Abortion: the Feminist Inquisition

the Supreme Court legalized abortion in Roe vs. Wade rather than waiting for state legislatures to act. it wasn't a Brown vs. Board of Education moment. It was a Dredd Scott case & I pray we see this soon. In both cases the Supreme Court was attempting to stitch the country together at the expense of human rights.

Gloria Steinem was correct in postulating that "If men could get pregnant, abortion would be a sacrament." But that doesn't make it right. If white people were slaves the Civil War might've happened earlier but slavery should never have existed in the 1st place.

in 1973, when Roe vs. Wade went into effect, the bc pill was not in widespread use, much less widely available. The women who testified before committees about their back alley abortions had no access to birth control & had been abandoned by the men who had used them & left. married middle class pregnant women were undergoing routine diagnostic x-rays. Science has come leaps & bounds ahead & yet NARAL & NOW cling to Roe vs. Wade like Southerners to Plessy vs. Ferguson with a religious fervor that would put Eichman & the guards of Auschwitz to shame.

As Lincoln wisely led his generation through the painful purge so we Christian women must lead now. We cannot shame post abortive women and abortion workers as they have been pained by this national sin almost as much as the fetuses that are dumped out the back door as "bio waste." We must show them Jesus' healing love and mercy, & mine their testimonies for useful intel!

As for NARAL & other political allies & profiteers like Planned Parenthood, may God have mercy on their souls for we shall show none for their pocketbooks. Defund & unveil by all moral means available. Can anyone tell us the definitive line between them and a hired hit man? (other than price and volume). Not on my watch, not in my community will this pass unnoticed.

God is in control & I fear to miss out in participating in His plan, so I am praying for the mothers, babies & clinic workers everyday as I drive by the Whittier Planned Parenthood as if it were a concentration camp with ovens blazing. I'm distributing ATTWN fliers when possible. I may tire but if I give up or forget, God will raise up someone else to take my place & I'd much rather we work together.

Widow's Mite

This message from Dr. Eggerich in a video conference of Love & Respect really moved me.  I hope I'm not stepping on any copyright or changing the impact if you go to a conference (which I strongly encourage you to do). I couldn't find a link to any site or video but I wanted to credit Dr. Eggerichs.

We may all be familiar with the Sunday School story from Mark 12:41-43 or Luke 21: 1-4.  But it was the context of the plot that Dr. Eggerics pointed out that overwhelmed me with the power of this story.  Jesus entered Jerusalem on a crescendo of public support for what they hoped would be political revolution, overthrowing the corrupt Romans and hypocritical religious elite that teamed up to opress them.  The people were thirsty for the justice of His message & cheered his entry to Jerusalem with Palm branches!  He entered the Temple & began teaching, criticizing the opression of the Romans and the hypocracy of the Jewish religous elite, but He didn't seem to be doing anything.

Many followers and members in the audience probably hoped for him to pick up the mantle of revolution that Barabbas and his followers had failed to succeed in.  But the longer he talked, he seemed to be asking them to change.  He didn't discourage them from paying burdensome taxes to a corrupt Roman regime (even when specifically set up by the sceming religious leaders) and instead began talking of the resurrection; another kingdom to come, and the support probably waned.  Like me, they were impatient for God's justice here and now; uwilling to change themselves.

Then, with all the public's attention focused on Him, Jesus stopped in the middle of the Temple, and focused like a lazer on the widow's donation of a mere pittance in comparison to the wealthy gifts of those around her.  What's more, the donation would go to an elite religous establishment he has been criticizing as hypocritical and greedy! It would probably just buy more jewelery for the Pharisees mistresses!  But Jesus ignored the effect (or lack therof) the sacrafice would have here in this earth, but instead focused on the widow's motivation and sacrafice: what it cost her and how it will change her, not the world around her.

That's what we can give; ourselves.  We can give our obedience. That's what Jesus wants in I Peter 3:4.  That's what it takes to be citizens of God's kingdom: our obedience in giving sacrafices that no one will notice that might go to what seems to us to be evil purposes here on this earth.  Because it's in the act of obediently sacraficing ourselves to whatever end we are commanded to; trusting God for our care.

No mess to big

Today as I went about my tasks, I now allow Faith to tag along in different rooms of the house she hasn't been in very often, so I watched Faith get into things in exploring and I gauged when to intervene. Sometimes I was tempted to stop her because it would create a bigger mess than I wanted to take the time to clean up with her. (At this age she's not much help with the clean up.) I contemplated whether this is selfish on my part...maybe she should have this chance to analyze a little.  Other times I don't feel I have a choice because the danger is too great.

Being an English teacher I realized another aspect of the epic metaphor of parenting that God has so beautifully designed.  There's no mess too big for God to clean up & no danger so great He cannot heal if we bring it to Him.  So He allows us to get into some pretty big messes in exploring our world.  He probably does sigh, anticipating a huge cleanup, & sometimes I'm sure He's not happy watching us live in our own filth for awhile until we come to Him for help.  But it is the Enemy who would have us believe that God can't or won't clean our messes or heal our self-inflicted wounds.  Don't listen.

A modern Barabbas: Dorner & who will be the LAPD's neighbor?

I've grown up in Southern CA my entire life.  My family has been in CA for 4 generations now.  I never would have thought I would feel sympathy for a "cop killa."  I don't agree with much of Dorner's politics, and I am a Christian.  But I can no longer in good conscience pray only that Dorner doesn't hurt anyone else.  I am compelled to also pray for organizational change within the LAPD.

