Nobody’s perfect. Right?

Once upon a time there was (and still is) a Brilliant Creator.  This Brilliant Creator, otherwise known as BC, created many wonderful things, all of them “very good.”  BC had a conversation with two local news paper commentators named Rene Brueberg, otherwise known as RB and Carrie Smith, CS. Oh yes, the Evil One, EO, would chime in the conversation every now and then.  The conversation centered on the most magnificent and beautiful of BC’s creations, which are Human Beings, HBs.  This conversation took place many thousands of years after BC created his masterpiece.  BC, RB, and CS were all very concerned about the condition of HBs and the world in which they live.  With a few exceptions they all agreed on what the solutions should be to solve the problems plaguing HBs. The EO really didn’t care much.  In fact the EO was quite content with confusing rhetoric and clouded issues.  Anyway, the conversation went something like this.

BC to RB and CS:  My dear children, so many of my HBs are mired in moral confusion today.  I desperately need your help.  With your powerful voices you can reach so many of my beloved HBs.  Your stories of love and compassion, struggle and triumph are very encouraging.  But I need more from you.  To help save my beloved HBs I need you to go much deeper with a message of love so radical that, sadly, some will not accept it.  This message is our only hope.  For my HBs are like none other of my creations, so strong yet so frail, so insightful, yet so blind, capable of such unspeakable horrors, and at the same time of such unimaginable love and kindness.  The wellbeing and dignity of my HBs must take priority over everything in life.

CS: Even our reproductive freedom?

EO: A legitimate question my dear!

BC:  Yes my child, the entire world is at stake.

EO: Hogwash!

BC: You see when I created my precious HBs I gave them a set of loving parameters to keep them out of trouble and save them much heartache.  Sort of like an instruction manual on how to behave. I call it Natural Law, or NL.  Every HB instinctively knows about my NL, because I wrote it on their hearts.  Though some choose to ignore it, and that hurts me deeply.

EO: Wimp!

BC: I love my HBs so much that I gave them free will.  But because my two original HBs chose differently than I would have liked them to choose, things are not always as they should be.  So it is more important than ever to follow my NL. So important that I even sent my Only Begotten Son, OBS, to reiterate and clarify my NL.  Many HBs loved my OBS and took his words to heart.  Some HBs thought he was crazy, others were confused and frightened by his message.  And some HBs were so full of jealousy, hatred, and pride that they actually killed my OBS.  I love my OBS so much that they actually killed me as well.

EO: My kind of HBs!

RB: How can we help?

BC: My child, as you know my OBS gathered 12 HBs and gave them the command to spread my radical life-saving message to all people throughout the world.  We chose an ordinary working class HB named Peter to lead this rather simple band of HBs, though sadly one of them strayed.  After my OBS was killed he defeated death, returned to those imperfact HBs and gave them the Holy Spirit, HS.  Through the strength of us three as one, Myself, my OBS, and the HS, those 11 HBs started my church, MC.  They even died for MC. Today, HBs hear my voice, MV and that radical life-saving message through MC, but only if HBs want to. I don’t force MV on any HB.

RB: But BC, today many HBs claim that your church is in Rome and led by another HB who is the successor of Peter.  I don’t necessarily believe that. How can this HB have the ability  to speak for you?  How on earth can this HB in Rome possibly possess enough wisdom to know what’s best for HBs all over the world?  For me the real Church is in the pews, not inRome.

BC: My beautiful child, I am indeed in the hearts of each one of my HBs in the pews.  I am also in the hearts of those who are not in the pews, and in those who are in Synagogues, Mosques, thatched huts, huge mansions and behind prison walls.  But not all HBs listen to their hearts and many misunderstand MV. So MC is always there being MV and inviting all HBs to the table for spiritual nourishment and compassionate direction.

CS: Considering the circumstances I think that we HBs are doing a pretty decent job of getting by today.  I mean there’s always room for improvement, but I think that through our own intelligence we have done pretty well at interpreting your word and addressing some very pressing issues.

