Press Release: Vote Life, Canada! Decries Honours Heaped by Montreal’s Cardinal Turcotte on Chief Justice Antonio Lamer

Distributed to the media and posted today to the Vote Life, Canada! website:

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Vote Life, Canada! Decries Honours Heaped by Montreal’s Cardinal Turcotte on Chief Justice Antonio Lamer, One of Chief Architects of Canada’s Culture of Death

Contact: Eric Alcock, President, Vote Life, Canada! 709-773-0700

Toronto, ON December 11/Christian Newswire—The recent funeral of Canada’s former Chief Justice Antonio Lamer was presided over in Montreal’s Cathedral by Cardinal Jean-Claude Turcotte who described Lamer as "a giant of the law," claiming that his passion for justice would make the whole world more peaceful and serene and intimating that his style of justice pleased God.

“What scandalous and absurd remarks were these and others made by the Cardinal,” protests Eric Alcock, President of Vote Life, Canada! “This event illustrates well the case made in our “Open Letter” that the Catholic Bishops of Canada are sustaining and fostering a pseudo-catholicism which has overtaken Canada and fatally blinded the vast majority of Catholics to the true tenets of Catholicism.”

The truth says Alcock, is that “Lamer practically denied the concept of Common Good, as set forth by Church teaching, and pursued his own perverse notion of individual liberty and autonomy as a democratic right, thereby denying God’s true justice.”

“Incredibly, by his own testimony at times, he sought to divorce legal considerations from morality, the Judeo-Christian tradition, and the absolute law of God, urging Canadians to accept the secular nature of Canadian society demanded by the Charter of Rights. This is the secularization link to which Catholic Bishops like Marc Ouellet appear blind; a link which starts in every Bishop’s own diocese through a failure to adopt a faithful (to official teachings), comprehensive and determined approach to Catholic catechesis and exacerbated by a serious neglect of Catholic discipline mandated by Holy Scripture and Tradition. Both failures make it impossible to prevent—and rout—the radical anti-life and anti-family politics or ‘democracy’ espoused by renegade Catholics like Lamer.”

“A solid orthodox Catholic faith would have uniquely positioned Lamer to guide Canada safely through the choppy complex waters of Charter interpretations for the greater Common Good of Canada,” observed Alcock. “But his pseudo-catholic faith, imbibed and lived out approvingly under the tutelage of Canada’s pseudo-catholic Bishops, led rather to the dismemberment of millions of unborn children and also the intense assault on family and marriage.”

Alcock maintains that Lamer’s spurious Catholicism and the nation-wide scandal it spawned ought to have provoked the firm rebuke and correction of some Canadian Bishop aiming to preserve the Common Good, protect the innocent and defenseless and save faithful Catholics and other Christians from devastating confusion. According to Catholic teaching, scandal is defined as “an attitude or behavior which leads another to do evil.”

“The fact that not one Canadian Bishop is on record addressing this long term national scandal testifies to the pervasive and spiritually corrupting effect of pseudo-catholicism. The lukewarmness, heresy or in some cases outright rebellion towards official Church teachings by Canada’s Bishops has clearly left them susceptible to gross deception and manipulation by the devil.

“What a grievous time in our nation’s history when the most urgent and charitable work in Canada is to summon Catholic Bishops, the God given shepherds of our nation, to flee the wrath of God and return to the true faith.”

Attention: LifeSiteNews Readers

LifeSiteNews.com has linked to the latest Vote Life, Canada! press release which concerns Cardinal Ouellet.

If you have been directed here by LifeSite, the press release is entitled "Vote Life, Canada! Calls on Cardinal Marc Ouellet to Stop Whimpering to Caesar..." and can be found here or here.

Readers are strongly urged to also read the Open Letter to the Catholic Bishops of Canada written by Vote Life, Canada!

More on Cardinal Ouellet as an Apologist for Pseudo-Catholicism in Canada

The Vote Life, Canada! press release issued this morning has fired up a number of angry parties. Some of those parties simply ruled out the message of the press release owing to the fact that Cardinal Marc Ouellet was being criticized. Apparently, as far as these people are concerned, some things simply may not ever be said, regardless of whether true or not, and regardless of whether related to the killing of thousands—no, millions—of innocent human beings.

I suppose it’s just too overwhelming. Indeed it is.

Thus far, I have heard only emotional reactions to the press release. Nobody has offered a counterargument to the statements made about the Cardinal. Some have jumped to extreme conclusions without doing any homework, without even following through on the links referenced and without making the effort to keep the remarks of the press release in context.

For those who are struggling with this press release, I urge you at a minimum to read carefully the Open Letter to the Catholic Bishops of Canada written in June past. Also, since I signed off on the press release, I remind readers that my own personal profession of faith appears online and I stand by it.

I welcome comments and discussion and if warranted, I am ready to provide more evidence to corroborate the criticisms of Cardinal Ouellet.

Press Release: Vote Life, Canada! Calls on Cardinal Ouellet to Lead Like a True Apostle of Christ

Distributed to the media and posted today to the Vote Life, Canada! website:

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Vote Life, Canada! Calls on Cardinal Marc Ouellet to Stop Whimpering to Caesar—Lead Like a True Apostle Not an Apologist for Canada’s Deadly Pseudo Catholicism

Contact: Eric Alcock, President, Vote Life, Canada! 709-773-0700

Toronto, ON November 13/Christian Newswire— “Nothing sustains the killing of unborn children in Canada like the widespread practice of a false and corrupted Catholic faith,” says Eric Alcock, President of Vote Life, Canada! “and Cardinal Ouellet’s recent remarks have only obfuscated the true nature of the Catholic crisis.

