Monday, September 01, 2008

What we can't know on Palin's daughter

Look, I'm usually a fan of Douglas Wilson. I'm a longtime Credenda Agenda reader and the whole thing. But I can't make sense of his post today on the Palin's daughter. Here is his comment:
Given everything I have ever taught about child-rearing and covenant responsibility, this has to be taken as a familial failure, and not just a detached sin on the part of Bristol Palin. The basic responsibility for this, however, lies with her father. Clearly in some way she was not getting the love, protection, and accountability that she and her boyfriend needed.
"Clearly"? How could anyone outside the family possibly know this? You would have to have morality down to an exact science to say anything like this, and the vicissitudes of the human will simply don't allow for such judgments. Doug's a smart guy, but anyone who thinks they can devise a principle that can predict human behavior this exactly in a situation that you have no access to is a little too confident in their abilities--and in the power of moral prediction.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well Martin, obviously her dad should have strapped her into a chastity belt or forbade her from going anywhere without a male family escort, or maybe required her to wear a chador in public.

The truth is that "abstinence only" without education about birth control and prevention of stds may have made sense decades ago when girls routinely married while still in their teens. Today, the notion that most young women can be taught to remain virgins for a decade or more after puberty before marrying is pretty unrealistic.

Martin Cothran said...

When do you think parents should start pushing contraceptives on their children kycobb?

Anonymous said...

Thats up to individual families to decide, Martin. But if they choose not to educate their children about contraceptives and stds, they shouldn't be surprised if they end up pregnant.

Anonymous said...

Six posts in a row on Palin. AFAIK, that is a new record. So it seems that McCain's choice has definitely energized a certain portion of the electorate.

jah

Kari said...

According to Doug Wilson's other writings, Gov. Palin shouldn't even be governor, much less vice pres. Wilson believes the only offices women should hold are that of daughter, wife, or mother. period