Self-Defense = Racism?

Last month, Florida signed a bill into law that will protect people against prosecution if they use deadly force against intruders on their property. I fully support such a law because, as Dean Esmay has said before, self-defense is a basic human right. It appalls me that there are those who would dare to deny people this right.

Which brings me to this article in today's Pensacola News Journal -- Crowd protests deadly force law:

Instead of slavery, the chains now come in the form of laws that are a threat to the black community, said a number of speakers at the two-hour rally Monday.

The issue: Florida Senate Bill 436, signed last month by Gov. Jeb Bush. It guarantees that people aren't prosecuted for using deadly force against intruders on their property.

For now, let's ignore the histrionics of comparing a self-defense bill to the chains of slavery. Let's take a look at what this bill actually says. Basically, it says that people have a right to use deadly force to defend themselves and their families in their homes and vehicles if they reasonably believe an intruder or attacker intends to commit bodily harm or a forcible felony. It states that law abiding people shall not be prosecuted for defense of self and others. The law also states that a person should not be required to attempt to flee their own dwelling and should be able to stand their ground without prosecution.

Well, my goodness...ain't that awful. Now, back to the article...

But critics say that the bill just gives people a license to kill that can easily be abused or misinterpreted.

"What about all those people who perpetuate hate and who will use this as an act of aggression?" said the Rev. Hugh King, president of the Pensacola chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the organization that conducted the event.

"We live in some scary times right now," said Susan Watson, president of the local chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. Watson, who is white, rhetorically asked the crowd if they believe that the law would be applied equally to her and to a black man.

Many in the crowd shook their heads; others yelled out, "No!"

Here we have irrational paranoia and racial tensions being whipped up by a white liberal. (Susan Watson is a local lefty troublemaker activist. Take a look at this glowing account of her brave fight against "injustice".) Let me tell you what's scary, Ms. Watson -- busybodies* like you who would take away the right to self-defense.

Watson continues:

"It got passed because we didn't do anything about it. It's our fault," she said. "We have to do something about it."

Well, you know what, Ms. Watson, two can play this game. I'm going to let my representatives know that I appreciate them defending my basic human right of self-defense. If anyone else wants to do likewise, I suggest they check out this site.

More from the article:

Chicago Alderman Dorothy Tillman, formerly of Pensacola, said the law will "lead to open war on black males."

"It's almost a way to eliminate people. Black men will be under the ground more than ever."

I don't even know how to respond to such stupidity, but I'll give it a try. Is she saying that those who will be breaking into homes and vehicles to commit crimes against people are all black? Is she saying that blacks could never themselves be put in a position of needing to defend themselves against attackers? Aren't those assumptions pretty, well, racist?

Finally, there's this:

Annie Winn, 62, brought her 5- and 11-year-old great-grandchildren to listen to the speakers.

"A lot of people are going to be killed," she said. "We need to protest and try to change this law -- it's just crazy."

Actually, opposing the right to self-defense is what's crazy.

While I'm on this subject, right underneath this article in the dead-tree version of the PNJ, local columnist Mark O'Brien has some rather smart-alecky things to say on this subject as well:

Old-timers remember R.W. "Smokey" Peaden, a former police officer and Pensacola state representative a few decades ago.

Now, we have Sen. Durell "Smoke'em" Peaden, R-Crestview, who sponsored a bill giving people more power to shoot folks they feel are threatening them.

Cops and prosecutors felt we already have a perfectly good law on self-defense, but why listen to liberals like them? (Politics 101: If you disagree with someone, call them liberal before they call you liberal.)

After the new law goes into effect Oct. 1, we'll see if the fears of law enforcement officials come true.

Well, I wouldn't call cops or prosecutors liberal, but I don't necessarily think they are, in general, big fans of self-defense either. After all, didn't the "perfectly good" law that was already in effect require people to attempt to flee their homes first rather than stand their ground? And, anecdotally, I have a relative who lives in a very bad neighborhood. When she called the cops because there was drug-dealing going on out in the open, instead of doing anything about it, they instead told her that she needs to move. They also promised to send patrol cars to drive through the area once in a while. My relative has yet to see one patrol car.

