The CBC’s Great Canadian Wish List

Here’s a fascinating look at the current controversy over legalized abortion in Canada. The CBC decided to team up with Facebook, asking Canadians to create their most wanted wish for the future of Canada.

Someone registered their wish to “Abolish Abortion in Canada.” Currently it’s in top spot. There’s already a huge number of postings (over 1700) on the discussion board for this Wish. The interesting thing is that Facebook will rank the wishes and CBC News will compile the most popular wish for Canada Day on July 1st.

It would be quite spectacular if the greatest wish in this survey turned out to be abolishing abortion in Canada. Some are already getting concerned. The CBC would be forced to cover the results. That would have to be good for the cause of the Unborn in Canada.

If you are already registered on Facebook why not join in supporting this Wish and increase its rating. If you are not a member, consider joining. It is really easy to get started. It's also free. You can sign up here.

It takes only a few minutes and could make the difference in keeping this wish at the top.

When You Choose To Abort, You Alter The Course Of History

So says Julia Gorin, self described as "religiously illiterate," whose life experience in Soviet Russia has provided her a very unique outlook on the "blessing" of a pregnancy.

Like most Soviet-era fetuses conceived in Russia by couples who were already parents, I was scheduled for abortion as a matter of course. In a society where abortion was the only form of birth control, where men didn't trouble themselves to "pull out," and some women had double-digit abortion counts, often the appointment would be scheduled before a couple even stopped to remember that they wanted a second child. My husband, also a second-born, and I were lucky to have been two such afterthoughts, each brought into the world thanks to a parent's change of heart.

Julia takes considerable issue with the feminist attitude to hammer home the glory of abortion.

The lessons of my family's experience are sharply at odds with frivolous campaigns like Ms. magazine's recent call on readers to sign a petition stating: "I have had an abortion. I publicly join the millions of women in the United States who have had an abortion in demanding a repeal of laws that restrict women's reproductive freedom."

In America, there is room to judge, despite what the "sanctity of choice" crowd wants us to believe. Yet rather than do that, my intention is to plant a seed of consideration that may otherwise never occur to America's reluctant with-child women and even girls.

Offering some personal testimony and wisdom gained from her own family, Julia makes the supreme practical point in regard to having [and keeping] children.

Rather than debate what it is we're killing, we should consider what we may be saving – for our sakes as much as for "its" own. When you choose to abort, you alter the course of history. While the child up for abortion may or may not be the next Einstein, saving his or her life could one day save yours.

Her final comments for reluctant mothers-to-be:

We don't have a crystal ball, but there's someone who does, and there is a reason for every stork he sends along. I am religiously illiterate, but I have come to understand on the most visceral level why pregnancies are called "blessings" – even if the blessing comes in disguise.

For all the reluctant mothers-to-be out there, you should know that when you're having even a momentary second thought, someone you can't see is whispering in your ear. Fortunately for my husband's and my families, on the third occasion our parents listened.

It's worth reading all of Julia's story.

YC Alberta 2007 A Smashing Success For Life

This past weekend, Vote Life, Canada! travelled to Edmonton to the YC Alberta youth conference. With an expected 16,000 participants it promised to be a very busy time indeed at the Vote Life, Canada! booth.

We were not disappointed.

Over the three days we were able to bring the message and plight of Canada’s Unborn to hundreds, perhaps thousands of young Christians. Thanks to a very generous donation by one Vote Life, Canada! supporter in particular, we had magazines, pamphlets, brochures, photographs, pens, wristbands, T-shirts, stickers, CD’s, DVD’s, fetal models, and more to give away to the youth. In all, we distributed about 8,000 promotional items.

Very importantly, we were able to get our Pastor and Church Leader Resource Kits into the hands of about 70 individuals and the vast majority of these pastors and leaders were very eager to receive them. Many, many seeds were sown in the hearts and minds of those who stopped by our booth and the expressions on the faces of many young people were strong testimony to the impact of hearing the truth about the battle for lives of unborn children.

Over 75 young people indicated an active concern to do something to assist in the cause of the Unborn and provided contact information in order for Vote Life, Canada! to do the necessary follow up. We were also able to expand our email database considerably.

Although we had hoped to be able to conduct a breakout session at YC we were too late in applying and there was no room for additional speakers but the event was nevertheless a great success.

Now comes the task of analyzing the Vote Life, Canada! presence at YC Alberta 2007 and planning the many changes and additions which will make it an even more powerful event at future youth conferences. Already there are dozens of exciting possibilities which seem to be unfolding and which hold great promise in assisting in the future protection of unborn children in Canada!

More updates to come!

News Briefs May 22-07

NYT studies evangelicals in the mist

Hot Air discusses the "new evangelicals," e.g. Rick Warren. Nice to know the NY Times still considers them conservative, but some of their comments, especially about child-killing, worry me.

EDITORIALS>>A preacher's legacy
If a pastor is God’s vicar on earth, his life ought to be measured by the number of souls that he saved or at least by his effort. More here on Jerry Falwell.

POLAND: Abortion Laws Not Strong Enough For Some
More commentary on Poland's abortion laws.

To help you decide
A contributor on "Defending the Truth" [!!!] forum tries to get some discussion going on the A-Word. The poor-choicers go snake-y as usual.
"God gave everyone a conscience. Here are some pictures to help you decide if abortion is right or wrong. : Abortion NO / The Center for Bio-Ethical Reform."

Academic Apostasy
Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer of HLI discusses "Why do Catholic colleges and universities honor those who are advocates and leaders of the Culture of Death?"

Uganda: Abortion Should Not Be a Criminal Offence
Commentary by Chairperson of the Uganda Human Rights Commission on why abortion should be decriminalized in Uganda. She starts out right away with the rape and incest card.

