We need to change the discussion on the "culture of life"

[kerrygoddess]

Last night Teresa Heinz Kerry gifted $4 million to the Andy Warhol Museum. The Republicans have skewed the "culture of life" to be nothing more than a morality issue. However, the "culture of life" is so much more!

(snip)

Teresa Heinz Kerry is in the news once again as she continues her work as a philanthropist and environmentalist. Sandy recently posted a piece about Teresa addressing 250 doctors and scientists on the impact of environmental problems on human health, at a conference at the Herberman Conference Center in Pittsburgh.

Teresa is one of our country’s leading environmentalists. “In September 2003, she was presented with the Albert Schweitzer Gold Medal for Humanitarianism for her work protecting the environment, promoting health care and education and uplifting women and children throughout the world.”

Last night, Teresa announced “a gift of $4 million to the endowment that helps fortify Pittsburgh's lively, provocative hub of contemporary art and popular culture” at the “Spike-a-Delic Gala, dinner and dance party held at the South Side Works, a new development created by Warhol board member Damian Soffer.”

She said that the museum's founders had hoped it to "add to Pittsburgh's stature as a center for the arts" and it has succeeded in accomplishing that goal.

(snip)

Thanks to Teresa and others dedicated to the arts, museums like the Andy Warhol Museum can still thrive in today’s bleak economy that is more focused on corporate profit than education and culture. We hear a lot these days about the “culture of life,” however that buzz phrase seems to be somewhat skewed, for surely the arts are one the great gifts of the true “culture of life.”

We need to talk about this “culture of life” in the terms of what is missing and what is being left behind, in this effort to bill it as simply a morality issue.

A true “culture of life” embraces our society in all its diversity. It honors the many paths to enlightenment celebrated in by our nation’s separation of church and state. It enhances education and enrichment, and encourages the advancement of the arts and sciences for the betterment of all and the improvement our society, which is the life’s blood of our very existence and the soul of our purpose on this planet.

More - http://www.lightupthedarkness.org/blog/default.asp?view=plink&id=691

[hiley]

1. so true, I think Bush stole it from the Pope anyhow

The republicans clearly have no ideal what it means anyway !

Some would wonder if Pope did either because of policies on sex.
Teresa Heinz Kerry does what they preach like most Democratic Party Members do.
I agree again with you kerrygoddess like always, so far..






http://www.seo-blog.org/5755_omfg_rageagainstthegop_machine

[kerrygoddess]

2. Bush did steal it from the Pope

And we need to change the conversation. The culture of life is so much more than the morality issues!

Not sure what you mean about THK, she's very outspoken and does not completely follow the Catholic Church's doctrine. She's pro-choice, pro-stem cell research and has been very up front about her advocacy for these things and much more that goes against the church.

[hiley]

3. I meant she does The Culture of Life

they preach (RWN) but do not actually care for people at all.
While they preach about abortions and hate on gays,

RWN's provide
no medical care
no help for young mothers
no help for sex education
just abstinence only that clearly does not work
and if you get pregnant there is some
church wanting to take your baby and put the child up for adoption
instead of educating the parents
and supporting the Entire Family through their new learning experience


I love Teresa really, just didn't make myself clear, I guess.
Every part of the world deserves art, music, health care, running clean water, food and shelter (edit to say CLEAN environment and Love).

I am with you on this .:pals:

http://www.innworldreport.net/index.htm
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[kerrygoddess]

6. Thanks... did not compute... does now!

:kick:

[hiley]

7. kerrygoddess, I do have a problem

with the correct expression sometimes in the written form.
Always remember that for me and go ahead and ask because I might overlook again.


thanks




http://www.seo-blog.org/5755_omfg_rageagainstthegop_machine

[kerrygoddess]

8. I think we all do sometimes!

I know I write things differently than I mean to sometimes!

[kerrygoddess]

9. Love the header graphic on your blog!

Very cool art - http://rantsbyhiley.blogspot.com/

[hiley]

10. this is where I got the skin

and they have one without navbar



http://official.site.free.fr/blogger.php?s=Ice%20Bubble%20(NavBar)


Searched for a week or so before I found the one that made me feel peaceful you can grab it for free too.
The other blog is more aimed toward young draft age people.
Started them both in March so they are not up to par yet.


