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| DeSantis signing the Parental Rights in Education bill last year (WCTV) |
In no way is this legislation meant to hurt LGBTQ+ people. Characterizing it that way is an insult to parents that simply do not want values they consider against their religious beliefs to be taught as values neutral. It makes perfect sense to give parents that right.
Governor DeSantis wants to extend this law through 12thgrade. Whether that is going too far or not is a matter of legitimate debate. But still - sensitive issues like this should be left for parents to decide which is the appropriate age for discussion.
But this is not how the left thinks. They believe that parents will short change their children this way. Especially if there are any LGBTQ+ children in the classroom. They deserve to be treated with respect and treated no differently than straight students. The left fears that without classroom instruction religious parents will prejudice their children against them.
This is a reflection of the culture war taking place in western civilization. Religious people are increasingly being marginalized by a culture that sees their values as archaic - and even racist. The left, on the other hand sees treating LGBTQ+ issues as values neutral and a logical extension of the liberal democratic values this country stands for.
To the religious parents - instilling religious values into their children is vital for their spiritual development. Dismissing those values is an insult to their religious heritage. They believe that the morality of the bible is undermined by a philosophy that treats all sexual matters as values neutral. And that teaching children about all the aspects of being LGBTQ+ including things like gender affirming surgery is no different than teaching them math. That biblically forbidden sexual behavior is not only permitted but to be celebrated.
Religious people are appalled by this kind of attitude and yet it has become the dominant thinking by a culturally elite media and entertainment figures that bombard the public with their version of morality. They are the ones that currently determine what’s moral and what isn’t. The idea of teaching a child that the bible forbids cross-dressing for example - is considered a relic of biblical times that should no more be valid today than slavery.
True - there are some legitimate concerns that need to be addressed. For example - what about the discrimination experienced so often by LGBTQ+ people by homophobes? Discrimination that can sometimes be deadly! Should it not be part of an education to condemn that kind of behavior?
Absolutely it should. It is deplorable to hurt people that are LGBTQ+. Being a Mentch is just as important to a religious person as is the desire to not teach them about sexual matters at such a young age. But that is a far cry from teaching them to celebrate behavior that is against their religious values. Or teaching them about gender affirming surgery.
What about a transgender child that contemplates suicide because of the way they are treated by a society ignorant of this condition. One might argue that informing a child that there is a surgical way out could be life saving.
OK. But even in the rare circumstance where there might be such a child in a classroom, they can be informed privately by people qualified to do so. It doesn’t have to be in the context of classroom instruction for all to hear. To talk about SRS (sexual reassignment surgery) as though it was no different than removing tonsils - without considering any moral perspective is a form of indoctrination that parents have a right to refuse for their children. And a gross violation of religious freedom in my view.
One might be tempeted to compare parental rights in this situation to the rights of parents in certain Chasidic sects to deny their children an education in Limudei Chol (secular studies). Isn't that a matter of religious rights being denied as well? That is exactly the argument made by their defenders.
But there is a major difference between teaching a child values that are considered immoral and teaching them the subjects that are values neutral by any definition. Requiring their children to be taught the 3 Rs does absolutely nothing to hurt their spirituality.
Back to DeSantis. A lot of people on the left don’t like him. They consider him a right wing radical because of his right wing social agenda. .But based on what I’ve seen so far, I support him. And if he runs for President against Biden, I will very likely vote for him. Because it is polices like the ones he has so far implemented that stands in the way of the moral decay this nation seems to be headed with increasing rapidity.
Does this make me a rabid right wing conservative that sees liberalism as the end of civilization?
Not at all. I support liberal issues that make sense to me. Like gun control. But like all things there needs to be a balance. In this case between the kind of liberal ideals that made this country great (such as freedom of speech and freedom of religion) and conservative values that will stop the slippery slope down to the abyss of immorality in which our culture is currently headed.