Some “What Ifs” of Gay Marriage

Rachel Allison

All four of my sons are Eagle Scouts.  I helped all four of them prepare for any situation as they packed for those monthly campouts and annual scout camps.  I watched them think through the “what ifs” of all the situations for which the scouting program is famous. Our sons learned to analyze the possible problems and prepare accordingly for each eventuality. By the time they earned their Eagle status they got pretty good at it.  Fifteen years’ involvement in the scouting program taught me the importance of being prepared.  I learned to analyze and mentally document the “what ifs” of my own life and that of my family.  I also learned that I can’t just hope for a positive outcome.  I have to analyze, work, study and sacrifice so the outcomes or consequences of my decisions are best for my family.

Enter the Gay marriage movement.  I have to admit that much of the pro-Gay rhetoric is convincing.  “Two people love each other.”  “They are responsible adults.”  “They deserve to be happily married under the law.”

Where should I stand on this issue?   Let me analyze from a mother/grandmother’s perspective.

We are a family who believes in God and the Bible.  I can’t force others, nor do I want to force others to believe as we do.  But if I accept gay marriage, the “what ifs” tell me that my Pastor might be prosecuted and even jailed if he preaches against the gay lifestyle. …or if he refuses to perform a marriage ceremony.  It has happened in other parts of the world.  It could happen here.  Could the Gay movement then become so emboldened as to shut the doors of my church, which would infringe on my families’ weekly devotionals?  As I watch the Constitution being violated on several fronts already, I must stand by principles that protect my religion and my right to worship.  My faith is too dear to not seriously analyze that “what if.”

Do I want my grandchildren reading about “Prince Ferdinand” and “Prince Edmond” who marry and live happily ever after? No I do not.  But it is already happening, in many of the elementary schools across our nation.  If gay marriage is legalized, the advancement of that type of propaganda will increase more and more blatantly as the years pass. Why?  Because there are many leaders in the Gay community who want to indoctrinate.  These leaders will not be content with just getting the right to marry. As I have done my research, I have seen it.  This indoctrination is blatant. And I don’t want my grandchildren confused by this in-your-face rhetoric from the gay advocates with a proselyting agenda. Again, I have done my homework.  I have been to their meetings.  There are Gays who are openly proselyting.

The Gay movement is well-organized.  There are battles being fought on all sides. They now appear to be gaining major ground with respect to the Boy Scouts of America.  I know there are Gays whose only purpose is to become a part of the scouting movement. But when one defines himself by his sexual practices, innocent boys will too quickly become not so innocent.  Nope.  I would not be willing to expose my sons to that education at the young age of 11 and 12.

I don’t pretend to be all knowing on this subject.  But I have studied and observed.  Gay marriage is just one major step of their agenda, but there are many more steps waiting to be implemented when the Gay-marriage laws are in place. I hope that we aren’t so naïve as to think this gay movement is just about the love of two responsible adults being given the right to marry.   For many Gays, the agenda is much more far-reaching.  If you don’t believe me, do your homework and you will begin to recognize all the “what ifs.”

Education- Phase 2 The Nose Dive

Maddi Gillel

Editor’s note:  This is the second in a series on education.  To see “The High Water Mark,” go here.

The second phase began around 1887.  There were those who wanted to experiment with ideas to make changes in the system:

1-The populist movement demanded that the federal government use income taxes to confiscate some of the property of the rich and redistribute it among the lower economic classes

2-  Industrial and financial leaders  wanted to influence the federal government to forcefully regulate our economy and limit competition at home and abroad.

3-  A group of political leaders and economists wanted to try the theories of socialism (which means government  ownership and control of production and distribution).

4-   Leading intellectuals rejected the spiritual and moral foundation of the American formula and wanted it eliminated from education.

The Founders had pronounced all of these ideas formulas for failure and warned of their destruction to the American system.  These 4 ‘experiments’ began to infiltrate  every aspect of our  society, and serious erosion began.

