The Aftermath

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. “  Isaiah 55:8

I was shocked.  Stunned.  NO WAY could America have elected Obama AGAIN!  NO! WAY!  And how will we survive four more years?  What will become of this country??

Since then I have had a little time to mull it all over.  And I have talked to other well-informed Christians who are not depressed about it all.  And I have questioned why.

What am I putting my faith in?

Was I putting my faith in Mitt Romney, that he could undo the damage that I perceive Barack Obama has done and thus save our country? 

Or was it in the Republican party?  Even though I wasn’t thrilled with Romney as a choice, I was sure that any Republican could do a better job than Obama!  After all, Republicans know what’s right.

Maybe it was in the American people.  I can sort of see the logic people had in electing Obama four years ago.  They were ready for change, and he promised to bring it.  They were willing to give him a chance.  And indeed he has brought change, but it has all been negative, in my opinion.  We’re much further in debt, prices are rising, and the future of our healthcare is at stake.  Socialism threatens to rob us of our freedom.  I believed the American people would see all that and make the logical choice: to remove Obama from office before he does any more damage.  Just vote him out, like they have done with bad presidents in the past.

Guess what?  All of these people have failed me in what I thought they should do. 

So what do I have left?

Oh yeah.  God.  The One who never fails.  The One who others I know are putting their hope in, those people who have remarkable peace about all of this.

I didn’t forget Him altogether.  I did pray daily about this election for months, believing that He would answer my prayer by putting a good Republican in office, and that would be His means of saving our country.  Of course.  It was logical.

But my way of thinking is not always God’s way of thinking.  I don’t know what His way of thinking is.  I don’t know how He can be using all of this to work all things together “for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).  But He is.  He may be using this to discipline us as a country.  Can anybody claim we don’t need  or deserve that?  Or He may be using it to protect us from something worse that we may never even know about.  Maybe it is to teach us or bring us to revival.  Or maybe all of the above.

Thankfully, God IS in control.  Thankfully He has a plan.  But He does give us a role: “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”  II Chronicles 7:14.

Our vote has been cast.  And if you’re like me, you didn’t win.  Thank goodness God is in control.  Let’s bow before Him and plead with Him to heal our broken land.

The Death of Osama

Okay, I confess. The first thing that popped into my mind when I heard the news was the Wizard of Oz song: "Ding, dong, the witch is dead." Of course I had to change the words a little.

When I got on Facebook and saw my friends' thoughts about it, it made me think some more. It was interesting, really. Their responses were extremely varied, not really following the political or faith lines that I usually see. Many have had changing thoughts as the day has worn on.

Some, of course, rejoiced (even some liberals who have always opposed the war). Others lamented that he was in hell. A couple quoted Ezekiel 18:23: "Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord GOD, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live?"

Another, rather amusing, quote I saw was from Mark Twain: "I have never wished a man dead, but I have read some obituaries with great pleasure."

Interestingly, a couple speculated that he either wasn't really dead or that he died some time ago and for some reason they government didn't want us to know. After all, it is suspicious that they "buried him at sea" before they even told us he was dead. Also, it takes longer than few hours to get the results back from a DNA test, which they claim to have already done.

Time will tell. Or maybe it won't.

I don't know how I feel about it. I have mixed feelings, I guess.

The best quote I saw all day, was this one:

"There is only one death that brought the world peace, and we celebrated that last week."

Ultimately, Jesus is the One we need to put our hope in, not in the death of a man, evil though he was, or anything else.

He is the Prince of Peace.

National Day of Prayer

I just heard the news that the National Day of Prayer has been ruled unconstitutional. That is utterly ludicrous! How in the world can anyone object to it???

No one is being forced to pray. If other religions want to hold days in honor of their religion, it doesn't offend me. They're not forcing me to participate. I think that's where we have crossed the line to absurd in this country. Now it's not enough for atheists to not be forced to participate in events honoring God; they don't want anyone to be able to acknowledge Him. AND THEY ARE SUCCEEDING! At least on a federal level. They will never be able to stop me personally, but it is tragic that we can no longer be free to acknowledge God and honor Him as a country.

