Pro-life

A reader sent me a link to this column by Bishop Hermann

Save our children! More than anything else, this election is about saving our children or killing our children. This life issue is the overriding issue facing each of us in this coming election. All other issues, including the economy, have to take second place to the issue of life.

Save our children! Many people in Germany supported Hitler for economic reasons even though, as his programs advanced, he put to death millions of Jewish people. He ended up wrecking the economy together with the country of Germany.

How are we different if we vote for proabortion candidates for office? How can we help change our political and legal situation to protect innocent children and support a culture of life?

Save our children! When I speak to some socalled good Catholics, I am shocked that they are quite ready to vote for a pro-abortion candidate under almost any circumstance. I find this hard to understand. We have heard the word “abortion” so often that perhaps we no longer associate procured abortion with the killing of children, yet that is what it is. The term itself can be misleading. The dictionary tells us that it comes from a Latin word that means “to disappear or to miscarry.” Sometimes abortions simply happen because of natural causes. That is why this word abortion, for many people, apparently does not really connote the destruction of children. When a human agent induces an abortion, that human agent is taking the life of one of our children.

Save our children! How can a so-called good Catholic vote for a candidate that supports laws that take the life of innocent children, when there is an alternative? If there were two candidates who supported abortion, but not equally, we would have the obligation to mitigate the evil by voting for the less-permissive candidate.

Save our children! How can a so-called good Catholic vote for a candidate that supports laws that justify the killing of a child that survived a botched abortion? How can such a so-called good Catholic receive the Holy Eucharist?

In Chapter 10 of St. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, he states: “The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the Blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? … You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and also the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and of the table of demons.”

Save our children! Have some of our so-called good Catholics become so hardened against the Gospel of Life that they believe that other issues outweigh the Gospel of Life? Have some of our so-called good Catholics put politics ahead of the Fifth Commandment, in which God states: “Thou shalt not kill”? Do some of our so-called good Catholics, who may go to Mass every Sunday and receive the Holy Eucharist, really believe that voting for a pro-abortion candidate, when there is a clear alternative and therefore no justifiable reason for so doing, is really not voting to have children killed? This election is all about saving our children!

Save our children! I have no doubt that there may be some so-called good Catholics who are reading this column and who may be really angry about now. I ask the question “Why would such a person be angry?” If we do good deeds, then our conscience is at peace. If we do evil deeds, then our conscience bothers us. It is my hope that this column will lead some of our so-called good Catholics to study the Catholic Catechism.

Save our children! Some of our so-called good Catholics may have hardened their hearts against the real understanding of induced abortions, that they can no longer see that this involves the destruction of our children. “If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts!”

Save our children! Supporting induced abortions is not the greatest sin in the world. A greater sin is the refusal to repent of such a serious crime or the denial that this involves the killing of innocent children.

Save our children! I have used this terminology again and again penetrate the defenses of anyone who in the past may have put personal, economic or political interests above the issue of saving our children. The right to life is our most fundamental right, and to defend this right on behalf of the most vulnerable is a great privilege and is worth giving one’s life for. Policemen and firemen always risk their lives to save human life. Why should we not risk our own reputation to save our children?

Save our children!You can see by now that I do not believe that this column by itself will change hearts. The issue of abortion involves serious sin, and to overcome serious patterns of sin requires grace. If you are still with me, may I suggest that you join me and many others in praying the daily Rosary from now until election day for the sake of life. Why not pray the family Rosary every night between now and the general election. The Rosary brought down the Iron Curtain. It can also help us turn around the culture of death to a culture of life.

Save our so-called good Catholics who ignore Catholic moral principles when applied to our political life. Pray the family Rosary daily. Pray the family Rosary for our so-called good Catholics who could use your love and your charity. Pray for our so-called good Catholics who ignore serious Catholic moral teachings and still receive Holy Communion. Love them by praying the family Rosary for them. Don’t debate with them. Intercede for them. Praying for them is more fun than fighting with them.

Save our children and save our so-called good Catholics who have abandoned Church teachings in favor of personal gain. Pray the Rosary. Pray it every day. Get the whole family to pray the Rosary daily. Prayer is more powerful than contentious arguments. Spread the word to other families. In praying the Rosary, children’s votes count as much as adult votes. Sometimes they pray with purer hearts than we do. If you are disgusted with the TV news, then turn it off and turn on the prayer Internet. What we hear in prayer leaves us in peace. When we pray for our country and for our fellow citizens, we are filled with peace. St. Paul tells us that our warfare is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities and powers and the spirits of darkness.

Prayer is our protection. Let it also be a protection for our country. If you want to make Satan angry, pray the Rosary for the sake of Life. Pray that as a nation we will choose leaders that will say ‘no’ to the culture of death and say ‘yes’ to the culture of life. Save our children! Pray the Rosary! [source]

Wow!

The wonderful Robert P. George on Obama’s Abortion Extremism

George Weigel also has an excellent article on the arguments used by Obama Catholics.

