It sounds contradictory

16 “But if he struck him down with an iron object, so that he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall be put to death. 17 And if he struck him down with a stone tool that could cause death, and he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall be put to death. 18 Or if he struck him down with a wooden tool that could cause death, and he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall be put to death. 19 The avenger of blood shall himself put the murderer to death; when he meets him, he shall put him to death. 20 And if he pushed him out of hatred or hurled something at him, lying in wait, so that he died, 21 or in enmity struck him down with his hand, so that he died, then he who struck the blow shall be put to death. He is a murderer. The avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death when he meets him.

30 “If anyone kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death on the evidence of witnesses. But no person shall be put to death on the testimony of one witness. 31 Moreover, you shall accept no ransom for the life of a murderer, who is guilty of death, but he shall be put to death. 32 And you shall accept no ransom for him who has fled to his city of refuge, that he may return to dwell in the land before the death of the high priest. 33 You shall not pollute the land in which you live, for blood pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is shed in it, except by the blood of the one who shed it. 34 You shall not defile the land in which you live, in the midst of which I dwell, for I the Lord dwell in the midst of the people of Israel.”

Numbers 35:16-21; 30-34

A number of years ago I was cleaning out a cabinet and came across a small book written by a pastor. It wasn't by a Lutheran so I didn't get it from church. I have no idea where it came from. It could have come in the mail or been picked up at some point. But since I'm an avid reader I can't discard a book without reading, or at least skimming it. There were parts that clearly weren't in keeping with what Lutherans would consider sound doctrine, even spending a chapter or two on the Iluminati (though perhaps called by a different name). Most of it I considered rubbish. Partly because it wasn't Lutheran, but also, some of it, because I was much more liberal then than now. 

One chapter, though, I still remember quite well. It was the only chapter that completely changed how I viewed something major. I was, until that time, anti-death penalty. While I still abhor the idea of putting someone to death (and quite frankly, that's the point, isn't it?) after reading this chapter by some unknown pastor, I came to have a better understanding of it. And I can say that for the same reason that I'm pro-life, I'm pro-death penalty. Here's why.

God created us in His image. While we're "a little lower than the angels" they serve us. They protect us. They could squash us like a bug at any time, but they are here to do the opposite. We are cherished by our heavenly Father and so we bear His image. When a man (or woman) murders a child in the womb, or shortly after leaving it, or murders an adult in the prime of life or an adult finishing out last days in a nursing facility, he is murdering someone who bears God's image. He also forfeits his own life. That is why God commanded murderers to be put to death.

It wasn't to be done in a careless fashion though. It could only be done with the testimony of at least two witnesses and if they were found to be lying, they were put to death. And it had to be murder, not manslaughter. The intent had to be there.

The last part of what the pastor in the book wrote got me as well. While he supports the death penalty for the above reasons, he also was clear that our criminal justice system isn't fair. There are those who are more or less likely to be convicted based on ethnicity or socio-economic factors than actual evidence. While I support the death penalty, I don't have to support it in every case. It is better to err on the side of life in prison, where a person can be released if later found to be innocent, or where a person who is truly guilty can lose all freedoms and privileges for life. There is certainly nothing wrong with imprisoning someone for life, which I support more than death. But I can no longer argue against the death penalty. How it's applied? Absolutely. And I can use my vote to try to make improvements there. But I can also say that I can support it and still be pro-life. 

The things you learn

With the election mess getting started and the brouhaha over Planned Parenthood (not to mention poor little old Cecil, may he RIP) it's funny what will set off a media firestorm and what can get brushed under the rug.

For most, if not all of my life, at least where I knew there was such a thing as Republican and Democrat, Republicans were always accused of being the racists. We wanted to keep minorities in their place and never provide any kind of assistance. Heaven forbid. Democrats were always seen as being for progress and lifting minorities out of poverty and helping them succeed. In fact, just yesterday someone practically accused me of supporting the KKK because I'm what she referred to as a religious conservative. Well, then, that must be true, right? 

Not really. The KKK can be divided into three distinct past and present organizations. The first was what is referred to by some as the terrorist arm of the Democratic party. If you'll remember the Democratic party was the party of slavery. It wanted slavery to remain legal. When the Confederates lost the civil war and Reconstruction began, the organization known as the Ku Klux Klan was formed by Democrats to terrorize black and white Republicans. They burned down the homes and murdered people they knew (or at least suspected) of being Republicans.

The second KKK organization came about in roughly the 1920's and was more religious in nature. That's when they began to also target Catholics, Jews, and anyone not their religion or their kind of Christian. They also continued their attacks against blacks and other minorities. This is the KKK that attracted the likes of Margaret Sanger, who started Planned Parenthood. She wanted to decrease the numbers of blacks, mentally ill, and other inferior peoples. Her organization is continuing her work brilliantly by making sure they target those communities and are making a nice amount of extra income by selling off dismembered and whole babies for profit.

The current KKK organization is not so much an organization but a bunch of smaller groups. They're not connected but like to use the slogans and logos of the KKK.

