"Can Humanity Survive Without Religion?"

Kind of an interesting discussion at The Corner. Mark Krikorian asks what the future of society can be without at least SOMETHING to believe in. Can hmanity even survive, long term, without religion? John Derbyshire responds with "Plenty of civilizations — China and Japan, to name two — have got along for millennia without it.".

Seems to me that this is a question only a non-believer would waste any time on at all.

Surely the 'survival' of humanity depends on God?

"Freespeechapalooza"

Kathy Shaidle, Ezra Levant and Salim Mansur spoke at a 'free speech' event in Canada last week. A Catholic, a Jew and a Muslim explain to Canadians the dangerous restriction of freedoms being imposed by Canadian Human Rights Commissions.

Kathy Shaidle has published her entire speech on her site, and Roy Eappen has video coverage on his site.

Although this was a Canada specific event, it certainly isn't a unique problem. Human rights commissions around the world are doing their best to force 'correctness' on unruly citizens. Freedom is no longer a Western value, but a hindrance to Western governments seeking to align their legislation to conform to UN standards of 'proper belief'. That 'proper belief' would include state imposed syncretism, and total submission to the 'culture of death'. One writer at Brussels Journal concludes that we are now 'post democracy', citizens having become subjects in a 'global' construct run by 'expert elites'.

One wonders who ultimately will remain to benefit , and what the benefits will be in a soulless world of no democracy, no free speech, no children, no elderly, no families or marriage, and no faith?

Encouraging, if for no other reason than the joy of witnessing free expression, are the recent 'tea parties' in the US. Having followed this idea/event online since its inception a few months ago, I can state positively that there is a broad range of political and other 'beliefs' represented by these protesters. Something democratic has been unleashed, and the surest sign of this is the reaction of the media. (Even David Frum can't bring himself to really like the protests - not quite up to his standards of 'articulation'!)

Its going to take a lot of tea to reverse the stifling effect of the 'latte' drinkers, but is it impossible?

Not quite yet.

Books worth reading:
Tyranny Of Nice- Kathy's book
ShakeDown- Ezra's new book on his HRC experience.
America Alone by Mark Steyn

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

Americans Are Taxed To Help Planned Parenthood Profits

Planned Parenthood is not exactly a philanthropic organization. There's big money in abortion!

California Catholic Daily:

...PPFA's Annual Report shows that the group generated more than $1.038 billion in Fiscal Year 2007-2008, which is an increase of nearly two percent from the previous reporting period. In Fiscal Year 2006-2007, PPFA's budget had risen more than 11 percent over the previous fiscal year.

PPFA's income includes a hefty and ever-increasing check from American taxpayers. In Fiscal Year 2005-2006, government funding increased by nearly 10.8 percent over the previous reporting period. In Fiscal Year 2006-2007, taxpayers gave another 10.3 percent. In Fiscal Year 2007-2008, taxpayers gave nearly 3.8 percent more to Planned Parenthood, bringing the total to $349.6 million. The most recent figures show that almost 33.7 percent of PPFA's annual revenue comes from taxpayers.

"This 'not-for-profit' goliath ends every fiscal year with millions of dollars in 'excess revenue over expenses,'" Scott said, "which is known to regular people as 'profit.'" The 'excess' for 2003-2004 was $63 million. In 2004-2005, the excess was $55.8 million. In 2005-2006, the amount was a staggering $114.8 million. Planned Parenthood confesses to having an additional $85 million in "excess revenue" in its most recent report...

ALL:

...Despite a massive public relations effort to distance itself from one of its main sources of income, two new reports, including the group's annual report, show a huge increase in Planned Parenthood's abortion business.

In addition to the annual report, American Life League also released a report last month showing an increase in the number of Planned Parenthood facilities performing medical abortions.

“Planned Parenthood has increased its number of abortions to a total of 305,310 which is over 15,000 more babies than it reported to have killed in 2006,” said Marie Hahnenberg, ALL researcher. “We also learned from our 2008 Report on Planned Parenthood facilities that Planned Parenthood is focusing more on killing preborn babies through medical abortions.”

