Desperate Socialists - Sweden

How can you tell that a country is desperate to maintain 'think' control over the populace?

They outlaw home schooling.

LifeSite News:

The government of Sweden is taking a hard line against homeschoolers, proposing a bill that will only allow home education under “extraordinary circumstances,” reports the Home School Legal Defense Association. The bill is expected to pass in the Swedish parliament, following a review by the Supreme Administrative Court, and will allow for homeschooling families to face criminal charges.

The court has asked only for the government to specify the definition of “extraordinary circumstances.”

Jonas Himmelstrand, president of the Swedish Association for Home Education (ROHUS), said the situation is changing rapidly for the worse for homeschoolers in the country.

“Just two years ago my family and many others received the permission of local municipal school boards to homeschool.”

Himmelstrand continued, “Last year we won our court case at trial, but the appeals court sided with the government against our homeschooling. The school year was over before the school officials could bring another case. This year the authorities are being much more aggressive. Families are being fined and the new law would allow for the imposition of criminal sanctions.”

The news of the socialist government’s hardening attitude toward homeschoolers comes following the state seizure eight months ago of seven year-old Dominic Johansson, whose parents were educating him at home. Since the removal of Dominic by police from a plane the family had boarded with the intention of moving to India, Christer and Annie Johansson have been allowed to see their son for one hour every five weeks...

Meanwhile, in Sweden, the socialist government has done quite a bit to break down the largest impediment to total control - the family. Taking away the parents' God-given right and responsibility over their children is just the latest desperate measure.

Coercive Utopia
Swedish Daycare

Here's an interesting article by the OECD, wondering why gov't welfare programs designed to increase the birth rate, have not succeeded.

Perhaps turning mothers into careerists, who for extra benefits, also give birth to children the state takes care of was not that appealing an idea ? Maybe?

If you're not Swedish, don't feel smug. What has your (Canadian/UK/Euro) government been doing for your family lately!?

Perspective: Same Sex Marriage

Will The Gays Win? No.

(By Mike McManus April 15, 2009)

Gays have won significant victories in the last couple of weeks. First, there was the unanimous decision by the Iowa Supreme Court to legalize same-sex marriage. There have been other top state court decisions but they were always 5-4, barely enough to win. It was also the first state to take this step in the Midwest.

Second, Vermont not only became the first state to legalize gay marriage by the Legislature, but also without pressure from a court case, as in Massachusetts. Third, the governor vetoed the bill, but the Legislature overrode the veto.

Fourth, the Washington DC City Council voted unanimously last week to recognize same-sex marriage performed elsewhere. All recognize this is a half step toward legalization.

However, I believe the battle will ultimately be won by supporters of traditional marriage. Remember that the Germans were ahead in 1943.

Take Iowa, where the Supreme Court declared there was no "constitutionally adequate" justification to prevent "same-sex marriage" Iowans disagree. A February 2008 Iowa Poll showed 62 percent of Iowans believe marriage should be only between one man and one woman, with only 32 percent saying it should not.

Who will lead the opposition? Start with religious leaders.

Within hours, Iowa's Catholic bishops "strongly disagreed" with the decision, calling it "unwarranted social engineering" weakening the relationship between marriage and parenting. "This decision rejects the wisdom of thousands of years of human history. It implements a novel understanding of marriage, which will grievously harm families and children," they wrote. The rights of marriage "are not something that the state creates or may redefine."

Religious leaders have had many victories hardly mentioned in recent weeks. In California, for example, evangelicals joined Catholics to lead a 52-48 percent victory for Prop 8's limit of marriage to joining a man and woman. And that was the 30th state constitutional amendment limiting marriage to heterosexual couples. Only three states have gay marriage.

The good guys are winning by a 10-1 margin.

Maggie Gallagher, President of the National Organization for Marriage, quotes Vaclav Havel saying "Truth and love will prevail over lies and hate." She adds, "On that basis Havel took on the Soviet empire. Where is the invincible empire now?"

