I have done prison ministry for as long as I have been in pastoral ministry.
There is one thing I find in common with the incarcerated more times than not; that is many of them have had a horrible home life that includes broken promises, broken marriages, drug abuse, abandonment and dysfunction on many levels.
While this is no excuse for criminal behavior it is an explanation that points to a solution.
‘Generational curses’
Over time, the compounding issues of our families form pathologies that we in the church call generational curses where the kids seem to get sucked into a vortex from which there seems to be no escape. Our state’s incarcerated also seem to be severely limited in academic ability and communication skills.
So can the state do any better than the family in raising children? No, all it can do is expand its reach over the people through stiffer and more intrusive laws.
Right now the state is seeking to make stricter laws for fentanyl use and seeks to ban divisive language in college classrooms which, in my opinion, actually adds to the problem.
If the family cannot get its children off drugs or teach them to intellectually defend themselves, why does the state think it can do a better job by bolstering state power to trample on the rights of educators or taking advantage of those already addicted?
The family has collapsed. … We have forfeited our responsibilities and can prepare for the rise of an authoritarian regime that will do the thinking and acting for us!
EDITOR’S NOTE — This opinion piece was written by Robert O. White II, pastor of City of Refuge Church in Montgomery and a faculty member at Alabama State University. City of Refuge is a member of Montgomery Baptist Association.
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