On the Death of George Tiller

ChelseaPro Life4 Comments

The murder of abortionist George Tiller is an outrage and a tragedy. Whoever perpetrated this crime can never be called pro-life and I am pleased with the pro-life community for its overwhelming condemnation such violence.

Unfortunately, no matter how many pro-life bloggers and organizations express their disapproval, we will still all be linked to this crime by the pro-abortion community which is incapable of separating the average pro-lifer from the lunatics on the fringe. Indeed, some, like Washington Post columnist Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite, say the responsibility for producing such unstable individuals lies with the pro-life ideology and the absurd belief in absolute truth. Says Thistlehwaite:

I also believe that if the anti-abortion movement were honest with itself, and with the American people, it would admit that its “absolute truth claims” lead inexorably to attitudes held by those who commit crimes against abortion providers: “the end justifies any means.”

Late-term abortionist Warren Hern blames (h/t Jivin J) Tiller’s death on the entire pro-life movement and its

35 years of relentless and merciless anti -abortion harassment, violence, and intimidation, hate speech, and violent rhetoric and this is the absolutely predictable consequence of that kind of mindless harassment and fanaticism….

The main difference between the American anti-abortion movement and the Taliban is about 8k miles…

And, in an interview on CNN today, AL abortionist Diane Derzis said that pro-lifers are lying when they denounce the murder and have, “put the target on our chest, on our backs” with their agenda to, “do away with abortion in whatever way they can.”

Perhaps the most unsettling consequence of Tiller’s murder is the announcement that the U.S. Marshals Service will begin protecting certain abortion clinics and doctors. Now, I’m not saying that I don’t want doctors and clinic workers to be protected, but this could be a serious problem for all of the peaceful, law abiding pro-lifers who keep vigil outside abortion clinics, especially when clinic workers and women entering the clinics convincingly claim to be “harassed” and “threatened.” Just ask Rev. Walter Hoye.

Obviously the abortion rights crowd is worried that this might encourage more violence against abortion providers. But I can’t help wondering how soon we can expect to see an increase in violence against pro-lifers now: see If They Persecuted Me, They Will Also Persecute You and AbortionViolence.com

Bottom line: Tiller’s murder, like the murder of any human being, is a crime against humanity and, regarding the issue of abortion, will only cause more tension and hostility between the two sides of the debate. It is a loss for everyone.

How Christians View Suffering

ChelseaSufferingLeave a Comment

In his book Render Unto Ceasar, Archbishop Chaput has a nice little explanation of the Christian view of suffering:

Someone once asked me how any sensible person could choose to become a Christian because Christians have such an unhealthy desire for suffering. The best answer comes from Leon Bloy, a writer who himself chose to become a Catholic. “man has places in his heart which do not yet exist,” wrote Bloy, “and into them enters suffering, that they might have existence.” In a sense, all Christian belief is cocooned in those words. Christians have no desire to suffer. But we do understand and appreciate the power of suffering. No one can avoid suffering. It’s the truest democratic experience. Everybody gets a piece of it. But Bloy understood, just as Viktor Frankle discovered in the death camps, that we can always choose what we do with the suffering that comes our way. We have that freedom. This is why suffering breaks some people, while it breaks open others into something more than their old selves, stretching the soul to greatness.

Christians don’t like suffering any more than anyone else. They certainly don’t go looking for it. But people who believe in Jesus Christ do try to accept and use suffering as Christ did: that is, as a creative, redemptive act. Suffering lived properly is the heart’s great tutor in humility, gratitude, and understanding of others, because they too suffer. That is why Pope John Paul II once described the Bible as the “great book about suffering.” He meant that Scripture is the story of God’s call to each of us to join our suffering to his own in healing that evil and pain in the world. Scripture urges us to follow the Good Samaritan who saw even a suffering stranger as his neighbor and acted to ease his wounds. Thus God’s “great book about suffering” is not only about God’s love for us – but about our solidarity with others. The cornerstone for Christian action in the world is the Word of God itself. (pp. 47-48)

In this day and age, when the world seeks to overcome human weakness and avoid suffering at any an all cost – even to the point of accepting killing as an answer to our problems – it is difficult for people to wrap their minds around the Christian message accepting and carrying our crosses, much less accept it and live by it. It seems so defeatist and masochistic even. But to those who believe, it is the way to true healing, comfort, happiness and redemption.

