Catholic values in a hostile political climate

I posted the following article on this blog on August 17, 2009 and received a few rebuttals claiming I was not pro life if I did not support a government health care plan.

At the time I posted this article I was (and still am) concerned about several issues regarding the current proposals to have the federal government greatly enlarge their role in our citizen’s health care needs.

1. The governments track record of management (or if you prefer, mismanagement) of virtually every government agency is extremely poor to be very generous. The current Medicare Medicaid programs are on track to go bankrupt in a few short years. The Post Office is notorious for mismanagement. The EPA, the IRS, etc. etc. all have over spent and underperformed for years.  
2. The government by almost all observers state the government is riddled with corruption. Special interests are draining tax payer moneys that should be going to the benefit of all.
3. The government and the current administration in particular are among the most untrustworthy we have seen. This administration has more instances of doing exactly the opposite of what they promised than any previous administration. This has lead to this administration making claims such as the Catholic Church and many Catholic groups have endorsed their health care plan. The fact is the Church and these groups have said they would support a health care plan that met all Church teaching criteria. The proposals up to this time have not met Church requirements.  Now, the Obama administration is claiming they will not (for instance) pay for abortions with tax payer moneys. The problem here it this administration has no credibility any longer.

Because of these concerns, I suggested in the referenced article that the Church and all Catholic agencies should not support any health care plan proposed by this administration. This administration has been openly hostile to Catholic teaching and simply put, cannot be trusted.

This administration has deliberately misled the American people about the number of people without health care and therefore the urgency of adopting health care reform. They have repeatedly stated that over 40 million Americans do not have health care insurance. This is an extremely misleading statement. First of all even if it were true that there were over 40 million people in this country without health care insurance, there is zero people in this country without access to health care. Since 1986 there has been a federal law requiring medical treatment for any and all who appear at any emergency room hospital in the United States, so for this administration to claim 40 million Americans do not have health insurance, while it may be literally true, they know that people hearing this believe that 40 Americans do not have access to health care and they make no attempt to clarify this.

The truth is that a large percentage of these 40 million Americans are not even citizens and have not paid into any of the social programs that support the free care they already get. And all people (even those here illegally) are receiving free medical care currently. And, I really do not object to this, what I do object to is the lies and attempts to take away more of our freedoms in this obvious power grab.

Problems with Catholic Organizations Supporting ANY government sponsored health care program at this time….

I am readdressing this issue because I learned today that I am not alone in this approach to resolving the health care issue. I received an article from the “Our Sunday Visitor” stating that several Bishops have begun to address this issue by becoming vocal about keep large government out of such endeavors. They are being backed by a long dormant Church principle of subsidiarity. Subsidiarity holds that matters ought to be handled by the smallest, lowest or least-centralized competent authority. I am in complete agreement with these Bishops.

Here is a link to the entire article

If anyone doubts the left leaning liberal bias of the mainstream news media, please explain why we continue to be kept in the dark about attacks on Christianity and stories that are anti Christian are blown out of proportion and reported over and over again.

How many readers of this article were aware of an attack on Christians in Gojra Pakistan on August 1^st of this year? If you are aware of it chances are you became aware of it through some small unaffiliated news outlet. I first heard about this attack today via the “Voice of the Martyrs” web site http://www.persecution.com/

Wondering why I had not heard of the attack until a month later I “googled” gojra aug 1. Not surprisingly on the first page of hits, not a single one was from a major news source.

The first 10 hits in order were;

www.ucanews.com

Article:     

 http://www.ucanews.com/2009/08/10/christians-remember-victims-of-gojra-violence/

en.wikipedia.org

Article:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Gojra_riots

www.silobreaker.com

Article:

http://www.silobreaker.com/gojra-pakistan-11_113364

www.newstin.com

Article:

http://www.newstin.com/rel/us/en-010-016873836

www.topix.com

Article:

http://www.topix.com/world/pakistan/2009/08/clashes-between-two-groups-in-gojra-7-dead

www.nowpublic.com

Article:

http://www.nowpublic.com/world/christian-houses-burnt-muslims-gojra-pakistan

www.christianitytoday.com

Article:

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2009/augustweb-only/131-51.0.html

www.assistnews.net

Article:

http://www.assistnews.net/Stories/2009/s09080026.htm

www.dawn.com

Article:

http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/pakistan/provinces/18-gojra-riots-accused-sent-to-jail-am-01

hrcpblog.wordpress.com

Article:

http://hrcpblog.wordpress.com/2009/08/06/gojra-admin-knew-about-pre-planned-attacks-hrcp/

More evidence of this was recently brought to my attention by a friend who ask me, “have you noticed that the continuous reporting of body counts and bombings in Iraq that were so prevalent all during the Bush administration have suddenly disappeared?” And miraculously they stopped the day Obama took office and have not resumed in spite of recent setbacks, amazing.   

