Fathers Are Key For a Stable Society
It made me very happy and proud to read the official statement of The Duck Dynasty (Robertson) Family defending their Patriarch and Father. I cannot imagine allowing anyone to treat my own father in such a manner and not taking offense to it. I was especially pleased by their profession of faith. Their family has been elevated to an extremely popular public role by God, in order to be a representative of His teaching.
The entire Robertson family is a rallying banner in our fight against secularism and the dissolution of the traditional family. We, as a country and as individuals, have to stand up for what we believe. We have a Judeo Christian background that has served the United States for 200 plus years.
As an accountant, I have had the occasion to write many checks of garnishment for child support. In one instance, we had a young man of 21 or 22 years old. He already had 5 children, 4 by “baby Mamas,” and one in wedlock.
Why has the role of Father, Dad, Patriarch been downgraded to little more than sperm donor? Why are many of today’s men and fathers okay with this situation? An excellent saying is, “A gentleman makes commitments, a loser makes promises.” What makes a person walk away from his or her commitment to their own flesh and blood? Mothers are very important to the development of children, but fathers cannot be discounted.
My Dad has always been the rock of our family; I cannot count the times that I called him with a problem. I felt better just talking to him about it. He was always on my side. He backed me up. He has pulled my bacon out of the fire more times than he should have had to since the recession dissolved my assets. He retired from his engineering / pulp and paper technology career and helped me raise my daughter; “Pappy” is her rock as well.
Where I work, we have another example of a family Patriarch. My boss’ father-in-law is a CPA. He works tirelessly and supports all of the accounting staff with sage advice and know-how. The place would not be the same without him.
Many of the problems facing our society stem from the lack of a two parent home, poverty being the chief malady. Some would say that the panacea for this problem is marriage. The numbers show the difference when marriage in involved, but I think it is a larger social problem.
Optimally, two people who marry should be able to work together and sacrifice for the common good of the family. Even today, with as many resources for counseling and education about marriage, many are not instructed with one basic fact. Marriage is hard work. It is as more of a full time job than your 9 to 5, it is 24/7. If both parties–and I mean both–are not willing to put in a fair share, the marriage is doomed to fail. If you want to marry and mean it, you need to check the “I gotta be free, I gotta be me,” attitude at the church or courthouse door. Marriage is also a vow to physically love one person for your entire life, and nothing kills a marriage faster than the betrayal of an outside relationship.
If we are to raise a responsible caring society, it has to start in the home. Mothers and fathers, husband and wives, and multi-generations with grandparents and even extended family, all must be involved.
If one cannot commit 100% to the hard work, overlooking fault and overwhelming physical, mental and emotional commitment that marriage entails, just don’t get married. Everyone will be better off in the end.
