Jesus, I Thirst for You
Published March 31, 2009 | 
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock… (Rev. 3, 20)
“Come to Me all you who thirst…” (Jn. 7: 37).
It is true. I stand at the door of your heart, day and night. Even when you are not listening, even when you doubt it could be Me, I am there. I await even the smallest sign of your response, even the least whispered invitation that will allow Me to enter.
And I want you to know that whenever you invite Me, I do come – always, without fail. Silent and unseen I come, but with infinite power and love, and bringing the many gifts of My Spirit. I come with My mercy, with My desire to forgive and heal you, and with a love for you beyond your comprehension – a love every bit as great as the love I have received from the Father (“As much as the Father has loved me, I have loved you…” (Jn. 15:10) I come – longing to console you and give you strength, to lift you up and bind all your wounds. I bring you My light, to dispel your darkness and all your doubts. I come with My power, that I might carry you and all your burdens; with My grace, to touch your heart and transform your life; and My peace I give to still your soul.
I know you through and through. I know everything about you. The very hairs of your head I have numbered. Nothing in your life is unimportant to Me. I have followed you through the years, and I have always loved you – even in your wanderings. I know every one of your problems. I know your needs and your worries. And yes, I know all your sins. But I tell you again that I love you – not for what you have or haven’t done – I love you for you, for the beauty and dignity My Father gave you by creating you in His own image. It is a dignity you have often forgotten, a beauty you have tarnished by sin. But I love you as you are, and I have shed My Blood to win you back. If you only ask Me with faith, My grace will touch all that needs changing in your life, and I will give you the strength to free yourself from sin and all its destructive power.
I know what is in your heart – I know your loneliness and all your hurts – the rejections, the judgments, the humiliations, I carried it all before you. And I carried it all for you, so you might share My strength and victory. I know especially your need for love – how you are thirsting to be loved and cherished. But how often have you thirsted in vain, by seeking that love selfishly, striving to fill the emptiness inside you with passing pleasures – with the even greater emptiness of sin. Do you thirst for love? “Come to Me all you who thirst…” (Jn. 7: 37). I will satisfy you and fill you. Do you thirst to be cherished? I cherish you more than you can imagine – to the point of dying on a cross for you.
I Thirst for You. Yes, that is the only way to even begin to describe My love for you. I THIRST FOR YOU. I thirst to love you and to be loved by you – that is how precious you are to Me. I THIRST FOR YOU. Come to Me, and I will fill your heart and heal your wounds. I will make you a new creation, and give you peace, even in all your trials I THIRST FOR YOU. You must never doubt My mercy, My acceptance of you, My desire to forgive, My longing to bless you and live My life in you. I THIRST FOR YOU. If you feel unimportant in the eyes of the world, that matters not at all. For Me, there is no one any more important in the entire world than you. I THIRST FOR YOU. Open to Me, come to Me, thirst for Me, give me your life – and I will prove to you how important you are to My Heart.
Don’t you realize that My Father already has a perfect plan to transform your life, beginning from this moment? Trust in Me. Ask Me every day to enter and take charge of your life. – and I will. I promise you before My Father in heaven that I will work miracles in your life. Why would I do this? Because I THIRST FOR YOU. All I ask of you is that you entrust yourself to Me completely. I will do all the rest.
Even now I behold the place My Father has prepared for you in My Kingdom. Remember that you are a pilgrim in this life, on a journey home. Sin can never satisfy you, or bring the peace you seek. All that you have sought outside of Me has only left you more empty, so do not cling to the things of this life. Above all, do not run from Me when you fall. Come to Me without delay. When you give Me your sins, you gave Me the joy of being your Savior. There is nothing I cannot forgive and heal; so come now, and unburden your soul.
No matter how far you may wander, no matter how often you forget Me, no matter how many crosses you may bear in this life; there is one thing I want you to always remember, one thing that will never change. I THIRST FOR YOU – just as you are. You don’t need to change to believe in My love, for it will be your belief in My love that will change you. You forget Me, and yet I am seeking you every moment of the day – standing at the door of your heart and knocking. Do you find this hard to believe? Then look at the cross, look at My Heart that was pierced for you. Have you not understood My cross? Then listen again to the words I spoke there – for they tell you clearly why I endured all this for you: “I THIRST…”(Jn 19: 28). Yes, I thirst for you – as the rest of the psalm – verse I was praying says of Me: “I looked for love, and I found none…” (Ps. 69: 20). All your life I have been looking for your love – I have never stopped seeking to love you and be loved by you. You have tried many other things in your search for happiness; why not try opening your heart to Me, right now, more than you ever have before.
Whenever you do open the door of your heart, whenever you come close enough, you will hear Me say to you again and again, not in mere human words but in spirit. “No matter what you have done, I love you for your own sake Come to Me with your misery and your sins, with your troubles and needs, and with all your longing to be loved. I stand at the door of your heart and knock. Open to Me, for I THIRST FOR YOU…”
—Mother Teresa
Imprimatur
Mons. G. Sergio De la Cerda Z.
Vicar General
Tijuana, B. C. México.
Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Lent: The World Hates Christ Because he Bears Witness to Its Evil Works.
Published March 31, 2009 | 
Catholic Culture, March 31, 2009
The world hates Christ because he bears witness to its evil works. As Christians we are charged to do the same. That is why if we are true Christians we will never be popular in the world. We should expect persecution and hatred to be heaped on us by the devil and his human agents.
Meditation – Christ’s Last Days
Every person who loves Christ now tries his best to remain close to his suffering Savior during the last hours of His earthly life. The liturgy places us directly in the midst of the recorded events and expects us to participate. During these next days, therefore, we will traverse each road with Jesus.Yesterday (Friday) He came with His disciples from the desert village of Ephrem to Jericho. When near the Jordan we heard from His lips the third prophecy of the crucifixion. Then Salome approached with her two sons, John and James, and begged important positions for them in the coming kingdom. This gave Jesus the opportunity to proclaim His wonderful teaching on humility. We stand close and listen.
The Lord enters Jericho. I am Zacheus, the chief publican, the little man who wants to see the Messiah from a tree. He looks up to me and says, “Today salvation has come to your house!” He stays two nights with me, a despised publican!
Over the Sabbath Jesus remains in Jericho. The next day (Sunday) He starts for Jerusalem at the head of a lordly caravan. Along the road there sits a blind beggar. It is I, again. “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on mel” He heals my eyes, I see, I am enlightened!
In procession we pass through Jericho’s inhospitable ravines up to Jerusalem. Night intervenes and Jesus stops at Bethany. He is joyously welcomed by Martha and Mary. Am I an active Martha or a meditating Mary? Possibly it was on this Sunday evening that the memorable meal took place when, with Lazarus present and Martha as hostess, Mary poured out the costly ointment for Jesus’ burial. It was the act which estranged Judas completely from his Master.
In solemn procession on Monday afternoon the King of Israel comes to the top of Olivet, weeps over Jerusalem, and then continues on to the temple. We feel ourselves part of this festive procession, waving palms in our hands. We accompany our King and watch Him drive the money-changers out of His Father’s house. Tuesday morning He returns with His disciples and while crossing Mt. Olivet curses the unfruitful fig tree, a figure of the Jewish people. This barren tree is likewise a warning for us.
Verbal encounters with the Jews take place in the temple courtyard until Wednesday afternoon when Christ hurls His eightfold curse upon Pharisee and Jew, and leaves the temple forever. With His disciples He then proceeds to the Mount of Olives and delivers His powerful discourse on the end of the world and the destruction of Jerusalem. Present in spirit we hear this sermon and take to heart His final admonition, “Be vigilant!” Meanwhile Judas has left the circle of disciples and offers his assistance to the chief priests.
Thursday morning Christ sends Peter and John from Bethany into the city to make the needed preparation for the Passover meal. As evening falls He bids farewell to His mother and His friends and goes with His apostles to the Upper Room in Jerusalem for His “Last Supper” with them.—In mind and in heart we will follow our Blessed Lord closely during these sacred days of Holy Week.
http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm
Is America On a Path of Destruction? The Government is Full of Vampires Who Are Trying to Suck the Life-Blood Out of the Economy.
Published March 31, 2009 |
By Glenn Beck , FOXNEWS, March 30, 2009
The government is full of vampires who are trying to suck the life-blood out of the economy.
A banking friend told me over the weekend that banks will look to pay the bailout money back as fast as they can.
Yeah, right.
