texas | Bobbi Ann Johnson Holmes

I’m an advocate for prayer, yet I also believe in free will and that God helps those who help themselves, and when we pray the answer might be no. I don’t believe we are supposed to sit around and do nothing but pray, and God will just fix everything for us.

But when it comes to our duly elected officials solving problems in this country, it does not matter what I believe regarding God and prayer. And it does not matter what you believe.

In the United States of America there is supposed to be separation of church and government. Our citizens might be atheist or believe in some higher power. And that higher power might not be of the Christian faith.

When our duly elected officials—people who have blatantly ignored the problem of school shootings—only response after a tragedy like the community of Uvalde experienced yesterday is some lame tweet like “we are sending our prayers,” I want to freaking scream.

They were NOT elected to be our prayer warriors; they were elected to enact laws that will help fix the problem.

Am I advocating for all the guns in the country to be confiscated? No, but there should be sensible regulations that would help prevent someone like yesterday’s shooter from getting his hands on such devastating killing machines.

And before you whine about the sacred Second Amendment, I ask you, are you also whining about the First Amendment? You know, the one that is currently being shredded with recent book banning and laws like the Don’t Say Gay bill?

Don’t even get me started on the legislation regulating a woman’s body! I read that 98% of mass killing shooters are MEN, not WOMEN. Yet there are brilliant legislatures out there spending their time regulating women, while letting any wack-job buy an AR-15.

And yes, I think those of us who believe in prayer should pray for Uvalde. But I don’t think it is the only thing we should do.

I asked that question ten years ago when I wrote the short story, American Bondage, and released it in eBook format.

Four years ago, I rereleased the story and added the following forward. . .

I originally released American Bondage under the pen name, Sallie Holt. Sallie Holt was the name of my paternal grandfather’s mother. After several miscarriages and four live births, Great-Grandma Sallie died in 1912. She was just 25 years old.

I later added my pen name Anna J. McIntyre as a co-author to American Bondage. With the current political climate of our country and recent talks of a new Supreme Court reversing Roe VS Wade I decided to release the short story under my own name.

Now, four years later, my story seems timelier than ever. If you are interested, you can download the eBook at Amazon for just 99 cents. Click here to find it.

Or, if you just want to read the book’s description, here it is!

Vice President Alan Browning keeps his party’s election promise. Reversing Roe v. Wade is just the beginning. In America, abortion is no longer legal under any circumstance, even rape.

Rape victim, Hope Archer must give up her hard-earned scholarship and carry the rapist’s baby to term. After she and the baby die during childbirth, her mother vows revenge on the conservative vice president.

Brilliant scientist, Margaret Archer, finds the ultimate revenge for Alan Browning. Just as he is preparing to make his bid for the presidency, she finds a way to reverse the roles.

A short story. Approximately 5,580 words.

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We don’t elect prayer warriors…

What if Roe VS Wade was no more?