Five independent studies by leading educators across the country began calling for a return to basics.   A report from the National Commission on Excellence in Education declared: “The educational foundations of our society are presently being eroded by a rising tide of mediocrity that threatens our very future as a Nation and a people.”  (US Department of Education, “A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform”)

The commission found serious danger signals, such as:

“Over 3 million American adults were functionally illiterate by the simplest tests of everyday reading, writing, and comprehension.

About 13 percent of all 17 year olds in the US could be considered functionally illiterate.

Between 1975 and 1980, remedial math in public 4-year colleges increased by 72 percent .

Business and military leaders were required to spend millions of dollars on costly remedial education and training programs  for reading, writing, spelling and computation. “

During the 2^nd cycle, the moral and social quality of our culture was in serious decline. White collar crime skyrocketed;   divorce became far more common; more babies in gestation were destroyed by abortion than were born alive; promiscuous sexuality among the youth created  a wave of unwed mothers and illegitimate children, and the social destabilization which results from these problems; sexual depravity in some of its most bizarre forms began to be widespread; filthy speech was promoted in the name of free speech (4 letter words had become prominent in routine conversations of many); First Amendment rights were used as a license for the sale, distribution and broadcasting of pornography; obscenity was the principal attraction for commercial exploitation in books, magazines, films, and television shows; drugs became a plague on the nation.

A strong drive to completely secularize all phases of public education was begun. The Supreme Court eliminated prayer and Bible reading from the schools. The teaching of morality and spiritual values were eliminated from the schools. Stories with moral lessons (which were so popular in the McGuffey Readers) disappeared from textbooks.

There was much less emphasis on patriotism or any firm commitment to the Constitution or the Founders’ formula for prosperity.  Volumes were written about the Founding Fathers which leveled serious accusations against their reputation and character.  Researchers are now finding these stories to be myths and of recent invention.

A powerful federal government began to replace local government.  The shift of power from the states to the central government involved numerous violations of the Constitution.

There was a shift from a free-market economy (capitalism) to a highly regulated economy (another violation of the Constitution).

During this time – against the Monroe Doctrine –  the U.S. entered into entangling alliances and began meddling in the affairs of nearly every nation on earth. Hundreds of billions of taxpayers’ dollars were spent (and the objectives of this meddling were not even met).

The U.S. went from virtually no national debt, to the biggest national debt in history, and more than all other countries’ debts combined

Our soldiers were ordered to fight in undeclared wars such as Korea and Vietnam (prohibited by Article 1 section 8 of the Constitution).

The Supreme Court began issuing mandates and decrees which unlawfully amended the provisions of the Constitution.

The executive branch began issuing thousands of executive orders each year which were enforced by the courts as federal laws (Article 1 section 1 states that Americans were not to be subject to any laws which had not been approved by Congress).

The nation – without a Constitutional amendment- was taken off the gold and silver standard.

There are too many in our society that believe the way things are now is the way they have always been and should always be.  But, how is it all working for us? I would say – “not too well.”

With all of these negative experiences emerging from  the  second cycle, it was inevitable that the vast majority of Americans would begin calling for reform – which will take us into phase 3 – next week.

Precious Memories Lost or Created…Parents Choose Wisely

Rachel Allison

Reading Ann Bailey’s article about the studies that have come out against the Federal Government’s Head Start preschool program must be discouraging to those whose intentions may have been positive and even altruistic.  But the years of time and effort and billions of dollars poured into the program have proven a failure.

Who lost out? The innocent children who were used as Guiney pigs to boost the ego of brainstorming government employees who thought that they had devised a program that was better than a mother’s love and the security of home environment. What does a child need and long for more than anything else in the world? Quantity and quality time spent with their mother.

Who else lost out? The mothers who forfeited memories made with their precious pre-schoolers.

