Henry Waxman and the Sexualization of our Children
by Joanna RepsoldDear Rep. Waxman,
My congratulations on your reelection to the 11th Congress of the United States and promotion to Chairman of the Committee on Energy and Commerce. As a national leader charged with overseeing the improvement of the quality of our air, the safety of our food and drugs, health care, and a growing telecommunications industry, I want to appeal to you on behalf of millions of my peers in their teens and twenties.
You’ve shown yourself to be a leader in education, women’s health research and reproductive rights for my generation. So I cannot help but wonder, why are you consistently supporting policies that are destroying an entire generation of young people my age? Your tireless campaign for abortion on demand and “comprehensive sex education” has contributed to the death of 35 million people during your tenure in the House, not to mention the countless millions of young people that have been emotionally and physically damaged as a result of aborted pregnancies and STIs.
Did you know that this year alone, 3 million of American’s teenagers join the swelling epidemic of over 19 million Americans who will contract one of 25 STIs, including some form of HPV, Chlamydia, and Syphilis? One in five of us will have had sexual intercourse before we are 15, and nearly two-thirds of us by the time we graduate high school. Yet over 90 percent of sexually active youth wish they had waited to have sex.
It’s certainly not for lack of information that this is happening. Quite the opposite. In fact, the only thing keeping pace with the growth in comprehensive sex education in schools has been the amount of sexual content in movies, magazines, on TV and the Internet.
Yet the message we, the youth of America, are constantly receiving, from that first day of sex education in elementary school is that sex is disproportionately important in our lives. More than our intelligence, our athleticism, or our talents, we are told, is our ability to perform sexually or exude sexual appeal. We are taught that because sex at our age is inevitable, the best that can be done is to try and minimize the consequences.
We are not animals subject only to sensual desires or controlled by our hormonal urges. We are a generation of incredibly talented, passionate, intelligent individuals committed to leaving the world a better place, to ending poverty, alleviating suffering and pursuing peace. We are today’s entrepreneurs and tomorrow’s leaders. And we are capable of forfeiting what we want in the moment for what we want most, if we would only be encouraged to do so by people that we admire and those claiming to have our best interests in mind.
Perhaps I misunderstand your intentions and you truly believe you are doing what is best for us by advocating “comprehensive” sex education such as that which has been set forth by the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS). It stresses teaching 5-8 year olds about masturbation, sexual intercourse and homosexuality. By the time we get to jr. high and high school, we get
to discuss sexual fantasies, oral and anal intercourse and erotic photographs.
Yet the more sex we are exposed to, the more casually it is treated and the more that well-meaning adults such as yourself fail to encourage us to make truly healthy decisions based on all the facts, the greater the risk for us.
On behalf of my peers, whose lives are being destroyed by STIs, unwanted pregnancies and emotional heartache, please stop. Stop your relentless attack against attempts to encourage true sexual responsibility, particularly abstinence. Stop your disproportionate funding of programs and organizations that are doing more to destroy our lives rather than protect them. And stop contributing to the destruction of our futures before we’ve hardly begun to live them.
When you took your oath of office on January 6th, you promised to, “promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty for [yourself and your Posterity].” We want to live lives free from sexually transmitted diseases and pregnancies that shatter our dreams, free from soul-wounds born out of a “casual encounter,” and free from depression, low self-esteem and thoughts of suicide. We want healthy bodies, healthy relationships and the opportunity to pursue our wildest dreams.
Will you help us?
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153 Comments
Titov:
Ann Coulter didnt say single mothers were the villain. She says its the media's glorification and saintification of single mother's which is the problem.
Personally, the schools should not be involved in any way with the sexual education of children. It should be the responsibility of parents alone.
Joanna,
WOW!!! you are really fing stupid!!!
Please do us all favor and abstain from sex FOREVER!. The last thing this country needs is morons like you passing on their seed….
Thank you. I’m so tired of hearing that we somehow have to be “sexual beings” even as children. This is what we should teach, that we are not animals we are human beings and don’t have to give into our urges all the time we can choose not to for the good of the bigger picture of our lives.
Comments calling Ms. Repsold ignorant for not genuflecting before the altar of contraception to begin in 3…..2…..1….
Great, great piece. Very true…you will be SHOUTED down by the liberals and child-haters who wish to sexualize our kids for their own purposes under the auspices of “education” so be ready for it and stand strong.
I live in Waxman’s district in L.A. Republicans don’t even bother to put up a candidate against him anymore. I personally believe that if someone changed their name to “NotHenry Waxman”, and ran against him, they would win.
