Outrage over Shark Slaughter? Where is the perspective?

A few days ago I read an interesting headline:  Alarming sight: thousands of shark fins drying on Hong Kong rooftop.

The story went on to detail the horror of finding as many as 10,000 shark fins drying in the sun for the Chinese delicacy of shark-fin soup.  It also discusses the slaughter of sharks at such a pace as to possible cause the extinction of some species.

There is merit in that argument.  There is also cause for concern as it relates to the marine environment should a major predator at the top of the food chain be extirpated.  After all we are talking about hundreds and thousands of sharks.  But where is the sense of proportion between this story and a greater carnage that takes place elsewhere in the world each and every day? 

News broke in the last 24 hours that Planned Parenthood set a record for performing abortions in the USA for the most recent year (2011) they reported statistics - a grand total of 333,964.  Folks we're not talking about hundreds or thousands but tens of thousands and hundreds of thousands of HUMAN LIVES that were terminated with federal tax dollars.  If we go back to 1973 with the legalization of abortion in this country we are talking millions of unborn humans murdered (in excess of 50,000,000).  Add to that the millions of abortions in Russia, China and other places in the world during those years and one begins to be overwhelmed with the sheer carnage meted out on the weakest and most defenseless.

I have visited Arlington National Cemetery and was moved to tears at the sight of the thousands of white headstones marking the graves of those who fought and died for our country.  I have seen footage of similar cemeteries in Europe where our war dead lie defending that continent and our allies from tyranny.  Yet those cemeteries and all their dead comprise only a tiny fraction of the 50,000,000 killed by abortion since 1973.  

As sad as it is when we hear news that one or more of our service members were killed in action today, there is no way our nation would tolerate a steady drumbeat of 100, 500, 1000, war dead per day.  But somehow we can turn a blind eye to 3,000 + unborn  children being murdered each and every day.  Where is our sense of proportion?  Have we no shame? 

Abortion — 1¢ eBook Sale

We are coming up on the 40th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion on demand in our country.  The latest figure I've seen staggers the mind - somewhere over 50 million unborn children have been murdered since abortion was made legal.  What might our country look like with 50 million more citizens?  How many gifted people were denied life because of abortion?  How many potential Olympians,  how many doctors, how many scientists, were denied life because of abortion.  How much closer might we be to curing cancer or other horrific diseases if these people were allowed to live?  One can only wonder.

I read this book a number of years ago and found it very helpful.  Ligonier Ministries is offering it for one penny - that's right $.01 - as an e-book.

If you haven't read the book or if you want to put it into the hands of a friend go to Ligonier's website for more information.  

Abortion Clinics: What Goes on Behind Closed Doors

Warning: the following story is not for the faint of heart. 

A few days ago I read a story about a former abortion clinic worker who has also had an abortion.  She has left that line of work and is now a pro-life activist.  She recounts in vivid detail some of the morbid and macabre gallows humor among the staff of that clinic. 

I'm not a particularly squeamish person though the 'humor' expressed in this article left me speechless.  

Here

HT: The Pearcey Report

11 Republican Senators Permit Former Planned Parenthood Director to Become Federal Judge

I don't blog much about political matters but every so often one comes along that deserves comment.

When I saw this headline I was stunned - A Former Planned Parenthood Director receives a lifetime appointment to a federal court? Who's in bed with whom?

Thursday, May 05, 2011


Senate Democrats were able to confirm the former director of Planned Parenthood of Rhode Island to a lifetime federal judgeship after 11 Republicans voted to close debate on the nomination and allow it to come up for a final vote...



The cloture vote on the nomination of John J. “Jack” McConnell was 63 to 33 with 1 senator voting present and 2 senators not voting at all. Had 4 of the 11 Republicans who voted for cloture not done so, the nomination would have failed. A cloture vote requires 60 votes to succeed.


All 11 Republicans who voted for cloture—and thus to allow McConnell’s nomination to proceed—turned around and voted against the nomination itself on the final vote. That vote succeeded 50 to 44 and McConnell was confirmed.

