Opinion: Election 2008 – America is the Frog in the Kettle

WASHINGTON (Catholic Online) – When I was a young boy my father brought four live lobsters home from a business trip to New England. I had never seen a crusty creature like this before and my introduction was quite startling as one had escaped the kitchen and was scampering into my bedroom.Not long after, my father began the dinner preparations. The lobsters were not placed in boiling water. He lowered them into a pot of cool water and then applied the heat. This way the lobsters would just fall asleep and then cooked to death, making their meat tender.

Whenever I heard the phrase “the frog in the kettle,” my mind immediately returns to this childhood memory. These feisty crustaceans scampered around the kettle for quite awhile and then simply slowed down as the heat was applied.As a passionate advocate for Life, I see America in the same condition. The war, the economy, and the pressures of daily living have turned up the heat. We are getting sleepy and simply looking for anyone who can provide some cool water to awaken us from our drowsy state of affairs.We seem to be willing to give up proven principles and the values that sustained us as a nation for over 200 years for even a hint of relief.

The interior of the pedestal within the Statue of Liberty contains a bronze plaque inscribed with the poem “The New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus. In part, the poem reads, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me; I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” We have lost our heart for the helpless. We have forgotten our mindset and mission as a country. We were the place of possibilities, a haven of hope for those who had none.For centuries, people cried, sang, and shouted, “Only in America!” They saw this as a land of limitless opportunity, a place of safety where they could establish a generational legacy.

Each day our nation murders 3,700 children. We are on the brink of possibly electing a president, Barack Obama, who will not only sustain but also increase that number. And we are asleep.Just a few years ago, Americans watched as a helpless woman, Terry Schiavo, was starved to death. The courts had determined her life no longer mattered. And we are asleep.Since the mid-twentieth century, both Catholic and Protestant Christians, along with those of other faiths, have watched the influence of religion upon a nation wane. America, founded upon the Judeo-Christian values of the Ten Commandments and a belief in God, has jettisoned her value pack. And we are asleep.

Now, in 2008 we may still be asleep when another major shift in values takes place in our country. This major transformation is described by a word that at first seems attractive. It is a word, however, that may bring more upon our nation than we ever anticipated.Change. This is the watchword for our National elections, circa 2008. Questions must be answered – where will this “change” take us and what changes will take place? Should the pro-choice platform of the Democratic Candidate for President, Barack Obama, along with a Democratic supermajority come into power, the word could mean much more than mere change. It may mean a serious metamorphosis of culture.

As Catholic Christians, we must understand that the primary area of alteration involves the right to Life, a fundamental right avowed by our Declaration of Independence, and, more importantly, affirmed by our Church.In just a few months, we could see the Freedom of Choice Act weld the initiatives of abortion to the framework of our society. This is just the beginning of the implications that could firmly entrench us in a culture of death.A disdain for the old and the infirm could easily follow a disregard for the life of the unborn. When one is “too old or too ill”, the family may be able to initiate an act of choice concerning the life of those who may not be able to speak for themselves.

Now is the time for the cold water of reality to awaken many of us up from a slumber that numbs our ability to act like faithful Catholic citizens. The bishops are calling for faithfulness to the Church, joined by the thundering voices of priests, deacons and pastors across the country.Are we willing for change to take place at the expense of our human freedoms – our freedom to worship and live in accordance with the tenets of our faith? Are we willing for change to take place at the expense of generations – children of our future who will experience a continuing holocaust within the womb?

Issues of the economy, the war in Iraq, solidarity with the poor, and other basic issues can only be solved when preceded by an intrinsic understanding of the dignity of the human person as a creation of God from conception to natural death. Without that, the answers for all these other issues will be utilitarian at best.

As Holy Scripture declares, “Awake, o sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ will give you life.”

I am writing because I have been drafted into a war that is the important issue for this election, and in turn I am compelled to speak of it to all that will hear. The economic crisis has driven the other campaign issues (health care, Iraq war) to the “back seat”. In turn, what I consider the most important issue is hardly mentioned, yet it is the critical factor to weigh in making an informed voting decision. This election reflects a culture war between a radical world view and traditional American and Judeo Christian values and in this war the abortion issue is the main battle.

Over 25% of American Bishops have come out that abortion and the “culture of life” should be the number one voting priority. Yet the media has hardly said one word to inform the public of the candidate’s beliefs, values and more importantly – their actions in the “life” issue. As a consequence, I am discovering that many of us, including some of my fellow Catholics, are not aware of the Obama’s beliefs and actions regarding abortion.

Being Pro Life has a responsibility, as we all know, to tell the “Truth”. In that context here is the truth about Obama. He is anti “Life” and anti the Judeo Christian culture of life. His historical voting record is the most pro-abortion of any candidate we have seen.

• As a U.S. Senator he voted against the partial birth abortion bill.
• As a U.S. Senator he has introduced legislation to allow for the creation of embryos that can be destroyed for cloning research. As part of that bill there would be legal penalties if someone were to try and save the embryos.
• As an Illinois state Senator he voted to deny medical services to babies born alive in botched abortions.
• As a candidate he has stated that he will do the following:
- Overturn the partial birth abortion law.
- Pass the Freedom of Choice Act (to come up for vote in January of 2009) that makes the right to get an abortion paid by federal funds as a fundamental right for all American women.
- Provide federal funding for embryonic stem cell and cloning research.

In addition to his pro abortion stance he is an advocate for the gay agenda to undermine traditional marriage. Specifically, he has supported the gay marriage laws in all states and the integration of the gay lifestyle into public schools.

