First and foremost, praise and thanksgiving be to God, who is all Good!
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Our confidence in Him, and in the American majority who pray to Him and who seek truth, decency and fairness, and the God Who answers them, has been borne out. .
Our confidence in the Constitution of the United States, which was founded on Judeo-Christian morality, is also borne out.
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The United States is still a democracy, under God, and the system, despite abuses, still works.
Imagineagine
Imagine how even more impressive the results would have been if all voter fraud had been absent!
Thanks
We thank God that now the slaughter of abortion will not continue to be encouraged and funded by our tax dollars, nor will that slaughter of our unborn future citizens be condoned by the highest court in our land.
We thank God that religious freedom for Christians, which has already been curtailed under President Obama, will not be further curtailed, but will be restored.
What’s Next?
And now we roll up our sleeves to pray for our new President and for our nation.
We pray that Donald Trump, after spending the last year talking with rural America and campaigning with his evangelical Catholic Vice-President, will undergo a conversion mirroring that of St. Paul the Evangelist.
And if he doesn’t, we emboldened religious citizens of America, and the decent men and women with whom Donald Trump has surrounded himself, will do our best to keep him on track.
We also pray that our opposition eventually realizes that this election result is a blessing, even for them.
We pray that they do not fear the monstrous false image of conservatives that their media has created for them, and we pray that our charitable behavior towards all will dispel that false image.
We can ask ourselves in hindsight, “Why are we not surprised when kindergarteners vote for lollipops, instead of voting for healthy meals?” Ask Michelle Obama about that. Not sure she has an easy time with Barack’s nutritional choices.
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One thing we keep forgetting is that the prerequisite, for the success of democracy, is an ethical population.
In the absence of an ethical population, self-indulgence rules, and those least committed to justice and equality rapidly find ways of helping themselves to the national treasury, on every level, political and individual. When the number of such individuals grows too large, the nation begins to sink.
We can allow ourselves a moment of self-pity and regret.
Then we roll up our sleeves and start to patch the boat.
We can remind ourselves that humanity has done this for millennia- made mistakes, rolled up sleeves, and salvaged the wreckage with the help of God. From the Old Testament tribulations of the Jews to the trials suffered by our parents and grandparents in World War II. Apparently our assignment or “war” is the cultural war, which seeks to replace the Judeo-Christian foundations of the Constitution of the United States, with self-indulgent secular values, which discard the Ten Commandments. We have lost a battle, but the war goes on.
As throughout the rest of history, God remains on our side.
Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for your selves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light. – Matthew 11:28
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The good news is that half of America still understands the importance of Judeo-Christian values.
The other half, like most young people, need to make some mistakes and suffer a few bruises before they figure out where they are going wrong.
If we’re at all honest, we say “Been there, done that.”
And our job is to tolerate them, to love them, to pray for them, and to help them.
Don’t get me wrong, not to facilitate. But to watch for opportunities to provide constructive help.
The dream of achieving paradise on earth is always a tempting one, but in reality, no nation has ever achieved it, so we should not be surprised that we struggle to do so.
God will see us through.
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And now, for my moment of personal self-pity before I roll up my sleeves once again:
Taking Life and Death Out of the Hands of Providence and Placing them into the Hands of Human Beings Paves the Way for Tyranny
or
Why Democrats Should Rethink Abortion
Background
January 22, 2012 marked 39years since Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision which legalized abortion in the United States (1973).
For 39 years, we have been terminating pregnancies clandestinely, most of us giving little thought to the ethics, economic implications, medical dangers, psychological effects, or any other aspect of abortion.
Media does not discuss abortion. Friends and relatives rarely mention abortion. Yet one third of all children conceived since 1973 in the US (54 million of them) have been aborted. That means that 15% of our population is missing, and that one out of every 7 people is missing. And, if you consider that they would also have had some children, the number missing is even greater. Many of us may be missing brothers and sisters about whom we know nothing. Scores of women we know have aborted children, and most of us know nothing about it.
