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Tuesday, January 31, 2006
High Noon for All Seasons
For those who missed it in the comments to yesterday's post on the 1966 film "A Man For All Seasons" ("More, More, More — How Do You Like It?"), Robert N. Going has responded to my request that he rewrite the lyrics of the "High Noon" theme to fit the classic film about St. Thomas More.
 After all, both films were made by the same director, Fred Zinnemann, and they're basically the same film — except that in "Seasons," the hero dies in the end, and "High Noon"'s Grace Kelly character, whose human failings are ultimately transcended by her divine love, is replaced by the Church, whose human failings are ultimately transcended by divine love.
Here's Going's rewrite, now titled "High Noon for All Seasons." All it needs is Tex Ritter:
Do not forsake me good King Henry
For this divorcing “Nay”.
Do not forsake me good King Henry-
Wait! Hold that blade!
I am your good and faithful servant,
So full of wit and not a bore,
I don’t know why it’s so unnervin’
To call your wedding
No more than bedding
And say your Anne Boleyn’s a whore.
What is this thing called Church of England?
Protestant/Catholic doctrine minglin’
Look at those people lining up,
Signing that oath.
I made a vow to Higher Power,
Now I am waiting in the Tower.
Look at that axe man standing tall-
What if my top part should leave me?
Do not forsake me good King Henry,
Just ‘cause I take my cues from Rome.
In school I wish I’d had more mem’ry
And learned ebonics
Instead of phonics
To say that I beheading home.
Let it swing, let it swing.
Let it swing, let it swing!
1:28 PM
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News You Won't Hear From Planned Parenthood
The guardians of women's health at Planned Parenthood appear to be a tad reluctant to inform women of the dangers of abortion procedures. For example, scanning the organization's Web sites, I notice it has yet to inform women that the maker of a drug it gives to complete abortions has issued a warning against using the drug for that purpose.
The story came out in Australia, where politicians are debating whether to legalize the abortion drug RU-486. Planned Parenthood doctors prescribe RU-486 in conjunction with another drug called misoprostol, which is normally prescribed for ulcers. From The Australian: THE maker of a drug used to complete an abortion that has been brought on by the controversial drug RU486 warns that it cannot recommend its use in the termination of pregnancies because of potential risks.
The drug, Misoprostol, also known as Cytotec, is used to bring on contractions to expel the fetus after the woman has taken RU486, as if to expel a blood clot. But despite the use of Misoprostol overseas, the manufacturer, Pfizer, says it cannot vouch for its safety for that procedure.
Pfizer warns against the use of the drug on pregnant women, not just because of the danger of miscarriage, but also because of other effects. Clinical tests have been performed only on its use for stomach ulcers.
Anti-abortionists are expected to use the information as part of their campaign, arguing that the drug RU486 poses a health risk.
They want MPs to reject a change in the law that would remove a ministerial veto on RU486, leaving it in the hands ofthe Therapeutic Goods Administration.
Pro-choice campaigners argue the rate of complications from using RU486 is no greater than for surgical abortion.
Misoprostol, available in Australia, brings on uterine contractions to expel what appears as clotted blood, completing the abortion process.
But a spokesman for Pfizer Australia, said the company did not think it should be used after RU486.
"We would not recommend use outside TGA-endorsed indication and at this stage that just involves stomach ulcers," the spokesman said.
"To get any other use of the drug would involve major clinical trials and that can take years."
The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists notes in its November statement on the "use of Misoprostol in obstetrics and gynaecology" that "the company which markets an oral formulation of Misoprostol (Cytotec) has not researched and does not support its use in pregnancy, nor does it intend to do so".
The RANZCOG statement also observes that "studies (of Misoprostol in obstetrics and gynaecology) have not been large enough to exclude low risks of serious adverse events". Previous Dawn Patrol coverage of Planned Parenthood's promotion of misoprostol for abortions — and the deadly consequences: To add your voice to those wishing to cut off Planned Parenthood's stream of taxpayer money, visit stopplannedparenthoodtaxfunding.com.
To add your name to those willing to help women in need who wish to bring their pregnancies to term, visit Americans on Call.
2:21 AM
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Monday, January 30, 2006
Grief, Gratitude, and Baby Lee
Reader See-Dubya tipped me off to a stunning article about the short life of an anencephalic baby — from the Los Angeles Times, amazingly enough. Rightwingsparkle has already noted the article and adds a story of her own.
2:32 AM
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More, More, More—How Do You Like It?
Had a nightmare experience Friday night, dropping in on the movie night of another church's RCIA group — one that's known for being intellectually rigorous — and discovering that the featured film was an awful "Blue Velvet" ripoff (complete with grisly violence played for laughs, and Marianne Faithfull caterwauling like Edith Piaf in a goatyard). After the obligatory post-film discussion, with the leader saying, "What did the knives mean?" I escaped to my local Blockbuster and rented the original 1966 version of "A Man for All Seasons," which I'd never seen.
