I have to take issue with one statement in your op-ed, Eugene: you say,
...children are immature and less able to resist their parents' ideological
excesses. You're probably not far enough along in your parenting, but trust
me, children have remarkable defenses (and offenses) of their own.
More
Unsure whether a current instance is responsive, but here it is, from
the Feb. 2007 issue of Episcopal Life, p. 20: The Executive Board of
the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia on Jan. 18 authorized Bishop Peter Lee
to 'take such steps as may be necessary to recover or secure such real
and personal
A comment from Marc Stern, who is having access problems with the
list. His view sounds right to me.
From: Marc Stern Sent: Thursday, February 08, 2007 9:57 AM
To: 'Law Religion issues for Law Academics'
Subject: RE: Question from a reporter
The number if churches torn apart over
A non-numerical, ironic aspect of this: The breakaway congregations, now
and in the earlier rounds, have tended to be conservatives unhappy with
liberal denominational moves. If they succeed in court against the larger
organizations to whose decisions they object, they tend to make law such as
I tried to note this in my NYU L. Rev. article, in fact with a
quote (taken somewhat out of context) from Edmund Burke:
Of course, we shouldn't overstate the practical scope of
parental power, especially over older children. 'Despotism itself is
obliged to truck and huckster.
I agree that the legal scope of parental authority is far greater than its
practical scope (rather like the obligations of contract). Your original
point, I take it, was that judicial usurpation of that authority under color
of a divorce decree should for those very reasons be subject to greater
On the recommendation of a friend, I just read an short article on this
website entitled The Rise of Christian Fascism and Its Threat to
American Democracy posted today. I'm curious about any views on the
credibility of this website, or for that matter, on this particular
article.
Dan Gibbens