BC: My lovely child, all HBs are a part of me and I am in all HBs.  Nothing breaks my heart more than to see my precious HBs suffer.  There is too much suffering today, emotionally, physically, and spiritually.  Most of it is caused by HBs not listening to MV and disregarding my NL.  When my precious HBs make destructive choices it hurts me deeply, and part of me dies.  THAT DREADED DAY IN THE GARDEN!

EO: Ha!

BC:  You see my children, every kind of evil from the beginning of time is born out of a deliberate separation from me, for I am pure love.  This permits HBs to see themselves and other HBs as less than what I made them to be, which is the summit of my creation and the center of my love.  Every act of lust, deceit, greed, and cruelty, when done to a fellow HB, whether directed to one individual, or an entire race, stems from the fact that HBs have moved themselves so far out of my loving reach that they can no longer recognize their innate beauty and worth.

CS: HBs have always been cruel to each other throughout history.  But I think that today through the intelligence that you have given us we’ve evolved to the point where we HBs have been able to handle some of the most important situations pretty well ourselves.  I’m talking about major decisions like life and death.  I mean we HBs can also decide who should live and who should die, right?  You shouldn’t always be burdened with those important decisions.  So we’ve developed our own laws which permit us to make those decisions for ourselves.  That’s a step in the direction of a more compassionate society don’t you think? Don’t you think that humankind is wise enough to decide who should live and who should die?

EO: You go girl!

BC: (a large tear slowly begins to form in BC’s magnificent eye)   My dear Carrie, more than any other, that kind of reasoning has led to more misery and death than anything else. More wars fought, more starvation, disease, and death has been caused by that kind of reasoning.  Today in your self-proclaimed sophistication HBs have even managed to justify mass murder on a scale that dwarfs all wars throughout time.  World War III has been raging for almost 40 years with little attention.  A crime against humanity of this magnitude can only be perpetuated with the blessing of a society that has been decieved with the lie that HBs can be me. I hear the cries of all of my little ones, LOs.  I see their faces, I hear their screams.  I am with them in their secret hiding place as they struggle for shelter from medical instruments that were intended to heal and not to destroy.

CS: But BC, is it not important for HBs to have some control over their own bodies?  Are we not to be the Lord of even ourselves?

BC: My child, your laws have managed to turn the most precious dwelling place on earth into the most lethal. This has done great damage to HBs’ ability to truly recognize and appreciate the magnificence of my handiwork.  You’ve managed to cheapen human life to the point to where it is viewed as disposable.  When one of my LOs dies, it is as if a lance has pierced my heart.

EO: Give me a break!

CS: But BC, where have you been for the last 38 years?  Aren’t you aware that some of our brightest legal and political minds, by using the intelligence that you gave us, have already established that your LOs are not HBs?  They’re fetuses.  And as such, they really don’t deserve any human rights whatsoever.  Unless of course we deem them worthy.  So what’s the big deal?  Women are the gatekeepers of life, not you. I’m sorry BC but we can’t give up that right.  We’ve evolved too far, we can’t go backwards now.

EO: Way to be strong!  Hold your ground, don’t give in.

RB: I’m not really sure how I feel about all that.  I mean medical science has indeed proved that beyond a doubt your LOs are really HBs and that they are being destroyed at an alarming rate.  However I’m still kind of in the middle on that whole issue.

BC: I know my daughter. (another tear begins to form in BC’s eye)

RB: But I am sure that HBs should be able to tell you when we want you to be part of the act of creating another HB.  I realize that you are the Author of life and all but we should take some control of creation, right?  We’re intelligent enough to know when we want you to participate in the holy act of creating another HB and when you should just stay out of our human intimacy, even though you created it.

BC: My dear Rene, when HBs try to take my place and make themselves the author of life they unwittingly tamper with my wise design.  And they do so with great cultural consequences; economically, ecologically, biologically, and sociologically.  A mere eighty years ago MC predicted some of these very problems that plague society today as never before in human history.  MC voiced concerns back then and still today, but very few listen.

EO: I agree with Rene, why shouldn’t HBs be like you if they desire it?

