The Wilhelmsen Botanical Blog

I have kept my thoughts on this to myself long enough and believe that it is time I share them.  I am a mom of three boys, two of which are in public school.  I grew up in a home where we did not have guns and this went even so far that our water guns, were in fact shaped as dolphins or fish.  If those could not be found we used  a regular squirt bottle.  I have not shot a hand gun, BB gun, or rifle in my entire life and I have no desire to, ever.  Because of this, I feel like I have a very unique opinion on gun control and school shootings.  First of all, I want to state that I believe the Bill of Rights and the US Constitution to be documents that were inspired and directed by God.  I believe them to be timeless and just as applicable today as they were in 1791.  Because of this, regardless of my feelings on guns, I believe it is important that we the citizens of the United States have access to guns, that we be allowed to keep them in our homes, and that they are available to us so that we can protect ourselves from tyrants and those seeking to take away our rights and endanger our lives.  I will not even begin to pretend like I know how to keep guns out of the hands of emotionally or mentally unstable human beings, only that to some degree it may be necessary.  Unfortunately that can quickly become a slippery slope (think Salem Witch trials) and one day we may all find ourselves without access to any guns at all.  Enough about this, lets move on shall we?

On Facebook, I had a friend suggest we ask ourselves, “If my child was the one who was shot and killed today, what would I want gun laws in this country to look like?”  She said that our answer to this question should be our answer, “ALWAYS.”  She also said that there is no such thing as “other people’s kids”.  Again, I can’t pretend to know what I think gun laws should look like because I honestly don’t know and have no experience with anything other then Nerf guns.  There are people who do and would be much more adept at that type of thing.  My only hope is that it would not infringe upon the rights given to US citizens in the 2nd Amendment of the Bill of Rights.

It is my opinion however, as a mom, a US citizen, and a person who has no intention of owning or firing a gun herself, that these school shootings are part of a bigger problem.  A problem that has come from constant criticism in our lives that is becoming more and more prevalent, criticism that affects how we parent our kids.  On top of that criticism everyone has opinions, don’t spank, kids have feelings too, don’t let them outside alone, don’t give them chores, don’t make life too hard for them, and on and on.  These people who have been the attacker in mass shootings have missed learning key things in life, things such as self control, taking responsibility for ones actions, impulse control, a respect for others and their property, and have likely never known true, unconditional love in their lives.  When a person is missing these important and vital things in their life then we get gang related violence, stabbings, shootings, bullying, looting, arson, vandalism, abuse, and other violent crimes.

To me, if we want to prevent future mass shootings, if we want to prevent violent crimes and a severe lack of respect for other persons and their belongings, if we want to PROTECT OUR CHILDREN and future posterity then we need to teach them the key things that will help them to become decent, responsible, and respectful human beings.  We also need to make sure that we address any mental and behavioral issues that come up.  If you have any question at all about the way your child is behaving take them to the pediatrician and ask them about it!  I am constantly aware of my children and their personalities and make sure that if I notice a change that I keep an eye on it for a few days so that I can address it if it doesn’t improve.  We need to be advocates for our children.  Behavioral and mental disorders are no longer taboo as they once were and there are many, many resources so that you and your child can get the help that they need.

In Proverbs 22: 6 it says, “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”  This is my plea to all of you parents, grandparents, and legal guardians of children.  You have to start young, our future and theirs depends on it.

So, it needs to be said.  I do not like politics.  Not one iota.  Everyone has an opinion and seemingly anyone who views things differently is wrong.  It gets worse as presidential elections draw near.

I am to the point (and have been for quite awhile) where I don’t talk with pretty much anyone because it turns into a heated debate wherein I end up tongue tied and unable to express my opinions.  I generally walk away feeling frustrated, even when listening to others “discussing” politics when I am around.

In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints they do not tell us who to vote for.  Instead they encourage us to vote for the person who we feel will be the best leader for our country.  I think that they are wise to take this stance.  However, I feel this is partly why I am hesitant to vote for either candidate in the upcoming election, as well as the last 2-3 elections.  I simply have not felt that either candidate would be best for the job.  Not once in the last 12 years have I felt that there was an obvious right choice that would help get our country back to what our fore-fathers and Heavenly Father has intended for it.  It has always been “Which candidate is the lesser of two evils?”  And the last two elections especially the President elect only won by a small amount.  This meant that nearly 50% of the voters were going to be unhappy with the winner.  So what do I do? Well at the last election I wrote in Gladys Knight as my vote for president.  This year, I plan to vote for Kenobi, as he is our only hope…  I suppose this appears that I am making a mockery of the electoral process.  I am not.  I suppose in some small way I am taking a stand against a system that is no longer working to the benefit of the American people. I have always said that if you don’t vote, you can’t complain.  So I do my civic duty and get out on election day to vote.

