CROSSVILLE —
Each year during Women’s History Month we remember and honor the gutsy women, both known and unknown, who have fought for any privilege women have today. This year I choose to honor a man, the 39th President of the United States, James Earl Carter Jr.
In 2009, upon leaving the church he had been associated with for more than 60 years, the former president released a statement titled “Losing my Religion to Equality.” The decision, he said, was unavoidable after the church leaders prohibited women from being ordained and insisted they be subservient to their husbands. “The truth is that male religious leaders have had—and still have—an option to interpret holy teachings either to exalt or subjugate women. They have for their own selfish ends overwhelmingly chosen the latter.”
We have abundant proof of that in the present assault on women. Religious zealots have waded into the political fray, claiming that contraception in health insurance plans violates religious freedom and that proposed laws to mandate medically unnecessary and physically invasive ultrasounds are just efforts to provide women with information. Both claims are bogus. There has been no attempt to restrict religious freedom, and mandated ultrasounds are just a means to shame and punish women.
Idaho State Sen. Chuck Winder made it clear that punishing women who have sex is the real motivation for his “double ultrasound” bill. After all, Winder suggested, women can’t be trusted to make a decision like seeking an abortion because they don’t even understand when they’ve been raped. Whoa. If the Senator spent some time in a prison cell with someone known as Big Bull, do you think he would understand what happened to him?
In an article on the ideological debates about abortion, one doctor said: “What I have learned from my patients is that violent, graphic descriptions or philosophical discussions about when a fetus becomes a person don’t sway their decisions. Whether or not they can articulate their moral, cultural, or religious beliefs, they already follow some internal creed that brought them to my doorstep. They come seeking a doctor, a counselor to guide them through a difficult, confusing choice because they have been inundated with political sound bites, folklore, and patriarchy. What they need are facts and a confidential, non-judgmental space to work out their apprehensions about pregnancy and motherhood.”
It seems that using the Puritanism club to shame and punish women isn’t enough. Although more than three women are, on average, murdered by their husbands or boyfriends every day, Republican politicians are balking at re-authorizing the Violence Against Women Act. If you need further proof that we are in the midst of a patriarchal religious war on women, Wisconsin lawmaker Don Pridemore is happy to provide it. He suggests that rather than divorcing an abusive spouse, you should remember the things you love about him. Right. While he is beating you up, think about the good times. Until he kills you.
Many men who claim to want smaller government seem to see no contradiction in promoting government activism on behalf of one particular concept of religious morality. They have a faith-based presumption that they know all that needs to be known about women’s healthcare. Sorry, guys, but if you can’t get pregnant and you are not a medical professional, then you have no credentials at the abortion/birth-control table.
Conservative politicians who choose to continue down this road should remember that they were all brought into this world by women, and can be voted out of office by women.
Opinion
WE THE PEOPLE: Thank you, Mr. President
- Opinion
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LION AND THE LAMB: More than meets the eye
It was a quiet Saturday afternoon, and my wife Sheral suggested I join her on a shopping trip. In Crossville Sheral went inside a store and I stayed outside looking at the bargain specials. My mind was in neutral, so I almost missed the little boy’s question. He was about seven or eight, evidently had just seen his first Amish family, and they had seemed very strange to him.
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WE THE PEOPLE: No time to govern
Bob Dole’s tribute to George McGovern at the time of his death last year was both beautiful and touching. Speaking of the friendship they shared and the work they did together during their time in the Senate and later in retirement, Dole said McGovern “was one of the finest public servants I ever had the privilege to know.” He went on to say that they knew what they had in common was far more important than their different political philosophies.
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TIDBITS: Be wary of home improvement shows
Sometimes I think home improvement stores need a screening tool of some sort, perhaps some kind of licensing or reference check. For example, before one can walk in and buy that handy dandy table saw, they need three people to vouch that they aren’t likely to cut off a bodily appendage.
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STUMPTALK: Obama’s Benghazi betrayal
“Betrayal” is an ugly word. “To fail or desert especially in a time of need.” Those who pay attention to the actions of Obama are justified in saying we have been betrayed. Think about the IRS and DOJ debacles. Clearly our ambassador and his staff at the Benghazi consulate were betrayed, deserted in their time of mortal need. Obama allowed them to be murdered.
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Lion and the Lamb: When schools go beyond the three Rs
The three Rs, reading, ‘riting and ‘rithmetic, have always been at the foundation of education in Cumberland County. Recently, however, a fourth R has been added — religion. In permission was granted representatives of The Gideons International to distribute Bibles to fifth-graders in the Brown Elementary School in Crossville, and this took place April 11.
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We the People: Your vote — use it or lose it
A powerful faction within the Republican Party is determined to downsize our federal government. They want to reshape programs that originated to protect common folks like us.
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Stumptalk: The elephant in the room
I recently saw video footage of the president surrounded by the heads of all the services; they had assembled to address the continuing and scandalous problem of sexual harassment in the armed forces. The elephant in the room, of course, was young women in the military serving in close quarters with young men.
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We the People: Reality check, anyone?
Harry Truman had a birthday anniversary in early May. Harry was proud of being from the “show me” state. Republicans who aspire to stop all progress and set the clock back should take a lesson from Truman. He did something besides complain and obstruct progress.
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The Lion and the Lamb: The devil and the IRS
National news these past several weeks has focused on a scandal in the Internal Revenue Service. IRS agents have been targeting Tea Party and other conservative groups for additional scrutiny when they applied for tax-exempt status. As this story developed over the past several weeks, however, it has become apparent that the IRS problem is much greater than the complaints raised by the Tea Party.
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Tidbits: What's in a name?
Being born in the time before routine ultrasounds, my parents thought I was going to be a boy. I'm not sure if mom was carrying high or low, or if the wedding ring on a string went one way or the other, or what other old wives tale was used to determine I would be a he rather than a she, but that's what they thought and that's how they prepared.
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