Posts filed under 'Social Issues'
Demographic collapse isn’t just an European problem:
Japan’s workers are being urged to switch off their laptops, go home early and use what little energy they have left on procreation, in the country’s latest attempt to avert demographic disaster.
The drive to persuade employers that their staff would be better off at home with their wives than staying late at the office comes amid warnings from health experts that many couples are simply too tired to have sex.
A recent survey of married couples under 50 found that more than a third had not had sex in the previous month.
Many couples said they didn’t have the energy for sex, while others said they found it boring.
A quarter of the men surveyed said they were “too tired” after work, while just under a fifth of women said intercourse was “too troublesome”. A study by Durex found that the average couple has sex 45 times a year, less than half the global average of 103 times.
“It’s a question of work-life balance,” the association’s head, Kunio Kitamura, told Reuters. “This is not something that the individual can tackle alone. The people who run companies need to do something about it.”
Japan’s birth rate, at 1.34 - the average number of children a woman has in her lifetime - is among the lowest in the world and falls well short of the 2.07 children needed to keep the population stable.
If the rate persists, demographers warn that Japan’s overall population will drop to 95 million by 2050 from its 2006 peak of 127.7 million.
The consumerist, careerist social model is dying - Japan, as it turned out, imported the very worst Judeo-Christian civilization had to offer…not our Sermon on the Mount, but our corporate behemoths and shallow popular culture.
As I’ve said before - and will keep saying - the issue of Life is the most important issue we face, and the crucial thing for us to do is to end abortion and start having that hope which welcomes new life into the world. All our machines and all our banks and all our glittering cities will be worthless if there is no one living. In political rhetoric we were to build a bridge to the 21st century and all we’ve ended up doing is building an expressway to the graveyard.
There is no question - there is no dispute - that a rational person can put to the proposition that we must have children, as a society, or we will cease to be. Only a turning away from the social paradigm brought to us by liberalism all those ages ago during the so-called “Enlightenment” can save us - we have to start living; living as human beings, not as mere cogs in a socio-economic machine designed to endlessly grind out consumer goods faster and cheaper. Progress, in 2008, means figuring out just where we turned aside from our humanity and then - as far as possible - getting back there and keeping on the human path, rather than the materialist, determinist path of mindless robots doomed to destruction.
Tags: culture of death, Culture of Life, demographics, Japan, Judeo-Christian Civilization
December 1st, 2008
An ambitious program, to be sure:
Citing what they call America’s “promise of equality,” the Obama administration plans to push for homosexual rights by including protections of sexual orientation, “gender identity” and “gender expression” as civil rights. His office proposes expanding hate crimes statues and the adoption rights of homosexuals while supporting full civil unions for “LGBT couples” to give them “legal rights and privileges equal to those of married couples.”
The proposals are announced under the Civil Rights section of their agenda presented at Change.gov, the web site of the Obama campaign’s self-described “Office of the President-elect.”
A section titled “Support for the LGBT Community” outlines the agenda for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered activists and quotes remarks Obama made on June 1, 2007.
“While we have come a long way since the Stonewall riots in 1969, we still have a lot of work to do,” Obama said, referring to riots which followed a police raid on a New York City gay bar.
“Too often, the issue of LGBT rights is exploited by those seeking to divide us. But at its core, this issue is about who we are as Americans. It’s about whether this nation is going to live up to its founding promise of equality by treating all its citizens with dignity and respect.”
According to the web site, President-elect Obama and vice-president-elect Joe Biden will support expand crimes legislation such as the Matthew Shepard Act. They also back the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which they claim will “prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity or expression.”
“While an increasing number of employers have extended benefits to their employees’ domestic partners, discrimination based on sexual orientation in the workplace occurs with no federal legal remedy,” the web site states, referring to similar legislation sponsored by Obama in the Illinois state legislature.
Regarding civil unions and same-sex marriage, the site says “Barack Obama supports full civil unions that give same-sex couples legal rights and privileges equal to those of married couples.”
Advocating the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act, the agenda plans to “enact legislation that would ensure that the 1,100+ federal legal rights and benefits currently provided on the basis of marital status are extended to same-sex couples in civil unions and other legally-recognized unions.”
So, defensive rhetoric aside during the campaign and eschewing the words “gay marriage”, Obama is essentially pledging to support the entire gay rights agenda less repeal of “don’t ask/don’t tell”. Some how, this strikes a false note with me - there would be nothing so likely to rouse and unite the conservative movement than a repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and adding things as nebulous as “gender identity” to US civil rights laws. Meanwhile, in return for generating very strong opposition which would be used to devastating effect in GOP leaning Congressional districts currently held by moderate-to-conservative Democrats, all Obama would gain is the slavish devotion of people who are already slavishly devoted to him. This seems to me to be a bit of fluff designed to disarm a gay rights movement already miffed by the backing off on “don’t ask/don’t tell” issue.
