Judgement Day for Sean Hannity

http://amywelborn.typepad.com/openbook/2007/03/sean_hannity.html ^ | 3/10/07 | Amy Welborn

[CatQuilt]

Sean Hannity... Wow. Well, this should be a surprise to exactly no one, but ... watch this. (Source)

(Actually, it might be better to just go here - look the right side at "Hot Video." 'Cause it's hot. - "Judgment Day for Sean."

In short: Sean Hannity running all over Fr. Tom Euteneuer of Human Life International for questioning his rejection of the Church's teaching on birth control.

[The Phantom FReeper]

"Ok. But I still want to know, where does the idea birth control is wrong come from. What Biblical foundation? It wasn't pulled out of the sky."

That is very true. The Biblical basis for belief against unnatural means of family planning comes from Genesis 38:6-10. In that passage, Onan withdrew from Tamar in order to avoid the possibility of impregnating her. From verse 10, "And what he did was displeasing in the sight of the Lord, and He slew him also." Since Onan's father also broke the Law of the Levirate (in a different way), but was not killed by the Lord, it was seen that Onan's act of withdrawal was what was displeasing to God.

And the post about how, historically, all Christian denominations were against artificial birth control is very correct. When the Church of England decided, in 1930, to allow birth control in "hardship cases," this decision was denounced vehemently by every other denomination. However unfortunately, somewhere along the line the injunction against artifical family planning got turned into a "Catholic" issue, which it never was.

Also, many forms of birth control used today actually act as abortifacients. Your doctor doesn't tell you that when he prescribes you progesterone-based forms of contraception or an IUD.

As far as Catholic teaching is concerned, the only form of acceptable family planning is so-called Natural Family Planning, which uses only a couple's awareness of a woman's fertility. It is also been extensively scientifically tested and proven to be 98.5% effective when used properly, making it comparable to artificial means), and so unreliability can't be cited against it. However, intention is equally as important as method. NFP should be used only if a couple is unable for practical reasons to have children at a certain time (for example, due to health concerns). If a couple uses NFP with the intention of completely avoiding childbearing and never having a woman become pregnant, then it is just as sinful as using artificial contraception. Both means and intention matter.

It's not hard to find Catholics that don't pick and choose what values are convenient for them to follow. My husband and I practice NFP now, as we don't feel we could adequately care for children until after I am out of medical school and he is out of the military and not constantly deployed. It truly does work, and it's really not difficult at all once you learn your body's cues.

Now, since I know that Catholic-bashing is very fashionable for many on this forum (I am not saying specifically by the poster to whom this message responds, but in general), I'll be logging off after I post this message, since I post very infrequently. Anyone who chooses to flame will have to find another Catholic to target.

[KoRn]

What if My wife and I want to have sex just for the pleasure of it and we aren't looking to have any kids? Is it such a bad thing to take measures to prevent it? Would you support a ban on birth control?

[nickcarraway]

Onan recieved a more severe punishment- being struck down dead. If you look up the other threads, there are numerous other indications that people are not to interfere with God's tole in conception. Where in the Bible does it state that birth control is okay? Like homosexuality, people knew it was against God's law.

[svcw]

Both my daughters practice NFP and it does work if you are aware of your body.
I have just never understood the Bible foundation of birth control.
Thanks for your post.

[svcw]

About homosexuality...wow many references against.

[nickcarraway]

People still come up with the same excuses, that the person wasn't just punished for homosexuality, but some other issue. Birth control is a recreation of homsexual sex, anyway.

[NYer]

Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer ( EYE-ten-our) became president of Human Life International in December of 2000. Human Life International is the world’s largest pro-life organization with affiliate offices and associates in seventy-five countries around the world. In six years of service to this unique mission Fr. Euteneuer has traveled more than 650,000 miles as a pro-life missionary and visited more than fifty countries.

Fr. Euteneuer was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1962, the fourth of seven children born to Joseph and Mariann Euteneuer. He has a Bachelor's degree in Philosophy from the University of Notre Dame in Indiana as well as a Licentiate degree in Biblical Theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, Italy. He is fluent in Spanish.

While in college, Fr. Euteneuer participated in the Marine Corps Officer Candidate Program, attended boot camp at Quantico, Virginia and graduated at the top of his Company. After discerning that the Lord was calling him to the priesthood rather than the military, he entered the seminary. After his ordination in 1988, Fr. Euteneuer served as a parish priest in five parishes of the Diocese of Palm Beach, Florida, secretary to the diocesan bishop, director of vocations, and spiritual moderator for the diocesan Respect Life Office.

His pro-life activity began in the early years of his priesthood with prayer vigils, pilgrimages, pickets at abortion mills, sidewalk counseling and the establishment of a crisis pregnancy center across the street from an abortion mill
in 1999.

Since taking office at HLI, Fr. Euteneuer has spoken to thousands of people all over the world spreading the Gospel of Life as well as making many appearances on EWTN and other local, national and international media. He has been featured in Human Events and National Catholic Register and has recently been awarded the John Cardinal O’Connor Award for Life from Legatus.

[Right in Wisconsin]

because birth control kills fertilized eggs - essentially an abortion

[Tribemike]

Give me a break on the cafeteria catholic nonsense already. So are you and all Americans.

Euteneuer is all wet on several fronts:

FIRST: Euteneuer has all this courage to nail Hannity in a public forum because he knows Hannity respects the faith and would basically be deferential. Does the good padre nail rank-apostate-abortionist "catholics" like Chris Matthews publically? Of course not because Matthews would bite his head off and grind him to powder.

Also, Euteneuer's "ministry" is flourishing quite well which means no threats, no persecution and basically giving a pass to the rancorous apostate LEFT.

I don't need to be warned about Sean Hannity.

SECOND: Euteneuer damns himself by his own words. Here is what he says

" I suspect that a great number of Catholics live their faith in the same way — rule-bound and juvenile — but we need something better from a public 'Catholic' like Hannity. We need a vibrant witness of someone who knows and embraces his Faith as deeply as he articulates his political passions. "

COMMENT: [THIS IS MEANINGLESS...Catholicism is a HUGE rule-based religion. Define "vibrant"...are you charismatic ?]

"If apologies are the order of the day, then the repentance I would like to hear out of Sean Hannity's mouth is for his shameless — even scandalous — promotion of birth control. Yes, I have heard him personally say, 'I have no problem with birth control. It's a good thing.'" (Another bit of profound theological reasoning.) Given the size of his audience and the importance of his status in pop culture, Hannity's anti-witness to a fundamental tenet of Catholic moral doctrine is just devastating for the faith of others who may be weak or vacillating in this area. His impact is greater, and so his judgment will be stricter. 'To those who have been given more, more will be required...'?"

COMMENT: [HERE, EUTENEUER DAMNS HIMSELF. He says Sean promotes birth control when Euteneuer himself is the BIGGEST PROMOTER OF Contraception on the planet!!! Parse the word class: Contra(against) Ception (conception) He does it with the tools of the latest most sophisticated science that involves all kinds of hoop jumping, selective abstinence, taking temperatures, tracking monthly cycles...ALL FOR THE PURPOSE OF FAMILIES AVOIDING CHILDREN.

Yet Euteneuer pats himself on the back for having no man-made items in the conjugual act itself (drugs IUDs, etc)

If successful, Euteneuer is EUGENICS boy and the result would be fertility rates of formerly catholic countries of Italy, Spain, Germany -- about 1.3 children per family. Will his Lord say at the particular judgment "well done thou good and faithful servant" for all this energy in helping catholic families avoid the blessing of children in their life? (Psalm 127:5)

Now, if it were possible, what do you think Pius V or Pius X would say to Euteneuers eugenics program here to promote the practice of severely limiting children to catholic families? Pius X would excommunicate him on the spot and Pius V would flog him.

Euteneuer comes across as a coward and frankly a homoosexual. Read Randy Engel's work "Rite of Sodomy" it is all there. He is a Gen X Vatican II "priest" from the gristmill of syncretism -- a potpourri of esoteric notions of psychobabble and catholic teaching.

He is also cowardly selective in who he attacks. Ted Kennedy, John Kerry, Paul Begala, Pat Leahy and other catholics who could shut him down? All we get from Euteneuer on these people is SILENCE. Hardly in the tradition of Perpetua, Lucia, Agatha, Agnes and Lawrence is it?

Has Euteneuer even been dragged away from abortion clinics ala Randall Terry? I doubt it.

Sean Hannity is fine. He wrote an endorsement of Howard Crocker's "Triumph" and somehow Crocker took that endorsement from a damned soul according to Euteneuer.

Finally, Euteneuer admonishes us:

The moral of the story is that Catholic men and women in the media need to be truly Catholic or at least stop being hypocrites........

I agree padre, so look in the mirror already

[franky1]

Gen 1:28, 9:1,7; 35:11 - from the beginning, the Lord commands us to be fruitful ("fertile") and multiply. A husband and wife fulfill God's plan for marriage in the bringing forth of new life, for God is life itself.

Gen. 28:3 - Isaac's prayer over Jacob shows that fertility and procreation are considered blessings from God.
Gen. 38:8-10 - Onan is killed by God for practicing contraception (in this case, withdrawal) and spilling his semen on the ground.

Gen. 38:11-26 - Judah, like Onan, also rejected God's command to keep up the family lineage, but he was not killed.

Deut. 25:7-10 - the penalty for refusing to keep up a family lineage is not death, like Onan received. Onan was killed for wasting seed.

Gen. 38:9 - also, the author's usage of the graphic word "seed," which is very uncharacteristic for Hebrew writing, further highlights the reason for Onan's death.

Exodus 23:25-26; Deut. 7:13-14 - God promises blessings which include no miscarriages or barrenness. Children are blessings from God, and married couples must always be open to God's plan for new life with every act of marital intimacy.

