So, What Are "Family Values"?

[MaddLlama]

Oh please. The "If you don't agree with me then you must hate America" is the foulest piece of political propaganda one can possibly spew. Get a real argument or take your toys and go home.

 

[Draka]

Wow, as I read the beginning of Reverend Rick's definition of family values I thought for once that he and I were on the the same page, but then I kept reading and ...nope...wasn't happening.

Why is it that certain people in certain positions use a term and it suddenly becomes ugly? "Family Values" can mean so many things to so many people but unfortunately because of what the term is used for in the media now it has become an ugly term. And it shouldn't be.

Family Values = caring for one another, doing whatever you can to take care of each other, watching out for each other, wanting the best for each other, protecting each other from whatever harm you can, loving each other unconditionally, spending quality time together, supporting each other and so much more. When did these things go to the wayside? Why can no one point these out as family values? I would think that these are values to be held onto in a family no matter what religion you are, no matter who makes up your family (adults, genders, children, sexual orientations, etc), no matter where you live or where you fall on the political spectrum.

To me those are what "Family Values" are. Not just a term some people want to use to fit their biased purpose. Those are the real deal.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

To me, Family Values means an all day concert I can get a free ticket to by donating blood.

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.

Actually, people are labeled homophobic for fearing/hating homosexuals. I believe the word you are looking for, in extreme cases, is prude.

but I forgot, most of you all are ashamed to be Americans and despise what this country was founded on.

Actually, I am damned proud to be American, and embrace what this nation was founded on.

 

[rojse]

Family values are what most families believe in - therefore any supporter of family values would have to support divorce.

 

[blackout]

To me, Family Values means an all day concert I can get a free ticket to by donating blood.


Actually, people are labeled homophobic for fearing/hating homosexuals. I believe the word you are looking for, in extreme cases, is prude.


Actually, I am damned proud to be American, and embrace what this nation was founded on.

Just what was it that our nation was founded on?

 

[Sunstone]

Just what was it that our nation was founded on?

The Eastern seaboard of the North American continent, of course.

 

[nutshell]

Family values are what most families believe in - therefore any supporter of family values would have to support divorce.

WRONG.

Family Values is an ideal - not the norm. It's what families should strive to achieve.

 

[PureX]

"Family Values" is a verbal sacred totem for an american conservative fantasy that borders on obsession, and that was started by the king of fantasy, Ronald Reagan, mirroring 1950s TV shows like "Leave It To Beaver" and "Lassie".

 

[Valjean]

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.

Oh dear... the dreaded "left wing, liberal agenda."
The left wing, liberal values are exactly those taught by Jesus, Reverend Rick. Read your New Testament, look at His words, read the Beatitudes.
Jesus taught peace, love, tolerance, equality, forgiveness, He was a hippie, for Heaven's sake! It should be the clergy "indoctrinating" our kids with these values!

As far as sheltering kids from distasteful things, I'm not sure this is always an effective way to prepare them to deal with these things when they encounter them in later life.

I'm sorry to point this out, my friend, but the repressive, law-and-order approach you seem to be advocating is also completely contrary to the designs of the American founding fathers. Your values are un-American, I'm afraid.
The U S constitution is a product of the Enlightenment. The United States was founded as an experiment in Liberal Humanism. The society you are describing is the Puritan, Massachusetts Bay Colony of the 1630s.

I was raised with the idea that America was all about freedom, opportunity and liberty. I hear these terms flying about in right-wing circles like quelia in a grain field. Yet 'conservatives' seem to be all about repressing these values. They place propriety and law-and-order above freedom.
I'm sorry, but you can have an orderly, law-abiding, well-padded society, or you can have a free society. The two are mutually incompatible.
Our society was founded on freedom. Law-and-order is an un-American concept.

 

[nutshell]

I was raised with the idea that America was all about freedom, opportunity and liberty. I hear these terms flying about in right-wing circles like quilia in a grain field. Yet 'conservatives' seem to be all about repressing these values. They place propriety and law-and-order above freedom.
I'm sorry, but you can have an orderly, law-abiding, well-padded society, or you can have a free society. The two are mutually incompatible.
Our society was founded on freedom. Law-and-order is an un-American concept.

I disagree - this isn't as black and white as you make it. There must be a balance of freedom and order and where that balancing point is depends on the current issues affecting our society. All freedom would be just as destructive to a country as would all order.

 

[Valjean]

Agreed. But the US was configured as an enlightened, Humanist society. Our constitution and founding values are left-of-center.
Trying to impose right-wing, conservative values on our country seems, to me, un-American.

To hoist the right-wing on their own petard: Love it or leave it.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

Just what was it that our nation was founded on?

Virginia...?????

 

[Draka]

You know what I find sad? That there are so many here that just seem so jaded when it comes to families. Pessimistic and jaded attitudes towards families does not do anything to breed the love, compassion, understanding, and caring that is supposed to be inherent in a family.

Happy family units do exist.

Happy marriages do exist.

We are a society that likes to dwell on the bad news. We dwell on it so much that we become not only use to it, but we expect it. You go into a marriage thinking that something will go wrong and that it will eventually fail, then guess what, it probably will. We set ourselves up for failure. We concentrate on all that is wrong in our lives and in society that we have shut out all that is good. We soak ourselves in our low expectations and sarcasm and then gripe about how bad things are for us.

So many people have given up on being truly happy. Just have made themselves semi-content to live the "daily grind" and not expect more from life. That's sad.

To those people I say "stop your whining and do something productive with your life". I don't just mean your career or getting a nicer house or making more money and whatnot. You want a happy family life? You want love and caring in your house and home? Work on it. Don't expect that it won't last from the beginning or it never will.

