Parenting Advice From Joy Berry: Yearning for Zion Ranch

The media can’t seem to get enough of the Yearning for Zion Ranch, the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, in Eldorado, Texas. Once again, People magazine devoted the cover of its March 23, 2009 edition to “The Children of the Cult.” Even Oprah has devoted many of her shows to it. And just the other day, she did a follow-up program during which Lucy Liu, one of Oprah’s special reporters, visited the compound and interviewed several of the children who had been removed from the ranch by Child Protective Services.

Oprah and Lucy both appeared to be respectful—maybe even grateful—for the open access to the children that had been granted only to them. Consequently, there were few comments, if any, regarding the responses put forth by the several robotic-like children who were selected to answer Lucy Liu’s questions.

I can sincerely understand the importance of respecting another person’s religion. I also wholeheartedly support the concept of religious freedom. Even so, I still felt compelled to crawl though the TV screen into Oprah’s studio and scream at the top of my lungs, “Doesn’t anyone get it? This is not about respecting another person’s religion. It is about protecting children’s human rights!”

According to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which was ratified in 1989 by almost every country in the world, every child on the face of the earth has the right to think his or her own thoughts and hold his or her own beliefs. Children also have the right to make their own decisions regarding their cultures and/or religions.

Since every intelligent, responsible decision requires that a person first know the available options, how can any child make valid decisions under circumstances like those at the Yearning for Zion Ranch? According to the dictionary, brainwashing is “the imposition of a belief on somebody.” Exposing children to one religion and brainwashing them to believe it is the only true religion is robbing children of their rights to believe their own beliefs and choose their own religion.

A couple of years ago, at the behest of Amnesty International and the United Nations, I wrote a book titled, Mine and Yours: Human Rights for Kids. This book teaches children about their human rights as set forth in the Convention of the Rights of the Child.

America has always been the champion of human rights for all people, no matter what their sex, race, religion, or creed. The time has come for America to assert more aggressively that age is among the protected categories. In other words, a person is entitled to human rights no matter what his or her age. This means that children must be protected from any form of brainwashing that would rob them of their human rights, and this includes the Mormon children in Eldorado, Texas.