The obvious lesson here is; do not rely on the NBC’s, ABC’s, CBS’s, Reuters, Associated press, and even FOX for all of your news sources. Because of the internet and the many sources available information is now available, we just need to look for it and determine which is reliable and which is not. The old days of trusting NBC, ABC, and CBS are over.

Many Catholic groups have come out and supported a government sponsored health care program that meets all requirements of Catholic teaching, namely health care for all human life from conception to natural death.

Groups such as the Saint Vincent DePaul Society, Catholic Charities, and even the USCCB have recently announced support for such a government program.

While this sounds like a viable thing we all could and should get behind and support. There are a couple of problems with this.

Number one, the current administration has clearly demonstrated their willingness to say one thing and do another. Even if by some change in their approach to this subject they agree to ALL of the requirements of Church teaching to get approval of a government controlled national health care plan, their track record tells us that they will not live up to any such agreement and our Children and Grandchildren will be saddled with a health care plan that funds abortions, does not provide for health care of an unborn human, and will deny health care to old or terminally ill patients.

Number two, the current administration will (as they already have) start spouting advertisements that the Catholic Church, St. Vincent DePaul, and Catholic charities supports the currently proposed health care plan which clearly provides for all of the issues listed above.

I believe the best course of action now, is the one many Americans are taking. Get Vocal, attend town meetings, write your representatives and let them know we do not trust them for obvious reasons and because of this we will not support ANY health care plan sponsored by this anti life pro death culture administration…

Our complicit news media is again working with the socialist politicians attempting to quiet the growing rebellion among the awakening masses regarding their plan to take over the Health Care industry. .

Today Reuters and other news agencies are reporting a win for conservatism claiming that the “Blue Dog” Democrats have won a $100 billion concession on the proposed $1 Trillion Health Care proposal. .

Don’t be fooled by yet another attempt to misinform and lead voters by the nose. The extremely liberal (socialist) press and Democratic leaders are hell bent on pushing this through so they will have still more control over our lives. .

We know why these sessions are held behind closed doors with high levels of security; to keep out dissenters and to keep the public uninformed. If the truth were known instead of the concocted story the media presents, it would probably look something like this; .

Rather than the “Blue Dog” Democrats “winning” concessions as is being reported; the “Blue Dog” Democrats are being “told” by Pelosi, Reed, Obama, etc. they had better follow their leaders or they will not be supported by the “Party” come reelection time. The “Party” will find someone else to run on the Democratic ticket (Remember Joe Lieberman?). The “Blue Dog” Democrats are catching it from both sides; their constituents are becoming very vocal about not wanting the Federal Government’s further involvement in their Health Care and their “Party” leaders telling them they better go along. .

The “real” compromise is probably that Pelosi, Reed, Obama, and the other Democratic leaders will help them smooth over the ruffled feathers of their constituents by selling the sellout as a win for the Blue Dog’s by claiming a huge $100 Billion savings. After all what makes the difference, the whole plan will probably cost double that anyhow and they will cross that bridge when they come to it. They can always make up a “new” story. They are not hampered by that troublesome thing called “truth”. .

The good news is that the vote will not occur until the law makers return in September. Don’t fall for this new lie, when your legislators return home, be sure to let them know you do not buy this new tactic. Let them know you are their boss and they should be more afraid of you then their socialist leaders. We understand what is going on and we still have the vote and we will use it to remove them and their socialist leaders. .

Why should Congress be exempt from all of the benefits of a national healthcare system? Why should they have their own golden system providing them with unlimited benefits and stick us with a controlled system like Canada has and have us pay for both systems?

Are you fed up with Congress enough to sign this petition stating that we want Congress to have the same healthcare they impose on everyone else?

Maybe if they are subject to the same healthcare as everyone else, they will be a little more conscious about the terms of that healthcare system.   

Watch Newt Gingrich talk about this resolution

Watch Congressman Fleming discuss government run healthcare

Sign the petition

The question is rhetorical, it is obvious why they do this, they are constantly attempting to place themselves on high moral ground regardless of the immorality of most of their actions.

The Pope’s encyclical “Caritas in Veritate”, was hardly released before they jumped on the Pope’s comments expressing the need for workers rights and the need to insure that workers are treated fairly. They then interpret this to mean all workers should be represented by a union. And that their attempts to shove a union down the throats of all workers regardless if they want or need one.

The left ignores 75% of what the Pope says, ridicules 20%, and twists the remaining 5% to support their positions.

