Random facts: how I chose the title for my blog (in case you were losing sleep, wondering, wondering...)

The phrase "a banner is unfurled," comes from this hymn*:

1. High on the mountain top
A banner is unfurled.
Ye nations, now look up;
It waves to all the world.
In Deseret’s sweet, peaceful land,
On Zion’s mount behold it stand!

2. For God remembers still
His promise made of old
That he on Zion’s hill
Truth’s standard would unfold!
Her light should there attract the gaze
Of all the world in latter days.

3. His house shall there be reared,
His glory to display,
And people shall be heard
In distant lands to say:
We’ll now go up and serve the Lord,
Obey his truth, and learn his word.

4. For there we shall be taught
The law that will go forth,
With truth and wisdom fraught,
To govern all the earth.
Forever there his ways we’ll tread,
And save ourselves with all our dead.

Text: Joel H. Johnson, 1802–1882
Music: Ebenezer Beesley, 1840–1906

Isaiah 2:2–3
Isaiah 5:26

With so many philosophies of men, some "mingled with scripture," it's important to know where to go to find absolute truth.  So, while my political views are my own, my opinions on the sanctity of marriage and family, to which this blog is primarily dedicated, are based on doctrine that is not my own, but which is founded on absolute truth.  The violation of marriage and family carry sobering consequences, and strict warnings.  Waving a banner, or, waving this particular banner (imperfect a banner-waver though I am), which has been unfurled for our time, is my way of standing as a witness, and a way of helping to point the honest in heart, honest seekers for truth, in the right direction.  It's not my truth.  It's not my banner.  But I'm happy to help hold it up, as a guide to the ultimate source of peace and happiness in this life, true liberty, and joy in the hereafter.  If you'd like to know more truth, you'll want to tune in to this conference, coming up this weekend.

*(Update) Hey, whaddaya know?  This hymn was sung to open the conference.  :)

