Hi there folks. I've decided to move this blog over to Wordpress simply because Wordpress formats for mobile devices and it makes it so much easier to read when out and about.
The new url is:
https://prolifeprolove.wordpress.com/
So please adjust your bookmarks folks.
All the post and comments here have been transferred and comments here are going to be closed. See you over at the new place people.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Because nothing sells like sex
I first read about this on The Hand Mirror and I have taken the photo from Luddite Journo but this issue is so important I wanted to focus attention on it too.
The New Zealand Police have had a "rough time" of it in the last few year. Police officers have been charged with raping very young women. Two, Brad Shipton and Bob Schollum, were convicted of raping and kidnapping a 20 year old woman. She was gang raped by five men and two of them, Shipton and Schollum, were police officers at the time. Other women said that they were raped by police however their cases did not result in a guilty verdict. The justice system decided that their group sex was consensual, or at least they couldn't bring a judgement of guilty beyond reasonable doubt.
So... you get the picture. The police need to work on their behaviour and their public perception - they need to be seen as trustworthy officers of the law. They need to be seen to be people who you can trust and be safe with, especially if you are someone who has suffered a sexual assault. This means that the police should be bending over backwards to present themselves as having purged the sick corruption that led police officers to feel comfortable with having group sex with teenage girls (whilst in police uniform and using police handcuffs and batons) and kidnapping and gang rape.
Therefore, why would the New Zealand Police run advertising like this?
Dear New Zealand Police,
I know advertising executives will use sex to sell everything, from beer and burgers, to music and motorbikes, but if you want to "sell" the New Zealand Police as a career for young people it might pay to lay off the creepy adverts that insinuate you want to have sex with them. This is especially important given police officers have had a habit of groups sex with young girls and even on occasion have raped them.
Please fire your advertising agency and maybe run some focus groups with some women since you can't seem to work out when you are being sleazy.
Just an FYI.
Yours hopefully,
Muerk
The New Zealand Police have had a "rough time" of it in the last few year. Police officers have been charged with raping very young women. Two, Brad Shipton and Bob Schollum, were convicted of raping and kidnapping a 20 year old woman. She was gang raped by five men and two of them, Shipton and Schollum, were police officers at the time. Other women said that they were raped by police however their cases did not result in a guilty verdict. The justice system decided that their group sex was consensual, or at least they couldn't bring a judgement of guilty beyond reasonable doubt.
So... you get the picture. The police need to work on their behaviour and their public perception - they need to be seen as trustworthy officers of the law. They need to be seen to be people who you can trust and be safe with, especially if you are someone who has suffered a sexual assault. This means that the police should be bending over backwards to present themselves as having purged the sick corruption that led police officers to feel comfortable with having group sex with teenage girls (whilst in police uniform and using police handcuffs and batons) and kidnapping and gang rape.
Therefore, why would the New Zealand Police run advertising like this?
Dear New Zealand Police,
I know advertising executives will use sex to sell everything, from beer and burgers, to music and motorbikes, but if you want to "sell" the New Zealand Police as a career for young people it might pay to lay off the creepy adverts that insinuate you want to have sex with them. This is especially important given police officers have had a habit of groups sex with young girls and even on occasion have raped them.
Please fire your advertising agency and maybe run some focus groups with some women since you can't seem to work out when you are being sleazy.
Just an FYI.
Yours hopefully,
Muerk
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
From my favorite blogger comes this.
"Welcome to modern life. Introducing kids as commodities:
The man bringing together this disparate group is Rudy Rupak, chief executive of PlanetHospital.com LLC, a California company that searches the globe to find the components for its business line. The business, in this case, is creating babies"
"PlanetHospital’s most affordable package, the “India bundle,” buys an egg donor, four embryo transfers into four separate surrogate mothers, room and board for the surrogate, and a car and driver for the parents-to-be when they travel to India to pick up the baby.
Pricier packages add services like splitting eggs from the same donor to fertilize with different sperm, so children of gay couples can share a genetic mother. In Panama, twins cost an extra $5,000; for another $6,500 you can choose a child’s gender.
The couple made payments as the pregnancy progressed, with the final amount due at birth. Of the $35,000, PlanetHospital keeps around $3,600. Another $5,000 goes to the egg donor, plus another $3,000 or so for travel expenses. The surrogate gets $8,000. The rest, around $15,000, is paid to the clinic.
Packages. For human beings. If you’re not sick yet, this should just about close the deal for you.
“Our ethics are agnostic,” Mr. Rupak says. “How do you prevent a pedophile from having a baby? If they’re a pedophile then I will leave that to the U.S. government to decide, not me.”"
"Mike Aki and his husband, a Massachusetts couple, confronted this question. The couple planned on having two children. But their two surrogate mothers in India each became pregnant with twins.
