Slavery and Abortion: Moral Relatives

No, I’m not talking about moral RELATIVISM, but the relationship that those of us who believe in absolutes of right and wrong see between slavery and abortion.

I’ve been thinking a lot about this because I’m editing a book written by a man who is a descendant of a slave and a slave owner. He is writing the book as fiction because, of course, he doesn’t know the details of what transpired several generations ago. In his research, he determined who his ancestors were and some things about them, but he can only imagine emotions and thoughts.

His writing is powerful, and I identify strongly with his great-grandmother, the slave. I cry with the mother and daughter when the young girl is torn apart from her mother and sent to another plantation far away. I feel with her when her master shows up at her door.

Slavery is abhorrent in many ways; one human being “owning” another is incomprehensible to me. But of all the evils of slavery, what I find the most difficult to understand is slave owners fathering children that they then considered less than human. The children were slaves - forced to work in the fields or the house, subject to being sold on the whim of the master, and in some cases physically abused, even killed.

How can one human being do that to another? How can one human being do that to his own child - flesh of his flesh, blood of his blood?

Then I realized that thousands of mothers are killing their babies every day. Nearly 49 million abortions have occurred in the US since 1973.

Thanks be to God that the number of abortions is decreasing, and the Supreme Court has upheld the partial birth abortion ban, but millions of babies are still dying around the world.

Abortion is justified by saying the aborted fetus is not a human being, just a blob of tissue. Slavery was justified was saying that the slave was not a human being, but something less than human.

We all recognize that the people who were enslaved in the United States and Europe a couple of hundred years ago were human beings. We recognize that the people in modern day slavery, especially sex slavery, are human beings.

Why do so many women not recognize that the life conceived and trusted to their body for nurturing until birth is a human being?

The National Right to Life Committee says:

Abortion ends a pregnancy by destroying and removing the developing child. That baby’s heart has already begun to beat by the time the mother misses her period and begins to wonder if she might be pregnant …

The Bible says:

For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be. (Psalm 139:13-16, NIV Version)

and:

This is what the LORD says—he who made you, who formed you in the womb, and who will help you. (Isaiah 44:2, NIV)

Other Scriptures about the sanctity of human life can be found at the Life Issues Institute.

May the Lord bless and keep each and every one of His people — born and unborn, healthy and sick, rich and poor, free and slave. And may we pray and work for the day when all slaves are free and all babies are allowed to be born.

[tags]slavery, abortion, morality, right to life[/tags]

A Writer’s Words, an Editor’s Eye Receives the Thinking Blogger Award!

Laura Spencer at Writing Thoughts has awarded the Thinking Blogger award to this blog.

Iker Yoldas at The Thinking Blog created the award and describes the award and the rules in Thinking Blogger Awards. The award recognizes blogs that make people think, and those who receive the award then pass the award on to five blogs that make them think.

Laura said:

Lillie’s posts are thorough and comprehensive. When Lillie writes about something, you can be sure that she has studied it thoroughly.

I’m honored to receive the award and appreciate Laura’s words.

One of the reasons I love blogging so much is the opportunity to learn. When I took the Now Discover Your Strengths assessment, I ranked very high as a “learner.” I enjoy learning from other bloggers and appreciate blogs that make me think.

I had to really think about who to select, as I read a number of blogs that stimulate my thoughts. Here are the five I selected:

• Helen Ginger at Straight from Hel. Although Helen’s blog is fairly new, she has been making me think about writing for years through her newsletter. I’m glad she’s joined the blogosphere so I don’t have to wait for her newsletter to benefit from her excellent writing advice.
• Hummie at Hummie’s World. Even though I’m not a scrapbooker, her blog makes me think about and appreciate my blessings. She introduced me to faithbooking, a concept new to me.
• Lisa Vella at Getting It Write for You. Her posts are encouraging, inspiring, and thought-provoking - about writing and about life.
• Manchild at When Least Expected: Inspiration To Brighten Dark Days And Lonely Nights When All Seems Lost. Manchild’s posts make me both think and feel.
• Yuwanda Black at Creative and Editorial Freelancing. When I read the specific tips and bulleted lists of advice for freelancers, I always think about how I can apply these tips to my business.

Thanks again to Laura for recognizing me, and thanks to all the bloggers who make me think.

Updated 6/1/07: Mig at eWritings tagged me with the Thinking Blogger Award. In my new post, I have named five more blogs that make me think.

[tags]Thinking Blogger Awards[/tags]

Spring House is a Finalist in the Indie Book Awards!

My client, David Bowles, is one happy author right now. And I’m just as thrilled as he is!

