Why the focus on abortion?

[chessnerd321]

Also, if people hate black people, why would they want more black people? It makes no sense.

Yes. A thousand times yes. The link between abortion and what was formerly the eugenic movement is far more clear than the tenuous links made in that article.

 

[goout]

Well, no, your question was about fanatical focus on abortion.
And the point stands that no one, literally, gives 1940’s German villagers located next to holocaust camps a pass on this.

We stand in outrage at their lack of outrage.
So when we look at the victims of abortion, evidently, they are not worthy of the same empathy as those other victims.

 

[virgo]

I hear you–that does make total sense. And yes–my post was about the fanatical focus, which includes Catholic media’s preoccupation with it–I believe the Pope even said at one point that Catholics seem to be “obsessed” with abortion.

I guess my concern is that whether I’m on social media with Catholic friends, or whether I’m on Catholic websites or radio stations, all I seem to be hearing is screeching about abortion. And I realize how bad this sounds, but I’m burned out on this topic! It exists, and I’m not seeing a whole lot of good being done by those who are literally tearing up at the mention of abortion. I realize the gravity of abortion, but can we at least include other discussion points? Believe it or not, but some of us are looking for Catholic programing and conversations that are not about abortion. Yes, it’s important–I’m not denying that. But the amount of abortion talk seems to be much higher than in years past, and it’s been heavily politicized.

 

[ATraveller]

Yes. A thousand times yes. The link between abortion and what was formerly the eugenic movement is far more clear than the tenuous links made in that article.

The entire article was a pathetic attempt to smear all those on the pro-life side as racists. (Someone ought to inform Ms. Ekeocha she’s racist against herself). The professor of (revisionist) history in the Politico article seems to neglect all the complicated issues with American Protestantism.
It’s funny for me as an Evangelical who lives in Canada to see this smear. There’s no doubt there are problems regarding race in parts of American Evangelicalism. But we’re just as vocal about this issue and we didn’t need orders from those in the American South to voice opposition.

 

[grotto]

Why the focus on abortion? Because it is the culmination of sinful acts in the most horrendous evil act.
Abortion has been a grave sin before and after Our Lord Jesus Christ saved us from our sins. If the focus is not on ridding this evil among us through knowing, loving and serving God in this life in order to be with Him in the next, what else is there? There is a variety of ways to sin but focusing on the numerous involved acts arriving at abortion are very black.
What if you were before God and asked - did you try to end the act of abortion by praying or telling others how I created everyone and knew each before they were knitted in their mother’s womb?
You knew because I told you.
My thoughts at the end of a Blessed day, Thank You God.

 

[IsaiahSpirit]

Limiting raising awareness only helps any kind of oppression, persecution, and killing.
Many prophets and persons of good will have taught this in all of history.
This evil grew because of decades of growing lukewarmness in culture and part of The Church that focused on perceived money gathering by being ambiguous in focus on the gravity of this moral evil. ref. "A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing,’ which aired on EWTN.
~
Continued complacency and loss of focus on the enormity of laws legitimizing it in consciences only aides and abets over 120,000+ helpless babies being murdered worldwide per day, each of whom are equal in value to anyone else. There definitely is a biased faction; who many times flip or changed from reasoned positions on other social justice issues to radical ones; who are excellent at painting opponents as heartless; who in some fashion assert that God & morality are merely changeable human reasoned societal constructs.
~
Many at every stewardship level in The Church are ambivalent toward raising awareness of this; even though this agenda & others are increasingly forced on children in schools by heart string seductive teaching. Since this is diametrically opposed to self evident truths of our Creator/Laws of Nature/Nature’s God (ref. Dec. of Independence) they are diametrically opposed to Christ.
~
It took many decades to fall into this ambiguity. Thank God for Bishops like Bishop Paprocki and others who go against the complacency tide.
~
Peace.

 

[Annie]

I guess my concern is that whether I’m on social media with Catholic friends, or whether I’m on Catholic websites or radio stations, all I seem to be hearing is screeching about abortion.

You’re not being exactly tactful in the way you ask this question… Almost fanatical, screeching…

But the reason you are hearing so much right now is that various states are passing laws that liberalize access to abortion.

So it’s a topic that is coming up a lot in the news.

All that being said, I just vary my listening by using my phone. If I am.on ENTN radio, I have a choice of what is currently on, classics, Britain & Ireland, and Phillipines (mostly in English). (I can also choose Mundial in Spanish, but that is not an option for everyone in the US.)