On the other hand, Obama might be in deadly earnest on this - so we might as well be prepared for a tough but ultimately rewarding fight.
Tags: gay marriage, gay rights, liberal lies, Obama Deceptions, traditional morality
November 25th, 2008
While I disagree with the concept of gay marriage, B. Daniel Blatt over at Pajamas Media explains what gay activists will have to do to have a chance of actually winning the political fight over it:
…proponents of Proposition 8 began their campaign by pointing out that judges and politicians were trying to force gay marriage on the citizens of California. In their first television ad, they pointed out that four judges on the California Supreme Court “ignored four million voters,” the approximate tally of citizens who, in 2000, voted in favor of Proposition 22, which defined marriage as the union of one man and one woman. Those four justices explicitly overturned that initiative in their May decision.
That same ad showed San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom saying that gay marriage would happen “whether you like it or not.” The campaign thus made it appear that citizens were being left out of the process.
Other ads suggested that Proposition 8’s failure would lead to schools teaching gay marriage and prevent parents from allowing their children to opt out of such instruction. A “yes” vote would return sovereignty over such matters to the people.
Whenever state courts mandate recognition of gay marriage, it leads to a backlash at the ballot box. By November 2004, not even a year after the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (the Bay State’s highest court) handed down the Goodridge decision finding it unconstitutional under the state constitution to limit marriage to different-sex couples, voters in thirteen states enacted constitutional provisions defining marriage by its traditional definition: the union of one man and one woman.
This year, after the California and Connecticut Supreme Courts handed down rulings similar to Goodridge, voters in Florida and Arizona joined those in California and amended their state constitutions.
Following the passage of Proposition 8, Jonathan Rauch, author of Gay Marriage: Why It Is Good for Gays, Good for Straights, and Good for America, wrote that gay marriage advocates need to rethink “the wisdom of mindlessly pushing lawsuits through the courts without adequately preparing the public.” Since state courts began mandating gay marriage, thirty states have amended their constitutions to define marriage so as to prohibit recognition of same-sex unions as marriage.
Our liberal friends, of course, rely upon judicial tyranny to impose their views - elect liberal executives who appoint liberal judges and then file lawsuits to impose new laws which would never pass muster with the people or which would involve long, expensive fights in the public square. The success of Roe in enshrining abortion in our laws has been the model - abortion on demand commands only a small minority of support, but it is the standard which the left holds to and they’ve got a Supreme Court ruling on their side about it. It is also handy to use judges as they can bypass the more local political bodies - State supreme courts to overturn city and county laws, federal supreme court to overturn State laws. This is a negation of America.
In point of fact, I’m not particularly concerned if the people of San Francisco wish to recognize as a “marriage” the union of two men or two women…or, for that matter, three men and three women, if that is what floats their boat. I don’t live in San Francisco and while I love my fellow Americans in that city and will fight to defend them against all enemies, foreign and domestic, its not for me to tell them how to live - just as it isn’t for them to tell me how to live. Within the framework of our sublime constitution, we’re supposed to have vast differences between the States and localities on how business is done. Think of the United States as a host of local and State political laboratories where various experiments in democratic governance are conducted, with the most successful experiments making it to the national level. This is what we really should be shooting for.
The problem with the left is that it seeks to impose itself everywhere - its not good enough if gays in San Francisco are married…Salt Lake City must do so, too. Its not good enough for abortion to be legal in Santa Monica, it must also be legal in Boise. Its not good enough to have a porno store down the street in New York City, there must also be one down the street in Billings. This is not the way it is supposed to be - as long as an American is free to hold his property, speak his mind and come and go as he pleases, he’s as free as any person needs to be…the rest of it is a matter of local desire. Some localities are ok with freewheeling immorality, some places aren’t…and each should respect the basic desires of the other.
If gay marriage is ever to come to the United States, it will have to come in a piecemeal fashion - States and localities, after extensive political argument, will have to decide for themselves what they wish to do. My bet is that most will opt for some sort of civil unions to allow gay couples - and other non-traditional family-like relationships - to pool their lives and resources free from outside interference (which, by the way, is a core American value)…but it has to be the people deciding. If the gay marriage advocates continue down the route of judicial tyranny, it will eventually provoke the ultimate backlash, an amendment to the federal constitution forbidding gay marriage.
