New Home School Parents, Heads Up!

I am so proud of all the home school graduates I have met!

Without exception, they are all strong-willed, courageous people who are finding their own authentic way in life.  I think that no matter the quality of one's educational experience, or the degree of emotional nurture vs. emotional neglect or abuse even, home schooling in itself transmits these qualities by its very nature.  To home school is to go against the flow of larger society, and children who are home schooled constantly hear that decision praised.  Even the religious home schools (maybe especially the religious home schools?) are continually hearing that going against what is easy and popular when conscience calls you to do so is a good thing, the right thing, the best thing.

So it is no surprise then, that these home school graduates have a strong sense of responsibility to improve the lot of those who come after them. Homeschoolers Anonymous is a web site dedicated to sharing the stories of home school graduates that will not be featured at home school conventions or plastered on the cover of Practical Homeschooling magazine.  (These stories need to be heard, too!) It was created by home school graduates, to help improve the lives of home schooled children who come after them.  Their goal is to improve things by the shining the light on areas that need improvement.  All of the stories shared there are authentic, written by home school graduates themselves.  These stories need to be told, and the home school community needs to listen and learn. 

New home school parents especially, be wise!

Take notice!  Don't just listen to the home school salespeople trying to get you to be just like them.  Do not be foolish, only listening to those whose children are still at home.  They have the option of still believing they are doing everything right and because of that, they can predict how life will turn out for their children.  Those whose children are already grown adults, that's who you should be seeking out for advice.

You are in a much better position than earlier home school parents, because you have the opportunity to inspect the fruits of the labors of home school parents who came before you.  Make the most of that opportunity!  As scripture counsels (Proverbs 18:17, Luke 14:28-33), get all sides of a story before you decide.  Really investigate what you are trying to accomplish.  Check out what has already been done by other people so you can figure out what you want to do differently and what you want to emulate.  

I realize this will be difficult, for many reasons. One is that when a family experiences "failure"- any result that is outside the advertised shiny, bright, happily subservient, doctrinally and sexually pure teenager- that family will disappear from most home school support groups.  Sometimes they are kicked out, but more often they drop out. These parents may feel ashamed that the product of their home school didn't turn out as advertised.  They may be asked to leave, especially if the results they are experiencing don't conform to the religious side of expectations.  A poorly educated but morally upright teen/young adult is not nearly so embarrassing to many home school support groups as a teen/young adult who is seen as morally compromised.  

On the other hand, they may leave the support group because of disillusionment.  When their marriage is falling apart, their teenager turns up pregnant, or is caught doing drugs, shoplifting, looking at porn, etc. then they may wake up to the fact that they have bought into and been promoting a lie and want no part in it anymore. Or they may be compelled to put their children in public school because of any number of reasons- a severely ill parent, financial constraints that require the home schooling parent to work- and so leave the home school support group.  All home school support groups require that a family be home schooling to belong, so any family that stops home schooling for any reason will not be at support group meetings sharing their stories.  You will have to search them out.

And the final reason that talking to home school graduates, and parents who have graduated all their students, to see where life takes them, is the passage of time.  You won't hear about gay home schooled Christian teens because they don't come out to their parents until years have passed since leaving home.  You won't hear about atheist home schooled graduate of Christian home schools because they don't leave the faith for years after leaving home.  In fact, you won't hear about any of the graduates who go off script after leaving home unless their dong so actually involves criminal activity that splashes across the headlines, like the Alexander story in Louisiana.  

[A home school boy dutifully marries the courtship bride his and her parents decided upon. His wife gets pregnant right away because they follow the script and don't use birth control.  Coudy goes to work, and interacts with people outside of the home school movement for the first time.  He falls in love with a co-worker, quite unexpectedly I am sure.  He has never experienced such strong attractions before, as he was assigned his wife and wasn't allowed to even date.  He and the co-worker begin a romance.  And somehow, truth always outs.  His young bride finds out about the affair.  Maybe he even told her himself, I don't know.  As she is packing to leave him, the weight of the shame that will fall on him from his community overwhelms him, and in a panic, he kills his young bride.  THAT is a direct result of the Christian home school fantasy and the expectations he felt to fulfill them as a star of the movement.  He was never allowed to just be Coudy, and figure out who he was at heart and what he wanted.  His life was dedicated to doing what his parents wanted, because somewhere along the line the Christian home school community became confident that what they wanted, God wanted.  It ended in heartache.]

All of the Christian home schooled youth want to please God.  Those whose parents and churches claim to speak for God the most adamantly are the ones whose children are at most risk of leaving the faith eventually.  You can not control their environments forever, and eventually they will start to run into the mysteries of life and find the pat answers they were taught are insufficient.  You will read many stories along this vein at Homeschoolers Anonymous but you won't hear them at your home school support group. They won't be brought up onto the platform at home school conventions (though some were paraded there back when they were still teens at home) to tell their story today.  They will not be featured in home school magazines. 

All of which is a real shame.  The inquiry for truth seems to have been abandoned by the home school movement's leadership. They believe they know all truth, and so they just dismiss and ignore all reality that exposes their "truth" as a lie.  Instead of being smart enough to listen to the adult children, children raised by all the standards and methods the movement promoted, leadership is just doubling down on the standards and methods that have failed.  They turn deaf ears to anything that doesn't support what they want to believe.  That isn't right. Home schooled children deserve better!  

Finally, the absolute worst stories out there, the ones we as home schoolers want to ignore and should not, are the stories of child abuse.  Sexual abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse, spiritual abuse is happening in the home school community, and the home school community had best address it!  It's no use trying to explain it away with the True Scotsman defense. Our adult home schooled graduates are well versed in the dynamics of logic and debate.  No, it's happening.  It happened under our watch, under my watch.  So, what are good home school parents going to do about it?

HSLDA's response to these stories of neglect and abuse?  Silence. Denial of being in any way responsible for these children.  Not shock, not horror, not remorse.  Instead of leading the charge to put distance between nurturing home schooling families and abusive home schooling families, something that can only happen with transparency and accountability, HSLDA is trying to make it easier for abusive parents to home school. Witness this recent attempt to remove all transparency and accountability from the home school law in Iowa.  The current regulations are not burdensome and they are working well.  Why would HSLDA be working to remove all accountability and transparency from Iowa home school regulations?  

That's a question every home schooling parent, every home school support group leader, every home school support group member, should be asking themselves.  I know I never had anything to hide, and was in fact proud of the education and the home environment I was providing.  If you, home schooling parent, can't say the same, you shouldn't be home schooling.  You should make sure your children receive lots of love, good nutrition, emotional nurture and educational opportunity every day.  If you are doing that, and  I believe most home schooling parents are doing just that, then you should be open and transparent to the community in which you live about what goes on behind your closed door. 

 Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us. I Peter 2:12

The public needs to be able to see your good deeds.  Being transparent and accountable honors God.  Don't seek to hide in the darkness of obscurity, be eager to show the world the wonderful work that your home school in accomplishing!  Do it for the children, because Jesus calls us to love children  (all children, not just our own) and treat them with dignity and care.  Read carefully Matthew 18:1-9.  

It's time for the home schooling community to cut out and cast away families that abuse their children!  The only way to do it is to come out in the open and show the world what's happening in all our home schools.  The righteous will be rewarded, the wicked will be found out, and all of society will be better off for it.  

Lead the way, home schooled graduates! Lead the way, new home school parents!  Don't let the old guard lock you into making the same mistakes they (we) made.  Do it not only for your children, but for all children.  Heads up! You are the new face of home schooling.  Please let it be an open and honest face, publicly displayed, that has nothing to hide and much about which to proudly smile.

A beautiful pro-life message

From a facebook wall discussion:

 Until a child is out, born and breathing in the world, it is just Potential. I've seen too many still born babies at full term and too many late term miscarriages in friends and family to feel otherwise. The loss of potential is sad, painful, heartbreaking, the loss of a potential person who could become anyone, be anything, even more so. But to choose a potential person over the well being and best interests of a being who is already here, with years of experience, choices, friends, family, and everything else already behind them, is to denigrate the value of lives already here just in the hopes of a better "what if". To me, it is to say that all a woman has done, achieved, and impacted in her life is not as worthy or important as what her child MIGHT achieve IF it manages to survive.

I'm 23 weeks pregnant. We chose to have this child, made the conscious decision as two committed, loving adults that if we got pregnant, baring health risks and life threatening birth defects in the child or risk to me, we would carry through. I wish no child was ever conceived except in those circumstances, by people willing and able to take care of it. I don't understand the mentality of someone being worthy enough to sleep with, but not have a child with, but that's just me, and I don't want to force my views on others.

But if something happened tomorrow, and we were to face a choice over my well being and safety, my life, over that of our baby,Jericho and I both agree we would tell them, "Save Me, save Em." From our first pregnancy, we discussed and worried about this, that dark fear of "What if" the worst happened. And Jericho told me then, it would be unfair and selfish for me to choose our baby over him, leaving him alone with a baby to raise, and no me to help or love either of them. In that case it's choosing the baby over the fathers well being, the same thing just with no physical risk to the dad, just a huge burden of sadness and loneliness, and a child he might resent to boot. And every time since that, the decision was already made. "Save Me, Save Em." if something should happen, because otherwise it would be choosing the unborn child not only over myself and my husband, but over my other already born children as well.

It would not matter to me if in a bit of clairvoyance God were to tell me that should my child live, he would cure cancer and bring peace to the world, unless he also promised my other kids and husband would be better off without me, proof that would never come, the answer would always be, "Choose me, Choose Em." Its not that I think I'm better than what my kids could potentially be, its that I know, as long as I'm here, I will do my best to love, protect, and guide them. It's the one little power I have on this earth, and something I won't give up without a fight.

I'm 23 weeks pregnant. We chose to have this child, made the conscious decision as two committed, loving adults that if we got pregnant, baring health risks and life threatening birth defects in the child or risk to me, we would carry through. I wish no child was ever conceived except in those circumstances, by people willing and able to take care of it. I don't understand the mentality of someone being worthy enough to sleep with, but not have a child with, but that's just me, and I don't want to force my views on others. 

But if something happened tomorrow, and we were to face a choice over my well being and safety, my life, over that of our baby,Jericho and I both agree we would tell them, "Save Me, save Em." From our first pregnancy, we discussed and worried about this, that dark fear of "What if" the worst happened. And Jericho told me then, it would be unfair and selfish for me to choose our baby over him, leaving him alone with a baby to raise, and no me to help or love either of them. In that case it's choosing the baby over the fathers well being, the same thing just with no physical risk to the dad, just a huge burden of sadness and loneliness, and a child he might resent to boot. And every time since that, the decision was already made. "Save Me, Save Em." if something should happen, because otherwise it would be choosing the unborn child not only over myself and my husband, but over my other already born children as well.

It would not matter to me if in a bit of clairvoyance God were to tell me that should my child live, he would cure cancer and bring peace to the world, unless he also promised my other kids and husband would be better off without me, proof that would never come, the answer would always be, "Choose me, Choose Em." Its not that I think I'm better than what my kids could potentially be, its that I know, as long as I'm here, I will do my best to love, protect, and guide them. It's the one little power I have on this earth, and something I won't give up without a fight.

Jesus vs. American "christians"

Probably everyone has already seen or heard of this video clip in which a Republican congressman loses it on the Illinois house floor.

I live in the middle of a very Religious City.  I think I saw recently where it was in the top rankings for religious cities in the country.  I don't have time to hunt down the link, but supposedly 53% percent of people in my city attend  Christian services or at least self-report that they do.  There are 800 +/- churches in the greater metro area.

The odds are good that if a person is white, older and female, they go to church.  If they are Christians, the odds are good that they (for some inexplicable reason) are also pro-everything Rush Limbaugh likes, anti-everything Rush Limbaugh hates, and are registered Republican.  This actually makes no sense if they were actual disciples of Jesus.

Though Jesus never took a side as far as politics go, he did take up for the outcast (lepers, blind, disabled for any reason), the marginalized (tax collectors, women of ill repute), the foreigner (Samaritan, Syro-Phonecian, Roman), and the economically disadvantaged (compassion on the crowds with no food, the widow(s) at the temple).  Nowhere did Jesus favor the rich or the powerful religious elites, in fact he warned people to watch out not to become like them (beware the leaven...) and warned them not to seek to become  rich (seek you first the kingdom, how hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom...).

So, it seems pretty plain to me that if you are against universal health care, you are not following Jesus in desiring to heal the sick.  If you are against public assistance for the disabled, you are not following Jesus in having compassion for the economically/socially disadvantaged.  If you are in favor of further labeling and marginalizing gay people as "abominations", you are not following Jesus in showing acceptance and welcome to the marginalized.  If you want to build a big fence to electrocute people fleeing privation/starvation in hopes of providing a better future for their children here in America, in fact if you want to do anything other than make it easier for these people, both by ending American imperialist policies that hurt their own economies (drug wars?) and making an easier process for them to immigrate legally, then you are not following Jesus in showing compassion to the foreigners among us.  If you demonize people who are poor and hungry as too lazy to work and begrudge assisting them in any way, you are not following Jesus in showing honor and offering real help to the poor and the hungry.

