Friday, December 23, 2011

Lifeissues Newsletter #557

Lifeissues.net: clear thinking about crucial issues

Dear Friends For Life,

We will take a short break during the Christmas Holidays. Our next issue of the Newsletter will be January 8, 2012.

Christmas! As we gather around the table for Christmas dinner with our family and friends, we tend to forget those who are alone in this world. This Christmas bring a little happiness to others with an act of kindness. From LifeIssues.net, we wish you all a Meaningful and Grace-Filled Christmas! Remember that Jesus is the reason for this season.


What came to be through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race; the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. (John 1:4-5)

God Bless,
Jerry Novotny, OMI

(A Thought) "With Christians, a poetical view of things is a duty. We are bid to color all things with hues of faith, to see a divine meaning in every event." - Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman
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For clear thinking about crucial issues, visit LifeIssues.net
(Due to volume of spam received, do not reply to this message but instead send all emails to jerry@shirt.ocn.ne.jp. Thank you!)


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Lifeissues.net Newsletter #557
December 25, 2011

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(TABLE OF CONTENTS):

1. Christmas: Celebrate Human Dignity
2. Same-sex couples have no right to marry
3. A Treatment for Down Syndrome?
4. Number of adults married at all-time low: new study
5. How can we stop more Down syndrome babies from being aborted?
6. Hearing my child's heartbeat for the first time
7. Has British PM David Cameron had a conversion? I don't think so…
8. Some of the most important learning we ever do happens in the womb
9. Abortion and mental health: science vs politics
10. Pornography Addiction, Documented
11. India: 50,000 Girls Become Victims of Abortion Monthly
12. 21-Year-Old Man Wakes From Coma Before Doctors Take Organs


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(ASIA): "7 reasons why "Merry Christmas" will always beat "Season's Greetings" -  Whether or not you accept the Christian theological beliefs which underpin the celebration of Christmas, they have transformed Western society and they are in the process of transforming nations far from Bethlehem. Christmas, that is, the celebration of the moment in which the all-powerful creator of the Universe took on human flesh and entered human history, sends powerful, if unspoken, messages. Here are seven which are implicitly conveyed when we wish friends a "Merry Christmas".

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ITEM #1: Christmas: Celebrate Human Dignity

As Christmas approaches and we remember the Christ Child born to save our souls, we must also reflect upon the countless souls never allowed to be born. Christmas is a time of joy and celebration, yet it is also a time of reflection.

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ITEM #2: Same-sex couples have no right to marry

The question of same-sex marriage concerns every morally sensitive citizen. And so it is no wonder that it has been the subject of debate everywhere, among politicians and jurists, scholars and intellectuals.

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ITEM #3: A Treatment for Down Syndrome?

There is reason for hope, however. Researchers connected to the Jerome Lejeune Foundation tell us that within ten years there will be a treatment for Down syndrome. Not a cure, perhaps, but treatment to help Downs patients overcome their intellectual disability and live normal lives.

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ITEM #4: Number of adults married at all-time low: new study

A report published yesterday by the Pew Research Center says that only 51% of adults in the United States are currently married. The report also reveals that the number of adults who have never married has almost doubled, from 15% to 28%, since 1960, and that the median age at first marriage has risen from 20.3 to 26.5 for women, and from 22.8 to 28.7 for men.

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ITEM #5: How can we stop more Down syndrome babies from being aborted?

The primary threat to the lives of persons with Down syndrome is no longer prenatal testing and diagnosis; nor is it ignorance, outdated information, lack of peer and professional support, nor even insensitive communication at the time of diagnosis. The primary threat to the lives of persons with Down syndrome is abortion. Yet, the major Down syndrome organizations are often unwilling to face that issue head on.

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ITEM #6: Hearing My Child's Heartbeat For The First Time

The heartbeat I will hear resounds from a heart that began forming two or three weeks after conception. By the fifth week it started to beat and pump blood through much of the body.

