Teri Schiavo. December 3 1963 - March 31 2005

What do I have to say about Teri Schiavo?

May she rest in God's peace.
May there never again be such a three ring circus surrounding the intimate moments of someone's death.
May we stop appointing ourselves experts because we saw 2 minutes on CNN, before supper.

I think this is what bugs me most about the whole deal. I'll let Bob say it:

Jimmy Ray Slaughter was executed Tuesday. There was no hue and cry from conservative Christians. Dawn Eden was silent. As was The New Pantaguel , Media Culpa, Mere Comment , Peggy Noonan , and almost every other commentator now trying to save Teri Schiavo's life.

Slaughter's death went unnoticed, despite the fact that, as Greg Horton points out, the detective who led the investigation against Slaughter thinks he's innocent, Slaughter had an alibi, and DNA evidence that might have exonerated Slaughter was not allowed at appeal, and "all DNA and lab evidence used against him used testing methods that have subsequently been discredited."

"Dennis Dill, a retired Edmond police office and initial lead investigator on the case, also concedes Slaughter may be innocent. He reportedly stated if the state were to carry out the execution, they will be killing an innocent man. 'If they do this, they might just as well take him out and lynch him,' Dill stated. He contends he was taken off the case because he didn´t feel the investigation was being conducted properly and that police had wrongly focused on Slaughter to the exclusion of other suspects."

Thanks Bob for presenting the case for inconsistency.

Good Changes

It's been an interesting week around the house what with the kids being on Easter break

Hillary's off finding her independence down in California and Mexico. Johanna's off to Saskatoon for a few days to hang out by herself and shop for a grad dress. Micah's stayed the night at friends, and Thomas is coming and going as he wishes.

It's a precursor of sorts.

Within a very short time frame, they will gain that which they have been pushing for all these years, their independence. From the time when Hillary didn't want to eat the green stuff in little jars, to the times Thomas though it fine to walk to school at -25C with just a jacket, no mitts or toque or boots, Lauralea or I made the final decision.

Soon they will make the final decisions, from what to eat to what to wear.

Of course we've been training them all these years, trying to help them learn how to make choices that are wise and good. And some of them love the chance to make the decisions, while others of them occasionally struggle with such power.

And to that end we encourage them and pray for them. But we've also realized that one of the things they've needed in their lives, is parents. Not another set of friends or buddies. They, we, need parents. People who will love us come HOHW. People who will train us and teach us and do the difficult thing with us when it's needed, just because it's needed.

Yes, the relationship will certainly change over the years, but we all need a parent, even if she is old and lost in the fog of Alzheimers. Even if he struggles with the ability to express love to you, we need them.  Parents show us how to live, and will one day show us how to die.

This is amazing, but they are God's true gifts to us. Perhaps we shouldn't be too quick to abdicate that place in our child's life and replace it with a friend-ship. Yes, you can and should one day be friends, but not at the expense of being a dad, or a mom first. 

Sorry, I'm starting to preach. (but heh, I'm a preacher, it's what I do!)

Anyway, like I started to say, this week is turning into a picture of Lauralea's and my future. And I like what I'm seeing, kidwise.

Looks like it will begin shortly. Johanna received word yesterday that she's been awarded a scholarship for a five week course in french studies, in Winnipeg, starting July 3.

This is getting interesting.

Yancey on J.D. Unwin

While much of the media was buzzing about a new survey on sex in modern America released in 1994, I was thinking about a book, Sex and Culture, published in 1934...

Seeking to test the Freudian notion that civilization is a byproduct of repressed sexuality, the scholar J.D. Unwin studied eighty-six different societies. His findings startled many scholars, above all Unwin himself, because all eighty-six demonstrated a direct tie between absolute monogamy and the "expansive energy" of civilization. In other words, sexual fidelity was the single most important predictor of a society's ascendancy.

Unwin had no religious convictions and applied no moral judgement. "I offer no opinion about rightness and wrongness." Nevertheless, he had to conclude, "In human records there is no instance of a society retaining its energy after a complete new generation has inherited a tradition which does not insist on prenuptial and post-nuptial continence."

For Roman, Greek, Sumerian, Moorish, Babylonian, and Anglo-Saxon civilizations, Unwin had several hundred years of history to draw on. He found with no exceptions that these societies flourished, culturally and geographically, during eras that valued sexual fidelity. Inevitably, sexual mores would loosen and the societies would subsequently decline, only to rise again when they returned to more rigid sexual standards.

Unwin seemed at a loss to explain the pattern. "If you ask me why this is so, I reply that I do not know. No scientist does. . . You can describe the process and observe it, but you cannot explain it." Yet the trend so impressed him that he proposed a special class of Alpha citizens in Great Britain. These individuals of unusual promise would take vows of chastity before marriage, all for the sake of the empire, which needed their talents.

. . . Without realizing it, ...Unwin may have subtly edged toward a Christian view of sexuality from which modern society has badly strayed. For the Christian, sex is not an end in itself, but rather a gift from God. Like all such gifts, it must be stewarded according to God's rules, not ours.

Philip Yancy
Finding God in Unexpected Places

ATTENTION, MAY I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION FOR A MOMENT PLEASE?

MEMO: FOR MEN'S EYES ONLY
FROM: THE WORLD HEADQUARTERS OF RANDALLFRIESEN.COM
REGARDING: PUBLIC WASHROOM ETIQUETTE

Gentlemen; (and I use that term very loosely)

It has come to my attention twice today through personal observation, that many of you don't know what that porcelain or metal bowl is for in the public washrooms. You know, the one with a blue dial on one side and a red dial on the other, and when you turn the dials, a small stream flows out from between the dials.

It is entirely appropriate, fitting, and healthy, that when you use a public washroom, for any length of time, and for any purpose residing between the numerals 0 and 3, that after finishing your purpose driven visit, you wash your hands.

This somewhat small activity will provide you with a long and healthy life. It will also contribute to your friends health and general wellbeing.

Consider yourself notified.

Alright, now that you've all seen the memo, things should be different around here.