The bottom line is that his ideology and apparent value system/worldview is not just a different political view (i.e. Democrats versus Republicans) but attacks the core of our culture and traditional Judeo Christian ethic. His agenda is, as the former Bishop of St. Louis Burke says “making the Democratic party the party of death”. Obama and his supporters are for a culture of expediency and excessive freedom of choice opposing the culture of life and responsibility. That is the real war we are in, but often fail to realize it.

We are not just selecting a candidate. We are also selecting an ideology and value system which will influence government decisions and agendas. It is about selecting a leader and value system that facilitates either a culture of life or a culture of death and expediency.

Tom Collingwood | 10/29/2008

Obama does not have ANY respect for women. If he did, he would not be telling us that we should throw our highest calling to vocation in the garbage in order to have material success, joining the endless rat race of economic slavery. It is a lie to think that women must kill their babies to acheive equality. It is equally a lie to pretend we are NOT biologically different than men. The ability to bring life into this world is perhaps one of God's most supreme gifts. It is given exclusively to women. Obama would have us throw this gift away in the name of equality with men. He calls it a punishment. To do so is to destroy that which makes us women in the first place. And they call this a feminist movement! Preposterous! And if you dig but a little further, you will find that, especially internationally, female children bear the brunt of this gross twisting of the idea of freedom and equality. They are aborted more often than male children by nearly 2 to 1. The first post abortion generations in Asia are now growing up and finding themselves with no one to marry.

Debra | 10/28/2008

Dear akmk,

JESUS doesn't ask us to judge a person by what they speak, rather what they do, their actions are their fruits. See if these have produced good or bad fruits, because you cannot have good fruits from a bad tree, just as you cannot have bad fruit from a good tree.

What are the actions that Sen. Barrack Obama has done, that you could pride yourself with? I for one, consider his track record, especially in the matter of abortions, extremely bad. I do not intend to pass judgement that he is or isn't going to heaven, for that is GOD's judgement. But all of us are called to make judgement in matters that affect our decisions, like elections for example.

Going by what JESUS had said, can we expect Sen. Barrack Obama to bear good fruits, given the fact that so far, its been deplorable? I wouldn't think so. I would rather be led to believe that his sugar coated promises will be gone, the moment he takes power and ground realities set in.

It is different when you are in the hot seat, than when you try to be in that.

I sincerely pray that he will not have that opportunity to sit on the Chair of the President of U.S.A, considering all the matters that has taken place so far.

You can have one person promise you the whole world, just like JESUS was promised by satan, JESUS had to only bow down to satan, which shouldn't take much effort or time. But the consequences would have been drastic and changed history, the way we see it.

We too have our choices before, choose life, not death (especially death for our most vulnerable neighbours). For you cannot sow seeds of destruction (through abortion) and then expect peace and welfare and prosperity.

What you sow, you shall reap. So if you sow abortion, you will reap the aftermath of abortion (however good your intentions are).

This is one aspect where Christianity differs from most religions of the world (there are so many aspects). In Hinduism for example, their god, Krishnan teaches his disciples that as long as the end is good, the path you take to achieve that end is ok (even if it is a wrong path). Similarly in Islam, I believe it is said that violence is acceptable to convert non Muslims to Islam to achieve their Dar-ul-Islam (Land of Islam). Hence war (jihad) against Dar-ul-Harb (all land that is not under Land of Islam) is an obligation for people under Islam.

But in Christianity, it is very different. Infact there is a very famous saying 'the path to hell is paved with good intentions'. Which is quite to the point, that it is not good intentions alone that should be the criteria to judge actions. Because in today's numb world, it is possible to justify any crime with good intentions. People justify abortion and even infanticide with good intentions, "what sort of life will that child have, with such parents?", etc. We have heard too much of such lame arguments and unfortunately fell for most of it. But now is the time to change. A time for real change for the better.

Hence let us look at real concrete actions and then make our decisions.

At least for Sen. Barrack Obama, he has consistently voted against life, and is not apologetic about it, infact he plans to sign the Freedom of Choice Act, that would nullify whatever little curbs are there against abortion. Hence he wouldn't have my vote, even if he were to promise me all the wealth in the world, because I know that even a single unborn child is worth more than all the wealth in the world put together. For all the wealth in the world cannot reproduce/modify life (else the rich wouldn't die). This is the similarity I feel with the promises put forward by Sen. Barrack Obama, is it worth to sacrifice the life of the unborn to save our economies? Then how different are we from the civilizations of past where they sacrificed their captives to please their gods to keep them safe and prosperous? Infact they killed captives, but we kill in the womb of the mother, our own flesh and blood!

Even if Sen. Barrack Obama could fix the economy (which I firmly believe isn't possible without fixing our problems regarding abortion), if it is at the cost of your children, would you allow him?? I wouldn't, even if I had to give my life for my children, I would protect them from all harm, including that from such irresponsible and devilish philosophies!

Wake up America! You cannot build a society or economy by killing your young, for they are your future, killing them is killing your future.

I firmly believe that the root cause of our economic downturn is the culture of death that is prevalent in our society and which if left unchecked, will bring the world with it, to a complete halt.

I'm witnessing this first hand in the field of international trade, with practically no trade and hence even the shipping industry is in a never before crisis.

There is another saying, you can wake a sleeping person, but you cannot wake a person who is pretending to sleep.

Let us not pretend to sleep, the time to wake up and act is here! We may never get another opportunity.

GOD Bless!

Bin | 10/28/2008

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