Let's all say a "thank you" prayer for the great nations we live in. This doesn't happen here:
A young woman recently stoned to death in Somalia first pleaded for her life, a witness has told the BBC.
"Don't kill me, don't kill me," she said, according to the man who wanted to remain anonymous. A few minutes later, more than 50 men threw stones.
Human rights group Amnesty International says the victim was a 13-year-old girl who had been raped.
Initial reports had said she was a 23-year-old woman who had confessed to adultery before a Sharia court.
Numerous eye-witnesses say she was forced into a hole, buried up to her neck then pelted with stones until she died in front of more than 1,000 people last week.
Her father reported that she had been gang raped by three men. She was only 13.
I have a 13-year-old daughter.
May God have mercy on her soul, and on the African continent.
Now please, if you haven't voted, go vote now. I can't. I'm Canadian. But you can. And vote for the team who is most likely to fight for an end to shari'a law like this and for justice for women overseas. For the sakes of little girls like this one, for whom my heart is bleeding.
Now that I've had a few days to digest what happened in Canada's election, I thought I'd leave my take for those of you who are interested, since it isn't always what the media portrays.
Stephen Harper, our Conservative Prime Minister, won another minority government. We have a multi-party parliamentary system, which means that whichever party has the most seats forms the government. But in this case, and before the election, the Conservatives were short and didn't have a majority. So they couldn't automatically pass anything.
They won pretty big, though, up about 17 seats I think. They're a lot closer to a majority now than they were before.
They gained seats in the crucial 905 area (the area code surrounding Toronto, where they needed to break through), a few in Vancouver, and in New Brunswick and Anne of Green Gables land. They just hit a wall in Quebec.
We have a weird system where Quebec, which has a quarter of our parliamentary seats, votes overwhelmingly for a Quebec separatist party to represent them, even though they don't actually want to separate. It's very strange. They just want a strong Quebec voice in Parliament. We were hoping the Conservatives could break through in Quebec (they do have 9 seats now, I think), but the big breakthrough didn't come.
It's too bad, but that's Quebec.
The main thing is that nobody wants another election, so the opposition parties will likely support a lot of what Harper is doing. And right now our banks are the strongest in the world and our country is bearing up well under the financial crisis.
So I'm very encouraged. That's probably going to work out to at least three more years of Harper appointing fair judges (rather than overly liberal judges), three years of Harper appointing key Conservatives to the ministries and the Bank of Canada; three years of Harper running the military. Even if he never passed another law or budget, that's a big legacy you can leave in a country.
One of the key responsibilities in both the U.S. and Canada is appointing these key people. That's where you make your mark. And let me say, that given who Obama's friends tend to be, I would much rather be in my position where Harper is appointing fair judges than in the position that the United States may soon be in when Obama is left to appoint his allies.
But that's just me needling you guys about your election! Sorry about that. Can't help it. I'm going to stay away from any more election news for a while because I can't handle it. We came through our own election quite well, and for that I am grateful. God has given us a good government.
But no matter who runs Canada, or who runs the United States, God is still in charge. And whichever party wins is still a whole lot better than what most countries of the world face. So I am counting my blessings, and praying for a continually better world.
Tomorrow Canadians go to the polls. Our election was called six weeks ago, so we haven't lived through two and a half years of an election circus like most of you readers; we have only lived through six weeks of it, and that's enough for me.
Currently we have a Conservative minority government, which means that the Conservatives have the most seats in our Parliament, but they don't have enough to guarantee that anything they want passes. So they've had a hard time getting their agenda across. The called the election hoping for a majority; at the time, the polls seemed to support it. Today it looks much more bleak.
One of my favourite columnists, Michael Coren, wrote this about our election, and I think it applies to the American one, too (just insert "America" rather than "Canada"). So I give this to you to muse over today:
It's about people who bemoan the lack of public childcare as opposed to those who know we already had the best childcare and it's called parenting.
It's about those who feel Canada as a home and a heart as opposed to those who think of Canada as a concept and a social experiment.
