Green for our environment but toxic for human life?

My purpose in these posts is to bring a variety of Christian and other writers in a desire to share significant writings that in my estimation contribute to the common good and directly or indirectly give glory to God and extend the Lord's work of salvation to all of humanity. G.S.

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So now more and more people are showing concern for the environment

There is without question in our day - last summer and now the fall of 2019 - a rapid awakening and excitation of human awareness and related movement of human uprising over the rapid changes to the global environment of Planet Earth. The science is massively in and it is no longer logical to deny these changes: rapid melting of glaciers and ice caps, warming and acidification of the oceans and seas with resulting coral deaths and algae blooms, rising of sea levels, intensification of tropical storms and other storm systems, increasingly severe material damage and human injury and death due to severe storms, flooding, and, ironically, droughts, and the rapidly increasing occurrence of extinctions of living organisms.

We would expect this shift in human awareness and concerns to move citizens to shift from political parties lethargic to take remedial actions for the environment towards parties apparently committed to take remedial if not radical actions to stop further degredation of the global environment, such as in Canada the Green Party.

I joined the Green Party of Canada before the previous election, but when I received no coherent reply to certain questions, in the end I decided to vote for another party in order to bring to an end what I perceived at the time as dictatorial use of the PMO - Prime Minister's Office - to silence MP's and cut short dialogue and in effect limit cooperation.

My questions to the Green Party of Canada and its leadership touch on questions often considered to be moral issues, but actually my question addresses the very foundation of the term "green".

This political party is "green" and calls itself Green because it intends to champion the cause of the natural environment of Planet Earth for its own sake and for the good of humanity dwelling in and living as part of this natural environment. That's very good.

So "green" means doing all we can as human beings to protect and favor the flourishing of all living things on this planet, on the earth, underneath in the soil, on and in the waters - fresh waters and salt seas and oceans - in and on the trees, and in the air throughout the atmosphere. So we are "green" when we protect, care for, cultivate, and make judicious and good use of all living things. We are just beginning to understand that his also means to care for the soil with all its microorganisms which play such a crucial role in the development and productivity of plants, our main food source.

So what then is my question or problem?

Why, in not only the Green Party of Canada but also in the other parties that claim to champion the cause of our natural environment, do all these people consider the philosophy and policy of "green" to be inapplicable to human beings?

Women's health and well being

We Canadians are in great solidarity, for the most part, in continuing to commit ourselves to the gains made in the past century towards achieving, maintaining, and assuring equal rights and opportunity, health care and social services for women and children as well as for men.

It is true that there were women who suffered injury and even death when attempting to have an abortion when these were offered by doctors with questionable credentials or competence and in clinics under poor conditions. The Government of Canada brought these medical procedures into the health care system; so it is now less likely for a woman to suffer such injuries or death.

A woman's right to choose

Much propaganda is imposed on the whole population around a woman's right to choose her care. It is misdirecting and misleading propaganda because it obscures something else that is happening when a woman has an abortion. The unborn baby is terminated, killed, sucked out in a violent and bloody act or poisoned and burned by some sort of intense saline solution, both painful procedures from the point of view of that baby.

We go home content to know that we are upholding women's rights to choose their proper health care, but why are we so unwilling to uphold those same rights for the most vulnerable among us, the baby that has yet to be born into this world and cannot yet speak up for itself?

More pertinently for this discussion, why are we continuing to impose abortion as the only solution for issues of pregnant women's health care in those cases where the pregnant woman does not want the baby, is not able to afford the baby, is not ready to have that baby, or whatever the reason may be?

Why not champion babies as well as women whenever possible?

Why are we so unwilling to champion both lives, that of the pregnant woman as well as that of the unborn baby? All too often, the oppressive attitudes and social conditions known to hold women as captive as slaves in previous centuries persist today, but in a different mode.

A pregnant woman may not have the support of the male who fathered that baby, either because they are not married or because he does not want the baby or not yet, or because he is afraid for whatever reason. Under difference circumstances, she may be alone or young and still living with her parents. The conditions and circumstances will be as varied and different as women are unique.

It is almost impossible to believe that women would be so callous as to have no feelings whatsoever about a new life growing within them. It would be a rare woman who would consider a new baby as a dangerous enemy to be destroyed as soon as possible, but not unreasonable or difficult to understand how a woman might find the pregnancy itself, the change in her circumstances, as problematic.

We as a people have sufficient moral character and social fortitude, I believe, to champion both lives. Political parties - especially one so bold as to call itself "green" - should be able to not only preserve the practice of medical abortions within the health care system, but also to develop a far more robust support system across Canada to encourage all pregnant women troubled by their pregnancey to get the help they need in order to give their new baby - however unwanted by them - a chance to live.

