I have been pondering over recent events in general as well as my life - what I have seen in my 50-something years of mortality. As I reflect on childhood times and now, it makes me extremely nervous about things that transpired over those years. Let me take you on this journey with me.

As I have blogged before, I lived with my Grandparents and thus their rules. Their rules, at that time seemed so antiquated but after thinking about it - they actually were. I was living my childhood in the 60's and 70's with rules from my Grandparents, whose childhood lives were lived in the early-mid 1920's. But those rules, strict as they may have seemed to a single, sibling less child trying to live in the 60's. Those rules would lay down a foundation that, in retrospect I would love to thank them for. Their rules were quite simple:
  1. No cussing
  2. No lying
  3. Mind my manners
That was it in a nutshell. Oh sure, there were other rules, but they all stemmed from those three simple rules. My childhood seemed normal. There were wars, riots, and uprisings but generally, we were protected from those things from our parents. There was some marital strife, but when I was around they put on their best faces and left my childhood be exactly how it should be - innocent and safe.

Back then a G-rated move was exactly that, a movie that the entire family could enjoy. There were shows on TV which lightly touched on social ills, but they were tastefully done. Back then there was no worries to sit down at a television and worry about any swear words. The famous phrase from "Gone with the Wind" was the racist talk on the silver screen. Clothing was more or less modest - even those that showed a very suggestive leg or a top the plunged a bit low was the talk of Grandma's peers. Their talk of disdain for those things was prevalent. This, by the way was before the "hippie era", just to set the story straight.

Sunday's were spent going to church. Back then our church consisted of morning meetings, going home and returning for evening Sacrament meetings. And if you happened to run out of gas on Sunday, you weren't going to get any until Monday as the "Blue laws" were in effect. The music of my childhood may have seemed "unruly" to my Grandparents. They had a nice collection of famous composers record albums. I can remember listening to "Swan Lake" over and and over. And when I snuck in my Carpenter's, "Now and Then" album, I got the look from them. :)

Yes, times were were much simpler back then. Marriages happened, divorces happened (which again was scandalous to my Grandparents). As many times as they had disagreements, they still stuck together and were faithful to the end. The family was still an integral part of society.

So, fast forward to recent times. A G-rated movie is still considered a movie that a family can enjoy, however "mild profanity" is acceptable. A PG-13 move can contain "mild sexual references", and a bigger library of profanity. Television is basically a mix between PG-13 and R-ratings. There are no more suggestive thoughts - it is placed right there in front of the viewers, adult and children to witness.

Clothing is much more revealing, and some wear the clothing to make statements of independence, freedom and show parts of their sacred temples (1 Cor. 6:19) for the world to view and covet. Church is still important to some, but many "have no place for religion in their lives". What a sad statement! Marriage, once considered to be a holy and sacred rite; is now optional as partners can live together, have children outside of marriage and even test the eternal definition of that!

There is still some good music to be found, but one has to dig for it. Lyrics of some music are again, no longer suggestive as they spell out and leave absolutely nothing to the imagination.

This process of what I refer to as "Normalization to Destruction" has occurred within my lifetime. Don't get me wrong, there have been many wonderful things occur in my lifetime time too, but they seem to be shadowed by the downward trends. I feel children today are being robbed of their childhood, of their innocence and faced with many adult-trends. Sadly, many children are not being taught values in the home by parents. The parents either refuse or don't know how to talk to their children about those things. And so, the children learn from their peers. They learn that a little lie is okay, because they observe that behavior on television and from peers. Swearing is common, since it is so prevalent throughout the world, that is must be okay to swear, and, only if really mad, use the name of The Lord in vain too.

Children are learning by observation that there is no authority. After all, they know what they are doing. Very rarely, will you hear a child say, "please" or "thank-you", because that trend is outdated and it is okay for people to assert their authority.

Why do I bring all this up? Because in my years, as I have said - I have seen complete reversals of policy, disintegration of values, and  lack of moral judgement. In 50 short years.and I fear for my children and my grandchildren to what they will yet witness. The scripture passage, "...thus the devil cheaters their souls, and leadeth them away carefully down to hell. - 2 Ne. 28:21"; that passage doesn't whisper to me - it screams to me.

I consider many of these things mentioned as things to carefully lead us away from those old, tried, and true doctrines.  Yes, this earth is turmoil - with wars and rumors of wars. I believe those wars mentioned are not only physical battles, even though we have those too. Rather, just as in the War in Heaven, it comes down to a war of disobedience. A war of wills and Satan and His minions; whether those who never gained a body, or those who walk this earth with a mission of destruction. All of these are instrumental in this carefully leading down to hell. Similarly to the experiment with a frog being put in a bath of water and a flame is lit - the water gets little by little hotter and the frog adapts. We, are also sadly adapting as the waters of sin and iniquity are turned up little by little.

By I also have much to have hope. As Elder Jeffery R. Holland has stated, "Satan already knows the outcome. The Lord will win. (paraphrased) our children and grandchildren have been preserved for this very day and time. For they were the most valiant of souls . The Lord knows that the army of the Lamb will go to war with Satan. The Lord knows of their strength and courage to stand up for what is right. Truly, they are our "Hope of Israel".

We as parents must do everything we can to help these spiritual warriors in their infantcy. We must teach them in the home; our homes must be the place of refuge from the fiery darts of the world. We must enforce our rules lovingly. We must pray for them unceasingly. We must remind them of their spiritual birthright. And we must not let ourselves bend to the wills of the world over the eternal commandments of our Heavenly Father. The temple and meeting houses are our refuge and places to build up our fortifications to our homes. The scriptures are our blueprint for building, and prayer is needed communication to reassure us.

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