Not knowing anything but the barest facts about Thomas More, I was bowled over by the film. Now I'm eager to find a good biography of him. The movie gave me insight into why Catholics in particular have such deep sympathy and understanding for those who are persecuted for their faith. (That's not by any means to say that people of other faiths aren't as sympathetic; being of Jewish heritage, I know better than that. However, each faith has its own experience of persecution because of the nature of that which they have endured, and the nature of attacks on Catholicism is in many ways unchanged since More's time.)
If you've seen "A Man for All Seasons" and would like to discuss it—especially to say how authentic or inauthentic it is—I'd appreciate your leaving a comment. I'd also appreciate any other thoughts you might have on More, especially leads on further reading. Thanks.
1:43 AM
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Saturday, January 28, 2006
Quote of the Day
“I absolutely believe in divine providence now, absolutely believe God totally cares about every single one of us intimately, that we’re not alone, that we’re surrounded by love. That everything is OK.”
— Naomi Wolf, describing her newfound love of Jesus (thanks to John Zmirak for the tip)
11:47 PM
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Prayer Request
Brent Mykel Henderson would like prayers for his wife, Val, who is at risk of losing her pharmacist job because of pressure from Planned Parenthood and their cohorts: As you know, it is Illinois law to dispense emergency contraception given a valid prescription. Walgreens has been hard hit by a couple of incidents (largely orchestrated by Planned Parenthood), so they have cracked down on their pharmacists more than other chains. In particular, they required all their pharmacists to sign a policy saying they will comply with the law. Val has refused to sign it. It wasn't a problem, however, and her local management was very understanding. They even agreed that her store will not stock the drug so she can honestly say it is not in stock and refer customers to another store.
Fine. But two days ago word came down from one high that she had to sign it or face consequences. She refused again. But it turns out the threat was mostly an attempt to scare. Both her manager and regional supervisor are very sympathetic to Val's convictions and have agreed to try and work with the corporate office to reach a compromise. So it seems we have a couple more weeks at least before any final action will be taken. Some breathing room at least.
Thanks for all your prayers. The whole situation is so surreal. That one person's convenience of having to drive five minutes down the road to another pharmacy should trump another person's right of conscience...I really don't understand it. Read more about the Illinois law banning pharmacists from exercising freedom of conscience at the Web site for the American Center for Law and Justice, which is defending several fired pharmacists.
10:33 PM
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Friday, January 27, 2006
Spiritual Adoption
The Beloit Daily News yesterday had an article on spiritual adoption of the unborn. While I'm sure many readers will be familiar with it, it is a new concept to me. I think it's beautiful, especially as it incorporates three of the most powerful tools available to the pro-life movement: intercessory prayer, education, and service.
Searching for more information online, I found what I believe is an excellent booklet from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. Here is how the booklet describes spiritual adoption: Spiritual Adoption is intercessory prayer to protect unborn children and to guide their families and communities to give them life. Participants pledge to pray for nine months for an unborn baby. The child will remain unknown to his or her spiritual parent, but God knows who the child is. Participants name the child in order to stay focused on the reality that their prayers are being heard by God and are helping to save a particular baby.
B. Spiritual Adoption is education. Throughout the nine months, participants will learn about the growth and development of unborn children, as they follow their own babies' progress from month to month. Monthly announcements on the babies' development, as well as a list of additional educational resources, are included in this booklet. Such education forms a basis for further instruction on Catholic social teaching on the life and dignity of the human person.
C. Service can also be incorporated. At the time of the baby's birthday [that is, birth], a "birthday party" or baby shower may be held to celebrate the birth. At this time, donated baby items might be collected and donated to a family in need in the school or parish or to a local maternity home.
Later in the booklet is a sample of an announcement that may be made to participants at the start of the program. I like the fact that it does not point accusing fingers at those who would abort their children, but simply tells the truth in love:On (date), we will begin the Spiritual Adoption Program and have the opportunity to "spiritually adopt" an unborn baby who is just conceived this month and in danger of abortion. This means that we will give the baby a name and pray every day/week that his or her mother and father are filled with the love and courage to bring their child into theworld. In most cases, abortion is chosen over life because the baby's parents are afraid of responsibility or they feel they don't have enough money or support from friends and family to care for a child. Our prayers will help the parents as well as the child. We will not know who our adopted child is, but God will know, and He will hear our prayers.
Spiritual adoption is one way to help the unborn through prayer, education, and action. Another is the remarkable new Americans on Call program, which unites those willing to help women who choose to bring their pregnancies to term.
"Ladies and gentlemen," states the Americans on Call home page, "starting today, the end of abortion depends on YOU. What the law says about abortion does not matter when there is no demand for it."
Amen to that.