In the last two years, Planned Parenthood has increased its number of facilities offering medical abortions by 61...

'Planned Parenthood. It shouldn't mean a dead baby and a wounded mother.'

We shouldn't be paying for baby murders instead of our own children's university. Those taxes are being so cruelly and deliberately misspent. Who benefits?

Not women. Not families. Not America.



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Jay Leno To Raise Funds AGAINST Pregnancy Crisis Centers

Comedian Jay Leno and his wife are to host a fundraiser for Feminist Majority Foundation, a radical abortion organization that advocates protests against and closure of pregnancy crisis centers. Mavis Leno is a member of the board of FMF, so presumably she is aware of and supports their radical stands against informing and providing a healthful choice for women, or supporting them emotionally and materially through crisis pregnancies. She therefore is expressly not for choice or for women, but FOR abortion at all costs, even at the cost to women themselves.

Not very funny.

Meanwhile, OptionLine reaches out to women pregnant or after an abortion, and helps connect them with information and crisis pregnancy centers across America. Women can find the help they need , without being pressured into a 'procedure' that may forever change their physical, mental and spiritual health.

Clearly, caring for women is not as simple as providing a ticket to murder whomever stands in the way of their immediate 'plans'. Caring for women implies providing for their health as whole persons - perhaps a concept that FMF cannot reconcile with. Afterall, where would the 'sacred cow' abortion be if women had depth of knowledge, emotion and spirituality?

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Where Are The Christians in Britain ?

Apparantly they are being baited by PC agents in 'charity' organizations, to answer questions about their beliefs, so they can be chastised for being 'uncharitable' in their beliefs!

Christian Legal Centre:

An employee at a Christian ‘homeless’ charity, whose Patron is the Archbishop of Canterbury, has been suspended for answering questions about his faith to a colleague at work.

David Booker, aged 44, a Christian from Southampton, has worked for the English Churches Housing Group for almost four years .On 26 March, whilst working an evening shift, he had a 35 minute conversation with a female colleague. The colleague asked him about his faith and beliefs. During the conversation he was asked the Church’s teaching on homosexuality and same-sex marriages, which Mr Booker explained. The conversation was free-flowing and Mr Booker clearly explained that he had homosexual friends and that he was not homophobic.

The following day he was summoned by his employers and told that he was suspended for “events that happened last night”. On March 30, he was given a formal suspension notice alleging that: “ On 26 March 09, whilst on shift with a female colleague, you seriously breached ECHG’s (English churches House group) Code of conduct by promoting your religious views which contained discriminatory comments regarding a person’s sexual orientation.”...

Did the Archbishop not know the terms of the agency's 'code of conduct'? Who set up the PC sting? Will the Archbishop continue to be the patron of a 'charity' that seeks to punish Anglicans that are knowledgeable and honest about their own faith?

Next, the government will step in with its own 'chastisements'. Its not for nothing that they failed to pass a 'freedom of speech' amendment to the 'Coroners and Justice Bill'.

Oh Britannia!!

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.

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CHRIST IS RISEN! HE IS RISEN INDEED!

GOD IS GREAT!

Divine Mercy Novena

EWTN

The Divine Mercy Novena

Jesus asked that the Feast of the Divine Mercy be preceded by a Novena to the Divine Mercy which would begin on Good Friday. He gave St. Faustina an intention to pray for on each day of the Novena, saving for the last day the most difficult intention of all, the lukewarm and indifferent of whom He said:
"These souls cause Me more suffering than any others; it was from such souls that My soul felt the most revulsion in the Garden of Olives. It was on their account that I said: 'My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass Me by.' The last hope of salvation for them is to flee to My Mercy."

In her diary, St. Faustina wrote that Jesus told her:

"On each day of the novena you will bring to My heart a different group of souls and you will immerse them in this ocean of My mercy ... On each day you will beg My Father, on the strength of My passion, for the graces for these souls."

