Life on the Road

As summarized by the folks over at AUL, the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) would basically reverse every gain that has been made in the right to life for unborn babies for the past 35 years - such as, for example, a pregnant teenage girl having to tell her parents before getting an abortion, and preventing partial-birth abortions.

But FOCA would do much more than that: it would allow the use of our tax money for doing abortions!

Essentially, it would codify and enshrine a so-called ‘right’ to kill the unborn, even for no reason at all, and to use our tax money to do it.
 
FOCA is about to be passed by Congress, and the President-elect has already promised to sign it into law. In fact, he’s said it’s the first thing that he would do as president (video of the speech on the Fight FOCA site, links above and below).
 
In this link you will find a petition to try to stop FOCA from becoming law. I urge you to sign it and to pass it on to as many people as possible: 

http://www.fightfoca.com/

Beyond that, please write to your Congressperson urging him or her to oppose FOCA. You can let them know that you do not want to be coerced into paying for abortions by using your hard-earned tax money.

If private individuals want abortions, let that be on their conscience, but let not the Congress or the President coerce us into participating in what is already the largest genocide of all human history: 50 million abortions, in the U.S. alone.
 
Also, here is a suggested prayer that really resonates with me:

“May our President-elect come to realize that the life of the unborn is worth as much as his own life, we pray to the Lord.”

I like this Open Letter to Senator Obama that they put together, too. 

Here’s some more reading on FOCA, from the Catholic viewpoint:

U.S. Bishops’ Post Election Statement

Freedom of Choice Act
would coerce Americans to subsidize abortions with tax dollars,
counteract efforts to reduce abortions in our country

Cardinal Francis George of Chicago, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), issued the following November 12 statement at the end of the U.S. bishops’ annual fall assembly
 
“If the Lord does not build the house, in vain do its builders labor; if the Lord does not watch over the city, in vain does the watchman keep vigil.” (Psalm 127, vs. 1)

The Bishops of the Catholic Church in the United States welcome this moment of historic transition and look forward to working with President-elect Obama and the members of the new Congress for the common good of all. Because of the Church’s history and the scope of her ministries in this country, we want to continue our work for economic justice and opportunity for all; our efforts to reform laws around immigration and the situation of the undocumented; our provision of better education and adequate health care for all, especially for women and children; our desire to safeguard religious freedom and foster peace at home and abroad. The Church is intent on doing good and will continue to cooperate gladly with the government and all others working for these goods.

The fundamental good is life itself, a gift from God and our parents. A good state protects the lives of all. Legal protection for those members of the human family waiting to be born in this country was removed when the Supreme Court decided Roe vs. Wade in 1973. This was bad law. The danger the Bishops see at this moment is that a bad court decision will be enshrined in bad legislation that is more radical than the 1973 Supreme Court decision itself.

In the last Congress, a Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) was introduced that would, if brought forward in the same form today, outlaw any “interference” in providing abortion at will. It would deprive the American people in all fifty states of the freedom they now have to enact modest restraints and regulations on the abortion industry. FOCA would coerce all Americans into subsidizing and promoting abortion with their tax dollars. It would counteract any and all sincere efforts by government and others of good will to reduce the number of abortions in our country.

Parental notification and informed consent precautions would be outlawed, as would be laws banning procedures such as partial-birth abortion and protecting infants born alive after a failed abortion. Abortion clinics would be deregulated. The Hyde Amendment restricting the federal funding of abortions would be abrogated. FOCA would have lethal consequences for prenatal human life.

FOCA would have an equally destructive effect on the freedom of conscience of doctors, nurses and health care workers whose personal convictions do not permit them to cooperate in the private killing of unborn children. It would threaten Catholic health care institutions and Catholic Charities. It would be an evil law that would further divide our country, and the Church should be intent on opposing evil.

On this issue, the legal protection of the unborn, the bishops are of one mind with Catholics and others of good will. They are also pastors who have listened to women whose lives have been diminished because they believed they had no choice but to abort a baby. Abortion is a medical procedure that kills, and the psychological and spiritual consequences are written in the sorrow and depression of many women and men. The bishops are single-minded because they are, first of all, single-hearted.

The recent election was principally decided out of concern for the economy, for the loss of jobs and homes and financial security for families, here and around the world. If the election is misinterpreted ideologically as a referendum on abortion, the unity desired by President-elect Obama and all Americans at this moment of crisis will be impossible to achieve. Abortion kills not only unborn children; it destroys constitutional order and the common good, which is assured only when the life of every human being is legally protected. Aggressively pro-abortion policies, legislation and executive orders will permanently alienate tens of millions of Americans, and would be seen by many as an attack on the free exercise of their religion.

