Friday, September 04, 2009
Joe Courtney's Town Hall
A very intelligent questioner mentioned that there needed to be more transparency in the health care bill. He noted that if this is approved, Congress could come up with amendments which gut the present bill and we have no idea what will happen.
A Conneticut Catholic in King Courtney's Town Hall
I had waited impatiently all summer for Rep Joe Courtney to email me about Town Hall on health care. I wanted to express my opposition to a plan which not only forces taxpayers to pay for abortions, but would most likely deny medical care for my daughter with Down syndrome and my mother with stage four cancer.
Courtney had telephone town halls, secret invitation-only town halls, but finally in Montville, CT, on September 2, he was to have a real live town hall, everyone invited. I mean everyone. A pro-life friend forwarded this email to me which shows who was organizing union members to represent the Democratic interest in health care plan HR3200. When I arrived at 6PM, later than I had planned, the parking lot of the high school was overflowing, and men and women with serious, determined looks were heading for the school. Arriving at the front door, a vociferous group of union organizers wearing "Health Care Now" stickers, holding professional banners, had their slogans going, shouting at people entering the school. No one was intimidated, Rep Courtney followed me in and I turned to him angrily and said, "they are being paid to be here".
He denied that union members were paid to show up, and was rushed past my by his handlers.
In line to enter the auditorium, I told a group of teachers (don't ask me how I knew, I have been teaching for 20 years, I just know) "I'm a teacher, I got the memo too" they nodded approvingly till they read my sign which said, "Abortion is not health care". Then, they cut me in line. The auditorium was already full after I was on line for only five minutes. Soon the police turned the rest of us away, stating fire regulations, telling us to meet Courtney in the cafeteria after the main talk. No one indicated where the cafeteria was, however.
We milled around outside with the few union members assigned to cover the door, and catch media cameras, fuming over the injustice of being crowded out by the organized AstroTurf left. I met members of my parish, my pro-life group, and members of a Tea Party group, Free Norwich. Soon rumors spread that people were being let into the auditorium as participants left, and a lady who had never participated in a political rally before, joined me in seeking entrance into King Courtney's presence. I mentioned to his assistants, that if he had an adequate number of health care town halls, that crowd control would not be a problem. Once inside, it became apparent that opponents of health care outnumbered union organizers three to one. Intelligent questions were asked and typical political doublespeak was given in response.
Some summaries from the Free Norwich website.
A young small business owner asks the Congressman to address his queries. Someone behind him calls him out and he says “f@# you”. States control the angry small business owner and seat him to listen to his response. He had the peace of mind to prepare his hands in the “cuff me” position. The officer was kind and professional and let business continue without an unnecessary arrest. ( This man was a union agitator with a big smirk on his face. He had spent the entire time making derisive cracks about the opposition, and deliberately made the young business owner lose control of his mouth. It's their modus operendi. my comment)
Representative Courtney took every question and answered, but not always directly. In fact, after most dissenting questions, the crowed asked AGAIN for the answer to the question.
A lady from Germany encouraged Rep. Courtney to move ahead with the program because European countries have full Socialized Medicine. Several member of the crowd encouraged her to return to Germany (…or explore Cuba).
One gentleman to my left told the Congressman to not adhere to the desires of the population in the room as they represent only 1% of his constituents. He asked how he can help convince his friends to get on board with the program. Mr. Courtney said that the letters to the editor, Internet and other means were being used and appropriate (response summarized).
You can see several of the questions posted on my site on YouTube. Although tensions ran high, and opponents of the health care plan were downplayed by the Norwich Bulletin at first, but the statement in Paragraph 2 was later amended to admit the crowd skewed against health care. It was a 75-25% split, most of the union people looked like the radicals you see arrested at World Bank protests, and the opponents were seniors, first time protesters, and pro-lifers like myself, including Sue Williams from the Diocese of Norwich Respect Life Office and Linda Hayes of Carenet crisis pregnancy center. Sue was confronting union members in the parking lot, asking them how they could vote for a man (Obama) who voted to have infants born alive in aborition procedure, suffocate to death without medical care. She said, "this is the man you trust to provide YOU with health care, when he denied it to them?" Excellent point.
My sign "abortion is NOT health care" got many more approving than disapproving stares and comments. A pro-Obama woman asked me what abortion had to do with the healthcare bill and I asked her why the Democrats voted against an amendment prohibiting abortion's inclusion in the bill. "As a lawyer's daughter, I know well that if you don't exclude something from a law, silence is consent, it's included."
It was exhilarating being a bit rowdy, standing ovations against health care were abundant, and whenever the koolaid was being poured by Courtney, we booed. He told us not to worry about the annual discussions between patient and doctor; ie Death Panels. He told us not to worry about insurance companies being driven out of business, and us being forced into Obamacare.
But we ARE worried about his leadership, straight out of the Democratic playbook.
Our only hope as Catholics who defend the right to life of the unborn, the elderly and the disabled is continued action.
Courtney had telephone town halls, secret invitation-only town halls, but finally in Montville, CT, on September 2, he was to have a real live town hall, everyone invited. I mean everyone. A pro-life friend forwarded this email to me which shows who was organizing union members to represent the Democratic interest in health care plan HR3200. When I arrived at 6PM, later than I had planned, the parking lot of the high school was overflowing, and men and women with serious, determined looks were heading for the school. Arriving at the front door, a vociferous group of union organizers wearing "Health Care Now" stickers, holding professional banners, had their slogans going, shouting at people entering the school. No one was intimidated, Rep Courtney followed me in and I turned to him angrily and said, "they are being paid to be here".
He denied that union members were paid to show up, and was rushed past my by his handlers.
In line to enter the auditorium, I told a group of teachers (don't ask me how I knew, I have been teaching for 20 years, I just know) "I'm a teacher, I got the memo too" they nodded approvingly till they read my sign which said, "Abortion is not health care". Then, they cut me in line. The auditorium was already full after I was on line for only five minutes. Soon the police turned the rest of us away, stating fire regulations, telling us to meet Courtney in the cafeteria after the main talk. No one indicated where the cafeteria was, however.
We milled around outside with the few union members assigned to cover the door, and catch media cameras, fuming over the injustice of being crowded out by the organized AstroTurf left. I met members of my parish, my pro-life group, and members of a Tea Party group, Free Norwich. Soon rumors spread that people were being let into the auditorium as participants left, and a lady who had never participated in a political rally before, joined me in seeking entrance into King Courtney's presence. I mentioned to his assistants, that if he had an adequate number of health care town halls, that crowd control would not be a problem. Once inside, it became apparent that opponents of health care outnumbered union organizers three to one. Intelligent questions were asked and typical political doublespeak was given in response.
Some summaries from the Free Norwich website.
A young small business owner asks the Congressman to address his queries. Someone behind him calls him out and he says “f@# you”. States control the angry small business owner and seat him to listen to his response. He had the peace of mind to prepare his hands in the “cuff me” position. The officer was kind and professional and let business continue without an unnecessary arrest. ( This man was a union agitator with a big smirk on his face. He had spent the entire time making derisive cracks about the opposition, and deliberately made the young business owner lose control of his mouth. It's their modus operendi. my comment)
Representative Courtney took every question and answered, but not always directly. In fact, after most dissenting questions, the crowed asked AGAIN for the answer to the question.
A lady from Germany encouraged Rep. Courtney to move ahead with the program because European countries have full Socialized Medicine. Several member of the crowd encouraged her to return to Germany (…or explore Cuba).
One gentleman to my left told the Congressman to not adhere to the desires of the population in the room as they represent only 1% of his constituents. He asked how he can help convince his friends to get on board with the program. Mr. Courtney said that the letters to the editor, Internet and other means were being used and appropriate (response summarized).
You can see several of the questions posted on my site on YouTube. Although tensions ran high, and opponents of the health care plan were downplayed by the Norwich Bulletin at first, but the statement in Paragraph 2 was later amended to admit the crowd skewed against health care. It was a 75-25% split, most of the union people looked like the radicals you see arrested at World Bank protests, and the opponents were seniors, first time protesters, and pro-lifers like myself, including Sue Williams from the Diocese of Norwich Respect Life Office and Linda Hayes of Carenet crisis pregnancy center. Sue was confronting union members in the parking lot, asking them how they could vote for a man (Obama) who voted to have infants born alive in aborition procedure, suffocate to death without medical care. She said, "this is the man you trust to provide YOU with health care, when he denied it to them?" Excellent point.
My sign "abortion is NOT health care" got many more approving than disapproving stares and comments. A pro-Obama woman asked me what abortion had to do with the healthcare bill and I asked her why the Democrats voted against an amendment prohibiting abortion's inclusion in the bill. "As a lawyer's daughter, I know well that if you don't exclude something from a law, silence is consent, it's included."
It was exhilarating being a bit rowdy, standing ovations against health care were abundant, and whenever the koolaid was being poured by Courtney, we booed. He told us not to worry about the annual discussions between patient and doctor; ie Death Panels. He told us not to worry about insurance companies being driven out of business, and us being forced into Obamacare.
