Parental Rights UNplugged

When the UN cannot influence people with their ideas through discussion they seem to push ideas through law, a parents’ rights group claims. Autonomy obviously makes things easier than open discussion and open promotion of their plans, but where that fails is in America. It fails because you have companies like the Parental Rights who defend the freedom found only in the family.

A state-controlled family sounds like something H.G. Wells may have written about that would never come to fruition. Still, the UN states that it will act in the best interest of children. What that means is if children disagree with a parent’s decision they can simply override that decision by going to, calling in, or emailing their governmental office and asking that the parent’s decision to spank them be re-evaluated. In essence the child is thought to have the best judgment in the parent – child relationship.

At the bloggers briefing at the Heritage Foundation on January 31, 2011, Jim Mason of Parental Rights reinforced this point with a story about a 13-year-old boy who complained to the government that his parents went to church three times a week and he didn’t want to. The government responded and the boy was removed from his home.

“Jim Mason serves as Secretary for ParentalRights.org while working as Senior Counsel for HSLDA,” according to the group’s website. “Mason has defended homeschoolers from truant officers, school superintendents, and social workers in courts and administrative tribunals all over the country.” HSLDA is the Home School Legal Defense Association.

Mason explained that “This UN treaty will restrict our sovereignty” in many areas outside of the family because the family affects all things. First, Article 29 of the treaty states that tolerance is the main goal especially in the religious arena. Tolerance here means “people who believe in a religion that has one way to God, like Christians and Muslims,” he went on, “If you believe in that original view of your religion then you cannot teach that to your children.” Instead you must teach that view together with  all the “other views in the world of religions.” A parent can only give advice to children about religion. Parents cannot encourage one religion over another. Instead the children have to come to their religion on their own.

Somewhat surpisingly, the Vatican has ratified the treaty, Mason noted. With this backing it has all of a sudden become a serious bill.

Torey Hall is an intern at the American Journalism Center, a training program run by Accuracy in Media and Accuracy in Academia.