Posted 3:01 PM by John Mallon | link

Anti-Semitism in the Leftist Peace Movement

It's Back:The socialism of fools has returned to vogue not just in the Middle East and France, but in the American left and Washington.
by David Brooks

Posted 12:44 PM by John Mallon | link

February 20, 2003
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE For More Information, contact:
Frank Lipsinic, 405-842-8303

GOODBYE, DOLLY! -- Human Cloning and Moral Ethics To Be Considered

A distinguished panel consisting of a medical doctor, a lawmaker and a Catholic priest will discuss the moral, ethical and medical problems at the heart of the cloning controversy. The timely discussion will be the centerpiece of a Forum at 7 p.m. on Thursday, March 13 at the Connor Center of Our Lady's Cathedral of Perpetual Help, N.W. 32nd and Lake in Oklahoma City.

The panel's consideration of cloning will come less than a month after the death of Dolly the sheep, and after a winter of news stories focused on a controversial religious cult that claimed to have developed human clones. The Forum is sponsored by the St. Thomas More Fraternity, an organization of independent Catholic laymen.

Dr. Dominic Pedulla, M.D. of the Christian Cardiovascular Institute will bring technical and medical science expertise to the panel. He is a specialist in Internal Medicine and Cardiology, a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology, a Cornell University Medical College Fellow in Medicine, and the founding physician of The Edith Stein Foundation.

State Rep. Kevin Calvey, R-Del City, will bring a lawmaker's perspective to the discussion. Calvey, an attorney, is assistant minority leader in the state House, and chaired the GOP House Budget Committee. He is a graduate of Georgetown Law School, and serves on the national alumni board of the University of Dallas. Calvey is a leading champion of pro-life causes in the state Legislature.

Reverend Stephen V. Hamilton, S.T.L., Associate Pastor of the Catholic Church of St. Mary in Ponca City, will also join the discussion. Father Hamilton joined Dr. Pedulla in a "Point of View" on the cloning controversy which appeared in The Sunday Oklahoman (February 16), writing that human cloning "is reprehensible not because it offends against the tastes of certain scientists, but because it violates the sanctity of human life."

Patrick B. McGuigan, an independent writer based in Oklahoma City, will moderate the evening. McGuigan, the author of 2 books and editor of seven, was editor of the editorial page for The Oklahoman, the state's largest newspaper, for 12 years. He encouraged concerned individuals to attend, saying, "I'm looking forward to this discussion for my own edification. The distinction many politicians or scientist have made between so-called 'therapeutic' cloning and reproductive cloning has struck me as a distinction without a difference. I look forward to hearing these gentlemen present the science and social aspects of this complex issue in context with unvarnished and unconfused teaching of the Catholic Church."

Cloning has emerged as one of the hottest topics of this era. From Dolly, the now euthanized cloned sheep, to Eve, the allegedly cloned human baby (an apparent hoax), the specter of uncontrolled "human cloning" is frightening to some and a compelling concern to most. Some in the scientific community, while acknowledging the serious ethical and moral problems with human "reproductive" cloning, are nevertheless reluctant to support a total ban, supporting what is called "therapeutic" cloning. They see hope for cures of dreaded diseases such as Alzheimer's, spinal cord injuries, heart disease and many others ailments. Yet, others of the scientific community point to equally promising alternatives without the grave moral and ethical problems.

The St. Thomas More Fraternity of Oklahoma City is sponsoring the March 13 forum to add knowledge and clarity to the dialogue and to help in forming the consciences of Christians and others. The Fraternity is an organization of independent Roman Catholic laymen who support the traditional teaching authority and doctrines of the Church.

The panelists will cover many aspects of cloning, including these points:

1) A layman's biomedical description of cloning covering the technical differences and similarities between natural reproduction and cloning; a discussion of the conventional technical differentiation between "reproductive" and "therapeutic" cloning; the touted potential benefits of the "therapeutic" approach along with its technical problems and effects on and abuse of the developing and discarded embryos and a summary of equally promising alternatives.

2) The Moral/Ethical and Theological evils in cloning (of all kinds). Why cloning (reproductive or therapeutic) is an attack on the sanctity of life and why the potential benefits, even if realized, can not morally or ethically justify it. The Church's traditional (and contemporary) position on cloning and the rationale for Catholic teachings will be presented and examined.

3) The social and economic pressures for cloning, legislative remedies to outlaw cloning of all types, and the battle of special interest groups to oppose a ban. Status of cloning legislation in the state Legislature and in Congress will be updated and summarized.

The Connor Center at Our Lady's Cathedral Parish is three blocks east of Classen Boulevard, on the northeast corner of the intersection of N.W. 32nd and Lake Avenue, Oklahoma City. The public is invited to this event, and time will be allotted for questions and answers. The full program will last about two hours.

