By now unless you live in a cave you have heard of Elian Gonzalez. The young Cuban boy was rescued from an inner tube off of the coast of Florida when the boat he, his mother and others where on sank.

There are many sides to this story and each one seems to think they are right and honestly I’m not 100 percent sure which one is right.

There are those who say the 6-year-old should stay in the United States because it would be wrong to return him to a communist country and that his mother died trying to save him from this way of life.

But our government does indeed return illegal aliens to their native countries. Look at the border between Mexico and Texas. Countless illegal aliens attempt to cross that border on a daily basis and if caught by the border patrol regardless of their age they are returned.

What makes this little boy different? Is it because our heart breaks to think of a mother trying to find a better life for a child and in the end giving her life to that cause? Or is it because when we see the pictures of him on the television and on every magazine cover it reminds us of the freedoms our own children enjoy?

But there is another side to Elian’s story. He has a father — a father left behind who wants his son returned. There have been no reports of this man being cruel to his son; by all accounts he appears to be a loving and kind father.

Doesn’t he have the final say in what happens to this child? After all he is the only remaining parent.

There are those who would say that he does not, because he wants to raise him in a Communist country. And maybe he is being forced to say that by his government; we have no way of knowing.

What I do know is it concerns me when groups of people think they can involve the court system and supersede the rights of parents. I’m not talking about when the parents can be proven to unstable, or unfit to parent.

I am talking about when these groups simply don’t agree with the parents’ decision on how they wish to raise their children.

Who are we to strip this man of his parental rights? The right to tuck his son in bed at night, the right to watch him grow and become an adult capable of making his own decisions? If Elian’s father were to take the risk and say, &uot;I want my son to stay in America,&uot; I would be all for having him declared a United States citizen.

But like most parents he wants him home and I would have to side with him.

Christina Hall is lifestyle editor of The Democrat. She can be reached at 446-5172, ext. 249, or by e-mail at christina.hall@natchez democrat.com.