Politics
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Friday March 14, 2008
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Print- "Brown's Bottled It": the Fall of Labour under Gordon Brown
- Exclusive Interview: Ottawa Archbishop Explains Why Pro-Abortion Politicians are Denied Communion
- Obama's Wife - an Abortion Advocate - Speaks at Catholic Villanova University
- Toledo Archbishop to Spanish Government: We will Continue to Fight
- Deal with the Devil: Catholic Healthcare Firm Joins World's Foremost Human Cloning Company
- Council of Europe May Call for Abortion as a Right
- The Tyranny is Upon Us but We're Too Compromised to See It Says Michael O'Brien
- Vatican Advises Philippines Bishop Not to Accept Donations from Firms that Produce Contraceptives
- New Poll Finds 70% Canadians Back Unborn Victims of Crime Bill Only 19% Opposed
- HLI Calls for Ouster of Notre Dame President for Allowing Vagina Monologues
- Reach Your Audience
- Amsterdam Decriminalizes Public Sex in Famous Park
- Belgium Parents May be Jailed for Refusing Polio Vaccine
- Campaign Life Coalition Reports on Federal By-Election Candidates
- Letters to the Editor for Friday, March 14, 2008
"Brown's Bottled It": the Fall of Labour under Gordon Brown
Gordon Brown's extreme social liberalism, arrogance and cynicism backfire
TODAY'S HEADLINES
Commentary by Hilary White
"Brown's bottled it", "Brown is losing it", "Shaking with fear? Is Brown cracking up?". Columnists and commentators have watched in surprise as Britain's Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, has sunk from a high point of command in the first months of his rule to being consistently behind the opposition Tories.
The media in this country is traditionally not gentle with politicians, even when they are at the top of their form, but rhetoric aside, indications are growing that Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister and leader of the Labour party - for neither of which title he has yet sought an electoral mandate - is losing his grip on power.
In general, Labour's fortunes have been dropping since 2003 and the decision to enter the war in Iraq. Tony Blair's Labour won the 2005 general election with only 35.3 per cent of the total vote and a majority of 66 seats, down from their 1997 landslide majority of 179 seats.
But the latest indication may be the mounting rebellion in his caucus against the Human Fertilization and Embryology Bill. Despite the bill's prominence in the Queen's Speech, a growing number of conscientious MPs, including front benchers and Cabinet ministers, have told Brown that the offer of allowing abstentions on the bill isn't good enough; only a free vote will do.
This week, Labour brought forward a budget that the Conservatives have condemned as a "kick in the teeth for families". A Populus poll, taken on Wednesday evening showed that Britons are dismally resigned both to higher taxes and to being worse off over the coming year. This malaise of low-key hopelessness is likely to play very well for David Cameron, whose popularity has risen steadily since the fall and the Election-That-Never-Was.
Last summer, Gordon Brown was said to have the British people eating out of his hands. He was perceived as a strong leader, one who knew how to handle a crisis, after a string of national disasters that included an unprecedented outbreak of gun and youth crimes; floods and failed crops from record summer rains; an outbreak of foot and mouth and Bluetongue diseases on British farms; attempted terrorist bombings and an unsuccessful attack at Glasgow International Airport, and the collapse of Northern Rock bank.
But from this high point in prestige in late July when he allowed rumours of an autumn election to grow, Gordon Brown has steadily lost the trust of the British public and, apparently, the ability to maintain the traditional New Labour lockstep discipline in his party. The turning point came on October 6th, when Brown retreated in a panic at the rallying popularity of the Conservative opposition and declared, to roars of derisive laughter across the country, that there would be no election.
* * *
For those who hold human life sacred from conception to the grave and recognize the inviolability and foundational realities of natural marriage, the slide of Labour can only be good news, no matter what the Tories' deficiencies may be. Ten years of "New" Labour has been a decade of a massive social re-engineering project after which even the left has admitted British society is almost unrecognizable.
With ten years of Labour bludgeoning Britain with catastrophic legislative changes under three successive majority governments: with abortions at nearly 200,000 a year; with hate crimes and "equality" laws that have effectively ended the ability of Christians to expound the objective moral disorder of homosexual activity; with the runaway train that is the British cloning and embryo-experimentation; with the effective dissolution of marriage; with the unprecedented numbers of unwed teenaged pregnancies and skyrocketing rates of sexually transmitted diseases due to Labour's fanatical devotion to sex-education; with all this, the slide of Gordon Brown and his party, even if only into the green benches on the other side of the House of Commons, can only be a fervently longed-for breather.
Pulling the camera back from life and family related issues, it is clear that after ten New Labour years, the wholesale abolition of the traditional defining institutions of British society - starting with marriage and family life, through to British Common Law, the military, the church, an independent judiciary, and ending with the very power of Parliament to enact laws and defend our borders, Britain's very sovereignty as a nation - has been the defining endeavour of Brown's party.
Columnist and author Melanie Philips wrote in the Daily Mail March 10, "There are now two Britains. There is the Britain that loves and would defend to the death its own historic national identity - and the Britain that either wants to destroy it or refuses to acknowledge that it is under such threat. And it is the latter which currently wields the levers of power."
* * *
Brown was riding high at the beginning of September and polls indicated that he would see another healthy majority for his party if an election were called for the fall. But a month in politics is a long time and six months an eternity; political fortunes can often turn on a dime. In the case of Gordon Brown, his 5p moment came at the Conservative party convention at the end of September, when Opposition leader David Cameron gave a speech that was hailed as a sudden brake on the Tories' downward slide.
The final straw seems to have come last week, in a move that was described as leaving even experienced Parliamentarians "open mouthed" with shock at the cynicism of this government. Brown, with substantial help from the Liberal Democrats, pushed the Lisbon Treaty through Parliament and reneged on a longstanding Labour electoral promise to allow the British people a say in handing over yet more of the natural powers of Parliament to the European Union.
