Posted on 08/24/2002 1:26:21 PM PDT by happytobealive
ASSOCIATE PASTOR TELLS WHY ABORTION CANDIDATE FOR GOVERNOR IS A PARISIONER IN GOOD STANDING:
Many people have come to me in the two weeks just past to ask about television ads which point out that Ms. Granholm, our sister, is pro choice. The concern has come from a mistaken notion that being pro choice is equal to being pro abortion. However, choice is part of the very foundation of our Catholic Christian Community. There are some who would gloss over theological reflection for the sake of emotion; these people often end up persecuting other brothers and sisters through their ignorance. As disciples of the Lord Jesus we are required to pray for their good, and for their enlightenment.
The Lord God has created all people in absolute freedom. Every action we take, each word we utter, is a matter of choice. As Catholic Christians we understand that this Awesome freedom carries with it a grave responsibility. In the light of the teaching of Jesus we make choices according to a well formed conscience a conscience which is founded in the gospel which proclaims the blessedness of all people in any circumstances.
Scripture tells us that when God was finished creating, everything was very good. The correct response to that good is a life which reverences and cares for all that God has made. This is our faith, and I know well that this is also Ms. Granholm's faith as a Roman Catholic Christian person.
To say that one is pro choice is, for the Christian community, an admission that we are created in freedom. This is a freedom that no state or government can grant or take away; it is a gift from the Creator. By the same understanding it is a grave error to assume that the ability to freely choose actions and words is sinful.
For the past several weeks we have been persecuted by people who are living with a misguided notion of the freedom in which we are created. These people, signs in hand, are not interested in the reverence of God's gift of life; they are concerned only with the threat of abortion. This is one small part of the reverence we are called to have for all that the Lord has Created. These people would have the state legislate the freedom that only God can give or take. The reverence of all life is a choice that we make according to our discipleship. It is a response to the love of God, in Jesus, which leads us to reverence the unborn, the challenged, the elderly , the sick, the brilliant, the talented, the humble, the simple, the peacemakers . . . you get the idea.
Those who regard Ms. Granholm as a "heretic" do not understand, nor do they wish to understand, that choice in itself is a blessed gift. As with many other things this blessing can be used for evil rather than for blessing.
Make no mistake, Christians are pro choice in the purest understanding of the term. We are free to choose between the Lord and the evil one. We are fee to choose the Lord's abundant and awesome love, and we are free to choose to deny it. The ability to choose is neither good nor evil. The choice made may be either. Many persecute because they choose not to hear or understand the depth of God's gift of freedom. The freedom to choose is a gift in which to revel. It is not a heavy burden. The Lord has given us direction, and has asked that we CHOOSE according to what he says and does.
To borrow from the gospel . . .
"Let those with ears to hear heed what they hear!"
Grace and peace,
Doc
Source: http://www3.catholicweb.com/bulletins/59371/Aug-04-2002.pdf
Well there's the problem then. Experience with these people has shown me that if they even own a Bible it only provides storage for clipped obituaries.
They rely on the church to teach them its message. Unfortunately the message gets adulterated along the way (purgatory, papal authority, etc.).
Years ago I was seriously dating a Catholic lady who'd never heard of the Inquisition (not even from the Monty Python sketch!) and was furious that I would make up such a lie. When I offered to take her to a neutral place (our fine city library) to prove my statement she refused and her mind was closed to the subject from then on.
It wasn't true, she said, because they'd never told her about it in church.
He has made the sophomoric move here of attempting to equate "choice" in beliefs, speech, etc., with the liberal-left-appropriated version of "choice" as applied to unborn babies; e.g. the "choice" of whether or not to rip a little guy to pieces while in his mama's womb.
So listen, Doc..........you miserable piece of walking sh*t...........Rip off that collar, because you've just crapped all over it. May God have mercy on your soul, but if I ever met ya, your ass would be mine.
No, it isn't, damn it. How freakin' old are you, anyway??? 14???
Grow UP, people!!!!
This is not what the catholic church said when it slammed the door on my sister and her son. We were all going to his baptism and the church kicked us out. They refused to baptize my nephew because my sister said she was pro-choice... They flew a black flag over the church. The Pope sent a letter to my sister condeming her. We baptized my Godson on the front steps of the same church on live television, they then defrocked the priest that did the baptisim. They make me sick!
I could introduce you to some who are otherwise. But believe me, they are an embattled minority.
It is exactly the fact that we can make decisions about our own actions that will make us accountable for those actions on Judgement day. Yes, (a woman or) a man can choose to seek an abortion the same as he can seek to build hospitals, rape women, tithe to his church, or molest children in confessionals. On Judgement day, he will go to hell if he didn't make the right "choice" to believe in Jesus for salvation and earnestly seek to change his ways to match the choices that Jesus would make.
Mary was 15 and pregnant, but not by her husband. Joseph had the legal right to have her stoned to death, or go to a priest an request God to Judge the issue and grant relief. (yes, it is there in the Bible, find it). What do you think Jesus would do? Abortion or not?
To quote him . . . I set before you life and death, chose life. Jesus is pro-life, he would choose to preserve life rather than take life to cover the sins of the parents. John 3:16 states the God gave us Jesus so that ... whosoever should believe on him should not perish but have life everlasting ... The entire point of Christianity is that no man should perish.
Of course, given the background of the sytematic cover-up of child abuse by Catholic priets, how surprising or credible is this decree?
Well there's the problem then. Experience with these people has shown me that if they even own a Bible it only provides storage for clipped obituaries.
They rely on the church to teach them its message. Unfortunately the message gets adulterated along the way (purgatory, papal authority, etc.).
Years ago I was seriously dating a Catholic lady who'd never heard of the Inquisition (not even from the Monty Python sketch!) and was furious that I would make up such a lie. . . .
I went to get my Bible and dumped out the obits. Now, in what chapter and verse is that Inquisition thing explained?
I'd like to read more about this. Will you please provide documentation?
What happen to the first 400 years?
On vacation in Aurora, Kentucky I went to a mass where the pastor warned us about "going to hell", and there was a real tombstone at the church entrance that said something like:
This is for the 40 million unborn children who have been put to death in the United States . . .
And for their killers who will one day meet their maker.
The service had 6 alter boys, used incense, lasted 1hr and 10 minutes and was well attended.
The owner of our vacation cabins says that since this priest came she no longer misses mass. She told about how the priest has gone way out of his way to visit her dying father.
In a word, no. Religious organizations generally have little real life in them. They are institutions of men. They may give lip service to "the Bible as a guide" but it's all mixed in with corporate rules, canon laws, and above all the fleshly aspirations of men (and women) seeking power. The Body of Christ is not a religious organization; it is a living spiritual organism. Sadly, however, every time this Body has begun to relearn its native freedom somewhere, another religious organization has sprung up to bring it back into bondage. But this Bride will continue to live, led by the Word and the Spirit of God, until the time for the marriage has arrived.
That's more than I intended to write when I started this post. As long as I am giving my opinion, let me add that the Body of Christ is neither the Roman Catholic church, nor any other institution recognizable by the unregenerate. Yet I believe that there are many people in the Body of Christ who find themselves in these religious institutions--even in positions of power. It's a mystery to me.
Flame at will...
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