Josephine Quintavalle has written
a thoughtful, interesting piece for Mercator in which she analyzes the horrible defeat the British pro-life community experienced with the passage of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act. I do not agree with all of her conclusions, however, fearing that her advice sounds the same strains of unfair blame that are occurring on this side of the Atlantic over the defeat of John McCain. I print below a couple of sections of Quintavalle's essay along with my comments.
...Everything is now approved, every taboo is broken, every possible outrage against human dignity is now formally endorsed: animal-human embryos, artificial gametes, cloning using two maternal egg sources, germline manipulation, preimplantation diagnosis for eugenic purposes, posthumous conception, removal of the child’s need for a father, use of tissue without proper consent … The list goes on.
We fought hard against the bill. The Catholic Church, strengthened by its clear position on the right to life of the human embryo, was particularly vocal, and a great deal of activity was centred around other Christian churches as well. Many of the pro-life organisations grouped together under the banner Passion for Life, and, with a platform which included parliamentarians David Alton, Ann Widdecombe, Geraldine Smith and David Burrowes, travelled the land conducting rallies and encouraging the audiences to make their voices heard. Two million postcards of opposition were sent to MPs from around the country, and everyone was encouraged to lobby personally their individual representatives. There were protests in Parliament Square, briefings, debates, processions, prayers. And we lost every vote...
The new law represents a total victory for science, for genetic determinism, for unconstrained reproductive freedom. Even more worryingly, it has a built-in capacity for limitless liberty, a quality proudly described as “future-proofing” by health minister, Dawn Primarolo. Summing up in the House of Commons, having assured us cryptically that “The kaleidoscope of science is coming to a rest,” Ms Primarolo proudly asserted that no longer will the “extremes of scientific progress be blocked by red tape, stifled by regulation, or frustrated by a regime that fails to keep pace with social change”. That’s the new legislation in a nutshell...Now Josephine Quintavalle, the director Comment on Reproductive Ethics, goes on in this Mercator article to criticize pro-life advocates' methodology in the uphill battle they fought against the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority and Parliament.
But her criticism is too harsh and much too naive.
I'm afraid this frequently happens when there is an election or a cultural battle lost. Certain critics emerge who foolishly underestimate the strength of the opposition and insist that the reason for the loss must lie somewhere in their own camp. This is happening now in the U.S. as several try to blame Sarah Palin and the religious conservatives for John McCain's loss instead of honestly appraising the strengths of the Democrats' campaign.
The reasons the Democrats won the election are simple: a huge money advantage and the wholesale Obamamania of the mainstream press.
Nevertheless, some critics, seeking to advance their own agenda in the party (i.e. wanting to shape the G.O.P. into something more secularized, or more libertarian, or more friendly to the nanny state) invent the silliest, most unfounded indictments against their colleagues.
Sarah Palin didn't lose the election for the Republicans. Indeed, the record clearly shows she was the brightest light it had. And the religious conservatives that she so joyously energized? They're not to blame either. They provided, as they have since Reagan, the party's most energetic and loyal support. Any attempt to move the party away from the principles they hold (sanctity of life, military superiority, fiscal responsibility, freedom, and so on) would create a disaster.
Nevertheless, the whining goes on. And that whining usually gets round to suggesting: 1) moral compromise, 2) pragmatism trumping principle, and 3) a reduction in religious motivation, language and purpose.
Are such things emerging from Quintavalle's criticism of the British pro-life community too? Read her concluding paragraphs and make up your mind.
Much and all as we may admire martyrs, in the secular world of today’s United Kingdom being heroic is simply not enough. It is right and proper for the churches to preach the religious truths, but the lay voice has to learn the value of self-effacement, pragmatic game play, and sheer cunning. We need to build unlikely alliances, not create islands of pro-life rhetoric; we need to work far more successfully with middle-ground players, engage in creative lateral thinking.
If we stand up with predictable pro-life profiles we are quickly marginalised. We need to liaise far more with unexpected spokespeople of the calibre of Frank Field, for example. This Labour MP, with no affiliation to any known lobby positions, tabled abortion amendments of extraordinary astuteness.
Arguments, too, must move beyond repetition of absolutes regarding human life and include the utilitarian. In embryo research, for example, we need to address safety concerns, funding allocation, the economic complexities of marketing tissue in countries with different ethical approaches...
