Sunday, July 31, 2005
News that hit me as a dad
By Russell King
At least he's doing something Former U.S. President Bill Clinton pledged to help Kenya to expand HIV/AIDS care and treatment, particularly for children and people living in rural areas that traditionally receive the least services in poor countries. Clinton said his foundation has received grants worth $1.5 million to help train medical workers for deployment in rural areas in this East African nation.
In the span of time during which the London bombs were detonated, about 1,140 children in Africa died of causes related to their extreme poverty. I am not trying to set up some kind of competition over who had it the worst that day. I simply want to make sure that we don't allow the sick murderers who planned the London bombings to add distracting the world from an urgent and righteous cause to their already long list of crimes against humanity.
Where do we put our money? Last week, Mark Kennedy’s (R-Minn) supporters were "able" to pay $4,200 to have their picture taken with Vice President Dick Cheney at a fundraiser for Kennedy’s Senate campaign. Here are a just few better ideas for how to spend $4,200 in Minnesota: Immunize 420 Minnesota children. This summer, you could spend $4,200 to provide 420 Hennepin County uninsured children with immunization shots. Pay a teacher’s salary for a month. With $4,200, you could pay a Minnesota school teacher’s salary for more than one full month. Buy 2400 school lunches. With $4,200, you could buy school lunches for 2,400 Minnesota schoolchildren.
Using starving children to make a buck? Over the July 4 weekend, ABC showed a two hour highlight show from the Live 8 concerts around the world. They also showed commercials. In fact, they showed so many commercials that they often couldn't get through an entire song before heading to another break. Now, I know that ABC is in the money making business, so let's table the idea of providing viewers with a sponsor free evening of programming. But what would possess advertisers to allow their brands to be used to sell products in between scenes of starving and sick kids in Africa? As if mere advertising were not bad enough, one of the ads was for Trimspa!
Major Bob Bateman, an American dad stationed in Iraq, wrote this: "My love spent the weekend with her great friend Aurelie, who was visiting our home for a few days. She sounds very happy. In three weeks I will see her again. Not long after that, I will see my daughters, and I will read the new Harry Potter aloud to the youngest, Connor. I am very happy when I think about that." It hits me in the gut no matter how many times I read it.
Too stupid to warrant comment Get a load of this new rule made recently by the Texas Music Educators Association: according to the Los Angeles Times, "Boys cannot audition for soprano or alto roles in that state's All-State Choir. Girls cannot audition for tenor or bass. No matter where their talents lie." That's right, girly men! If your natural singing voice is too high for Texas, you can just shut up -- despite the fact that, as the Times points out, "countertenors [the male equivalent of soprano] ... are a widely respected part of classical music and tradition." So what's next? A rule requiring Texas males to drive pick-up trucks? A rule requiring them to walk around with their thumbs tucked in their jeans pockets, farting loudly and proclaiming "better out than in?"
Who will protect the unborn from the captains of industry? The Washington Post reported that unborn babies in the United States are soaking in a stew of chemicals, including mercury, gasoline byproducts and pesticides. The article was based on a report by the Environmental Working Group, which, after studying umbilical cord blood samples, found an average of 287 fetal contaminants. Rep. Louise Slaughter said, "If ever we had proof that our nation's pollution laws aren't working, it's reading the list of industrial chemicals in the bodies of babies who have not yet lived outside the womb."
By Russell King
No original reporting or writing claimed here: just bits of news worth noting as a dad
Children are dying as I write this. Information and pictures can be found here http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4717907.stm and here http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/4700173.stm. Tell your readers to contact everyone they know and get the word out. Here are some organizations that are on the ground now and could use more assistance: World Food Programme http://www.wfp.org/index.html Oxfam http://www.oxfam.org/eng/ Red Cross http://www.redcross.org/ Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) http://www.msf.org/
At least 9 million U.S. children, or about 12 percent, lack health insurance, based on a federal survey in 2003. Researchers who produced the latest study say that number is likely higher because many kids who lack health insurance during part of their childhood aren’t included in that number, here. We have to ask: What are we spending on instead?At least he's doing something Former U.S. President Bill Clinton pledged to help Kenya to expand HIV/AIDS care and treatment, particularly for children and people living in rural areas that traditionally receive the least services in poor countries. Clinton said his foundation has received grants worth $1.5 million to help train medical workers for deployment in rural areas in this East African nation.
