Posted on 04/02/2002 4:57:13 AM PST by anniegetyourgun
Seattle, WA -- The Rev. Monica Corsaro doesn't look like a stereotypical minister. With her choppy blond hair, thick-rimmed hipster glasses and chunky black shoes, the Methodist minister won't even cop to her actual age ("30-something" is all she'll admit) because, she says, she constantly has to fight for respect.
Now this unconventional-looking minister has become a chaplain in what seems, at first blush, to be one of the most unlikeliest of places: Planned Parenthood.
Corsaro was recently appointed Planned Parenthood's "chaplain" for the state, making her the first full-time, statewide chaplain for the national abortion business.
As such, she will provide "pastoral counseling" to women seeking abortions and abortion facility staff, act as liaison with the religious community and lobby for abortion. She will play a pivotal role in the pro-abortion organization's public-relations battle against what its leaders claim is a false perception that most religious organizations are opposed to Planned Parenthood.
In fact, despite significant religious opposition by the Catholic Church and numerous protestant denominations, for instance, Planned Parenthood has a long history of working with religious organizations, its directors claim.
The portrayal of religion's position on abortion has been "distorted because of the heated and very vocal nature of the real extreme anti-choice members of the clergy," said Robert Harkins, executive director of the Washington state Planned Parenthood.
The outspoken Corsaro seems suited to such a controversial position. Raised in a liberal Methodist household in Geneseo, Ill., her pivotal moment came while attending Illinois State University. A friend asked her to attend a pro-life rally with a conservative Christian group. Meanwhile, other friends were protesting the rally.
Feeling like she didn't fully belong in either group, Corsaro asked herself: "Why can't I be pro-choice and pro-faith?"
"Why am I here with my political friends who can't stand Christianity, and why are my Christian friends on the other side?"
After receiving a master's degree in divinity from the Iliff School of Theology at the University of Denver, she served as associate minister at Audubon Park United Methodist Church in Spokane, where she also chaired the local Planned Parenthood's clergy advisory committee. Most recently, she served as minister of community outreach at University Temple United Methodist Church in Seattle's University District.
In January, Methodist Bishop Elias Galvan appointed Corsaro to the Planned Parenthood chaplaincy. The Methodist Church's official position is in support of abortion.
Corsaro said she was raised with the belief that God believes in each person's ability to make choices -- including "choices about one's body."
Most women who have a spiritual crisis at Planned Parenthood have "already made the decision to have an abortion but believe God will send them to hell," Corsaro said. "I try to focus on telling them 'God loves you, too.' " In her counseling, she claims she tries to lead the women to make decisions on their own, without badgering them.
However, pro-life advocates say there's no way a Planned Parenthood chaplain can be objective -- especially in light of the fact she lobbies for abortion.
"This is a minister who, from the get-go, agrees with Planned Parenthood's philosophy," said Genevieve Wood of the Family Research Council. "We would encourage women to seek counsel from their own ministers, not just take Planned Parenthood's word for it."
The Family Research Council also takes issue with Planned Parenthood's characterization of having broad-based religious support.
"The Catholic church, the largest Christian denomination in the country, and the Southern Baptist Convention, one of the largest mainline Protestant denominations in the country, are against abortion," Wood said.
Numerous other Protestant denominations including the Missouri and Wisconsin Lutheran Synods, the Assemblies of God, Wesleyan Church, Church of the Nazarene, Christian and Missionary Alliance, Pentecostal Church, Bible and charasmatic churches, the Mormon Church and other denominations all take strong pro-life positions.
But while Corsaro's appointment is the first time Planned Parenthood has established a full-time chaplaincy, it stresses longtime support from some religious groups for abortion.
In the 1940s, mainline churches and synagogues played a crucial role in popularizing family planning, said the Rev. Tom Davis, chair of the clergy advisory board for Planned Parenthood Federation of America. In the 1960s, before abortion became legal, more than 1,000 ministers and rabbis formed an effort to help women obtain illegal abortions.
Today, Planned Parenthood has clergy serving on its boards and clergy advisory boards -- both nationally and locally. Most affiliates have clergy members who volunteer as chaplains.
"It's important to have someone (on staff) who can speak as a person of faith, speaking from her faith, for people of faith," Corsaro said. "And it's important to have a religious voice for choice."
1 John 1:5-6
"Mainline denomination" is just a euphamism for Bible-rejecting, apostate, psuedo-religious, dying denomination. Their pews are emptying as they are being rejected by Christians. Meanwhile, Baptist, Wesleyan, Pentacostal, and Assembly-of God churches are experiencing explosive growth.
...cause its murder?
Ward states:
but there is a significant movement among more conservative Methodists to fight the liberal intrusion.
glad to hear its recognized - are you UM Ward?
Not any more. See my post #19.
About 12 years ago, a friend invited my wife and I to a boat party hosted by her Methodist Sunday school class. At the party, we inquired as to the contents of the Sunday School lessons and how they compared/contrasted with the ones in our Assembly of God church (and also in our previous Baptist church). We were surprised to learn that they never study the Bible in their Sunday school class. The Bible is never seen and no one ever brings one to the class or to Church.
John and Charles Wesley would be stunned at what has happened their denomination.
Of course, a sermon now and again would be nice.
She'll be asking the same thing on Judgment Day.
We were just shocked when the fellow told us that they never talk about Jesus in their Sunday school class. They never pray, they never read or discuss the Bible. I mean, what's the point? I would just stay home and watch the Sunday morning talk shows and the NFL pregames.
The biggest thorn in the side of Planned Parenthood is the vocal opposition of Christian churches, who depict them as baby killers. To be able to point to their own cohort of "pastors" who see nothing wrong with their bloodletting is something which they eagerly seek.
It all helps to make abortion part of the mainstream.
That reminds me of clinton pretending to listen to his "spiritual advisors" during the monica crisis.
According to the canon law of the Catholic Church, any Catholic who helps in the procurement of an abortion incurs an automatic, latae sententiae excommunication.
The group which coordinates these "Catholic" counselors is an organization which calls itself "Catholics for a Free Choice". Anyone who is affiliated with this organization is considered excommunicated under Church law.
Does your local paper give the names of these counselors? I'd like to contact their local parishes and see if Church law is being enforced.
Abortion is defying God's law by trying frustrate His plan for mankind and murdering another person to boot.
The contraceptive mentality and the abortion mentality are closely linked and both participate in the culture of death.
Up until the Episcopal Conference at Lambeth in 1930 all Christian bodies opposed the life-denying practice of contraception on the grounds of God's natural law and Holy Scripture. By 1980 all Christian bodies except the Roman Catholic Church had accepted contraception and many had accepted abortion and homosexuality as well.
In 50 years, just two generations, 1,930 years of Christian moral teaching had been almost entirely undone.
The contraception movement and the abortion movement were both begun by the same people with the same antiChristian purpose in mind. History shows that when people are deceived into accepting contraception, their descendants are deceived into accepting abortion.
Contraception divorces the pleasure of sex from the responsibility that sex entails. When people begin to regard physical pleasure as an end in itself, they forget that the end of all human activities and faculties is the glory of God. When people begin to believe that their physical pleasure and comfort is more important than God's law, then they will soon be able to commit any crime, any enormity.
That's a good question, Ms. Corsaro. What kind of answers did you come up with?
If I told you all what I think of this woman's behavior, I would be banned from this website for life. There are simply no strong enough obscenities .
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