Dolan: Obama compromise on contraception mandate “a hill of beans”; opposition intensifies
Just as the mainstream media initially failed to report the erupting controversy over President Obama’s contraceptive mandate, they are again ignoring the sustained uproar against it. MSM thinks Obama’s faux concession on February 10 settled the matter. According to The Hill on February 13:
The furor over President Obama’s birth-control insurance mandate appears to have vaporized as quickly as it blew up.
The White House faced just two questions on the issue at a briefing with reporters Monday, just days after the intense controversy threatened to swamp the president’s reelection campaign.
To be fair, liberal journalists may simply have difficulty seeing the assault on religious freedom.
But if anything, the rhetoric on our side has intensified. In an Associated Press interview yesterday, Cardinal-designate Timothy Dolan, who is president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, came as close as possible to calling Obama a liar:
“I want to take him at his word,” Dolan said in Rome, where he will be made a cardinal Saturday. But he stressed: “I do have to say it’s getting harder and harder,” to believe Obama’s claim to prioritize religious freedom issues given the latest controversy….
Initially, Dolan had termed Obama’s compromise as “a first step in the right direction” after hearing about it Friday morning. But later that day, Dolan’s USCCB issued a statement rejecting it, saying the arrangement was unacceptable and raised “serious moral concerns.”…
“Was what was intended to be a concession, and what gave us a glimmer of hope at the beginning … really just amount to a hill of beans? And it seems as if it does,” Dolan said.
In addition, the “Group of Five” top USCCB bishops (Dolan, DiNardo, Wuerl, Lori, and Blaire), who are leading the effort to stop the Obama mandate, sent an internal letter to fellow bishops after Obama’s announcement, which was leaked and states, in part:
But it does not meet our standard of respecting the religious liberty and moral convictions of all stakeholders in the health coverage transaction. Therefore we remain committed to rigorous legislative guarantees of religious freedom.
We remain fully committed to the defense of our religious liberty and we strongly protest the violation of our freedom of religion that has not been addressed. We continue to work for the repeal of the mandate.
Philadelphia’s Archbishop Chaput wrote an utterly withering response to Obama’s compromise. His statement should be read in its entirety. Here are a few excerpts:
Many Catholics are confused and angry. They should be…
[I]t seems obvious that this administration is – to put it generously – tone deaf to people of faith….
But the HHS mandate, including its latest variant, is belligerent, unnecessary, and deeply offensive to the content of Catholic belief…. Moreover, we cannot afford to be fooled – yet again – by evasive and misleading allusions to the administration’s alleged “flexibility” on such issues. The HHS mandate needs to be rescinded….
In reality, no similarly aggressive attack on religious freedom in our country has occurred in recent memory….
Commentators are using words like “gaffe,” “ill conceived,” and “mistake” to describe the mandate. They’re wrong. It’s impossible to see this regulation as some happenstance policy. It has been too long in the making.
Despite all of its public apprehension about “culture warriors” on the political right in the past, the current administration has created an HHS mandate that is the embodiment of culture war….
But it is this administration – not Catholic ministries, or institutions, or bishops – that chose the timing and nature of the fight. The onus is entirely on the White House, which also has the power to remove the issue from public conflict. Catholics should not be misled into accepting feeble compromises on issues of principle. The HHS mandate is bad law; and not merely bad, but dangerous and insulting. It needs to be withdrawn – now.
Wow. I love that guy.
A group of over 35 Catholic religious scholars led by Mary Ann Glendon and Robert George didn’t hold back expressing their rejection of Obama’s compromise either. In a statement entitled, “Unacceptable,” they called it “morally obtuse.” Read here the definition of “obtuse.”
Finally, in addition to several lawsuits that have been filed against the contraceptive mandate, attorneys general in 13 states fired a shot across the bow in a sharply worded letter on February 10 to Obama administration officials calling Obama’s compromise an “accounting gimmick” and expressing “strong opposition” to the “unconstitutional” mandate, which they promised to “vigorously oppose… in court.”
It appears there is no one in the top echelon of the Obama administration who understands what true faith in God means. Liberals may mock our faith, but Judeo-Christian dedication to abiding by our tenets is quite real. The other side doesn’t have a belief they are willing to die for (except perhaps promiscuous sex, pathetically).
We do.
[Top photo via The Blaze; photo of Bishop Dolan via the AP; photo of Chaput via LifeNews.com]
Jill Stanek is a nurse turned speaker, columnist and blogger, a national figure in the effort to protect both preborn and postborn innocent human life.
I will once again quote George Will, who this weekend, amde the comment, “Catholics are getting exactly what they deserve.”
Hi Courtnay,
You have a point. Cozy up to a rattlesnake, sooner or later it will bite you. Its only a matter of time.
