They found a PP clinic in Waco, Texas that does mammograms...

The catch is they're funded by the Susan G. Komen foundation and the Texas Department of Health. NOT federal dollars.

So why doesn't Susan G. Komen fund the whole damn thing? Why don't they go cry to them for more money?

VIDEO: The Case Against Abortion: Prenatal Development

VIDEO: Heresy and Hell

Hell exists. God revealed it.

VIDEO: LiveAction Debunks Claim Planned Parenthood Provides Mammograms

A beautiful example of an undercover operation that is morally licit because it did not involve lying.

Way to go LiveAction!

The thing, they did not have to go through all that trouble, see.

All they had to do was go to Planned Parenthood's website. It's in black and white:

They do not claim to offer mammograms.

I got curious, so I decided to see what services they actually do claim to offer.

It varies clinic by clinic.


But in the clinics I sampled, none of them actually performed mammograms. Many plainly said they offered referrals for mammograms. Did they mean they got a doctor to sign off for insurance purposes?

Okay fine, but government funding of Planned Parenthood doesn't make those mammograms cheaper. Pap Smears, UTI tests, pelvic exams and STD testing are relatively low end, low cost health care.  It's not like they're providing open heart surgery on a sliding scale. 
The core business of Planned Parenthood revolves around pregnancy and, of course, abortion. Whatever other things they do, they do on the side as a marketing tool to make people familiar and comfortable with their operations. If you go in for a Pap Smear, you know the faces there, you might be more inclined to talk to them about your unintended pregnancy and your desire for abortion. In which case, they will happily oblige.

When Planned Parenthood gets the deposit from the government, that pays their rent. And as long as that pays their rent, that keeps them in the abortion business. If they really want that government money, they should stop doing abortion. But of course they won't because that's their raison d'être.

Pro-family groups praise PM Harper’s family tax proposal

Oh gag.

Come on, people, demand a little more of these politicians! Harper has screwed us over time and again.

Taliban Catholics

Gee, I wonder who he's talking about... :)

Family Tax Cut: Don't Insult My Intelligence

You Conservatives racked up a 56 billion dollar deficit, then propose this income splitting scheme and expect us to wait until 2015 to profit it from it, that is, if the economy does not suffer another setback.

You really think we're that dumb?

Bowling for abortions

Is it coming to a town near you?

Check the list.

They will host teams with such zazzy names as BallBusters!, The Bowl Movements and Public Cervix Announcement.

This event cries out for parody.

I'm just mystified that bowling alleys would be willing to accommodate this kind of event.

The Prenatal Testing Sham

More needs to be done to make it known to parents that you can keep your Down Syndrome baby, and your life will not be ruined.

Dear Conservative Party Fundraisers: get stuffed

I would like to join my blogging colleague Patricia Maloney at Run with Life where Conservative fundraisers get off.

Stephen Harper closes the debate on abortion in his caucus and you have the nerve to come running to me for money?

Maybe The Liberals should win. It would teach you a lesson in not taking your base for granted.

I think this should be a meme, my fellow pro-life bloggers. The Conservative Party should know that a large swath of their base is not happy with them.

VIDEO: March for Life Prague

It's been a busy weekend for pro-lifers in Europe, as March 25th was the International Day of the Unborn Child, and various demonstrations were held in honour of that day.

There were some well-publicized events in Spain, Romania, and Belgium, and I'm sure you'll read about it in the pro-life press tomorrow. But one place that I did not see too much hoopla about was the march in Prague, Czech Republic.

I note the contrast between this march, and that of Ottawa and Washington. Whereas in Ottawa we scream and chant, this one is more like a funeral procession.

A sermon of Blessed Clemens August Graf von Galen, the anti-Nazi Bishop

They just don't write them like this any more.

Can you see ANY Canadian bishop saying anything like this, even in a time of war?

This is why he is beatified, and the bishops of our day will not be. Because he has the guts to say what needs to be said, and many bishops do not even realize that they've gone astray, let alone know what to say.

Fr. Raymond Gravel wants a bishop to discipline MP Steven Blaney

Well, what horrible thing did MP Steven Blaney do?

Did he contradict Church teaching?

Did engage in immoral sexual contact?

Did he receive communion sacrilegiously?

Why no!

MP Steven Blaney stands accused of using an old slogan that the priests used to use to get people to vote Conservative: le ciel est bleu, l'enfer est rouge. The sky is blue (Conservative), hell is red (Liberal).

Fr. Gravel is livid that Steven Blaney is mixing religion with politics.

"If the sky is blue, it's not Conservative blue, not the blue of Steven Blaney, " fumed Fr. Gravel. He said he never used religion  as an electoral argument. (Of course not!) "It's an argument that he used with elderly people who are still in tune with the Catholic religion, surely in the hopes that they would go and vote for him. It's unacceptable, it brings us back 50 years. But it does not surprise me on the part of Conservatives. I worked two years with them in Ottawa and they're capable of worse than that."
The article says that Fr. Gravel hopes that the Catholic hierarchy will react to the Conservative MP's statement. "If a bishop were to denounce it, now would be the time."

According to him, the position of the Church is clear: "It says that we keep away from the political debate because we have conservatives, liberals, sovereignists and federalists in our churches. We must respect all."

(Actually, no we don't have to, not when they vote against Church teachings, but whatever!)

Cardinal Turcotte did not return the call from RueFrontenac.com

So let's see: Fr. Gravel opposes legal protection for the unborn and supports gay marriage, but he wants a bishop to discipline a Conservative MP for using a decades old slogan.

Yeah, he's got his priorities straight!

QUOTATION: Humility

Humility, after the first shock, is a cheerful virtue: it is the high-minded unbeliever, desperately trying in the teeth of repeated disillusions to retain his ‘faith in human nature”, who is really sad.

--C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain

Why we shouldn't lie for the pro-life cause

From a review of 12th and Delaware:

I watched the film with a ton of pro-choice activists, however, so we, of course, were gobsmacked and galled to see the behavior of the CPC employees admit onscreen that they’ll even lie to a pregnant woman about how far along she is if it can trick her into not having an abortion.

So what do you think will happen when word gets out in Fort Pierce, Florida about this? Do you think the women who go in for help will trust the CPC? Don't you think they will suspect every single word the pro-life counsellor says?

When we lie, we screw ourselves. Don't be fooled. It might save the one baby in front of you, but the next 1000 will die because no one will believe a word you say.

Unwanted pregnancy is not like rape, feminists

When I engage in an abortion debate, I am sometimes gobsmacked at the stupid theory the opposition comes up with to support the killing of preborn human beings. One I have come across quite a bit in the last two years is that forcing a woman to bear her unborn child is akin to rape, when it actually isn't called rape.

Leftists are prone to that kind of verbal inflation. They take highly emotional-charged words that mean one thing and then make them mean something entirely different.


So, I feel almost dumb having to explain why forcing a woman to do nothing about her pregnancy (which is what an anti-abortion law is) is not like a rape. Christina Dunnigan gives the run-down of the arguments. Save this post for your next twitter debate.

Update on the Fr. Corapi Case

A statement from Santa Cruz media, the owners of Fr. Corapi's intellectual property:

Statement of Santa Cruz Media, Inc. Relative to Fr. Corapi’s Suspension

Santa Cruz Media, Inc. is the owner of all of Fr. John Corapi’s intellectual property and the DVDs, CDs, and books that flow from it. We are a secular corporation and not affiliated with the Catholic Church in any way. As such, we are not under the jurisdiction of any bishop or other official in the Catholic Church, although we have the utmost respect for Church authority.

We fully support Rev. John Corapi in this terrible trial, not surprisingly having begun on Ash Wednesday. Through the sacrifice and struggle of the desert and all of the dark moments that this entails, we are confident that the glory of the risen Lord will shine forth from the power of the Resurrection and Easter.

We have consulted with a number of canon lawyers. They have assured us that the actions of the Bishop of Corpus Christi, Texas are, on several points of canon law, illicit. It is our fervent hope that The Dallas Charter will be changed because of false accusations like this. There is no evidence at this time that Fr. Corapi did anything wrong, only the unsubstantiated rant of a former employee, who, after losing her job with this office, physically assaulted me and another employee and promised to "destroy" Father Corapi. We all continue to pray for this person, and we ask you to do the same.

We sincerely believe that the work Fr. Corapi has done is of greatest value to the Church, hence hated by the devil. We fully intend to make Fr. Corapi’s material available as a service to the Church and the world for as long as we possibly can.

The Church provides no financial support to Fr. Corapi. He has to pay for his own legal representation, medical costs, food, housing, etc. We have never accepted donations or charitable contributions of any kind. We are supporting Father’s efforts to defend himself. Your purchase of products from Santa Cruz Media helps provide the funding for Father's continued work as well as the legal expenses he continues to incur as a result of these malicious allegations.

Father Corapi and all of us here at Santa Cruz Media, Inc. greatly appreciate your kindness, support, and prayers. Please continue to pray for Father Corapi and his accuser, as well as all priests who find themselves in this unfortunate situation.

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Bobbi Ruffatto
Vice President of Operations
Santa Cruz Media, Inc.

