I don't think there's one person out there who denies that 9/11 happened; the missing buildings are very convincing.

So who are these people you are talking about? Are you talking about people who believe that guided missiles or shaped charges took out the World Trade Center? Or, are you talking about the very large number of people who believe that the story that's told in the 9/11 Commission's report is not the whole story and some of it is false?

You'd be foolish not to doubt the 9/11 Commission's report. It contradicts itself; it was grossly underfunded, started a year after the attack, and the co-chairman of the Commission themselves admitted that they didn't have the resources to complete the report and accused the administration of obstruction.

So what really happened? Well, I don't know; I suspect that the actual story is something like the official story but we simply haven't been given enough information.

But you don't know either, Mr. Manjoo. Unless you have some secret source of information you haven't revealed to us, you have the same partial and partially incorrect data we do.

So stop acting like you're the grown-up and all of these people who have serious doubts about the government's story are the children. If you presented some of the serious critics of the government's story instead of your usual crop of paranoids, it'd be a much better story.

People are constantly making decisions in their lives, some of which might lead to results that are costly for society; for example, I might litter, I might vandalize, or I might cause a car accident through one of a number of irresponsible or criminal activities (or I might start a war and cause vastly more damage - but that's for another article...)

When you get to things like single-motherhood it's of course a lot less clear. I think it's pretty clear after thirty years of academic studies on this that, *all else being equal*, a two-parent family is better for the children than a one-parent one, if only because there are simply twice the resources and a dramatically reduced risk of being orphaned. I'd guess that single parent families consume per person on the average twice the cost for social services, as it should be ("widows and children").

There's another point that, "Kids are great, but you have no duty to reproduce; the Earth is straining at the seams already." Do we really need another American, consuming the equivalent of a whole family? Perhaps; kids are great! but not just at random. You're setting about something very costly so you should think it through.

So when it comes down to it, "society" should rationally "disapprove" of single mothers; or more positively, society should be encouraging people to raise children with groups of two or more parents instead of just one.

(Of course, expressing actual disapproval might be the worst way for society to actually get what it wants...)

Of course, for that to work "society" should "approve" of safe sex between "young people dating"...

I went to a fantastic camp run by the YMCA (Camp Kanawana, completely recommended). We said grace, there was a lovely, non-denominational church service on Sundays, aside from that we just canoed and hiked and swam and did crafts and it was great, even for a bookish outcast like me (they went out of their way to make sure everyone was included in a good way).

Kanawana is probably still really great (boy, I hope so), it's in Canada, but Christian camps and American camps have really upped the ante dramatically. If you send your kids there, they *will* be brainwashed and I mean that literally: adults will be using variants of the techniques developed by the totalitarian states in the middle part of the last century to try to change how your kids think for the rest of their lives. Many kids escape, many do not.

Remember that once your kids are there, the camp *will* try to estrange them from you. There is no "if" here: their thinking is that your influence is leading the kids away from God and therefore imperiling their immortal souls. Destroying your family would be regrettable but necessary.

Please see the film Jesus Camp. Now, I imagine your camp isn't that extreme (but it might be) but it doesn't have to be that extreme to damage your family forever.

I personally would contribute $200 to seeing your kids go to a messageless, meaningless fun kids camp (or, sure, music camp or science camp if that's what they wanted), without even thinking about it. (Google me for email address/phone #.)

And if you want something to tell the kids, be honest. Say, "We think the summer should be a time for fun, not study," and "We think you should make up your minds on your own," or even, "We love you very much and don't want to lose you to what we see as a huge machine turning kids into Christians; you have all the time in the world to make up your minds on your own."

Good luck!

What a harsh world - we need more people like her.