Purpose
The present article reviews the enormity of abortion, its effects on our entire society, and the exploitation of whole populations by modern politicians, who appear to be motivated by the same quest for power and gain as famous historical tyrants.
Questions
The central questions:
Is abortion right or wrong?
Is abortion a big deal?
How much is 52 million?
Do most Americans favor abortion?
Are women who have had abortions better off?
Why do most women avoid discussing their abortions?
Is a fetus a dispensable blob of tissue (see photo above), or is it a human being with a right to life guaranteed by the US Constitution?
Have we done anything to imbalance our society and our economy with all of this abortion?
What are the major motivations of abortion proponents? continue reading…
It is with hesitation that I embark on discussing the behavior of liberals, particularly in reference to recent labor disputes at the Wisconsin State Capitol, which is located 3 miles from my home and 3 blocks from my parish Church. Most often I try to avoid criticizing the behavior of others, keeping in mind the Biblical counsel:
How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me remove that splinter in your eye,’ when you do not even notice the wooden beam in your own eye? You hypocrite! Remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter in your brother’s eye. – Luke 6:42
But events at the Wisconsin State Capitol in recent weeks have culminated in a situation that commands some discussion. The pursuit and cornering of conservative Senator Grothman by 200 aggressive liberals, ultimately requiring his rescue by firefighters, was broadcast on FOX news, but was glossed over by most liberal media last week:
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This shocking event, which included shouting, intimidation, chanting “shame,” bleeped vulgar
No violence? Hmmm...
expletives, drum beating and blowing of whistles, reflected the general uncivilized aggressive attitudes displayed by demonstrators at the Wisconsin State Capitol during the past 3 weeks. It is a situation that could easily have caused injury and/or heart attack to the elderly Senator, and is at very least shameful in the lack of respect with which an elected representative of the people of the United States was treated by an angry liberal mob.
This shocking treatment of Senator Grotham by liberals illustrates quite a double standard, particularly when compared with the criticism conservatives suffered recently from liberal media regarding the use of crosshair imagery during the last election, particularly after the shooting of Representative Giffords, and at least while liberal media still thought that the shooter could be tied to conservatives.
The ultimate question with which I struggled for 3 weeks before writing this post, and with which all conservatives in America must struggle, is how does a reserved conservative like me, who tries to live by the golden rule (do unto others as you would have them do unto you) and by the rule of forbearance (assume the best imaginable explanation for another’s behavior), how do we deal with vocal and liberal opponents who do not feel constrained by the same behavioral guidelines that we respect and revere?
How do you win a battle against opponents who use aggressive tactics which you consider immoral and which you yourself refuse to use? Should we remain the silent majority?
So far this past month, liberal supporters of Wisconsin unions have broken a number of rules and regulations which are generally essential for the orderly operation of society, and which have never been observed in conservative demonstrations such as those involving the Tea Party or Pro-Life:
14 legislators have left the State of Wisconsin so that police could not force them to attend State legislature voting sessions that they are legally obliged to attend. These senators are sabotaging democracy and showing no respect for the people’s choices during the November 2010 election. They are advocating rule not by the majority, but by the loudest and the most aggressive.
Thousands of Madison teachers have not only gone on strike, depriving children of education, and have lied fraudulently about their motives, claiming to be sick. They are teaching our children to lie.
UW Madison doctors have appeared downtown handing out sick notes to demonstrators, a clear violation of medical ethics and a willful deception and cheating of the taxpayers by medical doctors. They are also teaching our children to lie.
Thousands of demonstrators have refused to leave the State Capitol at closing time, sleeping inside the Capitol and making it impossible for maintenance staff to do their work. Maintenance staff have indicated their fear of the crowds, not feeling safe in doing their work.
Police unions, whose jobs were unaffected by the proposed budget cuts, sympathized with the teachers unions, and stopped ticketing vehicles which were illegally parked downtown, as well as refusing to protect legislators like Senator Grothman from aggressive crowds. Liberal media gleefully claimed “peaceful demonstrators” and “no arrests” each day, when in actual fact Madison’s police appeared to be on strike were not performing all their duties.
