The War Against the Children

“Another generation grew up, who knew neither the Lord nor what He had done . . . they followed and worshipped various gods . . . They provoked the Lord to anger.” Judges 2:10-12

Who is raising your child? Has the TV become your family altar and the electronic baby sitter? Do you recognise the threat that the exploitative pornography industry poses to your child? Have you allowed the Department of Education, Planned Parenthood and loveLife to use your child as playdough in their experiments of social engineering?

“My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge. 'Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you as My priests; because you have ignored the Law of your God, I also will ignore your children.'”
Hosea 4:6

In rural Africa, threats to children often slither, sting or bite. Frontline Fellowship missionaries in Zambia have found scorpions in their bed and snakes in their house! One of their fears was that their inquisitive two year old would pick up a deadly green mamba snake.

In Sudan, parents have to warn their children not to touch unexploded bombs. Children walking to the well to fetch water have been crippled by landmines or even captured by Arab slave raiders. Most of the Christian schools in Sudan have been bombed by the National Islamic Front government air force. At one school in the Nuba Mountains, 19 children were killed and 3 were crippled in just one aerial bombing raid.

Those kinds of threats to the lives, liberty and limbs of children are very visible and tangible. However, the more subtle threats to our children in the cities and towns are no less dangerous than those faced by Christians in Sudan. Do you recognise the threats posed to your child?

A booklet (“Talk About Children at Risk”) written by the South African Police Services (SAPS) Child Protection Unit(CPU), revealed that South Africa was “fast becoming known as the premier sex tourism destination of the world, particularly because children's bodies are plentiful and cheap. It is also common knowledge that this country is a world leader in the spread of HIV-AIDS.” Foreign paedophiles visit many parts of Africa in search of young bodies.

The police report noted that: “In 1996 the Films and Publications Act was passed, legalising pornography for the first time in the history of the country. This made it possible for child abusers, rapists and paedophiles to obtain all the material they needed. Statistics tell the story as South African Police Service records show that child rape increased . . . over 400%”!

The police report further stated that: “Research with child sexual offenders reveals that all have used child pornography.”

This is of course exactly what Africa Christian Action warned about in its submissions and testimonies before the Parliamentary subcommittee that was drafting the new Films and Publications Act in 1995 and 1996. Pornography plays a significant role in the occurrence of rape and child abuse. Pornography is the theory - rape is the practice. Pornography is a manual for rape and child abuse.

The tragic result of the SA government's legalisation of the exploitative pornography industry is catalogued by the SAPS' Child Protection Unit: “The commercial exploitation of children includes . . . rape, murder, abduction, bribery, false marriages . . . bonded labour extortion, mail order brides . . .” “One out of every twelve prostitutes is younger than 17 . . .” This wholesale sexual exploitation of children has flourished because of “corruption and collusion, the absence of or inadequacy of laws, lax law enforcement and limited sensitisation of law enforcement personnel to the harmful impact on children . . . and government officials who may, often unwittingly, be guilty through indifference, ignorance . . .”

An article in the Cape Argus (24/7/00) “Trail of Abused Kids as Sex Suspect Stalks Cape,” reported in a matter-of-fact manner that the 50-year-old paedophile who had left a “sordid trail of child abuse” used pornography to lure his victims into his bedroom and to desensitise them to his perversions.

The National Institute for Crime Prevention (NICRO) has estimated that there are 380 000 rape cases in South Africa each year. Yet as the rape rate has soared, the conviction rate of rapists has plummeted. Less than 7% of reported rapists are convicted! The crime situation deteriorated so drastically that for years the government forbade the police to release any current statistics on the incidence of crime! Only sustained outrage and public pressure forced the government to again release crime statistics. The statistics now released are widely believed to be incomplete, selective and doctored to conceal much of the brutal reality.

“Why do people commit crimes so readily? Because crime is not punished quickly enough.” Ecclesiastes 8:11

Our mothers, sisters, wives and daughters are precious and they deserve to be respected and protected. Any true man should be willing to do anything, even give his life, to protect his mother, sister, wife or daughter.

So why is our society guilty of such disgraceful abuse, exploitation and violence against women? It is hard not to be cynical about our government speaking about “women's rights” and declaring 9 August as “National Women's Day.” It is their legalisation of the exploitative pornography industry that has led to the explosion of abuse, rapes and violence against women and children.