CS: Speaking of cultural issues, I really take issue with people who are under the impression that you intended only male and female HBs to marry each other. Obviously you designed male and female HBs differently, but as long as we’re compassionate and loving people, what’s the big deal who marries whom?  Your OBS said absolutely nothing about this issue the entire 33 years that he was here.

BC: My child, if you believe in the Trinity than you would realize that my OBS and I had much to say about my plan for male and female relationships.  Because of that day in the Garden many things are not as they were intended to be.  All HBs are affected by sin, and all HBs are loved by me more than they realize.  Because of my NL most HBs possess the ability to distinguish right from wrong, between what pleases me and what hurts me, and between what is true and what is a lie.  But the choice is still theirs.  Some HBs carry a heavier cross than others.  But all HBs are called to struggle against what this world tells them and toward what I have written on their hearts.

CS: But why should people suffer if they don’t have to?  If another person makes me happy and enriches my life why does it make a difference who they are?

BC: My dear child, listen to these words;

“The tolerance that admits God as it were as a private opinion but refuses him the public domain, the reality of the world and of our lives, is not tolerance but hypocrisy.  But nowhere that the human being makes himself the one Lord of the world and owner of himself can justice exist.  There, it is only the desire for power and private interests that can prevail.” 

CS: Those are good words!

RB: I agree, who said them?

BC: MV fromRome.

RB:Rome!  I don’t know about that. .

CS: Are you crazy?  What on earth does that celibate old man in Rome know about human relationships?

BC: My precious daughters, my design and plan for the survival and salvation of the human race is perfect and complete.  It does not require adjustment from you.  Can you not see what the past 50 years of your misguided social experimentations have wrought?  Did you not hear and understand MV?  “Nowhere that the HB makes himself the one Lord of the world and owner of himself can justice exist…only the desire for power and private interests.” I beg you my children, abide in me.  I need your powerful voices desperately.  I love you.

CS:  You are certainly a Brilliant Creator, that’s for sure.  But we just thought that in the areas of love, marriage, life and death that you could use a bit of help from us.  I mean nobody’s prefect.  Right?

Life and Peace, Richard and Linda Ciarrone

Babies, bonding, automobiles and crimes of passion

 Ever hear on the news or read in the paper about violence between live-in girlfriends and boyfriends? The stories are quit frequent. What pushes these ex-lovers to the point where they would actually do harm to each other? Sexual sin, fornication and adultery are nothing new. We’ve been pooh-poohing the sixth commandment forever, so we foolishly devise short-sighted solutions like contraception and abortion to help us legitimize such behavior. It is clear what this behavior and those solutions have done to our culture over the past four decades. God did not make up those commandments to take away our freedom; quite the contrary, when we listen to God’s “Natural Law” and behave within the protection of His loving arms, we become very liberated and free.Author Christopher West says that the “one flesh union” between husband and wife is so powerful that it parallels the relationship between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Because between the Father and the Son there is so much love, out of this proceeds the Holy Spirit. So it is between husband and wife during the marital embrace. For out of this act is the possibility of

 

another life. Author Dr. Janet Smith says that God also intended the one flesh union to securely bond husband and wife to better withstand life’s inevitable tribulations. In 1960 a young priest named Fr. Karol Wojtyla, better known as John Paul II, wrote in his incredible book Love and Responsibility that the one flesh union contributes to the “durability and cohesiveness” of the marriage.Having a better understanding of ourselves through Natural Law, it is very easy to see why people behave as they do. God intended the one flesh union to be exclusive between husband and wife. It is a wonderful, powerful and holy gift from our Eternal Lover. It gives married people intense physical pleasure, provides for security in marriage and allows us to participate in the creation of another human being. Can there be any question as to why there are so many relationship problems when we treat this wonderful gift as anything less than what it was intended?

When we treat one another as automobiles instead of magnificent creations of God, taking each other out for ‘test drives’ in bed and then returning the models that we’re not happy with, we’re gonna have problems.

 

Life and Peace,
Richard and Linda Ciarrone

Do You Live on a Safe Street?

The song ‘Where the streets have no name’ by U2 is on my top five list of all time favorites. Every time I hear that elongated organ intro by Brian Eno my (remaining) hair stands on end, I get goose bumps and am compelled to crank the volume to ear-splitting decibel levels much to the chagrin of my lovely wife who is already annoyed by my high frequency hearing loss.

