By Richard Larsen

There are some amongst us who seem to derive great pleasure in assaulting and insulting those of us who believe in God. It’s as though their raison d’être is to impugn the character, intellect, and faith of we “bitter clingers.” One pontificates on inconsistencies in the Bible, and advances that as sufficient reason to discredit any faith based in that holy writ. The other seems to think we who are classical liberals and believe in literal interpretation of the Constitution, are also despicable sots who undoubtedly believe in literal interpretation of the entire Bible.

I know, these are opinion pieces, and as such, they’re entitled to theirs, and have obviously been granted a forum to express them. But the predictable consistency in their assaults on faith is monotonous and wearisome.

And they’re not alone in their religious assaults. Academics and media hounds seem to thrive on the disapprobation and scorn they can heap upon people of faith. But then, it doesn’t seem to be universally against people of faith, but more accurately, Christians. They say nary a word about Muslims, even the extremists that think “infidels,” even “people of the book” like Christians and Jews, must be brought to Allah, one way or another. Their method or conversion tool of choice is a suicide bomb. And other religions are praised and supported to ostensibly illustrate their “objectivity.” But Christians are just no more than “bitter clingers” who have to be discredited!

There are several aspects to this practice that are disconcerting, but that we should be attentive to. Those who consistently belittle Christians and the object of our faith consider themselves to be the enlightened ones, or the more erudite amongst us. They typically hold themselves up as the bastions of societal tolerance. They are the ones who fully embrace the politically correct version of diversity, and may actually sport one of those bizarre-looking “Coexist” bumper stickers made up of the world’s religious symbols. For some inexplicable reason, Christians are excluded from their pantheon of acceptable religious groups. It’s just not PC to tolerate Christians, they are rather to be scorned and ridiculed.

And since the assailants of Christianity view themselves as more enlightened and erudite than the rest of us, it’s in the spirit of noblesse oblige that they seek to destroy and invalidate anything that even smacks of Christianity. They will condescend from their ivory towers of academia, in tone as well as tome, to belittle and crucify anew the tenets and foundation of the Christian faith.

Perhaps they attack Christians because we’re the low-hanging fruit on the monotheistic tree of world religions. We’re the largest and easiest target for them, and since the majority of American Christians are white we are a politically-correct target for them to display their erudition against, and through their hubris, denounce our faith. We’re also safer targets, since we’re unlikely to behead their cartoonists for disrespectful renderings of Christ, or blow them up for their heterodoxy.

All persons of belief, regardless of label, should thoroughly examine their belief system intellectually and logically, as well as spiritually. The Old Testament prophet Isaiah had it exactly right when he said, quoting the Lord, “Come now, and let us reason together.” We’re sentient beings and must, and can, intellectually resolve the issues thrust upon us by the arrogant who seek to belittle or demean our faith.

When a writer attacks constitutional literalists by making it synonymous with Biblical literalism, he’s being doubly politically correct by targeting not only Christians, but conservatives. To disingenuously compare a legal document to a compilation of religious writings is ludicrous and specious. I rather doubt the writer was as glib about literal interpretation of his employment contract with his university!

I’m impressed with the tenet of the predominant religion of this area, which states, “We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.” Now that’s tolerance I can believe in!

While ostentatiously parading their self-inflated, yet distorted sense of objectivity and “tolerance,” the antagonists of Christianity are, to the contrary, proving their bigotry and biases, couched in academic terms. In their blighted zeal to denounce the simple-minded Christians, they have embarked on a jihad of their own to replace Christian faith with a godless secular humanism, devoid of Christianity’s supposedly arcane and anachronistic values. They flaunt their bigotry and call it objectivity, and their disdain for anything Christian and call it tolerance. Those who seek to destroy eschatological faith understand not the relationship between the two. I believe as John Donne, the English poet, who said, “Reason is our soul’s left hand, faith her right.”

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In today’s Halli & Friends radio program, Halli outlines the upcoming tax increases resulting from the expiration of the Bush tax cuts, and Obamacare. Are you ready for this?

