Mystery Cookie

It’s funny sometimes where you find inspiration. As if an entire multi-million dollar production was produced for a five second message just for you. And perhaps the author or the director was completely unaware of what it was they were saying.

Or even why they were saying it.

The important thing is that it was said. Clearly. And it spoke directly to your soul.

This happened to me while watching a really cheesy movie. It was poorly put together and I was thinking about changing the channel when the words slipped from the writer’s pen into the mouth of the actor.

None of us are born great.

But all of us are given the opportunity for greatness. And those opportunities come in strange places and at inconvenient times.

While we’re trying to become rich or perhaps start a family that letter or message arrives in the mailbox or the inbox of life asking for volunteers. And while we’re carrying the groceries into the house or apartment and listening to the messages on our cellphones we hear it.

But who has time?

Someday the question may be asked, “Where were you?”

I was in a comfortable recliner with a channel changer in my hand. I was visiting my family, which is usually the only time I watch television. I wasn’t seeking purpose or meaning in my life.

I’d been writing about it for years. Right?

We spend a lot time trying to define the struggle. As if it’s non-obvious. It’s like painting a mountain next to the Himalayas to illustrate the concept of mountain climbing.

Open your eyes and see.

-Mystery Cookie

“We must not, in trying to think about how we can make a big difference, ignore the small daily differences we can make which, over time, add up to big differences that we often cannot foresee.” – Marian Wright Edelman

Despite the fact that I take issue with the government of China when it comes to the restrictions that are placed on Chinese citizens I separate that from the accomplishments of the Chinese people.

Their international success in business is undisputed. It’s amazing to consider that not that long ago very few of our products came from China.

The clothes I wear and many of the electronic gadgets I use every day bare the moniker, “Made in China.” The Chinese people and their ingenuity have put money in my pocket, because their products are high quality and cost less.

That’s good for everybody. And so we all benefit because of the industrious workers and entrepreneurs in China. And I thank them for that.

China is our friend. Not our enemy.

And so I consider what would help my friends in China who’ve devoted so much of their lives to creating products we all enjoy. I don’t speak the Chinese language so I can’t write them a song or a poem, but I can do one small thing.

I can join with them in the struggle to improve the quality of their life. They deserve to enjoy the same freedoms all of us enjoy. Not because we have a moral high ground, because we do not. But because it will make their lives better.

I want to hear their thoughts without any editing. If they hate me I want to know it. And if they love me I want to know that too. But I do not want any of them silenced for how they feel or what they believe – even if I disagree with it.

The world would be incomplete without China.

I’m glad that we’re finally able to have a dialogue with China because I’ve been looking forward to it for a long time. It’s like seeing someone across a river and waving at them for many years and then finally having a chance to hear their voice.

And a beautiful voice it is…

-Mystery Cookie

I was reading about statistics, which is probably a red flag all by itself. Anyway, they were discussing the mathematical probability of writing Shakespeare. After all, it’s just a collection of words.

The first few words are the easy part.

But as you finish writing a few sentences and work your way into a few paragraphs the odds that you’ll string together words in a fashion that would make Shakespeare jealous start to get pretty long. And by the time you finish the first page you have better odds of winning the lotto.

Which brings us to life.

Each day is like a word. And each week a sentence. Every month a paragraph. And the passing year a page. But the book of your life won’t be compared to Shakespeare or Hemingway.

Because your life is real.

And like a well written poem where every word is important, so too are the ways in which we choose to live each day. And just as a poem that wastes words quickly loses the attention of its reader so too does a life that wastes each day and quickly loses the attention of the person living it.

Until life itself becomes tedious and boring.

So why am I writing this? Well, because it’s the life we choose to live or choose to change that will effect how the story ends. Whether we live a predictable existence or a life that is worth remembering for an eternity.

And perhaps that is why there is some truth to the saying, “Live each day as if it were your last.”

-Mystery Cookie

“The revolution made you free, the document stated that purpose. but if the Constitution, and Legal Codes did not exist, you could not be charged “in violation of the Declaration of Independence” - Finn MacCumhail

The proclamation set us free. The tyrants disagreed and we went to war.

The war was the result of the proclamation that all men are born free. And that liberty (freedom) is an inalienable right. Liberty is binding upon all men not because a group of politicians made it so, since laws can be easily rewritten or abolished, but because God gave to all these non-transferable rights.

But tyrants don’t give up so easily. Liberty starts as a thought and ferments into written words and often ends in a war to make it physical fact.