In the span of time during which the London bombs were detonated, about 1,140 children in Africa died of causes related to their extreme poverty. I am not trying to set up some kind of competition over who had it the worst that day. I simply want to make sure that we don't allow the sick murderers who planned the London bombings to add distracting the world from an urgent and righteous cause to their already long list of crimes against humanity.
Where do we put our money? Last week, Mark Kennedy’s (R-Minn) supporters were "able" to pay $4,200 to have their picture taken with Vice President Dick Cheney at a fundraiser for Kennedy’s Senate campaign. Here are a just few better ideas for how to spend $4,200 in Minnesota: Immunize 420 Minnesota children. This summer, you could spend $4,200 to provide 420 Hennepin County uninsured children with immunization shots. Pay a teacher’s salary for a month. With $4,200, you could pay a Minnesota school teacher’s salary for more than one full month. Buy 2400 school lunches. With $4,200, you could buy school lunches for 2,400 Minnesota schoolchildren.
Using starving children to make a buck? Over the July 4 weekend, ABC showed a two hour highlight show from the Live 8 concerts around the world. They also showed commercials. In fact, they showed so many commercials that they often couldn't get through an entire song before heading to another break. Now, I know that ABC is in the money making business, so let's table the idea of providing viewers with a sponsor free evening of programming. But what would possess advertisers to allow their brands to be used to sell products in between scenes of starving and sick kids in Africa? As if mere advertising were not bad enough, one of the ads was for Trimspa!
Major Bob Bateman, an American dad stationed in Iraq, wrote this: "My love spent the weekend with her great friend Aurelie, who was visiting our home for a few days. She sounds very happy. In three weeks I will see her again. Not long after that, I will see my daughters, and I will read the new Harry Potter aloud to the youngest, Connor. I am very happy when I think about that." It hits me in the gut no matter how many times I read it.
Too stupid to warrant comment Get a load of this new rule made recently by the Texas Music Educators Association: according to the Los Angeles Times, "Boys cannot audition for soprano or alto roles in that state's All-State Choir. Girls cannot audition for tenor or bass. No matter where their talents lie." That's right, girly men! If your natural singing voice is too high for Texas, you can just shut up -- despite the fact that, as the Times points out, "countertenors [the male equivalent of soprano] ... are a widely respected part of classical music and tradition." So what's next? A rule requiring Texas males to drive pick-up trucks? A rule requiring them to walk around with their thumbs tucked in their jeans pockets, farting loudly and proclaiming "better out than in?"
Who will protect the unborn from the captains of industry? The Washington Post reported that unborn babies in the United States are soaking in a stew of chemicals, including mercury, gasoline byproducts and pesticides. The article was based on a report by the Environmental Working Group, which, after studying umbilical cord blood samples, found an average of 287 fetal contaminants. Rep. Louise Slaughter said, "If ever we had proof that our nation's pollution laws aren't working, it's reading the list of industrial chemicals in the bodies of babies who have not yet lived outside the womb."
Tuesday, July 26, 2005
Harry Potter and the demons of dogma
By Russell King
With the arrival this past week of the latest Harry Potter novel, the now too familiar discussion of its "evils" has been revived. As an American dad, I decided I’d better check into it. Here’s what I found out.
Several groups and individuals, calling themselves "Christian," have branded the Harry Potter books as satanic and gateways to witchcraft because of their magical milieu. As silly as that sounds, it’s not just the silliness of poor biblical scholarship or pre-scientific thought: They have a non-religious agenda to push and attacking Harry Potter is part of it.
First, the silliness. The lightening bolt on Harry’s forehead? It’s a "satanic S." Or, if you like, it’s half of the SS symbol of elite Nazis. Maybe we see whatever we want to see in symbols. Maybe they’re a mirror of our own minds.
Second, the poor scholarship. The anti-Potter crowd cites Deuteronomy, which prohibits being a fortune teller, soothsayer, a sorcerer, a priest who interprets omens seen in bird activities, one who casts spells, one who consults with ghosts and spirits, or one who seeks oracles from the dead. It also prohibits making your children "pass through fire." They read this 2,500-year-old text literally to arrive at their alarms about Harry, and they do the scripture a disservice.
