Obamacare’s Utopian Anti-Natalist Ideology

Written by Luiz Sérgio Solimeo
There is no question as to the desirability of an efficient, quick and humane health-care system that would cover everyone. However, common sense suggests and actual attempts made around the world to achieve such universal coverage have shown that it is nothing but a dream, an unattainable utopia.¹

The Dangers of Bureaucratizing Medicine
The more gigantic an organization becomes, the more its bureaucracy grows, driving itself away from those it should provide care for. Even worse, bureaucrats position themselves in the middle, making decisions for both doctors and patients. This massification of medical services runs counter to one of the most elementary principles of social life: the principle of subsidiarity.

The Principle Of Subsidiarity Is the Contrary of Socialism
According to this principle — which is contrary to socialism — what can be done by an individual or a smaller human group should not be assigned to or assumed by a larger group.

The principle of subsidiarity is born from the fact that man is not only a social being but also a rational, essentially free and responsible being. His rational nature is the foundation for this principle which guarantees his right to resolve his problems either by himself, through his family, or through other intermediate social bodies, without being obliged to wait for solutions from public authority.

This principle of subsidiarity is anchored in natural law. Along with the principles of solidarity and authority it is one of the three pillars of Catholic social doctrine in the quest for the common good proper to society.²

Socialization of Medicine and Ideological Persecution
On the other hand, the socialization of medicine places in the hands of government a terrible weapon that can be easily used to pressure and persecute citizens or impose ideological agendas that have nothing to do with health.

This is precisely what happens with the so-called Obamacare.

It creates a huge bureaucratic machine in which technocrats, more than physicians, will have the all-important say on how patients are treated and whether or not to free up the necessary resources to save their lives, and this is especially the case when it comes to the elderly.³

A Baby Is Not a Disease: Anti-Natalist Ideology
Obamacare’s ideological bent clearly shows in the State interventionism that will dominate one sixth of the nation’s economy – a sector that affects everyone since it deals with health. However, Obamacare’s ideological and totalitarian aspect becomes even more apparent when we consider the Administration’s coercing insurance coverage in the areas of contraception, sterilization and abortion.

According to the final rules promulgated by the Department Health Human Services, all insurers will have to provide sterilizations, contraceptive pills and devices and abortifacent drugs, free of charge.

Leaving aside for a moment all considerations on the moral wrongs of contraception, it is glaringly obvious that a woman’s fertility is not an evil to be prevented or an illness to be cured. Rather, it is a sign of health, and fertilization and conception are the natural, healthy consequences of a normal sexual relationship.

To impose contraception in the guise of preventive services⁴ is clearly ideological. It stems from an anti-natalist philosophy, not from a medical necessity. It is also tragic, since a child is a blessing not a disease.


FOOTNOTES:
¹  Cf. Gary J. Isbell, Britain’s HealthCare Disaster; Our Model, Feb. 23, 2012, at http://www.tfp.org/tfp-home/news-commentary/britains-healthcare-disaster-our-model.html.
²  Cf. Pontifical Council For Justice and Peace, Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, (Washington, DC: USCCB Publishing, 2005), nn. 160, 351.
³  Cf. “Killing Grandma and Grandpa,” Christian Response Alerts, June 8, 2011 at http://www.christianresponsealerts.com/2011/06/killing-grandma-and-grandpa/.
⁴  Cf. “Affordable Care Act Ensures Women Receive Preventive Services at No Additional Cost,” HHS Press Office, News Release, Aug. 1, 2011, at http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2011pres/08/20110801b.html.

Seven Reasons Americans Are So Complacent About Our Country's Impending Bankruptcy

 Written by John Hawkins
America is on track to go bankrupt. Just like Greece. The signs are all around us. We've lost our AAA credit rating. Trillion dollar deficits are the new normal. The Fed is buying 61% of our own debt.  Nobody on the Left or Right seems to believe we'll ever pay off all of the money we owe. Life as we know it is very close to ending and yet Americans seem to be infected with a tragic...
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Supreme Court Won’t Rule on Embattled Soledad Cross War Memorial

by Kathleen Gilbert

The Mount Soledad Cross
WASHINGTON, June 25, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Supreme Court won’t hear an appeal seeking to keep a 29-foot cross that serves as a tribute to fallen soldiers on federally-owned territory in California, against complaints that the symbol implies a state preference for Christianity.