If you praise the rich as being  "successful", claiming they are more virtuous than other people, you listen to Rush with more intention than you read your Bible.  The Bible is full of pronouncements of judgement (the disapproval of God) on the rich and those who strive to be rich.  There is no way you can be a disciple of Jesus and call the mega-wealthy "job creators".  The two opinions of the wealthy elite (Rush Limbaugh vs. Jesus) stand in stark contrast.  I suppose you could point to the prosperity promised observant Jews in the Old Testament as proof that wealth means God approves of you, but you can't point to anything Jesus said or did that upholds that belief. Paul goes as far as to state plainly (in more than one way in more than one epistle) that Jesus is the end of the Law.  If you're following Jesus, the Old Testament law is irrelevant.  The  new command of Jesus is the only one that matters:

1. John 13:34
   A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
2. John 15:12
   This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.

Which is why it is inexplicable to me, and so ugly, that  today's evangelical equates being Republican with being Christian.  It makes absolutely no sense.  Anyone who takes the call to follow Jesus seriously can not in good conscience align themselves with the current Republican party.  Go ahead and try.  It just doesn't stand up to scrutiny if you actually read the Bible and want to obey Jesus.  

So, any thoughtful Christian would decry the actions of the congressman from Illinois, right?  After all, the New Testament is pretty plain that the congressman's actions* (railing:  to complain by being harsh and angry (usually followed by "at" or "against") are declared something that disciples of Jesus should clearly not be doing  (I Tim 6:4; I Peter 3:9; 2 Peter 2:11; Jude 1:9).  

That doesn't even take into account the many places Christians are admonished to be kind, gentle, bless and curse not, and to cultivate the lovely fruit of self-control.  There is absolutely no way this rant of a crazed lunatic could qualify as Christian or garner the praise of Christians, right?  Right?!  Right!?!?!

Yeah, not right.  In the break room at a local business, when this childish churl came up on the television, the outspoken Christian in the break room cheered for him, clapped, exulted over his (uninformed and childish) rant.  Worse, her co-worker chimed in a belated "Amen!"  These are the same people who openly sneered at me last year when I remarked that I had nothing against gay folks getting married if they had the courage to go for it.  

These two women probably think they are "good Christians".  I am confident they are Republican.  If a Democrat had engaged in similar behavior, they would be loudly denouncing how "ungodly" the congressman was behaving.  If any one they hated, a gay person or an immigrant or a lawyer for the ACLU, behaved in similar manner, it would probably be reckoned as one more justifying reason for their hatred.  Yet because a Republican cursed, screamed, threw things and whined about not getting his way,  they actually applauded.

I fear for my country.  Pastors openly call for child abuse against boys who love and emulate their mothers, for state executions of gay people,  for ending access to birth control for women and taking away women's right to vote.  They would like to end affirmative action  laws so they can go back to discriminating against minorities in the work place without penalty.  I have heard all these things in either sermons broadcast on the internet, read them in books or witnessed it in person by a pastor from the pulpit.  I even heard one pastor declare that slavery was not wrong, because the Bible supported it, but he wouldn't elaborate because it was not "politically correct".  Uh, dude, it's way worse than that.  Unless nothing would please you more than becoming a slave,  which I doubt, there is no way you can love another person and enslave them at the same time.  It just can't be done.

Which proves my point: Jesus is no longer necessary for American evangelical and fundamentalist Christians.  They have the Bible, which they love way more and gives them permission to love what the current Republican party stands for ONLY IF THEY REMOVE/IGNORE THE WORDS AND LIFE OF CHRIST.  That's exactly what they do.  It's the only way a person who knows how to read could both claim to be a "christian" and honor the rich, slander the poor, ignore the sick, hate homosexuals and resent immigrants.  They have to love their politics more than they love their "lord" if in fact they publicly honor politicians who rail, curse and throw things when Republican legislation isn't passed swiftly.  

As a person truly smitten with Jesus, modern American Christianity disgusts me.  I am reminded  of a saying I heard recently, "Mixing politics with religion is like mixing manure with ice cream.  It does nothing for the manure (politics) but it ruins the ice cream (religion)."  

I haven't been to church regularly since last October.  I don't plan to attend  more than once a month for the foreseeable future.  Once you've been handed a manure-laden ice cream cone, it sort of puts you off of ice cream altogether, even when there is no manure added into the current edition.  *shudder*

There was a time when being ugly and rude was socially unacceptable, and it was largely because of religion that this was true.  But what will happen to our city, our country, when religion is the force behind public demonstrations of hate and violence? If things don't turn around in our society soon, we may find out.  

So while it was easy yesterday to just get up and walk out of the break room, I am concerned that one day not joining in will be enough to have my fellow citizens denounce ME openly. For those who scoff that America will never become so ugly, I hope you are right.  I once thought the church would be a place that promotes peace and advocates for the poor, but reality has dissuaded me of that notion.  Once the church has gone off the rails (and it has) what will keep the whole country from following?

PS The congressman's words were wrong anyway!  The Constitution of the United States of America clearly calls for the role of Speaker of the House.   "The House of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker and other Officers; and shall have the sole Power of Impeachment."   You can read the entire text of the Constitution of the United States of America online here:  www.usconstitution.net

How can you "not believe in" reality?

This is such a great post that I'm linking to, very long though so I won't say much myself in addition to passing on the link.

For many years, when I believed that being homosexual was a sin rather than a sliver of humanity like being tall, prone to freckle, or having exceptional athletic ability, I could not understand why the rest of the world considered my opinion "hate".   I was very offended at being called full of hate.

 "No!" I would say, parroting the evangelical line, "I don't hate gay people, I hate the sin of homosexuality.  I love the people.  And anyway, why do you care that I think it's a sin?  How I live my life is none of the community-at-large's business.  I have freedom of religion!"

Of course I would never say that about my son's freckles*:

"Oh I love my son, I just hate his freckles.  If only he would stop freckling and tan like normal people he would find freedom and joy.  As soon as he stops freckling, he will be accepted and welcomed.  But first he needs to stop that unnatural freckling.  It's a sin to freckle, the Bible says so: just plug "without spot" into Bible Gateway King James Version and it's all there  plain as day.  Sacrifices with spots were unacceptable; Paul says in Ephesians that the Lord is only coming for a bride without spot.** No spots allowed.  All he has to do is stop freckling.  There are even ministries that will help him choose to stop freckling, or at least help him come to grips with the fact that he must live his entire life indoors, while wearing heavy sunscreen, so no one ever knows that he freckles."

Here's the link:

Why "I don't believe in that" is unacceptable

* When the creators of South Park decided to create an episode that pointed out the ridiculousness of excluding and condemning people based on unchangeable human characteristics, they chose this same scenario.  Instead of inspiring people to stop the exclusion and ridicule, American school children began to bully people with freckles too.  The Ginger Kids episode, meant to expose the stupidity of intolerance and abuse, instead brought about an internet campaign, Kick a Ginger Day, that promoted violence against people with red hair and freckles.  Google "kick a ginger day" and "hug a ginger day" to see how bad it actually got.

**(and without wrinkles too: does this mean women who have cosmetic surgery are sanctified, while women with wrinkles are not?  New moral dilemma!  Ack!).

