Orphans in Russia

Image source:  http://www.imperfectparent.com/topics/2013/01/11/russia-current-adoption-approvals-allowed-to-move-forward/

Have you ever wondered why there are so many orphans in Russia?  I mean, it’s not like this third world country where people starve to death and die from curable diseases because they can’t afford medicine, right?  It’s because long ago a new government made some radical changes to the definition of marriage….hmmm sound familiar?  (Hawkins, Dollahite, & Draper, 2012)

Two decades after the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, the Marxist government tried to encourage the decline of marriage.  How did they do this?  They did away with religious marriages, they allowed postcard divorces, and cohabitation was recognized as legitimate, just to name a few.  The consequences of these new policies were devastating and the children took the hardest hit.  Hence, the many orphans.  Luckily they realized that they made a big mistake and have returned to strongly supporting marriage and the family as the fundamental unit of society.  But it takes a long time to recover from such a hard blow.  (Hawkins, Dollahite, & Draper, 2012)

Anyone else afraid that history is going to repeat itself with the new definition of marriage in the United States?  I know I am.

The issue of same-sex marriage is NOT one of civil rights.  Redefining marriage based on adult sexual interests decreases the importance of the responsibility that comes with procreation.  As Peter Parker’s grandpa once said, “With great power comes great responsibility”.  We are given the sacred power as men and women, legally bound in marriage, to act as God and create human life.  That is not something to be messed with.  (Hawkins, Dollahite, & Draper, 2012)

Marriage is ordained of God and we should be careful when trying to redefine it.  “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”  (Galatians 6:7, King James Version)

I’ll leave you with this prophetic warning from President Gordon B. Hinckley:

“The evils of the world will continue to escalate unless there is an underlying acknowledgement, even a strong and fervent conviction, that the family is an instrument of the Almighty.  It is His creation.  It is also the most fundamental and basic unit of society.  And it deserves—no, it demands—our combined focus and attention.

We go to great lengths to preserve historical buildings and sites in our cities.  We need to apply the same fervor to preserving the most ancient and sacred of institutions—the family!

We cannot effect a turnaround in a day or a month or a year.  But with enough effort, we can begin a turnaround within a generation, and accomplish wonders within two generations—a period of time that is not very long in the history of humanity.”(Hawkins, Dollahite, & Draper, 2012)