Monday, November 29, 2010

Why eliminating the r-word is not enough

Is the subject of my latest piece at MercatorNet.
Also in MercatorNet see my description of how my daughter Christina fares in an inclusive educational setting and how she socializes with limited verbal skills.

Bookmark and Share

And a child shall lead us

This toddler knows he is welcome at the altar, yet he goes on his knees. So much to learn from in this beautifully simple gesture. Let us follow suit this Advent.


Bookmark and Share

Sunday, November 28, 2010

The Holy Father called, we responded

In the diocese of Norwich, CT, Bishop Michael Cote held a Holy Hour and Benediction for Nascent Human Life. It was well attended, and the Benediction hymns were enthusiastically sung in Latin. Some of the petitions were particularly touching, especially,
"You love those who are afflicted,
Help parents of unborn children with disabilities to cherish the baby you have entrusted to their care".
Your Son, Jesus, healed the sick,
Guide all doctors to be guardians of life, especially the lives of unborn children with serious health conditions."
I don't know whether those petitions were written by the bishop or sent from the Vatican, but I appreciated them and they gave me great comfort that the Church Militant was praying as one with the Church Suffering and the Church Triumphant for the people closest to my heart.Imagine the power we unleashed last night! These are the people for whom we prayed are those I have dedicated my work on this blog and elsewhere.
Here is the prayer from Pope John Paul's  encyclical Evangelium Vitae which we prayed.

O Mary, bright dawn of the new world, Mother of the living,
To yo do we entrust the cause of life. Look down, O Mother, upon the vast numbers of babies not allowed to be born, of the poor whose lives are made difficult, of men and women who are victims of brutal violence, of the elderly and the sick killed by indifference or out of misguided mercy.
Grant that all who believe in your Son may proclaim the Gospel as a gift ever new, the joy of celebrating it with gratitude throughout their lives and the courage to bear witness to it resolutely, in order to build, with all people of good will, the civilization of truth and love, to the praise and glory of God, the Creator and lover of life.
Read the entire article at CNS.
Bookmark and Share

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

The condom conumdrum is a moot point

Dr Gerard Nadal is not an armchair theologian like some of my commenters on the previous post. He is a microbiologist, and sticks to his area of expertise; HIV transmission. According to the good doctor, condoms are not enough to prevent the spread of HIV:
So the truth of the matter is that condoms have a much, much, higher failure rate than 15% during typical use. In dealing with the transmissibility of HIV, this is catastrophic.
IF you really love someone; you abstain. Period.

Will anyone hear his rational point of view amidst the cacaphony of voices unleased by the Holy Father's comments? Pope Benedict was not recommending condoms, he was merely saying any act towards protecting another is moving towards morality, it shows an awakening of the moral sensibility. No one said it overrides the immoratliy of homosexual acts, or contraceptive acts.
It was meant to make a hypothetical point, which is importnt to understand particularly if condoms are as ineffective as Dr Nadal maintains.
Read  his entire post here.

Bookmark and Share

Monday, November 22, 2010

Bill Donohue on the Condom Controversy



Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on the pope's recent remarks on condoms:

Pope Benedict XVI acknowledges that condoms may make sense in preventing the transmission of disease, and he immediately sets off a firestorm. But he never said condoms are an acceptable means of birth control, nor did he say that they are the answer to HIV/AIDS. Indeed, he said he opposed the widespread use of condoms because that "implies the banalization of sexuality." He also criticized the "fixation" on condoms as a means of combating AIDS.

While what the Holy Father said is newsworthy, it was not revolutionary. Even with regards to the birth control pill, theCatholic Church has allowed for exceptions. In his 1968 encyclical, Humanae VitaePope Paul VI said, "the Church does not consider at all illicit the use of those therapeutic means necessary to cure bodily diseases, even if a foreseeable impediment to procreation should result there fromprovided such impediment is not directly intended for any motive whatsoever." Moreover, the Church accepts the use of hormonal contraception to treat endometriosis.

We have been asked by the media what the Catholic League's position is on this issue. This misunderstands our role: we don't have a position on any Church teachingwe simply accept their wisdom and defend the right of the Church to have its voice heard with respect in the public square. We therefore stand proudly behind the pope's comments on condoms. (emphasis mine; I love the way he states this; its not his or any layman or clergy's role to have a 'position' on the pope's statements on morality. We are to obey and defend the wisdom of Peter). 


Bookmark and Share

Clearing up the Condom Controversy

It  took me by surprise this Saturday, seeing that Fox News reporting that the Holy Father had approved the use of condoms for prostitutes. I was flabbergasted, and went online to see rumors flying thick on social networks. It was a topic for discussion among adults at the Sunday Church gatherings, and I was refusing to comment,  waiting till one came which I felt was helpful.So, if you are just hearing this 'news' relax, it as a leak of a book length interview called, Light of the World,  to be released tomorrow from Ignatius Press. Pope Benedict spoke with a German reporter, and like his Regensberg talk which stirred so much controversy when it was taken out of context,  shows how little the mainstream press understands the heart of the Church.
The quotes are were leaked by L'Osservatore Romano.

