On the Conservative Media

I do not listen to everything the "Right Wing" news tells me, nor would I ever recommend that others do so. When I was a child, my folks seemed to. Supposedly there were all these Satanic cults everywhere that were after us all. Supposedly Kellog's  brand supported abortion. Supposedly Christian rock was part of the Illuminati...

The conservative and liberal news media are both full of emotional appeals and paint people who vote against them as evil, dangerous people out to take control and take over everybody's life. "Do what we are encouraging you to do here, protect yourself and your freedom!" I am pro-life and believe homosexuality is a sin, but I am also an active environmentalist. I get emails from both "wings," and they're actually both nuts. Absolutely nuts.



I do not agree with, or follow Alex Jones and all the conspiracy theories entirely either, but at times they do make some good points.



I have an old friend who was conceived when her mother was raped. I love this dear friend of mine. She is not "a product of rape." She is a wonderful thing that came from a terrible thing. She is not what happened to her mom; she is an example of the triumph and beauty of life in, and even through, the darkest of circumstances. It definitely does devalue life to make exceptions to an abortion ban for babies like this dear friend of mine. Ditto with handicapped babies. Many conservatives are quite willing to make these unacceptable concessions. Some GOP candidates have also very stupidly stated or implied that if a woman gets pregnant, it means she is lying about being raped. It is possible to get pregnant through sexual assault. It is a very weak, or very uninformed, man/woman who will publicly accuse my friend's mother and others like her of lying, and publicly shame thousands of violent crime victims in that manner. This has turned many informed men and women against those candidates - including me.

I do not believe our founding fathers had a personal relationship with God or founded this country on divinely inspired and scriptural principles. Our founding fathers practiced slavery and genocide, and they twisted the bible to justify it as badly as any "gay Christian" or "Christian" abortion-supporter has ever twisted the bible. If the times we live in do not justify our looking the other way and keeping our mouths shut, and they don't, then our founding fathers are not justified for legal abortion either (abortion was legal btw, research this carefully. Legal abortion is not progressive, but regressive), or slavery, or the covenant breaking and genocide they practiced against the indigenous people of this continent because of the times they lived in either. If "gay Christians" and those who at least excuse abortion are not of God, neither were our founding fathers; all of these justify sin in the name of "freedom and justice for all" and abuse the Bible to do it. Our founding fathers were not divinely inspired saints doing God's will. They violated his commands endlessly, from the get-go. As a Christian, I am profoundly offended at claims associating such abominations with divine inspiration, or sort of-like "sainting" some especially wicked sinners. As an American, I am offended at not being told the straight out truth about my history and heritage. If I am not told about the blemishes in it, I cannot learn from them, nor really understand the situation I have to live in and address today.


 I self-identify as a pro-life feminist. I believe there is such a thing as "Rape Culture," and my studies of other societies, especially matriarchies, indicate that there is a link between our concept of power, our separation of sexuality from family and procreation, plus our devaluing of motherhood, and the prevalent twisting of minds that can cause folks become sexual predators. This situation pre-dates the nineteenth century feminist movement by at least hundreds of years. Problems caused by modern "feminists" are symptoms of internalized misogyny, and will not be solved by maintaining patriarchal values and social systems. When aggression and the ability to use physical force to achieve an end is valued very highly, this lends itself to all kinds of bullying and oppressive behavior, including sexual violence. With the connection of sex to family life and the circle of life, sexual violence  becomes virtually inconceivable all around the world.

I believe abortion is a symptom of misogyny and oppression, as did Susan B. Anthony and all the early American feminists who got our voting rights - and who originally fought to ban abortion in America. Abortion rarely occurs in places where women have resources and rights.  It is more prevalent in places where women have few rights and are oppressed and disrespected. It was legal here in the 19th century, before we could vote or get decent jobs. 19th century American Feminists fought to end it. The 60's feminists did not trust anyone over 30 and would not even listen to those who worked so hard to get them into those universities in the first place. They were uninformed, as is anyone who refers to the second wave, 1960's "feminism" as "the feminist movement." It existed for some 200 years prior, and did a lot of good.

