FAMILY FIRST ELECTION 2020 PAMPHLET BANNED FROM TWO CATHOLIC CHURCHES

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"It's too political." So said Father yesterday morning, when asked for permission to place Family First's "Abortion, Euthanasia, Cannabis - What's Next?" pamphlet in our parish church foyers. 

He refused point-blank.

"It's too political," he said. He wouldn't look at me. 

It took my breath away. I couldn't believe that a Catholic priest would refuse to offer information to his parishioners on the two issues we're asked to vote on in conjunction with the elections - euthanasia and recreational cannabis, or give them the facts on which of our MPs' views accord with the teaching of the Catholic Church.

"'Research proves", says Bob McCoskrie of Family First in his introduction to the pamphlet, " that the strength of marriage and family, along with respect for life and the protection of our most vulnerable, has a major impact on the strength of a nation: lowering the rates of child poverty, child abuse, imprisonment, mental health and the costs of welfare - and producing an ordered, civil society.

Over the past two decades ... (M)arriage and the role of parents have been increasingly devalued, and the respect for life and health has never been more at risk. This brochure ... allows you to see how each MP has voted on important social issues. Many are conscience votes ... however in many cases there seems to be a 'party conscience.

It explains the reasons why a NO-vote in the referendum on cannabis and on euthanasia is the only option ... Family First does not endorse or oppose candidates or parties for elective office. This record should not take the place of your own effort to evaluate parties and candidates."

The pamphlet gives the voting record of all Members of Parliament on:

• Same-sex marriage
• Euthanasia
• Marijuana and other drugs
• Abortion (the horrific Abortion Legislation Act)
• The role of parents (parental notifications for teenagers' abortions)
• Anti-smacking law
• Decriminalising prostitution
• Raising the drinking (purchase) age
• Easter trading
• Taxation of families (income-splitting for parents, paid parental leave)
• Three strikes legislation 

The pamphlet give 20 reasons to vote NO to cannabis (not medicinal cannabis) - up to 40 joints a day!

The pamphlet gives 20 reasons to vote NO to euthanasia: 

 Henry Marsh

Renowned British neurosurgeon and supporter of euthanasia, Henry Marsh, has this to say to us (and to my PP): "They argue that grannies will be made to commit suicide. Even if a few grannies get bullied into it, isn't that the pricee worth paying for all the people who could die with dignity?"  

The pamphlet outlines what it calls the FATAL FLAWS OF THE Abortion Legislation Act 2020.

The pamphlet clearly shows where party leaders stand on "key family issues". Not to put too fine a point on it, Jacinda Ardern, leader of the Labour Party, and Leighton Baker, leader of the New Conservatives Party, are at opposite ends of the spectrum. 

The only issues on which Ardern voted in accord with Family First (aka Catholic) principles, were medical marijuana, paid parental leave (well, Ardern is all for hand-outs) and Easter Sunday trading (was that her Mormon upbringing?)

Dear Jacinda, they are us

Leighton Baker of New Conservatives' position was in accord with Family First (Catholic) values on every single issue.

New Conservatives leader Leighton Baker

In between are Winston Peters (NZ First, aka Winston Peters First) whose voting record on the Abortion Legislation Act is shameful; James Shaw (Greens) who's only marginally better than Ardern; Judith Collins (National) who's just as bad as Shaw; and David Seymour (Act) on a par with Shaw and Collins.

Look, you have to read the pamphlet. But if your PP is of the same mind as mine, you won't find it in your church foyer. "It's too political."

Hey, Father, life is political! People are political! Human nature is political! The trouble is, the Catholic Church in New Zealand is political - and its politics are left of centre. 

I'm not telling my Protestant friends on my Voice for Life committee about the pamphlet ban. They'll all have it in their churches. I'm ashamed to tell them. 

As a reader of this blog commented on my last post, WE AWAIT IN JOYFUL HOPE THE COMING OF NZ'S BISHOPS' STATEMENT ON THE ELECTIONS https://juliadufresne.blogspot.com/2020/08/we-await-in-joyful-hope-coming-of-nzs.html?showComment=1597124279908#c8884570365625470224 :

"I wonder why the clergy are not speaking against abortion, euthanasia and the violations of people's freedom and civil rights? Maybe they fear the loss of their tax free status if they upset the people that control our political system?"

And another reader explains:

"They are strongly aligned with the left through the ‘social justice’ committees and agitators in the parishes. It’s too much of a mind-flip for them to imagine they may have spent the last 4 decades supporting Satan. Easier to keep going than go back."

 And another:

"This priest (my PP) has been led astray by Bishop Peter Cullinane."

I replied to the last: "You've nailed it." 

And we've all - except the strong-minded supporters of the Society of St Pius X - been led astray by the 'New Mass'. It is absolutely inconceivable that a parish priest 50 years ago would have refused to let his flock read information given from a Christian standpoint on the danger of drugs and euthanasia. He'd have been thumping the pulpit and denouncing a Government such as New Zealand's is now, not just as socialist but as evil. 

Preach the word: be instant in season, out of season: reprove, entreat, rebuke in all patience and doctrine (2 Tim 4:2).

As Pope Benedict XVI said, before his elevation to the papacy, "the ecclesial crisis" (of which my PP's action is a classical symptom) "in which we find ourselves today is to a large extent due to the collapse of the liturgy." The then-Cardinal Ratzinger continued to lament the exchange of the old rite for the new "introduced a breach into the history of the liturgy whose consequences could only be tragic ... the old building was demolishe, and another was built ... this has caused us great harm."

"In place of liturgy as the fruit of development came fabricated liturgy. We abandoned the organic, living process of growth and development over centuries, and replaced it - as in a manufacturing process - with a fabrication, a banal on-the-spot product." 

Lex orandi, lex credendi - the way we worship determines the way we believe. When we stopped worshipping - kneeling and receiving Our Eucharistic Lord humbly, on the tongue - we stopped believing.

Cardinal Josef Ratzinger

Once reigning as Benedict XVI, Cardinal Ratzinger mandated that:

"Usages universally handed down by apostolic and unbroken tradition be maintained, not only so that errors may be avoided, but also that the faith may be passed on in its integrity, since the Church's rule of prayer (lex orandi) corresponds to her rule of belief (lex credendi).