Ok, I know I'm an Oprah junkie. I promise I don't belong to any Oprah religion, there is no Oprah shrine in my home, I just connect with many of the causes she stands behind.
I was horrified as I watched a couple of recent episodes. The first focused on Elizabeth Smart and the story of her strength and how she has overcome unthinkable obstacles in her horrendous ordeal of being kidnapped from her SLC home, IN HER BED in the middle of the night. She was kept captive by 2 monsters for NINE MONTHS and repeatedly raped and molested. I felt so moved by the strength of her spirit, but i also felt my boiling blood coursing through my body, motivating me to want to DO SOMETHING to somehow...even amidst my feelings of helplessness...somehow make a difference to help STOP THIS ATROCITY happening to the children of our nation.
I was still emotionally charged as I watched (more like experienced) another episode on child predators. As Oprah shared EXPLICIT details on the evil actions of child predators, I was consumed with emotion. I wanted to scream STOP!! I DON'T WANT TO WATCH OR LISTEN TO THIS!! I WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO FORGET THIS IMAGE IN MY HEAD!! Just tell me how to make a difference and I'll go on my way. As I continued to watch, I began to understand the purpose for her candor. By the time I had heard an hour of gut-wrenching stories of vulgar exploits on innocent children, even INFANTS... I couldn't NOT get off my couch and run right to my computer to take a stand.
SO , the purpose of my post is to inform you of a bill in the senate that will help protect our children. It's a bi-partisan bill that will provide more funding for child predator task forces and law enforcement to investigate and apprehend child predators. It is scheduled to be up for the senate's vote at the end of September, so action needs to happen NOW. Please please please take the time to call, email, AND/or write your senator to STRONGLY URGE them to pass this bill.
It is senate bill 1738 - Protect our Children Act. You can either google it yourself, or read about it on oprah's website: http://www.oprah.com/article/oprahshow/20080911_tows_predators . On this site they have more information about the bill, as well as links to your local senators, and how to contact them by phone, email, or snail mail. Please, take the time to take a stand for something that is important to ALL OF US!! Spread the news, tell your friends and neighbors, there's NO REASON this bill shouldn't pass.
If you are interested in the Oprah episode that has me up in arms (it takes a force of nature to get me this upset), go to Oprah's website, and you can read about it.
5 love notes:
loving your activism! (and your adorable blog.)i just emailed dianne f. i tried barbara b. but her email page wouldn't work for me. go oprah! and child protection!!
Appalling, isn't it? Totally overwhelming, too! I missed the Elizabeth Smart episode, but read about it on Oprah's webpage. One thing I found interesting was Ed Smart's goal to teach parents and children the fine line between having respect for adults and saying no. That totally opened my eyes cause I think that's a very important issue these days for our kids, unfortunately. I'll be working on that for sure!
Wasn't that just an insane episode? It sure opened my eyes up to the crazy world we're raising our children in. I am so glad she did that episode!
Thanks for say'n hi on my blog. Jared and It was so exciting to find you guys and touch base. Your post about Oprah and child abuse/protection was so inspiring! Elizabeth Smart is a distant cousin of mine. My mom's maiden name is Smart. Her dad is like a 3rd cousin to my mom- so we were way involved in her whole story. I also watch the "to catch a predator" on TV and it is so awful to see what is going on. I go on the websites online and detect where all the predators live and what they look like in my neighborhood so I can be on gaurd. Thanks for taking a stand! You Rule.
Hugs,
Rachelle Crowder
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