"Called to Eternal Life": Babies and Rights

Fr. James V. Schall, S.J.

Dr. J's favorite quote:

Our culture rejects, for the most part, the best and most exalted way in which
children should come among us. Thus, we have a society filled with
people who have not known what was naturally due to them. That is, each
child is to be born in a home in which each child has a father and a mother who
begot him and accepted him in love and generosity as a gift they did not plan or
devise. The actual child was not even in the thoughts of parents, whose
attention was on each other. Yet, they were prepared and happy to accept that
their relation naturally led to something beyond themselves, something seen in
the faces of their own children.

http://www.ignatiusinsight.com/features2009/schall_rightsbabies_sept09.asp

Studios now see value in family-friendly films

Allie Martin - OneNewsNow -

A noted entertainment critic and author says Christians are making a difference when it comes to the availability of family-friendly movies.

Ted Baehr is president of MovieGuide, a magazine and Internet site offering in-depth reviews of movies from a biblical perspective. Baehr says the box-office success of recent movies such as Facing the Giants, Fireproof, and The Passion of the Christ have shown Hollywood executives there is a market for movies with a biblical worldview.

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=673972

Pro-union bill contrary to pro-family movement

Chad Groening - OneNewsNow -

A former presidential candidate and conservative activist says the proposal known as the Employee Free Choice Act -- if enacted into law -- would pose a substantial threat to the interests of the pro-family movement.

Critics say the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) is really not about free choice at all. It would allow unions to take away workers' rights to secret ballot votes and to be certified only after a card-check campaign. These signed cards could be obtained through harassment and intimidation.

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Politics/Default.aspx?id=662066

British tax and benefit system favours single parents

Carolyn Moynihan

Does the British government actually not want some people to marry? It rather looks like it, judging by the financial penalty many couples face as a result of the tax they pay and the benefits they do not receive. In fact, it looks as though the government wants those who are married to split up.
An analysis of 98 couples with different earnings and numbers of children carried out by the charity Care showed that 76 of the couples would be better off if they split up and claimed welfare benefits that average £8007. Increasingly it is middle-income families where both parents work that suffer this “couple penalty”.

http://www.mercatornet.com/family_edge/view/british_tax_and_benefit_system_favours_single_parents/

The business of looking after the family

Nuria Chinchilla

Only if they act responsibly towards the family can businesses and society at large thrive.
Anyone listening to business leaders these days, or simply doing the weekly shopping at the supermarket, can hardly miss the impact that the “green” movement is having on the production and marketing of goods. For decades, businesses washed their hands of their impact on the environment, but this attitude has changed recently. There are rules, quality certifications and laws that have made businesses more aware of their responsibility to the environment and the need to preserve the earth’s natural resources in our own interests and for the sake of future generations.

http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/the_business_of_looking_after_the_family/

Families gather around TV to do their own thing

Carolyn Moynihan
Electronic media, once a force for togetherness as whole families gathered around the radio or television, are now pulling families apart, according to a report from the UK’s communication’s regulator, Ofcom.

James Thickett, Ofcom’s director of market research, said: “What we find is that there has been a trend for people to converge on the living room, to watch the 37in high-definition television, but when they get there they start to do something else like surf the internet as well.”

http://www.mercatornet.com/family_edge/view/families_gather_around_tv_to_do_their_own_thing/

Every Family Matters: A major British report on marriage

Carolyn Moynihan
Despite what we have said recently on this blog, some Brits do get it about things to do with family life, and some of them are pretty important people. There is, for example, the former Conservative Party leader and current MP Iain Duncan Smith, who heads a very influential think tank called the Centre for Social Justice. This independent policy group has just published a major report calling for legal changes to support marriage as the basis of stable family life.
http://www.mercatornet.com/family_edge/view/every_family_matters_a_major_british_report_on_marriage/

The Importance of Family Meals

by Rebecca Hagelin
How often does your family have dinner together?
That simple question often evokes an answer of, "Ummmmmm......"
What used to be the most basic of activities has become increasingly difficult to schedule in today's busy world. But bringing back the time-honored practice of "breaking bread" with your own family could be the single greatest step you take toward saving your family from all kinds of ills.
http://townhall.com/columnists/RebeccaHagelin/2009/07/08/the_importance_of_family_meals?page=full&comments=true

Equal Parenting

Finding an equitable arrangement in divorce is important. Better still are parents who can stay together
By Stefan Paszlack, Researcher, Institute of Marriage and Family Canada
Last summer National Post columnist Barbara Kay asked this question: “When can divorced Canadian fathers – and their children – expect justice, so long demanded, so long promised and so long deferred?” [1] She’s not the only one. Equal parenting has been getting more and more attention, in particular when Dr. Edward Kruk released Child Custody, Access and Parental Responsibility: The search for a just and equitable standard in December 2008. Then on June 16, 2009, Maurice Vellacott , Member of Parliament for Saskatoon-Wanuskewin introduced Bill C-422. [2] It’s an equal parenting bill, which seeks to amend portions of the Divorce Act to change the legal presumption of sole custody in divorce disputes to one of joint custody.

