Free Republic

A Reality Check from the Discipleship Front November 19th, 2009 by Archbishop Charles Chaput What the hell don’t you understand about the term separation of Church and State. Keep your evil hands off of our Health Care Bill. Mind your own business. We don’t care about your beliefs, and if you want to meddle in our affairs, we will be coming for you. If that’s how you want to play, we will come for your pedophile priests, your ill-gotten money you stole for decades. The Catholic church is just another organized crime syndicate that should be put out of business....

Creationists are ‘liars' (?): Geologist Donald Prothero doesn’t like the fact that we don’t agree with his ideas on evolution. I love the attitude some evolutionists have toward professional, scientific debate. Because creationist scientists do not agree with their biased, subjective and unsubstantiated ideas they spit the dummy and call us liars. The latest tirade from geologist Donald Prothero is in an opinion piece in NewScientist entitled ‘Evolution: What missing link?’1 I like that title. His article was picked up by the Telegraph newspaper in the UK which reported, ‘Creationists “peddle lies about the fossil record�.’2 Lies? Are creationists really...

TAMPA -- Men who live as women, women living as men, clergy members, mothers and grandparents packed the Tampa City Council chambers Thursday to debate a new ordinance that would protect transgender people from discrimination. Some argued that it was good for business and simply right to approve the law. Others spoke of religion and contended that the rule would give a stamp of approval to sexual deviants. Donna Kuntz read Bible passages about God abandoning people who do "shameful things," and said sexual predators are probably celebrating. "They can have access to whichever gender of children they choose," she...

For the Denver-based American Right to Life, when it comes to abortion, Palin is as impure as any godless feminist. “[H]er words and actions prove that she is officially pro-choice and stands against the God-given right to life of the unborn,” they write in a new report. ARTL members plan to educate reporters about Palin’s many alleged failings as a true believer, particularly her March nomination of a former Planned Parenthood board member to the Alaska Supreme Court and her refusal to call for a ban on the morning-after pill.

Senate Majority Harry Reid (D.-Nev.) late Wednesday published the final text of a Senate health care bill that would mandate federally subsidized abortion. The mandate appears on page 120 of the 2,074-page bill under the seemingly innocuous heading: ‘Assured Availability of Varied Coverage Through Exchanges.” Specifically, the provision requires that the secretary of Health and Human Services make certain that at least one health insurance plan offered in government-regulated insurance exchanges where people will be able to purchase health insurance using government subsidies must provide coverage of abortion. The secretary also must make certain that at least one plan available...

M-O'M DISCLOSURE CAUTION: CLICK ON ANY OF THE LINKS IN YOUR ARTICLE AT YOUR OWN RISK.A new Web site hopes to use the oldest trick in the book to combat the Catholic Church’s opposition to same-sex marriage: A good, old-fashioned forced outing!At ChurchOuting.org, you’re invited to scroll through a list of every Achbishop, Bishop, and Reverend in the Archdiocese of Washington, zero in on one you know is gay, and then submit your “detailed account of how you know the priest in question is being hypocritical through his silence.” (Alternately, get at them via Twitter or Facebook).ChurchOuting.Org is the brainchild...

Bert Chapman, a faculty member at Purdue University, has drawn a lot of resentment and protest since writing a blog last month. Mr. Chapman blogs at Conservative web page Townhall.com. His views are extremely conservative, and his blog posting of Oct. 17, 2009 is no different. In the post, Mr. Chapman shows his opinion on homosexuality, citing his disagreement with the lifestyle based upon religious principle. Throughout the article, he brings in statistics on the costs of treating AIDS, the problems of tainted blood supplies, the forcing of medical personnel to treat STDs. All of these he seems to throw...

A 12-year-old girl is prohibited from bringing aspirin to California public schools without a note from her mother or father – but in many California districts she may sign herself out of classes, leave her junior-high campus without parental permission, secretly have an abortion and return to school before the end of the day – and her own family may be none the wiser. Parents and educators across the state have been in heated debate over school policies allowing children to be excused during class time without parental notification for "confidential medical services" such as abortions, birth control, and drug...

