Father figure?
Man, that phrase sticks in my craw.

Kids need a father, not a father figure.  Still, I understand the sentiment, considering the high percentage of prison inmates who were raised without fathers…

Oh, and, yes, ZB, you should be ashamed.  For penance, go watch the public service cartoon from Johnny Dangerously 3 times and see if you can add even more wisecracks to this post.

Every Sperm is Sacred wouldn’t suffice?

And, given that they’re talking about lesbian couples, would you suspect that the father figure would have pins sticking into it?

I agree with Nathan, but I will say that my brother who was raised without a father, but with a father figure, is a man of integrity and character, and in terms of “success” (read:  worldly success), he is.

I don’t think I turned out too bad myself.

I will say that my brother and I do wonder at how we would have turned out if we had had a real father.  The donators (and that is all they really were regardless of being married to our mother) were some majorly messed-up men and I am certain that we were better off without them.  That doesn’t necessarily apply to everyone, but it did for two children out there.

To categorically say that children don’t need a “father/father figure” is a sad deception.  I very much believe in the contributions of both sexes to form an emotionally and cognitively healthy child growing into an adult.

Rae,
Good point.  Better a father figure than a male who doesn’t shoulder the responsibility of being actively involved in the raising of his children.

Kids need dads.  Choosing to be in a situation without a father is irresponsible.  The families that have that thrust upon them and do what they can to survive and thrive are heroic.  God’s plan, mom and dad, I know, I’m simplistic.  AND . . . dear husband will be with me on Saturday, is that okay?

Of course it is. Unless he expects me to call him “dear husband,” in which case we’ve got a problem.

As for the parenting thing, I do have to say this: I am a supporter of same sex couples adopting kids. I have first hand knowledge of a couple instances where it has been ably demonstrated to me that a child can find a healthy, loving, nurturing home with lesbian or gay parents.

I don’t consider that ideal (in that I do think that kids need good role models of both sexes to help them develop healthy ideas of how men and women and boys and girls interact), I do consider it to be better than the alternative in some situations.

I’ll leave it at that.

Stacy, I believe in God’s plan, too.  I appreciate and agree with the allowance for those who didn’t specifically choose to ignore the contributions of a specific sex, but the issue is that not everyone believes in God’s plan, and if someone isn’t a Christian, why should those who are expect them to adhere to convictions stemming from God?

It is an OT thought, but I really struggle with the lack of grace that Christians have for those who don’t believe just as they do.  For years I would become angy and frustrated with people who behaved differently than I thought they should behave, according to my beliefs.  Plainly put, if I claim to believe that it is the Holy Spirit of God that frames my paradigm (regenerates me), why do I expect those without the Holy Spirit of God to have the same paradigm?

Wheels, now that I’ve actually read through the comments (sorry, folks, but my time spent blogging has been cut into considerably over the last few days), I see that you are right.

“Every Sperm is Sacred” would have been the perfect Monty Python song for this post.