"The Pill Kills Marriages: American Life League calls for nationwide protest of the pill"

As so beautifully explained by the American Life League,

"Marriage and conjugal love are ordered by nature and by God toward two ends:

1. Procreation and the nurturing and education of children.


2. Strengthening the loving bond between the spouses, creating society’s most important community, the family, in which to raise children.

"The pill has as its goal rendering intercourse sterile or, alternatively, making it impossible for the newly created child to live. Its chemical composition has a profound negative impact on the bonding and relationship of the couple as well. Thus, the use of the pill strips marriage of its meaning and purpose....even if one ignores the spiritual consequences that arise when oral contraceptives are introduced into marriage, the chemical repercussions of the pill can have a devastating, even lethal impact on marriage."

The American Life League has issued an invitation to join them, "as women's advocates across the nation protest the pill outside Planned Parenthood facilities, pharmacies, and contraceptive manufacturers' facilities on Saturday, June 4."

As it happens, Mercer County, New Jersey is home to one of the world's leading manufacturers of contraceptives/abortifacients, known as "The Pill" (Since hormonal "contraceptives" can work in an abortifacient manner (See "How 'The Pill' Works as an Abortifacient"), simply calling "The Pill" a "contraceptive" is inadequate and misleading.):

• Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals
  Contact Info: Ortho-McNeil Janssen Scientific Affairs, LLC
  Customer Communications Center
  1125 Trenton-Harbourton Road
  P.O. Box 200
  Titusville, NJ 08560-200

Would you consider sponsoring a prayerful witness on June 4th, near Ortho-McNeil Janssen?

re: "Springsteen, Fake Farmer" (B.C. Courier Times, 4/19/11)

In the 4/19/11 Courier Times, J.D. Mullane called attention to the Asbury Park Press'12/10/10 "'Fake farmers' cost New Jersey taxpayers millions:

• "The Farmland Assessment Act of 1964, intended to preserve agriculture in New Jersey, is being used by millionaires, developers and anyone with at least five acres to slash their farmland tax bills by 98 percent....The so-called fake farmers are likely costing local governments at least $82 million a year in lost property tax revenues, according to the Press’ analysis of 3 million property and tax records....The rolls of those with farm-assessed land in New Jersey read like a who’s who in the world of high finance, business and entertainment."

In that same article, J.D. Mullane also called attention to FoxNY's 2/10/11 "Farm Tax Breaks for N.J. Celebrities":

• "Through a trust, Bruce Springsteen owns more than 200 acres in Colts Neck. The taxes for his house and three acres are more than $138,000. But because of the farm tax break, the tax bill on a little more than 200 additional acres is less than $5,000. Town officials say he has horses and an organic farmer working some of the land."

"In an elite group with U2 and The Rolling Stones, Springsteen is the third highest grossing musical act in the world" (Rock Stars Transitioned – Part 2). Mullane's article was occasioned by Springsteen's recent letter to the Asbury Park Press, in which Springsteen spoke of "the contradictions between a policy of large tax cuts, on the one hand, and cuts in services to those in the most dire conditions, on the other."

In light of "large tax cuts" and "cuts in services," Mullane challenges Springsteen on his aforementioned tax shelter: "where does an economic genius like The Boss think New Jersey is going to get the money to pay for social programs?"

"Response from Senator Casey"

Your Excellency:

As per Archbishop Charles J. Chaput's recent address at Notre Dame,

• "if a citizen fails to bring his moral beliefs into our country’s political conversation, if he fails to work for them publicly and energetically, then the only thing he ensures is the defeat of his own beliefs.....


• "abortion is the foundational human rights issue of our lifetime....no human rights are secure if the right to life is not....


• "Politics is the exercise of power; and power—as Jesus himself saw when Satan tempted him in the desert—can very easily pervert itself by doing evil in the name of pursuing good ends. But this fact is never an excuse for cowardice or paralysis. Christ never absolved us from defending the weak, or resisting evil in the world, or from solidarity with people who suffer....We need to fight for what we believe."

