The Cost of Being American

Those who are readers of GTBI for a while know my friend Sandy. If not, all you need is to scroll down my right sidebar to the "Find Big Ideas Quick" widget & type in her name. You'll find plenty. She has written guest columns for GTBI and added plenty to the texture of 'comments' discussions. She's back now, with a piece she wrote as the newsletter Editor of her Republican Women's group. I use it @ GTBI with gratitude, and with her kind permission. Enjoy~

"What is the cost of being a citizen of the most free, most fair, most safe country with the greatest opportunity of personal success that the world has ever known? Quite literally, that cost is the annual budget of the United States divided by the number of citizens: $3.8 trillion divided by roughly 300 million citizens, or $12,730 per person per year. That is the fair tax.

A single percentage income tax on all would not be fair. If we were all taxed at say, 3%, a person with income of $10,000 would only pay taxes of $300 while those earning $100,000 would pay $3,000 and those earning $1,000,000 would pay $30,000. And yet we all benefit from national defense, services that lead to social stability, the interstate highway system, etc. Why would it be "fair" to ask some citizens to pay only $300 a year for those benefits, and others $30,000? When we go to the grocery store, there is one cost for all for a loaf of bread. Why are government services so different?

But our system doesn’t even stop there. Our system uses the following graduated tax table:

Marginal Tax Rate[1]
10% $0 – $8,375
15% $8,376 – $34,000
25% $34,001 – $82,400
28% $82,401 – $171,850
33% $171,851 – $373,650
35% $373,651+

According to this current tax table, a person with income of $10,000 pays tax of $1,081, while those earning $100,000 pay $21,709 and those earning $1,000,000 pay $327,644 in federal income taxes. What is fair about that? Someone works hard to increase their earnings 100 times, only to also earn the dubious requirement of paying 303 times more taxes – for receipt of the exact same services.

Let's put this in perspective: if millionaires paid 303 times more for everything, they would pay $600 for every loaf of bread, $1,179 per gallon for gas, $2,485 for a single movie ticket, $5,357 for each pair of Wrangler jeans. Yet the liberals in this country have the audacity to declare that "the rich" should carry even more of the tax burden.

I know this is an oversimplification, and that I have not addressed things like the myriad deductions that skew the taxes actually paid. But that is a different argument altogether. My point is that it is disgusting that our President and the Democratic party are actually calling for more "shared sacrifice." Already, 43% of all Americans pay no federal income taxes.

What -exactly- are they sacrificing?"

[1] United States 2010 federal tax rates per IRS.gov.

~~

Excellent questions.

Thank you once again, dear Sandy. You're one of my heroes.

~~~

Mark Levin & Greta V. slash Gloria Allred's case

Meg Whitman, gaining momentum in the CA gubernatorial race...then this...

Until Mark Levin & Greta Van Susteren rip Gloria Allred to pieces.
Good on 'em!


(ML is one of my new heroes!)
ML: "Is she an illegal alien?"
GA: "No...she's an undocumented worker...the Latino community finds that term very offensive..."
[Can't stand the heat? Stay out of the kitchen!]



GVS: 1) Placing client in legal jeopardy. 2) Btw, you're wrong: 'smoking gun' HELPS Meg Whitman 3) Eve of an election: subverting the electoral process for political gain.

Nice try Jerry Brown...I mean, Ms. Allred. Remind me to never pick up with a lawyer who sets me up w/ a spurious law suit, that actually exposes my lawlessness, that'll gain me nothing so that I can be trashed afterward as you go about your squat & grasping merry way...

I have a feeling there's enough 'October' left for this 'surprise' to backfire nicely...(Where can I send $$ to support Meg's campaign?)

~~~

Primary Perspectives: 'do over'

Some things are important enough to repeat.

I've had discussions lately wherein it would've helped if the person with whom I was exchanging comments had known a little more about me & why I blog. These recent talks were w/ a pacifist who is naive enough to think that violence against women must be physical in order to be real, insidious & systemic. (Sounds like a blockhead kind of man, no?) Thus, this do-over of my very first blog piece - September 27th, 2008. (Pay close enough attention, & you'll even hear why this blog calls itself GTBI.)

“I admit it! I’m a conservative republican evangelical Christian – unashamedly so…”

Such was my ‘coming out’ to some precious liberal friends recently. This, my official debut, came after doing a bit of personal inventory with the changing political winds at my face. Later, I reiterated my proclamation to some of my closest friends (who were probably thinking, “This is news?”), just because it felt so good to say. These aren’t words that I would have so emphatically written or said before. But now, somehow candor is essential. It's time to speak some things.

It started with a discussion that led into a bit of politico-speak wherein the Governor of Alaska & the Republican nominee for Vice President, Sarah Palin, was being derided. I listened with interest, but didn’t tip my hand, and later left the conversation with gnawing unfinished business. After I screwed up my courage, because there is no coming back from such things, I composed a crisp email, detailing my ‘outage’ to the original conversants, who I trusted enough to not deride me too. Below is a bit of what I wrote them that next day:

Girls, I know we're coming from different places, but let me tell you what she represents to me...Sarah Palin is a woman who - for the first time ever on the national stage - represents me. She's not an angry woman trying to be a man; not a woman who claims to champion my views, but who is so far out of step w/ me that she may as well be on Pluto. She is a woman who loves & respects her man, loves her children, loves being a mother. She is not afraid to be smart & savvy, but won't beat you about-the-head-neck-&-face w/ it. She is unapologetically committed to her faith, & she is conservative politically...So, why start a web log over this? Because I was watching the day her candidacy was announced - and was absolutely stunned. An eerie déjà vu draped itself over my shoulders, and I felt like I was looking in a mirror. Finally - a real woman (who could actually be me), with the potential of being Vice President of the country. A real woman who cares about the things I do - not someone who screams far-left hyperfeminist propaganda & then swears she's speaking for me.

