[Abortion-rights groups] say that Dr. Gosnell was a rogue practitioner, and that if abortion is further restricted, more women will be driven to clinics like his, which prosecutors called a “house of horrors.”
-from NYTimes.com
“Restrictions really work to hinder access to safe abortion,”
-Dayle Steinberg, president of Planned Parenthood Southeastern Pennsylvania.
“Safe abortion”. Ponder those words for a moment. Since when is murder ever safe?
Let’s come to a logical conclusion here, folks. If it’s okay to murder babies, if we need to avoid restrictions so as to keep their mothers’ safe… then, logically, it’s safest to murder a baby after he’s been born. After all, then the mother cannot possibly be harmed during the “procedure”, right?
Or… maybe not. That would be murder, after all, and there are restrictions on that. You’re allowed to kill a person if they’re over here, but not when they’re over there. Those pesky restrictions…
If abortion is acceptable, then Gosnell’s main fault is merely that he didn’t kill babies quickly enough. To say that it is okay to slaughter a baby one moment, but that it is not okay the next, is utterly and completely delusional.
One who says that Gosnell should be on trial for murder cannot turn around a moment later and say that abortion is normally fine. That’s ridiculousness.
Yes, Gosnell’s clinic was a “house of horrors”. As is every abortion “clinic”. Since when is murder anything other than horrifying? Although the facts surfacing at the Gosnell trial about how abortions were preformed there are easily regarded as more disgusting than “regular” abortion, a baby dies either way.
Murder is murder, whether it takes place in a posh, sanitized clinic at 1:00 PM or in a filthy, run-down hovel at 1:01 PM.
During the month of April (thus far, that is… the month isn’t quite over yet)…
Caleb realized that he no longer fits in the baby swing…
Note: I know that a photo-heavy post can be incredibly annoying for those with slow internet, and so I’m not going to post umpteen photos on the main page of my blog. If you’re on the main page, you’ll have to click through to read this post in its entirety.(more…)
I was planning on sitting down and banging around on the piano while I baked – er, while the stuff in the oven baked – but the little kids started watching Andy Griffith in the living room. Since the piano is located in that same room, and since they don’t appreciate having someone drown out the movie with music, (and I don’t like my music drowned out by a movie,) I’m blogging ’bout random stuff instead. So.
—
Stephen and Esther have been involved in quite a few chess-related events lately. I originally taught Stephen how to play chess, back when we were just kids – but we basically just fumbled about while playing it, not really knowing what we were doing. A couple of years ago he started studying it more seriously, and taught Esther how to play.
They found a nearby chess club just a few months ago, and since then they’ve gone to several tournaments. Somehow or another they’ve also managed to pick up two or three chess coaches. I’m not really sure how that happened…? O.o
They went to yet another chess tournament last Saturday – Esther won first in her division, and Stephen was in a four-way tie for first in his. I don’t know how they do it, but I’m glad that they’re enjoying themselves and doing well. As for me, I know I’d go insane if I had to play chess ALL DAY. One game every six months or so is enough for me. It doesn’t seem to bother them, though – after getting home they played some more. Strange people.
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Some friends of ours are currently on vacation, and so we have the adventure of taking care of their goats. (We’re also taking care of their polar bear- I mean, dog – and chickens – but that doesn’t qualify as an adventure, since we’ve been taking care of dogs and chickens for almost as long as I can remember. Taking care of goats, however, and especially milking goats, does qualify as an adventure, since we’ve never done either before.)
I was originally informed (by my family) that I was better than the rest of them when it came to milking the goats. Maybe that had something to do with the fact that I was the only one willing to try for more than thirty seconds? Esther does fairly well, though, and once Lizzy got over her squeamishness she did just as well as I. Which is good, because I didn’t want to be the only one milking them all week.
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Then there’s this video – if it doesn’t make your skin crawl, I don’t know what will:
Adolf Hitler once said that, “He alone, who owns the youth, gains the Future!” He did his best to indoctrinate the children of Germany, and all around me I see the same type of indoctrination going on today. It’s not a new thing, not by any means – but it has become more and more blatant in recent years.
A quick foray into the children and youth sections of any bookstore is enough to make me gag. Hate, envy, greed, lust, rebellion, pride, witchcraft – all of these are prominent themes. Oh, and vampires. Ugh!
Public schools, obviously, are huge culprits – they teach young minds socialism, humanism, collectivism, evolution, and all sorts of other God-less isms. And then there are all those other ridiculous stories we’ve been hearing about extreme gun paranoia and all that nonsense…
*sigh*
The institution of the family is being attacked in so many ways. No-fault divorce makes a mockery of marriage vows. Feminism warps the way people view children and the proper roles of men and women. Homosexuality is touted as “normal”. Public schools usurp the parents’ God-given role. Television depicts all sorts of rebellion against God’s created order. And what does the church do? Pathetically little.
Anyway, I’ll stop ranting now. I need to make supper, anyway…
*takes a deep breath* Calm down, Hannah. You might be mad, but you don’t have to take it out on the ham -
CYPRESS, Texas — A mother got quite the scare after she saw a suspicious man in her children’s school parking lot.
“There’s no words to describe it,” said Sarah Atchison. “It’s the biggest nightmare of my life.”
Atchison said it started when she dropped her 2- and 4-year-olds…
“When I parked my car, I saw him just wringing his hands pacing looking very, very anxious,” recalled Atchison. “I didn’t know what to think of him.”
She rushed her children in and told the office staff. They ended up calling 911, pulled the children off the playground and went into lockdown.
I’m not even sure to start on this, it’s so ridiculous. Seeing a suspicious guy in the parking lot is the biggest nightmare of your life? Not knowing what to think of someone’s actions means that you should call the police? What? It’s obviously yet another episode of overreaction and paranoia occurring at school, and I’m half-tempted to start ranting on how homeschooling is best… but I’ll save that for another time.
Calling the police merely because someone is pacing about the parking lot and wringing his hands is something I don’t understand. This guy had done nothing to harm the panicked mom or anyone else, and yet she presumed that he had some sort of sinister intentions and reacted accordingly.
Now, I could understand if she’d felt uncomfortable enough to leave, or perhaps to stick around until she was sure that everything was okay. I’m glad that she was trying to protect her kids from any perceived threat, but unless I’m missing some vital piece of information, the school had no valid reason to call the police.
The episode didn’t end there, though…
… she looked out the window, noticed the man was now digging in his pockets and decided to call 911, too.
“There was a point where I was begging for the police to get there because they said, ‘Do you see any weapons?’ I said, ‘No. I don’t. I don’t know what he has on him,’” Atchison said.
Ahhh! The “suspicious man” has POCKETS! Somebody, save us! Haven’t you heard, pockets are the latest in terrorist fashion! The government must save us from such horrors, or we’ll all perish!
Okay, enough sarcasm.
In the end, the police arrived and found out that the “suspicious man” was actually just part of the new cleaning crew. Oops. False alarm. Welcome to our school, sir. Hope you enjoy working here.
This reminds me of the “See Something, Say Something” campaign. You know, the one where you’re encouraged to be overly suspicious and call the authorities at the slightest provocation?
Presumption of innocence is supposed to be a guide of how we enforce our laws. Unless someone is proved to be guilty of breaking the law, he is not to be punished. Although this could result in a guilty person getting away with a crime, it protects the innocent from being unjustly punished. As Blackstone stated, ”It is better that ten guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer“. John Adams expounded further upon this:
”It is more important that innocence should be protected, than it is, that guilt be punished; for guilt and crimes are so frequent in this world, that all of them cannot be punished…. when innocence itself, is brought to the bar and condemned, especially to die, the subject will exclaim, ‘it is immaterial to me whether I behave well or ill, for virtue itself is no security.’ And if such a sentiment as this were to take hold in the mind of the subject that would be the end of all security whatsoever”
This is not the mindset of today.
Instead of presuming our fellow American’s to be innocent of any crime, we are encouraged to suspect them of committing some crime – in fact, we’re even encouraged to presume that they are planning to commit a crime. You’re photographing a bridge? Why, you must be planning to blow it up! You’re wearing a hoodie? Terrorist! Somebody, call the police!
Where is the injured party? There is none. Who has been harmed? No one. Why should the civil government get involved? There is no reason for them to. Without an injured party the civil government has no jurisdiction.
What has happened to our rights? We are no longer allowed to go about our business with the liberty God gave us. Instead, we are told that without the government breathing down our necks and constantly checking up on us, we will not be safe.
You mayn’t own that gun – you might end up murdering someone with it.
You shouldn’t teach your own children – you might not do a good enough job.
You’re not allowed to hunt, drive, marry, or sell things without our permission – we have to make sure that you’re capable of such things. (And unless you can prove to us that you are, you’re presumed to be incapable.)
We must cease from allowing the government to usurp our rights and act as if they are God.
”The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” -4th Amendment
I don’t have anything *really* important to write about right now… just a few random thoughts and scraps of information. To give each thought its own individual post would be rather silly, so I’m just dumping it all together into a single post.
- I finally stopped procrastinating and added an email subscription option. I’ve been planning to do this for a long time, but just never got around to it… once I started, it took me a while figure the whole process out, and I’m not totally sure that all the wrinkles have been ironed out…
Anyway, if you’re a daring type of person, you can head over to my sidebar and sign up. And, no… I’m not going to send you any spam or anything, okay? The subscription thingy is just connected to this blog’s RSS feed. Spam is nasty, and should be replaced with bacon. Or… something like that…
- Okay. Bit of a rant, next. Wearing pajama pants in public. Seriously, people? You can’t get dressed before going shopping? It’s not as if I’m asking you to wear a hat and gloves to go to Walmart – I’m only requesting that you wear normal clothes. Of course, that brings me to my next little rant…
- Today’s clothing fashions and trends. C’mon, people – skinny jeans look ridiculous. Why do people want to look like they’ve been vacuum-packed into their clothing? Ugh. And then there’s the whole ripping-multiple-holes-into-clothing-and-calling-it-chic trend. Seriously, don’t give me a tutorial on how to make my shirt look as if it’s gone through a paper shredder, thankyouverymuch.
- There’s a chance of snow tonight. Snow? In Alabama? In the middle of March?! I’m rather shocked at this strange turn of events, but it does provide me with a good excuse for being cold and making myself a cup of tea…
- I’ve yet to figure out why coffee cans are designed in such a way as to make the last few teaspoons nearly impossible to get out. Maybe I’m the only person who’s bothered by this, I don’t know. But I can’t convince myself to throw even that small amount of coffee out, so I spend a ridiculous amount of time fighting the blithering coffee can in order to set that last teaspoon free…
- I’ve been going through old genealogical records and photos and such lately, and I’ve been amazed at how interesting it is. I won’t bore you with dozens of photos or anything, just this one. This is a photo of my grandma, and I’d love to figure out how to replicate her hairstyle. Not because I’d want to wear my hair like this, really… but it’d be fun to know how. Given the current length of my hair, though, I don’t think I’d be able to do this without getting a haircut… and since I don’t want a haircut right now…
Oh well. Such is life.
- Wee little cucumber plants, the first of my seeds to sprout. We shall see how long they last before I manage to inadvertently kill the poor little things… (Kidding. Hopefully.)
And now that I’ve stared at this for nearly a half of an hour, trying to figure out how to end it nicely and… failing… I’m just going to click “Publish”. Hmph.
To the chief Musician upon Gittith, A Psalm of David.
O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens.
Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.
When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;
What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?
For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour.
Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet:
All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field;
The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas.
O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!
As if that wasn’t enough, the school then sent a letter home to parents which stated:
During breakfast this morning, one of our students used food to make inappropriate gestures that disrupted the class. While no physical threats were made and no one was harmed, the student had to be removed from the classroom….
If your children express that they are troubled by today’s incident, please talk with them and help them share their feelings. Our school counselor is available to meet with any students who have the need to do so next week.
Obviously, we need to make sure that poor little Johnny wasn’t terribly traumatized by such a horrible incident. A pop-tart gun? Why, he could have ended up with jelly on his nose, poor baby! What’s next, kids shooting rubber bands? Waaah! Send him to the counselor, pronto!
</sarcasm >
Seriously, people? Seriously?!? This is ridiculous! Stop acting like guns (or gun-shaped objects, or replicas of guns, etc, etc…) are evil.
Guns don’t commit crimes, people do. Making firearms illegal is not going to cause the lawless to suddenly behave themselves. Making America into one big gun-free zone isn’t going to stop criminals from breaking the law. People don’t commit crimes because of their surroundings, or simply because they are able to acquire weapons; people are commit crimes because they are sinful.
What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin;
As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one….
Their feet are swift to shed blood:
Destruction and misery are in their ways:
And the way of peace have they not known:
There is no fear of God before their eyes.
-Romans 3:9,10; 15-18
Yes, guns can be misused. But then, so can knives, and keys, and forks, and your hands… and just about every object, ever. The solution does not involve setting up a nanny state and hoping that big government treats us well – no, the solution is to teach people to fear God and to keep His commandments.
Although there have recently been a couple chilly days here in Alabama, the weather has, for the most part, remained mild all winter long. While wandering about our yard the other day I noticed the abundance of flowers and grabbed the camera…
(For those of you who might be wondering: all photos are entirely unedited.)
Down here in the land of all things Southern, there is a chain of grocery stores bearing the name “Piggly Wiggly”.
Now, I’m not sure who came up with this rather unique name. While it might not be the sort of name I’d give a grocery store, I can say naught against it, especially when I review the incredibly boring names I tend to choose. However, I do wish to complain about the fact that almost no one actually calls the store, Piggly Wiggly.
No, they’ve shortened the name down to The Pig.
And then without thinking, they say things which… frankly, are slightly disturbing. (That’s an understatement.)
“I’m fixin’ ta git some milk from The Pig.”
“Let’s go git some beef. From The Pig.”
“I’ll just run an’ pick up some eggs from The Pig.”
Seriously, people? Don’t you realize how that sounds? Don’t you realize how disturbing this is to those who don’t automatically know that “The Pig” refers to a grocery store?
Please, stop. Unless you’re going to buy bacon there, please don’t refer to it as “The Pig”. Just… don’t.
I’m tired of watching the mainstream church in America become less and less Biblical.
Rather than having the church* influencing and shaping the culture, we have the culture shaping the church. Entertainment churches abound, and rather than looking to Scripture for direction, we look to society and seek that which is trendy and popular, trying to draw in new members. Free doughnuts, free coffee! Rock music! Helicopter-Easter-egg-drops! Halloween celebrations!
Hymns and Psalms are deemed to be too archaic, and we dumb down our songs to ridiculous extents. I was once in a church where they sang a modernized version of the song, “Joy to the World”. The lyrics had all been removed, except for “Joy to the world, let heaven and nature sing.” (Which was then sung over… and over… and over…) What is that even supposed to mean? Without the rest of the words, that song doesn’t even make any sense!
We rely upon cute, goofy movies such as VeggieTales to teach our children Biblical truths. Slushies rained down upon the heads of the Israelites while they circled Jericho, and bad guys were sent to the horrible Island of Perpetual Tickling! Noah’s ark motifs upon the nursery wall depict giraffes and elephants stuffed into a wee yacht, and Jesus was apparently blue-eyed with blond hair and a white robe. Why are we surprised when kids have trouble telling the difference between fairy tales and the Bible?!
For adults, we have The Message “Bible”, with ducks in Romans and John 3:16 promising “whole and lasting life” to those who believe in Jesus, rather than “everlasting life”. Scripture is apparently too difficult for us to understand, so we resort to paraphrases and platitudes. I’ve actually been to church services where the Bible isn’t once opened or even quoted from.
Kids are put into “children’s church” until high school (or sometimes even college!) ages. Instead of arming their young people with the Word of God and training them for the battles life will inevitably send, churches are coddling them and presuming that they are incapable of listening to a regular sermon, that they cannot handle the hymns which have been sung for hundreds of years. We deem these things to be “stuffy” or “archaic”, and then we’re surprised when these same kids leave the church upon graduating from youth group.
Armed with a handful of skewed Bible stories and vague Biblical truths, kids are supposedly sufficiently equipped to evaluate their choices in light of Scripture. And we’re surprised when they leave the churches in droves?
Instead of evaluating decisions in light of God’s word, all too often our choices are governed by choosing the route that is the least offensive or most popular. We’re following the culture and doing our utmost to reflect the world, rather than showing the world a reflection of Jesus.
We strive to reach the world by becoming like them rather than striving to become like Christ. This is exactly the opposite of what we ought to be doing:
And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what [is] that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. -Romans 12:2
We don’t follow the teachings of Titus 2. We don’t honor the wisdom of our elders (Lev. 19:32). We constantly feed people spiritual milk (and maybe a few marshmallows) rather than meat, and even our milk is watered down. We seek to entertain people every Sunday. We ignore and undermine the structure of the family. We don’t have a vision for the future. We’ve thrown out creeds and catechisms, deciding that we don’t need such things anymore.
We focus completely on the love of God, and forget that we also need to fear Him. We are saved, but we don’t seem to know what we have been saved from. If we have been saved from the world, then why are we seeking so desperately to be like them?
Matthew 5:13-16 states:
Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
Now, I know that what I’ve written here doesn’t necessarily apply to every church. I’m aware of the fact that there are well-meaning people in the mainstream churches who sincerely love Christ, who wish to promote His kingdom, and who are honestly seeking to serve Him by their deeds. Just because I strongly disagree with their methods and believe that their tactics are incorrect does not mean that I don’t appreciate their efforts. However, I do wish for them to open their Bibles, study Scripture, and truly evaluate their ideas in light of Scripture.
We must realize that Scripture cannot be made better. It is perfect, and we are not. For us to try to improve upon perfection is laughably ridiculous. The Bible isn’t outdated, and we must not view ourselves as its judge – rather, we must do as the Bereans, who “searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.”
The Bible must be our ultimate authority. Not our own understanding, not the culture, and not anything else. God’s infallible Word should govern our actions and principles, and we should not seek to improve it in any way. Ever.
*Please note that when I refer to “the church” in this blog post I’m generally referring to the average mainstream churches in America.
