Key Upcoming Culture-of-Life Gatherings/Projects

If you are 50 or better, the Jesuit-sponsored Ignatian Volunteer Corps may be for YOU!  Ignatian Volunteers serve the needs of local people who are poor, work for a more just society, and grow deeper in Christian faith through reflection and prayer.  Contact Pat Doyle, Regional Coordinator (858-715-0900 pdoyle@ivcusa.org) or Margie Carroll, Regional Director (619-881-9509 mcarroll@ivcusa.org).  Visit our website!  www.ivcusa.org 
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Web and e-mail-based Resources

Watch the CatholicVote.org Superbowl commercial that was rejected by NBC and the NFL










CatholicVote.org produced an ad for Superbowl XLIII that featured sonogram images of an unborn child and a voice describing the difficult circumstances that that unborn child would face in his world after his birth.  The tag line at the end?  "LIFE: Imagine the Potential.”  The voice in the commercial was describing the life circumstances of President Barak Obama.

After negotiating with NBC and the NFL, the ad was rejected with the excuse that ads with "political advocacy messages" were unacceptable.  During that same time, NBC had indicated that if PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) would remove explicit sexual material from an ad it had under production, NBC would accept it.  In the end, its really not about political advocacy, it's about a pervasive media bias against the pro-life message, against humanity itself.

Here is what Brian Burch, president of the CatholicVote.org, said following the rejection of the CatholicVote ad, "There is nothing objectionable in this positive, life-affirming advertisement.  We show a beautiful ultrasound, something NBC’s parent company GE has done for years.  We congratulate Barack Obama on becoming the first African-American President.  And we simply ask people to imagine the potential of every human life."

View the ad; make a donation to catholicvote.org.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2CaBR3z85c


 

New Local/Regional Events and Gatherings 

If you are planning an event that falls within the mission of social ministry, send the particulars four to five weeks in advance to the Office for Social Ministry via e-mail, osmelink@diocese-sdiego.org.  The OSM reserves the right to publish or not to publish any proposed event information.  We hope this will assist your local efforts to re-build a culture of life.

Watch for OSM e-link bulletin #75 around Friday, February 27, 2009    
 

Article/Statement for February 6, 2009

Betsy Kneepkens, married mother of six and Assistant Dean of Students for Campus Life at the College of St. Scholastica in Duluth, Minnesota, has always been what I would call a "life-activist with a positive attitude."  The following essay gives a glimpse into the world of a mother/educator on a mission. 

Especially important is Betsy's insight that the new President, had he been conceived today, in circumstances similar to those of his pre-born days, would surely have been "terminated" for his own and his mother's good.  Most people are unaware that, since 1973, the leading cause of death in the African American Community has not been heart disease, not AIDS, or even cancer.  Abortion is the leading cause of death in this community, and it has taken the lives of more than 13 million unborn children of African-American ethnicity. 

Perhaps we might focus our prayers on President Obama himself, asking Our Lord that his presidency bring us home to a full respect for all human life.


"Election Results a Reminder that God is Faithful"




First published in the January 2009 edition of the Northern Cross Catholic Newspaper - used with permission





Betsy Kneepkens

Other than the typical noise that comes with rough-housing, arguing and the every-day busyness of a family of eight, our household is often very much alive with both theological and political discussions.  For our family, all political issues seem to be theological, and most theological topics seem to be political.  This last extremely long campaign season gave every family member, from five to forty-five, an opportunity to wage in on their opinion about almost every candidate, for every position, on almost every topic.  We had differing opinions about some things, but, universally, everyone agreed that the most important issue to vote on was the right to life.  Keeping all of this in mind, we enjoyed the honor of knowing that our oldest, who took the process very seriously, voted for the first time. 

(Betsy with her husband, Don, and 6 children) 

My husband and I did the best we could to keep our children informed about the process, the topics and, when possible, the truthfulness of the candidates and their platforms.  We spent little or no time, however, discussing what it would mean if the candidates we supported did not win.  Hence, my concern as to how my younger children would react to the reality that many of the pro-life candidates we supported lost.  I was worried about what my older children would deduce from the fact that so many Catholics voted for candidates with troubling pro-abortion voting records. The election results created a parenting dilemma that I felt unprepared to untangle.

