Religious Dimensions of Child and Family Life : Reflections on the un Convention on the Rights of the Child [1 ed.] 9780889208490, 9781550581041

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Religious Dimensions of Child and Family Life: Reflections on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

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Religious Dimensions of Child and Family Life: Reflections on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

Edited by

Harold Coward and Philip Cook

Centre for Studies in Religion and Society University of Victoria Distributed by Wilfrid Laurier University Press

Centre for Studies in Religion and Society, 1996 University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data Main entry under title: Religious dimensions of child and family life

Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 1-55058-104-X 1. Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) 2. Child rearing Religious aspects. 3. Family - religious aspects. 4. Children's rights. I. Coward, Harold G., 1936II. Cook, Philip H. (Philip Hilton), 1961III. University of Victoria (B.C.). Centre for Studies in Religion and Society. HQ769.3.R44 1996 291.1783585 C96-910613-0

Contents 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Introduction, Philip Cook Child and Family in Islam, Leila Lababidy Child and Family in Christianity, Terence R. Anderson Child and Family in Hinduism, Vasudha Narayanan Child and Family in Buddhism, Rita M. Gross Child and Family from an Aboriginal Perspective, Daisy Sewid-Smith 7. Child and Family in Judaism, David Kraemer 8. Child and Family in Chinese Popular Religion, Elizabeth Lominska Johnson 9. Child and Family in Baha'i Religion, John S. Hatcher 10. Conclusion, Harold Coward

1 11 31 53 79

123 141 161

Appendix I: UN Convention on the Rights of the Child Appendix II: About the Authors Index

171 197 201

99 113

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Preface The Centre for Studies in Religion and Society was established at the University of Victoria in 1991 to foster the scholarly study of religion in relation to the sciences, ethics, social and economic development, and other aspects of culture. The primary aim is to promote dialogue between religion and these other aspects of human experience. The Centre has a fundamental commitment to pluralism, and will pursue a broad range of research interests not limited to any specific time, place, religion, or culture. It embodies the understanding that religious traditions have been formulative of human reality and experience, and that they are the proper object of creative, rigorous inquiry, whether from a disciplinary or an interdisciplinary perspective. In 1994, the International Year of the Family, a Conference was held at the University of Victoria, dedicated to the theme, Stronger Children Stronger Families. In that context, the Centre for Studies in Religion and Society brought together leading scholars from eight of the world's major religions to examine child and family life in relation to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. I wish to thank the scholars involved for doing the research and writing their chapters. My co-editor Philip Cook deserves the credit for initiating this project. Ludgard De Decker, the Centre's Administrator, is to be thanked for seeing the manuscript through its various steps to final publication, Cora Smith for compiling the index, and Patrice Snopkowski for the cover design. Harold Coward, Director

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Chapter 1 Introduction Philip Cook The wolf shall dwell with the lamb... and the young lion and the falling together; and a little child shall lead them. (Isaiah 11,6) When there is light in the child, there will be beauty in the soul. When there is beauty in the soul, there will be harmony in the home. When there is harmony in the home, there will be order in the nation. When there is order in the nation, there will be peace in the world. (Chinese proverb)

The use of childhood as a metaphor for peace and refuge is common to many religions and cultural traditions. Conversely, religion plays an important part in the protection and preservation of children and childhood in many developed and developing countries. An understanding of the place of religious groups in promoting the survival and protection of children and childhood is therefore vital in implementing the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

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(UNCRC). Religious traditions and beliefs not only provide part of the social and cultural context in which children's advocacy must be discussed, they also provide an entry point for implementing many national and community based child focused programs. Since the "first call for children" was put forth at the World Summit for Children in 1990, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the parallel plan of action addressed in the World Declaration for the Survival, Development and Protection of Children have aroused greater hopes and expectations for social change than almost any other international human rights document.1 However, the application of the Convention is still in its infancy. While the UNCRC has had great success in being accepted, it has generally been more easily embraced than implemented. Although no human rights agreement has ever been so quickly ratified as the UNCRC, the atrocities carried out on children continue unabated. Indeed, a horrifying trend seems to be emerging in which increasing numbers of these acts of violence appear to be premeditated with children as the primary targets of aggression.2 The Convention has nevertheless raised the level of discussion on the importance of placing children first and has provided a moral and ethical framework to promote children's well-being both at the grass roots and in national legislation. Above all, the Convention has become an important benchmark with which to measure a nation's progress in providing and advocating for its most vulnerable. Background to the Convention On 20 November 1989, the UN General Assembly unanimously approved the Convention on the Rights of the Child. On 2 September 1990 the Convention entered into force, having been ratified by the required number of state parties (20) pursuant to article 49.1. In less than four years since its inception more than 170 nations, or close to 99% of the global community, have accepted the Convention as an internationally agreed minimum standard for the treatment of 1 2

United Nations Children's Fund, Development Goals and Strategies For Children in the 1990's, (New York: UNICEF House, 1990), p. 19. S. Lewis, "They Will Not Get Away With It Forever", in UNICEF, The Progress of Nations 1994, (New York: UNICEF House, 1994), p. 37.

Introduction

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children.3 Like other human rights documents, the Convention on the Rights of the Child addresses political, civil, economic, social, and cultural rights. The 54 articles in the UNCRC can be roughly divided into categories addressing issues of survival (e.g., articles 4, 6, 28), protection (e.g., articles 22, 32, 38), participation (e.g., articles 7, 8, 12), and promotion (e.g., articles 42, 44). A central pillar of the CRC is its focus on the "best interests of the child" (article 3).4 Another unique feature of the UNCRC is its support for a child's participation in decisions affecting his/her development based on that child's perceived "evolving capacity" to partake in such decisions. The UNCRC is widely heralded as a landmark in children's advocacy for a number of reasons. These include: the definition of what constitutes a child (any human being below the age of 18 years); a "first call for children" that speaks for the special needs of a nation's most vulnerable and least represented people; the provision of a useful framework for Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) to develop programs and advocate for children's well-being; and finally, and perhaps most importantly, the recognition in the Convention of the child as a person with inherent rights, one of which is to be treated as an individual capable of participating in his/her own development and contributing to society.5 The Achilles heel of the Convention lies in the various interpretations that can be drawn from many of the articles which are broadly written and open to misinterpretation.6 An example is the focus on the family as the best place to provide for children and 3 4

5

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UNICEF, The Progress of Nations 1995, (New York: UNICEF House, 1995), p. 30 . Multiculturalism and Citizenship Canada, Convention on the Rights of the Child, (Ottawa: Human Rights Directorate, Government of Canada, 1991), p. 2. L. LeBlanc, The Convention on the Rights of the Child: United Nations Lawmaking on Human Rights, (Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 1995), p. 157. E. Verhellen, "The Search for the Achilles Heel. Monitoring of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and its Implications for State /Parties", in E. Verhellen & F. Spiesschaert, Children's Rights: Monitoring Issues, (Gent: Mys & Breesch, 1994), p. 3.

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promote their well-being. The UNCRC speaks at great length on the importance of respect for the rights and responsibilities of the family, extended family, and community. For example, in the preamble and articles 5, 7, 9, 18, and 29, children's rights to be with their parents and the importance of parents in the upbringing of the child are emphasized. There has, however, been some criticism of the UNCRC for providing a framework for individual rights that actually undermines the value of family unity. A concern with the Convention's emphasis on the individual's rights over those of the aggregate is particularly common among the leaders of many religious faiths, who typically place greater emphasis on the importance of the family than on the rights of any one family member. Similarly, the focus in the Convention on children's participation in decisions affecting their well-being goes against many cultural and religious traditions, in which it is the role of adults to decide what determines the best interests of the child and the duty of children to comply with these decisions. The child's "right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion" (Article 14) has been an especially challenging notion for many of the signatory nations, particularly those where the traditional child rearing practices are closely tied to a strict adherence to one religion. It should also be mentioned that the Convention dictates that children in religious or ethnic minority groups shall have the right to practise their own religion (Article 30). The challenge for many nations will now be to create a national plan of action for implementing the UNCRC through programs that mesh with traditional cultural and moral beliefs and norms. Such a contextually based approach addressing moral and ethical beliefs and traditions concerning children and childhood is important in assessing the local cultural reality against which acceptance of the Convention will be measured. If ultimately the Convention is to become a working tool for social change and advocacy on behalf of children, then support for the notion of children's rights must be identified at the cultural, community, and individual level. For example, the European Centre for Social Welfare, Policy and Research has stated that strategies for applying the Convention need to be developed across these different levels, from the macro policy level (social policies for children,,parents, and families) to the grassroots level of everyday life. The gaps between research, policy, and practice need to be bridged. Examining the

Introduction

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spiritual context of children's growth and development using the Convention is a needed step in applying the UNCRC across all these levels. The Cultural and Religious Context of Children's Roles in Society The variation in cultural and religious beliefs and norms concerning child rearing practices and childhood is immense, as portrayed in the growing literature drawn from anthropology, psychology, and sociology. Religious beliefs concerning child rearing practices and the role of children in society are especially important socio-cultural influences in determining the implementation of children's rights across cultural groups. Religion has been shown to be a key cultural aspect of program planning for children and families. Super and Harkness, for example, apply the concept of the "developmental niche" to highlight the importance of cultural child rearing beliefs, including spiritual beliefs, in children's social and cognitive growth.7 Scheper-Hughes, similarly focuses on the importance of religious beliefs on death and dying as indicators of both maternal and child survival.8 In her study of families in poverty stricken areas of Brazil, Scheper-Hughes found that an unusually high infant mortality rate was partially alleviated by local beliefs concerning a heavenly afterlife awaiting children who died at a young age. Myers discusses such findings in the context of a broad delineation between cultures in which a mother's survival is more important to cultural survival than any one child's survival.9 Such beliefs are most frequently supported by the religious beliefs woven into the fabric of cultural norms and beliefs. Unfortunately, many children's programs in developed and developing countries are still designed with little thought to cultural or religious diversity even though the importance of culture is highlighted 7

C. M. Super & S. Harkness, "The Developmental Niche: A Conceptualization at the Interface of Child and Nature", International Journal of Behavioral Development, (no.4), p. 563. 8 N. Scheper-Hughes, Child survival, (Boston: Reidel, 1987), p. 187 . 9 R. Myers, The Twelve Who Survive: Strengthening Programmes of Early Childhood Development in the Third World, (New York: Routledge, 1992), p. 350.

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in articles within the Convention. Though some progress has been made in creating programs that integrate positive aspects of traditional wisdom, there are an equal or greater number of programs adopting "scientific approaches" that conflict with religious beliefs regarding the place of children in society. Recent research is increasingly revealing the benefits of social programs for children and families that include traditional wisdom. Myers, in his description of culturally appropriate programs that strengthen early childhood development in the Third World, describes some of the advantages of including traditional beliefs on child rearing as important for several reasons: - Beginning where people are in their thinking and practice is crucial to developing real dialogue, mutual learning, and involvement of people in programs. - The standards for judgement of "helpful" and "harmful" will vary according to the particular goals set by society or group as they, in turn, are conditioned by physical conditions, social organization, and religious beliefs. In one culture an aggressive child may be considered bad, in another good. In one culture, low birth weight is considered to be harmful while in many cultures, it is sought as appropriate. In many cultures allowing the death of a child is viewed as an absolute wrong, whereas in some an individual child may be allowed to die in particular circumstances because survival of the mother or family or group is at stake. - Prejudging practices means prejudging people. Approaching people with the idea that practices are wrong or immoral signals an unjustified air of superiority. When that is backed also by power, the result can go beyond imposition of ideas to creating cultural confusion and doubt, destroying vital cultural and psychological bases for living that have, for good reason, evolved over centuries.10 While the last statement can be applied equally to programs and policies for children based on secular or religious social foundations, it is incumbent on any national policy that addresses the Convention to respect cultural and religious differences in child rearing practices. This applies particularly to the treatment of ethnic minorities whose practices may seem, at first appearance, to contradict dominant 10

Ibid., p. 343.

Introduction

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cultural norms and beliefs supporting the Convention. An example is the imposition of compulsory schooling called for in Article 28. This practice has been opposed by many Indigenous Peoples as undermining their traditional oral educational history and threatening their cultural and spiritual survival. The purpose of this volume is to examine the UNCRC from the perspective of religious practice, paying special attention to various religious moral codes of conduct governing parental behaviour, child rearing norms, and the role of children in spiritual practice. Eight of the world's most popularly practised religions will be discussed. These are: Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, North American Aboriginal spiritual belief, Judaism, popular Chinese practice, and the Baha'i religion. The notion of children as "spiritual beings" is common to most of the world's religions, and has been portrayed in such popular figures as the young Krishna, Siddhartha, and the baby Jesus. Indeed, in many religions the archetype of spiritual purity is symbolized by the innocent child. This perception of the child as innocent and vulnerable is a common motivating factor influencing contemporary religious organizations to focus the application of their spiritual practice on supporting children in difficult circumstances as an ultimate value. The UN Convention, however, is often perceived by the religions as a double-edged sword. Most religions promote beliefs and practices that are congruent with the Convention's call for a child's right to survival and protection - especially in areas such as health and education. The traditional Islamic, or Qur'anic, school system is increasingly being recognized as an important culturally based alternative to the implementation of Western, industrialized models of literacy education in Muslim countries.11 Similarly, research on child and family resiliency is illuminating the importance of religion in the capacity of a child and his or her parents to overcome extremely adverse conditions.12 As already described, however, these same 11

12

D. Wagner, "Appropriate Education and Literacy in the Third World" in P. Dasen, J. Berry, & N. Sartorius, Health and Cross-Cultural Psychology: Towards Applications, (Newbury Park, CA: Sage, 1988), p. 93. E. Werner & R. Smith, Overcoming the Odds: High Risk Children from

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religions are often uneasy with a perceived emphasis in the Convention on the child as opposed to the family, and on the child's civil rights, particularly the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion, and the impact of such perceptions on their lives. The purpose of this book is to identify where the religions of Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Baha'i, Chinese popular religion, Hinduism, and Indigenous spiritual belief offer positive support for the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and, of equal importance, where the religions criticize or disagree with the ideas of the Convention. Each religion has very clear notions as to the functioning of the child in the context of the family. When considered in relation to the UN Convention, these ideas provoke a lively discussion. As we will see, major criticisms of the Convention are raised, along with recognition - by the religions themselves - that the principles adopted by the Convention regarding girls and women often constitute important and badly needed correctives to current religious practice. Each chapter examines the position of the child in relation to the family within the perspective of a particular religion. In the second chapter, Lababidy points to the importance of Islamic Jurisprudence in discussing the place of the child within Islamic societies. A child's place within Islamic law rests clearly within the context of the family. Lababidy first draws our attention to the generally positive Arab Muslim reactions to the Convention, noting that three of the six nations that called for the World Summit for Children were Islamic states. In the body of her chapter, Lababidy focuses on the areas in the Convention that are either most opposed or supported by the Islamic social law or shari'a. In the chapter on Christian perspectives on child and family wellbeing, Anderson focuses on the tension between a modern, Western emphasis on the individual, and a traditional Christian perspective that sees this position as a threat to a moral code that teaches the importance of love, marriage, and family as the bedrock of healthy communities. Anderson raises the fundamental question as to how the terms "well-being" and "best interest" used in the Convention (Article 3) in relation to the child are to be defined. From a Christian Birth to Adulthood, (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1992), p. 117.

Introduction

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perspective Anderson challenges the modern liberal presupposition (assumed by the Convention) that the state, rather than the parents or wider family, is the best judge of the meaning of "best interest" when applied to the child. Gross, in discussing children's rights and Buddhism, pays particular attention to the place of childhood. She first highlights how Buddhism often "goes against the grain" compared with other religions in its lack of focus on the child and family. Ironically, this lack of a family centred tradition supports the notion of children's rights, especially in regards to a child's right to individual enlightenment. From a Buddhist perspective these individual rights are grounded in the universal law of interdependence, or pratityasamutpada. Though Buddhist teachings do not specifically promote the importance of economic, social, cultural, political, and civil rights, these rights can, however, be seen as appropriate ways of creating an enlightened attitude. In her article on Aboriginal perspectives on child and family wellbeing, Sewid-Smith, discusses children's rights within the context of Kwaguf child rearing practices. Sewid-Smith covers critical Kwagul stages in a child's life such as birth, naming, and traditional instructions given to both parents and children. Sewid-Smith emphasizes the importance, in all of these stages, of the family unit in Kwagut socialization practices and of respect for all family members, including children. Of all the religions discussed, perhaps the Baha'i religion takes the most global perspective with regard to children's development. Hatcher makes reference to the importance placed by the Baha'i on instilling in children an awareness of themselves as members of a world family and on the subsequent need to abolish racism, sexism, and other forms of prejudice. Thus, the Baha'i faith clearly supports the principles set forth in the Convention. After first briefly covering the history of the Baha'i faith and the teachings of Baha'u'llah, Hatcher discusses the overlap of Baha'i tradition and the Convention in supporting children's right to healthy growth and development through various institutional interventions, such as education. Johnson's chapter on families and children in contemporary Chinese popular religion differs from many of the other chapters in this book by focusing on the popular aspects of religious practice. This popular perspective offers useful insights as the chapter targets the

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beliefs and practices of ordinary people rather than addressing organized religious traditions. Johnson draws much of her material from anthropological data collected during field work carried out in Hong Kong and adjacent areas of mainland China. In his chapter on children and family life in the Jewish tradition, Kraemer provides an historical discussion on the areas where the Convention is either in conflict with, or supported by the Jewish tradition codified in the Torah. Kraemer points to references emphasizing the central position accorded children, while also identifying the strong family ethic in the Jewish tradition. The areas of possible contention between the traditional Torah values and "modern" values are then discussed. In his conclusion to the volume, Coward links the contents of the volume to contemporary issues in religion (theory and practice) and the application of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Specifically, Coward discusses criticisms of the Convention's modern liberal presuppositions and their clash with various religious perceptions of the child and the family. Coward uses a North American Aboriginal case study to examine areas where liberal state government child protection policy could act (and has acted) adversely on behalf of the best interests of the child in opposition to cultural beliefs and norms supporting families and communities. He draws on the theories of political philosopher Charles Taylor in examining the value and worth of different religious beliefs that have sustained human societies over an extended period of time. He then compares these deeply held values with contemporary secular notions of children's rights. This volume is a first attempt at developing a critical dialogue between the UN Convention and the views of various religions in relation to the rights of the child. It highlights points of appreciation (as with the Convention's statement of the rights of girls and women) as well as areas of strong criticism (as in Anderson's critique, from a Christian perspective, that the application of a liberal human rights tradition to children by the Convention is likely to defeat its very intent). The outcome is thus a very useful dialogue which needs more study by the UN itself and by the world's countries and their religions now charged with implementing the UN Convention.

Chapter 2 Child and Family in Islam Leila Lababidy Introduction Islam emerged in the first quarter of the seventh century in Al-Hijaz, in the central-western part of the Arab Peninsula. At the time of the Prophet Muhammad's death in 632 C.E., Muslims are estimated not to have exceeded forty thousand in number. At that time they were mostly Arabs from the tribes of Central Arabia, with very few outsiders who came to Muhammad seeking to join this new faith that did not discriminate among human beings and declared that they were all brothers in Islam. This characteristic of the Muslim faith attracted people to it and today, after about a millennium and a half, Islam is estimated to have one billion followers and is spread all over the world. Only less than one third of its number are Arabic speaking people who live in the cradle of Islam and its vicinity, called in modern times the Arab World or the Middle East and North Africa.1 1

The total population of the Arab countries is about 300 million. A good number of these are non-Muslims, which would keep the count of Arab

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The other two thirds of the Muslim people live in the world at large. They are spread from China in the Far East to the American Continent in the west and from north of the Caucasus Mountains in Central Asia to countries below the Equator in Africa.2 Islam's expansion is due, not only to the equality it professes, but also to its ability to adjust to different social and cultural milieus. Muslims today speak different languages and live in different habitats and under different social conditions. All these Muslims observe the unalterable creeds of Islam, called 'ibadat as prescribed in the Qur'an. They all believe that: There is no deity but God and Muhammad is the messenger of God.3

They all recite the Qur'an in Arabic4 and practise the same devotional services of prayer, fasting, alms giving, and going on a pilgrimage to Mecca for those who can afford it. They all observe the basics of the social law of Islam or Shari'a. Nevertheless, the Shari'a in Islam has an inherent adjustability to time and space, as will be elaborated later. This adjustability has allowed Islam to live in different social settings. To understand how Islam is applied in a particular place, one has to be part of it. This is mentioned here only to indicate that writing about child and family in Islam from a world-wide outlook can be attempted only in general terms. Henceforth, the discussion will limit itself to the Arab perspective, with minimum reference to non-Arab Muslims.

2

3

4

Muslims less than one third of the one billion believers in the Islamic faith. "Muslims of the north of the Caucasus" is a term used in Arabic to denote the Muslims living in Central Asia, namely: the Usbeks, Kasaks, Turkmen, and Tadshiks of the former U.S.S.R. These words are the testimony of Islam, said upon entrance into the faith and repeated by Muslims several times a day. Muslims believe that the Qur'an is the word of God revealed verbatim to the Prophet Mohammad, in Arabic. Thus prayer and the reciting of the Qur'an are always in Arabic, no matter what the language of the believer is. "The meanings of the Holy Qur'an" is available in other languages for interpretation and further understanding.

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Because of the social nature of Islamic law, this discussion will concentrate on practices affected by the law and their sociological implications vis-a-vis the UN conventions and documents. It will start with a brief account of the development of Islamic jurisprudence to clarify how it is practised in the Arab countries today, followed by a presentation of some positive correspondence to institutional and social arrangements advocated by the UN Convention concerning child and family. The issues of variation from these conventions and different countries' reservations will be dealt with individually and discussed with reference to Islamic laws and to social customs of the Arabic Islamic people. This will be followed by a note on women and girl children, as they deserve special attention. Islamic Jurisprudence In the early days of Islam, judges ruled on civil, financial, and other social issues in accordance with two major binding headlines, namely: the teachings of the Qur'an and the life and sayings of Muhammad, called the Sunna in Arabic. Accordingly, the Qur'an and the Sunna have always been the fundamental sources of Islamic law. Whenever the judge found that the matter to be judged was not clearly stated in the Qur'an and Sunna, he would resort to the statements and rulings of the Prophet's friends or Sahaha for enlightenment on the case at issue. The Sahaba, because of their closeness to Muhammad, had insight in the way he himself understood the Qur'an. They also knew how he lived as a model for Muslims and what he said and advised on different occasions. Thus they were an additional source for the proper interpretation of the Qur'an and the Sunna in governing the Muslim's conduct and way of life. Soon a body of precedents accumulated to form a tradition of Islamic jurisprudence known as fiqh. Most judges have fakibs, knowledgeable of all those traditions themselves. But/zgi also became a science on its own with students devoting their time to it. This entailed understanding and interpreting the Shari'a in the light of the Qur'an, the Sunna, and the consensus in previous traditions. Many such scholars are known in the history of Muslim law. The most influential are four, namely the Imams: Malek, Abu Hanifa, AlShafii, and Ibn Hanbal. The work of each of these scholars was influential in certain locations and at certain periods of Muslim Arab

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history. For example, in the early years of the Abbasside Khalifate (750-1258 C.E.) the judges ruled by the interpretations of Imam Malek. Later during the same Khalifate, after the death of Harum Al-Rashid in 813, Imam Abu Hanifa's interpretation took over. The formal school of jurisprudence of the Mamlukes in Egypt (836-892.) was that of Imam Al-Shafii, probably the least conservative of the Qur'an and Sunna interpreters. The Ottomans (1300-1924) went back to AbuHanifa's school. In 1917, a few years before the fall of the Ottoman Empire, the Turks, who until then had been ruling in accordance with the teachings of Imam Abu-Hanifa in a rather primitive manner, started to formulate a modern code of civil law, "Family Law". This law was promulgated with reference to the European code of law, but its rulings were derived from the Islamic Shari'a. The new thing about it was that it did not restrict itself to the Imam Abu-Hanifa's interpretations, but referred to the other three Imams when that was deemed more in line with the emerging demands of the times.5 Consequently, after the fall of the Ottoman Empire in 1924, the Arab Muslim countries were already implementing this code of law that had a modern format and was not restricted to the interpretations of a single Imam. However, Islamic countries adopted this Family Law with their own special variations on a main theme. Some, like Egypt and Syria, developed new codes of law. Others, like Lebanon, added to it sections as needed. This new development of the civil code - dealing with the child, woman, family, and other related issues such as inheritance, financial implications of marriage, divorce, custody, and alimony - was termed the Personal Status Law by all Muslim countries.6 It should be mentioned here that some of the Arab Muslim countries, mainly the Gulf States, upon gaining independence from the Ottomans, discarded the Family Law of 1917 and went back to implementing the teachings of a single Imam, as practised before 1917. In addition to the judicial system, every Muslim Arab country has a 5 6

Not to be confused with Mostafa Kamal's Europeanization of Turkish laws in the 1930s. Translated freely and abbreviated from: Muhammad Mostafa Shalaby, Ahkam Al Osra Fil Islam, [The laws of the family in Islam], (Beirut: Dar AThaqafa, 1995), p. 349.

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religious office, whose duty it is to explain the Shari'a, whenever a need arises. This office, called Dar-El-'Efta, the House of Legal Opinions, is headed by a Mufti, an official expander of Islamic law. His job is to counsel on Islamic law and on matters related to the Shari'a. However, in spite of all this individuality in applying the Shari'a, the laws pertaining to child and family in the Arab World are still similar enough to make it possible to discuss them as a unity in the context of the developmental demands of the child, woman, and family in Arab Muslim society. Positive Arab Muslim Reactions to the UN Convention Islam, like all religions, treasures children and respects marriage and family ties. Consequently, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which was adopted by the UN General Assembly in November 1989, has been ratified, or at least signed, by all Arab states with the exception of Iraq, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.7 The countries that ratified the Convention have done so after effecting some changes in Articles 7 and 21, which are relative to the adoption and nationality of children. This signifies that in general the Convention is in agreement with the code of law or the "Personal Status Law", which applies in these countries and which, as indicated above, has its roots in the Islamic tradition. The changes, however, were requested because of a fundamental Islamic belief in the importance of preserving paternal lineages. This belief will be discussed in more detail in the next section of this chapter. In general the spirit of the Convention is in line with the ethos of socialization generally pursued by the Arab Muslim family. Children in Islam are highly esteemed as a sacred trust. The Prophet himself loved, prized, and played with young children. One of his much quoted sayings stated: "Love your children and treat them with compassion". Incidents that reflect his attitude in this connection are many. Salient among them is his interest in letting his grandchildren, boys and girls, accompany him often to his public meetings. Another example is the Prophet's practice of carrying on his shoulders his granddaughter Imama, the daughter of his daughter Zeinab, while performing his prayers, Salat, which involves standing, bending, and 7

UNICEF, The Progress of Nations, 1994, p. 38.

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kneeling several times.8 Abdullah Bin Amer, one of the Sahaba, reported that once as a child he was playing outside the house when the Prophet came to visit his family. His mother, wanting to entice him to come into the house to greet the Prophet, said: "Come into the house and I will give you something". When the Prophet asked her what she was going to give her child, she said that she might give him some dates. The Prophet immediately replied: "You better give him those dates or you will lose face with the child".9 Accordingly, the Muslim Arab family is enjoined to foster children's socialization with much love, care, understanding, and even self-denial. One of its main socialization duties is to raise the new generation in the faith of Islam, including proper social conduct, called in Arabic, Makarim Al-Akhlak. Meanwhile, child rearing should always be developed with compassion as the key to effective and balanced growth. Muslim Arabs do not have any formal ceremonies of initiation or admittance to the faith, such as Bar (and Bat) Mitzvah in Judaism and the first communion in Christianity. Instead, children should be raised in a home where they are accustomed to hearing quotations from the Qur'an and Sunna. Through parental guidance, they are introduced gradually to the 'Ibadat, particularly praying and fasting. Islamic social values, encompassing those propagated by Judaism and Christianity, should be inculcated through the living example of elders and in conformity with the Prophet's example. It is only when a child reaches puberty, which is assumed to be the beginning of rationality and maturity, that following the Qur'anic injunctions and practising Islamic rituals become obligatory. However, according to the Personal Status Law of the Muslim Arab states, he or she becomes accountable in political, economic, legal, and social responsibilities only on reaching the age of eighteen. 8

9

Mahmoud Qanbar, Dirasat Turathia Fi Al-Tarbia Al-hlamia [Traditional studies of Islamic education], Vol. 1, (Doha: Dar Al-Thaqafa, 1995), p. 349.

Mohammad Said Tantawi, Shari'at Al-Islam wa Ri'ayatoha Littufula [Islamic Shari'a and child care], Al-Ahram (daily newspaper), 5 December 1993, p. 8.

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One important responsibility of every Muslim adult is to bring up a new generation of Muslim believers, upholding religious values and social responsibilities. However, developing such values should not be attempted by coercion, but in the spirit with which Muhammad propagated his faith as indicated in the following Qur'anic verses: Therefore do thou give admonition, for thou art one to admonish. Thou art not one to manage (men's) affairs.10 After the adoption of the Convention of the Rights of the Child, six member nations of the UN called for a World Summit for Children, with the purpose of "bringing attention and promoting commitment at the highest political level, to goals and strategies for ensuring the survival, protection, and development of children as key elements in the socio-economic development of all countries and human society".11 Of these six nations three have Muslim majorities and Muslim heads of state, namely Egypt, Mali, and Pakistan. The other three are Canada, Mexico, and Sweden. This is mentioned here as an indicator of the serious concern of the Islamic nations for improving the lot of their children and of the fact that Islam is agreeable to exerting all necessary efforts in this connection. Furthermore, in all Islamic countries, as in all other developing countries, children form about 50% of the total population.12 This constitutes a very heavy social and economic responsibility. Meanwhile, they are working very hard at lowering their rate of population growth to alleviate this problem. It is here that they are meeting with reservations mainly from traditions that are not fully Islamic or from narrow and one-sided interpretations of the Islamic Shari'a (as will be discussed later). The World Summit for Children produced two documents, namely: "The World Declaration on the Survival, Protection and Development of Children" and "A Plan of Action" for the implementation of this 10 11 12

The Qur'an, Sum 88 (Al-Ghashiab) verses 21 and 22. UNICEF, The World Summit for Children, 1994, p. 2. Calculations from The World Bank Development Report, 1993, p. 210, show that in 1992 children aged 1 to 14 formed 43.6% of the population of Egypt, 55.5% of the population of Mali, and 47% of the population of Pakistan.

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Declaration. It also demanded that the individual nations of the world produce National Programmes of Action for achieving the goals of the World Summit. Although the majority of the Arab Islamic countries have signed the Convention, only about half of them have finalized National Programmes. It is notable that two of the Arab Islamic nations that have not signed the Convention, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, did finalize National Programmes of Action for achieving the goals of the World Summit.13 Reservations and Issues of Conflict As has been noted in the previous section, reservations and issues of conflict with the international conventions and documents dealing with children are not numerous in the Islamic Arab world. However, when an international document touches on issues related to the family - such as polygamy and divorce practices, or issues that put women or girls in a non-traditional perspective, such as women heads of households, family planning, and abortion as a woman's choice controversies arise. Many UN and International documents have touched on these issues in the past few decades, the most recent one being the final document of the International Conference on Population and Development, which was held in Cairo in September 1994. As indicated in the introduction, the issues pertaining to women and girls will be dealt with in a separate section. Ideally Muslims form a community that lives as prescribed by the Qur'an and Sunna, and when they make changes they have to stay within this prescription or else they will no longer be Muslims. Thus the following discussion of issues of controversy will also stay within this prescription. When seeking change it will only present arguments supported by the Islamic viewpoint. These arguments are not particular to this discussion. They are currently widespread among the Arab Muslim theologians and sociologists concerned with human development and other social issues. The issues will be presented in two categories: those that cannot possibly agree with Islamic Shari'a and thus will never be accepted by Muslim societies, and those that are not categorically forbidden by Islamic Shari'a. These, it is felt, should be changed and incorporated in 13

UNICEF, The Progress of Nations, 1994, p. 38.

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the practices of the Muslim Arab societies, in accordance with the flexibility of Islamic social doctrines and for the purpose of improving the conditions of children and the quality of human life in general. The spirit of this discussion, which calls for development changes whenever they can be made within the teachings of Islam, stems from the Prophetic saying: "What is good for my people is my Shari'a". This saying is also in conformity with the injunction of the Qur'an: Verily never will Allah change the condition of people until they change it themselves.14

A. Issues That Cannot Possibly Agree With Islam Of the issues that cannot possibly agree with Islam, the most important are: 1. The Legal Adoption of Children Islam has concerned itself with lineages and genealogy ('ansab) (singular nasab), and the Qur'an confirms: It is he who has created man from water. Then has He established relationships of lineage and marriage. For thy Lord has power over all things.15

Thus in Islam it is very important to stay within one's lineage. For example, Muslim women do not formally carry the family name of their husbands. A person's name should always indicate his or her patrilineal lineage. When a child is orphaned by the death of his or her father, the next male kin to the father assumes guardianship, kafala, as in the case of Muhammad himself. When his father died, his paternal grandfather assumed kafala, and brought him up. In recent years the kafala is sometimes delegated by the male next of kin to the child's mother, especially if she is an educated woman with financial means from a job or inheritance. If the legal guardian is too poor to assume financial responsibility for the child, he will remain the legal guardian, but the community will help with finances. In the modern Arab states orphans 14 15

The Qur'an, Sura 13 (AlRa'd), verse 11. The Qur'an, Sura 25 (Al-Furqan), verse 54.

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belonging to poor families are taken care of by the state, which takes care of their livelihood by placing them in institutions or by helping out their legal guardians or mothers, and of their education by providing school services in special institutions or by placing them in the public school system. Such children always stay in contact with their legal guardians and extended family, whose name they carry. Also, a child is never given the name of his or her mother's family or that of the mother's husband if the mother remarries, although sometimes a mother's husband brings up the child as if he or she was a child of his own. The theory behind this practice is that lineages need to be established clearly in order to prevent any form of endogamy, which is strictly regulated in Islam. Legal adoption, as well as artificial insemination from an unknown donor, Islamic interpreters declare, might lead, unwittingly, to abnormalities. In that respect, some interpreters of Islamic Shari'a in the past have gone as far as preventing the marriage of illegitimate offspring, whose parentage is not known. Currently this strict interpretation has been discarded and illegitimate children are not discriminated against any more. Because of this fundamental Islamic tradition, no Arab Muslim woman has yet kept a child that is not claimed by a father. In the modern Arab countries, these children are entrusted to the state, which assumes kafalaand gives the child an appropriate first, middle, and last name, that would sound like any other child's name. The state is considered the legal guardian of the child. Usually the child is placed with a childless family that will take care of it but does not adopt him or her legally, or in an institution that cares for orphaned children. In both cases the state supervises the child continuously and might change the arrangements made for him or her if it seems necessary. A mother who delivers a child on her own usually sends the baby, through secret channels, to orphanages or other community organizations, who would inform the state so that the necessary legal steps are taken. Some might abandon the baby in a place where it could be found by responsible people. Consequently, the Middle Eastern Islamic societies today do not have mothers living with their illegitimate children in single-parent settings, though other single-parent settings exist, as will be mentioned later. Furthermore, and because of this social pressure on unwed

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mothers, fatherless children have become very rare since the spread of the pill and other contraceptive devices. 2. Alternative Family Styles As indicated in the previous paragraph, mothers living with their illegitimate offspring constitute a family that is not accepted by Islam and in fact this is not practised because of social pressure against it. The same thing applies to homosexual co-habitation. Islam clearly prohibits homosexuality and a family based on this unreligious practice is not tolerated. Nevertheless, Islam throughout its history has legalized various family styles not known to the Western world. The purpose was always to give leeway to parents to claim their children as their own, thus protecting lineages. Some of these family styles have disappeared with the modern organization of family jurisprudence. For example, in the early years of Islam, a man could legitimately establish a sexual relationship with a slave woman, who in the Arab world were often white women concubines originally from the northern countries conquered by war. This practice, though theoretically lawful in Islam, ended with the abolition of slavery in modern times. Another example is a practice called the pleasure marriage, ziwaj al-mut'a. Such a marriage is one that would last only for a specific duration of time as indicated by a contract between two consenting parties. The contract here would serve to establish the lineage of the child in case the woman got pregnant. This practice has disappeared with the establishment of the modern state, and such a contract in itself will never establish fatherhood any more unless the man chooses to assume responsibility for the child. Thus the only family style accepted by Islamic doctrine today is restricted to that which is a product of a marriage contract between a man and a woman. Two such contracts are known: the civil contract, alziwaj-al-madani and the common law contract, alziwaj-al-'orphy. In both cases the contract should be signed by the parties to the marriage or their authorized representatives, as well as by two witnesses. To become effective the marriage contract should also be publicizedfor example by a party. Nevertheless, it should be mentioned here that in many Arab Muslim countries today, since the adoption of the "Personal Status Law", the common law contract is not recognized,

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except after registration with the civil authorities. Thus a couple cannot even register their children until they register their marriage. In some countries, such as Egypt, the common law contract is not recognized at all any more and a marriage is always carried out in the presence of an official representative of the state, called ma'zun. However, by and large common law marriages are losing ground, thus leaving way to only one form of family style accepted by the Islamic Shari'a. In the past, when marriages ended as a result of death, divorce, or abandonment, the case of a one-parent unit was not obviously noticed because it was easily absorbed in the extended family. Presently, with the declining role of the extended family, an acceptable single-parent family form is emerging. A recent study conducted in Egypt revealed that women responsible for households constitute 20% of the families in Egypt.16 There should also be single-parent families headed by men for the same reasons. The UN documents do not give special consideration to this form of single-parent family because in the developed world such families do not constitute a socio-economic problem on its own. But in the developing countries, because of inferior socioeconomic conditions, they do constitute a problem. As illiteracy and poverty are more widespread among women, it is felt that women heads of households need special attention. B. Issues not Specifically Forbidden by Islam Of the issues that are not specifically forbidden by Islamic Shari'a and that should be changed and incorporated in the practices of Muslim Arab society with a view to improving the conditions of children and the family, the following are the most important: 1. The Abolition of Polygamy Polygamy does not appear as an issue in itself in the UN and other international documents. Yet in the Arab Muslim countries it is thought of as a significant factor in the issue of empowerment for women. In a family where a man can, in theory, have another wife, the average woman is left powerless inside the marriage setting. 16

This study was conducted by the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood in Egypt 1992-93.

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Requests for the abolition of polygamy have been voiced since the first quarter of this century, without much result. In 1994, the celebration of the International Year of the Family revived these requests and gave them points of reference. In May 1994, on the occasion of the International Year of the Family, the Arab League, which is a union of twenty-two Arab Muslim states, held an Arab Conference for the Rights of the Family, in Egypt. At this conference polygamy and its abolition were put forward as an urgent issue for the improvement of the condition of the Arab Muslim family. In the final declaration of the conference, one of the recommendations was "to regulate the practice of polygamy in accordance with the Shari'a in such a way as to prevent the corruption it sometimes causes and to obtain social benefits for all the family members".17 As indicated earlier, this is not a totally revolutionary request. Furthermore, social development in general and the development of women in particular has set the stage for the revision of laws related to polygamy. Presently in the Arab states polygamy is noticeably rare and socially it is looked upon with disdain. The Qur'anic instructions do not encourage polygamy. They state: marry women of your choice, two, three, or four. But if ye fear that ye shall not be able to deal justly with them, then only one.18 It should not be forgotten that at the time of the Qur'anic revelation men in the Arabian Peninsula used to marry an unlimited number of women. The Qur'an stopped this practice by first limiting the number of permissible marriages. It also gives a reason why a man should marry only one woman. In the same Surah (Qur'anic chapter) a few verses further the subject is continued: ye are never able to be fair and just as between women. Even if it is your ardent desire.19 In fact, some Muslim states have already prohibited polygamy.

