Iron Works: Pro-life

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Gay Marriage - A Pro-Life Issue

The video below is from the March 26 episode of Piers Morgan's show on CNN. By now you may have already heard about this video where Morgan and his guest Suze Orman try to debate Ryan Anderson of the Heritage Foundation on the issue of gay marriage. Anderson did a brilliant job of defending traditional marriage despite the fact that the whole event was a farce and staged against him. I don't want to rehash the whole debate, but if you want more details please watch the video below and then read this article: How not to have a debate about gay marriage.

What I want to discuss here is what happened beginning around the 11:25 mark in the video. It was both eye-opening and disturbing. Anderson attempts to explain how the true definition of marriage is not just about uniting a man and a woman, but also about the procreation and raising of children.It was at this point that Orman and Morgan mocked him and encourage the studio audience to do so as well. Their point was that Anderson was wrong and that marriage has nothing to do with children and is only about whatever two consenting adults want.

I shouldn't be too surprised about this reaction. Our society has embraced death through the use of artificial contraception and abortion. The logical progression from there would be to separate marriage from openness to life. Blessed John Paul II in the Theology of the Body, described marriage has having two important aspects that can never be seperated, the unitive and procreative. Unfortunately, as Ryan Anderson tried to explain in the video, we began to change marriage and split those two aspects 40 years ago with the sexual revolution and widespread use of contraception and abortion.

The sad result of that is exactly what we saw in the video, our society does not see the importance of both the unitive and procreative sides of marriage. Instead it sees marriage as just a type of recognition of a sexual relationship between two people. If children and openness to life is not important in marriage, then it's no surprise that a growing number of people support same-sex marriage.

This is why this battle to protect traditional marriage is a pro-life issue. It all goes back to the central issue of life. Gay marriage will only further the split between marriage and children that began 40 years ago. Future generations will not see children as a blessing and part of the very nature of marriage, but instead as an incidental outcome or even a burden. The daunting challenge that we face is changing people's hearts to accept that sex is sacred, every life is a blessing, and participating with God in the creation of a new human life is at the very heart of marriage.

Pro-Life Thoughts

I just wanted to share two articles that I wrote for my parish's new Pro-Life newsletter on the important topics of abortion and euthanasia.

40 Days for Life – The Power of Prayer

Since 2007 the National 40 days for Life campaign has brought thousands of people together in all 50 states to fast and pray for an end to abortion. These campaigns happen twice yearly, in the spring and fall, and the success stories are truly miraculous. The 2012 spring 40 Days for Life is now over; however, nationwide over 883 babies were spared from abortion! Praise God! Through the peaceful and prayerful presence of ordinary people in the 40 Days campaign, the hearts of so many men and women were converted resulting is over 800 precious lives saved.

But the success doesn’t stop there. 21 abortion centers have shut down permanently because of local 40 Days for Life Campaigns. 61 abortion clinic workers also quit their jobs and turned away from this industry all because of the power of these prayers. The success of the 40 Days for Life depends on ordinary people making a commitment to pray and fast whether it’s for one hour or several hours, anything will help. Please pray for the continued success of the 40 Days for Life campaigns and consider joining the next campaign whether it’s signing up to pray with a group at a local clinic or just praying at home. Your prayers will make a difference.

Euthanasia – Our Prayers are Needed

Here in Rhode Island, many of us may be unaware of the growing push for the legalization of physician assisted suicide in several other states. In Massachusetts, euthanasia advocates are working towards a ballot question that have voters decide on its legalization in November. In New York, Vermont, Hawaii, and Montana, state legislatures are debating bills to decriminalize assisted suicide. These bills are being reviewed by legislative committees and no votes have been scheduled yet, but the pro-euthanasia lobbyists are pushing hard. In New Mexico, two doctors have filed a court challenge against the state’s laws prohibiting assisted suicides. If any of these are successful, they will join Oregon and Washington, were euthanasia has been legal for several years.

While it may appear that we don’t have much say as to what happens in other states, what we can do is pray. Like abortion, euthanasia is another affront to the dignity of all human life. From conception to the grave, all life is a precious gift from God and has meaning. All our prayers are needed so that the elected officials embrace a culture of life and work against these misguided bills. We also need to remain vigilant against any future attempt in our state to legalize assisted suicide. Please keep these states in your prayers as well as our own state and our nation during this election year.