Initially, the thought of explaining to my children the potential direction that this country may take, as a result of the election outcome, seemed overwhelming. Most of my children could comprehend that whatever progress the Right to Life movement has made since Roe vs. Wade was in jeopardy. I was not looking forward to the conversations attempting to explain to my children why the current economic troubles, of one of the richest nation’s in the world, are more important to most voters than the lives of millions of unborn children. 

By the grace of God, I eventually came to my senses in regards to these election outcomes.  I had forgotten, “God is Faithful.” (1Cor 1:9), wherever there is God there is hope. Calling this to mind, I arrived at a newer perspective which allowed me to find, in these election situations, the good news.   It was in the “good” of this situation that I discovered many teachable moments and opportunities to pass along to my children, as our country inaugurates its new leaders.

First and foremost is the reality that being a faithful citizen does not end on Election Day.  We, as faithful Catholics, must stay engaged in the political process at all times.  We need to continuously use our voices to support matters that give preferential treatment to the poor and empower the least among us.  We must continue to demand the recognition of the right to life for all, including the unborn.  We need to impress upon our legislatures that, when the right to life is denied, all of our fundamental rights, such as water, food and shelter, cease to be rights and, instead, become privileges. God is faithful and the knowledge that Christ came to redeem us is enough for us to hope that, while these elected officials campaigned on a particular platform, nothing ought to stop them from voting for the sanctity of life now that they are in office.

Next, the swearing-in of a black man to the highest office of our land, calls to mind the 1857 ruling of the Supreme Court, the Drew Scott Decision, which claimed that people with dark colored skin were not persons, but property.  President Obama’s election should send the profound message that, no matter what a jury of nine proclaims, no one person has the authority to decide the potential of another human person.  Taking this idea one step further, no matter what scholars or media experts promote, the reduction of abortion is not a satisfactory conclusion to legalized abortion, just as a reduction in slavery was not a suitable solution in the Drew Scott Decision. Although the journey from slavery to the presidency has been a horrific road, God remained faithful. It appears evident that we are moving toward good and the elimination of this evil.  Knowing all things are possible with God, pro-life people can remain hopeful that other societal injustices, like abortion, ought to be overturned as well.

Lastly, embodied in our soon to be inaugurated President is the paramount rationale of the horrendous evil of abortion. The parents of Barack Obama met in the early 1960’s, when racial tensions were extremely high and sadly, interracial couples were demoralized in American culture.  Barack’s mother was white, 18 and from Kansas, his dad was African from Kenya.  They were lower income, attending a university in Hawaii.  They were engaged shortly after they met, she was three months pregnant with Barack, they wed in due time and Barack was born.

Margaret Sanger, the leading advocate of abortion rights, demanded that women in similar circumstances be given the right to abort their child.  However, in 1961 abortion was illegal and the parents and grandparents were often called upon to sacrifice for the sake of their child. One can only shutter at the thought that, Barack Obama, a Harvard Graduate, constitutional lawyer, community organizer, one-time senator from Chicago and, now, president, fits the profile of someone who likely would be aborted today.  God is Faithful; President Elect Obama will forever stand as a reminder that the destruction of an innocent life inside a mother’s womb is, indeed, the destruction of a child created for a unique purpose, no matter the circumstance of the conception. 

The responsibilities of parenting may lead you down paths that you are not always prepared to handle.  The fact that God is always faithful is the assurance that we are called to seek out the good in every situation, even if it isn’t always what we expect. The excitement of a peaceful handing-over of power from one political party to another is juxtaposed with the sadness of the 36th memorial of the January, 1973 Roe vs. Wade decision to legalize abortion. As January brings about mixed emotions, one can only hope that the unexpected tangible goodness of this new administration may be the articulation that all things are possible with God because he indeed is always faithful.