Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Obama has more negative than postive ratings.


Obama's negative ratings are 33% and his approval ratings are 31%. Guess the honeymoon's over, as his fans are tired of running to their mailbox without finding their promised check inside. What surprised me was how closely tied the rising disapproval rating was tied to Obama's pro-abortion policies. I didn't realize how much Americans care about the unborn, and how well prolifers were getting the message out.

"When it comes to abortion, specifically, one poll has shown that Americans are not happy with Obama's decision-making.
A
February Gallup poll found strong majority of Americans are upset that President Barack Obama overturned a policy that prevented funding of groups that promote or perform abortions overseas. In overturning the Mexico City Policy, Obama reneged on his promise to reduce abortions as president.
As LifeNews.com reported, the pro-life policy had been in place during the entirety of the Bush administration and
Obama rescinded it on his first week in office."

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No hope for DC mothers

from Focus on the Family Citizen Link
Every time I visit DC, I see the amount of poverty in the neighborhood with the Capitol building and I wonder if it doesn't make the residents cynical of the federal government. With Obama's latest move, I don't blame them for being cynical.
This legislation will not bring hope or change to the women of Washington. Blacks already have the highest abortion rate, and this neighborhood is heavily African American. It's tragic that Obama won't pay for their children's school vouchers, but we WILL pay to kill their children.
The House Financial Services Appropriations Subcommittee has approved its annual appropriations bill with language to gut the longstanding ban on taxpayer funding for abortion in the District of Columbia.
The bill adopted the Obama administration proposal to make public funds available for abortion in D.C. It represents a removal of what has come to be known as "the Dornan amendment," which prohibits taxpayer dollars appropriated for D.C. from being used for abortion except in cases of rape, incest or to save the life of the mother.
Please take a moment to contact your member of Congress and ask him or her to support the reinstatement of the Dornan amendment into the Financial Services Appropriations bill. Members are back home in their districts right now, so please contact their district offices.
You can find that information at the CitizenLink Action Center.
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Obama's pro-life legislation missed the point

It's the old "if you want this, you'll have to vote for that" routine. Hope and change my foot.
The White House wants to force contraception and comprehensive sex ed on us in exchange for financial support of pregnant women. To the world it sounds good; contraception and sex ed prevent pregnancy, right? WRONG!Dr Janet Smith professor at Detroit Seminary settled this question decisively with her famous talk, "Contraception Why Not?"
"Has it(contraception) made for fewer unwanted pregnancies? The statistics on this are wild. In 1960, some 6% of white babies were born out of wedlock. Six percent. In 1992, 22% of white babies were born out of wedlock. Almost a four-fold increase, and it's rapidly rising. Rapidly rising. In 1960, some 22%, same figure, 22% of black babies were born out of wedlock. Anybody know the percentage now? Sixty-eight percent. Sixty-eight percent of black babies are born out of wedlock. That took thirty years. I don't think it will take thirty years for the 22% of whites to go up to 68 if we follow down the same path we are currently following. Now, here's my connection: First of all, the world tells us that if we have more and better contraceptives we can solve these problems. There will be fewer unwanted pregnancies. But the point was, in 1960, there were almost no contraceptives available, especially to teenagers. You had to know some tacky gas station somewhere and have a few quarters and that's about the best you could do. But any teenager now can get contraceptives from the guidance counselor, in fact, from some welcome-to-school kits in some schools. We live in a culture in which condoms can be handed out in schools and Bibles can't. And I think that tells you everything you need to know about our society. So, it seems to me that clearly, more and better contraceptives aren't going to help. Teenagers have incredible access to them. But teenagers are just as good at using contraceptives as they are at making their beds and doing their homework and doing their chores, at about the same degree of reliability.
I used to help with a pregnancy help center in South Bend. We would talk with these young girls and we'd ask them, "Did you use a contraceptive", and they would say, "No, no. I wanted to buy a Prince album this month and I had to use my money for that", or, "I didn't like the side effects so I stopped", or, "We broke up and I thought we weren't going to see each other again but he came around again." And they get pregnant and they're surprised. And, of course, we have a million and a half abortions a year. And how did these happen? Fifty percent of women who go to abortion clinics tell us that they're there because of contraceptive failure. Fifty percent. Eighty percent tell us that they are contraceptively experienced, that they know about it and they've used it before, but, again, for one reason or another, they've stopped.
But the real point, in my mind, is that contraceptives have launched people on a lifestyle that makes for sex outside of marriage -- makes for sex in which babies and bonding are not welcome likelihoods. And when pregnancies occur, disaster strikes. People now say, when they're having sex outside of marriage and they get pregnant, what do they say? They use this wonderful phrase, "I got pregnant by accident." And I always was mystified by this phrase and I would say, "Tell me, how did that happen again?" I know I'm rather naive but I caught on to this some time ago and I know you can't get pregnant by accident. You can get hit by a car by accident, fall off a cliff by accident, but you can't get pregnant by accident. It actually means something's gone right with an act of sexual intercourse, not that something's gone wrong. But because people are using contraceptives, they get pregnant and they're surprised. "My gosh! We got pregnant! We didn't have that in mind. That wasn't part of this picture. So, we have to do something about it. What'll we have to do? We have to trot down to the abortion clinic."
Now, I'll give you the highest authority of our land, the Supreme Court says so. There's an article out there, which I wrote on the table you can have for free. It's called, "The Connection between Contraception and Abortion" and I cite Planned Parenthood v. Casey. In that decision (this is not quite verbatim but it's close) it says that "in several important respects, the decision to use contraceptives is the same as the decision to abort." Or the decision to have an abortion is the same as the decision to contracept. And it goes on to explain. It says that, "For two decades, couples have based their intimate relationships on the availability of abortion should contraceptives fail." For two decades, couples have based their intimate relationships on the availability of abortion should contraceptives fail. Now in this whole Supreme Court decision, which is on abortion, there is not one mention of the humanity of the unborn child, not one mention of whether the fetus was a person or not. It's not even dismissed as a question. It's not even considered. But it does say we must have abortions because we have contraceptives. It's a necessity. For two decades, couples have counted on it should their contraceptives fail. The Supreme Court says so.
Now, again, I think in the 60's, it was not a stupid expectation that contraceptives would make for better marriages, fewer unwanted pregnancies, fewer abortions, but I think the cultural evidence today shows absolutely the contrary. And it's very hard for us to see because again, our culture, our president, his cabinet tell us that more and better contraceptives and more and greater access to abortion is absolutely necessary in this society, it's a good thing.
(This was Bill Clinton, but you can easily apply it to Obama).


I used to believe that tripe too, until I was set straight by the director of a Crisis Pregancy Center who had the same experiences of Dr Smith. Conservatives have too, and they're not falling for the old trick. They won't accept contraceptives and sex ed which sells sex, since that's what caused the problem in the first place. The article in US News says,
"But more conservative religious groups working with the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships say they would be forced to oppose such a plan—even though they support the abortion reduction part—because they oppose federal dollars for contraception and comprehensive sex education. This camp, which includes such formidable organizations as the U.S. Council of Catholic Bishops and the Southern Baptist Convention, is pressuring the White House to decouple the two parts of the plan into separate bills. One bill would focus entirely on preventing unwanted pregnancy, while the other would focus on supporting pregnant women."


