On Jan. 30, 2025, I had the privilege of hearing Dr. Leonard Sax speak at the Divinum Auxilium Academy Family of Schools. The author of several books, including “The Collapse of Parenting” and “Boys Adrift,” Sax spoke for two hours on topics ranging from the effects of social media on girls, to the case for single-sex education in elementary and secondary schools, to the fallacies in today’s gentle parenting philosophy.
At one point, while speaking of the harm done to young men by violent video games, like “Call of Duty” or “Grand Theft Auto V,” Sax addressed the concept of moral inversion, where traditional morality is turned upside down. In “Grand Theft Auto,” for instance, players can win points by killing the police and recoup money paid to a prostitute by murdering her. I don’t play video games, but I investigated Sax’s claim and easily found a “Grand Theft Auto” instructional video on YouTube demonstrating how to stun and knife a prostitute to death, destroying all evidence by setting the corpse on fire.
Years ago, I heard a priest describe sin as “a good twisted inside out,” which is another form of moral inversion. Wine is a pleasure and a good until it is abused. Love for another is beautiful and good until it becomes lust for others. Money is a convenience and a good, a means of exchange and commerce, until it mutates into greed.
Moral inversion often arrives wrapped in an attractive package. Released in 1972, “The Godfather,” fascinated young men, including me, with its romanticized code of honor and its emphasis on loyalty to “the family.” Its seductive powers prevail until and unless viewers remember that the film’s models of virtue are perversions of real honor and the righteous meaning of family.
This phenomenon of moral inversion occurs everywhere in contemporary American culture, in our music, movies, books, politics and philosophies. One excellent example may be found in the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs that have infected so many of our institutions. Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights leaders envisioned a society where people are judged by their character, not by their skin color, but DEI constitutes a return to bigotry, a cattle-market judgment and categorization of human beings by their race, gender and class.
In the aftermath of his inauguration, Donald Trump and his administration launched an immediate counterattack against DEI in the federal government. Sensing a shift in the wind of culture, some corporations have followed suit by shutting down their DEI programs, measures which have stunted the growth of this pernicious and divisive ideology.
Because they’re institutionalized, however, DEI programs are much more easily dismantled than the other immoral philosophies and practices which are woven into what Sax several times called our “toxic American culture.” At the heart of that toxicity is relativism and its credo, “My truth is not your truth.” A culture embracing or even tolerating without shame that belief is in no position to teach morality and the ancient cardinal virtues of prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance to its children.
This lack of consensus and the subsequent moral confusion does deliver one clear message to our society at large: Parents must stand in the gap and promote integrity and good character by passing on those treasures to their children.
Near the end of “The Collapse of Parenting,” Sax wrote the same central message he delivered verbally to those listening to him the other night: “You must find the strength to be the first teacher of virtue for your child.”
Churches, coaches, mentors, teachers, extended family and friends: all can help children grow in virtue and avoid falling prey to our toxic culture. But mom and dad are the chief educators of their children. They are the ones who must set the guidelines on video games and social media, who must say “no” when their 16-year-old daughter wants to go with friends to a frat party at a local college, who must take the flak and remain strong when a child becomes angry and upset over their decisions.
“You have to have the courage to be the evil parent,” Sax said the other night, getting a chuckle from the audience with his “evil parent” comment. “You have to have the courage to do the right thing.”
If children are to become responsible, virtuous adults, Sax told his audience, then it’s the parents’ primary task to help form them with that end in mind. “Your job is to be a parent,” he said. In “The Collapse of Parenting,” he adds these remarks:
If you are doing your job as a parent, sometimes you will have to do things which may upset your child. If you are concerned that your child won’t love you anymore, that concern may keep you from doing your job.
Do your job.
Jeff Minick is a father of four and grandfather to many. A former history, literature, and Latin teacher, Jeff now writes prolifically for The Epoch Times, American Essence Magazine, and several other publications.
This culture article was made possible by The Fred & Rheta Skelton Center for Cultural Renewal, a project of 1819 News. To comment on this article, please email culture@1819news.com. The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of 1819 News.
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