brief respite from my mini series of posts

A fistful of thoughts that I know are somehow related, I just got to find a way to tie them all together.

I'll start with Thanksgiving. I hope everyone has someplace to go. Definitely a holiday that the whole family should enjoy together. Unfortunately for a variety of reasons many people don't get to enjoy the family aspect of the holiday or even the holiday itself. And to me some of the reasons are symptoms of some of the problems facing our country.

First though lets thank the fire fighters, police, paramedics, nurses, doctors, hospital staff, traffic controllers, military, and anyone else giving up the day so we can be safe. It is a shame that we need to have a bare minimum of people who make the sacrifice for us. So thank you to those whose job is a necessity so the rest of us are protected and safe.

Now there is the next tier of workers who have to give up the day and cannot spend the day with their families so our lives are convenient or for us to indulge. This is where I wish we could prioritize what is important and let as many people as possible spend valuable time with their loved ones. And since Thanksgiving isn't born directly as any religious holiday it could be a day we agree to make special. Yet more and more nowadays family is a second or third thought in our society.

We need to revisit our priorities in our country. And in doing so we run into many problems, but two I want to discuss are Christian fundamentalists and liberals who politically discount the concept of family values. Of course there is corporate greed that is eroding families in our country, but not the immediate discussion I want to address.


It seems Christian fundamentalists don't realize you can't legislate morality. Morality is better served through education and by living the example. My better half says not to emulate other Christians, but to emulate Christ. Well she believes this, I don't know who originally said this, yet very true and sometimes there is a difference between some Christians and Christ. My point though is we need to restrengthen the family in our society. We are losing a great institution and with strong families with healthy values these can carry forward from generation to generation. The Christian fundamentalists tout this value, but utterly fail in getting our society to truly understand what this means.

Liberals for whatever reasons seem to think that family values aren't important or are some quaint part of our history. I don't know if it is because it is anathema to so called liberalism or they just want to oppose the groups that politically support familt values or what, but you have to wonder why. Many liberals tout they are more educated than Christian fundamentalists. The desire for a good education many times comes from a strong family background. Yet you don't see the Democrats or the elitist liberals even begin to stress the importance of family in their politics or platforms. I have never heard a good argument that supports a good family isn't beneficial to children and society, but liberals treat the topic like it has leprosy or AIDS. Why?

And the family value debate is just another part of the ongoing Republican disconnect with our country. They always put it in their national platform someway, but when it comes to really trying to strengthen our families they completely support programs or turn a blind eye to elements of our society that help erode the family. One example is the Republicans fighting against immigration reform. Two large immigrant groups hispanics and Asians have strong family ties. Next time you are in the mall or someplac similar compare the number of families vs groups or individuals shopping. More often than not you will see full families of Asians or Hispanics out together. Much more than white or African Americans. If you truly believe in family values you might want to get them involved in the process and support of those values.

I know I haven't gotten into what the actual problems are because of the decline of the family in our country. Maybe a post solely dedicated to that should be done. For now though the thought is part of my fistful of thoughts mentioned above. I am frustrated with the decline of Thanksgiving and the values it represents. We need days like this to rejuvenate our families, to bring them together to create lasting memories for our children and for us as we get older. Plus there is so much more to us as a nation when we gather and share thankfulness for what we have.


As a small part to bringing family values back I ask one favor, do not go shopping on Thursday. And this includes grocery shopping, gas purchasing etc. Please don't feed the corporate mentality that one days worth of sales are more important than us as humans. Take off for the day and enjoy a day at home with everyone. If you want to go shopping, by all means go, take the whole family and go on Friday.

Overall plan ahead so you can settle in and have a great Thanksgiving.