I have often wondered what many parents are doing with their children when I see the children behaving badly. I am not talking about normal children disobedience; I am talking about those extremes that make you stare in disbelief. There are many things that children do today that would never have occurred a century ago except in the most degenerate parts of society. Some of the disrespect that we see in children, especially teenagers, is laid out in Scripture frequently as witchcraft and abominations. If we compare today's parenting techniques with some of the simple principles outlined in the book of Proverbs or Sirach, we will realize how far we have fallen in this area. Searching for something on the internet yesterday, I came across a website where the question was asked about what things parents are proud of in their children. Shockingly, this list, which had numerous entries, was mostly telling about things that were grave sins (and the majority of these behaviors that parents openly said they were proud of involved rejection of proper authority). What happened in the last few decades where parenting is now aimed at raising arrogant rebels? One of the worst consequences of this child abuse (that is what it truly is!) is that it makes the context of parenting shift. Proper discipline today is called child abuse, and parents who are soft on discipline look harsh. This makes parents who want to follow God's way of doing things scared that they might get in trouble. Sadly, good parents find that they sometimes need to hide in order to give their children a proper upbringing. Future parents, do not be afraid; God will provide all that you need to raise your children rightly if you make a commitment to doing what He wants. Current parents, stick with it and seek to learn better how to point children toward faithfulness. Our Lord never said raising children in a pagan land would be easy, but He did promise to help you through it. Trust Him to do so.