In a recent debate at New York University Law School, the question was asked: "What is marriage?"  

In her response, Professor Judith Stacey compared positive and negative factors in a variety of possible relationship variations, and expressed her belief that we don't need marriage any more.  

Her answer shows a woeful ignorance of the need children have for a mother and a father, and the power a good marriage can have.  Of course, great people come from families of all kinds.  But when we consider government policies that shape the culture, we should promote family policies that give children the best chance of becoming happy, successful, contributing adults.  

Highest priority should be given to preparing the next generation with the values, knowledge, attitudes, habits, and skills they will need to preserve liberty, peace, and prosperity in America.  No organization or institution can do this more effectively than a loving mother and father in a committed family relationship.  

People are not perfect.  Marriage partners are not perfect.  And yet imperfect parents all over America love and sacrifice for their children in ways that others would never consider.  

But parents today face unusual challenges.  We live in a culture that devalues parenting and disconnects kids from their family heritage.  In previous generations, parents taught their children how to be good parents by precept and example.  Children learned from grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins.  When parents fell short, other loving family members filled in the gaps.  And children were taught the values, habits, and skills needed to be good parents at home, in church, at school, and in a family-friendly culture.  

Now, few children are taught the value of marriage and parenting before they leave home.  Much of what they learn comes from TV shows and movies that ridicule family values.  In public schools, kids across the country are taught, sometimes as early as kindergarten, that marriage between a man and a woman does not matter.  

And then, impressionable teenagers are sent off  to college where persuasive professors teach them that marriage and family, the very cradle of civilization, is an out-dated relic of the past.  

Kids don't realize that progressive policies and values significantly weakened marriages and families in the first place.  And, if continued, these policies and values will lead to the destruction of  the family as we know it.  If you think government is intrusive now, just wait until society tries to figure out how to clean up and control the resulting crises.

Remember the feelings in your heart as you held your baby in your arms?  

Remember your love, hopes, and dreams?  

Did you ever in your wildest imagination consider the possibility that politicians and government bureaucrats would consider themselves more able than you to make basic life choices for your child?  

Yes, the same people who are making a mess of the government want to invade your home and make important family decisions without your permission.  

Worse yet, some of these people are United Nations bureaucrats from foreign cultures, with different values, and with a total lack of accountability to U.S. voters.  They have created intrusive treaties and documents that will have a very negative impact on families in the United States.  

For example, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) stipulates that children have rights that are equal to parental rights.  If children disagree with their parents, the government (not the parents) becomes the authority to examine the facts and make the decisions for the family.  

This treaty claims to give rights to children, but in reality, it is about stripping rights from parents.  In so doing, the CRC makes children vulnerable to outside intervention and exploitation.

The United States should never ratify this dangerous treaty.  In some countries, UN treaties and documents are just political opinions, and aren't legally binding.  But in the U.S. legal system, UN treaties supersede all state and national laws, and even the Constitution of the United States.  If the CRC is ratified, it will become the supreme law of the land.  

But even if the treaty is not ratified, it still has a negative impact on U.S. families.  More and more, U.S. judges are using United Nations documents and decisions, commonly known as "customary international law" to guide their decisions.   

This video explains some of the real and dangerous threats to parental authority and autonomy in the U.S. today. 

 

• Read more about why the CRC is a very dangerous treaty and why the United States should not ratify it under any circumstances.
  

• Read the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
  

• Learn more about how to protect parental rights.
  

We can teach our children anything, but not everything.

What matters most to you and your family?  What will make the most difference for your children, their ability to contribute to society, and their lasting happiness?

It's not possible for a stranger to know from the outside if you and I are getting it right for our kids.  

At first glance, it might appear that this baby is getting some pretty intensive training in something that isn't that important, but maybe ping pong is a fun hobby that unites his family and provides wholesome recreation.  Tennis may become a valuable vehicle for this child's physical fitness, or excelling in tennis may become an important part of his adult life. 

How important for us as Patriotic Parents to think about our priorities and keep them in focus the best we can for our families, and for each of our children.  Keeping things in a healthy balance is an ongoing process, and deserves our best efforts.  As much as possible, each of us should look at the things we value and try to keep first things first in our homes and in the lives of those we love.

As parents, we need to make sure we are not wasting precious time or "majoring in the minors."

Our time to help our children prepare for a meaningful and happy life passes all too quickly!

“The family has always been the cornerstone of American society.  Our families nurture, preserve, and pass on to each succeeding generation the values we share and cherish, values that are the foundation of our freedoms.”  Ronald Reagan

"[I]t is the life of the family upon which in the last analysis the whole welfare of the nations rests. . . . The nation is nothing but the aggregate of the families within its borders."  Strong nations are built out of strong families, not the other way around. No government policy or community program can ever replicate its structure or fulfill its manifold functions."  Theodore Roosevelt

"The family is the building block of society. It is a nursery, a school, a hospital, a leisure center, a place of refuge, and a place of rest."  Margaret Thatcher

According to Alan Greenspan, “Baby boomers are being replaced by groups of young workers who have regrettably scored rather poorly in international educational match-ups over the last two decades....


"The productivity of the younger part of our workforce is declining relative to the level of productivity achieved by the retiring baby boomers. This raises some major concerns about the productive skills of our future U.S. labor force.”

Alas, Alan may be right.  But Patriotic Moms can make up the difference.  

It’s more important than ever before to take  responsibility for the education of our children.  We can’t just leave it to the schools and hope everything will turn out OK.  We can be actively involved and seek opportunities to teach and reinforce the important knowledge and skills our kids need.

A great nation is built one child, one home, and one day at a time.

"The eyes of the world being thus on our Country, it is put the more on its good behavior, and under the greater obligation also, to do justice to the Tree of Liberty by an exhibition of the fine fruits we gather from it." ~ James Madison