Well, President Obama, Tim Geithner, Chris Dodd, Barney Frank, Nancy Pelosi and other lawmakers are going after the blood of our businesses — big and small — and absolutely nothing will quench their thirst.
The latest feast is the Obama administration forcing GM’s top guy — CEO Rick Wagoner — to step down as a condition of their continued support.
You’ve got to be kidding me!
I have no allegiance for Rick Wagoner. He could be great, he could be terrible, but isn’t this exactly one of the mob tactics I talked about last week?
I’m a proud spokesman for GM on my radio program and I was a client of theirs before they were a client of mine. But I’ve been very clear all along that my allegiance is to the cars and the people who make them, not the company. I’m not defending GM here as much as I’m defending a free-market economy…..CONTINUED….. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,511652,00.html
BAILOUT DELUXE: BARNEY FRANK WANTS CONTROLS ON PAY OF ALL EMPLOYEES…
Published March 31, 2009 |
Beyond AIG: A Bill to let Big Government Set Your Salary
SOURCE: Byron York, Chief Political Correspondent, Washington Examiner, 3/31/09
Byron York, The Examiner’s chief political correspondent, can be contacted at byork@washingtonexaminer.com. His column appears Tuesday and Friday, and his stories and blog posts can be read daily at ExaminerPolitics.com.
Political Hay: Toxic Omnibus Anti-Energy, Anti-Civil Liberties Stew
Published March 31, 2009 | .…”This legislation guarantees that we will not take our forests, rivers, oceans, national parks, monuments, and wilderness areas for granted; but rather we will set them aside and guard their sanctity for everyone to share.”….
John Berlau, American Spectator, March 31, 2009
Rammed through by Reid and Pelosi and signed into law yesterday, the whopping Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 is a huge stinker all Obama’s own.
In discussing the 1,248-page Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009, signed yesterday by President Barack Obama after being rammed through the House and Senate by use of unprecedented parliamentary maneuvers designed to cut off debate, two aphorisms come to mind.
The first is the old saying that sunshine is the best disinfectant. But the second is that, at least for many members of Congress, it’s easier to disguise the flavor of spoiled ingredients if one throws them into a big toxic stew.
Like its cousin, the $410 billion Omnibus spending bill that President Obama earlier signed into law, the Omnibus lands bill contains several bills from previous sessions of Congress wrapped into one. The final legislative package — which passed the House last week after clearing the Senate the previous week — actually contains a whopping 170 different bills, according to CNSNews.com. As House Natural Resources Committee ranking Republican Doc Hastings of Washington put it in a House floor speech, “This legislative strategy behind the creation of this…was to make a bill that, like AIG, is too big to fail.”
And as with the AIG bailout, there will be plenty of regrets for this big rush job’s lack of initial scrutiny. Like its Omnibus cousin, this bill contains plenty of earmarks that stand out for their parochialism, like $3.5 million in federal funds for the local 450th anniversary celebration of St. Augustine, Florida. But unlike the earlier Omnibus spending bill, this bill also contains provisions that will be even more destructive the economy and individual liberties than overspending.
This time, President Obama simply cannot claim, as he did with the earmarks in the previous Omnibus bill that he signed, that this is last year’s business and we will spend better next year. This is because, under the guise of “managing” federal lands, the bill, according to Hasting’s analysis, permanently bans energy exploration — even for environmentally correct sources like wind and solar — in more than 1 million acres, puts 2 million acres of public land off limits to transportation including even bicycles and wheelchairs, and imposes fines and even imprisonment for the collecting of common rocks and fossils.
In signing the bill, Obama proclaimed, “This legislation guarantees that we will not take our forests, rivers, oceans, national parks, monuments, and wilderness areas for granted; but rather we will set them aside and guard their sanctity for everyone to share.” But this analysis by Robert J. Smith, longtime free-market conservationist who is my colleague at the Competitive Enterprise Institute and a fellow at the National Center for Public Policy Research, pointed out that the bill actually “lock[s] up tens of millions of acres of public lands in categories that much of the public will never be able to use, destroying energy production, mining, timber harvest, grazing, and recreation.”
But the bill’s sheer length meant its worst parts had yet to be digested, Smith argued. “This is another massive ‘mystery meat’ bill with well over a thousand pages of bills which no one has read or understands,” Smith wrote.
As more and more people of diverse viewpoint began to “read and understand” the bill, some bipartisan opposition mounted to many of its provisions. But “driven by the shameful lust of Congressional members to bring pork to their districts at the expense of American freedom,” as Smith put it, more and more pork was added to the stew. Plus, the head chefs severely limited the ability to take the most harmful ingredients out of the pot.
As the Democratic Congressional leadership attempted to ram through this bill, it met unexpected resistance to many of the bill’s provisions. And not just from Republicans, nor even from blue dog Democrats. House leaders skipped entirely the jurisdiction of two relevant committees: Agriculture, which has jurisdiction over the U.S. Forest Service, which is actually a part of the Department of Agriculture; and Judiciary, which has jurisdiction over bills that create or make changes to the nation’s federal crimes.
House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson, D-Minn., was so upset he became one of four Democrats to vote against the bill of his own leadership. And serious reservations were also expressed by the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee — that notorious Blue Dog (Not!) John Conyers, D-Mich. And none other than the American Civil Liberties Union signed a bipartisan letter protesting the criminal penalties in the bill’s provisions regarding “paleontological resources preservation.”
This section, in the name of protecting fossils on federal lands, makes it a crime to “excavate, remove, damage, or otherwise alter or deface or attempt to excavate, remove, damage, or otherwise alter or deface any paleontological resources located on Federal land” without special permission from the government. Penalties for violations include up to five years imprisonment, and “paleontological resources” are loosely defined as all “fossilized remains…that are of paleontological interest and that provide information about the history of life on earth.”
“Paleontological resources” are defined so broadly and the offenses defined so loosely that many fossil lovers — from scientists to amateur rock collectors — became concerned that it would criminalize innocent error. After all, many common fossil rocks could be “of paleontological interest” and “provide information about the history of life on earth.” Tracie Bennitt, president of the Association of Applied Paleontological Sciences, wrote that “we can visualize now a group of students unknowingly crossing over an invisible line and ending up handcuffed and prosecuted. An honest mistake is just that and should be treated accordingly.”
As word spread of these provisions, this association was later joined in this objection by CEI, NCPPR, and two groups that don’t normally sign on to letters with free-market organizations about lands bills — the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the ACLU! “We are concerned that the bill creates many new federal crimes using language that is so broad that the provisions could cover innocent human error,” the letter from the diverse coalitions stated. “Above all, we are concerned that a bill containing new federal crimes, fines and imprisonment, and forfeiture provisions may come to the House floor without first being marked up in the House Judiciary Committee.”
Judiciary Committee Chairman Conyers had his own concerns about his committee being bypassed. In February, Conyers wrote to House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Nick Rahall that while he understood and supported the “attempt to pass it in the House without amendment to ensure it reaches the President,” he “regret[ed] that we will be unable to make appropriate refinements to the provisions in the Judiciary Committee’s jurisdiction before the bill becomes law.”
But these and other concerns about the bill didn’t have much of a chance to be debated. On March 11, the House leadership brought the bill up under “suspension,” a procedure where the minority’s “motion to recommit” with instructed changes is denied, but the bill needs two-thirds for passage. The bill failed to get two-thirds support of the House by two votes.
So the Senate “preconferenced” the bill by glomming on the hundreds of pages that had failed in the House to an unrelated House bill protecting battlefields that had already passed. Then on March 25, because of the Senate change, the House brought up the bill as a Senate amendment to the House battlefields bill under a rule forbidding a motion to recommit and requiring only a simple majority to pass. The bill passed 285-140, with four Democrats voting against, but 38 Republicans voting “aye.”
There already is talk of a bipartisan bill to change some provisions, particularly the criminal penalties in the paleontology section. Conyers wrote in his letter that he wanted “refinements” to the criminal provisions “as soon as practicable in subsequent legislation.” He may get some bipartisan help, and this would be all to the good. But members should also ask themselves, isn’t the correct way to rid a bill of bad provisions to debate those provisions before the bill is passed?
In an interesting side note, the Washington Times noted that President Obama did not — as promised as part of his “transparency” initiatives — wait five days to sign this bill so that the public could comment on the White House website. The bill had been posted on the site on Friday, and the signing was Monday, making not even three full days.
