122 - 2!

***Scroll for Updates...Jill Stanek's slide show from last night's meeting added below...Additional Updates added 8/30, 12:06PM...see below***

Last night, an overflow crowd of pro-lifers jammed the City Council meeting in Aurora, IL to speak out against the Planned Parenthood Abortion Fortress scheduled to open there next month.

The Aurora Beacon article about the meeting is headlined: "Anti-abortion, abortion-rights activists pack City Council".

From this headline, you'd probably guess that the numbers of pro-life and pro-abortion activists present at the meeting were more or less equal, right?

Here's how the article opens:

AURORA -- Close to 200 people packed City Council chambers Tuesday night, spilled into the hallways and trailed down stairwells -- turning the usually staid meeting into a sometimes fiery exchange, shouting down one alderman and plowing through a three-minute speaking time rule.

With many railing against a Planned Parenthood women's health center set to open in three weeks, the second-floor meeting room was bursting at the seams with 124 people signed up to talk about the health center -- an item not on the City Council's agenda. [emphasis added]

What the article doesn't say is that of the 124 people who signed up to address the City Council:

2 were pro-abortion.

122 were pro-life.

Movie-Related E-mails from Pro-Aborts

In the past week, I've gotten two e-mails from pro-aborts related to movies.

The first one came last Thursday:

The Illinois Choice Action Team is looking for volunteers to help canvass movie night in Grant Park! We had a lot of fun doing it last year and so we would like to take part in the closing event for the summer. We will be gathering signatures for the REAL Act and passing out pro-choice materials. Come join the Party! The movie starts at 8:00, so we will canvass from 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm. I checked the ten day weather forecast, and it looks like Tuesday will be a nice day and evening.

Date: 8/28/07 (Tuesday)
Time: 6:00 pm
Meetup: SE Corner of Adams and Michigan ave - Chicago
RSVP to info@ilchoiceactionteam.org
Contact: B...
Movie: Aug. 28: 8:01 p.m. [Movie Title Omitted -JJ]
Hope to see you there!

Illinois Choice Action Team
http://www.ilchoiceactionteam.org/
info@ilchoiceactionteam.org

Illinois Choice Action Team Is a Committed Group of Volunteers Advancing NARAL Pro-Choice America's Mission.

Guess what's playing tonight:

If These Walls Could Talk?

The Cider House Rules?

Vera Drake?

No, no, and no.

Give up? It's only, like, one of the most pro-family movies ever: The Sound of Music.

Good luck with your canvassing there, Team.

The other movie-related e-mail came today to my work e-mail address:


Dear Pro-Life Action League,

My name is [Name Withheld]; I work for an independent documentary production company in New York called Zohe FIlms. Our new documentary film, FLYING: CONFESSIONS OF A FREE WOMAN, will be playing at the Gene Siskel Film Center in Chicago Sept 14-18. While I recognize that your organization's members may not agree with some of the subject matter of this film, we here are Zohe FIlms would like to encourage an audience of diverse opinions in order to encourage a rich discussion after the viewing. We hope to include the Pro-Life Action League community in our dialogue and we'd be happy to offer a few complimentary tickets to see the film! I would also be greatly appreciative of any advice you can offer me on how to create good buzz for our Chicago screenings.



Here's a brief description of the documentary:



"The film takes as a hypothesis that owning and controlling one's own sexuality is the center of a woman's power and self. It also hypothesizes that the inverse is true: if a woman does not control the emotional and sexual life of her own body, she cannot be fully empowered. With all the advances that women have made for themselves, patriarchal systems still exists across the globe. Rarely is a woman fully in control of her own body or her own fate. Often and in some cultures, the subjugation is overt—female genital mutilation, the veil, lack of access to abortion, dowry, and rape as a tool of warfare. Just as often it is insidious—social condemnation of women who take joy in their sexuality, harassment defended as "harmless" flirtation, legislation prohibiting sexual education in schools and the consequences of the subsequent lack of knowledge, the equation of "female" or "feminine" with weak, incompetent or emotionally volatile."

The New York Times described "Flying" as: "playful, sexy, tragic and contemplative" and an "addictive soap about sexuality and sisterhood".

For more information, please check out the website (and trailer) at www.flyingconfessions.com.

