The Elephant in the Room, The Battle for the Family One of the most widely debated, controversial and divisive “worldview” questions in our modern political and religious activism is what are the “Root causes” of much of the dysfunctions and polarizations that we face in our modern society today? Problems such as: increasing drug and alcohol abuse, inner city crime, gang problems, murders of innocents, joblessness, poverty, failing schools, illiteracy, illegitimacy, “social justice,” the nation’s dropout rate, suicide, and just overall feelings of hopelessness especially among minority youths.

There have been scores of televised national round table discussions on the problems, countless local church leaders preach about some of the issues over their pulpits, community leaders around the country have attempted to come together in order to discuss many of these troubling issues that are impacting their respective communities, while many political candidates, political activists and media pundits have made addressing these issues a part central part of their political advocacy and campaign platforms.

Furthermore, because many of the more serious concentrations of many of the social problems being discussed seem to center more in minority or inner city communities, there have been several calls from politicians, activists and media pundits around the country, who have attempted to draw attention to some of the problems by calling for a “National discussion about race” in response to the many issues facing the African American community in particular.

Many of these activist point to “systemic racism” as the root of the problems in the inner cities. In the meantime, all over the country; around dinner tables, at coffee shops, at barber shops, around water coolers everywhere, and even from many church pulpits and bible studies, there are daily conversations and debates that are either directly or indirectly dealing with the question, “What is the cause or causes of the problems facing our country?” And in most cases, as I have discussed earlier, much of these debates have spilled over into American politics, the school systems, the Courts, Academia, the media, the entertainment industry and even over many Church pulpits.

And as I have alluded to, in most cases, regardless of the venue, many of the same reactions that you commonly hear include It is “systemic racism” that is at the root of the problem, or it is police brutality, or it is the “evil greedy rich,” or “the one percent.” And the latest target has been the so called “alt-right,” or as sum prefer to call them, “Right winged hate groups” like white evangelical Christian ministries that predominantly vote Republican that are the biggest problem. And along those same lines, there are also many who have gone as far as blaming President Trump (As though these issues did not exist prior to his election), for many of the issues facing our culture, which is similar to the days that many of those same people were blaming President Bush during his Administration for the problems in America.

To take it a step further, various splinter factions around the country have received a tremendous amount of main stream media attention for their protests, which have highlighted a wide range of other social grievances. For example, many in the LBGT community have received a lot of media attention as they advance the LBGT agenda by blaming what they perceive to be infringements on their civil rights on “Right winged religious bigotry.” And of course, there is that ever present emphasis by many minority activists, politicians and religious leaders who blame the problems in the inner cities on “systemic white racism” stemming back from the days of slavery. Others blame the rise of violent crime on race, while others view the lack of jobs as at the heart of the crime problem.

And of course, arguably the activism that has received the most attention is the Black Lives Matter movement that rose from the aftermath of several high-profile shootings of blacks by police officers, who have placed their primary emphasis on police brutality against African Americans as at the root of the problems in the country.

In addition, there are still yet others who are predisposed to vote for whoever is the Democratic party candidate, who also blame all of the countries ills on those who hold to a “religious or conservative worldview.” In other words, the country has been inundated with a plethora of opinions, passions, and ideological perspectives on the causes or reasons for the many social ills that we face in America.

However, as I have been attempting to draw attention to in these series of articles, (and in my upcoming book on this topic), when examining the major issues of our day through a more “Big picture” worldview and spiritual warfare lens, it is abundantly apparent that these common responses are nothing more than political talking points or diversions that only skim the surface of America’s polarized society and never take into consideration any underlying spiritual warfare component as being at the heart of America’s dysfunction. Not only do most of these “default responses” merely just skim the surface, they more often than not, represent the “symptoms” of a much more systemic problem rather than addressing the root cause.

In other words, the root of the problems that we face goes much deeper than any of the existential positions that have been embraced and emphasized from many people who view society from their given ideological or worldview lens. In other words, there is an “Elephant in the room” that has gone virtually completely ignored in our entire political debate from the media and over our pulpits. And particularly as believers, if we have any hope of actually “turning the culture upside down” for the Kingdom of God, then we are going to have to at the very least, begin to acknowledge this elephant, and take a serious look and a critical examination of the mountains of evidence relating to the relationship and impact that this previously ignored elephant has had to do with the existential polarizations and dysfunctions that we are facing in our society today. The elephant in the room

Now what exactly do I mean by the adage, elephant in the room? According to Wikipedia, an Elephant in the room is an “English-language metaphorical idiom that means that there is an obvious problem or risk that no one wants to discuss, or a condition that people do not want to talk about.” The word “elephant” suggests that the problem or issue is so big, so heavy, so uncomfortable or so controversial, that no one wants to confront it or try to move it. And because of the controversial or uncomfortable or provocative nature of the given issue, the elephant simple either gets completely ignored, or attention to the issue is diverted to another, less controversial issue.