I should not have to put an adjective in front of my Catholic identity. I should not have to say, “I’m a traditional Catholic.” or “I’m an orthodox Catholic.” Should I?
But Obama courted as sweetly as he could all of the Catholics he could find who DO put an adjective in front of their identity. The words might be the oxymoron “pro-choice” or “pro-abortion.” Essentially, people like Nancy Pelosi have polluted and besmirched the name “CATHOLIC.”
I did not get what I deserved. I told people not to vote for him. It is not fair to say this about those of us who hold the faith dear.
I didn’t vote for him either. And I am so super happy that the archbishop of Philadelphia wrote that. <3 I'm proud to live there even more. I'm doing my best to counteract the ridiculousness of 'the other side' who has no respect for the First Amendment, through my own Facebook wars. I believe Carla and MK can attest to that… Pray for me, I'll need it!
Yes, the pro-aborts are willing to die for promiscuous sex. It’s called AIDS and it cost $5000 per month to keep an adequate supply of retro-viral drugs for the people afflicted with AIDS to stay alive. Then there is genital herpes which can afflict the unsuspecting child being vaginally delivered from an afflicted mother.
And the government finds it necessary to mandate Class 1 carcinogen oral contraceptives be provided to unsuspecting women free of charge.
Sad, very sad. When will they learn?
I did not get what I deserved. I told people not to vote for him. It is not fair to say this about those of us who hold the faith dear.
I did not get what I deserved either. Neither do I deserve what I am getting now because I am a Catholic who believes in and teaches the Catholic faith. There is nastiness directed toward faithful Catholics by Democrats, RINOs and CINOs and this nastiness does not exclude the children of faithful Catholics.
What a terribly hurtful thing to say, Courtnay.
I did not say it–I am not that astute. And I appreciate real Catholics like you, Prax and Ninek. I do not mean to be hurtful. But surely you have noted that a majority of Catholics voted for him and delivered the election for him when they should have known better. So why didn’t they? Because many of us live in mealy nouthed parished with mealy mouthed priests and bishops who will never speak of the life issues from the pulpit nor will they instruct their parishoners in Catholioc dogma and teaching. The you have a place like Notre Dame giving him and honorary degree, which is pretty much like stamping a “YOU”RE GRRRRRREAT” right on his shiny forehead.
So these Catholics who voted for him….who are they? And how come they didn’t see this conscience clause roadblock like the rest of us? The man believes if you survive an abortion, you don’t get a right to life. You know all this stuff, probably better than I do.
What do you think George Will was trying to say? And how is he not wrong, generally speaking?
Mary says:
“You have a point. Cozy up to a rattlesnake, sooner or later it will bite you. Its only a matter of time.”
Mary,
Rattlesnakes tend to avoid contact with critters that are too big for them to eat.
Leeches would have been a more suitable metaphor.
Leeches will suck the lifeblood out of anything they can latch on to and they will take the last drop of blood.
Rattlesnakes do some good.
They eat a lot of vermin, particularly ‘rats’.
I know you did not say it, Courtnay nor mean to hurt anyone and I apologize.
I’m having a bad day and am feeling stressed about all of this. I feel like I have big shoulders but when I see nasty directed at children, I get depressed. I know I need to pray and focus on John 15:18 “If the world hates you, remember it hated me first.”
Generally speaking, George Will is right and I’m hoping all Church leaders and faithful Catholics will speak out louder and clearer.
I think that George Will was trying to say that many Catholics voted for Obama – even after they were warned. That is the voting group that put him into office. I know many social-justice Catholics – who concentrate on that part of the Doctrine, and want to not look too closely at the other parts. Also I think that people were so upset with Bush that they wanted to believe that Obama would be great.
We DID try to warn them that this guy was smart, very charismatic and charming, and was very pro-abortion… to the extreme. But they did not listen, even a priest who was my friend. We dialogued for over 6 weeks prior to the election, and he still voted for Obama. I was heartbroken. But he could not believe that Obama could really be all that bad. … I am wondering what he thinks now.
All people of good faith – no matter the religion, and even if they are atheist or agnostic, should be standing up and crying ‘foul!’ We need to rescind this mandate. We absolutely need to vote him out of office.
I am ashamed of our president – he could have championed justice – like Martin Luther King, but he is just another politician, beholding to the special interest groups – mostly the pro-abortion ones. What an irony. What a fiasco. What a waste.
And THANK YOU to the Bishops, who are still united! And I think one of the initial Catholic services agencies, who initially thought the accommodation was acceptable, just issued a new statement that they do not. The MSM was quoting them, so that Catholics would come aboard. They did not want to be quoted from that first statement, thankfully.
Prayer, fasting, action and civil disobedience. We need to be heard in Washington.
