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32 years after Roe v. Wade, that’s my generation, you know. Gone, snuffed out. But we limit ourselves for some reason. By focusing on just that one Supreme Court decision it becomes easier to say there is nothing we can do about – we don’t have the right political leaders or the political leaders with enough backbone to stop it. So we content ourselves to feeling dreery about abortion this time every year, or when the head of a crisis pregnancy center speaks at church. I guess it’s a way of self-flaggelation.
I grew up in an area where it would be easy for conservative Christians to do more than pay lip service to abortion – take in the lonely, adopt the forgotten, support the single mother, develop a culture of life. But I know how hard the local crisis pregnancy ministry tried to just convince churches and individuals to donate reguraly.
I was always taught that if you are at an impasse, it’s maybe because you are approaching the problem from the wrong way, and then it should be time to ask the different questions:
Why are abortion opponents nearly always conservative Christians, and a sub-set at that? Should our case be so right that many securalists and adherents of other faiths join with us?
Why do we think that abortion began in 1973? Marvin Olasky has written a book about the history of abortion, perhaps we should think about why Christians did such a poor job of defending the innocents in the industrialized world that abortion would become a recognized choice. Remember, the Supreme Court issue all sorts of decisions, but Roe v. Wade just made abortion permisable. The government has never, to my knowledge, foreced anyone to have an abortion. A choice indeed.
Why do we care so little about abortion in the rest of the civilised world? China, Russian, much of the former Communist bloc in Eastern Europe, the materalists in Western Europe, etc. have all practiced abortion with little aparent compunction for over 50 years. Do we care?
Forget for the moment all the hub-pub about about political leaders, why we look to them to force us to stop our own wrong doing that goes against the most basic instincts I don’t know. Why can’t we create a more winsome, cheerful, self-sacrificial culture of life?
If abortion ended today by Supreme Court fiat and was sent back to state jurisdiction in the United States, would we care? Is this what holds us back from the least (sending a check to a crisis pregnancy ministry) or the most (networking with small numbers of folks to care for single mothers or adopt children)?
Yes, let’s be saddened at the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, but let’s don’t let it become a permanent holiday.
Well, I’m back. Sorry to folk who were linked here from Jeff and Jeremy. I had more limited computer access than I had anticipated. We returned home Saturday night, barely beating “The Great Snow Storm of aught-5″. Literally within 15 minutes of coming come I was overtaken by chills and fever, still am ill, and the trip from my bed to the computer is the longest I have made in nearly 48 hours.
The Presidential Inauguration was for us an experience we will always remember. Without sounding corny, it was the type of thing that inspired you as a citizen. Also it was cold, bone-chilling, it-doesn’t matter if I have four layers on cold. But we are thrilled that we were there with the masses.
Here is a personal run-down on the day:
8:30 – Leave our friend’s home in Vienna, VA on the Metro train for D.C. – the trains were full and folks were singing hymns, we were going to a Republican Inauguration indeed
9:30 – Meet my Congressman, Bob Inglis, at his office building. Our “yellow card” tickets were from himEven though I interned for him 8 years ago, I think of him now as more of a leader in church than anything. We also met our friends from Philadelphia, the Keene’s.
10:00 – began trek to our access point for our tickets, only three security check-points, cold, wet floors are no fun when you are forced to take your shoes off
10:30 – 12:30 – reach our spot in front of the Capitol about 100 yards from the Speaker’s dais, very good-natured crowd, lots of Service-Academy folks standing near us, we counted at least 5 snipers on the Capitol dome, good natured boos when John Kerry was introduced, the same type of boos you hear when an opposing team enters an arena – all in good fun and he smiled at it, less strong boos at HILLARY! Rodham Clinton, muffled applause for Mr. Clinton and Mr. Carter, cheers for #41 Bush, louder ones for W.’s mom, the music was a little odd, enjoyed the Lawrece Welk guy’s rendition of the Ashcroft song the most, Hastert mangled the oath and Cheney corrected him twice, the Chief Justice (CJ) – looking thin and with a hoarse voice administered the oath with every digital camera raised high in the air, ever heard a 100,000 gloved hands clap? – that’s the sound after the swearing-in and 21 gun salute, the President’s speech went over well among the crowd, I immediately predicted the various groups that would hate it
12:30 – 2:30 – Trying to find lunch, ran across our first protestors of the Christian Reconstruction type whose signs said Bush’s sin was the cause of 9/11, tried to eat at a Tex/Mex place but the wait was 90 min. long, ate at Subway instead – Boxing promoter Don King in line with us,
2:30 – 5:30 took the Metro to Federal Triangle to watch the parade, informed that the wait to get through security was two hours (parade ended in 2.5 hours), saw some anti-Bush protestors of the He lied, thousands died ilk (Protesting appears to be a recognized industry in DC), our friend Kathryn talked us into a Parade-watch party hosted by the Traditional Values Coalition on the second floor of the Ronald Reagan building with a balcony overlook on Penn. Ave., spent the Parade eating “W” cookies, drinking warm coffee and tiramasu, sat next to D. James Kennedy, Texas A&M had the most professional and loud band, Tennessee’s band played Rocky Top for a 2 mile march, we went outside on to Penn. Ave. and followed the tail end of the parade up to the White House gates, security was relaxed which is why Karl Rove was 10 feet away from me with no security
Wonderful day indeed. After a contentious election, it all comes down to a ceremony that has the same elements as something you might see at a local courthouse. The overall inaugural ceremony had many of the same elements as a church service. It’s a shame to see Washington with concrete barricades and fences everywhere. The few protestors I saw (where I was) were more objects of curiosity for the crowd – many had their pictures taken as souvenirs. As cold as it was, it was a worthwhile experience, regardless of the President, to see this nation’s citizens together to just watch and observe.