I now have reports from four different dioceses in various parts of the country on how the bishops’ document “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship” is being used to clear the way for Catholics to support Obama.

The most egregious “teaching” of the document goes like this: Democrats agree with 90% of the Church’s social teaching, Republican’s 10%. So the fact that the GOP is pro-life is offset by the weight of the many other issues –minimum wage, national health insurance, etc. — supported by the Democrats.

Conclusion: Catholics can ignore the pro-life and marriage issues.

Another way the document is being taught is to line up a long list of “intrinsic evils.” Yes, the Republicans hold the line on one or two intrinsic evils, but the Democrats care about measures to eliminate a longer list of “intrinsic evils.” It won’t be mentioned that the latter group of “evils” are not intrinsically evil in the same way as killing unborn life; the former must be opposed in any and all ways, including legislation; the latter opposed by prudential means.

But the conclusion is the same: Catholics can ignore the differences between Republicans and Democrats on the life and marriage issues.

Those who have been tasked to teach “Forming Consciences” in parishes around the country include staff from the local chanceries and the USCCB. Often those staff will have “peace and justice” attached to the description of their employment or their association with Catholic institutions.

I have yet to hear anyone associated with the “peace and justice” crowd accurately describe the proper priority of the life issues in “faithful citizenship.” [article]

No surprise here that the same people who turned the documents of Vatican II into some nebulous Spirit of Vatican II would do the same to the USCCB’s document. When you use the hermeneutic of “I am going to vote for Sen. Obama anyway” it is amazing what documents can then yield. Kind of like National Catholic Reporter’s new editor who wrote this year that he would rather have the bishops go to Hell than for him not to vote Democrat.

These stories corroborate my thesis that most of the damage to the Catholic Church is being done at the middle management level. The bishops should be paying more attention to what is being taught by their staff, both at the conference and the chanceries.

Totally agree with that assessment. The parish and diocesan spin doctors are hard at work all over the place.

Some North Texas Catholics are upset with a letter written and distributed by their local bishops, saying it amounts to an endorsement of GOP presidential candidate Sen. John McCain.

The letter by Bishop Kevin Farrell of the Diocese of Dallas and Bishop Kevin Vann of the Diocese of Fort Worth says in part: “To vote for a candidate who supports the intrinsic evil of abortion or `abortion rights’ when there is morally acceptable alternative would be to cooperate in the evil – and, therefore, morally impermissible.”

Sen. Barack Obama, the Democratic Party presidential candidate, supports abortion rights. Sen. McCain favors overturning Roe vs. Wade, the U.S. Supreme Court decision that protects the right to an abortion.

The bishops’ letter was distributed or read at parishes across the Diocese of Dallas this weekend. The Fort Worth diocese is distributing the letter through its newspaper, which is being mailed to all registered Catholic families in the diocese.

Nicole LeBlanc said several people walked out of Dallas’ Holy Trinity Catholic Church during the 11 a.m. Sunday Mass, when the letter was read at the time usually reserved for a homily.

Ms. LeBlanc, an Obama supporter, said she, too, was upset.

“As a Catholic, we’re taught about being independent moral agents with free will,” she said. “That letter from the bishops is basically telling us that if we vote for a candidate who supports abortion rights, we are basically immoral and our souls are imperiled.” [article]

Yes another Catholic that has no idea about the Church’s teaching on having an informed conscience, not a conscience independent from Church teaching. We should never be independent from the truth. It is not the Church’s fault that one candidate is so radically pro-abortion along with supporting other intrinsic evils. The bishops saying this is not telling people who to vote for, but by what grounds you would eliminate a candidate from consideration. Just because you can’t vote for Sen. Obama, doesn’t mean you are forced to vote for Sen. McCain. That is still the prudential decision of the voter who could chose a third party candidate. But Obama Catholics will overlook a lot to support their candidate. What is support of five intrinsic evils among friends. After all he will bring us socialized medicine. Though unfortunately for the unborn the first bit of health care they might receive from a doctor will be with a scalpel or other device trying to cut them up. I suspect Catholics who supported Hitler were also upset by Mit Brennender Sorge.. It is long past time for Catholic Democrats to stop putting up with pro-abortion candidates and demand ones that will support a true culture of life. The Democratic Party has gotten away with this because a large block of Catholic Democrats allowed it to happen with hardly an outcry.

The Bishop’s letter was as clear as could be, for example:

To vote for a candidate who supports the intrinsic evil of abortion or “abortion rights” where there is a morally acceptable alternative would be to cooperate in evil – and, therefore morally impermissible.

You can read their whole letter here. PDF

At a homily I heard yesterday the priest reminded people about the 6 million people between the ages of 18 and 21 who would have been voting if they hadn’t been aborted. Those are six million people who can’t vote for hope and change this election cycle or any other.

LA JUNTA, Colo. (AP) – Colorado voters will soon decide if life begins at conception. And lots of people hoping to defeat the measure are those you’d think would support it.

