Dad Talk

Dad – Talk

Opening video – Kids wishing their dads happy Fathers Day from Christian Hills

Introduction:

Today is Fathers day – a tradition that originated on June 19th in 1910 in Spokane Washington. It became a presidential proclamation in 1966 when President Lyndon Johnson signed a bill declaring every 3rd Sunday in June as Father’s Day.

Thesis: Today we follow the teaching of the Bible and we honor our dads today. Dads are different from moms and they are to be honored for being who God created them to be.

I read a recent Newspaper article talking about how Father’s Day cards were been banned in many public schools in Scotland:

Father’s Day cards banned in Scottish schools: Thousands of primary pupils were prevented from making Father’s Day cards at school for fear of embarrassing classmates who live with single mothers and lesbians.

By Simon Johnson, Scottish Political Editor

Published: 8:44PM BST 22 Jun 2008

The politically correct policy was quietly adopted at schools "in the interests of sensitivity" over the growing number of lone-parent and same-sex households.

It only emerged after a large number of fathers failed to receive their traditional cards and handmade gifts.

Family rights campaigners last night condemned the policy as "absurd" and argued that it is marginalising fathers, but local authorities said teachers need to react to "the changing pattern of family life".

An Office for National Statistics report in April found that one in four British children now lives with a lone parent - double the figure 20 years ago.

The Father’s Day card ban has been introduced by schools in Glasgow, Edinburgh, East Renfrewshire, Dumfries and Galloway and Clackmannshire.

Tina Woolnough, 45, whose son Felix attends Edinburgh’s Blackhall primary school, said several teachers there had not allowed children to make Father’s Day cards this year.

Mrs Woolnough, a member of the school’s parent-teacher council, said: "This is something I know they do on a class-by-class basis at my son Felix’s school. Some classes send Father’s Day cards and some do not.

"The teachers are aware of the family circumstances of the children in each class and if a child hasn’t got a father living at home, the teacher will avoid getting the children to make a card."

The making of Mother’s Day cards and crafts, in the run-up to Mothering Sunday, remains generally permitted.

But the Father’s Day edict follows a series of other politically correct measures introduced in primary schools, including the removal of Christian references from festive greetings cards.

Matt O’Connor, founder of campaign group Fathers For Justice, said: "I’m astonished at this. It totally undermines the role and significance of fathers whether they are still with the child’s mother or not.

"It also sends out a troubling message to young boys that fathers aren’t important."

Alastair Noble, education officer with the charity Christian Action, Research and Education, said: "This seems to be an extreme and somewhat absurd reaction.

"I would have thought that the traditional family and marriage are still the majority lifestyles of people in Scotland. To deny the experience of the majority just does not seem sensible."

Local authorities defended the change, saying teachers needed to act "sensitively" at a time when many children were experiencing family breakdown and divorce.

A spokesman for East Renfrewshire Council said: "Increasingly, it is the case that there are children who haven’t got fathers or haven’t got fathers living with them and teachers are having to be sensitive about this.

"Teachers have always had to deal with some pupils not having fathers or mothers, but with marital breakdown it is accelerating."

Jim Goodall, head of education at Clackmannanshire Council, said teachers are expected to behave with common sense but be sensitive to "the changing pattern of family life."

South Ayrshire Council said children should not feel left out or unwanted, while City of Edinburgh Council said the practice on Father’s Day cards was a matter for individual schools.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/2176315/Fathers-Day-cards-banned-in-Scottish-schools.html

Father’s Day has become a day to honor fathers. I am glad we can do that today here at Christian Hills. In essence it’s a day to follow the Biblical mandate to honor your Fathers. There are four main references which refer to honoring our fathers in Scripture:

Exodus 20:12 “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.”

Leviticus 19:3 “Each of you must respect his mother and father, and you must observe my Sabbaths. I am the Lord.”

Deut. 5:16 “Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord God commanded you, so that you may live long and that it may go well with you in the land the Lord your God is giving you.”

Ephesians 6:1-3 “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for it is right. Honor your father and mother”-which is the first commandment with a promise-“that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.”