Thinking Of The Children

A reader writes: I think there is something missing in this discussion that is often overlooked. There is a reason that the anti-gay activists use the "gay marriage will be taught in schools" meme over and over again. The fact is that same-sex couples are not the norm. Most children are only exposed to male-female relationships (ie. their parents, their friends' parents, etc.) and they are exposed to them to such an extent that they don't even warrant notice. Even when Weddingkids children are exposed to same-sex couples, they are often explained differently than the relationships of married couples (eg."this is my friend/roommate"). When this dynamic changes, like when a teacher gets married to someone of the same sex, it goes against prior experience and suddenly becomes worthy of notice, leading to questions. Now try to imagine the conversation that follows. Parents may be forced to deal with questions of sexuality and love at an age when these discussions would not otherwise take place.

[rdg1234]

This is the aspect of all these debates about which I am most sickened -- in light of the actions of the anti-gay *as well as the pro-gay*.

If this is such an incredible problem, why is no *decisive, definitive* action being taken? I cannot fathom it and perhaps people are wise not to answer; I doubt any answer is going to satisfy me.

The pro-gay are being put into a position personally *where they are allowing literal, direct lies to be told about them*. I just don't get it. I don't get why this is not being dealt with far more harshly by some legal means. Think about it: Dealing with it in *any decisive matter* even if it failed could bring *enormous publicity* to the issue in a way that could clear the air once and for all.

I can't shake the repeated, dogmatic thought that there must be a way to sue on these grounds. If the *attorney general of a state* says that gay marriage will not be taught in schools and if the anti-gay then say it will be,*there's a court case waiting to happen* in which educators, state officials and pro-gay families *could testify about this*. A curriculum is a curriculum.

I feel the pro-gay are being victimized and are just "crying about it" rather than doing something. But I don't want to be seen as attacking; I support them. It's just that I'm feeling the first twinges of what I know *FAR TOO WELL* is going to blossom into disgust for the pro-gay themselves, as they continue to be victimized by this without doing *something in the name of god* about it.

[Travis A]

very well written and i agree

[Deningrad]

What can I say... I agree with you... I wonder if the equality side will react any time soon.

[Dyssonance]

Interesting

[Gay Mom]

Since homosexuality and heterosexuality can be described in terms of "they love each other" to any age up to puberty, or beyond if necessary, they have no argument. Why has someone not come up with this argument? With all those heterosexual mommys and daddys in story books, is their sex life discussed? No? Then why would homosexual sex life be discussed? It's a no brainer.

Oh, it just occured to me, they want to pretend we don't exist, don't they? Never mind.

[rdg1234]

These responses are kind; and is that dissonance! The clinking pearls.:D

Gay Mom, I *also* agree with what you say. It was always in the back of my mind, WHY would homosexuality be discussed, but not heterosexuality.

Someone really needs to up the ante on this and be very "in their faces" not even in a cruel or combative way, but *very willing to deal with it here and now* and set it to rest. If that takes a court, then so be it.

[DustyShadow]

Excuse me, what are you saying about a court case. Are you saying that people who speak out about homosexuality being taught in the schools should be sued?

[Starilae]

DustyShadow wrote:

Excuse me, what are you saying about a court case. Are you saying that people who speak out about homosexuality being taught in the schools should be sued?

I dont think the government has the right to cover us from anything.

Evolution is being taught in school, and though i dont want to believe we evolved from primates, i do believe that everyone's opinion has a right to be heard.
Besides, the end result of what our children is taught should ultimately be with the parent. My father is a pastor, and he told me straight up that he didn't agree with evolution, so neither did I.

Opinions on gay marriage should be discussed in a non-biased way.

We are Americans, we can take the truth. It isn't anyone's right to discuss what information gets out and what doesn't. We are supposed to receive the information ourselves and be independent enough to make our own decisions on that said Information.

Anything else is against the first amendment

[Travis A]

Starilae wrote:

<quoted text>
I dont think the government has the right to cover us from anything.
Evolution is being taught in school, and though i dont want to believe we evolved from primates, i do believe that everyone's opinion has a right to be heard.
Besides, the end result of what our children is taught should ultimately be with the parent. My father is a pastor, and he told me straight up that he didn't agree with evolution, so neither did I.
Opinions on gay marriage should be discussed in a non-biased way.
We are Americans, we can take the truth. It isn't anyone's right to discuss what information gets out and what doesn't. We are supposed to receive the information ourselves and be independent enough to make our own decisions on that said Information.
Anything else is against the first amendment

