Think of the children!

On your handy list of "people who would write a long thesis about the evils of Evangelical Christianity and its affects on the youth of America," I know that David Byrne (formerly of Talking Heads) is scribbled in at the top. I know he's at the top of mine (nestled on top of names such as Elvis Costello and the zombie corpse of Ol' Dirty Bastard) so it comes to no surprise that ol' David whipped out this piece on his own journal a couple days ago.

In it, he details what he calls "American Madrassas," or Christian camps that mirror Saudi-financed Islamic brainwashing camps known as madrassas in the Middle East. Here's a little tantalizing tidbit.

Naturally, the kids being so young, there is no questioning of any kind — they simply accept what grownups Fischer and the others say — they get pumped up, agitated, they memorize right wing and Jesus slogans and shout them back obediently. They become part of a support group — a warm, safe, comfortable feeling for anyone, for any social animal, for you and me. No one strays or gets out of line even the slightest bit.

Suddenly, I'm having flashbacks of my sophomore year of high school.

This kind of shit makes me think twice about having a kid. I don't really doubt my own ability to parent a child. I would of course choose a worthy and capable woman to parent my demon spawn with me, I would have the resources available to bring the child up in a comfortable-though-not-spoiled environment, and I would teach the kid not to march to the drum of his teachers and classmates. But watching it (it being right-wing indoctrination) happen to my own friends time and time again, there's only so much a few parents can do in the face of nationwide fanaticism.

What happens if my kid goes over to Billy's house and watches some Fox News? What happens if he joins the ROTC?

Okay, those things aren't so bad for a child, I guess. But it's a progressive process, and at this juncture in my life I would feel like having a right-wing child would be on par to failing as a parent. Maybe that's why I'm not a parent... yet.