Why write here & now? Because I’ve been writing for some time with a sense of discovery and anticipation, and with a notion that perhaps I have something to say. And because that day, I experienced a shift in perspective.

I'm not sure who'll win this thing, but the pundits are right. Governor Palin’s candidacy is a 'game-changer,’ -- for me, anyway. Primarily, she gives me real hope that conservative women now have a voice in the Women's Conversation of our time; that the Left no longer has a monopoly on "issues that women care about." She is a role model for thousands of women - who now see & know that you don't have to be abrasive & shrill in order to be tough & strong.

That's why they've been trying to kill her voice, kill her reputation, kill her credibility - literally kill it, before (shhhhhh!) any other women get the Big Idea that the feminist agenda has challengers...The media part of it has been beastly, and yes, quite personal. Because when the media tear her apart, they're tearing apart women like me.

So, there you go. Many thanks to Governor Palin for the shift in perspective. And thanks to the other Sarah Palins in my life, some who’ve helped me chart a course since before I have memory. Thanks to those who abrade my conscience, encourage my struggles, cheer my victories, and give me opportunities to serve in kind. You’re helping me live fully, helping me hone our voice and perhaps discover some big ideas.

~~

So thanks for indulging another do-over. Some things are just important enough to repeat.

~~~

Me, Invisible?

A word of encouragement for any 'Cathedral builders' out there - especially mothers. Remember this when you feel somewhat 'invisible' or insignificant:




Whatever Cathedral you happen to be building in this season of your life, "let's pray that our work will stand as a monument" to our great God.

Be encouraged, friends, because nothing is invisible.

Amen & amen.

~~~

"10 X 10"

So…considering my last post, I think it may be time to gain some perspective.

Have you ever done a spontaneous inventory of what’s most important to your life? Me either, until my friend Linda asked a favor the other day. (“Favor”: heh, heh.) She invited me to the rare privilege of contributing to a ‘pilot’ program of ministry to young girls/teens. Her project was conceived a year ago , has been in embryonic stages, & is now emerging more fully formed: “Read My Lip-gloss.” Linda has a faithful team of skilled people who are fully committed to nurturing girls & giving them practical tools to become Godly, courageous women, in spite of the culture that surrounds them. What a treasure to be even a small part of this operation!

The ‘favor’ which was asked of me? It’s a “10 x 10” rubric; a scenario in which I place myself, then share with Linda my written response:

You’re a woman on a bus, riding comfortably, when a young teen gets on, taking the empty seat beside you. She introduces herself & tells you where her stop is. You know that 10 minutes hence, she’ll get off & you won’t see her again. For whatever reason, you feel an urgency to impart the 10 most important things that you believe she’ll need to know, to carry her through the rest of her life. You don’t have time to plan & you don’t have time to poll your friends. When this girl gets off the bus, she’ll be gone forever. You will either have used the opportunity of 10 minutes, or you’ll have lost it.

As a woman, what will you tell her? What 10 essentials can you absolutely NOT let her get off that bus without hearing? What really matters, to you, in life?

After getting off the phone with Linda, I went to my living room w/ a scratch pad & my favorite pen (Paper-mate, Write Bros., blue). No kids around (amazing!). Otis was not barking (perfection). I gave myself 10 minutes. What follows is my spontaneous “10 x 10”:

1) Choosing a relationship with Jesus Christ is the most important decision you will ever make in your life, bar none. No exceptions.

2) God has a perfect plan for your life. This doesn’t mean you will be perfect, but you can always rely on His perfection.

3) You are who God believes you are, not what media, peers, or Hollywood tries to tell you. God made you exactly as He wants you – for His purpose & His glory.

4) Rejoice then! Because you are His Masterpiece!

5) Sexual virtue is an immeasurable blessing to a future marriage. It provides a foundation of trust, respect & dignity like no other intangible can.

6) Release self-imposed guilt; allow shame to dissolve in His mercy. God can redeem anything, & is fully able to make all things new.

7) You can be a tough, strong woman without being harsh and shrill.

8) American Feminism lied. Though some of it brought progress for women, the “sexual revolution” has resulted in devaluation & degradation of femininity such that womanhood is hardly viewed as uniquely special, & has lost esteem in our society.

9) Womanhood is uniquely special & worthy of high esteem. Our marriages, children & entire culture suffer when we deny this fact.

10) God has created you with perfect giftedness. Be flexible & malleable to the embrace of the Holy Spirit, & God will surprise you with the ways your gifts are used, for His glory, across the measure of your life.

Good-bye, dear girl. God speed.

The times upon us are chaotic & frightening. Changes are advancing that threaten us with calamity. We feel impotent. We feel angry, strapped, crippled, helpless. We can’t seem to gain a grasp on the truth…

It’s time to take inventory, friends, because Truth is constant. Above, you have the Truth of my life. I believe it, & I stand firm in it. No “change” will shake me from it, so help me Lord Jesus. In the end, if that's all I have left, it’ll be enough. I will stand, waiting to be surprised by God’s use of my gifts, until the full measure of my life meets its end.