Sometime student who claimed to be doctor, astronaut or spy fools women
How easily abortion can happen. These were "attractive, ambitious professional women." Women looking for a man in all the wrong places.

Abortion Law in Canada > Duhaime Law
Canadian law firm Duhaime Law has a concise summary of abortion law in Canada.

British Woman Under Police Probe for Possible Illegal Late-Term Abortion
An unnamed British doctor has prompted a police investigation following a 28 wk. abortion. Apparently Britain has some regulation of abortion whereas Canada has NONE.

NC bishop crusades on social issues
Bishop Michael F. Burbidge of the Diocese of Raleigh was installed in August past. It sounds like he's hit the ground running. Let's hope he pushes back hard on the culture of death there in N.C.

Christian civilization in peril!
Mark Pickup voices concerns and cites examples such as "I think we have a number of indications, beginning with abortion on demand that is responsible for the global exterminating of more human life annually that all human life lost during the entire second World War!"

Free Catholic and Pro-Life Books for Bloggers
Want to get some free books, just for posting book reviews?

Teen pregnancies drop to a new low, abortions continue decline
CP reports on a recent study. The teenage pregnancy rate in Canada has hit an all-time low and the teen abortion rate has fallen to its lowest level in more than a decade, according to a new report.

SPECIAL: State Abortion Bans and Reversing Roe v. Wade: Helpful or Harmful?
Catholic Biomedical Ethicist asks the question.

Pro-abortion politicians honored at Catholic university
The pro-abortion supporter spoke during the ceremony at the university’s McLaren College of Business. At the same ceremony, the college honored former California lieutenant governor Leo T. McCarthy, also a pro-abortion supporter. Archbishop George Niederauer of San Francisco was present and was also honoured. What's really sad here is that Niederauer was one of Benedict's first appointees.

Arizona bishops condemn death penalty
“State-sanctioned killing, whether by unnecessary use of the death penalty or by the intrinsically evil actions of abortion and euthanasia, violates human life and dignity,” the Bishops said. Of course there's doctrine and then there's opinion.

Boys & Girls For Sale
Abortion advocates’ decades-long push to deny or downplay the humanity of the unborn child is bearing fruit. Grant Swank talks about the sad developments and has a good footnote on "Abortion and the Bible."

Teen pregnancy rate for region lower than national average
The Brockville Recorder and Times reports on teen pregnancy rates and sexual perversion of the youth in their region. "We teach them about their bodies, attitudes and personal responsibility," said Futcher. "Kids need to have a knowledge about how their bodies function and all the puberty issues." This information is necessary because some kids area already experimenting by age 12, she said.

Right...

Priests tell wayward politicians to resign from one or the other
Jill Stanek appreciates Father Pavone's and Euteneuer's stand re the eighteen pro-abort Catholic members of the U.S. House who had the gall to write a letter reprimanding the Pope about their own excommunication. Good item.

UCLA Student Exposes Planned Parenthood Cover-Up on 'O'Reilly Factor'
Lila Rose, an 18-year-old student from UCLA who recorded herself receiving controversial advice from a Planned Parenthood Los Angeles (PPLA), was on the “O’Reilly Factor” news program last Thursday night.

Pro-Family Christians Criticize Reliance on Flawed Anti-Abstinence Report
Naturally, abstinence is a terrible no-no in today's pleasure driven world and this new report is being held up by supporters as evidence to the failure of the nation’s abstinence-only program.

Tap Dancing Around Abortion
Ken Connor talks about Rudy Giuliani's effort to tap dance around the abortion issue.

CBE on Campus - Fun for the whole family?
A blogger's criticism of the CBR's (Centre for Bio-Ethical Reform) recent GAP display. No problem killing kids...you just can't let them see pictures of it.

Children Cramp Our Style Says George Jonas

George Jonas, National Post columnist, Canadian journalist, novelist, playwright, and poet crafts a subtle, and not so subtle, expose of child-killing.

Entitled "Children cramp our style," here's a sampling.

As I've written before, I'm not necessarily opposed to abortion, but then I'm not necessarily opposed to killing. Doing away with children can be a salutary act under a variety of circumstances, as anyone who has had experience with children can attest.

I could even be persuaded that we should let the mother be the arbiter of when to kill a child. King Solomon thought so; in fact, his reputation for wisdom rests upon this belief. True, Solomon also thought that no mother would lightly kill her child. He had the fixed idea that an authentic mother would rather give up her child than kill it, in which the good king might have been a trifle too optimistic.

h/t Relapsed Catholic

Open Letter to Calgary Bishop Frederick Henry From Vote Life, Canada! Re GAP Display By CCBR

Open Letter to Calgary Bishop Frederick Henry
from Vote Life, Canada!

May 21, 2007

RE: Recent Decision to Suppress GAP Display of the Canadian Centre for Bio-Ethical Reform


Your Excellency,

Sadly, previous efforts to appeal to His Excellency on the matters contained in this letter have been met with curt dismissals and in the last instance discourteous tones, and without the least effort to address any of the detailed concerns or the cases presented. It is a tragic moment when a Christian’s appeal to the Bishop on such a life and death issue goes unaddressed and even demeaned.

Your Excellency, day after day, year after year, the killing of the Unborn continues unabated in Canada. After nearly 40 years of legalized child killing in Canada, concerned Canadians seem to be left with no other alternative than to believe that little can be done and the evil must be accepted. However, Vote Life, Canada! insists that the lack of decisive action by Catholic Bishops, who are moral and spiritual leaders of society, is the chief contributing factor to the present holocaust of the Unborn.

