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Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Robert Knight :: Townhall.com Columnist
Dear Abby, or Dear Dr. Ruth?
by Robert Knight
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Will the Dems' health care Christmas Present to America be an improvement or detriment to our health care system?


It’s ok for “transsexual” men to use the ladies’ room? A mother should accept her daughter making a living by running porn sites? America should embrace same-sex “marriage?”

Dear Abby, what have you come to?

For more than 50 years, Dear Abby has been counseling people on how to live their lives. People usually associate Abby with common sense, but in reality she’s an unsung warrior in the sexual revolution—firmly on the side of Playboy, NARAL, and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.

Dear Abby consistently steers people into the arms of Planned Parenthood, homosexual activist groups, and the now-infamous Kinsey Institute. The column has supported abortion on demand, condom-based “safe sex” education, nudism, cross-dressing and pornography.

Abby’s daughter took over the column several years ago, and the message has grown even more radical. After years of promoting acceptance of homosexuality as normal and in-born, Abby on October 10, 2007, went all the way and openly endorsed gay “marriage.”

The Dear Abby column runs in 1,400 newspapers worldwide, reaching 110 million readers daily in print and on-line. Because Abby is a major cultural media figure, the Culture and Media Institute took a detailed look at what kind of advice she gave in 2007. CMI also looked at The Best of Dear Abby (1981), her Web site, and a Nexis search of columns over the years dealing with sex. The new study by CMI researcher Colleen Raezler, “Down a Dark Abby,” reveals that:

• Of Abby’s 365 daily columns in 2007, nearly a third (108) deal with sex. And of those, more than half (58) reject traditional morality and instead offer moral relativism and sexual liberation.

• Ten address homosexuality, which Abby regards as morally right.

• Fifty-four address sex between unmarried adults, and only once does Abby suggest that marriage should precede sex.

• Twelve address teen sex, and only three suggest abstinence.

• Twenty other columns project a permissive view of nudism, stripping and cross dressing.

The 2007 columns reflect themes that Abby has embraced for years. Here are some of Abby’s Blasts from the Past, starting with nudism:

DEAR ABBY: …What is this world coming to when a person of your stature condones nude hot-tubbing with the neighbors? Enjoying the “therapeutic benefits” of soaking together in the nude—unless it’s a husband and wife alone—is a new low in moral behavior.

DEAR HORRIFIED: It’s neither new nor necessarily low. I have never condemned nudity—as long as it’s on the up and up. And while I might hesitate to grin and bare it (all), scores of wholesome people from many cultures enjoy the naturalist way of life. (August 2001)

In August 2006, a woman wrote that she was shocked to see a six-foot-tall man in a wig and dress in the ladies room. Abby tells her to chill:

DEAR BEWILDERED: … Before a transsexual is allowed to have gender reassignment surgery, he or she must live for one year in the role of someone of the opposite sex. This includes using the restroom facilities of the opposite gender. It is not against the law, and it was no threat to you.

Abby vigorously supports homosexual adoption. In a 1999 column, she advises an 18-year-old who has “lived with a gay man since I was 6” to “tell your friends exactly what you told me—that he is your mother, father, aunt, uncle, counselor and – most of all— your best friend.”

Abby has been remarkably easy on porn. When a mother wrote her in November 2002 concerned about her daughter operating “soft porn” Web sites, Abby told her:

DEAR LOVING MOTHER: You and your daughter have very different moral values. While it’s against your principles, what she’s doing is legal. She has built a successful business and wants you to respect what she has accomplished. …try to accept that this is a choice she has made, and focus on her positive qualities. She’s bright, sweet and loving, not to mention a whiz at business.

Abby is unabashedly “pro-choice.” In March 2000, her column “Life Makes Grandma Pro-Choice” related the horrors of illegal abortions and happy outcomes from “terminated” pregnancies. Here’s the takeaway message from Grandma:

DEAR ABBY: ….The key word is “choice.” Only the girl or woman should make the decision to have an abortion or carry the pregnancy to term and keep the child or place the baby for adoption. The decision should NOT be up to self-righteous, ambitious politicians.

DEAR GRANDMA: Right on. Only the individual knows how much she can handle, and the decision should be hers to make. The key word, indeed, is “choice.”

The bottom line? When it comes to sex, Dear Abby is no friend of the family.

