4 Search Results for "rights"

• Free to Be Me Free to Be Me

  • From: susanhlawrence
  • Description:
    It's Independence Day. Not a day I typically get ultra-excited about. Not that I don't think it's important. I'm honored to live in the United States of America. I say thanks to servicemen and women whenever I get the chance. I respect the flag. I appreciate this country's history. I appreciate the freedom I have.
    
    

    Or do I?

     

    I had a busy week, but God prompted me to pause occasionally to remind me of the freedoms I have...and often take for granted.

    • I drove from Illinois to Kentucky to Missouri. I didn't worry about my security. I stopped when I wanted to get a drink. I chose where to buy gasoline. I talked to whom I wanted.
    • I ate when I wanted, where I wanted. One day I walked into a restaurant and asked to see the menu before I decided. I chose to eat there with two of my girlfriends...and what a great choice it was!
    • I walked through a convention center for several days, chatting with such a wide variety of people about different topics: family, ministry, government, travel.

    That's my sticky note version. Make a list of your own. Think about today. What have you been free to do today?

    Do you consider your everyday freedoms as "rights" or "privileges"? I'd certainly like to say privileges...but I'd be lying. I make choices every day that I treat more like a right than a privilege. I should be able to access the internet. I should be able to shop where and when I want. I should be able to talk about whatever I want with family and friends. I should be able to worship where, how, and when I want.

    When I consider my choices as rights instead of privileges, it all becomes about me. And it's not about me at all. With freedom comes requirements and responsibilities. Not selfishness.

    Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace. - Romans 6:14 (NLT)

    Sure, I'm free to be me...the me God created me to be.

    For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love. - Galatians 5:13 (NLT)

    God gave you freedom. How does your life reflect it?

  • Blog post
  • 1 year ago
  • Views: 140
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• Bless the Hands that Prepare O Bless the Hands that Prepare Our Food!

  • From: agapejustice
  • Description:

    This blog was first posted on Sojourners God's Politics Blog. For more information please visit Justice at Smithfield-http://www.smithfieldjustice.com/

    During the BBQ Season of summer I attended the DC campaign kick-off for the Justice at Smithfield Campaign. "Smithfield Foods is the largest pork processor and producer in the world, the fourth largest turkey processor and fifth largest beef processor in the U.S." In the early 1990's Smithfield opened its Tar Heel, North Carolina plant, with 5,500 workers who slaughter and process 32,000 hogs per day. The Tar Heel plant is not unionized and overall only about 56% of Smithfield pork processing plant employees are unionized.

    Though raised in Brooklyn, NY, my family hails from North Carolina which makes this campaign of personal importance to me. At the campaign kick-off two young women testified about mistreatment at the Tar Heel plant. A 22 year-old woman spoke of developing such a serious case of carpal tunnel syndrome that she can no longer lift more than 15 pounds. The testimony of this woman had a profound effect on me because I saw myself in her face. At 22 years-old I was a recent college graduate excitedly planning my future. I did not have to worry about an injury that could leave me disabled for life. If my grandparents remained in North Carolina instead of migrating to Brooklyn, NY, I could have easily been one of the Smithfield workers. What separates me from the workers at Smithfield?

    Some of the tasks at the Tar Heel plant include cutting the skin off of frozen meat as it comes down the line, a task that is especially difficult when having to work at breakneck speeds. As stated in the Human Rights Watch report: Blood Sweat and Fear: Workers' Rights in U.S. Meat and Poultry Plants:

    Many workers have painful reactions to conditions, but they do not act for fear of losing their jobs. In this report one employee is quoted as saying 'I am sick at work with a cold and breathing problems and my arms are always sore. But I am afraid to say anything about this because I am afraid they will fire me.'

    Workers have also spoken of sexual harassment and racism. How can working conditions like this exist in our modern society? What is the role of race, class and economics in the Smithfield worker struggle?

    As I reflect on the Justice at Smithfield campaign I am reminded of a common request made during the blessing of a meal--"may God bless the hands of those who have prepared our food." As we continue this season of BBQ's let us remember the workers of Smithfield when we bless our meals by asking God to bless their hands and their struggle.

  • Blog post
  • 1 year ago
  • Views: 145
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• anyone else tired of the octup anyone else tired of the octuplets?

  • From: edk
  • Description:

    Just when I thought the super drama surrounding the mom-who-had-more-kids-than-everyone-knows-she-should-have was fizzling away I saw yet another disturbing piece of media on the television this morning. Her and her mother sitting on a couch arguing. Wow. Why is that remotely newsworthy or of any value for that matter?

    Before I go on, I think I should point out a few points regarding this whole scenerario that are blatantly obvious:

    • a doctor practiced outside of ethical boundaries
    • a woman made poor decisions regarding the health (defined in numerous ways) of herself and her children
    • the aforementioned woman's mother has acted as an enabler for far too long
    • the general public is taking the whole situation FAR to personally

    Beyond all this (and I know not everyone agrees with the above points) I think we need to look at our society, and I mean really look at it, and decide if we should really be as surprised and horrified about this situation as we love to be.

    This is not the first instance of a woman having children without a second glance as to how she will support them. We basically live in a welfare state and this one woman, no matter how big of a media magnet she may be, is not even close to being the root cause. I personally have a hard time believing that if the country wasn't in the financial state that it is in, this story would even have gotten as big as it has, going so far as to broadcast family banter and use the mother of multiples as a scapegoat for how careless we all have become with our assets.

    I also find how quick we are to judge this woman's choices a little hypocritical. In a country where we pushed and shoved to get a woman complete and utter control over her body in any situation and circumstance to the point that federal dollars can help pay for whatever choice she decides to make, how can we then deny another woman these same rights, just because we realize how costly those choices can be? Afterall, it is her body and we do not legislate morality.

  • Blog post
  • 1 year ago
  • Views: 336
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• I Live in a Dream World I Live in a Dream World

  • From: Katherine-Lee
  • Description:
    I live in a dream world. I don't even understand the half of it. As a young women I am able to live abundantly in safety and security. I complain about being bored at work and on the weekends and I focus on superficial nonsense that won't even matter in a week. Yet, I am blessed and blessed and blessed. I have no idea how much God blesses me every single day. I live in a dream world.
    
    Most people don't have this life in common with me. Most girls my age in this world don't even have the time to worry about the petty things that I worry about. Girls my age and younger everywhere are raped, abused, threatened, and denied basic human rights every single day. EVERY DAY. I, I live in a dream world.
    
    I wish I could see my own life and blessings through God's eyes every single day. I wish that I saw beyond cliques, heartbreak, clothes, church, partying, body image, possessions....and focused on helping those who can't help themselves, loving everyone I meet, understanding how incredibly blessed I am. I am speechless. I will pray for this wisdom. Wisdom to continually be grateful for what God has blessed me with. Just being thankful is not enough however. I need to grasp the entirety of the situation here on earth. I am to use all these blessings: my education, health, wealth, leadership to bring His kingdom here on earth as it is in heaven. With the understanding that you live in a dream world comes the understanding that it's time to wake up and start living out the gospel.
  • Blog post
  • 2 years ago
  • Views: 151
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