There are many varied opinions about the meaning of this song’s lyrics. For me the song gives us a brief glimpse into heaven, what it will be like when we get there, and enduring the struggle here on earth in the meantime: “I want to tear down the walls that hold me inside / I want to reach out and touch the flame / Where the streets have no name…feel the sunlight on my face.” (We northeast Ohioans can relate to that line after a long cold winter.)

But I also heard that that song is about Ireland, in particular Northern Ireland. (Watch the music video & turn it WAY UP, it’s KILLER! Bono is simply phenomenal, such a strong, pure voice.) The cities in this region are divided by rich, poor, Catholic, Protestant, etc. By knowing the street on which a person resides you can tell their religion, wealth, and beliefs, which makes it easy to form an opinion about others before actually meeting them. So if we can imagine a place ‘where the streets have no name,’ there will be no pre-judging one another by where we reside. We will all be loved and valued simply because of who we are and not because of where we live. Being loved simply because of who we are is the most fundamental need of every human being.

Prejudice can take many forms. At times we may make judgments about people based on their appearance, skin tone, weight, scent, accent, income, immigration status, the car they drive, religious views, or place of residence, as the song insinuates. If, for instance, we know that a person lives in a poor section of town, we may have some preconceived notion of their worth and we may even go as far as to believe that they are of lesser value or expendable. When I think of people who are thought of as disposable because of their place of residence, I immediately think of those who reside in prison on death row, in a nursing home, between two countries’ borders, in a medical lab, or in the womb, which reminds me of another line in the song that goes, “I want to take shelter from the poison rain.” These could be the words from a death row inmate or elderly person referring to the “poison rain’ of the intravenous solution that is used to terminate their lives, or perhaps from a child in utero, struggling to take shelter from the “poison rain” droplets of the concentrated salt solution that is used to burn their new young bodies into non-existence. I think it odd that our nation, and indeed much of the world, would view these individuals’ lives as disposable simply because their place of residence. If you happen to reside on Undocumented Alien Drive, Death Row Inmate Lane, Unborn Avenue, Human Embryo Street, or Nursing Home Patient Road, then your fate is precarious at best, left to the whim of a fallen and fallible human race, the ebb and flow of our ever-changing conscious, and the shifting norms of political correctness. What a crummy position to be in! Listen to this excerpt from Governor Pat Quinn of Illinois who recently signed Senate Bill 3539 which abolishes the death penalty in Illinois:

“The evidence presented to me by former prosecutors and judges with decades of experience in the criminal justice system has convinced me that it is impossible to devise a system that is consistent, that is free of discrimination on the basis of race, geography or economic circumstance, and that always gets it right. As a state, we cannot tolerate the executions of innocent people because such actions strike at the very legitimacy of a government. Since 1977, Illinois has seen 20 people exonerated from death row. Seven of those were exonerated since the moratorium was imposed in 2000. That is a record that should trouble us all.”

Please take the time to read the governor’s entire statement, it is very compelling.

It is indeed concerning when the prevailing attitude is to put to death a fellow human being who is already in prison, removed from society where he can do no more harm. We deprive this person from the chance of repentance. We have the means of keeping an elderly person who is in her twilight years comfortable until God calls her home instead of us making that call. We play God by making ourselves the arbiter of life and death in the medical lab as we create little human beings then casually decide who lives and who dies. We view the undocumented alien as a virus to be eradicated instead of viewing him as a person. “His irregular status cannot allow the migrant to lose his dignity, since he is endowed with inalienable rights, which can neither be violated nor ignored…Illegal immigration should be prevented, but it is also essential to combat vigorously the criminal activities which exploit illegal immigrants.” (John Paul II, World Migration Day, July 25, 1995).

