dards of adults? Is the attitude
of children towards sexual matters a direct reflection of the thoughts
and conduct of their elders? To borrow the words of a Jewish proverb
"the apple never falls far from the tree". It has been firmly urged upon
the Committee that there has been a "breakdown of the moral order and
moral standards". That may be putting the matter too strongly, but there
can be no denying the fact that the sanctions of morality today are not
as strong as they were, say, forty or fifty years ago.

=(3) The Sanctions of Religion and Morality in Family Life=

Up till early in this century the chief sanctions operating in society
were those dictated either by religion or by wisdom and past experience,
i.e., religious sanctions and moral sanctions. The standard of religious
morality is that which is prescribed in the Bible, interpreted perhaps
in different ways by different denominations at different times. The
standard of conventional morality is that which has been handed down
from generation to generation. There have at times been differences
between the religious standard and the conventional standard. For
instance, the Church has always reprobated adultery, but even as late as
the nineteenth century society accepted, without very much concern, the
conduct of a man who had both a legal wife and a mistress. Despite those
occasional differences between the religious standard and the
conventional standard, our system of morals has been based on the
standards of Christianity.

=(4) The Moral Drift=

During last century it was strongly urged by some scientists that a
religion based on faith was untenable. Man, it was contended, should
accept only what could be proved by reasoning from observed facts. Once
again there emerged, particularly in scientific and literary circles,
the belief that there could be a code of morals entirely devoid of
religious content.

This intellectual standpoint helped to undermine the authority of the
churches. The views of the scientists were not the cause of, but
undoubtedly did accelerate, the drift from organized religion.

There is evidence of the effects of beliefs developed during the present
century in another field of learning, that of psychology. On the one
hand, it is held that there was in former days suppression of the
natural development of human personality and, on the other, that a great
deal of misery has been caused by feelings of guilt. Ill health, even
m