Between the September 21st People's Climate March in New York City and today's United Nations Climate Summit, climate and sustainability are receiving much-needed attention. An upcoming conference in New York will also talk about sustainable development, but in a very different way.
The Political Network for Values will host the 2014 Transatlantic Summit on December 5th in New York City. The theme of the summit is "Strengthening the Family for Sustainable Development: How Far Could We Get?". According to the summit program, policy-makers from three continents will gather at UN headquarters "to recognize and strengthen the role of the family as a driver for sustainable development." The Political Network for Values website lists several right-wing organizations among its sponsors, including C-FAM, the National Organization for Marriage, Alliance Defending Freedom, and the World Congress of Families.
Former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum, whose reputation precedes him, is scheduled to speak at the gathering. Much to my amusement, the program describes him as a "candidate for the Republican nomination for President of the United States", which might be a tad hasty. Conservative Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia will be a special guest at the summit's reception dinner.
Also scheduled to speak is Robert P. George, a professor of jurisprudence at Princeton University, author of Conscience and Its Enemies: Confronting the Dogmas of Liberal Secularism, and co-author of What Is Marriage? Man and Woman: A Defense. George is the chairman emeritus for the National Organization for Marriage.
Scheduled speakers also include Oscar Iván Zuluaga, the opposition candidate in Colombia's 2014 presidential election whose campaign was plagued by hacking accusations, according to Al Jazeera. Also on the program is Zoltán Balog, the Hungarian Minister for Human Resources whose recent comments about Roma deportations during Holocaust ignited controversy, according to the Budapest Beacon. Jaime Mayor Oreja, a Spanish politician who has vocally championed "Christian values" and who called abortion rights an "aberration", will receive the Family and Truth award from the World Congress of Families.
The theme of the December summit -- family and sustainable development -- could make for surreal listening. Given the vision of family promoted by many of the conference sponsors -- married, heterosexual, and childbearing -- I expect the Transatlantic Summit to define family very narrowly. Furthermore, given how some of the sponsors view overpopulation and contraception, I doubt that the conference will promote family planning and other fertility reduction measures as a means of addressing population growth. This troubles me, given that rapid population growth is associated with adverse economic and environmental consequences, making family planning and reproductive rights vital for sustainable development. When December arrives, we'll have the opportunity to learn more about the summit's goals.
(Hat tip to Human Rights Campaign.)
He's still alive? (j/k)
ReplyDeleteBut seriously, although I should be used to it by now it still blows my mind that people who are so blatantly ignorant and wrong are still given a platform. Blows my mind.
Agi Tater -- Oh, they're adept at finding like-minded people and creating platforms for themselves.
Deleteseriously it must be hard being him...imagine it, if only for a brief second before you get nauseaus. See? You can pity him now..
ReplyDeleteSherry -- His life could be so much fuller if he'd step outside of his right-wing bubble.
DeleteWill they be showing the conference on the Comedy Channel?
ReplyDeleteJono -- Maybe they should! :D
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