Weekly News (Fifth Week of October)

1. Pope: Science Isn't to Be Worshipped or Feared

VATICAN CITY, OCT. 28, 2010 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI is cautioning against two extreme attitudes toward science: that it holds all the answers to life's problems and that it is to be feared. [Read More]

2. Bishop Urges ‘Conversion' Among The Youth

BORONGAN, E. Samar, Oct. 28, 2010—Borongan Bishop Crispin Varquez invited the young people to undergo moral conversion as the whole Christendom is about to enter the season of Advent. [Read More]

3. Obama 'Mangling' Scripture, Says Commentator

Conservative commentator Robert Knight of Coral Ridge Ministries is taking issue with President Obama's recent "born gay, always gay" comments. [Read More]

4. Obama Says He Is Evolving on Homosexual Marriage

Washington (CNSNews.com) – President Barack Obama, who has publicly supported civil unions but not same-sex marriage, told a group of bloggers Thursday his position is evolving. [Read More]

5. Researcher Confirms Cameron Hypothesis: Children of ‘Gay’ Parents More Likely to Identify as ‘Gay’ [Read More]

6. Countries Slam Attempts to Create New “Right” to Sexual Education at UN

New York, October 28, 2010 (C-FAM) - Angry delegates took to the UN floor this week to denounce a report that promotes a new human right to explicit sexual education for young children. [Read More]

7. New Study Confirms Overwhelming Death Rate of IVF Human Embryos

DENVER, Colorado, October 26, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A report by the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) on a study of IVF "efficiency" states that just 7.5 percent of all artificially fertilized embryos will go on to become live-born children. [Read More]

8. Houston Man Sees Hand of God in Chilean Miner Rescue Mission

HOUSTON (CNS)—Greg Hall was preparing to serve as an acolyte for Mass at Christ the Redeemer Church when an associate contacted him about a "banging on the pipe." [Read More]

9. Whose Life Is It Anyway?

The heartlessness of assisted reproduction goes on display in a dramatic Canadian surrogacy case.

VICTORIA, British Columbia — The deal was signed; the sperm was collected; the baby was conceived. All the usual steps in the surrogate motherhood cycle were successfully completed. Then something went wrong. The dream baby the young, wealthy British Columbia couple had planted in the womb of a young, poor single mother turned out to have Down syndrome. [Read More]

10. How Halloween Can Be Redeemed

Halloween has grown into a major secular holiday in American culture. But for those who don’t value devotion to the saints, the Eve has become "hollow" instead of "hallow." [Read More]

Debunking the Overpopulation Myth

These resources are the 'real deal' on population-related issues.

1. THE POPULATION IMPLOSION

2. THE POPULATION DUD

3. THE GLOBAL BABY BUST

4. THE ULTIMATE RESOURCE 2: PEOPLE, MATERIALS AND ENVIRONMENT

5. POWER AND POPULATION IN ASIA

6. DRUNKEN NATION: RUSSIA'S DEPOPULATION BOMB

7. RUSSIA'S GREAT LEAP DOWNWARDS

8. WORLD POPULATION COLLAPSE: LESSONS FOR THE PHILIPPINES

9. OVERPOPULATION?

10. THE KISSINGER REPORT- 2004 A RETROSPECTIVE ON NSSM 200

11. TOO MANY PEOPLE?

12. TOO MANY PEOPLE? NOT BY A LONG SHOT

13. THE BOMB THAT FIZZLED

14. THE BARRENNESS OF SUCCESS

15. THE POPULATION BOMB THAT FIZZLED

16. OUR VANISHING ULTIMATE RESOURCE

17. ECOLOGY AND POPULATION
PART 1
PART 2

18. PHILIPPINES' PRO-LIFE OPTION VINDICATED

19. A NEW PARADIGM FOR DEMOGRAPHY

20. WHERE HAVE ALL THE CHILDREN GONE?

21. FOUR SURPRISES IN GLOBAL DEMOGRAPHY

22. SCARCITY OR ABUNDANCE? A DEBATE ON THE ENVIRONMENT

23. IT'S (PAST) TIME TO END POPULATION CONTROL

24. OUR DEMOGRAPHIC WINTER....40 YEARS AFTER HUMANAE VITAE

25. EXCERPTS FROM STEVEN MOSHER'S LATEST BOOK AGAINST POPULATION CONTROL (2008), IN FIVE PARTS:

PART 1
PART 2
PART 3
PART 4
PART 5

Demographic Winter

This is an excellent eye-opener documentary on the phenomenon of 'demographic winter', which is happening now in most parts of Europe and highly industrialized countries in the world as a result of falling fertility rates. This is the kind of future we are heading into if we insist on adopting a contraceptive mentality. Very chilling. You can watch the rest of the documentary on YouTube by typing in 'demographic winter'.

Weekly News Fourth Week of October

1. Holy See: Do We Really Want to Eradicate Poverty?

Says It's an Obligation, Not an Act of Charity

NEW YORK, OCT. 22, 2010 (Zenit.org).- We have the means to end worldwide poverty, says the Holy See delegate to the United Nations, but the question is whether we have the will to accomplish it. [Read More]

2. Letter To Seminarians Deepens Pope’s Teaching on Celibacy

Vatican City, Oct 22, 2010 / 12:05 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Earlier this week, Pope Benedict XVI for the first time publicly engaged the issue of the relationship between the Church’s celibacy requirements and the clergy sexual abuse scandals. [Read More]

3. Catholics 'Apathy’ Saddens Prelate

MANILA, Oct. 18, 2010— Retired Archbishop Oscar Cruz expressed sadness over the seeming apathy from Catholic believers amid direct and strong attacks against their religion. [Read More]

4. Researcher: Children of Same-Sex Couples More Likely To Be Homosexual

Manhattan, Kans., Oct 22, 2010 / 06:04 am (CNA).- Social scientist Walter Schumm doesn't think his forthcoming paper ought to be provoking outraged responses he has already received. [Read More]

5. Woman: Sex Researcher Kinsey ‘Paid my Father to Rape Me,’ WND Reports [Read More]

6. The Reality of China’s One-Child Policy: A Forced Abortion at Eight Months

(CNSNews.com) – Critics of Beijing’s “one-child policy” say a televised clip showing a young mother enduring a forced abortion at eight months’ gestation calls for a worldwide response. [Read More]

7. Condom Ads Pushing Young People into “Risk-Taking” Sexual Activity: SPUC

LONDON, October 22, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Condom use and their promotion in TV ads only helps to promote risk-taking behavior in young people, behavior that contributes to the spread of sexually transmitted disease and teenage pregnancies, the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) has said in a new campaign. [Read More]

8. President Obama Endorses LGBT Youth 'Spirit Day'

WASHINGTON, D.C., October 22, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) - President Barack Obama has issued a message exhorting young people who consider themselves homosexual to "be true to" themselves and recognize their sexual tendencies as "a source of pride, and a source of strength." [Read More]

9. Facebook Teams Up with Gay Activist Orgs to Stop ‘Hateful’ Comments

WASHINGTON, D.C., October 21, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The social networking site Facebook has teamed up with a who’s who list of homosexual advocacy groups to set up a Network of Support for homosexuals, part of an effort to remove “hateful” speech and bullying from the social network site. [Read More]

10. Porn-Free Vision

Recovering Smut Addicts Bring Hope to Others

OTTAWA, Ontario — After successfully battling an addiction to pornography, Matthew Fradd has dedicated himself to helping others. [Read More]

Joseph Nicolosi Videos

Hi friends!