"There may be a basis in the case of some individuals, as perhaps when a male prostitute uses a condom, where this can be a first step in the direction of a moralization, a first assumption of responsibility, on the way toward recovering an awareness that not everything is allowed and that one cannot do whatever one wants. But it is not really the way to deal with the evil of HIV infection. That can really lie only in a humanization of sexuality."
The interviewer asked the Pontiff, "Are you saying, then, that the Catholic Church is actually not opposed in principle to the use of condoms?"
The Holy Father replied, "She of course does not regard it as a real or moral solution, but, in this or that case, there can be nonetheless, in the intention of reducing the risk of infection, a first step in a movement toward a different way, a more human way, of living sexuality." (emphasis mine)

Dr Janet Smith, professor at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit, and bioethics expert,  provides not only context and accurate quotes of the Holy Father's words but a useful analogy;

An analogy: If someone was going to rob a bank and was determined to use a gun, it would better for that person to use a gun that had no bullets in it. It would reduce the likelihood of fatal injuries. But it is not the task of the Church to instruct potential bank robbers how to rob banks more safely and certainly not the task of the Church to support programs of providing potential bank robbers with guns that could not use bullets.
Nonetheless, the intent of a bank robber to rob a bank in a way that is safer for the employees and customers of the bank may indicate an element of moral responsibility that could be a step towards eventual understanding of the immorality of bank robbing.

I see this as saying. "Holy Mother Church has always stated that homosexual acts, (which are surely what the Holy meant to reference when he said 'male prostitute') are intrinsically evil. A mortal sin. Although using a condom is not contracepting in homosexual acts which are not procreative by their nature, the fact that the prostitute is showing concern for his sexual partner's health is a step in the right direction towards morality.No one is saying that using condoms is suddenly a moral act. Of course, we hope and pray that the man repents and lives a faithful chaste life.That is our focus to guide the faithful. "
Pope John Paul in Familiaris Consortio spoke of incremental steps toward moral behavior:
 What is needed is a continuous, permanent conversion which, while requiring an interior detachment from every evil and an adherence to good in its fullness, is brought about concretely in steps which lead us ever forward.(emphasis mine)
 In other words, it would be worse if a male prostitute would engage is homosexual acts knowing he could be giving HIV to his client. Showing a little concern  is better than none, but it does not make the act itself morally acceptable, nor does it make condom use in other cases acceptable.The reports that condoms are OK'ed by the Pope show a lack of understanding of Church teaching. In a society where even Catholics do not understand the reasons behind the Church's prohibition of contraception, it is not a suprise that reporters would make the same mistake pursuing what seemed like a big news story.

Read the entire article here. 
Bookmark and Share

Sunday, November 21, 2010

I called in to speak with Marc Germaine

I just spoke against Obamacare as a caller on the Marc Germaine Show, trying to discuss why I feel that my daughter will eventually be denied care. In deplorable talk show host dodge, Germaine tried to reframe the debate in a way that he was comfortable, asking unrelated questions like "what objective reasons can you use to prove that we have the best healthcare system in the US?" He went so far off track to keep me from discussing death panels statement of Paul Krugman that he tried to test my knowledge of Japanese health care system.
I was trying doggedly to stick to my point that denying intellectually disabled children care was no solution to the lack of services which many people suffer. I referred to "Healthcare for Gunner" Press Conference on Capitol Hill and Justice for Annie, and I think Marc Germaine was feeling a bit threatened, as he departed from his civil tone and became snarky and dumped my call.
He did say he would like to continue the debate, and I'm ready when he is. I will keep him on topic or I won't debate. I have the facts lined up on my side which proves that Obamacare will not help more Americans obtain access to health care, and I did get to mention that three Catholic hospitals in PA will be closing for fear of being forced by Obama to provide abortions. Read more here.


Bookmark and Share

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Naughty and nice list for your Christmas shopping


We walked into Walmart today and were greeted with a lovely sight. A huge sign in the doorway read, "Merry Christmas". "That's what happened when thousands of Christians emailed Walmart two years ago to reprimand them for excluding and criticizing Christmas as a 'pagan holiday'", I told my girls.
"Now they know they'd better wish us a 'Merry Christmas".
Here's a list of companies who get it. From the American Family Association. 

