Father’s Day.
As our national debates over the role of women, motherhood, and children continue to stir controversy, one topic has been conspicuously absent: the role of fathers.
As I wrote in a recent op-ed, fatherhood, once esteemed as a pillar of a flourishing American society, is now widely ignored or even denigrated as part of an oppressive patriarchy that burdens women.
>> READ THE FULL OP-ED HERE <<
This reality is the sad result of two related movements: On the one hand, we have the hyper-individualism of a progressive ideology that reduces happiness to self-expression and uninhibited choice.
On the other hand, emancipated men are being glorified for their selfish pursuit of material wealth, cars, jewelry and fashion, body-builder physiques, and women as sexual trophies.
My father, who passed away earlier this month, showed me that there is a better way.
His life and legacy were marked by an idea of fatherhood that seems sadly forgotten.
Fatherhood, for him, was not rooted in tyrannical power or self-aggrandizement. His embrace of fatherhood assumed that he was a lifelong companion and partner with my mother in the adventure of raising a family.
He lived by the conviction that men and women are complementary, mutual cooperators in a lifelong thrilling partnership in marriage, and in the raising of children.
If the chaos of our world tells us anything, it’s that we must recover this conviction.
We know all too well: There is no perfect person or perfect society. Men and women both fail and struggle.
But they are also each born with unique gifts. And it’s precisely in that mutual gift of self to each other that the drama of our lives becomes a source of immeasurable joy.
Love is a high calling that rewards those who choose to live it out.
My dad lived up to his calling and showed that a good spouse and father, faithful and devoted, is not some quaint artifact of the past.
In a society full of young people starving for fatherly presence and love, the importance of fathers cannot be overstated.
Perhaps it’s time to revisit the vital role of fatherhood.
Read more of my thoughts on fatherhood here.
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