[Vision2020] Article: "America's Children Are Stoned and Alone"
Douglas Stambler
ccm_moscow@yahoo.com
Fri, 11 Jul 2003 08:10:16 -0700 (PDT)
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America's Children Are Stoned and Alone
Too many American towns and cities have not really taken any measures to stop their children from using drugs. The churches don't do enough; government doesn't care enough. They're showing up on the welfare lines: Young, stoned and alone. Is there a way to help America's children in time to spare them the poverty and emptiness that awaits them if they continue on this deadly path? You've seen the newspaper headlines about the mother who killed her own children, or the girl who killed one of her parents. When's it going to end? Should we just give up on our country right now, or should we treat every child as a son or daughter of God, and get directly involved in their lives? It is not too late to save our nation's children from their own bad decision making.
Let's talk about the drug known as "meth." From Montana to New Hampshire, meth addiction is taking lives and crippling America's labor force. But a moral approach to stopping this trend won't work, because drug users never stop using until they can figure out a better way to live. Why throw money at the problem, when all you have to do to stop drug usage in the United States is to come into a new reality, where using drugs is no longer an option? Some kind of rehab program, huh? Just talk to the druggie, right? It's that simple. You need to try it some time on your local drug dealers and their young, vulnerable clients. Meth is no different from other deadly drugs: Just because it's easy to make, doesn't mean we can't put an end to its use in America.
Remember the 60s? People say that those were great days, and people say that wisdom was learned from all the fornication and drug usage that "opened up your eyes to a new way of life." But look at what happened to the hippies: They're burned out, many are dead already and many are doing a lousy job of raising children. Case in point: Has anyone tried to say that the 1960s were a total failure, and not a success? Sure, evangelical Christians and Republicans tend to oppose the moral decadence of the 1960s. But who says that children today in America need to repeat that failure? Well, nearly every public school and secular university teaches that the 1960s were a time of learning and spiritual growth and understanding. So, where's the incentive for America's children to stop using drugs, if they're being taught by their elders to learn from failure? How about that. We're teaching our kids to experience failure -personally- so that they can live and grow from their mist!
akes.
Come on. No one learns from failure. Humans learn from success.
Which brings us back to telling children about a better way of life. And what would a successful life be like? Tell them this: "You were born for a reason. No one is the same. Try to find out why you were created, and go out and do that. Follow what God wants you to do, not what other people want you to do." Have you ever known someone who didn't learn wonderful lessons from their successes in life? That's where we should place emphasis with our children: Let them find out that life's successes are far better than trying to put a positive spin on their life failures. Separate success from failure, and give America's children all the time that they need to know God and to follow God. In that way, teachers will teach instead of playing parent, and parents can tie another memory to their children's future: So that the better way of living was simply the way their children grew up.
Would God lead a child to fail? Then why do we encourage failure in America? Instead, tell America's children that God has a life planned for them, that is unlike anyone else's life. In this way, our children can avoid the lifestyle that currently holds their interest: An American despondency - being stoned and alone.
In Christ,
Douglas Stambler
(Moscow, ID/Pullman, WA)
dstambler_christian_writer@yahoo.com
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<DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV align=center>America's Children Are Stoned and Alone</DIV>
<DIV align=center> </DIV>
<DIV align=left>Too many American towns and cities have not really taken any measures to stop their children from using drugs. The churches don't do enough; government doesn't care enough. They're showing up on the welfare lines: Young, stoned and alone. Is there a way to help America's children in time to spare them the poverty and emptiness that awaits them if they continue on this deadly path? You've seen the newspaper headlines about the mother who killed her own children, or the girl who killed one of her parents. When's it going to end? Should we just give up on our country right now, or should we treat every child as a son or daughter of God, and get directly involved in their lives? It is not too late to save our nation's children from their own bad decision making.</DIV>
<DIV align=left> </DIV>
<DIV align=left>Let's talk about the drug known as "meth." From Montana to New Hampshire, meth addiction is taking lives and crippling America's labor force. But a moral approach to stopping this trend won't work, because drug users never stop using until they can figure out a better way to live. Why throw money at the problem, when all you have to do to stop drug usage in the United States is to come into a new reality, where using drugs is no longer an option? Some kind of rehab program, huh? Just talk to the druggie, right? It's that simple. You need to try it some time on your local drug dealers and their young, vulnerable clients. Meth is no different from other deadly drugs: Just because it's easy to make, doesn't mean we can't put an end to its use in America.</DIV>
<DIV align=left> </DIV>
<DIV align=left>Remember the 60s? People say that those were great days, and people say that wisdom was learned from all the fornication and drug usage that "opened up your eyes to a new way of life." But look at what happened to the hippies: They're burned out, many are dead already and many are doing a lousy job of raising children. Case in point: Has anyone tried to say that the 1960s were a total failure, and not a success? Sure, evangelical Christians and Republicans tend to oppose the moral decadence of the 1960s. But who says that children today in America need to repeat that failure? Well, nearly every public school and secular university teaches that the 1960s were a time of learning and spiritual growth and understanding. So, where's the incentive for America's children to stop using drugs, if they're being taught by their elders to learn from failure? How about that. We're teaching our kids to experience failure
-personally- so that they can live and grow from their mistakes. Come on. No one learns from failure. Humans learn from success.</DIV>
<DIV align=left> </DIV>
<DIV align=left>Which brings us back to telling children about a better way of life. And what would a successful life be like? Tell them this: "You were born for a reason. No one is the same. Try to find out why you were created, and go out and do that. Follow what God wants you to do, not what other people want you to do." Have you ever known someone who didn't learn wonderful lessons from their successes in life? That's where we should place emphasis with our children: Let them find out that life's successes are far better than trying to put a positive spin on their life failures. Separate success from failure, and give America's children all the time that they need to know God and to follow God. In that way, teachers will teach instead of playing parent, and parents can tie another memory to their children's future: So that the better way of living was simply the way their children grew up.</DIV>
<DIV align=left> </DIV>
<DIV align=left>Would God lead a child to fail? Then why do we encourage failure in America? Instead, tell America's children that God has a life planned for them, that is unlike anyone else's life. In this way, our children can avoid the lifestyle that currently holds their interest: An American despondency - being stoned and alone.</DIV>
<DIV align=left> </DIV>
<DIV align=left>In Christ,</DIV>
<DIV align=left>Douglas Stambler</DIV>
<DIV align=left>(Moscow, ID/Pullman, WA)</DIV>
<DIV align=left><A href="mailto:dstambler_christian_writer@yahoo.com">dstambler_christian_writer@yahoo.com</A></DIV>
<DIV align=left> </DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV><p><hr SIZE=1>
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