The 11 Republican senators who voted for cloture and thus to permit McConnell to become a lifetime federal judge were: Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, Scott Brown of Massachusetts, Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine, Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson of Georgia, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Mark Kirk of Illinois, John McCain of Arizona, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and John Thune of South Dakota.

Now to be clear, all eleven who voted for cloture (to end debate) voted against his nomination.  But in the end his nomination only needed a simply majority to stand.  Talk about spineless!  These eleven senators are hiding behind their "No" vote on the confirmation to divert attention from their weakness in ending debate.  Everyone knows that once cloture ended his confirmation was assured given the fact that the Democrats are in the majority.  I thought that Republicans were the party of 'life'.  Silly me.    

Some of the eleven are predictable RINO Republicans.  Others have portrayed themselves as pro-life, evangelical Christians.  Some are spinning this in light of past Democratic actions that blocked President George W. Bush's judicial nominees asserting that they do not want to be that mean and that now is a time for bipartisanship.  What?  To allow someone on the federal judiciary with this baggage is beyond me.
 
Read the full story here:  11 Republican Senators Permit Former Planned Parenthood Director to Become Federal Judge CNSnews.com

HT: Pearcey Report

Breitbart.tv » Planned Parenthood Leader Resigns

Saw this story and it warmed my heart.

Breitbart.tv » Planned Parenthood Leader Resigns After Watching Ultrasound of Abortion Procedure

Let us not grow weary.

100 days of death

Jill Stanek has written a thought-provoking piece on President Obama's first 100 days in office. While most people are busy grading his performance on the economy, banking, the auto industry, foreign affairs, etc. this is the first article I've seen analyzing his actions with regard to the unborn. Her analysis is simply a timeline of his actions chronicling his political appointments and the legislation that he has signed since the election last November.

You can read the article in its entirety: 100 days of death. Now is not the time to grow weary.

HT: The Pearcey Report

Flipsyde - Happy Birthday

While some in the pro-life movement might feel as if we are at a stalemate I'd beg to differ. When pop-culture embraces the message of life and broadcasts it to the masses we are making inroads. Be encouraged.

Remembering Collective Shame by Uwe Siemon-Netto

From time to time I see Uwe Siemon-Netto's name appear in our local paper as a writer who comments on articles that would interest the religious community (he used to be affiliated with United Press International). For the most part I agreed with his articles but kept him at arm's length -- after all can anything good come from the UPI or the AP? Until today I really didn't know much about him until I found this article at the blog Cranach, hosted by Gene Edward Veith and was greatly moved by it.


Remembering Collective Shame

By Uwe Siemon-Netto

This column requires a caveat: I am not an American citizen and therefore neither a Republican nor a Democrat. But as a German residing permanently in the United States I believe that I have a duty to opine on at least one aspect of the upcoming elections – the question whether years from now Americans will have to wrestle with collective shame, just as I have had to deal with collective shame over what has happened in Germany in my childhood for my entire life.

It was West Germany’s first postwar president, Theodor Heuss, who coined the phrase, “collective shame” contrasting it with the notion of collective guilt, which he rejected. No, I cannot be expected to feel guilty for crimes the Nazis committed while I was still in elementary school. But as a bearer of a German passport I have never ceased feeling ashamed because three years before I was born German voters elected leaders planning the annihilation of millions of innocent people.

I am certain that in 1933 most Germans did not find the Nazis’ anti-Semitic rhetoric particularly attractive. What made them choose Hitler, then? It was the economy, stupid, and presumably injured national pride, and similar issues. This came to mind as I read the latest Faith in Life poll of issues Americans in general and white evangelicals in particular consider “very important” in this year’s elections.

Guess what? For both groups, the economy ranked first, while abortion was way down the list. Among Americans in general abortion took ninth and among white evangelicals seventh place, well below gas prices and health care. Now, it’s true that most evangelicals still believe that abortion should be illegal, which is where they differ from the general public and, astonishingly, from Roman Catholics even though their own church continues to fight valiantly against the ongoing mass destruction of unborn life. Still, 54 percent of Catholics and 60 percent of young Catholics have declared themselves “pro choice,” according to the Faith in Life researchers.