Washington (AP) - Former Vice President Dick Cheney's daughter Mary Cheney has delivered a baby girl. It's the second child for Cheney and her partner of more than 17 years, Heather Poe. Sarah Lynne Cheney was born Wednesday morning at Sibley Hospital in Washington, weighing 6 pounds and 14 ounces. She is the seventh grandchild of the former vice president and his wife, Lynne. Mary Cheney and Poe had their first child, Samuel David Cheney, in 2007.

Congressman Earl Blumenauer says he's just a regular fellow "trying to get things accomplished." As a result, the Oregon Democrat tells me, he spends much of his time "looking for ideas that can bring people together -- simple, straightforward ideas that would help people and their families." And so he proposed the infamous "death panels." Really. Before they were Palinized -- and turned into those nasty death panels ready to pounce on Grandma (that "goofy stuff," as he now calls it), Blumenauer had a good idea: help people prepare for the end of life. As he wrote in The New...

The D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics ruled Tuesday that a proposed ballot initiative defining marriage as between a man and a woman cannot go forward, reaffirming an earlier ruling that such a vote would be discriminatory. The board cited the city Human Rights Act, which bans discrimination against gay men and lesbians. The board decision, which will probably be challenged in court, means the D.C. Council can move forward with its plans to vote on a bill next month to legalize same-sex marriage. The council on Tuesday scheduled a vote for Dec. 1. "We have considered all of the...

According to Thomas Bouchard, a US psychologist famous for his research on twins raised apart,[1] even scientists with good reason to believe that the majority are wrong can be silenced. The reason is...

SSMU Council voted 16 to 7 by secret ballot in favour of suspending Choose Life’s club status on Thursday. Two separate motions were put forth to change the club’s status. The first resolution called for the club’s status to be revoked. After being defeated 11 to 12, a motion to suspend followed. The students who put forth the two motions claimed that Choose Life had disseminated false health information and exposed students to graphic images associated with abortion and fetal life. Additionally, the students felt that past events hosted by the club had threatened safe space for students on campus,...

The annual CCHD (Catholic Campaign For Human Development) collection will be held in churches this coming weekend-November 21 and 22. This is the same group that was giving money for years to the Saul Alinsky-style group called ACORN before ending its relationship with the controversial group. After much criticism for its leftwing funding, the CCHD has supposedly tightened up their standards. Unfortunately these new standards are not working because the CCHD is still funding groups that: -Have a registered sex offender (child porn) on the staff -Are working to change laws so you can not refuse to rent to convicted...

American squeamishness about talking about sex has helped keep common sexually transmitted infections far too common, especially among vulnerable teens, U.S. researchers reported Monday. Latest statistics on chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis show the three highly treatable infections continue to spread in the United States. "Chlamydia and gonorrhea are stable at unacceptably high levels and syphilis is resurgent after almost being eliminated," said John Douglas, director of the division of sexually transmitted diseases at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "We have among the highest rates of STDs of any developed country in the world," Douglas added in a...

By teeing up a public battle over abortion in the health care bill now before the Senate, congressional Democrats could be risking more than just the fate of the legislation. Hanging in the balance are millions of Catholic swing voters who moved decisively to the Democrats in 2008 and who could shift away just as readily in 2010. According to exit polls, President Barack Obama won the support of 53 percent of Catholic voters, a seven-point increase over the showing of the Democrats’ 2004 nominee, Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), a Catholic. Among Latino Catholics, who are often more conservative than...

Planned Parenthood Sets December 2 Pro-Abortion Funding Lobbying Day Washington, DC -- Top pro-abortion groups are planning a national lobbying day for December 2nd that will see thousands of angry abortion activists filling the halls of the House and Senate asking lawmakers to force Americans to pay for abortions under the government-run health care bills. http://www.LifeNews.com/nat5658.html

Abstract: This paper questions criminal law's strong presumption of free will. Part I assesses the ways in which environment, nurture, and society influence human action. Part II briefly surveys studies from the fields of genetics and neuroscience which call into question strong assumptions of free will and suggest explanations for propensities toward criminal activity. Part III discusses other "causes" of criminal activity including addiction, economic deprivation, gender, and culture. In light of Parts I through III, Part IV assesses criminal responsibility and the legitimacy of punishment. Part V considers the the possibility of determining propensity from criminal activity based on...

WHEN IT comes to America’s most famous Catholic family, no true compass guides the Roman Catholic Church. (snip) With Patrick Kennedy, the cassocks are off. After Representative Kennedy of Rhode Island questioned why the church is vowing to fight any health care bill that does not explicitly ban the use of public money for abortions, Bishop Thomas J. Tobin of Providence fired back. Tobin called Kennedy’s support of abortion rights “a deliberate and obstinate act of will’’ that was “unacceptable to the church and scandalous to many of our members.’’ In a radio interview, Tobin went on to say, “If...

When it comes to porn, the question facing many men is simple: is it really wrong? Is it really that big of a deal? I mean, it's just an image on a screen. It's not someone I know (so it's not lust, right?), or someone I'm having an actual affair with, so I'm still faithful to my wife. It's just sexual release, like masturbation, and we all know that masturbation is not condemned in the Bible. It's not even mentioned. And isn't sex a good thing, so what's wrong in watching it happen? I'm just admiring beauty. And besides, I'm...

THE mother of a severely-disabled little boy known as Baby RB told today how she cuddled him with his father as they switched off his life support system. The young boy was the subject of an emotionally-charged High Court case after his father challenged doctors who argued that the child's life support should be switched off "in his best interests". The father later withdrew his objections and the judge agreed he should be allowed to die in peace. His mother today revealed the couple cuddled him as they switched off the machine on Friday. The child died shortly afterward.

A play depicting Jesus as a gay man played to an appreciative audience in a packed church sanctuary tonight while a handful of protesters outside called it blasphemous. It was the second showing of "Corpus Christi" in Orange County in about two years. The show sparked protests and bomb threats at its 1998 opening at the Manhattan Theatre Club in New York. The play depicts Jesus as a gay man living in 1950s Corpus Christi, Texas, playwright Terrence McNally's hometown. The cast of 13 portray Jesus and the 12 Apostles. The Church of the Foothills in Santa Ana received hate...

A video describing a first-trimester abortion -- produced by Priests for Life and published on YouTube -- has reached a milestone. The YouTube video has been viewed more than a million times. Spokeswoman Janet Morana tells OneNewsNow that Father Frank Pavone of Priests for Life plays host as he describes in direct but delicate terms just exactly what happens during an abortion. Using a fetal model and actual tools of abortion, Pavone says "this instrument I have in my hands was actually used to kill babies in the way that I'm about to describe" -- adding that "this is the gruesome reality of...

BEIJING — Followers of an unapproved church in Beijing were again forced by the government to find a new place to worship Sunday, a move one analyst suggested would be a test for President Barack Obama on religious freedom during his first visit to the country. Worship in China, governed by the officially atheist Communist Party, is allowed only in state-approved churches, but millions of people belong to unregistered churches that often face official harassment. Sunday's banishment was the latest for the Shouwang church, one of the largest underground churches in China with about 800 members. It was forced to...

Link only per FR posting rules (Gannett paper)

When Sally's mother learned her daughter was to be temporarily suspended from her church school, she was shattered. Her... 12-year-old daughter had never been in trouble before. ... The school had discovered an obscene, pornographic poem Sally had written with a classmate - and then posted... on the school intranet.... 'Sally's teacher... said it suggested such inappropriate sexual knowledge that the headmistress was considering calling in Social Services to investigate whether [the] daughter had been sexually abused.... But the subsequent school investigation uncovered that the poem... was, in fact, Sally's attempt to write a pop song, and every word had...