Thought-stopping labels thrown by those who have stopped thinking for themselves

Oh my, the variety of thought-stopping labels that Christians throw at those who challenge them!  I'm sure there are more than I know of, but I just got slapped with one of the most popular:  "Bitter"

As in, why do you not play along to the tune I play, a la Matthew 11: 16-17?

¹⁶ “But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their playmates,

¹⁷ “‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;

    we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.’

She posted a picture of Michelle Duggars dead child, and underneath is some drivel about "is this just a blob of cells" which is a misleading and dishonest question.

When a pro-choice person refers to "a blob of cells" they are referring to a Blastula , the medical term for the first three weeks after fertilization of an egg.  During this time, the three layers are forming that will become the placenta, and two other layers that will support the appearance someday of different organ systems.  It literally is a blob.  Seriously!

After that comes the stage of the embryo, again about three weeks.  During these three weeks the development of an outer form takes shape, and while the rudimentary formations of necessary body systems is just beginning.  Pro-lifers like to hand out little plastic "babies" of this stage of development.  So, even though the brain or nervous system are not fully functioning at this stage, the outside is starting to take shape, and this shape misleads people into seeing the unborn child as a teeny tiny miniature adult.  (Electrical twitches do start in the brain at the end of this stage, but that does not denote function.The heart will also regularly spasm soon, but the circulatory system is not yet functioning either.) That is not the reality.

From the above link:

Abortion

See also: Miscarriage

A complete spontaneous abortion at about 6 weeks from conception, i.e. 8 weeks from LMP

Some embryos do not survive through to the fetal stage, which begins about two months after fertilization (10 weeks LMP). Embryos may be aborted spontaneously or purposely.

Studies using very sensitive early pregnancy tests have found that 25% of embryos are aborted by the sixth week LMP (since the woman's last menstrual period), even if a woman does not realize it.^[4][5] Abortions after the sixth week LMP happen in 8% of pregnancies.^[5] The risk of them is "virtually complete by the end of the embryonic period," with a rate of only two percent after 8.5 weeks LMP.^[6]

The most common natural cause of abortion of an embryo is chromosomal abnormality,^[7] which accounts for at least 50% of sampled early pregnancy losses.^[8] Advancing maternal age and a patient history of previous spontaneous abortions are the two leading risk factors.^[8]

[edit]Induced abortion

See also: Abortion

The majority of induced abortions occur during the embryonic period. For example, in England and Wales during 2006, 68% of them occurred by the end of the embryonic period.^[9]

Induced (i.e. purposeful) abortion of an embryo may be accomplished by a variety of methods, including both pharmaceutical and surgical techniques. Suction-aspiration is the most common surgical method of aborting an embryo within the United States.^[10]

Common reasons for purposely aborting an embryo include a desire to delay or end childbearing, concern over the interruption of work oreducation, issues of financial or relationship stability, perceived immaturity and health concerns.^[11][12]

Following this stage, the term "fetus" is used, meaning "little one", because even though it will be weeks before the child could survive on its own EVEN WITH our amazing life-saving drugs, surgeries and interventions, from  about week nine of gestation, the outside looks clearly human.

So, when a pro-life person shows a picture of a dead fetus, asking "does this look like a blob of cells to you?" it's pure emotional manipulation AND it's deceitful!


Of course I objected to the manipulation, and the response was just classic fundy!

"Why are you so bitter?"

Next will come thought-stoppers like rebellious, sin of witchcraft, who knows what else?  Ugh.

I just hid the conversation and am going to ignore her, in hopes of living the more detached life of the yogi.  Let the fundamentalists be the ones all twisted up with anxiety and hate.  I won't defend myself because the question is so irrelevant to the issue, there is no way to respond without giving the question merit. And so I will just be still and silent in the face of that question.

I could be accurately accused of "hit and run" posting, but that's only because any response would be allowing her to redefine the argument from the content of her post to the state of my emotions.  And guess what? I don't have to allow that, and  I don't feel guilty about it either, because I don't have to be perfect anymore!  


As most of my readers know, once you've been called bitter, there's no way of proving you're not.  People could see the peace on your face, hear the calm in your voice, while they are frothing at the mouth and still call YOU the bitter one.  They would keep on in their own hysteria and never see beyond it.

 I fear for my country, now that fundemantalist Christianity has stunted so many minds.  Honest inquiry is foreign to them, as they look the their preachers, authors and organizations to tell them what to think.  That is  the only way an intelligent grown woman could show a picture of a mid-term fetus (20 weeks probably) and ask "does this look like a blob of cells to you?"  She has done no personal research on either gestation or the pro-choice position.  She just believes what she has been told by others without checking it out on her own.

*sigh*

May God have mercy on the USA and save her from his "followers".

Interesting read

I found this link on an internet discussion about what kind of women have abortions.  It is very informative:

When anti-abortion advocates seek abortion for themselves or a loved one....

Bigotry Unleashed

Christians Unleash Their Bigotry in Public  now that polls lead them to believe that their opinion is popular. This is what hate looks like in a suit, boys and girls.  And this is why America MUST throw "conservatives" out of office, as fast as we can.  They are eager, EAGER to codify their hatred into law.  Forget the economy; living in a fascist totalitarian system is untenable under any economic circumstance.

Hatred in the name of Jesus.  Is there anything uglier under the sun?  I don't think so.

Psalm 11:3

If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?

What can we do?  How can we fight this new outbreak of hatred in the church?  It has happened before here in America, and our track record is not good.  The mighty Southern Baptist Convention was FOUNDED on the premise that slavery was "Biblical".  I kid you not.  They preached that it was "Biblical" for devout Christians to engage in the business of buying, selling and enslaving black people.  What's worse, they had the scripture to back it up!


They had dozens of proof-texts to back it up.  The apostle Paul didn't censure the practice of slavery; he gave instructions to slave owners and slaves alike.  The Bible was their justification for the practice of slavery, AND for the years of racist bigotry that followed.  They didn't even apologize for their wicked actions until 1995!  Note that this came on the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Southern Baptist convention.

