Author: Family Friendly Daddy Blog

Leave a comment Posted on parenting, Recaps

Attempting To Vote For The “Better Christian” For President In 2012

September 1, 2012 at 12:09 am , by 

21 months.

If you’re friends with me on Facebook, then you know that A) I talk about my son a lot and B) I love discussing politics.

This election is epic! Here we are, deciding which man we believe best represents our own code of morality and decision-making.

For me, the most interesting part is regarding the discussions I’m hearing about the religious beliefs of the candidates, particularly from conservative Protestant Republicans.

Up until 3 years ago, before becoming your neighborhood friendly Ron Paul supporter, I was a Republican and I voted that way every four years.

Like many other conservative Protestants I knew, I voted for the Republican candidate, if for no other reason, because he was pro-life.

While I am still very pro-life, my focus is no longer on choosing the “better Christian,” or in other words, the most conservative Christian candidate.

Here’s the irony: Many Protestants don’t consider Mormons to be Christians; some of the biggest reasons being because Christians believe that Jesus is equal to God and that Jesus was physically raised from the dead. (My understanding is that Mormons don’t believe those things.)

In other words, certain Republican Protestants are voting for the “better Christian,” though, by their own definition of what it means to be a Christian, the man they will be voting for is not actually a Christian.

Instead, they’re voting for the man who best represents their particular Christian values.

This is the first election in a long time where Republicans don’t have a Protestant Presidential candidate to stand behind.

(The only Catholic President in American history was JFK, who he was a Democrat.)

What if Mitt Romney was a conservative, pro-life agnostic instead of a Mormon?

How “non-Christian” can a Republican Presidential candidate be and still be backed by the conservative Protestants as the “better Christian” candidate?

Of course, I keep having to put “better Christian” in quotation marks just to be clear that I personally I am not publicly judging their allegiance to Christ; I think if I did, it wouldn’t be very Christian of me.

Similarly, I think it’s unfair to demonize a President just because he’s with the “wrong” political party.

President Obama is not evil. Nor was George W. Bush. They just happened to be the first two Presidents we’ve had since the Internet has been relevant to mainstream America and since blogs have been subconsciously influential to the masses; so these recent Presidents have been much more rapidly criticized.

It can be so natural to call their actions evil when you’re part of the opposing political party. In the process, the whole other political party in that case becomes evil too.

In other words, either half of America is evil; it just depends on which side of the fence you’re not.

Like I said in the beginning, we as a nation, as parents of children whom we are trying to instill our own morals into, are trying to vote for the man we believe best represents our own code of morality and decision-making.

Sure, our own personal religious beliefs should play into that. But at least for conservative Protestant Republicans, it’s not as simple this time around as choosing the “better Christian.”

So, will America choose a Christian or a Mormon for President in 2012?

 

Top images: US Republican and Democrat, via Shutterstock.

Bottom image: Two voodoo dolls, via Shutterstock.

Leave a comment Posted on parenting, Storytelling

What If Adults Were Forced To Apologize Like Children Are?

August 28, 2012 at 11:09 pm , by 

21 months.

My wife and I are having to daily remind our son Jack that hitting us is not something he is allowed to do. We offer him an alternative, which is petting us like a dog or cat, instead.

Yeah, I know, it sounds goofy but so far it’s helping him understand the difference between being friendly and being offensive.

Every time he does hit us or bite us, we put him in time-out upstairs in his jail cell, I mean bed, and after we remind him of why he was being punished, we make him apologize to the parent he physically attacked.

“Soddy.”

That’s his version of “I’m sorry” and we always gladly accept it. We force him to apologize to help him realize that he must be held accountable for his actions when he hurts others. It’s important that we lay that foundation now.

However, there is a downside to being taught to apologize to a person when you hurt or offend them: You may grow up to become an adult who believes you can’t forgive someone until they apologize to you first.

Two weeks ago I published “The Difference Between Punishing And Disciplining My Child” which explored the stark difference of how we discipline our children in hopes of making them better people, meanwhile we privately or publicly wish harm upon our enemies.

It’s easier to wish ill upon them, as opposed to honestly wanting them to change their ways.

So today I share with you the sequel to that thought:

What if adults were forced to apologize like children are?

More importantly is this question: Do you personally require offenders to apologize to you before you can allow yourself to forgive them?

Last Friday night on 20/20 I watched the 2 hour Diane Sawyer interview with Jaycee Dugard.

I was humbled by the way Jaycee was able to forgive her captors, recognizing that by becoming bitter and requiring their apology to move on would mean that she is continuing to give them power of her even though she has been freed from her captivity and torture.

Despite all they took from her, she now refuses to allow them to take away anything more. But it took forgiving them to be at that point.

It’s safe to say that the majority of us have never experienced anywhere near the level of hell that Jaycee Dugard did during her 18 years of captivity.

Yet she chose to forgive and finds liberty in it.

Yes, I will continue to force my nearly 2 year-old son to apologize when he bites me on the shoulder like a rabid wolf.

But as he grows older and is able to understand, I will also teach him that being apologized to is not a prerequisite to being able to forgive a person. Apologizing is what good people do once they realize they’ve done something wrong.

So it should be no surprise when bad people don’t apologize.

Leave a comment Posted on Health, parenting

Intactivists’ Responses To AAP’s Revised Circumcision Policy

August 28, 2012 at 5:16 am , by 

21 months.

Recently the American Academy of Pediatrics updated its stance on circumcision, saying the benefits outweigh the risks.

If you are a soon-to-be parent of a baby boy who has been trying to figure out whether or not circumcision is right for your son, then the AAP’s statement is good news. Now you can have some closure on this subject.

Circumcision it is. Done.