Thank you, dear Linda, for my 10 minutes. It was indeed a privilege.

~~~

A duck, a challenge, abortion.

Dear friends, please see the post below this one , because it ended like this:

‘Three diatribes later, Mr. Duck…’ had kinda ticked me off. He’d used all the Leftist epithets that dismiss conservatives: we’re ‘self-righteous’, judgmental ‘hypocrites’. That we’re simple-minded followers; un-intellectual, unsophisticated, has-beens. I didn’t respond to most of what he said, but one of his diatribes, I couldn’t leave unchallenged:

“Susannah, do you believe that partial birth procedures are the result of serious late term conditions…which make it impossible for the child to live outside the womb? Or conditions which threaten the mother, are they your decision? Or do you figure a woman who is 8 months along just goes into the doctor's, slaps her forehead and says, ‘Damn, I knew I forgot to do something’.

Let me know, I enjoy reading the workings of the conservative ‘mind’. Like Sarah Palin, you probably don't have a fastball. Just some homilies you heard from the preacher, but give it a go.”
No ‘fast ball’, eh?

My perspective doesn’t come from sermons, or even some intellectual pursuit. It comes from having been in some of the scariest, seemingly darkest places & simply holding on for dear life. I’ve never written of my experience, & certainly never thought of it as a ‘fast ball’, but Mr. Duck, since you asked for it…

[Readers, please know this: we all have stories. Sharing mine doesn’t 'completely inform' the issue of late term abortion – as Mr. Duck later accused me. Nor do I assume to make choices for other people. I share my experience simply to counter-balance 'health of the mother' that the Pro-Abortion Left uses, ad nauseum, to silence ‘questioners’.

I share the following [response to Mr. Duck] with the utmost, weighty respect for anyone who has had a similar experience. My story is not unique. Women arrive here - & in darker places - every day, all over the world…]

"Duck. I assume you're male…I think maybe I've got more field experience upon which to answer this ridiculous question. I had 3 'pregnancies from h#ll', to quote a worn phrase. Each one brought with it 'hyperemesis gravidarum', which means one literally cannot stop puking. (Think hospitalization, IV’s dripping Phenergan-laced fluids into my veins, LOSING 14 pounds in the first trimester.) With the 3rd pregnancy, I was allowed to take Zofran for 20 weeks in order to prevent hospitalization.

If I had been born 75 or even 50 years ago, I could have DIED EACH TIME. Perhaps before I knew I was really pregnant. (How's that for 'health of the mother'?)

Moving right along…

Before delivery, I developed HELLP Syndrome - all 3 times. HELLP is a severe form of Pre-eclampsia, & was only 'discovered' in 1982. It is FATAL to both mother & child, if not recognized in time & treated properly. Even with treatment, some mothers suffer permanent kidney damage, & can still die of kidney failure post-partum. (hmmmm… ‘conditions which threaten the mother’…)

My results?

1) Delivery - emergency C-section, 3 weeks early due to potentially FATAL 'late-term condition'. It's a miracle I'm now a living human being w/ a 12 year old son.

2) Delivery - on time. Thought we'd dodged the bullet, but HELLP showed up & we delivered - stat. Again, we’re both living miracles.

3) Delivery - 5 1/2 weeks early due to that pesky potentially FATAL 'late term condition'.

The MD’s had NEVER seen a patient who'd had these 'conditions' at both the beginning & end of pregnancy; 3 times in a row. Now that you've challenged me on it, I guess you could say if ever there was a case for 'conditions that threaten the mother', it was ME – every time.

Funny, though. Not once did the idea of ending the life growing inside my sick, weak, racked body even cross a single synapse in my brain; as miserable & scary as those times in my life were.

As I look back, I was convinced that God was in control & that all would be well. I also learned that surrendering-of-self was absolutely essential in order to just survive.

See, that's what we don't get in our society - the notion that we must surrender ourselves to something Greater, for something Greater...Instead, we have: "Feel good? Do it! Want it? Get it!"

Life is not about us, dear Duck. It's about living the truth. The Truth saved my life - in every way possible - and I refuse to be intimidated into silence by 'self-satisfieds' such as yourself, no matter what epithet you sling my way.

So, to answer your original question - my beliefs about late term abortion: for the most part I believe that American women, steeped in traditional feminist culture, choose to abort babies who could otherwise be saved. I'm just glad my mother wasn't one of them.”

~~~

Ann Coulter: Dr. George Tiller & the 'Culture of Death'

So. How's this for reframing the context of murder?

Memo to Pro-Abortion Liberals: Sometimes a DOSE OF YOUR OWN MEDICINE is painful, but really - it is for your own good.

(minute 3:28-4:15, 4:40 to end)