At 12 weeks into the pregnancies, Mr. Aki and his husband decided to abort two of the fetuses, one from each woman. It was a very painful call to make, Mr. Aki says. “You start thinking to yourself, ‘Oh, my god, am I killing this child?’”"
He didn’t think of his decision as an abortion, but as a “reduction,” he says.
Read more.
Does anyone remember those hellish sci-fi works about people factories? Yeah, well it isn't science fiction anymore, it's our evil reality.
The man bringing together this disparate group is Rudy Rupak, chief executive of PlanetHospital.com LLC, a California company that searches the globe to find the components for its business line. The business, in this case, is creating babies"
"PlanetHospital’s most affordable package, the “India bundle,” buys an egg donor, four embryo transfers into four separate surrogate mothers, room and board for the surrogate, and a car and driver for the parents-to-be when they travel to India to pick up the baby.
Pricier packages add services like splitting eggs from the same donor to fertilize with different sperm, so children of gay couples can share a genetic mother. In Panama, twins cost an extra $5,000; for another $6,500 you can choose a child’s gender.
The couple made payments as the pregnancy progressed, with the final amount due at birth. Of the $35,000, PlanetHospital keeps around $3,600. Another $5,000 goes to the egg donor, plus another $3,000 or so for travel expenses. The surrogate gets $8,000. The rest, around $15,000, is paid to the clinic.
Packages. For human beings. If you’re not sick yet, this should just about close the deal for you.
“Our ethics are agnostic,” Mr. Rupak says. “How do you prevent a pedophile from having a baby? If they’re a pedophile then I will leave that to the U.S. government to decide, not me.”"
"Mike Aki and his husband, a Massachusetts couple, confronted this question. The couple planned on having two children. But their two surrogate mothers in India each became pregnant with twins.
At 12 weeks into the pregnancies, Mr. Aki and his husband decided to abort two of the fetuses, one from each woman. It was a very painful call to make, Mr. Aki says. “You start thinking to yourself, ‘Oh, my god, am I killing this child?’”"
He didn’t think of his decision as an abortion, but as a “reduction,” he says.
Read more.
Does anyone remember those hellish sci-fi works about people factories? Yeah, well it isn't science fiction anymore, it's our evil reality.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Pike Memorial was blessedly Christian
As I live in Greymouth and I know men who work at Pike my family attended the memorial service for the men lost at Pike. I was praying that rain wouldn't come and I think that would go for everyone here on the Coast, thankfully the weather was perfect. The thing that impressed me most was how obviously and publicly Christian the service was. Jesus Christ was talked about with no apologetic embarrassment. The service was led by Anglican minister Rev. Tim Mora, who did my husband's grandmother's funeral in his little church in Cobden a few years ago. Our parish priest Fr. John Morrison said a prayer and our church choir sang.
I'm not a Coaster by birth (my husband is), but I know many of the people personally including Peter Whittal. He is a man I trust and I know how hard he is working and the toll it is taking on him and his family. Seeing thousands coming together to pray and mourn was a special experience and I truly believe that the West Coast is a slice of Eden.
But it isn't Eden from before the Fall. There is danger and pain here. My husband's family worked at Strongman Mine during the disaster in 1967 and Pike has brought back memories and grief for his family. In the end suffering can bring about good if we let it turn us back to hope and faith in God. Rev. Tim spoke about the deaths at Pike being a tragic accident and not willed by God. It wasn't those men's time, it was just a terrible, horrible accident. He also said that Jesus understands our loss, he too wept for his dead friend.
Greymouth will keep on keeping on and we won't forget the men who lost their lives deep in Pike River Mine and we will hold them in our prayers.
I'm not a Coaster by birth (my husband is), but I know many of the people personally including Peter Whittal. He is a man I trust and I know how hard he is working and the toll it is taking on him and his family. Seeing thousands coming together to pray and mourn was a special experience and I truly believe that the West Coast is a slice of Eden.
But it isn't Eden from before the Fall. There is danger and pain here. My husband's family worked at Strongman Mine during the disaster in 1967 and Pike has brought back memories and grief for his family. In the end suffering can bring about good if we let it turn us back to hope and faith in God. Rev. Tim spoke about the deaths at Pike being a tragic accident and not willed by God. It wasn't those men's time, it was just a terrible, horrible accident. He also said that Jesus understands our loss, he too wept for his dead friend.
Greymouth will keep on keeping on and we won't forget the men who lost their lives deep in Pike River Mine and we will hold them in our prayers.
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Ban on contaceptives proposed
Senator Hokkons Baules of Palau has introduced a bill calling for contraceptives to be banned in the island nation. The bill, the "Population Growth Act of 2011", is hoped to turn the tide against the shrinking population. Palau has a population of around 20 000 people with a growth rate of 0.3%.
