Things God Hates

Central Park, NYC.  Copyright 2012: singeronthesand

Here are six things God hates,

and one more that He loathes with a passion:

Eyes that are arrogant

A tongue that lies,

Hands that murder the innocent,

A heart that hatches evil plots,

Feet that race down a wicked track,

A mouth that lies under oath,

A troublemaker in the family.

Proverbs 6:16-19

As laundry lists go, this one ranks right up there on the undesirable quotient.  Just reading through this roll call of character gives me the shivers.  Have you ever noticed that when someone has one of these traits, they often have several of the others as well?  Of greater interest to me is the fact that the one that seems least objectionable - a troublemaker in the family - is set apart from the other six as something God especially "...loathes with a passion. The original language is "an abomination." Why?

I have puzzled over this during the morning, and have come up with only one thought:  Corrupted families is where corrupted people come from.  Yes, there are influences from mental and physical illness and genetic makeup, but a child's character is formed in the very early years within the family (or lack thereof).  An individual who creates havoc and trouble within the family affects far more than just themselves.  The very foundation of a person's life can be permanently altered by deceit, all forms of abuse, lack of affection, fear, violence, etc.  

This week a cell phone video was posted on Youtube of an 88-year-old school bus aide being bullied by the students on her bus.  In what was termed "nasty behavior," kids jeered, mocked, cursed, poked, and verbally abused the woman, targeting her age, her weight, her looks, and her family.  The kids accused her of wanting to rape children, asked if she had an STD, joked about stabbing her, urinating and defecating on her home as well as attacking her family.  They taunted that she was so ugly, her family should kill themselves, a comment that finally reduced her to tears (10 years ago, she had a son who committed suicide).  Obviously there were both leaders and followers in this gang of kids, but as I read this story, I wondered:  what kind of families produced the ringleaders of this attack?  How is it possible that 12-, 13- and 14-year-old kids can be so cruel to a senior citizen?

What will the parents do when confronted with their child's behavior?  Will they step up to the plate and make their kids take responsibility for their actions?  Or will they defend their children's right to "speak their mind" and empower their kids to continue to walk down the wrong path.