The May 2010 Euthanasia Prevention Coalition Newsletter can now be found at: http://www.euthanasiaprevention.on.ca/Newsletters/Newsletter108(May2010)(RGB).pdf Bill C-384 was soundly defeated by a vote of 228 to 59. Check how the Members of Parliament voted at: http://www.euthanasiaprevention.on.ca/HowTheyVoted.pdf On June 5, 2010, we are co-hosting the US/Canda Push-Back Seminar at the Radisson Gateway Hotel at the Seattle/Tacoma Airport. The overwhelming defeat of Bill C-384 proved that we can Push-Back the euthanasia lobby in the US and Canada and convince people that euthanasia and assisted suicide are a dangerous public policy. Register for the Seminar at: http://www.euthanasiaprevention.on.ca/2010SeminarFlyer(RGB)(LetterFormat).pdf The Schindler family are being attacked by a Florida television station and Michael Schiavo. The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition is standing in solidarity with the Schindler family. My blog comments: http://alexschadenberg.blogspot.com/2010/05/att...
Reflections from the pastoral ministry of an Evangelical Catholic Priest.
As opposed to anti-life, heterodox bishops?
ReplyDeleteOh dear...the litmus test of true orthodoxy in your church is now:
ReplyDeletea) how anti-gay one is, AND
b) how pro-birth one is (with no regard for the autonomy of the pregnant woman).
As I have warned before, associating your brand exclusively with these narrow viewpoints, is a recipe to spiral down towards total irrelevance. I know, I know...you guys possess the one, eternal, really really true, TRUTH (TM), and eventually your god will deliver you from yourselves. In the meantime, I predict continued declines in the number of parishoners, and successive parish closings and consolidations.
Just out of curiousity Tim, how many parishes have been closed, merged or made missions in Pembroke diocese over the past 10 years? Is your parish and/or diocese growing or atrophying?
Does anyone in your church actually think that it might be time to begin associating "orthodoxy" with ideas such as: economic and social justice; a sustainable and healthy environment; eradication of poverty, militarism, sickness and suffering; and the promotion of peace, social cohesion, and education?
You know - your church could be a force for positive change in the world. Instead, your recent crop of popes seems hell bent on making your church smaller, more united, and as mean as a junk yard dog - with few redeeming qualities.
For what it is worth, this is my view from the outside.
Cheers...Martin
G'day Martin: Great to hear from you! I trust you're enjoying this glorious summer weather. I am!!
ReplyDeleteI cannot agree with your assessment of the agenda of recent Popes. B16's first three encyclicals are on 'Faith', 'Hope' and 'Love'. He is the 'greenest' Pope ever having embraced the climate change argument, and he addresses your list of topics every day in his audiences and addresses. I'll be happy to post some links to show this to be true if you'd like.
I'd also suggest that there is absolutely nothing wrong with being too pro-life. Abortion is the taking of a life. It certainly should be given primacy when measured against a simple expression of autonomy - MOST ESPECIALLY when s/he will reach the point of viability within a few months of making their presence known to the outside world. If a woman were to carry a child to birth, the true cost is measured in months of physical discomfort out of her lifetime. Assuming that the act of sex which resulted in the conception was freely and fully entered into, should her 'right' to autonomy trump the right to life of the being growing within her?
The Church is supposed to speak for the rights of all humanity as beings created in God's image and likeness. She would be hypocritical if she failed to speak for the rights of the most dependent and vulnerable among us.
Pax,
Tim
Martin, I think you are the "Reformed" theology fellow that has been on this thread before?
ReplyDeleteIf you are then I now understand why mainline Protestants have so much difficulty with "Reformed Theology"
You rant about being too pro-life is very confusing to me, and to top it off not very Biblical.
We meet again!
Cliff
Hi Tim,
ReplyDeleteLOL. In January 2011, BXVI stated that equal marriage was a threat to creation, and then went on to imply that homosexuality was a greater threat to humanity than climate change. Now you want us to believe that this man is a great environmental crusader? If you ask me, he is simply using this issue as a spring board to rant about "teh gays" and to demonize them further. Consequently, this Lifesite article accurately captures the zeitgeist of your chuch by correctly noting that anti-gay sentiment is the true test of orthodoxy. I am simply pointing out that this is not a winning strategy - nor is it likely to be.
Lastly, I know you folks like to portray yourselves as the "culture of life" and you delight in pointing to your pro-birth advocacy as evidence of same. I find that ironic in the extreme. The RCC is in truth a "death cult". Any chuch that would insist that a woman must die rather than abort a fetus that threatens her life can hardly be described as pro-life. Any church that insists birth control is a sin and condemns people to live in overpopulated environments and in abject poverty is truly a death cult. The RCC is not pro-life - just pro-birth. Pro-birth at any cost - to women, to children and to humanity.
I assume that since you ignored my question on the growth of the RCC - that Pembroke diocese is atrophying?
Cheers...Martin
Martin: I don't have the time right now for a complete answer to your excellent comment, so I'll just answer that last point and get to the rest later. (After today's funeral service - too many of these this summer!! I'm supposed to be on holidays but haven't has more than 3 uninterrupted days yet!)
ReplyDeleteYes, Pembroke Diocese is atrophying. You are absolutely right on this point.
Tim