I was in the middle of writing this post, when I saw this, and I thought Dug beat me to it. But since he was referring to something slightly different (and even more ridiculous), I figured I'd go ahead and post this anyway...
As some of you know, the Farmington community is up in arms over this "leftist, liberal political video" being shown to school kids without their parents permission:
I can see why people wouldn't want their kids to hear this "leftist, liberal" video. Because I'd hate for my kids to participate in liberal things like:
1) Ending hunger
2) Loving more
3) Volunteering
4) Being a great parent (I'm pretty sure this was a subliminal leftist message to convince elementary school boys to get their girlfriends pregnant. Damn liberals!)
5) Participating in service projects
6) Recycling (this one is big - I'm slightly worried that I'll get car-bombed each time I take my recycling can out to the curb in my slightly conservative neighborhood)
The humanity!
So tell me. I'm pretty sure that there is at least someone out there who reads this blog who can't possibly believe that anyone would show this to innocent children. What exactly are you afraid of? Are you afraid that your kid will come home and tell you that he wants to support the president? If so, would you have the same fear if a republican were in office? After reading about the public outcry over this, I thought back to when I was in elementary school, and I can vividly remember learning about President Reagan, and how great he was, how we should be patriotic by supporting the president, and watching some of his speahes. I mean, he was the president of our country, so why not? I don't remember any complaints back then. Seems like a double standard to me. If you are really that adamant that your kid hate Obama, I'm sure you have done a fine job instilling this hate by simply talking to your kids about it.
Are you afraid your kids will come home and ask "what is stem cell research?" Were you hoping that they'd never find out about it? I think you should try the same sheltering technique with sex. Let me know how that works out for you.
My 4 year old already calls it "a duece" (actually she calls it "number 3" now, which is another story), so I'm not too worried about that one either.
The only problem I have with this video is that nobody pledged to ride bikes more. It funny how everyone gets all excited about things that are easy to do, but really don't make much of a difference, like not using plastic bottles and bags (especially if you're recycling them after using them), but nobody is willing to do something that takes some effort and could make a big difference, like riding a bike instead of driving.
I'll admit that the whole "being a servant to my president" at the end is a bit weird, and I can even see how some may take it that wrong way, but I what I can't understand is why it's so important to limit my kid's exposure to democrats who support the president. If I did that, my kids wouldn't see their mom or their grandparents very much.
I guess I feel a bit like Dug today. But I have to remind myself that there are a lot of good people in this state (and even in Utah County) too. Really, there are a lot of them. Even some of the paranoid right-wing (and left-wing) nutjobs that I know.
The End
2 years ago
8 comments:
amen brother. be the change.
This has to be less about the content. I hear about most of these things in church on a weekly basis (set aside Deuce and stem cells) and more about who is delivering it.
These likely are the same people who say "Obamination" and compare Obama to Hitler. Direct quotes, btw.
I struggle with all the celebrity because I really don't think great entertainers are of the stature of the presidency. I actually think it dilutes his message. Chili pepper dude kissing his pipes for instance.
My poor 8 year old has already had fun with this. He asked who I voted for and when I said Obama he took it rather personally given the kinds of things that were being said about Obama at Alpine elementary.
BTW, good luck at point 2 point. I really wanted to ride it, but I am still waiting on the thumb.
You makes some good points, I am afraid my (future) kids might follow some of these bad paths and try to end hunger, love more or even scarier volunteering. What happened to being patriotic and supporting our president. I didn’t like President Bush and thought he did a bad job but I still tried to respect him.
The hysteria around President Obama is kind of scary right now. I can’t believe how much he has been hated from the get go. I think the problem is that he is black and unfortunately in America there is still a lot of racism, I think that “whitey (republicans)” think that you can’t trust a black person no matter what.
The first half of the video is full of great pledges that we can all agree are wonderful pledges like be a good mom, be responsible, fight hunger, help the elderly, more service, etc. Then after it lulls you into nodding "yes, yes, that's a great idea and that too is a great idea" the video gets weird with things like "I pledge to flush only after a deuce and not a single" and "I pledge to be a SERVANT to Barrack Obama" (what's up with that?). I have a better idea to save water, why doesn't he go in a recyclable 2 liter bottle for a few days and then when it's full and the time is right, simply pour it in with the deuce (and of course recycle the empty 2 liter).
At the end it's a bit creapy like a bunch of zombies in unison saying their pledge to Obama and "all humanity."
I'm all about taking personal responsibility, serving our country more and pledging to God and country to do better, but pledging allegiance/servitude to Barrack is a bit much to stomach.
bjchild - thanks for the comment. I have to agree about the chant at the end. But I have noticed that for most, chants are only weird when you are not participating in them, or don't agree with what is being said. Shoot, I listened in on a "chant" that happens every Sunday in my church's youth group ("Young Women", if you're familiar with the term), and thought, "man, this is a bit weird, I bet people of other faiths would be totally creeped out by this." My point is, what is weird to me and you doesn't mean that it's necessarily "wrong" or deserving of censorship.
I don't have any problem if you don't agree with every "pledge" in the video. I just don't understand the fear that people have of being exposed to opinions they disagree with.
I disagree that the creators of this video were trying to "lull" anyone into anything. I doubt they said, "hey, we're going to trick people into supporting Obama and stem cell research without them even knowing it!" when they made this video.
If anything, the video seems like a good opportunity to sit down with your kids and talk, rather than getting paranoid and demanding that the principal who showed the video be fired, as some have done.
It seems a non-issue to me as well. Just what is so offensive? Events like this provide opportunities for me to talk with my kids, os the uproar seems misplaced to me.
It's a nice message, but I find it hard to take celebrities serious. If I were the principal I wouldn't show it in school, not because it's "liberal" but because it's not that educational.
If I only flush after a deuce, where's my cat going to get a drink?
Aaron - I agree that it's silly to get worked up about limiting exposure to this video to kids because it has a liberal slant to it. In fact I think it's really important for people to not shelter their kids from differing viewpoints. I had a history teacher once who had the polar opposite views on almost every issue and she certainly wasn't afraid to share them with the class. It was actually one of the best classes I had because it allowed for healthy debate and discussion.
My earlier comment was more just expressing my personal distaste for some of the video's content. I'd love to see "right wingers" come up with a video of their pledges. I'd probably disagree with half of their pledges too.
As for me, I'm going to pledge to ride my bike to work more than one day a week. It would be cool to get one of those snow bikes with the beefy tires and ride during the winter.
http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/rocky-mountain-bicycle-show-part-1-22914
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