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Nations are built around certain values that have been handed down generations and are now a part of the identity of a people.
Values are the glue that holds communities together, setting the moral compass. However, it is quite important to note that these other larger institutional structures are built on a foundation which is family.
It is this institution that appears to be under sustained attack and once it is destroyed then woe unto communities, and ultimately unto nations.
In our previous edition we carried a story of an incestuous relationship whereby the parties involved, instead of being ashamed of their abomination, took delight in their actions and even went further to make cheeky vows that they would walk down the aisle to solemnise a relationship that their family and the community has frowned upon. That the young man chose to inherit his father’s younger brother’s wife is quite baffling and unheard of in many cultures.
As the traditional leaders pointed out, the woman was virtually the young man’s mother and there was no way the relationship could be blessed.
It then brings into question the values that we inculcate in our children as they grow, and how much we value family relations and maintain ties that not only reinforce our connectedness but clearly spell out boundaries between members of a family.
We have seen recent Press reports of a man courting his married daughter and expressing his love for her and other stories that show all manner of awkward relationships, all pointing to serious deficiencies in the upholding of our cultural values, which brings shame ultimately to a nation.
In the olden days, such people that brought shame to a family were banished to other far away areas. There is also a spiritual side to the equation.
When relatives get involved in inadmissible relationships it breeds curses that run down the blood line. For instance, how do the offspring of the incestuous couple relate to other family members, how do they refer to them?
How does the offspring of a nephew and aunt refer to the aunt’s other children and their father’s own father? It is partly due to this headache that the father of the offending young man, who has impregnated her aunt, has decided to disown him to save himself from such difficulty.
As families we have a big role to play in making sure that we raise respectful individuals that will not only carry the family name, but carry it in a noble manner.
Elsewhere in this edition we carry a story of a daughter that reportedly accused her mother of infecting her father with a sexually transmitted disease and even called her a prostitute and a witch.
It is easy to dismiss such cases as a few rotten apples but if we do not show our deep revulsion, we may open up flood gates for a Sodom and Gomorrah generation. May God forbid that.
Online Reporter