Bob Nicholas

There is within me a core moral fiber that cannot be broken.

I believe without question that in order for one to be “pro-life” they must love all life from conception until natural death.  I don’t believe this because the Church teaches it, though that is helpful. I have actually held this belief since before I was Catholic, before I was Christian. I believed this when I was simply, human.

To compromise this would be to compromise who I am…who God made me.

I decided tonight to look up some statistics. Often I have quoted statistics about abortion and the quantity of children lost to this tragedy of human stupidity and greed. Here they are again, to help you understand my belief.

• For 2003, approximately 848,000 legal induced abortions were reported to CDC from 49 reporting areas.

• The abortion ratio was 241 legal induced abortions per 1,000 live births. This represents a decrease from the 2002 ratio of 246 abortions per 1,000 live births. • The abortion rate was 16 legal induced abortions per 1,000 women aged 15 to 44 years. This represents no change from the 2002 report.

• As in the past, the highest percentage of abortions were obtained by white women, at fifty-five percent. Unmarried women accounted for 82% of abortions. Women under 25 years of age represented 51% of all abortions.

• Sixty-one percent of reported abortions were performed during the first 8 weeks of gestation. Approximately 88% were performed within the first 12 weeks of gestation.

If you say, well that’s only one year, perhaps it spiked that year.

A total of 839,226 legal induced abortions were reported to CDC for 2004. A big ole 1.1% decrease.

One chart from the 2004 report shows that between 700 and 800 abortions occur per 1000 births in girl 15 years of age and younger. That’s 70-80% of girls 15 and under getting pregnant have Abortions! HOW is that acceptable? HOW is that benefitting the health of the mother?

There are many more statistics in the 2004 report which I encourage you to read, especially the findings/results section. You can read it here: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/ss5609a1.htm?s_cid=ss5609a1_e

Psalm 127:3 reads, “Behold, children are a gift of the LORD; the fruit of the womb is a reward.” How precious is this gift and yet, we squander it like everything else. In Act’s it is written, “…because he himself gives men life and breath”. I believe that when man is in conflict with God, an internal turmoil exists that cannot be forgiven or reconciled by man. Only God can resolve this war within us. This is true with abortion as well.

While in college I dated a girl shortly after she had an abortion. No, it was not my child. Though in a variety of circumstances in my life, I too could have dealt with a teenage or college girlfriend who became pregnant. Thankfully I did not. This girl was nice, fun, and we had a deep relationship. My affection for her was quickly replaced with caring and the desire for physical intimacy. Her need, while I know was in her mind a love for me, was actually a soulful need for forgiveness. There are multiple nights in which she cried in my arms. Her pain was deep and her wound was a thrashing cut on the soul. I have and continue to pray that she finds peace with her decision and reconciliation with God.

But this furthered my belief that life is precious and those that mess with it, mess with God on a personal level.  And God don’t play that.

I have to be honest.  I strongly considered not voting at all.  In fact just this evening I had that conversation again.  But 2 things have swayed me to vote. 

First, my Dad is a WWII veteran of the Navy.  I've met many of the men who fought for you and I to have the right and opportunity to decide our country's leaders.  I've attended too many memorial services for those that died for the same cause.

Second, my wife and I talked about this and she is right.  I have a moral obligation to fight for what I hold as the highest value.  That of human life.

So, I'm voting for McCain.  Failed economic policies, crappy health care ideals, stupid public policy and all, I'm voting for him because I choose life.  And while there are many uneducated and ill informed Catholics out there who think they can side step the issue and vote for Obama, let me be clear.

Immediate moral corporation occurs when the cooperator participates in circumstances that are essential to the commission of an act, such that the act could not occur without this participation.  So, because Obama has said he will do everything he can to uphold a woman’s right to kill her baby, and he will provide public funds to do so, and he will and has supported partial birth abortions…a vote for him is immediate moral cooperation with evil because Abortion is killing which for those of you who read the bulletin too much during Mass, is a commandment.

Vote McCain, save your soul.

Comments are welcome if they are clean.

This past weekend I traveled to MI for my sister-in-laws wedding. I’m very happy to report that their wedding was beautiful and the guests enjoyed themselves. Emily is now a happily married lady and I couldn’t be more joy filled to see her smile and in love with Dave. Being present for her wedding was a close moment for me because my wife’s family has, like all families, had their moments with a teenage daughter and to see how happy mom and dad were, and to see by brother-in-laws happy, and my wife happy, was a blessing. God bless you Emily and Dave. May God richly bless you and increase your inheritance as he did Jabez. May you find true Joy in knowing your souls companion delivered by God.

 Watching them get married also brought me close to God in another way. When I first learned that they were to be married by a magistrate rather than in a church, I panicked. My sister-in-law grew up a Catholic and I feared that a wedding in this manner would present problems with God. After some searching I found, through the direction of a trusted friend and priest, that since she has chosen a non-Catholic faith and left the Church she was no longer bound by Catholic norms for marriage.

My response was not judgment, rather it was in fear that I became concerned for her. I did not want their marriage to be seen as bad by the Church. Nor did I want to subject us to the decision of supporting a marital ceremony seen as scandalous by the Church. I say this to point something out about Catholics, us, we the believers.

 The Church has a deposit of faith that is unchanged since Christ walked the earth and since the Holy Spirit first descended upon the Apostles in the Upper Room. This faith is constant and you can count on it. You and I can count on our faith.

Let me say it again. You and I can count on our faith.

You see, in my heart I knew this marriage was right. I knew that God wanted them to be married. But my lack of full understanding caused me to fear in my intellect that it would not be endorsed by the Church. I was ready, as Abraham was, to take one for the team and not go in my mind, but in my heart I was already watching them say “I do”.

“So Bob, what’s the point” you ask. The point my feathered friend is that the more we know about our faith and our Church, the better we can make decisions based on faith. I did exactly what I admonish others for doing…I made a decision about something without the fullness of truth as my guide.

How often do we do this? I can count on a calculator that has more than 7 digits the number of times I have heard, “I’m a practicing Catholic, man I try to get to Mass at least twice a month.” Or, “I believe in Abortion but I’m a Catholic and that’s okay.” Or my favorite, “The Eucharist is just a sign, that old ideal about it really being Jesus is over now.”

So here is my simple conclusion to this long post about me being a short sighted uninformed decision maker who learned his lesson.

Begin with love: If you truly believe, your heart won’t guide you wrong.

Back it up with Truth: The old ‘trust and verify’ method.

Trust your heart, verify with the knowledge of 2000 years of tradition and theology.

And lastly: ASK. My good friend Tom who has more than once said something smart told me I was crazy to not attend the wedding which affirmed my heart. Our true friends who know the desire of our heart is Christ, will always lead us to him.

So go forth, be fruitful in the Spirit, multiply if your are married, and…. Make good decisions based in faith. Until next time I’m your host…humble bob.