Sadly this assigning a value on people according to where they reside has even corrupted our attitude toward the most innocent and vulnerable in our society. On January 17, 2010, Deacon Stephen Najarian, M.D., of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, gave a homily at St. Charles Borromeo on how our callous disregard for the sacredness and holiness of human sexuality have lead to a disposable attitude toward the most precious gift from God. He stated, “Children, then, are seen as mistakes, a problem, the unintended consequence of failed contraception, instead of the natural fruit of love. And so abortion becomes an easy solution.” Of course, not everyone is of the opinion that a child could be considered a mistake, easily disposed of simply because of his or her short, nine-month residency on the only street in the world (Unborn Ave.) where a person has no voice and absolutely zero rights. Sadly though, some highly visible, important, and influential people do:

“Look, I got two daughters – 9 years old and 6 years old – I am going to teach them first about values and morals, but if they make a mistake, I don’t want them punished with a baby. I don’t want them punished with an STD at age 16, so it doesn’t make sense to not give them information.” Senator Barak Obama in a Johnstown, PA. town hall meeting. 29 March 2008

Killing an already incarcerated human being who can do no more harm, deciding that an older person who is confined to a bed no longer deserves to live, or comparing a child to an STD, referring to them as a punishment, or viewing them as disposable because of where they reside, would seem to be unthinkable. The fact that we reside in prison, in the nursing home, in the medical lab, in the womb, or between two countries’ borders should not mean that we forfeit our inherent dignity from God and become non-persons.

But there is hope! “The sacredness of the human person cannot be obliterated, no matter how often it is devalued and violated, because it has its unshakable foundation in God as Creator and Father,” said John Paul II. Also many young people do not buy so easily into the current culture of death and slowly but surely expose the costliest lie in human history as we struggle toward a more humane society for all people, especially the most helpless who happen to reside at the ‘bookends’ of life, or those somewhere in the middle confined by prison walls or between two countries’ borders.

“I’ll show you a place with no sorrow or pain / Where the streets have no name.”

Life and Peace, Richard and Linda Ciarrone

The Strong Arm of Love

While standing in line for the Blue Streak roller coaster at Cedar Point last summer I observed a large well-muscled man reaching over his young son’s chest to fasten the boy’s the seat belt as they sat in the coaster. This man’s biceps were twice the size of his son’s head. The father’s affection for his boy was quite obvious. I couldn’t help but imagine the feeling that his son must have felt at that moment, the feeling of trust and security shortly before embarking on a scary journey.

Many young children imagine that their fathers are the strongest men in the world. This particular young child will be immensely blessed and have a proper perspective on what God expects from those who possess power and strength. He can physically feel the strength of his father’s large, powerful arms. But the strength and power that this young man experiences is not in the form of abuse, violence or cruelty. The strength that this loving father is modeling to his young son is in the form of security, concern, sacrifice, compassion, and above all, love.

So many children grow up in fatherless homes. Statistics show that a vast majority of troubled youths, especially males, come from households without fathers. This is such a tragedy because so many of our young men have a warped perspective of what true power and strength are. They have nobody to show them what God intended for men as citizens, fathers, husbands, providers and protectors. The young boy in the Blue Streak Coaster will equate strength and power with love and selfless concern for others instead of domination and selfishness.

Life and Peace,
Richard and Linda Ciarrone

 

Posted by Rich at 12:56 PM 1 comments

 

Badly Behaved Women

Harvard History Professor Laurel Thatcher Ulrich wrote an article about Puritan funeral services. In the article Ulrich coined the phrase, “Well-behaved women rarely make history.” The phrase was a result of her difficulty in locating sources about ordinary women in history. The statement sort of took on a life of its own. “It was a weird escape into pop culture” said Ulrich. Seeing this as a “teaching moment” in 2007 she wrote a book titled Well-behaved Women Rarely Make History. The book examines the way women in the past helped to shape history by bravely defying unjust societal standards. Some of these pioneering women, like Rosa Parks, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Virginia Wolf, made their stands in the areas of social justice, health care and literature.

