In addition to providing the fundamentals of food, clothing, shelter, and medical attention, all parents living according to Magna Sententia are the directors of their homes and establish close relationships with their children. These parents raise their children to have character and instill in them the value of education and a work ethic.
The Axiom Of Responsibility Individuals Demonstrate Valid Behavior
By Taking Responsibility
For Themselves And Their Children
Why do millions of Americans believe that government is the answer to all of life's problems? Time and time again, in other countries and our own, it has been proven that the vast majority of government programs do not achieve short-term (let alone long-term) success, yet the idea that government involvement is the only solution still persists. Take, for example, the current "crisis" of childhood obesity. Do we, as individuals and a society, hold parents responsible for their children's health? No. We rely on First Lady Michelle Obama to launch a "nationwide campaign" and President Obama to create a "national taskforce." (LetsMove.gov)
Mrs. Obama's plan, Let's Move! has four components: Healthy Choices, Healthier Schools, Physical Activity, and Accessible & Affordable Healthy Food. While we wholeheartedly agree that each of these areas is crucial in maintaining children's health, it is not our government's responsibility to be involved in this aspect of our lives. It is not taxpayers' responsibility to finance extremely expensive special programs so that parents can rely on schools to do for their children what they should be doing themselves.
Healthy Choices relates to making wise decisions regarding the foods we choose to eat and provide for our children. Labeling laws are an extremely important aspect of making these choices, and requiring accurate, comprehensive food labels is essential; however, it is redundant and expensive to require retailers and manufacturers to redesign their packages to include "consumer friendly front-of-package labeling." The cost of these new labeling requirements will undoubtedly be passed on to the consumer, and this type of regulation perpetuates the misguided notion that food manufacturers are responsible for what we eat, not us. Really, how much effort does it take to turn a food product over to see the label on the back?
Healthier Schools launches yet another government program, the US Schools Challenge Program, which "establishes rigorous standards for schools' food quality, participation in meal programs, physical activity, and nutrition education." In conjunction, the Obama Administration revealed plans to "[update] the Child Nutrition Act and announced a proposed increase in the federal budget of $1 billion per year for the next ten years to improve the quality of school meals, increase the number of kids participating, and make sure schools have the resources they need to make changes." Our local schools should not answer to the federal government; they should answer to parents. If schools are not providing nutritionally balanced meals for their students, parents must take action. Parents are responsible for providing healthy food for their children, and if schools are not meeting these needs, parents must pack their children nutritious meals from home. It is a pretty sorry state of affairs when the President has to take action in order for our nation's children to have an adequate breakfast and lunch. Parents, we are not doing our jobs.
Physical Activity is the component of Mrs. Obama's plan that is the government's answer to parents using video games and television to babysit their children. Here again, parents are being negligent, this time in not providing an opportunity for their children to just play. Getting enough physical activity does not require a government program, expensive equipment, or "safe routes to walk and ride to school, parks, playgrounds and community centers where they can play and be active after school, and sports, dance or fitness programs that are exciting and challenging to keep them engaged." This is nonsense. In reality, all children need in order to move and stay engaged is a pair of sneakers and their imagination. For Heaven's sake, must everything we do be structured and organized? (The correct answer is: "No!") And besides, who is going to pay for these "parks, playgrounds and community centers"? (The only answer is: "Taxpayers!")
Interestingly, Mrs. Obama saved the best for last: Accessible & Affordable Healthy Food. This sounds quite reasonable until you realize that "as part of the President's proposed FY 2011 budget, the Administration announced a new program - the Healthy Food Financing Initiative -- a partnership between the U.S. Departments of Treasury, Agriculture and Health and Human Services which will invest $400 million a year to provide innovative financing to bring grocery stores to underserved areas and help places such as convenience stores and bodegas carry healthier food options." What are they thinking?! Do we expect the government to provide food for us? Have we reached the point where we find it acceptable for the federal government to fund (run) grocery stores? At the rate we're going, there soon won't be any private enterprise left!
Mrs. Obama's plan is invasive and leads us down a dangerous path. We are the only ones responsible for ourselves and our children, and if we endorse this intrusive, government campaign (that sounds noble at face value, but in reality won't solve anything), we are willingly sacrificing our freedom.
