Life: Imagine the Potential

There is a Catholic ad which lasts 41 seconds, has no spoken words, just sonogram images of an unborn child accompanied with text and music, no mention of abortion in the text and concludes with a narrative which celebrates Barack Obama's life story. It is everything the secular world pretends to support; it is positive, uplifting in tone and non-judgmental. Please check out the ad by Catholic Vote.

The ad has been deemed either too political or offensive for a number of programming venues, including NBC's Super Bowl and most recently by CNN. After watching the ad, if you doubt the cultural battle we are in, just remember that there are people in our country--people who decide what is acceptable and moral for public consumption--who believe that this ad is not fit for polite company.

At times I have disbelief over the nature of their unbelief. But I respect them because, unlike many ostensibly on our side, they display an unyielding commitment to their causes; unrestricted abortion on demand, full acceptance--not just tolerance--of homosexual activities and the marginalization of people of faith [see Rick Warren]. Culturally, they are our enemies. We can either fight them, the right way, or capitulate.

Articles referenced are copied in full at end of post.

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CNN Punts Pro-Life Obama Ad -- BY Tom McFeely

Friday, February 20, 2009 1:38 PM

Why is this life-affirming ad too hot for network TV to handle?

Last month, NBC sacked plans by CatholicVote.org, the producers of the ad, to air it during the Super Bowl broadcast.

Now CNN has rejected CatholicVote.org’s request to purchase a slot to air it during CNN’s coverage of President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address.

According to this press release from Fidelis, the parent organization of CatholicVote.org, a CNN official said the network is refusing to broadcast of the ad because it “suggests a position in favor of the advocacy message, without having permission of the persons involved.”

Since the ad celebrates the life of Barack Obama, and doesn’t even mention the dreaded “A” word — abortion — CNN’s response is puzzling.

“This is absurd,” Fidelis president Brian Burch said in the press release. “Our ad does not suggest that Barack Obama is pro-life. Instead, we make the obvious point that Obama’s mother gave birth to a child that ultimately became the 1st African American President. This is a fact, not an opinion.”

CNN’s stated reason for rejected the pro-life ad is all the more dubious given the network’s willingness in the past to air a pro-abortion ad sponsored by NARAL.

In 2005, CNN aired a NARAL ad “that suggested that then Judge John Roberts supported violence against abortion clinics,” Fidelis says in its press release. “FactCheck.org described the NARAL ad: ‘An abortion-rights group is running an attack ad accusing Supreme Court nominee John Roberts of filing legal papers ‘supporting . . . a convicted clinic bomber’ and of having an ideology that ‘leads him to excuse violence against other Americans’ It shows images of a bombed clinic in Birmingham, Alabama. The ad is false.’”

Said Burch, “CNN is willing to run ads insinuating that a federal judge supports violent criminal activity, but it won’t allow an ad celebrating the life of Barack Obama. It’s a double standard from bizarro world.”
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Obama’s Selection of Evangelical Pastor Rick Warren for Inauguration Sparks Gay Outrage - The LGBT community is questioning Obama's commitment to gay rights - By Dan Gilgoff

Posted December 18, 2008

The selection of megachurch pastor Rick Warren to deliver the invocation at Barack Obama's inauguration has fueled outrage and protests from the gay community, who take issue with Warren's statements of disapproval for homosexuality and his support of Proposition 8, the gay marriage ban that passed in California on Election Day.

Gay rights activists said the Warren announcement came at time when the movement is already apprehensive about how forcefully the Obama administration will embrace their issues.

"The Obama team has sent a very uplifting message that positive change is coming for LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender] Americans, but we haven't seen it yet," says David Smith, vice president of the Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest gay rights group "There has been no concrete evidence of inclusion. That's the environment in which this Warren announcement happened—it exacerbates the level of disappointment that exists."

Leaders in the gay rights movement said that they were impressed with the degree to which the Obama transition team was including issues of concerns to the LGBT community in drawing up a policy agenda, but that such outreach didn't make them more willing to accept the news of Warren's high-profile role at the inauguration.

The inauguration represents the dawn of his presidency, so the symbolism is unmistakable," says Smith. "To have a man who so vociferously opposes LGBT equality... it almost gives license that the Reverend's views are somehow tolerable or acceptable."

"The president-elect has set up a transition team that is clearly engaging our community about policies, but we can't ignore Warren," adds Darlene Nipper, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. "But when people sit down and listen to an inauguration, they are looking to see themselves reflected."

Warren, author of the bestselling Purpose-Driven Life and pastor of the Saddleback Church in Orange County, Calif., has sought to distance himself from Christian right leaders who frame evangelical political concerns mostly around fighting abortion rights and gay rights. At the same time, Warren opposes gay marriage and gay civil unions and has said that he objects to the homosexual lifestyle.

Responding to questions about Warren at a press conference in Chicago today, Obama said that America needs to "come together," even when there's disagreement on social issues, according to the Associated Press. "That dialogue is part of what my campaign is all about," he said.

In an interview today, Obama spokeswoman Linda Douglass defended the Warren selection. "It would be a mistake to assume that there were a lot of political considerations made here," she says. "This was a decision that was based on President-elect Obama's commitment to finding common ground with people with conflicting and divergent news."

"The important thing here," Douglass continued, "is that the President-elect clearly disagrees with those views and is a strong proponent of gay and lesbian rights and has a long record of championing those rights... It's his views on LGBT issues that are the views that matter."

A handful of gay rights organizations have released letters and statements calling for Obama to rescind his invitation to Warren.

"Your invitation to Reverend Rick Warren to deliver the invocation at your inauguration is a genuine blow to LGBT Americans," read a letter from the Human Rights Campaign to the President-elect. "...[B ]y inviting Rick Warren to your inauguration, you have tarnished the view that gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender Americans have a place at your table."
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