The different souls prayed for on each day of the novena are:

DAY 1 (Good Friday) - All mankind, especially sinners

DAY 2 (Holy Saturday) - The souls of priests and religious

DAY 3 (Easter Sunday) - All devout and faithful souls

DAY 4 (Easter Monday) - Those who do not believe in Jesus and those who do not yet know Him

DAY 5 (Easter Tuesday) - The souls of separated brethren

DAY 6 (Easter Wednesday) - The meek and humble souls and the souls of children

DAY 7 (Easter Thursday) - The souls who especially venerate and glorify Jesus' mercy

DAY 8 (Easter Friday) - The souls who are detained in purgatory;

DAY 9 (Easter Saturday) - The souls who have become lukewarm.

The Chaplet of Divine Mercy may also be offered each day for the day's intention, but is not strictly necessary to the Novena.


Full Intentions

Chaplet of Divine Mercy

Going To A Tea Party?

Need A Sign?

"Love Song"

Third Day 'Love Song' put to clips from "The Passion of Christ"


Love Song - Third Day from Kevin Porter on Vimeo.

(Kevin Porter)

Pastor Hoye Calls For End To Womb Lynchings

Jailed prayer warrior and life advocate Pastor Walter Hoye speaks from prison urging his fellow churchmen to speak out from the pulpit




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600 Clergy Decry Notre Dame Obama Invite

LifeSiteNews:

The Confraternity of Catholic Clergy, a national association of 600 priests and deacons, has issued a statement urging the University of Notre Dame to rescind the invitation to President Obama to be the commencement speaker for this year's graduation and receive an honorary law degree May 17...

..."If need be, a Catholic University must have the courage to speak uncomfortable truths which do not please public opinion, but which are necessary to safeguard the authentic good of society," the Pope wrote in the 1990 document, going on to cite the "responsibility to try to communicate to society ... principles which give full meaning to human life" as "a specific priority" of Catholic schools.

"The decision ... to afford an openly pro-abortion politician the privilege of speaking to graduating seniors at the commencement violates every principle of Catholic education insofar as it violates both Divine and Natural Law," said the Confraternity. "We are therefore saddened and outraged that any Catholic institution, let alone a prestigious university like Notre Dame, would afford a public gesture of acceptance and endorsement to a politician who openly supports the so-called legal 'right' to 'choose death', i.e., the direct killing of an unborn human being."

The Confraternity called the reasoning that the invitation would foster "dialogue" with the President on life issues "a non sequitur." "Speaking at Commencement is not an open debate, it is a monologue," said the clergymen. "Parents did not pay tuition for celebrities to speak at their son or daughter's graduation, they paid it to ensure a Catholic education."...

UNICEF - Making Friendly Advances To Ugandan Teens

UNICEF bypasses parents to distribute book 'explaining' homosexuality to teens, through 'teen peers'. Unicef excuses the action based on UN covenants of non-discrimination. Says 'teen peers' are a commonly used 'approach' .

Welcome to the world of indoctrination to one world view. Forget Ugandan culture or moral standards. Those are not the standards of the UN! The UN must 'help' other recalcitrant nations to follow the 'internationally accepted' standards of the UN! Standards such as the 'human right' of all homosexual behaviour to be affirmed as 'normal' and desirable, or the 'human right' to be preempted as a human being by being aborted in any country in the world.

New Vision, Uganda:

...The United Nations children’s agency, UNICEF has come under sharp criticism for distributing in Uganda a teenagers’ guide book that says homosexuality is normal.

Parents complain that the book misguides the youth; ethics minister Nsaba Buturo calls it a disaster, and education ministry officials say they know nothing about it.

Fifteen thousand copies of The Teenagers Toolkit, were printed in 2002 and distributed in over 30 districts, according to UNICEF. The book, produced in collaboration with the UK-based Health Link World wide, aims at educating 15-19 year olds about their sexual and reproductive health....

...It reads: “Many people are sexually attracted to people of the same sex or attracted to both males and females. We are born with these feelings about who we like sexually, and who we do not like sexually – it is natural.”