About those who view taxation as a necessary evil to be used to help the most unfortunate as opposed to those who want to use taxes to change the very nature of Canadian society.
About those who believe that Canada is public broadcasting, state education and the Charter of Human Rights as opposed to those who see it as pioneers, personal initiative, sacrifice and courage.
About those who want a clean environment for the sake of their children as opposed to those who want a clean environment because they prefer the planet to its inhabitants.
About moms and dads rather than caregivers and nannies, about real communities as opposed to artificial communes, about having a thick skin and a sense of humour as opposed to being constantly oversensitive and complaining about and demanding an apology for any remark that offends your politically correct sensibilities.
About a Canada based firmly on our traditions and values as opposed to a Canada destroyed and then rebuilt on notions that are entirely foreign to our way of life.
I'm always amazed by people who switch back and forth between parties at each election. I suppose if you're truly in the middle it doesn't matter. But most of us have a concept of how life should be; we either want more government to take care of the problems, or less government so that fewer problems are caused in the first place. You must fall on one end of the spectrum or the other! I think it's just that people don't always realize which side of the spectrum the political parties fall on, because they don't always articulate it easily. But it is simple: Republicans (and Conservatives) in general want less government and more personal responsibility; Democrats (and Liberals and the NDP) want more government to solve our problems. So which are you?
I know that's an overgeneralization, and that Republicans have done little to curb spending, but that is the ideological framework the parties fall under.
And I think of it like this: the main way that people learn is through consequences. There's a reason for that, too: God set up the principle "you reap what you sow". It's present in nature; and it's present in human nature, too. We are supposed to reap what we sow, and that is how we learn.
That's also how we turn to God. The Prodigal Son returned to the Father after he had reaped what he had sown. When he had completely hit rock bottom he realized how much he needed the Father. He repented. And he returned.
When we interfere with the whole reap-sow continuum, I think we interfere with a very important part of human nature. If we try to seal people off from the consequences of their actions, it's highly unlikely they will learn from them. And it's even more likely that they will develop a victim mentality, where everybody is supposed to fix my life for me. If things go badly for me, people should pick up the pieces. And that's not right.
But there's another philosophical problem that divides the two parties, and it's this one: which is the basic social unit, the family or the government? Does it take a village, or does it take a family to raise a child? I believe it takes families. In fact, I believe that without families, villages will fail. The basic social unit must be the family. It is how we were created, it is where our allegiance lies, and it is family that keeps us rooted.
Not all families are great, of course, but we have the ability to form new families as adults, and to escape dysfunctional ones. But who should we rely on in times of trouble: the family or the government?
Right now the government is getting so large and failing so miserably because it is attempting to do things that the family should be doing on its own. So many family functions have been offloaded onto the schools. Many health issues have been taken up by the government. And so on and so on. And it's no wonder that families are now very fragile.
If the family is the basic social unit, then people's outlook towards government and society is one of responsibility. I am responsible for myself, and I am responsible to act appropriately. If the government is the basic social unit, on the other hand, and it solves all problems, then people's basic outlook towards society and culture is one of rights: you owe me, you can't criticize me, I have the right to do whatever I want.
Now rights, of course, have their good sides, just as government has its good side. I realize that I have painted a very black and white picture here, and I know it's not as simple as that, but this is a blog, not a treatise on government.
That, however, is what informs my political views, and it's why I'm voting Conservative tomorrow in Canada's election. I hope more Canadians join me, but I know that ultimately every election is in God's hands, and He knows the outcome. He sets up kings and deposes them. I have to keep telling myself that right now as I look at both elections.
I feel so privileged to be able to vote. And as much as I disagree with the other parties, all the parties we have to choose from are infinitely better than the governments that run many of the world's repressed countries. We are truly blessed.
And since today is Canadian Thanksgiving, that's one of the thing I'm saying Thanks for. Thank you for the freedom to vote; and thank you for our good, though imperfect, political system. We are blessed indeed.
We don't have a television, so almost all the news I get I read on the internet. So I never know what somebody's voice sounds like, or how to pronounce certain names, though I know how to spell them.
