3 posts tagged “abortion”
Admit it. We’d rather have what we want than have the Truth because we’ve discovered the Truth denies us everythembeding we want! It is the awful truth about Truth that it takes away our opportunity to enjoy life, to be free, and to pursue happiness. Who would want all that taken away from them? Well, certainly not me!
Someone will surely protest that “the Truth will set us free”! I’m here to say I’ve tried the Truth and it ain’t for me.
Have I lost my mind? I don’t believe so. Not yet anyway. What prompted that little bit of sarcasm (and yes, it was sarcasm) was yet the latest evidence that a Truth must be accepted in order for that Truth to work in our lives. Some Truths are self-evident, some not so much so but all of them must be accepted or they work against us, not for us. An example: gravity, we are told, is the force that keeps us anchored to terra firma so that we aren’t thrown off the planet and become so many bits of space debris. We accept this Truth because it is self evident – something is keeping us down – we might as well call it gravity. If you choose to argue against that Truth then you will, rightly, be asked to supply the alternative explanation. That explanation might make you look foolish, it might cause others to think you’d gone bonkers. Likewise, the sky, on a clear, beautiful day, is blue. Can you argue against that? If you do not accept that Truth then what do you do? Not accepting Truth can eat up a lot of your time.
So
what started me up this time? The New York Time and the Los Angeles
Times – two articles that couldn’t be more different and yet more
alike.
The LA Times printed what was described by NewsBusters as “a fawning article” about a former Catholic priest named John Carroll. He’s described in the article’s headline as a “Devout Catholic . . .” and then begins with this description of Carroll as
an idiosyncratic Catholic, a former priest who still celebrates his faith yet rejects the very roots of its doctrine, viewing Christianity's promise of eternal life as "destructive" and the cross as a symbol of Roman Emperor Constantine's lust for power.
Ok, so I read this sentence and my first reaction was “this guy’s a crackpot” (read the article, you’ll see more what I mean). But my next reaction concerned the author of the article (Gina Piccalo, Times Staff Writer) who must be either completely ignorant (and I mean completely) about the Catholic faith and the Catholic Church or have a deep dislike for the Church. What else could explain her understanding of this man as “devoted” yet “idiosyncratic”, as someone who “still celebrates his faith” but at the same time “rejects the very roots of its doctrine”. Give me a break. Mr. Carroll is not much better than Jack Chick or Dave Hunt in his devotion to the Church.
In contrast the NY Times published an op-ed that, to me at least, was essentially an admission that it’s (and the Dem’s) pro-choice stance is contributing to the defection of large numbers of Democrats from the party. You’ve got to read this article – as far as I’m concerned it’s the most amazing thing that it was even published!
Over 18 months, I traveled to 20 states listening to women of all ages, races, tax brackets and points of view speak at length on the issues they care about heading into ’08. They convinced me that the conventional wisdom was wrong about the last presidential contest, that Democrats did not lose support among women because “security moms” saw President Bush as the better protector against terrorism. What first-time defectors mentioned most often was abortion.
Here we have an icon of the Liberal Left’s movement publishing something that says exactly the opposite of what it has been preaching loudly for years. We are constantly barraged from the media with so-called “news” that seems to indicate that pro-lifers are the minority! Again and again we hear from Democrats and their friends in the media that virtually everyone in America support “a woman’s right to choose”. Apparently we’ve been lied to, but we already knew that didn’t we?
I’ll leave it to you to read Melinda Henneberger’s article and you’ll be amazed at the point of view she sees the Democrats as having. They apparently have truly been hijacked by the minority simply because that minority manages to scream more loudly than the majority or perhaps it’s because they actively promote their agenda with big dollars.
Perhaps I’ve been a tad incoherent in this post – I apologize. Fundamentally I see in the contrast between these two articles a similarity that extends beyond faith and abortion. In the “devout Catholic” who rejects the core tenets of his faith and the political party who have failed to listen to their constituents about a matter as serious as abortion I see this country and our diverse culture going down the proverbial potty. At the core of each of these articles is someone’s absolute refusal to accept Truth. Why do we typically refuse anything? Because it isn’t what we want! What’d I tell ya.
Our Lady of Fatima, pray for our dear country.
Our Lady of Fatima, sanctify our clergy.
Our Lady of Fatima, make our Catholics more fervent.
Our Lady of Fatima, guide and inspire those who govern us.
Our Lady of Fatima, cure the sick who confide in thee.
Our Lady of Fatima, console the sorrowful who trust in thee.
Our Lady of Fatima, help those who invoke your aid.
Our Lady of Fatima, deliver us from all dangers.
Our Lady of Fatima, help us to resist temptation.
Our Lady of Fatima, obtain for us all that we lovingly ask of thee.
Our Lady of Fatima, help those who are dear to us.
Our Lady of Fatima, bring back to the right road our erring brothers.
Our Lady of Fatima, give us back our ancient fervor.
Our Lady of Fatima, obtain for us pardon of our manifold sins and offenses.
Our Lady of Fatima, bring all men to the feet of thy Divine Child.
Our Lady of Fatima, obtain peace for the world.
Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
Let Us Pray:
O
God of infinite goodness and mercy, fill our hearts with a great
confidence in Thy dear Mother, whom we invoke under the title of Our
Lady of the Rosary and our Lady of Fatima, and grant us by her powerful
intercession all the graces, spiritual and temporal, which we need.
Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Life is a gift. The gift of life is given, not by you or I, but by God
Himself. Whether you believe there is a God or not, it is completely
illogical to assert that we human beings are the source of life; the givers
of the gift of life. We did not create ourselves but were created (how and
over what timespan remains largely unrevealed to us but that would be a lengthy digression). We merely cooperate with a Divine plan when we cooperate with each other (male and female) to bring a new life into being. You and I are not creating but are cooperating in the plan of creation. It requires no sophisticated theological or scientific background to know that our planet, in its origins, had no human life.
Our planet was primordial - both science and theology agree on this. How, when and where then did we human beings arise? We're not sure. It's as simple as that. The theory proposed by Darwin suggests that human beings evolved from lesser creatures -- why not? It's entirely possible isn't it that if our entire Universe was created in a micro-momentous explosion (The "Big Bang") -- that the creator of this beginning could create any kind of beginning it desired for us human beings, right? If you believe the universe was created from an explosion then you I would ask you two questions: 1) What existed and where did it exist before this explosion? 2) Was life present at the moment of this explosion? If not, when did life begin to be present?
I for one am not going to pretend I have any clue about the answers to these questions . . . I will state however that I'm not foolish enough to think for a moment that the beauty and complexity of change throughout the billions of years of the evolution (which still continues) are simply an accidental result of an "explosion" nor the random tossing of DNA, molecules etc. etc. in some tremendous galactic salad. Please, how could what we know to be true be anything other than the result of being created? I will surrender than perhaps the "creation" part was "at the beginning", however, the creation clearly had some kind of "guiding hand" otherwise how could a mere explosion of matter result in what we see before us?
Where is all this going? Well, I'm not sure but it was triggered by the continuing blather from politicians who, though "devoutly Catholic" believe in a woman's "right to choose".
Well, I for one am thankful no one decided to choose death for me before I had the opportunity to live. Human beings are human beings from the moment they are conceived. They do not suddenly become human at some undetermined moment or between the time they have visible eyes and fingers.
No, life is a gift, given to each of us and which we are called upon to be stewards of in the larger stewardship of our entire planet. We must guard human life as well as all other life and we must never sacrifice life out of selfishness, fear, greed, or the lust for power.
