The Family

by Francine Seno

One of our recent topics in Theo131 is the subject of family, and how very family-centric our culture is. In many ways, the family is always seen to be the center and the number one priority of one’s life. For most of us, family always comes first and others may be willing to do almost anything to secure the family. What Theology teaches is that the family, as a social unit, should not be “closed off” in itself. The love between parents and children should flow outward into the wider community: in social, political and communal duties. The family, having a social mission, a responsibility, is called to reach out and go beyond itself. I can relate this way of looking at the family to the Law of the I and the Other. Sometimes there is too much of a focus on the family, on family ties, that we tend to close ourselves off and create barriers that separate us from the bigger community, the bigger world. There is an overemphasis on the priority to provide, to please, to be-for-our-families that we forget about our social responsibilities outside of the family. Even if the family can be seen as the “other” that we are reaching out towards, we are still stuck in the Law of the I because that reaching out somehow still goes back to us, to the I – the family is seen as an extension of one’s ego. While family ties are important, we should also remember that we should be able to translate the love fostered and shared in our homes to the wider society, and to assume responsibility to the Other outside of the family. “To be human is to be responsible for the Other whom I do not choose.”