The CBC reported a Manitoba alcoholic who is taking the province to the Human Rights Commission because he can’t have a spiritually void treatment centre… uhhh …I think that is a pretty acurate description of alcoholism… a spiritual void.
It’s pretty hard to recover from alcoholism and at the same time run around trying to sue the people who are trying to help you. That is a perfect example of alcoholic behaviour, which reminds me of a definition of an alcoholic:
An alcoholic is someone who is lying in the gutter… looking up … feeling superior.
Alcoholicsm is largely a spiritual problem and any program that tries to use purely psychological means will have a success rate approaching zero.
As a Christian guy who has been thorugh a provincially subsidized treatment facility I can say that provincially paid recovery programs are not pushing anything specific at people…they are very open ended about their spirituality. In fact, I think they’d have much better success rates if they would stop being so spiritually wishy washy and just said it like it is… Jesus is the Way the Truth and the Life and he is the author of recovery.
If the human rights tribunal picks this up they will be proving once again that they are too politically correct to be any earthly good.”
Thank you for all the wonderful comments regarding our marriage. We are very grateful. This is a notification that we have cancelled the April 10th date that we had planned for our wedding. We both come to this with significant baggage and we are taking this pre-marriage time to walk through it all, which is taking more time than we thought… but we are making good progress. The love and the commitment are there, and that is the core foundation of a great marriage.
This is where you can sign your name and leave comments about our upcoming marriage. We’ll be glad to hear from you! To return to our marriage web site go here.
Last year’s card was difficult because I had lost my singing voice and I didn’t understand why. However, deep down I knew the Lord had a plan. I just couldn’t imagine what it was. I now see that God used the setback and suffering to disassemble the walls of protection I had built around my heart during music touring and he showed me the incredible love I had for Kirsten. It was abundantly clear in prayer, through circumstances and through Spiritual direction that this is an invitation from the Lord to us. In early September we were engaged. This Christmas, I will be with the love of my life, Kirsten, and although not in full union, I still treasure every moment holding hands with her as we prepare for marriage. It is the greatest gift I could hope to experience this year. Kirsten is on staff at the National House of Prayer. I now introduce you to her.
Kirsten’s sister Laverne Kundert took this photo of us in Calgary.
Kirsten says: Merry Christ-Mass to you all. If I haven’t already met you, I look forward to making introductions in the New Year! May your time with family and friends this season be blessed.
Wedding details: April 10th, at 1 pm, at St. Mary’s Church, 100 Young St., Ottawa. Everybody is welcome, light reception in the hall afterwards.
We’d love you to help us celebrate our day, either in person or through prayer.
Announcement: David MacDonald and Kirsten Harty engaged to be married. The engagement was in early September. Marriage April 10 at St. Mary’s in Ottawa. Everybody will be welcome to attend the service. More details to be announced soon. Neither of us has been married before.
God is so good. I took this photo of Kirsten Sept 6, 2009.
Kirsten is on staff at the National House of Prayer, praying for our government leaders. She grew up in Calgary as an Evangelical, and converted to Catholicism 2.5 years ago after a dream about the Eucharist. We met during her conversion when she was steered to me to answer questions about the Church. She spends much time in Eucharistic adoration, regular Mass and Rosary. She just loves Jesus, and wants to give everything to him, an amazing woman.
We discerned our romantic future a year and a half ago. But I thought I was called to consecrated single life. Since then many internal and external signs for both of us revealed otherwise. Besides, we couldn’t stop thinking about each other. Her past is completely opposite from mine. I’m smitten.
David and I welcomed this beautiful singing canary into our lives this past Tuesday…. he landed on David’s balcony while David was on the phone with another recording musician, then flew into the apartment and has been happily there ever since.
Later that day, David posted “Found Bird” notes in the elevators… sure enough, his owner contacted us, and said he had been outside overnight. From her apartment, he flew over the building and onto David’s balcony.
When David asked if we could keep him, she replied that he was her best singing canary, but that she was thinking of giving one or two away anyways…. so why don’t we come up, get the cage and some seed from her that night….
Viola, we are now the proud owners of a singing canary!
His name is Luciano (Pavarotti) because he’s such a great singer.
Today my fiancée Kirsten and I went down to the abortion facility, which we call “Ground zero”. I had my sign with “I Regret Lost Fatherhood” on one side and “je pleure mon enfant avorté” on the other. I was moved by Kirsten’s willingness to stand with me even though she had never at all been involved in the sin of abortion. She’s got such a heart for this issue that she doesn’t care what people think about her standing with me. I am grateful she does because sometimes it’s hard to stand alone with that sign while passersby jeer and disdainfully glare at me. I love you Kirsten.
The clinic was open for business on Saturday, and couples were going in and coming out with the painfully familiar post abortive vacancy in their eyes. I’d never seen the facility open on Saturday before. A young man quipped at me “she did the right thing to abort the baby, with a father like you… you are sick human beings.” I guess regretting an abortion now qualifies as a sickness.
In the grocery store afterwards I was still wearing my sign and a woman in her early 40’s came up to me and said “You should be ashamed of yourself with a sign like that, you are a disgusting human being.” I said “I’d be glad to talk about it if you like.” But she scowled and walked away repeating that I was a disgusting human being.
The two people who jeered at me today said I was a sick (or disgusting) “human being.” It is ironic that they gave me the title “human being” when babies are aborted because they are denied their title as “human beings.” I’m at a loss to understand what is sick and disgusting about regretting a bad decision. If anything, I would think I would be sick and disgusting if I didn’t regret it.
Oh Lord forgive those who no longer want to talk about the abortion issue but would rather just hurl insults about what type of awful human beings we are, meanwhile denying that babies are human beings.
Kirsten adds:
If the temporal, physical atmosphere around us could be torn and we could see – for just one moment – what is occurring in the spirit near Ground Zero, I would imagine it would look like something out of a Frank Peretti novel…. the demonic realm violently clashing their swords with warrior angels, who were strengthened by the prayers of the saints praying silently on the sidewalk…
I believe holy angels were forcefully advancing today and the enemy was mad. (judging from the comments we were getting…)
I was particularly moved by the sight of an older, mature couple exiting the building with a teenage girl who had most likely just experienced an abortion… was she their daughter? their niece? their neighbor? the very ones who should be providing protection… covering… solutions… are instead contributing to the slow death of much more than that young girl’s baby…
Father, forgive us for the times when we’ve been accomplices unto death, and not life… may our sins not be passed down to the next generation…
I just got back from holding a sign at the gay pride parade.
“Same sex messed me up… the Truth set me free”
I got on the island of Elgin Street near the Arts Centre. I was all alone on the edge of the island facing the parade as it came by. The entire parade and everybody following it went right by me. The sign made quite a splash and tons of people took photos and movies and film crews did the same.
Most people in the march just read the sign out loud, before they realized what it was about, then their laughs stopped and they got kind of quiet. I got almost no hate speech, some people were like “That’s OK everybody is welcome.” One Lesbian came up to me and tried to hug me and said “I hope you come back.” People were laughing and dancing, and then I saw them squinting to see my sign, and the laughing often stopped and there was a sober comment made to someone beside them.
The AIDS truck went by, they were dancing but some really changed when they saw me, it’s like they stopped dancing, and read “Same sex messed me up…” which took on a very profound meaning in that context. I could feel their pain. One guy yelled, but the float was already long past me, and I couldn’t hear him. I pray for them.
As I was driving home with my 3’ x 2’ sign on my back riding down Elgin street. A Christian church group followed me in the car and said “That’s awesome, can we talk…” so I told them my story… they were out preaching and they were yelled at a lot more than me … I guess not “everybody” is welcome, like the person told me.
They claim 35,000 people attend. I have quite a bit of experience at judging crowd sizes because of the March for Life. There was not more than 5,000. The March for Life in Ottawa with 12,000 last year was over twice the size.
“same sex messed me up the Truth set me free blockquote>
An 18 year old went to my website and posted this comment. I can see him/her struggling and pray for them.
I saw you at Ottawa’s Capital Pride yesterday. If your not gay or “used” to be or whatever you wanna call it, you dont have to protest at us. Unlike you, we’re celebrating who we are and as my first time going to pride and after several years of termoil, Im happy with who I am today and we dont need people telling us how to become the majority. Dont you have anything better to do with your time like pray to god to make you straight or something?
Wow, your a lost cause…
Live, Ottawa, age 18
Here is my response:
Hi Live
I can appreciate your struggle with same sex attraction … I had it myself. I used to march in pride and get involved in politics. I was on TV with Svend Robinson at his coming out.
There are a few things to consider. The Captial Pride parade was not primarily a celebration, but rather a political event that stormed the supreme court and the Parliament buildings. In a political environment like a march on Parliament Hill it is improtant to have true diversity of opinions. Just like the Queer community showed up at the March for Life to share their different opinions. And the truth is that the queer community messed me up, and there are many people in the community who feel the same way and it’s important to let them know that others feel the same way.