You may say, “But it was a program for poor families.”  I remember the families in my hometown who sent their children to Head Start.  The mothers loved their children.  They may have qualified for government assistance, but they were good mothers.  They mistakenly thought they were giving their children an advantage, when in reality they were giving up precious time and memories with their child for a program that failed.  Again, what does a child need and long for more than anything else in the world?  Quantity and quality time spent with their mother.

Can you sense my emotion?  For the past two weeks I have been following through on a New Year’s Resolution.  I have spent hours compiling a memory album of my children.  Each photo represents a precious memory I have with them. Each hour spent on the project has stirred emotions that have brought me close to tears. If I could I would go back in time and do it all again.

Young mothers and fathers…May I emphasize that no one will love and care for your children as well as you.  Love them. Teach them. Spend as much time with them as you possibly can.  Enjoy them, and allow them to enjoy you.  Your memories will create a valuable anchor to your soul that you will cherish more and more as the years advance. Trust me on this one.  I think it may even be a natural law.

For Better or for Worse, be Committed to your Marriage

Kristi Kane

Growing up, my parents gave me good advice. I didn’t realize how good until I got married. From my Dad, I learned the importance of making wise financial decisions like “putting money aside for a rainy day,” (or saving), and “living within your means” (never spend more than you make). From my Mom, I learned the importance of  marrying someone you were crazy about and who was also your best friend. “That will see you through the bad times,” my Mom would say. Of course marriage put all of their advice to the test, and I have been the better for listening to and applying their advice.

It’s my Mom’s advice that I would like to focus on here. I’ve attended many weddings. They all are pretty much the same. Everyone is smiling and radiant. There are happy tears, tears of joy. The bride and groom are saying loving words to each other during their vows. Their first kiss as husband and wife is filled with promise of a happy future and perfect wedded bliss. Now fast forward a few years, in some cases, even a few months. The recently blissful bride and groom are now angry. They see only each other’s short comings. There is a general disillusionment towards the idea of marriage. The words “separation” or “divorce” start to frequent the conversation, and then- pop! The happiness is over and so is the marriage.

In each scenario I think, “What happened?! They were so happy? What went wrong?” There are a variety of answers here, but they all boil down to the same thing. Someone or both of the someones got selfish. Thoughts of “how can you make me happy?” or “You are not making me happy enough” entered and replayed over and over in their brain. One spouse did all the giving, the other, all the taking, or there was no giving at all.

The most recent separation in my own family was between my nephew to his bride of eight years. When I heard of the separation, one very strong visual image came to my mind. It was at their wedding luncheon. I could see my nephew standing at the wedding table and glowing with love and emotion, even tears, as he told all of us, his wedding guests, how much he loved his wife, his best friend. He even pulled her up from her chair and put his arm around her, and put her hand on his heart. I must admit, I was touched. It was very sweet. And then the announcement.

Again, I played in my head, “What happened? They were so happy? What went wrong?” To give you the boiled down version, life happened, as it happens to all of us. Children came along. One of the children has a chronic medical condition. My niece-in-law who had ADD had now also developed anxiety and depression. So life happened. And after two sessions with a marriage counselor my nephew announced that “he tried” and “I’m done.” I was floored.

I realize there are some very justifiable reasons for contemplating divorce, like adultery. But there again, it is because someone got selfish and committed an act of irreversible consequence. And even then, I’ve seen spouses forgive the wandering party and work things out.

Now in my case, there were years when my husband was in graduate school that the only time I saw him was on Sunday. There were two years of my marriage when I had four children under 11 that my husband was gone almost 24/7 working on a restructuring of his company, and at that same time, I was diagnosed with a heart defect that was going to require surgery. We had financial distress and health issues, enough to sink any marriage. And yet in all of that mess, one phrase my husband said to me when he asked me to marry him kept playing in my mind: “There is one word we never say in our family, and that is ‘divorce.’ We are married for life. We work things out.” I’d never heard anyone say it like that, but I liked that idea.

