The Centennial of Father's Day

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By Mark Alexander · Thursday, June 17, 2010

And a case study in the fate of the fatherless, Barack Obama

"It is the duty of parents to maintain their children decently, and according to their circumstances; to protect them according to the dictates of prudence; and to educate them according to the suggestions of a judicious and zealous regard for their usefulness, their respectability and happiness." --James Wilson

Father's Day was first celebrated the third Sunday in June in the year 1910.

The original observance was in honor of William Jackson Smart, an Arkansas veteran of the War Between the States, who raised a daughter and five sons on his own, after his wife died giving birth to their sixth child. Smart was devoted to his children, as they were to him, and his daughter, Sonora Smart Dodd, wanted to honor her father for that devotion.

Though Mother's Day had been observed in one form or another for centuries, Fathers Day was a fitting complement, and within a few years following the first ceremony, it became a national rite.

While this first formal recognition came about just a century ago, it was abundantly clear to our Founding Fathers that families with both mothers and fathers were critical to the well-being of children.

John Adams wrote, "The foundation of national morality must be laid in private families.... How is it possible that Children can have any just Sense of the sacred Obligations of Morality or Religion if, from their earliest Infancy, they learn their Mothers live in habitual Infidelity to their fathers, and their fathers in as constant Infidelity to their Mothers?"

His wife, Abigail, wrote, "What is it that affectionate parents require of their Children; for all their care, anxiety, and toil on their accounts? Only that they would be wise and virtuous, Benevolent and kind."

The vital role of fathers has been extolled throughout history, in virtually every religion and culture. No less, it is now well understood that the foundation of our nation is "laid in private families," and that this foundation is critical if the next generation is to be "wise and virtuous, Benevolent and kind."

Unfortunately, there is an epidemic of negligence among fathers today, and consequently (according to the CDC, DoJ, DHHS and the Bureau of the Census) the 30 percent of children who live apart from their fathers will account for 63 percent of teen suicides, 70 percent of juveniles in state-operated institutions, 71 percent of high-school dropouts, 75 percent of children in chemical-abuse centers, 80 percent of rapists, 85 percent of youths in prison, 85 percent of children who exhibit behavioral disorders, and 90 percent of homeless and runaway children.

The causal link between fatherless children and crime "is so strong that controlling for family configuration erases the relationship between race and crime and between low income and crime," notes social researcher Barbara Dafoe Whitehead.

More to the point, a counselor at a juvenile-detention facility in California, which has the nation's highest juvenile-incarceration rate, protested, "[If] you find a gang member who comes from a complete nuclear family, I'd like to meet him. ... I don't think that kid exists."

Arguably, the vast majority of social problems confronting our nation today originate in homes without fathers, which would include those without functioning or effective fathers.

"Maturity does not come with age, but with the accepting of responsibility for one's actions," writes family therapist, Dr. Edwin Cole. "The lack of effective, functioning fathers is the root cause of America's social, economic and spiritual crises."

I note here that while most fatherless homes are the result of neglect on the part of fathers, an increasing number of fatherless homes are the result of mothers who separate from the fathers of their children without reasonable grounds for severance. However, the majority of those separations are generationally related to dissolved families, where the broken trust between a daughter and her father is directly related to the inability of that daughter to, later in life, form a trusting bond necessary for a healthy marriage with her husband.

Of course, there are young people who were raised by a single parent, or in critically dysfunctional or impoverished homes, but who overcame that impediment. Either they were blessed with a parent who, against all but insurmountable odds, instilled their children with the values and virtues of good citizenship or, somewhere along the way, those children were lifted out of their misery by the grace of God -- often in the form of a significant mentor who modeled individual responsibility and character.

As a result, they have been empowered to internalize their locus of responsibility, to take responsibility for the consequences of their choices and behavior.

However, the vast majority of those from homes without fathers externalize responsibility for problems and solutions, holding others to blame for their ills, and bestowing upon the state the duty of providing basic needs and, ultimately, of arbitrating proper conduct.

