Syte Reitz

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Recent online discussion at the Wisconsin State Journal produced some comments defending FFRF’s (Freedom From Religion Foundation’s) legal challenges of religion as being “within their rights.”  I find it surprising that FFRF persists in their vendetta to eradicate public mention of religion, considering that atheists are often listed as tax-exempt religious organizations themselves, and even the textbook definition of religion includes the beliefs that they espouse.  So, ultimately atheists are just pushing their OWN religious beliefs in preference to those of others.

Supporters of FFRF have also argued that   Judeo-Christian values “have shaped Western Civilization by means of state-sanctioned swordpoint.” Perhaps FFRF and its supporters are confusing militant Islamic radicals with peace loving Christians in 2011?  It is hard to find evidence of “enforcement of religion by sword point” in the US, where 80% of us are Christian, and in Madison, where 53% are Catholic, 22% Evangelical Lutheran, and only 10% of the population is outside of Christian denominations (ref).   Not too many swords being wielded by Mayor Cieslewicz or by President Obama recently as far as I can tell.

. Is not FFRF jousting at windmills?  Like Don Quixote, FFRF has imagined an enemy where no enemy exists in 2011 America.

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If FFRF were so “within their rights,” they would have more supporters than 0.003 of 1% of America, their frivolous lawsuits would be on a larger and more meaningful scale than at present, and they would enjoy better success in court.

To date, most of their demands and lawsuits have been directed at small communities, which cannot afford litigation costs.  For example, recently FFRF has challenged Marshfield, WI’s City Council’s practice of  prayer . The population of Marshfield is about 18,000; Marshfield is about 7% the size of Madison.

A number of FFRF’s and similar legal challenges have already been denied by the courts.  The U.S. Supreme Court (1983, Nebraska Legislature prayer), as well as a 2008 U.S. Court of Appeals ruling written by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, have upheld legislative prayer .  Is FFRF also planning to initiate a lawsuit against President Obama, who ended his State of the Union address with the words “God bless America?”

FFRF’s recent, larger-scale attempt to declare the National Day of Prayer unconstitutional did succeed for one week in April of 2010 with a liberal Wisconsin judge (Barbara B. Crabb,District Judge) ruling in their favor, but the ruling was promptly challenged by the U.S. Department of Justice .  The Obama administration is planning to fight to preserve the law establishing the National Day of Prayer.  The idea of a national Day of Prayer has existed since 1775, and was supported by the constitutional congress, and by numerous Presidents, including President Lincoln.

The rationale for preserving the National Day of Prayer can be found at the American Center for Law and Justice .

There can be no denying that FFRF efforts towards the enforcement of public ATHEISM should be resisted by all reasonable Americans, just as those trying to force ANY particular religion should be resisted.   FFRF’s efforts at intimidation of small communities by litigation are misguided and are to be condemned.  FFRF should practice the same tolerance towards religious Americans that religious Americans practice towards FFRF.

Why are our many different religious roots so revered in the United States?  The United States was first settled by people fleeing governments which forbade free exercise of religion. In more recent times, my own relatives came here fleeing the occupation of Lithuania by an atheist regime which denied religious freedom.  Those unable to escape, spent decades in Siberian exile and in concentration camps.  I wonder if FFRF atheists realize where radical vendettas by intolerant people wishing to control the beliefs of others (either atheist zealots OR religious zealots) can lead?  How many RELIGIOUS groups have intimidated FFRF with numerous and frivolous lawsuits?

St. Pauls Catholic Center, UW Madison

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My interest in the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) was sparked last month when the FFRF started opposing the private plans of the Catholic Student Center in my town, Madison (http://sytereitz.com/2011/01/freeedom-from-religion/ ).  Since then, in one month I have seen stories online about FFRF’s attempts to interfere in local affairs in Giles County, VA, Iowa State Legislature, Colorado, Ellwood City, PA, Yakima, WA, Polk County, FL, and more.

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In each case, FFRF seems to rely on the limitations of small local budgets to intimidate the local groups, demanding that they eliminate public expression of religion, or suffer large litigation costs.