Plus, the numbers are in and Governor Butch Otter and the Idaho Legislature were right when they cut spending in both the 2010 and 2011 budgets. Halli discusses the details.

And finally, the Idaho Republican party has come under fire for a new plank in their platform calling for candidates in the Republican Primary to reveal whether or not they agree with the platform. The mainstream media call this a “loyalty oath”. Learn the truth in today’s program.

Listen on this website, or at BlogTalkRadio.com/IdahoTalk.

By Robert L. Webster

When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for the people of a nation to demand a return to the fundamental principles of liberty which were established by their founding fathers, and to eliminate the changes which have weakened and deformed it from the intent of the original charter, a decent respect to the opinions of its citizens, civilized nations and of all mankind, requires that they should declare the causes which compel them to this action.

We, the people of the United States of America, hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are born free, in that they are endowed at birth by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, among which are the right to life, liberty, property and the freedom of choice – that to secure these rights, men may institute a government, delegating to it those specifically enumerated and limited powers necessary to the security and felicity of the governed, and that whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right and duty of the people to alter or abolish it, and in its place to either restore the original, or institute a new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form as shall seem to them most likely to secure their national safety and happiness.

Prudence dictates that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes, and history has shown that men are naturally inclined to suffer abuses of government, while abuses are tolerable, than to correct them by abolishing the traditional form of government to which they are accustomed. But when a long and significant string of abuses has been experienced, and appears to be designed to destroy the Constitutional form and revert back to the despotic forms of history, this people reasserts its God-given right and duty to throw off such abuses, and to restore again the principles and safeguards provided by the Founders in the inspired original system, the Constitution of the United States of America.

The citizens of this Democratic Republic have suffered enough abuses of government power over its brief bi-centennial existence. The history of the second century in particular is replete with injuries and usurpations, in an apparent design to convert and subjugate this land of abundant resources, industrious people and “common-law” liberty back under the control of the ancient systems of “rulers law.” As testimony, let the sobering facts be submitted openly before God, and to a candid world of witnesses:

Religious persecution has been allowed to persist without just redress or protection by the national or State governments, at times occurring even under government orders.

The issue of “separation of church and state” has been grossly distorted to the point of separation of religion from government and from everyday life. This is a national disgrace, and a reversal of the wholesome relationship intended by the Founders as essential to national well being.

The sixteenth amendment of 1913 has violated the Founder’s principles by authorizing the federal government to collect direct income taxes from the people. It has been a primary cause of centralization of power to the central government, and must be repealed.

The seventeenth amendment of 1913 has helped to destroy States’ rights and the delicate checks and balances system by making the election of US Senators by popular vote, instead of by the State Legislatures, thus increasing the influence of

The twenty third amendment attempts to create a State out of a city – Washinton DC – in violation of the Founders wisdom. It must be repealed, allowing the residents to vote as citizens of the State of Maryland.

The twenty fifth amendment violates the Founders’ principles by allowing a President to appoint a Vice President, which, under manipulated conditions of sedition and murder could result in a president never elected to office; it must be repealed.

The twenty sixth amendment dangerously advanced “democracy” beyond a healthy balance by allowing eighteen-year-olds to vote. They lack maturity; it should be repealed.

MONEY IS POWER, and the enemies of America have taken control of America’s wealth. The Federal Reserve System of 1913 is unconstitutional and must be replaced immediately by the Constitutional Monetary System as prescribed by the Founders – the economic system of prosperity which has never yet been instituted!

America’s Constitutionally prescribed gold and silver money standard has been unconstitutionally removed, and must be restored, under Congressional control. With the value of the dollar and the money supply tied to within 5% of the measured Gross National Product, and limiting all interest rates to a maximum of 10%, for no longer than ten years credit; prosperity would be unprecedented and secured.

The Congress has consistently spent beyond its budget; a balanced biennial budget must be required, under penalty of automatic dismissal from office for all who vote to cause budget excesses.

The Congress has voted to increase its pay while still in its current term of office; these current increases must be repealed and all future increases outlawed; each one voting for it should be recalled by their respective States. The States alone must decide Congressional salaries.

