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Fount of Virtue, Spring of Wealth: How the Strong Family Sustains a Prosperous Society
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11600 |
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Section : |
MODERN THOUGHT
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| Issue
Date : |
8 / 1994 |
6,252 Words |
| Author
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Charmaine Crouse Yoest
Charmaine Crouse Yoest is a Bradley fellow at the University
of Virginia and a public policy consultant. She is former
deputy director of policy at the Family Research Council, a
Washington-based study institute.
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Daddy," I asked, "will you have to go to war?"
At that point, the Vietnam War, for me, consisted primarily of television footage of helicopters and soldiers in the jungle. I was terrified that my father would be called to go to war and die at any moment.
"No, honey," he replied, "the military doesn't draft men who are in school."
Still not understanding why men had to fight and die in wars, I pressed on. "But what if you did have to go? Would you really go?"
"Yes, I would. Sometimes men have to fight to protect the people they love," he explained. "If a burglar wanted to break into our house, I would fight to keep your mom and you and your brother safe."
As he talked, I understood: There are things that are worth dying for. For my dad, like many other people, the list begins with family.
That night my father taught me the integral connection between family and country-that there are times when the burglar is another country and the house our families live in is our country. And so it is with most of the lessons children need to learn as they grow and mature-they are best taught and modeled in the context of family. Children are the future citizens of any nation. For this reason, societies have a stake in whether children are raised to become good citizens rather than bad
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