Friday, February 27, 2015

Media bias against pro-lifers

Matt Swaim pointed this out earlier this week on the Son Rise Morning Show.
The pro-life community around the world mourns the loss of Dr. John C. Willke. The press release from Right to Life of Greater Cincinnati, and the story from National Right to Life show Dr. Willke to be a joy-filled and courageous leader whose life's work could be summed up in a single word: love.
If you get your news from the mainstream media, you will likely get a warped view of this loving, courageous pro-lifer. The story the Associated Press ran at the passing of Dr. Willke shows an obvious bias against the pro-life movement. Instead of "pro-life" they use "anti-abortion" which is no big deal. But already in the first sentence of the story they misrepresent Dr. Willke with a half-truth of something he said back in 1999. He did not say "women can resist conception from a sexual assault" as if it is something that can be controlled consciously. The story continues with some facts about his life and some nice quotes. Then by the 10th sentence it once again brings up the quote from 1999, which is a blatant misrepresentation, and continues it for several more paragraphs. It is obvious to me that the agenda of the AP is to paint Dr. Willke as a quack who had weird ideas. I remember, in the early 2000s, reading about studies showing that in instances of extreme trauma, like the assault of rape, women conceived less frequently than in normal consensual instances as a subconscious defense mechanism. The AP tries to make it sound like Dr. Willke was saying the woman could turn fertility off or on like a switch consciously, which was not the case at all. The only person the AP story quotes in regard to medicine is a pro-abortion person who is not even a doctor. Of course her agenda is to characterize every pro-lifer as a kook. It seems to me the AP is trying to tarnish the legacy and smear the reputation of this pro-life pioneer who asked: "Can't we love them both?"

Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Filthy Shades of Grey

The Most Reverend Dennis M. Schnurr, Archbishop of Cincinnati, sent an email to all his priests asking us to inform our congregations of the "destructive message of this movie and to highlight the beauty of God's design for loving relationships between a husband and wife in the bond of marriage."

Since the evil one cannot create anything, in his frustration and hate for God the Creator, he uses God's created beauty and corrupts it into vehicles for evil. In this case, Hollywood is using the feast day of Saint Valentine, who exemplified Christian virtue and died a martyr's death for it, the ultimate act of love, as the occasion to offer the world a medium to take it further away from virtue and further from true self-giving love.

The Archbishop points out: "The story line is presented as a romance; however, the underlying theme is that bondage, dominance, and sadomasochism are normal and pleasurable. In the story line, a young Miss Steele is urged to sign a contract becoming a sex slave and agreeing to an abusive and degrading relationship. This movie is in direct contrast to the Christian message of God's design for self-giving and self-sacrificing love, marriage and sexual intimacy. The movie is a direct assault on Christian marriage and on the moral and spiritual strength of God's people."

He has not said it, but if I am connecting the dots correctly, it seems to me that a person who hears the Archbishop's teaching on this matter and still goes to see this movie commits a grave sin.

On a similar note, every year at this time, companies like "Pure Romance" ratchet up their advertising. What a misnomer! There is nothing pure about it. Plus, a real man interested in true romance will be willing to lay down his life for his bride rather than use her body for his own gratification. Otherwise he is no better than a selfish boy in a candy store.

Thank you Archbishop! I am blessed to have you as my spiritual father.