It’s Not Both Sides
Written by Nick Carraway
“A few years ago, we caught our daughter stealing from us. We have made a habit of keeping cash in a drawer so that we can go to the store or go out to eat a couple of times a week. It helps us avoid using our credit cards too much. Well, she helped herself to some of that cash. The experience was a learning experience for her and for us as parents. It was the first major breech of trust we had ever had with her and so it was the first time we really had to carefully consider how to punish her.
More than grounding her, it was important that she actually make restitution and repay the money. That was going to take her a long time. Her allowance wasn’t that big back then, so we invented some things for her to do around the house to earn the money back. When relatives gave her money for Christmas or her birthday it became our money. Slowly but surely she managed to earn it all back. The whole ordeal also taught her a lot about penance and reconciliation. It taught us something too.
The concept of penance is a difficult one and a controversial one. It is also an important one and one that conservatives seem to be collectively missing during this time. They have called for unity. Yet throughout their calls for unity they have never really articulated an apology or made any efforts to mitigate how we have gotten into this mess. They are the ones at fault. They robbed Joe Biden and the country of a peaceful and smooth transition. This isn’t a situation of “you said some things and I said some things.” They need to make amends.
During the sacrament of reconciliation, the priest gives you your penance and then says you are forgiven for your sins. I know most people reading this aren’t Catholic and many are not religious. However, I bring this up because this upbringing and this understanding is the way I get through this and the way I understand and articulate what needs to happen. In order for there to be unity there must be accountability. We could not forgive our daughter until she repaid the money. It was never going to be enough for her to say “whoopsie” and then have everything return to normal. Conservatives must make this right somehow before they can call for unity. That’s just the way all this works.”
Nick