A Pro-Life Manifesto  

Melissa Anderson
Something about being away from my children makes me crazy.  On days I'm not crazy lonesome or crazy melancholy or a crazy shopper buying crazy amounts of children clothing to send to my adorable children, I'm just a mama crazy in love with her babies.  And I wonder where that crazy love went in the rest of the world.
When did we hit the point where we argue about leaving our babies dead in an abortionist's trash can?   
I find myself wondering if people actually sit and think a little aboutall the pre-born baby girls we're killing in the quest for unadulterated women's rights.  It's such a backward argument to say that we must allow for the death of girls to protect rights the women.   We forget about the preborn and we forget about the men who often have absolutely no say whatsoever regarding whether their baby lives or dies.
But even in all my musings I was left with no way to change the world.  I am powerless to fix the state of our children, to open the eyes of a world hell bent on not recognizing the humanity of a heartbeat.  I'm left with no tool at all but a tablet and a pen.  They say that the pen is mightier than the sword, and right now I'm hoping that's true. The whole world lies in hearts and minds of its citizens.  Here is my small contribution to the work of changing the minds of a world.   
Here is my pro-life manifesto to anyone willing to read.  
I am pro-choice. This only means that I am anti-rape and anti-incest.  Only in cases of rape and incest does a woman have no choice.  The rhetoric "pro-choice" diminishes the pain and the heartache felt by women who truly have no choice given to them when they were forced into sexual activity against their will and choice.
I am pro-consequence. When a man and a woman both choose to engage in sexual intercourse, the choice has been made. Pregnancy is the natural consequence of the choice to engage in sexual intercourse.  The choice has been made, next comes only the consequence of that choice.  The preborn must not be permitted to bear the consequences of a man and a woman's choice to engage in sexual activity.
I am pro-family.  I believe in families. I believe in the goodness of women.  In the history of the United States, women were the driving force behind the suffrage movement, education reforms, abolition, emancipation, work force safety and child labor laws.  All of that was accomplished and women have only been able to vote in the United States for less than a hundred years.  Great works are accomplished when a woman works to protect and nurture.  Current trends seek to isolate the woman from her family.   What a woman cannot conquer alone, what a man cannot accomplish alone, a family can.  Families are the most important unit.  Abortion asks that a woman, in her weakest and most vulnerable state, make a decision regarding the life of her own preborn infant, with no counsel other than the abortionist profiting from the death of the child.
I am pro-liberty.  John Stuart Mill was a leading political theorist.  Many would place him in a category with such brilliant political minds as James Madison and Fredrick Douglass.  Mill explained indiscussing democracy and liberty that one person's liberty interest ends where harm to another begins.   For example, my liberty to swing my fist ends where it comes into contact with another's face.  I do not have total and complete liberty.  My liberty of action ceases where another's liberty interest in safety begins.
Such a simple principle in this democracy we all claim to love. We believed such principles as espoused by Mill when they were spoken in regard to a political system, about democracy, so why not now? I stand fast to the principle that such basic political theory as founded our country holds as much truth today as they did then.  A man and woman's liberty interest ends where harm to a preborn infant begins.  We never have complete liberty.  There will always come a point where our individual liberty ceases.  Harm to another.  What is more harmful than to make a beating heart stop beating?
I am pro-bold.   Pro-life is the silent majority.  I will not be silenced.  I will not be swayed by rhetoric aimed at muddying clear issues.  I will not doubt my own positions and I will not begin to believe that my positions are less worthy of defending than someone else's.  I strongly believe that when I personally stop fighting for life, I am just as much to blame as the abortionist.
I am pro-life.  I stand for Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  The foremost among these is Life, as without Life there can be neither liberty nor happiness to protect.
Here's what you can do:                                                                                                            
1.  Legislatures are in session in many states in the U.S. and in parliamentary bodies around the world.  Find out what pro-life bills are being proposed in your state or country and support them. 
2.  Write a letter to the editor, a blog post, or post on your facebook wall your thoughts about the tragedy of abortion and the emptyrhetoric of the "pro-choice" movement.  Share with others your feelings about life and the need to protect it - before birth as well as after.
3.  Find out the positions of your elected representatives and commit to help pro-life/pro-family candidates get elected. 
4.  Treat all those around you with great respect and love.  Let your actions reflect your commitment to the sanctity of life. 
5.   Be an active and articulate voice for the unborn.

Melissa Anderson is a lawyer in San Antonio, Texas. She is the mother of seven crazily adorable children and an author of children's books. In her spare time, Melissa volunteers extensively with Court Appointed Special Advocates educating the community on issues related to child abuse and neglect. 

"What Religious Freedom Requires of Us: Part 6 in a Series on Religious Freedom"

Full article here.

Cause of Death: No Father

"Many children who grow up in non-traditional homes will not suffer violence, and children who grow up in non-traditional homes are not the only ones who commit violent crimes.  Yet non-traditional home life increases the likelihood that children will suffer and inflict crimes like these, and a caring society must do everything it can to restrain and protect them. 

It is unlikely, though, that society will ever be able to replace the essential role of men as fathers who protect, love, and discipline their children.  Our only hope lies in returning to the norm of intact, traditional homes, and that will happen only when we begin to notice how many apparently random crimes can be traced back to the family structure of the suffering children who perpetrate them."

Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/03/cause_of_death_no_father.html#ixzz1qGN31EFI

Touchstone Archives: The Gay Invention

The English Major in me found this very interesting.  Warning:  explicit language in the article (but no cussing)

No really existing class of persons of a specific, distinct nature corresponds to the word “homosexual” in the way that men and women are distinct, complementary kinds of human being. A claim for specific “homosexual rights” is, therefore, frivolous, and the word is merely an ideological construct aimed at undermining the sexual norms inscribed in human nature.

And why does all this matter?  Because at the very bottom of it all, our freedoms of speech and religion hang in the balance.

