tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9486412119398567032023-11-16T08:06:26.159-08:00Kimberly Fletcher...On the HomefrontAmerica wasn't started by a government. It was started by families. And it will be families that will save her! Kimberly Rachelle Fletcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09735627436963614867noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-948641211939856703.post-48022415850075537462016-08-15T17:27:00.002-07:002016-08-15T17:28:23.118-07:00Black Lives Matter Agenda in the Classroom?Omaha Public Schools in Nebraska held a curriculum day for teachers. One of the classes offered promoted injecting Black Lives Matter agenda into the lesson plans. <br />
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<br />Kimberly Rachelle Fletcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09735627436963614867noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-948641211939856703.post-30688208340386383052016-06-30T09:06:00.000-07:002016-06-30T17:21:52.226-07:00Seeking the American Dream: An Interview with Thomas PeterffyAs we prepare to celebrate America's Independence I wanted to take a moment and highlight just what it is that makes America so great and why it is worth celebrating. There is no better place to start than with the stories of those whose greatest dream was to come America and sacrificed everything to make that dream a reality. They were seeking the <i>American Dream</i>. <br />
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The term "American Dream" was first used in 1931 by James Truslow Adams, in his book "The Epic of America." He defined the America Dream as "<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 16.8px;">that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement. It is a difficult dream for the European upper classes to interpret adequately, and too many of us ourselves have grown weary and mistrustful of it. It is not a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position." (p.214-215)</span><br />
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That was the dream so many people from around the world came to America for and why so many still seek to. Thomas Peterffy is just one the many who made their dream a reality.<br />
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Thomas Peterffy grew up in socialist Hungary and grew up dreaming of coming to America and make a better life for himself. In 1965, through many challenges and sacrifices, he finally attached his dream. Five years later, at the age of 26, Thomas Peterffy raised his hand and became a full citizen of the United States. He said he felt an enormous sense of pride, a strong sense of belonging, and the start of a new life.<br />
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When Thomas arrived in the United States he spoke no English and had no job. But he learned the language, worked hard, put himself through school and used his talents, skills and knowledge to seek achieve his dream. He began his career as an architect working on highway projects for an engineering firm. In the 1970's he bought a seat on the New York Stock Exchange. Soon after joining the exchange, he began integrating his knowledge of computers with trading and completely changed the market, playing a key role in developing the electronic trading of securities. In 1993 Thomas started his own company, Interactive Brokers, growing it to become the largest U.S. electronic brokerage firm in daily average revenue trades, employing thousands. He has been called the "father of digital trading" and his hard work and dedication has made him one of the wealthiest people in America--a long way from a little boy with dream in socialist Hungary. <br />
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And that is why people come to America. That is what is so great about her. It is the dream of being who you want to be and the freedom to pursue it, the freedom to succeed, the freedom to fail, and the freedom to keep the fruits of your labors--the dream of a better life for you and your family.<br />
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In 2012, out of concern for the direction our nation is heading, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnX7TNFIELg" target="_blank">Thomas Peterffy released a video</a> sharing his story. I was incredibly inspired by his video and especially his courage to share it and even spend his own money to get it in the media so Americans all over the country could see it. <br />
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Inspired by his story, I reached out to Mr. Peterffy and had the opportunity to interview him. The full interview is below. This first part was an introductory message Thomas included. The definitions and explanation were so well articulated I decided to include those comments as well. My questions are in bold. Mr. Peteffy's responses are in blue.<br />
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<b>Interview with Mr. Thomas Peterffy-- June 2016<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<span style="color: blue;">Before I get into these
questions I need to explain to your readers what Socialism is.</span></div>
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<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: blue;">Capitalism is well understood
as a free market economy where people are free to acquire, own, transact and
accumulate property including land and operate businesses.<br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: blue;">In Communism only the
Government owns property and runs businesses. For individuals it is strictly
forbidden to own any property other than personal property the nature of which
is very limited and clearly defined.<br />
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<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: blue;">Socialism is any state between
the two. It was originally defined as the way to transfer society from<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: blue;">Capitalism to Communism in a
controlled and gradual fashion.<br />
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<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: blue;">Initially Socialism is soft,
aside of some regulations and some limits on businesses people are mostly free.
Then it slowly hardens, there are more and more regulations, tighter limits on
the size of businesses, higher taxes, large firms and farms are nationalized.<br />
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<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: blue;">As it hardens further, the
sizes of houses and apartments any family may occupy is strictly limited in
square feet, income tax rises to close to 100% above certain income levels, no
private business may have more than x employees, all larger businesses and
lands are owned by the government. This progression can be observed over the
past 15 years in Venezuela.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: blue;">Relatively small differences in
living standards suddenly loom very large. Can you afford a car?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: blue;">Buy new shoes? Can you afford
to eat meat twice a week or only once a month?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Society separates into two classes, the enforcers and their spies and the
people. The enforcers who work for the government, police or state defense
forces get the cars, shoes and the meat.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b>What was it that led to your
decision to come to America and why were you so committed and passionate about
that decision? <o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<span style="color: blue;">I grew up in hard Socialist
Hungary.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: blue;">People lacked incentive to do
productive or creative work because it was illegal to reap a reward.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: blue;">Society vegetated on a
substandard level, travel to the West was illegal, and people were prisoners of
the State. I would read whatever I could about the West and America. The
insanity of our self-imposed suffering for so called social justice did not
make any sense to me.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>What did you feel America could
offer you? Do you feel America still
offers those same things today for others coming to the United States and/or
those born in the United States?<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<span style="color: blue;">The freedom to create a better
life, to get a job and excel by thinking smart and working hard, to learn a
trade, to learn how to run a business and to become part of it or to start my
own.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: blue;">Yes, it is still possible for a
new immigrant to become successful in America but it is harder and takes
longer. With the possible exception of the software business there are many
more regulations a new entrepreneur must comply with and potential success is
less rewarding because it is socially frowned upon by many onlookers.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>When did you become an American
citizen and how did you feel when you received citizenship?<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<span style="color: blue;">Five years after I came I
became a citizen and felt an enormous sense of pride, a strong sense of belonging,
the start of a new life at 26.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>What are your concerns for the
direction America is heading today? <o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<span style="color: blue;">I refer you back to my
discussion on Socialism.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: blue;">67% of Americans under 40 think
positively about Socialism. Academia, Hollywood, the media and many politicians
teach and reinforce that belief. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: blue;">With many new laws and
regulations we have started on the road of Socialist transformation and the path
of least resistance is to continue.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: blue;">It is difficult to get young
people to think about this rationally.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: blue;">They do not seem to realize
that in a free economy people can spend their money on whatever they choose and
the people who satisfy their needs end up with the money. As long as
everybody strives to create goods and services we are a rich and happy nation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: blue;">Introduce regulation and free
stuff and people will stop striving, less and less will be produced to distribute.
Welcome to hardening Socialism.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>What influence did your mother
and father have on your life?<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<span style="color: blue;">In school I was taught all
about equality and social justice and at home they pointed out the inevitable
disastrous consequences. This daily experience after many years formed a strong
conviction in me and I hope to be able to convince others to fight to avoid it.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>What do you feel is the American
Dream and do you feel it can still be attained today?<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<span style="color: blue;">Young people dream about the
kind of life they would like to lead but their potential to achieve that is
usually limited in most countries by laws and regulations or social or
religious barriers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: blue;">These barriers, still today,
exist only to a much lesser extent in America. There is comparatively a great
deal of individual and economic freedom to achieve those dreams by those who
are really determined.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>As an immigrant from a socialist
country, what counsel or advice would you give Americans today?<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<span style="color: blue;">Elect politicians who will
appoint federal judges who’ll uphold the Constitution and defend individual and
economic freedom.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b>What do you think makes the
United States unique from other countries around the world?<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<span style="color: blue;">The Constitution of the United States
with the Amendments and the Bill of Rights.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b>What is your greatest concern
for the future of our country?<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<span style="color: blue;">Meddling with the above.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b>What do you think is the most
important thing Americans should know and understand today? <o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<span style="color: blue;">That while technology and
scientific knowledge advance all the time, human nature has evolved over tens
of thousands of years and for all practical purposes remains stable over many
life times. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: blue;">Let’s look back into the past
and repeat what has worked and keep away from what hasn’t.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Kimberly Rachelle Fletcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09735627436963614867noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-948641211939856703.post-18487966821494738852016-05-04T13:51:00.000-07:002016-05-27T16:00:03.480-07:00A President Can't Save Us, But Mothers Can<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPYRgvproqcvYx7qQHmCDoi9Wr0NHaa0tXfK4NbeOe3IpkUKy8b3qHoxnSaFzxVuXAKGUB5YGa0c03w7lKFmVUBjLn8EA_Xv2DAYiaJya9YKrW8vIlewda6Q4acy8kmRObwnU4sr1DLns/s1600/coonce2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPYRgvproqcvYx7qQHmCDoi9Wr0NHaa0tXfK4NbeOe3IpkUKy8b3qHoxnSaFzxVuXAKGUB5YGa0c03w7lKFmVUBjLn8EA_Xv2DAYiaJya9YKrW8vIlewda6Q4acy8kmRObwnU4sr1DLns/s320/coonce2.jpg" width="292" /></a></div>
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This is an interesting day for America. Citizens across the country are coming to grips with the outcome of the Republican primary. For some it is a day of rejoicing in the belief that the silent majority finally won. For others it is a day of mourning in the belief that our country has been dealt a fatal blow. I completely appreciate, empathize and even identify with both feelings. Today, however, I want to share a nugget of truth and message of hope with <i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">all</i> Americans regardless of how you may feel today. The truth: A president can’t save us (no matter who he or she is). The hope: Mothers can!</div>
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We spend so much time looking to the federal government to solve our problems that we have completely overlooked where our real power lies – with us. America wasn’t founded by a government. It was founded by families – like yours and mine – uniting together in communities, who then formed a government, organized into states and united those states into a union. <i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">But it all started with families.</i> Families founded America and it is families that will save her.</div>
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If we want to know what America will look like in twenty years, look at the homes of America today. Are you concerned? You should be.</div>
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I have a friend who teaches at <a class="insight-link" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schofield_Barracks" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Schofield Army Barracks</a> in Hawaii. The school, like many around the country, no longer requires the students to pledge the flag. But my friend, being the patriotic soul she is, had her fifth grade class come in every morning and recite the Pledge of Allegiance. She said the students grumbled wanting to know why they had to pledge the flag when none of the other kids had to. All I could think when she told me this was that the parents of those children put their lives on the line every day for that flag and everything it stands for. If <i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">those</i> children don’t have love and appreciation for the flag what hope do we have in America? It is only a matter of time before we lose freedom altogether.</div>
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Liberty begins at home and if we don’t start there, nothing else we do will matter. No election, no law, no president can save us.</div>
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Mothers, we have to teach our children to love liberty<i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">because no one else will</i>. The proof is in the fact that thousands of millennials are enthusiastically supporting a <a class="insight-link" href="https://berniesanders.com/about/" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">self-proclaimed socialist</a> for president – the recognized leader of the <i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">free</i> world. How is this possible? It is because our schools are not teaching liberty. Society, schools, the media, even churches that once taught these things are no longer doing so and in many cases, teaching the exact opposite. The result is that we now have a nation of children and young parents who wonder why America is so special and what there is to love it.</div>