Last week I did not show up at the parties with my sign during pride week because those were internal community events, not events crafted to shape public opinion like the Pride March… I left everybody to drink, drug and cruise.
Live, you are a precious and special person and you will never be “like the majority”, whether you identify as queer, or bi or even just admitting that sexuality is very complex. None of us are “like the majority”. We are all unique individuals. And it is disappointing to me that you are suggesting that I become “like the majority” and keep my mouth shut when I know that people are hurting and are desparately looking for answers. On Sunday, you were sharing your experience of the gay community by dancing in the parade and I shared my experience of the gay community by holding my sign at the parade … actually I’d say that I was the one who was most unlike the majority.
Please feel free to contact me any time you feel that you’ve had enough of the abuse that goes on in the gay community. My life is 10 times better now, and I’m not at all like the majority, even though you would like me to be.
A good friend of mine has a daughter who is in her early 20’s, who has been in and out of addiction. This year the daughter got pregnant and really wanted the baby. She wanted to be a mom. The baby was born healthy. But they discovered trace levels of THC and another downer in the baby’s bloodstream. The doctors said the THC (Pot) could have been smoked up to a month prior to the birth because THC was not in the mom’s system.
While the mother was breast-feeding the one-day-old baby, a nurse came in to weigh the baby. Taking the baby from her mother’s nipple, the nurse walked out of the room and didn’t come back. She was sent there by the Children’s Aid Society who took the baby away. The mother has not seen the baby since, which tore her apart.
This is a very sad story and it makes me wonder about the best solution. But my question is this. Why is it a punishable offense to smoke pot and take a downer while you have a baby in utero, and yet it is perfectly legal to stick a pellet rifle into your uterus and shoot the baby in the head two days before it’s born, which happened in 1996 and was upheld as legal by the Supreme Court of Canada in 1999?
The Supreme Court judges went to school for 10 years and practiced law for 30 years to learn this advanced logic.
Today, I stood across the street with my “I regret lost fatherhood” sign, and my friend Frances held her “I regret my abortion” sign (our abortions are not related). It is traumatic to watch the misery parade of young women being “escorted” to the clinics with their boyfriends who will soon be gone out of their lives.
A 17 year old girl approached us after sitting nearby for about an hour watching us. She had tattoos all over her arms, and on her chest. She had two lip rings and clothing that exposed more of her body than was covered up. She was very pretty underneath her Goth eyeliner, and there was a glimmer of the innocence she had lost. She defiantly asked “Are you guys paid to be here?” I said “No, I’m here on my own time, for no money and no other reason than to share my experience with abortion.” She said “I had an abortion last year…sometimes people can’t go through with a pregnancy, and I’d never tell someone what to do.”
I told her my experience with abortion and Frances told her story. This young girl then shared what it was like for her abortion. She had been date raped, and her mother and everyone around her pressured her to have an abortion but she wasn’t sure. She went into the abortion doctor’s office for the interview in Toronto balling her eyes out. The “doctor” said “Toughen up, why are you here? If you can’t handle it get out!” She “toughened up” and stayed.
She decribed the excruciating pain of having her feet put in stirrups and seeing the 10 inch instrument forced up into her uterus, and being in such searing agony that they strapped down her wrists and had two nurses hold down her torso as the doctor ripped her baby from her womb.
Afterwards she wanted to die. She cut herself with razor blades all over her body and ended up in a psych ward. The walls were blank but she saw children running all around on the walls and she was in incredible turmoil. When she was released she had tattoos engraved all over her body, some she did herself. She lifted up the front of her shirt and showed us a tattoo over her uterus of a thorn thicket. She said it represented her now inhospitable uterus. She said “It’s a big lie what this world says, it’s a real baby, and I will never be able to replace my lost baby, and I may not be able to have kids anymore because of complications.” She continued “I don’t know how to get over it.”
I replied “I know how to come to terms with it. It is God. After many years of trying every self destructive thing to get over it, I found that in the end, it was God who heals, and it starts with fully accepting what we’ve done and then humbly asking God for forgiveness. It’s a lifetime journey. There is help out there. I can help you find it.”
She changed the subject to how she tried to talk a friend out of abortion, but she said she would support no matter what … then suddenly it all came together for me… she was waiting for her friend who, at that very minute, was going through the same thing on the 3rd floor across the street at the Morgentaler abortion clinic. My heart leapt into my throat and I choked back the tears. I said “I am really sorry that this is happening.” I told her about Rachel’s Vineyard, and said that I would pray for her. Then she walked across the street to rejoin the misery parade, and I turned away, I couldn’t look anymore.
Development and Peace is funding organizations that are politically agitating for abortion and contraception in the third world.
The D&P response to the accusations was to pay tens of thousands of Canadian Catholic donation dollars to fly D&P employees down to Mexico to chaperone several Canadian Bishops around the country, like North Korean officials chaperoning media around to avoid incriminating evidence. It seems Development and Peace would rather spend our money exonerating themselves than actually fixing the problems.
The resulting report would be worth more if they shipped it to the third word as toilet paper. They say they never fund abortion, because they specify to these (abortion pushing) organizations that the money should be used for poverty. Yeah.
D&P’s strategy to combat global poverty is short sighted and cruel. They should split from the Bishops Conference and join the anti-life Canadian delegation at the UN. Stop using Catholic money to work against Catholic teaching!
The “peace” being advocated by Development and Peace, through their partners, is a typical first world response to the third world… Conceive fewer kids and abort the ones you conceive. We’ll recycle and you will abort. Sounds fair.
Why do so many “social justice” advocates want to “help poor people” by making them infertile and killing their babies? There is no one poorer and more vulnerable in the third world than an unborn baby. There can be no charity without concern for her. Mother Theresa said
“There can be no peace in the world until there is peace in the womb.”
I sponsor a child in India through Chalice. Last year I met him when I travelled to India. There is an authentic response to Christ’s call to provide charity through Catholic organizations. Unfortunately, no authentic Catholic can donate to D&P in good conscience. It is beyond saving. It’s cancerous philosophy is systemic.
It seems many people who claim to know Christ don’t know that his heart is beating in each of these little unborn girls in the third world.
The media is on a new feeding frenzy over Danny Gokey and Adam Lambert’s “differences”. The Examiner writes:
What everyone wants to know about is the possible beef he had with Adam Lambert, which Lambert alluded to in his Rolling Stone interview: “Danny is by the book, and the book is The Word. And I respect that. Just don’t try to push it on me and we’re cool.”
When asked about what he and Lambert disagreed upon, Gokey said:
Religious beliefs, and … I think that was the main topic. But we did it in a very respectful way. It was cool because we would never argue or frustrate each other, we’d just like to hear the other opinion on the conversation. And at the end of the conversation, we’d respectfully disagree and we have a great, strong friendship. It was mostly religion.
On the specific topic of homosexuality, Gokey said, “I accept gay people, but people have to accept my beliefs. We have to accept their beliefs, but they have to accept my beliefs. We agree to disagree. I don’t judge people, but at the same time, if they believe in what they believe, they have to accept me and what I believe. But I accept anybody as they come. That’s my character and my personality.”
Character and personality … those are the things that allowed him to win the popularity contest that is American Idol, right?
Danny didn’t even say gay sex is wrong and he’s getting killed. What next?
Adam said “Just don’t try to push it on me and we’re cool.” Who’s pushing their agenda on who? Who’s on the cover of every magazine shouting the “good news” about being gay from the rooftops to mixed up teenagers across the world? It’s not Danny.
America is no longer tolerant of Christian morality. It’s a weird kind of secular fundamentalism where anybody who actually believes in Christianity is ridculed, ostracized, and marginalized.
At least Danny didn’t sell out Christianity like Kris Allen. Allen is all flirty and chummy with Adam, and America loves a “tolerant” Christian. Adam calls Kris “very liberal and OK with it all”. Allen knows how to win America, just tow the line. I’m in no way saying that we don’t honour Adam’s giftedness, but Kris saying “Oh it’s funny that you had a crush on me, my wife has a crush on you!” is just wierd.
What Kris Allen and others who think gay sex is fine don’t know, is that the days are coming when they are going to be persecuted simply for believing in Jesus. The media is trying to purge every vestige of Christian morality from public life. My story is here. www.GayTestimony.com
In the recent dust up over the ABC interview with Christopher West, Professor David Schindler brought up the issue of anal sex as foreplay in his criticism of West. He pointed out it was in the first version of West’s book “Good News about Sex and Marriage.” West corrected it in the revised edition of the book and clearly discourages anal sex, which Professor Schindler unfortunately didn’t mention. But nevertheless, the story was picked up by Catholic News Services (CNS) and other Catholic news outlets. So now everybody is talking about anal sex even though it has been a closed issue for West for over 5 years.
