As I reflected on yesterday's election, the following lyrics from an Iron Maiden song I used to listen to came to mind (yes, I used to be a headbanger!):
2 minutes to midnight;
the hands that threaten doom;
2 minutes to midnight;
to kill the unborn in the womb.
This is perhaps the darkest hour in post-modern history. We must band together like never before to fight for the lives of the unborn children, to save women from physical and emotional harm, to save men from lost fatherhood, to save families from utter ruin, to end the American Holocaust and bring God's blessing back on our country.
At the beginning of the song mentioned above (at least on the version from the "Live after Death" album), the following inspirational words from Winston Churchill are spoken, in reference to the attempted Nazi takeover of Great Britain and all of Europe. I will change the wording a bit to reflect our current challenge in America, as noted by the words in bold (to see the original quote, click here):
We shall go on till the end. We shall fight in our churches. We shall fight in the legislatures and courts. We shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the Lord. We shall defend life what ever the cost may be. We shall fight in our cities and we shall fight in our towns. We shall fight on the sidewalks and in the streets. We shall fight in our homes. We will never surrender.
The Battle for America is about to begin. Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that if the American Republic should last a thousand years, men will still say: This was their finest hour.
God bless America, one nation, under God, indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for ALL, born and pre-born!
2 comments:
Thank God and may He bless you for being such a strong and authentic Catholic husband and father. I feel this election outcome is an invitation to deeper conversion and a call to make reparation for the sins of impurity in our nation. Also, a friend witnessed to me yesterday that, if Obama becomes president, God may be allowing it so that we can unite our sufferings with the sufferings of Christ. God bless you, Joe!
I agree anonymous, this may well be a call to purifcation and increased Holiness of the Church.
May I put forward the action suggested by this group. Not to join it, but to consider their suggestion that we need to move right away on this:
Consistent Life Action Alert
1. On-line Petition
Consistent Life's member group Sojourners is collecting signatures for a "Prayer and Pledge" to call upon President-Elect Obama to be accountable for his promises and to pledge to be part of a citizen movement to help him when he does. One of the four items for high priority is explicitly the consistent life ethic, which includes ending the death penalty and reducing abortions; poverty and war are two of the other high priorities.
The case of abortion is most tricky, of course, since Obama's public rhetoric on this has not been consistent as to abortion reduction, his less publically-known actions and statements have been worse, and he maintains a "pro-choice" position. Nevertheless, we must work with what we have, and trying to hold president-elect Obama to the more positive parts of what he has said is one of many strategies we now have.
Those interested in either signing on or simply knowing more about this campaign can go to:
http://go.sojo.net/campaign/prayerandpledge/8us83erq7kbtk36?source=act_0811_pledge
This is a faith-community campaign, so those who prefer a more secular approach can still write their own letters or otherwise organize.
2. FOCA
One especially dangerous piece of legislation we need to work on urgently before the Congress even convenes is the so-called "Freedom of Choice Act" (FOCA). You can find a fact sheet on it at: http://www.usccb.org/prolife/issues/FOCA/index.shtml
We need to move quickly to educate the newly-elected as to what is wrong with this before they sign on. We can ask current co-sponsors of FOCA to remove their names. For a website with Members of Congress who presently co-sponsor FOCA, see http://nchla.org/datasource/idocuments/9FOCA%20HsSnSpon15a%2008.pdf.
Of course, letters and visits to all of Congressmembers, along with letters to the editor of newspapers and blog postings, are needed. In many cases, explaining what is wrong with this from a consistent life perspective may be especially effective.
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