Giving Big Decisions to Unwise Brains

At about the age of 12, riding my bicycle home from swim practice on a hot summer day, a car ran a stop sign and plowed smack into my bike.  My body took flight, crashing onto the concrete road.  The bike was crushed.  Although shaken up, I somehow escaped just slightly scratched, and a bit bruised.  The nice lady who hit me made sure I was fine and was ready to send me packing, dragging my busted bike in tow.  That was okay by me, as getting home to safety was the only thought popping into my frightened and impulsive little head.

But another nice lady appeared out of nowhere also asking if I was okay and insisting we had to call the police.  She lobbied on my behalf.  She defended me.  She rallied for me.  The woman who hit me was saying I should be allowed to simply walk home, as that is what I said I wanted to do.  With kindness, compassion and dignity my defender stood her ground, held her head high, pointed her finger straight at me and spoke a heartfelt: “But she is only a child!”

What was communicated in that statement was that it was unreasonable to expect me to know how to handle myself in this situation, how to call the police or take the lady’s name, address and phone number and make sure that the bike was repaired or replaced by this person, nice though she was, who hit me.  This second nice lady made sure I wrote this information down, and firmly directed me: tell your parents as soon as you get home.  As a result, my busted bike was replaced and I got a shiny new one at the Schwinn shop in town. I lacked the wisdom to obtain this on my behalf; I lacked the experience, and, as it turns out, I lacked the fully-developed brain.

Recent studies in brain research are showing that aging brains are likely wiser brains.  According to Lynn Hasher, psychology professor at the University of Toronto, older adults are “suddenly better problem solvers.  They can transfer the information they’ve soaked up from one situation to another…  A broad attention span may enable older adults to ultimately know more about a situation and the indirect message of what’s going on than their younger peers…  We believe that this characteristic may play a significant role in why we think of older people as wiser.”

While older brains may be wiser, studies on the teenage brain show it to be impulsive and not fully developed in the areas of reasoning and judgment.  This is why young people need protection by older, wiser folks from making foolish decisions, which can have disastrous consequences.  It’s why children need protection from impure temptations, immodest dance and dress, alcohol use, drugs and most especially… from abortions.

One problem with pro-abortion folks wanting to give the abortion “choice” to children is that they want to give this “choice” to brains ill-equipped to “choose” with wisdom.  To give a child this “choice” is to give a big decision to an unwise brain.  Consequently, as they age and grow in wisdom, multitudes of girls will eventually grow to regret their abortion decision, and grieve for the child they “chose” to abort.

What is wisdom?   Wisdom starts with God, and helps guide our actions in a way that pleases Him.  The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, Proverbs 9:10 tells us.  Wisdom is what teaches us to live with virtue.  Scripture says that wisdom teaches “moderation and prudence, justice and fortitude…” (Wis 8:7).  Wisdom doesn’t fail us.  It is an unfailing treasure. (Wis. 7:14)  Wisdom reflects God’s power.  It is a spotless mirror of the power of God (Wis. 7:26) .

Just as people can grow in wisdom, so too can cultures.  A wise culture practices moderation and prudence.  Wise cultures avoid exposing children to morally dangerous situations.  They shield children from provocative images, sex “education” which lures them into promiscuity, and immodest dress and dance.

The wise culture protects children from pornography.  To do otherwise is to expose their still unwise brains to more than they can reasonably handle.  It is to thrust children into a stormy sea, before they’ve learned to swim.  It’s a sea where many of them are drowning or have already drowned.  It’s a thievery of sorts.  America’s children are routinely robbed of the God-given right to be children.

Children need wise guidance to do what is right and good, and avoid sin.  That’s why they need parents.  Sin, dressed in its fancy garb, can appear especially tempting to the young.  But the wise man knows the truth, as the book of Wisdom warns, that ultimately a man is punished by the very things through which he sins (Wis. 12:16).

America must rid sin from its schools.  Parents and political leaders must stop Planned Parenthood — a company with a vested financial interest in promoting promiscuity — from entering schools to indoctrinate vulnerable children with still unwise brains  into sexual activity.  Planned Parenthood has damaged children long enough, and now needs to go.  And teachings on the Ten Commandments should return.

If children can’t be taught in schools that stealing, lying, cursing, coveting, adultery, and ignoring God are wrong, then there should be no surprise when America itself grows into a stealing, lying, cursing, covetous and adulterous country of heathens.   America’s children are America’s future.  If America is to protect and defend its future, she must first understand the wisdom in protecting and defending her children.  For this, she needs Godly leaders at her helm.

We need leaders who will lobby for children, who will defend laws which protect all children—both those in the world, and those in the womb.  We need wise leaders who will stand firm, like my defender did when my bike was hit, reminding all of us that they are only children!

Children are not the only ones with unwise brains.  Political leaders who shun God can develop unwise brains as well — a sort of spiritual imbecility.  This type of unwise brain embraces arrogance and pride over virtue and humility. With no moral map to guide them, leaders with unwise brains may enact unjust laws.  They may make big decisions which pull us away from God, rather than draw us nearer to Him.  When leaders with unwise brains make big decisions for teens with unwise brains, we have the blind leading the blind, and both will likely fall into a pit. (Matthew 5:14)

What are we to do?  We must hate what is evil, hold on to what is good… be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord… rejoice in hope, endure in affliction and persevere in prayer (Matt. 12:9-12). We must pray that we and our children will be blessed with wisdom and with a purity not just of heart, mind, soul and body but also a purity of faith. We must pray for our current leaders and beg God to bless us with the wise and Godly leaders for whom we so long.  We must pray the Rosary, and ask Our Lady to help us.

If America is to thrive in the future, America’s children must thrive in the present.  If America’s children are to thrive in the present, America must again become a morally safe and stable country.  This country will only become a morally safe and stable one when we elect Godly leaders capable of guiding us to a harbor of such safety and stability.   It’s true that God has never left America.  But it will take prudent and Godly leaders, with wise brains, to bring America back to God.

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