What this country truly needs and what I feel would be the qualities that our president should have are that he be a man of integrity, a God fearing man (meaning that he has a belief in a God), a righteous man, a man who sticks to and holds his morals in high priority, a man with amazing leadership skills and training, a man who has excellent rapport and good morale with people, a man for whom the power of being president won’t go to his head, and last and probably one of the more important qualities is that he has learned and knows from experience and learning the things that can be realistically accomplished in office so that he isn’t making promises that can not be kept.  Is there such a man as this?  I have my doubts.  My brother-in-law wants to run for office in 2026, so maybe he will be the man that I so desire to have lead our country.  Until then, I will just keep doing what I have been and write in people for office that I feel would better serve my country then the candidates that I have to choose from.  Good luck America and happy voting!

To preface this blog post, I am not always very eloquent in expressing my thoughts, I sometimes wonder if the things in my heart have come across as I intended them to nevertheless I feel it important to put my thoughts into words regarding the Chick-fil-a insanity (and yes, that is just what it is INSANITY).  Let me start off this post by giving you the text from the 1st amendment of the Bill of Rights.  It reads as follows:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

This tells me a couple of things: 1. We have the freedom, nay, the RIGHT to worship how, where, or what we may and that the government can not make any law that takes away that right, 2. We have the freedom to say what we want, when we want, how we want, to whomever we want with out fear of retribution from the government (without probable cause).

So, the Chick-fil-a insanity is wrong on several levels, first of all, why even ask the CEO his views on same sex marriage?  What does it matter as related to the business of selling fast food?  I say that it does not.  Secondly, we are all entitled to our opinions.  It does not make us hateful, bigoted, etc.  It does not make it right for others to attack Mr. Cathy and his company.  It is a well known fact that most Christians are pro-family as defined in the scriptures.  This does not mean we are anti-gay.  In fact some of the people that I know and love are living that lifestyle and it does not change how I view them or how I feel about them.

Lastly, I would like to end with this simple fact, Chick-fil-a has the VERY BEST customer service of any fast food restaurant that I have ever been to.  They do not discriminate against anyone.  They are friendly, kind, helpful, and they go out of your way to make sure that you feel welcome in your restaurant by refilling drinks, swapping out kids meal prizes for ice cream or another toy so that you don’t have duplicates, bringing dinner mints and food samples by your table, and keeping the restaurant clean and even making sure the tables have fresh LIVE flowers.  Chick-fil-a cares about it’s customers.  It is evident to me that the values of Christ like love have trickled down all the way from the CEO to each individual branch.  We need more of this love in the world and less hate, slander, and belittling.  As such I am grateful for Chick-fil-a’s efforts to welcome me and my family into their restaurants.

Brandon and I got to talking politics last night.  Something that I do not do because I have a very difficult time expressing my opinions and feelings about pretty much all things political.  The conversation went well and I was able to identify two things that I hold to be raw fact.  But before I go into those things I thought that I would copy and paste the Declaration of Independence over here into our blog so that people could have a chance to read this founding document and perhaps see while I feel the way I do.  Keep in mind that this document went though several revisions and was written and agreed upon by a diverse group of men with varying backgrounds and opinions.  It is a wonder to me that so many people were able to agree unanimously on something of such importance.  I hold divine inspiration to be responsible for that.  So without further ado, the Declaration of Independence…

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.–Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

The 56 signatures on the Declaration appear in the positions indicated:

Column 1
Georgia:
Button Gwinnett
Lyman Hall
George Walton

Column 2
North Carolina:
William Hooper
Joseph Hewes
John Penn
South Carolina:
Edward Rutledge
Thomas Heyward, Jr.
Thomas Lynch, Jr.
Arthur Middleton

Column 3
Massachusetts:
John Hancock
Maryland:
Samuel Chase
William Paca
Thomas Stone
Charles Carroll of Carrollton
Virginia:
George Wythe
Richard Henry Lee
Thomas Jefferson
Benjamin Harrison
Thomas Nelson, Jr.
Francis Lightfoot Lee
Carter Braxton

Column 4
Pennsylvania:
Robert Morris
Benjamin Rush
Benjamin Franklin
John Morton
George Clymer
James Smith
George Taylor
James Wilson
George Ross
Delaware:
Caesar Rodney
George Read
Thomas McKean

Column 5
New York:
William Floyd
Philip Livingston
Francis Lewis
Lewis Morris
New Jersey:
Richard Stockton
John Witherspoon
Francis Hopkinson
John Hart
Abraham Clark

Column 6
New Hampshire:
Josiah Bartlett
William Whipple
Massachusetts:
Samuel Adams
John Adams
Robert Treat Paine
Elbridge Gerry
Rhode Island:
Stephen Hopkins
William Ellery
Connecticut:
Roger Sherman
Samuel Huntington
William Williams
Oliver Wolcott
New Hampshire:
Matthew Thornton

Now, because of what is written in the above document, it is my belief and to me simple truth that the above men and all who came to America with them did so to get away from big government and a king who was abusing his power over his people.  They built a new government and did so in such a way that the people had the power and not the government.  My other strong opinion (and one that has supporting evidence in the Declaration of Independence) is that God was a big, and influential part of this “chosen land” coming to be.  He was there as the above men labored in a hot room for hours to get just exactly the write wording on the Declaration, they included him on our money and in our Pledge of Allegiance.  He is the one to whom they attribute or inalienable rights “that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights”.  Without divine inspiration and guidance from God 56 men would never have been able to agree on the wording for the Declaration of Independence, much less unanimously.

