[Shaddim]

Originally Posted by Dakar V 

Man, we can bring religion into anything.

If you can't see how emotional trauma would cause someone to analyze religious views...

[Face Ache]

Originally Posted by Hg2491 

Aren't you curious to know who you half-brother is? I'm so sorry to hear about your dad. I think everyone has, at some level, daddy issues; which makes me think how good of a father I'll become.

Not interested in a half-brother or any of my father's side of the family (never met any of them). Not sure why I should feel compelled to go find strangers and pretend we have some tenuous link. I don't feel any urge to belong. I can see why you might though - different circumstances.

The family I've made is pretty bloody awesome. Awesome wife. Awesome kids. Awesome dog. Peace. My kids kinda favour me as a parent (because I'm a big kid myself) and I totally rock as a father.. ah... until they become teenagers and tell me otherwise.

[Tiresias]

I agree.

It is an error to attach some adventitious value to biological relationships. The word “father” for example, tells us nothing about a given man except that he has reproduced. A more useful term for that is male progenitor, with "father" reserved as a designation to be applied when certain other conditions are met, such as a commitment to care and protection, the parental attitude, a moral and emotional orientation. And in that case, of course, the biological link is unimportant.

To plead, "But he's your father!" or, "You only have one father!" is biological essentialism and means absolutely nothing since the same can be said for crocodile hatchlings and lion cubs whose "father" devours them to expedite the estrous cycle of his mate and fast-track his next opportunity to copulate.