3:26 AM
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Thursday, January 26, 2006
Crimes of Passion
Reader Saint Kansas sent me a news story about the BBC's "Manchester Passion," an Easter TV special which will feature rock musicians singing pop tunes in the guise of Jesus, Mary Magdalene, etc. I'm familiar with the songs, which are from the punk era through the 1990s. Many if not most of them were originally written about sex and drugs: The climax of the event sees Jesus sing the Smiths classic song 'Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now' as he is being flayed by Roman soldiers. He will then come face-to-face with his Roman prosecutor Pontius Pilate with the two of them singing a duet of the Oasis hit 'Wonderwall' and its chorus:
'I said maybe
You're gonna be the one who saves me?
And after all
You're my wonderwall.' I thought the article was a joke, but further research revealed it's not.
From the first article: BBC spokeswoman declined to comment on the details of the line-up but promised that the event would be "exciting". Indeed.
1:24 PM
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Surely You Gestate
Greg Gutfeld's fetus jokes are causing a stirrup at the Huffington Post.
The jokes contain juvenile gross-out humor of the "South Park" variety and may be too much for many people, particularly those whose lives have been touched by abortion. That said,you can see where Gutfeld's sympathies lie. Here's a sampling: What do you get when you cross a fetus with a feminist?
A fetus that desperately wants to survive in order to inform you later that it should be her mother's choice to abort a fetus.
After a couple has sex, the woman turns to the man and says, "If i get pregnant, what should we call the baby?" "A fetus!" he bellows before erratically speeding off to his home in Hyannisport, Mass.
Barbara Boxer, Ted Kennedy, Hillary Clinton and a fetus go to heaven and meet St Peter at the gates.
They each give their names, except the fetus, who just says, "Fetus."
St Peter checks his paperwork. "You're not human," he says. So Boxer goes to hell. Please refrain from leaving fetus jokes in the comments. Thank you.
3:43 AM
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Great Rejected Front-Page Headlines,
Part 1
For today's paper, with the photos of Knicks President Isiah (pronounced "Isaiah") Thomas and the former team executive who's accused him of sexual harassment, I suggested, "ISIAH/SHE SAY-AH."
2:37 AM
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Eden in January
 Thanks to Martine Mallary for the pic.
2:30 AM
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
A Few Thoughts on 'Deus Caritas Est'
Some things that come to mind upon reading Pope Benedict's first encyclical, "Deus Caritas Est" ("God Is Love"):
- While many commentators wrote approvingly that the encyclical made no mention of hot-button issues like abortion or homosexuality, it seemed clear to me that the document—in detailing the meaning and value of the body—is profoundly pro-life and pro-traditional family.
- When "God Is Love" was first announced, reports were that it would be about having a personal relationship with God. Then the reports changed to say that it would be about eros and agape. Reading it, it proves to be about both. I can't imagine a more appealing topic for the Pope's first encyclical—nor one that would be truer to the themes of John Paul the Great's ministry.
- Benedict's language is so rich in meaning and so enriched by the context he provides that it reveals more depth with each reading. I found much good food for thought in this long paragraph, for example:
"In the gradual unfolding of this encounter, it is clearly revealed that love is not merely a sentiment. Sentiments come and go. A sentiment can be a marvellous first spark, but it is not the fullness of love. Earlier we spoke of the process of purification and maturation by which eros comes fully into its own, becomes love in the full meaning of the word. It is characteristic of mature love that it calls into play all man's potentialities; it engages the whole man, so to speak. Contact with the visible manifestations of God's love can awaken within us a feeling of joy born of the experience of being loved. But this encounter also engages our will and our intellect. Acknowledgment of the living God is one path towards love, and the “yes” of our will to his will unites our intellect, will and sentiments in the all- embracing act of love. But this process is always open-ended; love is never 'finished' and complete; throughout life, it changes and matures, and thus remains faithful to itself. Idem velle atque idem nolle—to want the same thing, and to reject the same thing—was recognized by antiquity as the authentic content of love: the one becomes similar to the other, and this leads to a community of will and thought. The love-story between God and man consists in the very fact that this communion of will increases in a communion of thought and sentiment, and thus our will and God's will increasingly coincide: God's will is no longer for me an alien will, something imposed on me from without by the commandments, but it is now my own will, based on the realization that God is in fact more deeply present to me than I am to myself. Then self- abandonment to God increases and God becomes our joy (cf. Ps 73 [72]:23-28)."
- I also found the Holy Father's advice on the necessary connection between charitable activities and prayer to be very instructive. Movements such as Americans on Call, the new group that aims to offer women the aid they need in order to continue their pregnancies, and Silent No More are among the many that I believe deserve prayers right now.
Benedict writes:" When we consider the immensity of others' needs, we can, on the one hand, be driven towards an ideology that would aim at doing what God's governance of the world apparently cannot: fully resolving every problem. Or we can be tempted to give in to inertia, since it would seem that in any event nothing can be accomplished. At such times, a living relationship with Christ is decisive if we are to keep on the right path, without falling into an arrogant contempt for man, something not only unconstructive but actually destructive, or surrendering to a resignation which would prevent us from being guided by love in the service of others. Prayer, as a means of drawing ever new strength from Christ, is concretely and urgently needed. People who pray are not wasting their time, even though the situation appears desperate and seems to call for action alone. Piety does not undermine the struggle against the poverty of our neighbours, however extreme. In the example of Blessed Teresa of Calcutta we have a clear illustration of the fact that time devoted to God in prayer not only does not detract from effective and loving service to our neighbour but is in fact the inexhaustible source of that service. In her letter for Lent 1996, Blessed Teresa wrote to her lay co-workers: 'We need this deep connection with God in our daily life. How can we obtain it? By prayer'."