17

18 19

League of Arab Nations, Al Bayan Al'Araby Li Huquk Al'Osra [Arab declaration of the rights of the family], 1994, p. 17. The Qur'an, Sura 4 (Al-Nisa*), verse 3. The Qur'an, Sura 4 (Al-Nisa*), verse 129.

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Turkey, a non-Arab state, did so as part of its modernization movement in the 1930s. At the time, many Arabs considered it a move outside of the Shari'a. Nevertheless, Tunisia, an Arab Muslim state, followed suit in 1956 when it revised its Personal Status Code of law in accordance with enlightened interpretations of the Shari'a. It declared then that this change was essential for the purpose of meeting the demands of a changing society. 2. The Review of Divorce, Custody, and Alimony Practices The over-all spirit of the Convention on the Rights of the Child is to preserve the best interest of the child, enhance his or her development, and respect the will of the child when he or she is capable of expressing his or her views. In articles 3, 5, 9, and 12 in particular, it urges member states of the UN to take measures and prescribe laws that would ensure this spirit. Presently in the Arab Muslim countries, the Personal Status Laws as applied in cases of divorce, custody, and alimony do not always ensure the child's best interest and development, and often they are implemented without consideration of the child's will and opinion. Mothers, who should be involved in decisions for the child's welfare, are not included in the decision making and often do not have the power or the means to press for better solutions for their children. The laws regarding these practices were formulated a long time ago with the interests of men prevailing. In any event, in many instances women cannot act, not because the law does not give them the right to, but because they do not know about their rights or because they are too late. In order to alleviate this, the Muslim Arab states need to undertake two measures: a) Publicize the parts of their codes of law that favour the interests of the child and family, and educate girls and women about those rights. Women today, in general, reach the age of marriage ignorant of their rights. They do not know how the law based on the Shari'a can protect them and their children. A classical example is that almost all marriages that are affected in the present give the power of divorce only to men. Yet the law based on the Shari'a gives women the option to indicate an equal power of divorce in the marriage contract. In essence, women, by the authority of the Shari'a, can specify in the marriage contract any condition they deem necessary, even conditions related to polygamy, alimony, and the freedom to work outside the

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home.20 b) Review their Personal Status Laws with the help of advisors from the fields of education, sociology, and child development in order to propagate, within the limits of the Shari'a, practices that promote the better development of the child. It is also advisable to reword parts of the law in order to underscore procedures in favour of women's empowerment. 3. The Regulation of the Size of the Family Islam is in essence a religion that encourages reproduction. The Prophet is reported to have said: "Marry women who are devoted and prolific for I will take pride in your number the day of judgement". And the Qur'an says: And Allah has made of you mates of your own nature, and made for you, out of them, sons and daughters and grandchildren.21

and Wealth and sons are the ornament of the life of this world.22

Traditionally, Arab society in general loves and values children to the extent that not to be able to have children is considered a curse. Hence, when the need to decrease the rate of population growth became apparent in some Arab and non-Arab Muslim countries, the subject was tackled with much caution. The terms used by the UN were too harsh for the Arab ear and the term regulating the size of the family was used. Nevertheless, going back to the old traditions of Islam, it was found that although Islam encourages reproduction, birth control is not dogmatically forbidden. It is reported that Jaber Bin Abdullah AlAnsary, one of the prophet's Sahaba, tells that "at the time of the 20

21 22

Presently in Egypt a new format of the marriage contract is being prepared. It will allow women to prescribe, before entering into marriage, the conditions permitted by the Shari'a if they chose to. The Qur'an, Sura 16 (Al-Nahl), verse 72. The Qur'an, Sura 18 (Al-Kahf), verse 46.

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prophet we used to insulate our sperm (na'zil). The messenger of god knew about it and he did not restrain us from doing so".23 So birth control was practised during the days of the Prophet and though he knew about it, he did not condemn it. It should be noted that for a long time for men insulation was the only method of contraception. As for women, they no doubt used contraceptive methods as early in the Islamic days as men did, but there are no records of the methods they used. Yet a woman's right to refrain from getting pregnant is accepted in the early Islamic traditions, be it for health reasons or because she is tired from pregnancies, from giving birth, and from caring for children - or even if she is worried about losing her beauty, according to one interpretation. The case of chemical or surgical contraception, which was introduced to the Arab world not more than half a century ago, has caused some controversies. But generally, at least chemical contraceptives have been accepted as a practice by Muslims for regulating the size of the family. As mentioned earlier, the issues of change discussed are manifest in Arab Muslim states. In general, they are in agreement with UN conventions and declarations, although the approach might be different. The support of the UN conventions to these issues of change will no doubt accelerate the realization of the assured development, which in turn will enhance the well-being of the Arab Muslim child and family as advocated by the UN documents. Women and Girl Children Improving the condition of children cannot be achieved without improving the condition of women. For example, it is not hard to realize that a child's health at birth is directly related to his or her mother's health during pregnancy. However, in all developing countries, including the Arab Muslim countries, most women still do hard work while pregnant, are the last to eat from the food available to the family, and, unless they have a medical emergency, they do not see medical personnel until the time of delivery. Many develop health 23

Abdel Halim, Abu Shaqa, Tahir Al Mar'a Fi 'Asr Al Rissala [The emancipation of Arab woman in the days of the message], vol.5. (Kuwait: Dar Al Qalam, 1990), p. 172.

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problems during pregnancy, and a large number of women die during delivery. According to United Nations development statistics, most Arab Muslim countries belong to a group called "the medium human development group". In this group, the average rate of maternal mortality at the time of delivery is 200-260 per 100,000 live births, as compared to an average rate of 24 in the industrial countries. The average infant mortality rate in the medium human development countries is 40-51 per 1,000 births, while that of the industrial countries is 13.24 The same discrepancies prevail in education and other human development indicators. In addition to the low status of women, there is also a gap between the development of women and men. To say that the reason for the existence of that gap is simply economic is not acceptable. A great number of the Arab Muslim countries are poor, but whatever is available in these countries, whether they are rich or poor, is not distributed equally, as indicated by statistics published by international agencies and by the countries themselves. It is true that the Shari'a, as mentioned earlier, is mostly applied in a manner that favours men, and that women feel helpless regarding polygamy and divorce laws. Yet in matters of human worth and dignity as well as in daily life, Islam has given women much power. Women are equal to men in the faith. The Qur'an says: Allah has promised to believers, men and women, gardens under which rivers flow, to dwell therein, and beautiful mansions in gardens of everlasting bliss. But the greatest bliss is the good pleasure of Allah: That is the supreme felicity.25

A woman, like a man, is ordered to seek an education and to participate in the life of the Islamic community. She is a personal and an economic entity and once she reaches legal age, she is free to choose a husband and to manage her own money. The Sunna, or the life of Muhammad, is good proof of the position of women in Islam. Khadiga, the first wife of the Prophet, was a wealthy business woman who had her own trade enterprises. She was his employer and fifteen 24 25

UNDP, Human Development Report, 1994, table 11, pp. 150-1. The Qur'an, Sura. 9, (Al-Tawba), verse 72.

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years his senior. When the message came to him, she was very encouraging and supportive. She bore him children and lived with him for twenty-five years as his only wife, until her death. The gap between men and women in the present is thus not a product of Islamic traditions. But Islam, because of its adaptability to the customs of the countries in which it spread, has created conditions in which local traditional practices got wrongly mixed up with Islamic practices. In fact, at times one finds that in the same countries that adopted Islam as a religion, un-Islamic practices were given religious justifications. A good example of this phenomenon is the circumcision of girls, which is still practised in certain Egyptian local communities. Since the fifties, the authorities in Egypt have been trying to eradicate it completely, with little success. Recently in an article in Al-Ahram, a Cairo daily newspaper, Dr Mohammad Said Tantaw, the Mufti of Egypt, clearly indicates that "the quoted Islamic interpretations concerning the circumcision of girls are not properly referenced. This is not an Islamic habit and Islamic countries that are versed in Islamic Shari'a, such as Saudi Arabia, the Gulf States, Yemen, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, Libya, Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia do not practise it."26 No discussion of women and girls in reference to issues brought to focus by the UN is complete without a word about abortion. Islam, like all religions, does not permit abortion except for a serious reason. Yet it is a well known fact that women in the Arab Muslim world have sought it as a means of birth control. Women in the early stages of an unwanted pregnancy carry heavy things, run around the block, take hot baths, and sometimes introduce foreign objects into the vagina. Some of these measures of course are dangerous practices and thus abortion needs to be faced and regulated. In the article mentioned above, Dr Tantawi says that Islam allows abortion during the first 120 days of pregnancy if there is an acceptable medical or social reason for it. However, he adds that he himself does not encourage abortion of a child conceived in wedlock.27

26

27

Mohammad Said Tantawi, "Kalimah 'An Ijhadh Wai Khifad" [A Word about abortion and circumcision of girls] AlAhram, 9 October 1994, p. 8. Ibid., p. 8.

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Summary and Conclusions One third of Muslims live in the cradle of Islam and its vicinity called the Arab world in modern times - while the other two thirds are spread over the various continents. All Muslims ascribe to the observance of the unalterable creeds of Islam. Nevertheless, the social law or Shari'a of Islam has an inherent adjustability to different social conditions. This implies that writing about the child and family in Islam from a world-wide perspective can only be attempted in general terms. Consequently, the above discussion limited itself to the Arab world. In the Arab Muslim countries today matters of the family are dealt with in accordance with a code of law promulgated with reference to rulings of Islamic Shari'a, with few reinterpretations and formulations derived from the European code of law. Although every Arab Muslim country has its own code of law, they are all similar enough to make it possible to discuss them as a unified entity vis-a-vis the child, family, and human development conventions and declarations of the United Nations. In general, the spirit of the Convention on the Rights of the Child is in line with the Personal Status Law of the Arab Muslim countries and with the ethos of socialization pursued by the Arab Muslim family. Issues related to survival, participation, and promotion are in full agreement with the Shari'a on which the Personal Status Codes have been based. As a consequence, the Convention was ratified, or at least signed, by most Arab Muslim states. In issues related to protection, the two following areas of dissent deserve special attention: 1) Disagreement with the Convention is evident on matters related to certain patterns of family formation as well as to adoption procedures. Islam seeks to protect the child by preserving his or her genealogical descent. It asserts that care should be promoted without disturbing the child's right to be socially and legally connected to his or her proper lineage and kinship. 2) The Convention did not tackle the issue of polygamy, which has been debated in the Arab Muslim world on various occasions with a view of abolishing, restricting, or at least reconsidering the tenability of polygamy in modern times. Finally, for the correct understanding of the rights of the child and

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family in the Muslim Arab world, it is deemed necessary to distinguish between tenets and injunctions of Islam as a religion on the one hand and, on the other hand, the social practices, customs, and mores, which are sometimes considered as derived from the original sources of Islam, namely the Qur'an and the Sunna. It is well known in sociological analysis that discrepancies and even distortions exist between de iure and de facto, between ideology and practice. It must also be pointed out that certain rights, including the survival rights of health and educational development, could be seriously affected by economic hardships and poverty - pressures where women and children suffer most. Political structures, especially where illiteracy is widespread, reduce the participation rights of the majority of citizens, particularly women. In such a socio-economic and political context, both Islamic and conventional declarations are usually overshadowed and ignored.

Chapter 3 Child and Family in Christianity Terence R. Anderson God values children as much as he does adults, according to the teachings of Jesus; children are as integral as adults to the promised Kingdom of God. In response to the disciples' act of turning away those who brought children to him, Jesus said: "Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them; for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 19:14). This establishes for Christians the appropriate attitude toward children. Christianity has been a religious movement for entire families and not only for adult members of families. Children were included in the corporate life of the church from its beginning. In order to understand Christian views regarding children, however, it is necessary to examine Christian views of marriage and family. Christianity has been incarnated in a great variety of cultures since its inception as a distinctive religious movement approximately two thousand years ago. This means that Christianity has entered into a living relationship with diverse forms of the family, ranging from the clans of tribal societies, the patriarchal households and extended families of agricultural societies, to the so-called "nuclear families"

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characteristic of modern, Western industrial societies. Therefore it is impossible within the scope of this chapter to do justice to the resultant scope and variety of Christian thought and practice regarding marriage, children, and family life. I shall only sketch in a few paragraphs the historical background of Christian thought on this subject and then outline some major motifs regarding marriage and family life that have emerged in Christian theological reflection in the main streams of the tradition. This will be followed by a few comments on the tension between these understandings of marriage and family life and some prevailing values of liberal, modern societies such as those in North America. Finally, I shall offer some reflections on how the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child bears on these tensions. A Brief Historical Overview The Christian movement among the early followers of Jesus began as one of the eschatological renewal movements of Judaism that sprang up in the land of Israel under Syrian and Roman rule. Jesus of Nazareth was depicted as a prophet - sometimes as the final prophet who called Israel to repentance and transformation with singular urgency. "The Kingdom of God [was] 'at hand'" (Mark 1:15). In addition, his followers after his death claimed that Jesus' career, his crucifixion, and resurrection represented the long awaited Messiah and the inauguration of the Kingdom of shalom. The followers of Jesus, therefore, were seen to be the cadre of the new society that belongs to the New World. As already indicated, children and family are valued highly in both the teachings of Jesus and in those of his early followers, as they are in Judaism. Further, the family households in which Christians gathered were central to the Christian missionary movement. Yet in spite of this, there has been in Christianity from its beginning a certain ambivalence towards sex, marriage, and family.1 The apocalyptic urgency that characterized the Jesus movement is reflected in the several ascetic teachings of Jesus. These teachings call for detachment from ties of place and family: "Who are my mother and my brothers? 1

D. S. Bailey, Sexual Relations in Christian Thought, (New York: Harper & Bros., 1959) provides a good historical overview.

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... whoever does the will of God is my brother, and sister, and mother" (Mark 3:33-35). Or, "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple" (Luke 14:26; cf. Matthew 10:37). It seems clear when these sayings are understood in relation to their context that such asceticism was not regarded by Jesus and his followers as a means of salvation or even as an expression of the new life in the Kingdom to come. Rather, these teachings were directed to the apostles or prophets of the movement. If the apostles were to function effectively as itinerant messengers of the "good news" as they made their way from village to village, then obedience to these injunctions was necessary. The receivers of this message, on the other hand, "are not asked to imitate the itinerants, but only to listen to them and to support them - and the latter requires that they not abandon the world.2 Nevertheless, as Christianity spread to the larger cities of the Mediterranean world, these few ascetic teachings of Jesus were integrated by some Christians with certain strands of Greek thought that deplores all matter, including the human body, as evil. The result was that in much of the Christian movement, the ascetic life as such came to be held up as the religious and moral ideal. Marriage was regarded as an inferior or compromised way. Believers were called to a "higher life" of separation from "the world", eschewing marriage, sex, and family. This development was aided by the need for Christians to resist the licentiousness and many of the sexual practices of the pagan world. In such a context, "virginity seemed the supreme expression of moral power".3 The ascetic strain continued in the early centuries of the Christian church receiving its most definitive formulation by St Augustine, who not only regarded virginity and monasticism as the higher and preferable way, but claimed that sex could be justified only for purposes of procreation, even within marriage. This view, though modified some by the great medieval theologian Thomas Aquinas, 2

J

Wayne A. Meeks, The Moral World and the First Christians, (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1986), p. 106. Sidney Cave, The Christian Way, (Digswell Place: James Nisbet, 1961), p. 183.

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held sway in the Western Church until the great Protestant Reformations of the sixteenth century. It persisted in the Roman Catholic Church until the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s. This ascetic strand in Christian thought did not predominate or prevail to the same extent, however, in the Eastern Orthodox Church. The latter has for centuries, through its liturgy and theology, upheld a very positive, in fact lofty, view of sex, marriage, and family life. The Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century also rediscovered the positive biblical teachings on sex and marriage. All four main streams of reformation - Lutheran, Calvinist (Reformed), Anabaptist, and English reformation - reaffirmed marriage and family as the normative way for Christians. Celibacy is not the "higher" path but is only appropriate for a few. Marriage, said Luther, is God's gift to humankind, a divine ordinance for ordering human life. "It is a school of faith and love in which men and women learn and grow. Therefore, it is in marriage, and not in celibacy that we are best prepared for life everlasting."4 All the reformers shared the belief that parenthood is one of the supreme blessings of marriage. Sex is, in Luther's phrase, the "lovely music of nature"5 by which procreation is accomplished. Even in the Roman church prior to the Reformation, those who lauded the monastic way still had to come to terms with Jesus' affirmation of marriage and family. Augustine himself defended marriage and family against the even stronger negative body/soul dualism of Manicheanism that was prominent in his time. Since Vatican II, Roman Catholic teaching has strongly affirmed marriage and in addition recognized sexual intercourse within it as appropriate language for expressing and affirming a bonding love as well as for purposes of procreation.6 Generally, throughout its history, Christianity has not sought overtly to change the form of family operative in any of the various cultures of its members except for its consistent and persistent 4 5 6

Quoted in David and Vera Mace, The Sacred Fire, (Nasville: Abingdon Press, 1986), p. 159. Luther's Works, Vols. 1-30, (St Louis: Concordia Publishing House), vol.1, p. 126. For a summary account of this shift, see David M. Thomas, Christian Marriage, (Wilmington, DE: Michael Glazier, 1983), chapter 3.

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commitment to life-long, monogamous marriage. Instead, Christians have endeavoured to witness to their convictions regarding marriage and family life through the family forms of various cultures and by this means slowly modify them. Not surprisingly, the reverse also happens, and a particular culture makes its impact on Christian understanding, as already noted in the case of Greek and Roman thought. This is even more evident at the level of actual practice of Christians which, needless to say, is frequently far from Christian vision and teaching. The gap between our teachings and our practice is an enduring problem for Christians, as is sorting out the relationship between the gospel of Jesus Christ and any particular culture in which it becomes embodied. Even more disturbing is the abuse of selected Christian teachings to rationalize and justify marriage and family practices that are clearly contrary to its basis vision. It is also important to note that in ongoing engagement with modern, liberal cultures, Christians differ among each other over current, much debated issues in those societies. These include such matters as abortion, birth control, gender roles, divorce and remarriage, homosexuality, sex outside of marriage, and the like, all of which bear in important ways on marriage and family life. However, my task here is not to address these myriad disputes. Rather I shall attempt with as few distortions and caricatures as possible to outline the central motifs of basic Christian teaching on marriage and family as held more or less in common by Orthodox, contemporary Roman Catholic, and the main Protestant streams of the tradition. Theological Understandings All Christian theologies of marriage and family are shaped by the Christian understanding of the great drama of God's creating, sustaining, and redeeming activity in regards to the whole of creation. God created the heavens and the earth and all that is in it, including humankind, and declared it to be very good. He created human beings for special relationship with himself. But human beings turned away from God and the promise of this relationship in a way that has led to distortion upon distortion of the good world that God created. The creator God has not abandoned creation or humankind, in spite of its disobedience and alienation. The story recorded in the Hebrew Scriptures and the Christian New Testament is the story of God's

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various activities in seeking to win back and restore to its intended relationship with himself this fallen and suffering humanity. This story reaches its climax, according to Christians, with God entering the world as a human being, Jesus of Nazareth, and taking upon God's self the burden of rejection and disobedience of humankind as manifested in the crucifixion of Christ. Through Christ the cumulative cosmic power of sin and its distorting effects over humankind has been broken. Human beings may begin now to taste the promised fulfilment of creation and to show forth in their lives something of the rule of God in Jesus Christ. However, the condition of full abundance, justice, and harmony between all and God will come in its fullness only in God's own time. In light of this ongoing drama of God's creative and redemptive activity, several motifs regarding marriage and family emerge and persist in Christian thought. These motifs are combined in different ways and with different emphases in the theologies that characterize various strands of the tradition. I shall briefly enumerate the motifs without attempting to weave them into a coherent whole. Marriage and family belong to God's good creation is one such motif. They are natural phenomena grounded in biological necessity expressed in sexual attraction and in the lengthy dependency of human offspring. However, the sexuality of human beings is not simply the biological urge to procreate. It is bound up with human freedom and eros and entails the entire personality of human beings. Marriage, therefore, is founded also in the natural relationality or sociality of human beings. We are creatures of relationship and interdependence and not merely isolated individuals (Genesis 2:18). The family, then, is not first of all a peculiarly Christian institution, rather it is rooted in the very nature of humankind as created by God. Christ did not found marriage. In the words of the Book of Common Prayer, he "adorned and beautified" it. Christian traditions differ as to what they deem to be the chief ends or goods of marriage. In the Roman tradition, there is still an emphasis on procreation. "Marriage and married love are by nature ordered to the procreation and education of children. Indeed, children are the supreme gift of marriage and greatly contribute to the good of the

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parents themselves".7 But in the Orthodox and in the Protestant Reformation traditions, a prime good of marriage is "the unselfish and unitive love" of husband and wife. Flowing from this good, children are a blessing. All are agreed that it is from our primary relations in family that we gain, for good or ill, an identity, who we are. In the words of Vatican II, the family is "a kind of school of deeper humanity", a place where one learns how to love and be loved. The natural created good of marriage and family, however, has become through the human sin of alienation from God and fellow creatures, a sphere of human relationships that falls short of God's intention and purpose for it. Christian traditions are agreed on this, though they differ as to the nature and extent of that downfall. Roman Catholics speak of "falling short", Protestants of a basic distortion. Yet they also agree that in spite of this, the institutions of marriage and family continue to be part of God's good, though now distorted, creation. These institutions still reflect, however imperfectly, dimensions of that goodness and remain one of God's ways of sustaining human life. Christians are called to uphold these institutions and enrich them in every way possible. This brings us to a second motif in Christian thought regarding marriage and family. Marriage and family are an area of human life for Christian Vocation. Christians feel called by God to a special vocation, a particular kind of work, a holiness in obedience to Christ in this "sphere of human activity" as Luther described marriage and family life. What does it mean to be thus married "in the Lord"? The themes of covenant, communion, the basis of community, and a school of virtue are prominent in connection with this motif of vocation. Marriage is interpreted as a covenant fashioned in the light of God's covenants with Israel and with all humankind. A covenant of this kind entails a relationship of trusting and accepting entrustment between willing partners. They will "commit themselves fully and steadfastly to each other and affirm each other as persons of worth, not only as individuals having convenient or useful or praiseworthy

7

The Documents of Vatican II, Walter M. Abbott (Ed.), (New York: Herder and Herder, 1966), p. 253.

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characteristics".8 This unqualified affirmation and respect of the partner is the essence of marital love. Such a covenant is marked by a commitment to the goals of marriage including both intimate companionship and the begetting and raising of children, plus a commitment to the offices and responsibilities of this vocation. These commitments in turn entail moral obligations by the partners to each other and by them both to the community. A central one is faithfulness - "the enduring unqualified commitment and trustworthiness of each marriage partner to the other.9 This includes sexual exclusiveness and permanence. More recently, observes a Methodist scholar, the Christian tradition has come to realize that it also involves "fairness in the distribution of responsibilities and benefits between the marriage partners".10 The commitment together with their obligations are to be the prime concern of the partners in contrast to a focus on the pursuit of their own individual ends. A related theme also conjoined to the motif of Christian vocation of marriage is a special communion between husband and wife. To cite an Orthodox scholar, "marriage need not be reinvented by Christians. Its character and intentionality, however, must change from selfishness, carnality, and possessiveness to being married 'in the Lord'".11 Even a happy marriage, writes a Protestant theologian, "may be merely double egoism. ... The loyalties of the family have to be subordinated to loyalty to God, and in that subordination these loyalties gain new strength and meaning."12 This kind of conjugal union is for Christians both a gift and an obligation, one prime aspect of the husband's and wife's calling. It "is achieved as natural eros transcends itself in a movement of reciprocal self-gift of one spouse to the other". In this way, according to Orthodox theology, "natural marriage founded in eros is 8

9 10 11 12

Joseph L. Allen, Love and Conflict, (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1984), p. 266. Ross T. Bender, Christians in Families, (Scottsdale, PA: Herald Press, 1982) provides a recent development of the theme of marriage as a covenant from a Mennonite perspective. Ibid. p. 231. Ibid. p. 234. Vigen Guroian, Incarnate Love, (Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1987), p. 87. Sidney Cave, The Christian Way, pp. 204-5.

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translated into an image of the Kingdom of God, a way of witnessing to the cross and participating in the communion of saints".13 Being married "in the Lord", however, incorporates not only the kind of union and love described above. Marriage is to be the basis of community with others. Children are a gift and blessing that enlarge the community. This community in turn is to serve a higher purpose and calling. Children help the family become a "little church" enabling it to better serve God. "And children who become 'a people unto God' are an even greater gift and reward of marriage well lived." They extend the church from one generation to another until Christ's second coming. Vatican II spoke of the family as "the Church in miniature" and "the domestic church". The mission of being the primary vital cell of society has been given to the family by God himself. This mission will be accomplished if the family ... presents itself as a domestic sanctuary of the Church; if the whole family takes its part in the Church's liturgical worship; if, finally, it offers active hospitality, and practices justice and other good works for the benefit of all its brothers suffering from want.14

The family, then, is called to be a school of virtue which prepares persons of a character willing to do service to others and fit for the kingdom of God. Through the gift of children, God forges husband and wife into persons they never imagined they could be. Children teach their parents humility, tolerance, patience, and how to deal with their own limitations. But a child's presence is also the opportunity which God provides parents for discovering within themselves the capacity to love without measure, to forgive and redeem the lives of others. In turn, it is "the duty of parents to create a family atmosphere inspired by love and devotion to God and their fellow men which will provide an integrated, personal and social education of their children."15 Pope John Paul II adds: in a society shaken and split by tensions and conflicts caused by the violent clash by various kinds of individualism and selfishness, children must be enriched not only with a sense of true justice, 13

14 15

Vigen Guroian, Incarnate Love, p. 93.

The Documents of Vatican Council II, p. 503. Ibid. p. 641.

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which alone leads to respect for personal dignity of each individual, but also and more powerfully by a sense of true love, understood as sincere solicitude and disinterested service with regard to others, especially the poorest and those in most need. ... Children must grow up with the correct attitude of freedom in regard to material goods, by adopting a simple and austere lifestyle, being fully convinced that "man is more precious for what he is than for what he has".16 The parental share of responsibility for enabling the family to be a basis of community including a school of virtue belongs to both husbands and wives. Luther, in the sixteenth century, writes with typical earthiness, Now you tell me, when a father goes ahead and washes diapers or performs some other mean task for his child, and someone ridicules him as an effeminate fool - though that father is acting ... in Christian faith - my dear fellow you tell me, which of the two is most keenly ridiculing the other: God, with all his angels and creatures, is smiling - not because that father is washing diapers, but because he is doing so in Christian faith.17 More recently, Pope John Paul II writes on fatherhood: Love for his wife as mother of their children and love for the children themselves are for the man the natural way of understanding and fulfilling his own fatherhood. ... As experience teaches, the absence of a father causes psychological and moral imbalance and notable difficulties in family relationships as does, in contrary circumstances, the oppressive presence of a father, especially where there still prevails the phenomenon of "machismo", or a wrong superiority of male prerogatives which humiliates women and inhibits the development of healthy family relationships.18 The authority of parents, teachers, and magistrates over children is qualified by the obligations entailed in the vocation of enhancing the family's function as a basis of community. At least in the thought of Luther, where the vocation motif receives special emphasis, authority 16 17 18

Pope John Paul II, "The Apostolic Exhortations on the Family", Origins 11 (1981), section 37. Luther's Works, Vols 31-55, (Philadelphia: Fortress Press), vol. 45, pp. 3940. Pope John Paul II, "The Apostolic Exhortations on the Family", section 25.

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over children derives only from the responsibility to rear them in accordance with God's law and discipline. Luther wrote to parents: "Your children are not so completely yours that you have no obligations to God on their behalf; God has his rights in the lives of your children; they are more his than yours".19 Marriage and family life have a sacramental quality is another motif common to most of the Christian traditions. The underlying assumption of sacrament is that certain earthly and material realities can reflect and mediate spiritual truths and power. Marriage and family life are such realities. Of course, they are only very imperfectly realized in practice, even by Christians with a sense of holy vocation regarding them, given the fallibility and sin of human beings. Nevertheless marriage and family reflect, however imperfectly, and even mediate, however partially, something of the power and presence of God. The bond of love between husband and wife, for example, with the give and take of every-day life that entails is itself a mystery that is able to be a model and symbol of the covenant love which unites God and his people and of the covenant of Christ with his church (Eph. 5:31-32). In the words of Pope John Paul II: the communion of love between God and a people, a fundamental part of Revelation and faith experience of Israel, finds a meaningful expression in the marriage covenant which is established between a man and a woman. For this reason, the central word of revelation, "God loves his people", is likewise proclaimed through the living and concrete word whereby a man and a woman express their conjugal love.20 Another example is the way the begetting and nurturing of children manifests the out-going or expansive nature of true love involving wider and wider realms of care and concern. This points to but also mediates something of God's creative and nurturing love.21 Christians are called to enhance these sacramental qualities. By the grace of God, husbands and wives and their children are enabled to reach heights 19 20 21

Cited in Steven Ozment, When Fathers Ruled, (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1983), p. 153. Pope John Paul II, "The Apostolic Exhortations on the Family", section 12. Thomas, Message of the Sacraments, p. 190.

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that are impossible if dependent on human will alone. While this sacramental characteristic is recognized by nearly all Christians traditions, Protestants do not claim marriage as one of the official sacraments of the church alongside baptism and the Eucharist. The Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches do. Hence when Christians marry in these churches, they participate in the sacrament of marriage. An Orthodox theologian provides a summary of what this means: the sacrament of marriage is a passage from natural and fallen marriage into the new order of Christ's Kingdom. ... God bestows upon the married couple the dispositions and virtues necessary for building up his Kingdom. And in all the Eastern rites children are counted as spiritual blessings which strengthen the little church of the family, increasing its service to God and extending it from one generation to the next until Christ's Second Coming.22 Tensions with Modern Culture William A. Galston, deputy assistant to the President's White House Domestic Policy Council, reports that there is now in the United States widespread agreement across ideological lines about two matters. First, "stable, intact, two-parent families" are highly desirable for the well-being of children. Secondly, "the family disintegration that we are currently experiencing - in some respects at an accelerating pace - is harming our children". It is harder and worse, he claims, to be a child today than it was a generation ago. This fact overwhelms differences of race and ethnicity at least in the United States.23 There are disturbing signs of similar difficulties in Canada, though perhaps not yet the consensus concerning them. Certainly many thoughtful Christians experience pressures from modern liberal culture both against the family as a created good essential to the well-being of humankind and against the realization of their Christian vocation in marriage and family. I cite only four by way of illustration. 22 23

Guroian, Incarnate Love, p. 92. Galston, William A., "Beyond the Murphy Brown Debate", speech delivered to the Family Policy Symposium, 10 December 1993, New York: Institute for American Values, pp. 4-5.

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First, the underlying individualistic view of human nature that has pervaded modern, Western society since the Enlightenment is at odds with the relational understanding of humans which informs Christian views of marriage and family. The "hyper-individualism" of Western Enlightenment asserts that we are primarily individuals and only secondarily members of communities, that we are fully human only when we are free from dependence on others, and that "freedom from dependence on others means freedom from any relations with others except those relations which the individual enters voluntarily with a view to his own interest".24 Thus built into the central value system of modern, Western societies is a profound unease with the non-chosen relationships which connect parents and their children, siblings to each other, and also various other members of the family. By contrast, the Christian understanding is that God created human beings to be neither simply members of communities nor only individuals, but both at once. We are creatures made for relationship but also the kind of creature that cannot be simply subsumed or accounted for by those relationships. The community of the family is the basic institution that expresses this fundamental reality about human beings. In the given relationships of families, children learn who they are and develop a strong identity that enables them to be distinctive individuals yet persons in community. Secondly, the economic system in which we live is so focused on consumption, driving us to getting and spending, that the modest lifestyle which Christian families would seek to foster and which leaves time for parents to spend with their children is difficult to obtain. Pressed to meet ever-higher levels of an expensive standard of living, providing their children with what come to be seen as "basic needs", parents find it harder and harder to have much time with their children. Compensation for this neglect by the invention of "quality time" is a poor substitute. For as a social historian wisely observes, it is through the casual acceptance of children into adult routines that they learn what is expected of them. Yet "every parent feels complicit in this vicious circle of neglect and indulgence".25 24 25

C.P. McPherson, Possessive Individualism, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1961), p. 263. Christopher Lasch, "Hillary Clinton, Child Saver", Harper's Magazine,

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Thirdly, the combination of highly individuated persons together with affluence and a consumer oriented economy fosters what Christopher Lasch has aptly called "a culture of narcissism". Such a culture is marked by a preoccupation with self, with individual rights and fulfilment. Narcissists progressively seek self-gratification as a right owed to them by society. This generates a popular "ideology of nonbinding commitments and open-ended relationships - an ideology that ... condemns all expectations, standards, and codes of conduct as 'unrealistic"'.26 In the ethos of this narcissism, love itself comes to be understood as only the expression and fulfilment of individual freedom and the means to immediate personal gratification. Love becomes severed "from the values of long-term commitment and expansive regard for others". This is very different from the Christian understanding of love as a "firmly planted, permanent commitment embodying obligations that transcend the immediate feelings or wishes of the partners in a love relationship".27 In this second conception of love, unlike the narcissistic one, "there is room for relatives who are not chosen but 'inherited' and children who, while begotten, are not 'made to order'".28 Popular culture reflects the crasser elements of this narcissism and hedonism by its graphic images of sex and violence that bombard our children. This further undermines the formation of children according to the way espoused by Christians and probably undermines as well the formation sought by other world religions. The pressure under these cultural conditions is to turn marriage and family away from an institution into which people enter into a project of individuals seeking to fulfil their own needs and "realizing themselves". Such a personal project is "always susceptible to redefinition, reconstruction - and obviously, termination".29 In summary, in North American dominant societies, "we tend to

26 27 28 29

October 1992, p. 74. Christopher Lasch, Haven in a Heartless World, (New York: Basic Books, 1977), p. 140. Robert Bellah et al., Habits of the Mean, (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1985), p. 93. Vigen Guroian, Incarnate Love, p. 84. Brigitte Berger and Peter Berger, The War Over the Family, (Garden City, NY: University of California Press, 1983), p. 132.

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make of the family both too much and too little", writes Lutheran ethicist Gilbert Meilaender. "Too much - as parents seek to reproduce themselves in their children, feverishly seek children "of our own", and try as much as possible to protect those children from all experience of suffering and sacrifice." This is asking of the family more than it can give and places upon it expectations that must inevitably be disappointed. "Too little - in that we can so seldom discover in the family anything more than an arena for our personal fulfilment, and we fail to see it as a community that ought to transmit a way of life."30 Fourthly, while Western societies have for some time attempted to ameliorate the negative effects on children resulting from dysfunctional families, the ironic consequence of many of these efforts is further to undermine marriage and family with dire effects for children. The problem stems from attempting to turn the state into a substitute parent, as it were, in an effort to reshape the family according to the ideals of the reformers. Reforms instituted earlier in this century, for example, designed to prevent parents from exploiting their children's labour, had a number of important benefits. Alas, they also had the deplorable effect of extending bureaucratic intervention to the point of eroding parental responsibility. The unlimited confidence of the reformers regarding their ability to act "in the best interest of the child" led to a new, even more heavy-handed paternalism. By replacing adversarial justice with therapeutic justice, these reforms created new varieties of arbitrary power. Neither children nor their parents, it turned out, had much recourse against authorities who were 'only try[ing] to help' ... Refusal to cooperate could be construed as evidence of a bad home environment.31

This increasing extension of bureaucratic interference with parents and the family (albeit in the name of "saving" children and the family) threatens the autonomy of the family. It can also become the carrier in many instances of values and beliefs about family relationships and marriage that are contrary to Christian convictions. The study on the 30 31

Gilbert Meilaender, "What Families Are For", First Things, October 1990, p. 41. Christopher Lasch, "Hillary Clinton, Child Saver", p.76. See also Stanely Hauerwas, A Community of Character, (Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press, 1981), p. 162 ff.

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family done by sociologists Brigitte and Peter Berger shows that "there continues to be a strong element of middle class evangelism in the 'helping' efforts of family professionals - except for the fact, of course, that the contents to be evangelized have changed greatly".32 In the 1950s, for example, these professionals promoted the virtues of domesticity, urging mothers to stay at home. In the 1960s and 70s they preached that women should leave the "slavery of the household". Middle class parents, the Bergers observe, have of course more power to resist their disenfranchisement by these professional intruders. Lower class people, in particular those on welfare, have fewer if any defences at all.33 These are a few of the tensions, then, between Christian values and those of the dominant culture and some of the consequent pressures on maintaining the sanctity of marriage, as Christians perceive it, and on making the family a community "in which we learn the meaning of commitment to a few and begin to learn the steps of the greater dance of love". It is not easy in such an ethos to cultivate a family as a place where its members by God's grace begin to learn to love and to want to live with God in a community of love. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child This brings us, then, to the vexing question of what public policy would best strengthen the family and thereby serve the well-being of children. More particularly, how do we devise a public policy that gives children necessary protection against abuse and neglect, yet at the same time does not undermine families as communities that can transmit a way of life, including the Christian perspective, the way Jesus Christ? Does the UN Convention help or hinder the development of such policies? On the positive side, a number of the articles of the Convention urge governments to provide protection for children from specifically named harms which we would all agree in our better moments are dangers from which children deserve international protection. A few examples will serve to illustrate: Article 6 calls for states to recognize "that every child has the inherent right to life". Killing is a specific and 32 33

Brigitte Berger and Peter Berger, War over the Family, p. 37. Ibid. p. 38.

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universally recognized evil from which children should be protected. The same Article, however, contains an additional call for ensuring "development of the child". This begins to introduce some ambiguous and disputed goods which I shall discuss further below. Article 11 also invokes against clear and specific harms, namely "the illicit transfer and non-return of children abroad". Article 22 calls for special protection for refugee children and "humanitarian assistance". And further, "to protect and assist such a child and to trace the parents or other members of the family of any refugee child in order to obtain information necessary for reunification with his or her family". These are all measures that are clearly supportive of families and children. They enhance family ties while at the same time protecting children from very specific and universally agreed upon wrongs. There is, however, in my judgement, an even more powerful shadow side to the Convention. A goodly number of the Articles are of such a nature that I fear their cumulative effect will contribute unintentionally to the undermining of strong marriages and healthy families and therefore be harmful to children. This is a danger especially in Western societies. In the social context of these societies, the effect of the Convention may well be to reinforce the very qualities of that ethos most in tension with a Christian view of marriage and family. I think this threat to family and thus to children comes in two main ways. A. The first is that a number of the Articles provide a powerful legitimation for the state - read the state's agents in the form of the professionals of the new middle or knowledge class - to function as a coparent and increasingly as a substitute parent in the nurture and care of children. Thus Article 3 invokes all states and their agencies to act in accord with "the best interests of the child" as their primary consideration, and (part 2), "undertake to ensure the child such protection and care as is necessary for his or her well-being". One of course rejoices that the best interests of the child are to be the goal. Also laudable is the qualification in Article 3 (part 2) that this goal should be pursued in a way that takes "into account the rights and duties of his or her parents, etc.". But both the notion of "best interests" and "well-being" are notoriously ambiguous in meaning. The meaning attributed to them depends on an understanding (usually

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implicit) of the normatively human which in turn is a central part of any religious conviction. The crucial question, then, is who is to determine the meaning of "wellbeing" and "best interests", either in general terms or in specific cases? The Articles of the Convention make it clear that it is to be either the state or the child, but not the parents or wider family. Articles 5 and 14, for example, both call for states to "respect the responsibilities, rights and duties of parents", but this turns out to mean only "in the exercise by the child or the rights recognized in the present Convention" (Article 5). Article 14, talking about the role of parents in regards to "the right of the child to freedom of thought, conscience and religion" places the same limitation on the authority of parents. Article 14 (Part 3) also makes it clear that the final arbiter of the meaning of best interests and well-being is to be determined by the state. Note especially that the state is also to decide what is an appropriate manifestation of religion! The rights of the child as well as those of the parents may be overridden for any reason deemed "necessary to protect public safety, order, health, or morals or fundamental rights and freedoms of others", [italics mine] Clearly, this provides legitimation for a degree of state authority over parents and families which could prove to be a serious threat first of all to the responsibility and freedom per se of parents in general. These measures invite a degree of bureaucratic interference that experience in Western societies, as indicated above in the previous section, demonstrates is counterproductive to healthy families which are so essential to child well-being. The adoption of a parental role by the state in the name of a "therapeutic campaign against backward, 'traditional' families has a long history, which alone should make us skeptical about the desirability of another campaign along the same lines".34 Such evidence stretches back to the beginning of the century. Rather, what is needed is the strengthening of "intermediary institutions" like the family, the neighbourhood, the church, the labour union, and the like, which "make it possible for communities to educate, discipline, and take care of themselves without calling on the state. The growth of the welfare state weakens those institutions, 34

Christopher Lasch, "Hillary Clinton, Child Saver", p.78.