Pregnant women need real support in real time, not oratory or political speeches

These women would need support throughout their pregnancy and then, after the birth, support as they get ready to surrender their baby for adoption. Instead of living through their months of pregnancy with dread and then having to endure the life long effects of having experienced the highly invasive procedure of abortion - no thinking human being can deny the violence of terminating this human life; these women wound discover the option they have of carrying their unwanted baby with love, knowing that they will lovingly transfer their baby to a set of parents willing and eager to do so.

For women who would avail themselves of this option to give birth to their baby, it would be better for the baby, better for the adoptive parents in the case of an adoption, better for the mother to not have the burden of having ended a life, better for the mother who in the end decides to keep her baby, better for the "absent father" who may experience a change and choose to take responsibility for the child as well as for its mother, better for the whole family that can rejoice in the welcome of a new life rather than conceal under cover of secret the termination of that life, and better for Canada.

Now that would be a more truly "green" policy and practice, if not entirely green.

Is contraception green? Could it be green if we wanted it to be green?

What about contraception? Again the propaganda would have us not touch this by claiming it has to do with a woman's right to choose her own health care. How is it health care for us human beings to treat our own human condition as something that needs to be medicated?

Human fertility is not a disease, but one of our natural abilities and powers, the power to procreate as well as to form a lasting bond of spousal and family love and care. Ironically, there are perfectly effective ways for human beings to regulate their fertility and "plan" their family that are completely green, that don't involve subjecting either the woman or the man to invasive chemical concoctions that almost always have side effects, some of which are very troubling.

There has probably never been so much infertility in human history as there has been since the introduction and regular use of the contraceptive pill. The propaganda around the introduction and later the continued marketing of the pill claimed to "free women" from the confines of their fertility cycle, but the evidence since 1961 shows the opposite effects. Women have never been so reduced to the level of a commodity or object to be used as since then. When people had a little more respect of the mystery of human fertility, men in particular but also women were more inclined to have respect for their bodies and their whole self.

When the respect or more basic "fear" of fertility was removed, the floodgate was opened for women to conduct themselves "as freely as men", but the result was not Utopia or Paradise on Earth. If truth be told, women are less happy or fulfilled now than ever before.

How can we be "green" when we assist in our own social disintegration?

For men the collapse has been even more complete and tragic. Whatever their faults may have been in previous generations, at the very least most men could at least be credited for showing respect for the women in their lives and for women of all ages in general. The sexual revolution accompanied by the launch of the pill made it easy for men to reduce women to objects for their pleasure, in one stroke surrendering or abandoning their male role of protector and reducing themselves to narcissists.

The ravages are everywhere to be observed and lamented: selfish and uncommited adult women and men, disintegrated families, single parents that are mostly mothers, absent or non-existent fathers, unfathered lost rebellious adolescents, adult children who never leave their parents' home and never grow up or take full responsibility for their life and contribution to society, ever increasing violence in a downward spiral sapping the life from human society. Individual citizens can and do try to do all they can to cultivate life in their own home and family and around them, but the "ungreen" human policies of our political parties will not do anything to remedy the situation but only ensure that it gets worse.

Medically assisted dying

The reason we now have a law in Canada obliging medical staff to aid people to hasten their dying is because a good cause was made for those people who apparently were suffering to a degree that had become impossible to endure any longer. It has proven difficult if not impossible to argue against the new policy now enshrined in law. We who are currently living on Planet Earth have developed a high intolerance for pain and suffering, perhaps losing sight of the values human being have nonetheless found in their suffering since the dawn of time.

Not unlike pregnant women who are troubled by an unexpected pregnancy combined with the lack of support, or in some cases their perceived lack of support, for continuing their pregnancy and bringing the baby to term - for whatever eventual outcome - there is a similar crisis in the case of those who want to hasten the time of their death.

Normal human beings under normal circumstances generally want to live and to live as long as they possibly can. Life is worth living as Bishop Fulton Sheen used to say. That perspective can and does change when people get sick or are injured and suffer and experience pain on various levels.

Why are our public institutions so intent on imposing abortion as the only solution to an unwanted pregnancy? Now in this case, why are our public institutions so intent on imposing medical aid in dying as the only solution for the person who wants an end of their suffering?

Encouraging or supporting a patient to hasten the ending of their life through in effect a medical execution makes a very violent statement about the value of human life. It is understandable that one who is dying and enduring suffering and pain they no longer feel able to sustain could, then, in the absence of any other solution, desire to die. Those who are in such a painful situation could also be expected to not want to kill themselves but prefer to welcome their death as coming from outside. What is unfortunate is that this new law in Canada in effect and in truth makes of medical healers and practitioners nothing less than executioners.