This is by no means an easy message to follow, even for the most devout. Besides much faith and hope in God’s promise of eternal life, it requires, through the grace of the Holy Spirit, obedience and a great deal of humility – recognizing that our bodies, our lives, are not our own (Romans 14:7-9) and constantly dying to ourselves and our own desires, submitting our lives to the Will of our heavenly Father who comforts us and gives us strength in time of trial. Yes, it’s hard, but the reward is everlasting!

Pacino to Play “Dr. Death”?

ChelseaAssisted Suicide, Culture of Death, Disabled, SuicideLeave a Comment

PacinoIt seems that his status as a convicted murderer has been treating Jack Kevorkian quite well these days. First he gets paid $50,000 to speak to some 4,000+ college students at the University of Florida last January shortly after his release from prison. Now it’s being reported that HBO Films will air a biopic about “Dr. Death” that is set to be directed by Barry Levinson (director of such films as Rain Man, Sleepers, Good Morning Vietnam and Bugsy). And according to The Hollywood Reporter (h/t Wesley Smith), none other than the legendary Al Pacino is in negotiations to play the great “Doctor” who assisted the suicides of at least 130 people and murdered at least one. To borrow a line one of Pacino’s more memorable and notorious characters:

Make way for the bad guy. There’s a bad guy comin’ through!

And this may be his baddest “character” yet (well, if he hadn’t already played the devil himself). Of course this piece will not likely portray Dr. Death as much of a bad guy or even take a critical look at the sociopath or the issue of assisted suicide (AS from now on) as a whole. The screenplay is loosely based on the book “Between the Dying and the Dead: Dr. Jack Kevorkian, the Assisted Suicide Machine and the Battle to Legalize Euthanasia” by Kevorkian fan Neal Nicol.

This is not the first time Hollywood has looked favorably on AS. Four years ago Clint Eastwood directed and starred in the movie Million Dollar Baby about a female boxer who becomes paralyzed and seeks suicide help from her trainer. The movie was later rewarded by the the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences when it nearly swept every major award category at the 2005 Oscars winning Best Supporting Actor, Best Actress, Best Director and Best Picture. That same year the Academy gave Best Foreign Language Film honors to the movie Mar adentro, or The Sea Inside, the true story of Ramón Sampedro, a Spanish fisherman who fought for almost 30 years for his “right” to an AS after he was paralyzed in a diving accident.

This is just the latest in a growing trend of normalizing AS and perpetuating the idea that human pain and suffering is the greatest moral evil of our time which should be avoided and eradicated at all cost. Many AS advocates will assert that their intention is only to provide suicide services for the terminally ill and those who are “going to die soon (and very painfully) anyway,” but once killing is accepted in certain circumstances to relieve human suffering, it is, to quote AS advocate and well respected British philosopher Lady Warnock, “irrational to confine it to those who are terminally ill.” Note that in the two movies awarded in 2005 both patients had non-life threatening physical disabilities and many of Kevorkian’s own patients were also not terminally ill. In fact, some of the people he helped kill were later found to be in perfect physical health.

Things like this destroy humanity. Our duty as human beings is to love and care for the suffering, not kill them. It cannot be said that euthanasia, AS or any sort of “mercy killing” eliminates suffering, rather, what it does is eliminate the person who suffers. Suffering does not devalue human life, killing does.

Suggested: A will to Life: Clear Answers on End of Life Issues

TOB Tuesday: The Virgin Mary And Theology of the Body

ChelseaReligion, Sexuality, Theology of the Body, TOB Tuesday4 Comments

As the month of Mary draws to a close, I want to draw your attention to a book that has been on my (very lengthy) “to read” list for quite some time. A compilation of 10 essays by some of the world’s foremost Mariologists and experts on the Theology of the Body, The Virgin Mary and the Theology of the Body is and in depth look at how our Blessed Mother illuminates the message of the Theology of the Body in a profound way.

Obviously Mary is a supreme example for women of maternity and authentic femininity, but she is also an example for all human beings and how we are to accept the gift of our sexuality and live our bodily existence:

“Mary shows us how to accept the gift of our embodiedness, and this includes the God-given sex of the body. In this it is important to note that Mary’s exemplarity of what it means to accept the gift of one’s body means that the body is not an obstacle to overcome but, rather, a gift to be lived. Mary delights in her body, especially in its God-given sex: femininity. It is precisely in her gift of being a woman that Mary was fashioned and called by God to be the Theotokos [God-bearer]. The gift of her body is exactly what helps her to become the Theotokos. Just think of what would have happened if Mary had rebelled against the gift of her feminine body! We would be in a very different situation today” (Mary and the Theology of the Body, pp. 55-56).

