United Nations Population Fund Leader Says Family Breakdown is a Triumph for Human Rights
From LifeSiteNews:
MEXICO CITY, February 3, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A leader in the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has declared that the breakdown of traditional families, far from being a “crisis,” is actually a triumph for human rights.(emphasis added)
Speaking at a colloquium held last month at Colegio Mexico in Mexico City, UNFPA representative Arie Hoekman denounced the idea that high rates of divorce and out-of-wedlock births represent a social crisis, claiming that they represent instead the triumph of “human rights” against “patriarchy.”
"In the eyes of conservative forces, these changes mean that the family is in crisis," he said. "In crisis? More than a crisis, we are in the presence of a weakening of the patriarchal structure, as a result of the disappearance of the economic base that sustains it and because of the rise of new values centered in the recognition of fundamental human rights."
"Day after day, Mexico experiences a process of this diversity and there are those who understand it as a crisis, because they only recognize one type of family," one of the speakers on the panel also told the audience.
The comments followed close on the heels of the World Meeting of Families, which was held in Mexico City in January, and which strongly reaffirmed the importance of the traditional family and its indispensible role in transmitting values to the next generation. It was opened by Mexican President Felipe Calderon, who observed that high rates of divorce and out-of-wedlock births were contributing to the rise of violence and crime in Mexico.
Leonardo Casco, a member of the Pontifical Council for the Family and a citizen of Honduras, told LifeSiteNews that he wasn't surprised that the UNFPA was denying the crisis in the family.
"They definitely have to deny that there is a crisis in the family, because they have created the crisis," he said.
Calling the UNFPA "bureaucrats at the service of death," Casco observed that "after 45 years of birth control, the pill, disrespect for marriage for the family, for children, etc, this is the result. Because of that we have violence, war, lack of respect of women, children."
Through their promotion and distribution of contraceptives the UNFPA has become "a birth control agency at the service of the most powerful countries" said Casco. "They have destroyed the family, values, this is undeniable, it's what everyone says ... but they always have to deny it."
Regarding Hoekman’s comments about “human rights,” Casco responded that UNFPA bureaucrats “have invented a series of new 'human rights',” that did not exist when the concept was defined in 1948, “with which they wish to justify all of their actions.”
The UNFPA recently celebrated the restoration of US support after seven years, during which they were denied funding by the Bush administration. UNFPA has cooperated with and even helped to subsidize China's One Child Policy, which persecutes and performs forced abortions on women who have more than one child.
In addition to its support for forced abortions, the UNFPA has helped to administer forced sterilizations in South America and is involved in the distribution and promotion of contraceptives and sterilization worldwide, with a focus on poorer countries.
Labels: Culture of Death, Families, Malthusian Nonsense, United Nations
posted by Pro Ecclesia 10:21 AM
45 comments
45 Comments:
Thanks for posting this
Yeah, you know what, take away the religious fundamentalism and its induced sexism and you'll realize he's right.
I'm a child of a divorced family who, after going to Harvard, getting a PHD, now works with AIDS victims in Mexico City with my same-sex partner. 100 years ago I'd probably be put in an insane assylum and rejected by my family. Today BOTH my partner and I are loved and accepted by our families and give back to society. I call that progress. Bravo UNPFA
I agree wholeheartedly. The notion of family as one man and one woman and their children is not the reality in so much of the world. The damage comes from clinging to and favoring this structure. We need to value healthy and mutually beneficial relationships, regardless of gender or conformity. And we need the genders and races of our leaders to reflect the general population.
While I agree that higher rates of divorce aren't automatically a sign of the breakdown of real family values (it may be more a sign that people are losing the skills to know who and when to marry, which is a somewhat separate issue that needs to be worked on), it's still not a good thing to see it continue at its current high level (heading towards 50% in the US, or already there?).
I don't agree that higher rates of divorce, etc. necessarily "...represent...the triumph of “human rights” against “patriarchy.” Though men trying to keep marriages "together" just to suit their own needs is a bad thing, women can do this too. In any case, I think we can have solid families, of all sorts (whether married or not), whose members don't feel they're (and aren't) "stuck with" each other, and who also have good connections to the rest of the community too--I don't see the two as being mutually exclusive.