So no matter the stress, we worked it out. Was it easy? No. Were there times when resentment and frustration entered our marriage? Yes. Do I think we will ever be faced with trouble again? You tell me. We now have three teenagers.  But we have made a commitment long ago that we both believed in. I have no doubt we will have more challenges, but we will take them as they come and roll with the punches. What else can we do? That’s life. And for better or for worse, we’re going to make it through.

THE HIGH WATER MARK IN EDUCATION

Maddi Gillel

“The strict discipline in educational preparation for professional life is described by John Adams.  By the time his son, John Quincy Adams was 18, the youth had become fairly proficient in Latin, French, and Greek.  He had also studied English and French literature, many of the Greek classics, Roman, English, and Greek history, the theorems of Euclid, plane trigonometry, algebra, decimal fractions, geometrical proportions and conic sections.  However, John Adams said his son was a little weak in calculus!”  (Koch, The American Enlightenment, pp. 190-191

What all was going on from 1607 to 1890 that encouraged such a marvelous education in our society?

1-    In 1836, William Holmes McGuffey began publishing his famous McGuffy Readers.  These became national best sellers and soon nearly every child was studying from at least one of them.

2-   Basics in:  Reading – phonics (involved memorizing), Writing – script, which is faster than print and was taught from the first grade – Arithmetic, especially as it applied to business and bookkeeping – Communication – which included spelling, essay writing, declamation, and oratorical contests – Literature- classical and contemporary- McGuffey included an assortment of these, Music – singing or playing an instrument – Art- painting, drawing, sculpture, Nature- study of plant, animal, astronomy – History – especially American history and its Constitutional form of government, Hygiene – mental and physical.

3-   Prayer, the Pledge of Allegiance, a brief reading of the Bible, and a song comprised the opening exercises of a school day.

4-   Teachers (and the texts) were to drill into the students the importance of being: trustworthy, loyal (to God, family, and country), obedient (to parents, teachers, and others in authority) friendly, courteous, kind (to all), thrifty, brave, reverent (toward God, His commandments, and His creations), cheerful (even when life is unpleasant).

Alexis de Tocqueville, came to America to study our system and was so impressed with what he saw, that he stayed 2 years, returned to France and wrote his famous 2-volume work Democracy in America. He had this to say about education: “It cannot be doubted that in the United States the instruction of the people powerfully contributes to the support of the democratic republic; and such must always be the case.  I believe, where the instruction which enlightens the understanding is not separated from the moral education.”

De Tocqueville was amazed at the knowledge the children possessed concerning the Constitution and how the American system operated.  Many were studying from a little book of questions and answers called THE CATECHISM ON THE CONSTITUTION. (Arthur J. Stansbury, 1828)

Next week, I will report on the 2^nd educational cycle – (we are now living in the 3^rd cycle which I will report on in 2 weeks. )

FYI – The books mentioned in this article are still available.

Video Gaming: Be Very Careful

Rachel Allison

This post may offend some of our readers.  If I say something that hits too close to home, just honestly evaluate your child’s involvement and if necessary ignore my observations.

My children grew up during the skate-board craze in our neighborhood.  All of their friends owned expensive skateboards and I was aware that they practiced all kinds of tricks and stunts for hours and hours everyday and into the night right in front of our house.  While these friends practiced their skateboard maneuvers, our children were doing homework, practicing the piano, doing chores, and spent lots of time being miserable as they watched all the fun taking place right outside on our street.  My husband and I couldn’t afford to buy our children such a “toy,” but still they continued to ask for skateboards for Christmas or birthdays.  Finally we gave in, and I purchased my two oldest $20 skateboards for Christmas.  LOL (Are you?)  A $20 skateboard is like buying clamp-on roller skates.  Our children were so excited on Christmas morning…which made me very happy.  When all the neighborhood kids showed up, many with newer and more improved skateboards, our children went out to join in the fun and excitement.  They soon learned that they could not do any of the tricks, nor could they get any speed on their skateboards.  It didn’t take long for them to tire of the sport, and they got involved in activities where they could excel. Whew!  Battle over.

