Thursday, April 27, 2006

Mad Dad: A Sequel

Perhaps Lexington needs its own Dinosaur Park. They could display the David Parker family and now the Rob(in) Wirthlin one. In this one though, the atavisms could talk and explain why the modern world needs to join them behind the fence.

We honestly hoped that we had read and written the last on SSM Tales of Irate Suburbanites. Well, the self-righteous with the agenda to hobble their school systems won't shut up. They are determined to lose again.

The play's the same -- only the actors and the book in question differ. A second-grade teacher had to know what she was doing. She read Tricycle Press' King & King to the class.

The authors of the book for three to eight-year-olds are from the Netherlands, somewhere else SSM is legal. Their story is of a prince who does not want to marry any of the princesses his mother parades before him. He falls in love with a prince. Ta da! Happiness! The book ends as so many early reader ones do, with a stylized kiss and the promise of a bright, loving future.

If you know anything about the Mad Dad from Lexington, you also know where this is headed. The Wirthlin's are suing, claiming that this is sex education and required a parental opt-out. The teacher and the principal are firm. This is not sex, rather it is the reality in this commonwealth and Lexington. There are numerous two-dad and two-mom families. Ignoring them is not reasonable, not educational, not anything good.

As a parent of three, I must say that there many things taught in both public school and Sunday school that are not my way of thinking and not what I want my kids to believe or internalize. For example, shooting Bambi for sport is right out for me. Yet, books and lessons depict many acts and ideas that are objectionable. In my family, we discuss these and explain our view on them. If they are legal and others do them, that's worthy of discussion, but I am ready with why I disapprove or act differently.

Instead, both of these families want to tailor the public schools to their philosophies. Give it up. Explain things to your children or put them in cloistered environments where everyone pretends that such people as homosexuals do not exist.

Rants here will stop. You can see the hysterical accusations ("highly charged social issue," "coercive indoctrination," "times of crisis," "homosexual programs targeting public schools," "absolutely outrageous," and "assault on children") on the MassResistance site. The detailed news is in Lexington Minuteman article. Of course, Bay Windows has analysis as well, including background on the key players here.

By the bye, the law in question about notification is Chapter 71, Section 32A. As the teacher and principal note, this is specifically for "curriculum which primarily involves human sexual education or human sexuality." King & King just isn't it.

Amusingly enough, the ever risible and irrational Globe columnist Jeff Jacoby fired up his Inapt Analogy Maker. Last weekend, he wrote, "But homosexuality and gay marriage are not like subtraction or geography; they cannot be separated from questions of morality, justice, and decency. "

More accurate comparisons would be to history and for older students, economics. Those are far more intertwined with morality, justice and decency. They are also much more laden with schools' and teachers' personal biases.

Jacoby Joke: By the bye, the Globe glib guy referred to the above image as "exchanging a passionate kiss." You may chuckle.

Fact is, in Massachusetts, homosexuals can and do partner. They can and do marry. They can and do raise children.

It is not against the law for such parents as these dinosaurs to leave their children unprepared for the world around them. It's not fair to the kids. It's intellectually lazy and dishonest. It's emotionally based irrationality. It's an attempt to control and contort public education to a lower standard. Yet, it is not illegal.

Now, as the Mad Dad found out and this couple will, it is also not illegal to say or imply that there are married gay couples.

Tags: , , , , , ,

No comments: