While we were sleeping, our Religious Liberty went out the window...

In Washington, Fridays are typically reserved for publicizing those news-worthy items that one hopes will get lost in the weekend news cycle and that people will forget about by Monday morning.  The current administration's Department of Health and Human Services did just that this past Friday.

Many know that I am not the most vocal supporter of Roger Cardinal Mahony, Archbishop emeritus of Los Angeles.  However, his blog post on this bit of news hits the nail on the head.  I post it here in its entirety.  The original may be found here.

In probably the most expansive decision on the part of the US Federal government ever, the Department of Health and Human Services has issued an "interim final rule" to require virtually all private health plans to include coverage for all FDA-approved prescription contraceptives, female sterilization procedures, and related "patient education and counseling for all women with reproductive capacity." 

These are listed among "preventive services for women" that all health plans will have to include without co-pays or other cost sharing--even if the insurer, the employer or other plan sponsor, or the woman herself object to such coverage. 

This decision from the Department of Health and Human Services [HHS] is from the highest level of Federal government, and I cannot imagine that this decision was released without the explicit knowledge and approval of President Barack Obama. 

And I cannot imagine a more direct and frontal attack on freedom of conscience than this ruling today. This decision must be fought against with all the energies the Catholic Community can muster 

For full information on this issue, please go to the website of the U.S. Catholic Bishops: http://www.usccb.org/news/2012/12-013.cfm 

For me there is no other fundamental issue as important as this one as we enter into the Presidential and Congressional campaigns. Every candidate must be pressed to declare his/her position on all of the fundamental life issues, especially the role of government to determine what conscience decision must be followed: either the person's own moral and conscience decision, or that dictated/enforced by the Federal government. For me the answer is clear: we stand with our moral principles and heritage over the centuries, not what a particular Federal government agency determines. 

As Bishops we do not recommend candidates for any elected office. My vote on November 6 will be for the candidate for President of the United States and members of Congress who intend to recognize the full spectrum of rights under the many conscience clauses of morality and public policy. If any candidate refuses to acknowledge and to promote those rights, then that candidate will not receive my vote. 

This is a sad moment in the life of our country where religious freedom and freedom of conscience led to the formation of this new Nation under God. 

Let us all pray that the power of the Holy Spirit will come upon all elected officials of our country, and that all will make decisions based upon God's revealed truth.

This simply cannot stand, folks!  I try so hard not to get entangled in politics--secular or ecclesiastical--on this blog.  But, no one can deny that this is an affront to basic religious freedom.  The Catholic Church remains committed to fighting for quality, affordable healthcare for all people--but we WILL NOT violate our consciences to do so!  This cannot stand! 

End of the World is Imminent...supposedly

Apparently, tomorrow is going to be the end of the world. At least, according to these people.

I'm guessing they didn't get this memo from Matthew 25:13.

But just in case, here's a little ditty to get us in the mood for the Apocalypse!!!

That is all.

Bert and Ernie, no longer pawns in the new sexual revolution

I've often felt--particularly in recent years--that our society is quickly becoming saturated with sexuality to the point that nothing is sacred, nothing is pure--not even children's television.  If we're not imposing sexual labels on everyone, it's as if society hasn't done its job.  And more and more, people seem to live or die by whether or not one is open and transparent about their sexuality.  Well, I have to draw the line when we start sexualizing children's television in the name of political and social agendas.  It just sickens me.  But enough editorial...

A priest friend of mine posted the following article from Lifesite News on Facebook.  I won't repost the whole article by Chuck Colson (breakpoint.org), but I highly encourage people to go have a look.  Here's a little taste:

"Christian relationships marked by love, honesty, selflessness, intensity, and a chaste brotherly or sisterly passion for one another are a powerful witness to the love of God in our largely friendless world...Bert and Ernie, in spite of differences in personality and temperament — and without any sexual overtones — are the very best of friends. And our kids need that kind of example. They need it from television, parents, and especially the Church in order to see through the hyper-sexualized fog that’s all around them."

The full article can be found here.

The War on Women

Explosive new book details war on unborn baby girls :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

Unnatural Selection: 

Choosing Boys over Girls and the Consequences of a World Full of Men

There is something truly unsettling and sickening about the truth of gender selectivity, and we see in this upcoming book the reality of what happens when some human lives are given preference over others.

Imagine waking up one day to find that every single woman in the U.S. has disappeared.

Picture this, writes author and scientific journalist Mara Hvistendahl, and you will come close to understanding the magnitude of over 160 million baby girls being selectively aborted in Asia and East Europe over the last few decades...

Here's where it gets interesting:

Hvistendahl set off to find out more, traveling to nine countries and interviewing doctors, mothers, prostitutes, demographers, mail-order brides and men who would be forced into lifelong bachelorhood. 

She began to discover a complicated web of explanations but eventually found that some of the ideological roots of the problem could be traced to zealous population control efforts from the 1960s and 70s.

Through funding from western organizations such as the World Bank and the International Planned Parenthood Federation, grants were being funneled into population control initiatives in eastern countries, with sex-selective abortion seen as an effective tool. The results of these efforts show that in places such as China today, as many as 120 baby boys or more are being born for every 100 baby girls.

In addition to the current problems that women are facing in these countries, “the question in my mind was, How was this going to effect society 30 years from now when this hugely imbalanced generation grows up and there are many more men than women?” Hvistendahl asked.

“There is a danger in jumping too far ahead and making predictions about what will happen,” she added, “but I think this will be a major issue in China and India for social stability.”

The fact of the matter is: in any other context, these numbers would constitute the most staggeringly wide-reaching genocide in the history of humanity! But in our enlightened, 'forward-thinking' age [insert sarcasm], we can write it all off as "population control," "doing our civic duty," or "protecting the environment."

 

Now we can begin to see the flaw in the plan, the real-life results of intellectual and ideological arrogance. Now we can see the fruits of a society devoid of the Gospel of Christ, lacking in a full understanding of basic human dignity, and, as a result, depraved at its most fundamental level. 

Read the whole article, then go out and read the book.

Two Worlds - Two Cultures, via Fr. Ray Blake

Once again, a worthy piece by Fr. Ray Blake:

Two Worlds - Two Cultures

A French priest and Faithful harangued by a anti WYD protestor

I am sure this will be happening in Madrid as it did in London.
Richard Dawkins brought at least one laspsed Catholic back to the Church during the Papal visit to the UK. She saw the the anti-Pope snarling mob led by Dawkins and Tatchel, with their plastic devil horns and inflated condoms, sex "toys" and angry faces and she saw the sheer joy of those cheering the Pope and the banners carried by the enthusiastic youth. She said it wasn't about arguments, it was about faces. Dawkins & co. glaring and hopeless, those who were there cheering the Pope full of hope and smiling - anger and joy, hate and love.

For her it was the contrast between two worlds, signified by the Pope and Dawkins, faith and faithlessness, hope and hopelessness, the spiritual and the material, light and darkness.

The same two worlds meet in Madrid, they will meet in Dublin next year in the Eucharistic Congress. There is no room for dialogue, there is no common language, there is only contrast. Ultimately this is an apocalyptic battle between Life and Death.

There are two worlds, two cultures that are irreconcilable. I think that it is very interesting that in Madrid as in London those who are anti manifest their opposition do so under the guise of being against the cost but actually so much of the opposition seems to revolve around sex and sexuality.