Catholic values in a hostile political climate

Unfortunately, there are still a majority of Catholics who do not believe or support the Catholic Church’s teaching of Humanae Vitae. This is largely because they do not understand the truth of this teaching. Whether they do not understand because of a lack of information from the Church leaders, they have just not applied themselves to learning their faith, they have been brainwashed by the secular media, or a combination of all of the above; the fact is they (we) need to reexamine our position on this important truth and become supportive of it.

One cannot watch and absorb the content of the video linked below without realizing the truth of Humanae Vitae. This deplorable situation started with Catholics and others accepting contraception as an acceptable form of birth control. This seemly simple step (in the mind of some Catholics) opened the door to all kinds of problems as was predicted by Pope Paul VI in his encyclical Humanae Vitae. Indeed all of these problems have manifest themselves since that most regrettable period in the 1960’s. The separation of sex and reproduction has started a chain of events that seems unstoppable and according to the linked video is indeed unstoppable at this point. While this may mean the end of ours and many cultures in the coming decades, it is not too late to turn around our own attitudes and actions in this direction. We need to get the word out to all people of good will to quit promoting contraception, abortion, and all sin related to attacks upon the family unit. This is our minimum responsibility to our future generations.   

Please watch the video at the link below and pass this post to all of your contacts.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-3X5hIFXYU

I have selected some excerpts from Pope John Paul II’s encyclical “Evangelium vitae” which supports the much maligned encyclical of Paul VI’s “Humanae vitae”.

How sad it is that these wise and holy men are maligned not only by the main stream press but also by many Catholics and other Christians though out the world. Honest truth seekers cannot help but recognize the truth in these encyclicals. Why then do we allow the false prophets in the main stream press and our political leaders to continue their attacks while we sit in silence? The time to speak up is now. It is good to see some people beginning to be more vocal now. Hopefully the tea parties of recent days are only the beginning of letting the secular world know that God lives.

Some points to watch for as you read the excerpts below;

1.     Devalued human life. The animal and environmental groups who devalue human life by elevating animals and the environment equal to or above human rights.

2.     The arrogance of our leaders that they believe themselves so wise as to know better than their creator how to control the environment, human reproduction, and now even the weather. Obama’s most recent target.  

3.     There is “hope” many married couples still accept children as God’s gift.

Excerpts from

Ioannes Paulus PP. II
Evangelium vitae

1995.03.25

21. In seeking the deepest roots of the struggle between the “culture of life” and the “culture of death”, we cannot restrict ourselves to the perverse idea of freedom(     ). We have to go to the heart of the tragedy being experienced by modern man: the eclipse of the sense of God and of man, typical of a social and cultural climate dominated by secularism, which, with its ubiquitous tentacles, succeeds at times in putting Christian communities themselves to the test. Those who allow themselves to be influenced by this climate easily fall into a sad vicious circle: when the sense of God is lost, there is also a tendency to lose the sense of man, of his dignity and his life; in turn, the systematic violation of the moral law, especially in the serious matter of respect for human life and its dignity, produces a kind of progressive darkening of the capacity to discern God’s living and saving presence.

22.  When the sense of God is lost, the sense of man is also threatened and poisoned, as the Second Vatican Council concisely states: “Without the Creator the creature would disappear … But when God is forgotten the creature itself grows unintelligible”.¹⁷ Man is no longer able to see himself as “mysteriously different“ from other earthly creatures; he regards himself merely as one more living being, as an organism which, at most, has reached a very high stage of perfection. Enclosed in the narrow horizon of his physical nature, he is somehow reduced to being “a thing”, and no longer grasps the “transcendent” character of his “existence as man”. He no longer considers life as a splendid gift of God, something “sacred” entrusted to his responsibility and thus also to his loving care and “veneration”. Life itself becomes a mere “thing”, which man claims as his exclusive property, completely subject to his control and manipulation.