The large cross, which was erected at the Mt. Soledad War Memorial in 1954, has been the subject of years of controversy. In 2006 a lawsuit was brought by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of the Jewish War Veterans of the United States of America. The current cross, erected as a tribute to fallen Korean War veterans, replaced an earlier version honoring World War I soldiers in 1913, and is now surrounded by over 3,200 plaques honoring the fallen from the Civil War to Iraq.

A three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a U.S. district court’s ruling in 2008 in favor of the cross, saying that the cross “conveys a message of government endorsement of religion,” and that the history of anti-Semitism in the area undermines its claim to secularity. The court did not say that the cross needed to be taken down, but remanded the case back down to the same district court for reconsideration.

The full Ninth Circuit Court in October refused to retry the case, as did the Supreme Court this week, after both sides of the suit had asked the high court to weigh in.

Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito on Tuesday stated in a three-page ruling that although “the constitutionality of the Mount Soledad Veterans Memorial is a question of substantial importance,” the case was not yet ripe for review, “because no final judgment has been rendered and it remains unclear precisely what action the Federal Government will be required to take.”

Once a final judgment has been rendered by the lower court, wrote Alito, plaintiffs would be “free to raise the same issue in a later petition,” and noted, “Our denial, of course, does not amount to a ruling on the merits.”

The federal government, joined by 34 members of Congress, have joined the fight to protect the memorial.
“Nothing in the Establishment Clause compels that [the cross be removed], because the Establishment Clause does not require eradication of all religious symbols in the public realm,” stated the Justice Department in a petition to the Court submitted by Solicitor General Donald Verrilli.

The cross has been rescued by Congress before: in 2006, following 17 years of wrangling to bring the cross into safer hands, the United States Senate voted unanimously to transfer the Mt. Soledad Cross onto federal property after an atheist San Diego resident convinced a federal judge to order its removal by the city. The year before, the city of San Diego had voted 75 percent in favor of a ballot measure to transfer the memorial to federal hands, but Superior Court Judge Patricia Yim Cowett declared the ballot measure “an unconstitutional aid to religion” and struck it down.

Where's The Outrage Over CHRISTIANS Being Killed? | CNSNews.com

Where's The Outrage Over CHRISTIANS Being Killed? | CNSNews.com

The Syrian Frying Pan and the al-Qaeda Fire

 Written by John Horvat II
The media are all afire with sensational reports of Syrian atrocities and civilian casualties.

There are calls for Western intervention to aid the opposition which are the latest protagonists in a new chapter of the “Arab Spring.” Syria is yet another opportunity to let democracy flower in the Middle Eastern desert.

Granted Syria’s President Assad and his Baath party are hardly the kind of people who deserve support of the civilized world. He is at best the predictable devil we know whose human rights record is horrific and whose ties with Iran are disturbing. Under his long and brutal rule, Syria has become a supply route for Hezbollah terrorists and poses a constant threat to Israel.

However, before the engines of war are unleashed against Syria, important questions need to be asked.

The continuing drama in Syria is a script that has been played before. The plot is familiar. Twitter-enabled grassroots revolt against decades-old Middle East dictatorships. Frustrated masses armed with cell phones occupy squares and towns. Ruthless armed forces and paramilitary thugs counterattack killing innocent civilians. Western arms and sanctions come to the aid of a ragtag opposition while Western money fills its coffers. Media hype reaches a climax. The dictator is overthrown. There is general rejoicing in the streets.

And then… the media lose interest and abandon the country for the next one. It is as if a media blackout descends upon the newly liberated country far more efficient that than of any dictator.