Well said.
Henry Waxman is my congressman, which ran this last election cycle with no opposition. Truly hope that next time we’ll have another option.
Remember, if you are a parent, you actually have a lot of influence. No need to lecture, but a reminder every once in a while, even if the teen seems to be shrugging it off, makes a difference!
Someone’s bound to say this, so I’ll just beat them to the punch. The abstinence only, no contraception attitude towards sexuality merely promotes ignorance and often leads to an INCREASE in pregnancy. I give you high school dropout Bristol Palin as exhibit A. Good thing her mom is rich and famous, because most unmarried teen mothers without a high school diploma usually end up in abject poverty.
Well said. Here’s some more on Waxman:
http://furiouscentaurs.blogspot.com/2009/01/maladroit-public-servant-of-weekdecade.html
No offense, but Bristol Palin is currently NOT attending high school. She is technically a high school dropout.
Abstinence Only w/o morality, a goal in life, like MARRIAGE, won’t work either. And Liberals know that. They smile with wry intent knowing that even if Abstinence Only were a program, their sexually explicit society will still get the children. When kids are given a choice, like Promise Rings or understand STDs or how sex affects emotions, they’ll be given the strength to stand on their own.
I’d rather have an increase in pregnancy, of youth marrying or understanding their actions, than this hidden secret society of girls hiding their sexual activity with exploitive experienced men, then getting other older men to butcher whatever evidence there is, so they can do it again. And millions upon millions of deaths, of bashed used girls, and a society tidal wave over this sacrifice to their selfish gods.
If you want to cut down sexual intercourse among teens, just show them a picture of Henry Waxman.
So, one sentence that makes a generic statement about sex in movies is enough to make this relevant at Big Hollywood?
I think its about time we all re-read A BRAVE NEW WORLD. Anybody remember “erotic play” that little children were instructed/encouraged to participate in? After all, “everyBODY belongs to everyBODY else,” right?
I think this is one article my 15 yr old needs to read. thank you
Bristol Palin was certainly raised with “morality”, yet there she is..an 18 year old unmarried mom without a high school diploma.
Tell you what sparky, I will bet you $100 that by this time next year, Bristol will neither be married or a high school graduate.
TITOV–
Bristol Palin went to public school–thank you for making the author’s point.
Also, just how “rich” do you believe the Palin family is?
Considering Bristol sold her baby picture to People for $300,000 and both her parents have salaries approaching six figures, then yes the Palins are rich.
As for your “public school” point, should Sarah have been homeschooling her large brood? You missed MY point. The Palins were presented as this ultra-religious family that was simply more “moral” than us horrible awful libs, yet lo and behold..their “moral” daughter got knocked up and dropped out of high school.
Remember when you clowns were gnashing your teeth at Jamie Lynn-Spears doing the EXACT same thing as Bristol Palin? The hypocrisy of conservatives is so staggering sometimes.
Great article. You might change the line “swelling epidemic of over 19 million Americans who will contract one of 25 STI.” The words “swelling” and “STI” create an, I’m sure unattended, really bad word-picture.
Anyway….I love your point about how “We are not animals subject only to sensual desires or controlled by our hormonal urges.” During High School, my animal urges told me to fight, to be violent, and to be rebellious against my teachers, but I was expected to control those urges. Kids have to urge to follow the crowd and do drugs, join gangs and smoke, but they are expected to control those urges too.
Why are kids expected to control all of their urges except sex?
What a terrific article!!! Concise and well written. To the point. Thank you!
Now to this:
“Titov – January 23rd, 2009 at 9:13 am
Someone’s bound to say this, so I’ll just beat them to the punch. The abstinence only, no contraception attitude towards sexuality merely promotes ignorance and often leads to an INCREASE in pregnancy. I give you high school dropout Bristol Palin as exhibit A. Good thing her mom is rich and famous, because most unmarried teen mothers without a high school diploma usually end up in abject poverty.”
I have never heard nor read that Bristol Palin dropped out of school. If she did, it was for the right reason which is to raise her child. I think it rather hiliarious in this day and age where everyone knows so much about birth control, but somehow they don’t realize that birth control FAILS! I think most everyone on the left side of politics assumed that Bristol and her boyfriend were simply screwing without regard to using contraception. First of all, it’s none of anybody’s business what they were doing or why they were doing it. Second, I wonder if or when one of Barack Obama’s daughters end up pregnant, will he make a big announcement when they go in for the dutiful abortion so as not to be “punished with a baby”??? I doubt it because that particular choice isn’t something most people celebrate.
