Pro-lifers in South Dakota defy the political odds and get a ban on abortions passed. The local bishop sees it as the first step in a new socialist agenda.
Bishop Blase J. Cupich of Rapid City said South Dakota citizens and their elected officials “can be justifiably proud of their efforts to restore the rights of the unborn child,” but “a change in law and structures,” he said, “is not sufficient.”
Society must build a culture of life that “begins with the unborn” and also ensures livable wages, education, adequate health care, help for single mothers and “an end to the death penalty,” he said.
... Catholics must join with others to support “a livable wage for workers, assistance for single mothers, adequate health care for families, the education of our youth and an end to the death penalty,” the bishop said.
Undoubtedly, all through the passage of new entitlements and the accompanying taxes to pay for them.
Abortion isn’t just one of many problems we face in this country. It is the systematic state-sanctioned murder of millions of children and the decimation of a generation.
A loophole in the new law
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Dom, allow me to add to your statement. The words are in capitals.
Abortion isn’t just one of many problems we face in this country. It is the systematic FEDERAL LAW OF THE LAND & state-sanctioned murder of millions of children and the decimation of a generation.
And we ask——“God Bless America!”?????
It always bugs me when bishops or priests “muddy the waters” about Church Doctrine. Lumping in “a livable wage”, “aid to single mothers”, “health care”, “education” and an “end to the death penalty” serves to give people the impression that all these things are on the same plane as abortion – and results in moral equivalence.
Yes, there are many social ills in our society – and much worse ones in other societies – but if you have been aborted you won’t need a livable wage, health care or an education. And you have already been subjected to the legalized death penalty of the innocent in this country.
Don’t confuse the issues, your excellencies…
Greetings, all,
Bishop Cupich has the same mentality as I do when it comes to abortion. It is the first issue that must end before we can work on the other issues. This is nothing new, at least for those of us who read what Cardinal Bernardin said when he initially proposed his “Seamless Garment.”
Bishop Cupich does not seem to muddy the waters. He has not equalled abortion (an issue of taking life) with a living wage (an issue of promoting human dignity). This is the same distinction that Cardinal Bernardin made.
Below is a link to two of his speeches on this topic:
<url>http://www.clevelandcatholiccharities.org/prolife/Consistent.htm</url>
By the way, reading these speeches reemphasized my understanding that US involvement in Iraq may indeed be justified.
“Bishop Cupich does not seem to muddy the waters. He has not equalled abortion (an issue of taking life) with a living wage (an issue of promoting human dignity). This is the same distinction that Cardinal Bernardin made.”
I thought Cardinal Bernardin came up with the concept of the “seamless garment”, which did in fact define all of these issues as being morally equivalent.
Please correct me if I’m way off base.
Thanks!
I believe that Card. Bernardin meant that opposing abortion wasn’t all there was to being pro-life. I don’t think he ever said that all of these issues were of equal weighy, at least I don’t recall ever seeing any such statement attributed to him. The problem is that this concept has been used as cover by pro-abortion politicians who still want to call themselves Catholic. That is, they can say that because they favor increased funding for medical services for the poor and a marginal increase in the minimum wage that they are pro-life, evern thought they continue to support unrestricted abortion. If I recall right the staff of the USCCB attempted to distribute “score cards” during the 2004 election to judge politicians on various issues for adherence to Catholic doctrine.
The problem I have with the Bishop’s statement is not that the issues he raised aren’t important, but that there seem to be a lot of people in the Church who want to change the subject whenever we are talking about abortion. It gives the impression that abortion isn’t that important, the “other issues” are the ones that are important.
This is a comment that my Bishop made concerning Bernadin’s Seamless garment—-
“Cardinal Bernadin formulated a moral point of view in The Consistent Ethic of life or the Seamless garment. “Unfortunately it has been misused in terms of undervaluing the importance and primacy of respect of human life, especially in terms of the availability of abortion.”
The Bishop goes on to explain—“the garment may have no seam, but the garment is made of a single thread and that thread is the inviolability of human life. If the thread is pulled, so to speak, the whole garment falls apart..
All life issues are seen in relationship from the perspective of the primacy and paramount responsibility to protect human life.
I think some of the previous posters are missing the point of the Archbishop. Far from being a plain old call for socialist policies it is a renewed push for us to consider every possible method of stopping abortion. Think of this like sin. It isn’t enough to simply stop the outward action, it’s about the inner soul as well. E.g. “I say to you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery…” This is not just about ending the legal status of abortion, it’s about making a nation and world where abortion isn’t even considered an option. Not because it’s illegal – but because the respect for and dignity of life is so paramount that these evils fail to even register as options on the radar screen of an individual facing pregnancy outside of ideal conditions. As the Archbishop said – it is laudable and commendable to have passed said legislation; however, do not confuse the illegalization of abortion with victory on the issue.
And so to end abortion we need to end the death penalty. Even though the death penalty is not per se forbidden and abortion is.
Do you really want to end abortion, or do you want to end legal abortion. Making abortion illegal is a priority, as it rightly should be, but do not confuse reversing Roe, illegalization of abortion, and ending abortion.
Abortion and the death penalty—-
How many think that the two are not comparable?
Abortion is the taking of innocent human life and hence it is murder.
The death penalty is not murder. It is a penalty that one brings upon self for taking the right to life of another unjustly. One forfits his right to life when he takes that same right away from another human being.
Dear Lynne,
I attempted to include a link, but I couldn’t be able to get it in. Copy the link in my above post and then read the .pdf files.
I hope that helps.