A large part of what makes this text relevant is that it does not permit itself to be read passively or literally. Interpretation is directly and indirectly a theme of Deuteronomy. The authors of the book interpret earlier narratives and laws, preserve mutually exclusive positions in ancient debates about basic religious assumptions, and force the reader to become, like themselves, deeply engaged interpreters. The anti-Potter crowd either does not know this (poor scholarship) or is hiding this (dishonesty).
I’m not sure which is at play when the crusaders say Harry will lead children to witchcraft. "Harry Potter's world may be fictional," wrote one, "but the timeless pagan practices it promotes are real and deadly." It’s 2005 and there are grownups who still believe in witches? Oh, please.
Our children must, they warn, choose between Harry and God – or be so brainwashed that they won’t even get to make the choice. "This inner change is usually unconscious, for the occult lessons and impressions tend to bypass rational scrutiny." (I suspect they miss the irony.)
And once they’re sucked in by Harry, things get ugly: "Harry Potter books ... familiarize children with a very real and increasingly popular religion" that has been show to bring about God's consequences in "droughts, famines, and wars."
I wonder where they stand on leprechauns, Easter bunnies, red-nosed reindeer, Big Foot and Santa. More to the point, what about the Fairy Godmother in Cinderella, Glenda the Good Witch in Oz, Barbara Eden in I Dream of Jeannie, and Elizabeth Montgomery (and now Nicole Kidman) in Bewitched? How did we who grew up with these witches escape our satanic indoctrination and subsequent wrath of God?
Finally, the agenda. They are against Harry because they are against the following (among others): consensus building, progressives, equality, learning about other cultures, learning about the environment, compromise, mental health and the common good.
Potter stories and other "books used in school," we are warned, "provide useful discussion topics for the manipulative consensus process..." (Emphasis mine.) "(J)ust as ‘progressive’ leaders fear the influence of Biblical truth on budding world citizens, so Christians parents need to guard their children against all kinds of occult ‘counsel’..." As a progressive, I’m confused about how I fear the influence of the Biblical on kids. Maybe I’d better quit teaching Sunday School. And confirmation class. And volunteering at our church’s midweek youth program. Sarcasm aside, they’re using Harry Potter to paint people with political differences as anti-Bible, anti-Christian and pro-occult.
Others warn us that Harry is: part of the plot of the schools to persuade people to reject Christianity through "multicultural and environmental education;" part of the plot by "radical feminists to change the world so that God wont fit in it anymore;" and part of a plot to teach our children to "oppose all ... obstacles to compromise, 'common good' and 'mental health.'"
I think what bothers me most about the anti-Harry Potter hysteria is that it gives truth such a nasty beating. Political and social agenda disguised as religion; a misapplication, perhaps disingenuous use, of the Bible; the sounding of false alarms on false perils: these are all enemies of the truth. But falsehood isn’t the only enemy of truth; certainty is, too. It's a kind of idolatry – a triumphant assertion of one's own religious dogmas and the imposition of themselves on others.
I hope to guard my kids against the influence and efforts of the "certain" to impose their politics and religion on everyone else. First act of defiance? Buy a copy of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince .
By Russell King
With the arrival this past week of the latest Harry Potter novel, the now too familiar discussion of its "evils" has been revived. As an American dad, I decided I’d better check into it. Here’s what I found out.
Several groups and individuals, calling themselves "Christian," have branded the Harry Potter books as satanic and gateways to witchcraft because of their magical milieu. As silly as that sounds, it’s not just the silliness of poor biblical scholarship or pre-scientific thought: They have a non-religious agenda to push and attacking Harry Potter is part of it.
First, the silliness. The lightening bolt on Harry’s forehead? It’s a "satanic S." Or, if you like, it’s half of the SS symbol of elite Nazis. Maybe we see whatever we want to see in symbols. Maybe they’re a mirror of our own minds.
Second, the poor scholarship. The anti-Potter crowd cites Deuteronomy, which prohibits being a fortune teller, soothsayer, a sorcerer, a priest who interprets omens seen in bird activities, one who casts spells, one who consults with ghosts and spirits, or one who seeks oracles from the dead. It also prohibits making your children "pass through fire." They read this 2,500-year-old text literally to arrive at their alarms about Harry, and they do the scripture a disservice.