Lev.18:22-23;20:13 - wasting seed with non-generative sexual acts warrants death. Many Protestant churches, which have all strayed from the Catholic Church, reject this fundamental truth (few Protestants and Catholics realize that contraception was condemned by all of Christianity - and other religions - until the Anglican church permitted it in certain cases at the Lambeth conference in 1930. This opened the floodgates of error).

[Tribemike]

Correct, and Euteneuer with his ministry of contraception the "natural way" violates ALL of these...his goal is LOW yield child bearing and he rests in the fact it is done without drugs or devices ...what a hypocrite.

If successful, Euteneuer would achieve fertility rates below Western Europe (roughly 1.2 per family). What a guy.

The irony in all this is that condoms allow for more conception than Euteneuer touts for his science-intensive methods. Imagine that.

[DTwistedSisterS]

i trust that both of you have at least 5 children?

[incredulous joe]

I'm dissapointed in Sean, but then again I've grown weary of his program long ago. He was spastic before the November elections!

In his defense, and maybe others will note differently, though I'm aware that he's a Catholc I really don't think he puts it out on the table that often. Seems to me that he avoids making it known.

As for "judge not lest ye be judged" - this Biblical verse is the haven of ALL liberal scoundrels, In fact, it's the only one they believe. Too bad for Hannity,

[incredulous joe]

For Catholics, I believe the Papal Encyclical "Humanae Vitae" by Paul VI is the best reference for understanding Catholic teaching about birth control.

[Terriergal]

Did your post get cut off? You ended with a comma. Yep I agree that "judge not" gets trodden into the ground by the liberals who use it as a shield to hide/excuse their false teachings and bad behavior. Sean used it the same way they did.

I still like him though... I like his spunk. Same as I still like Ann Coulter though she says some stuff that is just outlandish at times... stuff I wish I could get away with saying. (smile)

[vladimir998]

You might want to read Charles Provan's The Bible and Birth Control. Provan is a Protestant by the way. Also, you might want to contact the organization called Protestants Against Birth Control and ask them about it.

[incredulous joe]

I wasn't truncated, it was just bad punctuation. The Sisters of St. Joseph would not approve. While Sean's schtick has worn thin, or seems redundant to me, I believe it would be very difficult to dislike him.

[svcw]

Not all birth control kills fertilized eggs, I would say most birth control prevents fertilization.

[franky1]

###" I suspect that a great number of Catholics live their faith in the same way — rule-bound and juvenile — but we need something better from a public 'Catholic' like Hannity. We need a vibrant witness of someone who knows and embraces his Faith as deeply as he articulates his political passions. "####

Now, the rest of the story:

"For example, last Friday Sean Hannity took a few moments out of his afternoon radio show to make an apology. When I heard that the rather brash Hannity was actually going to apologize for something I was interested to find out what that would be. At first he sounded very sincere in saying we have to take responsibility for our mistakes. Fine so far. Then he went on to tell his hearers that he had taken two bites of a chicken sandwich that day because he had been traveling and literally forgot it was a Friday of Lent. He stopped eating it when he realized it was a Friday, but he used the opportunity on the show to make a fairly big deal about the "eat meat on Friday and you can go to hell" issue.

Well, even though he claims to be a "good Catholic," Hannity is hardly a credible commentator on Catholic matters. The chicken sandwich scandal was fairly trivial in the overall scheme of his show, but it said much more about the depth of his faith than anything else. I suspect that a great number of Catholics live their faith in the same way - rule-bound and juvenile - but we need something better from a public "Catholic" like Hannity. We need a vibrant witness of someone who knows and embraces his Faith as deeply as he articulates his political passions.

Just for the record, he did not commit a sin when he ate the chicken sandwich - he had no intention to violate the Church precept, and he corrected himself immediately when he realized what he did. That's not a sin, and issuing a dramatic "apology" for doing that is, well, entertainment, not witness. This, unfortunately, is what passes for a deep discussion of the Catholic Faith in the public forum nowadays.

If apologies are the order of the day, then the repentance I would like to hear out of Sean Hannity's mouth is for his shameless - even scandalous - promotion of birth control. Yes, I have heard him personally say, "I have no problem with birth control. It's a good thing." (Another bit of profound theological reasoning.) Given the size of his audience and the importance of his status in pop culture,
Hannity's anti-witness to a fundamental tenet of Catholic moral doctrine is just devastating for the faith of others who may be weak or vacillating in this area. His impact is greater, and so his judgment will be stricter. "To those who have been given more, more will be required..."
The moral of the story is that Catholic men and women in the media need to be truly Catholic or at least stop being hypocrites. We have enough pretenders to the title of Catholic in public life without being treated to superficial assessments of profound moral issues. Rules are important, but Lent is not about rule-breaking, it's about conversion of heart; and on the most important moral issues of our day, public Catholics like Hannity have no right to profess "another gospel," or the faith of millions - and indeed their own souls - are in serious jeopardy.

BTW, Father says an excellent Latin Mass!

As stated where's the meat in your tirade?

[franky1]

3 sons, 3 daughters, 7 grandchildren and 1 great grandchild.