From: J056600@LMSC5.IS.LMSC.LOCKHEED.COM
Subject: Re: Education Regarding Alternative Family Units (Re: The Analogy Betwixt Gays & Blacks (Re: Children in Same-gender Fa
Organization: Lockheed Missiles & Space Company, Inc.
Date: Mon, 04 Jan 93 08:08:16 PST

In <1JAN199317243184@zeus.tamu.edu>:

>In article <1hqmklINN24o@hp-col.col.hp.com>, smithw@col.hp.com (Walter Smith) w
>|snodgras@lclark.edu (Bil Snodgrass) writes:
>|
>|> I shouldn't pay for breeders to continue to have children
>|> they cannot afford to clothe house and feed.  I shouldn't be paying for
>|> spousal insurance through my premiums for Child birthing and Spousal
>|> Benefits.....How dare your type call me equal when it comes to taking
>|> money from me but don't allow me basic human rights.
>|
>|Yeah, this is gonna be *real* productive...do you call your mother
>|and father 'breeders', too?
>
>   Okay, okay.  In less inflamatory language, why should Bil
>pay for projects which promote heterosexuality in the schools?  What if
>it is in contradixion to his religious beliefs?  Should the schools
>tearch home-economics unless they are taught for his kind of home unit too?
>What about those social studies text books that depict heterosexual
>family units?  Should he pay for those?

No, he shouldn't.  Many things that the government does infringes on the
religious freedoms of many different people.  Many devout Christians feel that
their religious freedoms are abridged when government *forces* them to support
abortion through their tax dollars.  Or for another example, how do Arab-
Americans feel about seeing their tax dollars going to Israeli aid?

Whether it's "Heather Has Two Mommies" or "traditional Christian values," too
many people see our schools and universities as social engineering factories
to mold children into *their own* idea of what society should be.  And on
either wing--left or right--it scares the bejeezus out of me.  Public schools
are for learning the fundamentals.  Other "values" should be taught at home,
in their church/synagogue/temple/whatever, and in private clubs and organiza-
tions--NOT the public schools.  Well, I'd allow it to be taught as *elective*
courses (and not "choose from A, B, or C" electives, either).  But no social
engineering courses should be *mandatory* for students.

I'm a Christian, but I don't want the public schools to teach what I believe.
That's my job.  That's my wife's job.  That's the job of the church and of the
organizations to which we belong.  It's *not* the domain of the schools.  And
neither is "sensitivity training" or "alternative lifestyles."  I have no
problem with my future children learning about "alternative lifestyles."  I
just don't want them learning it in school where it may be taught with an
agenda (left OR right).  I want it taught in an environment where the facts
are presented and the child can build his/her own conclusions and set of val-
ues.  Such subjects can't be taught impartially in schools.

>Should Bil pay taxes which allow for tax-breaks for opposite-
>gender parent family units?  What if that's against his religion?

Bingo.  The last two lines state clearly what I've felt all along.  While I may
have my own, *personal* religion-based disapproval of some things (abortion),
it's none of my business to intervene in such decisions.  However, when clinics
are funded with my tax dollars, it IS my business.  Isn't forcing religious
people to support abortion clinics just an example of government denying
religious rights to some people (by forcing them to support something their
religion forbids)?  I claim that it is.  And while I'll back abortion rights,
I'll continue to rail against *public, tax-financed* support for abortion
mills.  If there are as many strident pro-choicers as they claim, they could
each pay $X per year (where X=$10 or 20?) and keep abortion safe, legal and
accessible.  Somehow, I think they'd rather make the rest of us foot the bill,
too.  I think that a middle-class pro-choicer can afford $10 or $20 per year.
What is that, one less Big Mac per month or one fewer large pizza per year???
And if I didn't pay for the clinics, I'd vehemently defend their right to exist
and for the right of women to choose (as long as anti-abortion types can also
*choose* not to financially support them).

(Disclaimer:  Don't take the "$10 or $20" figure above as fact.  I'm throwing
out hypothetical numbers for illustrative purposes only.  In any case, I don't
think that the true number is excessively high for people who feel strongly
about the issue.)

Don't get me wrong here.  I'm pro-choice for society but personally pro-life.
I dislike abortion and my wife dislikes abortion.  And I *really* don't want
to support abortion.  But I have no problem with pro-choicers who fund
clinics themselves (i.e. "putting their money where their mouth is") in order
to let poor women gain access to abortion.  I guess I'm just consistently pro-
choice on *everything*.  Sigh...


Tim Irvin
******************************************************************************
Don't blame me, I voted for Marrou/Lord.