Ten Rights Not Mentioned in the U.S. Constitution
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prayer

One of the very frustrating things about politics for me is that so many people, both on the Left and the Right, speak about rights as if the Constitution (or government, in general) is their source. God is the source of our rights, not any man-made government. In America, certain of these God-given rights are considered to be so basic that, in order to have an orderly society, government must defend them. This is why we have a Constitution, because laws and law enforcement preserve us from the horrific consequences of anarchy. In all other things but defense of basic rights, government is supposed to be silent. Because our rights come from God, and because people have diverse views about God, the force of government in defense of rights has to be limited to the basics in order that our civil government does not oppress those of different beliefs. Our rights, though, are many more in number than what we see in civil law.

Here, in no particular order and paraphrased from the Code of Canon Law, are ten rights that I have, in my understanding as a Catholic believer in God, that are not listed in the Constitution. I have others besides those I list here. The silence of government on these matters does not mean that the right does not exist. It is between me, God, and the Church. Having said that, if any civil law infringes on these and any other rights that I have in accordance with the Catholic Faith, then that law is an unjust law.

Ten Rights Not Mentioned in the U.S. Constitution

1. Right to spread the Gospel in accordance with the teaching of the Catholic Church.

2. Right to express my needs and desires, particularly spiritual ones, to the Church.

3. Right to express any concerns that I may have to priests and to my bishop about matters pertaining to the good of the Church.

4. Right to follow my own spiritual life provided that it is in keeping with the teaching of the Catholic Church.

5. Right to education that is in accordance with the teachings of the Catholic Church.

6. Right to a good reputation.

7. Right to be free from coercion in choosing a state of life.

8. Right to inquire about spiritual matters from those I am in obedience to, such as a spiritual director or confessor.

9. Right to worship God in accordance with the Latin rite of the Catholic Church.

10. Right to be subjected to discipline that is within the bounds of the norms of Church law. (No excessive discipline.)

Again, this list is not a complete list of my rights. None of these rights are specifically delineated in the federal United States Constitution and it is certainly not necessary for me, or any Catholic, that they be in the Constitution. What is necessary for me as a Catholic is that my government, no matter which country I am a citizen of, refrain from enacting laws that trample on my rights as a Catholic.

As it stands, the U.S. Constitution protects freedom of religion. That includes any expression of my Catholic Faith, no matter what it may be. Unfortunately, our government is doing more and more these days to trample on our rights as Catholics. The reason is that so many people today see government as if government is God and, as such, the author of all rights. They have no religion apart from government, which has become their religion. While I see God as the source of my rights, they see government as the source, whether as a conservative Republican who believes the only rights are listed in the Constitution, or as a liberal Democrat who believes that rights are determined by majority vote.

Until Americans decide once more to embrace the Founders’ view that our rights come from God alone, and that it is government’s role to defend, even with the proverbial sword, only the most basic of them, Catholics are going to have differences of opinion with people in both parties.

 

 

 

The Left in Crisis
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Gifts of the Holy Spirit

Regular readers know that I used to be a crisis pregnancy counselor. Strangely enough, that experience has proven to be quite helpful in reading the political winds. An example of this is what we are going through right now as a country with the IRS scandal, the Department of Justice / Associated Press scandal, and the Benghazi scandal, not to mention the unresolved questions about Fast and Furious, EPA practices, etc. One thing is different from before. The Left is in crisis right now. Even Andrea Mitchell and Chris Matthews have ventured to question the president in relation to the latest scandals.

I know something about people in crisis during what we might refer to as a “moment of truth.” It’s similar to women experiencing indecision in a crisis pregnancy. In ministering to a woman in a crisis pregnancy situation, there comes a point where you realize that the wheels are turning in their heads and nothing you can say or do is going to change what is set in motion. They have to “process” everything that they already know. If you say more, you will overload them with too much information and they will recoil from it, as anyone naturally would from too much information….unless the person giving them information is someone they trust a great deal. This is what the Left is going through right now with Obama’s scandals.

This is a time not to raise voices in anger, nor to bombard them with new facts that are not relevant to the main issues. It is also time to pray that they might be open to the Holy Spirit to do His work. It is only with the light of truth, from the Holy Spirit, that the truth will fully be known. Let us now ask for His help.

Pray for those who are questioning now whether to do the right thing or to do the politically expedient thing, but especially for President Obama and those who work closely with him in his administration. Now is the time for calmness and prayer, for the sake of our country.

It’s also a situation that is very fluid. Anything could happen between now and tomorrow…and there is no telling where we will be in all of this by next week. Just pray. It’s important.

O Holy Spirit, Spirit of truth, come into our hearts; shed the brightness of Thy light upon the nations, that they may please Thee in unity of faith. Amen.

Obama’s Scandals Show the Dangers of Obamacare
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It seems someone may have slipped a red pill into the DC water system. Politico reports that DC is turning on President Obama in light of several scandals, including revelations that the IRS has targeted groups that disagree with the president on issues and that the Department of Justice seized the phone records of Associated Press reporters. It is becoming clearer even to people on the left who have rabidly defended the president that the idea of an all-powerful government that can target you, or anyone, may not be as great as they thought it would be. This morning at Politico, this larger picture is mentioned in terms of Obamacare, and rightly so.