Posted 1:09 AM by John Mallon | link

Michael Novak on Civilian Casualties on National Review Online

Posted 1:08 PM by John Mallon | link

Prayer Request

Please pray for Catholic apologist and radio talk show host Al Kresta and his family.
I received the email below today.

Al is very ill and in the hospital. He went in last night with excruciating pain in his leg and back; they determined that it was some kind of infection. Today they amputated his leg; he's now in a coma and on a respirator and it's touch-and-go as to whether he'll survive.

Al is a pillar of our community, a man of God and an evangelist in a way that few can accomplish. It would be a tremendous loss for all of us, especially his wife and five children.

If you know of any other good prayer warriors, please pass on the
information.

Posted 3:45 AM by John Mallon | link

The Cost of 'Stop the War'
Why I'm not going wobbly on Iraq.

Excerpt from Tony Blair's magnificent speech on Iraq given in Glasgow a few nights ago

Posted 3:30 AM by John Mallon | link

More on VM

Guest Commentary
Sense-orship and Sensibility

By Mike S. Adams
University Professor
February 17, 2003

(AgapePress) - Last week as I was walking into the university cafeteria to
grab a sandwich, something unusual caught my attention. A large sign
resting on an easel said "P**sies Unite for The Vagina Monologues, February
16th ... sponsored by the Women's Resource Center."

For those of you who don't know, The Vagina Monologues is a feminist play
performed annually on many college campuses across the nation. One of the
play's highlights involves the simultaneous chanting of the word "vagina"
by a bunch of young feminists holding hands and seeking unity.

After reading the sign promoting the play, a young co-ed asked me where she
could go to complain about the location of the offensive advertisement. It
wasn't long before she found a university employee who assured her that she
wasn't the first person to take offense. Apparently, the sign had been
noticed earlier by a woman visiting campus with her four-year-old child.
All complaints were channeled to the director of the UNC-Wilmington Women's
Resource Center (WRC).

I was not among those who complained to the WRC. I didn't want to be
accused of censorship by University Leftists who seldom understand that
freedom of speech is a safeguard to protect individual speech from
governmental suppression. They often see it instead as a mechanism designed
to protect governmental speech from taxpayer criticism.

I also knew that it was useless to complain directly to the person who
actually put the sign there in the first place. Instead, I simply pondered
the seemingly boundless hypocrisy and absurdity which characterizes the
campus "diversity movement." Various diversity centers, including campus
women's centers, account for a large portion of the problem.

Just last month I invited the director of the WRC to a roundtable
discussion on abortion sponsored by the student pro-life group (I serve as
the group's advisor). In fairness, I invited two other campus feminists as
well as three pro-life advocates. The WRC director declined because I was
conducting the discussion in conjunction with a showing of Bernard
Nathanson's Silent Scream and Planned Parenthood's critique of the film.
Although I was simply trying to be fair and balanced, she thought
Nathanson's film was "too inflammatory." Remember, this is the same person
who was responsible for The Vagina Monologues and the call for all
"p**sies" to unite.

Interestingly, the other feminist who wrote to decline my invitation to the
roundtable discussion said that she didn't want to discuss abortion in
public because the topic was "too personal." After telling her I respected
her decision, I later discovered that she had published a 200+ page memoir
dedicated largely to the topic of abortion. The book, which also detailed
her first sexual encounter in graphic terms, was reviewed by her fifth
husband, dedicated to all of her children, and assigned to her "women in
literature" students. But she wouldn't talk about abortion at my roundtable
discussion. It was "too personal."

The third feminist I invited to the roundtable simply declined to respond.
She had already opined (in a book on the feminist movement) that Silent
Scream was merely "grisly sensationalism." In other words, it was so
obviously offensive that my invitation was deemed unworthy of a response.

The same tactic of ignoring requests for balanced presentation of ideas has
also been employed by our Chancellor. After discovering 16 "recommended
readings" on the Project B-Glad portion of our university website, all
dealing with the relationship between "spirituality" and homosexuality, I
noticed they all shared the same view. Specifically, they presented
homosexuality in a positive light and asserted compatibility between
homosexuality and various religions such as Judaism and Christianity.

I then submitted a list of eight books presenting a different view (by
authors such as James Dobson and Peter Kreeft) for posting on the
university website. The chancellor simply ignored the request. Perhaps the
fundamentalist readings were deemed too "offensive." I'll never know
because he refuses to explain his decision.

It seems the harder I try to initiate dialogue with the proponents of the
so-called "diversity movement," the more I realize they are wholly
uninterested in presenting diverse positions on any given subject. When
they are confronted with ideas they don't like, they pretend to be easily
offended. When they are expressing their own views, they are caustic and
abrasive.

They call it diversity. I call it intellectual dishonesty.


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Dr. Mike S. Adams is an Associate Professor of Criminal Justice at
UNC-Wilmington. Adams reports he has submitted a request to establish a
Men's Resource Center at UNC-Wilmington, and promises to keep readers
updated on the status of his request. He can be reached at
adams_mike@hotmail.com.