The war on functional families

Do you still have doubts about the fact that there is a war being waged against functional families?

If so, you probably missed this news story this week.

A British philosopher is making the case that reading to your children gives them an unfair advantage over less fortunate children – thus, you shouldn’t do it.

British academic Adam Swift told the Australian Broadcast Company’s Joe Gelonesi:

“Should parents snuggling up for one last story before lights out be even a little concerned about the advantage they might be conferring? I don’t think parents reading their children bedtime stories should constantly have in their minds the way that they are unfairly disadvantaging other people’s children, but I think they should have that thought occasionally. Evidence shows that the difference between those who get bedtime stories and those who don’t – the difference in their life chances – is bigger than the difference between those who get elite private schooling and those that don’t.”

In other words, parents should feel guilty about preparing their own kids for success in life.

The reporter went so far as to suggest: “This devilish twist of evidence surely leads to a further conclusion that perhaps – in the interests of leveling the playing field – bedtime stories should also be restricted.”

Swift is a professor of political theory at the University of Warwick in the U.K., and the co-author of “Family Values: The Ethics of Parent-Child Relationships.” He was educated at Harvard University and Oxford University in the 1980s.

American radio host Rush Limbaugh reacted to Swift’s ideas Tuesday, blasting him as “One wacko, one lunatic, one extreme leftist who is obsessed with this perverted definition of fairness and equality and who is determining that parents who can read to their kids at night are giving them an unfair advantage.”

Rush is rarely guilty of understatement, but I think this may be the case here.

The trouble is not that one Harvard-Oxford educational “expert” makes such a claim. The problem is that ideas like this fit a pattern – a pattern that implies parents shouldn’t be and can’t be trusted to raise their own kids because the result will be inequitable, unfair, unjust and leave some kids in a disadvantaged state. The solution, of course, always means the state is the better and more proper institution for raising children in a way that is equitable, just and fair.

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That solution has been tried and has failed countless times – in the Soviet Union, in Communist China and other socialist totalitarian and authoritarian regimes throughout the 20th century. It’s an idea that emerged as early as the French Revolution. And it’s an idea that obviously is not going away no matter how intellectually, morally and spiritually bankrupt it might be.

Indeed, there is a war on the family.

It’s not just happening in Australia. It’s not just happening in North Korea. It’s not just happening in Europe. It’s a worldwide phenomenon. It’s a movement well-advanced in America.

Just think “same-sex marriage.” Do you really think this is just a movement to redefine marriage? It’s a movement to destroy the nuclear family.

Read Phyllis Schlafly’s latest book, “Who Killed the American Family?”

Read Paul Kengor’s upcoming book, “Takedown.”

As Dr. James Dobson said recently, “The fall of Western Civilization” is at hand.

The hour is late.

The situation is desperate.

The signs are everywhere.

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