When I first heard about the series on the Hatfields and McCoys I was interested in watching the show depicting one of the two most famous families in American history. It was set in a time where making a living was not easy, a time when people came together and helped each other during difficult times.
That would not be the case for this story, it's a sad story of people not being willing to forgive. We would do well to remember the Hatfields and McCoys, not because of their nurturing and caring behavior but for their dysfunctional families brought on by unforgiveness.
I watched with interest and was saddened by the killing and the hatred in the hearts of two fathers that once were friends and had fought side by side.
The feud did not start with bullets and knives, the war started with unforgiveness and vengeful hearts, the war started because pride over-came both families and once the war started the kids were pulled into a life of unforgiveness, hate, pride and slander.
I watched as the children grew up and indirectly absorbed the same attitudes of revenge the two fathers had. It did not have to be this way, the world would have been better off never to have known the names of the two families called Hatfields and McCoys; their fame brought pain, their lust for blood brought death and their hatred brought heartache.
There is little difference between our own families today and that of the Hatfields and McCoys. No, we do not shed blood, but we do use the same weapons on our own families as the Hatfields and McCoys, Unforgiveness: hatred, pride, revenge, back-stabbing, cutting away life from our loved ones using words instead of swords; our unwillingness to take the first step to reconcile our differences creates an environment where no steps are taken at all, and the war continues.
Just like the two fathers in the Hatfield and McCoy saga, our children are indirectly conditioned to carry the same attitudes as our fathers and mothers. For both the Hatfield and McCoy family their end was a tragic one, lives lost because of the two fathers, children died because two men were not big enough to say, "that's enough, no more, let's fix this thing."
What about you and your family? "Let's fix this thing."
Steven L. Conley
Vienna
