I wish I had waited

L.A. youth ^ | jan. 2004 | anonymous

[af_vet_1981]

I don't have to bet my house on it. This is my profession. Are you an educator?

That is correct, all you have to do is own an opinion. You could be wrong. You could be correct. How can you prove it ? There is not enough evidence in the letter. If your opinion were strong enough you could go to extraordinary lengths, even publishing your personals to make your claim to authority the basis of your argument but I would not recommend that at all.

No, I do not call myself an educator although I am called upon to educate others.

[hope]

Sad...This is not unusual at all. It is expected of them at this age..

[TheCookMan]

Agreed. The article isn't legitimate. She says at the end that it's oh-so-bad that she didn't have sex ed classes to teach her about consequences...come on, seriously. Anybody that age with a room temperature IQ would know about consequences to sex; they just choose to ignore them.

[af_vet_1981]

This wasn't written by an intelligent 15-year-old. A 15-year-old, perhaps, but she won't win any prizes for smarts.

You accept the premise that a fifteen year old female American is capable of writing a letter of this quality.

Since we are speculating as to the identity and academic credentials of the writer you might peruse this page for clues.

I vote for a religious family with a rebellious teen.

[af_vet_1981]

It was straight from Planned Parenthood!!

It is hard listening to teachers or students at school say "Bush is an idiot," or "It’s all for the oil." I bite my lip and try to continue my work, although many times I have found myself in a debate rather than studying Spanish or history! Here’s what I feel: George W. Bush is not an idiot. President Bush is protecting us as a nation from the serious threat of Saddam Hussein. We as Americans should stand behind our president; he is an honest man and deserves our respect and support.

Obviously not the work of a sixteen year old girl ...

Obviously this is a VRWC front organization ...

[AnAmericanMother]

My personal opinion is that the New Testament is over-analyzed by "New Testament Scholars" who are not in fact writers or experienced in literature.

I stand with C.S. Lewis (a man far more experienced in literature, textual analysis, and writing than I) whose opinion was that those who wrote the Gospels were either factual reporters or had invented the "realistic novel" about 1900 years earlier than anybody else.

If you read them in the spare, streamlined Greek of the originals, it's clear that they are not literary efforts but reportage.

[uncitizen]

"Once I started having sex it was not easy to stop... "

I believe this is the most important thing to teach in sex education class. And naturally, it's the one thing they DON't tell the kids. When I told my daughter this she was shocked. She had no idea that your body gets used to sex once it's been done once.

[Bronco_Buster_FweetHyagh]

What would you like pictures of, a 13 year old girl having sex? Please enlighten us.

bad attempt at sarcasm

[af_vet_1981]

My personal opinion is that the New Testament is over-analyzed by "New Testament Scholars" who are not in fact writers or experienced in literature.

Oh. Do you think the content so unnerves them that they write off the authorship as illegitimate as in this case ?

I stand with C.S. Lewis (a man far more experienced in literature, textual analysis, and writing than I) whose opinion was that those who wrote the Gospels were either factual reporters or had invented the "realistic novel" about 1900 years earlier than anybody else.

You could pick a plethora of lesser authors to stand with. Lewis was a great one.

If you read them in the spare, streamlined Greek of the originals, it's clear that they are not literary efforts but reportage.

Romans, Jude, James, Hebrews reportage ?

[af_vet_1981]

Did you did read and analyze this site before reaching your conclusions about the letter and its authorship ?

[ExSoldier]

Let me give you a hint, since you're pretty new to FR. Folks will take you more seriously if you create an "about" page and tell us a bit about yourself. You registered on May 11th of 2003 (coincidentally, my birthday! LOL) so you've been here less than a year. There are a LOT of "opinions" here. Some I trust...many of those people, although I have never met them face to face, I would trust with my life: Squantos; Travis McGee; Shooter2.5. Because I know more than a little bit about them and in some cases, I personally know people who KNOW the freeper personally and professionally and I trust that person to that extent...well you get the idea. Anybody who is a regular freeper without an "about" page is of absolutely zero consequence when it comes to their opinion. These people I have mentioned in their exhibition of knowedge in the areas where I myself am conversant are experts. I recognize this and defer to their experience and expertise.

No of course I can't "prove" this is a kid or an adult. Can you "prove" there is a GOD? I can't, but I have absolute faith that a dead man got up out of a grave 2004 years ago next Sunday and said that I can too.

My opinion that this was not written by a kid is based on my vaild experience as a teacher for some 15 years (the last seven in an inner city high school). Some pigs are more equal than other pigs if you remember your Orwell. My point is that my experience and therefore my opinion as an educator trumps others if they're experience is in a different area. The opinion of a professional writer is just as valid as mine because they are tangentally connected. BTW, I write for publication as well, and I have a professional literary agent.

[Quix]

I've seen a few in about every class of that age who could have written this piece.

A lot of it depends on one's reading and the education levels and bents of one's parents and siblings. Much depends on one's own interests and hobbies. One can find intellectuals of almost any age.

[af_vet_1981]

Anybody who is a regular freeper without an "about" page is of absolutely zero consequence when it comes to their opinion.

Yes, that is your opinion. It is my opinion that anyone who posts enough personal information about themselves on an "about" page so that they can be personally identified is not being wise.

No doubt you took the time to read the website for the organization that sponsored the letter. You did do that first, right ?

No of course I can't "prove" this is a kid or an adult.

Neither can I prove you are who you say you are but I can make an educated guess. Likewise, it is my opinion that the author of this letter is in fact a teen.

[af_vet_1981]

Can you "prove" there is a GOD?

Yes, I can.

[AnAmericanMother]

Read more closely and for comprehension. I was referring to the Gospels.

[AnAmericanMother]

Anybody who is a regular freeper without an "about" page is of absolutely zero consequence when it comes to their opinion.

OMG! I'm doomed! I've been here since March of 2002 (lurking longer) and I've just been too busy (or just too lazy and disorganized) to deal with an 'about' page.

My bits and pieces are scattered about the board . . . :-D

[firebrand]

I became addicted to the feeling of being loved because I wasn’t getting enough love from my family.

I agree. There it is in a nutshell. No matter whether a teenager wrote this, or an adult, that is it right there. (But a teenager can be loved even without two parents and even without a stay-at-home parent.)

[af_vet_1981]

Read more closely and for comprehension.

Yes, please do.

I was referring to the Gospels.

I asked you the question and I explicitly wrote "NT" and not "the Gospels."

[AnAmericanMother]

I was quoting Lewis and, like him, confined my comment to the Gospels (which really, plus the Acts of the Apostles, is the nub of the situation, isn't it?)

The NT as a whole is from so many different sources that it would take all day to discuss. I'll just place my bets with St. Jerome that the included books are Canonical and inspired.

[af_vet_1981]

I was quoting Lewis and, like him, confined my comment to the Gospels (which really, plus the Acts of the Apostles, is the nub of the situation, isn't it?)

If you hold that the rest of the NT is subsumed to the history reported from the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles then then whence doctrine ?

And if docrine is really doctrine then the authorship of those other books would be germane to the kernel, ?

I assume the author if this letter is genuine unless proven otherwise. Did you go to the website and study it for clues ?