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Heritage Defense

Current giveaway: The Last Pilgrims book: ends 2/23

“Social services is just an anonymous tip from your door…”

You don’t have to break the law to find yourself in this sort of trouble.  Most of us know of families who have been falsely accused and investigated by social services; while we have never been visited ourselves, some of our friends have.  Sometimes these allegations are homeschooling-related, but more often they arise from parental decisions regarding child discipline issues, medical choices like vaccinations and home births, sanctity of life decisions, accidents, temperamental neighbors, disagreeable family members, and other areas.   Christian homes throughout America are being invaded and having children interrogated and taken where no crime has been committed. To protect your family and other Christian homeschooling families from such attacks, we recommend that you join Heritage Defense.

Endorsements

Heritage Defense is the only national member-based legal advocacy organization that is committed to defending families on these fronts and is endorsed by the president of HSLDA.  While HSLDA vigorously protects homeschoolers’ rights to educate our children at home, there are a host of other parental rights which need protection from being trampled by social services agencies. That’s what Heritage Defense does.  If your family has already joined HSLDA, then you recognize the importance of this sort of coverage.  Heritage Defense is a perfect complement to HSLDA, each picking up where the other leaves off.

  • “Heritage Defense is a welcome friend in the battle for the family.” — Mike Smith, President, Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA)

  • “My family has joined Heritage Defense to wage war to defend the family and future generations. Join us!” –Kevin Swanson

  • “Christian families need protection in these vital areas and it is quite encouraging to know that Heritage Defense is there to provide the help we need.” — Dr. Voddie Baucham, Jr.

  • “I’m so excited about the labors and the ministry and the faithfulness of Heritage Defense.”  – R.C. Sproul, Jr.

Member Benefits

Member families have access to experienced attorneys who are ready to assist you by answering questions, providing counsel, and defending your family in the courtroom and elsewhere against false accusations and unconstitutional invasions by social services.  If you have a legal emergency, their attorneys may be contacted 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  All of this and more is included as part of your membership.

An annual membership with Heritage Defense is $195, and they have recently made it easier by introducing monthly payments.  While the annual payment might be an obstacle for some, the monthly option makes it a no-brainer for us.  For existing members who renew before their memberships expire, annual memberships are $145 (or $16 per month).  Is protecting your family worth $19 a month (or $195 a year)?  We think so.

For a limited time, Heritage Defense has generously offered a 10% discount to readers of Life in a Shoe.  Just tell them you were referred by Life in a Shoe!

You can join Heritage Defense here.

More info

If you would like some more information, read the FAQ or give them a call at 1-800-515-5901.
Not signing up today?  You should still read this useful resource, What to do if a social worker comes to your door:
1. Stay calm and be polite. By law, social service agencies are required to investigate allegations of abuse and neglect and the social worker is making the visit at the direction of a supervisor. Although parents experience the most fear, anxiety, and indignation in the opening moments of an investigation, remaining calm and being polite will allow a parent to think more clearly and will often prevent a social worker from becoming overly aggressive or combative.
2. Ask some questions and get some answers. Early in the conversation, you might say something like, “I know you are just doing your job, but my primary concern is protecting my family from any unnecessary distress, so I would like to ask a few questions first.” You should ask at least three questions before continuing…read the rest

Disclosure: We received a free renewal of our membership in exchange for our help promoting Heritage Defense.  We receive no other compensation for this post or for any resulting sign-ons.

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Economic wisdom

Current giveaway: The Last Pilgrims book: ends 2/23

I came across this quote and had to share.  I would like to tatoo it to the forehead of every politician we elect for the next 20 years.  If we did it in mirror image, they could read it every morning when they stand in front of the mirror, and maybe something would soak in.

Google attributes it to Dr. Adrian Rogers, though I could not find any single source that struck me as particularly reliable.  It sounds more like the founding fathers of America or something from the Anti-Federalist papers.  Maybe he was quoting them?

You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom.

What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving.

The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else.

When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that, my dear friend, is about the end of any nation.

You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it.

~Dr. Adrian P. Rogers, three-time president of the Southern Baptist Convention

I also found that all 5 sentences were nearly always quoted as a single paragraph, but they seem to me more like unconnected excerpts.  What do you think?

The lines above remind me very much of The Law by Frederic Bastiat which I read in high school, and this quote which I thought came from Bastiat’s book but is instead attributed with some uncertainty to Alexander Tytler.

