PASTORS SAY CRITICISM OF VALUES SHOWS SOCIETY'S DISDAIN FOR MORAL STANDARDS

Criticism of the Republican party's appeal for "traditional family values" in the presidential campaign is consistent with modern society's general disdain for moral standards of any kind.

That's the contention of some religious leaders in Cape Girardeau, who say too many people are missing the point of a call for traditional morality and family values.

The debate was sparked by Vice President Dan Quayle when he criticized the "media elite" for attempting to undermine traditional morality, as expressed by monogamy, marriage and two-parent families.

Quayle charged that the television program "Murphy Brown" glorified illegitimacy by having the main character give birth to a child out of wedlock rather than marry the supposed father.

Bill Burke, pastor of the First Church of the Nazarene in Cape Girardeau, said he thinks the debate is a legitimate one for the nation. He and his wife, Jean, have three children: Benjamin, 13, James, 7, and Suzanne, 2.

"I believe with all my heart that family values is a very important campaign issue," he said. "But I also think Quayle has been badly misquoted in the media, and therein lies the problem. They're not listening to what he's saying."

Burke said Quayle and other Republicans, who repeatedly played the family values theme during their convention last month, simply want to re-establish an ideal pattern for families.

He said Quayle has been wrongly criticized as aiming his attack at single mothers.

"He's saying that the ideal is a two-parent family," he said. "That's not to be judgmental, but it's simply to say, `This is the standard we should try to attain.'

"One of the hardest things for the church to do is hold up standards of morality and behavior without passing judgment on those who fall short."

Burke said it's fitting that national leaders should be concerned about the family, because it represents the cornerstone of society.

"The purpose of the elected official is to give us a good life," he said. "That's why they're there, to provide stability in society.

"This politician (Quayle) is standing there saying one of the greatest stabilizing factors in society is the family. I believe he has every right to make that assertion."

Robert Wright, pastor of the Vineyard Christian Fellowship in Cape Girardeau, said there's another aspect of the debate that concerns many people. He and his wife, Judy, have two daughters: Robin, 12, and Rachel, 10.

Wright thinks the reason Republicans have stressed family values in this election is to contrast their party with the more radical fringes namely, male-bashing feminists and gay-rights activists of the Democratic party.

But, he added, because of societal changes in the past 40 years, it's doubtful Americans will ever return to traditional families as they were thought of in the 1950s.

"Prior to the `60s, the role expectations among men and women were fixed," Wright said. "In the `60s, the roles became very fuzzy, and in the `70s, they became even more confused."

Today, there is a generation of young adults of whom too few have ever seen a model for a normal, two-parent home, Wright said.

Wright compared the furor over family values to the attention given in 1976 to then presidential candidate Jimmy Carter's profession that he was a "born-again Christian."

"The media needed to get theologians to explain what it was because they didn't know," he said. "Johnny Carson used to make jokes about it, and Carter was ridiculed for it. They made a big deal out of the issue, but I think it had very little to do with getting him elected."

As with that debate, some of the media now are trying to define family values, while others are critical of the debate. Wright said the issue is a valid one if it motivates citizens to examine their values.

"If it gets people to look at nothing other than the nuclear family versus the fragmented family and say which is better for society, than I think it's positive," he said. "I think even single parents want a traditional family."

But what are "traditional family values," and will politicians' attempts to include it as a campaign issue help preserve them?

Burke, like Wright, thinks it's a matter of getting people to examine their lives and realign their priorities. And he believes that's what Quayle and others are attempting to inspire.

"I think they're trying to address the importance of two-parent families, and stress the importance of moral values," he said. "I think traditional family values means stability the home being a place of refuge.

"Ideally, family values means to have one parent there all the time. I think common sense will tell you that's better. The time a mother spends with her kids is really important."

Wright said one of the difficult and frustrating aspects of the family values debate is society's reluctance to criticize behavior that leads to the breakdown of the family. He said the attitude is nearly as prevalent in the church as outside it.

Wright said the church not only should serve as a refuge for families, but also as a standard bearer for moral absolutes.

"It's time for the church to stand up and say, `It's time to stop sinning. There are absolutes, and when they're broken, it affects all of society,'" Wright said. "The church is no longer proclaiming absolutes.

"The overall problem we see is that you never hear sin mentioned. But what does the Bible say about many of these situations? It says, `Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people.'

"It's no longer a disgrace to sin in America. I have never believed that we can really legislate morality, but how far are we going to go to legalize and sanction sin?"

Burke said it's important for church leaders to minister to single-parent families, while preserving the moral standard of two-parent families. His church soon will begin such a program, which will address such issues as divorce recovery and money management.

"We don't want to pass judgment on them," he said. "They're wonderful people and they're facing tough times. It's not that they're totally lost or without hope, it's just that it's not as good."