What does it mean to be “Catholic”? Or “Christian”? Nothing. These are self-applied labels. (As is also the case with “conservative”, “liberal”, “Republican”, “Democrat”, etc.).

And if they followed their church’s lead in all matters, we’d let pedophiles run free without punishment and actively conceal knowledge of their activities from law enforcement and from parents of children in their care. Now that’s what I call “bad character”! We’d also use no birth control.

Perhaps if the Catholic Church is so far from having its own house in order, it should refrain from telling everyone else how to live? It’s no wonder hardly anyone takes the Catholic Church serioiusly these days.

One clear example of this can be found right here in PWC with the participation of Catholics Frank “pro life” Principi and Gerry Connolly (NARAL endorsed) actively campaigning for Obama, a candidate who was NARAL endorsed and continually voices his support for abortion. Combined with Catholic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s disregard for the Pope’s personal appeal to her that she not support abortion rights, Frank, Gerry and Nancy create a Catholic “trinity of death” that goes from the lowest level of politics locally to the highest in the House of Representatives beginning right here in our own County. This is very sad. Connolly is so out of line with his own Church that he waged numerous attacks, based upon faith, at fellow Catholic Keith Fimian in last year’s Congressional race. I asked him in a public forum last year, then Chairman Connolly, to please stop the attacks and offer an apology to his fellow Catholic. His response? “No, I cannot be held accountable for what people in my campaign do.” Well, so much for the party of Truman where “the buck stops here.”

After my letter to the editor in December calling Supervisor Principi out for his support of Connolly and Obama in the previous election, he confronted me personally and said “you got it wrong partner, I’m pro-life.” I said, “not as long as you are a Catholic and supporting Connolly and Obama.” He walked away with no other comments and drove off in his car, the one that still contains the campaign sticker of NARAL endorsed Congressman Connolly.

Remember, for Catholics, the guidance is very clear, do not support pro-choice candidates, legislate from a position that protects the sanctity of life and provide no honors to pro-choice advocates. Any Catholic, that is a politician or in any leadership position, that fails to follow this clear guidance should be subjected to the utmost of scrutiny by all voters and followers, not just Catholics, as someone with flawed character and in my experience, when you come across flawed character, a lack of integrity isn’t far behind.

AWESOME post!!!!! I think people care more about cruelty towards animals than towards humans. Just shows you how screwed up this world is.

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IJS , my point was to address your question “Isn’t the real answer PREVENTING unwanted pregnancies?” I support your posistion on this. I guess we differ on how best to address the problem.

Providing medicade dollars for almost one half of the births in this country places no responsibility on the one giving birth. I would much rather see women save their babies by NOT having them until they are financially able to pay for the cost THEMSELVES.

You support a womans right to chose. I agree with that as well. I also support a taxpayers right to chose not to have their money squanderd on services that exploit the true intent of these types of programs. It should not matter if its abortion, maternity and child birth related, or cosmetic surgery, the public at large should not sholder the cost financially or otherwise for what amounts to a elective procedure.

Pull the funding for these services and you will see a dramatic drop in unwanted pregnancies when the word gets out the cost is all on them.

> > > Another accomplishment in the first 90 days –the news
> > media forgot
> > > to tell you about!!!!!
> > > Whether you are an Obama fan, or not, EVERYONE IN THE
> > U. S. needs to know….
> > >
> > > Something happened… H.R.
> > > 1388 was passed yesterday,behind our backs. You may
> > want to
> > > read about it. It wasn’t mentioned on the news…
> > just
> > > went by on the ticker tape at the bottom of the CNN
> > > screen.
> > >
> > > Obama funds $20M in tax payer
> > > dollars to immigrate Hamas Refugees to the USA . This
> > is the
> > > news that didn’t make the headlines…
> > >
> > > By executive order, President
> > > Barack Obama has ordered the expenditure of $20.3
> > million in
> > > “migration assistance” to the Palestinian
> > refugees and “conflict victims” in
> > > Gaza .
> > >
> > > The “presidential determination”, which
> > allows hundreds of thousands of
> > > Palestinians with ties to Hamas to resettle in the
> > United
> > > States, was signed on January 27 and appeared in the
> > Federal
> > > Register on February 4.
> > >
> > > Few on Capitol Hill, or in the media, took note that
> > the order provides a free ticket
> > > replete with housing and food allowances to
> > individuals who
> > > have displayed their overwhelming support to the
> > Islamic
> > > Resistance Movement (Hamas) in the parliamentary
> > election of
> > > January 2006.
> > >
> > > Let’s review…itemized list of some of Barack
> > Obama’s most recent actions since
> > > his inauguration:
> > >
> > > His first call to any head of
> > > state, as president, was to Mahmoud Abbas, leader of
> > Fatah
> > > party in the Palestinian territory.
> > >
> > > His first one-on-one
> > > television interview with any news organization was
> > with Al
> > > Arabia television.
> > >
> > > His first executive order was to fund/facilitate
> > abortion(s) not just here within the U. S., but within the
> > world, using U. S. tax payer funds.
> > >
> > > He ordered Guantanamo Bay
> > > closed and all military trials of detainees halted.
> > >
> > > He ordered overseas CIA interrogation centers
> > closed.
> > >
> > > He withdrew all charges against the masterminds
> > behind the USS Cole and the”terror attack” on
> > 9/11.
> > >
> > > Now we learn that he is
> > > allowing hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refuges
> > to
> > > move to, and live in, the US at American taxpayer
> > > expense.
> > >
> > > These important, and
> > > insightful, issues are being “lost” in the
> > blinding bail-outs and “stimulation”
> > > packages.
> > >
> > > Doubtful? To verify this for
> > > yourself:
> > www.thefederalregister.com/d..p/2009-02-04-E9-2488
> > >
> > >
> > > PLEASE PASS THIS ON… AMERICA NEEDS TO KNOW
> > >
> > > WE are losing this country at a rapid pace.

If you have some disagreement that the proposition that Government work to reduce unwanted pregnancies and improve the adoption process, I’d like to hear your arguments.

How about medicare helping me to buy a new car and I’ll promise it won’t do drugs or get “caught up” in the legal system.

Births Financed by Medicaid

Number of Births Financed by Medicaid, 2003

# VA # US

27,283 1,495,266

Births Financed by Medicaid as a Percent of Total Births, 2003

VA% US%

27.6% 41.0%

http://www.statehealthfacts.org/profileind.jsp?cat=4&sub=57&rgn=48

I honestly believe that no one is FOR abortions and everyone wants to REDUCE abortions. If we focus on what we agree on (preventing unwanted pregnancies), perhaps we can make things better.

Obama was correct about demonizing those who disagree with us. Such dialog prevents cooperation on those areas where we do agree. Unfortunately, focusing on the differences advances some people’s personal agendas. That’s a shame (literally and figuratively).

Wonder why ND supports BO? Here’s an analysis of their Board of Trustees. http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=48163&print=on

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Right you are legal2.

Step two- take that list of names and you find many connections with the CFR. You know, that group OB could hardly remember when questioned, but was sure he was not a card carring member of.

As to the topic at large:

More on Father Hesburgh the Man Who Decatholicized Notre Dame

http://catholicism.org/more-on-father-hesburgh-the-man-who-decatholicized-notre-dame.html

What they “the church”, and by extension “Notre Dame” need to do instead of getting involved in politics, is concentrate on their individual congregations, role of the catholic universty, each according to their “students” individual beliefs and to guide the beliefs of individuals and individual’s choices in the church congregation for how they would act if they or their families were confronted with a potential abortion situation. They should focus more on birth control, and church assistance to the innocents and meek who need God’s protection and guiding faith to made decisions best for themselves (and no one else), guided by prayer and personal conversation with God.

The church needs to stay focused on community leadership, by interacting with individuals who come to their church, not by entering the political fray, putting politicians into congress and supporting political “religious group” factions ALL trying to force levitican law on individuals other than themselves. This is a God centric approach, rather than a “religious faction” centric approach, which can cause much misery for “individuals” by other individuals who know nothing of the specific circumstances surrounding each abortion situation.

I feel the same way about “illegal” immigration. Each individual must decide for themselves what is best for them, while remaining within the current law, as all churches must do, until those laws are changed, and changed only by majority vote, and not by “faction” political influence, which ALWAYS hurts a Democracy, which specifically separates church and state for this very reason.

Religion is a battle for the hearts and minds of individuals to know God, not a battle for political factions to enforce laws on all others according to a “factions” beliefs.