Before the final act of this tragedy plays out in Syria it would be good to ask what will happen after the curtain falls. What is in store for Syria when its “spring” ends and winter sets in?

The second act of this script, which the media do not broadcast, is disturbing. It runs more or less like this: The dictator is overthrown. The opposition splits into factions and divide up the spoils. Arms depots are despoiled and dangerous weapon systems go missing. Tribal groups assert their authority and fight with other tribal groups. Revenge killings and violence breaks out. Christians are persecuted and even martyred while their churches are burned. Organized Islamists and al-Qaeda groups maneuver and take key positions in government and agitate for radical Islamist regimes hostile to the West.

Western advocates of this script deceive themselves into thinking this whole process is but an exercise, although a very messy one, in building budding democracies. They do not want to admit the fact that hostile and radical groups take advantage of the chaos generated by these uprisings to promote their agenda, cause instability and undermine any democratic action.

A sane foreign policy toward Syria should rewrite the “Arab Spring” script. The West cannot continue to lend its support to ragtag groupings that ultimately end up putting radical Islamists in power. It does no good to take people out of the Syrian frying pan and throw them into an al-Qaeda fire.

Study: Belief in Hell Reduces Crime

by LifeSiteNews staff

June 21, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Religions are thought to serve as bulwarks against unethical behaviors. However, when it comes to predicting criminal behavior, the specific religious beliefs one holds is the determining factor, says a University of Oregon psychologist.

The study, appearing in the Public Library of Science journal PLoS ONE, found that criminal activity is higher in societies where people’s religious beliefs contain a strong punitive component than in places where religious beliefs are more benevolent. A country where many more people believe in heaven than in hell, for example, is likely to have a much higher crime rate than one where these beliefs are about equal. The finding surfaced from a comprehensive analysis of 26 years of data involving 143,197 people in 67 countries.

“The key finding is that, controlling for each other, a nation’s rate of belief in hell predicts lower crime rates, but the nation’s rate of belief in heaven predicts higher crime rates, and these are strong effects,” said Azim F. Shariff, professor of psychology and director of the Culture and Morality Lab at the UO. “I think it’s an important clue about the differential effects of supernatural punishment and supernatural benevolence. The finding is consistent with controlled research we’ve done in the lab, but here shows a powerful ‘real world’ effect on something that really affects people—crime.”

Last year, in the International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, Shariff reported that undergraduate students were more likely to cheat when they believe in a forgiving God than a punishing God.

Religious belief generally has been viewed as “a monolithic construct,” Shariff said. “Once you split religion into different constructs, you begin to see different relationships. In this study, we found two differences that go in opposite directions. If you look at overall religious belief, these separate directions are washed out and you don’t see anything. There’s no hint of a relationship.”

The new findings, he added, fit into a growing body of evidence that supernatural punishment had emerged as a very effective cultural innovation to get people to act more ethically with each other. In 2003, he said, Harvard University researchers Robert J. Barro and Rachel M. McCleary had found that gross domestic product was higher in developed countries when people believed in hell more than they did in heaven.

“Supernatural punishment across nations seems to predict lower crime rates,” Shariff said. “At this stage, we can only speculate about mechanisms, but it’s possible that people who don’t believe in the possibility of punishment in the afterlife feel like they can get away with unethical behavior. There is less of a divine deterrent.”

He added, however, that these are correlational data, and so caution should be taken with the conclusions. Though Shariff and study co-author Mijke Rhemtulla of the Center for Research Methods and Data Analysis at the University of Kansas tried to account for obvious alternative explanations, more research is needed to explore other interpretations for the findings.

The data for belief in hell and heaven, belief in God and religious attendance were culled from World Values and European Values surveys done across various time periods between 1981 and 2007. Crime data were pulled from United Nations records on homicide, robbery, rape, kidnapping, assault, theft, drug-related crimes, auto theft, burglary and human trafficking. Other factors accounted for included such things as nations’ dominant religion (Roman Catholic, other Christian and Muslim), income inequality, life expectancy and incarceration rate.