Moreover, once all reference to God has been removed, it is not surprising that the meaning of everything else becomes profoundly distorted. Nature itself, from being “mater” (mother), is now reduced to being “matter”, and is subjected to every kind of manipulation. This is the direction in which a certain technical and scientific way of thinking, prevalent in present-day culture, appears to be leading when it rejects the very idea that there is a truth of creation which must be ac- knowledged, or a plan of God for life which must be respected. Something similar happens when concern about the consequences of such a “freedom without law” leads some people to the opposite position of a “law without freedom”, as for example in ideologies which consider it unlawful to interfere in any way with nature, practically “divinizing” it. Again, this is a misunderstanding of nature’s dependence on the plan of the Creator. Thus it is clear that the loss of contact with God’s wise design is the deepest root of modern man’s confusion, both when this loss leads to a freedom without rules and when it leaves man in “fear” of his freedom.

By living “as if God did not exist”, man not only loses sight of the mystery of God, but also of the mystery of the world and the mystery of his own being.

24 A large part of contemporary society looks sadly like that humanity which Paul describes in his Letter to the Romans. It is composed “of men who by their wickedness suppress the truth“ (1:18): having denied God and believing that they can build the earthly city without him, “they became futile in their thinking” so that “their senseless minds were darkened” (1:21); “claiming to be wise, they became fools” (1:22), carrying out works deserving of death, and “they not only do them but approve those who practise them” (1:32). When conscience, this bright lamp of the soul (cf. Mt 6:22-23), calls “evil good and good evil” (Is 5:20), it is already on the path to the most alarming corruption and the darkest moral blindness.

26. In effect, signs which point to this victory are not lacking in our societies and cultures, strongly marked though they are by the “culture of death”. It would therefore be to give a one-sided picture, which could lead to sterile discouragement, if the condemnation of the threats to life were not accompanied by the presentation of the positive signs at work in humanity’s present situation.

Unfortunately it is often hard to see and recognize these positive signs, perhaps also because they do not receive sufficient attention in the communications media. Yet, how many initiatives of help and support for people who are weak and defenseless have sprung up and continue to spring up in the Christian community and in civil society, at the local, national and international level, through the efforts of individuals, groups, movements and organizations of various kinds!

There are still many married couples who, with a generous sense of responsibility, are ready to accept children as “the supreme gift of marriage”.   Nor is there a lack of families which, over and above their everyday service to life, are willing to accept abandoned children, boys and girls and teenagers in difficulty, handicapped persons, elderly men and women who have been left alone. Many centres in support of life, or similar institutions, are sponsored by individuals and groups which, with admirable dedication and sacrifice, offer moral and material support to mothers who are in difficulty and are tempted to have recourse to abortion. Increasingly, there are appearing in many places groups of volunteers prepared to offer hospitality to persons without a family, who find themselves in conditions of particular distress or who need a supportive environment to help them to overcome destructive habits and discover anew the meaning of life.

Link to entire document…

http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_25031995_evangelium-vitae_en.html

On July twenty fifth, nineteen sixty eight

Pope Paul the sixth, warned the nations;

that sanctity of human life would soon abate

If we did not with God, improve relations

He warned that our promiscuity

would lead to our moral decline;

that we should renew our acuity

so that we may with God align

For this wisdom he was scorned

by the elite media mover and shaker;

their false reporting the people suborned

encouraging them to defy their maker

He preached to us God’s holy word

but alas we failed to understand;

and soon our slide to death occurred

our most innocent we banned

Instead of denying ourselves anything,

we chose instead to kill our young;

we have forgotten Christ our King,

he is gone from our heart and tongue

Now America is in great distress,

the watchful eye of God is gone;

 turn around America, so God will bless,

 return us to morality and a new dawn.

Teach us to once again treasure

each newly conceived life;

let us abandon forever our illicit pleasure

and live in peace with no strife

Now that Holy Father is with his Holy Lord

let us finally follow his wise advice;

let the sanctity of human life be restored

so when we die our Lord won’t say, “no dice”

Gary Kroeger        April 8, 2009

Most people who fit the criteria for the addressees will also be in favor of contraception, and/or homosexual marriage, and/or abortion (or if you choose to say you are not pro abortion, then pro choice on abortion).

Pope Paul VI released his Humane Vitae on July twenty fifth nineteen sixty eight, and he was immediately labeled by the mainstream press as “out of date” with the times and this criticism continues to this day even by some inside the Catholic Church.

