I don’t know about you, but I am one of those people who believes that, in many cases, it’s best to leave religion out of the ProLife arguments. I’ve been in too many situations with non-believers for whom “life is sacred” means nothing. When they challenge you with “why is life sacred?” you can’t just say that God created us. If they don’t believe in God, how persuasive is that argument?
In other cases, I’ve been with non-believers who believe that life is sacred. But they don’t know why. They don’t accept the God argument, but something in them tells them that life is full of meaning and that each human being has value. Many of these people, don’t believe that the unborn are “persons” (or are confused about it) and therefore their ideas of life having meaning are not extended to the unborn.
And so, while I think it’s incredibly important to witness to Christ and to make it clear that we are ProLife because we are Christian, sometimes that gets in the way of explaining the ProLife message. If they are not listening to you, then you are not really witnessing anyway. Especially when the abortion issue is not a religious issue: it is a social issue. God created everything and since Faith and Reason go hand in hand, we should be able to explain philosophically, logically and scientifically why life is sacred, why every human being is valuable and has meaning and why all human beings are persons from the moment of conception.
Which is what I found with the Life Principles.
Basically, the Life Principles, developed by Fr. Robert Spitzer, S.J., and based on Aristotles’ four stages of happiness, is a way to philosophically explain the sacredness and dignity of all human life. I am grateful to Natalie Hudson for first introducing me to the Life Principles and for introducing me to Camille De Blasi Pauley.
Beginning tonight, October 16th, at 9:00pm ET, for the following 7 Thursdays, Salt + Light Television is proud to present Finding Peace: A Guide to Happiness, Freedom, and Wholeness, a series based on the Life Principles hosted by Camille De Blasi Pauley.
The series takes viewers on a journey to discover the incredible dignity, meaning, and sacredness of human life. It offers a philosophical exploration that answers basic questions about human happiness, sexuality, love, quality of life, freedom, ethics, rights, and suffering. By encouraging viewers to contemplate on deeper interpretations of human meaning and purpose, the series seeks to move people to embrace the sacredness and dignity of all human life, and to accept social responsibility for those who are unborn, elderly, weak, dying, underprivileged, or otherwise vulnerable to oppression, persecution, and abuse.
Finding Peace comes to us from the Healing the Culture Institute and is hosted by Camille De Blasi Pauley, using the “Life Principles” curriculum of Robert J. Spitzer, S.J., Ph.D, President of Gonzaga University. The series was taped in front of a live audience of individuals who are young and old, Christian and non-Christian, from various ethnic and ideological backgrounds.
The episodes cover the following topics:
1- Identify four different levels of happiness.
2- Build habits for living on the highest levels – faith and contribution to others.
3- Discover the sacredness of sexuality.
4- Distinguish between worldly success and true success, understand that freedom requires commitment to what is actually good, and make ethical choices based on “Golden Rule – Silver Rule” ethics.
5- Embrace the intrinsic dignity and inalienable rights of every person.
6- Learn why an all-loving God allows suffering in the world, and find opportunities for faith, hope, and love in the midst of suffering.
7- Apply these higher ideals to the life issues.
I loved this series. In many ways it changed my whole approach, not just to life issues, but to life in general. I hope that you enjoy it too. Remember you can watch it streaming live at www.saltandlighttv.org
If you enjoy the series, perhaps you would like to consider attending the 2008 Healing the Culture Conference in Seattle, this coming November 6th, 2008. Join Father Robert Spitzer, Camille De Blasi Pauley, and other nationally acclaimed speakers and guest celebrities for what is considered to be the ProLife Conference of the year.
For more information visit: http://www.healingtheculture.com/conference2008.php
Write to let us know your thoughts on Finding Peace, on the Life Principles or on Life issues in general.
We love to hear from you.
Bill Maher in a scene from Religulous
Or is the word-play, “incredulous religion”?
Some of you may have heard of the new documentary – although it’s not what I would call a documentary; there is no objective presentation of more than one side in it – titled RELIGULOUS. It is produced and hosted by American Comedian (and anti-religionist) Bill Maher.
The film claims to look at the more absurd things people do in the name of religion. Instead, the film proposes the religion of doubt and invites the atheists of the U.S. to unite and fight back against the “religion fanatics” who are taking over their country, because “religion must die for man to live”.