I’ll write more of the Bush’s speech and such later, which as I expected has caused quite a many discussions.
As I have mentioned before, I’m driving up to DC to watch the Presidential Inauguration in person later this week. The spectacle is admittedly what draws me. I have told others (and myself) over several years that the US Presidency is just a limited 18th century monarch, more sheriff than Sun King. The ceremony seems to show that, just a simple oath taking from a magistrate in front of witnesses. I like that idea.
The President is not King, he does not ‘make’ law (were that it so), he is there to administer laws in as a disinterested path as possible. Sure, he has military power, but that just fulfills his role as an uber-sheriff.
What I think is grand about this whole understated ceremony is that is shows a radically different view of the world that would be impossible to create in a culture that did not have as its backbone the Christian gospel. There have been wretches as US President’s, and some real saints. But the wonderful thing is that the US does not need or require saints as Presidents. There is no need for Edward the Confessors or St. Louis the IX; all that is for the inhabitents to work out on their own.
Now when the President thinks he must ‘make’ laws, rather than declare what is already there; then we get into problems.
Lest it be forgot, today is the 224 anniversary of the Battle of Cowpens during the American War of Independence. In a literaly ‘cow-pens’ in what is now northern Spartanburg County and near I-85, a group of American regulars, calvary and militia led by Col. Daniel Morgan routed a British loyalist and regular infantry and calvary detacment led by Col. Banastre Tarleton of the Green Dragoons.
The battle was dramatically retold in the recent Mel Gibson movie The Patriot in its climatic scene, was the end of any British attempt to control the Western Carolinas. Remarkable today that a group of militia stood rifle to rifle with British trained loyalists and regulars in the open field, the sudden defeat of the once invincible Tarleton gave the Americans every reason to believe that they had forced the British out of the lower South.
My wife and I visited the battlefield on the anniversary last year. I would highly reccommend a visit to all, especially as it makes a nice break for those travelling on I-85. It’s only 5 minutes off the interstate and a quick tour would take no more than 30 minutes.
While the war would last another ten months, the British military would only hold on to Charleston and Savannah until the Treaty of Paris was signed in 1783. All Americans owe a debt of gratitude to these patriots who fought on that cold, wet Southern field 224 years ago.
Been out of commission the last few days, especially as far as technology – of even the 20th century variety goes.
Friday my trusty blogging notebook went out of commission. I think this machine knows it is being sent to the ‘mothball’ fleet to join NCC-1701 and the Battlestar Gallatica after March when I get a new model. But I would prefer it not fail due to a worn out AC adapter. A simple fix indeed. But fill of moments of concern that those Christmas photos would be lost since I had not backed them up to a CD yet.
Sunday, the trusty Chevy Malibu started on a cold Charlotte morning, but quit soon afterwards. The fix? A new fuel filter. I had the oil changed Thursday at the AAA Auto-Center and I was told I needed a new fuel filter.
After hearing for years from all sorts of car repair places about the dire need to replace NOW some minor part, that probably had 15,000 more miles left on it, I passed on the $15 part. Just goes to show I should trust AAA, rather than all of those other fly-by-night oil change pirates – that are franchises in the loosest use of the word. This week will be busy, but I will be blogging from the Presidential inauguration later this week. In the meantime look forward to the following in upcoming episodes:
- Work – its theological and practical meaning – a seven part series (for each day of the week, nifty huh?)
- The Knight Foundation and college sports reform
- Downtown Greenville, SC – a photographic and historical tour of how a mid-sized Southern city is working to create an up-to date city core that honors its history
- A weekly social and bioethics investigation
- And of course comments on relevant weekly news as events warrant
