No Matter What, You Can Never Hit Them (Metal Dad

For a cantankerous East Texas hillbilly he got a few things right. He was very old fashioned. I was not allowed to wash dishes, make beds, do laundry, etc. because “boys don’t do those chores.” I don't think that is one of the things he got right. But he was absolutely adamant about raising a hand to a girl or woman. He also once told me, “If I ever walk in a room and see you sitting down and there’s a woman standing up I will kick your ass.” Got me in a lot of trouble riding public transportation in the 60s and 70s. Force of habit led me to offer my seat to a standing woman and I would get either dirty looks or verbal castigation for sexist behavior. Opening or holding the door for a woman became an adventure in danger. Once exiting the Biograph movie theater with my then girlfriend I held the door open for her to exit. There was a woman behind me so I held the door for her. If looks could kill...

I very consciously raised my biological sons with the non-negotiable prohibition against laying a hand on a girl or woman. Once we had a foster daughter who was a real piece of work. She quickly picked up that my sons were not allowed to hit her and she tried to take advantage of that. They complained that it was not fair. I told them it might not be fair but that’s the way it is. I also told them they could defend themselves but could not retaliate. To their credit they never retaliated.

I'm not the best dad or father but I think I got it right on this one. Thanks, Dad.

Useful Quotes

The essence of Adam's rebellion was not intellectual; it was ethical. No one has argued this more forcefully than Van Til. The mere addition of knowledge to or by the unregenerate man does not alter the essence of his status before God. He is still a rebel, but he may possess knowledge. Knowledge can be applied to God's creation and produce beneficial results. Knowledge can also produce a holocaust. The issue is ethics, not knowledge. Thus, men can cooperate in terms of mutually shared knowledge; ultimately, they cannot cooperate in terms of a mutually shared ethics. What of the special curse? What is the ethical rebel's ethical relation to God? Common grace increases the unregenerate man's special curse. When common grace increases to its maximum, the special curse of God is revealed: total rebellion of man against the truth of God and in terms of the common grace-knowledge, power, wealth, prestige, etc. - of God, leading to final judgment. God does remove part of His restraint at the very end: the restraint on suicidal destruction. He allows them to achieve that death which they love (Prov. 8:36b). But they still have power and wealth, as in the Babylonian Empire the night it fell. Pagans can teach us about physics, mathematics, chemistry, and many other topics. How is this possible? Because common grace has increased. They had several centuries of leadership from Christians, as well as Enlightenment figures who adopted a philosophy of coherence that at least resembled the Christian doctrine of providence. They cannot hold the culture together in terms of their philosophy of chaos- Satan's official viewpoint - but they still can make important discoveries. They use stolen capital, in every sense.