Prolife common ground with Obama Administration?

This just aired on Thurs night (5/28/2009) and I randomly stumbled upon it on CSPAN (which I don't normally watch at all!)

It's a public exchange of views (not really a debate) at Catholic University of America with the topic: “The Obama Administration and the Sanctity of Human Life: Is There a Common Ground on Life Issues? What is the Right Response by ‘Pro-Life” Citizens?”

It's interesting since one of the presenters is Dr. Doug Kmiec who argued publicly and strongly that faithful Catholics can vote for Obama in the last election and is seen here still generally supportive of Obama and his administration. Both presenters are Catholic lawyers and professors and even though it's not a debate, it's interesting to see both sides articulated so clearly before each other. Take a look, it's only about an hour. And yes, this matters for you still in high school because you SHOULD be voting in the next presidential election in 4 years! And Catholic or not, as residents of the US, we're all under the administration of President Obama.

Catholic University School of Law presentation

Swine Flu

Disclaimer: This post probably won't contain very much CM-worthy content (read: no official Catholic Church teaching or commentary). These are just random thoughts =).

As some of you know, this year's annual Watermark Tijuana trip has been officially canceled. It was partly due to the Mexican drug wars and partly due to the outbreak of swine flu, among other things. If you've been following the news, you're probably aware of the mild hysteria that has broken out regarding swine flu (it's even reached the Bay Area!). Now I like being safe and healthy as much as the next guy, but sometimes I'm surprised at the level of fear that breaks out at these sort of things. I mean I can definitely empathize as I'm a little paranoid about my nagging cough right now and people probably shouldn't cough and sneeze in their hands only to touch each other and hm...maybe I shouldn't have eaten those slightly discolored pork jiao zi last night...and um...where was I going with this?

Oh yah! This fear of the spread of infectious disease always makes me think of two reactions I've seen in certain parts of the Mass at SJCCC - holding hands during the Lord's Prayer and drinking from the cup during communion. I realize that holding hands during the Lord's Prayer isn't a liturgical mandate and only came into practice post-Vatican II, but prior to the SARS outbreak, I had never been to a Mass at SJCCC where we didn't hold hands. I also remember being in a Union (Family) Mass where it was announced that we were not going to hold hands in order to calm fears of spreading diseases. In addition, last week, it was announced during Union Mass that we were not going to be receiving from the cup that week. I know that hands are probably one of the grimiest parts of the body and that everyone sharing from the same cup can cause some germaphobic qualms, but sometimes I get this weird tension that it's pushing us further into ourselves and into more isolation. Perhaps I'm just a product of my upbringing and really enjoy the connectedness and communion I feel with the entire assembly during the Lord's Prayer when our hands are joined as we prepare for the True Communion with Christ. And I always think, shouldn't the Blood of Christ have some sort of self-healing properties like soap or something? Sure, there are germs left on the chalice from each person's lips touching it, but I imagine the Blood of Christ just washing it away just like it washes away our sins...

Anyhow, do yourself a favor and check to see if you have swine flu:
http://doihaveswineflu.org

...

Haha, I kid, I kid.

Freedom of Choice Act

For those of you who had been keeping up with the Presidential election or you listened to Fr. Engel's homily this past Sunday, the Freedom of Choice Act has been a big mark against President Obama from the pro-life point of view. Some common (and sometimes overly-simplistic) implications of this bill are that it codifies Roe v Wade into law, will abolish every state and federal limitation on abortion, and even more instigative, will force Catholic hospitals and health-care workers to perform abortions or else risk being shut down or fired.

While there may be elements of truth in those implications, I'm sure things are more complicated than that. I've found that it's all too easy to accept the over-generalized, sometimes fantastical statements we hear because let's face it, we all like a little drama (gossip!) and it seems to make the world make a little more sense with a minimum amount of effort. Diving in to a little more detail is always tough, but I think it makes for a less polarized world.

If you're interested in learning more about FOCA, I came across this article that I feel does a thorough (at least for the lay person) job evaluating what it is and what it isn't. Sure, it's coming from a pro-life perspective, but it digs deeper into what the text is actually saying, not unlike what we do with the inductive method at Bible Study. The middle portion gets a little technical, but if you can get through it, it makes the final summary that much stronger:

Ultimately, the bill should be seen less as a serious attempt at lawmaking than as abortion-war propaganda dressed up as legislation. It’s noteworthy that from a purely political perspective, FOCA is useful to both prolife and prochoice activists. The bill helps prochoicers ward off any perceived threat to the right to abortion-even as, in its ominous shadows, prolifers see new threats to unborn life, and mobilize accordingly.

Go learn.

which side are we on?

From this NEWSWEEK ARTICLE, it seems there's a line not between Dems and Reps, nor Catholics and non-Catholics, but between prominent Catholics themselves within the Catholic Church! But the line seems to be between the bishops and some theologians and politicians!

I think it's a very well written and thought-out article by George Weigel who also wrote the late John Paul II's biography, Witness to Hope (I HIGHLY recommend EVERYONE to read it).

I don't mean to be all political AGAIN on this blog, but it IS George WEIGEL!!!!

Let's get political

yeah (from www.catholicvote.com)



And some bad news: Google has turned it's back on it's unofficial slogan "don't be evil." Is it even POSSIBLE to boycott Google??

Google comes out against traditional marriage

Separation of Church and State?? Really??

On the flip side (or actually on the SAME side as the hate-mail-writing-fellow-human-being-condemning Christians) here's a public figure who's unashamed of her (and I mean literally, in the possessive sense "HER very own version of") Catholicism completely misrepresenting our faith and confusing the public even more.... I just hope the public listens to the Bishops (who actually have teaching authority) and not a politician, even IF she is the speaker of the house.

I'm SO ANGRY!!!!

http://zenit.org/article-23474?l=english

HELLO?! "Since the FIRST century..." !!!!!

The Dems REALLY need to live up to what they're supposed to stand for and represent the unrepresented like they did back in the civil rights movement, but this time, for the MOST unrepresented!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPZCXcTwZPY&feature=related

Can humans ever really separate Church and State that definitively??

"The task of witness is not easy. There are many today who claim that God should be left on the sidelines, and that religion and faith, while fine for individuals, should either be excluded from the public forum altogether or included only in the pursuit of limited pragmatic goals. This secularist vision seeks to explain human life and shape society with little or no reference to the Creator. It presents itself as neutral, impartial and inclusive of everyone. But in reality, like every ideology, secularism imposes a world-view. If God is irrelevant to public life, then society will be shaped in a godless image. When God is eclipsed, our ability to recognize the natural order, purpose, and the “good” begins to wane. What was ostensibly promoted as human ingenuity soon manifests itself as folly, greed and selfish exploitation. And so we have become more and more aware of our need for humility before the delicate complexity of God’s world."
Pope Benedict XVI, Message at welcoming celebration at WYD2008, Sydney, 17, July, 2008.


And what's a "godless image"? If Heaven is eternity with God, then what's it called when we fashion a world that's "godless"?? And who's church would something like that be called?
Is that going too far? hmmmm.....