The left takes the labor union issue as their own, they sell the lie that only they care about the workers (the little guy), when in fact the opposite is true. The conservative does not outright oppose labor unions; the conservative is for the success of everyone including the working class. By using the Pope’s comments to force a union down the throats of Wal-Mart workers, is not to do what the Pope endorses. The people pushing this unionization of Walmart workers do not have the welfare of the Wal-Mart worker in mind. The Pope does not endorse big labor unions that get fat off of the common worker, and this I am afraid is what the big labor unions have become in this country. Keep in mind the Pope is not talking specifically about the USA or the Chicago labor unions in particular, but is speaking about a world stage. Every right thinking individual wants a fair wage for all workers and there are indeed places where a labor union which is for the workers and not for its fat cat leaders are necessary. The unions formed in Poland under Pope John Paul II’s encouragement are classic examples of necessary unions. The mobster run unions from Chicago are examples of not only unnecessary but undesirable labor unions. These unions will bleed the worker and the employer to the point they will both be hurt. All one needs to do is look at the automotive industry in the USA to see a classic example of this. We certainly do not need the same thing happening to Wal-Mart and other employers in the USA.

We see liberals doing the same thing with the global warming issue. The Pope rightly expresses concern for the environment and they immediately claim he is on their side in this debate. Again, all right thinking people agree with the need to protect the environment to any “reasonable” extent. However, when some individuals attempt to blow this issue all out of any reasonable proportion and then set themselves up to get rich off of selling carbon credits and continue to be the largest polluters of the environment while demanding that everyone else conserve is not only dishonest, it is a travesty of justice. These same individuals continually accuse their opposition of fear mongering on social issues; this global warming issue they push for their own enrichment and power over people is the biggest scare mongering scam in history.

I wonder how they reconcile the fact the Pope is so right about labor unions and so wrong about contraception and abortion?

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Why doesn’t the old issue of Obama’s natural born citizenship status go away? Why are hundreds of thousands still pushing this issue? Maybe it is because it has never been answered by President Obama or anyone else. It seems such a simple request, why is it continually stonewalled by the Obama administration? If indeed President Obama is a natural born citizen as required by the constitution why would he not want to provide documentation to prove it; why would he want this doubt hanging over himself?

I followed this issue closely all during the Presidential campaign last year; I read many threads on Catholic Answers Forum debating this issue. As with most of the arguments with Obama supporters there was little substance to the rebuttals to questions about Obama’s legal status and eligibility for the high office of POTUS. The main argument from Obama supporters was that those asking the question were either racist or right wing nuts, but no solid proof that Obama was eligible to Run.

I really did not think at that time that Obama would have a chance of actually being elected. I am still at a loss to understand it.

Now 4 months into Obama’s administration I consider this question and it is as unclear as it was last year during the campaign. It seems that there must be some legitimacy to this question or it would have gone away by now. On the other hand it seems almost inconceivable that Obama could have been elected and not been eligible for the office. Is it possible that our government has become so corrupt that this issue could be buried to the extent that the courts, congress, and every government agency were complicit in this conspiracy? Even if this was the case, why would the opposition party (Republicans) not expose this ineligibility? Is it possible that the Republicans did not press this issue because they were so afraid of having to run against Hillary and if Obama were declared ineligible, Hillary would have been a shoe in?

I think back to the Rush Limbaugh strategy he called “operation chaos” where he encouraged Republicans to vote in the primaries for Obama to keep Hillary from clinching the nomination. In retrospect this was ill advised and probably unnecessary; however, this thinking may have prevented Republicans from challenging Obama’s eligibility to run for POTUS.

While searching the internet for information on this ongoing saga, the following two links are current articles. Most of the material found is old and from last year. There are many stories on lawsuits being dismissed by various judges all over the country; the reason every law suit I found was dismissed was either that it was deemed frivolous or that the filer did not have “standing” (reason) to file the suit. None was dismissed because Obama had actually proved he was eligible for office. If you search for further information on this subject be careful to avoid this website  deathby1000papercuts.com  when I hit this website my virus checker software went nuts warning of potential damage if I entered this site. Obviously a trap set by an Obama fan.

Grand juries cite Obama for ineligibility, treason    

Americans vote with wallets to see Obama birth certificate

Apparently, all of the noise created by the recent campaigns and national elections has caused some Republicans (hopefully the Catholic ones) to rethink their position on several moral issues. The Gallup poll indicates that Republicans have moved further right on the following issues;

·        Embryonic stem cell research with only 41% now considering it moral versus 53% two years ago; Democrats remain at 74%.

·        Divorce for Republicans moved from 64% believing it moral one year ago to 52% today. While the majority still does not believe divorce immoral, it has moved dramatically toward an understanding of Church teaching. Democrats remain at 74%.