Should the “greatest good for the greatest number” be the guiding principle behind health care? As I have said before on Breakpoint, much of the hype and even hysteria surrounding the H1N1 flu strain is unwarranted. That’s not to say that the swine flu’s potential impact isn’t devastating—it is, but not in the way cable news would have us think. And now the Florida Department of Health has issued a set of guidelines that instructs hospitals on what to do “if the state is overwhelmed by [H1N1] cases.” The guidelines recommend that hospitals bar “patients with incurable cancer, end-stage multiple...

The Netherlands has the world’s most liberal euthanasia law, which is even more radical in practice.  Its doctors assist the suicides of the depressed and  the grieving, a practice long since approved by the country’s Supreme Court.  Some “terminate” patients “without request or consent.”  Babies born with serious disabilities are subjected to eugenic infanticide. Doctors whose patients may not qualify for euthanasia refer patients to an on line “auto euthanasia” how-to-commit suicide” site. Doctors who decide it is too difficult to kill patients directly, put them into terminal sedation so they don’t do the deed directly and in person.And now:...

This week, the Quebec College of Physicians and Surgeons tentatively approved euthanasia. That means it's essential that we look, specifically, at the impact that euthanasia would have on physicians and the profession of medicine, in order to understand why this approval is a very bad idea. In mainstream media, and therefore in the general public forum, the euthanasia debate has been focused, almost entirely, on the impact that legalizing euthanasia (a term I use in this article to include physician-assisted suicide) would have at the individual level. But we must also consider the impact legalizing it would have at institutional,...

Dr Ben Ramaley, of Greenwich, Connecticut, allegedly used his own sperm instead of the woman's husband's during an artificial insemination procedure. The claim was originally made in a 2005 lawsuit that was later settled, is now being investigated by the Connecticut attorney general. Dr Ramaley has denied the allegations. In 2002, the unidentified couple went to Dr Ramaley for help conceiving, according to court records. After several attempts at artificial insemination, the woman became pregnant. But the couple - a white woman and a black man - grew suspicious after the wife gave birth to fair-skinned twins. "After their birth,...

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- To hear pro-abortion members of Congress tell the story last weekend, women will head to the back alleys to have abortions unless they can get taxpayer funding for their abortions. Those were the unfounded claims presented during the House debate on the Stupak amendment. Rep. Barbara Lee, a California Democrat, said during the debate, "This amendment takes us one step back to those dark days of back-alley abortions"Jane Harmon, another California Democrat, added, "I am old enough to remember the days of back alley abortions. Some women I know had them. I cannot bear the idea...

ROME, November 13, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - If an embryo is human, it is a person - this is the golden rule for bioethics if it wants to uphold the full dignity of the human person, said the secretary of the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) on Tuesday. The "concept of person" and its application to all human beings at every stage of their development is the key to understanding the Catholic teachings on the life issues Archbishop Luis Ladaria told a conference in Rome.  Archbishop Ladaria was speaking to an audience of students at a...

A California man wants divorce outlawed. John Marcotte has filed for a ballot initiative to protect traditional marriage in the state of California as an extension of the work related to Proposition 8, the voter-approved constitutional amendment that defines marriage as between one man and one woman. In essence, Marcotte's project would legally ban divorce. "Marriage is an important and sacred institution, and I'm just trying to safeguard it in really the most direct way possible," he states. He says he needs the help of California's registered voters in acquiring "700,000 valid signatures, which likely translates into 1,000,000 [signatures] total."...

The D.C. City Council took one step closer to allowing same sex "marriages" in the District of Columbia on Tuesday when they voted the legislation out of the Committee on Public Safety & Judiciary. The panel refused to include protections for religious organizations--putting at risk the numerous churches in the region that provide goods and services to the needy who would have to decide between their faith or compliance with the city's commands. One of the largest area provider of relief services, the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, took a stand yesterday, just as their counterparts in Massachusetts's had done in...