1995 SBC Apology

Why the SBC was founded


Note:  I can't link to the actual SBC website about the reasons for founding the SBC because they don't mention it.  Their history link starts out, "Since the founding...1895..."  No mention that they seceded from the American Baptists over the issue of slavery.  My (racist) grandmother was a lifelong Southern Baptist. She lived her whole life in Oklahoma, a hotbed of the Ku Klux Klan during her lifetime.  Here is a snapshot of Oklahoma life in the early half of the twentieth century.  The Ku Klux Klan billed itself as a Christian organization, and that makes it a Christian organization.  I refuse to link to their website, but here is the opening statement you will find there even today:

"There is a race war against whites. But our people - my white brothers and sisters - will stay committed to a non-violent resolution. That resolution must consist of solidarity in white communities around the world. The hatred for our children and their future is growing and is being fueled every single day. Stay firm in your convictions. Keep loving your heritage and keep witnessing to others that there is a better way than a war torn, violent, wicked, socialist, new world order. That way is the Christian way - law and order - love of family - love of nation. These are the principles of western Christian civilization. There is a war to destroy these things. Pray that our people see the error of their ways and regain a sense of loyalty. Repent America! Be faithful my fellow believers. "  National Director of The Knights, Pastor Thomas Robb

Because of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, and only because of the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s,  it is illegal to discriminate against people on the basis of race.  But racism itself is still ALIVE AND WELL in the Christian community here in the South where I live.  The woman with the Ten Commandments proudly posted on her shop wall showed her bigotry in casual conversation with me, a white woman.  The women from the Evangelical Presbyterian church I visited warned me against sending my daughter to public school, lest she wind up pregnant with a "mixed baby", alternately referred to as a "mulatto" by the older woman who spoke to me about it.  I happen to have a religious painting on my wall with one of my favorite scriptures in calligraphy under a painting of a grandfather and grandson rocking in a porch swing.  On several occasions, white Christians have been offended by my owning such a painting, and grilled me on why I would want such a thing.  My black friends call it "living room racism", meaning racism that stays hidden until the racist feels like they are in a safe place to let their true beliefs about race show.

All those people were Christians, and they keep their hate under wraps because they KNOW it is socially unacceptable to let it out. However, with this new minority to hate, the GLBT community, recent polls show that the majority of Americans share their predjudice.  One day after this news release from Gallup polls, "Majority of Americans oppose same sex marriage" we have a Virginia legislator recruiting other law-makers to join him in black-balling a gay appointee for a judgeship because " if you have a bar room fight between a homosexual and heterosexual, I’m concerned about possible bias."


Friends, this kind of open bigotry only comes out when haters believe their bigotry is shared by the majority.


For those of us who don't really want to be crusaders, or, like me, who fear professional backlash for coming out openly and publicly in support of LGBT rights, we don't have the option of silence anymore.  Remaining silent is giving tacit approval to the hate.  The religious right has declared war on LGBT people (and on women as well, but that's another post).  We who are committed to obeying the commands of JESUS will have to take a public stand at some point for the LGBT community.  I'm praying about when/how/what to do personally, and I hope you'll join me.  


Peace to all who read here, SS

Commands of Christ

John 13:34
A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.

John 15:12This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.

John 15:17
These things I command you, that ye love one another.

 If you look at the times the word "command" was about Jesus, it most always refers to Jesus giving a specific instruction to a specific person.  At other times, Jesus referred to the commandments of Moses (quite telling, that phrase).  These are the only three instances where Jesus specifically says that this is a command!


I find that very significant.


As a parent, I was told that first time obedience was something I should demand from my children because God demands it from us all.  Well, that's hardly true.  It's funny how we flatter ourselves with that one.  We rarely obey God at all.  Most Christians are passive-aggressive snots, doing all kinds of things God never asked us to do while ignoring the things He plainly asked us to do, and then whining that God doesn't appreciate all we do for him.  Seriously, one verse by the apostle Paul about "don't neglect to gather together with other Christians" has morphed into this entire religious industry where people feel really dedicated to God if they show up once or twice a week.  Jesus never commanded that.  His only command, given three times according to the apostle John, is completely ignored.  But attend church?  You betcha!  It's considered the mark of a "true disciple".

The other reason I was told to demand first time obedience from my children is far more plausible, but still falls short.  My children should always obey immediately because otherwise if their safety requires instant obedience, they could be harmed.  Think of the scenario of a child chasing a butterfly.  The butterfly heads into the road, the child follows. You see a car coming, and yell out...what, exactly?  The child's name?  Advocates of first time obedience paint the scenario that way, and your prone-to-dawdle child keeps going and is run over.  Tragedy, all because you (bad parent) did not demand first time obedience.

In reality, if you see a car coming, everything about the way you speak to your child should change: pitch, volume, content.  "Stop!!!!" should come blasting out of your mouth as you run to where your child is about to cross the road.  And that is exactly the way communication works: the urgency of a command is pretty apparent in real life.  "Stop!" because your child is in imminent physical danger is conveyed in a very different way than, "Stop!" when a child is pulling on your skirt while you are talking with a  grown-up and very different from the "Stop!" gasped out between giggles when your child's antics are so hilarious you can't catch your breath from all the laughter those antics have generated in mom's belly.  And so it should be.

All this to say, if something is really way more important than any other instruction a child may be given, there needs to be some way to make that clear.  All directions are not of equal importance.  Whether or not a child brushes his teeth one particular morning is not nearly as important as that he NOT EVER help strangers look for lost puppies.  We have ways of making that clear.  When Jesus says plainly, This is a command, that is exactly what is happening.

This is the most important thing:  Love one another.


The most important thing is not "go to church".  The most important thing is not, "give ten per cent of all you earn to the local church".  The most important thing is not, "Defend a six day creation scenario". The most important thing is not, "Spend your life looking as righteous as you possibly can".  The only direction issued with the precursor this is a COMMAND is the imperative to love one another as I have loved you.

Of course Christians are no different that the lawyer recorded in the tenth chapter of Luke (Luke 10:25 to be exact).  Define "one another" Jesus.  Surely we don't have to love everyone.  At this point, Jesus has already given the Sermon on the Mount, in which he tells everyone to love even their enemies and do them good!  The law has directed people to love their neighbor for centuries.  But love is pretty darn demanding.    That lawyer was looking for an out.  Christians today are looking for an out, too.

The excuses are myriad.  I have read Christian leaders teach that we don't have to love our enemies, because that was a command given before the death and resurrection of Christ, to Jews gathered to listen to Jesus speak.  Slippery little sucker, these Christians. Fundamentalists teach that since Jesus also said "If you love me, you'll keep my commandments" AND they have redefined Jesus to mean "the Bible", they are actually loving God and loving their brothers/neighbors by keeping whichever of the thousands upon thousands of directive in the Bible suits their proclivities.  You don't feel loved when you're neighbor gets up on Sunday morning and goes to church?  Well, that's what fundamentalists have redefined to mean they are "obeying Jesus" ergo "loving you".  Like a kid who starts picking up his toys when you ask him to get ready for bed, that's the level of "obedience" most of the Christian church is into.  They will do what pleases them when it pleases them, but they will call it obedience and protest that they are model children if you call them on it.

Which brings me back around to the topic: the commands of Christ.  Clearly the single most important thing was that we love one another as Christ loves us.  I admit I am at an advantage here, as I have come face to face with the love of God in a way not everyone experiences.  That love is all-surpassing, all-inclusive, so pure and good that not even Mother Theresa or the Dalai Lama got there (though they are certainly closer than I have managed so far!).  It is a love, a L-O-V-E that is, well, Divine.  It knows no bounds, never turns anyone down, and I am completely convinced will forgive anyone of anything.  That Love is out of this world.