I would encourage you to pray more than ever for this nation. I believe God has historically blessed us and made us great because we are a country founded on His principles. What will happen when we turn our backs on Him? What kind of country will our children and grandchildren grow up in? I believe it is up to us as Christians to stand up now for what is right and make our voices heard loud and clear. And to pray. May we always be one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

It's Now or Never

Dear Representative Cooper,

I am writing to urge you to vote AGAINST the healthcare bill that is coming up in the next few days. This bill would force those of us who believe abortion is a crime against children and against God to pay for others to have them. It is bad enough that our country allows such a heinous thing as abortion to be legal, but to force our God-fearing citizens to pay for them is beyond reprehensible. This country was founded for the sake of freedom, and I believe this bill, if passed, will take away many of the freedoms that our founding fathers worked for and our soldiers died for through the years. Again, as a voter in your district, I plead with you to vote AGAINST this bill.

Sincerely,

I urge you to write a similar letter to your Representative . The vote will be coming up in the next few days and could be life-changing. You can go here to write your Representative, or here to find out information about how to call them. And please pray! We are at a crossroads in our country's history, and these next few days are vital!

For the People

"It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth." (from Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address)

Yesterday was a big day. The people of Massachusetts elected a Republican senator to replace the recently deceased Ted Kennedy. This was significant for a number of reasons. One is that Massachusetts is possibly the most liberal state in the union. Since 1973, every person they have sent to Congress have been Democrats. It was significant because special elections usually have a low turnout, and this one huge, in spite of bad weather. It wasn't just a small victory either: he won by a 52-47% majority.

But the biggest reason it was significant is that it will break the Democratic party's 60-vote, filibuster-proof majority in the U.S. Senate, posing a big problem for Obama's healthcare plan and other bills he is currently trying to push through Congress.

The people have spoken. They don't like his agenda, which is really more socialist than liberal. And if this ultra-liberal state (the only state which gets to speak in the form of an election right now) doesn't like it, that makes it pretty clear how the majority of the country feels.

Still, in the news today I read that Obama and Congress are plotting ways they can shove the healthcare plan through anyway.

Is this a government "of the people, by the people and for the people"? It doesn't sound like it to me at all. It sounds like our leaders want power. They want their own agenda, not that of the people they represent.

I only hope they will reconsider. I have written my congressmen multiple times to make my voice heard (incidentally I am proud that both of our Senators from Tennessee voted against the healthcare plan, though my Represenative voted for it). I pray that God will remove or change the heart of any our leaders who are in their positions for the wrong reasons. And I pray that He will have mercy on us all.

Guarding My Tongue

"He who guards his mouth and his tongue keeps himself from calamity." Proverbs 21:23

Harry Reid's comment wasn't nice. And it came back to haunt him. Will he be forced to resign? Probably not. Liberals rarely are.

But I have to say this. Yes, I believe his comment was wrong, and no, I really don't agree with much of anything he says or does, but in some ways, I feel sorry for him.

If the press stood waiting for me to make a slip of the tongue, I would be in trouble in no time flat. Big trouble. I am glad this doesn't happen, but that doesn't mean I don't often hurt those around me with the rude and insensitive remarks I sometimes make.

One thing I want to really work on this year is controlling my tongue. I would love to say I never criticize, insult, judge or belittle others with it, but that just wouldn't be true. I pray though, that with God's help, my tongue can be used for His glory, and not only will I not have to worry about what the press would have to say about me (if they cared), but I won't need to worry what God would say to me, because He does care.

Standing for What We Believe

Recently a group of prominent Christian leaders got together and wrote what has come to be called "The Manhattan Declaration." It is summarized as follows:

Christians, when they have lived up to the highest ideals of their faith, have defended the weak and vulnerable and worked tirelessly to protect and strengthen vital institutions of civil society, beginning with the family.

We are Orthodox, Catholic, and evangelical Christians who have united at this hour to reaffirm fundamental truths about justice and the common good, and to call upon our fellow citizens, believers and non-believers alike, to join us in defending them. These truths are:

1.the sanctity of human life
2.the dignity of marriage as the conjugal union of husband and wife
3.the rights of conscience and religious liberty.