Hi Ken,
You have a point. However, rattlers will bite what they can’t eat! I wouldn’t recommend cozying up to one unless you have a deathwish.
Well, I don’t care that George Will said it (Catholics are getting..), because as many as 58% of people who identify in polls as Catholic claim to have voted for him. It doesn’t matter who said it or repeated it. What I’m saying is: Catholic should just mean one thing. And the politicians who use their families’ Catholic background to get votes are besmirching our name.
I don’t feel insulted by Courtnay, I feel insulted by the so-called Catholic politicians and I feel my own people betrayed us in the last presidential election.
Yes, many Catholics voted for him because they thought this snake would help the poor and that abortion was just a small issue. Well, as you can all see, Obama worships at the Temple of Abortion, clinging to Cecile’s skirts like a toddler waiting for his next cookie.
The conspiracy theorists are wrong. Obama is not an Islamicist. He’s an Abortion-ist.
Hi Joyfromillinois,
I knew of a nun who viewed Obama as a Messiah, literally. Her devoutly Catholic friend, who opposed Obama, was aghast. I’m not surprised about the priest. In fact, ask any number of people why they were going to vote for Obama, including some posters here, and they couldn’t even tell you! Or else you were a racist, even though no one could ever quote me saying something racist!
It shows the hypnotic power of this man, and no I don’t mean hocus pocus. I saw it as the red flag from hell and I sounded the alarm early on this blog.
yep – and many should be aware now that he is capable of anything. If he goes back into office, who knows what he will do. WE MUST STAND FIRM.
I hope that this nun sees what she help bring about – against her faith, against her church, against the constitution and against America. It’s stunning, in a very bad way. I am also upset at those in public places who claim to represent Catholicism, and who can not even defend their religion, let alone practice correctly. Absolute scandal. They will all have to look the Lord int the face and give answer.
And let’s hope the prior voting shifts mightily. we must keep educating – talking about this…Truth will win out. It always does…
The Democrats know what they are doing. They are trying to convince the American people that the GOP wants to ban birth control. This is the strategy. It has already started. This is how they plan to win in November. And it might work if the GOP isn’t smart enough to expose it.
The Obama Administration is simply evil. No other word adequately describes what they are doing.
I appreciate your comments and perspectives. Where’s Bryan Kemper? Bryan??? SOCIAL JUSTICE BEGINS IN THE WOMB!!!! Please, let’s find that nun and I’ll send her my own copy of the book. It is unbelieveable. Prax, Ninek, all my brothers and sisters in this fight: the lukewarmness is what makes my blood boil.
I LOVE nuns. But what will that Sisiter say when the Lord shows her all the least of these, our babies who were looking for us, HIS CHURCH, to be their voices??????
“The Democrats know what they are doing. They are trying to convince the American people that the GOP wants to ban birth control.”
There are factions within the Republican Party that would very much like to do just that, among other outrageous things. If the GOP wants to deflect this line of criticism, then it needs to demonstrate that sane, reasonable people are firmly in control of the wheel. Might be a hard sell, though, when the current national frontrunner for the presidential nomination is Rick Santorum, of all people.
Actually, social injustice begins in the petri dish… or the test tube… but I don’t want to quibble with my friend, Bryan. I know what he was trying to say. :)
One of the problems is that since the abortion pills came on the market, abortionists have been calling them ‘contraception’ instead of ‘contra-implantation embryo-killers’ which is what they really are. We need all our Catholic parishes to learn about and encourage Natural Family Planning. Look how much better it is for women’s bodies and the environment!
And we need to promote The Theology of the Body as if our lives depended on it.
It’s probably a good thing that the mainstream media is not reporting the breadth and depth of the outrage. Maybe we can be underestimated all the way to the election then BAM!! Hit them with our votes!
Oh, and Courtnay – It’s an honor to be fighting this fight for life with you!
Did you know that Laodicea was really famous in the first century for it’s tepid water springs? They were neither refreshing nor soothing, so the author of the Book of Revelation was using that as a metaphor for lukewarm faith. Pretty neat, I think.
(ps thanks Joan for endorsing Santorum; I knew there was something I liked about him!)
Mary,
I would agree with the posters who mention that it is unfair to blame all Catholics who dislike President Obama’s policies for the fact that he is in office. I myself am torn on the new laws because I am not sure if it violates the rights of Catholics or not. I do value religious tolerance more than I can even express and do so wish to resolve the issue so that women have access to birth control and Catholic groups are not forced to dispense it if they do not wish to (albeit most Catholics use birth control, I am trying to see the point of the hospitals; we can work this out).
But I would disagree with your assessment of Obama’s voters. As I will be able to vote for the first time this year- and I plan on voting for Barack Obama- I feel that I must defend myself and my fellow voters.