"Same sex marriage is founded on a lie about human nature: 'There's no difference between a same-sex and opposite sex unions and you are a bigot if you disagree.' Political movements can - sometimes at great human cost and with great output of energy - sustain a lie but eventually political regimes founded on lies collapse in on themselves."

She asks, "What does losing marriage mean? First, the rejection of the idea that children need a mom and dad as a cultural norm...Second, the redefinition of traditional religious faiths as the moral and legal equivalent of racists. The proposition on the table right now is that our faith itself is a form of bigotry."

The Washington Post, hardly a conservative paper, published examples recently: "A Christian photographer was forced by the New Mexico Civil Rights Commission to pay $6,637 in attorney's costs after she refused to photograph a gay couple's commitment ceremony.

"A psychologist in Georgia was fired after she declined for religious reasons to counsel a lesbian about her relationship. Christian fertility doctors in California who refused to artificially inseminate a lesbian patient were barred by the state Supreme Court from invoking their religious beliefs in refusing treatment.

"It really is all about religious liberty for us," said Scott Hoffman, chief administrative officer of a New Jersey Methodist group, the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association, which lost a property tax exemption after it declined to allow its beachside pavilion to be used for a same-sex union ceremony. "The protection to not be forced to do something that is against deeply held religious principles," reported the paper.

This sort of honest reporting will awaken a sleeping giant, millions of Americans who believe deeply in traditional marriage and who resent any trampling of people because of their deeply held religious convictions.

Wednesday's Washington Post even published a column by 1,000 retired generals and admirals who argue that if Obama repeals the law stating that homosexuality is incompatible with military service, it "would prompt many dedicated people to leave the military."

They cite a poll that 10 percent would not reenlist and 14 percent would consider leaving. Even the lesser number means 228,600 would exit, more than all active-duty Marine Corps.

Some battles have been lost, but this war is not over.

(Michael J. McManus is a syndicated columnist writing on "Ethics & Religion". He is President & Co-Chair of Marriage Savers.)


I think that something not discussed much in this debate, is the injustice of redefining marriage to suit a group that wants to usurp its 'meaning'. Same-sex marriage is all about 'pretending' to be an actual married couple.

Advocates of same-sex marriage need to step back and face themselves in the mirror. They will see someone willing to take away from someone else what they themselves can not have. Same sex marriage does not make two men or two women married. It makes marriage meaningless. Its purpose cannot be to accomplish the physically impossible. The real purpose must be to exact a price on society for a non-crime ...namely not being able to fabricate a heterosexual normalcy for gay couples.

Why Traditional Families Must Survive - Julie Culshaw

Slippery Slope

Happy Easter. Share A Story.

Its a wonderful Easter morning. Christ is Risen. My baby, 8 year old Matthew made his First Communion this morning. The church at the 8 am Mass was so packed, some were left outside. This, in spite of an overflowing Vigil Mass, and three later Masses today! God is Good!

My Dad sent me a horse story today. I love Dad's tales of his youth growing up on the farm in Alberta.I often end up homesick for a time and place I know mostly through him. Missing my family spread far and wide, I feel like sharing, so here is Dad's story. Have a great day!

I read the history section of today's AQHA Newsletter and noted the world quarter mile speed records are now under 21 seconds.

"2005 April 3 – In the first race in which the top three finishers clock sub-21-second quarter miles, A Long Goodbye clocks a world-record :20.686 in the MBNA America New Mexico Challenge (G1) at Sunland Park, with second finisher Special Task Force clocking :20.850 and third-placed Viva La Vicky at :20.952.

The mph equivalent of a 21 second quarter mile works out to 42.6 mph, much to my surprise and delight. I'll tell you why.

When I was 12 yo (1951), Dad bought a 3 yo unbroke 15.3 H, 1150 lb, 1/2 TB mare out of a tall Standardbred driving mare. I called her Kit. In another deal, Dad got an old stockman's saddle that had come to Alberta from the Dakotas about 50 years previously. It weighed over 50 lbs and it was all I could do at the start to get the saddle up there, but she stood reasonably well for a green horse. She was much faster than any horse I'd ever ridden. I've described the feeling of losing my breath at her speed, as when you stick your head out a car window at 40+ mph.

