When Principle Confronts Power

As a lawyer, I am intrigued by how much we dislike confrontation. Entertainers now deliver us non-confrontational heroes like Forrest Gump who quips, "Life is like a box of chocolates. You just don't know what you'll get." Persons of principle, the power elitists tell us, just do not confront anymore.

The power elitists especially do not like it when prolife persons are confrontational. I recall an editorial which Terry Bibo wrote this past summer in the Peoria Journal Star. Ms. Bibo wrote critically about a letter which John Stambaugh, a prolife activist, had written to Pioneer Square businesses urging them to relocate away from the facility where pre born babies are killed in Peoria and threatening to boycott their businesses. Ms. Bibo abhorred such confrontations which might even "kill businesses."

What is more, she charged that such efforts are hypocritically unprincipled as she quoted a Proverb saying that the Lord hates dissension among brothers. She urged Journal Star readers to "pray about" that.

It would be sweet if life was a box of chocolates and principle walked hand in hand with power. But what happens when power collides with principle? What should we do?

Christians are called to imitate the highest Man of Principle, Jesus Christ. Was He non-confrontational? Just perusing the strong words ("vipers", "blind fools", "whited tombs", etc.) that He had to say about certain powerful men of his time convinces us that Christ was confrontational.

As a Christian lawyer, moreover, I find most instructive our Savior's personal confrontation at His trial before Pilate, as told in St. John's Gospel. What happened when Principle confronted power then? Jesus first educated Pilate, saying, "I came into this world to bear witness to the truth." But power was scornful of the truth, sneering, "Truth! What is truth?" Pilate sought Christ's acknowledgment of his power, but Christ put Pilate's power in its proper perspective, stating, "You would have no power at all against Me unless it was given from above." Ultimately, Pilate had Christ crucified.

When principle confronts power, something has to yield. Principle cannot bend the truth, nor refuse to proclaim it. Persuasion is the means by which principle directs power toward the truth. Power therefore must either submit to the truth or attempt to crush it. If it does not submit, power attempts to crush principle by the force of persecution.

Accepting persecution is not a pleasant thought. That is why we dislike confrontation, even on behalf of principle. Christ's promise to us concerning this persecution makes it worth the price. "Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness` sake: for theirs shall be the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 5:10. If we are faithful to principle, Christ promises us ultimately the peace of heaven. Persecution paves the road to that promised peace.

All of us have known persons of principle. As a lawyer, I appreciate most those who confront power on behalf of principle. My brother Jerry is for me the closest example of such a man. With attorney Harry Williams, I defended Jerry in his last confrontation with power before his death. The prosecutor charged Jerry with trespass for entering the Pioneer Square abortion center to persuade a professed Christian grandfather not to have his teenage daughter kill her pre born child, his grandchild. Jerry had previously spent a total of 21 days in jail after he refused to leave the same abortion center on one previous occasion. He knew that he would face persecution again for going back there. Still, principle cannot bend to the truth or refuse to proclaim it. Jerry had no opportunity to speak to the grandfather before he went into the abortion center, so Jerry followed him inside and spoke to him there.

I recently reread Jerry's final statement to the judge before he was sentenced. In eighteen double spaced pages, he eloquently explained why we must confront abortion around us. He closed with a reference to the 18th chapter of the Gospel according to St. Matthew. There, Christ warned us not to despise even the smallest among us because their angels behold the face of God in heaven. Further, Christ told us that it is not the Father's will that even one of the little ones should perish. Finally, He enjoined us to go and reprove our brother in private if he sins. "If he listens to you, you have won your brother."

In his statement to the court, Jerry told how he had previously received a late night call from a friend of a young mother who had scheduled an abortion the next morning. Jerry called the young mother's parents and informed them of their daughter's plan. The parents found their daughter that night and persuaded her to cancel the appointment with death. The mother gave birth to her child who now lives happily with her. "Words have that power, your Honor," Jerry told the judge. The judge sentenced him to twenty days in jail.

Mothers who have experienced remorse after aborting their pre born children's lives convince us that no matter how difficult a birth may be, such difficulties pale by comparison with the torment of knowing that one has willfully killed his or her own child. While mothers almost always overcome the pain of childbirth and parents find strength which they did not know they had to raise their children, few parents can face this torment. Mentally and spiritually, they are at war with themselves.