Read the entire article in US News and World Report.
HT Spirit Daily
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Monday, June 29, 2009

An urgent appeal for the truth

This piece of news is a bombshell for those of us who love someone with Down syndrome. Right after we rejoiced that the Prenatally Diagnosed Condtions Awareness Act passed last October, the American College of Obstetricians, American College of Medical Genetics, and National Society of Genetic Counselors had a quiet meeting with National Down Syndrome Society and National Down syndrome Congress, at the University of South Carolina to agree on improving information given to parents expecting children with DS. Information has always been the ally of life. We are in favor of doctors and genetic counselors finally receiving some training about the positive aspects of life with Trisomy 21 as Dr Brian Skotko so eloquently expressed in this testimony before Congress at a meeting of the Congressional Down Syndrome Caucus last February.
So far, great, right?
But the document entitled "Toward Concurrence" didn't stop there. They denied the 90% abortion rate of DS children and that prenatal testing and genetic counseling were done to seek and destroy our precious children with DS. Have you ever seen it for any other reason? Then they took the absurdly unecessary step of saying that NDSS AND NSDC weren't pro-life. No kidding!
I am preparing a press release to respond to these groups who have drawn a line in the sand by denying their help to unborn individuals with Trisomy 21 and their famlies (see attached).
We MUST get this in front of the media. Please help me.
I will do anything I can to help this reach the public before this type of poisonous lie becomes part of our nationalized health care system. Dr Jerome Lejeune, the French scientist who discovered the cause of Trisomy 21 devoted the rest of his life to find a cure for Down syndrome, for as he said, "If we don't find a cure, there won't be any left".
Let honor his heroic efforts by declaring the awful truth of the holocaust of 90% of unborn babies with Down syndrome.
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Pope Benedict releases new encyclical today: "Caritas in Veritate"

The upcoming social encyclical of Pope Benedict XVI "Caritas in veritate" - Charity in truth - will bear the date of the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, June 29, but will likely become public on July 6 or 7, the Italian daily Corriere della Sera said on Saturday.
Interestingly, the encyclical which deals with world poverty and human dignity will not favor either the liberal or conservative camps, as both Pope Paul VI's Humanae Vitae and Populorum progressio,which decrys the poverty of the Third World, are quoted. This is as it should be, we follow the teachings of Christ, who has no political party. There is no completely comfortable political home for Catholics; we are perpetually a "sign of contradiction".
Rather than taking sides, the encyclical has it's "focus on “the charity of truth, which Jesus Christ has shown to us along his entire earthly life and, above all, with His death and resurrection, is the main resource at the service of the true development of each individual human being and humanity as a whole.”
I look forward to reading this encyclical when it becomes available.
Read the entire story at CNS.

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Cardinal O'Malley withdraws from controversial health care merger

The following is a statement from American Life League president Judie Brown regarding Boston Cardinal Sean O'Malley's announcement that archdiocese-affiliated Caritas Christi Healthcare has withdrawn ownership of CeltiCare Health Plan.
The announcement comes only two days after A.L.L. announced it would launch an investigation into the scandal."Praise God! After months of tireless effort from American Life League and pro-life heroes in Boston and around the country to expose a potential scandal only days away from becoming a tragic betrayal of Catholicism's unwavering commitment to the dignity of the human person, Cardinal Sean O'Malley has heard our voices and will end the joint venture with abortion-providing Centene Corp!
We profoundly thank Cardinal O'Malley for his courage, leadership and pastoral concern for the health and well-being of those youngest members of his archdiocese. He has set a beautiful example of dedication and charity for those poorest of the poor -- the preborn.
Cardinal O'Malley has answered our call and beat the clock as the minutes ticked away until the July 1 launch of the new CeltiCare Health Plan and the Catholic Church's participation in the intrinsic evil of abortion.Together with the thousands of American Life League supporters whose voices cried out in horror to the Cardinal at the thought of the Archdiocese of Boston supporting and promoting abortion, we congratulate Cardinal O'Malley on his commitment to the Faith -- even during this time of severe financial crisis.
It has been American Life League's privilege and honor to work alongside Massachusetts heroes Carol McKinley, C.J. Doyle of Catholic Action League and many other Boston pro-lifers in our effort to bring this potential scandal to light.Their constant vigilance and unwavering dedication to truth were a clear voice of conscience in Boston and the archdiocese is incredibly blessed to have such soldiers for Christ in their pews.
What happened in Boston will ring out far beyond the potential scandal that could have involved Caritas Christi and thereby the Archdiocese. Cardinal O'Malley's reaffirmation of the Faith, when it would have been all too easy to compromise, is a sign of the vitality of United States Catholics' commitment to human life and personhood.American Life League and our supporters are humbled to stand alongside Cardinal O'Malley as a sign of contradiction to the culture of death."
This type of courage in the face of the powerful forces, financial or governmental which threaten to overtake our health care system will be sorely needed as Obamacare looms large on the horizon. Many more bishops will be called to take such stands against the Culture of Death, and keep Catholic hospitals on mission.

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Bye Bye Bioethics, hello Obamacare

Culture of Life fellow Dr E. Christian Brugger discusses the difference between President Bush and President Obama by their widely divergent views of bioethics.
"The push to get practical in bioethical discourse is a bad sign. It signals a turn away from urgent questions such as whether human embryos deserve full moral respect or whether “human dignity” means that all persons, even the disabled and dying, possess equal value. It turns discourse from the question of should to the question of how; the question ‘Should we clone human embryos for destructive research purposes?’, becomes “How can we do it most expediently?”
In other words, to heck with ethical questions, we have campaign contributions to pay back.
Oh Brave New World with such a president in it!

Read the entire piece at the Culture of Life Foundation.
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Sen Brownback opposes Sotomayor

"In a speech on the Senate floor on Wednesday, Brownback said he will vote against Sotomayor's nomination should the Senate Judiciary Committee send it to the floor.
"Judge Sotomayor has indicated through past rulings and in her writings that she believes the judiciary should take an activist role and make laws, instead of upholding the law," he said."

I'm nearly ready to forgive him for supporting Kansas Governor Sibelius for HHS Secretary.
Read the entire story on Life News.

Dr Carpentier explains how to cure common problems without the pill

The Pill Kills Women from American Life League on Vimeo.

Why is Nixon's moral relativism on abortion so shocking?

I intersperse my comments in red with those of Bill Donohue of the Catholic League.
A news report shows that when the infamous Roe v. Wade decision was granted by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1973, President Richard M. Nixon worried that abortion would promote “permissiveness.” But he also thought that abortion would be justified in cases of interracial pregnancies. “When you have a black and a white,” he said, “abortion is necessary.”
No one in the pro-abortion camp has any principled reason to object to Nixon’s selective justification for abortion. Indeed, pro-abortion advocates cannot logically claim that abortion is morally neutral and then object to abortions for reasons they find objectionable.
Who are they to decide what is a good reason or a bad reason? Who are they to decide that a woman’s right to choose must accord with liberal rationales for abortion? Ultimately, if extracting a baby from a mother’s womb is the moral equivalent of a tooth extraction, then all abortions are morally equal.
Remember a while back when liberal gays learned that a “gay gene” may exist? They were scared to death that prospective parents might elect to abort such kids. Now we have the prospect of those who will condemn Nixon on this issue. I was at a bioethics conference at the UN when a gay man said that it would be discrimination to abort because of a gay gene, but that killing my daughter with Down syndrome would be necessary. You can imagine the rebuff he received from me!
Ironically, the man who sits in the White House is just the kind of guy Nixon thought our society would be better off without. That the current occupant is also a pro-abortion extremist makes the story all the more bizarre, if not sickening.

