In which Lori Alexander attempts to rewrite history...

[Koala]

http://lorialexander.blogspot.com/2012/05/america-has-lost-its-way.html

It's like she's blatantly stupid...

[lilwriter85]

People knew that believing in God was a good thing. You could actually call Christmas "Christmas" and sing Christmas songs. Saying the pledge at the beginning of class with "one nation under God" was a requirement. Children who were naughty were punished, usually with a spanking by the principal.

Lori you should do some reading on some of the founders of America.

People knew the government couldn't solve all their problems. They worked hard, went to church, stayed married, disciplined their children, didn't expect hand outs, and helped each other when help was needed.

People knew that if you didn't work hard, you didn't eat. You were rewarded for hard work, not for doing nothing and expecting others to pay your way in life.

Yeah, Lori I think most people know the government can't solve all their problems, but they still really need assistance from the government once in awhile. Sometimes there is only so much people can do to help each other out. Sometimes a person can work hard and still fall on hard times.

[desertvixen]

Or, you know, the fact that the Pledge is relatively new, and that it did not always say "under God".

[Burris]

Things were so much better before she was born? How the hell would she know (since she seems allergic to sourcing her claims)? And why should anyone believe her?

Lazy student. Lazy writer.

[xDreamerx]

I can't even...ok

1) Under God was added to the pledge by Eisenhower. It was a political move against communism. Nothing more.

2) Women still got pregnant out of wedlock, the only difference was that they were often reduced to poverty, workhouses, laundries, nunneries and being otherwise destitute.

3) Women still had abortions. Many tried to induce them out or were forced into barely medical practices out of desperation.

4) There has always been porn. There were naughty cartoons of nuns in the Reformation and sex lines after the advent of the television to name a few.

5) Marriage was an economic institution where one exchanged chattel such as animals and daughters long before it was ever religious.

Sorry just had to.

[WanderingStar]

1) Under God was added to the pledge by Eisenhower. It was a political move against communism. Nothing more.

Not only that, but the original pledge (without "under God") was written in 1892 by Francis Bellamy, who was a Christian socialist! How do you like that, Lori? Your beloved pledge was written by a socialist! :P

[GeoBQn]

You could actually call Christmas "Christmas" and sing Christmas songs.

Not in Puritan New England, you couldn't.

Saying the pledge at the beginning of class with "one nation under God" was a requirement.

My grandfather was required to sing "G-d Save the Tzar" every morning in grade school. That didn't mean he actually believed in what he was saying.

[CanadianHippie]

Not only that, but the original pledge (without "under God") was written in 1892 by Francis Bellamy, who was a Christian socialist! How do you like that, Lori? Your beloved pledge was written by a socialist! :P

The original was also accompanied by the Bellamy Salute, which was dropped after WWII due to it's resemblance to the Nazi salute.

[CanadianHippie]

Now for the big question... will she approve my comment.

[shesinsane]

You could actually call Christmas "Christmas" and sing Christmas songs.

Christmas is so taboo in America, yet the only day the Smithsonian (the federal government's free museums in DC) is closed is Christmas Day.They even call it Christmas on the federal calendar.

[emmiedahl]

There are so many things about this article that are annoyingly inaccurate. I just don't even know where to begin.

Is Lori a fake? Because she is wrong about everything. Quite literally everything. In every post.

[2xx1xy1JD]

I lost my post, so I'll just point out some Google searches for Lori to do:

"septic abortion" (because prior to Roe v. Wade, Lysol was commonly used by women attempting to induce abortion)

"Barnardo children" "Duplessis orphans" and "victorian orphanages" (because unwanted babies didn't all go to loving homes)

"murder rate 1993" and "murder rate 2010" (hint: it was higher in 1933)

"history syphillis" (because the old classic STDs killed people too)

"New Deal Great Depression" (because she seems to have forgotten how much government programs grew during an era that she's idealizing)

[OnceModestTwiceShy]

I love how she mentions disciplining children not once but twice (and maybe more - I only read the quotations.) I swear, these folks are obsessed with punishment and salivate at the thought of children being hurt.

[JMarie]

People knew marriage was between a man and a woman. The way it has been in every culture since time began. They knew the best for children was having a mom and dad.

One of my high school classmates had posted something on his facebook page about marriage, but I can't find it on the Internet. it was a chart that discussed the different types of marriage outlined in the Bible, with examples or verses to back up each example. Yes, the Bible says marriage is between one man and one woman, but it also says it's between:

one man and many women

a deceased man, his widow, and his brother

a man, a woman, and his (?) or her (?) slave

a man, a woman, and a concubine

a rapist and his victim

I think there was a sixth example

When was the last time you heard a fundy mention the next-in-line brother for his widowed SIL or a concubine?

[Koala]

People knew marriage was between a man and a woman. The way it has been in every culture since time began. They knew the best for children was having a mom and dad.

