Paul Raushenbush: October 2009 Archives

Randall Terry is back with his after-life threats just in time for Halloween as reported by Associated Press:

WASHINGTON -- Anti-abortion activist Randall Terry is calling on people to burn effigies of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid this Halloween, as part of a "Burn in Hell" video contest to protest the health care legislation in Congress.

Terry, founder of Operation Rescue, said Tuesday that the contest serves as a political and spiritual statement that "gives people a chance to peacefully vent their rage."

"If Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid force us to pay for child killing and they die unrepentant, they will burn in hell for this," Terry said in a telephone interview.

But House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., called the contest "unfortunate."

"I don't think appealing to people's anger and in effect inciting them to acts which either display or in any way project violent acts is consistent with rational discussion of very critical issues," Hoyer told reporters.

A YouTube video of the contest instructions shows how to print a poster of Reid and Pelosi and construct a stand for it. The clip shows a person dousing the Democratic leaders' images with flammable liquid. The next scene shows their picture going up in flames. People are then encouraged to take pictures, record and submit online the footage of their Oct. 31 protests.

"No, this is not a threat to their body," an unidentified man says in the instructional video, "but it is a threat to their soul."

While this is a pretty spooky ploy I think most pro-lifers are embarrassed by these tactics finding them counter-productive as well as opposed to the American spirit of civil debate and disagreement.  Rev. Jim Wallis of Sojourners, whom I know to be personally opposed to abortion, responded to Terry's Burn in Hell proposal with this statment:

Hey Christians!  Stop putting a camel hair rope around Halloween on October 31^st, and instead take advantage of what happens on Nov. 1^st - All Saints Day.

It seems like we used to hear more from Christians who decried Halloween as a time to glamorize demons and the devil.   If observed at all, some Christians decided to create their own versions of haunted houses called "Hell Houses"  with the purpose of scaring people into belief by showing regretted abortions, gay people with AIDS, and addicted prostitutes.   In 2009 a more accurate Hell House might be a family that has lost their home to foreclosure, a baby starving for lack of food, or a polluted water supply.  But maybe Hell Houses should just die its ghoulish death in 2009.

I say let kids have fun on Halloween.  I mean, how bad can God be offended with kids dressing up as cowboys, princesses, matadors, hobos and even as ghosts (Charlie Brown anyone?).   The only real sin here is gluttony as kids pack candy into their faces.  But that has its own immediate punishment offered by nature - the stomachache. 

Instead of worrying about Halloween, take advantage of it as the springboard for Nov. 1, which is known as All Saints Day and Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead).   All those faux scary spirit world reminders of Halloween can be used as a springboard for a conversation about the real 'life beyond life.'   All Saints Day is a great time to talk about what happens when we die, to commune with our loved ones who have died, and celebrate their life and their presence with God in heaven. 

For Latin cultures this generally means going to a cemetery and having a party around the graves of family members.    This might sound spooky for those who have not grown up with the practice, but it isn't experienced that way.   It is a family celebration that reinforces the ties of commitment and love that continue even after the death of a loved one and an encouragement that there will be a similar party for us once we have died.

All Saints Day, like Ash Wednesday, can be a time of reflection on our own mortality.  The line between the living and the dead is very thin and we will all cross it some day. On Ash Wednesday as I impose ashes I say to congregants the powerful words:  "Remember that you are made from dust and to dust you shall return."  But then I add in a whisper just for the individual: "So care for your soul, which is eternal."  

All Saints Day is a celebration of those who cared for their soul by fulfilling Jesus' commandments of Love of God and Love of Neighbor.  It is a reminder of that one true task that Jesus has set before us.    Instead of cordoning yourself off this weekend, embrace this opportunity to reflect on the reality of death and celebrate the Saints who now live in God's eternal embrace. 

By John Gehring
Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good

Just in time for Halloween, Bill Donohue of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights is once again spooked about all those "radical secularists" lurking ominously behind ever corner. In case you didn't notice, these godless heathens are "waging war" against American culture and plotting to "smash the last vestiges of Christianity in America." So argues the irrepressible cultural warrior in a recent On Faith commentary and in his new book, "Secular Sabatoge: How Liberals Are Destroying Religion and Culture in America."

You have to hand it to the guy. Donohue makes righteous indignation and throwing rhetorical bombs into an art form. He is about as subtle as a fist in your face. If you are looking for reasoned and sensible analysis turn on PBS, Donohue seems to snarl. His latest depiction of cultural doom probably elicits a yawn from most religious Americans who are not obsessed with the bogeymen of multiculturalism, secularism, homosexuality and Hollywood hedonism that Donohue rails against with a bullying style.

Everyday in our churches, mosques and synagogues people of faith gather humbly to pray for wisdom, compassion and justice. We give public expression to this faith by comforting the sick, welcoming the strangers among us and seeking peace in a world torn by violence. We lobby Congress to pass health-care reform, fix a broken immigration system and address global climate change as profound moral issues. Even on difficult issues, we reject culture-war showdowns by encouraging pro-choice and pro-life elected officials to find common ground and reduce abortions by increasing support for pregnant women, expanding adoption opportunities and preventing unintended pregnancies.

