Moral issues

Pro-Abortion Snowe Retires, Will Pro-Lifers Win the Senate?

March 5, 2012March 5, 2012 by Orthodox Editors

Olympia Snowe Pro-Abortion Abortion Advocate — Olympia Snowe Pro-Abortion Advocate (voted pro-abortion 46 times)

by Andrew Bair –

Late Monday afternoon, Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME) sent shockwaves through Washington when she announced she would not seek reelection to the US Senate in November.

Snowe, long known as a centrist, cited the “partisanship” of Washington as the reason for her decision. While pro-life advocates may not hold Snowe in the highest regard, her Senate seat was viewed as a safe Republican seat heading into the November elections. Keeping Maine in Republican hands becomes a much more difficult task with Snowe out of the picture.

In 59 scored pro-life votes by the National Right to Life Committee, Snowe voted pro-abortion 46 times. Some of her worst offenses include voting against the ban on partial-birth abortion, against the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, against the Mexico City Policy, in favor of federal funding of Planned Parenthood and in favor of federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. [Read more…]

Olympia Snowe’s Pro-Abortion Voting Record

March 4, 2012March 5, 2012 by Orthodox Editors

The consistent pro-abortion voting record of Republican Senator Olympia Snowe (US Senator from Maine, 17 years in office) with respect to the rights of the unborn, represents a radical departure from the Orthodox Christian Church moral teaching on the Sanctity of Life in the womb. Her sustained abandonment of these critical Christian principles and her wholesale disregard for the safety and well-being of the unborn is shameful. Listed below is a brief overview of Senator Olympia Snowe’s votes on supporting multiple pro-abortion and pro partial-birth abortion Bills while in office.

2008 – Voted NO on defining unborn child as eligible for SCHIP.
Congressional Summary: To require that legislation to reauthorize SCHIP include provisions codifying the unborn child regulation. Amends the definition of the term “targeted low-income child” to provide that such term includes the period from conception to birth, for eligibility for child health assistance. [ Reference: Bill S.Amdt.4233 to S.Con.Res.70 ; vote number 08-S081 on Mar 14, 2008 ]

2008 – Voted NO on prohibiting minors crossing state lines for abortion.
Congressional Summary: To increase funding for the vigorous enforcement of a prohibition against taking minors across State lines in circumvention of laws requiring the involvement of parents in abortion decisions consistent with the Child Custody Protection Act. [Read more…]

What Kids Now Learn in College

March 2, 2012March 5, 2012 by Orthodox Editors

by Dennis Prager –
Save your money. Here’s a list of the lessons they’ll be taught.

As high school seniors throughout America will be receiving acceptance letters to colleges within the next month, it would be nice for parents to meditate on what they are getting for the $20–$50,000 they will pay each year.

The United States is no better than any other country, and in many areas worse than many. On the world stage, America is an imperialist country, and domestically it mistreats its minorities and neglects its poor, while discriminating against non-whites.

There is no better and no worse in literature and the arts. The reason universities in the past taught Shakespeare, Michelangelo, and Bach rather than, let us say, Guatemalan poets, Sri Lankan musicians, and Native American storytellers was “Eurocentrism.”

God is at best a non-issue, and at worst, a foolish and dangerous belief.

Christianity is largely a history of inquisitions, crusades, oppression, and anti-intellectualism. Islam, on the other hand, is “a religion of peace.” [Read more…]

IOCC Should Reconsider Senator Sarbanes as Honorary Chairman

February 29, 2012March 5, 2012 by Orthodox Editors

by Ronda Wintheiser –

Dear Mr. Triantafilou, board of directors, and the staff at IOCC:

I did finally receive a response to the email and the letter I wrote recently asking you to reconsider your selection of Senator Sarbanes as an honorary chairman for the upcoming gala planned for May 8th. Thank you for it.

The letter read, in part, that: “Senator Sarbanes was selected as an honorary co-chairman for the event for his steadfast commitment and support for IOCC’s ongoing humanitarian mission. While we recognize that you do have concerns about his participation, we hope you will not allow it to overshadow a 20-year legacy of positively impacting the lives of so many people.” [Read more…]

Paul Sarbanes’ Pro-Abortion Voting Record

February 29, 2012March 5, 2012 by Orthodox Editors

The consistent pro-abortion voting record of Democrat Senator Paul Sarbanes (US Senator from Maryland, 1977-2007) while in office, with respect to the rights of the unborn, represents a radical departure from the Orthodox Christian Church moral teaching on the Sanctity of Life in the womb. His sustained disregard of the Christian and humane instinct to protect the unborn is appalling. Listed below is a brief overview of Senator Paul Sarbanes’ votes on supporting multiple pro-abortion Bills while in office.

