Should children have the legal right to choose their parents

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Indiana_Jones said:
The state clearly thinks that it is in the child’s best interest (and therefore society’s best interest) for it to to stay with the people who - in the majority of cases - care for it more than other adults do.
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Okay then. Now we can have some fun.

Back to your post; surely, it is not always or automatically true or immediately evident that the biological parents have the child’s best interests at heart or can be the “best” parents. Why is it in the “child’s” best interest, if in fact the child does not want to be with a particular set of parents? Also, if the parents really want the child to be happy, is it not contradictory to keep them in a family that does not make them happy?

Also, a child in a very poor family may desire to be in a more wealthy family; and so if a wealthy family wanted the child, would it not be in the child’s best interest to have the authority to leave the poor family; perhaps for a sum of money given by the wealthy family? What about buying and selling children; a substitute for the designer baby concept?
And given the child’s lack of maturity and life experience, it is likely that the average child lacks the capability to make such a huge decision rationally. There are many things that children are deemed too immature to do, either for their good or for the good of society. This is one of those things.
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Perhaps. But then again maybe this a common assumption that is not always true. Lets assume for the sake of argument that there were a group of very intelligent children; more intelligent than your average adult. Would that rule still apply? In the future, genetic engineering might make that possible; and there are already what you might call “genius kids”.
 
sedonaman said:
If you don’t want to be convinced of something, don’t ask any questions.
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“Put on your thinking cap” is not convincing, and neither is it an engaging argument. This is a discussion that you clearly don’t want to be a part of, so why don’t you just post elsewhere?
 
Cristiano said:
First property does not have rights, and so children would not have rights.
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If children are just property, biological objects with no rights, then we can buy and sell them; correct? And given that they have no rights, moral or otherwise, there is no rational reason for any state to legally stop parents from selling their property into sex slavery; correct?

Is this your position.:rolleyes:
Second you keep making absolute statements like lack of relevance but when you are shown that that kind of relevance exists…
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I will stop you right there. You have not demonstrated the relevance that science history has to the context of this discussion. You have merely asserted that there is a connection. I tend to discriminate against red-herrings, and i won’t apologize for it.
Your last statement is another non sequitur based on an insult. Schopenhauer would be proud of that rebuttal.
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This is just another assertion that you have not demonstrated as being true.
 
MindOverMatter2 said:
“Put on your thinking cap” is not convincing, and neither is it an engaging argument. This is a discussion that you clearly don’t want to be a part of, so why don’t you just post elsewhere?
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I’m waiting for your example of a “self-evident objective moral law.”
 
MindOverMatter2 said:
…If a child does not like his or her parents, should he or she have the right to choose new parents?
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No, given that many times throughout childhood, kids don’t like their parents. It is only when they get older do they realize the treasure they have in Mom and Dad. 🙂
 
Indiana_Jones said:
The state clearly thinks that it is in the child’s best interest (and therefore society’s best interest) for it to to stay with the people who - in the majority of cases - care for it more than other adults do. And given the child’s lack of maturity and life experience, it is likely that the average child lacks the capability to make such a huge decision rationally. There are many things that children are deemed too immature to do, either for their good or for the good of society. This is one of those things.
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👍👍
 
MindOverMatter2 said:
Given the split between Church and State there is no religious authority or self-evident objective moral reason to say that the biological parents have to be the “legal” parents. If a child does not like his or her parents, should he or she have the right to choose new parents?
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It depends on the reason(s) why a child doesn’t like the parents, the age of the child and the opinions of those who know the parents and child both socially and professionally. If there is a consensus that the child has been very unhappy for reasons concerning the parents I believe the child’s wishes should be considered and granted if the circumstances cannot be changed…
 
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