My Comment --3rd Version-- Deleted from Politics in Mudville

In response to Cleveland Mom's questions to me on why I do bring up the hot button issues of homosexual and abortion "rights": It is true that a very hot topic for both parties is judicial appointments --there is a rabid concern for getting a democrat president so he can stock the courts with judges who will say that abortion and gay marriage are constitutional rights. 70% of the public doesn't think abortion ON DEMAND for birth control reasons is right (since there are humane methods of birth control better for the health of women AND children) And most every state has voted to define marriage as for a man and a woman in their state constitutions. We conservatives don't want to see the Supreme Court over-rule the states on this issue.

So there IS a desire for a litmus test on the part of both parties --to get judges who will share our respective views on these 2 hot button issues. The conservatives want judges who will interpret but not MAKE law from the bench. The democrats seem to favor activist judges who will override the will of the majority of the people as they did in Roe v. Wade to legalize abortion on demand.

I mention those issues because they really are among the most important to the social liberals and the social conservatives -- the social liberals ARE democrats, of course, and the social conservatives usually support the GOP.

I mention those issues on this topic of education since you, Cleveland Mom, commented on how and why many want charter and religious schools. A lot of parents want more parental control and involvement, a smaller student body, students who come from chaperoned homes where the parents are involved with their children, supervising them, students whose families have similar views of right and wrong so that when their kids visit each other, they can assume they aren't finding porn in the father's closet (as one of my young sons' friends did at his public school buddy's home) --not that there is any guarantee. I was furious about the porn exposure to my 12 year old --which started problems for him in an addictive interest. It was hard core nasty porn. His friend brought his father's stash to MY kid's room and I didn't know about it for too long.

So, yes, school can be a doorway to erosion of your own family values and to negative peer influence--besides the fact that the secular life skills and values courses of public schools teach a decision-making model that contradicts our own.

Many liberal educators DO want to introduce curriculum to very young children regarding homosexuality --such as the book titled "Heather's Two Mommies," and a program "Project 10" in california. School health teachers have oddly promoted homosexuality in their warnings about AIDS (showing Early Frost to 9th grade, the movie depicting the love of gay couple as admirable love.)

When I was in school, we never heard about homosexuality until high school --and then it was thought to be REALLY weird --and none of us was interested. If anyone was, he kept quiet about it --now it's a bloomin' fad! Trendy for Brittany and Madonna and their youthful emulators to kiss each other on the lips, e.g.

Planned Parenthood put out lit in the 70's from Colorado branch that was distributed in Toledo --I have a copy --It says girls no longer have to live by the double standard for girls and boys. All have sexual choices because of birth control,
etc. They said that in our grandmother's day, nice girls didn't have sex, but the boys did and noone knew because boys didn't get pregnant --now they all could explore sexuality, because of birth control and abortion --no more of this nice girl/bad girl stigma for sexual activity.

I don't know about you, Cleveland Mom, but that's not what I want my kids taught. And PP has unfortunately been a standard setter for pubic school sex ed --except for the conservative protests that brought in promotion of "abstinence until marriage" sex education.

I have listed on my blog some of the excesses of public school which I observed first hand as a school board member. There really are "change agents" posing as teachers, who want to liberalize our kids and undermine the family influence of conservatives. They believe that education is enlightenment to a liberal point of view about everything.

Some of these excesses I observed are found at-- http://thebarbwire.blogspot.com/2007/01/in-self-defense.html

the last 4 or 5 paragraphs of that blog entry.

Today, LD, I haven't time to search for the NEA platform but every year they DO spell out their advocacy for gay and abortion wrongs and value-free sex ed -- just as the democratic party does--and surely you know this, LD. I imagine it is posted on their website. If it isn't there, they are being stealthy about their true values.