Companies FOR "Christmas"
Here's where you do your shopping this Christmas!updated 11-17-10 
Amazon.com-trying to make up for selling Pedophile books, I imagine
Bed Bath & Beyond
Belk
Best Buy
Big Lots
Books-A-Million
Cabella's
Collective Brands
Costco
Dollar Tree
Family Dollar

Dollar General
H.E.B. Stores
Hallmark
Harris Teeter Stores
Hobby Lobby
JC Penney
JoAnn Fabrics & Crafts Stores- I just bought my Christmas craft supplies here
Kmart
kohl's- just bought the girls shoes and clothing here
Kroger
Lowe's-happy to see this famliy friendly store is opening across the street from Home Depot
Macy's
Meijer
Menard's
Michael's Stores
Neiman Marcus
Nordstrom
Petsmart
Pier One Imports
Publix
QVC
Rite Aid-my drug store of choice
Sears
Super D Drug Stores
Target-love this place
Walgreens
Wal-Mart/Sam's Club- where I do my grocery shopping

Stores which need some reminders that if it weren't for Christmas, their bottom line wouldn't look too great 
Companies marginalizing "Christmas"
updated 11-17-10

Bass Pro Shops
Banana Republic
Bath & Body Works
Gap Stores
Hancock Fabrics
Hy-Vee Stores
Old Navy
Limited Brands
Safeway
Starbucks
Toys R Us
Whole Foods
 

Scrooges to be boycotted
Companies against "Christmas"
updated 11-17-10 
Barnes & Noble
CVS Pharmacy
Dick's Sporting Goods
Office Depot
Radio Shack
Staples
SUPERVALU
Victoria's Secret  

40% of Americans say marriage is obsolete

"As families gather for Thanksgiving this year, nearly one in three American children is living with a parent who is divorced, separated or never-married. More people are accepting the view that wedding bells aren't needed to have a family."
Even the Census Bureau is redefining what constitutes Because, according to the Pew Research Poll, about 39 percent of Americans said marriage was becoming obsolete.
Things were different a little over three decades ago, by eleven percentage points
"In 1978, just 28 percent believed marriage was becoming obsolete."
And we wonder why more teens are getting pregnant, using drugs, committing suicide and getting fatter. Where is the love when young women grow up without the hope of being the apple of their husband's eye? When they believe they only have being used by men and raising children with temporary 'dads' who are apt to leave or abuse them?


Read the entire article at Yahoo news.
Bookmark and Share

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Archbishop Dolan on his election


The interview was conducted by Tim Drake who was instrumental in bringing the problems with Bishop Kicanans to the fore. I give him credit for helping urge the bishops to elect Dolan. Here is a question from his National Catholic Register report. 
Can you address health-care and the possible funding of abortion in the health-care reform bill?
I am highly appreciative of the summary that Cardinal Francis George gave yesterday, which was downright eloquent. I admired the way he handled it.
The bishops of the U.S. are in somewhat of a delicate position in that we have been promoting comprehensive health care, but it wasn’t comprehensive, in that a precious part of those deserving care — those being unborn babies — weren’t receiving it. The bishops were cogent in expressing that.
Cardinal George was so articulate — as was Pope John Paul II — in telling us that although we’re political in the best sense of the word, we’re not partisan. The bishops of the U.S. are not partisan; we are pastors and teachers.

Read the entire interview at the NC Register Blog. 
Bookmark and Share

Gay "Catholics" say Dolan is result of Vatican influence on USCCB

The Vatican influencing the USCCB? The nerve! Who do they think they are the POPE or something!
Somehow I got on the email list for the gay group "Catholics for Equality" . This is one more reason to thank God Archbishop Dolan was elected, their press release. My comments in red.

Catholics For Equality Says Election of Archbishops Dolan and
Kurtz Signals Increased Vatican Influence in US Politics