So the moral relativists in the abortion lobby want free abortions, paid by the taxpayer, except if 'gay' babies are aborted. Sounds like Nixon all over again. Once you throw out natural law which tells us in our heart of hearts that abortion is always murder, any bigot's opinion is as good as any other.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Worldwide support of Iranian freedom

Pope Benedict to meet President Obama July 10th

This is for your prayers. The Holy Father has his work cut out for him.
Read the entire story on CNA.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Will we all end up paying for abortions?

from the Family Research Council.
On Capitol Hill, where the debate over health care is an all-day, every-day affair, both chambers are racing to find a winner among at least three bills that would overhaul the system. To help narrow the field, the leadership has packed this week's schedule with at least seven hearings and mark-ups on various proposals. Of the utmost concern to pro-lifers is the potential for any of these bills to use taxpayer dollars to fund abortionists.
The threat of anti-life coverage is real, despite the Left's insistence that the word "abortion" doesn't appear anywhere in these bills. As we reported yesterday, the legislation sponsored by Reps. Waxman, Miller, and Rangel does mandate "family planning" coverage, which could mean anything from surgical abortion to drugs like Plan B and the morning-after pill.
In reality, any of these broad health care mandates could be interpreted to include abortion as a health "service" even if it isn't mentioned in the text. Whether it's hiding in coverage for "family planning" or "outpatient clinics," groups like Planned Parenthood will find a way to become eligible for federal funding.
For this reason, FRC is working with Congress to include a provision that specifically and permanently excludes abortion coverage from any health care "reform" plan. Just as taxpayers shouldn't be forced to finance abortion, medical workers shouldn't be required to participate in them. Regardless, not one of the bills currently under consideration includes a conscience exemption to protect health care workers. Under ObamaCare, they would be forced--regardless of their moral beliefs--to participate in any number of controversial practices from abortion to assisted suicide. It's not as if those safeguards aren't popular.
In April of this year, a national poll showed that Americans overwhelmingly support the right of conscience for health care workers. A super-majority (87%) of U.S. adults (regardless of their sex, party affiliation, or opinion on abortion) said that doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and others shouldn't have to choose between their convictions and their careers.
Unfortunately, students are already feeling this pressure during their training days. Twenty-three percent of those surveyed said they "experienced discrimination" during medical school because of their moral beliefs. As more medical schools try to weed out opposition to abortion, these rights to conscience become even more crucial.
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PBS true colors

Everytime PBS wants to raise funds they go mainstream; take for example, the lovely Irish trio The Priests whose Christmas concert I enjoyed on my local PBS station. It was interrrupted by calls for donations. I'm certain many Catholics pledged money. You did too, if you paid your taxes.
According to PBS you're a terrorist guilty of killing Tiller if you are part of a prolife organization.
"Despite the noxious theme that describing abortion as the death of a baby enables terrorism, no one – not Terry, not O’Reilly, not a single professional in the pro-life movement – was granted the courtesy of an interview by PBS.
This story has a very disturbing ending. Ken Bode, hired by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting as an ombudsman or viewer’s advocate, lauded the show as "strong and convincing on this point: radical, anti-abortion opponents, including Bill O’Reilly of Fox News, are guilty of promoting domestic terrorism." Bode even said "Now" has established itself for reporting "within the boundaries of fairness and balance mandated by PBS standards."

Here's where it went.
HT Life News.com

Bishops and Senators on homosexual marriage

Bishop Murphy of Long Island is correcting Tom Suozzi for his support of homosexual marriage while we in CT await the correction of Catholic Senator Chris Dodd on the same issue.
HT CNA

Monday, June 22, 2009

Catholic schools or home schooling?

William Fahey, President Thomas More College of Liberal Arts had praise and advice for homeschooling mothers at a recent homeschooling conference in Massachusetts, and caused some controversy. "'Home schooling puts an almost unmanageable strain on mothers, he said.
Home-schooling mothers are expected to be several things at once: mothers, homemakers, teachers, disciplinarians, wives and, for some, wage earners, too.
If home schooling seems like too much, he said, it’s because it is. We are political creatures, in the Socratic sense, and students learn best with other students. Schools are the best alternative for teaching children,' he said."

The editors of the Register covered both sides of this often contentious issue in the article below. Having lived on both sides of the fence, I find myself in a unique position to comment on the debate.

I homeschooled my two oldest daughters for ten years. I was asked to do so by my husband right after our honeymoon, and I thought he was asking a lot. I am a certified teacher (K-12 English as a Second Language, and I knew how much work was involved) Mr Fahey agrees that asking a mom to homeschool her children is a herculean task, especially when coupled with her other responsibilities. In my case, this meant helping to support my family.
I swung between years of structure (Seton), semi-structure (Catholic Heritage Curriculum) and do it yourself curriculum when the budget was low, and I used books donated by friends. I enjoyed the company of my three girls, and the extraordinarily close relationship they forged. I enjoyed the various homeschool groups which we joined and the close friendships we forged. I saw my girls grow in their reading and writing skills, math facts, knowledge of nature and history, and most importantly their Catholic faith. It was a wonderful experience in many ways, and I miss it. Having my girls home for the summer is as close as we get now to that family togetherness we once shared.

But it was not perfect. Having to work part time and having my youngest child, Christina with Down syndrome, meant we missed many opportunities to socialize with other homeschoolers, due to work and therapy commitments. Sometimes this left us feeling out of the loop, an misunderstood by more affluent homeschoolers who had more free time. Homeschooling is not possible for those without the luxury of a full time stay at home mother. Not that these families were swimming in luxury; most of these mothers make heroic sacrifices to be able to stay home, they drive old vans, wear hand me down clothing, live in overcrowded, outdated homes and prepare their own simple meals, rarely going out to eat or on vacation, still, with all these sacrifices, if a mom must contribute to the family income as I do, homeshooling may not be an option.

Another problem was that many Catholic homeschool groups at least on Long Island, where we lived at the time, were temporary. We belonged to nine groups which lasted from one to three years. While me met a variety of people, it was discouraging to see groups disband so often. Homeschoolers by nature are an independent bunch; and often these groups split over ideological or personality differences, some of which were painful and divisive, forcing bystanders to take sides or lose friends.

Another problem was that very few of these groups (four) had leadership from a priest, and this led to women taking overly strong leadership roles in these groups by default. This is not natural in the Catholic Church, where women's roles as nurturer and teacher are treasured, and the priest's role in ministry is central. Our children had little time to become involved in actual church activities. Some of this was not our fault, we homeschoolers were looking for a more traditional take on our faith, and it can be hard to find. We often travelled far and wide to attend more traditional Masses. What we did find were some young priests who shared our love for the Latin Mass, and homeschoolers formed the basis for many of these fledgling Masses; as attendees, altar boys, and schola singers. We enjoy being the leaders of the return to tradition in many areas; living the liturgical year, reading classic literature, learning Latin and Gregorian Chant. This is something I continue to enjoy whenever my visits home give me an opportunity to attend the Latin Mass near my old home. I am very proud of the support the homeschooling community has given to this movement of the Holy Spirit within the Church.

Another issue is discipline. I taught English at some homeschool co-ops and enjoyed working with children other than my own. I taught a literature-based writing class in which four girls won diocesan awards for their creative writing on pro-life themes. There were times, however, when a mother's over protectiveness meant that certain students, mostly adolescent boys, were disruptive and rude, making it nearly impossible to teach. Homeschooling can easily become too much of a shelter, keeping mothers from seeing the truth about some of their children's faults. I was not immune to this with my own children, and often asked for feedback from moms who taught them in cooperative learning situations about their behavior when in groups. Children who have mom's undivided attention at home, can easily become adverse to taking turns, and allowing others to be the center of attention in a homeschool, making transition to the classroom painful for both student and teacher. For this reason, homeschoolers are often viewed as odd by even devout Catholic school teachers.