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About The Author

Robert Knight is a Senior Writer/Correspondent for Coral Ridge Ministries and a Senior Fellow for the American Civil Rights Union.
 
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Dear "Abby"? Try "Lefty"
Our main-line churches no longer preach the gospel found in the Bible, but rather leftist 'justice' theology. Our public schools & many elite private schools push a left-of-center 'morality.' Abortion has become a sacrament to this crowd, and good is known as evil, and evil good.

As for the Dear Abby advise column? A reflection of the leftist infection that is pandemic in our land.

God help us all.

Isn't it horrible
that there is one voice of advice that isn't from James Dobson? XConservatives claim to support the marketplace of ideas but in reality they seek censoring opinion they do not sppove of.

Robvert Knight can't stand that there are sensible people that deal witrh real issues, don't resort to gay bashing and give sound advice instead of Bible quotes.

Dear Anby is the friend of the families and people Robert Knight hates.

yes and no
Knight makes a decent case that Dear Abby (the daughter of the original) is a liberal.

He does a worse job of making the case that she is anti-family. As the last couple of examples he gives illustrates, one of the emphases of the column has always been finding ways for family members to get along despite their differences. It is hard to see why the true family position would be to shun ones relatives because one doesn't share their values.

ugh
Hard to believe I ever read her column

NO LONGER READ
I quit reading Dear Abby a few years ago as the advice moved away from promoting tradtional values to a much more liberal view point. I consider the advice column no better then trash.

It's a sad day when....
...the So-Cons have to see "morality conspiracies" in Dear-Freaking-Abby. You people are lameass geeks.

Unmarried sex as okay for adults? Oh, the horrors! Please, for the love of Pete, just stop trying to push your hill-billy religion crap on the sane people in this country. Just stay in your mobile home and watch the 700 Club instead.

Dear Abby
Abby shouldn't feel lonesome - "Ask Amy"(Amy Dickenson), who writes for the Chicago Tribune and whose column is printed in the Charlotte Observer daily, energetically takes on the liberal attitudes espoused by Dear Abby. Although Amy's general advice is good and makes sense, she continuously and emphatically defends living together without benefit of marriage, admittedly she says, because she did the same thing before her marriage. Amy constantly has to defend some of her stupid advice to couples living together, since most of the problems such silly people have comes about because they are unwilling to marry and commit to each other. Yet, Amy doggedly maintains this bad advice. She must be looking for approval from many of her readers who choose the "living together" way of life. Way to stand up for strong moral principals, Abby and Amy!

Transexuals in the Ladies room
Being a Conservative TS myself, I can see how this would cause many to Freak Out! Yet, her advice was right on. TSes don't use the ladies room because they're looking for a thrill. Believe there's little that's thrilling about it. It's scary at best. I get in and out as quickly as possible. However, I have been "Read" many times in the ladies room and I have yet to have anyone react badly. Abby's advice is dead on in that TSes must live as a woman for a year prior to surgery. This period of transition is the worst of all. This is when many are recognised and assaulted. The world is a scary place for TSes in transition. As far as morality is concerned, Go to the book of Matthew in the new testament and see what Jesus said about eunuchs, which is what the Transgendered were called in his time.(Matt.19:12)It's too long to repeat here, but in one of the most ignored passages in the bible, Jesus condoned eunuchs "Who did it to themselves" Transexuality is not a new thing. Maybe it's time we recognised it as a medical problem and not a moral failing.
Regards, Terry

What did you expect
from someone who has made her living for the last 50 years as an integral part of the Main Stream Media.

She cares nothing for the future or culture of our country. She only wants to remain on the good side of her peers.

Old news
And you columnists probably think you have your fingers on the pulse of the country? Listen Bob, Dear Abby has been left-wing trash for at least a decade now. It started to veer into the sewer under the old lady, and has only gotten worse since the daughter took over.

It used to be sort of interesting to see what revolting “advice” she would dispense. Lately, though, Abby has become kind of the Hillary Clinton of relationships, a shrieking left-wing scold who is singularly intolerant of people who seek to uphold virtue. It isn’t even entertaining any more.

Terry
Quite interesting and thanks for sharing.

Dear Abby
and Ann Landers are two of a kind. I have "skimmed" them for at least 30 years and have often written to condemn them for their immoral advice and belief systems.