The Congressional seniority system has stagnated progress and corrupted the legislature. Amend the constitution to limit all federal elected legislative, executive and judicial terms to a lifetime total of twelve years in any one office or position.

The total tax burden of the people, including federal, State, local, sales and hidden taxes, is now 50% or more of the average individual wage earner’s income, a level so oppressive that it approaches complete subjugation. It is destroying the lives of America’s people! Not even Almighty God taxes beyond 10%! Amend the Constitution to limit the TOTAL maximum individual taxable burden to 10%, with the States to collect it and apportion revenues to various levels of government – State, Local, and Federal – for only constitutionally authorized activities. Exclude all churches, inheritances and all people under age 21 from any form of taxation. The people must be free to profit and prosper from their own enterprise and initiative, and free to keep and use their earnings as they choose. The result will be a more prosperous nation and government.

Property ownership has been eliminated unconstitutionally by property taxation. Reestablish property ownership to include all surface and subsurface rights, and never may be forfeited or lost due to failure to pay taxes of any kind, and that property may be inherited or granted free from any inheritance tax.

The Congress has violated the individual freedom and income of the people with the oppressive and ineffective Social Security System. Phase it out in ten years and replace it with voluntary, private, annuity-type savings and investment programs for retirement. Leave welfare to the generosity of the local people, who (when not over-taxed by government) will provide for the needy directly.

There is no Constitutional authority for federal involvement to be in business enterprises of any kind. Liquidate all federal businesses and properties into private enterprise hands in ten years.

There is no Constitutional authority for federal ownership or management of lands and resources beyond the constitutional prescription, viz. Washington DC, ports and arsenals, needful government buildings and legitimate US territories; yet the federal has withheld lands and resources within state boundaries, rightfully belonging to those States created out of public domain. Restore all lands and resources immediately to the respective States.

There is no Constitutional authority for federal involvement in education, except to encourage it within the States, as explained in the Northwest Ordinance of 1897, viz. the teaching of religion, morality and knowledge. Promote education of the Constitution in the tradition of the Founders, but cease all direct involvement in education. It is exclusively a State issue.

There is no Constitutional authority for any level of government to give away (grant) any of the people’s property (money) as AID to anyone for any purpose; this includes aid to education, welfare and foreign banks or interests. Cease all grants. Leave the solution of all such matters to the States and the people. Experience has clearly demonstrated that such aid does not buy friends, but is counterproductive. Export American constitutional freedom and prosperity by example, not by financial grants.

The Supreme Court has usurped legislative power: Congress must strike out all decisions which conflict with the Founders’ intent. Limit federal court jurisdiction to matters of life, liberty and national citizenship. No person born in the USA of non-citizen parents has a right to US citizenship. No foreigner or criminal has US citizen rights beyond liberty and life, while staying here.

The court system has obstructed justice and has not provided the right to a speedy and just trial. Eliminate plea bargaining. Require capital punishment within six months for capital crimes.

Inadequate checks exist to prevent or correct constitutional abuses of power by the Supreme Court. Authorize by amendment an elected Regional Court of Constitutional Appeal, which can judge and overturn or reverse any decisions of the Supreme Court which may be judged by the elected Regional Court of Constitutional Appeal to be unconstitutional.

The federal government has entangled America in foreign alliances contrary to the Founders’ intent. Through NATO, the UN, Nafta, Gatt and other “alliances,” the federal has combined with other unelected entities to subject America to jurisdictions foreign to our Constitution and not acknowledged by our laws, giving unauthorized consent to their acts of pretended legislation and concepts of so-called “international law.” No unelected body has power to make any law binding on any people! Cancel US involvement in the United Nations Charter; we are not bound by it. Cancel US funding of the UN, and restrict UN activity to a discussion forum of only those nations operating as constitutional republics.

There is no constitutional authority for the Executive branch to create law, yet the President issues Executive Orders having the effect and force of law, and the executive branches issue regulations which have the force of law but not passed by the legislature. Repeal all such, and establish a paid ten-member Federal/ State/ Citizen Checks and Balances Committee to watchdog all Federal and State branches for usurpations of power.

