A Short Testimony

My name is Darlene.  My father is a serial rapist.

In 1966, Claire was a 16 year old girl. She was invited to the movies by a new boy at school.  He was charming and her parents gave permission.  On the way home, it began to rain.  He suggested a shortcut.  He raped her in the sand pits, between the theater and her home.  

She was too embarrassed to say a word.  She didn’t tell anyone.  When she found herself pregnant, she went to her mom, but still didn’t fully give up the details.  In her mind, she says, we were in it together.  Social pressure required she marry the boy.  They lived in a very small community.  She thought he would treat her decently.  He had apologized, but he was violent and his family was cold and heartless. 

He raped her for almost two years before she told anyone. When she found herself pregnant again, Claire told her mother that if she didn’t get her out of there, she would kill herself.  They had been living in a shed on his family’s property.

I found out the details at a pretty young age.  My mom had come from a disfunctional home and she had a lot of problems. We moved every year, even when she was later married to her second husband.  

Mine was a tumultuous childhood.  My sister and I spent weekends with our father’s family.  He was allowed to use us for his own gratification with permission from his family.  They warned us to be silent.  The threats were very scary.  My mother was oblivious. 

We were abused for years, but we both, my sister and I, are glad to be alive.  We are glad that neither of us were killed by abortion, grateful that our mother chose life for us.  

In my teens, I ran away, was kidnapped, trafficked, sold, raped, beat up, on drugs and alcohol.  I wandered the streets, lost and fatherless, by choice because my father was a rapist.  The whole city seemed to know of his brutality. 

It wasn’t until I was pregnant that I had any desire to change.  My baby’s father was a married, organized crime boss.  I was his house pet, just one of the girls he’d purchased from a pimp.  He threatened that if I didn’t have an abortion, he would kill me.  I believed him.  In fact I knew without a doubt that he would.  I made an appointment in his presence.

That night, I had a dream of the procedure in living color.  It was accurate and devastating.  I managed to fake the abortion.  I mean to say, the evening after the appointment was to have been, I pretended that I had gone through with it.  He had insisted I go out to dinner with him.  I was terrified that he would find out, but I had to risk it.  I told him that now that I had done this, I would move away and he let me go.  He was convinced.

I began to heal and realized that my life mattered.  A person conceived in rape is a person.  Our lives are not worth less than someone who was born out of a loving relationship.  I have five children and two grandchildren.  My children have businesses, jobs, ministry.  They are all productive citizens.  I have served my community in many ways on a variety of occasions over the years.  I have been a practicing nurse for 25 years.  

The idea that society believes a woman pregnant by assault ought to have an abortion is totally repugnant to me.  Rapists, like my father, are not subject to the death penalty.  Yet, people would have me or another child killed for his offense.  This is not logical.  

Subjecting a mother to abortion is similarly abhorrent.  The baby growing inside of her is her baby.  It is not the rapists baby, it’s hers.  To pull that child out, limb from limb kills her baby.   I see it as another assault.  She has been assaulted.  Her dignity and autonomy has been violated by a rapist.  When she finds that she has become pregnant, then assaulted again and her maternity stolen by an abortionist.  To add the trauma of abortion to the trauma of rape only compounds the pain.  Pregnancy is temporary.  A woman who offers her child up for adoption can sigh and say she did the right thing in a bad situation. 

Life Lights

The Bible says, “You are the light of the world.” 

Without light we cannot see things in front of us.  We don’t know where anything is.  We cannot even navigate.  

Blind people compensate with other senses.  They use cues and sensory input that sighted people generally don’t develop nearly as well. 

The culture of our great country is segmented.  It is not just regional.  It can be different in an office building or a town, but not even a group of towns are collectively thinking similarly.  Historically, before the explosion of knowledge, people were taught and exposed to thoughts in a relatively narrow scope.  The local school and newspaper were owned and produced by the leaders of the community at large.  Swaths of geographical areas had a culture.  

Now, with the internet and TV and the rapid dissemination of information is so diverse.  Communities are not geographical.  They are etherial.  

Leaders need to be aware of how diverse communities perceive issues.  The USA will never be the same.  We will never return to communities in geographic areas.  We will never again have the concerted full-on community on hand when tragedy strikes.  We will never again know everyone in town, even in a small town.  We will never, ever vote with our votes, our voices, or our money as a unit again.

People who can discern right and wrong must be able to reach those who cannot see what is right and what is wrong.  The massive movements of our times will look different than they did in the past.  The marches on the capital and the parades are not where we should put our efforts.  The petitions have little real impact.  They are data gatherers.  The crowds at the statehouse are important, but remain ineffectual.  

Honest men and women who have lived long enough to see this know enough to know they don’t know enough to figure out how to make the shift.  I know I don’t.  

Leaders who would bring the country to the next stage must be able to use all their senses and be honest.  Stop floundering! Stop pursuing a voter block, without getting to know the culture of that voter block.  Stop trying to impose your own idea of what’s best for others on people.  