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Home is the center of society and at the center of the home is a mother. That mother is more powerful than <i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">any</i> president for she is <i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">literally </i>shaping the future. <a class="insight-link" href="https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=winston+churchill" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Winston Churchill</a> said, “There is no doubt that it is around the family and the home that all the greatest virtues, the most dominating virtues of human society, are created, strengthened and maintained.”</div>
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If our schools aren’t teaching our children about America’s history and heritage, then <i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">we</i> need to be doing it. If the media is not going to present truth and facts, then <i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">we</i> need to. If liberty is to prevail, if America is to prosper, then we need to foster a love of liberty in our home.</div>
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In his book, <i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a class="insight-link" href="http://www.amazon.com/Silent-Majority-Survival-Handbook-Constituents-ebook/dp/B01A3RSG5K" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The Silent Majority Survival Handbook</a></i>, Peter Wolf says parents must become the first line of defense. “Parents,” he said, “need to devote time and effort to teach their children that America is a good country and to teach them about American heroes and history. They can front-load liberty loving values through strong association and participation in the 4th of July and Memorial Day activities. Parents need to teach their children how liberty and personal responsibility are linked and how tyranny can evolve without them.”</div>
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What the future will look like for our children and grandchildren is all being decided right now in homes and families across the country. If freedom is what we want to see, then we need to nurture and foster the principles and ideals of freedom in our homes. <i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a class="insight-link" href="http://www.homemakersforamerica.org/" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">HomeMakers for America</a></i> has many resources to support you from our <a class="insight-link" href="https://app.box.com/s/tejvs6c0cn2xlsusl9fy" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Patriot’s Reading List</a> to the <a class="insight-link" href="http://www.hearthstoneplan.org/" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Hearthstone Education Plan</a>. <a class="insight-link" href="http://librariesofhope.com/american-history.html" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Libraries of Hope</a> has a beautiful collection of stories to promote a love of liberty in the hearts of our children. <a class="insight-link" href="https://intheconstitution.org/" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">In the Constitution</a> has outstanding resources that teach children the Constitution in a very engaging way – even hosting a<a class="insight-link" href="https://intheconstitution.org/constitution-bee/" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Constitution Bee</a> with cash prizes.</div>
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If you want short term results that wax and wane in four year cycles then put all your hope in the presidential election. But if you want real solutions with lasting results, then we need to look to the homes of America because that is where the real for America lies.</div>
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Mothers, we are determining the future <i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">right now</i> in <i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">our</i> homes <i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">today</i>. No president can do that. And no president can save America. But we can!</div>
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Kimberly Rachelle Fletcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09735627436963614867noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-948641211939856703.post-10399129999263196812016-04-20T12:13:00.000-07:002016-05-27T16:05:02.215-07:00A Bible Reading People Cannot Be Enslaved<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcQ_NyxV1oh7ydIfkW79zuHzbn0dKlHkOpM7LrmvY1UmLY6k2UYNexFoVksTRY5tM3nlq4tQ-Z6p7lnuxeAJS3wM8LRX2RBRWtMrocaivmHGKty0JgB4F1o_LYcqUzZibpUfx_J8dloZ8/s1600/bible+flag2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcQ_NyxV1oh7ydIfkW79zuHzbn0dKlHkOpM7LrmvY1UmLY6k2UYNexFoVksTRY5tM3nlq4tQ-Z6p7lnuxeAJS3wM8LRX2RBRWtMrocaivmHGKty0JgB4F1o_LYcqUzZibpUfx_J8dloZ8/s320/bible+flag2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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A <a href="http://www.glennbeck.com/2013/04/09/colorado-state-police-homeland-security-target-christians/" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">training meeting</a> for law enforcement officers held in La Junta, Colorado last year included a presentation on how to identify potential terrorists. Undersheriff Ron Trowbridge, present at the meeting, reported that one of the groups listed included “Christians who take the Bible literally” or “too seriously.”</div>
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That seems rather odd to me.</div>
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I mean after all, the Bible, as <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=5Cx3AAAAMAAJ&pg=PA655#v=onepage&q&f=false" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Thomas Jefferson</a> stated, “will make better citizens, better fathers, and better husbands.” How then, can a person who reads and believes in the Bible be considered a threat? I’m sure that is a question the Puritans would have loved to ask the King of England.</div>
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So just what is it about the Bible that those who seek to destroy liberty and enslave people fear so much?</div>
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I would propose that what they fear is the discovery of freedom.</div>
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For over 5,000 years, people lived in grass houses, plowed fields with their bare hands, and lived every day just to survive. In a little over 200 years, we have gone from grass houses to Victorian mansions, from wagons to motor cars and from the Pony Express to Federal Express – and it all began with the simple knowledge that men are free.</div>
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Our <a href="http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution_founding_fathers.html" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Founding Fathers</a> didn’t just come up with an idea and thought they’d try it out. They studied centuries of history repeating itself. They witnessed tyranny and oppression firsthand. They knew that power corrupts and that ultimate power corrupts ultimately. They knew there must be a better way.</div>
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They found that better way at the foot of their mother’s knee as she read to them the stories of the Bible.</div>
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Each night, families would gather together and read the stories that gave them hope, direction, guidance and understanding. They read about the unwavering obedience of Abraham, the courage of Stephen, and the devotion of Ruth. They read the stories of Daniel, who risked his own life for what he knew to be right and true; David, who stood against Goliath; and Esther, who sacrificed her own well-being to save her people.</div>
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<span style="line-height: 23.8px;">Then, when they read those powerful words of Paul as he stood before </span><a href="http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0001_0_00543.html" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 23.8px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">King Agrippa</a><span style="line-height: 23.8px;"> and declared, “I was born free,” they came to understand for the first time in centuries, that their rights came from God and not from man.</span></div>
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With tear-filled eyes, our Founding Families read of the Israelites who knew they were free but begged for a king. They traded their freedom for a monarchy, because freedom was too much work. How it must have made our Founders ache to read those words. To them – living witnesses to the evil and oppression of a monarchy – it was the same as trading a divine birthright for a bowl of soup.</div>
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The Bible was the foundation that cultivated the soil of liberty, and America was the venue God chose to house it. Our Founding Families knew what freedom was long before it was openly declared in the<a href="http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/declaration.html" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Declaration of Independence</a>. Because of that simple, consistent act of reading the Bible together as families, the knowledge that man’s rights came from God and not from government was infused into their very souls.</div>
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When they saw that knowledge manifested in the <a href="http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution.html" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">United States Constitution</a>, they embraced it as the banner of freedom that would secure their liberties, not only for themselves, but for their posterity and generations to come.</div>
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Our Founding Families learned all the key ingredients to a free society in those well-worn pages of their family Bible – self-mastery, self-reliance, self-sacrifice, and self-governance. With this knowledge, they found the better way; and they thoroughly believed that with these key ingredients, and the divine intervention of a loving God, man <i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">could</i> in fact govern himself. They believed it with all their hearts and formed our entire government on that belief.</div>
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For over 150 years, families read together, ate together, worked together, and served together. In 1776, we saw the fruits of their labors as <a href="http://www.ushistory.org/DECLARATION/SIGNERS/index.htm" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">56 men</a>, raised with an understanding of these principles, pledged their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor for the greatest contribution of freedom ever made on this earth.</div>
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Our Founding Fathers learned what freedom was from the Bible. When they signed the Declaration of Independence they knew they were going against Goliath. When they pledged their lives, fortunes and sacred honor they – like Daniel and Esther – sacrificed their own lives and well-being for what they knew to be right and true.</div>
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When they penned the words “We hold these truths to be self-evident,” they did so with the words of Paul echoing in their ears and they knew they were “born free!”</div>
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For over a century, Americans learned what freedom meant. For the next two centuries they lived it. Now, in this century, we are in danger of losing it. There are troubling times ahead for our nation.</div>
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Now, more than ever, we need those timeless stories of faith, courage, and freedom from the Bible in our lives. They are the stories that touched the hearts of our Founding Families; they are the stories that laid the foundation of freedom; and they are the stories that will revive the spirit of liberty in the hearts of this generation; leaving their imprint on generations to come.</div>
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“Perhaps,” as <a href="http://www1.gcnlive.com/CMS/index.php/showinfo?showCode=47%20" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">KrisAnne Hall</a> has suggested, “our job is not necessarily to win this fight but to prepare the ground; to make the soil fertile and sow the seeds so that Liberty may thrive when the battle is done.”</div>
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When we lay that foundation as our Founders did – firmly rooted in the Bible – then the foundation will be sure; and it will be evidenced in the hearts and actions of our children.</div>
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When our sons and daughters raise their hands to defend the Constitution of the United States, to pledge their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor for the cause of freedom, then we will know liberty is secure, because we will know our children know what it means. They will know because they will remember the stories we read to them; because they will remember the love of liberty we shared with them. They will know, because they will remember that story they once heard us tell about a man named Paul, and they will know they were born free!</div>
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<a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/g/horace_greeley/index.html" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Horace Greeley</a> declared, “It is impossible to mentally or socially enslave a Bible reading people. The principles of the Bible are the groundwork of human freedom.”</div>
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Knowing this, it is no wonder the destroyers of liberty fear it so much.</div>
Kimberly Rachelle Fletcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09735627436963614867noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-948641211939856703.post-81084937577225845932016-04-06T13:03:00.000-07:002016-05-27T16:03:47.497-07:00Is There Hope for America<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, 'Helvetica Neue', Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 23.8px; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKZzj2M79gAsigW9Gc7aKhA3oNQBjaBSiftVdgn7w717WgduxKtiTHJSXOBi546XCFgEZvUCRdryQajhn99PlkVox4RyRQEJMr90aoOT-il4mupkoE_MppnwrefGY9-a3sYMQD3SEeyD8/s1600/americana6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKZzj2M79gAsigW9Gc7aKhA3oNQBjaBSiftVdgn7w717WgduxKtiTHJSXOBi546XCFgEZvUCRdryQajhn99PlkVox4RyRQEJMr90aoOT-il4mupkoE_MppnwrefGY9-a3sYMQD3SEeyD8/s320/americana6.jpg" width="320" /></a>It seems every day brings more and more dismal news. The <a href="http://time.com/3858181/baltimore-riots-damages-businesses-homes-freddie-gray/" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">riots </a>across the nation, <a href="http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2014/06/10/incidents-of-school-crime-and-violence-on-the-rise-for-students-and-teachers" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">violence </a>in schools, and the senseless <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/26/us/charleston-south-carolina-shooting-funerals.html?_r=0" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">shootings </a>in Charleston, all seemed to crescendo with the tragic <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-supreme-courts-blow-to-democracy/2015/06/29/9331faa6-1e7b-11e5-aeb9-a411a84c9d55_story.html" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">decisions </a>of the Supreme Court last week. It makes a person hesitant to even get out of bed in the morning. The final nail in the coffin for me was the <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/26/politics/supreme-court-same-sex-marriage-ruling/" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">rainbow White House</a>. Taking the very symbol of the promise God gave his children and using it to announce to the world—and proclaim to God Himself, “<i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">We reject you</i>!” was just too much for my heart to take. It is a tragic representation of the times in which we find ourselves.</div>
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How do we dispel such darkness? How do we combat such blatant disregard for all that is good? Many of us have begun to ask ourselves, “Is there any hope for America?”</div>
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With all my heart I believe the answer is YES! But I also know that hope doesn’t lie in Washington. It lies with us!</div>
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I know it is a hard truth to swallow but the fact is, the Supreme Court’s rulings on <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-supreme-courts-blow-to-democracy/2015/06/29/9331faa6-1e7b-11e5-aeb9-a411a84c9d55_story.html" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">marriage </a>and <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/25/politics/supreme-court-ruling-obamacare/index.html" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Obamacare</a> are a direct result of the<a href="http://freedomoutpost.com/2012/09/what-is-the-conservative-christian-to-do-in-the-2012-presidential-election/" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank"> 2012 presidential election</a>. Thousands of Christians sat on their hands and refused to <a href="http://www.politifact.com/texas/statements/2015/mar/30/ted-cruz/ted-cruz-says-today-roughly-half-born-again-christ/" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">vote</a>. Millions just didn’t vote. Regardless of how you felt about Mitt Romney or his religion I guarantee you, you would not have seen a rainbow White House if <i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">he</i> were president. Our choices have consequences.</div>