The phrase “in the room” implies that the issue is so large that no one can help but notice it. And since it is in the middle of the room, it means that those who are in the room have deliberately avoided the elephant and walked around it. Or, even worse, have chosen to either pretend that it is not there or have decided to ignore it altogether, rather than deal with it. In short, the idiom “the elephant in the room,” refers to a troubling issue or set of unfavorable circumstances that are either being ignored or going unaddressed.

Now in reality, most of us on some level, have either concisely or subconsciously, have experienced it at some point in our lives. It happens at work, it happens in every home, in every life and it particularly happens in most churches. There exist certain realities, controversial issues, troubling circumstances, a major problem or a condition of group think, that everyone is aware of but either no one wants to challenge, we choose to completely ignore, refuse to address head on or we talk around the issue without actually confronting said issue head on.

In the meantime, that “elephant in the room” or that ignored troubling issue or circumstance that has been causing the problem in the first place, continues to metastasize. Perhaps addressing it head on hits an uncomfortable hot spot, perhaps it is viewed as to “politically incorrect” to address head on, or perhaps it is a political hot potato that nobody wants to touch with a ten-foot pole because it is deemed to be too controversial or even considered racist in some circles, which of course, has the tendency to shut down any further critical or thoughtful discussion.

Now, according to many religious leaders, political activists, politicians and media pundits, the widely held assertion that the “elephant in the room,” is “racial injustice, homophobia, Xenophobia and economic and social injustice.” But, the controversial question that very few people, religious leaders and activist either ignore or just refuse to consider is, what really is the true elephant in the room? In other words, what are actually the real or primary “root issues” facing America and particularly the African American community that are being ignored? Is police violence the number one problem facing the black community? Or, is it racism that should be the “primary focus” of all of the activism from our politicians, activists and from the pulpits? To put it another way, is there a “bigger picture” that we as believers should be recognizing or discerning that is not getting the local or national attention that it warrants?

In other words, could there be something else that is the true elephant in the room that we should be considering? Could there be some other underlying issues that has gone under the radar or unnoticed that has contributed to the many troubling concerns that exist in the black community for example? Or is there something else that maybe obvious and observable, but yet to provocative, controversial, politically incorrect or insensitive, to aggressively address in any sort of public forum? Or could there possibly be some unseen forces, covertly at work, that is behind many of America’s cultural controversies, dysfunctions and racial, religious, and political polarizations? Or to put it another way, could there be a more clandestine agenda of the enemy, that he has been covertly orchestrating while society has been so distracted and preoccupied with other surface issues? The Foundation of Society is the family

In contrast to the predominant narrative relating to the issue facing the African American community, I would like to make the argument that the true elephant in the room, or the real problem that has gone virtually ignored by many activist, media pundits and religious leaders, is the attacks, the undermining, the marginalization, the devaluation and breakdowns in the traditional, biblical understanding, practice and the power of the one man and one woman family unit, that has been slowly metastasizing for the past fifty to sixty years, that is at “the root” of much of the dysfunction that we are facing in our modern culture.

In other words, intact family units, that includes one man and one woman, which happens to be the most fundamental institution in society, has been severely weakened over the last several decades. Furthermore, it is these attacks on traditional, biblical family principles, which has led to an epidemic of fatherlessness and the crises of children being raised by single parents and without the presence of a father or any other positive male role model, that are perhaps the most dangerous of the enemy’s strategies and is at the root of much if not most of our societal dysfunctions.

To be more specific, just as he did in the Garden of Eden, the enemy has managed to redefine the word of God in order to contradict what God has said, for the purpose of deception and distraction. The byproduct of this devaluation of the traditional biblical family, has been a widespread degenerative impact that has grown to become a cultural plague on society as a whole. Most concerning however, is the fact that it has been the lack of recognition of this elephant by many in the religious community that has been the most troubling. Because of the fact that religious leaders have ignored or have failed to discern or recognize this elephant of the nationwide epidemic of fatherlessness, particularly in the black community, has undermined the role that both the church and family play on each other.