“In a disgraceful capitulation to the worldly powers represented by the Bouchard-Taylor Commission on Oct. 30, Cardinal Marc Ouellet pleaded for respect for religion and begged the secular fundamentalists to ease up because they were to blame for destroying the soul of Quebec,” observed Alcock.

Alcock insists the evidence shows the secularization of Quebec society has essentially been a reaction rooted in a profound distrust of the Catholic faith which for decades has been shockingly perverted by the Bishops as described in the recent Open Letter by Vote Life, Canada! “Longstanding worldly compromise by Canada’s Catholic Bishops has so dulled their spiritual senses that, like Cardinal Ouellet, they no longer recognize their own role in society.”

Alcock explained that where the three-fold role of a Bishop to teach, to sanctify and to rule is carried out faithfully, a society cannot but advance from paganism into Christianity and from imperfect expressions of Christian living to more perfect expressions of God’s will for society. He notes the history of Western civilization has testified to this reality. “Where (Christian) societies have regressed into paganism or atheism—otherwise known as secularization—the failure and corruption of Bishops is traceable. Quebec society is no different nor is Canadian society.”

"In a tragic display of swallowing camels and straining out gnats, rather than hammering renegade ‘Catholic’ and priest politicians—whose secularist mindset devastates Canada’s common good—the Cardinal disciplines only little old women praying their rosaries and rebellious deluded priests who, while deserving excommunication, pose no ‘secular’ threat whatever.

“Cardinal Ouellet is looking everywhere for answers except in the mirror. In his desperate attempt to blame ‘secular fundamentalists,’ the Cardinal has indicted himself and his colleagues. A true Catholic faith generates authentic Christian living and sanctifies the surrounding community while earning its respect. The pseudo-catholic religion portrayed by the Cardinal is a victim of ‘anti-Catholic’ forces and the media and needs to be recognized, respected and propped up by the State for its continued existence.

“The Cardinal intimates that God’s promises are insufficient to preserve society, even the Church. But it’s really the Cardinal who must learn respect for religion—respect for a true Catholic faith which has power to purify and displace the most diabolical secularism, from the degenerate culture of the Roman Empire to the very gates of hell. But hell is another unmentionable reality in pseudo-catholic rhetoric—even to society in grave need of warning.

“Rather than calling for national fasting and repentance the Cardinal is counting on a magic cure—the International Eucharistic Congress—where he hopes revival will ensue. But the Cardinal ought to look once more to history to learn that great national revivals are always preceded by bold preaching and profound repentance. Bishops, please lead the way.”

Press Release: Vote Life, Canada! Finds Catholic Bishops Still Place Low Priority on Amnesty’s Threat to Unborn Children

Distributed to the media and posted today to the Vote Life, Canada! website:

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Vote Life, Canada! Reviews Annual Plenary Report of Canada’s Catholic Bishops—Threat to Unborn Children by Amnesty International Still Rates Low on Priority List

Contact: Eric Alcock, President, Vote Life, Canada! 709-773-0700

Toronto, ON November 7/Christian Newswire—“Tragically, news reports confirm Amnesty International (AI) has commenced abortion advocacy internationally,” laments Eric Alcock, President of Vote Life, Canada! “but Canada’s Bishops maintain their laissez-faire attitude.”

In an August press release, Vote Life, Canada! complained that ominous indicators of AI’s plans, like threatening letters from terrorists, surfaced early in 2006. Yet this new global threat elicited simply a ho-hum “We’ll be disappointed” comment posted on the CCCB website in July 2006.

A short three months after posting this comment the Bishops held their 2006 Plenary Assembly which, insists Alcock, “should have been a beehive of strategic thinking for the Bishops to spearhead a powerful and effective mobilization of Catholics against the Amnesty move.

Yet official documents released after the 2006 Plenary Assembly indicate no discussion whatever of the Amnesty threat. Alcock is at a loss to explain “the tragic blindness and indifference of the Bishops to this worldwide threat to unborn children.” He notes this astounding failure was further compounded by the prolonged silence of the Bishops throughout 2007.

Incredibly, reports Alcock, “even since AI announced its official new policy in Mexico City in August past—while Bishops elsewhere in the world have been severing connections with AI—the Bishops of Canada have been silent on the matter.”

“Their silence still prevails, as it did in Canada nearly forty years ago when the abortion door cracked open in Canada.” Alcock claims the persistent call from Vote Life, Canada! has been the only voice on record in Canada holding Bishops accountable for their negligence in the AI affair.

Finally, last month’s 2007 Plenary Assembly announced the AI issue as an agenda item. Yet, exclaims Alcock, “The Bishops seem to be allergic to action when it comes to defending the Unborn. The item did not garner sufficient concern and consensus from the totality of Bishops at the Plenary and was referred to the Permanent Council for later decision!”

Referring to Amnesty International, the CCCB President was quoted as saying, “What a paradox that the smallest of human beings – unborn children – are now being put at risk by those who should be their defenders.”

“Paradox indeed but the irony of this statement obviously escaped the Bishop,” exclaims Alcock. “Who more than the Bishops of Christ’s Church are called to defend human life with all their might and influence? And what of those who take no action—or ineffective action—to stop the killers?”

Press Release: Vote Life, Canada! Welcomes New Archbishop of St. John’s NL and Calls for Rebirth of Catholic Leadership and Defense of Unborn Children

Distributed to the media and posted today to the Vote Life, Canada! website:

Friday, October 19, 2007

PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Vote Life, Canada! Welcomes New Archbishop of St. John’s NL and Calls for Rebirth of Catholic Leadership in the Province Accompanied by Vigorous Defense of Unborn Children

Contact: Eric Alcock, President, Vote Life, Canada! 709-773-0700

St. John’s, NL October 19/Christian Newswire—Vote Life, Canada! congratulates St. John’s newest Archbishop, Most Rev. Martin Currie and strongly appeals for a new era of authentic Catholic leadership and a ray of hope for the Unborn of NL.

“For too long,” says Eric Alcock, President and NL Provincial Director of Vote Life, Canada, “unborn children in this province have been denied the human rights bestowed upon them by their Creator. As a result, an estimated 30,000 have perished in NL since child-killing was legalized in Canada.”

Alcock notes very sadly that for at least the last four decades, under the nurture of Catholic Bishops in his home province of Newfoundland and Labrador (NL), “the rise of a pseudo-Catholic culture has had devastating consequences for both the practice of a genuine Catholic faith and a successful opposition to the culture of death.”

Despite the daily slaughter of nearly 300 of Canada’s Unborns, Alcock says the Bishops of St. John’s, like those in other parts of Canada, busy themselves with, and boast of, their strong social justice initiatives focusing on issues like drinking water supplies and immigration.

“Our previous Archbishop,” reports Alcock, “was involved in advancing recommendations to government concerning immigrants and refugee claimants, claiming that laws and politics are placing national interests before human dignity.” News media quoted the Archbishop as saying that “it's part of our Christian ethic to welcome the stranger," and that “we need to recognize that migrants enrich our Canadian life.”

But, Alcock asks, “When have we seen such concern for the human dignity of the Unborn? Do they not ‘enrich our Canadian life?’ Is it not ‘part of our Christian ethic’ to prevent unprovoked, murderous attacks upon the innocent?”

Alcock claims the rarity of pro-life appeals in parishes along with “virtual silence on the subject of abortion in homilies and prayers at Masses throughout the province insulates Catholics from any reminders of the child-killing taking place around them. It also serves to marginalize advocates of unborn children and distances them from the Christian community, portraying them as extremists.”

Vote Life, Canada! says to the new St. John’s Archbishop: Rise up and do the work of a true Catholic Bishop. Vigorously proclaim the Catholic faith and refuse to pander to a pseudo-catholic religion that breeds for our society the true extremists: anti-life and anti-family renegades who call themselves “Catholic.” Lead this province in a campaign of justice for the Unborn.

The Call from Vote Life, Canada! for Catholic Bishops to Convene Emergency Session is Thankfully Getting Some Traction

The press release issued yesterday by Vote Life, Canada! calling on the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops to immediately address the problem of pro-abortion “Catholic” priests and politicians in Canada has been catching the attention of news outlets and bloggers.

Below are links to some of the stories I’ve seen this morning. If you care about the plight of unborn children, please give this story more attention in whatever way you can in hopes the Bishops will get a taste of the outrage and realize steps must be taken.

Pro-Life Group: Canada's Bishops Should Address Abortion, Communion
LifeNews.com - Helena, MT, USA
The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) meets next week for its annual Plenary Assembly and a leading pro-life group says they should take up the issue of pro-abortion politicians and communion. Vote Life Canada wants the bishops to call an emergency session to address what is calls an "ongoing scandal.

Vote Life, Canada! Requests Emergency Session of Canadian Bishops
EWTN News—USA
According to Eric Alcock, the President of Vote Life, Canada!, “Just last week, Catholics in Canada were scandalized by the television appearance of Father Raymond Gravel, Catholic priest/politician, who once again unabashedly expressed his support for both homosexuality and abortion."

Vote Life, Canada! requests emergency session of Canadian bishops
As the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) prepares to convene next week for its annual Plenary Assembly, the organization, Vote Life, Canada!, is calling for an emergency session to investigate how priestly actions contrary to the Church, have impacted the Canadian people.
CNA - Daily News - http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/

Canadian Bishops to Convene, emergency session requested, cite Abp Burke
By Blogger Thomas Peters
The organization "Vote Life, Canada!" is calling upon next week's plenary assembly of Canadian Bishops to do something decisive about the recent string of priestly public scandals. They are calling on the CCCB to have an emergency session to address, as they describe it "ongoing scandal and devastation caused in Canada by renegade Catholic priests and politicians.
AmericanPapist: Not Your Average Catholic

Press Release: Vote Life, Canada! Appeals to Catholic Bishops to Deal with Pro-Abortion “Catholic” Priests and Politicians in Emergency Session

Vote Life, Canada! Appeals to Conference of Catholic Bishops to Schedule Emergency Session at Plenary Assembly to Deal with Canada’s Scourge of Pro-Abortion “Catholic” Priests and Politicians

Contact: Eric Alcock, President, Vote Life, Canada! 709-773-0700

Toronto, ON October 9/Christian Newswire— The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) meets next week for its annual Plenary Assembly and Vote Life, Canada! is pleading with them to call an emergency session to address the ongoing scandal and devastation caused in Canada by renegade Catholic priests and politicians.

“Just last week,” says Eric Alcock, President of Vote Life, Canada! “Catholics in Canada were scandalized by the television appearance of Father Raymond Gravel, Catholic priest/politician, who once again unabashedly expressed his support for both homosexuality and abortion.”