So who is "one another"?  For arguments' sake, I will limit "one another" to mean other people who love Jesus. You know, Christian youth raised in Christian homes who grew up memorizing Bible verses, going to AWANA, having family devotions and praying morning, noon and night.  True Christians, who go to church every Sunday and set aside ten per cent of even their childhood allowance for the local church.  Even narrowing the definition of "one another" down that very exclusive group, I ran into a problem.

You see, I was taught that homosexuality was a choice, and a sinful choice.  Coming out gay was like coming out a liar, a con man, a committed professional thief.  I didn't come up with this idea on my own.  I was taught it in church.  And look-see, right there in the Bible, were several places that condemned homosexuality: under Jewish law, and Paul's description of the sinful condition.  Other references people used to condemn homosexuals were suspect,but I grudgingly admitted those verses were in the Bible and seemed to condemn homosexuality.

 (The violent gang rape that the people of Sodom threatened the angels with was wrong because the angels appeared as men?  Seriously?  Violent gang rape is okay as long as the victim is a woman?  That doesn't sit well with the character, words, life of Christ.  REJECT!  The passage in Revelations that "homosexuals" will be excluded from the love of God?  That word is "porneo" and was originally translated as whore-monger i.e. pimps who enslave people of both genders in the sex trade!  That is as far from a healthy relationship as one can get, and the gender of the people involved is irrelevant.  REJECT!)


And so I grew to believe that gay people were people outside the Christian faith, who were choosing to act in certain ways that for some reason indicated that they did not love God.  Though I didn't really understand it, I accepted it.  It was "in the Bible".

And then reality broke through.  I love it when God does that, breaks through my false religious notions with a good dose of reality.  That reality, that Christians who love Jesus, who had never been abused, had never been exposed to the so-called "gay agenda", children from committed Christian home schooling families, are also gay, blew me away.  Blew. Me. Away.

See, there is no command to reject gay people, but there is a command to unconditionally, without reservation, lavish acceptance, compassion, support and welcome (how Jesus loves me) on my fellow believers.  

It's a command.  It's non-negotiable.  And there is a whole lot of actions and attitudes encompassed in the words "love as I have loved you". 

Jesus listens to me as I pour my heart out in prayer.  Therefore I need to listen to my fellow believer as they pour their heart out to me.  Jesus is so compassionate to me when I am in emotional distress.  Therefore I must show compassion to my fellow believers who are in any emotional distress.  Jesus responds to my prayers by meeting my needs.  Therefore I must respond to my fellow believers by attempting to meet their need.


It's non-negotiable.  It's a command.


My brother in Christ, Justin over at The Gay Christian Network rocked my world and opened my eyes to the reality that "one another"s are sometimes gay.  As I listened to my brothers and sisters in Christ share their stories on the video Through My Eyes, suddenly I knew there  was only ONE truly Christian response to homosexuality.  That would be the same response we have to heterosexuality.  We should unconditionally love and accept our brothers and sisters in Christ as the people they are created.  As Christ loves me, which is amazingly and overwhelmingly lavish, I am to love my fellow believers.  All of them.

I feel so strongly about this, that if anyone wants to privately e-mail me your address, I will purchase a copy of this DVD for you and have it sent to your address.  Email me at: to(underscore)shadowspring(at)yahoo(dot)com.

It's time we quit pretending to obey Jesus while pleasing ourselves, and get down to the one command He was so serious about that he actually called it a command.

Peace to all who read here.

Bible Believing Christian pt II

Another plain truth must be said: Just because something is recorded as happening in the Bible, does not mean it was righteous.  Even if it was acceptable at the time, that does not mean it is righteous.  I repeat:

Just because something is recorded in the Bible, that does not make it righteous. Even if it was socially acceptable at the time, that does not make it righteous.


What does it mean to "believe" the Bible?  I believe the Bible exists, and has been around for thousands of years.  I even believe it is inspired, but I don't think being inspired means "channeled as the 100% actual words of the actual Living God".  Not one of the authors, as far as I know, claimed to be in a trance where God took over their bodies and the words then appeared on the page. The closest claim for that would be the tablets with the Ten Commandments.

Ten.  Commandments.  Not the Old Testament Law in its entirety as it would come to be recorded later.  Just the Top Ten.

Almost all of it was written ex post facto.  No one was following Jesus around with a tape recorder.  Whoever wrote Genesis clearly wasn't there, writing down events as if he were a modern day reporter.  Use some common sense people.

Inspired, according the Free Dictionary, is used to mean "1. To affect, guide, or arouse by divine influence."


I have been changed by the Divine Presence, confronted  by what can only be described as a mystical experience. This amazing, almost undescribable experience was very affecting.  I would be remiss if I did not include that this revelation was given to me as I called on the name of Jesus.  I would also be remiss if I did not point out that as a young girl in the South, this was the only name for God I had ever known.  I called on God in my extreme need, and Love answered.

It has guided my life for many years now. In fact, this reality of experience lends credence to everything I read in the Bible about Jesus, who He really is, how He loves, how merciful He is.  If God exists, and I believe He does, then reality will have been made by Him as well.  Rather than throw out reality, the study of reality can help us to understand the greatness of God.  Science is my friend.

Even though I have had this personal experience, one so close in many ways to the prophet Isaiah when he saw the Lord that I want to yell, "I totally get you, dude!" to the sky every time I read it, that does not make me some spiritual know-it-all.  It does not make me the infallible mouthpiece of God, and neither did it make Isaiah the infallible mouthpiece of God.  Moses, or Jeremiah, or Ezekiel, none of those other people were inerrant either.  They were PEOPLE, people!!  People who had amazing mystical experiences in some cases, but mere people none the less.

Do I believe in the Bible?  Well, it's more honest to say that I believe in Jesus.  I believe Abraham existed, and had amazing mystical experiences with God.  He was called a friend of God, is that not precious?  But he was still just a man.  He was wrong to pawn his wife off as his sister and basically hand her over for sex with strangers.  Just because Abraham did something doesn't make it righteous.

My two biggest beefs with this new-found glorification of all things Biblical are those listed above. Being recorded in the Bible doesn't make something righteous.  Even if it was socially acceptable at the time, that does not make it righteous.

How can these people who claim to believe in the total depravity of man (which I don't) somehow give a special dispensation for the various authors of the sixty-six books of the Bible?  Jesus gets the distinction of purity, not only because He claimed to be God, but because of the kindness, compassion and true justice embodied in his life and words.  It was amazing enough to start a whole new way of living.  People were inspired, and continue to be inspired, by the goodness of Jesus Christ. Heck, even the Dalia Lama is inspired by the goodness of Christ.

