Another Ignorant Rant From Matt Barber

Another day, another bleating rant from the resident concerned "woman" Matt Barber. This time, Matt has gone after an Illinois school district over a summer reading list for 8th graders and even goes so far as to list examples of what he deems to be objectionable content from one of the books. Before giving that list, though, he opened by saying...

"Prairie Junior High School’s required reading list for rising 8th graders
gave children six books to choose from over the summer. Parents have complained
that three of the six books contain adult content which is highly
age-inappropriate. Those complaints, however, have fallen on deaf ears. At a
recent school board meeting, school board members said they intend to continue
assigning the books. The following are excerpts from just a handful of the many
salacious passages found in one of the books, Fat Kid Rules the World, by K. L.
Going:"

So, from the outset, Matt has acknowledged that the students were given a list of books from which to choose...argument hole number one. Unless someone was holding a gun to the heads of these students and their parents, it seems that other choices were made available.

Notice also that the objectionable passages Matt printed were from ONE of the SIX books on the list of choices for the students...argument hole number two. It appears that this book wasn't forced on anyone, regardless of what Matt said next...

"To add insult to injury, the school didn’t even have the courtesy to warn
these kids — or their parents — about the adult content within the assigned
reading. And parents are understandably furious. If one of my daughters came to
me at twelve having been assigned this smut, I’d be ticked-off too."

Okay, parents do have the responsibility to be involved in the education of their children, and these parents should have made it a priority to investigate these book choices and guide their children accordingly. Argument hole number three...as Matt pointed out, the students had a choice and none of the six books were specifically "assigned" no matter how much he'd like it to appear that way.

Now, with three holes in his ridiculous argument, let's look at the cute turn Matt makes with this delightful little story. He starts with the following...

"I telephoned Robert Berger, superintendent of schools for District 126,
fully expecting him to assure me that this foolishness would be remedied. But
instead, his response was defiant, defensive and arrogant."

It's a distinct possibility, given Matt's usual tone and attitude toward anyone who disagrees with him, that the conversation with Mr. Berger began with a similarly defiant, defensive and arrogant, and I wouldn't fault Mr. Berger for responding the way he did. I do find it interesting that while Matt provided explicit details about the one offensive book, he didn't do the same regarding his conversation with this superintendent. Only a couple of comments were mentioned in what was, presumably, a much more involved discussion..argument hole number four.

The real axis, if you will, of Matt's argument becomes very clear with these statements...

"Unfortunately the actions of District 126 are symptomatic of a
metastasizing moral malady within our larger system of public education. Kids in
public schools across the country are constantly inundated with material which
promotes profanity, homosexuality, promiscuity and abortion.

The Agenda is pushed and the curriculum set by leftist groups like the
National Education Association (NEA), the ACLU and the Gay, Lesbian and Straight
Education Network (GLSEN). Even the American Library Association (ALA) gave Fat
Kids its “Michael L. Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature.” The
book also received a rave review from America’s largest homosexual activist
literary organization, Lambda Literary Foundation.
By constantly lowering
the bar on decency, educators are intentionally playing a game of ideological
limbo with our children’s moral well-being as they seek to create little moral
relativists in their own iconoclastic self-image. And they’re robbing kids of
great reading like Oliver Twist, Treasure Island and many others in the
process."

And there you have it, folks...it's the homosexuals who are forcing these poor, impressionable children to read the book Matt keeps blathering about. I will give Matt points for his clever use of alliteration with his, "metastasizing moral malady," comment, but the rest of his bleating is simply that...bleating. For the record, the Printz Award is one of the biggest and most prestigious children's literature prizes and is given, as Matt said, by the American Library Association. Unfortunately, Fat Kid Rules the World didn't win the award, but was one of the honored books for the year 2004...argument hole number five.

As usual, Matt has tried to spin this situation and has succeeded in insulting the parental intelligence of the students in the district in question, assumed that the traditional classic reading choices are being held hostage somewhere, gave false information regarding the one book that seemed to bother him the most and blamed everything on that ever elusive homosexual agenda.

With five glaring holes in your argument Matt...you'd do good to do a little more homework before posting your purposely inflammatory garbage.