China's worst 'disappearance'

The article below is from our friend David Aikman. David was a journalist with TIME Magazine for 23 years, and is now a professor of history at Patrick Henry College in Virginia. He has authored more than a dozen books, including "Jesus in Beijing" (Regnery, 2003), "Billy Graham: His Life and Influence" (Thomas Nelson, 2006) and "The Delusion of Disbelief" (Tyndale, 2008). His latest book, "The Mirage of Peace" (Regal), was released in September. Aikman is also the founder of Gegrapha, an international fellowship for Christians in the mainstream media.

"Disappeared," in Spanish desaparecido, is one of the most hideous terms to enter the evil lexicon of international human rights abuses. It was first used during the rule of the military junta that ruled Argentina from 1976 to 1983 and it denoted people who had been disappeared – an intransitive verb become transitive – because organs of state power had kidnapped them, made them vanish from view, and often murdered them clandestinely.

Until very recently, "disappearing" people was not commonly associated with organs of state power in China. Political dissidents, unapproved Christian evangelists and others who annoyed the regime would normally be arrested for "subversion" or some other catch-all word. Then they would be put on trial at a closed hearing, swiftly convicted, and dispatched to some camp on the outskirts of China's laogai, its "reform-through-labor" gulag. But in one of the most sinister examples of China's growing repression of its dissidents, a prominent human-rights lawyer and Christian, Gao Zhisheng, was kidnapped, held for 54 days and tortured in 2007, then kidnapped again by unidentified thugs early in 2009. In fact, the first anniversary of Gao's most recent disappearance was February 4, 2010 -- by coincidence the date of the annual Presidential Prayer Breakfast in Washington, DC.

Gao is no ordinary dissident. In fact, in 2001 China's own Ministry of Justice proclaimed him "one of the country's ten best lawyers." His Beijing-based Zhengzhi Law Firm had taken on numerable civil cases where ordinary citizens fought to secure legal rights – and in some cases compensation – from large enterprises and state organizations. Gao's problems seemed to arise, however, as he began to investigate the brutal repression of Falungong practitioners following their unauthorized demonstration outside China's Communist Party headquarters in 1999. Gao discovered -- as have many independent legal researchers -- that at least 3,000 FLG followers had been arrested and tortured to death while in detention. Outraged by the brutality of the regime and its blatant breach of normal legal procedures, Gao publicly resigned his Communist Party membership in 2005 and began to write open letters of denunciation to China's Communist chief, Hu Jintao, and its prime minister Wen Jiabao.

He and his entire family were then put under round-the-clock surveillance, with four plainclothes police thugs at one point assigned to keep watch on his then three-year-old son. Amnesty International claimed that security police in 2006 had tried to assassinate Gao in a faked car wreck. Gao was released from a 54-day detention in December 2007 after a "confession" had been extracted from him after days of absolutely brutal torture (electric shock batons to the private parts and toothpick jabs all over his naked body). On his release he recanted the confession.

As China's Olympic Games drew near, Gao drew more attention to himself by a long, open letter to the U.S. Congress pleading with the U.S. not to participate in the games. "Freedom, democracy, and the rule of law," he wrote in September 2007, "are the values China has longed for but has not been able to enjoy." In the letter he lashed out at China's Communist Party, describing it as "a criminal group that operates under the protection of state power." He described China's brutal one-child policy, with its forced abortions up through the ninth month or pregnancy, as "the largest genocide in the history of mankind" (based on the fact that the Chinese authorities have claimed to have ended 400 million pregnancies since the program began in the 1980s). The letter to the U.S. Congress quotes James Madison and Martin Luther King, Jr. -- "injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere" -- and asserts that the Chinese communists are basically "less forgivable than the Nazis" because, he says, they have killed at least 80 million people since they first came to power.

Without doubt, Gao's direct assault on the legitimacy of the Communist Party must have not only put him beyond the pale for its Public Security Bureau but stirred them up to wreak especial pain in their torture of him. Essentially, the Chinese authorities seem now to be outsourcing their judicial violence to groups with genuinely psychopathic character and virtually no accountability to state authorities for what they do. To quote Gao in his letter to the Congress again, "the whole nation is subdued by a small group of hooligans who segregate and persecute people, one group after another."

The Chinese Foreign Ministry, understandably, has been deluged by requests for information about Gao, his well-being, and his whereabouts. In one bizarre episode last September, Chinese authorities claimed that Gao had gone for a walk and "gone lost," as if he were an absent-minded professor in Carmel, CA, rather than a tortured inmate of China's secret prisons. In February this year, a Chinese spokesman said that Gao was "where he should be" -- an Orwellian idiocy almost as absurd as the assertion he had "gone lost."

Gao is arguably the bravest and most heroic human-rights campaigner to have emerged in China for years. As China becomes financially more powerful and more assertive, its government will probably be more defiant about its human-rights record. The new practice of "disappearing" people is an outrage. Those interested in helping Gao should sign the petition at FreeGao.com.

Alabama puts abortion clinic on probation following student’s undercover work

A Planned Parenthood abortion business in Birmingham, Alabama that was found in an undercover video hiding a potential case of sexual abuse has been placed on probation by state officials. The video (see below) also showed a Planned Parenthood employee telling a woman posing as a teenager how she can evade the state's parental consent law.


As LifeNews.com reported last July, the video showed a staffer at Planned Parenthood telling a woman who appears to be a victim of statutory rape that "we bend the rules."

The Birmingham Planned Parenthood counselor tells pro-life advocate Lila Rose, who pretends to be a 14-year-old statutory rape victim, that it "does sometimes bend the rules a little bit" rather than report sexual abuse to state authorities.

Now, state health officials told the Associated Press today the abortion center has been placed on probation.

They indicated the Planned Parenthood abortion facility has until next week to submit a plan to the state health department on how it will fix the problems of not properly reporting potential cases of sexual abuse of minors to authorities as required by state law.

The request came after investigators for the department found Planned Parenthood files showing girls aged 13-15 having abortions even though they are obviously victims of statutory rape.

