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& EDITORIALS
Declare among the nations, and publish, and set up a standard;
publish, and conceal not. - Jeremiah 50:2
2019, 2018, 2017, 2016 winner: Editorial Page excellen
2019, 2018 winner: Best Headline Writing
2019 winner: Best Community Service
2019 winner: Best Layout and Design
2019 winner: Best Serious Column - Don Daniel
ON THE PORCH by Will Davis
End of an error?
M ovene Futch of Forsyth, a founding board
member of the Pregnancy Center of Monroe
County, has said many times during 40 years
volunteering at the center that their goal
when they opened in the 1970s was to work themselves
out of a job. News that leaked on Monday shows the na
tion may be taking a big step toward that happy possibility
soon.
The Politico released a majority decision allegedly written
by Supreme Court justice Sam Alito on Monday night that
overturns the Roe v. Wade decision that made abortion legal
in the U.S. in 1973. It’s an unprecedented leak surely by a left
ist, and intended to intimidate justices into backing off plans
to overturn Roe. Since Roe was decided, 50 million unborn
babies have been sacrificed on the altar of convenience.
The decision would be a welcome sea-change in American
life, heralding a day when unborn children, the most fragile
and helpless among us, would be afforded the same protec
tions and rights as the bom. It would end a 49-year mistake, a
grave injustice not just to the pre-bom, but also to the Ameri
can political system.
You see Americans are supposed to
resolve our differences through the politi
cal system. We have an election. We vote.
And then the winners try to make laws
im >v f working within the political system. That’s
V lj the best way to keep peace and unify the
Hk. bHa country. Roe v. Wade turned all that on its
BhBI head. Rather than the American people
deciding the thorny issue of abortion, 7
x w\N\'v\ white men in black robes took it upon
themselves to dictate that abortion must
be legal in all 50 states. The wishes and
votes of hundreds of millions of Americans were ignored and
deemed unimportant by these 7 white men.
Even liberals like the late justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg con
ceded that Roe was a poorly-reasoned decision. But for most
leftists, Roe is a holy sacrament. Roe v. Wade for liberals is like
holy communion or baptism for a Christian.
You cannot separate the 1973 decision from the times in
which it was imposed. In the wake of the sexual revolution
of the 1960s, progressives wanted to put as much distance
between the sex act and its natural consequence, childbirth, as
possible. And it wasn’t just a political desire. It was personal.
Justice Harry Blackmun, who authored the Roe decision,
apparently used his daughter’s personal life as a reason for his
decision. His daughter, Sally Blackmun, told the feminist news
service Women’s Enews in 2004 that her late father had asked
her and her mother their opinion on abortion before writing
his decision. And there’s a story there. In 1966, Sally had been
a 19-year-old sophomore at Skidmore College in Saratoga
Springs, N.Y., when she discovered she was pregnant. “It was
one of those things I was not at all proud of, that I was not at
all pleased with myself about. It was a big disappointment to
my parents,” she said. “I did what so many young women of
my era did. I quit college and married my 20-year-old college
boyfriend. It was a decision that I might have made differently
had Roe v. Wade been around.” She apparently miscarried.
Sally told Women’s Enews that her marriage lasted only six
years, and her college education took almost as long. “Even
that might not have occurred, if she had carried to term,” she
said.
So when Justice Blackmun was to release his decision in
1973, he gave her advance notice so she could be present when
it was revealed. “I was very pleased with the decision and the
fact that it gave women that right of choice,” she told Wom-
ensEnews. “Dad always felt that it was the right thing to do
and the necessary thing to do toward the full emancipation of
women in this country. So we certainly were in favor of what
he did.”
Sally went on to a lucrative career as an attorney and was
named chairman of Planned Parenthood of Greater Orlando,
for whom she raised $3 million for a new abortion facility.
Sally saw it as a way to honor her father’s legacy. Can you
imagine your legacy being a place for unborn fetuses to be
discarded into the trash?
Perhaps it’s fitting as Sally Blackmun and the rest of her
generation reach the sunset of their lives, they also have to
See ON THE PORCH . Page 5A
www.MyMCR.net
is published every week by The Monroe County Reporter Inc.
Will Davis, President • Robert M. Williams Jr., Vice President
Cheryl S. Williams, Secretary-T reasurer
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Publication No. USPS 997-840
DRAWING ON THE NEWS by AF Branco
REECE’S PIECES by Steve Reece
The cold hard truth about lies
E veryone lies for so many
different reasons it’s impos
sible to make a complete list.
The most common mo
tive for lying of course is avoiding
punishment. Staying out of trouble
is usually the primary motivator for
the big lies regardless of a person’s
age. Like lies that help avoid a speed
ing ticket even though you knew
you were doing 84 mph or telling the
boss you had a flat tire. Most seri
ous lies involve a threat of serious
harm if the lie is found out: the loss
of a job, freedom, a relationship, a
person’s reputation, or even the loss
of life. And even though they can’t
get in much more trouble, a person
in prison who admits to their guilt is
rare indeed. The lying never
stops.
Other reasons for uttering
untruths include protec
tion of ourselves and others,
maintaining our privacy,
avoiding embarrassment,
and common everyday po
liteness. For instance, we’ve
all sat down before a plate
of something we’d rather not eat, and
yet when we’re finished, we can’t stop
complimenting the cook on how
delicious it was while praying we’re
never invited back to dinner.