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and reformers then cite the resulting disarray in order to justify another dose of the same medicine".35 Secondly, the sanction of a high degree of state authority over families is a threat to the religious freedom of Christians and those of other faiths who believe that to be a community transmitting a particular way of life is central to their calling. The definition of "wellbeing" and "best interests" under whose rubric the state is authorized to intervene will be made by the professionals charged with carrying out these duties of the state. The problem, as already noted above, is that such professionals inevitably reflect ethnic and class prejudice as well as particular religious assumptions in such definitions.36 Christians know full well, given the tension between a number of our values and those of the dominant culture, that our views as Christian parents may well come into conflict with whatever is deemed "politically correct" at any given moment amongst the knowledge class. This is likely to be the experience of other religious groups as well. One only needs to think of matters like abortion, gender roles, and euthanasia to glimpse the problem. The state has important responsibilities regarding children. Most clearly, but certainly not only, is the responsibility to protect them from abuse. The point I wish to make is not a denial of that responsibility, nor is it to impugn the many values of a welfare state. Rather, I ask: how can the responsibility of the state be carefully defined and carried out in a way that does not extend state bureaucratic interference in family life in a fashion that further exacerbates the problem by weakening the "healthy" families? How can it be done in a way that does not make more difficult for parents of religious faith to transmit a way of life to their children? The Convention seems oblivious to these problems. B. The second main way in which I think a number of the Articles in the Convention could have a negative impact upon marriage and family, and thus eventually children, stems from the limitations and dangers, inherent in the moral framework of children's rights itself. The tradition of human 35 36

Ibid. p. 77. See Brigitte Berger and Peter Berger, War over the Family, p. 37, and Christopher Lasch, "Hillary Clinton, Child Saver", pp. 76-7.

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rights, especially since the Second World War, has brought enormous benefits to humankind. The protection of individuals from oppressive powers and abuse, particularly from large political institutions, has been of incalculable benefit. I have already identified some of the possible benefits to children. But we also need to heed the number of major charges that have been made by social analysts and ethicists regarding the limits and even downside of contemporary human rights doctrine in all its various forms.37 The moral framework of rights has its major tap root in the tradition of liberal individualism of Western Enlightenment. However, a number of the assumptions of this tradition, as we observed earlier, are in the judgement of many themselves part of the problem. The moral framework of rights reflects and carries several of these assumptions, including the premise that human beings are first of all individuals and only secondarily members of communities. This is damaging to the kind of human relationships integral to marriage and family. Indeed, with such a premise, it is difficult for the Western, liberal tradition even to understand more organic communities like those of kinship and family, ethnic communities, peoples or nations, and covenant communities such as churches and marriages. They are the type of collectivity which is not voluntarily chosen by a person but rather one which persons come to acknowledge as one to which they belong. The very essence of liberalism is personal choice. Hence in classical liberalism only voluntary assent legitimates a group, and individuals should always have the right to dissociate from any group. A more recent version of liberalism, sometimes dubbed "welfare liberalism", recognizes the need of groups like the family to provide a linguistic and cultural security and identity of individuals. But according to this view, concern and protection should be extended only to those kinds of families and cultures that support the formation of autonomous individuals. If a family or culture fosters the development of a sort of self other than the independent, possessive individual "choosers" so valued by liberalism, now described as "best interest" and "well-being" of the child, the right of and even the imperative for the state to

37

For a more extended discussion of this, see Terence R. Anderson, Walking the Way, (Toronto: United Church Publishing House, 1993), p. 100 ff.

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interfere is justified.38 In any case, central to the very existence of these organic communities is a moral framework of mutual obligations, including recognition of obligations to relationships one has not necessarily chosen, and a willingness to put one's self-interest secondary to the well-being of others. By contrast, a framework of rights places individual interests at the very heart of the moral life. This can easily overwhelm all other kinds of moral norms, values, and goods such as mutuality and sharing. An ethos of selfishness and egoism is generated, "a rather unpleasant and morally unhealthy situation of a lot of selfcentred individuals going around querulously making claims against one another all the time, and demanding benefits, protection and remedies from their society in an adversarial and contentious spirit".39 The result is "the rise of what might be called the entitlement culture. This is a culture of rights without corresponding responsibilities"40 and is marked by a very impoverished concept of political morality and social good. Indeed, William Galston identifies this "entitlement culture" as one of the most damaging (from the standpoint of the family) features of recent cultural change. The UN Convention, with its advocacy of children's rights, fosters this kind of adversarial conflict in the very centre of the family. Thus we see an unresolved tension between rights of children, rights of parents, and rights of the state in several of the Articles. In Article 15, "the rights of the child to freedom of association ..." is in tension with the rights of the state to impose by law restrictions in the name of the "protection of the health or morals ...". And how do these rights square with those stated in Article 18: "parents or, as the case may be, legal guardians, have the primary responsibility for the upbringing and development of the child"? What are the responsibilities and obligations of children? Another classic liberal premise underlying the individual rights 38

39 40

Michael McDonald, "Should Communities Have Rights? Reflections on Liberal Individualism", Canadian Journal of Law and Jurisprudence, TV/2 (July 1991), p. 224. Jeremy Waldron (Ed.), Nonsense Upon Stilts, (London: Methuen, 1987), p. 195. David Galston, "Beyond the Murphy Brown Debate", p. 7.

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tradition is that individuals are the best judge of their own interests. Christopher Lasch develops a potent critique of the false idea that this can be simply applied to children and of the dangers in assuming that it can. Children need a long period of tutelage before they are able to take care of themselves in the sense of fully understanding their best interests or being able to represent them, particularly in an adult word. "The fiction of legal equality for children", by ignoring the obvious disparities of power and experience between children and adults, gives adults an overwhelming advantage in dealing with children. This is especially true when adults come in "the seductive guise of liberators". "When outsiders decide with the child against parental authority", claims Lasch, "they gain his confidence only to abuse it for their own purposes". It makes little difference in the end, whether these purposes are malignant or benign, commercial or philanthropic. Parental authority even though it is obviously open to terrible abuse, at least acknowledges children's weakness and vulnerability. The notion that children are fully capable of speaking for themselves, on the other hand, makes it possible for ventriloquists to speak through them and thus to disguise their own objectives as the child's.41 Thus children can easily be freed from the presumed dangerous abuses of parental authority only to fall into the hands of the probably more dangerous - because more powerful and distant - authority of the state bureaucracy. In other words, the application of the human rights tradition to children is likely to defeat its very intent. In summary, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, taken as a whole, is not, in my judgement, the best instrument for developing public policy that would protect children. Its strength is its provisions for shielding children from clearly named and agreed upon abuses. But these provisions are embedded in a framework of individual rights used to legitimate a kind and degree of state interference with the family which could seriously undermine the strength of marriages and families so essential to the true well-being of children. They also could make it very difficult for parents to pursue the spiritual purposes of these institutions as they are understood from a Christian perspective. 41

Christopher Lasch, "Hillary Clinton, Child Saver", p. 77.

Chapter 4 Rituals and Story Telling: Child and Family in Hinduism Vasudha Narayanan The Hindu Tradition, Government Policy, and Limitations of This Study The language and rhetoric of the hundreds of sacred texts in the Hindu tradition are not concerned with the rights of a child as much as they are about the duties of all human beings - men, women, and children. According to the texts that deal with human righteousness and duty, (dharma sastra) written around the beginning of the Common Era, a man had three debts: to the gods, to the sages, and to his ancestors. By getting married and producing a child (preferably male), he fulfilled his obligations to the ancestors. A male child, then, was instrumental in fulfilling his father's religious debt. This factor is helpful in putting the issue of "children's rights" in perspective. A child, even a male child, was above all just a link in the generations of human beings. This child had its own debts to its ancestors until it grew up and produced more children. The language of "rights" is alien to this milieu. The Upanishads in the seventh century B.C.E. said "Consider your mother

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as God, your father as God, your teacher as God" (Taittiriya Upanisad 1.11.2). Auvaiyar, a woman poet in the second century C.E. from the Tamil speaking areas in the south, said: "Your Mother and Father are deities perceptible to your eyes". Clearly, the thrust of these words was on the duties of the child towards parents, and not on the rights of the child. Nevertheless, it is possible to go through the rhetoric and spirit of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and see how some identifiable Hindu texts and practices within India either reinforce them or go contrary to them. In talking of government policy which sometimes flies against the stand taken by the United Nations, I refer to the practices encouraged and propagated by the central (federal) and state administrations in the Indian sub-continent. This is certainly not to identify India with the Hindu tradition only, but to speak of the realities of the political conditions under which Hindus, Muslims, Jains, Christians, and Parsis live within the country. The central and state administrations are "secular" and not specifically Hindu, but since people of the Hindu tradition are governed by these policies, it is necessary to bring together both religious and secular dimensions in responding to the UN Convention. It is also paramount to keep in mind at the outset that the notions of rights of all human beings to education, to national identity, etc., and the means instrumental in implementing these (primary and secondary schooling, registration) have to a large extent been popular and recognizable social goals only in the last few centuries, even in Western civilization. Taking the issue of recognizable secularized school education as an example, we may note that it was only as late as the eighteenth century that reform in education was obviously evident in the Western countries. It was at this time that teaching in the native languages (the mother tongue, rather than Latin) became prevalent, the sciences were made part of the school's curriculum, and pedagogical issues were questioned and debated. In fact secular and "pragmatic" education as we know it today became widespread only in the eighteenth century in many Western countries. Gender and class differences have always been important in determining issues such as education. Within Hinduism, and in India at large, it was certain classes of society that were more privileged. While it was the rich or the ruling classes that had opportunities for education in the West, in India, at least in the last two thousand years,

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it was generally the male members of the so called "higher" castes of society. In short, some of the rights that we encounter in the UNCRC can be understood as "rights" only in the context of the twentieth century social and political milieu where concepts such as egalitarianism and secularism prevail in the context of relative economic stability. Since many of these issues were not historically the overriding concerns of the Hindu tradition - or as we saw, the Western countries and traditions - we would have to do some creative exegesis and collection of social practices to glean possible attitudes towards the UNCRC. We will also be noting that there will be no "generic" Hindu responses; the Hindu community is fragmented into over a thousand social castes and communities, and gender and economic class issues would play important roles in the responses. I also mentioned that it would be necessary in many cases to talk of Indian rather than Hindu conditions which lead to certain practices. Since there are many Hindu texts spanning over 3500 years, it would be impossible to determine which are normative and which are the really important ones. Despite the numerous romanticized versions of childhood in Hindu literature, I begin this chapter with many qualifications and caveats. One only has to look at the fund raising pamphlet of the Indian organization "Child Relief and You" (with the acronym "CRY") to realize that the life of millions of children - whatever their religion - in India is far from romantic or idyllic. The pamphlet features a small piece of sandpaper and compares it to the roughness of many children's hands in India. These are the millions caught in bonded labour and organizations such as CRY seek to "restore to these children their basic right to food, shelter, health, education... and a future".1 Moreover, in India, male children are prized, and media reports occasionally feature cases of female infanticide in India. This seems to be prevalent in some lower socioeconomic groups where the birth of a girl is seen to be a burden for the family.2 A little girl will grow to be a young woman who needs a 1

2

"Child Relief and You" pamphlet, 1993-1994, published from their complex in DDA Slum Wing (Barat Ghar), Bapu Park, Kotla Mubarakpur, New Delhi, 110003, India. Elisabeth Bumiller, May You Be the Mother of a Hundred Sons, (New York:

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dowry to get married and who will be a drain on the family's resources. In order to prevent female infanticide, the Tamilnadu government began a "cradle scheme" in 1992, and unwanted children (both male and female) were to be left in government operated shelters and would later be put up for adoption. Television reports and books also talk about the prevalence of gender selection of babies through the practice of amniocentesis and the ratio of baby girls to boys has already been reported to have dropped in several states. When one is bombarded with these images of reality both from observation and through the media, what kind of discussion can we have on the spiritual dimensions of childhood in India? Is there a sense of "diglossia" between literature and practice regarding children, especially girls, in the Hindu tradition? One would have to take into account over 3500 years of literature and practice in a wide geographic area and materials from over 15 major languages of the last 1000 years to make even tentative descriptive claims on the Hindu tradition's attitudes towards children. Further, attitudes to children - and women - have had many variables: socio-economic class, the social caste into which one is born, the region and the religious community in which one is raised. The aims of this chapter are rather modest and will be confined to exploring the spiritual dimensions of childhood seen through some Sanskrit texts and regional works and practices (especially from the state of Tamilnadu). It is important to realize that the discussions in the following pages are qualified by time, space, and social history. I will limit myself to describing and analysing a few moments of history, a few moments of ritual in one or two specific areas. In every case, attempts will be made to specify the region and social caste and community that practise these rituals. There are no generic Hindus: everyone comes with a regional, language, and caste identity, and would frequently identify herself/himself as belonging to a particular community which venerates a historical teacher and which worships a particular god or goddess. There is no attempt made in this chapter to be comprehensive, inclusive, or even "generic", except for discussing a few rituals that are in Sanskrit literature (especially the dharma, sastras) and which are practised with minor variations in many parts o.f India. Random House, 1990), pp. 102, 104.

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After discussing the UNCRC, I will initially describe a few rituals performed for and by children and then discuss two of the techniques that have been used by many Hindus in different regions of India to inculcate religion in the children. The techniques do not involve a specific curriculum or course of study of religious texts for children; most Hindus, I would argue, begin to comprehend the world views of their religion through hearing narratives and stories. A connected strategy is that of role playing, that is, assuming the role of deity and/or a religious character. This is done through the performing arts, especially through singing and dancing, through plays at religious fairs and festivals, and in dramas; it is a secondary technique by which a few children familiarize themselves with religious stories and learn to internalize the right attitudes that one may have to the deities. In this discussion, I shall rely both on practice and on some classical dharma sastra material. I shall begin with notions of discrimination which are actively connected with educational opportunities for children. Let us first consider the articles which address the issues of discrimination and educational opportunities. A Reaction to Some of the Articles in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child In addition to the statements on education, Article 28.3 also stipulates that state parties should try to eliminate "ignorance and illiteracy throughout the world..." One may say that despite the overall advances made within India to foster and facilitate education and to combat illiteracy, two major impediments block the success rate: (1) discrimination based on caste and geographic origins and (2) gender discrimination. It has been argued that what we call Hinduism is really best characterized by the social divisions of the caste system. One is traditionally born into a caste and although a certain amount of caste mobility is possible, the parameters of one's natal group status is generally defined by text and traditional hierarchy. One's caste becomes the principal marker of one's identity within the Hindu tradition. One marries within this group; in the past one ate within this group, and sometimes, one even worked within the framework of this caste group. There have been many attempts within Hindu

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history to ignore or bypass caste issues, but caste has been a ubiquitous and unrelenting feature of this religious tradition for about three thousand years, and of Christianity in India in the last few centuries. Because education was limited to the so-called upper castes (and sometimes to male children), there was an obvious built-in structure of discrimination within the tradition. In the Upanishads, there is a story of a Satyakama Jabala (Chandogya UpanisadIV.4) who does not know his antecedents, but who is judged to be a Brahmin by his teacher on the basis of his speaking the truth and explaining the matter with clarity. Based on this judgement, the teacher imparts knowledge to him. The Hindu society was and is clearly hierarchical and the extent and degree of discrimination practised will vary according to the sources consulted. Today, in an attempt to make up three millennia of discrimination, the Indian government has established a quota system (known as the "reservation" policy in India). This policy has led to an active system of discrimination against children of "upper castes" for admission to schools, universities, professional education, and jobs, thus resulting in widespread demoralization. The Mandal Commission which submitted its report to then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in December 1980 suggested the reservation of 24.5% more seats and jobs in the public sector for groups called "backward castes" and "other backward castes". If this had been implemented, it would have been a reservation in addition to the quota system already in place (25% for scheduled castes and tribes); this translated to approximately half of all educational seats being cordoned off. In practice, many states today, including Tamilnadu, espouse as much as 69% reservation. This discrimination also extends to factors of geographic origin of the child and his/her parents. Children are classified by the language spoken at home and by the area where they are born. Many states practise a policy known as "sons [sic] of the soil" which gives preference to local children in all matters of education.3 Because of this principle, moving across state lines becomes impossible. When a child's parent is transferred to another state, the family is split because of the lack of educational guarantees for the child in the new state. 3

On a related matter which involves the policy of the state of Maharashtra to have 80% of all jobs available reserved for native Maharashtrians, see "Native Appeal", India Today, 28 Feb. 1995, p. 29.

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Because of the inadequate and dismal conditions of almost all government run primary schools, parents seek to place their children in a quasi private school. Many schools demand outrageous sums of money as "capitation" fees or a donation upon which admission is incumbent. Since it is not possible for many parents to pay more than one set of these admission fees during elementary school, families are split when one parent is transferred. The language demands of each state within India also promote conditions which discourage the movement of an entire family. India is divided into states based on linguistic lines, and each state advocates proficiency in its native language as a second or third language. Since acquisition of several years worth of skill in these languages at short notice is almost impossible, children, if they are at all able to move with parents, are clearly at a disadvantage Thus, contrary to the recommendations of Article 9 which can be interpreted to say that a child has the right to live with his parents, we may say that state and federal policies within India make this very difficult. Gender issues prevail in the facilitating of education for children. India Today, a leading magazine in the subcontinent, reported in 1986 that there is a widening gender gap in India in terms of literacy. The female literacy rate is said to be 24.88%, which is about half of that of males (46.74%). In a study done for the 6-14 year old children, it was found that 84% of all boys were enrolled in school as against 54% of all girls surveyed.4 In many rural areas, discrimination seems to be practised against girls in the offering and administering of scholarships. It is said that while state policy pays lip service to the importance of advancing girls' education, in reality discrimination is built into the education system.5 Article 2, which clearly states that there should be no discrimination based on the parents' "race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national, ethnic or social origin, property, disability, birth or other status" is not followed in India, partly to redress the past discrimination exerted by the so-called upper 4 5

India Today, 15 June 1986, p. 11. Subrata Mishra, "Reservation for Boys: Discrimination against Girls in the Primary School Scholarship System, Orissa", Manushi no. 41, 0uly-August 1987) pp. 5-7.

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castes, and partly to ensure nativity rights. The so-called system of "reverse discrimination" based on language, ethnic and regional origin, and caste is actively practised and the present system of discrimination does not seem any more correct than that exercised in the past. This description applies to Hindus, Muslims, and Christians in India. The child's right to education and educational opportunities also seems to depend on gender and on caste. The right to life is clearly affirmed by Article 6 of the Convention. That a child has a right to life is clear from many Hindu texts on ethics and righteousness (dharma sastra). It must be emphasized, however, that Hindus have, at best, selective regard for these texts on ethics and there is a considerable discrepancy between text and practice. The dharma sastra texts speak of the value of life, starting at the moment of conception and hold that abortion is wrong and sinful.6 Some texts go so far as to combine marital obligations with the duty of procreation and say that if a wife does not go to her husband for sexual union at the time of the month she is likely to conceive, she is preventing the creation of a fetus and is hence guilty of abortion.7 These statements express an "extreme" case scenario and many Hindus do indeed practise abortion for a variety of reasons, including that of gender selection of the child.8 The preference for male children has been textually affirmed for over 2000 years. With the advent of new reproductive technologies which help in gender selective pregnancies, the female - male ratio in India has declined from 972 females per 1000 males in 1901, to 935 in 1981. This decline in ratio is due to many factors. Abortions after sex determination tests is one obvious way of ending a female foetus's life. 6

7 8

See Julius J. Lipner, "The Classical Hindu View on Abortion and the Moral Status of the Unborn", in Harold Coward, Julius Lipner and Katherine Young (Eds.), Hindu Ethics: Purity, Abortion and Euthanisia, (Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1989). Parasara Smriti, 4.14, quoted by Raj Bali Pandey in Hindu Samskaras, (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1982),p. 57. A brief description of sex determination tests in one Indian town is given in Uma Arora and Amrapali Desai's "Sex Determination Tests in Surat: A Survey Report", Manushi, vol. 60, Sept-Oct. 1990, pp. 37-38. See'also the report of Elisabeth Bumiller in her book May You Be the Mother of a Hundred Sons, chapter 5.

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Female children are also given less nutritious food and sometimes no medical care in some sections of society and become victims of malicious neglect. In lower socio-economic groups in some parts of India, female infanticide exists.9 While there is no legal or religious authority that either ignores or condones these acts of wilful neglect and acts of murder, we may regretfully say that until the socioeconomic worth of female children changes in Indian society, the right to life of some infant girls at least is in jeopardy. The notions of discrimination based on gender, caste, geographic origin and linguistic identity described in large strokes here seem to prevail all over modern India and present a grim picture. The generalizations have to be nuanced and qualified, and some perspectives from the Hindu tradition will now be given. The Spiritual Dimensions of Childhood: Introduction. A popular greeting used for congratulatory telegrams for weddings in India is "Bumping joy this year, Jumping boy next year". Passing over the aesthetic and literary merits of this greeting, one is left with a tasteless message that is obviously sexist in nature. One is also, quite correctly, left with the impression that it is the expected duty of newly-weds to produce a son. Many Hindu texts that deal with righteous behaviour (dharma) certainly emphasize the production of a child as a religious obligation that goes with the state of marriage. So deep was the yearning for a child that the dharma sastras as well as the Hindu epics (the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, circa 400 B.C.E. -100 C.E.) speak of an elaborate sacrificial ritual, the putrakamesti yagna that could be performed to get progeny. In the Hindu epic Ramayana, King Dasaratha anxiously performs this ritual and eventually gets four sons. The Upanishads (circa 7th century B.C.E.), philosophical texts that comprised the last part of the Vedas, speak about the rituals that one may perform to beget either a male child who will gain fame, or a "learned daughter" (Brhadaranyaka Upanisad VIA. 17-18). While all this is in the Sanskrit language, we also see similar statements in classical vernacular literature. A famous Tamil line composed around the 9

"Female Infanticide: Born to Die", India Today (International Edition), 15 June 1986, pp. 10-17.

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beginning of the Common Era says: "The babbling of the child is the sweetest language on earth". Despite the tragic conditions that some children in India live in today, sacred texts in Hinduism present a different picture. To some extent we can attribute this discrepancy between real life and texts to differences in the caste and socio-economic class of the children depicted in the texts, the authors of the texts, and the children who live today in the lower ends of poverty. It may seem like comparing the children of Dickensian novels to the infancy of Jesus or royal children. Childhood is considered to be sacred in several texts of the Hindu tradition. Even the gods and goddesses are portrayed as children and praised as children. Lord Krishna, who is best known in the West as the sober and persuasive teacher of the Bhagavad Gita, is celebrated in the Hindu tradition as a mischievous, adorable child, free in play, unconstrained in action. Tamil songs describing the childhood of Krishna were composed after the fifth or sixth centuries C.E. and in later centuries we see the idyllic scenes depicted in sculptures and painting. Many male saints writing in the Tamil language between the seventh and tenth centuries C.E. assumed the role of the Krishna's mother or foster mother in their poems and sang lullabies: A colorful little cradle of hammered gold studded with gems, twined with diamonds Brahma brought with love for you. My little dwarf, talelo O Lord who paced the worlds, talelo.10 The child Krishna is described in innumerable songs and poems in practically every Indian language. The sixteenth century Hindi songs of the blind poet Surdas are particularly beautiful: Yashoda, his mother, is teaching him to walk. He stumbles and then grabs her hand, Unsteady, his feet have found the floor.

10

Periyalvar Tirumoli 1.3.1, circa eighth century C.E.. The Tamil word talelo is used as a refrain in lullabies and has no exact meaning. The references to the dwarf and the Lord pacing the earth are allusions to another incarnation of Vishnu.

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At times she looks at his beautiful face And prays for his well-being11 One gets an idyllic view of childhood: Krishna is a youngster surrounded by a doting mother and innumerable friends, roaming at will, having fun, enjoying life. The Tamil poems celebrated every stage of growing up and eventually there was a whole genre of poems with fixed subcategories pertaining to specific stages of childhood. After the fifteenth century C.E., the childhood of Goddess Meenakshi (a form of Parvati) was revered in poems. The literature paid particular attention to the notion of child's play - and glorified it. In some works the creation of the entire universe is seen to be analogous to a child playing and this universe is seen to be a result of Lord Vishnu's whimsical play (lila). Hindu texts, beginning with those that deal with domestic rites (Grhyasutras), all the way to the first century C.E. list several rituals that should be performed for or by an individual. These rituals known as samskara ranged from 12 to 48 and were done at various intervals in one's life. The Sanskrit word samskara meant "to make perfect" and carried with it notions of consecration and sanctification. It also meant "purificatory rite" and is generally translated by the English word "sacrament". These rituals induced purity in the individual by clearing the earlier blemishes and by bringing about goodness and a sense of divine grace. It was through the administering of the samskaras that the child had its earliest entry into organized religious activity. I shall therefore begin my discussions with the earliest rituals, samskaras, that the child undergoes. These begin when the child is still in the mother's womb. Prenatal Months While, based on the evidence of the rituals that we will shortly discuss, one might say that the spiritual life of a child begins while it is an embryo, one can also say, based on specific texts, that the circumstances and moment of conception were of importance for the Hindus. The ritual of conception (garbhadana) has been described in many texts12 and there seems to have been some debate over whether 11 12

Surdas, 733, quoted in Wendy Doniger O'Flaherty, Textual Sources for the Study of Hinduism, (Totowa, NJ: Barnes and Noble, 1988), p. 144. For a summary of all the relevant texts on this ritual, see Rajbali Pandey,

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this ritual was the first sacrament for the embryo that is to be produced or a simply a consecration of the environment, that is, the woman's womb.13 Many texts assume that it sanctifies the new life and this was considered to be the first of many sacraments that the child would go through. The Vedas - texts considered by many Hindus to be revelation - speak about specific rituals for conceiving a child. This discussion is repeated in the Brhadaranyaka Upanisad, which was possibly composed around the seventh or sixth century B.C.E., and which represents a philosophical, socially elitist (Brahmin) perspective. Here, there are specific instructions on what one should eat and what one should do moments before conceiving a child, which apparently one can custom order. The instructions vary and the diet depends on whether one wants a child learned in one, two, or three Vedas, or a "learned daughter (pandita)". If one wishes for the birth of a learned daughter, one who will have a full life and live long, [the couple] should eat rice and sesame mixed with clarified butter; then they can beget her. Brihadaranyaka Upanisad VI.4.17 While the text makes it clear that learned daughters were evidently prized, Sankara, the eighth-century philosopher, seems to echo the social milieu of his times when he comments on this passage and explains that the word "pandita" really means "skilled in domestic duties". He seems to reject the idea that a girl could be educated and wise as is implied by the Sanskrit word. However, it must be noted that even in the Upanishads there is a preference for male children: Embracing her, he [exclaims]: I am the breath, you are speech; you are speech, I am the breath. I am the Sama [Veda], you are the Rig, I am heaven, you are earth. Come, let us endeavor, let us mix semen and have male child (pumse putraya vittaye iti). Brihadaranyaka UpanisadVI.4.20 This gender bias seems to have been central to the Hindu tradition for many centuries. The ritual of garbhadana seems to have died out many centuries ago, and short forms of the text are included in the wedding rites itself.

13

Hindu Samskaras (New Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1976), pp. 48-59. Ibid., p. 56.

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The expecting parents are the main participants in some rituals, some specified by dharma sastra, others by local custom. The dharma sastras purport to apply to all castes of society, but traditionally, only the Brahmins and sometimes the ksatriyas (warriors/reigning families) followed some of the prescriptions of the texts. Thus the prenatal rites specified by dharma sastra are celebrated only by the so-called higher castes. While the texts prescribe the ritual for the third month, it is generally celebrated in the eighth month of pregnancy. These are called pumsavana-simantam. The parents expecting the child celebrate the ritual with the help of a priest and close family members, to get a male child and to ask for safe delivery. The earlier ritual pumsavana is celebrated in hope of a male offspring and the simantam ("parting of the hair") is performed for a safe delivery. In the pumsavana ritual, seed and sprouts from a banyan tree are ground, mixed with milk, and the father drops the juice into the pregnant woman's nostril. This is done to effect the birth of a son, and also to ensure the good health of the mother. While this ritual is now done only during the first pregnancy, some texts prescribe its celebration for every child. It is stated that through this sacrament the fetus becomes purified and the mantras recited during this ritual enable the child to remember past lives.14 The spiritual significance of this retrieval of memory is not stated in any of the texts, nor do they say when this memory is lost again. The simantam is considered to be the third sacrament to be performed. It ensured the protection of the mother and a long life for the child. The hair of the woman was ceremoniously parted with darbba grass and a porcupine quill in order to ward of evil spirits and protect the child.15 While at least some of these texts argue that these rituals are meant for the welfare of the fetus (others arguing that they are for the wellbeing of the mother and the family), many stories depict the child in the womb as being capable of apprehending what was going on in the 14 15

Ibid., p. 62. An excellent portrayal of these two rituals as well as those of early childhood can be seen in H. Daniel Smith's film Hindu Sacraments of Childhood: The First Five Years, (Syracuse, NY: Film Marketing Division, Syracuse University, 1969).

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outside world. A famous example is that of Abhimanyu, the son of the hero Arjuna in the epic Mahahharata. It is said that while in his mother Subhadra's womb, the child heard the warriors discussing military strategies. He heard and understood how one could penetrate a particular phalanx of enemy warriors, but apparently did not hear how one could re-emerge from such military formation. In the tragic continuation of this story, the adolescent Abhimanyu is forced by circumstances to penetrate such a formation, and successfully does so because of the information he gleaned while still in the womb, but because he never learnt how to get out, he is trapped and killed. This story as well as several others inform us that in the world view of Hindus, at least from around 500 B.C.E. to the beginning of the Common Era, there was a strong belief in the existence of consciousness and the ability to learn for the child in the womb. Rituals After the Birth of the Child The birth of a child in the so-called "upper" castes of society is marked with ceremonies called jatakarman ("birth rites") and namakarman ("act of naming"). While classical texts on dharma enjoin that this be performed before the umbilical cord is cut,16 it is now generally performed along with the ritual of naming. In the rituals attending birth, the father performs specific acts to ensure the development of intelligence in the child and to secure for him/her a,long life. There are also prayers to procure strength for the child. The rituals end with the statement, "May we see a hundred autumns, may we hear a hundred autumns". The rite of naming the child takes place after s/he is eleven days old. The time of performing it varies with the caste. Children are given "ritual" names which may be that of the family deity, or which may correspond to the constellation which was the nearest to the moon when the child was born. The child is also given a "social" name by which it will be known to family and friends, but the ritual name is used for all the religious activity the child is to undertake. From about six months to five years a variety of sacraments are performed. The child's head is completely shaved, usually in the precincts of the temple in the family's ancestral village. The giving of 16

For details on this ceremony and that of namakarman, see Pandey, Hindu Samskaras, pp. 70-85.

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the first solid food is marked by special religious rituals, the first birthday is celebrated with propitiatory sacrifices, and eventually a whole range of sacraments relating to the child's growing involvement with formal education are celebrated. All these rituals are done at times that are astrologically most beneficial for the child and the family. The child is an important part of the family and its weal is linked with the weal of the entire unit. Many of these rituals are not performed now (although the shaving of the head is done in almost all communities and by all castes). Boys of the Brahmin class of society (and in earlier days, boys of the "upper" castes) underwent a ritual which gave them the authority to study the Vedas. This ritual, perhaps the single most important in the boy's early life, was called the upanayana. It was to have been celebrated in the eighth year for a Brahmin boy and a little later for members of the other castes, but is now performed, for men, without the educational significance at any age before marriage. While the original significance of the rite was to enable one to study the Vedas, in later centuries (probably by the beginning of the Common Era) it was considered to be a ceremony by which the human being was purified. With the performance of this ceremony, the young boys were given a sacred prayer (mantra) which they meditated on 108 times, at dawn, midday, and sunset. This mantra, known as the "Gayatri", was addressed to the sun: I meditate on the brilliance of the sun May it illumine my mind.

Repetition of this mantra was said to sharpen the intellect and to purify the person. While there is some evidence to believe that girls also had the privilege of undergoing this ceremony, it seems to have died out. Sculptures of goddesses are still seen with the sacred thread over the left shoulder. From many of the dharma sastra texts we get the impression that most of the childhood sacraments were meant for girls also, and in fact, the sacraments of birth, naming, and hair tonsure are still celebrated with eclat for boys and girls. The upanayana ceremony is celebrated exclusively for young boys, usually of the Brahmin class. There are many rituals for young girls and these vary by region. Perhaps the most common are the puberty rites, celebrated when a girl

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menstruates for the first time. This ritual used to be celebrated with considerable grandeur till the beginning of this century. It has been, for the last half century or so, considered to be very old fashioned and primitive by urban girls who are informed by the outside world that this bodily process is one that one should be ashamed of and conceal. It is, however, still celebrated as a private domestic ritual in many houses, and in a suitably grand public manner in many villages. While menstruation itself is considered to be physically polluting for women, its onset for young girls is acclaimed because it marks the child's entry into womanhood, and potential motherhood. The rite of passage includes the giving of presents to the young girl, and having her dress in new clothes. On the fourth day after the onset of menstruation, the girl is given a ritual bath. She is given an "auspicious" bath by slowly massaging warm oil into her hair and body, and washing it off with a soap-nut powder and turmeric. She is then given a new sari (or several new ones) and food which is specially made for this occasion. In south India, this food is generally a snack called puttu, one which is supposed to increase the girl's fertility. In some rural families, the girl is then seated in a little throne created out of foil and silk and receives guests. In some areas, she may be taken in a procession and some families go to the local studio for a group picture; but in many urban areas, the embarrassed girls just wish the parents would ignore this acknowledgement and ritual affirmation of the changes in the body. Many women in south India, from the lower middle class to the upper socio-economic classes, perform a particular ceremony in worship of the flame lit on sacred oil lamps. The light is said to represent Lakshmi (the Goddess of Good Fortune) or Amba (the auspicious Mother), usually identified with the Goddess Parvati. This worship usually takes place on Fridays, but may be done any other time. A silver, brass, or oil lamp is adorned with flowers, and the wick is lit. The worshipper then bows down in front of the flame, which is seen to be the form of the goddess, and praises the deity. Booklets and brochures sold outside the major temples of Tamilnadu provide women with the knowledge of how to perform this ritual. While a woman from any caste or community may ritually worship the goddess - perceived to be in the lit lamp - and may in fact begin to do it anytime without prior history of practice, in some communities, there are initiation rites which give young girls the authority to light

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and worship in the right way. These rituals celebrated by and for young girls empower them, just as the upanayana empowers young men. One such example is a little known ritual celebrated in the Tirunelveli area of Tamilnadu, south India. It is particularly celebrated in the Pillai community, a wealthy agrarian based caste in that area. The ritual is called villaku idal kalyanam (the auspicious rite of lighting the lamp).17 It is generally celebrated when the girl is seven, nine, or eleven years old, although occasionally it may be celebrated even earlier. It is usually done at the beginning of the Tamil month of Tai, which commences around 14 or 15 January. This is a ritually empowering moment in the Hindu calendar: it is believed that on this day the sun begins to head north and is the equivalent of the winter solstice in the Hindu almanac. This is harvest time in Tamilnadu and all over the state and the harvest festival called Pongal, marking the prosperity of the people, is celebrated. The initiatory ritual of lighting the lamp coincides with this auspicious moment. The celebration of "lighting the lamp" is held in the house of the child's maternal uncle or maternal grandparents and is a day when the bonds between the young girl, her mother, and grandmother are affirmed. This ritual gives the young girl the authority to light the sacred oil lamp. This lamp will provide the radiance to the house in which the girl grows and the one she will be in charge of when she gets married. Through the ritual, the mother seeks protection from the sun, the moon, and the nine planets for the young girl. The celebrations begin by giving the young girl a ritual bath. The girl's feet are first rubbed with nalangu, a paste of yellow turmeric herbs and red colour. This blesses the young child and keeps away the evil spirits from her. After she goes through an auspicious ritual bath with oil and herbs, she is dressed in grand clothes of silk and gold and brought by her mother to a canopy. An attendant priest teaches her to 17

I am grateful for the many conversations with Mrs. Ponni Sivaraman and Dr Sivaraman of Gainesville, FL, which helped to clarify some of the issues. Sri Sami Dandapani of Dharmapura Adhinam, T. Nagar, Madras, who conducts some of these rituals, kindly provided me information of the songs recited and sung in this ritual. Dr and Mrs Sivaraman also provided me with videotapes of the ritual conducted for their daughter Priya.

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pray to Ganesha, the god who removes all obstacles. The priest then recites verses addressed to the Goddess Abhirami, a local form of Parvati. While the choice of this verse may vary, a popular one I have heard is this: The gracious eyes of Abhirami will give wealth. They will give knowledge; they will give us mental powers that know no exhaustion. They will give divine beauty to the body, They will give us kin free from envy and cunning; they will give all that is good. Abhirami, Goddess with a cloud of dark hair adorned with strings of flowers. Abhirami Antati of Abhirami Bhattar, circa mid 18th century.

