Urban Goes Country

The kids and I spent most of our homeschooling hours yesterday watching the Presidential Inauguration. Right before we had read a book about George Washington, by Ingri and Edgar D'Aulaire. My kids didn't know exactly what the word "irony" meant. Some things are better explained by example than by definition and I think "irony" is one of those things. I asked the kids to find the irony in this sentence from the book, (talking about General Washington's return home after leading his country to freedom in the Revolutionary War.)
...... "Washington came home to Mount Vernon on Christmas Day. At the door stood Martha, his wife, with a little girl and boy at her side. They were her grandchildren, who had come to live with her at Mount Vernon. With beaming faces the slaves and servants, too, welcomed their master home."
Yes, the kids did see the irony in that statement. America was free. Not.

So with that fresh in our minds we watched the inauguration, and witnessed history as, 44 presidents later, the first black man was inaugurated into the presidency. Pretty exciting stuff.

I really don't get into politics at all. Rush Limbaugh stresses me out. Presidential speeches bore me. Most political issues I'm either fairly ignorant about, or I can see both sides of. The issue of abortion, however, I can't be neutral about. I am not sure if it is because I am a christian, or because I am a mother, but I honestly do not understand how abortion has even become something that we debate. Whether it is ethical or unethical to kill an unborn child. I know abortion has been justified in many ways and for many different reasons. The most common argument for abortion I've heard is that a woman should be allowed to choose what happens to her body. But the women I know who have had abortions did not really have a choice in the matter. The abortions were pretty much forced on them by their parents or their boyfriends. I've heard the argument that a child is not really a child until it takes its first breath. Then why should a drunk driver be prosecuted for causing a woman to "terminate" her pregnancy prematurely through a DUI accident? And I've also heard it argued that a child's life is valuable only if the mother deems it valuable, after all it is her choice. And almost 90% of handicapped children diagnosed in utero are legally aborted, because of this political rationale. That is a hard statistic for me, the mother of a disabled child, to grasp. Yes, we try to justify this dark and evil deed, just as we justified slavery 200 years ago.

So yesterday, as I watched President Obama, I have to say he is growing on me somewhat. In many ways I think he will be good for our country, for foreign relations especially. But I can't help but think of those poor babies who will never have a chance at life because of the measures he wants to enforce to make abortions more affordable and accessible.....And speaking of irony, did you catch this statement: We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.... 

(Yes, All are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their measure of happiness unless their mother or some other influential person deems them not worthy to be born).

In one way I feel discouraged, yet in another way I see how far we have come from George Washington's slave-owning days, and I can't help but think perhaps someday soon there will be a victory for the unborn as well. We can hope.

Meanwhile here is a video clip of a 13 year old girl seeking an abortion in a state that requires parental consent, with a hidden camera. This is so shocking....Please take a few minutes to watch it.