I also don't think distribution of contraceptives, family planning, etc. is automatically a sign or tool of improper social control. It can be practiced properly, and not have that effect. It's other things that get sneaked into such programs, or other policies implemented in parallel, that may be responsible for disrupting families. And much of the apparent disruption of families that some think result from these programs, is a matter of perception, not reality--in many cases, it's coincidental forces at work, or no disruption happening in the first place.
"...we are in the presence of a weakening of the patriarchal structure, as a result of the disappearance of the economic base that sustains it and because of the rise of new values centered in the recognition of fundamental human rights..."
New values centered in the recognition of fundamental human rights?
I truly believe these lefists make more sense asleep than during their hours awake.
It is hard to imagine any "breakdown" in patriarchal structures of societies as anything but a positive thing.
Yes, it is a breakdown of "traditional", conservative values. The essence of conservatism is, after all, to conserve, to hold on to the past. Conservatives insist everyone adhere to "Authority", to God, mostly male dominated authority that has been institutionalized for thousands of years at the expense of somebody being marginalized.
Half the HUMAN population, I think, is female. Half of the Clergy in the Catholic church, it not female, go figure. What an absurd institution.
Why is it that conservatives need to conserve the past? Because someone is asking or fighting for something those conservatives are protecting for themselves. It is called power; the power to choose, and live free.
UNFPA is quite right. That a breakdown occurs in a patriarchal structure, in terms of who is included in power and decision making structures, is a positive thing, it is called progress: that is an awakening and a recovery or advancement of human rights by those who have been excluded from power by virtue of a single gene, for example.
I pray for the day that women finally gain their rightful place at the table. I pray for the day that each and every woman in the world is educated sufficiently, and protected legally and moraly, to make her own choices and not be brainwashed or brutalized into making choices she does not want to make because some male authority says that is what she should do to be a "good woman". I pray for the day that women in third world countries are empowered intellectually and economically to have and make their OWN choices about how to live their God-given lives.
It is a triumph that the Mexico City Gag rule is being lifted by a far more enlightened American President. Woman need sexual health education to become empowered. They need contraception so avoid unwanted pregnancy so they can pursue their own lives as they CHOOSE.
To my mind an anser wud be to make marrage [I use reformd spelling] a contract for only 20 years rather than for life. The 20 years is for the childrens' sake. I see no reason wy a wuman shud hav to sine a contract binding her for life to an employer [her husband] to be payd by him wotever he elects to alot her, with no permission to quit her job regardless of how he acts. After 20 years the marrage contract cud be renewd optionaly if both partys agree.
I agree with UNPFA and our new enlightened president. Forced abortion, sterilization and genocide would be great tools to limit the number of people that have to believe in this crap in order to justify their own lack of morality. I do believe many socialist regimes have used these techniques in the past with great success.
What I love about this thread is that if anyone ever tries to argue that this guy is some outlier or oddball unsupported by mnay people, we can just link back to these comments.
I think its a good thing to have contraceptives because if the child isn't already born then it almost undoubtedly wont care, you can threaten a baby and it wont get scared (not that i've actually done that, but i've seen it done)
president obama is quite religious...does this imply that he's been induced with sexism?
do chinese boys end up being more successful because their mothers were forced to abort unborn sisters? is the one man seven women structure damaging if it is healthy and mutually beneficial?
should our leaders all be indian and chinese males? if a woman CHOOSES to "conserve" a "traditional" role is that regress? i understand and support the goal but i don't agree with strategy that the UNPFA is using to achieve them.
I agree w/ 1st anon
I fail to understand society's preoccupation with its respective genitalia. I wish religious organizations, abortion organizations and all of the other groups so devoted to promoting, not promoting, absolving or dissolving pregnancies and relationships or fashioning relationships to suit their individual needs would vanish off the face of the earth. They (and you all) are boring beyond belief. Worst of all, they're carrying on this nonsense in order to keep their useless positions, and they're using my tax $ to do so. Aaaaaaaagh!
