February 2006
February 2006
On The Wire... The writing is on the wall. This an example of another liberal societal experiment going way wrong. --Joe
By Gudrun Schultz
SWEDEN, February 20, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) –Swelling crime rates and a parallel growth in suicide show the dark side of Sweden’s experiment with social liberalism.
Despite the country’s status among social liberals as the ultimate model for successfully breaking the shackles of “moral restrictions” on a modern nation, it is becoming more difficult to ignore the accelerating degeneration of Swedish society.
Stephen Crampton, Chief Counsel of the American Family Association Center for Law and Policy (CLP), compiled information on crime rates and social breakdown in Sweden from a Swedish media source, in an article published on the AFA website February 17.
Below are some of the facts he compiled:
• There is more crime in Sweden than in New York City, though they are comparable in population.
• Drug abuse is rampant, with the number of deaths from overdoses having doubled in the past 10 years.
• Sweden has one of the highest incidences of rape in the world.
• Burglaries are so numerous that many citizens have stopped reporting them, because the police are overloaded and cannot undertake to investigate them all anyway.
• Attacks on money transports (highway robbery) are so frequent that the transporters are threatening to quit, thereby effectively closing ATM’s all over the country.
• Violent outdoor muggings are becoming routine, having increased 15% last year alone.
• In Stockholm, the police recently admitted having lied when they claimed to have neutralized some 130 of the city’s most prominent gangsters; in reality, their sting operation was a bust.
• Swedish courts are plagued with perjurous police officers who routinely lie to support fellow cops in trouble.
See related LifeSiteNews coverage: Sweden's Hate Speech Law condemned at UN Human Rights Commission
posted 02/ 22/ 06 by ps -
reply
On The Wire... The wind of change being felt abroad. -- Joe
posted 02/ 16/ 06 by ps - reply
posted 02/ 06/ 06 by ps - reply
In The Mailbag... Now that Justice Samuel Alito has been confirmed we need to step up the pressure of popular opinion. Our battle for life is far from over. Below is a primer for how best to assure the end to Roe vs. Wade. --Joe
I have spent more than half my life strategizing about how the people of God can
most effectively fight and end abortion. There is no one line that summarizes my
conclusions better than what St. Paul wrote in Ephesians 5:11, "Have
nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose
them."
Evil flourishes when it is hidden; injustice festers when the victim is unseen.
And history demonstrates that those who have overcome social injustices have
followed Paul's advice to expose the evil. For instance, those who fought the
slave trade in Britain went to the ports to draw pictures of the boats and how
the slaves were kept in them like sardines.
Exposing evil causes it to collapse under its own weight, as it confronts the
light of human conscience. Overcoming injustice does not require that everyone
believe it is injustice. There is, rather, a critical mass at some point in the
spectrum, when "enough" people are so convinced. The good news is that
those people already have the conscience to reject the evil. The problem is that
the evil hasn't been sufficiently exposed for them to see it.
So it is with abortion. The more it is exposed, the more people reject it.
Public opinion on abortion in America has been amazingly stable since Roe vs.
Wade. The most significant shift occurred when the details of the partial-birth
abortion procedure were exposed in the mid-nineties. Never did a larger audience
see and hear in more detail what abortion actually is.
Abortion needs to be exposed in five distinct ways:
Statistics. Most Americans have no idea of the immense numbers of abortions, or
that abortions occur throughout pregnancy. The abortion supporters themselves
provide us the statistics. See the Alan Guttmacher Institute's website, www.agi-usa.org.
Just seeing these facts awakens many people that a change in abortion policy is
necessary.
Descriptions. Medical textbooks like Abortion Practice use the word
"decapitate" and "dismember" to describe what happens to the
baby in abortion. Moreover, there are now more sworn court testimonies from
practicing abortionists than ever before, on all different abortion procedures
(see www.priestsforlife.org/pba).