Please don't hesitate to contact me...

Thank you so much for your time.

Sincerely,
[Name Withheld]

So lack of access to abortion is on a par with female genital mutilation and rape?

Mmm-kay.

I think I'll have to decline the invitation to be part of the "dialogue" for a whole host of reasons -- not the least of which is that this movie sounds astonishingly unoriginal.

I'm reminded of something Chesterton said:

My attitude toward progress has passed from antagonism to boredom. I have long ceased to argue with people who prefer Thursday to Wednesday because it is Thursday.

Something Mark Shea wrote a few months back also comes to mind:

Reminds me of when my old priest went, at the request of some local media, to see "The Last Temptation of Christ". The reporters, a herd of Independent Thinkers if ever there was one, clustered around him awaiting the fevered denunciations and cries of blasphemy after it was all over.

He told them he'd drifted off to sleep halfway through, it was so dull.

Heretics never seem to get that heresy is stupefyingly boring.

Massive Pro-Life Turnout in Aurora

Our rally in Aurora Saturday was huge.

The Chicago Tribune estimated a crowd of 1,000. The Aurora Beacon estimated 1,200. The actual number may have even been higher.

Watch the local FOX News station's coverage of the rally here.

Note Planned Parenthood/Chicago Area president Steve Trombley's comments during the news segment:

We want people to understand that 90% of what we do is about providing contraception and basic health care, both of which prevent the need for abortions. We believe that health center will do more in one day to prevent abortions than those protesters will do in a lifetime.

Ah, yes, because everybody knows that making contraception more widely available is the answer to preventing abortion, right?

Passing the Time by Experiencing the National Pastime the Way It Was Played in a Past Time

If you ask me, bringing together baseball and history results in the best combination since nuts and gum peanut butter and chocolate.

Imagine my glee, then, when I read this article about the growing nationwide popularity of vintage baseball teams:

For members of the year-old vintage baseball team, it's about playing like it's 1858 -- when the sport was two words, "base ball," and the lightweight uniforms and protective mitts of today had not been invented.

Vintage baseball is part sport, part historical re-enactment for the amateur teams popping up all over the United States. Many, including the [Lockport, IL] Sleepers, are named after actual teams from back in the day, when games were both gentlemanly competition and social events to bring neighboring towns together.

I defy anyone to say vintage baseball isn't cool.

Why We Need the Theology of the Body

When I read articles like this one ("Albania's sworn 'virgins': Women give up sex to live as men"), I realize for the 985371983725913275th time how badly our world needs the Theology of the Body.

Best. Church Picnic. Ever.

Despite a weekend rainfall total approaching biblical proportions that moved nearly all activities into the basement, yesterday's church picnic at St. John Cantius Parish was the best one I've ever attended, for one reason and one reason only:

They served Hacker-Pschorr beer.

Need I say more?

The Ever Controversial Issue (Although I Really Can't Understand Why) of Graphic Abortion Pictures

Working in the pro-life movement, I've come across many arguments for why the judicious use of graphic abortion pictures is essential to our mission. Some of these arguments are well presented and cogent; others less so.

A few years ago, my co-worker Eric Scheidler (with a little help from me -- and I do mean "little", as he definitely did the lion's share of the work) overhauled the section of our website that deals with graphic pictures. In so doing, he added an "Answering Common Objections" page that, in all humility, I think, offers some of the best explanations out there.

This afternoon at 5:00 (US CDT), Eric will be on Relevant Radio's Drew Mariani Show talking about this very subject. You can listen online, or, if you miss the live broadcast, you can also hear it in the audio archives on Relevant Radio's site.

All We're Asking for Is a Miracle

If you live anywhere near Aurora, Illinois, please join us for our 40-Day Prayer Vigil outside the site of the ginormous built-under-the-radar Abortion Fortress Planned Parenthood is planning to open there next month.

The response to the Vigil -- now in Day 7 -- has been overwhelming, with literally hundreds of people having already committed to come to the site and spend some time in prayer.

As my co-worker Eric Scheidler said in an article on the Pro-Life Action League website, "This is the most powerful grassroots pro-life effort I've ever seen. We can scarcely keep track of the prayer pledges coming in. The people of Aurora and their neighbors in nearby towns do not want an abortion clinic here. Period."