I am serious. That’s the conclusion of the film. Sorry to have spoiled it for you.
Still, the film has its funny moments, I must confess, I laughed out loud a few times. But there is no substance to the claims it makes – just good for a few cheap laughs.
Bill Maher goes to a Holy Land-themed Park in Florida and exchanges some thoughts with a young actor playing the part of Jesus. Jesus-the-actor talks about that “God-hole in our hearts” that only God can fill. He also explains the Trinity as water: sometimes it’s liquid, sometimes is ice, sometimes its vapour. He was not bad. Still Maher didn’t let him get very far.
Maher goes to the Mormon Temple and shows the more hard-to-believe aspects of Mormonism. He questions the opulence of the Vatican and pokes fun at the violent tendencies of Islamists. He wonders about speaking in tongues and rolls his eyes at a preacher who believes to be the second coming of Christ and the anti-Christ, all-in-one. He dismisses creationism and challenges the strict “no-work-on-Sabbath” law that prohibits orthodox Jews from even pressing an elevator button. He even questions a Christian U.S. Senator (who will remane nameless) on his religious beliefs: “I have a problem with people leading my country who believe in talking snakes”. The Senator answers, thanks to the magic of editing: “You don’t need pass an IQ test to enter the Senate”. Oh boy, there must some law-suits coming.
But, Bill Maher never interviews anyone who can stand up to his wit and quick tongue – for that matter, Bill Maher never interviews anyone who knows much about their own Faith. Or if he did, he certainly edited out any good, valid and credible answers anyone gave him. (Maybe that’s why the film was released a whole year after its proposed release date: too much time in post-production.)
Except – Maher interviews the former director of the Vatican Observatory, Fr. George Coyne. He is definitely the best thing in the film. Why? Well, he is the only one who gave Mr. Maher something he wasn’t expecting. Why did it not get edited out? I’m not sure, perhaps to make all the creationists look bad (yes, Catholics believe in the story of creation in Genesis is symbolic).
Creationism is presented as absurd, however the film doesn’t poke fun at the absurdity of the belief that once there was cosmic stuff floating around in nothingness, that somehow, accidentally, by chance became living molecules and those in turn, with time, became single-cell organisms, which in time became either plants or fish, then amphibians, and so on, eventually becoming you. But, that’s what rational Mr. Maher believes. (He also believes that eating meat is comparable to the Holocaust – but that’s another story.)
I am not proposing that anyone go see this film. If you’re curious, wait until it comes out on DVD and then borrow it from the Library. Still, while I don’t think it’s a good film (from a film point of view – even though it has its entertaining moments), it does present some interesting questions – questions that alot of people have – that all of us should know how to answer.
There is a notion out there among all those who believe to know Christianity better than those of us who actually are Christian, that we are all irrational, fundamental, bible-literalists. Mr. Maher can’t figure out how we can believe in the “fairy-tale” of a talking snake in the Garden of Eden or that Jonah could’ve lived inside a fish for 3 days. Could you explain those two bible stories to someone if they asked? Could you explain to someone that the Bible is not a scientific document and that science is mere theories that only take you so far? (This is what Fr. Coyne so brilliantly explained.)
Why don’t the 10 Commandments address real evil things like rape and incest? If someone asked you, could you explain that the 10 Commandments are sort of “umbrella” categories that cover everything you can imagine. “Thou shalt not commit adultery” is not just about cheating on your wife – it covers rape and incest too.
Could you explain to someone if they wanted to know why all-powerful God doesn’t just obliterate evil? That never gets answered in the film. I guess they would’ve had to talk about free will.
You see, Maher is catering to our quick-fix, instant-gratification, one-line-theology culture. Can you explain the mystery of good and evil in one line? Can you explain what the Bible is and its significance in one line? Can you explain why we believe that Christ is present in the Eucharist in one line? The Immaculate Conception in one line? Not very easy to do, which is why the Church has an even bigger challenge in our day than it did a hundred years ago.
RELIGULOUS is not presenting any new ideas. It’s all been said before. It’s all been questioned before. We are not against doubt – you need some doubt in order to have Faith – and questioning is what makes us find the answers. But we don’t propose to have all the answers either, if so, we wouldn’t need Faith. But some answers are available to us. We just need to find them before we give up for not finding an easy and quick answer. That’s just lazy.