I remember the Rodney King scandal and the LA Riots and Mark Furman at the OJ trial as a confused tween.  I didn't know what to think; heard lots of defense/reasoning for the police from how King had a history of addiction to how he led them on a high speed chase, etc.  Since I had little experience with either police or drugs, I followed what my elders and the Bible told me: to respect and support those in authority.  The riots were terrifying, and many other people were hurt and killed, it couldn't possibly be justified, right? Later in history class, I learned about slavery and the Civil War.  Things have improved since then, right? I reasoned.  Then OJ.  He clearly did it, right?  What does a racist detective have to do with anything?

I've had a lot of discussions and realizations regarding race and drugs and society since then from college & through 10 years of working with all kinds of people in all walks of life.  I married a Latino who had a VERY different upbringing and experiences with law enforcement and had a few negative experiences together with the LAPD while dating.  And now Dorner.  I felt so terrible for the Quan family watching the coverage of the couple's execution Monday, & could tell that law enforcement and the media were baffled. 

Wednesday night I heard that they had found the person responsible for the couple's murder and was glad.  But on the way to work Thursday I was terrified and called my husband to ask him to stay home from work.  I wasn't terrified because they hadn't caught Dorner.  I was terrified of the LAPD.  I knew what so many minorities must live with on an everyday basis for so long.  What finally put me in their shoes?  I own a grey Nissan truck.

I'm a selfish, fallen human being.  I feel sick at what Dorner did to his union rep/lawyer Quan's daughter and her fiance, and Officer Cain.  But I'm overwhelmed with a mother's terror and self-preservation and the image of a shot up blue Toyota truck with bulletholes where my daughter would be riding in her carseat and bulletholes all over the surrounding neighborhood.  And I'm no longer willing to hear excuses like "it was shotgun pellets, the truck had no lights on," or that "it was driving slow, & tossing projectiles that could be explosives" or that "it didn't respond to warnings." 

If I were in favor of gun control before, why would I be in favor of it after knowing the LAPD would remain armed while I remain helpless?  The LAPD is stretched to it's limit with 50 details protecting it's own, leaving the rest of us to fend for ourselves for 10 minutes or more when we call 911.

Quan has suffered the unspeakable terror of losing a daughter and that was almost visited on a poor Chinese woman as well.  Law Enforcement is to be considered professionals for a reason: they aren't supposed to be trigger happy in residential neighborhoods and then make excuses about the victims being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Needless to say, I was more willing to hear Dorner's side while in this mood.  And that's the LAPD's problem all along.  They have NEVER ONCE issued a mea culpa for ANYTHING in my lifetime.  Not for Rodney King, not for Mark Furman, not for Giovanni Ramirez, not for Christopher Dorner.  It's nothing but excuses and I'm not willing to hear them anymore.  And in such I mood I read Dorner's "manifesto."

There was nothing in Dorner's post that caused me to fear for my personal safety or that of any of my friends or family, but I can ceratinly see why that post (combined with his actions) strikes fear into the heart of everyone in law enforcement and their families.  As an Angelino who doesn't have a dog in either fight, I have more to fear from the LAPD for the duration of this hunt than I do from Dorner.

That's not to say that I'm not heartbroken and angry for the murders of innocent people that Dorner is accused of committing.  & there you see the second problem for the LAPD: my shift in my language.  Even given the threats clearly written in his post, I'm not entirely willing to discount a farfetched conspiracy we could only dream of at this point. so a little tip: let some other agency bring him in. and above all don't kill him and make him into a martyr.   And I'm a little baffled at their incompetence in the ensuing search.

He doesn't seem to be the one with a problem hitting his intended targets, and as selfish as it sounds, neither I nor my friends or family are on that list.

This selfish thinking is an evil temptation of my selfish, fallen thinking.  And this is Dorner's main problem.  He appears to have had good friendships, intelligence and resources to fall back on, until he sold his soul to make this point.  Was my epiphany regarding how terrifying the LAPD truly is, really worth your life and soul, Mr. Dorner?  That is terribly sad, and I pray you repent and value your life over your name.  Is being a murderer of innocent family members truly a better name than the liar you were accused of being?  And how sad that none of your friends were willing to get you the mental counseling you so desperately needed before you hurt others, and still need before you hurt more.

In reading your list of grievances, my husband and I knew it was true, because we have both experienced similar corruption in the nepotism of employment in government agencies.  It baffles me how the LAPD could never once fire an officer for mistreating/ridiculing a suspect but fire an officer for the 1st offence of lying about a colleague/partner. 

But this is not a reason to dedicate your life to waging psychological warfare by taking the innocent lives of their family members.  If you truly cared about the public, you seem intelligent enough to know that the LAPD will take it out on the rest of us.  And that is the real tragedy of those who would call you a hero.  They will suffer the most in all of this. You told the Chief that he needs a "come to Jesus moment" & I pray you are still open to one of your own.

You are wrong about Jesus, Mr. Dorner.  He may not have been called the racial ephithet used for African Americans, but he was called other names. You also profoundly misunderstand His story, fiction or nonfiction.  And the Bible is poetry, mytheme, self-help theology/philosophy, and so much more.  Jesus was railroaded by a corrupt court and lying witnesses in the middle of the night, and tortured and publicly ridiculed so a murdering freedom fighter could be free. So in a very real way, Mr. Dorner, Jesus took the place of someone just like you.

You opened our eyes to some really repulsive behavior by your colleagues, and in your fallen way, you are trying to even the scales in the best way you know how.  But it will not work.  It can't.

Systemic corruption including nepotism and abuse of the public trust doesn't necessitate or justify murder to bring attention to it or change it.  But the fact that it has led to several murders which the public has generally responded with "We don't condone that...but..." should give the LAPD and indeed the Department of Justice pause.  This is a long haul, and we better begin to pray hard.  But this time, I choose Jesus, not Barabbas.