Should Adopted Children be Allowed to Say "Mommy" and "Daddy?"
My wife and I are expecting our first child any day now. A beautiful, natural, biological child - just the way God intended children to be.
Impending fatherhood, plus the fact that my home state of California has proven that civil rights are subject to voter approval, has emboldened me to raise an issue that's been overlooked for years: the issue of adopted (or "unnatural") children's rights.
As a parent-to-be, I find it insulting that my biological son will be forced to share words like "mommy" and "daddy" with unnatural children. I feel that sharing cheapens those words, and weakens our natural father/son bond.
After all, if anybody can throw around words like "son" or "daughter" to describe someone they share absolutely no DNA with, where does it end? As far as I know, Kobe Bryant and I aren't related. So what's to stop me from calling Kobe my "son?" Or for that matter, my "daughter?" If unnatural advocates had their way, Kobe Bryant would, for all intents and purposes, be my daughter.
See what a slippery slope we're on here?
In order to protect the sanctity of natural parent/child relationships, I propose a ballot measure requiring unnatural children and parents to use the following terms: "Female Adopted Parent," "Male Adopted Parent," "Adopted Male Child," and "Adopted Female Child."
If you ask me, they're every bit as good as "mommy," daddy," "son," and "daughter." And what's more - those parents and children would still have most of the rights as natural families under my proposal.
Look, I have nothing against adoption. Some of my closest friends chose to be adopted as children, and I respect their right to reject the biological lifestyle. All I'm saying is, keep it away from my kid. Don't go teaching him that it's the same as his natural, God-approved union with his real mommy and daddy.
Besides, we all know that parents don't love adopted children as much as natural ones.
Just ask my daughter Kobe.
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kudos to you
That should be '[/snark]' with pointed brackets in, '[/snark] should end this blog?'
I mean, it's fab that we all have great senses of humour, but wouldn't it be just like the Republicans to feed on our goodwill and excellent humour and shove a nasty pile of cr*p right in front of us?
Mebbe I'm too suspicious, me.
Brilliant! I will keep this in reserve for occasions when a poke in the eye with a sharp stick is required.
In the Great White North (Canada), we've hopefully moved on from this issue but occasionally I run into those that require severe poking.
Ok, this article is wrong on so many levels. Usually satirists give some indication that their piece is a joke, but Seth didn't. I just assume he's kidding because the piece is so over the top, so let's put that aside. The funny thing is, the piece is ironic--but not in the way Seth thinks.
The article is ostensibly about names--"Daddy" and "Mommy." So is Prop 8. How? Marriage is a word coined long ago by religious groups to describe unions between men and women. Note--back then married people got no economic benefits from government. Once government started giving economic benefits to people in unions, it became an issue of discrimination to deny those benefits to any couple who wanted to commit.
Gay couples deserve those economic benefits. But why can't we call those relationships civil unions? Why MUST we call them marriages? Do gay people want to be treated equally by the government, or do they only care about words?
Funny--Seth misses the whole point of this civil rights issue. It's not about words, it's about substance.
There you go, "Daddy".
P.S., nypoet22, when you say, "though i doubt any of the individuals at whom it's directed would have the mental capability to grasp the underlying message", know that I was educated at an Ivy League college and a top-15 medical school. You might think about activating that filter between your mind and your keyboard.
Nice work pointing out the unintended irony.
Words matter. Even the ones the author isn't thinking about.
And yet for all that education, you can still write something like "Usually satirists give some indication that their piece is a joke" and "Marriage is a word coined long ago by religious groups to describe unions between men and women" with "no economic benefits." Your post reveals a general lack of knowledge of both satire and history. I would advise you to read some Swift as well as some ancient history textbooks before trying to comment on these issues in the future.
I think Seth (Daddy) is right on here. It is my belief that the proponents of prop. 8 are the ones that are hung up on the language. When you explain what gay couples really want, most people say "Oh, well of course they should have that...I can't believe they don't." Most people just get caught up in the whole "but I don't want it to be called 'marriage'" thing.
So really, Seth hit this right on the head with his analogy to adoption. Everyone agrees that adoption is a great thing for everyone involved. Everyone agrees that committed couples (whether gay or straight) should have certain economic benefits. Most people in support of Prop 8 don't want it to be the same as a straight marriage. He is simply pointing out how ridiculous this is by showing how ridiculous it would be to prevent adopted children from calling their new parents by a label that applies to the situation (mommy, daddy)...much the same way the label "marriage" applies to a long term couple that has committed to spend the rest of their lives together.
It's one thing for same-sex partners to call their relationship whatever they want, but it's quite another to force the rest of the community to call it what they want.
