To you your father should be as a god

One that composed your beauties, yea, and one

To whom you are but as a form in wax

By him imprinted and within his power

To leave the figure or disfigure it.

--William Shakespeare,

"A Midsummer Night's Dream'

In the ancient Roman world, the father as pater familias literally held the power of life and death over his offspring. If he wanted the child, it was allowed to live. If he didn't want it, it was left to die of exposure. It was as arbitrary as a thumbs-up or thumbs-down by the emperor.

Christianity fought this barbaric practice with righteous ferocity. The apostle Paul reminds his brethren "But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel" (1 Timothy 5:8).

Not everyone got the memo.

A recent obituary in The New York Times brought this home in a powerful way. Veteran British actress Penelope Keith, star of stage........

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