A caller to the National Conversation last Saturday rocked my world. We were discussing the powerful and negative impact that the popular culture (rap music, specifically) is having on the nation’s youth. During the show, the caller, a father of two teen girls, called in to say that he agreed with me about the music, but he had basically given up. He was fighting an uphill battle, he said, and in his mind the war was lost. They (his daughters) knew that he disapproved of their choice of music and the posters that they hung on their walls, but they were free to do as they pleased.

Free to do, as they please...No!

As some of you know, I’ve got a little girl. She is the baby of three kids and the only girl I have. That’s right, I said “have”; she is mine. My child. My girl. I own her.

She is not free to do as she pleases.

Not now, not ten years form now, not until the day that she leaves my house as a married woman, will she be “free” of me.

Do you know what that means? That means that I have a say in what she wears, eats, plays with, watches, listens to and sings along with. Every aspect of her life is and will be controlled by me. If I don’t like it, it doesn’t happen. If I don’t desire it, it will not be done. If I don’t choose him, he will not be chosen.

I am her father.

Feminism, girl power, women’s rights...They can’t replace the role of a father. They can’t bandage her up when she falls off her bike or give her a shoulder to cry on. I’m all for equal rights, but feminism has taken on a life totally separate from rights and equalities. Feminism in 2007 is false hope. It attempts to take away the significant roles of men – especially in the family – and it attempts to make fatherhood optional. Feminism might have served its purpose at one time, but today its philosophy is fraudulent. In the name of freedom, young women have been told that they need no father or husband or men in their lives. My daughter will not be sacrificed on the alter of freedom. No!

There’s another word for this brand of freedom: Failure. Failure to be secure in a relationship. Failure to feel protected. Failure to love. Failure to be loved.


But I can’t blame it all on feminism. The newest generation of so-called, quasi-fathers need to feel the heat, as well.

That poor caller to my show on Saturday accurately summed up the philosophy of modern day fatherhood. The real problem is not rebellious teenagers, but rebellious parents who want no part the family structure – a structure as old as time and endowed by our Creator.

God help him (and me), because – make no bones about it – this is a war for the heart, soul and mind of the future, and I have no intention whatsoever of losing.

My children are more than just a gift to me. They are my treasures. My God-given treasures that I will not offer up to philosophical fads. I will not let them be “free” to destroy themselves. I will not stand by and witness their destruction.

I am their father.

Now, let’s talk about dating...