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I see the implementation of the Matrix as a multi-faceted assault on humanity as whole. It assails our senses, our intellect and reason, and ultimately our morality. Much of what we base our initial perceptions on in life is based on that which we are taught as children – not so much by what we’re told by our parents and elders, but what is modeled for us by them. It is for this reason that the Matrix explicitly targets the mountain of Family and seeks to lay it low and redefine what it means.
Within the multi-faceted assault of the Matrix as a whole, so too is the specific attack on the institution of family also multi-faceted, and lately these efforts have been met frighteningly successful results. I want to look at these individually, but by the same token, we need to remember that these aspects are working in concert toward the same end. It is therefore the culmination of these efforts to which I attribute the seeming success of the campaign against family
The Assault on Fatherhood
Last week we took a very brief and cursory look at the role of the entertainment industry in our indoctrination and retention within this system we’re calling “the Matrix”. This provides an excellent segue as I’d like to begin by showing you something that I find highlighted through a look at the media and its portrayal of men – specifically fathers over the years.
There is an age old question that asks, “is art imitating life, or is life imitating art?” I posit that the answer is both. As popular culture portrays life in a manner analogous to a caricature of reality, so does society – in identifying with these tropes – become more of a caricature of itself – it’s a feedback loop.
I have chosen the programs pictured for two reasons; 1) they are readily recognizable to the majority of Americans and 2) they provide a stark illustration of the principle I am highlighting and display the chronological decay of fatherhood, decade by decade.
In the 1950’s, the family was portrayed as a unit and the father as the head of his household. He was perceived as wise and benevolent, guiding his children in wisdom and helping them to become moral, prudent and productive. He was beloved by his wife and children and his guidance was sought after. He wasn’t perfect, but he was clearly he bedrock upon which the family unit rested securely.
In the 1960’s a slightly different picture emerged. In place of the confident, capable father figure portrayed in the prior decade, we began to see the introduction of a bumbling, albeit well meaning father figure. Don’t get me wrong, I actually liked the Dick Van Dyke show in my youth (re-runs), but the transition is undeniable.
In the 1970’s, we saw the image of father slip even further from where it started. Here we are introduced to an uneducated, bigoted and arguably chauvinistic father. His council and advice is sought after by no one other than his wife and even that only under specific circumstances. His children openly defy him and oppose every view he holds or belief he espouses. Indeed, what he states is frequently laughably ignorant.
Now, in fairness, this is not the only model of fatherhood presented during this period and many might decry this particular point and ask, “what about the Brady Bunch?” or some similarly themed television program. Throughout the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s and 90’s, one could readily point to television programs which might seem to counter the thesis I’m putting forward. It’s a fair question, let’s address it.
Consider the example of the Brady Bunch. Within a mere decade, more people were interested in the purported sexual escapades of the cast members than they were the general themes and tenets of the show itself. Furthermore, many seem to conveniently forget that the entire premise of the show as a whole was founded on divorce – something the Lord has stated in no uncertain terms that He hates. (Mike Brady was a widower, but the shows creator revealed that Carol was a divorce’a). Similar examples exist within the time-frame of the 80’s and 90’s as well, but given the manner in which they’ve aged and the ridicule and malaise levied upon them, one has to wonder if they were essentially straw men designed to placate perceptions of the day while still advancing the agenda.
From the 90’s through the present day, the portrayal of fatherhood has devolved completely. In place of what were once strong, masculine leaders, we now find imbeciles. For those programs which take a more serious tack, it’s not unusual to find that the masculine father figure isn’t even a male. In the “real world”, we have seen a decline in active, participating fathers within the family unit and currently find ourselves in a place where “baby daddy” is now a thing…
Is this art imitating life, or life imitating art?
Am I not supposed to see a correlation here?
Am I the only one who finds all of this utterly detestable and repugnant?
The Assault on Motherhood
One of the most prolific detractors of motherhood in the modern age has been the feminist movement – bar none. The irony of this is that the movement of feminism is largely seen as an outgrowth of the women’s suffrage movement, which purportedly sought to bring women the right to vote and establish equality between the genders.
The problem with this movement as it stands is that while it started with noble intentions and worthy aims, it never slowed or stopped even when the very precepts it proliferated began to damage they very women it sought to venerate. What I mean is that somewhere over the course of this movement, the perception regarding and of women shifted to one in which achievement and accomplishment became the metric by which worth was evaluated.
Symptomatic of this shift, traditional stay-at-home motherhood started becoming a thing of the past. It wasn’t that their weren’t women who wanted to be professional mothers, it was that such was looked down on – perceived as lacking in ambition. It was effectively deemed a betrayal of those who’d gone before in “the cause” and to the movement as a whole. Not to eschew “traditional” matronly roles in favor of such avant-garde notions as pursuing a career first was deemed regressive.
The thing is, particularly in recent years, we’ve seen this trend reversing. Numerous articles have been written exploring the increasing number of women dropping out of the workforce. While the reasons cited are often varied, motherhood is always extremely prevalent among them.
Women have essentially been told by modern society that they need to be both bread winner and nurturer – that they should be able to “do it all”, but the reality is they can’t. No one can. Some women express feelings overwhelmed and in the same turn, guilty because they don’t measure up.
Ladies; the image that had been painted for you is a lie. It’s an unattainable farce. What’s more is that the more it is pursued, the more damage is wrought on every aspect of your life – your relationships suffer, your productivity suffers, your self esteem suffers and on and on. You’ve basically been taught in some form or another that to rely on a husband… on a man would be weak and foolish. If the image portrayed of men by the entertainment industry were true, this would be as well. In fact, both are an out and out lie.
For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.
Genesis 2:24
Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord, because the husband is the head of the wife as also Christ is the head of the church (he himself being the savior of the body). But as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her to sanctify her by cleansing her with the washing of the water by the word, so that he may present the church to himself as glorious—not having a stain or wrinkle, or any such blemish, but holy and blameless. In the same way husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.
Ephesians 5:22 – 28
God is not a God of Chauvinism or misogyny, He is a God of order and His order is the only means through which we can find our true identity or experience real fulfillment. We – men and women – are made differently, not unequally. Our differences, spiritually, physically and emotionally were designed to compliment, not compete.
I am reminded of a beautiful tradition among the people of feudal Japan:
When a man was called to war, he would stand in place as his wife dressed him for battle. First she wrapped him in a silk undergarment that could prevent arrows from piercing him. Then she affixed layer upon layer of lamellar plating designed to prevent blades from wounding him. Finally, she would equip him with a sword, likely handed down from father to son, from generation to generation.
He in turn would go to fight for his nation, his village and most importantly, for his family. He would do as needs dictated, even laying down his own life in order to attain victory and ensure safety and security for his wife and children. He did this, girded in the armor in which his wife had adorned him.
Now, I’m not insinuating that feudal Japanese culture is some bastion of virtue to be emulated carte blanche, but I most definitely see a principle at work that we should lay hold of. I see an elegant, yet plain application of two, acting in very specific way, but as one flesh. Now wonder these warriors were so formidable as to carve a permanent place in history.
The Assault on Children
At this point, there are any number of avenues I could take, and number of examples I could cite, and any number of specific approaches I could make to the unrelenting assault on the minds and characters of our little ones. We touched on some of these in the discussion regarding the education system.
There is however, an assault on our children which is far more direct and insidious than any of the those previously mentioned. I fact, rather than attempt to distill this information, I find it far more effective to allow its victims to speak for themselves. I make no apologies for what they have to say…
