Home & Family: Rights?

As a society we are now arguing over what constitutes marriage and family; for example, we have social disagreement over gay marriage and the right for gay couples to “have” children.  But notice how we are not arguing about the idea of, or truth of “Marriage & family” itself.

Marriage and family constitutes the core or foundation of culture and society.  Cultural Anthropologists study social cultural norms and values and behaviors all based on kinship identity and family networks, identifiable ties and connections based on family relationships.

The family core is ground zero of cultural learnings and teachings and behavior.  One’s personal, social, cultural, lingual identity grows out from there.  Who I am, who you are, and who we believe ourselves to be, is rooted in our core familial heritage.

Family provides us our personal history and our origin.  Family shapes our self-image, and bends the trajectory of our future.  Family gives us our fundamental values and truths.  It is where we first understand what it means to BE: to be one’s self, to be human, to be social, to be good or bad, to be right or wrong, faithful and true (or faithless and traitorous), and to be purposeful and meaningful in our living.  Family is the fundamental context of our way of being.

This is why “the family” is considered sacred.  For example, the Bible speaks of the requirement to honor marriage.  That is to say that a married couple’s relationship is to be held as sacred and inviolable (Hebrews 13:4).  There is to be no “fooling around.”  The marriage commitment is to be respected and honored.

If what is said above about marriage and family is true, then it follows that all social/governing policies that effectively result in hindering, ruining, and/or damaging healthy family life must be considered bad policy.  Ergo: If a government social policy is bad for family it is bad for the nation; it is simply bad policy.

Good government social policy should strengthen and enhance family life, not tear it down or destroy it.  And so, healthcare policy should be measured by that same principle.  Whatever healthcare policy is adopted in the future, we have to ask as a society, does this healthcare policy strengthen families and family life or defeat families?

But that’s not all, what about criminal justice policies or income and homeless family welfare policies?  Even when economic downturns are at their worse, should a society adopt policies that effectively exploit, oppress, or marginalize poor families?  That is, do our social and economic policies actively and structurally support family life for all families, or do they only buttress the family life of the rich and well-to-do?

Let us learn the lesson from the Prophet Nehemiah (Nehemiah 5:1-13):

“Some time later many of the people, both men and women, began to complain against their fellow Jews.  Some said, ‘We have large families, we need grain to keep us alive.’

Others said, ‘We have had to mortgage our fields and vineyards and houses to get enough grain to keep us from starving.’

Still others said, ‘We had to borrow money to pay the royal tax on our fields and vineyards.  We are of the same race as our fellow Jews.  Aren’t our children just as good as theirs?  But we have to make slaves of our children.  Some of our daughters have already been sold as slaves.  We are helpless because our fields and vineyards have been taken away from us.’

When I heard their complaints, I grew angry and decided to act.  I denounced the leaders and officials of the people and told them, ‘You are oppressing your brothers!’
I called a public assembly to deal with the problem and said, ‘As far as we have been able, we have been buying back our Jewish brothers who  had to sell themselves to foreigners.  Now you are forcing your own brothers to sell themselves to you, their fellow Jews!’  The leaders were silent and could find nothing to say.

Then I said, ‘What you are doing is wrong!  You ought to obey God and do what’s right.  Then you would not give our enemies, the Gentiles, any reason to ridicule us.  I have let the people borrow money and grain from me, and so have my companions and the men who work for me.  Now let’s give up all our claims to repayment.  Cancel all the debts they owe you—money or grain or wine or olive oil.  And give them back their fields, vineyards, olive groves, and houses right now!’

They replied, ‘We’ll do as you say.  We’ll give the property back and not try to collect the debts.’

I called in the priests and made the leaders swear in front of them to keep the promise they had just made.  Then I took off the sash I was wearing around my waist and shook it out.  ‘This is how God will shake any of you who don’t keep your promise,’ I said.  ‘God will take away your houses and everything you own, and will leave you with nothing.’

Everyone who was present said, ‘Amen!’ and praised the Lord.  And the leaders kept their promise.”