It's hard to imagine anything worse than a crime against an innocent child...
PLEASE HELP US PROTECT OUR CHILDREN!
Domestic Violence: Is it Hiding Behind Your Door?
Take this quick quiz:
DOES YOUR PARTNER:
- Embarrass you with bad names and put-downs?
- Look at you or act in ways that scare you?
- Use force during an argument? (Holds you down or
against a wall, pushes, shoves, slaps, hits or kicks you. This
behavior can easily escalate to choking, stabbing or
shooting.)
- Control what you do, who you see or talk to, or where you go?
- Isolate you? (Cuts you off from supportive resources such as telephone pals and colleagues.)
- Stop you from seeing or talking to family, friends and co-workers?
- Prevent you from getting or keeping a job?
- Take your money, make you ask for money, or refuse to give you money?
- "Helps" make all your personal decisions?
- Use "playful" force during sex? (May throw you down and
hold you during sex. May start having sex with you when you
are sleeping or demand sex when you are ill.)
- Tell you you're a bad parent or threaten to take away your children?
- Act hypersensitive? (Easily upset by annoyances that are a
part of daily life, such as being asked to work overtime,
criticism of any kind, being asked to help with chores.)
- Act like the abuse is no big deal, tells you it's your fault, or deny it happened?
- Exhibit a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde personality? (Sudden mood swings and unpredictable behavior.)
- Blame others for his/her problems.
- Verbally abuse you? (Says cruel and hurtful things, degrades and humiliates you.)
- Destroy your property, or break or throw objects?
- Threaten to hurt or kill your pets?
- Intimidate you with guns, knives, or other weapons?
- Force you to drop criminal charges?
- Threaten to hurt of kill your children?
- Threaten to commit suicide if you leave?
- Threaten to kill you?
- Have a past history of battering?
IF YOU SAY "YES" TO EVEN ONE OF THE ABOVE, YOU MAY BE IN AN ABUSIVE RELATIONSHIP.
Note: Most of these examples can be applied to men or
women. Some people do not realize that they are being
abused until it is pointed out to them. They have been made
to believe abusive treatment is what they deserve.
If you think you are being abused, or you're not sure if
you're being abused, please call the National Domestic
Violence FREE, CONFIDENTIAL HOTLINE:
1-800-799-SAFE(7233)
1-800-787-3224(tty)
RECOGNIZING SIGNS OF ABUSE CAN SAVE MORE
THAN SANITY!
National Domestic Violence Hotline
Free*****Anonymous*****Confidential
Se Habla Espanol
Suicide, The Facts:
Suicide rates have doubled and tripled for the agegroup from 10-24.
Suicide takes place at the rate of one every 15 minutes. Attempted suicides happen every minute.
The annual death toll from suicide is HIGHER than the homicide rate. (*suicide-32,000, homicide-22,562, 1995 statistics)
(*source-USA Weekend, "Can We Stop Suicide?" by Ann Japenga, Oct.9-11, 1998, pg 13.)
Nearly 31,000 commit suicide annually, and another 775,000 attempt it.
Take any suicide threat seriously. Potential risks are people suffering sudden weight loss/loss of appetite, insomnia, loss of interest in things that used to interest them, depression and helplessness. Especially high risks are the elderly, mentally ill, teens, American Indian males, and gays and lesbians.
If someone you know is suicidal, talk to them, be a friend, and don't hesitate to question them about why and how they plan to do it. Encourage them to talk about it. Suggest they talk to a professional, or someone they feel they can confide in and get help.
...a poem by Dorothy Parker:
Razors pain you;
Rivers are damp;
Acids stain you;
And drugs cause cramp.
Guns aren�t lawful;
Nooses give;
Gas smells awful;
You might as well live.
- "Just as I shall select my ship when I am about to go on a voyage, or my house when I propose to take a residence, so I shall choose my death when I am about to depart from life." Seneca (c. 5 B.C.A.D. c. 65)Roman writer, philosopher, statesman
- "But I will be,
A bridegroom in my death, and run into�t
As to a lover�s bed." William Shakespeare
- "He who does not accept and respect those who want to reject life does not truly accept and respect life itself." Thomas Szasz
Abortion
"Abortion is a skillfully marketed product
sold to a woman at a crisis time in her life.
If the product is defective,
she can not return it for a refund."
Carol Everett
Abortion is an issue that hits home with me. I am not as rigid about it as I was in the past. Regardless of my personal opinion, I realize there are reasons some women choose to take the life of their unborn child; the most obvious being in cases of rape, and where bearing the child is a threat to the mother's health. But there are other circumstances: economic, students and young people just getting established in careers, couples whose relationships are on shakey ground, one-night stands... Perhaps my biggest problem with it is that I DO believe an innocent life begins at conception, and that people need to take responsibility for their actions. There are a lot of good people out there that desperately want children and are unable to physically conceive and carry a child. Too often, abortion is used as advanced form of birth control, and THAT'S where I really have a problem.
As a teen, I was naive, and became pregnant the first time I "did it". Ok, so I had lousy luck. I wanted my baby, but allowed those that I thought were older and wiser than me to manipulate me into a legal abortion (before it was legal). I was sixteen years old, and knew nothing about government agencies that would have helped me, or any other services available. I pictured the two of us living on the streets eating garbage and being unable to provide for my child. I was easily coerced into an "easy out".
Only it wasn't so easy...I had to go on and LIVE WITH MYSELF after killing my first child. And that wasn't easy. It was years of nightmares and morbid celebrations of birthdays that would never be before I came to terms with my actions...if it even IS possible to come to terms with something like that. I couldn't hold a baby without thinking about what I'd done. Every night I'd dream I was an axe murderer. Every person I met, I had to "confess" my sin to...because they needed to know the blackest parts of my soul and accept me if we were to be friends.
If you find yourself pregnant and unable or unwilling to keep the child, PLEASE, I beg of you...look deep into your soul before you make any decisions. There are many people out there who will love and support you in your decision. But be aware that what appears an easy out, isn't always.
Listen to Seals & Crofts "Unborn Child" someday and think of me....
"A dream is an answer to a question that we haven't learned to ask."
-Fox Mulder
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