Santa Clara Kidnapping

The recent kidnapping of a young girl in Santa Clara has people talking.  Kids are talking at the schools.   People are talking in the Vent. Even The Spectrum & Daily News editorial board had their say on the topic. 

I’ve made a few observations of my own. First let me say to the victim, you are a very strong young woman.  You fought back and got yourself to safety.  That took a lot of guts. You chose not to be a victim. You go, girl! By taking charge of your situation and taking the opportunity to escape, you very well may have prevented these perpetrators from doing something else stupid.

Some have referred to this stunt as a prank, performed by otherwise innocent boys who don’t get into trouble.  Well, good boys don’t just randomly kidnap people. Even the victim’s father, under pressure from others I’m sure, referred to them as “good kids who made a huge mistake.” Seriously? It’s okay to be angry about this and to expect these “good kids” be held accountable to the extent of the law.

The victim has gone from enjoying a jog in her neighborhood to sleeping in her parents’ bedroom, and has not returned to school. It’s not just the trauma of the initial crime that she is dealing with. There are lasting ramifications.

Had that been my daughter, I would not be going from “furious” on the night of the incident to “I hope they realize their mistake someday” in a week’s time. There can be room for forgiveness and expectation for strong punishment to coexist.

 And why were they not held by authorities that night? If I received a call saying that my son was picked for locking a girl in the back of his truck and driving her around my first response would be keep him overnight and call me in the morning.  A night in detention would allow him to realize what a stupid thing he did, and allow me to cool down long enough to come up with a proper punishment. 

It would start with the relinquishment of his keys and the selling of his truck. Then it would move to a face-to-face apology to the victim and her family.  I would not consider asking them not to press charges.

I don’t care if these boys are the sons of the mayor, police chief, bishop, or judge. What they did was wrong. It wasn’t a prank, it was a crime.

Within a day or so a rape occurred on one of the walking trails nearby, and the perpetrator is still at large. People don’t just wake up one day and decide to be a rapist.  It starts out with behavior that is less aggressive.  Like, kidnapping, perhaps, that goes uncorrected. They get away with lesser crimes, either by having charges dropped or by not getting caught. Letting these boys off easy is not helping them.

 If you do the big-boy crime, you should do the big-boy time.

Rhonda Tommer is a resident of St. George and a member of the Spectrum and Daily News Writers Group.

Santa Clara Kidnapping

The recent kidnapping of a young girl in Santa Clara has people talking.  Kids are talking at the schools.   People are talking in the Vent. Even The Spectrum & Daily News editorial board had their say on the topic. 

I’ve made a few observations of my own. First let me say to the victim, you are a very strong young woman.  You fought back and got yourself to safety.  That took a lot of guts. You chose not to be a victim. You go, girl! By taking charge of your situation and taking the opportunity to escape, you very well may have prevented these perpetrators from doing something else stupid.

Some have referred to this stunt as a prank, performed by otherwise innocent boys who don’t get into trouble.  Well, good boys don’t just randomly kidnap people. Even the victim’s father, under pressure from others I’m sure, referred to them as “good kids who made a huge mistake.” Seriously? It’s okay to be angry about this and to expect these “good kids” be held accountable to the extent of the law.

The victim has gone from enjoying a jog in her neighborhood to sleeping in her parents’ bedroom, and has not returned to school. It’s not just the trauma of the initial crime that she is dealing with. There are lasting ramifications.

Had that been my daughter, I would not be going from “furious” on the night of the incident to “I hope they realize their mistake someday” in a week’s time. There can be room for forgiveness and expectation for strong punishment to coexist.

 And why were they not held by authorities that night? If I received a call saying that my son was picked for locking a girl in the back of his truck and driving her around my first response would be keep him overnight and call me in the morning.  A night in detention would allow him to realize what a stupid thing he did, and allow me to cool down long enough to come up with a proper punishment. 

It would start with the relinquishment of his keys and the selling of his truck. Then it would move to a face-to-face apology to the victim and her family.  I would not consider asking them not to press charges.

I don’t care if these boys are the sons of the mayor, police chief, bishop, or judge. What they did was wrong. It wasn’t a prank, it was a crime.

