Home School Heartbeat Radio Program

Mike:
Geraldine Van Bueren, one of the drafters of the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child and a professor of law at the University of London, described the impact of this treaty on parental rights to direct the religious upbringing of children.

In the Human Rights Quarterly, she asserted that under the Children’s Convention, quote, “Governments are obliged to respect the rights of parents to direct the child in religious matters, but that the parental direction should take into account the evolving capacities of the child and should not be so heavy-handed as to amount to coercion.”

Van Bueren’s thinking is indistinguishable from that expressed by a trial judge in Island County, Washington, in a case I litigated in the early 1980s. Social workers removed a boy from his home because his parents didn’t respect his evolving views relative to church attendance.

He wanted to go to church only once a week, while his parents wanted him to attend church with them on Sunday morning, Sunday night, and for Wednesday night prayer meeting. The trial judge ruled that the boy’s views had to be respected because this judge believed that once a week was enough church for any 13-year-old boy.

This case is similar to the recent Supreme Court ruling in Roper v. Simmons, a decision based on international law rather purely than American law.

If you want to fight against international children’s rights and secure constitutional protection for parental rights, sign the petition at www.parentalrights.org. I’m Mike Farris.