Women are in my view natural peacemakers. As givers and nurturers of life through their focus on human relationships and their engagement with the demanding work of raising children and protecting family life they develop a deep sense of empathy that cuts through to underlying human realities.
People under the influence of cults is similar to that we observe in addicts. Typical behaviour for both includes draining bank accounts neglecting children destroying relations with family and losing interest in anything except the drug or cult.
Children in a family are like flowers in a bouquet: there's always one determined to face in an opposite direction from the way the arranger desires.
Historically the family has played the primary role in educating children for life with the school providing supplemental scaffolding to the family.
When families are strong and stable so are children - showing higher levels of wellbeing and more positive outcomes. But when things go wrong - either through family breakdown or a damaged parental relationship - the impact on a child's later life can be devastating.
The breakdown of the black community in order to maintain slavery began with the breakdown of the black family. Men and women were not legally allowed to get married because you couldn't have that kind of love. It might get in the way of the economics of slavery. Your children could be taken from you and literally sold down the river.
A family is a unit composed not only of children but of men women an occasional animal and the common cold.
Left-wing politicians take away your liberty in the name of children and of fighting poverty while right-wing politicians do it in the name of family values and fighting drugs. Either way government gets bigger and you become less free.
The moment someone chooses to trust in Jesus Christ his sins are wiped away and he is adopted into God's family. That individual is set apart as a child of God with a sacred purpose.
There are no adequate substitutes for father mother and children bound together in a loving commitment to nurture and protect. No government no matter how well-intentioned can take the place of the family in the scheme of things.
In December I agreed to extend the tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans because it was the only way I could prevent a tax hike on middle-class Americans. But we cannot afford $1 trillion worth of tax cuts for every millionaire and billionaire in our society. We can't afford it. And I refuse to renew them again.