Today the phrase “Well behaved women rarely make history” takes on a very different meaning. With the absence of societal standards, or at least a set of societal standards that continually shifts to accommodate aberrant human behavior, it’s more difficult to make a judgment on what constitutes bad behavior. In fact, paradoxically, today one can say that women who conform to a set of unmoving moral standards are being badly behaved. One particular group of women who may be considered very badly behaved today are those who choose to have a large families. For instance, my wife and I are personally acquainted with three women who have 20 children between them. Talk about badly behaved women! Can you imagine the consternation caused by these badly behaved women? The outrage caused because of the use of precious global resources (see video) and the size of the carbon footprint left behind by all of these little ones. The behavior of these women flies in the face of today’s socially accepted standard of 2.3 children per family. These women and their children are often on the receiving end of glaring looks of disapproval when in public in grocery stores or on the bus. Of course we do not say that all women must have a large family. Our wise Creator has given us intelligence and a marvelous biology to help us safely, naturally and accurately make those decision, which incidentally includes another behavior deemed so bad that the media is afraid to mention it, schools won’t touch it and many parents won’t even consider it as a viable option for naturally planning family size.

Another group of badly behaved women are those who refuse to conform themselves to this age (Rom. 12:2): young women who are so radical and counter cultural that they easily stand out in the crowd. Their modest dress, keen awareness of their unique strength inherited through their true feminine genius, and unwavering refusal to compromise their standards makes them different and an easy target of ridicule from the majority. They bravely forgo popularity and inclusiveness for higher principles.

Much like those brave women in the past, today’s badly behaved women are taking unpopular stands to do the right thing. They haven’t changed much from their predecessors, but the standards by which they are measured sure as hell have.

Life and Peace,
Richard and Linda Ciarrone

 

Of Geese and Men

I was sitting behind my mother-in-law and father-in-law’s house the other day watching a family of geese. As the mommy and daddy geese walked around the pond, the seven little ones followed close behind. Mom and dad goose seemed keenly aware of their surroundings. Their movements seemed purposeful and deliberate as if they were both conscious of the physical limitations and vulnerability of their offspring. As I observed this family of geese while enjoying a cold beer and a good cigar with my father-in-law, a thought came to me. How is it that this family of geese instinctively knew how to take care of themselves without instruction from some highly educated, specially trained, well-paid group of experts? These geese have no parent or child advocacy group to represent them, no government programs, no center for children and family services. They’ve never attended parenting or conflict resolution classes. They can’t even read the gigantic billboards that tell them that fathers matter, the importance of breastfeeding, to stay in school, stay out of gangs, don’t do drugs, don’t drink, don’t smoke don’t overeat and what to eat, don’t bully, don’t harass and don’t judge. Nor do they have the advantage of mass media and popular celebrities advising them not to have indescriminate sexual intercourse with someone whom they’ve just met, but if they choose to do so to make sure they wear a condem.

How is it that human society, at the top of the food chain, is in such moral decay and collapsing from within, and this society of long-necked, web-footed birds, who posses considerably less brain mass are doing just fine?

G.K. Chesterton once said, “There is supposed to be an endless supply of salaried persons, and of salaries for them; and they are to undertake all that human beings naturally do for themselves; including the care of children… Normally that normal person is urged by a natural force, which costs nothing and does not require a salary; the force of natural affection for his young, which exists even among the animals. If you cut off that natural force, and substitute a paid bureaucracy, you are like a lunatic who should carefully water his garden with a watering can, while holding up an umbrella to keep off the rain.”

Our wise God has given us loving parameters called Natural Law to equip us well for the challenges in this world. Of course we will never perfectly follow God’s law. Because of original sin we are fallen creatures, and that little thing called “free will” will inevitably lead to some aberrant behaviors, pain and hardship. Thank goodness for compassionate people and generous organizations. Charity, love and mercy are continually asked of us and always needed. But when we humans in our pride and arrogance concoct misguided solutions which disregard God’s Natural Law, we unwittingly perpetuate the misery. After four decades of horribly misguided reasoning one would think that we’d be tired of the self-inflicted wounds and turn the ship in a different direction. But we stubbornly persist. Hope lies in changing hearts, repenting souls, and trusting completely in the liberating love of Jesus Christ.

