Curious....

Divorce Judge Orders Religious Woman's Kids Sent Back To Public School

This raises an interesting question here. As far as I can tell, this woman got involved in a religion that at first glance appears to be a cult. Her husband didn't like this new religion, and filed for a divorce, and asked that the kids be returned to public school, presumably in an attempt to help the children not be so heavily influenced by the mother's new religion.

Where do the rights fall here? Is this issue really about homeschooling or religion? Does the father/husband have any rights now in the lives of his children, or will the mother now have all the say over the children's futures?

There are a lot of issues here that could beg tons of questions in any given direction. I am a homeschooling mother, and wouldn't be very happy if I was told I couldn't do it anymore. If I were involved in a cult, I probably wouldn't realize it and would also be unhappy if I felt that my religion was being attacked. But does that make it right? Who gets to decide what is or isn't a cult? So many questions. Any thoughts?

Absolutely Sick

Abortion is something that I feel very strongly about. It is murder, pure and simple. It is the taking of a life, a human being. It should not be allowed, and yet it is fought over as a "right" of the mother. Apparently, with the fetus not being human and all, it doesn't deserve any rights, according to them anyway.

If then, the fetus is not human, why would these doctors be making such a big deal over this case?

Fla. doctor investigated in badly botched abortion
By CHRISTINE ARMARIO

Eighteen and pregnant, Sycloria Williams went to an abortion clinic outside Miami and paid $1,200 for Dr. Pierre Jean-Jacque Renelique to terminate her 23-week pregnancy.

Three days later, she sat in a reclining chair, medicated to dilate her cervix and otherwise get her ready for the procedure.

Only Renelique didn't arrive in time. According to Williams and the Florida Department of Health, she went into labor and delivered a live baby girl.

What Williams and the Health Department say happened next has shocked people on both sides of the abortion debate: One of the clinic's owners, who has no medical license, cut the infant's umbilical cord. Williams says the woman placed the baby in a plastic biohazard bag and threw it out.

Police recovered the decomposing remains in a cardboard box a week later after getting anonymous tips.

"I don't care what your politics are, what your morals are, this should not be happening in our community," said Tom Pennekamp, a Miami attorney representing Williams in her lawsuit against Renelique (ren-uh-LEEK') and the clinic owners.

The state Board of Medicine is to hear Renelique's case in Tampa on Friday and determine whether to strip his license. The state attorney's homicide division is investigating, though no charges have been filed. Terry Chavez, a spokeswoman with the Miami-Dade County State Attorney's Office, said this week that prosecutors were nearing a decision.

Renelique's attorney, Joseph Harrison, called the allegations at best "misguided and incomplete" in an e-mail to The Associated Press. He didn't provide details.

The case has riled the anti-abortion community, which contends the clinic's actions constitute murder.

"The baby was just treated as a piece of garbage," said Tom Brejcha, president of The Thomas More Society, a law firm that is also representing Williams. "People all over the country are just aghast."

Even those who support abortion rights are concerned about the allegations.

"It really disturbed me," said Joanne Sterner, president of the Broward County chapter of the National Organization for Women, after reviewing the administrative complaint against Renelique. "I know that there are clinics out there like this. And I hope that we can keep (women) from going to these types of clinics."

According to state records, Renelique received his medical training at the State University of Haiti. In 1991, he completed a four-year residency in obstetrics and gynecology at Interfaith Medical Center in New York.

New York records show that Renelique has made at least five medical malpractice payments in the past decade, the circumstances of which were not detailed in the filings.

Several attempts to reach Renelique were unsuccessful. Some of his office numbers were disconnected, no home number could be found and he did not return messages left with his attorney.

Williams struggled with the decision to have an abortion, Pennekamp said. She declined an interview request made through him.

She concluded she didn't have the resources or maturity to raise a child, he said, and went to the Miramar Women's Center on July 17, 2006. Sonograms indicated she was 23 weeks pregnant, according to the Department of Health. She met Renelique at a second clinic two days later.