The document also found Planned Parenthood failed to comply with the parental consent law Alabama has in place. That requires parents to sign off no an abortion before a teenager is allowed to have one.

After the video expose, the Planned Parenthood abortion business released a statement saying its staff normally act in a professional manner and promising an internal probe.

"Planned Parenthood of Alabama provides high quality health care and takes any allegation of this nature very seriously," it claimed.

"An essential part of our mission is to protect teens, and to make sure that they get the counseling and medical care they need. We will conduct an internal, fact-based review to ensure that all our high standards of care have been met," it added.

"Planned Parenthood of Alabama is committed to following all laws, and regularly makes reports to law enforcement officials. The health and safety of our patients is our top priority and we know that parents trust their teens to get accurate information and quality care at Planned Parenthood health centers. We will continue to work exceptionally hard to maintain that trust," it claimed.

But the staffer in question broke that trust when it comes to obeying state law and helping teenager girls and their parents.

The counselor Rose spoke with tells her that a signature from an "older sister that's over the age of 18" or someone "with the same last name" could function as a substitute for parental consent so Planned Parenthood could perform an abortion on a minor.

However, Alabama law specifies that the written permission of either a parent or legal guardian is necessary before a minor may obtain an abortion.

Randy Christian of the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office heard the tape at the time and told CBS 42 he was shocked by it.

"Anyone who sees that should be disturbed by it, and I hope they're disturbed by it," he said.

"For a 31 year old to have sex with a 14 year old, that is rape in the second degree. I think they are not only morally obligated to report it - the law requires them to report it, and there could be some serious consequences otherwise," he said.

Outrageous Statement of the Day

Gretchen Carlson may very well be right, but this type of commentary, which is a fixture on "Fox and Friends" is making it pretty difficult to call the morning show "Fair and Balanced." Watch below.

Cartoon of the Day - Snowmageddon

Today on Kresta - February 11, 2010

Talking about the Things That Matter Most on Feb. 11

4:00 – Iranian Revolution – 31 Years Ago Today
As Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced Thursday that Iran had produced a higher grade of nuclear fuel, opposition protesters clashed with security forces on the 31st anniversary of the Islamic revolution. Some say this year’s anniversary rallies would be a showdown that could shape the future of Iran. Opposition protesters have challenged Iran’s government since weeks of chaos last summer, when the government violently cracked down on those protesting the results of Iran’s presidential election, which they claim was marred by fraud. We look at the current political situation in Iran and look at the history as well. Mark Bowden, author of Guests of the Ayatollah: The First Battle in America's War with Militant Islam is our guest.

4:40 – “A Song for Haiti”
The Motor City Lyric Opera will present a benefit performance “A SONG FOR HAITI” on Sunday February 14, 2010 at 3: 00 PM at Holy Name Church in Birmingham, MI. Renowned flutist Alexander Zonjic will perform along with The Motor City Lyric Opera Children’s Chorus, soprano Mary Callaghan Lynch & various esteemed Detroit entertainers. All donations will go to The Gosder Cherilus Foundation or The Catholic Relief Services. Gosder a first round draft pick for the Detroit Lions, created this foundation for his homeland, Haiti. Mary Callaghan Lynch joins us.

5:00 – Tiger Woods and Plato
A few weeks ago, the Tiger Woods scandal was returned to the news by reports that Woods was receiving treatment for sex addiction. While many may have welcomed this sordid story’s earlier disappearance, it in fact deserves serious consideration because of what it says about our culture and, in fact, about our very humanity. So far, commentary on possible deeper meanings of the Woods scandal has focused on matters such as our preoccupation with celebrity and the possibility, in a modern media age, of crafting a public personality wholly at odds with one’s real character. As a student and teacher of political philosophy, however, Woods’s sad fall from respectability reminds Carson Holloway of Plato’s account of the human soul. What we have learned about Tiger Woods, combined with what we already knew about him, may not confirm the truth of Plato’s psychology, but it at least confirms its relevance to the human situation even today. Paradoxically, from this most contemporary downfall we learn that our civilization’s most ancient wisdom is still worthy of our careful consideration. Carson joins us.

5:20 – Post-abortive Testimony
Michelle Yax is the Director of Mother and Unborn Baby Care in Southfield, MI and is, herself, a post-abortive woman. The shock, fear and shame of her first pregnancy drove her to her abortion, Yax says. Until the day of abortion, she had only thought about herself. But when she climbed upon the operating table, she changed. Everything inside me was screaming, “This is wrong. This is so wrong,’” Yax says. Michelle is with us to share her story.

Called to Freedom: Dominican Nuns Image the Church on Oprah Winfrey

It was a luminous report, burgeoning with respect, ripe with joy. It was a shot of glory between baking salmon fillets, disciplining a wayward 3 year old, and folding a load of colors.

Having previously abandoned Oprah for her politics and new-ageism after years of following, I was a little anxious at the treatment our Dominican convent in Ann Arbor, MI might receive at the hands of reporter Lisa Ling and Harpo producers.

But when, straight out of the chute, the convent was described as “thriving,” the young women “flocking” to it as they never had before, and the laughing, bright, fresh faced sisters proceeded to preach a full Catholic sermon simply by sharing their home and way of life, my apprehension turned to laugh-out-loud delight.

A Golden Opportunity Seized Through the Virtue of Hospitality

A golden opportunity rejected by other convents in the nation, the Ann Arbor Dominicans’ hospitality challenged conventional worldly wisdom in a forum that can only be characterized as miraculous and that represented Catholic women in the most refreshing way I have ever seen on TV. Because the convent is home to 100 sisters whose average age is 26, the feature communicated the vitality of a relationship with a living Christ in the most captivating way.

What constitutes restriction and freedom, happiness and joy, contentment and emptiness? How can I find fulfillment when the fabulous job, the designer duds, the handsome, fascinating boyfriend, and all the comforts and ideologies of modern life are not enough? Where can I “give who I am”? Where does consumerism and “being skinny” cease to matter for women?

These were the questions raised by the sisters’ testimonies of being called by God to religious life. “Did you hear an audible voice?” Oprah asked.