David’s book, Spring House: Book 1 in the Westward Sagas, is a finalist in the National Indie Excellence 2007 Book Awards in the Historical Fiction category. The winners and finalists have just been announced by PubInsider.com, publishing industry news source and sponsor of the contest.

I’m proud of David and his book, and I’m excited that the last three books I’ve edited for small press authors have finaled or won major contests. These books are as much my babies as they are my clients’!

Related posts:
The New Day Dawns is a contest finalist
The Last Boat Out is an EPPIE winner

[tags]Spring House, Indie Excellence Awards, book awards, David Bowles[/tags]

Hebrews Bible Study

I’ve signed up for another study in the JesusWalk Bible Study Series. This study, a 13-week online study of the Letter to the Hebrews titled Disciple Lessons from Hebrews begins April 27, 2007, so if you’re interested, now is the time to sign up.

As of today, more than 1200 people from more than 75 countries are enrolled in the course. Studying God’s Word with so many believers scattered so widely is awe-inspiring.

I’ve taken several Bible studies with Pastor Ralph Wilson and always find them inspiring and thought-provoking.

[tags]Bible study, Jesus Walk, Hebrews[/tags]

Christian Carnival

The Christian Carnival is back after a short absence. Read some great posts at Random Acts of Verbiage.

[tags]Christian Carnival[/tags]

Tragedy

The horror of what happened at Virginia Tech - the worst mass murder in modern US history - is almost incomprehensible. My heart and prayers go out to the families, friends, and loved ones of the victims and to the entire community.

I wasn’t surprised to hear news commentators say that students were eager to talk to them. Several years ago, a former employee who had been fired walked into a business owned by a friend of mine heavily armed. He shot and killed his girlfriend and a coworker, and he shot my friend in the face. She was rescued after he killed himself, but she required a number of surgeries and a long recovery.

My friend didn’t have insurance, and her friends wanted to help raise money for her medical expenses. We considered a number of different options, but the idea of my writing a book kept coming up and circumstances came together to make the idea feasible. Though I had many doubts and concerns about the project, I became convinced that God was leading me to write the book. I describe more about that experience in my post Writing about Tragedy.

One major concern I had was that the other people involved wouldn’t want to talk to me. The company was small and the employees were very close. Several had managed to escape the shooting but saw their coworkers gunned down. They were friends and relatives of both the killer and the victims. I didn’t want to exploit them or invade their privacy, so I trod lightly.

However, my worries were groundless. When I interviewed them, they started talking as soon as I turned on the tape recorder and only stopped when I asked them to give me a minute to change the tape. The talking served as a catharsis for them, and they appreciated the opportunity to share.

And their love, hope, faith, and courage inspired everyone who reads the book Look Beyond Tomorrow. I’m already hearing about remarkable heroism shown by many of the victims and other students and professors at Virginia Tech. I’m sure as more of the story comes out, we will be inspired by the courage and selflessness of many of the people involved.

We can - and will - ask how and why such horrific events can happen. But we should never lose sight of the incredible acts of bravery, nobility and self-sacrifice that at first sight are obscured by the shocking horror.

At times like this we feel so helpless. We want to ease the pain, but no one can take away the sorrow, shock, fear - the profound agony - that so many feel today and will feel for many tomorrows.

We can pray for their comfort and healing. We can listen to their stories and give them the catharsis that comes with sharing. And we can show our respect and empathy by participating in the One Day Blog Silence on April 30th.

[tags]Virginia Tech, One Day Blog Silence[/tags]

No More No Follow

I didn’t know until I read on Writing Thoughts that most blog platforms have a built-in “no follow” code for comments. That means that if you make a comment, the search engines don’t follow that link and give you credit for an incoming link. This was designed to prevent links in spam comments being followed by the search engines, but it keeps legitimate links from being followed as well. Spam comments can be controlled through various plugins (I use Akismet) so the no follow code isn’t necessary.

You can download the Dofollow plugin for WordPress to remove the no follow attribute in the code. It’s quick and easy to do.

Why should no follow be eliminated? Because if you make the effort to add to the conversation by commenting on a blog, you should benefit from an incoming link to your own site. So there’s a No More No Follow movement among bloggers to get rid of no follow.

Several bloggers have posted about this, and some are compiling lists of sites of blogs who have removed no follow. You can find a list at Essential Keystrokes and if anyone else has a list, please let us know in a comment. I remember reading a list in the last day or two at another favorite blog … but at the moment, my mind is blank! I’d appreciate a nudge to my memory.

You can get a nifty little logo to show you’re part of movement from Randa Clay Designs. I added the logo to my sidebar a few days ago. Thanks, Randa.

So where do you stand on No Follow?

