If you believe the mainstream media (MSM), they do. The inference I get from MSM is that traditional values are repressive and stifling. People prefer to live life as if there were no consequences to behavior.
For instance, if someone is poor and unmarried and gets pregnant for the fifth or sixth time, unless they were raped, it is definitely their fault and should be their sole responsibility. But not in paternalistic, welfare-state America. When consequences inevitably smack people in the face, we’re all hit by flying debris.
It doesn’t take a particularly insightful person to see that the lack of traditional values is the problem when it comes to most of society’s ills. Star Parker tackles this and other issues in her latest column, writing about the alarming statistics of AIDS among black Americans. Lack of traditional values, in a sense, causes AIDS. Those are my words, not Parker’s. Controversial? Probably. But I believe it.
AIDS is now the No. 1 cause of death among African-Americans between the ages of 25 and 44.Joseph Lowery, the former president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, once said, “When America gets a cold, black America gets pneumonia.”
The “cold” that America has in this case is the ongoing politicization of our society and the breakdown of the traditional values that have been the glue that has held together the American family and our society. The symptoms of this “cold” are obvious: skyrocketing divorce rates and illegitimacy rates, declining test scores that result from a politicized and bureaucratized public-school system and politicization of our legal system that reflects the detachment of law from its moral foundations.
Whether we are talking about breakdown in family, education or law, the symptoms of this cold are more intense and protracted in the black community than in other communities. But it’s important to retain perspective that black social problems are symptomatic of a national problem. Irresponsible sexual behavior has no racial boundaries. The rate of out-of-wedlock births among whites today exceeds the rate among blacks 40 years ago.
As we plainly see with our own eyes every day, the erosion of decency causes so many other problems. The weakening of the black family is a direct consequence of a critical mass who reject traditional values. Of course AIDS, a direct consequence of society’s overall slackness, affects all. Parker says:
The AIDS epidemic is symptomatic of a society spinning out of control. There is only one answer, and that is to re-establish our mooring rooted in personal responsibility and the traditional sense of right and wrong behavior. What can be the future for a society in which love and personal responsibility are displaced by sexual promiscuity and irresponsibility? What type of society will we be living in when we get to the point where few American adults will have grown up in a traditional family?
When I was growing up, I was one of the few people among my set whose parents were married to each other and lived in the same house as their children. That was the 70s and 80s. Statistically speaking, it’s much worse now. As Parker says, fighting against the tide of erosion and focusing on restoring traditional values are the only answers.
Read Simple Girl’s Guide For Avoiding AIDS
Update (12/27): Liberals love to lie about me. But that’s OK. I’m grown. I can take it. The liberal blog host who’s linked to my site has not been banned. Where he got the idea, I don’t know, and why he’s speading the lie, I’m equally clueless. My advice to him: Find a different hobby.
By the way, I also MODERATE COMMENTS OVERNIGHT (and sometimes during the day), so if you liberals respond to this post after 9:00 p.m., your comments will be held until morning just like everyone else’s. Sometimes I feel like I’m running a Kindergarten. 
{ 30 comments }
You know LB…
The more so called “knowledge” some people gain, the more stupid they become (losing all common sense in the process).
Like you said, it is not “rocket science” to see that LACK of traditional, moral (yes I said it moral) values, leads to the results we see coming out of America and our communities today (esepcially in regards to the rate of AIDS cases among Black women).
But hey, you are preaching to the choir. Some have to get burnt by fire to believe that it actual burns you.
I’m a high school teacher and I have a student who, at 15, just had her SECOND baby in October. She had her first at 13. No disgrace, no shame, no remorse. Nothing. I’m appalled at the complete lack of a guiding compass in this girl’s family life, as well. It seems to be present in varying degrees in just about all of my students.
I’m going to work hard to affect my little corner of the universe, however… can’t do a thing about all the other little corners, but I can do something about mine.
You’re in inspiration to me, LaShawn. Keep it up.
Recently, I read an article about some African girls who have taken a vow of chastity until marriage in order to avoid AIDS. Maybe I read it here, but they are an inspiration for us all.
The media does not want to say that abstinence is the safest way. America seems to have no value system in place, from what you see on the television. Instead of encouraging abstinence and abstinence till marriage, they are saying “here, take this condom and do what you want”. Knowingly or not, they are encouraging promiscuity.
Dear La Shawn:
Thanks again.
One of the reasons many people are against abstinence education is that it comes too close to home—it implicitly calls into question the culture of sexual permisiveness that is the one, non-negotiable, sacred thing for so many people.
Look, we think we should tell kids not to smoke. Why not tell ‘em not to have sex? Doesn’t the fact that we don’t suggest that we think they—and we—are nothing but slaves of sexual desire, with no real freedom to speak of? And doesn’t that mean that, underneath all of our talk about sexual freedom, there’s actually a nihilistic despair? And we’re gonna inflict THAT on our KIDS?
It’s appalling that we “adults” are willing to pay for our sexual license/slavery with the happiness of young people.
God have mercy on us.