Renelique gave Williams laminaria, a drug that dilates the cervix, and prescribed three other medications, according to the administrative complaint filed by the Health Department. She was told to go to yet another clinic, A Gyn Diagnostic Center in Hialeah, where the procedure would be performed the next day, on July 20, 2006.

Williams arrived in the morning and was given more medication.

The Department of Health account continues as follows: Just before noon she began to feel ill. The clinic contacted Renelique. Two hours later, he still hadn't shown up. Williams went into labor and delivered the baby.

"She came face to face with a human being," Pennekamp said. "And that changed everything."

The complaint says one of the clinic owners, Belkis Gonzalez came in and cut the umbilical cord with scissors, then placed the baby in a plastic bag, and the bag in a trash can.

Williams' lawsuit offers a cruder account: She says Gonzalez knocked the baby off the recliner chair where she had given birth, onto the floor. The baby's umbilical cord was not clamped, allowing her to bleed out. Gonzalez scooped the baby, placenta and afterbirth into a red plastic biohazard bag and threw it out.

No working telephone number could be found for Gonzalez, and an attorney who has represented the clinic in the past did not return a message.

At 23 weeks, an otherwise healthy fetus would have a slim but legitimate chance of survival. Quadruplets born at 23 weeks last year at The Nebraska Medical Center survived.

An autopsy determined Williams' baby - she named her Shanice - had filled her lungs with air, meaning she had been born alive, according to the Department of Health. The cause of death was listed as extreme prematurity.

The Department of Health believes Renelique committed malpractice by failing to ensure that licensed personnel would be present when Williams was there, among other missteps.

The department wants the Board of Medicine, a separate agency, to permanently revoke Renelique's license, among other penalties. His license is currently restricted, permitting him to only perform abortions when another licensed physician is present and can review his medical records.

Should prosecutors file murder charges, they'd have to prove the baby was born alive, said Robert Batey, a professor of criminal law at Stetson University College of Law in Gulfport. The defense might contend that the child would have died anyway, but most courts would not allow that argument, he said.

"Hastening the death of an individual who is terminally ill is still considered causing the death of that individual," Batey said. "And I think a court would rule similarly in this type of case."

What bothers me the most, aside from the baby being kicked to the floor, tossed in a bag and then into the garbage like some sort of waste, is this part.

"Hastening the death of an individual who is terminally ill is still considered causing the death of that individual," Batey said. "And I think a court would rule similarly in this type of case."

Terminally ill? Terminally ill??? That baby was just fine before these murderers decided to pump the mother full of drugs in an effort to kill the baby by premature birth. Whether or not it was supposed to be the kind of abortion where they shove a pair of scissors into the head of the baby, making sure the head stays inside the mother so it doesn't get the chance to breathe in air (therefore making it a "live" birth), the article doesn't say. It shouldn't matter. It's still a life, whether you allow that child to have air in it's lungs or not. Whether or not you allow that child to see your face, it's still a child. It has been a child all along. A difference of inches and air does not make a difference.

I Wonder If They Would Do The Same...

...for a divorcee who remarried. Somehow, I doubt it.

The letter Hancock received from the church states that because she has refused to end her sexual relationship with her boyfriend, "you leave us with no other choice but to carry out the commands of the Lord Jesus Christ" … "In accordance with Matthew 18:17 we intend to 'tell it to the church.'"

Technically, it is also a sin to divorce and remarry. But hey, who am I to judge? All I have to say, is if they're going to call her out on this sin, I certainly hope they're willing to call out others on their sins too. Or what about gossip, which seems to be a favorite pasttime of many church women?

If we're going to start judging people on their behaviors, then let's judge everyone. If not, have some mercy. There was a reason that Jesus said "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her".

Anyway, that's my random rant for the day. Church hypocrisy ticks me off more than a lot of things, so I thought I'd share.

