First Principles
CPF Declaration of First Principles |
Fatherlessness
1. Fatherlessness is the number one social crisis facing our nation. It is incumbent on all concerned citizens to question all policies and laws to determine if, and/or how they promote fatherlessness, and then work to reverse them. It should be officially recognized that because of the social upheaval of the last few decades, the institution of fatherhood now requires special protections.
Divorce and Child Custody
2. The law must mandate equal shared legal and physical custody. Adults who bring life into the world by an act of consensual sex cannot have their parental rights curtailed simply because the other parent wills it. Parental rights of unwed parents must only be restricted in the same circumstances where it is done with intact families: when there exists legitimate concerns for the welfare of the children.
As long as there are incentives to eliminate one parent from the lives of his/her children, there will be destructive custody battles. The incentives must be removed. Once they are, families will be strengthened on both sides of the equation, since more parents will choose to work through the difficulties in the relationship when they know that they do not have the power to eliminate the other parent from the post-marriage family.
3. The law must mandate that in a family breakup, actions by one parent to eliminate the other parent, be they allegations of abuse, moving a great distance away from the family residence, etc., will be considered not in the best interest of the child[ren], and will be considered compelling cause to limit the custodial rights of that parent in favor of the cooperative parent.
Domestic Violence
Domestic violence has become a hopelessly politicized issue. Estimates of the number of women battered in their homes each year range from 188,000* to 6,000,000**; and even higher numbers have been claimed***. Also, it has become impossible to address this issue in an intelligent fashion when definitions of violent and abusive behavior have been broadened to include such things as "logic, claiming the truth, not responding to others' needs, and emotional withholding****."
Furthermore, domestic violence studies, policies and programs that recognize abuse in all combinations of relationships yet dismiss female-on-male abuse/violence as being statistically insignificant, are clearly agenda-driven and have little credibility. Unbiased research shows that female-on-male violence not only accounts for a sizable part of all domestic violence, but is also an important factor contributing to serious male-on-female domestic violence. For the latter reason alone it can't be ignored.
4. All efforts to address domestic violence that ignore female aggression must be challenged whenever possible. Any and all laws that are written to protect one class of adults at the expense of the civil rights of another class are reprehensible in nature and antithetical to the principles of liberty and equal protection on which our nation was founded. Whether they are explicitly targeted, such as the federal Violence Against Women Act, or implicitly targeted as with M.G.L. 209A: Zero tolerance for any laws that abridge the constitutional rights of one specific class of people for the sake of a politically correct goal that suits an ephemeral political trend.
Child Support
In its present form, child support is a misnomer. There is no real "child support." The present system takes money from non-custodial parents, overwhelmingly men, and gives it to custodial parents, overwhelmingly women, to spend however they see fit. It is an intolerable condition that a father must be forced to subsidize a family that has been forcibly taken away from him.
5. Following a family breakup, assuming both parents wish to stay involved with their children, no money should be forcibly transferred from one household to another, except in exceptional circumstances, and then only to insure that the children's needs are taken care of. If one parent chooses to be an absent parent, he/she should provide financial support for the children that they brought into the world. Zero tolerance for intentional abandonment and parental irresponsibility.
Sexual Abuse of Children
6. Sexual abuse of children is deviant and pathological behavior, and society must protect children from such sexual predators. Intentionally making false allegations of sexual abuse is itself a form of sexual abuse, and this behavior must be criminalized. The children that are affected must be protected from the perpetrators, be they a vindictive parent, child abuse medical "expert," zealous social worker or attorney, or a witchhunt-driven, child-related institution.
* Murray Straus, Family Research Laboratory, University of New Hampshire.
** Time magazine, September 5, 1983.
*** Press conference by President Clinton announcing national 800 domestic violence hotline number, a questioner commented on the "billions" of battered women. February 1996.
**** Battered Women's Resources, Inc.