Majority Rules

Over on his blog, "Rejecting your reality and replacing it with my own", my wonderfully smart husband gave a great rundown of Oregon's current political issues and what votes one way or the other would mean. He usually knows what he says, so I have a hard time just figuring out the language in the voter's pamphlet, so I won't even attempt to talk about those issues - go look at his blog.
My election problem is far more simple this year. Really, i'm becoming very cranky and cynical about the entire process - ask me what my vote is and it's usually "I don't like any of it or anyone".
At the moment, my current irritation is polls and reports of what the majority of oregonians want.
Even with the measures I agree with - such as the one regarding parental notification - I don't want to know what the majority thinks right now. I believe that publishing that data, on any side of an issue, regarding which way the majority of the people are leaning, is a not very subtle attempt to use peer pressure to skew election results. It's for people who say "Oh, well if everybody else wants it, I guess I'll vote that way too". There is absolutely no reason for anyone to know what the majority says until after the majority has said it on election day. Otherwise, it DOESN'T COUNT AS THE MAJORITY! And -what if it's a lie?
I explained this to my kids like this: what if one day some kid forgot his backpack at school? He doesn't want to be the only one just carrying all those books, so he looks at another kid and says"You still carry your backpack? That's so lame. No one does that anymore." The second kid doesn't want to be lame, and - well, if everyone else is carrying their books instead of using a backpack, he figures he should too. So he ditches the backpack, and tells another friend the same thing - no one does it anymore. Pretty soon, all the kids have ditched their backpacks, to the irritation of the teachers, parents and librarians who now have binders and library books being tromped on all over the place instead of in backpacks.
All because of an initial lie from someone who wanted to look good -"no one else does that" or, as is the case most of the time in America whenever we want to get our way - "Everyone is doing it".
That is why I don't believe any poll or survey reports on issues should be published until after the elections - including regarding candidates. Political debates, discussion of pros and cons, advertising aver issues, meetings, etc. - all those things are fine. But when you start quoting a majority that hasn't voted yet - that's when the line has been crossed. And why do I care what the majority opinion is, anyway - my opinion, if it has really been thought out, while subject to being changed by a reasonable argument, should not be changed just because a lot of other people think a different way. Isn't that why as parents when our kids say "but everyone's doing it" we say "well, not everyone - you're not" and "I'm not everyone's mother - I'm YOUR mother" and all that jazz - shouldn't we be following the same ideas in our election process? Or is that only supposed to count when choosing what movies the kids see, but not in mundane things like choosing who runs the state?

Enough of the Whining

This weekend as I was once again complaining about the state of our elementary school building- something I do incessantly I am ashamed to admit, an aide and friend told me to quit bellyaching and do something about it, if it bothered me so much. As surprised as I was at her just SAYING THAT, I had to admit she was right. Once again, I had joined the crowd (something I do way too often) of those who complain and criticize instead of work towards solutions. Now, oddly enough, I have discovered that God can take advantage of just about anything to teach me a lesson and this turned out to be just one of those situations.

I have seen this very funny blog lately (thanks, honey) about "crummy church signs", and I've spent more than my share of time making fun of "Christian" merchandise in bookstores, ornately decorated crucifixes, fancy bibles that are sold for looks instead of content and church buildings impressive to the point of gaudiness. There is no end of possibilities when it comes to being sarcastic and picking on life in the Christian world - everything from funny or just plain weird evangelical techniques, stupid books, bible action heroes - even "christian book marks and pencils" sold in christian book stores (can an inanimate object BE a christian?). Honestly, I have really had so much fun at times with my fun-poking and put downs, even inside the church, where I get to criticize everything from dress, music and speaking styles, to what translation of the Bible a church has decided to use and the arguments they had about all of it.

But - here is the lesson part. Just like my friend did about the school, God interrupted my sarcasm about christian mints and church signs to say "Sure, okay, but while they were putting up their sign and printing those tiny little verses on those those tiny little mints what were you doing for Me?"

