Triage

I am extremely pro-life. But I'm not a black and white simplistic thinker. And for that reason, the one situation I waver on in my pro-life tendencies is the issue of triage.

This isn't just about abortion. It can happen in an accident on the freeway- where two victims come in to the emergency room, there are enough resources to only treat one, and the other has little chance of survival.

The old TV Show M*A*S*H had an excellent episode where one soldier had his aorta shot out, another soldier had a head would with 3/4ths of his brain missing- and they waited until the one with worse injuries died to harvest the aorta for the one they could save.

And yes, it happens in abortion as well. The liberal at church who attacked me so vehemently a few weeks ago, is an emergency room nurse. Back in the 1980s, before she became pro-choice, she was faced with a woman in the emergency room in a coma from a 7 month undiagnosed ectopic pregnancy. Today, there'd be an excellent chance of performing a cesarean and having both mother and child survive- back then it simply wasn't possible to save both. So in support of the seven other children the mother already had- they saved the mother.

I'm often asked what I'd like to see happen legally with abortion. Evangelium Vitae *requires* faithful Catholics to oppose legal abortion- in all instances.

But I'm not real sure we should punish doctors in a triage situation with jail. Here's another option that I think is more correct, yet recognizes that "Safe, Legal, and Rare" is a lie and that abortion is always and forever evil:

I’m for replacing *all* medical abortions after 20 weeks with cesarean birth, making all non-medically necessary abortions illegal, and *requiring* any doctor performing an abortion for *any* reason to fill out a triage report and pay for the decent burial and funeral of the fetus, which the mother should be required to attend, and in which the triage report is read into the public record. And Catholic women who find themselves in this situation should go to a Project Rachel weekend as soon as possible.

In other words, I recognize in this fallen world, abortions before 20 weeks *might* be necessary in a “save the patient you can because your skills aren’t good enough to save both” scenario. But evil should never be easy, and should always come with a cost. And that cost is often psychological as well as physical.

You might be a conspiracy theorist if

Your conclusion still has untested data.

Why I believe in a male priesthood

Because I can't imagine going to a woman for confession. I really can't. Women need to talk. They need to talk so much they think a man who is largely ignoring them is a good listener. I simply can't imagine one keeping confidential what she would hear in the confessional.

Birthers need to get a refund on their law degrees

The Internet Constitutional Lawyers are at it again with respect to Obama's parentage. I am not a lawyer- but I am a software engineer with a google machine! United_States_v._Wong_Kim_Ark is the deciding case in 1898. Minor v Happensett has already been ruled as moot to the case: Arizona Judge rules Minor V. Happersett as moot to the case of President Obama

Because 1. It left the question open for a future generation, and 20 years later, USvWKA answered it. and 2. Minor v Happensett was reversed by constituional Amendment (19th)

Collectivist Capitalism

An interesting story on alternet about how the Soviets Won in the end. Not by taking over our government- but by forming Soviet-Style Politburos overseeing every business, overseeing every industry, reducing liberty and choice down to a few eliete-approved ways to be conned out of your hard earned money.

Reinhard Marx - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Reinhard Marx - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

I think I can finally call myself a Marxist again.  Not Karl though.  Reinhard.  This courageous cardinal is taking on the big boys on both the left and the right when it comes to economic social justice.

I make the decisions

That's what one woman who bothered me at church a couple of weeks said when she told me she was boycotting the Fortnight for Freedom and when I asked her if she believed in Apostolic Authority. It makes this video seem appropriate. I didn't embed it on purpose- as I think it's best to "middle click" (push down on your mouse's scroll wheel) on the link to open it in a new tab. Or right click and select "open in new tab", works just as well.

The Utopia of Knightshelm

My dream that I see NO material way of ever accomplishing, but I'm going to put it down here. A 360 acre town located somewhere in Oregon, I'm thinking the West Side of the Southern Cascades would be the ideal climate for the town of Knightshelm, based around six institutions:

1. The Venerable Fr. McGivney Chapel, which is an irregular octagon basement, with a Maltese Cross main floor containing the Sanctuary, and a solar panel roof providing energy for the main complex in the shape of a shield (and thus, shows up as the Emblem of the Order on Google Earth). Stairs to the basement are hidden by a moving altar- and are closed when in EF/Latin placement against the wall, but open when in OF/Novus Ordo placement away from the wall.
2. The Permaculture General store, in which the entire produce section is an indoor/outdoor garden, the meat section includes a pasture and livestock as well as a butcher shop, and one way of purchasing food there is in exchange for volunteer hours. It would include the post office and only require money for imported luxury foods, like coffee.
3. The Fourth Degree Assisted Living Center- a cross shaped building topped with a sculpture of a dove, a rooftop garden, and a huge circular solar panel providing extra energy for medical equipment. Contains 20 apartments, a centralized restaurant, and a small medical clinic.
4. The Three Stories Family Shelter, taking in homeless Knights and their families- one floor each in honor of the Virtues of Charity, Unity, and Fraternity. Required for staying there is doing volunteer time in one of the other institutions.
5. The Family Retreat Lodge- a combination restaurant, meeting hall, movie theater, drama stage, and daycare.
6. The Knights of the Road RV and Trailer Park. A KOA style resort, perhaps actually run under the KOA brand.

Main export service: Family Exemplification Retreat Weekends, which start with a First Degree on Friday Night, followed by Eucharistic Adoration, Catholic Daughters Exemplification for the Wives and Squires Exemplification on Saturday Morning, Saturday Noon EF Latin Mass, Second and Third Degree on Saturday Afternoon, Catholic Family Movie Night on Saturday Evening, Sunday Morning OF Mass, Sunday noon Brunch, and Sunday Afternoon Exemplification in the Fourth Degree.

Cardinal Schonborn on Controversy

Our Sunday Visitor is quickly becoming one of my favorite centerist Catholic websites, and this interview with Cardinal Schonborn of Vienna is a great example. I love his take on Medjugorje, despite the fact that in angers people that he has NOT disobeyed the church and come out as a defender of the apparitions, and it angers people on the other side that he has provided "pastoral care" for groups of pilgrims.

I fully agree with his decision to let a chaste homosexual serve on a local pastoral council (wish I could get one for my Knights Council!). And the way he's handling the dissident group "Call to Disobedience" (a group that like Voice of the Faithful, doesn't understand the value of either obedience or faith) is downright inspired- by asking them NOT to give up their dissent, but ask the deeper questions their dissent promotes. As I experienced on Sunday, it's easy to go with the flow of Libertineism, either fiscal or sexual, at the expense of our faith. The far more courageous path is the Catholic Way- realizing that the Church is a Hospital for Sinners, not a Resort with Amusement Park for Saints. And as Cardinal Schonborn said in the interview- the first person we need to evangelize- is ourselves.

The problem of religious liberty

One other conservative at Church refused to take a yardsign for the 4th Of July- because the Islamics have proven to him that religious liberty is a bad idea.

In the mean time though, the following actions have been taken:

The Bishops' Migration and Refugee Services division is now disqualified from a federal contract to provide services to victims of human trafficking because they will not refer women for abortions.

Catholic Charities has been forced out of adoption and foster care services in Boston, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and the entire state of Illinois for refusing to place children in same-sex couple households. Some sections of recent state immigration laws prohibit priests from providing the Sacraments to an illegal immigrant. Regardless of how one feels about the illegal immigration issues facing our country, our priests should still be able to provide for the spiritual needs of anyone.

New York City is banning religious groups from renting schools on weekends for services even though non-religious groups are still allowed to rent the same facilities for any other use.

The Christian Legal Society at the University of California Hastings College of Law was denied student organization status because it required its leaders to support an abstinence pledge.

As Bishop Stephen Blair of Stockton recently said, "We serve people because we are Catholic, not because they are Catholic!" Catholic institutions are open to all in need. Unfortunately, local, state, and federal government entities are making it harder and harder for them to serve the needy unless they fit themselves into various bureaucratic boxes that violate our beliefs. Catholic and Christian groups around this country hold a proud cultural tradition for many. Yet, government at every level is forcing them to change some of the vary things that make them great.

The other side is winning the war on turning liberty into libertine. They MUST be stopped.

The problem with liberals

Is that they've become as bigoted and hateful as conservatives. A woman at church- I don't even know why she's still Catholic, yelled at me for supporting the Bishops for Fortnight for Freedom- because she apparently thinks that all the Bishops want is to oppress nuns and lesbians and women who want to kill their children.

The irony made me so angry I haven't been able to stop thinking about it in nearly 20 hours.

Next time I get cornered like that, I'm going to ask the woman with woodstockhome syndrome if while praying, she ever stops talking to listen.