2006 – Voted NO on notifying parents of minors who get out-of-state abortions.
This bill prohibits taking minors across State lines in circumvention of laws requiring the involvement of parents in abortion decisions. Makes an exception for an abortion necessary to save the life of the minor. Authorizes any parent to sue unless such parent committed an act of incest with the minor. Imposes a fine and/or prison term of up to one year on a physician who performs an abortion on an out-of-state minor in violation of parental notification requirements in their home state. [Read more…]

The Simple Life

February 27, 2012July 11, 2012 by Orthodox Editors

by Bishop Tikhon –
When we look around the world we live in, we are often overwhelmed by its complexity and its activity. The world seems never to take a break: businesses, stores and restaurants are open seven days a week, school activities take place at all times, entertainment can be accessed at any hour via the internet and wireless streaming devices and we are often slavishly controlled by all manner of communications: cell phones, emails, text messages and social networking.

All of this worldly activity is supposed to allow us more free time and make our life “easier” and “simpler.” But in reality, it only seems to complicate it by forcing us to devote more money and energy to acquiring those “time-saving” and “lifeenhancing” devices and products. Beyond this, all that worldly activity cuts down on the time we spend together as a family, restricts our ability to go to church services and events and chips away at the time that we devote to the care of our soul through prayer, spiritual reading and repentance. [Read more…]

Canada’s New Tyranny: The State’s Takeover of the Family

February 27, 2012February 29, 2012 by Orthodox Editors

Canada Tyranny Christian Family Persecution by LifeSiteNews Editors –
The great English writer G.K. Chesterton once wrote: “The family is the test of freedom; because the family is the only thing that the free man makes for himself and by himself.”

But if what Chesterton says is true, then Canada fails the test, because the Canadian family is no longer free.

In the past week we have witnessed the Supreme Court of Canada dismiss the appeal of a Quebec family for permission to exempt their child from that province’s controversial ethics and religious culture course, which critics say is “relativistic,” and teaches that all religious are equally valid. And we have heard a spokesperson for the Alberta education minister state that under the province’s new Education Act even homeschooling parents will no longer be allowed to teach their children traditional Christian sexual ethics. [Read more…]

What the Bible Teaches About Capitalism

February 23, 2012February 25, 2012 by Orthodox Editors

Ten Commandments envy corrosive shall not covet by Aryeh Spero –
As the Ten Commandments instruct, envy is corrosive to the individual and to those societies that embrace it.

More than any other nation, the United States was founded on broad themes of morality rooted in a specific religious perspective. We call this the Judeo-Christian ethos, and within it resides a ringing endorsement of capitalism as a moral endeavor.

Regarding mankind, no theme is more salient in the Bible than the morality of personal responsibility, for it is through this that man cultivates the inner development leading to his own growth, good citizenship and happiness. The entitlement/welfare state is a paradigm that undermines that noble goal.

The Bible’s proclamation that “Six days shall ye work” is its recognition that on a day-to-day basis work is the engine that brings about man’s inner state of personal responsibility. Work develops the qualities of accountability and urgency, including the need for comity with others as a means for the accomplishment of tasks. With work, he becomes imbued with the knowledge that he is to be productive and that his well-being is not an entitlement. And work keeps him away from the idleness that Proverbs warns leads inevitably to actions and attitudes injurious to himself and those around him. [Read more…]

The ‘Fairness’ Fraud

February 23, 2012February 25, 2012 by Orthodox Editors

by Thomas Sowell –
During a recent Fox News Channel debate about the Obama administration’s tax policies, Democrat Bob Beckel raised the issue of “fairness.”

He pointed out that a child born to a poor woman in the Bronx enters the world with far worse prospects than a child born to an affluent couple in Connecticut.

No one can deny that. The relevant question, however, is: How does allowing politicians to take more money in taxes from successful people, to squander in ways that will improve their own reelection prospects, make anything more “fair” for others?

Even if additional tax revenue all went to poor single mothers — which it will not — the multiple problems of children raised by poor single mothers would not be cured by throwing money at them. Indeed, the skyrocketing of unwed motherhood began when government welfare programs began throwing money at teenage girls who got pregnant.[Read more…]

Six Things Everyone Should Know About The HHS Mandate

February 16, 2012February 19, 2012 by Orthodox Editors

by USCCB –
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops offers the following clarifications regarding the Health and Human Services regulations on mandatory coverage of contraceptives, sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs.

1. The mandate does not exempt Catholic charities, schools, universities, or hospitals. These institutions are vital to the mission of the Church, but HHS does not deem them “religious employers” worthy of conscience protection, because they do not “serve primarily persons who share the[ir] religious tenets.” HHS denies these organizations religious freedom precisely because their purpose is to serve the common good of society—a purpose that government should encourage, not punish.

2. The mandate forces these institutions and others, against their conscience, to pay for things they consider immoral. Under the mandate, the government forces religious insurers to write policies that violate their beliefs; forces religious employers and schools to sponsor and subsidize coverage that violates their beliefs; and forces religious employees and students to purchase coverage that violates their beliefs. [Read more…]