But we ARE worried about his leadership, straight out of the Democratic playbook.
Our only hope as Catholics who defend the right to life of the unborn, the elderly and the disabled is continued action.
Thursday, September 03, 2009
Mother Teresa's Guide to Sanctity
Today on Blessed Mother Teresa's birthday in heaven, what will probably become her feastday, celebrate by reading my review of "Mother Teresa's Secret Fire" up at Catholic.net.
Fr Langford shares the principles of her spirituality and in this wonderful book, you will find new intmacy with Jesus in prayer.
A Priest's View of the Kennedy Funeral
Contrary to what the media will have us believe not every Catholic was thrilled by the Kennedy funeral proceedings... Fr Harrison has expressed his outrage on viewing the Kennedy funeral.
Dear Everyone,
I am sending this e-mail to all those on my list of contacts. Many of you will sympathize with what I have to say; some of you, however, may disagree strongly, particularly those who may be "pro-choice".
Why, then, am I emailing even those of you for whom this message may be not only unsolicited but unwelcome - perhaps even offensive? Simply because, as a Roman Catholic priest, I feel a duty in conscience today to register, to the couple of hundred people to whom I have ready access, my emphatic dissent from a message that was projected around the nation and the globe this morning to millions of viewers and listeners by certain other members of the Roman Catholic clergy.
I refer to this morning's televised funeral Mass, celebrated in Boston's Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, for the recently deceased Senator Edward Moore Kennedy. It was a Mass I regard as a scandal comparable to, if not worse than, the scandal given several months ago when the nation's most prestigious 'Catholic' university bestowed an honorary doctorate upon Barack Hussein Obama, the most pro-abortion and 'pro-gay' president in U.S. history.
Why, you ask, should a Catholic priest raise such objections to a Catholic funeral for a Catholic legislator? Well, I am afraid this funeral was no ordinary Catholic funeral. For to those innumerable viewers and listeners of many religions (or none) who were aware of Sen. Kennedy's public, straightforward, radical, long-standing, and (as far as we know) unrepented defiance of his own Church's firm teaching about the duty of legislators to protect unborn human life and resist the miltant homosexual agenda, this morning's Mass, concelebrated by several priests, presided over Cardinal Sean O'Malley, Archbishop of Boston, and adorned by a eulogy from the aforesaid U.S. President, effectively communicated a tacit but very clear message: the Church does not really take too seriously her own 'official' doctrines on these matters!
I feel impelled, therefore, to make known to anyone willing to read these lines that there are many other representatives of the Catholic Church, such as the undersigned, who take those doctrines very seriously indeed.
How would our Church leaders act if they really did take seriously an official Church position from which a prominent deceased Catholic had publicly dissented? To answer that question, we need only imagine a situation in which some well-known Catholic legislator had for years supported the Church's social teaching 'across the board', in regard to human life, marriage, compassion toward the poor and underprivileged, etc., but had then, in old age, lapsed into supporting some ideological position that was strongly opposed not only by the Church, but also by the dominant Western elites in government, law, education, commerce and the media. Suppose, for instance, that he had come to endorse white supremacism or holocaust denial. Now, when the moment fo rthis Catholic legislator's funeral came, could we imagine for one moment that our cardinals, bishops and other leading clergy, mindful of this man's sterling and thoroughly orthodox contributions to the common good over so many years in Congress, would 'compassionately' overlook his latter-day lapse into racism or antisemitism? Would they agree to give him a free pass in regard to this defect? Would they speak and act as if it were non-existent? Would they grant him a televised funeral Mass in a large basilica, presided over by a cardinal, in which he would be publicly eulogized by both family and public figures?
These questions really answer themselves. Of course none of that would occur! The local bishop might go as far as allow our hypothetical Catholic racist or antisemite a Church funeral, if it was known that (like Senator Kennedy) he had confessed sacramentally to a priest before death. However, the bishop would allow the use of church property for this funeral on the strict condition that only close personal family and friends would be admitted. All media transmission or even presence during the service itself would surely be forbidden. (It would, of course, be unnecessary for the bishop to ask his fellow bishops and other high Church dignitaries not to attend the service; for all of them, like the bishop himself, would already prefer to be anywhere else on earth than at the funeral of one who had lapsed so unspeakably from society's ruling canons of acceptable behavior.)
Yes, society's canons. There, I am afraid, lies the difference between our two scenarios. Is it that official Catholic doctrine is incomparably more opposed to racism and antisemitism than it is to abortion and sodomy (as a visitor from Mars might suppose on observing the radically divergent reactions of our bishops to the two respective ex-politicians)? Not at all. The big difference is simply that most members of the Catholic hierarchy in Western society today - and there are of course a number of honorable exceptions - are lacking in prophetic courage. They are ready and eager to take vigorous and resolute public disciplinary action only against those deviations from Church teaching which also happen to be excoriated by the cultural and media elites. But if it is our prelates themselves who will be excoriated by those elites - as would certainly have occurred had they required for Ted Kennedy's funeral the kind of severe restraint we envisaged above for that of our hypothetical bigot - then all eagerness for just discipline will evaporate as fast as dew in the morning sun. "Pastoral compassion", "forgiveness", "tolerant respect" and "Christian charity" will now be instantly invoked as reasons for cloaking in total silence the public enormities committed decade after decade by an ecclesially heterodox but socially orthodox legislator.
So it was, in this morning's funeral Mass, that the homilist, Fr. Mark Hession (pastor of Kennedy's Cape Cod parish), made his sermon a eulogy about what a wonderful Catholic Christian Ted was, assuring us that we could be "confident" that he is already with Jesus in glory. So it was that the principal celebrant, Fr. Donald Monan, S.J., Chancellor of Boston College, not only repeatedly told those present - and the whole watching world - that Sen. Kennedy was a man of "faith and prayer", with a deep devotion to the Eucharist, but also assured us that this "faith and prayer" in private was precisely what inspired and motivated his public policies, so that there was (surprise, surprise) a real integration and unity between his private and public life!
Well, a lot of us didn't quite manage to see any private-public unity based on Roman Catholic principles. On the contrary, Kennedy's huge political influence, based on both the family's prestige and the personal dyamism of this "Lion of the Senate", if anything made his U-turn on abortion (yes, he was pro-life in his younger days) an even more scandalous counter-witness: a sign of conflict, not union, with that Church to which he professed loyalty.
Here are two comments I have just lifted off a Catholic blog:
1. "There's this big, 'What if?'" said Catholic author Michael Sean Winters. "If Ted Kennedy had stuck to his pro-life position, would both the (Democratic) party and the country have embraced the abortion on demand policies that we have now? I don't think so."
2. "Russell Shaw, former spokesman for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said that when Kennedy defied the church on issues such as abortion and later, gay marriage, he reinforced a corrosive belief among Catholics that they can simply ignore teachings they don't agree with."
I myself remember several years ago a conversation with a young woman who had been brought up Catholic but had recently been 'born again' as an Evangelical Protestant. One of the arguments she threw at me was, "Even your Church leaders don't really believe what Catholics are supposed to believe. Why don't they excommunicate Ted Kennedy? He's blatantly, 100% pro-choice! Yet they do nothing!"
What could I say to her? And what can I say now, after today's public scandal? That young lady's complaint was simply that this man remained a Catholic in good standing. I find I must now complain to you of something worse. Before the whole world this morning, my fellow Catholic clerics in Boston did not just accord him the "good standing" of a normal, flawed Catholic whose soul we can hope is in Purgatory. Rather, clad in triumphant white vestments instead of penitential violet(never mind the traditional black!), they have placed him on a pedestal, granting him an unofficial 'instant canonization'!
The Church's teaching is already abundantly clear that all this is very wrong. So perhaps we can legitimately discern the hand of God's Providence, which rules all things, in a 'coincidence' that suggests a manifestation of God's grave displeasure at this kind of mockery - injustice masquerading as "pastoral charity". In our liturgy, Sunday has begun as I write at the hour of Vespers on Saturday. But the earlier part of this day, August 29, including the time of the Kennedy funeral, was observed by Catholics round the world as the Feast of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist. In normal Masses celebrated today, the biblical account of his martyrdom was read (Mark 6: 17-29.) The parallels are striking: (a) We see two powerful civil authorities; (b) both of them flip-flop in a morally bad direction (Herod originally respected and defended John, and Kennedy originally respected and defended the unborn; (c) both of them abuse their power by authorizing the shedding of innocent blood; and (d) both of them do so under peer-group pressure and at the behest of unrighteous women (then, Herod's guests, his wife and her daughter; now, the radical feminists and their fellow travellers).
