Social conservatives regularly bemoan the breakdown of the family and insist that it is not desirable for children to be raised by unmarried single parents. But whenever someone cites a specific case--often one in which children have been hurt or killed, especially by a mother's boyfriend--the response sounds like a Bleeding Heart Liberal discussion. We get "Who are you to judge?" and "You're blaming the victim!" and so forth.
I think that it's just as you said, the criticism hits close to home. It reminds people of themselves, their friends and possibly their own children. It's become so common to rear children in undesirable situations--occasioned largely by parental selfishness unchecked by moral restraint--that it's become the norm for our society and now it's possible to discuss it only in the most general terms without touching somebody's raw nerves. That's as true for conservatives as it is for those on the Left.
The only kind of living arrangement you can still safely criticize, even here on Free Republic, is a same-sex relationship. But most of the victims of bad lifestyle choices are not in that sort of situation.
"It's become so common to rear children in undesirable situations--occasioned largely by parental selfishness unchecked by moral restraint--that it's become the norm for our society and now it's possible to discuss it only in the most general terms without touching somebody's raw nerves."
So true and so unfortunate.
Excellent post.