By the end of the Conservative party conference, the party's slide had halted abruptly and the party had drawn
level in the polls with Labour, at 38 per cent voter support. In his Blackpool speech, with the country wearying of the ongoing hints of an election, at the same moment throwing down the gauntlet and bringing down the house, Cameron bluntly challenged Brown: "Call that election. We will fight - Britain will win."
Within a week, Brown had declared that there would be no general election that autumn.
* * *
There have been moments that have been fun to watch. Following the announcement on the non-election and mocking Brown's insistence that he would have cancelled the election even if polls had shown a 100 seat Labour majority, Cameron derided in the House, "He's the first Prime Minister in history to flunk an election because he thought he was going to win it."
While Brown glowered from across the floor, Cameron freely scoffed at Labour's promise to "look at" inheritance tax, saying, "The difference between our policy and his policy is that we thought of it and he stole it."
After two years of being accused of being all style and no policies, Cameron has at last begun to carve out a platform that, while not the dream of social conservatives, still less pro-life activists, has at least hinted that conservative principles may still resonate with the British public and not be the killer of electoral hopes.
Starting with a promise to reform Labour's tax policies punishing two-parent families, Cameron has steadily gained support for his "responsibility" creed of less government interference in private life, welfare reform to end the "benefits lifestyle" and a general pulling back from the much derided British "surveillance state", the Big Brother mentality that has so characterized Brown's tenure.
One promise above all that may indicate the differences between Cameron's Tories and the governing regime is their outspoken opposition to the National ID card programme. The thought of the free British people stamped, chipped, monitored and tracked by government seems genuinely to be as anathema to him as to the public who roundly despise the idea.
Meanwhile, a general election remains far off. The Labour party will be solidifying its platform this summer, but some have speculated it will be 2010 before the public can go to the polls.
But although Brown is still reeling from his political setbacks and the economy is in trouble with increasing cost of living and inflation and the looming credit crisis, David Cameron told the Daily Mail today that, despite being consistently ahead in the polls since September, his party "has a long way to go" to establish an electable lead over Labour.
"There's no doubt it's a tall order, a big ask, but we can do it...Because there is not going to be an election this year, you have to concentrate on the long-term," he said.
Despite the deep scepticism of Britain's electorate, hope that there may be a solution in David Cameron and the Conservatives, is starting to glimmer. Melanie Philips writes, "There are growing signs that David Cameron recognises at least some of this. If he can summon up the courage to take this agenda and run with it, he will find not only that he speaks for the nation - he may save it."
Back to TopExclusive Interview: Ottawa Archbishop Explains Why Pro-Abortion Politicians are Denied Communion
By John-Henry Westen
OTTAWA, March 14, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The mainstream media has picked up on comments by Ottawa Archbishop Terrence Prendergast regarding reception of Holy Communion for pro-abortion politicians. However, one part of the discussion which has received little discussion is the reason why the Church would deny politicians reception of Communion.
"The Code of Canon Law says in #915 that 'those whom the penalty of excommunication or interdict has been imposed or declared, and others who obstinately persist in manifest grave sin," explains the religious leader of Canada's national capital,"are not to be admitted to Holy Communion'."
"What is at issue is whether a politician who does not himself or herself participate in an abortion but supports 'a woman's right to choose' (or however else shows support for abortion) is guilty of grave sin and then obstinately persists in this state of grave sin."
Archbishop Prendergast stresses that denying Holy Communion is undertaken out of concern for the offending Catholic (politician in the case at hand). "The Church's concern is for anyone who persists in grave sin, hoping that medicinal measures (which is how excommunication and interdict are to be understood) may draw them away from the wrong path to the truth of our faith."
The Ottawa prelate points out how Christians from the beginning were told of the need to be in good standing with the faith before receiving Communion. "(St.) Paul said that before receiving communion a Christian should take part in self-examination and only then receive the Body of the Lord after necessary conversion (1 Cor 11:28)."
Prendergast has no dislike for politicians, in fact just the opposite. "I deeply admire politicians for their desire to serve the public good and to make the many sacrifices necessary to win public office and to give themselves to public service," he says, adding, "They ought to be motivated by a concern for justice, good order, the public good, etc."
He notes however that "One of the greatest areas for effecting justice is the support of life in the womb and through all stages of life. Abortion goes against the Church's understanding, based on the teaching of Jesus, on the inviolability of innocent human life - including the unborn - and of the obligation of public servants to protect the weakest in society. It is hard to see how the support of abortion is not a very grave evil."
The decision to take "medicinal" remedies, says the Archbishop, is not taken lightly, and is simply an attempt at direct intervention with the politicians. "Perhaps politicians embrace the support of a woman's right to choose unthinkingly, following party policy; this is where the church with the help of its pastors and through fellow believers needs to come to the assistance of those who serve the public good," he said.
"It may take time to work with political figures before one can conclude that they are obstinately persisting in manifest grave sin and that, therefore, denial of communion or of encouraging them not to present themselves for communion is reached as the medicinal remedy to draw them back to the way of Christ, Our Lord, the Way, the Truth and the Life."
One other consideration in addressing seriously such grave violations of Church teaching is scandal. "If one were to allow Catholic political (or other public) figures to freely espouse abortion without drawing to their attention that this is a grave evil," explained Archbishop Prendergast, "other believers might be tended to accept this, not knowing any better and be led on the wrong path: that is what 'scandal' is. One must do everything possible to prevent others from falling away from the path of Christ - i.e. from being scandalized."
See related LifeSiteNews articles:
Pope Supports Excommunication for Pro-Abortion Politicians - "Incompatible with Receiving Communion"
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/may/07050901.html
Second U.S. Bishop Says Vatican Letter on Pro-Abort Politicians Withheld from Bishops
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2004/aug/04080603.html
Cardinal McCarrick Continues to Conceal Rome's Insistence that Pro-Abort Politicians Be Denied Communion
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/oct/06102310.html
Obama's Wife - an Abortion Advocate - Speaks at Catholic Villanova University
VILLANOVA, PA, March 14, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In another example of a Catholic university hosting a pro-abortion political figure, Michelle Obama spoke before 2,500 people at a political rally for her husband, Democratic presidential candidate Barak Obama, at Villanova University's Jake Nevin Fieldhouse on March 13.
