Not Sure…

I don't know what to think about this video. I see the point they are trying to get across, but I don't know that they made it in the best way. They are obviously trying to comment on the common point of view that a child who will grow up poor is better off never being born, but I don't know that Barak Obama was the best choice. After all he is a man who supports abortion very vocally.

I've watched this video a few times now, and my initial reaction really hasn't changed; I felt uncomfortable with it, and it left a bad taste in my mouth. I like the idea, but I'm not sure they made their point in a very concrete way. The organization who made the video is Catholic Vote, but when their logo flashed up at the end, I wondered if they were trying to say Catholics should vote Obama, or, well I'm not sure what. The idea of the video is good, but in the end its presentation seems off and unclear. At the end of the video I'm left wondering exactly what their message is. And I know this organization is pro-life, but I've been to their website before. I'm not sure that the average person seeing that video is going to go to their webpage after watching the video, so I don't know that they are really getting their point across.

Anyone else have any thoughts?

I'm sorry for the short post tonight- it's been a crazy day. Also, I'm going to be on the road this weekend dealing with some family stuff, so I may not post tomorrow. Fresh posts on Monday at the latest though! Have a great weekend.

And so it begins

Today the United States inaugurated its 44^th President. Barak Obama was sworn in as President accompanied by much fanfare. While I am not American, I can't help but follow the story of Obama that has just begun to unfold in the US. The US is the only superpower in the world right now, so the man who leads it will come under much scrutiny. Had I been American, I would not have voted for Obama, for a variety of reasons, chief among them being that Obama seems to be the most anti-life leader ever elected in North America. He has promised to pass FOCA (the Freedom of Choice Act) as soon as he can, and his views on life scare me. He can do a lot of damage in 4 years, and even more if he is re-elected.

I don't think Obama will live up to everyone's expectations. No one can live up to the hype that currently surrounds Obama. He is being hailed by some almost as if they believe he is the second coming of Christ. He is not. He is only human, as weak and sinful as any of us. He's already backing off from some of the promises he made in the election campaign; for example the Guantanamo Bay situation. For whatever reason, he has realized that the situation in Gitmo is not as simple as he thought. We can only hope that he will realize that with many of his extreme positions, because a lot of people could die if he maintains them.

I choose to believe that the worst won't happen. Why? Because if we fear Obama as much as we should (and I think we do) we will all spend more time in prayer, lifting up life issues to God. With prayer all things are possible, and so we need to pray. The novena against FOCA which ends today is just the start. We need to be praying for Obama's conversion and change of heart, and we need to be praying for the unborn, the weak and the vulnerable more now than ever before. I hope you will all join me in adding an intention for the United States, and its leaders especially to your daily prayers.

Tonight, as the United States comes under a new administration, I hope you will all join me in praying, "God Bless the U.S.A."

Novena to Stop FOCA

Our friends in the United States will begin this year by inaugurating a new president, Barak Obama. Based on Mr. Obama's previous record, it seems certain that he will be the most anti-life president the US has ever seen. Before his election, he promised a Planned Parenthood group that the first thing he would do as president is pass the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA). He will be inaugurated January 20, 2009. This act will result in the cancellation of all laws regarding abortion- essentially the US law on abortion will become the same as Canada; abortion on demand for the entire 9 months of pregnancy. I received an e-mail today which stated that FOCA will also:

1. Require all hospitals (including Catholic or faith based ones) to perform abortion on request. The US Bishops have vowed to close all Catholic hospitals if this occurs, rather than participate in abortion. Currently, Catholic hospitals make up more than 30% of all hospitals in the US.
   
2. Allow partial birth abortions
   
3. All abortions would be taxpayer funded
   
4. Parental notification laws (which require parents to be informed that their minor daughters are having abortions) would be abolished
   
5. It is expected that the number of abortions in the US will increase by at least 100,000 annually as a result of the passage of FOCA
   
6. The government will control the issue of abortion, which could lead to future amendments forcing women by law to have abortions in certain situations (rape, Down syndrome babies, etc.) and could even regulate how many children women are allowed to have.
   

This bill is horrifying, and could potentially go further than even Canada's loose laws have with abortion. To read the full text of FOCA, go here.

However, we must not lose hope. The e-mail is part of a campaign encouraging people to pray to prevent FOCA, and a novena is going to be said to prevent its passage.