A large part of what makes this text relevant is that it does not permit itself to be read passively or literally. Interpretation is directly and indirectly a theme of Deuteronomy. The authors of the book interpret earlier narratives and laws, preserve mutually exclusive positions in ancient debates about basic religious assumptions, and force the reader to become, like themselves, deeply engaged interpreters. The anti-Potter crowd either does not know this (poor scholarship) or is hiding this (dishonesty).
I’m not sure which is at play when the crusaders say Harry will lead children to witchcraft. "Harry Potter's world may be fictional," wrote one, "but the timeless pagan practices it promotes are real and deadly." It’s 2005 and there are grownups who still believe in witches? Oh, please.
Our children must, they warn, choose between Harry and God – or be so brainwashed that they won’t even get to make the choice. "This inner change is usually unconscious, for the occult lessons and impressions tend to bypass rational scrutiny." (I suspect they miss the irony.)
And once they’re sucked in by Harry, things get ugly: "Harry Potter books ... familiarize children with a very real and increasingly popular religion" that has been show to bring about God's consequences in "droughts, famines, and wars."
I wonder where they stand on leprechauns, Easter bunnies, red-nosed reindeer, Big Foot and Santa. More to the point, what about the Fairy Godmother in Cinderella, Glenda the Good Witch in Oz, Barbara Eden in I Dream of Jeannie, and Elizabeth Montgomery (and now Nicole Kidman) in Bewitched? How did we who grew up with these witches escape our satanic indoctrination and subsequent wrath of God?
Finally, the agenda. They are against Harry because they are against the following (among others): consensus building, progressives, equality, learning about other cultures, learning about the environment, compromise, mental health and the common good.
Potter stories and other "books used in school," we are warned, "provide useful discussion topics for the manipulative consensus process..." (Emphasis mine.) "(J)ust as ‘progressive’ leaders fear the influence of Biblical truth on budding world citizens, so Christians parents need to guard their children against all kinds of occult ‘counsel’..." As a progressive, I’m confused about how I fear the influence of the Biblical on kids. Maybe I’d better quit teaching Sunday School. And confirmation class. And volunteering at our church’s midweek youth program. Sarcasm aside, they’re using Harry Potter to paint people with political differences as anti-Bible, anti-Christian and pro-occult.
Others warn us that Harry is: part of the plot of the schools to persuade people to reject Christianity through "multicultural and environmental education;" part of the plot by "radical feminists to change the world so that God wont fit in it anymore;" and part of a plot to teach our children to "oppose all ... obstacles to compromise, 'common good' and 'mental health.'"
I think what bothers me most about the anti-Harry Potter hysteria is that it gives truth such a nasty beating. Political and social agenda disguised as religion; a misapplication, perhaps disingenuous use, of the Bible; the sounding of false alarms on false perils: these are all enemies of the truth. But falsehood isn’t the only enemy of truth; certainty is, too. It's a kind of idolatry – a triumphant assertion of one's own religious dogmas and the imposition of themselves on others.
I hope to guard my kids against the influence and efforts of the "certain" to impose their politics and religion on everyone else. First act of defiance? Buy a copy of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince .
Saturday, July 09, 2005
Confessions of an American dad
by Russell King
Ever meet one of those American dads who has all the answers? He’s supremely confident in his fatherly knowledge, understanding and wisdom. Every decision he makes, he’s certain, is correct. While I find him a refreshing balance to the clueless, uninvolved, idiotic dads who populate TV, advertising and movies these days, I also find him impossible to understand. I swallow a healthy dose of self doubt every day.
I think being a better father today than I was yesterday means I have to scrutinize my thoughts, words and actions and to confess my shortcomings, at least to myself. It is, of course, always easier to see what's wrong with others than with myself, with other families than with my own, with other communities than with the one in which I live, with other religions than with the one I profess. That's why the discipline of confession is so central to so many religious traditions.
Maybe it doesn't matter to which approach to fatherhood you take, as long as you're ashamed of it.
More seriously: It seems to me that if you want to get better at something, you look for flaws in the way you’re doing it now. Athletes videotape themselves doing whatever they need to do–swing a bat or a club, throw a ball, stride over the ground, stroke through the water–and then view the tape, looking for ways to improve. Writers read, examine and rewrite their own materials endlessly, looking for ways to improve. The athletes also turn to coaches for help, the writers turn to editors. Why shouldn’t fatherhood be the same?
