Gotta respond (though I know I will be sorry):
You MUST speak english.And how do we expect people to survive in our society if they don't even speak the language? Talk about putting up barriers! Standardized testing (required by universities for entry) are going to heavily favor english-speaking students. English is the language of most of the businesses in the country. English is accepted in about every city you go to. This does not seem to be an unreasonable demand.
You MUST pray in school.This has never happened, unless you went to parochial schools which were founded by churches. Public schools have never demanded you pray. They used to allow the opportunity if you desired, but even that doesn't happen now. Further, I have never seen one conservative proposal to make prayer mandatory. As it is now, even Parent/Teacher organizations are not allowed to pray if they desire- that's right, even if it is their choice to do so.
You MUST NOT have an abortion.There is a wide spectrum on this one. Some say absolutely none, some say to limit so that it is not as casual as a drive-through restaurant. Our friends on the other side like to call it "Pro-choice", and trivialize the whole event. I'd have to say that anytime you are ending a life you need to have a good reason, wouldn't you?
You MUST NOT use contraceptives.This is perhaps my favorite one- set aside that not all religions ban contraceptives (mine sure doesn't), our friends on the other side have us passing out contraceptives in our high schools. All they need do now is provide a free period and a dark room. It's one thing to say "teens will have sex, no way to stop it", it is another thing altogether to encourage the growth of teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases in our very own schools. Might as well pass out liquor and dope too, because they won't stop doing that, either.
Wonder why schools are doing so poorly, don't you?
You MUST NOT read things that are outside of the community's standards.If you are talking about schools again, let me let you in on how public schools work. You have a Superintendent who assembles a staff. They coordinate the daily operations of the school and manage the long-range status as well. They recommend curriculum, but the school board must pass the recommendations given to them. If the community is conservative, you will see a conservative agenda. If you see liberal, liberal agenda. What is wrong with that? Education is a state concern, and local input is valuable too. What you seem to suggest is that we socialize education to make certain that it is applied exactly the same throughout the country. Fine, but that isn't the way it is currently legislated, so there is nothing wrong with a community setting its own standards. Being conservative or liberal has nothing to do with it.
You MUST NOT view things that are outside of the community's standards.How about funding for works of art? Who pays for that? The taxpayers. Quick show of hands... who wants to see a canvas splashed with elephant dung? Who thinks that is art? Who is happy the price tag came out of their pocket? NEA (National Endowment of the Arts) has the responsibility, since it is funded by the American public, to be responsive to its "patrons". If we say we don't want to see another gallery of state-sponsored photographs of bungholes, I think we should have the right to say so, right?
FWIW, I think the concern is mostly about who is paying for the crap that is displayed more than the judgement of the people who would display such garbage. In the case of pornography, look at it all you like, just don't make it accessible to children.
[This message has been edited by Kieren (edited 01-30-2001).]
