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Oregon's Bishop Vasa Says : "Those who profess to love God, but back abortion, are liars"

PORTLAND, January 16, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In his regular column in the Catholic Sentinel, Baker Oregon Bishop Robert Vasa urges Catholics and even "so-called Catholic pro-choice persons" to write postcards opposing the Freedom of Choice Act. 

"I strongly urge all who have a glimmer of concern for the lives of pre-born children to engage themselves in this postcard campaign," he said. He added, "This is not an action which would limit or alter present permissive abortion laws, which some so-called Catholic pro-choice persons might object to, it would simply preclude a dramatic expansion of that permissiveness. Thus it would be very difficult for any Catholic, no matter how much in favor of abortion itself, to find a reason to refuse to participate in this campaign."

"It may sound a little strong to state that legislators 'hate' the pre-born child but hate is an absence of love and love means to wish another well," wrote the Bishop. "There is nothing about abortion that wishes the pre-born child well. The preservation of abortion 'rights' is already an absence of love for the pre-born child but the passage of FOCA could be construed as nothing less than active and positive disregard, even hatred, for these our brothers and sisters."

Bishop Vasa quotes the writings of St. John, where the Evangelist says, “If anyone says, 'I love God,' but hates his brother is a liar.” 

The Bishop concluded his column: "Regardless of how many years have passed since the Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court Decision and regardless of how prevalent and routine abortion has become in this country, the simple truth remains, it is an act of extreme violence to the pre-born child and to the distressed mother. Thus, if anyone says, ‘I love God’ and still favors abortion, he is, to quote St. John, a liar."

See the full column in the Sentinel here:
http://sentinel.org/node/9727

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Dissenters from Catholic Teaching Not Being Fired Often Enough from Seminary Posts: Vatican Report

By Hilary White

ROME, January 16, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A Vatican report on the moral and intellectual life of US seminaries, begun in 2005, has said that the main problems lie with professors who overtly or subtly dissent from Catholic moral teaching. Such professors, the report said, are not frequently enough fired from their positions.

“Quite often,” the report said, “the Visitation discovered one or more faculty members who, although not speaking openly against Church teaching, let the students understand - through hints, off-the-cuff remarks, etc. - their disapproval of some articles of Magisterial teaching.” The report next says that although procedures exist to fire such dissenting faculty, these “are not invoked as often as they should be.”

The Vatican report, signed by Zenon Cardinal Grocholewski, Prefect Congregation for Catholic Education, is the result of a Vatican-led investigation of American seminaries following the explosion of the clergy sex-abuse scandals in 2001. Although written in carefully diplomatic language typical of high level Vatican offices, the report uses unusually blunt terms, especially in its criticisms of seminaries run by religious orders, such as the Jesuits or Dominicans.

What the report calls a “lack of harmony” in the formation of priests “is almost always” due to educators “being less than faithful to the Magisterium of the Church.” 

While most media, including Catholic News Service, a body of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, has reported that the Vatican’s Congregation for Catholic Education has found the US seminaries to be in “overall good health,” the document notes that in “centres of formation for religious,” “ambiguities still exist” in the problem of acceptance of homosexual activity or inclinations. The report urges seminary educators and evaluators to continue to watch candidates for signs of homosexual tendencies and “underscores” the importance of the Vatican instruction that prohibits accepting as candidates men who suffer from long-term and deeply ingrained homosexual inclinations.

In the wake of the US clergy abuse scandals that broke into the public eye in 2001, the prevalence of homosexuals in the US priesthood was widely downplayed as a cause. Despite the publication of a report that found that over 80 per cent of the perpetrators were homosexuals and their victims adolescent males, not young children, Church officials and media alike continue to insist that the crisis is purely one of “priestly paedophilia.”

In its section on intellectual formation, the report noted, “In a few seminaries, and particularly in some schools of theology run by religious [orders], dissent is widespread” especially in the area of moral theology, which includes the Church’s teaching on sexual morality. “It is not rare in religious institutes to find basic tenets of Catholic moral doctrine being called into question.”

The report agrees in the main with many faithful Catholic writers and commentators such as George Weigel, a Senior Fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, who maintained that in addition to new policies that allowed homosexuals to be accepted as seminarians, it was more general infidelity to orthodox Catholic teaching, the “culture of dissent,” that was responsible for the sex abuse scandals.

Many Catholic commentators observed that the spike in abuse cases occurred at the time when seminaries, in the wake of the Second Vatican Council and the sexual and social revolutions of the 1960s and ‘70s, ceased screening candidates according to standards based on the traditional moral teachings of Catholicism.

The report also makes mention of the acquiescence in some seminaries, again particularly those run by religious orders, to pressure to accept the concept of women’s ordination. In its critique, the report said that seminaries are hampered by “mistaken” fears of offending those “who judge the reservation of the Sacrament of Holy Orders [priesthood] to men alone as discriminatory.”

The report indicates also the decline in many seminaries, widely reported anecdotally by priests and seminarians, of the traditional Catholic devotional life. The report called it “profoundly regrettable” that many seminaries do not include such practices as the Rosary as a normal part of the day to day life of students. “Some institutes even have an atmosphere that discourages traditional acts of Catholic piety - which begs the question as to whether the faculty's ideas of spirituality are consonant with Church teaching and tradition.”

“Unless a great many seminaries introduce regular recitation of the Rosary, novenas, litanies, Stations of the Cross, and so on, the seminarians will lack an education in the sacramentals and will be unprepared for ministry in the Church, which greatly treasures these practices.”

The report, on the other hand, praised the seminarians themselves, saying, “Almost without exception, the seminarians show authentic apostolic zeal and possess a ‘Catholic’ vision of Church life.”

To read the full text of the document:
http://www.usccb.org/cclv/final_report.pdf

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A Farewell to Bush: Thoughts on the Pro-Life Legacy of the 9/11 President

Praise from Judie Brown, Deal Hudson, Austin Ruse

Column by John Jalsevac

January 14, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – I admit, I have been one of those who, buried under some fifteen layers of sweaters and hats and yet still shivering, standing beneath the shadow of the Washington Monument in the January cold and listening to the warm, drawling voice of the president who has just telephoned in to the March for Life (“Nellie, it’s good to be with you!”) – I have been one of those who have cynically thought, If it’s so good to be with us, Mr. President, why aren’t you actually with us?