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<span style="line-height: 23.8px;">This isn’t about parties, politics, race or religion. This is about right and wrong and standing up for truth. There are many players in this war but there are only two armies–God (light) and Satan (dark). The time has come to realize this and decide which side we’re on. We can no longer hide our heads in the sand, we can no longer sit on the fence, and we can no longer afford to fight amongst ourselves.</span></div>
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The Supreme Court ruling doesn’t change or alter God’s law that marriage is a union between a man and a woman and that it is ordained by God. This is the truth that unites us. It is the truth we need to stand for and it is the truth we must teach and nurture in our homes and proclaim in our churches.</div>
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This is our opportunity for people of faith to come together regardless of party, race or religion, and stand united for our children and our families. The enemy is at the gate. This is not the time to be divided. It is not the time to retreat. We must continue to fight the good fight. We must continue to stand for truth and spread goodness.</div>
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We don’t, however, need to exhaust ourselves fighting the wicked. God has told us He will take care of that. He will fight our battles if we are on His side. When King Hezekiah faced insurmountable odds against the Assyrian army God proclaimed, “Be strong and courageous, be not afraid nor dismayed… for there be more with us than with him: With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the Lord our God to help us, and to fight our battles.” <i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">(KJV 2 Chronicles 32:7)</i></div>
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<i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">We don’t need to fight harder. We need to fight smarter!</i></div>
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As my friend Marlene Peterson of <a href="http://librariesofhope.com/" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Libraries of Hope</a> so eloquently stated, “There’s only one way I know to dispel the darkness—turn on the light!”</div>
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We can’t sit in darkness and convince the darkness not to be dark. But we can eliminate the darkness by flooding it with light! That light must come from our homes, from our churches, and from our own hearts. Abraham Lincoln said, “The best way to predict your future is to create it.” So let’s create the future we want to see.</div>
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Home has become more vital than ever in teaching and nurturing the values and virtues that we hold dear.</div>
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Our children will be under siege—even more than before. This is a government ruling and government schools will be subject to it. The Supreme Court opened the floodgates for the same sex agenda in our children’s schools. The U.S. Department of Education made clear their intentions when they celebrated the court’s decision by adding a <a href="http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/06/30/u-s-department-of-education-celebrates-same-sex-marriage-with-rainbow-on-facebook/" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">rainbow </a>to their logo. There are definitely dark days ahead. This is trench warfare and if we don’t protect our trenches, we may lose our children. It is imperative that we teach our children the principles, values and virtues our nation was founded on. In these dark days we can absolutely<i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">not</i> afford to abdicate this responsibility to anyone else.</div>
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We would never dream of sending our children out in the dead of winter and depend on someone else to provide them with a coat and gloves. Why would we send them out in the cold world and expect someone else to teach them right and wrong?</div>
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I cannot express strongly enough the vital role that home and family plays in our nation. As C.E. Sargent proclaimed, “A nation is but a magnified home.” <i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">(C.E. Sargent, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Our-Home-Volumes-1-2/dp/1930679505" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Our Home</a>, 1888)</i> If we want to know what the future will look like 20 years from now, look in the homes today. Deserting our home or neglecting our family is fatal to our nation!</div>
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Author Neal Maxwell cautioned that if we desert our child “in order to help defend civilization against the barbarians, we may well later meet, among the barbarians, [our] own neglected child. <i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">(Neal A. Maxwell, Wherefore Ye Must Press Forward, Deseret Book, 1977)</i></div>
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America is the last bastion of hope for the world. If the light of liberty and virtue is vanquished here, the entire earth will be filled with darkness. It doesn’t matter which way the world goes, it only matters which way <i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">we</i> go.</div>
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We need to strengthen our homes, our families, and our churches. When we do, our light will shine like a floodlight dispelling darkness from the inside out.</div>
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There <i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">will</i> be darker days ahead, but we need not fear. There <i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">is</i> hope for America. It is you! God <i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">will</i> fight our battles. The outcome is already there. We just need to decide which side we’re on. We need to turn up the light–in our own hearts and in our homes. We need to stand together, stand for truth, and spread goodness. That is how we will win this war. When the days seem dark and the odds insurmountable, remember we are not alone. There are <i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">more</i> with us then there are with them.</div>
Kimberly Rachelle Fletcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09735627436963614867noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-948641211939856703.post-62146957109293750432016-03-03T13:19:00.000-08:002016-05-27T16:02:24.062-07:00How to Talk to Your Children about Abortion<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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“Mommy, what’s abortion?”</div>
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That was the question my 11-year-old son asked me yesterday — just a few weeks after asking another tough question, “What does transgender mean?”</div>
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I will admit in both cases my knee-jerk, momma bear, reaction was to tell my son as little as possible and shield him from things he shouldn’t have to deal with or even know about at this young age. But the fact that he was asking the question clearly indicated the protective shield had already been penetrated, and I was just grateful he felt comfortable enough to come to <i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">me</i> with his question.</div>
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With all the stories flooding the news attempting to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKZCcVKVHws" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">normalize debauchery</a> and the myriad <a href="http://www.focusonthefamily.com/socialissues/promos/supreme-court-marriage-decision" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">court decisions</a>radically changing our culture, questions like these will become much more common.</div>
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As tragic as that is, at least our children are asking the questions. It is when the questions stop that we need to be truly alarmed.</div>
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As I sat with my son contemplating how to answer his question and how much to tell him, I determined the best answer was the truth. So, in the best way possible, I explained the process of killing a baby in a mother’s womb — sometimes by crushing their little head.</div>
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A lump formed in my throat as I tried to explain — <i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">in the best way possible </i>— that sometimes the babies live outside the womb and are left to die or the doctor kills them. I then went on to explain the news stories of <a href="http://www.theblaze.com/news/planned-parenthood/" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Planned Parenthood</a> and how the babies’ body parts and little limbs are collected and sold for research. Shock filled my son’s face, tears spontaneously erupting as he clung to me for comfort, trying to understand how such a horrible thing could be possible. Then came more questions.</div>
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“Why don’t the police arrest them?” he asked through pleading eyes.</div>
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“It’s not illegal,” I answered.</div>
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“Why?” he asked confused.</div>
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“Because the people in the government say it is a woman’s right. They say mommies can kill their babies because the baby is inside their body.”</div>
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“You mean moms can kill their own babies?”</div>
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“Well,” I hesitated, “the <i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">mommies</i> don’t kill their babies. They pay someone else to do it.”</div>
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“What?” he asked horror-struck. “Why would they do that? Why would they want to kill their own babies?”</div>
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“Because they don’t want their baby.”</div>
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“Why don’t they give the baby to someone else?”</div>
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“I don’t know. I guess it’s easier for them not to think of their baby as a baby. Instead, they just think of their baby as unwanted tissue — kind of like a mole you don’t want so you have it removed. Some mommies can’t afford to pay to kill their babies so the government pays for it using the tax money that Daddy and I pay.”</div>
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“You pay to kill babies?”</div>
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“Not by choice son. It is the law to pay taxes. If Daddy and I don’t pay them the government can take our house away and they can put us in jail.”</div>
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“What are taxes?”</div>
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“It is the money we pay to the government to build roads and buildings to help our town. Tax money pays for the military, for police and fireman and important things like that.”</div>
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“And killing babies?”</div>
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“Unfortunately, yes. Our taxes didn’t use to pay for killing babies but they do now.”</div>
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“Why don’t you tell the government you don’t want your taxes to pay for killing babies?”</div>
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“We have. They said we have to because some mommy’s can’t afford to kill their babies and we should help them.”</div>
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At this, my son was absolutely stupefied. “Does the president know about this?”</div>
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“Yes,” I said. “He supports it. So do many government leaders and a lot of people in our country too.”</div>
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My little boy looked at with me with his questioning eyes. “Who can stop this?” he asked despairingly.</div>
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“You can, son,” I said. “You and all the children like you who are growing up knowing its wrong in a world that keeps trying to convince you its right. Never give up on what you know to be true.”</div>
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<span style="line-height: 23.8px;">With one last embrace and a wipe of tears, my son went back outside to focus on childhood things like backyard friends and swimming holes and another difficult conversation ended.</span></div>
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Our children are living in a very different world than the one you and I grew up in. Childhood innocence is no longer commonplace. It is a luxury. But this is the world in which we live and we can’t just hide our heads in the sand and hope it goes away. The only way things will change is if <i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">we</i> change them!</div>
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Our children are the hope of the future. They will have questions. If we don’t answer their questions someone else will and we may not like the answer.</div>
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How do we teach our children about these things? We need to provide a firm foundation our children can build from and rely on. We need to help them understand the difference between good and bad, right and wrong, light and darkness. We need to teach them truth, stand for truth and help them navigate in a world gone mad. Most of all, we need teach our children that just because this is the way things are doesn’t mean it always was and it isn’t the way it has to be.</div>
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As <a href="https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Mahatma_Gandhi" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Ghandi</a> said, “We must be the change we wish to see in the world.”</div>
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If more mothers had conversations with their children like I had with my son, just imagine how different the world would look in 20 years.</div>
Kimberly Rachelle Fletcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09735627436963614867noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-948641211939856703.post-52640291102925802672016-01-06T13:27:00.000-08:002016-05-27T16:02:06.979-07:00Why We Need Statesmen, Not Politicians<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuru8FQygPkcmq8TCWLjdjpOiYwSFnAgA_JzyySjYDKeprY7rIVVGwuUKUu3pC7MdAnUh5Y08LgtmlIk7-YNjq8dXjNtImtnOOKXPSrmHV-uYvfUuE6iUl_WXBDXeaCn-l0m9s56xH-J8/s1600/praying+NE+Capital+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuru8FQygPkcmq8TCWLjdjpOiYwSFnAgA_JzyySjYDKeprY7rIVVGwuUKUu3pC7MdAnUh5Y08LgtmlIk7-YNjq8dXjNtImtnOOKXPSrmHV-uYvfUuE6iUl_WXBDXeaCn-l0m9s56xH-J8/s320/praying+NE+Capital+4.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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“I don’t get involved in politics.”</div>
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I hear that a lot from women around the country, especially women of faith. And what mother <i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">would</i> want to engage in politics? We spend our whole day teaching our children <i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">not</i> to do all the things politics promotes—arguing, name calling, back-biting, lying and so on.</div>
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Words have meaning and for a lot of women in America, politics has become a repugnant word that denotes unacceptable behavior. But we are confusing our civic responsibility with politics and they are <i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">not </i>the same thing.</div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;">D</span><a href="http://poorrichardsnews.com/post/115314731393/come-on-people-defending-liberty-is-not-the-same" style="border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-source: initial; border-image-width: initial; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, 'Helvetica Neue', Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 23.8px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black;">efending</span></a><a href="http://poorrichardsnews.com/post/115314731393/come-on-people-defending-liberty-is-not-the-same" style="border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-source: initial; border-image-width: initial; border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, 'Helvetica Neue', Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 23.8px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> liberty</a><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , "helvetica neue" , "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.8px;"> and </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HIdSjxgb84" style="border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-source: initial; border-image-width: initial; border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, 'Helvetica Neue', Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 23.8px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">virtue</a><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , "helvetica neue" , "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.8px;">, respecting and </span><a href="http://www.nccs.net/the-unique-idea-of-the-american-constitution.php" style="border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-source: initial; border-image-width: initial; border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, 'Helvetica Neue', Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 23.8px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">honoring the Constitution</a><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , "helvetica neue" , "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.8px;">—these things are not politics. They are our civic duty. Politics is simply a word people hide behind when they don’t have any principles or lack the courage to stand up for what’s right. We can’t talk about life because “it is political.” We can’t talk about God because “it is political.” We can’t talk about right and wrong and the 10 Commandments because, you guessed it, “it’s political.”</span></div>