Most people who criticize Humane Vitae have never read it and certainly do not understand its deep truth. Humane Vitae does not say anything that most of us did not already know if we were honest with ourselves. Those who criticize Pope Paul VI and the Catholic Church for being “out of touch” with the modern world need to first understand that morality or natural law “never” changes; what was wrong 2000 years ago, is still wrong today; truth remains the truth, it cannot become false and what is false cannot become true. What changes is our knowledge of God’s creation and an ability to deny the truth. When they criticize the Pope and the Church for being “out of touch”, they are simply confirming that he and the Church are sticking to principle and to the truth and refuse to be influenced by a corrupt world. Some people think that some future Pope will over rule Humane Vitae and all of the things it prohibits will then be okay and will no longer be a sin. If this ever happens (which I doubt, and pray it doesn’t) it will not be a valid change because no Pope has the authority to change God’s law.

For those who do not understand or have not read Humane Vitae; its basic truth is that Human sexuality is intended by our creator for our procreation inside of a valid marriage only. It is not and never was intended by our creator as a hollow path to irresponsible pleasure. This is the truth that we deny when we accept contraception as a method of separating reproduction from the sex act. What Humane Vitae so wisely told us even before it became so widely accepted; is that once contraception successfully separates reproduction from the sex act, we will be free to push forward with our natural desire for instant gratification, “free love” sex without responsibility; sex with multiple partners, homosexual activity (see note below), pornography, abortion, euthanasia, divorce on demand, reduced respect for women and all human life, and many more problems which we are seeing in our society today.

Since we have now disconnected the sacred marriage act from human reproduction, it becomes very easy to begin to feel an entitlement to the illicit pleasures of sex and feel justified in denying others rights to satisfy our own desires. If a pregnancy occurs, it was an accident and we feel justified to terminate that pregnancy (kill the unborn child). So, our most innocent becomes our first victims. Next on our list was the old, weak, or dying, they are a burden to our lifestyle so let us pull the plug on their life support and feeding tubes. Who will be next; the handicapped, the mentally ill, all who are burdens on society, too fat, too skinny, too ugly, those “other” people who do not agree with me? Where does it stop? Once we deny the sanctity of human life, there is no end to it; to each of us someone else should be eliminated.       

Back in the sixties, before legalized abortion in this country and before contraception was widely practiced, proponents of contraception argued (falsely as has now been proven) that if we did not use contraception the world would become over populated and millions would starve, and later they argued that condoms would stop the spread of AIDS and other STD’s. The fact is, the encouragement of prolific sex through the use of contraceptives has increased the spread of STD’s, and the overpopulation concern is now a concern for under population and whole ethnic groups becoming extinct. Most progressive countries cannot support their economies because of a lack of people in the younger generations and they have to rely on immigration from 3^rd world countries to support their economies.

Can anyone look at the condition of our world today and not understand the truth of Humane Vitae? Contraception is like a snowball going downhill; once it starts it just gets bigger and bigger and is difficult to stop. Each of the areas mentioned above has its own evil effect; abortion kills our next generation of producers, those who support the older and the younger generations. Who knows what future great achiever was never allowed to be born? The researcher who may have found the cure for cancer? Abortion also legitimizes attacking other classes of individuals such as euthanasia. Pornography produces individuals obsessed with sex; pedophiles, rapist, drug users, etc. Divorce breaks up families and creates children without moral guidance. Those who practice homosexual behavior attempt to legitimize their behavior to make it acceptable to society to minimize their guilt and thereby minimize the sacred institution of marriage   

And, we still have not learned, our leaders are still preaching the same lies and trying to convince the masses that they know better than our creator what is right for us and our world. If history does not tell us that we had better return to morality and God’s law, we just are not paying attention. Mr. President I just heard in the news today that you now think that man’s intervention into God’s plan for human reproduction was not sufficient, you now want to step in and take over God’s job of controlling the weather. God help us.

 NOTE: Neither the Church nor any Christian condemns the homosexual, only the sexual act outside of a valid marriage which must be between a man and a woman in order to remain connected to the intended purpose of reproduction. The homosexual act is no different from any sex act outside of a valid marriage. In fact it is probably less of a sin because it does not lead to a pregnancy where the child would be aborted.

Gary Kroeger

Estero Florida