I agree with the third anon who agreed with the first anon.
First of all, the UN is a sick organization anyway, so this doesn’t surprise me at all.
Secondly, this idea is just ridiculous if you really think about it. What he’s calling “human rights” is just an excuse for people to shirk their responsibilities. A man should be “free” to dump his wife and kids and go his own way and everyone should be “free” to sleep around, pop out kids and leave the kids with grandparents or even friends to raise because they (birth parents) want to have their “right to freedom” to continue partying. Whatever happened to a sense of responsibility to one’s own innocent children?
And think about this: who usually ends up raising the kids after a divorce? Not the man, at least not in the US. So how does giving men more freedom to use women as playthings make women less oppressed? Talk about backwards leftist thinking!
I’m not against education about all available family planning methods (even if they don’t mesh with my religion because I cannot raise all the abandoned babies out there) and I’m fine with “alternative” family structures, just as long as somebody takes full responsibility when a child is born.
And by the way, I'm a female raised partly by a single mother, partly by grandparents (father paid no child support, etc.), so yes, I'm a little biased.
"after 45 years of birth control, the pill, disrespect for marriage for the family, for children, etc, this is the result. Because of that we have violence, war, lack of respect of women, children."
So there was no violence, no war and no disrespect of women and children prior to 1960? Do the Crusades, the witchhunts, forced conversion of indigenous populations ring any bells with Catholics?
If you think the UN guy is right you are a pathetic example of a human being, including you, Clint. You are just looking for a way to legitimize your own flawed view of the world and justify your carnal perverted relationship. Megan you're wrong too. Marriage is a man and a woman not MSM or FSF. Patriachy is not an enemy of human rights, not in the least. What is the enemy of humanity is nuts like ya'll who agree with this UN bozo. I'll sleep well tonight, because someday I know God will straighten you all out...
I believe in retro-active abortion...please post your addresses so I can take care of what your mother didn't.
So.....your hypothesis is that war, disease, homicide, domestic violence, lack of self respect, sexual promiscuity, and... heck..lets just say it "Any woes of the human condition"....are caused by patriarchal structure and if we just provide contraceptives, encourage the dissolution of the traditional family and discourage the sanctity of the woman as a equal, her body, and the respect of the mother as the giver of life...all our ills(as a human race) will go away. LOL!!!
I am content to see that we are becoming so conversant and supportive of individual rights.
The patriarchal zealots and all males must be collectively exterminated. After all, it is obvious that our growing prison population, welfare recepients, and collective work refusniks are wonderful addtions to our fine society. Long live immorality cloaked as sophistication and
ethical bankruptcy as laudable.
This is more of the "ONE WORLD ORDER" unvieling themselves. Evil can't hide for long because it wants recognition! The whole plan from the begining of America is DE-POPULATION, from slavery to abortion,to assisted suicides, to 3 strikes your out law, the pharmacuetical company's keeping people sick and dying, you name it! You think there is no cure for cancer??? PLEASE!! People will see especially between now and 2012 how much the "powers that be" want to create a problem, wait for the uprising in the people, become the "solution" and then eventually kill us all. Find Christ! if you do nothing else in life. . .FIND CHRIST!
At the turn of the 19th to 20th century, the average American marriage lasted only 12 years, due to death of a spouse, often the wife, from childbirth.
Today, people are expected to remain married for decades, not just a few years.
In the Catholic Church, about 95 percent of Catholics ignore the official edicts on birth control.
In the old days, there was birth control, usually in the form of hysterectomies performed on women by gynecologists who sought to assist women in a paternalistic way.
I wonder sometimes if the Church is so pro-family, why have they not helped women more in terms of lobbying for better childcare, as most women must work outside the home now. Why have they not advocated for women in all realms? Why is it always about contraception and abortion? Why don't we hear leaders talking about domestic violence, rape, and other problems. Why are there no "educate our girls" ministries in the Church?
Women are not going back, and even the ones who can stay home, want rich lives, not just dozens of children. We are fully human, not man's sidekick.