Not only do I want to look for and own up to my shortcomings, but I want my most trusted coach, editor and friend– my wife – to help me. That doesn’t mean I want her to make me her "project" and look for ways to "improve" me. I prefer my marriage to be my safe harbor where I am accepted and loved for who and what I am, shielded from the world "out there" that spends so much time telling me how inadequate and unworthy I am. It does mean that I want her to gently let me know when I’m falling below the standards I’ve set for myself, when I’m not being my best self. In fact, I’ve asked her to do just that.
I’m thinking that if we American dads take a look at ourselves as a group, we can probably find some shortcomings. And maybe, just maybe, we can coach each other into doing fatherhood a little bit better.
At a minimum – and this is scraping the bottom of the barrel minimum -- fathers should be held financially responsible for supporting their children through tough child support enforcement laws and sanctions. Peer pressure might be helpful, and is certainly appropriate, too. It looks to me like we’ve got a hitch in our swing on this one. We’re striking out way too often. But even if we’re hitting this pitch, if it’s all we’re doing, we’re losing the game.
Don’t just pay -- play! To be a real dad, we’ve got to support our kids with personal time and attention, not just with dollars. Growing up without a father can have serious destructive effects on a child. For example, children in single-parent (mostly fatherless) homes are more likely to be impoverished and less likely to finish school. They are also more likely to engage in destructive behaviors, such as substance abuse or delinquency.
Maybe, as another step we can take together, we could create community programs to promote responsible fatherhood. Over the last few years, a few model programs have popped up. They’ve put dads on the dual track toward financial and emotional responsibility for their children by offering a two-part package of services: employment and job assistance coupled with social services counseling. The basis for this dual approach is recent research indicating that many fathers of poor children are often severely disadvantaged themselves. These dads, in other words, are more often "dead broke" than deadbeat.
It seems to me we could follow these leads to help each other be better dads (the know-it-all dad may be a tough case). We can help as a nation, as a culture, as a community, as friends and neighbors, as grandpas and brothers, as fellow fathers, and as individuals. At the very least, we can help ourselves. We can watch our internal videos, make ours confessions, try to do better. Little else we do in lives will matter as much.
Note: If you've enjoyed reading American Dad, you can show your appreciation by sending a donation to one of the three places listed here. I have good friends who are doing exceptionally good things at each of these places. Thanks! Good Shepherd Lutheran Church ELCA, 5701 Raymond Rd., Madison, WI 53711; St. John's Lutheran Church, N3882 County Highway KK, Weyauwega, WI 54983-9736; or Trinity Lutheran Church, 3 S. 460 Curtis Avenue, Warrenville, IL 60555
by Russell King
Ever meet one of those American dads who has all the answers? He’s supremely confident in his fatherly knowledge, understanding and wisdom. Every decision he makes, he’s certain, is correct. While I find him a refreshing balance to the clueless, uninvolved, idiotic dads who populate TV, advertising and movies these days, I also find him impossible to understand. I swallow a healthy dose of self doubt every day.
I think being a better father today than I was yesterday means I have to scrutinize my thoughts, words and actions and to confess my shortcomings, at least to myself. It is, of course, always easier to see what's wrong with others than with myself, with other families than with my own, with other communities than with the one in which I live, with other religions than with the one I profess. That's why the discipline of confession is so central to so many religious traditions.
Maybe it doesn't matter to which approach to fatherhood you take, as long as you're ashamed of it.
More seriously: It seems to me that if you want to get better at something, you look for flaws in the way you’re doing it now. Athletes videotape themselves doing whatever they need to do–swing a bat or a club, throw a ball, stride over the ground, stroke through the water–and then view the tape, looking for ways to improve. Writers read, examine and rewrite their own materials endlessly, looking for ways to improve. The athletes also turn to coaches for help, the writers turn to editors. Why shouldn’t fatherhood be the same?
Not only do I want to look for and own up to my shortcomings, but I want my most trusted coach, editor and friend– my wife – to help me. That doesn’t mean I want her to make me her "project" and look for ways to "improve" me. I prefer my marriage to be my safe harbor where I am accepted and loved for who and what I am, shielded from the world "out there" that spends so much time telling me how inadequate and unworthy I am. It does mean that I want her to gently let me know when I’m falling below the standards I’ve set for myself, when I’m not being my best self. In fact, I’ve asked her to do just that.
I’m thinking that if we American dads take a look at ourselves as a group, we can probably find some shortcomings. And maybe, just maybe, we can coach each other into doing fatherhood a little bit better.