*Susan Watson always makes me think of the following quote from C.S. Lewis:

Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satisfied; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.

Update (6/7/05): The relative in the bad neighborhood I mentioned in this post told me that a couple of days ago, there was a big drug bust where the drug-dealing was going on. I feel I should mention this in all fairness, since my relative and I felt the cops weren't doing enough.

What a pain...literally!

As I mentioned a few days ago, I threw out my back about a week ago. I thought it was starting to get a little better Thursday and Friday, but then I woke up Saturday in worse pain than ever and I have to use a cane to walk or get up from a sitting position. The pain isn't just in my lower back but also in my left hip and it radiates down my left leg. It's no better today -- I didn't go to church because of it. My sister insisted that I go to the ER because she was concerned that I might have a severe injury. Since she is disabled because of a back injury, I decided she was right -- that I should go.

So I went to the ER. Apparently, I strained the soft tissue in my lower back because of lifting something heavy. (I think what triggered this was trying to bring too many groceries in at once. It was hot and I was trying to get through.) They gave me prescriptions for a stronger pain killer (Percocet -- the same one they gave me after my gallbladder surgery), a muscle relaxant and a steroid for inflammation. They also told me not to go back to work for a couple of days (because I sit in front of a computer all day).

I'm going to try and rest up and not sit up at the computer for a few days. I need bedrest, so if I do any blogging at all the next few days, it'll be from bed using my iBook.

My one and only post on the "runaway bride"...

I just have to link to this observation on Aaron's cc: because it gave me a much needed laugh. Thanks Aaron!

Be patient with me...

I've been really busy lately. Plus I'm in pain because I threw my back out a few days ago. I've been keeping a heating pad on it today, which is helping. And I'm glad I still have a Darvocet prescription from when my gallbladder was acting up (before I had it removed).

Work is depressing right now because everyone keeps talking about the BRAC and speculating about what's going to happen to our department. I don't want to hear it anymore. I wish they would shut up. Just. Shut. Up. I crank up my iPod, but the voices cut right through. Maybe I should invest in some of those expensive noise blocker headphones.

I know there are plenty of people with worse problems than mine, but if you could squeeze in a little prayer for me, I would very much appreciate it.

Lutheran Blog Directory

There is now a blog list just for Lutherans. If you are a Lutheran and you blog, you can join right here. I joined the list, of course. Thanks to Bunnie Diehl for posting about this.

Trackback Trouble

I just wanted to apologize in advance should anyone try to ping one of my posts and have the ping refused. This happened to a legitimate ping the other day. The SpamLookup plugin is excellent and highly recommended, but it apparently works too well sometimes. It would be nice if I could exempt some IPs from the IP filtering, but the plugin doesn't have that capability now, although it will in the future.

Delete and Retry

In this space, I have written three different blog posts since Monday. I deleted all three, but saved them as Word files in case I change my mind later. Two were very angry, ranty rants. The other had to do with the BRAC thing.

One rant was spurred by a post I followed on a trackback on someone else's blog. When I realized that this person was deliberately trolling the blogs listed on BlogsforTerri, I decided it was best to starve the troll. The other rant was brought on by the whole Newsweek, Koran-(non)flushing debacle. The rant dealt with certain persons who are so quick to think the worst of Christians, but bend over backwards to coddle and make excuses for Islamists. This rant was particularly vitriolic, and I decided it was best that I not post it.

The BRAC post was neither angry nor a rant. I may post it later, but I feel I must be very careful, since this is something that may be affecting me personally. I also want to verify that some of the things I discuss in the post are accurate.

Hopefully, I'll get it together soon and quite spinning my wheels by writing posts that never get published.

My New ESV Bible

A while back, the folks at the ESV Blog had a free Bible giveaway for bloggers and I got on their list. (Many thanks to Susanna Cornett at Cut on the Bias for her post on the giveaway, which is how I found out about it.) They were giving away Bibles to the first 100 bloggers to link their blog and email them. I got in there when it was down to the last 10 or 15.

