Part 27: More of What You Can Do

From there, begin to do what your pastor has always said to not do: GOSSIP. We need you to tell everyone you know about this issue. Only with your voice sharing this alert will we reach our goal. As our numbers build, there will then come a time that we will ask you to call our Senators and your US Representatives. When the Parental Rights Amendment is presented to Congress in the coming 1 to 2 months, we will need people to call and ask their elected congressmen to sign on as a supporter of the amendment.

Those are the basic requests that we have for you, but you may still be asking for more action items. Here are a few more. If you search the net for "parental rights" or "UN Convention on the Rights of the Child" (or just click on the article links that I send), you can leave comments on these sites in support of the amendment. This traffic draws attention to the issue and helps our cause. If you have your own blog, please consider copying one of my posts or write your own piece on the issue. The national organization has memberships on their site which help support the cause and have a store to buy T-shirts, etc. Beyond that, I am looking for speakers, willing to study the issue and take their newfound knowledge out for sharing with different groups across Tennessee. If that strikes your fancy, email me at parentalrightstn@fastmail.net.

Canadian Attacks on Homeschoolers

(by John Robinson, contributing author)

As we know, there are attempts to limit parental rights on a weekly basis. Another example is a Roman Catholic family living in Canada who was recently ordered to enroll their four homeschooled children ages 9, 7, 5 and 3 into public school for "socialization." After being reported to the Youth Protection Services (YPS) for neglect, Judge Nicole Bernier of Quebec, Canada ordered the children to stay in school or a daycare until a plan for socialization was approved by YPS.

Apparently, the judge denied access to a fair trial, one of which lasted four days in November 2010. The judge also refused to address the various studies that show the benefits of homeschooling. Paul Faris, president of the HSLDA of Canada issued a statement saying, "This is a shocking decision. Even more concerning is the judge's decision to order the younger children who were not of compulsory school age into day care for socialization."

To read the entire article, click HERE.

New Zealand: Abortion and Prostitution for Children

(by Nathan Tutor, contributing author)

New Zealand may be a small, fairly unthought of island nation in the South Pacific, but it leads the western world in some of its socialistic principles. Long known and proud of its 'progressive' stance towards society and government, it has a firm grasp on the view that the best way to order culture is to allow the 'individual's' to rule themselves. Unfortunately, the only way to enforce this is to have the government rule over the individual so that they can assure that the individual rules...but I digress.

This article highlights the attempt to give the 'right' to rule their body to girls of almost any age. This 'right' is only valid if, in the eyes of New Zealand parliamentarians, the girls are free from any parental infringement. In the case of an abortion, the girl can get counsel and guidance, and even help, from public school counselors with not only the absence of parental consent, but parental knowledge. You can read the details for yourself but what you do not read, even in this revealing article is that these 'rights' for these girls doesn't extend only to the termination of the pregnancy but also to its conception. You see, in late 2003, while I was living and working in New Zealand, parliament legalized prostitution. They decided that the age for girls to obtain a license for prostitution would be 18 years old, but a loophole actually enforces that any girl under the age of 18 who engages in prostitution cannot be charged - so in effect, there is no illegal age to be a prostitute in New Zealand and no parental consent needed to do it. The prostitution bill was an attempt to increase tourism revenue by requiring licenses and taxes for the prostitution industry. So the abortion bill has been a way to mitigate the 'negative side effects' of prostitution and to limit the burden on the socialized medical system. And to be sure, there are as many politicians in the US who would welcome this kind of 'revenue' as there are in New Zealand. The issue is not about the 'rights of the individual', it is about the way to run a country.

It is up to the parents to look ahead at the agenda of social engineers and understand these issues and stand up for their parental rights.

Part 26: What You Can Do

We have spent many weeks walking through this presentation of our parental rights in jeopardy. I pray that you have reached the point of pleading for a way to contribute to this vital work. If not, go back and reread past posts or email me with your questions or reservations and we can talk. If you are pleading for something you can do, then keep reading below.
You have begun the first step already by learning about this issue. Continue reading more about this so that you can share what you learn with others. My blog will continue to provide news articles and learning opportunities as well as the national website. Next, sign the national petition at www.parentalrights.org. We are striving towards 10000 signatures in each congressional district across America so that we can stand before our congressmen and press them for their support of the amendment. We have somewhere over 7000 for the entire state of Tennessee currently.

Another simple thing is to invite one of our local speakers to one of your groups to share the message with your circle of friends. You provide a meeting place, the invitations, and some listening ears. We will provide the rest.



More Next Edition...

MTHEA Home Education Expo This Weekend

This weekend, May 20th and 21st, Middle Tennessee Home Education Association will be holding its annual Home Education Expo at the Tennessee State Fairgrounds (Click HERE for directions and more information). I will be representing Tennessee Parental Rights at the expo both days by setting up a booth. A handful of you have already volunteered to assist me at the booth by handing out flyers and talking to attendees about the threats we face to our families. I am praying for a few more. This is a great opportunity to alert others to this crucial issue and learn a little about it yourself. There really is not better way to become comfortabe with explaining this issue than talking to several dozen people if not a hundred about the issue. Just read the basics and join us for a few hours either day. I will be there to help with any difficult questions that someone may throw at you. There is absolutely no reason to be afraid.
If you would like to know more about this opportunity, please e-mail parentalrightstn@fastmail.net.


If you just want to learn more, you may also want to attend my seminar workshop about Parental Rights on Friday. Another other opportunity to learn is my seminar on Saturday "Biblical Parenting". I will spend about 30 minutes in teaching from Ephesians 6 and then open the floor for discussion. Please encourage others to attend either or both of these seminars.