How is this a "green" policy and practice?

Our societies are not stuck in the stone age. Incredible advances have been achieved just in the past few decades in caring for the dying. Just a few generations ago when people reached a point when the medical staff could no longer heal them, the medical staff tended to scatter and abandon them. Why? Because it is uncomfortable for medical staff to admit they can no longer offer healing to patients who are, in effect, dying. Medical staff would normally want to help their patients, but in the absence of anything to do, it is easier to simply stay away and let the family and friends, if any, take over.

What's to prevent us from creating a national Palliative Care program?

A whole new branch of medicine has developed since the 1970's called palliative care. It is medical care that simply has a different goal than the regular medical establishment which seeks to heal. For palliative care, the goal is to temper pain and suffering with expert medical care and medication, but also and more importantly to provide the patient with a supportive environment and opporunity for them - with or without their family and or friends if any - to ponder and make sense of their life, to realize the value and contribution of their life, to discover what they have accomplished but also to learn from what they have failed or been unable to do. Most of all, this complex medical goal in the giving of quality palliative care is to help the patient make of their death a meaningful moment, if not the most meaningful moment of their life.

Now these would be more completely "green" medical policies, don't you think?

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My purpose in these posts is to help spread the contributions of a variety of Christian and other writers in a desire to share significant writings that in my estimation contribute to the common good and directly or indirectly give glory to God and extend the Lord's work of salvation to all of humanity. G.S.

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© 2004-2021 All rights reserved Fr. Gilles Surprenant, Associate Priest of Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montreal  QC
© 2004-2021 Tous droits réservés Abbé Gilles Surprenant, Prêtre Associé de Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montréal QC 

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Abortion - how has it come to this?

My purpose in these posts is to bring a variety of Christian and other writers in a desire to share significant writings that in my estimation contribute to the common good and directly or indirectly give glory to God and extend the Lord's work of salvation to all of humanity. G.S.

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The way it once was and the way it is now

I recall being in grade school when, during Geography class, we learned that during the Greek Empire unwanted newborn babies were left out in the wilderness for the wild animals to take and eat them. My young spirit was terrified and shocked. That was in the 1950's.

It's all in the numbers

Since only 1980 worldwide there have been a reported 1.5 billion - that's 1,537,040,242 abortions - and counting... with over 17,244,307 this year alone so far.... Check the number of abortions for yourself at this link.

How has it come to this? It is estimated that had the world population continued to increase as it was in 1970, the world population today would be around 14 billion, or roughly twice what it is today at 7,708,602,806 and counting. The world population was estimated at 3,706,618,163 in 1970 which means that we have increased since then by around 4,001,984,643 people.

Let's look more closely at these big numbers. From an estimated 14 billion we could be today, based on the population of the world in 1970, and given that we are now 7,708,602,806 and counting, the difference - the number of people who have not come into our world - can be estimated at 6,291,397,194 people. If we subtract the reported number of abortions - 1,537,040,242 abortions - and counting, the difference in the reduction of births comes to 4,754,356,952 births that have not taken place.

1970 world population      3,706,618,163
2019 world population      7,708,602,806 
Growth                              4,001,984,643
2019 projection from 1970         14,000,000,000
2019 world population                 7,708,602,806 
Difference from today actual       6,291,397,194 people
Actual Growth since 1970           4,001,984,643
Projected growth since 1970     10,293,381,837

So, from 3.7 billion in 1970 we could have increased by 10.2 billion to 14 billion but only increased by 4 billion to 7.7 billion. Our increased 4 billion taken together with the projected difference of 6.2 billion souls, of these projected 10.2 billion new people there might have been today, 4 billion have actually been born, 1.5 have been reported killed by abortion; while another 4.7 billion have been avoided through some form of family planning. 

Taking into account all of these figures, that means that, simply by better managing their fertility, couples have reduced the number of their births. However, there have undoubtedly been more abortions than have been reported, simply due to the social taboos associated with having an abortion as well as the constellation of emotions women experience after having had an abortion or even in anticipation of having an abortion: regret, guilt, loss, grief, shame.... It may very well be, then, that since 1970 there have perhaps been as many as 2 to 3 billion abortions. If that is so, then the figures would look more like this.

1970 world population      3,706,618,163
Live births since 1970       4,001,984,643
Estimated abortions         2,500,000,000              Reported abortions          1,537,040,242
Reduction by planning      3,791,397,194                Reduction by planning     4,754,356,952

That means that, best case scenario, since 1970 for every 8 live births there have been 3 abortions and another 9 conceptions have been avoided, or, worst case scenario, for every 8 live births there may have been 5 abortions and another 7 conceptions would have been avoided.