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Just look at all the things that have been politicized today—<a href="http://www.nationalreview.com/article/369307/abortion-defines-political-parties-michael-barone" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">life</a>, <a href="http://www.nccs.net/2014-03-freedom-of-religion.php" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">religion</a>, <a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/human_nature/2012/03/after_birth_abortion_the_pro_choice_case_for_infanticide_.html" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">babies</a>, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/26/us/obamacare-supreme-court.html" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">healthcare</a>, <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/obama-richest-people-aren-evil-article-1.2219519" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">income</a>, <a href="https://nrtwc.org/union-brass-champion-derelict-federal-employees/" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">work</a>,<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/is-the-united-states-still-the-land-of-the-free/2012/01/04/gIQAvcD1wP_story.html" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">freedom</a>—even America itself has become a political issue. It’s absurd.</div>
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We need to rise above the scum line of politics and realize being proud to be an American and willing to defend freedom is not political—it is our civic duty.</div>
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So how do we know the difference? The many years I spent dealing with politics and politicians led me to create some definitions to help us differentiate between the two.</div>
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<b style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Politics, </b>as we see it today, is a product of pride, worldliness, and a lust for power. That is why so many of us cringe when we hear the word “politician” and look down our noses on the profession as beneath us.</div>
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<b style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Civic responsibility,</b> on the other hand, is that duty which every American has as a citizen of this country, to respect the law, preserve the U.S. Constitution, be involved in our communities, safeguard the Republic, watch over our government, and seek out and elect good leaders to represent us.</div>
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Politics is the result of what happens when not enough of us <i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">fulfill</i> that duty.</div>
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That leads me to the perpetrators of politics—the politicians!</div>
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<b style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">A Politician</b> is a person who lusts for power, is obsessed with self-importance, and motivated by greed. Politicians have been groomed in politics. They learn the artful craftiness of deceit; the clever tactics of scheming to get gain and win votes and the cunning methods of distraction, distortion, denial and blame shifting. Politicians will say and do whatever it takes to keep and add to their power. They are motivated by self-preservation and personal gain, and put their own interests above the people they serve.</div>
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Politicians will vote for <i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">anything</i> they feel benefits them regardless of how their constituents feel or whether or not it is in the best interest of the country. Politicians are self-serving individuals who hold little regard for God or country and feel no loyalty or affection for the people they serve.</div>
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<b style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">A Statesman</b>, however, is a person of integrity and high moral character, who possesses a strong desire to serve others, recognizes his/her imperfections and strives to overcome them to be the best person he/she can be. <i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Statesmen have been trained in humanity</i>. They learn the moral code of right and wrong, the positive attributes of honesty, humility, patriotism, accepting responsibility, and the selfless standards of love thy neighbor, the golden rule, and country before self.</div>
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Statesmen are people of faith who believe in a supreme being and a future state of rewards and punishments. They research issues carefully and do their best to vote in the best interest of the Republic and the people they represent—<i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">even if it means losing votes</i>. Statesmen cherish freedom and liberty, have a deep affection and concern for those they serve and feel a profound sense of duty and loyalty to their country. They live their faith, reverence God, and respect the faith of others. In short, they had good mamas!</div>
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Perhaps you feel I am oversimplifying in my definitions. Maybe you think I’m too harsh on politicians. That’s possible.</div>
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I am sure there are politicians who possess some of the characteristics of a statesman and I know there are statesmen who fall prey to politics but we must ask ourselves, are we willing to settle with mediocre? Is 80 percent statesman good enough? How would you feel about your husband or wife being 80 percent faithful? It is extremely unlikely we will ever get a 100 percent statesman because none of us are perfect but lowering our standard isn’t the answer. We need to set the bar high because one thing is for sure, we will never rise above the bar we set.</div>
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If we don’t separate civic duty from politics and politicians from statesmen our vision becomes blurry and we allow things like killing babies and gay marriage to turn into “freedom of choice” and “equality.” We allow politicians to seize power they haven’t been given and write laws they have no authority to pass.</div>
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A statesman thinks he belongs to the State, but a politician thinks the State belongs to him.</div>
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Do we want politicians serving in Congress? What about city councils and school boards, the media, or the teachers who teach our children? And most of all, what do <i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">we</i> want to be ourselves?</div>
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Corruption doesn’t begin in Washington and it doesn’t end there either. We need statesmen in our schools teaching our children, in the media presenting the news and in elected offices serving the people. We need to be statesmen ourselves and it is <i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">imperative</i> we teach our children how to be statesmen.</div>
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“The difference between a politician and statesman, said <a href="http://www.britannica.com/biography/James-Freeman-Clarke" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">James Freeman Clarke</a>, “is that a politician thinks about the next election while the statesman thinks about the next generation.”</div>
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As election season nears we have the opportunity to decide the kind of leaders we will have. We might get lucky and find a statesman on the ballot but the most powerful influence we have will be found in the kind of leaders we raise in our own home and the kind of person we determine to be ourselves.</div>
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Kimberly Rachelle Fletcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09735627436963614867noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-948641211939856703.post-49342101845074381382015-12-22T13:43:00.000-08:002016-05-27T16:00:32.226-07:00The Power of Christmas--Providing Community Answers to Social Problems<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXm2JiOYKjmdKAx_7NsO8HJ6Nd5CxVr7SGCFj5WUt1CyUPxpU8UIbrvWtf9rr7WkLMqX5T9OYHknWWa4yZyk8sglbhG9gL-ER7pTVTsg00MGXbX_jfdFH94D_hcCXfbF8GzsAybjCagEo/s1600/DSC_0063.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXm2JiOYKjmdKAx_7NsO8HJ6Nd5CxVr7SGCFj5WUt1CyUPxpU8UIbrvWtf9rr7WkLMqX5T9OYHknWWa4yZyk8sglbhG9gL-ER7pTVTsg00MGXbX_jfdFH94D_hcCXfbF8GzsAybjCagEo/s320/DSC_0063.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
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Christmas is a wonderful time of giving. It’s the one time of year we go out of our way to show gratitude for all we have by giving to others.</div>
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Our family has participated in many giving opportunities over the years and we always keep extra change to drop in the bright red Salvation Army bucket. It is very rare that we have the opportunity to directly interact with the recipients of our gifts. This year, however, we were blessed with such an opportunity when I met <a href="http://safehavencommunitycenter.com/Home_Page.html" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Gwen Easter</a>, the founder of <a href="http://safehavencommunitycenter.com/" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Safe Haven Community Center</a> in Omaha, Nebraska.</div>
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<span style="line-height: 23.8px;">I first met Gwen at a woman’s meeting through a mutual friend and was immediately impressed with her. Her story is one of those great stories of love, commitment and perseverance that rekindle your hope for humanity and vision of a better world. Maybe it’s just because I met Gwen at Christmastime or the fact that two days earlier I watched </span><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038650/" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 23.8px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">“It’s A Wonderful Life,”</a><span style="line-height: 23.8px;"> but her story sure sounded a lot like George Baily’s—Mr. Potter and all.</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 23.8px;">Gwen grew up in North Omaha in a low-income neighborhood. The house she lives in today is just blocks from where she grew up. Though North Omaha has had its share of crime, drugs, and gangs, Gwen remembers a time when it wasn’t like that. As Gwen grew up and witnessed the disintegration of her community she was moved to action. In 1998 she became an </span><a href="http://www.nationalservice.gov/programs/americorps/americorps-vista" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 23.8px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Americorps Vista</a><span style="line-height: 23.8px;"> volunteer tutoring children. Her volunteer work led her to begin hosting </span><a href="http://www.ketv.com/news/safe-haven-community-center-rallies-youth-to-end-violence/33433180" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 23.8px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Safe Night Youth Rallies</a><span style="line-height: 23.8px;"> bringing families together in parks and indoor facilities for a safe night of fun, music, and activities; encouraging parents and youth to put God first in their lives and leave drugs, alcohol and destructive lifestyles behind.</span></div>
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Through her Safe Night events, Gwen began to see the many needs of the families in Omaha and sought ways to meet those needs. She started an <a href="http://safehavencommunitycenter.com/Preschool_3-5.php" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">early childhood preschool program</a> and created curriculum to help prepare the children for kindergarten. Her <a href="http://safehavencommunitycenter.com/KIDS_CAN_READ_TUTORIAL.php" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">KIDS CAN READ! Reading Tutorial Academy</a> offered tutoring services to low-income children with <a href="http://safehavencommunitycenter.com/R.E.A.D.html" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">dyslexia</a> and other learning disabilities. Gwen was recently recognized by<a href="https://governor.nebraska.gov/" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Nebraska Governor Pete Rickets</a> for her outstanding work helping dyslexia students in her community.</div>
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Gwen didn’t just help children. She had a desire to lift and support the entire family.</div>
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She had several ideas to do so but lacked the space, so Gwen began praying, asking God to provide her find a building big enough to house all her programs. God answered her prayers in 2001 when she came upon a house that seemed perfect. The woman on the porch invited her in and Gwen knew it was what she was looking for. A year later the house was hers and she opened her home to the community—literally.</div>
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Gwen’s home is shared between her daycare, and her non-profit organization, Safe Haven Community Center. Each floor has a designated purpose housing youth and adult GED and ESL classes, a daycare and reading center, <a href="http://safehavencommunitycenter.com/Home_Intervention.html" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Home Intervention Referral Services Center</a> and the tiny two room apartment where Gwen lives.</div>
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For 15 years she has been serving her community from that little apartment—sharing her home with the community and loving what she does. In her 16 years of volunteering for her non-profit agency, Gwen rarely received pay for her time or work and she never used the donations she received to cover her mortgage because she felt since it was her home, it was her responsibility. Gwen used the income from her daycare to pay for the house and all the donations she received went to service her non-profit programs.</div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;">It all worked out fine until three years ago when Gwen’s mortgage company sold her loan and the new company began back-tracking her payments. Her daycare still kept things afloat but as</span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"> </span><a href="http://www.educareomaha.com/about" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Educare</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;">—a public school daycare partnership—moved into her neighborhood, things became difficult. One hundred and fifteen daycares closed in North Omaha over the last three years but Gwen held on. After three years of doing everything she could stay afloat, Gwen is now facing the very real possibility of losing her home. With no home, there is no Safe Haven Community Center.</span></div>
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“I’ve never tried to make this about money,” says Gwen, “I wasn’t looking for anything from our families. I just wanted them to do well with their kids and have a good life. If we could help them by giving them skills, job training, work experience, or the GED program we did that. If we could help them get housing, we did that. It was all about helping families.”</div>
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I can attest to Gwen’s character. Her compassion and desire is real. This year she wasn’t sure she would have a Thanksgiving but spent all her time making sure the struggling families in her community did.</div>
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Gwen took me on a tour of her community center and I was amazed at all she was able to fit in her house and the amount of time and thought she has put into everything she does. She has had an incredible team of teachers and volunteers to help over the years and Gwen is always quick to let people know she didn’t do this alone. The house has gotten a little worn over the last couple of years as she’s had to let staff go but it is clearly full of love.</div>
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After going through the numbers with Gwen, it came down to $2400.00. That’s all she needs to keep her home. I wanted to write a check right then and wished with all my heart I had the funds to do so. But I knew there must be <i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">something</i> I could do. Then the idea came to me. The yard was full of leaves and there was no one to rake them. So I drove home, piled my family and a bunch of rakes in the van and we spent two wonderful hours raking and bagging the leaves at Safe Haven Community Center.</div>
