Hey, welcome back to Clean Cut, where we can talk about the truth about just about anything, as long as we use logic in common sense. This season we're addressing the parts of the Old Law which remain valid and grave today, the Ten Commandments. So far we've talked about the first three commandments and now it's time to tackle the fourth, honoring your father and mother. We've talked about how God governs people by setting certain individuals and authority over others, and about the meaning and structure of the family and the obligations that children have towards their parents. Now it's time to talk about the other side of that equation, the obligations that parents have towards their children. To start with, parents have an obligation to educate their children not just scholastically but also morally and spiritually. This obligation comes from the right of parents to educate their children which we outlined in episode 23. Every right you have comes with its own obligations and this is just one example of that. Parents are obligated to respect their children's rights, treating them as children of God. As far as it's within their capabilities, parents should try to create a virtuous atmosphere in the home, to practice virtue themselves and so teach those virtues to their children. Parents have a grave obligation to provide a good example for their children, and this can sometimes even involve knowing how to admit your failings to your children. It involves learning genuine responsibility and learning how to avoid compromising or degrading influences. Education of children should involve teaching them how to pray, discover what God wants of them, and how to grow in their relationship with God through careful study of the truths of the faith, as well as discussing them with others. Children and parents should be generous in their willingness to forgive one another. Parents should be respectful and devoted to their children. They should be allowed to choose a school for them which corresponds to their own convictions and beliefs. Finally, when a child reaches adulthood, the parent shouldn't try to force them to choose the job that the parent wants them to choose or to marry who the parent wants. Those kinds of things aren't in the parent's authority. That's a lot of obligations, but really it all follows from the human rights that we outlined in episode 23 again. Respectfulness and virtue should really be shown in some capacity to everyone. We should do our best to set a good example for others at all times. We need the strength to admit when we're wrong and the humility to recognize the limits of our authority. As for the rest of the obligations, to teach children various things, including things about the faith, all of this falls under the human right to truthful information. Why shouldn't children get ahead starting that if we can provide it? Finally, these rules, which apply to the relationship between parents and children, also apply to government authorities and their citizens. Just watch the last three episodes over again replacing parent with civil leader and child with citizen, and you'll get the basic idea of what's expected. After all, society really isn't anything more than just a large collection of families. That's it for the fourth commandment. Next week, what does it mean when we say, thou shalt not kill? That's all for now, so keep asking questions, and thanks for watching.