04-26-2024, 12:24 PM
(04-26-2024, 08:51 AM)hollodero Wrote: Yes, it certainly is. I just don't know how much I can really blame them for that. They fight in a political arena that seems like an Alex Jones rant, where Democrats regularly are called out for being america-hating communists, wanting to forbid to say merry Christmas, trying to ban meat, grooming voters with an open border policy, are in favor of killing babies after birth, not knowing anymore what a man and a woman is, being literally crazy and mentally deranged and whatnot. Where do I point the finger, it apparently depends on initial sympathies or antipathies. That imho is the state of the discourse and I fear if you try to fight there with some reasonable, fact-bases objections you will lose support and elections in this extremely polarized attention economy. It's more of an explanation than a defense really, but at least there's a grain of truth behind it in this particular case, for I'd also say the law affects gay people more severely, since straight couples are the norm every child is aware of anyway.
I can't argue with any of this. I would say that if you dislike the current climate then not contributing to it further would seem like the better move. I don't mean you personally, btw. I do understand the perceived, and potentially real, political disadvantage of that. I just have to continually roll my eyes at the hyperbolic attacks by both parties.
Quote:Oh I am aware, somehow the US is both the most prude and most lewd western country at the same time. Which makes me wonder whether the whole idea of keeping your child away from any topic touching sexuality isn't an outdated idea to begin with. I'd wager most children have heard plenty about it, even if their parents are uber-strict and successfully avoid their kids ever being on the internet or on Netlix et al, they still have buddies that tell them all about it. Considering this, I'd rather they get correct information than all the rumors they imho inevitably are confronted with anyways. But sure, as I said it's not the most terrible law ever written, I'm just always wary about any law tackling societal issues and wonder whether it was really so necessary in the first place. But I know too little about it, I do wonder though if it could now be considered illegal if a teacher said that some men love men and some women love women. Talking sexuality in that manner is not the same as talking sex really, and imho, it should not be punishable to say the sentence I just wrote in school.
It's certainly an interesting dichotomy. I think at its foundation is parents are very concerned about other adults talking to their kids about sex and sexuality. I think few parents are naïve about the exposure kids get to the topic on the internet and from their peers, but another adult assuming that role, even with good intentions, definitely rankles.
Quote:Well, I think teasing is different than bullying and children of gay parents are rather prone to the latter. Sure, kids tease each other all the time, but I still remember what happened to the alleged freaks with the gay parents and this was way beyond teasing. And I found it good that teachers tried to intervene and fear many might be afraid to do so for fear of being legally culpable over it.
The other takeaway seems to be that 12 year olds can already have partners and a defined sexuality, and I am generally in favor of an institution like school to somehow address this topic then.
Yes, certainly there is a difference between teasing and bullying, and that is one area in which I will give the modern left credit. Bullying seems to be much less of a thing today than it was when I grew up (graduated in '92). There was a football player three years ahead of me who used to absolutely torture people. A friend of mine had PE with him after lunch and the dude would literally punch him in the face every day. Like a legit punch. And my friend had braces so it tore up the inside of his cheek. That dude ended up eating some hefty karma, but man he was a literal sadist.
Quote:Yeah I have a similar feeling, I feel like a lonely leftist among my peers that develop some restrictive authoritarian streaks, banning this and that and whatnot. To me, being left always was about personal freedom; like a 40 hour workweek should be sufficient to make a modest living so people are free to live their life instead of being shackled to make ends meet, same goes for maternity leave and all the other leftist stuff. Being totalitarian in your opinion and wanting to silence or ban everything that is not aligned with it is not being left to me, but that's where the leftist zeitgeist apparently goes and there lies my sympathy with Maher.
Once you start reaching the extreme on either side authoritarianism is inevitable. It does seem much more contradictory when it comes from the left, given what should be the core tenants of being a left leaning person. I think we're on the return swing away from the left now and I'm legitimately concerned how far the swing to the right will be. It will be welcome in areas like the criminal justice system, but I fear it will go after some of the hard fought gains made by the homosexual community. It would be nice if people could find a nice middle ground and chill there.