When we assist mothers and fathers to choose life for their children, we safeguard the Innocents from perishing, we win over their parents, our brothers and sisters, to God's peace, and we find that peace ourselves. To obtain these rewards, Christ calls us to confront the power of our age which despises the smallest among us. We know that persecution awaits those who confront power on behalf of principle. We endure that persecution for the sake of the children, our brother and sisters, and ourselves. May we all be together to share God's peace.

[Note:  I wrote this article at the end of 1994.  It was published in Life Advocate magazine.]

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Guidelines for Political Activities of Churches and Pastors

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From James Bopp, by James Bopp, Jr. General Counsel
James Madison Center for Free Speech
in association with the Alliance Defense Fund

Guidelines for Political Activities of Churches and Pastors

The following is a list of activities that may be considered political activities in the broad sense and that a church or pastor, in his individual capacity and using his own funds, may wish to do.

First, churches and pastors may discuss the positions of candidates on issues B including criticizing or praising them for their positions. This is called issue advocacy.

Second, pastors, as individuals, may endorse candidates, and publish their endorsements at their own expense. The endorsement of a candidate includes any statement which uses explicit words to expressly advocate the election or defeat of a clearly identified candidate, such as "elect," "support," "defeat," or "oppose." This is called express advocacy. A church may not engage in express advocacy, but a pastor, in his individual capacity, may.

Third, pastors as individuals may contribute to political candidates, churches may not. In‑kind expenditures are non‑cash benefits provided to a political candidate. Pastors may make in‑kind expenditures in favor of or against political candidates, but churches may not.

Fourth, pastors may make independent expenditures for such advertising as long as they don=t utilize church property. Churches may not make such expenditures. Independent expenditures are expenditures for advertising in favor of or against political candidates, that are not coordinated with the candidate, and are not approved by the candidate.

Fifth, pastors may contribute to political action committees, or PACs, but churches may not.

Sixth, pastors may pay the expenses for a person to attend a caucus of a state/national convention, churches may not.

Seventh, a political candidate may appear at a church service. The appearance of a candidate before a church service, however, is limited as follows: (a) any other candidate for the office or any other political party who is a candidate for the office who requests to appear must be given the same opportunity, and (b) no solicitation for funds for the candidate or endorsement of the candidate may be made by any representative of the church.

In addition, a church may allow political candidates to have a meeting or use the facilities of the church on the same basis that civic groups and other organizations are allowed to. If civic groups and other organizations are required to pay some rent for using the church property, the political candidate should be charged the same amount.

Eighth, a church may publish or distribute the results of surveys of candidates on public issues. Such surveys, however, must be non‑partisan. As a result, 501 (c) (3) church groups should observe the following conditions in publishing or distributing the survey:

1. publish the response of all the candidates for the particular office by use of "yes" and "no". Avoid use of "+" and "‑" or "pro‑life" and "anti‑life". The survey should not specify what is the desired response;

2. do not include any words indicating either endorsement of or support for any of the candidates or indicate that the reader should "vote pro‑life." Advocacy of one issue voting should be reserved for other issues of the church bulletin when the survey is not published; and

3. do not publish the response to the survey under the control, direct or indirect, of any candidate.

It is preferable that candidate surveys involve a variety of issues, but this is not required.

Ninth, churches may also publish the voting records of incumbent public officeholders. In the case of publication of voting records, the church has more leeway than in publishing candidate surveys as follows:

1. the church, in publishing the incumbent=s votes on particular issues, may indicate the church=s view and the fact that the incumbent supported or opposed the church=s view. Thus, "+" or "‑" or "pro‑life" and "anti‑life" may be used, and

2. in other respects, the publications should be non‑partisan. As a result, the voting records of all incumbents in the area should be presented, candidates for reelection should not be identified, no comment should be made on an individual=s overall qualifications for public office, and no statements expressly advocating the election or defeat of any incumbent as a candidate for public office should be offered.

Tenth, pastors may distribute candidate political statements at their own expense, but may not distribute them at church. Churches may not distribute candidate political statements, but they may permit distribution by others of candidate political statements in their church parking lot.