And in a way, it is a shame that the president didn’t wait two more days to sign this bill on this coming Wednesday. There is no day more appropriate than April Fool’s Day for this monstrosity!
http://spectator.org/archives/2009/03/31/toxic-omnibus-anti-energy-anti
The Catholic Church in America Has Bred Her Own Destroyers
Published March 31, 2009 | …..The Catholic Church in America has bred her own destroyers, graduating from doctrinally corrupt catechetical programs, schools and colleges two generations of pro-abortion politicians. Barack Obama, in his effortless Alinskyite style, has exploited this phenomenon to the hilt, seeking out Catholics such as Joe Biden and Kathleen Sebelius to serve as his agents of destruction . . . Obama can not only thwart the Church at every crucial turn and still retain the Catholic vote; he can even expect over the next few years prizes and pats on the back from Catholic colleges for doing so . . . somehow Obama’s formal cooperation in the injustice of destroying innocent lives just isn’t so bad….. By George Neumayr, The American Spectator, 3.27.09 http://spectator.org/archives/2009/03/27/touchdown-obama
Senate Hearings for Leading Pro-Abortion Politician Sebelius as HHS Secretary to Begin This Week
Published March 31, 2009 | …Governor approves abortion restriction for the first time in her career . . . While Sebelius claims to be “personally opposed” to abortion, her record shows a steady opposition to legislation restricting late-term abortion or enforcing existing restrictions. Once dubbed a pro-abortion “champion” by Planned Parenthood, Sebelius’ consistent public support for abortion is so extreme that Kansas City’s Archbishop Naumann ordered Sebelius not to receive Holy Communion….
By Kathleen Gilbert, March 30, 2009, LifeSiteNews.com
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, a leading pro-abortion politician and President Obama’s highly controversial Health and Human Services (HHS) cabinet pick, is due to begin Senate hearings this week.
Sebelius will testify on March 31 before the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, which will examine her nomination as Secretary of Health and Human Services. No vote will be taken on her nomination at that time.
Sebelius will then appear before the U.S. Senate Finance Committee for examination on Thursday, April 2. The committee is expected to vote on her confirmation at that time. If the vote is not unanimous, her nomination will go to the full Senate.
While Sebelius claims to be “personally opposed” to abortion, her record shows a steady opposition to legislation restricting late-term abortion or enforcing existing restrictions. Once dubbed a pro-abortion “champion” by Planned Parenthood, Sebelius’ consistent public support for abortion is so extreme that Kansas City’s Archbishop Naumann ordered Sebelius not to receive Holy Communion. Archbishop Donald Wuerl of Washington, D.C. has confirmed he would uphold the sanction.
“Gov. Sebelius is unfit to serve as Secretary of HHS because she owes her career to support from the radical the abortion lobby,” said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. “As HHS Secretary, she will have a platform whereby she can influence abortion policy, which could cost thousands of innocent lives.”
“We strongly urge pro-life supporters to phone their Senators today and voice their opposition to Sebelius’ confirmation to the post of HHS Secretary,” said Newman.
On Friday, Sebelius signed a bill into law mandating that women seeking abortions be offered to see an ultrasound image of their babies at least 30 minutes before a scheduled abortion. This marks the first time that the governor has signed an even marginally pro-life bill. The governor has in the past vetoed similar legislation.
“These new restrictions on abortion will do little to solve all of the abuses in the abortion industry, but they will save lives,” said Operation Rescue Senior Policy Advisor Cheryl Sullenger about the new law. “We know when women are allowed to see images of their pre-born babies, most will not go through with the abortion.”
Pro-life advocates charge, however, the radical change in Sebelius’ policy of vetoing all pro-life legislation was a politically expedient move to mitigate her reputation as an extremist supporter for abortion when she appears before the U.S. Senate for confirmation hearings.
Newman told LifeSiteNews.com (LSN) today that signing the recent bill was “the first thing [Sebelius] has ever done that could even be remotely considered favorable” for the pro-life cause.
The American Life League has launched a “Stop Sebelius Campaign” to counter the governor’s Senate confirmation as HHS Secretary.
http://all.org/kathleen_sebelius.php
See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
Archbishop Naumann: “Offensive” Sebelius Nomination “Makes our Job as Bishops More Challenging”
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/mar/09030508.html
Kansas Legislators Pass Abortion Bill, Now Hangs on Sebelius Approval
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/mar/09031802.html
This article: http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/mar/09033007.html
Archbishop Dolan on Notre Dame: ‘They Made a Big Mistake’
Published March 31, 2009 | …They made a big mistake … in an issue that is very close to the heart of Catholic world view, namely, the protection of innocent life in the womb…
By Kathleen Gilbert, LifeSiteNews, 3/31/2009
Dolan is the fifth bishop to condemn the university’s decision since the March 20 announcement that Obama had accepted the invitation, and announcement sparked a wave of protest from the American Catholic community.
NEW YORK – The bishop recently appointed to head up the archdiocese of New York – one of the most influential positions in the U.S. Catholic Church – said in an interview yesterday that Notre Dame “made a big mistake” by inviting President Obama to receive an honorary degree and give the commencement address at the school on May 17.
“They made a big mistake … in an issue that is very close to the heart of Catholic world view, namely, the protection of innocent life in the womb, [Obama] has unfortunately taken a position very much at odds with the Church,” Archbishop Timothy Dolan told host Charlie Sykes on the “Sunday Insight” program of Milwaukee station TMJ4.
Dolan is the fifth bishop to condemn the university’s decision since the March 20 announcement that Obama had accepted the invitation, and announcement sparked a wave of protest from the American Catholic community.
Last Friday, the Texas Catholic Herald published Houston Cardinal Nicholas DiNardo’s “Shepherd’s Message” in which the Cardinal said the “very disappointing” invite “requires charitable but vigorous critique.”
“Though I can understand the desire by a university to have the prestige of a commencement address by the President of the United States, the fundamental moral issue of the inestimable worth of the human person from conception to natural death is a principle that soaks all our lives as Catholics, and all our efforts at formation, especially education at Catholic places of higher learning,” wrote DiNardo.
Notre Dame’s own Bishop John D’Arcy responded soon after the scandal broke with a statement condemning the invitation and announcing his decision to boycott the graduation ceremony.
http://www.catholic.org/politics/story.php?id=32923
In the Dark! Sec. Clinton Praises Margaret Sanger: ‘In Awe of Her’; Day Before Asks “Who Painted It?” (Our Lady of Guadalupe)
Published March 31, 2009 | ….Secretary of State Clinton expresses admiration for Margaret Sanger and confusion about Our Lady of Guadalupe….
I admire Margaret Sanger enormously, her courage, her tenacity, her vision… when I think about what she did all those years ago in Brooklyn, taking on archetypes, taking on attitudes and accusations flowing from all directions, I am really in awe of her.
MEXICO CITY (California Catholic Daily) – A day before receiving the Planned Parenthood Federation of America’s highest honor – the “Margaret Sanger Award” – U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton paid a visit to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City, leaving a bouquet of white flowers “on behalf of the American people,” and asking the basilica’s rector, “Who painted it?”
In response to Clinton’s question, basilica rector Msgr. Diego Monroy responded, “God!” The image of Our Lady of Guadalupe was miraculously imprinted by Mary on the cloak of St. Juan Diego in 1531.
Our Lady’s Self Portrait
The following day, Friday, March 27, Clinton was in Houston to receive the Margaret Sanger Award, named for the organization’s founder, a noted eugenicist. Clinton, repeatedly interrupted by applause, cited several recent actions by the Obama Administration demonstrating that ‘reproductive rights’ are a crucial element of the new president’s foreign policy.
“I was very proud when President Obama repealed the Mexico City policy,” she said, according to a transcript of her remarks released by the State Department. “As a result, nongovernmental organizations overseas can once again use U.S. funding to provide the full range of family planning services so that women and their families can get access to the healthcare that they need. President Obama’s decision on Mexico City… reflects a deep personal commitment to expanding opportunities for women…
“I am also pleased to tell you that we announced that the United States will once again fund family planning through the United Nations. We are going to fund a contribution of $50 million this fiscal year. That’s a 130 percent increase over our last contribution, which was made in 2001. Congress has also approved the Administration’s request for $545 million in bilateral assistance for family planning and reproductive health programs this year. And this is a significant increase over last year.”