On Thursday, October 9th, Catholic Focus takes a look at some of these questions. I sat in the studio with Sr. Marie-Paul Curley, Daughter of St. Paul, and with Christopher Giardino, Producer of the show LISTEN UP, both screenwriters, to talk about some of the questions the film poses. We hope you will tune in and help us begin to learn how to intelligently verbalise our Faith. If we can’t explain our beliefs, that’s not much help to others, right?
In a scene at the beginning of the film, inside a truckers’ Chapel, at a truck stop somewhere in the U.S., one of the truckers says he knows God exists because he used to be a Satanist Priest. He knows evil. He had drugs, women, money. Maher looks at him and says, with the look that says, “are you serious?” that he is so good at, “let me get this straight, you had drugs, women, money… so what was wrong?” I’m sure the trucker responded intelligently, maybe not. Sadly, if he did, that response did not make it into the film.
It’s very simple, Bill Maher: he wasn’t happy and he knew he was dying. God wants nothing more than for you to be happy and to live. Deep down inside we all long for perfect happiness and life. We long for unconditional love, perfect justice, ultimate truth and perfect beauty. That’s what God is: Unconditional Love, Ultimate Truth, Perfect Justice, Perfect Beauty and Life, and because I long for it, I know it exists. Therefore, I know God exists.
Be sure to let me know your thoughts, either on the film if you saw it, or on some of these questions. We love to hear from you – we love that you’re watching Salt+Light TV.
I remember sitting on the curb-side on Bloor Street in Toronto, once, many years ago, at a Life-Chain. This was in the days when I would say that I was against abortions, but I didn’t feel I could tell a woman what to do with her own body. The point of a Life-Chain is that you witness silently. Cars and people drive and walk by – some honk in approval, some yell in disapproval. Some of the Life-Chainers pray silently. Some hold signs.
I was sitting on the curb, with my Life-Chain T-shirt on – I was probably also holding an “abortion kills children” sign, when a woman cyclist flew past me yelling, “you try having the damn thing growing inside you for 9 months!”
That experience has stayed with me all these years. I can almost still feel the bike flying past me. My instant response was that I had no place in the Life-Chain, because abortion is a woman’s issue. After all that is what we are told. After all, I am not the one carrying the “damn thing” inside of me for nine months.
The truth is that many believe that I, as a man, have no say when it comes to abortion. My opinion does not matter, because abortion is a woman’s issue. For the last two days, I’ve been hearing a completely different message: not only is abortion an issue that concerns us all, but abortion is an issue that affects us all. In fact, men, particularly, are affected by abortion in ways a woman isn’t.
These last two days, Sept 7-9, at the Oak Brook Marriott, in Chicago, the Knights of Columbus, the Office of Evangelization of the Archdiocese of Chicago and Project Rachel, sponsored the second Reclaiming Fatherhood Conference, featuring testimonies from dads who’ve lost children to abortion, psychologists, priests and experts in post traumatic stress disorder, addictions and spiritual counseling. It was two wonderful days of networking, learning, creating awareness and most important: healing.
As a father of two boys, I am most interested in how men are different than women (so is my wife). Despite what some “experts” will tell us, the reality is that men and women are not the same. This does not mean that we are not equal in terms of rights or dignity. But God has created us male and female for a reason.
Now, these are going to be vast generalizations, but there is some truth to it. Think about it: when a woman is stressed, she needs to talk about it. She needs to share her feelings. Ask a guy what he’s feeling when he’s stressed and you’ll probably get a blank stare. Guys do need to get in touch with their feelings, but they generally don’t do it through talking. Guys are doers. We are problem-solvers. We need to get going and do something. In the doing, we sort our feelings. Generally. This is why the best-selling book “Men Are Like Waffles, Women Are Like Spaghetti” (by Bill and Pam Farrel) is a best seller. I highly recommend it. It makes a great deal of sense.