WHY FIGHT SAME-SEX MARRIAGE? Is There Really That Much at Stake? by Douglas Farrow

"Here we have what is perhaps the most pressing reason why same-sex marriage should be fought, and fought vigorously. It is a reason that neither the proponents nor the opponents of same-sex marriage have properly debated or thought through. In attacking “heterosexual monogamy,” same-sex marriage does away with the very institution—the only institution we have—that exists precisely in order to support the natural family and to affirm its independence from the state. In doing so, it effectively makes every citizen a ward of the state, by turning his or her most fundamental human connections into legal constructs at the state’s gift and disposal.


and


Though our society now applauds almost any kind of “loving” union, it admits no sacramentum but sexual self-expression. Though it professes the highest respect for women, it no longer requires or expects fides from either men or women. Though it preaches progress, it is uncommitted even to proles—that is, to its own secular future. It prattles about children’s rights, but denies them even the right to life. It is a society that no longer knows what love is, and that no longer believes that humans may hope for very much."

Read more:http://www.touchstonemag.com/archives/article.php?id=25-01-024-f#ixzz1qCJ9k5oN

"1965: 'If I Were the Devil' (Warning for a Nation) - Paul Harvey"

"If  I were the devil, I would take from those who have and I would give to those who wanted, until I had killed the incentive of the ambitious. And then, my police state would force everybody back to work. Then, I could separate families, putting children in uniform, women in coal mines, and objectors in slave camps. In other words, if I were Satan, I’d just keep on doing what he’s doing."


Paul Harvey, Good Day.



(I always did like getting "the rest of the story.")

NORWAY: RELIGION AND MORALITY “HAZARDS” TO WOMEN’S RIGHTS Posted on | March 19, 2012 by Timothy Herrmann |

"This past week, it was the United States, Norway, and the European Union that were unwilling to compromise on ideology and to support language that would benefit the health of mothers and rural women, not people of faith. For people of faith, the family is sacred and the mother’s role invaluable. Thus it goes without saying that the health of the women, and the health care she deserves to receive when she is pregnant, are a priority for countries that support traditional values. Unfortunately, for the EU, US, and Nordic countries, the right to abortion was of even greater importance than these values."

At the U.N., the Obama Administration has a one-track agenda

March 15,  2012         
UN Conference on Women:  A Mixed Bag 
What do phrases like "gender transformers," "comprehensive sex education," or endless references to "contraceptive commodities" have to do with a priority theme of: "The empowerment of rural women and their role in poverty and hunger eradication?"  Those are the questions that our UFI team asked themselves for the last two weeks (Feb. 27-March 9) as they engaged in the spectacle known as the UN "Commission on the Status of Women" (CSW).  

Most of the world's poor do live in rural areas and most of the poor are women.  All steps that actually do work in regarding to alleviating their economic plight should be welcomed. But once again, CSW did not stay true to its stated agenda and our United Families team in New York had their hands full trying to stop an obvious anti-family agenda from gaining ground.

There were at least six draft resolutions, three of which dealt most directly with pro-family issues.  Our UFI team followed them very closely and worked with delegates on the various resolutions to not only keep out the bad stuff, but to include some very positive language on family, parental rights, and the importance of religious and cultural values of each member state.  The negotiations included: 

1)  A resolution on the empowerment of rural women and their role in poverty and hunger eradication (Agreed Conclusions)
2) A resolution on eliminating maternal mortality & morbidity
3) A resolution on women, the girl child and HIV and AIDS

Gender, gender, gender....

During the negotiations on the priority theme resolution, a suggestion to include a positive reference to "wives and mothers" and a reference to the "vital role of the family in society" met with stiff resistance while the same resolution included 15 references to "gender" (gender mainstreaming, gender sensitive, gender dimensions, gender equality, gender perspective, gender inequality, gender-stereotypes, gender transformers, and on and on).  The resolution on maternal mortality at one point had 18 similar references to "gender", and the HIV resolution had 29!
This alone serves as a reminder that the UN as a whole and the Commission on the Status of Women in particular is focused on the promotion of radical feminism and that the intentional overuse of "gender" also lays the framework for the promotion of the idea that a person's gender is "fluid"- tying it directly to the homosexual agenda.  Even though in prior UN documents, the definition of "gender" has been clarified as meaning male or female, the United States, the European Union, Canada, and their anti-family allies refused to allow that definition to be added to any of the current resolutions.  That speaks volumes.

