By SHAUN KENNEY
One of my favorite lines in all of film comes from the epic miniseries Sharpe! where the protagonist Richard Sharpe asks a loyalist British officer whether or not he is from America.
“No sir,” the officer replies, “I’m from Virginia!”
It is the long-held conceit amongst those of us native to the soil of the Old Dominion that you never want to ask folks where they are from. If they are from Virginia, we will tell you so and if not? One simply doesn’t want to embarrass them. . . .
. . . . At least, that was true until a few weeks ago.
Let’s review. Virginia lawmaker Delegate Kathy Tran (D., Fairfax) proposed legislation that would allow a mother to kill her baby for reasons of mental health while she was in active labor. Our illustrious governor, Ralph Northam, took to the radio the following day and described in graphic detail how infanticide is practiced in the medical profession. A baby who survives such a procedure “would be kept comfortable,” and then a conversation would ensue between the mother and the doctors as to how to proceed.
What should shock readers isn’t the fact that Northam — himself a pediatric neurologist — described such a process. Rather, what should appall and horrify us all is that this is the current medical standard in the United States across the board.
But it gets worse. At core here isn’t a conversation about infanticide, but rather a timeline discussion as to when Americans are comfortable justifying infanticide. After all, there is no difference between killing a living being inside the womb than outside the womb. What is the difference between 39 weeks and 40 weeks to term? Or 18 weeks? Or 6 weeks? Or as an embryo?
The answer, of course, is time and a natural process of development. Arguments for viability are utter tripe. As any parent of teenagers can tell you, there are fully grown humans out there who cannot fend for themselves without extraordinary help.
The harsh reality is that all abortion is infanticide. The hard truth that some of the professional pro-lifers in Washington will not admit in their race to make their wing of the movement the “safe, legal, and rare” collaborationists with the culture of death is that abortion is a packaged deal. Once you admit a fraction of it, a litany of horribles becomes possible.
This is where the position championed by Judie Brown of American Life League — called the “godmother of the pro-life movement” by one bishop in a private conversation — has been about as farsighted as Pope Paul VI’s championing of the culture of life in Humanae Vitae. The culture of abortion is not limited to the unseen child who can be whisked away by an abortionist, but rather metastasizes like every other spiritual cancer into the seen, the tangible, and the dead.
To date, Americans have sacrificed 61 million children on the altar of infanticide. That it horrifies us to see who we are and what we have become (and what we are willing to tolerate as a society) should motivate us all to immediate action.
Ralph Northam is at the moment under fire for racist yearbook photos from 35 years ago. Since then, calls for his resignation have intensified. Northam should do so and quickly, but not for violating the political correctness of the left. This is merely a symptom of greater social ills, ones that can never be resolved through political means — only by spiritual ones.
For those of us looking to break the back of the culture of death, look no further than Pope St. John Paul II when asked about the message of Fatima. He holds out a rosary: Pray!
Bishop Joseph Strickland of Tyler, Texas, mentioned that what Americans needed today more than ever was a “Marian Blue Wave” — and he could not be more right. Indeed, how providential would it be if the Marian Blue Wave liberated a place called Virginia first?
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The following is a four-part series penned by Anonymous Andrew entitled “An Opinion From the Trenches” — republished with permission from the author.
I hope it impresses you the way it impressed me. — SVK
Part Four
But wait! The Christophers say that it is better to light one candle than to curse the darkness. Below is a peasant son’s hodge-podge of some possible things that are or might blossom into lit candles:
God is still in charge.
Please do not fight it.
The Catholic Mass.
Catholic intellectuals have produced a plethora of amazing films and books to enlighten and head us toward holiness. We just need to feast on them.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if most parishes had some sort of Catholic film theater for us common Catholics — if you will! A sort of fight fire with fire strategy. Maybe a good apostolate for single Catholics.
As far as books go: Book people are not at all intellectuals for dinosaurs. Books are for the enjoyment and enrichment of all; whether you are a slow and ponderous reader like myself or a Whig.
A lady in a letter to the editor, who taught a Confirmation class, states that she also felt impelled to start a class on vocations. Amen, and how about a year on Catholic Church history, a year on Catholic social teaching, and a year on the theology of the body. It is the least we can do for our own high school kids.
Of course, it is enormously difficult to organize and implement such a thing. But still if there is no one else and Grandma, who is only skilled at welding, volunteers (with the help to keep order), who are we to judge? Getting across some desperately needed info is better than none.
For the most part modern health care. It is amazing that God so configured the Earth that (among many things) we can find ingredients in the Earth to make pills to cure or help us in so many of our ailments.
Some other items come to mind:
EWTN
Distributism
American Farmland Trust
Modern homesteading
Impromptu Children’s Choir
The Internet gave a voice to the voiceless
Co-ops
The railroad is being reinvigorated somewhat
Our space program is being rejuvenated somewhat
Ignatius Press
Catholic schools
Catholic homesteading
Montessori schools
Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter
Robert Cardinal Sarah
Parents hug your kids and each other…
And much more.
Christ’s Holy Catholic Church with her traditional teachings is the most interesting and wonderful thing in the world.
If there is anything good in all the above ramblings, please credit it to Our Lady of Ludzmierz. Anything else is mine or who knows who. Otherwise, it is what it is.
See you at Mass Sunday!
Anonymous Andrew
“Oh Come All Ye Faithful”
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We love your comments! First Teachers encourages readers to submit their thoughts, views, opinions, and insights to the author directly, either via e-mail or by mail. Please send any correspondence to Shaun Kenney c/o First Teachers, 5289 Venable Road, Kents Store, VA 23084 or by e-mail to svk2cr@virginia.edu.
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