Even so, we still need many more prayer volunteers to fill time slots at the site. If you live nearby and you're interested in taking part, you can get more information and sign up at the new Families Against Planned Parenthood website.

It goes without saying, of course, that prayers from afar are most welcome, too.

"Pork Greases Budget Deal"

So proclaims the headline of an article in today's Chicago Tribune about matters fiscal here in the soviet of Illinois.

Wouldn't it be nice if once -- just once -- we could read a headilne that proclaims, "No Pork in Budget Deal"?

Now that would be news.

Sean P. Dailey Has His Work Cut Out for Him

He describes his new blog, The Blue Boar, as:

"[a] blog devoted to G.K. Chesterton, our Lady, home brewing, inns, Distributism, good literature, the lost art of Catholic drinking, and other crucial elements of Catholic culture".

He's set quite a high bar for himself with a description that sounds that cool. Here's hoping the varied content remains equally cool.

D'oh!

Slogging through the dozens of spam messages in my inbox on Friday, I came across one with this subject line:

"Cell Phones Help Minneapolis Bridge Collapse"

No, it wasn't sent by some neo-Luddite conspiracy theorist; rather, it was sent by some business technology news outfit.

The headline in the message text itself was more clear:

"Mobile Phones Help Minneapolis Rescue Efforts for Bridge Collapse"

Ah, I see.

Now, I can't help but wonder: Was the wording of the subject line accidental, due to the human capacity for poor proofreading, or intentional, given a spammer's capacity to write attention-getting subject lines that will prompt the reader to want to read more?

I'm normally inclined to guess that incompetence is the answer, but in this case, I'd have to guess the latter.

The Day After

Around 7:30 last night, I checked our answering machine and heard a cryptic message from my dad -- his voice audibly shaken -- about 35W, but he wanted to assure us that he and the rest of our extended family were present and accounted for.

At that point, I had no idea what was going on.

The next message was from Jocelyn's sister, who called to see if we had heard about the 35W bridge collapse.

God help us.

The house where I grew up in northeast Minneapolis -- and where my parents still live -- is less than three miles from the site of the 35W bridge disaster.

I've driven across that bridge hundreds of times. So have countless family members and friends.

My dad's driven across it thousands of times -- including twice a day, every day, for twenty years -- until he retired from his job exactly two months ago yesterday.

I don't know what else to say, other than that my thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families.

Since I don't know what to say, I offer James Lileks' words:

I’ve driven across this bridge every few days for thirty years. There are bridges, and there are bridges; this one had the most magnificent view of downtown available, and it’s a miracle I never rear-ended anyone while gawking at the skyline, the old Stone Bridge, the Mississippi. You always felt proud to be here when you crossed that bridge, pleased to live in such a beautiful place. Didn’t matter if it was summer twilight or hard cold winter noon - Minneapolis always seemed to be standing at attention, posing for a formal portrait . We’ll have that view again – but it’ll take a generation before it’s no longer tinged with regret and remembrance.

"How Much Jail Time for Women Who Have Abortions?"

A column by Anna Quindlen in the current issue of Newsweek begins:

Buried among prairie dogs and amateur animation shorts on YouTube is a curious little mini-documentary shot in front of an abortion clinic in Libertyville, Ill. The man behind the camera is asking demonstrators who want abortion criminalized what the penalty should be for a woman who has one nonetheless.You have rarely seen people look more gobsmacked. It's as though the guy has asked them to solve quadratic equations. Here are a range of responses: "I've never really thought about it." "I don't have an answer for that." "I don't know." "Just pray for them."

Since the Pro-Life Action League sponsored the Face the Truth Tour demonstration at which this video was filmed -- in fact, I was one of the Tour coordinators, so I was there that day -- Quindlen's article deserves a response from us.

First, Quindlen didn't check her facts.

In Court Today

The guy who assaulted me three weeks ago told the judge he wants to hire a lawyer.

So, the judge granted a continuance and told him to come back September 5.

I’ll let you know what happens then.

"Hello, and to Speak Institute the welcome!"

If, like me, you like satire and dark humor, you'll like this video.