WASHINGTON – The Republican National Committee's health insurance plan covers elective abortions for its employees, an option Republicans strongly oppose in health overhaul legislation that Democrats are trying to push through Congress. Republican Party Chairman Michael Steele learned of the policy's abortion coverage Thursday through a news report and immediately instructed staff to inform the insurance carrier that the RNC wanted to opt out of elective abortion coverage, RNC spokeswoman Gail Gitcho said. "Money from our loyal donors should not be used for this purpose," Steele said in a statement. "I don't know why this policy existed in the past,...

Last April, The Heritage Foundation released a WebMemo titled "The Dirty Dozen: 12 New Policies That Undermine Civil Society."[1] Seven months later, many of these policies being advocated by Congress and the President have moved closer to becoming law. In addition, several new issues have emerged that deserve illumination. Taken as a whole, these policies serve to undermine traditional families, devalue life and human dignity, and weaken civil society in American life. National PolicyMassive Expansion of the Welfare State. Within his first two years in office, President Obama will have increased spending on means-tested programs for the poor by 30...

The Republican National Committee will no longer offer employees an insurance plan that covers abortion after POLITICO reported Thursday that the anti-abortion RNC's policy has covered the procedure since 1991. "Money from our loyal donors should not be used for this purpose," Chairman Michael Steele said in a statement. "I don't know why this policy existed in the past, but it will not exist under my administration. Consider this issue settled." Steele has told the committee's director of administration to opt out of coverage for elective abortion in the policy it uses from Cigna. Federal Election Commission Records show the...

Nov 12, 2009 — What propelled Mao Zhedong to become the biggest mass murderer in world history?  Let a professor of Chinese history answer the question.  James Pusey (Bucknell U), writing in Nature this week for a series on “Global Darwin,”1 was explaining the vacuum left by the collapse of the reform movement in the early 20th century.  A “group of intellectuals” found Marxism attractive.  It was the fittest ideology: Many tried to fill it: Sun, Jiang Jieshi (Chiang Kaishek) and, finally, the small group of intellectuals who, in indignation at the betrayal at Versailles, found in Marxism what seemed...

Dear Congressman Kennedy: “The fact that I disagree with the hierarchy on some issues does not make me any less of a Catholic.” (Congressman Patrick Kennedy)Since our recent correspondence has been rather public, I hope you don’t mind if I share a few reflections about your practice of the faith in this public forum. I usually wouldn’t do that – that is speak about someone’s faith in a public setting – but in our well-documented exchange of letters about health care and abortion, it has emerged as an issue. I also share these words publicly with the thought that they...

Massachusetts Democrat Barney Frank said on Wednesday that "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (DADT), the current military policy handling homosexuals in the armed forces, is likely to be repealed in the next year's Department of Defense authorization bill, according to The Advocate. DADT, an administrative policy initiated in 1993 by President Clinton, permits homosexuals to serve in the military if they keep their homosexual behavior and attractions secret, and ensures that military recruits will not be asked if they are homosexual. Nevertheless, the service of homosexuals in the military remains explicitly prohibited by law, despite the DADT policy. The legal ban...

The phrase “Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement” sounds innocent enough. Who could be against such an agreement? But in fact it appears to be a pretext for a massive invasion of privacy, motivated in part by the entertainment industry seeking to maintain copyrights. But once unleashed, such an assault on freedom will know no bounds. What if Big Brother finds on your laptop that you think ID supports certain traditional moral views, and what if any articulation of such views comes to be regarded as a hate crime? (Click excerpt link for MUST SEE VIDEO!)

White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, senior advisor Valerie Jarrett and Domestic Policy Council director Melody Barnes, health care reform czar Nancy-ann DeParle and other White House officials met with a dozen officials from liberal women's and abortion right's groups this afternoon where they had a "frank exchange," in the words of one attendee. The subject of the meeting was the amendment added to the House Democrats' health care reform bill Saturday night that bans abortion services from being covered under the government-run public insurance option and prohibits women who receive government subsidies for health insurance from buying private...

