So it seems that Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi are up to their old lying ways, again. (UPDATE: And Again!)
Added to her long line of falsehoods and mistruths (exactly like… um.. all politicians) is a fresh fabrication she made to Brokaw on meet the press. In a if-it-wasn’t-disturbing-it’d-be-funny kind of way she claimed that, on the issue of the Catholic Church’s position on abortion, “I have studied [it] for a long time”.
And what did the apparent expert on Catholic history and doctrine conclude about the issue of abortion?
Well when Brokaw reminded her that “The Catholic Church at the moment feels very strongly that it (life) begins at the point of conception”
She retorted him with her expert opinion that “I understand. And this is like maybe 50 years or something like that. So again, over the history of the church, this is an issue of controversy”
Now her comment of “and this is like maybe” might tip you off that she didn’t quite know what she was talking about but in case you weren’t sure here’s some helpful evidence that shes just flat out lying…
From the first written catechism of the christian church circa 70 AD: “You shall not procure [an] abortion, nor destroy a newborn child”
Then there’s what Saint Hippolytus said in 228 AD: “Women who were reputed to be believers began to take drugs to render themselves sterile, and to bind themselves tightly so as to expel what was being conceived, since they would not, on account of relatives and excess wealth, want to have a child by a slave or by any insignificant person. See, then, into what great impiety that lawless one has proceeded, by teaching adultery and murder at the same time!”
And then there’s the case of Tertullian, who is known as the founder of the Latin Church, who wrote this in198 AD: “In our case, murder being once for all forbidden, we may not destroy even the fœtus in the womb, while as yet the human being derives blood from other parts of the body for its sustenance. To hinder a birth is merely a speedier man-killing; nor does it matter whether you take away a life that is born, or destroy one that is coming to the birth. That is a man which is going to be one; you have the fruit already in its seed”
Now, of course, Nancy didn’t cite these fathers of Catholicism. Instead she cited another famous father who wrestled with “ensoulation” (not abortion, he thought it was always wrong). That famous father was Augustine and Pelosi tried to use his genuine and honest working through of the question of “ensoulation” to try and claim that her pro-abortion positions are acceptable to the Catholic church.
However, not only are her pro-abortion positions unacceptable to the Catholic church but they would have most assuredly been unacceptable to Augustine himself because he believed that “To deny that the young who are cut out limb by limb from the womb, lest if they were left there dead the mother should die too, have never been alive, seems too audacious”.
I think the best description of Augustine’s beliefs comes from The New Dictionary of Theology which states: “Augustine, while condemning abortion, wrestled with the question of ensoulment (at forty-six days for Augustine) and the formed and unformed fetus, concluding that there was no solution to this, but that the killing of either was to be condemned”
So this much is blatantly clear, the Catholic church isn’t now and never has waffled on its position regarding abortion. The Catholic church is and always was Pro-Life, not just over the past 50 years. This conclusion is supported by Archbishop Donald Wuerl who said “The current teaching of the Catholic Church on human life and abortion is the same teaching as it was 2,000 years ago”. (and no, I’m not Catholic but you don’t have to be just to know their consistent position on abortion)
But don’t worry Nancy, you’re not the only high profile Democrat to flat out lie about the history of the Catholic church’s position on abortion over the centuries. That’s right the new vice presidential candidate Joe Biden has a history of misrepresenting the history of his church in order to make it seem like his pro-abortion stances and his faith don’t really conflict.
In a 2006 interview he stated “That debate in our church has not morphed, but changed over a thousand years. It always is viewed by the church as something that is wrong, but there’s been gradations of whether it was wrong. You know, from venial or mortal sin, as we Catholics say, and versions of it”
Now naturally both of these remarks have pissed off many Catholic leaders and politicians. So much so that Biden has even been warned to stay away from communion by the Archbishop of Denver. I find these responses to be appropriate and overdue from the pro-life community.
I would urge the same kind of reactions from other prominent church and pro-life leaders. We, as a community, need to regrow a pair and start denying certain privileges from those who support actions that are so completely contrary to all that is good and decent on God’s creation… you know, like murdering your own children before they even have a chance to be born.
UPDATE: This isn’t exactly what I had in mind when I called for new action but atleast they are making a statement…