The section adds, “It is quite normal when you are growing up to fall in love with someone of your own sex. This can happen even though you may grow up to have sexual feelings for the opposite sex, marry, and have children.”

It goes ahead to say, a peer educator can support someone who is not sure about their sexual feelings. The peer educators, says the book, can also support gay or lesbian teenagers who fear to tell others about their status. “The important thing is to be open minded and to show love and respect to all your friends.”

It is also mentioned that the only way anal sex is safe is for stopping pregnancy.

Michel Sidibe, the UNICEF representative in Uganda at the time, in the foreword, noted that the book would assist adolescent peer educators in their work of educating and influencing other young people on matters related to their health and development...

...."We parents are disgusted by these events. We feel terrible. How can our children be exposed to the gruesome mechanics of sex as expressed in this book?” asks Langa.

Langa said as a parents’ network they want to have a say in the sex education curriculum for children. “They are teaching sex education without morals. What messages are being passed on to our children? It is poison and for poison to kill, it doesn’t have to be given in large amounts.”

I'm sure this 'approach' will be a great help in Africa's fight against HIV/AIDS.

Meanwhile, 'intellectuals', politicians, and media hacks across the west, revile the 'teach abstinence as normal' approach that has proven successful in fighting AIDS - particularly in Uganda.

Those westerners must really love Africans, yes?

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The Last Supper to the Ascension

A series of medievel paintings showing the events leading from the Last supper to the Ascension of Jesus

Social Rights, Or Not

Rachel Patterson at ASI writes :

...The term 'right' has come to characterize anything to which either the government or the citizenry feel they can make a fundamental claim to – but this is to express a deep misunderstanding of rights and their traditional link to civil liberties. Instead, a definition of rights has evolved which people almost universally accept but which remains false and untrue to their original intention. Rights began as protections against what the state could not do to a citizen; now they have become what the government must do for an individual....

Now they become an excuse for citizens to attack each other based on whose 'rights' have precedence. Now the basic human rights originally guaranteed are sublimated to the 'right of the week'. Free speech is being thrown aside for the sake of being 'non-offensive'. Freedom of religion must bow to gov't sponsored affirmation of homosexual behaviour. The right to life has been replaced by the right of the more powerful to snuff out the life of the vulnerable AT WHIM.

We are entering a very repressive age, calling itself tolerant, and revoking rights in the name of 'rights'.

NEW DICTIONARY PLEASE!

Not The Only Idiot In Britain

Tony Blair believes that the Pope's 'attitude' towards homosexuality is a 'generational' issue. Who is responsible for this man's RCIA? His wife?!

LifeSiteNews:

... In separate media venues this week, former British Prime Minister and his wife have attacked Pope Benedict XIV and the Catholic teaching on homosexuality and the use of condoms to prevent the spread of AIDS.

In an interview with Attitude, a homosexual magazine, Tony Blair said that Pope Benedict's objection to homosexual behaviour is a "generational" issue and that any change in Catholic teaching on the matter is resisted by Church leaders because of "fear" among religious leaders of changing with the times...

WHY DID HE BOTHER BECOMING A CATHOLIC? Really, what was the point ?


As Blair points out in the article, he is surrounded by 'Catholics' who do not believe church teachings on contraception, homosexuality or abortion. One of those 'Catholics' is his wife, Cherie Blair, vocal dissident and supporter of Planned Parenthood. Britain appears to be full of 'Catholics' with no idea of the meaning of BEING Catholic.

The new Archbishop of Westminster, Vincent Nichols, has his hands full!

UN and Human Rights - A New Dictionary Please!

While the UN is very busy pushing a worldwide acceptance of abortion as a basic 'human right', and the 'human right' of homosexuals to be affirmed in their behaviour by every world citizen, they don't seem too concerned about anti-semitism. What the heck does 'human rights' even mean anymore!!