If you don't, you probably won't.

(One complaint, however: The video starts playing as soon as the link opens. That's really, really annoying.)

Humanae Vitae: Still Right After All These Years

On this day in 1968, Pope Paul VI, of happy memory, issued his landmark encyclical, Humanae Vitae, which reiterated the Catholic Church's nearly 2,000 year old teaching that contraception is sinful.

At the time, and even more so 39 years later, many people -- Catholic and otherwise -- are shocked that at precisely a time when the winds of change were gale force, the Bride of Jesus Christ vowed that she would cling to such an allegedly antediluvian view of sexual morality.

I first read Humanae Vitae ten years ago, during my sophomore year in college. I was prompted to do so because at the time, I had issues with the Church's teaching against contraception. I had always been strongly against abortion, but I also believed that birth control could be helpful to the pro-life movement's goal of eradicating abortion.

(That, and I gullibly believed that "overpopulation" was a problem. Thanks be to God, I soon thereafter discovered that this hand-wringing, gloom-and-doom nonsense was just that. I also had yet to discover G. K. Chesterston, who, in characteristic wit, managed in one sentence to expose the insanity of the Chicken Littles who seriously believe that "overpopulation" is somehow causing the sky to fall: "The answer to anyone who talks about the surplus population is to ask him whether he is the surplus population, or if he is not, how he knows he is not.")

When I first HV, I was blown away. First, at how succinct Paul VI was.

Second, at how right he was. And is. And continues to be.

The thing that most people seem to remember most about HV is the series of predictions Paul VI made about the grave consequences that would inevitably result from an increasing reliance on contraception:

Responsible men can become more deeply convinced of the truth of the doctrine laid down by the Church on this issue if they reflect on the consequences of methods and plans for artificial birth control. Let them first consider how easily this course of action could open wide the way for marital infidelity...

All other things being equal, it doesn't take much grey matter to realize that convenient, widespread access to contraception has made it easier to commit adultery.

...and a general lowering of moral standards. Not much experience is needed to be fully aware of human weakness and to understand that human beings —- and especially the young, who are so exposed to temptation—need incentives to keep the moral law, and it is an evil thing to make it easy for them to break that law.

As for coming up with examples testifying to the general lowering of moral standards in the last two generations, it's hard to know where to start -- all the more reason why Paul VI was right when he made this prediction.

Another effect that gives cause for alarm is that a man who grows accustomed to the use of contraceptive methods may forget the reverence due to a woman, and, disregarding her physical and emotional equilibrium, reduce her to being a mere instrument for the satisfaction of his own desires, no longer considering her as his partner whom he should surround with care and affection.

Interesting, isn't it, that just as our culture is now awash in contraception, we are also awash in p*rnography -- and increasingly hard-core p*rnography, at that.

Finally, careful consideration should be given to the danger of this power passing into the hands of those public authorities who care little for the precepts of the moral law. Who will blame a government which in its attempt to resolve the problems affecting an entire country resorts to the same measures as are regarded as lawful by married people in the solution of a particular family difficulty? Who will prevent public authorities from favoring those contraceptive methods which they consider more effective? Should they regard this as necessary, they may even impose their use on everyone...

And, indeed, many have. China is probably the most notorious, but it's hardly alone. Indeed, forced contraception, sterilization, and abortion are the norm in many parts of the world.

Limits to Man's Power

Consequently, unless we are willing that the responsibility of procreating life should be left to the arbitrary decision of men, we must accept that there are certain limits, beyond which it is wrong to go, to the power of man over his own body and its natural functions—limits, let it be said, which no one, whether as a private individual or as a public authority, can lawfully exceed. These limits are expressly imposed because of the reverence due to the whole human organism and its natural functions...

Paul VI rightly recognized that contraception would pave the way for public acceptance of such evils as in-vitro fertilization and, more recently, human cloning.

Without a doubt, nearly two generations later, Humanae Vitae has proven to be prophetic.

***

(Cross-posted at Catholic Dads ... this post originally appeared in slightly modified form on 25 July 2006 on the Generations for Life blog)

Where Is That in the Bible?

Last month, I posted a comment on a post on a blog called Two Edge Talk titled "Where Is That in the Bible?"