President Bush never did personally come to the March for Life. And after a few years those of us who attended the March on an annual basis could have written his remarks for him – the words of encouragement, the affirmations of the humanity of the unborn child and the references to the Constitution, and then the list of the same handful of practical political achievements: the partial-birth abortion ban, the unborn victims of violence act, the Mexico-city policy, the veto of the embryonic stem cell bill, etc.

Sometimes, especially in the midst of a dreary January afternoon, the list seemed a little threadbare. It can be difficult to rejoice enthusiastically that at long last the law makes clear that we oughtn’t to suck out the brains and crush the skulls of our children, or that we can’t abandon to die the infants that we failed to kill inside the womb.

Of course, every year the list grew a little longer, an item or two was tacked on here or there, and that was encouraging. This year, if President Bush were still President, he would undoubtedly proudly mention the successful passing of the conscience protection regulations by the HHS. And we would all enthusiastically cheer.

And why not?

It is easy, especially towards the tail-end of an 8-year-long and always controversial presidency, when familiarity so easily erodes into contempt, to give in to our cynicism. It is easy to give voice to our wounded expectations, which are so often merely our instinct to shift responsibility, and wonder why Bush did not do more.

For eight years we had a pro-life president; why, then, isn’t the U.S. a pro-life country? It is effortless to respond, “Because George Bush didn’t do as much as he could or should have, as much as we expected him to do.” It’s a lot harder to say, “Because we haven’t done as much as we could or ought to have.” And as with many other things, you will find that the hard answer strikes at the heart of things, while the easier is mere evasion.

We sometimes like to think that our politicians have unlimited power to do as they please. In other words we like to think that we have a dictator rather than a president. This gives us the comfort of feeling that once we’ve put “our man” in power, we’ve done all that we can: “Good ol' George’ll take care of things from here.” But of course that is the whole point of the elegant U.S. political structure – that no one has that power.

Bush himself was clearly aware of his own limitations, and the limitations of his fellow politicians. In his 2007 address to the March for Life, he observed: “As we move forward, we've all got to remember that a true culture of life cannot be built by changing laws alone. We've all got to work hard to change hearts. We will find areas where we can agree and, at the same time, work to persuade more of our fellow citizens to join this great cause.” 

That’s good stuff. It reveals a practical, anti-utopian worldview that recognizes that the real victory of good over evil won’t happen in the Oval Office, but in the heart of every man, woman and child. The only successful movements are grassroots movements.

We are only deluding ourselves if we think that just getting the “right man” into the presidency is going to change everything. If you’re not convinced, just think about how difficult it was for Bush even to have passed the Partial-Birth Abortion Bill. We may complain that banning that gruesome procedure is hardly a victory – but for Bush it was a victory, and one that was hard come by. Three district courts and three appeals courts declared the thing unconstitutional before the Supreme Court finally upheld it, three and a half years after he signed it.

I spent a good part of Wednesday on the phone with a handful of some of the true pro-life greats, getting their thoughts on the Bush presidency. Judie Brown summed up the Bush legacy like this: “President Bush has advanced the pro-life cause…somewhat.”

Her praise for the President is so restrained that it might sound like a reproach. But Judie did not mean it as a reproach. If anything she meant it as a compliment. Like the others I spoke to, Judie said that if she had the chance she would look the President in the eye and say, “Thank you for being pro-life.”

Deal Hudson went quite a bit further than Judie, and said that “no president has accomplished more for the pro-life cause than George W. Bush.” He went on to explain that Bush’s “pro-life initiatives were not just legislative, not just policy-driven. They were personnel driven. When you look at the staff that was put in place in crucial departments like Health and Human Services, Justice Department…the people that were put in these positions transformed the culture of the government that was left them by the Clintons.”

That’s a good point. And it is echoed by others. If, for instance, you were to speak to any of those who spend their days in the corridors of the U.N., you would hear about how the country’s presence at the U.N. was transformed overnight, following the Inauguration of Bush in 2001. Clinton’s people were out, and Bush’s in. And Bush’s people were exactly what Bush promised they would be – pro-life and pro-family to their deepest core.

“Bush and his negotiators — particularly Ellen Sauerbrey — were among the bravest in the world,” Austin Ruse of C-Fam (a pro-life research institute working at the U.N.) recently told the National Catholic Register.  “At times, she stood up completely alone; she was hooted at, hissed at, and booed.”

But even Ruse admitted that, despite being the “bravest in the world,” Bush and his people couldn’t, of themselves, change the world. “Honestly, there will be no lasting legacy [at the United Nations],” he said, “because the Bush administration was profoundly outnumbered. But he did a great thing for eight years …” “[The Bush Administration’s] victories are short-lived and will not last, but they were heroic while they did it.”

As we come to the end of an era it seems a good idea to cast aside our cynicism and recognize President Bush for what he was – a truly and sincerely pro-life President, who did what he could in the midst of difficult circumstances to put an end to what he clearly saw as a grave evil.

Take a moment and go back and read over some of Bush’s speeches about the life and family issues: even, for that matter, his addresses to the March for Life. We may have lamented his absence, and his phoned-in remarks may have come to seem stale over time, but in reading over them now I see that they really ought not to have. In these addresses Bush spoke in a way that you would expect only the most faithful Catholic bishops and the most orthodox Evangelical preachers to. He spoke fearlessly, strongly, stirringly, about the need for a culture of life, about the right to life of all human beings, about the sanctity of life, and he rooted the whole thing in a solid and unapologetic Christian theology.

There isn’t a hint of the politician to be found in his words. They are as straightforward as anything; no evasions; no ducking the point; no glossing over distinctions; no vague phrases that can cut both ways; no calls for an undefined “compromise”; no foolish talk about how we have to just “come together” in our differences, and somehow the problem will go away. His was a voice of contradiction in a world that has rejected the good.

As Bush said earlier today, in his final address before Inauguration Day: “I have often spoken to you about good and evil. This has made some uncomfortable. But good and evil are present in this world, and between the two there can be no compromise. Murdering the innocent to advance an ideology is wrong every time, everywhere.”

