Another Treasure

I received another treasure in the mail today - finally. I purchased a Holy Bible from Great Britain - one that was printed, "By the will of Philip, Lord Wharton, 1696". The Bible itself is copyright 1891. Here is a web site that explains who Lord Philip Wharton was. He was a Puritan who died in 1696 and, in his will, left monies to pay for the printing and distribution of Bibles to those who would memorize a certain number of Psalms, as listed inside the front cover. Evidently, all the Bibles that this estate has given out have the same inside front cover message.

Imagine receiving a Bible because of the express wishes of someone who passed away in 1696 - it's as if Lord Philip is rejoicing in Heaven whenever someone is blessed in this way.

Here are pictures of the Bible. As usual, for a clearer, bigger view - or to say it in the new Bloggie language, "embiggen" - just click on the image, especially on the last picture of the Bible, which shows the inside front cover with the inscription.

Inside the Bible was another treasure. A church newsletter from June and July 1965 from Brierfield Congregational Church in England. I'll put up the scans so you can read the entire thing, which reminds me so much of the church in Jan Karon's books, however, I want to bring to your attention a paragraph at the end of "The Minister's Notes", that is a quote from a Rev. A.E. Gould, BA, BD circa May 1965:
"We must learn to take our faith in the supremacy, the omnipotence of God out of the realm of doctrinal orthodoxy, and apply it to this situation where men's hearts often fail them for fear of what may be coming on earth; to be able to say, with quiet confidence that, even in the present world of tumultuous change, God is in control, that, even if men in their sin and stupidity press the fateful button that may unleash nuclear war, even so God's redeeming purpose in Jesus Christ will not be wrecked. Even if this vaunted affluent civilization of ours goes the way of the twenty-one previous civilizations we are still able to lift our hearts in praise to God Who sites above the water floods, Who is not at the mercy of the mushroom cloud, Who takes up the isles as a little thing, and Who can make even the wrath of man to praise Him."

I can just picture an elderly Vera Grimshaw, who, I will assume, received the Bible as a gift in Sunday school at a young age in 1916. She is in church on a warm day in June or July 1965 with her lovely Bible and I'm sure she has on a suitable hat and appropriate church outfit for that time. Pillbox hats, like Jackie O's were still the rage. The Beatles had become a worldwide phenomenon and in the US, Lyndon B. Johnson was President. World War II was 20 years in the past, which, in today's context, would be like 1988 - not that long ago, still fresh in the minds of adults of that time. I was 9 years in 1965, a time I am quite fond of remembering, albeit with rose colored glasses. Please note that the little Gift envelope is still attached, so Miss Grimshaw (could she have been Mrs. Something Else - wouldn't she have added that to the Bible?) did not see fit to give a Gift that day, or she used some other means of conveying it.

I came to the conclusion today that, when we picture the perfect place where we'd like to live, if we are truthful, there is no place that is perfect, except when we go back in time to our childhood. Like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, "there's no place like home" is very true. But even that, no matter how wonderful it might have been (or, for some, something they'd rather forget), it still is not perfect. Home is Heaven for the Christian, and, looking at our world today, that lovely passage from Minister's speech in 1965 is as appropos today as then.

My heart longs for Heaven as that is the only perfect place. Meanwhile, I will enjoy these sweet treasures that come my way in this life. What could be more perfect in THIS life than the Word of God.

Have a lovely and peace-filled weekend.

How About Those Pastel Dresses?

Since the entire Texas debacle began, I’ve been reading up on the FLDS. Just Google “FLDS” and begin reading. Also, on Youtube, just type in “FLDS”. You can hear Warren Jeffs teach about polygamy and how to “keep sweet”. Creepy beyond words – he speaks very softly, almost monotone. Below is some of what I have learned. When I first saw the pictures from YFZ ranch, I thought that it looked like an idyllic existence – living off the land, being self sustaining, nature all around you, natural foods……what I found out made me change my thinking 360 degrees. I now think that living on that ranch must be like living in a suburb of hell. Here is some of what I learned from my internet searches.

Those pastel Prairie dresses are hiding long Mormon underwear. The underwear is sacred - like sacred garments - and they can't let ANY of it EVER show - it goes from wrist to ankle under those dresses. The color of the dresses - each man in the compound has a color. The women who are his wives wear his color, so if you see two or more women with the same color on, they are "sister-wives" and married to the same man. Women can be re-assigned to a different man at any time and either take their children with them - or not, depending on the ruling of the prophet. Children are communal. Since all the "sister-wives" live in the same big house, the children all live together too. Some of the confusion about "who is your mother?" at the compound at YFZ was because the children look at all the women they live with as their mothers.