What I am going to say next is going to make me many enemies, of this I am sure: Yes, there is a parallel between what has happened in Germany in 1933 and what is happening in America now...

Read the rest by clicking the link below:

Concordia Seminary Institute of Lay Vocation: Remembering Collective Shame

Dr. Al Mohler on Gov. Sarah Palin

By now most have heard the news that Alaska Governor has been selected by Senator John McCain to be his vice presidential nominee. Until recently I knew nothing about her.

Last spring Dr. Al Mohler posted an important and moving article on Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. Here is an excerpt:

A little boy with an extra chromosome was born on April 18. His name is Trig Paxson Van Palin and his new home is the Alaska Governor's Mansion in Juneau. His mom is Governor Sarah Palin, who along with her husband Todd, has welcomed Trig as their second son and fifth child.

Governor Palin has already made a mark on the political scene. A high school basketball star and beauty queen, she was elected Alaska's governor in 2006...

This past December, Sarah Palin was told that her baby was likely to have Down syndrome -- just one extra chromosome...

When he was told, Todd Palin quickly said, "We shouldn't be asking, 'Why us?' We should be saying, 'Well, why not us?'"

The Palins never considered aborting the baby. That means that Trig Palin is now is a very rare group of very special children, because it is now believed that the vast majority of babies diagnosed with Down syndrome before birth are being aborted...

Modern diagnostic tests are driving a "search and destroy mission" to eliminate babies judged to be inferior, disabled, or deformed. Some experts now believe that up to 90 percent of all pregnancies diagnosed as having a likelihood of Down syndrome end in abortion...

Trig Paxson Van Palin has an extra chromosome, two proud and loving parents, four very happy siblings, and he will bring his own joy to untold numbers of lives...

He will face some unique challenges, but he has a loving family who will face those with him. They will learn together the wonder and beauty of a Down syndrome child and will learn to see the glory of God in his trusting face...

Welcome to the world, Trig Paxson Van Palin. Your very existence defies the Culture of Death and gives us all hope.

This pretty much speaks for itself. You can read the entire post here: Welcome to the World, Trig Paxson Van Palin

Women Who Change Their Minds After the Abortion

More on the issue of abortion and women who changed their minds after their abortion failed. It's not as rare as you might think.

Women Who Change Their Minds After the Abortion

Here is how the article ends, "If, as abortion advocates would have you believe, women seeking abortions are adamant that they "need" them, then wouldn't women always have a second "safe and legal" abortion to kill the fetus that survived a first abortion attempt? The fact that a cursory glance through my notes found these cases, and more, should give us pause. Is abortion something women are really so sure about? Or is it something they resort to in a moment of crisis, something that they're ambivalent enough about to change their minds even after undergoing an abortion procedure to get rid of the "unwanted" pregnancy?"

My guess is that most women who've had abortions, if given the choice to do things over again, would choose life.

Here is another article on the same topic. RealChoice

There is quite a lot to think about.

Baby Miraculously Survives Abortion, Expected to Live 'Normal' Life

I found this story on Fox News and it goes hand-in-glove with yesterday's post by Michelle Malkin.

The story is about a woman in the UK had given birth to two children who developed serious kidney problems. Her first child died and the second has only one kidney. So when she found herself pregnant a third time she and her fiancee decided on an abortion because "I couldn't cope with the anguish of losing another baby."

The story goes on to say that a few weeks after the 'abortion' she felt a fluttering in her stomach and went to the doctor for an ultrasound which showed that she was 19 weeks pregnant. Here is her response: "I couldn't believe it,' Percival said. "This was the baby I thought I'd terminated. At first I was angry that this was happening to us, that the procedure had failed. I wrote to the hospital, I couldn't believe that they had let me down like this."

The story goes on to say that she has had a change of heart and decided to keep the baby. After he was born the story goes on to say "Another scan a week later confirmed the baby also had kidney problems, but doctors told the couple the baby was likely to survive, so they decided he deserved another chance at life."