Can you get any clearer than that? It’s not every day you hear that sort of talk from a politician. But we heard it day in and day out for eight years. It didn’t make him popular. Indeed, people hated him for it. But Bush never backed down. As Mark Steyn put it earlier this week, “George W Bush is who he is, and he never pretended to be anything but. Do you know how rare that is? If you don’t, you surely will after six months of Barack Obama’s enigmatic cool.”

Which brings us to a final point. In a few days Obama will take power. There will be no more telephone calls from the President to the March for Life. There will be no more National Sanctity of Life days (the last of which Bush just yesterday proclaimed will take place on Sunday). And if there are any national days of prayer, they will be promoted only under the weakest terminology of comparative religion.

In a few days we will be pining for the “good ol’ days” when we had as President of the United States a man who was willing to take the difficult path, and to call out evil for what it was, and defend the good. And yet, we need not despair. Bush, for all of his goodness and sincerity, couldn’t save the country in eight years. Neither can Obama ruin it.

To despair about Obama is to give him too much credit, to overestimate his power. The true response to Obama is the Christian response, and that is to shoulder the weight of the responsibility ourselves instead of looking to another fallen human being to save us; it is to step up our efforts to change the world within the limited sphere that has been given to us. And it is to labor under the knowledge that the final victory has already been won by Christ, and all we’re doing is somehow tying up the loose ends. In this way only will the United States, and the whole world, be transformed; in this way only will a true Culture of Life triumph.

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Chinese Government to Increase Fines for Violating One-Child Policy

Obama Administration reportedly plans to fund Chinese policies through UN population fund

By Kathleen Gilbert

BEIJING, January 15, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The chief of Beijing's family planning commission has revealed the Chinese government's plans to continue its population control policies as well as crack down on families violating the nation's one-child policy with higher fines.

According to China Daily, Deng Xingzhou indicated Monday that the government would be developing new policies whose goal would be to maintain "macro control over the total population" for a "healthy development of the city in the long term.”

"As the public feels strongly against those who have more children just because they can afford to pay the fines, we are thinking of collecting much higher social maintenance fees from those who go against the policy," Deng said.

Deng also said that the country's notorious population-control program, which includes forced sterilizations and abortions, would remain unmoved "for another 20 years, when the country's population reaches a projected peak of 1.5 billion."

In Beijing, the fine for having too many children is computed based on the average income per capita, and is usually about three to eight times that figure.

Government forces in the Guangdong and Hubei provinces have been the most severe in punishing families with too many children. In 2007, a Hubei entrepreneur was fined 760,000 yuan (about $111,000) for having a second child.  According to figures cited in the China Daily article, Beijing's per capita income last year was 24,725 yuan ($3,600) for city residents, and less than half that figure for citizens outside the city. 

While the United States has in the past opposed China's "family planning" policy, the relationship is expected to change radically with the upcoming Obama administration.

President-elect Obama has criticized the U.S. government's refusal to promote population-control methods such as sterilization, contraception, and abortion worldwide in cooperation with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

Among other projects, UNFPA helped China formulate and set up its population control policies and procedures.  Independent reports have concluded that UNFPA is also involved in China's coercive birth control tactics, although this is denied by UNFPA. (http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2001/oct/011005c.html)  Because China's policies are known to regularly implement coercive tactics in defiance of basic human rights standards, the Bush administration prohibited U.S. funding of the UN establishment.  (http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/printerfriendlynew.html?articleid=041216a). 

However, UN supporters in Congress have expressed confidence that Obama will be quick to revive U.S. funding to the UNFPA.

Congressman Chris Smith (R-Hamilton), a leading voice among U.S. politicians decrying China's egregious human rights violations, has frequently denounced UNFPA and warned against condoning its cooperation with China's forced abortions and sterilizations.

When U.S. funding to UNFPA was cut in 2004, Smith (R-Hamilton), commented on the decision stating, "The UNFPA continues to be guilty of shamelessly supporting and whitewashing terrible crimes against humanity, and the United States will have no part in subsidizing them.

"It is long past time for the UNFPA to sever its ties with China's one-child-per-couple family planning program that relies on forced abortion, involuntary sterilization and heavy economic penalties on women to achieve its results," he said.

Smith called on other countries to "look at the evidence and hold the UNFPA and the Chinese population control program accountable at The Hague for crimes against humanity.

"Tens of millions of children have been slaughtered - their mothers robbed of their children by the State. The UNFPA has aggressively defended this barbaric policy that makes brothers and sisters illegal, and makes women the pawns of the population control cadres."

See related LifeSiteNews.com article:

Obama Expected to Join Forces with UN in Global Pro-Abortion Agenda
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/nov/08110702.html

UNFPA Supports Coercive Family Planning-Including Forced Abortion-in China
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2001/oct/011005c.html

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Chinese Mom Has Son Killed so She Can Have Another Child under One-Child Regime

By Tim Waggoner

BEIJING, January 16, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – China's government-enforced "one child" policy has spurred a tragic spiral of killing, ending with the sentencing to death of a woman found guilty of hiring a hit man to murder her own son so that she might have another child with her new husband.

Li Yingfang was recently sentenced to death by the Shaanxi Higher People's Court, reports the Shanghai Daily, after a lower court in 2007 had granted her the opportunity to instead serve a life sentence.  The lower court had found that she suffered from depression caused by two abortions she had in order to comply with the population law.  But due to protests from family and friends of the victim, the higher court ordered her execution.

In 1997, Li, a bank clerk in northern China, gave birth to a son, Cao Yifan, before her husband passed away in 2002.  The 36 year old remarried a man surnamed Hou in 2004, who also had a child from a previous marriage.

During her new marriage, Li was coerced into having two abortions by China's "one child" policy.  The policy states that if both partners of a remarried couple have a child from a previous marriage, they are forbidden to have more children upon the threat of severe financial penalties. 

Wanting to have a child with her new husband, Li paid a hit man named Wang Ruijie 70,000 yuan (US$10,238) to kill Hou's daughter. Wang's November 23, 2006 attack on the young girl failed, so Li turned her attention to her own son, who was living with his grandmother who had taken custody of the boy after his father's death.

Li planned a meeting between herself, her son and Wang, who had rented a car.  Wang drove the nine year old out to the country and, with a piece of cloth provided by Li, proceeded to strangle the boy before dumping his body on the roadside.

