Every year we see the same thing happen, or should I say don’t see? The mass media, for whatever reason, refuses to report on the Annual March for Life in our nation’s capital. Estimates approaching half a million people from every faith, every age (though mostly young) and from states across America come to walk, pray, sing, and share their passion for Life and the dignity of all, from womb to tomb. What could be so threatening about that? Why does this lead otherwise respectable newscasters and journalists to present complete distortions and out right lies, or turn their gaze elsewhere while we March for Life?
I challenge the news media to objectively report on this March next year. The quotes in this video are from some of the biggest names in the news. They have failed miserably and should publicly apologize for their ridiculous and intentional ignorance.
America has spoken, open the window and take a look. His Truth is marching on…
The number of children born with Down’s Syndrome has decreased in recent years. Those families found with such a “defective” pregnancy are encouraged by some doctors to “ease their suffering” by aborting their babies. Rebecca and I were so advised when we learned of our daughter Grace’s condition of acrania. But in so doing, in attempting to eradicate “suffering” from our lives or the lives of our children, we destroy the very gifts God has in store for us. Yes, gifts.
Father, forgive us, for we know not what we do.
God always sees a greater good in the things we label bad. He sometimes allows nature to take it’s course, and we are invited to move through this wounded world with eyes wide open, and hearts ready for anything.
First off, let’s all agree that the world is presently screwed up. For proof, click here. We’re too busy, too angry, too focused on work, too ignorant towards each other, too selfish, too lazy, etc… (or is it just me?)
Well, don’t despair! I’ve discovered in the past 10 months that salvation is near at hand.
BABIES CAN SAVE THE PLANET.
Oddly enough, you may have heard just the opposite. Some propose that babies eat up the planet’s resources, that there is a “population crisis”, and that we should all feel very, very guilty and irresponsible for not routinely contracepting and for ever considering having more than 1.5 children. Because aside from being stinky, babies leave a “carbon footprint” everywhere they go. As to the “population crisis” click here and check out Caritas in Veritate, section 44 to top it off.
But I believe the secret to building a happy, vibrant, life-affirming, love-soaked Civilization lies in a healthy abundance of those squishy Little People who are utterly dependent on us Big People. Here are Ten Reasons Why Babies Will Save the Human Race (feel free to add more reasons through the comment link below):
1. Babies make people talk to each other in parks, who normally might not give each other the time of day. Talking to people builds friendships, friendships build communities, communities build parks. Babies hang out in parks (and around and around we go!)
2. Babies learn EVERYTHING from their parents, by watching, listening, studying, and looking up at Mommy and Daddy…. and so should we.
3. Babies are the greatest “man-made” creations in the universe; they shall grow up and outlive the stars, each in their own way altering the course of human history, each absolutely unique and unrepeatable. How cool is that?
4. Babiesare the fruit of the sexual union between a man and a woman. We need to be reminded that that’s how it works.
5. Babies are awareof everything and everything amazes them: lights, noise, colors, tinfoil, keys. We could all stand to be amazed again by the ordinary things around us.
6. Babies smell really good.
7. Babies conversely can smell really BAD. They need us to clean up their “poopy.” A constant reminder that we have our own “poopy” to clean up.
8. Babies are completely innocent, regardless of the way they were conceived, and have no guile, no sarcasm, no agendas. They are pure as the driven snow, fresh as a sea breeze, vulnerable as a flower. We need more purity, sea breezes, and flowers in this world.
9. Babies need us and we all need to feel needed.
10. Babies see the world as their playground, a wonderful gift made just for them. And so should we.
Margaret Sanger, the foundress of Planned Parenthood, has recently been awarded a place in the National Portrait Gallery. She is quoted as saying that the poor and mentally handicapped are “human weeds” that “clog up the path…. drain out the energies and the resources of this little earth.” Her solution? “We must cultivate our garden.”
The more I read about this woman, the more bizarre it gets. And this is the woman that Hillary Clinton is in “awe” of for her heroic work? Sanger was a massive proponent of eugenics and quite clearly a racist. Her own words convict her, as cited in her letters and books captured in this disturbing video. And our tax dollars are supporting her agenda by honoring her in the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery. God help us to see the lie behind the curtains of these so-called Planned Parenthood “clinics.” Please watch and learn from the video for yourself.
