[Electing Obama] A Grave Mistake and an Abiding Hope

CatholicExchange.com ^ | November 6th, 2008 | Father Frank Pavone

[Salvation]

A Grave Mistake and an Abiding Hope

November 6th, 2008 by Fr. Frank Pavone

Americans have made a grave mistake in electing Barack Obama to the presidency. Yet America herself remains great and is not a mistake, which is why so many of her citizens will continue, with even greater energy and determination, to defend her founding principles.

The man elected to the Presidency said during the campaign that he does not know when a human being starts to have human rights. How can one govern from that starting point of ignorance? Governing is about protecting human rights; to do it successfully, you have to know where they come from, and when they begin.

The President-elect has already failed that test miserably.

The American people do not share Barack Obama’s extreme and offensive views on abortion. They never have and they never will. The coming four years will see a widening gap between the people and their President on this fundamental issue. As Americans come to know how extreme his position is, the intensity of the struggle to protect these children will only increase.

The pro-life movement has made significant gains in the courts and in the law in these last eight years. For the next four, the movement will work to prevent the erosion of that progress.

It would be a serious mistake for people to think that this election means the pro-life movement has no political power. All politics is local. Political power is about people. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was once told that given the political realities, civil rights legislation would be impossible to pass. “We’ll just have to see about that,” he replied. And the civil rights movement was born, stirring the hearts of the people to lead the nation to the victory of justice.

So it is with our movement. The vast majority of Americans are pro-life. They will fight abortion on the local level, opening pregnancy centers and closing abortion mills, activating their Churches and educating their children, proclaiming the message in the media and demonstrating in the streets. The pro-life movement is winning this battle in the hearts and minds of the American people, as opinion polls show and as the shrinking number of abortion mills and abortion providers prove.

Political races are always a swinging of the pendulum. As soon as you win, you begin to lose, and as soon as you lose, you begin the ascent again to winning. In the next two election cycles (2010 and 2012) the pro-life movement will make up for political ground lost in this one.

It is all right to be disappointed at the end of an election season, but one must never walk away. Amidst disappointment is abiding hope in America, where everything remains possible, and where a new chapter of the pro-life movement has just begun. The efforts that were made, and the sacrifices endured in this election season made a difference, and we will build on that difference to see another day when the work and the ballots of pro-life people will dismantle the Culture of Death. We will keep marching toward that pro-life America we seek, and won’t stop until we get there.

 

(This update courtesy of the Priests for Life newsletter. You may contact Priests for Life at PO Box 141172, Staten Island, NY 10314; call 1-888-PFL-3448 or 718-980-4400; fax 718-980-6515; mail@priestsforlife.org; www.priestsforlife.org.)

[Desdemona]

I think the ultimate answer is in Fr. Pavone's statement about the shrinking number of providers. The physicians themselves say that the people who actually do the deed are graying and are not being replaced. I've read a number of stories where med students, interns and residents in New York (where this is compulsory) actually work in the field as part of a rotation and are either disgusted by it or really do not like the emotional drag they have after a day of baby-killing. The VAST majority say that killing babies is not why they went into medicine. It's the same way in the military. The procedure is legal in the hospitals and the physicians won't do it.

It's not the complete answer, but if the people trained to do the deed won't, we have an advantage.

[Desdemona]

but until Catholic Bishops across the board start playing hardball with pro-abort Politicians, and clergy by excommunicating them in a very public way, and making sure every parishioner knows exactly,

Part of this, as I understand it, is a reaction among the episcopacy that's really more passed down than anything else to when excommunication WAS used for political purposes and abused. It was not in the US or recent, but they want to be careful and not repeat the mistakes. I agree that the time for being careful is over, but somebody like Chaput is going to have to get it started.

It would also help if the bishops would speak more often.

[Desdemona]

but until Catholic Bishops across the board start playing hardball with pro-abort Politicians, and clergy by excommunicating them in a very public way, and making sure every parishioner knows exactly,

Part of this, as I understand it, is a reaction among the episcopacy that's really more passed down than anything else to when excommunication WAS used for political purposes and abused. It was not in the US or recent, but they want to be careful and not repeat the mistakes. I agree that the time for being careful is over, but somebody like Chaput is going to have to get it started.

It would also help if the bishops would speak more often.

[steadfastconservative]

You’re right. Moreover, Obama ran as a left-centrist, hiding his radical opinions and associations during his campaign, so many Americans don’t realize that they’ve elected a radical to the presidency. They probably felt good voting for the first black candidate, for a charismatic, young man, who supposedly is going to “unite” the country and bring “change” and “hope.”

Of course, Obama is really a Machiavellian demagogue, who was willing to do anything to win, even if that meant lying about his voting record and pretending to be something he is not.

[Melian]

I especially like the part where he says, “All politics is local.” It is so true. We need to do a better job of making our case on a local level in our towns. Is there a model for a town that got informed and involved that we can follow?

[Desdemona]

the left is Vile and Evil because they support DEATH,

That's not all - they lie (to themselves mostly), cheat, distort, malign, take - it's really mind-boggling and so many of them call themselves Christians.

[Desdemona]

This fellow Salvation claims most Americans are pro-life. Bull. Where is the evidence of this? Site the studies. Okay I'm pro life but I'm not dumb enough to think I'm in the majority. The majority of people are pro choice. I have a lot of friends and the overwhelming number of them are pro-choice. This drives me crazy.