No republic has long outlived the discovery by a majority of its people that they could vote themselves largesse from the public treasury.


 

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My days as a feminist

Current giveaway: The Last Pilgrims book: ends 2/23

I didn’t vote for the McCain/Palin ticket in part because I don’t think women belong in politics. This isn’t because I take a low view of women or their ability to rule, but because political leadership is not a part of the role for which God created us. Isaiah makes it clear that one sign of God’s displeasure with a nation is when He sets women to rule over them, and I don’t think we need to go looking for that sort of trouble. We seem to find it easily enough without looking.

But I haven’t always felt that way about women holding office.

When I was a kid, we moved very frequently. In my first 5 years of formal education, I attended 6 public schools – one of them three different times. I was always the New Kid.

I was also very tall and mature for my age, and most of the kids seemed to assume that I was older than they were. This caused them to look to me as a natural leader. Though I had no real drive to lead, I didn’t mind taking on the role when it suited my purposes. I was a firstborn, after all.

One example comes readily to mind, and everything I said so far was really only a weak excuse to tell the following story.

In 5th grade, I was once again the new kid in the class. We had moved just one month into the school year, taking me away from the school where I had finished 4th grade, and now I was a month behind everyone else in the awkward process of getting to know each other. To make matters worse, this was a middle school made up of 5th-8th graders with 400 students in all. I had not just one new teacher and class to adjust to, but 8.  I had skipped a grade early in my education, and now I wasn’t just the youngest in the class; I was the youngest student in the entire school. Fortunately this wasn’t apparent to those around me.

Because of my size I was never a victim of bullying, but I was painfully shy and slow to make new friends. I hated starting at a new school, and this may have been the first time I didn’t just crumple into a sobbing heap for the entire first day. At least I was getting older. Nevertheless, I took my place at the back of the class and quietly plunged into schoolwork because I certainly wasn’t going to plunge into any social circles.

My first week there, my homeroom teacher announced that since we had all gotten to know each other over the past month, it was time to elect a class president who would represent our group for the rest of the year in the body of the student government. The class president would spend the 5th period of every day in Government Class with the presidents of all the other classes, where they would learn about, well, government.

There was a buzz of excited chatter as the bodies in the room divided and coalesced into two groups: boys on one side, girls on the other. Nobody knew who should be president, but we all wanted to elect someone of the proper gender: our own. Boys wanted to choose a boy, girls wanted to choose a girl.

I sat quietly on the sidelines, listening to the other girls discuss who should be nominated. As I sat, an idea came to my 9yo brain. The teacher had said we could nominate anyone we wanted, and we could each nominate anyone in the class but ourselves.

I spoke up. “Why don’t some of us nominate some boys, and everyone agree to nominate just one girl? Then the boys will all be voting for different people, and the girls will all vote for the same the one. Then a girl will be president.”

My idea was immediately adopted, and the rest of the girls set about deciding exactly which boys and girl to nominate. I don’t know exactly how it happened, but I found myself selected as the girls’ candidate. My best guess is that my great idea and apparent maturity impressed them.

I wasn’t excited about the idea of making a speech in front of the entire class, but my supporters were convinced that I was the right one for the job. I scrabbled out a quick campaign speech and did as I was bid, and so began my last year as class president.

When I told this story to my children, they all roared in laughter and disbelief at the scheme I had pulled off. “Manipulation!” they cried. “Cheating! We can‘t believe you did it!”

I say it’s just politics.

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The Myth of Overpopulation

Current giveaway: The Last Pilgrims book: ends 2/23

Surely you already know that I don’t subscribe to the myth of overpopulation.  Even if I did, if faced with accusations of irresponsibility I think I would have to quote another mother: “Sir, the world NEEDS my children.”

Nonetheless, I enjoy witnessing the debunking of ridiculous theories like evolution and overpopulation.  That’s one reason I can’t resist sharing this video, found via Large Family Mothering.

The other reason?

I love God’s sense of humor and timing.  I found this video and let it load in the background while chatting online with my good friend, Mother Hen.  When it was done loading, I hit the play button.  Mother Hen sent me a link while I was watching, but I finished the video before going back to our chat.  When I clicked on her link, guess what came up?

Yup.  I wonder if she’s blogging the video this very moment?  Nah…what are the chances of that?

