my 2 cents

Here’s my 2 cents.

Rejecting an extension of Bush’s tax rates-  Lame.  We should all pay our taxes.  But let that be the end of it.  I’m tired of hearing people upset because someone else isn’t paying more.  Face forward students.  Eyes on your own paper.  Let’s quit caring about what someone else is or isn’t getting or paying.

Wikileaks- “I do not think that means what you think it means.”  What a bummer.  But, I actually felt comforted to know that Hillary was spying on other countries.  Bummer the info got out, but hey, good to know she’s in the know.

Childhood Obesity- Here is legislation to curb childhood obesity.  Is obesity good?  No.  But neither is an inordinate emphasis on “healthy” eating.  In my experience, I run into as many people obsessed with “health” as I do obese people.  What’s the difference?  One’s healthy (for now) and one’s (probably) not, but both can’t get their minds off of food.  And one is definitely more self-congratulatory than the other.

The TSA and Santa- Wow.  I mean really, wow.  I don’t plan on flying anytime soon.

Metrodome Roof Collapse- Now I want to see the footage of Ziggy Wilf up there cutting holes in the fabric during the snow storm.  With Favre’s scandals, Childress’s poor coaching, Percy’s migraines, and overall lousy performances, this is the best news he’s had all season.   Finally a chance at a new stadium!

two things: one year of blogging and healthcare reform

I’ve now been blogging for over a year.

Wowser.  I started in mid-November last year and have blogged an average of three times per week.  That seems like a lot to me.  Of course, when I started I posted frequently– four or five times a week; now I’m doing well if I get two in.

I’ve enjoyed it and benefitted from it.  I’ve fought against the particular sins that blogging has made me prone to (or revealed in me) and come out better for it, although still always having to be on guard.

My goals have been twofold: primarily to refine and test my thoughts and opinions regularly according to godly, gospel standards.  And secondarily, to edify the body through that.  I think, by God’s grace, that has happened in some measure.

Still, I’m trying to decide where to go from here.  Do I keep blogging?  Do I take a break?  Do I quit altogether?  I think God could be glorified in any of those options.  So, I’m thinking about it, talking to Mr. TommyD, and leaning on the Holy Spirit to convict in the areas where conviction is needed and also feeling freedom in Him to make a decision.

So that’s that on a year of blogging.  And if I decide to take a break or quit, I won’t just drop off without notice.  I’ll give a heads up.  As of now, I’m going to keep writing as it’s beneficial for me.

Next up, healthcare reform.

My dad gave a talk about it a week ago and I thought I’d link to it because it was really good.  It looks at the history of medicine and provides a foundation for understanding the current debate according to godly, ethical standards.  It’s not short.  But brevity and understanding history rarely go hand in hand.  Sometimes it takes more than 22 words to get your point across.  I hope some of you will invest your time in reading it.

“..abortion has done what the Klan only dreamed of.” -Dr. Alveda King

CNS News reports that, “Abortion kills more black Americans than the seven leading causes of death combined, according to data collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for 2005, the latest year for which the abortion numbers are available.”

And so, the spirit of Margaret Sanger lives on in Planned Parenthood.

Sanger, an ardent eugenicist and founder of Planned Parenthood, spoke and wrote of her desire to get rid of such “undesirable” groups as “Negroes” through the method of sterilization and widespread birth control.  At one point in her sordid career she even addressed the women’s auxillary of the Ku Klux Klan.

Dr. Alveda King, niece of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, and pro-life advocate, couldn’t be more right when she points out that “abortion has done what the Klan only dreamed of.”

Those arguing for abortion often demand that it’s African Americans who would suffer the most by being denied the “right” to abortion.

Really?

I can and will never consider the decimation of a race of people to be a “right.”  Nor will I ever consider babies as punishment.

And I hope the reality of the number of African Americans dying each day (1,784) by abortion will jerk some pro-choicers out of their politically correct stupor and help them to realize there is nothing politically correct or civilized about genocide.

where were you?

8 years ago today, I was getting ready to go to my racquetball class during my second year at Bethel College. It was early in the morning and I was watching the news (as usual).

I left for the short walk to the courts. After about thirty minutes of playing our coach called us together to tell us that he just had a phone call saying that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. He led us in prayer together, then dismissed us.

I rushed back to the apartment on campus where my roommates and I lived and flipped the TV back on. The reporters were nervously speculating about how it was possible for a plane to crash into the WTC.

Then, I watched as a second plane crashed into the towers.

As everyone who was watching at that moment knows, it is very hard to describe the feelings being felt at that time. Suffice to say, there was no more speculation. Everyone knew that this was no freak accident.

I continued to watch, sickeningly, as the towers collapsed one by one. Then came the phone calls from family and friends to check in and process.

I am thankful that no more attacks have happened in these 8 years. I’m thankful for the men and women who sacrifice to keep us safe. God is merciful.

So, where were you?

gay ice cream?