BTW! I would pick THK before Hillary if they were the choice.
http://www.seo-blog.org/5755_omfg_rageagainstthegop_machine

[ginnyinWI]

13. I was surprised to learn that the Pope won't allow condoms

even within marriage, to protect against STD's ?? That is amazing.
Amazingly backward, I'd say.

[kerrygoddess]

17. Very backwards...

and sad!

[hiley]

28. Absolutely appalling I know

that is Culture of Life for yah !
The Pope's Culture of Life; is deadly and so is the Republicans' besides dooming millions to death in places like Uganda by keeping safe sex from them and deaths from childbirth, etc.


The Pope also, hid pedophile priests from parish to parish then rewarded Cardinal Barnard Law for all of his ills.

The Pope with his so called "Culture of Life" abandoned women all over the world with his uptight sex polices and judgments !
George W. Bush with his Global Gag Rule did the same thing.

Senator Barbara Boxer Senator Olympia Snowe (R) worked together to get The Global Gag Rule OVERTURNED just the other day !
However, many deaths were caused before they were able to do it. Of course, I am so thankful we have one a battle for now.
Kudos to Senator Boxer !
What Barbara Boxer did and other was the correct CULTURE OF LIFE !
hiley

((Outrage at disgraced cardinal's Mass role))
By Laurie Goodstein
Rome
April 9, 2005
Controversial: Cardinal Bernard Law.
US Cardinal Bernard Law, who was forced to resign in disgrace as archbishop of Boston two years ago for protecting sexually abusive priests, will preside over funeral Masses for Pope John Paul II.
To many American Catholics, Cardinal Law is best known as the archbishop who presided over the Boston archdiocese as it became the focus for the sexual abuse scandal involving priests.
But to Vatican officials, he is a powerful figure whose favourite priests were regularly appointed bishops by the late pontiff. After he stepped down in Boston in 2003, he was given a spacious apartment and a prestigious although honorary post in Rome as archpriest of the Basilica of St Mary Major.It is expected that most of the cardinals will snip-----Cardinal Law resigned after a judge decided to unseal court records that included a letter from the cardinal commending priests even though he knew they had been accused of abusing children. He eventually stepped down and cloistered himself in a monastery until his appointment in Rome.More than 600 people who say they were victims have come forward in the Boston archdiocese, the fourth-largest in the US. snip-----


theage.com
http://www.theage.com.au/news/World/Outrage-at-disgraced-cardinals-Mass-role/2005/04/08/1112815725265.html

The Progressive
Editor Matthew Rothschild comments on the news of the day....

In his 1988 Apostolic Letter "On the Dignity and Vocation of Women," the Pope wrote that feminism "must not under any condition lead to the masculinization" of women. In the name of liberation from male domination, women must not appropriate to themselves male characteristics contrary to their own feminine originality." There is a well-founded fear that if they take this path, women will not reach fulfillment," but instead will deform and lose what constitutes their essential richness."
The pope also totally mismanaged the sexual abuse scandal that so besmirched the church in the United States, reacting haltingly to the mountains of charges against pedophile priests.
Most destructive of all, he adamantly opposed the use of condoms in the midst of a global AIDS plague that is claiming the lives of tens of millions of people.Even though condoms are the best way to prevent AIDS, the Pope categorically denounced all contraceptive devices, and a senior Vatican official ridiculed the utility of condoms, calling them a form of Russian roulette. snip---

http://www.progressive.org/webex05/wx040605.php

The RICO Campaign for
Survivor Justice Petition
Because justice for sexual abuse survivors of Roman Catholic priests and bishops will not come from within the Roman Catholic Church, The RICO Campaign for Survivor Justice Petition is underway.The goal of this petition is to demand that the Federal Government begin a RICO investigation of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States.
There is statutory authority for dealing with collective criminality — the Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organization Act. The Roman Catholic Church as a corrupt organization enabled criminal activity and conspiracy by its bishops through their cover ups of the sexual abuse of children and youth for over the past 50 plus years.

