“Fairy tales are more than true; not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.”
― G.K. Chesterton
The dragon of abortion may not be yet defeated, but the largest civil rights rally in the history of the world, this year's March For Life in Washington, D.C., shows that we will not stop fighting until the very last child has been sacrificed to it. One day, this dragon too shall be slain by the same sword wielded by St. George: faith in Christ Jesus.
Wednesday, 30 January 2013
Thursday, 18 October 2012
Dr. Yeost Debunks Obama's Latest Lies
This article is taken from the latest e-mail installment of AUL action briefs. To sign up, go to http://takeaction.aul.org/ I want to share it because it's a good counterpart to my wife's comments following up on the prior VP debate. Please read and learn the truth:
Above: Governor Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama
AULA’s Dr. Charmaine Yoest analyzes
“Obamacare was the largest expansion of abortion since Roe v. Wade, and is fatally intertwined with the abortion industry,” said Dr. Yoest. “In this debate, Americans could see some of the spin used to camouflage this Administration’s radical, pro-abortion agenda.”
Falsehood: President Obama stated, “[T]here are millions of women all across the country who rely on Planned
Parenthood for…mammograms.”
Fact: President Obama is attempting to resurrect and advance the myth that Planned Parenthood provides mammograms, an argument that was thoroughly discredited after deceitfully proffered by Planned Parenthood’s President Cecile Richards in 2011. Not one of Planned Parenthood’s approximately 800 clinics nationwide provides mammograms; moreover, as the Department of Health and Human Services documented in June 2012, Planned Parenthood is not even authorized to perform mammograms, and — if a clinic did — it would be violating federal law. Under the federal Mammogram Quality Standards Act, administered by HHS, “[n]o facility may conduct an examination or procedure…involving mammography” without a certification from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Falsehood: President Obama stated that, under Obamacare, “if you like your healthcare plan, you will be able to keep your healthcare plan. Period. No one will take it away, no matter what.”
Fact: Obamacare eliminates life-affirming choices from the health insurance market. In 2010, President Obama and his allies in Congress passed the most expansive healthcare bill in the history of the U.S. The Obama Administration’s implementation of that “healthcare reform” law now forces many women (and men) to purchase insurance that covers abortions and life-ending drugs and devices regardless of their deeply held — and constitutionally protected — conscientious beliefs. Forcing Americans to pay for an agenda is not choice. Punishing them with onerous fines if they do not submit is not freedom. Dozens of lawsuits have been filed against Obamacare’s anti-life mandates that violate federal law and American's First Amendment Freedom of Conscience. Real healthcare respects life and the foundational American principle of freedom of conscience.
Falsehood: President Obama also stated that “[h]ow women succeed in the workplace” is contingent upon forcing health insurance coverage of life-ending drugs.
Fact: President Obama’s comments, that women somehow need “contraception” (and need it to be paid for by others) in order to succeed, are not only offensive, but untrue. He is including some life-ending drugs in his definition of contraception. The true empowerment of women is not dependent on the ability to end pregnancy. As Governor Romney noted: “What we can do to help young women and women of all ages is to have a strong economy, so strong that employers that are looking to find good employees…and adapting to a flexible work schedule that gives women opportunities that they would otherwise not be able to afford.”
Falsehood: The highly profitable abortion industry and its titular leader, Planned Parenthood, require taxpayer support.
Fact: Planned Parenthood receives over $1.3 million each day from the American taxpayer, a grand total of over $487 million a year — and this continues as our country is facing a $16 trillion debt. We know that 7 out of 10 Americans — self-described as “pro-life” and “pro-choice” — do not want their tax dollars being used for abortion. And yet President Obama was willing to shut down the federal government rather than see any cutin federal subsidies to the nation’s largest abortion provider.
Writing in The Corner at National Review, Dr. Yoest observed, “It’s really a shame that in these debates we never get to ask a direct question to the President himself about his record on abortion. The question I’d ask if I could is this: Mr. President, is there not a single limit on abortion that you would support? Not even one?”
For more analysis on the debates from Dr. Yoest, click here.
President Obama talks about Abortion in Tuesday’s Presidential Debate
Above: Governor Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama
AULA’s Dr. Charmaine Yoest analyzes
Life in the Crossfire
As an issue, LIFE motivates 1 in 5 voters, and was front and center among the topics covered this week during the Presidential town hall-style debate in New York. Americans United for Life Action President and CEO Dr. Charmaine Yoest addressed some of the misinformation raised during the 90-minute event, fact checking the truth about life in this election cycle.