Now, let me correct a previous statement.  “My husband and I couldn’t afford to buy our children such a “toy.”” And yet we purchased a piano, and our children all took piano lessons.  One of our children was a gifted gymnast, and the money we paid out for group and private tutoring was more than I want to share with our readers. Violin lessons, scout camps, guitar lessons, singing lessons, and sport’s camps…somehow we could afford all these.  So what was different about skateboarding?  The culture.  (This is where I might start to step on toes.)  I silently watched the skateboard culture.  The dress, the hair, the language, the attitude, and I didn’t want my children to be a part of it. At least, this was what I observed from the skateboarders in our neighborhood. They didn’t have the time or desire to get involved with any of the previously mentioned activities that I wanted our children involved in. I knew all of their parents, and I watched as their parents may have pushed music or scouting or studies, but the skateboarding won out, and nothing else positive was seriously pursued.

My children are grown, and are all successfully pursuing their dreams.  I don’t know if skateboarding is still the craze that it was 25 years ago.  What I see and hear about now is the video gaming craze.  Would I buy video games for my children if they were still at home?  Absolutely not!  I don’t care how badly they wanted them.  Why?  Because I see what is happening in the video-gaming culture: Addictions, obsessions, often violence, and too often the shunning of everything else that is positive and worthwhile.  That is something I would protect my children from as if it were a drug. In fact I have heard that it is as powerful a draw as any drug.

I have a friend whose husband…do I need to point out that this is a grown man?…was so addicted to video games that he wouldn’t go to work?  She had to provide an income for the family.  With him, and without him, because she left him after three years of seeing no improvement.

Why would any wise parent put such a temptation in front of their children?  Because all their friends have video games? Bad decision as far as I’m concerned.

I ran across a blog this morning that I want to share.  It helps make my point.

“I wanted to open up the topic of video game addictions. It never seemed to be a big deal to me until recently. My oldest son has become              completely obsessed with a video game, and it is starting to worry me.  He only cares about playing his game- he doesn’t spend time with his             friends anymore, nor does he want to be around me or the rest of the family for that matter.

He used to be really committed to his education (he is fresh out of high school) and pursuing a career, but that seems to be unimportant to him now. I am afraid that if he does not quit playing the game soon, he will miss his chance to accomplish his dreams. It breaks my heart as a father to see him making the kind of decisions that I know he will regret later.  Is anyone else experiencing a similar situation with their children?  I could really use some advice on this.”

One more observation.  My husband and I ran into an old friend this past weekend. During our conversation he said that his 33-year-old daughter plays video games all day.  I know this girl.  She was a good friend to one of my sons.  She was talented musically, and lots of fun to be with.  He shared with us that while she plays video games, she puts her four children in front of movies so that they will leave her alone.

Need I write more?

What a culture!  Parents, before they even start, don’t let it happen.

Which Part of the Following Did you Buy/Are You Buying/Will You Buy?

Maddi Gillel

 “Lenin, and later Joseph Stalin, determined that in order to maintain control of the people it would be necessary to completely destroy the family and re-structure it. They passed a law that one could obtain a divorce simply by mailing or delivering a postcard to the local register without the necessity of even notifying the spouse being divorced. This state, along with the communist encouragement of sexual immorality during marriage, approval of abortion, and forcing women out of the home into the workforce, accomplished its purpose of destroying the Russian family.”  -Soviet expert Mikhail Heller

I graduated from high school and attended college during the 60’s.  High school was alright, but when I went to college, many of the attitudes of the 60’s were being adopted, and in one particular class, the teacher was buying it all and spreading it to us.  I was ridiculed one day in class for my religious activities – by the teacher, and followed up by a few of the students.  I did not like the 60’s.  I didn’t agree with anything that was going on.

