A HUGE “thank you” to Milehimama, who created this poster and has generously shared it.
In my house, we vote PRO-LIFE!
Category: Politics
Roundup on the McCain/Palin Ticket
Some fascinating reading here:
From Sheila Wray Gregoire in Canada, Thoughts on Moms in Politics
The Kitchen Madonna links to a WaPo article that’s worth reading, and shares a specific way to pray for Sarah Palin.
Margaret in Minnesota has a wonderful article on voting prolife.
Mary Ellen Barret has a piece in Catholic Exchange on how Palin is an example for our daughters.
I’ll be adding to this as I find more. This is the first time I have been so interested in an election!
An Impressive Choice
I leave most of the politics around this household to TheDad, preferring to stick to my own pursuits (reading, cooking, homemaking, and matters Franciscan). But I have to say I am very excited about John McCain’s choice of Sarah Palin, Alaska’s governor, as his running mate.
You can learn more about Palin from various links at this site. A little to whet your appetite: She’s a conservative, pro-life Republican; mother of 5; supportive of small business, our military, and competition in health care. I’m very impressed by her position paper on education, especially the part where she states that early childhood education efforts should be focused on the children who need them most, and that parents are the child’s first teachers. She also supports the rights of home schoolers.
McCain/Palin in ’08!
I’m Tired of Keeping My Mouth Shut
So when I received an email today, sent from a member of the SFO Regional Council, asking me to watch a “compelling” video about the environment by Al Gore, I recycled a few of my blog posts (how “green” of me!), did a little research, and responded. I might have to take some heat for this, but if I’d kept my mouth shut, I couldn’t live with myself (or my family. My kids watch and learn from what my husband and I say and do.)
So here’s my response.
“This video may be “compelling” but Al Gore’s position as an environmental doomsayer is less scientific than theatric. According to this article, which links to this piece from the London Daily Mail, Pope Benedict XVI has repudiated such fearmongering. In fact, the planet Mars, as well as other planets in our solar system, is also experiencing “global warming” at this time. Climate change is real, but it is not entirely under human control. Climate change happens all the time, on every planet.
Al Gore is not the environmental Messiah that he purports to be. And his voting record and position on life issues, once he reached the U.S. Congress, is abysmal.
Have you visited the website and checked out the committee members? They include Sierra Club, which is a pro-choice organization by its own admission.
Saint Francis of Assisi has apparently come to be considered the Patron Saint of Earth Day, ecology, and all things “green.” But the green movement does Francis no justice when insistence is placed on “green for green’s sake.”
The only thing the Francis was interested in for its own sake was God.
Yes, he had a great reverence for Creation–the earth, nature, the sun and moon and all the animals, plants and trees. But his reverence was born from his awe of the power and creativity and genius of God. To Francis, every bit of God’s creation reflected God’s glory–and that is what made creation something to be revered. Francis saw God’s glory, power, creativity and genius in everything and everyone, and strove to act accordingly. Let us remember that while it’s great to reduce waste, recycle or reuse what we have, and try to create less garbage, the reason we do this is to treat God’s creation with care–to be good stewards of what we have been given. It’s not enough to be “green.” We should also be grateful.
We cannot sacrifice Francis’ deep message on the altar of ecology.
Pope Benedict has spoken about who Saint Francis really was. He’s not just that guy in the birdbaths. He’s not some enviro-hippie.
Benedict XVI said he wanted to correct the “abuses” and “betrayals” that distort the true character of Saint Francis. And to recall the false view of Saint Francis, Benedict XVI needed just two words: “environmentalist” and “pacifist.” …The truth of Saint Francis – the pope emphasizes – is his “radical choice of Christ,” the conversion awakened in him by the words of the crucified Jesus: ‘Go, rebuild my house.’
It’s not about peace protests. It’s not about ecology. It’s not about blessing our household pets.
Being Franciscan is about conversion. All the rest is incidental.
In the spiritual travail that the young Francis was living through, he perceived these words of vocation and mission as being in the first place an invitation to carry out completely the conversion that had already begun, making his own the concern and plans of Christ for his Church.
So our priority, as Franciscans, is to ask ourselves how we can better turn ourselves toward God, and serve Him in our daily lives. That’s what conversion is about–turning TOWARD God.”
Wish me luck. I’ve got that Veggie Tales song, “Stand,” running through my head right now.
If I Were President
according to Little Brother.
He told me this morning that he wants to be “President of United States.” He leaves out the “The” in front of “United States” because he’s hooked on his map of the U.S. puzzle.
I asked what he would do if he were president.
“I would make everything better.”
How?
“If people were sick I would help them get medicine.”
That’s nice. I’m glad you want to help sick people. What else would you do?
“Help old people cross the street.”
(Future Boy Scout, that’s Little Brother.) Do they need help crossing the street?
“Some of them do.”
OK…anything else?
“If someone died, I would go to their funeral. That’s it.”
I figure he’s at least as qualified as some of the other candidates out there. Too bad he’s too young for the job.
And the Number One Reason I Won’t Vote for Obama…
Proud to be an American
All the time. And it didn’t take me 42 years to figure it out.
We truly are blessed. Shouldn’t we want to support a candidate who understands this, and who makes sure his family does?
If You’re Catholic, and You Vote…
Read here to find out what the Pope says you should be considering. Do your research, pray, and vote responsibly.
Hat tip to Esther.
Sister Hits the Nail on the Head
Remember the Carol Burnett Show, when Tim Conway would play the old man who shuffled everywhere he walked, an inch at a time?
One of the Sisters at our parish walks at about the same speed.
Today it was snowing when we left church after daily Mass, and she started creeping her way to the convent (a little more than a block away from church). I pulled over and offered her a ride, as I usually do when the weather’s bad and she’s at church.
I might have to stop that, though, because I had to almost lift her into the van this time. My van is just too high for her to get into easily.
On our way over to the convent, she asked how my children were doing and how old they are now. “They’re lucky to have a mother,” she said just as we pulled up to her doorway. “With all that abortion and everything, so many babies are just never born anymore.”
And yet Catholics are supporting the likes of Hillary and Obama for President this year.
I think the Kitchen Madonna and her Apron-Mom Brigade are cooking up ways to do something about that.
Somebody has to. Too many lives depend on it.
I Am Not a Soccer Mom…and I Vote
I’m a Catholic wife and mother of 3, a homemaker and a Secular Franciscan.
All of those things come into play when I consider the upcoming elections.
I’ve got one week to choose the candidate I feel best represents my views on what’s good for our nation and our world (because anyone who thinks that this election only affects this country is living in a dream world.)
I’m not a soccer mom. For one thing, I don’t have the wardrobe for it. And none of my kids play soccer! So it’s not about soccer moms and how they supposedly vote. If they vote pro-choice, I’m definitely not a soccer mom!
Maybe the Kitchen Madonna has it right in describing the new voting demographic as the Apron Mom. I’ve got the wardrobe for that. I own several aprons and wear them proudly. They are my uniform when I work around my home, doing laundry, cleaning up, cooking and baking for my family.
It’s a good idea to link aprons to elections. Aprons are worn by people who serve others. We need to remember that our elected officials are to do just that–serve the people of our nation! And we have been given the responsibility of choosing the ones who will serve us.
I can never support a pro-abortion candidate. I would like to find a candidate who is not only prolife when it comes to abortion, but also carries this view across the board: anti-death penalty; anti-assisted suicide; anti-euthanasia, anti-embryonic stem cell research. I would like to find a candidate who knows what it means to serve, and that to do so can be both a blessing and a burden, and who is not afraid to seek divine guidance when making those important decisions.