Sign o' the times...
From CitizenLink:
Thousands of students in Scotland were told they couldn’t make Father’s Day cards at school this year for fear of embarrassing classmates who live with single mothers or lesbians.
School officials said the policy was adopted “in the interests of sensitivity,” and local authorities said teachers must adapt to the “changing patterns of family life.”
A sign of the demise of a civilization...
11 comments:
I can think of more drastic signs of the end of civilization, signs that actually matter.
If you don't think an attitude which says fathers are obsolete doesn't matter, you have a serious problem.
You're right. A random school that doesn't allow kids to make paper cards that will eventually find their way into the trash has single-handedly made fathers a thing of the past. When we stop celebrating Father's Day, fathers shall lose all significance to the human race. It's a scientific fact.
In all seriousness, there are bigger things to worry about. When these school officials follow the trend of other countries and obtain nuclear weapons, commit genocide, obliterate the civil rights of women, explode bombs inside subway tunnels, fly airplanes into skyscrapers, melt the polar ice caps, kill off thousands of endangered species, preemptively invade sovereign countries with the goal of starting an endless war, honor suicide bombers as martyrs for a fictional character, deny health care to the underprivileged, cripple their nation's economy, and propose bills that would turn their free society into a police state... then you'll have a legitimate cause for concern.
Until then, don't blow trivial things out of proportion.
I might agree with you on one or two of the things in your list, undermining and minimizing fatherhood is not a small thing.
Yes, the father's day card prohibition itself is minor, but it's indicative of a mindset that accepts the minimalization of fatherhood. Fatherhood, like motherhood, is profoundly important to the health and well-being not only of the family, but of the society that is made up of families.
When fathers are absent or ineffective in a home, academic performance suffers, emotional development is retarded, and children frequently end up in trouble with the law--an even bigger problem for society.
You MIGHT agree with one or two of the things I listed? I figured anyone would be with me in thinking that genocide, nuclear proliferation, etc. are good indicators of the downfall of civilization, but I guess not.
its wroung let them make cards. SO their not going to make cards for their fathers just because you think it will hurt the lesbians and gays for parents well shae on you because some kids have normal parents and your teaching these kids that it's ok to be gay or like the same person of your gender.thats not the way life works . DEAL WITH IT
That's because I suspect you may have a liberal meaning behind some of those things:
Obliterate the civil rights of women - something conservatives are accused of every time we oppose feminism
Melt the polar ice caps - a liberal fantasy that says evil capitalists and SUV drivers are causing global warming
Kill off thousands of endangered species - another anti-capitalist distortion that believes we have to populate the world with wolves and save every blade of grass
Preemptively invade sovereign countries with the goal of starting an endless war - a euphemism for "We hate Bush" and by the way, we hate the war on terrorism, too. In the neighborhood of the "blood for oil" mantra
Deny health care to the underprivileged - a mantra for socialized medicine. No one is being "denied" anything. It takes money to buy things. And the "underprivileged" (i.e. those oppressed by those evil capitalists) have access to health care through Medicaid, if not a health plan through their employer.
Bills that would turn their free society into a police state - I assume you're talking about spying on foreign terrorists and such--a good thing.
That's where we don't see eye to eye.
Hm, way to pigeon-hole me. Would you like to hear what I actually meant rather than assume that everything applies only to America?
Obliterate the civil rights of women -- Women are oppressed every day in Muslim countries. Under strict religious law, they are forbidden from showing their faces in public and are often forced to marry. In many cultures, their genitals are mutilated because it's believed that female sexuality holds dangerous power over men. Mercy killings are also popular; if a woman is raped, some Muslim cultures require that she be executed, while her rapist walks free. Would you agree that all of these are civil -- no, HUMAN -- rights violations?
Melt the polar ice caps -- It's a documented fact that polar ice has receded over the past few decades. While the causation is debatable, it doesn't help that America greedily consumes most of the world's resources.
Kill off thousands of endangered speces -- I'm not sure what wolves have to do with anything, but it's also a documented fact that species are dying out at a faster rate due to human environmental impact. You may not care about this, but nature has a way of balancing itself out, and if that balance is offset by destructive consumption, problems arise.
Preemptively invade sovereign countries -- Well, I think this is self-explanatory.
Deny health care to the underprivileged -- I agree that it takes money to buy things. But access to medicine is one thing that all people should have. I'm not necessarily advocating for socialized medicine (no matter what you want to assume about me), but just saying that the system is in shambles and it's immoral that people have to PAY to stay healthy.
Bills that would turn their free society into a police state -- Ever read "1984"?
That's why I left my comment general at first and just said I'd agree with you on a couple of things.
I didn't want to pigeon-hole you, but without more specifics, the language you used is very similar to the same language liberals use.
It seems we're on the same page about the mistreatment of women in some Islamic countries. But it looks like it ends there.
You're blaming the United States for something that, if it's genuinely happening in the first place, is most likely a natural phenomenon.
The wolves are related to the endangered species issue because wolves were once considered endangered, and they've reintroduced them in places like Yellowstone...where they're now attacking cattle and the like. Around the Black Hills where I live, mountain lions were once considered endangered...and now they've come back to the point where they're coming into housing areas and eating people's pets. The earth has seen the extinction of countless species...and yet life goes on. It isn't the end of the world if a kangaroo rat or a snail darter goes extinct. Things will be alright.
And the preemptive invasion, I still say that's a slam at President Bush's invasion of Iraq...which was warranted for many reasons, the greatest of which was that Saddam didn't honor the cease fire agreement at the end of the Persian Gulf War.
Health care - someone has to do the research/development, production, distribution, etc. with drugs. In other words, it costs money. It isn't immoral that people should pay for goods and services; it's a part of life. And as I said, Medicaid is there for the poor already--that should be more than enough socialized medicine.
Yes, I've read 1984...and government encroachments such as socialized medicines are far more threatening to freedom than is spying on foreign terrorists who'd like to kill Americans.
"The earth has seen the extinction of countless species...and yet life goes on. It isn't the end of the world if a kangaroo rat or a snail darter goes extinct. Things will be alright."
Living in a coastal city that is known for its seafood industry, I can see firsthand the toll that food depletion is already taking on the local economy. Yes, kangaroo rats are inconsequential, but certain species that we rely on are dying rapidly. Sitting back and saying that things will be alright is foolish; it's unrealistic to live as usual without making lifestyle changes in response to a changing world.
Our thread has gone far off topic, so I'll just say this: You're right, the earth has seen the extinction of countless species, and yet life goes on. Just don't forget that humans count as a species too.
Sorry if I turned you off with my liberal-speak.
That's alright; I just prefer clarity in what we mean.
You're entitled to your opinion, just as I'm entitled to disagree with it.
Thanks for stopping by...
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