Despite His Excellency’s reputation as a fierce defender of marriage, human rights and freedom of religion, something appears to be seriously amiss in His Excellency’s concept of defending Unborn life. Is His Excellency truly pro-life or is his pro-life stance only an illusion? After all, he is one of the few Bishops who has stated publicly in the past his willingness to deny Holy Communion to pro-abortion Catholic politicians, warning them they were risking their eternal salvation. His Excellency has been noted also as saying there is no "wiggle room" when it comes to the abortion issue in the Roman Catholic Church.

What then can account for His Excellency’s shocking judgment in his recent decision involving the pro-life organization Canadian Center for Bio-Ethical Reform (CCBR)? Who can be blamed for thinking the Bishop is swallowing camels and straining out gnats?

Catholic teaching has always been extremely clear on the evil of abortion. But the seamless garment of Catholic teaching on life has always been equally clear on the intrinsic evil of contraception. His Excellency is well aware that whenever Popes and orthodox theologians have discussed these two evils they have always been linked and condemned as fruits of the same tree, the tree of personal autonomy and rebellion against God, specifically in sexual matters. Indeed, by this measure, only those Bishops who vigorously and resolutely advance Catholic sexuality and oppose the evil of contraception in their own dioceses, as well as publicly, earn the label of “pro-life,” regardless of how vocal they may be on the evil of abortion itself. Your Excellency, is it compatible with Catholic teaching to think that abortion can ever be repulsed in Canada or anywhere else as long as Bishops remain silent on the subject of contraception? In fact, silence among Bishops regarding contraception is symptomatic of an even deeper more sinister spiritual infection which jeopardizes the very foundations of Canadian society.

Modern day Protestants, having lost sight of the biblical and Reformers’ ethic of life pertaining to sexuality and contraception, may legitimately and in good conscience join wholeheartedly in the fight against abortion purely on grounds of protecting Unborn lives created in the image of God. However, the sooner they rediscover that priceless aspect of the Christian ethic, the sooner will Protestants be equipped to better confront the culture of death. His Excellency knows full well though that Catholics, and particularly Bishops, have not the freedom of the Protestants on the matter of contraception but are duty bound to proclaim to all men the fullness of the faith for God’s glory and for the sake of the common good.

A more in depth examination of His Excellency’s record indicates that he has very carefully avoided the controversial subject of contraception, both in his diocese and publicly. In his diocese, by all reasonable indicators, Catholics contracept and sterilize themselves at the same rate as other dioceses in Canada, which tragically is about the same rate as the general population.

The Catholics under His Excellency’s care apparently do not grasp the contradiction nor the objective sacrilege caused by reception of the Eucharist, a sign of perfect communion with the Church, and the practice of an inherently evil activity. Again, by all reasonable indicators, the Catholics of His Excellency’s diocese are not being admonished that it is a mortal sin to use contraception or sterilize themselves, certainly not in homilies, which touch rarely if ever on the subjects of contraception or abortion. Incongruity in the Catholic ethic of life helps to account for the bizarre fact that rarely if ever is there a prayer uttered for the Unborn during Mass intentions, nor is child killing ever mentioned in a long list of social injustice issues that enjoys special emphasis and prayer in many parishes of the diocese.

Yet publicly and through pastoral letters His Excellency has rightly warned of the evils of homosexuality, adultery, prostitution and pornography and has made the bold Catholic claim, again rightly, that the State must use its coercive power to proscribe these evils in the interests of the common good. Yet contraception, a root that helps to sustain these evil branches, finds no mention and is never likewise condemned. His Excellency did his job well when he noted that an evil act remains an evil act whether it is performed in public or in private yet why has he not similarly exposed contraception as a prime and private evil?

Lest there should be any doubt in anyone’s mind as to the official Catholic position on precisely this matter, consider that only a few days ago Pope Benedict XVI, speaking to Latin American Bishops in Brazil, linked and condemned in the same sentence abortion and contraception and laws that permit them. Such laws, he said, are opposed to marriage and “threatening the future of peoples.” If His Excellency is to echo the truth of the Catholic faith, and in so doing help to destroy the strongholds of legalized child killing and same sex “marriage” in Canada, the Pope’s mindset is an essential one with which to start.

His Excellency rightly took Catholic politicians to task for supporting same sex “marriage,” an inevitable outgrowth of a contracepting and a resultant pro-homosexual society, warning that this was a scandal and a morally grave error and linked the loss of their salvation to such actions. Yet does he take the same care to loudly and proportionately warn the majority of Catholics of the similar danger they face by practicing the morally grave error of contraception? Is there “wiggle room” with the evil of contraception?

His Excellency fearlessly rebuked Prime Minister Jean Chretien for his support of same sex “marriage,” stating he would likely enforce Canon Law 915 and refuse the Prime Minister Holy Communion. Considering that Canon 915 states that those “… obstinately persevering in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to Holy Communion,” would His Excellency have similarly refused the Prime Minister if he were obstinately practicing contraception? Would he refuse parishioners of his diocese for that same obstinate sin? Yet, Your Excellency, is not a failure to do precisely that a failure to safeguard the Eucharist? The silence in this matter on the diocesan level continues to scandalize faithful Catholics.

In a rare move for Bishops, His Excellency wisely and bravely chose to deal with the destructive forces of gambling, an activity not inherently immoral or unjust by Catholic teaching, prevalent in the Calgary Catholic school board. His Excellency said at the time it was his job as a Bishop to ask his followers to confront a moral evil and, indeed, His Excellency rightly exerted his authority and forced the hand of the School Board to do just that. But what of the moral evil of contraception which Catholic teaching exposes as inherently and in every case evil?