One Sunday in 1955, after she'd covered about six miles under that old 50 lb saddle and 165 lb rider, most of it at a brisk gallop, Dad came up beside us in his 47 Mercury sedan. I asked him to let me know how fast she was at full speed and he clocked her at 42 mph. I knew she was fast, but until today, I had no idea how her speed compared to racing quarter horses. Yes, a quarter mile race is from a standing start, but Kit had no training, carried more weight and had spent a lot of energy just before that sprint on a sand hills back road.

"Kit" was definately hot blooded. She would not walk or trot while I was on her. She'd run as fast as I'd let her run, but if I tried to walk or trot her for a rest, she'd simply slow lope along until I let her go again. Without a rider, she was a calm, no nonsense horse, and as long as we were moving, she was safe along the highway or railway tracks, no shying at surprises. She was also very sure-footed, once skating quite a ways at nearly full speed when we came upon ice under the snow as we rounded a corner that fell away to the right. I thought for sure she'd go down, but when we hit solid ground again, she was able to get right back in stride.

I occasionally knocked on the back door at home after urging Kit to climb the four steps to the porch. We'd jump off the side after my little joke on Mom. Another time, we were going through a patch of trees and brush on a neighbor's farm, when she hesitated, like she didn't want to go in the direction I showed her, so I corrected her and she hit an old rusted wire imbedded between two trees. She'd seen it, but when I urged her forward, she knowingly went into the wire. Kit's obedience was impressive, except for refusing to walk.

Her stopping was a sight to see. We practiced it at the end of every ride, coming into the yard at full speed aimed directly at the cowbarn. No matter how many times we did it, she'd fly right at the barn until my first whoa. I'd say whoa with a light tug, 2 strides, whoa with another tug into transition, then whoa to slide, ending with her nose, front hooves and back hooves up against the barn, leaving long skid marks in the grass.

She was 10 yo when I left for college, so Dad sold her to the local horse trader. I often wondered if whoever bought her ever realized what a good horse she was.

.

"Passion of Christ" in LEGO !

Faith and Family posts a great example of youthful faith in action!

Where The UN Is Coming From

United Nations Population Fund Leader Says Family Breakdown is a Triumph for Human Rights

LifeSiteNews:

...A leader in the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has declared that the breakdown of traditional families, far from being a “crisis,” is actually a triumph for human rights.

Speaking at a colloquium held last month at Colegio Mexico in Mexico City, UNFPA representative Arie Hoekman denounced the idea that high rates of divorce and out-of-wedlock births represent a social crisis, claiming that they represent instead the triumph of “human rights” against “patriarchy.”

"In the eyes of conservative forces, these changes mean that the family is in crisis," he said. "In crisis? More than a crisis, we are in the presence of a weakening of the patriarchal structure, as a result of the disappearance of the economic base that sustains it and because of the rise of new values centered in the recognition of fundamental human rights."...

These are the people President Barack Obama made it a priority to fund with tax dollars. People who consider it a 'victory' for human rights that the family is breaking down, that children don't have parents, that children are subjected to sex indoctrination at earlier and earlier ages, that fewer children exist on this planet. People who believe 'family' is a 'bad word' loved only by conservatives!

Could the hypocrisy be any more obvious? Barack Obama is in no way, shape or form, a supporter of family life as most Americans understand it. He likes HIS family. He wishes there were fewer 'other' families, and he's willing to use your money to see that there are.

Rainbow Pop

(This would explain how the Obama/Pepsi logos are interchangeable. Obama-ade?)

Pepsico has put millions of dollars into groups that actively seek to promote homosexual lifestyle through legislation. The Westins will no longer be purchasing ANY Pepsico products because we don't want to support a company that is working against the welfare of our family and our society. They are actively working against marriage and family in US and Canada. I particularly resent their television ads which are propaganda for homosexual behaviour, and accessible to children whenever the television is on.

Sign Petition, read the details of Pepsico's social engineering attempts and see their despicable ads at "Boycott Pepsico".