The church did not make, as it claims, “mistakes in management” by shuffling its clerical predators from parish to parish. Bishops made deliberate and determined decisions to protect sexual predators and leave thousands and thousands of children at risk. Furthermore, they deceived and lied to the parents of these children, telling them that they would take care of the “problem”. They didn’t. They significantly added to their suffering by moving priest
snip----
http://www.voicesofoutrage.com/RICO-campaign.html

Endangering Women
By cutting funding to agencies that refuse to comply, the Global Gag Rule makes it harder for women to get access to routine reproductive and maternal health care.
Making Pregnancy More Dangerous
Every minute, a woman dies in pregnancy or childbirth. Family planning could save at least 25% of these women's lives by preventing high-risk pregnancies; but thanks to the Gag Rule, many clinics have been forced to cut their staff, limit their services or close their doors entirely.1 For example, three clinics of the Family Planning Association of Kenya have been forced to close, one in a poor area of Nairobi with no other health services available.
Those clinics that do remain open have lost their access to valuable contraceptives donated by USAID and are often unable
snip---
http://www.freechoicesaveslives.org/ippfwhr/women.html

Complete Senate Vote Tally on Global Gag Rule

The Senate voted 52-46 on Tuesday to ((((overturn the odious Global Gag Rule that President Bush imposed ))))in the first days of his first term.
The debate occurred with very little advance notice -- or we would have let you know ahead of time.
The vote came on an amendment proposed by Sen. Barbara Boxer to S.600, a bill authorizing a number of foreign policy programs. By adopting the Boxer amendment, the Senate acted to ensure that America's foreign policy reflects America's values. And it stood up for the right of poor women around the world to take control of their own lives and their own futures.

The Global Gag Rule denies U.S. family planning aid to foreign health care providers snip-------
http://www.popconnect.org/Reports_Publications/Publications/publication423.html
My hope is that all will help the victims and sign the petition above this will show love and support for them even if they never receive justice for this is the progressive way. hiley

http://innworldreport.net/index.htm
http://www.seo-blog.org/5755_omfg_rageagainstthegop_machine

[hiley]

34. Yeas 52 thank them if you haven't yet (THIS Culture of Life)

Akaka (D-HI)
Baucus (D-MT)
Bayh (D-IN)
Biden (D-DE)
Bingaman (D-NM)
Boxer (D-CA)
Byrd (D-WV)
Cantwell (D-WA)
Carper (D-DE)
Chafee (R-RI)
Clinton (D-NY)
Collins (R-ME)
Conrad (D-ND)
Corzine (D-NJ)
Dayton (D-MN)
Dodd (D-CT)
Dorgan (D-ND)
Durbin (D-IL)
Feingold (D-WI)
Feinstein (D-CA)
Harkin (D-IA)
Inouye (D-HI)
Jeffords (I-VT)
Johnson (D-SD)
Kerry (D-MA)
Kohl (D-WI)
Landrieu (D-LA)
Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Leahy (D-VT)
Levin (D-MI)
Lieberman (D-CT)
Lincoln (D-AR)
Mikulski (D-MD)
Murkowski (R-AK)
Murray (D-WA)
Nelson (D-FL)
Nelson (D-NE)
Obama (D-IL)
Pryor (D-AR)
Reed (D-RI)
Reid (D-NV)
Rockefeller (D-WV)
Salazar (D-CO)
Sarbanes (D-MD)
Schumer (D-NY)
Smith (R-OR)
Snowe (R-ME)
Specter (R-PA)
Stabenow (D-MI)
Stevens (R-AK)
Warner (R-VA)
Wyden (D-OR

http://www.popconnect.org/Reports_Publications/Publications/publication423.html

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[Catamount]

15. I understood what you meant!

:)

[hiley]

29. thank you and did you find the answer

to your question on Laura Flanders's.
Tonight I missed her watching Deadwood and L Word, etc.
:shrug:



kerrygoddess,
Really, I believe that we take away the bullshit "Culture of Life"
that bush, delay, jerry falwell, hannity; all of them HARP ON to use against Us.