Marriage has been defined as between a husband and a wife throughout the history of our civilization. Now the activists want to redefine it and force everyone to call an apple an orange.
Marriage is a religious word? So people didn't get married before your religions took control of society?
A really good education does not a smart or wise person make. I have an honored scholar of a cousin who was surprised no food came in the pantry of his first "furnished apartment". There was also nothing in his refrigerator. There were no sheets on his bed. These were rude awakenings to a man who was essentially paid to go to school forty years ago. Absolutely brilliant with all the confidence in the world and utterly without a clue. He has gotten better with age.
Very funny, Seth. But, you know, they don't get it...
Reprogramming the haters will take time, generational time...but at least we're on our way. It's amazing to witness evolution in action. :)
Nice!
Thanks for the lunchtime giggle!
Well, since adoption is a civil ceremony maybe they can have some of the rights of natural children and can call their adoptive parents moy and day, instead of mommy and daddy. Sounds fair to me.
Well written my son.
Here in Britain "my son is a popular endearment between unrelated males and often used as an encouragement for total strangers involved in competitive sports. e.g. Go on my son, get stuck in.
There is no general corresponding term for females. My daughter is a bit of a mouthful. Here in the north "our lass" is frequently used.
Does that confuse the matter eben further?
http://greenteeth.blog.co.uk/2008/11/25/odd-socks-the-cause-of-teenage-angst-5106796
Okay, I don't even think this is funny. Being adopted, I have only one set of parents -- my adoptive parents -- my mom and my dad. They chose me. They got me through being a baby and toddler, through grammar school and high school and all boyfriends and tearful breakups. They got me through college (Go OU Sooners!). They tearfully waved goodbye when I joined the military. My dad gave me away when I got married. They cried with me through my divorce. When I remarried they did the Snoopy Dance of Happiness and they loved my children and shared in our pride as they grew up. I have only one dad, who died 8 years ago. It, still, is the saddest part of my life. My mom, at 90, still phones me and we gossip like young girls and giggle like teenagers when I tell her about the exploits of her great-grandchildren. It's an honor to be wanted. It's wonderful to be loved.
I'm sorry, but did you not get the satirical point with regard to Gay marriage or is this comment itself tongue-in-cheek? I mean please, you can almost see Seth channeling Steven Colbert.
Lovely - perfect - do I need to pay you each time I repeat and send it on.
Actually I would be repeating to the choir since, as previously noted, those who should make note wouldn't get it.
Thank you
Great analogy. Keep up the hilarious work.
LMAO, they should stop calling orange chicken chinese food; california roll as japanese food.
After reading your article I can't decide if it is meant to be sarcastic or not. But I don't find anything even remotely funny about it.
As an adoptive parent, my children are not unnatural. Just because two people are sperm and egg doners doesn't make them parents. Families are formed in different ways. We are the same kind of family that you are, maybe better. We don't take our kids for granted. We go through the same challenges as parents and have the same depth of love for our children. We are the only families our children will ever know. We are called Mommy and Daddy because that's what we are and I take offense at this ridiculous piece of narrow mindedness.
Just ask my kids who their parents are!
I'm sorry if you took offense to this, but the author is clearly remarking on the hypocrisy and idiocy of the implication that gay marriage is ruining the "sanctity of marriage" . Obviously it is sarcasm, and it is excellent sarcasm, demonstrating how ludicrous Prop 8 is.
Please don't diminish intelligent irony by getting offended.
You made his point for him. Basically... he was taking the argument against gay people getting married... and putting it to adoptive parenting. The hurt and offense that you feel... is what a lot of gay people are feeling.
Um, hello...satire? Methinks thou dost not know what it means....
Then you totally understand why the GLBT community (myself included) are disgusted and offended at the suggestion that our marriages would somehow dillute yours. And this is exactly what Seth hoped to accomplish with his satire :)
I completely agree with you, newzzzjunkie :) DNA does not make Mommies and Daddies and Sons and Daughters. I hope that you agree that chromosomes do not make a marriage.
You are absolutely right Seth. I am pretty sure the bible has lots of passages to back up our position. What is the big deal? Each state can change their laws to give adopted children the same legal rights as natural children. Why should they care that they can't use the sacred terms you mention such as mommy daddy son daughter etc. Who cares if they feel like second class citizens?
What a nutjob--using words like "natural" and "unnatural"--does that apply to food too? Most of our fast-food oriented American diet is "unnatural", yet we swarm to processed foods like bees to honey.
Yes, the words 'natural' and 'unnatural' apply to many things, including food.
So,... why is anyone a 'nutjob'?
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