Eleventh, lists of members of the church congregation may be rented to candidates for their use in seeking support or raising funds. The candidate must pay the fair market value for the list, if it is rented from the church. The church must offer the list to all candidates on the same terms

Twelfth, a church may participate in non‑partisan voter education. Here, voter education involves discussion of the electoral process, such as how to run for public office or delegate, how to register, where to vote, helping or assisting people to register and get out the vote drives. All such activity is permissible as long as it is not directed at one party or candidate over another.

Thirteenth, a church may publish an ad for a political candidate in its bulletin or newsletter, as long as the ad is purchased at the regular rate for such ads published in that publication. If discounts are given regular advertisers under certain circumstances, the same discounts may be extended to the political advertiser. In addition, the church may be selective in printing adsBfor instance, only ads from pro‑life candidates may be accepted. A political ad may not be sold to a candidate at less than the regular rate since this would constitute a political contribution to the candidate.

Fourteenth, a church may publish without limitation news stories on political candidates, political campaigns and endorsements of political candidates by political organizations. The publication of voting records and candidate surveys in bulletins are subject to the limitations delineated in item nine above.

Fifteenth, a church may not publish an editorial supporting or endorsing a candidate for political office. This would be considered a church endorsement, which it may not do.

See also, comprehensive information at Political Responsibility Center of Priests for Life

http://www.politicalresponsibility.com/  


Index of Articles

Open letter to Ray Lahood - Stand Firm

Urgent: Defend Conscience Rights Now and How!

Quality of Life: A Hellish Formula

I was saddened to read this sermon from a professing Christian

Does All Reality Relate?

Notre Dame President Should Rescind Commencement Speaker Invitation

Where Are We Now? Where Are We Headed?

When will we Finally Win?

Praying for the President

Beatitudes, Babies and Baseball: The poor pitcher

Beatitudes, Babies and Baseball: The Consoled Catcher

Beatitudes, Babies and Baseball: The Meek First Baseman

Beatitudes, Babies and Baseball: The Hungry Second Baseman

Beatitudes, Babies and Baseball: The Merciful Third Baseman

Beatitudes, Babies and Baseball: The Pure-Hearted Shortstop

Beatitudes, Babies and Baseball: Peace Flies Out of Left Field

Beatitudes, Babies and Baseball: The Centerfielder Who Bucked Systemic Persecution

Beatitudes, Babies and Baseball: The Persecuted Right Fielder

CIRTL Movie Ads at Willow Knolls and Pekin Showplace

The Pro-Life Essential

FLICA: Fair Labeling and Informed Consent Act

Letter to the Bishop of Peoria

Creation Ordinances

What Does 'Pro-Life' Really Mean to Us?

Another Response to What is Pro-Life?

The Killing of Tiller

Strange Irony in George Tiller's death

CIRTL Official Statement on Death of Dr George Tiller

Committing murder is not trusting in God

The Religious Right and George Tiller

Unity and Diversity

Life Line event

Alice and the Cheshire Cat - Defining Choice

More on Choice vs Coercion

Pastoral Letter re. United Way and Planned Parenthood

The Delicate Art of Manipulation

The Inadvertent Value of Garbage

Abortion right 'settled law': Sotomayor

Press release: CIRTL opposes stealth abortion amendment

Two saves in one day

Health Care and Abortion

Will Today's Killing Be Viewed as a "Hate Crime"?

To My Democratic Friends

Peoria, Illinois 2009 Abortion Statistics

Abortion is not Health Care

Today It Rained

Huge Expansion of Federal Abortion Spending

Let's Pray for Each Other

Health Care Proposals and the Stupak Amendment

Health Care Reform - What's the Alternative?

Little Shops of Horror

The Old War

Cain's Curses

Angry Birds Concoct Derision

Guidelines for Political Activities of Churches and Pastors

Old Blog Home Page http://centralillinoisrighttolife.blogspot.com/

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Angry Birds Concoct Derision

Angry Birds Concoct Derision

Hungering for justice, I turn to the Journal Star editorial page each morning at breakfast, eagerly looking for these apologies to satisfy my hunger.

“As your president, with great humility, I apologize for destroying the protections of conscience which our laws afforded all Americans before I took power. I am returning the Nobel Peace Prize, which I did not earn, but keeping as my watchwords those spoken by Mother Teresa in her Nobel Prize acceptance speech: The greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion, because it is a direct war, a direct killing - direct murder by the mother.”