The federal has involved the nation in undeclared “no win” wars in violation of the constitution, transporting large armies to many foreign places in defense of international power schemes aimed at one-world government dominion. Amend the constitution to provide that 2/3 of the States legislatures may override any Congressional declaration of war. No so-called “police action” or international “peacekeeping” military force will be permitted. Any deployment of US military forces must be committed to protect America’s constitutional values, and to WIN – to end the conflict and restore peace as quickly as possible.

National leaders often have had no constitutional training prior to office; require all elected and appointed officials to pass a national constitutional examination in the intent of the Founders, based on the Constitution itself and the Federalist Papers, as a pre-requisite for federal elective offices and judgeships. Publish a semi-annual constitutional voting and decisionmaking index for all such federal officers.

The executive branch has created a multitude of new offices, and has sent forth a swarm of agents who harass the people. Not the least of these is the IRS, which has been unconstitutionally empowered to function as all three branches of government combined – creating laws, administering them, judging their compliance, prescribing the penalties and enforcing them, often unjustly. This is tyranny!

Repeated petitions for redress of grievances have been ignored or become cause for REPEATED INJURIES TO THE PEACE AND CONFIDENCE OF THE PEOPLE. The federal seems deaf to the voice of constitutional principles, continually seeking to expand its jurisdiction and power, increasing it’s inequitable system of taxes, increasing its spending without prudent budget limitations, seeking primarily for re-election and party status, while subjugating the States, local governments and the people.

The Founders’ worst fears of concentration of power into political parties (Faction) have become realized. The system of political parties has entrenched itself by gradual tradition into the very fabric of all levels of government to control legislation, positions of power, and even provide government-financed primary elections of private political parties, which exclude independents and new parties. Require that no person may be a candidate for or hold any public office, federal or state, who is sponsored by any political party, and that no position in any level of government may be held by anyone who is a member of a political party.

Therefore, WE THE PEOPLE have determined that we as citizens, deprived of our liberties under our current government, much as were our Founders under the hands of an oppressive king, unitedly denounce the above-noted offending actions of our government as being UNCONSTITUTIONAL, employing first those constitutional means at our disposal to remove the offenders and the offences, restoring the Constitution to the original intent of the Framers. In those cases when peaceful means have proven inadequate, we reserve the right of liberty under God, as stated in the original Declaration of Independence, to effect the necessary restorations by force – political, economic or military.

It is left to us of this generation of Americans to preserve, defend and restore the greatest charter of human liberty in history, for ourselves and for all mankind, the original Constitution of the United States of America.

With a firm reliance on the guidance and protection of the Almighty, who inspired our Founders to create the establishment of the original Constitution, we the undersigned herein do mutually pledge to God, to each other and to our posterity, our fortunes, our sacred honor and even our very lives if necessary, to the restoration of the Constitution of The United States of America.

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Idaho Chooses Life

Two news reports from late last week indicate that Planned Parenthood and its various affiliates are coming in for long-overdue scrutiny from the courts and public officials.

In one case, the ACLJ won an important victory in the 9th Circuit – an exceedingly rare event. The pro-Life group is representing Victor Gonzalez, a former employee, who has publicly charged that the group is stealing money from taxpayers. Mr. Gonzalez alleges that Planned Parenthood’s Los Angeles affiliate has been overbilling the federal government for fraudulent services.

Planned Parenthood defended itself in federal court by alleging that Mr. Gonzalez could not bring the charges because he was relying upon a federal audit of the local organization. Fortunately, the 9th Circuit dismissed their legal stratagem, and Planned Parenthood will now have to answer questions in a federal lawsuit brought under the “False Claims Act”.

Another story, from WorldNetDaily, demonstrates that the LA scam is far from an isolated case of local mismanagement.

A GAO Report, requested by Leader Boehner, found that something on the order of $1.3 billion in tax money given to Planned Parenthood between 2002 and 2008 remains unaccounted for.

