And I was all twisted-up yesterday at Mass over having to sit through, yet again, another reprise of the non-Catholic Protestant classic “Amazing Grace”…
Bishop Peter F. Christensen of the Diocese of Superior, at Moon Lake Park, celebrating the Polka Mass.
Yep. The Polka Mass… With music provided by, get this, the “Singing Slovenes”, ( A name that recalls to my mind the indecorous barking of an old crusty Marine Corp D.I. from years past– “GET YOUR ‘SWINGING, er, SLOVENES‘ ON THE ROAD LADIES!!”). I know, I know… It makes about as much biological sense as the polka mass does to me and the Badger Catholic, who has the story here.
13 Enter ye in at the narrow gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there are who go in thereat.
14 How narrow is the gate, and strait is the way that leadeth to life: and few there are that find it!
15 Beware of false prophets, who come to you in the clothing of sheep, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
16 By their fruits you shall know them. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit, and the evil tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can an evil tree bring forth good fruit.
19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit, shall be cut down, and shall be cast into the fire.
20 Wherefore by their fruits you shall know them.
21 Not every one that saith to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven: but he that doth the will of my Father who is in heaven, he shall enter into the kingdom of heaven.
22 Many will say to me in that day: Lord, Lord, have not we prophesied in thy name, and cast out devils in thy name, and done many miracles in thy name?
23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, you that work iniquity.
Editors Note: Remember to attend rally and rosary in union with Notre Dame students protesting the honoring of President Barack Obama–
St. Mary’s Cathedral 17th and Couch, Portland, Oregon, Sunday May 17th – 10:30 am
List of Bishops Opposing the Notre Dame Invitation and Award to President Obama
(To read statements: Click and paste url in your browser)
The year that is ending and that which is approaching on the horizon are both under the blessed gaze of the Most Holy Mother of God. The artistic polychrome sculpture set here next to the altar, which portrays her on a throne with the Child giving his Blessing, also recalls her motherly presence. We are celebrating the First Vespers of this Marian Solemnity, in which there are numerous liturgical references to the mystery of the Virgin’s divine motherhood.
“O admirabile commercium! O marvelous exchange!”. Thus begins the Antiphon of the first Psalm, to then continue: “man’s Creator has become man, born of a virgin”. “By your miraculous birth of the Virgin you have fulfilled the Scriptures”, proclaims the Antiphon of the Second Psalm, which is echoed by the words of the third Antiphon that introduce us to the canticle taken from the Letter of Paul to the Ephesians: “Your blessed and fruitful virginity is like the bush, flaming yet unburned, which Moses saw on Sinai. Pray for us, Mother of God”. Mary’s divine motherhood is also highlighted in the brief Reading proclaimed shortly beforehand, which proposes anew the well-known verses of the Letter to the Galatians: “When the designated time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman… so that we might our status as adopted sons” (Gal 4: 4-5). And again, in the traditional Te Deum that we will raise at the end of our celebration before the Most Holy Sacrament solemnly exposed for our adoration singing, “Tu, ad liberandum suscepturus hominem, non horruisti Virginis uterum”, in English: “when you, O Christ, became man to set us free you did not spurn the Virgin’s womb”.
Thus everything this evening invites us to turn our gaze to the one who “received the Word of God in her heart and in her body and gave Life to the world”, and for this very reason the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council recalls “is acknowledged and honored as being truly the Mother of God” (Lumen gentium, n. 53). Christ’s Nativity, which we are commemorating in these days, is entirely suffused with the light of Mary and, while we pause at the manger to contemplate the Child, our gaze cannot fail to turn in gratitude also to his Mother, who with her “yes” made possible the gift of Redemption. This is why the Christmas Season brings with it a profoundly Marian connotation; the birth of Jesus as God and man and Mary’s divine motherhood are inseparable realities; the mystery of Mary and the mystery of the Only-Begotten Son of God who was made man form a single mystery, in which the one helps to better understand the other.
Mary Mother of God Theotokos, Dei Genetrix. Since ancient times Our Lady has been honoured with this title. However, for many centuries in the West there was no feast specifically dedicated to the divine Motherhood of Mary. It was introduced into the Latin Church by Pope Pius XI in 1931 on the occasion of the 15th centenary of the Council of Ephesus, and he chose to establish it on 11 October. On that date, in 1962, the Second Vatican Council was inaugurated. It was then the Servant of God Paul VI who restored an ancient tradition in 1969, fixing this Solemnity on 1 January. In the Apostolic Exhortation Marialis cultus of 2 February 1974, he explained the reason for his decision and its connection with the World Day of Peace. “In the revised ordering of the Christmas period it seems to us that the attention of all should be directed towards the restored Solemnity of Mary the holy Mother of God,” Paul VI wrote. “This celebration… is meant to commemorate the part played by Mary in this mystery of salvation. It is meant also to exalt the singular dignity which this mystery brings to the “holy Mother’…. It is likewise a fitting occasion for renewing adoration to the newborn Prince of Peace, for listening once more to the glad tidings of the angels (cf. Lk 2: 14), and for imploring from God, through the Queen of Peace, the supreme gift of peace” (n. 5).
This evening, let us place in the hands of the heavenly Mother of God our choral hymn of thanksgiving to the Lord for the gifts he has generously granted us during the past 12 months. The first sentiment which spontaneously rises in our hearts this evening is precisely that of praise and thanksgiving to the One who gave us time, a precious opportunity to do good; let us combine with it our request for forgiveness for perhaps not always having spent it usefully. I am glad to share this thanksgiving with you, dear brothers and sisters who represent the whole of our diocesan community to which I address my cordial greeting, extending it to all the inhabitants of Rome. I extend a particular greeting to the Cardinal Vicar and to the Mayor, both of whom have begun their different missions this year one spiritual and religious, the other civil and administrative at the service of this city of ours. I extend my greeting to the Auxiliary Bishops, priests, consecrated people and the very many lay faithful who have gathered here, as well as to the authorities present. By coming into the world, the eternal Word of the Father revealed to us God’s closeness and the ultimate truth about man and his eternal destiny; he came to stay with us to be our irreplaceable support, especially in the inevitable daily difficulties. And this evening the Virgin herself reminds us of what a great gift Jesus gave us with his Birth, of what a precious “treasure” his Incarnation constitutes for us. In his Nativity Jesus comes to offer us his Word as a lamp to guide our steps; he comes to offer us himself and we must always affirm him as our unfailing hope in our daily life, aware that “it is only in the mystery of the Word made flesh that the mystery of man truly becomes clear” (Gaudium et spes, n. 22).
Christ’s presence is a gift that we must be able to share with everyone. It is for this purpose that the diocesan community is making an effort to form pastoral workers, so as to equip them to respond to the challenges modern culture poses to the Christian faith. The presence of numerous highly qualified academic institutions in Rome and the many initiatives promoted by the parishes enable us to look confidently to the future of Christianity in this city. As you well know, encountering Christ renews our personal life and helps us to contribute to building a just and fraternal society. This is why we as believers can also make a great contribution to overcoming the current educational emergency. Thus, for a profound evangelization and a courageous human promotion that can communicate the riches that derive from the encounter with Christ to as many people as possible, an increase in synergy among families, school and parishes is more important than ever. For this I encourage each member of our diocese to continue on the journey they have undertaken, together carrying out the programme for the current pastoral year which aims precisely to “educate to hope through prayer, action and suffering”.