And even as the pornographers pour fuel on the fires of violence against women and children, a Bill was passed by Parliament that would make women even more vulnerable to rape and murder. If enacted into law and applied, the proposed new Firearms' Control Bill would effectively deny the vast majority of citizens the right to obtain, own or carry a firearm for self-defence. The Bill would effectively ignore the basic human right of self defence and make it a privilege for a select minority (like government officials)! One doesn't have to be a genius to see that criminals prefer unarmed victims. With between 4 to 9 million illegal firearms in South Africa, it seems unethical to disarm the law-abiding citizens who are potential victims of crime.

Nevertheless, a Dr. Van As, of the Red Cross Children's Hospital in Cape Town, was quoted in the Cape Argus (17/8/00) as calling for “tougher gun laws.” He related various heart rending stories of children wounded and even crippled in gang crossfire. However, upon investigation, I found that only four patients a month at Red Cross Hospital were gun shot victims, and almost all of those were from illegal guns in the hands of gangsters. Some of these patients are actually gang members themselves.

It does not seem logical to disarm the licensed firearm owners when they are not even the problem. Further research revealed that the vast majority of casualties admitted to the children's hospital were for falls (2338 cases in the last year), motor vehicle accidents (1030), burns (532), assault with blunt or sharp instruments (208), and poisoning (744). Even dog bites (91) were more numerous than firearm wounds (50).

Some people do use firearms for evil purposes, but far more people use firearms for defensive purposes to prevent crimes from being committed.

Vastly more children die each year in bicycle accidents, car accidents or drownings than from firearms. Children are 1450% more likely to die from a car accident than from a firearm. Should we outlaw all motor vehicles? No, the solution to the horrific carnage on the roads is not to ban motor vehicles, but to improve safety features in vehicles, educate drivers, promote the use of seat belts and severely punish drunken or reckless driving. As with motor vehicles, it would not be right to take away everyone's freedom because of the criminal activities or carelessness of some.

Actually, vastly more people die of medical malpractice each year than from firearms. The American Medical Association recognises that 93000 patients die each year due to medical malpractice by doctors. Another 110 000 patients die from unforeseen reactions to prescribed medicines. We could also add the number of babies killed by doctors through abortion. (Approximately 50 000 babies are killed by abortion - legally - with tax payers money, in South Africa alone, each year). In the light of the fact that doctors kill more people each year than firearms do, it seems very hypocritical for a medical doctor to blame a cold metal inanimate object, a tool, for the evil that some people do.

However we recognise that doctors save far more lives than they take and that is exactly the same for motor vehicles and firearms. Transport carries life-giving food and medicines to those who most need it, and patients to hospitals where they will be treated. And every day countless crimes are prevented, hundreds of potential victims are protected, and many tragedies are averted, by armed citizens. Armed citizens save lives and parents need to be prepared to protect their children from all threats. It is criminal to interfere with a father's duty to protect his children.

There are other far more subtle threats to our children. The theory of Evolution is often propagated by films, in some children's books and in the state school textbooks. Evolution is an attempt to retroactively abort God. Evolution destroys all meaning, purpose, direction, justice and hope in life: “You came from nothing, you are going nowhere, life is meaningless!”

The Bible says: “The fool says in his heart, 'There is no God.' They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no-one who does good.” Psalm 14:1

Secular Humanist education attempts to kill God by eradicating Him from the classroom and from the minds of the next generation. By eliminating the Bible as the basis for all knowledge, humanists remove the very foundation of truth. They prohibit the only objective standard by which reality can be evaluated.

“See to it that no-one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.” Colossians 2:8

Recently the South African Ministry of Education was reported to have admitted that their expensive Outcomes Based Education (OBE) Curriculum 2005 was a “failure” and was to be “scrapped.” In an official letter sent to every school in the country the Minister of Education complained about the habit of too many teachers coming to school late and leaving early to go to shebeens and brothels, often returning drunk or failing to return at all! The Minister of Education also warned against “the prevalent practice” of teachers forcing students to have sex with them! This was “demeaning” and “an abuse of authority” he claimed! That this child abuse was commonplace in government schools was a terrible indictment, but that the Department of Education was not firing and prosecuting these rapists and child abusers was, if anything, even more shocking.

By the time the average child graduates he or she will have spent 15000 hours in school. What values and worldview will he or she have learnt during that time?

Are you allowing your child to be political playdough in the hands of social engineers in their OBE experiments? You can delegate some of the task of educating your children but you cannot delegate the responsibility.

Nearly 500 years ago the great German reformer Martin Luther warned : “I am much afraid that schools will prove to be wide gates to hell unless they diligently labour in explaining the Holy Scriptures, engraving them on the hearts of youth. I advise no one to place his child where the Scriptures do not reign paramount. Every institution in which men are not constantly occupied with the Word of God must become corrupt.”

Dr Peter Hammond is the author of Biblical Priciples for Africa - from where this article comes.