Chapter Two - The Home
Youthful Rebellion ... the Generation Gap ... Student Unrest ... Juvenile Delinquency ... Illegitimacy ... Sexual Revolution ... Pot ... Escapism - these are the social problems of today's youth.
Also family lifestyles are changing radically. Some authorities even predict the disappearance of the traditional family unit.
At the same time, divorces - a commonly accepted part of modem living styles - are increasing. Unhappy marriages by the scores of millions are on the border of break-up. A majority of married women work outside the home. A high percentage have young children. Husband and wife roles are becoming blurred. Parents and children are increasingly going their own way, and many homes are becoming little more than boarding houses, merely providing a place to eat and sleep, and little else. Happy and stable home life is being tom apart.
Adultery, premarital sex, wife-swapping, a growing acceptance of homosexuality and perverted sex are some of the causes. Every medium of communication disseminates the subtle message of "doing your own thing." Increasingly, social leaders, psychologists, educators and even religious figures openly condone illicit sex.

The Roman Experience
Largely forgotten today is the fact that the HOME IS THE FOUNDATION OF ANY SOCIETY! It is the most influential element in national greatness or decadence. It is the groundwork for learning individual character, values, goals, morality, self-control and loyalty. The early Romans basically understood this. For this reason Rome grew in power and stature.
Notice this quotation from the book Rome: Its Rise and Fall by Philip Van Ness Myers:
"First, at the bottom as it were of Roman society and forming its ultimate unit, was the family. The most important feature or element of this family group was the authority of the father. It would be difficult to overestimate the influence of this group upon the history and destiny of Rome. It was the cradle of at least some of those splendid virtues of the early Romans that contributed so much to the strength and greatness of Rome, and that helped to give her dominion of the world."

This same strong family structure - with father in command - was a foundation stone supporting the national power of the British Empire and the United States in their zeniths of greatness.
We use the word "was" because, as it did in Rome, this building block of national power, the strong family unit, has all but vanished!
Continued this astute historian:
"It was in the atmosphere of the family that was nourished in the Roman youth the virtues of obedience and of deference to authority. When the youth became a citizen, obedience to magistrates and respect for law was in him as instinct and indeed almost a religion. And, on the other hand, the exercise of the parental authority in the family taught the Roman how to command as well as how to obey - how to exercise authority with wisdom, moderation, and justice."
How similar to what one American leader said is necessary to develop solid citizens. Listen to these words spoken by the late J. Edgar Hoover, before the Special Senate Committee investigating organised crime in interstate commerce:
"The home is the first great training school in behaviour or misbehaviour and parents serve as the first teachers for the inspirational education of youth. In the home, the child learns [should learn] that others besides himself have rights which he must respect.
"Here the spadework is laid for instilling in the child those values which will cause him to develop into an upright, law abiding, wholesome citizen. He must learn respect for others, respect for property, courtesy, truthfulness, and reliability. He must learn not only to manage his own affairs but also to share in the responsibility for the affairs of the community. He must be taught to understand the necessity of obeying the laws o f God."

The Power of Example and Teaching
Early Roman parents didn't leave the teaching of basic morals and responsibilities to others. "The [early Roman] boy's upbringing was founded on a profound conviction of the power of example, first of the father himself as a representative of virtues peculiarly Roman, but also of the great prototypes of Roman valour in the boy's family and national history who were presented to him as men worthy of admiration" (E. B. Castle, Ancient Education and Today, p. 114).
Contrary to the situation in modern America today the early Romans had virtuous heroes and living examples of what youth were expected to emulate. And strange though it may sound to many a modern woman, mothers and homemakers in early Rome were accorded great honour and esteem. Here is what Tacitus, a Roman historian of the early Empire, wrote: "In the good old days [of the Republic], every man's son, born in wedlock, was brought up not in the chamber of some hireling nurse, but in his mother's lap, and at her knee. And that mother could have no higher praise than that she managed the house and gave herself to her children. "Religiously and with the utmost delicacy she regulated not only the serious tasks of her youthful charges, but their recreations also and their games" (Tacitus, Dialogue on Oratory, 28, Loeb Classics).