As a homeschooling mother who made the decision to enroll her children in traditional Catholic schools, I am sometimes viewed as something of a traitor. Many homeschooling mothers see their second (or is it third?) vocation as a lifelong commitment, even extending into college. I saw it as a temporary option, rich in opportunity, to be re-evaluated each year as my children's needs changed. When my high school freshman expressed a desire to see her friends more, and an interest in nursing, I understood that a good Catholic convent school with a strong science program would better meet her needs. Gabbi found the transition taxing in terms of pure hours of her day; after six hours of schooling, she had 3-4 hours of homework. When she played sports, she was often up till midnight finishing her homework. Exams were times of great stress for her. There were many benefits, however, she enjoyed seeing her new friends on a daily basis, and taking part in school events; softball games, plays, concerts, field trips, and conferences. She made friends with international students, saw herself as part of a larger group, and got to know religious sisters. Gabbi made the honor roll two out of three semesters, taking honors classes, and was the star prosecutor in the moot court in her civics class. She heard her mother's values repeated by adults she respected, and gained the affection and respect of her instructors. We look forward to her college career with greater confidence because of her smooth transition to Catholic school.
My sixth grader, Isabella, was growing defiant to being taught at home, and expressed the greatest enthusiasm for our family move to Connecticut where we found truly Catholic schools where sisters in full habit taught catechism from the beautiful "Faith and Life" series from Ignatius Press. Bella's teachers were deeply devoted to their students and knowledgeable about their subjects, and Isabella has blossomed into a self-motivated, enthusiastic student who works on extra credit projects on her own, and chatters happily throughout the evening about events at school. Both girls have found wonderful Catholic girls for friends, some of whom have been homeschooled themselves.
I find some gaps in the Catholic character of the education in Catholic schools, where secular textbooks, especially those used for history and literature, could be replaced with some of the wonderful texts emerging from the Catholic presses. For example, I showed my pastor the textbooks from Ignatius Press for middle school history, "All Ye Lands" and he heartily agreed that they were far superior to the existing textbooks and moved to change them at once. The lay teacher who got the new books was thrilled that she no longer had to correct anti-Catholic elements of the textbook. As a substitute teacher in the school, I was able to introduce the children to some of the rich traditions we had time to celebrate as homeschoolers; the Jesse Tree, the O Antiphons, etc. I enjoyed attending First Friday Mass and Benediction with the class, as well as field day and the end of year concert and art show.
As I stay home most days and pursue my writing career, I thank God for the opportunity to home school my daughters when they were younger, feeling pride in our accomplishments academically, socially and in the faith. We have integrated our family into the larger Church as we support good Catholic schools and share the riches we gained in our Domestic Church.
Fr Josephy Fessio once told a group of EWTN supporters that homeschooling would be the salvation of the Church, and I agree; the richness of tradition which has been enjoying a revival in the Catholic homeschool has a lot to offer the Catholic educational community, if we are willing to learn from one another.
"Alongside the home-schooling movement are signs of renewal in Catholic schools. Parish schools are often the best in academics and discipline. Now, many dioceses are shoring up the faith content of their schools as well, using the Catechism of the Catholic Church as a standard for religious instruction texts.
Maybe the new interest in home schooling is part of a larger trend toward better schooling in general.
Maybe the rise in home schooling will cause schools to improve in order to compete. That would make home schooling a sign of hope for the future of education."

Read the entire article in the Register.

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Who needs fathers anyway?

One of the unintended consequences of the Pill and assistive reproductive technology is this:

We want sex without children (non-committed contraceptive sex)

and children without sex. (IVF, surrogate mothers)

Crazy, huh?

God has a divine plan for marriage which includes the joyful experience of married relations, and we throw it away, saying, "no, I don't think this gift of married love will work for me, but I'll keep the box and the wrapping paper, thanks. "

So fathers are consigned to the dustbin of history, their vital role in shaping souls for this world AND the next is diminished, disregarded and degraded.

I saw this full force last Sunday at Mass. I attend Mass in gorgeous old church, in a down-on-it's-luck town with a high population of single mothers. In the pew in front of me were a mother and her two single twenty something daughters and their three, cute as a button, but very hyperactive sons. Mass behind this crew was a three ring circus, and my heart was breaking to see those three adorable little boys acting up in a way that suggested that they were fatherless.

Some man needed to model proper behavior at Mass, and the mothers were obviously burned out by just getting them dressed and there. They had no more to give, and no fathers to tag team them and take over.

I looked over at my own daughter, who is no model of decorum herself, Christina can pose quite a challenge at Mass, however, with Daddy to cuddle her and hold her in his lap, she is MUCH easier to handle. I know, because I take her to Mass during the week, and spend much of it in the vestibule trying to keep her from climbing the stairs to the choir loft. Once she beat me up the stairs and disappeared into a tiny crevice behind the organ, giggling at my efforts to extricate her. I really appreciate it when Daddy is able to make it to Mass with us.

I wished those women in front of us could see them, cheek to cheek, in a Daddy's little girl hug. Why didn't they choose that for their own little boys? Maybe then they wouldn't have been swinging in the pews, wrestling, running down the aisle, punching, talking loudly, and generally irritating those trying to pray. How much more of a challenge will they be when they start school and learn bad habits from little boys whose mothers don't even bother to take them to Mass? I admire the efforts the single moms make, but the first and most important investment a woman can make in her children's future is to MARRY FIRST HAVE BABIES LATER!!!

Yet society, even Catholic society is starting to treat this ill advised life choice as normal.

Helen Alvare at the Culture of Life Foundation said,
"The recent news of the nearly 40% out of wedlock birth rate in the United States should pretty much rock our world as citizens and as Catholics. According to the Centers for Disease Control report, this means 1.7 million children were born to unmarried mothers in 2007, a figure 250% greater than the number reported in 1980. The implications for our society loom large. According to empirical data published over the last several decades in leading sociological journals, these children, on average, will suffer significant educational and emotional disadvantages compared to children reared by their married parents. They will be less able to shoulder the burdens that “next generations” traditionally assume for the benefit of their families, communities and their country. They are likely to repeat their parents’ behaviors. The boys are more likely to engage in criminal behavior and the girls to have nonmarital children."
Read the entire article here.

Friday, June 19, 2009

Pro-life groups receive death threats

from Operation Rescue
"We will not succumb to fear or be intimidated into silence."
Wichita, KS - Today the Wichita Eagle ran a front-page story about threats of violence against Operation Rescue and other pro-life groups. We have posted it below for your convenience.
"We refuse to cower to these threats and have reported them to the appropriate authorities," said Operaiton Rescue President Troy Newman. "We will not succumb to fear or be intimidated into silence."

Linked below is an audio file and a PDF file with a sampling of some of the threats that have literally flooded our in boxes and voicemail. We are posting the names and e-mail addresses of some who have e-mailed us. If they are going to make threats like this, they should be ready to have everyone know they did it.
Caution: Strong and offensive language
·
Sample of Audio Threats· Sample of E-mailed Threats
"In spite of threats against us, we will be reaching out to the community this weekend to pray for peace and memorialize those who have succumbed to abortion violence, both inside and outside the womb," said Newman.
Operation Rescue is taking extraordinary security precautions to insure the safety of all participants, including hiring off-duty Wichita Police officers.
"Let's show the world that, as Christians, we will not shirk back in fear, but will boldly proclaim the Gospel of Peace and Reconciliation, as our Lord commands," said Newman.

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Fr Corapi on the Julilee Year for Priests

Jubilee Year for Priests Announced by the Vatican
Pope Benedict XVI announced that the universal Church will celebrate a Jubilee Year of the Priest, beginning June 19th, 2009, the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and celebrating the 150th anniversary of the death of the saintly Cure D'Ars.

It is my personal experience of 25 years this month living inside of the Church in novitiates, seminaries, pontifical universities, parishes, and chancery offices that we are always in need of renewal and energizing in every vocation, more so than ever in the priesthood. The Holy Father knows this, as do a great many of us priests. So, beginning June 19, 2009 we'll try to move toward this goal of strengthening and energizing the priesthood. This happens one priest at a time. Holiness is an individual work in process for all of us, the priest included.The patron saint of parish priests, St. John Mary Vianney, should be used as a model in principle, remembering that every man or woman must be a person of their time.

Nonetheless, there are principles and practices that transcend time and space. These we should know and exercise. The preeminence of prayer and the spiritual life must come first for the priest, or any practicing Catholic for that matter.St. John Vianney prayed long hours before the Blessed Sacrament. That was the secret of his 'success.' Jesus in the Eucharist must be the heart of the priest's life, the Holy Spirit is the breath that breathes life into his ministry. A simple life, not unfamiliar with penance and sacrifice is also fundamental for apostolic fruitfulness.

Jesus, the High Priest, gave us all his own Mother to be our spiritual mother. Every priest that would bear fruit that endures must accept the gift of Mary the Mother of Priests as his own spiritual mother. This cannot be over emphasized. A failure to do it in these times results in almost certain failure for the Catholic priest.