Wifely Obedience

Quite an interesting article at Red Cardigan

:...Perhaps it's a spending issue--we want to buy something for the home, but our husbands think that the current item is perfectly good and doesn't need replacing. Perhaps it's a division of labor issue--we might believe that some particular task ought to be his responsibility, but he expects us to take care of it. Perhaps it's an educational issue--we want to switch to a different math textbook, but our husbands believe that the program already in use is superior and that we just need to work harder to make it appeal to the child. Or perhaps it has to do with dozens of other things, such as housework, family relationships, leisure time, involvement in parish groups or ministries, involvement in clubs or organizations, even the way we pray as a family; all of those are areas where a wife and husband may disagree, and a wife may eventually be called to obedience....

...How do we know when to obey our husbands, when to humor them out of love, and when to make a stand? Again, we look to the good of the family: if what they are asking is an important thing that is ordered toward the family's good, we ought to do it; if it's a less important thing or if it isn't really ordered toward the good of the family we may need to humor them, depending on the situation. But if what our husbands want is something disordered, or ordered against the good of the family, we must insist that this not be done, and not only owe no obedience, but could even be more in danger of sinning if we give it....

(h/t Creative Minority)

I agree in principle. In practice I sometimes lack the humility to put the good of my husband and my family before my emotional reaction to the situation at hand,(I believe the 'code' for that is LOVE!) but I keep improving. By the time we reach our 50th, I'll be a very good wife!

John Pacheco and Mark Bonocore at SoConwrite on the devastating effects the purposes of Communism have had on Western society, particularly the family and marriage:

....Frederic Engels wrote the Principles of Communism which become, arguably, the defining document for the communist movement. In that paper, in answering a question on the influence of communist society on the family, he prophetically wrote:

"It will transform the relations between the sexes into a purely private matter which concerns only the persons involved and into which society has no occasion to intervene. It can do this since it does away with private property and educates children on a communal basis, and in this way removes the two bases of traditional marriage — the dependence rooted in private property, of the women on the man, and of the children on the parents."(21)

Engels’ propaganda sought to separate the marital union from its divine conception in favour of a mere utilitarian ideal, devoid of any moral underpinnings. Indeed, his observation that Communism would reduce marriage into a “purely private matter” between citizens has been tragically accurate. Such a “purely private matter” has found its zenith with the legalization and widespread acceptance of same-sex “marriage”.....

Is It A New World For Down's Babies?

INDEPENDENT U.K.:

....a survey timed to coincide with the release of figures from the National Down Syndrome Cytogenetic Register finds parents more accepting of the possibility that their child might have Down's. The Down's Syndrome Association, in conjunction with the BBC, questioned 1,000 of its members to find out why parents where increasingly likely to push on with a pregnancy where the child had Down's syndrome.

Previous consensus had attributed the rise to the fact that women are increasingly having babies at a later age, which increases the risk of Down's, but the latest survey suggests there are other reasons at play.

The results of the survey showed that, although a third of respondents said religious or pro-life leanings meant they were against the idea of abortion, many parents also felt that Britain had become a much better place to bring up a child with Down's syndrome.

A quarter of the parents said that they already knew people with Down's syndrome or other disabilities and that had influenced their decision to continue with the pregnancy. Thirty-five per cent said they felt that life and society had improved for people with Down's syndrome, while almost half had not believed they would eventually have a child with Down's syndrome, and so had continued with the pregnancy.

"We are all very surprised by this," said Carol Boys, chief executive of the Down's Syndrome Association. "When I and others had our babies it was a very different world – those with Down's syndrome were treated very differently. Now there is much greater inclusion and acceptance, with mainstream education having a huge role. We think this plays a part in the decisions parents make – there's even been a baby with Down's syndrome on EastEnders.".....

If nothing else good comes of the November election in the US, we can all pray that Sarah Palin's candidacy at least showed the country a 'can do' attitude towards accepting and loving our own families!

Chesterton Sets The Tone For Catholic Response

At Pro Ecclesia Jay Anderson reminds us of our Hope and Help with an excerpt from G.K, and suggests an appropriate response to the election results:

(1) Pray for President-elect Obama....