“I apologize to our Catholic Church, our hospitals, health care workers, bishops and my fellow Catholics for threatening them with policies which would close down our ministries of mercy to the sick and the dying. For my penance, after each cabinet meeting, I promise to volunteer to provide real health care, not contraceptives, to people suffering from real diseases.”

“Although we are only 14% of the faculty, we regret the embarrassment caused to the whole Notre Dame community, by sowing discord against Bishop Daniel Jenky. We adopt his courageous warning to our country not to follow the paths of other countries who have attacked the Catholic Church. For our part, we urge Notre Dame president Fr. Jenkins to award an honorary degree to Norma McCorvey, the original Roe in Roe vs. Wade, but now a pro-life Catholic mother proud of the daughter whom she contemplated aborting in the real war on women. [See http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_happened_to_the_Roe_v._Wade_baby ] With Dr. Alan Keyes and the other 86 peaceful persons arrested on our campus for praying outside where President Obama received honors, she deserves an honorary degree for the two years of persecution before dismissal of all criminal charges.”

“We apologize to Bishop Jenky for our Archie Bunker impressions, insinuating that he should just shut up. Our bigotry put him down as responsible for lax supervision of subordinates decades and even centuries before he became bishop.”

“We apologize for appropriating all the suffering of World War II to ourselves, forgetting that courageous Americans of all faiths were responsible for ending that suffering. In remembrance and gratitude, we pledge to watch Saving Private Ryan this Memorial Day.”

For my part, recalling that “Anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment,” I apologize in advance for any anger these words may cause those angry birds. Should they decide, however, to cast me into their “cereal” den of derision, I promise not to be angry, but rather, to be glad and rejoice, knowing that I could not be in better company. Lions, got room for another Daniel?

Daniel J. Smith

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CENTRAL ILLINOIS RIGHT TO LIFE, INC.

BLOG HOME PAGE LINK Illinoislife.blogspot.com

Cain's Curses

Cain's Curses

CAIN’S CURSES

Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.

Then the LORD said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?”

“I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s keeper?”

The LORD said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground. Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.”

Cain said to the LORD, “My punishment is more than I can bear. Today you are driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from your presence; I will be a restless wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.”

But the LORD said to him, “Not so; anyone who kills Cain will suffer vengeance seven times over.”

Genesis 4:8-15 (NIV).

In this account, Cain’s murder merited three curses: 1. Spiritually, God told this farmer that he was driven from his livelihood to become a restless wanderer. 2. Psychologically, he felt unbearable pain, rejection by God, and everyone’s derision. 3. Consequently, both a spiritual and psychological curse would fall seven times greater to those who would murder Cain.

Do Cain’s curses apply to parents who abort their children today? Our communication with God is not as direct as Cain's. Were it so, they might hear:

The Lord asks them, “Where is your child?”

They answer, “What child? Are we the keepers of products of our union which we do not want?”

The Lord replies, “What have you done? Listen! Your child’s blood cries out to me from the womb. From within, therefore, a curse will deprive you of the joy your livelihoods previously brought to you.”

They reply, “Our punishment is more than we can bear. We cannot escape our misery from within. We cannot find your presence which we previously took for granted. Everyone will despise us to death.”

The Lord says to them, “Not so, for most will not know of your conduct or its curses, and anyone killing you will be seven times cursed.”

Although their communication with God is not as direct, their psychological response appears the same. The accounts of post-abortion trauma are well documented.

http://afterabortion.org/1999/qa-finding-real-answers-about-abortion

Psychologically, the mothers and fathers of aborted children bear witness to the curses they have experienced from their abortions.

What about the third curse? Do we know anyone who has killed such a parent and experienced such curses on a multiple scale? One example comes to mind: O.J. Simpson. In a deposition he testified that his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson had three abortions.

http://articles.latimes.com/1996-03-02/news/mn-42126_1_nicole-brown-simpson/2

While he was able to escape conviction for murder, a subsequent civil jury found him liable to both the families of his ex-wife and friend, Ronald Goldman. The families were not able to collect multimillion dollar judgment against Simpson, but his livelihood was destroyed, he faced multiple civil and criminal trials and presently he is serving a 9 to 33 year sentence in prison. We will never know this side of heaven to what degree his downfall is attributable to Cain’s curses, but we can only hope for the grace of God to lead us away from such a wretched life's path.