Ben & Jerry’s is celebrating Vermont’s legislation for gay marriage.  They’re changing the name of their Chubby Hubby ice cream to Hubby Hubby for the month.

I am saddened.  While they peddle homosexuality as fun rainbow-y party with no consequences (not just bereft of consequence, but a noble cause of equal rights), we should be reminded of the stark contrast with which the Bible speaks of this sin, and every sin.

Can you imagine if other sins were glorified in this way?  They might have “cheating chocolate” ice cream or “let’s shoplift sherbet” or “slander sundaes.”  It’s not ok to glorify sin.  And it is ok to be outraged by it.  As long as we’re willing to look at our own areas of sin and do battle with them while we call others to a higher standard.

So, Hubby Hubby ice cream.  Another call for repentance.  Not just for gays, but for all of us.  Let’s remind ourselves of the true meaning of God’s rainbow and praise Him today that He keeps His promises and tremble at His justice in doing so.

frozen embryos: awaiting demise or continued life

Al Mohler takes a look at what he calls the “disposition decision” in regard to frozen embryos:

For those whose progeny are now frozen in fertility clinics, the “disposition decision” will eventually have to be made. The decision about the eventual disposition of these human embryos will reveal what these couples truly believe about human dignity and the sanctity of human life. On the larger landscape, the pattern of these decisions and the policies adopted by medical practitioners will reveal the soul of our culture as well.

Mohler discusses just some of the many complications surrounding frozen embryos:

Advances in IVF technology now project the potential that frozen embryos could be successfully transferred into a womb years or even decades after fertilization. For the first time in human history, this allows for a form of generational confusion human beings have never encountered before. Quite literally, an embryo from a genetic ancestor generation could potentially be transferred into a womb and gestate, thus being born after the generation of what would be considered his or her grandchildren.

Mohler reports that patients fall all across the board when asked to rank the moral status of their frozen embryos from minimum moral status to maximum moral status. Some view the embryos as a back-up plan should anything happen to the children they currently have.

According to a study published in Fertility and Sterility, very few patients are willing to have their embryos adopted.

And then there are those very few patients on the other end who are willing to give their embryos for scientific research.

Mohler says:

A significant number of patients are deciding to “thaw” their embryos and allow their demise. Hauntingly, Merrill writes of some patients and couples who understand clearly enough that these embryos are of some moral significance, and some patients express a desire for some ceremony to accompany the demise of their embryonic progeny.

For the vast majority of patients, the current decision is to make no decision at all. This condition will not last, for the reproductive technology industry faces logistical, moral, financial, and technological limitations to the indefinite storage of what may even now be more than a million human embryos that are never to be transferred into wombs.

This issue is challenging me to think of ways in which the Christian community can work to save these small embryos.  The very beginning of life is frozen in labs all over the USA.  Many are being thawed and discarded.  Do we care?  What will we do to change it?

abortions drop in MN, 2008, but Planned Parenthood performs record numbers

This is good news!

MCCL reports that, “the Minnesota Department of Health released its annual Abortion Report for 2008, and reported abortions in Minnesota dropped more than six percent. The report shows that there were 12,948 abortions reported in 2008, compared to 13,843 the previous year. The 2008 total is the lowest number on record since 1975. Find more information about the Abortion Report and read our in-depth analysis on MCCL’s Web site.

Or check out our YouTube video message.”

However, there is more to the story.  

“Even though the number of abortions last year was the lowest in 33 years, Planned Parenthoodmanaged to increase its abortions to a record 3,948. Planned Parenthood performed nearly 1,200 more abortions than the next largest provider.

Another problem area the report points out is that taxpayer funded abortions rose from 28.6% to 29.8% of all abortions performed. This is the highest percentage since the Minnesota Supreme Court’s 1995 Doe vs. Gomez decision requiring taxpayer funding of elective abortions.”

If you aren’t aware of the great work done at MCCL, I hope you look at their website.  

Two years ago MCCL started the Positive Alternatives program which is a gov’t funded grant program whose funds go to Pregnancy Care Centers that offer clients life-affirming alternatives to abortion.  Positive Alternatives makes it crystal clear to women that no one can force them to have an abortion, and that there are always better options. 

It’s a strange irony that the gov’t both funds abortions, (through taxpayer dollars, unfortunately) and also provides grants to the centers who counsel for life.  

If you have been inactive for too long in the fight to save the unborn and want to take steps to do what you can for babies, moms, and dads, consider donating to MCCL, they literally save lives!

news and reviews 6/9/09

Plenty going on of late.  Enjoy.

Fighter verse song CD’s now available

The fighter verse song CD that my husband, Mr. TommyD, has been involved with producing and recording, are now available via Children Desiring God.  We got a copy early and I think I can sing almost every song (or verse) on there from memory, as can the kids.  It’s great.  Check it out.  

God’s Word is powerful (especially in the ESV).

