Poll find voters split on 'gay marriage

Trenton, N.J., Oct 27, 2013 / 07:47 am (CNA/EWTN News).- A new survey reports that U.S. voters are evenly split on “gay marriage,” with opposition strongest among those who view marriage primarily as a religious institution.

The Rasmussen Reports telephone survey found that 44 percent of self-described likely voters oppose same-sex “marriage,” while an equal number support it. About 66 percent of Republican voters oppose recognizing the unions as marriages, while 60 percent of Democrats support recognition. Unaffiliated voters back the unions by a margin of 46 to 39 percent.

“Gay marriage” draws opposition from black voters, 65 percent of whom oppose it. Fifty-two percent of other minority voters favor it while white voters are evenly split, Rasmussen says.

The young and the never-married are more likely to support “gay marriage,” with 58 percent of voters under 40 supporting redefinition. Men are somewhat more likely than women to oppose the unions.

About 71 percent of those who say marriage is primarily a religious institution oppose redefining marriage, while 77 percent of those who see marriage as a civil institution support redefinition.

Most of those who say the federal government should establish marriage laws favor redefining marriage, while those who see marriage laws as a state or local responsibility oppose redefinition.

The survey of 1,000 likely voters was conducted Oct. 22-23. It claims a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points.

Recent Rasmussen surveys have found strong support for having children grow up in a home with both parents. There is also strong support for the right for businesses in the wedding industry to decline requests to provide services for same-sex ceremonies if the businesses have religious objections.

Yale pro-life conference encourages engagement with culture

New Haven, Conn., Oct 26, 2013 / 05:02 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- At Yale's first annual pro-life conference, advocates emphasized moving beyond current pro-life efforts to more directly address the issues and understandings of persons who dot see the dignity of all human life.

“Abortion might be the most boring moral issue we grapple with today,” said Michael Hannon, managing editor of The Thomistic Institute in New York City, a panelist at the Oct. 18 conference.

“That doesn’t mean it’s unimportant, and that certainly doesn’t mean we shouldn’t talk about it, but I do think it’s incredibly uninteresting, and I think it’s incredibly uninteresting because it’s incredibly obvious.”

Hannon spoke at an Oct. 18 panel called “Beyond the Pro-Life Pep Rally: Where we Go From Here?” alongside Tristyn Bloom and David Nolan, both junior fellows at First Things, and Nora Calhoun, a registered nurse and doula.

The conference, called "Vita et Veritas," or "Life and Truth," was held at Yale's St. Thomas More chapel and Catholic campus chaplaincy, and was sponsored by Choose Life at Yale, or CLAY. Co-sponsoring the conference were the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, Students for Life of America, Christian Union, and Life Matters Journal.

Hannon explained that in general, pro-life conferences “do a great good for us.” He warned, however, against a “pep rally” mentality among pro-lifers, and against a focus on abortion as a complicated moral question because, in reality, “abortion is the most black-and-white- issue there is.”

He said that he doesn’t see “how we can turn a blind eye” to a parent killing an unborn child,  when there is a proper understanding of the reality of life more broadly.

The more interesting question, Hannon continued, is not whether or not the unborn are persons, or if abortion is moral, but “why does everyone not agree” on the meaning and value of life, and “what do we do about it?”

“Ethics is talked about as the ‘right response to reality,’” he explained, “and until we some coherent picture of what that reality is, talking about the right response just doesn’t make any sense.”

Bloom encouraged attendees to encounter modern society’s understanding of man and to take the risk of trying to understand many people’s acceptance of abortion.

“We are pathologically afraid of risk,” as a society, and our society understands a new life as a big risk entailing a complete change of lifestyle with life-changing responsibilities. This challenges the vision of control and risk minimization that much of our society likes to have, she said.

She pondered if treating “planned pregnancies as normal” is a way of dealing with the seeming incomprehensibility of our own existence, and the supposed meaninglessness of life.

Modern parents compensate for this meaningless through planning,” Bloom said.

“We are the little gods of our own children.”

“When we have something unchosen, unplanned, uninvited, it’s a direct attack on the very core of our own being,” she said, explaining society’s rationalization of abortion.

“I think we must live in one of the most bodily confused eras of human history,” Calhoun segued off of this theme.

“Our bodies are seen as simply possessions, machines, tools,” she explained, adding that we “over-identify with them as with possessions, machines, tools.”

“They define us because we’ve been taught that the purpose of maintaining these bodily machines is maintaining our autonomy.”

The vision of absolute personal autonomy fuels the abortion industry as it fuels other parts of our consumerist society, Calhoun added.

In contrast, the idea of a person, such as a child, depending upon another for their existence “is deeply deeply threatening to the currently dominant ideology that autonomy is personhood.”

“The pro-life movement needs to be witnessing to a radically different attitude towards bodies, but we aren’t doing a very good job of it right now.”

“Instead of promoting the radically different idea that no characteristic can confer personhood, we’re constantly undermining ourselves by over-emphasizing fetal and embryonic characteristics.”

“At the same time, we’re downplaying the tremendous unity between an unborn baby and her mother.”

While she admitted that “there’s certainly a place for education” on medical facts about the unborn, Calhoun argued that the emphasis of the pro-life movement should not be on topics such as fetal development, pain, or heartbeats.