This was a revolutionary idea because up to that point Britain was Imperialistic. And the founding fathers stood up and said, “Yes you claim that this land is yours and that we’re you’re subjects, but we claim a higher authority. An authority that rises above kings and queens.”

God himself!

Essentially they were stating that men cannot legislate on these issues. By deferring to a Creator our founding fathers were saying that these areas are off limits and the moment any government tries to limit these rights then after all peaceful means have been exhausted you have the right to abolish the government and start over.

That was a new way of thinking. The government is limited?

The redeeming issue of the Civil War was the right of slaves to live free. Unfortunately, the South picked a very bad issue to determine states rights. Because a state simply doesn’t have the authority to enslave others - despite laws in the South that made slavery “legally binding”.

If you read the Lincoln Douglass debates they discuss the very issue we’re confronting with abortion. And the criticism of the Declaration of Independence is hardly a new one.

“This declared indifference, but, as I must think, covert real zeal for the spread of slavery, I cannot but hate. I hate it because of the monstrous injustice of slavery itself. I hate it because it deprives our republican example of its just influence in the world and enables the enemies of free institutions, with plausibility, to taunt us as hypocrites-causes the real friends of freedom to doubt our sincerity, and especially because it forces so many really good men amongst ourselves into an open war with the very fundamental principles of civil liberty-criticizing the Declaration of Independence, and insisting that there is no right principle of action but self-interest.” Abraham Lincoln, transcript of Lincoln Douglass debates, Aug. 21st 1858.

Self interest? Moral relativism? It’s the same devil in a new dress.

The founding fathers realized that government would want to regulate beyond their original intent, including the very rights they would take up arms to defend. And the only way to prevent that would be to assign it to a power above them.

Those fundamental rights were not mere suggestions.

As Abraham Lincoln points out, the fundamental principles of our civil liberties spring from the Declaration of Independence. And therefore, the United States government simply doesn’t have jurisdiction when it comes to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It didn’t in 1858 when Abraham Lincoln challenged the establishment and called slavery a monstrous injustice, and it doesn’t today as we collectively stand up and proclaim that the murder of our children is equally monstrous and beyond the scope of the government’s powers.

And conscience demands that we follow that proclamation with the courage and bravery required to defend the lives of our children. Peacefully if at all possible, but with the blood of patriots if necessary.

And yes, the defense of life and liberty is not limited to our children. The U.S. federal and state government(s) abridge fundamental rights in many other areas, but if we’re to prioritize where to challenge the tyranny of unjust laws and evil men it must start with the defense of our children.

For if we’re unwilling to defend the lives of our children then perhaps we don’t deserve the fruits of liberty.

-Mystery Cookie

“The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.” - Thomas Jefferson

The Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4th 1776. This document was a proclamation on behalf of the 13 United States of America announcing, legally, their separation from Britain.

It was written in a common law format because it was a legal document. The very first legal document of the newly formed nation. In fact, this document would set the stage for the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution to follow.

The Declaration of Independence lays out the legal basis for our independence. More importantly, it discusses the natural laws which apply to all men regardless of their station in life. And that is why this document remains applicable to all United States citizens to this day.

Many believe these principles are truthful regardless of national origin.

The Declaration of Independence formally (not informally) separated us from Britain. And the founding fathers, who would later pen other legal documents such as the Constitution, provided us with a roadmap for basic human rights. The same human rights that exist today.

Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Unfortunately, it didn’t end with the American Revolution. Today we see face pundits attacking the Declaration of Independence because it doesn’t fit into their view of the world. They argue against the concept of self evident truths, preferring instead a moral system that has no center. In their world view, everyone makes up their own rules and anything is permissible.

That is not the view of the founding fathers.

And it’s certainly not the cornerstone upon which this great country was built, the solid bedrock of unalienable rights. The founding fathers were careful to protect American citizens against future tyrants that would seek to violate these rights. The same rights that are being attacked today.

Among them the fundamental right to life.

As a nation we’ve failed in our duty to invoke these self evident truths and fundamental rights to protect our children. These natural rights have always taken precedence over any legislation or tribunal that would seek to curtail them.

It’s the reason we fought a Revolution in 1776.

In abrogation of these rights our children are being murdered by the millions each year as a result of corrupt laws and men. The decisions of these profligate tribunals are wholly inapplicable and unjust. Because our government has become destructive of these natural rights we must consider whether it is time to revolt and abolish it.

In the words of the founding fathers, “That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”- Declaration of Independence, July 4th, 1776.

It took incredible courage to fight a war for independence and it will take an equal amount of valor to fight a war for the lives of our unborn children. But I can imagine no nobler cause than defending our future.