Read more.
Idiot Savant of No Right Turn has harsh words for the bill:
"Palau is trying to ban all forms of contraception. The reason? To boost the country's population. Too many Palauans have been choosing to have smaller families, and those who measure the success of their country by the size of its population (the ideology of a cancer cell) want to put a stop to it.
Quite apart from the obvious liberal grounds for objecting to this decision - what people do in their bedrooms and how many kids they have are simply none of the government's business - there's also a large degree of simple revulsion at such barbarism. Contraception is a fundamental, transformative technology which frees us from nature. Banning it is taking people back to the dark ages and making them slaves to circumstance again. Its like banning sewage systems. Or literacy. If people want to live like that, or live in impoverished parts of the world where such technologies are out of reach, that's one thing (and the latter, we can work to fix). But forcing them to is simply abhorrent.
[my emphasis]
Yes, nature can be barbaric, red in tooth and claw, but if Palau doesn't start promoting the next generation of citizens it is going to cease to exist. What people do in their bedrooms is absolutely the government's business. If it wasn't why have marriages recorded by the state with specific rules about who can and can not be married to each other? We are not mere individuals, we are families and communities. Our actions have an effect on our wider society and Palau is trying to stop itself from a population implosion.
No matter how the Western world tries to run from the laws of nature we can never escape. Societies must have babies if they are to continue. Contraception and abortion have changed the landscape of human experience, they have made marriage an optional extra and our families are less stable for that.
Read more.
Idiot Savant of No Right Turn has harsh words for the bill:
"Palau is trying to ban all forms of contraception. The reason? To boost the country's population. Too many Palauans have been choosing to have smaller families, and those who measure the success of their country by the size of its population (the ideology of a cancer cell) want to put a stop to it.
Quite apart from the obvious liberal grounds for objecting to this decision - what people do in their bedrooms and how many kids they have are simply none of the government's business - there's also a large degree of simple revulsion at such barbarism. Contraception is a fundamental, transformative technology which frees us from nature. Banning it is taking people back to the dark ages and making them slaves to circumstance again. Its like banning sewage systems. Or literacy. If people want to live like that, or live in impoverished parts of the world where such technologies are out of reach, that's one thing (and the latter, we can work to fix). But forcing them to is simply abhorrent.
[my emphasis]
Yes, nature can be barbaric, red in tooth and claw, but if Palau doesn't start promoting the next generation of citizens it is going to cease to exist. What people do in their bedrooms is absolutely the government's business. If it wasn't why have marriages recorded by the state with specific rules about who can and can not be married to each other? We are not mere individuals, we are families and communities. Our actions have an effect on our wider society and Palau is trying to stop itself from a population implosion.
No matter how the Western world tries to run from the laws of nature we can never escape. Societies must have babies if they are to continue. Contraception and abortion have changed the landscape of human experience, they have made marriage an optional extra and our families are less stable for that.
Friday, November 26, 2010
Internet poll re: killing child apparently real
A Minnesota pro-life husband and pro-abortion wife have admitted they are the couple behind the BirthOrNot.com site, which featured a poll asking visitors to decide whether they should keep their unborn baby or choose abortion. Many have expressed shock, and some have even alleged that the site is a pro-life publicity stunt, but the truth is stranger than that.
Pete and Alisha Arnold, thirty-something Minnesota suburbanites are expecting a baby, which is in its 18th week of gestation. They set up the shocking Internet poll to ask readers, “Should we give birth or have an abortion?” The site went viral last week and prompted a great deal of outcry from both those in the pro-life and pro-abortion camps.
Read more.
This is an action so strange, so unreal that Kiwi blogger Boganette was convinced it was a hoax. Frankly I agreed with her, no one would actually poll strangers on the Internet about continuing with the life of their baby. But no, it seems (and I say seems because I still can't really fathom it to be true) that it's not a hoax and a genuine web page.
I'm just flabbergasted.
This is what we have come to thanks to the creeping menace of reality television, both homemade and commercial. People are seeking their 15 minutes of fame and the concept of the private and personal has just flown out the window with it. Why would any sane couple ask strangers on the Internet about the most important decision of their lives? What would possess someone to think that was a good idea? Asking family or best friends I can understand, but an open poll?
One of the things I try to hammer into my kids is that once something is on the Internet it can't be taken back. It is there forever. So that embarrassing photo, those ill considered words - forever inscribed on a hard drive somewhere, never to be deleted. Always think carefully about sharing something you might not want to be public. But I just can't understand why someone would place such intimate, personal issues into the public space. For what purpose?
Just... ugh.
UPDATE -
This case just gets weirder. Pete Arnold told CNN that the poll was hoax.
Meh.
