The Scandal and Children

Since renewing my subscription to your magazine, I have told our people of your doctrines; passed out your literature to our churches; and given copies to some Southern Baptist ministers who have come to the knowledge of the excellency of grace.

I’ve often been asked what your position on divorce and remarriage was; now I can tell them!

Your editorial on the issue is timely, and very much to the point (“The Scandal and Silence,” Standard Bearer, Nov. 15, 1997). As a retired school teacher, I can vouch for what was reported relative to the children’s reaction to this “scandal.” I did a study for our school system a few years ago. At that time, one-third of those I polled were in single-parent homes, one-third in homes with a step-parent, and one-third in what otherwise would be considered a “stable, two-parent family.” Surprisingly, students from what we considered stable family settings had a very difficult time adjusting in school after their parents were engaged in disputes. They worried that their parents, too, would end up in a divorce court.

The number one cause for students’ low academic achievement today is not lack of educational dollars, well-trained teachers, or adequate teaching materials. It is divorce and remarriage, feuding, fussing, fighting, screaming, etc., as well as single “parenthood” (misnomer). Our children cannot achieve in the ghettos of social catastrophe. Their security, social support, love, and guidance are almost nonexistent. And you are correct, no one dares to speak out as our social fabric disintegrates around us.

Thank you for your and the Protestant Reformed Churches’ stand. May God grant you His sovereign grace as you contend for the faith once delivered to the saints.

Stanley C. Phillips

Quitman, MS