But, while Mary was able to live this out in absolute perfection, we still must strive to increase in holiness by continually conquering sin (Eph 5:27). And so we look to Mary, “who shines forth the the whole community of the elect as the model of virtues” (Lumen Gentium, 65). Understanding of Mary’s role in salvation history helps us to understand more clearly our own personal roles in the Christian life. This is especially true when it comes understanding how we are to live according to the true meaning of our sexuality.

Among the items covered in the book are:

    The nuptial meaning of the body in the marriage of Joseph and Mary
    The Immaculate Conception and the human person
    The significance of Mary as virgin and mother
    The Virgin Mary and the culture of life
    The image of God in the image of Mary as model Christian …and more

In Memoriam 2009

ChelseaDeathLeave a Comment

To me the gift of life never seems more precious than when I reflect upon the great mystery of death. As you all enjoy your Memorial Day, your boat rides, your barbecue and your beer, I hope you will be sure to stop at some point and think about what this day is really about – a time to remember and thank God for those men and women who have died who gave their lives in service to their fellow man. Guys like 20 year old Jacob Barton of Lenexa MO who’s body was laid to rest just last week after he was shot to death by a fellow soldier in Camp Liberty Iraq and the other almost 400 service men and women killed in Iraq and Afghanistan in the last year.

On a day like today I can’t help but also think about those who lost their lives for the cause of truth and freedom right here on our own soil. After all, if it wasn’t for the sacrifice of so many men who envisioned a brighter future and a freer society over 230 years ago there would be no United States of America for our soldiers to defend today

For our fallen warriors:

God our Father,
Your power brings us to birth,
Your providence guides our lives,
and by Your command we return to dust.

Lord, those who die still live in Your presence,
their lives change but do not end.
I pray in hope for my family,
relatives and friends,
and for all the dead known to You alone.

In company with Christ,
Who died and now lives,
may they rejoice in Your kingdom,
where all our tears are wiped away.
Unite us together again in one family,
to sing Your praise forever and ever.

Amen.

From JPII’s “Meditations on the Book of Genesis at the Threshold of the Sistine Chapel”

This End is also the summit of transparency
such is the path of all generations.

“Non omnis moriar” (Not all of me will die).
What is imperishable in me
now stands face to face with Him Who Is!

No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends (Jn. 15:13)

R.I.P. Darin Thomas Settle, my friend, a Marine who died in a road accident while serving in Iraq three years ago:

Thine Eyes

ChelseaActivism, Missouri, Pro Life, video1 Comment

Thine Eyes is the first-ever pro-life documentary on the annual Washington DC March for Life. The high-definition film was shot on location by a six-camera crew to share the spirit of the January 22nd event, which marks the Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe vs. Wade decision to override state abortion laws and mourns the more than 50 million unborn Americans who have died as a result.

“Life is the great civil rights issue of our day,” said Jack Cashill, producer of Thine Eyes: A Witness to the March for Life. “America’s mainstream media consciously suppresses this cause.”

Thine Eyes

The 36th annual March for Life in Washington DC boasted of record attendance, some 300,000 people, yet the event made headlines virtually nowhere. Painfully few in the major media paid any real attention to the March for Life this year despite the event’s massive size and obvious relevance. The Obama administration’s promise to expand the abortion franchise has energized the pro-life movement nationwide and prompted the record turnout.

“Cashill, together with Michael Wunsch and actress, Jennifer O’Neill, have created a masterful depiction of the prolife cause’s biggest and most consistent event,” says executive producer, Steve Sanborn. “It’s what the world never gets to see – normal everyday Americans in massive numbers who believe the world can do better than abortion.”

“The history of America is a history of expanding the family of those whose worth we take seriously,” said Cashill. “The Obama inauguration offers us your classic ‘teachable moment.’ Thine Eyes will make the lesson obvious and even entertaining.”

Purchase Thine Eyes on DVD

**For my fellow Missourians: Missouri Right to Life and Missouri Life Caravan will sponsor a screening of the film, open to the general public, in St. Louis on Thursday, May 28 at 7 pm at CBC High School, Ross Hall, at 1850 De La Salle Drive (N. Outer 40 Drive) at the intersection of Highways 270 and 64. Supporters are asked to visit www.thineeyes.org for more information.

