#654 - Peace & Life: Art / War Protests / Conscience - March 24, 2023
Latest Life Matters Journal and Art Contest Winners
CLN member group Rehumanize International (in addition to its blog) now has out volume 11, issue 1 of Life Matters Journal. It focuses on the outrage of continued detentions at the Guantanamo Bay prison.
RI’s 2023 Create / Encounter Release Party is April 29. It's a virtual afternoon of the arts featuring the winners of their 2023 contest and an exploration of the role of rehumanizing art in activism. Hosted on the Hopin platform, tickets are coming soon.
Winners include CL board member Sarah Terzo for prose, and artwork from Rosemarie Stith, photos below. Rosemary is board member Richard Stith's wife.
Iraq War 20th Anniversary Protests
With dangers of yet more escalation in Ukraine and the lack of wisdom in militarism, the 20th anniversary of a war that is seen as a disaster even by many of those that participated in it was the occasion for nation-wide protests.
Below is a photo of one held in Portland, Maine, taken by Julia Smucker, CL board member.
Mandating against Conscience
The Biden administration is working on a rule to remove conscience protections for those who would otherwise be forced to participate in abortions. Here's a link for submitting your comments on the topic.
Excerpts from the comments submitted by CLN board member Richard Stith:
“Moral conscience is the foundation of a free society. If conscience is no longer our primary motivation for obeying law, only fear of punishment remains. That is, once we have encouraged people to act like sociopaths without a conscience, we will inevitably need a police state to prevent violence . . .
The law has long recognized moral objections which are not limited to religion, such as conscientious objectors to war. Moral objections to the mandate are legitimate and should be recognized . . .
I urge the rejection of the proposed rule.”
Our Latest Blog Post
Ms. Boomer-ang reflects on Work and Life and how that connects to pressures for abortion and euthanasia.
Quotation of the Week
Pastor Dave Barnhart
Quote in social media which went viral in May, 2022 (Dodds opinion leak)
Here we have a quotation from a pro-abortion person that illustrates the importance of taking the consistent life ethic approach to protecting unborn children.
The unborn are a convenient group of people to advocate for. They never make demands of you; they are morally uncomplicated, unlike the incarcerated, addicted, or the chronically poor; they don’t resent your condescension or complain that you are not politically correct; unlike widows, they don’t ask you to question patriarchy; unlike orphans, they don’t need money, education, or childcare; unlike aliens, they don’t bring all that racial, cultural, and religious baggage that you dislike; they allow you to feel good about yourself without any work at creating or maintaining relationships; and when they are born, you can forget about them, because they cease to be unborn. You can love the unborn and advocate for them without substantially challenging your own wealth, power, or privilege, without re-imagining social structures, apologizing, or making reparations to anyone. They are, in short, the perfect people to love if you want to claim you love Jesus, but actually dislike people who breathe. Prisoners? Immigrants? The sick? The poor? Widows? Orphans? All the groups that are specifically mentioned in the Bible? They all get thrown under the bus for the unborn.