NRO:

Kicking Israel Around [Anne Bayefsky]


Here is a window on the dirty game of U.N. politics that is laughably called “human rights.” The scene is the U.N.’s Palais des Nations, in Geneva, where negotiations are taking place over the final document to be adopted formally at Durban II, the U.N.’s “anti-racism” conference that begins on April 20. President Obama is desperate to avoid offending anybody who is not American, particularly Islamic states, so American officials remain tight-lipped about whether they will participate in Durban II or not. While Americans observe the planning sessions from the sidelines, this is what is happening in the pit.

The first issue discussed today was the central one for American participation. Israel was the only nation criticized by name in the 2001 Durban Declaration, which asserts that Palestinians are victims of Israeli racism. Although the Obama administration stated last month that it would not agree to “reaffirm the Durban Declaration in toto,” paragraph number 1 of the working draft of this year’s declaration “reaffirms the 2001 Durban Declaration as it was adopted.”

Today the European Union indicated that it is satisfied with this language and has no intention of proposing any modification that would bring the Americans onboard. Suggestions had been floating around to reaffirm only “the core provisions from 2001,” or to insert an explanatory footnote with reservations. None of this materialized. It turns out that the EU’s “who gives a damn about the U.S.” position is part of a deal struck with Islamic extremists. As long as the EU reaffirms the denunciation of Israeli racism in Durban I, Islamic states will refrain from introducing more racist-Israel language into Durban II. That’s how the EU does business: Forget the principle — just keep the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) happy.

The EU position should spell the end of Obama’s fence-sitting. The game is up; alleged Israeli racism is going to be “reaffirmed,” since not one country is prepared to oppose it.

Meanwhile, the idea of denouncing anti-semitism remains controversial. In this global proclamation about intolerance, there is only one draft paragraph among 141 that briefly mentions “anti-semitism,” and today the South Africans indicated they had problems with that paragraph. The Russian chair of the proceedings announced that he was delaying consideration of the subject and moving its discussion to an unrelated debate over paragraphs concerning freedom of expression.

What’s behind all this? The OIC countries are locked in a struggle with EU states over the ability to stifle free speech (such as “defaming” Islam) in the name of protecting religion. The Russian move helps the OIC nations by letting them use the anti-semitism clause as a bargaining chip, to be played in exchange for the EU’s allowing free-speech restrictions. In a related issue, the Danish are unhappy with the mention of something the U.N. invented called “anti-Arabism.” That phrase has been inserted in the paragraph about discrimination in the form of Islamophobia, Christianophobia and anti-semitism. But the rest of the EU has told the Danes to get lost, on the grounds that if the EU proposes deleting anti-Arabism, the OIC will insist on deleting anti-semitism. As EU officials explain to observers, “We want to show restraint.”

Restraint of course, is a one-way street at the U.N. So the Syrians duly proposed adding a denunciation of “foreign occupation” — a.k.a. Israel. Not one country objected to the Syrian proposal — not even Australia, which until now had not been intimidated by the anti-Israel and anti-democratic forces. According to U.N. rules, this means the proposed language will be added into the draft in “square brackets,” indicating that it is firmly in the mix for the purposes of future deal-making. Syria also said, “later on we will propose further amendments.”

Watching the U.N. conduct the business of human rights is revealing. It teaches us how negotiations between fascists and democrats proceed. Democrats “show restraint,” while fascists don’t care who they offend or what they say. And more often than not, Jews and the Jewish state are the political football. The farthest thing from this playing field is true concern over the protection of human rights.

— Anne Bayefsky is a senior fellow with the Hudson Institute and at Touro College, New York.

Meanwhile in Canada, the difference between a conservative approach to human rights and a liberal approach is the difference bewteen Canada's non-participation in Dubai under conservative PM Stephen Harper, and PM Paul Martin's (liberal) support of Tamil Tigers.

If only such a difference was obvious on Canadian soil, regarding human rights in Canada! Perhaps that's 'not an area of interest'.