You might have guessed that I am reading a book called “The Marketing of Evil” by David Kupelian.  It is excellent.  He states that there were some far-reaching happenings in the 60’s that began the downward spiral of the family in our culture:

1-    Governor Reagan signed the no-fault divorce law (which he later regretted). This traveled like wildfire to all 50 states within a few years.

2-    Kennedy’s assassination – a national shock which signaled the end of American’s innocence.

3-    The Vietnam War – This war was ideologically waged for a noble cause: to help the Vietnamese fight the communists who were invading their country, but the war was executed disastrously by incompetent leaders, so it became controversial and divided our nation.

4-    Rock music invasion from England (Beatles, Rolling Stones) exerted a powerful hold on America’s youth and soon introduced the psychedelic drug culture.

5-    Widespread confusion among America’s churches and churchgoers over God.  “IS GOD DEAD?” became THE question of the time. This caused anxiety and uncertainty which caused a vacuum into which all kinds of alien philosophies and beliefs flooded: occultism, paganism, channeling, and New Age practices of every conceivable sort.  This also opened up a torrent of “liberation” movements:  sexual, women’s, and gays.

There were other factors that helped roll this revolution along, but you get the idea.

I was too young to realize all this was happening, but I knew that our culture was becoming more and more unsettled and angry.  As I said before, I was sometimes alone in my beliefs and activities if they were contrary to the new belief system invading our world.  I didn’t like any of it.  I didn’t buy into any of it.

Where do we go from here?

• How about a serious return to family?– champion the family, defend it, make sure our family is as strong and healthy as possible.
• How about a return to religion? Let’s see what the scriptures say about how to live this life.  Let’s attend our church every Sunday. Let’s give service and kindness and patience to our friends and neighbors.  Learn how to pray.  Prayers are answered!
• How about a return to some serious development of our gray matter. Turn off the tv- which is written for 8^th grade minds.  Let’s put down some of the technology we’re addicted to.  How about reading a book by Victor Hugo, or Mark Twain, or Jack London, or Ayn Rand.
  
• How about a visit to the mountains, or beach, or desert and enjoy some of God’s creations.

There really are ways that we can either be at war with our soul, or at peace.  It all depends on what we buy into.

 

“Hooking Up”—Is it Really Worth it?

Rachel Allison

Last week I wrote about Hydeia Broadbent, a young woman’s crusade to stop HIV/AIDS.

This week I want to write about some of the “lesser” sexually-transmitted diseases and other problems that are caused by “hooking up.”

There are 19 million new infections of sexually transmitted gonorrhea, chlamydia, and syphilis yearly, which cost $17 billion to treat each year.  But there are others—human papillomavirus, herpes, genital warts, hepatitis, trichomoniasis, and scabies, to name just a few.  The World Health Organization says that there “are more than 30 different sexually transmissible bacteria, viruses and parasites.”  Treatment for those in the United States is also in the billions of dollars per year—that is when they’re treatable and not drug resistant.

Assuming that everyone who is having sex is aware of STDs,  I am quite sure that they don’t understand the consequences that those diseases will bring to their lives.  One woman tells her story when she learned she had Genital Herpes.  I can’t imagine the emotional trauma such a discovery would cause.  As a teenager my doctor told me I had athlete’s foot, and emotionally I felt “dirty” until the creams and ointments cleared up the fungus.

Unfortunately, casual sex is expected by too many, and practically revered by  leftists.  Enter Sandra Fluke publicly demanding that free contraception be given to all sexually-active women. I wonder why someone didn’t argue that the monetary cost of complimentary contraception is miniscule compared with the cost of treating the STD’s that will be transmitted during all that “free” sex.

The facts:

• According to a recent CDC (Center for Disease Control) survey only 60% of high-school students who have had sex used a condom the last time they had intercourse.

50% of HS students say they’ve had sex at least once. (This statistic may be low because many don’t consider oral sex as “sex.”)

