This is an ex-priest and no relation to the Jester.
This is going to be quite a week with lots of meaning. Today we start off celebrating Martin Luther King and the mostly successful civil rights movement. We then move to Obama’s Inaugural and then two days after that the anniversary of the murderous Roe v. Wade decision. These three days and the events associated are tied together and it is quite symbolic that Obama’s Inaugural is juxstaposed between them.
Moving first to MLK. I was ten years old when is was assassinated. The elementary school I went to took a day off in the aftermath and this was long before the national holiday. I was told he was a civil rights leaders, though had no idea what that meant. It was not until High School that I started to get an idea about MLK and the civil rights movement when I first started to see pictures and videos of the marches and treatments of blacks in the South. Seeing pictures of segregated water fountains and stores was like seeing a whole different world that you could never have imagined possible. Though growing up in Portland we had our own injustices to blacks that showed itself in a a sort of segregation and poor public schools in those areas. It wasn’t till High Schools that I ever even seen a black person at school. At one point PBS came to my High School to do a documentary because we were the only school in the city where integration of blacks into the school via busing did not result in violence. I don’t know what factors set the school apart other than that we were a rather poor school. I do know that I never heard a racist comment from any of my friends or from others that I knew. No doubt there were problems I was unaware of, but on the whole the school was a positive example of unity.
I wasn’t until I got into the Navy that I really ran into somebody who was actually a racist. I was really shocked to hear what came out of the mouth of this recruit from Georgia. I later ran into him at A school in Memphis, but he was flunking out and being sent to the fleet with no training. Years later I worked with a guy who tried to tell me Robin Trower played the guitar on all of Jimi Hendrix record since Hendrix being black could not be that talented. I laughed in his face at this, but I was dumbfounded somebody could believe this. He also a Neanderthal opinion of women. Everybody in the shop I worked in mocked him and his opinions. Though he worked quite well with the black E-5 in the shop and others and his racist opinions seemed to be more theoretical then on the practical level. Certainly if it had been otherwise he would have been kicked out. But my limited experience has shown me that racists are not the sharpest tools in the box. Racism requires a certain level of stupidity and not thinking things through. It is quite a good thing in that progress that has been made over the year in regards to racism.
With the recent death of Fr. Neuhaus who marched with MLK and at one time was pastor of a predominantly black church in New York we are reminded that he always considered the pro-life movement to be the natural evolution of the civil rights movement. In the start of the post I labeled it the “mostly successful civil rights movement” because of the fact that the civil rights of children in the womb are violated over a millions times a year in the U.S. alone. We have made some progress in getting people to not judge others based on the color of their skin, but have gone backwards in considering a person based on their size. Horton said “A person is a person no matter how small” and their is great wisdom in this Dr. Seuss character. The right to life is the fundamental right and you can not go onto to enjoy other civil rights if you have been slaughtered in the womb beforehand. As long a human persons are discriminated against for factors they have no control over such as skin color or being in the womb at the time the civil rights movement will have a long way to go. With original sin we will always have those who treat others not as persons, but something inferior. But we don’t have to have a government or set of laws that do so and these injustices have to be repaired.
While Fr. Neuhaus correctly saw the linkage of the civil rights and pro-life movement and how they are both based on the dignity of the human person, unfortunately others have not done so. The niece of MLK, Alveda King certainly has talked about this connection. Unfortunately a large number of those who saw the righteousness of the civil rights movement are against the civil rights of those in the womb. It was OK for a Reverend like MLK to lead the civil rights movement, but a religious person being involved with the pro-life movement gets met with cries of theocracy. It was OK for religious persons to be involved in the slavery abolition movement, but they are forcing moral down your throat if part of the pro-life movement. The pro-life movement has made incremental gains, but there is still a long way to go before the need for the March for Life is not longer required.
