Tag Archives: politics

United We Stand

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Divided we fall.

Putting aside the actual "meat" of the denial of Eucharist issue, it is quite disturbing and somewhat frightening to see such a division among U.S. Bishops. What kind of message does in-fighting and lack of pastoral harmony send? The Church is in a precarious position right now, due to scandals, dwindling numbers of faithful, rampant heterodoxy, and hostile secularism. We, the members of the Church militant, the body of Christ on earth, need strong, unified leadership. A decision needs to be reached soon, one way or another.

Communion issue causing split amongst US bishops

The New York Times is interpreting recent signs from the Vatican as dismay over the dissention amongst US Bishops on denying communion to politicians.

Myth or Propaganda?

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This site sheds some light on the popular idea that before Roe v. Wade made abortion
legal, 10,000 women died each year from botched illegal abortions.

Before
Roe v. Wade, did 10,000 women a year die from illegal abortions?

28-May-2004

Dear Cecil:

Boston Globe columnist Ellen Goodman recently wrote, “After all, those of us
who remember when birth control was illegal and when 10,000 American women a year
died from illegal abortions don’t have to imagine a world without choices. We were
there.” I write a blog about life after abortion, and one of my co-bloggers
says that the claim of 10,000 deaths is well known to be an urban legend. However,
Ellen Goodman is a famous journalist, and she clearly believes that it is the truth.
Is it? – Emily of After Abortion, via e-mail

Subversives

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“Great spirits have often encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.”
– Albert Einstein

China
silences Tiananmen critics
Police are quickly clamping down on attempts to mark the crackdown

A leading Chinese doctor who criticised the Communist Party’s 1989 Tiananmen Square
crackdown has disappeared on the eve of its 15th anniversary.

Why do we (as a nation) keep ignoring China’s horrendous human rights record and
continue to trade so heavily with them?

If communism is so right and the Chinese government is so great, they shouldn’t
need to make people disappear to stop “dangerous” opinions. Mao forbid
people be free to think for themselves and protest openly.

Undue Burden?

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Limitation on freedoms is not a new concept. Speech is, on the whole, free, but
there are some utterances that can get you in trouble with the law. Shouting “Fire!”
in a crowded theater or joking about shooting the president are good examples. In
other words, there is legal precedent for placing limitations on constitutional
rights. Technically, abortion is not a right guaranteed by the Constitution. However,
the Supreme Court interprets the Constitution and decisions of the Court carry the
weight of the Constitution until they are overturned. For a federal judge to say
that the Partial Birth Abortion Ban places “an undue burden on a woman’s right
to choose an abortion”, thus making it unconstitutional, is a mighty strong
statement and had better be backed up with legal precedence. It will be very interesting
to see if this makes it to the Supreme Court.

On a side note, if a fetus is not a person, and thus not protected, when it is essentially
birthed to be aborted, what makes it a person if such a procedure is not performed?
I really don’t think it’s reactionary to say that the next logical step is legalized
infanticide. If this ruling goes unchallenged, we may one day wake up to headlines
telling us that a law protecting newborns places an undue burden on a woman’s right
to kill her infant.

Judge:
Bush Abortion Ban Unconstitutional

SAN FRANCISCO – In a ruling with coast-to-coast effect, a federal judge declared
the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act unconstitutional Tuesday, saying it infringes
on a woman’s right to choose.

Pro-Life Members of
Congress File Brief in Partial-Birth Abortion Case

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — A pro-life law firm has filed an amicus brief on
behalf of 25 pro-life members of Congress in an effort to help the Bush administration
defend the partial-birth abortion ban from pro-abortion lawsuits seeking to overturn
the law.

Setting Sun?

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Benjamin Franklin declared the sun on the back of President Washington’s chair to be rising. I wonder now if it is setting. Some nuggets of wisdom from G.K.Chesterton:

On ethics: "We are learning to do a great many clever things. The next thing we are going to have to learn is not to do them."

On morality: "The next great heresy is going to be simply an attack on morality: and especially on sexual morality. The madness of tomorrow is not in Moscow but much more in Manhattan."

On nationalism: "There are three stages in the life of a strong people. First, it is a small power, and fights small powers. Then it is a great power, and fights great powers. Then it is a great power, and fights small powers, but pretends that they are great powers, in order to rekindle the ashes of its ancient emotion and vanity."

Related to the last point:

Where Does Iraq Stand Among U.S. Wars?
Total Casualties Compare to Spanish-American, Mexican and 1812 Conflicts
By Thomas E. Ricks, Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, May 31, 2004; Page A16

"With more than 800 U.S. military personnel killed and more than 4,600 wounded, U.S. casualties in Iraq over the past 14 months now compare to those of several of the smaller wars in the nation’s history."