Development and Peace gave a talk at our parish last night. Father wanted Ann and I to go but neither of us were interested. I emailed her a snippet from an email I sent Father. Here it is:
So I came clean with Father about D & P. I told him about the email from a D & P leader that scandalized me because of his enthusiastic support for Obama and his comparison of Obama to St. Martin de Porres (that still makes me sick to think of it!)
Father wrote back:
If a member of D&P is pro Obama or pro Harper or pro Ghandi, what difference does it make. It is the "in solidarity with the poor" that is at issue.
I didn't say this to Father but I will tell you - I think it makes a HUGE difference.
I did tell him that good intentions aren't enough. I used a few well known charities as examples. Here is a snippet of what I wrote:
Solidarity with the poor - that is a good intention. But having good intentions isn't enough in my book. It's like "Run for the Cure" donating a good chunk of their money to Planned Parenthood. No Catholic in their right mind can support Planned Parenthood. Yes, PP does provide free mammograms to poor women in the States but they also provide abortions. Or a recent case in our own parish - those Samaritan's Purse gift boxes.
Run for the Cure, Planned Parenthood and Samaritan's Purse all claim to help the sick and the poor but they all have other agendas that don't square with Catholic teaching, some hidden and some not so hidden.
I am sure there are many sincere individuals in D & P but I would rather give my money to people like Fr. D. in South America. Maybe it all comes down to a trust issue.
Then he gave up contacting me but did promise to bring some of my concerns to the meeting on Friday night. I was happy to hear that.
I know where Father is coming from - D & P is huge in helping the poor - but in the end this is not a doctrinal issue that we must assent to. Yes, we must help the poor but no, we don't have to do it through D & P. Yes, we have to respect the office of the bishop but no, we don't have to blindly follow him. In any case, our bishop isn't demanding this.
So....that's that....I hope. I am still going to keep an eye on D & P regarding the abortion issue but it will be the mission and my foster child and the food bank (and the appeal, and the collection, blah blah blah.....) that will get my money.
So she wrote back:
I know you have many thoughts which only consider the best for the church and I commend you on that greatly.
With regards to whoever one votes for, I would fight for a person's freedom to choose who they wish to vote for and not hold that against them. As for me, Obama is the only president that has had the courage to voice how he feels. It hardly means a member of D & P is pro abortion. No candidate has ever fulfilled all our concerns or hopes for a better future.
As for their other candidates and the politicians, you know how I feel. Some are actually working for the poor and common man and their greatest interest is not greed, money and how they can accommodate the friends who pay politically. Really, my prediction is that you will not see any prime minister or president who supposedly stands for Christian values ever say we have to get rid of abortions in this country. What they care about more is the god of greed and votes and popularity. At least Obama is man enough to say it out loud whether we agree or not. Sure, I do not like it either, but none of the others have ever done a thing about abortion but paid lip service to it. Lip service is paid for the Christian vote, not for true Christianity. I can see that by the way they govern, not for the people, for the rich. I have never seen anything against abortion come up in Congress or Parliament from a president or prime minister. What does that tell me?
So just because a politician doesn't come out with it, actions are much louder than words and as far as I am concerned, deceit is the worst. I see a whole lot of deceit coming from the politicians who only give lip service to the abortion issue.
The only way I can sort out my vote is by voting for the candidate who cares about the poor, cares about schools, cares about our medical, cares about our environment, etc. To vote for the candidate who says he/she is against abortion? Let me know exactly what action they have taken and I would certainly consider it in the future. Talk is cheap.
OK, some of that ramble I don't even get. And is it just me or is she contradicting herself all over the place???
So I wrote back:
Hi Ann,
Obama did not want to ban partial birth abortion.
This is how partial birth abortion is done.
1. Guided by ultrasound, the abortionist grabs the baby's leg with forceps.
2.The baby's leg is pulled out into the birth canal.
3.The abortionist delivers the baby's entire body, except for the head.
4.The abortionist jams scissors into the baby's skull. The scissors are then opened to enlarge the hole.
5. The scissors are removed and a suction catheter is inserted. The baby's brains are then sucked out and the head is removed from the womb, completing the procedure.
The baby is usually 32 - 40 weeks gestation. The baby feels pain. In one end of a hospital they are trying to save preemies born at 22 weeks and at the other end they killing 32 week old babies. Anybody that thinks that's "choice" is in total denial. Ice cream or cake is a choice, a baby is not.
(Amendment: Partial Birth Abortion, typically the baby is about 21-26 weeks. Older babies are killed with an injection of poison to the heart and delivered by induction. ~ thanks Suzanne for pointing that out.)
I would never vote for someone like Obama who sees unplanned children as 'punishments' (yes, he said that.)
With prayers,
Angela
Like I said, I know she is liberal (don't ever ask her about the environment!) but I had NO idea she was this deluded! Lord have mercy, Lord have mercy, Lord have mercy.
PS...If I hadn't just watched the Divine Mercy chaplet being sung on EWTN I would have deep sixed our friendship with the email I wanted to send. However, she will never learn if I treat her like that.
+++