The failure of fatherhood is more than just a social problem; it is a menacing national security threat. The collective social pathology of the fatherless has dire consequences for the future of Liberty, free enterprise and the survival of our republican form of government as outlined by our Constitution.

One may rightly conclude that most "liberalism," the rejection of Essential Liberty and Rule of Law, is rooted in pathology that runs much deeper than topical ideological indoctrination. Indeed, psychopathology dictates, or frames, worldview, and worldview is manifested in such expressions as political affiliation.

In this respect, the pathology of the Left is transparent.

This pathology tends to result in mental rigidity, fear, anger, aggression and insecurity, the result of low self-esteem and arrested emotional development associated, predominantly, with fatherless households or critically dysfunctional families in which children were not adequately affirmed. Such individuals harbor contempt for those who are self-sufficient for much the same reason. They believe that conforming to a code of non-conformity is a sign of individualism, when it is nothing more than an extreme form of conformism for those who are truly insecure. Though they feign concern for the less fortunate and the primacy of individual liberty, they are ardent statists.

They fear loss because most have suffered significant loss. They often come from socially or economically deprived single-parent homes, though inheritance-welfare trust-babies (see Gore, Kerry, the Kennedys, et al.) manifest similar insecurities about helplessness without external sustenance (their trust funds). They reject individual and social responsibility because such principles were not modeled for them as children -- and the generational implications for Liberty are ominous.

Some of the fatherless (or those with ineffectual fathers), seek to compensate for the resulting insecurities through overachievement, which is to say they are case studies of Narcissistic Personality Disorder, as outlined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders -- the standard reference used for psychiatric evaluation. These deprived children are relentlessly driven by self-interest, narcissism and visions of grandiosity.

The more notorious of narcissists in the last century include Adolf Hitler, Iosif Vissarionouich Djugashvili (Joseph Stalin), Mao Zedong and Saddam Hussein.

The more seemingly benign of the fatherless (or those without effective fathers) in recent U.S. political history include Bill Clinton, Albert Gore, John Kerry, and the textbook case of Barack Hussein Obama.

On the official White House website, the bio for Obama begins, "His story is the American story -- values from the heartland, a middle-class upbringing in a strong family..."

That is certainly the image Obama would like to project, but it is most certainly not accurate.

Like so many Leftists, his roots are shallow and broken, and they are in no way a reflection of "values from the heartland."

"Barry," as he was called when a youngster, was born in 1961 to Stanley "Ann" Dunham, an atheist anthropologist, and Barack Obama Sr., a Muslim from the Luo tribe in Kenya. When he was just two, Obama's parents separated and later divorced. Obama's mother then married another Muslim, Lolo Soetoro, an Indonesian national. Barack took his stepfather's name and he and his mother moved with Lolo to Jakarta, where he spent four years in local Islamic schools. Ann and Lolo also divorced, but not before sending Barry to Hawaii to reside with his maternal grandparents and attend the exclusive Punahou School.

In those years, young Obama was greatly influenced by others, most notably an avowed Marxist, Frank Marshall Davis, and later a "spiritual mentor," Jeremiah Wright, who spewed racial hatred.

Barry Obama's search for identity

Often accompanying narcissistic pathology, as in the case of Obama, are strong charismatic abilities, which attract a cult of sycophantic followers, or as Obama put it in the opening pages of his political autobiography, "I serve as a blank screen on which people of vastly different political stripes project their own views."

It's no coincidence that Obama's most loyal constituencies are the product of the social, cultural and economic blight in many urban settings, breeding grounds for legions of disenfranchised Leftists, those who are largely dependent on the state for all manner of their welfare, protection and sustenance.

When campaigning for president, Obama proclaimed, "What Washington needs is adult supervision." Unfortunately, young Barry never received enough of it himself that he might provide it to anyone else, much less an entire nation.

To be sure, all good-hearted Americans should possess a measure of compassion for young Barry Obama, whose bizarre formative years were marked by complete familial disintegration.

Unfortunately, misplaced empathy has played a key role in his unchecked rapid rise through the ranks to the most powerful political seat in the world -- at great peril to the future of liberty. Actions have consequences, and the grossly negligent act of electing a "community organizer" to the presidency -- is producing devastating consequences, as even many leftists are now discovering.