Tags: gay marriage, homosexuality
November 8th, 2008
From NRO’s The Corner:
I must say I thought this guy’s sign was pretty funny:
Daniel Ginnes carried a banner declaring: “No More Mr Nice Gay.”
But some of these other post-Prop 8 ructions are surreal:
Unfortunately the “blame the blacks” meme is being commonly accepted by some so-called “progressive” gay activists. A number of Rod 2.0 and Jasmyne Cannick readers report being subjected to taunts, threats and racist abuse… Geoffrey was called the n-word at least twice.
It was like being at a klan rally except the klansmen were wearing Abercrombie polos and Birkenstocks. YOU N*****, one man shouted at me. If your people want to call me a F*****, I will call you a n*****… A young WeHo clone said after last night the n*****s better not come to West Hollywood if they knew what was BEST for them.
The media were warning that if the election went the wrong way there’d be riots, but I didn’t realize they meant Klansmen in Abercrombie polos roaming West Hollywood itching for a rumble.
All is not well in liberal-land…but it is no surprise at all that there would be these fissures as the liberal coalition is inherently incompatible and only glued together by a common defense of abortion and support - at this time - for Barack Obama. I mean, quite honestly, what do West Hollywood gay activists have in common with working class blacks in Compton? Other than both having a distaste for Republicans and an adoration of Obama, not a thing.
The lesson here is the ability of we GOPers to work our way in between these cracks - there are black Americans who will come to our side over social issues; there are gay Americans who will come to our side over the concept of judicial restraint…we can put together a real coalition based on common ideals, but containing within it the freedom to dissent from this or that aspect of the over-arching program. We need to set to work with a will to expand our coalition at the expense of liberalism and especially those hard left parts of it.
Tags: conservative truth, gay marriage, homosexuality, liberal lies
November 8th, 2008
Go here for the scoop.
I think we can say that the constitution reflected a enormous blind spot in this culture that carries on until this day and that the Framers had that same blind spot. I don’t think the two views are contradictory to say that it was a remarkable political document that paved the way for where we are now and to say that it also reflected the fundamental flaw of this county that continues to this day.
And he also believes that the Supreme Court should decide what the government must do for you (as defined by Obama and other lefties, of course):
The Supreme Court never ventured into the issues of redistribution of wealth, and of more basic issues such as political and economic justice in society. To that extent, as radical as I think people try to characterize the Warren Court, it wasn’t that radical. It didn’t break free from the essential constraints that were placed by the founding fathers in the Constitution, at least as its been interpreted and Warren Court interpreted in the same way, that generally the Constitution is a charter of negative liberties. Says what the states can’t do to you. Says what the Federal government can’t do to you, but doesn’t say what the Federal government or State government must do on your behalf.
The man believes that the Founders got it wrong - that they didn’t set up a system Obama would prefer; a system, that is, where redistribution is the name of the game. Obama wants a government which decides the outcomes of life - and it must be kept in mind that if a government is going to “fix” the outcomes, it cannot allow people to be free. Obama is a socialist through and through, even if he refuses the label - but, then again, most socialists in the United States refuse that label, too, and insist we call them “progressives”.
Americans: do we want a President who thinks that the Founders got it wrong? Do we want a President who sees the coercive club of government as a magic wand to make us all happy? If we do, then Obama will be elected next week - if, on the other hand, we prefer to actually remain American, then we’ll vote for McCain.
Tags: Judicial Activism, Obama Deceptions, Socialism
October 27th, 2008
The underlying good sense and adherence to basic morality is coming through even in California:
According to the latest poll from California, those fighting for the defense of traditional marriage have a nine point advantage over activists seeking state recognition of same-sex marriage.
The poll released on Tuesday afternoon by the Knights of Columbus, reports that the drive to pass California’s Proposition 8 is leading among likely voters 52 to 43 percent. If Proposition 8 is passed, it will amend the state Constitution to say, “Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid and recognized in the state of California.”
The poll also shows that Proposition 8 leads in every region of California except the San Francisco Bay Area, where 58% are opposed to the measure.
Californians’ opinions on the State Supreme Court ruling that allowed same-sex couples to be recognized as “married” by the state are evenly divided.
Fifty two percent of likely California voters believe the ruling was wrong to have overturned the 2000 referendum in which voters approved reserving marriage for opposite-sex couples, and 72 percent believe the decision should be left to the voters, the poll found.
The Marist College Institute of Public Opinion, which conducted the poll between September 28 and October 5, 2008, also uncovered some results that point to the cultural and moral uncertainty surrounding the controversial issue of homosexual “marriage.”
For instance, more than half of the 43 percent against the bill said they were likely to change their mind when reminded that Proposition 8 would not affect same-sex couples’ ability to form civil unions. Moreover, 88 percent of those in favor of civil unions said they viewed marriage as between one man and one woman.
