In a recent discussion, we heard about a local high school freshman history class debate over "same-sex marriage." Our friend -- also conservative -- was somewhat surprised when we said we thought this was inappropriate subject matter for 9th graders.
(We realize that kids can vote at 18. Too early! This is a problem. Maybe only those risking their lives for our freedoms should have voting rights before 21?)
Anyhow, we don't think 14-year-olds should discuss "same-sex marriage" because it's not really about "civil rights" (homosexuality not being innate, as is race) or politics. It is about abnormal sexual behaviors becoming a basis for a "marital" relationship. Yet any mention of the physical reality behind the "rights" argument has been silenced. Why have we allowed this to happen -- even in our adult discussions?
Yet you can be sure the kids in that class are thinking about the sex acts involved in "same-sex marriage" (just as any child has thoughts about how they were conceived by their parents)! At the same time they're absorbing the message that they can't talk about this distinguishing feature between normal, real marriage and homosexual "marriage." We've been taught to avert our eyes from the sexual aspect, and everyone pretends it's about "rights." But really it's about accepting, normalizing, and government sanctioning of perverted and unhealthy physical acts (and relationships notorious for high levels of "domestic abuse"). Do we want 9th graders having a discussion so biased at the outset?
Because of this underlying though unspoken fact -- the sex involved -- emotions run very high for the kids, some who come home very shaken and in tears -- partly because they are being forced to repress their gut reaction to what they know is wrong. The conservative kids are being called names that they know are unfair, because they are engaging their consciences and moral training, not just aping "progressive" rights talk.
There's an analogy with the abortion "discussion." Why was it that pro-lifers allowed the pro-aborts to silence them way back in the beginning of the abortion "debate" on the physical reality of abortion: the ripping apart of a human baby? Why did many accept that they can't show pictures, or talk about the actual procedure and what it does to both the baby and the mother? How come many pro-lifers accepted that confronting this physical reality was "in bad taste" or "extreme"? The other side was allowed to frame the argument, just as in the case of "same-sex marriage rights."