Within a day or so a rape occurred on one of the walking trails nearby, and the perpetrator is still at large. People don’t just wake up one day and decide to be a rapist.  It starts out with behavior that is less aggressive.  Like, kidnapping, perhaps, that goes uncorrected. They get away with lesser crimes, either by having charges dropped or by not getting caught. Letting these boys off easy is not helping them.

 If you do the big-boy crime, you should do the big-boy time.

Rhonda Tommer is a resident of St. George and a member of the Spectrum and Daily News Writers Group.

Keep the Scriptures in proper context

At a recent prayer breakfast President Obama gave a speech on the need to help those who are less fortunate.  In the context of helping others he stated, “But for me as a Christian, it also coincides with Jesus’ teaching that ‘for unto whom much is given, much shall be required.’ It mirrors the Islamic belief that those who’ve been blessed have an obligation to use those blessings to help others, or the Jewish doctrine of moderation and consideration for others.”

The scripture he quoted can be found in Luke 12, verse 48.  Jesus is talking to his disciples about being watchful. He was paralleling his return with a parable about a servant who is given authority over his master’s dominion.  The King James Bible quotes this part of the verse as thus, “…for unto whom much is given, of him much shall be required: and to whom men have committed much of him they will ask the more.”

The New King James Version puts it like this, “for everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.” Looking at the verse Mr. Obama quoted we must ask ourselves, “much what?”  Mr. Obama used this verse to say that if you are given much prosperity then it should be shared with others. This was the main theme of his speech.  But upon further observation we see that what Jesus was talking about here was not things, money or possessions.  It was authority.  If your boss gives you authority over his business in his absence he expects you to do a good job. The context of this verse has nothing to do with the theme of Obama’s speech.

The high school and college kids I teach call me the “Queen of Context” because they know if they quote a verse, they better be able to give the context surrounding that verse.

We can all agree that it’s important to help our neighbors in need.  When we do that out of love for our neighbors, it’s a very good thing. I have not found anything in Scripture that says the government should be the middleman in that relationship. 

What is equally important is to know when someone is taking Scripture and twisting it out of context to make it say something it doesn’t.

On March 2 and 3 Precepts Upon Precepts training workshops will be held at St. George Community Church for those who are interested in studying the Bible for themselves. Learning to observe, interpret and apply what is learned helps us to instinctively know when Scripture is being misused. All are welcome to attend these workshops. Pre-registration is required. 

Mr. Obama stated in his speech that he wakes up each morning and “say(s) a brief prayer and spends a little time in Scripture.” I applaud his efforts. But if he’s going to quote Scripture, I suggest he watch his context.  

Rhonda Tommer is a member of The Spectrum and Daily News writers group and a resident of Santa Clara. She can be reached at r.tommer.writersgroup@gmail.com.

Abortion comes down to decisions

Sanctity of Life.  Do those words strike a nerve?  On January 22, as a nation, we acknowledged the 29^th year of celebrating the Sanctity of Human Life.   In 1983 former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop asked President Ronald Reagan to create a special day to focus on the intrinsic value of human life. That same year, President Reagan issued a proclamation establishing a National Sanctity of Human Life Sunday.

The idea came out of an organization, now known as Care Net, which is an international organization that provides support to the nation’s ever-growing number of life-affirming crisis pregnancy care centers.  Hope Pregnancy Care Center of St. George is a member of Care Net.

In President Reagan’s speech addressing SOHLS he acknowledged that more than 15 million unborn babies have died due to legalized abortion. In the year 2007, the last reporting year available, Centers for Disease Control reported that 827,609 legal abortions were performed (cdc.gov).

SOHLS has a special meaning to me because my son, Ryan, was born at 1:47 a.m. on Sanctity of Human Life Sunday in 1990, weighing only 1090 grams (two pounds, six ounces).  He fought for his life, with help from a plethora of doctors, nurses and specialists. 

Ryan came home from the hospital 80 days later, just a week before his original due date, weighing only four-and-a-half pounds.  Over 80 thousand babies were aborted during the time that Ryan was in the hospital.

To date there have been more than 50 million legal abortions performed since the passing of Roe V. Wade. Some would say we don’t need 50 million more people in this country anyway.  But my point is, if those babies were unplanned to begin with, they should not have been conceived. There is no reason, with today’s methods of pregnancy prevention, that even one baby should be lost to abortion.  I support abstinence outside of marriage.  But those who don’t live by this moral conduct can go to any local store and find a myriad of contraceptives available.  Though not one is one-hundred-percent effective, a combination of more than one method can prevent pregnancy.