You people who so sanctimoniously deride Sarah Palin for being a bad parent because her daughter ended up pregnant are beyond annoying. Sarah did the correct thing in supporting her daughter to continue with her pregnancy. Being that Sarah Palin is from the side of the world who believes it is our duty to take care of what is ours (rather than handing that responsibility off to the government) I find it hard to imagine that she didn’t have any kind of interaction with her daughter before and especially after she got pregnant. The problem with sex education in the schools is that they encourage only one side of it. All aspects should be explored, especially abstinence.
In the end, Titov, I can’t imagine why you would be so concerned about young women living in abject poverty now that we have the “New World Order” being put in place. I’m sure our tax dollars will help take care of all of those children who decide to throw their lives away for 5 or 10 minutes worth of pleasure.
I have 1 question for anybody from the Left: Why is so much attention directed at Sarah Palin, especially now AFTER Obama has been sworn in?
Holy Crap! I can’t believe this! This is AWESOME! Its nice to hear that others feel the same you do. I have three daughters, and I am scared to death of what they face in the future. All of this that has been addressed by Ms. Repsold is all I have observed over the past few years; seeing the demoralization of our nation and the dangerous future it presents. It is a continuously up-hill struggle to educate my children in opposition to what they are bombarded with through the media, hollywood, public schools, and classmates. Of course I will not give up that struggle, but we need more people to come to this realzation before its too late. Our parents need to be more involved in the education of our kids, not rely on those wonderful role models in hollywood or D.C. I wouldn’t trust them to baby sit my dog, much less dole out advice to or try and educate my kids. Simply, THANK YOU Ms. Repsold. Well stated!
You guys do see the irony of defending Bristol Palin when Ann Coulter specifically singled out unwed mothers as villains in her new book? The reason people bash on conservative “morality” is that so often, you guys don’t live up to the ideals you’re quick to condemn “liberals” for not following.
Here’s something to think about. What’s the difference between Barack Obama and Newt Gingrich, John McCain, Fred Thompson, Bob Dole, and Rush Limbaugh? Obama’s only been married once.
Ah, yes, Nostrilitis. Nothing to see here. Move along, insignificant California Repubicans.
You know, Andrew, the site must really be taking off, because the number of lib seminar posters has gone up. So far, though, they’ve only assigned one operative that I can tell. Notice the Kool-Aid drinker “Palin’s Bank Account”–the same poster on Harsanyi’s Oscars thread “To Phoenix.”
“Remember when you clowns were gnashing your teeth at Jamie Lynn-Spears doing the EXACT same thing as Bristol Palin? The hypocrisy of conservatives is so staggering sometimes.”
WHO was gnashing their teeth about Jamie-Lynn Spears choosing to give birth? Are you kidding? The media…YOUR Liberal media made the big stink about her being such a young mother. Not me.
To compare Bristol Palin to Jamie-Lynn Spears is the old apples and oranges schtick. JLS chose to be in the public eye, chose to have sex at a very young age, and she has plenty enough money to support the child she had with a young man whom apparently she will not be marrying. So young girls may look at her and think that getting pregnant is no big deal.
Bristol Palin was almost 3 years older, about 2 months away from being considered an adult, and literally THRUSTED into the public eye, and for what? Because she had sex with her boyfriend? Would she have been less harrangued if Sarah Palin had come out to the world stating that although her daughter was pregnant she would not want to “punish” her with a baby so she will be having an abortion promptly? Is that more appealing to you?
There was no hipocracy there except on the part of the Leftist media who apparently has nothing better to do than drag a young woman through the mud for having sex! The media needs to pick a side on this issue. Can’t have it both ways.
So Joanna: “comprehensive sex education” is a BAD thing? Young people SHOULDN’T be educated? Perhaps JESUS and ABSTINENCE are the answers?
You righties are really off the rails.
I’m sure if you YouTube “Bill O’Reilly Jamie-Lynn Spears” you’ll see exactly how CONSERVATIVES demonized Spears for doing the exact same thing high school dropout Bristol Palin did.
By the way, a teenager without a high school diploma actually is “punished” when they have a kid. There is a ripple effect on both their life, but the life of their child and most often their own parents that have to end up raising the kid. Good thing that once Sarah Barracuda gets her multi-million dollar book advance, then Bristol won’t even have to hold down a real job the rest of her uneducated little life.