But many of the things that were socially acceptable at the time of Christ and the apostles are no longer socially acceptable, nor should they be. Slavery is unacceptable in light of Jesus command to "love one another as I have loved you".  Woman were considered the property of men at that time, but that also could not continue if we were to fulfill Jesus desire that "we all be one".  You can't own people and love them as you love yourself,  nor can you be in unity with a person under your total legal control.  The power imbalance makes that impossible.

*John 17:²¹ That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.²² And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:

 *which, by the way, is such an eastern way of thinking about the Divine.  I love it. Go Jesus.

So, the reality that under Mosiac Law, cross dressers were considered "abominations" isn't really relevant in the kingdom of God.  I can eat shellfish, wear polyester, sow two crops in the same field if I want (a great plan for gardening, by the way) AND be a cross dresser if it makes me happy.  It does no one any evil, so it qualifies as loving according to Romans 13:10, and LOVE, that verse (and others) also declares, IS THE FULFILLMENT OF THE LAW.

I also really don't care that Paul, raised up under that same archaic law, and educated at one time to be an expert in that law, was creeped out by gay people.  Paul was not God, people. Heck, he went around murdering Christians and consenting to the death of others for years.  He got all snitty and ugly with John Mark for a season there, too.  Paul himself never claimed to be Divine.  He was capable of error.  So when he lists being gay up there with all the sins the pagans commit, he was just showing his Pharisee background.

And as far as that list goes, disobeying parents is on that list too!  Do we understand as people that some disobedience of parents is called for?  Yes, we do. If a parents request is abusive, illegal or merely humiliating, righteous people would say that disobedience in that case is NOT sin.

Paul was looking at pagan Rome, and condemning them for all the things he saw that were not right, including temple prostitution, even gay and lesbian prostitution.  Since slavery was openly practiced, I am not sure how many of these prostitutes had a choice, but I know who did: the "worshippers" using their services.  I, along with the apostle Paul, will openly condemn sexual slavery and the use of paid sex as an act of worship, whether that be straight or gay sex.

But I will not, can not, condemn loving relationships between any consenting adults.  It's a catch-22 to say that all gay liasons are unholy because they can't be married.  Let them marry then, and let's give their love the blessing of the state (and I think the church should be eager to sanctify any committed love relationship of disciples of that faith). Then they too can experience the same holiness that we heteros know: self-control until marriage, faithful commitment after.

There is nothing inherently holy about slavery because it is accepted in certain Bible texts.  There is nothing inherently evil about pork, shellfish or gay love because the OT law condemns such, nor because Paul was creeped out by it.

Love trumps everything else in the Bible.  Jesus gave us ONE new command, love one another as He loves us.  Everything should be judged by that ONE command, and by that command, love between gay people is as holy and good as love between straight people.  And I say that with complete conviction, as a Bible-believing Christian.

Bible-believing Christian

I honestly don't think this should have to be said, but apparently it does.  I am still a "Bible-believing Christian". I just don't think those words mean what fundamentalist/evangelical preachers say it means.

Being a "Bible-believing Christian" does not mean that I must despise gay people, or even the condition of one having same-gender attractions.  In fact, it means the exact opposite.  I am going to do my best to show the truth of this reality, using of course lots of Bible verses, but it's such an exhaustive subject and I have a very limited amount of time.  But as is often voiced, we can just do the best we can with what we have, right?  Here is my best effort with only one cup of coffee under my belt,  and limited time to devote to the issue.  Today I will merely lay out my foundational beliefs.   So off I go.

#1  I do believe that most important and above all else, Jesus Christ is the express image of the Living God, the Word who dwelt for a time among men, and whose life on earth was an object lesson revealing the heart of God.  (Hebrews 1:3; John 1:14; John 14:9)  Therefore, everything that Jesus said or did is of utmost importance and trumps every other prophet or preacher every recorded in the Bible, including the apostles.  None but Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.  None but Jesus is worthy of praise or emulation.  I am not a disciple of Moses, nor of Paul.  I am a follower of Jesus, but more than that.  I am his precious treasure, the pearl of great price in His eyes that He gave all to acquire.  All my loyalty belongs to Jesus.

#2  I believe that a New Covenant was established with the coming of Christ, and the Law is no longer in force. (Matthew 5:17; Matthew 12:1-22; Matthew 22:35-40; Mark 3:1-5; Luke 6:1-11; Luke 10:22-37; Luke 11:46-52; Luke 24:36-45; John 1:17; John 5:5-15; John 7:19-24; John 8: 1-12; John 10:30-38 (here is where Jesus says reality reveals the will of God- the works He did proved his diety; people were not to rely on scripture alone but to see what was upheld by reality); John 15 (commands for future disciples- completely absent is any reference to following OT law); Acts 15:1-11; Romans 3:20-21; Romans 8:1-4; Romans 10:4; Romans 13:8-10; Galatians 2:21 but really the entire book of Galatians....)  This is not an exhaustive list of scriptures proclaiming that in Jesus Christ the whole world is reconciled to God, and that the Law of Moses is no longer of any consequence.  I just don't have time to look up every place Jesus refuted the Law, ignored the Law, claimed to supercede the Law, or every part of every letter from an apostle plainly laying out that this new life of faith was apart from the Law.  I think the scriptures above are more than enough to make my point.

#3  I believe that just because we read something in our English Bible, that does not guarantee it accurately reflects the original meaning.  For example, take the word "fornication" from Acts 15:28-29.  According to Strong's the word (porneia) means "harlotry, adultery, incest, idolatry".  In all cases, these translations mean engaging in a loveless, sexual transaction that hurts others or is expressly a slave relationship.  Children were given to pagan temples, sold into sexual slavery.  Women were property back then, so any women engaged in prostitution was sold into prostitution.  It is clear to me that modern translators reworded this concept in a way that makes the victims into the sinners.  I believe porneia is way worse than "sex outside marriage"- it is rape, forced sexual slavery of all kinds.  In fact, one of my biggest beefs with fundamentalism/evangelical interpretations of scripture is that they strain at gnats and swallow camels, this being a prime example.

#4 All interpretation of scripture must be viewed through the life and words of Christ Jesus.  Anything less is self-serving, and most preachers and lay people know this in their heart of hearts.  The tithing spoken of in Malachi doesn't have anything to do with the life of a modern believer.  Preachers  know this, but it makes them rich and eases your conscience to preach that it is what Jesus meant when he said, "Give all you have to the poor and come follow me."  That is a 1000 times harder than giving ten per cent of your income to support your local preacher!  And what profit is there for the preacher if you give your money to the poor instead of to pay his house payment/car payment, etc.?  There is nothing in it for him, and that is why the doctrine of tithing replaced the doctrine of living generously.  I know of radicals who have taken vows of poverty for a season (or a lifetime) and their interpretations of scripture are far more sincere than those who preach tithing.  But I am only using that as an example.