From the email:

The Plan:

To say a novena (9 days of prayer) along with fasting starting on January 11th. For Catholics, the prayer of choice will be the rosary with intentions to stop the FOCA. For non-Catholics I encourage you to pray your strongest prayers with the same intentions, also for nine consecutive days. The hope is that this will branch and blossom as to become a global effort with maximum impact. We have very little time so we all must act fast. Just do three things:

1. Pass this letter to 5 or more people.
2. Do it in three days or less.
3. Start the novena on January 11th and pray for nine consecutive days. (Please also fast for at least two days during the novena.)

Remember that with God all things are possible and the power of prayer is undeniable. If you are against the senseless killing of defenseless children then the time is now to do something about it! Please, if you are a Christian, I pray you will see the light to help stop all this evil! May God bless you all!

I ask you to all take part in this novena. For more information on FOCA, check out these links:
http://www.nrlc.org/foca/index.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_Choice_Act
http://www.fightfoca.com/
http://www.usccb.org/prolife/issues/FOCA/index2z.shtml
http://www.usccb.org/prolife/issues/FOCA/FOCA_FactSheet08.pdf

And please, keep praying!

Interesting Documentary

Really short post tonight/this morning because I just finished my paper.

This video has been posted around the blogsphere today, but it is well worth watching- it's the results of a poll done immediately after people voted in the American Election, and is attempting to show the media bias in the coverage of leading up to the election. After doing the interviews, the author also commissioned a study to see if the results would be duplicated in a more scientific process.

Results of the poll are at www.howobamagotelected.com. Check it out; it's very interesting, and I can't wait to see the final documentary.

The Positives of the Election

I decided to look at the election results from a new perspective this morning and be positive about them. However, after looking at them all day, I'm afraid I can't be positive. The cause of life lost yesterday. Not only in the presidential, senate and congress races, but also in the ballot measures. (Aside for the 4 family victories, there's not much to be positive about.) Americans seem to have soundly rejected life.

Washington passed I-1000 which legalizes euthanasia and assisted suicide. (Supposedly only for those with a terminal illness and less than 6 months to live, but if Oregon, the Netherlands, Belgium and Switzerland are any indication it won't remain that way.) The truly scary thing about I-1000 that goes further than Oregon and actually requires the doctor who prescribes assisted suicide to state the underlying illness was the cause of death. Read it here yourself. Washington State now has the dubious distinction of becoming the 4^th place in the world to legalize assisted suicide and euthanasia. Washington is no longer a safe place to be elderly, disabled, have a terminal illness or suffer a serious accident.

Michigan approved Prop 2 which allows the unrestricted and unregulated destruction of human embryos for experimental purposes. Since Roe v. Wade in 1973, 50 million humans have been aborted. How many more have died as lab experiments or in the In-Vitro process, let alone by the pill? How many more will now die in Michigan?

In California, Sarah's Law (Prop 2) which would have required parents to be notified 48h before their underage daughter had an abortion failed. The purpose of this law was to catch predators that were using abortions to cover up the rape of young girls.

In South Dakota, a measure to ban abortion failed.

In Colorado, an attempt to define personhood beginning at conception failed.

Not only that, Obama's Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel has a 0% pro-life record.

And to top it all off, Catholics helped Obama to win.

A Sad Day for the Unborn

Sorry this post is late- I just got home from watching the election results. Today the American people elected Barak Obama as their president. That is their right; he won in a democratic election. However, in making that choice, they also turned their back on the unborn and the vulnerable. I fear that President-elect Obama will pass measures, especially the Freedom of Choice Act. I fear that many laws already passed to protect the unborn will be repealed. I fear that millions more will be aborted. For that, I am greatly saddened.

America has long been a beacon of hope in the world, standing proud, ready to defend the ideals upon which she was founded. Tonight, I feel that beacon was diminished- diminished because of all those lives that will never be lived as a direct result of policies Obama will sign into law. I hope and pray I am wrong, but I fear that America tonight took its first step closer to the Canadian system and situation.

But that is not a reason to lose heart- it needs to be a wakeup call for everyone working for the cause of life. Don't let this night make you think the cause is hopeless, because it isn't. There are many, many things that we can still do, and that we must do to save as many lives as possible.

May God bless America on this dark night tonight. May God bless the whole world, and give strength to all who fight to bring His word to the world.

Goodnight.

And it all comes down to tomorrow

Commenting on the American Election seems to be the thing to do today in the blogsphere, and I guess I am going to be no different. For better or for worse, our neighbor to the south will elect a new president tomorrow. I believe that the American people have two very different options in Obama and McCain. One ticket will swing America drastically left, and will, I fear, destroy all the protections Amercians have created in the last 35 years for the unborn. The other ticket offers put an experienced hand on the reins, and holds that every life is worthy of the protection of human rights.