Comprehensive Sex Education 

What does "Comprehensive Sex Education" have to do with reducing the number of women who will die during childbirth because of lack of pre-natal and post-natal medical care and the presence of skilled birth attendants during delivery?   We wondered that also as the U.S. and E.U. delegations insisted that that phrase remain in the resolution on reducing maternal mortality.  The U.S. delegation then shut down any effort to immediately qualify the phrase with the addition of consensus parental rights language such as: "recognizing the rights, duties, and responsibilities of parents to direct the education of their children."

Later at a U.S. Briefing, Laurie Phipps, a senior negotiator for the U.S. State Department, gave us the reason for the push.  Phipps stated:  "Here at CSW, we are taking the opportunity to talk about Comprehensive Sex Education because that is something that is a priority for the U.S. government..."  When the briefing ended Laurie Phipps privately acknowledged to an associate that she had "rambled too much" during the briefing and that she was "going to be in trouble" for her statements and that what she had said "would probably end up all over the internet."   We are working to make sure Laurie's prediction comes true and we want to warn you about the inclusion of the adjective "comprehensive" before sex education. 

What exactly is "Comprehensive Sex Education?"  The shortest answer is probably this:  Comprehensive Sex Education is pornography for children.  Those who promote it are seeking to change society by changing sexual and gender norms and that includes training young people to advocate for "sexual rights."  The pro-family coalition actively worked against the U.S. delegation who repeatedly tried to strong-arm and deceive the other delegations into including the phrase "Comprehensive Sex Education."  It was our task to inform and convince these countries of what they would be signing on to if that language were included.  To see an explanation of what is included in "Comprehensive Sex Ed" programs go here. (warning:  contains graphic content)   

Contraception, contraception and more contraception

To the amazement of some long-time UN observers, the delegates from the U.S. attempted to insert "access to contraceptives" at every opportunity - at one point inserting it so many times in the proposed resolution on HIV/AIDS that the representative of the Holy See wryly asked:  "Are we trying to prevent births or HIV?  Contraceptives are for the purpose of preventing conception - not preventing the transmission of HIV."    
It became increasingly clear that the pushing of so much "contraceptive" language may well be an attempt to shore up the Obama administration's highly controversial "contraception mandate"by inserting it into international documents in an attempt to justify it not only to citizens of the U.S., but to the rest of the world.  
Sexual and reproductive health rights and services

It seems no UN conference document or resolution would be complete without the repeated attempts to establish a global "right to abortion" with the ubiquitous inclusion of phrases like "reproductive health services" and "sexual and reproductive rights."  Once again you will see different versions of these phrases inserted multiples of times in the same resolution while sentences and paragraphs promoting true health care for women are conspicuously absent.  

This is a battle that UFI representatives and their pro-family allies fight virtually every UN commission and conference.

An opportunity to showcase real success

This Commission on the Status of Women did give United Families International an opportunity to showcase "Best Practices for Alleviating Poverty of Rural Women and Their Families."  UFI joined with our colleagues at Reach the Children, The Howard Center, and Care for Life for a "parallel event" where we highlighted the Stay Alive Program (HIV prevention program), Care for Life's "Family Preservation Program," sustainable agriculture projects in Kenya, and poverty reduction programs in China.  Many individuals who attended the event commented that it was remarkable to hear about real and effective programs - programs that are actually helping women, children, and their families instead of dealing with the mostly empty rhetoric that is the stock and trade of the UN system.  Thanks to all who helped with this exceptional presentation.

In the end...

