World Family Policy Center Newsletter

Paul T. Mero

Sutherland Institute, President

The following is an excerpt from Paul Mero’s speech "The Physics of the Natural Family: Why Families Don’t Fall Down" presented at The World Congress of Families IV Warsaw, Poland, May 2007:

…There are natural reasons why structures fall down or stay standing. Every physical structure is governed by laws of nature and its existence can be explained through the science of physics. Family structures are no exception to any of these laws or science. There are scientific reasons quantifiable and empirical why certain families fall down and why many others stay standing.

When we think of families rarely do we think in terms of their physical makeup or how they are structured. All of us do what we can to survive day to day. Human relationships are so heart-felt and emotional that to consider them in terms of structure seems to de-humanize them. So when families fail, and society is left to pick up the pieces and clear the rubble, we don’t often prescribe rational answers to the questions of structures. Such was the response from medieval masons, carpenters, and shipwrights who, when asked why their physical structures remained intact, might typically have responded that the hand of God was responsible for keeping them standing or afloat. Such sentiments led to ceremonies, sometimes celebratory, sometimes superstitious, such as the christening of a ship with a bottle of champagne or the laying of a cornerstone by the chief citizen of a community.

Ceremony and sentiment do not explain science. Buildings stand, ships float, and airplanes fly for specific scientific reasons. So, too, do family structures survive or fail. As difficult as it might be for non-scientists to study physics, the corner of the world of physics dealing with structures has been required to build the vast cities in which we live and through which most of the world’s relationships are transacted. Again, because of emotions, we prefer not to think of families in honest and objective terms. This exercise is often tiring and painful. It requires introspection when families fail and humility when they survive. It requires learning from our mistakes and honesty in our reflections about the natural human experience. And just as ceremony and sentiment do not explain the survival of physical structures, neither do ideologies explain (or excuse) the physics of natural family structures.

We might wish away gravity; indeed, we might create a whole political movement toward that end. But such an effort would be futile against the laws of nature and science. Ideology is defenseless against truth, and ideologies denying the strength and durability of the natural family structure are as delusional and arrogant as the Babylonian effort to build a tower to heaven.

To understand the physics of the natural family we begin by understanding the scientific intersection of both structure and material. We cannot talk about the one without talking about the other, and there is no clear-cut dividing line between the two except that we know that both must be considered. Referring back to the Three Little Pigs, straw, stick, and brick are materials and each created structures whose integrity was determined largely by the materials used.

The same is true in families. Even the best family structures can fail to sustain the load of life when its materials (its family members) are too weak. We also know of family structures that defy the odds primarily because the material utilized is exceptional. But, alas, "odds" do not really exist in science. If an unconventional family structure survives it will do so within certain bounds and limitations and, probably, only up to a certain point of force against it. So material is as important as structure the two go hand in hand.

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

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FEATURED NEWS ARTICLES

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1. California justices appear split on gay marriage

Boston.com

March 5, 2008

LOS ANGELES - The California Supreme Court appeared divided yesterday over the constitutionality of the state's ban on same-sex marriage.

During three hours of arguments by lawyers for and against gay marriage, Justice Joyce L. Kennard questioned whether "the state has effectively conceded there is no valid grounds for distinction" between domestic partnership and marriage.

But at least three of the seven justices repeatedly noted that California voters have defined marriage as a union between a man and a woman, and that the public might not be ready to embrace same-sex marriage.

To view the entire article, visit http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/03/05/calif_justices_appear_split_on_gay_marriage/

Gay split makes history: Judge Oks gay divorce

New York Post

February 27, 2008

There's no such thing as gay marriage in New York - but a Manhattan judge says that doesn't mean there can't be gay divorce.

In a bombshell, first-of-its-kind ruling, state Supreme Court Justice Laura Drager is allowing a Manhattan woman to sue for divorce from the longtime lesbian lover she married in Canada in 2004.

"Donna M." had argued her marriage to "Beth R." should be declared void because New York doesn't allow gay nuptials, but Drager disagreed.

"[T]his court's decision [is] that out-of-state same-sex marriages are properly recognized under our law," and therefore Beth R. can proceed with her divorce and custody action against mother of two Donna M., the ruling says.

Drager noted that there are only two exceptions where New York does not recognize an out-of-state marriage - if it is specifically named by the Legislature as prohibited or is "abhorrent to New York public policy."

To view the entire article, visit http://www.nypost.com/seven/02262008/news/regionalnews/gay_split_makes_ny_herstory_99275.htm

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2. Malta and Poland Stand Up to EU on Abortion

Brussels Journal

March 6, 2008

Malta and Poland broke rank with the European Union (EU) on the question of abortion… The dissension occurred at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW)… The reaction of Malta and Poland happened after the EU tried to shift the meeting’s agenda to include the right to abortion…

Malta firmly continues to maintain that any position taken or recommendations made regarding women’s empowerment and gender equality should not in any way create an obligation on any party to consider abortion as a legitimate form of reproductive health rights, services or commodities.” Radoslaw Mleczko, the Polish Under-Secretary of State in the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy, told the gathering of UN Member States that Poland generally aligned itself with the EU but that any EU reference to sexual and reproductive health could not include abortion.

