CHRISTIANITY: A SIGN OF IMMATURITY?

 

 

 

By Beverly Eakman
September 30, 2007
NewsWithViews.com

Boomers once claimed their 60�s-era rebellious streak wouldn�t affect them as parents (or grandparents), but don�t bet on it. Most absorbed, osmosis-like, the �logic,� such as it was in the 60�s and 70�s, that two generations were merely �in disagreement� when, in fact, the entire Judeo-Christian value system was under attack. Because Christians were not yet being asked to validate Satan-worship or Internet porn; college-age Boomers thought the core values of the Republic were probably safe.

Fast-forward 40 years: A high school valedictorian has been told outright that any mention of Christian tenets, figures or symbols is �immature� [see �Valedictorian who touted Jesus sues over diploma feud,� Sara Burnett, Rocky Mountain News, Aug. 30, 2007 and �Teen forced to apologize for speech files suit,� Valerie Richardson, The Washington Times, Sept. 4, 2007 (among many other sources)], the implication being that anybody in the least bit sophisticated is above silly twaddle about religion and faith.

Erica Corder, one of 15 valedictorians (fifteen?!) was reprimanded, harassed and intimidated by school officials for alluding to Jesus in her 30-second �speech� (30 seconds?!), and told her diploma could be withheld unless she apologized publicly (sounds like the Romans asking Christians to recognize Caesar or face flogging). But school officials in Monument, Colorado, really took the cake when they called her comments �immature.�

Come to think of it, though, that�s been the message to schoolchildren for some time, as well as to the rest of us. Take Montgomery County, Maryland, sex educators: Typical of these well-funded condom-wavers, they allege �worry� over intolerance, religious indoctrination, sexually transmitted diseases and student health. Meanwhile, under-funded parent groups and embattled dissenters like former Minnesota Commissioner of Education and author, Cheri Pierson Yecke, are more concerned about illegitimacy, age-inappropriate information, creation of new sexual predators, goading kids to try homosexuality, pornography and sexual addiction, and sexual trauma.

Just how schools can feign concern over child sexual abuse while instructing in graphic sexual gymnastics is a mystery. Well, maybe not. It doesn�t take a rocket scientist to figure out that increased demand for pornography, ubiquitous ads for sex-�enhancing� products and lobbies hawking school-based gay clubs (there are now some 3,000) might result in legitimized sexual attacks on children and disease-inducing promiscuity.

In any case, the topic never gets the benefit of an intellectual discussion because abstinence is marginalized up front as a religious view � ergo, �unrealistic� and �immature.�

Ditto the science curriculum: Regardless of the reason for a person�s reticence on the topic of evolution (much of it purely technical), it is presented as fact while all other theories are rejected as religious � and necessarily �unenlightened.�

The �unrealistic,� �unenlightened� and �immature� gambit implies rabid anti-intellectualism on the part of the so-called believer. Yet, the coalition of the �enlightened� and �mature� manages to routinely misread reality, seemingly incapable of thinking through the ramifications of its diktats. To wit:

Beginning in the 1970�s, a trend toward tiny families, long-delayed birth plans, and cohabitation emerged as a result of practicable birth control. Unwanted pregnancies, women stuck at home and overpopulation would all be things of the past, advocates promised. Understandably, women anxious for some autonomy over biology bought in. Men jumped onboard, too, inasmuch as they bore primary financial responsibility for children conceived in marriage and would welcome the additional income from working wives.

Then the other shoe dropped: Not only did the divorce rate soar, but cohabitation (and frequently, infertility problems) reached critical mass. Callous �hookups� replaced romance. Today, sexual sadism in song, film and video games make Boomer adults want to throw up. Perhaps the greatest irony is the high birth rates among �religions� that in no way resembled the ethics of a Christian belief system, placing backward societies and terrorists in a position they have not enjoyed in centuries. Now, far from spreading freedom, democracy itself is at risk worldwide.

All these things the �enlightened� failed to anticipate. But in a bizarre twist, a favorite target of the left foresaw the dark side of �the pill� � the Vatican. Pope Paul VI bested even non-Catholic wisdom when he predicted that a general acceptance of contraception would change the face of parenthood and family and usher in an era of irresponsibility and narcissism.

Boomer endorsement of junk sciences like human-caused �global warming� � which fuse environmental extremism, redistribution-of-wealth schemes and flawed energy and conservation policies � will suffer a similar result as the rejection of Christian principles.

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The real anti-intellectuals, dogmatists and hate-mongers remain on the atheistic left. They refuse to consider any alternatives but their own ill-thought-out, preconceived notions, are reactionary in their antagonism toward self-determination (they love rules and bureaucracy), and work hard to suppress everything from conservative political cartoons to �right-wing� talk shows � to even one small allusion to faith from a high school valedictorian.

� 2007 Beverly Eakman - All Rights Reserved