...And Then There Was The Far Left

I've spoken and written about the far right at times: Rush Limbaugh, James Dobson, Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity, Ann Coulter, amongst others. Some of these people don't believe in change, even with the rights of women. Some believe it should just be the 1950's all over again. With them, it seems that a totalitarian government would be more pleasing than a democracy (republic).

Well, I have now read about the far left. I thought I was pretty far left, but compare to the group I'm about to speak of, I'm moderate.

The Dutch's Charity, Freedom, and Diversty (NVD) party is set to campaign in Amsterdam. What does the party want to do, should they win in an election? They want to lower the legal age to engage in sex from 16 to 12, legalize the making of pornography and prostitution for those 16 and older, and legalize bestiality. They also believe that toddlers should be given sexual education, that pornography should be allowed on daytime television, everyone should be allowed to naked in public, that all drugs should be legal, and that there should be free train travel for everyone.

They are against a couple of things: Abusing animals and the trading of child pornography. They also are okay with violent pornography only being aired in the late evening.

One of the party's founders, Ad van den Berg, had this to say, "A ban just makes children curious." He also noted, "We want to make pedophilia the subject of discussion. Finally, he said, "We want to get into parliament so we have a voice. Other politicians only talk about us as if we were criminals."

Poll results released in this article indicate that 82% wanted the government to do whatever they could to stop this new party (NVD). Also, 67% said that promoting pedophilia should be illegal.

Alrighty, I have thought about this article for a while and have thought up only three possibilities: 1) That these are some really sick people, 2) They're just using this to garner some attention, or 3) They're actually Dutch Conservatives trying to play the slippery slope and be so extreme, that some changes might be made with the Dutch's liberal laws.

Well, they definitely achieved #2 on the list. Whatever they're true objective was, they definitely received plenty of attention. Most blogs I've read take this article at face value and believe it to be #1 on the list. If one was to look at things along the surface, then, I can't blame them for thinking that way. But, don't these suggestions seem a bit too extreme? Even sarcastic, in an odd way? Free train travel for all? Everyone should be able to walk around naked in public? Bestiality? All drugs should be legalized? Pornography during the daytime? Sex ed for toddlers? Ages 16 and up are of legal age for prostitution and pornography? Sexual consent at the age of 12? But, they throw in a couple of things that they're against, the abuse of animals and the trading of child pornography. Also, violent pornography should only be aired in the late evening. I'm sorry, but it seems to me that this party is trying to illustrate the slippery slope than I've heard many conservatives talk about over the years, many times, dealing with homosexuality. "Where does it go from here? Bestiality? The marrying of pets?" This group tries to illustrate that slippery slope argument. They're obviously very much against the liberal ways of the Netherlands and want changes to be made. They've upped the liberal ante on just about every issue to try and give credence that the way of life there is too liberal.

Who in their right mind would want to legalize beastiality? A political group, nonetheless? Honestly, can you ever see a Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, or Independent just up and saying, "I want to pass a bill to legalize bestiality?" No, I don't think so. Sexual education for toddlers? That's just ridiculous. Pornography during the daytime? So, that all can see? All drugs being legalized? Free train travel? Walking around naked in public anytime? This just all seems to be too extreme to be real and honest. Just watch, later we find out that this was a group of priests or a group of hard-core conservatives wanting to give a negative image of liberal Amsterdam. Whether they're being honest or not (which I don't think they are), they're not going to win in any election or become part of parliament. If only 18% of the people in the country don't think that the party should be banned, then that does not bode well for this party. But, for those who are anti-liberal, I'm sure they're loving this opportunity, to read the article and say, "See? I told you so!" Yeah, yeah, whatever, just because someone tries to paint out the slippery slope like you had initially seen it means nothing. They're just a group of people, probably with similar views as Bill Frist, James Dobson, and company, trying to inspire a culture change.

Link:

http://today.reuters.com/news/newsarticle.aspx?type=oddlyEnoughNews&storyid=2006-05-30T170341Z_01_L30338107_RTRUKOC_0_US-DUTCH-PEDOPHILES.xml&src=rss&rpc=22