(2) Hold those Catholic proponents of President-elect Obama accountable for his record....

(3) Never stop fighting for a culture of life....

(4) Above all, have joy even when there seems to be no cause for such; have faith even when there seems to be no hope.

AMEN

Vote YES Prop.8 California

UPDATE :Marriage Wins

American Catholic:

Readers in California, please don’t forget that as you attempt to choose a pro-Life candidate for President of the US you are also being called to defend marriage by voting Yes on Proposition 8,. Whether they are beloved friends, co-workers or relatives, we probably all know gays and lesbians that we love and care deeply about; many of them may be in long-term loving relationships. But let’s not fool ourselves, a “marriage” between two people of the same sex is not a marriage in Christ. It is not love in the way Christ called us to love one another and the more we head down this path of destroying the institution of marriage, the further we move down the road to our own destruction as a society.

For proof you need only look at the dying populations of many European nations that have allowed gay “marriage”.There is no doubt you will be persecuted and maligned for your views and actually following you faith, but remember, this is the Truth of Christ and he was persecuted for us.

The American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property "10 Reasons"

Laugh Out Loud

I'm afraid I disturbed the peace when I read this one by Simcha Fisher:

"...I like being a Catholic; I do. I like people assuming we must be Catholic.

But what gets a little old is . . . you know, looking so Catholic all the time. I know there will come a time in my life when rust, ink stains, and spit-up are no longer the sacramentals of my vocation, but that's how it is for now. I can't help checking out other big families, to see how well they pull off Appearing Normal.

So we hurtle through the dentist's door, a mere seven minutes late, get the little patient checked in, and then we settle down. It's a tiny room and is already chock full -- and very noisy. I look around for the Catholic mom, and -- uh-oh, there she is, looking mean..."
.......................................................

Made my day!

Public Service Announcement (Canada)

Campaign Life Coalition has their election website up and running.(h/t Western Standard)

Check out 'Party Leader Report Card'. (sometimes I wish I were American...)

NCR:"Palin Family Values and the Abortion Debate"

"Perhaps the most absorbing element of this election season is the spectacle of abortion activists and media analysts grappling with both Gov. Sarah Palin’s decision to spare the life of her Down syndrome child and her teenage daughter’s decision to continue her pregnancy and marry the father of her unborn child.

As a group of talking heads on television expressed their amazement at the state of the Palin household, I thought of William May, my moral theology professor at the John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family, and his penchant for poking holes in the tortured logic of abortion advocates. May could nail the source of abortion supporters’ present discomfort in a nanosecond: Palin’s family choices directly challenge arguments that justify abortion as the “lesser evil.”

Since the ’60s, reproductive rights activists have presented abortion as perhaps the best solution for the scourge of teenage pregnancy, inner-city poverty, gender inequality, and the suffering experienced by disabled infants and their families. But May didn’t buy those arguments: “If abortion is the ‘lesser evil,’” he used to tell our class, “then the alternative — keeping the baby — constitutes the ‘greater evil.’ But how can that position be proved?”...more

Sparks of Joy

Catholic Sentinel posts an article about 'Downs' children and their families:

"About four years ago, when she was 6, Megan Scheidler had to get jabbed. She was not happy about it.

While the nurse gave the injection, Megan objected vigorously. It was such an ordeal that the girl, who has flaming red hair to match her face that day, got a sticker as a reward.

On the way out of the doctor’s office, still-sniffling Megan saw a dejected elderly woman in a wheelchair, face in hands. The girl stooped low to catch the suffering woman’s eye and offered the hard-won sticker as a gift of consolation..."

Dads in My Life

My son, Shane, with wife Rebekah and our first grandchild, Maria!

My husband Peter, hard at work on his 'History of St. Peter's Cathedral' (Charlottetown)

My Dad and Mom, and Peter's Mom, at Maria's baptism (first GREAT grandchild!)

Fr. Alban Westin, my father-in-law (fall 2006)R.I.P.

It is my privilege to know and love these guys, and to have them love me.

Happy Father's Day!

