|
|
 |
|
|
||||
 |
||||
|
|
Coming Events |
|||
News Ticker provided by LifeSiteNews.Com
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
|
|
||||
|
|
Coming Events |
|||
News Ticker provided by LifeSiteNews.Com
- Catholic Insight Online – August 17, 2009
- CHP Communiqué No 31 ‘Are Fathers Relevant’ – August 18, 2009
- Family Scholar Accuses Sexual Left Of ‘Snatching’ Children – August 20, 2009
- Fr. Thomas Euteneuer - From Family Planning To Death Planning – August 14, 2009
- LifeIssues.Net Newsletter #436 – August 16, 2009
- Maternal Death ‘Surge’ Accompanies Lax Abortion Laws – August 13, 2009
- News From 40 Days Halifax – August 17, 2009
- PRI Weekly Briefing - Obama's Population Fundamentalist – August 14, 2009
- PRI Weekly Briefing – People Are The Enemy – August 17, 2009
- Pro-Family Leaders From 63 Countries Attend World Congress Of Families V – August 18, 2009
- Psychological Profession And Homosexuality – August 14, 2009
- Stanley Haidasz, Pro-Life Canadian MP, Senator RIP – August 13, 2009
- Vellacott Applauds Affirmation Of The Best Interests Of Children In Family Breakdown – August 18, 2009
- We've Figured Him Out – July 24, 2009
News Archives.htm from 2003 to the present.
1. Catholic Insight Online – August 17, 2009Catholic Insight E-Newsletter No. 9
August 17, 2009Dear Friends,
In the June 2009 issue of Catholic Insight (pages 12-17), we drew attention to Catholic social teaching in a more formal way, because of Pope Benedict’s then-forthcoming social encyclical. We borrowed John Paul II’s summary of Leo XIII’s Rerum novarum (Of New Things), published in 1881, in his encyclical Centesimus Annos (One Hundred Years) in 1991, to prepare the way.
Benedict’s social encyclical itself made its appearance at the beginning of July. It is called Caritas in Veritate (Love in Truth). It is actually quite different from its predecessors in putting the entire emphasis on the need for God. It weighs in by systematically explaining that without Christianity, the world will not succeed in extracting itself from inhuman and disastrous consequences, as Lorene Collins explains in her article, ‘The Famous Five,’ in our upcoming issue.
‘Development,’ Benedict asserts, requires a transcendent vision of the human person; it needs God. Without him, development is either denied or entrusted exclusively to humanity, which falls into the trap of thinking it can bring about its own salvation, but ends up promoting a dehumanized form of development.
John Paul II summarized that view somewhat differently in the opening sentence of his first encyclical, Redemptoris homini (March 1979), in which he stated: “The Redeemer of man, Jesus Christ, is the centre of the universe and of history.” That is what is called going to the heart of the matter!
While Collins emphasizes Benedict’s insistence on the necessity of acknowledging God, John Paul Meenan briefly reminds us of how the denial of God in Bolshevik Russia and today’s communist China leads to the suppression of freedom of all kinds, in his piece, ‘Communist Manifesto: The abolition of men.’
A third section of this feature on the Church’s social teaching takes us to our own modern secularist society. Did you notice the latest hedonistic ‘solution’ for Canada’s future? It may be found in the brief introduction to Ryan Topping’s report on the Saskatoon conference on John Paul II’s Theology of the Body. The hedonists propose that married couples stop having children (Macleans, August 3, 2009; National Post, August 8, 2009; see also the article by Dr. John Shea now on our website, ‘Having or not having children’). The speakers at the Saskatoon conference argued instead for large families and holiness.
The theme of God’s needed presence, but his actual absence, is that of the second main feature. It brings us face to face with Benedict’s emphasis on openness to human life as a sine qua non for the requirement of wisdom and ‘a clear vision of all economic, social, cultural and spiritual aspects.’
Joe Bissonette asks a relevant question. Forty years of (government-ordered) abortion have passed and there is yet no solution. Why? The author directs his search for an answer to the Catholic community. Why has the Catholic community been paralyzed for so long? What is wrong with it? (In October, we will have a similar article, this one from a psychiatrist in Nova Scotia who sees the Church’s paralysis in Canada as the result of being caught up in a net of worldliness that saps the vitality of clergy and laity and leaves us with lukewarm mediocrity.)
Another article in October will see a solution of revitalizing the Church in North America in a new attitude toward the Eucharist, something we hinted at in our conclusion to the Obama-Notre Dame scandal as reported in the July-August edition (and now on our website).Back to the September issue and to Pope Benedict once more. The world’s most authoritative theologian calls us to reflect on what it means ‘on being Church.’ We must dig and dig in order to realize how we are to conduct ourselves before God. Among other things, the Pope asks: “To what extent is the pastoral co-responsibility of all, and particularly of the laity, recognized and encouraged?” He states: “There is still a long way to go.”
The laity must no longer be viewed as collaborators with the clergy, but truly recognized as co-responsible for the Church’s being and action. Where does this more apply than to the fields of politics, legislation, education and social economics, all jurisdictions of the laity, not the clergy?Everywhere in Canada, there are signs calling for Catholics to be more active and resistant, from ‘Evangelization’ (Mickey Dopp) to Terry O’Neill (‘The Dalton case in B.C.: Why we Christians should assert our rights’). And Catholic physicians have finally created a national body to defend their right to freedom of conscience (Galbraith/Rodriguez).
CI will try to keep focused on the themes mentioned above. We would appreciate any ‘insights’ that you may have after you have read the magazine. E-mail us at reach@catholicinsight.com. It is to everybody’s interest that we try to tackle these problems to the best of our abilities.
2 CHP Communiqué No 31 ‘Are Fathers Relevant’ – August 18, 2009
Interesting point and the weakness of a MP once appointed to a significant position in government. Is there more at play here than what meets the eye? – HHW
Christian Heritage Party – Communiqué Vol 16, No 31 Aug 18, 2009
Are Fathers Relevant? – by guest writer Vicki GunnShould the state grant fathers any role, and if so how much of a role, in raising their children? This question has to be front and centre in our thoughts as Canada looks at a man's role in parenting children.
The Vancouver Sun reports that Justice Minster Rob Nicholson said, "The interests of children must take priority over a father's right to an equal parenting role after divorce." This statement was made amid the cheers of a crowd of Canadian Bar Association lawyers, in Dublin according to CanWest News, perhaps hinting that Nicholson is watering down his support for MP Vellacott's Bill. Will this be yet another Conservative MP's private member's bill which gets killed by his own party?
This family issue became important after Mr. Vellacott introduced a private member's bill which would instruct judges to "apply the principle of equal shared parenting unless it is established that the best interests of the child would be substantially enhanced by allocating parental responsibility other than equally."
It is an established fact that the outcome for children is better when both parents are involved in their child's upbringing. So what does the state have to gain in deciding the maternal role is the most important role, to the exclusion of the father should a marriage breakup?
Let's look at the history of increasing government usurpation of the family unit. The government decided that marriage vows "as long as you both shall live" really didn't mean "as long as you both shall live". They introduced no fault divorce, implying that it was a "victimless divorce". Then, when the realization hit that children were victims, the government again entered into the family relationship to decide how to decrease the devastating impact of their policy on children.
However, now the implication of Mr. Nicholson's comment is that a father is irrelevant and negatively affects the wellbeing of the child. Thus the state should intervene again in the family and remove the father from his role as dad.
What's next in the continuing government saga? Perhaps the next decision will be that a mother is irrelevant and the state should take over her role also. Or, did that already happen with pressure to place children in government funded and controlled daycare while the mother works?
It's time the tide of government usurpation of the parental roles turned. CHP Canada supports both dad and mum in the raising of a child. Together, parents create a child and together they have a responsibility to place the wellbeing of the child first. A government cannot do, as a bureaucracy, what a parent will do for love.
CHP Canada would enact the necessary legislation to secure the future of Canada's children; to protect a child's right to a secure childhood; and to protect a child's right to be raised by both parents.
Don't short change our children! CHP Canada has better solutions for the Canadian family; better solutions for Canadian children.
Join your voice with ours and give security to the next generation.
Quick Links: CHP Website Donate CHP National Office email
Christian Heritage Party | PO Box 4958 Station E | Ottawa | Ontario | K1S 5J1 | Canada
3. Family Scholar Accuses Sexual Left Of ‘Snatching’ Children – August 20, 2009
August 20, 2009 Volume 12, # 36
Dear Colleague,
We report this week on a paper delivered last week to the World Congress of Families in which family scholar Patrick Fagan of the Family Research Council says there are two incompatible cultures growing up, one dedicated to sexual morality and the other to sexual immorality. He further asserts that one is snatching children from the other.
We also report on the latest shenanigans of Amnesty International that has written yet another report lambasting a pro-life country. This time Nicaragua.