Over the course of the 3 week demonstration, some claim that the demonstrators caused $7.5 million damage to the stately Madison Capitol building
Wisconsin State Capitol Building
which was constructed of 43 types of stone from six countries and eight states around 1910. The $7.5 million damage is larger than the original cost of the erecting the Capitol in 1910 ($7.25 million).
The Capitol building, probably for the first time in its 100-year history, began to stink.
Demonstrators have been imported into Madison by unions all over the U.S., from as far away as California. President Obama has also sent supporters and has voiced support for the unions, despite the fact that the President’s own federal workers do not enjoy the luxurious privileges the Wisconsin unions are trying to maintain for themselves. Wisconsin taxpayers are now the victims of the entire nation’s belligerent union hierarchy.
Homeless people have abandoned local Church shelters in favor of living in the Capitol building, where free pizza is provided by out-of-state union bosses.
Union demonstrators have abandoned all rules of professionalism and civility. Posters and
Sign with crosshairs over Governer Walker's face
chants reflect violence, hate and vulgarity, totally eclipsing the “crosshairs” controversy following the shooting of Representative Giffords this January. Signs have routinely compared Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker to Hitler, Benito Mussolini and Hosni Mubarak and showed the Wisconsin governor with a cross-hairs rifle sight over his face . Fourteen of the “100 best posters at the Wisconsin Capitol” are too vulgar to show on this website . One sign reads “Hey, Walker, WI Ranger, who’s gonna wipe yer ___ when U have a stroke???”
Live ammunition was found stashed outside the Wisconsin State Capitol by police.
Residents and groups surrounding the Madison Capitol building have suffered poor treatment from demonstrators. Our Holy Redeemer Catholic Church, part of Madison’s downtown Catholic Cathedral Parish, has struggled to keep parking open for Church members. When approached by Church staff with requests not to use our parking lot, demonstrators use vulgarity and tell Church staff to “get a life.” Police do not help either, they have stopped ticketing downtown.
Demonstrators have not been acting like teachers, but more like angry mobsters.
Demonstrators, as well as the liberal media, have misrepresented the issues, exaggerating and misquoting the Governor’s terms and failing to explain the rationale behind both points of view—pro-union and pro-balanced budget. Truth seems to have no role in this debate, and liberal media does not seem interested in discussion. Some representative photos from Vicki McKenna.
While 60,000 liberals skipped work, demonstrated and trashed the Wisconsin Capitol, 126,000 conservatives signed an online “Stand with Walker” petition, went to work, took care of their children who were abandoned by teachers, and prepared to pay for the damage the demonstrating minority was causing. Incidentally, there are only about 100,000 union members in Wisconsin, in contrast to the 5,000,000 taxpayers who do not have union benefits and are paying their bills.
It is an established fact that some demographic differences exist between liberals and conservatives. The differences are primarily philosophical, NOT racial or ethnic, as liberal media would imply:
The increased Church attendance and respect for marriage indicated above in conservatives reflects their willingness to conform to the Judeo-Christian values
Ten Commandments
encompassed by the Ten Commandments, on which our systems of law have historically been based. It is easy to see the projection of this voluntary self-restraint onto acceptable codes of public behavior, which translate into the peaceful and dignified political gatherings and respect for public property characteristic of Tea Party and Pro-Life gatherings nationwide – particularly in the January 2011 March for Life in Washington DC (just 2 weeks prior to the union demonstrations at the Wisconsin State Capitol), where 400,000 people gathered peacefully to show their support for Life, but which Madison’s liberal media did not mention at all.
This past month, the converse, a distinct LACK of voluntary self-restraint, lack of peaceful and dignified protests and lack of respect for public property, has been observed in downtown Madison during the union protests.
