Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Obama, the Brilliant

Yet another reason to homeschool:

ABC News' Teddy Davis and Lindsey Ellerson Report: Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., told Planned Parenthood Tuesday that sex education for kindergarteners, as long as it is "age-appropriate," is "the right thing to do."...

When Obama's campaign was asked by ABC News to explain what kind of sex education Obama considers "age appropriate" for kindergarteners, the Obama campaign pointed to an Oct. 6, 2004 story from the Daily Herald in which Obama had "moved to clarify" in his Senate campaign that he "does not support teaching explicit sex education to children in kindergarten. . . The legislation in question was a state Senate measure last year that aimed to update Illinois' sex education standards with 'medically accurate' information . . . 'Nobody's suggesting that kindergartners are going to be getting information about sex in the way that we think about it,' Obama said. 'If they ask a teacher 'where do babies come from,' that providing information that the fact is that it's not a stork is probably not an unhealthy thing. Although again, that's going to be determined on a case by case basis by local communities and local school boards.'"

I don't know what's most frightening about the Magic Negro, his indefensibly inane positions, his consistent reliance on platitudes in lieu of any real details about said positions, or the fact that liberals drool over someone whose only good characteristics include being charismatic and not too terribly black.

I went to kindergarten less than two decades ago. We learned about the alphabet, how to count, how to tie our shoes, and how to get along with other little munchkins. We hadn't the time or the desire to worry about sex.

And as for babies, I knew full well whence they came because my mother had had a few since I
was born. This strikes me as an intriguing point. Do none of these children have adults in their lives who are occasionally pregnant? Even if one did not grow up in a house full of children as I did--I have seven younger brothers and sisters--surely one assuredly knew a family where the wife had a child on the way.

I know the birth rate is falling, but have we really reached a stage where a pregnant woman is an aberration? You'd think we were a part of Europe or something.

Then there's this tidbit:

"Keep in mind: I honor and respect young people who choose to delay sexual activity," Obama continued. "I’ve got two daughters, and I want them to understand that sex is not something casual. That's something that we definitely want to communicate and should be part of any curriculum. But we also know that when the statistics tell us that nearly half of 15 to 19 year olds are engaging in sexual activity, that for us to leave them in ignorance is potentially consigning them to illness, pregnancy, poverty, and in some cases, death."

Notice the propensity to accept the lower standard of the not-quite-majority. Yes, children rebel, and yes, children will have sex outside of marriage, but children also react to challenges. If you tell kids that you expect them to refrain from having sex, it's quite possible they will do so. Near as I can figure, it is feasible to survive high school without losing one's virginity; one can similarly endure college. Ostensibly, the austere monks of the Middle Ages, alas, to an extent a dying breed in our enlightened age, abstained their entire lives.

If you leave little in the way of expectations, you will seldom be disappointed, but we need to ask ourselves if we couldn't raise the bar and deal with the occasional disappointment rather than simply embrace the status quo.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

read here:

http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/198169.aspx

and here:

http://72.166.46.24//boston/news_features/this_just_in/documents/04509197.asp

A Wiser Man Than I said...

Thanks for the links. I'm leaving for the day, but I hope to get a chance to post an update when I get back.