After 2+ weeks of pouring over resolutions, inserting and deleting language, monitoring negotiations, and working closely with delegates, we have some good things to report and a not so good thing.  The U.S. sponsored resolution on maternal mortality and morbidity was adopted last Friday - in spite of countless hours of work on the part of the UFI team and other pro-family groups to strip it of some very anti-life and anti-family language.  We will be doing "damage control" from this resolution for years to come.  We found we couldn't compete effectively with the lack of transparency of the closed negotiations (mostly held within the U.S. Mission complex) and the less-than-honest manipulations of a highly-aggressive U.S. delegation.   

On the good news side of the ledger, the resolution on the HIV was "tabled" with a possibility of the topic being revisited next year.   The negotiation of the resolution on rural women and poverty eradication (also referred to as "Agreed Conclusions") had not been completed by last Friday's deadline and was continuing into this week.   As of a few hours ago, negotiations ended and this resolution also failed to reach consensus.  A few sources are laying the failure at the feet of the U.S. delegation that refused to budge off their agenda of pushing things like "sexual and reproductive health rights" and "comprehensive sex ed" language.

Although possibly harmful to careers of UN diplomats, for those in the pro-life/pro-family world, the failure of the negotiating delegations to reach agreement on a resolution is not a bad ending.  We express gratitude to those brave delegates who stood firm and refused to bow to the pressure from the anti-family delegations from the European Union, Canada, Australia, U.S. and from a couple of Latin America countries (list is certainly not exhaustive). 
We thank our UFI team (Kelli Houghton, Diana Lacey, Esme Weathers, Marcia Barlow, and Mike Lacey) and all of you who generously support our efforts.  We do it for you and can't do it without you. Together we will continue to secure a future for the family.

Sincerely,

Carol Soelberg,
President, United Families International

"The Grand Enterprise of Mormonism"

"All mankind is interconnected and responsible toward one another. The separations and deprivations that time and place have imposed on humanity will ultimately be erased..."


Article here.


An interesting video showing worldwide LDS growth (a little dated, but you'll get the idea.)

The Fertility Implosion By DAVID BROOKS

Dwindling marriage rates and a "fertility implosion."  Humanity is really hacking at both roots and branches of our family tree, aren't we?  

"Religion’s Vital Place in Society: Part 5 in a Series on Religious Freedom"

"'[We] have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion.'http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/religions-vital-place-society— John Adams

Religious instruction and belief remain today the lifeblood of society’s moral ethos. Not only does religion teach virtue, it catalyzes moral action. As such, religion plays an essential societal role warranting special consideration."

GLAAD to be totalitarian, byDAVID KRAYDEN

"Clearly we have reached a new level in society’s attitudes towards homosexuality.  The yardstick of political correctness has subtly but undeniably been stretched from tolerance to acceptance to promotion – and now it is insistence, insistence that religious opinion and “people of faith” accept the homosexual lifestyle without question, without remorse, without further comments—especially to networks like CNN.  At least no one – yet – is suggesting that Cameron should not be allowed to work in films because his opinions are too odious and corrosive for public viewing.

This insistence is profoundly totalitarian in scope and intent while being completely at odds with basic democratic freedoms – in particular a certain freedom which we used to have called freedom of religion.  No one can demand that people think in a certain way or that the only acceptable “people of faith” are the ones who won’t disagree or “condemn” your lifestyle choices."http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/glaad-to-be-totalitarian?utm_source=LifeSiteNews.com+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=d2652abd16-LifeSiteNews_com_US_Headlines_03_07_2012&utm_medium=email

"Demographic Winter is Crippling the Economy" by Stefano Gennarini

"This very year, for the first time in U.S. history, the population of senior citizens rises faster than the working-age population. Less than 10 years ago, when the baby boomers’ kids were coming into the labor force and the very skimpy roster of Depression babies was retiring, we had 10 new additions to the working-age cadre for each one new senior citizen.

