UFI Alert: Where Do You Stand?
Aug 1, 2012
From the Desk of Carol Soelberg:It's a good thing I'm an optimist! Each week as I review the worldwide threats to the family I am amazed that the anti-family agenda just keeps chipping away at the only sure source of societal prosperity and peace - The Traditional Family!
What is their motive? Why destroy and replace the family? And even more important: Why are we so determined to protect and preserve it? Tom Christensen helps us see the WHOLE picture in his article this week. He lays out in 13 concise statements the principles behind the cultural war we are all fighting. Or are we? Where do YOU stand?
British writer G. K. Chesterton reminds us that, "Unless a man becomes the enemy of an evil, he will not even become its slave but rather its champion."If we aren't individually doing SOMETHING to battle the cultural war, we are indeed contributing to it! I invite you to read Mr. Christensen's article and then take a stand. Listed at the end are some specific things you can do today to champion the family cause. I believe you WILL get involved and that what you do will make all the difference!
Sincerely,
President, United Families International
Where Do You Stand? Linking the Pro-Family and Anti-Family Agendas
Tom Christensen
After attending my first UN conference and studying the opposing side's literature, I was astounded by the breadth of the opposition among UN delegates, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and UN staff against policies seeking to preserve the basic family unit.Tom Christensen
The traditional family is opposed by progressives, feminists, environmentalists, humanists, etc. who view the individual and the state rather than the family as the centerpiece of their illusive utopian dream. It does not matter to them that the traditional family is documented over history to be the "bedrock" or "fundamental unit" of civil society.
Any attempt today to promote the traditional family as the fundamental unit of society is met with intense opposition. The statist approach is to de-emphasize the traditional family and to marginalize it by costly cradle-to-grave government entitlements.
In order to fight and prevail in this policy and culture war, each point in defense of or opposition to the family must be clearly understood. The numerous supporting or opposing issues constitute a complex paradigm that must be considered as a whole. If issues are defended piecemeal, the opposition can outflank the enemy in its most vulnerable positions. For this reason, it is not enough to concentrate on a single issue such as protecting traditional marriage and to ignore, for example, the damage to the family and the nation caused by an expanding welfare state.
Likewise, because abortion is a divisive issue or as a colleague stated, "does not affect me personally," it is a mistake to avoid taking a stand on it. Some of the fiercest defenders of the family are "right to lifers." Moreover, protecting unborn life is critical to the family when one considers how millions of needless abortions threaten public health/morality and population/economic growth worldwide.
Some are uncomfortable defending virtue and religious freedom. However, religion is an indispensable support of the traditional family. In countries where religion is weak or under constant attack, the family struggles. At the UN, the Vatican, a permanent non-voting observer, is the leading proponent of the family. NGOs are needed to join the Vatican in protecting religious freedom, speech, and the family.
Recognizing the number of controversial issues at stake, I attempted a few years ago to write concise policy articles. In the process, I came to realize that for each pro-family policy article there is an equal, countervailing article. Linked together, these articles comprise the pro-family or anti-family agenda. Following are thirteen representative policy statements.
My hope is that you will read the individual articles, picture the larger paradigm, then decide for yourself where you stand. If you support the basic premises behind the pro-family agenda; I urge you to get with the program. Time is growing short. There are so many battles to be fought and elections to be won that you cannot afford to sit with your family on the sidelines waiting to see what happens. Join with United Families or other reputable organizations fighting together on the front lines. 
Pro-Family paradigm v.s. Anti-Family paradigm:A. The rights of the individual prevail over the family. Traditional family roles, definitions and relations grounded in religion--must not be affirmed by law.
2. Marriage, a voluntary covenant between a man and a woman, deserves special legal status and protection.
B. Marriage rights should be extended to unmarried and same sex couples.
3. The natural family is the seedbed of refined, resourceful, responsible, respectful adults. B. Marriage rights should be extended to unmarried and same sex couples.
C. State programs provide the motivation, attributes and skills for individuals to succeed and pursue meaningful lives.
4. The natural family must be encouraged at the headwaters of civilization, promoting freedom, virtue, honor, industry, and order.
D. The inherently dysfunctional family must be cut off at the source to prevent downstream pollution.
5. A unified father and mother are best equipped to satisfy a child's emotional physical, educational, and spiritual needs. D. The inherently dysfunctional family must be cut off at the source to prevent downstream pollution.
E. Working mothers, sustained by state programs, are equal to a married father and mother.
6. Human beings are children of God, brothers and sisters in a large global family who must learn to love each other and work together.
F. Humans, highest in the evolutionary food chain, threaten other forms of life unless selectively bred or terminated.
7. Birth is a blessing; an innocent human life is worth protecting. F. Humans, highest in the evolutionary food chain, threaten other forms of life unless selectively bred or terminated.
G. A child is often a liability; a mother's decision to destroy it a human right.
8. Expanding human populations are beneficial; the earth's resources are abundant.
H. The earth contains limited natural resources; expanding human populations ruin and deplete them.
9. Parents should be allowed educational options to train a child's mind and spirit. H. The earth contains limited natural resources; expanding human populations ruin and deplete them.
I. Public, secular education is the only option for the general population.
10. Parents have the duty and prior right to regulate their children's activities, speech, religious life, sexuality, health care, media access, social contacts and discipline.
J. Children should be afforded rights the same as adults in matters of speech, association, and religion. The state decides what is in a child's best interest.
11. The state encourages family self-reliance by facilitating private property ownership, personal savings and retirement, family production and industry, continuing education, and home-care of the infirm. J. Children should be afforded rights the same as adults in matters of speech, association, and religion. The state decides what is in a child's best interest.
K. The state improves the human condition by redistributing wealth and funding entitlements: guaranteed income or employment, public housing, and subsidized child and health care.
12. National sovereignty and local home rule permits citizens and families to control their own laws, resources, and destinies.
L. National government must give way to global government with power to tax, prosecute, and regulate.
13. Limited, representative, constitutional, balanced government of the people is best. L. National government must give way to global government with power to tax, prosecute, and regulate.
M. Centralized, autocratic government in the hands of experts works best.
Here's how you can "Stand up & Step Up":1. Today, Wednesday August 1, is support Chick-Fil-A day. Here's your chance to stand up for free speech, religious freedom and traditional marriage. It is important politicians, media, and gay advocates not be allowed to bully and discriminate against individuals because of their viewpoint. Go to the business and purchase something big or small, but at the very least, stop in and say "Thank you."
3. The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) is a huge threat to national sovereignty and negatively impacts parental rights. The CPRD is possibly going to a U.S. Senate vote this week. You can read more about it here. Let your Senator hear your voice.
4. Those of you who are citizens of Spain, your new leadership have vowed to undo some of the liberal abortion laws that were put in place by Zapatero in 2009. Please contact the People's Party leaders and encourage them to put in place laws that once again protect unborn children. There has been a lot of media attention given to these proposals and you need to add your voice.
 | Tom Christensen, former CEO of United Families, is a successful father, attorney, and politician. He has written extensively on the natural family and has addressed UN delegations in behalf of UFI in Istanbul, New York, Nairobi, the Hague, Lisbon and Geneva. |