Sanger, who founded Planned Parenthood and for whom the award Clinton received was named, was a proponent of eugenics, advocating selective breeding, sterilization and euthanasia. In 1932, Sanger urged “a stern and rigid policy of sterilization and segregation to that grade of population whose progeny is already tainted or whose inheritance is such that objectionable traits may be transmitted to offspring.”
In one of her first pamphlets, published in 1915, Sanger observed, “It is a vicious cycle; ignorance breeds poverty and poverty breeds ignorance. There is only one cure for both, and that is to stop breeding these things. Stop bringing to birth children whose inheritance cannot be one of health or intelligence. Stop bringing into the world children whose parents cannot provide for them. Herein lies the key of civilization. For upon the foundation of an enlightened and voluntary motherhood shall a future civilization emerge.” Sanger also advocated government coercion to stop the “unfit” from bearing children, saying, “The undeniably feeble-minded should, indeed, not only be discouraged but prevented from propagating their kind.”
Nonetheless, according to the State Department’s transcript of Clinton’s remark, the secretary of state said, “I admire Margaret Sanger enormously, her courage, her tenacity, her vision… when I think about what she did all those years ago in Brooklyn, taking on archetypes, taking on attitudes and accusations flowing from all directions, I am really in awe of her.”
Seven Deadly Sins: Envy
Published March 31, 2009 | …The Kingdom of God is not a zero-sum game in which we compete for limited love and respect. Each member of the Body of Christ is of infinite and unique importance… (Rom12:3-8).
By Jeri Holladay, Catholic Online www.catholic.org ,3/31/2009
Cain, for example, envied his brother Abel. Because they were brothers, and in his mind equal petitioners for God’s favor, Cain presumed that God would treat their offerings the same. Blinded by his envy, he missed his chance to bring forth his best and instead killed his competitor, his brother.
WICHITA, Kansas – Envy is the most joyless of the Seven Deadly Sins, and trying to get to the bottom of it is like wrestling with a shadow. The glutton enjoys his banana split, at least for a moment, but the envious appears to derive only a gnawing sense of comparison, competition, and injustice from his secret sin. At its best, envy remains a hidden pool of ingratitude and resentment, secretly applauding the downfall and sorrow of others.
The envious resents the perceived preferential treatment of his peers. Questions fester in his mind, like “Why am I less popular, when I’m just as attractive?” Or “Why don’t people seek me out, ask my advice?” “Why was I laid off, or overlooked for promotion, when I’m a more productive worker?” “Why do I earn less for my work, when I am just as creative and intelligent?”
At its worst, envy strikes others through slander or gossip or actively tries to cause them to fail. Envy brings tension and conflict into families, schools, offices, parishes, and society. Ultimately, envy pits the person against God’s will for his life.
Envy not only draws comparisons but is deeply competitive. Cain, for example, envied his brother Abel. Because they were brothers, and in his mind equal petitioners for God’s favor, Cain presumed that God would treat their offerings the same. Yet he failed to distinguish between his brother’s offering of his choicest fruits and his own offering. Blinded by his envy, he missed his chance to bring forth his best and instead killed his competitor, his brother (Gen 4).
Unfortunately, our culture is deeply implicated in accentuating the habits of comparison and competition. Parents sometimes compare one sibling to another, as though only one set of gifts were worthy. In school, children are taught to measure their worth against that of others. This does not refer to the innocent game of kick ball in the school yard, in which kids take turns at winning and losing, but to the kind of comparison that pegs their worth as persons on a scale of one to ten. As they go through life, people are continually measured by how well they can stand up to the competition and secretly grow to envy those who seem to have had an easier path to success.
St. John’s gospel shares an interesting exchange between the Risen Lord and St. Peter. St. Peter has just reaffirmed his love for Jesus. Jesus calls him to shepherd the Church and tells him what kind of death he will undergo for the glory of God. “Follow me,” He concludes. Instead of immediately saying “Yes,” St. Peter turns, sees St. John, the beloved disciple, and asks Jesus, “Lord, what about him?”
It is unlikely that envy had a place in so generous a soul as St. Peter’s. More likely, the exchange was included for us, the hearers of the Gospel. Jesus answers with a question and a directive. “What if I want him to remain until I come? What concern is it of yours? You follow me.” (John 21:15-23)
Oddly enough, this is liberating. We are free to be what God wants us to be, without looking over our shoulders at others.
God’s creation is infinitely diverse, in which all the different parts fit together into a beautiful whole and in which each person has a unique place. Our gifts are like great pearls buried in the homely soil of our own souls. Unearthing them, polishing them and offering them to the Lord and to others is the most joyful adventure imaginable and well worth the effort.
The Kingdom of God is not a zero-sum game in which we compete for limited love and respect. Rather, the whole is greater than the sum of the parts, and each member of the Body of Christ is of infinite and unique importance (Rom12:3-8).
The Giver of gifts knows us better than we know ourselves. His gifts are more perfectly suited to us than any we could choose for ourselves. Only when we accept our appointed place in this great chorus of praise to God, will the joy of true fulfillment in Him disperse the clouds of envy from our hearts.
Jeri Holladay writes from Wichita, Kansas, where she has been Director of Adult Education at the Spiritual Life Center of the Diocese of Wichita, Associate Professor of Theology, Chairman of the Theology Department and founding Director of the Bishop Eugene Gerber Institute of Catholic Studies at Newman University. She teaches moral theology and church history and is a contributing writer for Catholic Online.
http://www.catholic.org/clife/lent/story.php?id=32915
Obama’s ‘Tectonic Shift’ and You: America’s Road to Serfdom!
Published March 31, 2009 | 
The president’s firing of GM’s CEO expands government control of business and shrinks individual liberty. (Also see Roger L. Simon — Obama and GM: Just Say No)
Yesterday’s news that Rick Wagoner would be stepping down as chairman and CEO of General Motors was more than a news-cycle datum: it was an introduction to life in the brave new centrally-planned world with which the United States of Bailed-Out America is flirting.
When news of Mr. Wagoner’s departure first came over the the wire, it was couched in the beguiling “mistakes-were-made” rhetoric of nescience: “people familiar with situation did not say why Wagoner is leaving.” As I noted at the time, it wasn’t difficult to come up with reasons the GM board might wish to bid farewell to Rick Wagoner: what, except more red ink, did the company have to show for the $17 billion in government loans it had burned through in the last few months?
But within hours it transpired that the GM board was not really a player in this drama of corporate defenestration. No, Mr. Wagoner is getting the Order of the Boot not at the behest of the GM Board but at the insistence of Barack Obama.
Why, you might ask, is the President of the United States mucking about in personnel matters of a public corporation?
Good question. Politico touches on the essential issue in its report:
“The surprise announcement about the classically iconic American corporation is perhaps the most vivid sign yet of the tectonic change in the relationship between business and government in this era of subsidies and bailouts.”
The critical phrase is “the tectonic change in the relationship between business and government.” Remember it. When GM accepted those billions in government subsidies, it rendered itself beholden to the source of those subsidies–not the ultimate source, mind you: i.e., you and me: the taxpayers. No, in accepting that largess from the government, GM handed itself over to the bureaucrats writing the checks, ultimately to the bureaucrat-in-chief, Barack Obama.
A “tectonic change in the relationship between business and government.” Time was, the role of government in a capitalist society was primarily to secure an environment in which private enterprise could thrive. Today, the role of government is increasingly to nationalize private enterprise, i.e., destroy it in the name of a “higher” good, a “new era of responsibility” in which government bureaucrats tell you how to run your business and whom to employ.
A “tectonic change in the relationship between business and government”: remember that phrase. And note that a “tectonic,” i.e., a fundamental, change between business and government is also a tectonic change between the individual and government. “What our generation has forgotten,” Friedrich Hayek wrote in The Road to Serfdom, “is that the system of private property is the most important guaranty of freedom, not only for those who own property, but scarcely less for those those who do not.”
The tectonic change in the the relationship between business and government, between the individual and government, signals not only the expansion of government control, it also signals the contraction of individual freedom.
From the very beginning of his campaign, Obama made it clear that economic “fairness” was his political lodestar.
He made it clear, but did we really understand him? “Fairness”: that’s a good thing, isn’t it? Who can be against “fairness”?
But what if by “fairness” he meant not “impartial justice” but “equalized outcomes”? What if by “fairness” he meant “spreading the wealth around”? What then? “Who can doubt,” Hayek asked, “. . . that the power which a multiple millionaire, who may be my neighbor and perhaps my employer, has over me is very much less than that which the smallest functionnaire possess who wields the coercive power of the state on whose discretion it depends whether and how I am to be allowed to live or to work?”