It goes to 10-to-1 in the opposite direction in 10 years. There will be 10 new senior citizens for each new working-age citizen. If that’s not a political, economic and capital-markets game changer, I don’t know what is."

http://www.turtlebayandbeyond.org/2012/demography/demographic-changes-hurt-babyboomer-pockets/

Family Home Evening

Every Monday night is family night, a.k.a. Family Home Evening.  We're super busy during the week, with school, piano lessons, Scouts, Church activities, water polo, swim team, early morning seminary, and work.  Our day starts at 5, for some of us, and doesn't end 'til 11-ish, most of the time.  We have a child in every level of school, from pre-K to high school, so you can imagine our schedules are all over the place.  So, we set aside Monday night for just us.

We don't do anything elaborate for Family night.  We make sure to include a formal welcome to each child, an opening song, and an opening prayer.  We go over the calendar for the week, so we know who's going where, and when.  We briefly discuss any concerns, issues, etc., any family member might have.  We include a short 10 minute lesson on our Church's doctrine.  We have the children conduct the meeting, direct the songs, offer the prayers, plan the fun activity, help make the treat, or teach the lesson.  We play a game or do something fun, after the lesson.  For a few weeks, my husband was starting off Family Home Evening with a silly fitness challenge, like who could balance on one foot the longest, or, who can do a hand stand against the wall the longest.  The kids eat that kind of thing up!  At the end of the evening, we might have a treat (fresh or frozen fruit smoothies are a favorite).  Tonight our lesson was about the importance of the family unit, and how to strengthen our family.  Each family member contributed to the lesson. Afterwards, we played "Apples to Apples."  We had a slice of warm, homemade wheat bread, fresh from the oven, with butter and cinnamon sugar.  Ummmmmmmm.  Family prayer and our usual brush-teeth/pack school lunches/ bedtime story/ homework for older kids ritual follows.

Our family night isn't fancy ('cause we're not fancy), but we try to be consistent.  Sometimes other families join us, or one of our kids will include a friend.  Consistency is the most important aspect.  It's part of our family traditions.  The kids look forward to it every week.  Family Home Evening bonds us together, builds cherished memories, and provides a foundation for doctrinal instruction.  It's a legacy I'll pass on to my children, and hopefully, they to theirs.  

Population expert: China must end brutal one-child policy or face collapse

Reading the article reminds me of this warning:

THE FIRST COMMANDMENT that God gave to Adam and Eve pertained to their potential for parenthood as husband and wife. We declare that God’s commandment for His children to multiply and replenish the earth remains in force. We further declare that God has commanded that the sacred powers of procreation are to be employed only between man and woman, lawfully wedded as husband and wife.
WE DECLARE the means by which mortal life is created to be divinely appointed. We affirm the sanctity of life and of its importance in God’s eternal plan.
...


...[W]e warn that the disintegration of the family will bring upon individuals, communities, and nations the calamities foretold by ancient and modern prophets. 

"More Kids Makes More 'Cents'"

I'm going to vouch for buying food in bulk, as well as the nutritional and economic benefits of cooking fresh food from scratch, and also for the beauty of hand-me-downs. And, in bigger families, there's always someone to play with; kids learn the difference between needs and wants, and what really matters in life. 'Course, in a bigger family, having a married mom and dad makes the chances for success that much greater.

"Obama's contraception deception" By John Lott

"Offering free contraceptives is an obvious ploy for female voter, but for it to work, women have to believe that they can get something for nothing. This has been Obama's strategy for ObamaCare all along. -- He's always promised lower insurance costs while mandating all sorts of new coverage.

Yet, even if Americans don't understand economics, they need only look at Obama's broken promises to lower insurance costs. During the first year after ObamaCare was passed, the average annual cost for employer-sponsored health care plans went up by 9 percent."

This blatant subversion of the 1st Amendment reminds me of this verse of scripture.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/03/01/obamas-contraception-deception/#ixzz1nyZq47JT