Posted by
Dr. Scott on Thursday, March 06, 2008 2:04:08 PM
The soap opera on the Democrats' side of the aisle is getting interesting. I've become convinced that I would rather have McCain for 4 years than pick up the pieces from a Democratic presidency with Romney in 2012--even if that means America won't be interested in a Romney candidacy in 2012. It seems like having a different Republican after three Rupublican administrations would be quite a stretch, and a McCain presidency might actually ruin Romney's chances of being elected before 2016. Or before 2020 if McCain has two terms, but now I'm really getting too far ahead.
On a completely different note (or not), I was sent an email by a friend about how our country got into the current mess its in. I cleaned it up a bit and added two paragraphs on things I'm knowledgable about--child attachment and childhood disorders, like ADHD and ODD. I was talking with my wife this week about a friend she has whose child has ODD (Oppositional Defiant Disorder). While ADHD (Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder) often has a biological component (meaning the child may have been born with the genetic predisposition for it), ODD is almost always a socially-caused problem. Which means that solutions usually don't just involve the kid, they are best when they involve family therapy. That can be hard for a parent to hear, because they just want the monster child fixed. But often, it's partially the parent's/parents' attitudes toward the child (including seeing the kid as a monster) that have led to where things currently are in the family. The only time family therapy with the child wouldn't be recommended is when the family is so horriblizing and demonizing of the child that having them in the same room with the kid (to scapegoat, blame, and demonize the child further) would only make things worse. And even then, you still need family therapy, just with the family apart from the child for awhile until there has been some progress.
Okay, off that soap box. Without further ado, here is the "wakeup call" viral email, with my modifications, that I got today:
Dear God:
Why didn't you save the school children at?
Northern Illinois University
De Kalb, Illinois
Virginia Tech
Amish Country, PA
Columbine High School
Moses Lake , Washington 2/2/96
Bethel , Alaska 2/19/97
Pearl , Mississippi 10/1/97
West Paducah , Kentucky 12/1/97
Stam P, Arkansas 12/15/97
Jonesboro , Arkansas 3/24/98
Edinboro , Pennsylvania 4/24/98
Fayetteville , Tennessee 5/19/98
Springfield , Oregon 5/21/98
Richmond , Virginia 6/15/98
Littleton , Colorado 4/20/99
Taber , Alberta , Canada 5/28/99
Conyers , Georgia 5/20/99
Deming , New Mexico 11/19/99
Fort Gibson , Oklahoma 12/6/99
Santee , California 3/ 5/01 and
El Cajon , California 3/22/01
Sincerely,
Concerned Student
-----------------------------------------------------
Reply:
Dear Concerned Student:
I am not allowed in schools.
Sincerely,
God
----------------------------------------------------------
How did this get started?...
-----------------
Let's see,
I think it started when Madeline Murray O'Hare complained
She didn't want any prayer in our schools.
And we said, OK...
------------------
Then,
Someone said you better not read the Bible in school,
The Bible that says
"Thou shalt! Not kill,
Thou shalt not steal,
And love your neighbors as yourself,"
And we said, OK...
-----------------
Our doctors said
It's okay
If we don't breastfeed our children
And there's no harm
In setting them
In front of a TV for hours
And putting them
In the care of strangers
And we found this counsel pleasing
Because it allowed us to pass off
Our children to someone else's care
So we can do what we want
And so we can have a larger house
Where we neither eat nor pray together
Where our families feel like
Strangers
And our children grow up
Without a sense
Of belonging
------------------
Dr. Benjamin Spock said
We shouldn't spank our children
when they misbehaved
because their little personalities
would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem.
And we said,
An expert should know what he's talking about.
So we won't spank them anymore...
------------------
Then someone said
Teachers and principals better not
Discipline our children when they misbehave.
And the school administrators said
No faculty member in this school
Better touch a student when they misbehave
Because we don't want any bad publicity,
And we surely don't want to be sued.
And we accepted their
Reasoning...
------------------
And the entertainment industry said,
let's make TV shows and movies that promote
Profanity, violence and illicit sex...
And let's record music that encourages
Rape, drugs, murder, suicide, and satanic themes...
And we said,
it's just entertainment
And it has no adverse effect
And nobody takes it seriously anyway,
So go right ahead.
------------------
And when our children had no self-restraint
We took them to psychologists
Who diagnosed them with mental disorders
And prescribed drugs
So they would calm down
And be more
Manageable
But never learn
Self-control
------------------
Now we're asking ourselves
Why our children have no conscience,
Why they don't know right from wrong,
And why it doesn't bother them to
Kill strangers, classmates or even themselves.
------------------
Undoubtedly,
If we thought about it long and hard enough,
We could figure it out.
I'm sure it has a great deal to do with...
"WE REAP WHAT WE SOW,"