The story quotes Rita Diller of STOP as saying, “The report shows that Planned Parenthood spent $657.1 million [over the period], but their own reports show they took in about $2 billion in federal money…. That leaves the question, ‘where’s the $1.3 billion …?”

It is important to note that the missing money comes during the period in which the Bush Administration was responsible – meaning that much greater amounts are likely being poured out today under the increased funding provided by Obama and Pelosi’s Congress.

In commenting on the story, American Life League President Judie Brown made some crucial and disturbing points:

“Money has been pouring into Planned Parenthood and the amount of it has been increasing for thirty to forty years,” Brown said to WorldNetDaily. “We have had several supposedly pro-Life presidents and never has a single president opposed an increase in the funding for Planned Parenthood. Never in the history of Title X.

“My firm conviction is that we have to elect someone who is willing to put principle above politics and rid the government of any funding or any organization that is involved in destroying the family.”

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It happened again last night. My husband and I were attending the political forum at the Civic Auditorium. Someone unknown to me approached and asked if I were a Jefferson County resident. They proceeded to tell me that Jefferson County has a terrible reputation in the state for corruption. What??? This was particularly disturbing as I was told the same thing two days before while we were at Governor Otter’s campaign stop at the Riverbend Ranch.

When we moved to Idaho 9 years ago, we literally could have lived anyplace in the country. We chose Idaho because of its historic stance for States Rights and the predominant Conservative culture.

Over the years, I have been told that I am a “paradox” because of my involvement in animal welfare and yet a Conservative. (No, Prosecutor Dunn, I am not an animal rights activist as you persist in trying to “paint” me.) And so, along with my lifelong Conservative ideology comes a strong sense of personal responsibility… taking care of your family, providing proper care for your animals, working to improve your community, state, and country and in keeping with this philosophy comes the expectation of having our elected officials upholding our laws…all of them.

Which leads to the purpose of this editorial…why does Jefferson County repeatedly refuse to enforce the Animal Cruelty laws enacted by the Idaho Legislature? Could this selective enforcement of laws contribute to the poor reputation of our county? Perhaps a PR agent is needed under these circumstances!

Andi Elliott

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By Richard Larsen

While most of us have been preoccupied with events and developments in Washington and the around the world, a first class organization dedicated to the development of character, leadership qualities, citizenship and personal fitness in youth achieved a landmark recently. Praised by parents whose children have been groomed and nurtured by it and loved by the boys who learn so much from it, the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) celebrated its centennial in February.

Robert Baden-Powell was concerned with the lack of direction manifest by young men 100 years ago and resolved he had to do something. He founded the Boy Scouts with a vision of teaching boys the codes of chivalry and Victorian virtues, a la King Arthur’s Round Table. He was convinced the reason that story resonated with young men was because it represented the convergence of strength and goodness.

Baden-Powell stated that the aim of the new organization was “…to develop among boys a power of sympathizing with others, and a spirit of self-sacrifice and patriotism.” His Scouting manual, according to historian Paul Fussell, is a “book about goodness,” as it taught fundamental acts of selflessness, service and citizenship. The original manual was replete with dicta of chivalry. “A Scout is friendly, courteous, kind, cheerful, brave.”

“When in difficulty to know which of two things to do, [the Scout] must ask himself, ‘Which is my duty?’ that is, ‘Which is best for other people?’—and do that one.”

A Scout is “polite to all, especially to women, children, old people, and the weak and helpless.” He must obey an ironclad law of personal integrity: “If a Scout were to break his honour by telling a lie . . . he would cease to be a Scout—he loses his life,” Baden-Powell warned.

The positive impact the BSA has had on the nation is inestimable. In 2000, the BSA achieved the landmark of 100 millionth Scout since its inception in 1910. Just last year they celebrated the two millionth Eagle Scout award, which represents the pinnacle of youth advancement. To receive the award a requisite mastery of skills, knowledge and character development must be attained.