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<span style="line-height: 23.8px;">As we raked the leaves my son noticed one of the windows was broken and suggested one of our friends who installs windows might be able to fix it. Suddenly the end of “It’s A Wonderful Life” came to my mind, where everyone in Bedford Falls comes to the aid and support of George Baily who had given so much to his community. What if </span><i style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 23.8px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">we</i><span style="line-height: 23.8px;"> did that? Painters, carpenters, contractors, people from all over the community pitching in to give back to Gwendolyn Easter, a woman who has given so much to her community and never expected anything in return.</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 23.8px;">This year our family bought gifts for veterans in a homeless shelter, dropped coins in red buckets all over Omaha and adopted a child on an angel tree. They were all great opportunities to share the power of Christmas. But the most significant thing we did was spend a cold winter day raking the leaves of an amazing woman’s house and wishing we could do more.</span></div>
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Kimberly Rachelle Fletcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09735627436963614867noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-948641211939856703.post-11060962114538740532015-11-18T13:31:00.000-08:002016-05-27T16:01:06.183-07:00The Friendship Train--A Bright Light in America's History<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, 'Helvetica Neue', Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 23.8px; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<img alt="Via friendshiptrain.org" src="http://www.theblaze.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/friendship-train-1.jpg" height="240" style="background-color: transparent;" width="320" /></div>
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“You’ve probably never heard of it. Most people haven’t.”</div>
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That’s how Dorothy Scheele, curator of the <a href="http://www.thefriendshiptrain1947.org/index.htm" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Friendship Train website</a>, introduces one of the most amazing <i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">yet mostly forgotten</i> stories from American history. It was Dorothy and another American, <a href="http://mercitrain.org/" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Earl Bennet Sr</a>. (now passed on) who dedicated their lives to preserving this beautiful story.</div>
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I found out about it when Turner Classic Movies replayed old <a href="http://www.thefriendshiptrain1947.org/friendship-train-newsreels.htm" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">newsreels</a>. I was so moved by the story I immediately went to my computer and began googling everything I could find on the Friendship Train. What I found were the websites of two incredible Americans who spent years collecting <a href="http://www.thefriendshiptrain1947.org/friendship-train-photos.htm" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">stories</a>, <a href="http://mercitrain.org/HistoricPhotos/" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">photos</a>, and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fytMiOmrDgc" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">news footage</a> so the Friendship Train would not be forgotten.</div>
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The year was 1947. The people of the world were still recovering from the ravages of World War II. Europe was hit especially hard. <a href="http://www.britannica.com/biography/Drew-Pearson" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Drew Pearson</a>, a popular American journalist, while touring post-war Europe, noticed the Communists were being lauded for delivering a few carloads of grain and it deeply troubled him. He knew America could do better.</div>
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On Oct. 11, 1947, Drew Pearson opened his famous radio show with his vision of the “Friendship Train” a cross-country collection of food from the people of America to the people of Europe. This project would be much different than the proposed Marshall Plan which was government imposed and government regulated. The Marshall Plan was government-to-government. The Friendship Train would be people-to-people.</div>
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Pearson sent out the call asking Americans to donate food from their homes, kitchens, gardens, and fields. And the American people delivered. Immediately communities formed plans to collect food and send it to the Friendship Train. On Nov. 7, 1947, five weeks after Pearson’s announcement, the Friendship Train began its incredible journey across America, beginning in Los Angeles with a spectacular Hollywood send-off. All along the route ordinary Americans brought bags of flour from their homes, vegetables from their gardens and canned goods from their storehouses. It was amazing site.</div>
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Eleven days after leaving Los Angeles the Friendship Train arrived in New York City to great fanfare. Drew Pearson, who was there to greet the train, never could have imagined what he saw. The goodwill and compassion of ordinary American citizens far exceeded his expectations. The 80 boxcars he had hoped to fill grew to 270 boxcars filled with merchandise worth $40 million.</div>
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Every package on the train was labeled with the same message:</div>
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“All races and creeds make up the vast melting pot of America, and in a democratic and Christian spirit of good will toward men, we, the American people, have worked together to bring this food to your doorsteps, hoping that it will tide you over until your own fields are again rich and abundant with crops.”</div>
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No money was ever spent for the project: the food, trains, ships—everything was donated for the cause, even the unions participated. When this demonstration of brotherly kindness arrived in Europe on December 18, the people were overcome with gratitude.</div>
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The French people were so moved they organized a gratitude project—the “<a href="http://mercitrain.org/" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Merci’ Train</a>.” Forty-nine boxcars were filled—one for each of the 48 states, the 49th shared between Washington, D.C. and the territory of Hawaii. The people of France had very little after the war, so they gave what they had—precious pieces of their lives. Despite their dire circumstances, over 6 million families contributed some 52,000 gifts which included things like children’s drawings, hand crocheted doilies, and 50 rare paintings. Also included were a jeweled <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/aug/24/legion-dhonneur-french-order-of-merit-napoleon" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Legion d’Honneur</a> once presented to Napoleon, a Louis XV carriage and the bugle which signaled the Armistice signing.</div>
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By 1948 the boxcars were filled to capacity and loaded onto the ship Magellan. When the ship sailed from France, 9,000 gifts had to be left on the docks because there wasn’t enough room for them. When the ship arrived in New York, it was greeted by waves of Air Force planes, and a parade of boats, with the Magellan boldly displaying the message, “<i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Merci, America</i>!”</div>
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In the next several weeks, each state held parades and ceremonies as they welcomed their designated boxcar. Many of the states who received these beautiful gifts of gratitude still have their box car, and the items it carried, lovingly preserved and on display. <a href="http://mercitrain.org/NorthDakota/" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">North Dakota</a> has an impressive interactive display of the 500 gifts they received. I wanted to drive to North Dakota to see their train, when I remembered that every state received one. I looked up the Nebraska Train, where I live, to find out where I could see it. What I found, however, was not at all what I expected.</div>
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According to the <a href="http://mercitrain.org/" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Merci’ Train website</a>, Nebraska’s boxcar was “shunted from place to place…first to the state historical society, then to the Nebraska Forty and Eight Society, and finally to a playground in Lincoln. In 1951, an attempt was made to return it to the historical society, which did not want it. So it was sold to an Omaha junkyard for $45. [There] its wheels and metal parts were pounded into scrap and its body converted into a storage shed. Its humiliation finally ended in 1961 when the junkyard was relocated and the box car was demolished.”</div>
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My heart sank as I read the story of the fate of this priceless gift given to the people of Nebraska. I thought of all those families who showed up by the thousands at <a href="http://www.thefriendshiptrain1947.org/friendship-train-history-nebraska.htm" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">train stops across our state</a> to give what little they could to their brothers and sisters across the sea. What would they think of how we treated this precious gift?</div>
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<a href="http://www.theblaze.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/merci-train-.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Via mercitrain.org" border="0" src="http://www.theblaze.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/merci-train-.jpg" height="184" style="background-color: transparent;" width="320" /></a>It reminds me of what is happening in America today. Generations ago, families sacrificed everything to give us the precious gift of freedom. They signed their lives away when they put their names to the <a href="http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/declaration_transcript.html" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Declaration of Independence</a>; and they dedicated their lives to the creation of a more perfect union with the <a href="http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution_transcript.html" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">United States Constitution</a>. And just like the Nebraska Train some carelessly dismiss it as old, out of date, and discard it as scrap.</div>
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At this time of year when we contemplate our blessings and consider all we have to be grateful for, I am deeply grateful for two people who decided keeping the story of the Friendship and Merci’ Trains alive was worth their time. I am thankful to live in this great country. And I am immensely grateful for the thousands of Americans who know that, in spite of everything our country now faces, it is still the freest place on earth and something worth holding on to.</div>
Kimberly Rachelle Fletcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09735627436963614867noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-948641211939856703.post-69117258663990889392015-10-15T12:07:00.000-07:002016-05-27T16:04:41.212-07:00What Democracy Means to Me<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, 'Helvetica Neue', Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 23.8px; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiORC7bfezVaHxXQjBIKwW_WvEcJSUBSUh2-j7R1WzIXawlO0Zy_0hdQRh66IdRslm4ubDpTYNJPnK2LW0zmGxU-FKC6sKymMSXCKq3049lAioxdRLV1qg2rRKthQN4ZE53B4K_oxq__8U/s1600/Old+glory+kids+flay+on+fence.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiORC7bfezVaHxXQjBIKwW_WvEcJSUBSUh2-j7R1WzIXawlO0Zy_0hdQRh66IdRslm4ubDpTYNJPnK2LW0zmGxU-FKC6sKymMSXCKq3049lAioxdRLV1qg2rRKthQN4ZE53B4K_oxq__8U/s200/Old+glory+kids+flay+on+fence.jpg" width="200" /></a>Democracy seems to be the new buzz word in the world today, but do the countries currently mulling around the idea of democracy really understand what it means? Do Americans even understand what it means?</div>
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In this revival of liberty we are experiencing in our country today, I think these are questions every American should be asking themselves.</div>
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I think Benjamin Franklin defined democracy best when he said, “Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote.”</div>
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Our Founding Fathers realized the oppression of a Monarchy, but they were also aware of the failings of a Democracy. And while the world looks to America as a symbol of democracy, it is the combination of self-governance and representative leadership that is the secret to America’s success.</div>
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America is not a democracy, it is a Democratic Republic—the perfect combination to promote freedom and protect individual liberties.</div>
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If we are to have a discussion about what Democracy means, we must first understand what it is and what it is not. The American experiment is much more than a form of government, it is an ideal. It is the belief that man can, in fact, govern himself and if he will not, then the experiment fails. But our Founders fervently believed if ever there were a people who could do it, it would be us.</div>
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Many people are blaming the predicament our country is in on the president, his administration, Congress, and the government in general, but in reality, those are all just symptoms of the problem.</div>
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The real problem is that Americans are not acting American—we are not embracing our divine heritage of liberty, we don’t know our magnificent, providential history, and we are not fulfilling our civic responsibility. The harsh reality is, if we don’t like what’s going on in our nation today, we only have ourselves to blame.</div>
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We are a government <i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">of</i> the people and <i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">by</i> the people not just <i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">for</i> the people.</div>
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If <i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">we the people</i> are not “<i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">by the people,</i>” if we are not willing to do our civic duty and watch over government then corruption will take root and consume our nation until <i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">we the people</i> are strangled right out of existence.</div>
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If <i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">we the people</i> are not willing to be “<i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">of the people</i>” and run for elected office then there will be plenty of self-serving, power-hungry individuals who will.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhKu8e-QMqwnabbDzalw1TwtWi-ktpMtpoIeQCz0-X05pi8CqUIVAnXzDyqrzpUYhaUoDwmaxYbOQpt190mQLwBFaT6wx3qPFLqudwutac2RPe_CvydwnigexrafedhnUF7EPV2RN7aaI/s1600/jones78.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhKu8e-QMqwnabbDzalw1TwtWi-ktpMtpoIeQCz0-X05pi8CqUIVAnXzDyqrzpUYhaUoDwmaxYbOQpt190mQLwBFaT6wx3qPFLqudwutac2RPe_CvydwnigexrafedhnUF7EPV2RN7aaI/s200/jones78.jpg" width="186" /></a>If we are not fostering a love of liberty in our own homes and our own hearts then we will never understand and embrace the principles of liberty our nation was founded on.</div>
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If we are not willing to sacrifice our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor to preserve liberty and sustain the Constitution then freedom in America will cease to exist.</div>
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<i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">We</i> are the reason we are in the state we are in. And we are the only ones who can pull us out of it.</div>
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It is true, there have been many forces working against us feverishly trying to destroy this last bastion of hope for the world; but in the end, we are the keepers of the flame, not the schools, not Congress, not the media.</div>
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If our schools aren’t teaching our children about America’s history and heritage, then <i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">we</i> need to be. If the media is not going to present truth and facts, then <i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">we</i> need to. It is not the government’s job to raise and teach our children it is <i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">ours</i>. We cannot count on others to do our job for us and we cannot legislate our rights and responsibilities away and expect liberty to simply sustain itself in the name of democracy.</div>
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If our children are patriots it is because <i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">we</i> raised patriots in our homes. If our children know and understand the Constitution it is because <i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">we</i> taught them. If our children embrace freedom and love their country, it is because we instilled that love in them through our own examples.</div>
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Democracy is the embodiment of self-reliance, self-governance and self-sacrifice; which, simply stated, means the American experiment can only succeed when we are able to govern ourselves in righteousness. As Alexis de Tocqueville so aptly stated, “America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, she will cease to be great.”</div>