The chapter of The Road to Serfdom in which these words appear is called Who, Whom?–the question that, said Lenin, was the fundamental fulcrum of politics.
The genius of the American system has been to short-circuit that question by distributing the power of the subject: Lenin’s “Who” is longer a central and centralizing authority but a multiplicity of actors each with his native interests and prerogatives. Burke spoke of the importance to liberty of those “little platoons” that claim our daily allegiance. James Madison, in Federalist LI, made a similar point when he observed that “the policy of supplying, by opposite and rival interests, the defect of better motives” helped encourage the distribution of power and hence the growth of liberty.
The tectonic change contemplated by the Obama administration would have us disband those little platoons and assimilate ourselves to the swarming army of the state. Madison’s “opposite and rival interests,” for these collectivists, impede the progress of fairness and interrupt the process of equalizing wealth.
Earlier in The Federalist, Madison observed that there were “two methods of removing the causes of faction: the one, by destroying the liberty which is essential to its existence; the other, by giving to every citizen the same opinions, the same passions, and the same interests.” Madison thought it self-evident that both courses, being inimical to liberty, spelt disaster. Madison thought that the protection of that “diversity of faculties” which underwrote the diversity of property was the “first object of government.”
Our current masters in Washington disagree. They seem willing to experiment with both of the expedients Madison warned against in order to achieve their egalitarian goals.
Today it is Rick Wagoner who has to go. Tomorrow? Who can say? When a tectonic change takes place, things can happen awfully fast.
http://pajamasmedia.com/rogerkimball/2009/03/30/tectonic-change-barack-obama-and-you/
RELATED ARTICLE: “Wasting General Motors“, By Eric Peters on 3.31.09, American Spectator
What a sad spectacle: The man who helped ruin GM has been ousted by a man who seems determined to finish the job.
http://spectator.org/archives/2009/03/31/wasting-general-motors
TODAY’S GOSPEL
Published March 31, 2009 | |
John 8: 21 – 30
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| 21 | Again he said to them, “I go away, and you will seek me and die in your sin; where I am going, you cannot come.” |
| 22 | Then said the Jews, “Will he kill himself, since he says, `Where I am going, you cannot come’?” |
| 23 | He said to them, “You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world. |
| 24 | I told you that you would die in your sins, for you will die in your sins unless you believe that I am he.” |
| 25 | They said to him, “Who are you?” Jesus said to them, “Even what I have told you from the beginning. |
| 26 | I have much to say about you and much to judge; but he who sent me is true, and I declare to the world what I have heard from him.” |
| 27 | They did not understand that he spoke to them of the Father. |
| 28 | So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority but speak thus as the Father taught me. |
| 29 | And he who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what is pleasing to him.” |
| 30 | As he spoke thus, many believed in him. |
http://www.ewtn.com/vbible/search.asp?abbr=John&ch=8&bv1=21&ev1=30
Homily of the Day: A Heart That Remembers Blessings
Published March 31, 2009 | By Monsignor Dennis Clark, Ph.D., Catholic Exchange, March 31st, 2009
Nm 21:4-9 / Jn 8:21-30
One of the hardest things in life is waiting, but it’s something we have to do all the time. It starts when we’re very small, waiting for Christmas, for our birthday, for the end of the long car ride, or for mom to get off the phone. And it continues all our lives, in the doctor’s office, on the freeway, in a pregnancy, in a fledgling business. It never stops and there’s no avoiding it.
As we see in today’s Old Testament reading, the Israelites also had to wait — out there in the desert — and they didn’t do it very well. Instead, they got angry at God, and cursed God for leading them into that boring place and making them eat boring food! What ingrates! They forgot that it was God Himself who had set them free from miserable slavery, and had saved their lives. They forgot how to be thankful, and the sourness of their hearts brought death to many of them.
Waits are inevitable, but don’t let them sour you and make you feel like a victim. Take command of them, use them as . . . remembering time. Remember how blessed you are, how lucky you are to be alive, how fortunate you are to be loved by a good Lord who never abandons or turns away.
A heart that remembers blessings never turns sour.
TODAY’S SAINT: BL. JOAN OF TOULOUSE
Published March 31, 2009 |
Blessed Joan of Toulouse lived in the town of Toulouse during the thirteenth century. A Carmelite monastery had been founded in the town in 1240 and this exposed Joan to the Carmelite lifestyle and spirituality. In 1265 when St. Simon Stock, a thirteenth century reformer of the Carmelites, was passing through Toulouse, Joan met him and requested to be affiliated with the Carmelites. Simon agreed and Blessed Joan became the first Third Order Carmelite.
Joan vowed herself to perpetual chastity. Joan applied herself completely to the Carmelite Rule. In addition to many daily holy practices and pennances, Joan reached out to the community and worked to help the sick and poor. One of Joan’s primary missions was encouraging the boys of the town to help her serve the poor and help them discern whether or not they were called to be Carmelites. Blessed Joan is considered to be a founder of the Carmelite tertiary order and is considered to be the first member of this order. Joan died near the end of the thirteenth century. Her cult was approved in 1895.
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint.php?n=193
Monday of the Fifth Week of Lent
Published March 30, 2009 | 
Catholic Culture, March 30, 2009
God’s protection extends to all his children, to the innocent and sinful. He will never leave us to our enemies. Christ, the champion of the weak, shows himself in today’s celebration of the word as defender of womankind against cruelty and lust. It is this same Champion and Defender that we meet in the Eucharistic mystery.
Meditation – God’s Appeal to All the World
Pilate’s “Ecce, Homo!” his appeal to the scornful multitude now on the point of breaking out into mob violence, was even more truly the mighty appeal of God’s marvelous mercy to his chosen people and to all the human race.
“Behold the Man!” Behold the Lamb of God, the Son of the living God, in all these unsightly wounds, the most beautiful of men here disfigured beyond recognition, as one stricken by leprosy and all the other filthy diseases of mankind; yes, behold Him here, the most frightful symbol and demonstration of the monstrous evil of mortal sin ever to be given to the world; but even more, behold Him here, the clearest and the mightiest appeal of Heaven to all the world of souls to be converted and to rise from spiritual death to life, true and even divine.
“Behold the Man.” O my soul, behold Christ Jesus there as the Lamb of God loaded with your own personal sins and bearing the ghastly wounds your sins inflicted on Him. Pray that you may recognize here, in this reed and purple and crown, God’s very own caricature of your senseless pride, of the folly of your imaginary greatness. In that purple rag of a cloak see the sham honor and dignity in which your self-conceit and self-complacency clothe you! In that reed recognize the might of your strength in which you have been trusting. In that crown acknowledge the depth of humiliation you deserve for all your vanity and your open and secret envious ambition for recognition and authority and for honors and offices. O my soul, be honest enough to see and to acknowledge what a spectacle you are to all heaven in the light of the revelation in God’s word: “Behold the Man!”
Yet again, “Behold the Man!” Look on Him that you may be filled with hope and courage. Let the crushing truth you have just been making your very own, serve to crush your nauseating and contaminating pride in all its open and especially its hitherto hidden forms. Behold the Man, the Lamb of God laden with your sins, but only to wash them away and to cast them into the deep sea of oblivion; yes, and even to take away your stony heart and give you a heart of flesh, to put His own spirit in your midst, and to cause you to walk in His commandments and to keep His judgments and to do them (Ezech. 36:26-30); in a word, to make a way in your wilderness, that shall be called “The Holy Way.” (Isa. 35:6-8.)
Excerpted from Our Way to the Father, Rev. Leo M. Krenz, S.J.
The Station, at Rome, is in the church of St. Chrysogonus, one of the most celebrated martyrs of the Church of Rome. His name is inserted in the Canon of the Mass. The church was probably built in the 4th century under Pope Sylvester I.
Michele Obama Recently Mentors Young Women to Be Anything They Chose to be in America, “American Idol” Style
Published March 30, 2009 |
Patriot Post, Monday Brief – Vol. 09 No. 13
CULTURE
“While the president was away in L.A., the first lady played mentor, with the help of some stars. She organized a round-robin of visits to Washington D.C. schools and a White House event for young girls, to demonstrate to them they could grow up to be anything they chose in America. (You know, that country she had no pride in before her husband’s nomination?)