The young girl is then given a protective necklace (Tamil: tali). This gold necklace, called the nava tali ("necklace of nine") is strung with nine gold beads and corals. The gold beads represent the sun, and the coral fire. The gods of the sun and fire are called to witness (surya sakshi and agni sakshi) that this girl is henceforth protected. The gold beads have symbols for the nine planets (the nine listed by traditional Hindu mythology and astrology) which are to be in harmonious coexistence with the young girl as she grows old. The mother then gives the young girl two lamps, one made of silver and the other either silver or clay. The silver one has the representation of either Lakshmi, the goddess of good fortune, or Kamakshi (a form of Parvati) carved on it, and the other lamp, which can be either silver or clay, is bowl shaped (akafy. Both lamps are filled with oil and are fitted with wicks. The mother then helps the young girl ritually light the lamps and worship the supreme being, conceptualized here in the form of light. The lamps are to be kept by the young girl and lit regularly; on the anniversary of her initiation (which coincides with the festival of Pongal), she places her lamps next to those that her mother received for her "lighting of the lamps" ritual, lights them, and together the mother and daughter worship the divine light. The young girl is to wear her nava tali until she gets married; it is then replaced with the tali (necklace) given by the bridegroom's family. This ritual seems to be a regional one which affirms the value of girls and which spiritually empowers them by giving them the

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authority to light the sacred lamps and worship them. The ritual affirms the girl's ties to her mother and grandmother, and this link is reinforced every year on the anniversary when they worship together. The goddess worshipped in the ritual is a powerful deity, seen by her followers to be the Creator and Sustainer of the universe. She is the supreme mother, the one who is the power in the universe. She is not worshipped merely as a "consort" or as the appendage of a male god; she is the primordial goddess, second to none. Worship of this powerful goddess fulfils the growing spiritual needs of the girl. The fires of the sun (surya) and sacrificial hearth (agni) bear witness that she was properly given the authority to light the lamps that dispel darkness and ignorance. The nine planets are to coexist with her in peace and harmony. While this ritual is intrinsically one of empowering the young girl, recent interpretations - made orally - suggest a different view which implies the subjugation of the girl to her male relatives. It has been suggested that the word kalyanam in the name of the ritual means "wedding" and that this is a symbolic wedding of the child to the maternal uncle, to show that she is in his custody, until she gets married to someone else. These explanations are based on misinterpretation of the Tamil words kalyanam (from Sanskrit kalyana) and tali. In colloquial Tamil, the word kalyanam means wedding and tali refers to the wedding necklace a woman wears. However, the primary meaning of the word kalyanam is "auspiciousness" and the meaning of "wedding" is only secondarily derived; thus the upanayana ceremony is called punal kalyanam (the auspicious thread ceremony) in Tamil. Similarly, the word tali generally referred to necklaces which served the function of protective amulets and is particularly used to refer to the necklace a child may wear. The later interpretations which take away the empowerment aspect of the ritual also ignore the fact that the celebration takes place even when there is no maternal uncle; the maternal or paternal grandparents then pay for the ceremony and organize it. Considered in its context, the celebration shows the growth of the child into a young woman who receives the ritual power to light the sacred lamp and to offer worship directly to the goddess. This is an ongoing power which is recharged and reinforced annually, when the sun begins to grow strong and travel north. The power of the sun and the power of the

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flame (agni) are with the girl as she grows. Regional rituals such as this one and those connected with the onset of menstruation are not as well known as the pan-Indian upanayana rite for young boys, and hence there is an overall impression of the ritual neglect of girls within the Hindu tradition. Further description and discussion of similar rituals may enable us to re-evaluate this impression. Story Telling Perhaps the most popular form of disseminating religious values and communicating the world view of the religious tradition within Hinduism is through the narration of stories from the epics and Puranas. The Puranas are compendia of tales, ranging from the creation of the universe to particular instances of divine interference in everyday life of human beings. Apart from being popular entertainment and shaping identity through the creation of role models, these stories carry a salvific value, and hearing them even in the colloquial vernaculars is said to give the listener good merit and lead one to salvation. Apart from these Sanskrit based stories of gods and goddesses, animals and mortals (all of them with regional variations), there are thousands of local folk tales with or without moral values. The importance of story telling (Harikatha or "stories of Vishnu"), especially the story of Rama in Hindi (Ramcaritmanas), to large audiences has been studied extensively.18 This strategy of religious communication is not just for adults. From the time a child is one or two years old, even if they cannot comprehend them, parents and grandparents tell them stories from the vast storehouse at their disposal. In large extended families, I have seen an older relative sit by the children of the household and regale them with stories every night, during or soon after dinner. This is the child's entrance into the vast, intriguing, and endless world of Hindu mythology. The deeds of Rama and Krishna (the incarnations of Vishnu), how Vishnu took the form of a fish and saved a particular family from the floods that destroyed the earth, how the Goddess Durga destroyed the buffalo-demon over nine nights of fighting ,were all narrated to spell-bound audiences. This 18

See especially Philip Lutgendorf, The Life of a Text: Performing the Ramcaritmanas of Tulsidas, (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991).

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act of inducting children into a religion through story telling may have to be spoken of in the past tense. While there are no formal studies, it seems clear that the fracturing of the extended families into nuclear ones, the newer forms of electronic entertainment, and rigorous educational reforms and demands in recent years preclude the young child from having the luxury of the leisure time to sit and listen to these slow moving stories. Nevertheless, while grandparents and elderly relatives may not be telling the stories, other media have stepped in to fill this lacuna. Perhaps the two most important examples for new ways of telling old stories, especially for children, are the illustrated comic books and the television serial based on the epic Ramayana. The Amar Chitra Katha ("Immortal Picture Stories") of India explicitly aims to "educate", show the children the "route to [their] roots", and promote their knowledge of "myth, legend and culture". The word "religion" is conspicuous by its absence. The Amar Chitra Katha is one of many "comic" book19 series in India. There is the usual fare of Western comics (Peanuts, Dennis the Menace, Archie, Mutt and Jeff, Phantom etc.) in daily and Sunday newspapers, magazines, and individual books. There are also indigenous characters (primarily detectives and super heroes) and, more recently, fantasy tales and fables, published by many organizations, including the Amar Chitra Katha's sibling series called Tinkle. The Chandamama ("Uncle Moon"), an old magazine from the south, serializes several folk tales and epics in "comic" book format. Of the many series which tell traditional stories, the Amar Chitra Katha is the most popular. The pictures are of reasonably good quality; the stories carefully screened; work ethic, bravery, and other 19

I use the word "comic" as it was used by the original American series started in 1942: Classic comics, a series which later changed its name to Classics Illustrated. While the word "comic" is normally used to indicate something that is humorous or funny, in current literature the word has gained currency as a pictorial educational or entertaining story. A typical example is the Rolf T. Wigand's description: "Comics may be defined as a form of cartooning in which a cast of characters enacts a story in a sequence of closely related drawings designed to educate or entertain the reader." Rolf T. Wigand in "Towards a More Visual Culture Through Comics." p. 29.

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virtues are emphasized; romance is highlighted and lust is sanitized. The Amar Chitra Katha relies heavily on the epics and the Puranas, because the stories from these texts are possibly the most obvious common threads within the religion, serve as rallying points for presenting a view of a unified Hindu tradition to children. Thus, while the stories from religious texts are retold in comic book form, political messages of a united Hindu tradition are also being projected by the series. This is the romantic quest for a united India, an India of brave men and women who fight for dharma and for freedom, who are all equal without the taint of caste or community. Perhaps what is striking about some of the stories is that the regional variations are left out. For example, Mira, a sixteenth century saint, is generally portrayed in the south Indian versions as having a husband who was less than enthusiastic about her ravishing spiritual quest for Lord Krishna. Mira leaves him and towards the end, when she sings in the temple, she is said to merge with the Lord; a flame unites with the image of the Lord in the temple. Mira's husband arrives too late to beg her forgiveness and take her back. She is never a widow in the south Indian version, and certainly meets with her saintly end before any sign of old age. The Amar Chitra Katha version is quite different and portrays Mira as being widowed and being the victim of several evil schemes. My point however, is not in discussing the veracity of the story; it is simply that in a national re-telling of the story, one version is in print and this becomes the standard one. Another important effect of the Amar Chitra Katha has been the inadvertent destruction of a certain hierarchy of importance that stories had in the mind of the young children. Children from a certain area or community usually knew their regional stories and used them as reference points for the other stories from the rest of India. Stories recounted by the older generation preserved this hierarchy of importance: there were stories close to one's family and community, stories that were reinforced when seen through rituals of local temples. Others were at the fringes of one's consciousness, vaguely "there" but not remembered with precision. A child from Madras would know about the medieval saints Kannappa and Periyalvar, but have a hazy knowledge of Chaitanya or Ravidas. Thus one's knowledge of stories was eminently and narrowly ethno-centred. This hierarchy of importance has been lost in giving space to characters from far flung

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places; children know as many details of the Assamese Sankar Dev's life as they would of Shivaji. The standardizing of a story in print is of course a problem which has more to do with the medium of book vs. oral tradition. The Hindu tradition(s), culture, and dharma were passed on principally through "story-telling" of the older generation to the younger. If I had to identify one medium as the principal means of transmission for this religious tradition, I would choose the human voice, with the story of the grandparent winning over the chant of the Brahmin. The importance of a grandmother is acknowledged by the Amar Chitra Katha and, in fact, they use her as a theme of advertising their comic. The grandmother who comes to tell a story is pleasantly surprised with the child's knowledge and this becomes the place to tout the educational value of the series, and the comic book exhorts the child to tell a story to the grandmother. The series also gives a standard introduction to its folk tales, and there speaks about the variations the stories acquire each time they are retold. This introduction is given whenever other explicit written sources cannot be acknowledged. There has been a gradual breakdown of the extended family all over India in the last decade. The voice of the grandmother has now been replaced by the illustrated page of the Amar Chitra Katha and the voice of an unknown person telling the story in the Amarnad ("Immortal sound") cassettes, also marketed by the enterprising Amar Chitra Katha series. This is by no means an isolated phenomenon; the stores are flooded with tapes of religious stories, "do it yourself rituals", and the performance of rituals in temples. The success of the illustrated Amar Chitra Katha volumes and the Amarnad cassettes can be understood in the context of a society where both seeing and hearing are equally important ways of apprehendin'g the divine. Hindus may consider seeing the deity in the temple to be as important as hearing of the salvific stories of the Lord or the Goddess. The Amar Chitra Katha stories and the Amarnad cassettes have become popular through market forces, but whether they enhance the spiritual life of the child and have any salvific value can be debated. The religious life of a girl child is also nourished by teaching her to imitate and do some role playing.20 She emulates adults in patterns of 20

For the importance of acting and the Hindu tradition for adults, see David

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worship and picks up the order and nuances of rituals by repeating them season after season, year after year. Sometimes a child is encouraged to assume the role of one of the deities, or a character close to the god or goddess. Many songs in classical south Indian music (Carnatic music) have been composed by devotees who imagined themselves to be a character close to the deity in some way. Thus, an eighteenth century composer may imagine himself to be a girlfriend of Krishna or compose songs with a maternal instinct in them. When these songs are sung, the performer mentally and emotionally takes on the role of the character the composer was trying to emulate. Children are taught to sing these songs and sometimes learn to dance to them; the plaintive or passionate words of the devotee are internalized by these young performers and expressed through music and dance. Sometimes children (both boys and girls) are dressed up as a young Krishna or Rama, incarnations of Vishnu. In south India, toddlers are dressed up as the regional god Murugan (Skanda or Kartikeya in Sanskrit literature). Young girls in Tamilnadu may be dressed on ritual occasions to look like the Goddess Meenakshi of Madurai, or the saint Andal who longed to marry Vishnu. More elaborate forms of character role playing are seen in northern India, where the exploits of the young Krishna are ritually enacted by children around the city of Mathura, and the story of Rama is enacted by young boys and girls in the mega production of the Ram-Lila in Ramnagar near Benares.21 While in northern India these children become living icons, living deities to the worshippers during the liminal period in which the play is enacted, the dressing up in the south seems to have more unpretentious aims of fun, enjoyment, delight at the beauty of the child, and to teach it the story of the character s/he is representing. Through such role identification, the children not only become more familiar with the stories from the sacred texts, but also learn first hand, and with a sense of immediacy, the traditionally approved bhavas or

21

Haberman, Acting as a Way to Salvation, (New York: Oxford University Press, 1989). For extensive treatment of these performances, see John Stratton Hawley in association with Srivatsa Goswami, At Play with Krishna, (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1981) and Richard Schechner and Linda Hess, "The Ramlila of Ramnagar", The Drama Review, 21/3 (1977), pp. 51-82.

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emotional/spiritual attitudes that one may adopt towards the deity. Rituals, story telling, role playing are all important features of the Hindu tradition for adults, but also for children. By introducing them from the moment of conception, society tries to empower the potential child spiritually and seek for it a long life, strength, and wisdom. Story telling and role playing enhance the child's knowledge of the tradition and shapes its world view, but whether comic books and electronic retelling of tales has salvific import is open to debate. The young child, however, has also inherited other features of the Hindu tradition. It is a member of a caste, and the attitude of society to it is still shaped by its caste and gender. Although present government policies seek to redress past wrongs of the Hindu tradition, they are creating a new set of inequities and a new era of discrimination, denying children what education they might get on the basis of their caste. The Hindu tradition was guilty of this in the past; perpetuation of it through "reverse discrimination" does not correct past wrongs and only establishes new ones. The introduction and perpetuation of "reverse discrimination" in relation to educational opportunities based on sex, caste, community, linguistic identity, and geographical origin within the Indian subcontinent goes against the proposed charter of rights of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. The setting up of quotas is part of the heavy historical baggage of the Hindu tradition and its complex system of social stratification, and the central government knows that there is no easy solution. However, despite the strong patriarchal strains in some sections of the Hindu tradition, the religion does have the internal resources to combat the discrimination against children based on gender. We have noted that there are scriptural sources in the Upanishads which celebrate the birth of daughters and which talk of them as pandita or learned ones. There are rituals like the one we discussed, whereby a young girl is empowered to light the lamp and worship the supreme being in the form of a goddess. The opening up of educational opportunities will both enhance the economic and eventually cultural worth of the daughter and bring some parts of the Hindu tradition which are discriminatory more in line with the rights proposed by the UNCRC.

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Chapter 5 Child and Family in Buddhism RitaM. Gross The original motivation for these reflections was a one-day event inserted into a conference on children and families that was itself a response to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. The larger conference was initially planned without reference to religious dimensions of childhood and family life. Many presenting at the one-day event on religious dimensions of childhood, myself included, had never before been especially stimulated to think about childhood as a topic meriting religious reflection. This fact is revealing of the way in which traditional religions have not thought very much about childhood, in and of itself, which is not to say that the traditional religions have not had anything to say about children. Many of them have expected their followers to produce children as a religious duty, have legislated how those children should be dealt with, and have prescribed ways of ensuring that those children become replacements for their parents. But none of these concerns quite constitutes dealing with childhood itself from a religious point of view, nor does it constitute dealing with the rights of children as children, without reference to their status as future adult carriers of the religion

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into which they are born. Buddhism is no exception to these generalizations. Therefore, as the Buddhist voice in this collective reflection, my task is twofold. First, I must extrapolate from the values and core teachings of the Buddhist tradition some Buddhist perspectives on religious dimensions of childhood and on the concept of the rights of children. I must extrapolate because these are not central topics in classic Buddhist texts. Therefore, I will have to function somewhat as Buddhist constructive theologian - a role in which I am quite comfortable. In so doing, I will focus on how the normative and most basic values of Buddhism would address topics such as children's rights, and the religious dimensions of childhood and family life rather than on child rearing practices, either in Asian Buddhism or in emerging Western Buddhism. In other words, for the most part, this will be a philosophical chapter, applying Buddhist values to religious questions about childhood, rather than an anthropological field report. Of course, my conclusions as a Buddhist about Buddhist perspectives on children's rights will also be coloured by other things important to my world view, such as feminism and my own particular experiences as a child. Second, I will link these reflections with the view of childhood and children's rights expressed in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, since our collective reflection does not deal with childhood in the abstract but in connection with that specific document. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child has been summarized as addressing four major topics: survival, protection, participation, and promotion. Insofar as they are relevant, I will frame my discussion of the links between Buddhism and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child around these four topics, especially protection and participation.

Childhood in Buddhist Perspective: Theoretical Considerations Buddhism as a religion is well-known for going "against the grain" in its most basic teachings. On almost any topic common to religious discourse, such as the existence of a deity or of an immortal transpersonal self, Buddhism usually contrasts with most other religions in some significant ways. One of the most basic and fundamental teachings of Buddhism is that the conventional, usual, culturally sanctioned and approved ways of going about life simply do

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not work. Buddhism claims that the conventional drive for selfpreservation at all costs produces misery both for oneself and others. Instead, Buddhism recommends freedom in detachment, certainly not the emotional value or psychological attitude usually recommended by conventional society. Many of the suggestions and claims that I will make regarding Buddhist perspectives on the religious significance of childhood and family life may well strike many people as unconventional or unusual. But one would not expect a religion that goes against the grain on so many of the hopes and dreams common to most religions to advocate conventional perspectives on the religious significance of childhood and family life. Buddhism is a universal religion of Indian derivation, founded in the sixth century B.C.E. by an Indian upper class and upper caste male. He renounced his social position, wealth, and family to pursue deep truth, deep peace, and freedom from the process of perpetual rebirth accepted as the fate of unenlightened beings according to the Indian religious world view. Because of its origins as an organization of unconventional people who rejected the goals of worldly success and familial continuity, Buddhism has always revolved around a monastic core. Though this may change with the development of Western Buddhism, the values of renunciation and mindfulness promoted by a monastic lifestyle are integral to Buddhism, whether or not its adherents take monastic vows. These core values will always colour Buddhist approaches to childhood and family life, no matter to what culture Buddhism may emigrate. To say that Buddhism is a universal religion is to say that it wears its links with culture very lightly, preferring instead to focus on the universals of human experience independent of culture - the suffering entailed by conventional attitudes of grasping and fixation - and the solutions to that self-inflicted misery. Both because its teachings are so minimal and so applicable to all humans regardless of culture and because its monastic elite, unencumbered by family responsibilities, can easily travel, Buddhism is one of the few religions that has crossed cultural and ethnic frontiers to be widely adopted by people whose indigenous religious heritage is non-Buddhist. Therefore, though Buddhism is no longer widely practised in its Indian homeland, it has become a major religion in other parts of Asia and is currently spreading rapidly in the West. The earlier form of Buddhism, now

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called Theravadin Buddhism, or the Way of the Elders, spread south and east, to become the dominant religion of Sri Lanka and South-east Asia. Mahayana Buddhism, which was well developed in India by five hundred years after the life of the Buddha, spread north and east, first to China and from there to Korea and eventually to Japan. A separate stream of religious influence brought other forms of Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism to Tibet and Mongolia. In all these migrations, many changes and developments have occurred, without fundamentally altering Buddhism's convictions that conventional habitual patterns of grasping and fixation are the source of human misery and that these habitual patterns can be transmuted into detachment and tranquillity through spiritual discipline. My first reaction to being asked to think about religious dimensions of childhood was that many of my contemplations were quite familiar. I noted that many of the same themes and conclusions occurred to me when I thought about Buddhism and the rights of children as had occurred to me as I thought about Buddhism in connection with issues of population control and resource utilization. In that context I focused on the fact that Buddhism in no way fosters pro-natalist values or insists that people have a duty to reproduce, but rather sees the ideal as reproducing few enough children so that all can be cared for well. That I reached similar conclusions in this presentation is not at all surprising, since the first right and need of a child is to come into a world in which she can be wanted and welcomed because there is room for her and sufficient resources, physical, emotional, and spiritual, for her to live well, not merely to survive minimally. However, in thinking specifically about Buddhist views of childhood and children, a major conclusion seemed self-evident. In its classic forms, whether doctrinally or institutionally, Buddhism does not especially focus on children or on the family. It is not a childcentred or a family-centred religion. This is because its deepest goals are not the worldly continuities so sought and valued by some religious orientations, but the transformation of conventional attitudes into enlightened mind. That is to say, seeing clearly that ceaseless impermanence is the deepest nature of reality brings freedom, tranquillity, and compassion. This insight, experienced so deeply that it transforms one's very core, is far more valued than is maintaining cultural and familial continuities or economic success. Therefore,

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transforming grasping and fixation into detachment and tranquillity is far more central to the Buddhist vision of the ideal life than is reproduction or economic activity. Nevertheless, physical reproduction, the continuity of one's family or culture and economic activities can be appropriate ways of manifesting an enlightened attitude. It is crucial to understand that enlightened mind and enlightened activity are not at all incompatible with family life and raising children, or with the economic pursuit of right livelihood. The primary question is the mindset with which one acts, not the actions themselves. For Buddhism, it is a question of priorities, rather than a simple black and white dichotomy between "worldly" activities and "spiritual" practice. And, especially important, for Buddhism the central dichotomy is between conventional attitudes and ways of living, such as grasping, fixation, and attachment, which inevitably bring pain, and an enlightened attitude of detachment and tranquillity, not between "worldly" and "spiritual" activities. Either could be done with either mental attitude. It is the attitude with which activities are done, not the activities themselves, that makes all the difference. I emphasize this point because enlightenment has too often been popularly presented in the West as an "other-worldly" or world denying goal which disallows conventional family life or economic pursuits. Thus my conclusion that Buddhism is not especially child or family oriented is easily subject to the erroneous conclusion that Buddhism is therefore anti-family. That assessment is not accurate, since it relies much too heavily on Western other-worldly dualism, with its dichotomy between this disvalued mundane transient world and the next world, a transcendent changeless realm of superior value. As a long term Buddhist practitioner and scholar, I find it utterly foreign when I hear Buddhism described as an "other-worldly religion". But Buddhism, nevertheless, values enlightenment far more than wealth, fertility, or longevity, and its core practices are dedicated to the pursuit of enlightenment rather than the pursuit of wealth, fertility, or longevity. This is not to deny popular practices oriented to those goals found in all forms of Buddhism. It is only to place the doctrinal heart of Buddhism correctly on enlightenment. Because Buddhism is not especially focused on conventional continuities, reproduction, maintaining the family line, promoting the

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local culture, economic production, or ritual are not central to the religion. Therefore, family life is not necessary to fulfilled human living as a Buddhist. Unlike some popular religious viewpoints that regard the physical reproduction of children as one's future, for Buddhism the future of the religion lies in its ability to speak effectively to our suffering and to our longing for tranquillity and gentleness, pursued through the meditative disciplines of mindfulness. Because physical reproduction and family life do not especially alleviate or even address these concerns and needs, they are not the major focus of Buddhism. Indeed, from the Buddhist point of view, physical reproduction and family life, if pursued with a conventional mindset of attachment and desire, intensify rather than diminish suffering. Since developing enlightened attitudes is so basic to Buddhism, its central space is the meditation hall, not the fields, the hearth, the sacramental table, the sacrificial alter, or the bazaar. People fare best in the meditation hall as adult individuals, which is why Buddhism is not especially oriented towards or focused on families and children, however important these concerns are to some Buddhists. Meditation halls, with their silence and aloneness, even in the midst of a crowd, are not especially "child friendly", as many Western Buddhists discover in their attempts to raise Buddhist children in Western societies. Certainly if one thinks of the contrast between a Passover seder, with its ritual inclusion of even the youngest child or a Christmas eve service focusing on the baby Jesus, and the typical Buddhist meditation hall, the point that Buddhism is not child centred is forcefully made. Children can be useful participants in the fields or the bazaar, at the sacramental table or the sacrificial alter, and, consequently, can feel at home there. The meditation hall is usually not interesting to people until they become adults, facing the sorrow and complexity of life as a human being in samsara, the infinite ocean of birth and death fuelled by karma) the inexorable law of cause and effect. Furthermore, unlike Christianity, Hinduism, or various preChristian religions that focused on the birth and rebirth of the seasonal deity, there are no child heroes in Buddhism and the cult of the divine child is unknown. The child Siddartha is neither divine nor enlightened when he is born and his birth, in and of itself, is not salvific. It is true that the story of the birth of Siddartha is well known

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and Buddha's birthday is celebrated as an important holiday in some Buddhist countries. But there is little focus on the childness of the future Buddha, in contrast especially to the stories of Krishna, the divine child, and even in contrast to the baby Jesus, who does not, like the baby Siddartha, engage as a new-born baby in acts usually thought possible only for much older children (speech and locomotion). In fact, regarding Siddartha's life prior to the momentous occasion on which he sat under the Bodhi tree, there is at least as much focus on his previous lives, even those in animal form, as on his childhood. The child Siddartha is no more the focus of religious attention than are children in general in Buddhism. It should come as no surprise then, that the state of childhood itself is not regarded as a special state. Children are neither especially endowed with innocence and goodness beyond what adults possess, nor are children in an unredeemed or depraved state of nature different in quality from that of adults who have been initiated or processed in some way. They are not waiting for some ritual, like baptism or circumcision to be performed upon them to transform them into human beings, members of culture, beings capable of a state of grace. They are simply children - pre-adults going through the karmic process of moving from childhood, with its physical, mental, and spiritual conditions, into adulthood, at which point one is physically, mentally, and spiritually capable of practising meditation to pursue enlightenment. Having thus indicated that Buddhism does not have definitions and doctrines of childhood as part of its classic repertoire of teachings, let me now apply core Buddhist values to the somewhat modern concept of childhood as a special condition. Two things should be emphasized about how Buddhists might answer the question "What is a child?". The first is that all children, like all sentient beings, are endowed with Buddha-nature (tathagatagarhha) or inherent indwelling enlightenment, which only needs to be realized or awakened. The second is that children do not enter the world with a blank slate, as is thought by some Western psychologies, but with a history, with endowments and propensities that, while they are not viewed as rigidly deterministic, do predispose children in unique and specific ways. These two conclusions about children seem in some ways to point in opposite directions. On the one hand all children are the same and are equal in

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being endowed with Buddha-nature; on the other hand, each child is the result of a unique combination of causes and conditions, which means that children are neither the same nor equally endowed with specific talents. Yet both statements are valid and important. It is easier to explain how and why children are unique and individual. Classical beliefs concerning karma and rebirth mean that every child who is born already has a long history. In fact, the cycle of birth leading to death leading to rebirth is said to be endless, so that any and every baby has a karmic history stretching back into beginningless time. Thus a child is born inheriting not only its parents' genetic materials, with whatever strengths and weaknesses come from those sources, and, to a lesser extent, its parents' culture; it is also born with its own self-created potentials, the result of its various efforts in past lives. In traditional understandings, these "karmic" inheritances from past lives are probably more important than genetics in determining a child's character and endowments. Furthermore, traditional understandings would suggest that the union of parents and child is in fact the result of previous associations on the part of each, not merely the biological result of the meeting of egg and sperm. To what extent modern people can literally believe in rebirth is an open question; many Asian Buddhists take it for granted, while many Western Buddhists take rebirth more metaphorically. However, the traditional teachings make a very salient and relevant point. Children are not cut from the same mould, the same cookie cutter, but have unique and different talents and abilities. Any attempt to raise and educate children which understands equality as treating all the children as if they were equally endowed with the same talents does a serious disservice to both the children and to the larger society. Thus, some aspects of Buddhist thinking lead us to focus on individuality and uniqueness in a way that is almost Western, when we try to understand what a child is in Buddhist perspective. However, the unique combination of causes and conditions that result in a specific child is only part of what makes a child who she is. That child, like all other beings, is endowed with Buddha-nature, which in some interpretations is also called "basic goodness". This component of the child is not unique and individual, but universal and identical in all beings, though the ability to become aware of it is more developed in some beings, such as human beings, than in other beings,

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such as animals. The inherent presence of Buddha-nature explains why children do not need to be made into humans by ritual means and why they are not considered depraved or animalistic without cultural interventions. Buddha-nature or basic goodness is conferred by neither human nor divine beings, nor by ritual. For most people, spiritual practices and teachings prove to be extremely helpful in making a person more aware of Buddha-nature, but awareness only uncovers what is there; it does not cause or create that inherent seed of enlightenment (tathagatagarbha). These two perspectives can now be brought together. A child is born with both personal idiosyncratic potentials, based on karma as well as genetics, and with Buddha nature, which is the same for all beings. Childhood is simply the karmic life stage in which most of these potentials are still latent, and growing up is a process of karmic development in which they unfold. (It is crucial to remember that karma simply means "cause and effect", not predestination in the Western sense, so that a curious five year old is the karmic result of a well cared for infant, and adolescence is the karmic result of childhood, etc.) Because the bottom line for every being is Buddha-nature, and since spiritual discipline is the most effective way to awaken that potential, the most succinct definition of a child is that a child is a future meditator, no matter what its personal, idiosyncratic inheritances may be. Thus, in ranking the personal, idiosyncratic traits of a child against the common and universal trait of Buddha-nature, the latter is more basic and central. This does not mean that the former can be ignored; on the contrary, Buddhist tradition has recognized that, in their present lives, it could be doing violence to some individuals to try to force them to awaken their Buddha-nature through spiritual discipline. In defining childhood as the karmic prelude to adulthood, I want to stress two interlocking points that defuse misunderstandings and misuses of the concept of karma. First of all, the notion of karma has often been used to excuse grave social injustice, as in the explanations: it's your karma to be poor, to be oppressed, etc., or because you are a girl, your bad karma makes you a second class human being. Since, according to Buddhist thought, everything is due to karma, oppression is indeed due to karma, to processes of cause and effect. But the effect of present oppression is more cogently explained as due to present

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oppressive structures than to misdeeds in a past life on the part of an oppressed child. This interpretation of karma runs counter to an Asian tradition of using the concept of karma to encourage people to accept very difficult circumstances as appropriate and just. Second, given tathagatagarbha, a child is not only a future meditator, but also a future Buddha. It is not the possession of its parents or its culture, a point which is also driven home by the belief that a child comes into the world with a unique karmic past that pushes it in certain future directions. Thus from both sides, Buddhist understandings of what a child is drive home the point that reproducing one's family ego or the cultural ego is not the reason to be a child or to have a child. This point can hardly be overemphasized, since desire to reproduce one's ego, one's family line, or one's culture so often is the motivation for physiological reproduction in conventional people. Such motivations lead to regarding the child as the possession of its parents or its culture, obligated to reproduce them in its own life. Such attitudes discount the child's Buddha nature and its unique karmic heritage as irrelevant, especially if these lead the child away from its family and culture of origin. Taking Care of Children: Buddhism and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child Traditionally, Buddhism does not lay down detailed regulations for any aspect of lay life, but only gives the guidelines of basic precepts, the most important of which is non-harming. Therefore, child rearing practices, as is the case for most other aspects of lay Buddhist life, simply follow the norms of the culture in which lay Buddhists are living and practising Buddhism. Most often, it seems, Buddhist children simply absorbed Buddhism by growing up in a culture that was deeply influenced by Buddhism. Additionally, in traditional Buddhist countries, monasteries often served as important educational institutions, at least for boys. In some cases, monasteries also served as orphanages or places for parents to deposit children when they had too many. For Western Buddhists, things are not so simple and there is considerable discussion both about how to raise Buddhist children in a non-Buddhist environment and about whether and how child care can be a dimension of Buddhist meditation practices. Combining serious

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Buddhist meditation practice with the householder lifestyle, including child rearing, especially in conjunction with the input of feminist theory and practice, will revolutionize some aspects of traditional Buddhism.1 However, I will not focus on Buddhist child rearing practices, whether traditional or Western, in my discussion of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Instead, I wish to return to the Buddhist understanding of childhood and children suggested above and ask what a child needs, given a Buddhist understanding of children. Every guideline I suggest as important to serving children's rights and needs will derive from my interpretation of a child as a potential future meditator, endowed both with idiosyncratic karmic potential and Buddha-nature. My primary question will be what attitudes and practices regarding children allow individual children to unfold into adults who realize both aspects of their potential and what attitudes and practices regarding children are detrimental to that unfolding. This is the context in which I will discuss the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, noting both ways in which the Convention and Buddhism seem to agree and some ways in which the Convention may not go far enough to protect the needs and rights of children. I suggest that a successful childhood, a childhood that nurtures rather than undercuts the endowments of a child, is most likely if certain basic conditions can be met. Furthermore, all children merit a successful childhood. It should not be argued that some children's karma has merited them a difficult childhood. All children should be cared for adequately, materially, emotionally, and spiritually. For a successful childhood to be possible, I suggest that three problems must be avoided at all costs. The first is more children than can be cared for adequately, or overpopulation, whether locally or globally. The second is poverty, or insufficient resources for the population at hand, whether adult or children, to be able to nurture their Buddha-nature through an appropriate lifestyle. The third is an attitude of possessiveness regarding 1

For a long discussion of suggestions regarding contemporary Western Buddhist child rearing practices, see Rita M. Gross, Buddhism After Patriarchy: A Feminist History, Analysis, and Reconstruction of Buddhism, (Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1993), pp. 225-40.

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children, whether on the part of their family or their culture. When this attitude is present, as it often is, children are pressured into repeating the patterns of their parents or their culture regardless of their own karmic potential. Upon close inspection, the United Nations Convention appears to address itself mainly to the third concern and to do so in considerable detail. The Convention could be interpreted as a document that affords children significant protection against overly possessive parents and cultures. It does not especially endorse those who regard their children as beings whose primary responsibility is to perpetuate their parents or their culture. However, overpopulation and poverty are not directly recognized as conditions detrimental to the rights and needs of children. Insofar as they are dealt with at all, it is only in connection with promoting certain needs of children that can be provided for only when communities have an appropriate balance between numbers of children and resources available to care for them. The first, most basic guideline regarding the rights and needs of children is stark and simple. The most basic requirement for the proper unfolding of childhood is a balance between the number of children and the material, emotional, and spiritual resources of their community and family. This is the point at which Buddhist concerns for children intersect with Buddhist ideas about population control. Because each child is both a future Buddha as well as a karmically unique individual, it is unreasonable and irresponsible physically to produce such beings without being able or willing to care for them properly. In discussing proper care, it is important to note that sheer, minimal physical survival is not the only issue. The time and emotional energy required to nurture a child properly are probably more important. Additionally, spiritual direction and other forms of education are vital, so that each child can unfold its karmic potential as well as its basic goodness. It is obvious that overcrowded homes, schools, and societies, or a planet with dwindling resources and burgeoning populations, do not provide an ideal environment for such developments. For these reasons, I think few Buddhists would disagree with the guideline that there should be few enough children that all can be well cared for without intolerable burden to the families, their communities, and the planet. It must also be noted that the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child does not mention this

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most basic protection needed by children. For children to prosper, their numbers should not exceed the carrying capacity of their families, their communities, their nations, and their planet. Poverty is a major deterrent to spiritual well-being, contrary to some popular ideas. Buddhism has always proposed the Middle Way between extremes as its most essential guideline, recognizing that grinding poverty is just as counterproductive to human well-being as are mindless wealth and consumption. For adults, poverty means too little time for spiritual cultivation. For children, it often means too much labour too early, and not enough time or resources for education. The obvious link between poverty and excessive reproduction should be noted in this context. If we trace the lines of cause and effect back one more step, what often drives excessive reproduction is the fixated need to have children, usually male children, to continue one's family.2 Again, the Convention does not explicitly deals with adequate standards of living as a right and need of children, though many of the rights that it extends to children are possible only if populations and economic resources are in balance with each other. The third guideline concerning the rights and needs of children in Buddhist perspective could easily generate controversy, even in Buddhist contexts and will be discussed at some length, since I regard it as fundamental both to Buddhism and to the Convention. It has been suggested repeatedly that a Buddhist perspective on children would emphasize their unique karmic heritages and potentials. Clearly a conventional and common attitude that is quite at odds with this perspective is to regard children as extensions or possessions of their parents or culture. From a Buddhist point of view, it should be obvious that it is important to try to limit the temptation to regard children primarily as carriers of the familial or the cultural ego whose function it is to extend and reproduce that group's ego. This extremely widespread expectation of families and cultures is the largely 2

For a more extended discussion of these issues, see Rita M. Gross, "Buddhist Resources for Issues of Population, Consumption, and the Environment" in: Harold Coward (Ed.), Population, Consumption, and the Environment: Religious and Secular Responses, (Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1995), pp. 155-172.