“This research provides new insights into the potential influences of cultural and religious beliefs on key outcomes at a societal level,” said Kimberly Andrews Espy, vice president for research and innovation. “Although these findings may be controversial, dissecting the associations between specific belief systems and epidemiologic behaviors is an important first step for social scientists to disentangle the complex web of factors that motivate human behavior.”

Volunteers Needed: Be Part of the National Rosary Crusade

Written by Bernard Slobodnik

We need volunteers beginning the first week of July at the American TFP/ America Needs Fatima National Rosary Center in Rossville, Kansas.

Without volunteer help, we won’t be able to reach our goal of pulling together 8,000 public square rosary rallies this October 13, 2012.    

See, every day, we receive and make a tsunami of phone calls at our rosary rally coordination center in Kansas. 

Due to the generosity of some dear souls, I am able to cover the cost of trips, meals, and lodging for volunteers to our rosary rally central office in Kansas.

Would you like to come for two weeks or so?

I hope and pray you will say YES!

To come, please call Mr. Bernard Slobodnik at
(888) 460-7371 extension 310 or send him an email at: 

ANFRosaryRally@aol.com

Volunteering at our office has been a real experience for all who have had the opportunity.  I will mention some of the greatest benefits that come with the experience of volunteering. 

You will be promoting the public praying of Our Lady’s Holy Rosary across America, having an important role in our country’s conversion. 

You will become keenly aware of the tremendous good that you will be achieving by the increased reparation offered to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary as a result of the greater number of public square rosaries that will take place because of your efforts.

You will be volunteering with others like you from all over America.  Imagine sitting next to a new-found friend from California, New York, Georgia, or Oregon to name just a few places.  Imagine that they have the same love for Our Lady as you.

I can guarantee you that this experience will also strengthen your faith tremendously as well as your love for Our Lady.

The most common statement made by departing volunteers, is that they felt like they were on a retreat.

Also, imagine talking with Catholics all across the United States, encouraging them to become rally captains as well as answering their questions.

Maybe you have never done something like this before.  All it takes is a w illingness to share your love for Our Lady on the telephone in order to recruit rosary rally captains.

Your love for Our Lady has already greatly prepared you for this.  Our dedicated and kind staff will gently assist you and help you learn how to place and receive these calls.

If you would like to see about taking advantage of this tremendous opportunity, please either call Bernard at our Kansas office soon at (888) 460-7371 extension 310 or email him at:

ANFRosaryRally@aol.com

Dates are flexible between June 30th and October 13th, but pleas e call at your earliest convenience so we can reach our promised goal of 8,000 rosary rallies for Our Lady this year.

Priest Blast Socialism at Convention

Fr. Andrew was invited to lead the opening prayer at the 2012 Colorado Republican State Assembly and Convention in the Magness Arena at the University of Denver on early May. He delivers a scathing attack on socialism.

Fire-Bombed Pro-life Bus Ignored by Media

by Kathleen Gilbert

ROCKFORD, ILLINOIS, June 18, 2012, (LifeSiteNews.com)—A school bus covered in pro-life images that used to drive children to a local abortion clinic to pray was firebombed Friday night, report local advocates, who say the media have been negligent in covering the incident.

The bus, owned by Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Academy, suffered extensive damage after vandals threw more than one device through the vehicle’s windows. Photos show some of the seats reduced to little more than metal frame and ash. The driver’s area was also bombed, and appears to be unusable.

The interior of the bombed-out bus.

The bus is well known in the area for the images on its windows, which include several Catholic images, as well as pictures of unborn children.

Local leader Kevin Rilott told LifeSiteNews.com via telephone Monday that the pro-life community was “pretty upset” about the destruction. Rilott used to regularly protest at the notoriously anti-Christian Northern Illinois Women’s Center (NIWC) abortion mill in Rockford, famous for the mocking and blasphemous messages in its windows, which closed permanently this year following an investigation by health officials.