Mrs. Obama, an abortion advocate, endorsed partial-birth abortion in a 2004 fundraising letter for her husband. Senator Obama supports Roe v. Wade, partial-birth abortion and embryonic stem cell research. He has voted against parental notification and for increased contraceptive funding for teenagers.
Joseph A. Esposito, director of the Cardinal Newman Society's Center for the Study of Catholic Higher Education, said, "The Obamas' record on abortion is clear and unequivocal. We are disappointed with Villanova University. For a Catholic university to provide a platform for a pro-abortion figure in the midst of a political campaign is simply wrong."
The Cardinal Newman Society had a lead role in drafting a "Statement of Principles Regarding Catholic Institutions, Sanctity of Life and Political Engagement" last month. The statement was endorsed by 18 major Catholic organizations, including the Cardinal Newman Society, Catholics United for the Faith, the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights and the Fellowship of Catholic University Students.
The statement reads, in part, "We call on Catholic institutions to join us in refusing to honor or provide a public forum for any political leader or candidate who acts 'in defiance of our fundamental moral principles.' This includes any politician who undermines a 'culture of life' by advocating public policies to permit or support abortion, physician-assisted suicide, embryonic stem cell research, or any other threat to human life."
This initiative was undertaken in response to an alarming trend of pro-abortion politicians using Catholic college campuses for political rallies during the presidential campaign. In January, Senator Obama appeared at a huge rally on the campus on Saint Peter's College, a Jesuit institution in Jersey City, N.J. Senator Hillary Clinton appeared at St. Norbert's College in Wisconsin and St. Mary's University in San Antonio, Tex., in February.
In objecting to Clinton's visit to St. Mary's University, Archbishop Jose Gomez said, "Our Catholic institutions must promote the clear understanding of our deep moral convictions on an issue like abortion, an act that the Church calls 'an unspeakable crime' and a non-negotiable issue."
Esposito added, "It is important to let Catholic college leaders know that such disregard for Catholic Church teachings is morally wrong and ultimately impugns the Catholic mission and integrity of the institution. Faithful Catholics may want to contact Father Peter Donohue, president of Villanova University, to indicate their outrage."
He also said, "It is important, too, to thank Catholic leaders who do stand up for Church principles regarding campus speakers. The Cardinal Newman Society recently praised the University of St. Thomas, Houston, for their top administrators barring the speech of a Latina activist with a record of abortion advocacy from speaking on campus."
Father Donohue, the president of Villanova University, can be reached at
Toledo Archbishop to Spanish Government: We will Continue to Fight
Abortion is "the Worst Abasement in the History of Humanity"
By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman
TOLEDO, SPAIN, March 14, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Cardinal Archbishop of Toledo, Spain sent a clear message to newly-elected socialist Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero this week that the Catholic Church will continue to fight against his regime's pro-abortion, pro-homosexuality policies.
While stating his willingness to cooperate with Zapatero's government, Cardinal Antonio Cañizares made it clear that the bishops would continue struggling "against the widening of the abortion law and against euthanasia." He said that it would be a kind of "treason" to give up the fight.
"The Constitutional Court has recognized the rights of the unborn child," said Cañizares. "We must first demand the full application of the existing law: we are convinced that many of the hundred thousand abortions that occur every year in Spain would be avoided," he said in an interview this week with the Italian daily Corriere della Sera.
Cañizares acknowledged the campaign of Giulano Ferrara, an Italian atheist intellectual, to secure a UN resolution for an international "moratorium" on abortion, and added, "I subscribe to it."
"For the future, I will fight for the abolition of abortion, which is the worst abasement in the history of humanity," the Cardinal said.
He acknowledged also that Europe is experiencing a "cultural revolution, not only in Spain but of all the West", although Spain is "the most advanced in this revolution".
"The Spanish government has passed laws that deny the evidence of nature and reason, that commit to the State the moral formation of young people, which seeks to establish a new culture based on a false conception of freedom."
The Cardinals remarks were apparently made in reference to "Education for Citizenship and Human Rights", a mandatory civics program created by Spain's socialist government regarded by critics as an indoctrination program that promotes the homosexual agenda and a secularist value system.
Spain's abortion regime is one of the most liberal in Europe, and under the Zapatero regime it has also instituted "homosexual marriage", the second nation in Europe to do so after the Netherlands.
The Cardinal acknowledged that, in the recent history of Spain "so far there has been a lack of Catholics in public life, but things are changing, and the future will be different."
Despite massive protests by Catholics against Zapatero's anti-life and anti-family policies, the rival Popular Party lost in Spain's national elections this month, and Zapatero and his Socialist Worker's Party remain in power.
Deal with the Devil: Catholic Healthcare Firm Joins World's Foremost Human Cloning Company
By Michael Baggot
SAN FRANCISCO, CA March 14, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Human cloning practitioner, Advanced Cell Technology (ACT), Inc. announced a clinical trial agreement with Chandler Regional Medical Center and Mercy Gilbert Medical Center, members of Catholic Healthcare West (CHW), on Wednesday. The groups plan to join in clinical trials of adult stem cell techniques for the treatment of heart disease.
"The agreement with CHW signifies our readiness to begin the Phase II clinical trial," said William M. Caldwell, IV, chairman and CEO of ACT. "We are excited to begin the trial, which has the potential to be a major advance for the field of regenerative medicine and, more importantly, to patients in need of care. We look forward to working with such a prominent healthcare group."
The agreement raises ethical questions, however, since the ACT has previously promoted research that contradicts Catholic principles regarding respect for the rights of the human embryo.