Which brings us to the inaugural of President Obama between these two events. Some would think that his election represents the answer to the promise of the civil rights movement. There is some truth in this, though I do not think he fulfills the goal of MLK where people are based on the content of their character and not their skin color. I can’t say I am impressed with the content of his character as he called a pro-life group liars for telling the honest truth about his record. That he palled around with a domestic terrorist, listened for years to the sermons of Rev. Wright, and got a cozy house deal with a friend now in prison. But we were to look past all of that for the promise of a post-racial age. That by electing him we would be seeking healing and repairing the evils of the past. Yet they never seem to tell us how electing someone because of their racial heritage is much different from rejecting someone because of their racial heritage. Both attitudes make race the criteria. Plus somehow our post racial society required that a black person must replace Obama’s Senate seat. Sen Burris initially not being seated was described as being similar to dogs being set upon him – sound really post-racial.
As a pessimistic-optimist I will wait and see what the Obama presidency will mean for the unborn. For the man who touted hope I do not have much hope that he will give the unborn hope. An administration filled with pro-abortion supporters in every corner from the top down reminds me that the culture of death will be predominant in the celebratory parades. I trust in God totally to bring good out of evil and that even when the culture of death marches on I know that ultimately it will never triumph. In God there is neither Jew or Greek, black or white, unborn or born; we are all ultimately united in Christ as God’s creation. Though some will separate themselves from him via their own will. Soon to be President Obama needs our prayers as does everybody in his administration.
Headlines like Applause for Biden interrupts Catholic church service
Another article gives more details.
Biden and his wife attended mass at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Georgetown. At one point, when newcomers and visitors were welcomed, congregants laughed and started applauding until Biden stood up. Then everyone stood up for sustained applause.
This adds to my list of why I hate Pastors asking about visitors. I once tweeted that I was tempted to stand up and say that I was visiting from Mars in hope this would discourage them. We go from the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and Calvary to a lounge room act in short order as they ask about visitors, birthdays, anniversaries, etc.
For a group a Catholics to applaud a pro-abortion Catholic and soon to be Vice President and part of the probably the most extreme pro-abortion administration ever is beyond the pale. Applause just does not belong as part of the Mass, but when it celebrates a minion of Moloch it becomes a participation in evil. Bad enough that he is given Communion in the first place. Nothing like an act of sacrilege to start your week.
“Wherever applause breaks out in the liturgy because of some human achievement, it is a sure sign that the essence of liturgy has totally disappeared and been replaced by a kind of religious entertainment.” Ratzinger “Spirit of the Liturgy”
I saw these silly headlines in the last couple of days about the Apostolic Penitentiary such as “Vatican reveals secrets of worst sins”, “Vatican Secret Confession Tribunal Opens up”, and even “Vatican body: Minnesota professor’s sin worse than genocide” in reference to P.Z. Myers. When it come to headlines and articles about the Church it seems that reporters are always in Dan Brown mode.
Fr. Z looks at one of the articles and replies.
From a column from his awesomness Bishop Vasa of of Baker, Oregon.
…The reason for the increased awareness and even concern on the part of the pro-life community is the specter of the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) which is highly rumored to be in the works at the federal level. It is this act which has stimulated the bishops of the United States to launch a massive postcard campaign calling upon the House and Senate to abandon FOCA. While further details about the dramatic impact of FOCA on our American culture can be found in many places, I will simply say that it would establish abortion as a federally protected right and, as I understand it, preclude state limitation or regulation of abortion. Further, since abortion would be a federally protected right, it is very possible that even Catholic health care institutions and Catholic Physicians would be mandated to provide this heinous service.
Thus I strongly urge all who have a glimmer of concern for the lives of pre-born children to engage themselves in this postcard campaign. This is not an action which would limit or alter present permissive abortion laws, which some so-called Catholic pro-choice persons might object to, it would simply preclude a dramatic expansion of that permissiveness. Thus it would be very difficult for any Catholic, no matter how much in favor of abortion itself, to find a reason to refuse to participate in this campaign. At the same time, I do not see how any Catholic senator or representative could vote for the passage of FOCA without recognizing that such a vote would constitute a direct and intentional declaration of their disdain for Catholic teaching. Such a vote would be tantamount to a public declaration of their intention to abandon the Catholic faith. It would be imperative that the faith consequences of such a declaration be allowed to fall fully on the heads of those who would make it.
The writing from St. John applies: “Beloved, we love God because He first loved us. If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ but hates his brother, he is a liar; for whoever does not love a brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. This is the commandment we have from Him: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.”