DAMN NICE BODY! Just saying lol

[DustyShadow]

Starilae wrote:

<quoted text>
I dont think the government has the right to cover us from anything.
Evolution is being taught in school, and though i dont want to believe we evolved from primates, i do believe that everyone's opinion has a right to be heard.
Besides, the end result of what our children is taught should ultimately be with the parent. My father is a pastor, and he told me straight up that he didn't agree with evolution, so neither did I.
Opinions on gay marriage should be discussed in a non-biased way.
We are Americans, we can take the truth. It isn't anyone's right to discuss what information gets out and what doesn't. We are supposed to receive the information ourselves and be independent enough to make our own decisions on that said Information.
Anything else is against the first amendment

It is the right of parents to determine how their children are raised. Lots of issues are not set in stone - they are still matters of opinion. Parents do not want their children instilled with a set of opinions that run diametrically opposed to their own. That isn't conducive to good family relationships. It is a parent's right to determine what information goes into their kids - tolerance be damned.

[Starilae]

DustyShadow wrote:

<quoted text>
It is the right of parents to determine how their children are raised. Lots of issues are not set in stone - they are still matters of opinion. Parents do not want their children instilled with a set of opinions that run diametrically opposed to their own. That isn't conducive to good family relationships. It is a parent's right to determine what information goes into their kids - tolerance be damned.

Kids should be given the chance to have an opinion, not have thier parents think everything for them.

I think it's cool to censor your kids of alot of information at a young age, but when they start to get a little age on them (high school) They are close to becoming adults, and should allowed the courtesy of free information.

[Starilae]

Travis A wrote:

<quoted text>
DAMN NICE BODY! Just saying lol

Looks better now than a year ago when i took the picture lmao.

But yeah, thanks dude, i'll take a compliment from anyone!

[Robert]

The fact that the parents of white kids did not want their kids to be exposed to children of color for a long time , some still don't , is no benefit to the children when they go out in to the world and see all different types of people , gays are the last group of people in this country it is still acceptable to try to segregrate from the rest of society , well guess what , we are everywhere , including the gated communities of the wealthy and even the US Congress.

Children don't have to be taught to be accepting , they are for the most part accepting , they have to be taught INTOLERANCE by ignorant anti-gay parents , if they are taught to not judge other peoples sexuality then the curriculum would be irrelavant , as long as parents fail to teach that basic deceny , they run the risk of the state doing that for them , just like sex education , if parents properly educated their kids , instead of being ashamed of basic , natural and very wonderful human sexuality , the schools would not have to teach it.

Intolerance and ignorance be damned.

[DustyShadow]

Starilae wrote:

<quoted text>
Kids should be given the chance to have an opinion, not have thier parents think everything for them.
I think it's cool to censor your kids of alot of information at a young age, but when they start to get a little age on them (high school) They are close to becoming adults, and should allowed the courtesy of free information.

High school, sure, but not young children. I would totally resent my kids having homosexual information forced on them at an early age, like kids having to read that dumb story about the "homosexual" penguins, who took up with females as soon as some became available. That's what these parents are protesting - tolerance training done early.

[Travis A]

Starilae wrote:

<quoted text>
Looks better now than a year ago when i took the picture lmao.
But yeah, thanks dude, i'll take a compliment from anyone!

lol mind if i ask how you do it cause i work my ass off amd i got the arms and the chest but my abs just won't form got any advice?(like i have them but idk they don't stand out)

[Venus_Rearmed]

Gay Mom wrote:

Since homosexuality and heterosexuality can be described in terms of "they love each other" to any age up to puberty, or beyond if necessary, they have no argument. Why has someone not come up with this argument? With all those heterosexual mommys and daddys in story books, is their sex life discussed? No? Then why would homosexual sex life be discussed? It's a no brainer.
Oh, it just occured to me, they want to pretend we don't exist, don't they? Never mind.

You are right on about this.