Do you want to watch a slew of Joseph Nicolosi videos? Visit this link. Joseph Nicolosi is a leading expert in the field of reparative therapy of unwanted same-sex attractions. Videos are not allowed to be posted here because of copyright issues.

Thoughts to Ponder

Lengthy forwarded quotes from a Sexaholics Anonymous friend:


Why o why is it so much easier to find fault with ourselves than to acknowledge a virtue? Why do we focus so intently on our failures and give scant nod to our successes? Why are we more inclined to give the benefit of the doubt to others than ever to ourselves? Self-esteem slips a notch with every harsh self-judgment. Since a healthy self-esteem is essential in our recovery from addiction, we need to learn to be fair, let alone gentle, with ourselves. The negative messages from the past may howl in protest as we dare to challenge them. The urge to discredit our efforts may be very great but we must rise up and demand our fair share of credit and acknowledge our progress and efforts no matter how incrementally small they may appear! We are worth it! - Adapted from 'Believing in Myself'

-oOo-

Just as past experiences set up our expectations of what is to come, our expectations actually give form and shape to future events. The fact is that expectations are the tracks our train runs on. As the tracks go, so does our train. That's why we need to find out just what our expectations really are. Do we truly expect to be happy? Do we really think we can progress on our recovery? Do we honestly believe that we are capable of taking part in an honest, loyal, and committed relationship? Do we expect ever to have healthy, wholesome fun again? It may be that we don't expect any of these things. We may have developed an ingrained certainty that "this will hurt," the worst will inevitably happen, failure and disappointment are right around the corner. If that's the case, we need to know it so that we can do something about it. If self-esteem is a train running on the tracks of our expectations, we may need to lay down some new track. Past experiences only foretell the future if I permit it. - Adapted from 'Believing in Myself'

-oOo-

The 12 steps are a suggested program of recovery, not a cure. We can follow them and live a healed life, but we never develop immunity to our addictions and codependency. We remain vulnerable to slips, binges, and a return to old behaviors. If that has happened to us, our first need is to find a way back to the program. A slip may be telling us a blatant truth we avoided before. Our complete honesty after a slip often leads to renewed knowledge of our powerlessness. There is no value in feeling more shame and self-hate after a slip. We need to humbly admit that on our own, we are incomplete and imperfect people. Recovery will come, not by shame but from honestly accepting our powerlessness and the help we need from our HP (higher powers)and our group. (Adapted from Touchstones: A Book of Daily Meditations for Men, Sept. 28)

-oOo-

'Emo' sa Metro Quote:

Nang mawala ka sa akin, ikaw at ako ay nawalan
Ako dahil ikaw ang minahal ko nang lubusan
At ikaw dahil ako ang sa iyo ay lubusang nagmahal.
...
Ngunit sa dalawa ay ikaw ang higit na nawalan
Dahil pwede kong mahalin ang iba tulad nang pagmamahal ko sa iyo
Ngunit ikaw ay di mamahalin tulad nang kung paano kita minahal.

Astig!

Weekly News (Third Week of October)

1. A Plea for Life, Truth, Obedience

Archbishop Burke Addresses Human Life International Gathering

ROME, OCT. 14, 2010 (Zenit.org).- Obedience to the magisterium and the demands of the natural moral law are not only important for salvation, but are especially required of Catholics if a culture of life is to be advanced in today's world. [Read More]

2. Pope Benedict Names New Cebu Archbishop

Pope Benedict XVI named Archbishop Jose Palma of Palo as the new head of the Archdiocese of Cebu. [Read More]

3. Chilean Miners Taught Everyone Lessons About Life, God

MANILA, Oct. 15, 2010—The successful rescue of 33 miners trapped under scorching desert in Chile brought important lessons that everyone can learn from, the archbishop of Manila said. [Read More]

4. Same-Sex Attraction Doesn’t Justify Redefining Marriage, Minnesota Bishops Explain

St. Paul, Minn., Oct 10, 2010 / 07:44 am (CNA).- The Catholic bishops of Minnesota have issued a brief statement on marriage, saying that having same-sex attractions does not deprive anyone of basic human rights but also does not create the right to “marry” someone of the same sex. [Read More]

5. Homosexual Activists Are Exploiting Tragedies to Silence Religious Opponents [Read More]

6. Pentagon Warns Gay Troops to Stay Silent for Now

Washington (AP) - The Defense Department on Friday warned gay troops that if they disclose their sexual orientation now, they could still get in trouble. [Read More]

7. Cuomo: Gay ‘Marriage’ Coming to New York

NEW YORK, October 15, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Legalizing same-sex “marriage” in New York will be a number one priority in his administration, said Democrat gubernatorial candidate Andrew Cuomo to homosexual activists Wednesday. [Read More]

8. Psychotherapist: Porn Addiction Prevalent, Curable

STEUBENVILLE, OH, October 15, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) — "Pornography is a silent epidemic in America," said Dr. Peter Kleponis, a Catholic psychotherapist who spoke on the dangers of pornography before a full house at Franciscan University of Steubenville on Thursday, September 30. [Read More]

9. ‘Game Changer’ for Stem-Cell Research?

BOSTON — A new research breakthrough at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute has revived the debate over public funding for embryonic stem-cell research. [Read More]

10. Susan Boyle: Docs Told Mum to Abort Me

EDINBURGH, United Kingdom, October 15, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – International singing phenomenon Susan Boyle has revealed in a new autobiography that doctors had told her mother to abort her, because they thought the pregnancy was risky. [Read More]

RH Bill Buster (Part 2)

This is the continuation of RH Bill Buster (Part 1).


M#11: Contraceptives should be listed as essential drugs.

