So, What Are "Family Values"?

[Sunstone]

Does the phrase "Family Values" have any meaning other than being code for "anti-gay rights"?

 

[angellous_evangellous]

For me, it means that my wife brings me another beer without me having to ask.

 

[Willamena]

It means that making and keeping a family come first, and individual rights second.

 

[Bishka]

Does the phrase "Family Values" have any meaning other than being code for "anti-gay rights"?

Not everybody with family values feels that way.

Family Values may be the code for anti-gay rights in the right-wing Christian fundamentalist camp; but some of us with 'family values' feel differently.

To me it means my values (this can vary by person), but this is something that we should not force on anyone. Everyone should be able to choose for themselves and not be forced upon by any group, ideology or opinion.

 

[Terrywoodenpic]

It is a useful phrase to use in politics...
as every one who hears it puts their own interpretation on it.
So when you use it, you are in a win win situation.

 

[MaddLlama]

A useless term coined by politicians who want to make the opposition look less moral, and put themselves on some sort of non-existant moral high ground. Often used to imply that only white, Protestant Christians can have these "family" values, and often the politicians who swing this term around like a political weapon have no concept of the evolution of the family throughout history, or the wide variety of "families" in existence today.

In short, "family values" is a nicer way of saying "political posturing bull****"

 

[Engyo]

Bumper Sticker in my neighborhood:

Hate is NOT a Family Value

Another:

God Loves You *

*unless you are: gay, liberal, pro-choice, divorced, atheist, or a Cubs fan

 

[Mathematician]

I would say the most universal family value none of us would like to see "gone" is good health; physically, intellectually, emotionally -- you name it.

 

[doppelganger]

Does the phrase "Family Values" have any meaning other than being code for "anti-gay rights"?

"Family values" refers to making sure that both parents have to work for the family to survive, ensuring their kids can't get financial aid unless they enlist in the military, allowing healthcare costs to continue to spiral out of control to where most families are devastated if they face a significant health crisis, but making sure that everyone knows "God" hates homosexuals and abortion.

This is sometimes confused with the "pro life" movement, but that includes, in addition to the above, the support for perpetual warfare and the death penalty.

 

[Nanda]

If family values means anti-gay, I guess my family has no value.

 

[nutshell]

Does the phrase "Family Values" have any meaning other than being code for "anti-gay rights"?

Unfortunately, that seems to be what the phrase has evolved into. I don't think it was always thus.

 

[rojse]

Family values is just another overworked term that no one can try and argue against: "you mean you are anti-family?"

The phrase "family values" should be substituted for actual values common to many families, such as divorce, step parents, and lack of time for children.

 

[nutshell]

Family values is just another overworked term that no one can try and argue against: "you mean you are anti-family?"

The phrase "family values" should be substituted for actual values common to many families, such as divorce, step parents, and lack of time for children.

"Family Values" does not have to mean actual values. That's a logical fallacy.

 

[rojse]

"Family Values" does not have to mean actual values. That's a logical fallacy.

Family values needs to contain actual values.

It's the fact that these values are so nebulously defined is the problem.

A logical fallacy is where a conclusion is based on incorrect logic, and I would not say this is the case here. Whether my idea is right or not, my conclusion is not based on a chain of logical thought.

 

[Smoke]

Does the phrase "Family Values" have any meaning other than being code for "anti-gay rights"?

Yes, it also means that abortion should be illegal and that kids should never receive any adequate or accurate sex education.

 

[Reverend Rick]

Family values means that you are raising your children in a safe and nurturing environment. Parents put their children's needs above their own and make sure they have raised children who are healthy, educated, and know how to make decisions for themselves. They know that lieing and stealing is wrong and grow up with a sense of community and respect for one another.

In recent times it means sheltering them from violence, drugs, and sexual situations that any member of a community should not have to endure. Children are being molested, abducted, abused and even gunned down in our streets. People displaying sexual affection in front of children in public and using foul language in the streets should not be tolerated and now left wing liberal teachers are trying to indoctrinate their students with their agenda.

Public schools are failing our children and reducing the whole class to the lowest common denominator.

When someone wants to shelter their young children from the immoral movies and music the mainstream media spews out of every pore of society, we get labeled homophobic. Give me a break. There our children and we won't let you poison them with your wickedness or your agenda and if that means the airwaves need to be clean for a few hours a day, tough. Family values are the backbone of our country, but I forgot, most of you all are ashamed to be Americans and despise what this country was founded on.

 

[Nanda]

Wow, by that definition, my family DOES have value. And yet I'm still a wicked America-hating liberal pushing my homosexual agenda on the innocent. Hm.

 

[Reverend Rick]

Nanda, you may end up raising a conservative reverend while I may end up with a liberal homosexual for a child. You just never know. That's not the point though. As a parent, I realize my children are going to grow up some day, I just don't want them to grow up too fast.

 

[Aqualung]

IT'S THE idea that the family is the most important social unit.

 

[Nanda]

Nanda, you may end up raising a conservative reverend while I may end up with a liberal homosexual for a child. You just never know. That's not the point though. As a parent, I realize my children are going to grow up some day, I just don't want them to grow up too fast.

I'm well aware of that fact, Rick. And believe me, I want the same thing for my child. What I object to is the idea that telling children that it's alright to be gay somehow equates to:

People displaying sexual affection in front of children in public and using foul language in the streets[...]and now left wing liberal teachers are trying to indoctrinate their students with their agenda.