Tom in Iraq as a Military Observer

Tom in Iraq as a Military Observer
They sent me here just to watch...

Monday, July 18, 2016

Democratic Party says that Black Lives Don't Matter!!!

What?  How can I say that?

I don’t like to venture too much into election politics.  It can distract from my calling in life.  I do my research and do vote my conscious and respect others who do the same.  That is the intended nature of life in this republic; however, I have been too quiet on one subject for too long.

What?

Black Lives Matter, that’s what.

I do believe that black lives matter.  All human life is sacred and if the black community needs some special attention at this point in history, I’m fine with that.  We have a long way to go to true reconciliation in this nation.  This movement won’t get us there on its own but it has its purpose.  I am not sure I agree with all of the precepts on the official website, but I affirm that the life of a person who is black does matter.

What bothers me is that the Democratic Party has embraced this movement and they don’t believe in it.  That’s right, you read it correctly, the Democratic Party does not really believe that black lives matter.

How can I say that?

I can say that because that same party does not believe that the unborn life matters.  When the heart stops beating for a long enough time, the person is pronounced dead; however, when the heart begins to beat for a sustained time, we don’t declare that life has begun with the same definitiveness. 

Yes, this is about the Democratic Party embracing abortion.  Some will stop reading here and say this is just another ultra conservative rant on abortion.  It is not.

This is a challenge to look at our political leadership when it comes to the value and sanctity of life.  The unborn child that is growing in the womb of a mother to be is the responsibility of the mother.  The language of a woman’s right to choose disregards the fact that a life is involved.

I don’t want any more laws or regulations regarding abortion.  I am not on a crusade to overturn Roe v. Wade.  I would like to reframe the question that is never addressed in the Democratic Party—the rights of the unborn child.

If black lives matter then the life of the unborn black child matters as well.  Of course it follows that race is irrelevant to the life at stake in the womb.

So if I don’t want more laws or a Supreme Court decision overturned, what do I want?

I would like to see the Democratic Party address the issue of abortion as the woman’s responsibility to choose instead of her right to choose.

What’s the difference?

Right to choose says this is just another birth control measure.  Take the pill, use a diaphragm, abstain, use condoms, or kill the kid a couple weeks or months after conception do not all belong in the same multiple choice question.

Responsibility to choose puts the decision in the same arena as police officers and soldiers.  When do you take a life?

Never as a matter of convenience or just because you can should be at the top of the list or reasons that should never have validity.  Are there other times when taking a life might be the best option for the mother?  Perhaps.  For those who value life, you would hope not, but you cannot legislate all factors in all situations.

The professional police office does not start his day thinking that things would be easier for him if he killed someone today; yet, in the course of that day and its many circumstances, he may have to make life and death decisions. Many of those decisions must be made in a few seconds or in less than a single second.

These come with consequences either way.  If you take a life, then you must live with that.  If you don’t and others are killed or injured, you live with that as well.

In cases of the unborn, these decisions need not be made in an instant.  They should never be made in an instant!

Life—all human life—must be considered sacred.  There is nothing in Roe v. Wade that should have led anyone to the phrase a woman’s right to choose, at least in the overarching context it is now used.  The expectant mother has responsibility.  Others do as well, but she is the single most responsible person for the life of her unborn child.

I am not asking the Democratic Party to stop endorsing Black Lives Matter.  I challenge them to rethink and rephrase their position on the life in the womb.  It matters!

Life in the womb matters!

In fairness to my liberal friends and family, I must pick on my more conservative brethren.  That’s not exactly true.  I pick on them in fairness to the life in the womb.

If we want those who lean left to value life more, then we who are entrenched on the right need to make provisions for those who have become pregnant and do not desire to raise a child to give up the child to a caring family if she will carry the child to delivery in a healthy and safe manner. 

Yes, we need programs and funding, and red tape slashed to oblivion to get an unwanted child into the hands of a loving family.  Instead of funding abortion clinics, let’s fund life clinics that help women who are pregnant and do not want the child to have a place for care, treatment, and delivery that preserves the life of the child.

Abortion should not be considered as just another means of contraception.  Once the embryo inside of a woman has a heartbeat, she needs to regard the life as her responsibility not her choice.

Do black lives matter?  Of course they do!  Life matters and that includes the unborn life.

We don’t need more laws or regulations or government interference.  We need to get back to a solid moral foundation in our nation.  Life is sacred. 

I challenge the Democratic Party specifically and all Americans in general to value the sanctity of life.  Discard the phrase a woman’s right to choose.  It sounds empowering but it is debilitating.  It degrades us all.  It frames our thinking in such a way that specific lives don’t matter.

It is not the police officer’s right to choose whom he shoots.  It is his responsibility to use deadly force only when absolutely necessary.  Preserving life or taking a life whether made in a fraction of a second or over the course of several days should never be considered anyone’s right.

This is a challenge to all to rethink the sanctity of life in our post-modern society.  I say that all human life is sacred, including the unborn child that has a heartbeat.

Will you value all life?

As people make their lists of what lives matter—black, white, police, gay, straight, or other category that divides us—let’s not leave out the life in the womb.  Regardless of whether we are born into privilege or poverty, our lives matter.  We have had enough division.  It is time to unite behind the sanctity of human life.

Let us value all human life from the first heartbeat to the last!


Thursday, July 14, 2016

Let’s just do our jobs!



It seems that everyone complains that the courts legislate from the bench but have you noticed how many hearings Congress holds these days.  They don’t enact any fruitful legislation but they seem to hold more hearings than the courts.

Here’s a novel idea.  Let everyone do his own job.  Legislators need to legislate and courts need to be the ones holding hearings.

It is not about what you want to do to get the spotlight or to have your own personal way in everything.  You were elected or appointed to do a specific job.  Don’t get caught up in the peripheral duties while missing the main purpose.


Do your jobs!