Today, there are over three million Scouts and 1.2 million adult leaders nationwide. In Eastern Idaho, there are 21,000 youth and over 10,000 adult leaders associated with the BSA. Over 600 young men achieved their Eagle Scout award last year, providing over 45,000 service hours to Eastern Idaho communities in the process, according to Clarke Farrer, Scout Executive for the Grand Teton Council.

Research conducted and compiled by Harris & Associates indicates conclusively that “Young men with strong Scouting backgrounds maintain higher ethical standards, attain higher educational levels, and show less antisocial behavior than do those with no Scouting background.” The research concluded that such positive results are due to Scouting effectively addressing what experts consider to be the “…six critical elements of healthy youth development: (1) strong personal values and character, (2) a positive sense of self-worth and usefulness, (3) caring and nurturing relationships with parents, other adults, and peers, (4) a desire to learn, (5) productive/creative use of time, and (6) social adeptness.”

In today’s climate of self-destructive, antisocial and violent behavior among our youth the goals of Scouting seem anachronistic, like a beacon of light and hope for young men. Any organization that strives to inculcate values, character, and teach valuable skills in a fun and safe environment deserves our individual and collective support.

Some may scoff at the idea of the “safe” environment in light of some regrettable events in recent years. As long as mortals are involved, there is a chance of error, regardless of how good the institution and the precautions taken to prevent problems. Yet according to the Harris research, 98% of young men feel safe in the Scouting environment. Statistically, that’s probably much higher than how many young people feel safe in their own homes.

Perhaps not surprisingly, those most critical, and who seek to do the most harm to Scouting, are the same ones who do all they can to put the youth more at risk by forcing the BSA to allow avowed homosexuals into the program. But we have learned to expect that from the ACLU and others who, rather than create organizations to their specifications, strive to destroy that which is good and noble.

Scouts promise, “On my honor I will do my best. To do my duty to God and my country…” How refreshing in this day and age! The BSA, our local council, and our local units deserve our support, financial and otherwise. There are so many destructive forces working on our children, we need all the positive reinforcement we can get, like we get from the Boy Scouts of America.

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Idaho Chooses Life

There has been some real push-back to a guest opinion we published by Mary Ann Kreitzer entitled, “Terminal Sedation: Abortion for the Elderly”. There have been some very good points made. It is wrong to cast a wide shadow of condemnation on those many men and women who devote themselves to caring for people as they face death.

At the same time, it is just foolish to ignore disturbing trends in modern medicine, in which seniors and the disabled are being ushered into premature death.

To help encourage a fuller understanding of these threats to the sanctity of human life, we republish here a news story which appeared yesterday in The Gazette, a Montreal newspaper:

Doctors back ‘right to die’

Consultation; But MDs oppose assisted suicide

By KEVIN DOUGHERTY
The Gazette
February 16, 2010 2:59 PM

Euthanasia is already a reality in Quebec hospitals, the president of the federation of Quebec medical specialists, told a National Assembly committee yesterday.

Doctors know when death is “imminent and inevitable,” Gaétan Barrette explained.
But doctors are aware they can be charged with murder if they administer a “palliative sedative” before a patient is on his or her last breath.

Geoffrey Kelley, chairman of the committee, explained that MNAs will hear about 30 expert witnesses on “dying with dignity” to prepare a paper for a travelling public consultation this fall.
Barrette told the committee the issue of euthanasia could not be discussed in Quebec 50 years ago, comparing it with the evolution in thinking about abortion.

“Doctors are ready to debate euthanasia,” Barrette said. And like abortion, he said, limits must be established. Not every patient will want euthanasia and not all doctors will agree to perform the procedure.

Barrette explained that a patient who is lucid consults with a doctor, friends and family members before requesting euthanasia.

For patients who are not lucid, a biological will can guide relatives who must decide.
The patient could have a terminal disease, like cancer. And patients at the “end of life” could be babies born with serious medical difficulties or seniors whose bodies are shutting down, one system after another.

“It’s a cascade,” Barrette said. “We can’t invent it. We see it. There are safeguards.”
Barrette said palliative care, using opiates to ease the pain, is also an important facet of end-of-life care.