Now while I will be be unpacking and exposing this elephant in much greater detail in my upcoming book, The Three Battle Zones of the Enemy: The Mind, The Family and The Church; for the purpose of this post, I would just like to point out the undeniable fact that fundamentally, when you have strong, intact traditional families, you have a strong church. Likewise, when you have a church with strong leadership combined with strong biblical teaching, then it equips the family to be able to impact society. However, when we do not have strong leadership combined with strong biblical teaching or when religious leaders are more influenced by the God hating secularist culture, than they are influenced by the “rightly divided and rightly applied word of God” then all of society is negatively impacted because: When the family fails:

1. The Communities Fail

2. The Schools Fail

3. Government Fails

4. And the Church Fails

Likewise, on the flip side of that equation: When the church fails:

1. Families Fail

2. The Schools Fail

3. Government Fail

4. The Communities Fail

The degeneration of the family

While the argument can be made for a certain amount of attention be paid the above hot button media and societal concerns, the true and the most overlooked and under emphasized true elephant in the room, that no one wants to discuss, tackle head on or in many circles is ignored completely because it is deemed to be too much of an uncomfortable political hot potato, is the devaluation, distortion and degeneration of traditional, centuries old Judeo/Christian family values and principles and the corresponding cultural damage that has resulted. This elephant is not being addressed in Washington, nor by the main stream media. But even more regrettably, this elephant is not being emphasized from many of our church pulpits.

The first line of defense Imagine a world with fewer bullies, less violent crime, less poverty, fewer teenage pregnancies, greater academic excellence, higher self-esteem and less narcotic use. Most of us would welcome such a world (regardless of political persuasion, philosophical or theological worldview), even though we may disagree on how to achieve it. While some might turn to a governmental solution, the road to this reality passes through familiar, if not forgotten, territory.

For starters, contrary to the modern secularist worldview, the family is truly everything. In fact, the first line of defense in any civilized society is not the law, not the police, not the courts and especially not Washington DC, but the family. Among the plethora of reasons that make the traditional family such a fundamental institution, is the fact that, it is within the confines of family, that we establish a sense of belongingness.

In other words, a person’s identity depends on belonging to and accepted by the family. This reality about belongingness has been more crucial when you consider the fact that the number one reason why young people join gangs is because gang membership offer that sense of family and belongingness that has gone missing in their lives. Is the reason for modern weakened black family a legacy of slavery? In 1960, just 22 percent of black children were raised in single-parent families. Fifty years later, more than 70 percent of black children were raised in single-parent families. According to the 1938 Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, that year eleven-percent of black children were born to unwed mothers. Today about 75 percent of black children are born to unwed mothers. Here’s my question: Was the increase in single-parent black families after 1960 a legacy of slavery, racism or police brutality?

Now of course, it goes without saying, that discussing the breakdown of the black family is a highly sensitive topic, though it’s not new and it’s not in dispute. Nor, is there any doubt that African-American children would be better off living with their married parents. This is a fact that we often simply just take for granted and because of our laser beam preoccupation on race, activist rarely make the connection between the breakdown in the family and the many societal issues that take up most of their attention.

Nevertheless, the vast amount of data is overwhelming. Kids who grow up in households headed by a single mother are far more likely than others to be poor, quit school, get pregnant as teens and end up in jail. For example, according to the National Fatherhood Initiative, 60% of rapists, 72% of adolescent murderers, and 70% of long-term prison inmates are men who grew up in fatherless homes. With regard to girls in particular, those raised by single mothers are more than twice as likely to give birth out-of-wedlock, thereby perpetuating the cycle of poverty for yet another generation. [1]

African American family statistics before and after the 60’ Amazingly, there is one very significant and revealing statistic that is virtually never considered when arguing subject of the issues facing the African American Community. According to one very controversial study, the calamitous breakdown of the black family is a comparatively recent phenomenon, coinciding precisely with the rise of the welfare state. Throughout the epoch of slavery and into the early decades of the twentieth century, most black children grew up in two-parent households.

Post-Civil War studies revealed that most black couples in their forties had been together for at least twenty years. In southern urban areas around 1880, nearly three-fourths of black households had husband or father-present; in southern rural settings, the figure approached 86%. As of 1940, the illegitimacy rate among blacks nationwide was approximately 15%, scarcely one-fifth of the current figure. As late as 1950, black women were more likely to be married than white women, and only 9% of black families with children were headed by a single parent. Furthermore, during the nine decades between the Emancipation Proclamation and the 1950s, the black family remained a strong, stable institution. [2].