Although FFRF claims that any public expression of religion violates the Constitution, many others believe the reverse to be true, and some court rulings have upheld public expression of religion, including pre- legislative prayer and display of the Ten Commandments.  FFRF seems to rely on threats of litigation toward SMALL communities with SMALL budgets to achieve its goals of banishing religion incrementally.

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The U.S. Bill of Rights states: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof”.

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The communities affected by FFRF’s threats of litigation, as well as all communities across America which are in sympathy with preserving our Constitutionally guaranteed right to freedom of religion, should band together to fight the relatively small FFRF together.  FFRF constitutes only 0.003 of 1% of America’s population, while religious people and Christians constitute 90% and 80%.  FFRF’s holdings are $5million, and their annual income is $500,000.  They have a paid staff of four people.  By business standards, this is a relatively small outfit.  If conservative America joined forces, this radical atheist organization with its unconstitutional agenda would be relatively easy to defeat.

One more avenue of opposition to FFRF’s agenda would be for conservative America to join the affected communities in establishing pre-legislative prayer, display of the 10 commandments/Constitution in schools, and nativity displays at Christmas in numerous communities across the nation.  The more communities joining in such an effort, the more FFRF’s limited resources would be spread thin.

This is one battle America could easily win.

The ultra-“progressive” and Christophobic tide of the media may be turning!

Daniel Henninger, wrote an opinion piece in today’s Wall Street Journal entitled Popes, Atheists and Freedom, which voices the  sentiment that “secularists should recognize that the pope’s fight is their fight.” Henninger goes on to describe the crucial role of Popes John Paul II and Benedict in the defense of freedom, and quotes the second volume of George Weigel’s biography of Pope John Paul II, The End and the Beginning, in which Weigel analyzes the archives of several former Communist intelligence services.

Daniel Henninger

Henninger goes on to conclude:

It has been odd in recent years to see prominent atheists make so much effort to diminish Judeo-Christian belief. In the modern world, and certainly in the U.S. from the Pilgrims onward to the Bill of Rights, religious practice has been bound up in the idea—now the principle—of individual freedom. I don’t think secularist arguments alone for individual freedoms have sufficient strength and fiber to stand against their current opposition.

Before Christmas Henninger had indicated that the country is moving to the right in an article entitled Holiday Optimism, Limited Edition.

Conservative is the new liberal!

Praise be to God!

Daniel Henninger’s video statement:

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Madison.com news (Wisconsin State Journal/Cap Times) is a frequent source of inspiration for this blog. 

Wisconsin Institutes of Discovery

Most recently, the Cap Times published an article on the grand opening of the new 205 million dollar Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery research building at UW Madison, which was formally opened yesterday, Dec 2, 2010.

The purpose of the new research building and the ethical concerns raised by peaceful protesters outside took a back seat to the coverage of a union labor dispute over food workers to be employed in the new building.  The union dispute dominated the grand opening, dominated the Cap Times article and dominated the ensuing online discussion.

It is odd the Cap Times article and discussion should consider a restaurant labor dispute to be of higher importance than the PURPOSE of the new building which was the subject of the grand opening, or more important than the ethical questions raised by the existence of the building and by the peaceful pro-lifers protesting outside.  Granted, the union protesters were unruly and disruptive, but the Cap Times should not have given them the platform they were trying to demand.  The Cap Times should also have devoted more space to the discussion of the real issues, and should have represented both sides of the embryonic stem cell research debate, rather than favoring the morally controversial research.

In actual fact, a major motivation behind building the Institutes for Discovery at

A Person is a Person no Matter How Small

UW Madison was to facilitate embryonic stem cell research by UW scientists, at a time when federal funding of embryonic stem cell research was forbidden due to moral concerns.  The majority of Americans still now oppose federal funding of embryonic stem cell research, and numerous moral authorities continue to oppose this research.  EMBRYONIC stem cell research is to be distinguished from ADULT stem research, which is morally acceptable (see Stem Cells).

The Institutes of Discovery plan was to erect a building in which one half was devoted to faculty doing research permitted by the U.S. government, while the other half of the building was devoted to doing private research, for which government approval was withheld.  Thus, scientists doing controversial research could comfortably move back and forth within the building, continuing the controversial research without losing their federal funding for other research projects.

Human stem cells

Basically, the Institutes for Discovery created a loophole to allow forbidden research to be carried out on the UW campus.