This whole thing is just negative and wrong IMO. If they did it to convince women to keep their babies alive then they have missed the mark. Yes, it's highlighted abortion, but then we all knew about abortion anyway. I can't believe that this stunt made women who were previously prepared to terminate their children suddenly change their minds. Really what is going to do that is to help people understand the humanity of the unborn and for people to be prepared to put their child's life first.
Pete and Alisha Arnold, thirty-something Minnesota suburbanites are expecting a baby, which is in its 18th week of gestation. They set up the shocking Internet poll to ask readers, “Should we give birth or have an abortion?” The site went viral last week and prompted a great deal of outcry from both those in the pro-life and pro-abortion camps.
Read more.
This is an action so strange, so unreal that Kiwi blogger Boganette was convinced it was a hoax. Frankly I agreed with her, no one would actually poll strangers on the Internet about continuing with the life of their baby. But no, it seems (and I say seems because I still can't really fathom it to be true) that it's not a hoax and a genuine web page.
I'm just flabbergasted.
This is what we have come to thanks to the creeping menace of reality television, both homemade and commercial. People are seeking their 15 minutes of fame and the concept of the private and personal has just flown out the window with it. Why would any sane couple ask strangers on the Internet about the most important decision of their lives? What would possess someone to think that was a good idea? Asking family or best friends I can understand, but an open poll?
One of the things I try to hammer into my kids is that once something is on the Internet it can't be taken back. It is there forever. So that embarrassing photo, those ill considered words - forever inscribed on a hard drive somewhere, never to be deleted. Always think carefully about sharing something you might not want to be public. But I just can't understand why someone would place such intimate, personal issues into the public space. For what purpose?
Just... ugh.
UPDATE -
This case just gets weirder. Pete Arnold told CNN that the poll was hoax.
Meh.
This whole thing is just negative and wrong IMO. If they did it to convince women to keep their babies alive then they have missed the mark. Yes, it's highlighted abortion, but then we all knew about abortion anyway. I can't believe that this stunt made women who were previously prepared to terminate their children suddenly change their minds. Really what is going to do that is to help people understand the humanity of the unborn and for people to be prepared to put their child's life first.
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Families and the Pike River Mine tragedy
Yesterday we heard the news of the second explosion at Pike River. Another explosion was always on the cards, we knew that it was the risk that held men back from entering the mine. And yesterday what we all dreaded, what we all prayed and hoped would not happen, did. Greymouth today is just so quiet, everyone is grieving. People shopping in the supermarket are hushed. The media pack aren't outside our boys' school this morning. You can feel the sadness everywhere.
One thing has struck my though all of this - the vital place of the family within the community. The people I know involved in the tragedy have all reached out to their families. Individuals don't make up community, families do and right now families are hurting. It's not just the twenty-nine families who have lost one of their own, it's also the families of the people who work at the mine and the families of men who go underground at the other mines in the area who are suffering. I know a wife who worries herself to pieces when her husband comes home late from his shift at a different mine.
I don't think family is acknowledged enough in our culture. The emphasis is on the freedom of the individual, yet what is best for the family is what comes to the aid of the individual. Strong, functional, loving families are the best place for children to be nurtured, for elderly to be cared for, and it creates a safe place for emotions, like grief, to be worked through.
One thing has struck my though all of this - the vital place of the family within the community. The people I know involved in the tragedy have all reached out to their families. Individuals don't make up community, families do and right now families are hurting. It's not just the twenty-nine families who have lost one of their own, it's also the families of the people who work at the mine and the families of men who go underground at the other mines in the area who are suffering. I know a wife who worries herself to pieces when her husband comes home late from his shift at a different mine.
I don't think family is acknowledged enough in our culture. The emphasis is on the freedom of the individual, yet what is best for the family is what comes to the aid of the individual. Strong, functional, loving families are the best place for children to be nurtured, for elderly to be cared for, and it creates a safe place for emotions, like grief, to be worked through.
Monday, November 22, 2010
The "Letters from Wetville" blog
I know I said I wasn't going to post, but I read this and it was so good it needed to be passed around.
Hat tip to The Hand Mirror.
Another perspective from Sandra at the blog "Letters from Wetville".
Hat tip to The Hand Mirror.
Another perspective from Sandra at the blog "Letters from Wetville".
No posts
Hi everyone. I know it's quiet here but being in Greymouth and having friends who work at Pike (all accounted for and safe) I'm just not up for anything else but praying and hoping for the 29 miners to be safely brought home.
So I'm sorry but I'm not going to be making any posts right now.
The pain of the Pike River Coal mine explosion is palpable all through our town. Everyone knows someone down there, or they know someone who does. It's been hard reading some of the coverage, particularly about the pressure to enter the mine. If those rescue guys could get in there without making it worse, then they would be and nothing and no one could stop them.