In 2005, ACT began using the blastomere separation method, in which a cell from an embryo is removed and cultured separately. The method had previously been used in in vitro fertilization facilities. Cells from the embryo are used because of their "totipotency," or ability to produce any other tissue in the body, and even a twin embryo.
The method has significant potential of harming the embryo from which a cell is taken.
Since the embryo does not consent to being subject to the blastomere separation method and does not directly benefit from the procedure, ACT stands in violation of the Nuremburg Code and other international law that protects individuals from risky experimentation, noted Dr. John Shea, medical advisor to Canada's Campaign Life Coalition.
Embryos created during blastomere separation method are also robbed of their "fundamental right to be conceived naturally by two parents within marriage," added Shea.
In 2001, ACT rejoiced in producing human clones. The group looked forward to extracting from these embryos the stem cells capable of producing the tissues needed for various medical treatments.
ACT's cloning received immediate condemnation from pro-life voices. "Once begun, human lives-including human lives begun by cloning-should be protected, not killed to provide biological raw material," said National Right to Life Committee Legislative Director Douglas Johnson.
Scientific authorities agree that the embryo is the first stage of a distinct human being's life. "It is the penetration of the ovum by a spermtozoan and the resultant mingling of the nuclear material each brings to the union that constitutes the culmination of the process of fertilization and marks the initiation of the life of a new individual," states Dr. Bradley M. Patten's secular textbook Human Embryology.
Describing the zygote, Dr. Keith L. Moore's secular text, The Developing Human: Clinically Oriented Embryology states, "The cell results from fertilization and of an oocyte by a sperm and is the beginning of a human being."
"The beginning of a single human life is from a biological point of view a simple and straightforward matter-the beginning is conception," Dr. Watson A. Bowes of the University of Colorado Medical School told a 1981 US Senate judiciary subcommittee.
"This straightforward biological fact should not be distorted to serve sociological, political, or economic goals," he added.
As Shea observed, only when the embryo is acknowledged as a human being can it be accorded the full set of human rights that would forbid its manipulation through blastomere separation and other examinations.
Contact Catholic Healthcare West about their union with Advanced Cell Technology:
Catholic Healthcare West
185 Berry Street, Suite 300
San Francisco, CA 94107
(415) 438-5500
http://www.chwhealth.org/About_Us/Contact_CHW/index.htm
Contact San Francisco's Bishop about CHW's union with ACT:
Archbishop George H. Niederauer, D.D, Ph.D
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco
One Peter Yorke Way
San Francisco, CA 94109
(415) 614-5500
See Related LifeSiteNews Coverage:
"Embryo-Friendly" Stem Cell Technique Defended with Bogus Ethics
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/printerfriendlynew.html?articleid=08011402
"New Ethical" Embryonic Stem Cells Not New and Not Ethical
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/oct/05101810.html
Read an extensive treatment of the questions that shape bioethical debates:
http://catholiceducation.org/articles/abortion/ab0027.html
Council of Europe May Call for Abortion as a Right
European countries with the most liberal abortion laws also have highest abortion rates
By Maciej Golubiewski
WASHINGTON, March 14, 2008 (C-Fam.org) - A parliamentary committee of the Council of Europe met yesterday in Paris to consider a report called “Access to Safe and Legal Abortion in Europe.” The report calls on the 47 Member States of the Council of Europe to make abortion an unconditional right. It also urges governments to use public monies to fund abortion. While the report calls for “access to safe and legal abortion” it also urges all the member states to “guarantee women’s effective exercise of their right to abortion.”
The report complains that where abortion is legal any restrictions are onerous, especially on poor women because they may have to travel for an abortion, and recommends that European governments lift all limits on abortion. The resolution goes further in calling on governments to provide “suitable financial (support)” for carrying out abortions. This would guarantee unrestricted, state-funded abortion-on-demand conceived as a human right.
The report points to the increased legal sophistication of pro-abortion advocates in Europe. By invoking “discriminatory effects” of national differences in the treatment of abortion, the writers of the report have adapted the American constitutional concept of “equal protection.” Its application creates a uniform rights-based standard, which eliminates differences among state laws.
The report follows in the footsteps of a similar non-binding resolution passed by the European Parliament – a legislative body of the European Union. The so-called Van Lancker report adopted in 2001 used very similar language and recommended that “abortion should be made legal, safe and accessible to all.” Yet, it stopped short of calling abortion a right.
The report, however, did not start out this way. David Fieldsend, manager of the Brussels-based CARE-Europe, writing to the members of the Parliamentary Assembly said, "We are saddened that a process that started with a call to consider 'abortion and its impact on women' from a concern about the negative effects of the high rate of abortions in some European countries has ended up with a draft resolution calling for abortion-on-demand to be made a right."
Fieldsend also challenged certain assumptions in the report, such as the idea that legalizing abortion leads to few abortions. Fieldsend points out the European countries with the most liberal abortion laws - Sweden, Denmark and the United Kingdom - also have the highest abortion rates. Fieldsend was most shocked by a paragraph of the report that asserts that abortion is the only "enlightened" choice. Fieldsend said support should also be given for women who want to raise their child as well as for those who want to place their child in a family through adoption.
If the committee passes the report, it will be passed along to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. Any decision of the Parliamentary Assembly will be non-binding on EU member states, yet will be used like non-binding UN resolutions, as moral suasion to enforce a right to abortion. The Council of Europe is distinct from the bodies around the European Union; it is larger, with 47 Member States, and also older. The Council of Europe is considered the chief protector and promoter of human rights in Europe.
The Tyranny is Upon Us but We're Too Compromised to See It Says Michael O'Brien
Essay centers on current "moral anarchy" and general inability of society to see it, even those who embrace morality
By John-Henry Westen
March 14, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Canadian Catholic author Michael O'Brien has made available to LifeSiteNews.com his latest essay which centers on the current "moral anarchy" and the general inability of society to see it, even those who embrace morality. The blindness, he says, is due to compromise.