When Scotland’s Cardinal O’Brien used the words, “Frankenstein monsters,” the media reacted immediately, the temperature rose, and it helped lose the Labour Party a by-election in Glasgow East! I think Quintavalle's assessment of the devastating defeat suffered by the pro-life community (and indeed, the whole British society) by the passage of the monstrous Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act is spot on. And I appreciate all of the efforts she and here CORE colleagues exacted in opposing it.
However, I am concerned about her criticism of the pro-life strategy, fearing it leads to unnecessary (and unhealthy) compromises and the adoption of an "end justifies the means" mentality.
For instance, despite Quintavalle's characterization of the matter, Cardinal O’Brien's use of the term "Frankenstein monsters" was
not what lost the by-election in Glasgow East. Did the intolerantly secular media take umbrage at the Cardinal telling the truth? And did they use it as a club to go after him? Sure, what else is new?
But to blame the Cardinal, as she does, rather than the audacious bias of the press is irresponsible and even cruel. And to use that particular case as an illustration of how British pro-lifers need to go easy, to mince words, to be more utilitarian, "to learn the value of self-effacement, pragmatic game play, and sheer cunning" is a most unfair ploy.
I am certainly sympathetic to Quintavalle's concerns. And I'm sure we would agree that pro-life activists need to be as wise, as winsome, as effective as possible in our pro-life efforts. But we must beware of the temptation to win a quarter but give away the game -- and that's what surely happens when Christians begin to compromise, become pragmatic, and aim at lower goals.
We've got to be careful. In the U.S. and the U.K. both, the Christian pro-life community must stand firm in His truth and withstand unfair criticism that might distract us from our responsibilities. And, of course, among those responsibilities are loving our neighbors, defending the defenseless, speaking the truth in love, rebuking evildoers, praying for those who persecute us, and many others.
But
not among them are "learning the value of self-effacement, pragmatic game play, and sheer cunning."
Looking for Christmas gift ideas? Why not look for quality goods and not for stuff that, in the words of that Home Alone kid, will "probably rot your teeth and your mind."
2) Here's an another angle -- already fantastic but made more so by the current financial crunch -- why not treat the readers on your Christmas list (and, of course, yourself) to quality pre-owned books? You can get a stack of 'em for what you'd pay for a single new book. And though I'm sure there's some good stuff being published nowadays, you can't lose by reading (and re-reading) the classics.
Did you know that today (November 28) has more significance than shopping, turkey sandwiches or even the Nebraska/Colorado football game?
You know things are really, really bad for General Motors when they fire Tiger Woods!
"The Holy God having by a long and Continual Series of his Afflictive dispensations in and by the present War with the Heathen Natives of this land, written and brought to pass bitter things against his own Covenant people in this wilderness, yet so that we evidently discern that in the midst of his judgments he hath remembered mercy, having remembered his Footstool in the day of his sore displeasure against us for our sins, with many singular Intimations of his Fatherly Compassion, and regard; reserving many of our Towns from Desolation Threatened, and attempted by the Enemy, and giving us especially of late with many of our Confederates many signal Advantages against them, without such Disadvantage to ourselves as formerly we have been sensible of, if it be the Lord's mercy that we are not consumed, It certainly bespeaks our positive Thankfulness, when our Enemies are in any measure disappointed or destroyed; and fearing the Lord should take notice under so many Intimations of his returning mercy, we should be found an Insensible people, as not standing before Him with Thanksgiving, as well as lading him with our Complaints in the time of pressing Afflictions:
It's wow time as yet another big stem cell breakthrough has occurred. And yes, you guessed it; it's adult stem cells that are behind this fantastic development. On the other hand, embryonic stem cell experimentation, despite the millions thrown its way, has given us nothing but unqualified hype.
This is where timidity, unpreparedness and weakness leads.
We hear it every year from the news media and other liberals. "There is no war on Christmas. It's all in the intolerant imaginations of paranoid Christians."
Lisa Fabrizio makes some wry and insightful comparisons between Abraham Lincoln's Thanksgiving proclamation and those sentiments persistently propounded by the powers that be in education, media and the incoming administration.