However, this does not take into account the effects of employing contraceptive devices and drugs, some of which prevent fertilized ova from nesting or developing and which, in effect, are an early form of abortion. Given the aggressive marketing strategies of the network formed by big pharma multinationals and the widespread use worldwide of contraceptives on the one hand, and on the other hand, the pro abortion lobby groups; it is likely that of the total number of avoided live births - around 6.3 billion - probably less than 1 billion pregnancies may have been avoided by responsible parenting.

Estimated live births avoided since 1970                                                   6,291,397,194 people

Here is how this number breaks down:

Reported abortions                                                                                          1,537,040,242
Estimated unreported abortions                                                                      1,000,000,000
Estimated embryos destroyed by contraceptive interference                         3,000,000,000
Estimated conceptions avoided by responsible parenting                                 754,356,952

So, how did we come to this?

We may no longer appear to be so barbaric as to leave, as the Greeks once did, our unwanted newborns out in the wilderness for wild animals to devour, but we are nowhere near being more enlightened. Our barbarism has simply acquired more sophisticated methods. 

As a modern society, we promote the widespread use of contraceptive devices and drugs - thereby profiting from those sales - and simultaneously encourage irresponsible sexual experimentation and expression without any serious promotion of genuine love in action, faithful relationships, openness to life, or trust in God. When unwanted pregnancies inevitably occur, we manipulate troubled pregnant women - often young and poor - into thinking that abortion is their desired solution, by concealing from them what an abortion actually does or what its effects will actually be.

A typical abortion procedure employs a powerful suction device that literally shreds the fetus into bloody pieces - modern imaging shows the fetus trying to escape the threat but failing - when the device doesn't cause damage to the woman's internal organs. There are regularly unreported deaths but they remain invisible due to the shame experienced by all those involved and the conspiracy of silence around the abortion industry. Check out the documentary "Blood Money - The Business of Abortion" Directed by David K. Kyle and narrated by Dr. Alveda King, niece of the late Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Junior. 

Men and women can obtain help as they try to deal with an unexpected pregnancy at one of the following sites. Campaign Life Coalition is unashamedly an advocate for life and you can be certain that they will help you explore all your options, knowing as they do through the accumulated experience of women especially, but also of men, that abortion is a decision and an act with grave consequences and that, once done, you cannot take back or undue; no matter how much you may regret it. There are also services across Canada that help you discover the intense need for adoption by infertile couples distressed in their inability to have children. 

Contrary to popular impressions, there is real help out there

Pregnancy Support Centers - hosted by Campaign Life Coalition in Canada
https://www.campaignlifecoalition.com/pregnancy-help

Canada Adopts - Canada's adoption meeting place
http://www.canadaadopts.com/adopting-in-canada/crisis-pregnancy-centres-canada/

What has happened to us, to society?

We have allowed ourselves to be victimized by a worldwide program of disinformation

There are many more sites on the Internet, even in Canada, which give the impression they offer information and help in exploring options, but since they are open and committed to abortion as a viable solution, we do not recommend them. There has been, since 1970 worldwide, a very powerful lobby - backed by untold millions if not billions of dollars - that has effectively changed the culture around and understanding of abortion.

The actual horror of shredding a baby in the womb to bloody pieces has been covered up in a whole constellation of euphemisms designed to be attractive in appealing to our natural human inclination to favor our freedom. So such words are used to promote abortion as: product of conception, blob of tissue, choice, women's rights, reducing the embryo to simply a part of a woman's body, safe, problem free, clinical, sterile, confidential, no one has to know, and so on.

Don't take my word for it... check it out yourself with the many testimonies published in the film "UNPLANNED", which is a dramatized documentary of real people and historic situations.

WHAT SHE SAWCHANGED EVERYTHING

product of conception - yes, a pregnancy is the product or effect of conception, but it is also a human life. Once conception takes place, human experience assures us that a human being will result as inevitably as the sun rises each day. 

blob of tissue - There have been such remarkable advances in Biological Science that there is no doubt now that from the very first moment of conception - before that first fertilized cell even divides - that it is only one thing, one possibility, a human being. It contains everything it needs to grow and develop and become a fully grown baby ready to be born into this world. All it needs is a welcome nest and all the love that a mother and father can give.

choice - it is a choice to have an abortion, but it is also the murder of a defenseless human being most worthy of our welcome and protection.