O'Brien quotes Plato referring to states in which an excess of freedoms severed from responsibility have degenerated into open anarchy, which in turn precipitates tyranny. He asks: "But what about a 'republic' in which moral anarchy reigns in a matrix of prosperity, order, and apparent civic freedom? Can democracy be undone spiritually without a shot being fired within its frontiers?"
"Indeed it can; indeed it is happening. Yet the psychology of perception, our own unrecognized consciousness-shift from the moral cosmos to the materialist cosmos now surrounding us, tells us that our situation is basically stable. We admit there are problems, even serious problems, but we feel confident that our freedom is intact, and that all grave threats come from exterior sources.
"Ours is a self-blinded condition, a willing cooperation with the very thing that is killing us -- a slow and complex process that involves many pleasures of bodily and emotional appetite and the more dangerous pleasures of intellectual and spiritual pride.
In his preface to The Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis writes: "The greatest evil is not now done in those sordid 'dens of crime' that Dickens loved to paint. It is not done even in concentration camps and labour camps. In those we see the final result. But it is conceived and ordered (moved, seconded, carried, and minuted) in clear, carpeted, warmed, and well-lighted offices, by quiet men with white collars and cut fingernails and smooth-shaven cheeks who do not need to raise their voice."
"Who are these people? Did we elect them? In all probability we did, and we did so because they understood human nature sufficiently to offer us many apparent 'goods' in a package-deal containing the great evils that are an essential part of their agenda.
"The very quality of our cooperation with the terms of the deal should tell us something about ourselves: we have come to accept as normal a complicity, albeit reluctant, with the most hideous crimes and endless self-justifications fostered by our governments, which have become aggressively materialistic in political philosophy (where there is any conscious philosophy at all).
Our compliance is not enforced by starvation or the threat of torture chambers, but is rooted deep in the psyche, neo-Pavlovian and passive, for there are few things that condition human judgment as powerfully as security and dread, pleasure and the fear of pain, real or imagined.
"In the 21st century tyranny has mutated into a new form of "soft" totalitarian materialism that is promulgated and enforced not through jackboots or concentration camps, but through cultural and economic pressures of unprecedented power.
O'Brien quotes Pope Benedict XVI telling politicians to avoid the seductions of false "lesser evil" arguments. Such arguments, he says, end "in the spread of the conviction that the 'weighing of benefits' is the only method of moral discernment, and that the common good is synonymous with compromise . . . In reality, if compromise can constitute a legitimate balancing of different particular interests, it becomes a shared ill whenever it involves agreements that are harmful to the nature of man." Benedict concludes his remarks with the warning of Christ that "if salt loses its flavour, it is good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot."
O'Brien continues: "What is now occurring globally is a new wave of the original forces that launched the tide of the French Revolution, followed by successive revolutions that increasingly secularized the human community. Then came the great waves of the Communist revolution, Fascism, and so forth, wave after wave that reshaped human societies and institutions-indeed the very perceptions of life itself. We are presently in the midst of the worst and most dangerous wave of all, the tsunami of worldwide Materialism.
"Resistance will cost much in terms of sacrifice, for it asks men of good will and good conscience to stand firm in the face of seemingly overwhelming odds . . . The manifestations of the struggle vary from continent to continent, but are the same in essence: mankind is presently involved in a worldwide war against the eternal value of the human person."
"(S)wiftly we fall into fractures between the interior and exterior life, forgetting (or never having learned) that individuals and nations alike cannot long sustain two contradictory modes of interaction with the world: for example, one set of rules about human life for domestic policy, and a different set of rules for foreign policy. The interior and the exterior should be one, as well as positive and morally true, otherwise disintegration follows.
"You are presented with a choice. Threatened by a foreign leader with a Koran in one hand and in his other a nuclear weapon, you can choose to elect as your own national leader a figure with a Bible in one hand and in his other a nuclear weapon. Which of the two would you want to determine the future of the world? Oh, and as a supplementary detail, both of them are willing to drop the bomb on the other.
"Recoiling in horror, you might then turn to an alternative set of candidates, thinking you must now elect a leader who, like you, abhors nuclear weapons. He may or may not have a Bible in one hand, but it is more likely he will have The Humanist Manifesto (a sacred text of Materialism) in one hand and a suction tube in the other.
"Are these our only choices?" says O'Brien. "If so, this is no choice at all. It is a piece of deadly theater."
To read O'Brien's full essay click here:
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008_docs/SignofContradiction.pdf (pdf document)
Vatican Advises Philippines Bishop Not to Accept Donations from Firms that Produce Contraceptives
By Thaddeus M. Baklinski
MANILA, March 14, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A letter addressed to Philippines Bishop Gabriel Reyes from Alfonso Cardinal Lopez Trujilo, president of the Pontificium Consilium Pro Familia (Pontifical Council for the Family) said that accepting donations from those who promote abortion and contraception is contrary to the Gospel, and will greatly harm efforts to strengthen and defend life and the family.
The cardinal's letter explained that the rejection of donations from pharmaceutical companies that produce contraceptives and abortifacient drugs follows the Church's position that funds produced from activities that are morally evil - abortion and contraception - are not acceptable.
"Accepting such funding creates confusion among the faithful, as they give the impression that abortion, and the production, distribution, and use of contraceptives and abortifacients are acceptable practices," the prelate said.
Cardinal Lopez also said there is the risk that pro-family groups that accept such funds might be accused of hypocrisy by pro-abortion and anti-family factions.
"It would provide those working against the family grounds for extremely persuasive criticism to attack and discredit Church organizations and the Church herself, especially through charges of incoherence and insincerity," he said.
Encouraging Bishop Reyes to continue his efforts in the promotion of the culture of life, Cardinal Trujilo said, "God's providence is never lacking for those who keep His teachings."