This is a mining town. My family has mining connections with the Martha Mine in Waihi and the Victoria Battery at Waikino. My grandfather worked for two years at the Martha Mine, my great-grandfather was the last Superintendent at the Victoria Battery before it closed in 1952.
However on my husband comes from Coaster Irish mining stock. His father worked at Strongman and left just before the disaster there in 1967. His grandfather mined at the Liverpool Mine at Rewanui and his life was saved by the heroic action of Jim Whelan who sustained mortal injury saving him. His great-grandfather mined at Brunner for 7 years but was let go when the mine reduced its labour force and thus missed being in the Brunner Mine when that disaster occured. His testimony at the court case is recorded in the Grey River Argus.
Right now we just want to focus on the rescue and get the men safely out.
So I'm sorry but I'm not going to be making any posts right now.
The pain of the Pike River Coal mine explosion is palpable all through our town. Everyone knows someone down there, or they know someone who does. It's been hard reading some of the coverage, particularly about the pressure to enter the mine. If those rescue guys could get in there without making it worse, then they would be and nothing and no one could stop them.
This is a mining town. My family has mining connections with the Martha Mine in Waihi and the Victoria Battery at Waikino. My grandfather worked for two years at the Martha Mine, my great-grandfather was the last Superintendent at the Victoria Battery before it closed in 1952.
However on my husband comes from Coaster Irish mining stock. His father worked at Strongman and left just before the disaster there in 1967. His grandfather mined at the Liverpool Mine at Rewanui and his life was saved by the heroic action of Jim Whelan who sustained mortal injury saving him. His great-grandfather mined at Brunner for 7 years but was let go when the mine reduced its labour force and thus missed being in the Brunner Mine when that disaster occured. His testimony at the court case is recorded in the Grey River Argus.
Right now we just want to focus on the rescue and get the men safely out.
Friday, November 19, 2010
Pike River Coal mine explosion
Pike River Coal explosion.
I'm here in Greymouth and I was at the home of a Pike River Coal employee when he got a call and he was told about the explosion at Pike. He couldn't stay on the line because they needed to keep it clear and there is no cell reception up at Pike. Everyone here knows someone who is a miner. We all feel sick about this accident.
Please pray for the men trapped in the mine and their families.
I'm here in Greymouth and I was at the home of a Pike River Coal employee when he got a call and he was told about the explosion at Pike. He couldn't stay on the line because they needed to keep it clear and there is no cell reception up at Pike. Everyone here knows someone who is a miner. We all feel sick about this accident.
Please pray for the men trapped in the mine and their families.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
British 14 year old girl drinks and parties with her mother's approval
We've been discussing promiscuity lately here, particularly in relation to teenagers, so when I read this in The Daily Mail it just dove-tailed in nicely.
"From her rock-chick black hair, with its green and blonde streaks, to her Doc Marten boots, nine body-piercings, a faceful of permanent make-up and two tattoos, there is little about Sophie Watson’s appearance to suggest her true age.
But, aside from her disturbingly adult appearance, it is the conversation that really makes the jaw drop.
Ask Sophie about her social life and she’ll tell you that she drinks and parties with Mum’s blessing. Ask about her sex life and there are no mortified blushes. Instead, she’ll tell you — again, in the presence of her mother — that she’s slept with four boys in just six months."
Read more.
This article is the exact example of what I don't agree with - girls, children actually, living a life with adult trappings, like sex and alcohol, without the emotional or physical maturity that we need to deal with things when they go bad. By supporting teenagers to make adult choices (and the body piercings and tattoos don't bother me provided they are done in a sterile way) then you are allowing them to end their childhoods.
The thing I learned as a sexually active teenager was that - you can never go back to your childhood. Once it's over it's gone forever. When you are in your childhood what you want to do is grow up out of it as fast as possible, it's only when you leave it behind do you see what it was worth. Childhood was a time where one could grow in a cushioned environment. Your choices were smaller and less life changing than adult choices are.
As an adult the choices I make have deep repercussions, not only for myself, but for my family. I'm often called to put other people's needs ahead of mine, to accept that I can't have what I want, when I want it. Is a teenager ready to do that? Should a teenager have to do that?
Children have the freedom to be selfish, to take the time to learn to know themselves and to make mistakes in a way that they can handle. As they grow parents offer children greater responsibility so that they can learn to eventually bear adult burdens. If we allow children to jump straight to adult behavior then we deprive them of time growing up.
"From her rock-chick black hair, with its green and blonde streaks, to her Doc Marten boots, nine body-piercings, a faceful of permanent make-up and two tattoos, there is little about Sophie Watson’s appearance to suggest her true age.
But, aside from her disturbingly adult appearance, it is the conversation that really makes the jaw drop.