Go get 'em, Annie...

~~~

In Which Soraya M Awakens Me.

Why am I so bothered by President Obama’s non-reaction to Iran’s election turmoil?

One might say, “Leave it alone. It’s not our business.” Some have said, “Who are we to tell them how to run their own government business?” There’s a point to that, when a people are fully engaged in electing their own leaders, when their voices are expressed freely & heard easily by the world. Even our President said so, in his statement about Iran’s election, “When I see violence directed @ peaceful protesters, when I see peaceful dissent being suppressed, wherever that takes place, it is of concern to me & it is of concern to the Am. People…”

So what’s worrying the tucked-away-place in the back of my brain? Not two breaths before the above he’d said, “…I have deep concerns about the election, & I think that the world has deep concerns about the election. You’ve seen in Iran some initial reaction from the Supreme Leader that indicates he understands the Iranian people have deep concerns about the election.” How can one man use so many words, trying to act like he’s saying so much, only to say so painfully little?

Maybe my disquiet relates to how the “Supreme Leader” of this 'peaceful religion' treats the most defenseless of his own people. Maybe it’s something about my country’s President referring to a theocratic despot as “the Supreme Leader”, as if he must approach said lofty potentate with reverence, or suffer some secret consequence. Maybe it’s that despite Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s “firm line against any threats to the regime, warning Iranians to unite behind the country's Islamic system (as authorities imposed severe restrictions on independent media),” that these oppressed & desperate people began to get their voices heard.

Does cutting off internet access, cell phone connections, & information access to foreign & domestic Iranian media not qualify to our President as “peaceful dissent being suppressed”?

I don’t believe Mr. Obama is really as stupid as these statements make him seem. And this is partly why I’m bothered, because he isn’t stupid. His final statement on the matter, “It’s not productive, given the history of US/Iranian relations, to be seen as meddling – the US Pres – meddling in Iranian elections…” sent me on important errands of research. It begged my question, “Why not? Why shouldn’t the strong & powerful stand up for the voice of the oppressed?" (Shouldn’t the Community Organizer schtick come in handy here?) These questions sneaked to the back of my brain & settled themselves quietly under my consciousness…

Until this morning, when I read Andrew Klavan’s “Iran and the Tragedy of Bad Ideas”. Mr. Klavan was wrestling with some of the same thoughts I was, from the angle of “The Stoning of Soraya M” a true story of an Iranian woman falsely accused, convicted & stoned to death for adultery that she did not commit.

There is SOMETHING DESPERATELY WRONG with a society that throws its accused -- helpless, defenseless & stripped of her humanity -- into the blood-thirsty, drooling, yawning jaws of Theocratic Tyranny. There is something desperately wrong with that. The people who fall victim to it must be given voice. Who better than the American President to give them stamina?

Mr. Klavan describes the tragedy of Obama’s weakness this way:
“Tragedies of bad ideas are the most common, pervasive and destructive man-made mass disasters. Yet our thinking class has become powerless to oppose them or even recognize them for what they are….too many of our intellectuals are themselves ensnared in a bad idea: the notion that no system or government is inherently better than any other... Thus there are no enduring human truths…

This bad idea has all but silenced our nation at a moment when the world most needs our voice. Thousands of people in Iran are marching in the streets, protesting a sham election, heroically risking life and limb to try to tear some little breathing space in the smothering shroud of theocracy. Yet President Barack Obama, the leader of the most powerful free nation on earth, responds with mealy-mouthed strategic dithering. ..There comes a time in the affairs of men when bad ideas can be -- and therefore must be -- powerfully opposed by good ones.

Compare, if you can bear it, President Ronald Reagan's response to the 1982 crackdown on the Polish union Solidarity by the Soviet Union: "The struggle in the world today for the hearts and minds of mankind is based on one simple question: Is man born to be free, or slave? In country after country, people have long known the answer to that question. We are free by divine right." In less than a decade, in startlingly large measure because this one idea found so mighty a voice, the Soviet Union was gone…”

Thus, the niggling of my consciousness awakened to new & more sinister questions, ones I really do hate to admit. (Doesn’t he get that this society, this 'peaceful religion' oppresses its people, especially its women?) This man has a wife, young daughters…

I get it. I’m a woman who has the right to speak, so I’ll voice the lingering, nagging questions about my President:

Why will he not put the full power of the American President’s voice behind those who’re fighting, literally, for free & fair elections?

Why will he not, as his predecessors have done, support freedom “wherever it takes place”?

What is he doing here?

And whose side is he on, anyway?

When a people’s freedom is squelched by the iron grip of tyranny,
the strong & powerful should stand up for the oppressed…

Would that someone had done it for Soraya M.

~~~

Contessa Brewer & John Zeigler: Smackdown

I wasn't gonna do it...But after reading & commenting on Bob's blog today, I realized it had to be done:


(Hat tip to Bluepit for the video.)

Some on the blogwaves doubt if discussions about the Letterman 'controversy' are politically honest or socially productive. I find this video entirely politically honest & unquestionably socially productive! Finally.

~~~

Feminists: Listen, for once...

Janine, the “uber-cool” Leftist activist has just made me cranky. (Sorry, Bluepit, I watched the posted video again.)

Really, friends, women like HER are the reason I started this blog. Jim said in last post's comments, “I think you’re confusing J.Garf. with someone who matters.” That’s just it. We can no longer afford to believe that women like her don’t matter. She & her kinswomen have been the sole voice at the mic. on Women's Issues for decades, & our society’s children have taken a sad turn downward (see Mustang's post) as a result.

In my humble opinion, the downward slide began with women like J. Garf., trying to eradicate the necessity of Manhood from our culture. Does anyone remember Gloria Steinem’s quote, “A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle…”? It was all downhill for kids-who-need-fathers after that, & Hollywood, et. al was only so happy to perpetuate the concentric circles of such a notion.

Wait. Do you hear the shrieking? Is it coming from the video below? or from my TV? I can hear it, “She just said that women should be needy & dependent, & should be ruled by men!!!” Oh please, Janine, Gloria, Whoopi, Joy, Barbara, Oprah -- grow up… I said no such thing & meant no such inference. (And, no Janine, I’m not suffering “Stockholm Syndrome”, oh Wise One of the psychiatric community.) LISTEN, for once, to women like me!

As I've said before ,Sarah Palin’s candidacy brought for the "first time ever on the national stage – a woman who represents me. She's not an angry woman trying to be a man; not a woman who claims to champion my views, but who is so far out of step w/ me that she may as well be on Pluto.

She is a woman who loves & respects her man, loves her children, loves being a mother. She is not afraid to be smart & savvy, but won't beat you about-the-head-neck-&-face w/ it. She is unapologetically committed to her faith, & she is conservative politically... She gives me real hope that conservative women now have a voice in the Women's Conversation of our time; that the left no longer has a monopoly on "issues that women care about." She is a role model for thousands of women - who now see & know that you don't have to be abrasive & shrill in order to be tough & strong."

And the culprits above are scared out of their pumps (or combat boots), because they’re starting to sense the shift away from their monopoly:

"That's why they've been trying to kill her (Palin) voice, kill her reputation, kill her credibility - literally kill it, before (shhhhhh!) any other women get the Big Idea that the feminist agenda has challengers...The media part of it has been beastly, and yes, quite personal. Because when the media tear her apart, they're tearing apart women like me. "

And Jim, I will have it no longer. I will not allow Ms. Garf. to speak without being challenged. I believe that little-by-little, women like me are coming out of the shadows (just ask Melonie, Z, BetteJo, Cristina, Mary, Frasypoo, Conservative Women, Terri, Sandy, etc., etc.) who now have the same idea. You see, we’re starting to not feel so small anymore. We’re starting to Get Some Big Ideas.

