In May of 2017, after the bombing
of the concert in Manchester, UK, where teen girls were killed and maimed by an
Islamic terrorist, I wrote a post Our
Children (https://commonsense-mark.blogspot.com/2017/05/our-children.html). That post was my most read post on my
blog. In it, I asserted that a civilization
that lacks the will to protect and nurture its children is in deep trouble.
My fears have not been allayed,
and rather have gotten much worse. The very
institutions that have been set up to protect children have either been hijacked
to exploit them, or have enabled their exploitation.
First, in a stunning decision, a
Detroit judge ruled that a federal law under which Muslim doctors were
performing female genital mutilations were prosecuted was unconstitutional,
stating “as laudable as the prohibition of a particular type of abuse of girls
may be, it does not further the goal of
protecting children on a nondiscriminatory basis.” Of course, the defense attorneys in that case
argued their position on 1st amendment grounds --- freedom of
religion. In Judge Friedman’s eyes, not
discriminating against a barbaric religious practice trumps the protection of
these girls. The judge relied on the
commerce clause to throw out the charges, reasoning that their practice did not
involve interstate commerce that could be regulated by the federal government. But some of the girls were brought in from Minnesota,
and if growing wheat on your own land that you sell in state (Wicker v.
Filburn) is interstate commerce, how can your business of disfiguring girls
from another state not be? This decision
is yet another instance of our legal system bending over backwards to accommodate
this most barbaric and medieval procedure practiced in some corners of
Islam. Ironically, the ACLU teamed up
with Maine Democrats to defeat a measure which would have made female genital
mutilation illegal in Maine, arguing that it was already covered by federal
law. So much for that. This most misogynist practice must be driven
from our land, utterly, entirely and without question and citizens who engage
in its practice need to be jailed and noncitizens deported.
Also this week, former Michigan
State president Lou Anna Simon was charged with 2 felonies and 2 misdemeanors
for lying to investigators in the Larry Nassar abuse case. It will be recalled that Nasser sexually
abused dozens of young female athletes at MSU while serving as a team physician. Last May, the university reached a $500
million settlement with the 332 victims (the Wall Street Journal reported that
a bankruptcy filing was considered to deal with the claims). Simon knew.
Other people working in the athletic department knew (including a gymnastics
coach that was also charged. Many of
those are still working at MSU.
The primary purpose of a
university is to educate and shape young people so they can flourish in adult
life. The entire structure at MSU
failed to protect these young female athletes from this monster, who will now
carry the scars of Nassar’s abuse for the rest of their lives. Most infuriating about this whole sick
episode in higher education is that it was a female leader of an institution
that enabled the exploitation of young women.
Finally, the Vatican is at it again. Months after Cardinal McCarrick resigned
amidst the sex abuse scandal in the Catholic Church and the grand jury report concerning
the Pittsburgh Archdiocese was released, the Vatican blocked an effort by U.S.
bishops to put forward a plan to curb abuse, ordering them to wait. Wait for what, exactly? A better plan by a Vatican that honored
Cardinal Law?
Worse, in Chicago, Cardinal
Cupich downplayed the furor by arrogantly dismissing it, “We have a bigger
agenda than to be distracted by all of this.” Again, what bigger agenda? What could possibly be more important and
urgent than protecting our children?
I do not wish to take on the role
of Chicken Little, but you can see that our societal structures whose MOST
IMPORTANT PURPOSE is to protect young people are failing them miserably, and
indeed have become vehicles through which they are being exploited and abused.
If this corruption is not
addressed, it does not bode well for us.
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