Ask Sophie about her social life and she’ll tell you that she drinks and parties with Mum’s blessing. Ask about her sex life and there are no mortified blushes. Instead, she’ll tell you — again, in the presence of her mother — that she’s slept with four boys in just six months."
Read more.
This article is the exact example of what I don't agree with - girls, children actually, living a life with adult trappings, like sex and alcohol, without the emotional or physical maturity that we need to deal with things when they go bad. By supporting teenagers to make adult choices (and the body piercings and tattoos don't bother me provided they are done in a sterile way) then you are allowing them to end their childhoods.
The thing I learned as a sexually active teenager was that - you can never go back to your childhood. Once it's over it's gone forever. When you are in your childhood what you want to do is grow up out of it as fast as possible, it's only when you leave it behind do you see what it was worth. Childhood was a time where one could grow in a cushioned environment. Your choices were smaller and less life changing than adult choices are.
As an adult the choices I make have deep repercussions, not only for myself, but for my family. I'm often called to put other people's needs ahead of mine, to accept that I can't have what I want, when I want it. Is a teenager ready to do that? Should a teenager have to do that?
Children have the freedom to be selfish, to take the time to learn to know themselves and to make mistakes in a way that they can handle. As they grow parents offer children greater responsibility so that they can learn to eventually bear adult burdens. If we allow children to jump straight to adult behavior then we deprive them of time growing up.
Abortion news from around the world
In Canada a pro-life student group has been refused by the Carleton University Student Association student group status unless it amends its constitution to say it's pro-abortion.
Read more.
In Thailand a temple has been found to be storing the remains of hundreds of dead babies who were killed by illegal abortion. The stench was overpowering and this led the temple to be investigated.
Read more.
In Kenya Michael Kimindu, a minister at the Metropolitan Community Churches and the coordinator of the Christian gay activist group "Other Sheep - Multicultural Ministries with Sexual Minorities" for East Africa, has criticised clergy who are pro-life.
Read more.
Read more.
In Thailand a temple has been found to be storing the remains of hundreds of dead babies who were killed by illegal abortion. The stench was overpowering and this led the temple to be investigated.
Read more.
In Kenya Michael Kimindu, a minister at the Metropolitan Community Churches and the coordinator of the Christian gay activist group "Other Sheep - Multicultural Ministries with Sexual Minorities" for East Africa, has criticised clergy who are pro-life.
Read more.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Stargazer from The Hand Mirror is right, it IS the drinking
A few days ago I wrote a post about binge drinking and how it made me uncomfortable. Stargazer from The Hand Mirror also wrote a post about drinking and how she felt about holding meetings at pubs. Go and read it.
Stargazer brings up a massively important point, the object of a pub is to sell alcohol. Sure many sell food and offer other entertainment, bands, gambling, pool etc. But they exist as public houses for the purpose of drinking. I don't think orgnaisations should be holding meetings and non-social get togethers there. Maybe they shouldn't even hold social gatherings there.
It takes someone from another culture sometimes to point out what we are too close to see for ourselves - drinking is a huge part of our social fabric. I don't think it should be. Alcohol is a drug. A single serve of alcohol is fine, a glass of good wine, a shot of premium bourbon, a tall glass of a finger of gin, tonic and a slice of lemon - all lovely. But we aren't stopping there, our culture drinks until it gets drunk.
Once again I'd like to promote the Pioneer Total Abstainence Association. Maybe Catholics reading this feel called to give up alcohol in reparation for its abuse and the pain that it causes. I beg you to at least consider it. Perhaps abstanence isn't for you, then please pray for the Pioneers at least.
The New Zealand contact details are:
Mrs Mary McGee (National Secretary)
16 Duke St, Mt Roskill, Auckland 1041
Ph: 09 620 4605
You can read about the experiences of a Pioneer in the Marist Messenger: The times and trials of a misunderstood Pioneer!
Stargazer brings up a massively important point, the object of a pub is to sell alcohol. Sure many sell food and offer other entertainment, bands, gambling, pool etc. But they exist as public houses for the purpose of drinking. I don't think orgnaisations should be holding meetings and non-social get togethers there. Maybe they shouldn't even hold social gatherings there.
It takes someone from another culture sometimes to point out what we are too close to see for ourselves - drinking is a huge part of our social fabric. I don't think it should be. Alcohol is a drug. A single serve of alcohol is fine, a glass of good wine, a shot of premium bourbon, a tall glass of a finger of gin, tonic and a slice of lemon - all lovely. But we aren't stopping there, our culture drinks until it gets drunk.
Once again I'd like to promote the Pioneer Total Abstainence Association. Maybe Catholics reading this feel called to give up alcohol in reparation for its abuse and the pain that it causes. I beg you to at least consider it. Perhaps abstanence isn't for you, then please pray for the Pioneers at least.
