Parental Rights

HOME-SCHOOLING: U.N. treaty might weaken families

Michael Smith

One of the issues American families could face this year is the ramifications from a treaty called the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).

You may ask, "How could a treaty directly affect internal decision-making by American families?" We generally think of treaties as agreements affecting international relations between countries. The U.N., however, has initiated treaties that not only affect international relations, but also thedomestic relations of member nations as well. These treaties, sometimes called "conventions, " require member nations that ratify the treaty to implement the requirements as binding law or rules.

On Nov. 20, 1989, the U.N. adopted the CRC and submitted it for ratification to the member nations. It has been ratified by 193 nations - the United States is one of the few countries that has not ratified it.

The ratification process requires a two-thirds vote by the U.S. Senate. On Feb. 16, 1995, Madeleine Albright, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., signed the CRC on behalf of the United States. The CRC, however, has never been sent to the Senate for ratification because there is insufficient support to pass it.

Due to the recent election, however, there are rumblings from Capitol Hill that there will be an effort to seek ratification of the CRC during the next congressional cycle. Hillary Rodham Clinton is a strong supporter of the treaty, and as secretary of state, would have direct control over the submission of treaties to the Senate.

Why should passage of the CRC be of concern? It likely would have a negative impact on domestic law and practice in the United States. Article VI of our Constitution makes treaties - and remember, conventions are viewed as treaties - "the supreme law of the land." The CRC would be treated as superior to laws in every state regarding the parent-child relationship. This would include issues regarding education, health care, family discipline, the child's role in family decision-making, and a host of other subjects.

Article 43 of the CRC establishes an international committee on the rights of the child to examine compliance by member nations. This committee, which sits in Geneva, has final authority concerning interpretation of the language contained in the CRC.

Two central principles of the CRC clearly are contrary to current U.S. laws related to parent-child relationships. The CRC provides that in all matters relating to children, whether private or public, or in courts, the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration. Additionally, nations should ensure that children are capable of expressing their views freely in all matters affecting them, giving due weight to the age and maturity of the child.

This is contrary to traditional American law, which provides that absent proof of harm, courts and social workers simply do not have the authority to intervene in parent-child relationships and decision-making. The importance of this tradition and practice is that the government may not substitute its judgment for that of the parent until there is proof of harm to the child sufficient to justify governmental intervention. It is clear that in two very important areas of the parent-child relationship, religion and education, there will be potential for tremendous conflict.

The international committee in Geneva has expressed its concern that parents could home-school without the view of the child being considered; that parents could remove their children from sex-education classes without the view of the child being considered; that parents were legally permitted to use corporal punishment; and that children didn't have access to reproductive health information without parental knowledge.

The bottom line is the CRC would drastically weaken the United States' sovereignty over family life, which would have a substantial impact on every American family.

On Homeschooling Boys

I love this blog--she talks how to homeschool boys--it is awesome:

http://blessedamongmen.blogspot.com/2009/06/homeschooling-boys.html

President Pushes CRC Ratification

Obama Administration Pushes CRC Ratification

-- 24 June 2009

Dear Friend of Parental Rights,

Monday in a Harlem middle school, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice told a group of 120 students that administration officials are actively discussing “when and how it might be possible to join” (that is, ratify) the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). As before, she also communicated what a disgrace it is that the U.S. would stand with only Somalia against such a widely-accepted treaty.

This is the first direct public statement by the Obama administration that it will seek ratification of the UN CRC.

In my 30 years of political involvement, I have learned to recognize this as what is called a “trial balloon.” Like in World War I trench warfare, our opponents have “sent up a balloon” to see if it will draw fire. If things remain quiet, they will proceed with their plans to push for ratification of the CRC in the U.S. Senate.

To discourage them from doing so, we need to make sure that our voices are heard with unmistakable clarity. We must let the Obama administration know that we oppose this anti-family, anti-American treaty.

Here’s what we need you all to do:

1. Call the White House comments line at 202-456-1111. Tell them you heard the administration wants to ratify the CRC, and you strongly oppose this giving away of U.S. sovereignty to the UN. Also keep in mind that this treaty gives the government jurisdiction to override any decision made by any parent if the government thinks that a better decision can be made—even if there is no proof of any harm.

2. Call Ambassador Susan Rice’s office at the United Nations. Tell her that you want her to represent the United States to the world rather than trying to get the United States to go along with international law initiated by the UN. The US Mission at the United Nations can be reached at 212-415-4000 (press 6 to leave your message). This number has been disconnected through our efforts. You can also contact the Public Diplomacy Office at 212-415-4050. We are no longer urging calls to the U.S. office at the United Nations.

3. Contact your Senators and urge them to oppose ratification of this treaty. (Find your Senators’ contact information by typing your zip code into the box here.) Ask them also to defeat it once and for all by cosponsoring SJRes 16 – the Parental Rights Amendment.

It is very important that we speak up right now. Please call before you close this email!