“We thought we’d be past all this, but apparently not,” he said.

Rilott said that, although the owners of the vehicle have yet to assess whether the bus can be salvaged, it doesn’t seem possible. When he touched the dashboard area, “it was brittle, and my hands were covered in soot,” he said.

In a video of the incident posted on the local pro-life blog, Rilott complained that the Rockford Register Star at first declined to do a story - but chose to run a piece this weekend highlighting an attack on the now-closed abortion mill that occurred 12 years ago. It also ran a story about another vehicle that was firebombed at about the same time as the bus.

Rilott said his group “tried all weekend” to get a story from the Star. “We did hear finally today they started to make some inquiries,” he said, although he expressed concern that it would be given little prominence. The Star has previously declined to report NIWC’s history of harassing pro-life witnesses.

The local pro-lifer said on the blog that he believed the firebombing could have been in retaliation for the closing of NIWC.

“It’s interesting that abortion supporters in Rockford not only kill children in the womb but may well have destroyed a school bus used by children as an act of revenge for the closing of their child killing center,” he wrote.

A New Kind of "Confession"

“Here one does not confess but dialogues and listens." This is the sign found near the confessional at the Slavic Chapel at the Sanctuary of Loreto. The schedule for "listening" are posted at this most important Marian sanctuary in Italy, constructed next to the Holy House of Loreto where the Holy Family lived. The house was miraculously transported from the Holy Land to Italy in the 13th century so as not to fall into the hands of the Muslims (who obviously did not dialogue). Every morning and afternoon, there are priests who are available to "dialogue" and "listen" using two chairs facing each other.

Irresistible Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

 
 

O my Jesus, Thou didst say: “Amen, I say to you, ask and you shall receive;
seek and you shall find; knock and it shall be opened unto you.”
Hence I knock, I seek, and I ask for the grace of ....

Our Father....   Hail Mary....   Glory be....

O Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in Thee!

O my Jesus, Thou didst say: “Amen, I say to you, whatsoever you ask of
the Father in My name, He will give unto you.” Hence I ask the Father,
in Thy name, for the grace of....

Our Father....   Hail Mary....   Glory be....

O Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in Thee!

O my Jesus, Thou didst say: “Amen, I say to you, heaven and earth
shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away.” Encouraged
by Thy infallible words, I now ask for the grace of....

Our Father....   Hail Mary....   Glory be....

O Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in Thee!

Let us pray.
Sacred Heart of Jesus, for Whom one thing alone is impossible, namely, not to have compassion on the afflicted, have pity on us miserable sinners and grant us the grace we ask of Thee, through the intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary,
Thy tender Mother and ours.

Hail Holy Queen....

Saint Joseph, friend of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, pray for us!

Heart of Jesus, rich unto all that call upon Thee, have mercy on us!

Heart of Jesus, salvation of those who hope in Thee, have mercy on us!

Act of Reparation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

The Sacred Heart of Jesus: Hope of a Hopeless World

 

Reply to TFP Video: “I will take one of your signs and choke you”

Written by John Ritchie

“If I ever see you I swear I will take one of your [TFP] signs choke you with it, tie it to a tree and let your body hang there as a message to everyone that what you are doing is wrong!”

That’s only one of many nasty threats posted on YouTube in response to TFP Student Action’s traditional marriage video Attacked by Tolerance. 

With more than 67,000 views, Attacked by Tolerance is opening many eyes to the intolerance displayed by same-sex “marriage” advocates and their attempt to stifle freedom of speech whenever that speech favors traditional marriage.

Since the video’s release, more attacks have rolled in, confirming the evidence presented by the 17-minute documentary.  Tolerance is used as a smokescreen to more easily hide the homosexual revolution’s final goal:  To deface God-ordained marriage.

While the video footage provides hard evidence of how TFP volunteers were criminally assaulted during peaceful pro-family campaigns, homosexual “marriage” advocates insist that the video is “false,” “hateful,” “fake,” “intolerant,” “bigoted,” “despicable” and “idiotic.”

