October 20th, 2021
by Dave Wilson
by Dave Wilson
Written by Mitch Prosser, Director of Outreach at Palmetto Family
Long before COVID-19, a pandemic of epic proportions began sweeping across our country. In its wake, we now face a looming crisis that is hauntingly pulling our society into a self-perpetuating downward spiral of disaster.
The “Manhood Meltdown” has been slowly impacting us for generations, infecting boys and young men with a circus-mirror view of masculinity that they too often carry into manhood and fatherhood.
You may think, “Is the problem so significant to use such audacious terms?”
Absolutely!
Somewhere along the way, the men of our society lost our collective way and abdicated our Biblical roles and responsibilities. We caved to the pressures of the world to be “big kids” or exude absolute “toxic masculinity,” neither of which fits the model of real manhood to which God is truly calling us.
Men of days-gone-by had sons who desperately craved their father’s attention and approval. When they couldn’t find it, these boys searched for it elsewhere. They turned to the World, and the World inoculated them with cheap ideologies and media mockeries of male buffoonery that have lulled men into a passivity coma.
The residue left behind is a new generation of men who carry a deadlier variant of manhood than their own fathers ever exhibited.
This downward spiral is made even more clear in the numbers and statistics. In a report from the Department of Justice – all the way back in 1998 – we could see the impact that fatherlessness had on home across our society:
•70% of minors detained in state centers and institutions.
•71% of all high school dropouts.
•85% of children who have behavioral disorders.
•75% of all rapists motivated by displaced anger.
•63% of all youth suicides.
Keep in mind, that was 1998. Today’s numbers are alarmingly worse.
In his book The Boy Crisis, Warren Farrell gives a clear picture of the detriment being done to our children (specifically our boys) by fatherless homes. He finds:
Children from fatherless homes are at a significantly higher risk of drug abuse. Nearly two times as many academic high achievers come from 2 parent homes than single parent homes. In homes where fathers are absent, boys have a 100% more likelihood of being incarcerated than in homes with 2 parents.
What’s striking about these numbers is that they remain eerily constant across social, racial, and economic boundaries. No matter how you parse the numbers, statistics, and demographics one constant remains: When fathers are absent, children lose.
So how did we get in this mess?
[Trigger warning: What you’re about to read would be canceled by today’s WOKE culture.]
Men and women are different.
We aren’t simply biologically different. We are emotionally different, mentally different, and psychologically different. Clearly stated, men aren’t women and women aren’t men. We were designed differently.
These differences that both sexes bring to a home are vital to the development of children. A home where a mother and father are present – physically, emotionally, and spiritually – gives children the best opportunity for success.
But the opposite holds true, too. A home where both a mother and father aren’t present creates an unnecessary risk of failure for the children of that home.
The pandemic of immaturity in so many men in our culture is having long-lasting, crippling effects. And yet, society is searching for answers to the problem in all the wrong places – within the labels of toxic masculinity, critical theory, and gender neutrality.
Please understand, there’s nothing toxic about true masculinity.
Real men treat women with respect.
Real men love their children.
Real men give to others through a tireless work ethic.
Real men speak into the culture with a voice of strength and honor.
Men, at our core, must be full of character and conviction – not fear and selfishness. We must not abdicate our roles and abandon our responsibilities to fulfill immature desires or alleviate external pressures.
Life is hard, full of pressure, and responsibility. So, man up!
To clean up the mess that we are in and pull out of the death spiral of the Manhood Meltdown, men must:
•Grow up and follow a pathway toward manhood.
•Be actively present and avoid the trap of passivity.
•Love passionately by pursuing a life a sacrificial love.
•Get support by surround ourselves with other men who will challenge us.
•Trust confidently by growing internal fortitude and showing Godly masculine assertiveness.
Only then will we see a society where God is honored, religious freedom is preserved, families thrive and life is cherished.
Long before COVID-19, a pandemic of epic proportions began sweeping across our country. In its wake, we now face a looming crisis that is hauntingly pulling our society into a self-perpetuating downward spiral of disaster.
The “Manhood Meltdown” has been slowly impacting us for generations, infecting boys and young men with a circus-mirror view of masculinity that they too often carry into manhood and fatherhood.
You may think, “Is the problem so significant to use such audacious terms?”
Absolutely!
Somewhere along the way, the men of our society lost our collective way and abdicated our Biblical roles and responsibilities. We caved to the pressures of the world to be “big kids” or exude absolute “toxic masculinity,” neither of which fits the model of real manhood to which God is truly calling us.
Men of days-gone-by had sons who desperately craved their father’s attention and approval. When they couldn’t find it, these boys searched for it elsewhere. They turned to the World, and the World inoculated them with cheap ideologies and media mockeries of male buffoonery that have lulled men into a passivity coma.
The residue left behind is a new generation of men who carry a deadlier variant of manhood than their own fathers ever exhibited.
This downward spiral is made even more clear in the numbers and statistics. In a report from the Department of Justice – all the way back in 1998 – we could see the impact that fatherlessness had on home across our society:
•70% of minors detained in state centers and institutions.
•71% of all high school dropouts.
•85% of children who have behavioral disorders.
•75% of all rapists motivated by displaced anger.
•63% of all youth suicides.
Keep in mind, that was 1998. Today’s numbers are alarmingly worse.
In his book The Boy Crisis, Warren Farrell gives a clear picture of the detriment being done to our children (specifically our boys) by fatherless homes. He finds:
Children from fatherless homes are at a significantly higher risk of drug abuse. Nearly two times as many academic high achievers come from 2 parent homes than single parent homes. In homes where fathers are absent, boys have a 100% more likelihood of being incarcerated than in homes with 2 parents.
What’s striking about these numbers is that they remain eerily constant across social, racial, and economic boundaries. No matter how you parse the numbers, statistics, and demographics one constant remains: When fathers are absent, children lose.
So how did we get in this mess?
[Trigger warning: What you’re about to read would be canceled by today’s WOKE culture.]
Men and women are different.
We aren’t simply biologically different. We are emotionally different, mentally different, and psychologically different. Clearly stated, men aren’t women and women aren’t men. We were designed differently.
These differences that both sexes bring to a home are vital to the development of children. A home where a mother and father are present – physically, emotionally, and spiritually – gives children the best opportunity for success.
But the opposite holds true, too. A home where both a mother and father aren’t present creates an unnecessary risk of failure for the children of that home.
The pandemic of immaturity in so many men in our culture is having long-lasting, crippling effects. And yet, society is searching for answers to the problem in all the wrong places – within the labels of toxic masculinity, critical theory, and gender neutrality.
Please understand, there’s nothing toxic about true masculinity.
Real men treat women with respect.
Real men love their children.
Real men give to others through a tireless work ethic.
Real men speak into the culture with a voice of strength and honor.
Men, at our core, must be full of character and conviction – not fear and selfishness. We must not abdicate our roles and abandon our responsibilities to fulfill immature desires or alleviate external pressures.
Life is hard, full of pressure, and responsibility. So, man up!
To clean up the mess that we are in and pull out of the death spiral of the Manhood Meltdown, men must:
•Grow up and follow a pathway toward manhood.
•Be actively present and avoid the trap of passivity.
•Love passionately by pursuing a life a sacrificial love.
•Get support by surround ourselves with other men who will challenge us.
•Trust confidently by growing internal fortitude and showing Godly masculine assertiveness.
Only then will we see a society where God is honored, religious freedom is preserved, families thrive and life is cherished.
1 Comment
Very good message. For decades now, crime statistics, educational results, respect for others feelings and rights. It's no coincidence that all of things started on a downhill trend after Lydon Johnsons "Great Society" began.