Answering the Obama Apologists
I have been responding over at InsideCatholic.com to some Obama apologists. Somehow they remind me of the appeasement characters that Churchill use to write about in his letters. Anyway our friends who are supporting Obama want to avoid talking about abortion and infanticide and homosexual marriage because Obama is in favor of allowing these activities to remain legal in his country.
Now I ask them to read the statement – not an opinion – not a conclusion – but a statement of fact supported by the candidate’s actions.
Obama is in favor of allowing abortion and infanticide to remain legal in this country. He has never voted to end abortion, to reduce the need for abortion, to allow for parental involvement in the abortion decision, to support groups offering alternatives to abortion or to do anything that would show anyone anything but unqualified support for the position embraced by Planned Parenthood.
So to all Obama supporters, including Doug Kmiec and friends, I recommend that you watch or read his speech addressed to Planned Parenthood. Then ask yourself why you think someone who thinks so little of the unborn is going to really care at all about the poor, the marginalized and the dispossessed. You can also check out this analysis of his record.
Continuing this question to the Obama apologists, I wonder how you all can consider that he cares about the poor when he has shown so little regard for them in his charitable contributions.
I cited at Jakubczyk on Common Sense, a companion blog, a few weeks ago evidence to show how truly generous and supportive of the charitable agencies Barack Obama was ( please note sarcasm).
According to Tax Prof Blog , this is what Obama gave to charity.
In 2001 he and the Mrs. made over $272,000 and they gave $1,470 to charity; a whopping .5% of their income.
Sounds like someone who walks the talk. Or perhaps Obama is someone who has no problem telling you what to do with your hard earned money, but conveniently forgets that he has his own moral responsibility to act independent of government.
But let us not forget to address the “other” social issues that the Obama apologists think are so vital that they more than compensate for the 3600 babies that Obama has no interest in protecting through law.
There are those who argue that the government should run health care and that that we should emulate Europe and Canada. The argument is made that this is good for the poor and uninsured, as if having the government run anything is going to really help the poor. But how is it that divesting ourselves of the responsibility to care for our brother and dropping it in the lap of government is going to improve the plight of the poor. Consider what those in the Church did originally in establishing and building hospitals, in staffing them with members of their community who dedicated themselves to helping the poor, in raising up families who had children who offered themselves as a sacrificial gift to help their brother, and who then provided the financial means to support these institutions. This was following the Gospel mandate. None of us can shirk our duty and lay it at the feet of government, and then claim doing so follows the Gospel.
Government has certain basic obligations. However modern post-Christian liberalism has chosen to make the use of government to address social issues the central component of its creed.
Obama would perpetuate such a misuse of government. He would mandate that our tax dollars be used to pay Planned Parenthood for performing abortions and contraception. He would support sending our tax dollars abroad to undermine nations which have laws against abortion. He would support coercion and deny individuals the right to exercise their conscience. He is a social engineer who wants to dictate how we all should live – in the name of – change.
I often wonder why the congressional districts controlled by Democrats often look like war zones. Poor schools, tenement housing, unemployment; where are all the successful results due to the efforts of the all important community organizer? Why is it that the more things “change,” the more they remain the same? Blame Bush all you want, but the ghettos and barrios were there before GWB, and nothing that the liberal pro-abortion Democrats have done in the past 45 years with their overall control of Congress and the courts has changed anything.
One other point not directly related to the life issues but touching closely upon it, Obama is opposed to parental choice in education, yet he is pro-choice on abortion. He is opposed to helping poor children get a better opportunity through vouchers and credits. He is beholden to liberal government unions. How it promoting the common good to support a person who opposes parental rights regarding education?
As I have said before, and will say again and again and again, unless the candidate is pro-life, he or she cannot cross the threshold to ask for my vote. It is that simple. This inexperienced pro-abortion, anti-Catholic, anti-Christian, pro-homosexual, anti-marriage politician from Chicago does not even come close.
Starting with prayer
Last night a number of concerned citizens gathered at the state capitol to pray that the governor would sign the partial birth abortion bill. It was a spontaneous last minute Spirit led event and included people from different religious traditions. The common
denominator was each person's belief first in the power and importance of prayer. As we stood quietly holding our candles and praying that God's will be done, I thought of the strength that underlies the pro-life movement and why by God's grace we shall prevail. This strength is based upon the fact that it is not about us. We are concerned about the children, their mothers, the fathers, the country, the world, even our enemies. We care about them and as a result people will show up on a Sunday night at the last minute to join with their brothers and sisters to pray for a governor who has been heartless toward the unborn. Yet we care about her heart and her soul.
Our enemies do not understand this. Well most of them,that is. Every so often we move someone and they come to realize that we care about mother and child. After all who is it that populates these emergency pregnancy resources as volunteers? Who volunteers and gathers the baby supplies for the mothers with the newborns? Who spends their days transporting these women to the doctors and hospitals? Who financially supports the maternity homes and pregnancy resource centers? Pro-lifers, that's who. Every day in a sacrificial way, our friends and neighbors are reaching out and helping those in need.
So to those in the midst of the fray, my thanks. and keep us all in prayer.
Lifesite story echoes Obama's abortion commitment
In the June 10, 2008 story on LifesiteNews.com, Peter J. Smith documents the extensive pro-abortion rhetoric of Barack Obama.Smith's article notes the extensive history of Obama's connections with Planned Parenthood and further cites to Citizen Link for additional supporting material. Just as this author has confirmed the extreme pro-abortion position of the Democratic nominees for president, so Smith points out and links to various stories confirming the point.
I mention this again in light of the confusion being sown by certain elements within both Catholic and evangelical circles that Obama's position on the life and social issues may not be so far from both Catholic and evangelical principles. This is such a deception that it must be challenged at every opportunity.
From a scientific perspective, Obama does not know his biology. Indeed for being so bright, he cannot hold a candle to what any student in middle school knows about the "facts of life." Even my four year old knows that what is inthe womb is a baby and not some "potential life." Obama insults the intelligence of the American people when he offers up such dribble.
From a religious perspective, all life comes from God. He is the author of all life. All human life is sacred. Whether from the Old or New Testaments, the message is clear. God wants to be in relationship with human kind. He made us in His own image and likeness. He calls us to "choose life" and to care for these the "least of our brethren." He "knit us in secret in our mothers' wombs" and we are "fearfully and wonderfully made."
From a constitutional perspective ( pay attention - Supreme court judges), the 5th amendment and the 14th amendment guarantee persons the right to life, liberty and property. Persons are and must by definition include human beings. Unborn children are human beings. Therefore unborn persons are guaranteed under the constitution the right to life. It does not matter whether the framers intended this result. They did intend to protect the rights of human beings under the law as defined by the law and nature. The grave and terrible injustice done to African slaves brought to the colonies, whose descendants grew up in slavery does not negate the reality that they were human beings and ought to have been and then later were protected by law. Injustice in the past and the failure to protect does not erase the reality of the person's nature or the fact that the law is called to reflect the natural order and therefore must protect the human person. The innocent human being even has more of a claim upon the duty of society and of government to protect the weak ad the vulnerable. Thus it is that if the rights of one innocent person can be stripped away by government, then all rights are at risk. If the person cannot hold onto his or her right to life, then all other rights are in jeopardy.
From a common sense perspective. We all know the mother carries a baby within her womb. Who are we trying to fool? Why are we afraid? Is it that important that we have ______, that we would destroy the life of a baby? Is nine months so long? Can we as a society help the women and not turn our collective backs on her? Think of the option - adoption - a win win win for everyone. Mother wins - she does not have to care for the baby for the rest of her life. Couple wins - they get to share their love with a child. Baby wins. he or she is not killed .He or she gets to live and be loved.
Sounds like a better way to me.
Too bad Obama and the Democrats don't think so.
For the McCain Campaign -some unsolicited thoughts -
Everyone has advice for the Republican nominee, present company included. So concerniung the arena of life - right to life, that is, allow me to suggest some ideas for the Senator and his campaign. When I reference the McCain campaign, that would include all of the people involved whether working or volunteering for the campaign.
1.Gratitude. The first thing is not to take anything or anyone for granted. It is very important to show genuine appreciation for those whose support you seek. Regardless of the past, our mutual and overriding concern must be the country and the people who live in it.
2. Humility. A true understanding of what is happening should keep everyone humble and thankful for the opportunity to serve to hopefully make better the country. Each person can do something and the first thing is to ask the Good Lord for guidance and perseverance. There will be a lot of work to do.
3. Take nothing for granted. The presumptive Democratic nominee just defeated the heir apparent. She was a formidable and dangerous politician. She was supported by the pro-abortion femi-nazis (as Rush would call them) and they will be looking to sow their desperation on the nearest victim. While common sense and good judgment would declare that the American people would never support the most liberal member of the U. S. Senate, never put past it the media to abandon all pretense of fairness to get their person into office.
4. Stand firm on the issues that protect life. Do not shy away from standing tall as a pro-life campaign. Ignore the efforts by the media to divide the various interests that should naturally support McCain. McCain and his campaign for their part should never avoid an opportunity to gain support from credible groups and to find the common alliance that should match the desires and needs of various pro-life and pro-family groups. Do not take the pro-life and pro-family groups for granted. Engage in honest conversation of how mutual interests can be met. After all it is about protecting and preserving life for all persons born and unborn. It is about promoting adoption and eliminating those social and economic pressures that drive women to consider abortion.
5. Be accessible. Meet with the women who have been exploited by abortion and listen to their stories. Then work with them to approach other who can support a campaign that will really make an effort to improve family life.
6. Communicate. Sit down with pro-life and pro-family leaders for private conversations. I don't just mean the Senator. The leadership in the campaign needs to understand what motivates these leaders. Do not get your information strained through some on staff person who is suppose to know the pro-life movement. Meet the local leaders and do not be so proud as to not ask them for insight at the local level. Then match that information with your plans to get out the vote.
7. Become knowledgeable on the important issues that resonate with pro-lifers. Obviously we want to end abortion. But we also want to stop the millions of federal tax dollars going to Planned Parenthood. Pro-lifers want the courts to protect all children. While we strive for that, we also want to protect women from being killed or maimed in these mills by passing regulatory legislation.
8. Understand the Movement. The pro-life movement is not a monolithic movement. Never was - never will be. There are varieties of organizational models and approaches, and the truth be known, some folks are not very fond of one another. But the one thing that keeps us going and the one thing that unites us above all else is our relentless and continuing opposition to those who would force us to accept abortion. In the 1990s after Perot siphoned off votes from Bush I to give Bill Clinton the victory, pro-lifers saw how quickly Clinton dismantled the small gains made previously. We watched them offer the Freedom of Choice Act to stop pro-lifers from exercising their first amendment rights. We saw pro-abortion liberal appointments made to the federal bench. The "pro-choicers" are not shy about demanding litmus tests and promises made in blood. No one who is a tried and true pro-life advocate for the unborn children wants to return to a time when the pro-aborts appointed disasters such as Jocelyn Elders.
My father has a line he always throws at myself and my children. "Pay attention," he tells me.
Well this race is going to be about paying attention to the issue that clearly distinguishes the two candidates. McCain is pro-life. Obama is not. McCain will appoint judges who respect he right to life. Obama will appoint judges who will give more power to the state. McCain accepted and adopted a child and made her a part of his family. Obama considers children a punishment. McCain knows about the preciousness of life. Obama wants us to believe he thinks it is a moral issue - but he embraces and endorses the largest abortion factory in the world.