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On Obamacare

Current giveaway: The Last Pilgrims book: ends 2/23

I can’t take credit for the quote below, but I love it anyway.  When hubby spotted it on his mom’s Facebook status (credited there to an anonymous friend), he predicted that it would go viral.  I love it when he’s right!

Let me get this straight—we’ve got a health care plan passed by a Congress that hasn’t read it but exempts themselves from it, signed by a president that hasn’t read it and smokes, with funding administered by a treasury chief who didn’t pay his taxes… and financed by a country that’s broke. What could possibly go wrong?

Yes, as Christians we should be exercising charity, caring for the sick and the poor.  But institutionalized theft is not the way to do it.  Our healthcare system is a mess, but government intervention and so-called funding (straight from our own pockets) are not the solution; they are largely the problem.  Medicare created much of this mess in the ’60′s, and now the problem is going to get far worse.

On the other hand, as liberal civil rights leader Al Sharpton pointed out in an interview with Bill O’Reilly:

I think that [the passing of the healthcare bill] began to transform the country the way the president had promised.  This is what he ran on….the American public overwhelmingly voted for socialism when they elected President Obama…

watch the youtube video here

As a nation we got what we asked for, whether or not we want it now in its present form.  May God have mercy on us.

I’m thankful to be a member of a Christian medical sharing group that is, under the bill’s current wording, exempt from the requirements.  However, exempt or not we will all suffer from the far-reaching consequences of this new law.

Be sure to watch The Common Room for helpful summaries and link roundups on this topic, for those of us who are incompetent to digest all the garbage being tossed about by the media.  Start here and here.

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The Real Lincoln

Current giveaway: The Last Pilgrims book: ends 2/23

Just in time for the birthday of the great usurper, Jasime Baucham who blogs @ joyfullyathomeblog.com has given us a look at the facts surrounding Abraham Lincoln’s Presidency. Just a quote from the article:

Abraham Lincoln’s heroism is great exaggerated in modern circles. His own words prove that he was not a proponent of emancipation, he did not believe in racial equality, and his Emancipation Proclamation did not emancipate a single slave…
read the rest of the article here

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A brief history of the income tax in America

Current giveaway: The Last Pilgrims book: ends 2/23

Feb. 3 was hardly a day for celebration, but it’s a date we should be familiar with nonetheless.

All of my school-age children will be reading this, and then we will discuss it.  The discussion part is for my sake, not theirs.  It’s the only way I’ll remember a bit of it, and it’s important stuff.

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Emily Bear

Current giveaway: The Last Pilgrims book: ends 2/23

If you haven’t heard this amazing little pianist, then you’re really missing out.

Emily Bear is 7 now, and has released 3 CDs in the past years.  You can also find Emily Bear on Amazon, where you can download individual songs for $.99.  Below are some of her own original compositions.  I find her music to be very soothing, yet interesting.  I imagine it would be very good background music for difficult work.

Maybe if I had music like this playing in the background at my house, I could remember…well…stuff that I forgot…I’m not sure what stuff.

ht to Natalie Wickam

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I experienced an emotional rollercoaster, and you can too.

Current giveaway: The Last Pilgrims book: ends 2/23

This might make your blood boil, but Tim will make it better.

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The Headmistress always makes me angry

Current giveaway: The Last Pilgrims book: ends 2/23

I love The Common Room blog, but I always come away steaming mad.  Being informed on political matters often has that effect, it seems.

I don’t tend to keep up with politics unless an issue hits me in the head or the gut.  There are certain advantages to keeping one’s head in the sand.

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We are a bloody people.

Current giveaway: The Last Pilgrims book: ends 2/23

Bear with me there are extensive quotes below from several different articles.

From Whitehouse .gov

Speaking shortly after the confirmation, the President said he was grateful for the Senate’s confirmation, and gave special thanks the Senate Judiciary Committee for their hard work. He then reflected on Judge Sotomayor’s qualifications, and the historic nature of her confirmation:

….They’ve gauged her respect for the proper role of each branch of our government, her commitment to faithfully apply the law to the facts at hand, and her determination to protect our core constitutional rights and freedoms….

This is a role that the Senate has played for more than two centuries, helping to ensure that “equal justice under the law” is not merely a phrase inscribed above our courthouse door, but a description of what happens every single day inside the courtroom...And in the end, the outcome of your case will be determined by nothing more or less than the strength of your argument and the dictates of the law.

