Interesting times
Last week I caught my mom, the Bush-can-do-no-wrong-Republicans-can-do-no-evil-Democrats-can-do-no-good-Libertarians-are-all-druggies member of the family arguing IN FAVOR of open borders. (Subject under discussion was Bill Frist's immigration plan.)
This week, we're discussing marriage and the government's role in the same. Interesting times.
Mom is (predictably) arguing pro Constitutional ammendment to prohibit gay marriage. Dad is (predictably) arguing anti. I'm arguing that the pesky little clause about Congress shall make no law regarding an establishment of religion means that the Constitution has already spoken on marriage and it ain't none of government's business. (Marriage is Church business.)
It'll be fun to see what Mom and Dad write back. (We do a lot of this on email, it's good to be able to edit for clarity, and where we know each other so well, we don't misinterpret much. I could just about write their arguments for them.)
My family's great, when they aren't driving me batty. I'm going to convince one or both of them that I'm right. The question is always which one and when. Mom still won't agree that there's no legitimate purpose for martial law. Dad didn't even have to think before agreeing with me on that.
This is, perhaps, why you shouldn't homeschool your children. They might, just maybe, learn how to think. And then, you know, when they disagree with you on something, they might just convince you that that they are right. It might be uncomfortable.
What do you get when you cross a Christian Republican with an Athiest Democrat?
Me.
This week, we're discussing marriage and the government's role in the same. Interesting times.
Mom is (predictably) arguing pro Constitutional ammendment to prohibit gay marriage. Dad is (predictably) arguing anti. I'm arguing that the pesky little clause about Congress shall make no law regarding an establishment of religion means that the Constitution has already spoken on marriage and it ain't none of government's business. (Marriage is Church business.)
It'll be fun to see what Mom and Dad write back. (We do a lot of this on email, it's good to be able to edit for clarity, and where we know each other so well, we don't misinterpret much. I could just about write their arguments for them.)
My family's great, when they aren't driving me batty. I'm going to convince one or both of them that I'm right. The question is always which one and when. Mom still won't agree that there's no legitimate purpose for martial law. Dad didn't even have to think before agreeing with me on that.
This is, perhaps, why you shouldn't homeschool your children. They might, just maybe, learn how to think. And then, you know, when they disagree with you on something, they might just convince you that that they are right. It might be uncomfortable.
What do you get when you cross a Christian Republican with an Athiest Democrat?
Me.
posted by BoysMom @ 1:57 PM
4 Comments:
At 9:38 PM, March 22, 2006,
Jo said…
Well, you're a pretty good cross-breed. LOL
Family is so much fun. :P One Thanksgiving my mom and her ex-gay husband had over all of the kids (his and hers), plus my femi-nazi aunts, my semi-athiest grandparents, plus my gay dad and his boyfriend. It could have been very Jerry Springer-ish, but we were so scared of making a scene we actually had a peaceful day.
At 11:17 AM, March 23, 2006,
Anonymous said…
"My family's great, when they aren't driving me batty. I'm going to convince one or both of them that I'm right."
Oh dear, your family sounds like mine. But convincing parents of anything is a fool's errand. Parents, alas, are like kids. Often they don't turn out as we hoped they would. For instance, I wanted the mother from the Little Bear cartoons. Instead I got a raving maniac. But I love her anyway.
Parents are notoriously hard to influence. They are generally set in their ways and do not deviate from their self-appointed path. Dinner a 6, Jeopardy at 7:30, Republicans are going to take their social security, Democrats are going to give away the store.
It's all white noise to me now. I just believe what I want and when I battle, it's with myself. I'm a far better opponent than either of my parents.
By the way, love your blog. :-)
At 2:20 PM, March 23, 2006,
BoysMom said…
Morgan, arguing politics is by way of being a family hobby. You can't get two members of the extended family together without having some sort of talk about politics. It's been this way as long as I can remember. My mom's parents are liberal atheists. Her brother is a very conservative Christian. Her sisters are more liberal and more atheistic than her parents. My cousins fall all over the board.
And me convincing one of my parents that I'm right is usually what happens. It's funny, and sometimes it takes a few months, but one or the other seems to inevitably work their way around to my point of view. Sometimes I wonder if this is the way they continue the battle over who has my allegience that started way back when I was a tiny kid. (Some people simply should not have just one child.)
Dad and I decided that we talk about politics because we think so differently but it's good to see where the other is coming from. When we do agree it's usually for widly different reasons. Except for the martial law thing. That stuck in my mind because Mom was so shocked, I think, that Dad and I looked at each other and said the exact same words.
Mom protests that she hates politics, but is the first one to bring up political topics, so we kind of ignore that she says she hates politics.
We make a weird sort of patchwork of opinions, that's for sure!
At 7:11 PM, March 23, 2006,
Anonymous said…
I think they sound interesting. You probably picked up some good debating skills by listening to their differences of opinion. My father has kind of gone back and forth over the years, depending on who was in office. My mother never had much of a political opinion. She's a bit of fluff.
My sisters are pretty liberal; I'm middle of the road. I hate beind defined as one or the other and tend to see all sides of things. Idealogues on either side of the aisle are so obnoxious, generally speaking.
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