Consistent Life History: Being Across the Board
by Father Jim Hewes In 1978, Frank Staropoli and I founded the Diocesan Human Life Commission, in the Catholic Diocese of Rochester, with our charter clearly being what was later called a “consistent life ethic” (CLE) or a “seamless garment.” This was five years before Cardinal Bernardin’s famous speech at Fordham. We called it at…
How Disney Princesses Exemplify the Consistent Life Ethic
by Kae-Leah Williamson (reprinted from her personal Facebook note) My best friend Lisa Dawn Tynes and I both adore princesses and mermaids, even though we’re both over 30. She has a fantastic blog appropriately called The Princess Blog that discusses her opinions on all sorts of fairy tale-related media. Some of the most thought-provoking posts…
The 2020 Election: If You See Something, Say Something
The author prefers to be anonymous. A reminder: The Consistent Life Network doesn’t necessarily endorse everything said in its blog, since we encourage individual writers to express a variety of views. This is especially so when analyzing elections. If you see something, say something. That’s the mantra for those who want to work for social…
A Global Effort to Protect Life: The UN Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapons
by John Whitehead Honduras became, at the end of October, the fiftieth nation to ratify the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. The Treaty, which was finalized in the summer of 2017, has been signed by 84 nations. Now that 50 of those nations have ratified it, the treaty will officially enter…
Summary: Peace & Life Referendums
compiled by Rachel MacNair For details on the referendums and explanations of why consistent-lifers have an interest in them, see: Peace and Life Referendums . Good News No Abortion “Right” in State Constitution The Louisiana “Love Life Amendment” passed with flying colors – 63% of the vote. Formally, it’s the “No Right to Abortion…
Fratelli Tutti – Consistent-Life Excerpts
Since Catholics in the United States have been observing October as Respect Life Month, we share excerpts from Pope Francis’ recent encyclical letter Fratelli Tutti (a print version is available), touching on each of the threats to life mentioned in Consistent Life’s mission statement. Compiled by Julia Smucker 18. Some parts of our…
Catastrophe by Mistake: The Button and the Danger of Accidental Nuclear War
by John Whitehead The most likely way for the United States to end up in a nuclear war today is not because of an aggressive nuclear attack by Russia or North Korea or some other nation. Nor is it likely to be because the United States launches such an aggressive attack on another nuclear-armed nation….
Death Penalty and other Killing: The Destructive Effect on Us
by Fr. Jim Hewes I have opposed the death penalty for years. My reasoning stems from a larger perspective than just the death penalty. It focuses not on the circumstances surrounding the crime or the killer, but the effect of our actions on those that approve of or carry out an execution. Anguish In…
Dialog on Life Issues: Avoiding Some Obstacles to Communication
by John Whitehead An essential part of consistent life ethic advocacy is learning how to talk about the ethic or specific life issues to people with differing views. In a recent post for us, Josh Brahm of the Equal Rights Institute (ERI) offered for constructive dialog. I offer further thoughts, partly inspired by ERI’s work…
A Lawyer’s Turnaround on Baby Doe with Her Own Down Syndrome Baby
by Sarah Terzo Janine Steck Huffman has a child with Down syndrome. But years before she gave birth to her son Nash, she was partly responsible for the legal starvation death of Baby Doe, another child with Down syndrome. Baby Doe was born in Bloomington, Indiana, in April 1982. Besides Down syndrome, he had…