Monday, March 30, 2009

Bishop R Walker Nickless

In case people coming from here from the news missed the entry for Bishop Nickless below, here it is in its own post;


Click and read his letter.

For those of you coming here for the first time, welcome to Personally Opposed! Herein we talk about Catholic and pro-life news which particularly pertains to politicans who say they are personally opposed (P.O.ed) to abortion but who do nothing about it. You know the ones - people who say they want to reduce abortions, but who - oh, I don't know - recind the Mexico City policy.

Yeah, I'm looking at you, Barack Obama. It's not pleasant.

What a WEEK!

There has been a LOT going on - and so this post will be a long list of moral prononcements vaguely connected by some kind of narrative structure. So, in that sense, it's a lot like a Robert A. Heinlien novel.

(Aside - for those premium subscribers to RealCatholicTV.com, make sure you check out my review of Robert A. Heinlein's Starship Troopers which went up yesterday! And if you aren't a premium subscriber, why not? It's only $10 a month, and it is very good indeed - hundreds of hours of programming with new programs added each week. Just visit the site to subscribe!)

Okay, first bit of news - Obama at ND. I'm not going to dwell on this much, because I am sure you are aware of it. Our news and Vortex have been covering this quite extensively - if you haven't seen all the cool stuff we've done, check out this page. Go on, go and check it out. I don't mind - I'll be here when you get back.

Lots of fun there - and that's been why it's been so busy. We have thousands of signatures on our petition, many hundreds of responses to our survey and lots of interest. We'll keep you posted on this!

Other stuff that has been going on; as many of you are no-doubt aware, there is a movement afoot which would remove the so-called "consience protection" from American laws. It's been mooted as part of FOCA, as an executive order etc. etc. What this would mean is that health-care workers would not be permitted to "opt out" of performing abortions - basically, it would be "perform abortions or lose your job".

Now, as everyone knows, the faithful Catholic (check out today's Vortex "It's all our fault" to show you what a really faithful Catholic should be!) would choose to lose his or her job. But, it shouldn't have to come to that. People should be permitted to not participate in murder when they joined a profession to save lives.

This is not rocket science, people.

The USCCB has produced this fine webpage which is devoted to the issue in question. Read it. It is awesome.

And what is also awesome is Bishop R. Walker Nickless of the Diocese of Souix City, Iowa. Now, having seen a picture of Bishop Nickless and read his name, I can confidently say there is no man alive who looks more "American" and has a more "American" sounding name.

In addition to being a classic example of Americana, Bishop Nickless is the latest bishop to come out and object to Obama @ ND. What Walker, Souix City Ranger, has done is write a wonderful letter - seriously, check it out - which addresses many of the evils facing our society today. Bishop Nickless has hit the nail right on the head here. He unashamedly calls President Obama's policies "homicidal".

Obviously, there are many bishops who have spoken out. Bishop Nickless gets the shout out because his chief of the evangelization office (Mark P. Thompson, which has to be about the second most American name I have ever heard) sent me an email.

So, to conclude - there are many awesome bishops out there, but Bishop Nickless has good PR.

If anyone has any other pro-life news which they would like to see included in this blog, shoot me an email at poed@realcatholictv.com. You don't have to look like you could have been carved on Mount Rushmore and be called something like L. Michael Grant Winchester III to get published but, frankly, it helps.

Keep checking out RealCatholicTV.com, and remember to subscribe if you haven't done so already!

Saturday, March 21, 2009

Jeff has a challenger!

We all know of the fine man Jeff who writes to Senators to complain and also finds me news. Jeff is a good friend and a holy warrior for Christ.

Well, now we have Greg! Greg also writes to Senators to complain about their support of FOCA and abortion and other immoral practices. Greg is also in the fine State of Michigan, and so he wrote to Sen. Debbie Stabenow. Read below the reply Greg got back (my comments are in the fine color red);

Thank you . . .

. . for contacting me to express your views on the issue of abortion.

The issue of abortion is unquestionably the most difficult issue I have had to deal with during my years of service. I have struggled with all sides of the issue to determine not only what I personally believe, but, more important, what I should do as a legislator representing a diverse state of people who hold many different religious, moral and personal beliefs.