Have you read the encyclical? I welcome your comments on it below.
5:24 PM
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Roe's Deadly Legacy
 Look at this emaciated 7-year-old girl.
According to Planned Parenthood, Nixzmary Brown, who was tortured and brutally murdered by her stepfather, should never have been born. From the organization's official Web site:
Access to contraception and education would improve the lives of women and children. Women with unintended pregnancies are less likely to obtain timely or adequate prenatal care, and children conceived as unintended pregnancies are at greater risk for low birth weight, death in the first year of life, and child abuse. That quotation is from Planned Parenthood's pitch for the "Putting Prevention First" act that it is trying to get pushed through Congress. "Putting Prevention First" means preventing pregnancy, which will then, according to Margaret Sanger's organization, prevent child abuse as well.
In light of the abuse suffered by Nixzmary, Planned Parenthood would side with Nixzmary's father, who had tried to get her mother to exercise her choice to abort the "pregnancy tissue" that would become Nixzmary.
Now, I realize that murderers have existed since almost the beginning of time. Still, if one has to point blame for Nixzmary's death, is it more rational to blame a mother's choice to allow her unborn child to live? Or the society that gives the mother the choice to have her unborn child killed?
The tragedy of Nixzmary Brown, and so much of the abuse suffered by children today, is if anything the result of a society that does not value human life from conception to death. When the unborn and the ill are not given their right to life, society loses its respect for those individuals, rendering them little more than "useless eaters."
Jonathan Swift saw this coming over 275 years ago with his "Modest Proposal." The satirical call for solving the problem of the overabundant poor by eating babies included a purported anti-Catholic argument that seems to predict Planned Parenthood's modern-day slurs:Infant's flesh will be in season throughout the year, but more plentiful in March, and a little before and after; for we are told by a grave author, an eminent French physician, that fish being a prolific diet, there are more children born in Roman Catholic countries about nine months after Lent than at any other season; therefore, reckoning a year after Lent, the markets will be more glutted than usual, because the number of popish infants is at least three to one in this kingdom: and therefore it will have one other collateral advantage, by lessening the number of papists among us. Planned Parenthood's modern-day "Modest Proposal" is to target minorities—particularly Catholic ones—for depopulation. Just yesterday, an executive at its El Paso chapter encouraged teenage girls in the heavily poor and Latino area to cross the border into Mexico to buy the morning-after pill over the counter.
A new movement announced this week called Americans on Call aims to change our culture's message by showing that the choice of life is within the financial, physical, and emotional means of every woman. To that end, it is asking everyone who wishes to encourage the choosing of life—even if they believe in Roe vs. Wade—to register on its Web site and learn how to help pregnant women access the resources they need if they wish to keep their babies.
Another new Web site run by American Life League has a petition for those who wish to put an end to public funding of Planned Parenthood.
Planned Parenthood can talk all it wants about how "choice" and child-abuse prevention efforts can coexist side by side. But even Planned Parenthood doesn't let mothers bring their children into the clinic with them to wait as their unborn sibling is destroyed. They know that there's something inherently disturbing to a child about the way that "unintended" pregnancies are undone. One has to unlearn such revulsion—which is why Planned Parenthood relentlessly spins the wheels of its propaganda machine, changing unborn children to "pregnancy tissue" or simply "choices" to be acted upon.
Children will not be valued in our society, nor will they feel valuable, until we start treating them as the gifts that they are—from conception onward.
1:08 AM
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Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Pro-Choice
Spotted by Kevin Walsh in Bayonne, N.J.
1:09 PM
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Quote of the Day
"Sex can be tamed; that’s what marriage is for. But to attempt to render it trivial is to attempt to flee from the burden of being human." —Maclin Horton
P.S. Maclin is also a singer-songwriter with a gentle touch. His "Lost in the World" sounds like a cross between Dennis Wilson and Noel Harrison.
1:12 AM
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Monday, January 23, 2006
One Hand Slapping
A Guest Post by The Raving Atheist
"What good is choice if no one is there to provide it?" asks Jessica of NARAL Pro-Choice's BushvChoice. Note the power of the euphemism in her question. Employing the word "choice" saves her from beginning the query with "what good is abortion . . .," which would likely provoke immediate, negative answers from many people. It also allows her to maintain the charade that "pro-choice is not pro-abortion" -- although it's easy enough to guess which of the two choices she's thinks it's better to "provide."