I find it interesting that if you look past the hyperbole and look at the parties and people doing most of the shouting about PP and KKK, they have it backward. But in the day of soundbites and tweets, that's not surprising. It's easier to click "share" than it is to do a little digging. All that required is maybe a click or two of the mouse to find out more. But that's not so quick and easy, is it?

Why I don't need to go out and do it myself

Lately there have been a lot of posts on Facebook about both the villainy and the sanctity of Planned Parenthood. Both sides can be accused of bad behavior, whether they've actually been rude or not. Non sequitur comments abound due to inability to think of anything else. These comments are designed to be a conversation stopper so that the commentators can claim victory in the war on life. Either stop the conversation or cause the other person to backtrack and hem and haw.

I've decided not to backtrack any longer. I think I surprised a friend today by replying to her non sequitur with a "No, why would you think so?" She replied with another non sequitur. It was kind of fun. It was empowering. I plan to do it again as soon as possible. LOL

People have become so brainwashed by PP's propaganda that they honestly believe that if PP is defunded that women in low-income communities will no longer have access to health care. The fact is, they will not only still have access but it will still be affordable or even free. I'm not from a large city. It's small to medium. Besides one PP clinic, in a rather nice, medium to high income area, there are at least two crisis pregnancy centers, at least one community health center, and the county health department. All of which are there to help women obtain the services they need. Some are free, some are inexpensive, and some are sliding scale.

The problem in our community (and I'm guessing in others as well where people are screaming that low-income women will suffer from the loss of a PP clinic) isn't that there aren't alternatives to PP. It's that they aren't advertised. There are billboards around town from different pro-life organizations but only one that I've noticed from one of the crisis pregnancy clinics. I don't know how many people realize that the health department and the community health center can also help them.

Now I realize that the health department and community health center may or may not refer them to places to obtain an abortion. I realize they may well supply birth control that can, in some cases, cause the death of an unborn child after failing to prevent conception. I used to be pro-choice. If I were still pro-choice I would still send someone there rather than to PP. PP was started by a woman who was quite open in her racism, support of the KKK, and her support of eugenics. It's no coincidence that most PP clinics are located in areas with a high minority population. I would also not send someone to a clinic in the business of selling human body parts.  Pro-choice is not synonymous with approval of PP practices, though many people I've seen on FB seem to think so. Pro-life is not synonymous with punishing women who make mistakes in their personal lives. Quite the contrary. As one crisis pregnancy clinic in my area clearly states, they are non-judgmental. They provide help and support, education, parenting classes. They are not there to make the women feel judged or punished. They are there to help both the mother and child. And no, I don't expect the women working there to adopt all the babies.

Slipping and sliding around

Hello, everyone. Winter finally decided to arrive with a vengeance. I'm glad, though. I love winter. I love excuses to be snowed in with the kids and spend time with them. Even though bickering can be a dampener, I still love it. However, until roads clear enough to get out safely there are no trips to the library, which keeps me from posting here.

But we're here, we're alive, and I'm shooting myself for not bringing my Kindle so I can download Issues, Etc. I'll live, since we're watching favorite shows on DVD.

I'm getting lots of knitting done. The Diva has her new afghan and I'm working on the Little Prince's. It's tedious. It's stockinette stitch with the only changes being color every 48 rows. No mitering, cables, nothing. And it's 8 panels of 8 squares. I'm on panel 6. I think. I need to count to double check. Then it's sew together, sc around the edges, color on color, and then fringe, color on color. However, the Little Prince may not want the fringe. Unless it helps it keep from curling like stockinette can do. He wants to play checkers on it. The pattern calls for 4 colors but I'm just using black and white. After his is done I'm repeating the Diva's afghan for the niece. Her big sister got one for her birthday last fall so I'm making one for her too.

I really should buy stock in Ben Gay.

Just a quick one!

We've been snowed in at home. Actually the roads aren't too bad...it's the driveway (such as it is) that's the problem. Will we be able to get from the garage to the road or into the garage after we're home? Can't assume anything.

The puppies are growing. We're keeping 3 so they're in crates in the kitchen working on housetraining. If we can ever get started we'll be taking them to obedience training soon. They're so smart...I expect they'll learn faster than we do. LOL

Stay warm and dry!

Still no oven, but boy do I have food!

My oven has bit the dust. We're debating between replacing it with a newer one we have at our place (came with a food truck we bought). It's relatively new, compared to ours, and hardly ever used (according to the previous owner). Theoretically it should be fine. It would also give me 4 working burners, whereas now I have only 2. For now I'm using my bread machine. I use it for dough to save time but bake in a bread pan so I get the shape I prefer. However, It's a good back up for a non functioning oven as well. I've switched to entirely whole wheat bread. The last couple of been unusable. But I was using hard red wheat flour and that's very dense. Today I'm trying white wheat, which should be lighter and easier. We'll see...

This week I picked up our first share from a CSA. I made spinach stew last night (recipe coming later) to serve over brown rice. It was yummy. The Little Prince ate his with no complaining, though he's requested fatayer with spinach. But that require baking so not happening soon.

I also have golden beets, green leaf lettuce, arugula, carrots, sweet potatoes, Jerusalem artichokes, and squash. Yum!

