Posted on 07/08/2011 8:03:15 PM PDT by DJ MacWoW
Betty Ford said things that first ladies just don't say, even today. And 1970s America loved her for it.
According to Mrs. Ford, her young adult children probably had smoked marijuana - and if she were their age, she'd try it, too. She told "60 Minutes" she wouldn't be surprised to learn that her youngest, 18-year-old Susan, was in a sexual relationship (an embarrassed Susan issued a denial).
(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.myway.com ...
Are you here to praise Betty Ford, or to just condemn Outlaw Woman and me?
Because there is a problem with veracity.
The first post to be removed from this thread was Outlaw Womans and it was removed for vulgarity. POS IS a vulgarity. And the Admin Mods post still stands. It's Post 102. No one objected to it being noted that Mrs Ford supported abortion. There's not one post on this thread that objects. The objections were to abusive language. And THAT point is STILL being twisted.
Because there is a problem with veracity.
The first post to be removed from this thread was Outlaw Womans and it was removed for vulgarity. POS IS a vulgarity. And the Admin Mods post still stands. It's Post 102. No one objected to it being noted that Mrs Ford supported abortion. There's not one post on this thread that objects. The objections were to abusive language. And THAT point is STILL being twisted.
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I've gone over this thread twice, and I have to agree with you. Imho, when vulgar and/or abusive language is used, the listener/reader can lose sight of the point of the message. If we were to visit some of the other online forums, we would find the barely literate using crude and vulgar language to post their "thoughts". One of the reasons I cherish Free Republic is because that kind of communication is frowned on here.
My posts were removed solely because I pointed out that Betty Ford was pro abortion on both this thread and an earlier thread. The Admin Moderator was not just shutting down so called vulgar references to Betty Ford’s pro abortion advocacy, but all References to it on the grounds that these were supposedly obituary threads. My posts were later restored as were OW’s. Then after the posts were restored the threads took on the tenor of a gang attack on OW rather than the obituary tone it was alleged to have been intended to convey.
Do you disagree that Betty Ford was an enemy to the pro life movement? Do you think OW is not a committed pro lifer? Have you enjoyed condemning OW while everyone is singing the praises of Betty Ford? Are you a pro lifer?
Have you ever seen a ‘hair’ split. Come on I have watched this unfold, kept my peace, and find what is typed most curious of exhibits of just how far people will go to appear to be wearing white linen. Betty Ford was what she was. And either we are for ‘life’ all ‘life’ or the liberals were 100% correct when they accuse ‘republicans’ of being for ‘selected’ life.
To verify that, one has only to read DU or similar sites. The abusive language takes the place of coherent ideas and points. Mrs Ford supported abortion, premarital sex and pot. I disagreed with her beliefs. I don’t have to be vulgar or call her names to do so.
Indeed. She was a committed enemy to the pro-life movement and a recipient of a Lifetime Acheivement Award from the National Abortion Rights Action League.
She should be beatified and a statue erected next to Mother Theresa.
I could not agree more. Think of wagglebee’s posts. He is always a gentleman, but there is not a more pro-life, pro-morality person here, imho.
Did you ever bother to push the abuse button on the POS post?
Or does it give you pleasure simply to keep pointing to it and condemning it over and over and over again?
BTW what does POS stand for?
Well fortunately for you and me we do NOT have to worry about which side of that 'gulf' her 'soul' returned. What we can surmise is words are cheap and there is a flood of 'words' being spewed in how to make somebody whose life work was opposed to what we find 'natural' and should be common getting picked apart as having 'no' class. Life sure does imitate 'art' when all the pretenses get peeled away. Some will even ridicule just like old Alinskey taught, about 'Christian' principles for posting 'prayer' threads. Guess it is all only 'skin' deep for those that sit in higher 'elected' class amongst US. I mean after all I never partied with anyone of this family so who am I to have an opinion????
Your first post on this thread was post 124. That post was never removed. No other post was removed but Outlaw Womans. My daughter is an insomniac and watched the thread all night.
You are AGAIN throwing up a smokescreen.
You were asked in Post 183 for a link to where I praised Mrs Ford.
You were asked in Post 193:Do you believe that Free Republic should allow vulgar and abusive language on the forum.
You have IGNORED anything that is the truth and erected strawmen arguments because you want a fight. Not here. Not anymore today.
Your made up strawmen will be ignored by me from now on.
If you really believed what you are saying about the integrity of this site then you would formally request that the entire thread be deleted. It’s your thread, you have it in your power to have this thread deleted.
Is something stopping you? Are you proud of the way the thread turned out?
Good grief. Give it up, already.
Consider it done.
