(ThyBlackMan.com) There was a time when a child’s every remark to an elder was precluded or capped off by a very solemn and respectful, “yes, ma’am; no ma’am’ or “yes, sir; no sir.” During these days of well-mannered up-bringing and children understanding their rank relative to adults, youths would not dream of forming their lips to utter a profanity in the presence of adults. This was a time when parents’ authority and right to discipline their child in the home was not usurped by authoritative figures and lawmakers.
Today, should one attempt to seek and restore this natural order, you, the parent, are likely to be cussed out by your six-year-old child—whose right to “voice their opinion” is lawfully protected and prosecuted in the United States courts.
This shift toward basically retiring parental rights or diminishing parental authority brings to mind the UN treaty on Children’s Rights. The UN treaty on Children’s Rights is a “…human rights treaty setting out the civil, political, economic, social, health and cultural rights of children.”
The United States government played an active role in drafting the UN Convention on the Rights of Children (CRC). This treaty was signed by the Clinton Administration in February 1995, but the US Senate has yet to ratify the treaty, and will likely not ratify it in the foreseeable future because the CRC forbids both death sentences and life imprisonment for children. The position can be taken that if children are allowed to act and enjoy the same freedoms as adults, they must also contend with the same responsibility, accountability and consequences of their actions as would any adult.
The Convention has been ratified, accepted, or acceded to (some with stated reservations or interpretations) by 193 other countries. It is important to note that every member of the United Nations has openly agreed to the doctrine; however, Somalia, South Sudan and the United States are the only three countries in the world which have not ratified the Convention. President Barack Obama has described the failure to ratify the Convention as “embarrassing” and had promised to review its current status; however, one can only speculate that the current administration’s “diligence” in this matter stems from their awareness of the potential (and apparent) harm or damage to the home and child-parent relationships full implementation of this treaty could cause even though it is meant to serve well.
Experts who have studied the document unequivocally state that the treaty, which creates “the right of the child to freedom of thought, conscience and religion” and outlaws the “arbitrary or unlawful interference with his or her privacy”, intrudes on the family and strips parents of the power to raise their children without government interference.
Many believe that opposition to the CRC stems primarily from political and religious conservatives. For example, the Heritage Foundation sees it as threatening national control over domestic policy. On their website, they provide an example where in 1995, a CRC committee rebuked the United Kingdom for permitting parents to withdraw their children from sex-education classes if they disagreed with the content. Further, the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) argues that the CRC threatens homeschooling due to making primary education compulsory and taking measures to encourage regular attendance at schools.
As well, CRC’s provision forbidding capital punishment of children is at odds with America’s domestic policies towards minors. For instance, a 43-year-old woman who was freed in June 2013 from an Indiana State Prison was put on death row at age 16 for a heinous murder she committed as a juvenile.
Currently, 38 States authorize the death penalty. Of those 38 states, 23 of them permit the execution of offenders who committed capital offenses prior to their 18th birthdays; however, the laws governing application of the death penalty in those states vary, and the variation is not necessarily tied to rates of juvenile crime. Since 1973, when the death penalty was reinstated, 17 men have been executed for crimes they committed as juveniles and 74 people in the United States currently sit on death row for crimes they committed as juveniles.
In April of this year, Tulane University college professor and MSNBC host Melissa Harris-Perry said your children are not yours – they are owned by the community. She said public education has failed because Americans have not allowed the state to confiscate more of their money. “We have to break through our private idea that kids belong to their parents or kids belong to their families.” Kids belong to whole communities, she insists, and once Americans realize this, “better investments” will be made in the government indoctrination of children. Harris-Perry’s interview can be viewed at the following URL: http://www.infowars.com/your-kids-belong-to-the-collective/
The UN treaty, as harmless as it may appear, is capable of attacking the very core of the child-parent relationship, removing parents from their central role in the growth and development of a child, and replacing them with the long arm of government supervision within the home.
The vital child-parent relationship is deeply valued in millions of homes across the nation, yet most American families have no idea of the extent to which this precious relationship is now jeopardized by the threat of international treaty law. Any parent that values and appreciates the relationship they share with their children, as well as the rightful application of privately deciding for and parenting their children in the home without formidable government interference must speak up and voice their concerns before the US begins to even consider fully ratifying the Convention.
Staff Writer; H. Lewis Smith
This talented brother is the founder and president of UVCC, the United Voices for a Common Cause, Inc. ( http://www.theunitedvoices.com ); and author of “Bury that Sucka: A Scandalous Love Affair with the N-Word“.
Also follow Mr. Smith on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/thescoop1.
Good morning HL and I trust that all has and is well with you my brother.
> Another great and powerful piece of powerful expression from a great
> and humble mind. Here are my thoughts on the subject Parents versus the State:
> I agree that we as a Nation have lost a lot when it comes to how
> children of the 21st century are being raised or not being raised. I
> to miss the days when mothers, dads, grandparents and the
> elderly were all treated with respect and honor. However, without the
> key and basic moral elements no longer being taught it does not
> surprise me that our youth and young adults of this generation have
> lost their direction with regards to honor and respect of others and self.
>
>
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> Now does this mean that I agree with government stepping in to do the
> parents job, no. However, there are critical times that I do agree
> that intervention is needed by government agencies to protect the
> child. This intervention should always be with a plan to re-unite the
> child and parent. The bigger concern that I have which has been an
> ongoing issue for me ever since I can remember and that is – the
> systematic plan in America and the World to destroy the family
> structure. Until we address the core issue at hand we will forever be
> plagued by organization like the CRC trying to run our lives.
>
>
>
> Bottom line, this Nation and the World is faced with a moral dilemma
> where there is no longer right and wrong – scripture says the
> following in James 4:17 Therefore to him that knoweth to do
> good, and doeth it not, to him it is sinâ€. Every person on this
> earth has within him / her the ability to know right from wrong. We
> see this in small children when they are about to do something they
> shouldn’t, they always look around to see if anyone is looking and
> then they proceed. No one has taught them this at 8 to 10 months old, no, it’s in their DNA!
>
>
>
> Simply put –let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to
> good works – Hebrews 10:24.
>
>
>
> Peace my brother,
The reaction to the UNCRC has nothing to do with children rebelling against their parents. Children must eventually find their own answers and they have every right to reject the beliefs of their parents, especially when those beliefs are inappropriate.
As far as usurping parental authority where is it written that parents have plenary rights in the matter. The concept of parental authority comes from Christian dogma and the desire of clerics to impose their thinking on parents and through them their children.
Children have a right to their autonomy and to their right to develop into adults without the wanton interference of organized religion. You do not have to pay taxes to form a legitimate opinion on the falseness of relition. Many six year olds can see through the illogic of religious doctrine and cant.
This usurping of parental rights would be fine if kids were already full developed mentally, emotionally, morally, intellectually, and they were working and paying taxes. But they’re not so until then they have to wait their turn to be heard, when the “know better” like we did.
Unfortunately, we the revolutionary generation brought it on ourselves and this is how we thought we wanted to raise our kids as we rebelled against our parents. Well, now our kids’ kids are rebelling against their parent’s watered down teachings that we bestowed upon them and the hole just keep on getting deeper and deeper. All power to the people.