Inasmuch as these truths are foundational to human dignity and the well-being of society, they are inviolable and non-negotiable. Because they are increasingly under assault from powerful forces in our culture, we are compelled today to speak out forcefully in their defense, and to commit ourselves to honoring them fully no matter what pressures are brought upon us and our institutions to abandon or compromise them. We make this commitment not as partisans of any political group but as followers of Jesus Christ, the crucified and risen Lord, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

They are calling on Christians and those who hold to Christian values across the country to sign this declaration. You can read it in its entirety and sign it here: http://manhattandeclaration.org/.

It has been signed by many prominent Christian leaders such as James Dobson, Tim Keller, Kay Arthur and Chuck Colson. At the time I signed it, nearly 70,000 had already done so, and it is growing by the minute. Hopefully if enough people sign it, it will get the attention of our leaders and of those who would try to convince us that these values are outdated. Hopefully we will make a statement that there are still a lot of us out here that hold to these truths that have stood the test of time throughout history.

Are They Serious?

I apologize in advance. I try not to put people down on my blog, but I am in disbelief right now. Barack Obama has won a Nobel Peace Prize?

WHY??

According to this article: http://www.wsmv.com/politics/21248290/detail.html,

The new president was hailed for his willingness to reach out to the Islamic world, his commitment to curtailing the spread of nuclear weapons and his goal of bringing the Israelis and Palestinians into serious, fruitful negotiations.

So basically, nothing has been accomplished. The prize is based on his potential accomplishments. His election, as far as I can tell, was similarly based, and so far, as well as I can tell, all he has done is drive our country deeper into debt, weaken our military and threaten our freedom. What's more, the deadline for the nominations for this prize was only days after he first took office.

I appreciate that he is the first black president. I really do. I would have been happy to vote for a black man IF I THOUGHT HE WAS QUALIFIED FOR THE JOB. I would like to affirm that his color has nothing to do with how I feel about all this, except that I think some people are so enamored with the fact that he is black, that they are overlooking everything else.

Enough said.

A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing?

"Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?" Matthew 7:15-16

I'm sorry for those of you who are bored with my blog. This is my third one in a row about politics, which I try not to do, but that's what's been on my mind lately.

There has been so much outrage about the President's speech to school children for the past several days, and then it was, as a friend put it, innocuous. Hardly objectionable. Even those who spoke out against him doing it are admitting that it was a good speech.

It was a good speech. There was truth in it. But knowing our president's history and his associations, I find it hard to believe there's not some underlying motive, maybe to get everyone's guard down so he can take a few extra liberties next time.

But I'm trying to be optimistic. I'm trying to try to believe that all the outrage forced him to tone it down. That our voices are being heard in Washington. And that for the same reason Van Jones, the President's czar who was a self-declared Communist, resigned this weekend. I want to believe that our prayers are being answered and God is having mercy on us, holding back the power of those who might not have our country's best interests at heart. I hope I'm right. But I'm not letting down my guard, because even though God wants us to trust Him, He also tells to watch out.

Healthcare

“No one should have to die because they can’t afford healthcare. . . If you agree with this, make it your status for the rest of the day.” This has been going around Facebook for a few days now.

A nice concept, no doubt. Who could disagree?

I wish it were that simple. I wish someone could push a magic button, and we’d all have affordable healthcare. I wish Don and I didn’t have to pay $500+ a month for our healthcare insurance. This is in addition to his employer paying a big chunk of it. And we’re healthy, low-risk people who have only used it a handful of times in recent years.

And what constitutes "can't afford"? We can't afford it either. We would much rather spend that $500 per month on something more tangible. But at least we know we have healthcare if we need it. The one thing we would NOT rather spend that money on is higher taxes, and then only hope we would have healthcare if we needed it.

I don’t think government-sponsored healthcare for is the answer. We can look at any country that has tried this system and clearly see that it is far from flawless. People have to wait in line for months or years to have time-sensitive procedures done. The government prioritizes who receives healthcare based on their own standards, so if you are old, handicapped or terminally ill, you may well not be considered worthy of healthcare at all. If you are overweight, a smoker, or given to some other bad habit, they may decide you don’t deserve any medical care because you brought your problems on yourself.

So what is the solution? There isn’t an easy one, but here are some factors I believe should be considered. I don’t claim to have expertise in this field, but I consider these to be common sense approaches:

1) Too many doctor visits. Most healthcare plans today cover any doctor visits with only a co-pay. This encourages people to run to the doctor or even the emergency room for every sneeze or sniffle, bump or bruise, things that will probably go away on their own given a little time. If people had to pay full price for their doctor visits, they would probably reconsider going there so often.