His Excellency’s muteness concerning contraception is producing eternal consequences. The cost of such silence is not only the loss of souls but also the continued advance of the culture of death and sustained killing of Canada’s Unborn. If anybody could successfully defend these little ones with fearlessness and tenacity it would be His Excellency. God grant that it might yet be so. But first may God grant His Excellency repentance and may God help him to recover from the snare of the devil such that a sweeping and appropriate call to repentance and conversion of heart may be made throughout his diocese and to all of Canada, in similar fashion to His Excellency’s pronouncements on same sex marriage, gambling, and other matters crucial to the common good.

Vote Life, Canada! believes that too many Bishops, in their blatant disregard of or outright dissent from age old Catholic teaching on contraception and sexuality, have severely compromised their calling and succumbed to a grave and deadly spiritual weakness. It seems that His Excellency is also overtaken by this same weakness and that his perspective on what it means to be pro-life has been clouded. Having marginalized or ignored the root evil of contraception, His Excellency’s superficial treatment of pro-life incentives is akin to placing a band aid on a cancer. It also explains the recent and shocking betrayal of the pro-life movement and the scream of Canada’s Unborn when His Excellency sought to squelch the CCBR, an organization of extremely dedicated, well trained, and professional individuals. CCBR uses legitimate and peaceful means to educate Canadians and to expose the injustice of legalized child killing, although predictably many are offended by the sight of graphic images and much controversy is [purposely] generated.

Your Excellency, it is past time to stop making excuses for child killing in Canada and for Catholic Bishops to come clean on contraception, one of the root causes of the evil of abortion and a blinding impediment to true pro-life initiatives. Vote Life, Canada! is not suggesting that anti-contraceptive campaigns will, in and of themselves, put an end to abortion, but when Bishops speak loudly and clearly to the faithful in Canada on the intrinsic evil of contraception, only then can a groundwork be laid for a deeper understanding of our human sexuality and human life. From such an understanding will inevitably flow due respect and a restored legal protection in Canada for God’s precious gift of Unborn life.

Sincerely, and in solidarity with the least of Christ’s brethren,

Eric Alcock

President,

Vote Life, Canada!

Abortion Thwarts God's Beautiful Plans For Us

Here's a very touching video on YouTube that sends a strong message about what parents lose and what the world loses when, by legalizing abortion, we play God with the lives He sends us. In this case, thank God, nothing was lost.

Eliot was born with an undeveloped lung, a heart with a hole in it and DNA that placed faulty information into each and every cell of his body. However, that could not stop the living God from proclaiming Himself through this boy who never uttered a word.

It's a video called 99 Balloons and it's about a young couple who found out two months before their son Eliott was due to be born that he had Trisomy 18 or Edwards Syndrome and was not expected to make it out of the womb alive.

The doctors were wrong and in God's very unique way Eliott's life transformed his parents and also this world. Thank God Eliot was not a victim of abortion as so many in his circumstances are. Love made the difference. It always does.

YouTube link here.



h/t John Martignoni, Bible Christian Society

Focus On Life Fundraiser Held In Vancouver

Here's an interesting item from the B.C. Catholic Newspaper about the May 14 Focus on Life fundraiser. It certainly seems that BC has a strong and united pro-life movement. There were 750 in attendance at this event!

By all indications, Pro-Life BC is a model business in terms of saving lives and getting results. The Focus on Life media campaign, which it co-sponsors along with a number of different organizations, including the Archdiocese of Vancouver, is an on-going campaign using television to air woman-centred, life-affirming messages.

Father Frank Pavone of Priests for Life attended the event and addressed those present. As usual, Fr. Frank had encouraging things to say and helpful perspective for pro-lifers.

In his keynote address, Father Pavone scoffed at the pro-choice movement's claim of being pro-woman. He said the pro-choice position twists authentic feminism, and has a misperception of the connection between a mother and her unborn child.

"The so-called pro-choice movement has hijacked authentic Christian feminism and presented it as something else. It is presented as pro-woman by protecting their freedom of choice, but we stand by the woman and her child, and give her true choice!"

"The so called pro-choice movement will also tell you that the pro-lifers will stand by the baby, but that pro-choice advocates stand by the women. However, the pro-life movement says something completely different, because they recognize that the woman and her unborn child are not something that is separate. You cannot hurt one without also hurting the other."

The Focus On Life advertising campaign sounds very promising and effective. I hope that it will indeed achieve the goals envisioned.

These high quality, non-adversarial ads deal with sanctity of life themes and inform viewers where to find help for those experiencing crisis pregnancies or suffering from a past abortion. They direct women to the 1-877-88-WOMAN hotline, where abortion-minded women can receive counselling and hear about the alternatives to abortion. Over the months when the ads run, calls to the toll free number increase by roughly 600 per cent. Unfortunately, the group does not have enough money to keep the ads on the air for the entire year, and so the calls to the hotline drop off dramatically when the commercials are not running.

...snip

Focus on Life follows the model of Michigan Right to Life, which employed a similar ad campaign with great success. Since their media campaign, which runs year round, began in 1987, the abortion rate in Michigan has dropped 45.4 per cent. Pro-Life BC points out that if abortions drop that drastically in British Columbia, they would be saving the lives of 7,000 unborn children per year. They also point out that the major challenge for them right now is money.

Click through and read the whole article. It's not very lengthy.

Witness To Life Petition

John Pacheco, SoCon or Bust, has prepared a petition to His Grace Bishop James Wingle, President, Ontario Catholic Bishops Conference.

The petition arises out of the Bishop's correction of Premier Dalton McGuinty, a Catholic who publicly supports abortion.

The text of the John's petition appears below.

Suzanne Fortin of Big Blue Wave has created a similar relevant petition at GoPetition.com. Please take a minute and click through to the site and add your name if you are a Canadian and if you agree with the petition.