We do this
by showing what it really means to any and all every chance we have presented to us and every chance we search for.
hiley







http://www.seo-blog.org/5755_omfg_rageagainstthegop_machine

[Ken Burch]

27. And the Vatican and the anti-abortion people stole it from the Yippies

...Whose protests in Chicago were billed as "A Celebration of Life."

Come to think of it, I think Abbie Hoffman once reminisced about dropping acid with this middle-aged Polish priest who was visiting the Windy City that week...

(...All right, I made that last part up, but it WOULD have been a cool story...)

[hiley]

30. you are so funny !

Shameful of the Vatican and the "Bring Millions More Children In The World" people. (so they can live with no running clean water in a poor environment and receive buttkas for an education !


The Pro-Lifers do not even want any birth control much less a medical procedure like an abortion.

Would they bother with health care or prenatal or even teach parenting skills ?

They do however want more kids so they will grow up and fight their Bloody Wars !


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[me b zola]

4. Right on

"Cultured to talk about this “culture of life” in the terms of what is missing and what is being left behind, in this effort to bill it as simply a morality issue."

--------------------------

Not only is the "culture of life" larger than morality issues, I believe that morality issues embody much more than the narrow terms in which the repubs define them. Abuse of power & corruption are clearly immoral acts that clearly should not by tolerated. Tax cuts for the rich while pushing the middle class everyday closer to poverty is not moral. The list goes on & on.

I don't know of one rebup talking point that cannot easily be crushed, IMHO.

[hiley]

5. very good

You should speak for the Party !















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[paineinthearse]

11. rethugs don't understand abstract and modern art

makes their heads hurt.

[BeFree]

12. They also think...

... as long as you are like us, or we can use you, then you deserve life.

Otherwise, you deserve nothing, and just as soon as they can they will "drown it in the bathtub" (qoute from one of their leaders: Grover Norquist)

[kerrygoddess]

18. LOL!

I suppose it does!

[Catamount]

14. Thanks, great news in so-so times!

I wonder if she's on that list of wealthy people fighting against *'s tax cuts, as organized by Bill Gates Senior?
I read a post about here recently, it was very encouraging.:kick:

[globalvillage]

16. So true.

Thanks kerrygoddess. Great post.
:applause:

[kerrygoddess]

19. Thanks GlobalVillage!

We need to change the conversation on this.

[kerrygoddess]

20. Karl Rove on Frontline -

We all know the damage he is done, this looks like a must watch in gearing up to take back our country!

Check it out - http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=1716067&mesg_id=1716067

President Bush called Karl Rove "the architect" -- a way of thanking him for his role in the president's 2004 reelection. And we couldn't think of a better title for this week's FRONTLINE.

However, Karl Rove is much more than a political guru who guided Bush and Republicans to victory. With his appointment as deputy chief of staff in charge of coordinating domestic policy, economic policy, national security and homeland security, he is the single most powerful and ambitious policy adviser in the White House.

For this report, producer Michael Kirk set out to look for answers to these questions: Who is Karl Rove? How does he operate? How does he work with President Bush? And what does Rove's new position mean for America? You might say that Kirk found out that 'past is prologue.'

[understandinglife]

21. 'culture of life' ---balderdash. The day we invaded Iraq, we proved...

beyond all reasonable doubt, that America has become the culture of willful, vast, shock'um and awe'um death and destruction machine. We have demonstrated our ability to vaporize life, effortlessly, thoughtlessly, and we our leaders crooning with glee.

On that day, the essence of our Constitution was mortally tarnished, or moral credibility trashed, our common decency shredded, our 'value of life' shown to be a mega-lie.

The issue is when will we stop vaporizing women and children, stop torturing, stop our illegal occupation, stop our denial of due process to those within our own country, STOP, STOP, STOP.....


www.missionnotaccomplished.us (a day to reflect on what it means to be THE rogue, ruthless super_power; THE most efficient shock'um and awe'um killing machine in the history of the planet)

[kerrygoddess]

23. That's why we need to change the discussion on this

We can't let them use this phrase for their own means when they have twisted the very meaning of it in so many ways.