2) Too many drugs. Again, most plans cover drugs for a small co-pay. Taking drugs is popular. People expect their doctors to give them a prescription. Drugs are advertised. In the old days, if we had symptoms, we went to the doctor, who gave us a prescription if he thought we needed it. Now, we see an advertisement for a drug, decide we need it, and then find a doctor who will prescribe it to us. We as a country are taking a massive amount of drugs, many of which we don’t need.

3) Too much junk food. I have to confess: I am guilty of this one. Our society promotes it. Every form of media is packed with advertising pushing people to eat fast food and processed foods and drink soft drinks that are not the foods our bodies were created to use as fuel. The short-term results are often obesity and lack of energy, but the long-term results, I believe, are cancer, diabetes, strokes, heart problems and other major health issues that cost a fortune to treat.

4) Focusing on treatments rather than prevention. Referring to #2 above, most drugs treat symptoms; they are not cures. Many of them include side-effects, known or unknown, that will cause us far greater long-term health problems than the drug will resolve in the short-term.

Referring to #3, I believe if our society were educated on just how bad these foods are for our long-term health, it would make a significant impact. The junk-food industry is huge in this country.

If the government is going to be involved at all, it should be involved in regulating the advertising and other industries that are harmful to our health and possibly educating people on how to eat healthier, and the importance of exercise and otherwise taking care of themselves. But I'm not even sure I trust their judgment there.

5) Treating illegal immigrants. I don’t believe that non-Americans are less worthy of treatment than Americans, but if someone is not here legally, not paying taxes, and unwilling or unable to pay for even a portion of their treatment, this is a huge drain on our healthcare system. Those of us who are paying for healthcare end up paying their bills through higher insurance and treatment costs. Illegal immigration is a problem the government could work on, if they are looking for something to do.

6) Malpractice suits. While I believe that doctors and healthcare professionals should be held accountable to do their best, I think malpractice suits are out of control. Doctors who make honest mistakes or who may not have made the best possible call in a profession that is still a science are being sued for huge amounts of money, much of which is collected by attorneys. As a result, doctors are forced to recommend far more treatment than is generally necessary, just to cover all their bases. This, of course, costs hospitals and insurance companies more money, which we eventually end up covering the cost of.

So there you have it: my two cents. While I don’t offer specific solutions, I think we need to start over with re-vamping the system and look at some different factors. I think people need to take responsiblity for themselves. I truly do not believe the government needs to be involved in this system, but if changes were made from the ground up, we might be able to make healthcare more affordable for everyone.

Rodica

About 20 years ago, when I was newly out of college, I lived for a short time with a roommate named Rodica, who had recently come to the United States from Romania. She was living out her dream, coming to the “land of the free,” something she had desperately wanted to do her entire life.

I was young and had no concept of a life so different from mine. She was bitter and hardened. She told me stories of standing in line all day long for a piece of bread, and when she finally got to the front of the line, they had run out.

Our washer and dryer were a novelty to her. I had to get after her several times for washing one garment at a time. She had no concept of how to match clothing. Apparently she had always worn what she could find, with no concern for whether or not it matched.

She didn’t know how to drive a car. It was nothing to her to walk several miles to the grocery store on a hot day. She had never tasted ice cream. It was such a wonderful thing that she didn’t mind that it was basically “soup” by the time she got back from her walk to the grocery store.

I could go on about this unique experience I had. But my point is this: she grew up in a Communist country. She had never known the freedoms or the “luxuries” we in America basically consider everyday essentials. She had never gotten to choose the job she wanted, the food she would eat (if she got to eat at all) or the clothes she would wear. Communism is an ugly thing.

That's all I'm going to say. Except "don't ignore what's going on in our country right now." Pay attention to our leaders and their agendas. And their "czars." And pray. Every day. For God's mercy on us.

In God We Trust

MSNBC is conducting a poll on whether "In God We Trust" should be removed from U.S. currency.

I don't even need to comment on how I feel about this, though I will say that I am somewhat encouraged that, at the time I am writing this, 88% have voted "No." I am discouraged that 12% have voted "Yes."

I would encourage you to vote in this poll if you haven't already, by clicking here.