In our times, marked by uncertainty and concern for the future, it is necessary to experience the living presence of Christ. It is Mary, Star of Hope who leads us to him. It is she, with her maternal love, who can guide young people especially who bear in their hearts an irrepressible question about the meaning of human existence to Jesus. I know that various groups of parents, meeting in order to deepen their vocation, are seeking new ways to help their children respond to the big existential questions. I cordially urge them, together with the whole Christian community, to bear witness to the new generations of the joy that stems from encountering Jesus, who was born in Bethlehem and did not come to take something from us but rather to give us everything.
On Christmas night I had a special thought for children; instead, this evening it is young people above all on whom I wish to focus my attention. Dear young people, responsible for the future of this our city, do not be afraid of the apostolic task that the Lord is entrusting to you. Do not hesitate to choose a lifestyle that does not follow the current hedonistic mindset. The Holy Spirit assures you of the strength you need to witness to the joy of faith and the beauty of being Christian. The growing need for evangelization requires many labourers in the Lord’s vineyard; do not hesitate to respond to him promptly if he calls you. Society needs citizens who are not concerned solely with their own interests because, as I recalled on Christmas Day, “If people look only to their own interests, our world will certainly fall apart”.
Dear brothers and sisters, this year is ending with an awareness of the spreading social and financial crisis that now involves the whole world; a crisis that asks for greater moderation and solidarity from all, so that they may go to the aid especially of the individuals and families who are in the most serious difficulty. The Christian community is already making efforts toward this and I know that the diocesan Caritas and other relief agencies are doing their utmost. Nonetheless, everyone’s collaboration is necessary, for no one can think of building his own happiness alone. Although many clouds are gathering on the horizon of our future, we must not be afraid. Our great hope as believers is eternal life in communion with Christ and the whole family of God. This great hope gives us the strength to face and to overcome the difficulties of life in this world. This evening the motherly presence of Mary assures us that God never abandons us if we entrust ourselves to him and follow his teachings. Therefore, while we take our leave of 2008 and prepare to welcome 2009, let us present to Mary our expectations and hopes, as well as our fears and the difficulties that dwell in our hearts, with filial affection and trust. She, the Virgin Mother, offers us the Child who lies in the manger as our sure hope. Full of trust, we shall then be able to sing at the end of the Te Deum: “In te, Domine, speravi: non confundar in aeternum – In you, Lord, is our hope: and we shall never hope in vain”. Yes, Lord, in you we hope, today and for ever; you are our hope. Amen!
“Did Grandpa really say you should not eat of the fruit off the tree?”
“Surely Grandpa said no such thing…”
“Is it not pleasant to the touch?”
“Go ahead, you shall be like unto Grandpa…”
“Where are you my child? Have you eaten from the fruit of the tree?” “Oh, how your transgressions will only worsen, knowing your presents from others.”
“I will not abandon you, only harden not your heart to my admonitions of help.”
“Receive the light of my Sun my child, the image of my proof…
Editors Note:Fratres supports Catholic Citizens of Illinois call for boycotting The Catholic Campaign for Human Development, the Catholic Media Coalition petitions for reforming CCHD, and will be participating in The Great ACORN Rebellion of 2008. We do encourage support and care for the poor and suffering among us, and so here in the Archdiocese of Portland, Oregon, we ask that you consider the good, but underfunded, works of Project Aurora:
Project Auroracreates and sustains dignity based youth and family services throughout Oregon. They act to offer our youth all the tools and life strategies necessary in order that they may be well equiped in first understanding, and then, living authentic sexuality.
On the other end of the spectrum, Project Aurora provides abortion healing and recovery services by offering regularly scheduled (2008-09)Rachel’s Vineyard Retreatsin Portland, Salem, and Medford.
I encourage you to join me in supporting the good works of these healer’s through your financial contribution. For an in-depth illustration of this organization’s work in our communities and to donate click here.
james mary evans – Story follows:
Catholic Citizens of Illinois…
When the Catholic Bishops of the United States established the Campaign for Human Development in 1970, they mandated the Campaign to fund “such projects as voter registration, community organizations, community-run schools, minority-owned cooperatives and credit unions, capital for industrial development and job training programs, and setting up rural cooperatives.” It was subsequently renamed the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, with prohibitions on funding of projects that were not in conformity with Catholic moral teaching.
The CCHD was sold to Catholic parishioners with a slogan of “a hand up instead of a hand out,” but instead, CCHD has heavily invested in the political organizing techniques of Saul Alinky, a Marxist organizer from Chicago who founded the nationwide Industrial Areas Foundation, which in the Chicago area is known as United Power. United Power has been financed by various mainline Protestant churches and has made great inroads into the Catholic Church in Chicago, recruiting parish ministers and receiving funding from various parishes through dues and contributions. For all practical purposes, United Power is an extension of the far left wing of the Democrat Party.
In a November 4 report in The Washington Time, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has announced that it has hired forensic accounting specialists to investigate more than $1 million in church funding to voter-registration group ACORN, suspecting that the money may have been spent in criminal acts that would negatively impact the tax exempt status of the Church.
The CCHD has given more than $7.3 million to ACORN over the past decade for about 320 projects, including $900,000 in 2006 and $1,110,000 in 2007. In June or this year, the Catholic Church allegedly froze a $1.2 million grant for 38 ACORN chapters after the community-organizing group was accused of voter fraud in 15 states. Critics of the CCHD have challenged the USCCB to provide evidence of the freeze and confirm that no payments have been made to ACORN in 2008.
Mary Anne Hackett, President of Catholic Citizens, commented, “It is well know that ACORN played a major role in the current financial crisis by intimidating banks through public rallies, invasions of bank lobbies with large groups of ACORN activists and picketing bank executives homes. ACORN bullied banks into making loans to people who could not repay them. To avoid vilification as racist, local banks were forced to make loans to unqualified borrowers, even allowing them to use food stamps as collateral for the loans.” These practices have caused the failure of several major financial institutions and the damage continues to reverberate through the economy.
Mrs. Hackett stated further, “Funding campaigns for socialist programs and Democrat Party candidates has no place in the mission of the Catholic Church or in service to the poor.” The funds are collected from the Catholic parishioners with no accountability to them for the expenditures. Nor does the Campaign for Human Development fund Catholic Institutions and apostolates that work with the poor.
“The Catholic Church, through its contributions to ACORN, is complicit in voter fraud and the failure of our economy. This must stop,” said Mrs. Hackett. Catholic Citizens of Illinois calls on all Catholics to boycott the annual collection for the Catholic Campaign for Human Development on the weekend of November 22 and 23.
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Catholic Citizens of Illinois is an independent organization of the laity, faithful to the Magisterium of the Catholic Church and the Pope Benedict XVI.
The Industrial Areas Foundation, an Alinskyian organization, has managed to bring together Catholics, Protestants, and others for political gain. But to what end?
The dream of organizing of religious institutions into an ecumenical political power-base is nothing new. What’s new is the widespread acceptance such organizing has gained.
As of late 1995, Albuquerque Interfaith had 28 organizational members, all of them religious communities. Eleven were Catholic, four Presbyterian, five Lutheran, and the rest from an assortment of “faith traditions.”