More ominously, we must ask, however, whether Cain's third curse applies even to us, who do not commit abortions or other murders. If we take seriously Christ's words in the sermon on the mount, I think we must worry about that. “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. ... And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell." Matt. 5:21-22 (NIV). We know that abortions cause broken relationships afterwards, just as Cain learned. But as every relationship has at least two persons, logically, the dire consequences which follow are not limited to those who participate in the wrongdoing. Everyone's relationships with those participants likewise are damaged. How easy is it to snap back in anger against someone who does a perceived wrong, not realizing that the cause of the wrongdoer's conduct is a dark cloud that hangs over their life from a past abortion? Sure, we do not physically murder the person, but Christ's words do not so easily let us off the hook.

What then can we do? We cannot be angry. We must, in Christ's words, turn the other cheek, both in practice and in spirit. In place of anger, we must pray for the healing of those who persecute us. By God’s grace and Christ’s redeeming sacrifice, we know for certain that God lifts Cain’s curses for those who repent and turn their lives back toward Him. Witness the redemption of Dr. Bernard Nathanson, once the abortionist of his own child who became one of the most stalwart defenders of the unborn and a true follower of Christ. Let none of us, therefore, heap condemnation upon the heads of those under Cain's curses, but urge all to seek and find forgiveness, healing and communion with all our Lord's brothers and sisters.

Newsboys "I am Free" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nR7bBEBIC9g

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CENTRAL ILLINOIS RIGHT TO LIFE, INC.

BLOG HOME PAGE LINK Illinoislife.blogspot.com

The Old War

The Old War

The older among us remember the Cold War. Begun almost immediately after World War II between the United States and Russia, the cold war was a period of competition for world domination without direct combat. The cold war also came to an end without direct combat in the early 1990s as the Russian communist empire fell apart. I write here about another war without direct combat, the Old War, which goes back throughout human history. This war has raged wherever states have killed the youngest people among their populations. During the enslavement of the Hebrew people in Egypt, pharaoh decreed that baby Hebrew boys be killed. In the promised land, the Hebrew people found societies which routinely sacrificed their young to satanic gods. At the birth of Christ, King Herod decreed the “massacre of the innocent,” the slaughter of baby boys in the area of Bethlehem. Entering the New World, the Spanish found a whole Aztec civilization built on massive human sacrifice, especially of the youngest children. The twentieth century, however, was the stage for the greatest state sanctioned slaughter of the innocent. Begun in Russia right after the revolution, legalized abortion spread worldwide. Since 1922 abortion has taken the lives of 1 billion babies before birth. http://www.johnstonsarchive.net/policy/abortion/wrjp3310.html. Without direct combat, our country was taken over by the abortion empire in 1973. Since then, no president elected by the people has had the power to eradicate this evil from our midst. Like Vichy France during World War II, we are an occupied country. Like Vichy France, we have three sets of people in our country: the collaborators, the appeasers, and the freedom fighters. Unlike Vichy France, however, our freedom fighters use no weapons of violence. Only the abortion empire uses weapons of mass destruction. Our weapons are prayer, protest, and petition. We exhort God to deliver our country from this evil. We alert other citizens to the enormity of abortion’s evil. I find it amusing that Time Magazine named “the protestor” as person of the year this year. Where have they been? We have been protesting for almost 40 years. We join together to seek redress for abortion’s wrongs before every government. Personally, I find it amazing that legalized abortion’s spread from Russia can be read as foretold by Mary in 1917 to three small children at Fatima. She asked for prayers for the conversion of Russia which otherwise would spread her errors throughout the world. Certainly, communism emanating from Russia fits the bill, but I wonder if we have too quickly assigned solely this meaning to Mary’s words. While Russian communism has ended, legalized abortion continues unabated. Wasn’t Mary herself more personally concerned with the young than with oppressive social systems? Mary herself escaped the massacre of the innocents in Bethlehem during the Roman Empire which continued its oppressive power for more than 400 years after her family’s exodus to Egypt. Mary personally was a refugee of the Old War. Isn’t it natural that her son, the King, would send her as an emissary to the world to seek prayers from the young for those even more young? Like the beginning of Star Wars, where Princess Leia imparts a message to the lowliest droid R2D2, the message for our time comes from royalty and was first given to the lowliest persons. Princess Leia implored, “Help me ... you are our only hope.” Mary similarly invites us to help her son who identifies most closely with the lowliest of humanity. Will we silence her call in our hearts to collaborate with, or at least appease, the abortion empire? Will we instead, answer her call, join the greatest freedom fight of all time, and submit to become her foot soldiers in the Old War?

