for established boundaries.”
So where does that leave our teenage young men?
A Support Network of Mentors
“To grow into successful adulthood, young people need a support network. When you consider that not every child is born into the best of circumstances, the greatest hope we have is that society’s institutions such as the education system, athletic organizations, faith-based communities, or mentoring groups will somehow get to those children in a way their parents do not.”
“The ideal remains a situation in which a mother and a father spend time with their children, teaching them a sense of social responsibility and self-worth tied to selfless service. This doesn’t always happen. Some children fall through the gaps. They have no control over the world they are born into or over the values of their parents. For them, there is a need for civic-minded organizations that develop in them a sense of self-worth that they cannot get from home. Nevertheless, I don’t believe a variety of social groups should be able to override the authority of parents.”
“The wholesome activities of the Scouts, backed by sympathetic and caring adults as advisors (scoutmasters or assistant scoutmasters) means that sons of single mothers can find admirable role models as they enter the difficult years of adolescence.”
Fatherless Boys
And when you consider that over half our boys are leaving home after high school graduation without their father at home and, with divorce in excess of fifty percent, over half those dads never see their kids again, ever. So you can see why I believe our boys, especially those of single mothers, need committed adult male mentors who are equipped to teach Christ-centered manhood to them through the Boy Scouts, athletic programs, school programs and church.
Once again I want to commend Texas Governor Rick Perry for his bold stance against the moral decay of our American values and his support of the Boy Scouts of America as our nation’s foremost youth program of character development and values-based leadership training (Vision Statement of BSA).
Squires2Knights Ministries
Squires2Knights Ministries offers resources to enhance any mentorship effort for teenage boys. We offer a devotional tailor-made for any organization that wants to instill a Christ-centered vision of authentic manhood to the next generation of men.
Rick Perry, On My Honor - Why the American Values of the Boy Scouts Are Worth Fighting For, Stroud & Hall Publishers, 2008.
Posted on January 23rd, 2009 by Jeff Purkiss
Filed under: Cultural Issues, Fathering/Mentoring | No Comments »