Will you vote the values that will stand the test of fire?

Nancy Pelosi Scandalizes the Church Again

Congresswoman and Democrat Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi once again showed her true feelings regarding her faith with this recent statement regarding Obama's HHS mandate:

First of all, I am going to stick with my fellow Catholics in supporting the Administration on this. I think it was a very courageous decision that they made, and I support it.

She claims to be an ardent Catholic, but has no problem forcing her Church to violate it's beliefs on contraception and sexuality. This should come as a surprise to no one, since this is not the first time Pelosi has been at odds with the Bishops and our Church.

Over at Fr. Z's blog, he wrote a very strongly worded statement about what actions the Bishops should take against Pelosi and other high profile Catholics who continue to publicly scandalize the Church and mislead other Catholics. I wholeheartedly agree with his suggestion: deny her Communion. Her Bishop needs to make a very clear and very public message that she can no longer present herself for Communion until she publicly renounces her sinful actions. This would send a clear message and draw a line in the sand that our Shepherds will no longer tolerate the actions of these dissenting Catholic politicians.

I stand with Fr. Z on this one.

Let there be national repercussions and a media firestorm.

Pres. Obama and his administration have openly and aggressively attacked the Catholic Church by trying to force Catholic institutions to perform actions which are evil even by reason alone and natural law, and not just by Catholic doctrine.

Nancy Pelosi has publicly chosen sides against the Catholic Church's teachings and against the bishops.

Let her choice be publicly confirmed by those same bishops.

Nancy Pelosi must not admitted to Holy Communion until she publicly changes her defiant stance and positions.

News Media Ignores Nearly Half Million People Marching for Life

Organizers of the 2012 March for Life in Washington DC estimate between 400,000 and 500,000 people marched to show their support for life and and end to abortion.

Yet the mainstream media ignores scenes like this:

and instead ignored the March completely or publicized scenes like this:

This is what we are up against in this battle for life. We are not only fighting against well funded groups like Planned Parenthood and a President that is openly hostile to pro-life causes, we are also facing a powerful media machine that is trying to poison the minds of all against a culture of life.

The news media has deliberately distorted the facts to give the perception that the size of the pro-abortion protestors was comparable in size to the pro-life marchers. I guess there must be a new type math being taught in our public schools, where less than one hundred protestors is equal to over 400,000 marchers.

Since the March for Life, we have witnessed what pro-abortion supporters will resort to. We have seen outright lies from the news media, the Komen Foundation coming under attack, and a Pro-life rally in Rhode Island disrupted by pro-abortion thugs throwing condoms a teen age girls at the rally.

The pro-abortion side is afraid because they see the growing momentum behind the pro-life movement. They have admitted that last year, pro-life advocates scored major victories in passing legislation such as de-funding Planned Parenthood and requiring ultrasounds before abortions. They know that the culture of life is winning the hearts and minds of many, especially the youth of our society. The culture of death is desperate and is resorting to desperate measures.

Related Articles:

Our Broken World and Why We Need Christ Now More Than Ever

I can't help but feel a mix of shock and sadness when reading headlines like these:

Obama Defends Roe v. Wade As Way for ‘Our Daughters’ to Have Same Chance As Sons to ‘Fulfill Their Dreams’

Brave New World: UK ethicist wants women to abandon motherhood, use artificial wombs

Drugs halt sexuality until children choose gender

It's just another sign of how far our society has fallen when headlines like these become all too common. Rather than see life for the precious gift that it is, President Obama sees a child as an obstacle to a girls dreams. This is the same man who, while campaigning, compared an unexpected pregnancy to being punished. As shocking as this may seem, he is just echoing the selfish and self-centered mentality that is so prevalent in our culture.

The next headline reflects a similar mindset. Dr Amada Smajdor, an ethicist from the U.K. views pregnancy as a burden or a disease in need of a cure. Her disturbing idea is to use science to completely destroy what Blessed John Paul II in The Theology of the Body called the bond between the unitive and the procreative aspects of human sexuality. Not only is this a selfish use of sexuality, it is the very root of Original sin, man trying to make himself into a god by controlling God's gifts of procreation and life .

