Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Statues can Build or Destroy the Concept of God in our Souls

Humans beings are made up of body and soul. That is why we need concrete examples or parables to grasp things that we cannot grasp by theory alone.
And human nature longs for a good fit between ideas and the symbols that match those ideas.
This explains the role of statues in the Catholic religion. They provide us with something concrete to match the idea we have in our minds, to complete, for example, the idea we have of the Sacred Persons of Our Lord and Our Lady.
This also explains why, among other reasons, Our Lord wished to stamp His Face on the Holy Shroud, which is perhaps the greatest relic in Christendom after the True Cross.

When we contemplate the Sacred Face, we see most precious elements to grasp the Majesty and Severity of Our Lord, as well as the seriousness with which we should consider His Passion, Death and Resurrection.

Above is a statue of Our Lord, which is beautiful yet inferior to the Holy Shroud in strength. This statue helps us understand the goodness and patience that Our Lord has towards us sinners. It helps us to hope for Our Lord's forgiveness, and, therefore, for the day when He will receive us by His mercy into Heaven for all eternity.

This statue strengthens and confirms our faith.

Can we say the same about the statue shown below?

Who would dare say this statue strengthens our faith? That it helps to make our idea of Our Lord more grand and majestic? That it attracts us to Him? That it gives us the desire to stay at His side?

Absolutely not!

At least for me, this statue is repugnant. It stifles in my soul the true and authentic concept of Our Lord Jesus Christ. It is attempt to smother my filial piety and adoration for Our Lord in the tabernacle of my soul.

By making these comments, I am not judging anyone. This is a simple commentary on a statue made by human hands. It brings me to conclude that it has an effect on my soul, which is the opposite of what it should have.

Where is the statue from?

It is from the main altar in the new basilica of Fatima, Portugal. At the site where Our Lady appeared six times. Where God worked the Miracle of the Sun, with the intention to bring mankind to conversion, to make us listen to Our Lady's message, and to make us love Our Lord more and more.

This statue is a sad contradiction with the Fatima message.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

This commentary was taken and adapted and translated by me from:

http://resistirnafe.blogspot.com/2009/04/imagens-pro-e-contra-deus.html

Friday, June 26, 2009

Modesty of Dress and the Love of God: An Effective Way to Defend the Family

by Luiz Sérgio Solimeo
"I love vulgarity. Good taste is death, vulgarity is life."[1] These words by English fashion designer Mary Quant, who took credit for inventing the miniskirt and hot pants, reveal one of the most important, though rarely pointed out, aspects of the “fashion revolution” that started in the sixties: vulgarity.

Indeed, fashions have increasingly tended toward vulgarity. It is a vulgarity that tramples upon not only good taste and decorum but which reflects a mentality opposed to all order and discipline and to every kind of restraint, be it esthetic, moral or social, and which ultimately suggests a completely “liberated” standard of behavior.

Are Comfort and Practicality Supreme Criteria?

The rationale for introducing ever shorter skirts was “to be practical and liberating, allowing women the ability to run for a bus.”[2] The notion that comfort, practicality and freedom of movement must be the only criteria for dress has led to a breakdown in the general standard of sobriety and elegance, not to speak of the norms of modesty.

Thus, casual dress, being more comfortable and practical, increasingly becomes the norm regardless of people’s sex, age and circumstances. Jeans and the T-shirt (formerly a piece of underwear) became part of common attire.

Though one can wear less formal clothes at times of leisure, these clothes should not convey the impression that one is abandoning one’s dignity and seriousness. They should not give the idea that one is actually on vacation from one's principles.

In the past, even leisure dress, though more comfortable, maintained the dignity that one should never abandon.

It is curious to note that many companies require employees to wear business suits to convey an image of seriousness and responsibility. This is proof that clothes do transmit a message. They can express seriousness and responsibility or on the other hand, immaturity and a carelessness.

Unisex Garb

The premise that comfort and practicality must preside over the choice of clothes had yet another consequence: clothes no longer reflect one's identity. In other words, they no longer indicate a person’s social position, profession, or even more fundamental characteristics such as sex and age.

Thus, unisex garb has become widespread: jeans and shorts have come to be worn by people of both sexes and all generations. Young men and women, the youth and the aged, single and married, teachers and students, children and adults, all mix together and wear one and the same clothing which no longer expresses that which they are, think or desire.