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unrecognized downside of conventional notions about the religious importance of family life and of conventional parenting practices. Throughout human history, uncounted millions of children have undoubtedly been sacrificed on this altar of familial and cultural demands that children continue the patterns laid down by the group into which they were born. That parents routinely expect to be able to program their children's lives in this fashion is well demonstrated by numerous stories in Buddhist literature in which parents (presumably Buddhists) in Buddhist societies tried to discourage or prohibit their sons and daughters from becoming monks and nuns or from taking up a religious vocation instead of the family business. I read the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child as extending the modern concept of individual rights to children, who are here seen as individuals who inherently possess individual rights. Thus, we are dealing with two concepts that are modern rather than traditional. The first is the concept of individual rights, which is often seen as a Western outlook that may or may not fit well with other ways of understanding the relationship between the individual and her surrounding matrix of society and the phenomenal world. The second is the extension of that concept to children, who are often viewed or treated as rightless minors, even in societies that value individual rights for adults. A full discussion of Buddhist perspectives on the concept of individual rights would take us too far afield at this point and would add little to a discussion of Buddhist perspectives on religious dimensions of childhood and family life. Clearly, as has already been discussed in my comments on children as unique individuals, the concept of individual rights is not utterly foreign to Buddhism, which does posit individual enlightenment as the first, though not the only, goal of religious life. The caveat, from the Buddhist point of view, is that it is ridiculous to talk of individuals as independent of their matrix, as so often seems to happen in some modern discussions of individual rights. According to the most basic Buddhist teaching of pratityasamutpada or interdependence, individuals have no inherent or independent existence as such, but only exist in interdependence with all other beings. Therefore, any discussion of individual "rights" must be grounded in the basic fact that no supposed right can overcome or override interdependence. Any exercise of supposed rights that

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damages or harms others in the interdependent matrix is not really exercise of a "right", but harmful conduct, a violation of the first and most basic precept of Buddhist ethics. For example, though modern individual rights theory often proclaims a right to have as many children as one chooses to conceive, or accidentally conceives, attention to interdependence as more basic than such supposed rights would suggest that one has a responsibility to limit one's reproduction to what is appropriate, given interdependence. On the other hand, traditional Buddhist teachings are easily reconciled with that stream of individual rights rhetoric which stresses that no individual is a tool or an instrument of another. This view is, in my opinion, far more at the heart of individual rights theory than the exaggerated hyper-individualism that is sometimes associated with the notion of individual rights in some Western capitalist contexts. Thus a person, to use the conventional designation, is not a tool or instrument of another, but a unique being with its own karmic connections within the matrix of interdependence. This formulation strikes me as a middle path between claiming potentially irresponsible and cruel autonomy for the individual, as so often happens in Western contexts, and claiming that the individual owes all his or her allegiance and effort to the family or the culture, as so often happens in traditional contexts. However, as already noted, even in societies that are adamant about individual rights for adults, individual rights are not always extended to children. As essentially rightless minors, in both traditional and modern societies, children are usually treated as extensions of their family or culture, under the protection and control of their families and cultures, but not existing independently of them. Parents and communities, including religious communities, are often extremely protective of their "right" (is this one of their rights as an individual?) to raise their children as they see fit and as they prefer, without supposed interference from a larger society, which might influence the child into alternative values. Thus, the job, the assigned task, of children is to grow up to reproduce the patterns of their parents and their culture. Their job is also to fulfil the expectations and needs of their parents and culture, often without regard for whether those expectations and needs match with the child's interests and inclinations. Since so many who value individual rights regard it as

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their right to mould and possess their children as extensions of themselves, the concept of children's rights is potentially explosive, even in modern societies. In fact, I do not think that so-called modern and so-called traditional societies are significantly different on this point. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child contains several articles that would significantly limit the family's or the culture's ability to exercise some traditional rights and controls over children. Articles thirteen and fourteen specifically accord to children the right to freedom of expression, and to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion. That I possessed such rights would certainly have been news to my parents and to the religion into which I was born, which is one reason why I suggest that children's rights are no more commonplace in the modern West than in traditional societies. Other noteworthy ways in which this Convention limits parents' controls over their children are found in article twenty-four, which seeks to abolish traditional practices that are detrimental to children's health, and in article twenty-nine, which proclaims that children shall be educated to appreciate the equality of the sexes certainly not something foremost in most educational programs, whether found in the modern West or in traditional societies. The document consistently refers to the best interests of the child as the principle to be used in deciding contested issues. I take it that such language elevates the best interests of the child over the interests of the parents or the culture, in cases where these conflict. Finally, the Convention seems to protect as a child's right the right to be a child rather than to be forced to take on adult responsibilities prematurely. Thus, article twenty-eight regards education as something children have by right; article thirty-one protects their rest, leisure, and play, as appropriate to children's age; and article thirty-two protects children from economic exploitation and work that is hazardous or interferes with their education. Articles nineteen and thirty-four protect children from sexual exploitation, a provision of extreme importance in situations in which girls are married off at an early age. These principles again could be construed as elevating the child's best interests over those of the parents or as affording the child protection from its parents or culture, since in many contexts, taking care of parents and helping them in their work is considered to

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override children's needs for play or education. Thus, I interpret this Convention as providing, at least in some measure, two things that are essential to children. One is the need for children to be able to be children, rather than premature adults. Some children's rights are really children's needs, and the Convention might more appropriately use such language on occasion. One such need is most certainly the need for children not to be forced into adult economic or emotional roles prematurely. The Convention does not explicitly mention children's need to be freed from adult emotional roles, but such a need is almost as important as the right to be free of inappropriate economic responsibilities or sexual demands, which is protected by the Convention. Adult emotional roles are forced on children in several ways that only seem to be the opposites of each other. Sometimes, a child is forced to become the confidant and emotional caretaker of an unhappy parent. Other times, the unhappy parent virtually ignores the child while indulging his or her own emotional needs, thus also forcing the child into the adult emotional roles of fending for herself psychologically. The other right, tentatively, but not resoundingly provided by the Convention is protection for children from their families and cultures. Such phrasing may sound extreme, but as an educator, I often encounter young adults whose families and religions were extremely possessive of them, who discouraged them from any independence of mind or spirit, and who regarded these children, who are now my students, primarily as extensions of themselves. It is especially in the modern West that the ability and tendency of parents to wound and maim their children psychologically in both these ways has been noted, but I do not believe that these tendencies are limited to the modern West. I am particularly sensitive to such parental excesses because I was subject both to premature adult emotional roles as a child and to the demand that I fulfil my parent's needs and expectations rather my own dreams. Clearly, negotiating a path that takes account of both these needs or rights of children is difficult. When children are protected as children rather than forced into adult roles, it is tempting to want to mould them as well, to direct and form their development, which all parents and all cultures must do to some extent. But then is it difficult to remember that such moulding is subject to limits, that children, though interdependent with their

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parents and their culture, are not merely extensions and possessions of their parents and cultures, but beings with their own karmic links with the interdependent matrix - links that may carry them far from their families and cultures of origin. On the other hand, the Convention also makes much of promoting the child's right to maintain connections with its culture and language of origin, especially in cases of minorities, refugees, or orphans. For example, while inter-country adoption is allowed in article twentyone, article twenty states a preference that children remain in the ethnic, cultural, linguistic, and religious background of their birth. Thus, while the Convention sometimes seems to recognize that children may well need to be protected from their families and cultures, it also safeguards families' and cultures' interests in children by assuming that continued involvement of families or cultures in their children's lives is always the preferred option, unless contravened by extreme circumstances. In my view, the United Nations Convention makes more of preserving the child's culture of birth than is appropriate and more than I believe is warranted from the point of view of Buddhist values. According to Buddhism, just as a child is not its parents possession, so it is not the possession of its culture. Buddhism regards culture as quite relative, having little, if anything, to do with spiritual well-being. In part, this is because Buddhism as a religion wears its links with culture very lightly and readily, even deliberately, sheds them when it crosses cultural frontiers. Furthermore, cultural identity can easily be a form of ego, in the Buddhist sense of ego as an unnecessary and undesirable burden; therefore, culture can easily be overvalued. If there is a choice between a child being well cared for physically, emotionally, and spiritually as the result of a cross-cultural or cross-racial adoption or remaining in its culture of birth under negative circumstances, I believe Buddhist values would encourage the former choice. Thus, in my view, Buddhism would not oppose, but would in fact encourage, crosscultural and cross-racial adoptions, especially given current population pressures and problems. However, these comments on the relative unimportance of culture should not in any way be construed as endorsing policies of forced assimilation of small cultures by large cultures. They only suggest that if the child's culture of birth cannot care for it adequately, and others can, culture is not so overridingly

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important that the child's well-being should be sacrificed to save its original cultural identity. In terms of protecting children from their parents and cultures, I also would contend that the Convention is not sufficiently explicit regarding children's rights to defy their culture's gender roles. While the Convention encourages educating children in the equality of the sexes, it does not protect those who do not conform to conventional gender roles, which are the biggest and most frequently overlooked impediment to children's ability to unfold their karmic potential in adulthood and to become adult meditators. The United Nations Convention under consideration also largely ignores the negative impact traditional gender roles have on children and on family wellbeing. As the author of Buddhism After Patriarchy, I am more than well aware and well prepared to make the case that the conventional female gender role has often been extremely counterproductive to the physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being of girls. For example, in some Buddhist societies, girls were and are routinely routed away from the monastic lifestyle that is so prestigious when taken up by a boy. Less well noted is that the conventional training of boys for aggression and warfare is no more productive of human decency than is the training of females for submissiveness and docility. In short, since the rise of patriarchy, human beings have trapped countless millions of girls and boys into conventional gender roles that produce limited, stunted human beings. Only a few women and men have overcome this conditioning. Any attempt to take seriously the rights of children and the religious meaning of childhood as preparation for a useful and fulfilling adult life would have to look much more seriously into the ways in which conventional gender roles are anti-human for both men and women. The United Nations Convention may well also be lacking in that it does not emphasize fostering talent as a high priority among children's rights. In the United Nations conventions, the handicapped receive their special due, but the gifted are ignored and overlooked. This reflects the way in which gifted people are indeed looked down upon in many children's subcultures, as well as in adult cultures. To make matters worse, many educational programs and policies dumb down the curriculum, try to even out achievements, and in general, try to ignore the fact that children are not equally endowed with the same

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talents. Buddhism's recognition that children do not enter the world with a blank slate but with a karmic history would argue against such educational policies. Indeed, in addition to serving as orphanages, in some Buddhist cultures, especially Tibetan Buddhism, monasteries also served as training centres for the unusually gifted children, recognized as tulkus* and given special training from an early age. Though there are many problems with the system, especially its exclusion of girls, the basic idea of giving special treatment to especially talented children is sorely needed today. A society that defines equality as equality of achievement, rather than as equality of opportunity and therefore does not foster talent, is violating something important to its own wellbeing, as well as to the well-being of gifted children. As a concluding summary, it must be emphasized that Buddhism has not historically manifested itself as a religion focused on children and the family, especially in contrast to other religions, such as Hinduism or Confucianism. Its most influential sacred texts do not contain a theology of childhood. And Buddhism, going against the grain in so many ways, does not easily lend itself to ethical positions regarding children and childhood that many would consider to be self-evident. Most importantly, any view of childhood consistent with basic Buddhist values must recognize that children are fundamentally sentient beings endowed with Buddha-nature and their own karmic potential; only secondarily are they carriers and perpetuators of the family or cultural lineage. From this basic, and somewhat unconventional insight, flow all the other comments and recommendations on Buddhist perspectives on the religious meanings of childhood and life.

3

Tulkus, believed to be the reincarnation of a deceased teacher and also an incarnation of one of the Buddhas or bodhisattvas of the huge Mahayana Buddhist pantheon, are commonly picked in early childhood and trained to be the spiritual head of a monastery or group of monasteries. This practice is well-developed in Tibetan Buddhism. The Dalai Lama is the most famous such person.

Chapter 6 Child and Family from an Aboriginal Perspective Daisy Sewid-Smith Stronger children evolve into stronger families and stronger families develop into stronger nations. This wisdom was certainly understood by all the Aboriginal nations of North America. This is why the family was considered a sacred institution. The heart of this institution was the children. The very foundation of Aboriginal families was therefore shattered when the hearts of the nations were savagely plucked from their bosoms. It is related that a wise and prudent man once said that you could learn much about a people's culture by studying their language. If this is indeed accurate, the Kwagul language reveals that a child was loved, honoured, and treasured in Kwagul Aboriginal society. The Kwagul nation lived on the Pacific coast of North America in what is now the Province of British Columbia. They believed that family life was the nucleus of their society and that every new child was an assurance of their existence on this planet.

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Birth of a Child When a child was born it was presented to the patriarch or matriarch of the family, who thanked the creator for the child. Then the head of the family welcomed the child into the world and the family unit. The birth of a child was considered a miracle from the creator and if the child survived past ten months, it was considered a blessing. A child had only one birthday party in its life time and that was at the age of ten months. This celebration was called hifugwila (celebrating because you were blessed). Naming a Child A child was not given a name until the age of ten months; then it was given what is referred to as a "child's name". Prior to this, the child was called by its birth place or an endearment name such as wacfid (owner of a dog) or qagwid (owner of a slave). Grandparents used these endearment names to say to their grandchildren, "You will always be protected by me" and "I will serve you always". At the age of ten months a child was given the name Augweý (blessing). All children of younger siblings and relatives were called gana (female) and wisa (male). This is equivalent to the English endearment names "honey" and "sweetheart". Children of older siblings and relatives were called giya (higher ranking). Children of nobility were given the names wofkineý (male) or wofkinega (female), which means "a gift from heaven", and ?acfidiy (precious) and mayanidiy (treasured). These names reveal that children were very important to Kwagul society. The mortality rate of new-borns was very high, so children were more precious than gold. Children were the determining factor as to whether a tribe became powerful and strong or whether it became weak and extinct. Children were not only our future citizens and future leaders, they were and still are the First Nations of tomorrow. For this reason, I was able to relate to David Kraemer's "Children and Family Life in Judaism", where he states: Through children alone could the teachings of the family of Abraham be passed on. The obligation to assure this "passing on" was unmistakably codified in the Torah's teachings. I was astonished to see so many similarities between Jewish traditions and those practised by my own people, the Kwagul.

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Environment of a Child As a child was reared, it was taught love, respect, and honour for all his or her kin, nation, and environment. The environment of a child was very important, from the womb to puberty. It was important to surround the child with positive words and deeds, especially during the formative years from the womb to the age of five. Children were constantly told how much they were loved and how essential they were to the clan or tribe and what a blessing they were to the family and the people. The child was constantly with the mother from birth until it reached the age of five, then it could go to other relatives for further training. The child's future profession was determined before birth. At the time of birth the child's umbilical cord was dried and given to a man or woman that the parents had chosen as a role model for the child. The chosen role model wore the dried umbilical cord as a bracelet. The child was brought to the role model and others in the same profession to watch and be taught verbally until he or she was of an age to be actually trained. Future chiefs of clans were trained as young as five years of age and potlatch chiefs were trained at the age of twelve. Traditional Instruction Traditional instruction of a child began in the womb. The child was loved, admired, told stories, legends, family lineages, and tribal histories. The most vital lesson, however, was the instruction on love and respect for one's kin, nation, and environment. This teaching was stressed from cradle to grave because hatred and disrespect brought jealousy, envy, and chaos, followed by division and destruction on one's tribe from within, making it vulnerable to a foreign power. These teachings were soon to erode when the Europeans reached the shores of North America. There was a state of confusion and bewilderment among the Aboriginal people. The newcomers rejected the ancient Aboriginal teachings and replaced them with their own, based on the Christian principles of loving one another and having respect for one's nation and the environment. They also taught that the family was very important. These contradictions affected Aboriginal thinking even to the present day.

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Family Unit The family unit of Kwagul society encompassed extended-family members as well as immediate family members. A Kwagul child was taught that the extended family was as important as the immediate family. Immediate family members included the usual grandparents, father, mother, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, nephews, and nieces. Extended families included first cousins, who were regarded as brothers and sisters. Second cousins were seen as nephews and nieces, and third cousins and their descendants were like grandchildren. Any person with blood ties to the same clan was called namyut (kinsman). Blood ties to five or more tribes were not unusual. A Kwagul child's family members were counted by the hundreds and each child was taught who they were, how they were related, and where they lived. Children were also taught to respect members of this family unit at all times. They were told that to show disrespect for one's relatives showed disrespect for oneself because one is an extension of that relative. This teaching was not only verbal but the children saw examples of respect in the actions of the adults around them. Adults showed respect for the child at all times because the Kwaguls believed that the character of an individual was determined by what it observes and heard as an infant and as a child. Individuals who broke these laws were considered bad mannered and to be avoided until they mended their ways. Adoption of a child was very common among the Kwagul. It was done very quietly and smoothly and there was never any traumatic effect on the child, because adopted parents acted as surrogate parents to all the children. Adoption was not a derogatory word or action in Kwagul society and it was accepted without question. The same applied to children of mixed blood. They were treated like any other child in the tribe. The Kwagul family varied in size. Four children were considered the ideal family because the sacred number of the Kwaguls was the number four. You were especially blessed if you had four sons. Sons were desired because they would bring dowries into the family. The Kwagu! started observing the use of the sacred number four shortly after a catastrophic deluge. Every tribe has its own "flood story" but the one thing they all had in common was the sacred

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number four. Marriages Most Kwagui practised monogamy, although polygamy was not unusual. A man could have more than one wife if he could afford to do so. Polygamy was practised mainly by Chieftains who could afford more than one wife. Polygamy was practised for the acquisition of dowries. Kwaguls could marry within their tribe but never to a relative, nor could they marry into their own clan. Most marriages were arranged with someone in another tribe or to a ^iteta or foreigner from another nation. There were several types of marriages among the Kwagul. There was the "dowry marriage", which was a marriage between two individuals, even children. This marriage was performed when the groom's family wanted property or position from the bride's family and the only way to obtain it was through marriage. The marriage lasted only as long as the ceremony and was annulled at the end of the ceremony. We also had "short-term marriages". These marriages were arranged to obtain a dowry and a bride price. There was no time frame for the length of these marriages. This was determined by the bride's family. This type of marriage was also practised by the early French settlers. Then we had the regular marriages. These were for the procreation of children. A long and happy marriage was encouraged, and to ensure this the groom had to work for the bride's family for a year, so that they could observe his character. A long and happy marriage was considered important because it was the foundation of the family unity. There are many more examples of the adaptability of Kwagul culture to other cultural values they considered superior. It is my personal view that our culture and traditions survived because we were able to adapt. Nurture of Children Kwagul society was adamant that the nurturing of a child was not just the responsibility of the parents but that it was the responsibility of society as a whole. Society, they believed, was an extension of the family unit and therefore must share some of the responsibility of the

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child's upbringing. One duty was to intervene if anyone saw a child doing something wrong and to contact the parents or a relative immediately. The direct responsibility for the child's well-being, of course, fell on the members of the family unit and relatives. This included protection, supervision, discipline, nourishment, shelter, training, and education. The training and education of the ninoxsola (nobility) were rigorous and intricate because they had to be moulded into potential leaders and role models for the people. This training included: - showing respect for the environment, the people, and the nation - honouring and respecting all family members at all times - never encouraging division of a family, clan, tribe, or nation, but encouraging unity at all times - responsibility for the well-being of orphans, widows, and the aged - never sending a guest away hungry - providing shelter for guests when they arrived in the village - offering assistance when assistance was required - responsibility for the chaperoning of unmarried maidens in the family - never telling an untruth about anyone or anything - never taking what did not belong to you unless it was offered as a gift - being a peace maker and settling arguments or disputes in a gentle and kind manner - never making fun of anyone, especially the handicapped, or the affliction of the person would appear on one's children and grandchildren - never answering anyone who verbally abused you - never retaliating if anyone tried to physically abuse you (punching, kicking) - disciplining in a lenient and kind manner - educating in a soft and tender manner - always remembering that nobility had the responsibility for the overall well-being of the people Among the nobility, there was no excuse for breaking any of these laws. To do so was very costly to the offending child's family because they would have to potlatch to remove the dishonour. The offence

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was announced in public. The offender received a lecture from the chiefs, and then the family had to give gifts to all those in attendance. This was in payment for witnessing the event. Then the head chief announced that the dishonour of the family was now wiped away and the incident was never to be brought up again by anyone. Protection and Supervision The protection and supervision of a child was the responsibility of society as a whole. Everyone in a village became surrogate parents, especially the child's relatives. This surrogate parenthood extended to other villages if the child happened to visit another village. Discipline The disciplining of a child was the responsibility of the parents as well as the maternal and paternal grandparents and other elderly members of the family. Again, the disciplining of nobility was stricter than the disciplining of other children. Beating or hitting a child was discouraged, as well as yelling and screaming. Profane language was never used because it was never practised. The worst insulting remark you could make was to call someone a dog. Disciplining was done by lecturing to the child and pointing out the errors of his or her ways and the consequences of the deed. Eight or more elders of the family were chosen to carry out the lecture. This was done in a soft and tender manner. The elders would call the child by the endearment names already mentioned. The lecturing was started by the matriarch (both maternal and paternal if possible) and ended with the patriarch who would ask the offender at the end if they had anything to say. My own father, Chief James Sewid, chose the traditional way of disciplining except that he changed the format slightly. Instead of gathering all the elders to lecture to the one child, he called all his nine children and lectured to all nine. He would begin by saying, "I understand one of my children has brought dishonour to this family. I do not have to point you out. You know who you are." No one ever knew who the offender was because silence had to be maintained while the lecture took place. After the lecture no one was permitted to speak about it again, because the matter was resolved. This format had the

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same effect as the gathering of the elders. I had the misfortune of experiencing both formats, but I feel I am a better person for it. Spirituality was Acquired at Birth Spirituality was acquired at birth. It was a divine experience. You could not see it, touch it, learn it, or pass it on to a successor, but its presence could be observed in the character of the individual. It was believed that all children were spiritual until they reached the age of five years of age, then they were referred to as being secular or worldly. After the age of five they could retain a part of this spirituality by prayer and practising certain rituals. However, certain individuals, both men and women, could have a spiritual experience that would bring them to the same spirituality that they had had as a child. These individuals became more interested in the spiritual than in the worldly. They were called pexala or healers. They were different from those that are now referred to as shaman. These healers acquired their powers after a near death experience. The Kwagut also believed that certain children are reincarnated loved ones. They say that there are two settlements in the spiritual realm: for those who remain and for those who must return. Unfinished business, inconsolable grief for a loved one, premature death, or a lesson of humility from a departed loved one who would treat the individual as he or she was treated by the individuals when he or she was on earth, are the reasons given for being reincarnated. Reincarnation was always within the same family unit. Spirituality changed the attitude of individuals towards other people and towards the environment. They always worked for peace and harmony and they were humble and sensitive at all times. European Contact When the Europeans arrived they hit the very heart of our nations. Children were being separated from their parents by various means. Most infamous, of course, were the residential schools. Most residential schools were staffed by misguided, misinformed individuals. Our children were: - beaten if they ran away - beaten and severely punished if they spoke their own language

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- taught not to listen to their heathen parents - taught to have no respect for their traditions and culture - taught that to be an Aboriginal was shameful - taught that all negative action was an Aboriginal trait - taught that they should avoid contact with heathen family members - taught that their God would not accept anyone if they did not completely change physically - taught that survival of the fittest was the civilized way and this was obtained by cheating, lying, stealing, and manipulating - taught that education and knowledge had to be beaten into a child But the cruellest of all was that they were never shown love; therefore they grew up not knowing how to love or to have parental skills. The separation of child and family continues under the foster care, adoption, and boarding programs. The majority of the children are placed in non-Aboriginal homes and taught non-Aboriginal values. They become caught between two cultures, never really fitting in either one, often with traumatic results when the child grows up. This is especially true of visible Aboriginals. A few Aboriginal nations are now taking steps toward selfdetermination. This includes the care of their children. However, there is still a tremendous amount of work to be done in this area. Every government that is in power seems to have a different mandate for the Aboriginal nations and the wheels of justice are turning excruciatingly slowly. United Nations General Assembly The United Nations Convention has many excellent policies concerning the protection of children. However, the statement that "the gap between research, policy and practice needs to be bridged" is only too true for the Aboriginal peoples. One can legislate a policy but if it is not implemented it is ineffective. Many countries, including Canada, may agree in principle when they are voting on these policies at the United Nations Assemblies, but when it comes to implementation in their own countries, that is another matter. This is clearly evident in several articles adopted by the United Nations

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General Assembly on 20 November 1989. Many Aboriginals would find it difficult to understand how these policies would be implemented to protect their children, because it appears that many Canadian laws contradict these policies, e.g., see article 2 (2): Parties shall take all appropriate measures to ensure that the child is protected against all forms of discrimination on the basis of the status, activities, expressed opinions, or beliefs of the child's parents, legal guardians, or family members. Since the implementation of the Indian Act in British Columbia in 1871, Aboriginal people have been categorized as Status Indians, Nonstatus, and Metis. (A Metis is an individual who is part French and part Native Indian.) Only those with Native Status are deemed a Native Indian by Ottawa and they are given what is referred to as a status number. A parcel of land was set aside by Ottawa for Status Indians before they transferred the remaining lands to the provinces. Only Status Indians could live on these parcels of land referred to as Indian Reserves and an individual could only live on their own tribal reserves. Non-status and Metis visiting a relative on a reserve without permission from the Band Council could technically be charged with trespassing. The individuals that Ottawa considered non-status or not Indian are: - a Native woman who lost her status because she married a nonNative man - a Native woman who lost her status because she married a Native man who had no status - a Native man or woman who lost their status involuntarily because their Native mother remarried a man who was non-Native or a Native man who had no status - a Native man or woman who lost their status involuntarily because the Native mother put the name of the father on the birth certificate and the father was not Native or he was a Native man with no status - a Native man or woman who were never registered by Ottawa - a Native man or woman who lost their status involuntarily because their Native parents enfranchised Ottawa argues that non-status simply means losing one's citizenship but it means far more than that. They state that an individual is deemed no longer to be Native Indian, and to me this means losing

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one's racial identity. All Kwagu!s are considered Kwaguls if they can trace their blood line to a Kwagul man or woman. This is under traditional law. If they are able to do this, they are considered a member of a certain tribe in the Kwagut Nation. Thus Canadian laws contradict Article 7 and Article 8 of the Convention: Article 7: The right to acquire a nationality. Article 8: The right to preserve his or her identity. Some affected people have reclaimed their status under Bill C-31, but it has just added more confusion, and the categorization of Aboriginal families continues. We now have: - Status on reserve - Status off reserve - Non-status -Bill C-31 - Metis Families who have status and who have moved off reserve for better education, health care, jobs, and housing, lose benefits that they would normally receive on reserve. To have these benefits reinstated, they must return to their reserve lands. Tribal councils have been discouraged by Ottawa to help those living off reserves. Many Aboriginal families are reluctant to return to their own reserves because of the lack of opportunities for their children. All Aboriginal families with status are assumed to be under Federal jurisdiction because reserve lands fall under the Federal government authority. The Federal government made all status Indians wards of the government to be able to transfer the remaining lands to the province. In other words, all status Indians, regardless of where they live, were given a minor's or child's status and Ottawa became their guardian. Many off reserve status Indians, like the non-status and Metis, have fallen between the cracks of society, as far as the politicians are concerned. It is true that many off reserve, non-status, and Metis are very successful but many more are well below the poverty line. They are tucked away in the city jungles and the adage "out of sight, out of mind" surely applies to them. We see poverty stricken reserves because they are quite visible, but we never see or hear very much about the poverty stricken urban Aboriginal families. So when one speaks of Aboriginals, who is one referring to?

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Many Aboriginal children have been fostered or adopted out to nonNative homes. When they are taken away it is not known where they are placed. It has just been learned recently that some of them were fostered or adopted out of the country. This was revealed when some of the children, who are now adults, returned to their villages looking for their families. I have always said that no matter where we live we have an invisible umbilical cord that ties us to our people and tribes. In other words, we have a spiritual connection to our people that cannot be broken, even by separation. Four general themes emerged from the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child: survival, protection, participation, and promotion. In all four respects the gap between policy and practice needs to be bridged. Survival Article 18 states in principle that parents or legal guardians have the responsibility for the upbringing and development of their children and that the state should assist them. It has been, and still is in some cases, the policy of the state to remove Aboriginal children not only from their parents but from their tribal unit as well, and place them in a non-Aboriginal home, when in fact legal guardianship could be given to the local band council or to a relative. There is a tremendous gap between financial assistance from the federal government and that given by the provincial government. A foster home in a municipality or on provincial land will receive $465 a month or more per child. If the same child moves back to a reserve or to federal lands the payment drops, in some cases, to as low as $260 per child. The costs for maintenance of a child are still the same if not greater. Most reserves are not adjacent to municipalities. Food and clothing usually cost more to purchase in these remote or semi-remote areas. Travel to larger centres can be very costly. Many reserves are as badly if not worse off than some Third World countries. Poverty is prevalent. This affects the health, social security, standard of living, and even the standard of education of Aboriginal children. The reasons given for paying an on reserve foster home less than other foster homes is that Natives on reserves live off the land. I am sure many people not living on reserves can and do live off the land as well, so I do not think this should be used to determine the level of maintenance

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for a child being fostered on an Indian reserve. Protection Article 30 states than an Indigenous child shall not be denied the right to enjoy his or her own culture, religion, or language. This particular article cannot be implemented unless the state is willing to return the children to their own families and peoples. This particular article grieves me because it is no longer possible on many reserves to implement this even if the people there desired to do so. On these reserves, the culture, religion, and language have completely disappeared. Those of us who still speak the language of our ancestors are trying relentlessly to save that language before it completely disappears. Whenever death claims one of our elders, we wonder if we too have lost the battle to preserve our precious heritage. Participation Article 7 states that a child has the right to have a name from birth and to acquire a nationality, and Article 8 states that a child has the right to preserve his or her identity, including nationality, name, and family relations. As I have previously mentioned, if the labelling and categorization of Aboriginal families continues, I cannot see how these particular articles could be implemented where the Indigenous population is concerned. At the present time it is the state that determines who is considered Indigenous, regardless of bloodline or background. Promotion It is my desire that this chapter will enlighten the General Assembly of the United Nations as to why it has been so difficult for Indigenous peoples to be part of any process in their own country as well as the world communities at large. We are people struggling to retain our own identity, language, and religion. We have managed to persevere but unless our own countries change some of their own policies pertaining to Indigenous peoples, then I cannot fathom how they will be able to put the United Nations' policies into practice.

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Conclusion There are more articles that I could quote as being contradictory to Canadian law but time and space prevent this. As I see it, the only hope for our future lies with self-government and land claims settlements. Until this is accomplished, I cannot see Canada and the Aboriginal nations forging ahead. Families are' being divided and whenever a family divides, this country becomes weaker. Canada has changed some of these laws but more work in this area is required to bring unity to Canada and Aboriginal families, thus building a stronger Canada.

Chapter 7 Child and Family Life in Judaism David Kraemer The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child draws attention to the needs and rights of children with greater vigour and detail than any document in modern memory. For this reason alone, the world's religious traditions should •welcome this great international effort. But religious traditions are complex systems, and their "family values" are similarly complex. One person's protection of the child will be another's transgression of family privacy. Such contradictions will be found in a traditional religious system as much as in any other social system. When we identify these contradictions and tensions, we will find that the dialogue between religious "conventions" and the UN Conventions will be difficult and only partially successful. The exploration of Judaism's constructions of the family and children is the subject of the following pages. As we shall see, the dialogue between Judaism and the contemporary international community will be no easier than the parallel dialogue with any other religious tradition. Our best hope can be that, in the end, the dialogue will lead to instruction. The story of the Jewish People begins with a family. According to the biblical account, this family, the family of Abraham and Sarah,

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would have only two children, and only one of these would be the carrier of God's covenantal promise. But the small size of this family would make little difference, for, by virtue of this story of origin, the nature of this people's identity was already and forever established the offspring of Abraham, through Isaac and then Jacob, were a family, collectively designated "the children of Israel (=Jacob)". These "children of Israel" could never forget the centrality of family and children to their collective mission. The story of Abraham and his God was first and foremost a story about the miraculous generation of children. For years, Abram and Sarai lived together without children. God promised to bless Abram through a covenant with him and his offspring for all generations. Though Abram was without children at the time of the promise, God soon brought him a miracle child, Ishmael, in his old age. But Ishmael would not carry the covenant into the next generation. Instead, Sarah (now so renamed) would bear the promised child - long after menopause, following a full life of barrenness. But this new child, Isaac, was destined to lie on the sacrificial altar, threatening the covenant and the future people with the possibility of "still-birth". Barrenness and fruitfulness, survival of children or their extinction - these were the paired symbols on which the people's identity was founded. The centrality of children in Judaism was also a consequence of what Jewish tradition took to be the Torah's first command: "Be fruitful and multiply" (Genesis 1:28). Understood not as a blessing but, as we said, a command, Jewish men (at least) saw themselves fulfilling a religious obligation when they had sex with their wives and produced children. With children, alone, could the world be filled. Through children, alone, could the teachings of the family of Abraham be passed on. The obligation to assure this "passing on" was unmistakably codified in the Torah's teachings - particularly in Deuteronomy - and reference to the duty to "teach one's children" came to be recited by Jewish men (at least) every evening and morning. The fundamental words of Jewish faith ("Hear, O Israel...") were the first words of Torah a Jewish child would learn (=memorize), and this would soon be followed by his adoption of other practices, required by the same biblical paragraph (Deuteronomy 6:4-9), which reminded a Jew of his identity (again, we are forced to admit, these practices were restricted

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to males). At a very young age, he would begin to wear the ritual fringes (tzitzif) on the corners of his garments. As soon as he could maintain his personal cleanliness, he would wear the leather straps (tefillin) around his arm and head (for these practices, see the Talmud Bavli, tractate Sukkah 42a). Unmistakably, then, children were central to the Torah's concerns and the family to its system of values. But we should be careful before drawing too much from these observations. Many of the biblical narratives which portrayed families and their activities merely conveyed the reality which the authors viewed in the world around them. There is no evidence that they consciously preferred this reality to another reality; they simply seemed to know little of other possible realities. In the same fashion, the legal portions which require the training of one's children are primarily concerned with the transmission of the tradition. Obviously children are required for such transmission to take place, but these laws say nothing about the value of children as such. Nor do they tell us how many children we should have, what other obligations we might have to them, and so forth. The Torah is similarly terse and ambiguous concerning a child's obligations to his or her parents. True, the Torah demands that children honour and fear their parents, but never, in the Bible at least, is such honour and fear defined. Perhaps for lack of earlier definition, it fell to the rabbis of the late first century and beyond to begin "codifying" the family and expressing values which had earlier gone unexpressed or had not been held at all. These rabbis required, for example, that a man have at least two children (Mishnah Yevamot 6:6). They defined "honour" as basic physical and material support of the aging parent, and "fear" as conducting oneself according to standards of strict hierarchy - not to sit in your father's regular seat, nor stand in his regular place, nor contradict him, nor (even) support his opinion (He is your father! Why should he require your support?) (see Talmud Bavli, tractate Qiddushin 31b). Still, the defined obligations remained relatively minimal and, to the great surprise of many who return to classical Jewish sources, demands on the parent with respect to children were particularly modest. For example, the earliest record of rabbinical Judaism, the Mishnah (c. 200 CE), declares:

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A father is not obligated to feed his daughter... Just as sons do not inherit until after the death of their father, so too daughters are not fed until the death of their father. (Mishnah Ketubot 4:6) Elsewhere, the Talmud (6th century) expands this ruling to apply to sons as well. In its words: "A man is not obligated to feed his sons and daughters when they are minors". Before seeking to make sense of these laws, it should quickly be added that the Talmud immediately restricts their extent. First of all, the absence of a parent's obligation is said to apply to minors but not to "small minors", defined as children up to their sixth birthday. Before that time there is an obligation. Only subsequently does the law refuse to require a parent's (or, to be more precise, a father's) support. Moreover, though there may be no bonafide obligation after this age, the Talmud insists that there is a strong moral duty (it is a mitzvah). The Talmud even reports that the community and its leaders were willing to bring the full weight of community pressure to "encourage" unwilling parents to support their children. Finally, though there may be no actual obligation, wealthier parents may be forced to support their children as an act of "tzedakah" (charity). Since tzedakah is a tax in the traditional Jewish community, enforceable by law, this meant that the community authorities could, in limited circumstances, force parents to support their children when the "official" law no longer required it (for all of above, see Bavli Ketubot 49a-b), Not denying that subsequent authorities took steps to improve the situation, we still cannot hide from the fact that the law concerning support of children was, from its foundation, nothing less than objectionable. We might perhaps explain this problematic statute by suggesting that the ancients valued individual children less than we do. We know, for example, that the Romans practised exposure of infants; at least Jewish law did not condone such heinous acts. But falling back upon comparative judgements or reference to historical context does little to save the substance of the law for contemporary sensibilities. And, I would argue, this is precisely the point. When we consider laws such as these - and the values they express - we are forced to admit that traditional religious values simply are not the same as contemporary values, in matters of family and children as in many other matters. We are perhaps not surprised by this recognition (how could it be otherwise), but we are, nevertheless, troubled by it. We

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bring different experiences, perspectives, and sensibilities; consequently, our system of values is often different from that of our ancestors. These differences have to be reckoned with. It will not be possible merely to apply traditional family values to the contemporary context. Before any such application is possible, an act of creative "translation" will be necessary. Translation will be necessary for another reason as well. When we today speak of "family", we mean something different from Jews of old (by "we", I mean individuals in the contemporary, developed Western world; I recognize that many of the distinctions I am about to draw do not apply in many parts of the world even today). We, for the most part, mean the nuclear family, Jews in the traditional world meant the extended family. But this is hardly the only important difference. In the pre-modern world, families were units of production, in the modern world they are units of consumption (children no longer produce in most families; instead, they require significant expense). In the pre-modern world, infant and child mortality rates were shockingly high. So, too, were rates of the death of mothers in childbirth. By contrast, we may assume that our children will survive us, and medical science has guaranteed that the vast majority of women will survive even difficult childbirths. Again, our experiences are different, our perspectives are different. Inevitably, our family values will be different as well. In light of what I have just said, it will come as no surprise that the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and traditional Jewish values pertaining to the family are often in tension. A few selected examples will suffice to illustrate this tension. Article 29 of the Convention specifies that a child's education "shall be directed to... The preparation of the child for responsible life in a free society, in the spirit of... equality of the sexes" (paragraph d). By comparison, Jewish tradition certainly does not assume that the sexes should be equal, either in families or in society. According to the halakha (=Jewish law), certain labours had to be performed by a wife for her husband (certain kinds of handiwork and household service), and he had specified responsibilities toward her (food, clothing, conjugal relations) (for these regulations, see Mishnah Ketubot chapters 4 and 5). The responsibilities, while theoretically correlative, hardly appear to have been equal. Moreover, Jewish men (including husbands) were obligated

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to study Torah, in the broadest sense of that term. Jewish women (including wives), on the other hand, were prohibited by some from studying Torah, while others gave permission for women to study only Written, but never Oral Torah (= rabbinical literature, including the Mishnah, the Talmud, and other rabbinical works). Again, the roles of the sexes hardly appear to have been equal. One could argue, I suppose, that the sexes, though assuming different roles and positions, were "equal" (indeed, precisely this claim has been made by many spokespeople for Orthodox Jewry in recent years). But this would require our accepting the possibility of a "separate but equal" reality a position which has fallen into disrepute (rightly, in my mind) in recent years. Unmistakably, the spirit of this paragraph of the Convention is informed by modern, primarily Western values. It could even be said that traditional Jewish family law was constructed so as to assure that such values (the equality of the sexes?!) could never find a foothold in reality. To provide another example of the same sort of tension: Articles 1214 of the Convention speak of a child's right to freedom of thought, conscience, opinion, and expression. The traditional Jewish view concerning the possibility of such a right will readily be appreciated if we consider the common legal categorization of children. In Jewish legal writings (beginning with the Mishnah), minors are typically categorized in two combinations. In the first, minors are put in the company of deaf-dumb individuals and imbeciles, and in the second, minors are joined with women and slaves. What minors, deaf-dumb individuals, and imbeciles have in common is the presumption that they have limited intellectual and moral capabilities. Their responsibilities and rights are reasonably limited on account of these limitations and, until they emerge from these categories, their legal status will remain limited. It would be absurd, from the traditional perspective, to guarantee the freedom of thought, conscience, and expression of such persons. On the contrary, by virtue of their "handicaps", it only makes sense to limit such freedoms. The latter combined category suggests similar conclusions. What women, slaves, and minors clearly have in common in Jewish law is the fact that their religious obligations and, therefore, their rights are severely circumscribed (again, so much for the equality of the sexes). These limitations will certainly not lead us to expect the protection of

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their rights of expression. On the contrary, it is reasonable to suppose that such a notion, as it might pertain to these categories of persons, would be deemed ridiculous in the traditional setting. Indeed, if we take this argument one step further, it is probable that any right to freedom of thought and expression for the population at large (as opposed to, say, for the rabbinical elite) is foreign to traditional Jewish thinking (as, I would imagine, it is to most traditional systems). Again, we should notice that the UN Convention is informed by modern values and conceptions, values which, though supported by most of us, are foreign to the traditional Jewish religious system. Needless to say, there are also many elements of the Convention which traditional Jewish teachings would quickly support. The obligation to respect the rights and duties of parents and members of the extended family are important traditional values, as is the obligation to respect local custom. The protection of the right of the child "to preserve his or her identity, including nationality, name and family relations" (article 8) also constitutes a protection of traditional values, Jewish and non-Jewish. Perhaps most crucially, the child's right to education (article 28) echoes what is surely a central traditional Jewish value, and a regime which interfered with the parent's obligation to educate his son would be viewed as criminal from the perspective of the rabbinical leadership. These agreements are important, and a traditional Jew should rejoice that these rights are now protected - in theory if not in practice - by the international community. But such agreements are to be expected and, frankly, they are less notable than the disagreements. What demands our attention, I think, is the fact that, in many of its elements, the Convention represents the codification of modem values, values which will often be in tension or outright conflict with traditional Jewish teachings. One way to address this tension is to call it to our attention and to leave it at that. Indeed, if we assume that there are singular Jewish family values, specified in a universally accepted and unchanging canon, then there will be nothing we can do with this tension other than notice it. This will be the perspective of some contemporary Orthodox Jews, and it is a perspective which cannot be ignored. But there is an alternative response to the noted tension. In reality,

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Jewish families have always changed through time.1 These various family structures have expressed what were, at any given time, "traditional" Jewish family values - regardless of the fact that the "traditional" Jewish family in one time and place differed significantly from the "traditional" Jewish family in another time and place. These many and often meaningful differences were primarily a result of the influence of the surrounding culture. The values of the host culture, in other words, contributed to the Jewish community's definition of its families and values, to the point that what once would have been viewed as foreign values came to be accepted as traditional - every bit as traditional as values which find their origin in the Torah. Let me offer one example. Many traditional Jewish societies were once polygynous (allowing a man to have multiple wives). Others, however, were monogamous. If we examine carefully the history of these phenomena, we discover that monogamy came to be supported by Jewish authorities only when they came under the sway of Christian culture. In Christian settings, Jews, with their neighbours, insisted that a man should take only one wife, supporting that insistence by reference to a story which was now interpreted as preferring this model - the story of Adam and Eve. Outside of the Christian context, Jews never made this argument.2 When under Christian control, Jews nearly always did. In the European setting, at least, monogamy became a traditional Jewish value, though it appears clear that the value originated in Christianity. Does this origin make the value less worthy? Does it mean that religious Jews should not support it? Surely not. Does the fact that monogamy originated outside of Judaism make it less traditional? After all these centuries, again, surely not. Jewish culture was always extremely adaptable. When it saw what it understood to be superior values, even when these values were not native Jewish values, it absorbed them and Judaized them. In this manner, Jewish tradition was, over the centuries, immensely enriched. In my view, this history should provide a model for the response of 1 2

See D. Kraemer, ed., The Jewish Family: Metaphor and Memory (New York: Oxford U. Press, 1988). See Isaiah Gafni, "The Institution of Marriage in Rabbinic Times", in Kraemer, The Jewish Family, pp. 21-5.