Threats and more

Well, take a look at the “tolerant” comments posted by pro-homosexual advocates on YouTube and elsewhere against the TFP’s work for traditional marriage:

• “If I saw a banner that said ‘God’s marriage = 1 man + 1 woman,’ I would tear it down too. Nobody knows the mind of God so stop putting him in a box.”
  
• “Until hundreds or even thousands of your people are killed in the name of the opposing groups, you don’t know what persecution actually is.”
  
• “I liked this video because people threw bottles and spit on these idiots.”  
  
• “You are a hate group, you deserve much worse attacks than these.”
  
• “Wow, just looking at this guy makes me want to smash him in the face with a bottle.”
  
• “TFP brought it upon themselves for being so hateful...”
  
• “The offence you are suffering is due to the hate you are spilling. How would you like it if we stood outside your churches with pictures of the p*** christ and the list of evidences that Jesus was a fake.”
  
• “Maybe if you stop spreading a hateful message, you'll stop receiving so much hate.  It's kind of easy to attack the bigot that's saying ‘no, you're not equal.’”
  
• “Stop going to super liberal campuses like Berkeley if you want your ridiculous message to be accepted. Most tolerant people don't want to hear it. YOUR hate and intolerance is despicable. This is the 21st century, not the middle ages. Everyone deserves to be treated equally.”
  
• “This video screams FAKE FAKE FAKE FAKE FAKE.”

It is hardly necessary to answer the claim that the Attacked by Tolerance video is fake.  The footage speaks for itself.  However, to dispel any possible doubts, TFP Student Action has posted a number of official police reports that establish the veracity of the attacks.

Police report: UC Berkeley incident
Police report: Fairport incident
Police report: Arizona State University

Americans are not duped

Most Americans are not duped by the homosexual movement’s radical agenda.  Over 60% of North Carolinians, for example, recently approved a constitutional amendment to protect the definition of marriage as the exclusive union of one man and one woman. 

The Attacked by Tolerance video has received hundreds and hundreds of messages of support and encouragement.

“The darkness cannot stand the Light,” writes a traditional marriage supporter. “I am appalled at the actions of people in an ostensibly "free" society, a society that ostensibly cherishes free speech -- only for some, apparently.  You have been found worthy to suffer for Christ. You are blessed. Remain strong in your apostolate, and be assured of my prayers.”

“Way to go!” adds another. “May God continue to bless your efforts to face bravely, peacefully, calmly and gentlemanly the ugly arrogance, agitation, and violence of the homosexual movement.”

“TFP’s tolerance is commendable,” says another writer.  “Gay marriage advocates are marketing their cause by claiming to be victims and needing protected status. After Prop. 8 passed in California their true nature raged. Christians and Prop. 8 supporters were attacked violently. Pro Prop. 8 donor lists were used to make 1,000s of threatening phone calls, including death threats. They were intimidated at work. Churches were vandalized. A 14-year-old girl on YouTube was threatened with assault, rape and death.”

See the original video by clicking here

Protest This Pro-homosexual "Concert" at the Catholic College of Saint Rose

The College of Saint Rose appears to place the “tolerance” of grave error above its Catholic identity.  On June 16, the college plans to welcome the Albany Gay Men’s Chorus for a performance titled “Born This Way.” [link]


 

“Born This Way” is a promiscuous song by Lady Gaga designed to shatter common decency and offend God.  It is a flat denial of the truth:  “From the beginning of the creation, God made them male and female” (Mark 10:6).

The Catholic Medical Association confirms:  There is no “homosexual gene.”

“The media have promoted the idea that a ‘gay gene’ has already been discovered…but, in spite of several attempts, none of the much-publicized studies… has been scientifically replicated. A number of authors have carefully reviewed these studies and found that not only do the studies not prove a genetic basis for same-sex attraction; the reports do not even contain such claims…

“If same-sex attraction were genetically determined, then one would expect identical twins to be identical in their sexual attractions. There are, however, numerous reports of identical twins who are not identical in their sexual attractions.”
(Homosexuality & Hope)

However, the stated purpose of the pro-homosexual chorus is “to promote pride in and acceptance of the gay community.”