I did not comment on this case because I simply did not know who was saying the truth. I tend to believe Father Corapi, but I wanted to see what his accuser had to say.

For those who are not in the know: Fr. John Corapi is a well-beloved Catholic priest. I have embedded some of his videos on this blog. He was accused of sexual misconduct with adult women and drug abuse. He was placed on administrative leave on Ash Wednesday. He has categorically denied all allegations.

I am cautiously optimistic about this statement. I would like to say that I believe Fr. Corapi. A lot of people do. I don't know him that well. I am also gun shy about believing a priest just because he's a priest, and a good priest at that.

I'm anxious to hear what his accuser has to say. If her story has any merit, then the facts will bear it out.

I pray that if Fr. Corapi is innocent, I can be forgiven for my lack of trust.

VIDEO: Steven Crowder Takes On Bullying

Really good one:



Here's the deal: schools simply cannot protect kids from all or even most bullying.

Where does bullying happen? When the teachers are not paying attention.

What do you expect a kid to do?

Kids should simply be able to defend themselves. Adults have that right, why shouldn't kids?

I also think there should be some kind of law where parents can sue other parents for their kids' bullying. I don't know if it is the law (doubt it) but that's the way it should be. If your kid is a bully and he picks on my kid, and he won't stop, you should have the responsibility to keep your kid home from school and discipline him or get treatment until he stops.

That would probably stop some of the bullying.

My daughter is autistic and she was bullied by a neighbourhood kid. He would physically assault her for no reason-- just because it was fun to do. I saw him tackle her from behind, without any provocation. He was about six or seven years old. I tried to talk to his family but they were ineffective. Note that he never bullied her at school as far as I know. I suspect he had an inkling the school staff was rather protective of my daughter. The only legal recourse I could see in that situation was to call Child Protection, which I refused to do. Bad as the bully was, I don't think calling Child Protection was going to be of any help. I feared they would take him away from his mother, and my theory is, a bad mother is better is no mother, and kids are rarely better off in foster care or in state care unless they're being seriously assaulted. So I had to keep my daughter in a lot of the time.

I moved to a new house. That solved that problem. Probably the most cost-effective measure anyway.

VIDEO: A la Carte

Priests should preach all the doctrines of the faith. Including the uncomfortable ones. This is for you clergy of Canada:

Toronto Pro-Lifers: Come out to Support Mary Wagner at her trial

Mary Wagner is the sidewalk counsellor who was arressted for trespassing.

Please come to her trial Monday, March 28th at the College Park Courthouse, 444 Yonge St, second floor. The trial starts at 10:00, but as poor choicers plan to pack the courtroom early, it is recommended that you come at least one hour earlier, if not more.

Please spread the word. The poor-choicers intend to make their presence felt.

Fr. Raymond Gravel: Mayor Jean Tremblay is the "Clown of the Saguenay"

Fr. Raymond Gravel labels Mayor Jean Tremblay “The Clown of the Saguenay”

Yes, Fr. Gravel is back ranting against faithful Catholics. Now he is denouncing Mayor Jean Tremblay as a “clown” for continuing to pray in the Saguenay City Council in spite of a ruling against him by the Quebec Human Rights Tribunal.

Here is my translation of his most recent work:



Ever since the Human Rights Tribunal ordered the City of Saguenay and mayor Jean Tremblay to stop reciting prayers during municipal council meetings and to withdraw all religious symbols from the rooms where public meetings are held, the mayor has decided to contest the judgement by calling upon the generosity of Quebeckers, who responded en masse, as he collected $140 000, which could fund his fight to the Supreme Court.

Personally, I am flabbergasted by this situation. In this day and age when churches are closing because of the inability to maintain them, here comes a public official from a regional municipality who goes on a crusade to save Catholic culture (so he says) by reciting a prayer just as we did ages ago in all our public meetings, and there you go: Jean Tremblay is perceived as a new Messiah who has come to remind the wimpy people of Quebec that our Catholic roots are much more profound than we think, and that it’s not a couple of flabbergasted atheists from the Mouvement laïque québecois who will come and uproot them. And all this time, Mayor Tremblay prides himself in being the defender of Catholic values all the while insulting all those who do not think like him: Fr. Gravel is an insignificant personality, and Louise Beaudoin, a useless parasite for the last 40 years. As far as Christian charity goes, we can expect better.

And if we only thought about it a little. I can understand that novelty scares some people, and that some people live with a certain nostalgia for the past and are ready to hang on to the last vestiges of an outdated religion that, unfortunately, continues to breathe, but Catholic culture cannot be reduced to a recited prayer or to a Sacred Heart decorating a public place; if that’s the case, that’s lamentable. For 400 years, hasn’t the Catholic Church left a more substantial heritage to Quebeckers? When we read the Gospel, what values does Christ propose? “When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites who love to say their prayers standing up in the synagogues and the public squares, in order to be seen by men. In truth, I tell you, they have already received their reward” (Mt. 6:5). And again “When you pray, do not keep harping on like the pagans do; they imagine that it’s through their numerous words that their prayers will be answered” (Mt. 6:7). How are we to pray then? “For you, when you want to pray, go to your most secret room, lock the door, and address your prayer to your Father who is there with you in secret. And your Father, who sees you in secret, will reward you” (Mt. 6:6)

It seems to me that the Gospel is addressed to all Catholics, including the mayor. Removing the traditional prayer at a municipal meeting is not renouncing the faith; on the contrary, it is accepting to open oneself up to the other, the stranger, and to propose another way of doing things so he can benefit and profit as well. Wouldn’t this be an occasion to show creativity and create a space and a moment for reflection where all could feel included? And why not replace the plaster Sacred Heart by a work sculpted by an artist from the Saguenay, a work which would have a religious theme that would represent the spiritual values of the people?

As a Catholic priest, I am not against prayer nor against the presence of religious symbols in public spaces. On the other hand, I am against the caricature and the buffoonery of the mayor, who does not in any way represent the Catholic Church in Quebec. His attitude is shameful, and his battle is useless. In my humble opinion, if Mr. Tremblay pretends to manifest a bit of respect for the Church that he claims to defend, he should give the money that he raised to the diocese of Chicoutimi to benefit those who work there and who find it important to transmit Catholic and Christian values.

VIDEO: Social Justice Smackdown

I stole the title from SoCon or Bust. Because this is exactly what it is:



This should be broadcast far and wide.

Camille Paglia on Happy, Heterosexual Women

Once in a while, she nails it. In an interview about Elizabath Taylor, she said:

And that's another thing -- all these stars today, accumulating children with an army of nannies. Despite all her children, no one would ever call Angelina Jolie maternal. But Elizabeth Taylor's maternal quality is central to her heterosexual power. Elizabeth Taylor could control men. She liked men. And men liked her. There was a chemistry between her and men, coming from her own maternal instincts. I've been writing about this for years, and it was partly inspired by watching Taylor operate on-screen and off. The happy and successful heterosexual woman feels tender and maternal toward men -- but this has been completely lost in our feminist era. Now women tell men, you have to be my companion and be just like a woman; be my best friend, and listen to me chatter. In other words, women don't really like men anymore -- they want men to be like women. But Elizabeth Taylor liked men, and men loved to be around her because they sensed that.

If you ever want to have a successful relationship with a man, learn to like men.

And when I say "learn to like men" I mean "learn to like authentic masculinity."

When feminists say they like men, they mean they like people who happen to be male.

They do not mean they like guys.

They resent so many qualities that make a guy a guy.

They resent male aggressiveness, assertiveness, competitiveness, and so forth.

They like men who want to be like women.

It wouldn't make sense for them to like men whose masculinity runs counter to their feminist beliefs.

QUOTATION: Suffering

God has made the attainment of our happiness, his glory. Since he is by his nature infinite goodness, and since as St. Leo says goodness is diffusive of itself, God has a supreme desire to make us sharers of his goods and of his happiness. If then he sends us suffering in this life, it is for our own good: "All things work together unto good." Even chastisements come to us, not to crush us, but to make us mend our ways and save our souls: "Let us believe that these scourges of the Lord have happened for our amendment and not for our destruction."

--St. Alphonsus Liguori, Uniformity with God’s Will.

Attention Ottawa pro-lifers: Vigil at Development and Peace event.

Details at Socon or Bust.

VIDEO: Interesting Church Signs (Humour)

Need a pick me up? This is your video. Lasts about five minutes or so.

Florida Everglades built on ancient trash heap

Translation: human garbage was good for the ecology.

The Everglades feature tree islands spattered throughout the swampland. The tree islands provide habitat for birds, alligators, big cats and aquatic life.

But new research suggests ancient humans may have inadvertently created the ecological wonder by using it as a dumping ground.

"This goes to show that human disturbance in the environment doesn't always have a negative consequence," says Gail Chmura, a paleoecologist at McGill University and one of the authors of the study.

Top Ten Rejected Shows At EWTN (Humour)

But my question is: why were these shows rejected?

