Deeply embedded a cultural meme as it is, one still wonders whether caring for elderly parents was always the norm. In this regard we might ask why the ghost writer of the Ten Commandments felt compelled put in number four (or five, depending on the sources), “honour thy father and mother?” I should point out here that I avoid the terms “Almighty,” “God,” and other bits of hyperbole, as I’d be embarrassed attributing authorship to invisible entities. I’m supposing number four had something to do with a prevailing can’t-wait-to-see-them-croak attitude. That is, when the good, pre-commandment folk weren’t actively hastening the dying process, which may have been one of the sins that closed down the fun cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Continue reading Caring for Our Parents: It’s Unnatural