WASHINGTON - Catholics for Equality is concerned about the anti-equality direction of the U.S. Catholic bishops in their election of Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York as the new president, and Archbishop Joseph Kurtz of Louisville as vice-president, of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). This election broke the long-standing tradition of elevating the current vice-president.
Catholics for Equality Board member Rev. Tony Adams said, "following their tradition would have meant electing a noted social justice champion, Bishop Kicanas of Tucson, to lead the Catholic Church in America. Instead, the bishops chose two outspoken opponents of pro-equality civil rights measures." Both men are leaders against civil rights equality in their states and across the country. Translation, these bishops support the Catholic doctrine of the Sacrament of Marriage
Board member and political strategist Aniello Alioto said, "this election broadens the gap between the people of the Catholic Church in America and the increasingly uncharitable demands of the Pope in Rome.Assuming that American Catholics only want to be free of traditional Catholic teaching.  It also threatens the broad American consensus that began with the election of President John F. Kennedy, allowing American Catholics to contribute more fully to the common good as both Americans and as Catholics.Catholics are split equally Democrat/Republican with a shift towards Republican in the last election We are concerned that this election will result in a shift from the pastoral nature of American Catholicism to efforts to politicize in America the will of Rome." Pastoral nature of American Catholicism means do it yourself Catholicism. 
Concern is amplified by the election of Archbishop Kurtz as the new USCCB Vice President. Archbishop Kurtz, as head the Ad Hoc Committee for the Defense of Marriage, has led the Catholic hierarchy's national campaign to deny marriage and family rights to gay and lesbian citizens. Now I know that Brian Brown at NOM is happy! That campaign has been financially assisted by the national office of the Knights of Columbus, most recently through the production of videos that demean and discredit gay and lesbian relationships,this must be their "Fathers for Good" initiative.  as well as single parent and extended family households. Adams said, "American Catholics are alarmed when tax-exempt church resources are diverted from charity, education and parish work into political campaigns and veiled candidate endorsements."
"In his report from the ad-hoc Committee for the Defense of Marriage, Archbishop Kurtz makes it clear that our bishops are waging a new political campaign to change the laws in our country" I thought it was the gay agenda to change marriage laws without voter consent Alioto said. The Committee's report compares court challenges to Proposition 8 in California and the federal Defense of Marriage Act to Roe v. Wade and the battle over reproductive rights. This results in a new "pro-family, pro-life" messaging strategy that harms all non-traditional as well as LGBT families. It contributes to the climate that permits bullying and harassment of youth from such families who become at higher risk for depression and suicide. Here we go, we are accused of bullying when we disagree with them
Catholics for Equality calls upon our bishops to pledge full transparency in all efforts to shift funding from our national charitable, pastoral and educational effortsCCHD funds do go to gay advocacy groups, here is proof into the Pope's interference to deny freedom and fairness in American politics. a so called Catholic group tells the Pope to stay out of American church affairs, It calls on all Catholics of good conscience to monitor and challenge the priorities of our bishops.

I'm monitoring the priorities of our bishops all right, and I love what I see!
Bookmark and Share

Parody of Fr Thomas Reese receiving the news of Dolan's election



Bookmark and Share

Words and meaning, why eliminating the R word is not enough for me

Read my column in Renew America on why forbidding the words mentally retarded is not going to help raise respect for those with Down syndrome sufficiently to change anything.

Bookmark and Share

Archbishop Dolan's election; Why it is a victory for the blogosphere

The  religion correspondent on NPR was dismayed by Archbishop Dolan's surprise election. citing the influence the  Catholic blogosphere had  and reminding Americans of the influence that the USCCB had on drafting the Stupak Amendment to Obamacare.   Liberal Kicanas was considered a sure thing, until he lost the election to Archbishop Dolan 128-111 in an upset which hasn't occurred since 1960. 
Archbishop Dolan is no liberal, he walks softly but he carries a big stick.  What does this mean?

According to Rocco Palmo of Whispers in the Loggia, quoted by CNA

It represents a seismic shift,” Palmo said. “Above all, it's an indication of everything Cardinal George has been and done over his tenure the last three years in really kind of raising the level of bishops' outspokenness in moral clarity and moral courage, especially in the health care fight.”
It's also an indication of Archbishop Dolan's rising position, he said. The New York archbishop “has been unstintingly strong in his defense of the Holy Father and the defense of the right of Catholics to be treated fairly in the press, as he sees it.”
“Literally, it feels like the world is watching,” Palmo added. “Word is already going around.”
No more softball for pro-death, pro-same sex marriage Catholic politicians. Jill Stanek quoted the AP (see below) who gives credit to 'right-wing Catholic bloggers' who campaigned against Bishop Kicanas, and urged their readers to do the same at the hotel in Baltimore where they were staying for the conference. 
The vox populi has been heard!
It is the first time since the 1960s that a sitting vice president was on the ballot for president and lost. It follows protests by some conservative Catholics against the vice president, Tucson BishopGerald Kicanas….
Bishop Kicanas has not denied Communion to any Catholic politicians and rejected calls to punish the president of the University of Notre Dame for honoring President Obama, who supports abortion rights. Bishop Kicanas instead urged bishops and Catholic university presidents to start a discussion about their differences.
Partly because of Bishop Kicanas’ approach, he was pilloried in the days leading up to the vote by right-wing Catholic bloggers, who urged readers to send protest faxes and leave messages for bishops at the hotel where they are meeting….

Read the entire post at Jill Stanek's blog.
Bookmark and Share

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Newsweek has a fair piece on Brian Brown and NOM

I met Brian at the All Hallow's Eve celebration at the Friary in Griswold. He and his wife Susan, and their soon to be seven children have returned to the close Catholic community in the Northeast where they lived three years ago. I am a newcomer, so I hadn't met them before. Christina introduced us, fascinated by the grey bunny peeking out of Brian's coat pocket. He told us it was part of his daughter's St Elizabeth of Hungary costume. Christina was dressed as St Elizabeth too(let's face it, all girls want to be the princess saints, sooner or later) but including a rabbit was an original idea, making an instant hit with the children waiting in line for the potluck dinner.