The seismic shift, in black family dynamics, was subsequently set in motion by such policies as the anti-marriage incentives that were built into the welfare system. As George Mason University professor Walter E. Williams puts it: “The welfare state has done to black Americans what slavery couldn’t do, what Jim Crow couldn’t do, what the harshest racism couldn’t do. And that is to destroy the black family.” Hoover Institution Fellow Thomas Sowell concurs: “The black family, which had survived centuries of slavery and discrimination, began rapidly disintegrating in the liberal welfare state that subsidized unwed pregnancy and changed welfare from an emergency rescue to a way of life.” [34]

Now if you are in any way a critical thinker, then the obvious question would have to be: If the social ills that are plaguing so many black communities is the direct continuing result of “the legacy of slavery,” then how can we explain these statistics which indicates that in terms of social issues within the black community such as crime, illegitimacy, unemployment and so on, were so drastically lower prior to the 1960’s compared to now? To put into even more perspective, during the pre-60’s there was still segregation, Jim Crow laws, lynching’s, red-lining and there was yet to be a Civil Rights Act or a Voting Rights Act, but yet African American’s had some of the lowest civil and social negatives of all ethnic groups. But now on the other hand, those numbers have dramatically reversed for the worst. But today on the other hand, we have the highest numbers. So, the obvious question should be, why?

The answer to this paradox should be apparent to all who has a discerning ear. It is clear that there is an obvious connection between the rise of crime, the rise of illegitimacy, the rise in illiteracy, the rise of gangs, the rise of unemployment and the rise of drug abuse with the devaluation and decline of the traditional biblical family. Now while I am fully aware of the controversial nature of this subject, I would like to suggest that the decline of the traditional family and the absence of fathers is the true elephant in the room that at the very least, deserves to be our primary emphasis and dominate the lion’s share of our activist main concern as opposed to the priority that has been given to issues of race and police brutality.

A Vicious Cycle Politicians often campaign on the idea that the way to curb these problems is more government programs, more federal government spending, more taxes, raising the minimum wage, or more federal government regulation. We even are hearing many of these same sentiments echoed from many pulpits around the country. And what is even more disturbing is the fact that if you take a position such as, “what we need is more personal responsibility,” then your run the risk of being labeled a racist or a “sell out,” which often effectively shuts down any constructive dialog.

Nonetheless, whenever activists, politicians, media pundits and religious leaders dedicate a lion’s share of their time and their advocacy energy on more federal government as being the solution to the issues that we are experiencing in America today, we are essentially completely ignoring the elephant in the room or the “root cause” of all of our dysfunctions which is the orchestrated plan of assault, devaluation, hostility, redefining, undermining and the overall dysfunction of the traditional/biblical family structure in America.

This dysfunction is the direct result of a society in which the moral compass has been severely broken, corrupted and has America spiraling down in a vicious cycle. If we are to renew American society, it is imperative that we break the cycle of family breakdown. Government cannot adequately address the underlying problems of criminal behavior or fill the holes in people’s lives. What families need more than government programs are married fathers and mothers together in the home and faithful churches in their communities.

Within families, children learn how to govern their lives. Churches help to reinforce these principles and strengthen the family in its role. When these institutions are weak or absent from peoples’ lives, society becomes increasingly dependent on government to assume the role of family and to dictate what is and is not morality.

Despite the explosive nature of the subject, the fact remains that the devastating societal consequences of family breakdown cannot be overstated or continue to be ignored. And even if you disagree with the conclusions and suppositions of the many studies, that have been done over the years, you have to admit that at the very least, these conclusions deserve further consideration. Even if you reject the premise of the many studies that point to the rise of the modern welfare state as the genesis of the current black family crises, it is impossible to deny that “the roots” of this seismic shift, began in the sixties.

While this is obviously a highly provocative subject, as I have been attempting to emphasize, it would be difficult to refute the fact that the devaluation and the breakdown of the traditional family is the “True Elephant in the room.” In other words, the attacks on long-established family units that we have been intensifying exponentially over the past sixty years and the subsequent negative consequences is the one subject that very few politicians, religious leaders and social advocates once to confront head on. In some cases, this is a topic that is deemed to be entirely too controversial and too politically incorrect to address or the obsession with race overrides any other consideration.