**********

Your Grace, We would like to commend and applaud you for your recent correction of Premier Dalton McGuinty regarding his public support for abortion, as reported by LifeSiteNews.

And although we believe it is important that you and the other bishops continue to correct these public figures and encourage them to abide by their faith, it is equally important for you take action and discipline them when they obstinately refuse to abide by that faith. The Code of Canon Law of the Catholic Church (Canon 915) makes it clear that

"those who obstinately persist in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to Holy Communion."

The solemn duty and obligation of ensuring that the Church's teaching and laws are respected by all of the faithful in both their public and private lives is the responsibility of the bishops. And yet, these public scandals by so-called Catholic politicians continue on year after year, and decade after decade with only token words and empty warnings from our bishops.

For forty years now since Pierre Trudeau, the Canadian faithful have had to endure this scandal from these political schizophrenics who have compartmentalized and ghettoized their faith out of the public arena to the point where scandal is more common place than a rare occurrence.

Your Grace, you are, first and foremost, our father in the faith. One of the principle duties of a father is to discipline. This discipline is necessary so that the family is not scandalized by deviant behaviour, and that each individual member of the family recognizes and respects the authority that has been given to the father. Where there is no discipline in the family, the children assume that the father cannot be serious about either his position in it or, for that matter, that which he seeks to defend.

It is time, your Grace, for the Bishops of Canada to heed Pope Benedict's message to the Mexican bishops and defend the honour of the Church and the Holy Eucharist by taking action against so-called Catholic politicians who continue to thumb their nose at the Church's solemn magisterium.

Mr. McGuinty is a wayward Catholic. He, and indeed all so-called Catholic politicians, need to be confronted with real consequences if they obstinately persist in supporting the slaughter of the innocents.

We are therefore asking you, as a representative of the bishops of Ontario, to inform Mr. McGuinty, who has long maintained the heresy that he espouses with full knowledge of what the Catholic Church teaches, that he must renounce his public position on abortion or else refrain from partaking of Holy Communion.

We are not asking for much, your Grace. We are merely asking you to do what you have been commissioned to do as father and teacher: defend our family, defend our holy faith, and most importantly in this instance, enforce the law.

Yours in Christ the King,

John Pacheco
Catholic Activist

Pro-Aborts Don't Believe In Freedom Of Speech

From the stomping grounds of St. John's NL comes this report about a rather rowdy call in show.

The one in question is the CBC CrossTalk segment at noon hour in North America's oldest city, St. John's and Patrick Hanlon, newly installed President of the Right to Life Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (NRTLA) was in the hotseat.

Patrick is a young man in his early twenties, totally committed to the doctrine of the sanctity of life and to the protection of the Unborn. Blogger Geoff Meeker writes:

I’ve heard many rowdy listener call-in shows, but none as boisterous as this. In fact, the racket it raised is still echoing within the corridors of the CBC.

....snip

Well-known activist Peg Norman was the first caller. And she went ballistic. I don’t know that I have ever heard such vitriol expressed on radio. You can hear the entire program by going to the Radio Noon Crosstalk archive. The content is so intense that it is disturbing at times, though Norman’s call off the top was probably the most shocking.

The talk show host, John Furlong, summed up the affair well:

I think one of the talkback callers that we had on said it best: ‘Your first pro-choice caller frightened me. Obviously, she does not believe in free speech. In her world, only her right to speak is sacred.’ That is so true.

Read Meeker's posting and consider writing to the CBC to express your support for host John Furlong and his program. Get the form here.

Gerry Falwell Lived What He Said He Believed

Rev. Gerry Falwell passed away yesterday at 73 years old. The media, as well as bloggers, are having their say. It seems Falwell was the kind of man you loved or hated.

In my judgment it's too bad Canada did not have a Gerry Falwell and a Moral Majority twenty years ago. He was a true friend of the Unborn and unlike the majority of Evangelicals of his time [and our time] he believed the Holy Scriptures regarding the sanctity of human life. He not only said so but he also acted like he believed it.

Somewhere in my review of all the farewells to Rev. Falwell, I read one of his editorials from 2002 entitled "Proudly Pro-Life." It says a lot to me, particularly since Falwell's words were backed up again by actions.

Canada is ready for serious political involvement by Christians and primarily at the most basic level of voting. Just as Falwell mobilized the Christians of America and changed the moral and political landscape, we can and must do likewise here in Canada.

In fact, we must do even better than he did if we are to see justice for Canada's Unborn. Let's get mobilized and get on with it.

Janet's Conversion To Christ

Read Janet's story which appears on Jill Stanek's blog. It's a near complete picture of the darkness of abortion and the light that Christ brings.

With so many professing Christians in Canada, why is it so difficult to pierce the darkness of abortion?

Lineup For Life

Re genocide pictures...not on this posting.

Sometimes a list is the only way to cover important ground.

Georgia looking to pass 'Paramount Right to Life' amendment A Georgia mother is working with state lawmakers on a measure that has one main goal: the total elimination of abortion in America.


Reports from World Congress of Families IV, Warsaw, Poland

• LifeSiteNews report here

• Writer observes Christian double standard on the family: A pro-family journalist says many traditional Christians and cultural conservatives love the natural family as a theory, but they do not like it as a specific way of life.

• Demographic expert says world's supply of children 'shrinking: A demographic expert says the ongoing global decline in fertility is the single-most powerful force affecting the fate of nations in the 21st century.

• Vital Signs Ministry reports on Warsaw Congress
  

Reporting on CBR's most recent Genocide Awareness Project: Portland, Oregon Pro-Life Activists Send Shock Troops to PSU Really great background on this story here.

