Ferguson and Family Breakdown

The Torch Leadership Foundation's Cross in Culture Podcast #8 

Much of the discussion around the ongoing crisis in Ferguson, Missouri, has focused on race relations in the U.S., the need for more diversity and dialogue on race issues in the church, and the issue of how young black men are perceived by law enforcement. While all of those discussions are relevant and needed, very little has been said about how the current state of the black family has contributed to the epidemic of young black men not getting their education, killing one another, and ruining their lives. 

The family is the first institution which God created. It is the foundational building block of every society. When the family breaks down, communities break down, churches break down, and entire nations break down. To summarize a statement on the Bible's definition of the family by the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission: 

1. The family is divine in origin -- God created it. 

2. The family has a divinely-appointed purpose -- to provide for companionship, procreation, and the nurturing of healthy relationships among humans and between humans and God. 

3. The Bible provides guidelines on how husbands and wives and parents and children are to relate to each other. 

Since the family is a divinely-appointed and regulated institution, it stands to reason that when society moves away from God's guidelines for the family, the effects will be less-than-ideal. 

Currently, according to the Kids Count data center, 67% of African-American children are being raised in homes with a single adult, or two unmarried, cohabiting adults. Also, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 70% of black children are born out of wedlock...