Stand for the Family conference shines light on issues affecting the family

Stand for the Family conference shines light on issues affecting the family

(Stand for Families Worldwide)


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SANDY — A conference has been planned with the intent of encouraging citizens from around the state to take a stand for marriage, family, life, religious freedom and parental rights.

The Stand for the Family Conference, organized by Family Watch International, a nonprofit organization with consultative status at the United Nations, will bring together experts from across the United States. They will speak on a range of topics important to families, with an emphasis on protecting basic fundamental freedoms.

According to conference organizers, a major focus will be to rally citizens to protect the health and innocence of children, and to restore respect for motherhood, fatherhood and the right of parents to direct the education of their children.

“The conference will present important details about policies affecting the family at the international, national and local levels, as well as information about how those policies are affecting individual families and communities,” said Sharon Slater, FWI president.


Participants will not only learn why it is important to take a stand for the family, but how they can do that in the public arena and how they can strengthen their own marriages and families as well.

–Sharon Slater, FWI president


“Participants will not only learn why it is important to take a stand for the family, but how they can do that in the public arena and how they can strengthen their own marriages and families as well,” Slater said.

The conference, scheduled for Nov. 15 in Sandy is designed to kick off the 20th anniversary of the International Year of the Family. That designation was initially made in 1994, and the first International Conference on the Family, in conjunction with the UN, was convened in Salt Lake City in June 1995.

At that time, the UN recognized families as the “basic units of social life … crucial for its success.” A U.S. proclamation stated, “Families are fundamental to the lifeblood and strength of our world. … We must sustain and support our families so that they can continue to survive and prosper.”

“Sadly, that support for the family has been eroding over the past 20 years. It is time for concerned citizens to get informed, get organized and work together to protect our rights and our families, ” Slater said. “The family has been under attack, parental rights are being undermined, marriage and religious freedom are no longer protected.”

Most disturbing of all is the greatest threat to society, which comes from the advancement of “sexual rights” which are destroying the family, she added.

“There is a worldwide effort to sexualize children and to raise them up with sexual and gender ideologies that will prevent them from forming stable families as adults. This, combined with the trend to grant autonomous rights to the child, rights that trump the rights of parents, means that parents are losing the right to raise their children to be responsible, healthy adults.”

At the Stand for the Family conference, Slater will present details about “Defending the Family at the International, National and Local Level."

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Among the other presenters will be best-selling author Stephanie Neilson, who, with her husband, Christian, will discuss details about the plane crash they survived and how it has affected their views of parenting, and especially of motherhood.

Parenting expert Nicholeen Peck, seen on the BBC’s “The World’s Strictest Parents” series, will discuss “Family Governance and Revolutionary Parenting” and Alan Osmond of the original Osmond Brothers and his wife, Suzanne, founders of One Heart Foundation, will talk about the importance of strengthening families.

“Parents will also find answers about how to protect their families from obscenity, pornography and sex crimes, as well as how to understand and talk to their children with sensitivity and compassion about homosexuality and other issues,” said Kimberly Ells, president of Family Watch Utah.

Presenters who will be addressing those topics include: Patrick Trueman, president and CEO of Morality in the Media and former chief of the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section of the U.S. Department of Justice; Donald L. Hilton, author and “The Neuroscience of Pornography" speaker; and Floyd Godfrey, author and director of Family Strategies & Coaching, who has worked with more than 600 men, will address the topic of “Understanding Same-Sex Attraction."

Slater said the conference is designed to convey the understanding that “the family is the answer. As nations build upon the family unit, they will find root solutions to world problems.”

Beginning with the International Year of the Family kickoff event, FWI will promote the family with monthly themes throughout 2014 and will release ideas families can use each month to celebrate and help preserve the family. Whether attending the conference or not, individuals can sign up to receive FWI newsletters with the monthly themes and ideas by signing the "I Stand for the Family" petition at www.standforthefamily.com.

“It is becoming increasingly evident that all of us who care about what kind of future we will pass on to our children and grandchildren must take a stand to defend the family, the essential and fundamental unit of society. Will you stand for the family?" Slater said.

The conference will be held at the South Town Expo Center, with workshops and sessions from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. To register ($10 prior to the conference or $12 at the door) visit standforthefamilyconference.org. The site includes additional information along with a complete list and bios of each of the speakers.


Cecily Markland is a freelance writer, book editor, publicist and author of "Hope: One Mile Ahead" and the children’s book "If I Made a Bug." She owns Inglestone Publishing and produces cecilymarkland.com, a calendar of LDS events in Arizona.

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