This statement is written at the request and direction of all the Bishops, who also want to thank all those in politics who work with good will to protect the lives of the most vulnerable among us. Those in public life do so, sometimes, at the cost of great sacrifice to themselves and their families; and we are grateful. We express again our great desire to work with all those who cherish the common good of our nation. The common good is not the sum total of individual desires and interests; it is achieved in the working out of a common life based upon good reason and good will for all.

Our prayers accompany President-elect Obama and his family and those who are cooperating with him to assure a smooth transition in government. Many issues demand immediate attention on the part of our elected “watchman.” (Psalm 127) May God bless him and our country.

Visit Miss Jocelyn’s blog, A Pondering Heart, and you’ll be treated to the thoughts of a mature young Christian woman.

Click the graphic above to go directly to the post with a drawing for a $25 Gift Certificate to Christa Taylor’s modest clothing website.

Please mention that tiffanyblitz referred you when you leave your comment/entry! 

After my last post, one “voice of reason” liberal email pal tried to “remind” me that the Right to Life was just one issue of many vital ones we need to consider in this election.

I firmly disagree! 

Who cares if the economy gets better, or I get a tax break, or health care is “reformed,” or ANYTHING else…  if we as a nation are morally going to Hell in a handbasket?? 

(Rest assured that is not a casual profanity, but a very literal description!)

Aside from the candidates personal agenda, there will likely be two Supreme Court vacancies to fill during this term.  Who do you want to appoint those Justices, who will shape the nation for the next 30 years or so?

We MUST get the vote out on Tuesday.  Make sure your Brothers and Sisters realize that as a Christian (or other person of conscience), their vote for a candidate who will make righteous choices, even if they have qualms with other points he’s made, will make a huge impact on our nation where it counts.

As Rush Limbaugh said this week:

Focus, you people. Step #1: Drag McCain over the finish line. Step #2: Rebuild the conservative movement. If you have to, tell yourself you’re voting for Sarah Palin.

And a final reminder not to be fooled by the spin in the news, and the so-often-proven-wrong polls: Don’t Let the Polls Affect Your Vote from Karl Rove (credentials included in a sidebar).

CAUTION:  There is some graphic discussion of unpleasant subjects in this post, and in the links provided.  Please use your discretion about reading it yourself, and especially on behalf of your children.

 A source I deem credible told me that Barack Obama supports Partial-Birth Abortion.  I was horrified.

First, a definition, so we’re all on the same page:

I received a host of fascinating facts and links.

Here’s a highlight of the voting record:

• Obama voted against a ban on partial birth abortion (SB 230 in 1997) while serving in the Illinois senate.
• He also supports and co-sponsored the Freedom of Choice Act (Bill Number: S.1173) in the U.S. Congress which removes all restrictions (including parental notification in the case of minors) on abortions.
• As an Illinois senator, he shut down a bill that would have provided protection for infants born alive after a botched abortion (instead of being able to leave them to die.)

Someone posted a quote from the good Senator as saying:

On an issue like partial birth abortion, I strongly believe that the state can properly restrict late-term abortions. I have said so repeatedly. All I’ve said is we should have a provision to protect the health of the mother, and many of the bills that came before me didn’t have that.

This, to me, sounds like nothing more than a political spin. 

It’s really easy for him to say whatever he wants to, knowing that his position alienates a whole big segment of the population…  But actions speak louder than words, don’t you think?  Simply look at the voting record, above. 

Here’s a video of Mr. Obama with a telling quote:

A BABY is…  a PUNISHMENT?

I hugged my kids tight and cried hearing him say that - and all the more so thinking that people are trying to elect such a person to lead our country. 

What happened to MORAL leadership?  A president we can look up to?  (I guess that all ended with Clinton?)

The Bible, of couse, says that children are a blessing from the Lord.  But even without that guidepost, can you jiggle your baby on your knee, and look at their drooly little smile, and …  I simply cannot fathom that as a serious position…

An intersting “scientific” tidbit was presented in the group discussion:

Of all methods of second-trimester abortion, the safest procedure (using mortality surveillance data) is dilation and extraction. - Source: http://www.emedicine.com/med/TOPIC3311.HTM

Erm…  SAFE?  Does the BABY think so?  As far as my understanding of the procedure, the mortality rate is 100%!  (Okay, or 50%, I suppose, if you count the mothers).  Talk about missing the point…

Here’s a powerful - GRAPHIC CONTENT - video on the horrors being perpetrated on over 3,000 American babies EVERY DAY, and about Barack Obama’s position with regard to them:

And just to leave you with a smile, let me suggest that perhaps the reason the good Senator doesn’t “get it” is because he’s an alien.   ;>

Up until now, we have deliberately tried to avoid any really controversial subjects… 

 Skimming the limit with our Christian beliefs, naturally, but shying away from anything drastic, and certainly from politics and other such topics.