And this is why the proponents of gay marriage prefer to go through the courts - the supporters of such a thing are a tiny minority, even among many Americans who consider themselves liberal. Its not wanted, it never was wanted, it never will be wanted - save by a small group which, unfortunately, is tremendously well funded and has the support of the so-called “commanding heights” of American culture and higher education institutions.
As unpopular as it is and as potentially destructive of other liberal hopes, you’d think the proponents of gay marriage would give it a rest and move on to other issues which have more popular support, but they don’t. Why is that? Because the eventual goal is the end of faith and family, and gay marriage is just another useful tool in destroying both. Raised up against real families and real religions will be counterfeits of both - with the addition of the fact that in the name of “protecting” the counterfeits, the real things must be curbed in the public square.
The left never gives the non-left a moment’s peace - they are ever busy finding new ways to chip away at this or that aspect of our civilization. Defend this area, and they move off to that area, knowing that the whole thing stands or falls as a unit and any support damaged weakens the whole structure. This unremitting war against us must be fought in the same way - we must defend our civilization tooth and nail; the line must be drawn and our demand of “thus far, and no further” prevail - it is either this or we’ll just throw away 2,000 years of human advancement and turn our selves and our children over to monsters in human skin who think they can create the Kingdom of God here on earth.
Tags: California, Christianity, conservative truth, gay marriage, Judeo-Christian Civilization, liberal lies
October 23rd, 2008
With all we have on our plate, we don’t have much time to spare for some things, but I do ask that everyone spare a thought and a prayer for the Christians of India who are suffering violence and persecution for their faith. What appears to be happening is a resentment among some Indians that “untouchables” are converting to Christianity in larger numbers and thus threatening the Indian social structure. Indians who accept their “untouchable” status are no threat - Indians who convert to Christianity and thus gain a sense of self-respect and a desire to rise higher than their status at birth are a threat.
I have much love and respect for the people of India and I wish them well and for a ever stronger alliance between the world’s oldest democracy and the world’s largest…but if India really wants to take its place as one of the Great Powers of the world, religious tolerance will be required.
Tags: Christianity, Freedom of Religion, India
October 11th, 2008
Mighty nice of them - and, perhaps, a reflection on the way that the defense of marriage amendment is gaining strength amongst the California electorate as November approaches:
The California Department of Public Health, which provides marriage-license forms to counties across the state, will again allow couples who contract a marriage to again identify themselves as “bride” and “groom” on their marriage licenses starting in November.
According to the California Catholic Daily, following the California Supreme Court decision imposing same-sex marriages in the state, the vital statistics section of the state health department created new marriage license forms allowing couples only to identify themselves as “Party A” and “Party B.”
The change was strongly protested. Rachel Bird and Gideon Codding of Roseville, California last week sued the state over the elimination of the traditional description.
However, a spokeswoman for the Department of Public Health told the Sacramento Bee the new forms were not a response to the lawsuit
“Many Californians have asked to have the option to identify as ‘bride’ and ‘groom’ on their marriage license form,” says an announcement on the Public Health Department’s web site. “The California Department of Public Health has been reviewing how we can provide those options in a way that is consistent with court rulings on marriage. The state will begin using new forms effective November 17th that will include boxes for ‘bride’ or ‘groom.’ Identifying as a ‘bride’ or a ‘groom’ is optional, not mandatory.”
Under the new marriage-license rules, couples may choose “bride” and “groom,” “bride” and “bride,” “groom” and “groom” or leave the section blank, the California Catholic Daily reports.
Party A and Party B? If there was ever a doubt that the ultimate purpose of gay marriage is to tear down marriage it is in this sort of Orwellian nomenclature. “Will the party of the first part, known henceforward as ‘Party A’, pledge to be nice to, respect and confer regularly with the party of the second part, known henceforward as ‘Party B’. I now pronounce you mutually supportive, you may co-join your lips”. Marriage is not just a thing to do, but a sacred - and very public - trust; the means by which we create and rear the next generation. To insert same-sex marriage into the mix is to walk down a path to the dissolution of the very concept of marriage, as well as the end to the desire to have children at all.
Fortunately, it does start to look like the gay marriage proponents have over-reached and are about to be smacked down - but it is also getting to be high time to end this debate for good and all by passing a constitutional amendment defining marriage as being between one man and one woman.
Tags: California, conservative truth, gay marriage, liberal lies
October 10th, 2008
Indeed:
On Monday Pope Benedict XVI briefly remarked on the financial crisis during the opening of the first General Congregation of the Twelfth Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops. In the aftermath of the “fall of the great banks,” he reminded synod attendees that money is of “secondary importance” to the Word of God, which he called the “foundation of all reality.”