Once a boy hits the teen years, his days are numbered. The women and the men have up to a 6th grade education at best. The boys are then taken out of school and sent to work on projects that take stength and endurance. If you see the land before YFZ ranch was there - and what they did in 4 years time - it's amazing.

The boys work on these projects until their hormones dictate that they have become a problem. At this point, often trumped up complaints against them are brought. Things like getting too friendly with a girl, not being obedient enough to the "prophet", etc. They are then eventually kicked out of the compound. It's not completely clear where they go. I've read stories where the "lost boys" as they are called, end up on drugs, dead, etc. because they have no life skills at all - and they are literally just thrown out.

That's why there were so few teenage boys in the equation amongst the 437 children taken from the ranch. It has been said that with that number of children, the demographics should show a much greater number of teenaged boys.

Now for the really weird stuff. The cult believes that they are a select priesthood. They can only aspire to this priesthood if they participate in plural marriage - this means that a man must have at LEAST 3 wives. Women have no identity except through a man. Their salvation - in the sense of being part of this priesthood community in the eternal future - is totally tied up in the man they are assigned to. No man = no salvation. If you leave the compound, you are taught that you will go to hell. Everyone outside the FLDS are evil, according to them, and will be destroyed in the coming catastrophe that is expected.

I think one of the reasons these compounds are built far from populated areas is because they think there will be a great conflagration and they will be the only ones left to build and populate the new civilization. Of course, the more obvious reasons for building in the boonies is to keep society away and to be able to live the weird way they do and fly under the radar.

One of the phrases both boys and girls are taught from day one is to "keep sweet". That means to obey, obey, obey the "prophet". If you rebel at ALL in any way by not doing what you are told, your salvation is in danger - and you could be punished by being excommunicated and forced to leave.

In Colorado City/Hilldale (2 polygamous FLDS towns on the border of Arizona and Utah), the police are part of the group - and enforce the group's laws. Women who try to leave are brought back to their husbands by the police there. The land in both towns is owned by the FLDS. All businesses are owned by the FLDS. No man or family owns anything. If he owns a business, all proceeds go to the FLDS. If he builds a house on FLDS land, it belongs to the organization. If he doesn't toe the line, he can be kicked out of his house and lose all his belongings, because they do NOT belong to him. The money the church has is in a fund called the UEP Trust, controlled by the "prophet".

So, in essence, the men and women are slaves, the women being brood mares. They are all held in this communal existence by their beliefs which are based in fear. It is all works based - if you don't do such and so, you go to hell.

Sounds like hell on earth to me. The fact that these places exist is fascinating to me in a morbid, macabre kind of way.

The mainline Mormon church wants nothing to do with these offshoots – bad PR. I think Mormons are almost as bad, just on a lower, less threatening way. They too believe in sacred underwear, they will be gods in eternity with their wife/wives populating planets for them (oh the fun of having babies for eternity – obviously a woman did NOT have any input in the making up of this religion). They believe Jesus Christ and Satan were brothers. Oh – and the FLDS? They believe God has many wives and makes spirit babies all the time. Those spirit babies come to earth through the lovely procreation efforts of the brood mares of the FLDS “church”. Here is a cartoon video that shows what the Mormons believe. I wanted to find the Southpark version of what the Mormons believe, but it doesn’t appear to be on Youtube anymore.

Injustice

I don't usually comment about unpleasant things on this blog, but I cannot help it. The whole FLDS debacle has me quite upset.

I should be used to injustice in this world by now, but no matter how blase I may become, it is never enough. I've been reading the well thought out posts from The Common Room regarding the raid on the FLDS compound in Texas since it began on April 3rd. If there is one thing for certain, it is that US parents, perhaps in the back of their consciousness, are always aware of the power of the State, a la "1984" power. It is documented that one false move, one bruise out of place, one innocent comment to a teacher or other government figure that is misconstrued can bring the whole lumbering, squint-eyed, bumbling and inept "system" down on parents in two seconds flat. And from that point on, life is never the same. You are guilty until proven innocent, your children are seized and you are a criminal until proven otherwise. Meantime, the giant bottomless pit of Child Protective Services in any given area suck up the child and spit him or her out in any number of perilous places. If the government makes a mistake? Tough luck. Maybe, after two or more years of grinding through the system, they finally decide the parent didn't actually do anything wrong. By that time, the child is forever changed, perhaps even raped or dead from his time in the "system", and the lives of the family are forever damaged. Don't believe these statistics? Read this blog entry complete with back-up links to corroborate data.

I'm hoping, but not sure, that sometimes this system does actually save children from abuse, does actually give them a chance at a better life. Perhaps it does and I've only read about the mistakes, which leads me to the latest mistake. The seizure of women and children at the FLDS ranch in Texas.