At a minimum – and this is scraping the bottom of the barrel minimum -- fathers should be held financially responsible for supporting their children through tough child support enforcement laws and sanctions. Peer pressure might be helpful, and is certainly appropriate, too. It looks to me like we’ve got a hitch in our swing on this one. We’re striking out way too often. But even if we’re hitting this pitch, if it’s all we’re doing, we’re losing the game.
Don’t just pay -- play! To be a real dad, we’ve got to support our kids with personal time and attention, not just with dollars. Growing up without a father can have serious destructive effects on a child. For example, children in single-parent (mostly fatherless) homes are more likely to be impoverished and less likely to finish school. They are also more likely to engage in destructive behaviors, such as substance abuse or delinquency.
Maybe, as another step we can take together, we could create community programs to promote responsible fatherhood. Over the last few years, a few model programs have popped up. They’ve put dads on the dual track toward financial and emotional responsibility for their children by offering a two-part package of services: employment and job assistance coupled with social services counseling. The basis for this dual approach is recent research indicating that many fathers of poor children are often severely disadvantaged themselves. These dads, in other words, are more often "dead broke" than deadbeat.
It seems to me we could follow these leads to help each other be better dads (the know-it-all dad may be a tough case). We can help as a nation, as a culture, as a community, as friends and neighbors, as grandpas and brothers, as fellow fathers, and as individuals. At the very least, we can help ourselves. We can watch our internal videos, make ours confessions, try to do better. Little else we do in lives will matter as much.
Note: If you've enjoyed reading American Dad, you can show your appreciation by sending a donation to one of the three places listed here. I have good friends who are doing exceptionally good things at each of these places. Thanks! Good Shepherd Lutheran Church ELCA, 5701 Raymond Rd., Madison, WI 53711; St. John's Lutheran Church, N3882 County Highway KK, Weyauwega, WI 54983-9736; or Trinity Lutheran Church, 3 S. 460 Curtis Avenue, Warrenville, IL 60555
Monday, July 04, 2005
What shall we tell the kids about the 4th of July?
By Russell King
Tomorrow is Independence Day, and I’ve been giving some thought to how I, as an American dad, should treat the day. What do I want the kids to know?
First, I want them to know that our nation, like any living thing, was born messy and immature. I want them to know that our nation, like every one of us, is a work in progress: that we all have faults, that we’re all growing and working to get better, that we’re all trying to live up to our potential.
Independence Day – the first one – was all about potential. From the Declaration of Independence to the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, stunningly beautiful language described the nation we hoped to become. We were not, on that day, anything like what we dreamed of being. The right to vote was tied up in all sorts of regulations, including property ownership, and – of course – women could not vote until 1920 and non-white people could not really vote until 1965. Slavery, on Independence Day, was an ironic fact of life.
The freedom and democracy we hoped for was a long way off. We’re closer to it now, but we’re not there yet, and the progress we’ve made must be defended every day. It’s the same for every child; it’s the same for every one of us. We are never quite the person we hope to be. We work at becoming better people every day. And, because we love them, we work at helping our children do the same.
The lesson I hope the kids get is that, because we love our nation, we acknowledge when and where we fall short of our best and we help our nation grow toward the ideals the Founding Fathers so eloquently expressed.
I’d like the kids to know that they had two ancestors who fought in the Revolutionary War, one for the British crown, one for the new nation, and that we’re proud of them both. Life is a swirl of shades of grey, and never a simple black and white. These things of which they are a part, this family and this nation, have a history on which they can draw for context, strength and identity.
A more important lesson, and one I could not hope to teach as well, was taught last night when we gathered at the lake shore to watch our city’s fireworks display. In front of us sat a black family. To our right, an Asian family. In front of them, a family in which the women wore jilbaab, the traditional Muslim dress. Moving out from our little corner, the crowd became ever more diverse. And there we all were, together, sharing the celebration of the birth of this nation.
Logan mentioned, on the way home, that he’d noticed this about the crowd. There was the distinct ring of pride in his voice, and a strong swell of pride in this father’s heart.
Because our family is blended in just about every legal way possible, diversity fills our house from wall to wall. Failing to accept, live with and love people who come from origins other than your own would be a devastating error in this family. And in this nation.
