Donny's Ramblings

It’s easy to get all emotional when it comes to issues of religion and politics. I pray that our Christian community focuses its efforts on praying for our new president and his family. We should pray that Obama continue to grow in his personal relationship with God and that God guides our leaders in congress to make wise and morally upright choices. That is what we should do. I’m sure that the person that sent you that message is just venting, and that is human. Not really nice, maybe, but human. He or she should realize that our efforts our better spent on prayer. Prayer, prayer, prayer. THAT is how we win.

This is just a thought, but abortion went up 17% under Bush. Again, just a thought….

Thanks for pointing that out, Ryan. It also went DOWN 18% under our last Pro-Choice President, Bill Clinton.

Interesting, huh?

The numbers are powerful and sometimes shocking. Consider:

* Nearly half of all abortions in the world are performed in countries that have made abortion illegal.

* The lowest abortion rates in the world – less than 10 per 1,000 women of reproductive age – are in Europe, where abortion is legal and available.

* By contrast, in Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean, where abortion law is most restrictive, the regional rates are 29 and 31 per 1,000 women, respectively.

* These countries are also much poorer than the U.S. and provide fewer social services; and a larger proportion of their population lives in poverty.

* In Western European countries, in contrast, where more social services are provided and fewer women live in poverty, the abortion rates are consistently the lowest rates in the world.

* In a recent study released by Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good finds that social and economic supports such as benefits for pregnant women and mothers and economic assistance to low-income families have contributed significantly to reducing the number of abortions in the United States over the past twenty years.

* Economic assistance to low income families is correlated with a 20% lower abortion rate. Across the entire United States, this translates into 200,000 fewer abortions.

* In the 1990s, states with more generous grants to women, infants and children under the age of five as provided by the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program had a 37% lower abortion rate.

* Higher male employment in the 1990s was associated with a 29% lower abortion rate.

* The abortion rate has declined most rapidly from 1990-1996 when there was an economic boom under President Clinton. While rates have continued to decrease, they have declined less rapidly in recent years when poverty rates have been climbing.

Source: Joseph Wright and Michael Bailey, “Reducing Abortion in America : The Effect of Economic and Social Supports” (Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good) and The Guttmacher Institute “An Overview of Abortion in The United States”

During all the discussions about who should be president I avoided the abortion debate. Why? Because in reality who is president has very little to do with the subject. Yes I know he can nominate supreme court justices but they also have to get past the senate etc. Personally I would never want to choose abortion or want anyone I know to get one. With that said if your passionate about the issue you must win the hearts and minds of the people. The battle cant be won in courts. Just like your never going to legislate away pornography, drugs, etc. If we want our ideals and beliefs to win its time we get into our schools like liberals are, get into our universities, get into media, and find those leaders who inspire people like Obama did. Win the hearts and minds of young people, and inspire people. Democrats didnt win on ideas they won on execution and getting people involved. Too many times we ask everyone to agree with us on every issue and beat down those who dont when what we really need to do is embrace people based on what we have in common. By focusing so much on the abortion issue we lose the chance to bring so many people to our side of thinking. For instance when someone is considering going to church who is living a lifestyle that we feel is wrong we wouldnt immediately tell them you have to give up everything then join us because that would turn people off, instead if you embrace them show them gods love, show them positive changes and that you care they will embrace those things on their own in time.

@DT As Donny and I pointed out, it is apparent that the president has something to do with abortion. Numbers go up or down, and that’s all there is. When Bush started pushing for abstinence education, teen pregnancy and abortion went up.

I think its highly debatable as to whether or not Barack won because of issues. I think he did, and I think most people who were educated on his policies would say the same. Anyway I dont want to start a debate about the issues, it will do us no good now. Just a few thoughts.

id really like to see how exactly(evidence) bill clinton reduced abortions. im sure there were alot of other things that dropped and gained during his presidency as well. maybe pot smoking? idk.

i think its just incidental.

i know this isnt the ideal, but if you make something harder to access, the less likely people will do it.

so donny, WHO did you vote for?

John (r or l),

I actually voted for McCain. In 2000 I really liked him and was
disappointed when Bush won the primaries.

Had he won this election, I think he’d have been a good President
and believe the “maverick” he once was would have returned once in
office (it was nowhere to be seen during his campaign, that’s for sure).

I thought hard about it and came to realize I still like John McCain. I was
holding my bitterness over the Christian Community’s love fest with the
Republican Party against him.

I voted for JM as a symbol or reminder to myself that letting go of my
bitterness is something that HAS to be done. I knew California would go to
Barack Obama and my vote wouldn’t affect the outcome, so I did what I
felt I symbolically needed to do on my path of spiritual growth.

I am very glad Barack Obama won the election, but for the reasons listed
(and a handful of others as well) I needed to ultimately vote for McCain.

As you might expect, I took an iPhone pic of my ballot:
http://donnysramblings.files.wordpress.com/2008/11/decision2008.jpg

Besides not wanting to hear feedback on that decision, one other reason I didn’t
make my decisions public yesterday is because I wanted those Christians who
had decided to vote for Obama to go ahead and do so, and not possibly second
guess their decision based on something I wrote.

wow

pretty wise. i tell ya man, ive never been so sketchy about a president elect like i am over obama, im actually a little bit scared and i am trying my darndest to discern between actual concern or some fear mongering done by the commentary ive been listening to for the past 6 months or so about an obama presidency. its almost xenophobic. im really hoping for the best and trying to give the guy a chance..but OMG his voting record frightens the heck out of me.

a couple good things out of this election:

no supermajority, thank GOD
prop 8, amend 2, plus the same type of amend in arizona ALL passed.

we prayed at my church for obama and alot of people are taking that route.
it is absolutely amazing that so many christians are afraid of another “christian” brother, if indeed he really is. i personally doubt it, because of the sheer fact that as a christian, he doesnt wear it on his sleeve. i dont know one real christian who doesnt live their life like that. and you donny, have only been a christian for 2 years now but theres no denying that you are one. youve built your life around christ. but when you look at obama, he doesnt wear jesus on his sleeve.

but i guess none of that really matters too much now.

cool blog man and thanks for sharing!