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It is not our government, our wealth, or our rich soil that ensures our democracy, it is our goodness. And if American’s cease to be good, the American experiment will have run its course.</div>
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But goodness has <i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">not</i> ceased in America. It is here, rising up in homes all across America.</div>
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<span style="color: #555555; font-weight: bold; line-height: 35px; text-align: center;">The spirit of America is alive; it just needs to be awakened.</span></div>
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And that should be our personal quest—to wake up the American people and infuse the light of liberty in their very souls.</div>
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Every American we convert to Liberty and the Constitution is one American closer to securing a free nation. It is very probable that the day is not that far off when our economy will collapse and our government will crumble—but America never will, because America isn’t a president or a Congress, it is us!</div>
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It is <i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">We the People</i>. And <i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">We the People</i> will rise from the ashes waiving the standard of liberty to the world. Every American who understands and internalizes the principles of liberty will rise up, holding the Constitution firmly in their grip and lead the people of this nation to freedom.</div>
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What does Democracy mean to me? It means hope. It means believing in something greater than yourself. It means personal responsibility. And if we don’t take that responsibility seriously, instead of explaining to our children what democracy is, we will have to explain what happened to it.</div>
Kimberly Rachelle Fletcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09735627436963614867noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-948641211939856703.post-89912943061948825442015-08-19T13:15:00.000-07:002016-05-27T16:02:50.191-07:00Can We Really Blame Planned Parenthood?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuNzeRMXYN1k6pCZmJIrV7uQqJd59yFMrRfdYVTcnrclvswqhoe4TwcGeY0Zpu1yOIuKuwjB1o_v0gO4oWaOo6f-xURqyaiTjbBFA_zuwu0aHXoBePsrdbBobmSNtRrAMmImMqOnjiyeE/s1600/baby_mom_pink.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuNzeRMXYN1k6pCZmJIrV7uQqJd59yFMrRfdYVTcnrclvswqhoe4TwcGeY0Zpu1yOIuKuwjB1o_v0gO4oWaOo6f-xURqyaiTjbBFA_zuwu0aHXoBePsrdbBobmSNtRrAMmImMqOnjiyeE/s320/baby_mom_pink.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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If you found the story of <a href="http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2015/07/14/undercover-video-claims-planned-parenthood-uses-partial-birth-abortions-to-sell-baby-parts/" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Planned Parenthood selling infant body parts</a> contemptible and appalling this article is for you. If, however, you thought it represented just another day in paradise don’t bother reading on. You won’t get it.</div>
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Prior to Independence Day one of <a href="http://themattwalshblog.com/" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Matt Walsh’s</a> readers asked him if he could write something upbeat for Fourth of July to remind us of just how great America is. Matt in turn, wrote a brilliantly articulate <a href="http://www.theblaze.com/contributions/no-america-is-not-a-great-nation/" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">article</a> as to all the reasons why he felt our country <i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">wasn’t</i> great.</div>
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Selling body parts of aborted babies would have definitely made the list.</div>
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I must admit, however, as I read through his article I found it quite depressing. Don’t get me wrong, it needed to be said. What’s missing is the fact that there are a large number of Americans who are in direct opposition to at least most, if not all the things Matt listed—and many more <i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">would</i> be if they had any clue any of it was happening. What they <i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">don’t</i> know is what they can do about it.</div>
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So, for those of you who, like me, wake up every morning wondering just how much worse can things get, let me introduce a little perspective.</div>
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The <a href="http://www.biblestudytools.com/judges/" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Book of Judges in the Bible</a> tells of one of the darkest times in the history of God’s chosen people. The Israelites had turned against God and his commandments to the point where the law was completely ignored. Anarchy, debauchery, murder and treachery abound. The entire book of Judges is distressing right up to the last chapter describing just how horrible things were. But then, on the very next page, is the <a href="http://www.biblestudytools.com/ruth/" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Book of Ruth</a> which begins, “In the time of the Judges.”</div>
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What a powerful message of hope that is!</div>
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Ruth was a ray of light in a dark, dismal time. She didn’t crawl under a rock and hope things would get better. She didn’t look to someone else to solve her problems. She didn’t join the darkness or allow it to overtake her. She simply decided to <i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">be</i> good, and spread that goodness in her own little sphere of influence. I doubt Ruth knew how many millions would be touched by her example of pure love. But someone felt her story powerful enough to include it in the Bible and I’m glad they placed it where they did.</div>
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My purpose in sharing this story is <i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">not</i> to say “things have been bad before and they’ll be okay again.” To be honest, I don’t <i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">know</i> if things will be “okay” again. It all really depends on us.</div>
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There are a couple of things we can take from Ruth’s story. First, it demonstrates that no matter how bad things get, <i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">we, </i>individually<i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">,</i> can stand for truth and promote goodness. Second, it shows how a seemingly insignificant life can have a powerful influence for good.</div>
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Building a nation is like planting a garden. It begins with the seeds we plant in the hearts of our children. The harvest is simply the result of the seeds we planted. If our children are being raised with the belief that killing babies is a woman’s right; and the remains can be discarded at a woman’s discretion because it came from <i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">her</i> body, why would we expect any different outcome than a woman flippantly discussing the sale of infant body parts over a casual lunch, between bites of romaine lettuce?</div>
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<a href="http://neilpostman.org/" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Neil Postman</a>, in his book “<a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Disappearance-Childhood-Neil-Postman/dp/0679751661" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The Disappearance of Childhood</a>,” writes, “Children are the living messages we send to a time we will not see.”</div>
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What message do we want to send? Do we want to send one that reflects Matt Walsh’s list of our current state, or do we want to send something better? I, for one, hope for <i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">much</i> better.</div>
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Another interesting thing about the Book of Judges is that those dark ages began just one generation following the Golden Age of Joshua. We are never more than one generation away from abandoning everything we hold dear; everything that makes us a free, virtuous and prosperous people. The only way to prevent this from happening is for every generation to teach its children well.</div>
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The generational change works both ways. That’s the good news! If we can go from good to bad in one generation, then we can go from bad to good in one generation too. If we don’t like what America has become, we are only one generation away from completely turning it around. It all depends on the seeds we plant in our children’s hearts. But we need to remember we aren’t the <i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">only</i> ones planting seeds.</div>
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We can’t assume our children are being taught the same principles and standards in government schools that we are teaching them at home. In fact, we should assume the exact opposite because that is usually the case. It’d be like the Jews fighting against the oppression of the Roman Empire and then sending their children to Roman schools to be taught. It makes no sense. I’m not suggesting a mass exodus from government schools (although it certainly couldn’t hurt) but I <i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">am</i> saying we need to be at least as much an influence in our children’s lives as everyone else is. If we aren’t we may not like the results of the harvest.</div>
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I can’t really blame Planned Parenthood for what they’re doing. After all, it is the fruits of the seeds we planted for generations.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD1brTF1k79rM_3qflLF8OypkqAALrDKdHbGsujTTigMJqgxXMZvHiq2m-B_0Ez5dqNgIs88uKpTgOpZNOmC7prqjKkHwJ7LO4yep-a-KTGuE9sy9P65ZVLt6KQ20S3cZdbkOsb0Op96M/s1600/flagWall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD1brTF1k79rM_3qflLF8OypkqAALrDKdHbGsujTTigMJqgxXMZvHiq2m-B_0Ez5dqNgIs88uKpTgOpZNOmC7prqjKkHwJ7LO4yep-a-KTGuE9sy9P65ZVLt6KQ20S3cZdbkOsb0Op96M/s320/flagWall.jpg" width="320" /></a>“Perhaps,” suggests <a href="http://krisannehall.com/" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">KrisAnne Hall</a>, “our job is not necessarily to win this fight, but to prepare the ground, to make the soil fertile, and sow the seeds so that liberty may thrive when the battle is done.”</div>
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If we don’t like the fruits of the last four decades, it’s time to plant new seeds.</div>
Kimberly Rachelle Fletcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09735627436963614867noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-948641211939856703.post-30676560786328857982015-07-06T13:08:00.000-07:002016-05-27T16:03:26.296-07:00Reclaiming Our Children's Heritage<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Rush Limbaugh posed a very interesting <a href="http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2015/07/02/two_serious_questions_for_you_to_ponder" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">question</a> on his July 2 radio show. Curious about the lack of public protests regarding the <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2015/06/26/why-supreme-court-rulings-on-obamacare-gay-marriage-and-property-rights-bolster-gop-2016-prospects.html" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Supreme Court decisions</a> he asked his listeners:</div>
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“Are any of you surprised by the utter lack of any public protest? What is your reaction to the apparent public acceptance of all of these seemingly overnight shifts in our culture and society?”</div>
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As someone who has been very involved in the preservation of our traditional culture over the last 30 years I have some insight I can offer—as a mother. I work with other mothers and I can assure you that acceptance is not what they are feeling. They lack hope and are desperately seeking direction and wondering what they can possibly do about it. It is anything but “acceptance.”</div>
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<a href="http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2015/06/29/seven-well-known-pastors-who-held-little-back-over-the-supreme-courts-gay-marriage-ruling-culture-will-get-increasingly-darker/" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Religious leaders</a> are opposed to it, families are shocked by it. So where is the public outcry? Where are the protests, marches, calls and emails to Congress?</div>
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The answer is simple—we’ve already done all those things and where has it gotten us? There is a mammoth assault on our country and we’re starting to realize just how far and deep it goes. A million of us marched on Washington, D.C. so Congress would hear us.</div>
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But our cries fell on deaf ears and the president said he didn’t even know we were there. We looked to the Supreme Court and they disregarded the Constitution. We turned our hope to the presidential election and were shocked by the outcome. So we start organizations, using our own hard-earned money, to fight the oppression and we became the target of the IRS because we have “freedom” in our name.</div>
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<span style="line-height: 23.8px;"><br />Where do we turn now? Who will champion our cause? We elect people who say they will fight for freedom and protect our rights but they abandon us almost as soon as they place their hand on the Bible.</span>It isn’t acceptance you’re seeing following the <a href="http://www.focusonthefamily.com/socialissues/promos/supreme-court-marriage-decision" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Court’s decision on same-sex marriage</a>; it is a profound sadness and a sense of loss.</div>
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It looks pretty bleak for America. But I want to offer a ray of hope, because<b style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> I </b><i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><b style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">know</b></i><b style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> the answer.</b></div>
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Rush Limbaugh said we have to <a href="http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2014/08/28/don_t_be_discouraged_folks" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">do more than win elections</a> if we want to restore the founding ideals of this country. I couldn’t agree more. We spend a lot of energy talking about <i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">winning</i> elections but very little time talking about <i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">how</i> they are won.</div>
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I’ve been studying the enemies of liberty and virtue for a long time. They come in all sizes, colors, religions, incomes and political parties. They are very good at what they do. They are united, organized, ruthless — and very patient. They appeal to the emotions and pass their agenda on to their posterity like some kind of inheritance. They’re everything we aren’t.</div>
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We deal in facts and can’t understand why people don’t get them. We are individuals who often act individually, and we have very little patience. We just want the government to leave us alone so we can get back to our lives. But the government <i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">did</i> leave us alone for decades while the destroyers of liberty worked their silent destruction behind closed doors, slowly dismantling everything we hold dear.</div>
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If we want to win this fight, if we want to know how to restore virtue and secure freedom then we need to look at what the destroyers of liberty are doing to <i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">destroy</i> it. Where do they concentrate <i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">their</i> energy?</div>
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<span style="line-height: 23.8px;">They have</span><span style="line-height: 23.8px;"> </span><a href="http://www.eagleforum.org/psr/2010/nov10/psrnov10.html" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">distorted our history</a><span style="line-height: 23.8px;">,</span><span style="line-height: 23.8px;"> </span><a href="http://patriotupdate.com/articles/liberal-lies-about-americas-founders/" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">vilified our Founding Fathers</a><span style="line-height: 23.8px;"> </span><span style="line-height: 23.8px;">and</span><span style="line-height: 23.8px;"> </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCoOv_DwaAk" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">purged our schools of the stories</a><span style="line-height: 23.8px;"> </span><span style="line-height: 23.8px;">that promote values and instill patriotism. They have made every effort to discourage women,</span><span style="line-height: 23.8px;"> </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9T-jxlFTfUQ" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">devalue motherhood and belittle the role of the homemaker</a><span style="line-height: 23.8px;">. They attack God, the 10 Commandments, the Bible and religion. They have redefined family,</span><span style="line-height: 23.8px;"> </span><a href="http://www.brookings.edu/research/opinions/2014/07/15-children-absent-fathers-sawhill" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">replaced fathers with government</a><span style="line-height: 23.8px;">, and made marriage meaningless.</span></div>