Cordially,
Adrian
“Irresponsible sexual behavior has no racial boundaries. The rate of out-of-wedlock births among whites today exceeds the rate among blacks 40 years ago.”
Pointing out the statistics of out of wedlock births among whites compared to blacks 40 years ago reminds me of a book written by Tony Brown called “Black Lies, White Lies” where he contends that while it is necessary for blacks to begin to work towards improving their community, whites also need to get involved just as much and begin to speak out or else the same fate will overtake them eventually.
I was helping my freshman daughter study for her law & justice class last nite. She had a note: Cause – poverty, prejudice, disenchantment. What does that mean I asked. “Those are the causes of crime” she said. I replied, “you mean that someone who commits a crime has to have an assignable societal cause for the crime? What about they see something you have and decide to take it?” “Dad” she said, “we all KNOW that, but you have to tell them what they want to hear to pass the course”.
And the tax sponsored indoctrination of our young people in liberal victimology continues. I told her to put what was required to get the grades she needs on the test, but after the class (her last) make sure to tell her teacher that some people commit crime for no other reason than they can’t have something they want- so they take it. I then reminded her that if I commit a crime, it is my responsibility and no one elses.
In our family we do not teach nor accept societal causes or excuses for personal actions.
I followed the link to your “A Simple Girl’s Guide for Avoiding AIDS” and was reading through the comments. It has always flabbergasted me that because some children will rebel and not follow the wise teachings of their parents, so many will advocate not teaching right from wrong at all, but only how to do the least amount of damage while doing what’s wrong. This sort of mentality turns bad exceptions into rules of thumb.
What if we were to apply the same logic to theft… some kids will shoplift even if we teach them it’s wrong to steal, so let’s not teach children it’s wrong to steal… instead, we will teach all of them how best to do it without getting caught.
It’s a ridiculous and backwards way to react to a problem.
AIDS came to be such a problem first through homosexual males, and was transferred to the rest of the population via bi-sexuals and (because they didn’t know to screen for it at the beginning of the epidemic) blood donations, and it continued to spread because so many were unwilling to wait until marriage (or remain faithful in marriage). All of it could’ve been avoided if abstinance and fidelity had remained the norm, rather than the exception.
Even now, if we could have one generation who chose abstinence, AIDS (and other STD’s) could all but be wiped off the face of the earth.
Yet, we still have people pushing for teaching condoms instead of abstinence, and wanting to indoctrinate the children to the idea of homosexuality is normal and right.
And people STILL put forth the argument that any sex between consenting adults doesn’t hurt anybody!
And that’s just STD’s… there’s also the issues of abortion as birth control, unwed mothers and the consequences to their children growing up in single parent homes, the glut on the welfare system and it’s cost in tax dollars.
So much trouble and sadness and heartache can be traced back to sex outside of marriage. And the left seems to jump right past the obvious solution of teaching children NOT to do that straight to throwing money at those who end up in trouble for doing so. It boggles the mind… especially considering how certain they all are that they’re smarter than anyone on the other side of the debate.
Michael, your daughter’s professor is right. POVERTY is the cause of most crime, as most crimes are committed by the poor.
*OFF TOPIC* I Just read your article on Rathergate over at NRO. It is a well done, well researched article. I highly recommend everyone go to NRO andread it.
Rod Stanton
Actually, Stephen, crime is caused by low character and little regard for decency and societal rules. Telling a young person that his external circumstances, and not his own lack of self-restraint and good judgment, are the reasons why he’s caught up in the criminal justice system is the real injustice.
Thanks, Rod!
Stephen
If poverty is the cause of crime, how do you account for the majority of the poor who do not commit crimes?
You can’t. It boils down to personal character, which has nothing to do with poverty or wealth.
Please, do not teach your children or others to accept victimology as the cause of a wrong. It is a dead end road that will never lead to growth or fulfillment.
LNC:
bingo!
Adrian
I stumbled upon your blogsite thru The American Thinker website. What a wonderful breath of fresh air. I could not agree with you more. I look forward to visiting your corner of the internet often. Personal responisbility has become a thing of the past in many areas of our society and that cannot be tolerated any longer. People need to understand that with rights comes the responsibility to exercise to rights without trampling all over everyone else’s rights. Rights have responsibilities as well as limits and consequences for exceeding those limits.
I don’t have a comment, I am still trying figure out who
that incredibly beautiful woman is in that little photo!
Star Parker is lovely, isn’t she? You should see her in person. Check out her site:
http://www.urbancure.org/dev/pagedetails.asp?SubCatID=162
Cliff – Welcome to my blog!
Yours is such an essential post. The the absence of social mores has led to many of the social disasters we are now having to fix. Abstinence may be difficult compared to wanton behavior, but it works. The fact that people deride it as a method to avoid sexual diseases is a sign to me that such people really do not want to help others at all.
Your post prompted me to do some searches on these latest statistics (released on World Aids Day). I found quite a few articles. One in particular wirtten by Coretta Scott King (http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2004-11-30-black-aids_x.htm). I was disappointed that her article spoke nothing of abstinance and centered on the Blacks road to social equity (go figure). Other articles talked about the lack of funds.
