Double Standards in Parenthood…?

I suspect this one might be a LIGHTNING ROD for discussion. But hey, that’s how I roll. I ask the questions, raise the points. You decide.

First, examine the following bizarre story (of course, it came out of Florida. Where else would this be? SMH):

Federal authorities arrested a local doctor’s son, whom they say tricked his pregnant girlfriend into taking an abortion pill, killing their unborn child.

John Andrew Welden, 28, is now facing first-degree murder and interfering with interstate commerce charges.

According to a federal arrest affidavit, Welden swapped out his girlfriend’s antibiotics with abortion pills, specifically Cytotec.

“I was never going to do anything but go full term with it, and he didn’t want me to,” explained Remee Lee, 26, Welden’s now ex-girlfriend.

On Easter Sunday, Lee went to an area hospital complaining of severe cramping and excessive vaginal bleeding.  Doctors told Lee her unborn baby no longer had a heartbeat.

Lee also brought along a bottle of Amoxycillin, an antibiotic.  But when doctors examined the pills, they told her they were abortion pills.

“He came to my house with the pills, his weapon of choice,” Lee recalled.

Lee said when she learned she was pregnant, Welden took her to see his father, who is an obstetrician in Lutz.  A sonogram and blood test confirmed Lee was six-weeks pregnant.

The next day, Welden called his girlfriend with bad news.  Her blood test apparently showed she had a bacterial infection and she would need to take Amoxicillin to clear it up.

On Good Friday, Lee said Welden showed up at her Tampa home with a care package that included the bottle of antibiotics.  The label said the pills were A moxycillin .

“He told me to keep taking them.  I was supposed to take three a day for days,” she recalled of Welden’s instructions.

Lee told ABC Action News she did not call her boyfriend’s father to confirm she had a bacterial infection or that she needed to take the medication.  Lee believed Welden was the love of her life and said she had no reason to not believe what he was telling her.  She said Welden’s father also never followed up with her after her initial visit.

[...]

Lee is seeking a minimum of $15,000 in punitive damages and her suit cites battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress by Welden.

[...]

Read the full article here.

I preface by acknowledging that I’m all for women’s right, particularly when it comes to reproduction. Even though I’m not a fan of abortion per se, I’m a DEFINITELY not a fan of denying women’s rights. However (here it comes) where do women’s rights end and men’s right begin? Women (at least until legislators complete their mission of taking us back to the 1950′s) can abort for whatever reason they want. If I’m not mistaken, a woman’s right to an abortion – which we defend and celebrate – can be independent of the man’s wishes.  But how is that not hypocrisy? How can abortion can be considered a choice when it involves the woman making the decision, but murder when the man is making the choice (albeit, in a sneaky and dishonest way)? Why can’t MEN have the same freedom to decide if THEY want the baby? Are men automatically expected to go with the flow of unwanted parenthood, while women are given the choice?

I’m REALLY interested to hear your thoughts on this one. Holler at me!

- ACL

To Judge or Not to Judge

Well, what’s up folks? It seems like it’s been an eternity plus a few weeks since I last posted. The fact that I forgot my password is proof-positive that I’ve been out of the blogging game for a while. Well, I’m back. Perhaps not with the same proliferation as I once did, but I’m back for now.

There’s plenty to talk about. Politics, random social events, life in general. But for today’s installment, I want to dive into matters of the heart and my faith. Specifically, I’m turning my attention to one of the more lingering issues Christians like me tend to deal with on a daily basis: the idea of casting judgement on others.  “Judge not lest ye be judged.”  This phrase, I’ve come to realize, is probably one of the most misunderstood and incomplete applications of the Bible I’ve experience in people. The purpose of this post is to call into question that very concept and – as much as possible – backing up my contentions with the Word and not just going from my gut.

First, let’s examine the motivation behind most of our thinking. The notion that Christians should not judge others is directly tied to famous passage in Matthew 7:1: “Do not judge, or you too will be judged.”  True, if one were to read this verse on its own,  they would be justified in concluding that Jesus prohibits us from judging. But just like most other passages in the Bible (and indeed, all of literature), there is a small matter of context. As it turns out, there is more to that passage than a single line. In order to truly understand that line, we have to examine all the other verses surrounding it. That, I believe, is where we fall short.

If you read on – all the way up to around verse 5, you get a better sense of what Jesus is saying.  In verse 5, he states, “You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”  This passage is key. It points out that Jesus is speaking out against a particular form of judging (hypocritical and self-righteous judging), NOT the practice of judging itself. There is a monumental different between judging hypocritically and judging rightly. If you think about it, how are we supposed to discern right and wrong if we don’t make a – here it comes again – judgement call about a person? Why would Jesus warn us in verse 6 about the “dogs” and “pigs” who could stand in the way if we are not allowed to see them as such? How much sense would that make? How are we able to reach out to a person if we aren’t able to identify – and attempt to correct – their sin in the first place?

