Allan Carlson Promotes the Natural Family as an 'Idea to Fix the World' to World Leaders at 11th Annual Rhodes Meeting, World Public Forum, Dialogue of Civilizations
RHODES, Greece, Oct. 13, 2013 /Christian Newswire/ -- Dr. Allan C. Carlson, International Secretary of the World Congress of Families and President of the Howard Center for Family, Religion and Society spoke "Family Structure, Educational Liberty and Creative Genius" at the Rhodes Forum October 2-6. Dr. Carlson, one of the foremost authorities on the history of the family and the author of 14 books, presented twice during the conference including the "Family and Education Plenary" and the "Closing Plenary."
Drawing on natural family research and the writings of Russian-born American Sociologist, Pitirim Sorokin, Carlson described the current "Sensate Culture" and proposed two essential steps necessary to build a new "Idealistic Order" with the natural family at its center:
(1) "Fundamentally, marriage and the family must be restored to their place of dignity among the great values in human life, not to be trifled with."
(2) Turning to the subject of education, Dr. Carlson also used Sorokin's work, explaining that schools needed to escape from sterile attention to mere job training, "animalistic theories of man," and "degrading sensate ideologies." Instead, schools should be organized to develop attitudes of duty and altruism in the young, to imbue "true wisdom" and not intellectual fads, and to nurture "creative geniuses," in those necessary few who would guide the building of an Idealistic Culture.
Each autumn for the past decade on the historic Greek Island of Rhodes, more than 500 of the world's leading scholars, researchers, authors, business people, communicators and officeholders, from over 60 countries, have gathered to dialogue and find common ground for solving the interrelated problems of an increasingly complex world.
Sponsored by the World Public Forum and called the Dialogue of Civilizations, the conference is informally known as The Rhodes Forum. This year marked the 11th Anniversary of The Rhodes Forum, which was held October 2-6, with the theme "Age of the World Picture." For the first time this year, an entire plenary session was devoted to "Family and Education."
Discussion focused on:
- Family and education as the necessary steps to restore an idealistic culture
- The current crisis of the family (ethical, and social aspects of values, the impact of modern biotechnology)
- The anti-family values imposed on developing nations by Western elites
- The role of the natural family in the spiritual and moral education of children and young people, and the continuity of the dialogue of generation
- The purposes of education
- Character education and virtues
- Family upbringing and "Wholistic" education
The session was moderated by: (1) Natalya Yakunina, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, "Sanctity of Motherhood" Program, vice-president of St. Andrew the First-called Foundation and wife of Vladimir Yakunin, founder and president of the World Public Forum, and (2) Larry Jacobs, World Congress of Families Managing Director and Vice President of The Howard Center for Family, Religion & Society.
Many other World Congress of Families leaders and partners participated in this plenary session, including: Christine Vollmer (Venezuela), member of the WCF Management Committee, member of the Pontifical Council for the Family and President and Founder of the
Latin American Alliance for the Family (ALAFA); Theodore Baehr (USA) - Founder and Publisher, MOVIEGUIDE; Chairman, Christian Film & Television Commission; Theresa Okafor (Nigeria) - African Representative for WCF, CEO of Life League Nigeria; Director of Foundation for African Cultural Heritage (FACH); and Anatoly Antonov (Russia) – co-founder of WCF, Head of the Department of Sociology, Moscow State University, Editor-in-chief of "Population Studies" Journal.
Jacobs observed: "Much credit for the vision and success of the World Public Forum is due to the wisdom and kindness of Vladimir Yakunin, who has invested his time and resources for the betterment of world civilizations. Mr, Yakunin has founded a unique organization that transcends the typical international conflicts on global issues and brings together people of good will from East and West to dialogue, to listen, and to learn about the fundamental values and principles on which a society must be based." I do believe that Mr. Yakunin follows the advice of Sir Winston Churchill, "Every man should ask himself each day whether he is not too readily accepting negative solutions."
The main goals of the World Public Forum are to unite the efforts of the global community to protect the spiritual and cultural values of humankind and to create a space for constructive dialogue among the major civilizations of the modern world. The work of the forum is aimed at defining, developing and promoting dialogue, and introducing the spirit of cooperation and understanding into everyday life.
World Congress of Families VIII will be held in Moscow, the Kremlin, and Russia's Christ the Savior Cathedral, September 10-12, 2014. The theme is "Every Child, A Gift: Large Families, The Future of Humanity."
Click here for more information. Visit
www.worldcongress.org, for more information on the World Congress of Families. To schedule an interview with Larry Jacobs, contact Don Feder at 508-405-1337 or
don@worldcongress.org.
What is the Howard Center and World Congress of Families? The Howard Center for Family, Religion and Society (www.profam.org) is located in Rockford, Illinois and is an independent, non-profit research and education center that provides sound scholarship and effective strategies to affirm and defend the natural family, thus renewing a stable and free society. The Howard Center is the publisher of the journal, "The Family In America" and is also the organizer of the World Congress of Families (WCF) project which is an international network of pro-family organizations, scholars, leaders and inter-faith people of goodwill from more than 80 countries that seek to restore the natural family as the fundamental social unit and the 'seedbed' of civil society (as found in the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948). The WCF was founded in 1997 by Dr. Allan Carlson, President of The Howard Center. To date, there have been five World Congresses of Families – Prague (1997), Geneva (1999), Mexico City (2004), Warsaw, Poland (2007) and Amsterdam, The Netherlands (2009). World Congress of Families VI was held in Madrid, Spain in May 25-27, 2012. World Congress of Families VII was held in Sydney, Australia, May 15-18, 2013, www.wcfsydney2013.org.au. WCF VIII Moscow 2014 will be held September 10-12 in the Kremlin. www.worldcongress.ru
