The Shifting State of Public Education: Being a Thorough Study of the Current Political Issues Facing Curriculum-Making, Extra-Curricular Fancy Dance

Dear Readers,

Ala-quiff! Apparently you can't have mile-long titles on blogs... this is the full title:

The Shifting State of Public Education: Being a Thorough Study of the Current Political Issues Facing Curriculum-Making, Extra-Curricular Fancy Dance Activity Cancelling, and the Curious Procurement of Shotguns in the Twenty-First Century American Public School System.

So a lot of the times when I read the Drudge Report I see an interesting article and think, “Wow, I’ve got to write about that on Telemoonfa Time!” But then I usually don’t, for one reason or another, but now, holy cow, just- just- just keep reading OK, because this stuff is crazy!!!

Remember when I (And Ron Paul and Ann Coulter and a lot of other cool people) said that we ought to abolish the federal Department of Education? Well, you might be thinking that that’s loony, but look at this, and you might change your mind:

https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=cb68cf9f3fa2fe18a83d1c3dee0039b2&tab=core&_cview=0

The federal Department of Education is going to buy 27 shotguns… what?!!!

What in the world for?

Does that make any sense at all? It’s got to be someone abusing power and tax-payer money. I can’t think of any good reason why the federal Department of Education needs shotguns… well, maybe if they are going to give the guns to a gun club at a public school… maybe I could get behind that… because guns are so awesome and because that would make our students a little more like Elmer Fudd, which is a great thing, considering Elmer Fudd’s politics (C’mon, you know he’s got to be a conservative… Fudd lives in a rural area, he hunts rascally rabbits, he drives a truck, he’s an old white man…) but there are no gun clubs at public schools! So what do you need those guns for, federal Department of Education?!

And then here’s another interesting thing:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_lesbian_prom_date

A lesbian in a public school in a small town in Mississippi wanted to bring a female date to the prom, and that caused problems, of course, and, long story short, the school board decided to cancel the prom altogether.

My thoughts about the story…

I don’t know.

I kind of feel like they should have just let the two girls go to the prom together. Would it really have been that big of a deal?

But then I kind of feel that schools have an obligation to instill correct morals into children. And so maybe canceling the prom rather than allowing the lesbian girls to go together was a teachable moment. By canceling the prom, the school board reinforced the notion to the student body and to the community that heterosexuality is the correct sexuality.

And that’s a good thing. Because heterosexuality is the correct sexuality. We shouldn’t be homosexual.

Or if the conservative school board wanted to get their message across in an even stronger way, they could have just told the girl, “No, you can’t go to the prom with a girl because you’re a girl, and that just isn’t right. Girls go to the prom with boys, OK?” But then there would have been a homosexual uproar, and I’m sure the school board is just trying to do the best they can to avoid controversy and the media spotlight, at this point. So canceling the prom was probably a good way to go.

(Especially since proms are a waste of money and emotion anyway. I’m glad I never went to prom. AND NO I’M NOT JUST HIDING MY BITTERNESS THAT SALLY Q. REJECTED ME IN HIGH SCHOOL!!!!! Lol j/k bbq

Seriously, though, I never went to prom. I don’t regret it. I feel about prom the same way I feel about beauty pageants, NASCAR and Halo… that’s fine if you go over there and do your thing, but don’t make me have anything to do with it.)

Back to the topic at hand…

I think I support the school board’s decision, because the school board has to reflect the local values. The school board members were elected by the locals- they represent the locals- and so they should try to do what the locals want them to do, for the most part. And since this happened in a small conservative town in the Bible Belt, the school board did the right thing.

Now if this same sort of thing had happened in San Francisco, well, maybe the school board should have let the two girls go to the prom together because that seems to be the attitude of the citizenry of San Francisco.

Maybe we shouldn’t be looking for one-size-fits-all laws and policies. Maybe we should let local governments come up with their own ideas that reflect the will of the local people.

And isn’t it great that we have local places and local people who have their own local sovereignty? I think to preserve freedom, we need to fight globalization… well… of course globalization has different meanings. If you mean the globalization that comes from the Internet, the capitalist free market system, and the free exchange of ideas and information, that’s great. That’s the kind of globalization I like… people reaching across the globe to come up with solutions, invent cool new technology, compare notes, preach peacefully… that’s great.