The most common lie is the
response we all give when asked
how we’re doing. “I’m fine, is rarely
a truthful response from anyone.
With all the craziness and bad going
on in our lives, not to mention the
day-to-day aches and pains, how can
any of us be fine? And yet we smile
and continue to do our best. Lying
flawlessly when necessary.
There have been some whoppers
told throughout history. Some that
changed the world significantly such
as the one the serpent told Eve in the
Garden of Eden when he told her
that she would not die if she ate the
forbidden fruit, that her eyes would
be opened and she would be like
God, knowing good and evil. Since
Eve wanted wisdom, she believed
the serpent’s lie, ate the fruit, and
then gave some to her husband. And
now we all return to the dust from
whence we came.
One of the earliest lies recorded in
American history was the lie about
George Washington not being able
to lie. Up until I was a grown
man, I believed the tale of
young George admitting to
his father that he indeed cut
down the cherry tree with his
hatchet because he didn’t have
it in him to say something
that wasn’t true. I was quite
disappointed to learn the
story was a myth invented by
a bookseller named Mason
Locke Weems who was simply
supplying Americans’ demand for
facts about the great general after his
death while making a few bucks on
the side. The cherry tree story was
only one myth published in Weems’s
biography of Washington, the first
written about our first president.
Another falsehood that most
people continue to believe is that
Christopher Columbus discovered
America. We all remember that in
“fourteen hundred and ninety-two,
Columbus sailed the ocean blue” on
his way to “discover” a new con
tinent even though he was one of
the last to set foot on this land, 500
years after Leif Eriksson came here
with a band of daring Vikings. Some
scholars say there are signs that long
before that event, travelers arrived
in the Americas from China by
boat, and it is highly possible people
came here from Ice Age Europe. But
still, Columbus is the one with the
big holiday, and cities, schools, and
streets are named after him. And
don’t forget there were people al
ready living here which to me makes
it a difficult place to “discover”.
There is currently a large opposi
tion to Columbus Day because of
the scores of indigenous people who
were wiped out by diseases brought
by early European settlers and were
inflicted with war, colonization, en
slavement, and torture. Some cities
and states now celebrate Indigenous
Peoples’ Day in its place. And some
places like Chicago have removed
statues of the explorer after loud
protests while others, still believ
ing the lie, are suing to have them
brought back.
People often lie to themselves.
We often say, “I’m entitled to one
mistake.” Not true. Everyone makes
mistakes, but we are not entitled
to them. Another is believing that
“it can’t happen to me.” Yes, it can.
Crazy things happen to ordinary
people all the time. These events can
occur at anytime, anywhere. You can
read about them every week in the
incident report section of this news
paper. And young people carry the
belief that they will live forever.
We were all raised to always tell
the truth but there are times when
it’s best not to. Like those situations
when it’s best to be polite instead. I
know from life experience that it’s
impossible to be a gentleman and
not lie. For instance, I know what to
say if a woman asks me if a certain
dress makes her look fat. The truth
is that it’s sometimes just common
sense to tell a bald-faced lie.
Steve Reece is a writer for the Reporter
and a known crime fighter. Email him at
stevereece@gmail. com.
CAROLYN S CORNER by Carolyn Martel
You won’t regret enrolling at UGW
T he one area of
your personal
ity that God
will measure
constantly for
Christlikeness
is your mind.
Unfortunately,
sometimes we
resist chang
ing the way we
think. Like a
relative of
mine said,
“Well, I’ve
thought
this way for
65 years and I’m too old
to change now!” But it’s
never too late to change
the way you think and
start acquiring the mind of
Christ!
MAYBE YOU are like me
and you attended “Mess You
Up University’ Yep,
good ole MYUU.
No! A thousand
times no! Did I say
no? There’s noth
ing good about
this school. It was
founded by the devil
and the curriculum
is designed
to dumb you
down. It’s
filled with
decep
tive and flawed thinking.
The good news is, you can
transfer from Mess You Up
University to the University
of Godly Wisdom. And it
won’t cost you a dime! It will
require an investment of your
time, but it’s well worth it to
receive a royal education and
a new mindset.
I HIGHLY recommend
the University of Godly Wis
dom. Your instructor is God
Almighty and you will hear
Him say, “Come let us reason
together. Let this mind be in
you that was also in Christ
Jesus!” You will also hear
Him say, “Here is your main
text book It’s called the Bible.
Have you read it lately?” Oh,
and don’t be surprised when
He smiles, looks you directly
in the eye, raises one eyebrow
and says, “By the way, all
the words of my Son are all
printed in red-which makes
them easy to find.”
One last thought. When
you transfer to the University
of Godly Wisdom, the Holy
Spirit will be your tutor. He
has a big assignment. His
job is to prepare you for
graduation day! He wants
to present you to God the
Father, dressed in a robe of
righteousness. In place of a
diploma, you will receive a
glorious crown! Want you
be glad on that day, that your
mind did not remain con
formed to this world’s way of
thinking with its superficial
values! Want you be glad on
that day, that your mind was
transformed as you matured
spiritually and acquired the
mind of Christ! Hallelujah!
Carolyn Martel is the
retired advertising manager
of the Reporter. Email her at