Alcock explained that although the Vatican forbids priests from political office, Gravel’s Bishop granted him permission and even though still a priest he has suffered no known discipline for his public endorsements of grave sinful behaviour.

“If so called Catholic priests may publicly flout the weightiest Church teachings with impunity what hope is there,” asks Alcock, “that pro-abortion politicians will take seriously the directives of their Catholic faith to uphold the common good of society? It is these very politicians whose pro-abortion leadership of Canada over the past 38 years has directly led to legalized child-killing and the deaths of over three million unborn children.”

Alcock considers this latest outrage to be “insufferable and Bishops ought to act immediately to rectify this epidemic of rebellion. The Plenary Assembly is a perfect opportunity to undertake an emergency corrective.”

Alcock strongly recommends the Canadian Bishops follow the lead of St. Louis Archbishop Raymond Burke who insists the consistent position of the church has been that both priests and bishops are morally obligated to deny Holy Communion to wayward Catholics, particularly politicians. Burke is one of the sharpest legal minds in the Catholic Church and a sitting member of the Vatican's highest judicial authority. Just this past week a national association of 600 priests & deacons publicly endorsed Burke’s campaign to have fellow US Bishops create new guidelines for Holy Communion at the upcoming annual conference.

“Burke’s insistence that such guidelines protect the sacredness of the Eucharist, safeguard the salvation of the individual’s soul as well as protect the Catholic faithful from scandal are echoed in the Open Letter to the Catholic Bishops issued by Vote Life, Canada! in June past,” noted Alcock.

“Only when the Bishops of Canada provide spiritual leadership of a genuinely Catholic caliber will this nation be ready to re-institute legal protections for the Unborn.” Alcock urged, “Let that leadership start next week.”

Press Release: Eric Alcock, President of Vote Life, Canada! Pursuing Human Rights Complaint against RSAC and Local Police

Further to the incident last month involving the arrest of Eric Alcock.

**********

Monday, October 1, 2007

PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Eric Alcock, President of Vote Life, Canada! Pursuing Human Rights Complaint against Religious Social Action Coalition and Royal Newfoundland Constabulary

Issued by:
Vote Life, Canada!
NL Provincial Directorate
4 Hickey’s Rd.,
Paradise, NL A1L3J3

Contact: Eric Alcock, President and NL Provincial Director, Vote Life, Canada! 709-773-0700

St. John’s, NL October 1—As a result of the despicable actions of the Religious Social Action Coalition (RSAC) and the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary against the person of Eric Alcock on September 5, 2007 at The Lantern in St. John’s, Mr. Alcock is moving forward with a human rights complaint against both parties.

On that date, Alcock was arrested and detained by police almost immediately after arriving at the RSAC Press Conference without having said a word. The Conference was advertised as being open to all interested members of the public and Alcock in fact had personally received a forwarded email message originating from the Religious Coalition inviting individuals to attend.

Police had already been called to the building before Alcock even arrived and were summoned from the hallway immediately when organizers had confirmed Alcock’s presence through a phony handshake and identity check. He was straight away removed by officers from the building, escorted to a paddy wagon and locked up for an hour until the conference was over.

Organizers of the event, as well as media, had been alerted to the concerns of Vote Life, Canada! by a press release the day before and were also informed that Alcock would be in attendance. Alcock went to the conference with no intention other than to express a viewpoint, given the opportunity. He had hoped to go on record as saying that when the RSAC was seeking to address the issue of poverty that it was in fact completely neglecting the Unborn who are the poorest in our community, not being granted the right to live, let alone the right to food, clothing and housing.

Alcock is charging human rights violations through harassment by both the Religious Social Action Coalition and the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary who served as their henchmen. Alcock claims the RNC simply rubber-stamped the wishes of the RSAC and failed to exercise due diligence and impartiality in this incident, further contributing to the harassment and possibly violating other aspects of the law by having him locked up in a paddy wagon cage already on site.

Furthermore Alcock is considering what charges can be laid against the CBC for the skewed, biased nature of their coverage on the evening television news hour which introduced a serious element of defamation of character. The CBC news identified Alcock as an unknown “protestor” who “disrupted” the press conference. It was reported in the same broadcast that “police had to be called in.” On two successive evening news broadcasts the CBC featured full video of Alcock being taken away from the building, arm in arm, by two police officers, yet made no efforts to provide the public with the truth of the events, despite being called upon through press releases to do so. Alcock’s reputation after this CBC television coverage, for anyone who knew him or knew of him, immediately went from pro-life advocate to unruly disruptive protestor who needed to be physically removed from a press conference and confined in a cage in order to be restrained.

The painting of such a picture significantly threatened Alcock’s public image and his ability to work with community leaders throughout NL to advance the pro-life goals of Vote Life, Canada! This represents an extremely distressing outcome for simply showing up at a Press Conference with a viewpoint.

Alcock has had conversations with the Human Rights Commission office, has submitted details of the incident and has initiated a formal complaint.

Memorial University of Newfoundland Students' Union Denies Club Status to Student Pro-Life Group

Just received the following by email from Patrick Hanlon, President of MUN for Life, the student pro-life club on campus at Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador:

**********

Friday, September 28, 2007

PRESS RELEASE

The Death of Free Speech at Memorial University of Newfoundland: MUN Students' Union disallows pro-life group

On Wednesday, September 26, the Memorial University of Newfoundland Students' Union Board of Directors (MUNSU) met for its regularly scheduled meeting. One of the highlights of the agenda was the proposal to ratify, or give official club status to, Memorial University of Newfoundland Students for Life (MUN for LIFE). When it came to this point the meeting, everyone was hesitant to speak. The chair asked for a motion to approve and one was not tabled. A motion to deny was put forth and the flood gates holding back the conversation opened wide. Every speaker, except for one, identified themselves as pro-choice and echoed the comments of the previous speakers. The motion to deny ratification passed nearly unanimous. MUSNU signaled the death of free speech on a university campus.

