[ExI] flds raid, was general repudiation...

[Lee Corbin]

Anna writes

> The thought that grown men think it's normal behavior
> of 14 to 16 year old girls to produce children shows
> me that they don't know much of the biology of a woman.

Ah, so about 90% of the contributors to this list are
disqualified? A not-so-new form of argument from
authority.

>From a scientific point of view, women are ready to
have children when they are physically capable of it.
We *know* that there have been and continue to
be vast cultural differences all throughout history and
all around the world. I strongly suspect that you are
supervening your culturally acquired beliefs onto
obvious biological and ethnological reality.

> Forcing "children" to have "children" is an unacceptable
> behavior.

If you had read the emails a bit carefully, you would have
noticed that *every* single poster was opposed to the use
of force. Surely you recall reading that somewhere on this
list, don't you?  Here is a quick way to make $10,000.
Find me a single email over the last two weeks where 
someone came out in favor of the use of force against
children in order to make them conceive.

> It seems rational to let the body of the woman decide
> when it feels ready to produce children

I totally agree. That occurs when girls start wanting to have
sex with boys. Or men. We as a species have evolved so
that the young girls don't care which, especially---they'll
swoon over an Elvis in his late twenties or more, whether
he's twice their own age or not.

Women are ready to have children when they're capable
of it and when they want to. This is not to suggest that this
is in any way wise for the particular girl. There are---it should
be needless to say---many, many reasons why these young
women might be better off to delay giving birth, to delay 
becoming involved with sex, to delay any number of things.
I suggest that you re-read this paragraph again, thanks.
The question comes down to this:  whose choice is it to be?

Since you may have not understood what I just said, let
me repeat:

     1.   No one on this list has ever suggested that the
           use of force is justified in these situations
     2.   It may very well be the case that it is very unwise
           for some 13-year-old to have a child.
     3.   The real question is, "Who shall decide?"

As for #3, I say that the decision should be as *local*
as possible. It should be up to the young woman. But,
alas, it is also the business of her parents or legal guardian
on whose support she depends.  So it should be up to the
young woman and her parents. But, alas, there are other
people closely involved, such as the potential father of
such a child, his family, and so on. So it should be up
to all of those who have knowledge of the situation at
hand.

But at each remove, knowledge becomes less. Often, so
very sadly, as this knowledge wanes, power itself actually
grows. It may happen that the chief the tribe, or the pastor
of the church, or the cult leader, or legislators hundreds of
miles away, or supreme court justices *thousands* of miles
away, have the final say. So sad. So arrogant. So really stupid. 

> When children are too young to know better, it is usually
> based on the ignorance of the parent..keep that in mind.

Ah, but *you* know better than does the girl herself, and
even better than her parents! Indeed you must feel that
God himself speaks through you to have conferred such
wisdom concerning particular individuals who you have
never met, and until a few weeks ago, never even heard of.

Lee