To view the entire article, visit http://www.brusselsjournal.com/node/3061/print

Doctors Advised Abortion; Baby Born Healthy

CitizenLink

February 25, 2008

A Wales couple are enjoying their healthy 5-month-old son after they defied doctors' recommendation to abort him.

Before Brandon Kramer was born, doctors diagnosed him, via an MRI scan, with a rare brain disorder that reportedly would cause deafness and blindness. Becky and Kriss were told their son probably would survive only a few hours. Just weeks before Brandon's birth, doctors recommended abortion.

The couple ignored the doctors’ advice and welcomed a healthy boy on Oct. 1, 2007. He is now teething and attempting to talk.

"I feel incredibly guilty thinking that I could have killed him — and then I find myself wondering how many other babies are killed who would have turned out to be completely healthy,” Becky told London’s Daily Mail.

The parents said they want their story to serve as a warning for other parents advised to abort their babies.

According to the British Paediatric Neurology Association, “Just because you have an abnormality in a scan doesn't mean your baby will turn out abnormally.”

Officials at the University Hospital of Wales said an urgent case review will be conducted.

Dawn Vargo, associate bioethics analyst for Focus on the Family Action, said prenatal diagnoses often are wrong.

To view the entire article, visit http://www.citizenlink.org/CLtopstories/A000006639.cfm

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3. California Effort to Legalize Assisted Suicide Fails Again Over Budget Crisis

LifeNews.com

February 22, 2008

Sacramento, CA -- California lawmakers are apparently so concerned about the state budget crisis there that they failed to reintroduce a bill to legalize assisted suicide by a deadline today. Last year, backers of the bill that would have legalized assisted suicide in California fell short in having enough votes to advance the measure in the state Assembly.

They pulled it from consideration when they realized they did not have enough votes to get it approved by a legislative deadline.

The bill had already received approval from a state Assembly committee but did not have enough votes to make it through the full Assembly.

This year, Assemblywoman Patty Berg, a co-sponsor, appears to not have been able to meet the February 22 deadline for introducing new bills for the 2008 legislative session.

Carol Hogan, communications director for the California Catholic Conference, told the California Catholic newspaper she thinks the assisted suicide debate will now shift to Washington, where a proposal to legalize the practice is expected on the November ballot.

To view the entire article, visit http://www.lifenews.com/state2935.html

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4. Japan party seeks to ban possession of child porn

Reuters

February 24, 2008

TOKYO - Japan's ruling party plans to ban possession of child pornography after pressure from the United States to fall in with industrialized countries which have stepped up the fight against sexual exploitation of children.

The production and distribution of obscene images of people under 18 is already illegal under a 1999 law, but there is no law banning individuals from possessing such material.

Asked whether such a ban would be introduced, an official at the office of a former Justice Minister who was picked to head a committee on the issue said: "We are basically moving in that direction."

But the official added that the committee set up by Liberal Democratic Party had yet to begin its deliberations.

Justice Minister Kunio Hatoyama said earlier this month that possession of obscene images of children should be banned.

Most child porn investigations cut across international borders and the United States has urged Japan to clamp down on possession of child porn, so that it can better cooperate with police from other countries.

To view the entire article, visit http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUST3245420080225

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5. Obama regrets intervening to save Terri Schiavo

WorldNetDaily

February 27, 2008

Asked in last night's debate to name a regret, Sen. Barack Obama said he would like to take back his vote authorizing Congress to intervene to save the life of the brain-injured Florida woman Terri Schiavo.

Schiavo, on whom WND reported extensively, died of starvation and dehydration in March 2005, two weeks after a federal judge ruled her husband could order doctors to withhold food and water.

Her parents, Robert and Mary Schindler, battled unsuccessfully through Florida's state courts and federal courts to spare her life. She was not on artificial life support but needed a feeding tube to eat and drink, a measure her husband opposed.

Congress got involved by allowing the Schindlers to argue their case in federal court after their appeals in state courts failed. The Senate approved by unanimous consent a compromise plan that the House later endorsed and President Bush signed.

But during last night's Democratic presidential candidate debate with Sen. Hillary Clinton, Obama confirmed he believed congressional intervention in Schiavo's case was wrong.

To view the entire article, visit http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=57488

Senate Committee Passes Bill to Support Babies with Disabilities

CitizenLink

February 28, 2008

A U.S. Senate committee has unanimously passed the Prenatally and Postnatally Diagnosed Conditions Awareness Act (S. 1810), which will provide up-to-date information to families who receive adverse genetic diagnoses during pregnancy.

U.S. Senator Sam Brownback, R-Kan., who co-sponsored the bill, applauded the committee's decision.

"It is difficult, sometimes overwhelming, for expecting parents to receive news that their unborn child may be born with a disability," Brownback said. "This legislation will help parents receiving such news by supplying them with current and reliable information about the many options available for caring for children with disabilities."

To view the entire article, visit http://www.citizenlink.org/content/A000006669.cfm