Abortion is a serious issue that has divided many sincere and honest people. Many believe that abortion is either absolutely right or absolutely wrong, (three of those people who thinks it would be wrong would be GOD, Senator!) while others feel it is acceptable only under certain limited conditions. Unfortunately, when the issue of abortion is debated in legislatures and in the Congress, representatives are often forced into choosing an absolute pro-abortion or anti-abortion stand. However, the questions I must decide as your Senator are not whether I am for or against abortion, but rather, what is the appropriate role of the government, and should government be making decisions about this intensely personal family matter.

Because of the diversity of perspectives and the intense personal nature of the abortion issue, I have taken the position that the choice of abortion is not a decision government should make or deny. (How do you square this with allowing abortions? Isn't that making a decision? Or do you just think it is the responsibility of government to allow people to do whatever they like to whomever they like?)

I also feel strongly that although it is not the proper role of government to decide whether abortion is right or wrong for individual families, the government does have some critical and important responsibilities as it relates to this issue. As a Senator and a mother, I have a personal and public commitment to those policies that support and sustain children in healthy and loving families.

As a country, we must do everything we can to provide support and encouragement to women who are pregnant and to promote responsible family planning when a woman does not want a child. ("Responsible" family planning is not having sex. Irresponsible family planning is murdering a child which already exists) Support services need to be available for pregnant teenagers and single mothers so they do not feel abortion is their only choice. We also need to provide better prenatal care, nutrition services, childcare, adoption programs, and economic opportunities for women. I believe that many women would not choose abortion if other help was available. (Is this why you have consistently supported legislation which makes it harder to get other help, Senator?)

I know that our country will continue to struggle and debate the abortion issue in the years ahead. As this debate goes on, I will continue to listen to and respect the views of others. I am hopeful that those who are divided by this issue can focus on areas of mutual agreement, because only by working together can we effectively strengthen and improve the lives of children and their families.

Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts and concerns with me.

Sincerely,
Debbie Stabenow
United States Senator


So, the upshot of Senator Stabenow's position? "Hey, it's not the government's job to decide what people should or should not do!" Wow, I thought you were a Democrat, not an arch-libertarian, Senator? Is that D in the title D-MI short for "dashed-extreme-libertarian"? Or is is perhaps that you just got the little scrabble letters in the wrong order and it should read DIM?

It's not the government's job to decide whether or not a woman should kill her child? So, is it the government's job to decide if I should pay my taxes? Or wear clothes in public? Or shoot people with red hair in the face?

Hey, I like this idea of government - well, not really, but hear me out. Basically, Sen. Stab-em-now (and suck out their brains . . .) seems to be saying that the role of government is not to govern. Given that the very name "government" means "that which governs" this means she is saying her job is obsolete! How much does a Senator earn? More than me, I'll bet!

Hey, hey! Debbie says her job isn't necessary! You know, in these harsh economic times, everyone is wanting to streamline! So, let's fire Debbie! She admitted her job isn't necessary - it isn't her place to make laws!

I think that if we fired her we should distribute the money saved to everyone who reads this fine blog! And with that money, people could subscribe to RealCatholicTV.com! And that would be awesome, because they would get access to literally hundreds of hours of high-quality Catholic video whenever they want it!

Fire Debbie! Subscribe now!

Thursday, March 19, 2009

A simple explanation

(Before I get into today's little missive, I wish to mention that Natasha Richardson died yesterday. She was the wife of Liam Neeson, a man who played the mentor to two of my heroes - Obi-Wan Kenobi and Bruce Wayne - and who was also, I learned yesterday, a Catholic raising his children in the faith. I really don't know how much of a Catholic any of the Neeson family is, but if everyone who reads this can say a prayer for Natasha's soul and for the poor family left behind, I would be grateful).

Alright, on with the expose!

Today I learned news which is much less surprising than the death of Natasha Richardson; the United Way has now removed a policy relating to providing money to pro-abortion groups. To wit, the United Way now allows money to go to groups which provide abortions, but that money may not be used for abortions.

Check out the article concerning this matter here.

There isn't much to be said here, basically, this is a charitable group folding and collapsing when faced with a loss of donor money. It shows a lack of spine, of guts, of a couple of other parts of the human anatomy. The United Way have, it seems, rolled over and played dead.

So, the United Way is now providing funding to Planned Parenthood for services other than abortions. I want to make that very clear - because I am certain the UW is; they are not giving money which will be used for abortions, and they will only be giving money for services such as education, information etc. etc.

