But like most things, consumerism won out.
Read all about it here.
"The women who originally celebrated Mother's Day conceived of it as an occasion to use their status as mothers to protest injustice and war. In 1858, Anna Reeves Jarvis organized Mother's Work Days in West Appalachian communities to protest the lack of sanitation that caused disease-bearing insects and polluted water to sicken or even kill poor workers. In 1870, after witnessing the bloody Civil War, Julia Ward Howe—a Boston pacifist, poet, and suffragist who wrote the "Battle Hymn of the Republic"—proclaimed a special day for mothers to oppose war. Committed to ending all armed conflict, Howe wrote, "Our husbands shall not come to us reeking with carnage. … Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn all that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience.""Loved that last quote.
In the early part of the 20th century, though, Howe's daughter in her memory, worked toward making it a national holiday, but unfortunately for her, she received big support from the card and flower industries, and the rest is history...
So, in stead of all of the mothers getting sung to by the children of our congregation and receiving chocolate at church, maybe instead they could unite in some common political purpose. Maybe they could take up a united stand against pornography (something that's an especially egregious affront to womanhood) or write letters to our congressman that torture should not be tolerated in a civil society or ban together to demand proper financing for our schools.
But another part of me just enjoys buying my wife flowers and candy and making her breakfast in bed.
What do you think?
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