Oy… I seem to be on a Mike Huckabee spree. But with fodder like this, it’s really a shame there is a writers strike on in Hollywood! The talk shows would have a field day.
Can you imagine a candidate for the presidency of the United States of America every having signed a pledge that calls for the subjugation of half of the American population? This is as ludicrous as it comes. First the HIV/AIDS blunder (even the righties seem to be stumped on that one). Now this massive can of worms. Andrew Sullivan offers that this is why the Dems don’t seem too eager to pounce on the Huckster yet.
I’ve been reading some of the webweed* about the admittedly very large family of Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar, most of it not flattering to the parents. It got me to thinking. Who gets to define what is a proper family size, a nurturing family? Who is the decider-in-chief of the “healthy” family, be it in size, configuration, economic level, religion?
The Duggars now have 17 children. They perhaps want more. They are relatively young and they could ostensibly have several more babies before their fertile period ends. From everything I’ve been able to read that wasn’t pure conjecture and opinion, the Duggars seem to be a cohesive and loving family and Michelle seems to be happy with her fecund biology. They are fundamental Christians with a decidedly pro-life stance. They homeschool their children. At this time in their lives they are debt free.
Some things about this couple I admire. Some things are definitely not my style. The whole patriarchial system involved in fundamental Christianity, with it’s implicit Father-As-Final-Authority characteristic, is a huge turnoff for me. I know firsthand what kind of pressure can be placed on women to subjugate themselves, but the majority of fundamental Christian women I’ve known are not brainless twits unable or unwilling to think for themselves. Michelle Duggar doesn’t strike me as one of the dumb ones. If she wishes to have an unusually large family — one that she and her husband can obviously support and tend to without public assistance — who are we as Jane/John Q Public to say that she is wrong? Different? Yes. Wrong? Who knows?
As a lesbian mother and grandmother, as someone who has been marginalized to the point of not having a “proper” title for my significant other, I’m not going to be one who judges the rightness or wrongness of someone’s choice of family makeup. As a pro-choice woman I feel very, very strongly that women should be able to have no children and should be given the option of abortion if she so chooses; she should also be able to have 17 or 20 children if she is able to take care of them responsibly. I get to choose which suits me. I do not get to choose which of those options suits anyone else. And neither do the rest of us.
If we wish to claim the real pro-choice position, we must celebrate the Duggars in their extensive family.
And you have to admit — Christmas in that household must be one helluva party.
*Stuff that just seems to crop up and spread like kudzu.
The narrowmindedness of some persons just astounds me. It still does.
Here is video of a Hindu chaplain trying to deliver the invocation in the Senate chambers today. Apparently, the three disrupters are members of a right-wing anti-abortion group.
According to Friendly Atheist some think that is just not right: (Some blockquoting issues — everything following is from Friendly Atheist).
On Thursday, a Hindu Chaplain from Nevada will deliver the opening prayer for the U.S. Senate.
Here are somethingsRajan Zed has said about his upcoming speaking engagement:
“I believe that despite our philosophical differences, we should work together for the common objectives of human improvement, love, and respect for others.”
…
[The prayer will be] “universal in approach.”
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“July 12 will be an illustrious day for all Americans and a memorable day for Indian Americans when prayers from ancient Hindu scriptures will be read in the great hall of democracy.”
Yes, we can argue about the prayer being read in the Senate in the first place, but while it’s there, it should be open to everyone. Including polytheists and atheists.
On Thursday, a Hindu chaplain from Reno, Nevada, by the name of Rajan Zed is scheduled to deliver the opening prayer in the U.S. Senate. Zed tells the Las Vegas Sun that in his prayer he will likely include references to ancient Hindu scriptures, including Rig Veda, Upanishards, and Bhagavard-Gita. Historians believe it will be the first Hindu prayer ever read at the Senate since it was formed in 1789.
WallBuilders president David Barton is questioning why the U.S. government is seeking the invocation of a non-monotheistic god. Barton points out that since Hindus worship multiple gods, the prayer will be completely outside the American paradigm, flying in the face of the American motto “One Nation Under God.”