Anna and Ellie Sherise
Creators of Magna Sententia
Authors of Magna Sententia: The Logical Cure for Our Society
The Axiom Of Responsibility Individuals Demonstrate Valid Behavior
By Taking Responsibility
For Themselves And Their Children
Michael Jackson is still all over the news with stories about his drug addiction, the possible role his doctor played in his death, the custody battle for his children, and whether or not the Norwegian rapper Omar Bhatti is his son. Day in and day out, through interviews with former employees, friends, business associates, and anyone else who has the slightest, most insignificant details to provide the media, each and every detail of Jackson's life is dissected.
To our amazement, Jackson is consistently called a "good father" throughout the majority of these reports. Yes, Michael Jackson was a fabulous entertainer whose music brought joy to people around the globe, a historic icon even. However, "good father" is not an appropriate label for him, and here's why:
When you become a parent (no matter how), you become responsible for your child. According to Magna Sententia, taking responsibility for your children means providing them with food, shelter, and protection; making sure they receive a proper education; teaching them the value of hard work, fostering their character, being the director of your home, and setting a good example for them, just to name a few.
Given that he was a drug addict, there is no way Jackson could have fulfilled all of these responsibilities to his children. (Setting a good example?) Worst of all, his addiction led to his death, which means that his 79-year-old mother must now assume all of his responsibilities to his children. His mother may be a wonderful woman with a loving, kind, compassionate heart; regardless, Jackson should never have so irresponsibly endangered himself, in effect burdening his mother with his three children.
As parents, we must hold ourselves to a higher standard. We must do everything within our power to meet all of our responsibilities to our children and be a positive example for them to use to pattern their lives. Most importantly, we must protect ourselves from unnecessary dangers so that we can fulfill our commitment to them.
Although we hate to say something negative about a person so many love, the truth is that when Michael Jackson abused drugs after becoming a parent, he disqualified himself from meeting the criteria of a "good father."
Anna and Ellie Sherise
Creators of Magna Sententia
Authors of Magna Sententia: The Logical Cure for Our Society
The Axiom Of Responsibility Individuals Demonstrate Valid Behavior
By Taking Responsibility
For Themselves And Their Children
It seems as though there is a constant stream of horrific stories about parental abuse, neglect, and murder, and it makes us sick. Just consider the stories of 13-year-old Daniel Hauser and 14-year-old Alexander Draper making Internet headlines this afternoon:
Daniel [Hauser] was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma and stopped chemotherapy in February after a single treatment. He and his parents [Colleen and Anthony Hauser] opted instead for "alternative medicines" based on their religious beliefs. Child protection workers accused Daniel's parents of medical neglect; but in court, his mother insisted the boy wouldn't submit to chemotherapy for religious reasons and she said she wouldn't comply if the court orders it.
Doctors have said Daniel's cancer had up to a 90 percent chance of being cured with chemotherapy and radiation. Without those treatments, doctors said his chances of survival are 5 percent.
Daniel's parents have been supporting what they say is their son's decision to treat the disease with nutritional supplements and other alternative treatments favored by the Nemenhah Band. The Missouri-based religious group believes in natural healing methods advocated by some American Indians. [. . .] Daniel's tumor shrunk after the first chemotherapy session, but X-rays show it has grown since he stopped the chemotherapy. ("Judge Rules Family Can't Refuse Chemo For Boy")
Given his age, coupled with the fact that "court filings also indicated [he] has a learning disability and can't read," Daniel is in no position to make decisions regarding his treatment, and it is negligent for his parents to give him this responsibility. To make matters worse, after Brown County District Judge John Rodenberg ordered Colleen and Anthony Hauser to seek traditional cancer treatment for their son, Colleen fled with Daniel to Mexico. ("Daniel Hauser's Dad Pleas For Mom, Cancer Teen Fleeing Chemo To Return Home") As to the claim that this order violates the Hausers' religious freedom: Religious freedom, which protects against governmental persecution for worshiping in one's chosen manner, does not give parents the right to criminally neglect their children.
Next comes the story of negligent mother Jerri Gray of Greenville County, S.C., whose son Alexander Draper is 555 pounds and "at a critical stage of health risk." When the state ordered the boy to be taken into protective custody "due to medical neglect," Gray also fled with her son. ("Mom, 555-Pound Son Found In Baltimore") Fortunately, the two "were found hundreds of miles from their home [. . .] parked near a Laundromat in Baltimore, MD."
According to Magna Sententia, parents are responsible for their children's health. These awful stories of medical neglect will hopefully remind all of us that we do not own our children. They are our responsibility, and we must treat them with the utmost care and respect.