But if you are an Intactivist, one who actively campaigns against circumcision, then the American Academy of Pediatrics’ revised circumcision stance is bad news:

After all, it means that an organization that most parents would find to be respectable and trustworthy is justifying an unnecessary tradition of genital mutilation.

The AAP’s revised policy takes away the credibility of what Intactivists have been trying to tell us all along.

So much for the neutrality of this article: I’m not an Intactivist, by the way.

Like most parents who have decided to circumcise their son, I am not and have never been passionate about the subject of circumcision.

However, on three different occasions now, I have explained what propelled me to choose circumcision:

Dadvice #5: How Is It Natural To Circumcise Your Son?

Dadvice #6: Is Circumcision Unnecessary And/Or Immoral?

Dadvice #7: A Skeptic’s Letter To Intactivists

When it was all said and done, I had no problem saying this to Intactivists:

“You may be right.” It’s just that ultimately, I don’t care if they’re right. What’s done is done.

It became evident to me that the only way I could find shelter from the tidal wave of violent comments I received in those three Dadvice articles was to A) repent of the sin of circumcising my son, B) start using The Dadabaseas a platform to preach Intactivism, and C) make an oath to not circumcise my next son, should I ever have one.

That sort of parenting extremismsimply turns me off to their ideas, as valid as some of their points may be.

The vibes I have received from most Intactivists have been saturated in condescension, sarcasm, and prejudice.

I realize that stating my opinion on this today is only throwing gasoline on the fire; further perpetuating the frenemy relationship I have with Intactivist readers. Maybe I’m just curious to see if Intactivists will collectively be clever enough to learn how to be relevant in how they communicate with us unbelievers?

Will Intactivists kill me with their kindness? Will they prove me wrong when I say they are condescending to those of us who do not believe the same way as they do?

For their sake, I hope so.

Leave a comment Posted on parenting, Spirituality

Why I Personally Support The Blood:Water Mission For Africa

August 27, 2012 at 12:08 am , by 

21 months.

My wife is the one in the relationship who is the stickler for pushing the toothpaste from the bottom of the tube.

Meanwhile, I am the one who doesn’t allow either of us to let the faucet to run while we are brushing our teeth, except for the brief moments the toothbrush actuallyneeds to be rinsed.

I think it’s no coincidence that here in America, we play in our water (at water parks!) while people in much of the rest of the world don’t even have clean water to drink.

That’s not to say that if we simply reserved our water use, the people on the other side of the world would suddenly have access to the water they need to survive.

Instead, we have to be proactive to help them have access to clean drinking water. Today, I am honored to share with you a way your family can help families in Africa do just that.

This isn’t just a hopeful prayer: “Lord, please help the poor people in Africa.”

Instead, this is you actually helping the poor people in Africa. What an awesome way you can teach your kids how to help those who are less fortunate.

This past weekend I got to meet Wally from The Wally Show, my favorite radio show. They are a big advocate of a grassroots organization called The Blood:Water Mission that empowers communities to work together against the AIDS and water crises.

The Wally Show hosted a Lemon:Aid fundraiser here in Nashville so my wife and I took our son Jack to check it out.

As the sign behind me in this picture above explains, for anyone who bought a $1 cup of lemonade, they helped provide water to one person for a year.

For a $5 cup, they provided water to a family for a year.

For a $25, they provided water for one person for life.

And for $125, they provided water to a family for life.

As you can see, just a few American dollars still go a long way in Africa.

While at the end of the day I could care less about controversial parenting topics like circumcision and the cry it out method, something I am extremely passionate about is actually helping hurting families in less fortunate countries.

The Blood:Water Mission helps countries like Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Zambia, and Rwanda to have water wells installed to provide clean drinking water for their villages.

Here’s a link to their website which explains all the ways your family can do more than just simply donate money to invest in these lovely African people, but also to get involved like the way I just mentioned:

Doing a Lemon:Aid Stand.

I will close with this perfect quote from Bono of U2:

“Where you live should not decide whether you live or whether you die.”

 

 

Leave a comment Posted on Nostalgia, parenting

My Son Says I’m Paul Ryan (And My Dad’s The Gorton’s Fish Sticks Guy)

August 26, 2012 at 2:38 pm , by 

21 months.

As far as my son Jack knows right now, I am running for Vice President of The United States of America.

Last Saturday while I was turning on the TV to set upSesame Street for him, a few seconds of the news was on, featuring coverage of the 2012 Presidential race.

Onto the stage walked Paul Ryan, who is Mitt Romney’s running mate.

“Dada.”

It was a statement; not a question.

There was no hesitation in my son’s voice as he looked up at the screen and proclaimed that I was both sitting in the room with him and on the TV at the same time.

Turns out, I am not Paul Ryan and I’m not running for office.

But my son, in all certainty, believes Paul Ryan and I are the same person.

Similarly, Jack thinks that every man with a grayish white beard and hair is my dad, who he calls “Papa.”

From the Gorton’s fish sticks guy to Santa Claus, if my son sees a picture that resembles any likeness to my dad, he dubs that man as Papa.

What’s really interesting concerning my son’s perception of people is the way he sees himself.

I can be pushing him in the jogging stroller around the neighborhood and every time we see another kid around his age, he says, “Baby.”

Other toddlers are “babies” to Jack.

At least he’s consistent. Recently I showed him a picture I had just taken of himself; one where he didn’t realize he was the one in the picture.

His response: “Baby.”

So I guess Jack understands that he is a baby. He is self-aware like that.

Meanwhile, I am Paul Ryan and my dad is the fish sticks guy on the yellow box.

(It is possible to assume I am attempting to subliminally convince you to vote for Mitt Romney and to make Gorton’s fish sticks for dinner tonight. Just keep in mind: I am both a Libertarian and a vegetarian. But man, I do sort of miss fish tacos.)