Think about men in our North American society: It’s not cool to show your emotions, or show pain. It’s not OK to show weakness, or appear helpless. It’s not cool to feel insignificant or powerless. This is not what feminists say – but this is very much the sense in the locker room: men need to be in control. Now think about abortion: Men are told that it’s not their issue, that they have no say in the matter. In fact, legally, men have no rights whatsoever, when it comes to abortion. On top of that, even if the man opposes the abortion, he is led to believe that the best way he can support his partner is by staying silent. He even believes that his pain is insignificant compared to her pain (then again, there are those who say that there is no pain whatsoever associated with abortions, even for the woman!)
So in the case of abortion, you have men who cannot show their emotions, cannot admit to pain. They feel powerless because they have no say in the matter and no reproductive rights. They can’t do anything about it and so they feel helpless. They are not defending, nor protecting their girlfriends, wives or their babies.
I’m really making the men look like victims here, right? Well, think of the man who forces the abortion on the woman. This is someone who intentionally causes the death of his own child. It’s true, he could be completely heartless. But perhaps he is also just misinformed. Maybe he truly believes that an abortion is the only way out. That abortion is the best solution. Imagine the potential for guilt. Imagine the shame. If he believes in God he may feel that God can never forgive him. He is unable to forgive himself.
Think of one more scenario: The young couple who finds themselves in a most desperate situation. He really feels that loving her is to support her. She says, “Maybe we should have an abortion.” He says, “If that’s what you want, then it’s OK with me.” Not only has he failed to love her, to defend her and protect her, but he has failed to give her what she really needs. He has failed to be a man and to really support her. It’s no wonder that after an abortion, most relationships fall apart. It’s no wonder that among post-abortive women surveyed, 80% report that had they had a supportive male, they would not have had the abortion.
I am over simplifying this, but let’s suppose that it could be as simple as this. Now add to this the fact that this man, cannot talk about it. He can’t go to his buddies and say, “hey, 10 years ago my girlfriend had an abortion and I am really devastated by it.” He can’t go to Church where he feels judged. He can’t talk to his wife about it. Still, studies have shown that after an abortion, no matter what role the man played, men show common symptoms of trauma. They feel rage, feelings of impotence, grief, extreme concern about his partner, they suffer disintegration of relationships, they may delve into risk-taking behaviour or substance abuse. They have obsessive thoughts about the child or children or abortion. In some cases they become abusive towards the partner, become sexually addicted, or turn into an overly protective parent. Some men even suffer psychotic episodes, depression and sometimes resort to suicide. All in silence. Experts say this is not different than the post-traumatic-stress-disorder suffered by war veterans.
I could go on – however I’ll leave it at that. If you want more information on how men are affected by abortions, visit www.menandabortion.info or look for the Men and Abortion Network (M.A.N.) on the www.lifeissues.org site, by clicking on the “Men and Abortion” link.
We’d be fools to think that there are no adverse effects to abortion (despite what the American Psychiatric Association says). In the U. S. alone, since 1973 there have been over 40 million abortions. In every single case, there was a man involved. Losing a child is a traumatic experience. Knowing that you intentionally caused the death of your own child is much worse. Feeling your partner betrayed you and had the abortion without your consent is pretty horrible as well. You failed to fulfill one of the key roles of a father: that of protector.
We need to acknowledge that about 40% of our population has lost a child to abortion. This is 4 out of 10 people sitting in the pews on Sunday; 4 out of 10 of your co-workers; 4 out of 10 people standing on the check-out line at the grocery store. They may be silent about it, but in many cases they are suffering – the experience has affected them in one way or another. We need to see how we can respond to them with compassion and love and offer them hope for healing. Let them know that they are not alone – that it’s OK to grieve and that forgiveness is available to all who seek it.
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When asked recently at what point human beings should be given human rights, U.S. Democratic Presidential nominee Barack Obama said that to answer that question with any specificity was “beyond his pay grade”. What those who did not watch the debate perhaps don’t know is that he followed with an almost 5-minute explanation – quite convincing, I must add – which began: “I am pro-choice, but that does not mean that I am pro-abortion”. Sadly, the reality is that if you are pro-choice, while you may not like the idea of abortions, you are pro-abortion: that’s exactly what it means. For Obama, who professes to be a Christian, this should not be taken lightly.
Did you know that in Canada there are over 110,000 abortions every year? In the United States, there are more than 1.3 million abortions yearly, which means that in both countries combined, there are 4 abortions every minute. That also means that since Roe v. Wade in 1973, there have been some 40 million abortions in the U.S alone! I am always blown away by those statistics. Apparently, what used to be “1 in 4 pregnancies in the U.S. end up in abortion”, is now 1 in 5. I guess that’s a good thing. 1 in 5…. Wow!