Pro-Choice blogger blows off the GAP as no big deal.


Evangelical Mega Church pastor Rick Warren in the news again on the subject of abortion.

Well, not exactly. He's talking about a wonderful national plan for churches to get involved with adoption, but I have a problem with him criticizing those groups who he says have the "narrow" focus of merely speaking out against the crime of child killing. Does that mean we can't pronounce judgments on thieves just because we don't offer them good jobs and guaranteed income?

Smarten up Pastor Rick. We expect better from the author of "The Purpose Driven Life."


According to the National Abortion Federation, all Canadian doctors should be forced to perform abortion. Ted Byfield does a nice job with perspective.


In the London Free Press Rory Leishman writes: Canada's abortion laws shameful.


A blogger with definite thoughts on making abortion "safe, legal and rare." We need more Canadians with definite thoughts on child killing and how to stop it.


Albert Mohler reports on the parents of Down Syndrome children who have launched a crusade for Life. RealChoice blogger looks at the story too.


Big Blue Wave is specializing in video content these days. She must have shares in You Tube. She talks about a unique new video by John aka The Aborted Artist.


Blogger exposes lies and more lies from Planned Parenthood.


Dawkins is definitely overrated, and now he's stumped. One day God may see to it that he loses his mind altogether, that, like the great King of Babylon, his soul might be saved.

Fewer Canadian Mothers To Celebrate Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to those Canadian women who have fulfilled their godly responsibilities to "be fruitful and multiply."

Unfortunately, that biblical expression [actually God's FIRST commandment to mankind] engenders more than a little hostility from far too many Christian women. Nevertheless, to be truly Christian is to embrace ALL the commandments of God and to hold in high regard the expression of Christian tradition over the past 2000 years.

Yesterday, Margret Kopala, columnist for The Ottawa Citizen, wrote a piece entitled The decline of motherhood [subscription required], with the introduction

As we celebrate Mother's Day, we should pause to consider the social factors that keep more and more women from having children.

Margret tells of Canada's demographic decline and its likely consequence for most of us:

With 1.5 children per couple, our best hope is a quiet death in a clean facility where the immigrant workers speak our language.

She notes that Canada isn't the only country in this predicament and refers often to America Alone, Mark Steyn's self-described and penetrating rant on "demography, Islam and civilizational exhaustion."

She discusses the phenomenon of infertility as a contributing cause to Canada's demographic crunch but then confronts the "choice" mindset:

Nor do infertility statistics take into account those deciding not to have children or those resigned to missing the boat. On this front, Mark Steyn blames the "progressive agenda" -- abortion, gay marriage, endlessly deferred adulthood -- and he's right. He doesn't get into many specifics but they are easily identified. In the U.S., 48.5 million abortions since Roe v. Wade only slightly exceeds the estimated 47 million civilians lost in the Second World War. And, as the University of Calgary's Rainer Knopf predicted, gay marriage means any public distinction between procreative and non-procreative sexuality is now totally abandoned. The latest sad example? A hero's welcome on MTV for porn king and intersexual sodomy "expert" Ron Jeremy.

So we pump our young with pills, wrap them in condoms and, coming soon, jab them with vaccines hoping to prevent unwanted pregnancies, STDs and, now, cervical cancer. This in the name of denying their capacity for personal responsibility by advocates who wouldn't shake hands with each other if they had a cold.

Margret touches on some political realities as well and the huge obstacles to achieving the kind of changes that might rescue us from our own awful behaviour.

Universal screening may be the only solution for the STD epidemic. And if smoking can be stigmatized, so can other behaviours. Cleaning up our air, water and food and, while we are at it, the airwaves too, would also help. Those who want pornographic services should be required to fetch them elsewhere.

Parents need meaningful support from civil society as well as government. Housing prices that require two incomes make starting a family untenable -- a problem exacerbated by immigration policies that raise real estate prices while ostensibly compensating for the children we aren't producing. But within one generation, immigrants adopt our reproductive habits.

As Canadian Christians we should be disturbed by the picture that Margret paints for us [and increasingly more Canadian journalists bring to us] because by every measure it points to a tragic and bleak future.

Yet the greater tragedy would be for Christians to be resigned to such a future or to imagine there is nothing which can be done about it. Granted, it will require nothing less than a great conversion, a huge revival, in the hearts of Christians throughout Canada, but the big question, and only important one, is: Will you allow God to start that revival in you?

This question is bigger still for the Canadian Christian woman who is not yet a mother but who is held back by choice.

As I said, such comments can engender hostility, but considering our future, it's worth the risk.

David Warren: I Hate Nanny

Do you read David Warren's articles? I have his commentary emailed to me regularly and I usually find something insightful and encouraging from his comments. However, be warned! I have a strong feeling that many Canadians avoid him completely.

Last week, after returning from vacation, Warren confesses

The sense that one is returning from vacation to a madhouse is on me again. The question of whether democracy was really such a great idea bubbles again to the surface.

In speaking of our Nanny State, he explains what we are facing in order to change our dependency.

Yet neither do I see a plausible way to claw back the Nanny State, by conventional political means. For we have all, to greater or lesser extent, grown into its machinery. No one agrees to be the first unplugged from its cumbersome and arbitrary and often morally malignant life-support apparatus. The whole machine will have to break down, before the people attached to it can be set free. In the meantime we feel compelled by the illusion that the machine is capable of perpetuating itself and preserving us -- even after we, the people, have largely ceased to have babies, or make net contributions to the tax furnace that heats the engine that drives the machine.

One could easily include legalized abortion in the "morally malignant life-support apparatus" of which Warren speaks. He himself detests the current state of child killing going on in Canada.