It is an exaggeration, and a great one at that, to swear that Obama’s supporters are being brainwashed. I can’t help but take offense. Whichever candidate you support, I am sure that you have a reason for doing so. I may not agree with you, but I trust that you vote according to your conscience and have thought through your positions. That’s fine with me. Diversity in thought only strengthens the human race. But indeed, I don’t know anyone who voted for Obama because of his ethnicity. Everyone I know who supported him and still supports him uses his positions to defend their choice. I have read more articles than I can count as well- the point is, just because our beliefs are different from yours doesn’t mean that we don’t know why we hold the positions that we hold.
For instance:
I myself, being pro-universal healthcare and an environmentalist, support him more than Romney, Gingrich, Santorum, and Paul. Gingrich is too conservative to get my vote, Paul has an admirable anti-war stance but an attrocious domestic policy, and Santorum, someone I generally ignored until he surged in the polls recently, has stated that he is in favor of bombing Iranian nuclear facilities. And foreign policy is such a big deal with me that any aggression towards Iran is a major “No!” for me.
Obama, on the other hand, has resolved to handle Iran diplomatically (though I am, to put it mildly, unsettled about the sanctions, which only punish the Iranian people) and avoided foreign intervention in their 2009 revolutions. He did not help Hosni Mubarak but at the same time did not stick his nose into Egypt’s affairs. He intervened only in Libya after a UN mandate. This is much better foreign policy than Bush’s cowboy wars and much better than Santorum or Romney or Gingrich! Say nothing of his expanse of healthcare. He’s increased funding for the Violence Against Women Act, helped Cuban immigrants whose families are still living in Cuba, increased funding for national parks, et cetera.
Obviously, I don’t agree with him about everything- and you may not agree with him about anything- but the point is that our differences do not make us less intelligent or informed than you. We all have our opinions and I support yours fully, for I trust that you have thought a great amount about your opinions.
There were a lot of folks who self identify as ‘christian’ who voted for ‘hope and change’ and got the next generation of ‘business as usual’.
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
b o is living proof that the ‘anti-christ’ deceiving the whole world is plausible.
In the Greek the word that is translated ‘anti’ has two meaings.
1. Against, contrary to, the opposite of
2. In place of, instead of.
The ‘anti-christ’ will not only war against Christ and His body on earth.
The ‘anti-christ’ will seek to depose Christ from HIS throne and usurp it for her/his self.
The only effective weapon against the deception that can deceive even the very elect is HOLY SPIRIT.
The ‘book’ alone cannot innoculate us against the deception.
The ‘anti-christ’ will me a master theologian and bibilcal scholar and she/he will be a wizard.
We will overcome by blood of the LAMB, by the word of our testimony and we will NOT shrink back from death [the very real threat of being killed for our faith.].
“Because they bowed down before real power , Shiphra and Puah were not tempted to bow down before empty show, and so they did the right thing.”
Hi Vannah,
I must correct some aspects of your post. I corrected myself on a previous thread and specified that some, not all Catholics were taken in by Obama, nor do I blame Catholics for his policies. I blame the Catholics who overlooked his stance on abortion, his complete lack of experience, and his previous association with terrorists, and let themselves be taken in by his empty rhetoric I’m old enough to remember the heyday of his “neighbors” former terrorists Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn. Ever see the picture of Ayers standing on the American flag?
No president in fact has the right to issue any kind of mandate such as this. This is an exercise of raw power and until we stand up to this petty dictator, we will see more.
Women HAVE access to birth control. Good grief my mother used it during the second world war! I don’t think it was just luck that the families of my grandmother and her sisters had two children each during the Great Depression. Its nothing new! Good grief you pay more for gas and food every month than you do birth control.
I worked for a Catholic hospital for years. I used my paycheck to pay my mortgage, gas, child care, food, clothes, and yes, gasp, contraception!!
Let me ask you this question Vannah. Would Obama have the right to dictate to Amish elders that Amish homes and businesses must have electricity? Keep in mind the majority of Americans support electricity. Maybe some Amish people use it. Maybe some Amish women would love appliances. However, is this a government decision?
Where have I said Obama’s supporters are brainwashed? I appreciate direct quotes and not insinuations or assumptions. Actor Samuel L. Jackson admits he voted for Obama because he’s black and frankly I’m tired of being called “racist” when I criticize him. Now who’s making an issue of ethnicity?
Pro-universal health care. Vannah, how is this going to be paid for? Obama has gotten us trillions more into debt. Who is lying on the street dying now because they can’t get care? Are you aware that Canada, with their “universal health care” contracts with American border hospitals to care for their citizens? Talk to residents of my hometown of Detroit and they will tell you of Canadians coming to Detroit for health care.