…Michelle, judging by the stars she presented as role models, wants the young women to aspire to be singers and actresses, athletes, 4-star generals and astronauts. There was only one woman CEO or entrepreneur mentioned by media — Debra Lee, the CEO of the Black Entertainment Network;
no women small business owners, no top women sales professionals — not even difference-makers like school teachers or nurses and caregivers or stay-at-home moms raising successful families. Or even political leaders, like, say the successful governor of a fiscally stable state. Like, say, Governor Sarah Palin. She was one of only two women ever to run for vice-president on either of the two major parties’ tickets, and a mom. …
No, Michelle presented Alicia Keyes and Sheryl Crow, actresses Fran Drescher and Phylicia Rashad; a couple of athletes; the first black woman to travel in space; and a celebrity make-up artist.
What is so significant here is that nearly all the examples-to-aspire-to presented are primarily supported by the economy; not supporters of the economy. Not creators of innovative products, of companies, of jobs. Not women who started some sort of enterprises from scratch and built them into successful businesses.
Heaven forbid we should encourage these girls to grow up to be business owners. Better for them to hope for a spin of the wheel of celebrity via American Idol. Particularly appropriate given our celebrity-president.”
–author Dan Kennedy
THE GIPPER
Published March 30, 2009 |
Patriot Post, Monday Brief – Vol. 09 No. 13
“When a business or an individual spends more than it makes, it goes bankrupt. When government does it, it sends you the bill. And when government does it for 40 years, the bill comes in two ways: higher taxes and inflation. Make no mistake about it, inflation is a tax and not by accident.”
Obama’s ‘Christian Charity’–Giving Away Other People’s Money
Published March 30, 2009 | Patriot Post, Monday Brief – Vol. 09 No. 13
FAITH AND FAMILY
“President Barack Obama has gotten a lot of mileage out of his appeals to people of faith. He portrays himself as one of them, a convert who found Jesus and a new purpose for living through community organizing in Chicago. His attempts to portray the audacity of hope, however, have been stymied by the manner in which he has responded to the nation’s economic crisis. He may call it ‘investment,’ but his stimulus package represents old-fashioned government spending. Our children will be left with the legacy of his spendthrift ways. However, to hear Obama tell it, you would think that he was saving our nation’s poor by running up deficits. Don’t worry about the final bill, he’s telling us — let’s live for today. He may even try to wrap his spending package in the guise of Christian charity.”
–columnist Nathan Tabor
The Modern Liberal Believes . . . .
Published March 30, 2009 |
“The Modern Liberal believes in the supremacy of the state, thereby rejecting the principles of the Declaration and the order of the civil society, in whole or part. For the Modern Liberal, the individual’s imperfection and personal pursuits impede the objective of a utopian state. In this, Modern Liberalism promotes what French historian Alexis de Tocqueville described as a soft tyranny, which becomes increasingly more oppressive, potentially leading to a hard tyranny (some form of totalitarianism). As the word ‘liberal’ is, in its classical meaning, the opposite of authoritarian, it is more accurate, therefore, to characterize the Modern Liberal as a Statist. … The Statist … knows that despite his successful usurpations, enough citizens are still skeptical and even distrustful of politicians and government that he cannot force his will all at once. Thus he marches in incremental steps, adjusting his pace as circumstances dictate. Today his pace is more rapid, for resistance has slowed. … The Conservative does not despise government. He despises tyranny. This is precisely why the Conservative reveres the Constitution and insists on adherence to it. An ‘effective’ government that operates outside its constitutional limitations is a dangerous government. … The Conservative is alarmed by the ascent of a soft tyranny…. He knows that liberty once lost is rarely recovered. He knows of the decline and eventual failure of past republics. And he knows that the best prescription for addressing society’s real and perceived ailments is not to further empower an already enormous federal government beyond its constitutional limits, but to return to the founding principles. A free people living in a civil society, working in self-interested cooperation, and a government operating within the limits of its authority promote more prosperity, opportunity, and happiness for more people than any alternative. Conservatism is the antidote to tyranny precisely because its principles are the founding principles.”
–author and radio talk-show host Mark Levin in his book “Liberty and Tyranny”
Dictates of Conscience – or Dictated Conscience?
Published March 30, 2009 | By Kim Shaftner MD, American Center for Law and Justice www.aclj.org/ , 3/30/2009
Mandating professional compliance is a heavy-handed, despotic approach and hardly reflects Obama’s self-described moderate approach to abortion policy.
Closing Ranks on Canon 915
Published March 30, 2009 | 
By Deal W. Hudson, Inside Catholic, 3-30-09
Deal W. Hudson is the director of InsideCatholic.com and the author of Onward, Christian Soldiers: The Growing Political Power of Catholics and Evangelicals in the United States (Simon and Schuster).
Suddenly One Morning, Tyranny
Published March 30, 2009 | ….We’ve obviously become a nation of foolish people who no longer see right and wrong in clear, bold, and distinctive colors . . . Our country was founded on Judeo-Christian beliefs. History records the hard reality of those nations that tried to separate God’s rule from their laws and culture. They never lasted, disintegrating into tyranny and horrifying persecution. The drive-by media never tells the American public the truth, however. When the game of “class warfare” is played out, bad consequences ensue. What is happening to our country is not by happenstance…..
Marie Jon, RA analyst, Renew America, March 29, 2009
Imagine waking up one morning prepared to do your daily Bible study and discovering that Exodus Chapter 20 had been completely erased. The Ten Commandments were missing. Of course, you would wonder what possibly could have happened.
You then become panicked as you quickly turn to the New Testament, only to discover that the Sermon on the Mount had vanished as well. The verse about loving one’s enemy was gone. Even the Golden Rule had disappeared. Upon closer examination, you discover that every guideline concerning living a better way of life was gone.
Non-believers suggest that humanity is on its own, and that’s all right with them. They believe they are justified in finding their own way. They feel comfortable that a sense of “the collective good” (which keeps them from becoming destructive to one another) will prevail, without the need to rely on God.
It’s undeniable that horrors and hurts have been inflicted upon the world in the name of religion, including Christianity. Some misguided men within the ministry have perceived their actions as God’s will. In eras long past, persecution was wrongly justified. Innocent people were literally destroyed by those who didn’t agree with them. These shameful acts will never be forgotten.
On the other side of the fence lies the question: What are the results when God’s Word is totally rejected and the Almighty’s laws are distorted or ignored? Do we fare any better?
When there is no moral authority
If you’re not a religious person in any real sense, then you reject the authority of a loving God. If so, what stops you from acting in a manner that is morally wrong?
We live in a country where some of our politicians can be bought and paid for — those who possess little or no sense of moral obligation. There is a big problem when our nation’s Treasury Secretary is a tax cheat.
Timothy Geithner is the Obama administration’s embarrassment. The fact that Geithner is a law-breaker does not seem to bother those who voted for President Barack Hussein Obama. We’ve obviously become a nation of foolish people who no longer see right and wrong in clear, bold, and distinctive colors.
“Thou shalt not steal” is a commandment that is uniquely germane to the culture in Washington, D.C. Soon, those who earn $250,000 or more will be paying higher taxes. This president seems to believe it is noble to redistribute wealth — but Obama merely wants to rob from those who have and give to others in order to shore up his own political capital.
The entitlement trap
Americans are generous people. In down times, our country has always made provision to lend a helping hand when our fellow citizens need lifting up. But social programs were intended, at best, to be a temporary fix, not a way of life.
Actually, it is cruel to facilitate this type of entitlement mentality. People who live on government programs lose their dignity. They fall prey to their own insecurities. Many of them never become successful achievers and accomplish the American dream. The Democrat Party can be blamed for this dilemma. They see people as nothing more than a voting bloc to be manipulated.
Caring conservatives are saddened when they see what is happening within the black community. Too many lives are broken. Too many live in the past, continually looking backward, instead of acknowledging America’s noble achievements and their own God-given potential. Some are willing to blame all of their cultural problems on slavery.
Christians must focus on Obama’s liberal social agenda. They need to continually point out to those living in the inner cities the dire effects that an ever-expanding welfare-nanny state will have on poor communities. Traditionalists and people of faith understand how religious beliefs encourage personal responsibility, as well as civic pride. If Europe, with its overwhelming welfare rolls, is a reliable indication, it just might be that Obama is willfully taking the United States down the path to hell.