The Habit Does Not Make the Monk but Identifies Him

One could object that “the habit does not make the monk.” The fact that a person dresses with distinction and elegance does not mean, of itself, that he has good principles and good behavior. Likewise, the fact that a person always wears casual dress does not necessarily indicate that he has bad principles or a reprehensible conduct. At first sight, the argument appears logical and even obvious. However, analyzed in depth, it does not stand.

True, the habit does not make the monk. Nevertheless, it is a strong element that identifies him. Furthermore, it influences not only the way people look at the monk but the way he looks at himself. No one will deny that the loss of identity by many nuns and monks that took place over the last forty years was largely due to their shedding the traditional habits, which adequately expressed the spirit of poverty, chastity and obedience, as well as an ascetic lifestyle proper to consecrated persons.[3]

The Need for Coherence Between Dress and Convictions

Given the unity that exists in our tendencies, principles, convictions and behavior, the way we dress cannot fail to influence our mentality.

Wearing a certain type of clothing constitutes a form of behavior; and when clothing no longer adequately reflect our tendencies, principles and convictions, one’s mentality begins to undergo an imperceptible change to remain ‘in sync’ with the way one presents oneself. This is because human reason, by the force of logic inherent in it, naturally seeks to establish consistency between thought and behavior.

This rule is magnificently summed up in the famous phrase of French writer Paul Bourget: "One must live as one thinks, under pain of sooner or later ending up thinking as one has lived."

The process of transformation or erosion of principles can be slowed down or impeded by a person’s religious fervor, deeply rooted tendencies or ideas, and other factors. However, if inconsistency between behavior - reflected in the way one dresses - and one’s principles and convictions is not eliminated, the process of erosion, no matter how slow, becomes inexorable.

The beautiful, simple, and modest dress of the Belle Epoque.

Living Faith, Inadequate Clothing

This subtle erosion is often manifested by a loss of sensitivity regarding the fundamental points of one’s mentality. One example would be the respect one must have for the sacred.

In some way, concessions to the principle that comfort must be the only rule of dress have ended up by giving a casual note to more serious and holy activities. How can one explain, for example, that persons who have true faith in the Real Presence of Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, and who make admirable sacrifices to frequent perpetual adoration, nevertheless see no contradiction in presenting themselves before the Blessed Sacrament wearing shorts as if they were on a picnic?

The same person who shows up thus dressed for perpetual adoration would never don those clothes for an audience, say, with Queen Elizabeth II. This contradiction shows how, though the person has maintained his faith, to a certain degree the notion of the majesty of the Sacrament of the Altar -- the Real Presence -- has vanished from his soul.

Egalitarianism...

There is a general tendency in our times to establish a most radical egalitarianism at all levels of culture and social relations between the sexes, and even, in the tendency of egalitarianianism, between men and animals.[4]

In dress, this egalitarianism is manifested by the growing proletarianization, the establishment of unisex fashions and the abolition of differences between generations. The same garb can be worn by anybody no matter his position, age or circumstance (e.g. in a trip, a religious or civil ceremony).

Chaos reigns in the domains of fashion today. It is often difficult to distinguish, by their clothes, men from women, parents from children, a religious ceremony from a picnic. Haircuts and hairstyles follow the same tendency to confound age and sex and to break down standards of elegance and good taste.

...That Leads to Infantilization

One of the aspects that stand out the most in the modern dictates of fashion is the desire to create an illusion of eternal youth, even perpetual adolescence with no responsibility, a phenomenon that has been called the “Peter Pan Syndrome."[5]

Modern fashion shows a tendency to infantilize people. A Brazilian fashion critic thus expressed herself: “For a long time now, we have seen on catwalks, both international and domestic, fashions that should be displayed at the Children’s Expo, such is the level of infantilization they suggest. Stylists over 25 years old were designing (and wearing) clothes that could be worn by children in a day care center.”[6]

Modesty is Essential to Chastity

In addition to the extravagant, egalitarian and infantilizing tendency of modern fashion, one needs to consider the attack on virtue and the complete lack of modesty.

The human body has its beauty, and this beauty attracts us. Due to the disorder which Original Sin left in man, the disorder of concupiscence, the delight in contemplating bodily beauty, and particularly of the feminine body can lead to temptation and sin.