One of my high school classmates had posted something on his facebook page about marriage, but I can't find it on the Internet. it was a chart that discussed the different types of marriage outlined in the Bible, with examples or verses to back up each example. Yes, the Bible says marriage is between one man and one woman, but it also says it's between:

one man and many women

a deceased man, his widow, and his brother

a man, a woman, and his (?) or her (?) slave

a man, a woman, and a concubine

a rapist and his victim

I think there was a sixth example

When was the last time you heard a fundy mention the next-in-line brother for his widowed SIL or a concubine?

Here ya go:

:D

[JMarie]

Found it on another blog: http://www.thetwitchonline.com/2011/10/ ... bible.html

Betty Bowers for president!!

[dairyfreelife]

There are so many things about this article that are annoyingly inaccurate. I just don't even know where to begin.

Is Lori a fake? Because she is wrong about everything. Quite literally everything. In every post.

You and me both. And I'm too tired to refute it all... because the whole entire post would need to be done.

Growing up in Appalachia, in one of the most poverty-stricken states in the country, Lori proves she's been spoiled and is out of touch with those who aren't like her. Sure, people who didn't work didn't eat. It they were injured on the job, too bad...starve. No disability in those "good ol' days". I would be happy to take Lori into the mountains here and show here just how "entitled" those with gov't assistance are (try wells, no indoor plumbing, old wooden stoves, haven't bathed in weeks because they don't have a shower and can only bathe in warm weather, every item of clothing they own is donated items. Without food stamps and gov't assistance, they'd be starving and miserable and no, they can't just pack up and move...they don't own a car. No public transporation system within 30 or more miles).

Oh, and spanking...thank the heavens that it's gone from schools! I can't imagine the damage it would've done to children more than already had been in past generations. I had anxiety problems and I recall the teacher being so angry when I had a panic attack in primary. I don't doubt that had spanking been allowed I would have been spanked...many times and while my father did spank some, it wasn't that often. Maybe a handful of times, but probably not even that much. I hated it and I never felt it helped me learn anything, just made me angry. Spanking and obedience does not=respect. From experience from a child who was spanked, it does not create a respect. I don't want to think about how I would have perceived school spankings...I would have likely hated school even more and been very, very resentful and fearful and God only knows how I might have turned out.

However, the dumbest of all has to be this:

People knew marriage was between a man and a woman. The way it has been in every culture since time began. They knew the best for children was having a mom and dad.

She can't really be that ignorant, can she? Has she not read her Bible? Did she even bother to actually read the Old Testament? How many wives she Jacob have again? David? Solomon? How many concubines did they have again? And in case Lori doesn't know, a concubine is a woman used solely for sex by a man and only upper class men at that. So, basically: a concubine was like a prostitute in a way. She gives him sex as he wants and she gets food and shelter. Somehow, I think if Lori read this, she'd now be sticking her fingers in her ears, singing "la la la, I can't hear you!" One man and one woman has not "been that way in every culture since time began" at all. Not even close.

She also apparently is clueless about orphanages. I have an adopted cousin who came from one in China. Unwanted children often ended up and still end up in orphanages. Today, plenty of infants don't get adopted either and are placed in foster care. if they have any health problems, they probably won't. I won't suggest Lori adopt these children...I don't think they'd be much better off with her.

Oh, and isn't it still a requirement to say the pledge in schools? It was when I was in them, but it's been about five years so who knows. Since I've not heard any uproar in the Bible Belt about "taking God out of schools" over ignoring the pledge, I'll assume they still say it. I'll ask my brother in the morning to be sure.

[mebeforee]

People knew that sex was reserved for marriage. Women who got pregnant outside of marriage knew it wasn't the right thing to do.

Uh... buh? Extramarital sex has ALWAYS happened.

There wasn't the skyrocketing numbers of sexually transmitted diseases people are dealing with now.

Tell that to all the late greats who died of syphilis. Terminology and dominant diseases have shifted, they haven't suddenly sprung up from a pristine host.

People knew marriage was between a man and a woman. The way it has been in every culture since time began.

Blatantly untrue... there are a number of historical cultures in which same-sex relationships were accepted.

They knew if they got pregnant out of wedlock, they would have to pay the consequences and have the baby. They would probably give it up for adoption to a couple that wanted a baby.

LOL, keep dreaming. Adoption as it currently stands is a very recent thing. Orphanages were more common in the past, which certainly adopted children out but not in the way adoption agencies do. For most of history, orphaned children ended up on the street or employed by people exploiting their situation. Other times, parents abandoned the children somewhere, which either resulted in death of the child or, in rarer (and mostly mythological) cases, being raised by a barren peasant who happened by in time to save them.

I can't even read the rest. It hurts my mind.

[alba]

I'm not even American and I know more about American history than her. Let's not even get started on world history, like the comment on marriage in "every culture".

[sippin0nsunshine]

I can't even...ok

1) Under God was added to the pledge by Eisenhower. It was a political move against communism. Nothing more.