Albuquerque Interfaith is one of approximately 60 local affiliates around the United States. Each of these local affiliates is organized under the national umbrella of the Industrial Areas Foundation. The Industrial Areas Foundation [known simply as the IAF] sends its professional organizers to train and engage people in each of these locations. The organizer’s job is to bring these denominations into a “relationship” which will enable them to act together on civic issues.
Saul Alinsky founded the IAF in 1940. Alinsky, who died in the 70s, wrote two books: Reveille for Radicals, and Rules for Radicals. In Reveille for Radicals, Alinsky writes about the effectiveness of what he called “popular participation,” the civic actions of ordinary people through a “People’s Organization,” like Albuquerque Interfaith.
A critical study of the extent of popular participation in People’s Organizations was made, and the findings differed so radically from the prevalent assumptions that the original study was repeatedly checked. Each checkup corroborated the original findings. Conclusions showed that in the most powerful and deeply rooted People’s Organizations known in this country the degree of popular participation reached a point of between 5 and 7 per cent! This in spite of the fact that those making the study fully recognized that the organizations being evaluated were so much stronger and included so many more people who actually participate than all the other organizations proclaiming “100 per cent participation…” [p 181]
The assumption that Alinsky is debunking in this passage is that an effective organization requires most of its membership to participate. It doesn’t. A small, well-organized core of people can accomplish a lot of good – or do a lot of damage.
Consider what a small percentage Alinsky is describing: 5-7%. Five-seven percent of a congregation of 5000 is just 250-350 people. Each participating parish requires only a small, committed core of active, involved people to transform it. If Alinsky is correct then, similarly, a relatively small number of strategically situated, networked IAF locals across the country can have a strong influence on federal policy.
How does the Industrial Areas Foundation function? How does it operate and organize?
At Ascension parish in Albuquerque, the IAF-trained pastor wanted his Catholic parish to become an Interfaith member. He began “one-on-ones:” private meetings between him and various high profile people in the congregation. His goal was to identify those who would become an IAF “leadership team” for the congregation. These handpicked “leaders” were chosen for their influence in the community and for their personal openness to social activism.
The parish leadership team then began training sessions to run organizational “house-meetings” in the parish. House-meetings are designed to expand awareness about the local IAF and to establish credibility among parishioners. They encourage parishioners to be active and supportive of the IAF organization and stimulate a controlled line of questioning, asking about the social and economic needs of the community. Leaders are trained to guide the discussion along specific channels; the IAF will not, for example, directly confront the issue of abortion.
The leadership team is not only trained to run meetings, but as its support in the congregation grows, it is taught to research and plan public actions and to evaluate the success of these actions. Public actions around Albuquerque have included ritualized and tightly controlled meetings with government officials and with school administrators.
Each member congregation in the local IAF pays dues. In Albuquerque, member congregations pay 1.5% of their income to the Albuquerque Interfaith. This helps to pay the professional organizer a middle-class salary, benefits, office and travel expenses. Albuquerque Interfaith, in turn, pays the IAF $30,000 yearly. This money helps to pay the corporate-level salaries of the eight regional IAF directors who travel and network extensively.
What does the Industrial Areas Foundation do? What are the changes it is mobilizing member congregations around the country to bring about?
The goals of the IAF exist on two levels. The first is to seek the self-interest of their membership, that is, to identify issues of concern to all parties. If a street corner needs a traffic light, Catholics, Muslims, Jews, and Protestants ought to be able to work together to get one in place.
To achieve this requires research: what does it take to have a traffic light installed? What are the costs involved? Is the money there? Is the need urgent? Who does one approach about it? How do we pressure them if they don’t agree with us? How do we involve the media, if necessary? How do we build public support for our issue? These are the questions that form part of the citizen education in which the IAF trains the participating individuals from its member congregations.
The goals of the IAF exist on another level, though. The IAF has not only local goals, tailored to the self-interest of local people, but its own organizational goals. Ernesto Cortes, the southwestern regional IAF director writes: “[The organizer’s] issue gets dealt with last. If you want your issue to be dealt with first, you’ll never build anything. So you lead with other people’s issues, and you teach them how to act on their issues. Then you model what is to be reciprocal, you model what it is to have a long-term vision.” [Ernesto Cortes, “Organizing the Community: The Industrial Areas Foundation organizer speaks to farmers and farm activists,” The Texas Observer – A Journal of Free Voice, July 11, 1986.]
To obtain a power-base that will support the organizer’s issues, the IAF must build a constituency that trusts it. Working through the churches, using sympathetic clergy, the IAF develops those relationships of trust within member congregations and dioceses. The IAF hands-on, citizen education that teaches people how to get a traffic light installed has the additional advantage (to the IAF) of developing a small but committed and active group of people who will support the IAF agenda.
What is that agenda? In general terms, the IAF’s “issue” can be expressed as a practical philosophy of governance called variously “third way,” “participatory democracy,” or “democratic socialism.” All these terms, and others, are an attempt to describe a brand of socialism that aims to be a middle ground between laissez-faire capitalism and right wing, totalitarian socialism (like communism). Proponents of this middle ground believe that their system of government can use democratic mechanisms to administer the state’s benefits. The mechanisms of administration for those benefits are the “mediating institutions,” which advocates believe render government control more benevolent and “just.”
The “mediating institutions” are schools, churches, unions, community centers and the like, held together by the relationships they have forged within their community organization – like Albuquerque Interfaith.
To achieve this utopian “vision,” the national IAF is engaged in “restructuring” activities of all kinds. It is operating nationally on the political level, networking with the Democratic Socialists of America, the New Democrats, and the New Party, among others. In the late 90s, the IAF made national headlines for its apparent orchestration of a massive naturalization drive. The trouble with this drive was that it included hundreds of invalid naturalizations, and people were evidently driven straight from receiving their citizenship papers to the polling booths. The situation was not rectified, however, until after the November 1996, California elections in which pro-life Congressman Robert Dornan lost to a staunch IAF-backed, pro-abortion candidate.
The national IAF is operating in the economic arena, also. It is very much a player in the Empowerment Zone and Enterprise Community packages of dozens of areas around the country.
The IAF was a supporter of Hillary Clinton’s universal health care plan, and is engaged in experiments to involve the churches in “community-based” health-care clinics. The national IAF has been a major figure behind its own version of welfare reform. In Arizona this generated tremendous opposition. A coalition of over 30 community-based human services organizations, including food banks and health care facilities (hardly “radical right” types) fought the IAF over control of public welfare funds. The human services coalition argued that the IAF was attempting to overrun “existing organizations with demonstrated track records and accountability for working with the poor…” so that it might control public money for its own organizational purposes. The human services coalition warned that “Any diversion of funds to create another layer of providers would detract from the present effort and be disastrous.”
The national IAF is deeply involved in education reform. On January 24, 1996, the Albuquerque Interfaith began the first in a series of Professional Development Seminars funded by a $450,000 grant from the Rockefeller Foundation. Involving about 60 teachers, administrators, community center directors, high school students, and parents from the city’s public school system, these all-day seminars at the Albuquerque Hilton were, according to one local school board member, designed as the educational establishment’s response to the radical right. As New Mexico, at that time, had no vocal, organized group operating in opposition to systemic school reform, the necessity of a professional development program to counter that voice was incomprehensible.
