World Family Policy Center Newsletter

Patrick Kelly, Ph.D.

Vice President for Public Policy, Knights of Columbus

The following is an excerpt from Patrick Kelly’s speech "The Family: Seedbed for National Renewal" presented at The World Congress of Families IV Warsaw, Poland, May 2007:

“The central crisis confronting the family in the West is a crisis of anthropology – a crisis of the proper understanding of the nature of the human person. The problem consists of a faulty anthropology that detaches human freedom from the truth, and values the person in strictly individualistic and materialistic terms. This was the great error of Communism, and it now presents an enormous challenge to the consumer cultures of the West.

These ideologies – classical socialism and classical liberalism – have left us with a cultural legacy that undermines the family even in our present day. In the past four decades we have seen many western democracies change their laws to accommodate divorce, abortion, euthanasia and same-sex unions. In most cases, this was done under the pretext of promoting a particular notion of freedom and liberation.

The root crisis confronting the family in the West is a crisis of anthropology – a crisis of the proper understanding of the nature of the human person. It is necessary to recapture the sense of the family situated within the context of a Christian anthropology -- which can be said to be the unique cultural patrimony of the West. When I say ‘Christian anthropology,’ I am referring to the Christian vision of the origin, nature and destiny of the human person. The human person is the Imago Dei – is made in the image of God. God creates man and woman in a mutual complementarity. He places them at the center of the created order. Thus, every social question is considered from the starting point of the person.

An inadequate anthropology – that is, an improper understanding of the destiny of the person -- leads to a misguided notion of freedom which exalts the isolated individual in an absolute way. It also rejects the natural complementarity of man and woman. The consequence – as we have seen – is the establishment of systems that benefit the strong at the expense of the weak. These systems destroy the family by attacking the sense of solidarity and openness to others that is the very essence of family life.

For the family to become the seedbed for national renewal, we must recover the essential link between freedom and the truth.

The family is uniquely situated to promote human dignity in the debates on national renewal. The family stands as the mediating institution that protects the vulnerable person from the power of the state. A society built around the family is the best guarantee against the state 'drifting off course into an individualism or collectivism' that would violate human dignity. This is because within the family the person is always the center of attention as an ends and never as a means. The family, more than any other institution, understands that the person is never a ‘thing’ or an ‘object’ to be used, but [is] – a person endowed with conscience and freedom.

For its part, the State must come to recognize that its own wellbeing is bound up in creating conditions for healthy family life. Without strong families, local communities grow weak. It is within healthy families that moral values are taught and that the spiritual and cultural heritage of the nation is transmitted.

The State must also come to recognize that the family does not exist for the State, but that the State exists for the family. John Paul II insisted that the State recognize that 'the family is a society in its own original right.' The family must take priority as the first human society that precedes all others. The State, therefore, has a serious obligation to adhere to the principle of subsidiarity. That is to say, public authorities should never take away from the family the functions which the family can best accomplish by itself. At the same time, public authorities have an obligation to positively favor the family and to ensure it has the assistance it needs to fulfill its unique responsibilities.

To read the entire speech, visit http://www.worldcongress.org/wcf4.spkrs/wcf4.kelly.htm

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FEATURED NEWS ARTICLES

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1. Jamaican officials consider legalizing abortion

MSNBC

February 9, 2008

KINGSTON, Jamaica - The government says it is studying a plan to legalize abortions because health officials say the move would keep women from being injured or killed in botched illegal operations.

Health Minister Rudyard Spencer told a news conference Friday that the committee reviewing the plan would consider public opinion.

"There is no doubt that this is a very delicate matter," he said. "When a report is made, it will be from an informed position, based on public reaction. The government is not anti or pro."

A 17-member Abortion Policy Review Advisory Group made up largely of doctors and ministry officials recently said the government should legalize abortion up to 22 weeks of pregnancy, regardless of the circumstance in which a woman became pregnant.

To view the entire article, visit http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23085699/

Abortion Resolution Passes State Senate Again

Memphis Daily News

January 31, 2008

NASHVILLE (AP) - A resolution that would change the state's constitution to allow more limits on abortion has again passed the Senate but still may face challenges in the lower chamber.

The measure sponsored by Sen. Diane Black, R-Gallatin, passed 23-9 on Wednesday. It has passed the Senate before, but repeatedly failed in a subcommittee of the Democrat-controlled House.

The measure seeks to nullify a state Supreme Court ruling that the Tennessee Constitution offers greater protection for abortion rights than the U.S. Constitution.

The proposal would say that "nothing in this Constitution secures or protects a right to abortion or requires the funding of an abortion."

However, an amendment added to the resolution would allow lawmakers to change statutes regarding abortion in cases of rape, incest or the mother's safety.

To view the entire article, visit http://www.memphisdailynews.com/Editorial/StoryLead.aspx?id=100958

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2. Gay-marriage opposition is stepped up

Baltimore Sun

February 8, 2008

Opponents of gay marriage vowed yesterday to bring the fractious debate over same-sex unions to a vote in the Maryland General Assembly and possibly to voters on the November ballot.

Del. Donald H. Dwyer Jr. is circulating a petition to take a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage directly to the floor of the House of Delegates without a committee vote. He also is seeking signatures to bring to the House floor a bill that would legalize same-sex marriage. While the Anne Arundel Republican is a fervent gay-rights opponent, he said Marylanders deserve to know their legislators' views.

