Simstim left this interesting comment on the legacy blog:
I think the ‘sins of the father’ is that which causes affliction in the sons that must be resolved by the new generation in order to live a fulfilled life. The most blatant examples of this IMO is child abuse, addiction or an absentee father. Now a son must resolve those sins of the father in his own life to be liberated from them.
The comments on that blog were interesting in general because everyone seemed to parse “sins of the father” in their own way. So with Simstin, the sons pay the price of the father’s sins that are very directly perpetrated upon them. But what about the father who is terrific to his children but perpetrates against the community at large? Take the Enron scandal for example.
Say these fathers ripped off a bunch of other fathers and families. Do the sons suffer for that? What about the son’s sons? Do they have hell to pay too? What do you think?
Very interesting question. I think living in the house of a successful thief has to affect a child although who knows in what way.
I think that has an adverse effect on the children as well, take The Godfather movies. Vito Corleone wanted a better life for his children but he ultimately failed. I think The Godfather trilogy is an excellent example of the sins of the father being visited on the sons (and daughter) and their sons as well.
As far as the Enron scandal it takes a certain kind of mentality to destroy the livelihood of thousands of people, imagine living with that kind of person. Even if it is covered with an appearance of a kindly parent.
We are all products of our environment which includes the tenets and beliefs that are passed onto us by our families, out teachers and our peers. If you read Don Miguel Ruiz’s book “The Four Agreements” you will see that although we often take on the guilt of others, we become free when we recognise it for what it is – i.e. someone else’s life and not our own.
absolutely.
Well yes, they have hell to pay because their dad is a criminal. And grandchildren will be burdened by this too. Think about the 2nd world war: Germans today suffer for the warcrimes of two generations ago, similarly the grandchildren of the jews that did not survive the camps suffer because of their family history. I don’t believe, though, that this generation should or could ‘right’ their wrongs – they are not capable of doing this. How can you ‘right’ the fact that your grandad tortured and killed people? It’s a burden for all, but what’s done is done. All we can do is try to live ‘good’ lives, but this is true for anyone. I do think that a burdened family history can create momentum to want to do it ‘better’
I don’t know. I’ve given thought to this question, over the years, and still, don’t know.
I suspect – hope – that those of us who have spoken up, have stemmed that tide. But, again, I don’t know.