C#11: They should not be listed as essential drugs, but as dangerous drugs and devices. Pills have been shown to cause abortion of a 5-day old baby, cancer, premature hypertension, heart disease, etc. IUD's are abortifacient and may cause intrauterine trauma, pelvic infections and ectopic pregnancy. Condoms have high failure rate even against pregnancy and thus do not guarantee protection against AIDS and other STD's. Tubal ligation and vasectomy (especially targeting the poor) leave couples without the chance to have more children (for example, in case of improved economic situation, or death of their present children) and little or no support in their old age.

Hence, it is the right of the citizens to be forewarned of these, even in the form of government warnings, as in the case of cigarette smoking ("is dangerous for your health"), alcohol ("drink moderately"), and infant milk formulae ("mother's milk is best for babies under two years old")—not out of religious concerns, but as part of consumers' rights.

Possible warnings could state: "CONDOMS DO NOT GUARANTEE PROTECTION FROM AIDS AND OTHER STD'S", "PILLS HAVE BEEN SHOWN TO CAUSE CANCER AND ABORTION OF 5-DAY OLD BABIES," and, "IUD'S MAY CAUSE TRAUMA OF THE UTERUS AND ABORTION OF 5-DAY OLD BABIES," etc.

(For the medical data on these dangerous drugs and devices, see also John Wilks, A Consumer's Guide to the Pill and Other Drugs, 3rd Ed., National Bookstore, Inc., Manila 2000.)

Pope Paul VI and Pope John Paul II, in denouncing systematic anti-childbearing campaigns, described poisoning the lives of defenseless human beings as similar to a form of "chemical warfare" (Paul VI, Address to the participants of the World Food Conference, Nov. 4, 1974. Pope John Paul II, Centessimus Annus, no. 39).


M#12: Condoms have no holes. They provide truly safe sex, as advertised.

C#12: "'Condom manufacturers in the United States electronically test all condoms for holes and weak spots. In addition, FDA requires manufacturers to use a water test to examine samples from each batch of condoms for leakage. If the test detects a defect rate of more than 4 per 1,000, the entire lot is discarded. The agency also encourages manufacturers to test samples of their products for breakage by using an air burst test in accordance with specifications of the International Standards Organization.' [Mike Kubic, New Ways to Prevent and Treat AIDS, in FDA Consumer, Jan-Feb 1997 (revised May 1997 and Jan 1998; available at http://www.fda.gov/fdac/features/1997/197_aids.html).]

"If four leaking condoms are allowed in every batch of 1,000, there could be hundreds of thousands or even millions of leaking condoms circulating all over the world, either sold or distributed for free, and most probably contributing to the spread of HIV/AIDS and STD's. Does the public know this? Does the public know that the risks increase the more often and the more promiscuously one is exposed, considering the cumulative risk factor, as explained earlier?"

[from Family Values Versus Safe Sex. A Reflection by His Eminence, Alfonso Cardinal López Trujillo (then President of the Pontifical Council for the Family), December 1, 2003. Note that the first paragraph above came from the US Food and Drug Administration website.]


M#13: Condoms are effective in preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS in a country.

C#13: "In Thailand and in the Philippines, the first HIV/AIDS cases were reported in 1984; by 1987, Thailand had 112 cases, while the Philippines had more, with 135 cases. Today, in the year 2003, there are around 750,000 cases in Thailand, where the 100% Condom Use Program had relatively great success. On the other hand, there are only 1,935 cases in the Philippines - and this, considering that the Philippines' population is around 30% greater than Thailand's! Relatively low rates of condom use by the people in general, and staunch opposition from the Church and a good number of government leaders against the condom program and sexual promiscuity, are well-known facts in the Philippines."

[from Cardinal Alfonso López Trujillo (then President of the Pontifical Council for the Family, Vatican), Family Values Versus Safe Sex, December 1, 2003. The quoted text cites the following references: Rene Josef Bullecer (Director of AIDS-Free Philippines), Telling the Truth: AIDS Rates for Thailand and the Philippines; Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines, Pastoral Letter on AIDS: In the Compassion of Jesus, January 23, 1993; and Jaime L. Cardinal Sin, Pastoral Letter on Subtle Attacks against Family and Life, July 9, 2001.]


M#14: The Catholic Church teaches that contraceptives, including condoms, cause abortion.

C#14: Abortion is the termination (killing) of life, not simply of pregnancy. Life begins at conception when the sperm and the egg meet. Killing the new life at any moment after this, and before it is born, is considered abortion. The new life develops as it goes down the fallopian tube, and implants onto the mother's womb when the tiny baby is around five days old.

Condoms do not directly cause abortion because they prevent conception—if there is no conception, there is nothing to kill in the first place. But they can lead to abortion if, because of high condom failure a woman gets pregnant, she decides to kill the baby in her womb.

Pills and IUD's make the womb's lining unhabitable for the new baby. ; hence, in case they fail in their contraceptive actions, the five-day old baby will be unable to attach to his or her mother's womb. This has to be called "abortion," for the five-day old baby dies in the process, and such action of pills and IUD's is called "abortifacient."


M#15: Natural methods are not effective.

C#15: The modern natural methods (e.g., Billings, Sympto-Thermal, Basal Body Temperature) can be more effective than contraceptives, if they are learned and practiced as a way of life and not as "natural contraceptives." Hence, communication, love, respect, self-discipline, and formation in the values are necessary for the natural methods to work—values that are not exclusively religious, but very human and natural as well, and values that are not necessary in the use of contraceptives.

The obsolete calendar and the rhythm methods, and their modern repackagings, should not be taught (including by the DOH) because of their high failure rates. Withdrawal is not a natural method, and has extremely high failure rates.

It is sad that many doctors (including Ob-Gyn's) are not even familiar with many of the facts regarding the benefits of the natural methods and the medical ills of contraceptives.


M#16: The Catholic Church teaches that in each sexual act, the couple should aim for a new child.

C#16: No. Rather, the Catholic Church teaches no action, whether before, during or after the sexual act, should close the possibility of new life or kill the new life that arises.

Hence, in the woman's infertile periods, or if one of the spouses is sterile, the couple may still perform the sexual act since they do not do anything to prevent the possibility of, or kill, new life.


M#17: The Reproductive Health bill does not promote or pave the way to abortion, since it even states that abortion remains illegal in the Philippines.

C#17: The bill does not legalize surgical abortion, but it does PROMOTE all types of abortion, and DOES LEGALIZE abortion of 5-day old babies.

SEC. 4. Definition of Terms.
h. Reproductive Health Education – is the process of acquiring complete, accurate and relevant information on all matters relating to the reproductive system, its functions and processes and human sexuality; and forming attitudes and beliefs about sex, sexual identity, interpersonal relationships, affection, intimacy and gender roles. It also includes developing the necessary skills to be able to distinguish between facts and myths on sex and sexuality; and critically evaluate and discuss the moral, religious, social and cultural dimensions of related sensitive issues such as contraception and abortion.

