More Imaginary "Rights" from the Religious Right

The Senate Judiciary Committee passed the Respect for Marriage Act this week, allowing the bill to go to the full Senate where they will vote on this DOMA-repeal act (actually, they probably won't, given the broken filibuster rules and Republicans' willingness to abuse them to the fullest, but still).  The Religious Wrong have been predictably losing their shit over the vote, issuing forth hyperbolic blog posts and testerical "call to action" emails (with a "donate now!" link splashed in three places in the email, natch).  The chip-chip-chip of marriage equality activists undermining their stranglehold on conversations about "morality" and "family" is really getting to them at this point, it seems. 

I'm not going to bother with the roundup of reactions - RWW has that covered nicely.  But there was one line out of the statement given to the media by Catholics for the Common Good (for some value of "common" meaning "het Christian etc", of course), that caught my eye.

"Children have a right to know and be cared for by their mothers and fathers, and government has an obligation to promote the recognition of that right by encouraging men and woman to marry before having children."

No.  Just, no.  That is a "right" you are pulling out of your ass, as your type are so often wont to do.

Children have rights, absolutely and certainly.  Among them is the right to be raised and cared for by loving adults who will consistently and reliably act in the child's best interest.  That does not have shit fucking all to do with "mothers and fathers".  Not a goddamn thing.  Children may be very well cared for by a single parent of any gender; two parents of different genders; two parents of same gender; three or more parents and step-parents; three or more parents in a poly family; a parent and the parent's extended family (aunts, uncles, older cousins, grandparents); extended family alone; non-blood-related friends of the family; and all sorts of other various configurations. 

This insistence on "their mothers and fathers" is a slap in the face to "non-traditional" families everywhere.  It shits on every family who doesn't conform to the nuclear married-man-and-woman-with-biological-children standard.  It is arbitrary, and cruel, and unfair.

Children do have the right to a family, loosely defined.  They do not have a right to married parents.  They do not have a right to either or both biological parents.  (Although frankly, if the fundies would back up off the contraception and sex ed suppression tactics, more children *would* have access to their bio parents, because fewer people would be having kids they didn't want and either giving them up for adoption or choosing to be uninvolved with the kid.  People are more likely to hang onto/stick around with kids they *chose* to have, than ones they accidentally had or were forced to have because they had no other options.)   And personally, I believe the government has an obligation to butt the fuck out of people's private family-organization choices. 

Here's a novel idea: what if, instead of encouraging people to get married, we revamped the education system so that more people had the option for higher education and better salaries (kids and marriage are expensive, after all)?  What if, instead of encouraging people to get married, we ended the War on Poor People People of Color Drugs, which forcibly removes so many low-income and in particular, black men from their communities and families?  What if, instead of encouraging people to get married, we ensured that every child in this country, regardless of their family situation, had safe communities, good schools, good food, and health care?  What if we, y'know, actually gave a shit about the living situations of children in this country and worked to improve them, instead of shaming and browbeating their parents and/or guardians for not being the "right" kind of family unit or not being married first?

Oh, but I forget, those things would require money.  From the government.  Going to help its most vulnerable young citizens.  SOCIALISM I SAY!  And where would this money come from?  Are you suggesting making it impossible for this country's billionaires to make the payments on their seventh yacht in the Mediterranean by raising their taxes a fraction of a percent?  You MONSTER!  Suggesting that their hard-earned investment dividends and bonuses might be better used to feed, shelter, clothe, and educate children.  The NERVE.

As for the jackasses at Catholics for the Common Good, I will simply leave you with this: WWJD?  (Hint: I'm pretty sure it's not "attempt to police everyone's family structures and reproductive choices."  Just sayin'.)