Blog to discuss the book "The Apocalypse - Letter by Letter: A Literary Analysis of the Book of Revelation" and current events that point to the events described therein.
Note: The Vatican called attention to the sins of carelessness with the environment, promiscuity, hyper-wealth accumulation and here in this story we see a confluence of all of them in one place. Sin kills, and mortal sin kills the soul. We are in for a rough ride until we get our moral bearings once again. BIRTH CONTROL HORMONES ARE FOR THE BIRDS! by Judie Brown
When I saw the latest report on starlings and the dreadful damage that birth control hormones are doing to their ability to sing, I was amazed!
The thing that made me stop and take notice was not that additional research is showing that "gender-bender chemicals" are negatively affecting the environment, but rather that such scientific results do not get even a minimal amount of attention from the major media in America.
According to this most recent article, "scientists at Cardiff University have discovered that the brains of male starlings foraging for worms at a sewage treatment works in South-West England have been subtly changed by being contaminated by estrogen from the contraceptive pill and hormone replacement therapy."
The report says that female hormones pass into the sewage by way of female urine and remain unaffected by the sewage itself. However the hormones do cause the part of the brain that controls the starling's song to grow much bigger, causing them to sing at greater length and with more "virtuosity than usual."
At UCLA researchers have found the same effect on female finches so that they are singing like the males do, though in the past female finches never sang.
Some researchers are even describing the hormones that enter the environment as a type of "pollution" and are concerned about the long range effects they will have on the environment as we know it. For example, in Florida during the 1980s alligators were failing to reproduce because males had been negatively affected by the estrogen in the streams and rivers. And in Britain another study found that, "a third of male roaches in rivers and streams have been producing eggs which are normally produced by female sex organs."
Some research suggests that these negative effects are having a deleterious impact on men as well, predicting that the "average man will be unable to father children within decades."
The article does not represent some harebrained idea that was concocted in the back room of a pub! It is based on the scientific research of several environmental scientists from various parts of the world and their work should be taken seriously.
We already know that synthetic hormones can cause all sorts of problems for the women who ingest them. Add to that the problems that the residuals are causing for the environment and for the men in society and you have to wonder why there is not more effort to get the things off the market. Of course no sooner did I get that sentence onto my screen then the answer became obvious: money!
Pharmaceutical companies make billions on birth control chemicals and hormone replacement therapy, so why sound alarms when it is so easy to ignore these studies and keep the results from the public? While some would say that the health and wellbeing of the nation's human beings should be the number one priority of the government, the media and big business, it has become painfully clear over the years that this is simply not the case when dealing with matters of sexual relations that involve birth control and abortion.
When you read about the impact these hormones is having on humans, you really have to wonder what in the world is wrong with people who are in positions to warn the public of the impending disaster that human beings will face.
For instance: Communities exposed to high levels of these and other gender-bender chemicals, from the Great Lakes of North America to the Russian Arctic, have been found to give birth to twice as many girls as boys.
Gender-bender chemicals are not just for the birds! Apparently they are going to negatively affect every aspect of society as we know it... unless something is done to correct the problems that have caused the imbalances reported in this article.Don't hold your breath!
Michael Hichborn Director of Media Relations American Life League 1179 Courthouse Road Stafford, Virginia 22554 540.659.4171 (w) 540.226.9178 (c) mhichborn@all.org http://www.all.org/
My note: I kept reading this article to find the explanation, the rationale for the Bishops taking a stand against a constitutional amendment that would enshrine the Catholic teaching that life (personhood in the law) begins at conception. It never came. Instead I found Judy Brown's condemnation of the Bishops' position. Have we reached the time that we can now trust the voice of an activist over that of the supposed shepherds of the Church? I have read and re-read the Bible and not once did I find anything from the mouth of Christ or his servants the prophets to indicate that political pragmatism was a value. These Bishops, the same ones who shuttled child abusers around and then exempted themselves from the corrective measures, will be easy prey for The False Prophet when he comes. They await him with anticipation no doubt. Montana Catholic Bishops Will Not Support Constitutional Amendment Defining Personhood
By Thaddeus M. Baklinski
BILLINGS, March 4, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In a statement issued last week, Montana bishops Michael W. Warfel and George Leo Thomas said the Montana Catholic Conference will not endorse Constitutional Initiative 100 (the Montana Personhood Amendment) that would establish conception as the beginning of life by placing a personhood amendment on the state's 2008 ballot.