A previous commenter (apparently a non-Catholic) had asked "why we pray to the Saints and to Mary".

By this time, this post was about a week old, and the discussion on the blog seemed to have shifted to other, more recent posts.

Still, I wanted to answer her question, since as far as I could tell, she had asked it out of genuine curiosity, and without a hint of rhetorical dismissiveness.

My response was this:

The easiest way to explain why we ask the saints to pray for us is to say that there is "strength in numbers" when it comes to pray.

When we have a burning need that we want to ask God for, we don't keep it to ourselves. Instead, we ask others to pray with us and for us.

That's exactly what we're doing when we ask the saints to pray for us.

(You'll notice that I said, "ask the saints to pray for us" instead of "pray to the saints". I think it sounds confusing to say "pray to the saints," since it implies that when we ask the intercession of the saints, we're praying to them and not to God. Obviously, that's not the case. Instead, we're praying to God, along with the saints.)

Also, the Catholic belief in the intercession of the saints is very much a Biblical belief - for example:

James 5:16 - "The fervent prayer of a righteous person is very powerful." (Who is more righteous than the saints in heaven?!)

Revelation 5:8 - "When he took it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each of the elders held a harp and gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of the holy ones."

Another commenter must have been digging through their archives, as Cyndi (one of the contributors to TET -- the same one who interviewed me a few months ago) e-mailed me to say that someone had responded to my comment, and invited me to respond if I would like to.

That comment was this:

Re John Jansen's comment: If you approach the verses objectively, James 5:16 and Revelation 5:8 are not evidence that the belief in intercession of the saints is biblical. You are simply reading your beliefs into them. Do you have any other verses that support the belief in intercession of the saints, in your opinion?

First, I'm really glad to see that the comment I posted last month didn't go to waste - so to speak. (I'm sure those among you who are habitual comment-posters can relate to the feeling of, "Is anybody ever going to read this?")

I just posted a comment in reply to this comment indicating that I've posted a longer reply here. (My response follows.)


***

Actually, if one approaches James 5:16 and Revelation 5:8 objectively -- coupled with some other verses I cite below -- it's quite clear that the saints in heaven pray for us.

A simple syllogism illustrates this:

The prayer of a righteous person is very powerful before God.

The saints (angels and human beings in heaven) are obviously righteous (cf. Rev. 21:27 - "No unclean thing shall enter heaven...").

Therefore, the prayers of the saints are very powerful.

You are simply reading your beliefs into them.

While I do believe in the intercession of the saints, it's inaccurate, in a manner of speaking, to characterize it (or any of the articles of faith I profess) as "my beliefs".

It's not so much my belief as it is the Church's belief.

The belief in the intercession of the saints has been handed down from the Apostles. Those who knew the Apostles, and those who knew those who knew the Apostles, and those who knew those who knew those who knew those who knew the Apostles -- well, you get the idea -- believed in the intercession of the saints. (There are many examples of the early Church Fathers professing belief in the intercession of the saints here.)

Furthermore, Scripture is not a matter of private interpretation (cf. 2 Peter 1:20). If I were to read my own beliefs into a particular passage in search of some sort of proof text, I would be wrong to do so, because I would have no right to do so.

It's the Church's job to "guard the deposit" (1 Tim. 6:20), and to settle disputes that arise within the Church (cf. Acts 15). Thus, the Church has the enormously important duty of properly handing on teachings that come not only from Scripture, but also Sacred Tradition - see, for example, 2 Thess. 2:15, 2 Tim. 2:2, Luke 10:16, Rom. 10:17, 1 Pet. 1:25, 1 Cor. 11:2, 1 Cor. 15:3.

As for other biblical verses that support belief in the intercession of the saints, there are numerous verses where Paul asks other Christians to pray for him -- e. g., Rom. 15:30-32, Eph. 6:18-20, Col. 4:3, 1 Thess. 5:25, 2 Thess. 3:1.

When you get right down to it, that's all we're doing when we seek the intercession of the saints: We're asking other Christians to pray for us.

