One of the most absurd statements man ever made is recorded in Exodus 32. Moses had gone up on Mt. Sinai to receive a revelation of God’s divine law. His brother Aaron was left in charge of the camp of Israel. But the people soon became restive and demanded man-made gods to lead them. Their personal jewelry made of gold was collected for the purpose, after which Aaron melted it and fashioned it into a calf. This the people worshipped with the abandon of pagans.
Coming down from the mountain, Moses heard the tumult and then saw the revelry and the idolatrous rites. In a rage of righteous indignation he cast down the tablets containing the Ten Commandments and demanded of Aaron: “What did this people unto thee, that thou hast brought so great a sin upon them?”
Aaron’s reply is a classic of evasion and puerility: “They said unto me, Make us gods, which shall go before us: for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. And I said unto them, Whosoever hath any gold, let them break it off. So they gave it to me: then I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf.”
Americans in general—sociologists, psychologists, penologists, churchmen, and parents—all are becoming alarmed over the problem of juvenile delinquency that is evidencing itself in wanton destruction of property, crimes of violence and general lawlessness.
Americans, too, are a foolish people. Behind the loud cries of anguish and dismay may be heard the voice of Aaron speaking more than three millenniums ago, “… and there came out this calf.” We are being shocked by the effects and facts of the situation, but in large measure we are unwilling to face the cause, and until we do there can be no adequate solution.
Why this alarming increase in juvenile crime? In one day recently the newspapers carried three stories of teen-agers who had shot and killed their parents over trivialities. Robbery, rape, theft, vandalism are all crimes for which juveniles are being apprehended in increasing numbers. The entire gamut of crime is covered by these young people at an annual rate increase of about 9 per cent. In fact, the official statistics are so alarming that drastic steps are needed immediately.
Long ago physicians joined together to face the cause of diseases and then to discover and use appropriate means to overcome them. This social cancer that is sweeping America demands a similar realistic approach. For too long we have been concerned with symptoms rather than the cause.
Juvenile delinquency does not just happen. That it comes from adult delinquency is true, but here again adults are often unaware of the multiple ways in which they themselves contribute to the waywardness of young people. There are unquestionably causes in the home—lack of discipline and control on the one hand, and wrong-doing on the part of parents that the children see and imitate.
There are several contributing causes to juvenile delinquency that cry out to be faced, and for which preventive steps need to be taken.
Every child in a home where there is a TV set (“That monster in the living room”), is having violence impressed on his mind and heart. Program after program shows fighting, lawlessness and death. Immature minds do not distinguish between acting and reality, between fake and fact. That people who have depicted violence walk away from the scene as soon as the cameras are turned off is not appreciated by these young viewers. Similar episodes are enacted on many radio programs, although their effect is less pernicious because they are only heard, not seen. While we wonder why and deplore juvenile crime, a very real cause is being ignored: “… and there came out this calf.”
Unassailable evidence can be produced that many TV and radio programs, many movies, the misnamed “comics” and the filthy literature sold at the average newsstand and bookstore all portray crime, violence, lust and evil in general, in ways that glorify and glamorize sin. And yet we blandly say, “… and there came out this calf.”
The concern of Americans today is that a solution be found, but are we not adding fuel to the fire? In the face of sex obsession there are demands for more “sex education.” In the face of lawlessness there is a softening of law enforcement. In the face of conditions that foster delinquency there is more emphasis on housing than on homes, on recreation than on work, on juvenile courts than on parental discipline.
A surgeon faced with cancer will never settle for palliative measures when the disease itself may be eradicated. In this grave social emergency no less drastic steps should be considered.
The problem must be approached from two directions—the immediate and the ultimate, corrective and preventive measures.
Christians realize that the eventual solution of spiritual and moral problems rests in changed hearts and lives, and they know that only Christ can do this. Reform without redemption is but cleaning the outside of the cup, or embellishing the tombs of the dead. New creatures in Christ take their place in society and, according to our Lord, become its “light” and its “salt.” Therefore, a long-range program is only realistic as it works in keeping with God’s plan for the redemption of mankind.
Along with the Gospel message there are steps which need to be taken immediately, steps which will act as deterrents in the present situation and which are completely in keeping with the Christian approach. Drastic action is needed and an aroused and concerned citizenry can and should initiate something along this line:
Parents should be made financially responsible for property losses inflicted by their minor children, whether by acts of vandalism or general carelessness.
Parents should unite in boycotting the sponsors of TV and radio programs that portray crime and violence for their children to see and hear.
Responsible adults, parents and otherwise, should unite in demanding that the filth now sold as “comics,” along with other salacious literature, be abolished from our newsstands. Lawmakers and enforcement officials may have difficulty in deciding what is “obscene,” but they are acutely sensitive to votes and to the moral sensitiveness of voters.
Hollywood should learn that crime does not pay, even when shown in magic color and on wide screens. Surely there are interesting, entertaining and elevating things in unending quantity and quality that lend themselves to TV, radio and screen portrayal. Unless there is a drastic change, these avenues of entertainment will continue to spew out the golden calves of licentiousness and violence, and parents can no more evade responsibility than did Aaron with his puerile remark.
Finally, we would suggest a deterrent to juvenile delinquency that is an almost forgotten art in contemporary American life—a good sound thrashing. In the book of Proverbs we read: “Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die. Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell.” Even among child psychologists there are now some who agree there is nothing more calculated to clear the atmosphere in a child’s thinking and reactions. The Bible is expressing true child psychology when it says: “Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.” In a day when the only switches in the average American home are those that turn on or off the current in an electric gadget, it would be wise to procure some that grow on trees and are to be had for the cutting.
In addition, serious consideration should be given to laws that will permit the whipping of juvenile delinquents by duly constituted and supervised officers of the law. One of the reasons for present delinquency is that it has been glamorized. A culprit when seized loves the publicity, wants newspaper space and becomes a hero in the eyes of his associates. Nothing will prick this bubble of conceit and wrong values more than a thorough thrashing. Harsh? No. It is eminently worth trying.
L. NELSON BELL
