Fatherlessness the silent killer
All of us have been shocked by the deadly rampage of the Norwegian mass murderer, Anders Breivik, who killed 77 people. The question is, “Are we shocked by the fact that Anders grew up as a fatherless child?.”
If we know our history and the social science statistics surrounding fatherlessness, this information should not surprise us. Anders was abandoned by his father or perhaps more accurately stolen from his father, Jens Breivik, when he was only one year old.
Some of the most famous killers in human history grew up in fatherless homes without their natural biological father: Adolf Hitler, Saddam Hussein, Billy the Kid, Mark Lepine and Charles Manson to name a few. Crime authorities are well aware of fatherlessness in criminal profiling.
An American FBI agent who specialises in serial killers has said that most of them come from a dysfunctional family with an absent father and yet, the truth is always more complicated than reality. As Tolstoy once said, ‘Happy families are all alike but every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.’
This was the case with Breivik’s family. The article in the Daily Mail in the UK tells the story, from the killer’s manifesto:
Both his mother and stepmother are described as feminists. There are indications of an unsettled childhood where his father and stepmother entered a custody battle for Anders with his mother and stepfather which they lost.
Breivik is critical of the influence of women in his life saying: ‘I do not approve of the super-liberal, matriarchal upbringing though as it completely lacked discipline and has contributed to feminise me to a certain degree.’
The salient facts of the story are that Breivik grew up fatherless with a lack of discipline and in his own words "too much freedom" with a mother and grandmother whom he described as feminist. His stepfather, it would appear, abandoned Anders and his mother for prostitutes in Thailand. Certainly the whole story is one of fatherlessness and family dysfunction in more ways than one.
Democrat Senator Daniel Moynihan said prophetically in 1965, “From the wild Irish slums of the 19th century Eastern seaboard to the riot-torn suburbs of Los Angeles, there is one unmistakable lesson in American history: A community that allows a large number of young men to grow up in broken families, dominated by women, never acquiring any stable relationship to male authority, never acquiring any rational expectations about the future – that community asks for and gets chaos”. Many would argue that chaos is a 21st century demographic trend. Unfortunately chaos and fatherlessness often go hand in hand.
David Blankenhorn says that "Fatherlessness is the most harmful demographic trend of this generation." Nowhere is this statement more keenly felt than in Norway today.
The trouble is the western world, including Australia, is embracing and advancing policies that will drive even greater levels of fatherlessness. Commentators on the UK riots all agree that fatherlessness was a major contributor to the problem. The Gillard government is about to bring into law a bill that will result in even higher levels of fatherlessness for Australian children. This anti-child bill is in the guise of a Family Law Amendment to decrease violence, but the best way to do so is to promote responsible fatherhood. As forensic psychologist Shawn Johnston said, “The research is absolutely clear . . . the one human being most capable of curbing the anti-social aggression of a boy is his biological father”.
Dads4Kids lodged a submission, to protest the introduction of the bill but after many requests, were denied the opportunity to speak before the Senate hearing. The Shared Parenting Council was also denied the opportunity to speak before the Senate hearing. Has this government got something to hide?
Fatherlessness, as can be seen from the Norwegian Killers story, has serious consequences for us all. Matters of family law reform have always been decided on a bipartisan basis. The Labor government has broken this long standing convention in their desire to appease the radical feminists that dominate the Left factions of the Labor Party and the Greens.
In light of the terrible tragedy in Norway which has its roots in the ever increasing plague of fatherlessness that is sweeping our western world we call on the Australian Labor Party to reject this pernicious piece of legislation for the sake of our children. Children need a mother and a father. Winding back shared parenting legislation is a betrayal of our children’s best interests. Do we need a national tragedy as has recently happened in Norway to bring us to our senses? I hope and pray this is not the case.
Warwick Marsh, has been married to Alison since 1975. They have five children and three grandchildren. Together they founded the Dads4Kids Fatherhood Foundation in 2002 with a goal to encourage excellence in fathering and in 2004 established the National Marriage Coalition to support and strengthen Australian marriages. Warwick is also the founder of Australian Heart Ministries and is the convenor for the National Prayer Council and an active on the board of several other community based charities. Warwick’s background is in the building construction industry but for the last two decades he has being serving in the community both here and overseas.Warwick is a public speaker, writer, minister, musician and TV producer. In 1998 Warwick received the FOL Fatherhood of the Year Award and in 2001 was awarded a centenary medal by the Governor General for service to musical leadership for youth and the Aboriginal community, both in Australia and his missions work overseas.