Again, the abortionists' own words work against them! When we expose evil in
this way, nobody can accuse us of making it up!
Photos. Show people what abortion looks like, and they will never feel the same
about it again. See how the photos impact people by reading their testimonies at
www.priestsforlife.org/resources/abortionimages/graphicspraise.htm.
Devastation to women, men, and families. More and more mothers, fathers, and
families of aborted children speak out about how they have been devastated. The
power of their testimony changes minds and hearts. (See www.SilentNoMoreAwareness.org/testmonies).
Corruption in the abortion industry. Read the book Lime 5 (contact us) and see
how malpractice, fraud, and sexual abuse are rampant in legal abortion clinics.
See www.ClinicWorker.com
to learn of other abuses and violations.
The road to ending abortion is clearly open in front of us. Simply take the
evidence above and put it before the conscience of everyone you can. --Father
Frank
posted 01/ 31/ 06 by ps - reply
In The mailbag... From our BC friend. --Joe
I recently
attended a conference of the Canadian Physicians for Life because... well I'm
Canadian, I enjoy Life and I play a Physician on Thursdays between 9 and 11. I
was impressed with the dignity, concern and thoughtfulness that was evident at
the conference, at least prior to my arrival. For some doctors the issue of
abortion is simple. Their response to this ethical dilemma is to send every girl
who believes she wants an abortion to the local abortionist and let them work it
out. Easy case. Others wrestle with each case individually and set up a
counseling process. Others still are uncomfortable being involved in the
abortion process for any reason other than the most dire. It is in that latter
pool that I have come to swim and possibly drown.
Given the back and forth from assorted lobby groups it may be difficult to
develop an informed opinion on this sensitive issue but, given the
unexpectedness with which your opinion may be required, it is important that you
form your own opinion, and that it be exactly the same as mine.
Q: Shouldn't, as Morgentaler says, every child be a wanted child?
A: Every child is wanted. Every pregnancy is not. Thousands of couples
spend thousands of dollars to adopt thousands of children from East
Yaopingyanski. Doctors constantly receive requests from those who would love the
opportunity to raise a child. Every child is wanted... by someone.
Q: What about a woman's right to do with her body as she pleases?
A: It is against the law for a woman to sell her body or do certain
things to or with it. But a growing fetus is, in fact, not her body. It has its
own distinct DNA, it has its own genomic character. An appendix or a toenail is
part of our body but a fetus is a distinct society. My mother likes rutabaga and
tofu, but as a young fetus (don't we all miss those halcyon days) I rejected
that stuff being rammed through my bellybutton and made it known I needed dill
pickle ice cream and peanut buster parfaits with ketchup. We were and are
different, genomically and gastronomically speaking.
Q: But a fetus is not a fully developed human being.
A: Fetus is from the Latin for "young child." After 12 weeks
nothing new develops in a fetus, it has everything in place. From there it
simply matures. Two year olds are no less human than the more developed five
year olds. They are just meaner.
Q: But being pregnant can be an inconvenience that causes stretch marks
and personally I just spent thousands for implants so it isn't a good time for
me to...
A: Listen Q, I remember you before implants, when you were just a little
q. You were OK, er... ok. But yes, this is among the many reasons we hear why a
woman wants an abortion.
Q: What is a partial birth abortion? Is this for real?
A: I would suggest that if you want to know how you really feel about
abortion, go to any website that describes partial birth abortion. If that
doesn't put goose- bumps on your goose- bumps then nothing in this column will
make any difference to you.
As many doctors wrestle with our stewardship to the expectant mother I can't
help but be concerned with the lack of concern for the unborn child that has too
often turned an ethical decision into a mere gynecological inconvenience. What's
the answer? I don't know but I suspect it must involve dill pickle ice cream.
Dr. Dave is a B.C. physician and guest speaker whose column appears weekly in
Unwind. E-mail questions for him to: drdave@png.canwest.com
posted 01/ 30/ 06 by ps - reply