I'm not so sure though that Warren understands the true significance and potential of the Church in returning our society to "a wise moral and spiritual order." He makes these comments:

This means in turn rebuilding the Church, and the many allied, non-governmental institutions that reinforce a wise moral and spiritual order. For I am not among the naïve who think that men and women are naturally sanctified. Guidance we need, and will always need: but guidance in freedom, not an elected minder that makes all free choices on our behalf.

Looking at the "Church" today and the "churches" of our day, it is not surprising that few Canadians understand the powerful commission entrusted to the Apostles by Jesus Christ and the attendant authority given to Christians as a Body. As a result they fail to see that the absolute starting point for a wise and moral spiritual order in any society is the Church. It's not a matter of ALSO rebuilding and reforming the Church, in addition to focusing on other components of society.

Rather, EVERYTHING [in respect to justice and the moral order] depends upon the Church in much the same way that the garment depends entirely upon the knitter. The garment's strength, durability, and even it's practical usefulness depends upon the one doing the knitting. The choice of wool, its colour, strength and manner of weaving, all factor into the finished product. Yes, society must have a garment and will always wear its garment and for the most part will be known by its garment, but that garment is woven by the Church, the worldwide Body of Christians.

That's why the solution to any particular moral difficulty, such as legalized child killing, is to be found in the Church. Political, social, and even educational solutions can never solve the problem unless their efforts find their origins in the work and initiative of the Church.

A Few Good (Young) Men Needed

Albert Mohler discusses the 21st Century young men who make up the Army [Yeah, I'm sure Canada's soldiers will more or less fall into his American soldier categories].

It's an interesting look at today's generation because, as Mohler notes

Inevitably, the armed services are a mirror held up to the nation. When we look at our soldiers, we see the profile of a generation.

After giving credit to the Army for doing something right in "transforming several thousand young men from this generation each year and turning them into soldiers," he asks

How about the Church? How is the Church faring in its own challenge to reach this generation of young men... Are we seeing them transformed from boys into men, from followers into leaders, from undisciplined young males into faithful disciples of Jesus?

I certainly hope many in this generation are being reached but I fear the numbers are falling far short. As Mohler says,

If anything, our challenge is greater than that faced by the Army. Beyond that, the stakes are even higher for the Church than for the military.

Since the Church forms a society morally and spiritually, the stakes are unquestionably higher for an entire generation. That's why this event, although not well reported at all by the media, generates so much promise and hope.

In The Wake Of Choice

Michelle Malkin "vents" [in a good way] on a new pro-life video "In The Wake Of Choice" which documents the effects of abortion in a pro-choice world. The trailer is available here.

Filmmaker Miguel S. Campbell follows Ann Marie Cosgrove [Silent No More Minnesota] as she talks with people affected by abortion. Women, men, families and friends bravely share their stories. See the pain of living with a terrible secret. Come to understand the suffering in silence. Experience the journey toward healing. Find the hope that begins to grow. We live in a world full of choices. This film documents the effects of abortion in a pro-choice world.

You can buy the DVD for US $15 online here.

Calgary Bishop Henry Stonewalls Pro-Life Group CCBR

Now that LifeSiteNews.com has joined with a former news service [April 26-07] in announcing Bishop Henry's opposition to the Canadian Centre for Bioethical Reform, one can only hope that the Bishop will reconsider his hardline stance.

Frankly, I'm surprised and disappointed that LifeSiteNews did not suggest readers contact the Bishop's office to [politely] register their concerns. Perhaps this indicates the degree of confusion among even pro-lifers on the subject of graphic images and the [peaceful] "ends" that must be pursued to protect the Unborn.

When I was first alerted to the news item from April 26 by Catholic Online I was shocked to say the least. I immediately set about to appeal to the Bishop on this matter because the implications of the Bishop's decision, in my opinion, are far reaching indeed for the pro-life movement. After a very lengthy and very careful labour I finished my [polite and respectful] letter to the Bishop requesting a reconsideration of his verdict against CCBR.

Sadly, yesterday, on the same day as the LifeSite story, I received a terse and discourteous dismissal of my letter, with no reference whatever to any of my detailed concerns or to the case I presented.

Suddenly I realize that opposition to the killing of unborn children by "pro-life" parties is much more qualified and nuanced than even I had expected.

We have a very tough struggle ahead of us. God help the Unborn in Canada in the meanwhile, twelve per hour, every hour, every day of the year.

Canada Marches For Life In 2007

Today, thousands of Canadians will be marching to Parliament Hill in Ottawa in an effort to bring attention and justice to the plight of Canada's Unborn.

Campaign Life Coalition first announced details of the event in March past and takes the lead in organizing this event yearly in Canada.

The March for Life webpage announces "Justice for the unborn," and provides an overview of the three day program, as well as some pictures and other thought provoking material.

If you'd like to support the walk but can't attend, there's a way you can help. Please add your support by going to the website and making a Candle Pledge. Candles can be pledged for a minimum of $2.00. Please fill in the pledge form and join in spirit with pro-lifers on that day. Pledges also help defray the substantial organizing costs.

Any country that accepts abortion is not teaching its people to love, but to use any violence to get what they want. . . . the greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion, because it is a war against the child, a direct killing of the innocent child.

Mother Teresa

Pope Arrives In Brazil-Abortion Debate Heats Up

I hope you'll be able to follow the news coming out of the Pope's visit to Brazil over the next five days. It is certain to be a visit centred almost entirely on the battle to make the killing of unborn children legal.

Perhaps you are not Catholic and you wonder what good it will do for you to follow these developments. I say simply: Give the news a reasonable amount of your attention and it will surprise you what you'll learn over these next few days. I am certain it will benefit you in your efforts to understand the social dimension of abortion which is never far from the spiritual.

