Editorial: President Obama and the ‘New Birth of Freedom’ Inaugural
The 44th President of the United States and our first African American President Barrack Obama will speak to the Nation on a “New Birth of Freedom”. What does it mean?
President Obama the Right to Life is the first right, without which there can be no other rights. The Freedom to be born is the First Freedom. Rise to this moment in history and protect our first neighbors, children in the first home of the whole human race, their mother's womb.
PrintCHESAPEAKE, Va. (Catholic Online) - On January 20, 2009 President Elect Barrack Obama will be sworn in to Office as the 44th President of the United States of America. There is no doubt that this is an historic moment. Given his gift for oratory, I know that the new President will give an inspiring Inaugural address.The question is, what does it really mean?
The speech is being delivered just days before the 200th anniversary of the birth of another politician from Illinois for whom the new President has expressed great admiration, Abraham Lincoln. The new President will take the oath of office swearing to uphold the constitution by placing his hand on Lincoln's Bible. The Inaugural Committee has announced that the theme of the Inaugural Address - and the entire Inauguration - will be drawn from Lincoln’s famous Gettysburg Address. The 44th President of the United States and our first African American President, Barrack Obama will speak to the Nation on a “New Birth of Freedom”. He will draw the phrase from these words of Abraham Lincoln:
“The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”
Years ago I served as an advisor to a Presidential campaign where I proposed that the candidate use this “New Birth of Freedom” theme. I suggested that Americans would rise to the challenge of continuing the “unfinished work” of freedom. There is no deeper longing in the human heart than the yearning to be truly free. However, there is a struggle being waged over the meaning of Freedom and that struggle will define this new President and the next chapter of this Nation's history.
Shortly after Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger was installed as Pope Benedict XVI he warned of a mistaken notion of freedom he called “anarchic freedom”. He echoed what the late Servant of God John Paul II referred to as a “counterfeit” notion of freedom as a right to do whatever once chooses. In his encyclical letter “The Gospel of Life”, he also warned of the “death of true freedom”. According to Pope Benedict this was John Paul II's mission, "…when, in face of all attempts, apparently benevolent, in the face of erroneous interpretations of freedom, he underlined in an unequivocal way the inviolability of the human being, the inviolability of human life, from its conception until natural death.” Pope Benedict recently opined concerning legal abortion and creeping euthanasia: "The freedom to kill is not true freedom, but a tyranny that reduces the human being to slavery."
In his first inaugural address Abraham Lincoln called our Nation to follow the “better angels of our nature.” By his second inaugural he had borne the heavy burden of presiding over a people torn apart by internal conflict. He spoke with prophetic clarity concerning the intrinsic evil of slavery: “If we shall suppose that American slavery is one of those offenses which, in the providence of God, must needs come, but which, having continued through His appointed time, He now wills to remove, and that He gives to both North and South this terrible war as the woe due to those by whom the offense came, shall we discern therein any departure from those divine attributes which the believers in a living God always ascribe to Him? Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said "the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether."
At the core of the evil of slavery is an evil idea - that any human person can ever be treated as property to be used and disposed of rather than as a gift to be received, protected and respected. There are some “choices” which should never be allowed in a just society. The exercise of true freedom must be directed toward the true and the good or it becomes "anarchic" and "counterfeit". As we now look at the slavery of our past it is clear, the idea that an entire class of ...
The speech is being delivered just days before the 200th anniversary of the birth of another politician from Illinois for whom the new President has expressed great admiration, Abraham Lincoln. The new President will take the oath of office swearing to uphold the constitution by placing his hand on Lincoln's Bible. The Inaugural Committee has announced that the theme of the Inaugural Address - and the entire Inauguration - will be drawn from Lincoln’s famous Gettysburg Address. The 44th President of the United States and our first African American President, Barrack Obama will speak to the Nation on a “New Birth of Freedom”. He will draw the phrase from these words of Abraham Lincoln:
“The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”
Years ago I served as an advisor to a Presidential campaign where I proposed that the candidate use this “New Birth of Freedom” theme. I suggested that Americans would rise to the challenge of continuing the “unfinished work” of freedom. There is no deeper longing in the human heart than the yearning to be truly free. However, there is a struggle being waged over the meaning of Freedom and that struggle will define this new President and the next chapter of this Nation's history.
Shortly after Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger was installed as Pope Benedict XVI he warned of a mistaken notion of freedom he called “anarchic freedom”. He echoed what the late Servant of God John Paul II referred to as a “counterfeit” notion of freedom as a right to do whatever once chooses. In his encyclical letter “The Gospel of Life”, he also warned of the “death of true freedom”. According to Pope Benedict this was John Paul II's mission, "…when, in face of all attempts, apparently benevolent, in the face of erroneous interpretations of freedom, he underlined in an unequivocal way the inviolability of the human being, the inviolability of human life, from its conception until natural death.” Pope Benedict recently opined concerning legal abortion and creeping euthanasia: "The freedom to kill is not true freedom, but a tyranny that reduces the human being to slavery."
