{"id":299,"date":"2026-06-19T15:46:02","date_gmt":"2026-06-19T15:46:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/saveouramericanheritage.com\/?page_id=299"},"modified":"2026-06-27T04:26:39","modified_gmt":"2026-06-27T04:26:39","slug":"iii-family-parental-authority","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/saveouramericanheritage.com\/?page_id=299","title":{"rendered":"III FAMILY &amp; PARENTAL AUTHORITY"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">We Believe:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The family is the first and most essential institution of any civilization. Long before the rise of governments, courts, or national structures, God established the home as the foundation of order, instruction, and moral formation. Scripture teaches that parents, not bureaucracies,  bear the primary responsibility for raising their children, shaping their character, and guiding their spiritual and educational development. A nation cannot remain strong when its families are weakened or when parental authority is undermined.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We affirm that the health of a society is measured by the strength of its families. When parents are empowered, children flourish. When the family is respected, communities remain stable. But when government agencies intrude into the home, redefine parental roles, or impose ideological agendas on children, the natural order is disrupted and the fabric of society begins to unravel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We believe that parents must be free to direct the upbringing of their children without interference from distant bureaucracies or political interests. This includes the right to determine moral instruction, educational choices, discipline, and the values taught within the home. The state\u2019s role is limited: to protect children from genuine harm, to uphold justice, and to support, not replace, the authority of mothers and fathers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We further affirm that America\u2019s own legal history recognizes the centrality of the family. From early colonial statutes to the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, the nation acknowledged that \u201creligion, morality, and knowledge\u201d are necessary for good government and that these virtues are first cultivated in the home. Modern bureaucratic systems that override parental authority contradict both historical precedent and constitutional principles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Our position is rooted in biblical truth, historical experience, and the conviction that strong families create strong nations. Parents must be honored, and children must be protected. Furthermore, the government must be restrained in matters that belong to the home. Only by restoring parental authority can America rebuild the moral and social foundations necessary for a free and enduring society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>PLANK 1:  Parental Rights and Christian Moral Education<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We affirm that parents hold the God\u2011given responsibility and primary authority to raise their children. Scripture teaches, \u201cTrain up a child in the way he should go\u201d (Proverbs 22:6), and the family, not the state, is the foundational institution ordained by God. Parents must be free to guide the moral, spiritual, and educational development of their children without intrusive government interference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At the same time, we recognize that America\u2019s earliest laws, including the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, affirmed that \u201creligion, morality, and knowledge\u201d are necessary for good government. At that time, \u201creligion\u201d was universally understood to mean Christianity, and territories were expected to promote Christian moral instruction before they could be admitted as states. This historical truth does not contradict parental authority, it reinforces it. The government may encourage a Christian moral foundation for society, but it must never replace the parent or assume the role of the family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>PLANK 2:  Opposition to Bureaucratic Overreach in the Home<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We oppose the modern bureaucratic systems that have strayed far from their original purpose. National education lobbies and child protection agencies have too often become instruments of ideological control, undermining the family under the guise of \u201cprotection.\u201d These institutions have inserted themselves between parents and their children, not to defend the innocent, but to impose social agendas that contradict the values of many families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The result has been the erosion of parental rights and the rise of a system that too often destroys families instead of strengthening them. Investigations and accusations are sometimes initiated not because a child is in danger, but because a parent\u2019s beliefs or parenting style does not align with the prevailing ideology of government bureaucracies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>PLANK 3:  Protecting Children from Genuine Harm<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We believe that genuine child abuse must be punished swiftly and firmly. Those who deliberately harm or exploit children should face serious consequences under the law. But today, the definition of \u201cabuse\u201d has been stretched beyond recognition, weaponized against parents who discipline their children, teach traditional values, or refuse to surrender their authority to state agencies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Children must be protected from real danger, not politicized, manipulated, or used as leverage against their own families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>PLANK 4:  Restoring the Family as the Foundation of the Nation<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Our position is rooted in biblical truth, historical precedent, and the moral conviction that strong families create strong nations. The Northwest Ordinance affirmed a Christian moral foundation for society, but it never authorized the state to replace the parent. Parents must be empowered, not undermined. Children must be protected, not politicized. And the government must be restrained, not expanded, in matters that belong to the home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Only by restoring parental authority can America rebuild the moral and social foundations necessary for a free and enduring society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We Believe: The family is the first and most essential institution of any civilization. Long before the rise of governments, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-299","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/saveouramericanheritage.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/299","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/saveouramericanheritage.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/saveouramericanheritage.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saveouramericanheritage.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saveouramericanheritage.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=299"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/saveouramericanheritage.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/299\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":341,"href":"https:\/\/saveouramericanheritage.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/299\/revisions\/341"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/saveouramericanheritage.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=299"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}