Janet Smith made a comprehensive defense of West covering a wide range of issues raised by Schindler. Necessarily, part of that posting discussed the anal sex issue raised by Schindler. Smith made it clear that she personally doesn’t like discussing anal sex, and that she “did not and do not defend it.” But points out that it is a question raised by some married Christian couples and that some priests invoke the principle “that consensual actions that culminate in intercourse are morally permissible, and that it has been in some moral manuals over the last 150 years, that have nihil obstats and imprimaturs.”
She posited “perhaps it is time for ethicists to work on the question.” I commend her for having the guts to call for a discussion. I actually don’t think Catholic ethicists should “work on the question” at an institutional level. It would turn into a public relations nightmare given the current hostility towards Catholicism in the mainstream media; especially given current politics around gay marriage.
However, I think somebody needs to talk about anal sex in marriage, and tell couples not to do it. Perhaps the burden falls on me because I spent a couple of years in the gay community before I found the Lord. Although I rarely had that kind of sex back then, I do know quite a bit about it, albeit from a different perspective. Even when I was permiscuously living in the straight world before that, I intuitively avoided it. That’s probably why I’m alive today. My story is here.
Here are my reasons why “back door” penetration is out of bounds, even when limited to foreplay between straight married couples, and even when the climax is saved for normal intercourse:
It is really unhealthy. There’s tearing, bleeding, bathroom complications, and a whole bunch of other health problems too nasty to mention here.
On moral issues, Catholicism follows a principle known as Natural Law. That means “use things according to thier prupose.” Anal sex in marriage is achieved by inserting the man’s reproductive organ into the woman’s digestive tract. That’s not very “natural.”
It is demeaning and violates the “Dignity of the Person,” who in this case is the woman. There is an unnatural and disproportional disparity of power between the couple during anal sex. Throughout history anal sex has been more about power than love. Even in ancient Greece where historical revisionists say it was “accepted,” the passive partner was always frowned upon, regardless of whether it was a man or a woman. Anal sex has always been about one person asserting dominance over another. In my experience, even in the modern gay community the person on the “bottom” is seen as weaker. In a recent interview, American Idol winners Chris Allen and Adam Lambert were asked “who will get the top bunk during your tour?” Adam blurted out “I wanna be the top!” The clip went all over the gay blogs because Adam, who is gay and who unexpectedly lost to Allen, was asserting his dominance.
The extreme power disparity that happens during anal sex, is very distinct from the natural and moderate power interplay between a married couple during real intercourse. People who agree to be passive partners in anal sex generally have low self esteem, which is further fueled by subsequent occations of it. This becomes a downward spiral in the emotional life of passive partner. It is true whether or not anal sex is limited to foreplay. It often fosters deep seated, sometimes silent, resentment by the passive partner, which can undermine the health of the relationship.
In Pope JPII’s teaching “Love and Responsibility,” he pointed out that it usually takes women longer to climax than men. He also said that the man should hold his climax to coincide with the woman. Given that advice, it’s counter intuitive for the guy to advance his climax by having fake intercourse in the wrong place as a “warm up.”
Nowhere in the Bible does it say it’s OK, on the other hand Romans 1:24-27 says:
“women exchanged natural intercourse for unnatural, and in the same way also the men, giving up natural intercourse with women…”
Scripture is clearly saying women cannot have “back door” sex. The Bible doesn’t say “it’s only sex if there is climax.” I think using that excuse is like Bill Clinton saying “I didn’t have sex with that woman.”
Even if a couple could rationalize Romans 1:24-27 to apply only to anal sex that ends in climax, it would be precarious. Last time I checked, men aren’t always masters in self control during sex. If there is a premature climax, then the couple would be engaging in sin that is listed among the worst of the Bible. This rational for anal sex would be like trying to justify playing ball hockey on the freeway. (Of course, I propose that it is serious sin even if there is no premature “accident.”)
Anal sex is too much like natural intercourse to be foreplay. It is a spiritual axiom that evil always uses counterfeit perversions of holy and natural things to degrade the sanctity of those things, and there is no greater counterfeit of real intercourse than anal intercourse (even as foreplay).
There is no Magisterial document discussing anal penetration foreplay nor does there need to be. Can you just imagine CNN covering that story? Whew, what a mess that would be! The Bible says:
For this is the covenant that I will make … I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts.
The Magisterium doesn’t have to spell out every sexual behaviour like the Book of Leviticus under the Old Covenant. We are in the New Covenant. I think prayer and mutual respect will draw the married couple to the truth on this issue.
The Bible, Natural Law, biology and common sense clearly indicate it’s not OK. If couples are doing it, I think they should stop, and if a priest is saying it’s OK as foreplay between married couples, I think he should stop. If there are any “moral manuals” advocating this in seminaries, they should be discarded.
Christopher West discourages this kind of foreplay, and rightly so.
David Schindler is Provost/Dean and Professor of Fundamental Theology at the Pontifical Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family. He’s getting in on the criticism of Christopher West.
The article is here: www.headlinebistro.com/hb/en/news/west_schindler2.html
Dr. Schindler is a fantastic academic, and a faithful Catholic who has written tons of books with big words. But his reach into the pews and hearts of average Catholics is quite limited. He’s been at the top of the Catholic morality scene for over 30 years, and still more than 95% of Catholics contracept.
David Schindler doesn’t know what to do with Christopher West. He intimates that Christopher’s faithfulness gives false credibility to his message. For shock value, he reprints every body part that Chris has mentioned in his seminars as if context means nothing. He chastises Christopher for having prayed for women’s ovaries during seminars, as if they are unmentionable, and as if women wouldn’t want the most precious part of their fertility prayed over. He criticizes West’s advice that couples bless each other’s private parts before sex, as if that is crass. As if they are less important than the tea set you are giving to your gramma that you would bless. It’s a seminar for couples and it includes issues important to them, and yes sex is important to married couples. It seems praying before love making worked out pretty well for Tobias and his wife Sarah. (Tobit 8:4-9)
There is however, one criticism that I agreed with, and it worried me significantly. It was about some types of foreplay, which were given a green light in the first edition of West’s book, “Good News About Sex And Marriage.” It turns out they were corrected in the 2nd edition. I question why Schindler would cite a first edition with parentheses (First edition) when the 2nd edition corrected it, and then make no mention that it was corrected in the 2nd edition. West actively discourages this, and rightfully so.
Here are Schindler’s 4 criticisms:
“First: … we should expect holiness to “trump” temptations or disordered tendencies in the area of sexuality exactly as often as we should expect holiness to “trump” the reality of having to undergo death.”
To me this statement is bordering on the Manichean heresy, which is precisely what Chris criticises. Schindler is saying sex between faithful married couples is always lustful and disordered. No wonder he hasn’t gotten traction in the pews for the last 30 years, and is stuck in the academic ghetto.
However, there is one criticism of West related to this that I’ve heard on this issue of concupiscence as it relates to modesty. Some women have felt that they need not dress modestly. I think this would be a misinterpretation of West’s message. Women, you need to dress modestly in public (Rom 14:13, Titus 2:4-5, 1 Tim 2:9-10, Peter 3:2-5,) and men, you need to practice custody of the eyes (5:28). I look away when a woman is dressed sexy. The Holy Spirit has given me much freedom from lust, but I will not put the Lord my God to the test. (Lk 4:12, Deut. 6:16) Perhaps West could say more about this.
Second: … But sex is not even the most important part of human love, let alone the key to the Christian mysteries–the Eucharist, for example.”
I agree. In fact I am living a celibate vocation for that very reason. And Chris talks about this higher calling.
Chris talks about the Eucharist a lot. He calls it an “introduction” to Theology of the Body and it’s specifically for married couples, so naturally there will be much discussion of sexual matters.
Third, West’s treatment of shame and reverence is marred by a too-male vision of things. He is saying nakedness is OK if we could get over the shame.
Well, maybe, but the Vatican is full of nakedness. With this reasoning, why wouldn’t Dr. Schindler take a swipe at the Sistine Chapel. The Cardinals are surrounded by nakedness during the conclave, as they make the crucial prayerful choice of who will be the pope. That predates Vatican II modernism by 500 years. Chris is not at all touting nakedness like nudist colony folks who say we have to get back to our natural state. He is trying to get married couples comfortable with each other’s bodies.
Fourth, a style of preaching is not merely a matter of “style”– he pressures people who are uneasy with his style to accept it.
Ok, he doesn’t like Chris’s “pushy” approach. That’s fair, but it’s got nothing to do with bad theology. The article is really about his disagreements with Christopher’s focus, and delivery, not his theology, even though he presents the article like he’s going to devistate West’s faulty theology.
The article was basically what I call a “Manure sandwich.” The outside (bread) is full of nice things to say about West in the introduction and closing, and the substance is a tirade. It reminded me of Statler and Waldorf, the old guys in the Muppets who were always criticizing.