http://www.imfcanada.org/article_files/eReview_July1_2009.pdf

Commentary: Let's end disposable marriage

By Leah Ward Sears

ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- After Tommy's sudden death, we found among my brother's personal effects a questionnaire he had completed in 2005 for a church class.
The very first question was a fill-in-the-blank that went like this: "At the end of my life, I'd love to be able to look back and know I'd done something about ....."
"Fathers," Tommy wrote.
When asked to identify something that angered him that could be changed, Tommy wrote, "Re-establishment of equity and balance and sanity within the American family."

http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/07/02/sears.family.divorce/index.html?iref=hpmostpop

'Raising children properly' requires stay-at-home parent: Alberta minister

Liberal leader demands apology from Iris Evans for 'outrageous claims'
Alberta's Liberal leader is demanding an apology from Finance Minister Iris Evans, who suggested that in order to raise children "properly" one parent should stay at home while the other goes to work.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/calgary/story/2009/06/17/education-iris-evans-alberta-minister.html?ref=rss

Lowering the boom on the boomers

Carolyn Moynihan

A generation's self-indulgence has wrecked the family. Now it's time to clean up.
Ever since the baby boom generation first arrived on the world scene six decades ago, they have been the spoilt kids on the block. We (because I am one of them) were delivered in well-run maternity hospitals where our mothers could stay for a week if necessary, rather than being turned out after a day. Our families had subsidised housing if we needed it. Our early school years had perks like free apples and milk, and our free education extended right through university.

http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/lowering_the_boom_on_the_boomers/

Internet, the thief of family time

Carolyn Moynihan

If anybody doubted it, research by one of America’s leading journalisminstitutes confirms that the Internet is making inroads into familytime. Members are dealing with each other less face-to-face, women inparticular are tending to feel ignored at times, and parents worry thattheir children are spending too much time online.

http://www.mercatornet.com/family_edge/view/internet_the_thief_of_family_time/

Tiger Woods: ‘Nothing beats fun with the kids’

Carolyn Moynihan
What is it about golf and fatherhood? Jack Nicklaus was the super dad(of five) of his day. A few years ago it New Zealand whiz-kid MichaelCampbell who carried the torch for family life. Now it’s Tiger Woods,poster boy for Father’s Day as he delights in the recent expansion ofhis family.

http://www.mercatornet.com/family_edge/view/tiger_woods_nothing_beats_fun_with_the_kids/

Dear Dad, it’s been a long time…

Carolyn Moynihan
Father’s Day is celebrated this Sunday in the United States but thereare a great many families where dad is alienated from mum and/or hischildren. So the Ruth Institute has come up with a reconciliationproposal for these families, suggesting that “now would be a good timeto pick up the phone, or write a short note, opening the door forfurther communication.”

http://www.mercatornet.com/family_edge/view/dear_dad_its_been_a_long_time/

Sense of family obligation healthy for teens

Children of immigrants often excel as students because their parentshave very high expectations of them and make sacrifices to ensure theyget the best opportunities. Now a study of Chinese-American youthsshows that they have another advantage over their peers: they tend tohave better mental health than average in their mid-teens. The reasonhighlighted by the study is their sense of obligation to their families-- caring for siblings or helping elders, for example.

http://www.mercatornet.com/family_edge/view/sense_of_family_obligation_healthy_for_teens/

Married, with children, pays

Money talks at the Economist, and the talk in this item from May 12,which has just been brought to our attention, is that in most of thedeveloped world it pays to be married with children. That is becausemost governments offer some form of tax breaks or cash benefits tooffset the cost of bringing up children.

http://www.mercatornet.com/family_edge/view/married_with_children_pays/

Imaginary friends are natural

Carolyn Moynihan

Are children who have imaginary friends a little abnormal? Are theycompensating for a lack of real friends or for some internal malaise?Not at all, according to Australian researchers at La Trobe University.In fact, it seems to come naturally to the majority of children toinvent an invisible companion. What’s more, it gives them better socialskills than those who don’t.

http://www.mercatornet.com/family_edge/view/imaginary_friends_are_natural/

‘Mum, Dad, where are you? I need to talk’

Carolyn Moynihan

It’s Youth Week in New Zealand and a survey of almost 10,000 students at 96 secondary schools shows that more than half of them want to spend more time with their parents.
Some 54 per cent “sometimes” or “hardly ever” get enough time with their mothers and 61 per cent sometimes or hardly ever get enough time with their dads. This is “big stuff”, says Auckland University researcher Simon Denny. “Having a close relationship with a parent is one of the most important predictors of good health and wellbeing for young people.”

http://www.mercatornet.com/family_edge/view/mum_dad_where_are_you_i_need_to_talk/

A great new British brand: National Family Week

Carolyn Moynihan

It’s National Family Week (25th to 31st May) in Britain, a new idea that has the simple aim of bringing families together and has the support of leading commercial brands, charities and all political parties.

Each day of National Family Week will be themed around an activity encouraging families to spend more quality time together, whether that is playing or watching sport, preparing and eating a meal together, playing family games or watching family-orientated films.

http://www.mercatornet.com/family_edge/view/a_great_new_british_brand_national_family_week/