Abortion is not just a moral issue. It’s a question of good discernment.  We take precautions everyday in life to avoid negative consequences. If we don’t want a speeding ticket we don’t speed.  If we don’t want to get lung cancer we don’t smoke.  If we don’t want to fly through a windshield in an accident, we were a seatbelt. 

Why should unplanned pregnancy be any different?  Again, I am one-hundred percent in favor of abstinence outside of marriage.  You might not be. And that’s okay.  But can you agree with me that abortion would be totally unnecessary if precautions were taken?

I’m not addressing the moral issue of sex outside of marriage. I can’t do that in 500 words.  I’m simply stating that with today’s technology there is no reason for almost a million babies to be aborted every year. Abortion always leaves one dead and at least another one wounded.

Rhonda Tommer is a resident of Santa Clara and a member of The Spectrum and Daily News Writers Group.  She can be reached at r.tommer.writersgroup@gmail.com.

Hostility can drag down your health

One of the most amusing things I do in a given week is to read The Vent in this newspaper.  If you want a feel for how your neighbors are feeling on a given subject, spend a few minutes in this most informative section of the paper.

According to contributors of the vent the city’s purchase of a merry-go-round was a waste of city money and was good for the city to invest in.  Bicyclists are lawbreakers and motorists don’t give bicyclists a break.  The speed limits of some roads are too low, and yet on those same roads they should be lower. 

There are too many motorists who run red lights, don’t use their turn signals and talk too much on the phone while driving.  Police are pulling over law abiding motorists when they should be out catching criminals.

The powers that be need to fix the roads, yet there are too many roads under construction.  We need slow down the growth Washington County and we need to improve the infrastructure so the community can grow. 

Yep, if you want to put your finger on the pulse of what’s important in Washington County just read The Vent. I particularly like the comments that start out with, “To the guy who…” or “to the driver of the…” I presume that if we were required to put our names on our comments there would be fewer people ranting about what displeases them the most.

The Vent gives a good sampling of some of the negative emotions that run deep in our community.  For every page of complaints we will find two or three “Kind Thoughts.” 

I recently finished reading my new favorite book, Deadly Emotions by Don Colbert, M.D.  By using his own patients as examples, Dr. Colbert makes a good argument for the need to “understand the mind-body-spirit connection that can heal or destroy” us, as his subtitle suggests.

He makes a good case for how anger and hostility can be closely related to hypertension and coronary artery disease; resentment and bitterness can bring about autoimmune disorders, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus and multiple sclerosis; or how anxiety can produce panic attacks and heart palpitations. Repressed anger could cause migraines, TMJ, Fibromyalgia and other chronic pain.

As I and others in a book discussion group dissected this book it became very obvious that negative emotions could prove to be at the very least physically debilitating.

Anonymously writing to the paper when we get bent out of shape could mean that there’s an anger issue that needs to be addressed.

Prolonged stress and the inability to relax is another topic addressed by Dr. Colbert. As a society we need to learn to relax.

I will continue to be amused by The Vent each week. But I would enjoy seeing a whole page of “Kind Thoughts” and fewer negative comments.

Now, to the guys riding their bikes on Red Hills Parkway: There’s no bike lane during construction.  Are you trying to get yourselves run over?

Rhonda Tommer is a member of The Spectrum and Daily News writers group and a resident of Santa Clara.  She can be reached at r.tommer.writersgroup@gmail.com

Sharing the burden of today’s financial worries

“Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through and steal; for where your treasure is there will your heart be also.”

These are the words of a very wise man spoken thousands of years ago.  I wonder if he knew then that in this century the world would be facing the massive financial crisis that we find ourselves in.  At the time of this writing Dow Jones ratings look like readings of the Richter scale after a California earthquake.  We don’t know from one minute to the next where the Dow will end up.

And it’s not just Americans who are shaking in their boots as they watch their investments tank.  This is a worldwide financial crisis.  America’s bond rating went from perfect to AA+.  What does that mean, exactly?