For any Catholic, the choice is very clear. The US Council of Bishops has enunciated their position in the document Faithful Citizenship. It states that "There are some things we must never do, as individuals or as a society, because they are always incompatible with love of God and neighbor. Such actions are so deeply flawed that they are always opposed to the authentic good of persons. These are called "intrinsically evil" actions. They must always be rejected and opposed and must never be supported or condoned. A prime example is the intentional taking of innocent human life, as in abortion and euthanasia." The bishops go on to state that "The direct and intentional destruction of innocent human life from the moment of conception until natural death is always wrong and is not just one issue among many. It must always be opposed." As Catholics, that means we can never vote for someone who supports abortion or euthanasia if there is an option to vote for someone who does not support those intrinsic evils. In the choice for president, Americans have that choice. Over 100 Bishops in the US have, in their official capacity, supported this proposition.

If you would like to know exactly how Obama and McCain stand on this issue, watch the clip from the Saddleback Church debate. Obama stated that the answer to the question of when a baby gets human rights is "above his paygrade." McCain stated clearly they are entitled "at the moment of conception."

Two Americans have written a beautifully articulated Open Letter to our Fellow Catholics on Election Eve. I would encourage you all to read it, because it articulates the Catholic duty to vote much better than I ever could.

It is my greatest hope and prayer tonight that Americans will vote for life tomorrow, and I invite you all to join the thousands of Catholics around the world praying and fasting tomorrow for that exact result. And, regardless of the outcome, enjoy watching the results roll in… 2 elections in 3 weeks! I'm in political junkie heaven!

Politics of Pregnancy

In an attempt to avoid working on my paper tonight (the doorbell won't stop ringing) I watched some TV; specifically a channel from California. It seems like every second commercial is either Vote Yes or Vote No on one of the many propositions Californians get to vote on Tuesday. The commercials between the proposition ones are for or against specific politicians. Political junkie that I am, I'm actually enjoying these commercials far more than the regular ones, but I digress.

The one that hit me tonight was the one for "Vote No on Prop 4." Prop 4 is known as "Sarah's Law" and if passed would amend the California constitution to require parents be notified if their daughter wants to have an abortion. See the commercial here. What struck me about it was the language used about pregnancy. The mother in the commercial says if her daughter got pregnant "I would be there for her to help her through that difficult time." While some may consider it subtle, that commercial seems to give pregnancy a very negative context. That has happened a lot lately. For example, Obama stated that if either of his daughters ended up pregnant, he wouldn't want to "punish them with a baby."

Since when is pregnancy a punishment? Or a difficult time? Shouldn't we view pregnancy as the beautiful process that brings a new life into the world? I know that a pregnancy can be an uncomfortable time for the mother (at least that's what my friends who are/have been pregnant have said), but it's certainly not a punishment. Generally people refer to pregnancy as a punishment when it was unplanned (usually in an outside of marriage context) but doesn't that just go to show how our culture has devalued sex? Let's face it; the natural result of sex is pregnancy. If we start calling pregnancy a punishment, then what are we saying about human sexuality? I think the true problem is that we have divorced conception from sex, and until our society reintegrates the two, abortion will be commonplace.

Personally, I much prefer Sarah Palin's response, calling an unplanned pregnancy a blessing. While the couple (or woman) may not have been ready to have the child, I believe that pregnancy will have a positive impact in their lives, if they give it a chance. The only punishment in a pregnancy is if the baby is aborted; and then, the punishment is visited on the innocent child.

All in all, I'm happy that this discussion is at least happening in the United States. There is a clear choice between the culture of life and the culture of death in their election, and several states have propositions on life and death issues on the ballot. I hope and pray that the people of the United States endorse life, but I am so proud of our neighbor to the south for at least having this discussion. In Canada, we seem to be far more apathetic. Not only were life issues non-existent in Canada's recent election, PM Stephan Harper said the issue wasn't even to be discussed. As long as abortion is permitted, pregnancy will be seen as a punishment, and another 2000 babies a week (in Canada alone- Stats Can 2004) will die from abortion.

I hope and pray that the culture of life triumphs over death on Tuesday, but most of all, I wish politicians would remember that they are elected by the people and should serve the people. Some of those people are the unborn. Since 1973, when the Roe decision was made, over 50 million Americans have been aborted. 25 million of those Americans would be eligible to vote on Tuesday. I wonder what difference their votes would make.