Culture
Clips —
July 25, 2006
A Teen’s Y Chromosome Problem
A 16-year-old Virginia boy who suffers
from Hodgkin's disease has been told by a state judge he must
report to a hospital this week and accept treatment deemed necessary
by his doctors. The boy and his parents have chosen to pursue
alternative treatment. It consists of a sugar-free, organic diet
and herbal supplements supervised by a clinic in Mexico.
On July 21, juvenile court Judge
Jesse E. Demps ruled that the boy's parents, Jay and Rose Cherrix
of Chincoteague, were neglectful and that they must continue to
share custody of their son, Starchild Abraham Cherrix, with the
Accomack County Department of Social Services.
I have heard Cherrix interviewed
on the radio and he sounds intelligent, articulate, reasonable
and capable of making such a major decision. Cherrix says three
months of chemotherapy left him nauseated and weak and he prefers
not to repeat that type of treatment. That a court would deny
Cherrix and his parents such a choice prompted the family attorney,
John Stepanovich, to say: "I want to caution all parents
of Virginia: Look out, because Social Services may be pounding
on your door next when they disagree with the decision you've
made about the health care of your child."
In an age when we continue to debate "a woman's right to
choose" when it comes to a girl aborting her baby and we
are told that it is the girl's body and no one else should make
decisions affecting it, a boy has no such rights. A girl can be
given birth control by the school nurse and even abortion information
without her parents knowledge or consent, but a boy can be prohibited
from making decisions that affect his life and body. At least
the courts are consistent. They forbid parental involvement in
either case. In some states, though, parents are held responsible
for their kids' illegal and anti-social behavior. Why is it that
parents supposedly have power to keep their kids from committing
crimes, but can be denied power when it comes to their child's
health and welfare?
Cal Thomas
Townhall
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/CalThomas/
2006/07/25/a_teens_y_chromosome_problem
—
Faith is a Right, Not a Theocracy
Last week Senator Charles E. Schumer
(D-NY), on the Senate Floor, and had this to say about people
of faith: "There is a group of people of deep faith. I respect
that faith. I've been in enough inner city black churches, working
class Catholic parishes, rural Methodist houses of worship and
small Jewish synagogues to understand that faith is a gift. The
trouble with this group, which I call the theocrats, is they want
their faith to dictate what the government does. That, in a word,
is un-American. That is exactly what the Founding Fathers put
down their plows and took up muskets to fight."
This statement is breathtaking in
its bigotry. It is part of a campaign to portray the Religious
Right as a group of fanatics who want to do away with the Constitution.
In one way Senator Schumer has done Evangelical Christians a great
favor. He has linked them with Catholics and Orthodox Jews. If
the culture wars are to be won it will take unity among all strong
believers to make it happen.
Paul Weyrich
Townhall
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/PaulWeyrich/2006/07/25/
faith_is_a_right,_not_a_theocracy,_senator_schumer
—
NEA Keeps Tilting Left
Parents who wonder why the public
schools teach so many things parents don't approve of need look
no further than the official policies of the nation's largest
teachers union, the National Education Association. Meeting in
Orlando, Fla., this year in annual convention over the Fourth
of July weekend, the NEA adopted a long series of left-liberal
resolutions…
NEA resolutions promote the gay rights
agenda in public school curricula by demanding funds to alleviate
"sexual orientation discrimination," to use multicultural
education to reduce "homophobia," and even to put "diversity-based
curricula" and "bias-free screening devices in early
childhood education." Another resolution demands that schools
hire "a diverse teaching staff."
…NEA resolutions again endorse the
principal goals of the feminist agenda, including abortion, the
Equal Rights Amendment, Comparable Worth, non-sexist language,
and a federally funded women's commission to pursue feminist goals
at taxpayers' expense. The NEA also supports "community-operated,
school-based family planning clinics that will provide intensive
counseling," which is a thinly veiled welcome to Planned
Parenthood to put its clinics in schools.
Phyllis Schlafly
Townhall
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/PhyllisSchlafly
/2006/07/25/nea_keeps_tilting_to_the_left
—
For the Children
Strengthening Parental Involvement Laws
This week the Senate is scheduled
to vote on the Child Custody Prevention Act, which would make
it a crime for a minor to be transported across state lines for
the purpose of obtaining an abortion by anyone who is not the
child’s legal guardian. Such legislation would doubtless make
it more difficult for minors to seek abortions outside their own
state. It would also give greater protections to young minors
who would typically encounter more difficulty crossing state lines
on their own. This bill would go a long way in solidifying the
pro-life gains that were made in the states during the 1990s.
Overall, during the past 15 years,
the pro-life movement has won some of its most impressive victories
at the state level. However, in almost every case, these state-level
victories have been made possible by political action at the federal
level. Federal legislation banning partial-birth abortions alerted
many to this gruesome procedure and shifted public opinion in
a more pro-life direction. Similarly, court appointments by pro-life
presidents have given many state-level laws constitutional protection.
The upcoming vote, the Child Custody Prevention Act, will give
the Senate yet another opportunity to help states protect the
unborn and build a culture of life.
Michael J. New
National Review Online
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=YjYyNzUzYz
M2NDFhMTcwMDk2MDYwZGFkMTg5ZjZlOTQ
