Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Parental participation


Russell Moore did a recent post on whether a Christian parent should attend their atheist daughter's wedding:


I'd like to make a quick observation. Mothers and fathers have different roles to play in the lives of their children. For instance, a mother might attend to keep the lines of communication open while a father might absent himself to express disapproval. It's not as if both parents must do the same thing. 

I'm not addressing this specific case, but making a general point. Mothers and fathers don't necessarily have the same duties in situations like this. By the same token, there are stereotypical differences in how sons relate to their mother or father, and how daughters relate to their mother or father. 

Grown children sometimes have conflicted feelings about parents. On the one hand they value their independence. On the other hand, they still hanker for parental approval. 

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