Vannah, the Iranians have been giving Obama the finger from day one. So have the North Koreans. Tyrants laugh at those they don’t fear and they do NOT fear him. That’s why Iran openly boasts of a nuclear arsenal and wiping out Israel. Now Obama is talking of reducing our nuclear arsenal! Of course the Russians, Chinese, and Iranians aren’t reducing theirs. Have you ever heard of peace through weakness? Sorry Vannah, in the real world strength is what is understood and respected.
Oh and the Egyptians. Where have you been my friend? They have displayed nothing but disdain for Obama. 15% of Egyptians want a closer relationship with us, 42% want a more distant one. His intervention in Libya was controversial at best.
Vannah please open your eyes and see this man for what he is. You have shown me no good reason at all as to why you would vote for him, only that you need to inform yourself better of what this man is doing to this country both here and abroad.
He’s a dangerous sociopath/narcissist Vannah. I saw this from day one and I haven’t been proven wrong yet.
People all over the world rejoiced when the twin towers were hit—the United States is getting what they deserved!!
George Will’s comment elicited these memories when I first read them. The comments were unbecoming for someone who is a champion of fair play and a stickler for the truth. Is he a bigot? I don’t think so, nor do I hold it against him for having Obama over to dine at his home after the election.
But he really needs to apologize to the millions of Catholics who have nothing to do with the shortsighted leaders who have either been fooled or are weak-minded, and who seem to be especially ill-equiped when it comes to dealing with sociopaths.
Hi Jerry,
My opinion of Will has just sunk. He had Obama over to dine? News to me.
Good point though, I will always try to qualify by saying *some* Catholics.
However the majority were taken in by him and from what EGV has pointed out in previous posts, still are.
So in a sense Catholics can only blame themselves. I had to learn the hard way where socipaths are concerned, and apparently the majority of Catholics in this country will have to as well.
Mary,
I did not say that I disagreed with you on the issue of contraceptives. I am, as it stands, rather torn. Conservatives frame this as an issue of, “The government is trying to dictate the lives of Catholics.” Liberals frame this as, “Why does the Catholic Church get to decide what goes on in the US government?” The fight is an old one, a constant one, and one that I am anxious to see disappear in exchange for genuine friendship. This country cannot and should not ever be so divided as we are now. It’s not right.
On the issue of Obama, the Ayers connection has been put to rest time and time again; his foreign policy may not be perfect- I myself have spent the past few months deeply engaged in the Middle East and have only become more despairing over the mess that we have made of ourselves these past four decades at least. I have no idea what the Egyptians think of the United States, only that we have been hated for our wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, our continued operation of Guantanmo Bay, our military bases all over the place (something Obama hasn’t seemed to make much of a move to change, to be honest), our inability to act as an ally for peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians, and our government’s Islamaphobic policies- the War on Terror has been a major problem and we have been treating the world like our personal property under the guise of “American exceptionalism” for a long time before that. To suggest, as your post does, that Obama is the reason that forty-two percent of Egyptians wish nothing to do with us is inaccurate. You use this as a suggestion of foreign policy failure on Obama’s part, but this has been going on for a very long time.
We are not respected. We are hated. It is inaccurate to believe that under any other president we would have more respect unless that president were to have the full backing of Congress to make radical changes. I’ve often heard some people say that under Bush we were respected (and I say some people deliberately, as I’ve no idea what your personal thoughts on Bush are), which could not be further from the truth. Obama as a president has done much to restore us in the world; he’s quite popular.
As far as the nuclear disarmament goes, I agree that history has shown us that you do not show yourself to be a “weak” non-fighter in the face of a threat. I have heard suggestions that that is why Iran seeks to acquire a nuclear weapon. The world doesn’t see us as showing strength in the face of bullies: they see us as the bullies. We bombed and occupied two of Iran’s neighbors. They might be thinking, “We must show them we are strong so that they respect us and don’t invade us either.” Obviously, this comes with the caveat that this may or may not be what Iranians are thinking, and most definitely cannot be what all Iranians are thinking. My point is: You may see us as weak, but the rest of the world does not view us as being weak so much as finally showing a human face.
But…I am very exhausted of fighting, whether between this country and others or between Americans themselves. All of these arguments are the reason that I have become increasingly despairing these past few months, and despite this, these arguments are the reason that I have become increasingly hopeful. We- Americans, Westerners, conservatives, liberals, humans- are better than this. People have so much to offer this planet- I just want you to know that for all of the divisive things that I have said in the past- I’m sorry.
It is time for people to put their differences aside. I think that you and I both have, in our heart of hearts, good intentions. We both want prosperity. In the context of abortion, I would love to see this translate as pro-lifers and pro-choicers putting down their word-guns and working together to fix a misogynistic system, working together as a single entity, diverse in thought, but united in a single goal of making the world a better place for women, children, and families.
Hi Mary:
Yes, George did have Obama over for dinner prior to the inaugeration.