• According to the AP article entitled “1 in 4 teen girls has a sexually transmitted disease” not only did 25 percent of teenage girls have an STD, “among those who admitted to having sex, the rate was even more disturbing—40 percent had an STD.”  Black girls suffered worst:  48 percent of them had an STD.

The National Cancer Institute at the National Institute of Health stated that the human papillomavirus, which is “spread through direct skin-to-skin contact during vaginal, anal, and oral sex, causes virtually all cervical cancers and most anal cancers and some vaginal, vulvar, penile, and oropharyngeal cancers (cancers in the middle part of the throat.)” And the risk isn’t limited to women. The title of a 2011 NBCNews.com article adequately sums up the situation:  “Cancer spike, mainly in men, tied to HPV from oral sex.”  The article added that “we can expect some 10,000 to 15,000 patients with the oropharyngeal cancers per year in the United States, with the great majority having HPV-positive (cancers.) “High risk HPV infections account for approximately 5 percent of cancers worldwide.”

According to the CDC, “Chlamydia and gonorrhea are important preventable causes of infertility,” even though “most women infected with Chlamydia or gonorrhea have no symptoms.  There are “an estimated 2.8 million cases of Chlamydia and 718,000 cases of gonorrhea that occur annually in the United States.” Each year untreated STDs cause 24,000 women in the US to become infertile.”  STD’s cause approximately one-fourth of all infertility in women, and treatment to rectify infertility can be very costly.

I won’t elaborate on how STD’s affect babies.  But babies can get the dread disease from their mothers causing stillbirths, low birth weight (less than five pounds), conjunctivitis (eye infection) pneumonia, neonatal sepsis (infection in the baby’s blood stream), neurologic damage, blindness, deafness, acute hepatitis, meningitis, chronic liver disease, and cirrhosis.

STD’s truly are “the gift that keep on giving.”

Again I will ask, “Where is the outcry?”  If there were enough voices outraged by the outright disregard of the issue that is bringing so much emotional and physical pain, death and monetary waste, maybe…just maybe we could help bring this deception to the forefront.

Modern-day Russian Roulette

Rachel Allison

At birth, Hydeia Broadbent was abandoned at the University Medical Center of Southern Nevada in Las Vegas where Patricia and Loren Broadbent adopted her as an infant. Although her HIV condition was congenital, she was not diagnosed as HIV-positive with advancement to AIDS until age three. The prognosis was that she would not live past the age of five. Now more than 20 years later, Broadbent spends her time spreading the message of HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention by promoting abstinence and safe-sex practices (for people who choose to have sex

As an early recipient of anti-viral treatments that made AIDS a livable disease, she could have used her platform to emphasize the positives of HIV when coupled with modern medicine.  She could have chosen to give HIV/AIDS patients hope and the promise of beating the odds.

Not Hydeia.  She doesn’t sugar coat the consequences of the disease even when drugs promise a long and somewhat productive life. “There are days when I can’t get out of bed.  Sometimes I am so sick my mornings are spent with my head hung over the toilet.”

Every morning she takes her cocktail of five pills. Hydeia’s medicine costs $3,500 to $5,000 a month.

“There’s so much misinformation.  People think there’s a cure…but there is no cure.”  A positive test result is no longer a death sentence, says Hydeia, “but it is a life sentence.”

“It’s always there.  You’re always going to have HIV or AIDS.  You’re always going to be taking medicine.  You’re always going to be going to the doctor’s office.  You’re always going to be getting your blood drawn.”

Tell that to the millions who can’t fathom contracting HIV/AIDS (or any other STD for that matter.) “Hooking Up” is as common in today’s loose society as chopping wood was for my grandparent’s.

Legislators are outlawing anything and everything so that our society is safe.  The food we eat has to pass strict inspection.  The vehicles we drive, the toys our children play with, the fabric used to make our children’s clothing, roadways, walkways, speed limits…We have legislation in place to protect and defend just about everything.