Deceiving the undiscerning
It is obvious that Evangelical and Catholic Christians were purposely targeted during Obama’s campaign. He went out of his way to attract churchgoing Americans. Obama spoke about his faith when he took part in Pastor Rick Warren’s special forum held at the Saddleback Church. Obama managed to fool naive and trusting God-fearing voters. Obama lied about himself — while his campaign downplayed his outrageous radical social views. He continued lying by putting an emphasis on a contrived commitment to tolerance and civility toward those with whom he disagreed.
Let it be understood that it was Obama’s purpose to exaggerate the ways in which his progressive policies and positions were consistent with biblical faith. Unfortunately, his beliefs are far from the gospel of Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. “You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act” (Matthew 7:16).
It is most unfortunate that Obama’s efforts were successful. Inroads were made among traditional religious people with a “self-inflicted guilty conscience.” If Christians would have heard God’s still, small voice, they would not now be crying over their lack of better judgment.
Outright fraud
It’s too bad that Pastor Rick Warren delivered his inaugural invocation and gave credence to a pandering fraud. Obama has suckered the faithful into believing that his administration is not an adversary of full-gospel, Bible-keeping Christians.
It is a shame that many in our country are not paying attention to the egregious effects of Obama’s stimulus plan, which will encourage more people to depend on the government. People who support more social entitlement programs don’t understand the consequences of Obama’s overextending hand of socialism.
“We The People” are not interested in being led down the very same secular progressive path as the European countries. It is becoming clear that Obama’s ambitions might finally bring Americans out in droves demanding to take their country back.
I have absolutely no intention of playing down my personal disdain for this usurper who sits in the White House. I do question the sincerity of Obama’s religious experience. Black Liberation Theology espouses racism and is definitely Marxist. Obama is a devotee of this bigoted, quasi-religious system. Although he chose to walk away from Trinity United Church of Christ, I believe his heart remains with Revs. Otis Moss and Jeremiah Wright.
“While Barack Obama has not found a new church since he left Jeremiah Wright’ den of anti-American, socialist hate-mongering, he has assembled a new club of pastors for ‘private prayer sessions on the telephone and for discussions on the role of religion in politics.’
“The Times tells us none of those Obama sought out are affiliated with the religious right, but ‘the group can hardly be characterized as part of the religious left either.’
“Oh yeah?
“One of those selected by Obama is Jim Wallis. Show me an issue in which Wallis is not in lockstep with the religious left and I’ll eat my hat.” Full article
False hope
Our country was founded on Judeo-Christian beliefs. History records the hard reality of those nations that tried to separate God’s rule from their laws and culture. They never lasted, disintegrating into tyranny and horrifying persecution. The drive-by media never tells the American public the truth, however. When the game of “class warfare” is played out, bad consequences ensue. What is happening to our country is not by happenstance.
The French philosopher Bernard-Henri Levi used to be a Marxist, but later in life found his Christian faith. One of his memorable quotes is very honest and telling: “Apply Marxism in any country you want, you will always find a Gulag in the end.”
It is very strange that progressives say they have brought us hope and change. How can that be? America was founded on our Constitution. The primary danger associated with the rise of the nanny state is that when government assumes the moral responsibility for others, people are less likely to do so themselves.
In countries like Sweden and Denmark, the large increases in welfare spending over the last half century have ended up eroding the moral fiber of families, and have disrupted civic institutions within these societies. Sound familiar? People have become dependent on the big government Sugar Daddy to meet their basic needs.
The problem with welfare dependency is that when people take the welfare state for granted, they are less likely to attend to the emotional, social, and material needs of their family and friends as earlier generations did. As the resultant social pathology deepens, crime, drug addiction, and similar ills begin to stifle lives. With government taking on an ever-expanding role, and with an ever-increasing rise in tax rates to support this growth, taxpayers can easily lose their sense of altruism and feeling of moral unity toward others.
Socialism then becomes self-fulfilling — as it destroys society’s voluntary support system and fills the void with a police state.
Do we want our government to penalize hard-working citizens because they are high earners? A good work ethic should be rewarded because earned wealth creates jobs and promotes healthy, productive capitalism. Why should legislators demand that anyone be forced to share their wealth?
Take America back by using your activist tools…. for more info. go to: http://www.renewamerica.us/analysis/jon/090329
Pro-Lifers Concerned About Potential DOJ Scrutiny
Published March 30, 2009 | 
Concerned Women for America has mailed a letter to U.S. senators raising questions about the Obama administration revisiting the past regarding groups and individuals who are pro-life.
The concern is over the prospect of another campaign like the one during the Clinton administration called the “Violence Against Abortion Providers Conspiracy” – or VAAPCON.
Wendy Wright of Concerned Women for America — whose group was among those targeted — explains tactics during that campaign included wiretaps, mail monitoring, and infiltrators.
“It was a campaign of investigating and, frankly, intimidating pro-life and religious leaders,” says Wright. “The Department of Justice [under Attorney General Janet Reno] investigated groups like [us], the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, Christian Coalition, National Right to Life, and even the [late] Catholic cardinal of New York, John O’Connor.”
According to Wright, the problem is that some of the same people responsible for VAAPCON who worked in the Reno Justice Department are now holding key positions in the Eric Holder-led Justice Department. Among them is Holder himself, who was Reno’s deputy attorney general; and David Ogden, who is now Holder’s deputy.
“We have serious questions as to whether Obama’s nominees are going to undertake political investigations like what happened during the Clinton years,” Wright shares. “The burden is on them to act in a transparent and accountable manner to assure Americans that they will not abuse their positions to go after people who hold different views than them on abortion.”
The Clinton-Reno probe resulted in no negative information about any of the targets. Wright believes the true purpose was to quiet the pro-life movement.
Pay to Play – Gambling With America’s Future
Published March 30, 2009 | Let’s not kid ourselves. The prevailing modus operandi of Washington politicians—Democrats and Republicans alike—is “pay to play.” Money is the “mother’s milk” of politics. Nothing warms the hearts of members of Congress as much as campaign contributions. Special interests invest in political campaigns as a cost of doing business expecting that, if they ride the right horse across the finish line, they will get a return on that investment. And what a return! Billions of dollars in bailouts, subsidies, tax breaks, immunities from liability, preferential treatment by regulators—the list goes on and on.
The AIG scandal is Exhibit A for the benefits that accrue to those who pay to play. TIME magazine reports, “The company befriended politicians with campaign cash—$9.3 million divided evenly between Democrats and Republicans from 1990 to 2008….” In 2008, AIG doled out more than $630,000 in campaign contributions to Washington’s political elites. Recipients of the corporation’s largesse included Senator Chris Dodd ($103,100), then-Senator Barack Obama ($101,332), Senator John McCain ($59,499), then-Senator Hillary Clinton ($35,965), and of course many others. While, at first blush, those sums appear hefty, they are trivial when viewed in light of the $180 billion in taxpayer money that AIG received at the hands of those whose palms it greased.
If only your 401(k) produced the same return on investment!
What is particularly galling, however, is that more than $120,000 was donated to the Washington political class after AIG received its first $85 billion in bailout funds. In other words, at that point America’s Number One Corporate Miscreant was spending your money, not its own, in order to prime the pump to get more of the same.
And consider this: When the stimulus bill was under consideration in February, an amendment was unanimously approved in the Senate which would have placed tight limits on bonuses over $100,000 for any company that received federal bailout money. During the final negotiations on the bill, an amendment was put forth by Senator Dodd which made sure that the limitation applied only to bonuses issued after the passage of the bill on February 11th. This enabled AIG to pay the much-ballyhooed $165 million in retention bonuses to its executives even as the company took in more and more taxpayer cash. And yes, this financial boondoggle was engineered by the same Chris Dodd who took over $100,000 from AIG. He initially denied his role in the alteration, and when he was exposed he invoked the devil-made-me-do-it defense by claiming that the Obama Administration pressured him into it.
The AIG pay to play scandal is not unique. The same M.O. was pursued by reprobates like Bernie Madoff, Jack Abramoff, and others too numerous to name.
Is it any wonder Americans are outraged? The public no longer trusts that the government is doing the right thing. A recent poll shows 77% of Americans object to the government giving more money to AIG. President Obama’s disapproval ratings have jumped from 20% to 30% in two months. The number of Americans who think Wall Street workers are “as honest and moral as other people” has sunk from 41% in 2006 to 26% today.
Even the New York Times—a usually reliable cheerleader for Mr. Obama and Wall Street—is filled with columns that are critical of the mismanaged response to our current economic crisis. If the media followed the exhortation “If you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say anything at all,” newspaper pages and TV screens across the country would be blank.