That is as far as I get today.  I am most definitely a Bible-believing Christian, and that is exactly WHY I AM NOT A FUNDAMENTALIST!  Fundamentalism is heretical, and elevates the words of Moses, Paul and a host of unknowns to the same place of honor that belongs ONLY to JESUS CHRIST THE LIVING GOD.  Fundamentalism also continually adds to the words of Christ, and as long as it's catchy, their duped minions repeat it like it was gospel.  (Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve, for example.)

Nuff said for now.  I have other things to do that need my attention. Peace to all who read here.

Fourteen years of patriotic teaching blown away in a day.

Occupy Berkeley Police Brutality

All of our home school days I have supported law and order. I taught my children to respect authority. I taught them in kindergarten that the police were their friends, public servants who were here to protect citizens and apprehend criminals.

I also instilled in them a love of freedom, and especially the freedoms guaranteed in the Constitution of the United States. Freedom of speech, the right to peaceably assemble, and the right to live free from fear of tyranny (to borrow from Jefferson's Declaration) top the list.

My children are not inheriting the America I taught them to love. The last time the government engaged in this kind of thuggery was against the protesters in the Civil Rights Movement. Television crews carried the news into the living rooms of the affluent back then, and people were shocked.

Where is the outrage over the police brutality happening today? Is it even on the news? A whole generation is rightly losing respect for authority. These police actions are reprehensible. There are just no words that can convey the disgust my family felt when watching this footage.

For the cops who beat unarmed citizens who were committing no crime, I have only scorn. For the politicians who sent the cops out to do their bidding, I have seething anger. You stole my country and made me a liar to my children. At times like this, be grateful for one thing--that I am not god because you would surely suffer a painful correction. Grrr.

For the brave students who held their ground, chanting "stop beating students" while refraining from retaliating, I offer you my respect and my prayers. All of our hopes as a nation rest with you. Thank you for believing that things could be better, if we only found the collective will to make real changes. I stand with you. I support you. May you all prosper in all you set your hand to do. Peace and good will. SS

Death Train

Last night I watched a documentary on Current TV about the people maimed and killed on Mexican trains, mostly Central Americans. These migrant workers knowingly taking this serious risk because, as I pointed out in my last post, the certain slow death by the grinding privations of poverty compel them to take those risks. I don't know what it will take for Americans to get the gravity of this situation through their thick skulls.

What's even more puzzling to me, is that this kind of willingness to risk (literally) life and limb for a chance at building a better life in America IS EXACTLY WHAT WE TEACH OUR CHILDREN MAKES AMERICANS GREAT. There is nothing going on in this country truer to our founding ideals that the brave men, women and children willing to face predatory violence, maiming accident, and repeated setbacks (literal setbacks, as in back to where you started from) for the opportunity to work their rear ends off in hopes of a better life.

They hypocrisy of the right wing on this subject, wiping away tears and waxing eloquent about our brave pioneer ancestors, who came to this country with nothing but determination and a willingness to work hard, astounds me. Not the part about honoring our ancestors. I'm all for that. It's the part about refusing to acknowledge the same qualities in the thousands of Latinos re-enacting our cultural myth right in front of our eyes.

These immigrants are amazing. I have nothing but respect for the vast majority. The pejorative of "law-breakers" or "illegals" is disingenuous. We Americans know how laws are made, repealed, and changed. We of all nations know that something is only illegal when the legislators say it is. Laws can be rewritten when they are counter-productive and unenforceable. Our immigration laws certainly fit that description.

I have been a conservative all of my adult life. I still am. What passes for conservative these days does not fit the definition I grew up with. Conservatism, as I understand it, is very pragmatic. It is not anti-change, but it is slow to act. It is not hopelessly trying to hold onto the past. Conservatism was always about moving ahead deliberately, weighing all the options.

In my beginning political life, conservatives were more populous in the GOP. The GOP had not yet been taken over by fundamentalists. We could still civilly discuss and advocate for the legalization of marijuana, legal recognition of committed gay relationships, and debate how to frame and respond to the obvious and unstoppable phenomenon of human migration patterns.

The GOP I grew up with is dead and gone. The current slate of candidates for office is embarrassing. I shrink in horror to think of any of them being responsible for foreign policy. I doubt if any of them are electable. Still, the way they have shifted the political climate in this country is bad for America. It is, in my opinion, un-American, and if I ruled the world they would be heavily fined for every American flag they dare to wave, fly, or hide behind.

It is un-American to treat our current laws as if they were handed down to us by God on Mt. Sinai. They were not. When a law is counter-productive to American interests, as our current immigration laws ARE, we have the ability and the moral obligation to change them. Creating new, more deadly barriers to these unstoppable, thoroughly American immigrants looking for a chance to work and build a better life here in the "land of opportunity" is inhuman.

I can't imagine a solution less intelligent or more embarrassing than the idea of a giant human-zapper stretched across the border to electrocute the people forced by starvation at home to migrate no matter how serious the consequences when they fail. That is not only un-American, it's inhuman. And it's not only inhuman, it's incredibly stupid.

Where are the conservative who were able to soberly face facts and readjust failed policies? American's current immigration policies are an epic fail, and it is NOT because our enforcement is lax. It's because enforcement is impossible. No conservative worth his or her salt can possibly not see this.

Where are the clear thinkers who can face the facts? Where are the orators who can explain them in ways the general public can understand? Have we really morphed into a country of arrogant, redneck blowhards like the people to which the GOP presidential candidates are pandering?

This is ridiculous. Why aren't the think tanks pointing out to our politicians, "Hey, look at this new demographic trend! Central and South Americans will face any danger, any risk, for the chance to live and work in America. Trying to fight this trend is costing us huge amounts of money, putting a burden on our social assistance programs in some states, and putting the good citizens of our border states at risk from the ongoing criminal enterprises meeting this market demand. Why don't WE meet the market demand, by opening new venues for legal migrations, making the process quicker and more equitable to all willing to work when they get here, and charging them local annual worker permits to offset any local costs in social services?"

Conservatives, indeed all business-minded Americans, used to encourage innovative solutions to sticky problems. There was a time when a person who could come up with a creative win-win was celebrated! Peacemakers were honored as the sons of God, like the Bible urged.

I want that country back. I want back the country of good will, innovation, and hard work. I want back a country where consensus and compromise are valued. I want that America back. I want to be part of that proud tradition that Harriet Beecher Stowe, Sojourner Truth, Clara Barton, and Jane Addams carried on. I want the America that Emma Lazarus wrote of, at the turn of the last century:

Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses, yearning to breath free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore,
Send these, the homeless, tempest tossed,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door.

I don't want a wall; neither an electrified one nor one patrolled by armed guards. I want a port of entry, a new Ellis Island, and a country that continues the tradition of welcoming hard working immigrants as new Americans. Anybody know how I can get that?