~~~

And just one more thing. Thank you, thank you, friends for such an interesting & challenging string of comments these past several days. It has been delightful & even exciting to see the enthusiasm pouring onto the blogs. Thanks so much for stopping here to share yours!

~~~

In which MSNBC's Keith Olbermann gives voice

Oh boy.
Just so you know, MSNBC's Keith Olbermann is at it too. In a feat of daring, he invites world renowned Historian, Neuroscientist, Psychiatrist & Potentate over all Women's Issues Janine Garafalo (oops! I forgot Melonie's "uber-cool activist") to postulate & theorize on tax Tea Parties.



Sorry Keith, Janine, but you have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. You guys are the 'fomenters.' Did you even GO to a Tea Party? I'll not even try to defend myself against the racism accusation. People who know me, know. As I said...sneering, smug, dismissive...

Enough said.

~~~

Sharia Law: Coming soon to a country near you.

Have you wondered what our friends the Brits have gotten themselves into by allowing Sharia Law into their legal system ? Ever wondered what the implications for women would be if it were to be allowed in the US? I was inspired into a little research by USA_Admiral .

Do the research yourself & find that Muslims in Britain have pushed for decades to get Sharia law infused into the legal system. They finally wore down ‘the establishment’. In an apathetic climate, I dare say it’s an easy slide to a rise in theocratic ‘power’. And where does it go after that?

Ladies, especially you who value the power that our society affords you, I beg you to ask yourself if political correctness & pacifism is worth this: CAUTION-disturbing video

If Mr. Obama (& even Pres. Bush) still wish to insist that Islam is a religion of peace, then where is the OUTRAGE in the 'peaceful' Muslim community? Where is the United Nations resolution demanding that terrorist groups & Islamo-fascists cease this perversion of their faith? Where are the moderate, clear-thinking clerics? The American Feminists?? Listen. Carefully. Do you hear it? I don't either. Silence...

Nobody’s willing to say it; & if they do, they’re afraid of becoming a Benazir Bhutto. With this threat seething in terrorist-phile nations & slinking through modern Western societies, we desperately need heroes – people willing to publicly challenge Islamic theocrats who stoke, plot & finance terrorism. Our own Presidents have, & still are, denying the threat.

Benazir Bhutto was a hero, a martyr (if you will) for civilized society.
Here’s another one. She gets precious little news coverage (or none @ all), but her voice is strong & unequivocal ~~ Zohreh Arshadi: Ms Arshadi was a practicing lawyer in Iran prior to her forced exile to Europe. She is currently an advocate in France and is active in human rights and especially of the rights of women. She has been especially active in
defense of the rights of women in Iran.

In the excerpts from her article “Islamic Republic of Iran and Penal Codes”, she articulates Islamic Penal codes (i.e., Sharia Law). The Islamic Revolution of the 1970’s caused the “Restructuring [of] society on the basis of violence and sexual apartheid…What the clerics ruling Iran call an Islamic society and government denotes an underlying model that in two decades has brought about huge upheavals in the political, cultural, legal and ideological structures of Iranian society. This model can best be described by its two principal features: An administration based on naked repression and violence, and a society based on inequalities of gender, religion, politics and reinforced by a steadily widening class divide.

The theoretical foundation of the Islamic Penal Codes is a social model based on sexual apartheid….a belief that women are deficient in their natural and “innate” potentials and abilities, including their psychological-makeup and intellectual capacity. Second, a belief in a social and family order where men must be guardians over women, and women must submit. Third, a belief in an unequal system of rights…The Islamic Penal Codes are based on violence in its most primitive forms. These not only authorise organised state violence, but encourage male violence against women within the family and in society.”

Ms. Arshadi itemizes the legal Codes (Books, Chapters, Articles) which “give legal shelter to sexual apartheid”: We have…had women removed from the courts as legal specialists. Their absence in legal procedures and criminal courts means that misogynist and biased views of the law are put into practice with greater severity and force, and occasionally even added to, by male attorneys and judges most of whom are also priests. The Islamic punishments have encouraged a culture of violence against women, especially within the family and has spilled into violence against children…The fact that men receive a lighter punishment if they commit a violence against women undoubtedly encourages such violence. We saw how women could be killed with impunity...Stoning to death for adultery, although technically admissible for both sexes, has also been carried out mainly against women. Newspapers are full of accounts of wives, sisters, daughters, and children murdered...The family has become an institution of violence.

These are laws which in their entirety are more in keeping with a society still in the age of barbarism. At a time when most countries are banning the death penalty to have punishments such as cutting of hands, and feet, stoning to death, cutting off of tongues and gouging out eyes on the statutes is totally unacceptable.”

We need more heroes. This woman, living in exile from her own country, knowing the danger she brings upon herself, is willing to speak. We need more of her.

We. Need. More. Heroes.

Research. Think. Speak.