10. So You Think You Can Preach? [Reality] Bishops, priests and deacons from around the country deliver 7-minute sermons and homilies on a variety of moral and theological issues before a three-judge panel, with viewer voting in the later rounds. Contestants are judged on content, passion, and whether they wander around the sanctuary too much. The recommended judges were Fr. Corapi, Bill Donohue and that guy from your parish who always has to have a word or two with the priest after Mass to complain about the preaching.

We so need this show!!!

I am uncomfortable with the situation in Libya

It has taken me a while to articulate to myself why I feel such discomfort with the armed intervention in Libya.

Although Qaddafi certainly deserves to be removed, my problem is that the Western world does not have the stomach to fight the battle in the way that it needs to be waged.

You have to look at the big picture. Qaddafi fought back against an insurgency that erupted in his country.

However justified these insurgents were in opposing this tyrant, they were clearly not up to the job. Not even close.

The truth is: they should not have engaged in this battle unless they were reasonably certain of winning the fight. That is one of the main conditions of a just revolution, as defined by the natural law. But you don’t need to be Catholic to realize this. It’s just plain common sense. If you go into battle, you make sure you have enough people, arms and an adequate strategy to overcome the enemy, otherwise you stay home. Because it’s unconscionable to fight a war that you’re not even sure you can win.

When you see the ragtag bunch leading the insurgency, there’s no way they could win, even against a crappy army like Libya’s.

Now, the Western leaders were justified in intervening. But their whole strategy is just half-assed. If the West *really* wanted to, they could take over Libya, occupy it and eventually set up a native regime.

The problem is: they don’t really want to.

They have only agreed on performing the strict minimum: enforcing a no-fly zone.

What is that going to do for the insurgency?

Sure, it stops the aerial bombardments, but how does that actually advance their goal of removing the Libyan leader? They’re still a ragtag bunch with virtually no fighting capacity.

The no-fly zone isn’t really doing a whole lot.

And now a number of people have amassed around potential air targets hoping their presence would deter the West from striking them. Good strategy on their part. (I suspect many if not most of them were pressed into service for this, but that’s just speculation.)

So now what?

This is just so half-assed. When you decided to engage in armed conflict, you can’t be milquetoast about it. You either go in and throw every you have at it, or stay home.

But the West doesn’t want to do that. They want a certain result—the removal of Qaddafi —without putting into it the blood, sweat and tears that really goes into it.

They want a nice clean war where no one gets hurt and things get done and they don’t want their lily-white hands to be soiled with the blood.

Although we of course want to reduce casualties, the reality is, you have to decide if it’s worth the cost of the potential causalities, including those of the innocent. And if the war is not worth it, if the threat, the evil, the pain generated by this regime is not so overwhelming that it’s not worth a well-planned overpowering invasion with a potential occupation of several years, then it’s probably better not to fight it.

Again: I repeat, be prepared to throw everything at it, like in World War II, or stay home.

I know that people will object that freedom is at stake, and that Qaddafi is a tyrant and so on.

I realize that. But sometimes you have to tolerate evil in order to save human life. That’s not to say you don’t try to stop it in some other means. But you can’t risk people’s lives if you don’t have the stomach for war. That might sound paradoxical. If your heart is not in this war, if this is not do or die, then don’t go there.

I’m adamant about this because when you wage war without that necessary hunger to win—and that hunger must be felt just as much on the home front as among the troops—then you’re setting yourself up for defeat, or at least for a longer conflict than necessary. Decision-making becomes wishy-washy. The whims of the people eventually dictate the course of the war whether we like it or not. And if the people aren’t in it, they will want the troops to come home before the job is done. The troops also get battle fatigue and start wondering about their purpose in fighting. It should be obvious why they are there. If it’s not, then they’re not going to make the effort.

I’m writing this because I’m not happy with the way the US has waged war in the last 20 years (and Canada either, for that matter). The Allies went into Afghanistan in 2003, toppled the Taliban, but didn’t really conquer the rest of the country. They haggled over troop deployments, and there really weren’t enough boots on the ground to keep the peace and impose a rational law on the people. I know that sounds like an occupying force, but frankly, Afghanistan needed (and still needs) someone to set some basic rules of conduct and enforce them. It’s a travesty that there are still girls being attacked for attending school. Where are the forces to protect these girls? We didn’t have enough forces to stop it. The West was very reluctant to throw everything at this war. It just wanted to get in, get out. That’s not how you win a war.

And then, to make matters worse, we opened another front in Iraq on dubious grounds. I know Saddam was a horrible despot. But the truth is: more people would have lived if the US had not gone in. He was pushing 70 when he was hanged, and it I suspect he would have been dead in ten years. Now, perhaps if the US and other allies had thrown all they had at Iraq, at lot of sectarian violence could have been prevented. But we know that’s impossible because their attention was already divided in Afghanistan.

I do not want a repeat of the mistakes of the past. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan lasted too long, and the pain of those wars could have been markedly diminished if the ground forces had been ridiculously overwhelming—as they could have been, if the West had not been half-hearted in its approach.

You can’t fight wars half-hearted. You only increase the pain and the conflict when you do so. You have to make your presence so overpowering that no one will want to fight and you can start establishing some rule of law.

And some people might object that that’s a lot to ask from the West. That is what people have to decide before they go into war: whether it’s worth it. Sometimes it’s not. As I think the case is in Libya. The insurgency is a led by a bunch of military midgets. There is no obvious pool of leaders from which to form the leadership of the country when the regime falls. It’s all so very ad hoc, and ad hoc is not good. It leaves the situation open to takeover by even more nefarious powers. We don’t know who might be hiding in the shadows to take advantage of this power vacuum.

Baby Joseph gets tracheotomy, will be able to go home

Mission accomplished!

An interesting commentary:

Dr. Paul Byrne, a fifty-year veteran in the field of neonatology based in Ohio, told LSN last month that in his opinion Joseph should have had a tracheostomy “a long time ago.” He also insisted that he has never seen a need to remove a child’s ventilator. “If a baby has a disease process that’s so bad that they’re going to die, then they die on the ventilator anyway,” he explained.

And why should you care?

Alex Schadenberg, executive director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, has warned that Ontario is creating a system where doctors are authorized to force life and death decisions on patients.

In a blog post last week, he said the case emphasizes the need to reform a legal system in the province that favors hospitals over families in cases of disagreement over care. “The law has a natural inequality that has resulted in a plethora of precedent setting cases that support the role of the doctor/hospital to make medical decisions against the wishes of the family. This needs to change,” he wrote.

This includes you, feminists. If you think your bodily autonomy is compromised now...wait until you get sick.

Toronto Star shows concern for the welfare of the unborn

What?

But that concern disappears once there's talk of like...killing them to end the pregnancy.

Indeed, even potable water could become scarce in some areas. Emergency workers have already warned residents in one village about 30 kilometres northwest of the plant not to drink tap water because of higher-than-normal levels of iodine. Trace elements of cesium have also been measured in Tokyo’s tap water.

Now what do you suppose could be a good alternative to contaminated tap water...

Do you think, maybe...bottled water could be used?

Oh goodness, no, that would commercialize water. It would not longer be state-owned and therefore pure. Especially ideologically.

"Safe and Legal" Abortion

Sends another woman to the hospital.

So, Planned Parenthood, will you tell us what happened?

Where's the media in this?

Who was the abortionist on duty at the time? Women need to be warned.

QUOTATION: How not to find God

The arrogance that would make God an object and impose our laboratory conditions upon him is incapable of finding him. For it already implies that we deny God as God by placing ourselves above him, by discarding the whole dimension of love, of interior listening; by no longer acknowledging as real anything but what we can experimentally test and grasp. To think like that is to make oneself God. And to do that is to abase not only God, but the world and oneself, too.

--Pope Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth, Volume 1.

VIDEO: Do Not Judge (An interesting spin)

Development and Peace is not Getting It

During the course of its ShareLent Campaign, Development and Peace will be hosting a talk on April 2nd by controversial priest Fr. Luis Arraga, head of the Miguel Agustin Pro Juarez Center for Human Rights, a pro-abortion organization.

LifeSiteNews' coverage has shown that Agustin Pro Juarez did far more than merely contribute to a UN report endorsing abortion. In reality, they have given multiple clear statements endorsing the legalization and availability of abortion in Mexico and have even publicly denounced a pro-life amendment to the constitution of the state of Jalisco.

So-called Catholic groups tolerate the slaughter of unborn children, but we're the Catholic Taliban. Yeah, that makes complete sense. Meanwhile they treat bottled water like it's a human rights violation. They sure have their priorities straight!

Don't give a dime to Development and Peace.

Pornography is Slavery

An excellent essay:

The reason is that the key to democracy is not free choice. As we know from the Weimar Republic, people can freely choose anything, even Hitler. The key, as our Founding Fathers knew, is virtue. Only a virtuous person is capable of rational consent because only a virtuous person's reason is unclouded by the habitual rationalizations of vice. Vice inevitably infects the faculty of judgment. No matter how democratic their institutions, morally enervated people cannot be free. And people who are enslaved to their passions inevitably become slaves to tyrants. Thus, our Founders predicated the success of democracy in America upon the virtue of the American people.