Pray for your priests more than ever this Year of the Priest. In many cases there is poor morale, little camaraderie, isolation, and loneliness in the life of the priest. Encourage your priests and remember a little kindness and understanding goes a long way. Priests are human beings, like other human beings, with the same weaknesses and strengths. This year think about the life of priests and how you can contribute to their perseverance and holiness in a most noble vocation.
Help your priest get to Heaven by your kindness and your prayers.
You will never be sorry that you did.
God bless you,

Fr. John Corapi

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Selective Outrage in Miami

If you've ever been to my house, you would know I am an animal lover. I have three rescued cats and two rescued dogs. They enrich our lives, protect us from invaders and mice, and generally stink up the place. But we love them. So, with this in mind read Jill Stanek's comments about the outrage about the cat killing wacko in Florida, and why the outrage about murdering innocent animals makes her mad. And me.
"Animal cruelty is despicable. Only sick people hurt and kill defenseless animals. That's how Jeffrey Dahmer got his start.
But knowing the same sorts of torturous acts are committed every day against human beings in at least 25 Miami area abortion clinics with no public protest makes me a little crazy. These would include the aforementioned, an abortion survivor who was suffocated in a plastic bag and thrown on the clinic roof for a week until he was so infested by maggots he couldn't be properly autopsied."

She is saying "where was the public outcry over the murder of this infant?" Read the comments of the newscasters and politicians about the cat and remember that these same people most likely refused to report on the above murder at the abortion clinic, for which the abortionist was convicted. The politicians are undoubtedly pro-choice, as long as no cats are hurt. Only little defenceless babies.
"At a news conference … city and county leaders … reassured the community that the 'reign of terror' was over." (CBS)

"… the killing spree …" (KPLG)


"… [M]y heart goes out to those families who have lost their dear kitties 'cause I understand that pet owners feel very strongly about their little family members. … To see them so violated and so mutilated just defies all common sense and is painful for everyone involved. Thankfully … the terror has come to an end. And what of the perpetrator, depraved, demented, twisted." – Miami-Dade Commissioner Katy Sorenson (CBS)

"[T]hrough media reports the grief and fear were shared nationally. … The cruelty of these crimes were horrific for the animal victims, but there were many human victims as well. Let's not forget the children and families who found their pets mutilated. These awful wounds inflicted a human toll." – Cutler Bay Mayor Paul Vrooman (CBS)

We live in a very sick culture indeed.
Read Jill Stanek's entire column here.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

New job; The Examiner

I will be writing a few columns a week as the Catholic Examiner for Providence, RI.
Love that city!
I'll link to my new site as soon as it's up.

Sarah accepts Letterman's apology

this came as an email to Team Sarah members.
Last night David Letterman again addressed the distasteful “jokes” he made at the expense of Governor Sarah Palin and her teenage daughter on June 8. Governor Palin issued a statement accepting last night’s apology:
"Of course it's accepted on behalf of young women, like my daughters, who hope men who 'joke' about public displays of sexual exploitation of girls will soon evolve. Letterman certainly has the right to 'joke' about whatever he wants to, and thankfully we have the right to express our reaction. And this is all thanks to our U.S. military women and men putting their lives on the line for us to secure America's right to free speech - in this case, may that right be used to promote equality and respect."
The controversy over Letterman’s “jokes” has already cost CBS at least one advertiser: Embassy Suites. Company spokeswoman Kendra Walker told
TVGuide.com, “We received lots of e-mails from concerned guests and we assessed that the statement that he made was offensive enough to our guests and prospective guests that we elected to take the ads down."
Governor Palin has very graciously accepted Letterman’s apology, and her hope that men who make jokes of this nature will “evolve” certainly resonates with the public. It is OUR hope that David Letterman has seen first hand how the laughter ends when comedy routines become nothing more than thinly-disguised ideological grandstanding designed around the humiliation of others for cheap laughs.
THANK YOU to all of the Team Sarah members who have contacted CBS and their sponsors to express their views on this latest controversy. We are truly touched by all of the supportive comments and emails we have received.


Thanks to Embassy Suites for being responsive to the complaints of mothers who felt their daughters were being insulted with 14 year old Willow. I was one of them. Every time the public discourse gets lowered another notch ALL our daughters are put at greater risk.


The American Holocaust Museum: Tiller's Abortion Mill

When I was a teenager, I read a book by Jesuit John Powell "Abortion, the Silent Holocaust" which deeply affected me. Now political cartoonist and commentator, John Francis Borra has a stunning post on his blog Veritatis which draws the parallel between the Nazi Extermination Camps, and their crematorium, and those of the late George Tiller. YES he had a cremetorium too. Borra along with Troy Newman of Operation Rescue wants to purchase Tiller's abortion mill and transform it to a memorial museum to the 60,000 babies he murdered there.

I hope it will bring hope and healing to those who suffered abortions, and sleepless nights to those who have been pro-abortion or just plain indifferent to such a travesty as 50 million Americans murdered since 1973.

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Eucharistic Miracles Website

Today is the day we hail The Body Blood Soul and Divinity of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. If you feel that this is countercultural, remember that doubt and cynicism about the Eucharsist has always existed, so God allows Eucharistic miracles to restore our faith.
Visit the Eucharistic Miracles Website to view such events throughout Church history.

Learn Mozart's "Ave Verum" with the Vienna Boys Choir

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Bishop Lori under fire from CT Legislature

"According to the Connecticut Office of State Ethics, the diocese acted as a lobbying organization in March when it rented buses to transport people to a rally in Hartford — the state capital — to protest a bill that would have granted more power to parishioners regarding church finances.

Officials also are investigating whether the church acted as a lobbying organization on its
Web site when it urged parishioners to contact lawmakers about the bill, which eventually was withdrawn amid public outcry, and about a another bill to legalize same-sex marriage, which was signed into law in April."
"But Carson says the ethics office is just doing its job.
"We're content neutral," the Office of Ethics official told FOXNews.com. "It does not matter to us whether someone is for or against any issue. We're an independent watchdog agency and it's not the case that anyone in state government came to us and said, 'You need to look at this"

Oh really, McDonald and Lawlor(who sponsored the bill 1098 to defund the Catholic Church) haven't been in to visit lately? Tell me, Ms Carson, who else are you calling lobyists these days?
I don't hear you barking up ACORN's tree.
Sounds like a concerted effort to scare Catholics away from exercising their First Amendment rights. Not this Catholic!
Creative Minority Report has an outstanding post on this conroversy.

Read the entire story on Fox News.
Here's a video of Bishop Lori's statement on 1098

Friday, June 12, 2009

Malkin responds to Letterman

"Will you teach your son to talk about women and girls the way you talk about Sarah Palin and her daughters?
You called the married 45-year-old mother, grandmother and Alaska governor a "slutty flight attendant" on your national TV talk show because she happens to be a tall, beautiful and dynamic public figure who doesn't look, walk or talk the way you think she should."

This is the essential point, because Chelsea Clinton's mom is PC, she has never been attacked by late night comics. She is off limits. But if the liberals can manage to damage Sarah Palin enough by 2012 to make her unelectable they are sparing Barack Obama any real competition in that election.
AND there's more, a female radio talk show host in Rhode Island today sneered at Palin's charges that such trash talk about underage girls makes them more vulnerable to abuse. I have news for you, Sarah's right. When the level of public discourse is so gutter language low, everyone in society is brought down. I have seen how degraded school age girls are in ads, MTV, the internet and sitcoms. It's time to stop objectifying women, Mr Letterman, even conservative women, and try some big boy jokes. There is a name for your obsession with degrading women, MISOGYNIST.
Read Michelle's entire article here.

True story about Iran: The Stoning of Soraya M.