Be one.

~~~

For such a time as this...

Hi friends~

I started this blog because of Sarah Palin. Not because she's a smart, lovely woman who had a meteoric rise in politics. Rather, that she gave me hope that the voices of millions of conservative women (including mine) would finally be heard on women's issues. She gave me hope that conservative women could now join in the Women's Conversation of our time, & that the Left would no longer monopolize "issues that women care about." Get the Big Idea sprang forth - for better or worse - & then big ideas began to build. At the risk of sounding quirky (again...) I believe that God continued to whisper through "Read My Lipstick", "The Big Ben Silent Minute"& other small incidents.

Then, remember a few weeks back, when I found myself at a loss for words? I have continued find myself at a loss for words in recent weeks, not really knowing where this is going...where the proverbial ball of this-season-in-my-life is rolling. I know God has a perfect plan, but I'm a little fuzzy on the particulars lately, & that gets a little uncomfortable from time to time. (Can anyone relate?)

Here's the thing about trusting God, the notion that He has designed each of us for this generation, for this very time in history, for His purpose: I get it with my head (& occasionally I really get it), but when the details get blurred by life, trusting can take on a certain gritting of the soul. It's in these times that I find myself surprised by the tenderness of God's voice (like in the Dec. piece). Sometimes I find myself waiting, only to learn that "being still & knowing, staying & resting" is the point. And even if I don't see clearly, God is there; always moving & working toward His purpose for my life. And - if I pay attention & listen - I just may catch a vapor of His Spirit passing over me.

One such vapor passed me two days ago. I've had a desire to be in a study, & I've certainly been seeking God's purpose. On the "upcoming studies" table @ church, the Esther: It's Tough Being a Woman study nearly leaped off the table into my arms. I know Esther's story: a woman who had a destiny; & even when she seemed powerless, God used her toward a profound purpose.

I signed up immediately. If anyone can teach about purpose, it's Esther! This was God's gift to me, & I know the Word will speak about living "for such a time as this."
Here's the promo video:

Beth Moore's Esther, Web Promo from LifeWay on Vimeo.

God is continuing to work, friends, in the seen & unseen. I know it. We all are here "for such a time as this." We all have a voice & God intends to use it!

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Roll Call.

My friend Tanya has kept me informed, updating me with a Reuters News service article, “Palin Effigy Removed from US Home After Protests.”

It’s gratifying to know that there has been sufficient pressure that Mr. Morrisette removed his display, but not before others were incited into countering with ugly displays of their own. Mr. Morrisette’s comment exhibits his complete ignorance of human nature (or maybe his keen understanding),

“There was a huge mob scene. The whole thing became a life of its own.” (Was he surprised or gleeful? We can’t know for sure…)

Still, I find puzzling the statement of the Mayor’s spokesman, “He had made his point and it was becoming counter-productive."

I wonder just what, exactly, was Mr. Morrisette’s point…? And which part was counter-productive: his point or the public outcry? Devoid of direct answers, I’ve drawn my own conclusions & I’m actually glad for the clarity this episode has rendered. I’m glad I know who in the Media Elite is willing to set aside bias, & stand up against such a spectacle. And I also know who is apparently willing to remain silent, hoping they might not be exposed, hoping we, the unsophisticates, might not notice.

I’m glad. Because they have been exposed; we have noticed, and I think we're all quietly taking names.

~~~

Paradigm shift.

It finally comes to this, & it is serious. Some find it terribly disturbing. Some are laughing, smirking, & cheering it on.

As we sit here at our computers, viewing this screen, a life-size representation of Sarah Heath Palin hangs from a noose in the eaves of Chad Morrisette’s house in West Hollywood, CA. This kind of display is very, very dangerous, friends. It speaks to the character of those who erected it, yes, but that’s not all. It’s getting national attention, and sinking into the collective consciousness of our nation.

Yes, recent death threats against Senator Obama were vile, & the offenders are right where they belong – in jail. The authorities in whom we place our public trust are handling the threats justly; the public would not have it if they didn’t. And yet, the public is watching Mr. Morrisette & draws the only conclusion it can. While threatening Mr. Obama is a crime, this murderous display against Mrs. Palin is okay. It is tolerable. It is an acceptable paradigm of soft violence toward her, and women.

As we watch, we’re getting the point. A threat against Barack Obama is being dispensed with swiftly, as it should. Yet, Sarah Heath Palin’s likeness still hangs from the rafters in that West Hollywood house. The perpetrator gets interviews & his voice echoes through our living rooms. His freedom crows in the face of human decency, & remains unchecked by legal authority.

Have you ever wondered what a perpetrator of violence against women does, psychologically, in order to carry out an assault? It’s a mental trick called objectification. It allows the mind to dehumanize the victim in order to shed inhibitions, short-circuit normal human empathy & compassion, so that a violent act can be perpetrated. (Ever see Silence of the Lambs? The weirdo with the girl in his basement? That’s objectification.)

I suggest that Mr. Morrisette’s display, whether he intends it or not, plays the same psychological trick with our collective minds. It objectifies Governor Palin so that psychological violence can be perpetrated against her. As the nation looks on, she is an object, & can be psychologically shredded, strangled, & left twisting in the wind. And the worst of it, friends? The very worst is what it does to our culture’s view of the humanity of women. It's suggesting that we as women can be objectified, made public targets for ridicule & humiliation, & that there is no recourse. Not one ounce of legal or criminal remedy is available for this viperous display. So, down it sinks, into our new understanding of how we view women in our culture.

Can we not draw the inferences here, friends? Do we not understand the implications for women? Can't a woman be strong, have opinions that go against the grain of group-think, and be allowed to survive? Can't a woman hold traditionalist views & join in the public discussion without being shredded & strangled, as if she’s some rag-doll Halloween joke? Is Sarah Heath Palin not a mother? A wife? A beloved daughter? Is she not a human being? (Nor am I?)