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Jews today to a document like the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Some of the values expressed in the Convention particularly protection of the child's right to identity, education and, above all, survival - are and always have been Jewish values. But there are many other values expressed in the Convention, from freedom of expression to the equality of the sexes, which are modern values contrary in letter and spirit to what we might call traditional Jewish family values. However, many of these same articles of the Convention emerge from a profound wisdom, and they have much to offer the value system of traditional Judaism. At this point in time, perhaps, they remain in tension with that same Judaism. But if Jewish societies today respond as they have so often in the past, then values now in tension will soon appear fully traditional. When that comes to pass, then traditional Judaism will have been considerably enriched. The UN Convention is, in the noted respects, a noble source of future "Torah".

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Chapter 8 Child and Family in Chinese Popular Religion Elizabeth Lominska Johnson Background to Discussion: The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child The recently enacted Convention attempts a very difficult task - to define the rights that all children should be guaranteed regardless of culture, national context, gender, and personal circumstances, and to do so in terms that will be acceptable to as many member states as possible. In order for the terms to be accepted, they must be in reasonable harmony with the values of those diverse societies, with their many internal divisions of ethnicity, class, region, and religion. Is it realistic to think that such common ground can be found, and that principles that are so widely acceptable would still have significance and meaning? The challenge we have accepted in contributing to this volume is to assess the appropriateness of the Convention's terms for children of particular religious backgrounds, attempting to reconcile those terms with the ethical principles and the practices of the religions about

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which we are writing. This essay considers the Convention in relation to the most widely accepted body of religious ideas and practices in Chinese society, one with deep historical roots. This loosely integrated set of understandings and practices is known in English as "Chinese popular religion". It does not have a formal name in Chinese; people simply state that they "worship gods" or "worship ancestors".1 It is so widespread, so accepted, and so integrated into social life that it does not need a name; one could say that its existence is assumed. In contrast, those people who have affiliated themselves with particular organized religious traditions may distinguish themselves from others by saying that they are Buddhist, Davits, 2 Muslim, or Christian. Approach to This Study Despite the great expanse of China's physical area and the size of its population, Chinese popular religion is permeated with commonly accepted values and goals, and there are broad similarities in practices. Despite variations in emphasis and details of practice by region, there is still an impressive degree of consistency. This has been achieved and reinforced in many ways: by a uniform education system that taught classical texts for over a thousand years, until the early twentieth century; by the existence of a common written language over the whole country; by temple and festival images; and by popular theatre and story telling traditions that transmitted many of these values and stories even to those who did not have access to formal education.3 The perspective on Chinese popular religion that I present here derives from one small region of China, the New Territories of Hong Kong and the adjacent area of southeast China. As an anthropologist, I 1

2

3

Daniel Overrnyer, "Popular Religion", in The Encyclopedia of Religion, (Mercia Eliade, Editor in Chief) (New York, Macmillan Publishing Company, 1987), pp. 289-96, p. 289. The system used in this paper for rendering Chinese terms is the pinyin romanization system, which is now the generally accepted standard. The term Daoism (rendered in pinyin) was formerly written Taoism. See, for example, Barbara Ward's article "Regional Operas and their Audiences", in David Johnson, Andrew J. Nathan, and Evelyn S. Rawski (Eds.), Popular Culture in Late Imperial China, (Berkeley, University of California Press, 1985), pp. 161-87.

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have had the opportunity to do research and to visit there on numerous occasions during the past 25 years, and have had the privilege of participating in many religious observances. My research has been based on observation, on interviews and informal discussions, and on participation.4 I have been present at festival observances, weddings, funerals, ancestor worship ceremonies, and celebrations for the birth of children. My research has not included the study of texts and inscriptions; others are known for their work in this area.5 I have also had some opportunities to study the practice of Chinese popular religion in Canada. As most overseas Chinese come from Hong Kong and the adjacent region of southeast China, the religious practices that we see abroad relate in many ways to those that I will describe, although the practice of ancestor worship is made difficult by emigrants' distance from the tombs of their ancestors. In broad outline, the practices I have observed and the ideas I have heard expressed are representative of the religious practice of most of China in recent times and even in earlier centuries. Until recently, an exception was the People's Republic of China. After the success of the revolution in 1949, the ideas and practices of Chinese popular religion and the more formal religious traditions were viewed with increasing official suspicion. The ideas represented were considered to be "feudal", the practices wasteful of resources, and the kinship and other organizational bases of religious activities to be potential threats to the new state. Religion was severely suppressed during the Great Leap Forward, which started in 1958, and the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s. Many of its physical manifestations, such as temples, shrines, and tombs were destroyed. Under the fundamental changes introduced by the "open-door" policy of 1979, popular religion has been visibly re-emerging. It is becoming clear that some of its practices, especially 4

5

I would like to acknowledge the kind support and co-operation of the people of Kwan Mun Hau Village, Tsuen Wan, Hong Kong in particular. Many of them have been generous in sharing their knowledge with me during the past 25 years, and hospitable in including me in their ceremonial occasions. My research has been funded by The Population Council and the Joint Centre on Modern East Asia. An outstanding example is Daniel Overmyer, who is known for his work on the texts of sectarian organizations.

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those associated with obligations to ancestors, were continued in secret by those who dared to do so. At present, some temples and tombs have been refurbished, and shrines are evident in homes and businesses. Children in Their Families: The Social Context Most of the practice of Chinese popular religion takes place in the context of the family, and it is there that children learn religious ideas and how to conduct the rituals properly. They learn particularly from their mothers, the main practitioners of religious rituals at the level of the family.6 There is no other setting in which instruction in the ideas and practices of popular religion takes place, except for the Confucian values that may be taught in schools. As Chinese children first become aware of their surroundings, the most important thing that they learn is that they are part of a family. This family consists not only of their parents, brothers, and sisters, but also of a much larger, clearly and hierarchically structured group of relatives divided into two distinct parts - those relatives on their father's side and the others, considered more distant, to whom they are related through their mother. In China, descent is traced in the male line; identity, surname, and most property are normally transmitted through the male lineage. At marriage, a daughter is transferred forever to her husband's family; she then worships her husband's ancestors and bears children for their line. Families who are related through men often live near to one another. In south China, it is not uncommon for a whole village to have one surname, or only a few surnames. This relationship among men may be formalized by acknowledging that they are all members of one lineage. A Chinese lineage is a group of men living in close proximity who are descended from one or more common ancestors, who recognize their genealogical relationship and their shared responsibility for ancestor worship, and who often have property and other resources in common. Children learn their place in their extended families and lineages by being taught how to address each relative. The way each person is addressed identifies the relationship clearly - whether it is a relative on the father's or mother's side, of what generation, and of what age and 6

Daniel Overmyer, "Popular Religion", p. 293.

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sex in relation to the child. For example, a child's father's older brother is distinguished from his father's younger brother in the way the child addresses each, and both are distinguished from his mother's brothers. Children learn their rights and responsibilities in relation to each person through this system. They also learn that their family consists not only of those relatives now alive but also of all the ancestors who have gone before. A family and its relationships continue over many generations, which are often recorded in written genealogies. It is impressed on sons that they have a strong obligation to continue the family by marrying and having children. Daughters know that they will be married into another family where they will take on this obligation. The value of respect for elders and ancestors, called xiao, is fundamental in Chinese society. When a couple is married there is great concern that they have children, particularly sons, although people's preference, when they have the means, is also to have daughters, as balance is valued.7 In situations of scarcity, though, daughters sometimes had to be treated as expendable and sold to other families as child brides, servants, or worse. "[W]omen in traditional China were expendable, providing a kind of ballast that could be jettisoned when family circumstances required."8 People sometimes neglected and even killed their daughters under conditions of war and famine. With increased prosperity, and better education and employment opportunities for women, daughters are now treated much more equally than they were in the past. In the People's Republic of China, however, where because of population pressure urban families are permitted to have only one child and rural families normally no more than two, there is evidence of discrimination against girl children. This almost certainly includes

1

8

Elizabeth Johnson, "Women and Childbearing in Kwan Mun Hau Village", in .Margery Wolf and Roxane Witke (Eds.), Women in Chinese Society, (Stanford, Stanford University Press, 1975), pp. 215-241, p. 235. Rubie Watson citing Hill Gates, in "Girls' Houses and Working Women", in Maria Jashok and Suzanne Miers (Eds.), Women & Chinese Patriarchy: Submission, Servitude, and Escape, (London: Hong Kong University Press, 1994), p. 26.

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neglect and infanticide, resulting in unequal sex ratios in some regions.9 Families continue to prefer sons for a number of reasons, among which are that sons are responsible for supporting their parents in old age in a situation in which pensions are rare, and for continuing the family and worshipping ancestors.10 Chinese Popular Religion Chinese popular religion is practised and perpetuated almost entirely within the family, the higher level kinship organizations such as lineages, and in businesses and associations of people brought together by common interest or origin. Its practice is physically manifested in temples, shrines, and tombs, the places where worship takes place. There is no unifying organization of these diverse locations of worship, however, and no places of instruction dedicated to its perpetuation. It is self-perpetuating through the actions and words of those who practice it, as they are imitated and learned by the younger generations. Weddings, many aspects of funerals, ancestor worship, and festival rituals are conducted by family members as they have learned that they should be done, and with the advice and participation of elders as needed. There are no priests or other bodies of religious specialists, although those from the more formalized religions may be called upon to perform special rites at funerals. Certain charismatic individuals with special powers may serve as spirit mediums and healers, ll and geomancers with special training may be hired to determine beneficial sites for tombs and houses. Temples have hired caretakers, who may help worshippers to interpret divinations, but they do not direct worship. Chinese popular religion has no recognized body of texts12 and does not depend on literacy for its practice, although well-educated people may be called upon to perform 9 10

11

12

William Lavely, personal communication. An important recent study on gender relations, with an extensive bibliography, is Gender and Power in North China, by Ellen Judd (Stanford, Stanford University Press, 1994). Daniel Overmyer, "Chinese Popular Religion", in Keith Grim (General Editor), The Abingdon Dictionary of Living Religions, (Nashville: The Parthenon Press, 1981), pp. 164-168, p. 167. Overmyer, 1987, p. 289.

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special functions such as writing auspicious couplets or reading horoscopes. Chinese popular religion is a "complex aggregate"13: diffuse, eclectic, and very open, drawing on elements of the major religions, as well as other traditions. Despite this, it is based on clearly understood basic ethical principles, informed by commonly known values, and focused on generally accepted goals. Some of these goals are concerned with the well-being of ancestors in the next life, but most are this-worldly in emphasis. They include wishes for children, for harmonious family relations, for health, for long life, for prosperity, and for protection. Among the important underlying ideas is that of fate, which may predetermine many aspects of a person's life,14 of the need to fulfil regular obligations to gods and ancestors in a socially acceptable way, and of the hoped-for obligation of these beings to respond with proper reciprocity. Popular religion is not based on the concept of belief or faith - it emphasizes sets of practices that may not be deeply believed in but are performed either because they are hoped to be efficacious in obtaining benefits and warding off evil, or in order to fulfil ethical obligations, particularly with respect to ancestors. It involves relations between human beings and several types of supernatural beings, i.e. gods, ancestors, and negative beings like demons and ghosts.15 Worship of Gods There is an enormous pantheon of gods potentially available to be worshipped, although people's choices are influenced by the gods favoured in their locality, those relevant to their particular needs (such as gods who protect women in childbirth or handicapped children), or those specific to their occupation, gender, or other characteristics. For 13 14

15

Overmyer, 1981, p. 164. C. K. Yang, Religion in Chinese Society (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1961), pp. 53-56. A study that explores these relationships in a particular village is David K. Jordan, Gods, Ghosts, and Ancestors, (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1972). An excellent overview of these relationships is given by Arthur Wolf in "Gods, Ghosts, and Ancestors" in Arthur P. Wolf (Ed.), Religion and Ritual in Chinese Society, (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1974), pp. 131-182.

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example, earth gods (Tu Di Gong) protect particular localities, and may be worshipped at the level of the household, the neighbourhood, or the village. The Queen of Heaven or sea goddess Tien Hou is worshipped particularly by boat-dwelling fishing people,16 and the fire god Hua Guang Shifu is worshipped by Cantonese opera performers. Gods may gain a reputation for efficacy in the solving of a particular problem, and may be sought out by worshippers for this reason. Likewise, a god who is seen to have lost efficacy may be neglected. 17 Some high gods derive from the traditions of Buddhism or Daoism, while many others are former human beings deified because of their heroic deeds, moral strength, or special powers.18 Some are powerful natural features, such as unusual rocks or trees, rather than having human form. Gods are conceptualized in hierarchical fashion, some having higher rank than others, rather like the imperial Chinese bureaucracy." People worship gods in various locations. Each household is likely to have shrines to its earth god, the stove god, the heavenly gods, and to one or more other gods specially favoured by the family.20 A village or urban neighbourhood normally also has an earth god shrine, and most villages or towns have one or more temples to gods supported by the residents. Any one temple is dedicated to a particular god or goddess, but also has shrines to other, more minor gods, as well as to its earth god. Worship is conducted on behalf of the family by one or more members, most commonly women, each day or at regular intervals and at festivals. It consists of lighting incense and candles, burning paper offerings, and making offerings of appropriate foods, all in a respectful way while bowing and making gestures of worship. Men may be more likely to participate at important annual festivals and in worship at higher level temples. Fundamental to this worship is the value of reciprocity rather like 16

17 18 19 20

James L. Watson, "Standardizing the Gods: The Promotion of T'ien Hou ("Empress of Heaven") along the South China Coast, 960-1960", Popular Culture in Late Imperial China, pp. 292-324. Arthur P. Wolf, "Gods, Ghosts, and Ancestors", p. 144. Overmyer, 1981, p. 166. Arthur P. Wolf, "Gods, Ghosts, and Ancestors", pp. 138-45. C. K. Yang, Religion in Chinese Society, p. 28.

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that which underlies giving gifts to a powerful person. In order to obtain favours, or to give thanks for benefits received, offerings should be given. Reciprocity is not guaranteed, but making offerings is a polite and deferential way of showing respect in the hope that favours may be received. Ancestor Worship The most prescriptive area of Chinese religion is that of ancestor worship. People who do not honour the obligations that this entails would be considered highly deviant and disrespectful. The practice of ancestor worship is embedded in deep-seated and long-established Confucian values defining people's obligations of respect and reciprocity. These values assume inequality between many categories of people - between older and younger, men and women, leaders and led, teachers and students - but the respect that inferiors owe to superiors should be balanced by responsible care and instruction from the superior. The values of balance, complementarity, and reciprocity are fundamental. Ancestor worship is an extension of the deeply-established emphasis placed on the care of the elderly, and respect for them. Ancestors - the souls of deceased members of one's own family and lineage traced primarily in the male line - are deserving of respect and spiritual care because they have given their descendants life and also have passed down to them property, such as agricultural land, which provides them with a livelihood. The offerings made to ancestors are believed to provide for their needs in the next life, which is conceptualized by ordinary people as being very much like this one, although it is in the realm of shadow rather than light. Although the idea of reincarnation is known and is articulated in funeral rituals, it did not seem very salient for the people whom I know. Offerings made to the recentlydead establish them comfortably in the underworld. They are transmitted in the form of paper representations of the various necessities and luxuries: a house, servants, a vehicle, clothing, and money,2' 21

Real food is offered, and later consumed by the worshippers. One discussion of these offerings is "Death, Food, and Fertility", by Stuart E. Thompson, in James L. Watson and Evelyn S. Rawski (Eds.), Death Ritual in Late Imperial and Early Modern China, (Berkeley: University of

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transmitted by burning. Those made to more distant ancestors include food, wine, incense, and candles, as well as paper representations of clothing and money. Foods are transmitted by being placed respectfully at the places where their souls and physical remains reside, and wine is offered in cups and then poured out. While the souls of ancestors reside in the underworld, and offerings are transmitted to them there, they are physically represented in this world at different locations, where offerings are presented to them. Written tablets, made of wood, stone, paper, or cloth, may represent the souls of individual ancestors or the collective ancestors of a family or lineage. These tablets may be placed on an altar in the family's home or in a special temple called an ancestral hall built for this purpose. Ancestors are also worshipped at their graves or tombs, during special festivals in their honour, one in the spring and one in the fall. Ancestors are generally considered to be benevolent, although there is evidence that in some regions they are viewed with apprehension and even fear.22 Those who have died very recently are viewed with some apprehension, because of the possibility that they will not settle well and may return to disturb the living. Ritual precautions must be taken to mark their separation from the living.23 If ancestors are unhappy or have certain unmet needs, they make these known by causing trouble in the lives of their descendants. In the case of neglect or actions that go against the wishes of an ancestor, his or her unhappiness may manifest itself in the form of illness or an accident to the person responsible.24 The illness of a child that does not respond to

22

23 24

California Press, 1988), pp. 71-108. Emily Martin Ahern, The Cult of the Dead in a Chinese Village, (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1973), pp. 191-244. See also Arthur Wolf, "Gods, Ghosts, and Ancestors", pp. 162-68. Yang, Religion in Chinese Society, p. 33-4. I was told of a motorcycle accident that befell a man's second wife when she and her husband neglected to worship the tablet of his first wife; Patricia Ebrey reports a story of calamities that befell a man who used the part of the dowry of his deceased first wife to purchase a second; he had to use the remainder to pay for Buddhist services for her soul. The latter case was in the Song Dynasty, 1000 years ago. Patricia Buckley Ebrey, The Inner Quarters, (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993), p. 109.

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normal treatment is often attributed to the unmet needs of an ancestor. In cases in which this is suspected, the family may seek a spirit medium to communicate with ancestors to find out what they need.25 Appropriate offerings can then be made in the hope that the child will recover. Placation of Ghosts and Demons A third form of religious practice is concerned with placating ghosts and demons. Ghosts are often the souls of those who have not been cared for by their descendants and who have become hungry, angry, and vengeful. They may also be the souls of those who died premature, unnatural or violent deaths, or who committed suicide, an important weapon for women in intolerable situations.26 They must be placated with offerings that are often given in a surreptitious and informal manner, rather like alms are given to beggars. Some people also offer Buddhist sutras for the welfare of these souls, especially during the seventh lunar month, when they are believed to be released from the underworld. In addition to ghosts, there are also demons, and undefinable evil forces. The last two may not be of human origin, but instead are simply malicious beings or forces that represent disorder and harm and must be combated. The placating of ghosts is normally carried out by family members, usually women. Specialists in exorcism may have to be called for especially intractable problems. In addition, rites of cleansing, renewal, and exorcism may be organized at regular intervals, such as once every ten years, by villages, districts, or neighbourhoods. These are largescale events involving the entire population, and are normally organized by men. Daoist priests may be asked to conduct special rites during this period, and to help direct the local participants.27

25

26

27

See, for example, Jack Potter, "Cantonese Shamanism", in Religion and Ritual in Chinese Society, pp. 207-32, and Emily Martin Ahern, The Cult of the Dead in a Chinese Village, pp. 220-44. See, for example, Margery Wolf, "Women and Suicide in China", in Margery Wolf and Roxane Witke (Eds.), Women in Chinese Society, (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1975), pp. 111-42. Overmyer, 1981, p. 167.

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Children in Popular Religion Children have a central place in Chinese popular religion. Before they are born they are prayed for, and after birth there is concern for their health, safety, and eventual success in life. These concerns, of course, apply particularly to sons. Children also participate with other family members in worshipping gods and ancestors. Sons, rather than daughters, are most likely to participate in the worship of ancestors above the level of the household. If, after some years of marriage, a couple does not have children, they may seek supernatural help through the worship of particular gods. In the past, a man might also take a second wife if the first had no sons. It is also possible to adopt children when necessary, preferably from relatives in the male line but sometimes from unrelated families.28 The birth or adoption of a boy is formalized through the worship of ancestors and of those gods worshipped in the household. It may also be announced and celebrated through a banquet held when he is one month old. Other ceremonies may proclaim the birth of a baby boy into the lineage. In the Hong Kong village where I lived, a special ceremony is held for this purpose on the fifteenth day of the first month. A procession, including the baby boys and their families, makes its way through the village with gongs and cymbals. They worship at the earth god shrines and then at the ancestral hall, where a flowery lantern is hung for each baby born the previous year. In the past, when there was little effective medical care, many precautions were taken to protect children's vulnerable lives, both in preventing illnesses and other life-threatening problems, and in treating them if they occurred. Diseases that did not respond readily to conventional treatment were, and sometimes still are, attributed to supernatural causes that required the intervention of gods or the placation of neglected ancestors or malignant spirits as described. A child may also be harmed by being extremely frightened by natural or supernatural phenomena. His or her soul may be lost in extreme cases, and ritual measures have to be taken to return it to the body.29 28

29

James L. Watson, "Agnates and Outsiders: Adoption in a Chinese Lineage", Man (N.S.), 10, pp. 193-306. This is discussed by Francis Hsu in Under the Ancestors' Shadow (New

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Some traditional methods of preventing illnesses and other problems still persist, although the effectiveness of modern medical care has made them much less common than they once were. Children frequently wear amulets such as jade pieces, coins, or lock-shaped necklaces to repel evil influences or to lock in their souls, which are considered to be only loosely attached to their bodies when they are very young. They may also wear clothing that gives them supernatural protection, such as garments in bright colours, particularly red, the colour of celebration and protection. They may wear hats with ears that make them look like little animals, less valuable than humans but also powerful in themselves, and clothing decorated with symbols of power or luck. They may be given nicknames that make them appear worthless and therefore not worthy of demons' attention, such as "little dog". One concept behind these practices is the idea of "spirit sadism"30: that spirits would steal or harm only a child that was highly valued, not one that appeared to be worthless. If children's illnesses cannot be cured by conventional means, they may be taken to a spirit medium to see if supernatural protection or placation of ancestors is needed. They may also be taken to worship gods who will protect them and given special amulets in the temple. Sometimes their parents arrange for them to have a godparenthood relationship with a person who is considered to have extraordinary powers or who is particularly fond of the child. A child may also become godchild to a god or to a natural feature, such as a tree or rock, which is considered to have supernatural protective powers. In the past, if a child died his or her parents might grieve quietly, but the child would not be given funeral rites or a proper burial because he had not yet become a full adult member of society.31 The child would not be worshipped as an ancestor, although his or her soul might be given some care. For a son to die young was especially tragic and even considered unfilial, because he did not have descendants and had not been able to fulfil his primary obligation to his family. One method of helping to settle the soul of a son or daughter who died

30 31

York: Columbia Press, 1948), p. 203. Hsiao-tung Fei, Peasant Life in China, (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul Ltd., 1962), p. 35. Hsu, Under the Ancestors' Shadow, p. 204

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unmarried is to arrange a "spirit marriage" with another family who has a deceased child of the opposite sex.32 If such an arrangement is not made, caring for the soul of a deceased unmarried daughter may pose particular problems as she is a dependent of the family but should stay there only until her marriage. A tablet representing her soul may be placed in an out-of-the-way corner of the house, or in a temple dedicated to the souls of unmarried girls"or a Buddhist monastery for care. From an early age, children take part in religious rituals. One significant feature of Chinese family life is the fact that children are included in virtually all family activities. They are kept close to their parents and grandparents, never left alone, and are treated with great care, respect, and often indulgence. They learn proper behaviour by observing others, by participating as they can, and by being gently taught. When their relatives worship gods or ancestors they are brought along, not just to observe the ceremonies, but to be fully present. They are shown how to conduct the rites properly by watching and by being helped to perform them. I have seen children led through the proper gestures of ancestor worship by the guiding hands of adult relatives. Francis Hsu describes his observations of children learning to worship gods: Today I saw old Mrs Pen with two grandsons and three granddaughters in the Pen Chu temple. Offerings are made to every "god" (that is, every image) in the whole temple... Her oldest granddaughter present is twelve. She follows her grandmother. As the old lady finishes kow-towing to one god, she kneels down and kow-tows eight times. Following her grandmother, she does the same to all the other images. The other girls, four and five years of age respectively, are also learning to kow-tow, but do not do it very well yet. From their appearance it is evident that they are serious about it. The two boys, who are about the age of the latter two girls, are more playful than serious. They kneel down in front of the images in the wrong order, face them aimlessly, and nod their heads any

32 33

Arthur Wolf, "Gods, Ghosts, and Ancestors", pp. 150-52. See Arthur Wolf, "Gods, Ghosts, and Ancestors", p. 154; and Emily Martin Ahern, The Cult of the Dead in Chinese Village, p. 127.

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number of times...34

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child It is challenging to evaluate the UN Convention in relation to the principles of Chinese popular religion, because of the diffuseness of this religion. It has no written ethical principles or accepted body of texts, little recorded history, no priesthood that teaches or enforces particular conduct, and no formal organizational structure. Its teaching and practice take place almost entirely in families. The Convention's repeated emphasis on the importance of secure families for children makes it supportive of this social structural basis of Chinese popular religion. Its acknowledgement of the significance of extended families (Article 5) is especially important. The Convention seems most at variance with Chinese popular religion in that it singles children out as objects of special concern. Although Chinese children are recognized as having special needs for care and protection, they are considered to be integral members of their families, which are closely-knit and continuing wholes. The somewhat individualistic emphasis of the Convention thus may not be entirely appropriate. It also does not specifically address the importance of social responsibility, a fundamental Chinese value, and the need to ensure that children are guaranteed conditions that will enable them to learn and practice responsibility to others, particularly family members. It is likely that many Chinese people would give this priority over the right to freedom of thought, opinion, and expression referred to in Articles 12-14. The Convention overtly and implicitly supports the rights of both male and female children in various of its provisions, accepting the principle of gender equality as fundamental. There are many areas of Chinese life in which gender equality does not exist, including those of religious values and practices. The fact that sons have responsibility for ancestor worship is fundamental, and has deep structural roots. Their wives may perform the rites on their behalf, but their daughters cannot. Despite substantial improvements made during this century, the principle still holds that "The son is important; the daughter is 34

Hsu, Under the Ancestors'Shadow, p. 217.

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worth little", sanctioned by long-standing values and structural features such as marriage patterns and the need for sons to conduct ancestor worship. Although there have been very significant improvements in gender equality, this is an area in which the public statement of the principle of equality, as in the Convention, might be a reminder of the need for further change. Because these values and practices are deeply rooted in the nature of the kinship system, in which men continue the family line and women marry out into other families, change may proceed only in very small increments. This is happening in various ways. In Hong Kong it is noticeable as daughters become better educated and are able to provide substantial economic support to their families of origin. In North China small changes in marriage patterns and the economic relationships within families are also having an impact.35 Some alternatives to complete dominance of the patrilineal model exist within the Chinese repertoire of family strategies for survival,36 and they may be activated if they can be seen to be mutually beneficial and if promoted by legal changes and public education. The Convention states that children should have the right to life and full development and education, and that children separated from their families should have the right to be fully protected and assisted. Because of the continued general preference for sons, the welfare of daughters may still be jeopardized in the People's Republic of China under the current policy that stringently limits population growth for the benefit of the country as a whole. China has the potential for enormous population growth, and much public education is devoted to promoting responsible family planning, and to the possible need for acceptance of a daughter as an only child. Despite this, there is evidence that daughters may be neglected or abandoned, and thus no longer protected by their families. The strong family orientation of Chinese society may mean that children outside of families may not be the objects of special concern. Many girls are now being adopted abroad, and this also requires special supervision, imposing an 35 36

Ellen R. Judd, Gender and Power in Rural North China, (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1994). See, for example, Arthur P. Wolf and Chieh-shan Huang, Marriage and Adoption in China 1845-1945, (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1980).

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important responsibility on the state. Another situation in which young people, especially young women, are away from the protection of their families is through their extensive participation as temporary workers in the rapidly developing coastal areas in China. In these contexts they may be subject to exploitative working conditions and also lured into prostitution. Finally, the Convention specifies that children should be free to manifest their religion. In the earlier revolutionary period in China, people were strongly discouraged from practising the worship of gods and ancestors, as well as from participating in the rites of organized religions. In the more tolerant environment of the Open Door period, since 1979, these practices are returning. The fact that they were for some years forbidden to people for whom they were important customary practice is a reminder that such rights should be guaranteed by international agreement.

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Chapter 9 Child and Family in Baha'i Religion John S. Hatcher Because the Baha'i Faith teaches that our planet has now effectively become one global community, the Baha'i teachings about home and family life are inextricably related to the concept that the "earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens".1 Consequently, an integral part of Baha'i education involves instilling in children an awareness of themselves as members of a world family and of the subsequent need to abolish racism, sexism, and other forms of prejudice which would deny that reality. In this context, it is understandable that the Baha'i Faith upholds efforts to establish world-wide standards ensuring the rights, the education, and the protection of the world's children, such as those set forth in the Preamble to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. At the same time, an examination of the fundamental teachings and structure of the Baha'i community reveals a system that does not presume that such safeguards can be coerced or 1

Baha'u'llah, Tablets of Baha'u'lldh Revealed after The Kitab-i-Aqdas, (Haifa, Israel: Baha'i World Centre, 1978), p. 167.

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enforced by some rigid governmental mandate. From the Baha'i perspective, the rights, the education, and the overall nurture of the child must arise out of an abiding sense of the sanctity and strength of the home, a perspective that must necessarily derive from a universal recognition that the world community is one organic system. To appreciate the Baha'i attitude about the issues raised in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, one must first have some fundamental understanding of Baha'i beliefs about human nature, about the relationship between human purpose and spiritual development, and about the Baha'i attitude regarding the raising of children. In particular, one needs to appreciate the Baha'i concept of how the community at large can reinforce the family's efforts to bring about a reformation of human society through the foundation of a spiritually based home life. Some Fundamental Beliefs The Baha'i Faith is an independent world religion which began in Persia in 1844 and which has since become the second most widespread religion in the world.2 Its adherents number about six million world-wide without huge concentrations in any particular country. The teachings of the Baha'i Faith are based on the revealed writings of the Prophet-Founder of the religion, Mirza Husayn-Ali, better known by His title Baha'u'llah ("the Glory of God"). Baha'u'llah penned well over a hundred works dealing with subjects as varied in scope as individual guidance for daily living to a detailed blueprint for the creation of a global commonwealth. The Baha'i Faith has no clergy, but is organized around three levels of elected institutions (local, national or territorial, and international). Principal among the teachings of Baha'u'llah is the belief that human history is a spiritual dynamic, that the various world religions are really integral parts of one continuous revelation, each stage of which was intended to advance the spiritual and social progress of human society. Baha'u'llah thus portrays the world religions as a sequence of steps in an ongoing educational process. By this definition, religion is a progressive revelation whereby God gradually uplifts the human race. According to Baha'u'llah, the instigation of each world religion is 2

Second only to Christianity. See Encyclopaedia Britannica.

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accomplished by the appearance of a Divinely ordained prophet, what Baha'u'llah calls a Manifestation? Such teachers, who appear approximately every 500 to 1000 years, reiterate the fundamental verities of spiritual truth, and update the social teachings that express those verities in human society. Baha'is thus view human history as a process by which the attributes of spiritual reality are progressively translated into the physical form of human institutions and relationships. From this perspective, the goal of human creation on our planet is to create and sustain a spiritualized society (the kingdom of God on earth), and Baha'is believe that the revelation of Baha'u'llah has brought forth the most recent stage in this process. According to Shoghi Effendi, Guardian of the Baha'i Faith,4 this advancement is necessarily incremental and gradual: Just as the organic evolution of mankind has been slow and gradual, and involved successively the unification of the family, the tribe, the city-state, and the nation, so has the light vouchsafed by the Revelation of God, at various stages in the evolution of religion, and reflected in the successive Dispensations of the past, been slow and progressive."5 However, of particular strategic importance to our consideration of the Baha'i beliefs about children and community life in the Baha'i Faith is the assertion in the teachings of Baha'u'llah that humankind has now reached a stage of crucial transformation. More specifically, Baha'u'llah states that humankind has achieved the age of maturation wherein the establishment of a global society is not only possible; it is inevitable:6 3

4

5 6

Aware of each other and fully co-ordinated in their efforts, these figures have as their unified goal the instruction of the human body politic in how to give dramatic form to spiritual principles. Some figures designated by Baha'u'llah as having this status are Abraham, Moses, Zoroaster, Buddha, Christ, and Muhammad. Shoghi Effendi Rabbanni (1897-1957), great-grandson of Baha'u'llah, was appointed Guardian in the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'1-Baha, who was Baha'u'llah's son and head of the Baha'i Faith until his death in 1921. Shoghi Effendi, The Promised Day Is Come, (Wilmette, 111.: Baha'i Publishing Committee, 1941), p. 118. Baha'is believe that the advent of the Baha'i Faith in 1844 signalled a milestone in this ongoing process, the coming of age for the human race,

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The unity of the human race, as envisaged by Baha'u'llah implies the establishment of a world commonwealth in which all nations, races, creeds and classes are closely and permanently united, and in which the autonomy of its state members and the personal freedom and initiative of the individuals that compose them are definitely and completely safeguarded...7 The Community and the Individual These lofty and world-embracing concepts of global unity are firmly grounded in the belief in the sanctity of the individual human spirit and in the imperative to nurture that potentiality through the institutions of the family and the community. Stated another way, while the vision of the Baha'i Faith is optimistic in its affirmation of the progressive ascent of human society throughout history, what Baha'u'llah alludes to as an "ever-advancing civilization",8 the Baha'i teachings recognize that the collective advancement of humankind takes place one soul at a time. Consequently, the major emphasis in the Baha'i writings is on the processes by which each individual can become transformed through the establishment of healthy home and community life and through the conscious effort to acquire spiritual virtue. This focus on the individual derives from the Baha'i belief in the essentially spiritual nature of human reality. That is, Baha'u'llah teaches that all distinctly human capacities derive from the powers of the human soul - reason, abstract thought, will, identity itself. Baha'is thus view human purpose as spiritual development-that is, the gradual enlightenment of the soul. Spirituality in this sense is not an ascetic ideal, not merely a private concern or internal condition. Spiritual advancement inevitably implies a two-part process whereby the recognition of spiritual concepts becomes coupled with creative action: "By faith is meant, first, conscious knowledge, and second, the practice

7 8

the point of maturation which heralds the establishment of a permanent peace and unity of our planetary community. Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Baha'u'llah, (Wilmette, 111.: Baha'i Publishing Trust, 1955), p. 203. Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, (Wilmette, III: Baha'i Publishing Trust, 1976), p. 215.

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of good deeds".9 Consequently, to the Baha'i, "salvation" is not a fixed point of belief nor the attainment of a specific level of change; salvation is a continuous and endless process of refining one's nature, whether in the physical world or in the life to come. Of particular relevance to the discussion of the rights and nurture of children in this regard is the Baha'i belief that the soul takes its beginning at the conception of the body, associates with the body during one's physical life, and then continues to grow and develop when that relationship is terminated at the body's demise. Obviously this belief imposes various obligations on the individual Baha'i regarding the sanctity of human life. Consequently, parental responsibility does not begin at birth; parents are urged to say prayers on the child's behalf while the child is yet unborn. However, the process of spiritual ascent is not purely autonomous. Just as the individual needs external assistance to develop physically and socially, so the potentialities of the soul need the love, the nurture, and the guidance of others. The concept of individual development for the Baha'i thus envisions the intermingling of individual free will with the unrelenting love and assistance of parents and society, because without external guidance the nascent capacity of the soul will remain dormant: "Regard man as a mine rich in gems of inestimable value. Education can, alone, cause it to reveal its treasures, and enable mankind to benefit therefrom."10 Nevertheless, the Baha'i concept of human guidance in the form of a spiritually based education by no means implies catechizing or indoctrination, both of which the Baha'i writings view as deterrents to the true acquisition of knowledge. Independent investigation of truth is a crucial teaching of the Baha'i Faith, even for the youngest of children, and this verity requires that each individual study his or her beliefs and not merely imitate the beliefs of the parent or teacher. Therefore, the nurture and education of the Baha'i child is a subtle process of guidance through example and through the building of a family life modelled on mutual respect and responsibilities, the same principles on which Baha'i community life itself is organized and 9 10

'Abdu'1-Baha, The Baha'i World Faith, (Wilmette, 111.: Baha'i Publishing Trust, 1976), p. 383. Baha'u'llah, Gleanings, p. 260.

.

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governed: A family ... is a very special kind of "community". ... The members of a family all have duties and responsibilities towards one another and to the family as a whole, and these duties and responsibilities vary from member to member because of their natural relationships.11 The sophistication of this process, however, does not imply that Baha'i education is haphazard or lax. For Baha'i parents the nurture and education of the child is systematic, obligatory, and among the most important spiritual mandates in life. And because parental responsibility is at the heart of any progress of the individual and of society collectively, this task is described as being among the most laudatory human accomplishments when pursued conscientiously, and as a "sin unpardonable"12 when it is neglected or abused. Another relevant Baha'i teaching about children and family life is the concept of the relationship between one's physical or social life and one's spiritual development. The Baha'i Faith teaches that physical life is primarily a period of gestation, of preparation for birth into the spiritual plain of existence. The means by which this preparation is carried out is the formation of spiritual habits through the expression of knowledge in action. By this means, spiritual capacities are exercised through the metaphorical dramatic regimen of daily conduct, what the Baha'i writings often allude to as the "Baha'i life". Here again the Baha'i Faith does not distinguish between spiritual education and intellectual education since the rational mind is viewed as a faculty of the soul and since physical reality itself is viewed as a symbolic expression of spiritual reality. In effect, all forms of education are viewed as one integral process of human advancement because all knowledge ultimately leads to the knowledge of God. To learn about the laws and nature of the physical world is to learn about the laws operating in the spiritual world since the physical world is but 11

12

The Universal House of Justice, quoted in Lights of Guidance: A Baha'i Reference File, 2nd ed., (New Delhi, India: Baha'i Publishing Trust, 1988), pp. 218-9. 'Abdu'1-Baha, Baha'i World Faith: Selected Writings of Baha'u'llah and 'Abdu'l-Baha, 2nd ed., (Wilmette, 111.: Baha'i Publishing Trust, 1976), p. 398.

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the visible aspect of the spiritual world: The spiritual world is like unto the phenomenal world. They are the exact counterparts of each other. Whatever objects appear in this world of existence are the outer pictures of the world of heaven.13

Baha'i Marriage and Family Life Certainly the most critical force in the education and nurture of the child is the family, an institution which, the Baha'i writings affirm, will ever remain inviolable however radically changed our planet may in the future become. Likewise, the foundation of the family will ever be the institution of marriage. The Baha'i marriage is established on spiritual principles, all of which have a direct bearing on the raising of children and on the Baha'i view about how to establish a set of global standards to safeguard the rights of children. For example, Baha'i law designates marriage as a monogamous relationship between a man and woman, and Baha'i law ensures that this relationship is freely chosen. There are no arranged marriages, and both parties must have reached the age of maturity, which is fixed by Baha'i law at fifteen years of age. The Baha'i engagement is not to exceed 95 days. Parental consent is required to help ensure unity and harmony in the family, and a nominal dowry is paid by the groom to the bride as a symbol of her rights as an independent human being.14 Related to this concept of the woman's autonomy is another Baha'i belief which has a powerful bearing both on the marriage and on the rearing and training of children - the Baha'i belief in the complete equality of men and women: "Women and men have been and will always be equal in the sight of God."15 The Baha'i writings attribute the present inequality of the sexes in various spheres of social and 13

14

15

'Abdu'1-Baha, Promulgation of Universal Peace, 2nd. ed., (Wilmette, 111.: Baha'i Publishing Trust, 1982), p. 10. This consent consists of the written permission from natural parents. It should be noted, however, that not all of these laws are presently enforced, but will be gradually introduced by the Universal House of Justice. Baha'u'llah quoted in The Compilation of Compilations, (Maryborough, Australia: Australian Print Group, 1991), Vol. 2, p. 379.