women's rights - It is true that far too long women have been dominated and ill used by men and that they enjoy the full dignity of their humanity just as much as men do. We applaud the developments in our world that have brought women in most nations to enjoy more fully the rights and duties that come from their human dignity. 

part of her own body - While an embryo is "housed" within the hosting environment of a woman's uterus - which is designed to "nest" that dependent being until maturation and birth - the fetus is not part of her body because it is autonomous. The woman does not need the fetus in order to live, and the only thing that the fetus needs from its mother is nutrients. The fetus has its own independent systems which develop over time: heart and circulatory system, respiration, assimilation and digestion, and so on. The womb transfers nutrients to the embryo and in turn it eliminates waste through its umbilical cord to the mother's elimination system. It is a perfect design and a wonder of engineering. Even DNA tests reveal that the embryo is not identical to the mother but an independent and autonomous being existing in its own right and for its own sake. The fact that it is innocent and defenseless does not mean that it has no human dignity or rights.

safe - Given what an abortion actually entails - sucking an embryo out and shredding it in a bloody and violent process - no abortion is truly safe even for the mother, and certainly not for the baby, because it always results in the baby's death, a most horrible and violent death. 

problem free - Women who have problems with their abortion generally do not report it, either because they died as a result of the procedure, or because of the shame they experienced. Families are likewise in no position to boast about the fact that their wife, or daughter, or sister, or girlfriend was hurt or killed by the procedure. The abortion industry has shown itself to be very capable at hiding accidents and damages caused to women during an abortion procedure. See the documentary "Blood Money - The Business of Abortion". This industry is "self interested" in its claims that abortion is safe, because if the truth were fully known, women would think long and hard before taking such a risk with their own health and life, not to mention their baby, however unwanted it may be.

clinical, sterile - Since abortion was taken off the criminal code and legalized, it is true that abortions are often performed by medical doctors. The instruments used may or may not actually be sterilized after each use, but this takes 20 minutes to heat them up and longer to cool them down; so in practice, this step is often skipped (Cf. "Blood Money"). When the term "clinical" is employed in association with abortion procedures, it evokes the "safe" and "scientific" environment of a hospital, but unlike any hospital, abortion procedures are not designed to improve the health of either the baby or the mother. At the very least, the procedure will execute the baby in a very violent way. Even if there is no real damage to the woman's body, in her awareness of herself, she witnesses the violent destruction of what had been living within her. At the very least, she will be wounded in her self identity as a female human being capable of conceiving and bearing life. Many women after an abortion have trouble in the future with conceiving a second time. See the documentary "Blood Money - The Business of Abortion".

confidential - All those who favor and promote abortion as a solution to an unwanted pregnancy do so in denial of the violent reality which actually takes place in the course of an abortion, even one that is done in a "clinical" and "sterile" setting. Part of the strategy to persuade a woman to go through with the abortion is the promise that the procedure will remain "confidential", that is, that "no one needs to know about it". The only problem with this lie is that the woman herself will know. She will feel that little life sucked out of her, and the procedure will necessarily be experienced by her as invasive and disturbing. Apparently, no one will ever warn a pregnant woman about these very real risks and consequences. This is very disturbing, when you consider all the other warnings our society gives the general population about so many other things that are far less deadly or damaging. See the documentary "Blood Money - The Business of Abortion".

So, where does that leave us?

I am a Christian man, a Roman Catholic, and a priest. However, I am not the only one who is very concerned about all of these issues. It matters that children are being robbed of their innocence by being introduced too early to what we could call "the pleasures of sexual experimentation" without the truly human context that makes our human sexuality and fertility the blessing intended by God our Creator. Without that context of authentic human love and genuine family life, we end up with the mess in which we now find ourselves. Our culture unashamedly promotes "pleasure without consequences or responsibility" and the end result is that our society has become infanticidal.

The so-called "sexual revolution" of the 1960's has produced generations of children without fathers, women without husbands, men without families, mere children or adolescents having children, and adults with consciences troubled by the regrettable murder of their "unwanted children". The propaganda boasted that sexual freedom would make woman "like men" in their newfound ability to "enjoy sex". It was a lie because, unlike men, women are designed to conceive and bear life. There is no way for a woman to avoid her true nature as a female human being other than tearing out of herself all that makes her distinctively "woman".

We men are responsible for "hosting" this monstrous lie and for the devastating consequences that countless girls and women have suffered since then until now. It may have appeared to men to be an advantage for women to "be sexually liberated", but all it has meant is that men have found it easier to "have their way" with girls and women. Neither of us has truly gained, but we both have lost much. Women have surrendered their human dignity in allowing themselves to "be used" by men, and they continue to pay the price, and it is exorbitant.

