Is America Dying as a Nation?

I recently read an article that said the following:

"About the time our original thirteen states adopted their new constitution in 1787, Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor at the University of Edinburgh, had this to say about the fall of the Athenian Republic some 2,000 years earlier:

'A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always vote for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship.

The average age of the world's greatest civilizations from the beginning of history, has been about 200 years. During those 200 years, those nations always progressed through the following sequence:

1. From bondage to spiritual faith;

2. From spiritual faith to great courage;

3. From courage to liberty;

4. From liberty to abundance;

5. From abundance to complacency;

6. From complacency to apathy;

7. From apathy to dependence;

8. From dependence back into bondage.

Where do you think we stand in this cycle? This seems reminiscent of the pride cycle so often repeated in the Book of Mormon. Thoughts?

Dress for Success

I ran across this article on Yahoo this morning, so I clicked on the link to see what they deemed acceptable dress for work.

Can I just say a huge resounding "DUH!"?

Thank you for enlightening us so much. It's crazy that women in the workforce need this reminder. Then again, women everywhere probably need it!

What We're Up Against

I think we are up against a lot of hard stuff as parents today. The world has gotten quite wicked. Most of the time, I plug away at life, going about my business, taking my family to church, heeding to the counsels given there, and just try my best, but some days, I get a little overwhelmed at what we have to bolster our children against. It's quite frightening. Here are some examples: gay marriage and the homosexual lifestyle, the sexualizing of society, abortion, teen pregnancy, sex ed, pregnancy outside of marriage, pedophiles, etc., etc. Notice most of these things have to do with blurred lines concerning the law of chastity. Hmmm. I find that quite significant.

I've read some disturbing articles the last few days. The NEA voted to support gay marriage. I'm sorry, but what is the union of public teachers in the United States doing putting the funds of the teachers who have joined toward one political agenda or another? Shouldn't they be focusing on how to better the curriculum in schools to escape the epidemic of illiteracy that is sweeping the nation? Shouldn't they be concerned with the fact that there is still a surprisingly high dropout rate from high school instead of being concerned with a marriage that has nothing to do with academic learning? Well, I guess marriage, the fundamental unit of our society, the unit that produces children, not only by procreating them, but by bringing them up to be responsible, law-abiding citizens, does have something to do with education. But putting funds toward a political agenda with the dues that public school teachers pay--some who are actually against the demoralization of society--is not right.

Another article I read talked about how in Britain, they are trying to make sex education mandatory so that parents cannot opt out. According to the statistic I read, only 4 students out of like 10,000 even opt out now. But making it so they cannot, by law, opt out? That's also wrong. Whether or not sex education even belongs in school is another discussion entirely, but parents should have the most control over what their children learn, not the schools. If that sort of thing hits the U.S., and no doubt it will, my husband, who is so anti-homeschooling it's not even funny (he wrote a paper in college about the benefits of public school versus home or private), has actually said that we'll start to homeschool.

Actually sex education in schools is a major contributor to the big problem of oversexualizing everything. All the other problems I mentioned: abortion, teen pregnancy, sex outside of marriage, even homosexuality, are problems that teaching sex education in school, without the boundaries of morality to assist, have caused. I know these things existed before, but I'm guessing not in the numbers they do now.

It used to be shameful to have a baby outside of marriage. Now, not only is it acceptable, it's condoned. I was on a message board a few months ago where someone asked why it was wrong to have a baby outside of marriage, and about 98% of the answers were along the lines of "it's not wrong, it's okay" or "my parents aren't married and I turned out fine."

The Proclamation to the World on the Family was given at a critical time. This document came out BEFORE all this became so widely the norm. Even in 1995, when it was given, the world still frowned on babies outside of marriage, abortion, homosexuality, at least to the degree that if you said you thought those things were wrong, you wouldn't be called a bigot. Today, if I stand up for morality, I'm called a bigot, even by members of my own faith. I'm denying someone else the right to make a choice if I vote against the legalization of abortion or homosexual marriage. These things are destroying the very sacred unit of the family, and the warning given at the end of the Proclamation is true: "we warn that the disintegration of the family will bring upon individuals, communities, and nations the calamities foretold by ancient and modern prophets." Yes, indeed, we've already seen some of that unfolding.

I decided today that I'm going to initiate a practice with my children. Every day when they arrive home from school, I'm going to ask them if they learned anything at school they found questionable, or that they have questions about. This will hopefully open a dialogue to discuss anything and everything they are learning at school so I might be able to correct misunderstanding or wrong ideas. If it gets too bad, this can be my gauge to determine whether or not homeschooling is appropriate.

We are up against Satan himself as he tears apart families and destroys that which is most sacred. I hope that I can raise my children to be strong against these waves and tides of inhumanity and remember the gospel doctrines that life is based upon.

How the Day Turned Out

I unloaded the dishwasher and washed the day's dishes, but this did not get done until I was making dinner, which was scrambled eggs, toast and juice. Nobody came to look at the house, so it was all good.

I finished washing the laundry and had the boys help fold it to earn tokens for computer time.

I did not vacuum or clean bathrooms today.

I went to the store for school supplies and diapers, bringing all four kids along. It actually went way better than going to the Meet the Teacher night last night, at which every single child threw a tantrum about different things (even my first grader). I managed to find the book for book group at Wal-mart in the LDS section for cheaper than it would have been at Deseret Book. Yea!

I even managed to shower and get ready as well as pay the bills that I needed to pay AND enter all of it into the checkbook and onto our budget system on the computer.

The stomach bug child was on and off cranky/happy all day. I'm not sure he's even sick. But the two younger ones (who are 2-1/2 and 1-1/2) are seriously stubborn and impossible to understand. Always crying for no fathomable reason. They both only napped for about 30 minutes, so not a good napping day.

I feel like I got a lot accomplished, but still have stuff to do tomorrow. As my husband says, there's always tomorrow.

My Day

I am feeling overwhelmed with all that needs to get done today.

I have to unload the dishwasher, wash the dishes from breakfast, and make sure the kitchen looks clean in case someone wants to come look at the house.

I have to do about 3-4 loads of laundry and fold the clothes that my husband washed on Tuesday night after he returned from his trip but left in the dryer.

I have to vacuum and clean bathrooms and try to eradicate the illness that seems to never leave this house.

I have to go to the store and get diapers for my 3rd child, he ran out last night and is wearing one of his little sister's diapers this morning.

While I'm there, I have to get the school supplies, which I'm sure will be pretty much gone, for my son, since I barely got the list last night and school starts Monday. Since there is one Wal-mart nearby and this whole area is starting school Monday, I'm sure that things will be sold out. I don't know why they couldn't have sent the supply lists with the teacher assignment in the mail last week!

I also want to go and buy the book for our book group that meets on Tuesday so I can get it read before then--didn't know about it before or I could have bought it easily on my trip and started reading it then.

Oh yeah, I still have to shower and get ready. My husband doesn't get home from work tonight until about 9 and he left at 6:30 am. He has a 12-hour day today, due to a meeting after his regular shift. He always claims those meetings last only one hour, but from experience, I don't expect him home until after a two hour meeting.

Oh yeah, there's the general paying of bills that come due in the next week that I have to take care of as well.

Sound like too much yet?

Plus I have one sick child with a stomach bug--I really shouldn't be dragging him along to the store, but I'm afraid if I wait until Saturday, the next time I'm possibly able to get out without kids, all the school supplies that are cheap and on sale will be gone already. Plus he (the sick one is also the 3rd child) really does need diapers.

Either it will be an endlessly long day or one that flies by fast, given that I have so much to do.

Now I'd better get started.