The problem in the Church is that we are still paying for years of our wandering in the desert of a post-conciliar identity crisis…wrestling with the question of what it means to be Catholic in the modern world. Pope Benedict calls it the “hermenuetic of discontinuity” meaning that a great many academians and theologians saw the teachings that came forth from the Second Vatican Council as somehow disruptive with tradition.
Well, long story short the average person in the pew has been told a great many conflicting things in the years following the council and it has not been until fairly recently that our seminarians and young priests have been taught the faith with more exactitude than their colleagues were in the decades during and immediately following the council. This bodes very well for the future, and in fact we see a lot of our youth and young priests involved in prolife more so than before. These same youth and young adults also have very strong convictions on present day political battles having to do with the future of our country.
We are, I believe, nearing a tipping point. More Bishops are speaking out in such a way that deserves the approval of more conservative and prolife Catholics. Even though a great deal of the criticism of the Church is deserved know that a growing number of us have been doing what we could and will continue to do so.
Hi Vannah,
I am just pointing out what the real issue here is, the exercise of raw power and a total disregard for the Constitution. Its not contraception. That’s why I bring up the example of the Amish. Whatever the religious tenet and whether or not we agree is not the issue, its that the gov’t has no right to dictate. That is what should have you deeply concerned.
The media lackeys downplayed Ayers. Obama began his political career in Ayers’ living room so I suspect they were something more than casual acquintances. Do you avail yourself of the homes and living rooms of people you do little more than wave to? Did I tell you how Ayers’ charming wife Bernadine became orgasmic describing the butchery done to the victims of Charles Manson? Other than this I’m sure she’s a real sweetheart.
Our continued operation at Guantanamo. You want those terrorists freed, some of whom have only returned to being terrorists? Most of them are living better than they did in their own country.
What I’m pointing out is that Obama has done nothing to enhance our status, if anything it has worsened and he has made himself look foolish on more than one occasion. American presidents aren’t supposed to bow to kings and emperors. He turned a blind eye to the Iranian people when they rose against the present regime.
Reducing our nuclear capacity is insanity. For whatever reason the Iranians are buidling a weapon is irrelevant. They’re building it and we better take their threats very seriously.
Your enemies and the world’s tyrants don’t have to love you, but they damned well better fear you. For the most part they’ve been giving us the finger.
I’m not arguing that America has a pristine history, far from it. Maybe if we drilled our own oil we could tell the Arabs to take a hike. Instead Obama gives permission and money to others to drill off our shores. I don’t think the Palestinian/Israeli issue will ever be resolved. Iraq was a mistake and we should have pulled out of Afghanistan as soon as we wiped out that bunch supporting Al-Qaeda.
Absolutley Vannah, you and I want what is best. But I see only a steady downhill slide deliberately engineered by Obama. Our perceived weakness makes the world more dangerous, it makes tyrants bolder. Mark my words about Obama’s sociopathy/narcissism if you consider nothing else. That scares me more than anything and bodes very ill for all of us.
I am posting this to Christian Biblical true believers to ask that we bind together in prayer and fasting. We must fight spiritual warfare as never before. “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal”.
This indeed is the most danger I have ever seen the U.S. and the entire world in and I don”t mean by nuclear weapons or terrorist. There is a cloud of death, rebellion against God and deception over this nation that is extremely thick. The scriptures say “Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft”. If you are Biblically spiritual, you can see it and you can feel it in your soul, those who are spiritually blind and dead only see “hope, change, reproductive choice, women’s healthcare, equality, social justice and the transformation of America”. They have picked their buzz words very carefully and will keep repeating them over and over again until America believes them (or at least that is their plan). It is as if the nation is in a trance. We must pray she wakes up.
Keep praying and fasting true believers because if God does not intervene you will not recognize this country or the entire world in the next 2 years. The persecution of God’s church is only beginning and will be dramatic and swift if this administration wins another term in office. The persecution will be applauded by God’s enemies as the entire deceptive plot of this administration and the democrats unfolds it will paint prolifers as “contraceptive bigots” since they cannot win on the abortion “mutilation and destroy mission” too many are pro-life. They are working to sabotage the entire pro-life, pro-family movement (matching up with the homosexual activists calling Biblical Christians “homophobic bigots” and “haters”). Are we prepared for the assault that is coming our way? I am not Catholic but I know God has used the church to uphold his standards, without the sanctity of human life and the sanctity of marriage this country will be destroyed. They want to break the Catholic Church and shut her up until she bows to the idol of ungodliness and political correctness. I am praying for the Catholic Church, the Pope, her leaders and all Biblical true believers because we are next on the “hit list”. May God save the USA and the entire world.
PRAYING!!!