So where to go from here?

In regard to fatherhood, the foundational future of our nation will spring from our homes, as John and Abigail Adams understood.

The fate of the fatherless is, at best, a broken heart. At worst, it is the root cause of the social entropy we observe in contemporary American culture, because the fate of the fatherless is directly linked to the faith of the fatherless, their relationship with God the Father. Broken trust with earthly fathers often results in a lack of trust in the Heavenly Father.

On this Father's Day Centennial, we should pay tribute to the irreplaceable institution of marriage and fatherhood -- and the importance of a father's love, discipline, support and protection for his children. Every day, those of us who are fathers should encourage other fathers to be accountable for their marriages and children. (For excellent fathering resources, link to First Things First).

There is much that can be done for the fatherless -- mentoring through Boy Scouts, coaching little-league sports, teaching in Sunday school, tutoring and volunteering to work with high-risk kids through an inner-city ministry, to name just a few. We, as American Patriots, must bridge the gap for these kids.

As for this publisher, it is a privilege beyond all others to be a husband to Ann and father of three. Indeed, no reward could be greater than the close relationship with my children, and to see their progress as Patriots-in-training -- responsible young citizens committed to carrying forward the flame of liberty.

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Johnnie Roper

I agree with the idea that a family with 2 loving parents is one of the mainstays of stable and functional children when they grow up, even if it is from a second or even third marriage. I have seldom known children of a disfunctional family who did not have troubles of one type or another.

Posted June 17, 2010 at 12:04:12 PM

R Hall

If Obama's parents were married, then it was bigamy, since the father was already married back in Kenya

Posted June 17, 2010 at 12:08:56 PM

Jeff Beal

Mark,Thankyou so much for the link to firstthings.org.As a father and son I have always believed in the sanctity of family.Spending time with my family is not a sacrifice,but an enjoyable duty.Happy fathers day to you,Jeff Beal

Posted June 17, 2010 at 12:30:22 PM

Ann B.

A necessary commentatory on these restless times in America. Restless hearts are often hearts that never knew a father's love. As a side note, thank you for understanding that it was the War Between the States, fought by two American nations, and that it was not an alleged "civil war" fought by people of one nation for control of one government.

Posted June 17, 2010 at 12:36:12 PM

Pat

Excellent piece. Statists, if they have not a more evil agenda (and many do), at best are trying to correct symptoms. The real problem is a lack of faith in the design of the family by the Heavenly Father. Oh that we would return to our roots.

Posted June 17, 2010 at 12:45:35 PM

Joseph O'Donnell

Mr. Alexander,

Indeed, ours will be a bitter-sweet centenial celebration of Father's Day this year, given the perils our country faces from Iran and N. Korea. I believe, that the number of citizens grows who voted for 'Barry' out of a false sense of hope and now rue their decision. Unfortunately that lever can only fall once and woe to us if we must suffer the loss of that opportunity forever as a result of that misguided pull.

OneVAPatriot

Arlington, VA

Posted June 17, 2010 at 1:22:25 PM

Joel Chase

Well said Mark. Maybe in twenty some odd years we'll look back at the tidal change in our nation's view of the importance of fathers, signified by essays like yours.

Best Regards,

Posted June 17, 2010 at 1:30:18 PM

Tim Mercer

I enjoyed the article about the Centennial of Father's Day. While I hate to nitpick, if Father's Day was first celebrated on the third Sunday of June in 1910 (and assuming it has been celebrated every year since) then this Father's Day will be the 101st Father's Day rather than the 100th (which would have been celebrated last year).

Thanks for an excellent article on the importance of Fatherhood.

Posted June 17, 2010 at 1:34:44 PM

Editor's Reply:
You are correct that it's the 101st Father's Day, but it's still the centennial -- the 100th anniversary of the first Father's Day.

