Crucifixes allegedly made in Chinese sweatshops
This story at CNN is reminder for all of us to be aware of what we are buying. If the price seems too good to be true, maybe there is a reason for it!
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Together we will be heard!
The Catholic Association (TCA) is an organization that is seeking to organize lay Catholics into an effective political force. This is a great idea along the lines of what I tried to accomplish with this blog – to get folks to band together and use their influence in the political and corporate arena.
TCA defends our Catholic values wherever needed – above all the culture of life, marriage and the family. TCA champions the Catholic identity of individuals and institutions under attack because of their faith. TCA also fosters cultural renewal by defending the best in our culture while helping parents to protect their children from the vicious and violent influences they worry about today.
Visit the website to learn more or go ahead and become a member to make sure your voice is heard on the issues that matter most.
Voluntary Poverty
Katerina over at Civilization of Love has a great post that includes an essay entitled “The Case for Utopia”. Check out the essay along with her other posts. There is a posting about shopping ideas for Christmas that we should all read.
Cures without Cloning
for those of you in Missouri, here is some information on the proposed amendment to the state constitution to close the loophole that currently exists allowing cloning.
THE PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION OF MISSOURI
Be it resolved by the people of the state of Missouri that the Constitution be amended :
One new section is adopted by adding one new section to be known as Section 38(e) of Article III, to read as follows:
Section 38(e)
- It shall be unlawful to clone or attempt to clone a human being as that term is defined in subsection 2 of this section. Researchers may conduct stem cell research to discover cures for disease and develop stem cell therapies and cures, provided that the research complies with the limitations of this section and the limitations of Section 38(d). The prohibition of this section shall be in addition to the prohibitions of Section 38(d).
- For all purposes within this article, “Clone or attempt to clone a human being” means create or attempt to create a human embryo at any stage, which shall include the one-cell stage onward, by any means other than fertilization of a human egg by a human sperm.
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No taxpayer dollars shall be expended:
- to clone or attempt to clone a human being; or
- to research or experiment using a human embryo, or any part of a human embryo, derived from cloning or attempting to clone a human being.
The Economics of Politics
Since we are gearing up for another election season, I thought that this column from the Catholic News Agency would be a good topic to share. Enjoy!
By Dr. William R. Luckey
During the election season, many Catholics wonder why so many
Catholic politicians do not vote according to their professed beliefs.
It is disheartening to have one famous Catholic politician say publicly
that he takes his faith very seriously and a woman’s right to choose
abortion very seriously as well. The answer can be found in a
relatively new school of economics called Public Choice. Since
economics studies the actions of people in general, the laws of
economics, logically, apply to the actions of persons in public office
as anywhere else. In this case, we will study what is called the
“median voter rule.”
A normal statistical curve looks somewhat
like a camel’s hump with a line straight up the middle. That middle
line is the average. Assuming that this is a curve of voters, 68.2% of
all the voters fall within one standard deviation of either side of
this average voter. This is the majority. Now, the United States, not
being a Catholic country, cannot boast of the average voter agreeing
with the most of the tenets of the Church on moral-political issues.
So unless the candidate is from a state or district where the mean (or
median) voter agrees with the Church on public issues, he will not be
able to get majority support. This is why, at times, candidates will
speak to religious groups and assure them that he agrees with them, and
then, if he happens to get elected, votes inconsistently—if he wants to
keep his job. This politician might have gotten elected the first time
by avoiding any controversial stands, so that even the medial voter
liked him. But in office, a stand must be taken on issues that appear
in legislation. This becomes public record, and that is when we see a
movement to the “center,” i. e., waffling on serious issues. After
all, who wants to come home and tell his wife that after moving all the
way to Washington, they now have to go back and he has to get a real
job.
* Dr. William R. Luckey was born in the
south Bronx, New York City, he is Professor and Chairman of the
Department of Political Science and Economics at Christendom College
and is on the advisory board of the Center for Economic Personalism.
He has been married for 30 years and has four children; he has
also been a member of the Third Order of St. Dominic for over 27 years.
Brownback Calls for Suspension of Federal Funding for Abortions
Senator Sam Brownback joins with 12 other US Senators to call for an end to funding for organizations that promote abortion, such as Planned Parenthood.
“We write to urge you to suspend funding in all future Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education and Related Agencies Appropriations bills for organizations that promote abortion. While an amendment to this effect was not adopted in the U.S. Senate last month, we believe recent findings warrant such a suspension pending further investigation.
“One recipient of such funding is the Planned Parenthood Federation of America which receives more than $300 million in taxpayer funding each year. According to a 107-count complaint filed in Kansas’ Johnson County District Court two weeks ago, Planned Parenthood is accused of performing illegal late-term abortions in violation of state law. It is also accused of falsifying documents and failing to comply with medical reporting requirements.
“Unfortunately this is just one example of a troubling trend. Too often we hear about negligent medical practice or inadequate reporting from abortion clinics that lack sufficient oversight. One of the many reasons to withhold federal funding from groups that promote abortion are these troubling accusations of negligent medical practice. Most recently, amendment S.A.3330 to H.R.3043, the Labor, Health and Human Services Appropriations bill would have corrected this problem by denying federal funding to groups that promote abortion.
“While amendment S.A.3330 was not adopted by the Senate, we believe an amendment to that effect should be reconsidered in the future given this troubling evidence of wrongdoing and neglectful medical practice. While we continue to have a rigorous debate in this country about abortion, we should be able to come to some fundamental agreements. We should not use tax dollars to subsidize abortion clinics – particularly when there are serious concerns regarding their compliance with state law and medical standards.”
Joining with Sen. Brownback are Senators David Vitter (R-LA), Jim Bunning (R-KY), John Barrasso (R-WY), Elizabeth Dole (R-NC), Mike Enzi (R-WY), Chuck Hagel (R-NE), James Inhofe (R-OK), Jon Kyl (R-AZ), Trent Lott (R-MS), Mel Martinez (R-FL), Pat Roberts (R-KS), and John Thune (R-SD).