Well, actually, nothing. I was criticizing, and making funny, sarcastic little comments, and getting people to laugh at the efforts of others. But if we're talking something constructive for the kingdom of God- well, not much. Didn't invite anyone to church, didn't witness, didn't offer to pray for anyone - didn't even hand out a mint with a tiny little John 3:16 on it. So - I guess I can get as many laughs as I want, and pick out all the faults in different churches with their different methods and what not, but that doesn't even get me the "A" for effort that they are all getting.

So - there it is. My own personal quit whining and do something lesson. To be honest, I will probably not morph into an angel and immediately stop saying anything sarcastic or nitpicky about the state of the christian world, in the church or out. Probably, I will still whine and complain about that, and life in general, and probably often, too. But - today I called a friend and this week we will be talking to a school board member to see what can be done about directing some funds towards our own school - and I will probably be spending an unanticipated amount of time trying to understand the budget, and finding out where the money's gone for the last 5 or 6 years just before we start writing newspaper editorials - if you're going to make a stink to get something changed, I guess the bigger the stink and the more public, the better.

And this week I will also be inviting our neighbors to church. And the next week, and the next, and the next if I need to. And there's another friend who is not a christian either, whom I haven't really witnessed to at all yet - oddly enough, she's heard far more cranky complaints from me than talk about God's blessings and love.
So - thanks, Shelia, for the kick in my negative pants - hopefully it will bring about some positive results. And, at the very least, maybe some poor pastor or chorus leader will have one less person in the congregation making cutting little comments about how they talk with their hands, or their speaking style or how jilted the songs seem. Good or bad, they're doing their part. Now, it's time to try and do mine.

Liberal Insanity (Yes, I said Liberal!)

The other day I read a news story about a new proposal (being rejected, of course) that minors seeking abortion be required to go before a judge to decide if they can proceed without parental notification. Under this law, the "woman" would have to appeal to the judge to be able to have the abortion without her parents' consent. The pro-choice side says this is just an another attempt to chip away at a woman's right to choose. Their reasoning behind it is that an underage girl wanting to have an abortion without her parent's knowledge more than likely comes from an abusive and unloving household. This entire proposal is an outrageous attempt on the part of pro-lifers, according to them, to "take away the basic right of a woman to choose".
Alrighty, then. Now, there are more than a few things wrong with this statement and the protests of the pro-choice side, but I will TRY to keep my conservative, old-fashioned backwoods ranting focused on the most immediate ones, as I subversively chip away at a woman's basic right to choose and undermine our progressive and enlightened society.
Most prominent is this: isn't the opportunity for a minor to appeal to a judge for the right to have an abortion without parental consent meant JUST FOR those teens who are in abusive households? And instead of causing greater harm, as the pro-choice people would have us believe, isn't this the perfect chance for an abused teen, or the victim of rape or incest, to escape from the home that is harming her? In this particular news story, all sorts of studies were cited about how girls (excuse me - women) from loving homes generally told their parents anyway, and this would be harmful for these abused girls. In fact, wouldn't it provide a chance to rescue them?
Here is the other, always obvious, problem with this entire issue. Aside from my personal beliefs about abortion in general, we have now extended this to underage girls and dubbed them with the title "woman" to include them in the whole "right to choose" process. We teach birth control instead of abstinence, because we don't think teens can control themselves. So - they don't have the common sense to keep their clothes on, drive sober, get up on time for school, do their homework, clean their room, put a dirty dish where it belongs, put their own laundry away or eat a balanced meal. They can't have get an Tylenol from the school office, have their teeth cleaned, get a flu shot, be in sports or go on a field trip without a permission slip. But we can allow a fifteen year old girl who probably had to be told to change her clothes three times that morning and who doesn't even have a driver's license to make a medical decision that will affect her for the rest of her life - without her parent's consent. The person who broke up with her boyfriend five times in one month and can't even make up her mind what electives she's taking next term is, somehow, mature enough to make this very permanent decision without guidance?
Sorry, folks. Call me what you will - one of those unforgiving, mean-hearted pro-lifers who doesn't understand women in society today and just wants to take another one of their rights away - whatever is in your heads.
Truth is, I am a pro-life person. ALL life. And I am for the life of the 17 year old who was raped, and the 15 year old who lost control and the 16 who will get beaten and thrown out of the house. And I'm for the ones who are afraid of disappointing, and the ones who are afraid for their future, and for the ones who are in counseling after their abortion and cry every year on their lost child's birthday. I'm for laws that will help them get out of abusive situations, instead of keeping them in fear and isolation under the guise of privacy. I'm for laws that will allow their families to support them and find alternatives. I'm for teaching abstinence in schools, and forgiveness in families, and making adoption easier.
Most of all, I'm against people who, for the sake of their own personal agenda, cry out for the "right to choose" and then create a society full of laws and meanderings that promote an isolation that really leaves women with one choice - to have an abortion. The true right to choose begins a lot earlier then at the time of pregnancy, folks. Who to hang out with, where to be, when to set limits, making abstinence an option, how to get help in abusive situations - all sorts of other options. And, in the end, there is always personal responsibility and adoption - but I guess that would get in the way of a fifteen year old's right to choose an abortion, wouldn't it? But what pro-choice activist doesn't look at their teenage daughter coming down the stairs in a shorts and a summer T, her hair in a pony tail and headset on and think "well, she is mature woman, after all, and if she wants to have a doctor rip a baby from her womb, who am I to stand in her way?"