To "critically evaluate and discuss the moral, religious, social and cultural dimensions of related sensitive issues such as contraception and abortion" paves the way to abortion because it will present abortion as a hypothetical (hypothetical as of now in the Philippines, while practical in other countries) solution to an unplanned pregnancy. The next step will be to push for safe and legal abortion.

This reflects the mentality presented in some sex education modules, which could very well go this way:

"Ang pagkontrol sa kakayahang mag-anak ay isang karapatang makabago para sa kababaihan... May dalawang uri ng batas na nagkakaroon ng impluwensiya sa gawaing ito. Ang una ay may kinalaman sa paggamit ng kontraseptibo, kusang-loob na pag-papa-opera upang hindi magkaanak at paglalaglag ng sanggol. Ang ilegal na paglalaglag ng sanggol ay ipinagbabawal ng batas sapagkat hindi makabubuti sa kalusugan ng ina. Ang pangalawa ay nagbibigay ng karapatan sa kababaihan sa pagpaplano ng pamilya."

Note than in such a formulation, illegal abortion is considered wrong because it is bad for the woman's health. The child being killed is insignificant. The solution insinuated is to legalize abortion so that it could become "safe"--safe for the mother (they claim, though abortion is always traumatic for her), but not for the baby.

Some candidly say that if legislators and teachers insist on asking their student to discuss the pros and cons of abortion, then parents should also insist on discussing the pros and cons of killing legislators and teachers (for example, if they are inefficient, involved in graft and corruption, etc.).


M#18: The Reproductive Health bill does not promote sexual promiscuity.

C#18: SEC. 4. Definition of Terms
c. Reproductive Health – the state of physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity, in all matters relating to the reproductive system and to its functions and processes. This implies that people are able to have a satisfying and safe sex life, that they have the capability to reproduce and the freedom to decide if, when and how often to do so, provided that these are not against the law.

The law will guarantee children and teenagers (since they are "people") the right to have a satisfying and safe sex life with anyone, and to decide if, when and how often to reproduce. Hence children have the right to have information and access to contraceptives, and to learn all possible options in case they get pregnant--including abortion, which "unfortunately" (as they will be made to feel), is still illegal.

Parents who object to this "right" act against the law, a law which of course goes against the parents' inherent right to educate their children.


M#19: The Reproductive Health bill will strengthen parental rights in forming and educating their children.

C#19: SEC. 3. Guiding Principles.
L. Respect for, protection and fulfillment of reproductive health rights seek to promote not only the rights and welfare of adult individuals and couples but those of adolescents' and children's as well...

SEC. 4. Definition of Terms
d. Reproductive Health Rights – the rights of individuals and couples to decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing and timing of their children; to make other decisions concerning reproduction free of discrimination, coercion and violence; to have the information and means to carry out their decisions; and to attain the highest standard of sexual and reproductive health.

In the Bill, children and adolescents have the right to have a "satisfying and safe sex life," and "to decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing and timing of their children." In such a case parents (and teachers, public authorities, priests, etc.) who do not want children to have sex with classmates will be going against the children's rights, and hence they can be considered as "coercing" the children to stay away from sex. Earlier bills have even proposed fines and/or imprisonment for similar acts; this is indicative of their real intentions.

In some countries, school clinics are prohibited from informing parents if their child seeks or has undergone abortion, whereas they are required to do so for treatment of a minor wound.

Reproductive health rights will therefore weaken parental authority and rights over the upbringing of their children. Children are brainwashed into this promiscuous, anti- parent, and anti-authority mentality through Value-free sex education modules.


M#20: The Reproductive Health bill is an original idea of Filipino Congressmen.

C#20: Reproductive Health bills are pushed by the PLCPD (Philippine Legislators' Committee for Population and Development), a foreign funded NGO with offices questionably located in Congress, precisely where our laws are made. This is in complete violation of our national sovereignty and our pro-family and pro-life Constitution. PLCPD has access to formidable financial resources (including the P2 billion budget this year), and is backed by a powerful conglomerate of NGO's (see A Manifesto of Filipino Families on July 25, 2008).


M#21: The Reproductive Health bill promotes health.

C#21: "We would rather call them the 'reproductive death' bills. They are totally silent on the aforementioned ills which will bring DEATH not only to the body, but to the person, family and society as well: D-ivorce E-uthanasia A-bortion T-yrannical population control H-omosexual unions" (A Manifesto of Filipino Families on July 25, 2008).


M#22: Filipino families cannot do anything to stop the Reproductive Death bills.

C#22: A Call to Defend the Filipino Family against the Reproductive 'Health' Bills

We call on all Filipino Families to defend ourselves by defending life. We have so far succeeded in foiling many of the attempts of our lawmakers to enact reproductive health statutes. We believe they are being enticed by monetary and other compensations, but we hope that they will see the grim reality behind reproductive 'health'. But now could be our last chance. Many countries have fallen into the subtle and the blatant attacks against their families. It is time to organize ourselves better and pressure our leaders to come up with pro-family and pro-life legislation and programs.

We call on all men and women of good will, of all creeds, social standing, and political affiliations, to further promote the family. Let us patronize family-safe establishments, and complain to our civil authorities against those offering drugs, gambling, pornography and prostitution, especially those surrounding our homes and our children's schools. Let us boycott products and services that degrade sex and women in their advertisements. Let us review the textbooks used by our children for promiscuous and anti-parental content. Let us make the TV stations know that we want wholesome family entertainment.

Recovering the Family's True Nature.

We hope that in the end, children may see their parents as role models of family warmth and citizenship, and that parents and grandparents may experience the appreciation and respect of their children whom they have truly loved and guided. Humanae Vitae prophetically warned that we could lose our values if we go against God's design on the responsible transmission of life within the family.

May the Filipino Family, which is the sanctuary of life and love, rediscover and reclaim the peace and joy that rightly belong to us."

(A Manifesto of Filipino Families on July 25, 2008).

RH Bill Buster (Part 1)

The talk on the controversial RH bill may have mellowed a bit but I am not letting up. I am ever determined to present the facts to everyone and let he who is in his right senses decide based on the FACTS, not on the myths.

Last night I was listening to the radio program 'Salitang Buhay' (Word Alive) by Fr. Bel San Luis, SVD, et.al. The program is aired every Sunday night at 8:30 p.m. over DZMM 630KHz. I had no idea about the topic to be discussed that night but it turned out to be on RH bill and with a very special guest (Dr. Ligaya Acosta). She was a former official of the Department of Health who spent 28 years in promoting artificial means of birth control and family planning. Guess what? She is now on the pro-life movement. Her personal testimony and interview was so powerful and interesting the radio program decided to invite her again next Sunday to speak more on the issue. Don't miss her out.

