Anyone see the firestorm that was created by the letters for support on behalf of Planned Parenthood that went out in advance of Mothers' Day? The letters were sent to the mailing list, or people who are already supportive of the Planned Parenthood cause, and asked for us to consider giving a donation to honor our mothers. The letters pointed out that Planned Parenthood is an organization that supports mothers like no other.
Well, you can just imagine the firestorm. The people who don't much like anything Planned Parenthood thumped their chests and were offended.
Well, I didn't think there was much that was offensive about the letters. And, since monkeys don't really celebrate mothers' day, the letter didn't really influence me either way.
But, yesterday while driving cross country to return home from the week-end of festivities, I listened to a history podcast. The topic was motherhood in America. They had a segment about the REAL background to Mothers' Day.
Apparently, Anna Jarvis was something of a social crusader and her vision was that Mothers' Day be a day on which women worked for social justice causes for mothers. Her daughter spent her life fighting against the crass commercialism and over-sentimentality of her mother's vision. Frankly, we missed the point with what we have come to know as Mothers' Day.
And, I think Anna Jarvis is probably happy, at last, that someone finally got what her mother had intended with her holiday.
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