Fatherlessness directly affects how
children grow into adults and how those adults interact in society. There are 3 key consequences that can result
from the lack of an interactive father within the home. These
inadequacies are developed in people as children and they are carried well into
adulthood. The absence of a father in the home or the lack of proper
interaction from a father who is present in the home leads to: a lack
of respect for authority, ignorance of the concept of consequences of one’s
action, and a lack of identity.
No Respect for Authority
The lack of respect for authority is an effect of the
lack of a father’s interaction. A father is supposed to provide discipline
for his children. The absence of a father’s discipline eliminates or
diminishes the element of respect towards authority within a person. In
many cases, people associate disrespect for authority only with criminal
behavior. However, criminal activity is only one aspect of resentment for
authority. If an individual has issues with following instructions from
employers, pastors, and others who are in positions of authority, this
qualifies as a lack of respect for authority. Some will even develop an attitude
of antipathy against these leaders. One common comment that has been made
by many is, “I’m a man like him.” Although everyone has a choice in who
will hold some of the positions of authority in their lives, people who have
problems with authority will respond negatively toward the figure of authority
that they have chosen for various situations. People choose their place
of employment. However, many believe that they can alter or reject rules
that have been established by the leadership of that particular job. People choose
a church yet will contend with the pastor of the church concerning the
instructions or rules that have been put in place. In many cases, people
do not even realize that they are being rebellious. They have become so
accustomed to their resentment toward authority that they will not obey even the simplest of
instructions. This is simply because, even as adults, people will display
delinquent behavior which eventually becomes rebellion.
God has established the role and presence of a mother and a
father in the lives of children. Any modification of this arrangement
will ALWAYS produce negative effects. Even in the animal kingdom,
animals that are not solitary animals will suffer negative effects with the
removal of fathers. Young male elephants at a national park in South
Africa began exhibiting delinquent behavior by killing rhinos that were at the
national park. The elephants were left fatherless by poachers who hunted
the adults for their tusks. The only thing that the park rangers had to
do to cause the young males to deviate from their destructive behavior was to
transport adult males to that location. The presence and leadership of
the adult males immediately brought the young males in line. Our present
society believes that fathers can be replaced or eliminated without
consequence. That fallacy is disproved on a daily basis. Gangs are comprised of a lot of young men and
young women who come from homes where the father is missing or inactive. Every plan that
strays from God’s original plan leads to destruction.