Now that President Obama has permitted federal funding of embryonic stem cell research, the Institutes for Discovery is actually an expensive and unnecessary embarrassment.  The building may come in handy if the next administration again forbids federal funding of embryonic stem cell research; however, the next administration might be too smart to fall for this evasion, so that will not be certain.

The fact that this amount of money could be spent in an effort to evade federal regulations, while staff salaries are being cut by UW Madison and employees are required to take “furlough” due to the economy, is disappointing and shocking.  The initial idea was equally shocking – that UW would insist on carrying out research that was morally opposed by more than half of America (57%), and was forbidden on federally funded grants.

Such irresponsible spending and disregard for the ethical concerns  of most Americans is just as suicidal in a University as it it in a nation.  UW is making some pretty big mistakes.  We need a more fiscally and morally responsible administration.

UW–Madison tribute to academic freedom (Bascom Hall)

Since my kids’ recent graduation from UW Madison, I have great affection and concern for the well-being of the remaining 40,000 young souls trudging around our hometown campus every day.  As they heft their backpacks across miles of campus in search of learning and wisdom, it is my hope that this liberal campus does not succeed in excluding millenia of cumulative Judeo-Christian wisdom from consideration, in the sifting and winnowing process that UW Madison boasts of at Bascom Hall.

Finding some articles which promoted promiscuity and pornography to new students in the local student paper this fall  (authored by a “sexual health educator”), one of my back-to-school projects is to begin refuting those misleading and widespread articles with some truths.

The articles I found completely disregard the health implications of promiscuous behavior, which can have life-changing implications for students.  Regarding sexually transmitted diseases (STD’s), the subject of this post, I came across some pretty interesting information –

• 25% of all college students have STD’s, and 65% of all STD’s occur in people under the age of 25.
• For an idea of what kind of life you can expect with STD’s, see this Oprah YouTube , 10/7/2010:
  

. (The Oprah YouTube has been removed.  See transcript of this Oprah segment.)

• Regarding using “protection” – the use of condoms results in only 85% prevention of either pregnancy or STDs, including HIV.  That means that 1 woman out of 7 will be pregnant within one year, and a comparable, paltry 85% reduction in HIV infection can be expected.

To college students — is this the type of gamble you would like to take with your life and with your future?

This is what the Church, your parents, and “religious people” are trying to protect you from.  God invented knowledge, wisdom and love.  Since liberal UW Madison will not teach you God’s brand of wisdom, research it on your own.

St.Pauls’ University Catholic Center

Madison’s “Isthmus” Cathedral Parish

Promiscuity Education?

Is our government DISCOURAGING abstinence and PROMOTING promiscuity and birth control for children?

Sounds unwise and unlikely, but facts certainly seem to point to this.

U.S. Dept of Health and Human Services

A recent U.S. government survey indicated that 70% of U.S. parents and 60% of U.S. teens favor abstinence before marriage. The Obama administration refused to release this study for 18 months after its completion, stonewalling numerous public requests for release.  Upon release, the study was not reported by mainstream media, but was described by conservative news sources .  Now, 6 wks after the release of the HHS report, the document is no longer available at the HHS website, and is difficult to find.  Fortunately, a copy of the original PDF document was available on an obscure Czechoslovakian website.  It is posted here .

Why is the Obama administration interested in hiding this abstinence attitude study which indicates that the majority of Americans favor abstinence?

The State of Wisconsin (Governor Doyle’s administration) is also pushing the permanent expansion of all birth control services in Wisconsin, including free birth control services for children as young as 15 years old, without their parental knowledge or consent ( ).

Recent legislation introduced by Senator Risser, passed by the Wisconsin legislature, and signed by Governor Doyle in February 2010,  prohibits the teaching of abstinence-only sex education in the public schools of Wisconsin and establishes an alternative program of sex education for children as young as ten.  The “education” program will be developed by Planned Parenthood, whose perspective on human sexuality excludes abstinence education, and can better be described by Christians as “promiscuity education.”  If you are skeptical of this description, see the Planned Parenthood pamphlet “Healthy, Happy and Hot,” which was distributed by girl scouts at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women in March 2010.

