Those two concepts shouldn’t really go together, but they sure do in Amerika.
On Countdown tonight, Keith Olbermann made that statement that research shows that, over the past ten years, twice as many Republicans have been involved in sex scandals as Democrats.
Yet, it’s the Republicans who supposedly are the advocates of “family values.” Right.
And during the EWTN mass today that my mother was watching, I catch the priest praising the Republicans for championing anti-abortion, anti-sex education and anti-homosexuality. So much for the separation of church and state.
I think about the people who have been brainwashed into believing that the priest speaks for god. If the priest says that Republicans are the good guys, well, then that’s who should get their votes.
And then there’s this website for the organization “Teen Mania,” which was founded by a man who “ran away from home at the age of 15 and became involved in drug and alcohol abuse before finding Jesus at the age of 16 ” and subsequently began a quest “to raise up an army of young people who would change the world.”
“Teen Mania seeks to rescue teens, ones who are caught in lives of despair and hopelessness, ” and, of course it does this by attracting them to embrace the doctrines of fundamentalist Christianity.
The statements and statistics on its homepage are very troubling; as I look at the world around me, I suspect that they are pretty accurate. There obviously are too many young people whose lives don’t give them anything substantial to hold onto. No wonder they gravitate toward such “cults.”
My question is, where are there other options being offered them, options that are as attractive to them but are not based in any kind of religious fundamentalism?
Aren’t schools supposed to be the places where kids can go to get excited about what life has to offer them? Aren’t schools supposed to be the places where kids can learn to feel good about who they are and what they are capable of accomplishing? Aren’t schools supposed to be the places where the leaders (teachers and administrators) harness all of that young and vibrant energy toward creating a humane, nurturing, and supportive environment?
Ya think??