patriotism

"To [our opponents], raising taxes is about patriotism. To the rest of America, that's not patriotism. Raising taxes is about killing jobs and hurting small businesses and making things worse. This isn't about anyone's patriotism. It's about Barack Obama's poor judgment." -Sarah Palin

green marriage

Beyond just being good for your body, soul and marriage, it's now clear that n.f.p. is good for the environment. And that makes it so, so trendy.

art

To start this off in good conscience, I want to clearly state that I do not promote the entirety of Rob Bell's theology. However, a broken clock is right twice a day, and someone who loves God (as I am sure Pastor Bell does) is probably right a little more often than that. Some of the things he has to say are thought-provoking and worthy of discussion. I found this article about his reflections on art very impressive.

I liked this article, and I loved this quote: "I would say across cultures unless people have been forced into dehumanizing conditions like slavery, famine, starvation, oppression you find people creating stuff everywhere. Unless there are oppressive forces holding people down, people naturally create. You can find painting all around. You find cave painting, so from the beginning of time, expressing themselves, through whatever medium they had at their disposal, was something humans have done. You could probably argue from that alone that there is something about the human condition that it can’t help but make more."

green leaf

Whoever trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will flourish like a green leaf. (Proverbs 11:28)

the bump trumps all?

Late last night we heard some of the best news that has come our way in a long time: the US handed control of the (formerly) dangerous Al-Anbar province to the Iraqi forces! A few years ago, this area was the most volatile in the country of Iraq. The Al-Anbar province contains cities every self-respecting US Citizen has heard of: Baghdad, Fallujah, Ramadi. My husband was in Fallujah during his 2006-2007 deployment. The progress his unit made was an important part of this handover. I excitedly looked around the internet today to see how the news would spread. After all, this means the US now controls only 7 of the 18 provinces in Iraq! What do Obama and McCain have to say about this new development!? How will this affect what the Presidential candidates say about the war on terror? How can anyone say the US is losing the war now?

However, all I've heard about is the bump. The teeny baby bump on Republican VP Candidate nominee-to-be Sarah Palin's daughter's tummy. The news was publicly announced to squelch rumors that the Palin's down-syndrome baby was actually the child of their 17-year-old daughter Bristol. I applaud Bristol for continuing the pregnancy. I believe the statement from Sarah Palin confirming the support and love their family offers to their daughter and son-in-law-to-be should be the only acceptable response a Christian parent could give. Mrs. Palin and I are members of Feminists For Life, a pro-woman pro-life group that says abortion is an indicator that women do not have the support and resources to raise their unexpected babies. Maybe more pregnant teenagers would give their children the gift of life if they thought their parents would respond with such firm lovingkindness and compassion.

But really... how does a teenage baby bump trump the evidence of major victory in Operation Iraqi Freedom? Are you kidding me?