As if that were not enough, the longest Scripture reading in today's liturgy also grabs our attention. It is prescribed not for the Feast of John the Baptist, but independently, for the Saturday of Week 21, in the 'Office of Readings', This is a part of the daily 20'Liturgy of the Hours' which is required spiritual reading for us Roman Rite clerics. And today's reading just happens to be Jeremiah 7: 1-20, in which the prophet vigorously denounces - guess what? - the hypocrisy of Israel's religious leaders who proudly identify with the temple and the rites they celebrate within it, while at the same time they are living unrighteously (including "shedding innocent blood", v. 6) and even "pouring out libations to strange gods" (v. 18). God therefore warns, "my anger and my wrath will pour out upon this place" (v. 20). Orthodox Catholics will surely ask whether God can be any less angered now by those clerics who today carried out temple rites giving undeserved honor to a legislator who for decade after decade poured out the 'libations' of his eloquence, influence and Senate votes in the service the 'false gods' of Planned Parenthood and NARAL -which regularly rewarded him with 100% ratings for his 'pro-choice' record.
Enough. If, in your charity, you pray for God to b e merciful to the soul of Edward Moore Kennedy, please pray for all of us Catholic priests as well - and be cognizant of the fact that some of us are profoundly indignant at what we saw our brethren doing today.
Sincerely,
Father Brian Harrison, O.S.
Oblates of Wisdom Study Center,
St. Louis, Missouri
Dear Everyone,
I am sending this e-mail to all those on my list of contacts. Many of you will sympathize with what I have to say; some of you, however, may disagree strongly, particularly those who may be "pro-choice".
Why, then, am I emailing even those of you for whom this message may be not only unsolicited but unwelcome - perhaps even offensive? Simply because, as a Roman Catholic priest, I feel a duty in conscience today to register, to the couple of hundred people to whom I have ready access, my emphatic dissent from a message that was projected around the nation and the globe this morning to millions of viewers and listeners by certain other members of the Roman Catholic clergy.
I refer to this morning's televised funeral Mass, celebrated in Boston's Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, for the recently deceased Senator Edward Moore Kennedy. It was a Mass I regard as a scandal comparable to, if not worse than, the scandal given several months ago when the nation's most prestigious 'Catholic' university bestowed an honorary doctorate upon Barack Hussein Obama, the most pro-abortion and 'pro-gay' president in U.S. history.
Why, you ask, should a Catholic priest raise such objections to a Catholic funeral for a Catholic legislator? Well, I am afraid this funeral was no ordinary Catholic funeral. For to those innumerable viewers and listeners of many religions (or none) who were aware of Sen. Kennedy's public, straightforward, radical, long-standing, and (as far as we know) unrepented defiance of his own Church's firm teaching about the duty of legislators to protect unborn human life and resist the miltant homosexual agenda, this morning's Mass, concelebrated by several priests, presided over Cardinal Sean O'Malley, Archbishop of Boston, and adorned by a eulogy from the aforesaid U.S. President, effectively communicated a tacit but very clear message: the Church does not really take too seriously her own 'official' doctrines on these matters!
I feel impelled, therefore, to make known to anyone willing to read these lines that there are many other representatives of the Catholic Church, such as the undersigned, who take those doctrines very seriously indeed.
How would our Church leaders act if they really did take seriously an official Church position from which a prominent deceased Catholic had publicly dissented? To answer that question, we need only imagine a situation in which some well-known Catholic legislator had for years supported the Church's social teaching 'across the board', in regard to human life, marriage, compassion toward the poor and underprivileged, etc., but had then, in old age, lapsed into supporting some ideological position that was strongly opposed not only by the Church, but also by the dominant Western elites in government, law, education, commerce and the media. Suppose, for instance, that he had come to endorse white supremacism or holocaust denial. Now, when the moment fo rthis Catholic legislator's funeral came, could we imagine for one moment that our cardinals, bishops and other leading clergy, mindful of this man's sterling and thoroughly orthodox contributions to the common good over so many years in Congress, would 'compassionately' overlook his latter-day lapse into racism or antisemitism? Would they agree to give him a free pass in regard to this defect? Would they speak and act as if it were non-existent? Would they grant him a televised funeral Mass in a large basilica, presided over by a cardinal, in which he would be publicly eulogized by both family and public figures?
These questions really answer themselves. Of course none of that would occur! The local bishop might go as far as allow our hypothetical Catholic racist or antisemite a Church funeral, if it was known that (like Senator Kennedy) he had confessed sacramentally to a priest before death. However, the bishop would allow the use of church property for this funeral on the strict condition that only close personal family and friends would be admitted. All media transmission or even presence during the service itself would surely be forbidden. (It would, of course, be unnecessary for the bishop to ask his fellow bishops and other high Church dignitaries not to attend the service; for all of them, like the bishop himself, would already prefer to be anywhere else on earth than at the funeral of one who had lapsed so unspeakably from society's ruling canons of acceptable behavior.)
Yes, society's canons. There, I am afraid, lies the difference between our two scenarios. Is it that official Catholic doctrine is incomparably more opposed to racism and antisemitism than it is to abortion and sodomy (as a visitor from Mars might suppose on observing the radically divergent reactions of our bishops to the two respective ex-politicians)? Not at all. The big difference is simply that most members of the Catholic hierarchy in Western society today - and there are of course a number of honorable exceptions - are lacking in prophetic courage. They are ready and eager to take vigorous and resolute public disciplinary action only against those deviations from Church teaching which also happen to be excoriated by the cultural and media elites. But if it is our prelates themselves who will be excoriated by those elites - as would certainly have occurred had they required for Ted Kennedy's funeral the kind of severe restraint we envisaged above for that of our hypothetical bigot - then all eagerness for just discipline will evaporate as fast as dew in the morning sun. "Pastoral compassion", "forgiveness", "tolerant respect" and "Christian charity" will now be instantly invoked as reasons for cloaking in total silence the public enormities committed decade after decade by an ecclesially heterodox but socially orthodox legislator.
So it was, in this morning's funeral Mass, that the homilist, Fr. Mark Hession (pastor of Kennedy's Cape Cod parish), made his sermon a eulogy about what a wonderful Catholic Christian Ted was, assuring us that we could be "confident" that he is already with Jesus in glory. So it was that the principal celebrant, Fr. Donald Monan, S.J., Chancellor of Boston College, not only repeatedly told those present - and the whole watching world - that Sen. Kennedy was a man of "faith and prayer", with a deep devotion to the Eucharist, but also assured us that this "faith and prayer" in private was precisely what inspired and motivated his public policies, so that there was (surprise, surprise) a real integration and unity between his private and public life!
Well, a lot of us didn't quite manage to see any private-public unity based on Roman Catholic principles. On the contrary, Kennedy's huge political influence, based on both the family's prestige and the personal dyamism of this "Lion of the Senate", if anything made his U-turn on abortion (yes, he was pro-life in his younger days) an even more scandalous counter-witness: a sign of conflict, not union, with that Church to which he professed loyalty.
Here are two comments I have just lifted off a Catholic blog:
1. "There's this big, 'What if?'" said Catholic author Michael Sean Winters. "If Ted Kennedy had stuck to his pro-life position, would both the (Democratic) party and the country have embraced the abortion on demand policies that we have now? I don't think so."
2. "Russell Shaw, former spokesman for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said that when Kennedy defied the church on issues such as abortion and later, gay marriage, he reinforced a corrosive belief among Catholics that they can simply ignore teachings they don't agree with."
I myself remember several years ago a conversation with a young woman who had been brought up Catholic but had recently been 'born again' as an Evangelical Protestant. One of the arguments she threw at me was, "Even your Church leaders don't really believe what Catholics are supposed to believe. Why don't they excommunicate Ted Kennedy? He's blatantly, 100% pro-choice! Yet they do nothing!"
What could I say to her? And what can I say now, after today's public scandal? That young lady's complaint was simply that this man remained a Catholic in good standing. I find I must now complain to you of something worse. Before the whole world this morning, my fellow Catholic clerics in Boston did not just accord him the "good standing" of a normal, flawed Catholic whose soul we can hope is in Purgatory. Rather, clad in triumphant white vestments instead of penitential violet(never mind the traditional black!), they have placed him on a pedestal, granting him an unofficial 'instant canonization'!
The Church's teaching is already abundantly clear that all this is very wrong. So perhaps we can legitimately discern the hand of God's Providence, which rules all things, in a 'coincidence' that suggests a manifestation of God's grave displeasure at this kind of mockery - injustice masquerading as "pastoral charity". In our liturgy, Sunday has begun as I write at the hour of Vespers on Saturday. But the earlier part of this day, August 29, including the time of the Kennedy funeral, was observed by Catholics round the world as the Feast of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist. In normal Masses celebrated today, the biblical account of his martyrdom was read (Mark 6: 17-29.) The parallels are striking: (a) We see two powerful civil authorities; (b) both of them flip-flop in a morally bad direction (Herod originally respected and defended John, and Kennedy originally respected and defended the unborn; (c) both of them abuse their power by authorizing the shedding of innocent blood; and (d) both of them do so under peer-group pressure and at the behest of unrighteous women (then, Herod's guests, his wife and her daughter; now, the radical feminists and their fellow travellers).
