It is morally permissible for parents to choose the sex of their child.

"I explained this in round one. All else being equal, choice is morally permissible. My opponent must prove that in this case choice is NOT permissible." ---Who says choice is morally permissible. If I make a choice to kill someone instead of shaking their hand, is that morally permissible? We have the same burden of proof. "For the sake of argument, I will set aside the fact that my opponent has no evidence. This is an inappropriate analogy. Killing all not-Aryans is in no way analogous to choosing the gender of a child." ---Here is the evidence that Hitler wanted a master race: http://en.wikipedia.org... ---I disagree and think that analogy is appropriate. An all male master race is the same as an all aryan master race. It is extremely prejudiced and not morally permissible. "This statement makes no sense. It's like saying that cabbage is morally permissible: it doesn't mean anything. A person or object cannot be morally permissible: only an action can be." ---Apparently, my opponent can not use context clues. I'm pretty sure that my opponent knew that I meant that "Hitler's actions (as in creating a master race) are not morally permissible." ==================== "This is an unwarranted overgeneralization. He performed a few immoral actions and had a few immoral beliefs, but this does not mean that all his beliefs were immoral. For example, he probably believed that he was under seven feet tall. Was this an immoral belief? Hardly!" ---You couldn't tell that I meant Hitler's belief of a master race is not morally permissible? Way to avoid the main point. "My opponent has not appropriately explained what he means by "Hitler believed that choice/preference of race was best." I doubt that he believed that: if he wanted all non-Aryans to die, why would he want to allow people to choose that their children be Aryan or non-Aryan?" ---Hitler believed that his choice/preference of race was best. Pretty simple concept. You made a straw man argument by saying that he wanted parents to choose. I never said that. "1. The idea that males are dominant is an outdated one. In modern society, males and females are close to equal, and indeed, females hold certain advantages." ---Like what advantages? "2. There exists a wide variety of parents, and they will want a wide variety of children. Many parents will want females, and many others will want males." ---The parents want to survive, and they want their children to thrive. According to "Survival of the Fittest" (1) parents would want boys. Since boys tend to be the strongest and fittest. "3. My opponent's argument still relies on the idea that it is better to have a child of the dominant sex. Though many parents will feel that way, many more will not, and will choose gender off of other factors." ---Like what other factors? "Other than the fact that that's a song..." ---Lol. "it's not necessarily true, and also fails to take into account other possible traits: to truly be preferable, men would have to be harder, better, faster, stronger, smarter, quicker, wiser, funnier, prettier, sexier, longer and happier, to name a few." ---Men are faster and stronger than women based on the numerous world records and competetions. Men almost always beat women. ---Men are smarter than women according to scientists. (2) ---Quicker is the same as faster. Go to almost any competetition and you will see that men are faster/quicker. ---Wiser is the same as smarter. See above. Men are wiser. ---Men are funnier than women according to scientists. (3) ---Sexier? How can this possibly change based on gender? Please explain. ---Longer? Thanks for proving my point. Men are longer (taller?) than women. (4) ---Happier? How can this possibly change based on gender? Please explain. "1. When females begin to become rare, many parents will begin to prefer females, as they will be unique and special. Every parent wants their child to be "special", right?" ---Most parents want their children to fit in. And if there is a 9-1 male-female ratio than this would surely lead to their daughter getting raped. Parents would not want this. "2. Mothers would begin to prefer daughters, and since the mother gets the absolute decision, more females would begin to surface." ---Why would mothers want their daughters to get raped? And it is a parental decision, not a mother decision. "3. A gender imbalance would remain fairly minor, and if it did, it would serve as a control for the population. The world of today is overpopulated, and an increase in men and decrease in women would help to regulate it." ---The world of today is underpopulated according to my sources. (5) (6) (7) "This video portrays a man who is clearly supposed to be seen as crazy." ---I do not see the craziness in the man. "It follows that society in general views men and women as equal, and does not share this man's ideals. This supports the affirmation." ---The man shows how men are better than women, without anyone attempting to refute him. This supports the negation, not the affirmation. ==================== Contention 3: Sex selection will bring back gender stereotypes. Society (in the U.S.) has been mostly ridden of gender stereotypes, but sex selection will bring them back. My making sex selection legal, gender stereotypes will come back. In China and other cultures where males are already seen as dominant, this would further increase the stereotype. Contention 4: Sex selection makes love for children conditional. Parents should love their children unconditionally, otherwise, the children will believe that they will always have to meet their parent's expectations. Contention 5: Sex selection would put a great burden on children. For example, a father wanting a boy, so he becomes a star quarterback; but the boy is interested in legos instead. This is unfair to the boy. Contention 6: Sex selection is the first step on a slippery slope to "designer babies." (8) If we first allow parents to choose the sex of their child, they will soon want to choose the hair color, eye color, height, and weight. This creates a false perception of "perfect." This is exactly what Hitler wanted- a master race. Contention 7: The process of the birth of child is supposed to be beautiful and precious, not like picking a couch out of a catalog. The birth of child should not be like ordering out of a catalog. ==================== I look forward to my opponent's rebuttal. ==================== ---Sources--- (1) http://en.wikipedia.org... (2) http://www.livescience.com... (3) http://www.telegraph.co.uk... (4) http://www.abc.net.au... (5) http://www.metafuture.org... (6) http://findarticles.com... (7) http://illinoisreview.typepad.com... (8) http://en.wikipedia.org...