To the Editor,
Re: Canadian families are changing, Sept. 29.
I was glad to see a devoted mother, father, and their daughter on the front page of the Bulletin’s article on family.
They may not be married under tradition, but their committed union still represents the highest expression of nature in mankind to which marriage was originally themed from.
I’m partial for marriage, but remember that before there was marriage in human history, romantic love was the only emotion powerful enough to bond a male and female together long enough to provide a stable environment for young children.
Extended family also played a part, but without this nuclear unit we as a species could not have moved forward or even survived.
From the passion and love that holds the family together and from the natural expression of the mother and father, we gain a sense of identity, loyalty, trust, devotion, sacrifice, patience, flexibility, meaning, purpose and a sense of permanence. Without these essential qualities no civilization can last long.
The sum of a human is a male and female and we inherit from our parents more than just a static blueprint of genes. But, from them, our own unique personas will naturally be augmented, polarized, and quantumized (energized/inspired) to the most natural role we play in our gender.
Joey Moore of Vancouver Island University was quoted in saying that the two-parent, heterosexual family only became a cultural ideal in the mid 20th century. I respectfully disagree because his statement was a misrepresentation of the past.
Before the early industrial revolution, many parents died early because of infectious diseases and war. Families were large, too, and some widows and widowers remarried for support and as well extended families often lived together often to fill the void. This was naturally well understood.
Besides life’s letdowns, the nuclear family (the union of mother and father in care of the children) was always the highest model to aspire for in all cultures for the common folk.
Holden Southward
Nanaimo