The final headline takes "man playing god" even further as misguided parents and doctors are playing with children's' gender as if it is something that we choose rather than are born with. What kind of a dark and disturbed world are we living in when children become lab mice for us to experiment on? Why have the specific differences God created in male and female become a big target for these attacks by scientists, feminists, gay activists and other misguided people?

Our world is growing more aggressive in its attacks on God's gifts of life and sexuality. Many of these scientists and so called scholars feel with all the advancements in science and medicine, man no longer has a need to cling to God. Precisely the opposite is true. My whole point here is while science and technology have enabled us to accomplish what was never dreamed of before, it has made us arrogant and more selfish. We have now, more than any other time in history, made ourselves into our own gods by trying to control life and the creation of life. We are now experimenting with gender and sexuality in order to make man in our own image and likeness and not God's. Our world is closing itself off from God's graces, leading to all the social and economic problems plaguing us today. I fear for the future unless we embrace a culture of life and turn back to Christ.

2012 March For Life

Hundreds of thousands of people have already gathered in Washington D.C. to commemorate the anniversary of Roe v. Wade with the annual March for Life tomorrow. Over the past few days, we have already seen similar pro-life marches in San Francisco, CA and in Baton Rouge, LA.

Unfortunately our mainstream media is too preoccupied with such global matters as the Kardashians' latest exploits to notice these historic gatherings. Thankfully we have EWTN, CatholicTV, and various websites reporting on the March for Life for those of us unable to attend.

Let us pray that the Holy Spirit pour His graces on those participating in the marches so that their example will inspire more people to stand in defense of life even in the face of a society hostile to our faith. May the Holy Spirit also touch the hearts of our elected leaders so that they too can see abortion for the evil that it really is and finally work to end it's practice. Finally, let us pray to Our Lady of Guadalupe, the patroness of the Americas and of the Pro-Life movement, that she may lead our nation to finally embrace a culture of life.

Our Lady of Guadalupe, pray for us. St. Michael pray for us.

Blessed John Paul II Prayer for Life:

O Mary, bright dawn of the new world, Mother of the living, to you do we entrust the cause of life.

Look down, O Mother upon the vast numbers of babies not allowed to be born, of the poor whose lives are made difficult, of men and women who are victims of brutal violence, of the elderly and the sick killed by indifference or out of misguided mercy.

Grant that all who believe in Your Son may proclaim the Gospel of life with honesty and love to the people of our time. Obtain for them the grace to accept that Gospel as a gift ever new, the joy of celebrating it with gratitude throughout their lives and the courage to bear witness to it resolutely, in order to build, together with all people of good will, the civilization of truth and love, to the praise and glory of God, the Creator and lover of life.

Related articles

The Most Anti-Catholic Administration in History

The title of this post is pretty blunt, but as time goes on, it is becoming increasingly obvious. The latest headlines just further prove my point:

All of the above links are reporting that the Obama administration and the Secretary of Health and Human Services have refused to change the new requirement for all health plans to cover sterilization and birth control, some of which are known abortifacients. While churches are covered by a very narrow exemption, organizations such as Catholic hospitals and universities will be forced to violate their religious beliefs.

This comes on the heels of the Hosanna-Tabor decision by the Supreme Court where, against the wishes of the Obama administration, the court upheld the ministerial exemption to anti-discrimination laws. This allows church the freedom to decide who they hire to teach their faith. The Obama administration appeared that they were ready to use anti-discrimination laws as a backdoor to influence who churches hire as ministers and priests.

