• For as long as can remember, my father has quested to top himself each year with his Christmas gifts for my mother – always looking to get her some new gadget or equipment that she would have never realized she always wanted. Sometimes he has succeeded, but often the hype in his head is greater than the real reaction. He has also always had a trend of uniquely labeling his gifts to her (e.g., From: XY/To: XX). To these, my mother has always had a positive reaction (even when they were bordering on inappropriate).
  Moral: Sometimes the giving is more important than the gift.
• Both my father and my sister have always been very ‘tell it like it is’ types of people … but in slightly different ways. My dad in such that he does not sugar-coat much of anything (except perhaps in his business – he IS a salesman after all). My sister in such that should tends to be very curtly honest to the extent that she doesn’t always know what she shouldn’t likely be straight with people about. On more than one occasion this combination led to someone being offended by something that my dad probably shouldn’t have said around my sister and that my sister definitely shouldn’t have relayed on to the subject matter.
  Moral: Whenever opening your mouth, beware of feet.
• Growing up, I saw my father primarily on the weekends. When my wife and I first were seriously dating, I ended up moving in with her and her family for a year – I didn’t see her father for the first 3 months I was there. With my dad, I know how he felt about the situation because when he was home he tried to make up for the time he wasn’t. Now I’ve got 2 kids of my own and I find myself working long hours on occasion when I’d rather be at home with them.
  Moral: If you don’t understand work-life balance, don’t expect your kids to get it either.

I can’t claim to have it all worked out – I don’t even always get these things right a lot of the time. But the foundation is there leading my intentions (and hopefully leading my actions more often than not).

I accept that I am at odds with my family each time we are faced with a major election.  I opted some time ago to part ways religiously with my upbringing and as a result my political views also shifted to be more liberal.  I understand the role that religion serves for some people and I do not push my beliefs on others.  But I do believe that we can have sensible morals without them having to be based on religious doctrine – especially since many of the religions of the world can’t even find consensus about their own doctrines (e.g., Christianity) nonetheless each other.

Which brings me to my next point: if we do try to base our laws and ideals on the teachings of faith, whose faith is right?  Can we even pick one without alienating others?  If we try to be non-denominational in such a choice, don’t we run the risk of being too vague and/or alienating everyone?

Again, I don’t begrudge anyone their religious beliefs.  If everyone in charge of our nation believes in some religion, I’m ok with that.  What I’m not okay with is them trying to dictate that their religious beliefs should be the basis of laws that govern us.  It is bad enough that there are religions that ostracize those that don’t play by their rules, even worse that the law of our land could enforce such rules.  The laws of our land should protect and serve all of our people regardless of their beliefs, race, language, sexual orientation or any other traits.

Most importantly, the decisions that our government makes regarding the law of the land should not draw black and white lines through gray areas, but rather keep our people from falling through the cracks in these areas.  So rather than continuing to argue about abortion rights, we should focus on minimizing the need for abortions.  Rather than bickering about marriage rights, remove the barriers that keep couples from living their lives on their terms.  Instead of trying to mandate questionable subject matter in our schools, foster a broader understanding of a variety of beliefs and practices throughout the world and leave certain discussions and choices in the hands of parents.

Throughout our history, this nation has been a safe haven and a bastion of freedom to practice any set of beliefs.  Our founding fathers fought for this freedom and made it a point to exclude religious affiliation from the laws of this nation.  The only way to ensure our freedom to practice our faiths is to avoid legislating around them.  Our laws should protect our freedoms, not constrain them.  And to allow any set of beliefs to blindly guide our choices (in law or in life) will only lead us to our own demise.