As if that were not enough, the longest Scripture reading in today's liturgy also grabs our attention. It is prescribed not for the Feast of John the Baptist, but independently, for the Saturday of Week 21, in the 'Office of Readings', This is a part of the daily 20'Liturgy of the Hours' which is required spiritual reading for us Roman Rite clerics. And today's reading just happens to be Jeremiah 7: 1-20, in which the prophet vigorously denounces - guess what? - the hypocrisy of Israel's religious leaders who proudly identify with the temple and the rites they celebrate within it, while at the same time they are living unrighteously (including "shedding innocent blood", v. 6) and even "pouring out libations to strange gods" (v. 18). God therefore warns, "my anger and my wrath will pour out upon this place" (v. 20). Orthodox Catholics will surely ask whether God can be any less angered now by those clerics who today carried out temple rites giving undeserved honor to a legislator who for decade after decade poured out the 'libations' of his eloquence, influence and Senate votes in the service the 'false gods' of Planned Parenthood and NARAL -which regularly rewarded him with 100% ratings for his 'pro-choice' record.
Enough. If, in your charity, you pray for God to b e merciful to the soul of Edward Moore Kennedy, please pray for all of us Catholic priests as well - and be cognizant of the fact that some of us are profoundly indignant at what we saw our brethren doing today.
Sincerely,
Father Brian Harrison, O.S.
Oblates of Wisdom Study Center,
St. Louis, Missouri
Thomas Dennelly; the man behind the pro-life Kennedy letter
Every once in a while, there emerges an ordinary citizen who refuses to stand by and allow evil to triumph by doing something extraordinary. I had long admired the eloquent, informed letters to the editor of Thomas Dennelly Jr. in "The Long Island Catholic" and the "National Catholic Register". I wondered 'who is that man, and why hasn't he become a journalist?"
One day, after my story "A Special Mother is Born" was published in "Faith and Family" magazine, I received an email from the wife to Thomas Dennelly's son, who blogs at Vive Christus Rex. She wanted to know who I was, and I was delighted to hear from her and tell what a noble family she had married into. It seems the gift of written expression runs in the Dennelly family.
Then, I heard this story which is in today's NCRegister blog. Thomas was not only politically saavy enough to elicit Kennedy's memorable response to his query about his stand on abortion, but he wisely kept his copy of the letter. Kennedy's response is unequivocal in his condemnation of abortion as a moral evil;
"Wanted or unwanted, I believe that human life, even at its earliest stages, has certain rights which much be recognized--the right to be born, the right to love, the right to grow old,” ‘When history looks back to this era it should recognize this generation as one which cared about human beings enough to halt the practice of war, to provide a decent living for every family, and to fulfill its responsibility to its children from the very moment of conception.’"
Contrast this with a statement Kennedy made in a Senate floor speech in opposition to the ban on partial-birth abortion in 2003.
"I do not believe it is the role of the Senate to interfere with or regulate the kind of medical advice that a doctor can give to a patient,”
That year Kennedy also voted for an amendment sponsored by Sen. Tom Harkin (D.-Iowa) that said the Supreme Court decided Roe v. Wade correctly and that abortion is a constitutional right. HT CNS
Here again, beautiful prolife words from the man whom NARAL and Planned Parenthood praised for his 100% pro-abortion voting record;
“On the question of the individual’s freedom of choice there are easily available birth control methods and information which women may employ to prevent or postpone pregnancy,” Kennedy wrote. “But once life has begun, no matter what stage of growth, it is my belief that termination should not be decided merely by desire.”
I admire the fact that Mr Dennelly was prudent enough to keep this important letter for future reference. When, riled by Kennedy's incoherent response to his letter protesting his vote against the Hyde Amendment in 1978 ( bans the use of federal funds for abortion),
Dennelly released the 1971 letter to National Right to Life News, and the Catholic League. It was a powerful tool against Kennedy's rants against pro-life Catholic Supreme Court nominees Alito and Roberts in the Judiciary Committee. Kennedy's own words were a rebuke to what he had become and the job of cricizing the pro-life views of Catholics fell to others, who could be accused of anti-Catholic bigotry.
Dennelly's letter revealed Kennedy's pro-life roots and vividly illustrated just how far away from the Culture of Life he had traveled. His departure from Catholic morality in his politics paralleled the moral depravity of Kennedy's other extra-curricular activities. Perhaps as he betrayed his Catholic upbringing, his hurting conscience led him to give up on living a good life. A good, honest confession could have stoppped this downward trend. On "Meet the Press" Kathleen Kennedy Townsend said, "we are a Church of sinners" she went on to mouth politically correct mumbo-jumbo about overcoming your faults and moving forward, but never mentioned confession of your sins first. Perhaps the liberal clergy of the 70's are somewhat to blame, but the Kennedys were raised in the old Church and should have known better. Whatever the reasons, when Kennedy reformed his personal life after the Kennedy Smith rape trial, he forgot to redeem his politics. Tragic. A posthumous memoir to be published Sept 14 seems to confirm that Kennedy was guilt-ridden for 40 years over Chappaquiddick. Guilt does funny things to your conscience, often egging you on to worse feats as if you were saying "What difference does it make, I've done that?"
HT NYTimes
Now I have read excerpts of the famous "1971 letter to a constituent" everywhere from the blogs, to the Wall Street Journal, to Jill Stanek's column. Dennelly's son refers to it in this post. He was three when it was sent. How the world has changed since then! How much political damage has been done to the Democratic Party by their marriage to the cause of abortion on demand? It has been said that if the Democratic Party had a pro-life platform, it wouldn't have lost an election since 1980. Dennelly himself attributes defection of many pro-life politicians, both Catholic and Protestant to Kennedy's poor example. "I think the implication is that Kennedy was the vanguard for tempting all these Catholics, particularly in the Democratic Party, but also some segments of the Republican Party, as well. And if Kennedy had not come out [pro-abortion] and had used his God-given talents and accepted the indisputable scientific truth that the child is scientifically a human from conception, I don’t think you would have had this avalanche of Roman Catholic elected officials following him."
Amen, Mr Dennelly, couldn't have said it better myself!
One day, after my story "A Special Mother is Born" was published in "Faith and Family" magazine, I received an email from the wife to Thomas Dennelly's son, who blogs at Vive Christus Rex. She wanted to know who I was, and I was delighted to hear from her and tell what a noble family she had married into. It seems the gift of written expression runs in the Dennelly family.
Then, I heard this story which is in today's NCRegister blog. Thomas was not only politically saavy enough to elicit Kennedy's memorable response to his query about his stand on abortion, but he wisely kept his copy of the letter. Kennedy's response is unequivocal in his condemnation of abortion as a moral evil;
"Wanted or unwanted, I believe that human life, even at its earliest stages, has certain rights which much be recognized--the right to be born, the right to love, the right to grow old,” ‘When history looks back to this era it should recognize this generation as one which cared about human beings enough to halt the practice of war, to provide a decent living for every family, and to fulfill its responsibility to its children from the very moment of conception.’"
Contrast this with a statement Kennedy made in a Senate floor speech in opposition to the ban on partial-birth abortion in 2003.
"I do not believe it is the role of the Senate to interfere with or regulate the kind of medical advice that a doctor can give to a patient,”
That year Kennedy also voted for an amendment sponsored by Sen. Tom Harkin (D.-Iowa) that said the Supreme Court decided Roe v. Wade correctly and that abortion is a constitutional right. HT CNS
Here again, beautiful prolife words from the man whom NARAL and Planned Parenthood praised for his 100% pro-abortion voting record;
“On the question of the individual’s freedom of choice there are easily available birth control methods and information which women may employ to prevent or postpone pregnancy,” Kennedy wrote. “But once life has begun, no matter what stage of growth, it is my belief that termination should not be decided merely by desire.”
I admire the fact that Mr Dennelly was prudent enough to keep this important letter for future reference. When, riled by Kennedy's incoherent response to his letter protesting his vote against the Hyde Amendment in 1978 ( bans the use of federal funds for abortion),
Dennelly released the 1971 letter to National Right to Life News, and the Catholic League. It was a powerful tool against Kennedy's rants against pro-life Catholic Supreme Court nominees Alito and Roberts in the Judiciary Committee. Kennedy's own words were a rebuke to what he had become and the job of cricizing the pro-life views of Catholics fell to others, who could be accused of anti-Catholic bigotry.
Dennelly's letter revealed Kennedy's pro-life roots and vividly illustrated just how far away from the Culture of Life he had traveled. His departure from Catholic morality in his politics paralleled the moral depravity of Kennedy's other extra-curricular activities. Perhaps as he betrayed his Catholic upbringing, his hurting conscience led him to give up on living a good life. A good, honest confession could have stoppped this downward trend. On "Meet the Press" Kathleen Kennedy Townsend said, "we are a Church of sinners" she went on to mouth politically correct mumbo-jumbo about overcoming your faults and moving forward, but never mentioned confession of your sins first. Perhaps the liberal clergy of the 70's are somewhat to blame, but the Kennedys were raised in the old Church and should have known better. Whatever the reasons, when Kennedy reformed his personal life after the Kennedy Smith rape trial, he forgot to redeem his politics. Tragic. A posthumous memoir to be published Sept 14 seems to confirm that Kennedy was guilt-ridden for 40 years over Chappaquiddick. Guilt does funny things to your conscience, often egging you on to worse feats as if you were saying "What difference does it make, I've done that?"