And yet there are tens of thousands across the globe being exposed to a disease that is more threatening and costly than society will openly and publicly admit. Where is the outcry? The target audience seems to be oblivious to the “Russian Roulette” they are playing.

We need more Hydeia Broadbents educating and laying out the cold hard facts about a disease that can and should be contained and eradicated…Not with condoms.  Condoms have proven to be bogus protection. It can only be eradicated with a value system that teaches self-control and even self-denial…something almost unheard of in today’s society.

Despite the harsh realities of HIV/AIDS and the supposed public awareness, the National Center for Health Statistics, show that in the United States, “for all races combined in the age group 15-24 years, HIV/AIDS moved from the 12^th leading cause of death in 2009 to the 11^th cause of death in 2010.” It was the 7^th leading cause of death in 2010 for the age group 25-44 years.”   Where is the outcry? This is the elephant in the room that is destroying lives, and yet the target audience seems  oblivious to the destruction.  They continue to play with a fire that doesn’t just burn, it consumes.  Would it be taboo to legislate activity so intimate?  Apparently so.

Parents and grandparents, and the Hydeia Broadbents of the world, it is up to us to educate and raise the warning voice that will save lives in this promiscuous society where “if it feels good…” is accepted without thought of consequence or outcome.

MARRIAGE — NOT REALLY SUCH A MYSTERY

Maddi Gillel

An 80 year old woman was asked to speak to a group of women about marriage.  She had been married to one man all of her married life, and they had raised a large family.  At the end, she opened up a question and answer segment.  Someone asked her if she had ever thought of divorce.  She thought for a minute and then said, “divorce, no, murder, yes.”

Stephen R. Covey (7 HABITS OF HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE) called marriage ‘ the graduate school of mortality.’

I have been married only once and still to the same man.  We have raised children and helped with grandchildren.  I worked while my husband went through college and medical school, and then when we had children, I stayed home with them and was patient (and alone with the children) through more of his training.   I must agree with the above 2 paragraphs.  It is NOT easy.  So, with all of this information,  why do people get married?

In the book “The Case for Marriage: Why Married People are Happier, Healthier and Better Off Financially” (Waite and Gallagher) , it reveals research that married men and women live happier, healthier, and more financially secure lives, and even have “more and better sex.” The authors argued – using a broad range of indexes- that “being married is actually better for you physically, materially, and spiritually than being single or divorced.

“Marriage comes complete with all the trials, tribulations, obstacle courses, tests, rewards, and consequences necessary to fulfill your highest potential as a human being – the challenge to serve a higher ideal than self.

What enables a man and a woman to ultimately triumph – to have a truly happy long-term marriage and family?  ONE THING ONLY.  BOTH OF THEIR LIVES MUST REVOLVE AROUND TRUTH.  They have a shared standard by which to resolve differences.  All disagreements ultimately find resolution – not because one knuckles under to the other, the submissive to the dominant, but because they both have placed God’s will at the center of their lives, the center of their family.  The wife is not threatened by her husband’s being the ultimate and natural authority in the family because she trusts him and his judgment.  Nor, however, is the husband threatened by submitting to his wife’s guidance when he sees she is clearly right.

This is why God ordained marriage – so we could find Him.” (The Marketing of Evil” – David  Kupelian)

In our marriage, God and religion have been our foundation and that alone has enabled us to stay married – We have family prayer, individual prayers,  blessings on the food, we both read scriptures individually, and family is our priority.   I realized years ago that a life of ease and enjoyment can seem so wonderful, but there is little fulfillment;  loneliness is real and that is why God has ordained marriage and family, to walk with and help each other through this difficult life. And I repeat, in spite of my understanding of all of the above, marriage is still a challenge and an uphill journey, but the alternative would be cold and dreary.  When I look back at the first few years of our marriage, I can see that we have progressed-  AND THANK GOODNESS!  Most people agree that the first year or two of a marriage are years to be forgotten.

Marriage is, indeed, the graduate school of mortality.