Men have not fared any better. Whenever a boy or man "takes advantage" of a girl or woman, he is by the same token diminished in his own human dignity, because we have been designed to cultivate the earth and to protect and take care of others, not to exploit them. Much if not all of the tragedy and sadness of human history has been caused by men who abandoned their calling to cultivate the earth and to protect and take care of others.

The "bill" for the "pill" is very expensive in human terms.... 

The end result of this so-called sexual revolution is the current crisis of manhood and of womanhood we now witness on planet Earth. Boys who grow up avoiding their responsibilities to care for others but instead exploit them turn into nothing more than "pirates", living without principle, dignity, or true goal. Girls who grow up trying to escape rather than enter into their full dignity as female human beings turn into nothing more that caricatures of "liberated men", trying to become like men instead of becoming who they truly are.

Our human fertility, instead of being a powerful capacity to be treasured and cultivated, becomes a problem to be treated as a sickness and medicated. We surrender to the temptation to "use" and "take pleasure" and avoid the challenge and the calling to "become someone" by truly caring for others.

Thanks be to God that He continues to care for us and love us, offering us fullness of life in love

You are not likely to read in the mass media, or even in much of social media, how woman and men are being restored by God to their full human dignity. It's true, and it's happening all around us. All over the Earth women and men who, either regretting an abortion or fearful of seeking an abortion, turn to God instead. When they turn to God with their whole being, they find in God the source of life and love. This is particularly true of Christians because of the way in which Jesus Christ revealed God to us more intimately and fully than ever before in human history.

At no time in any other religion has the one true God shown himself to be more committed to giving us life or restoring us to life when we were in danger of death or forgiving us for our sins and crimes and instilling in us a new life, a life transformed.

Roman Catholics, Eastern Rite Catholics, and Orthodox Christians are particularly blessed in that they can meet Jesus, the resurrected and living Lord, in the person of the priest through the encounter which we call Confession, or the Sacrament of Penance, or Reconciliation. When a believer confesses to a priest, it is Jesus himself who is there receiving their confession, and when the priest gives them absolution, it is Jesus himself who forgives them; just as He forgave sins while on Earth.

This experience of God's mercy forms us and opens up for us and within us a new capacity to receive the love, mercy, and forgiveness of God, and to go on to love God back in gratitude, and to turn around and love others better, because we finally become able - by the grace and divine action of God - to love ourselves authentically, that is, to live a new life in which we begin to assume the fullness of our human dignity as perfectly designed by the Creator of the Universe.

The most Holy Trinity does not work these wonders within us merely for our own sake, as good and true as this is, but also so that we might - as Saint Paul wrote - become ambassadors of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:11-21) and share with the whole world this good news first brought to the Earth by Jesus of Nazareth, son of Mary and Son of God the Father. It is the Holy Spirit, poured into us for the first time at Baptism, who empowers us to truly become and live as children of God (John 1:12-13) in the midst of a depraved generation. Philippians 2:14-15

So, please feel free to share this good news as widely as you can. If this page can help you get started, then please feel free to go ahead and share it. May every gesture you make in favor of life and out of love for your neighbor become an opportunity for God to abundantly bless you!

Christ is risen, alleluia! He is truly risen, alleluia!

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forever and ever. Amen. Alleluia!

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My purpose in these posts is to help spread the contributions of a variety of Christian and other writers in a desire to share significant writings that in my estimation contribute to the common good and directly or indirectly give glory to God and extend the Lord's work of salvation to all of humanity. G.S.

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© 2004-2021 All rights reserved Fr. Gilles Surprenant, Associate Priest of Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montreal  QC
© 2004-2021 Tous droits réservés Abbé Gilles Surprenant, Prêtre Associé de Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montréal QC 

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Value of life - harm of abortion - what to do?

My purpose in these posts is to bring a variety of Christian and other writers in a desire to share significant writings that in my estimation contribute to the common good and directly or indirectly give glory to God and extend the Lord's work of salvation to all of humanity. G.S.

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Life is generally recognized as a value. On that basis, death is seen as a loss; so abortion then could also be seen as a loss. Does that mean that clergy should preach vigorously and frequently against abortion and in favor of defending and protecting life from conception to the grave?

I view this question as simplistic in a way. We don't live in a vacuum or in static time. For centuries the clergy in most places on Earth were very straightforward on moral issues, with the result that there were very strong taboos against abortions, and everyone believed that they are wrong.

As people in the West left the Church from the 1950's through the 1990's - to the point that in Québec most French churches with a capacity of 1,000 to 1,500 people (and where 5 to 8 Sunday Masses used to bring 5,000 to 12,000 people, adults, teens, children, and elders every Sunday of the year) now only see a few hundred people at one Mass on any given Sunday. Ethnic and English language parishes have fared better generally, but they have also declined, especially in recent years.

