I think that, as many Biblical things, it takes on a huge amount more meaning when taken with a bit of symbolism (I sorry!)
I see it as in part meaning, "Honor your roots, your upbringing, because they make you who you are" Despite what some Social Psych book I surreptitiously stole from Robyn while she was in the bathroom says about peer environment being EVERYTHING, I feel that there is a strong case for both genetics *and* upbringing in defining who you are.
I think that oftentimes, we get caught up in who we are in the Present - I am so great right now, yay! - forgetting that the happiness we feel, the identity we've forged for ourselves is often the end result of enduring much pain, and harnessing the sacrifices of many people.
I see it as "Don't forget your parents. Don't forget your friends. Don't forget everything that was necessary to get you to where you are right now."
Also, tu me manques!! et ton p'tit chum franco aussi!! E-mail pending!
This is kind of general, but I was thinking over what you wrote and what I think it boils down to (for me, at any rate), is that I will honour my parents as long as it's in line with what honours God. When you get into territory that's more subjective, like *I* think it's wrong or not right blah blah blah, that's harder to answer. But I think that if a parent asks you to do something that would be going against what God says, then I think it's a case of "We must obey God rather than men". Just my 2 cents, at any rate ;)
Perhaps it derives from the honour-shame culture of Biblical times.
Social customs dictated the duties and obligations that stemmed from the fixed relationship of one person to another.
There were undesirable elements of ancient honor culture: patriarchal contests for public honor, vengeance for indignities and insults, keeping women in their place in the domestic sphere.
So to honour parents would be to respect their place, and fulfill the duties required of you as their child.
Now, these days, the honour-shame culture has mostly vanished under the establishment of universal egalitarianism (in theory), meaning that everyone's duties and obligations to others are the same, irrespective of gender or status.
Thus there remain very few social duties *required* of a child to their parent, and so little to do to fulfill the requirements of honouring.
2 tambalawensurprisedSeptember 5 2008, 11:27:32 UTC
I was always told that the point of the 5th commandment was that it was supposed to be practice for honoring your bigger parent - God. I never thought a whole lot about it. But if I do... I think you can honor someone without agreeing with them. I think you can decide to love someone even if you hate what they do. And I think that honoring is not the same as owing.
My parents talk about honoring our decisions and they don't mean that they'll always agree, they don't even mean that they'll accept them. It means that they will love me even while trying to talk me out of it, that they will give me credit for having reasons for the decisions I make, even if they think the reasons are crap and that my conclusions are dead wrong. It's honor, but part of honoring has got to be paying people the respect of telling them what you really think.
Comments 4
I see it as in part meaning, "Honor your roots, your upbringing, because they make you who you are"
Despite what some Social Psych book I surreptitiously stole from Robyn while she was in the bathroom says about peer environment being EVERYTHING, I feel that there is a strong case for both genetics *and* upbringing in defining who you are.
I think that oftentimes, we get caught up in who we are in the Present - I am so great right now, yay! - forgetting that the happiness we feel, the identity we've forged for ourselves is often the end result of enduring much pain, and harnessing the sacrifices of many people.
I see it as "Don't forget your parents. Don't forget your friends. Don't forget everything that was necessary to get you to where you are right now."
Also, tu me manques!! et ton p'tit chum franco aussi!! E-mail pending!
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Social customs dictated the duties and obligations that stemmed from the fixed relationship of one person to another.
There were undesirable elements of ancient honor culture: patriarchal contests for public honor, vengeance for indignities and insults, keeping women in their place in the domestic sphere.
So to honour parents would be to respect their place, and fulfill the duties required of you as their child.
Now, these days, the honour-shame culture has mostly vanished under the establishment of universal egalitarianism (in theory), meaning that everyone's duties and obligations to others are the same, irrespective of gender or status.
Thus there remain very few social duties *required* of a child to their parent, and so little to do to fulfill the requirements of honouring.
Reply
My parents talk about honoring our decisions and they don't mean that they'll always agree, they don't even mean that they'll accept them. It means that they will love me even while trying to talk me out of it, that they will give me credit for having reasons for the decisions I make, even if they think the reasons are crap and that my conclusions are dead wrong. It's honor, but part of honoring has got to be paying people the respect of telling them what you really think.
Reply
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