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CENTRAL ILLINOIS RIGHT TO LIFE, INC.

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Little Shops of Horrors

What do we call the place where abortions take place? The media tends to call these places abortion clinics. The people who do abortions list what they do in the phone book under the heading "abortion services." They rarely put what they do in their name, as other businesses do.  Planned Parenthood, far and away the largest entity doing abortions in the U.S., Fact Sheet from USCCB, tries instead to be known for "health care services."   

Whatever they call themselves, however, is just a mask for what they do. They put on a name, like children today put on masks and go out trick or treating. The word abortion is another mask. They don't like to even call the person who performs the abortion an abortionist! They prefer the title doctor. Sometimes they call what the abortionist does a "termination of a pregnancy" as if the only person affected is the mother. They don't like calling the woman a mother. That is another mask. 

They think that if we all just accept their terms, we forget what they really are and what they really do. But we will not forget. We remember what they do, who they harm, and who they kill, even if we do not know the names of their victims. Sometimes we call their businesses "abortion mills" to emphasize the difference from real doctor offices where real doctors treat patients for real illnesses in a personal way and no one gets killed. At least that is not the plan. 

Abortion mill, however, still is a mask for what goes on inside. The term still accepts that what is aborted is a pregnancy. Is this adequate? Suppose a terrorist detonated a bomb on a plane. Would we say that he or she just terminated a flight? No! All flights terminate, just as all pregnancies terminate, but on most of the flights, the passengers get out alive, just as in most pregnancies, the baby comes out alive. We would not let the terrorists or their sympathizers get away with such a cover-up. Why do we let the people who kill preborn children get away with it? Can we take off the masks? 

Why not call those places what they really are: little shops of horrors. They are places where the most innocent among us are torn to shreds. They are places where the mothers come out knowing their lives will never be the same again. Understanding PASS and How You Can Find Healing They are places where even the profiteers know that they must hide what they do. Without our help, they cannot go outside without their masks. Let us help them do so.

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CENTRAL ILLINOIS RIGHT TO LIFE, INC.

BLOG HOME PAGE LINK Illinoislife.blogspot.com

Photo from 2010 Rally

Jed Stuber of Peoria shares this photo he took of the 2010 Sanctity of Human Life Rally at Sacred Heart Catholic Church on Tuesday, 1/19. The packed church heard several speakers.

Health Care Reform - What's the Alternative?

In response to Elaine Hopkins' piece on the editorial page of the Peoria Journal Star last Saturday, I submitted the following letter to the editor:

What's the Alternative?

It is probably safe to say that most Americans would like the government to do something to improve America's health care situation, but they probably don't really want a massive increase in federal funding for abortions. Many people have welcomed the Stupak Amendment aimed at banning federal funding for abortions under the proposed new programs.

However, in her 12/5/09 letter to the editor of the Journal Star, Elaine Hopkins argues, in a complicated bit of logic, that the Stupak Amendment would drive all abortion providers out of business. But Elaine doesn't provide an alternative.

The alternative appears to be the current bill before the Senate, minus the amendment. This bill has been called, in a November 20 statement from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, "an enormous disappointment, creating new and completely unacceptable federal policy that endangers human life and rights of conscience."

So, there you have it. It seems that Elaine Hopkins is arguing effectively against passage of the current health care reform bill.

Daniel J. Bohan

2010 Sanctity of Life Rally

Here's the press release for the 2010 Sanctity of Life Rally:

Peoria Sanctity of Human Life Rally planned for Jan. 19

PEORIA, Ill. – “Taking the War on Abortion to the Next Level: Charity and Life” will be the topic of the keynote speech of the annual Sanctity of Human Life Rally at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2010, at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, 504 Fulton St.