A Defiled Nation

I’ve been working my way through the book of Leviticus. While it’s not exactly a favorite of too many Bible-readers, it does reveal to us how far we stray from God’s holy standard, how much in need we are of Jesus as our Savior.

I found an interesting tidbit today, in light of the homosexual marriage debate that’s going on in our country:

"'Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable. . . "'Do not defile yourselves in any of these ways, because this is how the nations that I am going to drive out before you became defiled. Even the land was defiled; so I punished it for its sin, and the land vomited out its inhabitants. But you must keep my decrees and my laws. The native-born and the aliens living among you must not do any of these detestable things, for all these things were done by the people who lived in the land before you, and the land became defiled. And if you defile the land, it will vomit you out as it vomited out the nations that were before you. Leviticus 18:22, 24-28

There are those who would argue that homosexual marriage doesn’t affect those of us who don’t participate in it. But it seems from this passage that God has other ideas. Such activity defiles the land, and if we defile the land, it will vomit us out.

God is slow to anger, but I believe if we continue in this lifestyle, His wrath is coming. I would urge you, my fellow Christians, to do whatever you can to help defeat these amendments that are passing that allow gay marriage in individual states. God isn’t kidding.

This is Wrong!

On February 25, 1975, something happened in my neighborhood that changed Nashville, and me, forever. A nine-year-old girl was taken from near her home, raped, murdered and her body hidden in a neighbor’s garage.

For over a month, Nashville searched for her. Every day, even as an eight-year-old child, I eagerly read the newspapers to see if there was any news as to her whereabouts.

I remember that Easter Sunday after she disappeared, coming home from church and seeing a commotion just down the street from my home. My dad drove toward it, and my mom rolled down the window and asked a man standing there what had happened. "They found the little Trimble girl," he said. When my mom asked him if she was alive, he shook his head grimly.

I didn’t realize at the time how much this affected me. If something like that could happen to a little girl near my own age, in my own neighborhood, what was to keep it from happening to me? I was afraid to play outside, go get the mail or even go upstairs alone to my bedroom at night. My parents, of course, lived with this fear too. I lost the innocence of believing that I would always be safe and protected. To this day, I am a very fearful person.

I wasn’t the only one affected by all this. There were other children and parents who lived right on her street, who knew her well, who played with her after school and even on the day it happened. Their lives would never be the same. Teenage boys in the area became suspects, particularly one named Jeffrey Womack, who I knew personally. He remained their #1 suspect for over thirty years. One can imagine how this affected his life, his ability to relate to others or find a job, when he was constantly being tied to this well-publicized case. The biggest problem was that his DNA did not match the DNA found on Marcia Trimble’s body. This fact was concealed for many years.

All this is nothing compared to what her family went through. Losing a daughter they loved and protected, not knowing what happened to her, and then finding out the worst. They would never again tell her good night, attend her high school graduation, her wedding, or hold the grandchildren they may have had. They endured the added trauma of being accused by some of being involved in the crime. Her father turned to alcohol for comfort. Her parents later divorced, and her father died shortly afterward. Marcia had a brother who was, no doubt, also deeply wounded by it all.

And let’s not forget Marcia herself, the pain and fear she must have endured in the last moments of her life, and then having all her hopes and dreams for life stolen from her before she even reached her teenage years. Because of what someone did to her. For sport, apparently.

I may sound angry. I am. This was a case that affected me deeply, and yesterday it all came up again when I saw this article.

In 2007 Jerome Barrett was arrested for the rape and murder of a college student in the area just prior to Marcia’s disappearance. When they took DNA samples from him for that case, they also compared them to the DNA found on Marcia’s body. After 32 long years, they had a match.

Now Barrett’s attorney thinks this evidence should be thrown out because there was some misleading language in the search warrant when they took his DNA. TOO BAD! If this man is truly innocent, that’s one thing, but if he indeed committed this heinous crime, he needs to be punished accordingly, regardless of any small mistakes investigators may have made.

When O.J. Simpson walked away from his murder trial a free man, I lost faith in the justice system of our country. It seems we have turned to ignoring the rights of victims and giving them all to the criminals. Rapists, murderers and others who have committed horrible crimes have gone free because of some small technicality. Meanwhile, the victims or their surviving families are left to helplessly wonder why there is no justice for them. What is wrong with this picture?

