Turn it off!!

I was flipping through the television channels this evening, and instead of trying to find something entertaining, I was silently making note of just how many things were not worth watching.  Basically, everything is krap. I kind of watch things differently, now that I'm a parent, and I notice how many things are on television that I do NOT want my kid to see. One of my "guilty pleasures" was COPS. But I've started noticing how much the show makes me angry inside, and I often find myself saying out loud, "They need to just shoot the dude in the head and be done with it." And right now, I'm justifying that statement to myself.  Whether or not it's justified, I can't let that kind of stuff sit and fester in my head. 

I don't watch the local news on television, because everything is bad news. I remember one evening, the commerical break was the local news spot - "Coming up after House on your evening news" "Three children die in a tragic fire on the northside." "A teenager mauled by his neighbor's pitbull clings to life at St. Vincents'." "An elderly woman shot and killed - find out why on the news at 10." Now which of those headlines is appealing? None! Sure, they're sensational, and people like to see people in worse situations than themselves - makes them feel better, I guess.  You know, I can see showing some of the negative stuff if it's for a reason, as in, "Three children die in a tragic fire. Their mother and father have one child left, and lave lost everything they have. Here's how you can help..." But there's none of that to be found. So why waste your time? Just cut the tv off...

Here's an insightful quote on the topic:

Avoid destructive thinking. Improper negative thoughts sink people. A ship can sail around the world many, many times, but just let enough water get into the ship and it will sink. Just so with the human mind. Let enough negative thoughts or improper thoughts get into the human mind and the person sinks just like a ship. 
--Alfred A. Montapert

Tell me lies, tell me sweet little lies...(aka the ignorant American voter)

(title borrowed from a fleetwood mac song)

So this is just a random thought on the election campaigns currently underway. I am so sick of the candidates thinking that I'm ignorant, and sick of being lied to. 

Here's the meat:

I'm watching television, and I see an advertisement by the Obama campaign on abortion. 

Obama: I'm Barack Obama, candidate for president. And I approved this message.

Announcer: As president, John McCain will make abortion illegal. McCain says quote, “I do not support Roe v. Wade. It should be overturned.”

Alright, so the issue is with the announcer's first sentence. The Obama campaign is assuming the ignorance of the typical american voter (in this case, the female voter), and is not afraid to let you know it. "How so?" you ask. 

They assume you're ignorant because the campaign KNOWS that the president cannot, by himself, "make abortion illegal." There are three branches of government - legislative, judicial and executive. The President is the top of the executive branch. He DOES NOT, and CAN NOT make laws. The legislative branch does that by drafting the legislation (bills), and sending it to the president to either be signed into law or vetoed, which sends it back to Congress to be redrafted or to see if enough votes can be mustered to overrule his veto (it's in the Constitution, people...).

The president can not even overturn the infamous Roe v Wade court case (which in itself wouldn't make abortion illegal, anyways - would return the decision to the individual states - it's in the Constitution, people...). To overturn the case, there would have to be another case brought before the Supreme Court, and the opportunity given for them to correct the mistake the court of 1973 made. THAT is where your vote really matters - this president will more than likely be able to appoint three Supreme Court justices. One of our sitting President's high points is that he appointed two justices who promised to rule by the Constitution, instead of by public opinion or by their own "feelings" that they find an interpretive wording for and attribute to the Constitution.

Anyways, to say that McCain WILL make abortion illegal is a prediciton of the future, which will certainly turn out to be a lie. As such, it is an example of the much dreaded "fear-mongering" always attributed to conservatives by the media. Of course, they let Obama run with this one...

This is not to say that the McCain campaign isn't guilty of the same types of advertisements, because they are. This is just one that I decided to write about. Love ya.

Why don't I have one?

As I look around my work environment this Friday morning, it seems an innumerable amount of men are wearing "hawaiian" shirts. And so I ask myself, "Why don't I own one?" I won't go into my answers, but most of them center around the fact that I need no additional help being uncool. The other thing I notice is that there seems to be an age limit on who can wear a hawaiian shirt (and untucked, at that). The average age appears to be mid to late 40s. So I guess maybe in 15 years I can get one. I wonder if WalMart will still be carrying them...

Can't Wait

Tuesday marks the day of the "New Surrender." What are you talking about? I'm talking about Anberlin's 5th album - and their major label debut. These guys are incredible, in every way. Besides the music, the lyrics are always great, and I know the band is big on helping others. I had a post a while back about faceless International, and that's what these guys do.

At any rate. I'm excited to get the album. Here's where the title comes from, according to lead singer Stephen Christian:

"We will all come to the point in our life where we have to admit that we feel defeated, that something has conquered us. We must change, not because we want to, but because we desperately have to. We can not take life in its current suffocating state, even to admit such desperation shows that we are feeling deserted, wandering the barren desert, a shell of our former selves. It is only up from here, it is impossible to sink any lower into ourselves or our circumstances. But we can be salvaged, a deliverance. No vice can stand, no fix can take. The thorn in the side can be removed, but you have to be willing to admit and surrender. Surrender your habits, your lifestyle, your past, your present, and your future. This is your new surrender. The new surrender."