Furthermore, many Christian leaders tend to shy away from dealing with the topic head on from their pulpits or in media interviews for fear of alienating their parishioners or attracting the ire of one of many secular groups. This of course is due to the fact that in today’s secularized America and the proliferation of LGBT and other secularist groups which have gained unprecedented influence in Washington DC, the Courts, the education community and in the media. If you publicly preach or in any way suggest, intimate, or advocate for the traditional/biblical position of marriage as being between one man and one woman, then you are labeled as a disseminator of hate. This threat by the way, does not just only hold true in the church community, but it also has been seen escalating in the corporate world. A common problem across all racial and economic lines

In a very revealing article by J Warner Wallace, in which he explored the roots of gang violence while a member of a gang detail in southwest Los Angeles, in an article titled, Gangs, Cities and Police: The Missing Factor is Dads. During his encounters he records: In our city, we encountered gangsters from nearly every walk of life. We had Hispanic multi-generational gangsters on the east side of town, African-American gangsters to the north, white “skin-head” gangsters in our south end and Korean gangsters on the west side. These young men came from very different social, racial and economic backgrounds, yet all of them were engaged in violent, criminal behavior.

They all shared one common feature: lack of a dads in the home. Some of these boys never knew their dad, as their moms were unmarried. Some had fathers who were in and out of jail and largely unavailable. Some had dads who were alcoholics, drug addicts or simply absent. Others had fathers who were ambitious, law abiding business men who paid little or no attention to the activities of their children. In every case, the absence of an involved father made all the difference in the world. [3]

The truth of the matter is that, regardless of what your personal view or objection of the results of study’s like this may be, Wallace’s observations has been verified and re-verified by virtually every credible study that has been taken over the past fifty-years. Consider for example the following data: Statistics

• 63% of youth suicides are from fatherless homes (US Dept. Of Health/Census) – 5 times the average.

• 90% of all homeless and runaway children are from fatherless homes – 32 times the average.

• 85% of all children who show behavior disorders come from fatherless homes – 20 times the average. (Center for Disease Control)

• 80% of rapists with anger problems come from fatherless homes –14 times the average. (Justice & Behavior, Vol 14, p. 403-26)

• 71% of all high school dropouts come from fatherless homes – 9 times the average. (National Principals Association Report)

Father Factor in Education –

• Fatherless children are twice as likely to drop out of school.

• Children with Fathers who are involved are 40% less likely to repeat a grade in school.

• Children with Fathers who are involved are 70% less likely to drop out of school.

• Children with Fathers who are involved are more likely to get A’s in school.

• Children with Fathers who are involved are more likely to enjoy school and engage in extracurricular activities.

• 75% of all adolescent patients in chemical abuse centers come from fatherless homes – 10 times the average.

Father Factor in Drug and Alcohol Abuse – Researchers at Columbia University found that:

• Children living in two-parent household with a poor relationship with their father are 68% more likely to smoke, drink, or use drugs compared to all teens in two parent households.

• Teens in single mother households are at a 30% higher risk than those in two-parent households.

• 70% of youths in state-operated institutions come from fatherless homes – 9 times the average.

• 85% of all youths in prison come from fatherless homes – 20 times the average.

Father Factor in Incarceration – Even after controlling for income, youths in father-absent households still had significantly higher odds of incarceration than those in mother-father families. Youths who never had a father in the household experienced the highest odds. A 2002 Department of Justice survey of 7,000 inmates revealed that 39% of jail inmates lived in mother-only households. Approximately forty-six percent of jail inmates in 2002 had a previously incarcerated family member. One-fifth experienced a father in prison or jail.

Father Factor in Crime – A study of 109 juvenile offenders indicated that family structure significantly predicts delinquency. Adolescents, particularly boys, in single-parent families were at higher risk of status, property and person delinquencies. Moreover, students attending schools with a high proportion of children of single parents are also at risk. A study of 13,986 women in prison showed that more than half grew up without their father. Forty-two percent grew up in a single-mother household and sixteen percent lived with neither parent

Father Factor in Child Abuse – Compared to living with both parents, living in a single-parent home doubles the risk that a child will suffer physical, emotional, or educational neglect. The overall rate of child abuse and neglect in single-parent households is 27.3 children per 1,000, whereas the rate of overall maltreatment in two-parent households is 15.5 per 1,000. Daughters of single parents without a Father involved are 53% more likely to marry as teenagers, 711% more likely to have children as teenagers, 164% more likely to have a pre-marital birth and 92% more likely to get divorced themselves. Adolescent girls raised in a 2 parent home with involved Fathers are significantly less likely to be sexually active than girls raised without involved Fathers.

