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Posts by Im4LifeandLiberty

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  • Sean Hannity's Gospel

    03/10/2007 10:08:03 AM PST · 129 of 250
    Im4LifeandLiberty to Tribemike

    Tribemike,

    Youare absolutely correct that intentionally divorcing conjugal relations from the procreation of children is a sin. What you are not acknowledging is that when a couple uses NFP for legitimate reasons such as a grave health concern, they are in no way resisting God's ability and perogative to create life. They remain open to life in the act of marriage, but for serious reasons abstain during the days on which conception is most likely to occur. Couples using NFP take no action to prevent conception when they are intimate. NFP does not attempt to alter the unitive and procreative nature of sex; contraception works to make each sexual act infertile, deliberately eliminating its procreative potential.
    While NFP can certainly be abused--and the Church is very clear that it should not be used for reasons of convenience or out of a desire to avoid children-- its mechanism of abstinence is conceptually and practically opposed to contraception.
    Would you argue that chaste unmarried people are practicing birth control because their abstinence causes them to "avoid pregnancy?"

  • Free Radical (Ayaan Hirsi Ali infuriates Muslims)

    03/10/2007 9:14:41 AM PST · 18 of 22
    Im4LifeandLiberty to Leftism is Mentally Deranged

    She has written a book-- two, in fact.
    Her memoirs, titled *Infidel*, were released last month. *The Caged Virgin,* about the mistreatment of women under Islam, was published last year.

  • McCain Finds Unfriendly Audience in NYC [drawing a smattering of boos and hisses....]

    05/20/2006 2:48:23 PM PDT · 48 of 51
    Im4LifeandLiberty to muawiyah

    Thanks.

    I have known a number of people in recent years who have chosen New School for its writing-intensive curriculum, small class sizes and Socratic seminar teaching method who were not liberal in the least. Environments like these are a great place for young conservatives to enter the belly of the beast and show liberals, via thoughtful discussion (for which there are many opportunities when a typical course has 10 students), the error of their ways. ;-)

  • Group Wants Women To Get Morning-After Pill Prescription

    05/08/2006 3:08:52 PM PDT · 52 of 152
    Im4LifeandLiberty to ahayes

    You are right about the third mechanism-- breastfeeding typically changes the viscosity of cervical mucous in a manner that makes it difficult for sperm to reach the egg. Changes in ph level also reduce sperm motility and longevity, precluding fertilization. Finally, the nursing mother's cervix does not rise and soften during her fertile period to the degree that the non-nursing cervix does. This also makes fertilization less probable.


    The research that has been done regarding the child-spacing properties of lactation indicates that the reduction in fertility occurs at the level of the cervix, *not* the endometrium. If the uterine lining is not thinned, which in the case of breastfeeding after the return of ovulation it is not, the reduction in fertility cannot be attributed to prevention of implantation. Thus, there is no ethical problem whatsoever with breastfeeding.

    I will get back to you with a few links.

  • George Washington: Christian Gentleman

    04/05/2006 6:44:47 AM PDT · 17 of 17
    Im4LifeandLiberty to OneRoomSchooling

    In 1798, a Reformed minister, the Rev. G.W. Snyder, wrote to Washington with a question much like yours. Washington responded in a September 25, 1798 letter that he wished to "correct an error you have run into, of my Presiding over the English lodges in this Country. The fact is, I preside over none, *nor have I been in one more than once or twice, within the last thirty years*."

    It is important to note, as several others have posted, that 18th-Century Freemasonry did not carry the "religious," non-Christian implications it does today. Many early masons were Calvinists and Anglicans of various stripes who loosely associated with lodges to do charity work. One of Washington's few visits to a Masonic lodge involved the lodge's use as a gathering place prior to a walk over to the local church.

  • George Washington: Christian Gentleman

    04/04/2006 7:07:17 PM PDT · 8 of 17
    Im4LifeandLiberty to Paradox

    You might want to give the book a look. Michael and Jana Novak thoroughly address your very deathbed question. Washington, as were many of his contemporaries, was a very "low-church" Anglican, one who would not see a necessity for Last Rites, yet who was liturgical enough in his sensibilities to practice his faith in a way that was quiet rather than heart-on-his-sleeve. His final words were "'Tis well," the period's Anglican "amen," uttered as his wife prayed over him.

  • Pope Benedict XVI Calls Abortion "Today's Gravest Injustice"

    03/21/2006 5:25:13 PM PST · 36 of 38
    Im4LifeandLiberty to Mrs. Don-o

    Precisely. Thank you.

