Kinship Matters
The following remarks were prepared by Joanne Beckman for the debate on the Marriage Protection Amendment debate at the March 2011 Durham County Republican Party Convention. The allotted time for debate ended before Joanne had an opportunity to add her voice to the discussion.
Marriage and Kinship Matters
Marriage is primarily a social bond to strengthen kinship, not a means to fulfill desire. So concludes political science professor Dale Kuehne in his book Sex and the iWorld . Sexuality serves extended families, not individuals. Two or three generations of lifelong male-female marriages are stronger. Marriage is not intended to fulfill sex drives, but to select the best set of persons to create a lasting inclusive family! Think of your known blood relatives: We all belong to our kin by marriage. Think of “Ancestry.com”, the legacy of your family tree. Human kinship bonds all of us. Individual needs or losses can be met without unraveling this strong family foundation.
Another excellent book, Marriage and the Public Good: Ten Principles, reports forty years of scholarship on marriage and its recent threats: divorce, cohabitation, illegitimacy, and samesex unions. This research confirms monogamy has lasting societal benefits, unmatched by other sexual relations. This heritage will be lost if marriage is redefined; and an unpredictable, anemic, and costly “brave new world” will fill the vacuum.
Prosperity and freedom also depend on kinship. Most jobs come from “Mom and Pop” small business. The economy and society reward matrimony because they depend on its health. Loyal kinship generates and inherits wealth, reducing poverty. We know that ready students and productive citizens usually come from stable marriages. Religion and law both recognize such bonds because marriage benefits all.
In short, this debate is about the public good. Scholars report that kinship based on lifelong matrimony is the best foundation for society, prosperity, and freedom. Please protect marriage and kinship by voting FOR the Marriage Protection Amendment on May 8th .
© Joanne S. Beckman, PhD, March 14, 2011
Ash Pathak:
November 17th, 2012 at 4:20 pm
I want to comment on the fact that the RNC should focus on trying to get Indians (from India) to be a larger part of our voting block. Indians, by nature, are conservative. But unfortunately, most of them have succumbed to the Democrat talking points that Democrats are the party for the minorities. There is a very large Indian community in the US who are not only professionals, but also small business owners, like restaurants, indian grocery, 7-11 type stores, gas stations, etc. They have also come here legally, as my parents did. They believe in fiscal responsibility, etc. You should really reach out to these individuals, as you try to reach out to the Hispanics.
admin:
November 17th, 2012 at 11:23 pm
I hope the Republican Party’s foundational principles of limited government and individual liberty
have universal appeal. At its best, the GOP does not divide the electorate into subgroups, offering spoils to each,
which seems to be all that undergirds the Democrats’ political philosophy. But of course you are suggesting outreach,
which I take to mean both educating the community about Republican principles and listening to the community
to learn which of its concerns the Republicans can and should address and prioritize.
How can we best accomplish this? At the level of Durham County, where the Republican Party is
a purely volunteer organization run by those who are willing to contribute their time, the first thing we need to do
is find someone who knows the community, is concerned, and is interested in helping. Sounds like that could be you.
Drop by the January DCGOP meeting. Your precinct 54 does not have a chair. Become a precinct chair and you are on your way to
ensuring that the Republican Party represents your principles. If not you then who?