The interest of the state and federal governments in the regulation of children’s sexual education, particularly in the teaching of liberalized notions of sexually which are at odds with the beliefs of most Americans, defies reason.

The government is opposing the will of the people, the 70% of parents and 60% of teenagers who advocate abstinence.

The liberal policies promoted by the government are also inconsistent and illogical.

It is Illegal in the U.S. for adults to have sex with minors, supposedly because minors are not yet mentally and emotionally mature enough to make responsible sexual decisions.  Yet Obama, Doyle, Risser, etc., want to encourage public school teachers and medical personnel to provide birth control, to illustrate it’s use graphically to minors, and to use taxpayer dollars to pay for the cost of the encouraging our young in the promiscuous lifestyle.  One adult goes to jail for having sex with minors, while another adult gets paid to encourage sexual activity by minors!

Justice

Do our government leaders not see the inconsistency?  If minors are not mentally and emotionally mature enough to make responsible sexual decisions, how can it be legal to encourage them to be sexually active with each other?  How can teachers get up in front of classrooms full of children and describe graphically to them all of their sexual options?  How can those same teachers in good conscience fail to describe the medical and emotional consequences of promiscuity?  What happens when one of two children who were “sexually active” together turns 18, and now their “sexual activity” becomes “criminal?”

What could the government be thinking?

Does the government have some alternative agenda?

• Is the government trying to reduce teen pregnancy?  Encouraging early sexual activity does not accomplish this.
• Is the government trying to reduce population? Encouraging early sexual activity does not accomplish this.  (Besides,  overpopulation is a myth.)
• Is the government trying to reduce STD’s in the population?  Encouraging early sexual activity does not accomplish this. In fact, the Center for Disease Control recommends abstinence for this purpose.

If government action appears to be irrational, what other groups are stakeholders in these child sex education issues?

Is “promiscuity education” part of the business plan of America’s largest abortion corporation?

Planned Parenthood seems to be closely involved with government in the control and curriculum development for sexual education of children.  Yet there is a serious conflict of interest here.

Planned Parenthhod, Houston, Texas

Planned Parenthood is the largest abortion corporation in America, and their primary source of income comes from destroying human life.  Although Planned Parenthood claims that only 3% of their “procedures” include abortion, this claim is misleading.  When the distribution of 1 condom is counted as one “procedure,” the abortions appear to be rare “procedures” by comparison.  However, at a cost of  ~$500-$1,000 per abortion, the costs add up to over 1/3 of Planned Parenthood’s profits.  Close to another third of profits come from treatment of STD’s.  Planned Parenthood’s profits are over 1 billion dollars per year, and they receive over $350 million dollars in government subsidies (federal and state).  Planned Parenthood would have a clear economic incentive in encouraging extreme and liberalized sex education in public schools for the maximization of their own profits, through both abortion and STD treatment.

Abby Johnson, previously the director of one of Planned Parenthood’s largest national abortion facilities, has described that Planned Parenthood set corporation “Family Planning” goals for doubling the number of abortions they wish to perform in the coming year.  According to Abby, abortion is a priority at Planned Parenthood, that’s where they make their money, and the pregnancy prevention budget of Planned Parenthood is negligible compared with the abortion budget and income.  Another ex-employee of Planned Parenthood has reported that calculations of the number of abortions to be expected per young girl per lifetime are included in their business projections.

Why would Planned Parenthood condone promiscuous behavior in young children?  Is it too shocking to suggest that Planned Parenthood WANTS kids to be sexually active as much as possible, and to come back as repeat customers for numerous abortions?  Consumer reports have rated Planned Parenthood condoms the worst quality of all brands.  Some have suggested that the intentional distribution of defective condoms by Planned Parenthood would increase their abortion business, as well as their STD treatment business.

Margaret Sanger

Alternatively, some suggest that the historical roots of Planned Parenthood influence their policies.  Planned Parenthood was established by Margaret Sanger, a notorious eugenicist who believed in reducing  “unwanted” groups in the population – including blacks, the poor and criminals.  COULD these historical roots could still be operating today?  The fact is that 77% of African-American pregnancies are aborted right now (Abby Johnson).   African American babies are three times more likely to be aborted than white babies, according to data from the U.S. Center for Disease Control.  Since Roe v. Wade in 1973, the black population in the U.S. has been reduced by over 25 percent.