Mike McGinn

In much the same way that a child, lacking the guidance of a loving father, will be hard pressed to “be wise and virtuous, Benevolent and kind”, our nation, without the guidance of its founding fathers, and mankind, without the guidance of its Father in heaven, can neither be so. We reject the values of our Father, our founding fathers, and the institution of fatherhood at the risk of slipping inescapably into the abyss.

Posted June 17, 2010 at 2:02:36 PM

K. Samuel Jones

Mark - your essays are always well written adn thought provoking, however, this one on Fathers' Day is one of your all time best. Parenting is our highest calling - to prepare our children for the responsibilities and rigors of adulthood. You hit the nail on the head with the statement from Dr. Edwin Cole that "Maturity does not come with age, but with the accepting of responsibility for one's actions..." Our society has way too many immature adults who refuse to accept responsibility in any manner. As I have tried to teach my kids - with freedom comes great responsibility...without responsibility you have no freedom.

Posted June 17, 2010 at 2:55:05 PM

Karen Scott

Dear Mark,

Thank you for this article on the importance of fathers and where we are, due to the lack of them, as a nation. May God give us more Christian homes. We are in such need of loving families. May the Holy God become Father to many of these fatherless.

Happy Father's Day to you, and the fathers who are fathers indeed in this nation, and the world, who protect their portion of society in the family unit.

Karen Scott

Posted June 17, 2010 at 3:03:14 PM

Joe

Well said Mark. Excellent article.

Semper Fi

Posted June 17, 2010 at 3:46:30 PM

Larry P. Cornwell

If the first Father's Day was celebrated in 1910, then shouldn't this be the 101st Father's Day, instead of the "One Hundredth Father's Day?" I think you meant the hundredth anniversary of the First Father's Day.

Posted June 17, 2010 at 3:56:18 PM

karl anglin

The Cloward-Piven strategy by Saul Alinsky

advocates the creation of of crises to

destroy capitalist society. Obama is a

key student of this strategy by Alinsky.

Posted June 17, 2010 at 3:56:29 PM

Mom

A great essay on the importance of fathers.

Happy Father's Day.

Posted June 17, 2010 at 4:18:54 PM

S. Joseph Nickele, Jr.

Mr. Alexander,

I'm a Christian--perhaps, a marginal one--who came from a "traditional" family and was educated for 12 years in Catholic schools, prior to engineering college. So, over the past 65 years, I have heard--AND HEARD--every possible English-language utterance, concerning the psychological/personality and religious/spiritual aspects of heterosexual relationships. If upright, dignified (usually, sanctimonious) "polite society" wants American men to remain married and faithful, they might give men some help, in convincing American women to DO SOMETHING about one intellectual problem and two, 100% PHYSICAL problems.

1. It matters not, if a woman has a PhD in psychology and is fluent in every language on earth. If she is seriously challenged by grade school arithmetic, she IS an educated idiot! Men will find it impossible to convince her--without violence--that she can only spend each penny once and that she can't simultaneously spend and save that penny. She does ALL of her thinking with her intuition. Physical/historical evidence and precise logic don't concern her: Oprahthought! (Usually, she votes for socialist politicians.) Somewhere, there is a (probably female) teacher, who allowed her to pass from the 6th grade to the 7th, knowing that she could not consistently add, subtract, multiply & divide whole numbers, decimals and fractions. That teacher really needs to be fired.

2. For most men, acting on their God-given hormones and instincts, sex is not as important as God, but it's VERY CLOSE! Sexual acts consist of PHYSICAL body parts, doing PHYSICAL things, on this PHYSICAL earth, in THIS lifetime. Those who claim that sex is "all psychological" are "unobservant" (because I've already used the word "idiot"). She knew all this before nuptuals, but she conveniently forgot, shortly after the honeymoon. (Does this suggest a REAL Fathers' Day present...?)

Genius sociologists--an oxymoron--tell us that the average American married couple, in an average month, makes love less frequently than couples in two-thirds of the 20+ other countries sampled. (Greece wins: 13.6 times per month. It CAN be done!) There is lotsa empirical evidence that the usual reason "why" is HER low testosterone level, not his, and that her infrequent lovemaking is also unenthusiastic, regardless of the infinite variety of excuses that she can invent. In the unlikely event that American women actually WANT to keep their husbands, they badly need to be convinced to quit talking about "feelings," long enough to DO SOMETHING PHYSICAL about the PHYSICAL problem! Note: Body fat tends to favor estrogen production and decrease testosterone production. (See below.)