Chris is not one of those post Vat II morally challenged liberal flakes. He’s bringing a new generation to orthodoxy, against contracepting, against divorce, against homosexuality, etc… Neither Dr. Alice or Dr. Schindler have made any “real” arguments against his theology, except saying he put emphasis on things they don’t agree with. Their way of communicating chastity has failed, and their generation of Catholics contracept 95%. I think they should step aside and let someone younger be successful, rather than pulling him down.
I agree sexuality that should be veiled, but not in the bedroom, and not by teachers who are trying to make that relationship work best through seminars. He is talking about sexual matters to help people deal with all those questions and issues they’ve never been able to deal with.
I’m sure Chris will examine the criticism and make some adjustments. So in the end it will perhaps all be for the best. In particular, I’d like him to say more about the need for women to dress modestly in public, and for men to not rationalize lust behind the old adage, “look how beautiful God made that woman,” when they are clearly looking at parts of her body that are causing arousal.
I love the fact that old school Catholics are worried about the Church. We all are. We just disagree on how that should be remedied. Traditionalists think the solution is to go back to the old majestic days of being the pillar of Western Society, where faithful Catholics presented themselves to the world as stiff, academic people, with no personal problems. I think those days are over. I think the future is going to be in persecution. And evangelization will come through sharing our brokeness, and Christ’s redemption.
We are entering a time when neither Christopher West or Dr. Schindler will be able to freely preach. Those of us who are faithful will be in jail for our defense of the unborn and marriage. The Mass will be driven underground to protect the Eucharist from desecration through forced communion to gay couples. We are going to need to come together and stop the internal bickering which Obama is using to his advantage to divide and conquer. But anyway I digress.
So let’s walk off the field and call it a truce. And each take our broken hearts before the Lord so he can make us strong for the coming persecutions..
Recently, Dr. Alice von Hildebrand criticised Christopher West after an ABC special that distorted his views on human sexualtity. Alice Von Hildebrand and her late husband, are much respected in the Church and she has appeared numerous times on EWTN and at Catholic Family Land.
CNS broke this story. I examined every published comment by Dr. Hildebrand.
She said she knew the “gist” of Pope John Paul II’s Theology of the Body. That doesn’t give me any confidence that she has read the 4000 pages of TOB, certainly not to the extent of Mr. West
She has never read West’s books or seen anything besides the ABC special.
She attacked exclusively his choice of “vocabulary” and “Style”.
She has not said there are theological errors in his work. She is saying it lacks humility and reverence. (kind of like my gramma didn’t like my Christian pop music.)
Christopher has succeeded with audiences that Dr. Alice von Hildebrand has not successfully reached. She has a beautiful letter to a young woman about keeping her virginity, comparing it to the key that opens the door to a secret garden that is saved for the special person she will marry. Wonderful analogy, but it’s like a grandmother talking to a teenager, it’s archaic language for a limited audience of faithful Catholics. Christopher West, is out there sharing his pain, his previous struggles, he is touching his audience were they live.
Older Catholics don’t really understand the use of personal testimony to help evangelize. This was used long before Augustine wrote his confessions, but fell out of use from the late 1800’s to the 1960’s during the puritanical rule when Catholics just lied about having sinned, except in the confessional. It’s come back strong in this generation and young people very much appreciate someone who has overcome personal sin and who has lived a holy life for many years and who is willing to share it. It shows them they can do it too. I’ve helped 1000’s that way.
JP II was not against using the tools of modern world, including modern language, to articulate age old truths. I think Mr. West is following that guidance. Here is a picture of JPII greating a topless native.
JPII didn’t freak out when a topless woman came for communion in Papua New Guinea, May 8, 1984. He ministered to the natives as they stood there. Now in fairness to JPII, I don’t think this happened again. I think there was a dress code implemented after that.
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Here’s a photo of JPII preaching to topless natives
Alice von Hildebrand claims to understand JPII better than West, and calls his teaching “dangerous”. She acuses him of taking advantage of JPII’s popularity. I’d be glad to have her explain these photos and the photos of bikini acrobats in the Vatican palace. JPII was not as freaked out by the human body as she is suggesting. A look at the Sistine Chapel should make that clear.
Dr. von Hildebrand is a philosopher, Chris is a communicator. She should not measure him by philosophical standards.
John Paul II understood that the cultural context of an audience needs to be considered when teaching. Dr. Hildebrand has a great heart for the Church. She teaches chastity, and modesty, but I suggest at 86 years old, she is not communicating to the people that need to be touched. She preaches to the choir. Christopher West is masterfully in the trenches fighting the Culture of death, and taking the fight to the people, using the powerful teachings of JPII. This is in no way meant to be disrespectful of Dr. Hildebrand. But she’s like those who criticize the use of Christian pop music to evangelize the youth saying that the beat is sexually infectious. C’mon!
I’m sure good will come from this, and Christopher West will adjust his presentations to be more reverent of sex as Dr. von Hildebrand demands. But I would be disappointed if he let these attacks change his style too much. I’m still trying to figure out if he’s a modern Saint who is getting bashed by people in the Church just like all the other Saints. I think watching his response to this firestorm will help us figure that out. Stay tuned.
Kris Allen was 4 years younger than Adam Lambert, and not as confident. But Kris knows where his gift came from. Adam is still looking. He treked off to “Burning Man”, a New Age pagan drug/sex fest in the desert. His spiritual journey ended with open mouth gay kissing photos posted all over the web.
Whether or not that cost him the title is anybody’s guess. But being an idol is also about managing your image. And even though Adam worked his butt off to look cool and manage his image, he ultimately failed. Not only from his racy sex life. He never let America into his heart. Because he didn’t know who is deep within his heart. Jesus.
I pray for Adam. He’ll be a star, but if he doesn’t eventually realize that it is Jesus who gave him his talent, he’s going to have a checkered future of drugs, seances and dangerous sex. Sounds like my past. I was in the US National Tour of “Cats” and was into glam pop and the gay community… it’s a miserable place to be.
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As I was walking across the street from the abortion clinic with my “I regret lost fatherhood” A lady came up on her bike, and said “I want to tell you that I don’t regret my abortion.” She drove away.
An elderly woman came and said:
“When I was 15 I got pregnant. My father tried to force me into an abortion, but I said ‘it’s my body, and I’m keeping my baby.’ My son is now 54 years old and he’s the joy of my life.”
She became a nurse in the 60’s and worked in Ponoka Mental, which was a mental hospital. She said “more than 80% of all women there were there because of abortions.”
A few minutes later the first lady who said “I don’t regret my abortion” returned. She was on the phone and running up to the sidwalk and waving her hands. Then the police came.
Frances, a woman carrying a sign that said “I regret my abortion” was on the clinic side of the street walking between Queen and Sparks.
The police threatened to arrest her and told her to get to the other side of the street. They walked back across the street and when they saw me filming what was going on. They called me over and asked invasive questions like whether Frances was my partner, which she isn’t, what organization I was with, and asked for my ID and ran a check on my ID.
He said “we are just making sure you aren’t blocking the street. That’s what we did with the Tamils.”
I said “The Tamils had the run of the street for a week. Today, the sidewalk is empty, it’s a rainy day. I don’t think what you are doing here is very good.”
The constable said “I don’t think bombing a clinic is good. I don’t think lots of things are good.”
I said “I find that offensive.”
He said “we’re just trying to keep the peace, we had a complaint.”
I said “I know who the woman is and it has nothing to do with blocking the sidewalk. She just disagrees with our message. Would you like me to show you where she is?”
He said “There was an incident where a woman grabbed a client going into the clinic and gave her literature, we’re trying to make sure that doesn’t happen again.”
I said “I would challenge that that happened.”
He said “You have just committed an offense by challenging me, I can put you in handcuffs right now bring you downtown and book you, and charge you and you’ll never get near this place again.”
I looked in disbelief of his anger, and said “I then question whether that really happened”
He said “It did, but no charges were laid.”
I said “I question that. It seems like what is happening here is harrassement.”
He said “do you know what harassment is?”
I said “Yes”.
Then he said something out of the blue. “I know I’ll be judged in the end”
I waited in silence to hear what he would say next. He said “We’ll all be judged by what we do at the end of our lives and I’m comfortable with what I’m doing.”
I couldn’t figure out whether he was trying to suck me into a religious debate to figure out what I believed or what. But I did feel very sad for him, because he’s right. We all will be judged. But I’m afraid it won’t matter too much whether we were “comfortable” with our actions on that day.
He said “Look I’m a public servant, I’m not here to take sides, have you ever had a bad neighbour… it’s like that… you should be on this side of the street, they on that side of the street.”
So now we live in a city where the police don’t even need to have a bubble zone to restrict one woman from walking in the rain on an empty sidewalk with an “I regret my abortion” sign.
Morgentaler petition
On Monday April 27, 2009 at 5pm I received a call from the Governor General’s office, saying that a representative from the Governor General’s Chancellery would meet with me at the gate of Rideau Hall so I could present a petition of 18,222 names opposing Morgentaler’s Order of Canada. This was after two weeks of no communication from them after my initial contact on Apr 14, where they said they would get back to me. (They gave me one business day to prepare). On April 28, I was asked by Lucy Caron Director of Communications what they should expect when they came out to meet me. I said “I will be joined by a delegation of about 12 young people.” Ms. Caron, said that she and Madeline Proulx, from the Chancellery would meet with me.