Indeed, as we soon find out, abortion not just good, it's a necessity. And like a good aspirin commercial, she trots out a doctor to make her point. Actually, it's future doctor Amelia Welsh Jones, a second-year medical student, and she's quoted from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer rather than JAMA. Almost-Dr. Jones' thesis confirms that she's writing for a post-intelligent world: Abortion is one of the most common surgical procedures among U.S. women. More than 1 million women have abortions each year. Despite this medical need, doctors emerging from medical schools and residency programs are not being trained to meet the needs of their patients. "Scary stuff," says Jessica. Now, Jessica finds lots of stuff to be scary, but I'm with her on this one if she's talking about Jones' logic. The quasi-doctor has inferred a need from a number -- a medical need at that -- and used it to conclude that the number isn't big enough. Presumably if the "need" were fully met, we'd have two million abortions a year, which in turn would demonstrate a need for even more.
I blogged here a few months ago about the irrelevant and misleading "access" statistics that NARAL uses in its annual "Who Decides" reports. But whereas NARAL just drops them in without explanation, Jones makes them an explicit part of her "need" equation. "87 percent of U.S. counties and 98 percent of rural counties do not have a single abortion provider," she warns, leading us to wonder whether high school fire extinguishers should be replaced by suction aspiration machines.
But it's best she can do. When we speak of the "need" to increase the number of facilities to perform a particular medical procedure, the first number we consider the total incidence of the disease. But the "disease" that abortion "cures" is pregnancy. So for Jones' statistics to make any sense she'd have to opine how many of the 5 million unborn she thinks belong in the trash each year, rather than diverting us with a geography lecture.
But it's the doctor here who needs a lecture. Borrowing from a couple of old Zen koans, I'll give one that responds to a question slightly different from the one Jessica poses: "What is the sound of choice if there is no one to provide it?" The answer is one known to every delivery room doctor: the sound of one hand slapping -- and a baby drawing its first breath.
11:30 PM
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Quote of the Day
"I felt like I felt when I was dumb enough to give a serious answer to the mean kids who used to ask me if I thought Cassius Clay would beat Muhammad Ali."
— A friend who would probably prefer not to be identified, writing to me today about the premature "senior moment" he had at a party, where he appeared to forget that Cardinal Ratzinger and Pope Benedict were the same person.
1:14 PM
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Silent No More in Manhattan
Theresa Bonapartis wrote to ask if I would pass on the following information about the upcoming Silent No More gathering in Rockefeller Center, right by the offices of NBC, CNN, Fox News, and the New York Post. She also writes, "Please keep it in prayer too. We did this a couple of years ago in the same spot. It was interesting. People were on their cells calling other people and saying, 'You are not going to believe what is going on here…' Some people went out of their way not to pass us. With God’s blessing it will bring a message of hope to some walking by who are hurting."
Here are the details: The National Silent No More Awareness Campaign
New York City Gathering
WHEN: February 23, 2006, 4 p.m.
WHERE: 6th Ave. between 49th and 50th streets
WHAT: Event to break the silence of abortion and let women testify to the damage abortion has caused them
CONTACT: Colleen Barry at Silentnomorenyc -at- yahoo.com.
The Campaign seeks to expose and heal the secrecy surrounding the emotional and physical pain of abortion. Since officially launching the Campaign in January 2003, 110 Gatherings have occurred in 3 countries and 44 states.
This gathering is one of 20 happening throughout America and in Washington D.C. in January/February of 2006. Each participant is “Silent No More” by giving a 2 minute testimonial. Those without a testimonial attend in support with the speakers.
The campaign has three main goals:
1. Educate the public that abortion is harmful emotionally, physically and spiritually.
2. Inform women who are hurting from an abortion that there is help.
3. Invite women to join us in speaking the truth about abortion’s negative consequences.
3 ways to participate:
1. If you are a post-abortive person who would like to speak out about the harm abortion has brought to your life.
2. If you are a post-abortive person who does not wish to speak but is willing to hold a sign saying “I Regret My Abortion”.
3. As a general support and prayer person who will attend as a spectator (we need you there!)
If you are planning to attend or have questions please e-mail Colleen Barry at Silentnomorenyc -at- yahoo.com. Your feedback is appreciated.
Georgette Forney, Executive Director of NOEL (National Organization of Episcopalians for Life) and Janet Morana, Associate Director of Priests for Life are the Co-Founders of this Campaign.
www.silentnomoreawareness.org
2:08 AM
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Cornell's Big Fat Greek Shredding
Wesley J. Smith reports that Cornell Medical School has rewritten the Hippocratic Oath to remove not only the prohibitions against abortion and euthanasia, but also those barring sexual relations with patients.
Smith compares the old with the new: Hippocrates: "Whatever houses I may visit, I will come for the benefit of the sick, remaining free of all intentional injustice, of all mischief and in particular of sexual relations with both female and male persons, be they free or slaves." The clear call here is active, requiring doctors never to act in a way that would take advantage of patients, with one specific example, e.g. sexual relations.