Moe Wosepka, executive director of the Montana Catholic Conference said that although "the bishops agonized over this decision for several months, and did not take this decision lightly," they determined that even if voters approved it, the ballot initiative would be ineffectual. The bishops' official statement said they were "disallowing support for CI-100 in our parishes and church sponsored organizations, be it through endorsement, financial support, signature gathering, or distribution of promotional materials," though individuals were free to give their support to the initiative.
Note: Sounds like the Bishops are "personally opposed but pro-choice" on the issue.
The statement went on to explain that while the bishops praised the intention of CI-100 for eliminating abortion, the initiative was not "the most beneficial venue to pursue necessary change."
Note: OK, fair enough.. THEN WHAT'S YOUR IDEA? Let's hear it.
"We are currently working to develop a broad-based coalition to examine alternatives that offer a more realistic approach to the protection of human life," the statement said. "We, the Roman Catholic Bishops of Montana, remain dedicated to the protection of life from conception to natural death."
Note; The letter from Jesus to the Bishop of Laodicea comes to mind here, something about vomiting the lukewarm out of His body, the Church.
The amendment is sponsored by Rep. Rick Jore, a Constitution Party member for Ronan, MT, who explained that "while CI-100 merely defines 'person' as used in the Montana Constitution, it gets right to the heart of the abortion debate. The fact that human life begins at conception is the only sure foundation of the pro-life argument. We cannot, we must not, buy into the notion that human life begins at some arbitrary time that seems convenient to us."
A report in the Great Falls Tribune said Jonathan Martin, chairman of the Constitution Party of Montana and one of the main proponents of CI-100, was "saddened" by the bishops' unwillingness to support the CI-100 campaign. "I think far too often today that we make decisions based on pragmatism rather than right and wrong," he said.
Martin continued, "This initiative creates no laws, it legislates nothing, it outlaws nothing. It establishes a constitutional principle, and that is recognizing the personhood of the unborn child. If it gets the necessary signatures (to qualify for the ballot) and is approved by the voters of Montana, it will then be up to the Legislature to sit down and reason out legislation to implement."
According to an article in the Bozeman Chronicle, Montana Right to Life Coalition Director Greg Trude said his group is not supporting nor endorsing the measure. Mr. Trude was not available to comment on the statement.
The Montana bishops' statement follows on the heals of similar statements from Bishops' Conferences in Colorado and Georgia, where requests for support for personhood amendment proposals were rejected.
Atlanta Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory and Bishop J. Kevin Boland of Savannah said in a Jan. 8 statement that the proposed amendment to the state Constitution that would establish the rights of personhood for embryos from the moment of conception "does not provide a realistic opportunity for ending or reducing abortion in Georgia," although the bishops said they have "admiration and respect for those who have crafted this legislation."
In Colorado, Catholic Conference Executive Director Jennifer Kraska said that the bishops "commend the goal of this effort to end abortion, and individual Catholics may choose to work for its passage. At the same time, we recognize that other people committed to the sanctity of life have raised serious questions about this specific amendment's timing and content."
"It's a political, gutless position," said Judie Brown, president of the American Life League, in a report by the Denver Post. "As a Catholic, it's the most scandalous thing I've ever heard. I can't believe that any bishop wouldn't want to be out in the front lines helping the petitioners. The sanctity of life is a fundamental teaching of the Catholic Church."
You may contact Montana Catholic Conference Executive Director, Moe Wosepka at: director@montanacc.org.