In his first inaugural address Abraham Lincoln called our Nation to follow the “better angels of our nature.” By his second inaugural he had borne the heavy burden of presiding over a people torn apart by internal conflict. He spoke with prophetic clarity concerning the intrinsic evil of slavery: “If we shall suppose that American slavery is one of those offenses which, in the providence of God, must needs come, but which, having continued through His appointed time, He now wills to remove, and that He gives to both North and South this terrible war as the woe due to those by whom the offense came, shall we discern therein any departure from those divine attributes which the believers in a living God always ascribe to Him? Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said "the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether."
At the core of the evil of slavery is an evil idea - that any human person can ever be treated as property to be used and disposed of rather than as a gift to be received, protected and respected. There are some “choices” which should never be allowed in a just society. The exercise of true freedom must be directed toward the true and the good or it becomes "anarchic" and "counterfeit". As we now look at the slavery of our past it is clear, the idea that an entire class of ...
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So, this inauguration has taken place on a day that is of vital importance in the world of witchcraft and the occult. Oh Bama, you must be barmy to allow such an evil time to herald you into your new seat. You must be mad to even consider wanting this, your day, to get mixed up with satanism. But you made no attempt to alter anything did you. This has to be your first public exposure of being a dumbo... and all your stupid followers fell for it. Not one drop of discernment to be found anywhere with anyone. Laughing stock No; 1. Congratulations idiot. January 20th. The day when the sun moves into the sign of Aquarius, the 11th sign of the Zodiac. Just like in the old song by Fifth Dimension who sing about a day which would come and bring change for a 1,000 years. Any Bible scholars out there that can find a link to this prophecy? And what about that evil satanic nasty word 'Inauguarate' Didn't Oh Bama know that this word comes from the ancient Latin language of the old Roman Empire. In ancient Rome there were soothsayers called 'augurs' who were invested...and infested with evil spirits. From the word augur, we get inauguarate which means to take omens...Charming I must say. Oh dear, Oh Bama, where did you go wrong. Was it all the lies you told to get into office? And a 'christian' you tell us? Rubish. True Christians don't act the way you do sir. You're a liar and a deceiver.
@KHanley: "But abortion isn't a religious issue...it's a human issue, one that concerns us all, whether we believe in God or in no God."
The only person you're fooling with that sentence is yourself. This is, from beginning to end, a religious issue, and to claim otherwise is pure sophistry or self delusion. Please.... stop kidding yourself.
The game isn't over...it won't ever be over because we aren't in charge of the game.
But nonetheless, we have our work cut out for us. Most people I know wouldn't resort to an abortion themselves, but feel they can't be in a position to tell another person what to do. The most common objection I hear is "But what if a woman is raped?" But what if...but what if...
These people are stuck in the idea that we have no right to tell others what to do. But we don't live independently of each other, we have to live together in a society so we have to have some agreement on how we shall live in peace.
There are those who keep painting the abortion issue as just a religious issue and are tickled that Obama is in office to settle the issue once and for all.
But abortion isn't a religious issue...it's a human issue, one that concerns us all, whether we believe in God or in no God.
People of faith have a valid case to make about why we as a society should not condone the evil act of abortion...and those who disagree would do well to listen and engage the argument, rather than simply dismiss it as the crazy rantings of a religious "fanatic".
The ones who favor "choice" may someday find the police state no longer "chooses" to support them and ends their life because they are a burden on the society. The pro-choice folks might finally listen to the religious fanatics then.
What does it mean? Political death for those who wanted to impose their religious beliefs on others, in contravention to everything Jefferson, Madison, Franklin and Paine (the author of Common Sense) demanded for this country.
Game over.
Deacon F.
Your well-crafted article is absolutely right, of course. But your hopes are all in vain, as I am sure you already know.
Our new president intends to frame this "new freedom" in precisely the opposite direction you propose.
He will speak to the freedom from the oppression of unwanted and hungry mouths we must feed due to the tyranny of religion and he will frame bans on gay marriage as the new slavery.
And he'll do it all by telling us what we think we want to hear.
Roe v Wade rooted abortion in the intrinsic principle of slavery--ownable, disposable humanity--that was established by the Dress Scott Case, which gave rise to the Civil War. This philosophical principle was essentially outlawed after the War, and then resurrected by Roe. Where can I send you my articles et al? Also, I've done some work on FOCA, which I would like to send you. Our Lord's Peace Pam T.
preventing or stopping the murder of the unborn living inside the mother's womb.....why is that so hard to do?
It is a shame that human beings born are trying to legalize the evil of stopping others from being born.The unborn babies have a right to live and deserve to live. Let us give them a chance in life !!!
THERE CAN BE NO FREEDOM IF THE RIGHTS OF THE UNBORN ARE NOT RESPECTED!ON THE CONTRARY, WE WILL LOSE OUR FREEDOMS!
Habakkuk 1:1-4
Habakkuk 1
The oracle that Habakkuk the prophet received.
Habakkuk's Complaint:
How long, O LORD, must I call for help, but you do not listen?
Or cry out to you, "Violence!"
but you do not save? Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrong? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict abounds. Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never prevails. The wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted.