The Anniversary of Roe V.Wade

I was halfway through my day at work before I heard on the news that today is the fortieth anniversary of Roe V. Wade. First let me say that those who say all of us born after January 22nd, 1973 should thank our mothers for not aborting is going a bit too far. I am passionately pro life but I do not believe that Roe made any woman who wanted a baby have an abortion. My mother was a married woman in her thirties. Abortion wasn't even a consideration. So while I thank my mother for having me, I do not consider my birth, on April 11, 1973, anything out of the ordinary. Not where the issue of abortion is concerned.

With that out of the way, I would like to bring up a few points that these rabid pro abortion groups would like to conveniently forget. They like to frame their argument with the idea that women can do what they want with their own bodies. Well, abortion is not the same as getting your appendix out, or a body piercing. It is the taking of a life and once that is done it is done. This argument also dismisses the inconvenient fact that when there is a baby, there's a father.  Yes, there are cases of rape and even incest. Those situations are few and much more complicated. But under the usual circumstance, a man and a woman have intercourse and, well you know how it works. We have increasingly become a society that dismisses and diminishes the role men play in the lives of their children. Women adopt as single parents or even use sperm banks. The message being, I don't need a man. Betty Friedan is proud I'm sure. Over the years society balks at traditional families and pushes for the acceptance and embrace of  "all kinds of families". My parents divorced when I was thirteen so I didn't have for most of my life a regular family. But I did have a dad. He was far from perfect but I loved him. Fathers are important to sons and daughters. That child a woman carries doesn't just belong to her.

So I guess I should admit here that I do not have children. I also have never had an abortion or even been faced with an unplanned pregnancy. I suppose this will garner many "you don't know what your talking about" and "how would you know what it's like to face that decsion?" responses when people read this. That's fine. I don't know what it's like. But I would ask them, do you know what it's like to be told you cannot have children? I do. What you take for granted, I'll never know. Now, lest you think I'm all depressed and weepy, I'm not. I have known for many years and have made peace with it. I believe God has something else besides marriage and motherhood in mind for me. But there were many tears before that acceptance came. Ten, fifteen years ago when my friends started getting married having babies, it was very hard because our relationships changed and our lives took different directions. But that is life and I don't dwell on it. I have embraced my single hood. But the point I would lite to make is this: the next time you think about abortion so casually, remember those who mourn for children that will never be. Not because they aborted them, but because they could never have them.

Election 2012: What Do God's People Do?

I have been without my laptop since election night or I would have posted sooner. However, it is probably a good thing because I have had time to reflect on what happened and organize my thoughts. I was terribly sad that Mitt Romney didn't win. I really believed he could pull it off but at about 11:15 that night when the race was called I couldn't believe it. I kept thinking they would back up and say no it's too close. The next day I was off work and listened to the pundits and "experts" discussing how it happened. There is much wailing and nashing of teeth in the Republican Party about what they should do now. But I would pose a different question: what do God's people do now?

I know this may come as strange question but I am a Christian and so I wonder what does God expect of us. So many "experts" claim that the Republican Party should forget about those pesky "social issues" and stop taking such a hard line on immigration. So we now live in a society where expecting people not to be here illegally is a hard line, cherishing human life and supporting the long held belief of traditional marriage is extreme. I read a article entitled "Welcome to Liberal America" on the buzzfeed website. It basically said this is what America is becoming and we must accept it. Well, I don't know about anyone else but I am not going to accept it. We not only have an economic decline and decline in our standing in the world but a moral decline in this country that has been happening steadily for years. I am a Christian and I believe in the inerrant truth of God's word. God deals in moral absolutes and we have become a society deals in moral relativism. Nothing speaks to me stronger on this as to what God says than Romans 12:2

"Be not conformed to this world but be transformed by the entire renewal of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve God's will...his good, pleasing and perfect will."

I don't see any gray area here, folks. We reject the world and what it says is right. The renewal of our mind comes from knowing God and knowing God starts by knowing His Word. We don't get to cherry pick and conveniently ignore what scripture makes us uncomfortable and doesn't fit into our view. We conform to His will not the other way around. I know it's not always easy but this scripture tells us there should be no daylight between our mind and God's. Society doesn't matter, He does, when it comes to right and wrong. The word abortion may not be in the Bible but God is the Creator of all life so how could He condone the taking of a life? Take a look at Leviticus chapters 18 and 20 if you want to know what God says about same sex relationships. Now, I submit to you as Christians, in disagreeing with His Word, we are basically telling him we know better and we put what society says above what He says.

So where does that leave us? It leaves us at a turning point and I put to you this: It's time for the church to be the church. When churches stop worrying about this program or that program or how many bodies are in the pews and start getting down to the nitty gritty of what God says, you will see a revival like you have never seen. In our study on revival in Sunday School we have been talking about 2 Chronicles 7:14

"If my people who are called by my name, will humble themselves, pray, turn from their wicked ways and seek my face, I will hear from Heaven, forgive their sin and heal their land."

It starts with us.

Why I Heart Paul Ryan

Mitt Romney finally did it. He finally made me smile. In fact he made me giggle like a school girl.  He was never my first choice or even second or third.  But in his choice of Paul Ryan as VP he has finally made a bold move that could turn his campaign around. Ryan, a seven term congressman from Janesville, WI. and chairman of the House Budget Committee, combines intellect with passion.  Ryan has real "street cred" when it comes to economics and how to navigate through the mess we find ourselves in with nearly sixteen trillion in debt and over a one trillion dollar budget deficit.  He has real ideas for reforming medicare and social security. They may not be easy to swallow but we are past the point of tepid ideas and compromise. Hard choices have to be made, some short term and some long term, to save our country from becoming Greece. The old way of doing things and hands off my medicare are gone. We got in this mess because no one was minding the store and no one had the political will to stop it. I believe that Ryan does and will be brutally honest about what is happening. There are fewer workers for every retiree, people are living longer and Medicare is going broke.  I work in the health insurance field and fewer and fewer doctors are wanting to take Medicare and Medicaid because payment is so low. Something has to be done to keep these programs solvent. But that may mean restructuring them for younger Americans. If we don't by the time I retire in about thirty years there won't be anything for my generation or those after me like my cousins' children and my stepfather's grandchildren. Not only that but they will be saddled with paying off this debt long after I'm gone. I want better for them. I want better for myself. America was built on individual freedom and ingenuity, not on handouts and an overreaching federal government. Romney and Ryan understand that.

The Paul Factor

I think we have to be honest about this year's election.  Ron Paul really cannot be ignored.  His ideas on Foreign Policy are far from the mainstream or Republican or conservative thought. The idea that it's no big deal for Iran to have a nuclear bomb is not merely kooky but dangerous. Isolationism does not work for the United States and most fair minded conservatives understand that. But make no mistake, Paul has a following, and it's one of the most loyal and passionate followings of any candidate out there.  While most people are trying to decide between Gingrich and Romney which one is the most tolerable, Paul supporters waiver not.  His challenging the status quo appeals especially to young people who are tired of the same old political games in Washington. His ideas on the Federal Reserve and The Constitution appeal to many as well but his Foreign Policy stand between him and the ultimate prize this November.

As I said above, he cannot be ignored.  His monetary policies have influenced the discussion on debt, deficit and how the federal government should work. This is what, in large part, this election is about.  In the last three years our national debt has exploded to fifteen trillion and Obama just asked for another debt limit increase.  The Senate defeated the measure and to be sure we will hear myriad "the sky is falling" arguments. There are those who say deficits and debt don't matter but we are handing future generations crippling debt and taxes will be raised to pay it off with the "everyone needs to pay their fair share" argument and that it's necessary.  Why is it necessary for us to pay for the irresponsibility of the federal government?  The Founding Fathers never intended for an entitlement society for they were able to see what would happen.  Something has to change or the United States will continue to diminish in it's standing around the world.  We cannot continue to project ourselves as a Superpower if we are crushed by out of control debt. People like Ron Paul may not agree about being a Superpower but they get the danger of reckless spending and some of the other candidates would do well to pay even more attention.