Let's Stone Her!

Okay, so here’s what I’ve been working on this morning. A sixteen-year-old girl (you’ll see why this isn’t politically incorrect) gives birth to a baby, and has the presence of mind to apply to our office to establish paternity and a child support obligation for us to enforce. She rightfully knows the ropes because she is already in our system as the child on another case. Ironically (or perhaps not) the alleged father is also already in our system as the child on another case. He, however, is now married and taking care of that family when he’s not knocking-up some fifteen-year-old (yeah, there’s that gestation period that has to be accounted for). Now comes the clincher. Because she is still a minor, this girl/woman who is old enough to conceive is not old enough to file her own case, and I had to send her a letter telling her that a parent (remember, she’s already in the system because of whoever these people are) or legal guardian (was she smart enough to get an attorney and emancipate herself before applying for child support?) must apply on her behalf. Or, I suppose she could just wait a couple of years taking care of the kid on her own until she reaches the age of majority. Are my diatribes concerning morality really so irrational? What the hell is happening to us as a society? I’m sure that the Christian Right will applaud that this young woman is helpless to manage her own affairs without parental involvement, and will likely jump at the chance to judge her immorality. And the Bleeding Heart Left will probably indict home, school and church for not “educating” this girl in the ways of birth control and abstinence. The sorry truth is that all of us who have abandoned morality for legalism are contributing to this sinful mess, and until we earnestly repent it’s not going to get any better.