The insidiousness of pornography is not just that it is sinful and therefore clouds a person's judgement.

There's a biochemical aspect of it that makes it addictive, and therefore enslaving. There are lots of immoral writings out there, but they do not wreak havoc like porn, because people do not develop a biochemical pleasure from it.

QUOTATION: Rationalism

Our private judgment is made everything to us,—is contemplated, recognized, and consulted as the arbiter of all questions, and as independent of everything external to us. Nothing is considered to have an existence except so far forth as our minds discern it. The notion of half views and partial knowledge, of guesses, surmises, hopes and fears, of truths faintly apprehended and not understood, of isolated facts in the great scheme of Providence, in a word, the idea of Mystery, is discarded.

--Cardinal John Henry Newman

Today's dose of pro-abortion violence

Breaking: ‘Bomb’ thrown at elderly pro-life activist at 40 Days vigil


We're not backing down, people. You can kill the messenger, you can't censor the message.

QUOTATION: God's Action in the World And Bible Scholarship

The common practice today is to measure the Bible against the so-called modern world-view, whose fundamental dogma is that God cannot act in history—that everything to do with God is to be relegated to the domain of subjectivity. And so the Bible no longer speaks of God, the living God; no, now we alone speak and decide what God can do and what we will and should do. And the Antichrist with an air of scholarly excellence, tells us that any exegesis that reads the Bible from the perspective of faith in the living God, in order to listen to what God has to say, is fundamentalism; he wants to convince us that only his kind of exegesis, the supposedly purely scientific kind, in which God says nothing and has nothing to say, is able to keep abreast of the times.


--Pope Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth, Volume 1.

Local 40 Days for Life organizer in Montreal attacked

But we're the violent ones!

If anyone thinks that physical violence will discourage us, they are sorely mistaken. In fact, I suggest to all pro-lifers that if anyone tries to discourage you from any kind of pro-life activism, just promise the person making the threat that you will only do more activism if they persist in their attempts to dissuade you.

We will not be silenced.

QUOTATION: Rationalism

Rationalism is a certain abuse of Reason; that is, a use of it for purposes for which it never was intended, and is unfitted. To rationalize in matters of Revelation is to make our reason the standard and measure of the doctrines revealed; to stipulate that those doctrines should be such as to carry with them their own justification; to reject them, if they come in collision with our existing opinions or habits of thought, or are with difficulty harmonized with our existing stock of knowledge. And thus a rationalistic spirit is the antagonist of Faith; for Faith is, in its very nature, the acceptance of what our reason cannot reach, simply and absolutely upon testimony.

--Cardinal John Henry Newman

REAL Women granted intervenor status

M E D I A R E L E A S E

For immediate release March 15, 2011
Ottawa, Ontario

VANCOUVER DRUG INJECTION SITE


REAL WOMEN GRANTED INTERVENOR STATUS BY THE
SUPREME COURT OF CANADA


On March 14, 2011, REAL Women of Canada was granted intervenor status by the Supreme Court of Canada, in the case dealing with the controversial Vancouver Drug Injection Site.



REAL Women will be advancing arguments in the case dealing with its concern for the addict, their families and the community in which they live. We will provide a balance to those arguments proposed by twelve other intervenors who all support the continued operation of the drug injection site and who argue that the use of drugs is merely a provincial health matter.

REAL Women supports the position of the Attorney General in that the federal Controlled Drugs and Substances Act applies equally across Canada to control the use of illicit drugs and the possession and trafficking of drugs. That is, we support the federal legislation which creates a common standard across Canada on the criminality and regulation of drug use consistent with international treaties, which Canada has ratified.

The case will be argued before the Supreme Court of Canada on May 12, 2011.


- 30 -

Sexual Pleasure and Intimacy Among Men Who Engage in "Bareback Sex"

This abstract gave me a chuckle.

Qualitative analysis identified the pivotal role that sexual pleasure and intimacy have in this population and how drives for sexual satisfaction, adventure, intimacy, and love overpower health concerns and condom use recommendations. Men interested in bareback sex use a variety of defense mechanisms to account for, justify, and exonerate their behavior. HIV-prevention interventions have paid insufficient attention to libidinal drives, a crucial element of psychological functioning.

Isn't this the whole reason behind homosexual behaviour in itself?

Maybe if the people so concerned with HIV would just tell gay men to keep their pants zipped, it would really contribute to ending AIDS. But of course no one will do that. They'll just pick on gay men who like bareback sex.

Ah, the hits this post is going to get now that I've posted on this topic...

Dear Christian Heritage Party

I am so disgusted with the Conservatives, I'm ready to vote for you.

No, I am not ready to join your party, as I have a philosophical problem with a party based on one religion. It amounts to a kind of Test Act. I don't think religious faith should matter.

However, the other, more serious issue, is that you don't run candidates in my riding.

If you run candidates in my riding, I will seriously consider voting for you, because Harper and the Conservatives need to be taught a lesson about taking right-wingers for granted, especially so-cons.

I also met Jim Hnatiuk. Nice guy. He realistically could run the government.

I suspect there are millions more like me. Please make a serious effort.

Love,
Big Blue Wave

Obama, the $4-a-gallon president: an editorial from Sarah Palin

Taken from her facebook page:

Is it really any surprise that oil and gas prices are surging toward the record highs we saw in 2008 just prior to the economic collapse? Despite the President’s strange assertions in his press conference last week, his Administration is not a passive observer to the trends that have inflated oil prices to dangerous levels. His war on domestic oil and gas exploration and production has caused us pain at the pump, endangered our already sluggish economic recovery, and threatened our national security.

The evidence of the President’s anti-drilling mentality and his culpability in the high gas prices hurting Americans is there for all to see. The following is not even an exhaustive list:

Exhibit A: His drilling moratorium. Guided by politics and pure emotion following the Gulf spill instead of peer-reviewed science or defensible law, the President used the power of his executive order to impose a deepwater drilling moratorium. The Administration even ignored a court order halting his moratorium. And what is the net result of the President’s (in)actions? A large drilling company was forced to declare bankruptcy, the economy of the region has been hobbled, and at least 7 rigs moved out of the Gulf area to other parts of the world while many others remain idle. Is it any surprise that oil production in the Gulf of Mexico is expected to fall by 240,000 bbl/d in 2011 alone?

But that’s just the Gulf. There’s also the question of a moratorium on the development of Alaska’s Outer Continental Shelf. It seems the Obama Administration can’t agree with itself on whether it imposed a moratorium there or not. The White House claims that they didn’t, but their own Department of the Interior let slip that they did. To clear up this mess, Gov. Parnell decided to sue the DOI to get a solid answer because such a federal OCS drilling moratorium would violate federal law.

Exhibit B: His 2012 budget. The President used his 2012 budget to propose the elimination of several vital oil and natural gas production tax incentives. Eliminating these incentives will discourage energy companies from completing exploratory projects, resulting in higher energy costs for all Americans – and not just at the pump. According to one study mentioned in a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed, eliminating the deduction for drilling costs “could increase natural gas prices by 50 cents per thousand cubic feet,” which would translate to “an increased cost to consumers of $11.5 billion per year in the form of higher natural gas prices.”

Exhibit C: His anti-drilling regulatory policies. The U.S. Geological Survey found that the area north of the Arctic Circle has an estimated 90 billion barrels of technically recoverable oil and 1,670 trillion cubic feet of technically recoverable natural gas, one third of which is in Alaskan territory. That’s our next Prudhoe Bay right there. According to one industry study, allowing Royal Dutch Shell to tap these reserves in Alaska’s Chukchi and Beaufort seas would create an annual average of 54,700 jobs nationwide with a $145 billion total payroll and generate an additional $193 billion a year in total revenues to local, state, and federal governments for 50 years. This would be great news if only the federal government would allow Shell to drill there. But it won’t. It’s been five years since Shell purchased the lease to develop these fields, but it’s been mired in a regulatory funk courtesy of the Obama Administration. After investing $3.5 billion in exploration programs (a significant portion of which went to ensuring responsible spill response and prevention), Shell announced last month that it has given up hope of obtaining the required permits to conduct exploratory drilling this year. That means no jobs and no billions in oil revenue from the Arctic anytime soon thanks to this Administration. Let’s stop and think about this for a moment. Right now Beltway politicos are quibbling over cutting $61 billion from our dangerously bloated $3.7 trillion budget. Allowing drilling in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas will enrich federal coffers by $167 billion a year without raising our taxes. If we let Harry Reid keep his “cowboy poetry,” would the White House consider letting us drill?

Taken altogether, it’s hard to deny that the Obama Administration is anti-drilling. The President may try to suggest that the rise in oil prices has nothing to do with him, but the American people won’t be fooled. Before we saw any protests in the Middle East, increased global demand led to a significant rise in oil prices; but the White House stood idly by watching the prices go up and allowing America to remain increasingly dependent on imports from foreign regimes in dangerously unstable parts of the world.