Again, $100 says that Bristol and Levi will never get married.
The reason we like to make fun of you about Bristol Palin is because the majority of Americans despise how conservatives like to walk around patting themselves on the back for how holy and moral they are.
Isn’t the dirty little secret that poor kids have babies and rich kids (and even middle-class kids) have abortions? The movies aren’t influencing anyone–kids influence each other. And heartbreak is pretty much part of life, sexually active or not. This is a pretty lame post.
I wouldn’t suggest that comprehensive sex education is a bad thing, but it absolutely should include teaching about abstinence, along with showing the realistic possiblilities of becoming pregnant and acquiring an STD. In short, how about teaching responsibility, along with all that comprehensive sex education? I’m reasonably sure, however, that responsibility is not a word that will get a lot of recognition in the next four years.
Big Hollywood has been around for what, three weeks? This is probably the fifth time that I have written in response to something Mr. Blifil has written. Up to this point I have deleted them as I have no desire to get into a war of words with that type. I still don’t want that.
Blifil, I apologize in advance for being insulting, but dude, you’re driving me crazy. I’m not what you think I am. I’m not part of some chorus enjoying the sound of the mighty echo chamber. I’m not part of the Right Wing. It would be less than honest if I didn’t admit to supporting and trying to adhere to what many might call a traditional view of morality, but I ain’t takin’ sides in the political arena. I admit that I find the take on the culture wars here refreshing. That’s why I read (and post occasionally).
But I have to ask, why do you read or post on this site? The reason I ask is that the tone of everything you have written has been combative, arrogant, dismissive and pure contrarian. I have read enough on this site to see that divergent viewpoints are normally appreciated and vigorously debated. You come off as a smug, faux-intellectual, narrow-minded jerk. I’ll bet the people who know you on the other side of the monitor would say that you’re not like that at all. How about giving us a chance to see that too?
OK, again, sorry for the unsolicited rant, but at least now I feel better.
As usual Mr. Blifil, your comments add nothing to the discussion. Every comment of yours that I have encountered on this site has been negative or critical. It appears that you are unable to point out or appreciate the strengths of the postings.
You replied: “But here’s my main problem with your post. I thought the GOP was the party of personal responsibility. Yet here you are blaming a single individual, Henry Waxman, for “destroying the lives” of your peers by exposing them to voluntary sex education programs and concepts.”
Re-read the article. Joanna is appealing to him for assistance in changing the Sex Education programs not blaming him personally for them.
Elsewhere, you criticize Abstinency only programs as unsuccessful yet the current programs are as great a failure. IMO, it is not the responsibility of the schools or the government to teach my children about sex (thankfully they go to a private school where that is not an issue), it is my responsibility.
As the parent, do/did you leave this up to the schools or do/did you take an active part in their education? Did you encourage them to always use protection when they were having sex or did you encourage them to wait?
Hmmm… As a Canadian I find the American obsession about sex education amusing and pathetic – not that we don’t have a muted version of the debate here, too.
One problem – sex ed fails in the basic lesson because it’s something that has to be taught by the parents. The problem is not the mechanics of it – what goes where, when and how babies happen, how to stop it. At least most teenagers do know it’s not true that “you can’t get pregnant the first time…”
But… the the largest sexual organ in the body is the brain. STD’s may be a problem to some, but the biggest is the emotinal toll that relationships and breakups have on people of any age. Are you old enough to understand what love is? To give up a lot to make someone else happy? Do you understand the deep social consequences of any such action – social reputation, jealousy? Why do murder-suicides happen? Where do stalkers and other obsessives come from? The mind is complex and terrifying, and most teenagers probably aren’t ready for that.
Why get into something you may regret for your life. That first time is supposed to be special. At 14, what are the odds that the other person is your life-long partner, and not some braggart who will tell the whole school so they can laugh at you?
As for Ms. Palin – according to local bloggers and the evidence quickly removed from facebook, the fine upstanding family was more absent than moral. The husband was off drilling or racing, when she went to the capital the kids were each farmed out to other family members. Both her oldest son and daughter were part of the wild druggie and partying crowd that happens in any boring small town or suburb. They took the usual cure for wild boys, and put him into the military. Bristol apparently ended up as many of the wild girls do – one oops too many.
Does this reflect on the parents? Why not? The devil finds work for idle hands… unsupervised kids with no creative outlet for their energy and socialization needs will turn to procreative outlets.