According to investorwords.com a bond rating is: “A measure of the quality and safety of a bond, based on the issuer's financial condition. More specifically, an evaluation from a rating service indicating the likelihood that a debt issuer will be able to meet scheduled interest and principal repayments. Typically, AAA is highest, and D is lowest.” It’s kind of like our personal credit score but deals with trillions of more dollars. 

My father-in-law, who would be 111 this month if he were still with us, lost $3,000 in the stock market crash of 1929.  Three thousand dollars! That’s not much by today’s standards.  But in 1929 that could equal the amount of a life’s savings. He never trusted banking institutions again.  He created his own system.  He kept his money in an envelope in the Yellow Pages under “M” for money. He didn’t earn any interest with that system, but he was sure to retain his original investment.

The guy who told his followers not to store up treasures on earth also had other important instructions for them. “Take therefore no thought for the morrow; for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” If he were talking directly to us today in the language of today he might put it this way, “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

He also said, “Come to me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”  Sometimes our financial worries are the heaviest burdens that we labor over.  He also said, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls.”

When a yoke is put upon two oxen they are sharing the burden of the load they carry. A more experienced ox will lead and train a younger one as they share the burden. Jesus is telling his disciples to allow him to teach them his ways. Here he is asking his followers to allow him to teach them how to handle the worries of the day. When we allow Jesus to shoulder our worries, financial or otherwise, somehow our burdens became lighter.

Rhonda Tommer is a resident of Santa Clara and a member of The Spectrum and Daily News Writers Group.  She can be reached at r.tommer.writersgroup@gmail.com

A tale of two teams and the lessons we can learn

A tale of two teams and the lessons we can learn

I am here to tell you the economy is alive and well…at least in Southern California.  My family and I trekked to the area for a family wedding.  It was one of the most beautiful weddings I’ve ever attended.  While visiting, we planned ahead to take in an Angel’s baseball game.  Since the game was sold out at the stadium we decided to order tickets from a ticket exchange company to ensure that we would be able to get a seat.  We paid double for the “cheap seats” through the exchange.  So we got $12 seats, which used to be $5 back in the day, for $24. It was our first Angels game in seven years, and we were thrilled to be part of the environment that makes up “America’s greatest pastime” with 44,000 plus attendees.

The thing I noticed most is how much money passed hands from patrons to vendors, and it occurred to me that there is no pending economic decline.  Life is good in the ol’ U.S. of A.  We’ve got nothing to worry about.

When one can go to a baseball game and pay at the very least $12 for a seat, $10 to park the car, $9.75 for a hotdog, $4 for a soda and God knows how much for beer, while sitting around watching 18 guys whose salary is in the multiple millions of dollars there must not be anything wrong with the economy. 

Not in the mood for a hotdog?  How about a personal-sized pizza for around $10?  Or maybe an ice cream bar for $7.50? frozen lemonade?  $5.50.  These items were selling like hotcakes on a Saturday morning.

There was a line to get into the team store.  Once inside I felt like I was in a mosh pit (you can ask your teenager what that is, if you don’t know).  I could not find a T-shirt for under $20, not that I was actually going to buy one.  Cashiers were crazy busy. Discover and AmEx were ever present. The plastic was flying.

Another So Cal baseball team, the Dodgers, may represent more of what America looks like.  Three days before payday, Dodger owner Frank McCourt led the charge for the Dodgers to file for bankruptcy. 

Were their hotdogs, beer, or peanuts any cheaper?  Were they not raking in the dough on concessions over there at the former Chavez Ravine?  I’m sure that’s not the case. There was a major mismanagement of funds and poor overall management by McCourt.

How does this affect the players?  The Angels are one game back from the lead. The Dodgers are 11 games back in their division.  The Angels play to sell-out crowds almost every weekend. According to Baseball-reference.com, fan attendance is down almost 8,500 people per game at Dodger Stadium. When attendance is down, so goes vendor sells.  Maybe we can relate better to this team.

The bottom line is this: we are personally responsible for our financial well being.  The government is not going to fix anything for us.  How we manage our personal finances will determine if we are playing to a sellout crowd or striking out. My hope is that we each hit a homerun in managing our personal finances. We can be the homerun hitters while our government sits on the bench clueless.

Rhonda Tommer is a resident of Santa Clara and a member of The Spectrum and Daily News Writers Group.  She can be reached at r.tommer.writersgroup@gmail.com