But we do need to fight the bad kind of globalization- the Adolf Hitler kind of globalization, we need to fight the world-wide set of laws enforced by brute force and propaganda and soma… you know, a Brave New World/ 1984 scenario. That type of globalization leads to less freedom, less prosperity, and less true religion.

I actually like the geo-political arrangements we find ourselves in. All these different states and cities, each with their own sovereignty, allows for more freedom. I like being able to move around, join different organizations voluntarily, or not join them… freedom is great.

It’s important that we retain our state sovereignty, so that states don’t just become administrative units of the federal government. Each one of the fifty nifty united states must have their own identity and self-determination, the right to make up their own laws… remember the Tenth Amendment.

But I digress.

What I’m saying is, maybe if that lesbian girl who wanted to take a girl to the prom wanted to be more comfortable, and more accepted, she ought to move to San Francisco, or West Hollywood, or Sodom, or some other enclave of homosexuality.

I’m not saying the Mississippi locals ought to run her ought of town. Of course not! I’m only politely suggesting to this girl that there are other places where her lifestyle won’t cause her so much grief. There is a land, far, far away, little girl, where there are no Bible-thumping school boards, and that place is San Francisco. Run away! Flee to your lesbian fantasyland in northern California!

Now, I don’t think I’m doing wrong by suggesting that she move to San Francisco. That’s like suggesting to slaves of the antebellum South to take a ride on Harriet Tubman’s Underground Railroad to the North.

Borders are good things. Here’s why:

There comes a point at which people and cultures have irreconcilable differences, and they need to separate, geographically. The House of Israel had to leave Egypt and go to the Promised Land. The Nephites had to separate from the Lamanites. The Americans had to separate from the British. The Shakers had to separate from Bablyon. The Branch Davidians had to have their compound. The Mormons had to flee Illinois and move to Utah. Utah is where the nineteenth century Mormons could practice their religion in peace, build their temples, have their sovereignty, and be happier.

The Amish would lose their culture if they were spread all throughout the country, forced into PC public schools using federally approved textbooks. Thank Heaven there are different lands, outside the jurisdiction of bully governments and bully majorities, for distinct people to occupy!

Again, borders are good things. They allow for more freedom.

Other thoughts about that news article…

That lesbian girl wanting to take a girl to the prom… that’s a sticky situation… there’s lots of politics involved, lots of deep emotions involved- that Mississippi girl and that Mississippi school board are on the front line of the culture wars, and it’s a difficult battle, and I don’t know exactly what to say…

I find myself being unable to defend my positions on homosexuality without referring to religious stuff. There are secular arguments against homosexuality, but they are not as good, I think, as religious ones.

I talked about a lot of this stuff before on Telemoonfa Time in September, October and November of 2008, around the time when Arizona voted on Proposition 102, which added an amendment to the Arizona Constitution that defined marriage as a union between one man and one woman. You can read about it here. And look at the comments, too. They are very good. Of course, you could probably find similar conversations going on all over the Internet.

I know what side of the culture war I’m on- I’m a conservative Mormon. I think homosexuality is a sin, and so I would like to discourage homosexual behavior, perhaps even by not letting homosexual couples go to school dances together. It’s sounds harsh, I know, but I stand by my harsh-sounding-ness.

But of course I love the sinners but hate the sin.

I have tons of gay friends! :)

I think public schools will face more and more of these types of issues as time marches on, and more and more people come out of the closet. (Which makes me think of a good question: are there more homosexuals these days? It seems that way to me, but are the numbers of homosexuals and homosexual sympathizers actually increasing? Or is that just what the media wants us to believe? Because if the number of homosexuals is increasing, then, from a populist perspective, our heteronormative schools, our heteronormative textbooks, and our entire heteronormative culture must be altered to accommodate that population change.)

I go back and forth between being a populist “just-do-what-the-people-want” type of guy and being a headstrong ideologue, crusading for my version of Utopia.

Blah blah blah.

As a schoolteacher, I basically follow the same policy that the military follows- don’t ask, don’t tell. And I avoid the homosexuality subject as much as possible.

Blah blah blah.

Well, readers, it’s been fun, but now I need to go figure out how to change the oil in my car, before it gets too dark, and before my life partner of the opposite gender gets home.

Sincerely,
Telemoonfa