I have just returned from Baltimore, MD where I delivered the keynote address at Steve Peroutka’s seventh Annual Pro-Life Appreciation Night in Glen Burnie. Among those honored were the eighteen young people under the direction of Jack Ames who were violently arrested and held all night in jail for holding graphic signs during a Face the Truth Tour last summer.
Joe Scheidler Receives Wilke Founders Award in Maryland
Yours Truly also received the coveted Jack and Barbara Wilke Founders Award for inspiring pro-life activism in others. I spoke on the need to manifest hope during dark days in America, recalling that we are all of us “waiting in joyful hope for the coming of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.” There is no room for discouragement in any of our lives as we work out our salvation while anticipating a future life with Christ in Heaven.
Northern Ireland Remains Abortion Free
Part of my own cause for optimism is the great victory the League had a small part in which took place in Northern Ireland last Wednesday. Following a massive rally in Belfast that Eric and I spoke at Saturday, the British Parliament in Westminster Wednesday decided to allow Northern Ireland to retain its 40-year-old denial of abortion in their country. Northern Ireland, along with the Republic of Ireland and the tiny country of Malta, remain the only countries in Europe that are abortion free.
Much of the credit for this victory goes to Bernadette Smyth and Precious Life of Belfast who have worked tirelessly to keep abortion out of Northern Ireland. We can’t say enough about the professionalism of this organization and how it gathered together all the factions in leadership roles in that country and drew them all into unity on the life issues. It was an honor to sit on the same stage with representatives of nearly every political group in the country and see the unity on the issue of human life. This victory alone gives much hope for the rest of the world to eventually follow their lead in protecting unborn human beings. If the fighting Northern Irish can do it, anyone can do it. And we will, God willing.
Upcoming Events: October 26 & November 2
On this Sunday afternoon (October 26) at 3:30, I will be talking more on this theme of Hope at St. Francis De Sales Catholic Church in Lake Zurich, IL. You are invited to attend this free lecture. In fact I wish you would. Bring the family.
On November 2, I will address the Third Order of St. Francis on the lower level of St. Peter’s Catholic Church in the Loop at 2:30 P.M. While this is the regular monthly meeting of these lay Franciscans, they are always happy to welcome guests to my lecture, so please feel free to come as my guest.
Reese: Schools Need To Get Out of The Bedroom
One of our most faithful activists, Kathy Reese, is featured in the October 23 edition of the Chicago Sun Times complete with a very attractive photograph by Keith Hale. The headline reads “Schools need to get out of the bedroom” which is Kathy’s own statement. “Look at the three R’s,” Kathy continues. “This is why Johnny still can’t read — because the children are being used as pawns to further a political agenda. We should be helping them out of that lifestyle, not helping them into it.”
She was speaking out at the Chicago Board of Education monthly meeting where the group was considering establishing a school that would teach gay and lesbian students, to be called Social Justice High, that was recommended by school CEO Arne Duncan. The proposal is up for a vote on Nov. 19. Three cheers for Kathy who was one of only two attendees at the school board meeting to speak up against the proposal.
Christopher Hitchens Should Watch Ben Stein’s “Expelled”
In his recent Slate Magazine column, atheist Christopher Hitchens is all upset that Sarah Palin thinks intelligent design should be taught along with evolution in science classes. Hitchens says this would be like giving equal time to alchemy and astrology. When you read stuff like this you want to run, not walk, to the nearest theatre showing Ben Stein’s excellent movie “Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed,” in which wise guys like Hitchens are exposed as the hopeless wonders they are. Hitchens could use a couple of good courses in both intelligence and design.
As for the theory of evolution – it’s still nothing but a theory, and so full of holes you wonder how it can even be taught as science. While objects in nature adapt and acclimate, the greater can never come from the lesser. If the theory of evolution has any validity it’s only because it was designed that way: intelligently.