That is not to say that some parts of the body are good and can be shown and others are bad and must be covered. Such a statement is absurd and was never part of Church doctrine. All parts of the body are good, for the body is good as a whole, having been created by God. However, not all body parts are equal, and some excite the sexual appetite more than others. Thus, exposing those parts through semi-nudity or risqué low cut dresses or wearing clothes so tight as to accentuate one’s anatomy poses a grave risk of causing excitation, particularly in men in relation to women.

Therefore, clothes must cover that which must be covered and make stand out that which can be emphasized. To cover a woman’s face, like Muslims do, shows well the lack of equilibrium of a religion that does not understand true human dignity. The face, the noblest part of the body because it more perfectly reflects the spiritual soul, is precisely the part that stands out the most in the traditional habits of nuns.

Just as masculine clothes should emphasize the manly aspect proper to man, feminine fashion should manifest grace and delicacy. And in this sense, having longer hair is a natural adornment to frame a woman’s face.

Immorality in Fashions and Destruction of the Family

Garb that does not show a person’s self-respect as an intelligent and free being (and, through baptism, as a son or daughter of God and a temple of the Holy Ghost), contributes to a large extent to the present destruction of the family. It does this by favoring temptations against purity. It also does this by its vulgarity and childishness that corrodes the notion of the seriousness of life and the need for ascesis (self-discipline), all of which are fundamental elements that maintain family cohesion and stability.

The struggle for the restoration of the family by opposing abortion, contraception, and homosexuality will be much more effective if done together with efforts to restore sobriety, modesty and elegance in dress.

Dress and the Love of God

The role of clothing is not only to protect the body from the elements but also to serve as adornment and symbolize someone’s functions, characteristics and mentality. Garb must be not only dignified and decent but also as beautiful and elegant as possible (which requires more good taste than money).

If the “way of beauty” leads us to God by seeing Him as the exemplary cause of Creation, the “way of ugliness” turns us away from the Creator and places us on the slippery slope of sin. That is why ugliness is the very symbol of sin and is so well expressed by the expression “ugly as sin.”

Footnotes:

  1. Mary Quant talks to Alison Adburgham, Tuesday, October 10, 1967, http://century.guardian.co.uk/1960-1969/Story/0,6051,106475,00.html.
  2. Cf., http://www.spiritus-temporis.com/mary-quant/
  3. Fortunately, for some time now there has been a wholesome reaction against the abandonment of the traditional habit, a fact that has brought an increase in the number of vocations. According to a recently published book, “communities of sisters whose members wear an identifiable religious habit” are the most flourishing and attract young women the most. (Book says young women attracted to orders whose members wear habits, CNS, http://www.catholicnews.com/data/briefs/cns/20090526.htm).
  4. Cf. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira, Revolution and Counter-Revolution, http://www.tfp.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=691&Itemid=107.
  5. Cf. Dr. Dan Kiley, The Peter Pan Syndrome - Men Who Have Never Grown Up, Dodd, Mead & Company, New York, 1983.
  6. Gloria Kalil, Os kidults e a moda Alô Chics! http://chic.ig.com.br/site/secao.php?secao_id=1&materia_id=867.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Written In Stone: Dates of TFP Call to Chivalry Camps

It's official. The dates for our 2009 TFP Call to Chivalry Camps have actually long been set. I am now just getting around to announcing it. I am told there are still places available for young men aged 13-18. The first camp is in Louisiana from June 30-July 10. That's next week!

The second camp is set in Pennsylvania at the TFP-staffed St. Louis de Montfort Academy north of Harrisburg. It is set for August 9-20.

Here are some links that give you an idea of what to expect.
Louisiana
Pennsylvania

If you are interested in the camps, please call Cesar Franco at 717-521-8013 or email him at cfranco@tfp.org.



The theme of this year's camps is the Cristeros in Mexico.

Don't miss this opportunity.
(Click the rosary picture to read the caption)

On Christ the King


The following quote of Prof. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira is from the book, Crusader of the 20th Century by Prof. Roberto de Mattei.

"A heavenly King above all, But a King whose government is already exercised in this world. A King who by right possesses the supreme and full authority. The King makes laws, commands and judges. His sovereignty becomes effective when his subjects recognize his rights, and obey his laws. Jesus Christ has rights over us all: He made laws, he governs the world and will judge men. It is our responsibility to make the kingdom of Christ effective by obeying its laws.

