Author: Ratko V Tomic
Date: 21:51:35 11/22/00
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>>It is called a social satire. Yes, it has a sting, but >>the sting is not aimed at the stepchild. Not even at the >>step-parents, but at the culture which promotes such >>"values" (which lead to the proliferation of step-children) >>as valid "alternative life-styles" worthy not only tolerating >>but "embracing" and "celebrating." That's who the sting aims >>at, and those the most stung will complain the most. It is a >>guilt inducing satire and the guilty, predictably, got very >>itchy when reminded of their hypocrisy. > >What do you call an invalid "alternative life-style"? What is this 'value' you >think is wrong and should be made fun of? How on earth does mocking child abuse >teach anything here? I can't believe that after quoting what I said, you come right back restating it exactly upside down (are you a lawyer?). I said explicitly the satire was _not_ aimed at step-children (or step-parents, for that matter). The metaphor merely points out the obvious fact -- the stepchildren do get, on average, much worse deal than the children cared by their biological parents. As to your "values" question -- yes, just as there chess programs and strategies which (on average) work better than others, there are life programs and strategies which (on average) work better than others. Among many self-evident examples of this type, the family of father and mother taking care of their biological offspring does work (on average) the best, however incredible that may sound to the folks who are advocating, promoting, embracing and celebrating all the other variations (spanning the whole "wide" spectrum from the unnatural to the perverse). And, as already stated (and then misstated upside down), it is precisely this latter folk who were the target of the satire, and who predictably got very, very offended. It hurts them (as it ought to) by inducing guilt and pains of cognitive dissonance -- that stubborn reality, unlike their always nodding subordinates and agreable students, refuses to comply with their utopian rhetoric and dictates. Who would have gotten offended had the metaphor used "the firstborn" or "the only child" instead of "stepchild?" It wouldn't sting at all because it wouldn't ring true. What was offensive to the offended was that mataphor dared to point at a plainly obvious bit of reality which doesn't fit their lofty theories on the glorious alternate lifestyles. It just ruins all that embracing and celebration.
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