I hope all Christians will consider taking advantage of this rare opportunity to deepen their insight and strengthen their opposition to the holocaust of abortion.

This New York Times report indicates the Pope stepped immediately into the middle of the controversy upon his arrival today in Brazil:

Upon his arrival at São Paulo’s international airport, the pope said in a speech that the church "will not fail to insist on the need to take action to ensure that the family, the basic cell of society, is strengthened," according to Reuters. And he reiterated his firm opposition to abortion.

The controversy over Brazil’s abortion policy began on Monday, when Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the president of Brazil, said in a radio interview with Roman Catholic radio stations that he was of two minds on abortion. Though personally opposed, he said, as president he believes that “the state cannot abdicate from caring for this as a public health question, because to do so would lead to the death of many young women in this country.”

The article notes that Brazil currently performs between one and two million abortions illegally. If abortion becomes legal in Brazil, imagine the horrible toll of death that will follow.

God help the unborn children. God help the people of Brazil.

Playing Catch-Up For Life

There's a long list of news and articles of interest and benefit to the Christian concerned about the defense of human life in our time. I've been falling behind so I'll play catch up here and now.

Speaking of a book released just recently by the National Geographic Society entitled In the Womb, Albert Mohler says, "One Look and Your Eyes Are Opened!" He notes

The public discussion about the power of ultrasound and modern imaging technologies has revealed something fascinating -- the pro-abortion movement does not want us peering into the womb. The view inside the womb transforms the moral debate over abortion. Once that image is seen, the vocabulary necessarily changes.

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MInTheGap also writes on the power of the ultrasound.

But my sympathy for the beliefs of people who oppose abortion is enormous, and it grows almost by the day. An ultrasound image taken surprisingly early in pregnancy can stop me in my tracks. In it is much more than I want to know about the tiny creature whose destruction we have legalized: a beating heart, a human face, functioning kidneys, two waving hands that seem not too far away from being able to grasp and shake a rattle.

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Chuck Colson warns America about the "soothing lies" coming out of China and the need for Christians to "insist that the price of business cannot include acquiescence to evil." That same message of Christians speaking up against evil--all kinds-- is urgent for Canadians as well. Will we heed the message in time?

A few weeks ago, Liane Yage, a pastor in China’s Guangxi province and his wife, Wei Linrong, were expecting their second child. Since enforcement of China’s infamous “one-child policy” has reportedly become more lax, they expected to get away with paying a fine—a small price for having a second child.

That’s not what happened. On April 16, officials invaded their home and told Wei that she must have an abortion, which, as a Christian, she refused. Officials made it clear that if she did not go voluntarily, they would carry her to the hospital.

When Wei was taken to the hospital, she saw that it was “full of women who’d been brought in forcibly”—some to be sterilized and others for abortions. Wei was given three injections in her abdomen and, within two days, delivered a still-born child.

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Here's a few personal stories touching the "A-word," aka Killing of the Unborn.

Anna Chernocke has a fascinating story of a last minute change of heart that saved her a lifetime of grief. It's also a very unusual account of the abortion doctor's response. Read it. You'll be glad you did!

The Anchoress is carrying a post entitled Resisting “the big T(ermination)” in pregnancy. It's another one of the "miracle in the womb" stories where the doctor's dire predictions of the child's survival proved mysteriously wrong.

Here's a man who admits that every abortion, not only the partial birth kind, is a gruesome one and then sets about to have two of the four unborns in his wife's womb killed. Not a pretty story at all and no nice ending but it will give you insight into the heartless thinking of those forced to make the Choice.

Cynthia Collins, Louisiana State Leader, says "During one abortion, part of my baby was left inside … Abortion hadn’t solved my problem, it added to my pain.”

From the Florida Baptist Witness: Cathleen Gray shared some life lessons in her new book Good Morning, Beautiful to encourage other women who may be struggling with past sins and depression, including sins of abortion.

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LifeSiteNews.com reports UK Clinic to Weed Out Embryos for Cosmetic Defects. This shouldn't be so surprising. It's in the nature of evil to demand more and more of the souls of its victims. The slippery slope leads all the way to hell, doesn't it?

Doctors at a British fertility clinic will begin screening embryos for cosmetic defects, the first time a license to do so has been issued in the country.

A business man and his wife applied to London’s Bridge Centre family clinic for screening procedures to ensure an embryo would be created without the father’s genetic eye disorder--the man and his father both have an eye condition which gives them a severe squint.

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Expect to hear quite a lot of news coming out of Brazil this week, considering the Pope's five day visit starts on Wednesday. Brazil is in serious state of confusion on the question of killing the Unborn and the Pope is expected to speak out very directly on the subject.

Pope Benedict XVI has changed his schedule in the last few days so he might have more time to prepare the speeches he will make in Brazil. The Brazilian government seems impatient to know what are the themes the pontiff wishes do discuss with Lula, in the meeting they are going to have on Thursday, May 10.

The Vatican has already made it clear that the guest country doesn't decide the themes to be discussed by the pope and that Brazil, at most, can give suggestions of what it would like to talk about. The Church has hinted, however, that Benedict XVI will have a strong message against abortion. He should also discuss the flight of catholics to evangelical churches.

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David Gushee on being consistently pro-life. Widen your perspective on life issues and the Christian.

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The facts are there of how society has been duped by the lies of pro-abortion forces for many decades, particularly in the years preceding the legalization of child-killing. Dave Kopel provides an excellent flashback from a Colorado viewpoint. In 1967 Colorado was the first state to legalize abortion. Kopel says the state was duped big-time!

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I'll try to cover more in the next post!