Popular Cards
 
        While we have some flyers that people can print as needed, we find when table-sitting that our colorful cards do an excellent job of attracting pick-ups.  Each card covers a different individual; which individuals will be of most interest depends on the audience. 

 
 

 Here are the ones we have so far
 
Fannie Lou Hamer
Daniel Berrigan
Dorothy Day
Catherine Meeks
Mohandas Gandhi
Johnny Hunter
Rose Evans
Patrick Mahoney
Helen Prejean
Martin Sheen
Joseph Cardinal Bernardin
Aimee Murphy
Shane Claiborne
Added since above graphic made, not pictured: Ron Sider, Abby Johnson, Oscar Romero, Cesar Chavez, Frank Pavone.
       
        Those with suggestions for other people that would make good cards, or who would like a set of specific ones for upcoming occasions, can contact cards@consistent-life.org.
 
Differing Perspectives under the CL Umbrella: Contraception
 
Editor’s Note: This is third in a series on differing perspectives; the first was on pacifism and the second on health care reform (also covered earlier)
 
        When dealing with techniques that prevent sex from leading to pregnancy, consistent lifers have a wide variety of views. Some support contraception for reasons including a belief it’s a sound nonviolent alternative to abortion. Others oppose artificial contraception for reasons that include a belief that it leads to unhealthy sexual dynamics that are one of the major causes of abortion. Others take nuanced views. As long as the method is truly contraceptive, meaning it prevents conception and does not kill post-conception, Consistent Life as an organization takes no position, and celebrates and encourages the diversity of views as a way to help people think the matter through.
 
        But here are some points that would generally be agreed upon for consistent-life people:
 

• Contraception should never be imposed on those who don’t want it.
• Contraception won’t be as much help in relationships where the two people aren’t equal and sensitive to each other. Besides being wrong in principle, coercion or pressure and male domination do lead to the abortion mentality and therefore get children killed.
• There are always two parties involved in making a baby, and if that baby shows up despite efforts at prevention, both parties are responsible. Treating pregnancy as merely the responsibility of the woman adds to pressures for abortion.  
• Babies will happen despite technological efforts at prevention – this is known as a “failure rate.” But babies are human beings, not the result of failure, and should be treated with respect the same as all human beings.

 
Quotation of the Week
Frank Pavone
Fr. Frank Pavone on Capital Punishment and Abortion
 
        I was recently discussing abortion with Debbi, who is "pro-choice." At one point she asked me, "Are you against the death penalty?" Now usually, a let's-change-the-subject tactic like this should be handled by gently returning to the current subject of the conversation. But in this case I took a different approach.
        "Oh yes," I said, "I am very much opposed to the death penalty . . .  [it] is bad for a number of reasons. One reason is that it simply feeds into the notion that you can solve the problems of a society by putting people to death . . . We need to find better solutions than just pushing another person out of the way when they present a problem. Human problems demand humane solutions, and killing is not one of them."
        Little did Debbi seem to realize, in the midst of this exchange, that I was presenting to her an argument that applies perfectly well to abortion.