“The choice of the patient is his choice,” he said. “We want legislation in tune with the wishes of the public.”

Polls indicate a high percentage of Quebecers favour euthanasia, including doctors.
But Barrette and Yves Lamontagne of the Quebec College of Physicians told the committee that doctors do not want to perform assisted suicides.

“We are not there to execute people,” Lamontagne said.

Euthanasia, the decision to end life when death is imminent and inevitable, is “extremely complex and emotionally charged,” Lamontagne added.

Yves Robert, secretary of the College, told the committee that Quebec is the only jurisdiction in Canada where patients can refuse medical treatment, which can lead to death.

“It doesn’t exist elsewhere in Canada,” Robert said. “We are ahead. Can we go farther?”

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Idaho Chooses Life

Our dear friend, Judie Brown, published a powerful piece yesterday on the powerful trend in modern medicine to dehumanize the vulnerable, specifically the disabled.

Judie focuses on the recent story of a man long dismissed as “brain dead”. New medical tests demonstrated that he is anything but. While unable to communicate with his keepers in the normal fashion, it turns out that he is quite conscious. He accurately responded to various questions by changing his brain wave patterns in a measurable way.

She goes on to challenge what can only be described as the arrogance of today’s medical industry, and attacks the new utilitarian morality which seems to dominate medical ethics today. Persons are being evaluated on the basis of their perceived functionality – as if a person’s inability to do something we demand is the ultimate measure of whether that person is actually a human being worthy of life.

Such thinking is not just troubling, it is a dire threat to all of us. But it is equally obvious that this “morality” is the logical extension of the values embodied by Roe v. Wade.

Writes Mrs. Brown:

“[Functionality or utility has] nothing to do with the fundamental fact that a human being is. He exists from his beginning to his death regardless of his attributes or abilities. Neither his human rights, nor his identity as a person should be subjectively weighed by other individuals.”
We would add – especially weighed and discarded by those professionals empowered to withdraw life-sustaining treatment on the basis of such personal judgments.

You won’t read about this in the mainstream media, but did you know that credible studies, going back to 1991, have found that as many as 43% of those labeled “vegetative” are misdiagnosed? And that was before doctors were able to access this new technology.

The fundamental problem here is that man’s natural inclination toward arrogance and God-rebellion is showing. Without God, and His law … everything is up for debate. One opinion is as valid as another, even if it results in the death of the innocent pre-born child or the vulnerable senior.

Here’s how Wesley Smith puts it:

“The bio-ethics mainstream has rejected the sanctity of life ethic and replaced it with the so-called ‘quality of life’ ethic. It began with the claim that the inability to communicate meant that one had lost ‘humanhood’ (now called personhood). Thus today, not only unconscious but conscious patients are dehydrated to death in all fifty states and it is shrugged off as medical ethics.”

Just to raise your anxiety even higher – we must point out that this is the state of affairs even before ObamaCare is forced upon America.

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By Mary Ann Kreitzer, president of the Catholic Media Coalition and Les Femmes (a lay Catholic media apostolate in the Diocese of Arlington, Virginia), as well as editor of Les Femmes’ quarterly newsletter, the Truth

I spoke to a friend this morning whose father was murdered by terminal sedation (a.k.a. “palliative” care). Her father suffered from Alzheimer’s and his mind was pretty well gone, but physically he was in great shape. He and his wife lived with one of my friend’s children, who took him for a long walk every day and knew how to manage all his grandfather’s moods. They were good buddies. My friend lived nearby and spent as much time as possible visiting her parents and enjoying her father’s company.

But the rest of the family (including my friend’s mother, who had power of attorney) decided to put him in a nursing home where he was difficult to control because he wanted to be released. My friend told me that every time she went to visit him he was trying to escape—pulling at every door and even the bookcase, looking for a way out. Three nursing homes and several months, later he pretty much gave up. When she went to see him, he would be sitting in a wheelchair slumped over and drooling. He got an infection and ended up in a hospital “palliative” ward, where he was denied food, water and antibiotics. Within several months, he went from an elderly man who was walking two miles a day with his grandson, to dead from dehydration and terminal sedation. It was Terri Schiavo and Hugh Finn without the publicity.