The dominate arguments brought by MUNSU personalities to deny MUN for LIFE their rights were 1) MUNSU is a local of the pro-choice Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) 2) MUNSU could not ratify a group in opposition to its beliefs.

If MUNSU only ratifies groups that it agrees with, why is it that an assortment groups with competing ideologies are listed on their website. For example, there are Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and Pagan groups. There are Progressive Conservative, Liberal, and New Democratic groups. Surely, MUNSU can not agree with every one of these groups. If MUNSU can grant ratification to these groups, it should be able to allow MUN for LIFE its democratic and university rights to free speech.

If CFS is an obstacle, why it is that a number of other CFS locals have pro-life groups? A small example of these would be the Universities of British Columbia, Toronto, Dalhousie, Carleton, and Saskatchewan. Once again, MUNSU is grasping at straws for excuses to silence the voice of the pro-life movement. MUN for LIFE members have paid CFS and MUNSU union dues and must now be granted their rights to free speech and association.

In November 2006 the Carleton University Students' Association passed a motion to silence pro-life student groups on their campus. As a result, Carleton Lifeline's ratification was placed in jeopardy. A heated debate, which attracted national media coverage, ended in Carleton Lifeline's membership increasing and work continuing.

Patrick Hanlon, the President of MUN for LIFE, is encouraging his fellow union members and all concerned individuals, regardless of their position on life issues, to demand MUNSU to immediately reverse the decision made at the September 26 meeting. If this decision is not reversed, a dangerous precedent is set in place for MUNSU, and other Student Unions in Canada, which would allow the silencing of any other group that a union wishes not to have democratic and university rights.

##########

Patrick Hanlon
MUN for LIFE President
709-579-1500 MUNforLIFE@gmail.com

*********************************

To respectfully contact the MUNSU executive and voice your opposition to the decision:
James Farrell, External Director, munsu@munsu.ca
Bradley Russell, Student Life Director, studentlife@munsu.ca
Stella Magalios, Campaigns Director, campaigns@munsu.ca
Stephanie Power, Advocacy Director, advocacy@munsu.ca
Nick Eisnor, Finance Director, finance@munsu.ca
Phone: 709-737-7633
Fax: 709-737-4743
Mail: MUNSU, Suite 2000 - University Centre, MUN, St. John's, NL A1C 5S7

To respectfully express your concerns to the university administration:
Dr. Axel Meisen, President and Vice Chancellor of MUN, president@mun.ca
Dr. Lilly Walker, Dean of Student Affairs and Services, lwalker@mun.ca

You may carbon copy or send best wises to:
Patrick Hanlon, MUN for LIFE President, MUNforLIFE@gmail.com

*********************************


MUN for LIFE
munforlife@gmail.com
(709) 579-1500 or 877-997-LIFE
P.O. Box 5427
St. John's, NL A1C 5W2


WE BELIEVE THAT:
-human life begins at conception;
-the right to life is a fundamental human right, and all other rights depend
on it; and
-all human beings share this right equally from conception to natural death.


The university should be a place for open dialogue and freedom of speech. It is a place where the ideas and values of our society take root. Therefore, MUN for LIFE has a duty and a right to be an active group on campus.

Press Release: Vote Life, Canada! Calls Canada's Catholic Bishops To Join 40 Days For Life Campaign

Distributed to the media and posted today to the Vote Life, Canada! website:

Vote Life, Canada! Calls on the Catholic Bishops of Canada to Join their Fellow US Bishops in Supporting the Nationwide 40 Days for Life Campaign Aimed at Ending Abortion

Contact: Eric Alcock, President, Vote Life, Canada! 709-773-0700

Toronto, ON September 27/Christian Newswire—Vote Life, Canada! is looking with great hope and anticipation at the intensive 40 Days for Life campaign which kicked off yesterday in the US and which focuses on 40 days of prayer and fasting along with peaceful vigil at abortion facilities.

“This nationwide endeavour,” says Eric Alcock, President of Vote Life, Canada! “will bring publicity and healing to the violence of abortion and is the largest simultaneous pro-life mobilization in American history.”

The campaign runs from Sept. 26 through Nov. 4 and about 90 cities in over 33 states have signed on. Organizers of the 40 Days for Life project, which incorporates grassroots educational outreach, report remarkable results from similar campaigns already undertaken in 9 cities around the country.

Alcock took special note that Catholic Bishops have joined with other Christian leaders throughout America in promoting this event.

“In a recent letter to Archdiocese of Baltimore pastors, Cardinal William Keeler urged support for this initiative. Cardinal Keeler pointed to John Paul II’s papal letter The Gospel of Life and asked his priests to share this truth by promoting and participating in a national, ecumenical effort called Forty Days for Life,” reported Alcock.

Alcock believes that the Catholic Bishops of Canada should likewise endorse this campaign and urge their parishes and pro-life organizations to quickly join in the effort by contacting 40 Days for Life through their website www.40daysforlife.com/ or by email at info@40daysforlife.com or phone 1-804-852-2979.