But it is up to the McCain campaign to invite and encourage the collaboration needed to restore respect for all human life. The pro-life community wants to end the killing. Let us strive to protect all innocent human life so that this nation may embrace the real hope that comes in the smile of a child.
Barack Obama – more of the same
Now that Barack Obama has effectively garnered enough delegates to win the Democratic nomination, the mainstream media is fawning all over him and John McCain will be the target of their unbridled passion to dictate the outcome of the 2008 presidential race.
So what else is new?
The mainstream press has always (or at least for the last 40 years) been liberal – democrat – pro-abort and pro-homosexual. The masterminds of the media know much more that the folks who “do most of the working and paying and living and dying” in this country. And they have decided that the USA needs to have an ardent socialist who supports abortion on demand and national heath care with abortion paid for by the tax payers. This is someone who with a college education does not know when a person’s life begins and has been rated 100% pro-choice by NARAL Pro-Choice America for the years 2005, 2006 and 2007.
In Barack’s own words, when asked about when human life begins, he said,
“This is something that I have not come to a firm resolution on. I think it's very hard to know what that means, when life begins. Is it when a cell separates? Is it when the soul stirs? So I don't presume to know the answer to that question. What I know is that there is something extraordinarily powerful about potential life and that that has a moral weight to it that we take into consideration when we're having these debates.” Source: 2008 Democratic Compassion Forum at Messiah College Apr 13, 2008
Now if one is to give Barack the benefit of the doubt on his lack of knowledge regarding this crucial question, should he not give the unborn child the benefit of the doubt as to her humanity?
His latest remark was that he is not “pro-abortion,” he is “pro-choice.” Well that would infer that abortion is an equally acceptable “:choice” for the person to make. It implies that he does not see any moral problem with a woman procuring an abortion. So why does he equivocate? Ids there a shred of duplicity here or is he being coached by those who want to diffused the powerful pro-life voting bloc to re-consider his candidacy?
There are those who are attempting to divide the pro-life movement. These people point to the failures of the Republican administration and the Republican leadership in their efforts to end abortion. Frankly the Republicans have not done all they should have to stop the killing. And there have been those who have compromised on the issue. You will find my criticisms of their failures in my previous writings.
And the pro-life movement as a whole has failed to make inroads into the Democrat Party to challenge the headlock that the pro-abortion extremists have on the party and the party leadership. For too many years pro-life leadership has not been truly non-partisan in its efforts to influence political forces both in Washington and beyond.
But let’s get real.
Is Nancy Pelosi going to stop funding Planned Parenthood.?
Is the Democratic leadership that has been controlling the House and Senate for the last two years going to provide any legislation to protect unborn children?
Who is going to stand up and defend innocent unborn human life both her and overseas?
Not Barack Obams.
This Senator from Illinois voted against the Born Alive Infants Protection Act while in the Illinois legislature.
This fellow regrets having voted to try to help Terri Schiavo.
I ask all the apologists for Barack Obama who claim to be pro-life how one can support a fellow who “regrets” having tried to help save a defenseless BORN woman’s life.
So the drum beat will go on how Obama is about “change.” But where will the change come for the unborn child? There will be no change for the unborn child if Obama is elected. He will want to increase the genocide against the unborn. This genocide will include poor children of the ghettos and barrios. This genocide will harm women and permanently scar their fragile lives. This genocide will not bring about a better world where everyone will have an equal chance at life.
The mainstream media does not care. The liberal elites do not care. But perhaps in the small towns, in the modern suburbs, in the inner cities, and elsewhere, there are people who do care. The people who “do most of the working and paying and living and dying” in this country, will stand up for their children and the women and offer them real opportunities to choose life. These people will vote for someone who knows what it is to suffer to defend what is right, honorable and true. These people will vote for someone who believes in “the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. “
The American people want to think that our best days are ahead. In their hearts they would choose life for their children. We must make the contrasts known for the “choice” this November is clear. The consequences of our actions will affect future generations throughout the world for years to come.
