L
Lilyofthevalley
Guest
This is on AOL. I will post the link but unless you have AOL you won’t get it.
I will post some key points. It’s an interesting article and highlights an opportunity for The Roman Catholic Church to step in:
ORLANDO, Fla. (Jan. 17) - As conservatives and liberals plan for the battles ahead, they’re enlisting a new generation of foot soldiers: kids.
Dylan Morris, 14 years old, says he is distraught over the 2004 election results. The son of self-described activist liberals, he worries President Bush plans “to crush our rights,” expand the “oil war,” and ignore global warming. A veteran of many protest marches, he says it is “very Orwellian” when conservative radio hosts dub liberals as “the enemy.”
Natalie Hair, 15, attends First Baptist Church of Orlando, a 10,000-member evangelical church. She says she feels a duty to “witness” by telling public-school classmates the Bible forbids homosexuality, abortion and premarital sex. She’s glad her church teaches creationism. “That helps me defend my belief that evolution is false,” she says. She’s a fan of George W. Bush, who won a mock election among young parishioners at First Baptist, with 95% of the votes.
Meanwhile, a Washington, D.C.-based group calling itself “Turn Your Back on Bush” is reaching out to kids as it organizes a protest for this week’s inauguration. To signal unhappiness about the president’s policies, protesters plan to turn their backs as his motorcade passes. The group says it has organizers in 41 states, who’ve been handing out fliers at high schools, inviting teens to participate. “Young people are trying to figure out where they fit in,” says Sarah Kauffman, the group’s youth-mobilization organizer. “It’s important to give people a sense of belonging in the political spectrum at an early age.”
More From WSJ.com
The American Civil Liberties Union has online “activism kits,” aimed at kids, which include details on how to lobby legislators. Its Web site offers young people information on how to start Gay Straight Alliance clubs at their schools.
There’s even a niche market in politically abrasive children’s literature. One new book is titled “Help! Mom! There Are Liberals Under My Bed!” It tells the fictional tale of two boys who try to run a lemonade stand, while liberals keep showing up, taking half their money in taxes, and forcing them to remove the photo of Jesus that hangs on the stand.
The book is written under a pen name because the author says she fears for her children’s safety. In Fort Mill, S.C., 10-year-old Abbey Kirrane received the book from her mom. “If you listen to liberals,” she says, “they take away your dreams and hopes for the future.” Abbey believes the book accurately describes liberals. “They can be pushy. They tell you what to do.”
The book, which is sold in some bookstores and online, is the first in a series by World Ahead Publishing, of Gardena, Calif. Up next: “Help! Mom! Hollywood is in my Hamper!”
ylan Morris went with his parents to a protest at the Tampa Fox-TV affiliate, because they believed Fox was “beating the drums of war” in Iraq. Dylan feels so strongly about political issues that last Halloween, he and three friends boycotted homes with Bush campaign signs.
Orlando mother Annalise Abraham says she’s proud her daughters, ages 7 and 11, served as flower girls when their Unitarian Church held a marriage ceremony for 11 gay couples. “Our values are respect, tolerance and inclusiveness,” she says.
As they become politically active, young people come face to face with America’s divide. Dominique Roberts, 18, says she can’t forget a woman she met while going door-to-door on behalf of the Kerry campaign. The woman explained that she was glad Mr. Bush had gone to war because if he hadn’t, “the terrorists could come to Orlando, pull you into the street, and chop your head off,” Ms. Roberts recalls.
aolsvc.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20050117082709990001&_ccc=5&cid=842
I will post some key points. It’s an interesting article and highlights an opportunity for The Roman Catholic Church to step in:
ORLANDO, Fla. (Jan. 17) - As conservatives and liberals plan for the battles ahead, they’re enlisting a new generation of foot soldiers: kids.
Dylan Morris, 14 years old, says he is distraught over the 2004 election results. The son of self-described activist liberals, he worries President Bush plans “to crush our rights,” expand the “oil war,” and ignore global warming. A veteran of many protest marches, he says it is “very Orwellian” when conservative radio hosts dub liberals as “the enemy.”
Natalie Hair, 15, attends First Baptist Church of Orlando, a 10,000-member evangelical church. She says she feels a duty to “witness” by telling public-school classmates the Bible forbids homosexuality, abortion and premarital sex. She’s glad her church teaches creationism. “That helps me defend my belief that evolution is false,” she says. She’s a fan of George W. Bush, who won a mock election among young parishioners at First Baptist, with 95% of the votes.
Meanwhile, a Washington, D.C.-based group calling itself “Turn Your Back on Bush” is reaching out to kids as it organizes a protest for this week’s inauguration. To signal unhappiness about the president’s policies, protesters plan to turn their backs as his motorcade passes. The group says it has organizers in 41 states, who’ve been handing out fliers at high schools, inviting teens to participate. “Young people are trying to figure out where they fit in,” says Sarah Kauffman, the group’s youth-mobilization organizer. “It’s important to give people a sense of belonging in the political spectrum at an early age.”
More From WSJ.com
The American Civil Liberties Union has online “activism kits,” aimed at kids, which include details on how to lobby legislators. Its Web site offers young people information on how to start Gay Straight Alliance clubs at their schools.
There’s even a niche market in politically abrasive children’s literature. One new book is titled “Help! Mom! There Are Liberals Under My Bed!” It tells the fictional tale of two boys who try to run a lemonade stand, while liberals keep showing up, taking half their money in taxes, and forcing them to remove the photo of Jesus that hangs on the stand.
The book is written under a pen name because the author says she fears for her children’s safety. In Fort Mill, S.C., 10-year-old Abbey Kirrane received the book from her mom. “If you listen to liberals,” she says, “they take away your dreams and hopes for the future.” Abbey believes the book accurately describes liberals. “They can be pushy. They tell you what to do.”
The book, which is sold in some bookstores and online, is the first in a series by World Ahead Publishing, of Gardena, Calif. Up next: “Help! Mom! Hollywood is in my Hamper!”
ylan Morris went with his parents to a protest at the Tampa Fox-TV affiliate, because they believed Fox was “beating the drums of war” in Iraq. Dylan feels so strongly about political issues that last Halloween, he and three friends boycotted homes with Bush campaign signs.
Orlando mother Annalise Abraham says she’s proud her daughters, ages 7 and 11, served as flower girls when their Unitarian Church held a marriage ceremony for 11 gay couples. “Our values are respect, tolerance and inclusiveness,” she says.
As they become politically active, young people come face to face with America’s divide. Dominique Roberts, 18, says she can’t forget a woman she met while going door-to-door on behalf of the Kerry campaign. The woman explained that she was glad Mr. Bush had gone to war because if he hadn’t, “the terrorists could come to Orlando, pull you into the street, and chop your head off,” Ms. Roberts recalls.
aolsvc.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20050117082709990001&_ccc=5&cid=842