Misconceptions and Clarifications on Issues Related to Humanae Vitae
and the Reproductive "Health" Bill in Philippine Congress.

Rev. Fr. Gregory D. Gaston, STD

(This primer was written for Avenues, the Journal of San Carlos Seminary Graduate School of Theology. Copyright © 2008 by the author, a priest of the Archdiocese of Manila and Professor of the Graduate School of Theology of San Carlos Seminary in Makati City, Philippines. For related topics, please visit www.safe.ph.)

[Origin: M - misconception; C - clarification]

M#1: The world is overpopulated. Global population will soar to 11.9 billion by 2050.

C#1: "Yet this is not the full story. To the contrary, in fact. Across the globe, people are having fewer and fewer children. Fertility rates have dropped by half since 1972, from six children per woman to 2.9. And demographers say they're still falling, faster than ever. The world's population will continue to grow—from today's 6.4 billion to around 9 billion in 2050. But after that, it will go sharply into decline. Indeed, a phenomenon that we're destined to learn much more about—depopulation—has already begun in a number of countries. Welcome to the New Demography. It will change everything about our world, from the absolute size and power of nations to global economic growth to the quality of our lives." [Michael Meyer, "Birth Dearth," in Newsweek, September 27, 2004, p. 58. Since the 1970's, several demographers, economists, and other experts have been informing the public of these trends.]


M#2: Overpopulation is a scientific fact.

C#2: Not overpopulation, but population ageing and underpopulation, as seen in these sample article titles:

* European Pension Systems Set to Collapse. Low Fertility Blamed, in Friday Fax, May 4, 2000.
* Underpopulation, Not Overpopulation, the Real Global Problem, in Washington Post, March 18, 2001.
* Developed Nations Warned on Aging Crisis Time Bomb, in Manila Bulletin, Aug 30, 2001.
* Have Three Babies to Sustain the Population, in Daily Telegraph, Dec. 12, 2003.
* Asian Economies Desperate for Babies, in Daily News Express, Feb. 2, 2004.
* Have More Babies, Say the Tories, in Daily Mail, September 22, 2003: "Women should have more babies to stave off the looming crisis of an ageing population, the Tories will say today. The call to 'go forth and multiply' comes from work and pensions spokesman David Willetts, who wants couples to send birth rates soaring."
* In address to Estonians, President Calls on Citizens to Make More Babies, in New York Times, January 2, 2003: "Worried about a declining population, Estonia's president has urged the country's 1.4 million residents to make more babies. 'Let us remember that in just a couple of decades the number of Estonians seeing the New Year will be one-fifth less than today,' President Arnold Ruutel said in a speech broadcast live on national television Wednesday."


M#3: Our population growth rate of 2.04% is extremely high.

C#3: The CIA gives a much lower estimate of 1.728% (World Factbook Country Listing of 2008, available on the internet).


M#4: We should aim for a Zero Population Growth Rate.

C#4: Zero Population Growth Rate will make the Filipino race at first extremely old, and then rare, and finally extinct.


M#5: Filipino families have too many children.

C#5: "The UN Population Division figures indicate that it is not an exaggeration to say that as early as now the Philippine Total Fertility Rate [children per woman] is already dangerously low. Whereas in the early 1970's the average Filipina had six children, today she has around three, and in another 20 years, only two. Shortly after 2020, or just fifteen years from now, the Philippine TFR will sink below its replacement level of around 2.29." [Rev. Fr. Gregory D. Gaston, STD, World Population Collapse: Lessons for the Philippines, in Familia et Vita, vol. XII (2007) no. 2, pp. 84-113, paragraph no. 22. Henceforth referred to as WPC and paragraph number.]


M#6: Having two children should be the ideal family size.

From RH Bill SEC. 16. Ideal Family Size. – The State shall assist couples, parents and individuals to achieve their desired family size within the context of responsible parenthood for sustainable development and encourage them to have two children as the ideal family size.

C#6: As of now the Philippines' total fertility rate, or children per woman, is projected to go below replacement (2.29 children per woman) by 2025. After that we will experience the population ageing and collapse taking place today in rich countries, and like them, we will also wish to pay parents to have more children--but unlike them, we will have no money to do so.

Pushing for only two children per family will make all this occur even earlier.

(Note that two children per family would give a total fertility rate of much lower than two, since women without children would have to be included in the computation of "children per woman," or total fertility rate.)


M#7: Intensified population control programs will slow down population growth, improve the economy soon, and thus solve poverty.

C#7: "The effect desired by population controllers, the slowing of population growth, will not immediately take place, due to population momentum, decreased mortality and longer lifespan. By the time population growth will have slowed down, the Total Fertility Rate will be way below the replacement level, and the average population age will be extremely high. In other words, the solution proposed to solve poverty, that is, population control programs, will just create more economic difficulties in the long run.

Nor may one say that we should limit population growth now, hope for rapid economic development, and finally try to solve whatever problem might come up in the future. It will simply be too late by then. Countries that were already rich 30 to 40 years ago when their TFR's started to decline, and are now ageing, encounter extreme difficulty in solving their economic problems today. Their efforts to encourage their citizens to produce more children have not yielded acceptable results after a decade. They depend on immigration to maintain their population growth. The Philippines is not a rich country today, and may or may not be rich within 50 years.

How will it support its ageing population? Will it also invite workers from other countries to replace its dwindling workforce? How will it attract immigrants if it has no jobs to offer to its people in the first place? Even if it becomes rich by then, it will have to face the same problems rich countries face now, and will have to tell the people to raise more children. We simply cannot afford to fall into the trap rich countries have fallen into 30-40 years ago, and from which they desperately try to escape today. Graphically speaking, we cannot afford to have in the future a population pyramid like theirs now, and then, like them today, wish to regain the population pyramid we have now." [WPC 26]


M#8: In ruling out population control as a solution to poverty, the Catholic Church teaches that the people should beget as many children as they can, following God's command, to "go forth and multiply."

C#8: "'Ruling out population control' simply means not encouraging people to have few children, which is entirely different from telling them to have all the children they can possibly produce. Parents should instead be guided and supported to attain the number of children they can generously and responsibly raise and educate. For some spouses, this means having one child or two; for others, five, ten, twelve, fifteen or even more. Neither the government nor the Catholic Church may compel, instruct, or encourage spouses to raise a specified number of children, as what population control programs definitely try to do, either through massive propaganda, or through deceptive and coercive policies. Rather, the government and the Catholic Church should form and guide the people to reflect on their actual circumstances, and to freely, generously and responsibly decide whether to have another child now, or not to have another child for the time being or indefinitely. This is one aspect of responsible parenthood, which the Catholic Church has always taught, and which takes into account both the real capacities of individual spouses and the national demographic situation." [WPC 27]


M#9: The Catholic Church has always recognized the existence of a "population problem," and the government's intervention in the decision-making of spouses as to the number of children they beget.