These recent events in Madison are by no means unique. In my 20+ years living as a conservative in liberal Madison, I have personally witnessed numerous times a dramatic difference in the demeanor of liberals and of conservatives in the public square.
Vigil for Life, Fewb 2010
One year ago at a Pro-Life rally in February of 2010, I observed over 1,000 reserved, well-dressed and well-behaved pro-lifers at Madison’s Library Mall standing in the winter cold, listening quietly to pro-life speakers (which included Senator Grotham), while 20 -30 liberal student radicals, rallying to the campus-wide spam invitation issued by student socialists, yelled, chanted, attempted to disrupt speeches, performed lascivious strip-tease in a nearby raised platform in front of children, and were finally restrained and led off by police. Madison’s liberal media did an abysmal job of reporting this event, failing to report the difference in numbers at this event (1,000 versus 25), and failing to report the difference in demeanor of the two groups. To read the brief Madison newspaper report, it would seem that opposing groups of similar size confronted each other briefly downtown.
This 40:1 ratio of civilized well-behaved citizens to loud disruptors at the Pro-Life rally above is similar to the 50:1 ratio of Wisconsin citizens who work and pay the bills to protesting union workers at the Wisconsin State Capitol last month (5 million to 100,000). Yet again, the minority is attempting to control the majority by intimidation.
Another recent contrast in the demeanor of liberals and conservatives is illustrated by my blog post on the Madison pro-marriage rally of Aug 1, 2010 . During the pro-marriage rally, Catholic Bishop of Madison led conservative attendees in praying the “Our Father,” while hundreds of liberals surrounded them yelling and chanting, disrupting the prayer and attempting to approach the podium where the Bishop was standing, again restrained by police.
I refrain from using the political labels Democrat or Republican intentionally. I include myself among numerous conservative independents who have never belonged to one political party, and whose beliefs are not in line with one party platform. However, I must say that in recent years I am finding myself (steered by my Pro-Life views) most often in sympathy with the Republican Party.
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In addition, the uncivilized and inconsiderate behavior of liberal Democrats in recent years, observed in numerous situations similar to those described here, has struck me as threatening democracy and attempting to replace democracy with mob rule. No society can function like this. Any rational person must ask—why did the Republicans NOT walk out of Congress and the Senate when ObamaCare was on the table, but the Democrats DID walk out when they did not like the legislation being discussed in Wisconsin? How can democracy function when minority legislators hijack the democratic process by refusing to follow the rules?
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The seeming readiness of liberals to break ALL rules – State Capitol visiting hour rules, legislative rules, teachers sick leave rules, medical ethics rules, rules of cleanliness, rules of polite and respectful discourse, rules of civilized language and behavior in front of children, rules regarding use of live ammunition, and common sense rules about public behavior – the breaking of all these rules makes discussion impossible. The demonstrators do not appear at all interested in discussion of the common good. They only seem interested in keeping their comfortable privileges by any means necessary, be that bullying, trashing Wisconsin’s State Capitol, or mob rule.
This is not the America we love and that our military risks their lives to protect.
It is time for the silent majority to become even MORE active than they were in November 2010.
Syte Reitz grew up in Queens, New York, in a family of Lithuanian immigrants who fled Nazi and Soviet domination during World War II. Her education includes a Ph.D. in Biochemistry, and post-doctoral work at Princeton University. Syte left her job as an Assistant Professor at Oakland University, Michigan, to devote herself to raising her children, and ultimately homeschooled them through the end of high school. She is a member of Madison's Cathedral Parish.
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Another recent contrast in the demeanor of liberals and conservatives is illustrated by 
Syte Reitz grew up in Queens, New York, in a family of Lithuanian immigrants who fled Nazi and Soviet domination during World War II. Her education includes a Ph.D. in Biochemistry, and post-doctoral work at Princeton University. Syte left her job as an Assistant Professor at Oakland University, Michigan, to devote herself to raising her children, and ultimately homeschooled them through the end of high school. She is a member of Madison's Cathedral Parish.