This was no accident. Through a process of what candidate Obama once called “gradual adjustment,” American consumers have seen prices at the pump rise 67 percent since he took office. Let’s not forget that in September 2008, candidate Obama’s Energy Secretary in-waiting said: “Somehow we have to figure out how to boost the price of gasoline to the levels in Europe.” That’s one campaign promise they’re working hard to fulfill! Last week, the British Telegraph reported that the price of petrol in the UK hit £6 a gallon – which comes to about $9.70. If you think $4 a gallon is bad now, just wait till the next crisis causes oil prices to “necessarily” skyrocket. Meanwhile, the vast undeveloped reserves that could help to keep prices at the pump affordable remain locked up because of President Obama’s deliberate unwillingness to drill here and drill now.

Hitting the American people with higher gas prices like this is essentially a hidden tax and a transfer of wealth to foreign regimes who are providing us the energy we refuse to provide for ourselves. Like inflation, higher energy prices are a hidden tax on Americans who are struggling to make ends meet. And these high gas prices will be felt in the form of higher food prices due to higher transportation costs. Energy is connected to everything in our economy. Access to affordable and secure energy is key to economic growth, which in turn is key to job growth. Energy is the building block of our economy. The President is purposely weakening that building block and weakening our country.

2012 can’t come soon enough.

- Sarah Palin

Hoping that this is the start of a new trend

Barcelona archbishop begins excommunication proceedings for priest who paid for abortion


Who's next?

VIDEO: Do ‘Pro-Choice’ Protesters Really Think About Abortion?

There's an old pro-abort slogan that says "how can you trust me with a child if you don't trust me with a choice."

Of course, the simple answer is: I don't trust anyone with the choice to kill human beings.

QUOTATION: Graces

Our wretchedness should not make us uneasy, for in Jesus crucified we shall find all richness and all grace (cf. 1 Cor 1:5, 7). The merits of Jesus Christ have enriched us with all the wealth of God and there is no grace we might desire that we cannot obtain by asking for it.

--St. Alphonsus de Liguori

Deaths of ‘Unwanted’ Babies On The Rise in Pakistan

This excerpt just jolted me:

A woman left a newborn on the steps of a mosque just before sunrise. When the men came out after offering their morning prayers and found the baby, they informed the cleric, who proclaimed it to be an illicit baby which should be stoned to death. And it was," Kazmi said.

But feminists don't mind killing the same baby of the same gestational age as long as he is inside the womb. It's the woman's choice after all...

Top 13 Liberaligion Catchphrases

From Creative Minority Report. Have yourself a laugh.

QUOTATION: The unborn Christ

Jesus Christ revealed to Venerable Agatha of the Cross that while He was in His Mother’s womb, that which afflicted Him more than any other sorrows was the hardness of the hearts of [those] who would, after His Redemption, despise the graces which He came into the world to dispense.

--St. Alphonsus Liguori

NFP: 99% effectiveness?

 I agree with the blogger that NFP's effectiveness is a little overstated:

What this means is, in any given year, assuming you are using the method perfectly to postpone pregnancy, a couple has a 99% of not getting pregnant. The problem comes when we compound this effect over 2, 3, 4, 5, and so on, years. Using basic laws of probability (multiplication of probabilities for independent events), a couple who is using the method perfectly for 2 years and trying to not get pregnant, has a (0.99 * 0.99) = 98.1% chance of success. In other words, out of 100 couples who use the method for two years, 2 (not 1) will experience unexpected pregnancies. So, is the method 99% effective or 98% effective? Well, that depends on what you mean by “effective,” which is exactly my point. As many know, this process of exponentiation works quickly, so that in five years, the method effectiveness drops to 95%. In other words, if 100 couples use this method perfectly for five years, 5 out of the 100 will experience an unintended pregnancy. Extrapolating to ten years, the method effectiveness is 90% (10 will experience at least one unintended pregnancy). For the sake of a complete picture, let’s extrapolate this to a woman’s entire fertile life. Suppose that she gets married at 25. The average age of menopause is around 50, so the couple has 25 years of fertility together. Let’s assume five kids (I’m Catholic, you know), and each kid produces a year of infertility. (I know, there are a lot of other factors, but we are talking averages here just for the sake of a general picture.) This gives the couple 20 years of fertility. The method effectiveness rate over 20 years is 81.7%. This means that out of every 100 couples using this method perfectly for their entire married life, 18 will experience at least on unintended pregnancy. Now, this assumes the 99% one-year method effectiveness rate. If we are talking user effectiveness rate, which the more generous measurements peg at 98%, the twenty-year effectiveness rate drops to 66.7%. This means that 1 out of every 3 couples using natural family planning will experience an unintended pregnancy at some point during their marriage. And you wonder why I think saying “NFP is 99% effective” is not completely honest.

I kind of see what he means.

In defense of NFP, however, you're comparing that method to other methods, which use the same comparison, i.e. effectiveness over one year. People think that if they use The Pill they won't get pregnant. They really believe that illusion. There is no such illusion with NFP. When you use the Pill and you get pregnant, you feel betrayed. When you use NFP and you get pregnant, that's just part of the package.

The other thing about NFP is that it's really as effective as you make it. It's theoretically possible not to have ANY sex after ovulation (to be perfectly safe). Now that probably wouldn't make the man happy, but if you did it that way, your chances of getting pregnant are virtually zero. I suspect that's probably not something you'd want to do over the course of 25 years. On the other hand, if you have a spate when you absolutely cannot become pregnant, it's perfectly possible to plan for that, too. In fact, I would trust NFP over anything else if that were my case (not that I'd use anything else.) If you have a regular cycle, and you know what days are safe and what days aren't, you can make pregnancy virtually impossible, which is different from other methods of contraception because you don't know ANYTHING of what's going on within you.

The thing about NFP is that it was never meant to be a perfect method. NFP is just as much a philosophy as a method. The point is that babies are not "failures" they're "surprises".

There is a subculture of NFP enthusiasists among Catholics. They think it's the greatest thing since sliced bread. I'm happy for them. I'm not one of them. I think the claims made about NFP is a bit over-stated. It works.It's moral. That's all that matters. But it's not a miracle. It has benefits. But not all couples appreciate them. I know that the "honeymoon effect" sounds nice to women, it's not so nice to men.

North Dakota bishops: don’t fund groups advocating for abortion, contraception

FARGO, North Dakota, March 11, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Catholics should not offer financial support to groups that promote abortion, contraception, or same-sex “marriage,” including Planned Parenthood supporter Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the North Dakota Catholic Conference said Wednesday.

Bishops Paul A. Zipfel of Bismarck and Samuel J. Aquila of Fargo issued the statement at the start of the Catholic Lenten season, Ash Wednesday, to warn against donating to groups “whose mission or affiliation may be morally objectionable or, at least, questionable.”

“All human life is sacred and must be protected. This is why we should not support or endorse individuals and organizations that provide, promote, or advocate for abortion, contraception, reproductive rights/‘family planning,’ or embryonic stem cell research,” wrote the bishops.

Dear North Dakota Bishops: please have a talk with the Canadian Bishops and Development and Peace.

STUDY: Self-preservation in abortion care: a grounded theory study.

It's interesting the things you read in abstracts on abortion. From a UK study (formatted for easier reading):

Aim.  To seek an explanation as to why nurses concede and conceal their judgements towards women having an abortion. 

Background.  Recent advances in abortion techniques and pharmacology have resulted in a greater proportion of medical abortions occurring at a lower gestation than previously. As this technique demands more of nurses, it becomes important to ask whether they are equipped to deal with this greater involvement.

Design.  A grounded theory approach using a recognised framework was used. Theoretical sampling was used in this study to increase the depth of focus from a previous study of nurses who were found to concede and conceal their judgement in abortion care.

Findings.  Several important aspects of abortion care were elucidated as to why nurses concealed and conceded their judgements. Lower gestation of abortions was central in determining greater involvement of nurses in the abortion process. It was found that some nurses treated women the same and some treated women differently, but all strived for equitable care. Self-preservation in the form of 'switching off' or 'getting on with it' was employed by nurses when they encountered the foetus or women who were blasé. Self-preservation was found to be a key phenomenon and a major reason why nurses conceded and then concealed their judgement.

Conclusions.  In rapidly advancing abortion care, there needs to be positive ways of ensuring self-preservation in nurses without compromising care. Relevance to clinical practice.  Abortion care demands specific skills of nurses, and this is likely to increase in the near future. Self-preservation needs to be embedded into nurses' professional development by the use of positive strategies such as guided reflection in providing a productive woman-centred service.

Self-preservation, huh? They didn't even create a euphemism for it.

And why would a nurse need to exercise "self-preservation" when she "encounters" the fetus?

Hmmm....

QUOTATION: Meekness

This in part explains my comments policy:

The highest degree of meekness consists in seeing, serving, honoring, and treating amiably, on occasion, those who are not to our taste, and who show themselves unfriendly, ungrateful, and troublesome to us.


--St. Francis de Sales

Bishop of Trois-Rivières, President of Quebec Bishops Assembly, Favours Ordination of Women

Kind of explains why Fr. Raymond Gravel is allowed free rein. (In French).

He says it will take some time before the Church will come around and change her stance.

As if!

Once the Church has declared a doctrine to be true, the Church never changes her stance.

