Wednesday 27 August 2008

Conserevapedia & The Mentally Ill

Grand Theft Auto Vice City gives these useful tips to spot if your child might be a red.
"They read complicated literature and have concern for their fellow man. They even like to share. Tell your kids that if someone approaches them with pamphlets about recycling or show any doubts about the fairness of our system then they should find a teacher or a policeman immediately".
Of course the games creators are mocking the crazy thinking of the Political Right but sometimes the right make a decent fist of making themselves look as intelligent as they sound like in this brilliant piece from our favourite Right Wing oddballs, Conservapedia, entitled 'Do Liberal Teachings Cause Mental Illness?'
It goes on to explain that 'Mental illness is increasing and the ten countries with the highest suicide rates are all former Soviet states which are notable for imposing liberal teachings on their population. In the US, liberal indoctrination governs public schools which educate 89% of children and an estimated 20% of these children have a mental illness.
It concludes that 'Medical professionals emphasize that they do not know what causes mental illness. Accordingly, they cannot rule out that liberal indoctrination is a contributing factor.

Teaching children to accept and believe things that are demonstrably false cannot help mental health. Included in this category are the liberal teachings in school that:

- lying about the truth, causing belief in falsehoods
- there are no real differences between boys and girls
- humans are just another type of animal
- all there is is what you see
- that an unproven unconscious excuses evil actions
- self-inflicted death can somehow be good
- denying self-defense, mentally and physically
- denying the ability to control sexual desires
- promoting lifestyles that lead to mental illness
- insisting on an illogical and unjustified separation of church and state

Conservapedia, where the mentally ill come to write pages like this.

9 comments:

Nog said...

All of the theo-fascist do-gooding on the right about sex and morality definitely does more harm than good. If they don't like all of these abortions maybe they ought to promote condom use as a much more preferable alternative.

But most public schools keep up a noticeably left-wing curriculum.

Here's one of my most to-the-point examples:


A Texas State public school standardized test
The answer key to the above test
This is Texas. Hardly a bastion of socialism and other breeds of totalitarianism.

Notice question 20. Just about everyone would say that more young folks would warrant more schools, but government spending for (obviously government controlled) schools? That's an authoritarian-socialist political position. And it is a position that is, under most circumstances (those circumstances where the end is the most educated children), scientifically refutable.

So while the agenda of the Right certainly goes far beyond reason, schools are almost universally left-leaning. Public schools are, after all, just another government program.

--Nog

Cheezy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Cheezy said...

"government spending for (obviously government controlled) schools? That's an authoritarian-socialist political position."

I guess this is one of those times when you just have to throw your arms in the air and (again) acknowledge the massive gulf between the USA and Europe!

I totally agree with you about promoting condoms in schools though. This issue is just common sense, I feel, and should rightly transcend any party-political bias.

Back onto the topic of mental illness, I've often thought that being highly - and reflexively -ideological, either to the right or to the left, is a kind of psychological malady.

Anonymous said...

Lucy,

The only problem I have with your observation is that you attribute the thinking in this lame article (which is itself insane) to all conservatives. Clearly the cause of mental illness is not liberal education, but instead is liberal us of attribution...

Q

Falling on a bruise said...

Nog - I quote Cheezy quoting Nog quoting me quoting Conservapedia in the "government spending for (obviously government controlled) schools? That's an authoritarian-socialist political position". I would rather the Government than McDonalds or Esso.

Cheesy - I love the line that said 'It concludes that 'Medical professionals emphasize that they do not know what causes mental illness. Accordingly, they cannot rule out that liberal indoctrination is a contributing factor.'
With that logic they can't rule out Tom Hanks films either or red smarties.
I am still learning their are subtle differences between Europeans & Americans on many political issues i always thought we together on, the greatest is what we see as left and right wing and what they see it as. Liberal & Conservative has subtle differences to us both and has led to quite a few misunderstandings.


Q - I don't attribute it to all conservatives, just 'our favourite Right Wing oddballs, Conservapedia' as i mentioned. If our resident right wingers Cody & TIO agreed with this i would be very shocked indeed.

Anonymous said...

One thing I have noticed is that many conservatives attribute huge power to the state. They give away their OWN power. If they disagree with school teachings so much, all they need to do is counter that in their own homes and teach kids how to think critically, surely.

The state is not such an all-powerful bogeyman.

Cheezy said...

"With that logic they can't rule out Tom Hanks films either or red smarties."

Hush your mouth about the smarties, Lucy!

As for Tom's films, I think it was only a matter of time before someone cottoned on to the correlation... ;-)

Cody Bones said...

I know I haven't been the same since I saw Bachelor Party


Oh, and Conserva whatever is full of nutjobs

Falling on a bruise said...

I knew you would justify my faith in you not being the sort of right winger that should be boiled slowly in salt water Cody. Come the revolution you have my assurance that you will be boiled slowly in rose scented water instead.