Judge Not, Yet Ye Be Judged

I’m behind on so many posts that I want to write – Ferguson, terrorism, etc. My actual day job is getting in the way of my life job, but I just got a little fired up so I figured I’d write about it. At this point you’ve probably figured out that I am a Christian. After almost 13 years of not attending church regularly, except for the 12 times I was a bridesmaid, I started going again after I turned 30. I thought it might help my singleness – desperate times, call for desperate measures- and while I may still be single it has provided me with a tremendous outlet for service to others.

I happen to be a United Methodist and if you don’t know much about Christian denominations I jokingly say we are like the Democrats of Christianity or there isn’t a social cause we haven’t championed. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m fully aware that as with anything there are hypocrites and people that turn Christianity and the big JC’s words around on other people in order for it to fit their own agenda. I always say, “Don’t confuse God with something mankind is doing. Once mankind gets involved we will figure out a way to fuck it up.” We’re human, we’re flawed.

So, this leads me to my post. I follow the United Methodist Women on social media and this group has been serving the needs of local and world communities for years. Today, they posted a link about a recent report they did in Nepal about helping needy children get the nutrients they need in order to thrive and survive. In that post they asked for others to share what they’re doing in their community to help improve maternal, child and reproductive health. Those last two words is what got me all fired up. Another woman on the site said the following: What is “reproductive health?” Seriously, it sounds like a Planned Parenthood catch phrase.

And yes my friends that’s what this nice Christian lady who is supposed to love and provide for everyone had to say about that. Good ole’ Planned Parenthood, you know the demon organization that provides other life saving healthcare services besides abortions to women who are in need. I’m proud to say that Dallas will open one of the first clinics that meets stringent new laws imposed by the state of Texas on abortion clinics. If you remember the epic Wendy Davis filibuster that’s what she was bustering about.

Thankfully I’ve never had to make the choice of whether or not to have an abortion; but I know plenty of women who have. Just because it isn’t something that I would do doesn’t give me the right to judge. I believe in a woman’s right to do what she wants with her body. If you don’t agree with abortion, don’t get one and leave everything else up to her and her God.

Jesus was the ultimate human rights activist – he died for freedom of speech – where once we were told an eye for an eye he said turn the other cheek, when the Pharisees were after him to try and trap him with his words and accuse him of blasphemy (a crime punishable by death back in the day, and in some 3rd world countries still today) asked what the greatest commandment was he said this: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind. That is the greatest commandment. And the second is like it. Love your neighbor as yourself.”

So with that I’ll leave you with my post back to my lovely friend who apparently missed these passages.

Post from UMW: Read our maternal and child health story from Nepal: bit.ly/VOCXd0. Then share your own story! What are you doing to improve maternal, child and reproductive health in your community or around the world? Share your success stories and challenges right here on our Facebook page, and get inspired to take action!

Follower’s post: What is “reproductive health?” Seriously, it sounds like a Planned Parenthood catch phrase.

My response: Reproductive health is defined by WHO as the the entire reproductive system and the healthy maintenance of that system. It could be a Planned Parenthood catch phrase since they provide life saving services like mammograms and pap smears to women who do not have access to adequate health care. One of our human rights as outlined in the UN Declaration of Human Rights is the right to healthcare; something people in our own country and many countries around the world do not have. Women and children in developing nations are especially susceptible to reproductive health issues during and after child birth. As a United Methodist I am extremely proud of this church’s staunch support of basic human rights. You don’t have to agree with everything, and if you don’t like something don’t do it, but judge not least ye be judged on anything that does not pertain directly to you as a person.

 

Is There Hope for Iraq?

I go away for a few days to visit my family and it’s as if the world is ending. We have another cease fire in Israel that I am hoping will last and now the world’s attention is focused on Iraq and the murderous rampage of ISIS. I’ve been watching most of the summer as ISIS militants filtered out of Syria into Iraq and began murdering innocent men, women and children – the majority of them from Iraq’s Christian and Yazidi minorities.

Secretary of State John Kerry, in a press conference on June 22, stated that, “What is happening in Iraq is not happening because of the United States in terms of the current crisis.” I’m confused as to where he’s been for the past 10 years because what’s happening in Iraq is due in large part to the US. Part of the reason ISIS has been able to make so much ground into Iraq is because of lack of leadership in the Iraqi government and the United States’ weak foreign policy.

In the past few years the US government’s ambivalent attitude toward the Middle East has provided violent militants with the leeway needed to rise to power. Our vacillating on Syria, removal of troops from Iraq and soon Afghanistan and the mishandling of the Benghazi scandal have all shown the US to be inept in foreign policy. I’m not saying we need a war – in fact that’s the last thing we need. There are other ways to show strong foreign policy without starting a war. We never should have been in Iraq in the first place, but that’s a whole ‘nother story.

ISIS has murdered members of the military, often beheading them and posting their heads on stakes or crucifying them. They’ve turned their guns on Iraq’s minority Christian and Yazidi population trapping thousands of refugees in the Sinjar Mountains where they risked death from dehydration and starvation. Ironically it’s the Kurdish armed forces who have been the saviors in Iraq’s most recent conflict. Once the target of Saddam Hussein’s chemical weapons attacks during the Iraq – Iran War; the Kurdish people, now possibly being armed by the CIA, have stood their ground to protect these minority groups and themselves. This most recent conflict may provide the Kurds with the very ammunition they need to once and for all get their own country of Kurdistan.

As refugees flee into war-torn Syria the US government has finally begun to take action against ISIS and its rampage. We’ve known about ISIS’ rise to power for weeks, a group so vicious even Al Qaeda wants nothing to do with them, and what happens in Iraq over the next few weeks could have devastating consequences on the future stability of the extremely unstable Middle East.