“God wanted me here and made it very clear,” 22 year old sister Francis Mary answered.

Those unexposed to Catholicism or religious life who might have expected inanity or “girliness” from a community of young women, were handed what amounted to a Catholic treatise wrapped in pithy packaging by one of the professed sisters: “Everyone is on a journey in life. But we are on a more intimate journey.”

Another went on to add that in the religious life [people] are “free to pursue God fully,” while admitting that such a life is not “for every woman,” only those in whom “noise gnaws at the human soul” and pleads for silence there.

Those who imagined religious life requires rulers hidden in the recesses of religious habits or faces clouded by somber melancholy were shocked at the brightness, the transparency and the unrehearsed sincerity of the nuns’ answers and a look at their daily routine and experiences.

What About Sex?

When asked about sex, and leaving it behind along with physical motherhood, one sister pointed out how the pervasive sexualization of our society “undermines the dignity of the human person,” while another took up the same thread by expressing that religious men and women “use the same desires [that “regular” people experience] for a greater calling.”

One postulant expressed her recent willingness to abandon sex and physical motherhood for the greater intimacy of spiritual motherhood, in part, because she did not “want to be an object.” Speaking of most nuns and their “spiritual marriage” to Jesus, Sr. Francis Mary admitted, to raucous laughter, that He is a “hard husband, because if something goes wrong in the relationship, I know it’s me.”

By far though, one of the best accounts was given by one of the sisters whose very loving, pre-convent relationship ended in separation, only to ultimately be rediscovered again later in God; she had entered the convent, and he the priesthood! What a breathtaking image of the Christian life, and it was on the world stage.

Spiritual Motherhood and Freedom

The sisters were everything beautiful and truthful that the Church has to offer: they were Christ to Oprah and to a world in need of its meaning in Him. I felt as though, finally!, someone was speaking with my voice and my faith, and not by rejecting men, sex, society, or even necessarily material things, but by their acceptance of something inexplicably more holy and beautiful. It was real feminism at its best, and true spiritual motherhood, for who knows how many vocations will be born from the womb of this broadcast?

Lisa Ling’s investigative report for Oprah inspired me to deeper love: to a greater, more total, more radical obedience, a brotherly love on which I place no limits, shocking generosity and simplicity, and an attractive, positive modesty and its accompanying spiritual allure.

In a world where religious brothers and sisters probably hold the seams of a morally teetering earth together with their invisible, fervent, ceaseless prayers for us all, the broadcast revealed the Church in all her glory through our religious brothers and sisters. Surely those sisters inspired Lisa Ling to investigate true freedom, for the last words about them before the end of the show were hers, “Their lives are much more liberating.”

Botched abortion = suspended license

A late-term abortionist in Florida has temporarily lost his medical license.

The State Medical Board has suspended the license of James Pendergraft for two years and is requiring him to pay $20,000 in administrative costs. In addition, Pendergraft will be under three years' probation when his license is restored and under the direct supervision of a board-certified OB-GYN.

Cheryl Sullinger, spokesperson for Operation Rescue, indicates that in the latest case, the abortionist perforated the uterus of a woman and gave her an overdose of drugs.

"The Florida Board said that he had a flagrant disregard for the laws of the state of Florida and a willingness to endanger the lives and health of his pregnant patients," Sullinger reports. "I think that's a pretty strong condemnation of him and his lack of medical skills," she adds.

Operation Rescue is shocked that Pendergraft did not receive a permanent revocation of his license because of his history, and Sullinger believes Pendergraft will not abandon the abortion business because he owns five clinics with others performing abortions.

"So there's no incentive for him really to get out of the abortion business as long as his clinics remain open and the money keeps flowing into his pockets," the spokesperson notes.

The pro-life spokeswoman says Operation Rescue will continue to keep Pendergraft under a microscope as activists are encouraged to monitor his clinics and report suspicious goings-on.

Homeland Security improperly assessed abortion groups in Wisconsin

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security conducted a threat assessment of local pro- and anti-abortion rights activists before an expected rally last year, even though they did not pose a threat to national security.

The DHS destroyed or deleted its copies of the assessment after an internal review found it violated intelligence-gathering guidelines by collecting and sharing information about "protest groups which posed no threat to homeland security," according to a department memo written last year.

The report was only shared with police in Middleton and with the director of the Wisconsin Statewide Information Center, an intelligence-gathering hub, according to the memo, which was signed by general counsel Ivan Fong and inspector general Richard Skinner.

It concluded the report was unlikely to "have any impact on civil liberties or civil rights" given its limited dissemination. But anti-abortion groups and the American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin on Monday both criticized the federal government's collection of information on law-abiding protesters.

The report was compiled prior to a February 2009 meeting in Middleton by the University of Wisconsin Hospital board to decide whether to open a clinic that would offer late-term abortions.

The analyst who compiled the report — the agency's representative to Wisconsin's intelligence center — received improper guidance that he could perform the assessment "to support local police and public safety efforts," according to the memo. The analyst was given remedial training and department lawyers counseled supervisors who were involved, it said.

The memo was made public as part of a lawsuit filed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which was seeking reports from an intelligence oversight panel. After The New York Times reported on its contents in December, a lawyer representing anti-abortion activists who attended the rally asked Middleton police to release a copy of the assessment under Wisconsin's open records law.

In the department's Feb. 4 response, Capt. Noel Kakuske confirmed the department kept a copy of the report but declined to release it. He said the Wisconsin Department of Justice, which runs the intelligence center, and the Department of Homeland Security agreed the report should be withheld because it contains sensitive law enforcement information.

"Disclosure would result in the identification and public disclosure of individuals affiliated with groups on both sides of the issue, which would place them in danger from opposing radical extremists," he wrote.

On Monday, Kakuske told The Associated Press that the assessment was prepared after his department asked state officials for help identifying potential risks associated with the hospital board meeting. He said it's unusual for the department to handle a large protest, and "we wanted to make sure we had the best information we could get."

He said the department had received no specific threat in connection with the meeting, but was worried about the potential for violence.