Wow, Talk About Brotherly Love

Priests come to blows inside Church of the Nativity



h/t The World According to Nick

I Don't Think I Could Have Done It

I'm sorry, but Mary, riding on a donkey, right before she gave birth, I don't think I could have managed that. I can barely sit on a chair, let alone a donkey. But, I suppose when you're carrying the Savior in your womb, you're bound to try to do things you wouldn't normally do, right? Still, that had to hurt.

My Son, the Knight

I currently have four boys, and one girl, with another on the way. They are Boy, 7, Girl, 5, Boy, almost 4, Boy, 2, and Boy 9 months. It is sometimes a very loud household, but I have been blessed.

Recently, my soon-to-be-4-year-old-boy, has decided that he is my knight, and that he must protect me from the dragon, and the lizard.

Today he started asking me questions about being a knight, and what knights can do. As we were getting ready for church, he asked if knights could go to church. Later, he asked me if knights used the potty (we're still working on potty training, but if this works, I'm all for it!). After that he asked if knights could play games. Of course, the answers to all of them were yes, and he was very happy with that. As he runs around the house, protecting his princess from danger, I am reminded that God's love is abundant, and very tangible in times like these. God protects us from the dangers around us, and keeps us safe from the dragons.

For a great definition of Knighthood, read this post by Everyday Mommy. Read the rest of the posts before it here, here, here, and here. There are more to come, so keep your eyes out for them.

What Happens When a Baptist, a Catholic and a Pentecostal Get To Talking?

This!

Lenten Reflections

Lent is a time of preparation. Preparing ourselves for the Holy Week before Easter and the Resurrection of Our Lord. Many people think that this means it's time to "give something up" to honor God.

While fasting is good and holy, it needs to be done in the right spirit. Why are we giving up a certain item or activity? Is this something that is truly blocking our soul from God's grace? Is it a righteous thing to give up? Will it help me to serve God more fully if I give it up?

One thing to remember though, is that Sundays are Feast Days, no matter what season it is. We do not fast on feast days, because they are for celebrating, while fasting is like a period of mourning. We are dying to ourselves so that we can be raised up in Christ's love and forgiveness. This season, while we may focus on our fasting, really isn't about us in that sense. We are dying to what we were, opening our hearts for the blessing that God has in store for us.

My goal this Lenten season, is to give up my reactionary and sometimes even disrespectful attitude towards my husband, and I ask that you will all pray for me in this. I have been trying for so long to curb this attitude, but perhaps now is the season for real change. Only by God's grace will this task be accomplished, and I hope that He will be gentle with me :) However, sometimes it takes more than gentleness for a person to change, so I have to be prepared for that to.

God's blessing to you all this Lenten season.

Please visit Homemaking Through The Church Year for more great Lenten posts.

Life Application: Suffer The Little Children

Mark 10:14-16
Suffer the little children to come unto me and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of God. Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein. And he took them up in his arms, put his hands on them, and blessed them.

I bring this verse up with several thoughts in mind, and I may have to break this up into a few topics so please bear with me.

I will start with a young boy from my church. He is about eight I think, or close to it. He has cerebral palsy. He also has the most steadfast faith of anyone I know.

He holds weekly (sometimes bi-weekly) services, in which he offers eucharist. He has been given special permission to use consecrated elements with his parents supervision. He has a few friends that even come for these services. He even baptises his friends that aren't baptised, and leads them into lives filled with God's grace.

This child is even a prophet of sorts. He occasionally has a word for us that no child of eight should even be able to comprehend on a good day.

He is an amazing gift of God. So full of unquestioning faith in God, so ready to be used as His instrument.

Think for a moment with me. What if this boy was not allowed to follow God's will in his life? What if he were quieted every time he tried to speak? Told that he couldn't bring his friends into the loving grace of God? What if he weren't allowed to tell his friends that God loves them and that Jesus died for them?

Mark 9:42
And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone be hanged around his neck, and he be cast into the sea.

Children are far more intelligent and intuitive than we realize sometimes. Even I have to remind myself of this constantly. We must be responsible for allowing our children to come to Jesus even when we don't see God's call for them.