Idle Musings of the Active Mind

Here’s my position on the issue of abortion and abortion as a political issue.

I see these as two separate issues. I am, like every thinking person in this world, “pro life.” That is to say, I do not believe in committing murder and unwarranted killing of anyone. I find it unfortunate that God seems to disagree with this position in that he sanctions the existence of wars. This is something that is written in the Bible and we are taught that what is written within is the word of God.

I am also disappointed that people in our culture today are so easily hoodwinked into following and/or subscribing to the demagoguery of someone’s political agenda. The term “pro life” is not a confusing term, but it is one that is often misused. The extreme political right would have us believe that people who believe in a woman’s right to choose to terminate a pregnancy is also not “pro life.” The correct term would be “pro abortion,” for if you ask the woman choosing abortion if she also believes in murder or senseless killing, she will tell you she does not.

I would submit that there are extreme situations that are beyond the right of any individual other than the one involved and God to pass judgment on them.

When a woman chooses abortion, it is a matter of spirituality that guides how she is judged and suffers. It is not a matter of political policy that should be allowed to do these things. “Judge not, lest ye yourself be judged.”

Do we want politicians deciding matters of faith? This is an important question, to my way of thinking at least. If we allow them to interfere in the faith-based question of whether or not to choose to have—or perform—an abortion, then what else is fair game for politicians to also decide for us?

But let’s take this matter one step further and think about this in a more detailed and more down-to-earth way…

If a woman is raped, one of the most violent acts against a woman that can be imagined, and out of that violent episode she becomes pregnant, what are her choices?

She can choose to live the next nine months with a daily and constant reminder of that violent episode, then raise the child herself or give the child up for adoption.
…or…
She can choose to terminate the pregnancy, thereby saving herself from the mental anguish and daily infliction of cruelty that not doing so would produce.

Who am I to judge her choice? I am not God. I would not make such a choice for myself (at least I don’t think I would). And I would offer support for any family member who might have to endure the daily pain and suffering such an event might inflict upon them so that they would choose another path besides abortion. But I could not, in good conscience, judge any woman for making what would most definitely be one of the hardest choices in her life. I will leave that to God to do. He is far more wise and knowing than I will ever hope to be.

And I will not force my choice upon others. Given the opportunity, I would guide others to a different choice than to have an abortion. It is up to the person, however, to choose to follow my guidance. If I supported a political candidate who believed there is not a right to choose, that everyone on this earth is not gifted with free will to make the right choices that will lead them to salvation, then I would be doing exactly the opposite of what God encourages us all to do…to exercise free will and make such choices as we are guided to make according to our spiritual conscience.

It is never as simple as vote for this person or that person and we will achieve God’s purpose. I wish it was. Life would be a whole lot simpler.

I’m not a wealthy person. My money doesn’t grow on a tree in the back yard. I work for it like most everyone else. And it drives me crazy to look at application suites like MS Office, then at OpenOffice, and then the price of each. I know there are some nifty features in MS Office, but how many people actually use them enough that they can justify spending the enormous amount of money MS charges for it?

Then see see sites like SoftSales.com and I can’t help but be tempted by it. Maybe it’s a legitimate site. I look at it and my conscience screams, “OMG! ARE THESE PKGS LEGAL? CAN THEY REALLY SELL AT THOSE PRICES??”

I read the FAQ, and they certainly tell a plausible story. That they are selling liquidated product and old or overstock from the manufacturers. But if that were really the case, wouldn’t some big retailer like Walmar or Best Buy do the same thing they’re doing?

And yet, if SoftSales.com is really telling the truth; that they are selling full copies of legal software, then holy buckets! What an amazing find!

*sniffs the air around the site*

I dunno…something doesn’t smell quite right.

I admit. I caught the Obama bug. I wasn’t always an Obama-ite, but after watching the Republican party stoop to such incredible lows during this campaign, I couldn’t, in good conscience, support McCain. And it’s too bad, really. I used to have a lot of respect for John McCain. I didn’t always agree with his positions, but I could at least respect the man. He was clearly a principled man, passionate in his beliefs, and seemed to genuinely care about what went on in our country.

Over the last few months, however, I saw a different man. Worse, I watched as the man I knew as John McCain change and become some other person. And the only glimpse I got of “the old McCain” was when that Minnesota woman asked him outright if Obama was a terrorist and he responded with a well phrased version of “no, he is not.”

What transpired over the final months of this most recent presidential election was a stroke of pure genius for John McCain…if he wanted to alienate a good chunk of the neo-republicans out here. I still consider myself more of a Republican than a Democrat, but I could not bring myself to vote for a man who sold himself out to the radical right. McCain is a conservative, but those who helped his campaign cannot, in my opinion, really call themselves conservative or even ultra-conservative. They are radicals out to push an agenda at any cost.

I don’t know if Obama will be good for us or not. I know change is needed in Washington. I know change is needed in our political system. I heard Obama consistently state his desire to see change happen. If it is the right kind of change, we’ll all reap the rewards. If not…well… *sigh*…we’ll just have to wait and see.

What the hell is up with medical clinics today?! My wife didn’t feel well (killer sore throat) so we went to the Urgent Care clinic. Now, I realize this is a first come, first served deal. And I realize life-threatening emergencies take precedence over a sore throat. I get that. Really, I do.

But 3 hours??

From the time we walked in until the time we walked out, three hours ticked off the clock. The truly amazing thing here is that we spent a total of–AT MOST–8 minutes with clinic staff. Here’s how it went…

We walked in and approached the receptionist. It took 1-2 minutes to confirm my wife had only been there once before and it was not to receive medical care, so we were handed a clipboard, told to fill it out, and return it once complete. We completed it. Handed it back.

We then retook our seats and waited…for 45 minutes before we were finally called to go to the exam room. We were shown to the room, my wife answered a few questions posed by the nurse and she took my wife’s blood pressure. She’s an efficient nurse. 3 minutes tops.

We then waited…for over 2 hours in the exam room for the doctor. She came in, took a cursory glance at my wife’s throat, swabbed it for testing, and left. This took 2 minutes…maybe 3.

15 minutes later, the doctor came back. The test was inconclusive. She prescribed Zithromax. This took 2 minutes. We left.

3 hours spent at the clinic, 8 minutes (tops) with clinic staff.

WHAT IN THE HELL IS WRONG WITH MEDICAL CLINICS?? Do they think OUR time is not worth anything? OMG what an effing joke! As long as I live I will never understand why clinics can’t be more efficient than this.

I stuck my head out of the exam room door a few times to ask what the status was. I was told twice that the doctors (both of them) were busy with emergencies, but they were doing all they could to get to us as quickly as possible.

Okay. Emergencies. I get it. I will wait.

But really, people, when any other business gets swamped with an unusually high volume of business or traffic, they call people in to help out. Why is this not an option in the medical profession?

We were there for 3 hours. When we left, the waiting room was filled to capacity. I have no idea how long those folks were forced to sit and twiddle their thumbs, but I’m betting they had a similar experience.

When did we, as a community of customers–yes, customers–get hoodwinked into thinking it is okay to waste 3 hours for a visit that takes the medical practicitioners 8 minutes to complete?

*sigh*