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6B FRIDAY, AUGUST 4, 2006 Changes in family structure jeopardize child's moral code QUESTION: Why do you think kids are more sexually active today than when I was young? Lust is certainly not new. What is causing this gen eration to be so promis cuous? DR. DOBSON: There are many factors that have brought on the epidemic we re see ing, not the least of which is the trash that is beamed to teen agers on television, in mov ies and 9k jsssiip Dr. James Dobson Focus on the Family www.family.org from the rock music indus try. Young people today are bombarded by immoral entertainment that models promiscuous behavior and teaches them that “everyone is doing it.” The diminish ing influence of traditional Christian teaching is also responsible for the changing m6res of our kids. There is another extremely important consideration that has been identified recently by behavioral research. A team of researchers from the Oregon Social Learning U.S. Catholicism faces a money crunch over retired sisters By RICHARD N. OSTLING AP Religion Writer With tens of thousands of U.S. nuns over age 70, the Roman Catholic Church is facing a massive financial shortfall for the care of retir ees in religious orders - a gap that over the long term dwarfs costs from the clergy abuse crisis. Though billions of dollars have been salted away, there still remains an unfunded future liability of $8.7 billion for current nuns, priests and brothers in religious orders. The financial hole is project ed by a consulting firm to exceed S2O billion by 2023. A June survey by the church’s National Religious Retirement Office, not yet released to the public, puts spending for retiree care at $926 million last year alone. That compares with a total of $499 million received over the last 18 years from annu al special parish collections to aid retirees. The retirement realities far overshadow the burden from well-publicized sexual abuse cases, which have cost the American church more than $1 billion since 1950, ■ jgk. m :. • ' Remind your neighbors to help pre serve our planet’s natural resources. ~ ', < flllllP Recycling just a little now can make a big difference for future generations. .- •:• /• ! > tz:s y#- I l“: *>.*=< 'Yn I R: F : C ~ V'C"" S' F : R'Pf'Yf Center found that parental divorce plays a direct role in fostering sexual experimen tation among adolescents. The investigators tracked the behavior of 201 junior high and high school boys who lived in “higher crime areas.” They found that the boys who had sexual intercourse at an early age tended to be those who had experienced two or more “parental tran sitions” (divorce, remarriage or repartnering). Only 18 percent of these promiscu ous boys came from intact families. By contrast, 57 percent of the virgins came from homes where divorce had not occurred. On aver age, these abstinent boys had experienced less than one parental transition. A similar study was con ducted on young women by sociologist Lawrence L. Wu of the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He studied 2,441 white women and 1,275 black women, and found that there was a strong correlation between those who bore babies out of wedlock and those who had been through a “change in family structure” when growing up. Wu concluded that the stresses of divorce and remarriage on children are directly implicated in with tens of millions of dol lars in pending claims. In some ways, religious orders face the same prob lem as many governments: increasing numbers of older retirees need benefits, but there are fewer workers to support them. America’s younger workers pay now for the Social Security bene fits of seniors, while younger religious support their older generations by caring for them. Sisters, who make up 82 percent of retirees, are espe cially vulnerable. Between 1965 and 2005, their numbers plummeted from 179,954 to 68,634, according to the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University. With far fewer younger novices being recruited, the majority of sisters are now more than 70 years old, the retirement office’s new sur vey said. Even though sis ters usually work until age 75, caring for the retired population is a huge task. The problem is discussed in the new book “Double Crossed: Uncovering the FTfflS S\»\VA ™ . coving * Ea P®V-* 'J' h& UNIfORM SHOP <?\ ffS| 'fti 50% Off , n E ffi*s h ,S. (Already Discounted Items, Cherokee Unisex Scrubs & Dansko Shoes NOT Included) JULY 26th - AUG. 4th BUY 1 get 1 FREE Shirts Select Shoes just $19.99 Clearance Rack - EVERYTHING SB.OO Hours: M-F Bam-6pm Sat 9am-lpm CLOSED Sunday 1544 Watson Blvd. Warner Robins, GA (478) 328-9977 out-of-wedlock childbearing. In study after study now, we are seeing that divorce, single-parenting and family disruption are unhealthy for children. This is not to criticize those who find themselves in those circumstances, but neither can we continue to deny that intact, two-parent families are the healthiest, and contribute directly to a stable society. If that is true (and the evidence for it is overwhelming), then our public policies and gov ernmental agencies should favor and encourage tradi tional families. Anything that undermines or weakens them, such as confiscatory taxes or governmental intru sion, should be viewed with suspicion. The future of the nation depends, quite literally, on millions of strong, commit ted and loving families. Dr. Dobson is founder and chairman of the board of the nonprofit organization Focus on the Family, P.O. Box 444, Colorado Springs, CO. 80903; or www.family, org. Questions and answers are excerpted from “The Complete Marriage and Family Home Reference Guide” and “Bringing Up Boys, ” both published by Tyndale House. Catholic Church’s Betrayal of American Nuns” (Doubleday) by former New York Times religion editor Kenneth Briggs. The book’s main theme is that church authorities vetoed sisters’ hopes for dra matic changes that would provide more freedom and effective ministries in the aftermath of the Second Vatican Council. When Briggs completed his research, the annual care cost was running at SBOO million and aid collections then totaled S4BO million. He reports that the