At the age of seven the boy was released from the exclusive care of his mother to continue his education under the leadership of his father.  "The idea of entrusting the training of a future Roman citizen to the incompetent guidance of a slave was repellent to the Roman mind at this time" (Castle, p. 113). 

The Collapse of the Home
But the stable Roman family didn't last. Changes rapidly took place in the social life of Rome. Tribute poured in from conquered nations. A growing commercial life made pursuit of trade and wealth the all-too­common objective - especially of the upper classes.
Increasingly, men of capability were away from their homes on business trips to some remote corner of the empire. Children and wives were left alone. Then a shocking thing occurred. The Romans began to practice a "new morality."
"Added to this initial cause of family disruption was the consequent easy attitude to the marriage tie, the increasing frequency of divorce, and the growing freedom and laxity in women's morals, all of which ended in a loosening of the old family unit in which the best in Roman character had its roots.
"Great as were the men who made history in these last years of the Republic, there was yet which had been characteristic of earlier generations. Personal aggrandisement was too eagerly sought and too ready achieved by the ruthless... and the old traditions of selfless service to the state were weakening" (Castle, pp. 119, 120). Roman men began to "play around" on business trips, in their offices, with neighbours' wives. It was now considered naive to be honest in business. The old virtues of "God, country, and home" were considered as so much flag waving and square talk. 

Children Rule Their Parents
By the beginning of the second century A.D., Roman fathers, in general, had "yielded to the impulse to become far too complaisant. Having given up the habit of controlling their children, they let the children govern them, and took pleasure in bleeding themselves white to gratify the expensive whims of their offspring. The result was that they were succeeded by a generation of idlers and wastrels ....
"The fine edge of character had been blunted in the Rome of the second century [A. D.]. The stern face of the traditional 'pater familias' [the father of the family] had faded out; instead we see on every hand the flabby face of the son of the house, the eternal spoiled child of society, who has grown accustomed to luxury and lost all sense of discipline" (Jerome Carcopino, Daily Life in Ancient Rome, pp. 79-79).

Yes, Rome had its dropouts, its hippies, its juvenile delinquents. It had its Blondie-and-Dagwood upside-down family life. A modern historian couldn't better describe contemporary family life in the "developed" countries today. 

Divorce, Roman Style
According to Roman authors such as Aulus Gellius, divorces in early Rome were extremely rare - in fact, all but unknown.
But in the first century B. C. - about the time of Cicero - marital breakdowns, especially in the upper classes, had become so prevalent that divorce became "normal."
"From this time on, we witness an epidemic of divorces, at least among the aristocracy whose matrimonial adventures are documented," writes Carcopino. Regarding the Rome of the Antonine period (around A. D. 150), Carcopino quotes from Seneca, who witnessed the same problem a number of decades before: "They divorce in order to remarry. They marry in order to divorce."
The Roman writer Martial declared that "marriage had become merely a form of legalised adultery!"
Practically the same wording could be used to describe the marriage-go-round today. Families are falling apart at the highest level ever - even surpassing the post-World War II break-ups of hasty wartime unions.
In 1971 alone, there were about 770,000 divorces and annulments Nearly one million children were directly affected by these proceedings. Statistically, there is more than one divorce every minute in the United States!
According to the Vow Bureau, fifteen million Americans have been through a marriage break-up. Many U.S. counties and cities have nearly as many, or more, filings for divorce than marriage licenses granted during a year.
But divorce figures, as bad as they are, are only the tip of the iceberg smashing American family life. For every divorce, there are scores of unhappy, frustrated and unfulfilled marriages - held together by children, relatives, or business or social obligations. Even these reasons are rapidly being disregarded. At present rates, nearly every third home in the nation will at some time experience the tragedy of divorce. And divorce is a tragedy, despite all the claims to the contrary. The idea of an amicable or friendly divorce is a myth. Divorce is a tragic, costly, nerve­shattering experience! It is an admission of failure. Dr. Clifford Rose Adams, professor emeritus of Penn State University, reported in June, 1969 that government statistics showing that about 28 percent of, all marriages end in divorce are misleading. He said: "If you take in annulments and desertions [about 100,000 yearly] which are not included, the figure would be nearer 40 percent, Add to this what we call the morbidity marriage, where a man and woman may continue living with each other Just appearances or convenience while actually hating each other, and you find that only about 25 percent of marriages are really happy. The other 75 percent are a bust."
Yes, family life in modern nations is falling apart at the seams. Revolt is in the air. As the feminist movement gains momentum and the youth of the Western democracies put forth the clarion cry of rebellion, the words of the ancient prophet Isaiah are strikingly appropriate:
"As for my people, children are their oppressors ,and women rule over them. 0 my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths" (Isa. 3-12).
In verse 5 of the same chapter, Isaiah also says, "And the people shall be oppressed ... every one by his neighbour: the child shall behave himself proudly against the ancient, and the base against the honourable."