And there are other stations, and podcasts, etc. I am extremely mood-oriented in my listening–sometimes I want this or that, other times, anything but, but I can almost always find something to listen to in my car, and at home I can also put on videos.

Another option would be listening to audio books.

Librivox has free audio books (quality varies greatly-). They have a lot of GK Chesterton–terrific stuff!-- and those are well-read. And Quadrupani’s Peace and Light, very helpful.

And people from time to time post sites which have exclusively Catholic audio books.

And ask your questions, but try to be tactful, like, why do Catholics do X, not what on earth is this about? OTOH, the past few days, I have seen a ton of flagging, so if you disagree with a flag, you might ask the moderator about it.

 

[virgo]

Thank you so much for the advice and resources! You are right, I’m re-reading my posts and I can see how it sounds pretty harsh, and that my exasperation comes through too strongly. (It could just be my luck, but literally every time I turned on Relevant Radio, turned on EWTN, or went on social media for my local Catholic community, the topic of abortion was being discussed.) So my frustration level was higher than it should have been when I posted here.
I will definitely ask in a more tactful way—maybe I should have asked for recommendations on Catholic media that discusses a variety of topics, and hope that others catch my meaning.

I do know that I would like to stop relying on only general Christian media when I’m really craving some Catholic oriented information (the Protestant sites are pro-life, but it is not a topic that appears much on their sites). For now I’m sticking to my Protestant Bible study websites and podcasts, as I’m simply finding better scripture study resources and communities that are focused on building our spiritual lives. I’ll keep looking and keep asking and remembering to ask tactfully!

 

[Annie]

Finding things to listen to specifically about developing a better spiritual life can be difficult. A couple of resources I like are Quadrhpani’s book I mentioned above (also text online available at Gutenberg Project, and it has been reprinted as well), discerninghearts.com podcasts, notably the series by Dr Timothy Gallagher on his book about discerning the spirits (a must for Catholics, imnsho ), writings about advanced prayer (https://catholicism.org/talk-mentalprayer.html is one article; here is one that maybe should be read first: The Ascending Way of Prayer, Part I - OnePeterFive (scroll down a bit for the link to the second part–it’s a quick overview of the 9 levels of prayer)

 

[virgo]

I’m writing all of these down, thank you SO much!

 

[Annie]

You’re so welcome

 

[JoeShlabotnik]

I believe that all the issues are important.
Needless to say, abortion is an important issue.
But we must not be so focused on that one issue that we lose track of the other issues.
Family violence. Affordable health care. A living wage. Affordable prescription medication. Shelter for the homeless. Food for those who are in need.
These are just a few of the important issues that we as Catholics must address.
I believe it is possible to hold those who would hold a elected office accountable for all of these issues, as well as abortion.

 

[goout]

I believe that all the issues are important.
Needless to say, abortion is an important issue.
But we must not be so focused on that one issue that we lose track of the other issues.
Family violence. Affordable health care. A living wage. Affordable prescription medication. Shelter for the homeless. Food for those who are in need.
These are just a few of the important issues that we as Catholics must address.
I believe it is possible to hold those who would hold a elected office accountable for all of these issues, as well as abortion.

Just for context, let me ask you a very simple question:
What is the one thing that all these human rights issues and needs assume:?

Family violence. Affordable health care. A living wage. Affordable prescription medication. Shelter for the homeless. Food for those who are in need.

 

[JoeShlabotnik]

I am not a one issue Catholic. Chewing gum and walking at the same time. Multi-tasking.
We have an opioid epidimic.
Many people have to take more than one job because they can’t make ends meet on what they are paid in one job.
Many seniors cannot afford prescription drugs.
And what about our service folks, many who have served multiple times in Afghanistan or some other place in the world. We need to end some of these stupid wars.
Abortion is important, but there are some other important issues, as well.

 

[goout]

I am not a one issue Catholic. Chewing gum and walking at the same time. Multi-tasking.
We have an opioid epidimic.
Many people have to take more than one job because they can’t make ends meet on what they are paid in one job.
Many seniors cannot afford prescription drugs.
And what about our service folks, many who have served multiple times in Afghanistan or some other place in the world. We need to end some of these stupid wars.
Abortion is important, but there are some other important issues, as well.

That’s great. Huge and important human rights concerns.

But that’s not my question.
This is my question:

What is the one thing that all these human rights issues and needs assume:?

 

[steve-b]

As a lifelong Catholic, I have many causes that I’m passionate about. And although I’m pro-life, I’m not an activist, and I don’t feel particularly strongly about abortion. I mean, it’s bad (obviously), but it doesn’t keep me up at night.

