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AGE 18. WEDNESDAY. NOVEMBER 25. 1981. WHITBY FREE PRESS The Church Speaks The family By THE REV. TED STEVENS Rector St. Thomas Anglican Church Focus on the Family' is the title of a very good -ies of films now being shown at St. Andrew's esbyterian Church, Cochrane Street. Xs I am not a Presbyterian, I have no special axe grind in mentioning those films, though I would ý* , 1 be happy to hear that many were going to see them. My point in mentioning them here is simply to emphasize the crying need for all right-thinking people to do exactly what the film title says - 'Focus on the Family'. Traditionally the family has been considered as the foundation unit of society. It has been called the "giant shock-absorber" - the place to which, in the words of Alvin Toffler "bruised and battered indivi- duals return after doing battle with the world, the one stable point in an increasingly flux-filled en- vironment'.. The family, thus traditionally conceived, is the mutually supportive unit of father, mother and children, living together under one roof, with the connected and important extensions of grandparen- ts, uncles, aunts, etc. The supreme purpose of this unit was to provide a stable and loving environment into which new humans might be born and in which they might receive nurture and training for adult life. Those of us who know, by personal experience, something of the reality of this most excellent insti- tution, must be fully aware of the process of family demolition which is going on today, for sometimes we are ourselves involved in this process without really being aware of it. That the structure of the family is under tremen- ACVI dous pressure nowadays is undeniable and has been recognized for some time. As long ago as 1963, in a book called 'The Coming World Transformation', Ferdinand Lundberg wrote 'The family is near the point of complete extinction'. Psychoanalyst William Wolf has.said: 'The family is dead except for the first year or two of child raising. This will be its only function'. What are the factors in our modern society which threaten most the stability of the family? I think it is not difficult to identify the four most important. First comes the rejection, conscious or uncon- scious, of the truth, and therefore of the authority, of the Bible. This comes first, because it can be shown that the other 'anti-family' factors really follow from this. From the Biblical revelation, Jews and Christians have understood that the family is divinely ordained - a sacrosanct thing which is holy and must not be damaged. The husband-wife relationship is to be one of love, faith- fulness and mutual support 'till death do us part', and children are to be joyfully received and cared for as precious gifts from God - the most important trust, by far, that will ever be placed in our hands. Sex is a natural and beautiful endowment from God, but is given to be exercised only within the Inarriage bond. In all other relationships it becomes a twisted, misused and destructive thing. All this, in the Biblical view, is bolstered and given immensely greater significance, by the teaching that the family relationship is a picture of the divine relationship between a loving and faithful and good God and his people. From this I turn, with dismay, to the article 'Throwaway kids' in the November 7 edition of 'Today' magazine. There I read of the continuing trauma of teenagers, turned loose into society because all of the above-mentioned elements in the Bible picture of the ideal family are being ignored. As the article says: 'We are all victims of the Playboy philosophy...the notion that 'love' can be divorced from interpersonal responsibility'. Young people need, and have an inalienable human right to, the unconditional love and support of their parents. Parents have an inescapable responsi- bility to give this to their children, come what may, because they produced the children. The second great pressure upon the family today comes from the newly conceived role of the woman in society. This is such an emotional issue, and so tied up with the matter of women's rights, that it is difficult for many to see clearly how powerful is its bearing upon the strength of the family. No one can reasonably deny that the Women's Liberation movement has been of immense impor- tance in winning for the female sex all kinds of basic human rights which had been unjustly denied to it. But some of the success of the movement has brought with it the unfortunate corollary of down- grading the woman's supreme role as mother and homemaker. These time-honoured and noble terms are now thought by some to be merely cover-ups by which the tricky and unscrupulous male tries to maintain his unjust superiority. Whenever the parents' careers result in neglect of the children, or neglect of marital love, or in such absorbtion in business and the resulting weariness that family relationships suffer, then it is time to ask whether the traditional pattern of family roles was not bet- ter. The third 'anti-family' factor in today's society, CONT'D ON PG. 21 TYPEWRITERS REPAIRS & SERVICE ALL MAKES AOMPTESPERVCERNIZ ~I PHONE 668-0737 132 BROCK ST. NORTH, WHITBY, ONTARIO L1N 4H4 events TOY SALE The E.A. Fairman Public School Parent Teacher Association will hold a pre-Christ- mas sale at the Palace Street school on Novem- ber 27 from 7 to 9 p.m. Featured at the event will be 'nearly new' toys, puzzles, comie books and records all of which were donated by school students. For more information call 666-3481or 668-9996. ONE PARENT MEETINGS The next meeting of the Oshawa Chapter of the One Parent Fami- lies Association of Canada will be held December 1 at 8:30 p.m. at the Lake Vista Club- house, Emerald Avenue, Oshawa. This will be a general meeting. The next meeting of. the association's North Oshawa Chapter will be held on December 2 at 8 p.m. at Christ Memorial Church, Mary and Hill- croft Streets, Oshawa. This will also be a general meeting. For more information call the Durham District Office at 723- 0286. BAZAAR A bazaar will be held at the Immanual Christ- ian School, 849 Rossland Road West, Oshawa on November 28 at 2:30 p.m. Featured at the event will be a white elephant table, nearly new clothing, baked goods, handicrafts and plants. Buffet-style food will also be served. %e Freedom to h and NOW IDEAL INTRODUCTIONS (Single, Separated, Divorced, Widowed) Suite 202 345 Kingston Rd. W. Pickering, Ontario (416)286-1249 286-1250 by appointment only m Emm report CONT'D FROM PG. 9 return to their homes for Christmas. Their respective billets, Brenda Lawson, Rachel Richard, Teresa Corell, Heather Duyf, and Caryn Hanlon, will be joining thern this February. Bonne chan- ce! Anderson will miss the exchange students and sends them the following message: "Nos meilleurs voeux pour un avenir plein de succes et de joie!" Newspaper Staff: Lori Brimbecom, Blair Morrison, Tracey Rogers, Lisa Stewart, John Ormston. More comg