The UW Hospital and Clinic Authority Board voted 11-3 to approve the plan to start the clinic at the Madison Surgery Center. Those attending the meeting at a suburban office building went through police checkpoints. No problems were reported, and protesters on both sides acted peacefully.

Peggy Hamill, state director of Pro-Life Wisconsin, said her group was considering other options to try to get the report, including appealing to the district attorney or suing.

"It's very disturbing that a local police department has tapped into the security apparatus of the federal government to potentially obstruct free speech," she said. "It's additionally disconcerting they will not release the documents in order for we the public to examine them."

Archbishop of Canterbury admits to 'chaos' in Anglican world

Describing the present state of the Anglican Communion is one of “chaos-- local schisms, outside interventions,” the Archbishop of Canterbury, issued a plea for unity amid doctrinal differences over homosexual activity, assisted suicide, and the ordination of women bishops.

“The debate over the status and vocational possibilities of LGBT people in the Church is not helped by ignoring the existing facts, which include many regular worshippers of gay or lesbian orientation and many sacrificial and exemplary priests who share this orientation,” said Dr. Rowan Williams. “There are ways of speaking about the question that seem to ignore these human realities or to undervalue them; I have been criticised for doing just this, and I am profoundly sorry for the carelessness that could give such an impression.”

“Equally, there are ways of speaking about the assisted suicide debate that treat its proponents as universally enthusiasts for eugenics and forced euthanasia, and its opponents as heartless sadists, sacrificing ordinary human pity to ideological purity,” he continued. “All the way through this, we need to recover that sense of a balance of liberties and thus a conflict of what may be seen as real goods-- something of the tragic recognition that not all goods are compatible in a fallen world And if this is true, our job is not to secure purity but to find ways of deciding such contested issues that do not simply write off the others in the debate as negligible, morally or spiritually unserious or without moral claims.”

“Most hold that the ordination of women as bishops is a good, something that will enhance our faithfulness to Christ and our integrity in mission,” he added. “But that good is at the moment jeopardised in two ways-- by the potential loss of those who in conscience cannot see it as a good, and by the equally conscience-driven concern that there are ways of securing the desired good that will corrupt it or compromise it fatally (and so would rather not see it at all than see it happening under such circumstances).”

Archbishop Williams concluded by issuing a call for “three-dimensionality”:

Seeing something in three dimensions is seeing that I can’t see everything at once: what’s in front of me is not just the surface I see in this particular moment. So seeing in three dimensions requires us to take time with what we see … It is only a three-dimensional vision that can save us from real betrayal of what God has given us,” he said. “It will oblige us to ask not how we can win this or that conflict but what we have to give to our neighbour for sanctification in Christ’s name and power. It will oblige us to think hard about freedom and mutuality and the genuine difficulty of balancing costs or restraints in order to keep life moving around the Body. It will deepen our desire to be fed and instructed by each other, so that we are all the more alarmed at the prospect of being separated in the zero-sum, self-congratulating mode that some seem to be content with.

Outrageous Statement of the Day

Pro- abortion activist Shelby Knox tries to argue to Megyn Kelly that the Tim and Pam Tebow ad promotes violence against women. She virtually acknowledges that it's a ridiculous argumene, but stands by it nonetheless. She also argues that the real problem with Tebow's Super Bowl ad is that it was produced by Focus on the Family. Watch below.

Cartoon of the Day - Skating on Thin Ice

Today on Kresta - February 10, 2010

Talking about the Things That Matter Most on Feb. 10

4:00 – Kresta Comments

4:20 – The End of Christianity: Finding a Good God in an Evil World
Entering the conversation on the new atheism, William Dembski’s provocative The End of Christianity embraces the challenge to formulate a theodicy that is both faithful to Christian orthodoxy and credible to the new mental environment. He writes to make peace with three claims: (1) God by wisdom created the world out of nothing. (2) God exercises particular providence in the world. (3) All evil in the world ultimately traces back to human sin. In the process, Dembski brings the reader to a fresh understanding of what “the end (result) of Christianity” really means: the radical realignment of our thinking so that we see God’s goodness in creation despite the distorting effects of sin in our hearts and evil in the world.

4:40 – The Real St. Valentine
As you know (or if not – this is your reminder), Valentine's Day is coming up this weekend. We introduce you to the REAL St. Valentine - You will be surprised at how much misinformation and urban legend exists surrounding the life of St. Valentine. (and there’s even more than one!) Mike Aquilina is our guide.

5:00 – Healing Marriages of Control and Trust Issues
More marriages and families these days are affected by control and trust issues, says Dr. Richard Fitzgibbons, but through the sacraments and practice of virtue these problems can be overcome. This was the theme of a recent webinar in a series sponsored by the Institute for Marital Healing, which offers resources for couples, counselors and clergy on the topics of parenting, manhood, family life and marriage. Fitzgibbons, the director of the institute, has worked with thousands of couples and has spoken and written extensively on these topics. In 2008, he was also appointed as a consultant for the Holy See's Congregation for Clergy. Fitzgibbons is here to look at modern causes of trust issues, the distinction between being strong and being controlling, and particular virtues that provide an antidote to these problems.

5:40 – 7 Deadly Sins / 7 Lively Virtues
As we enter the season of Lent last week, we hear an engaging presentation concerning the Seven Deadly Sins, those great spiritual blocks that inhibit our flourishing in relationship with God and one another. Based on Dante’s writings, the seven deadly sins correspond to the seven stories of Dante’s Mt. Purgatory. Pride, envy, anger, sloth, gluttony, avarice and lust are all presented as patterns of dysfunction within us that lead to unhappiness. But that’s not all! Father Robert Barron tells us how to counteract these seven sinful patterns through a conscious process of opposition, which are the Seven Lively Virtues. The Seven Lively Virtues offer antidotes to each sin and help set us on the right path to healing and happiness.

Two Good Commentaries on the Tebow Ad

The Ad That Loosed 1,000 Lips
By Phil Lawler
Director, CatholicCulture.org

That's it? That?!

Two weeks of internet obsession, and the Tim Tebow ad was over in 30 seconds. It was nice.