Cornell: "That into whatever house I shall enter, it shall be for the good of the sick. [Forget for the moment that most doctors don't make house calls.] That I will maintain this sacred trust, holding myself far aloof from wrong, from corrupting, from the tempting of others to vice." This is a far more passive and vague approach. What does holding oneself "aloof from wrong" mean, anyway? Indeed, what does "tempting others to vice" mean in the context of today's anything goes society?
1:52 AM
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Friday, January 20, 2006
Straining Credibility
Kudos to Credo of the Credibility blog for discovering a novel way to get his mom to clean his home.
He also has an item on "Papal Spam" guaranteed to bring a smile to Vatican-watchers.
11:30 PM
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Quote of the Day
Speaking of The Raving Atheist (star of today's other post), I just read the following quote from G.K. Chesterton and noticed it doesn't seem to apply to him. I think it does apply to Christopher Hitchens, though—and Andrew Sullivan, come to think of it. Chesterton wrote: An interesting essay might be written on the possession of an atheistic literary style. There is such a thing. The mark of it is that wherever anything is named or described, such words are chosen as suggest that the thing has not got a soul in it. Thus they will not talk of love or passion, which imply a purpose and a desire. They talk of the "relations" of the sexes, as if they were simply related to each other in a certain way, like a chair and a table. Thus they will not talk of the waging of war (which implies a will), but of the outbreak of war - as if it were a sort of boil. Thus they will not talk of masters paying more or less wages, which faintly suggests some moral responsibility in the masters: they will talk of the rise and fall of wages, as if the thing were automatic, like the tides of the sea. Thus they will not call progress an attempt to improve, but a tendency to improve. And thus, above all, they will not call the sympathy between oppressed nations sympathy; they will call it solidarity. For that suggests brick and coke, and clay and mud, and all the things they are fond of.
9:58 AM
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Unintended Coincidence
The Raving Atheist is taking heat in his comments section for using 7-year-old Nixzmary Brown's murder as the launch pad for a satire on Planned Parenthood's stance against "unwanted" children.
As usual, the most offensive thing about his satire — which presents Planned Parenthood's view that violence against children may be blamed on the children's being born — is that it's based on real statements by Margaret Sanger's organization.
Just yesterday, as The Raving Atheist published his parody, the public-affairs director of Planned Parenthood of Central Pennsylvania wrote in a letter to the editor published on a Pennsylvania Web site, "Intended pregnancies lead to healthier pregnancies, children and families."
3:08 AM
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Wednesday, January 18, 2006
The Thrill Is Gone (to the Publisher)
I sent my book, The Thrill of the Chaste, to my editor at W Publishing Group Monday. Hallelujah! It's due out in October.
Writing the book was by far the hardest project I've ever done. I'm so glad it's over. I used some Dawn Patrol material to get some of the chapters started, but 90% of it is new. Even the Dawn Patrol bits are heavily rewritten. I thought I was pretty sharp at the time I wrote those old entries—now I see that the difference between blog-quality writing and book-quality writing is vast.
I'm very happy with the way the manuscript turned out. Many thanks to readers who offered encouragement and prayers.
Note: If you're on my mailing list, I haven't forgotten about you. Will be sending out an exclusive book excerpt very soon. Still recovering from long hours writing.
UPDATE: Finally came up with a subtitle that my publisher likes. The book's title as of today is The Thill of the Chaste: Finding Fulfillment While Keeping Your Clothes On. Sorry to disappoint Gawker's Jessica Coen, who was rooting for You're Going to Hell, Slut.
2:02 AM
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Fahrenheit 451, ALA-Style
Human Events has a great article on how "Parents Protest American Library Association's 'Censorship.'" Make sure you check out the link to a Web site set up by parents to show excerpts of inappropriate books that the ALA puts in children's libraries while it bans books with conservative themes.
1:51 AM
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Tuesday, January 17, 2006
Your Tax Dollars At Work—
Supporting Planned Parenthood's Anti-Catholic Campaign
First they came for the Catholics.
 Last week, Planned Parenthood's condom key chains mocking Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel masterwork made the news after I exposed them.
Well, guess what? Planned Parenthood is still gunning for Catholics—with the help of Presbyterian Church (USA) Rev. Mark Pawlowski, who's part of the organization's Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice and is CEO of Planned Parenthood of South Central Michigan. Pawlowski, you may recall, read the Pro-Choice Credo at Planned Parenthood's 2004 March for Women's Lives, reciting, " I believe God stands with women as they end pregnancies..."
This being a free country, the Rev. Pawlowski has the right to say what he wishes in a public speech. I do, however, object when his chapter of Planned Parenthood—whose national organization received over a quarter-billion in tax dollars in fiscal 2004, according to its annual report—pushes hate-filled bumper stickers in its online store. (Your tax money indirectly supports Planned Parenthood's promotional efforts by enabling it to spend less donor money on abortion and other "medical services." Planned Parenthood's annual report also shows that the nonprofit organization made a $35.2 million profit.)
Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Michigan's Web site presents the organization as pro-faith, advertising a "Spirituality and Sexuality Weekend for high-schoolers from pro-choice religious youth groups. But the Rev. Pawlowski's sympathies for Christians living out their beliefs apparently don't extend to Roman Catholics. Witness this offering from PPSM's online store:
 Your and my tax dollars at work—funding anti-Catholic hatred. Since abortion runs contrary to Islamic teaching, I fully expect to see Planned Parenthood hawk a bumper sticker stating, "My karma ran over your fatwa." Not.I'm also not holding my breath waiting for them to sell one directed at Orthodox Jews, also traditionally pro-life: "Keep your Deuteronomy off my physiognomy." Or maybe just, "Keep your Torah—I'm a whore-ah." Here's another little gem enabled by your tax dollars and mine:  If the message sounds familiar, that's because it's a variation on a Planned Parenthood evergreen:  See, babies are disgusting little poopy things that cry like monsters and drain your wallet. If your condom breaks, the unborn child's not a human being—as Planned Parenthood of New York City puts it, it's only an "accident," one that can be easily undone:  Fortunately for Planned Parenthood, your and my tax dollars pay for the human accident's undoing as well. Planned Parenthood also gives out taxpayer-subsidized condoms—presumably because they're cheaper than diapers. For free Pampers, you'll have to go to a place where there are no accidents. FURTHER READING: NARAL co-founder Dr. Bernard Nathanson told of how anti-Catholicism was a key part of the abortion movement's strategy from the late 1960s onward, according to a National Right to Life newsletter article: "As Dr. Nathanson reported in his book Aborting America, instead of just fighting for the repeal of laws prohibiting abortion on demand, pro-abortionists decided in the late 1960s to 'identify those unjust laws witha group of people," namely the Catholic hierarchy. It was a brilliant tactic that exploited widespread anti-Catholic bias. Opposition to abortion was now a "Catholic thing.' People might not know much about laws prohibiting abortion but they sure were opposed to Catholic "doctrine" having the force of law. (They did not draw the logical conclusion that laws against murder, theft, etc. should then be repealed for the same reasons.)" TAKE ACTION: If you do not wish to see your tax dollars enable hate-filled antireligious speech and messages that demean the value of human life, contact your senators or your representative, as well as your local politicians. * * * Note to DP regulars: Book is done; I'm back!
2:07 AM
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Monday, January 16, 2006
Daily News columnist Lloyd Grove has the scoop on what I suspect is Penn & Teller's not-so-innocent search for virgins. Very kind of him to mention my book.
4:23 AM
The Times Discovers Post-Abortive Ministry
Discuss (civilly).
1:38 AM
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Saturday, January 14, 2006
Song Sung Blew It
[If aliens landed on Earth, ] "if they'd listen to the music today compared to what was going on even in the early '90s, they'd say we're a sorry bunch of folks, because all we're talking about is `My baby's mama, you double-crossed me, you dirty so and so,' nobody is singing about love and the things that they sang about 30 or 40 years ago." — WRKS-FM DJ Bob Slade
12:41 PM
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Thursday, January 12, 2006
You Read It Here First
In which a little Dawn Patrol investigative report turns into an American Life League communiqué, which turns into a Drudge Report news flash.
1:44 PM
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I just hid the post that was here because a nun at the retreat house where I'm spending the day reminded me that anger prevents one from displaying spiritual gifts.
9:58 AM
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Wednesday, January 11, 2006
Because an Elephant Never Regrets
NARAL Pro-Choice America's full-time blogger Jessica quotes a Republicans for Choice press release in her entry "Republican pro-choice group opposes Alito," calling it "good stuff."
The quoted press release, which she copies directly from the original, begins:
"The Republican Majority for Choice (RMC) regrettably announces its opposition to the nomination of Judge Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court."
The word they were looking for is most likely "regretfully"—though the majority of Americans would agree with their original choice.
8:15 PM
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Planned Parenthood Did Its Part to Prevent 9/11 Victims from Leaving a Trace on This Earth
For those who would like to see some background on the Raving Atheist's satire that I posted yesterday, here is Planned Parenthood of New York City's original post-9/11 press release, as it appears archived on a Planned Parenthood chapter's Web site: Planned Parenthood of New York City Offers Free Health Care Services
October 1, 2001
Planned Parenthood of New York City (PPNYC) understands the need to access health care.
To provide for the many New York women who have been displaced or may otherwise be in need due to the World Trade Center tragedy, PPNYC offered complete reproductive health care services from Sept. 18th through Sept. 22nd free of cost.
Comprehensive services included gynecological care, birth control, emergency contraception, sexually transmitted infection testing and counseling and more.
PPNYC has health centers in Brooklyn, the Bronx and Manhattan.
For more information, log onto www.ppnyc.org or call PPNYC at 212-965-7000.
3:29 AM
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Prayer Request
Alicia the Midwife, of Fructus Ventris, would like your advice and prayers. Please visit her blog; she's a lovely woman and a great defender of life.