For despite my being a liberal, I think to a certain extent Coulter like Quayle before her, is right. Single motherhood is not something to be celebrated. It most likely messes up one or two lives, and impacts more. Either it drains support from people around her, or single motherhood means a life of poverty and limited opportunity for the child. Perhaps the solution is as it was in the 60’s when I was growing up, adoption. But reading the stories of the anguished mothers and their lost children from that era, I don’t see that being a better chice either.
So it still falls abck on the parents to teach the child self-control. The best solution, no matter what side of the debate you’re on – is to keep it zipped up.
Toddes,
Your last sentence is a point that I wanted to make as well. Whether or not our friend Blifil is a parent or not, I can’t believe that the vast majority of people who want this ‘one size fits all’ immersion into sexuality could actually have children of their own.
Who could happily sacrifice their own child’s innocence to their god of so easily?
Toddes,
Your last sentence is a point that I wanted to make as well. Whether or not our friend Blifil is a parent or not, I can’t believe that the vast majority of people who want this ‘one size fits all’ immersion into sexuality could actually have children of their own.
Who could happily sacrifice their own child’s innocence to their god of hedonism so easily?
We are not animals subject only to sensual desires or controlled by our hormonal urges. We are a generation of incredibly talented, passionate, intelligent individuals committed to leaving the world a better place, to ending poverty, alleviating suffering and pursuing peace. We are today’s entrepreneurs and tomorrow’s leaders. And we are capable of forfeiting what we want in the moment for what we want most, if we would only be encouraged to do so by people that we admire and those claiming to have our best interests in mind.
Well said, and patently refutes the “they’re going to do it anyway” stance. You are what you eat, and if we keep feeding kids the idea that the only problem comes from getting “caught” – getting an STD or getting pregnant – we are only treating symptoms.
I was debating whether or not to use that word ‘hedonism’. That’s the reason for the two posts. I really wanted to use the word ‘knowledge’ but I knew there was no way to put that into context.
My kids are very knowledgeable. I am fortunate that my late teens son has placed in a high percentile scholastically for his age. I say this not as a boast (intelligence is as much a crap shoot as good looks – why brag about something largely genetic?) but to prove that knowledge has a high value in our home. But there is knowledge that is unnecessary, harmful, inappropriate, likely to be misinterpreted or misused, and even useless.
I would have preferred to use the expression ‘god of knowledge’ instead of ‘god of hedonism’ with the understanding that I meant it as described above.
Dear Joanna Repsold,
Check out the “Uninvited” movie trailer advertisement directly to the right of your article.
“Who could happily sacrifice their own child’s innocence to their god of hedonism so easily?”
Liberals
The problem with the Abstinence Ed vs. Contraception Ed. is that both positions stem from opposing moral positions, and these positions are rarely, if ever, acknowledged as the engines which drive the opposing camps.
The debate goes something like this:
Abstinence: We want to prevent our kids from getting pregnant and/or getting STDs. The most effective way of achieving this end is to teach them not to engage in sex.
Contraception: It is naïve to think that teenagers won’t have sex. What happens when they give in to the temptation, as we know they will? They need to know how to protect themselves when they are having sex.
Note: At this point, it would be interesting if the Abstinence Ed. supporters would pursue the option of pointing out the Contraception side’s contradictory premises: that a) teenagers do not possess the self-control to refrain from initiating sexual intercourse 100% of the time, but simultaneously possess the even greater self-control required to, after initiating sexual intercourse, 1. Stop 2. Pull out a condom 3. Apply it correctly, and to do this 100% of the time. However, I have yet to see this in public debate, though it has come up in private conversation. -GR
Abstinence: The message of “The safest way is to not have sex, but if you do engage in sex, which we’ll be talking about at great length for the rest of this and every presentation, here’s how to reduce the risk” is akin to the message of “The safest way to stay out of trouble (with your parents, teachers, authorities, whomever) is to not do something you shouldn’t do. However, if you decide to do something you shouldn’t do, here’s how to avoid the consequences.” Both messages are saying the same thing: “The safest option is to not [do something you are tempted to do but shouldn’t], but if you [do something you are tempted to do but shouldn’t] here’s how to avoid the consequences.” Anyone with an ounce of experience knows that a teenager (or pretty much anyone, for that matter) will be inclined to opt for the second choice in each of these messages. What parent in their right mind would make such a statement to their child?
Contraception: You’re making a values statement, equating teenagers having sex with them doing something they shouldn’t do. You can’t enforce your values/religious beliefs/morals on everyone!