HT NYTimes
Now I have read excerpts of the famous "1971 letter to a constituent" everywhere from the blogs, to the Wall Street Journal, to Jill Stanek's column. Dennelly's son refers to it in this post. He was three when it was sent. How the world has changed since then! How much political damage has been done to the Democratic Party by their marriage to the cause of abortion on demand? It has been said that if the Democratic Party had a pro-life platform, it wouldn't have lost an election since 1980. Dennelly himself attributes defection of many pro-life politicians, both Catholic and Protestant to Kennedy's poor example. "I think the implication is that Kennedy was the vanguard for tempting all these Catholics, particularly in the Democratic Party, but also some segments of the Republican Party, as well. And if Kennedy had not come out [pro-abortion] and had used his God-given talents and accepted the indisputable scientific truth that the child is scientifically a human from conception, I don’t think you would have had this avalanche of Roman Catholic elected officials following him."
Amen, Mr Dennelly, couldn't have said it better myself!
Tuesday, September 01, 2009
Town Hall Strategy of the Left
Obama's minions will be out in force at the Rep Joe Courtney Town Hall tomorrow night in Montville, CT. Here's an email I received about the left's recruitment of union members. I know this from experience as a member of the AFT American Federation of Teachers who called me on election day telling me to vote for Bill Clinton. I told them I resented being told who to vote for, and found my voting rights had been suspended when I arrived at the polls. Accident?
Well, I was too shy to fight then, but now I have a little girl who won't be given health care under Obamacare, so watch out for momma tiger defending her cub.
BRING IT ON!!!
Here's the email;
"Tomorrow’s Courtney Town Hall is looking to be just another “Show”…the unions are calling members to attend and show support for HR 3200 and Courtney…I have had emails sent to me and received phone calls…they are planning to shout, any of us who speak out, down…I just received an email with a two page print out of the signs they want people to bring in to the “Show”. I was sent a video tape of an HCAN organizer telling people what to do to shut us up. (see YouTube below)
Here are a few samplings:
“A friend of mine just received a call from the AFL-CIO to attend the meeting tomorrow. Union is out in force I see.”
Here's a recruitment email to a union member.
J --
I wanted to send you an urgent invitation to an important health care town hall with Rep. Joe Courtney this Wednesday, September 2nd.
He'll be talking to constituents and gathering feedback.
Whether you ask a question or show your support with a sign, attending this town hall is a powerful way to show where you stand and thank those in Congress who are fighting for reform.
I hope you can join us. Here are the details:
What: Health Care Town Hall with Rep. Joe Courtney
Where: Montville High School
800 Old Colchester Rd.
Montville, CT 06382
When: Wednesday, September 2nd
Arrival Time: 5:30 p.m. note that they are getting there early to fill up the front seats.
Start Time: 6:30 p.m.
Here's a training video for the George Soros Group.
HT American Thinker
Well, I was too shy to fight then, but now I have a little girl who won't be given health care under Obamacare, so watch out for momma tiger defending her cub.
BRING IT ON!!!
Here's the email;
"Tomorrow’s Courtney Town Hall is looking to be just another “Show”…the unions are calling members to attend and show support for HR 3200 and Courtney…I have had emails sent to me and received phone calls…they are planning to shout, any of us who speak out, down…I just received an email with a two page print out of the signs they want people to bring in to the “Show”. I was sent a video tape of an HCAN organizer telling people what to do to shut us up. (see YouTube below)
Here are a few samplings:
“A friend of mine just received a call from the AFL-CIO to attend the meeting tomorrow. Union is out in force I see.”
Here's a recruitment email to a union member.
J --
I wanted to send you an urgent invitation to an important health care town hall with Rep. Joe Courtney this Wednesday, September 2nd.
He'll be talking to constituents and gathering feedback.
Whether you ask a question or show your support with a sign, attending this town hall is a powerful way to show where you stand and thank those in Congress who are fighting for reform.
I hope you can join us. Here are the details:
What: Health Care Town Hall with Rep. Joe Courtney
Where: Montville High School
800 Old Colchester Rd.
Montville, CT 06382
When: Wednesday, September 2nd
Arrival Time: 5:30 p.m. note that they are getting there early to fill up the front seats.
Start Time: 6:30 p.m.
Here's a training video for the George Soros Group.
HT American Thinker
Monday, August 31, 2009
Rep Joe Courtney to hold Sept 2 Town Hall in Montville, CT
My Congressman from the Second District in CT has informed me of his intentions to FINALLY hold an in-person town hall.
Bring your cameras.
He writes:
"I am writing to you in response to your previous interest in health care system reform. In a continued effort to hear the views of my constituents, I will host a public Town Hall forum on Wednesday, September 2 at 6:30 PM to discuss the critical issue of health insurance reform.
The forum, which is open to all Second District residents, will be held at
Montville High School
800 Old Colchester Road
Oakdale."
Bring your cameras.
He writes:
"I am writing to you in response to your previous interest in health care system reform. In a continued effort to hear the views of my constituents, I will host a public Town Hall forum on Wednesday, September 2 at 6:30 PM to discuss the critical issue of health insurance reform.
The forum, which is open to all Second District residents, will be held at
Montville High School
800 Old Colchester Road
Oakdale."
One day preview of "The Butterfly Circus"
Go to Doorpost Films to view this preview of an amazing short film which will challenge your views of what a circus can be.
The Great Kennedy and why Teddy wasn't
Read Ross Douthat's excellent Op-ED in the NYTimes about the one difference which separated the Catholic liberalism of the famous siblings.This one difference which made one into a Catholic hero meriting accolades from the Pope at her death, and the other who has elicted little than perfunctory remarks and prayers from the Vatican.
"What separated them was abortion.
Along with her husband, Sargent Shriver, Eunice belonged to America’s dwindling population of outspoken pro-life liberals. Like her church, she saw a continuity, rather than a contradiction, between championing the poor, the marginalized and the oppressed and protecting unborn human life.
Her brother took a different path. Not at first: In 1971, in a letter to a voter that abortion opponents would have many opportunities to quote, he declared that “wanted or unwanted, I believe that human life, even at its earliest stages, has certain rights which must be recognized — the right to be born, the right to love, the right to grow old.” But like many other Catholic liberals, from Joseph Biden to Dennis Kucinich, he moved leftward with his party, becoming a down-the-line supporter of abortion rights, with a voting record that brooked no compromise on the issue."
Why did Teddy break ranks with his Church? Possibly because of his presidential ambitions. Judie Brown was on Catholic Radio International saying that Teddy signed on to the Human Life Amendment in 1974. By 1980 when he ran for the Democratic nomination for president, he had changed his tune on abortion.
He lost on both accounts. May God have mercy on him.
Read the entire Op-Ed here.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Kennedy the Catholic; how far he strayed
from WI Catholic and Christus Rex
Long-time Catholic League member Tom Dennelly wrote to Senator Edward Kennedy in 1971 expressing his views on abortion (this was a year-and-a-half before Roe v. Wade). In a letter dated August 3, 1971, Senator Kennedy replied; excerpts appear below. :
"While the deep concern of a woman bearing an unwanted child merits consideration and sympathy, it is my personal feeling that the legalization of abortion on demand is not in accordance with the value which our civilization places on human life. Wanted or unwanted, I believe that human life, even at its earliest stages, has certain rights which must be recognized—the right to be born, the right to love, the right to grow old.
"On the question of the individual's freedom of choice there are easily available birth control methods and information which women may employ to prevent or postpone pregnancy. But once life has begun, no matter at what stage of growth, it is my belief that termination should not be decided merely by desire.
"When history looks back to this era it should recognize this generation as one which cared about human beings enough to halt the practice of war, to provide a decent living for every family, and to fulfill its responsibility to its children from the very moment of conception."
Catholic League president William Donohue opined as follows:
"The same Ted Kennedy who once championed the rights of the unborn now champions the right of a doctor to jam a scissor into the skull of an infant who is 80-percent born. Sadly for him, history will look back at this era and recognize that he didn't care enough about human beings to take responsibility for children from the very moment of conception."
Copyright © 1997-2009 by Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights.*Material from this website may be reprinted and disseminated with accompanying attribution.
Long-time Catholic League member Tom Dennelly wrote to Senator Edward Kennedy in 1971 expressing his views on abortion (this was a year-and-a-half before Roe v. Wade). In a letter dated August 3, 1971, Senator Kennedy replied; excerpts appear below. :
"While the deep concern of a woman bearing an unwanted child merits consideration and sympathy, it is my personal feeling that the legalization of abortion on demand is not in accordance with the value which our civilization places on human life. Wanted or unwanted, I believe that human life, even at its earliest stages, has certain rights which must be recognized—the right to be born, the right to love, the right to grow old.
"On the question of the individual's freedom of choice there are easily available birth control methods and information which women may employ to prevent or postpone pregnancy. But once life has begun, no matter at what stage of growth, it is my belief that termination should not be decided merely by desire.