"It's only when the votes are cast that we really know where people stand," Dwyer said.

To view the entire article, visit http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/politics/bal-md.marriage08feb08,0,2318233.story

Judge Tosses Signatures Seeking to Stop Oregon Domestic Partnerships Family News in Focus

CitizenLink

February 5, 2008

A petition drive to reverse Oregon’s domestic-partnership law failed last week when a federal judge ruled it fell just short of the number of signatures needed, but no one seems to be able to explain why some signatures were rejected. The law went into effect Monday.

“I feel like I don’t matter, like my rights have been discounted," said Phillip Lemons, who was told his signature had been removed from the petition.

“The county clerk told me she didn’t have the power to accept my signature, even though I identified myself as, yes, this is really me; I really did sign this.”

Dozens of voters told the same story. Austin Nimocks, senior legal counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund, said it doesn't make sense. “Even when they went down and looked the county clerk in the face and said, ‘This is my signature,’ (and) provided a driver’s license to confirm that it was a valid, genuine signature on that petition, nobody would listen to them," he said.

To view the entire article, visit http://www.citizenlink.org/content/A000006448.cfm

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3. Groups Voice Opposition against Assisted Suicide Initiative

Christian Post

January 10, 2008

Several groups, representing medical physicians to people with disabilities, are voicing strong opposition against an initiative filed Wednesday by a former Washington governor that would make the state the second in the nation to legalize assisted suicide.

Under the "Washington Death with Dignity Initiative," launched by former Gov. Booth Gardner, Washington residents who have less than six months to live would be able to request from a doctor a prescription of legal drugs to end their life.

Backers of the measure have until July to collect about 225,000 from state residents to put the issue on the November 2008 ballot.

Gardner, 71, who has Parkinson's disease, modeled the initiative after Oregon's assisted suicide law. He said he still supports the measure even though it would not apply to his non-fatal condition.

"This is something we should do. We should have done it a long time ago," Gardner said last week, according to the Seattle Times. "It's the right thing to do - it's the Christian thing to do."

To view the entire article, visit

http://www.christianpost.com/article/20080110/30796_Groups_Voice_Opposition_Against_Assisted_Suicide_Initiative.htm

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4. Toddler with Rare Cancer Saved by Frozen Stem Cells

FoxNews

February 6, 2008

Sorrel Mason, from Great Wratting in Suffolk, is reportedly just the second person in Britain to receive a frozen stem cell transplant. Prior to the procedure, she was given only a 30 percent chance of survival after being diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia.

The stem cells came from a frozen umbilical cord in Tokyo after no match was found in Europe. She made a complete recovery after undergoing the procedure at a Bristol children's hospital last year.

Sorrel's mother, Samantha Mason, 38, thanked doctors for saving her daughter's life. "Sorrel would be dead now if she had been left untreated," Mason told the Daily Mail.

To view the entire article, visit http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,328852,00.html?KeepThis=true&TB_iframe=true&height=400&width=780

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5. Married couples are no longer the social norm

Telegraph

January 23, 2008

Heterosexual married couples are no longer regarded as the "norm", the largest survey of social attitudes in Britain shows today.

Government support for gay couples and single parents, the rise in cohabitation and an official failure to support traditional marriage are said to have resulted in previously unconventional lifestyles becoming widely accepted.

But people hold less tolerant views of family set-ups in which children are involved, it is claimed.

The British Social Attitudes report, by the National Centre for Social Research, is significant because the questions it asks are developed and paid for in collaboration with Government departments to inform social policy.

The survey, based on the views of 3,300 adults, has been running since 1983 and is an important barometer of opinion.

To view the entire article, visit http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/01/23/nmarry123.xml

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6. In a First, Out-of-Wedlock Births Are Majority in France

New York Sun

January 16, 2008

PARIS — France became the first non-Scandinavian country in Western Europe to record a majority of out-of-wedlock births.

Of the 816,500 births registered in France last year, 50.5% were to unmarried parents, up from 48.4% in 2006 and 40% 10 years ago, according to a report yesterday by Insee, the Paris-based national statistics agency.

"What's led the rise in out-of-wedlock births is that a lifestyle that was once confined to Paris is now the norm even in rural areas," the head of Insee's demographics department, Guy Desplanques, said in a telephone interview.

"Marriage is no longer considered indispensable to form a family."

While the rate of unmarried births has risen the past decade, only Sweden, Norway, Estonia, and Bulgaria had passed the 50% mark, according to Eurostat, the European Union statistics agency. In Sweden, they've represented the majority for the past decade. Other countries are close. In 2006, the rate was 46% in Denmark, 47% in Slovenia and, 44% in Britain. While the rate has held steady in Denmark for 10 years, it's risen by a percentage point a year in Britain.

To view the entire article, visit http://www.nysun.com/article/69627

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Note: The Featured Articles excerpts are highlights of current events and

do not necessarily represent the views of the World Family Policy Center

or Brigham Young University.

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Newsletter created and distributed by:

World Family Policy Center (www.worldfamilypolicy.org)

J. Reuben Clark Law School

Brigham Young University

Acting Managing Director: A. Scott Loveless

Newsletter Editor: Elena Starovoitova

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