If you were measuring public opinion with a sufficiently sensitive instrument, you might have seen the needle quiver for a second or two. Focus on the Family no doubt saw a big spike in internet traffic, and they generally do good work, so that's nice too.

Today-- the morning after-- I see pro-lifers commenting that the abortion lobby looks foolish, for having fought so hard against the airing of such an inoffensive ad. It's true that abortion advocates came off as the extremists they truly are. But folks, let's be honest: they weren't the only ones shouting about this ad. And I read that a counter-commercial, quickly produced by the Planned Parenthood types, didn't even show the nerve to mention the "a" word. Um, folks, did you see that word in the Tebow script?

It was nice. That's all you can say for it, really. Did it deserve all the excitement, pro and con? Not a chance.

Not quite 3 weeks ago, pro-lifers were giddy with delight at the election of a Senator nobody knows: a man who favors legal abortion. Last week we were caught up in a frenzy over a television commercial: a nice little story. Friends, we need to calm down. This is going to be a long struggle; we'll need hundreds-- thousands-- of such small incremental steps forward. Not every battle is Armageddon.



Tebow Commercial

By Peter Mirus
CEO, Trinity Consulting

Many who watched the Super Bowl this weekend saw the Focus on the Family commercial featuring Tim Tebow. Just as many didn’t. The brief commercial caught many unawares (in a couple of different ways), and people flocked to the Internet to find out either what they missed or to try to see what the fuss was really about. The Focus on the Family website featured not the ad itself, but rather several videos talking about the ad, the pro-life message, and Focus on the Family. (The ad became available later.)

If you have watched the ad, you know that a more innocuous commercial has never aired on television. In fact, it led ESPN.com to poll users “If not for the controversy circulated in previous days, would you have known what the Tebow ad was about?” (paraphrased). The last time I checked, 85% said “No” and 15% claimed “yes”, they would have known what the ad was about. I’m inclined to doubt the 15%.

If you were disappointed that Focus on the Family and the Tebow family did not use this commercial opportunity to make a more powerful statement, don’t be. Focus on the Family executed a masterful campaign.

What made it so masterful? Let’s be real here. Focus on the Family must have known that there was very little chance that a strongly pro-life advertisement would be passed by the network censors. They accepted that premise, and worked within the established parameters. Simply put, they got an advertisement aired during the Super Bowl that was blatantly pro-life without containing a blatantly pro-life (or anti-abortion) message.

And by doing that, Focus was able to generate the buzz that made the whole thing worthwhile. They put out bait that was bit on by media, pro-life advocacy groups, and pro-abortion advocacy groups. My guess is that millions were exposed to a pro-life message both prior to the Super Bowl, during the Super Bowl, and after the Super Bowl. Meanwhile, Planned Parenthood and other like-minded organizations, who objected strenuously to the ad’s airing, look like they majorly overreacted.

It is very difficult to gauge the net worth of a campaign like this—any meaningful statistics that are produced by Focus and allies will be some time in coming, if they appear at all. This is because the meaningful statistics will be the number of babies saved, not the number of people who viewed the advertisement.

However, this is a very good example of how pro-life organizations can take advantage of “perfect opportunities” to create a media sensation around the pro-life message.

Today on Kresta - February 9, 2010

Talking about the Things That Matter Most on Feb. 9


4:00 – Kresta Comments – New Ways Ministries
The president of the US bishops' conference has issued a reminder that New Ways Ministry, a Maryland-based group that works with homosexuals and lesbians, "has no approval or recognition from the Catholic Church." Cardinal Francis George of Chicago added that New Ways Ministry fails to provide "an authentic interpretation of Catholic teaching." "Like other groups that claim to be Catholic but deny central aspects of church teaching," the cardinal observed, New Ways Ministry does not speak for the Catholic faithful. The group's founders, Sister Jeanine Gramick and Father Robert Nugent, were warned by the Vatican in 1999 that their public statements on homosexuality contained "ambiguities and errors." They were ordered not to speak or write on the topic-- an order that Nugent has observed but Gramick has defied. New Ways Ministry issued a statement of its own claiming to be "astonished" by Cardinal George's public caution and complaining that the group was not notified that the cardinal would be issuing such a statement. Al has experience with the group and tell us about them.

4:20 – Marriage, Prop 8, and the Battle for Hearts and Minds
Should the pro-marriage votes of Catholics, Baptists and other people of faith in California be disregarded as irrational, “discriminatory” and unconstitutional? That’s the extraordinary question being asked in a federal lawsuit argued on behalf of two same-sex couples to overturn Proposition 8, the 2008 measure passed by 52% of California voters to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman. During two and a half weeks of rapid-fire testimony in San Francisco, the plaintiffs’ legal team worked to build a case claiming that Prop. 8 should be thrown out, in part, because it was swept to victory on a tsunami of “irrational” religious “prejudice and hostility,” generated by discriminatory “messaging” put out by a broad coalition of Mormons, evangelical Christians and Catholics. We caught up with Maggie Gallagher of the National Organization for Marriage at the Legatus Summit last week. We share that interview with you now.

4:40 – Pope’s Intervention on Britian “Equality Bill” Stirs the Pot
Pope Benedict told a group of bishops last week that the equality bill before Britain's Parliament might force it to hire gays, violating church doctrine, among numerous other moral problems. The bill seeks to address a host of inequalities, from low wages to women to limited educational opportunities for the poor. Britain's parliamentarians are mulling a radical equality law that its sponsors claim has the power to reshape the country into a fairer, less class-driven and discriminatory society. But in some circles in England the bill is stirring unease because, in its quest for equal treatment for all, it appears to require private organizations to make hiring decisions that conflict with their deeply held beliefs. British Catholic journalist Joanna Bogle weighs in.

5:00 – Haiti: 4 Weeks Later
Nearly one month after a powerful earthquake brought this country to a halt, Haiti is tumbling headlong through a crisis that has not begun to abate, with evidence everywhere that current relief efforts are falling short. Despite the good intentions of the United States and the world community, weary relief workers say the coming weeks will severely test the resolve of those foreign contributors and the resourcefulness of a Haitian government that remains all but invisible. Pressure will grow on a fledgling food distribution network backed by U.S. soldiers that so far has largely managed to deliver only rice. From surgery to shelter to sanitation to schooling, the needs are vast and the international commitment unproven. Jim Cavnar brings us up to date on the situation and the work of Cross International Catholic Outreach.