On Wed. April 29th at 9:15 AM, 10 young people from 4MyCanada, and Frances Wilkinson, a woman who regrets her abortion gathered with me. At 9:25 Lucy Caron came out and asked if I would like to come inside the gate. Thinking of possible press photos I said “no, out here is fine”. She said “no photos, you don’t have permission.” I said “There is no reason not to photograph passing 18,222 names to the Governor General.”
David MacDonald shaking hands with Madeline Proulx of the Chancellery office of the Governor General. Lucy Caron on the left. The big video camera on the left belong to the Governor General’s office, the people who said we could not photograph.
After I read a letter. Lucy Caron waved to the young people and they went back inside the gate with the petition. Two TV quality camera’s were present, they belonged to the Governor Generals office. I thought it was odd that Lucy Caron said before we started “no camera, you don’t have permission, but showed up with a broadcast quality video camera with a shotgun directional audio mike.
We stood around for several minutes discussing what just happened. Then two officers of the RCMP “Special Events to the Governor General” unit came to us. The officer, pulled me away from the other young people. I said I would like them to be with me. He said “no, I would like to speak with you alone.” He proceeded to take my name address and telephone, asked what organizations I was representing and said he was investigating an “unscheduled protest”. I told him that we had an appointment and had informed Lucy Caron Communications Director, that we would have 12 young people with us, and that is what we have. He said there is a “protest sign”. I said “I hardly think of one woman holding an ‘I regret my abortion sign’ to be an unscheduled protest.”
He had been dispatched by the coordinator in charge of public events of the Governor General. I said “I find this extremely intimidating, and I think you are sending a strong message to these young people that if they disagree with the government, they will be treated like suspected criminals.” He said “we have a right to know what is going on with everything that is happening in the world.” I said “We are here because we were invited by the director of Communications for the Governor General.”
This is less than 10 minutes after receiving the “privilege” of meeting the Governor General’s chancellery’s representative and the director of communications. This was a real double message from the office of the Governor General. It can only be one of two things…it is either harassment and intimidation or it is a “miscommunication” by the Director of Communications for one of the most important offices in the country. The RCMP officer knew my name when he approached me… and he knew it was my initiative, and correctly singled me out of 12 people. And he talked to the Commissionaire guard on duty who knew our purpose. So I would have trouble with the “miscommunication” excuse. It’s a strange world where people are honoured for creating a law that allows babies to be shot through the head a few minutes before birth, and people who peacefully disagree are interogated…
Yesterday, I had one of the saddest encounters of my life in front of the abortion clinic. A woman who had had 3 previous abortions was waiting outside the clinic. I spoke about my abortions, and how I felt now. She said, “my baby has a beating heart, I saw it’s heart beating, but I’ve got to take care of the 2 kids I have with me, I’m afraid of the Children’s Aid Society taking them and I’ve been on drugs and alcohol and I tried the morning after pill which didn’t work. So my baby is already messed up. I’ve lost 50 pounds and am not sleeping. I know it’s murder, so you don’t have to tell me that it is alive. I know it is.”
I said “I work with people with disabilities and they are very precious and happy to be alive, and there is a good chance your baby is not disabled.”
She said “You seem like a nice man who is responsible, but the father of my baby took off, and I’ve got 2 kids at home and I can’t handle another one.”
I said “I was like that but I got cleaned up and my life turned around many years ago.” I said “I have a good job and I’m willing to adopt her.”
She stopped and looked at me for a moment, as if to consider it and said “but I’m not going to go through a long pregnancy with my current kids.”
I said “I can help, there is much help.”
She said “If you want to help anyone go talk to the disappearing fathers.”
I said “when we don’t know God we men sometimes do terrible things, and are selfish and irresponsible.”
She said “I’ve done many selfish and irresponsible things too … hitting my kids sometimes when I can’t cope, and always afraid of the CAS, drugs and alcohol … you know, you are not going to make me change my mind. I know I’m going to hell” as tears welled up.
I said “it doesn’t have to be this way. God is really good at making things work out. God loves us so much.”
She said “God never listens to my prayers.”
By this time I was crying too. I said “sometimes it seems like he’s not listening, but when we look back we can see clearer. I can help you, and I know many others who can help us.”
She said “I’ve got to go” and crying, she asked “please pray for me.” Then she turned around and opened the door to 65 Bank street and disappeared.
I felt the emptiness of my powerless as a man, with respect to abortion. There was nothing I could do. My own lost children flashed across my mind’s eye. I got on my bike and drove home with a lump in my throat as the world went about its business as if nothing was wrong. Nothing seems to make sense to me anymore. Am I going crazy?
Perhaps you are being “Seeker sensitive” but as a same sex attracted man who found the Lord and has been set free, I can tell you that you are not helping same sex attracted people one bit by your neutral position. Is the founder “Celebrating Recovery” oblivious to what it means to “enable” dysfunctional behavior.
You said you called your gay friends to apologize for being perceived to support real marriage. That confuses me. Your position is in stark contrast Mother Theresa. She had one of the first AIDS hospices in New York and won the respect of people living with AIDS through sheer love, compassion and work in Christ. Yet not for one minute did she compromise her solidly biblical position on the dysfunction of gay sex. She inadvertently became more influential with world leaders and more respected by the general population than you will ever be, try as you may.
Love does not always say “yes,” nor does it stand on the sidelines of the most important issues of the day.
David MacDonald
www.GayTestimony.com
www.CatholicBridge.com
I was walking with my “I regret lost fatherhood sign.” An intelligent looking businessman in his 50’s approached me. He said
“I am very moved by your sign. I got my girlfriend pregnant at 21 years old. I tried to convince her to get an abortion. Her doctor and the nurse at the clinic tried to convince her. Her friends and family tried to convince her. But she said to me ‘it’s ok, you can go, I’m going to have the baby’. We stayed together and my son is 28 years old today. He’s a great guy and I look at him and think about how wrong and selfish I was. I’m not religious but when I saw your sign it really hit home. I’m sorry you lost your child.”
I said “thank you for sharing the story, even though I lost mine, I still love to hear about the life choice made for other children who are saved from the horror of abortions.”
It’s 7 months of no singing voice and very little talking voice. Quite the cross for someone like me who’s identity is tangled up in the music and performing and leading worship and speaking engagements etc… After Mass this morning during my prayer time alone in the Church, I think the Lord gave me 4 words…
“Time, Patience, Discipline, Sacrifice”
Not really what I wanted to hear…. I wanted to hear something like … “here’s your voice back, you are a good guy, the prolife movement needs you, the teenagers need your testimony, … etc…”
But when I objectively consider the principles that these words represent, I’m obliged to admit they have been my spiritual weak spots… These 4 words also give me a bit of comfort because it appears that this setback of losing my voice again is not an evil curse or something like that, but rather our Good Lord in his infinite mercy providing discipline to his generally undisciplined son.
So this is what I will embark upon… a journey beyond my talents and gifting, into the realm of my weaknesses. If God is going to be able to make any use of me after I die and (hopefully) join the ranks of the faithful… I need to enter heaven with a better relationship to these words than I have now.
What a year of ups and downs. I stood at the birthplace of Jesus, where the wise men offered their gifts that first Christmas. The only thing I could offer him was my obedience. I returned to India, and saw my sponsored child, then to Australia to see the Pope and participate in World Youth Day, returning through France. I stood on Normandy beaches where evil was overthrown … what a difference a day makes.
I damaged my voice during concerts in those places and for 5 months I’ve had no singing voice. But in the stillness of the night I sense God saying, “I still love you and I have a plan for you.”
After 9 years of development, a committee I sit on released a web standard for people with disabilities (WCAG). So work has become busy. A door closes, another opens. I will never understand God’s ways, but with friends like you, the road will be one of hope. «GreetingLine» may God bless you this Christ-Mass and into the new year.
The University of Calgary kicked Prolife students off campus this week, charged tuition paying students with “tresspassing”. Sure, the GAP is an “in your face” campaign, but so was the Falun Gong exhibit. But prolifers are fair game. Here is my open letter to the president.
Dear Sir
My girlfriend and I aborted our baby. We both feel that it was the worst mistake that we ever made in our lives. Never during school had we ever heard or seen anybody warning us about the philosophical and emotional problems with abortion. We only heard that it is quick painless and easy to get over. There were no pro life groups on campus giving the other side.
Now that a group wants share a prolife position on your campus you are forcibly silencing them. There are people who need to make an informed choice and you are forcefully forbidding there to be “unsanitized” contrary opinion expressed on your campus.
In 10 years perhaps there will be many U of Calgary alumni who will feel like I do, that we were robbed of choice because of pro life silence on the issue. Except this time they won’t blame the apathy of pro lifers for not forming a group they will blame you, and rightfully so.