“Here is a unique opportunity for Canada’s Catholic Bishops to show vision and leadership in bringing about an end to the tragedy of abortion in Canada. A nationwide, curbside effort to invoke conversion, forgiveness and prayer for participants, providers and supporters of abortion could very well turn the tide of legalized child-killing in our nation,” enthused Alcock.

Alcock hopes the Catholic Bishops will pave the way for a “piggyback” prayer effort in Canada and perhaps even coordinate with campaign leaders to formally organize Canada’s own 40 Days for Life in the future.

Alcock reports that the 40 Days for Life prayer vigil is a quiet prayerful presence. No graphic signs are allowed and every participant must sign a ‘Statement of Peace,’ which gives rules for maintaining a law-abiding, respectful vigil.

The 40DaysForLife website explains the 40-day time frame is drawn from examples throughout Biblical history where God brought about world-changing transformation in 40- day periods.

Visit www.votelifecanada.ca and http://votelifecanada.blogspot.com/ updated regularly!

Press Release: Vote Life, Canada! Urges NL Voters to Elect Candidates Who Respect the Lives of Smallest and Most Defenseless Children

Vote Life, Canada! Urges Newfoundlanders and Labradorians to Elect Candidates in the Upcoming Election Who Respect the Lives of NL’s Smallest and Most Defenseless Children

Contact: Eric Alcock, President, Vote Life, Canada! 709-773-0700

St. John’s, NL September 19—Vote Life, Canada! takes note that the Provincial General Election has been called for the province of Newfoundland and Labrador and voters will go to the polls on October 9, 2007.

Eric Alcock, President and NL Provincial Director of Vote Life, Canada! outlines a scenario for the consideration of all NL voters in the upcoming election:

Imagine that one of our politicians was overheard saying, “I support terrorism.” Imagine further a voter saying in response, “I disagree with you on terrorism, but what’s your health care plan?” Wouldn’t you think they were both mad? You wouldn’t think twice about rejecting a candidate who supported terrorism, regardless of his/her position on “other issues.” That candidate’s stance, permitting the public to be killed, is dangerous to society and contrary to every principle of public service.

Vote Life, Canada! urges voters to consider abortion in the same light. Abortion is no less violent than terrorism and produces the same result—dead and bloodied human beings, most often in pieces. Vote Life, Canada! is not suggesting that women who choose abortion are to be equated with terrorists but emphasizes clearly that a political candidate who is satisfied with the status quo on abortion—like terrorism—disqualifies him/herself from public service.

Rather than react to this suggestion without thinking, voters are asked to ponder the comparison. Unless the unborn are denied their humanity and/or personhood—a grievous injustice applied in previous generations to slaves, aboriginals and Jews—the logic of this argument is difficult to refute and voters are urged to hold this issue as non-negotiable. Tolerance for abortion means death to unborn humans and that reality should translate into a no vote for the candidate.

Vote Life, Canada! appeals to all NL voters to stop for a moment and think. If politicians aren’t ready to respect the life of the smallest, most vulnerable child, do you want to trust them with your life and future? If they will disregard the most basic of rights, what of your many other legitimate concerns as a citizen?

Voters are urged to follow the guidelines outlined in the Vote Life, Canada! publication “How to Vote Life” which is available online at www.votelifecanada.ca or free of charge by calling 709-773-0700 or writing Vote Life, Canada!, NL Directorate, 4 Hickey’s Rd., Paradise, NL A1L3J3

Press Release: Vote Life, Canada! Accuses NL Media of Cover-Up And Same Double Standards as Religious Social Action Coalition

Monday, September 10, 2007

PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Vote Life, Canada! Accuses NL Media of Cover-Up and Same Double Standards as Religious Social Action Coalition (RSAC) in Failing to Cover Scandalous Details of Recent Arrest of Eric Alcock

Issued by:
Vote Life, Canada!
National Address: 1075 Bay St., Suite A102-602,
Toronto, ON, M5S 2B2

Contact: Eric Alcock, President and NL Provincial Director, Vote Life, Canada! 709-773-0700

St. John’s, NL September 10/—Vote Life, Canada! thanks VOCM radio for its invitation to join Randy Simms on Open Line the day after the arrest last Wednesday past of Eric Alcock, President of Vote Life, Canada! “In so doing,” states Alcock, “VOCM proves itself as the only credible NL news source in covering the despicable actions that were taken against him and the assault upon his rights of free assembly and free speech. No other media outlet gave anything other than begrudged and biased coverage, if they covered the story at all.”

However, Alcock notes that while he appreciated the interview with Randy Simms he nevertheless takes “strong exception to Randy’s argument that due to the volatility of the subject of abortion in our society I was wrong to rain on the RSAC’s parade and run the risk of detracting from or usurping their message.”

Alcock outlines this scenario: What if our NL Premier had announced a grand scheme to address some deficient aspect of NL society? Imagine someone, let’s say a writer or journalist, upon hearing the Premier’s announcement, accused him of hypocrisy and a small minded approach to the issue. Suppose the journalist had noted he would be in attendance the next day at the Press Conference called by the premier in order to present his viewpoint.

Alcock asks, “Would anyone think that strange? Would anyone, in fact think twice about it? Isn’t this the stuff of everyday life and politics in our province? We claim to believe in vigorous open minded debate. We say it’s a healthy thing for the people of NL. A ‘loyal opposition’ is both expected and honoured in our democratic society.”