Where, dear friends, are Women’s Advocates? Where are the feminist legal challenges, demanding 'hate crimes legislation' to make Mr. Morrisette’s actions punishable by law? Where is Arianna Huffington, Katie Couric, Oprah Winfrey? Where is Mrs. Obama – herself a legal mind & a minority twice over – demanding legal remedy for this display? Madonna? Sandra Bernhardt? (Oh, I forgot, they already led the charge …)

I’ll tell you where they are. They’re standing on the ticket line, & they’ve sold themselves out. They’re so ravenous in their shortsighted political hunger, they don’t even know that they’ve become the aggressors. Their silence makes them complicit in setting up this paradigm of soft violence against women. About the psychological violence heaped on Governor Palin, you can almost hear them whispering, “Going around talking like she does, acting like she does…She was asking for it...” They have now become the perpetrators that they revile. (Am I wrong here? I'm willing to say so, if I am. Have I missed the public feminist outcry?)

Funny, when Gov. Palin was first nominated, she was accused by the Left of setting women back because of her stances on ‘women’s issues’. Most of the culprits above piled right on. They had the national floor, & their accusation was validated by an all-too-eager media.

I may be a lone voice in the wilderness in this lowly blog, but I’m making an accusation of my own. If women are being set back, if women are being oppressed, it’s now because of standard Feminists. In their silence, they are reinforcing this paradigm of soft violence against women who’re not in their lock step. The Left rests their accusation on a balky, slanted opinion that they own ‘women’s issues’. Upon what evidence does my accusation rest? It’s not mere opinion. It’s in plain view, hanging from the eaves of a West Hollywood house, and in the silence that swirls around it, causing it to twist ever so gently in the wind.

~~~

Women who care about women, it’s time for a paradigm shift. We must do better than this.

~~~

"Read My Lipstick"

Oh my goodness. May I please tell you about my day yesterday? It started in the hair salon, where my friend Mark & I were talking about “Get the Big Idea”. I explained the theme I’ve been wrestling with, & Mark’s eyes lit up. He proceeded to tell me that a group of women he knows have started an operation to energize women to ‘stand up & be counted in the culture war of our country’ (sounding familiar?). Their operation has a catchy name. It’s called “Read My Lipstick” (any bells ringing now?).

As it happened, I was leaving the salon to travel with my Mom to Elon University to the Sarah Palin rally (yippee!! More on that later…). Before I left, Mark handed me a small grocery bag full of small campaign-like buttons. The buttons had the name of their operation in attractive, catchy graphics & their web address in small print.

So off I go to the Rally, where I happily distribute my cache of buttons to delighted women (& even some men). Within 30 minutes, my little bag was empty. The Rally was super, as you know I’d say. (But it really was; very exciting!) When I returned home, I pulled off my button & went to the website scrolled on the bottom. “Read My Lipstick” is an organized movement, friends. I was almost astounded at what I saw. The press release on this site expresses the same theme that has been on my heart, & captures the essence of the original inspiration for “Get the Big Idea”.

I’m almost astounded that the themes are so clear & common, yet arising independently. I can still scarcely believe how yesterday’s events played out: the trip to the salon coinciding with the Rally, the buttons that ‘happened’ to be on-hand, & the crossover of themes. These seemingly serendipitous events have borne substance that feeds my spirit. It’s like the galvanizing encouragement of hearing voices floating across the wind, when you fear you’re stranded in the valley. It’s the hope that spurs your search for them, the joy of recognizing their language as your own, & the assurance that settles deep in your soul when you find that you are, indeed, not alone.