apology, sure - but from whom?

Today, plastered all over the news, are stories about the incredible offense taken at the Pope's remarks concerning Islam. These remarks are so offensive, in fact, that "he" has been burned in effigy, flags have been burned, a nun working in a children's hospital was murdered (in protest of his remarks concerning violence, I suppose) and violent protests have been launched. His apology was not accepted- apparently, his remarks were just too over the top.
I have also read another article concerning Rosie O'Donnell and her generalized remarks comparing "radical Christianity" to "Radical Islam", stating that both are dangerous to their respective worlds. There are Christians, apparently, up in arms over this and wanting an apology from Rosie for this comparison.
Now - far be it from me to judge the sensibilities of others. If someone is hurt by something another says or does, it is not my place to say they are wrong in how they feel. If Muslims have been hurt, then they certainly deserve an apology. If Christians feel misunderstood, then the same is true. At this point, however, I am starting to wonder about the sanity of the world in general, the religious world in specific, and where the most needed apologies should come from.

Was the cause of Islam really furthered by the murdering of a Nun and by Al-Qaida's familiar mantra of "everyone will convert to Islam in the end or die by the sword" - is this truly a way to win people over? How do most Muslims feel about this? For those that are trying to live their lives according to Islamic teachings and are truly trying to bring people into their religion, hasn't this just made it harder for them and on them?

As a Christian, it certainly doesn't set well with me when I hear about protesters standing outside an abortion clinic screaming "murderer" and, occasionally, even taking the lives of clinic workers in the name of their faith. It does not make it easier on me when a homosexual is told how scummy they are, a drug addict is pushed away, or a pregnant mom is lectured, looked down on or ignored, all because they don't live up to our moral standards-standards, I might add, that were put in place AFTER salvation and are only attainable because of the Holy Spirit. Hate filled christians don't represent God any more than hate filled Muslims do. And - not speaking for the Muslims on this, of course, but for myself - Rosie doesn't owe me an apology for her remarks.
The people that owe the apology are the ones who gave her the reason for the remarks. It is the people who say they believe in a God of love while they use whatever sword handy to cut others down who owe the apology. It is those people outside the abortion clinic who screamed "murderer" instead of offering adoption, and who drove away the drug addict instead of helping him find a free rehab place and a job. They owe me an apology for making it impossible for the hurt people in the world to believe it when I say God truly does love them and offers them a different kind of life with hope.
And while the Pope probably overstepped boundaries in a world where it is becoming very hard to be a Muslim, the bigger apologies would seem to need to come also from those who have made it harder to see the friend in our Islamic neighbors ALL over the world. Those who murdered a woman who gave her life to doing good, those who rioted and destroyed because they were angry at the insinuation they were violent - they have made it all the harder for the ones who were truly living their faith.
But isn't that the way of it - in that, though we are worlds apart and I'm sure some would kill me on the spot as an infidel (on BOTH sides) for saying it, Christians and Muslims have a common problem. Sometimes, our worst enemies and the most destructive force in our faith comes not from the outsiders we see as "the world", to be avoided, but from the inside - the fellow believers we should be able to call friends.