For further information, call Maggie Bick at (314) 662-1989

(p.s. the text above comes from ThineEyes.org – rearranged by me)

Good Science Can Be Used for Very Bad Things

ChelseaAbortion, Disabled, Embryo Screening, Eugenics, Science2 Comments

The good news: scientists have found a genetic variant that may be associated with autism. The bad news: good science can be used for very bad things, as Ari Ne’e-man, who has Asperger Syndrome, explains in this Newsweek interview (h/t Mary Meets Dolly):

But the new genetic advances concern Ne’eman…His ultimate fear is this: a prenatal test for autism, leading to “eugenic elimination.” If a test is developed one day, it will be used, he says. And that means people like him might cease to exist.

When I press Ne’eman on genetic research—doesn’t it have some merit?—he says he doesn’t oppose it outright, but he believes scientists must consider the ethical implications of their work far more carefully. Already couples are testing embryos for diseases like Huntington’s, then choosing to implant only the healthy ones. And who can blame them? But autism isn’t a fatal condition. Should people without the disorder be allowed to judge the quality of life of someone who has it? “That is a message that the world doesn’t want us here,” says Ne’eman, “and it devalues our lives.”

Unfortunately this is a legitimate fear for anyone with a genetic disease or disability. Besides the IVF embryo screening mentioned above, couples are also opting to kill their unborn children who are prenatally diagnosed with these diseases in utero. Babies prenataly diagnosed with Down syndrome, for example, are aborted at a rate of nearly 90%.

Some consider this progression and a twisted way of “curing” disease and eliminating suffering, but that is hardly the case. What it is instead is an evolutionary sort of “survival of the fittest” technique which seeks to weed out or eliminate individuals with certain genetic “abnormalities” rather than target the disease itself. Some people even go so far as to reject the unborn who carry only the potential for disease and not the disease itself.

Humanity’s greatness is shown best in how we love and care for the weak and suffering members of our society.

All abortion is equally abhorrent and offensive to humanity. It targets one segment of society, the unborn, and deems it worthy of life only at the behest of another segment.

Eugenic abortion, however, goes one step further and takes a class of born citizens, the sick and disabled, and instead of saying to us, “we love you and want to look for ways to improve your health and the health of those who will be afflicted in the future,” says, “your life is not worth living, you are a burden to yourself and society and you, and others like you, are better off dead.”

Love the Suffering
Better off Dead?

TOB Tuesday: TOB Summer Activities

ChelseaTheology of the Body, TOB TuesdayLeave a Comment

nullI recently got an email from the Theology of the Body Institute highlighting some of the TOB activities taking place in the next few months. It’s so exciting to see this teaching spread so far and reach so many! The summer conferences look especially entertaining/educational!

SUMMER CONFERENCES

    Catholic Thrive
    May 22 – 24, 2009.
    Anaheim, NY. TOB Inspired celebration for singles & young adults. World-Renowned Speakers & Music. Mass. Rosary. Service Opportunities. Dancing. Excursions. www.catholicthrive.com

    National TOB Conference
    June 5 – 7, 2009.
    Saskatoon, Canada. National Theology of the Body Conference hosted by One More Soul Canada. TOBI faculty members Christopher West, Janet Smith, and Michael Waldstein are 3 of the 4 featured speakers. www.tobconference.ca

    International TOB Symposium
    June 11- 14, 2009.
    Maynooth, Ireland. Man And Woman He Created Them: Pope John Paul II’s Theology of the Body, 2nd International Theology of The Body Symposium
    www.jp2tob.com

    Becoming a Marriage-Building Church
    June 25 – 28, 2009,
    St. Paul, MN. Becoming a Marriage-Building Church: Implementing the U.S. Bishops’ Pastoral Initiative on Marriage hosted by Association of Catholic Family Life Ministers (NACFLM) Key Speaker: Christopher West www.nacflm.org

    Catholic Thrive
    September 4 – 6.
    Manhattan, NY. TOB Inspired celebration for singles & young adults. World-Renowned Speakers & Music. Mass. Rosary. Service Opportunities. Dancing. Excursions. www.catholicthrive.com

COURSES

    June 14 – June 19, 2009
    Love & Responsibility Immersion Course
    Quarryville, PA. Taught by Dr. Janet Smith with special lectures by Christopher West www.tobinstitute.org

    August 23 – August 28, 2009
    Theology of Sexual Healing & Redemption
    Quarryville, PA. Taught by Dr. Bob Schuchts with special lectures by Christopher West www.tobinstitute.org

TOB TALKS

    Bill Donaghy
    June 6, 2009
    Malvern, PA. Intro to Theology of the Body. Young Adults, St. Patrick’s.
    July 11 – 25, 2009
    Immaculata University, PA. Theology of the Body Course.