Abstinence: So you’re saying that teenagers having sex is not something that they should discouraged from doing?
Contraception: It’s up for each person to decide.
While the Abstinence side makes some good points, on the surface the Contraception side seems to have carried the day with “You can’t enforce your values/religious beliefs/morals on everyone!” and “It’s up to each person to decide.” However, there are multiple flaws in these statements.
For starters, while the “You can’t enforce your values/religious beliefs/morals on everyone else!” charge has been very effective at cowing folks into silence and even acquiesence, it contains a superflous and erroneous over-reach: the rightness or wrongness of teenage sex (or any sexual matter) is not a “religious belief”, but a moral position. It is true that one’s religious beliefs can and do inform one’s moral position; however, there nothing unconstitutional about one’s religious beliefs informing one’s moral positions, as to prevent such a thing would be nigh impossible. Everyone has religious beliefs – atheism is a religious belief, even “I don’t care about religion” is a religious belief – and these beliefs shape our individual moral outlook whether we acknowledge that fact or not.
So the statement made by contraceptive ed. proponents, if they are concerned with accuracy, should be “You can’t enforce your values/morals on everyone else!” This statement, however, is undermined by two things:
1. Their response to “So you’re saying that teenagers having sex is not something that they should discouraged from doing?”, because “It’s up for each person to decide” is itself a moral position. No one would say that whether to cheat, steal, or harm someone is a moral matter that “It’s up for each person to decide”, because those actions are inherently wrong in a moral sense. Therefore, to say that “It’s up for each person to decide” whether teenagers engaging in sex is to say that it is not inherently wrong. This is a moral position. Therefore, “You can’t enforce your values/morals on everyone else!” amounts to the statement “You can’t enforce your values/morals on everyone else while I’m trying to enforce my values/morals on everyone else!” This statement is either intellectually dishonest or hypocritical, depending on whether one could actually believe such a thing.
2. As I understand it, Sex Ed. (of either variety) is not optional in public schools, and comes as either Abstinence or Contraception Ed., depending on which way the local school board is leaning. Therefore, students are being force-fed either Abstinence or Contraception Ed. Following on #1, in schools where contraception ed. is taught or being proposed, the contraception ed. folks apparently have no objection to enforcing their values/morals on students, which vitiates both “You can’t enforce your values/morals on everyone else” and “It’s up to each person to decide.”
So at the bottom of all this back-and-forth is the reality that the debate is between folks who think that teenagers having sex is a bad thing and those who do not. The shriek of the latter group that those of belonging to the former are “pushing their morals/values” on others is hypocritical, self-serving palaver.
I would offer the following solution: If both Abstinence and Contraception Ed. were offered in public schools, which each individual student (and therefore, their parents) given the option of which to attend, there would not be much of a debate. Frankly, I don’t see why this has not been seriously proposed.
I could offer (at great length) further exposition of my thoughts on the Abstinence vs. Contraception ED issue, but I’m certain that the readers of this blog have had their fill of the scribblings of a (somewhat post-) middle-aged Thomist like myself. So back to work (you know, the stuff I get paid for) I go…..
__________
Note: While a certain level of disagreement with my views and objections to my reasoning is to be expected, I would hope that the objectors not embarrass themselves by making predictions about what my children will or will not do sexually during their teenage years, as such a thing often reads as the hope of punishment of me and my offspring for my education in and adherence to 2000 years of moral thought and exposition. I would hope my objectors hold themselves to a higher standard of discourse.
Ryan – January 23rd, 2009 at 11:42 am
So why did you say anything at all?
Again, Mr Blifil, re-read it. “Has contributed” is not the same as “personally responsible”.
I notice however that you avoid the rest of my post specifically the question at the end.
“As the parent [sic - I originally wrote "As the parent of two children, as you claim in another comment], do/did you leave this up to the schools or do/did you take an active part in their education? Did you encourage them to always use protection when they were having sex or did you encourage them to wait?”
KREBSTAR – January 23rd, 2009 at 10:19 am
Blifil, I apologize in advance for being insulting, but dude, you’re driving me crazy
Breathe. It’s probably the result of holding two conflicting ideas in your head at the same time. You’ll get used to it eventually.
BTW, anytime you feel the urge to channel your energies into composing a counter-argument, feel free. You might want to check with your doctor first, I’m not sure you’ll be able to handle the strain.
——————————————————————-
First of all, I tried to be polite in a funny way. I even gave you credit for most likely being a nice person away from the keyboard. Is that one of the conflicting ideas you mean? Thanks for pointing out my mistake!