Not surprisingly, the Diocese of Trois-Rivières' website promotes the local feminist outfit. Which is totally pro-abort.

It's not really shocking then that the local bishops don't make a big effort to come to the March for Life.

The good news is that Msgr. Veillette turns 75 in November.

New York bishops will not deny Communion to pro-abortion politicians

The bishops of New York State will not deny Holy Communion to politicians who support abortion and same-sex marriage, according to Bishop Howard Hubbard of Albany.

“Some bishops have done that but not all bishops have done that,” he said. “Quite frankly, there is a disagreement among bishops about using the communion line as a place for a confrontation. And I don’t think that the bishops of New York State feel that’s appropriate.”

And how's that workin' for ya? Has it made support of gay marriage and abortion seem to be really a really serious sin? Do tell.

Gov. Pat Quinn signs bill repealing Illinois death penalty

Yay Illinois!!!

SPRINGFIELD- Gov. Quinn today signed landmark legislation to repeal the state’s death penalty and then commuted the death sentences of the 15 men currently on death row.

Why Conservative Catholics don't do "social justice"-- Are you listening Canadian bishops???

Confessions of a Thirty Something Cybertronian (language warning in the original):

Well this week, inserted into the Parish bulletin was a little gem put forth by Development and Peace, a 'Catholic' organization run by people so left of centre, they make Lenin look like Stephen Harper. It seems, with the approval of the Canadian Catholic Bishops no doubt,. we can all make our lent a little more social justice conscious. Well,..isn't that the silliest pile of bull**** perpetrated as yet to date by the eco-feminazi terrorist heterodox forces still in full control of the Canadian hierarchy! So let's see, let's not have a 'call to holiness' instead let's make sure the trees and whales are safe, along with migrant cell phone workers getting recompensated for suffering carbon emmissions. (Or whatever else can distract from pro life issues,... no mention of abortion/gay marriage..) So by now your thinking when is this guy gonna stop ranting about social justice?!? Well the answer is when social justice actually becomes social justice instead of a cleverly (not so much anymore...) disguised form of marxism used to keep people in ignorance.

(...)

So my fellow Canadians, let's all take this opportunity this Ash Wednesday to medidate upon Jesus in the desert. The Ashes, calling to mind our own mortality, that we are dust. Our sins caused the Passion and death of our Lord. His Ressurection gives us reassurance of Eternal life! This Lent let's all give up the social justice bull**** and concentrate on our relationship spiritually with God.

And it's by a Montrealer, too. Preach it, mon frère!

QUOTATION: The Original Evil

This then is the original evil: man regards himself as his own light, and turns away from that light which would make man himself a light if he would set his heart on it.

--St. Augustine, City of God, 14:13

Mayor Jean Tremblay Prays at Saguenay City Council

Despite the decision against prayer at Council by the Human Rights Commission.

Not only is he risking being charged with contempt of court, he is risking his own job as mayor. Quebec Law says that the Solicitor-General can have him removed for misconduct.

A Catholic politician with guts. I like that. I wish I could vote for him.

How Raymond Gravel will mark the International Day Against Homophobia

On May 15th, while Quebec pro-lifers will be holding a conference to stop the slaughter of unborn children, Father Raymond Gravel will be marking the International Day Against Homophobia by celebrating a Eucharistic Mass at the notoriously pro-homosexual Catholic parish St. Pierre Apôtre in Montréal.

Yes, he will be offering the sacrifice of Our Lord in honour of the very evil that crucified Him.

Way to go, Fr. Gravel.

And I know what some of you are thinking: don't you think hatred against homosexuals is abominable?

Of course it is. But this is not just about the acceptance of homosexual people.

It's about the acceptance of the homosexual sin.

You know, sin, the thing that was ultimately responsible for the crucifixion of Jesus Christ?

We really should write the Vatican. This is nuts. Nobody in the Quebec Church is going to stop him or say anything. Just like last year when he celebrated a Mass in honour of Gay Pride.

No wonder he thinks what he's doing is okay. Nobody in Quebec acts like it's not okay.

VIDEO: Leslie is Silent No More

Argentinian priest suspended for having supported gay marriage

Jeanne Smits translates a report from Infocatolica.

José Nicolas Alessio underwent a canonical trial in the province of Cordoba and was found guilty of persistantly rejecting the doctrine on marriage, and of disobeying his ordinary, having expressed himself publicly in media against the Church's Magisterium. He is prohibited from celebrating the Eucharist, hearing confessions, celebrating other sacraments and may not live in the parish house.

From the sound of it, the priest did not know what hit him. He did not expect such a swift decision. He said : "They condemned and excluded me for having a different opinion."

No kidding, Sherlock.

The name of the local bishop is Msgr Carlos Ñañez. Promote that man!

Rule of thumb: The rules of men with hats supersede the rules of men without hats.

Angry French Guy explains how Canadian multiculturalism works and boils it down to a rule of thumb.

Why I am not a feminist

Tasha Kheiriddin: Feminism’s second-wave hangover:

The status of Western women today is still at odds with our aspirations, but in a different way. Instead of being liberated to do what we want, women now are not only free — but expected — to do everything, want it or not. Bring home the bacon, fry it up, drive the kids to soccer, and clean the house. We have become the harried Econowives of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale — or, increasingly, econo single mothers. At the same time, fewer women are having children, some by choice, but more by failure to find a mate, or to mate in time.

Ironically, feminism was originally all about choices, the lynchpin of which was the choice for women with children to work outside the home. Today, however, feminists paint this decision as mandatory, and children as optional.

Feminism has never really been about choices, and it can't be.

Because if women did what they really wanted, they wouldn't accomplish the feminist goal of feminist (not female!) supremacy.

If women decided en masse to stay home and take care of the kids (which is what they want to do), do you think they'd be terribly sympathetic to universal childcare, unions, the glass ceiling or a host of other feminist issues?

No.

When people leave university and enter the real world, they find out what a load of bunk most left-wing thinking is.

French abortion numbers are up, according to pro-abort conference

A pro-abort conference titled "How can we protect the right to abortion in 2011?" reported that in 2009, France reported 237 000 abortions in 2009 versus 213.380 in 2007.

A parliamentary report due out in spring will suggest that France implement a national system of free and anonymous birth control for all young women.

So let's see, France already has one of the highest contraception rates in the world and they have a high abortion rate and they want to throw more contraception at it. What do you suppose will be the outcome of the abortion rate if that policy is implemented?

Obviously, the abortion rate will go up, because more women will have sex and more contraception failures will occur.

Another interesting tidbit: 83% of French women are not willing to act to defend the right to abortion.

(More info in French).

Note that abortion rights activists in France are worried about the future of abortion (as you can tell). A number of abortion centres have closed recently. It's one of the ironies of France's socialist system that it has made abortion unprofitable, so when given a chance, hospitals try to shut down their abortion practices. The pro-life movement in France is alive, but it is very faith-driven. They pray a lot of rosaries on church steps. The police have to come out to protect them from the pro-abortion thugs throwing things at them. This is not an exaggeration.

The lies of Fr. Raymond Gravel

But he is certain LifeSiteNews is to blame for his dismissal.

“My problems with the Vatican authorities all flow from the evil, the lies and the half-truths from LSN, such that hundreds of well-intentioned people who never bothered to check their sources wrote to Rome to get me punished.”

So let me get this straight, Fr. Gravel, your opposition to same-sex marriage, and your support of legal abortion had nothing to do with your dismissal?

Really? Nothing at all? You don't think the Vatican would discipline this kind of opposition of Catholic teaching, especially in the political arena?

What’s more, Father Gravel insists in his lawsuit that he “is against abortion and considers that human life is sacred and that abortion is always a tragedy in our contemporary societies and that we must do everything we can, with all due respect to the persons concerned, to reduce the number of abortions performed in Quebec and Canada.”

Except actually protect the number one victims of abortion, which are unborn children. MILLIONS of unborn children have died since 1968. Not nearly as many women died from self-inflicted abortions. But hey, what's a few million fetuses when it comes to political correctness? Women who don't want to die of abortions can just not have them. A baby who doesn't want to die of abortion has no protection except the law. But don't let that simple fact of logic confuse you, your mind is made up.

Father Gravel also called “bizarre” the belief system of the “religious right” which is “ready to shoot doctors who perform abortions and who are for the most part supportive of the death penalty for criminals.”

Who shoots abortionists in this country? The people who have done that were Americans, and they were resoundly condemned by Canadians. We thoroughly oppose this action, and so does the mainstream pro-life movement. But don't bother to get the facts or anything. And as for the death penalty, given the heavy influence of the Catholic Church on the pro-life movement in Canada, there is actually a lot of opposition to it. I am confident that if any politician had the temerity to introduce a bill to implement capital punishment, Campaign Life Coalition, because of its strong Catholic influence, would oppose it. And note that LifesiteNews has also run articles in support of criminals on death row.

 And he noted that he has the support of “the very great majority of Quebeckers” as well as “many priests and bishops” and insisted “nobody in the province where I work wants to excommunicate me from the Church.”