I was in the doctor’s office today, and started reading the Bible on my palm pilot. I flipped randomly to 1 Titus 4:3:
…For everything [food] created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected provided it is received with thanksgiving: for it is sanctified by God’s word and by prayer.
When I was in Israel I stayed with a wonderful Kosher Jewish family. They followed many rules and laws around food. It was impressive to see their dedication.
This passage above shows me that Christian freedom from those laws is contingent upon Paul’s simple condition… prayer and thanksgiving. I often forget to pray over my food. I had this dumb idea that as a Christian that I don’t have to follow any rules around food. But I was wrong, there is a rule. I need to say Grace before each and every meal.
There have been gay riots in San Francisco, and Los Angeles, after the democratic process of voting that rejected Same Sex Marriage. They are much like the riots and storming of the Psychiatric association convention in 1973 which resulted in the association’s removal of same sex attraction from the DSM psychiatric manual. So riots work, starting with Stonewall. In Canada, gay marriage is now legal.
After 4 years of legal gay marriage in Canada, the statistics are dismally low and getting lower. The national Gay Paper in Canada, Xtra, recently ran an article called:
“Why most Canadian gays and lesbians are choosing not to marry – MARRIAGE / Too many risks, few incentives”
The article lists some of the reasons gays and lesbians in Canada are not geting married, which are similar to findings in Massachusetts and in the Netherlands where gay marriage is legal. These are quotes from the gay newspaper Xtra, the paper that rallied the gay community to battle against Christians for marriage:
“… For some [in the gay community] same-sex marriage is a radical act … for others it’s an assimilationist strategy…represents a reform movement that seeks to prove that queers are ‘just like everyone else.’ But many of us are not like everyone else – and unapologetically so.
“… Many queers worry that the cultural adoption of same-sex marriage will lead to a domestication of queer culture … But does our vibrant queer culture depend on marginality? Hopefully not. And, as Dan Savage has pointed out, marriage rarely meant monogamy for hets, so why would it make us sexually exclusive?”
“… queers have a distance from which to critique it [marriage], as well as freedom to create the relationships we want … owning property or having a pet is more of a commitment than a marriage … we have built cultures and communities independent of the straight world, developing and adopting our own creative alternatives: chosen families, open relationships, multi-parent families and domestic partnerships, just to name a few ...”
“… Because we have all the same rights and responsibilities as common-law partners that we would have if we married, there is no need to marry …”
“… Gay lawyer Ken Smith points to another disincentive to legalize vows. With marriage rights come obligations; you can’t opt in or out at will …”
“… And besides,” smiles Boo, “I love to wear the prettiest dress in the room.”
“… Many queers regard marriage as an oppressive patriarchal institution and have no interest in participating in it,” findlay notes. “My partner and I, for example, decided that we would not marry unless there was an important political reason to do so. As my partner says, ‘We’ve been living in sin for too long to change now!’”
“… I believe that the more progressive political approach is for the individual to be the basis of social organization instead of the couple … A culture that values the individual instead of the couple as the base unit would offer more support for singlehood and single parenting, for starters … single, polyamorous, coupled, friendship, chosen family or whatever our queer hearts can dream up.”
From: Why most Canadian gays and lesbians are choosing not to marry MARRIAGE / Too many risks, few incentives Xtra Jillian Deri /Vancouver / Thursday, September 25, 2008 (my emphasis)
So there it is, the Gay Marriage issue, which was the result of 20 years of lobbying, riots, court orders, and slander against Canadian Christians for their protectiveness of marriage. Marriage is not attractive to those who battled for it. The queer community says it was more of a political tool than a true passion. Straight Canada negotiated away it’s most precious gift.
Forgive the analogy, but it seems like when a kid who wants a swimming pool, makes his parents life unbearable until the parent gives in, they spend all their savings to buy the backyard pool to make the child happy. Then the kid never swims in it, but instead stands on the deck and pees in it.
The article in Xtra outlines the fundamental difference between gay and straight relationships. Marriage is at it’s heart, a call to selfless giving of oneself, first to spouse and then to the resulting children. Lifelong loyalty is it’s defining and core value. Capital Xtra is saying Gay relationships are built around the individual, where long term loyalty is not a core value.
Perhaps the US should take a cue from the gay community here in Canada, who have finally gotten honest about the issue, now that the Supreme Court and Parliament have put the issue to bed.
Yesterday I wrote this song to remember Frank Mountain, one of the great Canadian prolifers, who has gone on to help us from the other side of life. Frank ran off the road on his way to a pro life demonstration 20 years ago. He spent the rest of his life in a wheelchair, but it never slowed him down and never dulled his resolve. Frank, we love you, pray for us.
As we mourn
Heaven cries “Holy”
As you enter the Light
Heaven cries “Holy”
Twenty years ago evil tried to break you
But nothing could shake you
You rose above the pain
On the wings of faith
Refrain
Every Mountain
Raise your voice on high
For the faithful never die
You are even more alive
You have won the crown
You ran the race
You’re the one who set the pace
You are even more alive
Your wife was a rock
There for you
Your children believed
And helped you through
Pray for the families
Broken by this age
Will return to Grace and Faith
And follow in your ways
Bridge
Help us realize your dream
That every child of God will see
The light of day
And the gift of a lifetime
Mother Theresa will help us pray
Just the way she did that day
When you were given strength
To find your way
Help us see the day
When every child is safe
As I arrived in front of the clinic I noticed a man with a professional video camera and an announcer using us as a backdrop for their video. They didn’t look like news media, so I drifted over and asked them if they minded me asking them what they were shooting. The cameraman said, “I’m a student and this gentleman is a professor of science who is passionate about the environment, and we are shooting a documentary about how old the earth is and we wanted to show that others have a different opinion.”
He seemed a bit old to be a student but I didn’t question that. I simply asked him, “what makes you think that everybody in the prolife movement is a ‘young earth’ proponent, isn’t that kind of presumptuous?”
He shrugged. Then I asked the scientist “You are a man who has strong opinions about the value of science, do you mind me asking ‘when does life begin?’”
He looked at me and said, “I don’t know.”
I said “really?”
He replied “do you know?”
I said “yes, and there is not one biologist on the planet who will disagree, it’s fertilization. Could it be the reason you don’t want to answer is because you, like Obama, don’t want to face the moral implications of that answer?”
He said “I don’t want to get into this now and waste 10 minutes talking about it”
I said “But you are willing to spend hours working on a video that portrays prolifers as a bunch of science denying fundamentalists, and you can’t even answer a simple science question found in any grade 7 biology book? Who is the one denying science?”
With that they sheepishly packed up their camera gear and walked away.
Oh Lord, save us from those who are trying to use science as a political weapon against you. Show them that you created all science, and that your mysteries are completely consistent with honest science.
As I was walking slowly back and forth a woman approached me and said.
I work in the office building here and have been watching your group for several weeks. I want to let you know that I’ve been hoping and praying something like this would happen here. I was in that clinic 2.5 years ago. I was 44 years old, already had 3 children, and my husband and I work. This pregnancy was inconvenient and unexpected. My husband and my mother wanted me to have an abortion. It was a cold Thursday in February. Inside the clinic, it was dirty and dreary and the chairs were all stained. There were several other couples there. I was alone because my husband was working. We were all given forms.
As I began to fill in the form, I heard a woman, who had just had an abortion and was crying. I looked at the other women writing quickly, as reviewed the questions about my health, I got a sense the something was terribly wrong. I called my husband and said “I can’t do this, I’m not going to.” And then I walked out. I never looked back.
My daughter is 2 years old today. She is healthy and beautiful, and I can’t believe I was considering taking her life. She is a precious gift from God. I often stand out here on my work breaks and think about that day and pray for the women inside. There were sometimes protesters on Friday mornings, but there were abortions happening on Thursdays, Fridays, and now Wednesday. I’ve been praying that more people would come and pray in front of this clinic. You guys are an answer to my prayers. Thank you.
I was very moved. I said “what you did was very courageous. I wish I had the same courage when I was in a similar situation in 1984. Abortion was the worst mistake I’ve ever made.” We prayed together and I thanked God for the life he saved, and I pray that in some small way I’ll be able to help others make a decision for life.
Obama won at a great cost, with the blood of the unborn. America’s thirst for blood is insatiable, on the right wing there is the war, which fueled the last election, which the Pope condemned. And when they get sick of that kind of death they swing over to the left, where there is a feeding frenzy around the trough of blood that will write death into the constitution for generations to come.
A very wise man once said “What does it prohet a man if he gains the world but loses his soul?”
If Obama had concern for human life, and a respect for marriage, I’d get behind him in a heartbeat. I’m not a fiscal conservative, I’m simply a prayerful man. Prayer will always lead to “life”. Oh Lord, have mercy on all the helpless souls whose blood will be shed in the next 4 years and into the next generation because of America’s decisions.