A yummy recipe revisited

A few years ago I shared a recipe here for Mjadra, which is a thick lentils and rice dish that is eaten by dipping pita bread. Now that we're moving more toward the Nourishing Traditions way of cooking (at home, at least), I've adapted the recipe.

The original is this:
1 cup lentils (rinsed)
4 cups water
1/2 cup rice (rinsed)
1 onion, chopped
oil
salt and pepper and cumin to taste

Boil lentils in water for 20 minutes. Saute onions in oil; add to lentils with residue, rice and seasonings; cover and boil on medium for another 20 minutes. When done, you should have enough liquid left that once you've pureed it it's still very moist. Dry is OK, but then you have Mdadra. ;)

Now, for my new way of making it.

Soak the lentils and brown rice for at least 7 hours in 4 cups of water. Actually 4 cups minus 2 Tbsp, which you'll replace with 2 Tbsp. of whey. I get my whey from draining yogurt to make labneh. Then boil over medium for 20 minutes.

In place of oil I use bacon grease, but you could use coconut oil too. I prefer uncured bacon because the flavor is incomparable. I add the onions and residue to the lentils and rice along with the seasonings. I've started to replace the cumin with plenty of curry. Cumin is one of the spices in curry, but I find all the other spices, along with having terrific health benefits, make this dish fantastic.

Mjadra is a relatively plain dish. Delicious, but nothing fancy. However, I find that by using bacon grease and curry (sounds like an odd combination, I know) not only am I making it more NT, but the combination of flavors makes it hard to stop eating. I really need to start doubling it.

Today's Musings

This pretty much sums it up.

I really enjoy reading The Federalist. The articles are very well written and I would hate to get into a debate with any of the writers because I would lose and I'm a sore loser. Mollie Ziegler Hemmingway is my favorite so far and I love listening to her on Issues, Etc. as well. She tells it like it is and she does her homework.

The writer of the article linked to above did a very good job of putting into words my opinion of feminism as it manifests itself these days. I believe in equal pay for equal work; I believe gender is a sorry excuse for deciding whether or not someone will be good at a job; I believe that men who assume a successful woman must be sleeping around to get that far in her career are the biggest idiots who ever walked the face of the earth. And don't get me started on the jerks who refuse to work for a woman because she's ... a woman!

However, most of my opinions would also get me in trouble with today's feminists...because I'm a big fan of personal accountability and making good choices, and natural consequences. Something too many of the more obnoxiously vocal feminists in our country aren't.

Don't eat all the leeks yourself!

I'm trying to diversify our diet. We've been making the move to traditional whole foods and so far I really enjoy it. I've been trying different vegetable, some with success, others without. Last night it was leeks, sauteed with carrots, which I found yummy (even though they were a little burnt due to a bit of inattentiveness on my part.) When the Peanuts decided they didn't like them I happily took theirs. Word of advice...if you're in the habit of finishing unwanted veggies, don't ever do that with leeks. Or Jerusalem artichokes. You would think I'd remember that lesson but it was a few years ago. What happened, you might ask? Well, just take my word for it. Or if you want to satisfy your curiosity, go ahead. You'll get your answer in just a few short hours. Just make sure you're not too far from home.

I flipflop between soaking and not soaking my flour for bread. I have yet to for pizza dough. With the bread I really have no excuse. Just forget to the night before. Actually I think that's the problem. I'm tired and/or in the middle of other things or hauling kids hither and yon and don't want to mess with it or just plain old forget. I need to do it the the DAY before, when I'm thinking of it. As for the pizza, I don't always decide on pizza the day before. Though, I suppose I could fudge and as soon as I think of it, especially if early in the morning, just soak until I need to make the pizza. Better than nothing, right?

I do make my own yogurt. It's always yummy. I use whey like crazy. I make our own ketchup, which is super easy. Just needs 2 days to ferment. Need to branch out though. We're joining a CSA so I need to use fermenting as my back-up plan when we might get all the veggies eaten. My intention is (notice I didn't waste my time saying "plan", since we know how those go) to start with eating the produce that doesn't work for fermentation or other methods of keeping around longer. Then if we run out of time before the next box arrives or it's a case of ferment or lose it, I'll ferment. We'll see how that goes. I'm hoping to learn a lot from our time helping with the CSA and start small with a garden of our own. DH tends to want to start big. If we have a neighbor with a tiller who can fix us up a small garden, why not just have him fix us a BIG garden. Why not? Because I'm the one taking care of it. I have Gardening for Dummies but other than that I'm pretty clueless. He's working more than full time so I can be home so I'm taking care of things myself...think 11 chicks and 10 dogs (9 were puppies) in my house at one point this winter. I want to start small so I don't get overwhelmed. Also so that if I get busy with other things the garden is small enough to manage...and get the kids to help with. I'm about baby steps...DH is about starting great guns and dumping on the wife.

If you want a good recipe for whole wheat bread that you soak, check out Kitchen Stewardship. 
She has great recipes there for us newbies. I could get lost in her website and never come home. I could easily bankrupt myself at the library printing up her recipes.