In a Q & A following the address, Ann Carey of the Catholic News Service reports that the archbishop "gave a frank response when asked why there is so much disunity among Catholics on the question of Catholics in political life standing clearly with the church on major moral issues such as abortion....

• 'There is unity among the bishops about abortion always being wrong, and that you can't be a Catholic and be in favor of abortion -- the bishops all agree to that -- but there's just an inability among the bishops together to speak clearly on this matter and even to say that if you're Catholic and you're pro-choice, you can't receive holy Communion'....


• "Archbishop Chaput said he and others have been trying to move the U.S. bishops' conference to speak clearly on this issue for a number of years. However, there is a fear, he said, that if they do so, the bishops might somehow disenfranchise the Catholic community from political life....


• "The strategy clearly has failed, he continued, 'So let's try something different and see if it works. Let's be very, very clear on these matters,' and he asked the audience to 'help me to convince the bishops on that subject.'

As you know, Senator Robert Casey, Jr of Scranton voted to allow continued funding of Planned Parenthood. I am forwarding a copy of his recent email, in which he bizarrely identifies himself "as a pro-life public official." I believe that Senator Casey's record and continued insistence that he is "pro-life" is giving scandal to Catholics and others in Pennsylvania.

Sincerely,

The Pa Catholic Conference - limiting its focus to school choice

Your "Debating points of new Pa. budget" appeared in the March 31 issue of the Catholic Standard and Times. Though you state that "The Pennsylvania Catholic Conference (PCC) will be following the debate on a number of different line items," the article primarily focused on school choice vouchers and funding for Catholic Charities (it does also voice concern about health care coverage.). If one is "Interested in Catholic issues," your article goes on to urge them to "Join the Pennsylvania Catholic Advocacy Network to receive news and action alerts about the state budget and many other legislation and public policy considerations. Visit http://www.pacatholic.org/advocacy." At this time, your action alerts seem to focusing almost exclusively on school choice vouchers. Have any recently been sent on pro life concerns or the defense of marriage? How have you been updating Pennsylvania Catholics with regard to "Family Planning" funds in the Pennsylvania budget?

re: "The Scandal Snares Father Corapi" (B.C. Courier Times, 4/3/11)

Dear Mr. Mullane and Mr. Manfredonia,
Before reading Mr. Mullane's "The Scandal Snares Father Corapi," I breathed deep and recalled the words of Edgar Allen Poe: "We should bear in mind that, in general, it is the object of our newspapers rather to create a sensation - to make a point - than to further the cause of truth.” In my opinion, Poe's analysis seems particularly appropos to at least some of the Courier Times recent coverage, concerning Catholic priests. Hence, I was pleased to find that today's piece was at least an appeal for some balance:

• "'Sometimes priests are asked to suffer. The policy applied to father does not assume guilt, but it implies guilt. The policy the bishops have in place is to appropriately deal with crimes against children,' Manfredonia said. 'I think if the policy is applied to those cases, absolutely it's appropriate to suspend. But this situation, it's not that. It's a claim of sexual misconduct with adult women....We know father personally....If these allegations were true, he would admit his failures, openly. I have no doubt about that. [Yet] Even if the accusations are true, it does not diminish the truth of what he teaches from the Catechism, or the Catechism's power, if preached with the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, to draw people back to the church.'"

Yesterday, my wife and I were privileged to see "Of Gods and Men," which relates the martyrdom of Catholic monks in 1996. One of the things which most struck me about that film was the psychological agony which these monks experienced, anticipating eventual torturous martyrdom - but knowing not when.

Perhaps in response to perceptions of past inaction, the Philadelphia Archdiocese - in my opinion - now seems too ready to react to any allegation against her priests - however flimsy that allegation might be. What psychological agony must be experienced by some of our own good priests!

Sincerely,