Anna and Ellie Sherise
Creators of Magna Sententia
Authors of Magna Sententia: The Logical Cure for Our Society
The Axiom Of Responsibility Individuals Demonstrate Valid Behavior
By Taking Responsibility
For Themselves And Their Children
Ugh, here we go again! Apparently (and unfortunately), our fascination with multiple births has not ebbed. Isn't it enough that there is a television show starring Jon and Kate Gosselin (who have eight children, a set of twins plus sextuplets)? Do we really have the interest, time, or energy to spend on Nadya Suleman and her fourteen children? More importantly, why are we positively enforcing her behavior by giving her attention when she is a completely irresponsible parent? She is an unemployed, single mother living with her parents who "had all 14 of her kids out of wedlock by artificial means." ("Octuplets' Mom: Can She Afford to Raise 14 Kids")
This woman deserves no attention or support, and society should shame her for her decisions and behavior, instead of making her a pseudo-celebrity. Suleman is a poor excuse for a mother - no matter who says she is "an 'awesome parent.'"
Pursuing Magna Sententia, parents are responsible for their children: Children do not ask to be born, and if parents chose to give their children life, it then becomes their responsibility to care and provide for their children. All parents must feed, clothe, teach, and nurture their children to the best of their ability, and unless she is independently wealthy, there is absolutely no way on Earth a single mother can adequately care and provide for fourteen children.
Furthermore, children need both a mother and a father (or mother-figure and father-figure) in their lives. Understandably, this is not always possible: When a partner dies or a parent abandons his or her children, mothers and fathers are forced to do their best to raise their children alone, and there are many excellent single parents. There is a huge difference between "circumstances beyond your control" and making the choice to be negligent. Suleman used a sperm donor to become pregnant with her first six children (one of whom is autistic), and she did it again to become pregnant with her octuplets. Moreover, she refused selective reduction, even though this endangered all of the fetuses. ("Commentary: Are Eight Babies More Than Enough?")
It is too late, but it would have been nice if Suleman would have thought of the children she was giving life to, not just herself, before she made her choices. America, please do not give this irresponsible woman attention or support. And certainly do not give her celebrity status.
Maybe if we as a society insisted that individuals take responsibility for themselves and their actions, people would make better decisions.
Anna and Ellie Sherise
Creators of The Magna Sententia Weblog
Authors of Magna Sententia: The Logical Cure for Our Society
The Axiom Of Responsibility Individuals Demonstrate Valid Behavior
By Taking Responsibility
For Themselves And Their Children
For those of you who have read our previous article "Nebraska's Safe Haven Law Was Meant For Infants, Not Teens," you may be interested to know that the Nebraska Sate Senate "met in an emergency session to change the [state's safe haven] law" and voted last Friday, November 21, 2008, to accept a revised version that "says that no child older than 30 days can be dropped off." ("Nebraska Lawmakers Vote To Limit Safe-Haven Law")
"Thirty-five children -- all but six of them older than 10 -- have been dropped off at Nebraska hospitals since the law took effect in September, according to the state Department of Health and Human Services. Five came from other states, with parents traveling to Nebraska from Michigan, Indiana, Iowa, Florida and Georgia. No infants were among the children left at hospitals, officials said."
Our hearts go out to all of these children who undoubted feel completely unloved. "Tysheema Brown drove from Georgia to leave her teenage son at an Omaha hospital. 'Do not judge me as a parent. I love my son and my son knows that,' Brown said. 'There is just no help. There hasn't been any help.'" Sorry, but love is not abandoning your child by simply dropping him off at a hospital when he is already a teenager, when he is old enough to realize that you don't even care who he ends up with. If you really can't take care of your children and they are no longer infants, arrange a legal adoption so you can do your best to ensure they end up in a family that is secure with loving caretakers.
When are the adults in our country going to start acting like adults and stop looking for ways to avoid their legitimate responsibilities? It is amazing to us that every day people make another lame attempt to get out of doing what they should be doing. Magna Sententia is truly the logical cure for our society because it demands that individuals take responsibility for themselves and their children and it allows no excuses! If you are a parent, you and only you are responsible for your children until they are 18 years of age.
Anna and Ellie Sherise
Creators of The Magna Sententia Weblog
Authors of Magna Sententia: The Logical Cure for Our Society