C#9: In recognizing that it is legitimate for the state "to intervene to orient the demography of the population," it immediately adds that, "This can be done by means of objective and respectful information, but certainly not by authoritarian, coercive measures. The state may not legitimately usurp the initiative of spouses, who have the primary responsibility for the procreation and education of their children. In this area, it is not authorized to employ means contrary to the moral law" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 2372).

Humanae Vitae (no. 2) describes some changes taking place in 1968. "In the first place there is the rapid increase in population which has made many fear that world population is going to grow faster than available resources, with the consequence that many families and developing countries would be faced with greater hardships."

Note that while Humanae Vitae in this point observes that there is the rapid increase in world population, it merely expresses the fear of many, without owning that fear, that world population is going to grow faster than available resources. Today, forty years later, we can see for a fact that while population has grown, food production has grown even more.

"Since 1965 to 1994 the population of the world has nearly doubled, but food production has kept well ahead... United Nations figures show there has been a rise of over 30% in the period 1951-92 in food production per capita, that is to say the amount of food which would be available to each person in the world if it were divided equally. This has occurred in spite of the fact that Western farmers are paid millions of dollars a year to keep land out of production. If these European and American farmers were to produce to their capacity, food prices would collapse as a result of the glut (Population Facts and Myths, published on the Internet in 1994 by the National Association of Catholic Families in the UK). The problem then is not food production but proper distribution. Hence the solution should not be to reduce the number of consumers, but social justice.

In recent years, Church documents have focused greatly on the fall of fertility, which, "very significant in almost all parts of the world, is irrefutable and evident from the facts published by specialized organizations. It is, nonetheless, frequently disregarded (Pontifical Council for the Family, The Ethical and Pastoral Dimensions of Population Trends, March 25, 1994). Such fall in fertility is the real "population problem" today.


M#10: The Catholic Church is not concerned with the plight of the poor in the country.

C#10: The Catholic Church dedicates a huge part of its efforts at the service of the poor, helping the government: education, microlending, presence in slum areas and garbage, orphanages, feeding programs, social action projects, calamities, opposition to destructive mining and destructive logging, Pondo ng Pinoy, Caritas, environmental ecology concerns, human ecology, family empowerment.

Whenever the Church talks against graft and corruption, she does so also out of concern for the poor. Poverty will be very quickly eradicated if graft and corruption are eradicated, so that taxpayers' money will go to the poor (especially in terms of education, which is the long-term solution to poverty, and livelihood programs) and not to those rich who steal from the poor.

"Each time poverty is blamed on the 'population problem,' its real and root causes are conveniently tolerated or covered up: graft and corruption in the public and private sectors, burden of foreign debt servicing, and bad governance, resulting in failed development programs" (A Manifesto of Filipino Families on July 25, 2008).


To be continued...

Weekly News (Second Week of October)

1. Pontiff Warns of Truth-Falsehood Mix-Up

VATICAN CITY, OCT. 7, 2010 (Zenit.org).- In our world of communication technology, says Benedict XVI, the truth can become interchangeable with falsehood; reality can be confused with what's merely "virtual." [Read More]

2. Economist Debunks Claim of Population Explosion in RP

MANILA, Oct. 6, 2010—Is the Philippine population indeed a ticking time bomb as proponents of RH bill say so? One of the country’s economists and academicians thinks otherwise. [Read More]

3. Media Exploit Tyler Clementi Suicide Tragedy

The death of University student Tyler Clementi might have been properly mourned if it were not for the massive rallies and aggressive news coverage that altered the nature of the situation. The truth is that an 18-year-old boy killed himself – he was a student just like the rest of us, someone just trying to receive an education. Yet people’s relentless agendas took his death and turned it into a cause based on false pretenses. [Read More]

4. Homosexual Activists Confront Archbishop at College Mass

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. — When St. Paul and Minneapolis Archbishop John Nienstedt was invited to celebrate Mass at St. John’s University’s Abbey Church on Sept. 26, the last thing he expected was a protest. [Read More]

5. Schwarzenegger Vetoes Gay-Sponsored “Trojan Horse” Measure on Marriage

SACRAMENTO, California, October 7, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger earned muted praise from pro-family advocates last week after he vetoed a measure that one pro-family group described as a “Trojan horse” that could have helped homosexuals overturn Prop. 8 in 2012. [Read More]

6. Family is Under 'Permanent Attack' by United Nations, Says Cardinal

GUADALAJARA, Mexico, October 7, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Cardinal Archbishop of Guadalajara, Mexico, Juan Sandoval Iñiguez, gave a speech Sunday in which he lashed out at the United Nations and other international organizations that he says are running a campaign to destroy the family. [Read More]

7. The Puzzling Decline in Abortions

MOSCOW — Abortion is declining in some countries around the world, and the statistics are startling in some places. [Read More]

8. Catholic Church Blasts Nobel Prize Committee for Honoring IVF Creator Edwards

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The leading spokesman on pro-life issues for the Catholic Church says the committee that awards the Nobel Prize was wrong to give one to Robert Edwards, known as the father of the test tube baby and the inventor of in-vitro fertilization. He joins two pro-life groups publicly opposing the award. [Read More]

9. Catholic Novelist Calls Men to Spiritual Fatherhood

Denver, Colo., Oct 8, 2010 / 05:47 am (CNA).- Acclaimed Catholic novelist Brian Gail, spoke Wednesday at the Archdiocese of Denver's John Paul II Center for the New Evangelization. Addressing the subject of “Fatherhood in a Fatherless World,” Gail examined the social concerns behind his planned trilogy of books, and urged audience members to make their lives and families beacons of light in times of moral and spiritual darkness. [Read More]

10. Addressing Homosexuality with “Love in Truth”

ROME, October 7, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – What is the best way to present Christian teachings on homosexuality in the face of an increasingly hostile secular culture? How can Christians answer the accusations leveled against their beliefs? John-Henry Westen, LifeSiteNews.com’s editor-in-chief, told an audience of the world’s pro-life and pro-family leaders at a conference in Italy this week that the only way is “caritas in veritate;” to speak the truth in love. [Read More]


Quote from Pope Benedict XVI on Church-State Affairs

"When the Church raises her voice in face of today's great challenges and problems, such as wars, hunger, the extreme poverty of so many, the defense of human life from its conception until its natural end, or the promotion of the family founded on marriage between a man and a woman and the first [entity] responsible for the education of children, it does not act out of individual interests or for principles that can only be perceived by those who profess a specific religious faith.