·        Abortion acceptance for Republicans moved from 28% believing it moral one and two years ago to 23% today. Democrats remain at 52% believing abortion morally acceptable.

·        Gay/Lesbian relations; Republicans back down to 35% approval from 37% last year. Democrats moved from 59% acceptable last year to 66% this year.

The bottom line is that St Augustine was right. When the Church is attacked for its moral teaching, it actually strengthens it by calling attention to its truth.

One glaring issue in the results of this poll for me is the huge difference in people’s opinions of morality between abortion and embryonic stem cell research. For Republicans; 41% believe embryonic stem cell research is moral and for abortion only 23% think it is moral. For Democrats; 74% believe embryonic stem cell research is moral and for abortion only 52% think it is moral. Obviously, these responders do not understand what embryonic stem cell research is. They apparently do not understand that the embryo must die to obtain the stem cell. To approve of embryonic stem cell research one must also approve of abortion.

This is further proof that those approving of embryonic stem cell research and abortion do not understand the implications of their approval.

At his speech at Notre Dame this weekend; Obama said he wants to find common ground on the abortion issue. How can anyone with any sense of morality expect that their opposition should abandon their conscience and accept that the other party has a right to murder the innocent?  There is no common ground between morality and immorality, it is right or it is wrong. Wrong is never right under any circumstances, it is always wrong. Was there common ground between slavery and freedom? Was there common ground between Nazis and those they persecuted and murdered? Is there common ground today between Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Israel?

On Catholic radio this morning a host read a letter from a Catholic listener chastising her for her angry and hateful criticism of Obama and Notre Dame President Father Jenkins. I continue to be amazed at the thinking and complete lack of understanding by this caller and the many Catholics that seem to be stuck in the same mindset. They seem to place politeness and decorum above human life. This listener to Catholic radio expressed how wonderfully polite, articulate, friendly, and accommodating Obama was while these uncivilized protestors were shouting him down and generally being obnoxious. This listener and those of her ilk are so self assured in their superior intellect and righteous position that they do not see the forest for the trees. Do they not realize that killing babies in the womb is not at all polite or friendly? If they are so taken by politeness and articulate speech why are they not appalled like the rest of us at the uncivilized and rude killing of the unborn? The answer, I believe is that they are able to compartmentalize these two totally opposite conditions and not associate the man (Obama) with the two conditions. When they see him speak, they do not associate him with the atrocities that he supports. In a similar manner they separate their daily lives from their religion. God has no place in politics for them.

This is the thing that Obama and the liberal progressives miss. Because they want (as we all do) peace among all peoples and they do not seem to understand that evil truly does exist.  They miss the fact that perfect happiness and peace among all people will never exist in this world. They seem to believe that compromise will solve everything. Since they themselves are unwilling to compromise their rigid positions one would think they would understand that this is not possible. Compromise to Obama seems to mean, you change your mind to match mine. When someone will not accept anything other than your death (such as Mahmound Ahmadinejad’s requirement of Israel) what possible “common ground” is there?  How about if I let you kill only half of us?

Obama wants to find common ground by asking pro life people to accept abortion if he will agree to help reduce abortions. This is common ground? Of course we would all welcome fewer abortions; however, what we want Obama to understand is that the taking of one innocent life is seriously wrong, and no one should condone it let alone have their government who promised everyone, Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness to promote it.

http://content.usatoday.com/dist/custom/gci/InsidePage.aspx?cId=news-press&sParam=35073328.story

There are those who easily “choose” abortion, then there is this Saintly lady..

This lady who bravely sacrificed her own one shot at life for her baby greatly contrasts with the millions who choose abortion not for their life but for their convenience.

If you can read this story without the tears starting, you are stronger than I.

The saddest thing about this story is our government is rapidly moving toward taking these decisions away from us as individuals. There is no doubt in my mind that if some doctor had taken this case to court, the judge would probably force the woman to have the surgery and probably kill both her and her baby.

Is there any doubt THIS LADY  is now safely in the arms of our Lord and Savior?

In a related story; I saw on the news today that a Catholic family with a 13 year old son diagnosed with cancer had elected to delay chemotherapy to give his own immune system (and prayers) a chance to defeat his disease. They felt that chemotherapy was a last resort; they did not want the drugs to kill his immune system. A doctor disagreed and took the family to court; a judge issued a court order forcing the boy to undergo chemotherapy.  Our government; executive branch, judiciary, and legislative are all out of control and slowly but surely usurping our individual rights and freedoms. We need to awake up soon and start removing these power hungry representatives. And we need to stand up and prevent these good old boys from appointing politicians who have been removed from office by their constituents to positions of authority, like they have done with Tom Daschle.