He deserves another chance at life? C'mon, we're talking about human life here! Kittens abandoned by their mother deserve a second chance at life. Humans are entitled to life at all times.

Another thought crosses my mind -- Will his parents ever tell him about their attempt to murder him in the womb to spare him the agony of life? Surely he will learn about the news stories surrounding his birth -- they've been splattered across the UK and the US. What if he lives a normal life and his kidney problems just fade away? Will his parents be consumed with guilt at what they tried to do? Will they try explain away the mercy-killing and blame the 'mistake' on inept doctors and socialized medicine? Perhaps they will call him a blessing in disguise and, by God's grace, see their sinfulness and turn to Christ for forgiveness. Let's pray for that.

Read the story here and note that there is a link to a photo of the baby and his mother. I guess she has no shame.

FOXNews.com - Baby Miraculously Survives Abortion, Expected to Live 'Normal' Life - Health News Current Health News Medical News

Michelle Malkin - Planned Parenthood's obscene profits

Columnist Michelle Malkin comes out swinging against the nation's largest abortion provider, Planned Parenthood. Here are a couple of quotes:

In April, the annual report for Planned Parenthood Federation of America revealed that the abortion giant had a total income of $1.02 billion — with reported profits of nearly $115 million. Taxpayers kick in more than $336 million worth of government grants and contracts at both the state and federal levels. That's a third of Planned Parenthood's budget.

And what market-distorting results do we get for those government incentives? In 2006 alone: 289,750 abortions.

Oil execs, tobacco execs, banking execs, pharmaceutical company execs and baseball players have all been hauled up before Congress for highly publicized whippings by crusading lawmakers. But the executives of Planned Parenthood have escaped government scrutiny and public accountability for their predatory behavior, dangerous medical practices, deception and deadly windfall.

In Washington, D.C., the family of 13-year-old Shantese Butler filed a $50 million suit against Planned Parenthood after a botched abortion left the girl permanently injured and infertile...In Nebraska, Planned Parenthood refused to disclose the terms of a settlement with another victim whose botched abortion resulted in a perforated uterus, massive blood loss, an emergency hysterectomy, permanent infertility, seizures, and lifelong pain and suffering.

Later in the article she asks, Where's the subpoena-wielding Henry Waxman? Can Orrin Hatch spare a moment from investigating the New England Patriots to probe Planned Parenthood's efforts to advise underage teens on how to circumvent parental notification laws to secretly obtain RU-486, the abortion drug cocktail?

Read the rest here: Michelle Malkin

Obama, Catholics & Abortion

Syndicated columnist Cal Thomas has a great piece on Senator Barack Obama's clever ploy to appear open minded towards the pro-life movement while simultaneously occupying his radical pro-choice position.

Here are a couple of excerpts:

The Obama campaign has formed the "National Catholic Advisory Council," co-chaired by Democratic Senator Bob Casey of Pennsylvania and former Democratic Congressman Tim Roemer of Indiana, both Roman Catholics. Casey's late father, Gov. Bob Casey, always claimed he was barred from speaking to the 1992 Democratic National Convention because of his strong pro-life views. Obama has said he wants to change his party's antipathy toward pro-lifers, though not its pro-choice position.

This is a crafty political move on Obama's part. It could not only strike at the heart of the Republican base, but it will reveal how seriously politicians are when they claim to favor legal protection for the unborn, but act as if they are pro-choicers. Obama has said that while he strongly favors "a woman's right to choose," he is open to hearing other opinions. That's nice, but hearing and acting are two different things. And why are two pro-life Catholics giving moral cover to Obama who, when he had the chance, did not even join with several of his Democratic Senate colleagues in voting to ban the horrid practice of partial-birth abortion, in which the brains of a fully developed baby are extracted as the child emerges from the womb?

How can a Catholic in good standing and good conscience endorse someone who violates a basic tenet of the Catholic Church? The lust for power and position, apparently, has become so strong that some people are willing to sell not only their own souls, but also the beating hearts and souls of unborn children to the highest political bidder.

Good questions. The old adage, "Politics makes strange bedfellows" certainly applies here.