Fathers Day 2022

Fathers Day 2022

Today is Father's Day and I hope that each of you has a great relationship with (or great memories of) your father. It is a sad reality that the presence of a father in childrens' lives has been in decline for years. Having a mother and a father in a child's life is the number one factor for success in school. The number one predictor for criminal behavior and serving time in prison is not race or socioeconomic status, but the absence of a father.

A father should be the source of joy when times are good and the source of strength when times are rough. He teaches his sons how to respect and love women by his interactions with their mother. He shows his daughters that a man is one who will protect and honor them. A father's masculinity is life-giving, not toxic.

Our nation needs fathers. Our culture is decaying day by day because fathers have been deemed unnecessary, or worse, harmful. Calls to return to family values are empty without actions to return fathers as key components of the family. Government policies to fight crime, to get people out of poverty, to get homeless off the streets, and more, should all come back to calling on fathers to be responsible in raising their children, to commit to providing for their family, and acknowledging the sacrifices of being a father.

In closing, I say to the fathers raising your children: Thank You, your efforts will affect history. To the men who have been putting off becoming fathers: Being responsible for the care and protection of another human life is a sacred calling, you have to give up looking out for number one, but the meaning and fulfillment which comes from raising children is unmatched. And to those whose father was not there as you grew up, who struggle to understand why fathers are celebrated: your anger and sadness are justified. If fathers were not important, there would be no emotional response to their absence. You live with those scars; your children should not have to. In time, Fathers Day can be a day of joy for you as well.

God Bless and remember that Illinois early voting is in progress. The primary election day is Tuesday, June 28, if you are waiting until the "official day."

Edit 2022-06-20: Corrected typo: effect -> affect