My brain and body are absolutely exhausted with our wonderful newborn baby (born last week! Praise God! What a whirlwind haha). But it doesn’t mean I haven’t had random thoughts and ideas. However rather than post them on Facebook (which could lead to blowback, anger, and people getting offended, which I don’t have energy to deal with right now), I’m just going to post them here. They are pretty stream of consciousness and not necessarily related to one another, so take it all with a grain of salt 🙂
- PARENTAL LEAVE. With one week of paid parental leave under my belt (I get a full month, Liz gets three–thank you InterVarsity!), I just want to say how incredibly ridiculous it is that the United States does not have any federally guaranteed paid parental leave for mothers (not to mention both parents). There are only 2 other countries on the entire planet besides the US that don’t offer any leave for mothers (Suriname and Papau New Guinea). Even comparatively poorer nations like Libya, Iran, Colombia, Ghana, and North Korea offer multiple weeks of leave! If we don’t want mothers to choose abortion, why isn’t our government doing something about this? It should have bipartisan support! And even Ivanka Trump supposedly was going to push for a plan for this. But of course Congressional Republicans seem to hate whenever government money goes to anyone that’s not a rich man or a corporation. And if Joe Biden becomes president, you can bet that they’ll automatically oppose any and every pro-family spending bill he puts forward for the sake of the “national debt”.
- DIAPERS. I was honestly worried about changing diapers of a newborn, as it’s not something I ever witnessed or did growing up. But while it’s a little stinky, it’s honestly not that bad at all. Which reminds me of a fact I read about Donald Trump: on multiple occasions he has bragged that he never once changed a diaper, despite having 5 children–I guess his wives or servants always changed them??… To me I think that says a lot about who he is and his character. Unwilling to be a servant, not a team player with his wives, and a hefty dose of pride. He also thus embodies toxic masculinity instead of healthy masculinity (I could go on and on about that topic, but that’s for another day).
- FREEDOM. In America, every citizen has the freedom/right to lie, commit adultery, be mean, curse people out, manipulate, be selfish, be greedy, hate others, take advantage of others, and generally do whatever we want. In certain cases (though not all) it is even legal to commit violence, kill, slander, and incite insurrection. Yet while an American has the right and freedom to do all of those things, in the Kingdom of God, Christians don’t have the right to do ANY them! Instead we are servants of Jesus, and only have the right to do the things he calls us to–which don’t include anything in that list. Thus it makes me sad when I see people who claim to be Christians get all up in arms about their “right” to do things like spread lies, share slander, or endorse violence. In an American sense, yes they have that right, but if they claim to be Christian then they ought not do any of those things, nor expect others to do so on their behalf.
- KILL vs. DIE. A big difference between true Christians and most other people is this: most people are willing and eager to kill for the sake of their core values (protecting their personal property, expanding their empire, etc), but usually not to die for them. For a true Christian, it is (supposed to be) precisely the opposite. We are called to be willing to die for Jesus daily, but to never kill for him. Whenever you see Christians more passionate about killing and dominating others than they are about suffering and serving, be sure that you are probably not in the presence of the Kingdom of God.
- ABORTION. This is a controversial topic, but I’m going to humbly put it forward. It’s a freaking baby. At the 12-week ultrasound our “Baby Yoda” was already kicking his feet, dancing around, and looking like a baby. It didn’t look like a fish or chicken or anything like that. Thus I’ve mentioned this in a previous blog, but I personally think certain progressive circles need to put a damper on the “abortion is wonderful!”-type rhetoric, which is admittedly rare but I have seen it. Anyone who’s had a birth, or God forbid a miscarriage, knows that there is something special about pregnancy and birth, and we should not be so flippant about that. Babies are not parasites invading a woman’s body; in fact there is something amazing and empowering about a woman who is able to carry a fetus to term and be a functioning, working adult at the same time (men can’t do that). NOW–that said, I think that abortion being legal, safe, and rare is the way to go, and that Democratic policies are actually the ones PROVEN to lead to a decrease in the abortion rate, while Republican policies are PROVEN to increase them (again, see blog). And of course there’s tons of gray areas like rape, incest, health of mother, etc. Thus my point is not about the actual policies, but about the rhetoric that is used. However since I’m not the person who actually has given birth or had an abortion, that’s all I’ll say on that topic for now.
- QANON & POST-ELECTION VIOLENCE. Despite recent social media crackdowns, Qanon is once again gaining in support and traction in American society. There will be Qanon believing members of Congress elected this November (it’s inevitable), who will then be in a position to begin The Storm–the part of Qanon where Donald Trump declares martial law, executes all his political enemies, and begins a new rule where all Jews, elites, and liberals are crushed. If Qanon is false, it is spreading a horrific worldview to millions of Americans, most of whom own guns and are ready to kill anyone who stands in their way. And if Qanon is true, we are just weeks away from Donald Trump declaring himself Supreme Leader and ending American democracy. Either way, it’s something to be aware of. As a Christian who takes Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount both seriously and literally, I know I cannot intentionally take another life. But with Qanon out there (and related militia movements like the Oathkeepers, 3 Percenters, KKK, Proud Boys, and myriad others), it is a bit scary to contemplate what might go down after November 3rd. Last month at a Black Lives Matter demonstration a middle-aged white man slowly drove by my wife and me and pointed his fingers like a gun at each of us, and mimed pulling the trigger. Typical toxic masculinity posturing? Probably. But knowing that he definitely owns a gun at home is a bit scary. We saw a different guy drive by, a neighbor with a loud pickup truck who proudly owns guns and supports Donald Trump, angrily filming the demonstrators. Did he see that we were there? Is our house on the kill list for after the election? LOL we’ll find out!
Anyway, those are just a few random hot takes after not a whole lot of sleep! Please take it with a grain of salt; reach out if you have any questions.