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Jan. 11, 2005 Family; a group of individuals that share some of the same genetic markers and/or people who choose to live life together as a group. Families laugh, love, cry and fight with each other all the time. Families have dysfunctions, like alcoholism, any kind of abuse and greed. Family is the core of any society. A family is a unit where children first learn values. Children are taught values by what they are told and what they see. A parent cannot say "Do as I do, not as a say," but many parents do. Values are taught through logical thought and most of the time based in a religious context. Parents are the ones with the responsibility to make sure a child can function in the world, when that child becomes an adult. A parent is responsible to teach the child values of the society. I'm talking about family today, because the political culture has been preaching about family values. How are the politicians paying attention to this important issue? I don't know because I need a definition. What are family values? In this culture today there are many forms of family. There are single parent families, traditional families (biological mother and father), blended families (step parents and step children), and adoptive families (including gay parenting). Do all of these families share the same values? Again I must ask, "What are family values?" One family could value a good education for their children, so that family saves their hard earned money to give the children that education. When another family might value self reliance, so that child would have to figure out how to pay its own way. There are families in between both of these who would like to pay for their children’s educations but are stuck in the working poor. There are other family values other than education. Again one family could value abstinence for a form of birth control, while another family would like their children to have the information. There are a lot more values than this, one family might value being left alone by extended family, while another family might enjoy all the benefits of visiting every member of the family. But who's to say which value the politicians must respect? My opinion is that the politicians should encourage values that don't take other peoples rights away. A politician should support legislation that stops abuse and sponsor legislation that protects every form of family. I know in many states this is not happening. One form of family is not protected, the right of a gay man or woman to have a family and/ become a family. This is an issues that many people have an opinion about, but lets think about it, how many young children are not being adopted in this country because most couples want babies? So what is really behind family values? Is it a new form of bigotry? A family comes together out of love and need for acceptance. The family is the first place a child learns this value of acceptance. If the child does not learn this the child will have a hard time accepting others. ------------ About the author: Being a full time writer is the hardest job that I have tried. I have written two books that are currently not published because the company that did publish them went out of business. I have written three childrens books and am currently in the process of finishing my third novel. Please write me with any thought that comes to mind about my columns or anything else, opinions are appreciated. Email Amanda Baker: amaycatbaker@yahoo.com Tell a friend about this site! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com and are not allowed to be posted on other websites. ARTICLE THIEVES WILL BE PROSECUTED! |
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