Sincerely,

Michael Farris

UN Convention on the Rights of a Child

20 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE UN CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD

Ten things you need to know about the structure of the CRC:

• It is a treaty which creates binding rules of law. It is no mere statement of altruism.1.
• Its effect would be binding on American families, courts, and policy-makers.2.
• Children of other nations would not be impacted or helped in any direct way by our ratification.3.
• The CRC would automatically override almost all American laws on children and families because of the U.S. Constitution’s Supremacy Clause in Article VI.4.
• The CRC has some elements that are self-executing, while others would require implementing legislation. Federal courts would have the power to determine which provisions were self-executing.5.
• The courts would have the power to directly enforce the provisions that are self-executing.6.
• Congress would have the power to directly legislate on all subjects necessary to comply with the treaty. This would constitute the most massive shift of power from the states to the federal government in American history.7.
• A committee of 18 experts from other nations, sitting in Geneva, has the authority to issue official interpretations of the treaty which are entitled to binding weight in American courts and legislatures. This effectively transfers ultimate authority for all policies in this area to this foreign committee.8.
• Under international law, the treaty overrides even our Constitution.9.
• Reservations, declarations, or understandings intended to modify our duty to comply with this treaty will be void if they are determined to be inconsistent with the object and purpose of the treaty.10.

Ten things you need to know about the substance of the CRC:

• Parents would no longer be able to administer reasonable spankings to their children.11.
• A murderer aged 17 years and 11 months and 29 days at the time of his crime could no longer be sentenced to life in prison.12.
• Children would have the ability to choose their own religion while parents would only have the authority to give their children advice about religion.13.
• The best interest of the child principle would give the government the ability to override every decision made by every parent if a government worker disagreed with the parent’s decision.14.
• A child’s “right to be heard” would allow him (or her) to seek governmental review of every parental decision with which the child disagreed.15.
• According to existing interpretation, it would be illegal for a nation to spend more on national defense than it does on children’s welfare.16.
• Children would acquire a legally enforceable right to leisure.17.
• Christian schools that refuse to teach "alternative worldviews" and teach that Christianity is the only true religion "fly in the face of article 29" of the treaty.18.
• Allowing parents to opt their children out of sex education has been held to be out of compliance with the CRC.19.
• Children would have the right to reproductive health information and services, including abortions, without parental knowledge or consent.20.

Paulist Messages of the Day

It is the will of God that each one of us should strive to find his vocation and should follow it with fidelity.

Can the purposes of God, in the case of particular individuals, be so clearly discovered as that each Christian may be matched, so to say, with the state, whether higher or lower, to which God has called him? The Church answers this question in the affirmative….

The armor of God

The armor of God.

Draw your strength from the Lord and from his mighty power. Put on the armor of God so that you may be able to stand firm against the tactics of the devil.

Jesus Sacred Heart

Jesus' Sacred Heart is full of love. For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that he may grant you in accord with the riches of his glory to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner self, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the holy ones what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Meditation of the Day

Our Father . (Matthew 6:9)

Although it is only a few lines long, the Lord's Prayer is so rich that it
gives us our entire faith in a nutshell. So let's listen to St. Augustine as
he explains what is behind each part of this prayer:

"When we pray, hallowed be your name, we are reminding ourselves to desire
that his name, which in fact is always holy, should also be considered holy
among men. I mean that it should not be held in contempt.

"And as for our saying, your kingdom come, it will surely come whether we
will it or not. But we are stirring up our desires for the kingdom so that
it can come to us and we can deserve to reign there.

"When we say, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven, we are asking
him to make us obedient so that his will may be done in us as it is done in
heaven by his angels.

"When we say, give us this day our daily bread, we mean 'in this world.'
Here we ask for a sufficiency by specifying the most important part of it;
that is, we use the word "bread" to stand for everything.

"When we say, forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass
against us, we are reminding ourselves of what we must ask and what we must
do in order to be worthy in turn to receive.

"When we say, lead us not into temptation, we are reminding ourselves to ask
that his help may not depart from us. Otherwise we could be seduced and
consent to some temptation or despair and yield to it.

"When we say, deliver us from evil, we are reminding ourselves to reflect on
the fact that we do not yet enjoy the state of blessedness in which we will
no longer suffer evil. . In this petition the Christian can utter his cries
of sorrow, in it he can shed his tears, and through it he can begin,
continue, and conclude his prayer, whatever the distress in which he finds
himself." (Letter to Proba)

"Thank you, Jesus, for teaching me how to pray! Help me to always pray from
the heart and to trust in your goodness as a child trusts in his father."

2 Corinthians 11:1-11; Psalm 111:1-4,7-8

Pray!

Pray! Pray! Pray! And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

This Lady has hit right on the head

WOW!!! This lady should run for President!! She is right on the money, and she's not afraid to take credit for it either!! She left her name and phone number at the end!

This letter you are about to read was written by a 4th grade teacher recently (April 2009). She even gave the world her telephone and fax numbers. We are in dire need of more true American citizens who are proud of OUR United States of America . WAKE UP AMERICA . . . please . . .
before it is too late!



April 27, 2009

The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington , DC 20500

Mr. Obama:

I have had it with you and your administration, sir. Your conduct on your recent trip overseas has convinced me that you are not an adequate representative of the United States of America collectively or of me personally.
You are so obsessed with appeasing the Europeans and the Muslim world that you have abdicated the responsibilities of the President of the United States of America . You are responsible to the citizens of the United States .

