Daily Dose of Common Sense

"If you complain of neglect of education in sons, what shall I say with regard to daughters, who every day experience the want of it? With regard to the education of my own children, I find myself soon out of my depth, destitute and deficient in every part of education. I most sincerely wish ... that our new Constitution may be distinguished for encouraging learning and virtue. If we mean to have heroes, statesmen, and philosophers, we should have learned women." - Abigail Adams (1744–1818), U.S. matriarch; wife and mother of United States President. Familiar Letters of John Adams and His Wife Abigail Adams, During the Revolution, letter dated August 14, 1776 (1875).

Amen.

(Hat tip to Thursday's Musings)

Candy Gone AWOL

My dear husband, Mr. Bee, likes watching pro-wrestling (but I love him anyway). In pro-wrestling quite often one of the stars will get "jumped" backstage or in the parking garage, or seemed to be seriously injured in the ring. Mr. Bee always assures me (& our littler kids) that if it is on camera it is a "work." That means it is scripted, planned, a part of the show. You see it because they want you to see it.

At first I thought Candy deleting her blog was a "work". She's done it before, only to put it back up after a couple of days. But this time seems a bit different, it isn't just the blog that's gone -- it's everything else (Facebook, PhotoBucket, etc.) too, even her husband's pages. Strange & more than a little creepy.

I have theories, but I'm not going to go there...what I want to say is that Real Life has a way of grabbing our attention when we are busy doing other things and I pray whatever has happened that no one is ill or has been harmed. Since it isn't a "work" then it really isn't any of my business, but I admit I am curious (yes, shame on me).

In a odd way Candy is like a friend, I feel she is someone I know fairly well having read her blog for the past several years. I disagree with her at times -- and agree with her at times! It'll be a weird blog-o-sphere without her.

...because of the angels

That is why a wife ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels. - 1Cor 11:10

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Hurtful are women, my children; because, since they have no power or strength over the man, they act subtly through outward guise how they may draw him to themselves; and whom they cannot overcome by strength, him they overcome by craft. For moreover the angel of God told me concerning them, and taught me that women are overcome by the spirit of fornication more than men, and they devise in their heart against men; and by means of their adornment they deceive first their minds, and instil the poison by the glance of their eye, and then they take them captive by their doings, for a woman cannot overcome a man by force.

Therefore flee fornication, my children, and command your wives and your daughters that they adorn not their heads and their faces; because every woman who acts deceitfully in these things has been reserved to everlasting punishment. For thus they allured the Watchers before the flood; and as these continually beheld them, they fell into desire each of the other, and they conceived the act in their mind, and changed themselves into the shape of men, and appeared to them in their congress with their husbands; and the women, having in their minds desire toward their apparitions, gave birth to giants, for the Watchers appeared to them as reaching even unto heaven. - The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs: The Testament of Reuben Concerning Thoughts.

Interesting...

Ideals & Idealism (a rerun in honor of the 90th Anniversary of the 19th Amendment)

[Originally posted September of 2008] My oldest has turned 18 and is preparing to vote for the very first time. She is looking carefully at the candidates and weighing her choices quite seriously. There are several local and state contests, as well as the highly publicized national election. I am proud of her and how responsible she has become. I dare say quite a few of our adult citizens could learn a lesson from her.

I've been thinking a lot lately about suffrage. I wrote a paper in high school about the women's suffrage movement. While I don't recall a single word of the essay, I do remember asking my mom if my grandmothers had marched in picket lines and if they had shared with her what it was like to vote for the very first time (they would have been 32 and 34 in 1920). To my great disappointment, my grandmothers not only didn't picket, they never voted. Not once. My teenage-self was shocked! Embarrassed! Appalled! All those big teenage emotions!

My adult-self is much more understanding.

Reality check: Some women were for women's suffrage. Some were anti-suffrage. Most were apathetic.

The anti-suffrage women were by-and-large part of a group labeled the Cult of Domesticity or Cult of True Womanhood. The domesticity cult believed "true women" would possess these four virtues:

1. Piety - women were believed to be more religious and spiritual than men

2. Purity - pure in heart, mind, and body

3. Submission - held in "perpetual childhood" where men dictated all actions and decisions

4. Domesticity - a division between work and home; men went out in the world to earn a living, home became the woman's domain where a wife created a "haven in a heartless world" for her husband and children. [source: Wikipedia]

On the flip-side the suffragettes argued that women would bring a moral voice to elections and surely with women voting, corruption and vice in politics would be eliminated. The needs of children would be women's focus.

Both sides of the issue had high ideals. The Antis painted a beautiful, romantic picture of home life. Happy and peaceful. The Suffragettes implored us to put our values into action and use our vote to improve the human condition. Make the world a better place for all.

88+ years later women are still divided. The Cult of Domesticity still exists - visit any number of the so-called "Proverbs 31 woman" sites. They remain small in number and virtually invisible to the public eye. In this election they won't vote for McCain/Palin (unless their husbands tell them to) because McCain is a moderate and they believe Palin should be home taking care of her family.


The suffragettes mutated into liberal feminism....Since I can't think of a single nice thing to say about liberal feminists, I'll say nothing at all. They won't vote for McCain/Palin because they vehemently despise McCain & Palin.


The majority, then and now, are somewhere in the middle. Just the same as my grandmothers. You see, Grandma Myrtle and Grandma Iris didn't vote because they didn't follow politics. They weren't cult of domesticity types, both were wage earners. Although the census says "homemaker" the reality was they earned money by taking in laundry, cleaning houses, and working seasonally at the canning factory. Plus they raised 11 and 10 children respectively. The majority of women have always fallen into this category. Hard working, family loving, quietly doing what needs to be done.


The ideals of the suffragettes are still alive and reside somewhere in the middle, with the women like my daughter who still believe their vote matters and they can change the world for the better from the ballot box. And perhaps she is right, perhaps her generation can succeed where the past 3 have failed miserably.

She has already succeeded in making this cynic a bit more idealistic.

Couldn't have said it better myself

"The man who is ostentatious of his modesty is twin to the statue that wears a fig leaf."

- Mark Twain

Salute to Legalism Part 3

He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” --Luke 18:9-14

Who is the legalist? The one who brags about his or her righteous acts, or the one who does not? We are redeemed by God's mercy, not by how we act or what we wear, and that should leave us feeling very humbled. Very humbled indeed.