God shows the problem to be a result of a lack of right leadership. In today's wide-open society all the
wrong voices are heard. The most sensational and radical statements gain the greatest publicity. True values are turned upside down or rejected entirely. Truth and the way of life that would produce all the right results are usually rejected in favour of a more liberal and permissive lifestyle. Isaiah vividly describes our national sickness: ". . . our sins testify against us ... In transgressing and lying against the Lord, and departing from our God, speaking oppression and revolt ... judgement is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter"! (Isa. 59:12-14.) As we drift farther away from the true values of our Creator, we plunge deeper into a morass of family problems. Marriages break up. Children rebel. Adultery & becomes commonplace and even "normal."   And as a result, our society is immeasurably weakened. Today we ale beginning to pay a high price for our rejection of true values and the acceptance of indulgent and permissive leadership.

Older Marriages Breaking Up
A phenomenon now bothering the social scientists is the increasing number of marriages which are breaking up in divorce courts after enduring for 15 or 20 years and even longer.
It has previously been assumed that the longer a marriage lasted, the stronger the marital bonds. But a sampling of divorce statistics across the United States in a recent year shows 24 percent of marriages that ended in divorce in the U. S. had lasted 15 years or more.
Sexual affairs outside of marriage have become almost the rule rather than the exception, according to the Institute for Sex Research founded by the late Dr. Alfred Kinsey. It estimates that 60 percent of married men and 35 to 40 percent of married women have affairs with partners other than their spouses sometime during their marriage. Adultery shatters home, peace, love and stability!
Speaking out against the proliferation of adulterous relationships in modern Israel (the United States and British Commonwealth), God says: "How can I forgive you for all this? Your sons have forsaken me and sworn by gods that are no gods. I gave them all they needed [national affluence], yet they preferred adultery [both spiritual and literal!], and haunted the brothels; each neighs after another ,man's wife, like a well-fed and lusty stallion, Shall I not punish them for this? the Lord asks. Shall I not take vengeance on such a people?" (Jer. 5:7-9, The New English Bible.)

Bitter Fruit of Delinquency
Over 400,000 illegitimate babies are born each year. Thousands more are "covered" by abortions or hasty, unwanted marriages - marriages that often break up. Nearly one out of 10 births is illegitimate in the U. S. (among non-whites it's nearly one out of three).
Venereal disease has reached epidemic proportion in the U.S. (and around the world) according to alarmed public health officials. V.D. and Aids is our number one reportable communicable disease (not considering virus flu or colds).
Juvenile delinquency reaches shocking new highs every year in the United States, Half of all arrests for serious crimes involve juveniles under the age of 18, Joseph M. Kennick, past president of the National Conference of Juvenile Authorities, admits: "Somewhere along the way, as parents and as a nation, we went wrong in the rearing of our children. We are now paying for having produced a generation heavily populated with hostile, rebellious, and lawless youths who have no respect for themselves or for us.
"Where did we go wrong? We went wrong in many ways - in the laxity o f our discipline ... in indulging and pampering our children, by lifting from their shoulders the burdens they should rightly carry."
Yes, we are paying the painful penalty for permissive, indulgent child-rearing concepts. Children don't just "grow up" to be respectable, useful citizens - they must be reared. A child must have the teaching, example, love and discipline of a concerned parent who is willing to give him the right kind of attention.
The Maker's Instruction Book contains many instructions on proper child rearing. As an example, notice Proverbs 29:15: "The rod and reproof give wisdom; but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame."
Will yet another lesson that could be learned from Rome's decline be lost on our peoples?