We of the Catholic faith certainly know that love of God is central to our tenets, this is the appealing part. It is hard to imagine a Catholic saying, “I am a Catholic in good standing but I do not love God.” But the inspired scriptures tell us that whoever does not love his brother or neighbor does not and, indeed, cannot love God. This is the challenging part. The people of Jesus’ day understood this and it was this understanding that prompted them to ask, “And who is my neighbor?” For all of us, and especially for Catholic legislators in every strata of government, it is necessary to declare, in conformity with the Natural Law and the teaching of the Catholic Church that, the pre-born child is our brother, our sister, our neighbor!
It may sound a little strong to state that legislators “hate” the pre-born child but hate is an absence of love and love means to wish another well. There is nothing about abortion that wishes the pre-born child well. The preservation of abortion “rights” is already an absence of love for the pre-born child but the passage of FOCA could be construed as nothing less than active and positive disregard, even hatred, for these our brothers and sisters. To paraphrase St. John, “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ but votes for FOCA, thus showing a disregard for his pre-born brother or sister, he is a liar.” Lots of things can be rationalized in government but I do not see any way in which any Catholic could rationalize or justify an affirmative vote for FOCA.
It is not necessary for your postcards to be as outspoken as this bishop but you do have an obligation to participate in this concerted effort to show love for the tiniest and most defenseless of our brothers and sisters. President-elect Obama made it very clear, prior to the election, that he would happily sign FOCA and the millions of Catholics who voted for him hopefully did so for reasons other than this promise and certainly not because of it. It seems to me that it is particularly incumbent upon these same voters to make it clearly known to their representatives that their vote may not in any way be taken as a sign of support for FOCA.
Another way in which we show our affirmative love for our pre-born brothers and sisters is by way of our annual memorial on Jan. 22. This year the Diocesan Office of Pro-life Activities has scheduled a rosary and Mass at St. Joseph’s in Prineville on Thursday evening, Jan. 22. The rosary will commence at 6:30 p.m. with Mass beginning at 7 p.m. While I recognize that many parishes host similar memorial Masses to pray for the two-fold victims of abortion, the child and the mother, I invite any who can to join me at the rosary and Mass at St. Joseph’s in Prineville.
Regardless of how many years have passed since the Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court Decision and regardless of how prevalent and routine abortion has become in this country, the simple truth remains, it is an act of extreme violence to the pre-born child and to the distressed mother. Thus, if anyone says, “I love God” and still favors abortion, he is, to quote St. John, a liar. May we all live out faithfully what it means to love God.
Bishop Vasa has the gift of telling the truth without rancor and totally in charity. That loving our neighbor is not synonymous with holding back from the full truth. The Bishop says so much here that is worth requoting.
I especially like what he writes on love and hate. That love is willing the good for someone.
The unborn certainly are not feeling the love when the scapels hits them or the surgical vacuum approaches.
In their thinking the pro-abortion politician is willing a good towards the mother, but the unborn is to be sacrificed for this good.
In their hatred the unborn child is reduced to the inhuman – the tissue mass.
The child is seen as the enemy to be eliminated and just like throughout human history whatever person you want to turn into property you first dehumanize. You can not love God and hate his creation and every person is in the image and likeness of God. Abortion is a remote form of deicide as is the direct killing of all innocents.
Some of the progressive Catholic sites have been making the charge the FOCA is much ado about nothing and that it has no chance of passage and that the Bishops efforts in this regard are an over reaction. I would agree that the passage of FOCA is certainly not going to be immediate. FOCA was originally introduced in 1989 and in 1993 President Clinton said he would sign it if passed. We can be thankful that Sen Carol Moseley Brawn held it up since she wanted it even more extreme and subsequently the Republican Party took control of Congress. The bill was reintroduced in 2007, but has not picked up much steam. This has to do with more than the fact that President Bush would veto it if passed. FOCA would legalize partial birth abortion once again. The partial birth abortion ban always had a large amount of support and was only prevented initially from passing because of President Clinton’s vetoes. So there is a sizable number of Democrats who voted for the ban and even with Democrats picking up more seats a number of these new Democrats ran as being pro-life (and some of them might actually be so). So even if the Democrats has picked up 60 senators and a filibuster proof Senate I think they would have difficulties passing this even with a couple culture of death Republicans like Sen Snowe. President-elect Obama had previously said he would sign FOCA and said it would be the first thing he would do as President. Whether or not he would keep this promise is a moot questions considering the difficulties of even getting the bill in front of him for signature.
