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Roadmap to Reform & Changing attitudes
From: Webmaster (webmaster@kids-right.org)
This is a message from a mailing list, members@kids-right.org http://www.kids-right.org/ To unsubscribe from this list at anytime, send email to Majordomo@kids-right.org with the following 1 line in the BODY of the message (Subject is ignored). unsubscribe members ====================================================================== Good People, Many of you may have found the contents of our last list message a bit disturbing (if you don't have the message, it is available in our archive at: http://www.kids-right.org/archive/archive2001). On one hand it showed the clear problems in or present system, but on the other -- there were some sobering comments on why reform may be difficult, time consuming, and almost impossible to achieve. What made some of the remarks powerful is that they weren't overdone, but represented what you might actually hear. That very criticism also provides us with a road map for reform. Some thoughts to consider: 1. WHAT IS YOUR "JUSTIFICATION" TO BE A PARENT? If you are looking to justify yourself by appealing to Science, the Law, or your local Constitution -- you are walking on thin ice. By the very nature of what you are doing -- you are saying my ability to be a parent is justified by something "external" to me. And what happens when Science, the Law, or the Constitution says (or someone else thinks it says), that you don't have that right? Where is your argument? The justification is one of "your human right". Some people wonder, what make something a human or civil right? It's pretty simple -- you do! Just remember the words from the start of the American Declaration of Independence: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness." (and we didn't mention it, but of course the company of your own children, isn't that one even more obvious than the others!) 2. HOW DO WE CHANGE "ATTITUDES"? And these aren't just easy attitudes either (we are not talking about what teams you think will make it to the World Series), but how do you feel about family? Certainly, the most effective technique will be NonViolent Action: "I came to see for the first time that the Christian doctrine of love, operating through the Gandhian method of nonviolence, is one of the most potent weapons available to oppressed people in their struggle for freedom." "Nonviolent resistance ... is based on the conviction that the universe is on the side of justice. Consequently, the believer in nonviolence has deep faith in the future. This faith is another reason why the nonviolent resister can accept suffering without retaliation. For he knows that in his struggle for justice he has cosmic companionship." (Martin Luther King) Remember, over two thousand years ago there was a simple man who believed we were all brothers & sisters and should always love each other (talk about wanting a really impossible change in attitude!). Why do we remember and admire Jesus of Nazareth today, not for his research, or eloquent speeches, or letters he wrote -- but his very life demonstrated his own personal belief in those ideas and he was willing to die. The anger and name calling towards Judges, Lawyers, and former Spouses just has to end and for obvious reasons: "It has always been a mystery to me how men can feel themselves honored by the humiliation of their fellow human beings." (Mahatma Gandhi) 3. PLEASE DON'T USE STATISTICS OR STUDIES I recently saw a scientific 'study' that said in the clear majority of cases children do better with a "single father" vs. "single mother" -- regardless of if it's even good science, is that really suppose to matter? Are we suppose to start awarding custody to fathers in preference to mothers? I just finished a wonderful six week summer vacation with my eight year old son, Domenic (I'm still coming off the 'high'). I'm a bald-headed-bearded-italian, if science said that 90% of bald-headed-bearded-italians eat their young -- should I be cutoff from Domenic as too big a risk? This question may sound bizarre, but it is one we ALL have a lot of trouble with -- because we ALL want to do the right thing. I believe the answer is 'no' -- and again, it's something we all can relate to in our present criminal system. I have spent a fair amount of time in Jail, and in holding cells with people accused of crimes. Now I can tell you that about 90% of those people were guilty -- do we dispense with the need for a trial, jury, and presumption of innocence? If 9 out of 10 black teenagers we pick up on the streets of New York are guilty as charged -- do we skip the other protections as a matter of GOOD PUBLIC POLICY? No we do not. Your right to "liberty" is yours -- and the state cannot take it away as a matter of policy (since it did not give it to you). Your right to "family" is also yours. Does it mean we occasionally let murderers go and that they may kill again -- yes we do and they do! But we accept that risk and consequence as part of the protection of our freedoms. ----------------------------------- As always, we welcome your thoughts! ================================================================== To unsubscribe from this list at anytime, send email to Majordomo@kids-right.org with the following 1 line in the BODY of the message (Subject is ignored). unsubscribe members
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