“Obamacare was the largest expansion of abortion since Roe v. Wade, and is fatally intertwined with the abortion industry,” said Dr. Yoest. “In this debate, Americans could see some of the spin used to camouflage this Administration’s radical, pro-abortion agenda.”
Falsehood: President Obama stated, “[T]here are millions of women all across the country who rely on Planned
Parenthood for…mammograms.”
Fact: President Obama is attempting to resurrect and advance the myth that Planned Parenthood provides mammograms, an argument that was thoroughly discredited after deceitfully proffered by Planned Parenthood’s President Cecile Richards in 2011. Not one of Planned Parenthood’s approximately 800 clinics nationwide provides mammograms; moreover, as the Department of Health and Human Services documented in June 2012, Planned Parenthood is not even authorized to perform mammograms, and — if a clinic did — it would be violating federal law. Under the federal Mammogram Quality Standards Act, administered by HHS, “[n]o facility may conduct an examination or procedure…involving mammography” without a certification from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Falsehood: President Obama stated that, under Obamacare, “if you like your healthcare plan, you will be able to keep your healthcare plan. Period. No one will take it away, no matter what.”
Fact: Obamacare eliminates life-affirming choices from the health insurance market. In 2010, President Obama and his allies in Congress passed the most expansive healthcare bill in the history of the U.S. The Obama Administration’s implementation of that “healthcare reform” law now forces many women (and men) to purchase insurance that covers abortions and life-ending drugs and devices regardless of their deeply held — and constitutionally protected — conscientious beliefs. Forcing Americans to pay for an agenda is not choice. Punishing them with onerous fines if they do not submit is not freedom. Dozens of lawsuits have been filed against Obamacare’s anti-life mandates that violate federal law and American's First Amendment Freedom of Conscience. Real healthcare respects life and the foundational American principle of freedom of conscience.
Falsehood: President Obama also stated that “[h]ow women succeed in the workplace” is contingent upon forcing health insurance coverage of life-ending drugs.
Fact: President Obama’s comments, that women somehow need “contraception” (and need it to be paid for by others) in order to succeed, are not only offensive, but untrue. He is including some life-ending drugs in his definition of contraception. The true empowerment of women is not dependent on the ability to end pregnancy. As Governor Romney noted: “What we can do to help young women and women of all ages is to have a strong economy, so strong that employers that are looking to find good employees…and adapting to a flexible work schedule that gives women opportunities that they would otherwise not be able to afford.”
Falsehood: The highly profitable abortion industry and its titular leader, Planned Parenthood, require taxpayer support.
Fact: Planned Parenthood receives over $1.3 million each day from the American taxpayer, a grand total of over $487 million a year — and this continues as our country is facing a $16 trillion debt. We know that 7 out of 10 Americans — self-described as “pro-life” and “pro-choice” — do not want their tax dollars being used for abortion. And yet President Obama was willing to shut down the federal government rather than see any cutin federal subsidies to the nation’s largest abortion provider.
Writing in The Corner at National Review, Dr. Yoest observed, “It’s really a shame that in these debates we never get to ask a direct question to the President himself about his record on abortion. The question I’d ask if I could is this: Mr. President, is there not a single limit on abortion that you would support? Not even one?”
For more analysis on the debates from Dr. Yoest, click here.
Wednesday, 17 October 2012
Two Open Letters from my wife, Dr. Elisa Kolk, to Vice President Biden
My wife has written two very articulate and vital letters to our current Vice President Joseph Biden because, firstly, his stance on abortion in politics is patently both hypocritical and absurd, and secondly, to put it simply, he lied through his teeth at the VP debate. I would love to say that he misrepresented the truth, but since there wasn't even a thread of reality in that about which he said, "This is a fact. This is a fact." calling it a misrepresentation would be a lie, and I will not lie. In case you don't see the illogic of Biden's ridiculous stance that, as my wife paraphrased it, "I'm personally opposed to abortion, but I won't impose that view on others," see her first letter. In case you don't know the facts about the HHS Mandate and thus didn't realize that Biden was lying through his teeth about it, please read my wife's second letter. If you intend to be an informed voter this November, I sincerely hope you'll read these letters so as to keep from being swayed by falsehood. Only the truth can keep this great nation free.
Wednesday, 3 October 2012
Newnesses of My Life
I apologize for my not-so-unforeseen quietude and near perfect absence from the "interwebs." I am now a full-time stay-at-home dad, my son is nearly one year old (will be on Oct 6th), and I have become a Lay Dominican Candidate. What that means is that I'm now in an official year of discernment regarding whether God is calling me to be a member of the Dominican family and to practice Dominican spirituality.
Dominicanity, as I like to call it, is focused on four key elements of living: prayer, study, community, and apostolate (which essentially means intentional evangelism). Lay Dominicans pray the Morning and Evening Offices of the Liturgy of the Hours every day, study the depths of Catholic theology as much as possible, sharing that knowledge when we can, and cooperating in all these areas with our fellow Dominicans whenever life allows. That's the gist of it, anyway. I'm still figuring it out.
A fellow Lay Dominican pointed out a while back that there are dozens of general Catholic apologetics sites on the internet. After thinking about that combined with the fact that I don't have nearly as much time to study and write as most other apologists do, I've decided－unless I hear from any of my readers that they want me to continue with the apologetics－to work on something more... uniquely me. And what makes me different from other Catholic writers who want to share their faith through writing? If you know me, the answer should be obvious: Star Trek! Hence, my newest project, which is actually something I thought of years ago but never worked on till now: an episode by episode exploration of Star Trek: The Next Generation of a sort of... devotional nature. I'm still working on the introduction (thoughts/suggestions welcome), but the first episode log is done, save any tweaks that you, my readers, might suggest (if I'm lucky). Please, have a look and leave a comment.
Dominicanity, as I like to call it, is focused on four key elements of living: prayer, study, community, and apostolate (which essentially means intentional evangelism). Lay Dominicans pray the Morning and Evening Offices of the Liturgy of the Hours every day, study the depths of Catholic theology as much as possible, sharing that knowledge when we can, and cooperating in all these areas with our fellow Dominicans whenever life allows. That's the gist of it, anyway. I'm still figuring it out.
A fellow Lay Dominican pointed out a while back that there are dozens of general Catholic apologetics sites on the internet. After thinking about that combined with the fact that I don't have nearly as much time to study and write as most other apologists do, I've decided－unless I hear from any of my readers that they want me to continue with the apologetics－to work on something more... uniquely me. And what makes me different from other Catholic writers who want to share their faith through writing? If you know me, the answer should be obvious: Star Trek! Hence, my newest project, which is actually something I thought of years ago but never worked on till now: an episode by episode exploration of Star Trek: The Next Generation of a sort of... devotional nature. I'm still working on the introduction (thoughts/suggestions welcome), but the first episode log is done, save any tweaks that you, my readers, might suggest (if I'm lucky). Please, have a look and leave a comment.
Sunday, 17 June 2012
There is Grace for Forgotten Fathers
In our celebrations of Father's Day (and of Mother's Day before it), we too often forget those men (and women) who are parents of those who could be called invisible children: children whose lives have been cut short by life's tragedies—car accidents, sicknesses and diseases, etc—and children who didn't make it to term for whatever reason—miscarried children, still-born children, and even those who were deliberately prevented from seeing the light of day. Whether a man's child can be seen or not, if he has conceived a child with a woman, he is a father and thus today is his day.
Every human being is created in the image and likeness of God, and is a living human being from the moment of conception—not the moment of birth, not at any arbitrarily chosen stage of pre-natal development, not at implantation, but at the very moment of conception—when the egg meets the sperm and an entirely new human organism is created. Once this happens, the man and woman become co-parents with God; this cannot be undone. Therefore, today is a day to celebrate the fatherhood of even those children whom none of us will ever see in this life. We should not forget those children who never saw this Earth, nor their parents; instead we should celebrate with their parents that Day when we will all together meet these as yet unseen children in Heaven, God willing. These children are real, and they, like us, have eternal, immortal souls, and we can hope in the great Divine Mercy of God that they have been granted union with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit in Heaven.
We believe that, by the illocutibly (i.e. ineffably) perfect unity of the One Body of Christ—that all Christians are truly, metaphysically one together with one another, whether on Earth, in Purgatory, or in Heaven—that if these Children are, by God's Mercy, with Him and the Saints in Heaven, then they participate in the intercession of the One Mediator, Christ, at the throne of God the Father, as do we all. Therefore, they are even now praying with Him and in Him and through Him, on behalf of their earthly parents. So today especially, there is a great abundance of grace available for the parents of those whose children have gone before them into Heaven. May they all call upon that God-given grace and in so doing glory in their parenthood, and embrace that grace for the sake of their own sanctification, that they too might one day be united with Christ and their children in Heaven.
And may God's Mercy embrace all our lost children. In nomine Patri, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. Amen.
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