Both Li and Wang were given the death sentence but Wang was granted a two year reprieve - meaning he will spend his life in prison if he behaves well enough during the first two years.  Both perpetrators have been ordered to pay the grandmother of Cao Yifan 65,000 yuan.

According to the Guardian, China's official media has suggested that the population policy may be reformed by the government after it released a survey revealing the majority of Chinese women want more than one child. Jiang Fan, vice-minister of the National Family Planning Commission said, "Our research shows that 70.7% of women would like to have two or more babies." 

Fan also noted the growing gender gap among new births, which is at 103-107 boys to every 100 girls, is a "very grave" problem.

However, it was only earlier this week that the chief of Beijing's family planning commission revealed the Chinese government's plans to continue its population control policies as well as crack down on families violating the nation's one-child policy with higher fines. Deng said that the country's notorious population-control program, which includes forced sterilizations and abortions, would remain unmoved "for another 20 years, when the country's population reaches a projected peak of 1.5 billion."

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FULL TEXT of President Bush Proclamation of Sanctity of Life Day - January 18

January 16, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The following is the full text of President Bush’s proclamation of National Sanctity of Life Day:

All human life is a gift from our Creator that is sacred, unique, and worthy of protection. On National Sanctity of Human Life Day, our country recognizes that each person, including every person waiting to be born, has a special place and purpose in this world. We also underscore our dedication to heeding this message of conscience by speaking up for the weak and voiceless among us.

The most basic duty of government is to protect the life of the innocent. My Administration has been committed to building a culture of life by vigorously promoting adoption and parental notification laws, opposing Federal funding for abortions overseas, encouraging teen abstinence, and funding crisis pregnancy programs. In 2002, I was honored to sign into law the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act, which extends legal protection to children who survive an abortion attempt. I signed legislation in 2003 to ban the cruel practice of partial birth abortion, and that law represents our commitment to building a culture of life in America. Also, I was proud to sign the Unborn Victims of Violence Act of 2004, which allows authorities to charge a person who causes death or injury to a child in the womb with a separate offense in addition to any charges relating to the mother.

America is a caring Nation, and our values should guide us as we harness the gifts of science. In our zeal for new treatments and cures, we must never abandon our fundamental morals. We can achieve the great breakthroughs we all seek with reverence for the gift of life.

The sanctity of life is written in the hearts of all men and women. On this day and throughout the year, we aspire to build a society in which every child is welcome in life and protected in law. We also encourage more of our fellow Americans to join our just and noble cause. History tells us that with a cause rooted in our deepest principles and appealing to the best instincts of our citizens, we will prevail.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim January 18, 2009, as National Sanctity of Human Life Day. I call upon all Americans to recognize this day with appropriate ceremonies and to underscore our commitment to respecting and protecting the life and dignity of every human being.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this fifteenth day of January, in the year of our Lord two thousand nine, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-third.

GEORGE W. BUSH

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Seventy Eight Members of US Congress Appeal to Obama to Retain Mexico City Policy

By Steve Jalsevac

WASHINGTON, D.C., January 14, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A letter authored by US Congressman Doug Lamborn (Colorado) and signed by 77 additional Members of Congress (http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009_docs/mexicocitypolicylettertoobama.pdf) is urging President-elect Obama not to overturn the Mexico City Policy. It is widely expected that one of Barack Obama’s first actions as President will be to overturn the Reagan-era policy that prohibits American tax dollars from going to abortion-performing organizations in other countries.

In the letter the Congressmen state, "Based on a document posted on your transition website, proponents of abortion are calling for you to overturn Mexico City Policy. However, we urge you to retain this significant position. First developed in the Reagan Administration, this policy is important because it establishes a bright line between family planning activities and abortion, therefore ensuring that United States family planning funds are not co-opted by groups who promote abortion as a method of family planning."

The letter emphasizes the responsibility of the United States to respect the sovereignty of other nations on this matter. It states, "We also have a responsibility to respect the laws of many developing countries who have laws prohibiting or restricting abortion. It is an insult to fund organizations that are intent on overturning those laws by promoting the Western ideology of abortion on demand."

The letter concludes, "In these difficult economic times, the American people would not want us funding groups that are trying to export abortion around the world."

To see the complete letter with all the attached signatures and a list of all signers at
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009_docs/mexicocitypolicylettertoobama.pdf

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San Francisco Set to Tax Catholic Church Millions in Suspected Prop 8 Retaliation

By Kathleen Gilbert

SAN FRANCISCO, January 16, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A San Francisco assessor has called for the Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco to hand over $15 million in taxes because of an internal restructuring of the archdiocese, a move that some are describing as "retaliation" for the Church's opposition to Proposition 8.

Assessor Phil Ting concluded that the Catholic Church owed the city taxes after the archdiocese was restructured and its property, which is almost all used by parish facilities, was consolidated seven months ago.

"Because we knew the accusations (of unfair treatment) could be out there, we worked to look at every single document so we could totally and completely understand their argument," Ting said. "We looked at all the various exemptions that could have been applied, and we felt that none of them were applicable in this case. That meant it was our determination that this was a taxable event."

Ting claimed that because the restructuring involved "separate legal entities," it was "not just a cosmetic" change and therefore liable to be taxed.

The archdiocese immediately filed legal action and questioned the precedent for Ting's decision.

"San Francisco Recorder Phil Ting has taken a step that is unprecedented in the history of the state of California. He has determined that an internal reorganization of church property, within the family of corporations of the Archdiocese of San Francisco, constitutes a 'sale' and is subject to a property transfer tax," archdiocese spokesman Maurice Healy told the San Francisco Chronicle.

"A tax on transfers of property, all owned by the Catholic Church, within the same family of Archdiocesan corporations, is unprecedented in the history of the state of California and the law is overwhelmingly in our favor on this subject," said Healy.

Many are decrying the move as retaliation for the church's support of California's same-sex "marriage" ban, as pro-homosexual “marriage” San Francisco residents and politicians have made no secret of their ire at the Catholic Church and other religious groups for supporting Proposition 8. 

"This is fishy at the least and evil at the most," Randy Thomasson of California's Campaign for Children and Families told LifeSiteNews.com.  "Phil Ting is doing to the Catholic Church what has not been done in other venues, taking away the Church's tax-exempt status in regards to property.”

Thomasson said that Ting, "who went head to head with the Catholic church over marriage between a man and a woman ... is aiming his rifles … right at the Catholic Church, and this is something that a higher court should be more just in its analysis."