So when I watched the YouTube highlights of the Saddleback Forum with McCain & Obama this weekend, it was one of the first times I'd actually seen Obama for a prolonged period of time.
And I have a question.
Why does he always tilt his head at a 45 degree angle? I have more substantive policy questions too--I'll get to them in a minute--but my daughter and I were both struck by that as we were watching him. "What's he doing that for?" she said. And we both tilted our heads and thought it was odd.
You can take a look for yourself in that video above.
WARREN: Religious persecution, what do you think the U.S. should do to end religious persecution, for instance, in China, in Iraq, and in many of our supposed allies? I'm not just talking about persecution of Christianity, but there's religious persecution around the world that persecutes millions of people.
OBAMA: Well, I think the first thing we have to do is to bear witness and speak out, and not pretend that it's not taking place. You know, our relationship with China, for example, is a very complicated one. You know, we're trading partners. Unfortunately, they are now lenders to us because we haven't been taking care of our economy the way we need to be. I don't think any of us want to see military conflict with China.
So we want to manage this relationship and move them into the world community as a full partner, but we can't purchase that by ignoring the very real prosecutions, persecutions that are taking place, and so having an administration that is speaking out, joining in international forums, where we can point out human rights abuses, and the absence of religious freedom, that, I think, is absolutely critical. Over time, what we are doing is setting up new norms and creating a universal principle that people's faith and people's beliefs have to be protected.
And as you said, it's not just Christians, and we've got to make sure, you know, one thing I think is very important for us to do on all of these issues is to lead by example. That's why I think it's so important for us to have religious tolerance here in the United States. That's why it's so important for us, when we are criticizing other countries about rule of law to make sure that we're abiding by rule of law, and habeas corpus, and we're not engaging in torture, because that gives us a moral standing to talk about these other issues.
I completely do not understand Obama here. Is he that clueless? He is asked about religious persecution abroad. Let's talk about that persecution. In Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, people are put to death to converting to Christianity. Ditto other countries.
In Pakistan earlier this summer two sisters, ages 11 and 13, were stolen from their Christian parents, forcibly converted to Christianity, and married off to Muslims, most likely so they could work in brothels. The judges and police upheld the kidnapping, saying the girls willingly converted and willingly married.
In China, Falun Gung practitioners are murdered so their organs can be harvested.
In Pakistan, a rape victim is put in prison.
In Egypt, Christian girls are kidnapped and used in the sex trade.
That, my friends, is religious persecution. That is true evil. He gives lip service to that at the beginning, but the main thing he hammers home is that America has to clean up its own act.
Who is going to stand up for these martyrs? Who is going to stand up for these little girls who are stolen from their parents? Does he not care? Is all he can see the supposed evil that America does? Wherever you stand on other issues, surely we can all say that this was a clueless answer.
Here's McCain's, by the way:
MCCAIN: The President of the United States' greatest asset is the bully pulpit. The president of the United States -- and I go back again to Ronald Reagan -- he went to the Berlin Wall and said, "Take down this wall," called them an "evil empire." Many said don't antagonize the Russians, don't cause a confrontation with the Soviet Union. He stood for what he believed, and he said what he believed, and he said to those people who were then captive nations, the day will come when you will know freedom and democracy and the fundamental rights of man. Our Judeo-Christian principles dictate that we do what we can to help people who are oppressed throughout the world, and I'd like to tell you that I still think that even in the worst places in the world today, in the darkest corners, little countries like Belarus -- they still harbor this hope and dream someday to be like us and have freedom and democracy.
And we have our flaws, and we have our failings, and we talk about them all the time, and we should, but we remain, my friends, the most unusual experiment in history, and I'm privileged to spend every day of my life in it. I know what it's like to be without it.
Not a great answer either--I'd like to hear more about how he'd say to the Muslim world "Tear down this wall"--but perhaps that's dreaming on my part. But at least he acknowledges the real evil.
About Me: I'm a Christian author of a bunch of books, and a frequent speaker to women's groups and marriage conferences. Best of all, I love homeschooling my daughters, Rebecca and Katie. And I love to knit. Preferably simultaneously.
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