country or church as their neighbor, on the other hand, perform their
tax-paying obligations unwillingly and with resistance. As often as the
opportunity arises, they cheat and conceal their assets, because the neigh-
bor they focus on is their own household and their own skin.
Household obligations that are related to goodwillare a husband’s obli- 431
gations to his wife and a wife’s obligations to her husband; also a father
and mother’s obligations to their children and the children’s obligations
to their father and mother; and the obligations of the male and female
heads of a household to their male and female servants, and the obliga-
tions of the latter to them. Because these obligations have to do with
child rearing and management of the estate, there are so many of them
that a mere list would fill a large book. For all of us, what moves us to
fulfill these obligations is a different love from the one that is operative in
our work. A husband’s obligation to his wife and a wife’s obligation to
her husband come from and depend on marriage love. A father and
mother’s obligations to their children come from a parental love that is
instinctive in everyone. Children’s obligations to their parents come from
and depend on another love that is closely linked with obedience under
obligation. The obligations male and female heads of a household have
to their male and female servants come from a love of overseeing, which
depends on each person’s individual state of mind.
[ 2 ] Marriage love, however, and love for our children, along with the
obligations and the fulfillment of the obligations involved in these loves,
do not produce a love for our neighbor the way the fulfillment of our
work-related obligations does. This is because instinctive parental love is
just as present in evil people as in good people; in fact, it is sometimes
stronger in evil people. It also exists in animals and birds, which could
never attain goodwill. It is a known fact that bears, tigers, and snakes love
their offspring as much as sheep and goats do; and owls love theirs as
much as doves love theirs.
[ 3 ] As for parents’ obligations to their children in specific, these obli-
gations are inwardly different for people who have goodwill and people
who do not, although the obligations look the same on the outside. For
people who have goodwill, their love for their children is connected to
their love for their neighbor and for God. They love their children for the
children’s manners, abilities, interests, and potential for serving the pub-
lic. People who have no goodwill, on the other hand, have an instinctive
parental love that is disconnected from goodwill. Many of them love
their children even more if the children are evil, poorly behaved, and
§431 goodwill & good actions 519