annu al collections generate more than twice the receipts from the next largest special appeal, showing the regard parishioners have for the sisters and other retirees. Briggs writes that the looming financial threat “sapped the creative ener gies of communities.” But Sister Andree Fries, the 64- year-old executive director of the U.S. retirement office, disagrees. She says “the impact is more minimal than one might think” because mem bers of orders “are very IJs 1 kJ ■ I j|j B CHURCH Man of faith and courage I experienced difficulty in my attempt to share inspi rational thoughts this week. A special brother in-law was laid to rest only the day before. Upbeat thoughts drift through my mind but do not linger long enough to be written down. Upbeat thoughts - that’s my clue. Other than the thought of my 85-year-old brother-in-law’s depar ture, the only thoughts that linger of him are defi nitely upbeat. I had known Neal and his family long before my marriage to his wife’s brother. The family was special to me during my childhood, and the spe cialty has never worn off. POWELL From page 3B a depression on their grand father’s farm. It was partially filled with water, providing an envi ronment inhabited by tad poles and frogs. One day I* caught my little sons throw ing rocks at the frogs and told them to quit. They didn’t understand why until I found a juvenile book on frogs that included a story about little children throwing rocks at frogs. In the story, one of the frogs raised his head and said much about mission” and not worrying about their future needs. Also, orders are “spending their future retirement money for cur rent bills” - so they are not uncomfortable at the moment. What about the projected multi-billion-dollar gap? “Is it a big number? Yes,” Fries said. “Am I discouraged that we’ll ever get there? I’m sobered, but not discour aged, because religious are can-do people.” Some religious orders are financially healthy, but Fries’ office reckons that only 4 percent of current sis ters are adequately funded for their retirement needs. Typically, the problem is worst in smaller orders. Religious orders are total ly independent from dio ceses in administration and finance. But they often serve in schools and other parish or diocesan institutions, so bishops and parishioners naturally feel a responsibil ity to help. The religious orders’ plight first gained national atten tion with a 1985 Wall Street Subscribe today Call 987-1823 0%. FITNESS BOOT CAMP! I WANT YOU... TO JOIN ME FOR A FAT-BURNING. MUSCLE-BUILDING. OUTDOOR FITNESS BOOT CAMP THIS SUMMER IN PERRY! DRILL SERGEANT: CARLENE MOORE. AFAA CERTIFIED PERSONAL TRAINER & 7 { / / GROUP EXERCISE INSTRUCTOR < -t i/nV ( . A 7 ' / NEED 20-25 “GO FOR IT” PARTICIPANTS! I / -o NO MORE EXCUSES! NOW IS THE TIME FOR YOUR EXTREME MAKEOVER! *YVHEN? TUES. & THURS. EVENINGS & SATURDAY MORNINGS ♦STARTING DATE? TUESDAY, AUGUST 15, 2006 ♦WHERE: OUTDOOR VENUE IN PERRY ARE YOU UP FOR THE CHALLENGE? PLAEASE CONTACT ME ASAP TO RESERVE YOUR SPOT IN THE LINEUP! _ bodiesbvc@alltel.net or 397-2428 or 987-2631 36704 r What made Neal so spe cial? To begin with, he was Earline Cole Reflections marvbobl 7@hcllsouth.net especially as one by one, he lost his wife, both sons, and his second wife to cancer, leaving him without imme diate family. Through it all, though heart-broken, his faith to the little children, “Your fun may be our death.” My sons never forgot that lesson and grew up kind hearted to animals. Frogs occupy a prominent place in scripture. When God sent plagues on Egypt to punish Pharaoh for not releasing the Hebrews from bondage, the third plague comprised an invasion of frogs. The Nile River became so overrun with frogs that they marched inland to the houses of the inhabitants. The Egyptians found frogs in their beds, their ovens, and their baking pans. Considering the trou ble one frog caused me, I Journal article by John Fialka. Contacted by fel low Catholics who offered donations, Fialka helped organize Support Our Aging Religious, which pioneered in fundraising and last year received $1.4 million to aid retirees. The U.S. bishops then fol lowed suit, sponsoring their first annual collection in 1988 under the new retire ment office, co-sponsored with three organizations of Handgun Instructions i* a| Rudy Adams {478)244 - 0190 www.eagleseyeshooting.com OfiCLr * framing « J/Vto rio<framming • Oil Zfhintings • Custom Shamififf 918 Carroll Street • Perry, GA 478-987-4079 END OF SUMMER j WMSBmp w HOUSTON DAILY JOURNAL never faltered. A pastor at Neal’s graveside service quoted him as saying to the end, “I have had a good life.” Need had a good life because he chose to have a good life. He has now entered into a better one, leaving behind his two devoted daughters-in-law who were more like daugh ters to him and their fami lies whose spiritual inheri tance will increase in value through generations to come. “In all things shew thyself a pattern of good works; in doctrine shewing incor ruptness, gravity, sincerity, sound speech that cannot be condemned;” (Titus 2:7). himself. Nothing preten tious, just down-to earth Neal. He was a man of faith and courage. This was reflected through his life, can’t imagine the utter bed lam of a frog invasion. I’m surprised Pharaoh didn’t capitulate then to Moses’ demands. Frogs are also mentioned in Revelation. When the sixth angel poured out his bowl of wrath on the Euphrates River, three frog-like creatures came forth from the mouth of the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet. Do you sup pose Noah carried frogs on the ark or left them in the surging water? During the meanwhile, does anyone have a solu tion for little frogs burrow ing into my flower pots and destroying my plants? women’s and men’s orders. The annual December collection was scheduled to cease next year, but at their June meeting the bishops agreed to extend the pro gram another 10 years. Also, the retirement office plans' to increase training for orders on how to manage investments, buildings and other assets. Hundreds of orders have been forced to sell off assets to cover expenses. NRA Safety & Marksmanship Classes Pistol Tactics Class Beginner & Advanced 00036372 0% < ’ ’