As it stands, there are actually quite a few passages in the Bible compelling believers to judge the behaviors of self and others  (in passages like Matthew. 7:15-16, John 7:24, and Philippians 3:2 just to name a few. Thank God for a cross-referencing Bible). So to say that we’re not supposed to judge appears to be be patently false according to Word. That being said, the question is not whether or not we can/should judge others. The question is how should we do it. This is where I believe most of us (myself included) miss the mark. My takeaway is simple:

1. We must be consistent
2. We have to avoid being hypocritical
3. We should approach people with a spirit of humility, rather than a “holier than thou” spirit of superiority.
4. We should base our judgement solely on facts and be prepared to back it up.
5. We should only approach others with the expressed goal of being examples of Christ and NOT to show the world how good we are (trust me…we ain’t).

Trust me when I say: this is no easy task. It becomes especially hard when you consider that ALL of us are finite creatures, and we all get tripped up from time to time. But for believers, this is what we’re told to do. So rather than skirting our responsibilities as believers and following the misguided belief that we should withhold judgement, we as Christians need to learn the fine art of doing it correctly. If we stay close to God, I believe it’s possible.

What’s up? Do you agree? Disagree? Holler at me!

- ACL

Paying It Forward

Well, how cool is THIS story?

A homeless Kansas City man will soon have nearly $150,000 after returning an engagement ring to a woman who accidentally dropped it in his cup earlier this month.

“I think in our world we often jump to like the worst conclusion, and it just makes you realize that there are good people out there,” said Sarah Darling, whose fiance set up a website seeking donations for Billy Ray Harris, the man who found the ring. By Monday, more than 6,000 people had donated more than $145,000 to the fund.

Harris, who frequently panhandles on Kansas City’s Country Club Plaza, discovered the ring about an hour after Darling dumped spare change from her coin purse into his cup. She had taken off her ring earlier that day and put it with the coins.

“The ring was so big that I knew if it was real, it was expensive,” Harris told KCTV.

Darling was horror-struck when she realized the next day what she had done. She went back to Harris, squatted beside him and told him that she might have given him something valuable.

“‘Was it a ring?”‘ he recalled asking her. “And she says, `Yeah.’ And I said `Well, I have it.’ “

Darling gave Harris all the cash she had in her wallet at the time.

“It seemed like a miracle,” Darling said. “I thought for sure there was no way I would get it back.”

In explaining why he didn’t keep the ring, Harris said he had a religious upbringing.

“My grandfather was a reverend,” Harris said. “He raised me from the time I was 6 months old and thank the good Lord, it’s a blessing, but I do still have some character.”

I dare you to not be moved by this.

H/T to The Field Negro for hipping me to this one.

- ACL

Paging Dr. Racism…?

Quick thoughts on a story garnering national attention about a racial discrimination lawsuit in Flint, MI:

Thoughts…?

- ACL

 

Dorner the Rogue: My Quick (And Final) Thoughts

I’m sure by now you’ve already heard the news about Chris Dorner, from when he first made the news by killing three people in a vendetta against the LAPD, to his fiery death (???) the other day. My quick (and final) thoughts:

• First, did you read ole dude’s manifesto? Whoa. Talk about a page turner. His manifesto to me is what 50 Shades of Grey is to just about every woman I know. It was morbid, but entertaining. Cryptic, but transparent. Telling, but weird. He gave shout outs to everybody from celebrities to folks in the media (liberal, mostly. More on that later). He criticized and protected the President, and gave first hand accounts of incidents that took place on the job. I believe a lot of what he said was true. Of all the law enforcement agencies in the country, the LAPD is by far the most corrupt. I’m not disputing that…or the cathartic need Dorner may have had to blow the whistle. Good for him…in that respect.
• Secondly, however, let’s not conflate the ideas of being a hero and being a terrorist. If any of you ninjas are martyring Dorner as a hero, you need your head examined…after the rest of us smack the mess out of you. This man is NO hero. He’s a killer. Plain and simple. As of today, four innocent people are dead at his hands. Rather than taking an opportunity to expose the corruption we all know exists within the ranks of the LAPD, this fool decided to go Django Unchained on people. The way to confront “injustice” is not by killing innocents, especially folks that could have been any one of our people.
• If there was ever a time not to be B3 (big, black, and bald) in America, it would’ve been this month. I can only imagine how B3′s in California were feeling when the manhunt for Dorner was announced. I mean, the LAPD are out there shooting up old Latino ladies. What makes you think they would think twice before shooting our black asses?
• Speaking of which, all these clowns offered the victims was another truck to replace the one they shot up? Who does that? The LAPD, that’s who. I hope these ladies’ lawyer has a field day with them.
• LL Cool J would make theeeee perfect Dorner in a Lifetime Movie. Oh, you know it’s coming.
• You normally won’t find me agreeing the conservatives. But as I mentioned earlier, Dorner’s manifesto was decidedly pro-liberal, stemming from his support of Obama to his praise and adoration of several liberal news personalities. If Dorner was a white dude going on a similar rant as Tea Party supporter, praising Fox News personalities, the headlines would reach much, much differently. I’m sorry: you can’t argue with that one. You know it’s true.

All these thoughts notwithstanding, I’m done with this conversation. People are dead, guns are still dangerous, and the LAPD is still corrupt. What could have a been a significant step toward addressing a huge problem involving corruption and institutional racism is now tucked away in the country’s psyche as a bizarre example of a maverick (pardon the term) and violent enemy of the public. Another wasted opportunity to motivate change.

Welp. On to the next thing.

So, do you guys have any thoughts on this Dorner incident or should we just put this to bed? Holla at me!

- ACL