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<i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">That</i> is how they’re winning. They’re stealing the hearts of our children and they’ve been patiently, systematically doing so for a 100 years.</div>
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If we want to turn the tide, we need to do the exact opposite. We need to <a href="http://worldcongress.org/wcf2_spkrs/wcf2_smoot.htm" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">strengthen our homes and families</a>. We need to reverence God, live the commandments and teach them in our homes and churches. We need to read the <a href="http://welleducatedheart.com/" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">stories of our history and heritage</a> with our children and <a href="http://librariesofhope.com/" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">nurture liberty and virtue</a> in their hearts.</div>
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We need to honor the divine role of mother and return the <a href="http://commongraces.blogspot.com/2011/06/from-housewife-to-homemaker.html" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">role of homemaker</a> to the respected place in society it once was. We need to make the Bible a daily part of our lives and read it together as a family. We need to <a href="http://intentblog.com/is-marriage-meaningless/" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">honor our marriage vows</a>—stick it out, make it work, and put our families first in our lives.</div>
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Yes, these principles are simple, so simple we have overlooked them for decades. But they <i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">are</i> the answer. If they weren’t the Destroyers of Liberty wouldn’t be spending so much time and money on them.</div>
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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/28899-it-is-easier-to-build-strong-children-than-to-repair" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Frederick Douglass</a> said, “It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.”</div>
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We may not be able to fix the broken men in government, but we can certainly train the next generation of leaders, teachers, media, and voters in our own homes today. As a mother, I believe that is the greatest contribution we can make in securing the blessings of liberty for ourselves and our posterity.</div>
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So in answer to Rush’s question. No, we are <i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">not</i> accepting. We are <i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">not</i> retreating. We’re just <i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">redirecting</i>. We’re focusing our efforts where it matters most, where we have the greatest influence on our nation—in our home and family. Because we know when we start there, everything else will work out and if we don’t focus our efforts there, nothing else we do will matter.</div>
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Kimberly Rachelle Fletcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09735627436963614867noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-948641211939856703.post-42053247826049421732014-11-10T12:58:00.000-08:002016-05-27T16:04:16.268-07:00So What Did We Win Exactly?<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, 'Helvetica Neue', Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 23.8px; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
A few weeks ago <a href="http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2014/08/28/we_need_to_do_more_than_win_an_election" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Rush Limbaugh</a> threw his listeners into a depression when he made the point that winning the Senate wasn’t winning the game.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht-QAJYOSjfF0WpMaMsUF5PWAI0aMPbyK9mg1KpxX7MZm7uyFZMnRY_J2emRZjopI7ZrLDQnwvsWljJYjxGYnh-hkPDURqKY01lBMe956gBgTGH8WNOG5t78AjIuBGMHIy1iqKhcgQ9ts/s1600/Uncle+sam+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht-QAJYOSjfF0WpMaMsUF5PWAI0aMPbyK9mg1KpxX7MZm7uyFZMnRY_J2emRZjopI7ZrLDQnwvsWljJYjxGYnh-hkPDURqKY01lBMe956gBgTGH8WNOG5t78AjIuBGMHIy1iqKhcgQ9ts/s320/Uncle+sam+4.jpg" width="213" /></a>“I think that focus on winning the midterms in 2014 and who the nominee is gonna be in 2016 is way shortsighted,” Rush told listeners.</div>
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He then spent the rest of his show apologizing for depressing his audience, trying to explain what he meant—saying much the same thing I have been trying to tell frustrated Americans for years—liberty doesn’t begin in Washington!</div>
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As <a href="http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2014/08/28/don_t_be_discouraged_folks" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Rush </a>said, “We have way more to do than just win an election if we are serious.”</div>
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If all we want is a short-term fix then winning an election is enough. But if we want long-term results, if we really want to revive America’s founding ideals, and not only restore but <i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">secure</i> the blessings of liberty for ourselves and our children, then we need to look well beyond this one election because the other side certainly is.</div>
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So many people I talk to are looking for that quick fix so they can call it a day and get back to living their lives. But that is exactly why we find ourselves in this place to begin with. <a href="http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2014/08/28/we_need_to_do_more_than_win_an_election" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Rush </a>compared it to a football game–they’re playing the long game and we think a first down is a win.</div>
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Don’t get me wrong, I am not dismissing the gains of that first down. We got some really good people elected to the Senate; but I don’t look at letters to determine gains, I look at individuals. R’s and D’s are about politics. That means nothing to me and I think most Americans feel the same way. I look at how many <i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">statesmen</i> were elected; and I don’t dismiss a powerful gain in someone like <a href="http://www.omaha.com/news/politics/u-s-sen--elect-ben-sasse-commits-to-tackling/article_2094122e-6448-11e4-93d4-001a4bcf6878.html" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Ben Sasse</a> being elected to the U.S. Senate simply because Nebraska was already “red”.</div>
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This is not a game, but Rush’s analogy works. This election isn’t about numbers, letters and color-coded maps. It’s about building a team of players—statesman—who will play the long game and keep running the ball even when the <i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">fans</i> want you to drop it. And don’t think that won’t happen. I’ve seen it. We’ve witnessed it in this very election. Ben Sasse was elected to the U.S. Senate because of his strong support of family and his firm commitment to Constitutional and Free market principles, yet thousands of those same voters voted to raise the state minimum wage. How can Nebraskans reconcile that? And for those of you who don’t understand the question, I’m sorry, but you are part of the problem.</div>
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Nebraska isn’t alone. <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/04/minimum-wage-raise-passes_n_6095458.html" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Three other states</a>—Alaska, Arkansas, and South Dakota did exactly the same thing. Support for the minimum wage amongst voters became so strong during the midterm election cycle that some of these very same conservative candidates caved to the pressure saying they would support it.</div>
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Progressive groups and labor organizations have used the broad public support for raising minimum wage to their advantage. They have made a point of putting it on the ballot at the state level to bypass legislators, recognizing that the ballot box appeals to a more sympathetic audience. That “sympathetic audience” voted to pass a <a href="http://ballotpedia.org/Illinois_Millionaire_Tax_Increase_for_Education_Question_%282014%29" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">tax increase on millionaires</a> in Illinois and for strict, <a href="http://ballotpedia.org/Washington_Universal_Background_Checks_for_Gun_Purchases,_Initiative_594_%282014%29%20%20" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">universal background checks</a>for gun purchasers in Washington State.</div>
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And that’s the crux of the matter.</div>
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How can we as citizens expect to have a government that respects the Constitution and values the principles of liberty our nation was founded on if <i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">we</i> don’t? <a href="http://www.steynonline.com/6598/conservative-government-in-a-liberal-culture" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Mark Steyn</a> stated it most profoundly when he said, “You cannot have a conservative government with a liberal culture.”</div>
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This goes far beyond an election and way deeper than the U.S. Capital. It isn’t about labels, letters, or who has control of what. It all comes down to one simple principle.</div>
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Liberty.</div>
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Either we’re for it, or we’re not. It’s that simple.</div>
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Before we can determine which position is ours, however, we must first know what it is, because though we say we are <i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">for</i> liberty, we too often go to the polls and vote <i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">against</i> it. We claim we are <i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">for</i> liberty but we are rarely willing to make the sacrifices or put in the time and attention needed to preserve it.</div>
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It is dangerous to consider this election a victory because that means the game is over for us—but it is never over for the <i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Destroyers</i> of Liberty—and they come in all shapes, sizes and letters. They will keep passing the ball of destruction from one player on their team to another, like some kind of inheritance, until they achieve their final goal—the <i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">absence</i> of liberty.</div>
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<a href="http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2014/08/28/we_need_to_do_more_than_win_an_election" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Rush expressed this well</a>. “Their victory,” he said, “is converting this country into pure, undisguised, unmistakable socialism with an expansive, growing government, with attack after attack…on achievers, on prosperity, on capitalism, on successful people—the effective elimination of the Constitution. That’s <i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">their</i>objective. What is our objective? Win an election.”</div>
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<b style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">We can’t afford to slow down or take a break because those whom we elect count on it.</b></div>
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Our vote came with expectations. But what if those expectations aren’t fulfilled? It’s not like it hasn’t happened before. Who will hold their feet to the fire if we are not engaged and paying attention to what’s going on? It’s already started. <a href="http://www.mediaite.com/online/harry-reid-reaches-out-to-mitch-mcconnell-voters-want-us-to-work-together/" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Harry Reid announced</a> “the message from voters is clear. They want us to work together.” Well that all depends on what they’re working on now doesn’t it?</div>
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<b style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">This is the long game and if we want to win it we have to <i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">stay in the game</i>!</b></div>
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We need to know our rights and fulfill our responsibilities. We need to be attentive to our local politics, engage in our neighborhoods and communities. We need to study the Constitution, and learn the principles and values of liberty on which our nation was founded—so that we don’t find ourselves being the ones asking our player to drop the ball.</div>
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It is going to mean paying attention, it will take time and it will take sacrifice—which is why liberty is such a hard sale. As <a href="http://www.britannica.com/topic/539048/supplemental-information" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">George Bernard Shaw</a> put it, “Liberty means responsibility. That is why most men dread it.” But I promise the victory is worth the sacrifice!</div>
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So let’s celebrate the election, because it should be celebrated. But let’s celebrate it for what it is—a first down. Then let’s pick up the ball, hold on to it, and keep it moving down the field; because if we don’t, we may end up, as <a href="http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ronald_Reagan" style="border: 0px; color: #e91e24; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Ronald Reagan</a> said, “ telling our children… what it was once like in the United States where men were free.”</div>
Kimberly Rachelle Fletcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09735627436963614867noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-948641211939856703.post-67936748422577456082014-09-03T14:52:00.000-07:002014-09-03T14:52:06.493-07:00Ben & Candy Carson--the Real Thing!Last month I had the privilege of meeting and interviewing Dr. Ben Carson and his wife Candy at a book signing event in Omaha, Nebraska. It was a ridiculously hot day but that didn't stop the many people from around Nebraska and neighboring Iowa to come by the Bookworm to meet Dr. Carson. The line of people wove throughout the store, spilled out the door and wrapped around the block. It was amazing to see so many Americans from various backgrounds, races, religions and political parites there. It looked like America! Who says we can't get along? ;) Here are some pictures of the great people who attended.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRCC4AXTWi3-H4ciEKNhJgKaJQOLLABca3pno63zlARlTqmzcQim09G1CmvPHjmX0hmYhMnll3VtuqvXp47FZvQdWKm-s4ZV_miyn82spKSiMC3M5lZsgmHEys-tFO2swC7Nn0sbiVco0/s1600/CarsonEvent.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRCC4AXTWi3-H4ciEKNhJgKaJQOLLABca3pno63zlARlTqmzcQim09G1CmvPHjmX0hmYhMnll3VtuqvXp47FZvQdWKm-s4ZV_miyn82spKSiMC3M5lZsgmHEys-tFO2swC7Nn0sbiVco0/s1600/CarsonEvent.jpg" height="254" width="320" /></a></div>
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It took almost two hours for the line to move through to the last anxious person to meet with Ben and have their book sign. During that entire time, I had the absolute privlege of getting to know Ben's wife Candy. What started out as a request for short interview and a couple of questions, turned into a two hour conversation that looked and felt a lot like two sisters catching up on everything. And I mean everything. We talked about everything from politics to our favorite shops, our kids, and even exchanged recipies! I got some good ones!<br />
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I left the bookstore that day with a new friend and great hope. Things may be bad in America, but now more than ever I believe with all my heart that the women of America have the power to turn the whole thing around. Just look at the Ben Carson and tell me the influence of one mother doesn't make a difference! And as for my new friend Candy...I can tell you first hand, she would make a GREAT First Lady!Kimberly Rachelle Fletcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09735627436963614867noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-948641211939856703.post-25774006176973366752012-07-23T01:26:00.003-07:002016-05-27T15:57:27.182-07:00Liberty Begins at Home<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">by Kimberly Fletcher<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In 1787,
after a long hot summer of deep debates and negotiations, Congress approved the
Constitution of the United States of America.
