Archive for the 'Culture Wars' Category

Do we pro-lifers believe a woman should have a choice of where she wants to go to college?

Or which doctor to go to?

Or what kind of car to drive?

Or what foods to eat?

Or…well, you get the idea.

Quite obviously, we believe women should have the right to choose any number of things (just as we believe men should have the right to choose any number of things).

And yet, those in favor of keeping abortion legal frequently refer to us not as pro-life, but rather, “anti-choice” — as if we were somehow opposed to women choosing anything. (more…)

In one short week, I will be flying back home after spending a semester in Gaming, Austria. The semester has been so amazing and blessed, but at the same time, I am excited to go back home and share my stories and memories with my friends and with my family.

Besides questions of, “Did you see the Pope?”, and “Did you meet any European men?” (both of which I have already been asked… yes, I saw Benedict XVI, and no, I have a boyfriend, thank you very much), I know I will be asked what I took away from my semester in Europe.
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Pope Benedict XVI recently addressed a group of young people in Freiburg, Germany in which he gave some beautiful advice that all of us, regardless of age, should take to heart:

A candle can only give light if it lets itself be consumed by the flame. It would remain useless if its wax failed to nourish the fire. Allow Christ to burn in you, even at the cost of sacrifice and renunciation. Do not be afraid that you might lose something and, so to speak, emerge empty-handed at the end. Have the courage to apply your talents and gifts for God’s kingdom and to give yourselves – like candlewax – so that the Lord can light up the darkness through you. Dare to be glowing saints, in whose eyes and hearts the love of Christ beams and who thus bring light to the world.

He also proclaimed a message that cannot be repeated often enough:

Dear friends, Christ is not so much interested in how often in your lives you stumble and fall, as in how often you pick yourselves up again. He does not demand glittering achievements, but he wants his light to shine in you. He does not call you because you are good and perfect, but because he is good and he wants to make you his friends.

Amen!

You can read the Pope’s entire address here.

There’s been a lot of attention recently on a ridiculous new social media campaign by Kenneth Cole titled, “What You Stand For” that, among other things, compares abortion to shopping.

On the “What You Stand For” site, clicking a button that says “Pro-Choice” brings up a a video in which a woman is shown agonizing over a decision — presumably, whether or not to have an abortion.

But then she is shown picking up a handbag, and then walks off.

My co-worker Eric Scheidler was interviewed this week for a Fox News story about the new Kenneth Cole campaign:

“It so trivializes the issue. I think it would be offensive to anyone on either side of the abortion issue,” Eric Scheidler, the executive director of the Pro Life Action League, told FoxNews.com. “Even staunch supporters of abortion will admit an abortion is an anguishing decision and to compare it with buying a handbag is really offensive to women. Of course I also find it deeply offensive to the sanctity of the life that hangs in the balance.”

Indeed, many staunch “pro-choice” advocates do admit that having an abortion is an anguishing decision for a woman. This, of course, raises the question: Why is having an abortion such an anguishing decision? (more…)

Recently I was reading a series of private revelations reportedly given by Christ to “Anne”, a lay apostle. One topic that struck me was Christ’s message regardng purity, a much ignored virtue in our world.

While the messages have not yet received the imprimatur (official approval of the Catholic Church), the bishop of Kilmore – Anne’s diocese – has given permission for their publication on the basis that there is nothing in them that is contrary to faith or morals, and much that is positive and nourishing for the faith.

Today we must talk about purity. My children, lack of purity is a very significant problem in your world. I search for purity and only find it in rare pockets. (more…)

I finally got around to watching the third installment of the “Twilight” saga, Eclipse. While I am a casual observer of the series, I found this movie had interesting pop culture theories and offers comparison and contrast to the topics I hold important.

In the movie, Bella argues that marriage is just a piece of paper, points out high divorce rates, and thinks the marriage in our generation means “I got knocked up.” Edward, on the other hand, views marriage as his generation’s way of saying “I love you” (Edward, a vampire, was born in 1901, while Bella, a human, is a teenager from our generation). He wants to marry her before (more…)

I’ll be honest. I’m a big country music fan. In an age of techno, digitally mastered music, there is just something about country that feels so authentic. So, when I’m driving around, I’m often tuned into our local country music radio.

Sometimes I will have to switch the station because, well, some of the songs can get…er…raunchy. And honestly, I just don’t want listen to it. So when I recently heard a new song released by the band Lady Antebellum, I immediately fell in love with it. Because it seems to promote a message of chastity. Check it out: (more…)

Some time in the next few weeks, my wife is planning to have her pregnancy terminated.