    JPI would also have rejected numerous Church councils, the work of the Fathers, and several encyclicals, had he rejected the biblical prohibition of Onanism and "endorsed" contraception. That is a big, huge deal, and if his personal inclinations really were in opposition to this crucial tenet of natural law, I agree with you that he was most likely called home for a reason.

  • Pope Benedict XVI Calls Abortion "Today's Gravest Injustice"

    03/20/2006 6:26:51 PM PST · 16 of 38
    Im4LifeandLiberty to DieHard the Hunter

    "By his writings he did indeed support the use of contraception for the greater good."

    I should be aware of these, but could you refer me to a few sources? I have heard much about John Paul II having greatly admired Pope John Paul I, and would find it surprising had JPI promoted the ideas that JPII devoted his blessed papacy to countering.

  • There's No Pulpit Like Home ('Sola Scriptura' gone Solo)

    02/28/2006 4:29:49 PM PST · 14 of 22
    Im4LifeandLiberty to A.A. Cunningham

    "Christian crossover group Sixpence None the Richer
    Wonder how they justify allowing their music to be used in Ortho Evra patch commercials."

    My question too. I have cringed at every Sixpence None the Richer song I've heard since their "There she goes, there she goes again..." has become the theme song for abortifacient patch-clad women twirling through fields in the sheer joy of Ortho Tricyclen-Lo and Ortho-Evra.

  • Human Embryo Is a Child, Says Bishop Sgreccia - even if not in a maternal uterus

    02/26/2006 5:51:16 PM PST · 59 of 66
    Im4LifeandLiberty to opticks

    It is also important to note that ectopic pregnancy is not an "abortion" issue. Removal of the part of the tube that contains the baby is not, as far as medical procedures go, an abortion.

    Morally, the difference between abortion and the loss of a child implanted ectopically is that, when the doctor removes the part of the fallopian tube that contains the baby, he does not directly harm him or her. The child, sadly, dies in this process, but the death is not intentional. In an abortion, a baby is directly, bodily attacked.

  • Human Embryo Is a Child, Says Bishop Sgreccia - even if not in a maternal uterus

    02/25/2006 7:22:50 PM PST · 7 of 66
    Im4LifeandLiberty to cpforlife.org

    Yes.

    "Pregnancy" was defined by the American Medical Association and the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology as beginning at the initial union of sperm and egg, i.e. fertilization, until 1965. It was after a series of interactions between the AMA, AACOG, the Population Council, and Planned Parenthood regarding birth control and the "population explosion" that the physician's groups chose to modify their definitions.
    Following is a list of materials that document the change in terminology:

    Dr. Mary Calderone, discussion, Mechanisms of Contraceptive Action," in Intrauterine Contraceptive Devices: Proceedings of the Conference, held April 30-May 1, 1962, New York City, ed. C. Tietze and S. Lewitt, published by Excerpta Medica Foundation, 110.

    Sybil Meloy, "Pre-Implantation Fertility Control and the Abortion Law," Chicago- Kent Law Review, vol. 41 (1964): 183, 205-06. Planned Parenthood recognized in its amicus brief for Roe v. Wade that criminal abortion laws could be applied to the IUD because of its potential to prevent implantation. PPFA its physician group (APPP) Amicus brief on page 44 cited Cybil Meloy, and also said that prosecutors had not used state anti-abortion laws to outlaw the use of IUD's.

    Abraham Stone, M.D., "Research in Contraception: A Review and Preview," presented at the Third International Conference of Planned Parenthood, Bombay, India Report of the Proceedings, November 24-29, 1952, no copyright, Family Planning Association of India, 101.

    A Survey of Research on Reproduction Related to Birth and Population Control (as of January 1, 1963) US Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Public Health Service, page 27.

    Memo to Dr. Drill from Dr. Saunders, re: "Effects of Drugs on Mating in Rats," 12/9/54, Gregory Pincus Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress; Abraham Stone, The Control of Fertility, Scientific American, April, 1954, vol. 190., no. 4, 31-33.

    Bent Boving, "Implantation Mechanisms," in Mechanisms Concerned with Conception, ed. C. G. Hartman (New York: Pergamon Press, 1963), 386. Boving acknowledged (p. 321): "... the greatest pregnancy wastage, in fact, by far the highest death rate of the entire human life span, is during the week before and including the beginning of implantation, and the next greatest is in the week immediately following."