Pat Robertson was just on Larry King saying that he thinks Obama will be an
extraordinary President. In a good way.

maybe Obama doesn’t “wear it on his sleeve” because he’s a politician– not a clergy person.

in regards to abortions going up or down, I think Bush’s abstinence-only education certainly didn’t help matters.

Carrie, I was looking for those words (politician – not a clergy person). Personally, I have no doubt Barack is a dedicated Christian, just not the pushy type. I am proud he’ll be my President for at least the next 4 years.

Yeah, he’s my president too, and I am not affiliated with a religion. I assume he doesn’t care to alienate me unnecessarily, and I appreciate that. It’s not a character flaw. Good people (or Christians in particular) should be judged on their actions, not on what they profess.

carrie i agree, but theres another aspect to his profession. noone is able to recognize if he truly is. here we are on a christian blog and none of us can determine for sure if barack obama has the same faith, aside from donny. yeah, we heard of some type of ambiguous profession from him but nobody had this problem with mike huckabee, or sarah palin. how come he is so unrecognizable in his own peergroup? it would be like a republican candidate claiming he was vegan but then voting against animal rights measures whenever they came up. and i mean having the worst animal rights voting record in the senate. then deciding to pay a visit to the peta headquarters, where everyone is uncomfortable with him based on his voting record vs claims. im not saying hes got to go around and preach, but youve got to be real.

My two cents, with regard to the original post. I read in a Christian ethics book the following idea: What would be a more powerful display to pro-choice America — 10,000 people rallying at, say, the the California capitol building in Sacramento demanding an end to abortion rights, or 10,000 people rallying in Sacramento with a pledge to adopt 10,000 babies that otherwise would have been aborted, if the mothers will not abort their babies?

To echo Donny, it’s not just about the laws. We aren’t doing enough to help change people’s hearts, and unfortunately I think we show too much of the wrong aspects of our own hearts in the process.

Wow! That would be very powerful Bonnie! I wonder how hard it would be to
organize… we’ve gotta do something like that!

about that photo of your ballot with the I phone..

you may want to check with Cal. state law.. but in VA, it is illegal to do that.. the idea is to keep down the ‘buying the vote’ type..

vote for so-and-so, take a picture with your phone, and here is 50 bucks..

not accusing you of selling your vote.. just an FYI.

I agree 100% that the type of pres in power has little or no influence on whether people commit abortions or not. Furthermore, it is extremely difficult to turn back the hands of time once evil has been given a foothold whether its widespread abortion, acceptance of homosexuality as morally neutral or rampant drug use (to name a few).

However, a politician’s views on abortion and similar “moral” issues reveal his heart and his character. By those standards, Obama is highly questionable and cannot conceive how he can possibly claim to be a Christian. Examples abound from his voting record which is extremist pro-abortion and highly deceptive on homosexual issues as his waffling on the homosexual “marriage” issue shows.

If abortion rates increase during the Obama regime, I would not blame his policies directly. But I do believe that a leader’s character is essential, particularly if s/he makes claims to being a Christian. On that front, we’re deeply in trouble. But hey, America you asked for it.

Matthew 7:16

“By their fruit you will know them…..”

Pray for this man. Every day.

And pray that we the people would be mobilized to not just sit back and let our government do whatever the bleep it wants. They work for US!

The suggestion relayed by Bonnie Prince Charlie is amazing to me. If such an event were to take place, my wife and I would travel most any distance to be a part of it.

(A view from the UK)
Thanks for an interesting piece, and comments.

Ever heard of the sins of Jeroboam that caused Israel to sin?
1kings12 v28, 1Kings 14.etc
He built 2 idols of golden calves, and told the Israelites that they were the gods that brought them out of Egypt. This was to turn people from going to the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem. It worked.

The type if King, President or Prime Minister is crucial to the sin of the nation. The “sin of the nation” is what gives Satan control, far more than the sin of individuals.

Whatever the statistics today, it is clear that there was comparatively minimal abortion in the USA and UK before it became legal.
Change in the law CAN create sin. This is not saying that sin was not already in the heart before the law decided it was not sin. But as the bible says Law is for lawbreakers, ie law is there to try to reduce the amount of outworking of sin.
Ask the aborted foetuses which is worse, sin in the heart or sin acted out.
When Jesus said that anger against a brother is the same as murder, he was pointing out to the self righteous that God judges the heart. However ask a murder victim or family member whether sin of the heart is the same as sin manifest, and you will get a very different answer.
When a government declares that sin is no longer sin, then the government excuses people to activate that sin. The nation sets itself against God.
Additionally, anyone who understands spiritual warfare will know that innocent blood shed on the ground opens the door for Satan to gain a foothold more than any other sin.
Deut. 21 shows what God says about innocent blood, and the responsibility of the community to deal with it. It matters not that we are in the new covenant, God’s character and attitude does not change.

Great point, John! Christianity, though, has a looooot of faces. I think we’re just going to have to look at his actual policy decisions as they come and talk about them by themselves, rather than arguing about his Christianity. After all, Christianity even in present day Europe looks a lot different from Christianity in North America… Not to mention the drastic changes since its inception.