Greetings, Gentle Reader,

Back in Scottish/English history, the never-ending raids over the Border, from first one side and then the other, finally culminated in the Battle of Culloden. The English won and, being in power, decided to put a stop once and for all to the fighting. Now, Scotland had a system of Clans which kept families firmly organized and fighting as a unit.

The English, understanding the strength and power which came from the tight, loyal families, took drastic measures to rip the Clans apart. The plaid, the Clan's tartan, could no longer be worn, and the wearing of kilts was outlawed because kilts were made of the individual Clan's tartan. The Scots didn't have to ask which Clan a person belonged to; the tartan was adequate identification. Use of the Clan names became illegal and the Scots resorted to other names, many names per Clan, code names of a sort. The Scots knew all of the substitute names, but the English did not. The playing of the bagpipes was even outlawed since the Scots, the "Ladies from Hell," used the pipes as a powerful rallying call to inspire the Scottish fighting men.

The English had been fighting the Scots for many centuries. They knew the power of the Clans. They knew that family solidarity gave the Scots strength that nothing else could. The English strategy worked. With the Clans dismembered, the Scots ceased to act as a cohesive unit and, having lost much of their fighting strength as a result, they were never able to regain their freedom.

With the leadership, authority, structure, responsibility and sense of duty and obedience gone, the Clan was crippled and very quickly lost the power and the drive to act decisively and effectively. This is precisely what has happened to the American family of today. The old history of the Clan and the new state of the American family have everything in common.

Some blame for the perilous condition of the family can be laid at the door of the parents themselves, but the bulk of the guilt must be on the heads of those social engineers who have chosen to change the identity, the purpose, the degree of authority, the structure, the responsibility of the modern family. The very word, family, has ceased to mean what it did in past years. It now has an official definition which is foolish and silly.

Americans do not have to tolerate this official dismemberment of the family. It is time for us to force government to butt out of our families' lives; they will never do it voluntarily.


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