The disgusting behavior of the Obama Administration in both these cases should outrage all Christians and especially Catholics. Never in the history of our country has our religious freedoms been attacked as they are today. It is unbridled arrogance and thirst for power on the part of our elected officials that allow them to slowly erode our religious liberties to benefit their own personal agendas. It doesn't seem so far fetched to imagine a United States where religion is under the thumb of the state much like we see in communist countries today. This is the path were we are headed if we don't take a stand today. This attack on our faith has become so obvious that our Bishops and the Pope have been increasingly vocal in their concerns:

Pope: America is “increasingly hostile to Christianity”

If you think I may be exaggerating in my statements above, read what our Holy Father said recently concerning these attacks:

The Pope was emphatic in insisting that the threat posed by current trends threatens not only Christianity but “humanity itself.” He said: “To the extent that some current cultural trends contain elements that would curtail the proclamation of these truths, whether constricting it within the limits of a merely scientific rationality, or suppressing it in the name of political power or majority rule, they represent a threat not just to Christian faith, but also to humanity itself and to the deepest truth about our being and ultimate vocation, our relationship to God.”

Pro-Life Flash Mob Strikes Again!

I absolutely love this. Thanks to Jill Stanek for video.

Two Awesome Videos

Here are two videos I came across recently that are targeted to college students. The first is by the Cardinal Newman Society as part of thier campaign called AdorationU.com. It is focused on encouraging young adults in college to spend time in Eucharistic Adoration. It conveys a very powerful message. I was really moved by the scene in the video (at 2:02 in the video) when you hear the narrator speaking as Christ calling out to the students:

"Talk to me. Listen. Pray. I may not take away every burden, but I will carry them with you."

The second video below is from Students for Life of America. It is a rapidly growing pro-life movement among college students in the United States. This powerful video gives hope in two ways. First, we can see that the tide may be finally turning in the war against abortion in this country as more of the young are becoming very pro-life. Secondly it also demonstrates that even in the liberal anti-Christian cultures that are in many colleges and universities, students are still being touched by God and called to build this culture of life.

May God continue to bless the organizations behind both these awesome videos!

Pro-Life Flash Mob in Chicago Surprises "Walk for Choice"

This is an awesome video of a pro-life "flash mob" bursting into the middle of a pro-abortion rally in Chicago. They are led by a pro-life youth group called Crusaders for Life from St. John Cantius Catholic Church. It is pretty interesting to note the contrast between the youthful, joyous, and very energetic pro-life group and the much more low key and somber pro-choice demonstrators.

God bless these Crusaders for Life and the other youth around the country that have shown the courage to go against the tide and stand up for life.

On a related note, pro-life advocate Jill Stanek wrote a great article on these nationwide pro-abortion "Walk for Choice" rallies, like the one in Chicago in the video above. She points out the lack of organization, passion, and energy in these sparsely attended rallies when compared to the record breaking number of people participating the annual March for Life and the 40 Days for Life campaign. It's a pretty interesting comparison of both sides of the abortion debate. Praise be to God for the amazing growth and success of these pro-life rallies.

Please pray for the continued growth and success these pro-life rallies and groups like Crusaders for Life so that more hearts will be converted to embracing a joyous culture of life.

Why Barack Obama has to be seen as an enemy of the Catholic Church

Why is it that so many here in the U.S. are totally blind to what is obvious to our friends in the U.K.? Click on the headline below to read a great piece from U.K.'s Catholic Herald:

Why Barack Obama has to be seen as an enemy of the Catholic Church

Let's see look at President Obama's track record. All these points are verifiable in the above article as well as through an easy Google search:

Strong supporter of abortion on demand
Supports federal funding of abortions in this country and abroad
Supports partial birth abortion.
Supports minors getting abortions without parental notification
Supports embryonic stem cell research
He voted for a proposal to vote $100,000,000 for the funding of sex-education and contraceptives for teenagers.
He opposed the “Born Alive Infants Protection Act” on the Senate floor and in 2003 killed the bill in committee. This would have outlawed “live birth abortion,” where labor is induced and an infant is delivered prematurely and then allowed to die.
Supports the repeal of Don't ask, Don't tell in the military
Recently weakened conscience protection laws
Refuses to defend Defense of Marriage Act
Has referred to the concept of traditional families as "discriminatory" and "products of outworn arguments and old attitudes".

Yet so many Catholics continue to support him and make excuses. I don't want to get too political here, but if you are going to call yourself a Catholic, or a Christian for that matter, then act like one. When any politician has such a vile track record against life and families, then it is our obligation as Catholics to pray for their conversion and to oppose their political agenda. It's time to stop making excuses. If people in the U.K. can see how opposed Obama is to the Catholic Church, why are we still so blind right here in the U.S.?