The New Zealand contact details are:
Mrs Mary McGee (National Secretary)
16 Duke St, Mt Roskill, Auckland 1041
Ph: 09 620 4605
You can read about the experiences of a Pioneer in the Marist Messenger: The times and trials of a misunderstood Pioneer!
Monday, November 15, 2010
Maybe we should be shaming sluts
After writing about a school girl told to pull her skirt down others have spoken.
Brian Edwards weighed into the "you look like a slut" debate here. He says "So if Amethyst did indeed ‘look like a slut’ when her skirt was riding up around her thighs, the proper thing, the responsible thing, the thing that was in her best interests, was to tell her so."
Emma Hart from "Up Front" has responded to the issue with this stinging rejoinder. She said "There are no circumstances in which it is even close to appropriate for a teacher to tell a student that she looks like a slut. None. Not even if she’s wearing an “I am a massive slut” badge." Emma describes it as "slut-shaming".
The thing is... is shaming promiscuous behavior bad? Or is it actually positive? Promiscuity doesn't help people form stable, loving, committed relationships. Promiscuity leads to STIs and abortions. We shame sluts (male and female) because the behavior is bad, bad for individuals, bad for families and bad for society.
I don't think what the teacher said was appropriate, but her words pointed to an issue that we can't afford to ignore.
Brian Edwards weighed into the "you look like a slut" debate here. He says "So if Amethyst did indeed ‘look like a slut’ when her skirt was riding up around her thighs, the proper thing, the responsible thing, the thing that was in her best interests, was to tell her so."
Emma Hart from "Up Front" has responded to the issue with this stinging rejoinder. She said "There are no circumstances in which it is even close to appropriate for a teacher to tell a student that she looks like a slut. None. Not even if she’s wearing an “I am a massive slut” badge." Emma describes it as "slut-shaming".
The thing is... is shaming promiscuous behavior bad? Or is it actually positive? Promiscuity doesn't help people form stable, loving, committed relationships. Promiscuity leads to STIs and abortions. We shame sluts (male and female) because the behavior is bad, bad for individuals, bad for families and bad for society.
I don't think what the teacher said was appropriate, but her words pointed to an issue that we can't afford to ignore.
The ethics of fetal pain
Hat tip to Mark Shea.
"The science of fetal pain remains uncertain, but we still have a duty to avoid the possibility of inflicting undue suffering."
Read more.
Seriously, why would anyone be prepared to take the risk that the baby feels the pain? Surely human decency says that we should err on the side of caution?
"The science of fetal pain remains uncertain, but we still have a duty to avoid the possibility of inflicting undue suffering."
Read more.
Seriously, why would anyone be prepared to take the risk that the baby feels the pain? Surely human decency says that we should err on the side of caution?
Abortion and mental health
Hat tip to Semper Vita.
There's an interesting debate between two academics about abortion and its mental health ramifications on the net at the moment. One is Brenda Major a professor of psychology at the University of California at Santa Barbara. The other is Priscilla Coleman a professor of human development and family studies at Bowling Green State University.
Interestingly Major mentions David Readon who I met at the wonderful All for Life 2010 conference. Dr Reardon struck me as someone who genuinely cared about women. He sincerely wanted women to do what was best for them.
There's an interesting debate between two academics about abortion and its mental health ramifications on the net at the moment. One is Brenda Major a professor of psychology at the University of California at Santa Barbara. The other is Priscilla Coleman a professor of human development and family studies at Bowling Green State University.
Interestingly Major mentions David Readon who I met at the wonderful All for Life 2010 conference. Dr Reardon struck me as someone who genuinely cared about women. He sincerely wanted women to do what was best for them.
Binge drinking makes me squirm
My friend was fine with this. It was her husband and his mate and nothing to do with me. Yet it made me feel deeply uncomfortable. These guys had a great weekend, broke no laws, their spouses were okay with them blowing off steam and no one got hurt. So why does it bother me? Heck, in my early twenties I would binge drink at parties.
I guess I should own up. I am a member in my first year of the Pioneer Total Abstinence Association. Provided I abstain from alcohol for a year I will become a lifelong member forever giving up my beloved gin and tonics. (dear scientists, PLEASE make a non-alcoholic gin for me, much appreciated - Muerk) My husband drinks - a beer after a mowing the lawn, or a red wine with dinner. Although he will drink low alcohol beers as freely as the normal strength stuff. He doesn't get drunk on the basis that we have kids and hangovers and small children being perky at 6am don't mix but the man is a West Coaster born and bred and he likes his drink.