The Catholic Archdiocese of Washington said Wednesday that it will be unable to continue the social service programs it runs for the District if the city doesn't change a proposed same-sex marriage law, a threat that could affect tens of thousands of people the church helps with adoption, homelessness and health care. Under the bill, headed for a D.C. Council vote next month, religious organizations would not be required to perform or make space available for same-sex weddings. But they would have to obey city laws prohibiting discrimination against gay men and lesbians. Fearful that they could be forced, among...

The country has for the first time overtaken France as the abortion capital of Europe - even though France has a population of 65m compared to Britain's approximate 59m - and now ranks fifth in the world behind Russia, the US, India and Japan. Teenage pregnancy rates in Britain have increased by almost a third over the past decade with half of all pregnancies among girls who are under 18 now ending in a termination.

Nov 10, 2009 — There’s a move on to get Darwin’s ideas taught to tots. Britain is giving a “birthday present to Darwin,” wrote Andrew Copson for The Guardian, in the form of national curriculum for primary schools that will mention evolution for the first time – and prohibit teaching of creationism or intelligent design in science lessons. The addition of evolution to elementary school curriculum was in response to a letter promoted by the British Humanist Association and signed by “scientists and experts.” Copson was obviously delighted with what he perceived as a long-overdue smackdown against intelligent design –...

Contact: David Huck, Choicekills.com LLC, 239-896-7244, admin@choicekills.comMEDIA ADVISORY, Nov. 11 /Christian Newswire/ -- "A Woman's right to choose," introduced in the mid-seventies, succeeded brilliantly in distracting attention from the seriousness of abortion by focussing instead on the decision making process. That malicious diversion, by itself, has contributed to the death of millions and it has gone unchallenged for thirty years. The late Dr. James Kennedy, founder of Coral Ridge Ministries, defined the issue saying "They have long tried to skirt the gruesome and sinful nature of abortion-for-convenience by making the word 'Choice' stand for far more than its innocent-appearing...

Posted: Wednesday November 11, 2009 at 2:01 pm EST by Judie Brownhttp://www.all.org/newsroom_judieblog.php?id=2839 The problematic nature of pandering to politicians with half-measures while announcing to pro-life troops that a victory has been achieved is not a new malady. It has been a relatively consistent pattern woven into National Right to Life Committee politics for many years now.  Having said that, the problem with what is currently being said about the Stupak Amendment to the Pelosicare bill is the most egregious I have seen in my 40 years of pro-life activism. For starters, on Saturday, November 7, NRLC sent a letter to each member...

When history imitates game show . . . Those old enough to remember TV in the late 1950s through the 60s will recall a delightful game show, “To Tell the Truth.� As a kid I fondly recall trying to figure out along with the celebrity panelists which of the three contestants was the “real� person to be identified. It was a challenging game; the three contestants would all introduce themselves as “I am Mr./Miss /Mrs. [the generic Ms. hadn't come along yet] X� and, after the announcer read a brief description of the featured guest, the panelists would begin...

he sudden spasm of intense debate over abortion on Capitol Hill this week threatens not only to stall the passage of health care legislation, but also to shatter the delicate cease-fire that has governed the abortion issue during the Obama era. After months of dodging high-profile confrontations over abortion, Democrats — including President Barack Obama — find themselves faced with a stark set of alternatives: Support a bill that imposes limits on access to abortion or demand one that might, however indirectly, fund the procedure with taxpayer money. It's the kind of decision point the White House and Democratic leaders...

For the first time, in a long time, there is actually some tangibility to the abortion debate in this country. Yes, after years of Democrats dodging around the issue by saying they don't approve of abortions, but favor a woman's right to choose (the same way they supported the troops but still were rooting against them in Iraq and Afghanistan) Democrats in the House were forced to vote whether they would support government-subsidized abortions as part of the new health care bill. In an amendment to the House's health care bill, Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) proposed an amendment which essentially...