April 24, 2007 8:25 AM
Why the hand that rocks the cradle needs a heart and head for news
Moms, I know I've been commenting more than usual on current events. But you all know how I feel: the most important work in this country goes on in your home every day:
That's why it's important for you to understand the world your children are being raised to enter. In twenty years it will not be the same world you knew before your attention turned to laundry and soccer schedules.
What I'm trying to do here - and I hope it comes across - is to distill the current events to see what lessons we moms can glean from them to help us do the best possible job raising our children to be capable and productive members of society.
All of you may not agree with me politically, but I will say there is a common theme that governs my views on any issue: personal responsibility. And not surprisingly, I believe that is the second most important thing our children need to learn in their years with us (the first being strong relationship with our Creator).
Einstein once said: The right to search for the truth implies also a duty; one must not conceal any part of what one has recognized."
As someone who has spent decades on each side of the political equation, I know that I am capable of changing my mind when presented with facts I didn't know before. That may be why I have little patience with people who seem unteachable: part of growing emotionally, spiritually, and intellectually as a human being - reaching our full potential - requires a certain fluidity of thought, the ability to have an "Ah-ha!" moment. The ability to say "I never knew."
The highlight of my blogging last week was a comment left by Stevie at my post Media Bias Alert - Partial Birth Abortion:
I really had no idea what partial birth abortion was and now I can't stop crying. I don't know why I never looked it up before - I just thought it was some form of abortion and never thought to do so. Thanks for the information.
I think of two generations of young women who've grown up being taught that abortion is their absolute right - with no philosophical discussions allowed in school as to the morality involved and certainly no consideration for any other party (father, girl's parents, the baby herself). That is sick and shallow.
The media used to refer to PBA as "a certain type of late-term medical procedure," sanitizing it of its brute violence. I'm rather surprised they've referred to it recently as Partial Birth Abortion in the headlines, but think they might have been forced into it for the sake of headline brevity. Still, nowhere in the news accounts do you hear what actually happens.
So, thank you Stevie, for letting me know that reading the description made you cry! How blessed we are when our hearts are still tender enough to be touched by something our media would like to keep us immune to.
I listened to the arguments before the Supreme Court on National Public Radio last week and it was chilling to hear this female attorney speaking of how far they should be allowed to draw the "fetus" out before stabbing its skull. How far our noble country - which historically has made unparalleled progress in protecting the weak and helpless - has fallen!
Stevie, it will take that light bulb moment on the part of many others to turn things around. And I will keep writing because all it takes is one comment like yours to let me know my words had a purpose here.
Moms, even as you go about your busy, busy days - please know that even when we feel helpless before the onslaught of terrible events and cultural destruction, we are truly the ones empowered to change things by how we raise our kids.
The Hand that Rocks the Cradle Is the Hand That Rules the World! (click for the whole poem)
Posted in Current Affairs, Mothering | Permalink
Comments
How ironic you should post this! My nearly 19 year old son called me from college the other day to say, "Mom, do you know how they do partial birth abortions?" The conversation continued as I wondered how I didn't teach him this, though I really think we had discussed it. (Teenagers have a way of remembering what they want to remember and accusing Mom of not telling them everything else.) He described the procedure to me (which I already knew) and commented on how wrong, disgusting, and brutal it is. I just nodded my head and uttered words of agreement. He recently signed his band with "Rock for Life" and is a strong Pro-Life proponent. I've been preaching "pro-life" for years, but for some reason he had an "a-ha!" moment and now the cause is his and not simply an extension of mine. It's enough to make a mommy proud. Knowledge is indeed power!
Posted by: Drewe Llyn Jeffcoat | April 24, 2007 12:35 PM