“The problem is that we’re emphasizing the abilities and merits and strengths of the unborn, whereas I feel strongly that the real message of hope and justice that the pro-life movement carries is that there are no abilities or strengths that confer status, not even being viable or sentient or undamaged or wanted.”

“That’s the real message we should be promoting: that you cannot win or forfeit humanity.”

To fight the message of autonomy promoted by abortion, “we need to reacquaint ourselves with our bodies,” she said.

“We need a shared language that goes deeper than words usually can: I think bodies can be that language.”

Calhoun stated that not everyone is called to being a midwife or hospice worker, “but corporal works of mercy are open, and in fact, demanded of all, and they seem to me to be the best place to start. Let’s see how far they get us.”

Nolan encouraged pro-life advocates to not only consider the cultural mindsets underlying abortion, but also to extend “mercy to everything we encounter” and to extend the pro-life understanding and concern for life in the womb to other ethical areas in the process.

He encouraged the work that some pro-life activists have made for “treating animals mercifully,” questioning trends in industrial farming in which animals are raised in suffering and without concern for their well being.

“Our eating choices fall squarely into ethical ground, and we would do well to consider our choices.”

He acknowledged that “it’s frightening to consider moral choices that will change the way we live,” but encouraged pro-life supporters to consider the moral questions in all areas of life as they would have abortion supporters consider the morality of their lifestyle choices.

“Being really pro-life has worldview connotations; it demands that we go beyond a single-focus issue,” Nolan charged.

“We must be careful not to entrench ourselves in areas with a sporadically and single-issue focus that doesn’t recognize the underlying links.”

This doesn’t mean that people should abandon pro-life advocacy Nolan explained, but that pro-life advocates should open broader justice and mercy as part of a complete pro-life worldview.

“The most obvious place where justice and mercy meet is in the protection of the child in the womb.”

Sacraments are not mere 'decorations,' insists Pope

Vatican City, Oct 26, 2013 / 03:31 pm (CNA).- Pope Francis met with families from around the world today in a celebration of the joy of family life, telling them that the sacraments provide real grace to aid in the challenges everyone faces.

“The sacraments don’t just decorate life!” exclaimed the Pope to the crowds filling St. Peter’s Square on Oct. 26. “They are to give us strength of life!”

The event was held during the Year of Faith in order for families from around the world to celebrate with the Pope. He entered the square on Saturday evening surrounded by children holding brightly colored balloons. Music played as different acrobats and artists performed.

As the evening progressed, many children, couples, and grandparents spoke to Pope Francis about their questions and concerns regarding marriage and family life.

Speaking about marriage, Pope Francis admitted, “certainly, it’s difficult.  For this reason we want the grace of the Sacrament!”

“The Sacrament of Matrimony is not a pretty ceremony. Christian spouses marry in the Sacrament because they know they need it!”

Decrying the “provisional” culture that pervades the modern world with its fear of commitment, the Pope explained, “with trust in God’s faithfulness, everything can be faced responsibly and without fear.” 

“Christian spouses are not naïve; they know life’s problems and temptations. But they are not afraid to be responsible before God and before society. They do not run away, they do not hide, they do not shirk the mission of forming a family and bringing children into the world.”

The Pontiff acknowledged the particular difficulties facing many families today, including war, poverty, and especially the growing rate of joblessness.

“‘Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden,’ Jesus says. Dear families, the Lord knows our struggles and the burdens we have in our lives. But he also knows our great desire to find joy and rest! Do you remember? Jesus said, ‘…that your joy may be complete.’ Jesus wants our joy to be complete!” he exclaimed.

“Jesus always gives us that love: he is its endless source. He gives us, in a sacrament, his word and the bread of life, so that our joy may be full,” he said, in reference to the Eucharist.

Pope Francis then turned to an icon of the Presentation, depicting Mary and Joseph with the infant Jesus in the Temple alongside the elderly prophets, Simeon and Anna.

“In this scene three generations come together: Simeon holds in his arms the child Jesus, in whom he recognizes the Messiah, while Anna is shown praising God and proclaiming salvation to those awaiting the redemption of Israel,” the Pope recounted.

“These two elderly persons represent faith as memory. Mary and Joseph are the family, sanctified by the presence of Jesus who is the fulfillment of all God’s promises.”

“Like the Holy Family of Nazareth, every family is part of the history of a people; it cannot exist without the generations who have gone before it.”

“Grandparents are the wisdom of the family!” he added.

The Pope departed from his prepared remarks to give some practical advice families should familiarize themselves with three simple phrases: “excuse me,” “thank you,” and “I’m sorry.”

“Tell me,” he asked the audience, “how many times a day do you say thank you to your wife? To your husband? How many days have passed since you last said thank you?”

“Don’t finish a day without making peace,” he encouraged.

One little girl informed the Pontiff that she knew how to make the sign of the cross.  Pope Francis went over to the microphone and said with a smile, “I know how to make the sign of the cross, but I don’t know if all the children here do. Do you? Yes? Let’s do it together!”

Pope Francis then led the crowds in the Profession of Faith and concluded the evening with a Hail Mary.

Saturday evening’s event was part of a weekend of activities for families on pilgrimage to Rome.

Many had made a visit to the tomb of St. Peter on Saturday morning, and will join the Pope for a rosary and mass on Sunday morning.