Family values exist. All you need to do is have faith in them and in yourself. So many people here can seem to have faith in religion or faith in science and facts, but have no faith in themselves or people in general. When we can start having as much faith in ourselves as individuals and as humanity, as so many do in unprovable deities, then perhaps there will be less people to scoff at "family values".

 

[MaddLlama]

"Family values" is a meaningless, politically charged term. I don't have to give some sort of sappy, optimistic response about how I love my family in order to indicate that I value the members of my family. For me, my relationships with my family and how that fits in with the rest of my life is part of my own personal values. I choose not to say that I have "family values" because of the awful implications that has. And, I don't personally appreciate being told that I'm likely a miserable waste of air because I'm not interested in taking the term away from the morally repugnant.

 

[Aasimar]

Family values is a very friendly sounding term which appeals too us and an excellent catalyst to wrap any agenda you want around. Much like "War on Terrorism" sounds much nicer then "Killing Muslims" Though that is what we have done. Or Pro-life sounds better then Anti-Choice. It's all about the spin you put on something. Unfortunately I feel the term family values has been used to describe so many things that it's not really a meaningful term anymore. When someone tells me they have strong family values, I don't know if they want well educated critically thinking safe children or if they hate homosexuals and want their children to be faithful Christians.

 

[PureX]

You know what I find sad? That there are so many here that just seem so jaded when it comes to families. Pessimistic and jaded attitudes towards families does not do anything to breed the love, compassion, understanding, and caring that is supposed to be inherent in a family.

Happy family units do exist.

Happy marriages do exist.

We are a society that likes to dwell on the bad news. We dwell on it so much that we become not only use to it, but we expect it. You go into a marriage thinking that something will go wrong and that it will eventually fail, then guess what, it probably will. We set ourselves up for failure. We concentrate on all that is wrong in our lives and in society that we have shut out all that is good. We soak ourselves in our low expectations and sarcasm and then gripe about how bad things are for us.

So many people have given up on being truly happy. Just have made themselves semi-content to live the "daily grind" and not expect more from life. That's sad.

To those people I say "stop your whining and do something productive with your life". I don't just mean your career or getting a nicer house or making more money and whatnot. You want a happy family life? You want love and caring in your house and home? Work on it. Don't expect that it won't last from the beginning or it never will.

Family values exist. All you need to do is have faith in them and in yourself. So many people here can seem to have faith in religion or faith in science and facts, but have no faith in themselves or people in general. When we can start having as much faith in ourselves as individuals and as humanity, as so many do in unprovable deities, then perhaps there will be less people to scoff at "family values".

But we're a generation raised on advertising, and every one of those ads told us to believe that all we have to do is get hold of the money to buy the products that will make us all happy, healthy, and pretty. We see and hear thousands of messages a day, all telling us this same thing. And all of them lies. We buy the crap they advertise, and it doesn't make us happy, healthy or pretty. It just makes us want more.

How can you expect a nation that for generations have been taught and told day after day after day after day that happiness lies in mass consumption, to suddenly understand that happiness does NOT come from mass consumption, but from self-effort and actualization? Who is even trying to teach them the truth? Certainly not the religious conservatives, who tout and promote greed and mass consumption like they were advertising executives themselves. Certainly not our schools, that can barely even teach us to read and write. Certainly not our parents, who are themselves the second generation raised under the blitzkrieg of commercial advertising.

What you're saying is true, but you're basically a lone voice crying out amongst the very loud and unceasing din of selfishness and greed and endless consumption. Who can even hear you?

 

[Aasimar]

But we're a generation raised on advertising, and every one of those ads told us to believe that all we have to do is get hold of the money to buy the products that will make us all happy, healthy, and pretty. We see and hear thousands of messages a day, all telling us this same thing. And all of them lies. We buy the crap they advertise, and it doesn't make us happy, healthy or pretty. It just makes us want more.

How can you expect a nation that for generations have been taught and told day after day after day after day that happiness lies in mass consumption, to suddenly understand that happiness does NOT come from mass consumption, but from self-effort and actualization? Who is even trying to teach them the truth? Certainly not the religious conservatives, who tout and promote greed and mass consumption like they were advertising executives themselves. Certainly not our schools, that can barely even teach us to read and write. Certainly not our parents, who are themselves the second generation raised under the blitzkrieg of commercial advertising.

What you're saying is true, but you're basically a lone voice crying out amongst the very loud and unceasing din of selfishness and greed and endless consumption. Who can even hear you?

I highly recommend reading Ayn Rand's book "The Fountainhead." It's a very rough read, and her philosophy is out there, but the character Howard Roark has an interesting take on happiness. It's worth a look imo

 

[PureX]

I highly recommend reading Ayn Rand's book "The Fountainhead." It's a very rough read, and her philosophy is out there, but the character Howard Roark has an interesting take on happiness. It's worth a look imo

No thanks. I got half way through Atlas Shrugged and gave up. Whatever point she was trying to make, tedium was mostly all I was getting. I understand that sometimes the truth is quite complex, and can't be delivered in quick cleches. But there's no excuse for running it on ad nausium, either.

Sorry Ayn.

 

[Aasimar]

No thanks. I got half way through Atlas Shrugged and gave up. Whatever point she was trying to make, tedium was mostly all I was getting. I understand that sometimes the truth is quite complex, and can't be delivered in quick cleches. But there's no excuse for running it on ad nausium, either.

Sorry Ayn.

Lol I have to admit, it took me about 4 weeks to read "The Fountainhead" And I usually read fast, but I still haven't gotten far into Atlas Shrugged. It's a bit rough lol

 

[Valjean]

I never found Rand "rough." Her characters do sometimes launch into long sermons or lectures but these are generally fascinating synopses of her position on various social issues. Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged are certainly not short works like Anthem, but they're great reads.