"At its heart, this movie is a human drama filled with tension, peril and hope - but it is also a true story that I felt strongly had to be told, a story the whole world needs to know." -- Director, Cyrus NowrastehThis is the theme of the- story revealed by an Iranian-French journalist Freidoune Sahebjam (Jim Caviezel) whose car left him stranded in a remote Iranian hamlet burdened with a terrible secret. In Iran under the Ayatollah Khomeini, where fundamentalist selfish men to suppress women, and even use Islam dispose of them when they thwart their desires. Zahra (Shohreh Aghdashloo) exerts great persuasive power to interest Sahebjam in hearing the story, risking repercussions from the village mullah (Ali Pourtash) and mayor, who try to pass her off as insane. Finally, she convinces the journalist to come to her home, and record on his tape recorder the horrendous story of the stoning of her niece Soraya (Mozhan Marno) the day before.That is how the novel “The Stoning of Soraya M” on which the film is based, came to be.
Soraya is a lovely young mother of four with an abusive adulterous husband Ali (Navid Negahbam) who has his eye on second wife he can’t afford, so he asks Soraya for a divorce. In this poor village, such an arrangement would mean certain starvation, so Soraya refuses. It is in her kindness that Ali spies an opportunity, and soon he is convincing the Mullah to falsely accuse Soraya of adultery. With devastating ease, the men in the story become complicit in murder; each of them has a shameful personal reason to brutalize the innocently beautiful Soraya.
Soraya’s seraphic smile and her tender compassion combined with her aunt’s fierce loyalty are the saving graces of a vicious plot strung taught with anticipation of the impending tragedy. No spoilers here; the title of the film gives away the ending, yet the film, like “The Passion of the Christ” also produced by Steve McVeety, is worth watching for the dignity of screenwriters Cyrus and Betsy Geffen Mowrasteh’s direction, and the commanding performances by mostly unknown actors. Actress Shoreh Aghdashloo, better know to American audiences as the charming Elizabeth from “The Nativity Story”, is Zahra, the pivotal figure of the film who boldly clashes with the somewhat reasonable mayor Ibrahim as he is swept into the insane current of mob violence.Soaring cinematography, gripping performances, and the distinctive Middle Eastern style musical score of John Debney (composer for the Passion of the Christ) redeem a shameful story of deception and murder, elevating it to soul-searing enlightenment. Your heart will be rent but not destroyed by Soryaya M. The screening audience the theatre charged with renewed determination to fight such abuse of women. Soraya’s tragic story will continue to be repeated until more members of the international community rise up and take decisive action to liberate women from sexual slavery, starvation, and abuse.

Tuesday, June 09, 2009

The Family Scores a Victory in New York State!

WOW, this really happened in the bluest of blue states!
Someone out there has been praying. Keep it up.
Republicans now control the state Senate, after two Democrats switched their party affiliation.
Nearly 1,000 marriage advocates gathered on the Capitol steps in Albany, N.Y., today to support the state laws defining marriage as the union between one man and one woman.
The rally came one day after two Democrats in the state Senate switched their party affiliation as the debate over a same-sex "marriage" bill escalated. Republicans now control the Senate, which wraps up this legislative session in eight days.
Leading the rally were Tony Perkins, president of FRC Action; Maggie Gallagher, president of the National Organization for Marriage; and Bishop Harry Jackson Jr., founder of the High Impact Leadership Coalition.
"Yesterday, we were thinking we needed to come up here and make a strong push so gay 'marriage' would not be passed," said Valerie Case, a reporter at WMHR in Syracuse. "Today, it looks like it may not even be an issue. However, we know in New York that may not last long."
Josh Griffin, who participated in the rally, said he can see God at work.
“First of all, God ordained marriage between one man and one woman, and it's important to keep it that way," he said. "Also, I believe it (same-sex 'marriage') has ramifications for our liberties here in the United States.”

A Pro-Life Broadway Play to See

from the Catholic League
An extraordinarily life-affirming, pro-faith, pro-Jewish play is currently showing on Broadway, and it's having a significant impact on public opinion about faith and life. This is happening in New York City - the media capital of the country, and not a city known for supporting this kind of entertainment. The name of the play is Irena's Vow. It's been spectacularly well-received by audiences - and stunningly, by nearly all the critics, too! Only a single but very powerful critic took a predictably negative stand, but on Broadway, that is often all it takes to kill even a great play.
Right now, there is an opportunity to save this play and allow it to continue its affirmation of faith and life right on Broadway. By seeing Irena's Vow in the next 45 days and encouraging others to do the same, you can make it possible. If we succeed, it will certainly encourage other such plays and movies. Won't you please help?
Also, if you buy and register your purchase of tickets through
www.InSupportofLife.org, 15% of the ticket price will be contributed to life-affirming non-profits like pregnancy centers. That's $30 for two $98 tickets!
Irena's Vow is an amazing Broadway show with a Judeo-Christian worldview, including a strong positive message about life. In a place like Manhattan, that is simply extraordinary. For that reason alone, people of faith ought to support it. But it's also a great play, based on a true story. When it ran Off-Broadway, every single critic loved it, and every performance was sold out.


The play is based on the riveting, life-affirming story of one of the most courageous and unsung heroines of World War II - Irena Opdyke, a young Polish Catholic girl forced to work as head housekeeper for the top Nazi official in her town. Because of an earlier vow, Irena risked her own life every day for two years to protect the lives of the twelve Jews she hid in the basement of the Nazi's house - without his knowledge, of course. When one of them gets pregnant, all fear the baby's cries will reveal their hiding place, so they decide to end the baby's life. But Irena remembers the vow she made.... and thinks of her Catholic faith.... What does God want her to do???
So this is the extraordinary true story of one woman's choice about one life and the twelve lives that would ultimately be saved - or lost - by her decision. The result is so heart-warming and uplifting that many in the audiences weep for joy.
Dr. Howard Edington, Bill Bright's former minister, saw Irena's Vow and called it "an overwhelming experience," one "you will never forget!" He believes it could have a significant impact on public opinion in NYC about courage and the value of life. We agree.
Please go see the play as soon as possible and please buy your tickets through
www.InSupportofLife.org.
We also ask that you email and tell everybody you know about this play (and the website,) asking them to do the same with their friends. It's imperative that we show our support for a Broadway play with such a positive message on life and faith!After you see the play, email them again with your positive comments!
Thanks so much for your help! You will NEVER forget this play!

The end of abortion in Witchita:Tiller's mill to close permanently

from Operation Rescue
Wichita, KS - A statement has been released by attorneys for the Tiller family stating that Women's Health Care Services will permanently close.
"We are thankful that Tiller's clinic will not reopen and thankful that Wichita is now abortion-free. It is our sincere prayer that threats to open another third-trimester abortion clinic in Kansas will not come to fruition so that the healing process for this state and community can begin," said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman.
"This is a bittersweet moment for us at Operation Rescue. We have worked very hard for this day, but we wish it would have come through the peaceful, legal channels that we were pursuing. We believe we were very close to seeing disciplinary action taken against Tiller's license that would have closed this clinic through due process," said Newman.
An Operation Rescue staff person received two letters last week from the Kansas State Board of Healing Arts dated June 1, 2009, informing her that her complaints against the late George R. Tiller and his employee, abortionist Shelley Sella were still open and the investigations still pending. The letters were automatically generated prior to Tiller's death.
Operation Rescue later confirmed with the Board that the Sella investigation will continue, while the Tiller portion of the investigation will now be closed. In addition, the
eleven-count petition recently made public by the KSBHA against Tiller for allegedly violating the requirement that there be a second unaffiliated physician referral for post-viability abortions will also be closed.
"At the time of his death, the KSBHA had already taken the first steps to revoke Tiller's medical license. Notice that these additional cases were proceeding is another indication that we were very close to seeing some kind of disciplinary action," said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. "The legal channels we were employing were working and are continuing to work in the case of Shelley Sella."
The complaints referred to in the KSBHA letters centered on an abortion patient who suffered substantial complications from a late-term abortion she received at Tiller's Women's Health Care Services in September, 2008. Both Tiller and Sella participated in her abortion. The victim's name is being withheld to protect her privacy. [
Read more.]
"Since the woman involved suffered life-threatening injuries, issues involving Sella's participation in this botched abortion must still be addressed by the Board," said Newman.
Sella, who resides in California and worked for Tiller one week out of three, could still face the revocation of her Kansas medical license.
View Sella Letter
"Operation Rescue will continue to press forward with it national campaign to show the truth about abortion with our fleet of Truth Trucks. We will continue to work to stop tax-funded abortions, and expose abortion industry wrongdoing around the nation," said Newman. "There is more than enough work for us to do. The truth about abortion must continue to be told until the entire country is abortion-free."