My prayer is that one day there will be a great man on the left, who will turn American politics on its ear, in a courageous way, who finds the courage to stand up for life and stand up against war, and be willing to take a cut in his “pay grade” and popularity to take an honest stand on the most pressing issue of our era.
Unfortunately here in Canada, there is also a thirst for the blood of the innocent. The devil demands blood sacrifice, and our country is his servant.
I went to the 40 days for life with my large “I regret lost fatherhood” sign. It was quite different than when I was carrying the “Pray to End Abortion” sign. I began to get these looks of pain from dozens of men. Men looked at me as if they wanted to say something but then looked down and kept walking. One young man stopped. He said
“I’ve been living on the streets, I have a bunch of kids, from different girls, I’ve been in trouble with drugs, bank robberies, and my girlfriend and I broke up when she was 4 months pregnant. She went and got an abortion. She killed our kid just because we broke up. I’ve since stopped all drugs and I’m going to a church now. I’m cleaning up my life. I want to be a good father.”
Another man came up and said “what you are doing is incredibly courageous.” I said “It doesn’t feel that way.” I wish I had been courageous when I was 24. I wish I’d kept my children. He said “I’ll pray for you guys, it’s amazing what you are doing.” On the other end of the spectrum a man came up behind me without seeing my sign. He said “why are you here?” in an angry tone. I turned around and looked him in the eye holding my sign. “I’m here because I was involved with abortion and it was the worst mistake I ever made in my life.” He started to argue. I said “I don’t really want to argue here but I’d be glad to meet with you any time to talk.” He said “why aren’t you open minded about abortion.” I said “I was open minded, I paid for it, now I have perspective and I’m here.” He turned around and walked away in a huff. I could understand his pain, and his angry cover up.
I stopped at the grocery store on the way home and I still had my sign over my back as I walked around the grocery store. A woman in a wheel chair said “good for you!”. Another woman came up to me and told me she had had an abortion many years ago and just got clean and sober in 2006. She said “No smoking, no toking, no drinking or poking.” I said “Congratulations, I’ve been sober for many years and it was a great decision. At some point in your recovery you may find yourself experiencing some pain over the abortion.” She stepped back and looked indignant saying “don’t you assume you know me, I’ll never regret my abortion and it had NOTHING TO DO WITH MY ADDICTION!” Denial is deep. Lord have mercy.
All in all what I found is that each one of us can make a difference, one person at a time. “Oh Lord help me find favour with those who I talk to about abortion. And help us together build a Civilization of Love. Amen.”
Sarah did her best… but the media are so violently against her, and so violently against the unborn that she didn’t have a chance. Sure she has faults and is not ready to be president, but that is not what is messing my head up. What worries me is the unprecedented contempt and aggression against a pro-life women…and make no mistake, this is what it is about.
We have entered a new era. We will not go back until after a major collapse. We are headed for a future where kids will continue to kill each other, fall to suicide, get into one sex encounter after another, and if they are lucky, enter adult life with hearts that are broken and beaten by the ravages of secular teenage life. Our parents will be pushed to an early death so we can have “quality of life”. The press will welcome every spiritual path except Christianity, which they will continue to pound, leading North America into the “promised land” of moral lawlessness.
There was a time when mothers would make sacrifices for their children. Today it is the unborn who make the ultimate sacrifice for their mothers, on the altar of the “American Dream”. Deep down most abortive mothers know what is happening, because the vast majority would keep their child if they were not pressured into abortion.
The era of Christian persecution has begun, and now we will be like the moose that was shot on Saturday Night Live to make fun of Sarah to her face. Aparently, NBC thinks its wrong to kill animals for food, but it’s OK to kill humans for convenience. It’s gonna be harder and harder to be Christian, whether North America falls to Islam, or China, or Secular Humanism.
Sarah’s attempts to be a “good sport” are to be congratulated but the contempt on the NBC set was palpable. And the new movie Religulous, and the movie George W. are all part of a much bigger movement, ultamately against the unborn, and will eventually result in the worst Christian persecution that we’ve ever seen in North America.
I’m gonna hang on tight to my faith, no matter what they try to do to shake Christianity out of society, and to ethnic cleanse North America of the “vile” Christianity upon which it was built.
In 70 years they’ll all be in the ground. I’ve got my sites on eternity, I don’t need their approval.
I just got back from the Normandy beaches where I had a God moment.
I imagined all the invasions coming in. Britain took Sword Beach and Gold Beach, the Canadians on Juno beach, and the US on Omaha and Utah beach. Then it hit me.
The English fought together as one unit. The US fought together as one army and the Canadians were one army. Each of them had separate battles, each of them had their own beach (s) Yet the outcome was something great for God.
It is like that for the Catholics and Evangelicals. We cannot successfully mix our two armies, we need to take separate beachheads. We are all fighting on the right side of the war, against the culture of death, but we cannot intermingle the armies successfully.
If the English, Canadians and US soldiers went into a bar together on a Saturday night, they would be punching each other out by 11PM. And the US General Eisenhower, and English Montgomery didn’t like each other.
So it is with Ecumenism… we can come together to strategize and pray together, but in general we need to fight with our own army.
I’m not a “young earth” guy. However, I’m puzzled by something. The press say that Sarah Palin is “denying science” by her belief that the world is young. My question is this:
who is denying science more… Sarah or Obama who responds to the question “when does life begin?” With “uh…uh… that’s above my pay rate”
His answer might have been acceptable in 1975, but for a guy who prides himself on being part of the computer age, it is bizarre that he is still stuck in 1970’s pro-abortion arguments. I suggest he look in any grade 7 biology book written after 1990.
The most blatant denial of science that is occurring these days is those who still believe a human isn’t human till it pops out the womb and screams. I wonder how many more degrees Obama will need before he can figure out what Sarah Palin knew the moment she was pregnant with her 5th precious baby. Who is the one denying science?
Man, I’m so sick of the press twisting the words of Sarah Palin…
I decided to pull up the Sarah Palin talk about IRAQ to her church… It’s NOT what the NY Times and the liberal media are trying to dump on her. She is NOT saying that the war is from God… she is saying that if we are sending our sons and daughters we better pray that our leaders are right… and pray that it is from God. Sarah Palin says
“…My son Track is in the military, …he’s being deployed to Iraq…Pray for our military men and women who are striving to do what is right, [pray] that our national leaders are sending them out on a task that is from God. That is what we have to make sure that we are praying for, that there is a plan and that that plan is God’s, so bless them with your prayers, prayers of protection over our soldiers, so speaking of Track, [her son]…”
What mother wouldn’t want people to pray for her kids at war… and what mother wouldn’t want people to pray that there actually is God’s will in this war… for any Christian mom, this is a perfectly normal prayer. She’s scared for her son’s sake… you would be too!!!
It is clear that she is NOT saying the IRAQ war is from God… it is a request that Alaskans pray for the leaders, that IF leaders are sending soldiers to war THEN pray that it is God’s plan cause otherwise, if it’s not God’s will, then it would be a disaster and would mean lots more of danger for her sons and other soldiers.… the original video is here:
I’ve been living in an apartment for 8 years. It’s an interesting place downtown with many characters who drink too much, and have subsidized rent and stuff. Then there are those of us who pay market value for the rent.
I had heard that every 5 years the Landlord is obligated to paint your apartment if you ask. So I went to our municipally supported C00P, mostly run be tree hugging folks who are pretty “on the left”, not that I like talking about philopsphy in terms of “right” and “left”.
Anyway, I spoke with the woman in charge, a young confident attractive person. She said, “we have no obligation to paint, and we provide that only if our budjet isn’t used up. Then we do it on an ‘as needed’ basis.”
I said “do those of us who pay rent have any precidence over those who don’t?”
OOOOOPS!!! I couldn’t have said anything worse. Her face contorted up and she glared at me and said “do you think you’re better than the welfare mom, or the women who have trouble with alcohol?”
I didn’t want to get into the whole story about how I was a recovered alcoholic, and drug user, post abortive, same sex attracted, Harlem rap producer, and messed up guy who was set free in Jesus many years ago.
I didn’t think that would have helped matters much anyway. So I said “uhhh, I don’t know, I just thought that I might not get punished for being a good, stable, working, rent paying tenant for 8 years, while transient people get a paint job every time they move.”
She said curtly “We will look at your apartment but will give preference to those who need it.” I left my name and number. As I walked out I tried to understand her level of anger. I suddenly realized for the first time, that I am a member of an new oppressed minority here in urban Canada. I appear to be a garden variety “straight, white, working male.” I think I’m going to have to write a song called “straight, white, working man”.
I guess her reaction is a compliment, I finally look like a normal upright citizen, who deserves to be punished for his good behaviour.
As we wind down another year, I can’t help but feel our present age is always hoping for a new beginning, but never willing to begin again. That leap of faith is so hard to take. Sometimes the radical shift is only in our hearts and other times it is in our life circumstances.