In case anyone is in doubt: All Christians should be Pro-Life. Let me re-phrase: If you are a Christian, you cannot be pro-abortion or pro-choice. You cannot be pro—euthanasia, pro-death penalty or pro-stem-cell research. In fact, you can’t be pro anything that is remotely related to the cult of death. The words “Christian” and “pro-death” don’t go together.
It is surprising to me that so many who call themselves Christian still don’t quite get it.
This past summer, I was involved with the Knights of Columbus on a project to highlight the Knights’ Pro-Life involvement. If anything is quintessentially Catholic, it is the Knights, the largest lay Catholic organization, which was founded on the principles of charity and unity. As such, it makes perfect sense that the Knights of Columbus, as an organization is Pro-Life. It makes sense that all Knights should be Pro-Life and Pro-Family.
National March for Life, Washington, 2007
And that is what A People of Life aims to show: Not just how “amazing the Knights are”, but what it means to be a people of life and a people for life. What being “Pro-Life” means. It’s not just being against abortion, and protesting outside abortion facilities. It’s a way of life – it’s, in many ways, what being truly Christian is all about.
Pope John Paul II in his 1995 Encyclical Evangelium Vitae wrote: “To all the … people of life and for life, I make this most urgent appeal, that together we may offer this world of ours new signs of hope, and work to ensure that justice and solidarity will increase and that a new culture of human life will be affirmed, for the building of an authentic civilization of truth and love.”
A couple of years ago, I was blessed to be in Vancouver at a Eucharistic event with three Sisters of Life. During one of the talks, one of the Sisters talked about the pillars of the culture of life: Faith, Hope and Love. By definition, the pillars of the opposite: the cult of death, are the opposite of those. But what are they?
Faith is trust and complete reliance on God. Faith is not just “faith”, but Faith in God. So the opposite of that is not just “not having Faith in God”, but complete trust and reliance in ourselves. The opposite of Faith is faith in ourselves. Another name for that is Pride.
Identifying the opposite of Hope is a bit simpler: despair, hopelessness.
Many would quickly jump to conclude that the opposite of Love is hate. However, hate is a secondary, response. The true, deep opposite of Love is Fear. It is no surprise that one of the most common expressions in Scripture is “Be not afraid”.
And so, the pillars of the cult of death are: pride, despair and fear.
What does this all mean? It’s very simple: Everything we do, as people of life, needs to be motivated by Faith and/or Hope and/or Love. As soon as we find ourselves being motivated by despair or pride or fear, we’ve got a problem.
How many times do we make decisions based on pride? Or respond to a situation because of fear? How many are driven to certain behaviour because of despair?
The First National March for Life in Washington
It’s really not that hard. For me, it just took a small realization. And all of the sudden, all of the Church’s moral teachings made sense. We sin when we build the cult of death. We uplift, glorify and serve God when we build the Culture of Life.
This Sunday, September 7 at 9pm (with encore presentations on Monday, September 8th @ 1am & 2pm; Wednesday, September 10th @ 8pm and Thursday, September 11th @ 12am) you will have the opportunity to watch A People of Life.
A People of Life explores what it means to be Pro-Life and includes interviews with Supreme Knight Carl Anderson, March for Life Founder Nellie Gray, Project Rachel Founder Vicki Thorn, Democrat Member of U.S. Congress Bart Stupack, President of Life Athletes Chris Godfrey, and Superior of the Sisters of Life Mother Agnes, among others. It looks at the Pro-Life issues: abortion, euthanasia and stem-cell research in both the U.S. and Canada, and focuses on the work done by the Knights of Columbus in these areas.
May it be for you an opportunity to examine your life and what motivates your actions. More importantly, may it be an opportunity for you to celebrate LIFE and to rejoice in the long history that the Catholic Church, the Knights of Columbus and many, many Christians; many, many holy and wise men and women, throughout the last 2000 years have had in the building of the Culture of Life.
For more on this, read my article: Why Am I ProLife?
And let me know your thoughts. Always love to read your comments.
PEDRO
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deacon pedro 