Sounds alright, doesn't it? I mean - okay, they are giving money to someone who is providing abortions, but they aren't paying for the abortions, right?

Right ... and it's still wrong.

Let me break this down to you by means of an example. Consider two people - Alice and Bob. Bob is person addicted to some kind of vile and illegal drug - and Alice knows this. And Bob is begging, he is begging for money. Now, Alice is wise and clever - she doesn't want to give him money and have him spend it on drugs. So, instead, she gives him money and makes him promise that he won't spend it on drugs.

And, you know what? Bob is very honest. Bob puts Alice $10 in his pocket and swears he won't spend it on drugs.

Clive comes along. Bob begs Clive for money, and because Clive doesn't care about people using drugs he gives him $10. Now Bob has $20. Clive never said Bob shouldn't spend the money on drugs, and so Bob goes and buys $10 worth of food using Alice's donation, and spends Clive's donation on drugs.

Do we understand my little ABC morality play here?

Donating money to provide for additional services which are not abortion simply frees up funds FOR abortions! And precisely WHAT is an "abortion related cost"? PP is silent on this, I note. If they pay for an office, is that abortion related because abortions go on there? Or not because other things do to? What about advertising - advertising doesn't kill anyone, right? What about "education" - precisely what are you educating people about?

Giving money to someone who murders, even if that money will never be spent on a knife, is immoral and wrong and should absolutely be stopped. United Way - shame on you for allowing a desire for money to get the better of you. Shame on you, shame on the horse you rode in on, and shame on the little girl who feeds it apples!

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Yet more from Jeff

As frequent readers of this fine blog will know, my mate Jeff often finds cool things for me. He doesn't write these things himself per se, but rather finds something from someone else.

Anyway, I reproduce the latest from Jeff - a list of pro-abortion actions taken by President Barack Obama before and after his election. This list is from LifeNews.com, and I reproduce it here because it really speaks to the heart of what we are talking about on the P.O.'ed blog - President Barack "Never Knowingly Telling the Truth" Obama says he wants to reduce abortions. Well, in the immortal words of Elvis Presley "A little less talk and a lot more action!"

If you want to reduce abortions, Mister President, then stop signing bills and taking other steps which promote them!

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The following is a compilation of bill signings, speeches, appointments and other actions that President Barack Obama has engaged in that have promoted abortion before and during his presidency. While Obama has promised to reduce abortions and some of his supporters believe that will happen, this long list proves his only agenda is promoting more abortions.

Post-Election / Pre-Inauguration

November 5, 2008 - Obama selects pro-abortion Rep. Rahm Emanuel as his White House Chief of Staff. Emanuel has a 0% pro-life voting record according to National Right to Life.

November 19, 2008 - Obama picks pro-abortion former Sen. Tom Daschle as his Health and Human Services Secretary. Daschle has a long pro-abortion voting record according to National Right to Life.

November 20, 2008 - Obama chooses former NARAL legal director Dawn Johnsen to serve as a member of his Department of Justice Review Team. Later, he finalizes her appointment as the Assistant Attorney General for the Office of the Legal Counsel in the Obama administration.

November 24, 2008 - Obama appoints Ellen Moran, the former director of the pro-abortion group Emily's List as his White House communications director. Emily's List only supported candidates who favored taxpayer funded abortions and opposed a partial-birth abortion ban.

November 24, 2008 - Obama puts former Emily's List board member Melody Barnes in place as his director of the Domestic Policy Council.

November 30, 2008 - Obama named pro-abortion Sen. Hillary Clinton as the Secretary of State. Clinton has an unblemished pro-abortion voting record and has supported making unlimited abortions an international right.

December 10, 2008 - Obama selects pro-abortion former Clinton administration official Jeanne Lambrew to become the deputy director of the White House Office of Health Reform. Planned Parenthood is "excited" about the selection.

December 10, 2008 - Obama transition team publishes memo from dozens of pro-abortion groups listing their laundry list of pro-abortions actions they want him to take.

Pro-Abortion Presidential Record - 2009

January 5, 2009 - Obama picks pro-abortion Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine as the chairman of the Democratic Party.