Vatican Council II (1962-1965) brought a different approach to preaching. For centuries people would hear series of sermons on specific themes, such as moral issues; with the general effect over time that all the serious thinking was done by "specialists" or "professional religious". Meanwhile what was neglected was the ability of the faithful to think for themselves and discover on their own the truth of the Gospel and of the Church's Tradition.

Sermons were now to be replaced by "homilies", which were to be reflections on the Word of God with a view to take up what had been neglected for centuries, namely, accompanying the faithful on the journey of faith in a personal relationship with the living God, the most Holy Trinity, through the development and equipping of their conscience; so that all might "put on the mind of Christ" as St. Paul regularly taught.

"Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus." Philippians 2:5

"For who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ." 1 Corinthians 2:16

"Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires." Romans 13:14

"You were taught to put away your former way of life, your old self, corrupt and deluded by its lusts, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to clothe yourselves with the nw self, created according to the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness." Ephesians 4:22-24

We are called to set aside the old, depraved way of living and in its place embrace the new life exemplified by Christ Jesus and offered to us by Him, patterning ourselves after his example and dedicating ourselves to a life of faith and devotion, love, forgiveness and mercy, truth and service. Colossians 3

The one who brings conviction to our consciences is the Holy Spirit, the Giver of Life, and the One who reminds us of all the truth as taught and witnessed by Jesus, and who gives light to mind, heart, and soul to understand all things as God understands them.

It was often felt that from the early 1800's to the mid-1950's that the Church barged into people's consciences and decided for them, with the result that we had a fairly uniform and complacent society in which only the most desperate and disobedient and distant would dare to seek out an abortion. The orphanages were full of abandoned children who at least survived their own birth.

If we are to give the benefit of the doubt that clergy were motivated by genuine love for the people, then we can only surmise that this more authoritarian approach was taken because they were unable or found it difficult to form people in their consciences or ultimately to trust them to abide by their own consciences. It was more direct and perhaps felt to be simpler to dictate to people's consciences and just tell them what to do and what to avoid.

The rather uniform collective behavior typical of these closed societies was more a function of conformity, but not necessarily a deliberately chosen morality or or enthusiastically sought after sanctity. Societies become "closed societies" when there is a general consensus and desire or need to do all that is possible in order for the collectivity to survive and carry on its way of life and values. These mechanisms are much more about society than about the Church, sociology not theology.

As a result the society has generally turned away from the Church as a moral or spiritual guide and in seeking answers and meaning people are going anywhere but to the Church or Christianity or the Word of God. That is why our Diocese, as with all the others, is at a point of going back to basics, to how Jesus himself began his ministry, namely, a personal relationship with God the Father in the Holy Spirit through Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.

We have no choice but to follow Jesus and imitate the Master. He did not snuff out the smoldering wick nor break the bent reed, but instead proclaimed a good news. He only spoke in judgement against those who tried to prevent the little ones from coming to Jesus. He himself said that He came not to judge but to save.

There are those even today, and they are not few, who would want the clergy to go back to going on crusades against abortion. The problem is that those who go to Church today generally do so because they want to. For the most part, they already know that abortion - among other acts - is wrong or a great harm, because they are listening to the Holy Spirit. They perceive that gentle voice within their conscience, each to the varying degrees of their development of conscience. The ones who are being fooled into thinking that abortion is just a procedure and that what is taken out during an abortion is merely "a lump of flesh", and not a human life, are far less likely to be in Church at any time but are very numerous and most likely not in Church but "out there".

It is a commonly held view that, as a result of this high handed and authoritarian approach "laying down the law" and condemning lists of sinful behaviours, we shoved the Holy Spirit out of the way by preaching fire and brimstone from the pulpit. The fruits are that we alienated a whole population away from God because we were no longer preaching the good news as Jesus intends.

We are not going back to fire and brimstone because it doesn't work. We don't avoid preaching on moral issues, but the primary focus is on the good news of God's love and mercy. Once people begin to really understand that God loves them, that Jesus died in order to offer them a new way of life, and to accept God's love and mercy as a free gift; then love supernaturally prompts them to want to love God back and to avoid offending Him.

People are thinking for themselves now, whether we like it or not, and they feed on whatever they can find on the Internet for the most part. There are new waves of evangelists, Catholic as well as from all of the other Christian denominations, who proclaim this good news of God's love coupled with his call to repentance. It is good that in our churches we echo this proclamation of the kerygma, of the essential teaching which Jesus initiated and exemplified in his life, preaching, miracles, passion, death, resurrection, ascension, and sending of the Holy Spirit.