Why?

Why are children at their loudest in the car during rush hour?

Why are there always dirty handprints on the soap?

Why do cashiers half my age insist on calling me "sweetie"?

Why does no one have to use the bathroom until we've left the driveway?

Why is everyone "starving to death" until you bring out the broccoli?

Why does walmart schedule the least number of checkers during the busiest hours?

Why do dogs always choose to use someone else's yard?

Why do their owner's let them?

Why do people frown in church when they talk about the "joy of the Lord"

Why do my children only want to talk to me when I'm talking to someone else?

Why do they ask questions, then tell me the answer is wrong?

Just a few of the questions I have for one day. Sometimes these things make me irritated - the majority of the time, they just leave me staring numbly into space. But - then again, once you have kids, maybe quite a lot of time is spent staring into space and asking yourself "why" - if you can stillhave a coherent thought, that is!

Jello For Christians

I have noticed lately, to my extreme frustration, how often people will joyfully choose the nutritionally void sweet stuff over the fresh grilled steak and potatoes. It is a source of consternation and, unfortunately, loss in my life.
"Balderdash!", you say - no one in their right mind would choose a jiggly bowl of flavored jelled water over a New York steak! Really? Yet people do, all the time, right and left. Especially, and often, in the world of churches and christianity, I am noticing. And grieving over.
I have realized over the last few years what is at the core of going to church and having fruit from that activity show in your life. It isn't, as most seem to think, dependent on the church you go to. Instead, it is a direct result of what is in your heart when you go. People will nod their heads in agreement when they hear someone say this, and say "yes, yes, that is so true - one must have a worshipful attitude." With the next breath, though, there is a comment on what will bring about a worshipful attitude - better music, different decor, more children's programs, etc.
That is where the jello comes in.
You see, jello, as all those other things are, is a side dish. A pretty dessert. A nice end to top of a meal. Nice to eat - if you suck it in between your teeth you can make it last longer in a fun sort of way, as any 3rd grade boy can tell you. Jello is actually one of the best desserts in history. But - it doesn't fill you up for long. For that, you need steak.
In the church, steak looks like this: community. Love. Accountability to each other. Shoulders to lean on, and people who need YOUR shoulder. And, holding it all up and creating the fire to grill it to perfection - a good solid dose of teaching from God's word, helping us to understand Him better and therefore, serve Him better.
But - instead - we choose the jello first. The fluff. The music, the programs, the sermons that tell us what God can do for us. All the things that make us feel good about ourselves. We have decided, in our wisdom, that THAT is what church is for - us, feeling good. Not uplifting God, but uplifting our own souls. Not seeing what needs He has for us to meet, but what needs and wants He can meet for us. Not seeking His will, but conforming it to our own.And those are the same things we look for in a church. Music, programs, fun - jello.
Before you slam me on all the jello, and how these things are needed for evangelism and producing a heart ready for worship, let me just say that I have been to a church that had it all. It was wonderful. I loved it. Great music, great programs, great evangelism and above all, great preaching. Nothing at all lacking. And yet - there was not a difference in the lives I most closely saw. In fact, those lives got worse. Why? Inner attitude, not outer circumstances. The truth is, we could all, in sincerity and with joy in our hearts, worship God in an empty desert OR in a cathedral filled with Christian Rock bands and Billy Graham - the telling factor is always our own hearts. And if they are not right, there just isn't any steak around. There's nothing but jello. So now, knowing this, I watch and wait and hope people don't starve to death while they argue about and scarf down the jello and ignore the BBQ that smells so great on the grill.

Oh - how to know if you're living on jello? Well, what do you remember most about your last sunday - how great the music was, and how nice the crafts were that the kids brought out of children's church, and how the sermon made you feel really good and inspired?Or do you remember how you were still thinking about that sermon Monday night when you went to bed, and the how it changed your thinking about some part of your life and what you can do about it. Don't fudge on your answer, now - if you don't know you're eating jello, eventually you'll starve to death and wonder why.

Loretta