Spread the word.
Yours sincerely,
Austin Ruse, PresidentWorld Congress Speaker Calls for “Monogamy Men” to Take Back the Culture – By Austin Ruse
(WASHINGTON, DC – C-FAM) Patrick Fagan, family scholar at the Family Research Council, told the World Congress of Families last week in Amsterdam that there are two competing cultures of sexual morality and that both have a profound effect on culture and public policy. Fagan called one culture “monogamous” and the other “polymorphous” and he warned that one is “snatching” children from the other. Fagan told the audience that “the culture of the traditional family is now in intense competition with a very different culture. The defining difference between the two is the sexual ideal embraced [by each].” Read more
Amnesty International Slams Nicaragua for Abortion Ban – by Samantha Singson
NEW YORK – C-FAM) Amnesty International is slamming yet another Latin American country for its pro-life laws. In a recently released report, Amnesty has called Nicaragua's total ban on abortions a "cruel, inhuman disgrace" and charged that the new law has led to an increase in maternal deaths. As in the cases of Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Peru, Amnesty's latest report on Nicaragua incorrectly argues that international law requires countries to permit abortion, and, according to critics, it misrepresents the facts which actually show a decrease in the maternal death rate. Read more
Editor in Chief – Austin Ruse
Managing Editor – Piero Tozzi
Assistant Managing Editor – Hannah Russo
Chief Correspondent – Samantha Singson
Contributors – Susan Yoshihara / Katharina Rothweiler
Send subscription updates to hannah@c-fam.orgCopyright © 2009 Permission granted for unlimited use. Credit required.
4. Fr. Thomas Euteneuer - From Family Planning To Death Planning – August 14, 2009
Coming to Canada if Bill C384 is passed, rationing of healthcare, which will mean cutting cost and getting rid of grandma. – HHW
Spirit & Life ®
"The words I spoke to you are spirit and life." (Jn 6:63)
Human Life International e-Newsletter
Volume 04, Number 25 | Friday, August 14, 2009From Family Planning to Death Planning
It's time to kiss grandma goodbye. Do it while you can, especially if she is sick. I am not being facetious here. The healthcare debate is deadly serious for seniors and those who will need a greater amount of healthcare in the coming years. People approaching retirement age will be obliged to start planning for death soon, and the government is more than ready to help them. According to this wicked bill, HR 3200, there are generous provisions setting the stage to weed out the weak, infirm and unfit and make room for the fit, all at the government's discretion. The list of chilling dictates that will affect all seniors and ill persons is just frightening [see sidebar for references]. I note just a few relevant provisions from the 1018-page document:
- Page 29: healthcare will be rationed by government regulators;
- Pages 30 and 42: government committees will be set up to decide what healthcare we can and can't have - a "Health Choices Commissioner" (Commissar?) will be in charge of these decisions;
- Page 239: the government will limit and reduce physician services for Medicaid which means that the dependent elderly and those most unable to access other services will suffer;
- Page 341: the government will be able to disqualify Medicare Part B and HMOs if they don't get with the program, which means that they can effectively put them out of business as competition; and no one will be able to sue the government for a de facto monopoly on healthcare or for price-fixing (p. 124);
- Pages 425-430: "end-of-life" counseling and courses will be obligatory in this heinous bill-by the way, the Hemlock Society (now euphemistically called Compassion and Choices) has admitted to working with members of congress on this section of the bill;
- Page 429: nurse practitioners and physicians' assistants can have authority to write end-of-life orders.
Another curious fact: of the 31 occurrences of the word "planning" in the text of this massive bill, fifteen of them are in the sections dealing with death planning (always called "advanced care planning"), nine are in the sections on "family planning" (code words for abortion, sex education and contraception) and the other seven are about government bureaucratic functioning. Isn't it strange that a society which has worshipped "freedom of choice" for so long is now on the verge of surrendering its freedom and choices to government planners?
The only reason we have our elderly being set up for systematic extermination now is because our culture has been so deeply brainwashed by the contraceptive and abortive mentalities that come from decades of "family planning" propaganda. The devaluation of human life at one end of the spectrum leaves the other end of the life spectrum completely vulnerable to the depredations of the power-mongers in Washington. Albert Schweitzer said that "if a man loses his reverence for any part of life, he will lose his reverence for all of life." In terms of the current healthcare debate that would mean: when you sow family planning, you reap death planning. It's that simple.
How ironic that President Obama's so-called overhaul of the healthcare system in this country comes just at the time when the number of senior citizens is set to double. If the "Greatest Generation" gave our nation the technology and the prosperity to have the highest standard of living and best healthcare system in the world - bar none - then that generation will be the first to be killed off by the same technology - and all for altruistic reasons based on lifestyle and efficiency. Needless to say, the baby-boomers are next in line for euthanasia.
Those who still value life and are now being called into a very personal pro-life battle, one that threatens to strike at the very center of our families: our parents and grandparents. Just as we have always stood united in our defense of the rights of the unborn, we must adamantly resist this heinous program to hand over life and death planning to the government. Those decisions must stay in the hands of God. We must resist this wickedness now, while we still have breath.
Sincerely,
Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer,
President, Human Life InternationalCopyright 2009 - Human Life International
Permission granted for unlimited use. Credit requiredHuman Life International
4 Family Life Lane -- Front Royal, VA 22630 U.S.A.
Phone: (540) 635-7884 Fax: (540) 622-6247
E-mail: hli@hli.org Website: www.hli.org5. LifeIssues.Net Newsletter #436 – August 16, 2009
Greetings from LifeIssues.net
Dear Friends for Life,
New research shows 'safe sex' bad for mental health. A study done by Professor Stuart Brody of the University of the West of Scotland shows that condom use is associated with "immature psychological defense mechanisms." Professor Brody stated, "The results are consistent with condom use during PVI [penile-vaginal intercourse] being associated with psychological immaturity and predisposition to poorer mental health."
However, according to Planned Parenthood, "Many women and men say they have better sex when they use condoms" and "condoms have no side effects except for people who are allergic to latex." As the Scotland study shows, Planned Parenthood is wrong once again.
God Bless, Jerry Novotny, OMI
(Quote) Talk of human rights is but a charade, if it is only for the "chosen" of the human family. All others will be dispatched as a burden, or exploited as a means to an end. -Dan L Kennedy, CEO
LifeIssues.Net Newsletter #436 – August 16, 2009Table Of Contents:
1. People 'Get Happier As They Age'
2. Psychologists Show Change In Orientation Is Not Harmful
3. One Child Policy Pressurized By Aging Population
4. Teen Birth Rates Remain Higher In US Than Rest Of Developed World
5. Why The Mother That Struggled To Love Her Down's Syndrome Baby Would Never Use The New Test That Detects The Condition
6. CDC Figures Show Teen Abortions Lower In States Accepting Abstinence Funds
7. UN Data Shows Pro-Abortion Laws Lead To More Maternal Deaths For Women
8. The Prognosis For Changes In End-Of-Life Care After The Schiavo Case
9. Notes On Reponses To The Papal Allocution On Life-Sustaining Treatments And Vegetative State
10. Sex Selection
11. Church Teaching And Human ReproductionFocus On Asia: "NRI in Ahmedabad dies of swine flu, toll rises to 4" - India has now seen four deaths from swine flu with the number of infected cases rising to 782.
"Swine flu-hit Mumbai youth critical"; "Mumbai swine flu shutdown begins”
Item #1. People 'Get Happier As They Age'
Despite worries about ill health, income, changes in social status and bereavements, later life tends to be a golden age, according to psychologists. They found older adults generally make the best of the time they have left and have learned to avoid situations that make them feel sad or stressed.View full article at BBC News
Item #2. Psychologists Show Change In Orientation Is Not Harmful
Study of people who have struggled free from homosexuality leads to calls for more research. A study showing that sexual orientation is changeable and that attempts to change are not harmful was presented at the annual convention of the American Psychological Association (APA) in Toronto on Sunday.View full article at citizenlink.com
Item #3. One Child Policy Pressurized By Aging Population
Across China, each couple has 1.6 or 1.7 kids on average, a fertility rate kept for 17 years. The number of offspring for population maintenance is a 2.1, according to Wang Guangzhou, professor with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS). At this rate, the working population will dwindle by 10 million each year after 2025, and the number of young people between 20 and 24 will drop by one-fourth in the next decade, estimated Zeng Yi, a population economist with the Peking University.View full article at CriEnglish.com
Item #4. Teen Birth Rates Remain Higher In US Than Rest Of Developed World
The current US rate is 42 births for every 1,000 girls aged 15 to 19, while the overall rate for developed countries is 21 per 1,000, the internationally-known non-governmental research organization, Population Reference Bureau (PRB), reported.View full article at monstersandcritics.com
Item #5. Why The Mother That Struggled To Love Her Down's Syndrome Baby Would Never Use The New Test That Detects The Condition
Despite struggling to love her baby when she was born with Down's syndrome, Liz Crowter explains why now she would never use a new test that detects the condition.View full article at Mirror.co.uk
Item #6. CDC Figures Show Teen Abortions Lower In States Accepting Abstinence Funds
A new report relying on data from the Centers for Disease Control finds the states that accepted abstinence education funding saw greater reductions in teen abortions compared to states that didn't. The information provides another argument in favor of funding abstinence education programs.See the full article at LifeNews.com
Item #7. UN Data Shows Pro-Abortion Laws Lead To More Maternal Deaths For Women
The world's largest abortion provider, International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), has recently acknowledged an alarming "surge" in maternal deaths in South Africa, challenging the pro-abortion mantra that liberal abortion laws decrease maternal mortality.Maternal deaths increased by twenty percent in the period 2005-2007 in South Africa, a country that since 1996 has had one of the most permissive abortion laws on the African continent.