Vannah,
I don’t negotiate with those that are fine with the killing of helpless, innocent human beings in the womb. Those that support, promote and celebrate the killing are NOT going to sit down and sip lemonade and work out our “differences” sighing at how we can make nice.
The difference is they are fine with the killing of 3500+ babies a day!! I am not.
NO COMPROMISES!!! NO EXCEPTIONS!!! NO GRAY AREA!!!
Here is Obama’s proabortion record. It is lengthy. Please get informed.
http://www.lifenews.com/2010/11/07/obamaabortionrecord/
Vannah, I do hear what you’re saying. Here’s the thing, though I doubt I can say it as well as my friend Carla: Obama believes some human beings can be killed, and it’s a GOOD thing.
Please google a video of partial birth abortion and watch what this man has spent zillions of his own political capital trying to protect. Watch it, PLEASE.
I have been accused recently on this board of that abortion is the only thing I care about. But I want to make this clear: No, not the ONLY thing, but the FIRST thing. You talk in your post about human rights, and I appreciate your passion for them,k but if we do not have the right to be born–we can be killed by our own mothers–then how meaningful can any ancillary rights be?
As a candidate, you could have personally solved world hunger and brought about a peaceful compact in the Middle East with absolutely no bloodshed whatsoever And thwarted all child sex traffickers around the world; BUT
if you hold as one of your core beliefs that humans can be killed in the womb, based upon the slightest whim of the mother, then I HAVE NO USE FOR YOU.
There is no gray area, there is no reconciliation with abortionists. It is the line in the sanjd for me, and it is the civil rights movement of our age.
working together as a single entity, diverse in thought, but united in a single goal of making the world a better place for women, children, and families.
This is a lovely thought. However, Obama believes contraception and abortion make the world a “better place for women, children, and families”. He is wrong. Even if the goal is the same, if the method of achieving the goal is so disparate, how can unity prevail? This is not a simple difference of opinion; the methods Obama seeks to use to achieve the goal are evil.
Vannah: Yada yada. “Can’t we all just get along?”
No. Why on earth would you suppose so?
“The fight is an old one, a constant one, and one that I am anxious to see disappear in exchange for genuine friendship. This country cannot and should not ever be so divided as we are now. It’s not right.”
Half right. It should not be divided. But if it comes to that, there should be no divisions or conflict or war or anything bad, anywhere at all. You’re just citing one piece of a larger legitimate wish for what ought not be the case anywhere. So this kind of observation is just silly, because it reduces to wishing the world were otherwise. And no one I know wishes other than how you wish. You’re stating the obvious.
But should there be divisions? That is, are there moral grounds in an imperfect world to be divided? Sometimes, certainly. Absolutely. Without question. Some divisions are needless. But others are important. Some are important enough to go to war over (including culture wars).
Treating the world like our property? Good GRIEF.
No, that would have been Germany and Japan, in recent history. You know, the countries that actually annexed everything in their line of fire?
And what did we do when we defeated them? Plunder their resources and make ’em vassals? Heh. To the contrary. We made Japan a competitive global economic powerhouse, at our own expense and partially to our detriment. With U.S. funding, the Marshall plan restored Europe’s economy (on the non-Soviet controlled side, where capitalism flourished; East Bloc economies, driven by central planning, remained abysmal for decades) and propelled it in short order far past pre-war levels (how well has Europe’s eventual turn to socialism served their economy of late?).
Germany and Japan were imperialist. They actually plundered the assets of countries they conquered. In the past century, what countries have we annexed and plundered?
Remember all the mindless yammering about “no war for oil?”
Where’s the oil, Vannah?
And BTW, where are the anti-war folks lately? Obama’s become the king of drone strikes in foreign lands, outdoing Bush by an order of magnitude. He’s also the first president to target an American citizen for summary execution. Where’s the outrage from the peaceniks? Crickets.
As for whether we “were” respected under Bush, it’s a bit more complex than that. The fact that we’re out of Iraq now is not due to Obama, who recently tried to negotiate for us to stay longer there — and failed. Bush signed the order in 2008 that withdrew us last December. So if withdrawing from Iraq is a criterion for respect, thank Bush. Obama was just following the Bush timetable. (Yeah, I know, your head just exploded. Sorry)
“Islamaphobic?” Our most recent conflicts have been against powers that slaughtered their own Muslim populations wholesale. What are you positing — that Muslims are some kind of Rousseau-esque noble savages who, were it not for our policies, would all be putting COEXIST bumper stickers on their cars? Muslims slaughter Muslims and Christians daily. DAILY. In many countries. MANY.