Keeping track of Donohue's latest offensive comment keeps the watchdogs at Media Matters for America busy. Here's a few of his signature gems:

▪ "Hollywood is controlled by secular Jews who hate Christianity in general and Catholicism in particular...Hollywood likes anal sex." MSNBC, Scarborough Country, 12/8/04

▪ "A lot of these people are gold diggers looking to get money from the Catholic Church."  -Speaking about the clergy sex abuse scandal. The Last Word with Matt Cooper 5/29/2009

At least when he gets to feeling down about things, Donohue raises his chin and cheers himself up with this comforting thought:

▪ "The culture war is up for grabs. The good news is that religious conservatives continue to breed like rabbits, while secular saboteurs have shut down: they're too busy walking their dogs, going to bathhouses and aborting their kids. Time, it seems, is on the side of the angels."  On Faith, Washington Post, 10/19/09

It's sad, if unsurprising, that the media regularly turns to Donohue for a "Catholic view" on issues. While Donohue's bluster makes for sensational television, he rarely raises his voice to speak about issues at the heart of Catholic social teaching. While the U.S. Catholic bishops' 2008 election-year statement on political responsibility emphasized a consistent ethic of life tradition that recognizes torture, unjust war, the death penalty, genocide, racism and poverty as "direct assaults on innocent human life," Donohue is uncharacteristically mute on these points. Abortion is not the only "life issue" for Catholics. As Auxiliary Bishop Gabino Zavala of Los Angeles told the Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne, Jr. last year: "We are not a one-issue Church...but that's not what always comes out."

We live in an age where the shrillest voices often drown out sober debate and thoughtful insights. Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh watch their ratings soar with every outrageous remark. Bill Donohue gets invited on TV because he bellows and bloviates with the best of them. While some enjoy the antics, most of us are tired of the noise machine. Faith and reason are not enemies, but together help illuminate our path through the dark forests of fear, ignorance and injustice. Sometimes we just need to turn down the volume and tune out the shouters to find our way.

One of the President Obama's first promises was that he would close Guantanamo Bay.  Closing Gitmo, which has been become a worldwide symbol of American abuse and intertwined with the horrors of Abu Ghraib, has been supported by military leaders and civil liberty activists alike.  But once the rubber actually hit the road, cowardly representatives in congress decided that holding criminals without trial was good enough in far away places but not in their own state.  Fortunately, the Democrats prevailed last week and congress has voted to allow detainees held in Guantanamo Bay onto American soil for prosecution

Republicans in the House have lost a bid to block the transfer of any detainees held at the Guantanamo Bay prison to the United States.

Instead, the House stood by a Democratic plan to allow suspected enemy combatants held at Guantanamo to be shipped to U.S. soil only to be prosecuted for their suspected crimes. President Barack Obama has ordered the facility closed in January but has yet to offer a plan to accomplish that.

Democratic leaders had to push hard for the win because many lawmakers see political danger in voting to move detainees from Guantanamo. The Republican plan failed on a 193-224 vote.

This is the first step but it can't stop here.  America should have the courage of our convictions.  Bring all the war criminals here to the United States for a triall.  If they are guilty then lock them up and throw away the key. If there is not enough evidence to hold them, then we have to release them.  We have built a massive prison industry in America - largely used to lock up African Americans and the poor.  You can't tell me that we can't find a place for international criminals.  If other states are too chicken to hold those held on suspicion of terrorism then bring them to my state of New Jersey where so many people where affected by the events of 9/11 and the wars.  We'll keep an eye on them.  

Closing Guantanamo is necessary to show the world that we are determined to lead the world not through military might, but in moral righteousness.  Let's do the right thing and close Gitmo.

When contraception use goes up, abortions go down. That is the not so surprising findings in the report Abortion Worldwide: A Decade of Uneven Progress on the declining number of world wide abortions coming out of the Guttmacher Institute this week.  As the Christian Science Monitor Reported:

Contraceptive use is up worldwide, and with that has come a decline in abortions and unintended pregnancies, according to a report by the Guttmacher Institute released Tuesday.

Between 1995 and 2003, the number of abortions performed worldwide fell from 45.5 million to 41.6 million. The global rate of abortions fell as well: from 35 abortions for every 1,000 women of reproductive age (15-44) in 1995, to 29 per 1,000 women in 2003.

The decline corresponds with a growth in contraceptive use worldwide. The proportion of married women practicing contraception rose from 54 percent in 1990 to 63 percent in 2003, Guttmacher reports. Unmarried, sexually active women are also more likely to be using contraception.

What spurred the increase in contraceptive use?

"In the course of social and economic development, women and couples increasingly want smaller families, and so in a broad sense those are some of the contributors to uptake of contraception," says Gilda Sedgh, a senior research associate at the New York-based Guttmacher Institute and a coauthor of the study.

"That of course is not possible without access to contraception. So it's service provision and international investments in family planning programs that have made it possible."

The findings of the report entitled: Abortion Worldwide: A Decade of Uneven Progress confirm what is obvious to most of us - if you want to stop abortions then make contraception and family planning options readily available.  Yes, this is consequentialist thinking but in this case the effort of All OF US should be about the consequences of not stopping unwanted or intended pregnancies before they happen.  For those who view abortion as the equivalent of murder then shouldn't all efforts be made to make sure that there is no conception from sex to begin with?  Likewise, those concerned with the health of the woman should be shocked by the statistic that 70,000 women are dying from the consequences of botched illegal abortions. 

While in a utopian moralistic universe people would only have sex when they wanted to have children, but that is not the universe where real people live and it is time to admit that and to turn to a more pragmatic approach.  Availability to contraception and family planning sould be supported by all sides in the abortion debate.