Memory Eternal to all the innocent American souls and heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice. You are and will be in our prayers until the end of time. God Bless You and God Bless America! Never forget!
Defense of Innocence
Whom Would Jesus Indebt?
by Timothy Dalrymple –
One of the gravest dangers of the Budget Control Act passed yesterday is that it could provide Americans with a false sense of security. Washington has finally taken action. The crisis has passed. The sky is brightening, the trees are parting before us and — we’re out of the woods. Right?
Alas, but no. Not only are we deep in the dark heart of the forest, but we’re still walking in the wrong direction. The pace may have slowed, but the trajectory has not. The immediate cash-flow crisis has passed, but the long-term solvency crisis remains. We are still borrowing enormous amounts of money, still selling our children into debt slavery through our own spending insanity. While the Budget Control Act (best summarized by Keith Hennessey) is intended to reduce the deficit (the difference between expected revenues and planned spending, or the amount we have to borrow in order to spend what we want to spend) in the years to come, it does not reduce the debt (the amount the federal government owes). It slows — by a little — the rate at which the debt grows, but the debt is still astronomical and still swiftly growing. [Read more…]
How to defend your children against pro-gay lessons in the classroom
by John-Henry Westen –
As young people across North America head back to school next week parents need to attend to more than just making sure the back-to-school clothes and utensils are in place. There is an unprecedented attack on morals coming from the school.
Particularly in the area of sexuality, so-called public morality has moved outside of the realm of life-and-family-affirming principles to such an extent that a veritable anti-morality is being fed to our children. And this year there is a concerted effort to restrict parents from countering the efforts of the school to promote this anti-morality.
Both in California and Ontario pro-homosexual curricula are to be introduced into public schools forbidding parents from opting their children out from such instruction. Even where parent opt-outs are permitted, however, some schools have resorted to instructing students to keep secret from their parents sexuality discussions held in the school. [Read more…]
Silence of the Shepherds
by Fay Voshell –
As early as 1867, Matthew Arnold warned that the ebbing of Christianity in England would disturb the societal order and usher in waves of violence. His famous poem, “Dover Beach,” noted the result of the weakening of Christianity would mean “we are here as on a darkling plain, Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight, Where ignorant armies clash by night.”
Years later, in 1919, surveying the aftermath of World War I, William Butler Yeats would write his equally famous poem “The Second Coming.” Like Arnold, the poet saw that the dissolution of the ideals foundational to Great Britain’s moral order, plus the dissolution of the global societal order imposed by the British Empire, would result in “anarchy loosed upon the world.” [Read more…]
Crying, The Tragedy of Sex-Selection Abortion
On Sunday, June 26, CNN aired a heart-breaking report, “Nepal’s Stolen Children.” The documentary, narrated by actress Demi Moore, told the story of Nepalese girls who were sold into slavery and turned into prostitutes in neighboring India.
During the broadcast Moore broke down and cried and spoke about making sure this kind of thing never happens again.
While no one can diagree with that. The problem is that we are ignoring an important part of what is driving this inhumane traffic in innocence.
That “part” was the subject of a New York Times column the day after the broadcast. The title, “160 Million and Counting,” referred to the number of “missing” women in the world. Not “missing” as in “disappeared,” rather, as in “never born in the first place.” [Read more…]
On Independence Day: The Gift of Life
by Fr. James Farfaglia –
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” (The Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776). We have heard and read these famous words many times. Yet, it should be interesting for us to note that of the three fundamental rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, the founding fathers of our nation recognize life as the first of these three unalienable rights.
Why is the right to life the first of these God given rights?
Life is a gift from God. The first pages of the Holy Bible direct our gaze to the awesome gift of life. [Read more…]
Catholicism & Orthodoxy: A Common Sanctity of Life
by Deacon Keith Fournier –
‘Sacred Scripture and Holy Tradition emphasize the sacred dignity of the human person and God’s purpose in creating, to confer his blessings upon him. In today’s society, we have witnessed many attacks on human life, especially in its most vulnerable stages. As our heavenly patrons, Ss. Peter and Andrew were one as brothers and Apostles of the Lord, we too are united as brothers, as we affirm the sacred dignity and value of every human life.’ (From the Common Declaration) …
I am one of a growing number of people calling Pope Benedict XVI the “Pope of Christian Unity”. In his first Papal message he proclaimed, “Nourished and sustained by the Eucharist, Catholics cannot but feel encouraged to strive for the full unity for which Christ expressed so ardent a hope in the Upper Room. [Read more…]
Fig Leaves and Falsehoods
by Janet E. Smith –
The exposé of Planned Parenthood engineered by Live Action has not only disclosed some illegal and immoral operations of Planned Parenthood, it has also revealed sharp divergences in the pro-life movement and Catholic community about what counts as lying. Pro-lifers are, of course, thrilled that more of the evildoing of Planned Parenthood has been brought before the public, leading many legislators to vote to cease government funding of the organization. But some ask: By utilizing actors posing as pimps and prostitutes and falsely claiming to employ fourteen- and fifteen-year-old sex workers who need abortions and gynecological services, did Live Action use an evil means to a good end?
The answers vary. For instance, Christopher Tollefsen wrote in the online journal Public Discourse that intentionally telling falsehoods to anyone is immoral. He holds that people faced with such challenges as protecting Jews from Nazis should resist them by means other than falsehood and volunteer to die with any Jews captured. [Read more…]
Blasphemy: Pastor Uses Parable of the Sower to Encourage Abortion
by Jennifer Hartline
Anyone unwilling to defend human life from the moment of conception has no pro-life theology. Rev. Matthew Westfox is stunningly deceived. His “reproductive choice” theology is not remotely pro-life. He is a mouthpiece for the culture of death.
After I finished reading Rev. Matthew Westfox’s article entitled, “Resurrecting Pro-Life”, I couldn’t shake an image in my head of the father of lies smugly patting himself on the back for this one. A very delicious deception, indeed.
Rev. Westfox begins, “Christ the Lord is Risen Today” reminds me that Easter is a celebration of life itself and what Christians honor and revere about life. Easter reminds me of the respect and reverence for life that is at the core of my theology, that I am in my heart a deeply “pro-life” person.”
That first paragraph left me with a vague uneasiness in my stomach, and the next paragraph got worse. A lot worse. [Read more…]
The Courage to Refuse to Cooperate in Evil
Modern health care is replete with situations that tempt us to cooperate immorally in evil.
An electrician by trade, Tim Roach is married with two children and lives about an hour outside Minneapolis. He was laid off his job in July 2009. After looking for work for more than a year and a half, he got a call from his local union in February 2011 with the news anyone who is unemployed longs for, not just a job offer, but one with responsibility and a good salary of almost $70,000 a year. He ultimately turned the offer down, however, because he discovered that he was being asked to oversee the electrical work at a new Planned Parenthood facility under construction in St. Paul on University Avenue. Aware that abortions would be performed there, he knew his work would involve him in “cooperation with evil,” and he courageously declined the offer.
Significant moral issues can arise if we knowingly cooperate in another’s evil actions, even though we don’t perform those evil actions ourselves. [Read more…]