Hornier Than Thou...

When I was a kid in High School, some twenty-something years ago, sluts were an exception to the rule; many girls did not kiss on the first date; and teenage pregnancy was viewed with scandal. The other day, I took my family to the dentists for our checkups, and my wife picked up a magazine she read when she was a teen. Inside “Seventeen” (a magazine catering to high school girls), were not the acne ads, and articles about how to tell if a boy likes you, that you would expect... instead, there were ads for perfumes to “lure him to bed”, and quizzes to find out if he is getting “booty” on the side. My wife's jaw dropped, and she started to wonder if she had picked up a “Cosmopolitan” by mistake. It seemed to make sense though considering Paris Hilton was on the cover... you know, the girl who jumped to fame due to her porno her boyfriend put on the Internet; well that, and her playing a moronic slut in real life.

The reality is, we now live in a society today in which most teenage girls do not believe that oral or anal sex actually count as sex, much to the joy of most teenage boys. College girls now set up streaming video of their sexual exploits for monthly fees, “Girls Gone Wild” gets hours of sexual “hi-jinx” from a single party, or day at the beach. The high schools now have classes that cater specifically to pregnant students, and provide day care for their other children.

The issue is not that the teens of today are any hornier than the teens of yesteryear... it is just that the teens of yesteryear had more respect for themselves, and a clue about the difference between right and wrong. The teens of today have no concept of what they are getting themselves into. They hump like jackrabbits like it was a Sunday drive on a summer day... no second thought, no remorse, no thought that they have done anything to be concerned about.

Adults want to blame the fading morals of the children on MTV, or Paris Hilton, or Seventeen Magazine... but the reality is that it is the Adult's fault this has happened. Most of us have not taken the time to instill the correct morals and moral judgment into our children. We think that we must change with the times, have a “modern” way of thinking, that things are not like they were when we were kids; but the reality is that the times have changed, but standards must remain. There is absolutely no reason you cannot speak to your child, and explain to her that her virginity is worth more than a McDonald's hamburger and a chocolate shake; pregnancy should come with marriage; oral and anal sex have the term “sex” in them for a reason; and that being a semen receptacle should not be her goal in life.

I once spoke to a 16-year-old girl who was proud that she had “only been with 4 guys”, like that made her a near-virgin or something. I asked her how long she had been sexually active, and she told me 6 months... SIX MONTHS. I then asked her if she planned on getting married, she told me she would by the time she was 25. I then said to her that at her current rate of 4 different lovers every 6 months, she would have 80 lovers by the time she married... her husband would be so proud! She thought about it for a moment, and then her face turned white. She had not really looked at it that way before.

When I was a kid there was a joke I used to tell, it went like this:

“A guy had a perfect solution to “getting lucky” on dates... When the girl would get in the car, he would wrap her hand around his penis and say, 'If you want to have sex, jiggle it once. If you don't, jiggle it 50 times'.”

It seems the joke has become a reality... only now instead of being tricked into a sexual encounter, she's ass up in the backseat of a car “defending” her virginity. If only you had explained to her what the punchline meant.

What's In a Name?

Often when you read an article or listen to a news program, the author/host has a way of twisting the story to a certain point of view without most of the audience realizing it. He does this by using key words to manipulate your impression of something. For example, today in Iraq, terrorists set off suicide bombs that killed at least 15 people; most articles and news broadcasts will say that “insurgents” or “rebels” set off bombs. These terms give the terrorists a sense of nobility, whereas the term “terrorists” puts a negative light on the actions of the TERRORISTS.

Keep in mind that most liberals, hence most news agencies, hate the President, hate that we liberated Iraq, hate the war on terror, and so on. Therefore, they spin the reality by putting in cute little keywords to hopefully, on an almost subliminal level, sway you against the things they are against. It is hard to sympathize with “terrorists”, but it is possible to sympathize with “rebels” or “insurgents”.

These terms extend beyond the terrorists as a whole to the individuals behind the terror. Reuters today wrote an article about the suicide bombings mentioned above, and then went on to refer to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi as a “militant spokesman” and Al Queda as “followers”. These same people also claim that Arafat was a “statesman”… that is like calling Hitler a diplomat.

This type of word usage goes far beyond the war to our everyday lives. When a female is young, and they want to make her a victim, they call her a “girl”; when they want to empower her, they call her a “woman”. When a 16-year-old boy robs a liquor store, he is a young “man”; when he is not getting the government assistance the press thinks he should have, he is a “child”. When you kill the unborn, it is called “pro-choice” if you try and speak out against it; you are a “zealot”. These terms affect us in ways we do not realize, that is, until we sit down and think about it.

What's in a name? Everything.

Who Speaks For The Silent?

In the wake of the death of Terry Shiavo, vast discussion and reflection on the right to live, or die, has been cast to the forefront. People are discussing the need for a “Living Will” and to make their wishes be known as to whether or not they want to live (in one state of existence or another), or whether they want to die; but from this discussion comes the question: Who speaks for the silent?

Who speaks for those that have their mind ravaged by Alzheimer's? Who speaks for the comatose? Who speaks for the life growing helplessly in the womb of a woman? We debate these issues, but we never seem to settle on an answer.

Is a life only valuable if it is convenient for those associated with that life? If grandma becomes a burden, are we supposed to put a pillow over her face, or park her in the corner in her wheelchair and allow her to starve to death? If you are too young, or have too much going on, is it okay to carve your child out of the womb? If you don't make enough money to feed your family are you supposed to club one of them in the head to make way for the rest? Opinions may vary, but I say a resounding “Hell NO!”

As a civilized society, it is the duty of the citizenry to speak up for those that cannot speak for themselves. Our laws and our people should reflect our humanity. A woman may say “it is my body, and I can do with it what I want”... but the reality is, once a child comes to be inside her, her body is hijacked, and is now the cocoon for a new life. Her body is no longer hers, but it is her child's as well. Until that child is born, she has an obligation to protect and nurture that child until it breaks free of the cocoon. If the woman no longer wishes to be “burdened” by that child, she can pass that “burden” on to the father, the family that longs for a child, or countless others that will cherish the burden of a child.

Think about your grandmother, she fulfilled her obligation; she nurtured and raised her children, and probably had a hand in your upbringing as well. Now in her time of need, do you not have an obligation to her? She changed your diapers, she fed you, she loved you and cared for you, she looked after you and kept you from harm. Is it so hard to return her love in her time of need. Yes, you have a lot of work to do; the kids have soccer practice, the yard needs mowing, you have to be to work early... but is that more important than allowing a loved one the simple pleasure of breathing, feeling, loving, and being loved?

Who speaks for the silent? You do. I do. Our laws and our society must. I do not believe it was an accident that our forefathers put “life” first in the list of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”. Life comes first... living is the thing that makes all other things possible.