Not worth the fight

Article

Mike Pence’s Wise Family Practices Expose a Deep Divide Over Human Nature

Summary

David French writing in the National Review supports the Pence family's rules because putting men and women together in intimate or intense situations will inevitably lead to sexual relationships.

Quote

"God made men and women for each other. People can and do reject that notion and emerge unscathed. People can understand that truth and still fall. Life can’t be reduced to formulas. But what do you do when you understand that truth? The Pences know. Most Christians know. To defy reality is to needlessly and arrogantly risk ruin. To understand reality is to embrace humility and prudence." 

Understanding

One of the roles public figures play is to reflect, even amplify, the social issues of our times. Our chatter about the Pence family rules exposes the gulf between belief systems that creates two of the most divisive tribes in our country.

On the Right is the conviction that men and women were created to complement each other. Deep and powerful forces of attraction are bound to come into play when two members of the opposite sex share a meal alone together.

On the Left, men and women are seen as people, not genders. The Left finds it odd and sexist to believe that a man and a woman can't have dinner together on the same basis of friendship or professional collegiality as a matched gender pairing.

(Note the possibility of sexual attraction between two men or two women isn't even mentioned in French's commentary. Its absence says something about the author's worldview that is worthy of separate consideration.)

The premise of this debate inflames an unnecessary and unhelpful cultural battle. The fundamental reason we are even talking about a private family decision is that it gives us an opportunity to poke the other side, rile up some rhetoric and demonstrate the superior values of one group versus the other.

This is a case where we should live our own lives and let others do the same.