Now, if you’re shocked to hear me say this, let me clarify:

My wife, Jocelyn, and I are expecting our 6th child. As of tomorrow, she will be 39 weeks pregnant.

And, as babies growing and developing in the womb have a tendency of doing, our baby will, some time soon, be born. After this happens, needless to say, my wife will no longer be pregnant.

Thus, her pregnancy will have been terminated.

Rhetorical Fraud

This occurred to me as I read a recent post by Life Dynamics’ Mark Crutcher, who wrote about the “rhetorical fraud” used by pro-choicers in which the term “pregnancy termination” is used as a euphemism for “abortion”:

The pro-life movement is not now, has never been, and will never be, opposed to pregnancy terminations. We are fully aware that all pregnancies terminate.

Remember this the next time (more…)

Abby Johnson’s dramatic conversion from the abortion industry to the pro-life movement began with her resignation as clinic director of Planned Parenthood in Bryan, TX. At next week’s Easter Vigil Mass, Abby’s conversion will become compete as she will be welcomed into the Catholic Church.

Just this past month, Bryan Kemper of Stand True Ministries, announced his decision to convert to Catholicism. So what is it with these conversions to the Catholic Church?
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On Wednesday, March 30, the National Institute of Reproductive Health’s Back Up Your Birth Control Campaign is sponsoring a Day of Action aimed at high school and college students.

By spreading the word about so-called emergency contraception (EC), apparently the campaign’s purpose is to try to prevent unintended pregnancies. But I have to wonder if the folks at NIRH somehow missed the memo that EC has proven to be not all it’s cracked up to be.

“More Effective Than Nothing”: The Best That Can Be Said of EC?

Three years ago, Dr. James Trussell conducted a web seminar (accessible here) in which he made some very candid admissions about the failure of EC to reduce the rate of unintended pregnancy. (more…)

It has been my own experience that sometimes, by getting so caught up in being pro-life, I lose sight of the reason I am pro-life. It is a dangerous trap to fall into, I know. At times like these, this is what I remind myself of.

The pro-life movement is very much a political movement. Yet, it is so much more than political protests and rallies. This is not to say these aren’t important, for they are. But at the end of the day, it’s not the essence of the pro-life movement.

In two words, being pro-life comes down to this: human dignity. (more…)

Do pro-lifers believe a woman should have a choice of where she wants to go to college?

Do we believe women should have a choice of what kind of career they would like to pursue?

Or what kind of car to drive?

Or what kind of music to listen to?

Or what foods to eat?

Or…well, you get the idea.

Quite obviously, we believe women should have the right to choose any number of things (just as we believe men should have the right to choose any number of things).

And yet, those in favor of keeping abortion legal frequently refer to us not as pro-life, but rather, “anti-choice” — as if we were somehow opposed to women choosing anything. (more…)

I just finished watching MTV’s No Easy Decision, about teen mom Markai Durham’s second pregnancy and her decision to have an abortion.

The best response I’ve read so far is one co-written by Bryan Kemper of Stand True and Kristan Hawkins of Students for Life of America, who start off by saying:

We know that MTV is no bastion of decency or truth, but we did not think the show would actually go as far as it did. We were wrong.

Read the whole thing.

One other thing to point out: the show originally aired on December 28 — the feast of the Slaughter of the Innocents.

I wrote yesterday about my trip earlier this month to the Viva la Vida youth conference put on by Irish pro-life leaders Youth Defence.

While I was there for the conference, I joined Stand True Ministries‘ Bryan Kemper in leading a group of students from across Europe in some American-style pro-life activism outside the Marie Stopes abortion referral center in Dublin.

I took some video of the protest that I’m happy to share with you here. I was especially excited to meet the vibrant, motivated young people from Belgium, Germany, France, Ireland and elsewhere you’ll see in the video who were so energized to fight abortion in their homelands.

Two undergraduate students at MIT, Colin McSwiggen and Fatima Hussain, recently wrote an opinion piece titled “A Fundamental Right for Women” in the school’s newspaper. The opening paragraph reads:

For as long as the United States government has existed, it has been shirking a critical moral obligation. We are talking, of course, about our nation’s failure to protect the right of every woman to receive an affordable abortion on demand.

It’s pretty clear from the opening paragraph that the column is absurd.

But I do have to give the students credit on one thing: If you want to get your head around the “pro-choice” mindset and really understand what it is that makes them tick, McSwiggen and Hussain’s fairly concise (887 word) opinion piece is as good an introduction as any you’ll find. (more…)