U.N., and Other Threats to the Family Unit

Henry B. Eyring ("The Family," Ensign, Feb. 1998, p. 10)
"The family unit is fundamental not only to society and to the church but to our hope for eternal life."


Dallin H. Oaks ("Why We must Act to Preserve the Families of the World," World Family Policy Forum, Jan 1999)
"I am grateful that some watchmen on the tower have alerted us to enemies and conditions that threaten to undermine the family, which is the foundation of societies and nations in every part of the world. Ironically, some of these enemies are working through the United Nations and using its stature and authority on the world stage to pursue anti family efforts that must be of concern to all of us."


Ezra Taft Benson (An Enemy Hath Done This, p. 201)
"After many years of observing the U.N. in operation, after carefully researching the less publicized aspects of this organization, and after a great deal of soul-searching, I reluctantly have been forced to the conclusion that the U.N.'s potential for evil far outweighs its potential for good." 


Family Action Council International (FACI: An Introduction)
"The mission of Family Action Council International is to promote measures designed to maintain and strengthen family as the fundamental unit of society."
"At the conference, attendees heard presentations from a wide variety of social workers, sociologist, political leaders, humanitarians, religious leaders, and other scholars-all concerned for the future of family in their respective nations and throughout the world. 
"In addition to hearing these timely and eternal truths about the family, those in attendance also learned of the war being waged by organizations at the United Nations to persuade that body to adopt international policies, programs, and treaties to promote, among other things, 


    *abortion-in particular, state funded abortions, even in those countries where it is now legal, and including abortions for minors with out parental interference. 


    *Recognition of same-sex unions, to include the ' reproductive right' to artificial insemination for lesbian couples.


    *the decriminalization of prostitution, to include government-funded medical and retirement benefits for what advocates now call workers in the sex trade; and

    *mandatory quotas for the percentage of women working in government (50% of all civilian positions in national, state, and local governments to be women; 35% of all military positions).


"...in 1946, at the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women...(it was) proclaimed that the concept of the traditional family should be replaced by a new social model, one in which women would stand by men "as comrades" and children would become the responsibility of the state. ..(It) advocated loosening anti-abortion laws, making contraception readily available, including sex education as part of the regular school curriculum, enforcing population limits, and eliminating the legal distinctions between married and unmarried adults."
"Perhaps the most significant anti-family policy to date is the 1979 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women...The U.N. established a committee that regularly reviews the extent to which governments are implementing the terms of the convention. While some of the CEDAW's Goals are sound (such as securing a woman's right to vote and freedom from employment discrimination), its primary focus is the reconstruction of sex roles or,...gender mainstreaming." 


Dallin H. Oaks, ("Why We Must Act to Preserve the Families of the World," World Family Policy Forum, Jan 1999)
"Threats to the Family"
"As Church leaders we have observed many worldwide trends and conditions that threaten the traditional family.."
    1. As a result of increase in divorce and separation, the traditional two parent family is decreasing as the setting within which most children are raised. 
    2. Increasing numbers of women are working outside of the home and devoting less attention to their responsibilities as mothers.
    3. As more and more people travel great distances to enjoy flexibility in where they reside, extended families are scattered and the nurturing and disciplining roles of grandparents, aunts and uncles are felt by a smaller portion of children. 
    4. The network of mothers who kept an eye on one another's children in a tight knit community is likewise weakening. 
    5. The competitive demands of a variety of community and school activities weaken family activities and togetherness. 
    6. Current attempts to redefine the family by treaty or law to include everyone who has keys to the same house threaten to dilute the legal concept of family beyond the point where it merits special protection."