I finally wrote this out for a family member to avoid hurt feelings and wasting her money since she loves to buy us things and can’t read our minds.
Kraft (includes Post and many other brands) – uses genetically modified ingredients last time Corinne checked and is a big contributor of “gay” causes like the 2006 Chicago Gay Games (and the macaroni and cheese tastes horrible!!)
Disney (including Baby Einstein) – twists classic storylines; makes “sexy” female main characters like Pocahontas; uses foreign sweatshops; and more as detailed in the Schweizers’ book “The Mouse Betrayed” (used products you didn’t pay for like a Pinocchio are generally okay)
American Baby magazine – content makes it a waste of paper
clothing that advertises brand names instead of being cute or pretty (example: saying “Baby Gap” on the front of the shirt instead of just on the tag)
conventionally grown apples – we buy organic applesauce and apples because the skin is so nutritious, and pesticides stick to the skin or go right through: same with pears and grapes
trick-or-treating – we want to celebrate Saints on the eve of All Saints Day, not glorify witches, demons, vampires, etc. & get a ton of junk food . . . Catherine likes pumpkins so we might decorate one and try to make a pumpkin pie, and pass out Catholic or healthy things to anybody who comes to the door that night (or just keep the porch light off if it’s too cold to keep opening the door!)
sugar – except when cooking for Luke, I substitute with stevia because it doesn’t hurt my teeth or mess with my blood sugar levels, and I minimize the sugar I feed to Catherine
hydrogenated oils – these are unhealthy so we use butter instead of margarine, and buy natural Smart Balance Omega-3 peanut butter for our celery
gluten – no, I haven’t been diagnosed as having an intolerance to gluten, but I do sometimes feel yucky and have diarrhea after consuming it so I avoid it because both David and I can’t afford to lose nutrients through diarrhea, and gluten is not a necessary food
soda/pop – only Luke drinks this and only occassionally; as long as you don’t give it to us or try to give any to Catherine, you’re OK putting some in the fridge for you when you need to
music with a defining beat – I can’t stand it but we love piano, a tiny bit of country, some ethnic music, classical, Gregorian (played most often upstairs), etc.
pacifiers – babies are so beautiful without them, they can interfere with breastfeeding by causing nipple confusion (and I wonder if I would always be able to tell when our babies are hungry if they were using pacifiers), and they can be hard to take away from the baby when the parents want to stop giving it to him – and fingers are better than plastic when Mama is not available!
vaccines – many of these are made from aborted babies. Most, if not all, have toxic ingredients such as mercury and fermaldehyde. Some do cause autism in some children and many other severe health problems in some children. Mass vaccinations can lead to mutated viruses that people are unable to fight. Our children will not be exposed to the germs at school except on Sundays, and our healthy diets will help their immune systems to be prepared for whatever trials God leads us through.
jeans – none of us wear jeans because they emphasize the shape of the buttocks and make an upside down V pointing to the private area instead of taking attention away from it like skirts, dresses and some baggy pants
shorts – none of us wear shorts so that we will have more protection against sunburn for our fair skins and because Marylike modesty entails covering the knees
tank tops – see shorts and substitute shoulders for knees
V-necks – these go too low to be modest on me but are OK on some women in terms of not going too far down to the chest when exposing skin
tv – we don’t have a hooked-up tv, we only have cable for the Internet connection, and we watch some movies on Luke’s computer – this lack of a tv gives us peace and quiet when we don’t want to play music and helps protect our innocence
cribs – we’ve done the research and decided to continue with our happy family bed
http://skindeep.ewg.org will tell you which ingredients in cosmetics should be avoided (we don’t use Johnson & Johnson because of this and stick with safer, organic and natural brands)
The majority of this list I understand completely and there are good justifications listed for the boycotted items.
The main item I don’t understand is “Music with a defining beat.”
The first thing I don’t get is:
What are some examples of music without a defining beat.
The second thing:
Whats wrong with it?
Interested in your response.
I think what she means is “percussion hurts my head” :)
Hi Tyler,
Thanks for the comment.
Some examples of music without a defining beat are Jim Wilson’s “My First Christmas With You” which is mostly piano music; most if not all Gregorian music; slow songs like “Breathe” (Martina McBride?), and many other mostly or all vocal or instrumental music without significant percussion.
I don’t have any books or websites to tell you what is wrong with music with a defining beat, so I can’t answer that in a moral sense. Luke is right in that it usually hurts my head, and I don’t want to expose our children to most of it. (think rap and the other music that cars boom, heavy metal, etc.)
I hope all is well with you, Emily, and your child.
If you have done any research on SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) prevention it specifically states NOT to share a bed with the baby. Also, not to lay them on couches, fluffy blankets or to have stuffed animals in the crib, so obviously all sleeping in one bed is VERY dangerous for your baby.
SIDS prevention is easy: don’t vaccinate. It is safe to keep children in the same bed if it is of sufficient size and all the people are healthy.
BTW, research (which we have done) is a lot more than just blindly listening to what a bunch of self-proclaimed “experts” say.
This is an interesting list and I imagine you have done research into your positions. The only section of which greatly concerns me is your stance regarding vaccinations. While some do contain mercury and may lead to possible side-effects, there are no proven connections between the vaccinations and autism or other severe health problems.
Also, some vaccinations, such as Chicken Pox, are very important and can result in more deadly forms if contracted later in life. From your statement regarding their exposure to germs, I’m assuming you are going to have them home schooled or some similar program that minimizes their exposure to others.
I can completely understand your not wanting to watch TV, especially with today’s shows and what is discussed on the news. However, while protecting one’s innocence, especially a child’s, is a thoughtful and worthwhile cause, they will be exposed to the realities of the world at some point and it is better that they are exposed with their parents around to explain what is happening in the proper context than being left to interpret the world through a highly restrictive lens.
I’m not the vaccination expert in the family, but I do know a little… and logic, too! :)
First of all, I’d like to say that it is up to the drug industry to prove that there is *no connection*, rather than asking people to prove that there is a connection. This is especially true for vaccines when you consider some facts: Vaccines have in the past been proven to have and taken off the market due to major negative effects; obviously, the “no proof” argument does not consider *future* proofs. Keep in mind that for a long time, the cigarette companies claimed there was “no proof of a link between cigarettes and cancer”! Also, statistics show a definite link between vaccines and SIDS and autism; among the non-vaccinated, both SIDS and autism are nearly (possibly completely) non-existent.
I don’t understand why you would use Chicken Pox as an example of a “very important” vaccine. I had chicken pox. My wife had chicken pox (and shingles). It’s just something everyone goes through at some point. If I were to argue against dangerous diseases, I would pick Whooping Cough or Tetanus as my examples; however, the vaccines for both (or at least tetanus?) still contain mercury, and both can still trigger autism.
Most people who expose their children to TV are usually not around to explain things in proper context. Due to the harmful nature of US broadcast TV being an improper context, even if trustworthy adults were around, they would be at odds with the TV’s supplied context. Exposure to the evils of reality are better suited, IMO, to a classroom setting where the goal is to explain why they are wrong.