In regard to our societal ills, our youngest daughter likes to use this quote from an unknown author: “We are too busy mopping up the floor to turn off the faucet.” Consider the numerous massive industries built exclusively upon rescuing us from the mess caused by our own disobedience. Consider the trillions of dollars, the tremendous amounts of resources, the time and the energy we spend teaching once-instinctive rudiment behaviors that are designed to be taught, learned and nurtured in the home by the family, the fundamental cell of society. When we think about these things, this quote makes a lot of sense. Honk!!! What the hell happened?

Life and Peace,
Richard and Linda Ciarrone

What’s the Matter Here?

Singer/songwriter Natalie Merchant and guitarist Robert Buck of the band 10,000 Maniacs wrote a song entitled ‘What’s the matter here?’ from the 1987 CD ‘In My Tribe,’ (one of my favorites). The song deals with the brutal verbal and physical treatment of a child at the hands of his parents. In the song the treatment of the child is witnessed by another adult (Merchant) who feels compelled to say something to the parents but hesitates because the child is not her own.She sings:“I’m tired of the excuses everybody uses/ he’s their kid I stay out of it/ but who gave you the right to do this?”

In January, 2010 while on the Mall in Washington D.C. with some 300,000 others I saw a woman carrying a large sign that said, “My child, my choice.”

Natalie Merchant continues:

“I’m tired of the excuses everybody uses/ he’s your kid do as you see fit/ but get this through/ that I don’t approve of what you did to your own flesh and blood.”

I used to avoid getting involved in other peoples’ business, even when ethically I probably should have. Mostly because I was concerned about what others would think of me, and I regret that. However as I got older several things happened to me. First off, I had children, and hence more of a concern of what was happening in the world around me. All of a sudden things that used to be of little concern to me became very important. Secondly, as I got older I cared less about what people thought of me. And thirdly, I finally relented to the gentle tugging of my loving Father, a Father who always holds closest in His heart those who are the most helpless, a Father who asks us to help Him look after those who cannot take care of themselves in spite of what others may think of us.

For the life of me I cannot understand how intelligent, caring people can be ambiguous about the plight of another fellow human being, especially people who have powerful voices with the potential to influence so many.
Our world is full of critical social justice issues today which call for compassionate action and courageous human intervention. However not since Nazi Germany have there been an entire class of people so readily available for legalized, government sanctioned elimination as we have today. Looking back 70 years it is difficult to imagine how any compassionate person could have been ambiguous about the loss of 6 million lives simply because these people were of a specific religion, nationality, or race. Today we’re up to 50 million lives lost in this country, human beings deemed not human simply because they happen to be of a specified chronological state. Yet in her column that she wrote in the Cleveland Plain Dealer on June 2, 2009 one of those powerful voices, Regina Brett states that she is “in the middle of the issue.” At the same time her professed faith tells her that “On the taking of innocent human life, there is no room for ambiguity” Bishop Kevin Ferrell of Dallas. (CCC 2270) However in her column Brett states that “It’s time for the middle to get louder.” Now, I’ve lost a considerable amount of brain cells while in college, some from attending too many weekend ‘social events’ but most from classroom time (“The uneducated have been perverted by the educated.” G. K. Chesterton). Anyway, for the life of me I cannot understand how one who is “in the middle” about any issue gets “louder” regarding something in which they are on the fence. It just doesn’t make sense. Does she stand up and shout for one side, then the next minute stand up and yell for the other side? In her column Brett states that the issue in which she is “in the middle” always results in “the end of a life, no matter what form or phase you want to call it. It’s a human being in the making.” So how can anyone with a compassionate heart be “in the middle” or on the fence about weather another person lives or dies, especially a totally innocent and helpless person?

Merchant finishes her song with these words:

“Answer me and take your time/ what could be the awful crime he could do at so young an age? If I’m the only witness to your madness offer me some words to balance out what I see and what I hear/ All these cold and rude things that you do I suppose you do because he belongs to you/ and instead of love/ and the feel of warmth/ you’ve given him these cuts and sores that don’t heal with time or with age/ I want to say/ What’s the matter here? But I don’t dare say.”

But I know that I’m not the only “witness” to this “madness” and so I do dare say “What’s the matter here?”

Life and Peace,
Richard and Linda Ciarrone