We might have another election before the big reset that our country will inevitably experience.  We are on the edge of a cliff that is dropping off behind us.  There is no turning back.  Logic dictates that if we continue to kill our people, the value of life is meaningless.  Logic assures us that if we continue to take from those working and give to those who do not, they will go to the other side of the grab.  Logic forbids children learning that their feelings are more important that the truth will have a sustainable future. 

Demographics are available people.  Use them.  Reach out, lift up, return to the absolutes of old.  There have always been murderers, thieves and despots.  There always will be.  But when there are more logical, truthful, altruistic individuals they become a great country.  Let US become a great country again.

You Can Do Anything

"You can do anything."

I don’t remember ever hearing this when I was growing up: not from parents or other family members, not from teachers, not even from anyone on TV.

My children heard it every week. We chose home education.  I tailored individual plans for each of my five children based on their abilities and desires.  The baby is seventeen and will graduate this fall. They all do what they want.

We still live in a country that is free enough to afford ingenuity, entrepreneurship and opportunity.  “It is all about how we play the game.” I’d say.  You can do anything.  

Of course there are limits, but precious few.  I am 46 years old, suffer with fibromyalgia and frequent migraine headaches and I am only 5’ 2’.  I cannot decide to play professional basketball tomorrow. But I can do almost anything I want to do. With an appropriate education, I can learn to change whatever I want to about my life.

You can too.  You can do anything.  

All you need is the desire coupled with the appropriate education. 

• Do you want to change your career?
• Do you need some new friends?
• Do you need to manage your time better?
• Do you want to increase your lifestyle?
• Do you want more free time?
• Do you need to improve your health?

• Are you ready for change? 

You and I can get stuck.  We can often feel like there is no freedom to pursue anything new, but really, it is just a matter of moving in a direction.  You and I are equal in respect to time.  We each have 24 hours in each day.  

We are different in every other way.  You may be athletic or mathtastic.  You may be shy or very outgoing.  You may work full time.  You may have small children or a demanding family life. 

The only issue is how truly do you want it? If you are reading this, you are online.  You can find information on just about anything.  Pursuing your dream is possible.

Make a list of what you want.  Prioritize your list.  Maybe in terms of how much you want it.  Maybe in attainability.  Maybe in terms of how long it will take and will that goal bring you closer to the next goal.  Compare and contrast your natural skills and abilities with your desires. 

Set some clear goals. 

“Learn new skills” is not a clear goal.

“Learn how to set up a Facebook Page by next Tuesday” is a clear goal.

“Make more money” is not clear either.

“Make $5,000.00 more this year” is a clear goal. 

Then, back fill how you will accomplish it.  In order to make more money, perhaps you will inventory stuff around the house that you don’t use and sell it. Maybe it means taking on some overtime or a temp job. 

“Make new friends” is a good goal, but not a clear goal.

“Make two new friends and go out to lunch with both by the last day of the month” is very clear.

Then think about the things you’d like in friends and the things that you’d have in common.  Join an organization or association that is geared toward the interests you wanted to expand.  If you want to friends to grow in real estate with, join a real estate association.  Like to knit, join a knitting group. Perhaps you want friends that will go to the gym with you, join in some events in your area. 

You will have to get out of your comfort zone to make any changes.  It starts with acknowledging the desire and assessing the requirements. Then, it will take some thoughtful consideration and plans. Finally, it will require implementation.

The good news is that even if you fail, you can start over again. 

You can do anything. Really, almost anything.

GOVERNMENT APPROVED KILLERS

Wives have been known to kill their husbands.  Husbands sometimes kill their wives.  Having them around can be very inconvenient.  Some nag and complain all the time.  Some have health issues that really drag the family down financially and limit their ability to vacation or have more stuff to enjoy.  Life insurance payouts are helpful in stress relief too.  People can be very expensive.

Suppose we had a special government agency set up to oversee these murders.  That way we could make sure that the spouse that was being killed would be killed efficiently and placed in biohazard containers for disposal.  We could make sure the facility pays staff well and receives generous amounts of tax payer money.  Legit facilities could advertise and market their services in high risk neighborhoods.

  

Some states could even provide for inspections to make sure the facility is equipped with medications and comfort measures for the spouse who has contracted the killing.  Then we could regulate the process.  It should take place near a hospital, so that if the person being killed somehow makes it out alive, they can access care.  Or if per chance the person who contracted the murder were somehow hurt in the process, they could be taken care of.

Legislators could decide at what age it is legal to kill the spouse and if there would be any special education required prior to the completion of the contract.  They could enact laws requiring any protestors or other concerned family to stay away from the facility as a buffer zone.  We could have laws that state which type of murder is allowed at each facility.  We could have laws pertaining to the body parts of the spouse that is killed and also, pertaining to any potential assets they might have.  

In cases that don’t meet the right criteria, a spouse could get special judicial bypass to make sure that killing the unwanted spouse would be legal.  With more regulations and restrictions, it might save some lives. Then again, if it were legal and regulated, it just might become more common. 

This would make Spousal Murder much more acceptable.  Don’t you agree?