As Benjamin Franklin, left Independence Hall a woman approached him and
asked, “<em>Sir</em>, <em>what did you give us</em>?” To which Mr.
Franklin replied, “A <em>Republic</em> ma'am, <em>if
you can keep it</em>.” How
profound his words were.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Benjamin
Franklin <i>knew</i> how hard it would be to
keep the Republic. He <i>knew</i> how easy it would be for men in
power to usurp power and authority (not granted them) if we were not vigilantly
watching. He knew how easy it would be
for us to forget what the Republic was about, and the ideas that made it
strong, if we were not constantly reminding ourselves. He knew how easy it would be for us to start
looking to the government to solve our problems and save us from
ourselves. He <i>knew</i> “keeping” the Republic would mean hard work, a firm
understanding of the principles of liberty, and an unwavering commitment to
preserve them. Benjamin Franklin knew
what a challenge it would be to sustain a Republic but he fervently believed—if
ever there were a people who could do it, it would be us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">After
two centuries of freedom we have certainly done better than any other nation,
country or empire but we have definitely <i>not</i>
done our due diligence in keeping the Republic.
In fact, the Republic our Founders left to us is hardly recognizable
anymore. All the things our Founding
Fathers feared, warned us about, and tried so desperately to protect us
against, are the very things we are facing today. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">There has been a lot of talk about democracy
lately. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Democracy seems to be the new buzz word in the world, but I often
wonder if the countries currently mulling around the idea of democracy
really understand what it means? Even more, do Americans understand what
it means? In this revival of liberty we are experiencing in our country
today, I think these are questions every American should be asking
themself. So today, I’d like to share what
Democracy means to me.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">I think Benjamin Franklin
defined it best when he said, “Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on
what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Our Founding Fathers realized
the oppression of a Monarchy, but they were also aware of the failings of a
Democracy. And while the world looks to America as a symbol of <i>democracy</i>, it is the <i><u>combination</u></i> of self-governance
and representative leadership that is the secret of America’s success.
America is not a democracy, it is a Democratic Republic—the divinely perfect
combination to promote freedom and protect individual liberties.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">If we are to have a
discussion about what Democracy means, we must first understand what it is and
what it is not. The American experiment is much more than a form of
government, it is an ideal. It is the belief that man can, in fact,
govern himself and if he will not, then the experiment fails. But, like
Benjamin Franklin, our Founders truly believed it <i>could</i> be done and that <i>we</i>
would do it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Many people are blaming the predicament of our
country on the president, his administration, Congress, and the government in
general, but in reality, those things are not the problem but merely symptoms
of it. You can’t rid a garden of noxious weeds simply by cutting the
stems, you have to go to the root. The
problem in our country today is not an out of control government, the problem
is that Americans are not acting American—we are not embracing our divine
heritage of liberty, we don’t know our magnificent, providential history, and
we are not fulfilling our civic responsibility. The harsh reality is, if we
don’t like what’s going on in our nation today, we only have ourselves to
blame. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">We are a government <i>of</i> the people and <i>by</i>
the people not just <i>for</i> the people. If <i>we the people</i> are
not “<i><u>by</u> the people</i>”, if we are not willing to do our civic duty
and watch over government then corruption will take root and consume our nation
until <i>we the people</i> are strangled right out of existence. If <i>we
the people</i> are not willing to be “<i><u>of</u> the people</i>” and run for
elected office then there will be plenty of self-serving, power-hungry
individuals who will. If we the people are not fostering a love of
liberty in our own homes and our own hearts then we will never understand and
embrace the principles of liberty our nation was founded on. If we are
not willing to sacrifice our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor to
preserve liberty and sustain the Constitution then freedom in America will
cease to exist. We are the reason we are in the state we are in.
And we are the only ones who can pull us out of it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">It is true, there have been many forces working
against us feverishly trying to destroy this last bastion of hope for the
world; but in the end, <i>we</i> are the
keepers of the flame, not the schools, not Congress, not the media. If
our schools aren’t teaching our children about America’s history and heritage,
then <i>we</i> need to be doing it. If the media is not going to present
truth and facts, then <i>we</i> need to. It is not the government’s job
to raise and teach our children it is <i>ours</i>. We cannot count on
others to do our job for us and we cannot legislate our rights and
responsibilities away and expect liberty to simply sustain itself in the name
of democracy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">If our children are patriots it is because <i>we</i>
raised patriots in our homes. If our children know and understand the
Constitution it is because <i>we</i> taught them. If our children embrace
freedom and love their country, it is because we instilled that love in them
through our own examples.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Democracy is the embodiment of self-reliance,
self-governance and self-sacrifice; which, simply stated, means the American
experiment can only succeed when we are able to govern ourselves in
righteousness. As Alexis de Tocqueville so aptly stated, “America is
great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, she will
cease to be great.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">It is not our government, our wealth, or our
rich soil that ensures our democracy, it is our goodness. And if
American’s cease to be good, the American experiment will have run its course.
But goodness has <i>not</i> ceased. It is here, rising up in homes all across
America. The spirit of America is alive; it just needs to be
awakened. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And that should be our personal quest—to wake
up the American people and infuse the light of liberty in their very
souls. Every American we convert to Liberty and the Constitution is one
American closer to securing a free nation. It is very probable that the
day is not far off when our economy will collapse and our government will
crumble—but America never will, because America isn’t a president or a
Congress, it is us! It is <i>We the People</i>. And <i>We the People</i>
will rise from the ashes waiving the standard of liberty to the world.
Every American who understands and internalizes the principles of liberty will
rise up, holding the Constitution firmly in their grip and lead the people of
this nation to freedom. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">So, when I am asked, what
does Democracy mean to me? I answer, it means hope. It means
believing in something greater than yourself. It means personal
responsibility. And if we don’t take that responsibility seriously,
instead of explaining to our children what democracy is, we will have to
explain what happened to it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Liberty begins at home. You and I, we hold the keys. We are the
keepers of the flame. We must do
everything in our power to pass on the flame, make sure it burns bright, and
that it continues to be a light on the hill and a beacon of hope to the
world. The Constitution is our
banner. Raise it high. Because if liberty is to prevail in America, it
will be because of you!<o:p></o:p></span></div>Kimberly Rachelle Fletcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09735627436963614867noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-948641211939856703.post-61848406576763711982012-07-23T01:22:00.002-07:002016-05-27T15:57:27.194-07:00Supreme Court Delivers False Hope<br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Supreme
Court Delivers False Hope<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">By Kimberly Fletcher<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It’s
hard to be anything but disappointed at the decisions from the U.S. Supreme
Court this week. I think by now most of
us see the writing on the wall. <i>Liberty hangs in the balance</i>. We’ve tried tipping the scale. We rallied on Washington; we circulated
petitions, called our legislators and shouted until we were hoarse. And when that fell on deaf ears, we placed
all our hope on the U.S. Supreme Court.
So now where do we go? The email
flurry among my fellow Tea Party leaders suggests looking to the
elections. I definitely agree that is a
good place to focus our attentions but I don’t believe that it is where we
should hang our hope.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I’ve
been involved in the political “game” a long time. I have worked on several campaigns and public
policy issues, testified on bills, written congressional resolutions, met with
legislators on various issues and worked on three presidential campaigns. I have been around the block long enough to
know that putting your hope in Washington is a one-way ticket to severe
depression. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I’m
not saying this election isn’t important.
<i>Every</i> election is important
from school board to the president. But
in the grand scheme of things, an election is only as good as the people who
are doing the electing. Maybe a change
of men <i>will</i> stop Obamacare. I hope so.
But even if it does, what have we really done? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Let’s
be honest. We’re only treading water at
this point and we’re sinking fast. A
friend of mine teaches elementary school at Schofield Army base in Hawaii. The students aren’t required to pledge the
flag. In most of the classes they
don’t. And when they do, the children
grumble and complain and want to know why they have to do it. The parents of these students are the men and
women who put their very lives on the line for that flag and everything it
stands for. If <i>their</i> children have no respect or appreciation for it, what hope
can we possibly have of sustaining liberty?
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We
face an onslaught of tyranny and oppression.
Maybe a change of men <i>will</i>
stop <i>this</i> particular <a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=948641211939856703" name="_GoBack"></a>tyranny
<i>this </i>particular time, but it will
rear its ugly head again. And who will
be there to stop it—a nation of children who grew up complaining because they
had to pledge the flag? I don’t think
so.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We
can look to this election for a short-term fix, but if we are looking for hope
that will bring about real change with lasting results, that <i>will</i> sustain liberty, we need to stop
looking at Washington and start looking at our homes. That is where we will find the hope of
America. We can’t expect anything to
change until we first change our own hearts.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We
have the power to turn this whole thing around.
We can keep treading water hoping it will work out in the end or we can
do things that will make a real difference.
We have the power to cut the purse strings of Congress and make the
federal government come begging the states for money instead of the other way
around. Repeal the 16<sup>th</sup>
Amendment and that’s exactly what will happen.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We
have the power to strip the senate of its tyrannical control over the
states. Repeal the 17<sup>th</sup>
Amendment and our Senators will be subject to the states instead of the Senate
ruling over <i>them</i>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">If
the States still appointed their U.S. Senators instead of the people electing
them, we wouldn’t have had to march to Washington. We’d just march up to our Statehouse; or
better yet, stop by the house of our State Representative who lives ten minutes
down the road. If we didn’t have the 17<sup>th</sup>
Amendment, we wouldn’t have had all those states filing law suits against their
own Senators—the men and women who are supposed to be protecting them from that
kind of tyranny. If we didn’t have the
16<sup>th</sup> and 17<sup>th</sup> Amendments we <i>wouldn’t</i> have Obamacare. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Our
Founders knew what they were doing when they wrote the Constitution. All our “fixing” and second guessing has
really mucked things up. It took a
hundred years to get us where we are and it is absurdly naive to think that one
Supreme Court decision or one presidential election will make it all
right. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">What’s
wrong with America can’t be fixed by government, taxes, laws, or a president. There <i>is</i>,
however, a sure solution to the problems facing our nation and it begins at
home. We need to grow stronger
citizens—citizens who cannot be oppressed; who are capable of tackling tough
challenges; who are still in love with liberty and know its cost. We need to know who we are as a people, know
our rights, <i>and</i> our responsibilities,
and rise up to be what we were always meant to be—a free people!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Maybe
we aren’t there yet. Maybe we aren’t the
ones ready to do something that will really make a difference like repealing
Amendments. Maybe we aren’t ready to
make the sacrifices needed. But if we
foster liberty in the hearts of our children today, there is hope, and we <i>can</i> create a strong nation capable of
sustaining of freedom. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Maybe
we aren’t the generation that will win this war. But if we lay a firm foundation of liberty in
the hearts of our children, they will. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Kimberly Fletcher is the author of <u>WOMEN:
America’s Last Best Hope</u> and the president of HomeMakers for America Inc. The
views in this article are solely of the author and not representative of
HomeMakers for America Inc. For more
information or to contact Kimberly visit </span></i><a href="http://www.kimberlyfletcher.com/"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">www.kimberlyfletcher.com</span></i></a><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> or </span></i><a href="http://www.homemakersforamerica.com/"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">www.homemakersforamerica.com</span></i></a><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<br /></div>Kimberly Rachelle Fletcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09735627436963614867noreply@blogger.com0