"If the faithful are seriously formed in Christian values and frequently strive to receive God's grace, especially through the sacraments of the Eucharist and Confession, they will be extremely generous in supporting truly laudable projects with their prayers and contributions in terms of time, effort and resources.
"In this regard, there is no need at all to receive funding from questionable sources, an action that besides will go directly against efforts toward truly Christian formation," the Cardinal concluded.
New Poll Finds 70% Canadians Back Unborn Victims of Crime Bill Only 19% Opposed
VANCOUVER, March 14, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Most Canadians are in favour of proposed legislation that would make it a separate crime if a fetus dies when a mother is attacked, a new Angus Reid Strategies poll has found.
In the online survey of a representative national sample, 70 per cent of respondents support the Unborn Victims of Crime Act, while 19 per cent express opposition.
Critics of the bill have stated that it could become a way to restore limits on abortion in Canada because it legally recognizes the existence of the fetus as a victim. However, the survey found that most Canadians disagree with this view. More than half of respondents (53%) think the Unborn Victims of Crime Act simply intends to punish offenders who knowingly harm a fetus in an attack against the mother. One-in-four (24%) see the bill as a veiled attempt to recriminalize abortion.
The Unborn Victims of Crime Act-which has been approved by the House of Commons but heads to committee for further discussion and examination-was introduced by Conservative Member of Parliament Ken Epp and is backed by Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
In the survey, 52 per cent of Conservative Party voters express strong support for the bill, while the proportion is lower among New Democratic Party (NDP) voters (47%), Liberals (37%), Greens (34%) and Bloc Québécois supporters (33%).
Only 17 per cent of Conservative Party supporters think the Unborn Victims of Crime Act is really about re-criminalizing abortion in Canada, while the number increases among respondents who would vote for the NDP (22%), the Liberals (25%), the Greens (34%) and the Bloc (37%).
Women (74%) are slightly more in favour of the proposed legislation than men (66%). Female respondents (19%) are also less likely than male respondents (29%) to perceive the Unborn Victims of Crime Act as an attempt to recriminalize abortion in Canada.
HLI Calls for Ouster of Notre Dame President for Allowing Vagina Monologues
FRONT ROYAL, March 14, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer, STL, president of Human Life International, (HLI) is calling for the firing of University of Notre Dame President Father John Jenkins, C.S.C., for his approval of the presentation of the play The Vagina Monologues on campus. Father Euteneuer is a Notre Dame alumnus, Class of '84.
Euteneuer said, "This is really getting tiresome. For forty years Catholic university presidents have been intimidated and afraid of 'offending' ideological feminists and others who have undisguised contempt for the Catholic Church. These groups have been welcomed to Catholic campuses and have been spitting in the eye of the Church ever since. They cannot be pleased or placated."
Euteneuer continued, "Father Jenkins has been given several chances to take a truly Catholic position on this heinous piece of ideological propaganda and has consistently voted against the pleas and well-reasoned arguments of students, faculty and alumni alike. He needs to step down from his position or the ND Board of Directors needs to dismiss him. A Catholic priest just does not endorse this screed."
In the March 10 statement, Father Jenkins said: "Notre Dame's policy on controversial events rests on the conviction that truth will emerge from reasoned consideration of issues in dialogue with faith.… [I]t is, in my judgment, the action that best serves the distinctive mission of Notre Dame."
Father Euteneuer responded, "The distinctive mission of Notre Dame is to communicate the Catholic Faith. There is nothing inherently truth-producing about 'dialogue' or controversy, especially on immoral issues.
"Catholics deserve better from a university named for Our Lady."
To contact Fr. Jenkins:
University of Notre Dame President
Fr. John Jenkins, C.S.C.,
To read related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
Bishop of Fort Wayne: Notre Dame President is Wrong to Allow Vagina Monologues
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/mar/08031203.html
Catholic University of Notre Dame President Approves Vulgar Pro-Lesbian Play Vagina Monologues
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/mar/08031102.html
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Amsterdam Decriminalizes Public Sex in Famous Park
Dutch police urge whole country to follow example
By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman
ANSTERDAM, March 13, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The government of Amsterdam has decided to decriminalize sexual activity in the Netherlands' most popular and famous park, the Vondelpark.
Frequented by families and tourists, the Vondelpark features ponds, children's playgrounds, an open air theater with free performances, and woodsy areas where authorities say that couples of any sexual combination will be free to copulate beginning in September of this year.
The park has reportedly become a favorite meeting place for homosexuals, who often engage in sexual activities there. Local law has long imposed a fine for those caught in such behavior, but under the new law such fines will no longer apply after dark.
In addition to restricting public sexual activity to nighttime, the law will also allow police to eject couples who make too much noise. Leaving behind condoms or other trash is also prohibited.
"Why prohibit something that hardly bothers other people and that, to the contrary, gives much pleasure to a particular group?" asked Paul van Grieken, an Amsterdam official, according to the Spanish publication El Periodico.
The Dutch police's National Diversity Expertise Center is advising the rest of the nation to follow Amsterdam's example and lift restrictions on public sex in all of the nation's public parks, according to De Telegraaf newspaper.
According to the Center, "cruising" gays in public parks should be tolerated in order to protect homosexuals from "queer bashers", although no explanation was given as to why the policy would afford such protection.
The Vondelpark is the Netherlands' most beloved park, visited by approximately 10 million people each year.
Ironically, the park is named after Joost van den Vondel, a Dutch poet whose conversion to Catholicism in 1641 inspired his most famous work, "Lucifer". The park contains a statue of the poet.
The Dutch homosexual organization "COC" voiced its approval for Amsterdam's change of policy.
"Cruising is something belonging to all time and banning it does not work anyway. They do it surreptitiously and mostly without others being annoyed by it. But homos at cruising spots are often attacked. By now agreeing rules of behaviour on this, safety can be increased," said COC Amsterdam chairman Dennis Boutkan, according to the Netherlands' government news agency, NIS.