Faith McDonnell reports for the Institute on Religion and Democracy on the first beatification ceremony to ever take place in Japan. It happened just a couple of days ago on November 24th. Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins conducted the ceremony, honoring 188 of the Christian martyrs who were killed between 1603 and 1639.
Okay, let me get things straight here...
Virtue Media Will Keep On Saving Lives...Whoever Is In the White House
If you've got some time, I'm sure you'll find this Michael Medved address (courtesy the video department over at The Heritage Foundation) well worth it.
Back in September came the news of Charlie Rangel's illegally parked car in the House of Representatives' special lot. Turns out it had been there for years. And that was just the latest in a series of embarrassing indications that the veteran Congressman from New York was a self-centered, shady (if not overtly corrupt), tax-dodger.
Daniel Pipes writes a brief but most enlightening article for Front Page Magazine exposing the West's increasing acceptance of harems. Uh huh; you read right -- harems.
Today's Wall Street Journal editorial is a compelling one, arguing that the California Supreme Court's entrance into the Proposition 8 affair endangers not only the clear decision of the voters against homosexual marriages, but it endangers the whole idea of American democracy as well. 
Barack Obama's state of Illinois is in big, big trouble. Already looking at a budget deficit of more than $2.5 billion, its backlog of unpaid bills is $4 billion right now and will be $5 billion before the flowers bloom. Yipes.
Here's an infuriating tidbit that the mainstream media has (hmm...conveniently for Democrats) refused to disclose. 
Regarding the ever-increasing lineup of the "Friends of Bill" that will be taking center stage in the Obama administration, the inspired wags over at Lucianne.com say,
Our friend Tom Beatty (preacher, prison chaplain and fellow watchman on the wall) passes along this item from OneNewsNow as an example of how the thought police is extending their grasp.
From this editorial in the latest edition of Contraception Journal comes frightening previews of how far our post-Christian culture is willing to travel from the sanctity of life ethic it one revered.
It's official. Well, it will be late this afternoon anyhow when we start unloading our stuff at the Whispering Pines Bed & Breakfast down in Nebraska City.
The results of the G-20 economic summit amount to nothing less than the seamless integration of the United States into the European economy. In one month of legislation and one diplomatic meeting, the United States has unilaterally abdicated all the gains for the concept of free markets won by the Reagan administration and surrendered, in toto, to the Western European model of socialism, stagnation and excessive government regulation. Sovereignty is out the window. Without a vote, we are suddenly members of the European Union. Given the dismal record of those nations at creating jobs and sustaining growth, merger with the Europeans is like a partnership with death... 
The evidence that Barack Obama is looking to create Bill Clinton's third term just keeps coming.
Rick Pearcey writes with his characteristic wit and wisdom about the dramatic film Fireproof (and more) in this engaging article.
Nina Shea, international human-rights lawyer and now the director of the Center for Religious Freedom at the Hudson Institute, has a brief but important article over at The Weekly Standard about the latest developments in the "religious harmony" department...and how they reveal radical Islam is becoming even more intolerant and coercive.
It's only common sense, right? Throwing good money after bad isn't smart. And when the money thrown is somebody else's, it isn't fair either.
Tom Daschle: This Is Obama's Idea of Change?
Of the news that Tom Daschle is set to be Barack Obama's Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Family Research Council says, "Breaking news this afternoon suggests that President-elect Obama is unlikely to govern from the middle. By appointing former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D) as U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, the 44th President provided a frightening glimpse of his new Cabinet.
From the ever-reliable Evans-Novak Political Report comes this quick assessment of the transition.
What's in the works for America when Barack Obama's extremism on abortion starts being dished out upon all Americans from the Oval Office? Will the passage of the Freedom of Choice Act (which he and the Democrats strongly support) spell doom for countless preborn children, for freedom of conscience, and for freedom of religion?
A comment on yesterday's Vital Signs post Reactions: The U.K.'s Horrendous Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act came from pg: 
Josephine Quintavalle has written a thoughtful, interesting piece for Mercator in which she analyzes the horrible defeat the British pro-life community experienced with the passage of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act. I do not agree with all of her conclusions, however, fearing that her advice sounds the same strains of unfair blame that are occurring on this side of the Atlantic over the defeat of John McCain. I print below a couple of sections of Quintavalle's essay along with my comments.