This kingdom is an individual fact, if it is considered in regards to the obedience every loyal soul gives to Our Lord Jesus Christ. In fact, the kingdom of Christ is exercised over souls; and therefore the soul of each one of us is a part of the territory under the jurisdiction of Christ the King. The kingdom of Christ will be a social fact if human societies obey him. It can therefore be said that the kingdom of Christ becomes effective on earth, in its individual and social sense, when men in the intimate of their souls and in their actions conform to the law of Christ and societies do so in their institutions, laws, customs, cultural and artistic aspects."

Monday, June 22, 2009

Why the Lion?

By Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira

I chose the lion for the standard of the TFP because the lion always reminds me of a principle which I insist on defending at every opportunity. It is the principle of legitimacy. It means that power, influence, wisdom, or glory should reside in the people or institutions who have the right to them. This, of course, is a very summarized way of defining the principle of legitimacy.

Now, obviously, what the lion is among animals, the rose is among flowers. The rose is naturally the queen of flowers. Just place a truly beautiful rose among any other species of flower — even among orchids — and the rose outshines them all. The rose is indisputably superior. Nature is full of symbolism for those with eyes to see.

image

Put a lion among all the other animals. They are eclipsed!

image

The elephant may be bigger, but it is a brutish mass.

image

The camel may be a great walker, but it walks with the gait of someone bearing a heavy load, not with the elegance of a lion. The lion bounds, the camel plods.

image

How about a fox? For sure the fox is smart. But he is also fragile. Unless he can outwit his opponent he is lost. What about all the rest of the animals? Each has its own special quality, but they don’t represent that ensemble of qualities that makes the lion a lion.

image

Look at the lion: he is king. He knows he has the rights of a king. He commands; he has the strength of a king; he rules.

Caravan Pictures 029

For our standard it was obvious that the lion should have a kingly color. The proper color for regal things is gold. A silver lion would be a disappointment. A golden lion — how natural!

Behind is a red field. Red is the color of battle. But what about a blue background?

I hesitated between blue and red, but not for long. Artistically, I suppose gold is more beautiful on blue than on red. The combination of a well-chosen blue with gold is simply lovely. But blue somewhat neutralizes the liveliness of gold. And I did not desire our campaign standards to be placid. They need to symbolize our fight!

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A lion in Namibia. This file is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 License.

07. Camel Profile, near Silverton, NSW, 07.07.2007.jpg. Dromedary camel in outback Australia, near Silverton, NSW.

Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled "GNU Free Documentation License".

Friday, June 19, 2009

The Pro-Abortion Movement’s Best Kept Secret

Written by Michael Whitcraft

In the wake of George Tiller’s killing, many pundits and pro-abortionists have tried to project the shadow of his assassination onto the entire pro-life movement.

A June 2 Associated Press (AP) article titled: “Suspect in doctor killing railed against abortion” exemplifies the attempt. Although the AP professes to be an unbiased news source, the only pro-lifers interviewed expressed support for Tiller’s slaying and a substantial part of the story outlined the increased security measures abortion mills will now assume.

Although every mainstream pro-life organization issued immediate condemnations of the killing, the article lacked a single quote from any of these statements. The only recognition of the pro-life movement’s rejection of the killing was a paragraph that stated:

Police said it appears the gunman acted alone, and some anti-abortion groups quickly distanced themselves from the killing. Outside Tiller's clinic, the Kansas Coalition for Life placed signs saying members had prayed for Tiller's change of heart, "not his murder."[1]
Britain’s liberal newspaper The Guardian was even more biased. A June 5 story titled: “On the front line in the US abortion war,” is not an objective representation of the struggle against abortion, as the title suggests, but an interview with and character sketch of Georgian extremist Neal Horsley who justifies violence against abortionists and even honors the perpetrators of such violence, dubbing them: “soldiers in the war against terror.”

Worse yet, rather than admit that Horsley does not represent the pro-life movement, author Chris McGreal shockingly affirmed:

Horsley has been at the forefront of an unrelenting campaign against abortion that straddles the blurry line between the mainstream movement characterising itself as "pro-life" and men like Scott Roeder who has been charged with Tiller's murder.[2]

Meanwhile, the feminist pro-abortion group National Organization for Women (NOW) decried the killing as “the most recent in a string of murders in the service of the anti-abortion cause,” and called upon the US Departments of Justice and Homeland Security to “root out and prosecute as domestic terrorists and violent racketeers the criminal enterprise that has organized and funded criminal acts for decades.” They urged the government to put “the full resources of their two departments behind that effort.”[3]

National Abortion Federation (NAF) president Vicki Saporta went so far as to dub the last thirty years a “reign of terror” against abortionists.[4]

Similarly, late-term abortionist LeRoy Carhart called on the government to define as hate crimes all efforts of “anti-choice domestic terrorists” and likened planting crosses in the yards of abortion-performing doctors to actions of the KKK.