Corpus Christi Procession

from a family at the Maria Friary of Our Lady of Guadalupe

This Sunday (6/14) the Friars in New Bedford will hold their annual Corpus Christi procession.

Our family was blessed with the opportunity to participate in this event 2 years ago and it was an incredible experience. Here's a link to watch the procession of 2007.
Typically the procession begins at 2:00 p.m. and there's a potluck in the basement of Our Lady's Chapel at around 5:00 p.m.
There are 3 stops along the way at the most gorgeous churches.
What better way to spend a Sunday then by accompanying Our Lord out into the community?

Monday, June 08, 2009

Obama won't reduce abortions

Despite the promises made to gullible or disingenuous Catholics at Notre Dame, Obama's friends object to the idea of reducing abortions, and he owes them too much.
"Leading pro-life advocates are skeptical following a meeting Wendy Wright, the president of Concerned Women for America, had with members of the Obama administration on abortion.
There, Melody Barnes, the Director of Domestic Policy Council and a former board member of Emily’s List, led the meeting and insisted that the president's goal was not to reduce abortions.
The goal, she insisted, is to “reduce the need for abortions.”
"If you reduce the need, doesn't it follow that the number would be reduced? How do you quantify if you've reduced the 'need'?" Wright said at the time. "Does Obama want to reduce the 'need' but not the number of abortions? In that case, is he okay with 'unneeded' abortions?"
Read the entire story on Life News

Privacy not a problem for gay activists

Wasn't it only last week that Jill Stanek and Bill O'Reilly were acccused of George Tiller's murder by saying where his clinic was?
Now gay lobby is publishing pro familly advocates addresses to frighten us. Where are the federal marshalls when you need them?
from the Family Research Council.
Gay Lobby Tries to 'Out' Marriage Supporters
If you can't beat 'em, bully them! That's the motto of a growing number of homosexual activists, who seem intent on harassing people out of their traditional values. In Washington State, where a petition drive is underway to overturn the Domestic Partner Expansion law, (nicknamed by Gov. Chris Gregoire as the "everything but marriage" bill), a group called
WhoSigned.org is trying to target voters who signed on to the referendum movement by publicizing their names and addresses. Larry Stickney, the head of Protect Marriage Washington, says he's received "dozens of obscene and threatening e-mails and phone calls." Of course, we all witnessed this same hostility and physical violence in California during Proposition 8, but now the politics of intimidation are cropping up across the country in states where marriage bills are under debate. Even in Washington, D.C., our own Chuck Donovan and close ally Bishop Harry Jackson had their personal information published after they joined the District's marriage referendum effort. The drive to publicly intimidate social conservatives is not popular--even by liberal standards. This strategy even caught the attention of the Seattle Times, whose editors--though admittedly pro-homosexual--condemned the WhoSigned group for using scare tactics to undermine democracy. "Fear is the essence of what [they're] encouraging... This is a new tactic in Washington politics," writes the Times, "and a disgusting one." Additional Resources Seattle Times: Gay-rights group wants to name petition signers

Cairo and Muslims

The priest who married my husband and I had been laicized, and married. Now he was a college professor at a Catholic in name only college. I was teaching in a Community College, and was surprised to see a laicized Catholic priest was giving a talk on Islam. I had to go.
After sitting through two hours of lecture on the superiority of Muslim faith, where the former priest did not admit his own religion had any merit at all, I had had enough. I looked for an opportunity to put his supercilious description of Islam in it's place without riling the large crowd of Muslims who had gathered to hear him speak.
When Dr Tom described the Muslim custom of having the woman walk several steps behind her husband as one of misunderstood chivalry, I saw my chance. I stood up and said,
"yes, chivalry is often misunderstood as misogyny. For example when the Vatican and Muslim countries united at the UN Cairo Conference to oppose the imposition of abortion and birth control, they were called anti-woman by Hillary Clinton. In reality, such a position reveals the highest regard for the dignity of woman and their high calling to motherhood. "
I must admit I enjoyed watching the permutations of discomfort which passed over the priest's face. When liberals want to praise Islam they have to be careful about revealing their positions on sexual morality, for there the Muslim faith has much in common with Jewish and Catholic traditions.
After the talk, a beautiful young Muslim wife came to me to thank me for defending the morality of Islam. She shared with me her struggles with infertility and thanked me for my offers to pray for the intercession of St Gerard for motherhood.
Colleen Carroll Campbell in her show "Faith and Culture" was discussing the Muslim reluctance to embrace Western Culture because of it's perversity. Some idiot in Hollywood has claimed that Britney Spears is the voice of freedom. No, Miss Spears is the voice of moral degradation and slavery to sin. If the Muslim world wants no part of Western Culture with immoral entertainment and the sins of abortion and contraception, then as a Catholic, I understand.
Keep your distance from our pernicious culture. I wish I could.
In his recent trip, Obama was warming up to the Muslim world, yet if they truly examined his recent moves toward widening access to abortion by opening up UNPFA funds for agencies in their nations to fund (or force) abortions in their countries, they would have soundly rejected him. Once the Muslim nations find out the true Obama agenda, they will cease to embrace him. But will it be too late? Will his policies already be in place in their countries?
As in the case of “reproductive health,” U.N. agencies have made use of “child health” and “maternal health” as vectors to promote access to abortion. The linkage has been especially clear in the area of maternal health, where U.N. agencies routinely claim that deaths due to illegal abortion are one of the leading health issues faced by mothers — basing this claim on an inflated estimate of annual deaths of women that is completely unverifiable, according to the U.N.’s former chief demographer.
Given this international history of manipulation of concepts related to “health,” Muslim nations would be well advised to scrutinize
any and all new “child and maternal” health programs on offer from the Obama administration.
Pope Benedict wants to promote peace with the Muslim world based on our agreement on such moral issues, but Obama wants to build a New World Order based on sexual license and moral relativism. Tom Hoopes does an excellent job discussing the difference in their standpoints:
"Obama’s desire for common ground (and I believe its aims are well-intentioned) wants to minimize differences so we can all get along. He focuses on the horizontal: The Golden Rule.
Benedict’s desire for dialogue wants to define differences to bring more people to the truth, which leads to deep-seated, lasting peace. He focuses on the vertical: Eternal Truth.
The desire for religions to ignore their differences is a secularist’s desire. It’s the desire of someone who doesn’t think there’s a discernable truth. Someone who says faith is always assailed by doubt.
When someone tells you, “Relax. Don’t make such a big deal of your questions about God,” you know that they don’t think questions about God are a big deal. Benedict’s desire for dialogue, on the other hand, starts from the assumption that questions about God are at the very center of our lives. He also has a great confidence in God’s ability to offer clarity in answer to our questions."


Read the entire story and the entire story at the NC Register blog.

Saturday, June 06, 2009

Protest the Pill Day

http://www.thepillkills.com/The Pill Kills
So many women are willing to risk their own health to contracept or to follow doctors' orders to 'cure' feminine ills with the contraceptive pill. I know. As a teen, I had ovarian cysts and was on the pill. I was miserable for months, stopped it and was healed by a nun who prayed over me at a healing Mass. I never needed this awful medecine and niether do you.
Napro technology has ways to avoid pregnancy, regulate your cycle, fix your raging hormones, overcome PMS and the ravages of menopause with natural hormones, not the synthetic poisons of the Pill.
The Pill increases death due to stroke and cancer, so is the cure really worth the risk?
Read more about the Pill at American Life League's website Protest the Pill.

