A woman from my parish, Shirley Hendrix, suffered a massive stroke on Friday and was not found for several hours, so her brain damage is extensive. Please pray for her. Thanks!

Guess what? Everybody’s wrong.

Pseudoknowledge in action!

PS: Related reading for those who also believe the modern myth about Christmas being a warmed-over pagan feast. For yet more information about the mythical (and real) relationship between the Catholic faith and pagan antiquity, see Mary, Mother of the Son.

Just as this story about gendercide comes flying over the transom and into my email, what should I also get but a letter from Ronan Mullen, a member of Ireland’s Seanad (Senate) whom I had the honor of meeting in Dublin in 2007:

Dear Mark,

I hope this finds you well. This is just a quick email to update you on two items I am dealing with at the moment – a Seanad private members’ motion on the problem of Gendercide, and Thursday’s referendum on Oireachtas Committees of Inquiry. I hope some of the material here is of interest.

Gendercide

Gendercide involves the killing of baby girls before and after birth simply on account of the lower social status of girl children. It is perhaps the most widespread human rights abuse in the world today; it’s a particular problem in China and India but occurs also in parts of Europe. In tomorrow’s motion (see text and press release below) I am calling on the Government to highlight the problem in international and diplomatic fora. I am delighted to have the support of Senators from different sides of the house – Fianna Fáil, Sinn Féin and Independent colleagues, for this proposal.

Unfortunately, the Fine Gael/Labour Government plans to oppose my motion and has tabled a rather weak amendment which mentions “infanticide” but omits reference to the killing of baby girls before birth, or to forced abortion. But these practices are also part of the human rights abuse known as Gendercide. If you see fit to contact the Government or Government Senators to express support for my motion, I would encourage you to do so. Thanks for any support you can give.

Referendum on Oireachtas Committee of Inquiry

I am encouraging a “No” vote in the referendum on Oireachtas Inquiries because I believe it is a very flawed proposal. I enclose a recent Irish Times article and also a press release setting out my position.

Please don’t hesitate to contact me if I can ever be of assistance, it is best to ring my office directly on 01 618 3930 rather than reply by email.

Beir bua agus beannacht,

Rónán

Texts:

1. News Release on Gendercide debate in Seanad

Gendercide a direct attack upon human dignity causing massive social upheaval

Senator Rónán Mullen tables a Private Members’ Motion this Wednesday on gendercide – the practice of selective abortion, infanticide and fatal neglect of baby girls after birth. The motion notes that gendercide is one of the most horrific and widespread human rights abuses present in the world today and calls on the Government to bring diplomatic pressure to bear on states such as India and China that promote or tolerate the practice.

“Gendercide is motivated by economic and social factors leading to prejudice against baby girls,” Senator Mullen says. “It is by far and away the most widespread form of violent anti-female discrimination present in the world today. An estimated 160 million girls have been killed either before or after birth over the last three decades through gendercide, mainly in India and China but increasingly also in Europe.”

“Only two weeks ago the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe adopted a resolution and recommendation condemning the practice of sex-selective abortions. The Parliamentary Assembly warned of the social consequences of prenatal sex selection, namely population imbalances which lead to serious human rights violations such as forced prostitution, trafficking for the purposes of marriage or sexual exploitation, and massive social unrest.”

“Although the scale of the problem has been comprehensively documented at UN level, in US Congressional reports as well as by reputable publications such as The Economist, Time and Newsweek, our Government has to yet to make a clear statement against gendercide, either domestically or internationally,” Senator Mullen says.

“It’s time for our Government to make a clear statement that it does not in any way tolerate gendercide and that it is committed to raising this issue in international fora. The Government must also ensure that recipients of Irish foreign aid do not promote gendercide.”

Expressing the hope that the Government would depart from its usual practice of tabling amendments to private members motions in the Seanad, Senator Mullen said there was no reason for the Government to oppose his motion. “This is an issue that unites opinion from across the political spectrum,” Senator Mullen said, noting that the Council of Europe’s recent resolution was drafted by Swiss socialist MP, Ms. Doris Stump.