The Church missed the boat on the empowerment of women. It is too focused on our uteruses and private parts.
I love reading the comments by modern liberals. As a classical liberal they strike me as so aristocratic and sophisticated. Like 18th century France.
I mean, imagine the egotism in choosing a name like Freethinker. The name at once conjures up the smug face of some college sophmore, pimples and all, thinking he's the BMOC. Hi, I am FREETHINKER. Can you tell by my name that I am smart. Please recognize me, please!
I mean these UN guys are like gigilos. They'll say anything as long as they get paid and get to travel and there is no danger involved.
Or take Clint. He lives in this homosexual persecution myth. He works with AIDS "victims". Like AIDS is a spider bite or something. I mean they get it from having homosexual intercourse or getting blood from a homosexual. Victims my posterior! A hundred years ago you would have told people your boyfriend is your cousin or uncle and they would not have batted an eye. Only today you announce it on a blog, in a parade and on TV. You don't see heterosexuals so preoccupied with their sex. Look at me I am a homosexual. It makes me a good person.
Melanie are you referring to Islam and the oft abused 4 to 1 ratio? Or some jungle tribe where old men marry children? I mean name one successful civilization not built on one man one woman marriage.
Liberalism is a mental illness. You guys get indoctrinated in college and you think a degree makes it true?
Your own comments unwind your arguments. You both defend and prosecute your straw men. It would be funny, but you try to force your ideas on the rest of us. Yes, nothing like force.
I once met a girl with an anti-Nazi T-shirt on. She was a communist. Liberals don't get it. Nazism and Communism are cousins on the same side of the aisle. The UN is the modern version and uses the same tactics.
Manipulate, indoctrinate and force those too poor and ignorant to resist. Thankfully Americans still have their guns.
Let's hope they know how to use them.
Sincerely,
Not My Real Name
Anonymous 10:43 - there you go again. Think woman before you speak.
In the USA 80% of the poor are unwed mothers who never graduated HS. What is a family without the traditional father/husband? Nothing. The kids run on the
streets and seek out gangs for the love they don't get at home. They end up filling our prisons after raping, robbing and murdering people who post on blogs. People just like you.
Without intact families, families with fathers and husbands, you literally condemn these children to a Lord of the Flies existence. Is your fantasy working in Brazil, France, India, or China? Where in the world can you point to functional societies founded on feminist ideology or run by women? They don't exist. You are living in a college-induced, man hating hallucination. Snap out of it.
You'll feel disoriented and your liberal friends will at first just seem stupid, but after a week or so they will just seem borish.
Strong men = respected women and safe children.
Sincerely,
Not My Real Name
@ Clint
I congratulate you on your life. However, I am sad to see you will no longer be able to continue your line with your same sex partner...
Hello Melanie,
I would like to say that the world is not America or Europe. Where I have lived for the past 10 years, family is most definitely one man, one woman, and child or children...
Hilarious how this brought out the bible thumpers.. I guess they don't read their bibles they keep reccomending though... I love how they try to portray their Jesus myth as some conservative family man, yet when we actually read the bible we find him proclaiming...
Matthew 10
34Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.
35For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.
36And a man's foes shall be they of his own household.
I am appalled at this statement, thank you for posting it.
To whatever poster decided to drag Islam into the fray.
The 'oft abused' 4:1 ratio is a myth of sorts. It IS allowed in Islam but not as frequently practiced as the West would like to believe. Furthermore, since the men are required to treat all wives equally and provide for them all equally financially, it actually rarely happens. One on one marriages are more common in the Muslim world than multiple marriages. It's just that for most Westerners, they've come to believe that multiple, serial, or concurrent relationships with no rights or responsibilities for either party (parties?) is the norm.
Wow, Jay, you really stirred up a hornet's nest by posting an article from LifeSiteNews and not commenting on it.
We get anecdotal evidence of how alternative lifestyles and broken homes can still produce adults who do good, anti-male screeds, anti-Catholic nonsense, incoherent posts, pseudo-historical feminist rants, and Bible quotes used as an attempt to justify this idiocy.
