Reeducation in America: Stretching Tolerance to Its Logical Extreme

America, in the not-so-distant future...

"Good morning children! I have a very special surprise for you today. Jimmy has completed his shock…uh, psychotherapy program has been deemed fit by Uncle Sam to rejoin the class. Let's all show our forgiveness of his tendency toward independent thought by welcoming him back with a big round of applause. Oh, that was wonderful! Do you have anything to say to your classmates, Jimmy?"

"Well…I don't…um…"

"Go on, don't be shy. Just read the card the nice doctors gave you."

"Okay. 'I know that I am unworthy of your forgiveness. I thank you for your understanding and promise that I will be on my best behavior from now on. I have come to realize that Uncle Sam only wants what's best for me, and I know that it is my duty to keep my mind free of impure thoughts so that I can grow up to serve him to the best of my ability.'"

"Thank you, Jimmy. You may take your seat."

"Yes, Ms. Thorpe."

"Now, class, we are starting a new module in our Sex Education and Diversity studies. On your desks you will notice a new book. Jimmy, since it's your first day back, would you do the honors of reading the title aloud?"

"'Mommy's New Friend Brought Me Flowers.'"

"Thanks, Jimmy. This new book was just approved by Uncle Sam for kids your age. He thought it was time for you to learn more about people's diverse sexual orientations and the importance of not only tolerating them, but accepting them as well. After all, what kind of society would we be if we didn't accept people just as they are? I can see by the blank stares that you may not know what I’m talking about. I'll be more than happy to answer any questions you may have. Yes, Jimmy?"

"Is this book about pedophiles?"

"Jimmy! Where in the name of Mother Earth did you hear that word?"

"I've heard my mom talk about them. They like to do bad things to kids."

"Oh, dear. Class, this is just the kind of ignorance and intolerance this book will help us overcome. 'Pedophiles,' as you so callously call them, are only adults who love children. That's actually what the word 'pedophile' means. Unfortunately, years ago these special people were ridiculed and persecuted for simply being themselves. Some people are born with an attraction to women. Some are born with an attraction to men. Still others are born with an attraction to children. They can't help it anymore than they can help being born a girl or a boy. What we hope to accomplish by reading this book is to develop an understanding of these differences. Yes, Jimmy?"

"But Ms. Thorpe, you were born a boy weren't you?"

"Well, yes, but I don't see…"

"And you changed."

"Jimmy, try to stay on the subject."

"I just don't understand..."

"That's right, young man, you don't understand. But if you just pay attention, you may learn something. Now, class, most of you are aware that in the days before the Caretakers in Washington ushered us into the New Age of Enlightenment homosexuality was thought of by many as immoral behavior. Some people just couldn't celebrate that kind of diversity. They didn't like the fact that a woman could love a woman or a man could love a man. And I don't have to tell you what they thought of trans-gendered people. Why, if I would have had my gender reassignment surgery back then, there's no telling what they would have done to me! People like me were outcasts just because we liked to wear dresses and makeup and always felt like nature made a mistake! It wasn't my fault that I was born with a...!"

"Ms. Thorpe?"

"What? I'm sorry, what was I saying?"

"You were talking about celebrating diversity."

"Oh, yes. Thank you, Jimmy. Anyway, diversity is a good thing. We are all different and should accept each other for what we are. Unless, of course, you want to change something about yourself—like your gender. Then others should accept you for what you were supposed to be. Any questions?"

"I have one."

"Any questions at all?"

"Yes. I have a question."

"All right, then let's move on. I'll start reading. 'Mommy's new friend, Steve, came over for dinner on the night of my ninth birthday party. We had all sorts of good food to eat. I liked the tofu squares, but my favorite was the ration cake. Since the Caretakers allow us to have only one of these cakes each month, mine tasted extra good! But the biggest surprise of the evening was when Steve gave me some flowers and told me how nice I looked in my new dress and how much he had been looking forward to meeting me.' What now, Jimmy?"

"This doesn't sound like a good story for kids. My parents told me that it isn't right for adults to act that way around little boys or girls."

"Jimmy, your parents sound like intolerant fools. Perhaps if they could read this book they would see that this kind of loving relationship between an adult and a child is just as natural as the relationship between your mother and her helpmate. Experts have done many studies over the years, and they have determined that these kinds of experiences are not forms of child abuse as primitive society once thought. In fact, some children have actually grown up and found these experiences to have been enlightening."

"I'm the same age as the kid in the story, but I wouldn't want that."

"Well, it's your choice. But some kids might make a different choice, and that's the whole point. We should all be free to live the way we want and love whomever we want. It would be wrong to ask people to pretend to be something they're not."

"I still don't understand how kids and adults...it just seems wrong."

"Wrong?! Who are you to judge what's right or wrong? What's wrong for you may not be wrong for someone else. Now, if you don't watch yourself, you'll be sent back for more treatment."

"I just think adults should know better. This book is stupid!"

"That's it, Jimmy! I simply will not tolerate this kind of intolerance in my classroom! You go straight to principal's office. No! Better yet, go to the nurse's office. Apparently, the medication the doctors have been giving you isn't working. Off you go, and don't slam the door on your way out! I'm sorry, class. I guess Jimmy's treatment didn't go as well as we had hoped. I wouldn't worry about him, though. There are plenty of detention...uh, summer camps where boys like him can get the help they need. Let me see now. Where was I? Oh, yes. 'The flowers were pretty and smelled wonderful. Steve said he brought them for me because I was one of the cutest little boys he had ever seen...'"

THE END? It's closer than you think.

(Also check out "Reeducation in America: We're Way Beyond 1984.")