Yenor "Family Politics" post1 identity

The idea of choice in the giving of one’s identity is admittedly a hard- to- consider concept in a world that doesn’t allow one to hide their identity and get by, eg: an adolescent’s failure to launch, but in the idea of “sublimating” what is independent and established to make a new reality there is quite a bit of text supporting the idea. The bible says: for this purpose shall a man leave his father and mother, (to be one flesh). An example showing the truth in the “Deep and lasting ties”, even the mystery of conjugal union Yenor describes (conjugal union: the love of one's own), the popular 90’s show “Boy Meets World”, in an episode where the protagonists’ school teacher George Feeney, an older than middle aged man, is observed to be preparing for a date creates a moment where the mystery is described. In the episode Mr. Feeney sets out plates and a candle to set the mood. Soon a call is received and the second plate and the candles are removed from the table. The next day the protagonist asks his teacher about the event. It turns out it was a dinner date with Mr. Feeney’s sister. Mr. Feeney goes on to say that he would like to find someone and the boy asks why. Mr. Feeney uses the boy’s parents as an example saying, they “made the choice to enter into the relationship that brought you into the realm of possibility; choosing to explore the unbounded potential that could result from their union” (paraphrase). The end of the episode hopefully shows the old teacher asking a co-worker out to dinner. So the song goes, “Peace and plenty there abide, smiling sweet on every side”, and “there is joy in every sound, when there’s love at home”. As David Hume points out in the quote on page 7 of Yenor’s book, if there are problems in family the consequences can be severe. “Distrust and mediocrity there abide”, the details of which are also hard to explain. The jaded world of marriage may shy away from marriage and family’s deeper meaning, but an understanding of that deeper meaning is worth the look. Feel free to comment!