How does one compose a ‘counter argument’ to the erection and subsequent burning of strawmen? I’m sure you sit back, read your latest witty barb and feel all impressed with your amazing powers of reason and your incredible enlightenment. I was just trying to point out (I thought in a kindly, semi-humorous way) that it’s not as impressive or amazing to people who’s maturity exceeds that of a pouty five-year old or a hysterical teenage girl. And this is the thanks I get. Carry on.
“The Palins were presented as this ultra-religious family that was simply more “moral” than us horrible awful libs, yet lo and behold..their “moral” daughter got knocked up and dropped out of high school.”
Without ad hominem arguments, the libs would have no arguments at all.
I’m sorry, what ad hominem attacks? One of the main selling points with Palin to the GOP base was just how Christian and devout she was. Palin played along with this, invoking God and the military in a way that reasonable people interpreted as her invoking the Iraq War as “god’s will”. Obviously, the large amount of press that her own church garnered with the whole, you know, pastor who helped in a literal WITCH HUNT in Africa reinforced the notion that the Palins were ultra devout. In fact, many conservatives used her son Trig (yes, HER son Trig) as a 2 by 4 to beat over “liberals” heads. Remember the whole “they hate her because she didn’t abort her child” attacks? So, Palin was portrayed as a devout ultra religous person. The fact that her own daughter got knocked up and had to drop out of attending high school was seen as kind of ironic. Then again, most moderate people realized that more loudly religious a politician is in public, the more hypocritical they are in private (ummm…Vitter anyone?)
Again, if Obama had an 18 year old daughter who got pregnant and had to drop out of high school, conservatives like O’Reilly and Hannity would be SCREAMING about it every hour of every day for four years.
KATEC – “Isn’t the dirty little secret that poor kids have babies and rich kids (even middle-class kids) have abortions.”
No. The “dirty big secret” is that many young girls are pregnant by their fathers, brothers, uncles and older guys who then force the girl into an abortion. We don’t know the percentages because Planned parenthood and other abortion providers violate the law by not reporting the crimes they see evderyday. Another “dirty secret” can be found in the Black community. (By the way, PP places 60% of their abortion mills in minority neighborhoods) About 13.6% of our 300 million population is black. 38% of all abortions are performed on black women. There have been about 50 million abortions since Roe v. Wade, so there have been about 19 million black babies killed since then. Since there is about 40 million black citizens, abortion has wiped out about 1/2 of one whole generation of the future black populatiion. That is almost genocide.
That is really tragic secret. Might have been a couple of more presidents in that group.
It seems like a bailed out plan Planned Parenthood. I have a 2 1/2 yeard-old daughter and I may have to send her to a Christian or Catholic school. I’m not religious.
Again, if Obama had an 18 year old daughter who got pregnant and had to drop out of high school, conservatives like O’Reilly and Hannity would be SCREAMING about it every hour of every day for four years.
You really don’t have a clue what Conservatives really think, do you? Can you show me a single example of O’Reilly or Hannity (who is a much bigger partisan hack) attacking a Democratic politician for their daughter getting pregnant (let alone “scream” about it)? It seems attacking the children of your enemies has become one of the new Liberal ideals. I’m seriously embarrassed that I ever called myself a Liberal.
On that $100 bet that Bristol and Levi never get married…
How do the odds change if they’d have been left alone?
If he does marry her I’ll be impressed with him and his devotion, because who wants their life drug through the national media through no choice and decision of their own? Anyone with any decency (ha!) would have left him and his family alone, but no… it’s suddenly dreadfully important that even his MOTHER be brought onto the national stage to have her dirty laundry aired. At this point, how many degrees of separation from Sarah Palin? Four?
People have no shame. If Levi says “the h*ll with it” and chooses not to marry Bristol will it be because he’s an unserious young man who knocked up his girlfriend, or will it be because the only *rational* response to having your life and the life of your relatives become national gossip is to make it *stop*?
Good on ya, Ms. Repsold! My husband, Tom and I are former alumni of 4th Memorial in Spokane so imagine my very pleasant surprise when I discovered you had posted at BH. Your parents must be so proud of you! Keep up the good work. We need more twenty somethings like yourself speaking up for the next generation. God bless you!
I don’t think it’s the sex *ed* so much, (as someone said, it’s not “sexy”) but the explicit message that teenagers *will* have sex. That they need the education and contraceptive information because they *will* have sex.
