Posted on 03/28/2012 8:45:40 AM PDT by kathsua
Last week, I was amazed at all the people who read my posts and left comments. (This post about expecting a call from the President got almost 2,800 comments and was shared 131,000 times on this site alone… And, no, my phone didn’t ring.)
Most of the comments were wonderful and supportive. (I’ve addressed some of the not-so-nice comments here.) But there’s one constant criticism I didn’t talk about: some of you insist on calling me a hypocrite. After all, I became a mother before I walked down the aisle – how can I talk about waiting until marriage for sex?
I find it strange that the culture rightfully applauds former drug addicts who warn children of the dangers of drug use. They are happy to listen to former alcoholics talk about how they finally are living a clean life. But when it comes to me talking about waiting until marriage for sex, it’s almost like people want me to slink away in shame… unable to show my face in public again because of my past mistakes.
I want this blog to be a place where we can all be honest, so let me start. I’ve struggled with feelings of guilt and shame. I know (judging from my inbox) many of you have too. A Christian counselor named Ed Welch helpfully writes about what to do after you’ve made a huge mistake:
It feels so right – so spiritual – to live with regrets. It means you feel bad for the wrong things you have done or think you have done, and that sounds like a good thing. If you forget those wrongs, you are acting like they were no big deal.
… We live with regrets because we think we should. We think it’s the right thing to do—that it is our duty before God. But… The Kingdom of Heaven is regret-free. The truth is that the triune God liberates us from past regrets. His will is being done. Bank on it. Neither your human limitations nor your sins hinder the good plans of your sovereign Father. Let’s go one important step further. It is God’s will that you jettison past regrets.
So what does that mean?
Stop.
Stop living under a cloud of guilt, stop wondering what life could have been like had you made better decisions, and stop beating yourself up over that thing you’ve done.
Read the rest of his post here, and get over the regret you’ve been carrying for far too long.
I have.
Not at all. I suggest she live in her parents’ house, work and go to college, and blog about the difficulties of raising a baby without a husband.
The fact is, Bristol Palin is demonstrating a whole lot of upside to having a baby out of wedlock.
No she is demonstrating the upside of being Sarah Palin’s daughter.
She already blogs and talks about the difficulties of having a baby so young and outside of marriage. I would agree with you the she would be inconsistent if she wasn’t. I don’t think everyone needs to go to college.
Working, buying your own house, writing books, making thousands or even millions of dollars seems a good thing to me.
Sponging of your parents because you did something dumb like have a baby out of wedlock while still in HS not so much.
Your name should be heartLESS.
Thanks for the ping!
When I grow up, I want to be as wise as Bristol.
No, she’s saying you cannot be that voice of exerience from which the well spring of wisdom emanates.
Only clerics, eunichs and priests can speak about that which they will never experience.
Please google “Candies shoe ads” (do NOT do this at work) and tell me if you think those people have any interest whatsoever in promoting teen abstinence. They are laughing themselves silly in the boardroom.
Please consider Hollywood and tell me if you think there are many people there who have any interest whatsoever in the good of one of Sarah Palin’s children.
They have taken this interest in Bristol Palin exactly because she did have a baby before she was married. To them, she represents an embarrassment to the Palin family and the conservative movement and Christian teaching. They give her exposure exactly because she embodies what I call a contradiction and some see as hypocrisy.
She did drop the Hollywood locale for a reality show, which was wise. There are many people who would like to see her fall into the party life and get chewed up by it.
There’s nothing heartless in wanting her to live at home with her parents’ guidance. She is still very young, my older daughter’s age. There’s nothing heartless in not wanting other girls to be shown a glamorization of unwed motherhood - and to far too many of them, any sort of fame, any television appearance, IS glamorous and would be the apogee of their lives, no matter what she says. No matter if her son throws up on her and she’s sick herself, or he has a tantrum in the store, or she gets no sleep or she has no time to date. She’s famous and that’s what matters.
Exactly. Yet some hope Bristol will return home, hide in shame in her parents basement and only go outside while wearing her burqa
Thanks! and you didn’t nail me for misspelling experience!
yeah!
You are equating giving up modern celebrity with living in shame in the basement and wearing a burqa.
If sensible members of Free Republic place so high a value on fame, what hope is there for the average sixteen year old girl?
Dear Gawd. Really? That was your take away and response?
Can’t help yuh and celebrity has zip to do with my thoughts on this and I’m sure free me probably hadn’t really given it any weight.
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