The 10 Electoral Commandments

In keeping with the recent theme of thanking bishops who take courageous stands for life and Church teachings, I thought I'd share this link with you.

Bishop Olvera of Cuernvaca, Mexico distributed a pamphlet to all the parishes in his diocese which contained "electoral commandments" and principles to use in choosing who to vote for. The pamphlet does not specify political party, but states that "Catholics should not vote for parties favoring the legalization of abortion, homosexual unions, euthanasia, and pornography, among other policies."

I tried to find an English copy of the pamphlet, but was unable to, and my Spanish is non-existent, so we're stuck with news reports.

All I can say is thank you Bishop Olvera. We need more of our bishops and priests to stand up for the Church. If our bishops and priests won't educate the faithful on Church teachings, who will?

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!