Mommies and Daddies take heed...

If the UN gets its way, you'll be a mere custodial guardian of your own children. First, the bad news...

Constitution takes hit from Supreme Court - Citing unapproved treaty is 'act of most fundamental reordering of legal system' [read it here]

"The fundamentals of the U.S. Constitution possibly have been shoved one step closer to irrelevance by the U.S. Supreme Court, which yesterday cited as support for its opinion an international treaty that has not been adopted in the U.S."

This recent case has to do with the sentencing of an criminal who was a minor at the time the crime was committed. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), which the US has not ratified, prevents courts from imposing life sentences in such cases.

Try not to spend too much time considering whether this particular offender should spend the rest of his life in jail. That's not the point. Here are some other tidbits from the CRC. Try to imagine family court in this country when your local judge decides to follow this new precedent.

• Children would have the ability to choose their own religion while parents would only have the authority to give their children advice about religion.
• 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.
• 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.
• Children would acquire a legally enforceable right to leisure.

These rules were written to solve problems that don't exist outside of the third world. American children are not the starving workhorses you find in impoverished countries. Our children have different problems, and these "solutions" only make matters worse for American families. While the CRC may be good for someone somewhere, it is bad for America.

But how do you fight a good cause? How can you argue with UNICEF?

Now, here's the good news... www.parentalrights.org

Remember that our constitution does not grant rights, it simply defines and protects them. And it typically only defines those rights that are under attack. The Parental Rights Amendment secures the rights of parents to direct the upbringing of their children.

The good news is that an amendment to the US Constitution outweighs a treaty agreement. There is no need for American parents to fight the CRC head-on. If it does good somewhere in the world, so be it. If the US ever does sign on, we're not bound by provisions that conflict with our Constitution.

And since I'm a states-rights kind of woman, I need to clarify that state constitutions do not outweigh treaties. This has to be done at the federal level.

Go to the website and read up. And then sign the petition.

Parental guilt

Some time ago my three-year-old goddaughter wished upon a star. She wanted her mommy to stay home instead of going to work everyday. The next day her mommy asked me if children ever learn to understand, are they really okay? This wish broke her heart, and she was looking for some reassurance.

Here's what I told her...

Parental guilt is the pits. But parents who don't have any are even worse. So the fact that you feel like you're messing up your kids is actually a good thing. And I hate to have to tell you this... It doesn't go away.

Having grown children, and as a grown child myself, this is what I think... If you build a good relationship with your children, if you listen and love and care, then they'll forgive all those icky circumstances. We build our lives with what we have, and we make hard choices and can't have everything we want.

When our kids are grown, perhaps they'll look back and know we loved them and did our best. Perhaps they won't. But it won't be because we worked, or because we stayed home. It will be because they felt love, and learned to love. It will be because they've been shown mercy, and learned to forgive.

One of the big tragedies of the generations is that when we look at what we lacked in our own childhood, and then try to make sure our kids have everything we didn't, we lose site of what was most important to us as children. Was I loved? Was I forgiven? Was I allowed to be myself?

The beautiful thing about mercy and grace is that if we give them to our children, they'll be returned to us in our old age. Not if we simply loan them out, expecting a return, but truly give them, expecting nothing.

That's where parental guilt comes in handy.

Keep an honest record of the things you wanted to do differently, without a single excuse for anything. Fix what you can, and ask forgiveness for the rest. Keep fixing, and keep asking. Sow love and mercy, and reap the same.

Mockery and Outrage

I've received emails like this before, but this petition got me thinking. What I'm supposed to feel is outrage, or perhaps righteous indignation, but I'm not righteous enough to be indignant, so that wasn't working. Anyway, here's what the fuss is all about...

The Comedy Central network has a long history of denigrating Jesus Christ and the Christian faith. Now, they are developing a new series called "JC" that will openly mock Jesus and give Comedy Central even more time and latitude to increase their attacks on a religion practiced by 80 percent of Americans.

Just weeks ago, Comedy Central censored a depiction of the prophet Mohammad after intense Muslim protest. But Christians are fair game!

I am outraged by this unabashed double standard, and I'm protesting against Comedy Central and its parent company Viacom and their plans to air this show mocking Christians.

I have just added my name to a Media Research Center petition, and I'm urging you to do the same by clicking here now.

We cannot allow the Hollywood Elite and the left-wing media to continue to savage Christians. That's why I'm taking action and I hope you will do the same. Thanks for joining with me.

First, I am bewildered by how wimpy we've become, that a TV show now counts as persecution. Did the letter really say the left-wing media "savage(s) Christians"? That's embarrassing, really. I don't know how we'll explain this to the martyrs who were beheaded, burned, dismembered, blinded, scalded and fed to ravenous beasts. This very day, there are Christians on the other side of the world who are imprisoned and executed for proclaiming the Truth. We suffer a little public teasing and demand an apology.

"Blessed are ye when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets that were before you."

There is indeed a double standard. A Muslim is rewarded for killing the infidel, and we're rewarded for turning the other cheek. Someone offends Allah and somewhere a bomb goes off at a street cafe. Someone offends a Christian and the perpetrator is either loved or flipped off, depending on the quality of the Christian. No death threats, no street riots. I believe it was Jesus who arranged for this double standard by telling us to love our enemies, to bless those that curse you, pray for those that persecute you. And I'm personally grateful, because I'd rather forgive my enemy than shoot him. Most of the time, anyway...

So, what am I do with an email like this? Let's suppose that my choices are to...

1. Do nothing. Hit delete. Go on with my life.
   
2. Tell my friends to get angry and demand that Christ gets the respect He deserves (or that Christians get the respect they deserve, which actually sounds pretty silly).
3. Say a prayer for the people who write trash for TV and the people who watch it, or...
4. Find a way to tell people who watch this junk that this isn't the real Jesus and see if they'll listen and learn who He really is.

In our modern American culture, #2 feels like evangelism, but it isn't. When Paul writes about defending the faith, he was talking about #4.

The world will never have an ounce of respect for Christ, or for Christians, because of our demands. They will know Christ by our love for one another. Our outrage is better directed elsewhere.