I don't think so

Private member’s motion could re-open abortion debate

President-for-Lif...er.. Prime Minister Harper has already stated that he will not allow the abortion debate to be reopened. A back-bencher can table any motion they want, but if the government doesn't want to allow debate it won't happen. And if a back-bencher gets über-control freak Harper upset at them they'll find themselves out on the bread lines next election...

(And so much for the 'pro-life' conservative government, no? Actually stating that he wouldn't allow the debate to re-open. You'd think that this would tell the single-issue voters something, but I guess hope springs eternal. Wake up, folks, individuals may side with you but the Conservative Party is only using you!)

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An argument

Do You Suffer From Decision Fatigue?

An argument for giving into temptation?

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Edens Everywhere: It wouldn’t be paradise if it weren’t already lost.

"Everyone can be saved from themselves, from sin, but no one can be saved from the Flood, from cataclysm, disaster, punishment."

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And yet,

his experiences are not so different than mine.

Memories of a Catholic Boyhood

"Growing up in the parallel culture of the Church in the 1950s"

He relates his experiences growing up in the 1950s. I was born in the 50s, but my growing up was done in the 1960s. His family was similar to mine, priests, nuns, crucifixes and holy water fonts. He grew up in the suburbs, while I grew up in a working class section of a city. But our experiences were similar. Our religion defined us...

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The attachment

to detachment.

Thought of the Day: Detachment

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I was thinking

(and if you know me you know that that's a rare thing) about something that was prompted by the opening salvos of our federal election.

I saw a lot of election signs after I dropped SWMBO off at an art group last night, and earlier she had made a comment about a friend of ours who supports a Conservative candidate because of their stance on life issues. This candidate has been in parliament for a good while now, so they're the incumbent in her constituency, and likely to be re-elected despite a small scandal in office, due to the make-up of the contituency.

My question to all those who support a politician who believes in pro-life issues (and I'm pro-life myself, so don't get the wrong idea) is, what have these Conservative politicians done for the pro-life issue since they've been in power? Really think about it.

Despite their strong rhetoric in favour of life issues they've done nothing to further the issue and change legislation, and, it must be said, their leader (who is supposedly pro-life himself) has publicly stated that they're not going to open up the abortion issue (for example) for debate. How does any of this further the pro-life agenda?

The other side of the coin is that, despite the pro-life rhetoric of the politicians in question, how is it that they seem to only think about the 'life' of a certain group of people and then do things that makes it more difficult for people who don't fit into that narrow category? The poor, people who are in some way disabled, people convicted of crimes, and so on? Life doesn't end at birth, which is something that they seem to fail to realize.

Anyway, take some time and look at these issues. Look beyond the fancy speeches of the individual candidates and actually look at the record of the government in question. Think before voting. I know I'm trying to.

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For today

"He's turned his life around. He used to be depressed and miserable. Now he's miserable and depressed." - David Frost

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Taking a look

at a simplication within our current pop culture...

Life’s Problems? EASY! Select Jesus!

He's correct about the marketing strategy. When someone tells you something is that easy, be wary. I'm not saying that they're not ultimately correct, but you can't look at the changing attitudes and the long run. I'm just questioning the veracity of the marketing...

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One man's

NDE (Near Death Experience).


John F's NDE

I'm honestly not certain what to make of NDEs, but they're frequent enough and personal enough that I don't discount them as being fictional...

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What is really important?

After the Bus Wreck

"In which a half-Jew slaps some sensibility into would-be converters by encouraging worst-case scenarios."

Experts is experts. Really.

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So then, forget about life and its consequences

and true serenity is yours?

The Symphony of a Lifetime

The first step, as usual it seems, is to forget about God...

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That's the question,

isn't it?

Are You Temperate, Insensible, or Insatiable?

Well? Are you virtuous?

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About discernment

...basically.

On the Road to Damascus: What Every Catholic Needs to Know about Basic Discernment

Please freeze me, whoa yeah...

...like I freeze you.*

Please freeze me! How scores of middle-class British couples are hoping to buy immortality for just £10 a week

They discuss the desire of people for the technique but they don't get into the science. I read a good article on the science of it one time. I'm not sure where I read it but I'll search for it. I think one of the major concerns is what to do with all the cells that burst from being frozen (and that's most of them!). The article stated that this, and other things, were at present, insurmountable obstacles.

(The subject line is a riff on a line from an old Beatle's song. That's how old I am. If you understand it, you're old too. )

They might be

conservative, but the thinking isn't bad. The sanctity of life is an issue that's important, but one needs to keep in mind the mental stability of the woman and the medical ethics issues regarding the physicians...


Priests sound off on octuplet controversy

It's a fairly hot topic, and it should be hotter for a number of reasons...

It's not

that the older, more established areas of the pro-life movement have disappeared, it's just that the areas of the movement have broadened to include more concerns...

'Life' movement evolves

"Christians have taken up a fight for global good, targeting human trafficking and the sex trade industry that tortures souls around the world. Consider this a new face of the "pro-life" movement. "

Do you think there will be turf wars? (Sure, I do have a cynical attitude to the human part of things, don't I?)