12:06 AM
Tuesday, January 10, 2006
Planned Parenthood Offers Free Abortions to Miners' Widows
A Satire by The Raving Atheist
Tallmansville, W.Va., January 10, 2006
Special to The Unaborted Atheist
Continuing its policy of compassion to disaster victims, Planned Parenthood is offering free abortions to the widows of the twelve men who died following an explosion at the Sago Mine in Tallmansville, West Virginia.
Together with the National Abortion Federation, Planned Parenthood made similar offers to the victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the evacuees of Hurricane Katrina.
A Planned Parenthood spokeswoman noted that access to reproductive services is especially important to those families whose sole income came from mining employment. "The financial pressures occasioned by the loss of the primary wage-earner should not be compounded by the burden of another child," said Gloria Michels. "In this time of tragedy, we respect the need of women to make the right choice to bring closure to economically unfeasible pregnancies."
Michels dismissed critics who questioned the sensitivity of the abortion program. "We understand the confusion of women who might imagine a resemblance to a departed spouse in an ultrasound of a second trimester fetus," she said. "We will not attempt to unfairly influence their decisions by subjecting them to misleading three-dimensional images of the products of conception."
The organization also announced it would provide reduced-cost contraception to the widows who are not pregnant. "The termination of a monogamous marital union does not eliminate a woman's basic human needs," said Michels. "While we honor those who might defer their physical comfort for a number of weeks, we also respect those who choose to seek immediate relief in the wake of this catastrophe."
Confidential counseling and reproductive services will also be made available to the daughters of the deceased miners. "Young women between the ages of 11 and 17 often find it difficult to confide in a parent, particularly a grieving parent," said Michel. "Whether making the difficult decision to abort a grandchild or avoiding sexually transmitted diseases at a petting zoo, our unbiased counselors are here to help."
4:52 AM
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Monday, January 9, 2006
NARAL Pro-Choice America's Blog Calls Abortion the 'Supposedly Traumatic Decision to Excise a Few Parasitic Cells'
See today's entry "Butthead Aussie Fetalist Lacks Clue."
Thanks to the Raving Atheist for the tip.
12:49 PM
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A Study Shows That More Babies Brought to Term Were Originally 'Unwanted,' and What Does Planned Parenthood Have to Say About the Moms' Not Getting Abortions? Huh? Huh?
"That's really sad news," said Heather Estes, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood services in Contra Costa County.
"We all wish to see that number decrease so women don't get pregnant until they want to be." —Via the Contra Costa [Calif.] Times.
RELATED: Peter at ProLifeBlogs had an insightful take on the CDC story when it came out last month.
12:34 AM
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Sunday, January 8, 2006
My Daily News column today is about how some friends of Bryan Harvey and his family are using their blog to help them cope with their grief.
1:27 PM
Saturday, January 7, 2006
Chains of Fools
From Planned Parenthood of Connecticut's online shop, here's the latest fashion in U.S. taxpayer-subsidized "condom key chains":
"Condoms are cheaper than diapers." Well, that settles it, doesn't it? And look at that monstrous crying baby. Who says that Planned Parenthood is relativist? They believe in evil, all right. It's just that their idea of evil weighs 8 lbs., 6 oz., and gains its sustenance from a breast. At any rate, if we're going to be utilitarian, e-mailing your senators and your representative is cheaper than phoning them to tell them to quit spending your tax dollars encouraging teenagers to have sex with multiple partners under the delusion that they are "safe." In the words of Maxed Out Mama:One commonly accepted figure is that proper and consistent use of condoms will lower a woman's chance of getting pregnant to 3% in one year.
Sounds good, until you do this simple calculation. If you have a 3% risk in one year, your risk over 5 years is 15%, and over 10 years it's 30%. [M.O.M.'s odds are not exact, but the odds of being impregnated while using condoms do accumulate significantly over time, an issue that the Planned Parenthood-funded experts who compile statistics at the Alan Guttmacher Institute appear unwilling to broach—Ed.]....Now it is easier to get pregnant than to get a veneral disease (the process isn't specifically designed to transmit disease, but it sure is designed to get a woman pregnant), so condoms are better at preventing venereal disease than pregnancy.
BUT getting many venereal diseases increases the chance for getting another, so risks balloon for the more sexually active people. [More on Maxed Out Mama's site.] More from the Planned Parenthood catalog—you worked hard to finance this, so you might as well see it:  It's an image of an idol holding a condom, with the slogan, "Immunity idol for real survivors." Gotta give them credit for truth in advertising—at least the idol part. Last but not least: What could God be saying to Adam in this version of Michelangelo's masterpiece? Suggestions welcome in the comments section below. * * * The Planned Parenthood Federation of America's annual report shows that it received over a quarter-billion dollars in taxpayer funding in fiscal 2004. That money is fungible; it enables the organization to spend more money on condom key chains as well as on abortions. If you do not want to see your tax dollars spent on such things, contact your senators or your representative.
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