Article is located at LifeNews.com
Item #8. The Prognosis For Changes In End-Of-Life Care After The Schiavo Case
Comment: Note this quote "Cases such as these (Terri Schiavo and others) also introduce economic issues, as the costs of keeping people alive – especially in the ICU – are substantial." Dr. Emanuel is now crying foul over the use of his quotes in Lancet and Hasting Center report, saying that they are taken out of context. I have read both articles myself and both of them-along with this article-give me the chills. – Nancy Valko, RNArticle can be found at Health Affairs
Item #9. Notes On Reponses To The Papal Allocution On Life-Sustaining Treatments And Vegetative State
These philosophy and theology notes focus on the ethics of removing artificially administered nutrition and hydration (ANH) from patients in permanent coma, post-coma unresponsiveness, or (as it is more commonly but somewhat pejoratively called) persistent vegetative state (PVS). Although the case of Terri Schindler Schiavo brought this situation to national attention, these reflections do not deal with the specific details of her moral, legal, and familial situation. Rather, they focus on five issues raised by responses to the March 20, 2004, address of Pope John Paul II to participants at the conference in Rome on Life-Sustaining Treatments and Vegetative State:
- What is the exact authority of this papal teaching?
- Does the allocution require ANH in all cases for PVS patients, in virtually all cases, as a general ideal that may be often unrealized, or in some other sense?
- Does this papal allocution represent a rejection or overturning of the longstanding Catholic tradition of distinguishing ordinary and extraordinary means?
- Is human life valuable, worth preserving, even if no higher function is possible?
- Does this allocution, despite its obvious motivation to forward a "culture of life," in fact undermine such a culture?
While I cannot in the space allotted arrive at definitive conclusions about these matters, nor even a comprehensive review of the literature, I hope to provide an overview of the major issues that have arisen from this address so that readers can get some sense of the current debate. – Christopher KaczorView entire text at LifeIssues.net
Item #10. Sex Selection
Few people are aware how common is the practice of attempting to select the sex of one's child. Parents may want to prevent the transmission of a genetic disease; they may want a male child to carry on the family name or to meet the requirements of their religion, or to achieve some balance within the family. Nearly all of the methods for doing sex selection involve immoral practices; infanticide is a common practice in some countries, such as China; selective abortion or killing of the baby of the "wrong sex" within the womb; creating many embryos and implanting only those of the desired sex; and "sperm sorting" which also involves artificial insemination or IVF.View entire text at LifeIssues.net
Item #11. Church Teaching And Human Reproduction
The Catholic Church teaches that "the direct interruption of the generative process already begun, and, above all, directly willed and procured abortion, even if for therapeutic reasons, are absolutely excluded as licit means of regulating birth. Equally excluded... is direct sterilization, whether perpetual or temporary, whether of the man or the woman."1 This teaching prohibits contraception by means of the condom, intrauterine device, vasectomy, tubal ligation, and chemical contraception by the use of oral contraceptives, morning after pills (MAP's), or the administration of contraceptives by injection or in a skin patch. The reason for this prohibition is that contraception breaks the inseparable connection, willed by God and unable to be broken by man on his own initiative, between the unitive meaning and the procreative meaning of the conjugal act.View entire text at LifeIssues.net
You Can Change Society:
1. Be Informed: "My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge." Hosea 4:6. Visit Lifeissues.net Website for insights into current Life Issues. All prior email Newsletters Archives are located online.
2. Pray Daily: for the courage to be God's presence in society and to strongly support those who are deemed "unworthy of life". "If My people who are called by My Name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land." 2 Chronicles 7:14.
3. Become Involved: Several years ago Fr. Jerry created a project entitled, "Journey for Life into the Heart of Asia". It is a project which appeals for donations to help finance plane travel for lectures and seminars to developing countries in Asia. Strong focus is placed on reaching Asian Catholic Major Seminaries, Universities, Parishes, Hospitals and Family/Pro Life related groups. The lectures place emphasis on "The Asian Family at Crossroads: Life Issues Trends and Challenges".For information about no-cost Pro Life Talks to your group in Asia: contact Fr. Jerry at jerry@shirt.ocn.ne.jp.
To become a supportive Missionary participant for this Asian project, kindly send your donations to: Fr. Jerry Novotny, OMI; LifeIssues.net, Editor; Akebono-cho 1-15-9; Kochi City, Japan, 780-8072; (or transfer donation directly to ProLife bank account: Jerome Novotny, Shikoku Bank, Asakura Branch, No. 102-1-0080824).
Get a weekly dose of clear thinking: subscribe to our free Lifeissues newsletter! Sign up on main page of www.LifeIssues.net. Pass this free service to your friends and various groups.
Contact Editor: Fr. Jerry Novotny, OMI; LifeIssues.net, Editor; Akebono-cho 1-15-9; Kochi City, Japan, 780-8072; Tel/Fax: 088-843-0406; E-Mail: jerry@lifeissues.net (or) jerry@shirt.ocn.ne.jp.
Websites by Editor:
English LifeIssues Site: http://www.lifeissues.net,
Japanese LifeIssues Site: http://www.japan-lifeissues.net,
OMI Site: http://www.omijapankorea.net/index.html.6. Maternal Death ‘Surge’ Accompanies Lax Abortion Laws – August 13, 2009
August 13, 2009 Volume 12, # 35
Dear Colleague,
Today we report on the growing evidence that liberal abortion laws, far from lowering maternal mortality rates in the developing world, often correspond to an increase in maternal deaths. Yet abortion advocates continue to pester countries to discard laws protecting the unborn based on false assumptions about women’s health needs. One wonders whether their real concern is women in the developing world or population control…
We also look yet again at one of the Culture of Death’s front line storm troopers, the Center for Reproductive Rights, and its ongoing campaign to have abortionists declared “human rights defenders.” Far from defending human rights, abortionists and their mouthpieces violate the most fundamental right of all – the right to life.
Spread the word.
Yours sincerely,
Piero A. Tozzi, Executive Vice PresidentUN Health Data Show Liberal Abortion Laws Lead to Greater Maternal Death – By Aracely Ornelas
(NEW YORK – C-FAM) The world's largest abortion provider, International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), has recently acknowledged an alarming "surge" in maternal deaths in South Africa, challenging the pro-abortion mantra that liberal abortion laws decrease maternal mortality. Maternal deaths increased by twenty per cent in the period 2005-2007 in South Africa, a country that since 1996 has had one of the most permissive abortion laws on the African continent. While deaths attributable to HIV/AIDS account for the biggest portion of maternal deaths in South Africa, IPPF acknowledges that a portion of deaths are "due to complications of abortion" in a country where the procedure is legal and widely available. Read more
Radical NGO Paints Abortionists as Human Rights Defenders – by Samantha Singson
NEW YORK – C-FAM) In a recently released report from the Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR), the advocacy group is appealing to the United Nations (UN) to formally recognize abortion-providers as "human rights defenders." In "Defending Human Rights," CRR presupposes that abortion is part of the accepted human rights framework and targets legal restrictions on abortion, funding restrictions on abortion and "failure to reduce abortion-related stigma" as "human rights violations." Read more
Editor in Chief – Austin Ruse
Managing Editor – Piero Tozzi
Assistant Managing Editor – Hannah Russo
Chief Correspondent – Samantha Singson
Contributors – Susan Yoshihara / Katharina Rothweiler
Send subscription updates to hannah@c-fam.orgCopyright © 2009 Permission granted for unlimited use. Credit required.
7. News From 40 Days Halifax – August 17, 2009
40 Days Halifax Newsletter
News Update – August 17, 2009The times we are in
This fall's campaign bigger than ever
Online registration tool
Information meeting
Important conference in September
Visit our blogGreetings!
.... they mingled with the nations and adopted their customs. They worshipped their idols, which became a snare to them. They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons. They shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, and the land was desecrated by their blood.
Therefore the Lord was angry with his people and he handed them over to the nations, and their foes ruled over them and subjected them to their power.
But he took note of their distress when he heard their cry; for their sake he remembered his covenant and out of his great love he relented.
Save us, O Lord our God, and gather us from the nations, that we may give thanks to your holy name and glory in your praise. Psalm 106: vs. 35-47
The Times We Are In
I wondered whether to put that Psalm as the opening to this newsletter. It is so grim, but I decided that we need to know the seriousness of the times that we are in. Last week, I heard Dr. James Dobson, a Christian leader in the US, interviewing Chuck Colson, the man who was indicted in the Watergate scandal and spent quite a long time in prison. For those who don't know, Chuck Colson had a dramatic conversion to belief in the person of Jesus Christ 35 years ago and his life has never been the same. He now heads up a prison ministry, bringing the Gospel to the very places where he was incarcerated.
He had many things to say, but one that struck me was his description of the times we live in, times that are hostile to the Christian message in its entirety. Oh yes, some will accept the love message without question, but they won't scratch the surface and discover that the love Jesus talks about is a self-sacrificing love. Jesus was compassionate and kind towards the sinners (and we are all sinners), but he was never tolerant of sin.
Our society today is asking us to be tolerant of sin. And they are calling tolerance - love towards the sinner. Let's not be confused; Jesus never tolerated sin, how could He? Sin is the opposite of God's nature.
What does this have to do with 40 Days? The vigil of 40 days of prayer and fasting and public witness outside the place where abortions are performed in Halifax is our opportunity to bring God's light to the darkness. Abortion is accepted by almost everyone in our culture; we have gotten used to it; after 40 years of legalized abortion, anyone under the age of 40 has never known anything but this state of affairs. And what is accepted by society permeates into our minds, and we begin to think that it must be okay. And if it is not okay, well there is not much we can do about it.
But God wants us to do something about it. And I believe that 40 Days for Life is a mighty move by the Holy Spirit to awake the sleeping Body of Christ.
So wake up, rouse from your sleep, and respond to this opportunity. God is not just whispering, He is talking loudly. Are you listening?
This Fall's Campaign Bigger than Ever
Last Thursday night, David Bereit held a teleconference call to the local leaders of the 40 Days campaigns. And he revealed the size of this fall's campaign - yes we all knew this was growing. This fall, 208 cities worldwide will be holding 40 Days for Life campaigns. And 8 cities in Canada are amongst those cities. In Atlantic Canada, Fredericton and Moncton are joining Halifax in holding the vigils. So if you have any friends or contacts in those cities, be sure to let them know about this vigil and tell them how to contact their local campaign.
They can simply go to www.40daysforlife.com then click on Locations, and the cities will be listed, with a link to a page for each city. Spread the word and let's really build this up in our country this fall.
Online Registration
For those of you who love doing everything via computer, we now have a way for you to sign up for vigil hours online. Vigil Scheduling Tool
At the top left, you will see the words 40 Days schedule. Click on the arrows to the right of that, to move the calendar to the week of Sept 20-26. You will see some hours have the word Busy printed in them. This is keep your profile private. Only Ellen Chesal, our vigil scheduler, can see the names that are in each hour slot. Everyone else just sees Busy. Each busy represents one person. So you can easily see how many people are signed up for each hour.
On the right, there is a place to put your name, email address, and a box for message. In there, put the day and hour that you wish to sign up for. We are assuming that when you say, for example, Tuesday 10 am - 11 am, that you intend to come every Tuesday at that time. So your commitment is for the entire 40 days, not just for one week. The schedule will post your time and you will appear as another "busy" in that slot.
Please also put your phone number along with your time choice. This is so that we can contact you the day before to remind you of your time. Each day will have a vigil coordinator who will be phoning people the day before to remind them of their commitment. At least for the first couple of weeks, until everyone has this firmly in mind.
You will not receive an email back when you sign up. So don't wait for one. Ellen is away on vacation for two weeks, and this tool will handle the scheduling in her absence. When she returns, she will be compiling all the information on her hard drive, so that we have a back up to this online tool.
If you have any problems, don't hesitate to email me at: julieculshaw@ns.sympatico.ca
I too will be away from August 20 until Sept 1, but I will have computer access (Ellen doesn't) so I will answer any and all emails. Don't be shy about emailing. Keep in mind, that I really want to hear from any potential vigilers.
At the moment, we have 34 people who have made commitments. We need another 150 to make this work, so sign up and make the Halifax vigil a success.
Information Meeting
We will be having one more general information meeting.
Tuesday, September 8 at 7 pm
St. Thomas Aquinas Church Hall
Cornwall Street, corner of Oxford and Jubilee RoadPlease try to attend that meeting and pass the word to anyone you think might be interested. If we all manage to bring one person with us to this meeting, we will automatically double our numbers.
And right now, it is numbers that we need. The more people who take part in the vigil, the easier it becomes for everyone. It is much easier to stand and pray on the street when you have 3 or 4 others with you, than to stand and pray alone.
Important Conference in September
Please read this and mark your calendar.
A conference, called Ignite Our Culture, will be held September 25 and 26 at 321 Main Ave., Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3S 0B5
At this conference you will learn about the growing threat to our fundamental freedoms - freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of conscience - in Canada. This threat comes from human rights commissions, censorship of dissent in universities, etc.
Canada's pre-eminent Freedom Fighter Ezra Levant is our headline speaker.
At this conference, you will learn about the ongoing assault against our fundamental liberties in Canada. You will learn about the necessary link between our Judeo-Christian heritage and our tradition of liberty. You will learn about the link between the love of one's child and a parent's commitment to pick up his sword in this battle.
This is something that we really should attend. Perhaps you have heard about the number of ordinary Canadians who have been brought before the Human Rights Commissions in each province, simply because they have objected to being forced to do things that oppose their Christian faith. For instance, a photographer in Ontario was fined because he refused to take photos of a homosexual wedding. He provided the customers with the names of other photographers who were quite willing and capable of doing their photography, but they decided to take him to the Ontario Human Rights Commission and he paid in time and money to fight this.
This is not the stuff that happens to weird people; this is happening to people simply because they are acting on their Christian beliefs.
This conference is intended to provide you with the know-how to deal with these situations should you find yourself in them.
Here is the link to the conference webpage. ECP Conference
Click on the more info link and read more and then register now in order to save on the fee. It will be well worth it just to hear Ezra Levant speak. If you don't know who Ezra is, he is a Calgary lawyer who fought the Alberta Human Rights Commission who charged him with hate literature when he republished some cartoons from a Danish newspaper, cartoons that the Muslim community found offensive. Ezra did not draw the cartoons, he simply reported the news and for that he spent over a full year and over $100,000 of his own money fighting the case before a kangaroo court that is supposed to protect our civil rights. He is known throughout the world now as an outspoken defender of freedom and civil liberties. This guy is smart and he is someone we want to know, because he is fighting this battle for Christians too. He has taken on the case of Pastor Stephen Boissoin of Red Deer Alberta who was given a life-time gag order because he wrote against the homosexual agenda in the school system in Alberta.
See you there. This is a wonderful opportunity not to be missed. And we will be given the information that we need to protect ourselves in a society that is increasingly becoming anti-Christian to the point of taking legal action against Christians.
Visit Our Blog
Don't forget to visit our very own blog. Photos from last fall's vigil are posted and, once we start the vigil, I will be updating the page almost daily with photos and news from the vigil site.
Please drop by and leave a comment. God bless, Julie – Halifax 40 Days Blog
40 Days Halifax | 2635 Dublin Street | Halifax | Nova Scotia | B3L3J6 | Canada
8. PRI Weekly Briefing - Obama's Population Fundamentalist – August 14, 2009
Obama's Population Fundamentalist – by Colin Mason
John P. Holdren thinks babies will be the death of us all.
Normally, one man’s opinion would not matter terribly, but Mr. Holdren happens to be President Obama’s Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy; Assistant to the President for Science and Technology; and Co-Chair of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. Or, in short, as the president’s “Science Czar,” Holdren is an official member of the Executive Branch, and holds very real sway over federal operations related to science.
In other words, this is the man who will be driving American policy on scientific matters for the next 4, possibly 8 years. We find this thought alarming, since even a perfunctory glance at his record shows that he holds radically alarmist views about human overpopulation, views that lean far beyond simple leftism into uncomfortably totalitarian territory.
For instance, in the late 1960’s, Holdren was one of the original “population bombers”... one of the scientists who spent a large part of their careers proclaiming that human population was a bomb—a bomb that was about to go off. In fact, Holdren co-authored a book with the master bombers themselves: Mr. and Mrs. Paul Ehrlich, entitled Human Ecology: Problems and Solutions. In this book, Holdren (along with the Ehrlichs,) decreed that:
To date, there has been no serious attempt in Western countries to use laws to control excessive population growth, although there exists ample authority under which population growth could be regulated. For example, under the United States Constitution, effective population-control programs could be enacted under the clauses that empower Congress to appropriate funds to provide for the general welfare and to regulate commerce, or under the equal-protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Such laws constitutionally could be very broad. Indeed, it has been concluded that compulsory population-control laws, even including laws requiring compulsory abortion, could be sustained under the existing Constitution if the population crisis became sufficiently severe to endanger the society. Few today consider the situation in the United States serious enough to justify compulsion, however.
This is more than enough to give one pause, especially considering that Holdren is now in a position to influence these exact sorts of decisions. However, further on in the book, Holdren & Co. propose measures to curtail United States population growth, including mandating that single mothers give their children up for adoption, and possibly even introducing sterilizing agents into the national water supply:
Adding a sterilant to drinking water or staple foods is a suggestion that seems to horrify people more than most proposals for involuntary fertility control. Indeed, this would pose some very difficult political, legal, and social questions, to say nothing of the technical problems. No such sterilant exists today, nor does one appear to be under development. To be acceptable, such a substance would have to meet some rather stiff requirements: it must be uniformly effective, despite widely varying doses received by individuals, and despite varying degrees of fertility and sensitivity among individuals; it must be free of dangerous or unpleasant side effects; and it must have no effect on members of the opposite sex, children, old people, pets, or livestock.
Holdren even proposed that we begin giving civil rights to inanimate objects, referring to a proposition put forward by law professor Christopher D. Stone. “In that tightly reasoned essay,” wrote Holdren, “Stone points out the obvious advantages of giving natural objects standing, just as such inanimate objects as corporations, trusts, and ships are now held to have legal rights and duties.”
Due to public discomfort with Holdren’s slowly emerging record on these matters, the administration has bent over backward to downplay their impact on public policy. According to The Washington Times, Holdren’s staff released a statement that scoffed at his critics, implying that material from a "three-decade-old, three-author college textbook” was irrelevant and that Holdren “addressed this issue during his confirmation when he said he does not believe that determining optimal population is a proper role of government."
We at PRI believe that some statement buried during a confirmation hearing, if it was ever made at all, is not enough. To the best of our knowledge, Holdren has never publicly disavowed his belief in overpopulation and radical population control measures. It doesn’t matter that his book was published in the 1970’s. Last time we checked, textbooks don’t have expiration dates.
This is especially troubling, since Holdren’s appointment follows upon Obama’s promise to “restore science to its rightful place” in American society; a process that is, presumably, being held up by those who oppose the administration’s pet policies. Since Obama’s pattern, so far, has been to allow ideology to inform politics, we have no reason to believe that an ideologically driven Science Czar will not be allowed to do the same.
e invite Obama to realize what we see so clearly: that America’s greatest resource is the American people. He should safeguard them with even more love and care than he would spend on the environment of our beautiful country. And that means protecting us from so-called scientists that see humankind as a cancerous sore on the earth, rather than as its crowning glory.
Colin Mason is the Director of Media Production at Population Research Institute.
Sign up for the Weekly Briefing Here
Media Contact: Colin Mason
Email: colin@pop.org
(540) 622-5240, ext. 209
_________
(c) 2007 Population Research Institute. Permission to reprint granted. Redistribute widely. Credit required.
_________
PRI is a 501(c) (3) educational organization. If you would like to make a tax-deductible donation to PRI, please go to our Donations Page. All donations (of any size) are welcomed and appreciated.
_________The pro-life Population Research Institute is dedicated to ending human rights abuses committed in the name of "family planning," and to ending counter-productive social and economic paradigms premised on the myth of "overpopulation." Find us at www.pop.org.
PRI, PO Box 1559, Front Royal, VA 22630 USA Phone: 540-622-52409. PRI Weekly Briefing – People Are The Enemy – August 17, 2009
2009 Aug 17 Vol. 12 / No. 25
People Are the Enemy – by Colin Mason
There really is nothing new under the sun.
In a recent Yahoo News article, straightforwardly entitled “Save the Planet: Have Fewer Kids,” human beings are told—again, that we are the cause of all the earth's woes. Everything would be better, the article declares, if we would just have fewer children.
Two hundred years ago, a British vicar named Thomas Malthus said something remarkably similar.
In 1798, Rev. Malthus did some unsophisticated math, and surmised with horror that, if growth remained unchecked, the human race would be out of food by the year 1890. He was so certain of this that he decided that it was of the utmost importance to reduce human population, even by killing or allowing people to die to make room for the rest of us.
Needless to say, 1890 has come and gone, and we didn’t become extinct. In fact, at that time, mankind was busy producing more food than ever before, as well as industrializing the world.
Since then, a legion of credible scientists have definitively laid Malthus’ leaky arguments to rest. Science (and history) show that human beings do not simply reproduce toward some sort of exponential infinity. Rather, in nearly all practical circumstances, human fertility rates drop naturally when mortality rates fall. In addition, food production has always risen to meet the needs of a growing world population, made possible by consistent technological advances in farming and production.
But alas, overpopulation alarmists cannot be bothered with these facts and figures. Left-leaning scientists are still dressing up this tired old bogeyman and parading it about as the latest and greatest scientific research.
Now, in 2009, Yahoo News is still busily outlining how human beings spell doom for the planet. Children, it says, add “about 9,441 metric tons of carbon dioxide to the carbon legacy of an average parent,” and in general, “larger populations also generate more waste and tax water supplies.” The articles blames greenhouse emissions on anyone and anything it can think of, including reproducing married couples, divorced couples, and obese people.
First of all, the idea that each and every human person leaves a “carbon footprint” on the earth, which can be numerically quantified and catalogued, is subjective at best. It is a theory that relies on the assumption that a) global warming is happening, b) it is the result of carbon emissions produced by human beings, and c) we produce these emissions by burning fuel, producing food, and breathing.
To call these assertions unproven is an understatement. Scientists are still debating whether or not global warming is happening at all, and if it is, whether our activities affect it. As Dr. Willie Soon, a physicist at the Solar and Stellar Physics Division of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Massachusetts, clarifies, “the evidence about manmade CO2 causing global warming is nowhere close to the neat, but incorrect, conceptual picture of warming as in a greenhouse.”
But this is not really the heart of the issue. The more overarching problem with this article’s “radical” take on human fertility is that it isn’t really radical or new at all. It is, in short, a rehash of Malthus’ fuzzy math and even fuzzier grasp of history. We shouldn’t need to disprove it. It has already been disproven.
For instance, the reason the article says that each child leaves a footprint of “about 9,441 metric tons of carbon dioxide” is because of ‘exponential human reproduction,’ the same specter that haunted Malthus’ fevered imagination in 1798.
“Reproductive choices haven't gained as much attention in the consideration of human impact to the Earth,” says Yahoo, quoting Oregon State University scientist Paul Murtaugh. “When an individual produces a child - and that child potentially produces more descendants in the future - the effect on the environment can be many times the impact produced by a person during their lifetime.”
In other words, every child represents yet another number in this exponentially-multiplying human stew. Thus, by producing a child, parents are not simply responsible for his/her carbon footprint, but the footprints of all that child’s future generations until doomsday.
The piece goes on to further quote Murtaugh, who says that "many people are unaware of the power of exponential population growth... future growth amplifies the consequences of people's reproductive choices today, the same way that compound interest amplifies a bank balance."
The similarity between Murtaugh’s fears and Rev. Malthus’ simplistic predictions is evident.
Under these circumstances, the strongest defense is simply a look at history. Malthus’ 1890 doomsday prediction was patently false, as were all of the subsequent doom-dates put forward by overpopulation alarmists in the 1970’s and 80’s. Not one of these terrifying predictions has ever come true. We haven’t starved, the ice caps haven’t melted, and we haven’t overrun the earth like roaches. Pessimistic scientists constantly warn us that we really are approaching the end, and every time, the human race survives. The evidence is on our side.
he overpopulation theory is simply another instance in a long line of faux-scientific ideas that deliberately fit the facts to preconceived notions. While this means that the arguments themselves are easily defeated, it also means that those who ideologically committed to promoting them are not so easily swayed by such trifles as verifiable facts and figures. If they were, this theory would have been buried with Malthus centuries ago.
Colin Mason is the Director of Media Production at Population Research Institute.
Sign up for the Weekly Briefing Here
Media Contact: Colin Mason
Email: colin@pop.org
(540) 622-5240, ext. 209
_________
(c) 2007 Population Research Institute. Permission to reprint granted. Redistribute widely. Credit required.
_________
PRI is a 501(c)(3) educational organization. If you would like to make a tax-deductible donation to PRI, please go to our Donations Page. All donations (of any size) are welcomed and appreciated.
_________The pro-life Population Research Institute is dedicated to ending human rights abuses committed in the name of "family planning," and to ending counter-productive social and economic paradigms premised on the myth of "overpopulation." Find us at www.pop.org.
PRI, PO Box 1559, Front Royal, VA 22630 USA Phone: 540-622-5240Back to Top
10. Pro-Family Leaders From 63 Countries Attend World Congress Of Families V – August 18, 2009Press | The Howard Center | World Congress of Families | Family Manifesto | Family Update | Subscribe
THE WORLD CONGRESS OF FAMILIES
PRESS RELEASE: For Immediate Release: 18 August 2009, Rockford, Illinois
CONTACT: Don Feder at 508-405-1337, dfeder@rcn.com or Carol Griesbach at 815-964-5819, media@worldcongress.org.
WEBSITES: www.profam.org, www.worldcongress.org, www.worldcongress.pl or www.familymanifesto.net.Pro-family leaders from 63 countries attend World Congress of Families V in Amsterdam last week
Pro-Family leaders and groups from 63 nations attended World Congress of Families V in Amsterdam last week. Roughly one-third of the over 900 delegates were Dutch. Other nations represented included the United States, Canada, Mexico, Venezuela, Chile, the U.K., Ireland, Spain, France, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Romania, Poland, Latvia, Moldavia, Slovakia, Russia, Nigeria, Ghana, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Pakistan, Australia and the Philippines. More than 3,000 people around the world watched the live telecast via the internet.
More than 100 plenary session and panel speakers discussed such topics as: the effects of child care, the value of a faith and family approach to counseling, the rights of parents in school and home-schooling, threats to the family from addiction to Internet pornography, the public purposes of marriage, the power of the African family, the impact of declining birth rates, fertility and human dignity, the role of religion in stabilizing families, media and the family, the role of mothers and fathers, human trafficking in women and children, HIV and AIDS, the impact of international law on the family, abortion, euthanasia and other life issues and character education and the family.
There were also special reports on the two prep-cons (preparatory conferences) leading up to WCF V – The Riga Family Forum (May) and The Dialogue of Civilizations in Abuja, Nigeria (June).
WCF V Speakers included Andre Rouvoet (Dutch Minister for Youth and Family), Kevin Andrews (MP, Australia), Marika Bertule (Latvia Family Forum), His Majesty Drolor Bosso Adamtey I (Ghana), Dr. Allan C. Carlson (WCF founder), Bishop W.J. Eijk (Archbishop of Utrecht), Dr. Farooq Hassan (Pakistan Family Forum), Marie Claire Hernandez (The Family Network, Mexico), Rabbi Binyoman Jacobs (Chief Rabbi of the Netherlands), Dr. Richard Land and Paige Patterson (Southern Baptist Convention), Gwen Landolt (REAL Women of Canada), Elder Russell M. Nelson (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints), Theresa Okafor (Foundation for African Cultural Heritage), Prof. Rekha Pande (India), Simon Polinder (chairman, Dutch LOC for WCF V), Fr. Jaroslaw Szymczak (Institute for the Family, Warsaw), Francisco Tatad (former majority leader, Philippine Senate), Christine Vollmer (Latin American Alliance for the Family), Anna Zaborska (head of Women’s Rights and Equality Commission, European Parliament) and Prof. Anatoly Antonov (Moscow State Lomonosov University).
WCF V produced the Declaration of Amsterdam, which included the following principles:
• “We define the natural family to rest on the lifelong marriage of a man to a woman, for the purposes of welcoming and nurturing new human life, providing love, companionship and mutual support … and strengthening the bonds of the generations.”
• “We affirm that the future of nations rests on families that are spiritually grounded. Religious organizations should be free to uphold their own moral teachings about marriage and the family in the public square.”
• “We affirm that the natural family exists prior to the state. Public policies must respect this family autonomy.”
• “We call for sound law and policies that will … guard vulnerable human life, especially at the beginning and end of the life cycle.”
• “We identify declining birthrates as the core demographic problem facing the 21 st century.”
Click here to read the Declaration of Amsterdam in its entirety. For more information on World Congress of Families, go to www.worldcongress.org.
Possible sites for World Congress of Families VI (2011) include: Canada, Bolivia, Spain, Italy, Ghana, Nigeria, Latvia, Russia, Australia, South Africa, India and Malta. Vote for your choice by email at media@worldcongress.org. Final proposals/bids will be due by November 30, 2009.
To schedule an interview with WCF Managing Director, Larry Jacobs, contact Don Feder at 508-405-1337 or dfeder@rcn.com.
The World Congress of Families (WCF) is an international network of pro-family organizations, scholars, leaders and people of goodwill from more than 60 countries that seek to restore the natural family as the fundamental social unit and the ‘seedbed’ of civil society. The WCF was founded in 1997 by Allan Carlson and is a project of The Howard Center for Family, Religion & Society in Rockford, Illinois (www.profam.org). To date, there have been four World Congresses of Families – Prague (1997), Geneva (1999), Mexico City (2004) and Warsaw, Poland (2007). A fifth World Congress of Families will be held in Amsterdam, Netherlands, August 10-12, 2009 (www.worldcongress.nl).Note:
1. If you would like to receive this email and be added to the Howard Center mailing list: Click Here to Subscribe.
2. Please invest in our efforts to reach more people with a positive message of family, religion and society. Click Here to Donate Online.
3. Please remember the Howard Center for Family, Religion and Society in your will. Click Here for Information.
4. If applicable, please add us to your 'approved', 'buddy' or 'safe' list to prevent your ISP's filter from blocking future email messages.The Howard Center for Family, Religion & Society
Copyright © 1997-2009 The Howard Center: Permission granted for unlimited use. Credit required. | contact: webmaster.
11. Psychological Profession And Homosexuality – August 14, 2009
The Psychological Profession and Homosexuality: Lunatics Running the Asylum?
Special Report Commentary by Matthew Cullinan Hoffman
WASHINGTON, August 14, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A man goes to a psychologist with a problem. "Doctor," he says, "I'm suffering terribly. I feel like a woman trapped inside the body of a man. I want to become a woman."
The psychologist responds: "No problem. We can discuss this idea for a couple of years, and if you're still sure you want to be a woman, we can have a surgeon remove your penis, give you hormones for breast enlargement and make other changes to your body. Problem solved."
Gratified, the first patient leaves, followed by a second. "Doctor," he says, "I feel terrible. I'm a man but I feel attracted to other men. I want to change my sexual preference. I want to become heterosexual." The psychologist responds: "Oh no, absolutely not! That would be unethical. Sexual orientation is an immutable characteristic!"
The irony of this little tale is that, while reading like a joke, it is in reality an accurate description of the mental health professions today. While dismissing and condemning reparative therapy for homosexual orientation, the majority of psychiatrists and psychologists in Anglophone North America have embraced the concept of "sex change," a procedure that does nothing more than mutilate the patient to appease his confused mind.
The American Psychological Association Perpetuates the Madness
In its most recent statement on the topic, the American Psychological Association (APA) has softened its tone somewhat against psychologists who do reorientation therapy for homosexuals. However it maintains that, "Contrary to claims of sexual orientation change advocates and practitioners, there is insufficient evidence to support the use of psychological interventions to change sexual orientation".
The refusal of the organization to accept the increasingly strong evidence against its position is another reminder of how entrenched the sophistry of sexual hedonism has become among the leaders of the organization.
In recent years, a number of studies have been published in peer-reviewed psychology journals, indicating that significant numbers of patients who voluntarily participate in therapy to change their sexual orientation are successful and happy with the results. Combined with numerous individual testimonies by former homosexuals, evidence in favor of the practice is overwhelming.
However, in its new report, "Appropriate Therapeutic Responses to Sexual Orientation," the APA's leadership declares that all of those studies can be dismissed because, in its words, "None of the recent research (1999-2007) meets methodological standards that permit conclusions regarding efficacy or safety."
The report therefore conveniently disposes of the most recent studies on the topic – the ones that undermine the APA's position. The only studies that remain are ones done before the resurgence of the reparative therapy movement, in the 1970s, when the APA declared that homosexual orientation and sodomy really weren't unhealthy after all. New research is rejected in favor of research that is now over 30 years old, applied to therapeutic practices that may no longer be in use.
However, the authors of Essential Psychotherapy and its Treatment, a standard text in medical schools, disagree with the APA's leadership, and say that the newer studies vindicate sexual reorientation therapy.
The newest edition (2009) notes on page 488 that, "While many mental health care providers and professional associations have expressed considerable skepticism that sexual orientation could be changed with psychotherapy and also assumed that therapeutic attempts at reorientation would produce harm, recent empirical evidence demonstrates that homosexual orientation can indeed be therapeutically changed in motivated clients, and that reorientation therapies do not produce emotional harm when attempted (e.g., Byrd & Nicolosi, 2002; Byrd et al., 2008; Shaeffer et al., 1999; Spitzer, 2003)."
The APA's latest report, done by a task force composed of psychologists with long records of homosexualist activism, also claims as "scientific facts" that "same-sex sexual attractions, behavior, and orientations per se are normal and positive variants of human sexuality-in other words, they are not indicators of mental or developmental disorders" and "no empirical studies or peer-reviewed research supports theories attributing same-sex sexual orientation to family dysfunction or trauma."
These unbelievable statements fly in the face of more than a century of scientific, peer-reviewed studies and clinical observation that indicate that much homosexual behavior originates in deficient family relationships and is associated with a wide range of diseases and pathological behaviors.
Studies have shown that homosexuals disproportionately come from families in which sons or daughters lack a healthy relationship with one or both of their parents, or in situations in which the homosexual was the victim of child sex abuse by a same-sex adult.
Homosexual behavior is also statistically associated with a host of diseases, disorders, and pathological behaviors, including venereal and other diseases, promiscuity and unstable relationships, anxiety disorders, depression and suicide, alcoholism and drug abuse, domestic violence, pederasty, and early death.
Even the homosexual Gay and Lesbian Medical Association admits that homosexuals suffer disproportionate rates of disease and self-destructive behavior.
Although the homosexualist leadership at the APA tries to rationalize these relationships by claiming that they are caused by social stigma or other factors, their claims ring hollow. Many stigmatized groups exist in society that display none of the pathological tendencies of homosexuals, and these tendencies appear even in countries that are very tolerant of homosexual behavior, such as the Netherlands.
Homosexualism on the Defensive
The very existence of the report, however, is evidence that the homosexualist establishment currently in power at the APA is on the defensive, and seeking to preserve its ideology of sexual permissiveness as a paradigm in the psychology profession.
After surrendering itself to a hedonistic ethos in the 1970s and 80s, the American psychological practice has been transformed into a vehicle for patients to rationalize and reconcile themselves with self-destructive, irrational, and narcissistic behavior, paying an "expert" to soothe their consciences by assuring them that "science" is on their side.
However, an increasing number of mental health professionals whose institutions were stolen from them by political activists in the 1970s are now rising up to take back their profession in the name of true science, and patient health.
Former APA President Dr. Robert Perloff has publicly endorsed the National Organization for the Research and Treatment of Homosexuality (NARTH), the largest American organization devoted the treatment of unwanted homosexual attractions, and has denounced the APA's campaign against such treatment.
"The ideology of those who oppose efforts to try to facilitate transfers from SSA, that is, Same Sex Attraction, to heterosexual attraction, must not, must not stand in the way of those homosexual persons who desire to live their lives heterosexually, a choice which is unarguably theirs to make," he said in a videotaped statement played at NARTH's 2008 annual meeting.
Dr. Robert Spitzer, who has been called the "architect" of the American Psychiatric Association's normalization of homosexuality in the 1970s, provoked outrage from the homosexualist establishment when he admitted in 2001 that his own investigations had convinced him that sexual reorientation therapy can work.
His study, published in the peer-reviewed Archives of Mental Health in 2003, found that a majority of his sample of 247 people had developed heterosexual urges or had ceased to be predominantly homosexual after only one year of therapy. None of the subjects said that they had been harmed in the process.
After presenting his paper before the American Psychiatric Association in 2001, Spitzer said: "I'm convinced from people I have interviewed...many of them...have made substantial changes toward becoming heterosexual. I came to this study skeptical. I now claim that these changes can be sustained."
Other prominent figures in psychiatry and psychology have also raised their voices in protest, including Dr. Jeffrey Satinover, a psychiatrist and physicist who has testified before Congress in favor of reparative therapy, and has denounced the hijacking of the mental health professions by homosexualist ideologues in his book, the "Trojan Couch".
"Some of my psychiatric and psychological colleagues have woven for themselves their own set of illusory robes of authority, and for the past 35 years have been proclaiming doctrines in the public square that depend upon the authority that derives from the public's belief that these robes exist," Satinover said in a recent interview.
"The diagnostic change that in 1973 removed homosexuality as a formal disorder from the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), a change that many now accept as simply indisputable in spite of the fact that it was based wholly on fiction," he added.
"The question isn't just homosexuality, said Satinover, "but rather, freedom from all sexual constraint. This has been an issue for civilization for thousands of years...We now have so little of a moral compass that we're really completely at sea. We're awash in the tide of unconstrained instinctive behaviors which are all being labeled 'okay' because nobody really has a sense, any more, as to what's right and what's wrong."
Whither Psychology?
The debate over reparative therapy for homosexuality runs deeper than the issue itself. It is arguably a debate over the future of the psychological professions as a whole.
Although there are signs that an increasing number of mental health experts are taking an honest look at the facts regarding homosexual behavior and sexual orientation therapy, there are other signs that portend an even darker future for the profession.
In 1998, the APA released a study by three psychological researchers from Temple University, the University of Pennsylvania, and the University of Michigan, claiming that the "negative potential" of adult sex with children was "overstated" and that "the vast majority of both men and women reported no negative sexual effects from their child sexual abuse experiences." It even claimed that large numbers of the victims reported that their experiences were "positive," and suggested that the phrase "child sex abuse" be replaced with "adult-child sex."
The APA not only passed the paper through its peer review process where it was approved by multiple psychologists associated with the organization, but actually published it in one of its journals, Psychological Bulletin. Moreover, when objections were raised by radio talk show host Dr. Laura Schlessinger and various pro-family groups, the organization defended the article for an entire year. It was also defended by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, which chillingly stated that it "saw no clear evidence of improper application of methodology or other questionable practices on the part of the article's authors."
Although the sheer insanity and destructiveness of the content should have prevented the APA from publishing the article in the first place, the sexual libertines in charge of the organization only issued a muted retraction after the U.S. Congress joined the fray, passing an unprecedented resolution condemning the study.
The publication of the paper was only one example of such lunacy by mental health professionals in peer-reviewed journals. One of the three authors of the study, Robert Bauserman, has a history of publishing pedophilia-advocacy "studies," including one for the now-defunct journal Paidika, The Journal of Paedophilia, whose editors admitted to being pedophiles.
Since the 1998 article, Bauserman and fellow author Bruce Rind have gone on to write more articles defending child sex abuse, which have appeared in such mainstream journals as the Archives of Sexual Behavior (2001) and Clinical Psychology (2003). Apparently, the psychology profession is comfortable with Bauserman and Rind's work, and intends to continue publishing it.
Another apologist for child sex abuse who has received acceptance, affirmation, and recognition from the mental health professions is Dr. Theo Sandfort, who is currently an Associate Professor of Clinical Socio-medical Sciences (in Psychiatry) at Colombia University. Sandfort published a study in 1981 that claimed that boys as young as 10 years old had "positive" experiences in their "sexual relationships" with adults.
While he was co-director of the research program of the Department of Gay and Lesbian Studies at the University of Utrecht, Netherlands, Sandfort interviewed 25 boys from between the ages of 10 and 16 who were in such "sexual relationships" -- that is, they were being sexually abused by adults. In fact, the abusers themselves took Sandfort to their victims so he could interview them. When the victims gave Sandfort their "positive" responses, he duly recorded them.
"For virtually all the boys ... the sexual contact itself was experienced positively," Sandfort wrote, without a hint of irony.
The fact that Sandfort was promoting the sexual abuse of minors with the help of their victimizers didn't seem to faze him. Nor did it faze his then-employers at the University of Utrecht. Nor did it faze the prestigious University of Colombia, which later gave him a professorship, even after he went on to write articles such as "Pedophile relationships in the Netherlands: Alternative Lifestyles for Children?" and books such as " Childhood Sexuality: Normal Sexual Behavior and Development" (2000).
It hasn't fazed the APA either, which has named Sandfort a "fellow" of the organization since 2002.
The defense and even the promotion of mental health experts who defend child sex abuse is a terrifying, but expectable movement down the slippery slope of sexual hedonism embraced by the powers that be at the APA. It not only threatens homosexuals, who are deceived by the seductive argument that their orientation is nothing to worry about, but psychology and psychiatry themselves.
The outcome of the current battle over the science of homosexuality may well determine the future of the mental health professions as a whole. Will they turn back from the brink, or plunge into the abyss? And what will become of the societies that heed their counsel?
12. Stanley Haidasz, Pro-Life Canadian MP, Senator RIP – August 13, 2009
August 13, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – On August 6, former pro-life Canadian MP, Senator and cabinet minister Dr. Stanley Haidasz passed away at the age of 86. He served as an MP from 1957-1958 and 1962-1978 and as a senator from 1978 until 1998 when he reached the mandatory retirement age of 75. He was also Canada’s first Minister of State for Multiculturalism and first Canadian of Polish descent to be appointed to the Senate. He was a physician who continued to practice even after he was elected to Parliament, seeing patients on weekends when he would return to Toronto from Ottawa. He was instrumental in the passage of Medicare, the Canada Pension Plan and numerous other important laws. But he will always be remembered by the pro-life community for his constant dedication and efforts during his many years in Parliament to defend the unborn.
Haidasz sponsored four bills to restore the right to life for unborn children. One, Bill S-16 (1988) was a response to the Morgentaler decision. It passed first reading but died when Parliament was dissolved later that year. During debates, the Senator would use his background as a doctor to make the scientific case for protecting unborn children.
In 1989, with funding arranged by Campaign Life Coalition, Canada, Senator Haidasz conducted a massive survey to ascertain Canadian attitudes and knowledge about abortion. He found that most Canadians were pro-life and understood the medical facts about abortion but were unaware of the large number of abortions or that taxpayers funded the procedure. The survey results indicated that 53% wanted all abortion to be illegal except when a mother’s life was endangered and just 14% favoured abortion on demand.
In November 1997 Haidasz introduced Bill S-7 in the Canadian Senate that sought to amend the Criminal Code in order to provide conscience protection for health care workers who didn’t want to take part in life-destroying activities such as abortion or assisted suicide. The Senator presented a petition in support of a federal conscience protection law that was signed by 2000 nurses. He fought with Liberal Justice Minister Allan Rock who said that such matters were a provincial issue. When Senator Haidasz retired the next year, the bill died.
On February 25, 1998, shortly before retiring, Senator Haidasz proposed the creation of a “Special Joint Committee on the Unborn Child” to “examine and report upon the feasibility of legislating in the area of fetal rights and the protection to the unborn child." The pro-life senator urged the committee to pay special attention to the "lack of protection in current Canadian law of the unborn child.” Unfortunately, nothing came of this.
Senator Stanley Haidasz was considered a model of what a public servant should be because he never forgot his faith. He was awarded the Order of St. Gregory the Great with Silver Star by Pope John Paul II in 1997. He is remembered by Canada's pro-life leaders as a good friend who was always willing to help the movement's leaders and as a kind gentleman who loved to laugh. The former Doctor, MP and Senator is survived by his wife of 59 years, Natalie, four children and nine grandchildren.
Print this Story | E-Mail to a Friend | View Story on LifeSiteNews.com13. Vellacott Applauds Affirmation Of The Best Interests Of Children In Family Breakdown – August 18, 2009
One can only hope that Maurice's confidence in Rob Nicholson’s remarks are not premature but excellent posturing. – HHW
Maurice Vellacott, MP – Saskatoon-Wanuskewin
Vellacott applauds Justice Minister Rob Nicholson’s affirmation of the best interests of children in cases of family breakdown
For Immediate Release August 18, 2009
OTTAWA – MP Maurice Vellacott (Saskatoon-Wanuskewin) applauded Justice Minister Rob Nicholson for his affirmation of the best interests of children at the annual meeting of the Canadian Bar Association, being held this week in Dublin, Ireland.
Minister Nicholson was responding to a question about Vellacott’s Private Member’s Bill (C-422), which would amend the Divorce Act to implement equal shared parenting. According to news reports, the Minister said: "I believe, and I think most people who have been involved in family law or studied this, that the best interests of the child are always paramount ... and should be."
“This is exactly the spirit behind my Private Member’s Bill, C-422,” said Vellacott. “I am very encouraged by the Minister’s comments.”
Bill C-422 would bring Canadian legislation in line with what the best research says about the best interests of children. With limited exceptions, children generally demonstrate superior outcomes when both parents – mom AND dad – are actively involved in their children's lives, even if the parents divorce or separate. That is why Bill C-422 would direct courts to make equal shared parenting the presumptive arrangement in the best interests of the child, except in proven cases of abuse or neglect.
One of the most recent published studies in this field is by Prof. Edward Kruk, M.S.W., Ph.D. (edward.kruk@ubc.ca; 604-822-2383), of the University of British Columbia. In the Executive Summary to his report he notes: “Research is clear that children fare best in post-separation relationships in which they maintain meaningful routine parental relationships with both of their parents beyond the constraints of a “visiting” or “access” relationship, in which they are shielded from destructive parental conflict, and in which they are protected, to the highest degree possible, from a marked decline in their standard of living. Contrary to current practice and dominant socio-legal discourse in Canada, when parents disagree over the living arrangements of their children after separation, new evidence suggests that [the best] conditions [for children] are best achieved by means of a legal shared parental responsibility presumption, defined as children spending at least 40 per cent of their time with each parent, rebuttable only when a child is in need of protection from a parent.”
Bill C-422 would provide greater clarity to the law by finally defining “best interests of the child” in Canada’s Divorce Act. In her analysis of Bill C-422, Pamela Cross of t h e National Association of “Women and the Law, also emphasized the importance of providing legislative substance to this language. “The absence of any spelled-out criteria in applying the best interests of the child test” poses “significant challenges and barriers,” she wrote, “to women with children.”
Bill C-422 is a non-partisan effort, reflecting the spirit of comments made by Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff, who has said: “These groups demanded that the ‘custody and access’ regime created by the Divorce Act of 1985 be replaced with a ‘shared parent’ regime in which both parents are given equal rights to bring up their children. These are sensible and overdue suggestions, and the fact they are being made shows that men and women are struggling to correct the rights revolution, so that equality works for everyone.”
“F u rthermore,” noted Vella c ott, “Canadians overwhelmingly support equal shared parenting according to polls and all political parties agreed 10 years ago in the “For the Sake of the Children” report that Shared Parenting was the way to go. Additionally, all indications point to growing non-partisan consensus in this parliament that it’s time to address commitments made by all parties a decade ago.”
“A recent poll I commissioned,” added Vellacott, “conducted by Nanos Research, shows that 78% of Canadians support equal shared parenting, with a high of 86% support in the province of Quebec. Slightly more women than men support equal shared parenting. Among supporters of major political parties, about 78% of Conservatives support equal shared parenting; 75.8% of the NDP; 80.6% of Liberals supported equal shared parenting; and 83% of Bloc supporters endorsed equal shared parenting.”
Bill C-422 reflects extensive input from the Canadian extended divorce community, whose members well understand the realities of family law through trial by fire. In many ways, it is they who are the experts. Members of Parliament should accord them the long overdue status as primary s takeholders in this complex issue.
Working with the Canadian Equal Parenting Council, a coalition of 40 organizations, Vellacott has developed legislation that not only defines decision criteria for the best interest of the child, but also faces up to the contentious issues of child abuse and inter-partner violence. It represents a solid down payment for long overdue reform in family law.
– 30 –
For further comment, call (613) 992-1966 or (613) 297-2249
14. We've Figured Him Out – July 24, 2009
By Ben Stein
Why is President Barack Obama in such a hurry to get his socialized medicine bill passed?
Because he and his cunning circle realize some basic truths:
The American people in their unimaginable kindness and trust voted for a pig in a poke in 2008. They wanted so much to believe Barack Obama was somehow better and different from other ultra-leftists that they simply took him on faith.
They ignored his anti-white writings in his books. They ignored his quiet acceptance of hysterical anti-American diatribes by his minister, Jeremiah Wright.
They ignored his refusal to explain years at a time of his life as a student. They ignored his ultra-left record as a "community organizer," Illinois state legislator, and Senator.
The American people ignored his total zero of an academic record as a student and teacher, his complete lack of scholarship when he was being touted as a scholar.
Now, the American people are starting to wake up to the truth. Barack Obama is a super likeable super leftist, not a fan of this country, way, way too cozy with the terrorist leaders in the Middle East, way beyond naïveté, all the way into active destruction of our interests and our allies and our future.
The American people have already awakened to the truth that the stimulus bill – a great idea in theory – was really an immense bribe to Democrat interest groups, and in no way an effort to help all Americans.
Now, Americans are waking up to the truth that ObamaCare basically means that every time you are sick or injured, you will have a clerk from the Department of Motor Vehicles telling your doctor what he can and cannot do.
The American people already know that Mr. Obama's plan to lower health costs while expanding coverage and bureaucracy is a myth, a promise of something that never was and never will be – a bureaucracy lowering costs in a free society. Either the costs go up or the free society goes away.
These are perilous times. Mrs. Hillary Clinton, our Secretary of State, has given Iran the go-ahead to have nuclear weapons, an unqualified betrayal of the nation. Now, we face a devastating loss of freedom at home in health care. It will be joined by controls on our lives to "protect us" from global warming, itself largely a fraud if believed to be caused by man.
Mr. Obama knows Americans are getting wise and will stop him if he delays at all in taking away our freedoms.
There is his urgency and our opportunity. Once freedom is lost, America is lost. Wake up, beloved America.
Ben Stein is a writer, actor, economist, and lawyer living in Beverly Hills and Malibu. He writes "Ben Stein's Diary" for every issue of The American Spectator.
,