Abortion, Gay Marriage, Teachers, and Healthcare

I want to ask for your prayers for us in the state of Rhode Island. We are gearing up for the latest round in the battle to preserve traditional marriage. A hearing was scheduled this week at the state house for the judiciary committee to review a bill that would legalize gay marriage. This committee has to approve it before it goes before the full assembly for a vote. Fortunately, the hearing was postponed because of a snowstorm. (I'd like to think it was God casting His vote on the side of traditional marriage.) However, the gay marriage advocates were quick to get it rescheduled for next week.

In years past, we had a Catholic governor as well a speaker of the house and several state representatives who opposed gay marriage. This year, our new governor, who won with only 36% of the vote, advocates gay marriage. We have also lost some key allies in the state house as well as now having an openly gay speaker of the house. It's easy to see how personal agendas have pushed gay marriage to the top of the list of legislative priorities in a state with double digit unemployment, nearly bankrupt cities and towns, and decaying schools.

The Providence Journal had an interesting article this morning on the upcoming hearing and planned gay marriage rally. These particular paragraphs really jumped out at me:

“Please wear red to show your support for equality,” said an e-mail that the advocacy group, Ocean State Action, issued this week to draw attention to the event.

Members of Ocean State Action include Planned Parenthood of Rhode Island, the National Organization for Women Rhode Island Chapter (RI NOW), the Sierra Club and a host of unions, including the Association of University Professors Rhode Island Chapter, Hotel Employees Restaurant Employees Local 217, the National Association of Social Workers RI (NASW), National Education Association RI (NEARI), the New England Health Care Employees Union District 1199 SEIU, United Auto Workers Region 9A (UAW) and the United Nurses & Allied Professionals (UNAP).

It's pretty interesting that Planned Parenthood and NOW are behind this gay marriage push since they also advocate the murder of millions of unborn each year through abortion. It really should come as no surprise since they, like gay marriage advocates, want to separate the sacred gift of sexuality from its true purpose of uniting a married couple through the procreation of children, which is the embodiment of their love for one another.

The environmentalist group Sierra Club, advocates keeping abortion legal and views it as birth control as part of their view that couples should be limited to only two children as a remedy to their mythical problem of overpopulation. I guess allowing gays to marry is one way to confront overpopulation, since there is no way they can conceive naturally.

I find it most disturbing that groups like unions for teachers, college professors, nurses and other health care professionals are also assisting this push for gay marriage. These are the same people that we entrust our children to in the classrooms and our health care to in the hospitals. Yet they are trying to advance an unhealthy and destructive lifestyle while at the same time also aligning with those that advocate and profit from the killing of innocent lives.

On a related note, a Rhode Island legislator introduced a bill that would allow citizens to vote on whether or not to legalize gay marriage on the 2012 ballot. I agree with the National Organization for Marriage on this being a fair and just course of action because over 80% of Rhode Islanders polled want this on the ballot. However, because gay marriage advocates know that in every state where this has been on the ballot, traditional marriage has been upheld. They know they can only win this by the legislature or the courts forcing this on the citizens of this state. Since we have an openly gay speaker of the House, I don't expect this gay marriage referendum bill to ever get a fair hearing.

I ask for your prayers for Rhode Island as well as other states that are once again entering into this battle to protect traditional marriage and families. Despite what the media or the advocates are telling us, with the help of God, we can win this battle. Also if you are in the area, please attend the hearing on February 9 at the State House in Providence, RI at 4 pm to show your support for God's model of marriage and families.

March for Life 2011

This past weekend was the anniversary of the tragic Supreme Court decision, Roe v. Wade. The March for Life 2011 in D.C., the West Coast Walk for Life in San Francisco, and many other pro-life rallies and marches all took place to mark this day of infamy. As usual there was very little coverage in the media about these marches. It is shameful how the mainstream media practically ignored marches of this size opting instead to spend their resources on more "worthwhile" stories such as the latest celebrity gossip.