For a more in depth look at Margaret Sanger’s thought, watch a 1957 interview with Mike Wallace here (the transcript of the interview is available as well). It’s a bizarre interview, be warned. Aside from Sanger’s thoughts on human life, marriage and the Catholic Church, Mike Wallace holds no punches, and keeps plugging Philip Morris cigarettes! Weird.
PS – Wallace quotes the Church as saying the sole purpose of marriage is the procreation of children. The full teaching is that marriage’s end is two-fold: unitive and procreative, that is, it is for the love and union of hearts and for the fruit of that love and union…. life. In this sense, I feel Margaret’s pain when she fights him on this point. It seems in her experience, women were looked on as merely baby-making machines and subjogated by marriage and pregnancy. Clearly the vision is skewed here. For the ideal vision and definition of marriage, read this!
House speaker Nancy Pelosi’s photo-op with Pope Benedict XVI turned sour when the Pontiff used the 15-minute meeting to reaffirm the teachings of the Catholic Church on the right to life and the duty to protect the unborn. No photo of Nancy Pelosi and the Pope will be forthcoming, since the meeting was closed to reporters and photographers. The two met in a small room in the Vatican just after the Pope’s weekly public audience…
“His Holiness took the opportunity to speak of the requirements of the natural moral law and the Church’s consistent teaching on the dignity of human life from conception to natural death which enjoin all Catholics, and especially legislators, jurists and those responsible for the common good of society, to work in co-operation with all men and women of good will in creating a just system of laws capable of protecting human life at all stages of its development.”
I wonder what Nancy will be thinking tonight, as she says her prayers and beds down in her Italian B&B, after having been schooled by the Pope himself. I pray that she and her husband Paul rediscover their faith, a faith that reverences human life as the building block of all culture. What a force for good they could be!!
It was early, it was cold, it was just twenty three students from Malvern Prep. A day “off” from classes and away from campus, but this was in exchange for a thirteen hour day that began at 6:30am with Mass, a long drive to the nation’s capital, and ended with us pulling into Malvern Prep after 8:00pm. It was the March for Life in Washington, D.C. It was March Madness.
We stood in lines, we stood in the cool shadows of the National Shrine Basilica, with mosaics and sculpted columns swirling up and over us, and before us nearly 4000 people spread out, filling pews and corridors, attending a Mass celebrated by Cardinal Rigali. And everyone was there for Life; standing tall, young and old, babies in arms, swaying, hands clasped in prayer, hearts and minds wondering what this new presidency would bring.
From the train to the trek to the National Mall we marched with a mass of humanity up Capitol Hill. Now the little streams of buses that came from all over the country joined and formed a great river of souls. Thousands upon thousands gathering for the 36th annual March for Life. There was singing, praying, and small talk as we shuffled along. Smiles between strangers from all over the country warmed us up a bit, strangers from every creed and color. But the great madness of this March was that such a strong and vibrant presence was at the same time, invisible.
Once again, the secular media was silent when it came to this event, and our numbers were ignored. We seemed just as hidden as the children in the womb we all wanted to protect and defend; as invisible as the deep pain and grief young mothers and fathers feel after they are pushed and pressured into clinics that promise to “erase” their problems and give them a new start.
Climbing the hill flanking the Capitol building, I turned and looked back and saw an ocean of Americans who believed life is a gift always to be received, no matter what the wrappings and trappings that cover its beginning and end. Life is precious. For nearly 20 years in attending this Trail of Tears myself, I’ve looked down that hill, and hoped we could overturn by our presence and prayer the decree that has “sanctioned” the extermination of 50,000,000 unborn children; The law that continues to wound just as many women and men who were told it was their “right” to terminate a so-called unwanted pregnancy.
I searched for an account of what we did in the news that evening, and the day after… Nothing. I looked for an official count on just how many came to Washington D.C that day to speak their minds, to witness to the sacredness of human life from the womb to the tomb. Nothing. Nearly a week later, I discovered the statistic given by the Beltway Police (a neutral group to be sure, and not prone to overestimating): they reported a quarter of a million people in attendance for the March! Where was this fact earlier? Why did I have to find it on some obscure blog and not a major news service? Unbelievable… How is it that a crowd of 250,000 of such diversity in age, ethnicity, and religious belief could be right outside the windows of our nation’s capital and not be seen?