"Respecting the rules of democratic coexistence, it does so for the good of the whole society and in the name of values that every person can share with his right reasoning."

Pro-Life Parenting Seminar

A very timely seminar for parents courtesy of ProLife Philipphines.

As part of its education and training activities, PRO-LIFE PHILIPPINES FOUNDATION, INC. invites all pro-lifers most especially parents, parishioners, teachers, and guidance counselors to attend the Pro-Life Seminar Series for October titled “Effective Parenting for Peace and Nation Building.”

This seminar aims to help participants learn more about the culture of life and how they could inculcate its values to their style of parenting. Aside from talks on basic parenting skills, the seminar will also focus on the various struggles experienced by parents on the different stages of their relationship with their children and the whole community.

Seasoned pro-life parents Mr. & Mrs. Ralph and Carmelita Ocoma of Haplos at Kalinga Sa Buhay Ng Anak At Magulang will be sharing their expertise on facing parenting dilemmas as well as tackling issues that attack the family.

An open forum comes after each of the speaker’s discussion.

The seminar is slated on a Saturday, October 16, 2010 from 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM at the St. Joseph Retreat House Conference Room, Our Lady of Loreto Church, Manzanas Street, Sampaloc, Manila. A registration fee of P 300.00 includes one snack, one seminar kit, and a certificate of participation signed by the organizers.

For reservations or more information, please call Ellen at 733-7027. Or, you may send us a telefax at 734-9425; a text through mobile# 0919-2337783; or an email at life@prolife.org.ph. Visit our website at www.prolife.org.ph.

Abort The RH Bill, Not The Baby

I have been following the case of Carlos Celdran the past few days with great interest, even joining Facebook groups to engage everyone to a sort of debate. I have never been as passionate in defending the pro-life cause up until now when a man clad in Rizal outfit protested and rudely interrupted an ongoing ecumenical worship service inside Manila Cathedral. I believe he did it with outmost malice and premeditation in order to get some attention that he would not possibly get if he just protested outside the church. His theatrical stunt did indeed get him the media attention he was craving for especially when he was sent to prison. Some commenters on FB even touted him as the new Jose Rizal; I thought otherwise. After showing his audacious irreverence and scandalous ploy inside Manila Cathedral, he just earned the right to become the next poster boy for "Boy Bastos." And to complete his Rizalist antic, it would be nice to see him executed in Luneta Park through a firing squad by the 'guardia civil' in Intramuros. That would land him front page news in international media for sure. Okay enough of the rant. Let's get down to the real issue. The RH bill must be aborted.


Abortion and Contraception - Fruits of the Same Tree

I am posting here some statements by Fr. Frank Pavone, National Director of Priests for Life regarding this issue.


Sex is an extremely powerful force, and never a neutral one. Either it serves life, or it serves death. Its fruit can be the highest joy of earth, bringing forth new life in the embrace of self-giving, or else its fruit can be violent and destructive activity, ruining and ending the lives of others or oneself.

Society is not obsessed with sex. It is afraid of it…afraid of the total reality and power of what it represents, where it comes from, and where it leads. Sex properly understood requires that we acknowledge God who made it. More than that, sex can never be separated from its purpose: to insert us into an immense, powerful movement of life and love that started when God said "Let there be light" (Genesis 1:3) and culminates when the Spirit and the Bride say "Come, Lord Jesus!" (Revelation 22:17).

Sex is deeply symbolic. It is a language that speaks of things beyond sight and feeling. Many think of the Church's teaching about sex as "You cannot do it except in marriage and when open to life." That is true, but the fuller understanding of why this is true comes when we can see that sexual activity means so much that it is wrong to diminish its message or deny its full reality. It belongs in the context of committed love (sealed by marriage) and openness to life precisely because this is the only context great enough to hold its message and reflect the greater reality to which the gift of sexuality directs and commits us. The teaching is not just that it is wrong to have sex in certain circumstances. The teaching is that it is wrong to run away from the full reality of sex. It is wrong to think we have the kind of control that can change that reality to suit ourselves.

The most bitter fruit of this flight from the full meaning of sex is abortion. Thousands of lives a day in our nation are deliberately killed in order to control who will be born and when. They are even destroyed in the very process of being born. If we ask why abortion happens, or how we arrived at the culture of death, we would do well to consider another question: What happens when you distort the meaning of sex?

One of the many ways in which the meaning of sex is distorted is through contraception, which is an intrinsically evil act. The links between abortion and contraception are more and more widely recognized, and not only in Catholic circles.

They are linked by a common mentality, which is that I may stifle the power of sex to produce a new life. Pope John Paul II wrote in his encyclical The Gospel of Life, " It is frequently asserted that contraception, if made safe and available to all, is the most effective remedy against abortion. The Catholic Church is then accused of actually promoting abortion, because she obstinately continues to teach the moral unlawfulness of contraception. When looked at carefully, this objection is clearly unfounded. It may be that many people use contraception with a view to excluding the subsequent temptation of abortion. But the negative values inherent in the "contraceptive mentality"—which is very different from responsible parenthood, lived in respect for the full truth of the conjugal act—are such that they in fact strengthen this temptation when an unwanted life is conceived. Indeed, the pro- abortion culture is especially strong precisely where the Church's teaching on contraception is rejected" (n. 13).

They are linked sociologically. Every culture and subculture which has opened the doors to contraception has likewise experienced an increased practice of abortion. The Alan Guttmacher Institute indicates the following as the main reasons women offer for their abortions. Ask yourself what resemblance they bear to the reasons for birth control. " On average, women give at least 3 reasons for choosing abortion: 3/4 say that having a baby would interfere with work, school or other responsibilities; about 2/3 say they cannot afford a child; and 1/2 say they do not want to be a single parent or are having problems with their husband or partner" (from the website www.agi-usa.org).

They are linked in law and jurisprudence. In 1973, the Supreme Court's Roe vs. Wade decision legalizing abortion clearly built upon the recognized privacy right behind contraception. In 1992, the Supreme Court reaffirmed Roe in its Planned Parenthood vs. Casey decision, and explained that they could not remove the "right" to abortion from "people who, for two decades of economic and social developments, have organized intimate relationships and made choices that define their views of themselves and their places in society, in reliance on the availability of abortion in the event that contraception should fail" (505 U.S. 833, 835).