    Proceedings of the Second International Conference, Intra-Uterine Contraception, held October 2-3, 1964, New York City, ed. Sheldon Segal, et al.., International Series, Excerpta Medica Foundation, No. 86, page 212.

    ACOG Terminology Bulletin, Terms Used in Reference to the Fetus, Chicago, American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, No. 1, September 1965.

    Dr. Richard Sosnowski, head of the Southern Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists "The Pursuit of Excellence: Have We Apprehended and Comprehended It?" American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, vol. 150. No. 2 (September 15, 1984) 117.

  • Even before implantation, embryos are human, says Vatican official

    02/25/2006 8:43:22 AM PST · 40 of 43
    Im4LifeandLiberty to klossg

    I'm glad to see another NFP supporter here!

    "NFP is Birth Control..."

    Though the Sympto-thermal, Creighton, and Billings methods of Natural Family Planning are all more effective than any form of artificial contraception, in preventing pregnancy in any given month, I wouldn't refer to them as "birth control," for one who is using NFP is not trying to "control" anything external to himself or herself. The couple using NFP does not believe it is within their power to control the miracles of conception and birth; what they do believe, and know, is that they are able to control their actions, with an eye to the consequences that follow.

    Billings Ovulatory Method, over 99.5% accurate: www.woomb.org
    Sympto-Thermal Method, over 99.3% accurate: www.ccli.org
    Creighton Model, nearly 100% accurate: www.creightonmodel.com, www.popepaulvi.com

  • Even before implantation, embryos are human, says Vatican official

    02/25/2006 8:09:45 AM PST · 39 of 43
    Im4LifeandLiberty to AliVeritas

    Thanks.

  • "Fertility patients must be armed with the best information and advice available.

    02/24/2006 8:03:28 PM PST · 3 of 14
    Im4LifeandLiberty to Coleus

    "and the "disposed" embryos/children are armed with what?"

    My question exactly. I have had a lot of contact with people who have undergone IVF or who have performed the procedure over the years, and the prevailing philosophy seems to be: life begins at conception, unless you were conceived in a petri dish.
    A baby is a baby is a baby. I don't quite understand why the circumstances of one's conception somehow determine one's value, or the degree to which one is considered "alive" at a particular point in his or her development.

  • Even before implantation, embryos are human, says Vatican official

    02/24/2006 7:43:48 PM PST · 28 of 43
    Im4LifeandLiberty to mugs99

    Birth control that works after conception--most hormonal methods and the IUD often do this--is, by definition, abortion. Only birth control methods that prevent the union of sperm and egg can properly be referred to as contraception; regardless of their trade names, birth control methods that end unborn lives after they have begun are not contraception, they are abortifacients.

  • Even before implantation, embryos are human, says Vatican official

    02/24/2006 3:25:03 PM PST · 23 of 43
    Im4LifeandLiberty to sitetest

    Thank you. :-)

  • Even before implantation, embryos are human, says Vatican official

    02/24/2006 3:22:37 PM PST · 22 of 43
    Im4LifeandLiberty to RHINO369

    "Just to be clear hormonal birth control works by supressing egg release, not by flushing out embryos. In fact pro choicers should love birth control pills because they save millions of abortions from happening."

    Feel free to check up on a few of the sources listed in my second post, or simply read the insert to a pack of birth control pills. It will say that the hormones work in one of three ways: 1) To alter the viscosity of the cervical mucous, preventing sperm from reaching an egg, 2) To suppress ovulation, and 3) To thin the uterine lining, "PREVENTING THE NITTIDATION OF A FERTILIZED OVUM." This, which results frequently from the "breakthrough ovulation" common to low-dose or progesterone-only pills and patches, as well as Depo-Provera, is the abortifacient function to which I referred.

  • Even before implantation, embryos are human, says Vatican official

    02/24/2006 2:56:06 PM PST · 21 of 43
    Im4LifeandLiberty to Doctor Stochastic

    Again, inevitable death vs induced death is the critical distinction. A baby who is implanted in the fallopian tube is no less a baby than one who is implanted in the womb. Though the baby has virtually no chance of survival, and his or her mother will not be able to carry him or her beyond a certain point, there remains a difference between intentional killing and death of the child as a tragic and unpreventable circumstance. There is no choice but to remove the part of the fallopian tube that contains the child, who, sadly, will not survive, but it is essential to note that the child will not be harmed deliberately or directly. The baby's life span is virtually the same as it would have been, had his or her part of the fallopian tube remained; the difference is that the mother's life will be removed from danger. The principle of double-effect is visible here.