The Pope referenced Christ’s words at the close of the Sermon on the Mount in which he speaks of building one’s house’s foundation upon sand or upon rock.
“Those who build on sand do so only on visible and tangible things: on success, career and money,” the Pope explained.
“These seem to true reality, but one day they will pass away”, he continued.
“We see this now with the fall of the great banks. Money disappears, it becomes nothing. And thus all these things which seem to be real and upon which we can rely, are in fact of secondary importance.
“All human things, all things we can invent and create are finite. So too all human religious experiences are finite. They show only one aspect of reality, because our limited being understands only some parts, some elements.
“Only God is infinite and through him, his Word too is universal and knows no end,” Pope Benedict remarked.
“Only the Word of God is the foundation of all reality, stable like heaven. Therefore we must change our concept of reality. A realist is one who recognizes that the Word of God - this reality that appears so weak - is in fact the foundation of everything.”
Our liberal and leftwing friends are all about money - who has it, how much they have, what they do with it, how much should be taxed, how it will resolve all problems if only leftists are allowed to control it. But money is nothing - nothing of any importance. My house was worth $400,000, now its worth about $225,000 - back when it was worth 400k, if I hadn’t shown proper love, respect and devotion to my wife that day, what does it matter that my house is worth 400k? If today I show my wife the proper love, respect and devotion, of what consequence is it that the house is worth 225k? Its all a lot of rot and nonsense - a paper chase in the worst sense of the word, and we’ve allowed ourselves to be caught up in it as if it mattered.
Yesterday afternoon, I did a Rosary - for those unfamiliar, this is a prayer Catholics frequently do (but don’t do nearly enough). Its a great devotional prayer and something is strongly pulling me towards doing it each day, starting yesterday, for nine days. Various mysteries are contemplated when doing the Rosary - for yesterday, it was what are called the “Joyful Mysteries”; the Annunciation (when Mary was told she would bear Jesus), Visitation (Mary visits Elizabeth), Nativity (birth of Jesus), Presentation (Jesus consecrated at the Temple) and Finding Jesus in the Temple. In contemplating these things, we look for the spiritual fruits of Humility, Love of Neighbor, Poverty, Obedience and Joy in Finding Jesus. If one is humble, loves his neighbor, renounces the tyranny of material things, obeys the laws human and divine and worships God, what then does it matter if a person is rich or poor? We really need to get things back into the proper perspective - to understand the relative value of things in relation to humanity.
In God We Trust - in great wisdom we have placed that phrase on our currency, because we understood, once upon a time, that while money can be useful, one shouldn’t put any faith in it. Its here today and gone tomorrow - and if you win a million dollars next week and die the week after, what did the money matter? If you pile up billions, what will it advantage you upon your death? You’ll get a fancy casket, I guess. Other than that, I can’t think of anything - and for the corpse the type of casket doesn’t seem to be a matter for concern. It is time we take the one thing our money has of great value - In God We Trust - and start to re-apply it to our lives. In God We Trust - not political parties, not politicians, not business, not the media…heck, in the end, we are not even to place our trust in our rabbis, priests and pastors. In God We Trust. Our leftwing friends, especially, should take that to heart - I’ve seen “Obama Youth”, blue shirted fanatics and people fainting dead away at the mere sight of Barack Obama. He’s just a man - if you place your trust in him, you will be disappointed. He’s human - he’ll make mistakes, and all the more of them the more people ascribe to him a super-human ability to solve problems and make things all better.
I will write of politics; argue of politics; I will vote in November - I will try talk everyone I know into casting a McCain/Palin vote…but if McCain/Palin wins it won’t make life perfect, nor will an Obama/Biden win make it all miserable (though it would spread a great deal of misery). Battle! Strive! Love! Endure! - but In God We Trust; remember that.
Tags: Christianity, conservative truth, recession, Sarah Palin
October 7th, 2008
Obama has pledged to sign this misbegotten, anti-human legislation (out of a desire to bring us together for some hopeful change, of course):
Bishop Robert Finn of Kansas City-St. Joseph in Missouri, writing in his diocesan newspaper, has discussed the proposed Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA), which he said would overturn all existing federal regulations on abortion. Claiming the passage of the act would lead to an increase in abortions, he also questioned whether pro-life supporters of pro-choice politicians have their priorities “backwards.”
Writing in his latest column for The Catholic Key, Bishop Finn said “It is clear that FOCA would immediately make null and void every current restriction on abortion in all jurisdictions.”
Though Bishop Finn did not mention any presidential candidates by name, Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama has pledged to pass FOCA as his first act as president.
