Warning, this blog entry have a potential political content.
Disclaimer: I have been living in the US for almost 11 years. I still have some European views, though.
When it comes to US politics, I have a hard time when it comes to agreeing with either of the two parties. In Sweden I voted for theModerate party(lower taxes, tougher on crime, strong defence forces, less government and more personal freedom). But the views of that party is more liberal (in the original meaning of the word, not as it is currently used in the US). For example, the party is pro-choice (not only when it comes to choosing daycare for your kid or hospital/doctor to visit, but also when it comes for a woman to be in charge of her own body).
Because of this, I sometimes enjoy(?) to look at the lack of logic among US politicians. Let me give one simple example.
We will compare the stand on gun ownership vs sex education among certain politicians. For simplicity, we will assume that the politicians also agree with NRA on certain issues.NRA even have a webpage with safety resources aimed especially to youths:http://www.nrahq.org/youth/resources.asp
So teaching young people/kids about gun safety is good, since it prevent people from being hurt.But the same politicians are against teaching youths/kids about sex, including how to avoid becoming/making someone pregnant.
The logic used is "if we teach them about sex, they will have more sex".Nobody (well, some democrats might) claim that "if we teach kids how to use guns, there will be more shootings". Right?
"Palin is a strong proponent of theSecond Amendment, and supports gun-safety education for children."
"Palin’s running mate, John McCain, and the GOP platform say children should be taught that abstinence until marriage is the only safe way to avoid pregnancy and disease. Palin’s position is less clear. In a widely quoted 2006 survey she answered during her gubernatorial campaign, Palin said she supported abstinence-until-marriage programs. But weeks later, she proclaimed herself ‘pro-contraception’ and said condoms ought to be discussed in schools alongside abstinence."
Time to decide?
We all know that if you make something "forbidden", it becomes more interesting and tempting. So by preaching abstinence, the youth actually want to try the "forbidden" thing.I do not think it is a coincidence that the US have thehighest rate of teenage pregnancyper capita inindustrializedcountries, way higher than most European countries, where sex education and pregnancy prevention is taught more/earlier.
I have a hard time with hippocrites, no matter if they are politicians preaching family values andhaving affairsbehind the spouses back, or using flawed logic(as in the example above), or people calling themselves "christian" (and going to church every Sunday) while having affairs with married women/men.