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political activity to differences in educational opportunities: At present in spheres of human activity woman does not manifest her natal prerogatives, owing to lack of education and opportunity. Without doubt education will establish her equality with men.16

Furthermore, it is a principle of the Baha'i family that if a decision must be made between an education for a boy or for a girl, the girl should be given preference because the "mothers are the first educators, the first mentors"17 of children. This gender distinction in roles within the Baha'i family does not mean that the education of the wife is geared to her duties as mother. 'Abdu'1-Baha states that male and female children must receive the same course of study: "Daughters and sons must follow the same curriculum of study, thereby promoting unity of the sexes."18 Hand in hand with this concept of the essential equality of men and women is the concept of marriage as a complementary and cooperative institution. 'Abdu'1-Baha states that "In all human powers and functions" the husband and wife "are partners and coequals".19 The concept of complementarity relates to the fact that the Baha'i writings do ascribe distinct areas of primary responsibility in the family. The mother has a primary role in the education of the children: "the mother-not the father-bears the children, nurses them in babyhood, and is thus their first educator, hence daughters have a prior right to education over sons".20 But because the raising of the children is the "chief responsibility of the mother", it is a "corollary of this responsibility" that the mother has a "right to be supported by her husband" whereas the husband "has no explicit right to be supported by his wife".21 The fact that these particular duties are prescribed according to gender does not imply that the "place of the women is confined to the

16 17 18 19 20 21

'Abdu'1-Baha, Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 136-7. 'Abdu'1-Baha, Selections from the Writings of'Abdu'l-Baba, (Haifa: Baha'i World Centre, 1978), p. 126. 'Abdul-Baha, Promulgation, p. 175. 'Abdu'1-Baha, Promulgation, p. 136. The Universal House of Justice quoted in Compilation, Vol. 2, 384. Ibid.

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home"22 nor that the husband has no responsibilities for raising the children. The father "also has the responsibility of educating his children, and this responsibility is so weighty that Baha'u'llah has stated that a father who fails to exercise it forfeits his rights of fatherhood".23 In fact, in the Kitdb-i-Aqdas, Baha'u'llah states that should a father ignore this charge, it becomes the obligation of the local community to ensure the child's rights to an education are safeguarded by exacting from the father funds sufficient to educate the child: Unto every father hath been enjoined the instruction of his son and daughter in the art of reading and writing.... He that putteth away that which is commanded unto him, the Trustees [Local Spiritual Assembly] are then to take from him that which is required for their instruction...24

In short, this concept of complementarity of function with regard to the duties of husband and wife relates primarily to the raising of children and "by no means implies that these functions are inflexibly fixed and cannot be changed and adjusted to suit particular family situations".25 The concept of the Baha'i marriage is thus best understood as a collaboration, a "full partnership",26 something 'Abdu'1-Baha states succinctly with the following axiom: "The world of humanity has two wings - one is women and the other men. Not until both wings are equally developed can the bird fly".27 In the sense that the father has primary responsibility for the financial support of the family, the father might in some sense be considered as the "head" of the household in the Baha'i family. But the conducting of household affairs and the process by which all decisions are made is a consultative and collaborative process; the husband has no prerogative or authority over the wife. In responding to a question about the lines of authority in marriage, the Universal House of Justice has stated that "the rights of each and all in the family unit 22 23 24 25 26 27

Ibid. Ibid. The Kitab-i-Aqdas, (Haifa, Israel: Baha'i World Centre, 1992), p. 37. the Universal House of Justice, Compilation, Vol. 2, p. 386. Ibid. 'Abdu'1-Baha, Selections, p. 302.

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must be upheld", that "loving consultation should be the keynote" so that all matters are resolved with "harmony and love".28 It goes on to observe that "there are times when the husband and wife should defer to the wishes of the other. Exactly under what circumstances such deference should take place is a matter for each couple to determine".29 The Focus on Children The clear focus of the Baha'i marriage and family life is on the raising of children, as an exhortation by Baha'u'llah confirms: "Marry, O people, that from you may appear he who will remember Me amongst My servants; this is one of My commandments unto you; obey it as an assistance to yourselves."30 This emphasis on the raising of children as being the cornerstone of building a successful marriage is best understood in relation to the Baha'i concept of spirituality and how it is developed and attained. As we have noted, Baha'u'llah states that the essential purpose of human society collectively is to foster an "ever-advancing civilization"; in effect, individual spiritual development is inseparable from our concern for the collective spiritual condition and ascent of humankind. Baha'i children are taught from earliest childhood that they are part of a global family, that they are citizens of the world, and that all forms of prejudice injure that family. In effect, the goal of the Baha'i is to achieve an expanded or more inclusive sense of self, to realize that, like cells in the body, our personal health and achievement has meaning only as it relates to the well-being of humankind as a whole. Therefore, because the children are so crucial to the Baha'i community, they are included in all community activities so that inner virtue or spiritual character can be taught as a social process. Secondly, in the early training of Baha'i children good character is emphasized and prized above purely academic prowess: Good behaviour and high moral character must come first, for unless the character be trained, acquiring knowledge will only prove 28 29 30

quoted in Compilation, Vol. 2, p. 385. Ibid., p. 456. quoted in Baha't Prayers: A Selection of Prayers Revealed by Baha'u'llah, the Bab, and 'Abdu'l-Baha, (Wilmette, 111.: Baha'i Publishing Trust, 1982), p. 105.

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injurious. Knowledge is praiseworthy when it is coupled with ethical conduct and virtuous character; otherwise it is a deadly poison, a frightful danger.31

This does not mean that education in a traditional sense is not also valued. The education of children is described as "among the most meritorious acts of humankind": The education and training of children is among the most meritorious acts of humankind and draweth down the grace and favour of the All-Merciful, for education is the indispensable foundation of all human excellence and alloweth man to work his way to the heights of abiding glory. If a child be trained from his infancy, he will, through the loving care of the Holy Gardener, drink in the crystal waters of the spirit and of knowledge, like a young tree amid the rilling brooks.32

Furthermore, since the Baha'i writings teach that one's deeds are the true sign of one's spiritual development, Baha'i children are exhorted to have a vocation and to distinguish themselves in the social and the material world: They must be constantly encouraged and made eager to gain all the summits of human accomplishment, so that from their earliest years they will be taught to have high aims, to conduct themselves well, to be chaste, pure, and undefiled, and will learn to be of powerful resolve and firm of purpose in all things.33

Baha'i Community Life and the Training of Children To understand the support that the family receives from the local community in the raising of children, it is useful to understand how the community is structured. The local Baha'i community is organized around the election of nine individuals to a body designated as the Local Spiritual Assembly.34 This institution, elected by secret ballot annually,35 is responsible for ensuring the orderly functioning of the 31 32 33 34 35

'Abdu'1-Baha quoted in Compilation, Vol. 1, p. 278. 'Abdu'1-Baha, Selections, p. 145. Ibid., p. 135. In the future this appellation will be changed to "Local House of Justice". In the Baha'i election there is no nomination, no electioneering. The electorate consists of all adult members of the community and all adult

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community. The assembly oversees the business and social affairs of the community (marriages, funerals, etc.), and it is also responsible for seeing that the rights and privileges of individuals within the community are safeguarded. It further ensures that opportunities for spiritual education of the community are available, and establishes assistance for helping individuals with personal problems. This community council thus functions in much the same way as a tribal council in responding to the needs of its people: The divinely ordained institution of the local Spiritual Assembly operates at the first levels of human society and is the basic administrative unit of Baha'u'llah's world Order.36

At the heart of the tools employed by this institution to ensure the spiritual health of the community is the process of consultation. For while the concept of consultation as it is commonly understood implies some collaborative effort, the guidelines for Baha'i consultation imply a very specific procedure in which all nine members of these councils have equal voice and rank. Furthermore, the authority of the assembly is confined to the decision of the collective body - the individuals of the assembly have no personal rank outside the counsel chambers. The process of consultation, therefore, is a mutual effort to arrive at creative guidance or resolve difficulties, not an opportunity to set forth a personal agenda. Some Functions of the Local Community Regarding Children As we have mentioned, it is the responsibility of the local assembly to ensure that the children in its jurisdiction are cared for and educated. Therefore, the assembly is charged with establishing schools and education programs: Among the sacred obligations devolving upon the Spiritual Assemblies is the promotion of learning, the establishing of schools and creation of the necessary academic equipment and facilities for every boy and girl.37

36 37

members are eligible to be elected. The assembly is elected by plurality vote - the nine people receiving the most votes become the new assembly. The Universal House of Justice, quoted in Compilation, Vol. 2, p. 29. Shoghi Effendi quoted in Compilation, Vol. 1, p. 296.

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The Local Assembly is also responsible for ensuring that the children of the poor are cared for, both materially and educationally: Every child, without exception, must from his earliest years make a thorough study of the art of reading and writing, and according to his own tastes and inclinations and the degree of his capacity and powers, devote extreme diligence to the acquisition of learning beneficial arts and skills, various languages, speech, and contemporary technology. To assist the children of the poor in the attainment of these accomplishments, and particularly in learning the basic subjects, is incumbent upon the members of the Spiritual Assemblies, and is accounted as one of the obligations laid upon the conscience of the trustees of God in every land.58 Because the Baha'i teachings place such emphasis on family life and the raising of children as being at the heart and soul of the purpose of human society and the principal means by which society advances itself, it would be impossible here to elucidate in any complete sense all the Baha'i writings have to say on this subject. However, even so cursory a summary of the Baha'i view should enumerate a few of the specific teachings regarding the function of the local community in regard to this process. First of all, the Baha'i teachings safeguard the child from coercion by the parents or the community - one does inherit the Baha'i Faith. Baha'i children are raised according to Baha'i teachings and are assumed to be Baha'is, but upon reaching age fifteen (the age of maturity), one can make a conscious decision whether or not to be considered a Baha'i. When the Baha'i reaches fifteen, he or she assumes responsibility for following the Baha'i laws of personal conduct, laws which entail a specific code of conduct that includes such things as exhortations regarding prayer, cleanliness, and comportment, as well as specific guidance regarding sexuality, drugs, and other social issues. One of the most comprehensive statements setting forth the overall nature of this standard of conduct which the Baha'i must follow is a passage from the writings of Shoghi Effendi: A chaste and holy life must be made the controlling principle in the behaviour and conduct of all Baha'is both in their social relations 38

Ibid.

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with the members of their own community, and in their contact with the world at large. ... Such a chaste and holy life, with its implications of modesty, purity, temperance, decency, and clean-mindedness, involves no less than the exercise of moderation in all that pertains to dress, language, amusements, and all artistic and literary avocations. It demands daily vigilance in the control of one's carnal desires and corrupt inclinations. It calls for the abandonment of frivolous conduct, with its excessive attachment to trivial and often misdirected pleasures. It requires total abstinence from all alcoholic drinks, from opium, and from similar habit-forming drugs. It condemns the prostitution of art and of literature, the practices of nudism and of compassionable marriage, infidelity in marital relationships, and all manner of promiscuity, of easy familiarity, and of sexual vices. It can tolerate no compromise with the theories, the standards, the habits, and the excesses of a decadent age. Nay, rather it seeks to demonstrate, through the dynamic force of its example, the pernicious character of such theories, the falsity of such standards, the hollowness of such claims, the perversity of such habits, and the sacrilegious character of such excesses.39 Besides establishing standards of conduct upheld by the community at large, the training of the child or youth is also assisted by a systematic structure of the year. For example, the Baha'i calendar is divided into nineteen months of nineteen days each, and the first day of each month is designated as a "feast".40 The number 19 symbolizes a unity or a completion of a cycle, and a Vahid or 19-year cycle is used in relation to some Baha'i laws. On a feast day the Baha'i community world-wide holds a tri-partite meeting consisting of (1) prayers and meditative readings from the sacred texts, (2) consultation between the 39

40

Shoghi Effendi, Advent of Divine Justice, (Wilmette, 111.: Baha'i Publishing Trust, 1984), p. 25. The Baha'i writings designate the sexual relationship between a husband and wife as being the only legitimate use of the sexual impulse. Baha'u'llah institutes the Baha'i or Bad! calendar. Using 1844 (AH 1260) as the beginning year of this new cycle (the beginning of the Baha'i Era), the Baha'i calendar is based on the solar year of 365 days. Of particular importance to the administration of the Baha'i community, however, the calendar divides the year into nineteen months of nineteen days each, with four "Intercalary Days" (five in a leap year).

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elected council and the community at large, and (3) fellowship of whatever sort is appropriate to the culture. Children actively participate in these feasts and in the various holy days and festivals which are likewise a part of the Baha'i calendar. In light of these activities, it is not hard to understand that the Baha'i Faith is organized primarily around the concept of a strong and largely autonomous local community. This paradigm has important relevance to the raising of children, because it implies that the parents are not alone in their efforts; they do not operate in a vacuum. As much as is possible, the present Baha'i community fashions models of this community life throughout the world, communities which, Baha'is believe, are embryonic forms of a community life that will in the future serve as the foundation for a world commonwealth. While presently the governance of the local community is focused on the promotion of the spiritual life of the Baha'i families in its jurisdiction, the local institutions will increasingly assume the burden of organizing the secular life of the community, something that has already occurred in some Baha'i communities in areas of Central and South America. Similar to a tribal ethos, the local Baha'i community may thus well be considered a sort of extended family. Shoghi Effendi enunciated this principle by describing Baha'i community life as a kind of "laboratory" in which our spiritual attributes can be exercised and developed: The Baha'i community life provides you with an indispensable laboratory, where you can translate into living and constructive action the principles which you imbibe from the Teachings. By becoming a real part of that living organism you can catch the real spirit which runs throughout the Baha'i Teachings. To study the principles, and to try to live according to them, are, therefore, the two essential mediums through which you can ensure the development and progress of your inner spiritual life and of your outer existence as well.41

Some Responses to Specific Articles of the Preamble In light of the Baha'i world view, it is understandable that the Baha'i 41

Shoghi Effendi quoted in John S. Hatcher, The Arc of Ascent: The Purpose of 'Physical Reality II, (Oxford: George Ronald, 1994), p. 309.

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Faith would find most appealing efforts to establish world-wide standards to ensure the rights, the education, and the protection of the world's children, such as those set forth in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Indeed, the Baha'i writings assert that, "Among the greatest of all services that can possibly be rendered by man to Almighty God is the education and training of children".42 But there are additional reasons the Baha'i community would endorse such efforts at establishing global standards for the protection of the world's children. First, among the most fundamental tenets of the Baha'i Faith is the need to establish universal compulsory education. Obviously such a goal can only be accomplished when governments of the world reach some accord about the fundamental standards by which children should be protected and safeguarded. A further reason the Baha'i Faith would uphold in principle both the concept of such a convention and the particulars of most of the articles in the present preamble to this document is the long-standing relationship between the Baha'i Faith and the United Nations and its subordinate organizations, such as UNICEF. The relationship between the world Baha'i community and the United Nations began in 1948 when the Baha'i Faith was recognized as an international nongovernmental organization (NGO) under the name "Baha'i International Community". Today, there are over 150 National Spiritual Assemblies within the Baha'i community world-wide, and the Baha'i International Community is "accredited in consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)V3 It also has a working relationship with various other United Nations agencies and enterprises. While the Baha'i community has no desire to impose its practices or laws on the non-Baha'i world, the Baha'i Faith thus welcomes the attempt to arrive at universally recognized appreciation of the critical importance of protecting children and family life and of ensuring 42 43

'Abdu'1-Baha, Selections from the Writings of'Ahdu'l-Baha, (Haifa, Israel: Baha'i World Centre, 1978), p. 133. A Basic Baha'i Dictionary, Wendi Momen (Ed.), (Oxford: George Ronald, 1989), p. 38.

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conditions in which the children of the world can thrive, prosper, and fulfil their potential as world citizens. Therefore, as we have already noted, the Baha'i response to the concept of the Convention is favourable, and the Baha'i Faith would uphold most of the particular articles contained in the Preamble to this document. However, it may prove useful to cite some particular articles as they relate to the Baha'i perspective. Article 2 Since it is a pivotal teaching of the Baha'i Faith that prejudice in all forms be abolished, Article 2 regarding discrimination is extremely relevant to the Baha'i perspective about the rights of the child. For example, Shoghi Effendi exhorted Baha'is in America to combat racism and went so far as to designate racism as "the most vital and challenging issue" confronting the American Baha'i community: As to racial prejudice, the corrosion of which, for well nigh a century, has bitten into the fibre, and attacked the whole social structure of American society, it should be regarded as constituting the most vital and challenging issue confronting the Baha'i community at the present stage of its evolution. The ceaseless exertions which this issue of paramount importance calls for, the sacrifices it must impose, the care and vigilance it demands, the moral courage and fortitude it requires, the tact and sympathy it necessitates, invest this problem, which the American believers are still far from having satisfactorily resolved, with an urgency and importance that cannot be overestimated.44

Article 13 The Baha'i writings would enthusiastically uphold those articles alluding to the availability to the child of educational information about other peoples, cultures, and religions, since it is a fundamental tenet of the Baha'i teachings that all the world religions are part of one organic process of divine revelation. However, article 13, if loosely interpreted, could be taken to imply that few if any restraints should be imposed on what a child "receives" in the guise of "art" or through "any other media of the child's choice". The Baha'i writings state that all venues of education have the potential to uplift us: "Arts, crafts and sciences uplift the world of being, and are conducive to its exaltation. 44

Shoghi Effendi, The Advent of Divine Justice, p. 33-4.

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Knowledge is as wings to man's life, and a ladder for his ascent. Its acquisition is incumbent upon everyone."45 However, the Baha'i writings also note that because our development is strongly influenced by these forces, we should exercise good judgement in what we allow ourselves be exposed to. As we noted earlier in this regard, the Baha'i writings extol the virtues of chastity in all its manifest forms: "A chaste and holy life must be made the controlling principle in the behaviour and conduct of all Baha'i both in their social relations with the members of their own community, and in their contact with the world at large."46 Since the Baha'i writings strongly condemn the use of drugs, it is easy to understand why the Baha'i teachings would heartily endorse and uphold article 33 regarding protection of children from the use of drugs, and yet reserve the right to determine what boundaries should apply to the information imparted "in the form of art, or through any other media of the child's choice". Article 44, section 3 The Baha'i teachings uphold the principle of obedience and fidelity to the law of the land in which the Baha'i resides, but the writings strongly emphasize the importance of an individual's not taking another human life. Baha'is are not pacifists. The Baha'i Faith acknowledges the need for a police force and likewise recognizes the fundamental need to establish law, order, and an effective system of penology. It does mean that the individual is not responsible for taking direct action, except to protect his or her life, and even this act is subject to scrutiny: Baha'is recognize the right and duty of governments to use force for the maintenance of law and order and to protect their people. Thus, for a Baha'i, the shedding of blood for such a purpose is not necessarily essentially wrong. The Baha'i Faith draws a very definite distinction between the duty of an individual to forgive and "to be killed rather than to kill" and the duty of society to uphold justice.47 Because of this position, when Baha'is are subject to conscription in 45 46 47

Baha'u'llah, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, (Wilmette, 111.: Baha'i Publishing Trust, 1953), p. 26. Shoghi Effendi, Advent of Divine Justice, p. 25. the Universal House of Justice quoted in Lights of Guidance, p. 407.

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the armed forces of a nation, they request to be placed in a non-combatant status, but Baha'is do not object to service. Therefore, the Baha'i would have no explicit objection to Article 38, section 3, but the Baha'i would always request to avoid being placed in a position to take the life of another. For example, during the Vietnam conflict, American Baha'is served as clerks and medics. Some Conclusions It is a fundamental belief of the Baha'i Faith that all human life is sacred, and that the essential purpose of human life is spiritual advancement. But because the Baha'i writings view spiritual progress as being fostered in the crucible of social action, the Baha'i writings focus significantly on the universal need to ensure those social and physical conditions which propitiate human advancement. In this sense, the Baha'i writings portray a critical interplay between individual development and social progress: We cannot segregate the human heart from the environment outside us and say that once one of these is reformed everything will be improved. Man is organic with the world. His inner life moulds the environment and is itself also deeply affected by it. The one acts upon the other and every abiding change in the life of man is the result of these mutual reactions.48

It is in this context that the Baha'i community has long contributed to the world-wide dialogue about how to foster this mutuality by establishing the security of the world and its peoples. More particularly, the Baha'i community has participated in the endeavours of the United Nations and its ancillary institutions to safeguard the education, protection, and nurturing of the world's children because the advancement of society as a whole is necessarily established on this firm foundation. Consequently, the Baha'i community does not see itself as existing apart from the world, nor does it seek to insulate itself or its children from the problems facing the world and its citizenry. The hallmark teaching of the Baha'i Faith is the concept that all humankind is one organic family, that we are one and all the "fruits of one tree and the 48

Shoghi Effendi quoted in Compilation, vol. 1, p. 84.

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leaves of one branch".49 In addition to the Baha'i awareness of this interplay between the individual and the global community is an equally powerful concern for the interplay between the physical and spiritual, between those issues that might be deemed purely social or environmental and the more subtle forms of human progress that might be implied in a concept of spiritual perfectibility. We find this same sense of balance or synthesis in those themes that constitute the essence of the UNCRC: issues of survival, protection, participation, and promotion. These articles imply a complementarity between those needs that constitute the basic rights to some degree of physical well-being and those rights that minister to the more ineffable but nonetheless essential needs of the mind and spirit. Axiomatic in both the Baha'i teachings and in the preamble to the UNCRC is the realization that our future hope is founded on securing a healthy childhood for all the peoples of the world since the well-being of any segment of our global community is ultimately inseparable from the health of the whole.

49

Baha'u'llah, Gleanings, p. 218.

Chapter 10 Conclusion Harold Coward The religions reviewed in this volume offer both positive support for and criticism of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Each religion has very clear ideas as to the functioning of the child in the context of the family. When considered in relation to the UN Convention, these ideas produce a lively dialogue. In this Conclusion we will examine a major criticism of the Convention. Then we will conclude with a summary of how the principles adopted by the Convention regarding girls and women are seen by the religions themselves as valid criticism of traditional practices in many religions. We must also acknowledge that Articles 5, 7, 9, 18, and 29 argue in support of parents and families, while at the same time attempting to safeguard the rights of the child. I. Criticism of the Convention's Modern Liberal Presuppositions In his analysis of the dialogue between Christianity and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, Anderson raises a fundamental question as to how the terms "well-being" and "best interest" used in the Convention (see e.g. Article 3) are to be determined. Following

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modern liberal presupposition, the Convention assumes that it is the state, not the parents or the wider family, that is the final arbiter of the meaning of "best interests" and "well-being" when applied to the child. Article 14 of the Convention presupposes an individualistic view of human nature which suggests that the child exists as a self independent of his or her family. This is the modern liberal view. It ignores recent findings that one's sense of self as a child or adult is not individualistic but co-extensive with that of the extended family.1 The separation of the individuality of the child from the family is made clear in Article 14, which suggests that the well-being and best interests of the child are to be determined by the state. The state is even given the power (Article 14,3) of deciding what, for the independent child, is an appropriate manifestation of religion - and this in the context of a pluralism of religions where the state may have little understanding of the religion of the child and family.2 Indeed it is clear that the modern liberal values, assumed by the Convention, are seen to be superior and to sit in judgement over the values of any particular religion and its views of child and family life. Located in the state and its professionals (e.g. doctors, judges, and social workers), the modern liberal values and approach adopt the parental role often in the name of a campaign against "backward" traditional religious families on behalf of the rights of the child. But does such a superimposition of liberal views and state intervention always serve the best interest and well-being of the child? The history of state intervention on behalf of the well-being of children in the areas of education and health care offers evidence to the contrary. The forceful relocation of Aboriginal children from their 1

2

See Alan Roland, In Search of Self in India and Japan: Toward a CrossCultural Psychology, (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1988). While this is clearly true for the extended families of Asian, Middle Eastern, and Premodern Western traditions, it is also very true of Aboriginal perspectives where the self-identity with family is extended to include all of nature. Think, for example, of the paucity of understanding in the average US or Canadian politician or bureaucrat of Islam and Asian religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, and Daoism - let alone Christianity, Judaism, and Aboriginal Religion, traditions that have been in North American societies for generations.

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families to residential schools, where their language, culture, and religion were rejected, has been very destructive to the well-being and successful development of these children, leading in many instances to loss of self-identity, alcoholism, violence, and family breakdown. But let us examine a recent case in the area of health care to highlight the issues involved in this dialogue between liberal and religious values in the raising of children. K'aila Paulette was born on 13 June 1989 to Aboriginal parents Fran£ois and Leslie Paulette at their home in Fort Fitzgerald, Alberta. The story of K'aila's short but dramatic life has been dramatized on the CBC television program "Man Alive" and analysed in a journal article by Jocelyn Downie.3 The following account is taken from Downie's article. After an apparently normal start to life, K'aila rapidly developed the liver disease biliary atresia. The parents were told that without treatment for this liver disease, K'aila would die within six to twelve months. Further, Dr Adrian Jones, K'aila's specialist, told the parents that for this disease, a liver transplant was the only available treatment. Dr Jones was convinced that the benefits of a liver transplant outweighed its harms and therefore he was strongly committed to a transplant for K'aila. K'aila's parents, however, were not convinced. They studied a great deal of medical literature on transplantation, especially the life-long post-operative drug treatment needed to guard against rejection of the transplanted organ by the body. They also carefully considered their own Aboriginal religious beliefs and values. For Fran?ois, K'aila's father, liver transplantation seemed to violate the divine order of nature. ... if the Creator had meant it to be that we can take another liver and put it into another person's body and there's no complications whatsoever, nothing whatsoever, you sew up the person and everything is all right, everything checks out - but that's not the case.4 Leslie, K'aila's mother, asked how the benefits and harms - especially the life-long side-effects from drug treatment to avoid rejection 3 4

Joycelyn Downie, "A Choice for K'aila: Child Protection and First Nations Children", Health Law Journal, vol. 2, 1994, pp. 99-120. Ibid., p. 100.

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would play out in K'aila's life. Would the transplant heal him or would his body be like a drug war zone for life? And if a transplant was done, who would it be for? "Does he really want to go through this? Or do we put him through this because we don't want to lose him?"5 In her view, putting K'aila through a liver transplant to save him would be like closing her hand on a butterfly to hold on to it. In both cases the result would be a selfish crippling of a part of creation that was beautiful as it naturally existed. Thus, although she deeply loved K'aila and wanted to keep him, she decided to let him go. The decision by K'aila's parents not to pursue a transplant upset Dr Jones. It came as a challenge to his liberal values. He felt that although parents should make decisions for their children, their decisions should be in accordance with what society considers best for children.6 In his view, society's value was to safeguard the autonomy of the child. In K'aila's case that meant getting a liver transplant for the child, given that in Dr Jones's view a transplant would enable K'aila to live with a good quality of life. In the face of this conflict between his values and those of the parents, Dr Jones called the Department of Social Services, which decided that K'aila was in need of protection and obtained a court order to remove K'aila from his family so that a transplant could be performed. In order to escape the Alberta court order, K'aila's parents fled with K'aila and his brother to Saskatchewan. However, at the request of the Alberta government, the Saskatchewan Department of Social Services applied to the court for permission to seize K'aila from his parents. The case was heard on 20 April 1990, but Mr Justice Arnot refused the application on the grounds that medical experts disagreed over the merits of liver transplantation and the follow-up supportive care that was required. His judgement took no account of the Aboriginal religious values that were basic to K'aila's parents' decision. Shortly after the decision K'aila died peacefully in his mother's arms in the midst of his family and was buried in the woods with Indian musicians singing him a traditional going home song. In her analysis of this case, Downie poses the question: Who should decide whether a child is in need of protection and according to what standards? Downie sides with the liberal viewpoint that it is the state 5 6

Ibid., p. 101. Ibid.

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that should safeguard the rights of the child over the possible objections of the parents. If there is a clash of values between the family and the state, as in K'aila's case, this can only be resolved, in Downie's view, by the Aboriginal peoples becoming an independent state with their own different values about child raising. This solution ignores the problem raised by Anderson, namely, who should decide when there is a clash of values within a state - between the values of the government (and its professionals) and the values of the family and its religion. Such clashes could be frequent in pluralistic societies like Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom, with many immigrant communities holding different religious and cultural understandings. It is a particularly important issue for Canada with its official multiculturalism policy7 and raises difficult theoretical questions. One side argues that in a liberal democratic society religious or cultural diversity should not be recognized in public policy. This is the view of Dr Jones adopted in his resolution of K'aila's case. The giving up of one's own values in favour of those of the state is the price citizens should be willing to pay for living in a society that treats all as equals. On this view the sacrifice for religious and ethnic communities is enormous - namely the giving up of all one's distinctiveness in public. An opposing position, one that K'aila's parents claimed, holds that the treating of people as free and equal citizens requires that public institutions, such as health care and law, acknowledge rather than ignore ethnic and religious differences. Since the religious and cultural context is what gives meaning to a person's life, this view argues, a secure recognition of religious differences at the public policy level is required of society. The clash between these two positions, evident in the K'aila case, is an unresolved problem that Anderson has pointed out in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. An original contribution to the solution of this problem has been offered by the Canadian political philosopher Charles Taylor in his "The Politics of Recognition".8 Basing himself on Rousseau and Kant, 7 8

The Canadian Multiculturalism Act: A Guide for Canadians, (Ottawa, 1990). Charles Taylor, "The Politics of Recognition", in: Amy Gutman (Ed.), Multiculturalism: Examining the Politics of Recognition, (Princeton:

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Taylor offers a philosophical analysis of what is at issue when peoples of different religions/cultures demand equal recognition by the public institutions of a democracy. Taylor argues that our identity is shaped by the recognition or misrecognition we receive from others, including the state. Thus social policy must do more than tolerate different religions/cultures, allowing them to defend themselves. It must go further and recognize the value of different religions/cultures - "that we not only let them survive but acknowledge their worth" ? The logic behind Taylor's analysis is that all traditions which have sustained human societies over an extended period of time have something important to say to us. Just as in a liberal democratic society all have equal civil and voting rights regardless of race or culture, so also all should enjoy the presumption that their religion/culture has value.10 This means, for example, that educational curricula should include presentations of all religions/cultures, not just those that dominate, and that health care and legal institutions should give recognition to the wisdom of traditional views of life alongside modern Western medical science and, as in K'aila's case, its ability to perform liver transplants. The logic of including and respecting traditions does not, however, imply or necessitate the conclusion that they are all of equal worth. The demand for judgements of equal worth, says Taylor, is paradoxically and tragically homogenizing. It implies that before we have done the hard work of study and opening ourselves to others, we already have the standards to make such judgements - as in the assessment of K'aila by Dr Jones and the Department of Social Services professional workers. As Taylor puts it, "A favourable judgement made prematurely would be not only condescending but ethnocentric. It would praise others for being like us."11 Or, as Freud put it, we are simply defending ourselves against the difference of the other by projecting our own position upon them and proclaiming that they are the same as we are. This is comforting because it allows us to hold our view unexamined and unchallenged by the other, and altogether avoids

9 10 11

Princeton University Press, 1994), pp. 25-73. Ibid., p. 64. Ibid., p. 68. Ibid., P. 71.

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the possibility that there may be something wrong with our view or that there may be something new of value in the position of the other.12 The implicit values operative in contemporary Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom (as in K'aila's case) are those of modern Western liberal democracy. Including others into this standard by implicitly employing it to judge them can have the result of making everyone the same, that is, like us. By contrast, Taylor's presumption of worth "imagines a universe in which different cultures complement each other with quite different kinds of contribution. This picture is not only compatible with, but demands judgement of, superiority-in-acertain-respect.13 Equal worth, therefore, is not a presumed conclusion but a stance we adopt in meeting or embarking upon a study of the other. Taylor supports this approach by an appeal to the religious view of divine providence according to which the variety of culture/religion is not an accident but was meant to bring about greater harmony. From a purely humanistic perspective he argues that cultures that have provided the horizon of meaning for large numbers of human beings, of diverse characters and temperaments, over a long period of time - that have, in other words, articulated their sense of the good, the holy, the admirable - are almost certain to have something that deserves our admiration and respect, even if it is accompanied by much that we have to abhor and reject.14

To reject this possibility a priori would be an act of supreme arrogance and moral failure. The humility which recognizes that we, and not our particular religion and culture, are but a limited part of the total human story requires from us not peremptory and inauthentic judgements that all religions or cultures are of equal value, or that ours is the best, but rather, a willingness to be open to the meeting and study of others that must widen and transform our values in the process. Taylor concludes this means that we are far from any ultimate standard or horizon from which the relative worth of different religions/cultures may be judged. Taylor's theorizing offers an 12 13 14

Calvin S. Hall, A Primer of Freudian Psychology (New York: Mentor, 1958), p. 89. Taylor, "Politics of Recognition", p. 71. Ibid., p. 73

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important corrective to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and attempts a solution to Anderson's dilemma as to how the Christian (or other religious) view of the family can co-exist with the liberal democratic presuppositions of the Convention. II. Support for the Convention's Criticism of Traditional Religion Regarding Girls and Women Dialogue between the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the commentators from various religions revealed general agreement that better treatment of girls and women is required. In her analysis of the child and family in Islam, Lababidy agreed with the Convention's emphasis on the need to improve conditions for girls and women. She pointed out that in Muslim Arab countries there is a very much higher maternal mortality rate than obtains in industrialized countries, and this she attributes to the way women are treated. Women are required to work hard while pregnant, eat last, and see doctors seldom. Improving the condition of children, she argues, requires improving the situation of women. In some countries un-Islamic practices, such as the circumcision of girls, have been given religious justification. From the Hindu perspective Narayanan acknowledges that many Hindu parents do practise abortion for the purpose of ensuring sons rather than daughters. Female infanticide also exists. The Convention's requirements challenge Indian society to a revaluing of the worth of girl children. Gross argues that the Convention's extension of the modern conception of individual rights to children, especially girls, finds support from Buddhism with its prescription of individual enlightenment as the goal of religious life. Commenting from the Kwagul Aboriginal perspective, Sewid-Smith shows how Canadian law regarding the legal status of children works against the requirements of Articles 7 and 8 of the Convention, especially in the case of native women. In her view the rights of Kwagul children will only receive the kind of recognition the Convention requires when self-government and land claims settlements are given to her people. In discussing tensions between the Convention and Judaism, Kraemer finds values expressed in the Convention, such as freedom of expression and the equality of the sexes, that should be incorporated into Jewish practice. In this sense, he argues that in specific areas the UN Convention is a noble source

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for future "Torah". Regarding Chinese Popular Religion, Johnson finds the Convention's statements on the equality of girls with boys to be a corrective needed in the Chinese approach. She stresses the need for greater education for girls and sees the standards of the Convention as a necessary corrective to the Chinese tendency to neglect or abandon daughters. In his discussion of the Baha'i approach, Hatcher points out that the Baha'i tradition strongly supports the Convention's call for equality of men and women and the increasing of educational opportunities for girls and women. Indeed, in Baha'i, girls are given preference in education because mothers are rightly seen to be the first educators of children. In this volume, the dialogue developed between the UN Convention and the religions has highlighted both points of appreciation (as with the Convention's statement of the rights of girls and women) and areas of strong criticism (exemplified in Anderson's argument that the application of the liberal human rights tradition to children is likely to defeat its very intent). The result is a very useful critique which needs more careful study by the UN itself and by the world's countries (and their religions) now charged with implementing the Convention. One thing this book makes clear is that the Convention's insistence upon the right of the child to freedom of religion (Article 14) is far more complex (when seen through the eyes of the various religions) than has been previously acknowledged. This right may entail a religious challenge to the modern liberal presuppositions of the Convention itself and at the same time call into question the unjust treatment of girls and women by many religions.

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Appendix I Convention on the Rights of the Child The General Assembly, 61st Plenary Meeting, 20 November 1989 PREAMBLE The States Parties to the present Convention, Considering that, in accordance with the principles proclaimed in the Charter of the United Nations, recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world, Bearing in mind that the peoples of the United Nations have, in the Charter, reaffirmed their faith in fundamental human rights and in the dignity and worth of the human person, and have determined to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom, Recognizing that the United Nations has, in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and in the International Covenants on Human Rights, proclaimed and agreed that everyone is entitled to all the rights

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and freedoms set forth therein, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status, Recalling that, in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the United Nations has proclaimed that childhood is entitled to special care and assistance, Convinced that the family, as the fundamental group of society and the natural environment for the growth and well-being of all its members and particularly children, should be afforded the necessary protection and assistance so that it can fully assume its responsibilities within the community, Recognizing that the child, for the full and harmonious development of his or her personality, should grow up in a family environment, in an atmosphere of happiness, love and understanding, Considering that the child should be fully prepared to live an individual life in society, and brought up in the spirit of the ideals proclaimed in the Charter of the United Nations, and in particular in the spirit of peace, dignity, tolerance, freedom, equality and solidarity, Bearing in mind that the need to extend particular care to the child has been stated in the Geneva Declaration of the Rights of the Child of 1924 and in the Declaration of the Rights of the Child adopted by the General Assembly on 20 November 1959 and recognized in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (in particular in articles 23 and 24), in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (in particular in article 10) and in the statutes and relevant instruments of specialized agencies and international organizations concerned with the welfare of children, Bearing in mind that, as indicated in the Declaration of the Rights of the Child, "the child, by reason of his physical and mental immaturity, needs special safeguards and care, including appropriate legal protection, before as well as after birth", Recalling the provisions of the Declaration on Social and Legal Principles relating to the Protection and Welfare of Children, with Special Reference to Foster Placement and Adoption Nationally and

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Internationally; the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile justice (The Beijing Rules); and the Declaration on the Protection of Women and Children in Emergency and Armed Conflict, Recognizing that, in all countries in the world, there are children living in exceptionally difficult conditions, and that such children need special consideration, Taking due account of the importance of the traditions and cultural values of each people for the protection and harmonious development of the child, Recognizing the importance of international co-operation for improving the living conditions of children in every country, in particular in the developing countries, Have agreed as follows: PARTI Article 1 For the purposes of the present Convention, a child means every human being below the age of eighteen years unless, under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier. Article 2 1. States Parties shall respect and ensure the rights set forth in the present Convention to each child within their jurisdiction without discrimination of any kind, irrespective of the child's or his or her parent's or legal guardian's race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national, ethnic or social origin, property, disability, birth or other status. 2. States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to ensure that the child is protected against all forms of discrimination or punishment on the basis of the status, activities, expressed opinions, or beliefs of the child's parents, legal guardians, or family members.

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Article 3 1. In all actions concerning children, whether undertaken by public or private social welfare institutions, courts of law, administrative authorities or legislative bodies, the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration. 2. States Parties undertake to ensure the child such protection and care as is necessary for his or her well-being, taking into account the rights and duties of his or her parents, legal guardians, or other individuals legally responsible for him or her, and, to this end, shall take all appropriate legislative and administrative measures. 3. States Parties shall ensure that the institutions, services and facilities responsible for the care or protection of children shall conform with the standards established by competent authorities, particularly in the areas of safety, health, in the number and suitability of their staff, as well as competent supervision. Article 4 States Parties shall undertake all appropriate legislative, administrative, and other measures for the implementation of the rights recognized in the present Convention. With regard to economic, social and cultural rights, States Parties shall undertake such measures to the maximum extent of their available resources and, where needed, within the framework of international co-operation. Article 5 States Parties shall respect the responsibilities, rights and duties of parents or, where applicable, the members of the extended family or community as provided for by local custom, legal guardians or other persons legally responsible for the child, to provide, in a manner consistent with the evolving capacities of the child, appropriate direction and guidance in the exercise by the child of the rights recognized in the present Convention. Article 6 1. States Parties recognize that every child has the inherent right to life.

