Mama Bears: Our Children Belong to…
A few weeks back, an MSNBC reporter, Melissa Harris-Perry, made the statement “We have to break through our kind of private idea that kids belong to their parents.” Shockingly, she is a parent. I say shockingly because, as a parent, if anyone said that my children didn’t belong to me, I’d punch them in the face. Don’t mess with Mama Bear. This attitude that our children are the playthings of the State is beyond outrageous, it’s downright dangerous.
This attitude has been growing for decades, especially in the area of education: specifically the sexual education of our children. Groups like the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (“GLAAD”) and Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (“GSLEN”) have been pushing their agenda of “educating” even our youngest children for decades. They have made significant inroads into the public education systems of our nation. Here are two very egregious examples.
In Massachusetts, the sexual education of our children starts quite young. Parents are finding that children in kindergarten are required to be taught about homosexuality. A case on this was recently dismissed from the Federal courts in Massachusetts. In it David and Tonia Parker together with Joseph and Robin Wirthlin sued their local school district because they have a religious objection to this “education.”
The objection went beyond “we don’t like it” because the school system refused to 1) give any kind of parental notification to the subject matter or when it would be taught; and 2) allow parents to pull their child or children out of school for the day it was to be taught. Moreover, after the parents attempted to do just that, their children were bullied and beaten up by other children because they were “intolerant”.
The “tolerant” beat up the “intolerant”… that’s rich.
The judge in this case, U.S. District Judge Mark L. Wolf made many statements, starting with children needed the teachings to become “engaged and productive citizens” and that there is an obligation for public schools to teach young children to accept and endorse homosexuality! Unbelievable!
Judge Wolf adopted the reasoning in a brief in support of the State that said “the rights of religious freedom and parental control over the upbringing of children … would undermine teaching and learning…”
Wolf further concluded that allowing parents to withdraw their children from class for those portions of the curriculum that violated their religious beliefs wasn’t a reasonable expectation. He stated:
An exodus from class when issues of homosexuality or same-sex marriage are to be discussed could send the message that gays, lesbians, and the children of same-sex parents are inferior and, therefore, have a damaging effect on those students …Under the Constitution public schools are entitled to teach anything that is reasonably related to the goals of preparing students to become engaged and productive citizens in our democracy…Diversity is a hallmark of our nation. It is increasingly evident that our diversity includes differences in sexual orientation.
So apparently there is now a state constitutional protection from getting your feelings hurt that far outweighs the Federal First Amendment religious protections. I don’t think so.
