5-15-17<\/p>\n
One of the pathologies of contemporary life \u2013 a sure sign of the culture of death that has subsumed Western civilization \u2013 is the assault on motherhood.<\/p>\n
Feminism was a harbinger that was perverted; \u201cwomen\u2019s liberation\u201d was a movement birthed in economic justice that has, currently, extended to a futile but aggressive war on biological imperatives. Now we are awash in euphemisms like \u201cgender identity\u201d that would turn upside-down simple assumptions of all cultures from all lands and all ages. <\/p>\n
But we in the 21st-century West know better. If boys somehow wish they were girls, we should yield to their fantasies. If women desire to be fathers, we change laws to re-define families. The prerogatives and standards of parents, and the sensibilities of the children they raise, are denied in order to accommodate statistically infinitesimal numbers of biological or emotional outliers. <\/p>\n
Majoritarian traditionalists and Christians are sanctioned and stifled, yet the New Wave of moral nihilists \u2013 those who hate the natural and the immemorial \u2013 compose lists of proscriptions and Hate items of thought, attitudes, and speech.<\/p>\n
These comments are not choleric, but are laments occasioned by Mother\u2019s Day. Our thoughts should go to the institution of Motherhood, as much as to our own mothers. Theodore Roosevelt once said that \u201cEquality of right does not mean equality of function.\u201d He was the first major politician in America to be an advocate of women\u2019s right to vote \u2013 even when his wife herself dissented \u2013 yet he revered the institution of motherhood: the role of women in the scheme of life. Toward women and mothers he was almost worshipful, regarding their work and responsibilities as more difficult, and perhaps more valuable, than men\u2019s.<\/p>\n
\u201cEquality of function\u201d to him did not imply mere functionality, but addressing roles \u2013 where life finds us; where we confront life; where we assess God\u2019s will for our lives \u2013 and doing our work honorably.<\/p>\n
The humorist Jean Shepherd (possibly the first time he will be paired with Theodore Roosevelt in any essay) devoted a lot of his radio monologues in the 1960s when I was a young addict of his wit and wisdom, to what he called the \u201cGreat Role Reversal.\u201d He made many observations, frequently inspired by news items. Minor, everyday occurrences seemed, as often the case in the world of Popular Culture, more dispositive than academic papers and scholarly statistics.<\/p>\n
Shep milked chuckles from the effluvia of such reports\u2026 but mainly he ruminated on the enormous cultural shift underway in the US. Indeed, the trickle became a tsunami. The nuclear family is under attack. Traditional gender roles are ridiculed. Legal reshuffling for cohabitants is insufficient; the dictionary must contort itself to re-define \u201cfamily\u201d and \u201cmother.\u201d Male predators must be allowed to enter girl\u2019s rooms. New genders, and names for them, are being invented by the dozens.<\/p>\n
I never have had the privilege of being a mother. As closely bound as I was to fathering, fatherhood, being present at the births, then nurturing and rearing my children\u2026 I am aware it all is a far-distant second. The special relationship of mother and child, among all species, in fact, is a unique and precious blessing. <\/p>\n
A birthright, in fact.<\/p>\n
For all the good feelings engendered by Mother\u2019s Day, I reserve a portion of contempt for those creatures who denigrate the institution of Motherhood; who deny the privilege \u2013 to others, not only for themselves \u2013 of sanctifying the foundation of the family; for hating what we love. <\/p>\n
I reserve a portion of pity, too. I must. What I call the Culture of Death extends beyond the trashing of motherhood and women\u2019s traditional roles. Biologically, homosexuals cannot naturally procreate (pro-create). Abortion fanatics crusade for death \u2013 disguising their advocacy as convenience for the mothers. And so on. They are to be pitied, and prayed for. <\/p>\n
In the meantime, my Mother\u2019s Day is filled with memories of the Mom I knew. I loved her, and love her. She was an example whose nurture appears stronger through the years: seeds, planted, and growing in my life. A servant\u2019s heart, making silent and willing sacrifices. Was she perfect? Smoking and drinking were regrettable but did not affect her salvation. Big deal. We prayed for Jesus to turn the wine back into water. Of vital importance is that she knew Jesus, was active in churches, and related almost every question I ever had to the gospel. <\/p>\n
A preacher in aprons. A saint in curlers. An invariable Forgiver.<\/p>\n
I believe God created Woman not only as a helpmeet to Adam, but as an Assistant to Himself. As Mothers, to show unconditional love; to bond in unique ways with their children; to bear the essence of comfort, understanding, acceptance.<\/p>\n
I admired my Dad, oh yes; I still finish every project wondering if he would approve; to be a good professional. But Mom? If I can be as good a man as she was a mother, I will die grateful and content.<\/p>\n
There are some women who, by circumstance or infirmity, sadly cannot become mothers. Most women whom I have met from those groups have hearts even more tender for families and for children. <\/p>\n
However, sorry to tell all of you radical harridans who hate, you have disinvited yourselves from family reunions \u2013 not at ballparks on summer afternoons, or Grandma\u2019s house on Winter evenings \u2013 but from that mystical, privileged, and sacred Family that truly is a gift of God. <\/p>\n
+ + + <\/p>\n
Does this essay seem to dwell on old-fashioned things? I plead guilty! There are too many old fashions that we are losing. Here is one: a tender lullaby, a mother\u2019s song, written by Stephen Foster 150 years ago. Sung by Alison Kraus.<\/p>\n