January 6, 2009 - Obama chooses Thomas Perrelli, the lawyer who represented Terri Schiavo’s husband Michael in his efforts to kill his disabled wife, as the third highest attorney in the Justice Department.

January 22, 2009 - Releases statement restating support for Roe v. Wade decision that allowed virtually unlimited abortions and has resulted in at least 50 million abortions since 1973.

January 23, 2009 - Forces taxpayers to fund pro-abortion groups that either promote or perform abortions in other nations. Decison to overturn Mexico City Policy sends part of $457 million to pro-abortion organizations.

January 26, 2009 - Obama nominee for Deputy Secretary of State, James B. Steinberg, tells members of the Senate that taxpayers should be forced to fund abortions. Nominee erroneously says limits on abortion funding are unconstitutional.

January 29, 2009 - President Obama nominates pro-abortion David Ogden as Deputy Attorney General.

February 12, 2009 - Obama nominates pro-abortion Elena Kagan to serve as Solicitor General.

February 27, 2009 - Starts the process of overturning pro-life conscience protections President Bush put in place to make sure medical staff and centers are not forced to do abortions.

February 28, 2009 - Barack Obama nominates pro-abortion Kathleen Sebelius to become Secretary of Health and Human Services.

March 5, 2009 - The Obama administration shut out pro-life groups from attending a White House-sponsored health care summit. Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest abortion business, made the invitation list as did other pro-abortion groups.

March 9, 2009 - President Barack Obama signed an executive order forcing taxpayer funding of embryonic stem cell research.

March 10, 2009 - Obama announces the creation of a new foreign policy position to focus on women's issues. He names Melanne Verveer, an abortion advocate, to occupy the post.

March 10, 2009 - Reverses an executive order to press for more research into ways of obtaining embryonic stem cells without harming human life. The order Obama scrapped would have promoted new forms of stem cell research.

March 11, 2009 - Obama signed an executive order establishing a new agency within his administration known as the White House Council on Women and Girls. Obama's director of public liaison at the White House, Tina Tchen, an abortion advocate, became director of it.

So, there you have it - in black and white (or, rather, two shades of blue) what President Obama has done to reduce abortion. Absolutely nothing.

Make sure that you continue to follow all the pro-life and abortion news, together with all the other news that is printed to fit, on RealCatholicTV.com. You can register for free and get daily updates. For only $10 a month, you can get all the premium programs as well - literally hundreds of hours of video!

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Monday, March 2, 2009

Touchdown!

No, not a football reference (did I mention that I always liked American Football, even before I came to the USA? And even before I was an atheist teenager old enough to notice the pretty girls shaking their pom-poms?) - but rather a reference to the fact that Michael Voris has just returned from a conference in Denver (hence, "touching down on the tarmac at the airport") where he was speaking.

And I've only now found time to make a blog entry, because I was so busy last week with making stuff for Michael to take and sell (yes, you can buy copies of our DVDs and so forth - go to our awesome online store for the purposes of purchasing and supporting us in the worst recession this news cycle). But it is a shame I didn't get to post some stuff last week, because loads of things happened.

(Big shout out to Diane of the De Teum blog, for finding a lot of this story).

Bishop Martino of Scranton, PA has issued a second letter to Sen. Bob Casey. I consider this to be i) awesome and ii) a bit naive (really, Bishop? What makes you think a Democrat Senator can actually read?)

Anyway, when I am not being sarcastic, this story is a classic example of everything that we need in the Church today - Bishop Martino is not just saying something from the pulpit and in general pastoral letters; he is getting right in the evil, baby-killing faces of these "people" and telling them the way it needs to be. Bishop Martino sent one letter (as discussed elsewhere in this fine blog) which the Senator appears to have ignored. So, the Bishop has sent another letter which is firmer than the first - and has also issued very clear orders about who is to be given Communion and who is to be denied Communion.

Taken together, these two documents (read all about them here) make it very clear indeed that Sen. Cassey will not be recieving the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ in Scranton until he changes his support for murder.

Good on Bishop Martino!

Expect further updates on the pro-life front, as well as some crazy rationalization, later on today!

Remember, keep up to date with all the news that's printed to fit - wait, that came out wrong. All the news Catholics need to hear! By going to RealCatholicTV.com and subscribing - it's free to get the news, and for only $10 a month you can subscribe to the Premium Channel which gives you literally hundreds of hours of video each week!