The call to tax the Catholic and Mormon churches, which helped propel Prop 8 fundraising and campaigning, became a mantra of same-sex "marriage" supporters ever since the amendment passed in November.

During the Mayor's Prayer Breakfast last year, which was attended by Archbishop Niederauer, Mayor Gavin Newsom lambasted the Catholic Church and the archdiocese for their support for Proposition 8. The crowd reportedly responded with a standing ovation - minus the archbishop and a handful of other religious leaders.

Jack Smith of the Catholic Key blog suggested that Ting, who at a No on 8 rally declared he was "proud" to have signed several same-sex "marriage" certificates, had political motives for the aggressive move. 

"Any clear-eyed observer might view this action by Ting, who's rumored to want the Mayor's chair after Newsom, as pandering to the anti-Catholic sentiment of voters in San Francisco," said Smith.  

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Catholic League to Obama: Gay Bishop Robinson is a Slap in the Face to Catholics

Commentary by Catholic League president Bill Donohue

NEW YORK, January 16, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - President-elect Barack Obama says he wants to unite Americans, and yet he chooses the most polarizing person in the Episcopal Church, Bishop Gene Robinson, to offer a prayer at one of his inaugural events. Robinson, who dumped his wife and children to live with another man, is not just an embarrassment to rank-and-file Episcopalians, he has a record of offending Catholics, as well.

In 2005, Robinson said the following: 'I find it so vile that they [the Catholic Church] think they are going to end the child abuse scandal by throwing out homosexuals from seminaries. It is an act of violence that needs to be confronted.' He added that 'Pope Ratzinger [sic] may be the best thing that ever happened to the Episcopal Church. We are seeing so many Roman Catholics joining the church.'

Three months ago, the disgraced openly gay bishop admitted that he had led a retreat a few years ago for gay Catholic priests. He stuck his nose into the affairs of the Catholic Church even further when he urged those priests to push for women priests, saying 'that if you work for the ordination of women in your church, you will go a long way toward opening the door for the acceptance of gay priests.'

In other words, Obama has chosen a man who offends Catholics as much as he does Protestants. If that's his idea of inclusion, he can keep it. The only saving grace is that Robinson says he will not use a Bible next week. It would be news if he did.

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Hong Kong Legal Amendment May Lead to Change in Traditional Meaning of Family

By Thaddeus M. Baklinski

HONG KONG, January 16, 2009 (LifeSIteNews.com) - A proposed amendment to extend Hong Kong's Domestic Violence Ordinance to include same-sex couples has elicited an uproar from groups that are concerned that the amendment could undermine the traditional concept of "family" and pave the way for same-sex “marriage.”

Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun of Hong Kong said in a January 5 press statement that extending the law to same-sex couples would "definitely lead to a misunderstanding or misinterpretation of the concepts of marriage and family, thereby undermining the foundation of our society."

In his statement, Cardinal Zen said that though the Catholic Church fully agrees that all people, irrespective of background, must be protected from any form of violence, "distorted concepts of marriage and family will bring about other serious consequences," and as a result he is determined to appeal to the government to make "the common good of our society the basis of its legislation on marriage and family."

The current domestic violence law, originally enacted in 1986, covers married couples and heterosexual cohabitants, with an amendment incorporated last year to include former spouses or cohabitants, as well as immediate and extended family members.

A spokesman for the Protestant-based Hong Kong Sex Culture Society, a group formed to work against commercialization of sex and the "easy-sex" culture, said in a UCA News report that the group supports the legislators who have stated their opposition to the proposed amendment.

Wong Sing-chi, a member of the Democratic Party who has made known his opposition to the bill, said that although he does not oppose giving protection to same-sex couples, he objects to using the word "family" in the Chinese version of the law. He maintained this would negatively impact the concept of family and its core value, and also might result in legal disputes, becoming the basis for the legalization of same-sex “marriage.”

Michael Tse of the Catholic Church's Diocesan Pastoral Commission for Marriage and the Family (DPCMF) told UCA News that the amendment may result in demands for a judicial review on the legalization of homosexuality.

Tse said the local government seems to be "taking a hasty action in favor of homosexuality" in trying to extend the domestic violence law to cover same-sex couples.

Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, Hong Kong's Secretary for Labour & Welfare, said in a press release that the government has no intention to change the definition of the family.

Cheung defined the proposed amendment as "only relevant to the policy area of domestic violence, and it enables same-sex cohabitants to apply under the ordinance to the court for an injunction order against molestation by their cohabiting partners."

"The administration does not recognise same-sex marriage, civil partnership or any same-sex relationship as a matter of legal status and policy stance," he said. "The proposed amendments have no relevance to the legal definition of marriage."

Father Lawrence Lee Len, chancellor of Hong Kong diocese, told UCA News that the diocese plans to form a Family Development Network, with the Protestant Church and other concerned organizations, to follow up on the issue.

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Vatican Agency Reiterates Church's Condemnation of Homosexual Behavior

Seeks to clarify comments made by Cardinal Ennio Antonelli, President of the Pontifical Council for the Family, at the World Meeting of Families

 By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman, at the World Meeting of Families in Mexico City

MEXICO CITY, January 16, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Vatican's Pontifical Council for the Family has issued a clarification of remarks by Cardinal Ennio Antonelli, reiterating the Catholic Church's condemnation of homosexual sexual acts.

The clarification followed Antonelli's statement to the media, made yesterday during a press conference at the World Meeting of Families in Mexico City, that "the homosexual experience must stay within the confines of a private relation, a relation between friends."  The quote was picked up by the French Press Agency in its reporting on the meeting. 

Seeking to avoid a misunderstanding over the Church's teaching on homosexual behavior, Subsecretary Carlos Simon Vazquez held a second press conference, stating that "affirming that homosexuality is something private, the President of the Pontifical Council for the Family did not intend to justify it."

"The cardinal simply emphasized that homosexuality does not contribute favorably to the structuring of people and society," said Vazquez. "The exercise of homosexuality does not reflect the truth about friendship.  Friendship is inherent to the human condition in which there are relations of closeness, support, and cooperation, in a polite and friendly climate.  Friendship should be lived in chastity."