Notwithstanding the public outrage over the current debacle, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner recently unveiled the Obama Administration’s latest idea: a plan to purchase “toxic assets” from banks through a public-private partnership. In other words, Geithner will re-institute yet another version of the discredited Bush/Paulson plan by using approximately $100 billion of the $700 billion Troubled Assets Relief Program to relieve banks of more toxic assets. Geithner’s new plan will ostensibly involve private investors, but the government will guarantee them against loss. The plan, therefore, adds an altogether new meaning to the words “free market.”
The more things change, however, the more they stay the same. A few thousand years ago, the prophet Isaiah railed against the excesses of the politicians in another capital city, Jerusalem:
See how the faithful city has become a harlot! she once was full of justice; righteousness used to dwell in her…. Your rulers are rebels, companions of thieves; they all love bribes and chase after gifts. They do not defend the cause of the fatherless; the widow’s case does not come before them. (Isaiah 1:21,23 NIV)
Isaiah leveled charges against the political class which included hypocrisy, greed, self indulgence, and cynicism. The government had become tilted in favor of the rich. The poor couldn’t get justice. Favorable rulings and laws could be purchased for the right price. The weak and vulnerable were being exploited. Unjust laws were being enacted. Innocent blood was said to be on the hands of the leaders. Their conduct was bringing the country to the brink of ruin. Men were calling evil good and good evil. Sadly, no one arose to avert the impending crisis and to lead the country in a new direction. As a consequence, Judah literally suffered the wrath of God.
Sound familiar? Some historians maintain that the corruption of today’s Washington is not unlike the corruption of Jerusalem indicted by Isaiah. They also say that America is guilty of many of the same injustices that were present in Judah of old. If they are right, what will become of America? The Bible is filled with examples of nations that were judged because of such injustices, and history is filled with examples of nations that have fallen under the weight of their wrongdoing. Will we, like Judah, hear the indictment and fail to respond? Or will we take charge of our government, remake our leadership, and change our ways?
History awaits our answer.
Ken Connor is Chairman of the Center for a Just Society in Washington, DC.
http://townhall.com/columnists/KenConnor/2009/03/29/pay_to_play_-_gambling_with_americas_future
NY Times Columnist Krugman Mocks Treasury Secretary Geithner’s Efforts as Trivial
Published March 30, 2009 |
“It’s a plan to rearrange the deck chairs and hope that that keeps us from hitting the iceberg.”
Hopelessly Naive
Published March 30, 2009 |
It didn’t take long for Iran to brush aside President Obama’s holiday video.
In his video message to Iran, complete with Farsi subtitles and timed to coincide with the celebration of the Persian New Year, Obama praised the “true greatness of the Iranian people and civilization” and said that the United States wanted to engage Iran and reverse decades of animosity.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei dismissed the overture the next morning. “They chant the slogan of change but no change is seen in practice,” said Khamenei, sounding not unlike some of Obama’s disillusioned supporters in the United States.
“We haven’t seen any change,” replied Khamenei. “If you are right that change has come, where is that change? What is the sign of that change? Make it clear for us what has changed.”
Bush-basher Michael Moore might well say the same words. What’s changed since the days of Bush and Cheney when it was charged that too big a piece of the pie was being grabbed by those who already have too much?
Obama told Joe the plumber that he wanted to “spread the wealth around.” True to his word, Obama has done the spreading in record time and in unprecedented amounts. The only problem for guys like Moore is that the trillions have been flowing for the past two months in exactly the opposite direction of the “change” that Obama promised in his big stadium speeches during the campaign.
No one chanting “Yes we can” was pushing for a change that would stick America’s middle class taxpayers with additional trillions of new debt in order to fill up the coffers of some of the biggest and richest swindlers on Wall Street.
Where’s the change, in short, between Bush’s TARP-1 and Obama’s TARP-2?
Khamenei, similarly, pointed to the lack of change in responding to Obama’s video: “Have you released Iranian assets? Have you lifted oppressive sanctions? Have you given up mudslinging and making accusations against the great Iranian nation and its officials? Have you given up your unconditional support for the Zionist regime? Even the language remains unchanged.”
Obama kicked off his video overture to Iran’s leadership by praising “the great and celebrated culture” of Iran, a culture that “made the world a better and more beautiful place.” As Khamenei delivered his reply to Obama, the crowd around him in the better and beautiful place chanted “Death to America.”
Khamenei could have additionally asked where the change was in Obama’s decision to send an additional 17,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan by May, increasing the number of American troops in Afghanistan to 55,000, while keeping 50,000 American troops in Iraq. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Cindy Sheehan jumping the White House fence and pulling the arugula out of Michelle’s new vegetable garden.
Regarding Obama’s budget proposal and his big-government schemes to boost the U.S. economy, the president of the European Union, Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek, warned last week that Obama’s strategy of spending his way out of recession is a “road to hell.”
Obama’s banking bailouts, massive stimulus packages and proposed deficit increases, cautioned Topolanek, will weaken and destabilize the entire financial system of the world economy.
“Americans will need liquidity to finance all their measures and they will balance this with the sale of their bonds but this will undermine the liquidity of the global financial market,” warned Topolanek.
Two days earlier, Zhou Xiaochuan, the head of China’s central bank, called for the creation of a new international currency reserve to replace the U.S. dollar. China, currently holding over $1 trillion in U.S. Treasuries and other dollar-dominated bonds, is concerned about the real, adjusted for inflation, value of those assets.
“On March 13, China’s prime minister, Wen Jiabao, said he was concerned about the safety of those assets, particularly because huge economic stimulus plans could lead to soaring deficits in the United States, which could sink the dollar’s value,” reported The New York Times.
You know things are dangerously off track when even the commies in China are worried that Obama is pushing for too much government, too much spending and too much borrowing.
With China providing the warning, Sen…. Judd Gregg, who withdrew as Obama’s nominee to head the Commerce Department, stated that Obama’s proposed 10-year spending plan and soaring deficits would bankrupt the nation: “People will not buy our debt, our dollar will become devalued.”
Pro-Life Group: Congressional Bill Funding Human Embryo Research Coming Soon
By Steven Ertelt, LifeNews.com Editor, March 31, 2009
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — A leading pro-life group is warning members of Congress that they may soon face a vote on a bill that would result in funding the destruction of human embryos for research. National Right to Life is calling the bill a stem cell research “bait and switch” because of its duplicitous purpose.
President Barack Obama recently overturned President Bush’s limits on funding new embryonic stem cell research.
Part of the rationale for his move is that so-called “leftover” human embryos would be destroyed anyway so why not kill them for research purposes and fund the research with taxpayer dollars.
However, backers of embryonic stem cell research want to go further and topple a longstanding pro-life law called the Dickey-Wicker amendment, which prohibits the purposeful creation and destruction of human embryos for scientific study.
Rep. Diana DeGette, a Colorado Democrat, is behind the bill that Right to Life is warning members could come up for a vote with little notice.
The NRLC letter says “there is a substantial chance that you will soon see an attempt to ram through the House of Representatives, on short notice, legislation that would authorize federal funding of research on human embryos created specifically to be used in research.”
The DeGette embryo destruction bill would “open the door to federal funding of human cloning and human embryo farms” the pro-life group told LifeNews.com.
The letter explains that, contrary to assurances given to members of Congress in the past, the DeGette bill “will not limit the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to the use of human embryos who are donated by their parents after being ‘left over’ at in vitro fertilization clinics.”
Instead, the measure would “empower NIH to use human embryos created especially to be used in research, including embryos created by human cloning,” NRLC indicates.
National Right to Life also warns that the DeGette bill could be coupled with a vote in Congress on a measure or amendment it calls a “clone-and-kill provision” that backers would falsely label as a ban on human cloning but that would actually allow cloning for research purposes.
“The pro-cloning side hopes to smuggle through these radical policy changes on this authorization legislation, and then follow up by gutting or repealing the Dickey-Wicker provision on the Health and Human Services appropriations bill for FY 2010,” NRLC’s letter says.
The pro-life group says the DeGette bill is better described as “a vote in favor of federal taxpayer support for human cloning and human embryo farms.”
The debate on the DeGette bill may not have begun in Congress but leading media outlets are already calling on elected officials to pass it.
In a new editorial, the scientific magazine Nature calls for overturning the Dickey-Wicker law and chides Obama for not urging that Congress reverse it.
http://www.lifenews.com/bio2811.html