Jennifer Swope, a stay-at-home mother in Derry, gives us this little gem from Redefining marriage will come with costs:
What makes marriage unique among all human relationships and raises it to the level of a sacred bond is this: The union of one man and one woman is the only natural way that children are conceived. Moreover, the people best suited and motivated to take on the great task of raising a child from helpless newborn to independent adult are the mother and father whose love first brought that child into the world.
Catch that? In Jenny's world, all children are planned and conceived in love. If you can create a child, you are the best qualified person in the world to raise it. Conversely, if you can't create children, you must be a terrible person.
I don't know where Jenny's been living, but over here in the real world, none of that is true. Specifically, creating a child does not make one best qualified to raise a child. (Anyone who has experienced this first hand, raise your hand with me.)
In fact, according to the US Administration for Children & Families, in 2006, nearly 80 percent (79.4%) of perpetrators of child maltreatment were parents, and another 6.7 percent were other relatives of the victim . . . Of the perpetrators who were parents, more than 90 percent (91.5%) were the biological parent of the victim.
Clearly, in 2006, 657,492 children would have been better off with complete strangers than with their biological parents*. (If that number doesn't make you cry, it should.) Also quite clearly, simply sharing DNA with a child does not a parent make.
Really, people, do a little research before you make assertions, m'kay?
*total number of abused children in 2006 estimated to be 905,000. So, (0.794 x 0.915) x 905,000. If I did that wrong, please let me know.
Whzt makes letting your teeth rot in your head until you die from Septicemia unique among all types of dental care and raises it to the level of sacred is that it is the only natural way that teeth can drop out.
ReplyDeleteDon't be getting any of that unnatural Dentist intervention.
What makes dying from hypothermia unique among the ways of going out naked in the snow, and raises it to the levels of sacred nudity is that it is the only natural means of ...
gah, I pushed the stupid too far.
Ooh, ooh! I just thought of something else: would a woman being raped in an alley be a sacred bond because it's a natural way for a child to be conceived? Would two dogs fucking in the street get to the level of sacred bond being as one dog and one bitch is the only natural way in which puppies can be conceived?
ReplyDeleteYeah, that did get a little forced there at the end . . .
ReplyDeleteHonestly, what is with these people and "natural"? Is it wrong for me to not allow my dog to urinate and defecate anywhere he wants? It's not natural, after all? What about people with diabetes? Letting them die would be natural. Giving them insulin shots is unnatural.
What about antibiotics. I should be dead like 10 times over from infections by now, I'm sure. It's such a silly argument.
Never mind that being homosexual is entirely natural for the homosexual. It would be forced for me, not at all for friends of mine.
Boy have I got some parents I'd like this Jenny person to meet. It must be nice in whatever world she lives in, but she really should come and visit reality sometimes.
ReplyDeleteI know. It's so ridiculous to assume that just because someone had a child, they can be an awesome parent, or a better parent than someone who cannot have children. She cannot have missed the fact that some parents are bad at it.
ReplyDeleteWhat exactly is "sacred" about creating another human?
ReplyDeleteIt's no more sacred than the taking of human life is. Both are acts of biological agents, and given value (positive and negative, respectively) by those same agents.
I think Jen is guilty of emoting rather than thinking. A parent in a stable heterosexual relationship who's given birth to a healthy child will almost always attribute the process to something larger than life.
And that, too, is a biological process.
Babies definitely feel like magic (I've got ovaries, and they do their job in that respect), but seeing complete wastes of skin that have reproduced has convinced me that the act of making another human is in no way "sacred". Though this might explain their view on lust. Lust feels dirty to them, but it produces sacred babies and it all must be so confusing!
ReplyDeleteI would be equally amused at the concept of having gay gods in one's home . . .
ReplyDeletewell... considering that a lot of the Hindu gods were supposed to have both male and female sides, and they were always hooking up and all.. i think it's safe to say that there ARE some gay gods :D
ReplyDelete(plus... dear lords above, the GREEK gods, being gay would be CONSERVATIVE for them. and the Celtic! let us NOT discuss the mythology of the Incans/Aztecs, cuz, wow)