James Lansberry, vice president of the Peoria-based Samaritan Ministries International, will be the featured speaker.

The rally, along with a Walk for Life march, is held annually by Central Illinois Right to Life to mark the U.S. Supreme Court's January 1973 Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion nationwide. National Right to Life (www.nrlc.org) estimates that more than 49 million abortions have been carried out in the U.S. since 1973. More than 1,600 abortions were performed in Peoria in 2009, according to numbers compiled by CIRTL.

The Sanctity of Life evening will start with an open house at the Family Resources Center, 321 Main St., from 5:30 to 6:30. The Walk for Life, from the Peoria County Courthouse to Sacred Heart Church, will start at 6:30.

Pro-life group representatives will speak at the rally, updating the community on efforts to eliminate abortion and help those affected by abortion.

Lansberry, who is also president of the Alliance of Health Care Sharing Ministries (see attached bio), has been interviewed on national television as well as dozens of radio stations this past year about the health care reform effort. He also, however, speaks frequently on life issues, and has been interviewed about stem cell research as well as conscience regulations in 2009.

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Note to news media: James Lansberry is available for advance interviews. You may contact him at jlansberry@smchcn.net. The Revs. James McDonald and Mark Henninger, board members of Central Illinois Right to Life, also will be available to the media before and after the rally, as will be longtime board member Dan Smith.

For help in securing an interview time for any of these gentlemen or for any other information about the rally, please contact Mike Miller at 689-0442, Ext. 142, Monday through Thursday or 248-7909 in the evening Sunday through Thursday.

Health Care Proposals and the Stupak Amendment

Here is an email I just sent to my two Senators in Washington:

As a Catholic, I understand and appreciate that there is a pressing need to make health care more affordable and accessible for those in need. So, I appreciate the Senate's efforts in this direction. However, I understand from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops that the current legislation is "an enormous disappointment, creating new and completely unacceptable federal policy that endangers human life and rights of conscience."

Please adopt the House-approved Stupak Amendment that upholds longstanding policies against abortion funding, and please protect conscience rights in health care reform. I also do not believe that it is a good idea for immigrants to lose or to be denied health care coverage.

Let's Pray for Each Other

Here is an email I've just sent to President Obama: I am praying for you to succeed in your mission as President. With God's help, I know that you can do good for our country. And I ask you to join me in praying for the unborn, who are being cruelly assaulted today.

BEATITUDES, BABIES AND BASEBALL: The Persecuted Right Fielder

"Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you." Matt. 5:10-12. This essay here concludes a nine part series which examines whether abortion is consistent with or opposed to the beatitudes at the core of Christian faith and action. Each essay examines a beatitude in three relationships: our relationship with God, with His laws and with others, particularly the least favored of humanity. Each begins with mention of a famous baseball player who demonstrated some characteristics of the beatitude. Can you recognize this last player before reading his name? 9. The Persecuted, but Appreciated, Right Fielder. After he was traded to his third team in his first four years in the major leagues, he won the League’s Most Valuable Player Award twice the next two years, edging out the established hometown hero. Sadly, many people criticized him as an unworthy upstart when he passed the home run record then held by America’s greatest sports hero. Instead of being rewarded for this accomplishment, he faced a lot of hostility from the baseball public. "They acted as though I was doing something wrong, poisoning the record books or something," he said. As they had done for their other superstars who preceded him, though, the Yankees accorded him honor and retired the jersey number of this right fielder, Roger Maris. Christ calls us in the last Beatitude to accept persecution not to pursue excellence, but to pursue Him. The characteristic of this Beatitude is fellowship with Christ, His law, and those least fortunate among us because He is with them also. The beatitude reminds us that this fellowship embraces also those who have gone before us in His name. The prochoice side, however, calls for the destruction of the least fortunate among us. It persecutes those who would protect them. Its laws stand in opposition to God’s laws and disregard those giants, the prophets and saints who suffered persecution themselves for the sake of Christ. We must choose which team we will be on. Let it be His team and let us strive to be the best teammates of those closest to Him, the unborn who are presently least among us. Then, they will grow in size and stature and become the teammates we will need in our declining years. Let us recognize the sacrifice made by those mothers in crisis pregnancy who maintain the lives of their unborn children. They are truly heros whether they raise those children themselves or place them with others to do so. Let us remember too the sacrifice made by the men and women daily who have stood on the front line of the abortion holocaust for the sake of the unborn, and ultimately for their mothers and families, especially when they have been persecuted for doing so. Finally, when we pass from this earth, may we be part of that victorious celebration with Him, the prophets and saints, and all those millions of people who were not permitted to walk this earth.