The most important lesson, though, is one they have been learning without realizing it, by watching their mother, Rhonda, organize and prepare for our neighborhood Independence Day parade and picnic. She volunteers her time, her brains, her energy, her labor and her purse in an effort to pull together a large group of people in a community celebration, and she is a powerful example for the kids to see.
I hope they see how she dedicates herself to this task, and how hard she works at it, without any apparent reward. I hope they see how she can lead without being noticed: Friends and neighbors pull together and have a great time together, almost magically, because of her. I hope they see how her patriotism is expressed through her sense of community and her service to her community.
It is the "together with others" that makes us a family, a neighborhood, a nation: Patriotism is never solitary. Solidarity among diversity; out of many, one; e pluribus unum.
If the kids need an example of how to be a great American, if they need a clearer view of the ideals to which we, as a nation, strive, I’ll just point them in the direction of their mother.
By Russell King
Tomorrow is Independence Day, and I’ve been giving some thought to how I, as an American dad, should treat the day. What do I want the kids to know?
First, I want them to know that our nation, like any living thing, was born messy and immature. I want them to know that our nation, like every one of us, is a work in progress: that we all have faults, that we’re all growing and working to get better, that we’re all trying to live up to our potential.
Independence Day – the first one – was all about potential. From the Declaration of Independence to the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, stunningly beautiful language described the nation we hoped to become. We were not, on that day, anything like what we dreamed of being. The right to vote was tied up in all sorts of regulations, including property ownership, and – of course – women could not vote until 1920 and non-white people could not really vote until 1965. Slavery, on Independence Day, was an ironic fact of life.
The freedom and democracy we hoped for was a long way off. We’re closer to it now, but we’re not there yet, and the progress we’ve made must be defended every day. It’s the same for every child; it’s the same for every one of us. We are never quite the person we hope to be. We work at becoming better people every day. And, because we love them, we work at helping our children do the same.
The lesson I hope the kids get is that, because we love our nation, we acknowledge when and where we fall short of our best and we help our nation grow toward the ideals the Founding Fathers so eloquently expressed.
I’d like the kids to know that they had two ancestors who fought in the Revolutionary War, one for the British crown, one for the new nation, and that we’re proud of them both. Life is a swirl of shades of grey, and never a simple black and white. These things of which they are a part, this family and this nation, have a history on which they can draw for context, strength and identity.
A more important lesson, and one I could not hope to teach as well, was taught last night when we gathered at the lake shore to watch our city’s fireworks display. In front of us sat a black family. To our right, an Asian family. In front of them, a family in which the women wore jilbaab, the traditional Muslim dress. Moving out from our little corner, the crowd became ever more diverse. And there we all were, together, sharing the celebration of the birth of this nation.
Logan mentioned, on the way home, that he’d noticed this about the crowd. There was the distinct ring of pride in his voice, and a strong swell of pride in this father’s heart.
Because our family is blended in just about every legal way possible, diversity fills our house from wall to wall. Failing to accept, live with and love people who come from origins other than your own would be a devastating error in this family. And in this nation.
The most important lesson, though, is one they have been learning without realizing it, by watching their mother, Rhonda, organize and prepare for our neighborhood Independence Day parade and picnic. She volunteers her time, her brains, her energy, her labor and her purse in an effort to pull together a large group of people in a community celebration, and she is a powerful example for the kids to see.
I hope they see how she dedicates herself to this task, and how hard she works at it, without any apparent reward. I hope they see how she can lead without being noticed: Friends and neighbors pull together and have a great time together, almost magically, because of her. I hope they see how her patriotism is expressed through her sense of community and her service to her community.
It is the "together with others" that makes us a family, a neighborhood, a nation: Patriotism is never solitary. Solidarity among diversity; out of many, one; e pluribus unum.
If the kids need an example of how to be a great American, if they need a clearer view of the ideals to which we, as a nation, strive, I’ll just point them in the direction of their mother.
Note: If you've enjoyed reading American Dad, you can show your appreciation by sending a donation to one of the three places listed here. I have good friends who are doing exceptionally good things at each of these places. Thanks! Good Shepherd Lutheran Church ELCA, 5701 Raymond Rd., Madison, WI 53711 St. John's Lutheran Church, N3882 County Highway KK, Weyauwega, WI 54983-9736 Trinity Lutheran Church, 3 S 460 Curtis Avenue, Warrenville, IL 60555
