After another weekend of violence in Atlanta—where nearly
three dozen were shot and five were killed, including an eight-year-old
girl—Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said “enough is enough.” However, because her
worldview is corrupted by modern liberalism—which is the case with the
leadership in virtually every major U.S. city—she offered no real solutions for
the recent epidemic of violence that plagues Atlanta.
As has been widely
reported, Georgia’s Republican Governor Brian Kemp stepped in and
ordered the activation of 1,000 National Guard troops in order to “protect
state property and patrol” the streets of Atlanta. In his statement, Kemp
declared,
Peaceful protests were
hijacked by criminals with a dangerous, destructive agenda. Now, innocent
Georgians are being targeted, shot, and left for dead. This lawlessness must be
stopped and order restored in our capital city. I have declared a State of
Emergency and called up the Georgia Guard because the safety of our citizens
comes first. This measure will allow troops to protect state property and
dispatch state law enforcement officers to patrol our streets. Enough with the
tough talk. We must protect the lives and livelihoods of all Georgians.
Part of the problem in Atlanta—again, like we now see in so
many large, Democrat-led U.S. cities—is plummeting police morale. After the death
of George Floyd, and the unjust
and incorrect accusations of “systemic racism” throughout America, police
all over the U.S. were made into scapegoats for what really plagues the urban
areas of America. As a result, police officers have been targeted for violence
and mayhem simply for wearing their uniforms and doing their jobs.
In addition, police officers have been targeted—and unjustly
fired—by their superiors. This has
been the case in Atlanta. As a result, a recent wave of “blue flu”
has swept through the Atlanta Police Department. Almost certainly, this means
dangerous areas of Atlanta are not seeing the usual police presence. Thus the
need for the Georgia National Guard.
And thus we see again the sad, sorry results of the “Ferguson
Effect.” The “Ferguson Effect,” a phrase coined by Heather
MacDonald, says that, when police stop, or reduce, policing—because
of political pressure, community pressure, department policies, and the
like—criminals are emboldened and crime increases.
Because of democrats’ relentless and dishonest campaign
against law enforcement, the Ferguson Effect has led to numerous U.S. cities
becoming significantly more dangerous. As John
Nolte put it several years ago, “The obvious and predictable result
is a rise in violent crime that only hurts predominantly poor, black,
inner-city neighborhoods.” Of course, the magnificently foolish calls to “defund
the police” or “abolish
the police” (as some school districts are
now doing) will only ensure that the Ferguson Effect will continue
and will result in even more death and destruction in America’s urban areas.
Whatever one’s politics on these matters, one question that
often is ignored when it comes to policing and America’s cities is, why do the
urban areas of America require more policing in the first place? Why is it that
certain parts of America—whether cities, towns, or schools—require very little
policing and see almost no crime (certainly little to no violent crime)? I
believe the answer is quite simple: Wherever one sees intact, God-fearing families—families
with a married mother and father who regularly attend religious services—crime
is virtually non-existent.
Of course, sound morality has long revealed this to be the
case, but, if you require it, multiple
studies have also shown
that children raised by a married mother and father are better citizens; e.g.,
less likely to commit crimes, more likely to perform well in school, and so on.
Additionally, multiple
studies have
shown that religious
Americans are more involved with their families, less likely to
divorce, do better financially, are more likely to donate their time and other
resources to their communities, and are happier and healthier than their
non-religious counterparts.
Modern liberalism’s war on the family and faith has been particularly
devastating to fathers, and this has been particularly devastating to America’s
youth and the communities that must deal with the consequences of fatherless
children. Among
many other sad outcomes, fatherlessness is one of the leading predictors of future
criminal activity. Children from single-parent homes (almost always without a
father) are
more
likely to…engage
in questionable behavior, struggle academically, and become delinquent. Problems with children
from fatherless families can continue into adulthood. These children are three
times more likely to end up in jail by the time they reach age 30 than are
children raised in intact families, and have the highest rates of incarceration
in the United States.
Additionally, fatherlessness is the single greatest cause of
poverty in the U.S. As
Robert Rector pointed out years ago, “Being raised in a married
family reduced a child’s probability of living in poverty by about 80 percent.”
In order to further their big government agenda, modern liberals often point to
education as the answer to poverty in America. However, marriage is a far
better weapon against poverty than is education. Again, as Rector points out, “being
married has the same effect in reducing poverty that adding five to six years
to a parent’s level of education has.” In addition, a child living in a
single-parent home in which the parent is a college graduate is nearly twice as
likely to live in poverty as a child living with their married parents whose
highest level of education is completing high school.
Marriage
provides the safest environment for children. In addition to being much more
likely to live in crime-ridden communities, children born to single moms face
much more danger inside the home than do children living with their married
parents. As marripedia
points out:
- The rate of physical abuse is 3
times higher in the single
parent family.
- The rate of physical abuse is 4
times higher if the mother
is cohabiting with the child’s biological father (unmarried).
- The rate of physical abuse is 5
times higher if the child is
living in a married step family.
- The rate of physical abuse is 10
times higher if the mother
is cohabiting with a boyfriend.
The
rates for sexual abuse are even worse than physical abuse:
- The rate of sexual abuse is 5
times higher in the single
parent family and when both biological parents are cohabiting (i.e.,
unmarried).
- The rate of sexual abuse is 8.6
times higher if the child is
living in a married step family.
- The rate of sexual abuse is 20
times higher if the mother
is cohabiting with a boyfriend.
As
tragic as the outcomes of the Ferguson Effect are, the “Fatherless
Effect” is much more wide-ranging, common, and deadly in American
society. Of course, systemic liberalism is responsible for both. If
today’s liberals have “accomplished” anything, they have given us the
destruction of the biblical family model and the removal of God from virtually
every public institution in America. No amount of policing, no number of
soldiers can make up for either. And neither can the racist, Marxist Black
Lives Matter organization—or any of their like-minded ilk.
If America wants our city streets to be safe, if we want our
communities and schools to function properly, we must abandon the “principles”
of modern liberalism and fix our homes and our hearts. To do that, we must look
to the One who made us and what His Word says in all of these matters.
(See this column at American Thinker.)
Copyright 2020, Trevor Grant Thomas
At the Intersection of Politics, Science, Faith, and Reason.
www.trevorgrantthomas.com
Trevor is the author of the The Miracle and Magnificence of
America
tthomas@trevorgrantthomas.com