It’s sort of like the message that they *will* drink and get drunk.
It’s insulting in the ways that a couple of people said it’s insulting. It’s setting expectations that teenagers have to work to live *down* to.
I recall that my sister had a run in with SADD or MADD or someone about drinking because during the presentation at school she didn’t raise her hand to “admit” that she drank, and then the person giving the presentation said, right out, that those who didn’t raise their hands LIED. So (I gotta love my sister) when they got to the “sign your pledge not to drink and drive” part she (metaphorically) said, “screw you” and refused. The only person in her whole class who refused to do so.
It’s the same thing.
Tell teenagers that they are undisciplined, hormonal animals that no one expects any self-control from, and they are likely to live up to it.
If it were an issue of information there would be no teen pregnancies and no teen abortions. There is more information available than ever before and young people know more than they *ever* did before and pregnancy and abortion rates aren’t going down… they’re going up.
Girls (and a whole lot of boys) didn’t used to know much of anything at all about sex, but they knew whatever it was they weren’t supposed to do it. They knew they were *expected* not to do it. It was a MINIMUM expectation by adults who had been hormonal teenagers and who knew very well how sex worked who EXPECTED teenagers to be entirely CAPABLE of meeting that minimal expectation.
Thank you for a great essay. A note of interest is that apparently, Planned Parenthood’s founder wanted “family planning” to help control the spread of what she considered “inferior” races– such as blacks! Not so different than the “scientific” antisemitism that resulted in the Holocaust attempt to eliminate “dependents” and “inferior” peoples. Go to blackgenocide.org to find out how abortion is killing blacks, which Waxman probably doesn’t want to talk about. Abortion kills girls, and it kills minorities. What’s not to protest? What’s not for feminists to oppose? What’s not for minorities to rally against? What’s not for disabled and special needs peoples to dissent about? Don’t let “survival of the fittest” planned parenthood mentalities lead to more genocide.
“The Palins were presented as this ultra-religious family that was simply more “moral” than us horrible awful libs,”
Ummmmmmmmmmmm. No they weren’t.
The only ones who presented the Palins as being “ultra-religious” were liberals, who then commenced to attack them either for being “ultra-religious” or for presenting themselves that way, or both.
It’s like when the libs attack Bush for saying that Iraq was an imminent threat when he specifically said that Iraq wasn’t an imminent threat. They tell each other what he said (even though he never said it) and then attack him for what they say he said.
At what point does “education” not equal “encouragement?”
titov,
you are a TOOL!. you need to take your anger,hatred,and bitterness for Christian conservatives back to the daily kos and huffpo.where all the other idiots like you share the same views.like all the other idiot leftists,you talk from out of your backside,making a complete and utter fool of yourself.do you pat yourself on the back after every one of your asenine comments you make.how does it feel to have absolutely no life.where you abused physically,mentally,or sexually by some evil Christian conservative when you were a boy.so now all you have is hate,and the only way you can make yourself feel better is to rip conservatives,Christians,republicans.and especially gov. palin and president bush.I’ll bet you get off on the BS you write.do us all a favor and pull your lip over your face and swallow.
http://iowahawk.typepad.com/iowahawk/2009/01/mark-your-time-humans.html
Waxman is really from another planet
These people have a few things in mind:
-Money
-Power
-and ridding God and morals from society.
There is nothing else. They are perverted, sick people with a perpetual vision to rob, steal and destroy! That includes children…sick, sick people!
C’mon, all you lefties out there. Every American with at least ONE functioning brain cell knows that “comprehensive sex ed” is merely a series of “how to” lectures interspersed with films about how “normal” it is to be gay. There IS no abstinence in “comprehensive sex ed” as it’s taught today. I have granddaughters who’ve discussed what they were getting in public schools at some length with us, and we were appalled. One girl was asked (along with all her classmates) to bring a cucumber to school so they could “practice” putting a condom on it! She was in the 4TH GRADE at the time!
[...] Big Hollywood » Blog Archive » Henry Waxman and the Sexualization of our Children bighollywood.breitbart.com/jrepsold/2009/01/23/joanna-repsold-op-ed – view page – cached My congratulations on your reelection to the 11th Congress of the United States and promotion to Chairman of the Committee on Energy and Commerce. As a national leader charged with overseeing the improvement of the quality of our air, the safety of our food and drugs, health care, and a growing telecommunications industry, I want to appeal to you on behalf of millions of my peers in their teens and twenties. — From the page [...]
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