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I put this election into God's hands, so I'm trying to not get depressed.  He has a plan, and I know that we don't always know what it is, but I must admit that the next 4 years scares me.

We're in for a long 4 years of socialist policies, abortion at will, the neo-pagan global warming cult, gay marriage, immoral garbage being taught in schools, pro-death judges on the Supreme Court, sympathizing with Islamic radical terrorists...I could go on and on. 

What does this mean for us?  What do we do?  We try so hard to be a beacon of light in this world and my husband and I are worried that our little flame will be snuffed out.  We thought that homeschooling would protect our children, but who knows if that will be permitted in the Obama administration?  California has already tried to outlaw homeschooling, so it isn't a stretch to think that the liberal congress will try it nationwide.

I guess we just need to hunker down and pray until 2012.

FINALLY!  Finally, it  feels like autumn.  I had to put the boys in long sleeves for the first time today.  We went to the park and didn't have to worry about sunburns or heat exhaustion.  Unfortunately, I heard that it won't last and that the heat will be back by the end of this week.

I've always had mixed feelings about animal rights.  I went to a pretty activist university and saw the chaos that the animal rights group would create on campus -- breaking into research buildings, sitting in cages on the sidewalk for days, trying to release monkeys used for research (that didn't exist -- oops to them!).  Though I felt for the animals, something didn't sit right with me.  God gave man dominion over the animals, which were not created in His image and likeness.  God gave us the ability to eat and digest meat and dairy products.  People sacrificed animals to God.  Jesus ate meat.  Etcetera, etcetera.

I then saw a presentation on animal welfare vs. animal rights and it all came together for me.  Animal welfare is concerned with providing the basic needs of animals that are raised for food or research or service or companionship or whatever.  Animal rights treats gives animals the same standing as humans, which is not what God intended.  (here's a couple quotations: Animal rights advocates do not distinguish between human beings and animals. In the words of Ingrid Newkirk, founder of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PeTA), "There is no rational basis for saying that a human being has special rights. A rat is a pig is a dog is a boy. They're all mammals." Michael Fox of the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) has said, "The life of an ant and the life of my child should be accorded equal respect.")

Here's a couple links about the subject:

http://www.animalwelfarecouncil.com/html/aw/rights.php

http://www.furcommission.com/debate/index.html

http://animalliberationfront.com/ALFront/FAQs/AW_vs_AR.htm

My mom's cousin sent this link to me: www.catholicvote.com.  The video clip is very powerful!