Two Quotes about 100 years apart

-
First the old one:

"The home is the home of everybody of the nation. No nation can have a proper home unless the women as well as the men give their best to its building up and to making it what a home ought to be, a place where every single child born into it shall have a fair chance of growing up to be a fit, and happy, and a useful member of the community."

This is by Emmeline Pankhurst from her famous Women Sufferage speech "The Importance of the Vote" in March 1908.

“Every spark of friendship and love will die without a home.” This is by Win Butler (Arcade Fire) from their 2007 release Neon Bible.

I am sure it is obvious, but i am very interested in the home and wondering how we will make it through our current destruction. I don't find it strange that in a hundred years we go from the leading feminist voice to one of her great, great grandchildren ... a Canadian artist who knows the experience (like anyone my age does) of the destruction of the home. Please hear me correct, this is destruction wrecked by all Americans, not the feminist movement. Men are most often the leavers in homes and the destruction takes all forms.

Lord help us to build homes.

Comments

Jarrett said…
Neon Bible is a great album. I think it should be mandatory listening material for Christians. Very powerful and prophetic critiques of religion today.
January 19, 2009 at 10:40 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Intellectualized Racism is Still Racism

-
Image
John Eastman wrote an opinion piece in Newsweek on Aug 12th 2020 asking questions about Kamala Harris's right to run as Vice President. Eastman is actually arguing what he wishes/wants to the law to say: that you are only a citizen by birth if your are parent was a citizen, AKA he is questioning birthright citizenship. Birthright citizenship is one of the unique things about America and it massively contributes to our diversity as a nation.  It is also born out of the racist maneuvering of the laws around slavery. The famous Dred Scott case of 1857, which contributed to starting the civil war, resulted in a 7-2 decision that African American Dred Scott had no claim because he was not a citizen. In an opinion written by Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger Taney, the court ruled that black people "are not included, and were not intended to be included, under the word 'citizen' in the Constitution, and can therefore claim none of the rights and privileges which that instrum
Read more

The Hearth

-
Image
"A stove used to furnish more than mere warmth. It was a focus, a hearth, a place that gathered the work and leisure of a family and gave the house a center. Its coldness marked the morning, and the spreading of its warmth the beginning of the day. It assigned to the different family members tasks that defined their place in the household. The mother built the fire, the children kept the firebox filled, and the father cut the firewood. It provided for the entire family a regular and bodily engagement with the rhythm of the seasons that was woven together of the threat of cold and solace of warmth, the smell of wood smoke, the exertion of sawing and of carrying, the teaching of skills and the fidelity to daily tasks." (Albert Borgmann: Technology and the Character of Contemporary Life ) So what is our new center? Warmth is now provided in a completely uniform way requiring no demands on our skill, strength or attention. In fact, the warmth device (central heating system) is c
Read more

Lack of Empathy from Liberals

-
I just finished a book which I don't want to name. It was by a really good parent and about parenting children with neurodifferences. It had great information and ideas in and and it came recommended to me by close friends who I love and respect and who are also exceptional parents. So I really don't have anything to say about the content of the book or the need for the book.  It was the tone. It was clear from many references this person was a certain type, an NPR listener, someone who used  to drink diet coke, fluent in a million cliches, etc. This type could be narrowed to white liberal, but lets just stick with liberal for the moment. One major beef liberals (which I consider myself in the completely impoverished terms we have for ourselves in this country) have with conservatives, is how narrow-minded they are and how they refuse to see various perspectives and have empathy for people who are different than themselves. Liberals typically wear the love of difference on thei
Read more