My friend considered trying to get guardianship at one point, but she was familiar with the earlier cases and knew it would be a lengthy legal battle and the result would be the same. He had also deteriorated so much she didn’t think he could recover. With a number of young children still at home, she didn’t think she could deal with the fight. So here was a faithful daughter (and her husband) willing to care for both her parents until they died, who had to watch while her faithless siblings and her mom murdered her father.

Welcome to the realities of the culture of death.

Terminal sedation is abortion for the elderly. You have dementia and get pneumonia? Like Rahm Emmanuel says, never let a crisis go to waste. See it as an opportunity for a quick exit. No antibiotics and terminal sedation. Abortion completed. Your loved one is healthy but brain damaged like Terri Schiavo and Hugh Finn? No problem. Starvation, dehydration and terminal sedation. Call it late-term abortion.

You think I’m exaggerating? The New York Times ran an article in December on the practice. It is common in hospice programs. Hurry the patients along for the peace of the family and to empty the bed. Saves everyone anxiety, money and hassle. Except, perhaps, the patient. But he is drugged, so whatever objections he may have had, you’ll never have to hear them.
Sometimes, as in my friend’s case, though, things aren’t that smooth. Far from bringing peace to families, it brings terminal strife and family breakdown. And in the case of my friend’s mom, will children who killed their father hesitate at doing the same thing to the their complicit mother? After all, she had no objections to killing Dad; so how can she object to her own quick exit? It’s for the children (and their inheritance?).

I wish I could say this is the only case I know of the deliberate murder of elderly parents, but it isn’t. It’s common practice in some hospices, with or without the complicity of the families. Situations like my friend’s are also becoming more and more common as the baby boomers, who often gave their children nothing in the way of faith, face the results of their hedonistic lives. “Hey, Mom put me in day care for most of my childhood and aborted my siblings; I’ll put her in a nursing home and pull the plug as soon as possible.” So much easier for everyone.
The worst part, however, is that while the body is being killed, the souls of the killers are dying as well. How does God Who said, “Honor your father and your mother,” look at the deliberate murder of parents? It is mortally sinful! And that’s the greatest suffering for my friend. She would like to see her family in heaven, but fears that this life on earth may be the only common ground they ever share.

Please pray for all those in danger of death today from terminal sedation and for those who will carry it out and enable it. It’s a soul killer for sure! You can call it quick and painless, but in the end, the palliative care ward, like the abortion mill, is literally hell on earth.

Mary Ann Kreitzer is president of the Catholic Media Coalition and Les Femmes (a lay Catholic media apostolate in the Diocese of Arlington, Virginia), as well as editor of Les Femmes’ quarterly newsletter, the Truth

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Miracle in Massachusetts

The election of Scott Brown yesterday to the U.S. Senate is nothing short of a miracle. History buffs tells us that it has been some 60 years since a Republican was elected to the Senate from that bastion of liberalism. But that is the least of the historic indicators.

Start with the fact that this was “Ted Kennedy’s Seat”. Add the overriding dynamic of federalized health care, purported to be Kennedy’s dying request of the Democrat establishment, and you have a pretty large barrel of political gun powder. The people of Massachusetts took the dare and lit the fuse, providing real hope that ObamaCare is so much scattered debris laying about the White House.

As of this writing, the White House has not issued a public reaction to the explosion. No doubt the spin masters are earning their checks. Yet one can safely predict that any form of denial or minimizing of what happened will only further diminish Obama. He ought not try a replay of his phony answer for the huge Republican wins in New Jersey and Virginia. Hopefully, he will take the public rebuke like a man and hold himself accountable to this blatant expression of public disgust with his plans to nationalize health – particularly his immoral drive to expand abortion through public subsidy.

But there is such an irrational obsession with “passing health care reform” that one can’t predict the official Democrat reaction to Brown’s victory.

As we await their response, we can do so with renewed hope for our country. It seems that the Lord has once again extended His mercy to America.

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