A Major Breakthrough - 2 of 3

A Major Breakthrough – 2 of 3
In pursuit of the truth – www.cinopsbegone.com – Thursday, September 24, 2009

Preface: The following is part 2 of 3 of an historical editorial written by Father Roger Landry, in the Sept. 11th, “The Anchor” of the Diocese of Fall River, Mass.

After looking at these (aforementioned) facts, it seems clear that the education alone strategy has failed even to deter many Catholics in Congress from becoming among the most radical supporters, defenders, and would-funders on Capitol Hill.

Why has the education-alone strategy been such a colossal failure? There are several reasons, but one of the most important, and least noted, is that it shares many of the same flawed approaches as the “personally opposed, publicly pro-choice” position it seeks to remedy.

Today, there are many “personally opposed pro-choice” Catholic Legislators for whom this phrase seems to just an empty slogan, because they give almost no evidence that they even have any personal opposition toward abortion. At least initially, however, there were some who sincerely held that irreconcilable position. These public figures had a deep personal repugnance for abortion but, for various reasons, were uncomfortable voting in favor of any laws that would prevent others from doing what they themselves maintain that they would never personally do.

Many hoped that women would not choose to abort their unborn sons and daughters. Some even spoke out on why they thought abortion was wrong and supported educational endeavors to help women in difficult pregnancies learn about fetal development.

No matter how much some politicians stressed education in the early days; it was trumped by the educational value and power of the law. The law taught forcibly that there was nothing wrong with abortion as long as a mother, and a mother alone, deemed it desirable for her physical and mental health.

Even though the politicians held offices in which they could work to change what the law itself teaches about the morality of abortion, they did not exercise them; and even though they professionally were accustomed, in every piece of legislation, to imposing some notion of the good on those who disagree with them, with regard to the issue of abortion they left everything to the judgment, ill-informed or not, of the conscience of the mother.

The essence of their position has been that, no matter how wrong they know abortion to be, the mother should have the right to do that wrong – a lethal permanent wrong to the unborn child. They give the ill-informed conscience of the potential wrongdoer greater weight than the truth about abortion, the life of the unborn child, and the soul and psyche of the soon-to-be forever-wounded mother combined.

When we examine the education-alone approach of pastors with respect to pro-choice politicians, we see that it has basically become a personally opposed, publicly pro-choice position as well. There’s obviously a clear personal repugnance on the part of pastors to the pro-choice Catholic politicians’ separation between faith and moral action, schizophrenia between private and public personality, and lip service personality, and lip service to the Church’s teachings… to be continued today.
George H.Kubeck