[Travis A]

DustyShadow wrote:

<quoted text>
High school, sure, but not young children. I would totally resent my kids having homosexual information forced on them at an early age, like kids having to read that dumb story about the "homosexual" penguins, who took up with females as soon as some became available. That's what these parents are protesting - tolerance training done early.

i agree that it should wait till they are older but that book is fact they really do that and i don't think the kids are even gonna know what it means lol

[Resist Ignorance]

rdg1234 wrote:

This is the aspect of all these debates about which I am most sickened -- in light of the actions of the anti-gay *as well as the pro-gay*.
If this is such an incredible problem, why is no *decisive, definitive* action being taken? I cannot fathom it and perhaps people are wise not to answer; I doubt any answer is going to satisfy me.
The pro-gay are being put into a position personally *where they are allowing literal, direct lies to be told about them*. I just don't get it. I don't get why this is not being dealt with far more harshly by some legal means. Think about it: Dealing with it in *any decisive matter* even if it failed could bring *enormous publicity* to the issue in a way that could clear the air once and for all.
I can't shake the repeated, dogmatic thought that there must be a way to sue on these grounds. If the *attorney general of a state* says that gay marriage will not be taught in schools and if the anti-gay then say it will be,*there's a court case waiting to happen* in which educators, state officials and pro-gay families *could testify about this*. A curriculum is a curriculum.
I feel the pro-gay are being victimized and are just "crying about it" rather than doing something. But I don't want to be seen as attacking; I support them. It's just that I'm feeling the first twinges of what I know *FAR TOO WELL* is going to blossom into disgust for the pro-gay themselves, as they continue to be victimized by this without doing *something in the name of god* about it.

I agree. I watched the campaign of lies unfold in Maine just as it did in California and wondered, "Where is the campaign to counter the anti-gay lies"? Where was the ad that asked Maine voters how the felt being lied to? I believe that they did have a commercial using the attorney generals assurances but the "taught in schools" ads ran on. The marriage equality people should have been on to of this and countered with, "Maine voters, how does it feel to be lied to"? Will there be any backlash from NPR because NOM pieced together portions of a documentary (taken out of context) to use in their ads without permission? Will the Maine Ethics Commission really look into allegations of money laundering by Maggie Gallagher? Will the IRS ever look into the use of funds by the Mormons and Catholics?

[Starilae]

Travis A wrote:

<quoted text>
lol mind if i ask how you do it cause i work my ass off amd i got the arms and the chest but my abs just won't form got any advice?(like i have them but idk they don't stand out)

Doing regular sit up's usually wont give anyone the results they are looking for because our muscles tend to "remember" things.

If you do all your sits ups from a laying position, your ab's will get good at doing those specific types of movements and will stop "Learning" or building muscle (specifically the muscles that a certain movement targets).

Basically you have to change it up, I do many different types of sit up's that target different muscles in my stomach.

Tips:

Get an inclined chair, they have different difficulty settings so your muscles will always stay confused as you continue "working up"
This is what I use. http://s.sears.com/is/image/Sears/00615706000

Add some weights.
My stomach got used to the chair after a few weeks, and after i started doing 1000 sit ups on the chair's hardest level, I stopped developing muscle. So i starting looking for cheap ways to make my work out harder. So i grabbed some 50 lbs weights and would hold them behind my neck while i was in the chair.

Also another tip with the chair: Look again at the picture of the chair. Do you see the side with the black cylinder looking things (Leg rests)? Take some brick, or find a stair case and make that side rise higher, giving you more of an incline, thus improving your work out.

Soon though, your stomach will get used to all of this, thats when i started Hanging Sit ups.

Basically i would go to my local park where they had free pull up bars, jump on top on a bar and hang upside down. Basically upside down sit ups. After i got used to that, i added resistance (Weights) and held them behind my head too.

Here is a great tip. Lay on your back and lift your feet about 4 inches off the floor and just hold it. This works those muscles right above your privates.

Next, roll on your side (left or right, eventually both) with one foot on top of the other, and the palm of your hand on the ground ( You should be lifted up slighty, sorry, hard to explain) and just Squeeze your abs!
Take a big breathe, tense up your abbs and hold it for 10-15 seconds. Thats 1 set. Now do three sets on both sides (left or right) every day before doing your sit ups.

Also, when doing your sit ups, make sure to SQUEEZE your abbs when coming up, and SQUEEZE them again when coming down. This is the most important tip.

What your eat and your diet is also very important. If your trying to loose fat from around the stomach, diet is more effective than exercise since your abbs are always there, they are just covered up by fat. Simply loosing weight will let those abs show.

Try and work out after you wake up. get a good protein whey shake, and flush your muscles when nutrients when you first wake up.

At night, you arent eating, so when the morning comes around, your muscles are hungry. Using a protein shake is more effective than than eating in the morning before a workout because liquids are easier to absorb than solids. So getting your muscles the right amount of nutrients fast, when you wake up, is a must!

And most important, dont give up because you arent seeing results. They will come if you stick at it!

[Starilae]

Travis A wrote:

<quoted text>
i agree that it should wait till they are older but that book is fact they really do that and i don't think the kids are even gonna know what it means lol

Whats this about penguins?