They are sometimes linked by being identical. Some "contraceptives" have a backup mechanism whereby a newly-developing life may be destroyed in its microscopic stages. These drugs and devices are abortifacients, capable of causing early and usually unknown abortions. The morally relevant point here is that "it is objectively a grave sin to dare to risk murder" (Declaration on Procured Abortion, 1974, n.12-13). If your action might kill a person, and you do it, you declare your willingness to kill a person (like shooting at what is behind the bush when you are uncertain whether it is a bear or a man).

The nature of the link between abortion and contraception needs to be accurately understood. The Pope writes, "Certainly, from the moral point of view contraception and abortion are specifically different evils: the former contradicts the full truth of the sexual act as the proper expression of conjugal love, while the latter destroys the life of a human being; the former is opposed to the virtue of chastity in marriage, the latter is opposed to the virtue of justice and directly violates the divine commandment "You shall not kill". But despite their differences of nature and moral gravity, contraception and abortion are often closely connected, as fruits of the same tree" (n. 13).

"Fruits of the same tree." Contraception, in other words, is more like the sister to abortion rather than the parent. What gives rise to them both? The Pope continues, "Such practices are rooted in a hedonistic mentality unwilling to accept responsibility in matters of sexuality, and they imply a self-centered concept of freedom, which regards procreation as an obstacle to personal fulfillment" (n. 13). Dr. Bernard Nathanson, when asked whether contraception was "the beginning of the downfall of the issues of reproduction in this country," said that "contraception was not the fount…that spawned all of these other horrendous technologies...it was the perversion of autonomy…If you elevate autonomy to a deification status…then people are going to make choices which are irrational…" (Presentation to 1999 Legatus National Conference).

Yes, abortion and contraception are linked. They are linked with each other because they are linked with many other evils: the disconnection of freedom from truth, a relativistic view of morality, a positivistic view of law, a culture of hedonism, and many other problems.

What lies at the solution to these problems is to rediscover the dominion of God.

It is perfectly legitimate to acknowledge that there are circumstances in which a couple should not have a child. There can be medical, social, financial, psychological, or other reasons for this. To acknowledge God’s dominion does not mean to act imprudently. Methods of natural family planning are legitimate. (We are not referring here to outdated calendar rhythm methods, but to modern methods such as those made possible by naprotechnology.) In planning one’s family, however, one may never destroy the meaning of sexual union on one’s own initiative. Natural family planning respects the body's cycles, during portions of which God closes the door to life. In contraception, we close the door. We have no authority to do so.

There are two basic truths that each person has to admit in this life: 1.) There is a God. 2.) It isn’t me. To understand these lessons is to understand why both contraception and abortion are wrong. Only God has absolute dominion over human life. "None of us lives as his own master and none of us dies as his own master. While we live, we are responsible to the Lord, and when we die, we die as His servants. Both in life and in death, we are the Lord's" (Rom.14:7-8).

-oOo-

You may also want to read the commentaries of fellow Pinoy bloggers like Filipino eScribbles and With One's Past.

-oOo-

This article by Fr. Frank summarizes the core issues surrounding the RH bill. I have read posts after posts bashing the Catholic hierarchy and the Church, making unfair accusations and throwing 'outdated' arguments circa 1898. All that people notice are the buzz, the hype, and the noise. The substance is totally neglected. I dare say that a great majority do not have at least the basic understanding of the issue from the proper perspective, hence their misguided opinions about the matter. Stop accusing the Church of meddling with politics because it could be the other way around - the government meddling with church matters. The Church will always defend what she believes is right because it is her sacred duty and she is free to do so.

I do not claim expertise on the pro-life issue, just the very basics perhaps - the sanctity of human life from conception to natural death, the sacredness and purpose of the marital sexual act, abortion as a very grievous offense against life, and the intrinsic evil of contraception. These are the firm foundations on which I base my opinions. I have not even mentioned scientific studies and evidences supporting the cause of the pro-life movement in case someone is going to accuse me of being too 'religiously inclined' in my dispositions. Well, I still need to do a LOT of reading about this subject matter. In the end, the challenge to all God-fearing people is to respect life irrespective of religious beliefs and practices and for Christians specifically to give witness to the One who said, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the LIFE."

Weekly News (First Week of October)

1. Pope to European Bishops: Defend Family, Life

ZAGREB, Croatia, SEPT. 30, 2010 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI is urging the bishops of Europe to work for the defense of the family and human life, and to fight against intolerance and discrimination of Christians. [Read More]

2. Aquino Blinks, Seeks Talks with Church

MANILA, Philippines—A network of 100 Catholic lay groups across the country Tuesday geared up for protest actions after President Benigno Aquino III signified he might support Filipino couples who want to limit the number of their children by using contraceptives. [Read More]

3. Muslims Join Outrage vs Birth Control

MANILA, Sept. 30, 2010—A group of Muslims has joined the growing chorus of voices opposing any effort by President Benigno Aquino III to promote artificial family planning. [Read More]

4. Manila Priests Pray for Celdran’s Enlightenment

MANILA, Oct. 1, 2010—Manila’s Catholic priests are praying for the enlightenment of tourist guide Carlos Celdran who held a protest at the Manila Cathedral yesterday while an ecumenical service was going on. [Read More]

5. Religion Isn’t a 'Feel Good' Solution, Teaches Argentinean Bishop

Buenos Aires, Argentina, Oct 1, 2010 / 12:25 pm (CNA).- Bishop Jorge Lozano of Gualeguaychu in Argentina warned this week that relativism in the faith is what leads many to seek their own individual well being in religion and consider it a “feel good” solution. [Read More]

6. Prop. 8 Judge Calling It Quits

The federal judge whose August 4 ruling overturned Proposition 8 in California is retiring. [Read More]

7. Ann Coulter Rocks HomoCon, Blasts Same-Sex “Marriage”

NEW YORK, September 28, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Conservative commentator Ann Coulter stayed true to her reputation for courting controversy during an address to homosexual conservatives in New York on Saturday, telling them that they did not need special rights and that marriage was the union of a man and a woman. [Read More]

8. CDC: 20% of Gay Men Have HIV, and Half Are Unaware of Status

WASHINGTON, D.C., September 27, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Nearly half of sexually active homosexual men infected with the virus causing AIDS are unaware that they are carriers of the deadly disease, according to a new study from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC). [Read More]

9. Deprivatizing Religion in America

“Faith is part of the fabric of our country. It always has been and it always will be. As you, Your Holiness, have said, faith is not a problem for legislators to solve but rather a vital part of our national conversation. And we are proud of that.” [Read More]

10. Divorce — The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience

Thursday, September 30, 2010 (AlbertMohler.com) - Mark A. Smith, who teaches political science at the University of Washington, pays close attention to what is now commonly called the “culture war” in America. [Read More]