3. For those who are too spiritual to notice this, a hot news item: for most men, enjoyment of sex depends HEAVILY on the PHYSICAL appearance of her PHYSICAL body. With the lights ON! None dare say this, in Politically Correct America, but it's true. In my lifetime, the height of the average American woman has risen only an inch or so, but, due to pure neglect, her weight has risen, around 30 lbs! This isn't an inconvenience for most American husbands: it's an unmitigated disaster!

You would, no doubt, bemoan the fact that most husbands of Afro-American women do not remain married and faithful to their wives. Don't ask anyone about this problem, and don't read the ruminations of psychologists about it. Go to Wal-Mart, and LOOK AT THEM! Beyond age 30, the best of them are chunky, and some of them are outright obese before age 20. In many cases, their shopping carts are filled with cookies, chips, other baked goods, pizza, maccaroni, butter, margarine, mayo, frozen French fries, and other sources of starch and grease. As a former fitness trainer, I know that "chunky chicks" CAN do wonderful body transformations, without starvation. I also know that very few of them love their men enough to actually DO what's required, except at gunpoint. America endlessly praises their freedom to be "natural" and "comfortable with themselves," while their husbands flee in disgust. The answer to the problem is to be found in the kitchen and in a "hardcore" gym. To quote The Baron Von Richtofen, badly out of context, "All else is rubbish."

Semper fidelis,

Joe Nickele

Posted June 17, 2010 at 4:24:30 PM

Bill Ullrich

Mark, your article on Father's Day and Fatherhood is truly a masterpiece! It should be on the Editorial page of EVERY newspaper in the country (but never will). Let us all continue to pray to our Heavenly Father for the future of our Nation, and that a "new beginning" will start with this November's election. If not, only God can help us!!

Happy Father's day to you, and I doubt if one could find a better example.

God bless...

Bill Ullrich

Posted June 17, 2010 at 4:31:45 PM

Tom Cook

This is an absolutely wonderful column. I would have enjoyed it even more if we didn't have the obligatory reference to our heavenly father, dog the bounty hunter, but then I guess it satisfies those with that particularly demented need.

Posted June 17, 2010 at 4:31:47 PM

Kriss Mitchell

Just a comment about the geographical beginnings of Father's Day. The Day had it's beginnings in Spokane, Washington and in celebration of the 100th anniversary, the city is preparing a wonderful 3 day celebration. Mrs. Dodd was a resident here and she has been given special remembrances for her ongoing tribute to all fathers. Thanks for such a great article!

Posted June 17, 2010 at 4:48:44 PM

Richard B. Inghram

Thanks for a great column on the problems our country faces with the breakdown of the family. We in California continue to battle for marriage being defined as bewteen one man and one woman but it appears that we have to wait for a single judge to decide if Californians have the right to confirm the decision God already made at creation.

Posted June 17, 2010 at 5:41:33 PM

Abu Nudnik

"I serve as a blank screen on which people of vastly different political stripes project their own views."

Shocking. It sounds like the utterance of a sociopath.

Posted June 17, 2010 at 7:09:42 PM

Mike McKeever

Hi Mark: I am profoundly thankful for your enewsletter services and am a grateful donor. Thank you! There is only one issue I object to. In your Fathers Day report, you repeatedly wrote, except for one passing comment, it is negligent fathers that are responsible for the chaos in our society. I agree that fathers' absence is the key missing ingredient to stable families and a civil society. I do not believe, however, that men are to blame in the main. I believe women, and the feminist influences many embrace for their own selfishness, are the culprits in the main. I do not know one husband who has left his children. I do know dozens of wives who have abandoned and jettisoned their husbands for selfish reasons and obstructed their children from having access to their fathers. It would be nice, just one time, to read passionate articles such as yours that singularly blasted women/ wives and not men/ husbands. Thank you.

