SUPPORT GSPS |
The Gold, Silver, Precious Stones team appreciates your contributions in support of this work. Please send your correspondence to:
Gold, Silver, Precious Stones
P.O. Box 240
Harvest, AL 35749
|
|
|
|
"To Parents," The Gospel Messenger vol. 6 no. 5 (May 1884)
AUTHOR: | Mitchell, William M. |
|
Among the many modern systems of supposed improvement in the moral training of children, Sunday schools stand the most prominent and are the most popular of all others. But without attempting here to discuss the merits or demerits of these unscriptural institutions, we simply remark that parents cannot transfer their parental duties nor responsibilities over to any irresponsible society whatever, no matter by whom that society has been organized. In this day of pretended religious, moral and benevolent improvement, we daily hear of some desperate outrage, fraud, theft or reckless defiance of all law, order, decency or propriety in any way. Are these the fruits of correct early training? or are they not rather the legitimate results of neglected parental duties?
Much as may be said about law and order, the very foundation principle of all good government, and of all respect for government, begins at the cradle. Unless the child in his very infancy is taught the necessity of restraint upon his passions and the importance and duty of obedience to parents, these passions will become more and more ungovernable, as he becomes older, and thus he goes out into the world as a citizen required to respect and obey the laws of his country; but as he has never been accustomed to have any restraint upon his will or passions, the very first little provocation that befalls him he is in rage if he cannot have things his own way, and sometimes recklessly takes the life of his fellow-man, or in some other less criminal manner bids defiance to the laws of his country. Our country is cursed with hundreds of such men now, and whether they are in office or out of it, they neither respect law nor seek to enforce it in any legitimate way.
But we did not think to have written so much to you as parents at this time. Our design mainly was to say that if the articles to children are any way useful to them, parental advice, example and teaching must make them so to your children. Unless the home teaching, home influence and home example is all right, nothing your children can see, hear, read or learn will be of much service to them.
As the “care of churches,”—the care of a large family as well as age and experience causes one to feel more sensibly the responsibilities of a parent, we hope that Elder E. Rittenhouse, of Delaware, or some other brother, according to the gift bestowed upon them, will give the readers of Gospel Messenger an article occasionally, addressed to Parents. |
|
