Letters

Christian civil rights

Name and Address Supplied

Contents - Jul 2013 - Buy a copy now Homily: Saints John Fisher and Thomas More: from Pope Pius XI's canonisation homily Cardinal Pell's candid responses to Victorian Parliament grilling - Peter Westmore News: The Church Around the World Youth: Melbourne's young adult ministry continues its revival - Br Barry Coldrey Paul VI: Humanae Vitae: still prophetic after 45 years - Anne Lastman Cardinal Ouellet's Australian lecture: rediscover human nature - Owen Vyner Social media: Catholic activism and the AussieMite affair - Damian Wyld Formation: Future priests learn about the RCIA process - Rev Dr Elio Capra SDB Obituary: Vale Fr Paul Duffy SJ (1931-2013) - Anna Krohn Human dignity: Defence of marriage must be linked to defence of parenthood - Denise Hunnell Musicae Sacrae: The essential role of music in the Mass - Ronan Reilly Parody?: Anti-Catholic hate speech, Aussie Style (Move on, nothing to see here) - R.J. Stove Letters: Vision of Heaven? - Peter Harris Letters: Mr Hyde's lesson - John Ballantyne Letters: Healthy families vital - Brendan Keogh Letters: Finding true unity - Didymus Astle Letters: Matter of conscience - Arnold Jago Letters: Marriage simply is ... - Brian A. Coman Letters: Guilt-free sin - Paul Voskulen Letters: Offensive advert - Helen F. Daniel Letters: Contact your candidates - Gerard Calilhanna Letters: Christian civil rights - Name and Address Supplied Books: SAINTS WHO RAISED THE DEAD: True Stories of Four Hundred Resurrection Miracles - Br Barry Coldrey (reviewer) Books: ST JOSEMARIA ESCRIVA AND THE ORIGINS OF OPUS DEI - Br Barry Coldrey (reviewer) Books: Order books from www.freedompublishing.com.au Reflection: Benedict XVI: Sts Peter and Paul, two pillars of the Church

Freedom of religion is written into the laws of all Western democracies and the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948. But in all countries this freedom is being attacked and eroded.

Civil law should stand firm on well established principles and not be seduced by the undefined empty slogans of "choice," "quality of life" and "non-discrimination" which are then used to slander many good citizens as "phobic" or using "hate speech" in an attempt to intimidate them into silence.

Christians must assert their rights to exist in our Judeo-Christian based free society or they will be pushed out of modern culture by the totalitarians of the new secular order. In the UK there is persecution already, where a couple with an exemplary record as foster-parents were declared unfit guardians because they refused to teach children that homosexual acts were alright.

In the US Catholic charities have been removed from vital social services because they refused to agree to policies or procedures which violate moral principles. In Massachusetts families are denied the right to remove their children from corrupting sex education classes and an ensuing court case has overturned the constitutional right of parents to choose their children's education.

In Australia, laws do not protect the right to life of the unborn, so that there are now an estimated 100,000 abortions annually plus the horrendous post-abortion suffering and grief of mothers concerned. This amounts to four million children lost since the late 1960s. We could well do with this extra natural population for our development and to support the aged.

Marriage and family life are under serious attack in Western societies. All basic human rights and duties should be seriously considered at the coming federal election.

NAME AND ADDRESS SUPPLIED

Reprinted from AD2000 Vol 26 No 6 (July 2013), p. 16