The fear of the wrath of God is fading (From Lancashire Telegraph)
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The fear of the wrath of God is fading
11:39am Tuesday 8th November 2011 in Margo Grimshaw column
By Margo Grimshaw, Lancashire Telegraph columnist
I AM afraid. Things are happening today which would, not so many years ago, have been unthinkable.
Graves are being vandalised, war memorials desecrated, commemorative plaques stolen and old people physically attacked.
These are crimes which, until a short time ago, would not have happened because even the hardest and the most unbelieving of villains, still harboured an innate fear of the wrath of God.
Sadly that seems to be fading.
Now it seems there are no depths to which these people will not go.
People who didn’t go to church and those not particularly religious, still felt a healthy respect for it, but that, too, seems to have waned and therein lies the danger.
As children we were taught the difference between right and wrong at school and what would happen to our souls if we transgressed.
In later years, even though we might laugh and scoff at the very idea, you find that it’s still there, at the back of your mind, laying that restraining hand on your shoulder.
Another problem rearing its head for debate is discipline.
The question for both home and school is whether to cane or not, to hug or not to hug; thank goodness there were no such problems when my three sons where growing up and giving me grief — a quick clout and we all knew where we were.
They knew, as I knew when my mum smacked me, that it wasn’t because she didn’t love me, it was because I had been naughty and done something wrong.
Children, in fact all of us, need parameters, boundaries and rules.
Parents, schools, even the Government, seem to be suffering from abrogation of responsibility, so it’s time we pulled our socks up and got back to some collective cohesion.
Political correctness has been given a go and we have to face the facts that it’s not working, so let’s look at what did work — and we all know what that was!
Comments(16)
brownbread
says...
9:19pm Tue 8 Nov 11
Regard for cemeteries doesn't come from a fear of Hell and god's anger, it can also come from a sense of humanity.
If an adult hits another adult in the street you would consider phoning the police. But if an adult hits a child you accept it and even justify it. We leave that child to suffer and endure an earthly hell by the wrath of a presumed parent who some would give the right to beat, smack and whack other younger, smaller, weaker human beings.
For some children and young people the family is a very dangerous place.
You cannot beat goodness into human beings. You cannot whack a conscience into a growing child.
Ken Shuffles
says...
11:02am Wed 9 Nov 11
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When we are young we don't see the greed and corruption around us. Then we grow up and we see the public veneer of respectability with all the deception and convenient turning of blind eyes and ignorance built in to it.
Ken Shuffles
says...
11:07am Wed 9 Nov 11
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Only The Feelings of our Humanity are noble. Concepts are always misleading.
Joseph Yossarian
says...
12:32pm Wed 9 Nov 11
Really, I dispair sometimes for those who think that fear is to be used an an aid to teach or develop young people.
Ken Shuffles
says...
3:51pm Wed 9 Nov 11
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Someone in our lives, who can remove fear. Someone who will leave no trace of fear, no room for fear, leave no room for our doubts, which are the sole causes of all our fears.
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It is not God that allows fear.
bobo898
says...
3:55pm Wed 9 Nov 11
Heretical
says...
5:17pm Wed 9 Nov 11
Thought not...that's different of course.
So when does physical punishment become abuse or assault?
Boundaries DO need to be set for children,right from the beginning which if done right extends though life.Respect goes hand in hand with that and works both ways.
Unfortunately respect is something that seems to be leaking away...have a look at your own paper's stories about adults and their behaviour as well as the comments that are left,presumably by adults and see how respect has gone down....Or is it that we live in a much smaller world (know too much about far afield) where we have lots of keyboard warriors and bad news sells papers.
I don't know...but I do know that there is way too much 'stuff' for children and adults who spend too little time just actually communicating.
There is evidence that psychologically we are not keeping pace with the demands that 'modern life' has.
p.s.I bet if you check the records you'll find that the list of crimes you mention was just about at the same level 50.100,300 years ago....it's just that we don't know about it.Plus we had witches!
Keep Darwen Green
says...
8:46pm Wed 9 Nov 11
Enjoy.
Michael@ClitheroeSince58
says...
9:28pm Fri 11 Nov 11
Keep Darwen Green wrote:yup you hit it right on the head my smoking green friend
I seem to recall world war one, world war 2 and the holocaust happened a while back, thank goodness we now only have kids with poor manners and mothers who'd sooner claim benefits than work topless behind bars.
Enjoy.
Ken Shuffles
says...
11:02am Sat 12 Nov 11
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If they don't feel the feeling of respect, how can they pass the goodness of it on to anyone else around them.?
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If they cannot feel the goodness and kindness of themselves what are they likely to pass on and trade in.
.
A HANGOVER ?
Ken Shuffles
says...
11:10am Sat 12 Nov 11
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When we are empty and lacking a feeling inside, we are the first to feel the deficit.
Ken Shuffles
says...
11:22am Sat 12 Nov 11
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Smacking the children, will not resolve the malcontent in any society of adults.
Ken Shuffles
says...
11:39am Sat 12 Nov 11
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The problem is that the teachers keep wanting them to admire something else.
Walsh
says...
7:36pm Sat 19 Nov 11
Ken Shuffles wrote:You should be called Ken Waffles.
People should be willing to admire the beauty and the peace that is within them. Everyone wants peace.
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The problem is that the teachers keep wanting them to admire something else.
Ken Shuffles
says...
10:50am Mon 21 Nov 11
Ken Shuffles says...
2:08pm Tue 8 Nov 11
When we let go and forget our own Miracle, we cling to some dream, some one elses fantasy for us, and in that fantasy we leave a little room for failure, and that leads to fear.
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You are the Miracle! You are not someones angry dream.