5:20 – The Difference God Makes: A Catholic Vision of Faith, Communion and Culture
Penned by the leading intellectual in the American Catholic hierarchy, the book The Difference God Makes: A Catholic Vision of Faith, Communion, and Culture, by Francis Cardinal George of the Archdiocese of Chicago brings together some of the most influential writings on the Catholic vision—not just the Church itself but of the relation and unity of all people. Weaving together intellectual insight and personal wisdom, this investigation offers a luminous Catholic vision of communion, illustrating the Church’s relation to numerous religions as well as the secular world. Drawing from both the author’s observations of Catholicism in cultures around the globe and countless theologians’ perspectives—including Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI, Thomas Aquinas, and Francis of Assisi—this analysis demonstrates how to recognize the self-giving, liberating God who provides freedom from the competitive, oppressive gods of secular modernity. Cardinal George is our guest.

5:40 – A Deacon’s Retreat
Pope Benedict XVI’s inspiring first encyclical contains the passage, “The good pastor must be rooted in contemplation. Only in this way will he be able to take upon himself the needs of others and make them his own.” The Institute for Priestly Formation seeks just that. The Institute’s programs exist to help diocesan seminarians and priests become “contemplatives in action,” i.e., to learn how to pray in such a way that they meet God in the midst of everyday busyness and are thus able to help the people of their parishes and dioceses do the same. To that end Deacon James Keating, Director of Theological Formation for the Institute, has written a self-directed retreat for deacons in the Catholic Church designed to lead the deacon into silent adoration and deeper appropriation of his call from Christ to become a deacon.

Trial Judge in Prop 8 Trial is Gay

National Organization for Marriage executive director Brian Brown has responded to the San Francisco Chronicle’s column reporting that federal judge Vaughn Walker, who is presiding over the Prop. 8 case, is gay, attacking the judge not for his sexual orientation but for being biased.

A column in Sunday’s Chronicle called Walker’s sexual orientation the “biggest open secret in the landmark trial over same-sex marriage." Brown, in a blog post on NOM's website, says he has no idea if the article is true, but says Walker has taken a one-sided stance throughout the trial.

Reads Brown's statement: "In a story this Sunday, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that Prop 8 Judge Vaughn Walker is gay and called his orientation 'the biggest open secret in the landmark trial over same-sex marriage.' We have no idea whether the report is true or not. But we do know one really big important fact about Judge Walker: He’s been an amazingly biased and one-sided force throughout this trial, far more akin to an activist than a neutral referee. That’s no secret at all. Protect Marriage, the defendants in this case, are effectively being held hostage by Judge Walker and cannot really comment. ...

"Judge Walker’s bias has been so extreme, he’s earned a rare judicial 'twofer.' Key elements of his 'fishing expedition' rulings were already reversed by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (notably one of the most liberal in the nation) and the Supreme Court had to step in to block his illegal attempt to broadcast the trial. It is highly unusual for a higher court to have to intercede in a trial judge’s handling of a trial while it is going on — yet Walker has had that 'distinction' twice in the same case — and we’re not yet even at closing arguments. There’s only one saving grace to Judge Walker’s bias. It’s so big, and so obvious, not only the American public but the Supreme Court itself is already aware we have bias in the trial judge presiding."

Kresta in the Afternoon at Legatus Summit

Prop. 8 Trial Wraps Up, Were Your Votes Counted?

Tip of the hat to the National Catholic Register for this article.

Should the pro-marriage votes of Catholics, Baptists and other people of faith in California be disregarded as irrational, “discriminatory” and unconstitutional?

That’s the extraordinary question being asked in a federal lawsuit argued on behalf of two same-sex couples to overturn Proposition 8, the 2008 measure passed by 52% of California voters to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman.

During two and a half weeks of rapid-fire testimony in San Francisco, the plaintiffs’ legal team worked to build a case claiming that Prop. 8 should be thrown out, in part, because it was swept to victory on a tsunami of “irrational” religious “prejudice and hostility,” generated by discriminatory “messaging” put out by a broad coalition of Mormons, evangelical Christians and Catholics.

“The votes of Christians and other people of faith are without question on trial in California,” said attorney Austin Nimocks of the Alliance Defense Fund, part of the ProtectMarriage.com legal team.

Flooding the court with printed “evidence” for their case, the homosexual activists’ legal team at one point submitted a section of the Catechism of the Catholic Church and other Catholic teachings on homosexuality as evidence, presumably implying that these teachings display unconstitutional “prejudice and hostility” toward an allegedly powerless minority.

Contributions of time and money to the Prop. 8 victory by Catholics for the Common Good, the California Catholic Conference, the Knights of Columbus, Oakland Bishop Salvatore Cordileone and others were also scrutinized and entered as exhibits. So was a Southern Baptist Convention resolution stating that the legalization of same-sex “marriage” would “convey a societal approval of a homosexual lifestyle, which the Bible calls sinful and dangerous both to the individuals involved and to society at large.”

“Religion is now on trial, along with marriage and everyone who supported Prop. 8,” said Bill May of Catholics for the Common Good on a blog. His lay Catholic coalition supported the ProtectMarriage.com campaign credited with getting the measure passed.

As witness testimonies in the federal trial, Perry v. Schwarzenegger, wrapped up in late January, plaintiffs’ attorney Chad Griffin said, “The truth that came out in court is that Prop. 8 is discriminatory, unconstitutional, harms gays and children, and does so for no good reason.”

Plaintiffs’ attorney David Boies said the anti-Prop. 8 legal team had proved three things: “that marriage is a fundamental right; that depriving gays and lesbians of the right to marriage hurts them and hurts their children; and that there was no reason, no societal benefit for preventing gays and lesbians from getting married.”

But attorneys defending the statute said the highly emotional case their opponents presented was legally weak.

