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December 15, 2021

Scenario #1:

Where I live in Clarkston, there are these “Super Fundamentalist Christian” folks. Like, “Do you take Jesus to be your personal Lord and Savior and if you do not when you die, you will go to hell and burn in eternal damnation,” kind of folks. I fondly refer to them as my “Evangelically Siblings.”

I am hearing that these folks have strong a proselytization effort among the Moslems and Buddhist refugee folks, especially the young folks. And I am hearing that they are radicalizing some of our refugee youth that have now become street corner preachers in downtown Atlanta.

I do not like it one bit. How do they get the young folks? By offering after school programs to the youth and spending time with them and indoctrinating them into this radicalized form of Christianity. They tell them that if they are Muslims or Buddhists that they will go to hell. Their entire goal is to “save” the “heathens.”

Scenario #2:

We all know that Planned Parenthood only performs abortions, right? That is all they are good for, right? And so, we should all shame them and abandon them, right?

Let us explore further:  Planned Parenthood has 49 independent local affiliates that operate more than 600 centers nationwide. Nationwide, patients visit Planned Parenthood for contraception, prenatal services, and preventive care like pap tests or HPV vaccinations. Testing for STIs and HIV accounted for half of all services provided. This article says that abortions made up 3.5% of their services, nationwide a couple of years ago.

 

  1. Look at the services that they are offering teenagers in the image below. It could be for any gender. Also, it treats them as people with sexual organs – which they are.
  2. Their statement about Margaret Sanger is spot on. That is how you take ownership of a story, take a position, and keep doing good work.
  3. They are literally saving the lives of women with the services that they offer.
  4. The decision to have an abortion is between a woman and her doctor. I know women who have had abortions and it is not an easy choice. They need medically safe environments to support their bodies during this challenge. Period.

The difference between the first scenario and the second is this: One feels like force and control, and one feels like growth.

  • One feels like conformity, and the other feels like liberation.
  • One feels like it sees a whole person and the other does not feel as if they see the wholeness of beings.
  • One is inclusive and the other is exclusive.
  • One allows people to make decisions for themselves, the other makes the decision for them.
  • One is all about condemnation, the other provides options that reflect care.
  • One expresses trust in the capacity of the individual to take care of themselves the other is paternalistic.

Go through the process of figuring out your values and what sort of world you want to live in and give your dollars there. Support what you want to see in the world. Know how to sniff fruit out so you can know the tree.

And yeah, spread the word so teenagers can sign up for the classes below here.

Blog post: You shall know a tree by its fruit!

You shall know a tree by its fruit. And it can be tricky too.

Another article says, “In terms of patients, Planned Parenthood served 2.4 million people last year and provided 328,348 abortions, according to its annual report. That works out to 13.7 percent of patients. Nationally, Planned Parenthood provided 9,419 “prenatal services” and 2,889 adoption referrals in 2016.”

But we do not hear about adoption referrals, and this is a pretty significant number. And I love people who adopt. I really do.

And this article explains why there is such a discrepancy in numbers and interpretation of such numbers: They say, “When all services are counted equally, abortion procedures do account for 3 percent of Planned Parenthood’s total services.”

Another kink for Planned Parenthood.

The organization was founded by Margaret Sanger who believed in eugenics — an inherently racist and ableist ideology that labeled certain people unfit to have children. This impacted disabled people and Black people negatively. Read this article that is most enlightening about the founder’s beliefs.

Today, Planned Parenthood states on their website that they believe “that all people — of every race, religion, gender identity, ability, immigration status, and geography — are full human beings with the right to determine their own future and decide, without coercion or judgement, whether and when to have children. Margaret Sanger’s racism and belief in eugenics are in direct opposition to Planned Parenthood’s mission. Planned Parenthood denounces Margaret Sanger’s belief in eugenics. Further, Planned Parenthood denounces the history and legacy of anti-Blackness in gynecology and the reproductive rights movement, and the mistreatment that continues against Black, Indigenous, and other people of color in this country.

Why am I talking about abortion today? Because I went down a rabbit hole. How do we judge? How do we evaluate without going down the type of rabbit hole I got into this morning? Nobody has time for that.

Yet this skill, of researching, of trying to decide where to spend your dollars or who to support, requires analysis that you must make time for.

You might be opposed to abortion. And you certainly have that right. However, any law, ideology or personal belief that relegates a woman’s body to only production and reproduction is fundamentally flawed. I do not use the services of planned parenthood, but I support them and send them money happily. Why?

  1. Look at the services that they are offering teenagers in the image below. It could be for any gender. Also, it treats them as people with sexual organs – which they are.
  2. Their statement about Margaret Sanger is spot on. That is how you take ownership of a story, take a position, and keep doing good work.
  3. They are literally saving the lives of women with the services that they offer.
  4. The decision to have an abortion is between a woman and her doctor. I know women who have had abortions and it is not an easy choice. They need medically safe environments to support their bodies during this challenge. Period.

The difference between the first scenario and the second is this: One feels like force and control, and one feels like growth.

  • One feels like conformity, and the other feels like liberation.
  • One feels like it sees a whole person and the other does not feel as if they see the wholeness of beings.
  • One is inclusive and the other is exclusive.
  • One allows people to make decisions for themselves, the other makes the decision for them.
  • One is all about condemnation, the other provides options that reflect care.
  • One expresses trust in the capacity of the individual to take care of themselves the other is paternalistic.

Go through the process of figuring out your values and what sort of world you want to live in and give your dollars there. Support what you want to see in the world. Know how to sniff fruit out so you can know the tree.

And yeah, spread the word so teenagers can sign up for the classes below here.

Blog post: You shall know a tree by its fruit!

You shall know a tree by its fruit. And it can be tricky too.

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