Judge Phil Ginn: ‘Strong fathers are essential to the building of good character traits in children’
April 18, 2022
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Florida Governor Ron DeSantis recently signed a bill fighting the surge of fatherlessness in Florida. The bill allocates $70 million toward initiatives that support and encourage fathers to take an active role in their children’s lives. The bill authorizes the creation of a Responsible Fatherhood Initiative, which “must provide an opportunity for every father in the state to be able to obtain information and inspiration that will motivate and enable him to enhance his abilities as a father, recognizing that some fathers have greater challenges than others and would benefit from greater support.” Fathers will be able to access a website and other electronic resources where they can find parenting information and support resources.
Judge Phil Ginn, president of Southern Evangelical Seminary (SES, www.ses.edu), responded to DeSantis’ strategic move against the epidemic of fatherlessness, stating that the American family needs strong fathers.
Ginn commented, “Some years ago, I had the opportunity to visit Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola. At that time, the prison had been changed from one of the bloodiest prisons in America to a model of efficiency, order, calmness, and even respect for the 5800 inmates imprisoned there. During one point of my conversations with the warden, I simply asked the question about what the needs of the prisoners might be. Perhaps because it was in the spring, at the top of the ‘want list’ was Mothers’ Day cards. When I inquired about Fathers’ Day cards, the warden sadly shook his head and said, ‘We just don’t have any need for Fathers’ Day cards because these men don’t have anyone to send the cards to.’ Let that thought sink in for a moment.
“It seems that fathers are not only absent; they also aren’t valued by many of the current ‘architects’ of society. Despite what the ‘woke’ culture might say, good fathers who lead strong families are what this country has been missing for a long time. Statistics show, and my own experience in the judicial system confirms, that strong fathers are essential to the building of good character traits in children.”
Ginn continued, “The lack of this essential paternal influence has brought about two or three generations where many of our young are simply lost to increased use of alcohol and drugs, sexual dysphoria, and homelessness along with increased crime rates and, sadly, soaring suicide rates amongst children.
“At SES, we believe that strong families that have a real man for a father and a real woman for a mother raising their children under the guidance of true faith are perhaps the greatest need to begin to get to the heart of our cultural malaise in America. Is it any wonder that those who would destroy America would attack this family structure so vehemently?”
The mission of SES is to train men and women, based on the inerrant and infallible written Word of God, for the evangelization of the world and the defense of the historic Christian faith. SES offers a range of undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degrees (along with several for-credit certificates) that uniquely integrate theology, philosophy, and apologetics to build a complete and systematic Christian worldview.
For more information on SES, visit its website at www.ses.edu or its Facebook page, follow the SES Twitter feed, @sesapologetics, or call (704) 847-5600.
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