Yeah we know that. Nobody has the guts or the orthodoxy to do it.

In his statement of claim, Father Gravel also said that LifeSiteNews “defendants even tried to discriminate against the plaintiff regarding his sexual orientation, alleging that the plaintiff is a homosexual.”

If the label fits, wear it.

“The plaintiff does not praise Henry Morgentaler but recognizes that the abortions he performed have saved the lives and mental health, in some cases, of women who were victims of rape and completely traumatized by their unwanted pregnancies.”

And he only had to kill unborn children to do it. What's 50 000 human lives?

It is clear to me that Fr. Gravel  treats people on the religious right as if they were stereotypes, and doesn't actually bother to investigate what we're all about.

QUOTATION: Suffering

From St. Augustine:

If you see that you have not yet suffered tribulations, consider it certain that you have not begun to be a true servant of God; for St. Paul says plainly that all who chose to live piously in Christ, shall suffer persecutions.

VIDEO: Karen is Silent No More

Fr. Rosica's comments represent what's wrong with the institutional Church

Today's National Post features an article concering Fr. Raymond Gravel's lawsuit against LifeSiteNews.

Fr. Rosica's comments just summarize what the heck is wrong with the institutional Church today:

"At best, the activity of LifeSite is a form of unthinking activism akin to a shooting gallery. Now and then they hit a target," he said. "More often, however, they leave a vast trail of collateral damage, character assassination and destruction of reputations of good people, including Cardinals, Bishops, priests, religious and community leaders."

Fr. Rosica said he is no fan of Fr. Gravel and disagrees strongly with his political activism and activity. But he still seriously questions LifeSite's treatment of the priest. "No matter how ambiguous, deplorable, scandalous and improper Fr. Raymond Gravel's behavior is purported to have been in Quebec and in Canada, he remains a human being, and a Roman Catholic priest who has helped many people with their personal difficulties and crises. He has brought people to Christ," he said, noting that he knows Fr. Gravel has counseled young women against having abortions.

No matter how dissenting, heretical, scandalous Fr. Raymond Gravel has been, Fr. Rosica will dump on LifeSiteNews for saying mean things about priests.

Again: heresy, dissent and scandal get a pass.

Saying mean things about priests? You piss them off!

Hey Fr. Rosica and the professional priestly class:

If you, and your fellow priests and bishops actually said something when priests like him got out of line LifeSiteNews would not be in this business.

Again, and again and again and again, priests and bishops have made dissenting statements or performed unacceptable actions.

And does anyone in the Church say anything?

Nooooooooooo.

Nobody cuts the bull**** in this Church.

Nobody corrects anyone else. Nobody gets disciplined. In spite of explicit Church teachings and Canons to the contrary. It's all just paper for these folks.

Everything's hunky-dory in the Church. Or it's not, but nobody does anything.

Who the hell do you think you're fooling?

A hundred thousand babies die every year in Canada. And the reaction of the Church to this holocaust is extremely limp and it's treated like some minor annoying issue. Bottled water and liturgical translations are treated with greater urgency than babies being killed.

And that's besides the issue of all the souls going to hell because the Church, as a whole, refuses to preach the Gospel in a distinctly Catholic manner. And you wonder why Evangelicals are so successful in reining in ex-Catholics? It might have to do with the unwillingness of professional Catholics to spread the hard sayings of our faith, thinking that it might spook them. Oooh, wouldn't want to get Taliban Catholic cooties would we? That might ruin  your self-image as kind, non-harsh, non-intolerant people so in tune with the spirit of this world.

 We've been doing it the same way for 50 years now, and the only people who've been able to move anything in the Church are those who are faithful to Catholic teaching as it is stated in the Catechism. But don't question yourselves or anything. Keep congratulating yourselves as Church attendance dwindles and Catholics walk around with no catechesis. The faithful laypeople will pick up the pieces and do the job that you're supposed to be doing.

QUOTATION: God's Attributes

I'm publishing this because so many Catholics don't seem to get it:

We find in all creatures diversities which distinguish them one from another, but the purity of God's Essence admits of no distinction; so that His Being is His Essence, His Essence is His Power, His Power is His Will, His Will is His Understanding, His Understanding is His Being, His Being is His Wisdom, His Wisdom is His Justice, His Justice is His Mercy. And though the last two attributes are differently manifested, the duty of mercy being to pardon, that of justice to punish, yet they are one and the same power.


--Bl. Louis de Granada, The Sinner's Guide

Taken from The Catholic Breadbox, my Catholic quotations blog.

VIDEO: Lorri is Silent No More

I am so sick of amnesia about the Church

Israel welcomes Pope's exoneration of Jews:

Israel has welcomed Pope Benedict XVI's exoneration of the Jewish people from responsibility for the death of Jesus Christ in a new book due to be published later this month.

(...)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed the Pope's "courage".

"I commend you for forcefully rejecting in your recent book a false charge that has been a foundation for the hatred of the Jewish people for many centuries," he said in a statement.

"My fervent hope is that your clarity and courage will strengthen the relations between Jews and Christians throughout the world and promote peace and reconciliation for generations to come."

Israel's embassy to the Vatican reacted with "joy" and said the comments were "a confirmation of the Pope's widely known positive attitude towards the Jewish people and the state of Israel".

The World Jewish Congress also praised Benedict, with director Ronald Lauder saying: "Two thousand years after the event it really was high time that the head of the Catholic church made a clear statement on this.

"It sets an important marker against anti-Semitism in the church," he said.

Look, Vatican II denied that the Jews were collectively responsible. The Catechism of the Catholic Church denies the Jews were collectively responsible. I'm sure Pope John Paul II must have referred to this a few times.
It's like the pope comes out with a new statement on this, and everyone treats it like it's a brand new belief.

It's almost like people assume the pope and the Church is antisemitic and this latest statement represents a "step forward".

Ann Furedi defends abortion at 38 weeks gestation

Ann Furedi:

However, whether these two kinds of abortion are morally different is a separate and contentious matter. It depends on whether you are prepared to accord the early embryo the same moral status as a potential person as the late fetus. Personally, I believe early and late abortions carry the same moral burden because I believe that all abortions end a potential human life. And further to that, I believe that the moral responsibility of decision-making, whatever the gestation, should rest with women and their doctors, because they most understand their circumstances and the results of their actions.

And if a fetus has to suffer and die because of the irrational thinking of the women or doctors, well tough luck fetus!

And gotta love this passage:

All the abortions were carried out on grounds of fetal abnormality - abortions for other reasons are not permitted after 24 weeks in the UK (except to save the life of the woman). The range of abnormalities read like a litany of human misery. Twenty-eight late abortions involved fetuses affected by severe brain malformations, 19 had chromosomal abnormalities such as Down’s syndrome. The rest had malformations of the skeleton, urinary system, heart and lungs, blood disorders or a congenital infectious disease.

I balked on seeing the lateness of the gestation at which some of these pregnancies were terminated: six at 35 weeks or later. The one that really jolted me was the abortion at 38 weeks, because my own son had been born just months before at 38 weeks - just two weeks before he was due and not even early enough to be called ‘premature’. So, what to think about this anonymous woman?

You may see this woman as somebody who needed to be constrained by law and forced to complete the rest of her pregnancy. You may think that she did not realise the enormity of the decision she was making, or that she and her doctors thought no more of her pregnancy than she had in its earliest weeks. You may think that she is less capable of ethical reasoning than you are, and therefore needs you to intercede against her amorality. You may feel that, regardless of her circumstances, she is a problem because she is helping to erode the pro-choice ‘brand’.

Alternatively, you can wonder at the awfulness of the situation that made this woman, with her doctors’ approval, decide that it was better that the pregnancy ended without a live birth, even so close to term. In which case, you might conclude that she must have been the most desperate woman in the world, and the most deserving of all the help she could be given.

Again: if the 38-week fetus has to suffer and die because of a woman's lack of moral thinking, well tough luck fetus! The woman's ability to decide is WAY MORE IMPORTANT than your suffering and death.

Sure she was desperate. Here's a thought: induce labour, put the baby up for adoption or give the baby palliative care.

But no, we're supposed to "trust women" as infallible in moral thinking. Even when it's blatantly obvious that abortion is wrong.

If you're having an abortion at 38 weeks, no sorry, you are not worthy of trust.

One man's experience in the New Age

David MacDonald is a friend of mine, and he came to the Church about 20 years ago. On his website he relates his experience with the New Age:

As an actor I had saved up money from movie royalties and shows, but I was going through it quickly by traveling to retreats and seminars. I studied temple style Tai Chi, Chi Kung, and five elements meditations, the Microcosmic Orbit meditation with master Mantak Chia in New York and Boston. I was a regular at the New York Integral Yoga Institute and its Connecticut retreat centre. I did EST with Werner Erhard, the 8 day in San Francisco, and the Forum which later became Landmark. I meditated several hours every day. I became a regular at psychic fares in New York City and Montreal. I visited transmediums and spoke with spirits "on the other side" through seances.