“Why then are my actions on behalf of Vote Life, Canada! viewed any differently,” asks Alcock? “The answer is all too obvious. The message advanced by Vote Life, Canada! is not politically correct and the powers that be—those that shape the thinking and attitudes of NL society, such as the RSAC and mainstream media—do not want any change in the status quo on child killing in our land. Therefore they will censor and squash all dissent in regard to that subject.”

Alcock then takes the scenario “a step further downward into its shameful depths.” Suppose the Premier or his aides, knowing that this journalist “protestor” planned to attend his Press Conference, did not want the journalist’s viewpoint being expressed there for fear that it would “detract from the message of his good initiative.” Imagine then police had been called beforehand to be present and immediately the journalist, an “unwanted visitor,” arrived, he was ushered away, amid his protests, into a paddy wagon for the duration of the press conference. Suppose one of the police officers, while taking the journalist away, mocked him: “Your little media circus is not going to work here.”

“Can anyone imagine,” asks Alcock, “that the only effort by NL media to decipher the details of such an outrageous arrest in the days following the event would be one ten minute interview on Open Line? No? That’s comforting because we didn’t really think any serious, open-minded, democratically disposed NL’ er would ever buy into such a deplorable, hypocritical cover-up. We suspect that the airwaves would still be reverberating with cries of outrage and demands for apology.”

This scandalous incident illustrates, with respect to the issue of legal child-killing in our province, who the real extremists are.

Arrested By Police For The First Time For Representing The Unborn

[Preface: No, that's not me in Ronald MacDonald outfit...it just seemed like such an appropriate picture considering the treatment I received.]

I just returned from my “visit” to The Lantern, where a Press Conference was to be held at 11AM to announce the goals of a new religious group based in St. John’s, NL, named the “Religious Social Action Coalition,” a coalition aiming to abolish poverty in the province.

My previous post carried the press release which was forwarded to the NL media late yesterday afternoon by Vote Life, Canada! after I was alerted to the Press Conference by email.

I was hoping to have an opportunity at this Conference to clarify further my concerns to the religious leaders of this coalition, some of the members of which I have met on previous occasions prior to the formation of this coalition. So I was dressed up in my Sunday best, hoping to say a few words on behalf of the Unborn of Newfoundland and Labrador and of Canada.

I should have suspected something was cooking when I walked inside the building and around the corner were two police officers in full uniform. It was about five minutes before the conference was due to start. Walking past them and into the Conference room, it was only perhaps two minutes before a burly looking gentleman approached me with outreached hand, asking me my name, to which I responded. Immediately he grasped my hand tightly as if to hold me in that exact position while informing me that I was not welcome there and that I must immediately leave.

I was rather stunned at this rare gesture of welcome and advised him that the Coalition’s announcement that was issued indicated that it was a public event and that all were welcome. He said he would call for the police to remove me if I did not leave immediately and then motioned to another man who was listening to the conversation to fetch the police. I asked the burly gentleman why I could not stay and he told me that I had said some very bad things about them in yesterday’s press release and that I must immediately leave.

By that time the police arrived, telling me that my invitation was rescinded by these people and that I must immediately leave the premises, which were private property, or failing that, I would be removed by police.

It was becoming a little bit of a scene with voices being raised but no yelling or screaming. Since my knees felt a little weak, the officers promptly took me by the shoulders, body and bones, and literally dragged me out of the building, all the while I was yelling loudly so people could hear me “Poverty begins with the Unborn! Poverty begins with the Unborn!”

The officers took me to the paddy wagon [no handcuffs!], making sure on the way to inform me that my little media circus was not going to work. They locked me up for the hour that the Conference was taking place. I heard them discussing various things outside the police wagon and then finally they released me, saying they were not going to lay charges. They didn't call it an arrest. They noted that they had simply "detained" me.

Sure felt like an arrest.

I’ve had no calls from media yet although I suspect I will soon enough. As the officers were dragging me out, a news photographer was taking pictures and other media were present as well.

Obviously the religious leaders, many of them “Christians,” did not wish to have their hypocrisy highlighted. They had planned to silence me entirely before I could even say a word and they had arranged for the local police to act as their thugs and bouncers.

More on this story to come.

By the way, the statement that I hoped to make at the conference, given the opportunity, appears below.

********** 

I am here today to represent the poorest children of NL—those who are denied the right to live. Those who will never get to the point of worrying about how much food, clothing, housing or education they receive. 

And I apologize to anyone here today who has gone on record publicly to denounce legalized child-killing. Looking over the names on this list I was not aware that anyone there had made announcements to newspapers or radios protesting the atrocity taking place in our midst. Nor do I remember seeing any of the above named individuals protesting in front of the local abortuary where five or six hundred little children each year are cut to pieces or suctioned to death. 

So pardon me, but I didn’t know anyone here was concerned about the challenges that the children of NL face. 

Forgive me.  

Today you are here to announce the fact that you ARE concerned about children after all. You want to see that children receive proper food, clothing, housing and education.  

This is a good thing. As I said in our press release, this is noble. 

However, what I find curious is that there still is no mention made of the children being ripped out of the womb. Does that concern the Religious Social Action Coalition? Is that not the greatest injustice taking place against children in this province? Shouldn’t that at least be stated as such by the Coalition?

Perhaps the Coalition is not ready at this time to tackle such a monstrous evil but shouldn’t they at least state for the record that this is the worst injustice taking place against children? 

Without such an acknowledgement the Coalition’s project has no credibility. How does the Coalition expect that poverty can be addressed—even abolished—while child killing is permitted? Will politicians respect a child’s right to be fed and clothed as long as they don’t respect the child’s right to live? 