In reiterating the Catholic Church's teaching on homosexual behavior, Vazquez also took pains to emphasize that the Church's condemnation of unnatural sexual behavior does not extend to people afflicted with homosexual tendencies who live a chaste life.

"The Church continues to seek to receive and accompany homosexual people," said Vazquez. "Every person who has difficulties living their sexuality in a proper manner is called to find Christ and to live, in consequence, in accordance with the demands of freedom and responsibility, of faith and charity."

"In contrast, it is contrary to the truth of human identity and the design of God to live a homosexual experience, a relationship of this type, much less to seek to vindicate marriage between people of the same sex,” continued Vazquez.  “They are contrary to the true interests of people and the needs of society.  They constitute a transgression against the sense of love as God has revealed it to us through the message of Christ, of which the Church is a servant, as an expression of charity towards the men and women of our time."

Related Links:

Full Translation of Statement of Fr. Carlos Simon Vazquez of the Pontifical Council of the Family on the immorality of homosexual behavior
http://www.zenit.org/article-24800?l=english

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16,000 Expected at National Prayer Vigil for Life at National Shrine on January 21

WASHINGTON, DC, January 16, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Thousands of Catholics will gather in the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception to pray for an end to abortion at the National Prayer Vigil for Life Opening Mass at 7 p.m. on January 21. The date marks the eve of the 36th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion.

Over 16,000 worshipers - many of them youth from schools around the nation - are expected to attend the opening Mass and all-night prayer Vigil and then join tens of thousands more the following day to participate in the national March for Life.

Chair of the bishops' Committee on Pro-Life Activities, Cardinal Justin Rigali, Archbishop of Philadelphia, will be the principal celebrant and homilist at the Vigil Mass, concelebrated by his fellow cardinals and hundreds of the nation's bishops and priests.

For the first time there will be two overflow masses this year at the same time as the basilica mass. Attendance the past few years has reached the limit of the basilica. A second Vigil for Life mass will be celebrated at St. Vincent de Paul Chapel, which is also on the CUA campus (can accommodate about 400 - see map at http://welcome.cua.edu/CUAMap.pdf). The third mass will be at Notre Dame Chapel on the Trinity College campus not far from Catholic University of America. The chapel can accommodate from 700 to 800. The mass there will be celebrated by Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann of Kansas City.

After the Opening Mass at the basilica there will be confessions, a National Rosary for Life, Night Prayer according to the Byzantine Rite, and holy hours from midnight until 6 a.m. led by seminarians from across the country. The Basilica and The Catholic University of America will host up to 1,600 pilgrims overnight.

On January 22, the morning of the March for Life, the National Shrine will also host Morning Prayer at 6:30 a.m. and a closing Mass of Penance and Prayer at 7:30 a.m. Bishop Paul Loverde of the Diocese of Arlington, Virginia, will be the principal celebrant and homilist.

The National Prayer Vigil for Life is co-sponsored by the Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), The Catholic University of America, and the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. More information is available at: http://usccb.org/prolife/prayervigil

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US Bishops to Obama: "We will consistently defend the fundamental right to life"

WASHINGTON, January 16, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The following are excerpts from the January 13 letter of Cardinal Francis George of Chicago writing in his capacity as President of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops to President-elect Barack Obama:

"We stand firm in our support for marriage which is a faithful, exclusive, lifelong union of a man and a woman and must remain such in law. In a manner unlike any other relationship, marriage makes a unique and irreplaceable contribution to the common good of society, especially through the procreation and education of children. No other kinds of personal relationships can be justly made equivalent to the commitment of a man and a woman in marriage."

"Most fundamentally, we will work to protect the lives of the most vulnerable and voiceless members of the human family, especially unborn children and those who are disabled or terminally ill. We will consistently defend the fundamental right to life from conception to natural death. Opposed to abortion as the direct killing of innocent human life, we will encourage one and all to seek common ground that will reduce the number of abortions in morally sound ways that affirm the dignity of pregnant women and their unborn children. We will oppose legislative and other measures to expand abortion. We will work to retain essential, widely supported policies which show respect for unborn life, protect the conscience rights of health care providers and other Americans, and prevent government funding and promotion of abortion. The Hyde amendment and other provisions which for many years have prevented federal funding of abortion have a proven record of reducing abortions. Efforts to force Americans to fund abortions with their tax dollars would pose a serious moral challenge and jeopardize the passage of essential health care reform."

See the full letter online here:
http://www.usccb.org/comm/archives/2009/09-013.shtml

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Pro-Life Lawyers Continue Battle for Illinois Parental Consent Law Enforcement

 By Kathleen Gilbert

CHICAGO, January 16, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - An Illinois Federal Circuit Court heard arguments from lawyers with the Chicago-based Thomas More Law Society (TMS) this week as they continue to challenge an injunction barring enforcement of the state's parental notification law for minors seeking an abortion.

TMS Chief Counsel Thomas Brejcha argued against the ACLU in Chicago's Seventh Circuit court Wednesday that Illinois' long-inactive parental notification law should be allowed to stop cycles of sexual abuse by safeguarding minors from being coerced by sexual predators into having abortions without telling their parents.

Though Illinois law currently requires parental consent before a minor can obtain an abortion, the law has not been enforced since 1995, when a federal court issued an injunction signed by pro-abortion governor James Edgar. The injunction stated that the law should remain inactive due to the lack of provision for an appeals process in extraordinary cases.

However, the Illinois Supreme Court refused to correct the technicality, and the law remained in limbo until a newly reconstituted Supreme Court, whose judges had all been replaced except one, issued the needed appeals process rules three years ago.

Since then, the ACLU has defended the legal gag with several arguments, the latest of which claims that the state has no authority to transfer consent to the minor in any event - reasoning Brejcha called "hogwash."

"Illinois law is specific that a pregnant minor can consent to any medical procedure" having been deemed mature enough, Brejcha explained to LifeSiteNews.com.  "She could agree to have heart surgery without her parents having any say in it."  Brejcha is now appealing with state Attorney General Lisa Madigan to overturn the court ruling that favored the ACLU argument. 

The TMS lawyer said the case had a "special poignancy and significance" for Midwest pro-lifers.

"Our state has become a 'safe haven' for abortion-minded predators (and boyfriends' parents) who whisk girls into our state - so far, with utter impunity - to evade their own states' parental notice or consent laws," Brejcha told LifeSiteNews, adding that Illinois is the only state in the Midwest with no active law protecting parents' right to notification of their child's abortion. 

