A rchive Date
[ 05-01-2004 ]
Category
[ International Relations ]
sub-Categoy
[ Canada ]
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[If you don't like Dr. Laura, dial out
By MINDELLE JACOBS
Edmonton Sun
May 16, 2000
Love them or hate them - just don't ignore them. If there's one thing talk-show hosts can't stand, it's losing the limelight.
Dr. Laura Schlessinger is in no danger of sliding into obscurity.
Not only has she just written a controversial new book (Parenthood by Proxy: Don't Have Them If You Won't Raise Them), her anti-homosexual remarks have triggered widespread criticism in the gay community in the U.S. and earned her a rebuke by the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council.
Raising the ire of her opponents is familiar ground for Schlessinger.
In a world obsessed with self-gratification and the worship of rights over obligations, she is old-fashioned, unwavering in her Judeo-Christian conservative views - and wildly popular with millions of listeners and readers across North American.
There's something to offend just about everyone.
Schlessinger believes moms should stay home and raise their kids instead of working.
"If you won't or can't offer your child your being and time, don't make a baby - get a parakeet," she writes in her latest book.
"You can always throw a towel over the cage and quiet it when you're busy or just not interested."
She thinks parents should stay together for the sake of the kids unless violence or profound substance abuse are involved.
She's vehemently anti-abortion, advising women with unwanted pregnancies to have their babies and give them to stable, two-parent families.
She condemns pre-marital sex, the mindless pursuit of pleasure and the trendiness of victimization.
People are too busy feeling sorry for themselves to realize that it's attitude more than circumstance that determines the quality of life and that character, courage and conscience are the keys to happiness, she says.
But what has raised the most hackles - and got her into hot water with the CBSC - are her comments about homosexuals.
She has at various times described the sexual behaviour of gays as "abnormal," "aberrant, deviant, disordered, dysfunctional" and "an error."
Last week, the CBSC, the broadcast industry's self-regulatory body, ruled Schlessinger's remarks violated its human rights code.
As a result, the two stations (in Halifax and Toronto) have been told to announce they've breached CBSC rules and other stations across the country have to ensure the terms of the decision are respected when they air the show.
What is troubling here is not that Schlessinger has said some deprecating things about homosexuals, but that the gay community - which has loudly and repeatedly championed tolerance for years - wants a right-wing talk-show host silenced.
Protests are being organized in several cities across the U.S. against her upcoming syndicated TV show and a Web site has even been set up: StopDrLaura.com.
Yes, Schlessinger has dumped on homosexuals. Well, what do you expect? She's an orthodox Jew and a proponent of traditional values that seem so out of place in our bustling, modern world.
She's an author and talk-show host with opinions not everyone agrees with, for heaven's sake. It's her right to speak her mind and she's made it her life's work to promote what she feels is the best way to lead spiritually fulfilling lives and raise well-adjusted children.
Over and over again, she has said the ideal family is made up of a mom, dad and kids.
The fact that this has become a heretical concept in certain quarters is worrying.
While some homosexuals may make decent parents, should same-sex marriages and families be trumpeted as the ideal? Is this the best environment for kids?
Schlessinger doesn't think so and neither do most people.
Sure, she's made some ridiculous statements. There's a cure for that. Turn off the radio.
Mindelle can be reached by e-mail at mjacobs@sunpub.com
 World Fact Book (CIA)]
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