Sadly, there was something else that occurred in a hidden way the following day, January 23. This action was also “unseen” by reporters, accomplished in the late afternoon once the presses had cooled. Our newly elected President signed an order with no fanfare and with no news media in the room. This was a strong contrast to the signings of executive orders earlier in the week. It was an executive order reversing the ban first instituted by President Reagan in 1984, reversing the Mexico City policy, a move that clears the way for the federal government to provide aid to programs that promote or perform abortion overseas. With all that we are going through as a country right now, this is on the list of top priorities?
“What a terrible way to begin a new administration, with an abortion business bailout that will exploit women in developing countries for political ends,” said Charmaine Yoest, president of Americans United for Life Action, the Washington-based organization. “We should not export the tragedy of abortion to other nations, and we certainly shouldn’t do so via the hard-earned dollars of American taxpayers,” she said. “We’re concerned this can only be the tip of the iceberg for President Obama’s abortion policy. This should strengthen our resolve,” she said.
In a letter addressing this move, Cardinal Rigali stated “An administration that wants to reduce abortions should not divert U.S. funds to groups that promote abortions.”
Despite the frustration of having our voices silenced, our steps covered up and our presence ignored, our small band of brothers from Malvern took solace in the fact that we were there. We gave our witness. And we’ll give it again, and again, and again.
So let’s get fired up, let’s lift our heads high again…
For “the victory of truth is certain!” – August Rodin
And we must “Yield thou not to adversity, but press on the more bravely.” – Virgil
This story shall the good man teach his son… From this day to the ending of the world, But we in it shall be remembered – We few, we happy few, we band of brothers… – Henry V, Shakespeare
Violence against even one human being is violence against all. – Pope Benedict XVI
Thanks to the Blue Boar for finding this inspiring collection of clips…. this is one to play again and again when the world’s got you down!
I’m packing my bags. This is going to be a way of sorrows. A long walk through a valley of death. We have just elected, as a people, the most abortion-minded politician in decades.
“The first thing I’d do as president is sign the Freedom of Choice Act. That’s the first thing that I’d do.” – Barack Obama, speaking to the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, July 17, 2007
The Freedom of Choice Act? What’s that all about? Healing the economic crisis, bringing peace to the war in the Middle East? Finding solutions to issues like immigration or health care? No, it’s about destroying our unborn children, America’s future generations. Is this the change you wanted America?
From the National Committee for Human Life Amendment:The Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) … is a radical bill. It creates a “fundamental right” to abortion throughout the nine months of pregnancy. No governmental body at any level would be able to “deny or interfere with” this right, or to “discriminate” against the exercise of this right “in the regulation or provision of benefits, facilities, services, or information.” For the first time, abortion would become an entitlement the government must condone and promote.
FOCA would go well beyond the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision in imposing an extreme abortion regimen on our country. No other piece of legislation would have such a destructive impact on society’s ability to limit or regulate abortion. It would eliminate a broad range of laws – informed consent laws; parental involvement laws; laws promoting maternal health; abortion clinic regulations; government programs and facilities that pay for or promote childbirth and other health care without subsidizing abortion; conscience protection laws; laws prohibiting a particular abortion procedure (e.g., partial birth abortion); laws requiring that abortions only be performed by a licensed physician; and so on. For a careful legal analysis of FOCA by the USCCB’s Office of General Counsel, see: www.nchla.org/docdisplay.asp?ID=190. A summary fact sheet for general distribution can be found at: www.nchla.org/docdisplay.asp?ID=194
In a September 19 letter to Members of Congress, Cardinal Justin Rigali, Chairman of the USCCB Committee on Pro-Life Activities, raised grave concerns about any possible consideration of FOCA. The Cardinal declared: “We can’t reduce abortions by promoting abortion.” He urged all Senators and Representatives “to pledge their opposition to FOCA.” For full text of the letter, see: www.usccb.org/prolife/FOCArigaliltr.pdf.
Recommended Actions: Contact your U.S. Representative and two U.S. Senators by FAX letter, e-mail, or phone. Call the U.S. Capitol switchboard at: 202.224.3121; or call Members’ local offices. Full contact info can be found on Members of Congress’s web sites, at: www.senate.gov and www.house.gov
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