Link This is the kind of thing that really annoys me. For years, I have heard the assertion that we are a nation that hates children, but it is only within the last year or so that I am becoming more certain that is true.

William and Rachel Poczatek's young girls played regularly in the backyard pool, laughing and squealing as children do. Their neighbours had them charged with violating a noise ordinance as a result.

Although a judge dismissed the complaint, this, in my opinion, shows how far off the deep end we have gone. No longer are children cherished and valued, now they are a nuisance and a liability, and in this case, even a criminal inconvenience.

We live in a nation in which it is becoming more and more unusual for our kids to be born. In 30 some odd years, we went from back alley abortions, to drive through, zero consequence abortions. If a family has more than two kids, they are suspect; if they have more than four they are widely despised. Even in churches that claim to HATE abortion, and that carry leaflets on the back tables from Focus on the Family.

I can't imagine life without the laughter and squeal of children. And I truly PITY anyone who believes it is a "noise" to be shushed.