Warren Hern, another late-term abortionist from Colorado, told London’s Guardian that pro-lifers constitute:

a national terrorist, totalitarian, fascist movement that is violent, well organised and well armed and they do not accept the basic premises of American society. Everything they've done for the last 35 years is designed to animate, to inspire, to give encouragement to anti-abortion assassins and anti-abortion violence.[5]
Indeed, the pro-abortion movement and leftist media are intent on equating the vast majority of peaceful and legal pro-lifers with savage terrorists. As conservative columnist Michelle Maklin aptly described it: “When a right-wing Christian vigilante kills, millions of fingers pull the trigger.”[6]

However, is this demonizing justified? Are pro-lifers really the violent people they are being made out to be? And what about pro-abortion violence, does it exist?

Skewed Statistics
Skewed Statistics and Misrepresentations

To track pro-lifers’ “offenses,” pro-abortion groups tally acts of “violence and disruptive actions” the former allegedly perpetrate in the United States and Canada. The NAF publishes a table of the data they accumulate.[7]

At first glance the numbers are impressive, indeed. According to the chart, the total disruptions and acts of violence since 1973 is a full 156,961. However, a closer look reveals that 141,837 of these incidents are peaceful picketing of abortion mills, 13,995 are “hate mail” or “harassing” telephone calls – which certainly include many peaceful and legal actions –, 1,993 are trespassing violations and 1,400 are generically termed “vandalism.”

The section of the NAF chart on violence is even more misleading. Under this heading it lists trespassing violations, vandalism, invasion, threats and butyric acid attacks. The latter may look violent at first glance. However, butyric acid is a harmless but foul-smelling liquid. Thus, the frightful sounding “butyric acid attacks” amount to nothing more than the use of stink bombs. Admittedly this costs money to clean up, but to classify it as “violence” is simply dishonest.

Furthermore, a 1995 Life Research Institute study investigated all available claims of pro-life violence and uncovered major inconsistencies. The study is titled: Abortion-Related Violence and Alleged Violence and is readily available online.[8]

It shows that many claims made by NAF and other groups are simply not substantiated nor is any evidence provided. Readers are expected to accept many incidents without proof.

Furthermore, an investigation of the more detailed “offenses” reveals major flaws. For instance, pro-lifers are assumed as the culprits of any act committed against an abortionist or even near an abortion mill.

Other examples include:

The 1993 murder of abortion doctor Wayne Patterson is categorized misleadingly as a murder that forced the closing of two abortion facilities. The truth is that Wayne Patterson was robbed and killed by an unknown assailant while leaving a pornographic movie theater. What his killing has to do with the pro-life movement is not explained.[9]

On October 21, the Feminist Women’s Health Center in Redding California burnt down. The event and was designated a pro-life arson, despite police reports that identified an electric fan as the cause of the blaze.[10]

In June of 1990, the Minnesota director of Planned Parenthood was supposedly assaulted, although he escaped the event without a scratch. His assailant, who certainly attacked other clinic employees, was an escapee from a mental institution. It was proven in court that he had no links to any pro-life organization.[11]

Those Who Live in Glass Houses…

In addition to greatly exaggerating (and even inventing) incidents of pro-life violence, the pro-abortion movement is deathly silent about the violence from within its ranks against pro-lifers.

In fact, the vast majority of active pro-lifers have endured acts of pro-abortionist violence. A common example is abortion mill workers who try to run over pro-lifers demonstrating in front of clinics.[12] Dr. Tiller, himself, ran over a pro-lifer and rammed a policeman on a motorcycle in a 1989 incident at his Wichita clinic.[13]
Human Life International's logo

Pro-life organization Human Life International (HLI) has documented cases of pro-abortion violence for years. Their research is published online at: http://abortionviolence.com/ and on a blog titled: Tree in the Sea (see: http://tree-in-the-sea.blogspot.com/2008/05/pro-abortion-violence.html). The latter has a list that is over 100 pages long and contains more than 2,000 cases.

