Opinion: Election 2008 - America is the Frog in the Kettle

America is falling asleep to a lullaby of "change" while the Church is calling to us, "wake up!".

WASHINGTON (Catholic Online) - When I was a young boy my father brought four live lobsters home from a business trip to New England. I had never seen a crusty creature like this before and my introduction was quite startling as one had escaped the kitchen and was scampering into my bedroom.Not long after, my father began the dinner preparations. The lobsters were not placed in boiling water. He lowered them into a pot of cool water and then applied the heat. This way the lobsters would just fall asleep and then cooked to death, making their meat tender.

Whenever I heard the phrase "the frog in the kettle," my mind immediately returns to this childhood memory. These feisty crustaceans scampered around the kettle for quite awhile and then simply slowed down as the heat was applied.As a passionate advocate for Life, I see America in the same condition. The war, the economy, and the pressures of daily living have turned up the heat. We are getting sleepy and simply looking for anyone who can provide some cool water to awaken us from our drowsy state of affairs.We seem to be willing to give up proven principles and the values that sustained us as a nation for over 200 years for even a hint of relief.

The interior of the pedestal within the Statue of Liberty contains a bronze plaque inscribed with the poem "The New Colossus" by Emma Lazarus. In part, the poem reads, "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me; I lift my lamp beside the golden door!" We have lost our heart for the helpless. We have forgotten our mindset and mission as a country. We were the place of possibilities, a haven of hope for those who had none.For centuries, people cried, sang, and shouted, "Only in America!" They saw this as a land of limitless opportunity, a place of safety where they could establish a generational legacy.

Each day our nation murders 3,700 children. We are on the brink of possibly electing a president, Barack Obama, who will not only sustain but also increase that number. And we are asleep.Just a few years ago, Americans watched as a helpless woman, Terry Schiavo, was starved to death. The courts had determined her life no longer mattered. And we are asleep.Since the mid-twentieth century, both Catholic and Protestant Christians, along with those of other faiths, have watched the influence of religion upon a nation wane. America, founded upon the Judeo-Christian values of the Ten Commandments and a belief in God, has jettisoned her value pack. And we are asleep.

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Now, in 2008 we may still be asleep when another major shift in values takes place in our country. This major transformation is described by a word that at first seems attractive. It is a word, however, that may bring more upon our nation than we ever anticipated.Change. This is the watchword for our National elections, circa 2008. Questions must be answered - where will this "change" take us and what changes will take place? Should the pro-choice platform of the Democratic Candidate for President, Barack Obama, along with a Democratic supermajority come into power, the word could mean much more than mere change. It may mean a serious metamorphosis of culture.

As Catholic Christians, we must understand that the primary area of alteration involves the right to Life, a fundamental right avowed by our Declaration of Independence, and, more importantly, affirmed by our Church.In just a few months, we could see the Freedom of Choice Act weld the initiatives of abortion to the framework of our society. This is just the beginning of the implications that could firmly entrench us in a culture of death.A disdain for the old and the infirm could easily follow a disregard for the life of the unborn. When one is "too old or too ill", the family may be able to initiate an act of choice concerning the life of those who may not be able to speak for themselves.

Now is the time for the cold water of reality to awaken many of us up from a slumber that numbs our ability to act like faithful Catholic citizens. The bishops are calling for faithfulness to the Church, joined by the thundering voices of priests, deacons and pastors across the country.Are we willing for change to take place at the expense of our human freedoms - our freedom to worship and live in accordance with the tenets of our faith? Are we willing for change to take place at the expense of generations - children of our future who will experience a continuing holocaust within the womb?

Issues of the economy, the war in Iraq, solidarity with the poor, and other basic issues can only be solved when preceded by an intrinsic understanding of the dignity of the human person as a creation of God from conception to natural death. Without that, the answers for all these other issues will be utilitarian at best.

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As Holy Scripture declares, "Awake, o sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ will give you life."

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