Quick Takes: What an authentic feminist looks like, and more on the election

What? Two Quick Takes in a row? Well, with the crazy lead-up to the election, most days I don't know if I am coming or going, so my blogging is sporatic. But as we approach November 6, things are getting exciting (click those words and see)! Also, you get eight Quick Takes today, since I just couldn't narrow it down to seven. A couple of hours ago I almost made it nine, but then I realized the ninth item was so outrageous, so in need of commentary, that I will give it its very own post, next. Till then...

1) Too good not to share.

High school senior Rosalie Simoneau is an authentic feminist. She loves being a woman, and she is tired of the real war on women that is perpetuated by the political left. Here she is in downtown Phoenix last weekend, standing up for religious liberty during the nationwide protest of Obama's HHS mandate:

Rosalie and my own daughter are graduates of a three-year program called Catholic Academy of Life Leadership (C.A.L.L.), which was created by two of my dear friends, and which is now blessed by our wonderful Bishop Thomas Olmsted as a diocesan program. I hope it will spread to more dioceses soon. With graduates like Rosalie, you can see why that would be a very good thing.

2) I love this quote so much I want to marry it:

“The refusal to take sides on great moral issues is itself a decision. It is a silent acquiescence to evil. The Tragedy of our time is that those who still believe in honesty lack fire and conviction, while those who believe in dishonesty are full of passionate conviction.” -- Archbishop Fulton Sheen

(Hat tip to Karen for that!)

One of the toughest things for me to see in this crucial election season is that Catholics -- good Catholics -- are not speaking up! They are silent on social media and in their personal lives. Maybe they are afraid, and I understand, but we can't be silent anymore. Silence is no longer an option in this increasingly secular nation. Please, please, speak up. It doesn't have to be much, but say something. Pray to God to give you the courage of your voice. Evil is everywhere (check out #5), and we are commanded to oppose it, in word and in deed.


3) Unlike Obama, who is actively persecuting my Church, Mitt Romney has been reaching out to reassure nervous Catholics. Here is a letter from Romney to us:

Throughout my life, I have defended America’s first liberty: religious freedom. 

In the debates and out on the campaign trail, I have made this very clear: regardless of our practice, we are united in our faith and in our battle to make sure we preserve religious liberty and tolerance in this country. 

That’s why I am grateful to have the support of Catholics like you. I believe the Catholic Church embodies all that’s great about America. You know what you believe; you know who you are; and you know Whom you serve. 

Barack Obama, Joe Biden and their liberal allies have been misleading Catholics in the hopes of gaining support. Even the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops corrected Vice President Biden after he misled Catholics on the threat of the HHS Mandate. 

As president, I will reverse President Obama’s infringements on religious liberty and freedom of conscience, because I respect the role of religious institutions. And I will follow our Constitution and uphold the individual’s right to worship according to his or her beliefs. 

I share your values. And I cannot emphasize enough how essential the Catholic vote is to winning this election for Republicans up and down the ballot. That’s why we need your help in getting out the vote and the truth. 

Please watch my new video on religious liberty and spread the word. 

Thanks,
Mitt Romney

Crazy me, I'd rather have this man in the White House making decisions that affect my Church and religous freedom than a man who has willfully positioned himself as an enemy of the Church. If you agree, spread the word.

4) Continuing in that vein, I've heard good Catholics say that they don't see a difference between Obama and Romney and it baffles me. I've never been able to grasp how a moral equivalence could be drawn between the positions of the candidates, but I thought this might help give a concrete example of the vast differences involved.

Marjorie Dannenfelser of the pro-life Susan B. Anthony List reports:

[T]he 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals just handed down a decision that will FORCE the state of Indiana's Medicaid program to fund Planned Parenthood -- despite the Hoosier state passing legislation to get taxpayers OUT of the abortion industry.  

The Obama Administration filed a brief demanding that Planned Parenthood funding continue -- and even threatened to pull over $4 billion in Medicaid funding from the Hoosier State if they didn't keep taxpayer dollars to Planned Parenthood flowing! 

[This] court decision is a reminder that we MUST defeat President Obama if we are going to fully defund Planned Parenthood the nearly half billion in taxpayer funding they receive each year out of our very own pockets. 