"When history looks back to this era it should recognize this generation as one which cared about human beings enough to halt the practice of war, to provide a decent living for every family, and to fulfill its responsibility to its children from the very moment of conception."
Catholic League president William Donohue opined as follows:
"The same Ted Kennedy who once championed the rights of the unborn now champions the right of a doctor to jam a scissor into the skull of an infant who is 80-percent born. Sadly for him, history will look back at this era and recognize that he didn't care enough about human beings to take responsibility for children from the very moment of conception."
Copyright © 1997-2009 by Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights.*Material from this website may be reprinted and disseminated with accompanying attribution.
Judie Brown on Sen Ed Kennedy
If you are tired of the fawning mainstream media, listen to Catholic Radio International's "The Heart of the Matter" show with Jeff Gardner as he interviews American Life League's founder Judie Brown on the significance of Sen Ed Kennedy.
Robert Schindler, pro-life hero has gone to Jesus
A message about the passing of Robert Schindler, who fought bravely for Terri Schindler Schiavo's life. He has gone home to his reward, and I know Terri will be the first to embrace him.
"Well done, good and faithful servant" will be the words he hears from Our Lord.
No 24 hour news coverage here, yet he certainly was in the news while his son-in-law was starving his daughter to death.
Keep his legacy alive. Fight the euthanasia in health care.
Dear LifeNews.com Readers,
It is with tremendous sadness that we reported this weekend on the passing of Robert Schindler, the father of Terri Schiavo.
From those who have experienced it, it is always a horrendous ordeal to outlive your children, but even worse when your daughter's life is taken away from you and your family by someone whose motivations are entirely different.
At the same time as we mourned the sadness of losing Terri to a tremendously painful starvation and euthanasia death, we pro-life people recognized -- perhaps none moreso than Bob Schindler and the rest of his family -- that Terri's death was an opportunity God put in our laps.
With the starting of the Terri Schindler Schiavo Foundation, Bob and his family sounded the alarm about how Terri's abhorrent treatment was but the tip of the iceberg. So many disabled, elderly and other people who need medical care and treatment are having it deprived them from doctors, hospitals, the government and even the ones they love.
Sadly, the situation is getting worse before it gets better.
The plight of Terri Schiavo has been followed by more states and more nations legalizing assisted suicide.
The health care bills in Congress push a quality of life ethic that tells patients the amount and type of medical care they should receive is based upon some arbitrary government standard and that some lives are not as worth living as others.
In HR 3200, doctors are given financial incentives to potentially push a reduced level of medical care or to suggest that grandma and grandpa may be better off to withdraw food and water or sign a DNR order prematurely.
Worse, in states like Oregon and Washington, our own government, in this government-run health care plan, would pay for physicians to suggest that patients consider the option of assisted suicide.
Our veterans, who have given so much for the freedom and liberties we enjoy every day, are seeing their own government send them materials telling them they may need to consider whether they are a burden on others. Here the heroes of America, who bore the burdens so many of us have never had to bear, are told they should consider sacrificing their own lives after they already sacrificed so much.
In such a short time since Bob Schindler and Mary and Bobby and Suzanne faced the nightmare of losing their daughter and sister to an estranged husband with his own agenda, the euthanasia movement is more forcefully pushing its agenda on us.
Will we push back? Will we fight against these notions that our bravest and most cherished people should get out of the way so we don't have to bear their burdens?
The Bible calls on people to bear each others burdens. The Schindler family did just for so many people that after Terri died. Now, it is our turn.
When it comes to the Schindlers, will you take time to pray for them as they mourn and grieve the loss of a loving father and husband?
When it comes to the disabled, the elderly, the sick and those who need a little extra help, will you support them? Please consider reading the LifeNews.com story about Robert and send a check to the Terri Schindler Schiavo Foundation to encourage their work to protect other Terris.
And if you have a little extra, please consider supporting LifeNews.com.
We will always cover pro-life issues on abortion, but we will never tire of joining our friends in the Schindler family by lighting a candle with them to shine a light on the plight of medically vulnerable people.
LifeNews.com will cont
inue joining the Schindlers in taking the lead to highlight the growing culture of death that pushes euthanasia and assisted suicide. We will continue to keep you informed about what you can do to protect your family, yourself and others. We will battle back when that slippery slope gets slicker and the sanctity of human life is devalued further.
On behalf of LifeNews.com, we thank the Schindler family.
We know Bob and Terri are enjoying a warm embrace in Heaven. And we know they are looking down on us and asking every pro-life person to do just a little more to let the world know that life should be cherished, from the little baby before birth to the little lady near death.
I hope you'll join us in keeping up that fight. Enjoy the story about Bob Schindler and please consider a donation to help them and help us.
Steven Ertelt, Editor Life News
"Well done, good and faithful servant" will be the words he hears from Our Lord.
No 24 hour news coverage here, yet he certainly was in the news while his son-in-law was starving his daughter to death.
Keep his legacy alive. Fight the euthanasia in health care.
Dear LifeNews.com Readers,
It is with tremendous sadness that we reported this weekend on the passing of Robert Schindler, the father of Terri Schiavo.
From those who have experienced it, it is always a horrendous ordeal to outlive your children, but even worse when your daughter's life is taken away from you and your family by someone whose motivations are entirely different.
At the same time as we mourned the sadness of losing Terri to a tremendously painful starvation and euthanasia death, we pro-life people recognized -- perhaps none moreso than Bob Schindler and the rest of his family -- that Terri's death was an opportunity God put in our laps.
With the starting of the Terri Schindler Schiavo Foundation, Bob and his family sounded the alarm about how Terri's abhorrent treatment was but the tip of the iceberg. So many disabled, elderly and other people who need medical care and treatment are having it deprived them from doctors, hospitals, the government and even the ones they love.
Sadly, the situation is getting worse before it gets better.
The plight of Terri Schiavo has been followed by more states and more nations legalizing assisted suicide.
The health care bills in Congress push a quality of life ethic that tells patients the amount and type of medical care they should receive is based upon some arbitrary government standard and that some lives are not as worth living as others.
In HR 3200, doctors are given financial incentives to potentially push a reduced level of medical care or to suggest that grandma and grandpa may be better off to withdraw food and water or sign a DNR order prematurely.
Worse, in states like Oregon and Washington, our own government, in this government-run health care plan, would pay for physicians to suggest that patients consider the option of assisted suicide.
Our veterans, who have given so much for the freedom and liberties we enjoy every day, are seeing their own government send them materials telling them they may need to consider whether they are a burden on others. Here the heroes of America, who bore the burdens so many of us have never had to bear, are told they should consider sacrificing their own lives after they already sacrificed so much.
In such a short time since Bob Schindler and Mary and Bobby and Suzanne faced the nightmare of losing their daughter and sister to an estranged husband with his own agenda, the euthanasia movement is more forcefully pushing its agenda on us.
Will we push back? Will we fight against these notions that our bravest and most cherished people should get out of the way so we don't have to bear their burdens?
The Bible calls on people to bear each others burdens. The Schindler family did just for so many people that after Terri died. Now, it is our turn.
When it comes to the Schindlers, will you take time to pray for them as they mourn and grieve the loss of a loving father and husband?
When it comes to the disabled, the elderly, the sick and those who need a little extra help, will you support them? Please consider reading the LifeNews.com story about Robert and send a check to the Terri Schindler Schiavo Foundation to encourage their work to protect other Terris.
And if you have a little extra, please consider supporting LifeNews.com.
We will always cover pro-life issues on abortion, but we will never tire of joining our friends in the Schindler family by lighting a candle with them to shine a light on the plight of medically vulnerable people.
LifeNews.com will cont
inue joining the Schindlers in taking the lead to highlight the growing culture of death that pushes euthanasia and assisted suicide. We will continue to keep you informed about what you can do to protect your family, yourself and others. We will battle back when that slippery slope gets slicker and the sanctity of human life is devalued further.On behalf of LifeNews.com, we thank the Schindler family.
We know Bob and Terri are enjoying a warm embrace in Heaven. And we know they are looking down on us and asking every pro-life person to do just a little more to let the world know that life should be cherished, from the little baby before birth to the little lady near death.
I hope you'll join us in keeping up that fight. Enjoy the story about Bob Schindler and please consider a donation to help them and help us.
Steven Ertelt, Editor Life News
This photo of Suzanne Schindler Vitadamo and Brother Paul O'Donnell was taken at the Hyatt prolife confernce at the March for Life 2008. They carry on Terri's legacy by helping people whose loved ones are in similar situations.
Legacy of Teddy Kennedy
Here is the true story of how Teddy Kennedy blocked a referendum on homosexual marriage in Massachusetts. So much for the populist senator. From the Mass Resistance website.
Major homosexual activist reveals Ted Kennedy's crucial role in defeating Marriage Amendment in Massachusetts Legislature -- people's stopping right to vote on it.
Kennedy poster published in homo-sexual newspaper this week.