Brejcha called the recent delays "unconscionable," and lamented the fact that a law that could have saved countless young mothers and unborn lives from violence, though "on the books," has yet to be enforced, thanks to irresponsible public officials.   

"Illinois is getting quite a reputation of dereliction of duty," said Brejcha.  "This is just a different sort of dereliction."

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Wisconsin High School Features In-Depth Homosexual Indoctrination Regimen

By Kathleen Gilbert

ELKHORN, Wisconsin, January 16, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In an effort to combat "homophobia," a Wisconsin public school teacher implemented a 38-day regimen explicitly designed to change the minds of students who did not view homosexuality as equal to heterosexuality, reports the Illinois Family Institute (see: http://www.illinoisfamily.org/news/contentview.asp?c=34214).

11-th grade English teacher Sarah Arnold says she was inspired to create the curriculum, entitled "Exposing Hidden Homophobia," when she heard an "anti-gay undertone" in students' conversations, which included making fun of "anything that defied gender stereotype," according to an article printed in the pro-homosexual publication by the Southern Poverty Law Center "Teaching Tolerance."

"Some people would say we don't have a wide demographic variety here," Arnold said of the mostly white Elkhorn Area High School. "It's more accurate to say that we have demographics that aren't acknowledged."

The program Arnold developed included "in-depth exploration of depictions" of homosexuality in mass media; several homosexual-themed films, documentaries, books and novels; internet research on "the nature of homophobia"; and a "homophobia questionnaire" coupled with a "heterosexual questionnaire" designed to take questions "commonly asked of homosexuals and ask them of heterosexuals" - e.g., "When did you decide to become heterosexual?'"

Although students were reluctant and parents "balked," particularly Christian parents, Arnold would argue that the project supported "higher-order thinking skills" because students were asked to perform such tasks as assembling and presenting portfolios of their research into homosexual culture and media. 

The article claims that, thanks to the program, students began to adopt a more favorable view of homosexuality, as evidenced by portfolio essays and an increased membership in the school's Gay-Straight Alliance.

Colleen Rafter, principal of Raritan High School in Hazlet, N.J., said she convinced the English department in her school to adopt a homosexuality program similar to Arnold's, according to the article.

"We really want to make a change in how people think and act," Rafter said. "I will try to be more brave on these issues myself."

The article then provides resources and lesson plans for other public school teachers to use, including shortened versions of Arnold's "Hidden Homophobia Unit." 

Laurie Higgins of the Illinois Family Institute (IFI) said she was "speechless" when she learned of the curriculum.

"Wisconsin public schools are permitting radical ideologues to use public money to promote their subversive, unproven moral conclusions and political goals about homosexuality," said Higgins in an IFI article.  "These propagandists, who should be teaching history or literature or writing, are instead pursuing their illegitimate goals of transforming the views of other people's children on the contentious issue of homosexuality."

Higgins lamented the fact that English teachers in particular are given leeway, based on their ability to choose topics, to advance their personal beliefs through their choice of curriculum.

"Arnold, like countless other English teachers, bases her text selections on whether the ideas conform to and advance her socio-political goals and her particular moral convictions," said Higgins.  "And she's doing this with public money."

To contact Elkhorn high school:
Tina Bosworth, principal
482 E. Geneva St.
Elkhorn, WI 53121
[Tel] (262) 723-4920
[Fax] (262) 723-8092

To read the "Teaching Tolerance" article, go to: http://www.tolerance.org/teach/magazine/grant.jsp?p=0&is=44

To view the "Hidden Homophobia Unit" curriculum content, go to: http://www.tolerance.org/teach/activities/activity.jsp?ar=1017

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LifeSiteNews.com NewsBytes for January 17, 2009

Compiled by Steve Jalsevac

* Disclaimer: The linked items below or the websites at which they are located do not necessarily represent the views of LifeSiteNews.com. They are presented only for your information.

LIFE ISSUES

Nation's First Government-Funded Abortion Alternatives Program Serves Over 150,000 Women Since 1995
http://www.christiannewswire.com/news/802899137.html

Genetic tests for all - the new approach to preventive medicine
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article5485233.ece

Canadian MP Rod Bruinooge: Status quo on abortion not good enough
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/letters_to_the_editor/Have_Your_Say0110...

Abortion Past: The untold story of how movement shifted focus, changed its image, and saved lives by Marvin Olasky
http://www.worldmag.com/articles/14862

Having babies is... SEXIST!!!
http://wizbangblog.com/content/2009/01/11/having-babies-is-sexist.php

Couples Tempted by IVF Face a Number of Moral Dilemmas
http://www.salvomag.com/new/articles/salvo6/6bluett.php

Take Part in CWA of Georgia's FOCA Walk-in/Phone-in on Thursday, January 22, 2009
http://www.cwfa.org/articles/16241/FIELD/life/index.htm

The Problem of "Biological Colonialism"
http://www.wesleyjsmith.com/blog/2009/01/problem-of-biological-colonialism.html

Chinese women oppose one-child-policy, want more children
http://www.asianews.it/index.php?l=en&art=14234&size=A

The Death Bureaucracy Begins in Washington State
http://www.wesleyjsmith.com/blog/2009/01/let-death-bureaucracy-begin-in.html


US POLITICS

Pro-Lifers Brace for New Congress - 111th Congress Promises Abortion-Funding Battles On Top of Economic Crisis - “It’s getting back to pure, organic grassroots politics, which is the upside of losing miserably.”
http://www.ncregister.com/site/article/16996/

President-elect Barack Obama is horribly reminiscent of Tony Blair in 1997. He may be a fantastic guy, and look great, but he will bring a ragbag of scuzzballs, communists and eco-loons to power with him - The Spectator
http://www.spectator.co.uk/i//the-magazine/features/3233531/i-have-seen-your-fut...