If, indeed, it is believed that men have abused young girls there, then perhaps it is THEM that should have been seized? However, right from the beginning, this is a thinly veiled attempt to get rid of a religious compound that makes the locals uncomfortable. It is religious persecution and not "for the children" after all.

The whole invasion was launched from a now proven hoax phone call. The woman who made the fake phone call, claiming to be a young abused FLDS girl who was afraid of her 50 year old husband, has been arrested. She has done this before. So - what do we have? The original complaint was false, so perhaps the government should just apologize and send everyone back home. But if there is another thing I am sure of, once the giant, creaky wheels of government roll forward, they all but cannot be stopped. They WILL continue on, way behind the rush of facts to the contrary, to prosecute "justice" and roll over those poor souls who have been targeted.

As of today, there are upwards of 430 children and untold numbers of agonized mothers whose lives have been marred forever. The damage done to date cannot be undone and will only be compounded as the juggernaut of state rolls relentlessly on.

We are supposed to have religious freedom in this country, but it is tenuous at best. Do not, under any circumstances, bring the Great Eye of government to bear upon you, keep your head under the radar, or you too could be targeted for correction. Unless, of course, you are Muslim. Then, it is not only alright to do whatever it takes to practice your religion, including polygamy, child abuse and honor killings, it is the government's self-appointed job to bend over backward to make the Muslim comfortable as he does so. I am very afraid for homeschoolers, afraid that they may be next. Hopefully, because there are so many, it will be too much for the State to bite off. I am so glad that I have already raised my daughter, and at present, she does not have any children. This is not a good time for children in the US.

If you want lots of intelligent coverage of this event from it's inception, go to The Common Room. In addition, here is a link for photos and videos of the FLDS debacle. Also, here is an editorial from the Houston Chronicle that also agrees the wrong people are being punished.

I do want to make the disclaimer that I do not support polygamy, however, I DO support freedom of religion and due process of law. If there is abuse, then the logical thing to do is to arrest the perpetrator, no matter what religion he may be, and proceed legally, treating him as innocent until proven guilty. Once the alleged abuser is removed from the area of the abused, the abused should be able to continue their life unhindered and unpunished any further.

If you want to start or join a cult that has isolated itself in a self-contained community, then that is your right. If the law is broken there, then legal procedure should be followed, as it would be anywhere else. This has not been done at the FLDS compound. Not at all.

Maybe Something New

For many years my husband and I have wanted to move away from where we live. It's too crowded, too much concrete and city people. We've talked and talked about where we would live. I have come to love Florida and would love to live in North Florida or Georgia - somewhere more rural, but with soft seasons. My husband, on the other hand, has always known where he wants to go - the Northwest.

He is going on a job interview in a few weeks for a job out west - Eastern Oregon, to be more exact - and the thought thrills me and frightens me at the same time. One thing is for sure - how we would sell our present home is a mystery, since the housing market is so severely depressed. I know that our future is in God's hands. I also imagine trying to tell my elderly parents that we won't be 2 hours away any more. That, if it occurs, will be very hard to do.

Part of me is so ready for a change. And part of me is terrified of change. One day at a time - my husband may not even get the job, or, if they do offer it to him, they may offer a poor salary - only time will tell now.

Cool Bug Photos

I finally got around to going through some hoverfly photos I took over a week ago. The camera card was in my computer, but I just kept ignoring it.

This bright green-eyed hover fly was.....hovering.....in my back yard - he was staring at me and I was photographing him. He was beautiful as you will see:






I also discovered a small, neat looking bunch of yellow "stuff" on my car's window - some bug laid some eggs:

I think it might be a spider egg sac. We'll see....

Just A Woman Going Through Menopause - Move On, Move On, No Gawking....

I've been feeling totally uninspired and depressed. I hesitate to post when I feel like that since I have nothing good to say. Why spread the gloom?

Maybe it's menopause. Maybe it's this lousy planet we're stuck on that hasn't been "fixed" by the Lord yet.

Maybe it's Thursday.

Hope to have some better blogposts and even some photos of a non-depressing subject soon....

A Little Treasure I Found

Yesterday, I went to a used bookstore where I found the following little treasure. I thought it was such an unusual and beautiful little book that I scanned the entire thing:

Teens and Sex

"Study Finds 1 in 4 US Teens Has an STD

By LINDSEY TANNER | AP Medical Writer"

Now THAT is a disturbing statistic, if it is accurate. What is even more disturbing is the establishment's so-called solution to the problem. Of course, you guessed it - more education programs. The teens just aren't being educated enough. Supposedly, sex is still a taboo subject. I kid you not.