[understandinglife]

25. I refer to Bu$h and his neconster buddies as the 'vaporizers of life'...

....maybe that'll help focus, others.


www.missionnotaccomplished.us (a day to reflect on the fact that death is absolute)

[kerrygoddess]

26. LOL!

I like that... they certainly have no concept of the true culture of life or the value of it!

[hiley]

32. well it focuses me

and I refuse to be the only one !
understandinglife you always have the words for clear perspective.



http://www.seo-blog.org/5755_omfg_rageagainstthegop_machine

[prodigal_green]

22. Don't you know, it's

opposite day for the next four years. Everything they say means exactly the opposite of what it is. By calling their little fascist incursion into our private lives "culture of life" you know that it means culture of death (see also: clear skies, no child left behind, clean water act, etc., etc.)

They kill and kill and kill by any means available, whether it is via the death penalty, war, environmental degradation or erosion of healthcare availability. Attempting to save one woman or fetuses does not a "culture of life" make.

[kerrygoddess]

24. Not if we can keep changing the subject.

Here's another topic on the "culture of life" that isn't getting any coverage - Kids on school buses are inhaling more exhaust fumes than people outside - http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x3457171

We need to care about this stuff!

[Warren DeMontague]

31. I don't know. They've managed to turn pharmacists lecturing rape victims

about the need to keep their legs crossed into Ghandi-esque defenders of the right of individual conscience and civil disobedience. Up is down, black is white, and with the media wholly owned by Corporations in hock to Bushco, I fear we're essentially fucked. The mere fact that we have to talk about the "Culture of life" (as opposed to the "Culture of religious busybodies and theocratic control freaks") means they're more than halfway home.

[hiley]

33. I completely understand how you feel

all of the shameful and destructive accomplishments of bush and company are overwhelming and extremely time consuming and exhausting.
We have to keep fighting no matter what.
I know how far their advances have come but the problem is many people still don't get it. Millions and Millions have no clue about PNAC, the environment nothing. There are oblivious to Reality and it falls on us to throw it in their face over and over again.
So we have to reach out to them in anyway you can think of ...
Even shouting from the fucking rooftops !

There have always been people like the pharmacists lecturing rape victims/survivors believe me I will tell you a true story.

About 27 years ago a woman was involved in very abusive relationship beaten, raped , abused and married to the same man who could always over power her as a young 19 year old.
This woman became pregnant by this "sick man" that she could not escape.
Even though he caused the pregnancy he was furious with her for carrying his fetus.
After several hours of torture including more beatings , broken nose busted face claustrophobia from being shoved in tiny bathroom with light bulb removed and locked in for hours she finally gave in to his demands for an abortion.

Then followed a few days of "his calm" and "ensuing kindness" then passed.
Her body healed a bit and the day came for the appointment to see the Doctor so he could verify the "pregnancy" to the man and then the woman was to inquire as to were around their city or State would they find a Clinic that could help with an abortion.

The husband told her you go inside the room alone I will be out here and you better come out with an appointment or a phone number and address.
Shaking and scared; embarrassed for her appearance from the beating
she went inside thinking the Doctor will help me.

Well, the Doctor helped alright by screaming at his Patient "I won't help you Kill that baby, what is wrong with you !"
Have you no Morals ?


She is why I keep fighting.

The Neo-Cons and RIGHT WING NUTS are the inspiration as well; they are the abuser, they are the rapist too.

Maybe she is just one sad confused kid to some but we must not ever give up.
To our dying breath we have to fight this bullshit even at our own expense and peril.
hiley

http://www.seo-blog.org/5755_omfg_rageagainstthegop_machine

[Warren DeMontague]

35. Oy vey, what a horrific story.

More reminder that real people with real lives end up paying the price for these asinine fundamentalist jihads. I'm not pro-choice because I think abortion is some great thing; ideally I think preventing pregnancies in the first place, whenever possible, is preferable for everyone concerned... which is why it astounds me that access to safe, effective birth control is the next target in the right-wing war on people's control of their own bodies. (Except it doesn't, because that's what all this is really all about- control)

No, I'm pro-choice because I don't think any of us; me, you, or some big-haired televangelist shitwit, is in any position to decide for a pregnant woman we've never met what the best course of action is regarding her own body.