The legislation, which was first proposed in 1989, was reproduced in its current form by Bishop Finn in his October 1 column:
“A government may not (1) deny or interfere with a woman’s right to choose – (A) to bear a child; (B) to terminate a pregnancy prior to viability; or (C) to terminate a pregnancy after viability where termination is necessary to protect the life or health of the woman; or (2) discriminate against the exercise of the rights set forth in paragraph (1) in the regulation or provision of benefits, facilities, services, or information.”
According to Bishop Finn, the bill would overturn many state laws, such as abortion reporting requirements in all 50 states. It would additionally overturn states’ laws concerning parental involvement, restrictions on later-term abortions, conscience protection laws for individual health care providers, bans on partial-birth abortions, conscience protection laws for institutions, requirements for counseling before an abortion, and laws providing ultrasounds to distressed women before an abortion.
We can also expect that a law which prohibits government from denying the alleged “right” to an abortion will be turned around in an Obama Supreme Court to mean that the government must fund abortions - the whole law is designed to make the United States of America the leader in the world-wide Culture of Death…someone may correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think any nation in the world has abortion laws as permissive as the legislation proposed here. This would be the left’s Final Solution to the abortion question.
We daren’t let it happen - not for any reason whatsoever.
Tags: abortion, culture of death, Culture of Life, Freedom of Choice Act, Obama Deceptions
October 7th, 2008
And we hope that Joe Biden (who talks as if Scranton were the center of his universe) will pay attention, especially as he claims adherence to the Catholic faith…it would also be good for Senator Obama to lend an ear:
…The American Catholic bishops initiated Respect Life Sunday in 1972, the year before the Supreme Court legalized abortion in the United States. Since that time, Catholics across the country observe the month of October with devotions and pro-life activities in order to advance the culture of life. This October, our efforts have more significance than ever. Never have we seen such abusive criticism directed toward those who believe that life begins at conception and ends at natural death.As Catholics, we should not be surprised by these developments. Forty years ago, Pope Paul VI predicted that widespread use of artificial contraceptives would lead to increased marital infidelity, lessened regard for women, and a general lowering of moral standards especially among the young. Forty years later, social scientists, not necessarily Catholics, attest to the accuracy of his predictions. As if following some bizarre script, the sexual revolution has produced widespread marital breakdown, weakened family ties, legalized abortion, sexually transmitted diseases, pornography, same-sex unions, euthanasia, destruction of human embryos for research purposes and a host of other ills.
It is impossible for me to answer all of the objections to the Church’s teaching on life that we hear every day in the media. Nevertheless, let me address a few. To begin, laws that protect abortion constitute injustice of the worst kind. They rest on several false claims including that there is no certainty regarding when life begins, that there is no certainty about when a fetus becomes a person, and that some human beings may be killed to advance the interests or convenience of others. With regard to the first, reason and science have answered the question. The life of a human being begins at conception. The Church has long taught this simple truth, and science confirms it. Biologists can now show you the delicate and beautiful development of the human embryo in its first days of existence. This is simply a fact that reasonable people accept. Regarding the second, the embryo and the fetus have the potential to do all that an adult person does. Finally, the claim that the human fetus may be sacrificed to the interests or convenience of his mother or someone else is grievously wrong. All three claims have the same result: the weakest and most vulnerable are denied, because of their age, the most basic protection that we demand for ourselves. This is discrimination at its worst, and no person of conscience should support it.
Another argument goes like this: “As wrong as abortion is, I don’t think it is the only relevant ‘life’ issue that should be considered when deciding for whom to vote.” This reasoning is sound only if other issues carry the same moral weight as abortion does, such as in the case of euthanasia and destruction of embryos for research purposes. Health care, education, economic security, immigration, and taxes are very important concerns. Neglect of any one of them has dire consequences as the recent financial crisis demonstrates. However, the solutions to problems in these areas do not usually involve a rejection of the sanctity of human life in the way that abortion does. Being “right” on taxes, education, health care, immigration, and the economy fails to make up for the error of disregarding the value of a human life. Consider this: the finest health and education systems, the fairest immigration laws, and the soundest economy do nothing for the child who never sees the light of day. It is a tragic irony that “pro-choice” candidates have come to support homicide – the gravest injustice a society can tolerate – in the name of “social justice.”…
…My dear friends, I beg you not to be misled by confusion and lies. Our Lord, Jesus Christ, does not ask us to follow him to Calvary only for us to be afraid of contradicting a few bystanders along the way. He does not ask us to take up his Cross only to have us leave it at the voting booth door. Recently, Pope Benedict XVI said that “God is so humble that he uses us to spread his Word.” The gospel of life, which we have the privilege of proclaiming, resonates in the heart of every person – believer and non-believer – because it fulfills the heart’s most profound desire. Let us with one voice continue to speak the language of love and affirm the right of every human being to have the value of his or her life, from conception to natural death, respected to the highest degree…
We can’t do anything for the dead - this is rather common sense, but it escapes the notice of liberals, especially liberals who are running for President and are desperate to pry away some Catholic votes from the Republican candidate. It does astound, at times, to think that there are people who think that abortion can be a morally good choice - one wonders how a person comes to the conclusion that a permanent solution is needed for a temporary condition…that immediate death can be the proper response to new life.
