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.
No more stupid than requiring a believer to deny the existence of a higher power in order to get state sponsored help.
ReplyDeleteMichael: I am very familiar with the 12 Steps of the A.A. Program. It is abundantly clear that the 'higher power' does not need to be 'God'. To paraphrase from a meeting leader, it can be a belief in the goodness of humanity, the strength of the human spirit to overcome difficulties, or a coffee maker! It's simply a step to acknowledge that the alcoholic needs to tap into more than his own resources. If that were sufficient, he or she wouldn't be at an A.A. meeting to begin with.
DeleteAdditionally, A.A. is not a state sponsored agency. They offer their help to any and all that ask for it not matter the state where they function.
It's still a stupid thing in my books since those who are objecting are so clearly misunderstanding what the program teaches.
Fr. Tim
That's a much more enlightened attitude towards a higher power than these people are being asked to embrace and that the AA requires as he is in fact "fighting back against the expulsion of the agnostic AA group he chairs in a Unitarian church". Your position is similar to the one I took when becoming a Scout leader and had to acknowledge a power greater than "mankind". I was tempted to say "womankind" by I repressed my snark and instead acknowledged this fascinating universe we have woken up in and spend our four score years or so. And my "duty to God" as in the Scout promise was to learn and share as much about this universe as I could. I therefore implemented one of our most interesting evenings each year, astronomy night.
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