Let's get back to the Marches for Life. I was not able to attend personally, but the eyewitness accounts I have read estimate the crowd size to be as much as 400,000 people in DC and over 50,000 people in San Francisco. It is a great sign of hope that each year these crowds continue to grow, especially the number of youth and young adults, along with the fact the the majority of Americans now consider themselves pro-life. In my own experience as a CCD teacher for a group of ninth graders, I find it very encouraging that most of my students are repulsed by the very idea of abortion even though some of their parents were critical of our Deacon's homily against abortion at mass last weekend.

I pray that the battle against abortion may be finally turning the corner and the seeds planted since 1973 by the pro-life movement are finally bearing fruit as we see so many of our young now opposing abortion. However what greatly disturbed me was the latest statement by President Obama reaffirming his pro-abortion stand:

Today marks the 38th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that protects women’s health and reproductive freedom, and affirms a fundamental principle: that government should not intrude on private family matters.

I am committed to protecting this constitutional right. I also remain committed to policies, initiatives, and programs that help prevent unintended pregnancies, support pregnant women and mothers, encourage healthy relationships, and promote adoption.

And on this anniversary, I hope that we will recommit ourselves more broadly to ensuring that our daughters have the same rights, the same freedoms, and the same opportunities as our sons to fulfill their dreams.

So by the President's own words, a pregnancy is a detriment to a woman's health, and an impediment to women having the same freedoms, rights, and opportunities as men. I don't want to get political here. All I ask is for the continued prayers for our President and others like him who fail to see pregnancy and human life are a sacred gift and that the right to choose who lives and who dies is God's alone.

I'll end by sharing something from our Deacon's homily at mass this past weekend. During the course of his sermon which focused on the evils of abortion, he held up the sign seen in the image to the left. The image is from the website for Priests for Life. The deacon explained that Fr. Frank Pavone put this on the website after he saw it on a beach in Florida to point out the absurdity and conflicting standards in our laws. County, state, and federal law prohibits disturbing nesting female turtles and their eggs and hatchlings. It even mandates that you turn off lights that shine on the beach to protect these turtles. The penalty for violating these laws is a fine up to $20,000.

Unborn turtles and their mothers receive protection under the law while unborn humans have nothing. Our federal, state, and county laws apparently value the lives of sea turtles over that of humans since an unborn baby has no protection against abortion through most months of the pregnancy. If it wasn't so sad and disturbing, the absurdity of it all would make you want to laugh. What does it say for our society when we have to pray that our leaders will grant at least the same protections to unborn humans as they do to sea turtles?

Please pray for women everywhere who may be contemplating having an abortion. Pray for those also who may feel pressured into it and think they have no other choice. As our deacon also asked, pray that God directs these women into our lives so that we can guide them to get the help the really need to save their unborn baby's life. Finally, please pray for God to touch the hearts of those in power, like our President, so that they can embrace the culture of life.

If you know of anyone facing a crisis pregnancy and is contemplating an abortion, please help them get in touch with services in your diocese like Project Gabriel. Most dioceses in the U.S. have this program which provides assistance and support to pregnant women. Click here for a list of Project Gabriel contacts by state. In Rhode Island and the surrounding areas you can also contact the Mother of Life Center.

The Catholic Church in the Obama Era

I have posted a link below to the keynote address of Dr. Charles E. Rice to the national meeting of the Society of Catholic Social Scientists held at Holy Cross College in Notre Dame, Ind on Oct. 22. I can urge you strongly enough to read this. It is a brilliant and passionate speech about the challenges facing us as a Church in today's society. I only wish more priests and bishops would be as bold and courageous in their homilies.