I caught up with Brian later that evening, as he and Fra Roderick were discussing a particularly contentious demonstration he led in Providence. National Organization for Marriage was peacefully speaking at the Capitol Building, and gay activists were loudly blocking him from being heard and harassing demonstrators, including the couple's six children. Susan told Newsweek about it here,
At an event in Providence, R.I., she says, “they walked up to my kids and asked them, ‘Is Mommy raising you to be a good little bigot?’?” Yet she says she understands the frustration behind those remarks. “They believe in this as deeply as we do,” she says. “I see why we’d get under their skin.”
 I shared some of the ugly responses I receive each time I address the issue of same sex marriage here on Causa Nostrae Laetitiae, and Brian agreed the tone is more intense than what pro-life activists face. Yet, he and Susan maintain an admirable sense of balance, fueled no doubt by their fervent Catholicism, a supportive community behind them, and their strong family.
Last Friday, I had a chance to meet Susan at a rosary group of ladies from the Friary, and soon she had the group doubled over with laughter at her hilarious description of what she had to do to take the perfect family Christmas photo. Looking at it on my friend's refrigerator, with six angelic children dressed in white, a seasoned mother nods knowingly. This was not easy. 
 Humor and prayer, the perfect counterbalance to a challenging apostolate, with often frightening opposition.

Brian Brown’s hate mail is divided into two categories: messages that go straight to the police and those he dumps into a growing computer file labeled OPPOSITION. One riled caller threatened to hang him from a tree “and burn you while your children watch”; someone else sent an e-mail offering to “donate” a pipe bomb to his office. The majority, however, simply vent frustration at Brown, who has emerged as the nation’s fiercest crusader against gay marriage.


I wouldn't call the man with the bunny in his pocket and the broad smile fierce. But he is determined. And he is successful. Newsweek said, " in the 31 states where gay marriage has been put to a vote, it’s lost every time." The only place same sex marriage has been approved is in states like CT and MA where courts overrode the wishes of the people. In Iowa, three Supreme Court judges who ruled in favor of gay marriage were voted out of office, no doubt, in response to targeted campaigns of groups like the National Organization for Marriage.

Brian, like me, doesn't want his children to grow up in a nation where the traditional view of marriage between a man and a woman is characterized as a type of bigotry. He is good-hearted father of a robustly happy family, and hasn't a malicious bone in his body, despite threats of violence and ugly opposition to his right to free speech.

God bless his family and his efforts to secure a better world for all of us. Show up at their rallies to lend support. Post their information on your social networking sites.

Send donations to the National Organization for Marriage


Read the entire Newsweek article here. 
Bookmark and Share

Eliminating the word 'retarded' is not enough

The battle against using the so-called "R-word" has occupied my friends. in the Down syndrome advocacy community. I could never get fully engaged, because of the elephant in the room: the 90% abortion rate of our children. Read more at Renew America.

Bookmark and Share

Monday, November 15, 2010

New York Times Columnist Says Death Panels Needed to Fix Economy | LifeNews.com

New York Times Columnist Says Death Panels Needed to Fix Economy | LifeNews.com
Paul Krugman mocked Sarah Palin for saying that Death Panels were part of the program, and now he glibly says they are part of it.
Go figure.

Holy Father asks pro-lifers to participate in a worldwide prayer vigil Nov 27

He has never made this request before. This is a perfect way to spend the First Sunday of Advent, preparing the world for the coming of He Who is the Way, the Truth and the Life.
Mark your calendars.
LIfe Site News reports:

Earlier this year Pope Benedict XVI announced the worldwide vigil, and urged all dioceses around the world to participate as much as they are able.
As part of its effort to raise awareness about the event, HLI has sponsored an international petition of solidarity with the pope.
"We hope that Catholics understand the historical significance of Pope Benedict's invitation," said Joseph Meaney, HLI's director of international coordination. "The Holy Father for the first time in history has asked the Universal Catholic Church to gather together in a common liturgical event and pray for our preborn brothers and sisters who are being slaughtered around the world by abortion and other attacks of the culture of death."
HLI said that it is inviting all who want to join Pope Benedict and the universal Church in the vigil to sign a pledge of solidarity at yes-for-benedict.net.

Read the story at Life Site News.
Bookmark and Share

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

New religious order Sisters of the Gospel of Life

Just as many religious owed their vocations to their experience at World Youth Day in the USA in 1992, the Holy Father's visit to the United Kingdom is bearing much fruit. Here is the first new order of sisters in Scotland in 150 years, dedicated to healing the Culture of Death brought about by contraception and abortion.
They are called "Sisters of the Gospel of Life" and have three members so far.