The Netherlands has made a name for itself among European nations for its anti-life and anti-family policies. The Netherlands was the first country in Europe to legalize "homosexual marriage", and is now spending millions of dollars to promote homosexuality in schools. Dutch doctors freely euthanize the sick, elderly, and handicapped infants. Government subsidized abortion on demand is available until the 24th week of pregnancy
Related LifeSiteNews Coverage:
Editorial: Infanticide Goes Mainstream and Why Prolife Arguments Need an Update
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/feb/08022203.html
SHOCK: Newborns Who Suffer are "Better off Dead" - "World's Most Prestigious" Bioethics Journal
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/feb/08022201.html
Paediatric Neurosurgeons Criticize Dutch Practice of Euthanasia on Babies With Spina Bifida
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/jan/08011610.html
Netherlands Government Pledges 2.5 m. Euros to Crack Down on Religious Dissent from "Gay Rights"
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/dec/07120704.html
Pedophilia Party Launched in the Netherlands
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/may/06053005.html
Italian Minister Accuses Holland of "Nazism" for Euthanasia Laws
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/mar/06032003.html
Dutch Cardinal: Moral Breakdown Has Left Holland Open to Islamic Takeover
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2004/nov/04111805.html
Belgium Parents May be Jailed for Refusing Polio Vaccine
By John Jalsevac
BELGIUM, March 14, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Two sets of parents in Belgium who have refused to vaccinate their children for polio have been sentenced to five months in prison for their crime, reports the AP.
The parents, however, may yet avoid jail time, as their sentences have been delayed so as to give them one last chance to vaccinate their children. If they do not meet this last deadline, then they will serve the time in prison. The parents have also received a hefty €4,100 fine.
The polio vaccine is currently the only legally mandated vaccine in Belgium. The only other country in the world that requires the vaccine is France.
Dr. Victor Lusayu, head of Belgium's international vaccine centre, said, "Polio is a very serious disease and has caused great suffering in the past. The discovery of the vaccine has eliminated polio from Europe and it is simply the law in Belgium that you have to be vaccinated. ... At the end of the day, the law must be respected."
Due to privacy laws, it has not been revealed why the parents have refused to vaccinate their children. However, vaccination has long been a subject of health and ethical concern for parents, especially since the discovery that numerous vaccines, including several versions of the polio vaccine, are made using tissue from aborted fetuses. Some ethicists argue that by knowingly using such vaccines, one is cooperating with the grave crime of abortion.
It is unclear whether or not Belgium's polio vaccine has been tainted with fetal tissue.
Various other groups argue that long-term health concerns for children who have received vaccinations have not been adequately addressed, with some claiming that vaccination can lead to cancer or autism, though such a link has not been definitively established. Others point out that the immediate side effects of many vaccinations, are enough to warrant concern. According to the CDC, however, the polio vaccine has no significant short-term side-effects, barring an allergic reaction.
"It's a pretty extraordinary case," said Dr. Ross Upshur, director of the Joint Centre for Bioethics at the University of Toronto about the recent case in Belgium. "The Belgians have a right to take some action against the parents, given the seriousness of polio, but the question is, is a prison sentence disproportionate?"
According to the WHO, there have only been three confirmed cases of polio in Belgium since 1980.
US Death Toll Associated with HPV Vaccine Jumps to 11 with 3779 Adverse Reactions Reported
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/oct/07100507.html
List of Canadian Vaccines Made from Aborted Babies Body Parts
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/apr/06041004.html
Deaths Associated with HPV Vaccine Start Rolling In, Over 3500 Adverse Affects Reported
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/sep/07092004.html
Biotech Firm to Provide Ethical Alternatives to Aborted Fetal Vaccines
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/mar/08031104.html
Canadian Physicians ask Gov't to Provide Vaccines Not Created from Aborted Babies
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/dec/06120806.html
Alberta Gov't Admits Cell-Lines from Aborted Babies used in Vaccines, Offers Ethical Alternative
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/jan/07011203.html
ANOTHER VACCINE USING ABORTED BABY TISSUE MARKETED
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/printerfriendlynew.html?published=010525
For the first time U.S. federal authorities have conceded a connection between a child's autistic symptoms and the vaccines she received
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1721109,00.html
Campaign Life Coalition Reports on Federal By-Election Candidates
Vote this Monday
By Steve Jalsevac
OTTAWA, March 14, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Campaign Life Coalition, Canada's National pro-life political organization, has surveyed the candidates for this Monday's by-election contest in four federal ridings in three provinces. CLC told LifeSiteNews that its results indicate only one candidate in the four ridings can be rated as pro-life. In addition, CLC reports that all candidates, including all but one of the Conservative Party candidates, refused to respond to the CLC questionnaire on life issues or in any other way indicate to the public their stand on these vital issues.
Following is CLC's report for the four ridings:
1. DESNETHÉ--MISSINIPPI--CHURCHILL RIVER (SASKATCHEWAN)
No pro-life candidates. Liberal party selected own candidate over the chosen candidate from the riding association according to CLC leader.
Candidates:
Joan Beatty (Liberal Party of Canada)
Rob Clarke (Conservative Party of Canada)
Brian Morin (New Democratic Party)
Robin Orr (Green Party of Canada)
2. TORONTO CENTRE (ONTARIO)
CPC candidate is a former Pentecostal Pastor and is Pro-Life except if the mother's life is in danger. Results eventually obtained via a last minute telephone interview with the candidate. All others are not considered to be pro-life by CLC.
Candidates:
El-Farouk Khaki (New Democratic Party)
Donald Meredith (Conservative Party of Canada)
Doug Plumb (Canadian Action Party)
Bob Rae (Liberal Party of Canada)
Chris Tindal (Green Party of Canada)
Liz White (Animal Alliance Environment Voters Party of Canada
3. VANCOUVER QUADRA (BRITISH COLUMBIA)
None are pro-life according to CLC leader.