You are not responsible to the peoples of any other country on e art h. I personally resent that you go around the world apologizing for the United States telling Europeans that we are arrogant and do not care about their status in the world. Sir, what do you think the First World War and the Second World War were all about if not the consideration of the peoples of Europe ? Are you brain dead? What do you think the Marshall Plan was all about?

Do you not understand or know the history of the 20th century? Where do you get off telling a Muslim country that the United States does not consider itself a Christian country? Have you not read the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution of the United States ? This country was founded on Judeo-Christian ethics and the principles governing this country, at least until you came along, come directly from this heritage. Do you not understand this?

Your bowing to the king of Saudi Arabia is an affront to all Americans. Our President does not bow down to anyone, let alone the king of Saudi Arabia . You don't show Great Britain , our best and one of our oldest allies, the respect they deserve yet you bow down to the king of Saudi Arabia . How dare you, sir! How dare you!

You can't find the time to visit the graves of our greatest generation because you don't want to offend the Germans but make time to visit a mosque in Turkey . You offended our dead and every veteran when you give the Germans more respect than the people who saved the German people from themselves. What's the matter with you?

I am convinced that you and the members of your administration have the historical and intellectual depth of a mud puddle and should be ashamed of yourselves, all of you. You are so self-righteously offended by the big bankers and the American automobile manufacturers yet do nothing about the real thieves in this situation, Mr. Dodd, Mr. Frank, Franklin Raines, Jamie Gorelic, the Fannie Mae bonuses, and the Freddie Mac bonuses. What do you intend to do about them? Anything? I seriously doubt it.

What about the U.S. House members passing out $9.1 million in bonuses to their staff members -- on top of the $2.5 million in automatic pay raises that lawmakers gave themselves? I understand the average House aide got a 17% bonus. I took a 5% cut in my pay to save jobs with my employer.

You haven't said anything about that. Who authorized that? I surely didn't! Executives at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will be receiving $210 million in bonuses over an eighteen-month period, that's $45 million more than the AIG bonuses. In fact, Fannie and Freddie executives have already been awarded $51 million -- not a bad take. Who authorized that and why haven't you expressed your outrage at this group who are largely responsible for the economic mess we have right now..

I resent that you take me and my fellow citizens as brain-dead and not caring about what you idiots do. We are watching what you are doing and we are getting increasingly fed up with all of you. I also want you to know that I personally find just about everything you do and say to be offensive to every one of my sensibilities.. I promise you that I will work tirelessly to see that you do not get a chance to spend two terms destroying my beautiful country.

Sincerely,

Every Real American

P.S. I rarely ask that emails be 'passed around'.............

PLEASE SEND THIS TO YOUR EMAIL LIST......it's past time for all
Americans to wake up!

Ms Kathleen Lyday
Fourth Grade Teacher
Grandview Elementary School
11470 Hwy. C
Hillsboro , MO 63050


(636) 944-3291 Phone
(636) 944-3870 Fax

Jim Ottmer
Education will never be as expensive as ignorance.

Saint of the Day

JUNE 16
ST. JOHN FRANCIS REGIS

This French saint was born in 1597. When he was eighteen, he entered the
Jesuit order. In the seminary, John's love for God and his vocation showed
in the way he prayed. He was also eager to teach catechism in the parishes
when he could. After he was ordained a priest, St. John Francis began his
work as a missionary preacher. He gave very simple talks that came right
from his heart. He especially spoke to the poor, ordinary folks. They came
in great crowds to hear him. He spent his mornings praying, performing the
sacrament of Reconciliation and preaching. In the afternoon, he would visit
prisons and hospitals. To someone who said that the prisoners and bad women
he converted would not stay good for long, the saint answered: "If my
efforts stop just one sin from being committed, I shall consider them
worthwhile."
St. John Francis journeyed to wild mountain parishes even on the coldest
days of winter to preach his missions. "I have seen him stand all day on a
heap of snow at the top of a mountain preaching," one priest said, "and then
spend the whole night hearing confessions. " Sometimes he would start off for
a far-away town at three o'clock in the morning with a few apples in his
pocket for his day's food.
Once, on his way to a village, St. John Francis fell and broke his leg. But
he kept on going, leaning on a stick and on his companion's shoulder. When
he reached the village, he went at once to hear confessions. He did not have
his leg taken care of. At the end of the day, when the doctor looked at it,
his leg was already completely healed.
St. John Francis died on one of his preaching missions. He became very ill
while lost at night in the woods. Just before he died, he exclaimed: "I see
Our Lord and his mother opening heaven for me." He died on December 31,
1640.
In 1806, a pilgrim joined the crowds going to pray at the shrine of St. John
Francis Regis. The pilgrim believed all his life that this saint obtained
his vocation to the priesthood. That man was St. John Vianney, the Cure of
Ars. His feast is celebrated on August 4.

How often do I reflect upon my life and see the many blessings and graces of
God? Does my day go by without thanking God for them?