NO MORE!

Now you’re going to hear it all…  What we really feel from everything about the decline of society, to the election, to…  who knows…

So buckle your seatbelts!

I actually think it’s kind of entertaining that in this current age of tolerance, people feel like they have to say “I undetstand how you feel,” even if they’re following it up with an assertion that you’re totally wrong and perhaps wacko. 

But WORDS MEAN THINGS, and it makes me angry when they say they understand something that they clearly do not.

This post is about “understanding”, not the right to life, but I want to use this example that came up recently.  On a local online/real-life local “natural mamas” kind of group, someone posted a news story that drifted into a debate about abortion.

Some heated emails flew on both sides.  One person arguing for “a woman’s right to choose” posted the following:

Although I wouldn’t have an abortion, I don’t see it the same.  I can see why you and others may see it the same, but I don’t understand why you think everyone has to see it the same. 

If you don’t usderstand why I feel that everyone should see it that way (although I was not the one that she was directing this to), then you *don’t* understand (or “see”) why I feel that way.

Let’s shift it to a different example:

Person A, “It would be wrong to go next door and kill your neightbor”

Person B, “Well I understand why you might not think that’s a good idea, but why do you expect me to feel that way?”

Actually, in cases of homocide, we hold it as a societal norm.  It’s something that is SO wrong, we do, in fact, expect everyone to feel that way — and even the most tolerance-promoting folks don’t tolerate it.

So, if you “understand” that I believe that you are killing a person when you have an abortion, then - even if you disagree - you must “understand” why I think everyone should see it that way.

Our language has an awful lot of words, and each of them has a specific meaning.  Let’s be clear, shall we?

All you have to do is go vote at Squidoo, and the charity you select (from their list) will receive $2 - they’re giving away up to $80,000 between now and October 15th.

Why NOT give $2 to a worthy cause?

I’m supporting La Leche League, but feel free to make your own choice… 

Church is tough with kids. 

When mine were really tiny, they’d just nurse and sleep through, and it was delightful. 

But now ds is going on 6 months old (and I remember going through this with dd), and he’s just not ever quiet that long - for one reason or another.  He won’t just nurse and sleep, but he doesn’t yet understand/have the ability to sit and color or play and amuse himself for half an hour.

I’m not a “leave ‘em in Nursery even if they cry” kind of mama. 

Sometimes I go along to church, but just end up sitting in the nursery with him the whole time. 

There doesn’t seem to be much point in going through the effort of getting the baby and myself dressed up and there if I’m not going to hear the service anyway, so I’ve been staying home some lately, too… 

What do you do about it?

Thanks to all of you who have expressed your concern…  and yes, they are pretty close. 

At present we are in no danger, and do not expect to be. 

There is so much smoke in the air, though, that they are actually recommending staying home if you can to avoid being out in it!  In the house with everything closed and the a/c running it smells awful and is making our eyes burn…  Yuck!

I have two friends that live between us and the fire, as well, and both are families with small children, so please include them in your prayers.  Our church is also closer to the fire, so it is not yet clear whether there will be services tomorrow.

Again, please pray - but don’t worry!! 

No, not that there are now 20 Commandments…

First, however unlikely, a musical version with Val Kilmer in the lead role:

I agree with the many other reviews on Blockbuster.com that said the acting, singing, and stage effects were mediocre…

But what was most disturbing to my family and I was the inaccuracy of the story itself.  And we’re not just talking about making up dialogue to make it a full-fledged story, we’re talking about wholesale changes in a true and well chronicled series of events.

It’s a great story . . . why change it?  And if you do,you might want to say that it’s, “LOOSELY BASED ON the Biblical account of the life of Moses” or something, so we know it’s not something we want to watch.

Then for something completely different, a CGI-Animated version with Christian Slater as Moses:

I’m not crazy about the CGI, personally…  Not that it was bad - in fact it was often quite stunning - just that it often felt like being in a video game.  Maybe that just shows my age.  LOL 

The acting was surprising - Christian Slater brought a depth of character to Moses of which I would not have thought him capable.

I was also very pleased with the storytelling, which was much truer to the Biblical account (even the less “glamorous” or “exciting” bits) than anything else made in the last few decades.

Are there any other good versions out there, besides THE The Ten Commandments?