Part iii

Today's segment of the conversation will deal with three statements that I wish to address regarding pregnancy as a result of rape:

"Women will say they're against it, but when it really comes down to it, deep inside, they know they want the ability to have an abortion if they were raped or something."

will be combined with this one:

"If your daughter or wife was raped, you would want her to be able to choose the abortion."

and this one:

"the mother would resent the child, as it was unwanted and unplanned, and the last thing we need is another unwanted baby."


Without trying to validate those statements on some level, We'll just get straight to the analysis.


"Women will say they're against it, but when it really comes down to it, deep inside, they know they want the ability to have an abortion if they were raped or something."
Taking the position - solely for argument's sake - that every woman in the U.S. would consider having an abortion were they impregnated as a result of rape, IT DOESN'T MATTER ONE BIT. What a woman wants/desires has no bearing on the fact that aborting a baby still destroys innocent human life. No matter that they are in an awful predicament that someone else forced them into. No matter that they might be in a position of high visibility in the community. No matter that they are 15 and were robbed of their childhood. Circumstances nonwithstanding, abortion is still consciously choosing to destroy an innocent human life. And the sad thing is, that as little as a few weeks (see the previous post "When your rights are wrong - part ii") is the difference between it being illegal/legal kill your baby.


"If your daughter or wife was raped, you would want her to be able to choose the abortion."
My daughter is 11 weeks old at this point. My wife is 23 years old. Lord willing, both have long promising futures full of love, family, life, etc. Should either one of them be violated like that and raped, I can say, most assuredly, that I would never seriously consider abortion as a viable option to change the situation. And I say that with fervor, in large part because of my daughter and the joy she brings us. Now, I am in the optimal situation - we were wanting a baby for some time, my wife had a very good pregnancy, an easy delivery, and our baby is perfectly healthy. Even more related blessings have been showered upon us, but suffice it to say that we're so much better off than we ever thought we could be, in the sense of our family. Take all that away - take the house, the vehicles, the career, the television (oh NO!!), the cell phones, etc - take it all away and we've still got the baby girl, and we've still got each other, and we've still got love, and we've still got God. If the baby had been born to other circumstances, such as a product
of rape, we would still have those same 4 things. We may not have all the extra things we have now, and life would definitely be more difficult, but I could still love the baby as much as I do now. You don't love a child because it's a product of your genetic material (ask any adoptive parent), you love the child when you accept responsibility for it and invest your heart and soul into it. I would never want my wife or daughter to have an abortion (unless their life was in jeopardy - I'll address this later).


"The mother would resent the child, as it was unwanted and unplanned, and the last thing we need is another unwanted baby."


I can't begin to think of all the ways that being impregnated as a result of rape would effect a woman, and would also effect her loved ones (husband, parents, etc.). And this is a valid issue, as rape happens all the time in our country. It is entirely possible that both the mother and father could resent the child. There's also a huge possibility that they could love it with all their hearts. And there may be emotional scars that hurt every time they see the baby or hear it cry, but those could also very well be erased in a short time when they see the baby smile or sleep. Bottom line, this statement gets the same response as the first one: IT DOESN'T MATTER if the mother and father resent the baby on some level. One, if they have any shred of intelligence, they would recognize that they resent the person who interrupted their plans and forced them into the situation, and not the innocent child in their arms. Resentment, frustration, disdain, choose any word you want and it still does not mean they should be able to destroy the child. The child hasn't done anything wrong, and has no say-so in the situation, but has the most to lose. If they were capable of speaking for themselves, how many would choose to die? None. How many two and three year olds wish they were dead? None.


As to the "unwanted baby" statement, I have to respond with the standard line of the pro-life movement:
"There may be unwanted pregnancies, but there are no unwanted babies." Without getting into the tremendous hurdles of adopting a child (which is why so many people, including relatives of mine, have gone outside the country to adopt), I can tell you that there are many people who want a child but are physically unable to have one. Most of the "unwanted" children she's speaking of are not the product of rape, but rather the result of carelessness and loose morals (and I'm sure alcohol fits in there somwhere quite a bit of the time). And that problem can be fixed by people either protecting themselves or by offering sterilization services to those willing to accept it.

One final mention - this post (and the following/previous posts on the subject) are discussing abortion as a topic, and not condemning women who have had abortions. You can't go back and undo something like that, and I'm sure the scars remain, even if they're not visible from the surface. Jesus Christ offers forgiveness for anything you've ever done, no matter how wrong it may be, and He offers it to everyone. Women who have had abortions need prayer and love, the same as woman who are thinking about having one.This was part three in a series of posts dissecting points from a conversation between a coworker and myself on the topic of abortion. Thanks for reading.