“If you spend most of your time on politics, the tone that’s set throughout the federal agencies really is, politics is paramount,” continued Holtz-Eakin, who heads the nonprofit American Action Forum. “If you think about a generic argument about Obamacare — which happens to be true — is that it’s going to run an enormous amount of American insurance and health care decisions through D.C., that no longer sounds benign.”

(In a Monday MSNBC appearance, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich made the argument like so: “Why would you trust the bureaucracy with your health if you can’t trust the bureaucracy with your politics?”)

Sadly, the article ends with the argument that the fear of government will blow over just as other scandals (like Solyndra and the Ground Zero mosque) have blown over.

The surer bet, said Matt Bennett, vice president of the centrist Democratic think tank Third Way, is that the party will have even more ground to make up when it comes to persuading Americans to believe that government can be a positive good.

“My view is that when Obama said, we’re going to have the most open and transparent and ethical government in history, he absolutely meant every word of that and means it today. But the government is a gargantuan, sprawling enterprise that does stupid things every day and some of that comes to light. Because all big enterprises do stupid things,” Bennett said.

They still prefer government control to freedom. They are still okay with the idea of people suffering greatly (as long as they are a minority) to bring about a “greater good.” This is one of the main errors of the ideology of the radical left, that somehow the end justifies the means. In order to make an omelet, you have to crack some eggs. The problem is that elites run all of this, and they protect each other. It is the guy with the minority opinion, who objects to this control by elites, whose eggs are cracked, ultimately. That is why it took the story about the Associated Press and the Department of Justice to make so many in Washington rethink President Obama. “How dare he do that” to the press who defends him at every turn. How dare he use his power to attack fellow elites.

They still don’t get it. God help us.

Jury Finds Kermit Gosnell Guilty of Murder in Three Born-Alive Abortion Incidents
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Kermit Gosnell

Bucks County Courier Times columnist J.D. Mullane reports from the courtroom via Twitter that Philadelphia abortionist Kermit Gosnell has been found guilty of murder in three of the four 1st degree murder charges against him. Gosnell murdered three children, according to the jury, that had been born alive during the course of separate abortion procedures.

 

Stay tuned to Live Action, Life News and JillStanek.com for more on this verdict.

Cardinal Njue of Kenya Slams ‘Catholics for Choice’
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Cardinal Njue of Kenya

Cardinal Njue of Kenya

The pro-abortion fake Catholic group “Catholics for Choice” has long sought to spread confusion among Catholics by claiming that it is “Catholic” to be for abortion and contraception. In Kenya, they are using a billboard campaign, which they have ludicrously dubbed “Condoms for Life,” to do just that. John Cardinal Njue and other Catholic bishops in Kenya are having none of it, though. In a press conference, they slammed “Catholics for Choice” and called on all Catholics to “ignore” these billboards. Thanks be to God for their stand against “Catholics for Choice.”

Here’s video from Citizen News in Kenya.

In Washington State, Liberals Put Abortion, Homosexuality and Suicide in Preference Over the Poor
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poverty

Never mind that Catholic hospitals are more committed to serving the poor than other healthcare institutions. Liberals in Washington are opposing Catholic healthcare because it doesn’t include abortion, suicide, and support for homosexual lifestyles. These things, for the liberal, trump care for the poor.

New York Times:

Catholic hospital leaders said that changes in the medical and economic landscape could threaten service to millions of Americans in rural and suburban areas who might have no choices at all if their local hospital closed or shrank, and that Catholic partners — driven by a mission to serve the underserved — are uniquely fitted to help. The issue is not availability of abortion or consult to the dying, they say, which will still be available in secular institutions not that far away, but access to care at all.

“The Catholic health system is in many of the communities we’re in because other health care providers have not wanted to serve those communities and have not had a commitment to serve every human being,” said Peter Adler, a senior vice president at PeaceHealth, a Catholic hospital system based in the Pacific Northwest that is one of the bidders for the three hospitals in northwest Washington.

But critics said that Catholic hospitals do not, in fact, serve every human being because they deny certain reproductive services or end-of-life care that could help a dying patient end his or her suffering.

The “critic” they quote to convince you that Catholic healthcare must be stopped is a “Catholic lesbian” which is kind of like quoting Martin Luther, the German monk who led the 16th century protestant revolt in Germany, to ask his thoughts on Catholicism.

“It’s a collision course,” said Suzanne Holland, a science and values professor in the department of religion at the University of Puget Sound, referring to the potential of constriction in health care options from economic change, and at the same time restricted choice on moral grounds at hospitals operated through a lens of religious doctrine.

Professor Holland, a Catholic and a lesbian, said she already tried to avoid going to a Catholic hospital near her because she was concerned that administrators there would not recognize the rights of her civil union partner.

For the liberal, it’s more important (or, at least, just as important) that homosexuality be deemed sacred than for a child in poverty to get treatment for an illness like influenza, or for an injury like a broken femur from falling out of a tree. If homosexuality, abortion and suicide are not deemed to be sacred by a hospital, then that hospital must not be allowed to expand, according to Washington liberals.