Dan Quayle never really was given much of a chance. I will admit during the 1988 Vice-Presidential debate, he did not handle the question of what he would do as president very well. He should have just answered the question – saying he would work on cutting spending, promoting free trade, working out an arms deal with the Soviets, or whatever his agenda would be. He instead kept explaining why he was qualified to be president. Then there was the famous misspelling of “potato” where he was actually given the misspelling by the teacher. Never mind that in a speech Barack Obama referred to the “57 states.” Anyone could misspeak, especially a tired presidential candidate who has to make a multitude of speeches. (Of course there was also Obama repeatedly mispronouncing “corpsman” at the prayer breakfast – which you hardly hear anything about.)
But the thing that Dan Quayle really took a lot of heat for was making comments about the television show Murphy Brown mocking fatherhood. But this is very much related to the Supreme Court decision saying that two dudes or two gals could constitute a “marriage.” The Supreme Court was basically saying that a husband is not really a necessary part of a marriage and a father is not an important component to a family. Dan Cathy of Chick-fil-A took a lot of heat for saying “I think we are inviting God’s judgment on our nation when we shake our fist at Him and say ‘we know better than you as to what constitutes a marriage’ and I pray God’s mercy on our generation that has such a prideful, arrogant attitude to think that we have the audacity to define what marriage is about.” A lesbian from Georgia challenged Dan Cathy to join her “family” for dinner. I remember her asking something to the effect of “Who is he to say we are not a family?”
The problem is, even without the gay “marriage” issue, society has been saying more and more that a husband and a father really are not necessary. In 1960, 5% of births were out of wedlock. Currently, 41% of births are out of wedlock. I always knew that out of wedlock births was not good. I always knew that there is a correlation between out of wedlock births and crime, drugs, gang activity, and government dependency. But now that I am a father, I have a more personal take on it. I know how important that I am to my son; as is his mother. Now when I see single women with babies, I find myself getting angry and frustrated. The message has gotten out (supported by the so called feminists’ movement) that as a husband and a father, I am superfluous. Do you remember “A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle”? And I know now on a very personal and experiential level that that is not true – at least not when it comes to parenting. A child deserves a mother and a father that have made a lifetime commitment to each other and then honor that commitment.
But while I find all of this personally very insulting, what is really important is what the Bible says. How important is a father according to the Bible? Well, if you look at genealogies given, you will see that most of the people listed are men, although there are some women listed. When David killed Goliath, King Saul asked David “Whose son are you, young man?” David answered “I am the son of your servant Jesse of Bethlehem.” When discussing wisdom, Proverbs 4 starts out “Listen, my sons, to a father’s instruction; pay attention and gain understanding.” Proverbs 3:11-12 states “My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline, and do not resent his rebuke, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in.” Malachi 2:13-16 states the importance of a man staying with his wife for the children – “Another thing you do: You flood the Lord’s altar with tears. You weep and wail because he no longer looks with favor on your offerings or accepts them with pleasure from your hands. You ask, ‘Why?’ It is because the Lord is the witness between you and the wife of your youth. You have been unfaithful to her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant. Has not the one God made you? You belong to him in body and spirit. And what does the one God seek? Godly offspring. So be on your guard, and do not be unfaithful to the wife of your youth.”
But society has really gotten comfortable with none married people making babies. As a Spurs fan, I remember the Spurs/Cavaliers NBA Finals. LeBron James’ girlfriend was having a baby. The people doing the game were talking about it as if it were a great thing. A giant poster of LeBron was placed on the side of a building to honor him.
So what happened? I think one problem is that the disastrous U.S. Supreme Court Roe v. Wade decision in 1973 really lowered the bar. Now when a single woman gets pregnant, pro-life people like me find ourselves being happy when she does not get an abortion. But I still get back to what I have said many times and what I will continue to say until Church leadership starts getting it. You cannot expect people to have biblical values when they do not believe the Bible. And people that do not believe the Bible starting with Genesis do not believe the Bible. And church leadership has not been teaching people that they can believe the Bible starting with Genesis.
Not only are fathers very important for this life, but even more importantly fatherhood gives us a picture of the relationship that God wants to have with us. Malachi 2:10 states “Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us? Why then are we faithless to one another, profaning the covenant of our fathers?” We know that Jesus was continually referring to “the Father.” I count 145 times that Jesus refers to the “Father” or addresses the Father in the four Gospels – 89 times in the Gospel According to John. Galatians 4:6-7 gives states “Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, ‘Abba, Father.’ So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.”
Terry Read
http://www.debates.org/index.php?page=october-5-1988-debate-transcripts
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/clinton/frenzy/quayle3.htm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrsBKGpwi58
http://patriotpost.us/articles/4927
http://www.census.gov/newsroom/cspan/childbearing/childbearing_patterns_slides_13.pdf
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Proverbs+3&version=NIV
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Proverbs+4&version=NIV
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Malachi+2&version=NIV
http://www.learnthebible.org/bible/concordance/28179
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Galatians+4&version=NIV
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