The Pariah
I think we take our own upbringing for granted. I never realized that until I had children. My kids truly look up to me. No. I mean it. Their mother, my beautiful wife, tells them that their daddy is really smart, so listen up she tells them. Wow. And they listen to me.
As I drive my son to his karate lessons, we'll be listening to Hugh Hewitt or Mark Levin, and then my son will ask me a question about Obamacare. But his question to me is just off target. He's only 9 yrs old for Pete's sake.
Today he asked if we all have obamacare currently. I say no, we're all just talking about it for now. And this is the thing. When I was his age I listened to my mother's everyword. I didn't know any difference between the political parties. I remember though, that my mom was really sad and upset that Jimmy Carter lost to President Ronald Reagan. And so I was sad with her. I was a good little soldier for my mommy. I came of age in the 80's, and that says so much about my leanings.
I went to the big left coast liberal college is southern california. All my leftist upbringing was echoed back to me. Nothing challenged me politically.
Except when reality would intrude. My girlfriend at the time and I went to a Michael Dukakis rally the night before the big election. Hollywood stars of the time were out in force. Ted Danson was the big name at the time and he was the night's emcee as I recall. The band was hot. We were pumped. And then the human wet blanket came out to talk. When Dukakis talked a sloth could appear lively. My girlfriend and I turned to each other and we shook our heads. We both said to each other, "Oh, he's gonna lose tomorrow." And sure enough, he got trounced by George H.W. Bush.
And so the 80's were coming to a close.
I got my generalist BA degree in '91. And then I bumped around for a while. I met my eventual wife. Got a career started. Had kids. And started paying taxes...
Way, way too many taxes. But I was a good lefty. But what I didn't know then, that I see now, is that I was making Hard Right Turns. (apologies to Michael Medved, but he doesn't have the market cornered on seeing the light). My turns began from a fiscal perspective. I wanted to keep the hard earned money that I was starting to make in life.
Flash forward to today, and I am now a fully converted and born again, ice cold, Reagan conservative. But that now makes me a pariah in my own family. I can't have any sensible political conversation with my mom, the communist pundit. My brother is a Ron Paul Libertarian with socialist and conspiracy tendencies. My sister is left, but she doesn't really go bold like her mother. My wife is learning from me, but she still has moments when she needs corrective learning moments. You see, she is a former public school teacher. That's a lot of indoctrination in leftist ideology right there.
I have to tamp my mouth shut at family functions. Peace in the family is more important than throwing leftist ideas under the proverbial bus. Really, it is.
Dennis Prager agrees with me on this point and I appreciate his shows where he confirms that you can choose your friends based on politics, but you can't choose your family based on those same parameters. It is something that I have heard him say many times on his radio show.
So here I am - the pariah in my family. Wait, not so fast. My son and daughter are my clay. And I can be the potter. Oh dear Jesus, help me to first raise them to respect and honor you. All right ideas and wisdom start there.
As I drive my son to his karate lessons, we'll be listening to Hugh Hewitt or Mark Levin, and then my son will ask me a question about Obamacare. But his question to me is just off target. He's only 9 yrs old for Pete's sake.
Today he asked if we all have obamacare currently. I say no, we're all just talking about it for now. And this is the thing. When I was his age I listened to my mother's everyword. I didn't know any difference between the political parties. I remember though, that my mom was really sad and upset that Jimmy Carter lost to President Ronald Reagan. And so I was sad with her. I was a good little soldier for my mommy. I came of age in the 80's, and that says so much about my leanings.
I went to the big left coast liberal college is southern california. All my leftist upbringing was echoed back to me. Nothing challenged me politically.
Except when reality would intrude. My girlfriend at the time and I went to a Michael Dukakis rally the night before the big election. Hollywood stars of the time were out in force. Ted Danson was the big name at the time and he was the night's emcee as I recall. The band was hot. We were pumped. And then the human wet blanket came out to talk. When Dukakis talked a sloth could appear lively. My girlfriend and I turned to each other and we shook our heads. We both said to each other, "Oh, he's gonna lose tomorrow." And sure enough, he got trounced by George H.W. Bush.
And so the 80's were coming to a close.
I got my generalist BA degree in '91. And then I bumped around for a while. I met my eventual wife. Got a career started. Had kids. And started paying taxes...
Way, way too many taxes. But I was a good lefty. But what I didn't know then, that I see now, is that I was making Hard Right Turns. (apologies to Michael Medved, but he doesn't have the market cornered on seeing the light). My turns began from a fiscal perspective. I wanted to keep the hard earned money that I was starting to make in life.
Flash forward to today, and I am now a fully converted and born again, ice cold, Reagan conservative. But that now makes me a pariah in my own family. I can't have any sensible political conversation with my mom, the communist pundit. My brother is a Ron Paul Libertarian with socialist and conspiracy tendencies. My sister is left, but she doesn't really go bold like her mother. My wife is learning from me, but she still has moments when she needs corrective learning moments. You see, she is a former public school teacher. That's a lot of indoctrination in leftist ideology right there.
I have to tamp my mouth shut at family functions. Peace in the family is more important than throwing leftist ideas under the proverbial bus. Really, it is.
Dennis Prager agrees with me on this point and I appreciate his shows where he confirms that you can choose your friends based on politics, but you can't choose your family based on those same parameters. It is something that I have heard him say many times on his radio show.
So here I am - the pariah in my family. Wait, not so fast. My son and daughter are my clay. And I can be the potter. Oh dear Jesus, help me to first raise them to respect and honor you. All right ideas and wisdom start there.
Comments
Post a Comment