The story you relate is upsetting on so many different levels, not the least of which is the fact that the abusive husband seemingly forced the woman to get an abortion against her will. That's atrocious, just like the doctor's treatment of her is.

I have no intention of giving up. I just lament the fact that the extreme right wing has been able to redefine our semantic universe so effectively. (with the help of a wholly pliant corporate media, of course.)

[PsychoDad]

36. The Culture of LIES.

That's what this is all about. All retoric, no substance.

LIES LIES LIES.

The LIES of this administration are KILLING people. Young americans are dying because of the lying.

The Culture of Lies. That's what we should call it.-

[hiley]

37. kerrygoddess here something you

might find interest in about the 2004 election.
http://tinyurl.com/6bo4z








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[shockra]

38. "Culture of Life" is an oxymoron.

Like seemingly everything the right-wing espouses, it's nothing but hypocrisy.

Joseph Chilton Pearce wrote a truly original book called "The Biology of Transcendence: A Blueprint for the Human Spirit" in which he describes culture as a negative feedback system which relies on the defensive reptilian hindbrain at the expense of our more developed forebrains. The forebrain (prefrontal cortex) being connected to "our 'higher human virtues' of love, compassion, empathy and understanding as well as our advanced intellectual skills."

Many have noticed that the right-wing play on people's fears and emotions, as they stimulate more primitive brain areas concerned with survival that prevent people from engaging in critical thought. This is also at the center of Pearce's argument.

Pearce is aware that the term culture "By implication includes the highest achievements of humankind -- art, music, philosophy, science, astronomy." But he sees culture rather as the opposite of socialization/civilization (and appropriator of its successes). Socialization being an instinctive mammalian characteristic, while enculturation is not.

Some selected quotes:

"Enculturation...is not instinctual but instead the result of conditioning, our enforced learning and adoption of ideas about survival, including techniques believed necessary in our particular cultural environment in order to survive."

"Infants instinctively resist enculturation because they intuitively sense in it a denial of life that robs us of our spirit and our loving, willing, thinking being...Without exception cultural techniques involve carefully masked threats that prey upon the child's rapidly learned fear of pain, harm, or deprivation, and more primal anxiety over separation of alienation from parent, caregiver, and society."

"Culture is a massive exercise in restraint, inhibition, and curtailment of joy on behalf of pseudo-safety and grim necessities. We live out our lives in the long shadows it casts."

"Culture never allows happiness to be achieved because in doing so it would guarantee its own disappearance."

"Culture is a mutually shared anxiety state, a powerful catalyst of thought that converts all events to its own nature...Like anxiety, culture embraces every negative idea of possibility as its own until all that's embraced in turn embraces."

"Culture is the mental environment to which we must adapt if we are to survive, and in our adaptation and survival we automatically sustain culture."

Pearce has come to some of the same conclusions that many feminists have, although he's apparently not one. Feminists have noted that cruelty and injustice are constantly excused under the banner of "culture." Rituals in both primitive and modern societies to make a boy "a man." Chinese foot binding for girls, bride burning in India, female genital mutilation in a myriad of different countries, barbaric uses of animals, etc. We give anything under the "culture" heading undue respect though it perpetuates reptilian defensiveness and short circuits our higher, more humane forebrain. Unfortunately, you could say civilization occurs not because of culture, but in spite of it.

Pearce believes that the intelligence of the heart (part of the forebrain dynamic) is a type that goes beyond intellect. Over half of the heart's ganglia are neurons, with the same neurotransmitters that function in the brain. The heart also produces far more electromagnetic energy than the brain "two and a half watts of electrical energy with each heartbeat at an amplitude forty to sixty times greater than that of brain waves -- enough to light a small electric bulb. This energy forms an electromagnetic field that radiates out some twelve to fifteen feet beyond our body itself."

The conclusions he makes might sound very Utopian, but there are so many great points. It's one of the best books for understanding why the human race is in such a rut, and how we could be using our strengths for social progress rather than in service of our reptilian brains.