Should Everyone Have the Right to Be a Parent?

We see so much abuse of children's rights in the world today, and many horrific abuses enacted against the innocence of a child. Children are used and manipulated to fight wars and carry out atrocities against others, by groups that prey on their innocent minds and easy sway; and, we are left in all this to ask ourselves, where are the parents? Everyone should have the right to be a parent, but not everyone should be a parent.

It is not a God given right to have children. Do you think God wanted those that do not know how to parent to have children they will neglect and abuse? Yet, those types of people are indeed having children, and evoking their supposed God given right.

The woman's body may be designed to nurture a conception to viable life, but if she and her male counterpart are clueless to what it takes to be an involved and effective parent, they will be contributing to psychological and sociological problems in any child they bring into the world. We do not just have children so that they can raise themselves. We can call anyone a parent because they birthed a child, but it takes more than birthing to be a positive role model in the lives of children.

We have couples that bring babies into the world because they believe it will save the relationship or keep the relationship going. This is the worst reason to have a child, and more often children that are products of that philosophy will not have the best parenting available to them. It seems many people do not stop to think about all that goes into being a parent, before they choose to make a baby, and that falls on the selfish side of being human beings. Remember, the newness of having a baby will wear off fast, but the commitment to raising them responsibly will last for a long time.

We live in a world where it is okay for a man to not feel he is ready or able to be a father, and so he bows out of the equation. But, we look down upon a woman who does not have the wish or desire to be a mother. Because she is designed to cradle life in her womb, we just assume that every woman wants to be a mother. It is not the case, and many women do indeed lack the need and desire to be motherly or a parent. These women should not be parents, and many of them do decide to not be parents---it is their right to choose.

Child abuse is rampant in our own United States, as well as in numerous foreign countries. Children are thrown away by parents that do not have the faculties or want to raise them. In certain parts of the world, children are a commodity and are sold into labor rings and prostitution by so called parents that believe it is more important to sacrifice a few of their children if it means they can keep a roof over their heads and food on the table. Is that positive parenting? Should these people have the right to breed even more children that will be eventually sold in this same way?

In our own America, we have had numerous cases of horrific child abuse enacted against the innocent of our society---the children. We hear about the rich lawyer in New York City, back in the 80's, who abused his children's book writer common law wife, and beat her into obedience so she would not question the abuse and neglect he would also carry out against the two children they adopted. They adopted two innocent lives, which they were supposed to nurture and love, and one was beaten to death, while the other was left chained to a chair leg neglected for months. This couple passed the adoption screening to become responsible parents, and yet they were anything but parents to these two innocent lives. But, society gave them the right to be parents.

We have women with real mental conditions that have baby after baby, because they and their husband believe it is their God given right to keep having children despite the mental illness diagnosed and suffered by the wife. And then, society looks on with horror when we hear about how she hears God, who gave her the right to have children, telling her to drown all 5 of them. Why did they keep having children? Why was someone not smart enough to see that a mental illness such as post-partum depression, does not get better by having more children, and nor does it make for a quality parent.

There are parents found guilty of keeping their children locked in closets and cages. There are parents criminally charged with sexually abusing their children. There are parents that will not work to support their children. There are parents that do not take a vested interest in their children. There are parents that are so ignorant themselves, and yet they have children they will equally dumb-down. There are parents that have no true understanding of what it means to be a parent because they, themselves, were raised by dysfunctional parents, and they continue the cycle. There are parents that have wealth which buys them the luxury of having someone else come into their homes and raise their children. There are so many unnecessary evils directed toward children by adults who are entrusted with their care and upbringing. There are...

Everyone should have the right to be a parent, however, being a parent is not a right, it is a privilege, and one that should never be entered into blindly or irrationally or by force. If you push forward with your right to be a parent, make sure you push forward with the right amount of awareness and knowledge that will allow you to raise those precious children you are entrusted with. Instill them with knowledge, values, common sense, nurturing, respect, love, and make sure to encourage them to be responsible and considerate members of society. Passive parenting, abusive parenting, and neglectful parenting are not a right; it is a crime.