The amendment would change the state constitution to say the word “person” is applied to everyone “from the moment of fertilization.” Passage wouldn’t immediately outlaw abortion in Colorado, but would likely spawn several costly legal battles.

Pretty doubtful prognosis as long as Roe V. Wade is the unjust law of the land. If only.

Doctors worry they could face murder charges for helping a couple conceive a child using in-vitro methods that often require disposal of fertilized eggs.

You mean they would actually be held accountable for the murders they commit towards the innocents?

Colorado Governor Bill Ritter, who opposes abortion except in cases of rape, incest or medical emergency, predicts a legal nightmare, with the state piling up legal bills having to defend the amendment.

Yeah a legal nightmare is much worse than a real nightmare of killing the unborn

The executive director of the Colorado Catholic Conference says Catholics fear that the amendment’s passage would ultimately lead to judicial reaffirmation of abortion rights.

No doubt passage of such a law is a prudential matter as to any negative effects that could result. But as long as the judiciary is ruling the country on this matter instead of the legislature, it is a valid concern.

Glad to see that Agnus Daily is back with one funny voters guide.

(CNSNews.com) – A new, federally funded photography exhibit at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery features 90 women described by the curator as “significant to 20th century America.” Among them: an abortion advocate and eugenicist, an anarchist, a pro-communist journalist and a 1960s counter-culture rock singer. Only a few distinctively conservative women are featured in the exhibit.

The exhibit, “Women of our Time: Twentieth-Century Photography,” which opens Friday, Oct. 10, features Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger, anarchist Emma Goldman, pro-Communist journalist Louise Bryant, 1960’s counter-culture rock singer Janis Joplin, and actress Judy Garland, among dozens of other women. One of the few conservatives featured is Clare Booth Luce, an influential journalist and author.

The collection “celebrates women who have challenged and changed America over the past century,” according to photography curator Ann Shumard. [article]

Well racist eugenicist Margaret Sanger changed America just as Stalin changed Russia. That is if you call a massive reduction in population a change. Margaret Sanger did the spade work to lay the foundation for the Culture of Death. So every time you drive by a Planned Parenthood clinic in a minority neighborhood don’t forget to honor her for change – at least according to the Smithsonian.

When a candidate pledges to provide “comprehensive sex education” to school children and promises to promote – or to “sign immediately upon taking office” – the Freedom of Choice Act, Catholics and all people of good will have cause to question the sincerity of the candidate’s determination to reduce abortions, when these already existing limits have caused a decrease of more than 100,000 abortions each year. (cf. Michael New-Matthew Bowman, Combined Reductions in Abortions, with data supplied by NARAL Pro-Choice America)

As Archbishop Naumann and I stressed in our recent Pastoral Letter, “Our Moral Responsibility as Catholic Citizens,” we can never vote for a candidate because of his or permissive stand on abortion. At the same time, if we are inclined to vote for someone despite their pro-abortion stance, it seems we are morally obliged to establish a proportionate reason sufficient to justify the destruction of 45 million human persons through abortion. If we learn that our “candidate of choice” further pledges – through an instrument such as FOCA – to eliminate all existing limitations against abortion, it is that much more doubtful whether voting for him or her can ever be morally justified under any circumstance.

I urge you to learn more about the Freedom of Choice Act and its advocates so that you can make informed decisions in the voting booth.

Hat Tip Insight Scoop

Back in July Obama said “The first thing I’d do as president is sign the Freedom of Choice Act,” So we know where his real priorities are. No working towards reducing abortion, but working towards reducing people. The decline in abortion has been largely because of laws like parental notification and without those restrictions, once again abortion would be on the increase. Remember also that the Democratic platform eliminated references to making abortion rare, but in fact strengthened their support of it. But facts are no deterrent to Obama Catholics. I certainly believe there are valid reasons not to vote for Sen. McCain, but I can’t think of any to vote for Sen. Obama.

SALEM — Archbishop John Vlazny is criticizing Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski, a Catholic, for playing host to an abortion rights fundraiser Friday night in Portland.

Vlazny, head of the Archdiocese of Portland, said it’s an embarrassment and a scandal for Catholics that Kulongoski is hosting the event two days before the church conducts its annual “Respect Life” mass in Portland to show opposition to abortion.

“For a Catholic governor to host an event of this sort seems a deliberate dissent from the teachings of the church,” Vlazny said in a statement today.

Kulongoski is a longtime supporter of a woman’s right to choose an abortion.

“The archbishop is the governor’s pastor, and he has only respect and admiration for the archbishop,” Kulongoski spokeswoman Anna Richter Taylor said. “They obviously disagree on the issue of choice.”

Kulongoski and his wife, Mary Oberst, are the honorary hosts of Friday night’s fundraising dinner for NARAL Pro Choice Oregon. U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., is among those scheduled to speak. The event is to be held at a Portland hotel.

[article]

Raymond Arroyo quipped about all of these bishop’s speaking out that we are having “bishop eruptions” in contrast to the “bimbo eruptions” of the Clinton years.