I don’t think the flight attendant really understood just how profound a statement she had made. A society with weak negotiating fathers is one that has little hope of going anywhere. It just sort of gets stuck on a runway while everyone grows impatient wondering what the problem could be and whether there’s some expert who could figure it all out.
It’s temping to over-simplify the problem by saying that most fathers are afraid to discipline their children in public because there are cameras that record their actions and that those actions are increasingly monitored by the criminal courts. It is true that many acts we once called discipline are now called misdemeanors. But the problem is much broader.
The civil courts have been so hijacked by radical feminism that a father’s right to see his own child is now seen as a privilege. Unless the mother actually murders her children she will get custody of them. The father who sees his children every other weekend won’t risk losing custody altogether. That is why any semblance of discipline often dies along with the marriage.
And it’s tempting to stop here and pretend we haven’t oversimplified the problem. But the war on fathers in the legal system really isn’t war. It is a battle in a larger war on men in our society-at-large. No one understands that war better than those of us who teach in higher education.
In the halls of academe feminists are pushing the idea that there are no inherent differences between men and women. The idea is simply too stupid to believe - even for most feminists. But feminists are no different than sorority girls in the sense that they will pretend to be stupid if it means they can get something without working.
Their plan is simple: If male/female differences are all the result of patriarchal oppression, not biology, they can better argue for social engineering and the social welfare it entails.
The feminist war on males reminds me very much of the war on Christians I once waged as an atheist. I enjoyed pointing to the hypocrisy of Christians. But I only did it because bringing them down to my level was much easier than lifting myself up to theirs.
And that is really what is happening with the current epidemic of weak negotiating fathers. It is not about uplifting our children. It is about bringing the fathers down to their level.
But at least we are moving in the direction of equality. It gives us something pleasant to consider while we’re sitting on a runway waiting for the experts.
Author's Note: Dr.Adams' debate this Thursday November 12th at UNC-Chapel Hill was cancelled. Because no one would debate him - approximately two dozen professors were asked - he will simply give a speech on affirmative action. The Youth for Western Civilization will sponsor the event, which begins at 7 p.m. in the Student Union Auditorium. There will be heavily armed security including Dr. Adams himself.