Senator Brownback is announcing his intent to run for president live on CSPAN. Honestly, I'm an open minded kind of guy. And, awkward though it is for a Democrat, I agree wholeheartedly with Republicans that "we need stronger families." But Brownback says that depends on a commitment to "marriage between one man and one woman for life[emphasis added]." Do you think this means that in addition to opposing same-gender marriage (not to mention polygamy), we should be looking at a constitutional amendment to prohibit divorce? Should we, furthermore, institute a policy to find replacement spouses for parents, or even single people, who've lost a partner through death or abandonment?
Marriage is a wonderful institution giving certain benefits to people who commit legally to care for each other. This is a good thing. We should encourage people to care for each other in every way we can. The way to support stronger families is not through narrowly defining marriage.
How about economic policies that make it possible for one partner to earn enough money to support the family, enabling the other to provide physical care for the family or volunteer service to the community? How about vacation, sick leave, family leave policies that enable the family to spend more time together?
How about stronger neighborhoods that make it possible for families to work and shop in the neighborhood where they live? How about support for neighborhood child care facilities to help children in families with two working parents?
How about agriculture policies that promote production and processing of healthful foods? Housing policies that make safe housing affordable for everyone? Education policies that focus on providing what every child needs rather than just bringing the most disadvantaged children up to average?
No comments:
Post a Comment