These core American ideals – justice, equality, and opportunity — are the ideals she’s fought for throughout her career…

You can read the President’s full statement here.

(emphasis mine and every time I read one of the phrases I thought “Unless you are an unborn child”)

In a National Review Online article titled “Death by Privacy” Contributing Editor Mark R. Levin tells us

“Finally, Blackmun focused on his legal rationale in Roe. He began with a review of the right to privacy, writing, in part:

The Constitution does not explicitly mention any right of privacy. In a line of decisions, however…the Court has recognized that a right of personal privacy, or a guarantee of certain areas or zones of privacy, does exist under the Constitution. In varying contexts, the Court or individual Justices have, indeed, found at least the roots of that right in the First Amendment…in the Fourth and Fifth Amendments…in the penumbras of the Bill of Rights…in the Ninth Amendment…or in the concept of liberty guaranteed by the first section of the Fourteenth Amendment….These decisions make it clear that only personal rights that can be deemed “fundamental” or “implicit in the concept of ordered liberty”…are included in this guarantee of personal privacy. They also make it clear that the right has some extension to activities relating to marriage… procreation…contraception…family relationships…and child rearing and education….

Blackmun felt that the right of privacy, wherever it comes from, includes the right to abortion. Do not look any further for legal argument amidst the voluminous opinion, because it does not exist. Perhaps the extensive historical analysis was included to compensate for the lack of legal analysis.

But Blackmun went further, and the Court followed. Not satisfied to strike down the Texas law, Blackmun began to write what seemed to be a new federal statute. According to Blackmun’s opinion, a woman’s right to abortion could only be abridged by a compelling state interest. In effect, Blackmun argued that there was an inverse relationship between a woman’s interest and the state’s interest that ranged across a spectrum from conception to birth. Therefore, the state’s interest at conception was minimal but increased as the pregnancy progressed, reaching its peak at the end of the pregnancy. A woman’s interest, paramount at conception, began to give some ground to the state’s interest in protecting the fetus as it matured toward being able to live outside of the mother. But Blackmun specifically declared that the unborn child was not a “person” under the Fourteenth Amendment, and thus had no equal protection rights.”

During her confimation hearings Rupublicans asked Judge Sotomayor how she felt about the status of abortion in America.

“The court’s decision in Planned Parenthood vs. Casey reaffirmed the court holding of Roe. That is the precedent of the court and settled in terms of the holding of the court.”  - Sonya Sotamayor speaking before the Senate Judiciary Comittee during her confirmation hearings.

You cannot make immorality moral by court precedent or legislation. Abortion remains an evil, murderous thing whether or not the court and the legislative branch.

So in honor of Judge Sotomayor’s historic confirmation I am posting a video that puts a live face on the “private” act of abortion, and saying a prayer. I am prayng God will grant repentance in time to spare us from chastisment.

Now I will be joining the 40 days for life campaign this fall.

How about you?

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Dude Falling: a brief but brilliant impression of our economy

Current giveaway: The Last Pilgrims book: ends 2/23

I found this snippet at the Common Room this morning in a post entitled, Does the President Understand the Math?  Does He Care?

On the Washington Post: a new level in euphemism:

The recession has entered a new phase, pulling away from an economic abyss into a period of steep, but orderly, decline.

When I read the Washington Post quote, I couldn’t help but see the Dude Falling.   Have you seen him?  You really should.  Be sure to watch the whole thing – it’s only about 40 seconds, and I think he does a fantastic impression of the current state and likely future of our economy.

dude

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Swine flu

Current giveaway: The Last Pilgrims book: ends 2/23

I know a lot of people are scared, but I have a confession to make.  I can’t help being suspicious that the general public is being whipped into a panic over a manufactured crisis.  Every time I hear somebody on the news say, “Don’t panic, but…” it just sounds like they are suggesting that you’re going to feel the need to panic when you know all the facts.

It’s like talking to a little kid who just skinned her knee.  Do you say, “You’re fine.  There’s just a few drops of blood,” or do you scream, “Don’t look!  I think you’re bleeding!”  Does any mother in the world think that’s a good way to keep a 5yo from panicking?

Call me cynical, but the CDC’s Key Facts About Swine Flu simply don’t look that scary.   The google map showing confirmed and suspected cases of Swine flu in the US doesn’t look that scary.  Influenza already kills 35,000 people every year in the US, and nearly 10 times that many people worldwide.  So far, the WHO only credits the H1N1 strain (Swine Flu) with about 13 deaths worldwide, though Mexican sources were earlier blaming it for nearly 200.

