J. Budzizewski--My New Hero!

For those of you who've never heard of J. Budzizewski, let me tell you, you are really missing out. I just finished "The Revenge of Conscience--Politics and the Fall of Man" and I can honestly say I think it will make me a better person. The most insteresting thing about the book is that everything in it screamed "Catholic!" He was quoting from Aquinas and Augustine and Popes, but when Mr. Budzizewski talked about his faith he always just said he was "Christian." "Hmphh!," I thought. Is this some new kind of marketing ploy like Amway uses where you don't tell people what "company" you are with until you have them cornered? Well, I did a little more searching and found out the author wasn't Catholic when he wrote the book in the late 1990's, but he was on his way there, because he became a Catholic in 2004. It reminded me a little of G.K. Chesterton's "Orthodoxy" which is a totally Catholic book that was written by an Christian author who did not yet realize that he was a Catholic Christian quite yet.

Anyway, here is a choice tidbit from the last chapter of "The Revenge of Conscience", entitled "The Fallen City:"

"I observed to a homosexual activist with whom I was debating that our bodies have a language of their own, that we say things to each other by what we do with them. What does it mean then, I asked him, when a man puts the part of himself which represents the generation of life into the cavity of decay and expulsion? Seeing the answer all too well, he refused to reply. Permit me to spell it out. It means "Life, be swallowed up by death."

Oh man! How true is that? Isn't that exactly what follows unrepented homosexual acts? Death! Spiritual death, certainly, but also premature physical death. "Life, be swallowed up by death." I will definitely have to remember that line!

J. Budzizewski also has a great book called "How to Stay Christian in College." Great stuff on chastity and many other issues that college students will face in most secular colleges.

Where Have All The Downs Syndrome Children Gone

I read an interesting article on a woman from England who found out the son she was carrying would have Downs Syndrome when she was 35 weeks along. The pressure to abort was tremendous. Thankfully, she and her husband loved the child unconditionally and had already named him so they weren't swallowing all the "concern" that the doctors and nurses were showering them with.

An interesting statistic from the article said that 62% of Downs Syndrome children are diagnosed before birth and 92% of those diagnosed are aborted.

God have mercy on us.

DVC Stinks!

Not surprisingly, the film version of the DVC didn't fall far from its "literary" tree. Reviews from Cannes, the NYT, and everyone else have been universally negative. Some critics have been downright vicious, referring to Tom Hanks as "bloated" and saying things like, "the film takes longer to get through than the book, or at least it feels like it!' At Cannes, viewers were no more polite--some actually were derisively laughing at parts that weren't supposed to be funny!

Some enterprising individual recently released a spoof on the book, entitled, "The Baloney Code." Apparently, there is more truth in this satire than there was in the origina novel. But you know what they say, "Satire has to have some truth to it or it isn't good satire." Sounds like a funny book. I may have to thumb through it the next time I go to Barnes and Noble.

Talking About Touching

Someone sent me a link to a website that has sample lessons from the "Talking About Touching Program" at http://www.primaryeducators.org/lessons.php. As some of you may know, Talking About Touching is the anti-abuse course aimed at children, while VIRTUS, is the anti-abuse course aimed at adults.

One word came to mind after reading the TAT sample lessons--"appalling." Way too much detail for the target ages. I can easily imagine situations where children first exposure to deviant sexual ideas would be through this program.

Not surprisingly, Planned Parenthood and Gay Rights organizations whole-heartedly endorse these programs. If these programs come our way, I think we all should be ready to say, "no," in a loud, firm voice, just like they tell the little kids to do when someone tries to molest them.

Liquid Breathing Environment

I read an interesting article in Reader's Digest this morning as I was trying to wake up. It dealt with a mother who was a neonatal nurse who, herself, gave birth when she was 5 months along. One of the problems that threatens the survival of preemies is the fact that their lungs are not mature enough to breathe air, so they have risks for all sorts of things like blindness and stroke, etc.

Apparently, a doctor has developed a liquid breathing environment that mimics amniotic fluid, but is able to get oxygen into the babies bloodstream without the baby having to breathe air. They said if you could fill up a swimming pool with this stuff, you could breathe underwater. I know! Freaky!

Well, the mother in the story made the tough choice to use this experimental treatment for her daughter and it worked! Her daughter is a completely normal 12 year old today.

Unfortunately, no one is willing to fund this treatment. Maybe we should write to our Congressman and suggest that they throw some of the money they are sending to stem cell research toward this, highly effective treatment for preemies. Think of all the money they would save on caring for disabled children! It almost seems criminal not to support this research when we have good reason to believe that it not only can save lives, it can actually prevent brain damage.

Welcome to the New BACC Family & Life Committee Blog!

Welcome to the very first, Brainerd Area Catholic Churches (BACC) Family and Life Committee blog. Phew, that was a mouthful! This is where we will (try to) post news and scheduling information related to the BACC Family and Life Committee. Note, the next meeting notice in the righthand corner!

I have created links to many interesting pro-life sites, and intend to continue adding to the list. Please let me know if there are any sites you'd like to have on our list that aren't there all ready. This may become your one-stop shop for pro-life news with any luck.

I picked the green template because it just said, "life" to me.

If anyone would like me to post something, just send it to me in an e-mail.

Talk to you later!