A couple of thoughts for the weekend.
My wife had a one-on-one meeting with our priest this morning as part of our conversion to Catholicism. She came home and reported that he’d said the following (paraphrased):
You know, I’ve never had a woman come in here and tell me that she wants her husband to dominate her. But almost every single one has come in here and told me she wants her husband to lead. Sadly, the feminists in our church don’t seem to be able to understand the difference.
A few years ago I had a discussion with an old friend of mine. I’d known this guy since high school. He’s one of the two or three most natural alphas I’ve ever known, and he had quite the reputation in high school and afterward with the ladies. About four or five years ago, somewhat out of the blue (to me at least) he settled down and got married. Out of all the guys I know, he’s one that I think is actually fairly likely to stay married. He’s really settled down, for one. But he’s still got most of the alpha traits that probably attracted her in the first place. He relayed to me a conversation that he had with his minister (he’s protestant, but I don’t remember what denomination) during his premarital counseling. Again, this is paraphrased from memory.
My pastor told me to think of marriage like this. The wife gets one vote and the husband gets one vote plus a tie breaker. But the thing to remember is, the husband has a responsibility to use that vote only for what’s best for the family, not what’s best for himself.
Both thoughts are pretty much just traditionalist ways of explaining the captain and first officer model. Unfortunately, between declining church attendance and the feminization pussification of American churches, many Americans won’t even hear this message. Even more unfortunately, many of those who do hear it will dismiss it as old fashioned and out of touch.
On the other hand, Star Trek is such a huge part of our culture now that even non science fiction fans can relate to the metaphor. Just one more reason you should buy Athol’s book for all your married friends.