• 43% of US children live without their father [US Department of Census]

• 90% of homeless and runaway children are from fatherless homes. [US D.H.H.S., Bureau of the Census]

• 80% of rapists motivated with displaced anger come from fatherless homes. [Criminal Justice & Behavior, Vol 14, pp. 403-26, 1978]

• 71% of pregnant teenagers lack a father.

• 63% of youth suicides are from fatherless homes. [US D.H.H.S., Bureau of the Census]

• 85% of children who exhibit behavioral disorders come from fatherless homes. [Center for Disease Control]

• 90% of adolescent repeat arsonists live with only their mother.

• 71% of high school dropouts come from fatherless homes. [National Principals Association Report on the State of High Schools]

• 75% of adolescent patients in chemical abuse centers come from fatherless homes. [Rainbows f for all God’s Children]

• 70% of juveniles in state operated institutions have no father. 85% of youths in prisons grew up in a fatherless home.

• Fatherless boys and girls are: twice as likely to drop out of high school; twice as likely to end up in jail; four times more likely to need help for emotional or behavioral problems.

Census Fatherhood Statistics

• Children with involved, loving fathers are significantly more likely to do well in school, have healthy self-esteem, exhibit empathy and pro-social behavior, and avoid high-risk behaviors such as drug use, truancy, and criminal activity compared to children who have uninvolved fathers.

• Studies on parent-child relationships and child well being show that father love is an important factor in predicting the social, emotional, and cognitive development and functioning of children and young adults.

• 24 million children (34 percent) live absent their biological father.

• Nearly 20 million children (27 percent) live in single-parent homes.

• 43 percent of first marriages dissolve within fifteen years; about 60 percent of divorcing couples have children; and approximately one million children each year experience the divorce of their parents.

• Fathers who live with their children are more likely to have a close, enduring relationship with their children than those who do not.

• Compared to children born within marriage, children born to cohabiting parents are three times as likely to experience father absence, and children born to unmarried, non-cohabiting parents are four times as likely to live in a father-absent home.

• About 40 percent of children in father-absent homes have not seen their father at all during the past year; 26 percent of absent fathers live in a different state than their children; and 50 percent of children living absent their father have never set foot in their father’s home.

• Children who live absent their biological fathers are, on average, at least two to three times more likely to be poor, to use drugs, to experience educational, health, emotional and behavioral problems, to be victims of child abuse, and to engage in criminal behavior than their peers who live with their married, biological (or adoptive) parents.

• From 1995 to 2000, the proportion of children living in single-parent homes slightly declined, while the proportion of children living with two married parents remained stable. [4]

If these statistics are not convincing enough to demonstrate the power of the biblical model for marriage and family, then consider the following data that were gathered from a variety of sources including: The National Center for Health, HUD, and the US Census Bureau, then compiled and published by the National Center for Fathering in an article entitled, “The Consequences of Fatherlessness:”

Finally, in this article I have just given a small introduction to this extremely complex and controversial topic. I will, however, be examining this topic in much more detail including examining more specifically how the enemy has been able to gain such a stranglehold on traditional family values, and what God’s word says how the value that He places on the family, in my upcoming book entitled, The Three Battle Zones of the Enemy, The Mind, The Family and The Church.

But in the meantime, suffice it to say, I would like to encourage anyone whom God has given a platform to address this huge elephant in the room, to begin to at least give some attention to this most important of topics. Or, at the very least, incorporate this fatherless narrative as part of your overall activism. Because by acknowledging this previously ignored elephant in the room, you can begin to see a much bigger overall picture of the problems that you have been addressing, as well as, a much more discerning eye into the overall plan of the enemy to distract and deceive.

1. The Father Absence Crises in America, Study by, The National Fatherhood Initiative, https://www.fatherhood.org/fatherhood-data-statistics

2. How the Liberal Welfare State Destroyed Black America, What Democrat Voters and Political Leaders Refuse to Believer, by John Perazzo, May 5, 2016.

3. Gangs, Cities and Police: The Missing Factor is Dads, by J. Warner Wallace, The Stream, December 11, 2016.

4. The Fatherless Generation.wordpress.com