Civility, It Is Said, Means Obeying The

We Criticize Mothers For Closeness. We Criticize Fathers For Distance. How Many Of Us Have Expected Less From Our Fathers And Appreciated What They Gave Us More? How Many Of Us Always Let Them Off The Hook?

We Are Told That People Stay In Love Because Of Chemistry, Or Because They Remain Intrigued With Each Other, Because Of Many Kindnesses, Because Of Luck. But Part Of It Has Got To Be Forgiveness And Gratefulness.

If There's A Single Message Passed Down From Each Generation Of American Parents To Their Children, It Is A Two-word Line: Better Yourself. And If There's A Temple Of Self-betterment In Each Town, It Is The Local School. We Have Worshipped There For Some Time.

Even If Every Program Were Educational And Every Advertisement Bore The Seal Of Approval Of The American Dental Association, We Would Still Have A Critical Problem. It's Not Just The Programs But The Act Of Watching Television Hour After Hour After Hour That's Destructive.

I Wonder Whether Our Adoption Of Shrink-ese As A Second Language, The Move From Religious Phrases Of Judgment To Secular Words Of Acceptance, Hasn't Also Produced A Moral Lobotomy. In The Reluctance, The Aversion To Being Judgmental, Are We Disabled From Making Any Judgments At All?