Could an African-American President be promoting the pre-birth genocide of his own people?   Is the President unaware of these facts?

Exploring the motivation behind the recent irrational and scandalous policies of our governments in the area of child sexuality does not lead to any obvious conclusions.  What DOES make sense in a democracy, however, is to listen to the people and to accept the majority morality – in the case of the United States, Judeo-Christian morality and abstinence.

Ten Commandments

It might be a surprise to some, but there ARE numerous families who succeed in raising their children to be respectful of the procreative power of the human body, and who have no problem with abstinence before marriage.  70% of American parents and 60% of American teens support abstinence.  Numerous families have remarkable success instilling the values of self-control, respect for others, and delayed gratification in their children.

It’s time for our government to start listening to the American people and to stop legislating poorly thought out, inconsistent, and possibly profit-motivated immoral policies, which can only serve to endanger our children and the future of our civilization.

Planned Parenthood, the largest abortion corporation in America, will be developing the sex education programs to be used in Wisconsin public schools.  Here is an example of their work, which was distributed by girl scouts at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women in March 2010:

PDF of “Healthy, Happy and Hot”

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ National Survey of Adolescents and Their Parents: Attitudes and Opinions About Sex and Abstinence. Project No. 60005  Final Report February 26, 2009; released Aug 8, 2010:

U.S. Dept of Health and Human Services

Origial PDF Text of National Survey of Adolescents and Their Parents: Attitudes and Opinions About Sex and Abstinence

Conclusions:

• 70% of U.S. parents support abstinence until marriage
• 60% of U.S. teens support abstinence until marriage

The Obama administration refused to release this study for 18 months after its completion, stonewalling numerous public requests for release.

September is here, and everyone’s getting ready for school. I stumbled across a Badger Herald article entitled “Great Sexpectations,” which flippantly steered new UW student arrivals toward sexual experimentation, and towards facilities such as Planned Parenthood.

So I submitted a comment. (Hope it gets published!)

Motto: Numen Lumen ("God, our Light")

Flippant attitudes toward sex lead to pain and anguish.

The human body carries the ability to create new human life. It’s called sex.

Misuse of this ability, just like misuse of any other human function, can lead to great trouble.

A recent government study has shown that 70% of parents and 54 % of Teens say that sex before marriage is wrong. Release of this study was delayed by the Obama administration for 18months (study dated Feb ’09, released only Aug 23, ’10), presumably because the administration did not like the results of the study.

The fact of the matter is that there are reasons for caution and for the morality that has been respected by our civilization for thousands of years. The reasons include reluctance to kill preborn children, reluctance to deal with psychological problems, depression, STD’s, and reluctance to destroy one’s chances of finding true love in a good marriage in the future.

Bascom Hill

At UW Madison, you will rarely hear this more cautious and conservative attitude that is shared by the vast majority in America. At UW Madison, you will most likely hear a forced, radical liberal agenda, driven by the pursuit of immediate gratification, regardless of future consequences to yourself or to others. UW Madison is often quite intolerant of Christian sexuality.

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Hopefully anybody admitted to a university with the academic caliber of UW Madison will already have learned the benefits of delayed gratification, and will not jump into recreational sex as this article seems to condone. DO your homework (start with the links in this article), find out the consequences of your actions, and take the trouble to locate the 54% of teens in your class who think it’s wrong to have sex before marriage.

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There are lots of groups on campus who can support you in this choice – starting with St. Paul’s Catholic Center — for the numerous students coming from Catholic homes, or for anyone else interested in a Christian perspective on life. Madison’s Cathedral Parish is another great place to look for fellowship and support in a holy and healthy lifestyle.

In defense of the sanctity of human life, the dignity of marriage as a union of husband and wife, and the freedom of conscience and religion–

has created an online campaign to collect signatures.

So far, 247 United States religious leaders , including 55 Roman Catholic Bishops (Bishop Morlino, Bishop Chaput, Archbishop Dolan and others) have signed the Manhattan Declaration.

A total of 467,033 signatures have been collected to date in support of the Manhattan Declaration. Have YOU signed the Manhattan Declaration?

Read the Declaration

Sign the Declaration