Sen. Ted Kennedy was the secret critical force in the background that caused the Massachusetts Legislature to deny the people the right to vote on the Marriage Amendment, it was revealed this week. Less than 48 hours after Kennedy's passing, the homosexual newspaper Bay Windows published an article by Marc Solomon, who at that time ran MassEquality, the main homosexual lobby group trying to stop the amendment. Ted Kennedy personally pressured enough conservative Democrats (and even "libertarian-leaning" Republicans) who the homosexual lobby was targeting, to change their votes on that the measure to allow a public vote would be defeated. Kennedy also worked on the overall strategy to defeat it. Without Kennedy's involvement, it would likely not have been defeated the Legislature -- and the people would have been able to vote.
Here's what Solomon told Bay Windows:
Our cause was lining up the votes to defeat an anti-gay constitutional amendment that would strip same-sex couples of the right to marry. A final vote was scheduled for July 14, 2007. Our opponents needed the votes of only 25 percent of the legislature to advance a citizen-led amendment to the ballot. We had lined up two-thirds of the legislature through fieldwork, lobbying, media, literally everything we could think of. But getting those last 15 legislators-those conservative Democrats from working class Massachusetts communities and a few libertarian-leaning Republicans-was very tough. We needed all hands on deck to keep a Massachusetts version of Proposition 8 off the ballot. We needed Ted Kennedy. "Could you get me a list of your targets?" one of Kennedy's key staffers finally asked me. "Don't tell anyone I'm asking you for this," he said. He meant it, and I didn't. A few days later, as I was doing my rounds in the State House, a bewildered conservative legislator stopped me. "You'll never guess who left me a message about gay marriage," he said. "Ted Kennedy." And then I started to hear similar refrains again and again. We'd get word that he'd spoken to the Governor, the Speaker of the House, the Senate President, the chair of the Democratic Party, asking for updates, strategizing, figuring out exactly what he could do and how he could be most helpful. In the end, on that July 14, we won. We won what many thought was an impossible victory, by a vote of 151 - 45, keeping our opponents just below the 25 percent threshold. We shocked our opponents. They were sure they had the votes. Just the kind of come-from-behind, unexpected victory for the little guy that Kennedy relished so much. Later that day, after rallies, celebrations, and parties, I sat down at my desk and listened to voice messages of congratulations, one after the next. One moved me to my core. "Marc, Ted Kennedy calling from Washington, DC. Congratulations on what you did today. What you accomplished for the people of Massachusetts is tremendous. Good work, my friend."Read the entire article here
Major homosexual activist reveals Ted Kennedy's crucial role in defeating Marriage Amendment in Massachusetts Legislature -- people's stopping right to vote on it.
Kennedy poster published in homo-sexual newspaper this week.
Sen. Ted Kennedy was the secret critical force in the background that caused the Massachusetts Legislature to deny the people the right to vote on the Marriage Amendment, it was revealed this week. Less than 48 hours after Kennedy's passing, the homosexual newspaper Bay Windows published an article by Marc Solomon, who at that time ran MassEquality, the main homosexual lobby group trying to stop the amendment. Ted Kennedy personally pressured enough conservative Democrats (and even "libertarian-leaning" Republicans) who the homosexual lobby was targeting, to change their votes on that the measure to allow a public vote would be defeated. Kennedy also worked on the overall strategy to defeat it. Without Kennedy's involvement, it would likely not have been defeated the Legislature -- and the people would have been able to vote.
Here's what Solomon told Bay Windows:
Our cause was lining up the votes to defeat an anti-gay constitutional amendment that would strip same-sex couples of the right to marry. A final vote was scheduled for July 14, 2007. Our opponents needed the votes of only 25 percent of the legislature to advance a citizen-led amendment to the ballot. We had lined up two-thirds of the legislature through fieldwork, lobbying, media, literally everything we could think of. But getting those last 15 legislators-those conservative Democrats from working class Massachusetts communities and a few libertarian-leaning Republicans-was very tough. We needed all hands on deck to keep a Massachusetts version of Proposition 8 off the ballot. We needed Ted Kennedy. "Could you get me a list of your targets?" one of Kennedy's key staffers finally asked me. "Don't tell anyone I'm asking you for this," he said. He meant it, and I didn't. A few days later, as I was doing my rounds in the State House, a bewildered conservative legislator stopped me. "You'll never guess who left me a message about gay marriage," he said. "Ted Kennedy." And then I started to hear similar refrains again and again. We'd get word that he'd spoken to the Governor, the Speaker of the House, the Senate President, the chair of the Democratic Party, asking for updates, strategizing, figuring out exactly what he could do and how he could be most helpful. In the end, on that July 14, we won. We won what many thought was an impossible victory, by a vote of 151 - 45, keeping our opponents just below the 25 percent threshold. We shocked our opponents. They were sure they had the votes. Just the kind of come-from-behind, unexpected victory for the little guy that Kennedy relished so much. Later that day, after rallies, celebrations, and parties, I sat down at my desk and listened to voice messages of congratulations, one after the next. One moved me to my core. "Marc, Ted Kennedy calling from Washington, DC. Congratulations on what you did today. What you accomplished for the people of Massachusetts is tremendous. Good work, my friend."Read the entire article here
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Catholics against Obamacare
I am now blogging with Jean Heiman of Catholic Fire against Obamacare, go and visit our blog and decide if you. . .
Are You a Catholic Against Obama Care?
Are You a Catholic Against Obama Care?
Kennedy was no friend of Rome
Mother Rose Kennedy is reported to have dreamed that Edward would become a priest. His was a life of privilege and opportunity recklessly squandered. Even Time-CNN recognizes the reason Kennedy alienated himself from the Catholic Church.
"Edward Kennedy, it can be said, was not cut out for the priestly life. His first marriage, to former model Virginia Joan Bennett, ended in divorce in 1982, with the marriage annulled by the Roman Rota more than a decade later. And there are the infamous episodes in his life that showed a man not quite in control of his demons.l(understatement of the year; Chappaquiddick drowning death of Mary Jo Kopechne, Kennedy Smith rape trial, public reputation for drunkenness) But ultimately, beyond his personal travails, Kennedy's relationship with the Church hierarchy was destined for conflict because of politics. The Senator became both the face and the engine of the liberal wing of the Democratic Party that has long led the battle for abortion rights, stem-cell research and gay marriage, all of which Catholic doctrine strictly forbids."
Truer words were never spoken; Kennedy became the antithesis of the Catholic politician, fighting against the most central beliefs of the Church. The sad thing is, with his last name, he didn't have to compromise himself the way he did to stay in office. He could have remained true to the Church; after all he lived in one of the most Catholic states in the nation.
John Henry Westen remembers his abortion legacy and publicly wonders if his funeral will cause grave scandal to the Church.
"What example will this give to Catholics and the rest of the world looking in? It will surely belie the Catholic teachings on the sanctity of life and sexuality. "Surely," they will say, "if one of the most vociferous proponents of abortion and homosexuality in politics is so feted in the Church, the Church cannot possibly regard abortion as murder." Would anyone so honor one who so advocated what the church officially considers an "unspeakable crime"?
He of course, is referring to the fact that President Obama will be delivering the eulogy. Will this be another Notre Dame scandal?
HT Life Site News.
Read the entire story at Time.com.
Fr Raymond de Souza talks about missed opportunities here at NC Register blog.
"The public legacy of the Senate’s greatest liberal and the last lion of his pride is a matter for public judgment. During his 47 years in the Senate, he was the most prominent Catholic Democrat in America. Many critics considered him a better Democrat than Catholic. Yet the tragedy of Ted Kennedy is that had he been more faithful to the public implications of his Catholicism, he may have been a more successful leader of the Democratic Party. The culture wars have not been electorally kind to the Democratic Party, and there is perhaps no person more responsible for the culture wars than Ted Kennedy himself."
Strong words but necessary. We can never imagine what the Kennedy name could have done to advance the Culture of Life in America because this flawed man let his youthful sins drag his entire adult career into the pits of the Culture of Death. That's how the Enemy works; he gets a good person to do something bad (ie leave a young woman to drown to cover your drunken mistake) then he whispers in your ear for the rest of your life, "well you did that, this isn't any worse" about the next worse sin, and the next and the next. Before you know it you have a reputation as a drunk, womanizing extremely liberal senator who is undefeatable in the Senate.
It's a long, slippery slope with Satan pushing you all the way down.
Had Teddy made a heartfelt confession instead of listening to advisers, he might have turned his life around then. Had he served time in jail like any other citizen would for Chappaquiddick, he might have had true repentance. But he got away with murder and then became complicit in the murders of millions of unborn children.
If you have power, you must be extraordinarily vigilant to remain pure and blameless, precisely because you are a target of the enemy who seeks to destroy the earth with our help.
May God have mercy on Edward Kennedy for letting his weakness drag him down to cooperating with evil in his Senate career.
"Edward Kennedy, it can be said, was not cut out for the priestly life. His first marriage, to former model Virginia Joan Bennett, ended in divorce in 1982, with the marriage annulled by the Roman Rota more than a decade later. And there are the infamous episodes in his life that showed a man not quite in control of his demons.l(understatement of the year; Chappaquiddick drowning death of Mary Jo Kopechne, Kennedy Smith rape trial, public reputation for drunkenness) But ultimately, beyond his personal travails, Kennedy's relationship with the Church hierarchy was destined for conflict because of politics. The Senator became both the face and the engine of the liberal wing of the Democratic Party that has long led the battle for abortion rights, stem-cell research and gay marriage, all of which Catholic doctrine strictly forbids."
Truer words were never spoken; Kennedy became the antithesis of the Catholic politician, fighting against the most central beliefs of the Church. The sad thing is, with his last name, he didn't have to compromise himself the way he did to stay in office. He could have remained true to the Church; after all he lived in one of the most Catholic states in the nation.
John Henry Westen remembers his abortion legacy and publicly wonders if his funeral will cause grave scandal to the Church.
"What example will this give to Catholics and the rest of the world looking in? It will surely belie the Catholic teachings on the sanctity of life and sexuality. "Surely," they will say, "if one of the most vociferous proponents of abortion and homosexuality in politics is so feted in the Church, the Church cannot possibly regard abortion as murder." Would anyone so honor one who so advocated what the church officially considers an "unspeakable crime"?
He of course, is referring to the fact that President Obama will be delivering the eulogy. Will this be another Notre Dame scandal?
HT Life Site News.
Read the entire story at Time.com.
Fr Raymond de Souza talks about missed opportunities here at NC Register blog.
"The public legacy of the Senate’s greatest liberal and the last lion of his pride is a matter for public judgment. During his 47 years in the Senate, he was the most prominent Catholic Democrat in America. Many critics considered him a better Democrat than Catholic. Yet the tragedy of Ted Kennedy is that had he been more faithful to the public implications of his Catholicism, he may have been a more successful leader of the Democratic Party. The culture wars have not been electorally kind to the Democratic Party, and there is perhaps no person more responsible for the culture wars than Ted Kennedy himself."
Strong words but necessary. We can never imagine what the Kennedy name could have done to advance the Culture of Life in America because this flawed man let his youthful sins drag his entire adult career into the pits of the Culture of Death. That's how the Enemy works; he gets a good person to do something bad (ie leave a young woman to drown to cover your drunken mistake) then he whispers in your ear for the rest of your life, "well you did that, this isn't any worse" about the next worse sin, and the next and the next. Before you know it you have a reputation as a drunk, womanizing extremely liberal senator who is undefeatable in the Senate.
It's a long, slippery slope with Satan pushing you all the way down.
Had Teddy made a heartfelt confession instead of listening to advisers, he might have turned his life around then. Had he served time in jail like any other citizen would for Chappaquiddick, he might have had true repentance. But he got away with murder and then became complicit in the murders of millions of unborn children.
If you have power, you must be extraordinarily vigilant to remain pure and blameless, precisely because you are a target of the enemy who seeks to destroy the earth with our help.
May God have mercy on Edward Kennedy for letting his weakness drag him down to cooperating with evil in his Senate career.
Friday, August 28, 2009
Catholic Health Association backs away from Obamacare
This is great news, last week Sr Carol Keehan, the director of Catholic Health Association defended their support of Obamacare on EWTN's "The World Over" despite vigorous attacks from both Judie Brown and Ray Arroyo, over the abortion connection of the bill. She said that CHA had to 'participate in dialogue' with the Obama Administration. Once the bill was law, however, anyone with a brain knows the time of dialog with zealots like Ezekiel Emmanuel would be over.
Now they apppear to be backing out of their support of this bill over abortion, just as several bishops are speaking out against the health care bill.
Pro-life pressure from within the Catholic Church seems to have been responsible for the change. Keep the pressure on!
HT Life News
Now they apppear to be backing out of their support of this bill over abortion, just as several bishops are speaking out against the health care bill.
Pro-life pressure from within the Catholic Church seems to have been responsible for the change. Keep the pressure on!
HT Life News
Bishop Martino to retire for health reasons
This is a great loss for Scranton. I'll bet Senator Casey is vastly relieved; he thinks that there will be no more Bishop to hold his feet to the fire about abortion, however, not so fast; Cardinal Rigali will be incharge of the diocese until a replacement is named. Meanwhile let's pray for a miraculous healing for Bishop Martino; he is sorely needed in our Church.
Bishop Matino was a brave, decisive shepherd who was uncompromising defender of life issues. We will all miss him.
"I'm very saddened by this news and urge readers to pray for his health. Bishop Martino is a real firebrand who has been passionately defending the principles of our Catholic faith in his diocese, as previous AmP posts detail."
Read the entire story at American Papist.
Bishop Matino was a brave, decisive shepherd who was uncompromising defender of life issues. We will all miss him.
"I'm very saddened by this news and urge readers to pray for his health. Bishop Martino is a real firebrand who has been passionately defending the principles of our Catholic faith in his diocese, as previous AmP posts detail."
Read the entire story at American Papist.
Glenn Beck is championing the rights of the disabled
He's doing it by giving the American public a long-overdue history lesson on eugenics, and it's obvious ties to Obamacare.
"But Germany, which provided universal health care, began to view Germans with conditions like cerebral palsy as primarily a drain on health resources that could be allocated to healthier Germans. Beck choked up as he held a Nazi poster that featured a man with cerebral palsy and said it costs 60,000 Marks to keep him alive. Another poster said that the resources spent for one year on a mental institution could have built homes for Germans.
"What happened in Germany was that they could not afford health-care for all," warns Beck."
No wonder he's under fire.
Want to know why he's so passionate about the disabled? He has a daughter with Cerebral Palsy who is a college graduate.
God bless you, Glenn!
Read the entire story here at Life Site News.
"But Germany, which provided universal health care, began to view Germans with conditions like cerebral palsy as primarily a drain on health resources that could be allocated to healthier Germans. Beck choked up as he held a Nazi poster that featured a man with cerebral palsy and said it costs 60,000 Marks to keep him alive. Another poster said that the resources spent for one year on a mental institution could have built homes for Germans.
"What happened in Germany was that they could not afford health-care for all," warns Beck."
No wonder he's under fire.
Want to know why he's so passionate about the disabled? He has a daughter with Cerebral Palsy who is a college graduate.
God bless you, Glenn!
Read the entire story here at Life Site News.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Senator Kennedy dies of brain cancer
I believe it is entirely appropriate that the day before St Monica's feast day, that Senator Edward Kennedy has gone to meet his Maker. Mother Rose Kennedy was a devout Catholic and no doubt spent many an hour before the Lord praying for a son who had, like St Augustine of Hippo, lost his way. If Ed Kennedy had confessed his sin of supporting abortion when he reformed from his alcoholism after the William Kennedy Smith rape trial, he could easily have become another St Augustine, who went from ribald youth to bishop and doctor of the Church, thanks to St Monica's 28 years of faithful prayers and tears before Our Lord.We don't know the state of his soul. We can only hope that he had the grace of a thorough confession before his death. I sent him an email begging him to do so.
Here's what we do know.
Few have been given the privileges of the Kennedy family; financially, socially and politically, and as we know to whom much is given, much is expected. How did Edward who has been a US Senator since his twenties, nearly 47 years use the talents given him by the Lord?
He began his career as a pro-life Senator from Massachusetts. In 1971, he affirmed that one can be a pro-life Catholic politician and a good senator in a letter written to the father of a friend of mine in which he stated, "When history looks back to this era it should recognize this generation as one which cared about human beings enough to halt the practice of war, to provide a decent living for every family, and to fulfill its responsibility to its children from the very moment of conception."
Somewhere, Senator Kennedy sold out to the left wing and became the most vociferous anti-life voice of the Senate, attacking excellent Supreme Court nominess Samuel Alito and John Roberts for being faithful Catholics.The Wall Street Journal has an article on how the Kennedy family abandoned their pro-life principles. He is called a 'good friend to the LBQT community'. If he was the Lion of the Senate, he had lost his roar when he abandoned his Catholic morality. Such a tragic misuse of power on the part of a fellow Catholic is maddening, and it is a a grave scandal that the Catholics in Massachusetts kept him in office.
There is however, one area in which the Senator deserves praise. His sister Rosemary Kennedy was mentally challenged, and like their sister, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, Kennedy whose work founding Special Olympics, the Senator did much for the disability community. With Republican Senator Sam Brownback, he co-sponsored the "Prenatally Diagnosed Conditions Awareness Act" which provides funds to educate health care professionals and parents whose children are prenatally diagnosed with children who have conditions such as Down syndrome and Spina Bifida. Such children are normally aborted at a heartbreaking rate of 90%, so this was pro-life legislation which was passed unanimously in both houses of Congress, as I described in this article in the National Catholic Register. For this I am grateful to Senator Kennedy and pray that he had the grace of a good confession before dying last night and is on his way to heaven.
Eternal Rest grant to him, O Lord, and may perpetual light shine upon him, may he and all the souls of the faithful departed, rest in peace.
Here is a very moving post from my friend whose father received the 1971 letter from Senator Kennedy.
Read the entire story at WSJ news online.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)