She (Founding Sister Roseann) said that the foundation of her religious community stemmed “from a need of the times” to address the damage done to women and society by abortion and the contraceptive mentality.
“When we didn’t have the education system that we have now, the great teaching orders evolved. When we didn’t have the social services we have now, all the groups like the Daughters of Charity (of St. Vincent de Paul) all came. When we didn’t have the medical system, that’s when the nursing orders came.
“So that’s where our order stems from. From a need of the times. For us, the greatest need was to uphold and defend human life from the moment of conception, to attack this ‘culture of death’.
This is a wonderful development for the Catholics of Scotland, I know how much New Yorkers have been enriched by the wonderful Sisters of Life. 

Read the rest of the story at Life Site News.
Bookmark and Share

The truth about Peter Singer

Some anonymous commenter said I was not truthful about Princeton ethicist Peter Singer, so I did some research.
He was right, I was being too kind. The truth is even uglier than I had imagined.He's a monstrous human being.Read this discussion of his views with quotes below and make up your own mind.

Down syndrome is usually characterized by short stature, distinctive facial features, and, as my dictionary puts it, “mild to moderate mental retardation”. Singer himself describes the condition as involving “some physical abnormalities” as well as “mild to moderate intellectual disability” (Rethinking Life & Death p. 106). There is no mention here of “severe disabilities”; Singer notes that “People at the upper end of this range [of Down-related intellectual disability] can live independently with little supervision. Others need help with managing their financial affairs, and need to be supervised when shopping, cooking or travelling outside the home.” (ibid.) Unlike migraines or arthritis, Down syndrome is not a painful condition, and people who have it do not “suffer” from it in any conventional sense.


Why, then, does Singer argue that infants born with this condition can justly be killed? Because they are “abnormal” and do not have “good prospects” (Rethinking p. 214). This notion of “prospects” runs like a mantra through Singer’s discussion of Down syndrome children: “the future prospects of life may be so bleak” (211), “the prospects are clouded” (213), and so forth. But what sort of prospects does he have in mind? On p. 213 of Rethinking he lists several activities which a person with Down syndrome will supposedly never be capable of: “to play the guitar, to develop an appreciation of science fiction, to learn a foreign language, to chat with us about the latest Woody Allen movie, or to be a respectable athlete, basketballer or tennis player.” This list reads like a parody of bourgeois myths of achievement, success, and respectability. To Singer, however, these are legitimate reasons for killing a newborn. After all, if you can’t do your own financial planning, why should you be allowed to live?

Read more at the Institute for Social Ecology website.
Apparently Singer didn't read the news story about the man with Ds that scored the game clinching touchdown. 
Bookmark and Share

Tuesday, November 09, 2010

Important bills to restrict abortion funding in new pro-life Congress


from the Susan B Anthony List which was highly recommended by Rep Chris Smith on the EWTN program "The World Over". 

 Marjorie’s latest post up now onRedstate.com. After incredible wins for the pro-life cause last Tuesday night, it’s time to leverage our strength to achieve legislative victory for the unborn. To start off, the SBA List is supporting two bills that would end taxpayer funding of abortion: the Chris Smith/Dan Lipinski “No TaxpayerFunding for Abortion Act” and Mike Pence’s “Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act.”

We are currently promoting a petition to be sent to the newly-elected pro-life majority, encouraging them to pass these two bills right away atwww.stopabortionfunding.com.

Bookmark and Share

Does this image bother you?


This lovely ad is causing controversy in Britain. It's a tragically true sign of the Culture of Death when not only he Cross of Christ, but the Babe Himself becomes a stumbling block.
Come Lord Jesus!
An ecumenical non-profit in England has come under fire for their upcoming Advent campaign designed to put Christ back into Christmas. Their crime? Creating billboards and posters that show a baby Jesus as an ultrasound, with a halo. The ads, created byChurchAds.net say: “He’s on His way. Christmas starts with Christ.”
Read Tim Drake's entire post at the NC Register blog.

Bookmark and Share

Sunday, November 07, 2010

George W Bush's autobiography; Decision Points



Bookmark and Share

True leadership in Congress arrives with Speaker of the House John Boehner

In recent opinion piece on Catholic Online, President Obama's failure in leadership was decried. A leader must, first of all, provide an example for all to follow. Character is what distinguishes a leader from a demagogue,  a leader is one to be admired and emulated,  not a hypocrite whose example belies his words.
Look at the Obama Indian junket, where it is alleged that 200 MILLION daily is being blown in renting the Taj Mahal hotel for a huge entourage of over 600 guests according to some sources.


More info on Obama’s trip to India from The Hindu:
Mr. Obama will be coming with three Boeing 747 jumbo jets and two others will be coming before him with equipment. An advance team of U.S. officials is set to arrive here on Wednesday. The U.S. is spending about $200 million a day towards Mr. Obama’s visit, the official said on Tuesday.
More details from the Daily Mail:
Forty aircraft – including the Air Force One military plane – and six heavily armoured cars will follow the president around the country.
The huge security operation comes days after a suspected bomb was found on a cargo plane at East Midlands Airport.
The entourage will be the biggest ever in terms of logistics and manpower for any US president.
The president himself will be ferried around in a black Cadillac – dubbed ‘Barack Mobile’ – which has its own built in communications centre – to enable Obama to be in touch with the White House, US vice president and the US strategic command.