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Up To Date Coverage of Notre Dame Disgrace

CatholiCity has a new webpage up with links to up to date articles on the notre Dame scandal. Here you may find speeches and letters by Cardinals, Bishops, priests, students, alumni, and others.

Pass It On.

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God Listens - 40 Days For Life Wraps Up

(from Julie Culshaw 40 Days For Life, Halifax, Canada via e-mail)

The latest campaign of 40 Days for Life closed yesterday. 135 cities in the United States, Canada, Australia and Northern Ireland took part in this campaign and 355 babies are known to have been saved from death.

In the last 20 months, since 40 Days became an international pro life campaign, there have been 466 campaigns in 240 cities in all 50 states,
plus Brazil, England, Northern Ireland, Australia and six cities in Canada. Over 200,000 people were involved in the prayer vigils, over 4000 churches of all denominations got involved, 17 abortion workers left their jobs and sought work elsewhere, 3 abortion clinics closed down completely after the prayer campaigns, many other clinics have scaled back their hours as business is down.

But the most amazing fact is that 1,483 lives were spared from abortion because of the cumulative imapct of the campaigns in the last 20 months. And those are only the ones that we know about. There are many more that we may never hear of, as women came to clinics, changed their minds without letting the vigil participants know, and went on to carry their babies to term.

This pro life movement is having tremendous impact on society in the Western World. This is the largest coordinated pro life campaign in history and the momentum is growing. People who have been longing to see the end of abortion are gaining hope as they hear the stories from these campaigns. And there is a renewed optimism that we can, in fact, DO something about abortion. We don't just have to wish it were different, we don't just have to bemoan the number of abortions, we can actually join all the thousands of other pro life people who are praying and those prayers are being heard.

God is faithful to us and is answering prayers. So for those who want to see an end to abortion, look at what is working right now! and join the next campaign.

I Love Being Catholic

(picture of Roman Catholic priest blessing palms, Palm Sunday, Manila)

I really do. I also love being Catholic in Cayman.

We had a lovely procession from the school to the church this morning. First Father blessed the palms. Several parishioners from Cayman's Phillipino community had added palms they had already folded into decorative designs - enough for quite a few of us to be able to share! They were very beautiful, and I couldn't help reflecting on the wonderful Catholic unity exemplified by our parish of St. Ignatius.

When we arrived at the church, near the end of the procession , it was to discover that there was standing room only! We have 5 Sunday Masses and all are full. Today we were overflowing. I'll gladly take having to stand in a full church, over a seat in an empty church!

I am a Christian. I Love Christ. And I Love being a part of His Church.


Palm Weaving

(palms in Mexico)

"The Demographics of Abortion"

Joe Sobran:

...Obama is a clever fellow. He realized some time ago that if he wanted to be the first black American president, his best bet was to seek the nomination of the Democratic Party; and in order to do that, he would have to be pro-abortion.

Now of course most blacks don’t like abortion. They know, or at least sense, its reality: white abortionists getting rich killing nonwhite babies. The profits are so big because the overhead is so low. Aborting a child requires very little medical skill, and most doctors won’t do it. Yet this aspect is rarely discussed. To hear liberals talk about it, you could get the impression that abortion is just an abstract matter of individual rights, or “choice.” But back here on earth, its net result is to depress the nonwhite population in this country. Some of its supporters also argue that it depresses the crime rate too, but they seldom refer to the racial angle, at least in public.

So our first black president got where he is by taking a profoundly antiblack position in order to gain the favor of liberals in his party. After all, liberals don’t call the killing of the unborn “racism” or “genocide”; they don’t even call it “killing.”...

(Joe Sobran is an author and a syndicated columnist.

Barely Human

I would like to call these people 'Not Quite Human', but I do believe in God the Creator and Christ's sacrificial act of redemption, so I therefore believe that they were conceived human, and have human potential. They are 'Barely Human' .


US News, PBS Media HostBonnie Erbe explains why increasing abortion numbers is a 'good' :

..."The recession is driving American demand for contraception and for abortions. The media have been riven this past week with stories about the rising number of couples and single mothers doing the math and deciding this is no time to bring a child into the world," Erbe writes.