I’ll be keeping up with "Read My Lipstick" as it develops, & I invite you to do the same. Be encouraged, friends. We’re not stranded in the valley. There are voices floating across the wind. Listen.

~~~

Women against women.

I’m getting a little ruffled, & I’ll tell you why. It’s the women-against-women thing that's swirling around us. Women are attacking-to-destroy Sarah Palin. She’s conservative & she places human life above human choice. She doesn’t follow the feminist manifesto & they don’t like it. In my mind, it’s not about partisan politics; it’s about Feminist Politics.

Let’s ask, “Who are these women, & why are they doing this to one they should presumably champion? Why is it that they claim to speak for women, & yet so viciously tear this one down?”

It seems the answer lies in compliance, acquiescence & power. When they have no challenger, the women about whom I speak demand that we all be tolerant, that we love peace, be sensitive & take care of “the children.” (Sure Madonna, adopt beautiful African children who don’t have choices of how to live – how lovely. But what about children who are being ‘eliminated’ on our own continent – before they have a choice to live?)

Then, a woman emerges who challenges their singular oratory. She comes onto their national stage & they rage & foam & spew vitriol. It’s not just that they don’t want to share. (Really now, weren’t we taught to share in Kindergarten?) It’s real seething venom. Have you seen it? (Quick - search Youtube. I won’t link them to my page.) Nice. Yes, & how very loving & tolerant & sensitive of them to whip up their crowds into a fresh lather of rancid antipathy. How pleasant. How peaceful. (You, too, Sandra Bernhardt.)

And then there’s the print media (even Canadians are complying - now that’s obedience!), cartoon media (featuring Governor Palin being punched, etc.), & the regular ol’ TV media. They’re crafty about it, though; splicing interviews, photographing legs from behind in bald attempts at sexual objectification. I could go on… Where is Barbara Walters & Whoopie Goldberg to decry this shameless sexism? When do Arianna, et. al, come rushing to defend of one of their own? What’s that I hear? Static…?

Nothing. Nada. Zip. Zero. Not a peep. They rant for years at the injustice men have imposed upon women (& sometimes rightly they rant). Yet they fail to see their own injustice is far more dangerous. I wonder what Susan B. Anthony & Sojourner Truth would think of this women-against-women campaign? Those women knew hardship & fought the uphill fight. I’m grateful for what their untiring efforts have afforded us (even when it means a woman with whom I disagree gets a solid shot in Presidential politics). But Hillary isn’t on the scene right now, Sarah Palin is. She’s in a historic position, having benefited from past efforts also. To my thinking, she is uplifting women’s status around the world, & it is to our country’s great credit that she does.

What’s that Madonna? Sandra? Doesn’t Sarah also have the right to claim her place on the stage? She’s a woman, right? Oh. Yes, but she’s not compliant; she hasn’t acquiesced. She’s a woman who is stealing your thunder (read: power). Therefore, even though she’s a woman, she doesn’t count. Because for women-against-women, XX chromosomes only count when they lean to the Left.

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Women of privilege. Tough questions.

Jesus said, “From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; & from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.” Luke 12:48

Tall order?

What does it mean to be a Christian woman in America?

Does our American-ness give us a unique perspective on God?

Does our Christianity give us a unique perspective on life?

Working backward:

Does our Christianity give us a unique perspective on life? Yes. It’s Grace, & freedom through Grace. Freedom to be exactly who we’re supposed to be for the Glory of God.

Does our American-ness give us a unique perspective on God? Yes. Indeed, it does. Stay with me…

If you own the computer through which you view these words, if you’re sitting in a comfortable place, safe from enemies; if you are a woman & you can read (at all), then you’re among a privileged minority of women in the world. American women have these privileges simply because of where we live. Regardless of our socio-economic status, level of education, etc., American women are collectively – by comparison to the rest of the globe – privileged.

We’re part of a nation that elevates women through education, opportunity in the marketplace, access to healthcare for ourselves & our families, & freedom to worship freely without fear of torment. Those who claim ownership of American ‘women’s issues’ will beg to differ with me, but that’s their right. (Get it?)

And yet we don’t realize, don’t truly understand, how deeply fortunate we are; & that this ‘fortune’ is from God. Even as I write, I confess that I don’t have a working understanding of women’s experiences around the world. A Thousand Splendid Suns was enough for me. At least in my head, I get it.

At a Beth Moore event a few years ago, a friend & I scanned the sea of 20,000 women’s faces & asked each other, “What would God do if all these women claimed His will in their lives? What would He do in our churches, our communities, in our country? What a movement of God’s power we would see, & it could be through women!” It was a humbling, awesome prospect.

What does it mean to be a Christian woman in America? Our American-ness, if we’re paying attention, gives us a unique perspective on what God can do with us & our privilege, if we yield it to Him. First, we have to claim it. We have to step out of ourselves, our yearning to complain, our materialism, & acknowledge our blessings. God has mercifully allowed us privilege & blessing in order that we may be a blessing, a force for good in the world. We must be willing to step out of ourselves, step up to our blessing & humbly approach God. When we begin to do that, I believe He will use us to be a blessing in our homes, our communities, our country, & ultimately in our world.

Tall order? Yes. What a privilege.

~~~

Primary Perspectives

“I admit it! I’m a conservative republican evangelical Christian – unashamedly so…”

Such was my ‘coming out’ to some precious liberal friends recently. This, my official debut, came after doing a bit of personal inventory with the changing political winds at my face. Later, I reiterated my proclamation to some of my closest friends (who were probably thinking, “This is news?”), just because it felt so good to say. These aren’t words that I would have so emphatically written or said before. But now, somehow candor is essential. It's time to speak some things.

It started with a discussion that led into a bit of politico-speak wherein the Governor of Alaska & the Republican nominee for Vice President, Sarah Palin, was being derided. I listened with interest, but didn’t tip my hand, and later left the conversation with gnawing unfinished business. After I screwed up my courage, because there is no coming back from such things, I composed a crisp email, detailing my ‘outage’ to the original conversants, who I trusted enough to not deride me too. Below is a bit of what I wrote them that next day:

Girls, I know we're coming from different places, but let me tell you what she represents to me...Sarah Palin is a woman who - for the first time ever on the national stage - represents me. She's not an angry woman trying to be a man; not a woman who claims to champion my views, but who is so far out of step w/ me that she may as well be on Pluto. She is a woman who loves & respects her man, loves her children, loves being a mother. She is not afraid to be smart & savvy, but won't beat you about-the-head-neck-&-face w/ it. She is unapologetically committed to her faith, & she is conservative politically...

So, why start a web log over this? Because I was watching the day her candidacy was announced - and was absolutely stunned. An eerie déjà vu draped itself over my shoulders, and I felt like I was looking in a mirror. Finally - a real woman (who could actually be me), with the potential of being Vice President of the country. A real woman who cares about the things I do - not someone who screams far-left hyperfeminist propaganda & then swears she's speaking for me.

Why write here & now? Because I’ve been writing for some time with a sense of discovery and anticipation, and with a notion that perhaps I have something to say. And because that day, I experienced a shift in perspective.

I'm not sure who'll win this thing, but the pundits are right. Governor Palin’s candidacy is a 'game-changer,’ -- for me, anyway. Primarily, she gives me real hope that conservative women now have a voice in the Women's Conversation of our time; that the left no longer has a monopoly on "issues that women care about." She is a role model for thousands of women - who now see & know that you don't have to be abrasive & shrill in order to be tough & strong.

That's why they've been trying to kill her voice, kill her reputation, kill her credibility - literally kill it, before (shhhhhh!) any other women get the Big Idea that the feminist agenda has challengers...The media part of it has been beastly, and yes, quite personal. Because when the media tear her apart, they're tearing apart women like me.

So, there you go. Many thanks to Governor Palin for the shift in perspective. And thanks to the other Sarah Palins in my life, some who’ve helped me chart a course since before I have memory. Thanks to those who abrade my conscience, encourage my struggles, cheer my victories, and give me opportunities to serve in kind. You’re helping me live fully, helping me hone our voice and perhaps discover some big ideas.

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