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2. States Parties shall ensure to the maximum extent possible the survival and development of the child. Article 7 1. The child shall be registered immediately after birth and shall have the right from birth to a name, the right to acquire a nationality and, as far as possible, the right to know and be cared for by his or her parents. 2. States Parties shall ensure the implementation of these rights in accordance with their national law and their obligations under the relevant international instruments in this field, in particular where the child would otherwise be stateless. Article 8 1. States Parties undertake to respect the right of the child to preserve his or her identity, including nationality, name and family relations as recognized by law without unlawful interference. 2. Where a child is illegally deprived of some or all of the elements of his or her identity, States Parties shall provide appropriate assistance and protection, with a view to speedily re-establishing his or her identity. Article 9 1. States Parties shall ensure that a child shall not be separated from his or her parents against their will, except when competent authorities subject to judicial review determine, in accordance with applicable law and procedures, that such separation is necessary for the best interests of the child. Such determination may be necessary in a particular case such as one involving abuse or neglect of the child by the parents, or one where the parents are living separately and a decision must be made as to the child's place of residence. 2. In any proceedings pursuant to paragraph 1 of the present article, all interested parties shall be given an opportunity to participate in the proceedings and make their views known. 3. States Parties shall respect the right of the child who is separated from one or both parents to maintain personal relations and direct

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contact with both parents on a regular basis, except if it is contrary to the child's best interests. 4. Where such separation results from any action initiated by a State Party, such as the detention, imprisonment, exile, deportation or death (including death arising from any cause while the person is in the custody of the State) of one or both parents or of the child, that State Party shall, upon request, provide the parents, the child or, if appropriate, another member of the family with the essential information concerning the whereabouts of the absent member(s) of the family unless the provision of the information would be detrimental to the well-being of the child. States Parties shall further ensure that the submission of such a request shall of itself entail no adverse consequences for the person (s) concerned. Article 10 1. In accordance with the obligation of States Parties under article 9, paragraph 1, applications by a child or his or her parents to enter or leave a State Party for the purpose of family reunification shall be dealt with by States Parties in a positive, humane and expeditious manner. States Parties shall further ensure that the submission of such a request shall entail no adverse consequences for the applicants and for the members of their family. 2. A child whose parents reside in different States shall have the right to maintain on a regular basis, save in exceptional circumstances personal relations and direct contacts with both parents. Towards that end and in accordance with the obligation of States Parties under article 9, paragraph 2, States Parties shall respect the right of the child and his or her parents to leave any country, including their own, and to enter their own country. The right to leave any country shall be subject only to such restrictions as are prescribed by law and which are necessary to protect the national security, public order (ordre public), public health or morals or the rights and freedoms of others and are consistent with the other rights recognized in the present Convention. Article 11 1. States Parties shall take measures to combat the illicit transfer and non-return of children abroad.

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2. To this end, States Parties shall promote the conclusion of bilateral or multilateral agreements or accession to existing agreements. Article 12 1. States Parties shall assure to the child who is capable of forming his or her own views the right to express those views freely in all matters affecting the child, the views of the child being given due weight in accordance with the age and maturity of the child. 2. For this purpose, the child shall in particular be provided the opportunity to be heard in any judicial and administrative proceedings affecting the child, either directly, or through a representative or an appropriate body, in a manner consistent with the procedural rules of national law. Article 13 1. The child shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of the child's choice. 2. The exercise of this right may be subject to certain restrictions, but these shall only be such as are provided by law and are necessary: (a) For respect of the rights or reputations of others; or (b) For the protection of national security or of public order (ordre public), or of public health or morals. Article 14 1. States Parties shall respect the right of the child to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. 2. States Parties shall respect the rights and duties of the parents and, when applicable, legal guardians, to provide direction to the child in the exercise of his or her right in a manner consistent with the evolving capacities of the child. 3. Freedom to manifest one's religion or beliefs may be subject only to such limitations as are prescribed by law and are necessary to protect public safety, order, health or morals, or the fundamental rights and

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freedoms of others. Article 15 1. States Parties recognize the rights of the child to freedom of association and to freedom of peaceful assembly. 2. No restrictions may be placed on the exercise of these rights other than those imposed in conformity with the law and which are necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security or public safety, public order (ordre public), the protection of public health or morals or the protection of the rights and freedoms of others. Article 16 1. No child shall be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with his or her privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to unlawful attacks on his or her honour and reputation. 2. The child has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks. Article 17 States Parties recognize the important function performed by the mass media and shall ensure that the child has access to information and material from a diversity of national and international sources, especially those aimed at the promotion of his or her social, spiritual and moral well-being and physical and mental health. To this end, States Parties shall: (a) Encourage the mass media to disseminate information and material of social and cultural benefit to the child and in accordance with the spirit of article 29; (b) Encourage international co-operation in the production, exchange and dissemination of such information and material from a diversity of cultural, national and international sources; (c) Encourage the production and dissemination of children's books; (d) Encourage the mass media to have particular regard to the linguistic needs of the child who belongs to a minority group or who is

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indigenous; (e) Encourage the development of appropriate guidelines for the protection of the child from information and material injurious to his or her well-being, bearing in mind the provisions of articles 13 and 18.

Article 18 1. States Parties shall use their best efforts to ensure recognition of the principle that both parents have common responsibilities for the upbringing and development of the child. Parents or, as the case may be, legal guardians, have the primary responsibility for the upbringing and development of the child. The best interests of the child will be their basic concern. 2. For the purpose of guaranteeing and promoting the rights set forth in the present Convention, States Parties shall render appropriate assistance to parents and legal guardians in the performance of their child rearing responsibilities and shall ensure the development of institutions, facilities and services for the care of children. 3. States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to ensure that children of working parents have the right to benefit from child-care services and facilities for which they are eligible. Article 19 1. States Parties shall take all appropriate legislative, administrative, social and educational measures to protect the child from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation, including sexual abuse, while in the care of parent(s), legal guardian(s) or any other person who has the care of the child 2. Such protective measures should, as appropriate, include effective procedures for the establishment of social programmes to provide necessary support for the child and for those who have the care of the child, as well as for other forms of prevention and for identification, reporting, referral, investigation, treatment and follow-up of instances of child maltreatment described heretofore, and, as appropriate, for judicial involvement.

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Article 20 1. A child temporarily or permanently deprived of his or her family environment, or in whose own best interests cannot be allowed to remain in that environment, shall be entitled to special protection and assistance provided by the State. 2. States Parties shall in accordance with their national laws ensure alternative care for such a child. 3. Such care could include, inter alia, foster placement, kafalah of Islamic law, adoption or if necessary placement in suitable institutions for the care of children. When considering solutions, due regard shall be paid to the desirability of continuity in a child's upbringing and to the child's ethnic, religious, cultural and linguistic background. Article 21 States Parties that recognize and/or permit the system of adoption shall ensure that the best interests of the child shall be the paramount consideration and they shall: (a) Ensure that the adoption of a child is authorized only by competent authorities who determine, in accordance with applicable law and procedures and on the basis of all pertinent and reliable information, that the adoption is permissible in view of the child's status concerning parents, relatives and legal guardians and that, if required,, the persons concerned have given their informed consent to the adoption on the basis of such counselling as may be necessary; (b) Recognize that inter-country adoption may be considered as an alternative means of child's care, if the child cannot be placed in a foster or an adoptive family or cannot in any suitable manner be cared for in the child's country of origin; (c) Ensure that the child concerned by inter-country adoption enjoys safeguards and standards equivalent to those existing in the case of national adoption; (d) Take all appropriate measures to ensure that, in inter-country adoption, the placement does not result in improper financial gain for those involved in it;

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(e) Promote, where appropriate, the objectives of the present article by concluding bilateral or multilateral arrangements or agreements, and endeavour, within this framework, to ensure that the placement of the child in another country is carried out by competent authorities or organs. Article 22 1. States Parties shall take appropriate measures to ensure that a child who is seeking refugee status or who is considered a refugee in accordance with applicable international or domestic law and procedures shall, whether unaccompanied or accompanied by his or her parents or by any other person, receive appropriate protection and humanitarian assistance in the enjoyment of applicable rights set forth in the present Convention and in other international human rights or humanitarian instruments to which the said States are Parties. 2. For this purpose, States Parties shall provide, as they consider appropriate, co-operation in any efforts by the United Nations and other competent intergovernmental organizations or non-governmental organizations co-operating with the United Nations to protect and assist such a child and to trace the parents or other members of the family of any refugee child in order to obtain information necessary for reunification with his or her family In cases where no parents or other members of the family can be found, the child shall be accorded the same protection as any other child permanently or temporarily deprived of his or her family environment for any reason, as set forth in the present Convention. Article 23 1. States Parties recognize that a mentally or physically disabled child should enjoy a full and decent life, in conditions which ensure dignity, promote self-reliance and facilitate the child's active participation in the community 2. States Parties recognize the right of the disabled child to special care and shall encourage and ensure the extension, subject to available resources, to the eligible child and those responsible for his or her care, of assistance for which application is made and which is appropriate to

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the child's condition and to the circumstances of the parents or others caring for the child. 3. Recognizing the special needs of a disabled child, assistance extended in accordance with paragraph 2 of the present article shall be provided free of charge, whenever possible, taking into account the financial resources of the parents or others caring for the child, and shall be designed to ensure that the disabled child has effective access to and receives education, training, health care services, rehabilitation services, preparation for employment and recreation opportunities in a manner conducive to the child's achieving the fullest possible social integration and individual development, including his or her cultural and spiritual development. 4. States Parties shall promote, in the spirit of international cooperation, the exchange of appropriate information in the field of preventive health care and of medical, psychological and functional treatment of disabled children, including dissemination of and access to information concerning methods of rehabilitation, education and vocational services, with the aim of enabling States Parties to improve their capabilities and skills and to widen their experience in these areas. In this regard, particular account shall be taken of the needs of developing countries. Article 24 1. States Parties recognize the right of the child to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health and to facilities for the treatment of illness and rehabilitation of health. States Parties shall strive to ensure that no child is deprived of his or her right of access to such health care services forth in the present Convention and in other international human rights or humanitarian instruments to which the said States are Parties. 2. For this purpose, States Parties shall provide, as they consider appropriate, co-operation in any efforts by the United Nations and other competent intergovernmental organizations or non-governmental organizations cooperating with the United Nations to protect and assist such a child and to trace the parents or other members of the family of any refugee child in order to obtain information necessary

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for reunification with his or her family. In cases where no parents or other members of the family can be found, the child shall be accorded the same protection as any other child permanently or temporarily deprived of his or her family environment for any reason, as set forth in the present Convention. 2 States Parties shall pursue full implementation of this right and, in particular, shall take appropriate measures: (a) To diminish infant and child mortality; (b) To ensure the provision of necessary medical assistance and health care to all children with emphasis on the development of primary health care; (c) To combat disease and malnutrition, including within the framework of primary health care, through, inter alia, the application of readily available technology and through the provision of adequate nutritious foods and clean drinking-water, taking into consideration the dangers and risks of environmental pollution; (d) To ensure appropriate pre-natal and post-natal health care for mothers; (e) To ensure that all segments of society, in particular parents and children, are informed, have access to education and are supported in the use of basic knowledge of child health and nutrition, the advantages of breastfeeding, hygiene and environmental sanitation and the prevention of accidents; (f) To develop preventive health care, guidance for parents and family planning education and services. 3. States Parties shall take all effective and appropriate measures with a view to abolishing traditional practices prejudicial to the health of children. 4. States Parties undertake to promote and encourage international cooperation with a view to achieving progressively the full realization of the right recognized in the present article. In this regard, particular account shall be taken of the needs of developing countries.

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Article 25 States Parties recognize the right of a child who has been placed by the competent authorities for the purposes of care, protection or treatment of his or her physical or mental health, to a periodic review of the treatment provided to the child and all other circumstances relevant to his or her placement. Article 26 1. States Parties shall recognize for every child the right to benefit from social security, including social insurance, and shall take the necessary measures to achieve the full realization of this right in accordance with their national law. 2. The benefits should, where appropriate, be granted, taking into account the resources and the circumstances of the child and persons having responsibility for the maintenance of the child, as well as any other consideration relevant to an application for benefits made by or on behalf of the child.

Article 27 1. States Parties recognize the right of every child to a standard of living adequate for the child's physical, mental, spiritual, moral and social development. 2. The parent(s) or others responsible for the child have the primary responsibility to secure, within their abilities and financial capacities, the conditions of living necessary for the child's development. 3. States Parties, in accordance with national conditions and within their means, shall take appropriate measures to assist parents and others responsible for the child to implement this right and shall in case of need provide material assistance and support programmes, particularly with regard to nutrition, clothing and housing. 4. States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to secure the recovery of maintenance for the child from the parents or other persons having financial responsibility for the child, both within the State Party and from abroad. In particular, where the person having financial responsibility for the child lives in a State different from that of the child, States Parties shall promote the accession to international

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agreements or the conclusion of such agreements, as well as the making of other appropriate arrangements. Article 28 1. States Parties recognize the right of the child to education, and with a view to achieving this right progressively and on the basis of equal opportunity, they shall, in particular: (a) Make primary education compulsory and available free to all; (b) Encourage the development of different forms of secondary education, including general and vocational education, make them available and accessible to every child, and take appropriate measures such as the introduction of free education and offering financial assistance in case of need; (c) Make higher education accessible to all on the basis of capacity by every appropriate means; (d) Make educational and vocational information and guidance available and accessible to all children; (e) Take measures to encourage regular attendance at schools and the reduction of drop-out rates. 2. States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to ensure that school discipline is administered in a manner consistent with the child's human dignity and in conformity with the present Convention. 3. States Parties shall promote and encourage international cooperation in matters relating to education, in particular with a view to contributing to the elimination of ignorance and illiteracy throughout the world and facilitating access to scientific and technical knowledge and modern teaching methods. In this regard, particular account shall be taken of the needs of developing countries. Article 29 1. States Parties agree that the education of the child shall be directed to: (a) The development of the child's personality, talents and mental and physical abilities to their fullest potential;

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(b) The development of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, and for the principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations; (c) The development of respect for the child's parents, his or her own cultural identity, language and values, for the national values of the country in which the child is living; the country from which he or she may originate, and for civilizations different from his or her own; (d) The preparation of the child for responsible life in a free society, in the spirit of understanding, peace, tolerance, equality of sexes, and friendship among all peoples, ethnic, national and religious groups and persons of indigenous origin; (e) The development of respect for the natural environment. 2. No part of the present article or article 28 shall be construed so as to interfere with the liberty of individuals and bodies to establish and direct educational institutions, subject always to the observance of the principles set forth in paragraph 1 of the present article and to the requirements that the education given in such institutions shall conform to such minimum standards as may be laid down by the State. Article 30 In those States in which ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities or persons of indigenous origin exist, a child belonging to such a minority or who is indigenous shall not be denied the right, in community with other members of his or her group, to enjoy his or her own culture, to profess and practise his or her own religion, or to use his or her own language. Article 31 1. States Parties recognize the right of the child to rest and leisure, to engage in play and recreational activities appropriate to the age of the child and to participate freely in cultural life and the arts. 2. States Parties shall respect and promote the right of the child to participate fully in cultural and artistic life and shall encourage the provision of appropriate and equal opportunities for cultural, artistic, recreational and leisure activity.

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Article 32 1. States Parties recognize the right of the child to be protected from economic exploitation and from performing any work that is likely to be hazardous or to interfere with the child's education, or to be harmful to the child's health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development. 2. States Parties shall take legislative, administrative, social and educational measures to ensure the implementation of the present article. To this end, and having regard to the relevant provisions of other international instruments, States Parties shall in particular: (a) Provide for a minimum age or minimum ages for admission to employment; (b) Provide for appropriate regulation of the hours and conditions of employment; (c) Provide for appropriate penalties or other sanctions to ensure the, effective enforcement of the present article. Article 33 States Parties shall take all appropriate measures, including legislative, administrative, social and educational measures, to protect children from the illicit use of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances as defined in the relevant international treaties, and to prevent the use of children in the illicit production and trafficking of such substances. Article 34 States Parties undertake to protect the child from all forms of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse. For these purposes, States Parties shall in particular take all appropriate national, bilateral and multilateral measures to prevent: (a) The inducement or coercion of a child to engage in any unlawful sexual activity; (b) The exploitative use of children in prostitution or other unlawful sexual practices; The exploitative use of children in pornographic performances and

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materials Article 35 States Parties shall take all appropriate national, bilateral and multilateral measures to prevent the abduction of, the sale of or traffic in children for any purpose or in any form. Article 36 States Parties shall protect the child against all other forms of exploitation prejudicial to any aspects of the child's welfare, Article 37 States Parties shall ensure that: (a) No child shall be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Neither capital punishment nor life imprisonment without possibility of release shall be imposed for offences committed by persons below eighteen years of age; (b) No child shall be deprived of his or her liberty unlawfully or arbitrarily. The arrest, detention or imprisonment of a child shall be in conformity with the law and shall be used only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time; (c) Every child deprived of liberty shall be treated with humanity and respect for the inherent dignity of the human person, and in a manner which takes into account the needs of persons of his or her age. In particular, every child deprived of liberty shall be separated from adults unless it is considered in the child's best interest not to do so and shall have the right to maintain contact with his or her family through correspondence and visits, save in exceptional circumstances; (d) Every child deprived of his or her liberty shall have the right to prompt access to legal and other appropriate assistance, as well as the right to challenge the legality of the deprivation of his or her liberty before a court or other competent, independent and impartial authority, and to a prompt decision on any such action.

Article 38 1. States Parties undertake to respect and to ensure respect for rules of

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international humanitarian law applicable to them in armed conflicts which are relevant to the child. 2. States Parties shall take all feasible measures to ensure that persons who have not attained the age of fifteen years do not take a direct part in hostilities. 3. States Parties shall refrain from recruiting any person who has not attained the age of fifteen years into their armed forces. In recruiting among those persons who have attained the age of fifteen years but who have not attained the age of eighteen years, States Parties shall endeavour to give priority to those who are oldest. 4. In accordance with their obligations under international humanitarian law to protect the civilian population in armed conflicts, States Parties shall take all feasible measures to ensure protection and care of children who are affected by an armed conflict. Article 39 States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to promote physical and psychological recovery and social reintegration of a child victim of: any form of neglect, exploitation, or abuse; torture or any other form of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; or armed conflicts. Such recovery and reintegration shall take place in an environment which fosters the health, self-respect and dignity of the child. Article 40 1. States Parties recognize the right of every child alleged as, accused of, or recognized as having infringed the penal law to be treated in a manner consistent with the promotion of the child's sense of dignity and worth, which reinforces the child's respect for the human rights and fundamental freedoms of others and which takes into account the child's age and the desirability of promoting the child's reintegration and the child's assuming a constructive role in society. 2. To this end, and having regard to the relevant provisions of international instruments, States Parties shall, in particular, ensure that: (a) No child shall be alleged as, be accused of, or recognized as having

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infringed the penal law by reason of acts or omissions that were not prohibited by national or international law at the time they were committed; (b) Every child alleged as or accused of having infringed the penal law has at least the following guarantees: (i) To be presumed innocent until proven guilty according to law; (ii) To be informed promptly and directly of the charges against him or her, and, if appropriate, through his or her parents or legal guardians, and to have legal or other appropriate assistance in the preparation and presentation of his or her defence; (iii) To have the matter determined without delay by a competent, independent and impartial authority or judicial body in a fair hearing according to law, in the presence of legal or other appropriate assistance and, unless it is considered not to be in the best interest of the child, in particular, taking into account his or her age or situation, his or her parents or legal guardians; (iv) Not to be compelled to give testimony or to confess quilt; to examine or have examined adverse witnesses and to obtain the participation and examination of witnesses on his or her behalf under conditions of equality; (v) If considered to have infringed the penal law, to have this decision and any measures imposed in consequence thereof reviewed by a higher competent, independent and impartial authority or judicial body according to law; (vi) To have the free assistance of an interpreter if the child cannot understand or speak the language used; (vii) To have his or her privacy fully respected at all stages of the proceedings. 3. States Parties shall seek to promote the establishment of laws, procedures, authorities and institutions specifically applicable to children alleged as, accused of, or recognized as having infringed the penal law, and, in particular: (a) The establishment of a minimum age below which children shall be

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presumed not to have the capacity to infringe the penal law; (b) Whenever appropriate and desirable, measures for dealing with such children without resorting to judicial proceedings, providing that human rights and legal safeguards are fully respected. 4. A variety of dispositions, such as care, guidance and supervision orders; counselling; probation; foster care; education and vocational training programmes and other alternatives to institutional care shall be available to ensure that children are dealt with in a manner appropriate to their well-being and proportionate both to their circumstances and the offence.

Article 41 Nothing in the present Convention shall affect any provisions which are more conducive to the realization of the rights of the child and which may be contained in: (a) The law of a State Party; or (b) International law in force for that State. PART II Article 42 States Parties undertake to make the principles and provisions of the Convention widely known, by appropriate and active means, to adults and children alike. Article 43 1. For the purpose of examining the progress made by States Parties in achieving the realization of the obligations undertaken in the present Convention, there shall be established a Committee on the Rights of the Child, which shall carry out the functions hereinafter provided. 2. The Committee shall consist of ten experts of high moral standing and recognized competent in the field covered by this Convention. The members of the Committee shall be elected by States Parties from among their nationals and shall serve in their personal capacity, consideration being given to equitable geographical distribution, as

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well as to the principal legal systems. 3. The members of the Committee shall be elected by secret ballot from a list of persons nominated by States Parties. Each State Party may nominate one person from among its own nationals. 4. The initial election to the Committee shall be held no later than six months after the date of the entry into force of the present Convention and thereafter every second year. At least four months before the date of each election, the Secretary-General of the United Nations shall address a letter to States Parties inviting them to submit their nominations within two months. The Secretary-General shall subsequently prepare a list in alphabetical order of all persons thus nominated, indicating States Parties which have nominated them, and shall submit it to the States Parties to the present Convention. 5. The elections shall be held at meetings of States Parties convened by the Secretary-General at United Nations Headquarters. At those meetings, for which two thirds of States Parties shall constitute a quorum, the persons elected to the Committee shall be those who obtain the largest number of votes and an absolute majority of the votes of the representatives of States Parties present and voting. 6. The members of the Committee shall be elected for a term of four years They shall be eligible for re-election if renominated. The term of five of the members elected at the first election shall expire at the end of two years; immediately after the first election, the names of these five members shall be chosen by lot by the Chairman of the meeting. 7. If a member of the Committee dies or resigns or declares that for any other cause he or she can no longer perform the duties of the Committee, the State Party which nominated the member shall appoint another expert from among its nationals to serve for the remainder of the term, subject to the approval of the Committee. 8. The Committee shall establish its own rules of procedure. 9. The Committee shall elect its officers for a period of two years. 10. The meetings of the Committee shall normally be held at United Nations Headquarters or at any other convenient place as determined by the Committee The Committee shall normally meet annually. The

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duration of the meetings of the Committee shall be determined, and reviewed, it necessary, by a meeting of the States Parties to the present Convention, subject to the approval of the General Assembly. 11. The Secretary-General of the United Nations shall provide the necessary staff and facilities for the effective performance of the functions of the Committee under the present Convention. 12. With the approval of the General Assembly, the members of the Committee established under the present Convention shall receive emoluments from United Nations resources on such terms and conditions as the Assembly may decide. Article 44 1. States Parties undertake to submit to the Committee, through the Secretary-General of the United Nations, reports on the measures they have adopted which give effect to the rights recognized herein and on the progress made on the enjoyment of those rights: (a) Within two years of the entry into force of the Convention for the State Party concerned; (b) Thereafter every five years. 2. Reports made under the present article shall indicate factors and difficulties, if any, affecting the degree of fulfilment of the obligations under the present Convention. Reports shall also contain sufficient information to provide the Committee with a comprehensive understanding of the implementation of the Convention in the country concerned. 3. A State Party which has submitted a comprehensive initial report to the Committee need not, in its subsequent reports submitted in accordance with paragraph 1 (b) of the present article, repeat basic information previously provided. 4. The Committee may request from States Parties further information relevant to the implementation of the Convention. 5. The Committee shall submit to the General Assembly, through the Economic and Social Council, every two years, reports on its activities.

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6. States Parties shall make their reports widely available to the public in their own countries. Article 45 In order to foster the effective implementation of the Convention and to encourage international co-operation in the field covered by the Convention: (a) The specialized agencies, the United Nations Children's Fund, and other United Nations organs shall be entitled to be represented at the consideration of the implementation of such provisions of the present Convention as fall within the scope of their mandate. The Committee may invite the specialized agencies, the United Nations Children's Fund and other competent bodies as it may consider appropriate to provide expert advice on the implementation of the Convention in areas falling within the scope of their respective mandates. The Committee may invite the specialized agencies, the United Nations Children's Fund, and other United Nations organs to submit reports on the implementation of the Convention in areas falling within the scope of their activities; (b) The Committee shall transmit, as it may consider appropriate, to the specialized agencies, the United Nations Children's Fund and other competent bodies, any reports from States Parties that contain a request, or indicate a need, for technical advice or assistance, along with the Committee's observations and suggestions, if any, on these requests or indications; (c) The Committee may recommend to the General Assembly to request the Secretary-General to undertake on its behalf studies on specific issues relating to the rights of the child; (d) The Committee may make suggestions and general recommendations based on information received pursuant to articles 44 and 45 of the present Convention Such suggestions and general recommendations shall be transmitted to any State Party concerned and reported to the General Assembly, together with comments, if any, from States Parties.

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PART III Article 46 The present Convention shall be open for signature by all States. Article 47 The present Convention is subject to ratification. Instruments of ratification shall be deposited with the Secretary-General of the United Nations. Article 48 The present Convention shall remain open for accession by any State. The instruments of accession shall be deposited with the SecretaryGeneral of the United Nations. Article 49 1. The present Convention shall enter into force on the thirtieth day following the date of deposit with the Secretary-General of the United Nations of the twentieth instrument of ratification or accession. 2. For each State ratifying or acceding to the Convention after the deposit of the twentieth instrument of ratification or accession, the Convention shall enter into force on the thirtieth day after the deposit by such State of its instrument of ratification or accession. Article 50 1. Any State Party may propose an amendment and file it with the Secretary-General of the United Nations. The Secretary-General shall thereupon communicate the proposed amendment to States Parties, with a request that they indicate whether they favour a conference of States Parties for the purpose of considering and voting upon the proposals. In the event that, within four months from the date of such communication, at least one third of the States Parties favour such a conference, the Secretary-General shall convene the conference under the auspices of the United Nations. Any amendment adopted by a majority of States Parties present and voting at the conference shall be submitted to the General Assembly for approval. 2. An amendment adopted in accordance with paragraph 1 of the present article shall enter into force when it has been approved by the

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General Assembly of the United Nations and accepted by a two thirds majority of States Parties. 3. When an amendment enters into force, it shall be binding on those States Parties which have accepted it, other States Parties still being bound by the provisions of the present Convention and any earlier amendments which they have accepted. Article 51 1. The Secretary-General of the United Nations shall receive and circulate to all States the text of reservations made by States at the time of ratification or accession. 2. A reservation incompatible with the object and purpose of the present Convention shall not be permitted. 3. Reservations may be withdrawn at any time by notification to that effect addressed to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, who shall then inform all States. Such notification shall take effect an the date on which it is received by the Secretary- General. Article 52 A State Party may denounce the present Convention by written notification to the Secretary-General of the United Nations. Denunciation becomes effective one year after the date of receipt of the notification by the Secretary-General. Article 53 The Secretary-General of the United Nations is designated as the depositary of the present Convention. Article 54 The original of the present Convention, of which the Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish texts are equally authentic, shall be deposited with the Secretary-General of the United Nations. In witness thereof the undersigned plenipotentiaries, being duly authorized thereto by their respective Governments, have signed the present Convention.

Appendix II About the Contributors Terence R. Anderson is Professor of Christian Social Ethics at the Vancouver School of Theology, Vancouver, British Columbia. He received his Th.D. from Union Theological Seminary, New York, in 1967. Throughout his teaching career he has focused on justice issues for native people, including land claims, and on biomedical ethics, serving on several hospital ethics committees. He is the author of Walking the Way: Christian Ethics as a Guide, and has published numerous articles on a wide range of issues regarding Christian involvement in the complex social issues of our time. Philip Cook teaches at the School of Child and Youth Care, University of Victoria. He received his Ph.D. from Queen's University in crosscultural psychology. He has written and taught courses on culture and children's health, and has carried out research in a variety of Canadian Native, Canadian multicultural, and international child-focused children's health projects. Recently he has applied the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child to children's advocacy programs in Canada, India, and East Africa, and has developed community based curricula in partnership with UNICEF and other children's advocacy agencies.

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Appendix II

Harold Coward is Professor of History and Director of the Centre for Studies in Religion and Society at the University of Victoria. His many books and articles include: Pluralism: Challenge to World Religions (Orbis 1985); Jung and Eastern Thought (SUNY 1985); Sacred Word and Sacred Text: Scripture in World Religions (Orbis 1988); The Philosophy of the Grammarians (Princeton 1990); and Derrida and Indian Philosophy (SUNY 1990). He is currently directing research teams on CrossCultural Health Care Ethics and New Theology on Population, Consumption, and Ecology. Rita M. Gross is Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire. A founder of the Women and Religion section of the American Academy of Religion, she served as its program chair for five years. She has written many articles and essays on a wide variety of topics pertaining to women and religion. Her books include: Unspoken Worlds: Women's Religious Lives (edited with Nancy Auer Falk) and Buddhism After Patriarchy: A Feminist History, Analysis, and Reconstruction of Buddhism, published by SUNY Press in 1992. She also wrote a textbook on religious studies for basic women's studies courses, Feminism and Religious Studies: Transformations of a Discipline, published by Twayne Press in 1995. In addition to her work in feminist scholarship in religious studies, Rita Gross has played a leading role in BuddhistChristian dialogue in North America. Her articles and essays have been translated into Dutch, German, French, Spanish, and Japanese. John S. Hatcher is Professor of medieval English literature and creative writing at the University of South Florida in Tampa. He has published poems and articles in a variety of international journals, and a collection of his poetry, A Sense of History, was published in 1990. A historical novel, Ali's Dream, was published in 1980 and a second novel, Conversations, in 1988. He is presently under contract to translate into English the poetry of the nineteenth-century Persian poetess Tahirih. From the Auroral Darkness, Hatcher's definitive study of the life and poetry of American poet Robert Hayden, was published in 1984, and his comparative study of theodicy, The Purpose of Physical Reality: The Kingdom of Names, in 1987. A sequel to that work, The Arc of Ascent, was published in 1994. His study of Baha'i scripture, The Ocean of My Words, is scheduled for publication in 1996.

About the Contributors

199

Elizabeth Lominska Johnson is Curator of Ethnology at the University of British Columbia Museum of Anthropology. She received her Ph.D. from Cornell University in 1976. She is an anthropologist specializing in the study of twentieth-century China, and has done field research in Hong Kong. Her research interests and publications are concerned with women, kinship, and aspects of expressive culture, including funeral laments and Cantonese opera. David Kraemer is associate professor of Talmud and Rabbinics at the Jewish Theological Seminary, where he also teaches courses in ancient Jewish history, Bible, and Jewish thought. His articles have appeared in a wide variety of journals, both scholarly and popular. He is the editor of a volume on the history of the Jewish family, entitled The Jewish Family: Metaphor and Memory (Oxford University Press, 1989), and author of The Mind of the Talmud (Oxford, 1990), an intellectual history of the Babylonian Talmud. His new study, Responses to Suffering in Classical Rabbinic Literature (Oxford, 1995), has recently appeared. Leila Sheila Lababidy is currently advisor to the Multifunctional Center for Early Childhood Development in Cairo, Egypt. She was trained in the field of child development at the Merrill-Plamer Institute of Family Life and Human Relations in Detroit, MI, and received her M.A. in Education from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor in 1954. Before her retirement she worked as a free-lance consultant on women and child development for UN and international agencies in the Arab countries. She has also worked in counselling for the establishment of institutions that deal with women and child development and in devising and implementing training in this field. She has written a number of articles on child and family for magazines and conferences and is a member of NGOs working in her field of specialization in Egypt and Lebanon. Vasudha Narayanan is the co-author of Gods of Flesh, Gods of Stone: The Embodiment of Divinity in India and Monastic Life in the Christian and Hindu Traditions: A Comparative Study. A professor in the Department of Religion at the University of Florida, she has received numerous awards for her work in Hinduism. She is also a renowned speaker throughout North America and India.

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Appendix II

Daisy Sewid-Smith is Department Head, First Nations Education, School District 72 in Campbell River, British Columbia, Canada. She writes and lectures on the history and culture of the KwaKwaKswakw (Kwagul) Nation of the North West coast and the preservation of the Liqwala/KwaKwala language.

Index Aboriginal Perspective: adoption, 102, 110; andUNCRC, 107-8, 109, 110-11; beliefs, 99,100, 106; community, 103-5; discipline, 105-6; education, 101,104, 106-7; family size, 102; infant mortality, 99; marriage, 103; poverty, 109, 110; residential schools, 106-7, 163 Abortion, 18, 28, 60 Adoption, 19-20, 29, 96, 102, 110, 134, 138 Arab Conference on the Rights of the Family, 23 Artificial Insemination, 20 Baha'i Faith: beliefs, 141-44, 145, 147, 157-59; community, 151-52,154-55; education, 145-49, 151, 157; girls and women, 148-49; history, 142; marriage, 147, 148-49 Baha'u'llah, 141-45 Buddha, 81, 85, 88 Buddhism: and UNCRC, 90-91, 94-98; beliefs, 80-82, 84-85, 88; "Buddhanature", 85-87, 88, 98; childhood, 85-86; children/family, 82-88; education, 88-89, 90, 97-98; gender discrimination, 97; history, 81; karma, 86-87, 88, 98 Child Custody, 24 Childbirth: infant mortality, 5, 24, 27,99, 127-128; maternal mortality, 26 Children: abuse, 2, 4, 9, 106-7, 127, 138-39; age of majority, 16, 27, 147, 153; and poverty, 30, 55, 89-91,110; as individuals, 8, 39, 86, 87,92-95,134-37; care of, 40, 45-48, 90, 91, 101-2, 134-37; culture, 5-6, 85-8, 99, 114-15, 126-27, 134, 151; discipline, 105-6; education, 9, 27, 43, 54-55, 59, 94, 101, 117, 124,126, 146,148-49; infant mortality, 5, 26, 100; needs, 43-45, 48, 49, 82, 89, 90, 94,153; nurturing, 89-91, 103-4; overpopulation, 17, 25, 89, 90, 91, 138; parenting practices, 45, 91-92, 101, 104, 147-49;

202

Index

possessiveness, 25, 89-90, 91; responsibilities to, 17, 39, 40, 43, 105, 156-57; rights, 7, 8, 9, 46-47, 54-55, 59, 60, 82, 90-92, 94,117-18, 137-38, 142, 156; right to life, 47, 52, 60, 82, 138; symbolism, 7, 15,16, 62, 99-100 Chinese Popular Religion: adoption, 134,138; and UNCRC, 137, 139; ancestor worship, 131-32, 134; children, 134-36; education, 124,126, 128; family, 126-128, 137, 138; gender discrimination, 127, 128, 137-138 Christianity: and UNCRC, 46, 47-53; children, 31, 39, 45; family, 31, 37, 4245; family responsibilities, 37-39; history, 31, 32, 35, 36; marriage, 33-38; reproduction, 36-37, 38; tension with modern culture, 42-46 Contraception, 20, 21, 25, 26 Divorce, 18, 22, 24, 27 Education: and poverty, 59, 91,110; Baha'i, 145-49, 151,152-53,157; Buddhist monasteries, 88, 97-98; for gifted children, 97, 98; girls and women, 24, 27, 59,118, 148; right to, 20, 54-55, 57-59, 94,119, 120,148 Family planning, 18, 25, 91,93,102, 138 Family law, 14 Family, 19, 20-22, 31, 32, 37, 39, 40, 42-44, 47, 82-84, 99, 102, 117, 120, 126-28, 136-37, 147-50; breakdown, 22, 24, 42-44, 46; single parent, 22; polygamy, 22-24, 103,120 Gender discrimination, 24, 26-27, 55-57, 59, 60, 61, 65, 77, 97, 114-15, 117-18,127, 137-38 Gender selection, 60, 56, 65 Girls and Women: conditions of, 26-27, 55, 56-61, 117-18,127, 137-39, 168-69; education, 27, 54, 59, 64, 77,117-18, 138, 148; infanticide, 55, 56, 61, 127-28, 138; rights, 8,10, 24, 25-27, 147; roles, 18, 64,148-49 Hinduism: beliefs, 53, 55-56; caste system, 57-58, 77; childhood rituals, 63-72; duties, 53-54; gender discrimination, 55, 56, 59-61, 77; religious roleplaying, 75-77; religious story telling, 72-75 Homosexuality, 21 Imams, 13 India: childhood, 55, 56; discrimination, 58, 61; education, 57-59; gender discrimination, 55, 56, 59-61; literacy rates, 59; "reverse discrimination", 60,77 International Year of the Family, 23 International Conference on Population and Development, 18 Islam: alternative family lifestyles, 21-22; children, 15-17, 24, 25; cultural practices, 28, 29; divorce practices, 18, 24; gender discrimination, 24, 2628; history, 11; illegitimate children, 20, 21; inter-family marriage, 17, 19, 20; Kafala, 9, 20; legal adoption, 19-20, 29; jurisprudence, 13-15; polygamy, 18, 22-24, 27, 29; population, 11, 12; Shari'a, 12, 17-20, 22, 27, 28,29 Jesus, 7, 31, 32, 34-36, 84, 85

Index

203

Judaism: adaptability of, 119-21; and UNCRC, 117-19; children, 114-15, 11819; education, 114-15,117-18; family, 117, 120; history, 119-21; reproduction, 114 Kafala, 9, 20

Karma, 86, 87-88

Krishna, 7,62,73, 76, 85 Marriage: Baha'i, 147-50; Christianity, 33-34, 37-40; Islam, 21-22; divorce, 18, 23-24, 27; purpose of, 36-38, 60, 114, 103, 127, 148,150; polygamy, 22-24, 103,120 Muhammad, 11,15,16, 28 Overpopulation, 17, 25, 89-91 Parents: authority, 40-41,119; role, 39, 40, 43, 66-67, 86, 88; responsibilities, 19, 40, 43, 44,48, 59, 88,103-4,115-16,146, 147-50 Paternal lineage, 15,19-20, 29, 83,126 Personal Status Law, 14,15,21, 23-25,29 Population control, 25-26, 90,127, 138 Poverty, 30, 55, 89-91,110 Reproduction, 17, 25, 36-37, 38, 79, 82-84, 91,114,127, 138 Siddartha, 7, 84-85 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child: Aboriginal Perspective, 107-8, 109, 110-11; Baha'i Faith, 155-59; Buddhism, 90-91,94, 96-97; Chinese Popular Religions, 137-39; Christianity, 8, 9, 47-53; contents, 3, 24, 80, 137-39, 168-69; criticism of, 3-4, 7-8,10, 19-22, 29,47-53,137-39, 162, 165-66; history, 2-3; implementation, 2,107-9; Islam, 15,19-21, 24, 29; India, 57-61, 77; Judaism, 117-19; omissions, 22-24, 97, 98,137-38; participation rights, 3,11; protection rights, 94-95, 111; promotion rights, 3, 94,96, 97, 111, 119; ratification, 2,15; rights of girls and women, 8, 10, 24-27, 59,137-38; support for, 9, 10, 29, 46, 113, 119, 121, 137, 155-58 World Declaration for the Survival, Development and Protection of Children, 2, 17 World Summit for Children, 2, 8, 17-18