"The media have also been rife with stories portraying this trend as something of a tragedy," she continues. "Let me propose a counter view: it is not"....

US PresidentBarack Obama has accumulated quite a list of God defying anti-life actions in a very short time:

...The following is a compilation of bill signings, speeches, appointments and other actions that President Barack Obama has engaged in that have promoted abortion before and during his presidency. While Obama has promised to reduce abortions and some of his supporters believe that will happen, this long list proves his only agenda is promoting more abortions....

Katherine Hancock Ragsdale Episcopalian minister, preaches 'Abortion is a Blessing':

...In her sermon, Ragsdale denied the assertions of some "progressive" clergy who call abortion a "tragedy," saying abortion is instead a "blessing." "When a woman finds herself pregnant due to violence and chooses an abortion," she said, "it is the violence that is the tragedy; the abortion is a blessing."

She described various situations in which "abortion is a blessing", including in cases of foetal "anomalies," rape or incest, material poverty and "lack of social support."

"When a woman becomes pregnant within a loving, supportive, respectful relationship; has every option open to her; decides she does not wish to bear a child; and has access to a safe, affordable abortion - there is not a tragedy in sight -- only blessing."...

Ludwig Minelli Dignitas founder, advocates 'assisted suicide' for the healthy:

...The founder of Dignitas, the pro-euthanasia group that operates the Switzerland-based euthanasia clinic, has revealed plans to kill a healthy woman in an assisted suicide. Backers of the practice claim they want suicides for terminally ill patients and the elderly, but they are pushing the envelope even further.

Ludwig Minelli calls killing a healthy patient a "marvelous opportunity" and says assisted suicide should no longer be reserved for the disabled or very ill patients...

Obviously not a complete list, but you get the idea.


To be truly and authentically human, we must be as God created us - in His image . Being truly human is possible only through Jesus, who is what Pope Benedict calls “the measure of true humanism.”

Those who deny God, by denying the inherent value of human life - the life He created in His own image - are barely human themselves.

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William Daley, "Chicago Catholic" , Embarrassed (Oh Woe!)

Father John Zuhlsdorf comments on Daley's 'bad catholic' response to Catholic outrage over honouring the dishonorable at Notre Dame. He points out the false premises and corrupt thinking of a man who is more 'Chicago' than he is a Christian. That does not a 'good Catholic' make!

...A main talking point clutched by Catholics who are trying to defend the invitation by Notre Shame to Pres. Obama is that disapprobation of the invitation is really political.

That is because the defenders of the invitation are long-habituated to reducing what are really questions of faith and reason to politics.

With that in mind, let’s see what a long-time Chicago Democrat politician, not coincidentally named "Daley", brother of the current Mayor of Chicago, Pres. Clinton’s Secretary of Commerce, chairman of Vice-Pres. Gore’s campaign, supporter of Pres. Obama, the Loyola University educated William M. Daley has to say.

He is the ultimate Catholic Democrat/Obama insider....

Father Z goes on to take Daley's 'complaint' apart - line by line. A great read!

"Bare Minimum Catholics"

NCRegister:

...This “Get Religion” writer calls a recent Gallup Poll further confirmation that there are four Catholic voter blocs. He identifies them this way:

—“Ex-Catholics. Solid for the Democrats.”

—“Cultural Catholics who may go to church a few times a year. This may be an undecided voter, but this vote leans to Democrats.”

—“Sunday-morning American Catholics. This voter is a regular in the pew and may even play some leadership role in the parish. This is the true Catholic swing vote.”

—“The ‘sweats the details’ Roman Catholic who goes to confession, is active in the full sacramental life of the parish and almost always backs the Vatican on doctrinal matters. This group is a small slice of the American Catholic pie.”

Let’s rename and redefine that last category. Instead of “sweats the details” Catholics, let’s call them:

Bare minimum Catholics. Catholics who at least follow the ‘indispensable minimum’: the precepts of the Church....