For example:

Seven-year-old Ekaternia Engelke was kneeling in prayer at a Wisconsin abortion mill when leftist Catherine Doyle approached and screamed profanities at the little girl. When the latter replied: “You are killing babies!” the former kicked little Ekaterina in the face, injuring her. Afterwards, a hotline for Doyle’s pro-abortion group, Milwaukee Clinic Protection Coalition, instructed fellow pro-abortion activists to “brush up on their football skills.”

Despite numerous witnesses, charges were never brought against Doyle. Incidentally, her sister was Wisconsin Attorney General at the time of the attack.[14]

Worse yet, in Los Angeles, three pro-abortionists were arrested in 1989 for trying to burn down a church, packed with pro-lifers. Police also found concussion grenades underneath a speaker’s platform that was set up for a rally scheduled later in the day. There were 2,500 pro-lifers at the event.[15]

Senator Tommy Burks
In Tennessee, Byron Looper, pro-abortion candidate for the state senate, shot his pro-life opponent Senator Tommy Burks in the face, killing him. Afterwards, he bragged about the murder to his friend Joe Bond, saying: “I did it, man, I did it! I killed that dude.”[16]

Last, activist Eileen Orstein Janezic shot pro-life talk show host Jerry Simon at his home. She proceeded to hold the police at bay for six hours, while she recited quotations from Antoin LeVey’s Satanic Bible.[17]

These four events are merely the tip of the iceberg. There are literally thousands of documented cases of pro-abortion violence.[18] In fact, these substantiated incidents greatly outweigh the alleged acts committed by pro-lifers.

Denunciations and Silence

Furthermore, when an abortion opponent commits a violent crime, all mainstream pro-life organizations instantly condemn the act and reaffirm their commitment to engage only in peaceful activities.

Thus, when George Tiller was killed, immediately an ocean of rejection flooded from the pro-life community. Human Life International President, Father Thomas Euteneuer affirmed that Tiller’s killer “proved that he was no better than Tiller.”[19]

Likewise, American Life League executive director, Katie Walker, stated that Tiller’s killing defied the principles of the pro-life movement.[20] Pro-Life Action League President Joe Scheidler affirmed: “We deplore the killing of George Tiller on Sunday morning.” He also stated that his policy is to try and convert abortionists, not kill them.[21]

Tony Perkins, Family Research Council president, decried the murder saying: “We strongly condemn the actions taken today by this vigilante killer.”[22] Doctor James Dobson of Focus on the Family declared: “We are shocked by the murder of George Tiller, and we categorically condemn the act of vigilantism and violence that took his life.”[23]

Last, an Operation Rescue press release condemned the attack saying: “We denounce vigilantism and the cowardly act that took place this morning.”[24] (To read the American TFP denunciation of the murder of George Tiller, click here.) The list goes on and on.

However, when a pro-abortionist commits violent crime, abortion groups react at best with deafening silence.

When 69 year-old Ed Snell was counseling women entering Hillcrest Abortion Clinic in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania from atop his car, the boyfriend of a potential “client” became angry and threw him to the pavement below.[25]

Ed Snell talking with a TFP reporter.

The force of the fall was such that Mr. Snell was knocked unconscious. After being rushed to the hospital, doctors found he had two broken ribs, four fractured vertebrae, a cracked scapula and bleeding in the tissue between his skull and brain. Until they were able to stop this bleeding, doctors feared he would die.

Nevertheless, when the author called Hillcrest Abortion Clinic for a statement on the assault, a receptionist shouted: “He got what he deserved! He earned what he got!” then hung up the phone.

Additionally, the author’s research did not uncover a single condemnation of the attack from pro-abortion organizations. This research included searching the web sites of: NARAL, Center for Reproductive Rights, National Organization for Women (NOW), Catholics for a Free Choice, National Abortion Federation (NAF), Feminist Majority Foundation and Planned Parenthood.

Furthermore, the author checked the same web sites for a condemnation of the murders committed by Byron Looper and Eileen Orstein Janezic mentioned above. Not finding the slightest reference to either, he proceeded to write to each of these groups.

NAF responded immediately that, due to the “volume of inquiries” they receive, they are unable to answer questions. NOW sent him a membership form and neither NARAL, Center for Reproductive Rights nor Feminist Majority Foundation returned his email.

