Teach Your Children Well

Exclusive commentary by Greg Lewis / WashingtonDispatch.com
October 14, 2003

Contrary to what Hillary Clinton and others of her ilk would have us believe, there are many reasons America works. Among them is that we're a capitalistic society. Capitalism, while it is, of course, not free from excess, is the one economic system that enables anyone, no matter what his ethnicity or his origins, to create his own means for making a living.

And America is the home of freedom of religion. America recognizes, by its defense of the rights of individuals to worship the deity of their choice, that it is man's spiritual dimension which ultimately defines him as human, and that to deny men the expression of their spirituality is to take away their humanity.

And America is the most beneficent nation on earth. Despite the fact that Nazi Germany and Japan had perpetrated some of the most egregious atrocities ever in the history of this planet, the United States, in a show of true Christian forgiveness, became the agent of their economic and political revitalization.

All this is to say that there is something positive and elevating in the values on which America was built and on which it thrives today. And it is to say that those religions which countenance terrorism and oppression are not morally equal to, for example, Buddhism and Hinduism and Christianity and Judaism, which preach and practice precisely the opposite. Nor does the U.S. Government in any way resemble that of Iran or North Korea or Communist China, governments which the Left often puts forth, both directly and by implication, as politically equivalent to ours.

Do I want my children to learn about Hinduism and Buddhism and Islam, to be friends with children of other countries and cultures? Of course. It's part of life. Do I want my children to be exposed to music and movies that promote irresponsible sexuality as an end in itself? Or to rap/hip-hop artists flashing bling-bling and touting misogyny and violence against authority? I'd rather not, but it's going to happen, isn't it? At least until more people in the entertainment industry start to see how stupid and damaging their views are and begin to create entertainment that reflects a rather more intelligent and positive ethic than they seem to be capable of now.

And so, to counter what they may learn from the education establishment in the public schools, I'm going to teach my children that there are certain points-of-view that do not have legitimacy, even though they have wide exposure and are broadly and unquestioningly accepted by many people, including the many misguided educators and entertainers who unfortunately exert such an influence on so many young lives. I'm going to teach them this by giving them the tools to differentiate right from wrong. I'm going to teach them, for instance, that wanton and irresponsible sexuality is reductive, not to say infantile, and that there's more to life than the degenerate view of same that comes across in so many music videos. And I'm going to teach them that a religion that puts forth a message of hatred and violence is not a religion at all but a satanic belief system not only to be rejected out of hand but to be countered with a message of love and hope wherever it is met.

I'm going to teach them to distinguish between what is right and what is wrong and not to be afraid to reject out of hand what they know in their hearts is wrong. And I'm going to explain to them that, when they encounter people and events in the real world that go counter to their values, they should not feel in the least guilty — as those on the left would have them feel — that they are standing up for what they believe in by rejecting what they know is wrong. Nor are they to take seriously those who tell them otherwise. Most important, I'm going to teach them that if they need any help in standing up to the enemy, they are to come to their parents, and that we will go to the mat for them to help them maintain their sense of right, dignity, and justice.

There is a difference between right and wrong. Liberals will tell you otherwise, but you'd best not listen to them. And you'd best counsel your children to take what they say with a grain of salt. There's a lot at stake here. First, there are the hearts and minds of your children. You can make it clear to them that there are moral principles which they must learn to recognize and by which they must learn to abide. You can stand behind them as they make their way in a world in which they're going to encounter many people who don't understand these principles. Your children are going to be exposed to shrilly advocated positions you haven't even thought of yet, and you'd best be ready to support them in their resistance to what we all know in our hearts represents the death of a positive way of life the like of which has never been seen in the history of this planet.

And so, to Hillary Clinton and others who are unable to distinguish right from wrong I say, "No thanks." No "village" for me and my family. I'll take the responsibility for teaching my children the positive foundation values they need. I'll leave the lying and cheating and perpetuation of negativity to you guys on the left, and I'll work to insure that your agenda comes to naught. Where inculcating the values my children need to be complete and honorable and successful people in the world is concerned, I'll take full responsibility, and I'll screen the influences they're exposed to very carefully.

Indeed, Hillary, if there was an H-chip for my television so I could automatically filter you out every time you made an appearance, I'd buy it in a heartbeat. Since there's not, I'll have to make sure my children are capable of recognizing a fraud when they see one. By the time they're adults, I'll know without a doubt that they'll have had the advantage of being exposed to a point of view that provides them with an alternative to that perpetuated by you angry, valueless leftists who so desire to see the destruction of the very society that has allowed you a voice.