I can tell you that when I heard that they may take God out of the Pledge and off our money I felt in my gut that it would not be  a good decision.  My thought was, “Why would God protect a country that we had taken him out of?”  God is our creator, God is the one who gives us our rights and takes them away, God is the one watching over our country.

My last thing, I mentioned over in facebook that I would like the government to put a stop on spending so that they chips could fall where they may and allow us to pick up the pieces and rebuild.  I say this knowing how poor the economy is right now and with the full knowledge that it could put us into another depression.  I say this as a mother who wants to experience the hardship of near destitute times and the difficulty of rebuilding from it so that her kids won’t have to when they are grown and have kids of their own.  I say this knowing that during the great depression era people were happy despite the difficulties and they made do or did without.  I can only hope that before we enter another depression that Brandon and I have had the means to build up our food storage so that we won’t be hit as hard with ration stamps and that he will have a job secure enough that he won’t find himself jobless when those days come.  Nevertheless, I am confident that we as a nation can survive “facing the music” while our government pays back the debtors who will come calling to collect their debt.  I will even go so far as to say that I believe it will bring us together and further unite us as a nation as we work together to solve problems that may arise.

I thought maybe I should try and clarify my thoughts on the carbon tax.  First, since I have left college and have been bombarded with varying views on politics it has become increasingly clear to me how important it is that I form my own point of view on things and try to do so based on raw facts that have not been slanted in one direction or another.  A lot of my political conversations with my husband involve him asking me about a particular topic such as, “How do you feel about companies being taxed for their carbon output?”  Or simply telling me that you can buy credits for your own carbon footprint.  He asks me in such a way that I am able to consider the question, weigh it with my own logic and form an opinion.  Because of these things, I avoid any political media, including political talk shows because they are nearly all slanted these days and how am I supposed to form my own unbiased opinion if I am being slanted in one direction or another.

That said, I have never believed in global warming, not even after seeing Al Gore’s movie An Inconvenient Truth.  What I do believe and what is the raw fact is that since the beginning of planet earth there have been periods of worldwide cooling trends and periods of worldwide warming trends.  I do not believe the current trend to be headed in the direction of any kind of global disaster.  In the 70’s there was talk of another ice age, now there is talk of major flooding.  In another 30 years I believe people will be talking about another ice age.  Nevertheless I feel that protecting the resources that we have, cleaning up the air and the earth and being more conscious of it all is important.  One day we will own an alternative fuel vehicle, we try to recycle, we try to turn the lights off when we leave a room, but we don’t do these things to “be green” and save ourselves from impending doom, we do them to be responsible citizens of planet earth.

Lastly, now that I have clarified where I am coming from I will talk about the carbon tax.  I understand that companies, humans, cars, etc. are emitting carbon dioxide and perhaps even chloroflourocarbons.  I understand that an overabundance of these can damage the ozone layer, soil, water, etc.  But what I was trying to say in my previous post is that no one except God has the right to say what is too much carbon dioxide.  No one has the right to go to a company who may be emitting an over abundance of this pollution and say, “Ok, now you owe me X amount of money because you are over polluting by X%.  I feel like the carbon tax is like the government playing the bad cop and using negative means to incentivize companies to clean up their act.  If it were me I would approach a company and say, “We have noticed an over abundance of carbon pollution coming from your company.  We would like to encourage you to clean up your carbon emissions by offering these workshops about cleaning up carbon emissions and giving you this tax break if you have cleaned up your emissions by X% in 6 months.  By going this route we are creating unity rather than hostility or resentment and I know that I personally respond better to help and positive reinforcement as opposed to threats and punishments.

Now, I am not a republican and I am not a democrat.  Frankly I think the lines between the two parties are so blurred these days that we should do away with the two party system all together.  Both Bush and Obama have made choices that I have not liked and have disagreed with.  I believe it is my civic duty to go out and vote and as such it allows me to voice my opinion about the decisions being made in Washington.  A carbon dioxide tax?  CARBON DIOXIDE?!?!?!?!?  No one owns said carbon dioxide.  It just exists in the earth.  An earth that God has created in such a way that it can heal itself and that has the ability to compensate for the carbon dioxide in the air.  (Think TREES.)  If they start taxing companies for their carbon dioxide output (which isn’t the governments right to do) then all of our goods, groceries, gas, etc. will rise in cost for us as the consumer.  That carbon dioxide tax could be better spent by the companies themselves to create a more efficient company.  Now don’t get me wrong, I do believe that we should all be more conscious about protecting the resources that we have but I don’t think that anyone has the right to tax others for their carbon dioxide output.