Click here to read the speech: The Catholic Church in the Obama Era

It is a long speech but well worth the time to read it. Please consider sharing this speech with others, as it contains an important message that all Christians need to read. I posted a few excerpts below highlighting some of Dr. Rice's powerful statements on our government, culture, and our Church:

On Obama and the Government:

It is, unfortunately, credible to say that Catholics played a major role in putting the Obama Regime in power. Highly visible Catholic academics, Catholic politicians who obey their own magisterium, and Catholic clerics and publicists, paved the way for Catholic voters and others to fall for "hope and change." Sadly, there is precedent. For a comparable example of the rapid concentration of executive power by a legally installed regime, we have to look to Germany in 1933. Adolf Hitler was named Chancellor on January 30. He consolidated his power over the next few weeks. The decisive event was the Reichstag's approval of the Enabling Act on March 23, 1933, by which it ceded full and irrevocable powers to Hitler. That was the point of no return. The Enabling Act received the needed two-thirds vote only because it was supported by the Catholic party, the Centre Party. [1]

Obamacare, enacted with the decisive support of Catholic members of Congress, is the Enabling Act of our time in the wide-ranging control it cedes to government over the lives of the people, including the takeover of student aid. Why are student loans in the health care bill? The common denominator is control. No student can now get a federally guaranteed educational loan without the consent of a federal bureaucrat. This can make political loyalty a test for educational advancement, as it was in Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union.

Post Election Thoughts

I have been a little lax in blogging lately because there just seems to not be enough hours in the day. Even though the elections happened a few days ago, I still wanted to share my thoughts on it. First, I am thrilled that the Tea Party was so successful. For too long both Democrat and Republican parties have seemingly lost their way. It good to see true conservatives stand up and start taking this country back. A few weeks ago the media reported that several high ranking Republicans wanted their party to abandon issues such as abortion and gay marriage for the sake of gaining more votes. In a nutshell, that is why I am not registered as a Republican or a Democrat, but as an independent. In terms of my political affiliation, I am a conservative Catholic first and foremost and my faith influences who I vote for. This election cycle, it happened to be the Tea Party candidates and true conservatives. Because of their victories it now appears that this upcoming Congress will be the most pro-life ever, which is a welcome relief considering we have had the most pro-abortion leaders in history over the past two years.

However, I was greatly disappointed in the results of my home state of Rhode Island. Demographics show that little Rhody is the most Catholic state in the nation because of high percentage of Catholics in the total population. The election proved that many of these are Catholic in name only. Not only did this state elect to send two pro-abortion and pro-gay marriage congressmen to Washington DC, it also elected a governor who is also pro-abortion and pro-gay marriage. Besides that, the state legislature continues to be dominated by liberal democrats and even elected an openly gay speaker of the house. My frustration comes from the fact that while so many people claim to be Catholic here, no one seems to know or care about what it means to vote like a Catholic. I am disgusted by the apathy in this state to such intrinsic evils as abortion and gay marriage. Over the past several years, we had governor who was a practicing Catholic that opposed abortion and gay marriage. There were many state representatives, including the former speaker of the house, that also opposed gay marriage. With this new election cycle, we have lost many of these important allies. It's easy to see which direction this state is headed in when it comes to same sex marriage and other social issues. Please pray for this state as we really need it. We as voters have traded our faith for the promises of economic gain, just like Judas and the 30 pieces of silver.

Priest to Catholic voters: Stop being stupid!

My first reaction about this statement from Fr. Father Richard Perozich of San Diego is: WOW! This priest has some serious guts. Why can't more bishops and priests do what God called them to do and lead their flocks like this priest? Thank you Fr. Perozich for being a true priest of Christ and boldly telling Catholics everywhere what they should have been told long ago. Too many Catholics blindly follow Catholic-in-name-only politicians who promise economic prosperity and supposed "social justice". But the ultimate price for this is the lives of the unborn and the destruction of the family.

I have tried to stay away from politics in this blog, but as we approach election day, I felt I had to speak up. I am disgusted with moral decay of this nation. It causes me to fear greatly for the future of my children and grandchildren. I feel as if I don't even recognize this society any longer. In my 40 year life span, our society has declined to where human life holds little value and supporting traditional families is bigotry. Our nation was founded on Christian principles and Catholics are the largest religious denomination in this country. Yet we continue to vote for those who promote death and sexual immorality to our children. This is nothing short of insanity. We have politicians and huge corporations publicly supporting groups like Planned Parenthood and the Human Rights Campaign, which are responsible for promoting abortions, sexual immorality and anti-Christian bigotry. Yet we foolish Christians are afraid to speak up against this evil for fear of being "intolerant" or "bigotted" or "politically incorrect". We keep selling ourselves and our children's future to these politicians for promises of "hope", "change" and financial gain. Before you go and vote this season, read Fr. Richard Perozich's statement and then spend time thinking about what it means to vote as a Catholic should.