Anyway, I received my Bible on Friday. I asked for the Cranberry Filigree style. It's a nice Bible -- the material it's made out of has a nice, soft feel. It's small enough for me to carry around in my purse if I want to take it with me. Now that I have the Bible, I can start on this project over at my faith journal very soon.

Judging by what I've read from the ESV so far, I really like this translation. While the NIV is readable, it's also rather bland. The ESV is readable and has more personality. Also, from what I understand, the ESV tried to preserve the meaning of the original words rather than paraphrasing them.

Just to show you the difference in the translations, take a look at Psalm 91 (one of my favorite Psalms) in the NIV. Then read it in the ESV:

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”

For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler
and from the deadly pestilence.
He will cover you with his pinions,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.
You will not fear the terror of the night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,
nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness,
nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.

A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.
You will only look with your eyes
and see the recompense of the wicked.

Because you have made the Lord your dwelling place—
the Most High, who is my refuge —
no evil shall be allowed to befall you,
no plague come near your tent.

For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways.
On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.
You will tread on the lion and the adder;
the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot.

“Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him;
I will protect him, because he knows my name.
When he calls to me, I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble;
I will rescue him and honor him.
With long life I will satisfy him
and show him my salvation.”

Quite a difference, isn't it?

Update: Charles at Dustbury also believes the ESV looks very promising.

Appropriate for Friday the 13th

The big news today, of course, is the release of the BRAC list. What does this mean for me? It means that they may move my job to Millington, TN. Or they may not. I guess I'll find out for sure in a few months.

I've been through this before. The first command I worked at (I started as a co-op) was closed in a BRAC in the early-nineties. I found another job at another command before it actually closed. Then I got a much better job at my current command almost six years ago.

One thing for sure...I'm not moving to Tennessee -- I can't. My command can simply kiss all my training and corporate knowledge goodbye. If the worst happens, I may try becoming self-employed and go into web-design or something.

The worst part is that for the next few months, I will have to hear all kinds of doom-and-gloom, gossip and speculation about what is going to happen. When you don't know for sure what's going to happen, I guess you have to fill in the gaps somehow.

While I'm not Catholic...

...I have to agree with the various posts discussing the subject of the way some nuns dress. Call me old-fashioned, but nuns should wear habits -- they should look like nuns. I mean, isn't part of being a nun the fact that you are "set apart" from laypeople by special vows that you make? Shouldn't your clothing reflect that?

Even in my Lutheran church, the Pastor, when he is doing his ministerial duties, wears a pastor's collar. Those serving at the altar during services wear vestments.

I would say that God believes that this "setting apart" is important. After all, in the Bible, the Levite priests had very special clothing that they had to wear when serving in the temple.

I think the importance of this "setting apart" is pretty starkly illustrated by this post pointed out by Kathy Shaidle. All the nuns I've seen "in person" look like those in the top pictures. I would have never known they were nuns had someone not told me. (Or if I had not overheard a conversation mentioning it, as I did one time.) When I see nuns in regular clothes, I can't help but find it disappointing and a little sad. I think the reason why the orders that still dress in the traditional habits are younger and more vibrant is that the habits reflect being set apart for God, which I think is what would inspire someone to become a nun in the first place.

And as an aside, since I was on hiatus when this was in the news...I was very pleased and excited that Ratzinger was chosen as the new Pope. I remember hearing from work that morning that the smoke was black and I thought, "Well, I guess it won't be today." Then I came home for lunch and turned on the TV just as Pope Benedict XVI was being introduced to the world. When I saw him throw up his arms to greet the crowds, I couldn't help but smile!

Individual entries are finally presentable...

I finally got the individual entry pages changed to a new, nicer format. I thought I was going to have to resort to using tables to get the names and Gravatars lined up with the comments properly, but I eventually found a way to get the CSS working like I wanted. I also now have the trackbacks and comments in the same box with the actual post, which looks a lot better, I think.