“The plaintiffs put on a spectacular show trial of irrelevant evidence,” said Andy Pugno, lead counsel for ProtectMarriage.com. But he said their arguments were mostly “political” and “not legal support for the claim that the U.S. Constitution contains the right to homosexual ‘marriage.’”

“The opposition could not make their irrational political arguments work for them at the ballot box,” said Thomas More Law Center attorney Charles LiMandri, general counsel for the National Organization for Marriage in California. “Therefore, they picked the most gay-friendly federal courthouse in the nation to make the same political arguments the public would not accept.”

Describing the Prop. 8 trial as “a rank misuse of the courts for a purely political purpose,” LiMandri said, “This ill-conceived case was funded by the liberal Hollywood machine in an effort to undermine the vote of the people.” According to an investigative report in the January issue of California Lawyer, executives in the entertainment industry planned the lawsuit even before Prop. 8 won at the ballot box.


Outmoded Religious Teachings?
The plaintiffs’ attorneys called expert witness after witness in an attempt to prove only historical religious “prejudice and hostility” against homosexuals had driven Prop. 8 to victory.

Grassroots religious opposition to same-sex “marriage” was likened to the objections some religious groups once had to interracial marriage, implying that societal and religious definitions of marriage are fluid and continually changing.

Yale history professor George Chauncey stated under oath that “people often do hold deeply sincere religious convictions which seem to them timeless, but historians have shown and have seen how they, in fact, change over time and naturally are shaped by the larger culture in which they live.”

Disputing the claim that marriage is “evolving,” Prop. 8 defense attorney David Thompson entered into evidence an observation by former U.S. Sen. James Talent, R-Mo., who said it’s “an act of hubris to believe that marriage can be infinitely malleable: that it can be pushed and pulled around like Silly Putty without destroying its essential stability.”

“Marriage goes, then the family goes,” Talent said, “and if the family goes, we have none of the decency or ordered liberty which Americans have been brought up to enjoy and to appreciate.”


Immutable Sexual Desires?

Pugno said the plaintiffs’ constitutional claim to “marriage” requires them to prove that sexual orientation — like race and gender — is immutable.

In an attempt to illustrate this point, a 26-year-old homosexual from Denver testified that the “reversal therapy” he underwent as a teen to change his sexual orientation drove him to the brink of suicide.

But one of the plaintiffs’ own witnesses — psychology professor Gregory Herek of the University of California at Davis — admitted under hours of cross-examination that the evidence for homosexuality being hardwired is “weak.”

“We don’t understand or know the origin of sexual orientation in men or women,” Herek said.


A Powerless Minority?

On day eight of the trial, “religious bashing ran rampant with Catholics and Southern Baptists as targets,” Bill May observed.

Stanford University political scientist Gary Segura testified that in the Prop. 8 battle, homosexuals lacked significant political power and faced a powerful and “unprecedented” opponent in a broad coalition of Mormons, Catholics and evangelical Christians who joined forces against them.

The Catholic Church was portrayed as a monolithic power.

When asked about Catholics, Mormons and Jews who dissent from their religious body’s official teachings, Segura replied that “there is pretty good evidence to suggest that [these dissenting groups] are very small and that they have very little influence within their churches.”

The notion that homosexuals need special protection under the law because they’re a “powerless” minority was sharply contested by defense witness Kenneth Miller, a professor at Claremont McKenna College. Miller said homosexuals have so much political clout in California that neither Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger nor any other statewide office holder would endorse Prop. 8.

But Miller observed that perhaps the best measure of homosexuals’ power in the state was the $43 million they amassed in their failed attempt to defeat Prop. 8 in 2008. That was $3.4 million more than what Prop. 8 supporters raised.

“Gay and lesbian interests are well represented, can get anything they like passed through the Legislature, raise millions and millions of dollars,” Miller said. “You just can’t with a straight face say gays and lesbians are a politically weak minority in California.”


Defending Marriage and the Faith

In what may have been the only direct defense of the Catholic faith in thousands of pages of sworn testimony, Miller stated, “My understanding of the Catholic Church’s position is that there’s a balance between moral disapproval of homosexual activities and desire to respect the dignity of the individual.”

A second defense witness, David Blankenhorn, president of the New York-based Institute for American Values, capped the proceedings by saying that although he supports same-sex “domestic partnerships,” it’s every child’s birthright to be raised by a father and mother. Blankenhorn said that redefining marriage to include same-sex couples would further weaken and devalue the already fragile institution of marriage in our society and could usher in new “family forms” like polygamy.

The court is now in recess as Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker takes time to review the evidence before allowing closing arguments, probably in March or April. He has no deadline for reaching a decision.

All statements and evidence entered in the district court record are now available for attorneys’ use should this case reach the U.S. Supreme Court. A decision there could determine the future of marriage for the entire country.

Meanwhile, the district court trial “has wound down in some respects, but it’s not over,” Nimocks said. “There’s still plenty of opportunity for legal fireworks in San Francisco.”

Cartoon of the Day - Toyota 2011

Today on Kresta - February 5, 2010

Talking about the Things That Matter Most on Feb. 5

Live From the Legatus Summit in Dana Point, CA

4:00 – How a Constructive Culture Drives Good Performance and Good Ethics
Three decades ago, Robert Spitzer S.J., Ph.D., began extensive research and testing of leaders and organizations, spanning four continents. He became a teacher and consultant for many large and small companies while founding ethics institutes at Seattle University and Gonzaga University, where he served as president from 1998 to 2009. In 2003, he was joined by a team of seasoned CEOs to launch a new institute that would take these earlier successes to an entirely new level. Recognizing the compelling intersection of ethics and effective leadership, these directors named it the Spitzer Center for Ethical Leadership – a one-stop entity for his collected works in the fields of philosophy, psychology, organizational development, and management science. We talk with Fr. Spitzer about how a constructive culture drives good performance and good ethics in business.

