How Does Track Palin's Wedding Make Sarah a Hypocrite?

Britta Hanson & Track Palin (center)

Apparently Iraq war veteran Track Palin and his high school sweetheart got ahead of themselves according to the media and the couple may have been expecting when they got married. Of course, the press is gleefully calling it a shotgun wedding and the nastier bloggers are calling Palin a hypocrite because she opposes unfettered sex education and schools handing out condoms. Sarah, they chortle, promotes abstinence and yet has two kids that apparently didn't abstain.

You know, so what that? Palin has two grandchildren out of the deal. She seems happy about it.  Her kids are taking responsibility for their mistakes. How is that bad? Protecting our kids from the consequences of their actions is what got us a generation of irresponsible kids in the first place.

The president, on the other hand, said he doesn't want to punish his girls with a baby if they make a similar mistake. Since when is a child a punishment, especially when the family is happy to have the child and the mom's willingly take responsibility for the life they have created? I think Palin's kids are admirable.

I mean either it's just sex and therefore innocuous or it's not - libs can't have it both ways. I'm pretty sure the kids knew what they needed to do to prevent a pregnancy. I've never heard Palin come out against contraceptives as is being reported. She has come out against schools providing contraceptives to kids and describing, perverse sexual practices to minors. Sarah Palin believes it should be the responsibility of families, not the government to teach our kids about sex.

In the heat of youthful passion, Sarah's kids apparently chose to take a risk. Then, they both took responsibility when they lost the bet. That's not hypocricy. That's character!  We all make mistakes. It's what we do afterward that shows who you are.

I advocate abstinence too. I think having sex is an intense and life-changing experience. I've only slept with one woman in my life and we've been together 37 years and been absolutely faithful to our vows. We trust each other completely and much of that is because we chose to treat sex as a sacred act between life partners. I think that's a valuable lesson to teach our children. People who see sex as some form of recreation do not understand why anyone would want to believe that sex should hold such a special place.  That's where the disconnect is between the two sides of the debate over sex education.

If you believe sex is a sacred thing between men and women, then it's very important for you to teach your children about that within the family circle. We want our kids to know that if they decide to engage in that act, they'd better be prepared to make a lifelong committment and take responsibility for the consequences. If you allow public opinion to lower the bar on sex for your family, you find yourself intractably at odds with your own beliefs.  I would rather have a president who is consistent in her beliefs and teaches her children that life is a sacred thing and that you must be responsible when you create life.  I'm less comfortable with one that teaches that an unborn child is something that should be prevented or killed if it's going to spoil your kid's youthful partying.

I don't buy that sex is no big deal and obviously Mrs. Palin and her family do not. I say God bless 'em. Track and his high school sweetheart were obviously committed to one another. He'd been off to war and they got ahead of themselves. It's not all that hard to understand. Can nobody be sympathetic with how they could get carried away by passion? That happens a lot in war time and for crying out loud they were planning to get married anyway - been dating forever. It's amazing how unforgiving and nasty liberals can be if the "sinner" is a Christian. No Christian claims to be perfect. Quite the contrary. Every weekend, we sit in church and listen to pastors tell us we're all sinners and that we must depend on Christ entirely for our salvation.

Because we aim at a higher standard doesn't make us hypocrites. It makes us idealists. Let me repeat. It's not so much that we make mistakes, it's what we do afterward to make it right that reveals our character.

Have the Palin kids had their troubles - yep!  Kids do that, especially preacher's kids and the children of celebrities. I think it has something to do with being in the glare of the spotlight that's on your parents. In the Bible, Solomon advises parents to, "Train up a child in the way that he shall go and when he is old he will not depart from it."  Solomon never promised that, no matter how thoroughly you trained up your children, they wouldn't gallop over Fool's Hill sometime during their teens. Teens do that. It's how they figure out who they are and why they were born. Let the parent who is sinless cast the first stone. And, if you're not a parent, you're still a child, so put down the rocks!

I wish Track and Britta all the blessings in the world. They are a lovely couple with a supportive, close-knit family. Wouldn't it be nice if every young couple had that starting out?


Tom King