But what the Coalition is really saying is this:

"Abortion? Oh, we’ve given up on that objective. That’s now legal and well accepted in our society, so whether it is or isn’t the greatest form of child abuse is irrelevant. People want it and accept it and the government says it’s legal so we’ll leave it at that.

We must work on achievable goals." 

I therefore have a question for the Coalition:

If the government passes a law today which says that the poor are entitled to no more than is currently available to them, will the Social Action Coalition then move on to another goal? 

Do you not see the hypocrisy oozing from this whole scenario? 

Do children have certain rights or not? Do they even have the right to live? That is the question.

Press Release: Vote Life, Canada! Warns St. John's Religious Social Action Coalition Of Blindness & Hypocrisy

In response to an email yesterday asking for support for a group calling themselves the Religious Social Action Coalition, whose goal is to abolish poverty in Newfoundland, Vote Life Canada! issued the following press release to various media throughout Newfoundland:

Tuesday, September 4, 2007

PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Vote Life, Canada! Recognizes the Noble Objective of the Religious Social Action Coalition to Abolish Poverty but Warns Them to Advocate First for Unborn Children In Order to Avoid Charges of Blindness and Hypocrisy

Issued by:
Vote Life, Canada!
National Address: 1075 Bay St., Suite A102-602,
Toronto, ON, M5S 2B2

Contact: Eric Alcock, President and NL Provincial Director, Vote Life, Canada! 709-773-0700

St. John’s, NL September 4—Vote Life, Canada! has learned of the existence and goals of the Religious Social Action Coalition of Newfoundland & Labrador and of a Press Conference Wednesday, September 5 at 11AM at The Lantern, 35 Barnes Road.

Does this Coalition of well meaning religious leaders not recognize the hypocrisy in their efforts?

How is it possible that Christian leaders and other men and women of good faith can call on the people of NL, and more particularly its politicians, to make poverty a voting issue when every year nearly 1000 little children are violently killed in the womb in this province and the virtual silence of those same leaders is deafening?

Furthermore, every child killing which takes place in this province is perfectly “legal” in the sight of our society and is paid for by taxpayer dollars, the same dollars which could be channeled to feed and clothe other children. Yet these same leaders do not protest.

To what depths of blindness and hypocrisy have our leaders descended?

Have any leaders of this coalition been seen protesting the dismemberment and poisoning of unborn children which takes place daily in our very city? Yet they now pretend to be concerned about hungry children.

The saddest and most naïve element of their plan is that they expect that poverty can be addressed—even abolished—while child killing is permitted. Will politicians respect a child’s right to be fed and clothed as long as they don’t respect the child’s right to live?

Leaders of this coalition are not thinking straight. What sort of fairy tale world are they living in?

Vote Life, Canada! will be in attendance tomorrow at the press conference, representing the unborn children of this province. Eric Alcock, President and NL Provincial Director of Vote Life, Canada! will be ready to sign up on the spot for membership in the Social Action Coalition—just as soon as the Coalition calls for legalized abortion as the number one voting issue in the upcoming NL election.

Vote Life, Canada! Condemns Amnesty International’s New Abortion Policy

Distributed to the media and posted today to the Vote Life, Canada! website:

Vote Life, Canada! Condemns Amnesty International’s New Abortion Policy and Accuses Catholic Bishops of Canada of Indifference to the Killing of Unborns

Contact: Eric Alcock, President, Vote Life, Canada! 709-773-0700

Toronto, ON, August 20/Christian Newswire—Vote Life, Canada! expresses its distress at the news that Amnesty International (AI) has adopted a formal stance backing women's rights to abortion.

“Once again we have witnessed a replay of the blindness and indifference shown by Catholic Bishops in the 1960’s when they offered barely a murmur against plans to legalize child killing in Canada which has claimed the lives of over 3 million Unborns to date,” exclaims Eric Alcock, President of Vote Life, Canada!

Amnesty International confessed last year that it was considering a new policy advocating for women’s access to abortion and calling for the worldwide decriminalization of abortion, but Alcock protests that “the tragic, passionless reaction of Canadian Bishops was to simply issue a letter cautioning them against it and warning of a possible rupture in relations.”

“Rather than spearheading an intense and concerted effort to mobilize Catholics against the Amnesty move, they simply spouted a few words.” Considering that Amnesty International has 67,000 members in its Canadian branch, probably a majority being Catholic, Alcock says the massive threat of a national bailout of members could have exercised tremendous clout in discouraging AI from their present course.

Vote Life, Canada! asks how concerned were the Bishops that a new holocaust of the Unborn was about to be spawned by AI. Already about 46 million Unborns perish annually through the violent act of abortion worldwide. Safe in their ivory towers, were the Bishops expecting the UN, or President Bush or perhaps the Pope to descend upon last week’s AI meeting in Mexico City and derail AI’s plans to sign a death warrant against possibly millions more of unborn children throughout the world?

Alcock wonders then who it was the Bishops expected to act against the magnitude of such a worldwide evil. Are presidents and prime ministers, law enforcement agencies, or the UN commissioned to battle, refute and defeat false ideologies and evildoers? If Catholic Bishops are not entrusted with the responsibility to defeat demon-inspired plans such as this, then who in society shall we look to? To whom did Jesus Christ give authority “to overcome all the power of the enemy”? Was Jesus Christ, Son of God, suffering delusion when he spoke those words and commissioned his apostles?

Woe to the Catholic Bishops of Canada who share in the blood of a new and vast ocean of murdered Unborns appearing just on the horizon.