Respect Life Radio

Paul Kengor: Understanding the Marxist moment in America 2020

Karl Marx "said so many things that, unfortunately, resonate with these radical elements today," said Paul Kengor, professor of political science at Grove City College in Grove City, Pa., and an author of numerous books including "Dupes" and "A Pope and a President."

"One of them at the close of the Communist Manifesto is, 'the Communists [everywhere] support every revolutionary movement against the existing social and political order of things.'"

Kengor's commentary, "Riots, Pandemic and Astronauts: How 2020 Is Like 1969 All Over Again," was recently published in the National Catholic Register.

 

 

U.S. Rep. Dan Lipinski: How pro-life Democrats can make their voices heard

"You can be a Democrat and you can be pro-life," said U.S. Rep. Dan Lipinski, D-Illinois, an eight-term Congressman. "About one out of every three Democratic voters in the country say that they are pro-life. I think it's very important for the pro-life movement to not just be a one-party movement, that there are not just Republicans, but there are Democrats who are pro-life."

In March, Lipinski lost his Democratic primary to challenger Marie Newman. She had the "support of EMILY’s List, a national group that supports pro-abortion rights Democratic women," according to the Chicago Tribune.

"I know there's going to be a lot of national attention paid" to Initiative 120, said Lipinski, when asked about the late-term abortion ban that will be on the Colorado ballot in November. "Hopefully we can all get the message out there of what the truth is and that the voters of Colorado stand up strongly and say that life needs to be protected. There's no way that you can deny that, after 22 weeks, we know that child can survive outside the womb. So, even if you don't believe that life begins at conception, you have to understand that that is a viable life outside the womb, at that age."

Lipinski also referred to his 2019 commencement address at Ave Maria University, an adaptation of which was recently published by Public Discourse, titled, "Carrying Jesus into the Public Square."

Michael New: Coloradans can save unborn lives at the 2020 ballot

"One of the first successful direct democracy campaigns that pro-lifers did actually took place in Colorado. In 1984, Colorado voters approved Initiative 3 that prevents taxpayer funding of elective abortions in the state Medicaid program," said Michael J. New, Ph.D., who is "a Visiting Assistant Professor of Political Science and Social Research at The Catholic University of America, as well as an Associate Scholar at the Charlotte Lozier Institute," according to the Lozier website.

New wrote a recently article on National Review Online, titled, "An important pro-life opportunity in Colorado," referring to Initiative 120, the late-term abortion ban proposed for the November 2020 ballot in Colorado. 

 

 

Kendra Clark: A Catholic convert from Mormonism describes her journey

"I did know that if I continued to just look at the cross and pray to Jesus and kind of fundamentally get my feet back on the ground — and using the Holy Bible, and the Bible only for my references and my truth — that I would be led to where I was supposed to be," said Kendra Clark. She is interviewed by Deacon Geoff Bennett, the host of Respect Life Radio, who introduces her as "a wife, a mother of four and convert to the Catholic faith after spending 40 years in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints..."

Clark also told her story in 2018 on the TV program, "The Journey Home," hosted by Marcus Grodi. Clark helps others and provided her email as kendraclark15@gmail.com.

Krista Kafer: Just days left to sign Initiative 120 to put late-term abortion ban on Colorado ballot

"What I like about this issue is that it is bipartisan," said Krista Kafer. "When it comes to late-term abortion...a good three-quarters of Americans who say: Why do we have this? Why would you abort a child that can survive outside the womb?"

Kafer is a proponent of Initiative 120 that would put a late-term abortion ban on the Nov. 3, 2020, ballot in Colorado. Follow her on Twitter @KristaKafer. 

The map at https://respectlifedenver.org/sign120map shows sites where and when registered Colorado voters can sign Initiative 120, with signatures being turned in the last week of May to the Colorado Secretary of State by Due Date Too Late. The language of the ballot initiative is available at this link. 

Kafer, a weekly columnist for The Denver Post, wrote in favor of the ballot initiative in October 2019. More recently, she has been a paid communications person for the Initiative 120 effort.

Gallup polling nationwide from the mid-1970s consistently shows a majority of Americans support restrictions on abortion, with only 25 percent polled in 2019 agreeing that abortion should be legal under any circumstances.

Of a previous sample of 40,000 verified Initiative 120 petition signatures, Due Date Too Late had reported that 12.5% were Democrats, 26.3% were unaffiliated and 61.2% were Republicans.

Sign Initiative 120 to help end late-term abortion in Colorado (:30 PSA)

"Help end late-term abortion in Colorado. If you haven't signed Initiative 120 yet, please go to RespectLifeDenver.org and click on the Initiative 120 link. Once you click on that link, provide your contact information, and we will contact you to let you know how you can sign the petition — and where you can sign the petition. We ask that you help us end late-term abortion in Colorado. Signature collection will start May 15 and run through May 29," said Deacon Geoff Bennett, host of Respect Life Radio.

To help lead a signature drive in May, contact Barbara Glesener at 303-995-8810 about petition pick-up, drop-off, training and signing.

Dr. Ray Guarendi: On what it takes to be married and raise "upright kids"

The decline of marriage among the younger generation is a "natural byproduct of a culture that says let's put God on the shelf, let's remake Him in our image, if we allow Him to come around," said Dr. Ray Guarendi, "a Catholic father of ten adopted children, a clinical psychologist, author, professional speaker, and national radio and television host," as described on his website, drray.com. He is the author of many books, including the recently published, "Raising Upright Kids in an Upside-Down World: Defying the Anti-Parent Culture."

As a parent, "you do need to be fearless, you cannot parent in anxiety," said Guarendi. "You can't do it. You won't be able to make the decisions you need to make because you'll be attacked, assaulted, critiqued as a Neanderthal throwback, out of touch, your kids are going to get resentful, they're going to rebel, they're going to hate you, etc."

Fr. Robert Sirico: Making public policy decisions amid the COVID-19 pandemic

The Acton Institute is "focused on the intersection of morality, theology, economics, human freedom. It's really the question of the relationship between liberty and the truth of who human beings are," said Fr. Robert A. Sirico, president of the Acton Institute, based in Grand Rapids, Mich. "The organization itself isn't a Catholic organization, as such, it's an ecumenical effort to understand moral responsibility in the market economy."

Fr. Sirico discusses how considerations of science and public health, the market economy, and faith intersect in the approach to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Charles D. Fraune on "Slaying Dragons: What Exorcists See & What We Should Know"

Exorcists all over the world are seeing "the same thing. Demons are acting the same way, people are getting into trouble in the same way. And people are being healed, and being pulled out of possession and obsession and oppression, in the same way," said Charles D. Fraune, author of Slaying Dragons: What Exorcists See & What We Should Know. "We should not fear the devil at all. Actually, if we do fear the devil, he's winning..."

For more about Fraune and his book, go to TheSlayingDragonsBook.com.

 

 

Debbie Perry-Smith: Combatting sex trafficking in Colorado

"A call came to me from the Lord to step into this," said Debbie Perry-Smith of S.A.F.E. Rockies, the Strategic Alliance to Fight Exploitation, which works with organizations combatting human trafficking and sexual exploitation in the Rocky Mountain region. "We actually have more illicit massage parlors in the state than we do Starbucks."