We also reach out to the general population who, for the most part, are not going very often if at all to any church, through "40 Days for Life" when Pro-Life people hold placards near abortion clinics and manage to reach a few people but also bear the brunt of contempt from others. This is an action in which all can take part, a work of mercy accessible to all. It is not difficult for anyone to get in touch with their local Pro-Life organization such as Campaign Life Coalition in Canada or to simply go through the "40 Days" website. Here is the webpage for Montreal, Québec, Canada.

We pray. We preach the good news as well as we can. We try to form missionary disciples who give witness out in the world to the truth, the way, and the life, and whenever possible, engage in chats about moral issues to accompany people in their searching. Anyone can take their relationship with God more seriously and make a point to pray every day, and even several times a day.

Unless more young men find the courage in God's love to answer Jesus' call to follow Him as bearers of his priestly ministry, in a short time our parishes will no longer have priests to celebrate the Sunday Liturgy, at all; so this issue of insisting on the evils of abortion from the pulpit will be moot. We are all responsible to pray for vocations - for those whom God is calling to the priesthood, or to religious life, or to consecrated virginity, celibacy for the kingdom of God, and of course, Marriage / Matrimony and family life.

Our Archbishop is right. This is not our Church, but the Church of Jesus Christ. We all need to listen to Him, because He is the Master and Lord, and no one else. It is not up to us to devise strategies for resolving the Church's and the world's issues and problems. Jesus is the King, and He needs willing and obedient (listening) servants, soldiers, friends, and missionary disciples.

In light of this perspective, like Saint Paul and the other apostles, we realize that we live here in exile and that our true home is heaven, the kingdom of God, which is already begun on Earth in the minds, hearts, and souls of believers, and in whom God has already begun to reign. Jesus declared "And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent." John 17:3

Our duty to the state is to obey its laws and to pray for its leaders.

"First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, for kings and all who are in high positions, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity. This is right and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires everyone to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth." 1 Timothy 2:1-4

One of the state's laws relates to elections; so Christians are no different in this regard from other citizens: we have a duty to vote. We can try to vote for candidates who support life and oppose abortion; however, it is not beyond some candidates to manipulate these issues as well. Our Church teaches us that we are to employ our minds and hearts and vote the best we can according to our conscience. We are no longer in the days when clergy reminded people that heaven was blue and hell was red in reference to the colors of the two major parties of the day. To the best of their ability, citizens need to hold accountable those who stand for public office, are elected, and carry the mantle and burden of authority and public service.

When we cannot find candidates who are on record for supporting life, we can prick their consciences by writing them with all due respect and kindness, to try to open up dialogue on these issues. We can become a catalyst for change for the good.

Some will cancel their vote when they find no pro-life candidate; while others will vote for the lesser of possible evils. No one can or should dictate such outcomes, in my opinion. The Catechism of the Catholic Church offers common sense guidelines to assist the faithful in their deliberations before voting in public elections. When there are no other options, it may be reasonable to vote for the lesser of possible evils in accord with the short list of available candidates.

From what we can see here in Canada, our southern neighbor, the American Church, has been much more aggressive in dictating to the consciences of the faithful, going so far as to excommunicate RC politicians who voted for abortion services, just to give one example. However, the general failure of the American episcopate to properly manage the clergy sex abuse has now had an adverse effect on the consciences of the general population, both Catholic and non-Catholic. The more strident the clergy have been against abortion, the more people are losing respect for that voice.

The role of the clergy is to accompany people and help them form their conscience, not to try to manipulate public behavior and policy with "moral strong arm tactics". Jesus did not come into our world to initiate "power plays" either in secular government or in religious leadership. Rather, Jesus came to appeal to individual consciences to welcome his Father's love and turn away from evil.

We need to take our cues from the Master. Jesus Christ is risen from the dead, simultaneously sitting at the Father's right hand and dwelling among us here on Earth. He is King of the nations. He is the only Saviour and Redeemer of mankind, the beloved Son of the Father, and the Father's command to us is: "Listen to his voice."

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My purpose in these posts is to help spread the contributions of a variety of Christian and other writers in a desire to share significant writings that in my estimation contribute to the common good and directly or indirectly give glory to God and extend the Lord's work of salvation to all of humanity. G.S.

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© 2004-2021 All rights reserved Fr. Gilles Surprenant, Associate Priest of Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montreal  QC
© 2004-2021 Tous droits réservés Abbé Gilles Surprenant, Prêtre Associé de Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montréal QC 

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