I don’t know if I just never noticed it growing up in a Catholic home in the 1970s/80s, but it seems to me like there is a strong component within the Catholic community that is 24-7 focused on abortion. As much as it’s a terrible thing, I don’t see the same obsession over genocide, children starving and needy in our communities, or a million other ways that human beings are killed every day. So—why the almost fanatical obsession in our faith community?

All your examples ARE addressed by govt programs. The difference with abortion is, abortion is the deliberate killing of a child, AND it is legal to do so.

AND our govt promotes and funds this act worldwide (Mexico City Policy) when a Democrat is in the White House. A Republican in the White House rejects the Mexico City Policy

 

[goout]

JoeShlabotnik:

I am not a one issue Catholic. Chewing gum and walking at the same time. Multi-tasking.
We have an opioid epidimic.
Many people have to take more than one job because they can’t make ends meet on what they are paid in one job.
Many seniors cannot afford prescription drugs.
And what about our service folks, many who have served multiple times in Afghanistan or some other place in the world. We need to end some of these stupid wars.
Abortion is important, but there are some other important issues, as well.

That’s great. Huge and important human rights concerns.

But that’s not my question.
This is my question:

What is the one thing that all these human rights issues and needs assume:?

The moral imperatives we are concerned about in human rights assume living human beings.

I can’t love me an oak dining room table without first recognizing and affirming that acorns are a necessary thing.
I can’t love the honey without loving the honey bee. And I can’t love the honey bee without loving the flowers.

If human rights assume living human beings, then a hierarchy of moral imperatives exist. There are degrees of gravity in these concerns. If we don’t place the right for human beings to exist at the top of our concerns, all the rest is meaningless lip service.

 

[IsaiahSpirit]

Blockquote
(It could just be my luck, but literally every time I turned on Relevant Radio, turned on EWTN, or went on social media for my local Catholic community, the topic of abortion was being discussed.) So my frustration level was higher than it should have been when I posted here.

---

~ Just note that for many of those who received Evangelium Vitae and the Teachings that followed; like EWTN, Relevant Radio, some social media posters; we are striving to raise awareness to reflect the magnitude of the dire need. It would be a blessing in a lot of areas, from the widespread reports that mass child killing is relatively ignored at the local level where the death camps are; for a local parish to not only speak about it - but foster and encourage awareness of Catholic Charities, local crises pregnancy centers and prayer vigils with sidewalk counseling at the last minute
~ Just like it took decades from the late 19th century with it’s various
God & morality are merely human reasoned societal concepts and we are more ‘enlightened’ now - until the rise of The Soviet Union & other regimes to rise to power; - it took decades for free societies to be seduced into ‘accepting’ mass crimes against humanity and atrocities.
~ Now that it has transpired, some will teach exalting raising awareness of other human condition situations and lowering the creative vast sign of charity & life that John Paul ii, inspired by The Holy Spirit directed The Church to form in a concerted orchestrated sustained manner in the pastoral, educational, and charitable works of The Church. This same attitude fostered aiding & abetting the lengthening of legalized slavery during the many decades of the U.S.A.
~
Peace.
note: link to Year of Jubilee (short) Address of John Paul ii:
http://w2.vatican.va/content/john-p...documents/hf_jp-ii_spe_20000214_acd-life.html

 

[JoeShlabotnik]

I am not going to argue with you about priorities.
I am saying that we, as Catholics, should concern ourselves with other issues, besides abortion.
You rarely hear Catholics talk about these other issues.

 

[Annie]

opioid epidimic.
Many people have to take more than one job because they can’t make ends meet on what they are paid in one job.
Many seniors cannot afford prescription drugs.
And what about our

I am saying that we, as Catholics, should concern ourselves with other issues, besides abortion.

Not only are many Catholics concerned about these issues and others, but many non-Catholics are as well.

And most of these issues come up frequently in the MSM, and most people are concerned about them. I can’t think of a time when I have heard someone just dismiss genocide as a non-issue, even among non-Catholics.

However, we have a large swath of Americans who are for or even working for continued or increased access to killing their babies. The MSM is supportive of these efforts.

No one is actually going to get rid of Social Security or welfare because 95% or more of the people in this country would be aghast and fight against such a move.

Sadly, we are about evenly divided on the issue of abortion, and most of what the average American hears about it is heavily biased towards continued or increased access to abortion.

Different people work on different issues, and that is as it should be. But we need to do more on abortion because there are more people on the opposite side than there are on those other issues.