It never ceases to amaze me how - as some of those writers in this stream - the left-wing liberals who practice every form of sexaul immorality immediately condemn Christians. The obvious reason is because Christians have the truth that there is a moral law imbedded in each one of us by the moral law Giver, and it points out that those practicing immoral behavior are indeed in rebellion against God. That makes them feel guilty and hateful of God so they attack Christians.

These purveyors of immorality decry Christians for "forcing" their morals, yet it is the anti-Christians who are forcing their morals on society by claiming victimhood. Double standards are the rule for those who promote the homosexual agenda, abortion, and sexual immorality in general.

Terry's misuse of Scripture
is also common with liberals and anti-Christians. Matt.19:12 says absolutely nothing about transexuals. Jesus was talking about eunuchs and he said there were those who were born that way (deformed or missing male sexual organs), others made that way by man(slaves serving in harems, e.g.) and others "have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake". The context of the passage has to do with divorce and remarriage and the restrictions Jesus put on them. His disciples responded that if that was how strict things were to be then it would be better to not marry. So Jesus was giving examples of those unable to marry. The last example was not about literal eunuchs, rather it is referring to those who choose to remain unmarried - i.e. celibate - to pursue the things of God. Even Paul pointed out how marriage can distract people from the things of God. Not that marriage is wrong - God ordained it and Paul says it is compelling for those whose sexual desires consume them - but it does indeed take time and effort. There have always been those who choose to serve God full time and give up marriage, becoming celibate. That is what the text means and any modern translation reflects that (NIV:"others have renounced marriage..." e.g.)

Those practicing immorality are always trying to use the Bible to justify their actions. But it can't be honestly done.

Dear Abbey
Mr. Knight neglects to point out the "Dear Abbey" is an ongoing apologist for married women who commit the most despicable form of domestic abuse: Paternity Fraud.

"Dear Abbey" is just another icon of the feminist "responsibility-optional, consequence-free" gynocentric dystopia that is the US of A.

Dear Jerry Springer, more like
I mean, you are completely on target. There can be no question that she goes beyond being a mere apologist for the left . She is in fact a foot soldier for their militant agenda.

Just the other day she condemned the family of a lesbian woman as "unchristian" for refusing to accept the perverted behavior.

Another example of self-contradictory political correctness, in other words, they are better than evil Christians because they aren't judgemental!

Dobson cloned...eek!
Robert Knight can't accept the fact that many people have family members utterly unwilling to talk about sexual matters in a reasonable way, if at all. The whole point of advice columns is to give confused or angry people some kind of suggestions from someone with no personal axe to grind. I don't agree with everything Abby says either, but vilifying her column because it discusses (tee-hee!) sex is preposterous. Robert Knight is nothing more than a James Dobson clone.

My mistake, not on purpose


Being a TS is the furtherest thing from my mind, but here is a true story I like to tell.
-------
A funny thing happened while we were on a ferry boat crossing the English Channel.

It was somewhat of a shock to hear those ladies’ voices, as several women entered the room where I was already hardly at work. Well, I just finished what I was doing (thank goodness), and walked through the room and out the door, just as if they were the ones who were wrong.

I don't remember seeing a sign, but maybe I thought I was on a Scottish ferry and L-a-d-i-e-s spelled “Laddies.” (1980)


Relevent Church in Florida
challenged all married couples to have sex every day for 30 days. For the singles, the challenge was opposite. Remain celibate for 30 days.

I wonder if the men are going to start dragging their wives to church now?


Don't like her?
Don't read her.

She's only in the paper to satisfy the voyeuristic desires of the public. People want to read about someone worse off, more screwed up, or sexually deviant (all from the reader's point of view).

It sells papers. You won't change it by griping about it.

Most advice columnists are liberal
Dear Abby (the original) and Ann Landers have always been socially-liberal. No big surprise Abby Jr. is also a big-time pro-abort leftist.

Virtually every advice columnist from Hey Cherie (aimed at middle-schoolers) to Carolyn Hax is left-wing. They're all do-it-if-it-feels-good types and if you disagree with them, you're just a bigoted, ignorant, Bible-thumpin' meanie.

The only prominent conservative advice person is Dr. Laura Schlessinger. I don't always agree with Dr. Laura, but it's nice to see someone vigrorously stand up for traditional values.


Bluepiper
"These purveyors of immorality decry Christians for "forcing" their morals, yet it is the anti-Christians who are forcing their morals on society by claiming victimhood. Double standards are the rule for those who promote the homosexual agenda, abortion, and sexual immorality in general."

No one is claiming "victimhood" - we are demanding that you stop forcing your repressed views on the rest of us.

Bluepiper
"Dear Abby and Ann Landers are two of a kind. I have "skimmed" them for at least 30 years and have often written to condemn them for their immoral advice and belief systems."

They were sisters. I think both are dead now. They have ghost writers now.

They probably did not share your darling Christian views as they were Jews.


Gee whiz
I would love to see you So-Cons respond to Savage Love's column!

Nudists
I don't think it is reasonable to equate skinnydipping with abortion-on-demand. Nudity is not always sexual. I'll admit that I know only a handful of card carrying nudists, but they are extremely conservative folks.

Knight misses the point
Why waste time worrying over the fact that 1/3 of "Abby's" letters deal with sex? Are we not the most sex-obssessed nation in the history of mankind?

The real point, where the issue of homosexuality is concerned, is that the American Psychiatric Association considered it a "mental illness" until around 1973, when it was voted-out of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual. Whether or not homosexuality is a "disease" is less an issue than the political nature of the psychiatric industry. The "shrinks" possess the almost untrammeled right to deprive a person of his civil rights, and they get to decide what's a disease and what is not.

So, I am far less concerned about what some sob sister writes in a syndicated column than the real possibility that we will see "mental illness" increasingly used as a means of political oppression, as the Russkys have so succesfully done for generations.


you just heard
You just heard from someone who is transgendered here and yet a teaching moment was lost on the usual suspects. I live in Los Angeles, and many of my friends are TS. Male to female and female to male. Abby's response was telling the reader what a person in transition HAS to do to make it complete and adjust to life in that gender. If anyone else had a medical or other conditon that required them to adjust to it, you wouldn't be so irrational. There are people in this world that go through all kinds of profound changes, aided by medical technology...and hopefully in the public, compassion.
There are people BORN intersexed as well. This is a fact of life, and being male OR female or in between isn't an issue of MORALITY.
Morality is about goodness and how kindly and fairly you treat another human being.
So explain to me why a person's GENDER makes them exempt from that?

Stan47, or bluepiper
As in all manner of medical or psychiatric research, technology or treatment, FURTHER and comprehensive research allows for greater understanding, progress and opportunity for the public to be informed. Knowlege is a way of reducing fear. Fear and ignorance are after all, dangerous things.
To hear Dobson, or Knight (who have and will distort research for their own ends), tell it...gays and lesbians held guns to the heads of the psychiatric community.
That's not what happened, the obligation to further study and research and the subjects studied gave new and important insights into what homosexuality is EXACTLY and the function of homosexuality among humans AND animals.
There IS an obligation NOT to stigmatize and prejudice the subject, nor approach a subject of the study with animus and prejudice.

In the 1840's, a medical doctor named Samuel Cartright coined the term 'drapetomania' as a condition of blacks that constantly and continued to display the want and need to runaway. He considered it a mental disorder and disease of the negro to NOT accept bondage and his 'care' in slavery. Blacks, women and homosexuals have been living down the made up myths and stereotyping of their lives.

cont.
The stereotyping that at all times doesn't consider the humanity of the subject, NOR the qualities that show that much of merit can be offered society, were equal opportunity and less threat involved.
Sociopathy and the pathological need to create a convenient scapegoat are FAR more dangerous mental aspects in any society than homosexuality ever was.
History has shown the folly of thinking someone was inferior and treating them that way, than respecting that they actually weren't inferior.
Robert Knight, typical of many of TH's posters, has a complex, it IS bigotry to insist that HIS beliefs, ideas and opinions trump facts. And simply gets away with it because a majority agrees. Majorities are always right. Like that same majority that believe Samuel Cartwright and didn't end slavery for another forty years and devloped Jim Crow laws based on made up myths regarding black SEXUALITY. Color was just a convenient means of achieving segregation.
Our public has ALWAYS been weird about realistic and fact based issues on sex, sexuality and gender.

oops, typo
I meant to say, majorities AREN'T always right. And our society IS very strange, unrealistic and paranoid even about LEARNING more other than stereotypes depending on the group that's getting marked the most with the worst of stereotyping.
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