Neither "wing" can genuinely be classified as "Pro-woman." When a Drag "queen" or so-called "female impersonator" goes on stage, they are degrading women along with themselves. What they are "impersonating" is not what we are, and dressing/behaving that way should not change the pronoun used to mention them. Our essence and purpose are not, and never will be, summed up in any fashion show. Their definition of "female"and "feminine" miss the mark as badly as June Cleaver did. Drag represents an oppressive, patriarchal and degrading definition of womanhood, and of the roll of women. Liberals who support drag are supporting an inherently misogynistic movement.

The conservative media/"wing" sometimes also degrades women in its own way. Some conservatives are indeed patriarchal. Saying that a man should make more money than his wife or that men have a biological instinct that makes them feel threatened or devalued if their wives make more than them. What kind of teammate pouts if someone else on his team scores more points than he does? "The whole team is going to the championship, and I did not score the winning plays. I don't want to play anymore, or I want that teammate to stop scoring so much." That's not a good attitude. If a man's emotions are devastated because his kids have better access to higher education, his family has more insurance, the house is getting paid off faster, etc., because his wife got a raise and now makes more money than he does, than he needs to check his ego at the door! The whole family benefits, and it should not matter who made the score, everybody is going to the playoffs of life, so everybody should be happy. Some conservatives still support or tolerate pig-headed and patriarchal attitudes though; if such foolish men actually divorce their wives or otherwise leave their family in a mess, the woman with the raise/promotion and the people who fought for her opportunities get at least partial blame in the conservative world sometimes. THAT does not sit well with me at all.

I also note that when Republicans want to go to war with everybody, then war is noble and necessary and brave and etc. When liberals do it, it is evil and senseless bloodshed. Liberal media does the same thing in reverse. Torture even becomes ok "if the party we usually vote for backs it up," and if not... "That just shows you how the other party is, doesn't it? They torture people.... "
I do not subscribe to any conservative news letters or "like" any of their pages. Ditto with liberal ones. I follow a lot of issues, but completely ignore anything that groups issues together in "wings" or major parties. I do"like" pages of a couple of third parties that do not even like each other though, keeping an eye out for better alternatives...

I guess what I am saying is I distrust conservative media as much as liberal media and vice versa, and strongly recommend that others do the same. I try to check facts carefully, as if all news I hear comes from pathological liars, because essentially it does.

I have no idea if this image was made by a "liberal" or a conservative, or a neither like me. I do not own the rights to it, if any are owned. I certainly appreciate the message though.


Godspeed.

~Mother Star

Adventures in RCIA: What Pope Francis' Recent Message Said

Today, in our church bulletin, there was a message from Pope Francis. It is mostly a prayer, and one which I fully agree with. It made me realize what a job it is to be the pope of Rome.

There are Catholic churches and members of religious orders working in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan. all over Africa, China, and even in North and South Korea, as well as in more affluent nations. Feedback from all these places funnels up the various chains of command to the Vatican. Senior pastors have so much crap come across their desks, but imagine if your desk was just full of wars, plagues, trafficking, international controversies, and gross sin, with all its consequences, on a large scale? The job is harder than being president of the U. S. Nobody asks to be Pope either; they can only accept or decline the task. If someone seems to want the job, it rules them as a candidate; there's no campaigning to be Pope.
 While surfing youtube fairly recently, I have seen footage from the same events, shared by various anti-Catholics, claiming that Pope Francis was bad because he supposedly said at these events that he favors abortion (he doesn't) AND that he was bad because he was saying, at the same events,  that he is against abortion. Some of the same images alleged to be pics of him saying to kill gay people or some such (he doesn't say that) AND that he was pro-gay (he's not). 
Today I did a search in youtube for "pope francis." Scrolling the results, it mostly read like a list of headlines from Weekly World News, (that's a defunct, faux newspaper with headlines like "Bat-Child Found in Cave," "World to End in Two Weeks," "Aliens Steal Family Dog, Leave Life-Changing Messages," "80-Foot Tall Two Year Old Wreaks Havoc in India." One of those actually was a Weekly World News front-page headline when I was kid!), I can't believe the stuff people come up with - and believe! So, before any of this gets distorted beyond recognition by whoever and by whatever means, here is a synopsis of the "Urbi et Orbi, Message of Pope Francis", that I got today in my church bulletin. Exact quotes will be in "" marks:

"Thursday, December 25th, 2014
Dear Brothers and Sisters, Happy Christmas!
Jesus, the Son of God, the Saviour of the World, is born for us, born in Bethlehem of a Virgin, fulfilling ancient prophecies. The Virgin's name was Mary, the wife of Joseph." (That is both the first, of the only two, brief mentions of Mary in the whole thing) 
"Humble people, full of hope in the goodness of God, are those who welcome Jesus and recognize Him." The Holy Spirit enlightened the shepherds of Bethlehem, and they rushed to adore Him. The Spirit led Simeon and Anna to Jerusalem, and they recognized Him as Messiah. "'My eyes have seen your salvation,' Simeon Exclaimed, 'the salvation prepared by God in the sight of all peoples' (Luke 2:30)."
"Yes, brothers and sisters, Jesus is the salvation for every person and for every people!"
Today, I ask Jesus to help our brothers and sisters in Iraq and Syria, who for too long have suffered brutal persecution, along with other ethnic and religious groups. May Christmas bring to them, and the other refugees and displaced persons of all ages from this region, hope. "May indifference be changed closeness and rejection into hospitality, so that all who are now suffering may receive the necessary humanitarian help to overcome the rigours of winter, return to their countries and live with dignity. May the Lord open hearts to trust" and may he bring his peace to the whole middle east, beginning in the place of his birth.
"May Jesus, the Saviour of the world, protect all who suffer in Ukraine," and help them overcome tensions and violence and begin a healing journey of reconciliation.
"May Christ the Saviour bring peace to Nigeria, where even in these hours more blood is being shed and too many people are being unjustly deprived of their possessions, held as hostages, or killed." I contend for peace in other parts of Africa. "I beseech all who have political responsibility to commit themselves through dialogue to overcoming differences and to build a lasting, fraternal coexistence."
May Jesus save all the trafficked and enslaved children. "Children, so many abused children. May he give comfort to the families of the children killed in Pakistan last week." May he be with all who are ill, especially victims of Ebola (This makes sense, as many of those people are on their deathbed now, sadly). I thank all those dedicated to helping the sick, and their family members, and I make another urgent appeal that the necessary help be provided.
"The Child Jesus. My thoughts turn to all those children today who are killed and ill-treated, be they infants killed in the womb, deprived of that generous love of their parents and then buried in the egoism of a culture that does not love life; be they children displaced due to war and persecution, abused and taken advantage of before our very eyes and our complicit silence. I think of those infants massacred in bomb attacks, also those where the Son of God was born. Even today, their impotent silence cries out under the sword of so many Herods. In their blood stands the shadow of contemporary Herods. Truly there are so many tears this Christmas, together with the tears of the infant Jesus."
May the Holy Spirit enlighten our hearts now, to recognize in the Infant Jesus the salvation God has given to each of us, and to all the peoples of the earth. May the power of Christ, which brings freedom and service, be felt in so many hearts afflicted by atrocity. "May this divine power, by its meekness, take away the hardness of heart of so many men and women immersed in worldliness and indifference, the globalization of indifference." May his grace transform weapons to ploughshares, destruction to creativity, and hatred to love, that we may cry out with joy, "'Our eyes have seen your salvation"

I wish you a Happy Christmas!

"Francis"

Now, I agree that wars, plagues, and abounding evil are signs of the times, but they are still the work of the Christians' sole enemy. We are to resist those things passionately, with prayer and other means when possible. We are soldiers of peace and light, don't forget it. 
I see nothing unscriptural, dangerous, or unglodly in this prayer. I see a believer whose heart is broken for the heaps of reports about hideous atrocity, and equally atrocious selfishness and indifference, accumulating in his office daily. I see someone sending out his prayer for us all to read and to agree with. I for one will say "Amen!"

By the way, "Urbi et Orbi"means "City and World" in Latin, according to google translate. I had to put it in one word at a time to get it to translate it, but that is what those words mean.

Godspeed.

~Mother Star