4:20 – 7 Miracles That Saved America: Why They Matter and Why We Should Have Hope
When the odds were stacked against us, and there have been many times when the great experiment we call America could have and should have failed, did God intervene to save us? That question, posed by authors Chris and Ted Stewart, is the foundation for this remarkable book. And the examples they cite provide compelling evidence that the hand of Providence has indeed preserved the United States of America on multiple occasions. Despite our faults, this nation is still the last, best hope of earth." In short, God still cares what happens here. This reassuring message is a bright light in a world that longs for such hope. Chris Stewart is with us.

4:40 – The Papal Foundation
Around the world, in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Central America, Mexico, South America… there is a severe need. The Papal Foundation grants support the world’s poor, sick, and infirmed through the construction and operation of shelters for homeless adults and children, hospitals and other health facilities, the reconstruction of destroyed churches, the construction of seminaries and retreat houses, providing relief for victims of natural disasters, strengthening services for refugees and migrants, providing funding to pro-life programs, and residences for elderly priests and religious. All of these are gifts to the Church in areas of tremendous need. We talk with their Vice-President Jim Coffey.

5:00 – Defending the Faith – Defending the Word of God
Frank J. Hanna III is an American entrepreneur and merchant banker who has been described as "one of the leading Catholic philanthropists in the USA. We have talked to him multiple times about his book, What Your Money Means and How to Use it Well. Today we talk about defending the faith and the Word of God

5:20 – Legatus Summit Winter 2010
Legatus is an organization for Catholic businessmen who seek to study, live and spread the Faith in their business, professional and personal lives. Legatus currently provides service to over 1,800 businesses in 60 chapters (and growing) across the United States, and internationally on three continents. We talk with Executive Director John Hunt about Legatus, the Summit, and it’s amazing line-up of speakers.

5:30 – Grace Before Meals
Grace Before Meals is centered on one fundamental concept: the simple act of creating and sharing a meal can strengthen all kinds of relationships. Founded by Fr. Leo Patalinghug in 2003, Grace Before Meals has grown from a simple idea to a worldwide movement, producing a book, blog and even a pilot for a TV show endorsed by PBS. Research shows that having frequent family dinners can reduce the susceptibility of teens to risks like teen pregnancy, smoking, drug use and depression. And these benefits don’t just apply to traditional families or people with kids. Stronger families foster stronger communities, and that’s the goal we’re striving for–one meal at a time. We talk to Fr. Leo here at the Legatus Summit.

5:40 – The Grace of Ars
St. John Vianney is the patron saint of all parish priests. Pope Benedict XVI has held him up as the role model to follow in the recently declared Year for Priests. Priests and seminarians who wish to strengthen their commitment to the priesthood as well as men who are discerning the call of Christ in their lives will be inspired and encouraged by reflection on the life and vocation of the great Cure of Ars. Fr. Frederick Miller has taken many groups of priests and seminarians pilgrimages to Ars, France, where he leads retreats based on the life and ministry of St. John Vianney. Based on his years of personal experience at Ars, and the impact that the holy Cure has had on men who go there to learn from his inspiring life and work, this book is the distillation of wisdom and grace that St. John Vianney has passed on to his brother priests. Fr. Miller joins us in this year for priests.

Today on Kresta - February 4, 2010

Talking about the Things That Matter Most on Feb. 4, 2010

Live From the Legatus Summit in Dana Point, CA

4:00 9-11 Terror Trials
So, the trial of the century is going to be in Manhattan, where Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the accused mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, killed thousands of people? Well, maybe not, unless Mohammed agrees to be tried in Manhattan, the trial might actually take place in, say, Fargo, N.D.T he alleged mastermind of 9/11 Mohammed, whose photo wearing a dirty T-shirt and sporting a bedraggled look is so familiar to us, is to be tried in Manhattan, blocks from Ground Zero, according to the administration. In recent testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder stated that Mohammed, “will not select the prosecution venue, I will. And I have.” As far as the venue being in U.S. District Court, Holder is correct. But as far as the venue being in the U.S. District Court in Manhattan, the matter is open to substantial debate. Mark Bonner of Ave Maria School of Law is our guest.

4:20 Union, Nation, or Empire: The American Debate over International Relations, 1789-1941
Most overviews of American history depict an isolationist country finally dragged kicking and screaming onto the world stage by the attack on Pearl Harbor. David Hendrickson shows that Americans instead conducted often-raucous debates over international relations in the long epoch customarily seen as isolationist--debates that form the ideological origins of today's foreign policy arguments. Union, Nation, or Empire is a sequel to Hendrickson's acclaimed Peace Pact, in which he identified a "unionist paradigm" that defined America's political understanding in 1787. His new book examines how that paradigm was transformed under the impact of the great wars that followed. Through skillfully drawn portraits of American statesmen, from Hamilton and Jefferson to Wilson and the two Roosevelts, Hendrickson reveals "union, nation, and empire" as fundamental categories of political discourse that have shaped our engagement with the world since 1776.

4:40 As I See It
“As I See It” is Michael Coren's newest book. A collection of essays about the world and its affairs. "These are my opinions of numerous subjects, issues, debates and people. The world, as it were, as I see it." We talk to the Canadian radio and television host about religious freedom in his country, health care, the middle east, and much, much more

5:00 – Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist on Oprah
With us here at the Legatus Summit, we talk with the Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist who will be making an appearance on the Oprah Winfrey show next week. We find out why and what the topics will be with Mother Assumpta Long and Sister Joseph Andrew.

5:20 Even some pro-abortion feminists support the Tebow ad
This from Washington Post columnist Sally Jankins. “I'm pro-choice, and Tebow clearly is not. But based on what I've heard in the past week, I'll take his side against the group-think, elitism and condescension of the "National Organization of Fewer and Fewer Women All The Time." For one thing, Tebow seems smarter than they do. Tebow's 30-second ad hasn't even run yet, but it already has provoked "The National Organization for Women Who Only Think Like Us" to reveal something important about themselves: They aren't actually "pro-choice" so much as they are pro-abortion.” Al has a commentary on this issue.

5:40 Oscar Nominations Announced
The Oscar nominations are now out and we sit down with film critic Steven Greydanus to look at what they are, what they mean, and the trends that they reveal.