"At least one in four teenage American girls has a sexually transmitted disease, suggests a first-of-its-kind federal study that startled some adolescent-health experts.
Some doctors said the numbers might be a reflection of both abstinence-only sex education and teens' own sense of invulnerabilty. Because some sexually transmitted infections can cause infertility and cancer, U.S. health officials called for better screening, vaccination and prevention.

Only about half of the girls in the study acknowledged having sex. Some teens define sex as only intercourse, yet other types of intimate behavior including oral sex can spread some diseases.

Among those who admitted having sex, the rate was even more disturbing -- 40 percent had an STD.

'This is pretty shocking,' said Dr. Elizabeth Alderman, an adolescent medicine specialist at Montefiore Medical Center's Children's Hospital in New York.

'To talk about abstinence is not a bad thing,' but teen girls -- and boys too -- need to be informed about how to protect themselves if they do have sex, Alderman said.
'Those numbers are certainly alarming,' said sex education expert Nora Gelperin, who works with a teen-written Web site called sexetc.org. She said they reflect 'the sad state of sex education in our country...'"

..."'Sexuality is still a very taboo subject in our society,' she said. 'Teens tell us that they can't make decisions in the dark and that adults aren't properly preparing them to make responsible decisions.'

Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said the study shows that 'the national policy of promoting abstinence-only programs is a $1.5 billion failure, and teenage girls are paying the real price.'"



I don't know what teenagers she is talking to, but the ones that I have known and spoken to for the past 10 years know more about sex than I do. The problem, in my opinion, is not that they don't know enough - it's that they are very immature and think of the whole subject through TV eyes. Whatever drivel is on TV that depicts physically attractive young people becoming emotionally involved and, as an immediate result, having sex - that is what they base their truth upon. The music they listen to, the movies and TV they watch - and the commercials that tell them what they should want and how to dress, act and behave; and their peer group. This is the arena from which teens get their information.

They also think of their own friends and peers as their family, often more so than their own actual family. Since they feel this way, they don't associate having to use "protection" with those they trust and love. I also think they romanticize sex and/or love. Who wants to stop in the heat of passion and put on a condom, when:
a. one is in love, and,
b. one doesn't want to spoil the moment or the sensation

Abstinence today just isn't an option to the majority of teens. You know the old axiom - "you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink"; well, you can teach the teenager about sex until hell freezes over, but you can't make him take it seriously or act upon the information.

Last, but not least, the condom and other methods of contraception are no true failsafe against venereal diseases. The condom is such a poor protection, and yet it is touted as the veritable wall of safety between the sex organs and possible disease. If it doesn't prevent pregnancy very well, what makes people think it protects against STD's?

And of course, there are other types of sex that don't involve coitus. Those sexual activities are fraught with STD possibilities, and condoms can't even be part of the equation.

Please note who is to blame. According to the teens, it's their parent's and other authority figures' fault for not preparing them to make good decisions. At least we can all breath easy - it's not the teen's fault. It's never their fault. According to Planned Parenthood and others, it's the fault of those who teach abstinence (read "Christians" here). Correct me if I'm wrong, but abstinence hasn't been a major player in sex education for many years. It's all about condoms, "responsible" sex, using "protection" and getting tested periodically (which prevents nothing and is more like barring the gate after the horses escape).

Reading further, one finds out that the 4 diseases that were most prevalent were Genital Herpes, Chlamydia, Human Papilloma Virus and Trichomoniasis. AIDS isn't even mentioned, but I bet that is on the rise, also.

In any case, this is not shocking news, but it is very saddening. Just 60 years ago, sex before marriage was Just Not Done - and if it was, marriage ensued quickly. My, how things have changed.

Last Quote - I Promise

This is my all time favorite. I've used this and the theory behind it a LOT:

"I can't think about that right now. If I do, I'll go crazy. I'll think about that tomorrow."

Of course, that's Scarlet O'Hara after Rhett tells her he doesn't give a damn. I have called this the Scarlet O'Hara method of dealing with things - and I use it often. Instead of worrying about something in the future, or something I can't do anything about right now, anyway - I use her approach - I'll worry about it tomorrow.

I have to admit - it works like a charm.

More Quotes

So now I'm totally cheating. I've used the internet, and here are some more of my all time favorites:

"I'll make him an offer he can't refuse." - Godfather
"Look, Dave, I can see you're really upset about this." - Hal, 2001: A Space Odyssey
"Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore" Dorothy - Wizqard of Oz
"I have always depended on the kindness of strangers." - Blanche - Streetcar Named Desire
"Stellllaaaaaa" - Stanley - Streetcar Named Desire
"Heeere's Johnny" - Jack Nicholson, The Shining
"May the Force Be With You" - obviously, Starwars
"ET phone home" - ET, of course

My brain is still working - I may come up with more....