BLOG HOME PAGE LINK Illinoislife.blogspot.com

SMI VP to speak at 1/19/10 rally

James Lansberry, vice president of the Peoria-based Samaritan Ministries International, a health care sharing organization, will be the keynote speaker at the Jan. 19, 2010, Sanctity of Life Rally at Sacred Heart Church in Peoria.

The Central Illinois Right to Life Board confirmed that decision at its November meeting on Monday.

Huge Expansion of Federal Abortion Funding

I fired off an email to my guys in Washington:

Dear senator or representative:

As a Catholic, I am very concerned that the proposed health care reform will include expanded federal abortion funding. From what I have read in our Catholic newspaper, the five health care reform bills currently under consideration "would permit or mandate the use of fereral revenues fotr coverage that includes elective abortions." This quote is from "The Catholic Post," 11/1/2009 issue, page 4, "What some would 'Hyde'."

The article says that the Hyde Amendment does not apply to any of the health care reform bills, and it says "An explicit prohibition must ... be included in the final health care reform bill to avert a huge expansion of federal abortion funding. Without it and notwithstanding their strong support for health care reform, the bishops will have no choice but to oppose the final bill vigorously."

BEATITUDES, BABIES AND BASEBALL: The Center Fielder Who Bucked Systemic Persecution

"Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Matt. 5:11

This essay, like the previous seven in this nine part series, examines a beatitude in three relationships: our relationship with God, with His laws and with others, particularly the least favored of humanity. It begins with mention of a famous baseball player who demonstrated some characteristics of the beatitude. Can you recognize the ball player before reading his name? The center fielder who bucked systemic persecution. When his team traded him, he wrote to the commissioner of baseball: "After 12 years in the major leagues I do not feel that I am a piece of property to be bought and sold irrespective of my wishes. I believe that any system that produces that result violates my basic right as a citizen and is inconsistent with the laws of the United States." White or black, ballplayers could only bargain with one team. Seven months before the Roe v. Wade decision, Supreme Court Justice Blackmun wrote the majority opinion in this ballplayer’s appeal, ruling against him. Only 3 years later, however, free agency began, but too late for this seven time Gold Glove Award winning center fielder, Curt Flood. In the real world, persecution for the sake of righteousness can be a far greater sacrifice than giving up a baseball career. Likewise, frequently more is at stake than the principle of contract freedom. In any event, to accept persecution voluntarily, people must have faith in God who is in control over even the persecutors. Accepting persecution also requires total commitment to God’s law, even to the point of sacrifice to follow it. The hardest part about persecution, however, is the powerlessness one feels when persecuted. This powerlessness transforms a person into one less favored, and perhaps even one of the least favored of humanity. The prochoice position, by contrast, follows from unrighteous conduct and leads to the avoidance of persecution. When they become pregnant, unmarried women are five times more likely to abort their unborn children than married women are. Unmarried women have four out of five abortions. Those who have rejected God’s law by their sexual conduct have more difficulty turning in faith toward God, trusting Him, recommitting to His law, and taking up the cross of personal sacrifice necessary to accept the relative powerlessness of the persecuted. Clearly, unless we can stem the tide of sexual activity among the unmarried, the pressures they have to abort their unborn children will remain overwhelmingly high. To reduce substantially the pressures to abort, we must work to reduce the pressures unmarried persons have toward sexual activity. Those pressures are in a real sense persecutions against those who resist them. Rather than avoiding persecution by running from it, Christ teaches us to accept it. To accept this persecution requires unmarried persons to have faith that God is in control of their lives. That faith gives them the fortitude to withstand pressure. They must be totally committed to God’s law so that they can sacrifice to follow it, even when that means accepting a position of less power. Whatever we can do to aid the unmarried in accepting persecution for righteousness will help drive down abortion.

BLOG HOME PAGE LINK Illinoislife.blogspot.com