Thank you to Matt Abbot and RenewAmerica for spreading this important message.

Priest to Catholic voters: Stop being stupid!

Elections are coming up November 2, 2010. Catholics must engage in the political process to form a nation that reflects the values held by Christ's followers. Learn who you are and act like a Christian. 1 Peter 2.9 But you are "a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may announce the praises" of Him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

Your job is to announce to the whole world that Jesus is the anointed King of God's everlasting reign — and to offer all men His salvation given by grace and received by faith. One forum in which you do this is politics. Politics comes from the words pole and polarity. Poles are opposite ends of an idea, of a temporal structure, or of a force.

Catholics, even though we live in a country and are citizens of that country, have a higher calling and responsibility to God and to our neighbor to promote God's truth even when others hate it, reject it, and hate us for proclaiming it. We are citizens in an earthly realm, but more importantly we are citizens of the new kingdom of heaven with Jesus as the Lord, His laws as our prime way of life, and called to live them and to promote them even to unbelievers.

We live in a society where many people with power, possessions, and prestige are promoting ideas that are not founded in Christ. In order to promote their ideas over ours, they tell us we must stay in our churches, keep our religion to ourselves, and that their idea of separation of the church from the state (which does not exist in our American Constitution as they say it does) trumps any ideas we might have, so we have to shut up.

And Catholics sheepishly keep quiet and vote for men and women who promote evil.

Adults Acting Like Spoiled Children and the Pope's Visit to the U.K.

As many of you already know, Pope Benedict is visiting Great Britain for the beatification of Cardinal Newman. As expected, the media and the rest of the anti-Catholics are piling up the verbal attacks on the Holy Father. Just look at the list of headlines from CNN.com this morning:

Pope: Priest abuse came as 'a shock'
Pope hasn't done enough to stop abuse, British say
Why I oppose the pope's visit
Our moral code is out of date

These articles are beating the usual drumbeat of how organized religion is bad, the Pope is out of touch and intolerant and the Catholic Church is evil. Blah, blah, blah. We are living in a world were the Pope can't even sneeze without someone attacking his every action, this includes some Catholics. But what I found most interesting about England recently was this article:

Catholic Marriages Plummet in Britain

According to this article, Catholic marriages in Britain have declined dramatically over the past three decades. A Catholic priest in London made some interesting observations about this decline:

Fr. Timothy Finigan, a parish priest in the London diocese of Southwark and founder of the Association of Priests for the Gospel of Life, told LifeSiteNews.com that in general Catholics of Britain have followed the trend in the secular world of rejecting marriage.

“Sadly, Catholics who are not well catechised tend to follow the prevailing culture.”

“In the UK, marriage is regarded by many as risky because of the possibility of divorce,” he said. “They have not been helped to understand that non-marital relationship are far more likely to break up.”

He also pointed to a deeper cause, saying that men in particular are unwilling to commit to a permanent relationship. They suffer from “a mistaken belief that commitment involves predicting the future instead of making a promise whatever the future holds.”

There is a connection here between the reaction to the Pope's trip and the plummeting marriage rates. People are are forgetting what it means to be real men and women. In Britain and Europe, as well has here in the U.S., people are being brainwashed by a hedonistic culture that tells them it is normal and good to avoid commitments and true virtues such as loyalty, honor, humility, and self sacrifice. Instead they are acting like selfish spoiled little children whose only goal is their personal pleasure and entertainment. They choose cohabitation and contraception over marriage and children because it allows them to selfishly focus only on themselves.

An Awesome Message From a Pro-life Prodigy

I saw Lia Mills first pro-life video over a year ago and very impressed. She is truly a phenomenal young lady and a real pro-life prodigy. Her latest video below is awesome. I can only imagine how proud her parents must be. I pray that more youths and even adults follow her example and passion in spreading the truth and protecting the sanctity of human life.

Please watch the following video and then visit the related article for more information and videos on Lia's work to protect life.

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