The Relief Of Suffering Is A Great

What I Really Want For My Children Is That They Be Loved And That They Be Happy And That They Lead A Good Life.

Very Often When We Aim At The Best, Or What We May Think Is The Best For Our Children, We Aim Really At Lesser Things, Such As Getting Into A Certain College.

I Almost Became A Political Journalist, Having Worked As A Reporter At The Time Of Watergate. The Proximity To Those Events Motivated Me, When I Wound Up Doing Philosophy, To Try To Use It To Move The Public Debate.

Parental Love Is Not Contingent On The Talents And Attributes The Child Happens To Have. We Choose Our Friends And Spouses At Least Partly On The Basis Of Qualities We Find Attractive. But We Do Not Choose Our Children. Their Qualities Are Unpredictable, And Even The Most Conscientious Parents Cannot Be Held Wholly Responsible For The Kind Of Child They Have. That Is Why Parenthood, More Than Other Human Relationships, Teaches What The Theologian William F. May Calls An “openness To The Unbidden.

I Do Think It Is Very Important That The Religious Communities Do Try To Bring Their Teachings And Their Insights To Bear On The Stem Cell Debate And On The Debate About Genetic Engineering.