Friday, June 05, 2009

The twisted ministry of Tiller the abortionist

For those of us who have lost children before birth, we often long for some kind of ceremony, a funeral of some kind to lay our beloved child to rest. Tiller offered this to families who had just paid him to perform partial birth abortions on their child, right in his mill.
Somehow this child Tess was deemed unworthy of life, yet here are her parents posing with her mutilated body. They sent these photos to a pro-lifer who failed to talk the mom out of the abortion, but did leave her adddress with the couple.
Read her note carefully. She was in intense pain and regrets her smile in these photos. Warning, these are very difficult to view.
Tiller played with their emotions to get their $5,000, then minstered to them afterwards. Sick, very sick.
"Woe to those who call good evil and evil good".

Bishop Robinson rejoices at legalization of gay marriage in New Hampshire

Robinson who watched the gay marriage debate in the State Legislature in Concord commented, "We need to be working in our religious institutions to come to this new place about what is God's will about this," Robinson said. "I think a close look at that will reveal God loves all of God's children, not just certain ones, and that's the harder work."
In a speech in Washington last month, Robinson said despite recent momentum, the struggle continues for gay rights supporters in churches.
"Religion in general still presents the greatest obstacles we face in full equality," he said. "Ninety-five percent of the oppression that we know in our lives comes from the religious community."

Read the entire story on AP.

Catholic Deacon Keith Fournier agrees with the bishop that religious people are at the forefront to protect traditional marriage, but disagrees that it's an evil must must be overcome.
"At the forefront of the movement to protect marriage are Catholics who believe what the Church teaches. Our insisting that marriage remain what it has always been is adding to our precarious place in the culture these days. However, make no mistake; the Catholic Church will not change its position on the nature of marriage because it cannot. Truth is not up for grabs, no matter what the growing “dictatorship of relativism” throws our way. "
One of the many times I am so proud of my Church. We stand for truth no matter how unpopular that makes us.

Read his entire column at Catholic Online.

Thursday, June 04, 2009

The truth about George Tiller

If you want to know the truth about late term abortionist George Tiller, Christina Dunigan who is a frequent commenter here under the name Granny Grump, has an exhaustive summary of his crimes with ample documentation to convict him in any reasonable court of law. Of course, thanks to the liberals, we have anything but reasonable courts now.
Here's how Christina cuts through the rhetoric about how Tiller performed late term abortions.

"The assertions that the abortions Tiller was infamous for were performed on women whose lives were in danger have begun to fade. As they should, as people ponder the utterly nonsensical idea that any woman could face a life-threatening or health-threatening pregnancy complication for which the safest course of action is to strenuously avoid all inpatient care at fully-equipped hospitals and to instead spend three days at the La Qunita attended by your mom or boyfriend. "
This technique of waiting for the abortion to finish while at the La Quinta is what killed Christin Gilbert, a 19 year old with Down syndrome who died of a botched abortion at Tiller's facility. He begged for 'no sirens or lights'when the ambulance finally picked the dying woman up at his mill. He didn't want the prolife protesters outside to be alerted that his death toll was rising. We will remember you Christin, as the phonies are lauding Tiller. Here is a participant of the March for Life this year who is memorializing her.

Read the entire post over at Real Choice and be prepared next time someone tries to lionize this coward of cowards who killed 60,000 babies and several women.

Freedom speech and religious liberty to be curtailed by PBS

PBS doesn't fool me; whenever I see wonderful Catholic concerts like "The Priests" I know they are fundraising. Catholics are impressed and send money, then, the following week the gay and lesbian shows take the place of the Three Tenors. Bait and switch. This is how PBS really feels about religious content; it is to be eliminated.
from Focus on the Family

Take Action: PBS May Crack Down on Religious Content

Thirty-nine members of Congress have sent a
letter to PBS Chairman John Porter expressing concern about a proposal that would strip affiliation from any station that carries “sectarian” content, such as local religious services. The board plans to vote on the issue June 16.
The lawmakers wrote: "There simply is no compelling reason for punishing these stations by forcing them to choose between programming that many depend on ... and the PBS affiliation."
The letter asks Porter to allow a 30-day public comment period.
"Forcing stations to ban religious programming or lose their affiliation treats religion like some kind of disease," said Ashley Horne, federal policy analyst at Focus on the Family Action. "That is absurd, considering 65 percent of Americans report that religion is important in their daily lives, and 3 out of 4 say Christianity is their religious preference."
TAKE ACTIONPlease ask PBS Chairman John Porter to allow affiliated stations to continue to air religious programming. You can
e-mail him or call him.
(703) 739-5051
— Roger Greer

NYS Public Institutions to pay for sex abuse as well

Kudos to the Catholic League and the bishops who insisted that if the Church was to be open to lawsuits from sex abuse committed years ago, that public schools should too. According to a report by Prof Carol Shakeshaft of Hofstra University, this puts them in a far worse position than the Church, as public schools are 100 TIMES more likely to abuse children than Catholic priests.
Read the entire story at the NY Times.

Down syndrome may cure cancer

Yes, that is what I said. Read this post at Vive Christus Rex about what researchers at Boston Children's Hospital have done.
"Dr. Sandra Ryeom and colleagues at Children's Hospital Boston discovered that at least two proteins found in the extra 21 chromosome of Down syndrome could be instrumental in fighting Cancer."
She states on her website,
"One of the major projects in my lab has been to understand the role of a specific gene, the Down syndrome candidate region-1 gene or DSCR1, in protecting individuals with Down syndrome from cancer. This past year, we have used mouse models to validate our hypothesis that three copies of the DSCR1 gene, as is found in Down syndrome individuals with 3 copies of genes located on chromosome 21, does in fact help suppress the growth of tumors. Using transgenic mouse models and molecular and cell biological techniques, we also now know that DSCR1 blocks the formation of blood vessels (angiogenesis) that would nourish the cancer cells allowing them to grow into large tumors. Therefore, the extra copy of DSCR1 acts to prevent tumor growth in Down syndrome individuals. We are currently focusing on determining whether the DSCR1 gene product can be used as a therapeutic option to prevent tumor growth in the non-Down syndrome population."
Dr Roger Reeves who is also researching with the mouse model of Down syndrome at Johns Hopkins has known this for some time. He alluded to this at his talk for NDSS at NYU this summer.
Here is a summary of his presentation from the NDSS website.
As part of the inaugural event of the National Down Syndrome Society's Education Series, Dr. Roger Reeves spoke on the topic of 'New Frontiers of Down Syndrome Research.' Dr. Roger Reeves is Professor in the Department of Physiology and a Core Faculty Member of the McKusick-Nathans Institute for Genetic Medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He earned his B.S. from Bowling Green State University in Ohio and his Ph.D. at University of Maryland, doing his thesis research at the National Cancer Institute. He went to Hopkins as a post-doctoral fellow in 1983 and began working on gene expression in Down syndrome almost immediately. He is noted for his contributions to the study of gene dosage effects using animal models to understand pathogenesis and human genetic studies to identify genetic modifiers that contribute to more or less severe presentation of Down syndrome. His laboratory is studying a possible therapeutic approach for DS features that occur in the brain. He recently discovered the basis for the reduced frequency of solid tumors in people with trisomy 21 and is using a pharmacologic approach based on this observation to reduce cancer incidence in all people.

Add this to the growing list of reasons why the 90% abortion rate of our beautiful children is an international tragedy. Perhaps God would have given us a cure for cancer much sooner if we had taken them seriously enough to let them live, and do this research to save their lives decades ago. When will the National Institute of Health give these researchers a fair share of it's funding to continue these projects which have the potential to help large populations?
Rep Cathy McMorris Rodgers was with the Congressional Down Syndrome Caucus, pressuring the NIH to give some of it's stimulus package funding to such worthy projects.