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Fathers Deserve More Than Stuff For Father’s Day. They Deserve Respect
By U.S. Senator Marco Rubio
June 16, 2018
The Federalist

An Internet search for “Father’s Day 2018” brings up a top hit: “20 Last-Minute Father’s Day Gifts That Are Amazon Prime-Eligible.” Now, like most dads, I’m not one to complain about receiving gifts (especially when they involve a good weekend of fishing), but something is wrong when popular culture understands the obligations of Father’s Day as nothing more than a 30-minute phone call and shipping your dad something Amazon’s website said were “Dad’s Favorites.”

Like so many other things in our culture today, the commercialization of this holiday obscures its true meaning. Father’s Day is about so much more than store sales and cheesy coffee mugs. It is, to borrow the words a resolution President Calvin Coolidge once signed on its celebration, a day “to impress upon fathers the full measure of their obligations,” and remind ourselves of the importance of fatherhood to our country.

It is something that, unfortunately in today’s culture, needs to be repeated often and with clarity: fathers matter. Their responsibilities in families and society are all essential to the strength of our country. Fathers and mothers serve equally important, but distinct, functions in raising children. Fathers play the indispensable role in protecting their families from harm, encouraging children to overcome challenges, disciplining children with authority, and teaching boys how to become responsible men by modeling responsibility themselves.

This should not be controversial. In fact, it is an area of bipartisan agreement. President Barack Obama once said, “Of all the rocks upon which we build our lives…family is the most important. And we are called to recognize and honor how critical every father is to that foundation. They are teachers and coaches. They are mentors and role models. They are examples of success and the men who constantly push us toward it.”
 
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