What do I think: One Last Time
/From the mailbox:
I'm sure you've heard the news that Palin's daughter is pregnant. I amterribly sad ... I still believe that McCain's election is necessary in order to put at least one more justice on the Supreme Court in order to reverse Roe v. Wade and therefore save millions of lives (versus Obama who has stated that his first act as president will be to sign an executive order reversing all the anti-abortion legislation), and I believe her daughter's pregnancy can also be a witness to a culture of life (versus Obama's culture of death statement months ago that if his daughters "made a mistake," he wouldn't want them to be "punished with a baby"). However, it unfortunately is also a witness to our culture of immorality (her daughter is already being compared to Britany Spears), it feeds into the arguments of those moms who believe she should be home raising her children (and I have to admit, that is one argument I am now pondering ... would this pregnancy have happened if her mother had been more present?), it buttresses the arguments of those who are against abstinence only education, and it serves as a distraction to this campaign.
I am also sad for me and my own little children, I saw her as a great role model, and now I'm feeling like the tide of our immoral/promiscuous culture is so great that I will never be able to bring them up purely. I am wondering if it is wrong for me to feel so sad. I am wondering how you are feeling about it (or how does Mary [Beth Bonacci] feels about the news?
Well, I'm quite sure this wouldn't have happened if her mother had been in the room with her. Beyond that, do teenaged daughters of mothers at home sometimes find themselves unexpectedly pregnant? Yes, they do. Furthermore, do teenaged children from homeschooled families sometimes find themselves unexpectedly pregnant? Yes, they do. And while it might bring to mind Britney Spears, unwed pregnancy is not limited to this generation of our culture. We have been fallen creatures since Adam and Eve and fallen creatures are prone to committing sins. Teenagers are particularly prone to sins of the flesh--even teenagers from good, Christian families. The beautiful thing about this particular sin is that God can bring great good out of a bad situation and He can prove again and again that babies are only and always blessings.
I still see Sarah Palin as a role model. Furthermore, I see her daughter Bristol as a role model. There is nothing rock-star glamorous about this time in their lives and my children know that very well. They also know the enormous love and sacrifice that come with deciding to carry, bear, and raise a child when one is seventeen-years-old. They've lived with that example in their own home for the last four years. For my children, the pro-life movement is much more personal than marching with signs and putting bumper stickers on the great, big van. Did we have to explain a few things I'd rather not have discussed so early? Absolutely. But I know beyond the shadow of a doubt that all of my children are secure in the knowledge that if they make a mistake and find themselves unexpectedly pregnant, we will not consider that a punishment. We will consider "that" as part of the family. And we will come together as a family once again with unconditional love and support to nurture both the baby and the young parents in whatever way God shows us.
Since Senator McCain has said that he knew that Bristol Palin was pregnant before he named his nominee, I'm quite sure that Governor Palin knew as well. And now more than ever, it is not my place to offer opinions about another woman's conversations with her God.