First off, Salvation is a lovely, retired older woman who I did have the privilege to meet once. She's very dedicated to what she does here and we thank her.

Second, there are studies out there that do support the claim that the vast majority of Americans are to some extent pro-life. They do not, however, vote with pro-life as their primary issue. As far as friends are concerned, it depends on who you know. I've been rather stunned to find like-minded people in some very strange places. The difference is, we have knowledge of not simply the baby-killing but what it does to women. Stop by the websites for Rachel's Vineyard or Project Rachel sometime. Roe v. Wade was one of the single worst acts to ever happen regarding the dignity of women and most people out there have no clue.

[Fudd Fan]

The problem I have with your post is contained in your first sentence. I am a Roman Catholic. I don’t describe it as a “Catholic thing” and non-Catholics who do are just ignorant. Shame on you.

[Campion]

The majority of people are pro choice. I have a lot of friends and the overwhelming number of them are pro-choice. This drives me crazy.

Poll after poll has proven that the vast majority of Americans are not in favor of abortion on demand for any reason through all nine months of pregnancy, which is effectively what we have today in the US.

The number of people who actually agree with Obama on abortion (no parental consent, no conscience clauses, let babies who survive die of neglect) is well below 20%.

[Campion]

It's not the complete answer, but if the people trained to do the deed won't, we have an advantage.

That's why FOCA is getting rid of conscience clauses, to force pro-life doctors and hospitals to refer for, and commit, abortions.

And that's why it must be stopped at all cost and, if it passes, the bishops need to start closing Catholic hospitals. For real, and fast enough to cause problems.

[djrakowski]

You’re absolutely right - Catholic hospitals should close immediately upon passage of FOCA.

One of our friends is a pro-life Catholic OB/GYN, and he’ll probably have to stop practicing medicine or change his area of specialty if this passes.

[ArrogantBustard]

The American people do not share Barack Obama’s extreme and offensive views on abortion.

Really?

I can't tell it by the way we VOTE!!!!

I see in the news that around half of CATHOLICS who could be bothered to vote, members of the most reliably pro-life Church anywhere, voted for infanticide. More than half of Americans who could be bothered to vote, voted for infanticide.

Don't tell me this is a pro-life country. It's not, any more than America in 1860 was an anti-slavery country.

The first step in solving a problem is to identify it.

The problem is, half of Americans think killing babies is just peachy.

That must change. We pro-life Catholics, laity and most especially clergy (who for the most part have been shamefully silent on the matter) need to make ending abortion as prominent an issue as "the economy". The democrat party and their lackeys in the media want to brush baby-killing under the rug. We need to bring it back out ... get it in everybody's face where it belongs.

Fifty million dead, and counting, is a disgrace to this supposedly great nation.

[Mad Dawg]

Be of good cheer. "Let not your hearts be troubled."

His will is our Good. "The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be still."

[al_c]

As soon as you win, you begin to lose, and as soon as you lose, you begin the ascent again to winning. In the next two election cycles (2010 and 2012) the pro-life movement will make up for political ground lost in this one.

I pray you're right. But the potential of Obama appointing new justices is a threat to the pro-life movement.

[sockmonkey]

As much as I don’t appreciate the sexual proclivities of many of todays younger women it seems that more and more they are coming to appreciate the life that grows within them - it’s strange how things turn around at times!

I think that many of them are aware that 1/3 of their brothers and sisters were killed by their Mothers before they were born.

[Bigg Red]

In the next two election cycles (2010 and 2012) the pro-life movement will make up for political ground lost in this one.

&&&
I certainly hope so, FRiend.

And I fervently hope and pray that 2012 will bring us a strong voice for the unborn in Sarah Palin as the presidential candidate.

[Elvina]

The reason why Father Frank Pavone made the statement in this article that a majority of Americans are pro-life is because it is true that a majority of Americans support restrictions on abortion. A majority are not absolutely and purely pro-life in terms of advocating no abortion under any circumstances, but they are pro-life to some degree.

Even a recent NBC News poll (obviously biased) finds that only 25% of Americans believe that abortion should always be legal. Pew Research found the number was only 17%: http://www.pollingreport.com/abortion.htm Father Frank discusses why even these polls are most likely slanted toward the pro-abortion side here: http://www.priestsforlife.org/columns/columns2001/01-12-17pollthepolls.htm

[Elvina]

At my daughter’s Catholic High School, the kids are very upset about Obama’s win. I do have hope for their generation.

[Mrs. Frogjerk]

No kidding!

I am a practicing Catholic, and I cannot tell you how disappointing it is to see bumper stickers on cars in the parking lot of church that are pro democrat!

It is more than a little frustrating to say the least. I don't understand their mindset at all!

[RGPII]

It may be an outside shot and detail: but I sent this letter this morning to Priests for life:

“It would be highly hypocritical if with this hub-bub about Barack Obama’s birth certificate which at the least can not be readily provided, if in fact, this guy is NOT a legal US Citizen.

I’ve listened to some people now saying “drop the Birth Certificate issue” in regards to Obama, however in regards to the rights of the unborn, this would now be a pertinent issue and the height of hypocrisy that someone not born in the USA if so, would sign legislation that would allow for termination of the lives of the unborn.

I think this is important, I hope lawyers work on this.

Sincerely,

My name and address”