Part 25: More Reasons to Support the Parental Rights Amendment

There are several other reasons why "only" the Parental Rights Amendment is sufficient to protect our children. Saying "no" to the UN CRC only postpones the trickle of international law already invading. Many of our nation's leaders already hold to the above described philosophies (that government knows what is best for your children and should impose it on your family), and therefore cannot be trusted in the area. The Parental Rights Amendment sets an enduring boundary of protection like other amendments have done for all future generations. Then we are able to and must stand up for our rights in the legislative and judicial arena with the sure footing of a constitutional right. Ideally we should be able to stand on our God ordained rights, but our government no longer recognizes the Bible as a standard of law and ethics. (We must work to change this also, but until we do so, we must approach parental rights with an amendment). Even the conservative Supreme Court Justice Antonio Scalia says that unwritten rights cannot be protected in the courts when he was discussing parental rights in the 2000 Supreme Court case of Troxel v. Granville. He bases this on a strict, literal interpretation of the constitution. This is in contrast to the "living constitution" theory of interpretation. With our new Supreme Court justices, we are likely in even greater danger. Therefore we have a multitude of reasons to support the Parental Rights Amendment to the US Constitution. We cannot wait until we lost any more influence in our government or it may be too late.

Breathalyzers for Adolescents at School

While many of you don't need another reason to persevere in homeschooling, I want you to be aware of a case of an adolescent's civil liberties being violated in Virginia. This article describes how an adolescent was forced to undergo a breathalyzer test at school when two unidentified students reported that she was drinking alcohol at school. Despite her mother being a school teacher and easily accessible, no one contacted the mother.

This "suspect state" in schools creates opportunities for further civil liberty infringements. Parents must say no to the disregard for these liberties before we lose even more of our freedoms.

Where will your adolescent daughter get abortion advice?

While scanning the internet for parental rights articles, I ran across an article describing a potentially concerning site, MariaTalks. The site itself is centered on an 18yo girl who provides sex related information and calls herself a "sexpert". The article which alerted me to this site was primarily concerned about the advice teens will receive from this site, specifically about abortion. I will provide two excerpts from the site to help you understand the problem this site poses:

"What’s important is how you feel about it {abortion}. One of my friends who had an abortion told me that it was a difficult decision to make, but she felt that it was the best choice she could make for herself, her boyfriend, her family, and her future."

"Can I get an abortion in Massachusetts if I’m under 18?
Ok, I totally know that this information can sound pretty intimidating and overwhelming, but I promise you the reality of getting an abortion is much easier than it sounds here. It may be really hard for you to imagine talking to either your parents or a judge about getting an abortion, but there are people who can help you through it."

Actually, the important thing is not how you feel about abortion. The important thing is whether it is right or wrong. But even by their standard here, they have forgotten how women often feel later. The second excerpt basically aids a teen in obtaining an abortion without parental consent. The existence of these abortion resources, not to mention other information on the site, should cause parents to take notice. We cannot sit back and allow the world to educate our children on sex. We must do the education and prevent them feeling like they need to look elsewhere for more information.

Oh, if this were not enough, the site is run by an AIDS Action Committee, although in my opinion this goes much further than addressing that issue alone. Could I tell you anything more annoying? Yes, the Massachusetts' Department of Public Health is funding this program with a 100,000 dollar grant. Government money spent to promote abortion and sex. Just wonderful !

Part 24: The Final Answer to the UN CRC

Parental Rights.Org believes that we must close the door forever on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child by ratifying the Parental Rights Amendment. Before explaining why we believe this is the best option, please read the amendment itself:

Proposed Parental Rights Amendment

For the US Constitution

SECTION 1
The liberty of parents to direct the upbringing and education of their children is a fundamental right.

SECTION 2
Neither the United States nor any state shall infringe upon this right without demonstrating that its governmental interest as applied to the person is of the highest order and not otherwise served.

SECTION 3
No treaty may be adopted nor shall any source of international law be employed to supersede, modify, interpret, or apply to the rights guaranteed by this article.

This amendment is important because it provides explicit constitutional language to protect parental rights from government interference except in rare and extreme circumstances such as abuse and prevents international law such as the UN CRC from taking away those parental rights. The language for sections one and two are taken from two past US Supreme Court cases which ruled in favor of parental rights: Pierce v. Society of Sisters in 1925 and Wisconsin v. Yoder in 1972. Therefore the language was crafted by our own Supreme Court justices in the past and has a long history of legal understanding in the courts.

The amendment establishes parental rights as a fundamental right, the highest standard short of an absolute right which goes too far (an absolute right would protect child abusers from prosecution). It then adds section three which protects American parents from international law both in US courts and International Courts (according to Vienna Convention of Treaties, the highest standard for international law.) This section also protects against the threat of Customary International Law which I described earlier.

Next week, you will learn several more reasons that only the Parental Rights Amendment is an adequate response to the UN CRC and the worldview behind it.

Rejoice in the little victories!

I am learning to thank God Almighty for every little victory and want to share a few with you. First, a showing of the documentary, "The Child", has led to many potentially fruitful blessings. One of those blessings is that a student-mother in the crowd was struck by the message and is intent on sharing her newfound wisdom with others. Another is that a new friend was made, a new friend who now shares this same passion for parenting that we do.

Second, from that new friendship, others will have the opportunity to see the documentary and hear the story as he shows "The Child" at his church next week.

Third, a number of parental rights defenders in west Tennessee took a first step towards our state's approval of the Parental Rights Amendment. They presented a resolution to a city commission in support of the amendment and argued it through to approval. This resolution sends the message to our state legislators that Tennesseans support the amendment and want their legislators to do so as well. May this movement spread throughout the country.

Thank you Father for your encouragement by way of these blessings above. May I never forget neither your goodness nor your command to raise children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.



Amen