Jack Kemp forwards this:

What it Means to Be a Father

From the article:

"Earlier this year I attended the trial of a young male accused of attempted murder. When it came time for sentencing, the judge allowed family members to speak on his behalf. The only family male present was his great-grandfather. With tears welling in his eyes, he told the court he was a "good boy who fell in with the wrong crowd.” I asked the judge for permission to speak, asking, "Why isn’t this boy’s father or his grandfather here?” Sadly, we learned that neither one had been involved in his life. Two generations of fathers–absent from duty! The judge said he sees this "all the time.”

Prisons are full of young men who have fathers—if they can be found. I have been told that when Mother’s Day approaches and cards are offered virtually every male prisoner asks for one. But come Father’s Day, there is dead silence. The truth is being a father is more of an emotional bond than biological. Being a responsible and caring father comes from the heart."

Read the rest at Townhall. A WORD FROM TIM:

My buddy 7lb. Dave has a step father. He never calls him that; he calls him dad. Mr. 7lb. is a good man who treated Dave as his own son, and there is a bond that can never be broken, even though there are no genetic relations between the two. He's his dad, plain and simple.

Mr. 7lb. chose to be father to Dave and his siblings, and made the committment. His "real" father chose to not be part of young Dave's life, and as a result is nothing but a biological appendage, at best. On Father's Day Dave spends time with his step dad, not his biological father. He's his real father.

Boys need fathers. Girls too. Without them they are rootless, and do indeed fall in with bad crowds, because those crowds offer a sense of family, something a kid doesn't get in a one parent home with a mother who is so overworked she can't spend a lot of time with her children. Boys join gangs and committ crimes while girls get pregnant and repeat the cycle.

Here is my Birds-eye view of the fruits of fatherlessness and the cycle of poverty.

Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at 08:22 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 393 words, total size 3 kb.