The judge hasn’t ruled yet in this case, but if he chooses to throw out this important piece of evidence against Barrett (now in prison for murdering the college student) on this technicality, I believe he will have a lot of Nashvillians to answer to.

Our Judeo-Christian Nation

I recently watched the movie "The Sound of Music." I have seen it many times in my life, though it has been 2 or 3 years or more since I last saw it.

I related to it in a different way this time. One of its main characters, the Captain, is fighting throughout the movie to keep his beloved homeland, Austria, from being taken over by the Nazis, though he knows he is fighting a losing battle. At the end he and his family escape the country after he is told he must report for military duty to fight for this cause which he detests.
I related to it because I believe that we, too, are watching the nation we know and love slip out of our hands.

I recently saw this video of a speech in the U.S. House of Representatives made by Randy Forbes, a Representative from Virginia. He is disputing a statement that President Obama made publicly that we are no longer a Judeo-Christian nation. It is just over four minutes long, but I believe it is worth watching.



I would encourage you to pray more than ever for our nation. I believe that we WERE founded on God’s principles, and He is the one Who made us great. To turn our backs on that history is to deny God’s power and His blessing on our country. We are at a crucial point in our nation’s history where, I believe, if we don’t fight for what we have, we may well stand to lose it.

Libertarianism

For the second time recently, after listening to me rant, someone told me that I sounded like a libertarian. Then I went home and took a quiz on Facebook which said that’s what I was.

I wasn’t even sure exactly what libertarians believed, so I did a web search. I found this page, which explains it pretty well. It basically amounts to wanting a very small government where people live by their own standards.

I thought this through and discussed it with Don. It seems that this was more or less the way our country was run from its inception until around the 1960’s, when moral relativism set in. Since then, Scripture-based moral values and common sense have increasingly gone out the door.

I don’t think that with that background, libertarianism would work in this society. What we now have is a government that is making more and more laws, and which we are depending on more and more in the form of police protection, lawsuits, etc., to protect us from others who don’t have the same sense of morality that we have.

So, I guess a libertarian society is my ideal, but I don’t think it’s realistic at this point in history. I would like to think that revival will come and we could return to that way of government and life, but as long as there is no common set of morals in our society, I just don’t think it’s an option.

I certainly don’t think our current form of government is working either, so what it basically amounts to, in my opinion, is that spiritual revival will be vital in the very near future if our country is going to have any hope of continuing to be great.

Stupid

"Stupid is not a nice word. Don’t say it." "Don’t call your brother stupid." These things have been instilled in me since childhood.

I heard someone use it the other day. My first thought was, "that’s not a nice word," but the way they were using it was very appropriate.

A lot of things are stupid. People thinking they can define marriage as being anything other than what God created it to be. People thinking they can decide when human life begins so they can justify murder. People being offended by any mention of God or prayer when they are living in a country that was founded on Christian principles. Refusing to teach kids about abstinence but instead offering them birth control, abortions, venereal disease treatment and drugs for depression. High school teachers being penalized for even mentioning the fact that the theory of evolution has many holes in it. Having more concern for criminals and terrorists than for their victims.

What happened to common sense? It seems we have lost it entirely. Maybe if we weren’t so concerned about being politically correct, we could step back and look at all the stupid behavior that is going on in our country and call it what it is!

Red Envelope Day

Here’s a way you can make your voice heard if you, like me, think abortion is a heinous crime and needs to be stopped.

On March 31, 2009, millions of people across the country are going to send red envelopes to Barack Obama in protest of abortion. If you want to be a part of it, here’s what you do:

Get a red envelope. (I’ve had trouble finding them, but I am told you can buy them at Kinkos or party supply stores.)

On the front, address it to:

President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington , D.C. 20500

On the back, write the following message:

This envelope represents one child who died because of an abortion. It is empty because the life that was taken is now unable to be a part of our world.

Mail it on March 31, 2009.

For more information, go to http://www.redenvelopeday.com.

The Hope Chest

I finished this book, by Karen Schwabach, recently. It is written primarily for children or young teens, but I often read children’s books, particularly historical fiction, because they bring things down to my level.

I found this book interesting for several reasons. It was set in Nashville in August of 1920. The main character was a 12-year-old girl who came to Nashville to find her older sister who was there campaigning for women’s right to vote.

