Yesterday, a good friend of mine posted a story about an actress many of you may recognize. Her name is Afshad Azad. You may not recognize her name, but she played a character in one of the Harry Potter movies, Goblet of Fire. She was Padma, the girl Ron took to the Yule Ball. Remember her now?
She is about the same age as the rest of the stars from Harry Potter - 22. Just two years younger than I am. As you might guess from just her name, Azad's family is Muslim. She is now in hiding from her family because she committed the "sin" of dating a man who is not Muslim. In the Islamic faith, Honor Killings are often practiced. For those of you not familiar with the term "Honor Killing," basically it allows men to kill women who have dishonored their family. When her brother and father found out about it, her brother beat her and her father threatened to kill her.
This woman doesn't live in Iraq, Iran or Afghanistan. She lives in England. Sadly, these Honor Killings are becoming more and more common in the Western World. As usual, the American media that would usually be all over this type of story is silent. I have a feeling that if this woman was running from her Christian father and brother, instead of her Muslim father and brother, this story would be plastered all over the news - TV, internet, newspapers, magazines, etc. But, because the US is so open to all things Islam and slow to accuse the Islamic faith of its violent nature, no one will touch a story like this with a 10 foot pole. Because the US (and heck, while I'm at it, the UK) is slow to act, this talented actress is bound to live a life of hiding and secrecy, fearing for her life.
It's up to us to air this story and, hopefully, help her get back to a normal life. For more information [and possibly a better post] head over to JG's blog.
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Now for issue numero dos.
While I was having a massive, hilarious, awesome conversation with some fellow milspouses today on Twitter, I ran across an article with this title:
My heart instantly sank. Forty. One. Percent. Looking for an actual number? "In 2009, women in New York City terminated 87,273 pregnancies..." Over 87,000 children were killed before they ever left their mother's womb. The womb, which is possibly the safest place a child will ever be. And yes, I said killed.
I absolutely hate the term "fetus." It makes a baby - a child - seem less like a life. The minute that baby is conceived, it has a heartbeat. We just don't have the ability to hear it. It's too tiny for us to see for weeks. Those babies are fully reliant on their mothers' bodies to grow and nurture them. And tens of thousands of women are killing their children.
We - the US as a whole - has no regard for life. None whatsoever. We say we do; we like to think that we do. You know what they say, though: Actions speak louder than words. People will protest against wars, claiming we're killing innocent people. Well, you know what? We are! We're killing our very own children. With barely a second thought. In essence, we are practicing genocide. The very thing we fought against Hitler for. The very thing we accused Sadam Hussein for. Yet, we're eager to pass laws legalizing the killing of babies. Babies that can't speak for themselves. Babies that can't tell politicians how much they would love to see the light of day. Personally, I believe that the reason cancer and many other diseases haven't been cured [and probably won't be] is because the child who would grow up to discover a cure has been killed. That's what I believe.
What's even more sad is that there are just as many women who would love to adopt a child as there are women who don't want a child. I think it's absolutely selfish of a women who gets pregnant "by accident"* to say, "I don't want a child. I don't want to ruin my body by carrying a child." Today's culture is all about "me." What I can do for me. How I can make my life better. It isn't about how we can help others. It is so wrong... That's what these women are doing.
I would love to speak to someone considering abortion and ask them, "What about the child that is growing inside of your body? What do you think they would like to become? How do you think they would live their lives?" I would love to tell them that some woman - some family - would love to have a child. A child that otherwise wouldn't feel love in this world. A child that would be discarded. Shoot, I would love to have one of them. Just to rescue them from their situation.
I'm currently reading George Bush's book, Decision Points. In it, he discusses the topic of stem cell research. This research began by, in essence, killing embryos -- babies. He describes how he arrived at his decision to not fund stem cell research, but to allow research on the embryos (babies) that had already been destroyed. He also encouraged scientists to find alternatives to stem cell research. This is my favorite quote on this subject (and quite possibly of the whole book):
"Bob Casey, the late Democratic governor of Pennsylvania said it well: 'When we look to the unborn child, the real issue is not when life begins, but when love begins.'"
When I read that, I wanted to yell, "AMEN!" That is the absolute truth. That's what it all boils down to. Women who don't love the child growing inside them (which I find absolutely baffling and I've never been pregnant), kill it. You know what? If you don't love that child someone will. And that someone will love you for giving them the chance to be a mother. That child will forever be thankful that you chose to give him or her life.
Thus ends my super-controversial post. Feel free to comment, but know that any rude, mean, nasty and/or anonymous comments will be deleted.
*I believe that no child, no pregnancy is an accident. As Jeremiah 1:5 says, "Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you." God is the Creator - the Author of life. Who are we to decide who lives and who dies?