UPDATE ON APRIL 18, 2007: I have added the Do Follow Blogroll created by Tricia at Tricia’s Musings. See who is using DoFollow … and consider adding your blog to the list!

[tags]No More No Follow, DoFollow[/tags]

Ghostwriting: Is it ethical?

Everybody knows that books supposedly authored by celebrities are most likely ghostwritten. Ghostwriters are paid to write books, articles, and other documents that will be published under someone else’s name.

You can do a search for “ghostwriter” and find more than a million results. Some of the results are for sites that define ghostwriting or are about a book, movie, or software program by that name. But that’s still a lot of writers offering their services as ghostwriters.

Yet, I’ve read several articles lately that raise serious ethical issues about ghostwriting, especially in several specific situations.

The Ethics of Freelance Writing: What is Wrong with This Post? and The Ethics of Freelance Writing Part II at The Independent Journalist talk about a situation where a freelance writer is advertising for other freelancers to actually write the articles the freelancer has under contract. The author, KerriFivecoatCampbell, pointed out several serious issues with this scenario: the writer who is taking credit for the work is probably violating his contract that requires the article to be his original work; the ghostwriter is being paid far below the rate he would receive directly from the end client; and this could cause repercussions within the industry and cause editors to make contract terms tougher for freelancers.

I have rarely subcontracted part of a project to another writer when I was in a time crunch, but I agree that a writer should never have someone else ghostwrite an article or other project and claim credit for the work.

In Should corporate blogs use ghostwriters? at Scout, Stephen Turcotte addresses the issue of companies hiring ghostwriters for corporate blogs. He advocates that businesses blog in a transparent way, though he says there may be situations where a ghostwriter might be justified if that’s the only way the company can publish a blog.

I certainly agree that a company should not use a ghostwriter for a blog and claim it’s written by the CEO or someone else in the company. While it may not be unethical to use a ghostwriter if no false claims are made, using an anonymous blogger - or as I saw recently a blog supposedly written by the Director of Marketing but with no name or other identifying information - reduces the credibility of the blog and the company. I like to know something about the blogger I’m reading and would be much less apt to continue to read a blog that didn’t identify the blogger. But that would be preferable to claiming that the CEO was blogging when the CEO has no idea of what’s in the blog.

Devon Ellington generated quite a few comments from her Weekend Discussion: Why I Don’t Ghostwrite at Deborah Ng’s Freelance Writing Jobs. One of her main points is that celebrities who claim credit for ghostwritten books make writing a book look so easy that it decreases the value for all authors.

I know I don’t pay attention to what celebrities say about writing their books, because for me they taking credit for something they didn’t do. But as several commenters mentioned, the standard is different for material such as Web content. The writer is compensated for writing and receives no recognition for her work. However, the material is usually not attributed to someone else, so it’s not the same thing as writing a book that carries someone else’s name as the author.

However, someone who is a ghostwriter, Anne Weyman at The Golden Pencil, responded with a post of her own defending ghostwriting - Is Ghostwriting Legit? She points out that she is providing a service for people with great ideas but without writing skills.

Two blog pots, Ghostbusting on Angie Hunt’s A Life in Pages and Truth versus ghostwriting on Robin Lee Hatcher’s Write Thinking, specifically address ghostwriting in the Christian market. They, along with about 65 other Christian authors, recently sent a letter to Christian publishers stating their view that it is unethical and deceptive for Christian books to be ghostwritten. They make clear that they aren’t talking about collaboration between a writer and a celebrity (or anyone else) who doesn’t have writing skills, as long as both parties are given credit: By Celebrity as told to Writer, for example.

As these authors state, Christians should be held to a higher standard. I think it is especially egregious when fiction is ghostwritten because just about all the work is done by the ghostwriter, yet the public believes the “author” whose name is on the book wrote it. Nonfiction books may be substantially based on material provided by the “author.”

I have never described myself as a ghostwriter and don’t consider myself one. However, I often work with clients to produce a finished product - a newspaper column, a blog post, a letter - that is credited to the client, not to me. The difference is that I use the client’s ideas and information, I discuss the project with them in detail, and the client reads and approves it before it’s published to be sure it says what the CLIENT wants. And my clients acknowledge me as their editor; they don’t claim they wrote the piece without help.

Although I see the reasons for ghostwriting and know it is an accepted practice in publishing, I think it is something every writer has to consider carefully to ensure she doesn’t violate her own ethics.

Update: several blogs have picked up this topic and continued the conversation. Be sure to read the comments here and follow the links to other great posts on the subject. This has been an enlightening discussion.

[tags]ghostwriting, writing ethics[/tags]

He Is Risen! He Is Risen, Indeed! Alleluia!

The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. he is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.” (Matthew 28:5-7, NIV)

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