Parental Rights

A recent news story shows how far judges have come in believing that they have the right to dictate family decisions. In Minnesota, when 13 year-old Daniel Hauser’s parents decided to pull him out of conventional treatment for his leukemia in favor of an alternative form of treatment the parents were taken to court. The courts ruled that it was “in the best interest” of Daniel to continue the treatment. This past Monday Daniel and his mother disappeared. Custody of Daniel has been given to the courts and a search is on for the boy and his mother.

Until this generation, it has been understood that parents are the ultimate authority within the family. Unless there is evidence of physical abuse or gross neglect, the parents are free to decide what values their family will embrace. Under the UNCRC, all of that will change. Today we will look at the second section of article 18:

The shootings at Columbine high school shocked our nation. No one understood how two teenage boys could have plotted such a horrific scheme without any of the adults in their lives knowing what they were planning. In the future, it may not be so far fetched to think that a parent would have no clue about whether or not his child is involved in nefarious activities. Article 16 of the UNCRC treaty provides a child with the right to privacy, stating that:

When the founding fathers set up our government, they said that our government’s success depended on a moral people, and that if morality left our society, democracy would fail. In his Farewell Address, George Washington said:

If I left things up to my three year-old, he would have no immunizations, eat Sweet Tarts all day, and never go to bed. Obviously a child cannot be trusted to make his own decisions. This is why children are born to adults who can care for them and teach them that what feels good isn’t always the best choice. Parents make decisions for their children and slowly let them have more freedom as the child demonstrates the ability to make wise decisions.

Listening to Virginia’s governor today, I grew increasingly frustrated with some of his answers to the constituents of our state. When asked about relaxing the laws on charter schools in our state to increase competition and thus create better schools all around, he answered that he’d rather see the public schools meet all of our needs. I shouldn’t be surprised by such an answer from a liberal leader, but it does remind me of the peril that we face should the UNCRC be ratified by a Democratic Senate.

I feel as though the last month has gone at warp speed. Every day I watch a new change, and a new America taking shape. Unfortunately, it is not the free America that my ancestors defended with their blood. No. Instead I see a country begging for the government to get involved because they think it will end the suffering. What they don’t realize is that history shows that more government is always the cause of more suffering. The UNCRC, which we’ve been discussing for a couple of weeks now, is another way for the bureaucrats in Washington to get involved in our family life.

In our last discussion we took a closer look at the “best interests” principle contained in the UNCRC (United Nation’s Convention on the Rights of the Child). We found that under the UNCRC, the government is given the power to step in and decide what is in the best interests of the child in every aspect of family life, even when the parents are loving, responsible parents.

Here in the United States we have experienced a level of freedom and protection of individual rights that other nations have not enjoyed. Throughout the 200 years that this country has existed, the people of the United States have had to stand up for their rights. Today, once again, those rights are under attack. In this blog post we are going to look more closely at two dangerous sections from Article 3 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).

As I prepare for the coming arrival of my daughter, I have a heavy heart as we assemble her crib and make plans for what should be a joyous arrival. The future looms uncertain as my freedom to parent my children is under attack. Will I truly be allowed to parent my daughter the way I believe I should, or will the storm in the distance sweep over our nation taking away my rights to home school, spank if the need arises, and raise her in a Christian home?