    Damon Owens
    August 7- 8, 2009
    Midland, TX. St. Stephen’s Catholic Church.
    August 29, 2009
    Latrobe, PA. St. Vincent College.

    Christopher West
    May 23, 2009
    Lake Charles, LA. St. Louis High School. Reunion 2009: Rise Up and Witness
    May 30, 2009
    Honolulu, HI. In Him Ministries for the Diocese of Honolulu, Hawaii
    June 25 – 26, 2009
    Omaha, NE. Institute for Priestly Formation Summer Training
    July 7, 2009
    Seattle, WA. University of Washington Newman Center
    July 17, 2009
    Harrisburg, PA. American Academy of Fertility Care Professionals Conference

Looking ahead to the fall: the National Catholic Singles Conference will be held Friday, October 30 – Sunday, November 1, 2009 in St. Pete Beach, FL. Past speakers for the NCSC have included Christopher West and TOB columnist Fr. Thomas Loya. I’m seriously considering this one – though it is the weekend of the FL/GA football game 😉

You can keep up with the latest TOB news regarding speaking engagements, conferences, institutes, etc… via the TOB Institute website or their Facebook page.

TOB Tuesdays

Family Time Over

ChelseaPro LifeLeave a Comment

Well, my traveling/family visiting time has officially ended. It’s been a nice week and a half. I had a great time with my family in GA and watched my little sister graduate from college. I’ve enjoyed the brief excuse to stay away from my computer and the news, but it’s time to get back to business. But not before I share a few pictures. First from the Walking Z Ranch in Newborn, GA:

The whole clan – minus my aunt:

My cousin Veronica received her first Communion yesterday. Since I couldn’t make it, I brought a banner that we made together while I was down there:

Then, when I got back to Missouri some of other family members came up from Florida for my little sister’s graduation from the University of Missouri. They just left this morning:

Here’s a good pic of me and my sisters when we were all together yesterday (the one in the back, Carly, is the one who graduated – http://twitpic.com/5c9cf):

I’ve got a lot more in some photo albums on Facebook. I’m not sure if you can see them without being my friend, but you can try:

Album 1
Album 2
Album 3

(p.s.: if you’re on facebook please look me up and send me a friend request! Just make sure to indicate that you are a reader. I don’t usually accept friend requests from people if I don’t know them.

TOB Tuesday: Christopher West on ABC

ChelseaTheology of the Body, TOB Tuesday1 Comment

Last week ABC’s Nightline featured a segment on the Theology of the Body with an interview with TOB expert Christopher West:

As you can expect the six minute report did not exactly portray the Church teaching or West’s own views properly, which West discussed with CNS:

“The story [by ABC] sensationalized some of the sexual aspects,” West said.

“Certainly the Theology of the Body provides a beautiful vision for us of marital love. But to reduce the Theology of the Body to its teaching on sexual morality, or to some kind of Catholic version of a sex manual is terribly missing the mark.”

He said the ABC correspondents were generally “very professional” and “very interested” in giving a fair hearing to the Theology of the Body. However, the two hour interview and four hours of speaking footage had to be reduced to a 7-minute interview.

“I can understand why they put it together the way they did. They did a decent job,” he told CNA, but his concerns prompted him to encourage people to read his articles and books for “the very important context.”

Responding to ABC’s characterization of Hefner and Pope John Paul II as “heroes,” West said the statement was not given proper context.

“I never said Hugh Hefner is a hero, never,” he remarked, explaining that Hefner said he started Playboy as a personal response to the hurt and hypocrisy of Americans – Puritan heritage.

“The point I was making with ABC was that we as Catholics agree with Hefner’s diagnosis of the disease of Puritanism, a fearful rejection of the body rooted in heritage of Manicheanism. Sadly, that very important point did not come out in the interview.”

“Let the record stand very clearly: the pornographic revolution that Hugh Hefner inaugurated, the medicine that he suggested, proves to be in many ways more dangerous than the disease itself.

To get a more proper understanding of Christopher West’s explanation of JP II’s vision of the human person visit his website and check out his many books, articles and audio/video presentations.

TOB Tuesdays