Sunday, February 8, 2009

Taking back family values (or the term, anyway).

(warning-heavy use of the word 'family' to follow)

I was checking gay news site G.A.Y., and it only occurred to me just now-how and why did liberals allow conservatives hijack the word 'family' to mean 'anti-gay'? Look at GAY's archive section:
That's three organisations claiming to represent families, one of which claims to do research about families. And there are more:

I'm not surprised to see a sword and shield, considering their Medieval beliefs.

Because Jesus was totally against those red commie ideas like 'social justice.'

And of course, there our favourite Aussie nationalist fundies, the CDP.

And:Freddy seems to be so insecure about what his party stands for, he needs to overcompensate with fonts the size of billboards.

And don't get me started on the ironically titled* 'Family First Party.' But seriously, how did we let this happen? I don't see anything even remotely 'pro-family' about preventing gays from gaining rights or preventing families from planning for how many children they want (condoms are apparently Satan's headgear). Yet, these are issues that the conservatives and fundies attack in the name of "protecting family values." And when anybody (or at least me) thinks of the term 'family values' their first thought is of some random US fundie organisation.

The only way to reverse this (or at least slow the pace) is to coin our our 'liberal family values.'** I'll start a list. Liberal family values are (in no particular order):
  • Living by the golden rule. This isn't necessarily a 'liberals' only' value, but ultraconservatives never abide by it. Hence, I'm highlighting the importance of treating others as you would be treated. Everything below relates to the golden rule, but I thought I'd emphasise their importance.
  • Respect for your brother's autonomy. That is, other people have a right to live their lives without your interference. If this extends to self-harm (ie gambling) then you should intervene, however it's always difficult to judge when you should or should not interfere.
  • Accepting responsibility for your actions. Pretty self-explanatory. Again, not exclusively to liberals, but conservative political leaders certainly don't abide by it.
  • Actively standing up for your principles. Modern-day liberalism would have never existed were it not for the civil rights activists and suffragettes of before. Funnily enough, despite it effectively founding modern liberalism, defending your ideals is one of the strongest conservative principles.
  • Unition over division. Perhaps emphasised most by Obama, this may at first seem obvious. However, it is extremely easy to focus on diversive ideals. Take, for example, the feminist sex wars. Individual feminist groups focused on the relatively minor issue of pornography, instead of uniting against the wider scale problems of sexism, like rape and discrimination. Ironically, this was also during the rise of the religious right (in particular during the Reagan era), so this in-fighting only helped the anti-abortionists.
Well, it's a start anyway. The sooner we take the 'family' and 'family values' away from the right's retoric, the better. Any and all suggestions are welcome.

*The relevant point is down the bottom. Although not directly related to their anti-gay shtick, it is difficult for a family to survive when the woman has died from an illegal abortion.

**Yes, I use the term 'liberal' and not 'progressive' deliberately. To paraphrase Charlton Heston, conservatives will take the word 'liberal' from my cold dead hands.

2 comments:

ps said...

Great idea Tom.

must dash - bath time duties call

ps said...

Tom have you come across WAFF?.