Reprehensible as it is, this event is not the College of Saint Rose’s only act of cooperation with the homosexual agenda.  The college’s Office of Intercultural Leadership and Identity has hosted an annual “Lavender Reception” to give special recognition to LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered) graduates.  Lavender, they explain, is a “color of pride” for the “LGBT civil rights movement.” If that wasn’t bad enough, the college also recognizes the pro-homosexual student group Identity on campus, one among 107 such groups found on Catholic campuses.

Surely it is inappropriate for a Catholic college to cooperate in the promotion of a lifestyle the Church defines as gravely disordered.  As a Catholic educational institution, we hope Saint Rose cancels the objectionable event.

Please join TFP Student Action, together with faithful Catholics around the country, in opposing this scandal by registering your online protest.

Sign your protest here

Please consider making a call to the president’s office.

Contact information (please be polite and respectful)

The College of Saint Rose
Dr. R. Mark Sullivan, President
432 Western Avenue
Albany, New York 12203
Toll-free: 1-800-637-8556
Office phone:  518-454-5121

Assistant to the President
Mrs. Debra Liberatore-LeBlanc
Phone: 518-454-5145

 

Seattle Jesuit: Opposing Same-sex "Marriage" is ‘Denial of Civil Rights’

A Jesuit priest who serves as pastor of a parish in the Archdiocese of Seattle has told National Public Radio that opposition to same-sex marriage is a denial of civil rights. Will he be disciplined? No one is holding their breath...

Read more:
http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=14556

Gender Equality Run Amok

 Written by Gary Isbell
The politically correct idea of equality seems to know no bounds. Sweden has just introduced a new gender-neutral pronoun — hen. In the Swedish language, he is han and she is hon. Now it seems Sweden’s educational establishment is set upon using the nation’s preschools national curriculum to abolish gender distinction among children. The schools have even gone so far as to employ “gender police” to assist teaching staff in identifying language and behavior patterns in children that might reinforce old stereotypes that need to be “corrected.” Old stereotypes can be understood as those models influenced by Christian civilization.

The word hen was first introduced by Swedish linguists in the mid-60s but was curiously added to the online version of Sweden’s National Encyclopedia on the very gender-specific International Women’s Day on March 8, 2012. At one public preschool called Egalia in Stockholm, staff now avoids using words such as him or her and address students as friends or hens instead of boys and girls.

Another preschool has gone so far as to eliminate recess from its curriculum because, as one teacher put it, when children are free to play “stereotypical gender patterns are born and cemented. In free play there is hierarchy, exclusion and the seed to bullying.”

Every detail of children’s interactions gets micromanaged by “concerned” adults, who end up placing children in a quandary over the development of their sex by how they form friendships, what games they play and the words used in the songs they sing.

This odd behavior was largely inspired by Sweden's first gender-neutral children's book written by Jesper Lundqvist, Kivi and Monsterdog. It seems Lundqvist desired to write a children’s story where characters are not identified with any sex and do not conform to a traditional gender-based story line. He (or perhaps hen) was in fact trying to avoid giving his characters roles that children tend to emulate.

The manner in which they do this is by designating as stereotypes those roles based on nature and Western culture. Most people understand stereotyping as a widely held, but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person. While this conjures a negative connotation of the word, those pushing a liberal agenda like Sweden’s school system are able to obliterate the natural distinctions inherent to each sex all in the name of “gender equality” and avoiding stereotyping.

Conveniently this contorted application of Lundqvist’s strange book fits perfectly into the global homosexual agenda by blurring the necessary and natural distinctions between men and women. Sweden is now advocating androgyny among its youngest citizens. When students play house in school, they are encouraged to include daddy, daddy, child; mommy, mommy, child; or any other modern unnatural combination to refer to family.

