Iran and Freedom

I've been "watching" the news of Iran on Twitter. All you can get are short snippets and links to video, pictures, or articles. The news in Iran is state run so the people are circumventing regular channels in order to let the world know what is happening. All the while, I've been praying for the people of Iran. Like all souls, they long for freedom. What began as an election protest is escalating into a revolution. When people are discounted, silenced, and oppressed something has got to give. The call of every heart is FREEDOM. I do not know what the outcome will be but I know the longing has been loosed and the sparks are spreading.

There are several great editorials about what is happening in Iran: One by Peggy Nonoon, one by Paul Wolfowitz, and another by Charles Krauthammer. The protesters are trying hard to get their message out to the world and their government is trying just as hard to silence them. This week the United States House of Representatives passed a resolution in support of the Iranian citizens. The resolution states:

Expressing support for all Iranian citizens who embrace
the values of freedom, human rights, civil liberties, and rule of law, and for
other purposes.
Resolved, That the House of Representatives—
(1) expresses its support for all Iranian citizens who embrace the values of
freedom, human rights, civil liberties, and rule of law;
(2) condemns the ongoing violence against demonstrators by the Government of Iran and pro-government militias, as well as the ongoing government suppression of independent electronic communication through interference with the Internet and cellphones; and
(3) affirms the universality of individual rights and the
importance of democratic and fair elections.

Will President Obama support hope and change in Iran? Will he take a stand against tyranny? I hope so.

Perhaps their struggle for freedom will remind us that freedom is not something we should take for granted. Freedom lost is hard to regain. As we stand in spirit with Iranians, let us not give up our freedoms here. Let us be free to speak, free to disagree, free to give input, free to compete, free to pray, and free to worship. Let FREEDOM ring. In Iran. And in America.

Value Voting

Will you vote your morals?

This is an extremely important election. Our nation is at a crossroad. We have a clear choice. Lives are at stake.

The most important issue to me is the protection of innocent lives.

Abortion kills babies. Some would say an abortion terminates a fetus. That’s just a change in terms. Terminate means to end; conclude; finish. Fetus is Latin for baby.

Recently, I came across someone who was convinced that they could be both pro-Obama AND pro-life. This is a deception.

Barack Obama says that the first thing he would do as President is to enact the Freedom of Choice Act. This act would erase all boundaries on abortion. This would override states rights making abortion available at any time for any reason at any age.

Some would say that I shouldn’t impose my values on others.

Impose values? I would suggest that the Freedom of Choice Act is a massive imposition of the values of the abortion industry on us. According to NOW, this legislation would “sweep away hundreds of anti-abortion laws and policies.” Laws and policies that elected officials and everyday people have voted on and passed. The will of the people to limit and reduce abortions. That would be laws and policies protecting girls and women from an uninformed decision regarding a medical procedure that kills an innocent baby and often causes mental and/or physical harm to the mothers. Laws that require the consent of parents before an underage girl can be given an abortion. A Ban that put a stop to stabbing the head of a baby before she is completely born and sucking her brains out.

The biggest imposition is that Barrack Obama wants government to provide health care for everybody. That means that my tax dollars and your tax dollars will pay for abortions.
If that’s not cramming something down my throat, I don’t know what is.

Here are some medical facts to consider:

• At week 5, only 3 weeks after conception, the baby’s tiny heart begins to divide into chambers and beat and pump blood. This is when most women can find out whether they are pregnant.
• At week 6, the nose, mouth and ears are beginning to take shape. His heart is beating 100 to 160 times a minute and blood is beginning to course through his body. His pituitary gland is forming, as are the rest of his brain, muscles, and bones.
• At week 7, hands and feet are emerging from developing arms and legs.
• At week 8, in her brain, nerve cells are branching out to connect with one another, forming primitive neural pathways.
• Week 9, your baby’s organs, muscles and nerves are kicking into gear. The external sex organs are there but won’t be distinguishable as male or female for another few weeks.
• Week 10, he's swallowing fluid and kicking up a storm. Vital organs — including his kidneys, intestines, brain, and liver (now making red blood cells in place of the disappearing yolk sac) — are in place and starting to function, though they'll continue to develop throughout your pregnancy. If you could take a peek inside your womb, you'd spot minute details, like tiny nails forming on fingers and toes (no more webbing) and peach-fuzz hair beginning to grow on tender skin.

These facts are all from the week-by-week development pages at babycenter.com. There are many more. The ones I listed are all by the time you are two months pregnant.

This is what God says.

• “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you…”[1]
• “Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward.”[2]
• "Thus says the Lord who made you and formed you from the womb, who will help you: fear not…"[3]
• “I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days.”[4]
• “Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.”[5]
• “For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well. My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them.”[6]

These are just a few. God has a lot to say about people of all ages. He loves us. He wants us to choose life. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.”


[1] Jeremiah 1:5
[2] Psalm 127:3
[3] Isaiah 44:2
[4] Deuteronomy 30:19-20
[5] Philippians 2:4
[6] Psalm 139:13-16