  • Even before implantation, embryos are human, says Vatican official

    02/24/2006 2:30:11 PM PST · 15 of 43
    Im4LifeandLiberty to Wonder Warthog

    I agree with you that the current distinction between "conception" and "pregnancy" is not significant as to the moral status of the human embryo during the first two weeks of his or her new little life.

    "Pregnancy" was defined by the American Medical Association and the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology as beginning at the initial union of sperm and egg, i.e. fertilization, until 1965. It was after a series of interactions between the AMA, AACOG, the Population Council, and Planned Parenthood regarding birth control and the "population explosion" that the physician's groups chose to modify their definitions.
    Following is a list of materials that document the change in terminology:

    Dr. Mary Calderone, discussion, Mechanisms of Contraceptive Action," in Intrauterine Contraceptive Devices: Proceedings of the Conference, held April 30-May 1, 1962, New York City, ed. C. Tietze and S. Lewitt, published by Excerpta Medica Foundation, 110.

    Sybil Meloy, "Pre-Implantation Fertility Control and the Abortion Law," Chicago- Kent Law Review, vol. 41 (1964): 183, 205-06. Planned Parenthood recognized in its amicus brief for Roe v. Wade that criminal abortion laws could be applied to the IUD because of its potential to prevent implantation. PPFA its physician group (APPP) Amicus brief on page 44 cited Cybil Meloy, and also said that prosecutors had not used state anti-abortion laws to outlaw the use of IUD's.

    Abraham Stone, M.D., "Research in Contraception: A Review and Preview," presented at the Third International Conference of Planned Parenthood, Bombay, India Report of the Proceedings, November 24-29, 1952, no copyright, Family Planning Association of India, 101.

    A Survey of Research on Reproduction Related to Birth and Population Control (as of January 1, 1963) US Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Public Health Service, page 27.

    Memo to Dr. Drill from Dr. Saunders, re: "Effects of Drugs on Mating in Rats," 12/9/54, Gregory Pincus Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress; Abraham Stone, The Control of Fertility, Scientific American, April, 1954, vol. 190., no. 4, 31-33.

    Bent Boving, "Implantation Mechanisms," in Mechanisms Concerned with Conception, ed. C. G. Hartman (New York: Pergamon Press, 1963), 386. Boving acknowledged (p. 321): "... the greatest pregnancy wastage, in fact, by far the highest death rate of the entire human life span, is during the week before and including the beginning of implantation, and the next greatest is in the week immediately following."

    Proceedings of the Second International Conference, Intra-Uterine Contraception, held October 2-3, 1964, New York City, ed. Sheldon Segal, et al.., International Series, Excerpta Medica Foundation, No. 86, page 212.

    ACOG Terminology Bulletin, Terms Used in Reference to the Fetus, Chicago, American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, No. 1, September 1965.

    Dr. Richard Sosnowski, head of the Southern Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists "The Pursuit of Excellence: Have We Apprehended and Comprehended It?" American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, vol. 150. No. 2 (September 15, 1984) 117.

  • Even before implantation, embryos are human, says Vatican official

    02/24/2006 1:52:08 PM PST · 11 of 43
    Im4LifeandLiberty to mugs99

    "the embryo is a developing human from the very beginning.

    This is what confuses me. If eighty percent of human embryos are spontaneously aborted in menstruation, should we require menstrual fluids be examined to save those humans?"

    Three points:

    1) This is the first time I have heard 80%. The rate of unsuccessful implantation most frequently cited is between 40% and 60%.

    2) Reproductive endocrinologists have begun in recent years to question that a majority of newly-conceived embryos are lost before implantation, for this estimate includes embryos who have been conceived while their mother is on hormonal birth control, which thins the uterine lining for the express purpose of causing the embryos to be "flushed out" during menstruation. It is thus, not natural for that percentage of new human lives to be ended.

    3) The natural death rate for all human beings is 100%. That people inevitably die does not make it acceptable to induce their deaths. Acknowledgment that is is wrong to kill fellow human beings does not necessitate investigation of every single deathbed (or as you have euggested, menstrual blood). Death is natural and perfectly ok. Causing it is not. No wrong has been done when parents who are open to the lives of their embryonic children lose those children, whether they are aware they have conceived or not. Parents who treat their new children as commodities, by testing them and selectively implanting or destroying them during an IVF procedure, or by consciously using abortifacients, are intentionally taking life and are culpable in so doing.