2. Private Members’ motion on Gendercide

That Seanad Éireann, noting that:
- Gendercide involves the selective abortion, infanticide and fatal neglect of baby girls after birth;
- Gendercide is one of the most horrific human rights abuses present in the world today and perhaps the most widespread form of violent anti-female discrimination;
- The scale of the problem has been comprehensively documented at UN level, in US Congressional reports as well as by reputable journalists in cover story articles in The Economist, Time and Newsweek among others; and that
- Opposition to gendercide unites people with significantly different perspectives on the issue of abortion generally;

Calls on the Government to:
- Bring diplomatic pressure to bear on the governments of various states, and in particular China and India, which either promote Gendercide or tolerate the problem within their borders;
- Raise the issue of gendercide at UN and EU level, with a view to proactively challenging states like China and India to abandon coercive population limitation policies, to repeal laws that reinforce bias against baby girls, and to take steps to counter the negative cultural attitudes towards women that underpin and motivate the bias against baby girls, leading to gendercide;
- Ensure that recipients of Irish foreign aid do not promote gendercide.

3. Government counter-motion/amendment

“That Seanad Éireann, condemning in the strongest terms female infanticide and all other violations of the rights of women and girls,
- commends the Government’s firm opposition to such practices and its efforts to combat all forms of gender-based violence;
- endorses the Government’s strong support for gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls through its Official Development Assistance Programme.”

Ireland, don’t drop that guy, because you won’t soon find another like him.

I hope some bright person soon brings the tools of gender discrimination language to bear on the disproportionate slaughter of girls. If it saves some lives, why not?

…people I know with daughters are enrolling them in American Heritage Girls instead of The Thing That Used to be the Girl Scouts. Evidently, people want their little girls to have normal little girl experiences rather than subject them to Porned Parenthood agitprop and the narcissistic needs of gay adults who want everybody to submit to their transgender experimentation on children in order to accessorize their radically self-absorbed lives.

…upset by Church’s failure to be racist. Basic subtext summed up by post-Christian racist comboxer:

The Church moves with the times.

If the white man is on top, you defer to him.

If the Brown horde is coming for Rome, you get on your knees to them.

Not very spiritual, but very good business, indubitably.

When you abandon the faith that all humans are in the image and likeness of God, you start falling for this kind of racist filth. Incredible as it may seem, the Church operates by an entirely different calculus than this guy can even imagine.

Meanwhile, reader Kurt Higdon replies to this swill by identifying the arch-conspirator behind the Church’s sinister vision of globalism and the horrible fruits of letting miscegenation poison the purity of the white man’s essence:

This all goes back to that notorious globalist Jesus Christ who commanded his apostles to preach the gospel to ALL nations. One of those apostles, Thomas, made it all the way to India where he established a branch of the Church whose nuns are currently caring for patients at our local hospital here in Corpus Christi. What an insidious 2000 year global conspiracy!

Speaking of racists, I am pleased to note that The American Catholic site stood up to one in their comboxes and banished him. Well done! The same individual has periodically afflicted me in my comboxes too, so I applaud TAC for showing this man the door. Such filth has no place among either Americans or Catholics. Bravo, TAC!

When we want to do that, we recognize that people are made in the image and likeness of God and treat them accordingly. When we don’t want to do that, we come up with excuses for aborting and torturing them, such as “What about abortion?” when we want to commit torture and “What about torture?” when we want to commit abortion. Both lies are ways of avoiding the fact that the person we are abusing has dignity that inheres in the fact of what they are as creatures in the image of God, and not in what they do in offending our ideas of liberty (as a single mom) or in what they might do (if it turns out, after we have tortured them, that they might know something we suspect they might possibly know).

When you reduce a person to a thing (which is what you always do when you make them a means to an end), you inherently attack their dignity.

…dedicated to helping familiarize folk with the thought of Pope Benedict. In this particular entry, we take a look at Spes Salvi and, in particular, at the idea of real vs. false progress. Since I blogged on the idea of progress last week (and was roundly rebuked by both reactionaries and progressive for my own take on the matter), I was interested to see what Benedict has to say. Very sane stuff, as is his custom.

…is finger-lickin’ good!