This year was full of wonder. I saw the financial poverty and spiritual wealth of Christian India. I walked the beaches of Islamic Dubai, where it is illegal to hold Christian prayer meetings. I witnessed the majesty of Scotland’s mountains where I could hear the echo of my ancestors playing the pipes and drums. I stood in English castles and imagined all that empire’s grandeur that has faded into desperation.
But above all, I could hear my heartbeat, the quiet dance of God’s gift to us all, the gift of life, a gift to one another. It is the echo of a tiny heartbeat in the womb of Mary 2000 years ago, which is still beating in you and me.
May your new year be filled with opportunities to live Christmas every day, where the love of our Saviour is born in your heart.
I just had my first experience as a politician. It was a short lived career. But within 3 weeks I managed to put the prolife message in front of thousands of people through TV debates, radio Ads, YouTube, 10,000 flyers, 100 signs and a bunch of door to door cold calls.
Lord thank you for the opportunity to be a voice for your unborn. My final tally was 927 votes or about 1.94% of the electorate in my riding. It seems like not very many votes but it almost doubled the support of previous elections in the riding and was the second highest FCP of 83 FCP candidates in Ontario. Oh Lord help our little party of prolifers.
For antiquity sake I will keep my politics page on my web site but basically hidden from general view until the next time I get the courage to run. Except for this link: www.DavidMacD.com/provincial_election.html.
I learned a lot. Thank you so much to all who help put the word out. I especially appreciate John Pacheco and Susan Fortin for getting me into all this stuff, and Paul Lauzon, Chris Maurousky and the people at CLC and the donors who made this possible.
OK folks here we go… the cultural war in Ontario has begun, the war for the hearts of our children who are being force fed sex in our schools, the war for a province that has been beaten and battered by Hollywood writers and CNN newscasters.
There is not one candidate in Ottawa South who believes in the personhood of the unborn…except me…and that is why I’m there. You who believe in the sanctity of life need to be able to vote with a clear conscience. You need to be sure that your vote will not be used to help snuff out the life of another 45,000 unborn this year. You need to know that your vote will not help the Human Rights Commission ruin the free speech of people who speak their conscience, people of faith.
For the last 2 elections I wrote on my ballot “I reject my vote because there is no pro life candidate.” For those of you in Ottawa South who were going to do that… I say… now you have a choice… a real choice… Let’s send Dalton McGuinty a strong message in Ottawa South… we will not stand by as he funds the death of the children of this great province. We will rise up and defend them.
You know these little shops that sell budget travel luggage? This stuff is garbage! When I was travelling in Europe the bag broke leaving me completely messed up…
CHAMP Luggage makes “Canadian made” luggage. No one there speaks either English or French very well (Canada’s official languages), they won’t tell you where the manufacturing plant is, and their “10 year warranty” is not the paper its written on. The supplier is called
Bad stuff. All the inexpensive baggage shops in malls sell the product. It’s cheap, it breaks and the warranty is useless. They said I would have to drive to Montreal, (or ship it for a greater cost than the original baggage) then leave it there for 10 days, then they will weasel out of the warranty by saying its not a defect of manufacturing, then ask you to drive back there and pay for the repair that they didn’t do under warranty. They treat you like garbage. I venture to say that they have not made one warranty repair since they began.
The King of atheism has basically admitted defeat as far as I can see. He has pushed the theory that there is no such thing as God upon an intellectually lazy community of scientists and now he’s trying to jump ship and head off for space. He’s one of the most brilliant men on the planet. His Big Bang theory may or may not be true. But the one thing he doesn’t get is that if there was a Big Bang, then that Big Bang would have been created by God. Now the logical conclusion of his godless universe is nihilism. I find it interesting that he’s basically agreeing with the book of Revelation. However, far from admitting the biblical conclusions to that discovery he thinks we can escape into space.
I don’t think it takes a rocket scientist to figure out that space is a hostile environment for humanity and that long-term sustained existence there is a pipe dream of a scientist who is clutching with intellectual pride to a position that can only be explained as barbaric. A position that the universe needs no God to explain its existence and the position that the universe needs no devil to explain the source of human selfishness.
Stephen Hawking takes weightless plunge
AP, CAPE CANAVERAL, FLORIDA
Saturday, Apr 28, 2007, Page 7
….Hawking said he had an ulterior motive for going on the flight. He said he wants to increase public interest in space since he believes humans’ survival depends on going into space.
“I think life on Earth is at an increased risk of being wiped out by disaster, such as sudden global warming, nuclear war or a genetically engineered virus or other dangers,” Hawking said. “I think the human race has no future if it doesn’t go into space.”
I pray that this year has brought you closer to Calvary. This year has been a remarkable year for me in so many ways. I have been privileged to travel quite a bit with work and music. The world is so beautiful. I’m not sure why, at this time of my life, the Lord has chosen to show me so much.
Standing in sharp contrast to the beauty is a war for the hearts of the youth who are being spiritually, physically and emotionally ravaged in every nation that I’ve visited. But some great leaders are rising up from among them, and there is a stirring inside their hearts which gives cause for much hope.
The miracle for me is the brokenness I feel for the world. Something has shifted in me and this affliction of spirit I feel for others is a great gift. It is the gift of compassion, of concern, and a deep conviction to do whatever the Lord calls to help build his kingdom as we march onward toward our destiny. I don’t know where He will take me next but I pray that I will always say “yes.” For in that “yes” is eternity. May your New Year be filled with opportunities to live Christmas every day, where a love of the Saviour is born in your heart.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
I got off the plane from in Tokyo (From Guam and Hawaii). Then on my way to Yokohama Japan and left my camera bag on the train. I have to forgive myself. I was wiped out tired and had to change cars. Total bummer because my camera battery and charger were in my bag and I was only in Japan for 2 days. I was really flustered about it and got up early the next day to try to replace it. I was running all over the shopping district of Yokohama. But all I could find were clothing stores. Suddenly it occured to me that I had not prayed in the morning. So I found a quiet spot and sat down to meditate and pray my Rosary, which I do every morning. I said “Lord Jesus, I’m sorry I forgot about you this morning. I know my day will go much better if I put you at its centre. You arrange my day your way. You do what you want with my camera situation. Let your will be done.” After a 25 minute prayer time I walked calmly back towards town.
I’m walking down the street of Yokohama and see a white lady, who I now call “Remarkable Rita” talking to a cool black music producer, who I later found out was Jimmy Paschal, and a Chinese woman who spoke French, English, Japanese. I ask them where a camera store is, so I can replace my battery. Well “Remarkable Rita” jumps on the phone and tracks down my lost bag and has it courriered to me. And all the time that was happening we are talking about God. I couldn’t believe how she tracked it down. Someone actually turned it in… which is way cool and unheard of in many North American cities. Remarkable Rita is a Psychologist who spends much of her time working for free to help the needy in the Japanese communities. Everybody knows her.You Rock Rita!
And even though my camera said the battery was dead, my camera continued to squeek out photos, and I took some great shots. A little miracle.
The next day I pick up my camera bag from the delivery. They sent it overnight from Tokyo to Yokohama. Unfortunately, someone along the way kept my recharger. Oh well… I was glad to have the bag, and a bunch of other stuff that was in it.
That night I flew to New York from Tokyo and picked up a battery charger from a NY little shop on 34th St. And took some great shots of Times Square. Buddy at the store sold me a charger and battery for $200. And then gave me a bargain deal on a wide angle lens for $400 down from $645. Something told me I should shop around some more but I really wanted to shoot Times Square and I only had that evening to get night shots. So I bought it. I ended up in NYC for 2 days because my flight was delayed from weather.
When I got home to Canada I looked on the internet and the charger goes for $40, and the lens goes for $60. Ouch!!! I got burnt in NYC. I should know better after being in NYC for 5 years. Oh Lord forgive those who do not know what they do. And please forgive me for being an idiot.
All in all it was an amazing trip. Hawaii, Guam, Japan, New York and back home to Ottawa, Canada. Thank you for bringing me home safe. Thank you for all the ministry, and work with disabled persons that I was able to do. Thank you for amazing people like “Remarkable Rita” in Japan and Jimmy and the rest. Fill them with your blessings.
But most of all thank you for being you. You are AMAZING!!!!
Here’s Jimmy and me on the streets of Yokohamma Japan. Jimmy was a session bass player in LA who moved to Japan several years ago. And has been doing some great stuff with artists on both sides of the Pacific ocean.
I’m sitting in a little house overlooking the Pacific ocean. I wonder why they called it “pacif-ic” it is hardly passive. It is wonderfully majestic. Tonight I spoke with youth and sang to them about Jesus. I pray that they get it but I can’t control that. I can only plant seeds. It’s been a great tour.
God is so incredible that he created this beautiful world with a zillion different shades of turquoise in the water. It’s been a great 3 weeks in Hawaii, Guam and next to Japan before going back to Ottawa, Canada, my home.
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