I included that last bit of the Bishop’s letter because I think it important - even if you’re not Christian or, indeed, even a believer. It is wisdom of the highest kind to instruct a person to adhere to truth no matter what people demand. It is also such wisdom to insist on taking all of one’s self into the voting booth. And we also must keep in mind the humility needed for the ultimate triumph of the Culture of Life - in a sense, we who can barely be trusted to do the right thing from minute to minute are the people who must convince a fallen and depraved modern world that life is a beautiful thing and it is to be held precious from the first to the last moment.
As the poison in American politics in the 1850’s could be traced to slavery, so the poison in American politics in the first decade of the 21st century can be traced to abortion. Not, of course, that abortion is the source of all ills, but because the defense of abortion - the defense, that is, of something even more abominable than slavery - leads people, step by step, into lies and hatred. Slaveholders in the South started talking themselves into believing their slaves were happy to be slaves; abortion proponents have talked themselves into believing that death is the best thing for the unborn child and, indeed, that child would thank us - if he could - for killing him and thus sparing him the burden of life. We can do much, short of an abortion ban, to lessen the evils in our political life and heal the wounds inflicted on us by the Culture of Death but, in the end, we won’t exorcise this demon until abortion is gone and viewed, as slavery is today, as some primitive aberration no decent person would contemplate.
As it relates to 2008, the good Bishop can’t say it - and even if there wasn’t a federal issue involved with men of the cloth entering deeply into politics, the Bishop would still refrain from saying, “vote for So and So”. But it is clear from his teaching - and the teaching of so many other Bishops, priests and pastors - that anyone who takes the name of “Christian” cannot, if properly informed of Christian teaching, vote for Obama. Heck, if Obama fully understood his own Christian faith, he’d vote against himself - and so would Biden. This is not to condemn those who are Christian and yet manage to find justification for supporting a pro-abortion candidate or party - but it is to point out that only ignorance or willful blindness can explain a Christian being in favor of continued legal elective abortion.
Those of us who place life at the forefront of our concerns know that in the choice of 2008, there is no choice - Only Senator McCain and Governor Palin understand that the belief in the sanctity of human life brings with it the requirement to support some actions, and oppose others. For the Culture of Life, McCain and Palin represent victory - Obama and Biden represent defeat.
Tags: abortion, Christianity, conservative truth, culture of death, Culture of Life, Joe Biden, Sarah Palin
October 5th, 2008
The root cause:
The Archbishop of Lima, Cardinal Juan Luis Cipriani, said this week the financial crisis in the United States and the rest of the world is a consequence of the idolatry of money and power.
This idolatry has manifested itself in the network of corrupt officials who were greedy for more and therefore did not properly carry out their roles, Cardinal Cipriani said.
“They adore money and therefore, they engage in deceit. They issued a series of mortgages that had no value, and that, multiplied by millions has led to this flood of fraudulent corruption,” the cardinal said on his weekly radio program.
The cardinal warned that idolizing power and money has reached “very troubling levels in the world.” When money and power are “the only objects of our lives, they end in problems,” he said.
“When there is so much desire for money, it is for power, and when there is a desire for power it is for money. All of this just to impose our subjectivism, arrogance and pride,” the cardinal stated.
We will debate this and left will blame right and right will blame left - but, “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, But in ourselves”. Look in the mirror, and there is our problem. There is much idolatry these days, and much excuse making - and even more turning a blind eye. It is an old saw but a true one which says that for evil to triumph it is only required that good men do nothing.
One of the wisest things a person can say from time to time is, “I confess to almighty God, and to you, my brothers and sisters, that I have sinned through my own fault,
in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done, and in what I have failed to do…”. It goes on a bit from there, but the most important thing for us to remember is that there’s no point in congratulating ourselves on not being entirely nasty - we’ve all screwed up and added our aliquot portion to the world’s misery. It is time - and high time - that we started acting like men and women and started to set the world to rights. We can continue down this path, and we can even manage this crisis but, eventually, everything has to be paid for; or we can turn aside and start to live as human beings are supposed to live - with love, and mercy and a quiet modesty which understands the limitations of all people.