BTW, I had not noticed until I was working on this project that all the CSS formatting for trackbacks was being completely ignored. I had no idea what was causing the problem, and I knew that the formatting used to work. I found out by searching around in the MT forum how to fix this little bug. In your templates, make your MTPings tag look like this:

<MTPings sanitize="0">

...And your code will work again.

Problems Commenting?

At least one reader that I know of has had problems commenting here lately. It may be just my webhost having problems...I had some trouble getting into Movable Type at one point yesterday. If anyone else has problems commenting, please let me know. Thanks!

Third Blogiversary!

When I first started this blog, I thought that I must be crazy to try something like this. For many years -- long before I started this site -- I had participated in a number of conservative forums and music-related email lists. I mostly lurked, but then I would get up the courage to chime in sometimes. I got over my shyness enough to be a regular poster and moderator at a couple of those conservative forums.

But I was still pretty intimidated about having my own blog and it took me a while to get comfortable with it. I'm still not completely comfortable with it and I still wonder if I'm crazy to do this, but here I am anyway. At least I can write better (and think a little faster) than I used to three years ago. And I've learned a whole bunch about HTML, CSS and web design.

Anyway, for those who read, link and comment here, thank you...I really appreciate you. :-)

Two Babies, Two Nations, Same Issue

There are two different baby girls who are being let down by healthcare providers.

One baby girl is in the UK. Her name is Charlotte Wyatt. She has a website -- SaveCharlotte.com -- where you can read about her situation. BlogsforTerri also has updates about this case and a link to raise money for Baby Charlotte's care.

BlogsforTerri also tells us about another baby in Texas named Knya Dismuke. Like Baby Charlotte, she may also have medical care discontinued because it she is considered too sick and her care is considered too expensive.

Both babies need our help and prayers...they deserve a chance.

Now, a little aside relating to the second story...This morning, a troll got all sanctimonious in my previous post (a post completely unrelated to this subject) and blamed President Bush and the Republicans for this baby's plight. While I appreciate the troll for bringing the story to my attention (I am behind in my blog reading and had not seen the story on BlogsforTerri yet), I don't appreciate him/her using this baby as a political football. I am going to remove the troll's comment because it doesn't belong in that thread. If he/she wants to come back and discuss this case rationally -- without mindless bashing of the President and Republicans or repeating canards like "[Terri's] brain was, uh, liquid" -- then he/she is welcome to do so in this thread.

Update: I'm very sad to report that Baby Knya has died. Apparently, she died because her body gave out, not because of withheld treatment. Thank you to reader Barb M. for letting me know about this. (Link to article via Straight Up with Sherri.)

Blog Changes and My Other Blogs

Yesterday evening, I changed my archive links and permalinks to the "new style" that is available with 3.x Movable Type. I still have files for the old permalinks so that previous incoming links and trackbacks won't return a 404. Those files will only show the default layout and there are no Gravatars on the comments (which are closed, of course). Here's the difference:

New Permalink

Old Permalink

I'm still working on getting the Gravatars formatted the way I want them in the individual entries. I want to make sure it's right before I implement it because I will have to make a lot of changes to the template and stylesheets.

Also, I would like to introduce you to my two other blogs. They've been around a while, and I linked them on my sidebar a few days ago.

The first one is An Appeal to Heaven. This is my faith journal. My intention for this blog was for me to post more personal thoughts about my faith. I have not posted much there, but I have just begun a series of posts that is explained here. I'm going to put that free ESV Bible I scored to good use when I receive it.

I also have this blog -- LilacRose Radio -- that is sort of a home page for my Live 365 radio station. There's not much there right now, but the sidebar shows what's currently playing and what recently played. I planned on linking to albums with songs featured on the station and saying a little bit about them. I'm not good at doing music review stuff, so it wouldn't be anything very lengthy. I still need to get around to that. However, there are lots of new songs on the station now. I can add a few more, which I will get around to. BTW, if you like my radio station, please rate it...I need more ratings!