For a more balanced view than what the media is presenting, you might want to take the time to read this extensive article from Mercola.com, or watch this brief video of Ron Paul reminiscing about the 1976 outbreak.  Did you know that exactly 1 person died from Swine flu back then, while at least 25 died from vaccinations and thousands suffered severe side effects of the vaccinations?

First, the government wanted to bail out our economy.  Now we have a health crisis, and they’re ready to leap to our rescue again.   Can I see a show of hands?  Who think this might help certain parties in their goal to achieve nationalized healthcare?

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Once more because we need to hear it.

Current giveaway: The Last Pilgrims book: ends 2/23

Download the audio on Behemoth.com for free here: Doug’s ‘Freedom at Risk Speech’ on behemoth.com

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San Antonio Tea Party

Current giveaway: The Last Pilgrims book: ends 2/23

It has been nearly a week since I attended the San Antonio Tea Party, possibly the largest in the nation thanks to support from big names like Glenn Beck. My good friend Doug Phillips was asked to speak at the Tea Party and another friend of mine Adam McManus was asked to emcee and give the invocation. I know the Christian character of both of these gentlemen so I was looking forward to hearing their clear witness for God’s Word and His Law in the civil sphere, and I was genuinely curious to see how a mixed crowd of what was estimated at the time to reach 14k would react to what I was confident would be an uncompromising witness for the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

They did not disappoint.

Take a look at the 3 minute mark on the video clip below. Doug’s call for repentance by the people of America could not be more clear. We are a people guilty of voting in leaders who thumb their noses at the Lord’s annointed and His standards but God is merciful and will heal our land if we will but repent.

If you enjoy the clip, please take a moment to click over to youtube and leave a comment.  You can download the entire message on behemoth.com.

Over and over again I heard people praying in Jesus’s name and appealing to the triune God of the Scriptures as the Author of our liberties.

Here is an excerpt from Adam’s prayer:

Father, the State is not God! It is the servant of the people. May we the people, gathered here tonight in San Antonio – each and every one of us — recognize the awesome responsibility we have to speak up and demand that our representatives begin to exercise fiscal discipline and liberate us from oppressive taxation which penalizes our hard work and sacrifice.

And we pray that where we have not honored You with our thoughts, words and deeds, that You would please forgive us. And where we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves, that You would pardon us. (the prayer may be read in its entirety here)

The thing I was also encouraged by was the recognition by the crowd and the speakers the WE keep sending  rascals back to Washington and as long as WE do we will continue to receive the SAME RESULTS (regardless of party affiliation).

The crowd was one of the safest and most respectful I have ever seen in a public gathering.  They were not rude, rowdy or violent in the least. Many were there with their families to hear the speeches on limited government.

These were the most memorable aspects of the evening. You can see related photos and commentary at the following sites:

Download Doug’s entire 23 minute message from the Tea party on Behemoth.com for free by clicking on the image below.

Freedom at Risk

Freedom at Risk

Last but certainly not least here are my beloved Deanna’s thoughts on the Tea Party as well:

Last week I went with Dad to the San Antonio TEA party. I had a lot of fun walking around with my aunts (they’re all my age) before it started, and we found a store with all kinds of crazy, beautiful, skirts that I am definitely going to go back to soon…

Anyway, once it got started I really enjoyed the speeches that were made, except when Ted Nugent spoke for about 10 min. He was crude, and the faces he made when he played “The Star Spangled Banner” on his electric guitar just annoyed me. What really shocked me was when Terri Hall spoke about the TTC (Trans-Texas Corridor) I had heard about it vaguely on the radio before but never paid much attention to it. It’s a huge super highway/toll road that is going to cut through Texas dividing towns even, with exits only every 5 miles or so. So if your town is cut in half by it you have no way to get to the other side unless you pay a toll, or use access roads.
My favorite speech was Mr Phillips speech “Freedom at Risk” and afterward Dad took me to get ice cream, and I rode home with my Grandma. All in all, it was pretty much awesome.

Look for her report on Doug’s message “Freedom at Risk” coming soon to an Coghlan Family blog near you. :)

Did you go to a Tea Party in your area? What was your experience like?

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