 I saw evidence of this reckless overspending when I protested the President's health care plan on Martha's Vineyard, and saw the tiny island overwhelmed by cars bearing DC plates. That was a vacation? For whom, the entire government?
Congressman John Boehner recommends beginning his term of leadership by a cut in pay. For himself, and his colleagues in Congress. In tough times when people are losing hope that there will ever be jobs, this action would send a strong signal to the American public; "we understand how you have to tighten your belt, and we are doing the same". I am tired of buying Walmart brand products and wearing five year old clothing, while Obama travels more than any President in history, and the First Lady splurges on shopping sprees.
Well done, Speaker Boehner! I will be watching who opposes and who supports your efforts to lead by example. This will separate the hypocrite big spenders from the true leaders.

“It’s pretty clear that the American people want a smaller, less costly, more accountable government here in Washington,” Boehner said to reporters the day after Election Day. 
Tom Schatz, the president of Citizens Against Government Waste, said that by cutting the paychecks of members, Boehner would send the right message to voters.
Schatz explained that Republican lawmakers coming into Congress for their first term would likely support the move.
“[A salary cut] would at least indicate some greater level of understanding of the suffering that people have been subject to during this recession,” said Schatz. 

Read the entire story at The Hill. 
Bookmark and Share

Friday, November 05, 2010

Search add Destroy abortion of babies with Down syndrome is from Nazi era


THE "warped practice of eugenics is rising from its Nazi tomb" in Australia, a senior Catholic bishop says.
Bishop Peter Elliott, head of Melbourne's John Paul II Institute for Marriage and the Family told mass-goers in Bendigo Cathedral on Sunday: "A seek-and-destroy policy kills little human beings in the womb because they are 'guilty' of Down Syndrome, dwarfism or other imperfection.
"They are deemed to be unfit to live for they do not come up to the standard of the 'designer baby' and a healthy, sport-loving race.
"It is no surprise that euthanasia is being strongly promoted today. Nor should it be a surprise that this is the policy of a political and ideological force that puts more value on wattle and wombats than people.
"Resurgent aggressive secularism resorts to killing as it strives to engineer, direct and control not only society, but your life and mine."

Good for Bishop Elliot, who is under fire for his bold comments at the end of this article. 



He underscores the relationship between the eugenics of the Nazi T4 program where the handicapped were taken from their homes, institutionalized and later bussed to Hartheim Castle where they were gassed to death. The search and destroy efforts of medicine are just as coolly efficient and coldly insensitive to the cries of the victims who are still considered, "life unworthy of life". 

The murder of the handicapped was a precursor to the Holocaust. The killing centres to which the handicapped were transported were the antecedents of the extermination camps, and their organized transportation foreshadowed mass deportation. Some of the physicians who became specialists in the technology of cold-blooded murder in the late 1930s later staffed the death camps. They had long since lost all their moral, professional, and ethical inhibitions.

Read more about the T4 Program here
Read the entire story here. 
Bookmark and Share

Victory! NOM Election Results 2010 Reaction

Thursday, November 04, 2010

Election holds many pro-marriage gains


A report from Brian Brown at the National Organization for Marriage. 
All I can say is: Amazing. Last night NOM helped win stunning and unprecedented victories for marriage. And we know it was because of your support.
As you have heard by now, for the first time in the entire history of judicial retention elections in Iowa, theSupreme Court justices were defeated. And not just one, but ALL THREE judges up for retention who forced same-sex marriage on the state were resoundingly defeated by roughly 54 percent. Amazing.
As I said last week speaking next to Congressman Steve King in sunny Des Moines, a victory in Iowa will send shockwaves through the political establishment. The people have spoken and they will not tolerate judges imposing same-sex marriage on the voters.  Period. And now those shockwaves are beginning to be felt. I'm getting calls from reporters around the country shocked that the people of Iowa stood up against activist judges.
 I want you to know this one fact: roughly 80 percent of the pro-traditional marriage candidates we supported won their races.  80 percent.
What does this mean?  In New Hampshire, we flipped the state legislature. And not only flipped it, but it now looks like we have veto proof majorities in both legislative houses.  Though Governor John Lynchwas able to keep his governorship, we will now fight for a vote on a constitutional amendment and a repeal of same-sex marriage in New Hampshire.  And we look forward to the legislature overriding any veto that John Lynch might attempt. 
In Iowa, the House is now in Republican hands and the governor supports allowing Iowa a vote on a constitutional amendment protecting marriage.  We will fight for a vote in Iowa and I am confident that we will win.
In Minnesota, the Governor's race is almost surely going to a recount.  Our efforts highlighting Mark Dayton's support of same-sex marriage played a big role here. But in another historic victory Republicans have taken both houses of the Minnesota legislature. Same-sex marriage will not pass this legislature. And we are now positioned to get a vote on a constitutional amendment protecting marriage.  This is huge.
In Maine, same-sex marriage will not be forced on the people under this new legislature. The legislature is now strongly in pro-marriage hands, and Paul LePage, a great supporter of traditional marriage has won the Governorship. Amazing.
While there were some setbacks--Andy Pugno's loss for California assembly and John Lynch's victory--I can honestly say that I believe this election is a turning point in the fight for marriage.  We now have the ability to roll back same-sex marriage in Iowa and New Hampshire and pass a constitutional amendment in Minnesota.