Mostly done by anonymous pansies.
Imagine if you had expressed an opinion.
Tell me about it, Matthew. I don't know what it is about this particular story, but it has certainly brought out an "interesting" set of commenters and provided me with my best day ever as far as visits are concerned. Almost 3,500 hits in one day.
it's funny - every prolife, conservative or Catholic site I go to, the same tedious liberals keep on blitzing with their BS. I wonder if they're getting paid for it. The propaganda war continues! Goebbels would be so proud! One request please liberals: please keep posts short, as I have to skip over so many of them to find and respond to actual honest posts. To the faithful Christians, Keep the Faith! Love.
This report simply acknowledges what already exists: A family can be many things. What's so earth shattering about that? The alternative: Shame to those who don't/can't conform (which for children is a matter completely out of their control). As a Catholic, as a follower of Jesus, inclusion IS Christian.
Responding to many of the most recent comments-I love seeing real intelligence and wisdom being posted. As a student of evolutionary psychology, I am aware that many people don't realise how wired we are for taking the easy route. Dicipline is difficult. People say racism. People say sexism, genderism and conservativism. Traditoinally the man's world has worked for a reason. Im curoius to see what comes next in our democratic america when the undiciplined "citizens" of our new america vote in these "triumph for human rights."
-Chris
Well, although I KNOW that Abortion results in the death of a human life. And the Anti Bush' ies proclaim about the 4,00 deaths in Iraq, when there is 6 to 9 million American lifes that were aborted,( yep between 1 and 1.5 million per year) and I recognize the implications of calling abortion MURDER, (You know what they say, "If a woman coughs at the wrong time she might naturally abort and is that murder too?") I still support the right of these females to have an their own rights to kill their kids. Why? Because if they are willing to kill their own children, WE DON'T WANT THEIR DNA in the USA, thank you very much!
Also, I have some questions for the one who posted the ignorant comment arguing that no successful civilization has a homosexual family relationship.
What defines a successful civilization ? What is a civilization ?
Lets put it this way. The USA has only been a nation for about 230 years. Now lets look at Sparta which controlled Greece (which, incidentally was the most advanced culture of its time)for about the same period of time. Now any anthropologist (you know the little known group of people who devote themselves to the study of human culture) would consider these groups Civilizations, at least in a classical sense of the word.
Guess what Sparta used to practice infanticide as a means of population control and encouraged homosexual relationships to build comraderie within its military (funny thing the movie 300 leaves this out). It can also be said that the equality of Spartan citizens (I say citizen because they, like the USA were built on slaves) was greater than that of any society since and this includes the equality of women, who controlled the Spartan economy.
When the Catholic Church was in power, the west existed in what is now called the Dark Ages. They also ruled in a patriarchal society under a system called feudalism. This is where our ideas of the traditional family originate, in the roots of christian thought.
The fact of the matter is that sexual orientation has nothing to do with the success or failure of a society or civilization. Also, birth control is economically beneficial to a society, especially those which have industrialized (really all you need to do is replace machine of an industrial society with the slave and you have Sparta).
In fact, the British Empire rose to its height of power shortly(in a historical sense) after King Henry legalized divorce and his daughter Elizabeth ascended to power after a crazy Catholic daughter of his named Bloody Mary murdered all those people who didn't want to make the switch back to Catholicism.
Population control and sexual freedom are a good thing. It is insane to think otherwise. The conservative thought that argues otherwise originates from the propaganda spread by the Dark Age nobility that wanted to preserve Feudalism.
Industrial society is not the only form of civilized society that has historically existed. That is just ignorant thinking.
Furthermore, what defines a successful civilization is highly debatable. The world works in cycles, no society lasts forever. The word civilization should be replaced by the term hegemony in such debates as many societies are civilizations.
I can respond to that. No successful civilization has accepted homosexualilty. And what defines a successful civilazation is not debatable. A successful civ is defined by it's standard of living and its ability of cultural expansion. By accepting homosexuality and other liberal idealogoy, the U.S. and other democratic countries are embracing downfall.