Common sense has to kick in at some point and say “what will we do when the next “AIDS” hits the streets”. How much more money are we going to throw at something that centers on a person taking responsibility for their actions and if they don’t, no amount of money is going to fix it or cure it? Yes, even in the case of children who get it from a parent… we can’t keep running from the fact that our actions affect others somehwere in life.
People can’t see the forest for the trees. There is an answer, there is a way out for the majority but in our quest for “the pursuit of happiness”, we become blind and common sense flies out the window.
Blacks in the past have been victims of whites; in a much, much smaller way, many still are. Racism does exist, today mostly mild, and blacks are thus mild victims.
Unfortunately, this has allowed the less responsible to claim justification for being totally irresponsible. And, once they act stupidly, they become “victims” of their own actions. But they ARE “victims” — and in any case they certainly do suffer.
We need to discriminate between victimizing yourself, and being the victim of others. Promiscuity today is the biggest “self-victimization” problem.
What was ignored by the press, and in effect was officially derided (referring to the president as the ”abstinence-eager Texans”) at the most recent world aids conference; were programs containing abstinence education as a key component to addressing the aids problem.
The interesting thing about this is that one of the most successful programs for dealing with AIDs spread, the Ugandan ABC (Abstinence, Be faithful, Condoms) is universally ignored by the liberal crowd. I personally believe that this is because the Abstinence and Be Faithful parts are an affront to what appear to be the sexuality based doctrines of the liberals.
Of course, the activists like to focus on the cure (so that their constituents can go back to reckless behavior), instead of placing the proper focus on prevention until that time that a cure is developed (which is apparently NOT on the horizon). That prevention would be to engage in a little ABC.
Steel,
Check out the other incredibly beautiful photo in the upper left corner of this blog!
If poverty causes crime, then why does vandalism occur in supposed ‘rich suburbs’? Why were four teens murdered in a house in Clear Lake, TX and not a thing was stolen from the house? Lack of morality causes crime before poverty, IMO.
When I worked in store security, most of the thieves were from middle class or better backgrounds.
That is to say, the people stealing from the store were comfortable, affluent, or down right rich. And this was not some high-end store, it was Bradlees (think Kmart, Walmart etc).
When I moved to central PA, the same thing held true in the mall store I worked for.
“Are you still so dull?” Jesus asked them.“Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man ‘unclean.’For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what make a man ‘unclean’; but eating with unwashed hands does not make him ‘unclean.’ ”
Matthew 15:17-20(NIV)
So to reinforce your points SCSIwuzzy and Repj, it is not what comes from without that causes one to commit crime but what is already within.
AIDS is an excellent reason for abstinence/monogamy. It’s the only disease where you only kill the ones you love.
I’m ashamed to say that it took the fear of AIDS to cause me to close my legs for more than 10 years, until I finally joined with the love of my life 2 years ago.
BTW, I love the smoking analogy, Adrian.
Yeah its just like these liberal dweebs to want to blame other for the irresponsible acts of those idiots i mean they would blame santa for make kids lazy becuase he bring them toys that keep them in the house all the time
AIDS has spread in the Black community, due to ignorance and homophobia, not an absence of Traditional Values. But, being the most evil scourge that it is, why are we only seeing the Traditional Values card played now?
70% percent of Black births in my state are illegitimate. Where was the ‘values’ outcry against this now accepted abomination?
Next time you look across your churches’ congregation La Shawn and see the number of out-of-wedlock babies, divide that number in half, and you’ll know the number of HIV+ parishioners in your midst.
Have you been living in a cave? Where was the “values” outcry against this now accepted abomination? What do you think the Moynihan report was all about? What have conservatives and Christians been saying all these years about traditional values, family values, etc., particularly in the last forty years, and being vilified as racists?
Look, don’t point fingers at me and don’t blame others for someone else’s behavior, at least not on this blog. AIDS has spread in the black community due to people having sex with infected people and sharing needles with infected people. This “homophobia” you speak of is a useless attempt to change the subject. You can imply or straight out call me all the names you want. It may work with your politically correct, scared white friends, but not on this coloredgirlsblog.
Your reasoning is deeply flawed, at least when it comes to AIDS, I see.
I wish people would explain what they mean when they say “homophobia” and how it applies to the discussion at hand. Morton Kondracki, a Fox news commentator used it to apply to anyone who is against same-sex marriage. Dennis Prager once said that the reason Liberal radio shows have trouble getting ratings is that their answer to everything is either, “You’re racist,” “You’re sexist,” or “You’re homophobic.” I can’t remember if he included “You’re a greedy capitalist” but I would have. Name calling is so unhelpful in serious discussions. What does the poster mean by “homophobia” and how does he or she think it helps to spreads AIDS? Bless you for trying to deal with such people. Merry Christmas. Evon
Thank you, thank you, thank you!! Miss Barber!
I feel you on that one!
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