That being said does that mean that the Bishop’s campaign is exaggerated? I think not. Any threat that involves the killing of the innocent deserves to be taken seriously. The passage of FOCA would certainly be more likely if we just sat back not raising the issue. While I think that passage of FOCA would be difficult, I could certainly be wrong and the prudential thing to do is to take the threat seriously to defeat it. Besides this campaign against FOCA provides double duty. It keeps people in the pro-life movement focused and letting our legislatures know exactly what we believe and that we are not going away just because a predominately pro-abortion party is now in charge. We have to be vigilant since the culture of death has to be actively fought back. It is easy to be discouraged in the face of what looks like the most pro-abortion administration from the president on down to cabinet positions filled with people who make NARAL happy. How the Supreme Court could easily shift to Moloch for years to come is also extremely depressing. Yet we must never tire of doing good and that means actively fighting the culture of death via the spiritual life of prayer and fasting and the active life of being politically involved along with working in the pro-life movement and helping and supporting women to choose life. We do our part to change the culture by becoming holy ourselves.
Bishop Vasa has strong words towards those who would vote for FOCA, but we must remember that when we don’t do our part to help bring a culture of life that we are not loving God fully either.
Clayton Emmer alerted me to this short pro-life film.
This Is My Body is a silent film about a college girl’s passion and sacrifice in the face of dire circumstances. The title cards of the film follow the thematic progression of frivolity to extreme gravity. The film is meant for multiple viewings due to the layers of meaning inherent in its juxtaposing and symbolic images. This Is My Body is a reflection on the nature of body image, the existentialist notion of choice and consequences, the philosophical problem of evil, and the difficulty and beauty of embracing sacrifice in the most harrowing of circumstances.
There is a trailer and more information here.
A reader sent me this from the eulogy fort Robert Graham who made the controversial statue of Our Lady above the great bronze doors. He is known for his bronze nudes.
“It is very difficult to describe in our human words the beauty and grandeur of that lady. I remember when Robert had pretty well decided on how he wanted her to look, he invited us over to his studio; and he a small plaster image of what he had in mind and he had it covered. So before he took the cover off I closed my eyes. And he took the cover off and I opened one eye carefully, then opened both widely. And I said, Robert, “Thank you, thank you, thank you.” And he said, “It isn’t finished yet. Don’t thank me. I said, “No, Robert, I’m thanking you because Mary is wearing clothes.” [laughter] [article]
I guess that would make her the Dressed Virgin Mary in this case.
I still think that statue is quite horrid. One of my commenters on first seeing it called it St. Sarek, Androgynous Vulcan Moon Goddess. I think he got it right.
Washington DC, Jan 13, 2009 / 11:53 am (CNA).- In his first lengthy article explaining his position after the election of President Barack Obama, Professor Douglas Kmiec is accusing “right wing Catholic bloggers” of distorting his position, attacking him personally, and potentially poisoning the relationship between the Holy See and the future administration of President Barack Obama. [article]
To be honest I was going to engage in character assassination of Prof Kmiec but I found his character too small of a target to be able to assassinate.
Okay cheap shot, but then again we are talking about Doug “It’s all about me” Kmiec. Recently Jay Anderson demonstrated how Prof Kmiec managed to turn a Fr. Neuhaus eulogy into a vehicle all about himself. I could be wrong, but it seems to me that the Vatican poisoning Kmiec is concerned with was his chances of becoming Vatican Ambassador since the “right wing” Catholic blogosphere frequently fisked his Obamagetics (Oboma Apologetics). Here we are just a couple days away from President Obama putting pen to paper and eliminating the Mexico City Policy and poor Doug is all up in arms about us bloggers.
Now where can I get my “Member of the Vast Right Wing Catholic Blogosphere Conspiracy” bumper sticker? Surely I deserve one after my Stephen Douglas 1860 Kmiec satirical piece.