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ITEM #7 Has British PM David Cameron had a conversion? I don't think so...

The Prime Minister seems to understand, vaguely, that something is deeply wrong, but all his talk about traditional values falls flat while his government pushes gay "marriage," abortion, and all the rest.

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ITEM #8: Some of the most important learning we ever do happens in the womb: science expert

In a fascinating TED talk, journalist Annie Murphy Paul emphasizes that the child absorbs nearly every aspect of his mother's life.

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ITEM #9: The Greening of AIDS Prevention

Abandon the pipe dream that we can eradicate AIDS through drugs or condoms and understand that we have to deal with behavior (in the context of culture)!

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ITEM #10: Pornography Addiction, Documented

Sean Finnegan would like to move on. After directing his award-winning documentary Out of the Darkness, featuring stories of people who escaped from the prison-like world of pornography, his production company, Anteroom Pictures, is ready for something more uplifting – maybe an account of the interior life of St. Thomas More.

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ITEM #11: India: 50,000 Girls Become Victims of Abortion Monthly

Here are the numbers: An astonishing 50,000 girl babies are aborted each month. One millions girl babies die every year. Over 40 million girls have been killed through sex selection abortions, neglect or outright murder in the past decades. The main reason for male preference is money. Indian culture demands that a woman entering a marriage provide a dowry. In order to avoid impoverishing the family, girls are simply eliminated. Sex selective abortions are not used just by poor families, however, as middle and upper class families also seek ultrasound to guarantee the birth of a son.

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ITEM #12: 21-Year-Old Man Wakes From Coma Before Doctors Take Organs

A 21-year-old man has awakened from a coma just hours before doctors were ready to shut off life support and take his organs for donation purposes. Currently, brain death requires the irreversible cessation of all functions of the entire brain and each of its constituent parts. Nature's editorial claimed - without proof - that doctors obey "the spirit but not the letter, of this law. And many are feeling uncomfortable about it."

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YOU CAN CHANGE SOCIETY:

1. BE INFORMED: "My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge." Hosea 4:6. Visit Lifeissues.net Website for insights into current Life Issues www.lifeissues.net. Access to all prior Newsletters is located in the Archives on main page.

2. PRAY DAILY: for the courage to be God's presence in society and to strongly support those who are deemed "unworthy of life". "If My people who are called by My Name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land." 2 Chronicles 7:14

3. BECOME INVOLVED: Several years ago Fr. Jerry created a project entitled, "Journey for Life into the Heart of Asia". The project appeals for donations to help finance plane travel for lectures and seminars to developing countries in Asia. Strong focus is centered on reaching Asian Catholic Major Seminaries, Universities, Parishes, Hospitals and Family/Pro Life related groups. The lectures place emphasis on "The Asian Family at Crossroads: Life Issues, Trends and Challenges".

For information about no-cost Pro Life Talks to your group in Asia: contact Fr. Jerry at jerry@shirt.ocn.ne.jp.

To become a supportive Missionary participant for this Asian project, kindly send your donations to:

** Fr. Jerry Novotny, OMI

** LifeIssues.net, Editor

** Akebono-cho 1-15-9

** Kochi City, Japan, 780-8072

(or transfer donation directly to ProLife bank account: Jerome Novotny, Shikoku Bank, Asakura Branch, No. 102-1-0080824)

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Contact EDITOR:

Jerry Novotny, OMI

Akebono-cho 1-15-9

Kochi City, Japan, 780-8072

[tel/fax: 088-843-0406]

[email: jerry@shirt.ocn.ne.jp]

["Due to volume of spam received, we're asking you not to reply to this message but instead send all correspondence to jerry@shirt.ocn.ne.jp. Thank you! Editor"]

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Websites by Editor:

English LifeIssues Site: http://www.lifeissues.net,

Japanese LifeIssues Site: http://www.japan-lifeissues.net,

HIV/AIDS Site: http://capcha.org

OMI Site: http://www.omijapankorea.net/index.html

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