otb,

Prejudiced thought always involves the use of a
stereotype - a rigid mental image that
summarises whatever is believed to be typical
about a group. Be it about gender, feminism,
or - OLO posters.

As has been stated many times on this forum some people
tend to think in terms of general categories, if only
to enable them to make sense of the world by simplifying
its complexity.

Good parenting is not easy as we know at the best
of times. Dr Benjamine Spock pointed out some
years ago in his book - "Raising Children in a
Difficult Time," what is still relevant today -
and that is - that we still have mounting criticism
of marriage and the family.
That Divorce rates are growing, and perhaps more
serious is the amount of tension and hostility in many
of the families in which the parents are still living
together. Our high levels of delinquency, crime, alcoholism,
drug abuse, mental illness, and suicide partly reflect
the unsatisfactory state of our family life.

Many critics put much of the blame on the isolation of
today's nuclear family (consisting only of father, mother, and
children). Spoke tells us that -
In previous generations grand-parents, aunts,
uncles, and cousins lived nearby and participated in the care
of the young. They constituted the so-called extended family,
which provided mutual support and love for the various
members and diluted the tensions between parents and children.

Spock predicted that in a considerable majority of the cases
in which partners had no ongoing commitment to each other or
to their children and who were giving each other no
continuing emotional support, the children would suffer from
emotional neglect and would have impaired personalities
the rest of their lives. The best of foster care would not
make up for this deficiency.

His summation was that if a couple was not willing to strive
for a permanent relationship for their children's sake
(whether or not they can achieve it), they should not have
children.

Fox,

As Peter Hitchens observed upon being bushwacked by the ABC - when he appeared on a Q&A panel only to find that the other panel members and the compere himself were lined up opposed to him - the culture war has been lost by conservative opinion such as his own and the 'Progressives' have won.

So the 'Progressives' cannot blame anyone but themselves for the negative consequences of their social experimentation.

This is the subject Q&A,
http://davidvangend.com/?p=1984

That said, BTT.

Returning to my reply to A J Philips, (my post: onthebeach, Sunday, 28 June 2015 12:23:34 PM), it highly likely there will be a split of opinion in 'Progressives' over the 'best interests of the child' standard. The standard positively stereotypes women (mothers) and negatively stereotypes men (fathers) to such an extent that rulings on child custody have always favoured the women (mothers).

Regarding gay adoption or child custody where there is a gay (male) relationship, it is easy to suppose that the negative stereotyping of men will act against gay couples and favour lesbian couples. Will 'Progressives' see anything wrong in that?

otb,

You continue to put forward your opinion as fact.
If you want to argue with me kindly stop doing that.
You continue to preclude fruitful discussion by
nothing more than mere labelling.
That is simply not good enough.

AJ,

"You appear to have missed a lot of the discussion that has gone on in this thread. So rather than repeating myself yet again, please, enlighten me as to why all children are better off with two parents of the opposite sex?"

Because without them they would not exist, simple really.

Dear Is Mise,

I do not think that biology is the most important
aspect of the foundation of the family.

What is more important is the actual relationship
that parents have with their children, whether or
not there are biological ties.

Foxy,

"I do not think that biology is the most important
aspect of the foundation of the family."

I do and so do scientists, doctors, midwives et al, without the biological foundation of a man and a woman the children of a family (whatever the makeup of a family) cannot exist.