I am going to request that every one of my posts on this thread be deleted except this one. Those who think this thread took a wrong turn when it turned into a freeper bash might consider doing likewise.
I do not know who said what to whom, what got removed, and what got put back later. I finally found the Outlaw Woman post with the “POS” language, but it was on a different Betty Ford thread, and Outlaw Woman's comments were some of the less offensive things. A lot of other things that have been said, not just on this thread but others, have been far worse.
What I do know is how Scripture tells me to deal with political leaders, and how I am to treat older men and women. Rules about what we're allowed to do on Free Republic may change from time to time; what's written in Scripture never changes, and that's a higher standard.
Those on Free Republic who are secular conservatives can feel free to ignore Scriptural standards, but evangelical Christians, Orthodox Jews, and conservative Roman Catholics on here need to step back from their keyboards and give some serious thought to the type of language that is being said about the rulers who God has given us (and, arguably in current circumstances, has given to us as punishment for our national wickedness).
I'm not going to single out specific posters on Free Republic other than the initial item about Mrs. Ford being a “classless drunken cow.” That statement is factually wrong and indefensible under any circumstances. However, speaking more broadly, there's a type of language being used in conservative circles that is just as incompatible with Scripture as abortion, sexual promiscuity, illegal drug use, or any of the other things on which Mrs. Ford's published views are being legitimately criticized.
Many Christians are quite aware of Romans 13. Remember, this was originally given to Christians who in general did not even have the rights of Roman citizens and who lived under a government that was actively persecuting the church, along with allowing and even encouraging infanticide — post-born abortion, you might say.
Romans 13:1-7: “Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2 Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. 3 For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended. 4 For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience. 6 This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. 7 Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.”
Again, with regard to older people:
I Timothy 5:1-2: “Do not rebuke an older man harshly, but exhort him as if he were your father. Treat ... older women as mothers...”
The same principle is given in the Old Testament, and therefore binding on Orthodox Jews as well as Christians:
Leviticus 19:32: “Stand up in the presence of the aged, show respect for the elderly and revere your God. I am the LORD.”
That doesn't mean we blindly obey older people just because they are old. As Psalm 119:99-100 says: “I have more insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on your statutes. I have more understanding than the elders, for I obey your precepts.”
What doesn't change with regard to political rulers and older people is that even if they're wrong, we still owe them the respect they're due.
It is beyond dispute that Mrs. Ford was an older woman and that she was the First Lady of the United States. I realize that the I Timothy passage is dealing with matters inside the church, but I very much doubt that any of us on Free Republic knew Mrs. Ford well enough in recent years to have any basis to know her spiritual state. Frankly, given the fact that Mrs. Ford was an older woman and the First Lady of the United States, it's irrelevant — the Apostle Paul required Christians to show respect for wicked idolaters in government, so no matter what you think of Mrs. Ford's personal faith you still need to show the respect she is due as a former First Lady of the United States.
There was a day when most conservatives understood these principles. That's what makes us — or should make us — different from the screaming mobs that attacked the foundations of our society in the 1960s, and who post frequently on certain leftist websites.
We are conservatives, and we believe in a free republic governed by a written constitution. We believe in a government of laws and not of men. If that's what we believe, we need to act accordingly — especially for those of us who profess faith in the God of Scripture and understand His demands on our lives with regard to civil government.
I have requested all my posts on this thread to be pulled. I have left the thread.
Or does it give you pleasure simply to keep pointing to it and condemning it over and over and over again?
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Who’s being a hypocrite?
Goodgollyjeeze! You are beating a dead horse .. over and over and over again .. condemning and haranguing others.
DJ is merely responding to your posts to explain the sequencing.
People have stated their view, you’ve stated your view .. everybody knows where everyone stands.
No one here I see is affirming her liberal views, etc etc. We’re merely acknowledging the news of the death of a former First Lady at 93, and that she also did behave nobly to help others in her life. Period! Is that a crime to you?
NO ONE has made a saint of her. Your hyperbolic comments and mischaracterizations are pointedly and personally inflammatory.
I hate seeing the vulgar comments here and that they’ve been allowed to stand on FR forever in web archives, to be used against us. They’re beneath us.
Please .. enough. It makes FR look terrible.
see post 216
BTW, I noted from your “about” page that you're a fan of the White Horse Inn and Spurgeon. Good choices!
How do we know Betty Ford was a Republican?
She sure didn't act like one ... unless you're talking about Rockefeller/Country Club Republicans, not Reagan Republicans.
Cf. Laura Bush, another "pro-choice" first lady, who is said to have been a life-long Democrat (afaik she may never have changed her registration).
And how about first lady wannabe, Cindy McCain? Hard to believe she ever had anything in common with the philosophy of Ronald Reagan.
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