Posted June 17, 2010 at 7:16:20 PM

Freed A. Loe

Most of what you write is correct but a long time ago after WW II Harriet the riveter learned she could work outside the home as well or better than men.When women embraced social upbringing by third parties(Day care)and thought that this substitute mother would be sufficient as a replacement , Then Mom became less important as a have to or need to and these consequences started,followed by the Women's Activists of the 60's. And all the excuses since about kicking out the old man single mother parenthood has become the norm and with worthless public school's(the SAT's peaked in the late 60's).Yaada Yaada. Go Dad's and Mom's that stick together., I'm tired of being bashed by women.They made this bed so live it.What do you think about marriage now Ladies!I'm lucky 41 years and still married and I grew up in the 60's.

Posted June 17, 2010 at 8:25:13 PM

Patricia R. Stonsby

Really enjoyed the insight to Obama's childhood. Now I know more of why he is like he is, which ain't good in my opinion. Anyone spending the kind of money he has spent to hide the facts of his real birth records has got to be scared of the truth on them! I really do believe we have a non-United States born man as the leader of our nation, and it makes me both nervous and angry that he is getting away with it! I think it is past time for the truth to be known!

A frustrated citizen looking for the true answer!

Posted June 17, 2010 at 8:36:20 PM

Gary B Hulsey

Mark, what a rich piece on Father's Day and fatherhood - factual and irrefutable as to the impact of fathers on families, children, society and the future of liberty. I sent the link to family and friends. Thank you.

Posted June 17, 2010 at 10:19:36 PM

James Beene

This piece on Father's Day" is a tremendous work of literary art. You nailed down some very important aapects of life that so many people think that they can simply overlook.

One commentator made reference to your use of "God the Father" as as obligatory phrase without understanding that Christians and Jews believe that God is indeed our Father and that He created heaven and earth. Without His work, we would not exist.

I was reared in a single-family home by a mom who lost my dad to a heart defect a month before his 33nd birthday. He was a WWII veteran and in his short life lived in such a manner that the memory of his devotion to God, my mother, country, and hard work was enough to give his children something to pattern our lives after. My mother served as mom and dad for one daughter and two sons who grew up to be hard-working God-fearing patriotic citizens who believe our dad's values and well as God's values.

I look forward to your essays because of the thorough research and the true spirit in which they

are written.

Posted June 18, 2010 at 10:22:03 AM

barman

YOUR ANALYSIS IS DOT ON

I WAS TURNED BY TOUGH, VOLUNTEER COACHS AT A SALVATAION AARMY YOUTH CENTER IN THE TOUGH PART OF SOUTH DALLAS----3 DEGREES---PRACTICING MEDICINE FOR 50 YEARS

OBAMA IS A GRAVE DANGER AS A LEADER

Posted June 19, 2010 at 9:05:37 AM

Diane Winston

Thank you for this excellent essay on Fathers. As a mother and grandmother I appreciate the value of fathers and am thankful to our Heavenly Father that my 12 grandchildren have loving, godly fathers and mothers who are providing models of responsibility, dependability, a good work ethic, and reverance for God.

Posted June 19, 2010 at 12:40:48 PM

Robert Fehmel

The Father's Day piece was PRICELESS!

Bob Fehmel

Posted June 19, 2010 at 1:09:00 PM

Mark Voss

This is so important for every father to read and understand, especially those who have left their children behind... Why this society can't seem to face the plain truth, is beyond intelligent comprehension... This country was built on faith and trust in God, His law and His morality. Without Him at the head, then Family immediatly under God, and the teaching of morality to the children, this country can not survive as a Free Nation. Because without God who gives us our freedom & liberty, we will be bound by evil men...

Posted June 19, 2010 at 5:31:32 PM

Daniel

Good article, but you forgot to mention that for Leftists with poor or no father upbringing, in their adulthood the omnipotent State becomes their father substitute, in competition and conflict with our omnipotent God the Father.

Posted July 25, 2010 at 5:46:29 AM

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