Pixar’s Up Does Not Disappoint

We saw Up on Saturday, and I enjoyed it immensely.  How a kid’s film can poignantly, yet subtly, cover topics such as the beauty of marital life, the pain of infertility, the loneliness of the elderly, and the heartache of divorce, all while being good for kids and keeping it’s viewers feeling “up” and laughing is beyond me.  

It is a spark of genius.

An Ever-Present Teleprompter

NBC has some nerve making fun of President Obama’s use of the teleprompter.  Next thing we know, they’ll be asking him actual questions at those silly little press conferences.  Alright, alright, simmer down.  I’m just teasing a bit.  It’s not like his teleprompter has its own blog or anything.  Seriously though, watch this montage.  You’ll chuckle.

Buckle Up!

Wearing a seat belt has been the law in MN for quite some time, but until now, you couldn’t be pulled over for not wearing one.  Now, not wearing your seat belt is a primary offense in MN.  And an expensive one at that.  Get ready to shell out $105 buckeroos for this safety violation.  

As they say, click it or tick-et.

Must-read WORLD article by my Dad, Linked to by Challies!

I know I already told you about this, but hey, cut me some slack.  It’s my dad!  And it’s a great piece.  So if you haven’t read about life-loving doctors and their valiant stand against the culture of death, go do so.  And uber-blogger Tim Challies linked to it in his A La Carte section.

doctors and their fight against the death culture

I’m a big fan of WORLD magazine.  

I started reading it as a young teenager and have enjoyed and profited from it ever since.  

My dad (who blogs at mdviews) recently got an article published in WORLD, and I couldn’t be more excited about it!  My dad is an OB/GYN doctor and has been in the thick of the abortion issue for decades.  (Don’t worry, he’s not 90, only 56).  His (and my mom’s) stand for life has been very influential for me. 

He served on the board of Birthright, a Crisis Pregnancy Center, for many years.  And he’s never been ashamed of his pro-life views.  Quite the opposite.  He counsels women toward life.  

His article in WORLD is about the ever-increasing legal pressure being put on doctors to perform or refer for abortion and to provide euthanasia.  This is not new.  Although the pressure is mounting.

What is new to all of us non-doctors out here (and to be sure many doctors as well), is the formation of a band of physicians who agree to the Hippocratic Oath.  You may not know this, but doctors no longer take the Hippocratic Oath and they haven’t for quite some time.  

This new Registry of Hippocratic Doctors allows for doctors to differentiate themselves from the doctors of death (that is, unfortunately, many of them) and commit to protecting life in every circumstance.

Wouldn’t it be nice, as a patient, to know if your doctor embraced life as a virtue?  Wouldn’t you want to know beforehand that they were committed in everything to do no harm?  My dad outlines some of the key parts of the Hippocratic Oath that you’ll be very interested in. 

Go read it.  It’s definitely worth it.

what should a pro-life Christian think about abortionist George Tiller’s murder?

It’s a sad story.

Late-term abortionist George Tiller was gunned down and killed at his church on Sunday.

It shouldn’t have happened.

But what’s a Christian to think about such an event?  We fight for saving the lives of those George Tiller killed: the unborn.  Now he will kill them no more.  How should we be feeling?  Should we put that all aside and pretend he was a normal guy?

No, Christian, you shouldn’t ignore the fact that he was a baby-killer and feign outrage because you sense that if you don’t, the pro-life movement will be doomed (although you’d be right, it would be doomed if we weren’t truly outraged).  

Christians should be outraged, for many reasons.  And we shouldn’t ignore any of the outrageous parts of this story.

Here’s a look at how things should have gone, or put another way, things to be (rightly) outraged about:

1) George Tiller should have been forced to stop practicing abortion, or killing babies, long ago, by the gov’t., whose primary job it is to protect and defend the people (especially the littlest and weakest ones) of our country.

2) If George Tiller had refused the gov’t's demands and continued to kill innocent human life, he should have been put in prison or even faced capital punishment, where the law deemed that the correct course.

If that had been done, hundreds (thousands?) of babies would then have been spared his murdering, profit-hungry hand.  

3) A Kansas man should not have taken the law into his own hands in order to try and right this unspeakable wrong.  George Tiller was a law-abiding citizen, even though I believe he was a murderer.  And Tiller’s wrongs have not been righted by the Kansas man’s murderous act.  

The wrong has simply been added to.

It is a sad story indeed.

So, Christian, don’t pretend that because George Tiller was murdered that he was not a murderer himself.  And don’t think for one second his being a murderer in anyway justifies or mitigates his own unjust death.

 It doesn’t.  

His was a death wrought by a murderer apart from law or sanction.  Laws matter.  Laws matter to Christians.  We obey the law.  There is only one thing that would keep a Christian from obeying the law and that would be a law that would keep us from our worship of the Lord.  

We are not there yet, by God’s grace.

We walk a fine line, Christian pro-lifer.  We must cling to all we know of Christ.  We must do justly, love mercy and walk humbly with our God.  

We must heartily condemn the murdering of George Tiller, even while we acknowledge his murderous ways and pray that those like him will become outlawed in our land.