A reader writes:

The priest I was going to ask to be my spiritual director, Fr. Jonathan, has been diagnosed with lung cancer that has spread to several vertebrae of the backbone. Please offer up prayers for his full healing. He is the best priest I’ve ever met.

Father, hear our prayer that Fr. Jonathan be fully healed through Christ our Lord. Grant skill and compassion to his caregivers and grace, strength, peace and consolation to all who love him. Mother Mary, St. Luke and St. Peregrine, pray for him! We ask all this through Jesus Christ.

Another reader writes:

My pastor, Father Jim Perkl, addressed the Eucharistic desecration in this week’s bulletin that occurred at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton parish last weekend, in which the partially consumed Eucharist was found stuck to the pages of a hymnal. 30 hymnals were found with the desecrated Eucharist contained in them.

Father Perkl’s pastor’s column on the situation, which is very beautifully written, can be found at this link on page 2

Father Perkl also told me that the Masses this weekend would be offered in reparation for this sad sacrilege.
Please pray for my parish and those responsible for the desecration of the Eucharist.

Father, we pray that you would visit the person who has done this with your special mercy and love, that they would repent of this thing and come to have a special devotion to you in your Blessed Sacrament. Mother Mary and St. Paul, pray for them. We ask this through Jesus Christ, fully present in the Eucharist.

…has some really terrific insights into what he calls the Broken Family film.

My only comment would be that, as Spielberg continues his quest to work through his daddy issues, one very important contribution to Greydanus’ sampler of Broken Family films is “War of the Worlds” in which not just one house, but three, get smashed to pieces as emblems of the ruins of the hero’s family, before he finally proves his fatherhood.

A really fascinating piece by a guy I am honored to call my friend.  Well done, Steven!

A reader who had earlier asked for prayers for her mother who was undergoing surgey writes:

My mother had a stroke after surgery and that combined with other problems has weakened her terribly. We took care of her as long as we could at home, but she is confined to bed, and suffering from recurring bladder infections and dementia.  We just put her in a nursing home, and I have arranged for our pastor to visit her and give her communion.

I still need prayers.  More so than ever and so does all the rest of the family.

Father, hear our prayer that you sustain this family in this trial, grant comfort and healing to my reader’s mother, and help the family find peace, grace, and strength to know the prudent things to do as they face this trouble in love.  Mother Mary and St. Luke pray for them and for her mother’s caregivers.  We ask this in the Name of Jesus Christ.

Another reader writes:

An individual who messed us over on a real estate deal is now coming back and trying to take us to court for money. Please pray for us.

Father, let what is just and loving be done in this situation.  Mother Mary, pray for all concerned. We ask this in the Name of Jesus Christ.

Another reader writes:

A girl I met at a summer camp seems to be considering apostatizing and leaving the Church, and she doesn’t seem to be fully aware of the grave nature of doubting the Faith, either, which additionally worries me. I think she desperately needs prayers. I would like to ask people to storm heaven for this young lady, for whom Our Lord suffered and died.

Father, grant that your daughter be given the grace to cling to her faith and that her doubts would be answered with your truth and love through Christ our Lord.  Mother Mary, pray for her that  she remain in Christ Jesus and in the bosom of the Church.

Another reader writes:

A young man I went to college with is in the ICU (and has been for around two weeks) with pneumonia and/or Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome. He is currently relying on ECMO treatment, which is somewhat like a heart-lung machine. Please ask your readers to pray for this young man, the doctors and all those who care for him, and his family during this trying time.

Father, hear our prayer for this man’s complete healing through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Give grace, peace and strength to all who love  him and skill and compassion to his caregivers.  Mother Mary and St. Luke, pray for him!

Another reader writes:

Could you post a prayer request for my Aunt Betty.  She died this morning.  Pray for her and for her family, and all of us. Especially for my Mom, as Betty was one of two sisters left, and my Mom is still recovering from losing Dad earlier in this year.  Much appreciated.

May Aunt Betty’s  soul and all the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.  Grant peace and consolation to all who loved her, especially to my reader’s Mom.  Mother Mary, pray for us now and at the hour of our death.  We ask this through Christ our Lord, Amen!

Just a reminder that the Holy Spirit is at work in the world.