"Battle of the Sexes"
Along with the erosion of the father's authority in the home, historians note the emergence of a "battle of the sexes" in Rome. -
Upper class Roman society (the average American would be "upper class" by Roman standards) witnessed a growing force of wives who wanted to be "emancipated" from home life. Some wives wanted "careers" of their own. Others didn't want to have children for fear of "losing their figures." Wrote historian Carcopino: "Some evaded the duties of maternity for fear of losing their good looks, some took pride in being behind their husbands in no sphere of activity, and vied with them in tests of strength which their sex would have seemed to forbid; some were not content to live their lives by their husband's side, but carried on another life without him. 'To live your own life' was a formula which women had already brought into fashion in the second century.... It is obvious that unhappy marriages must have been innumerable."
Today's "Feminist Movement" is not a new thing in history. Women in Imperial Rome "did their own thing" and the results were wretched marriages, divorce, growing juvenile delinquency. They had "come a long way" indeed! But where they went - the result - is not a very happy thought to contemplate.
And the same has happened since the close of World War II in America - "the land of working wives."
The working wife has been singled out by many juvenile authorities as a major contributor to the mushrooming incidence of childhood crime. Today over 40 percent of all U. S. workers are women. Almost 60 percent of the female labour force are married women whose husbands are present in the home, And of that 60 per cent, over half have children under 18 years of age.

Working for what?
Undoubtedly, in the case of poorer families, to beat inflation or to make ends meet, But increasingly, report government analysts, the wife's wages are being used to pay for children's higher education, a colour television, a second car (which probably wouldn't be needed if the wife didn't have to commute to her job), a retirement fund and holidays.
The disintegration of the family as the basic unit of our social structure has not come about overnight. It has been a gradual and insidious deterioration - a veritable "fifth-column" movement attacking the stability of the home from within. The roles and relationships of father, mother and child have, in the process, become confused. Each has lost his identity and place. How can we expect such a condition to produce a solid system of values that individuals can unite behind to solve common problems?

Utter Confusion
In the Western "progressive" world, the sexes have, in some cases, begun to dress alike and wear their hair alike - or, in some cases, switch styles.
"Unisex" fashions are the "in thing" in some circles. Even leading department stores feature "unisex" lines in special boutique booths. "Unisex," "free sex," "swinging singles," "group sex," "the Pill," "sexual revolution" - these are the phrases magazine headlines are made of today. Utter confusion about sex, marriage and the family is rampant.

But where are all these changes leading us?

Many leading specialists who study family life admit that the family is changing profoundly, But they do not agree on what it is becoming or where it ought to go from here.
Some marital "experts" even predict that the very institution of marriage is "obsolete" and on its way out - perhaps to be replaced by the expression "pair­-bound," or some equally undeniable arrangement.
Decadent Rome lapsed into a similar irresponsible outlook toward sex and marriage, especially among the ruling classes, who set the tone of life in the Empire.
"One cause of the decline in population [in the Empire] was the singular aversion that the better class of the Romans evinced to marriage.... Penalties and bounties, deprivations and privileges, entreaties and expostulations are in turn resorted to by the perplexed emperors, in order to discourage celibacy and to foster a pure and healthy family life. "But all was in vain. The marriage state. continued to be held in great disesteem" (Myers, Rome: Its Rise and Fall, p. 447).
In the same way, respect for marriage and the home is at the lowest ebb it has ever been in the Western world. Marriage, to many, means little or nothing. And in any society where marriage means nothing, where a solid family relationship is no longer desired -THAT SOCIETY IS THREATENED WITH EXTINCTION.
Rome travelled this road. It perished.
The Western world is speeding along the same roadway to oblivion.