Not everyone has embraced this radical equality with enthusiasm however. Many critics affirm that it can be psychologically and socially damaging, especially for children. Columnist and former equality expert Elise Claeson, from the Swedish Confederation of Professions stated “that young children can become confused by the suggestion that there is a third, in-between gender at a time when their brains and bodies are developing. Adults should not interrupt a child’s discovery of their gender and sexuality, argues Claeson.” She is quoted in the Swedish daily, Dagens Nyheter, that “gender ideologues have managed to change the curriculum to establish that schools should actively counter gender roles.” ^[1]

If Sweden’s school system were really practicing equality, they would put their children on equal footing as themselves and respect the child’s opinion as equal to their own. By teaching them anything at all, they place themselves as superior, and thus, they teach inequality by example. Why would they encourage children to say daddy, daddy, child regarding family if they did not have an ideological agenda? If Sweden’s preschools were consistent with this warped notion of equality, children would be taught to say hen, hen, hen. Perhaps gender equality has simply run amok.
 

Denmark forces churches to perform same-sex ‘marriages’

by Ben Johnson

COPENHAGEN, DENMARK, June 7, 2012, (LifeSiteNews.com) –  The nation of Denmark has voted to force churches in the established Evangelical Lutheran Church to perform same-sex “marriage” ceremonies inside their sanctuaries, although one-third of all the denomination’s priests say they will not participate in such rituals.
Danish parliament voted by an overwhelming 85-24 margin to compel churches to carry out unions for same-sex couples that are identical to heterosexual marriage celebrations.

The law takes effect June 15.

To read the whole story, click here 

REMINDER: HSS Mandate Protest Tomorrow in St. Louis!

The Nationwide Rally against the HHS Mandate forcing employers  is being held Friday, June 8 at noon, local time, outside federal buildings, Congressional offices and historic sites across the country.
Thousands of Americans will be participating in these peaceful rallies, organized by the Pro-Life Action League and Citizens for a Pro-Life Society to oppose the new mandate from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that requires all employers provide free contraceptives, sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs through their health plans, even in violation of their consciences.

Missouri

Jefferson City

State Capitol

201 West Capitol Avenue (map)

Email the Jefferson City Rally Captain

St. Louis

Old Courthouse

11 N 4th Street (map)

Email the St. Louis Rally Captain

Please consider attending!

The Catholic Sex Abuse Crisis in Ireland That Isn’t

June 5, 2012 By TheMediaReport.com 

If one were to believe the mainstream media, the Catholic Church in Ireland is reeling from a burgeoning and active network of pedophile priests relentlessly preying on innocent children.
However, the recent release of the annual report from the Catholic Church's National Board for Safeguarding Children (NBSC, Ireland) tells a radically different story.
While even a single abuse allegation is upsetting, from April 1, 2011, to March 31, 2012, of 237 total allegations of abuse against Catholic priests, only six accusations alleged abuse within the past dozen years, since 2000. This represents one allegation every other year in all of Ireland in recent memory.
In other words, as in the United States, the abuse of children by Catholic priests in Ireland is a tragic era from years past.
However, don't look for these facts to be reported the next time the New York Times reports about the Catholic Church and sex abuse in Ireland.

Video: Fencing Tournament of St. Louis de Montfort Academy

Protest HHS Mandate in St. Louis Next Friday!

The Nationwide Rally against the HHS Mandate forcing employers  is being held Friday, June 8 at noon, local time, outside federal buildings, Congressional offices and historic sites across the country.
Thousands of Americans will be participating in these peaceful rallies, organized by the Pro-Life Action League and Citizens for a Pro-Life Society to oppose the new mandate from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that requires all employers provide free contraceptives, sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs through their health plans, even in violation of their consciences.

Missouri

Jefferson City

State Capitol

201 West Capitol Avenue (map)

Email the Jefferson City Rally Captain

St. Louis

Old Courthouse

11 N 4th Street (map)

Email the St. Louis Rally Captain

Please consider attending!