I had no recollection of learning this in history, but following the work of Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and others in the second half of the 19th Century, Congress proposed the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution on June 4, 1919, which would give women the right to vote. It had to be ratified by thirty-six of the then forty-eight states in order to become law. By the time this book was set, thirty-five states had approved it, and suffragists considered Tennessee to be their best shot for a thirty-sixth. A rally took place in Nashville where both suffragists and "antis" tried to persuade the state House and Senate to vote their way. The suffragists had an easy victory in the Senate, so it was up to the House. Everyone knew the vote would be close, and history tells us that it came down to a young House member named Harry Burn who was persuaded to vote in favor of suffrage by his widowed mother.

A few days later, the Amendment became a part of the U.S. Constitution.

The historical aspect of all of this was interesting to me because I had no idea it all took place in my own hometown. The book helped me see "feminists" in a slightly different light. I would certainly not consider myself to be one, but those women who worked so hard to get this right that I take for granted were considered feminists in their own time. I was also surprised by how poorly black people were treated during this era.

The more I study history, the more I realize how many things we take for granted that our predecessors had to fight for. It makes me wonder what the history books will say about our generation. The changes that are taking place in our country seem negative to me right now, but I can only hope and pray that we are just going through "growing pains," and that those who come after us will somehow be positively impacted by it all.

The Cost of Political Correctness

"He who refuses to study the past is destined to live it again." This was quoted to me by a history teacher in high school. I scoffed at it -- I didn’t enjoy history at the time -- but I never forgot it. And the longer I live, the more I see for myself that it is true.

Don and I watched the movie Song of the South (best known for the song "Zip-a-dee-doo-dah") last night, which someone loaned me. I didn’t ask questions. The movie has never been released for home viewing in the United States, so I knew I had a rare treasure on my hands.

Why has it never been released? Disney does have some quirks about what they release and when, but the word is that the racial issues in the movie are now considered politically incorrect.

The movie never states exactly when it is set, but it was apparently around the time of the Civil War. It depicts black people (now called "African Americans") as slaves, or possibly recently-released slaves who chose to stay on with their owner, who seems for the most part to show them kindness. They speak in a dialect that is rarely heard today and are basically subservient to the white people in the movie.

One of the main characters, a black man named Uncle Remus, develops a close bond with the children in the film, both white and black, captivating them with his stories, teaching them to laugh and be happy in spite of their circumstances, and to stand up for themselves. He eventually helps to save a white boy’s life, and is a hero when the story ends. The film was released in 1946, and at that time it was not considered controversial.

So why is it so controversial now? Our society seemingly can’t accept this movie now because it depicts black people as slaves. Though it may seem harsh, the truth is, slavery REALLY HAPPENED. The movie is fictionalized, but, as far as I can tell, historically accurate, though some may object that it glosses over the horrific aspects of slavery.

Are we denying the past in favor of political correctness? Do we not want our children to know what happened in the history of our country: how a race of people was wrongly treated, and what it took to correct the problem? This movie doesn’t directly depict all of this, but I believe that’s the essence of why it hasn’t been released.

Perhaps if we had studied that time in our history more closely, we would have been kept from making a mistake which, in my way of thinking, has many similarities to slavery: the legalization of abortion. Once again, we are regarding a group of people as less than human, treating them in heinous ways because we find it necessary to support our own way of life. I believe that somewhere in everyone’s heart they know this is wrong, but they are more afraid of losing their freedom than they are of having to answer to God.

It took some of the darkest days in our nation’s history to end slavery. A country divided, a horrible war fought in which over 1,000,000 soldiers were either killed or maimed. Many people lost all they had. Freed slaves found themselves without shelter or food. A president was assassinated. The country, though legally united afterward, still felt a huge rift for many years to come. I believe that even now, nearly 150 years later, we are still suffering the consequences of all this in some ways.

Will it take something so horrible to end abortion as well? What about all the other things going on in our country today that ignore God’s commandments?

I believe the breach between those who stand for what is right and those who stand for what is wrong is growing greater and greater. I don’t think it’s something that’s just going to work itself out. I hope and pray that it won’t take another civil war or something worse to bring our country back around to what it should be, that we will learn from history before it has to repeat itself. May God have mercy on us all.