The reason I joined the Pioneers was because of my father who was an alcoholic to the point it killed him. He didn't grow up around me though so I never had to experience his liquored up behavior but it has left me with the desire to pray for alcoholics. Also crime in Greymouth is often related to alcohol - drunk guys getting into fights etc., so that was another reason to become a Pioneer.
I think what this shows me is that my attitudes to alcohol have changed since I was in my twenties. Drinking because you enjoy the taste, a good wine or a smooth whiskey, seems fine to me, but now drinking to get drunk, drinking booze like using a recreational drug, is something I don't agree with anymore. Partly because of the personal health effects, but also because it just isn't good for our society and our families. People can do things they regret when drunk. What's the difference between getting out of it on alcohol or cannabis other that one is legal?
Sunday, November 14, 2010
The dignity of dying at home
From The New York Times comes this wonderful positive article about dying at home surrounded by the people, places and things that give us comfort.
"The crucial thing, said Dr. Cheryl Phillips, a past president of the American Geriatrics Society and the chief medical officer for On Lok Lifeways, a nonprofit organization that provides services for the frail elderly in greater San Francisco, is finding out what makes the person who is dying feel most at ease. “If there was one thing that would make a difference, what would it be?” she said. “It’s amazing how creative people can be to make these special wishes come true.”"
Please read:
We need these positive stories to help us if we have to face our own death and to remind ourselves that death with dignity can be natural.
"The crucial thing, said Dr. Cheryl Phillips, a past president of the American Geriatrics Society and the chief medical officer for On Lok Lifeways, a nonprofit organization that provides services for the frail elderly in greater San Francisco, is finding out what makes the person who is dying feel most at ease. “If there was one thing that would make a difference, what would it be?” she said. “It’s amazing how creative people can be to make these special wishes come true.”"
Please read:
We need these positive stories to help us if we have to face our own death and to remind ourselves that death with dignity can be natural.
Health advice? Or just pornography?
From The Daily Mail:
"The NHS has been slammed after a video designed to encourage youngsters to use contraception was branded pornographic by outraged parents.
But the graphic clips show a young woman having unprotected casual sex with a male in various positions while he films the trysts with a hand held camera."
Read more.
This seems to be the typical way these ad campaigns run. The sexual education crowd uses communication techniques that are increasingly pornographic, yet still STIs and unplanned pregnancy rates increase. These adverts encourage risky sexual behavior by utterly ignoring the fact that our sexual acts are also acts that have moral values attached to them. Safe sex isn't just putting on a condom and getting tested regularly for infection, it's about intimacy and a connection with someone. By making sex into just another recreational activity that needs to be done safely by wearing the appropriate gear (like wearing a helmet and pads when mountain biking or a life-jacket when boating) these campaigns lie about what sex is.
A condom won't save you from a broken heart or a feeling of being used.
"The NHS has been slammed after a video designed to encourage youngsters to use contraception was branded pornographic by outraged parents.
But the graphic clips show a young woman having unprotected casual sex with a male in various positions while he films the trysts with a hand held camera."
Read more.
This seems to be the typical way these ad campaigns run. The sexual education crowd uses communication techniques that are increasingly pornographic, yet still STIs and unplanned pregnancy rates increase. These adverts encourage risky sexual behavior by utterly ignoring the fact that our sexual acts are also acts that have moral values attached to them. Safe sex isn't just putting on a condom and getting tested regularly for infection, it's about intimacy and a connection with someone. By making sex into just another recreational activity that needs to be done safely by wearing the appropriate gear (like wearing a helmet and pads when mountain biking or a life-jacket when boating) these campaigns lie about what sex is.
A condom won't save you from a broken heart or a feeling of being used.
Ad promoting euthanasia to be aired on tv
"Right to Life is disappointed that the Commercial Approvals Bureau [CAB] has given approval for the screening of the video of Dr Philip Nitschke [Dr Death] promoting suicide on television in New Zealand."
Read more from Right to Life NZ
Greeeaaat. Now we're going to have emotive advertising extolling the virtue of suicide as a dignified death. This will put fear and pressure on people who are elderly, sick or otherwise vulnerable about end of life care. The emphasis is that natural death is a horrible painful time to be avoided, yet with quality care and love from family and friends people can have a good death.
By focusing on suicide as the way we lose sight of the real death with dignity - the kind of care that Hospice New Zealand offers. All this is leading to a 'duty to die' mentality.
Read more from Right to Life NZ
Greeeaaat. Now we're going to have emotive advertising extolling the virtue of suicide as a dignified death. This will put fear and pressure on people who are elderly, sick or otherwise vulnerable about end of life care. The emphasis is that natural death is a horrible painful time to be avoided, yet with quality care and love from family and friends people can have a good death.
By focusing on suicide as the way we lose sight of the real death with dignity - the kind of care that Hospice New Zealand offers. All this is leading to a 'duty to die' mentality.
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