Inner feminist vs. Stay-at-home Mommy

The blogosphere is afire with McCain's out-of-the-blue VP pick and has left many, including my confused self wondering if, a woman should indeed take on such a position. When I first heard that he had picked Sarah Palin, my inner feminist rejoiced. The sound of shattering glass could be heard far and wide as the proverbial glass ceiling recieved it's final blow.

But then, the mommy in me silenced the feminist choir by asking the oh-so, un-PC question, does she really belong in the White House? What about her family? Doesn't the Bible clearly state that a woman's priority is God first, husband second, children third, and everything else fourth, fifth, sixth and so on?

A brief foray into the world of homeschooling bloggers revealed that homeschoolers really are a judgemental lot. Why wouldn't we be? It takes a pretty opinionated person to think that they can actually educate their child, children, or small army apart from the benevolent beast known as the public school system. By nature, we hold strong opinions, which we often feel must and should be brought to the attention of anyone who happens to be passing by or in this case, blogging along.

What I found actually shocked me, and trust me it's hard to shock a mother of four boys. There is a segment of homeschoolers/Evangelical leaders who think that women should never work outside the home, that women should be silent in the church, and yikes--that they shouldn't even vote. Down inner-feminist, down! Of course, they think Palin should fold up her fancy duds and go back to her Alaskan homestead where she belongs. They dismiss Deborah (the prophetess and Judge of Old Testament fame) as nothing more than a consequece of man's refusal to accept his God-given mandate to rule righteously. That may be so. But the Scripture leaves no doubt that God used her and lots of other folks who may not be in the center of His will or even saved to carry out His plans. Why would we expect God to do anything less with this woman?

Aside from her anantomy, she is ideally suited for the job. Pro-life to the enth degree, she put her money where her mouth was not once but twice. How easily could a woman of her stature and connections quietly gotten rid of her down syndrome baby or her 17-year-old's unexpected pregnancy? I do not pretend to know Palin's inner thoughts, but I'm guessing it never even crossed her mind. And yes, I'm sure she employs quite a payroll of nannies and housekeepers, but she obviously loves and values children since she kept popping 'em out. Her plans to lasso in our out-of-conrtol foreign oil spending are balanced and sane and she seems to have a knack for cleaning house.

The same camp concludes that it would be wrong to vote for the McCain/Palin ticket because they represent the "lesser of the two evils." So, their suggestion is to not vote at all or vote for the third party candiate whose name escapes me (and the rest of America, I'm sure). This would translate into a nicely packaged vote for Mr. Obama- the most liberal, pro-abortion, socialist I ever did see. Call it pragmatism, but it's clear that if we allow Obama to take over our beloved nation, homeschooling, capitalism, free-speech, religious freedom, quality health care, and our very right to govern our own homes will become a faded memory. No...the feminist nor the stay-at-home mommy in me could stand for that. And thankfully, I have a husband who is on board with the whole Nineteenth Ammendment thing.