Human beings have become disposable. Our generation- albeit not the majority- can be blamed for it. It's been another 'domino effect' that needs to be stopped and put into reverse. The magnitude of the problem should be clear from the title of a blog I recently read: 'In today's society, does Family even matter?' Let's look at how a variety of events and changes have led to such a question:
Roe v Wade legalized on-demand abortion. While there are exceptions to every rule, there were generally two approaches to unplanned pregnancies before Roe v Wade: couples either got married or girls surrendered their newborns for adoption.
Roe v Wade meant a person no longer needed to inconvenience herself. Instead of either bringing a child into the world to either raise or surrender, Roe v Wade meant one did not have to go through the inconvenience of a full-term pregnancy and childbirth, but to simply 'get rid of it.'
No-fault divorce laws began to sweep the states. Not only did this mean people did not need to claim fault, but did not really need a reason, either. Similar to my belief that there can be legitimate reasons for abortion, there are legitimate reasons for divorce, too- no one should have to tolerate a spouse knocking them around, acts of adultery, or even being bound into a marriage after realizing it was a mistake, but no-fault divorce laws were not about grounds or reasons, and could be obtained by nothing more than 'We grew apart,' 'We don't want the same things,' or 'I'm not happy.' And similar to on-demand abortion, marriage went the way of 'get rid of it' with little more than a shrug. Not long ago, a politician actually said the reason he did not want Covenant marriages to be allowed was that 'fewer people would get married if they believed it would be difficult to get a divorce.'
Next, children were turned into 'community property.' The idea that children need and deserve a stable home with at least one parent was sneered at as old-fashioned nonsense. This was quickly followed by individuals 'pooh-poohing' the notion of 'tender years' as nothing more than old-fashioned nonsense- children, even babies, they said, did not really need their mothers. And then: '”Daddy” is a generic term.” Connections began to break as if they were unimportant- any ol' 'caregiver' would do.
Daycare became a way of life. Individuals could call themselves 'Mothers,' 'Fathers,' or 'Parents' without the day-to-day responsibilities.
Greedy 'pop-psych' and 'self-help' gurus came onto the scene to create further destruction: 'All families are dysfunctional,' 'You can get new families!' Individuals with perfectly acceptable parents, siblings, and even children are actually advised to throw away their families and 'get new ones.'
When the 'Let it all hang out' culture enters the picture, wrong is compounded by messy and confusing. One example I read not long ago: a custodial father asked for advice on how to introduce his young daughter to his girlfriend who would soon be moving in with them; he was advised to teach the little girl to view the woman as 'her mother' as quickly as possible. There's no concern on how this approach confuses kids, disrespects parents, and in many cases results in abuse of authority and abuse in general. The logic that a parent is the individual who brought you into the world and raised you is knocked aside in favor of 'lifestyle choices.'
The role of Parent has gone from Parent to Bystander- if even that. Parents are told that everyone from schoolteachers to counselors make the rules and set the standards, not the parents themselves. Some of the doozies I've heard over the years: schoolteachers telling elementary school children to go home and tell their parents or grandparents that they are stupid and that they do not love them because they smoke cigarettes; schoolteachers who throw away children's lunches, remarking 'Your mother does not feed you properly;' neighbors who call the police or Child Protective Services on parents who allow their kids to play in their own yards; teens who are encouraged to seek medical care and mental health care behind their parents' backs; a counselor who threatened a couple with losing custody of their young teen because they insisted he attend church; and 'emancipation'- kids are essentially baited with all the freedoms they can have if they go to court and sever their relationships with their parents.
These are all domino-effect examples of how and why families are meaning less and less. It is neither fair nor right. And if future generations are to have better experiences, the idea that families are irrelevant in today's world is a notion that needs to be confronted and stopped.