Shockingly, Catholics for a Free Choice and Planned Parenthood wrote back stating they had no knowledge of the murders and asked for more details. Catholics for a Free Choice never responded after receiving more information and Planned Parenthood Media Relations Specialist, Elizabeth Clark admitted: “I’ve had a couple of people in the National office check for statements, but there’s nothing in our records. It doesn’t look like we commented on these incidents.”[26]

The Emperor Has No Clothes

Despite everything, the media continue their biased emphasis on anti-abortion violence while underreporting the violent acts committed by abortionists. It is time for this to stop.

It is time for pro-lifers to raise their voices and point out that violence is the inevitable inheritance of those who favor the killing of mankind’s most innocent and defenseless. This message should be repeated at every chance, in all their publications and republished until the message sticks.

Only then will America view the issue without the blinders crafted by media intent on promoting a cause rather than reporting news. With the help of Divine Providence and a clear outlook this nation can overturn Roe v. Wade and once again defend the right to life of its most vulnerable citizens.

Footnotes:

  1. http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_16029/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=pr0NrgwF
  2. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jun/05/abortion-america-george-tiller
  3. http://www.now.org/press/06-09/06-01.html
  4. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HH6kxUJNlC8&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Eprochoice%2Eorg%2F&feature=player_embedded
  5. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jun/05/abortion-america-george-tiller
  6. http://michellemalkin.com/2009/06/03/mapping-the-climate-of-hate/
  7. http://www.prochoice.org/pubs_research/publications/downloads/about_abortion/violence_stats.pdf
  8. http://www.geocities.com/kekogut/miscellaneous/Jan1995.pdf
  9. Ibid. p. 46.
  10. Ibid. p. 50.
  11. Ibid. p. 70.
  12. The author has spoken to literally hundreds of pro-lifers who have experienced this violent form of intimidation, including his own sister.
  13. http://tree-in-the-sea.blogspot.com/2008/05/pro-abortion-violence.html
  14. Glenn Ellen Duncan. "The Shocking Violence Against Prolifers." Catholic Twin Circle, September 11, 1994, p. 11; "Pro-Abortion Violence: A Growing National Phenomenon." Life Advocate, July 1993, p. 10-15; "Pro-Choice, Anti-Child." ALL About Issues, July-August 1993, p. 26; "Second Special Prosecutor Appointed To Investigate Kicking Of Seven-Year-Old." The Wanderer, June 3, 1993, p. 6; Human Life Internationally ... News from the Branches Worldwide. "Milwaukee, Wisconsin." HLI Reports, August 1993, p. 10. Sources and story can be found at: http://tree-in-the-sea.blogspot.com/2008/05/pro-abortion-violence.html
  15. Ibid.
  16. "Pro-Life Democrat State Senator Killed in Shooting." Steven Ertelt's Pro-Life Infonet at http://www.prolifeinfo.org/infonet.html, October 23, 1998; The Tennessean, October 27, 1998; Mary Jo Denton. "Looper Enters Not Guilty Plea." Tennessee Herald-Citizen, February 6, 1999; Mary Jo Denton. "Looper Quoted: "I Killed that Dude"." Tennessee Herald-Citizen, November 24, 1998; Court TV's Crime Library at http://www.crimelibrary.com has a complete 17-part series on Looper's murder of Burks. Sources and story can be found at: http://abortionviolence.com/TN.HTM.
  17. World Magazine, September 18, 1993; "Pro-Life Leader, Pastor Murdered by Avowed Satanist." Life Advocate, November 1993, p. 7. Sources and story can be found at: http://abortionviolence.com/AL.HTM.
  18. Readers interested in seeing more examples are directed to: http://abortionviolence.com/ and http://tree-in-the-sea.blogspot.com/2008/05/pro-abortion-violence.html
  19. http://hli.org/index.php?option=com_acajoom&act=mailing&task=view&listid=2&mailingid=578
  20. http://all.org/article.php?id=11966
  21. http://prolifeaction.org/press/2009/0601.htm
  22. http://www.frc.org/pressrelease/frc-condemns-the-murder-of-george-tiller
  23. http://www2.focusonthefamily.com/press/pressreleases/A000001406.cfm
  24. http://www.operationrescue.org/category/press-releases/
  25. For details on the assault of Ed Snell, see: http://www.tfp.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=556&Itemid=28
  26. Quoted from an email Elizabeth Clark sent the author.