Tags: conservative truth, recession
September 25th, 2008
Never mind that Ahmadinejad seeks to annihilate a race of people. Never mind that this whackjob’s ability to perpetrate a nuclear holocaust is but a | stone’s throw in time away. Instead of admonishing and condemning his policies, what do liberal ‘religious’ groups do?
Why, they throw him a party, of course.
The Christian groups behind the event to honor Ahmadinejad are the American Friends Service Committee, Mennonite Central Committee, Quaker United Nations Office, Religions for Peace and the World Council of Churches, UPI reported.
From the World Council of Churches website:
The World Council of Churches is a fellowship of churches which confess the Lord Jesus Christ as God and Saviour according to the scriptures, and therefore seek to fulfil together their common calling to the glory of the one God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
It is a community of churches on the way to visible unity in one faith and one eucharistic fellowship, expressed in worship and in common life in Christ. It seeks to advance towards this unity, as Jesus prayed for his followers, "so that the world may believe." (John 17:21)
SO in their zeal to be O so Christian, they think it a great idea to dress up as Neville Chamberlain, sing a couple of rounds of Kumbaya and For He’s A Jolly Good Fellow! and the mere karma of their good intentions will be enough to avert the extermination of the Jewish state? Or is it that since the party-goers were all Christian, Jews need not have applied anyway?
Not that Ahmawhackjob has any love for Christianity, mind you. From the WCC’s own site:
After the Islamic revolution in 1978, most newly established church properties were confiscated and educational institutions were limited to Christian education among Christians. During the 1980s the Bible society was banned and the government shut down many newly formed Protestant and Evangelical churches. In recent years the conditions for religious minorities have become more and more difficult.
Yet these pseudo-religious lame-brains saw it fit to throw this whacko a party, and actually honor him?
Just what is it with leftists and their total love affair with brutal dictators? Inquiring minds want to know.
Tags: Christianity, Iran, Islam, Israel/Judaism, Kook Left
September 24th, 2008
The liberal side of the aisle is wasting no time in casting the CEO’s as the bad guys and then attempting to tie the GOP to the CEO’s. This is clever politics and we can’t complain about the Democrats trying this - even though they are far more connected to said CEO’s than we are. What we GOPers need to do is get out in front of this and get the people on our side. I propose the following, with acknoweldgement to Nevada Pundit, from whom I have ripped off part of the ideas:
Golden Parachutes
There is nothing quite so absurd or aggravating for Joe and Jane Average than to see the CEO of a failed or deeply troubled corporation getting out of Dodge with millions of dollars in bonuses and other compensation. The flimsy-as-all-get-out corporate justification for the huge executive compensation is that if the CEO’s, etc don’t feel ownership for the corporation they won’t ensure it performs at peak efficiency. This is utter BS, but lets take them at their word - and rather than going the Big Government, Democrat route of capping CEO compensation, lets enact a law which allows a corporation to pay its executives whatever it wishes, but such compensation decreases 5 percentage points for each 1 percentage point of stock valuation lost in any given fiscal year beyond a 10% reduction (10% can happen for all sorts of reasons outside the control of the executives - but once you get past that loss, you’re starting to get into CEO Bonehead territory).
Corporate Bankruptcy
Everyone with who’s title includes “chief”, “president”, “senior”, “executive” or “chairman” gets compensated at $25 per hour for each hour worked during the fiscal year the corporation filed bankruptcy. Nothing else.
Corporate Layoffs
For each 10 workers laid off the people with the titles noted in “Corporate Bankruptcy” lose one tenth of one percent of their annual compensation for the fiscal year in which the layoffs occured. A corporate boss can layoff workers all he wants, as long as he feels the pain.
Worker Benefits
Cut them all you want, bosses - as long as you lose them, too and, additionally, lose your bonus for the year in which you make the benefit cut, as well as the two years following it. Have a care when passing out the bennies, ’cause cutting back on them will be painful.
These proposals will retain the free market principle, allow generous compensation to corporate executives who score big profits while keeping workers on the payroll, discourage outsourcing of American jobs and encourage corporate executives to seek other routes than bankruptcy when the going gets rough. In addition to this, there’s the simple justice in ensuring that when a corporation falters, everyone from top to bottom takes a hit, not just the worker bees. And, finally, these are nicely populist proposals which will make the American people stand up and cheer without any appeal to envy or hatred, as the Democrats routinely do with their class warfare nonsense.
The fundamental principle missing in corporate America - and its also missing in government-bureaucrat America - is a connection with the concerns of
