robertt8: Thanks for your clarifications & response. But as I learn more about Mrs. Palin's family, especially Bristol (the pregnant daughter), I stand unmoved on the Bible's clear command to the parents to rear their children. Not the church, not the schools, not the government, not society - it is the parents who are to bring up their children in the training & instruction of the Lord (Eph. 6). I must confess that your comments about the WMD's in Iraq set me off. The murderers who killed several thousand innocent Americans did it with four passenger planes, no bombs or nukes involved. The real "WMD" is the human heart - it is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Again, it is clearly government's role to protect its citizens from all attackers, both foreign and domestic; it does not wield the sword in vain (Rom. 13). My son was in a roadside bomb attack outside Baghdad, & he escaped unharmed. But (in an unrelated incident) he lost 2 comrades. Please support our troops!

Tedster1000,
First, I respect your intentions, and honour your son who is serving his country. Thank you.
To clarify, I don't live in a commune. I'm referring to the indiginous culture that exists where I am. The parents aren't supposed to cop out on raising their children, but the importance of extended family (nearly everyone) is huge. Sort of like when Mary and Joseph assumed Jesus was with the rest of the village on his way back from Jerusalem.
The woman in proverbs 31 did work hard. But where do we draw the line on "full time" and "part time"? She must have been out of the kitchen quite a bit. Let's not mix up old and new testaments though - in regards to what we are to do, I think Jesus made it clear he didn't come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. My point is, pro-life should not just include the lives of the unborn. www.robertsessford.com

In response to Robertt8: Today's news reports that Palin's 17-yr.-old daughter is pregnant. This is EXACTLY the problem that goodness & mercy is trying to get across. I won't say that had Palin done her job better as a mom that this wouldn't have happened, but one must certainly give pause to consider it. Your communal ideas on child-rearing are unscriptural, and your application of Pr. 31 is inaccurate. (There is no mention in that passage that the Pr. 31 woman is a full-time member of the work force; it only says that she works hard.) I'm disappointed in your anti-war stance by misapplying the concept of "created in the image of God" (just read Rom. 13 and all the OT passages where God commanded Israel to utterly destroy their enemies). In any case, MY son served in Iraq in the U.S. Army, & I really would appreciate it if you'd support a righteous cause in a righteous battle.

Goodness and Mercy:

Good for you. But I have just a couple questions that could help us all think deeply. Have you ever wondered if the "traditional family" as you call it, is a cultural thing, and not a scriptural model? Was the mother in Proverbs 31 a "stay at home mom" ? Where I live, a whole village raises a child. The extended family is almost more important than the nuclear family.

I also find it strange that you describe a Republican rule as your choice, and a Dem rule would cause to be lost everything you as a Christian stand for. Really? As a Christian, do you stand for the use of torture on men made in the image of God? As a Christian, do you stand for the manipulation of people to justify a war so you can find weapons of mass destruction..... when you know there aren't any? Blessings, www.robertsessford.com

I am a Christian woman and a Republican. I needed to state this so that you will know where I am coming from with this question:

By wholeheartedly endorsing Sarah Palin, are not Christians forever and publicly giving up the ideal of the stay-at-home-mom to win an election?

Yes, it is an important election, but does anyone else see how the enemy has gained a foothold here? On the one hand, if we vote the Obama ticket, everything we stand for as Christians is lost. On the other hand, if we vote McCain-Palin, many good moral standards may be upheld, BUT WE ARE TRASHING THE IDEAL OF A MOM WHO RAISES THE CHILDREN FULL-TIME. Motherhood of this type is being applauded by Christians!!! Is this the example we want to hold up to little girls without comment? They can see the children on the stage. They are not stupid. They know that this suited-up mom is not staying home with her children.

I have emailed a handful of Christians I know on this subject, and have been told I am being negative and judgmental. I am not judging Sarah Palin; in fact, I personally don't care about her personal life. I DO care, however, about the families in this country which seem to be redefined every ten years or so.

The enemy is winning his battle for the family. Like a snake, he is sneaking in and leaving us no place to go. He is everywhere. There is no way out of his maze. Even Christians are changing their thinking to conform to his.

Maybe it IS okay to have others, at least other members of the family like grandparents, raise the kids. Then Christians need to be vocal about THAT, though I will not be one of them. But to send unconditional kudos to Palin is to take a stand against the traditional family as we know it.

McCain made a good move. I'm sure his choice won't disappoint. But to win Dem votes, Palin will have to convince them she will be a stabilizing factor in the Whitehouse, not just the President's personal secretary. How strong an influence will she be against the established powerhouses like Haliburton? Will she be able to bring in policy changes that will demonstrate to Americans and then to the rest of the world that she really is pro-life? Because if you are really pro-life, your foreign policy will show it and you won't be using torture to extract the answers you want from someone made in the image of God. www.robertsessford.com