For without our children there is no future.

-Mystery Cookie

Have you ever wondered why the movement is called right to life? It could have been called a lot of things, but why RIGHT TO LIFE?

Well, because that’s the right that all of us enjoy by virtue of the Declaration of Independence. And the founding fathers didn’t mince words, they were clear and precise.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Declaration of Independence, July 4th, 1776.

So this nation was founded upon the very principle that we’re all given a right from God to live. It’s not a right that comes from a federal court or local tribunal - it comes from the Creator.

Why did the founding fathers decide to implicate God in these rights? Because they knew if it was a man made right it could be taken away. A right that you’re created with can never be taken away.

Since then millions have died on battlefields to protect these unalienable rights. Our unalienable right to liberty (freedom) was defended on those battlefields.

An “unalienable right” means a right that cannot be taken away.

So the debate about abortion should start and end here. Ending abortion is simply upholding the unalienable right bestowed upon us by the Creator as outlined in the founding document of this nation. This isn’t scripture - it’s the Declaration of Independence from which all other documents flow, including the Constitution.

And that’s why we must defend unborn children’s right to life and save the next billion babies from being murdered.

-Mystery Cookie

“Moral cowardice that keeps us from speaking our minds is as dangerous to this country as irresponsible talk. The right way is not always the popular and easy way. Standing for right when it is unpopular is a true test of moral character.” – Margaret Chase Smith

The fight for life starts with reaching out to women considering abortion.

In order to reach them we’re inviting others to setup Facebook accounts and use their “create an ad” feature to reach out to pregnant women. The first step is to find a catchy picture which you’ll need to download prior to setting up the ad. We went to www.flickr.com and typed in the word “baby” and on the 2nd page of pictures we found a really good one called “Baby Zane 3″. You’ll need to download the picture that appears on the list that is in .jpg format, since the .gif version doesn’t download properly.

There are lots of other good baby pics out there.

Here are the steps.

1. Go to www.facebook.com and setup an account.

2. On the left hand side of the screen you’ll see “Ads and Pages” right beneath the Applications prompt. Click on “Ads and Pages”.

3. In the upper right hand corner you’ll see a “Create an Ad” button. Click it.

4. It will ask for a website you want to advertise. Here you will input www.courageouschoice.com which is an adoption agency. If you prefer to refer mothers to a different adoption agency that is your prerogative, but make sure they have a toll free number to call for help with unplanned pregnancies. When finished typing in the web address click “Continue” at the bottom.

5. The next page asks you to select an audience. Since the audience is female you’ll click “Female”. The system defaults to the United States and a nationwide geographic region. If you wish to target a specific area you can limit it to certain states, but for our purposes we recommend leaving it defaulted to “Everywhere”. You can also target other countries if you wish. You should not click anything else since it will reduce the number of women who see the ad (as evidenced by the counter in the upper right hand corner). Click continue.

6. The next page asks you to create an ad. The first question asks for a title. We’re using the title “Considering abortion?” which has been very successful. If you have a better title feel free to be creative. The next question is the body of the ad, which is the text that will appear beneath the picture. We have used the following text, “Call us instead! 1.877.480.8255″ That has been very successful. Beneath that is an option to upload a picture, this is a critical step. Click on the tab beside the photo icon and select UPLOAD PHOTO.

Note: the toll free number is the number provided by courageous choice and offers free adoption counseling.

7. Highlight the photo you selected earlier and upload it. Then click continue.

8. The next page asks how much you’re willing to pay per click, Double check and make sure “Pay per clicks” is highlighted since you don’t want to waste money paying per views. Facebook will default to a per click amount higher than what you’ll generally want to pay. We’ve been paying between .20 - .40 cents per click with a high rate of success, you can go back and raise the amount later if you’re not getting enough impressions. Impressions is the number of times someone sees the ad. You can also limit the amount spent per day — your personal budget will dictate the daily limit. We’re spending $10 per day.

Note: Don’t forget to include a “.” before the number, since 2 is two dollars and .20 is twenty cents.

9. The final step is to review the ad. You should click on the ad that appears on the right hand side of the screen to make sure its actually going to the correct website and double check that the phone number is correct (877.480.8255). When you’re happy with it click “Place Order”.

You can check on the status of your ads every day by clicking on “ads and pages” and then clicking on “Ad Campaigns”. You can also pause or delete the ad at any time by clicking on the ad name that is listed on the Ad Campaigns page and then you’ll see an option that reads “Ad running” and if you click on it there are two other options: pause, delete.

Send this message to others who want to help save the lives of unborn children.

-Mystery Cookie