By TOM TAKASH
The proverb “It takes a village to raise a child” is said to have originated from African cultures and implies the need for many people to help parents provide a safe community for the protection of their child. The thought behind it was first, and foremost, the child’s well-being, but never at the expense of parental authority. The village was thought of as an aid to, but never as a replacement for, the authority of the parents. Until “The Enlightenment,” that thought would dominate the civilized world.
Beginning with the French Revolution, the rejection of religious values took hold, and combined with political unrest, Marxist thought gained momentum. The power of the secular state was dramatically increasing. And later with the overthrow of Czarist Russia, under Lenin, the power of the state was confirmed as all important, theoretically for the benefit of all the “comrades” in the new Soviet Union. But the reality was the destruction of the authority of parents over their children; confirmation of the state as the new parent of every child.
Sadly, the popularity of Marxist thinking, the idea of a loving “Big Brother” to care for our every want, has taken hold in the United States, both in academia and in our Democrat Party. The result has been that respect for family, particularly the respect for authority of parents over their children, has certainly become secondary to the authority of the State.
Slowly, at first, but then very quickly in 1973, with the Roe v. Wade decision, the role of the family began to wane. At first it seemed that individuality was our new standard. Men, and especially women, were told that they were now free to decide their future without parenting. Responsibility shifted from marriage and the “nuclear family” to couples cohabitating, and to the “one-night stand.” Our young adults were supposedly their own masters, free of responsibility, or so they thought. Family unity and respect for Mom and Dad seemed outdated.
And Satan, who never rests, not satisfied with achieving the acceptance of the murder of our unborn as commonplace, nor with his successful attack on the institution of marriage in our nation, has in the last several years introduced an equally evil concept, “the sex versus gender disgrace.” He told us that men can be women, and women can be men. And having conditioned most of America to accept this gender nonsense among adults as “normal for them,” Satan has also extended his attack to our young and vulnerable children.
With government support and protection, The Evil One has twisted the meaning of the First Amendment regarding our rights, introduced obscene Drag Shows in our schools, and indecent books in our libraries, along with “woke” television and social media to corrupt our children and destroy parental authority. Must our young no longer be allowed to spend their childhood as children? At their tender ages must our children explore sexuality and question gender?
Legislators are working hand and hand with teachers’ unions and school boards to control our children, and to suffocate their ability to make moral decisions. Parents are being replaced by all-knowing child psychologists, radical educators, and Democrat leftists, who are deciding what’s best for our young.
Not too many years ago, unless parents demonstrated an obvious excessive and irresponsible lack of parental skills, the state recognized the right of the parents to raise their child in the environment, and with the moral values of those parents, but not today. Today, we are told that the state must help the great multitude of our children who are often being held back from expressing their true nature (a code for their fantasized real gender). With an arrogance that would have been immediately condemned by the majority of Americans 50 or 60 years ago, many states in our country are boldly stripping away the rights of parents over their minor children.
And what if parents don’t agree with their child who has determined that he or she suffers from gender dysphoria? What if the parents are “old school”? Will the child then be forced to live with his or her suspected problem? Well, if the state of Washington has anything to do with it, probably not. In a direct attack on parental authority, their Senate passed Bill 5599. It has also cleared the State House, and as of this writing, is awaiting the signature of Democrat Gov. Jay Inslee. There seems to be no doubt that he will approve the bill.
This legislation, which could have been drafted by Satan himself, allows “home hosts” for runaway youth to house youth without parental permission, and shockingly allows these places to do so without notifying the parents about where their children are, or if they are receiving medical intervention. Protected health-care services can include “gender-affirming care” and anything prescribed by a doctor to treat dysphoria.
Just so there can be no doubt about intent, the bill specifically states that: “Gender-affirming care treatment can be prescribed to two-spirit (usually defined as, identifying as both masculine and feminine), transgender, nonbinary and other gender diverse individuals.”
Granted, there must be a “compelling reason not to tell the parents.” One reason given is that notifying the parents may result in abuse or neglect by the parents, but who will determine that? I have a hunch that the homes can come up with whatever reason they need to justify their actions.
One legislator who apparently is delighted to destroy parental rights, Tana Senn, said: “I am saying tonight to them that I see you, that I affirm you, that I hear you, that I love you.” Parents, on the other hand, may soon be forced to say, “I can no longer see you, affirm you, hear you, or love you.” Critics have called the bill “legalized kidnapping”!
In Washington’s sister state, Oregon, Democrats are pushing Oregon HB 2002, which besides allowing any child to obtain an abortion, contraception, or sterilization, would also allow any child, if they are age 15 or older, to receive gender transitions without parental involvement. Additionally, the transgender interventions of those minors would be paid, not by the child, but by the Oregon Heath Authority.
A long list of cosmetic and surgical procedures would be covered, if they are prescribed “. . . by a physical or behavioral health-care provider as gender-affirming treatment . . .” Is parental notification regarding the gender-altering procedures even mentioned in the legislation? Sure, but only if the child 15 or older gives his or her written permission.
And let’s not leave out “The Golden State.” Not surprisingly, California is currently considering a bill in the State Senate to allow adolescents to be admitted to group homes without parental agreement. Rest assured that those adolescents will be granted rights over and above the rights of their parents. Can we at least hope that if the bill reaches Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk, that he will veto it? Not while Satan sits beside him, whispering in his ear.
In Michigan, a proposed constitutional amendment is appearing on the ballot as Proposal 22-3, allegedly guaranteeing reproductive freedom for every individual regardless of age. But opponents contend that the vague nature of the proposal will inevitably lead to guaranteeing gender-changing decisions left to minors without parental approval. They point out that a minor may deceptively choose to attempt to change gender by claiming the desire to be sterilized as an excuse for medical and/or surgical procedures that would really accomplish a desired supposed gender change without permission from a parent.
And what about other freedom-loving Democrat run states? How many more are moving to eliminate parental rights over their children? Well, if they are listening to the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), they’ll jump on board. According to WPATH, “Mental health professionals should not impose a binary view of gender….” WPATH, while claiming to protect the young, slips into its guidelines that in certain cases “Hormonal or surgical interventions are appropriate for some adolescents….” They skirt around the sticky question of parental authority and cloud the issue, as much as they can.
Of one thing we can be certain from their past performance: Left-leaning politicians are working diligently to exclude parents from transgender decisions, pointing to unscientific and sophisticated sounding studies from obscure and self-serving organizations like WPATH to make their case.
Fortunately, some states are fighting to preserve parental rights and prevent the mutilation of our children. Arkansas has just now become the first state in the country to ban medical treatment for transgender minors. Fourteen other states with Republican majorities in their legislatures have introduced 22 bills restricting transgender youths’ access to certain medical procedures designed to “change their genders.” Parents with concern for their children are at last going to the polls!
Those parents have not forgotten their duties. They know that the state has no business assuming the role of parent. It is incapable of raising a child of God. And those who would deny parents’ rights to protect their children and would destroy a child’s mind and body to placate a child’s immature confusion would be wise to remember Jesus’ warning:
“See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in Heaven always look upon the face of my heavenly Father” (Matt. 18:10-11).
There’s no doubt that it takes a village to help raise a child, and if we continue to ignore our young, there’s also no doubt that the state, under Satan’s direction, will surely destroy them.
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