It was all very exciting because I could clearly see that there is a spiritual realm. As a person who had been a nonbeliever this was electrifying. It seemed very good. I was having cool spiritual experiences. Maybe I could live forever. I started to believe that maybe I had lived many lives before and would be here again. I thought reincarnation was a great idea. It was the only way that could get my head around the idea of becoming spiritually perfect before entering Nirvana. (1) Swami Satchidananda, my guru to whom I dedicated 4 years, told me that Jesus was an ascended master who had been through many lives. My guru said I could be as spiritually advanced as Jesus if I followed the Guru's instructions. He never told me to follow Jesus' instructions.

I was told "what is true for me might not be true for you" and that everyone had their own reality and moral compass. No moral law was binding. I felt that every path up the spiritual mountain led to the "summit." I did not realize that many paths lead into avalanches and insurmountable cliffs. My key word was "tolerance." I thought I was practicing religious tolerance because I was drawing from many religions. In trying to take the "best" from every religion, the path I was pursuing left behind many of the spiritual safe guards that were built into the ancient religions from which it drew. It left behind many practices, moral laws, and beliefs from those religions that required true discipline.

I was into the occult when I was a teen.

And one thing I notice about the occult is that it's all about gaining power, not about submitting to God.

The whole point was to get special insight so that you could get the inside edge on this world-- get future knowledge, deeper knowledge of oneself, not for the sake of uniting with some transcendant being, but to help you pursue your worldly interests. So astrology, dream interpretation, numerology, I Ching, it was all about the future, about telling you what you needed to know to make you superior to others. At least this is how I experienced it. It also had a penchant for making you "feel special". It deepened your own narcissism. When it comes to astrology, you're always someone "special" with some kind of "special path" and your life is always very dramatic. Your horoscope never tells you you will have a dreary day where nothing much happens, or that your life will be ho-hum. (Imagine casting a chart for a person who is completely invalid and has little brain function!) That's because in astrology, there's no such thing as "nothing happening". The conjunction of the planets always point to "something" happening, even if nothing happens in your day or your life. You're always falling in love, or out of love, or breaking up, or setting up a good financial deal, a bad financial deal, or your health will decline, etc.

And of course it's so open to interpretation that you can see anything you like in it and adapt it to any circumstance so that, from an epistemological standpoint, it's virtually useless. It's all intuition as to what it means, and a lot of it is wishful thinking.
I gave up astrology in my teens because the Church taught against it, not totally understanding why it was wrong. I had no sense of divine providence, the idea that God made things happen in your life, and that you just needed to rely on him.

Needless to say I was much better off without it. But it's a shame that my spiritual quest led me down that path. It had been so easy to find books on this, and nobody spoke against what I was doing, even good Catholics.

Writing Opportunity for Canadian Conservative Students

As seen on a facebook message:

Conservative students and groups often complain about being treated inequitably on campus, or feeling like they are all alone in their convictions. The Prince Arthur Herald, Canada's only center-right national student newspaper, aims to change that by giving conservative students a voice and community that will respect their opinions and stand up for their rights, along with the rights of all Canadians.

Started by a group of predominately McGill students, The PAH in less than two months of operation has received tens of thousands of hits from across Canada. As a result, the editors have decided that a nationally-read newspaper deserves to be written by students from across the nation. As an Ontario Desk Editor, I am recruiting students who are interested in writing a 500 word column at least once a month. Columns don't just have to be about politics (although they can be) as the Herald also addresses subjects ranging from campus life to culture, finance, sports, health, law, and more.

Those who control the message, control the debate. Without a friendly media presence that values excellence in communications while addressing the hard issues of our day, conservative students will continue to struggle to be heard and respected on campus.

This is a fantastic opportunity for conservative students to make their voices heard, while gaining valuable experience working for a national student newspaper. If you are interested in being part of this, please contact me at missmarprelate@gmail.com or through Facebook.

Rebekah Hebbert
Ontario Desk Editor,
The Prince Arthur Herald
missmarprelate@gmail.com
http://www.princearthurherald.com/

Fr. Raymond Gravel Explains Why He is Suing LifeSiteNews. com

Today, Fr. Raymond Gravel published a document on his website explaining why he is suing LifeSiteNews.com. I have translated it here, remaining as close as possible to the French words and phraseology:

...

Why is Raymond Gravel suing Lifesitenews.com?

Recently, we have seen on t.v. and read in the papers that Raymond Gravel is suing the operators and journalists of Lifesitenews.com website (LSN) for defamation, contempt and incitement to hatred. Many people do not understand how a priest who preaches the Gospel can sue a Catholic movement. For almost eight years, many articles of a defamatory character have been published on that website and have misinformed the population about me. I have allowed them, on numerous occasions, to correct or retract their incriminating articles, by forwarding my texts translatied in English so that they could publish them on their site. Which was never done. On the contrary, they invited their readers to denounce me to religious authorities, from my bishop all the way up to the Vatican, by way of the Apostolic Nuncio in Ottawa. This website is consulted quite a lot by Christians in Canada and the United States. I receive hundreds of emails and letters, the one more abusive than the last and I am the target of constant harassment from Catholics who consult that website.

Other people and organizations have equally been the victims of injustice. Development and Peace, an organization of the Catholic bishops of Canada, was also falsely accused of financing abortion clinics in Mexico. These false allegations have made Development and Peace lose quite a number of donations. The Salt and Light Network, whose head is Fr. Thomas Rosica, was also the target of libel by LSN. Closer to home, Cardinal Jean-Claude Turcotte was denounced for his stance on abortion. Therefore, I decide to launch a lawsuit for defamation in order to establish the justice and truth about me.

It is true that the Gospel invites us all to [practice] pardon, mercy and love.I do not in any way deny these values that come from Christ in the Gospel. Does not Jesus say "Happy are those who are persecuted for justice, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven " (Mt: 5:10)? It must be understood that if there are those who are persecuted for justice it is no doubt because they have struggled for justice; otherwise, they would have never been persecuted. Jesus, did he himself not clean house in the Temple of Jerusalem before his death?

I believe sincerely in pardon, mercy and unconditional love. But this does not negate the duty that we have to establish justice and expose the truth. It's a question of dignity, and when this is violated, we must do everything to restore it.

Many people have shared their sympathy with me during this struggle, and I thank them sincerely. Some have desired to participate financially in my cause. If you wish to make a donation, go to www.lesreflexionsderaymondgravel.org, where you only have to follow the instructions. If I win this lawsuit, the amassed donations will permit me to finance all the organizations that have been victims of injustice.

Thank you with all of my heart.

Raymond Gravel, priest
Diocese of Joliette
Pastoral animator of the Montreal Firefighters and the Laval Police

A gay doctor who treats gay men confides

A must read.

As I've read and blogged the abstracts that I see on Pubmed, this doctor's experience is no surprise.

The normal reward system in the brain serves a vital evolutionary purpose. As this center matures it helps us deal with the terrifying realities that face us in the modern world. This world also includes access to illegal drugs and risky sex. If these signals continue to trigger the reward system, they may lead to anxiety, depression and addiction. On the other hand, the cognitive control network is the part of the brain that acts like our moral conscience. In teenagers, the reward-system network matures rapidly due to the rush of hormones. These hormones do not speed up the cognitive control network. In fact, cognitive control matures slowly. So then why doesn’t an adult gay man have the cognitive control to chaperon their risk-taking behavior? One explanation is that most gay men do not feel the same pressures of responsibility as most heterosexual men. Gay men who enjoy circuit events are more likely to be single. If they are in a relationship, the couple often negotiates rules that include three-ways or sexual encounters outside their relationship. More often these men do not have children. This freedom supports exploratory behavior to indulge in sex and drugs. For most teenagers, gaining control of the reward-system center comes with maturity, especially as their cognitive center develops. Unfortunately for some gay men, the strong impulses of the reward-system center often outweigh the associated risks that face the average partygoing male.

Although the doctor was honest enough to come up with one realistic explanation for the gay party boy phenomenon, I'd like to suggest another explanation.

The immaturity that leads to this phenomenon is one factor that contributes to the development of homosexuality.

Of course no one will go there. No one will suggest that perhaps a lot of these men had distant fathers and overweaning mothers, and this risk-taking sexual behaviour is their psychological reaction to the emotional imbalances in their lives.
That would be too obvious.

No one would suggest that when you have men driven by testerone seeking partners who are also driven by testerone, you will have a lot of thrill-seeking and, by definition, a lot of risk-seeking behaviour with the predictable results. That would like...undermine the belief that there's nothing wrong with homosexuality.

And no, I don't wish to suggest that this is how all gay men are party boys. But promiscuity and drug consumption is a very important part of the gay community.

I would also like to suggest that probably a large number of these party boys know that on some level what they're doing is wrong. I'm sorry, but if you see your friends OD, you and half the people you know have STD's, you can't tell me that people are that blind to the consequences. I suspect that some of them want to change, but the world tells them they can't.

And I don't mean to say we can make them all straight. That kind of process is very challenging. However, a number of them would succeed. And a number of them would find greater emotional comfort in trying to live a more moral lifestyle. But they don't know that. There are a lot of people with a vested interest in keeping them from believing that.

H/T: Citizenlink, No Apologies