The Obama administration already aggressively threatened to punish Texas in the same way, bringing the full weight of the Justice Department to bear against that state. Do you think for one minute that a President Romney would actively seek to punish states that dare defund Planned Parenthood or that enact abortion restrictions? 

Of course not. These men and their policies are not the same.

5) Catholics believe in the devil. Literally, we believe that Satan and his demons prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. I refuse to link the video directly, but click the photo below to see one of the biggest Democrat donors this election cycle ($120,000 to Washington State Democrats and Barack Obama) in what appears to be a demonic rant against Catholics and the Church.

Please, please, ensure that none of your children are in the room if you choose to watch this vile and evil video:

As of this writing, the Democrats in Washington State have refused to return this woman's money. I wish I were surprised. Catholic Democrats, if you still think this is your Party, wake up!

And if you feel like you want to douse yourselves with holy water now, you are not alone. Me, too.

6) I have been called an "alarmist" for discussing today's politics in terms of the "persecution" of the Church. I believe there is cause for alarm, however, and I think Francis Cardinal George's must-read piece from this week gives voice and historical context to that alarm:

The Wrong Side of History

An excerpt:

"The present political campaign has brought to the surface of our public life the anti-religious sentiment, much of it explicitly anti-Catholic, that has been growing in this country for several decades. The secularizing of our culture is a much larger issue than political causes or the outcome of the current electoral campaign, important though that is."

Please be sure to read it all.

7) This press release, from American Life League, says what I was thinking about the disgusting and disingenuous attempts by the Democrats to paint conservatives as lovers of rape. It is one of the lowest things I've witnessed in politics yet, and that's saying something. 

Washington, D.C. - Responding to the controversy over Indiana Senate candidate Richard Mourdock's remarks on the right to life for all human beings from creation to death, Paul E. Rondeau, executive director of American Life League, issued the following statement:

Pro-abortionists never miss a chance to politicize the horror of rape to advance their cause of terminating the preborn. In context, Mr. Mourdock was clearly speaking of life, no matter how conceived, being a gift of God. Ask Jesse Jackson, a child conceived by rape.   

The simple truth is that the preborn child is not the criminal; the rapist is the criminal. Killing the child does not punish the rapist. Aborting a child conceived by rape creates a second victim. It also victimizes the mother again. It is interesting that "pro-choice" activists ignore that the innocent child had "no choice" in the rape. 

For Cecile Richards of Planned Parenthood and President Obama to call Mourdock's comments about God and life "outrageous" is grotesque. But then, we expect no less: Richards heads an organization that has directly killed over six million babies for profit, consumed $6 billion in tax dollars since 1970, is notorious for fraud, and has repeatedly failed to report child rape.

Meanwhile, Richards personally campaigns for, and Planned Parenthood is spending $5 million to re-elect, its pocket-president-the guy who voted twice to protect partial birth abortion and was against banning abortions based on gender selection. 

Now that's outrageous.

Of course, the Dems and the Obama media don't exactly want to spotlight their guy's actual votes regarding rape and rape victims: "In a 1999 legislative vote, then-Illinois State Senator Barack Obama was the sole state senator to not vote for for a bill that would protect sexual assault victims from having the details of their cases revealed publicly." 

Obama voted "present".

8) Now, back to innocence! Oh, little Constantine! You are only three, and you've already endured more loss and suffering than most of us will endure in a lifetime. But your spirit is strong! Look at this smile:

Hey Mom, is that you??

Constantine is paralyzed on one side of his body, but that has not stopped this sweet boy! For more on this angel baby, check out the post I wrote here:

The Story of a Tiny Boy

And there there is adorable Charlotte:

Click my photo to get to my RR page! Then, come and get me!

I don't think they get any cuter! Charlotte is a five-year-old girl who would thrive in a family. Here is what her profile says:

"She has brittle bone disease and spent the first 4 years of her life in a crib. She was able to get transferred last September and she is thriving.  They are getting her bones strong enough to put rods in and she should be able to walk then. She loves to learn, she loves to cuddle and snuggle into you. She is learning English so quickly and loves to be read to."

Could she be yours? 

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One last, fun note: If you glance over to the "Total Pageviews" you will see that we have broken the one million mark! I can't thank you enough for joining me in the Bubble over these past two and a half years!

And thanks to Jen for hosting!

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