What was the purpose of this professional development seminar? What did the IAF hope to accomplish among area educators? Dr. Benjamin Barber, a political scientist out of Rutgers University, during a radio interview, gave the answer. “Practical experiments to empower people in their own lives” are being conducted by groups who “don’t simply talk about citizenship and democracy, but are engaged in working for it.” Barber identified, specifically, the Industrial Areas Foundation. The IAF-lead Albuquerque “Professional Development Seminar” for public schools graphically exemplified the IAF activity connecting public education to civic education, of which Barber spoke. This is occurring all over the United States. The scope of IAF involvement in the recent federal movement toward systemic education “reform” is vast. And it is necessary for the IAF to maintain its involvement in the movement toward systemic education reform, because this reform is extremely unpopular.
Marc Tucker’s National Center for Education and the Economy [the NCEE], is the think-tank which produced the rough draft of what became the Work Force Development Act of 1995 (HR 1617; SR 143). The NCEE was well aware that public support for the Work Force Development Act required nursing. Reaching the goals of the Work Force Development Act would “require a transformation in virtually every important aspect of the American system of education.” A NCEE proposal for the legislation stated: “It will require thoughtful and sustained communication with the citizens of these states to build the public consensus needed to support these revolutionary changes.”
Weeks-long media campaigns and town meetings were suggested to “increase public discussion” and “focus daily news coverage” on education. Parents would have to see themselves as “collaborators” in their children’s education. The proposal said: “The Industrial Areas Foundation, perhaps the most experienced agency in the United States in the arena of community organizing, will help us think through the parent engagement and organizing issues.”
An example of the IAF’s work to generate parent involvement in OBE restructuring can be documented in a vision paper called “Community of Learners.” Albuquerque Interfaith used this vision paper as a model for its own educational statement. The “Community of Learners” version was produced by a network of nearly a dozen Texas IAF locals in 1990. It was “facilitated” into being by a very interesting woman, Sonia Hernandez, an educational consultant on the NCEE board of trustees who was, in the early 1980s, the president of the IAF San Antonio local, Communities Organized for Public Service.
Ms. Hernandez, in her capacity as an education consultant, provided “…a larger framework for people to think about their own schools and the troubling questions about whether their children were being prepared for the work of the future. Schools are about political power, Hernandez explained.” [William Greider, Who Will Tell the People, 1992, p 231.]
No wonder children are graduating from the public school system unable to read! Recall Barber’s radio interview where he describes the IAF’s “civic education” activity in the public schools. Place that next to Sonia Hernandez’s remark that “Schools are about political power.” What sort of educational system is being put together? Interfaith members, to guide them in producing their own “vision” about education have studied “A Community of Learners” in Albuquerque. The ” Community of Learners” paper recommends “shattering the paradigm of school” as it has been popularly conceived and replaces it with “communities of learners,” which are schools characterized by “collaborative relationships among all stakeholders, including parents, teachers, administrators, and community leaders.”
How did the churches come to be involved in such schemes? It’s a chicken and egg debate over which came first: do liberal religious communities embrace Alinskyian faith-based organizing or does participation in such organizing tend to liberalize the community? Perhaps both assertions are correct.
The IAF has, for example, conducted a national project called “IAF Reflects.” IAF Reflects is a series of “intense, 2-week seminars for veteran organizers.” These retreats for congregational leaders are, in the words of one enthusiastic observer, designed to put those “leaders in touch with the biblical tradition that might give deeper insight into their work together, bind them more closely, and empower them to go forward to build God’s reign. The IAF has come to realize that it is about holy work…” Faith communities, writes the Catholic Villanova religion professor, Susan Toton, “must be conversant in two languages -the language of the faith and the language of public discourse,” which Toton equates to IAF-style activism. “Both are essential for communities committed to furthering God’s reign.”
Ed Chambers, national IAF executive director, has a similar idea. He says: “I’d had a little training in philosophy. And I started forcing myself to look at what our kind of organizing meant to people. We worked with people in the churches, and their language was the language of the gospel. Their language was nothing like Alinsky’s language. His language was power talk. Tough, abrasive, confrontational, full of ridicule. And those are really all non-Christian concepts. So I started looking at it. Here are the non-Christian concepts…here are the Christian concepts. Are there any similarities? Is this just a different language for the same thing?”
What is this language of Alinsky’s? Alinsky explains it. According to him, in his Rules for Radicals, this “power talk” is Machiavellian. “What follows [Alinsky writes in the opening paragraph of the Rules] is for those who want to change the world from what it is to what they believe it should be. The Prince was written by Machiavelli for the Haves on how to hold power. Rules for Radicals is written for the Have-Nots on how to take it away.”
Machiavelli’s The Prince used to be on the Catholic Index, when the Church had an Index, as forbidden reading. This was not because the object of Machiavelli’s discussion was to protect the rich. It was because the principles Machiavelli gave the rich for holding on to power were unethical.
The “power talk” of Alinsky is also unethical. He teaches, at great length, (for instance) that the “ends justify the means.” (In fact, Alinsky devotes an entire chapter in the Rules to rationalizing why the ends justify the means.) Romans 3:8, however, says “it is not licit to do evil that good may come of it,” and Pope John Paul II, in Veritatis Splendor, insists that the Christian must accede to the truth of this moral teaching.
These two positions are not reconcilable. It is not moral to speak the language of pious ethics at worship, and then go out into the world and speak the language of opportunism and might-is-right and whatever else “ends justifies the means” ethics produces. They are not simply two different languages saying the same thing.
Expansion
In conclusion, the IAF is only one of several networks of Alinsky-style, faith-based organizations operating around the country. Collectively, there are over 200 local affiliates of an Alinsky-style organizations in the United States and several of the networks are expanding into Latin America, Europe, and Africa.
Therefore, it is extremely important that people of strong religious convictions understand the funding mechanisms that support these organizations. In addition to the dues paid by member congregations, expansion efforts require “seed money.” The Catholic Campaign for Human Development annually channels millions of dollars into Alinsky-style, faith-based organizing. The Jewish Fund for Justice, the Lutheran Fund for Justice, grants disbursed through the United Methodist Global Ministries, and the Presbyterian World Services are similar sources of funding.
The dream of organizing of religious institutions into an ecumenical political power-base is nothing new – but we’d better be very watchful of what we organize.
Stephanie Block writes for the New Mexico-based newpaper Los Pequenos.
Rosary Procession in Sydney, Australia, in honour of Mary, Help of Christians.
The Blessed Virgin Mary is venerated under many titles and over the centuries when invoked by the faithful she has come to the aid of individuals, of families, of towns, kingdoms and whole nations: but the title under which Mary has performed her greatest prodigies is that of “Help of Christians”: three times in the course of two and one-half centuries Mary has virtually saved Christendom from eclipse and from a ‘spiritual dark age’.Constantinople had fallen in 1453 and the whole of the East was under Arab rule: in the year 1571, a huge Turkish armada set sail to capture the Eternal City; an insignificant fleet manned by Christians assembled at Lepanto; from the human point of view the outcome was inevitable-destruction, enslavement, spoliation, desecration. The pope of the day, St Pius V, called upon every Catholic to invoke the aid of the Mother of God under her title ‘Help of Christians’. And to storm heaven unceasingly with Rosaries; the faithful responded and the battle got under way; it would be many days afterwards before word reached Rome of the outcome of the struggle; but the pope had been granted a vision in which he saw that Christendom was saved that day; forthwith he proclaimed on that day October 7th 1571, a new feast in honour of Our Lady – Feast of the Most Holy Rosary.
But through the Arab power had been broken the determination ultimately to prevail remained and finally motivated the Arab leaders to try again. The new threat came in 1683, when an army of 200,000 Turks faced an army of 30,000 Christians who they besieged in Vienna; once again the outlook, by human standards was hopeless, the Christians outnumbered seven to one. When the reigning Pontiff Bl. Innocent XI heard of the predicament of the Christian forces, he immediately commended the Christian cause to Our Lady Help of Christians and besought all Christendom to recite her Rosary. The battle for Vienna began on the birthday of Our Lady September 8th, it raged on for four terrible days; and when it ended on the Feast of the Holy Name of Mary, the Turkish army was crushed and would never again present a threat to Christendom.
A little over a century later, in 1800, what the Turks had failed to do, the French under Napoleon, succeeded in doing; The Eternal City fell; fifty venerable churches in Rome were put to the torch and the pope, Pius VI was carted off to France where he died in prison from the effects of ill-treatment; the forces of atheism had triumphed…God was dead, the pope was dead and when the new Pope Pius VII was elected, the anti-clerical newspapers made the pun; “Not Pius VII … but Pius the last!”
In 1809 Bonaparte again seized the Pope and had him dragged off to France where he languished in prison suffering greatly at the hands of his anti-catholic gaolers. The whole of Europe was now subservient to Bonaparte; yet the despot wished to rule the world and with this in mind he made a proposition to the pope: “If you will show your approval and crown me,” he said, “I will set you free and when I have conquered the world, we will rule it together – I its secular heard and you its spiritual head.” The pope only smiled at such vanity and impudence; and instead of ceding to the tyrant’s request, he made a vow to Our Lady that if she would restore freedom to the church, he would honour her with a new feast; forthwith he succeeded in smuggling out from prison a message beseeching the bishops to call on the faithful to pray to Our Lady Help of Christians for deliverance.
Napoleon, at the head of an army of one million men, set out on the next stage of his conquest of the world – Russia! By the spring, all his fine troops were dead, except a mere thirty thousand and the mighty Bonaparte was no longer emperor. On the very day Napoleon signed his abdication, Pope Pius VII made his triumphal re-entry into the Eternal City, after five agonising years incarceration and on that same day, May 24, 1814, the pope true to his vow to Our Lady proclaimed as his first official act the Feast of Mary Help of Christians.
Seven years later a disenfranchised Catholic minority in the British colony of New South Wales, began to build the first basilica dedicated to Mary Help of Christians, known today as St Mary’s Cathedral, Sydney; in 1844 the first synod in the British realm since the Reformation proclaimed Mary Help of Christians patroness of Australia; eight years later, her feast day was authorised on a national basis.
On the other side of the world, Our Lady appeared to Don Bosco in 1844 and commanded him to build her a church under the title of Mary Help of Christians, providing him with precise instructions down to the last detail of its construction. When work began, the saint could offer the contractor only eight cents towards the total cost, yet donations began to pour in from all parts of the world, so that when the magnificent basilica was completed … not a cent was owing.
It is no secret that Barack Obama has assumed the mantle of power as head of the Democratic Party and lead change agent for the progressive political agenda in America. There’s nothing new under the sun here. What has changed–following consecutive Dem presidential defeats at the hands of the traditional values voter–is that Democrats have now found religion. Or better put, they realize they need religion in order to win the White House. The problem is, they have the same morally offensive – life threatening liberal progressive party platform as before, so they must find a way–to pilfer a phrase here from the father of community organizing, Saul Alinsky–to “do what they can with what they are and clothe it somehow with moral garments”. Another Chicagoan “Seamless Garment” redux, if you will. The irony here, of course, is just this week the new faith messenger of the Democratic Party reiterated his position that “issues” and not the “faith” of candidates should hold sway in this election.
However contradictory this position may be, make no mistake, I’m not trivializing the new faith message of democrats here nor underestimating their chances of successfully “reaching out” and dipping into the cup of the religious vote. In fact, I believe there is a powerful “under-party” to the Democratic Party itself, madeup of both liberal religious and secular coalitions well-trained in the art of community organization and political action. The purpose of this post is to introduce, educate and warn Catholic voters and fellow traditional value voters of every faith tradition concerning the main mover and shaker behind this latest Dem grab at our votes: Faith in Public Life.
Faith in Public Life
“When the Son of Man returns will he still find…Faith in Public Life.” I hope not. Like many other folks, I believe the organization Faith in Public Life’s short-term goal of electing Barack Obama coincides in action with its long-term goals of attempting to neutralize, marginalize, obstruct, and to eventually destroy pro-life and traditional moral values. (A full report by writer Stephanie Block is found below). I submit that by arming themselves with necessary facts and information needed to honestly evaluate this organization and other’s like it, Joe and Mary Catholic will come to understand that many of these so-called social justice organizations, under pretense of working for “the common good”, have for too many years now acted only to manipulate Joe and Mary’s Church, benefit financially from their personal almsgiving, and sought to politicize their parish all for the sake of liberal progressive expediency both within and outside the Catholic Church.
While it surely is a good and holy thing for Catholics to organize in order to address those most in need, It is not so when dubious outside secular organizations enter into union with Catholics in order to organize the Church according to worldly principles. In fact, there are many ongoing efforts found within the Church that can be shown to be unethical in origin, as in deployment, and often are found to be malevolent toward the Catholic faith itself by means of, quote: “using the Catholic Church to destroy Catholic moral teaching”, and thus, true faith in Jesus Christ and His Church.
O Stands for Organizing
There has been much discussion over Barack Obama’s “work experience” as a Catholic Campaign for Human Development funded organizer in Catholic parishes on the south side of Chicago during the 1980’s. But, to the extent that the political issue of whether or not candidate Obama’s work experience as a organizer adds to or takes away from his presidential resume bends a knee, (so to speak), to the greater and more important issue of fully understanding Obama’s “personal experiences” of association, formation, and support received during those years and how, if at all, they may well still relate politically to candidate Obama and the presidential election of 2008.
The following article will go a long way in helping to explain the many-faced and confusing manifestations of community organizing both historically and presently from a faithful Catholic perspective…
Justice in Pieces – Faith in Public Life by Stephanie Block
Editors Note: I believe along with the writer, Stephanie Block, that Faith in Public Life serves the culture of death in America. And that it includes organizations that target the Catholic Church for anti-catholic purposes…using Catholic resources. Presented originally in conference format, the Justice in Pieces – Faith in Public Life article below reflects a bit of the 2007 Oregon conference in presentation. As for example, the presenters use of the State of Oregon and Faith in Public Life organizations found therein (my home state). For your convenience I have tagged the FPL interactive map of states where this organization operates for your own personal reference use. There you will be able to inform yourself and other’s concerning their activities in your area… james mary evans
Faith in public life is a national coalition of nearly three thousand organizations throughout the United States. One can visit the faith in public life website and play with an interactive map that’s there. On that interactive map you can search by state and obtain a list of all the Faith in Public Life members. Or you can do a national search looking for say all the institutions that have “reproductive” in their title. To understand this progressive political coalition better, the three thousand-member coalitions can be organized into five categories:
Catholic Organizations – official catholic bodies
Dissident Organizations– exist actively and deliberately to alter Catholic church teaching. All these organizations are associated with Call to Action. (More on CTA below).
Other Religious Organizations – member organizations from other religions, usually liberal members. Many have made abortion and homosexual rights denominational policy.
Community Organizations– Alinskyian organizations and their networks. These organizations are made up of congregations from all denominations. They have an historical and ongoing relationship with Call to Action. They promote liberation theology, progressive political activism, and they often receive funding from the Catholic Church.
Issue-based Organizations– organizations working for a particular cause. In this category we find a large number of Faith in Public Life members whose only advocacy is to act to secure abortion rights or homosexual rights.
Here we can plug in our own state to discover organizations associated with Faith in Public Life –
There are 44 members found on the Oregon site. To see how this plays out on the local level, I’ll place Oregon’s organizations into the 5 categories mention above. Here are just the (1) Catholic organizations involved with Faith in Public Life:
Archdiocese of Portland, Office of Justice and Peace
Catholic Charities of Portland and Baker City
Catholic Relief Services of Portland and Baker City
So one can see that the institutional Catholic Church of Oregon through its various diocesan offices is actively participating in the work of Faith and Public Life.
In the category of (2) dissident organizations we find two Call To Action Chapters.
Call To Action Oregon
Journey-Koinonia Catholic Community
What is Call To Action?
Dissident Catholics
CTA was founded with the express purpose of altering Catholic Church teaching. It has members who are organized expressly to promote abortion rights, homosexual rights, women priests, married priests, liberation theology, creation spirituality, and to politicize catholic parishes. Of this list, some of the issues are internal church matters, some are doctrinally significant, and some have bearing on society’s welfare.
In the category of (3) other religious organizations we find:
Some of these religious organizations such as the Unitarian Universalists have made abortion and homosexual rights denominational public policy. And Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon is lobbying for same sex marriage.
Now it gets really interesting when we turn to (4) community organizations.
Community organizations here are also members of Faith in Public Life. These organizations are ecumenical. These organizations are supported with money from their member religions. The Catholic Church for example takes up an annual collection called the Catholic Campaign for Human Development. Over the years the CCHD has given millions of dollars to community network organizations throughout the United States. But this is not just any community organizing. These or networks and organizations developed from the theories and practices of Saul Alinsky. Therefore they are called Alinskyian organizations. As an aside, under the ICWJ, which stands for Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice, Portland Jobs with Justice Religious Outreach Committee includes its own members, it is a coalition, and one such member of this coalition is called Q, which stands for Queer Resource for Social Change. And another member here is the Socialist Party of Oregon. That’s interesting.
Alinskyian Organizing
Saul Alinsky was a sociologist from Chicago in the early part of the 20thcentury. He was interested in
Marxist Saul Alinsky
politics and had a Marxist view of the world. Seeing society as a continual battle between what he called the haves and the have-nots. He thought he could teach his principles of organizing to the have-nots in a way to help them attain some of society’s benefits. He created local organizations that identified and trained a leadership to rally groups of people that could go fight city hall.
Later, these groups formed a national network called the Industrial Areas Foundation. Today there are several of these networks operating around the United States. Each of them having dozens of local groups with each having there own names. Unfortunately there were some terrible problems with Alinsky’s understanding of these principles. The rules by which he trained his organizers included, “The end justifies any means.” And in the book rules for radicals He devotes an entire chapter to this idea. He wasn’t just speaking off the top of his head he meant it quite earnestly. As practical as that may sound, that the end justifies almost any means, a Catholic in good conscience cannot ascribe to such wickedness.
Alinsky also writes, “Do what you can with what you have and clothe it with moral garments.” That’s where the churches come in. The church has the moral garments. To this end there several religious bodies that have placed themselves at the use of alinskyian organizing. One is the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. It has developed a strategic plan to integrate alinskyian organizing throughout the denomination. It has done so in order, in it’s own words, to create social change. There is a alinskyian organizer that is helping one of the bishops help implement organizing within the church structure.
The Presbyterian Church USA is going in this direction too, with the evangelical Lutherans. It has signed a joint statement declaring its plans to increase funding for community organizing. To force seminarians to become community organizers, to encourage seminarians to provide, quote: “The theological and biblical foundations for social justice in community organizing. And to tell congregations to use community organizing as the primary strategy for mission.” This isn’t preaching Christ’s Gospel; it’s preaching a man-made social gospel.
But the problem isn’t limited to Christians. The Union of Reform Judaism, a liberal sect of Judaism, now has a social action program to train its congregation in Alinskyian organizing. Run by a Rabbi who has been involved in Alinskyian organization. This is the use of religion, not to serve God, but to further a human agenda. Trying to use God as a diabolical act. To gain an idea into the mind of Alinsky and his works, here is a telling dedication found in the book “Rules for Radicals” written by Saul Alinsky himself:
“Lest we forget at least an over-the-shoulder acknowledgment to the very first radical; from all our legends, mythology, and history (and who is to know where mythology leaves off and history begins – or which is which), the first radical known to man who rebelled against the establishment and did it so effectively that he at least won his own kingdom –Lucifer.”
In the context of Alinsky’s anti-ethics these are extraordinarily and insightful words.
In the Catholic Church the situation isn’t much better, millions of dollars have been raised over the years to support Alinskyian organizing principles and networks. This money comes from the annual Catholic Campaign for Human Development. The campaign was begun in 1970 by progressive Catholic Bishops in the United States. Who sold it as a way to end the vicious cycle of poverty. Publicity material for the CCHD, (the word Catholic was added later on), always stresses the small economic development component. However, only a third of its grants, if that much, go into economic development. The rest has gone into organizing, and most of that into Alinskyian organizing.
Support for Alinskyian organizing was given another boost in 1976. When Catholic Bishops sponsored a Three day Call To Action conference in Detroit, Michigan. This conference brought together delegates from across the United States to ratify eight position papers. Saul Alinsky’sorganizers got involved. One position paper recommended that every parish, quote: “Support a competent ecumenical action group with diocesan resources used to train organizational leaders.” Other position papers proposed that the church establish priorities for public policy, define major election issues, educate the laity on the moral dimensions of these public issues and implement these goals ecumenically. Still other position papers contained specific challenges to the discipline and doctrine of the Church. In the end, the conference approved such resolutions as the ordination of women, married men, female altar servers, the use of artificial birth control; in other words the first Call to Action conference laid down the agenda which continues to be pushed by today’s Call to Action.
IAF Organizer, Call to Action Co-Chair and supporter until his death in 2001, Monsignor Jack Egan Memorial
How could a conference convened by Catholic bishops and delegates appointed by them be hijacked in this way? The answer lies in part with the efforts of Alinskyian organizing to influence the Church in the United States. Monsignor Jack Egan of Chicago was a long time friend of Saul Alinsky. Mon. Egan was trained with Alinsky, He served as a board member for the Alinskyian foundation Industrial Workers Foundation. And Mon. Egan supported Alinsky’s organizing efforts in Chicago. In addition, Mon. Egan served as co-chair to the 1976 Call to Action conference primary sessions, so the Alinskyian process that drove the conference in 1976 was far from accidental. Furthermore, Mon. Egan remained an outspoken supporter of Call to Action and its continued efforts to alter Church teaching until his death in 2001.
Obviously, the bishops couldn’t ratify the 1976 Call to Action proposals. But, it has been the continued effort of Call to Action to bring about what changes it could. For example, it may not be that every United States Catholic parish supports a competent ecumenical neighborhood action group, but there are thousands who do.
The Call to Action resolution to organize progressive political activism is being accomplished parish by parish. In Oregon, the Alinskyian network works with other groups in the Faith in Public Life coalition to accomplish progressive goals. Here’s an example: One progressive goal is universal healthcare coverage. In Oregon, progressives hope to achieve this goal by 2009 through the Oregon Health Plan; a piece of legislation that accomplishes its objectives by rationing medical services according to pre-determined priorities. Reproductive services is high on that priority list-ranked 6th out of 17. Oregon health plan funds about an third of Oregon’s abortions. And it also funds assisted suicide.
How where these priorities determined and ranked? In 2004 the Metropolitan Alliance for the Common Good, which is your Alinskyian local organization, part of network of the Industrial Areas Foundation, conducted what it termed citizen dialogues around Oregon to identify health care policy options, that the public would support and what they would be willing to negotiate. The results of these dialogues were given to the media, and to civic forums, with the purpose of persuading the citizens of Oregon that health care needed a dramatic systemic overhaul, and therefore to create a willingness to change. In other words, the Alinskyian local was able to manipulate the appearance of widespread support for the Oregon Health Plan.
Other groups had to clothe the Oregon Health Plan in moral garments. For instance, the Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon worked to sell Oregon citizenry the idea that many religious people believe that assisted suicide is really a health service. Therefore, it’s an ethical component to the plan. Still other groups such as the Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice-Jobs with Justice, had the task of getting groups of citizens to the legislature and into the media eye demonstrating support for the Oregon Health Plan during those years when pro-lifers worked to defend against abortion and assisted suicide. The point is, progressives have manipulated support for the Oregon Health Plan with all its good and evil aspects.
There’s one more category in the Faith and Public Life Coalition, these are issue-based, which work to advocate for a particular cause:
Under the sub-heading of progressives in Oregon, we find the Network of Spiritual Progressives in Eugene along with the Interfaith Alliance. The Interfaith Alliance claims, quote, “that it does not take pro or con positions on issues such as abortion, vouchers or gay marriage, but says its primary objective is opposition to the Christian Coalition. However, when you go to its website you can find that it carries the manual “How to win a practical guide to defeating the Radical Right in Your Community.” Who’s the radical right? Who it targets are the pro-lifers; So much for the neutral position.
The Network for Spiritual Progressives is more forthright. It says in a 2005 press release, “The religious right in the U.S. has taken a much more aggressive stance since the reelection of George Bush. Seeking to pack the courts with extremists, escalating the struggle against abortion, rights and civil rights for homosexuals.” And, of course, the solution to this is to work with the Network for Spiritual Progressives.
So far we have looked at the organization in just one state-Oregon. At the state level and national level Faith in Public Life hopes to shape public perception about religious value systems. Especially about abortion and homosexual rights. They want the public to see those rights as moral positions held by many religious people. It seeks to do this in order to neutralize the influence that pro-life and traditional ethics have on political decisions.
To carry out its objectives Faith in Public Life has developed powerful tools: a media and writer’s bureau, frequent press releases, a internet blog, and teleconferences. These work together to promote progressive causes and to hammer the message that anti-abortion and anti-homosexual rights positions are not reflective of mainstream religious sentiment, whether that’s true or not. It’s a subtle but effective message. When challenged, it spokespersons will argue that the common good requires a citizen to address many issues. Therefore they, who supposedly are not two issue voters, like the religious right, claim to be the true representatives of the religious voice in the United States.
Debra Haffner, Religious Institute on Sexual Morality calls for, quote: "A faith-based commitment to sexual and reproductive rights, including access to voluntary contraception and abortion."
Faith in Public life has a number of propaganda vehicles. One is “Voicing Faith” it’s a media bureau. There are a large number of troubling individuals in Voicing Faith. One is Debra haffner whose Religious Institute on Sexual Morality calls for, quote: “A faith-based commitment to sexual and reproductive rights, including access to voluntary contraception and abortion.” It also seeks, quote: “Full inclusion of sexual minorities in congregational life, including the ordination and blessing of same sex unions.” When Haffner speaks for Faith in Public Life, which remember, includes representatives of the Catholic Church, she brings her convictions into her statements. No one in Faith in Public Life suggests her morals are problematic. Catholics on the other hand are told they must not say abortion is a objective moral evil. Rather, they must seek the common ground that they have with pro-aborts. In other words we have a terrible and highly hypocritical double standard designed to bury specific moral positions.
Here’s another way Faith in Public Life is engaging media. It has connected itself to Sojourners Writers bureau, the Red Letter Christian’s. The Red Letter Christians are a network of progressive Christian communicators who will tell you, themselves, quote: “The goal of the group is to advance the message that our faith cannot be reduced to two hot-button issues-abortion and homosexuality.” It’s intimately connected to Faith in Public Life founded by the same man, working with the same people, and they have linked websites.
So, let’s look at two Red Letter Christians:
Advocates homosexuality in opposition to Church teaching, Fr. Richard Rohr, New Mexico
One is Father Richard Rohr. A Catholic priest from New Mexico. Father Rohr has supported blessing homosexual unions. And has questioned the Church with failing to appreciate the giftedness of the homosexual. He’s also conducted an ecumenically inclusive mass for Faith and Public Life. That means he has confected the Eucharist, the real presence of Christ, and then invited everyone to communion regardless of their religious beliefs or their state of grace.
Alexia Kelly, Catholics for the Common Good
Another Red Letter Christian is Alexia Kelly whose part of a campaign called “Life does not end at birth”. Challenging, quote: “Those voices who sought to narrowly define Catholic public identity to a few narrow issues.” By which she names, abortion and homosexual.
In other words, here are two Catholics who are working to undermine Catholic teaching about life and morals, in order to advance other issues. Only it isn’t only other “issues”. It’s the same issues-abortion and same sex marriage. The conclusions defy Catholic teaching.
One could find literally hundreds of rhetorical examples where various spokesmen for Faith in Public Life are attempting to shape public discourse about homosexuality and abortion. With so much apparent diversity of faith traditions, and with members within every U.S. state, faith in Public life is well-positioned to be tapped by media looking for the religious perspective when it writes articles are prepares it newscasts. That’s the idea. This is a well-organized effort to seize the microphone and dominate the public discussion.
Examples of rhetoric:
Kim Bobo, Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice
This is a example taken from a march 14th, 2006 Faith in Public Life press release: “We are speaking out today to insure that the voice of religion in Ohio reflects our American diversity and is not co-opted by intolerant voices.” The intolerant voices to which he refers are those who opposed abortion and homosexual rights.
An second rhetorical example concerns Faith in Public Life speaker Kim Bobo, who is the director of the above-mentioned Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice. A news clip made available on the FPL website says that Bobo sees conservative Christian forces monopolizing the morality in politics debate around such issues as abortion rights and same sex marriage. The FPL blog has another rhetorical example, Roland Martin says, “When did it come to the point that being a Christian meant only caring about two issues, abortion and homosexuality.” Well, isn’t there another question that can be asked here? Why isn’t Mr. Martin asking Martin Luther King’s organization, The Southern Christian Leadership Conference, (which is a FPL member), “when did it come to the point that being a Christian meant caring about only one issue, racism?” Obviously this representative blogger for FPL doesn’t really mind that abortion and homosexuality are important issues to some Christians. He cares that some Christians are saying that abortion and homosexuality are wrong.
One last example, keeping mind that there are literally hundreds of rhetorical examples. And also, as we draw down close to the end of this election cycle in November we will find many more such examples of rhetoric coming from FPL in the press. This one comes from a FPL teleconference on October 31st, 2006. Jim Wallis, one of the primary movers behind FPL complained, saying, “Conventional wisdom immediately accepted from the left and the right was that “moral values” was a code for opposition to gay marriage and abortion.” To the media, along with Wallis, Rabbi David Saperstien cautioned, quote: “As you hone your polling questions for this election (2008) we call on you to choose those that will contribute to a more accurate picture of the American electorate, and to clarify and correct once and for all the misinformation generated from the 2004 morals value question. “ In other words, don’t speak to the pro-lifers.
WASHINGTON - JUNE 4: Democratic presidential candidates (L-R) former Sen. John Edwards (D-NC), Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY), Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) (R) join Reverend Jim Wallis (2nd-R) for a forum on faith and voting.
The point is, that Faith in Public Life is very consciously, very deliberately, very craftily, trying to assure that the mainstream media will not equate pro-life with Catholic moral teaching or traditional Christian ethics. But, at the very least, say over and over again to the voter, who well may be a Catholic or Christian, “there are many voices on the issues of abortion and homosexuality and if you vote pro-abortion it’s okay.”It’s not okay.
There are serious flaws with the talking points and sound bites that FPL is repeating over and over through its numerous media outlets. The first is that pro-lifers and those who hold traditional morals values only care about two issues, abortion and homosexuality. I don’t know any pro-lifer who would argue that it doesn’t matter if a woman can afford diapers, if only she gives birth to her baby. Similarly, I don’t know a single progressive who is indifferent to the issues of abortion and homosexuality. Progressives care very deeply about them. In fact, there are hundreds of organizations in FPL engaged in advocacy for the single issue of abortion rights or homosexual rights. The rhetoric being thrown around by the FPL coalition members is meant to confuse and twist the truth. By repeating the lie that all the religious right cares about are the two issues of abortion and homosexuality, progressives hope to change public perception. They want the pro-life positions and morally traditional positions to become associated with the idea of narrow thinking. It must become uncomfortable to be called a pro-lifer, or a conservative, or religious right. The person who fears being labeled a bigot, for example, and has been condemned to associate any opposition to homosexual demands, as bigoted, has been silenced. Even more significantly, if the majority of voters can be made to associate any opposition to homosexual demands as hateful and bigoted, they will be more likely to vote for politicians with pro homosexual policies.
Inherent to this message is that the immoral is okay. That abortion and homosexual rights advocacy is a legitimate ethical position. The proof it offers is that some people of faith support these positions. FPL argues that it seeks to find common ground on these issues. However this is a duplicitous argument. Do FPLanti-racist organizations seek common ground with the Ku KluxClan? Of course not, some positions are morally untenable, wicked, non-negotiable. Similarly, abortion and homosexual acts are intrinsically immoral. Trying to find common ground with those who would murder babies or legalized same-sex unions is similarly an immoral enterprise.
Regardless of its other concerns, Faith in Public Life is an abortion and homosexual rights propaganda vehicle. Regardless of its other issues FPL efforts are directed to generating support for abortion and homosexual rights among religious people.
In summary, Faith in Public life is operating in every state in the union. It’s operating in Oregon. Numerous Catholic groups are part of the Faith in Public Life coalition in your state. Faith in Public Life is attempting to neutralize, to marginalize, to obstruct, and to eventually destroy pro-life and traditional moral values.
The Catholic Church, one of the most consistent voices for pro-life and moral values is a target for this progressive effort. It’s a target because radicals believe they must clothe theircritical goals withmoral garments. And it’s a target because the Catholic Church, by Catholic monies raised in dioceses’, is funding many of its members operating under Alinskyian organizational principles and promoting Faith in Public Life’s progressive political agenda.
Alinskyian organizing, which has a significant presence in the Faith in Public Life coalition has a long standing relationship with Call to Action. A movement which seeks to alter Church teaching.
So what can we do?
Is there anything that the layperson can do to counter this abuse of the Church? Actually, there is quite a bit one can do. The most obvious concerns the Catholic Campaign for Human Development. Through this collection Catholics are financially supporting many Faith in Public Life organizations. And through them, supporting issues that directly oppose Catholic Church teaching. The Catholic layperson can consider if donating to the Catholic Campaign for Human Development is worthy of his/her money.
One can also disseminate information about the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, about Faith in Public Life, depending on ones situation in life and talents, as well as through communication networks. You can become activists in defending the faith and Church, sharing contacts with folks in other states who could benefit from this information.
People in authority may be contacted. Send them information and speak to them.
Help such folks financially in their works.
It’s urgent that we get the message out. The short-term goal of Faith and Public Life is to assure that the 2008 presidential election puts progressive politicians into office, with all that that means. The long-term goal of Faith in Public Life is to foster abortion and homosexual rights. Particularly disturbing is that many of Faith in Public Life organizations target the Catholic Church for anti-Catholic purposes, and get Catholics to pay for it.
Please help by linking to this article and/or e-mailing it to all Catholics, Christians and other faith traditions who share traditional moral values in common.
To Contact Stephanie Block:
Los Pequeños de Cristo
PO Box 16117
Albuquerque, NM 87191-6117
(505) 293-8006
website: www.lospequenos.org
Thus says the LORD:
You, son of man, I have appointed watchman for the house of Israel;
when you hear me say anything, you shall warn them for me.
If I tell the wicked, “O wicked one, you shall surely die, ”
and you do not speak out to dissuade the wicked from his way,
the wicked shall die for his guilt,
but I will hold you responsible for his death.
But if you warn the wicked,
trying to turn him from his way,
and he refuses to turn from his way,
he shall die for his guilt,
but you shall save yourself.
R. (8) If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Come, let us sing joyfully to the LORD;
let us acclaim the rock of our salvation.
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us joyfully sing psalms to him. R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Come, let us bow down in worship;
let us kneel before the LORD who made us.
For he is our God,
and we are the people he shepherds, the flock he guides. R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Oh, that today you would hear his voice:
“Harden not your hearts as at Meribah,
as in the day of Massah in the desert,
Where your fathers tempted me;
they tested me though they had seen my works.” R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Brothers and sisters:
Owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another;
for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.
The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery;
you shall not kill; you shall not steal; you shall not covet, ”
and whatever other commandment there may be,
are summed up in this saying, namely,
“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Love does no evil to the neighbor;
hence, love is the fulfillment of the law.
Jesus said to his disciples: “If your brother sins against you,
go and tell him his fault between you and him alone.
If he listens to you, you have won over your brother.
If he does not listen,
take one or two others along with you,
so that ‘every fact may be established
on the testimony of two or three witnesses.’
If he refuses to listen to them, tell the church.
If he refuses to listen even to the church,
then treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax collector.
Amen, I say to you,
whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven,
and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
Again, amen, I say to you,
if two of you agree on earth
about anything for which they are to pray,
it shall be granted to them by my heavenly Father.
For where two or three are gathered together in my name,
there am I in the midst of them.”
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