Bookmark and Share

Wednesday, November 03, 2010

CATHOLICS DECIDE THE ELECTION

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on last night's election results:


For the past few decades, Catholics have decided who wins elections nationally. After the McGovernization of the Democratic Party in 1972, Catholics were left homeless: they felt betrayed by the Democrats and were leery of the Republicans; they have been up for grabs ever since. Last night they proved once again that of the three major religions in the U.S., they are the ones that count most: Protestants never abandon the Republicans, and Jews never abandon the Democrats.
Catholics voted 58-40 for the Republican candidates last night. This was a dramatic 20-point swing from two years ago. What caused Catholics to bolt is not clear, but there is one issue that surely played a major role: the out-of-control debt. Practicing Catholics (the others should not be counted as Catholics for polling purposes) understand the virtue of self-denial, and by extension, they value belt tightening at home. What they don't appreciate is promiscuity, be it sexual, fiscal or otherwise.

Michael Sean Winters, a liberal Catholic writer, bemoans what happened, saying that the Democratic loss means "Anti-poverty efforts are off the table." This is cause for celebration: the anti-poverty efforts of the Obama administration has resulted in a poverty rate of 14.3 percent, the highest national rate since 1994. If a jobs-centered economic plan is adopted, the poverty rate will likely decline.
Here's something to watch. The Department of Health and Human Services is now pondering whether to adopt the ACLU's initiative that would force Catholic hospitals to provide emergency abortions as a condition of receiving federal funds; this would effectively close most of them. If this were to happen, a whole lot more than six in ten Catholics would vote for the Republicans in 2012. The fact that the Obama administration is even giving this serious consideration is something that every Catholic in the nation should know about. Had last night's results gone the other way, it's a sure bet the anti-Catholic agenda would have benefited.

Jeff Field
Director of Communications
The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights





Bookmark and Share

Pro-life Governors and Legislatures hold promise for gains

The historic Republican/pro-life takeover of several governorships and  state legislatures (North Carolina hasn't had a Republican Legislature since Reconstruction) holds the promise that life saving legislation like parental notification, restriction of late term abortions,  and prosecution of abortionists who flout these laws will be passed. These laws are responsible for the increasingly pro-life population and lowering the abortion rate, the great majority of gains made in the pro-life movement.

Certainly Governor-elect Sam Brownback intends to do this in Kansas. He will be missed in Washington, but his influence is needed to clean up the corruption Sibelius left behind though her cozy relationship with abortionist George Tiller. Maybe Kansas can lose its reputation as the late term abortion capitol.
Plus, governors will be responsible for redistricting and could draw election districts which favor Republicans in the 2012 election.
Several pro-life candidates offered by the Tea Party were beaten because of the Republican candidate who split the vote, but the votes are still being counted in several governor's races, including CT.
According to Life News, Thus far, pro-life candidates don’t know their fate in Alaska, Rhode Island, and Vermont — though Alaska voters appear to have re-elected pro-life Goveror Parnell.

Read the entire story at Life News.
Bookmark and Share

Pro-life gains in Senate

It wasn't the magic number (10) we needed to have the Senate in Republican hands, but the six (and maybe more after WA results are in) Senate seat gains were pro-life, which is more important. Year after year, we pro-lifers cheered on Republicans only to find ourselves shut out of the discussion once they took office. Now its' a pro-life landscape out there, and we have a seat at the head of the table.


According to Life News:Americans clearly preferred pro-life candidates on Tuesday when it came to the most hotly contested races for the Senate in the 2010 elections
The results make it so pro-life advocates will have an easier time stopping the advance of President Barack Obama’s pro-abortion agenda in terms of abortion funding and pro-abortion judicial nominees for the Supreme Court and other federal court appointments.

It seems that the Blue Dog Democrats who were elected because they were pro-life, but found themselves bullied into voting for Obamacare, took the biggest hit in the election. See the cartoon from John Francis Borra of Veritatis.and the report at Life News on the fight to hide the fact that  Obamacare funds abortion.
Read the entire story about the Senate at Life News.
Bookmark and Share