“No Natural Affection”

Children are not the only ones affected by these times “hard to deal with.” Paul also foretold: “Men will be . . . having no natural affection.”​—2 Timothy 3:2, 3.

It is only natural to expect your family to be the most supportive of groups. “Home, sweet home” should breathe an atmosphere of love​—love for your spouse and for your children. Yet, the apostle Paul said that a lack of “natural affection”b would characterize “the last days.” And true to his words, in all too many cases “home, sweet home” is far from “sweet.” How so?

In the previous article we noted the prevalence of a startling lack of natural affection​—wife abuse. Surely no wife deserves to be kicked, punched or otherwise abused. What a far cry from the Scriptural exhortation for husbands to love their wives “as their own bodies”! That is natural. Wife beating is not!​—Ephesians 5:28-33.

Perhaps even more surprising is the number of reported cases of husband beating. In one case a husband “wore constant scars and bruises” inflicted by a wife who had “bullied him with hysteria, screaming tantrums and vicious physical violence.” Some sociologists estimate that in the United States alone, some 282,000 men are beaten by their wives each year. Is this not also a shocking example of the lack of natural affection in many 20th-century families?​—Compare Ephesians 5:22-24, 33.

As sobering as such reports are, even more heartrending are the reports of increasing child abuse. It is not at all unusual to read headlines such as the following:

“Abused child, grown up, talks about scars.”

“Woman Admits Drowning Her Four Children as They Slept.”

“Battering of young, death rates soar in Denver and state.”

“Child Neglect ‘Kills Britain’s Loving Image.’”

We spare you the more gruesome details.

Just how prevalent is such abuse of children? Reporting the results of research on family violence, the book Behind Closed Doors estimated that “between 3.1 and 4 million children [in the United States] have been kicked, bitten, or punched by a parent at some time in their lives; . . . between 900,000 and 1.8 million children between the ages of three and seventeen have had a parent use a gun or a knife on them at some time.”

While it is true that children, especially infants, are vulnerable and at times can be demanding, surely no child deserves to be abused​—physically, emotionally or in any other way. After all, as the Bible says: “Sons are an inheritance from Jehovah; the fruitage of the belly is a reward.”​—Psalm 127:3.

There is no question that the 20th-century family has been beset by pressures and strains never before experienced in human history. Notes U.S.News & World Report: “Why the surge in family troubles? Dr. Bertrand New, a psychiatrist at Westchester Medical Center–New York Medical College, cites personal and economic setbacks, alcoholism and the greater strains modern society puts on many families.”​—Italics ours.

This surge of family strife is but one part of the composite sign identifying “the last days.” Future issues of The Watchtower will discuss in detail other aspects of Paul’s words at 2 Timothy 3:1-5. But one thing is certain: Reports about children rebelling against parental authority and a decline in natural affection, as Paul foretold, are widespread enough to constitute part of the clear evidence that we are living in “the last days” of this system of things.

Indeed, we are living in “critical times hard to deal with.” However, these “critical times” need not mar your family happiness. Jehovah God has provided practical guidelines in the Bible, which if followed will make for a happy, successful family life even now. More than that, if you closely follow those instructions, yours may be counted among the happy families that will enjoy life forever in a righteous new order of God’s making, now near at hand.​—2 Peter 3:13; Proverbs 3:13-18.