Results
I quipped previously that if Missouri passed Amendment 2 that they should be called the Snow Me state. With the measure unfortunately passing by 50.3 percent you do have to wonder just how many with the intention of actually banning cloning voted in favor of it. It is a wonder though in the modern climate that it passed by so little of a margin. That the pro-cloners spent 30 to 1 in money with support continuing dropping in the polls. The modern medicine show rolls on from state to state guaranteeing miraculous cures and spouting lies. After the con scientists count their grant money and dream of one day patenting the results of embryonic stem-cell research. Since you can't patent adult stem-cells ESCR looks much more lucrative - not in cures, but cash.
Disappointing also was the rejection of the South Dakota abortion ban. In a mostly pro-life state you have to wonder if Roe v. Wade is overturned how many states will actually ban abortion in all cases? What we will probably get is abortion restricted in most cases with what have become the normal (though still wrong) exceptions - though this is much preferable to what we have now.
I do hope that one day aborturaries and embryonic stem-cell research centers will be seen in the same way as concentration camps. That these places will be seen as places where horrible evils occurred.
I happily found myself this morning much more detached from the election results than I have previously been. I am still a political junkie, but the phrase "put no trust in princes" keeps echoing whenever I start to get to upset. Even Speaker Pelosi evokes more a smile than a grin for me - though maybe that is just the happy thoughts of punditry ahead. Watching elections is like reading the Book of Judges with all of the cycles of good judge/bad judge. Or like reading Kings I and II with the same cycles of mainly bad kings with few exceptions. I just have to remember the Book or Revelations to know that everything turns out good in the end. This does not remove the need of both prayer and action in the world, it just makes it easier when kept in mind.
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Thanks for the reminder to not get too worked up about election results. I had a rant this morning when I found out about the South Dakota ban not passing.
Jeff, your comment is very good. It's good to have perspective in times like these. Prayer is indeed important.
Those Missouri campaigners (Michael J. Fox etc...) remind me of the peddler in Oklahoma!
Amen.
I wonder if the states will sue the embryonic stem cell/cloners hucksters when nothing useful comes from it?
Oh, silly me! I forgot it's going to be a government project!
How much further do we slip untill we are an official pagan nation??
The South Dakota vote was also very upsetting. I handled the rest of the election outcomes pretty well. But I continue to be amazed at the Catholic vote. In MA and RI we have 48 to 51 percent of the populations claiming to be Catholic and yet--the vote. Can we place some blame the American Church? What goes on in our children's "faith formation" classes? And what about those adult "faith formation " classes we see promoted in near every parish??
'put no trust in princes'
That exact phrase was rattling about my head also. It's freeing to not be tempted to hang one's hat on the wrong hatrack. Now I'll have no doubt that my hope is in prayer and sacrifice, not legislation (though bad legislation is certainly deadly).
An Indian priest I know once said, "you know, if Catholics in this country wanted to stop abortion immediately, all they have to do is to stop going to work. Abortion will end in a week."
We are 20% of this country.
Think it's impossible? Remember how India won her freedom from England in 1949, and the Eastern Bloc toppled the Solviet Union in 1989. All we lack is the will to sacrifice until the job is done.
Oh, and the leadership to follow through to the end.
I do hope that one day aborturaries and embryonic stem-cell research centers will be seen in the same way as concentration camps. That these places will be seen as places where horrible evils occurred.
I would like nothing more than for you to be right.
But that's not the way things are trending today. I lived to see the Berlin Wall come down. I don't expect to live to see the dawning of the day you've described.
There are a couple of interesting things about Missouri's Amendment 2. First, we have been told that 80-some percent of Missourians oppose human cloning. And second, support for Amendment 2 was quite strong until several weeks ago when grass roots and other efforts began a program of full disclosure of the deceptions in the language of the Amendment. This educational program is reflected in the 50/50 split in the votes cast regarding the amendment and the near defeat of the amendment.
There was also, it seems, an organized effort by some who backed Amendment 2 to discourage attempts to inform the public of the truth. Many of us had our "Vote NO" signs stolen or vandalized during the last two weeks leading up to the elections. This did not appear to be just some random occurrence as entire neighborhoods and subdivisions were targeted. It is indicative of the level to which some people will go to suppress the rights of others.
I might be going out on a limb here, but my guess is that many voters were probably swayed by the ballot language which stated that cloning was to be banned, and they voted accordingly, unaware that the word cloning had been "redefined" to mean "implantation of an embryo into a woman's uterus."
I strongly suspect (and hope and pray) that the amendment will be repealed in an upcoming election, especially when more people find out how they were deceived by those responsible for the amendment and its tricky wording.
Those promoting the culture of death are intent on maintaining a full scale assault against life and those wishing to restore sanity, morality and justice in our country. I have no doubts that our prayers will be answered and our Lord will guide and assist us in these efforts.
I live in Missouri. My "Vote NO" sign is still in my yard. I'm leaving it up for a while.
Jack,
Put little trust in faith formation manuals. Or, at least check out their publication dates. Have you read any lately? One in-use Bible Study manual I read recently promotes Scriptural relativism. Adults are now being TAUGHT things like "Well, obviously Jonah's whale couldn't have actually been a whale", and "The real miracle of the loaves and the fishes was that everyone reached into their pockets and shared the lunch they wouldn't have traveled without", and "Don't forget that when 'demons' are mentioned it was before 'epilepsy' was labeled a disease", etc, etc.
How long will it be before it's "common knowledge" that Jesus wasn't LITERALLY resurrected, and the Eucharist becomes only a symbol.
Faith formation, if it is not overseen by someone both knowledgeable and faithful, destroys faith, I fear. And invitations to attend Holy Mass in Halloween costumes sure don't teach our children reverence for God.