New Hampshire bishop reflects on Inauguration’s ironies of racial advancement and pro-life setbacks
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=14794

Barack Shuns Catholic Prayers
http://www.ncregister.com/daily/obama_shuns_catholic_prayers/

Prof. Kmiec accuses ‘right wing’ Catholic bloggers of character assassination - Blames them for potentially “poisoning” Vatican-Obama relationship
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=14755

Rick Warren praises Obama for inviting homosexual bishop
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Church/Default.aspx?id=387426

Bishop Robinson said he had been reading inaugural prayers through history and was “horrified” at how “specifically and aggressively Christian they were.”
http://www.weeklystandard.com/weblogs/TWSFP/2009/01/gay_bishop_may_pray_to_the_g...

Obama climate czar has socialist ties - Group sees 'global governance' as solution
Mrs. Browner's name and biography removed from Socialist International's Web page
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jan/12/obama-climate-czar-has-socialist...

Jindal to GOP: Repent! by Cal Thomas - "We've got to consistently oppose corruption in our own party," said Jindal. "It's not enough to make excuses that 'the other side does it.'"
http://townhall.com/columnists/CalThomas/2009/01/13/jindal_to_gop_repent!?page=1

With the humiliating failures of the prolife cause, it's difficult to see how the 2008 election could not be considered a referendum on abortion.
http://www.newoxfordreview.org/note.jsp?did=0109-notes-where

Palin Fascination, Scorn Shows No Sign of Receding
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/01/13/palin-fascination-scorn-shows-sign-re...

Olbermann: Unlike Palin, Pitbull Can Be Trained to ‘Occasionally Keep Its Mouth Closed’
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/brad-wilmouth/2009/01/14/olbermann-unlike-palin-pit...


MORE ON FR. NEUHAUS

See Excellent 10 minute Dec. 2007 CBC television piece on Neuhaus
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFwMZKtHiaE

Father Neuhaus died just before the start of a new presidential administration that he anticipated with foreboding by Rev. George W. Rutler
http://insidecatholic.com/Joomla/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&...

Richard John Neuhaus, A gaping hole in the public square by Joseph Bottum
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/015/991hhmaf.asp

Fr. Neuhaus on the "reckless use" of the term "homophobia"
http://insightscoop.typepad.com/2004/2009/01/fr-neuhaus-on-the-reckless-use-of-t...

Neuhaus the Educator
http://www.ncregister.com/daily/neuhaus_the_educator/


RELIGION

Vatican suggests excommunicating Mexican drug traffickers
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-vatican-mexico13-2009jan13,0...

New chair of US bishops' National Review Board is Obama donor
http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=1607

In Jesuit magazine, Chief-Rabbi of Venice: Pope has cancelled 50 years of Church History
http://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2009/01/in-jesuit-magazine-chief-rabbi-of.html

UK Roman Catholic church marriages fall by 24pc since 2000
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/religion/4176963/Roman-Catholic-churc...

John Smeaton Birthday wish for Notorious Sir Stephen Wall, Cardinal Murphy O'Connor's former adviser
http://spuc-director.blogspot.com/2009/01/birthday-wish-for-sir-stepen-wall.html

Cormac Card. Murphy-O'Connor's Diocese of Westminster is forcing London Catholic school to loosen admissions criteria so the school can no longer give preference to children from practising Catholic families.
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/damian_thompson/blog/2009/01/13/catholic_lefties_wo...

UK Catholic parents call Catholic Education Service "arrogant" and "undemocratic"
http://spuc-director.blogspot.com/2009/01/catholic-parents-call-catholic.html

U.S. Bishops’ pro-life office corrects ‘misleading’ FOCA novena message
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=14766

The Economist: Darwin is God!
http://insightscoop.typepad.com/2004/2009/01/the-economist-darwin-is-god.html

Too much Eckhart takes its Tolle...... on the brain cells.
http://insightscoop.typepad.com/2004/2009/01/too-much-eckhart-takes-its-tolle.ht...

London Muslim protesters attack police: "Run, you cowards! Kuffar!"
http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/024365.php

Oslo: Jihadists use children as human shields during violent anti-Israel demonstration
http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/024357.php

Europe Reimports Jew Hatred - The mythical Arab Street now reaches deep into Paris, London, Berlin and Madrid - Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123180033807075069.html

London demonstrators against Israel depict "the Jew" eating dead babies
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/damian_thompson/blog/2009/01/14/london_demonstrator...

Muslims to apologise for prayers held in front of Milan cathedral
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jan/09/muslim-prayers-milan-cathedral

The head of the Jesuit order for the Northwest on Thursday denied the allegation in a new lawsuit that Alaska became a magnet or hiding place for problem priests
http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/story/655551.html

Christian refuses to drive "No God" bus
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5g2AMj4DnuWJpC3gMtGKVbiQDmbng


HOMOSEXUALITY

Tom Hanks, New McCarthyite - says supporters of California's Proposition 8, defining marriage as between one man and one woman, are "un-American." Hanks is a producer for the HBO series "Big Love,"  which promotes polyamory by normalizing it.
http://insidecatholic.com/Joomla/index.php?option=com_myblog&Itemid=127

Family advocacy group announces Pepsi boycott
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=379832

SPIDER-MAN creator Stan Lee is to unveil the world’s first gay superhero.
http://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/article2128530.ece

Gay Marriage Advocates have posted maps online that very clearly show the addresses of those who donated money to the Prop 8 cause (supporting traditional marriage), including even small donors who gave $50 or less.
http://www.kxmc.com/News/Nation/319269.asp


MISCELLANEOUS

Blair reappears as choice to be EU president
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/c919a4b4-e04a-11dd-9ee9-000077b07658,Authorised=false.ht...

New poll shows 64 percent of UK voters want looser relationship with EU
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/4214369/Loosen-Britains-ties...

Will German homeschooling parents end up behind bars? Appeals court tosses 1st sentence, orders new trial
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=85747

Value of 2008 Bailouts Exceeds Combined Costs of All Major U.S. Wars
http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=40964

Economists Say Bush 'Chucked' Free Market Principles Long Before Financial Crisis
http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=41867

CNN Segment Warns of the Coming Ice Age
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/jeff-poor/2009/01/14/cnn-segment-warns-coming-ice-a...

Kissinger Again Calls for a New World Order
http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/01/12/opinion/edkissinger.php

Ten of the world's top banks accused of laundering money for Iran
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/us_world/2009/01/10/2009-01-10_ten_of_the_worlds...

How the Canadian public lost faith in politics - Negative campaign, incivility behind voter disillusionment
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/public+lost+faith+politics/1167266/story.html

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