2) Women still got pregnant out of wedlock, the only difference was that they were often reduced to poverty, workhouses, laundries, nunneries and being otherwise destitute.

3) Women still had abortions. Many tried to induce them out or were forced into barely medical practices out of desperation.

4) There has always been porn. There were naughty cartoons of nuns in the Reformation and sex lines after the advent of the television to name a few.

5) Marriage was an economic institution where one exchanged chattel such as animals and daughters long before it was ever religious.

Sorry just had to.

Yes! Examples in my family:

1) My dad was born in '48, he doesn't remember saying "under god" until he was about 14.

2) Grandmother got pregnant out of Wedlock in the 50's, was shamed by her family, had a mental break of some sort, baby myseriously died not long after birth, her siblings won't talk about it to anyone.

3) Great aunt had an abortion some time in the 50's.

4) My grandad was born in 21 and i'm sure they had lots of porn when he was in the army.

5) by the time my mother was 18 she had raised her two siblings, and her dad married her off to the first jackass that could give him gambling money. Said jackass proceeded to beat the hell out of her and my grandparents told her to deal with it and be a good wife.

So yes Lori, you're living in dreamland if you think the "good old days" was all sunshine and rainbows.

[debrand]

I left a comment on her site but she hasn't approved it yet. My mother grew up with an abusive, drunk father. She experienced sexual abuse and hunger. Sorry, I don't think that the forties and fifties were good for mom.

And as for Lori's statement that people helped one another....um...no. They helped, perhaps, those who were like them or whose lifestyle didn't contradict theirs. My mother was told that because her father was a drunk and all around bad person, she was not allowed to date certain boys. Thier mothers did not approve of her. People were no more loving and nonjudgemental then they are today.

[Conuly]

Oh, and isn't it still a requirement to say the pledge in schools? It was when I was in them, but it's been about five years so who knows. Since I've not heard any uproar in the Bible Belt about "taking God out of schools" over ignoring the pledge, I'll assume they still say it. I'll ask my brother in the morning to be sure.

Sorta. It's been precedent since the... 40s, I believe, that they can't compel children to recite the Pledge. Some students don't recite it for religious reasons - either because it's making "an idol" of the flag (Adventists and others), or because they aren't supposed to take oaths (Quakers and others) or because it's not their deity (Atheists and others). Some don't wish to recite it for political reasons, they aren't citizens so it's not their flag OR because they feel one or more of the political things stated in it are untrue (do we really have liberty and justice for ALL?) Some very socially conscious students feel that it's an empty ritual and simply don't want to participate in those. And, of course, some just wish to stand out or be different or be mildly disruptive (though, like crazy hair, it's generally not the *student* who is disrupting the class in those cases....)

They can't make you recite the Pledge, they can't make you stand. They CAN require that it be recited every day and that all students sit or stand respectfully if they are not participating.

Now, that's the law. Whether or not schools actually comply with the law in all areas and instances is another issue altogether. I had a teacher once who took umbrage with my refusal to stand (something I haven't done since I was 12 and was not about to start doing senior year!) and, after calling my mother about it, actually LIED to my FACE about what she said. And he got away with it! Like a fool, I didn't confirm his story with her until many years later! "Like" a fool, I like that. I was an unvarnished idiot in that instance, but it never occurred to me that anybody would be so blatantly dishonest about it!

(We compromised on me coming in "late" every day but not being marked as such, but it should never have come to that. Allowing me to stay in my seat would've been far less disruptive to the class.)

[Trynn]

Sorta. It's been precedent since the... 40s, I believe, that they can't compel children to recite the Pledge. Some students don't recite it for religious reasons - either because it's making "an idol" of the flag (Adventists and others)

Really? I grew up SDA and we always said the pledge of allegiance in the SDA schools... I have never heard of an SDA refusing to say the pledge...

[lilwriter85]

When I attended lower elementary during the early to mid 90's, we recited the pledge daily. In my school, there were several children who belonged to 2 different JW families. They didn't recite the pledge and they just sat at their desks. Nobody had issues with them. When I was in the fifth grade which was in in 1996, reciting the pledge ended without reason. When I attended middle school and high school, the pledge was only recited at certain assemblies and even then, it wasn't a requirement.

[lilwriter85]

I left a comment on her site but she hasn't approved it yet. My mother grew up with an abusive, drunk father. She experienced sexual abuse and hunger. Sorry, I don't think that the forties and fifties were good for mom.

And as for Lori's statement that people helped one another....um...no. They helped, perhaps, those who were like them or whose lifestyle didn't contradict theirs. My mother was told that because her father was a drunk and all around bad person, she was not allowed to date certain boys. Thier mothers did not approve of her. People were no more loving and nonjudgemental then they are today.

I have noticed on other blogs, that fundies seem to have a belief that past eras were golden times in which certain problems didn't exist. It annoys me quite a bit.