Things look dark now, but it is just the darkness necessary to let the candlelight of a child change the world

Imagining a Family Friendly Political Order

By Joe Bissonnette


Like boiling frogs, we may be forgiven for failing to notice an all pervasive atmospheric change; forgiven but not spared. Whether we can look it in the eye or not, we have entered the era Pope Benedict XVI described as the mustard seed church. Our stature and influence are gone and the world has become a far less friendly place for Christians. And this requires some different thinking.

Rod Dreher at The American Conservative has been musing about “The Benedict Option”; ways in which we might form thick faith communities, cultures within the culture which nurture and sustain a Christian worldview and a Christian way of being. So far, Dreher has been all forest with few particulars, more initiating a conversation than proposing a way forward, but already critics have been quick to point out that the Gospel mandate is to evangelize, and that Christians can never withdraw from their obligation to engage the world. Whatever the Benedict Option might turn out to be, it will have to entail engagement with the broader culture.

The two principles that anchor contemporary political thinking are individual rights and inclusivity. Can we appeal to these principles so as to find a way back to a political order that reveres faith and family?

Imagine a state in which parents were given a proxy vote for every child under 18 in their care. Demeny voting is an idea developed by demographer Paul Demeny in 1986 to “let custodial parents exercise the children’s voting rights until they come of age.” The title of Demeny’s paper—“Pro-natalist Policies in Low-Fertility Countries: Patterns, Performance and Prospects”—provides a neat summary of his argument. It is an idea that has been discussed in countries with famously low birth rates (Japan, Austria and France), and was voted on in the German Parliament in 2003 and 2008. And there are good reasons why social conservatives should consider promoting Demeny voting in North America.

If parents were given a half vote for each child, a huge group of citizens, up to this point unrepresented in the political process, but nonetheless dramatically affected by political policies, would have their interests represented. Parents, as the ones most committed to the welfare of children would be given a proxy vote to cast in the best interests of their children. The changes in the political, economic and social priorities of the country would be profound.

1) Uncle John out of a job. ...

2) Hillary would have to get her village out of your living room. ...

3) Prisons would have to make room for Pornographers. ...

4) Fathers would be able to earn a living wage. ...

5) Mothers would be honored and loved. ...

6) Bruce Jenner would eat his Wheaties. ...

7) Reverse the transvaluation of values. ...

8) Dog parks would be converted into playgrounds for kids. ...

9) Families would re-connect with place, neighborhood and community. ...

10) Faith would restore hope and inspire charity. ...

..........

Read more: www.crisismagazine.com