Furthermore, the Bible actually directs us to ask those in heaven to pray with us:

Bless the Lord, O you his angels, you mighty ones who do his word, hearkening to the voice of his word! Bless the Lord, all his hosts, his ministers that do his will! (Psalm 103:20-21)

And:

Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord from the heavens, praise him in the heights! Praise him, all his angels, praise him, all his host! (Psalm 148:1-2)

The Trouble With Harry (Or Is It Much Ado About Nothing?)

Just about everybody has an opinion on Harry Potter. Except me, that is.

I've not read any of the Harry Potter books, mostly because literature of that genre just doesn't do anything for me.

That said, I don't -- nay, can't -- have an opinion of my own on the books.

Unless you've been living under a rock, you're well aware that there are not a few Christians (whether Catholic, Orthodox, or Protestant) who don't like Harry Potter -- to say the least -- and who believe that the books are inherently anti-Christian. People like this lady.

However, considering the number of good Catholics I know who love the books -- including my co-worker Eric Scheidler, who is smarter than the average bear when it comes to matters literary -- it flummoxes me when folks work themselves into a lather arguing that HP is evil.

Methinks Mark Shea said it best:

Look. De gustibus, y'all. Nobody says you have to like the books. But the notion that those of us who do are agents of Satan is just stupid. Even stupider is to lie (as Lifesite News did) that Pope Benedict condemns the books or (acting on that lie) to imagine that stealing and lying for Christ is a brave act on behalf of Holy Church. Such behavior just disgraces the gospel.

Mark also offers a plug for Nancy Brown's new book, The Mystery of Harry Potter: A Catholic Family Guide.

Maureen Wittmann offers an eminently sane response here to some of the vicious personal attacks that have been brought against Nancy recently, and in a comment on the Mark Shea post I linked to above, she offers this equally sane comment:

One thing I find terribly disturbing is this new trend to compare HP readers to abortionists. I'm hearing and reading this in many different places.

Much like libs comparing Bush and everyone else they dislike to Hitler lessens the very real horror of the holocaust, this new tactic of making HP out to be as evil as abortion lessens the absolute evil of abortion.

If, as she claims to be noticing, there is an emerging trend among HP opponents to compare HP fans to abortionists...well, that's just flippin' weird, man.

Face the Truth Tour Recap

Blazing Heat. Driving Winds. Downpours. Uncooperative Police. Lots of middle fingers and nasty insults. One assault (against me). Lots of thumbs-up and "God bless you"s. People stopping their cars to argue with us. People stopping their cars to give us donations and thank us for being there. Countless hearts changed. Babies' lives saved.

All of the above provide a partial description of our Face the Truth Tour last week.

Eric Scheidler will soon have a full report on the Tour on the Pro-Life Action League's home page, but for now I wanted to get the word out about the assault last Monday.

This wasn't the first time that one of us was a victim of violence during a pro-life demonstration, and I'm sure it won't be the last, either.

Facing the Truth

I won't be blogging all next week, as I'll be helping to coordinate the Chicago Area Face the Truth Tour, sponsored by my employer, the Pro-Life Action League.

If you're anywhere near Chicago, join us! If not, please say some prayers for us -- and, even more importantly, pray that the hearts of many will be changed by seeing the ugly reality of abortion.

I can't tell you how many times during a Face the Truth day we've heard from people comments along the lines of, "I never knew what abortion was until I saw these pictures..."

One such reaction that sticks out in my mind was from a guy no more than 16 years old, who saw our display a few years ago with a group of friends:

Him: "Man, that's what an abortion looks like?!"

Me: Yeah, it is.

Him: (With genuine astonishment) "Damn!"

***

Other times, people really wish we would just go away.

Last month, while we were doing a Face the Truth Day in the famously liberal Chicago suburb of Evanston, someone came up to us and yelled, "Why don't you show pictures of children who don't have adequate housing?"

Um, these children don't have adequate housing.

After several years of experience showing graphic abortion pictures out on the streets, we've gotten used to hearing complaints. A while ago, we posted a FAQ-type page on the PLAL site's Face the Truth section that answers the most common objections we hear:

• What if children see these graphic abortion pictures?


• What effect do these pictures have on a woman who has had an abortion?


• Doesn't the public display of graphic abortion pictures make the pro-life movement look extreme?


• Doesn't it dishonor the unborn babies in these pictures to show them out on the street?

Our answers are here.