Sts, Peter and Paul, Charlottetown, PEI

Mural in Saints Peter and Paul Orthodox Church, painted in memory of Fr. Alban Westin, known as 'Grandpa', my husband's father. Fr. Alban passed away a year ago this past Easter Sunday, March 23 2007. In the picture are shown: Margaret Westin (mom), my son Joseph , Fr. Stephen Allen (parish priest) and the artist.

Shakin' My Head!

The National Posthas a perfect example of what happens when liberals are given their head - you find out there's nothing in it...

"According to Statistics Canada, a fifth of teens are not using protection during their first time, and that means sex educators are not resonating with young adults and so should consider a more "nuanced" approach, said Terry Humphreys, assistant professor of psychology at Trent University...
...During a presentation called Pleasure-Based Education for Youth, Carlyle Jansen, founder of Good For Her, a Toronto sex shop, and fellow retailer Renee Pilgrim drew the ire of their peers after they whipped out an enormous brown dildo and a plush, purple puppet shaped like an equally colossal vulva...
...Ms. Pilgrim paraded it around while Ms. Jansen illustrated how to fit a condom on the dildo --using her mouth; then the women shared tips for using the female condom.
They are just some of the explicit how-tos that the women are shopping around at Toronto high schools, universities and community centres as part of the Good for Her Sexual Health Education and Pleasure Project..."

Oh Yeah. I want MY kids to be taught about sex by these guys! "Hey kids, would you rather learn about chastity, or hear some titillating sexual details while watching role playing using velvet puppets?" Duh! (Actually, I have no doubt my kids would leave the room!)

I think our(family) method is working out a bit better:

1)Know and Love God, and appreciate the value He gives you.

2)Learn to reason, so that you can, when ready, compare your handed down tradition (it helps if there is one) with your own personal experiences and accept (or reject) them on your own terms. (In other words, own them.)

3)Don't look for a girlfriend unless you're ready to get married.No dating before you are 18!(This one was established by the oldest, and maintained by the sibling pecking order - thus far!)

We keep very close watch over our children. We know their friends' families. They go out mostly in pairs (or more). We have standards of purity that are often discussed and debated - and mostly maintained. (Includes movies,speech and clothing, as well as attitudes towards self and others.)We teach respect for life from day 0ne. No kid has any doubt that God knows each child from conception, and loves them intensely.

Although we are likely the 'strictest' family in our immediate surroundings, the kids are well known and respected, and well liked in our community. Everybody knows them - they are very friendly and open and generous. (This is possible because they are well supervised.)They are healthy, active and happy kids.

We also send the kids, so far, to at least the first year of college at a very faithful Catholic liberal arts college, where there are plenty more kids with the same outlook on life - positive and secure in the knowledge of God's love for them.

When they leave for college, we feel we have done our part. I trust that they will maintain their relationship with God and with His church. So far so good!

I cannot perceive of a better way to prepare my children for God's purpose in their adult life, including their sexuality, than to introduce them to Him, and keep Him central to our every day. Sexuality is not an item on a menu, or a subject in school. It doesn't stand alone, separate from the reality of the rest of your life. It is an intensely intimate part of God's relationship with you. To treat it as separate, is to diminish its actual importance. Its not virginity that is the 'gift', but sexuality itself - a gift from God, and shared with God and whomever God has created for you.

Why do some people love themselves and others so little, that they try to cheapen everything important and beautiful, in the name of 'sophistication'?

I'm sorry, but a 'velvet vulva' is not sophisticated, its sophomoric. The myopic idiocy of these 'educators' blows my mind. The first thing I thought of was "They're drumming up business for Planned Parenthood!"

I think I'm right about that.

Fatherhood

studiO'brien has a timely article putting Fatherhood in perspective:

"Human fatherhood gives us an anticipation of what He is. But when this fatherhood does not exist, when it is experienced only as a biological phenomenon, without its human and spiritual dimension, all statements about God the Father are empty. The crisis of fatherhood we are living today is an element, perhaps the most important, threatening man in his humanity. The dissolution of fatherhood and motherhood is linked to the dissolution of our being sons and daughters."(Pope Benedict XVI)