Jay, I received in the mail yesterday a copy of Alien Nation, the old sci-fi series that ran in 89-90. Looking at some of the bizarre comments from pro-aborts and Catholic bashers in this thread, the timing seemed appropriate. You must have struck a nerve!
Didn't know posting such a comment would bring out this group. Let me just say that marriage is the basis of society. It is the most fundamental unit upon which all other society depends.
Is it perfect? No. It is composed of humans who fail. But on the whole, even a somewhat poor marriage is better than single parenthood in general. It is also certainly better than gay cohabitants raising children.
So if the UN official believes that the undermining of the foundation of society is liberating, then this more than confirms my doubts about the UN. Not that that was needed.
That last comment was mine. Not some other Anon.
While we should accept alternative families, they are certainly not the ideal. I come from a family where my parent's separation tore us apart. My younger brother has trouble coping with life and responsibility and turns to drugs. While no two people should remain together in an abusive situation a man / woman family is the best formula and people need to return to these values for the sake of our societies. The fall of the family has paralleled the rampant individualism which has led to this financial crisis. But with financial crisis, and destructive wars which are coming, the society will become less tolerant of deviations of the natural order and will correct it for survival purposes. Funny how societies who proscribe to the anti family agenda are demographically disappearing and being replaced by conservative peoples - albeit some with extreme ideas of their own. Its unfortunate that moderate western conservatives have become demonized as extremists by angry left. Conservatives are not out to just preserve the past for preservations sake - its to not forget the wisdom we've learned over millenia. Some people are so naive... and that's dangerous.
Adam, your comment was excellent. Except I think you mean we should "tolerate" alternative families but NOT "accept" them. We should not for example put same sex relationships on the same pedastel as traditional marriages by sanctioning their marriages.
"Its unfortunate that moderate western conservatives have become demonized as extremists by angry left. Conservatives are not out to just preserve the past for preservations sake - its to not forget the wisdom we've learned over millenia."
It isnt the "angry left" that "demonizes" the so-called 'conservatives'. They are condemned by the content of their beliefs. The persecution of homosexual people by conservatives is an abomination before God and man. This ridiculous championing of 'the family', as if championing a 'sacred' thing, is an idea already eclipsed around the world, but the puritan/evangelical streak in American culture is as usual woefully, painfully backward, devastatingly slow to evolve. That said, Christianity itself requires not the facade of "tolerance", but specifically requires the LOVE of all men and women. Tolerance is a peculiarly perverted facsimile of 'noblesse oblige', one ill-fitting the democratic ideal. Love, on the other hand, is the vision of God. indeed, it is God himself.
Campion
"The persecution of homosexual people by conservatives is an abomination before God and man."
By not changing the definition of marriage? Rubbish, that isn't persecution but rather a refusal to engage in a "let's pretend" game of words being devoid of any meaning other than what the speaker chooses to give them. Activist homosexuals want Christians to approve of conduct that their religion clearly condemns, and that is what the battle over marriage is all about.
Now if conservatives had been responsible for the deaths of 44,000,000 homosexuals in this country since 1973 you would have a point. However, that number of deaths is attributable to the pro-abortion cause, something I suspect you support.
Contraception shifts responsibility from the man to the woman. If we make love the first night we meet and you are get pregnant without me knowing if I like you how it that my fault? You said "yes" or even "please" & forgot to take a pill. And I am free of patriarchal society. Next morning if I sober up and find I like your personality less than your looks why should I hang around? Because you thought last night "meant something". How silly! And you are just like Monica L.
Half of Rock & Roll songs are about the guy being a "free bird that can't be chained" so don't tell me you were not warned. Us rockers are gone before you buy the pregnancy test! You wanted it. You bought it. Now you pay the price:abortion or poverty and parental responsibility. Seems to me the only one left "free" is the guy.
These days everyone "hooks up" and then decides if they like each other. Hey, I don't make the rules, I just play by them. Courtship is dead. Long live the Hook-UP!
Post a Comment
<< Home