Who should raise kids?

I saw a video ad on Facebook of MSNBC host Melissa Harris-Perry giving her view of who is responsible for children. 

She says in this video, “We have never invested as much in public education as we should have because we’ve always had a private notion of children, your kid is yours and totally your responsibility. We haven’t had a very collective notion these are our children. So part of it is we have to break through our kind of private idea that kids belong to their parents or kids belong to their families and recognize that kids belong to whole communities. Once it’s everybody’s responsibility and not just the household’s then we start making better investments.”

I find this very unsettling. I know that this is wrong. God gave the parents responsibility to raise the children that he gifted them. There is a time and place where families need help, and that’s were churches and communities—not the government—should step in. 

What also struck me was that this entire ad is based on the premise and assumption that the community can collectively raise the children. This is false. The community cannot raise a child because the community doesn’t collectively believe in the best way to raise a child. Different parties in the government disagree on this. Different states disagree. Families in communities disagree. Even, members in families disagree. How, then, does she expect communities to raise up children, unless one belief system is placed at the forefront and only that one is taught. 

After watching other videos and reading other articles from Melissa Harris-Perry, I am certain that the way that she would suggest would go against God’s way. 

I am a child who was raised by parents and taught to follow God by them and my church family. If the government thinks they can top what godly parents and churches can accomplish in kids’ lives, they’re wrong. The government cannot function ideally when you take God out of it. It just will not work.