Pathological concern over whether, and how much, the U.S. is “hated” is, well, pathological. It shows an ironic self-centered attitude about the U.S. Frequently it’s expressed in a way that makes Muslims look like children — they have no volition of their own, they can’t be held morally accountable because the big bad U.S. made them do it, whatever “it” might be. For people who yammer this way, every bad action by Muslims must have a cause explained by some external stimulus that compels them to do bad things against their better angels. So really, it’s all about us. That’s a really ironic implication of the views of those who claim that we shouldn’t think it’s all about us.
Mary: “It shows the hypnotic power of this man…”
Not too sure of that — unless hypnosis is only possible with credulous rubes who are ludicrously vulnerable to rationally gratuitous (read: romantic) power of suggestion.
In other words, it’s not the man’s power — it’s the lemmings’ weaknesses.
Cut off a body builder’s arms and legs and a toddler may have more power.
Obama can’t even speak extemporaneously without a non-malfunctioning TOTUS.
The bishops and the church will stand and die if necessary in the cause of life. Too many transpose the weakness of the church’s people as a weakness on the church itself. The church’s teachings have always remained faithful to Christ. Thank you for your prayers for our church. She is worthy.
ProLiferL,
Point taken. It is before all else a spiritual battle. Without God’s help our country will be destroyed from within.
Vannah, regardless of anything else; how can you stand with a man who along with his wife up until the SCOTUS decision outlawing it in 2008 held fundraisers to keep it legal for people to deliver babies to their head and stab them in the back of the neck? Answer that question please so I can understand why people are willing to vote for that man. What could a person do to a baby that would ever disqualify them from getting your vote?
Thanks truthseeker. I am indeed praying for the Catholic church and true Catholics as I never have before because the handwriting is on the wall for all Bible believing Christians we are next “on the hit list”. I did hear on Hannity’s program Father Jonathon Morris and other ministers say they are willing to go to jail for their faith and it’s core tenets. The Southern Baptist leader there said he would go to jail right along with Father Morris. I have heard it said “until there is persecution the church does not come together and stand together” and unfortunately this is probably true. This may be the only way we will come together and share the loving gospel of Jesus Christ.
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Thank you Prolifer L, we need our brothers’ prayers like never before. We are all on the same team, Team Jesus!
And didn’t Jesus tell us, that the gates of hell would not prevail against us? He did. And what does that mean? That we will prevail in a defensive way after they come to us? No. If the gates of hell do not prevail, then we must be taking the fight to them. And since Jesus is the way, the truth, and the light, I am confident of eventual, if not speedy, victory.
“There is no gray area, there is no reconciliation with abortionists. It is the line in the sanjd for me, and it is the civil rights movement of our age.”
That’s really what the entire anti-abortion movement boils down to: bored, self-righteous people trying to recreate their romanticized notions of great political movements in history that have come and gone. It’s all about convincing yourself that you are better, more thoughtful, and more empathetic than others: posting angry rants on a blog about how horrible and blind the rest of the world is; standing on a sidewalk with a big, dumb picture, yelling at people and trying to provoke a response that you can capture on video and put on the internet; “marching” on Washington DC ever year and then claiming a hostile media is trying to suppress the truth. It’s a complete fiction. Jill Stanek’s laughably maudlin “A Suffering” posting (and its equally ridiculous responses) a few days ago really drove this home for me and made it abundantly clear what kind of people are drawn to this movement.
And yet…….you still keep coming here Joan.
You still keep commenting.
That is insanity.
Joan, you are free to go at any time. Please.
Don’t feed the troll, y’all.
You know, technically, saying “don’t feed the troll” is, in fact, feeding the troll.
Yes. Standing on the sidewalk with a “big dumb picture” of my daughter trying to get other moms to spare their child from a fate some would’ve liked for mine….shucks, you’ve opened my eyes to what I’ve been doing this whole time. It’s never been about the children, I do it just cuz I’m so self-righteous and stuff. THANKS!
It’s not like anyone’s actually dying or anything, right? Total fiction. We just collectively hallucinate the broken human beings in collection jars and disposed of in landfills.
Well Joan, you’ve helped us learn what type of people are drawn to your side. So thanks for reassuring me that we’re right!
Carla says:
February 16, 2012 at 8:54 am
Here is Obama’s proabortion record. It is lengthy. Please get informed.
http://www.lifenews.com/2010/11/07/obamaabortionrecord/
Thank you for posting this!
Ah, the big dumb picture. Yes. Of the child.
The proaborts could not show their hand more clearly if they tried.
“..bored, self-righteous people trying to recreate their romanticized notions of great political movements in history that have come and gone. It’s all about convincing yourself that you are better, more thoughtful, and more empathetic than others: posting angry rants on a blog about how horrible and blind the rest of the world is…”
Joan, you have written a scathing description of both the abortion-worshippers’ efforts as well as the Occupy movement. Should I hit Like? Way to hit two overlapping groups with one stone!
Keep spreading the love, it’s really convincing me..lol!