August 25th

Society is losing the plot as it becomes more secular and less trusting, the UK's outgoing Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks has said.

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My husband and I recently got to know an orthodox Jewish family. The children are well-behaved, quiet and respectful. When asked a question, they replied in a composed, thoughtful way. Without a shadow of doubt, the children will do well in their adult life, especially with the support of their community.

"If people work for the maximum possible benefit for themselves then we will not have trust in industry, in economics, in financial institutions, we will not see marriages last."

He also said institutions, including marriage, broke down when a person begins to lose faith and society becomes very, very secularized. He doesn't blame any government, but says it's the fault of what we call culture, which is society talking to itself. In the interview he argued that the breakdown of marriage had exacerbated child poverty in the UK. Children become the real victims.

"A situation where children grow up in stable association with the parents who bought them into being is probably the biggest influence on the eventual shape of a society."

Quote from: For Your Marriage — An initiative of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

Marriage, the union of one man and one woman, is a personal, but not private, relationship with great public significance. Marriage is good for the couple; it is also provides the optimal conditions for bearing and raising children. Marriage makes an essential contribution to the common good. Some specific benefits are identified below.

Marriage and Health

• On average, husbands and wives are healthier, happier and enjoy longer lives than those who are not married.

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• Men appear to reap the most physical health benefits from marriage and suffer the greatest health consequences if they divorce.

• Married mothers have lower rates of depression than single or cohabiting mothers, probably because they are more likely to receive practical and emotional support from their child’s father and his family.

Marriage and Children

Children raised by their own married mother and father are:

• Less likely to be poor or to experience persistent economic insecurity

• More likely to stay in school, have fewer behavioral and attendance problems, and earn four-year college degrees

• Less vulnerable to serious emotional illness, depression and suicide

• More likely to have positive attitudes towards marriage and greater success in forming lasting marriages

I'm on the right

I agree with the precepts from these religions. In the seventies, my own children were happy, stable and well-behaved, whereas many of their friends were not. Their father and I worked together to present consistent guide-lines in a loving, caring home.

Nowadays, the only children I come in contact with are those accompanying their parent to the supermarket. Those children, mostly babies, are well-behaved on the whole. Their mothers are from a higher income bracket.

However, driving along the high street in Borehamwood, sometimes I notice children being dragged along the pavement beside strollers by uncaring and often smoking mothers. The children are screaming and the mothers are yelling between puffs.

Many people nowadays strive to get ahead, and accumulate as much wealth as possible. They live for the moment without considering the consequences for the whole of their community.

Where is society headed? If children are raised without rules, how can they hope to work with others in society when they mature?

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