Candidates:
Rebecca Coad (New Democratic Party)
Psamuel Frank (Canadian Action Party)
Dan Grice (Green Party of Canada)
Deborah Meredith (Conservative Party of Canada)
Joyce Murray (Liberal Party of Canada)
John Turner (neorhino.ca)
4. WILLOWDALE (ONTARIO)
All candidates deemed to be not pro-life. The CPC candidate refused to fill out questionnaire and according to one supporter/constituent, she refuses to talk to her about the life issues.
Lou Carcasole (Green Party of Canada)
Rini Ghosh (New Democratic Party)
Martha Hall Findlay (Liberal Party of Canada)
Maureen Harquail (Conservative Party of Canada)
See the CLC questionnaire that was sent to all the candidates:
http://www.campaignlifecoalition.com/elections/federal/2008byelections/CLCquesti...
Letters to the Editor for Friday, March 14, 2008
LifeSiteNews Comment on Today's letters:
The following two emails are representative of the hundreds of emails LifeSiteNews has received from homosexual activists who oppose our alternative news reporting on events and statements related to the homosexual issue. Actually, these two recent emails are not as hate-filled and vulgar as are most of the others, which we cannot publish because of their offensive wording.
In most of these cases LifeSiteNews has been accused of "hate", "bigotry", "slander", "judging", violating "Jesus's rule to not judge lest you be judged" and being false Christians - even when we frequently report on the comments of prominent Christian religious leaders.
The problem is, as we repeatedly point out to these writers, LifeSiteNews is a news service rather than an opinion journal, although LifeSiteNews does periodically publish editorials on various issues. Even then we emphasize to our writers that we will publish only balanced, respectful and professional editorials - although some readers may not see them that way.
We encourage the homosexual complainants, if they have issues with what we accurately report, to take up their complaints with the researchers, doctors, religious leaders or other persons or organizations whom we quote.
We also respectfully ask such complainants to more specifically point out where LifeSiteNews has expressed "hate" and note that if such has been the case we would gladly correct the problem. There is never a specific, credible response to the request other than more unsubstantiated, harsh and unjust judgments against LifeSiteNews staff.
These letters would not normally qualify for our letters section but we include them today to give our readers a sample of the type of emails LifeSiteNews, and no doubt other life, family and social conservative organizations, receive on a regular basis.
The first writer, Bart Vincelette has sent dozens of emails to LifeSiteNews.com.
____________________________________________________
From: Bart
Sent: March 12, 2008 4:32 AM
Subject: Corrections
I'm encouraged by assistants with a greater sense of generosity than myself , to once again send a brief message , correcting serious and damaging errors in articles appearing online at lifesitenews.com. There is no such thing as an ex-homosexual. If someone makes such a claim and appears to be heterosexual by behaviour and lifestyle change, they were hetero to begin with. One can be a different religion every day of the week. One cannot change a characteristic as innate as sexual orientation. One can leave a particular manner of living, but that does not indicate a change in one's state of being. I have a cousin, who many years ago gave up a very productive life as an eminently educated professor of history and linguistics, to join the Sisters of St. Ursula. None of her prior inherent characteristics disappeared. She simply left humanity for awhile.
The most common and seriously damaging of the plethora of falsehoods directed at homosexual persons, are that they can change with a discredited therapy of mystic religion and psychological battering, colloquially known as 'brain-washing', that they are prone to paedophilia, and are naturally sexual predators. These allegations are absolutely wrong, slanderous, and denigrating. Recognized experts in criminology, sociology and aberrant behaviour, have now demonstrated beyond doubt that regardless of how diplomatic the dissemination of theological opposition to homosexual persons; it is translated as 'unworthy', 'pitiable', 'inferior' and deserving of discrimination and violence. The recent barbaric murders of two gay teens in the US, without any provocation other than being who they are, demands a significant alteration of attitudes by society at large. 2008 and beyond will see an anti-terrorist "surge", of sorts, with the aim of diminishing the violence faced by homosexual persons, and ignored for the most part, by conservative Christians. This lends additional credence to the adage - "Silence - Death". We know better than to look to people of faith for any assistance or understanding, ergo, litigation will be the order of the day.
And, we will win the human dignity and rights that have been denied during the Common Era ( C.E.). It is wrongly assumed by many in countries like Canada, that the redefining of marriage settles the issue for good. Not so. We have endless miles to go before full citizenship is obtained and compensatory actions are in place. It is my hope that you are somewhat amused by this writing, if still reading it, because you have some remarkable surprises in store.
" Non Occides."
H. (Bart) Vincelette
Vancouver, BC
_____________________________________________________
From: Simon Farrington
Sent: March 11, 2008 3:32 PM
Subject: my own website idea in response to your homo-hating commercial.
my own website idea in response to your homo-hating commercial.
"There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bound nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ ... "
~Galations 3:28~
Christian Fanaticism can be cured!
Do you misinterpret popular theological treatises for your own purposes? Do you know someone who does? Please contact us at Get-a-Life Productions and we will direct you to the resources you or your loved one needs to overcome ignorance.
Organized spirituality is civilization's biggest folly - more people have been murdered over their faith than for any other reason in history, despite the fact that nearly every world faith teaches that, above all else, you shouldn't kill or hate people for any reason.
My relationship with any proported higher power is a personal one. I don't need to rely on an incomplete text that was badly interpreted by a select few misogynistic syphilis-riddled old men who were doing little more than serving the whims of the monarchy of the time.
Simon
"There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bound nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ ... "
____________________________________________________
To write a letter to the Editor: E-mail your letter to Write "letter to the editor" in the subject line. Include your name, city and province or state of residence, as well as your phone # (the phone # is for our use only, and will not be published). Please note that all letters are subject to editing. LifeSiteNews.com will publish letters to the editor at its discretion, giving priority to the most concise, insightful and timely submissions.
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