Take Back the Right to Parent Your Children

Take Back the Right to Parent Your Children
Elswyth Thane

June 9, 2008
ActionWars.com

In the U.S. and around the world, we are seeing more and more cases likethe one in May 2008 in Texas where hundreds of children were forcibly taken from their families. The authorities in Texas had neither any real evidence nor any real testimony to justify that massive kidnapping of over 400 children. What was their basis for such action? It was an anonymous phone call alleging that children were being sexually abused by adult members of the Mormon sect.

Because of the large number of children taken and the amount of force used by the government in this case, it was widely publicized. However, the egregious injustice on the part of government agents and officials is all too common nowadays. I have read and listened to countless cases over the last decade or so in which children have been ripped from the arms of caring, loving and protective parents due to false and often anonymous accusations of child abuse. A child gets hurt playing outside or is bitten by a neighborhood dog. Suddenly, the parents find themselves being accused of abusing the child or of criminal neglect, and their child seized by a government agency. Then they are faced with a laborious and costly fight to get their child back. In many cases, this fight lasts for several months or even years.

In several areas of the country, like Pinellas County in Florida, the definition of the term "abuse" is extremely broad. It is so broad that literally any parent, no matter how nurturing, conscientious or morally upright, could easily find him/herself facing charges of child abuse and have his or her children seized. In the area of Florida I refer to, the parent is not even granted the right to face his or her accuser in court or the right to know the name of his/her accuser.

How can we take back our parental rights? The saying, "Knowledge is power" is quite true, so we need to get informed about the laws concerning the family in our counties and states. Then start spreading the word in your area about laws that are overly intrusive and which effectively rob parents of their basic rights to care for, educate and protect their children. Until people know about the possible threats facing their families, how can they ever feel enough motivation in order to act?

We can also band together as concerned citizens and create political action groups, coalitions and watchdog groups which can work to put pressure on the legislative bodies to reestablish and protect parental rights, as well as to track and block legislation which attempts to steal our rights to parent our children.

Families are the building blocks of societies. Where there are healthy, strong families there are healthy and strong societies. This has been proven out by history. Most historians agree that the Greek and Roman empires collapsed from within, and it was no coincidence that the deterioration and destruction of the family unit ran concurrent to the decline and fall of those empires. There are strong parallels between what happened then and what is happening now within the U.S. There are major entities at work in our time and in our society which seek to fragment and destroy the family and, thereby, hope to enslave all. Let's fight together to strengthen and protect our families now because the clock is ticking.