Statement from Operation Rescue Concerning Randall Terry

I received the following today via email:

Wichita, KS – Yesterday, Randall Terry, who is regrettably traveling to the Roeder trial in Wichita, stated in a news release, “We are not coming to condone or condemn Scott Roeder’s actions,” and dared to compare Roeder to the Civil War figure John Brown.

The Advisory Board of Operation Rescue issues the following statement on Randall Terry’s refusal to condemn violence.

“The Board of Operation Rescue wants to make it clear that Randall Terry has no affiliation or involvement with Operation Rescue. That has been the case for over 17 years.

“Sadly, Randall Terry has chosen to abandon the Christ-centered principles contained in the historic Operation Rescue Pledge of Non-violence. By refusing to condemn the actions of Scott Roeder, Mr. Terry has completely abandoned the core principles of Operation Rescue.

“Mr. Terry’s relentless thirst for media attention has led him down a road of extremism, fringe actions, and bizarre media stunts which have isolated him from the pro-life community and the timeless principles of an organization he helped establish.

“Our prayer is that Randall will return to a place of humility and sanity and once again embrace the cross of Christ and stop choosing to be involved in cheap and pathetic public relation stunts that harm the pro-life message.”

Read Operation Rescue’s Pledge of Non-violence

Humility? It’s What Makes Me Great!

A friend recently commented that he was working on his humility.  It offered me a moment to reflect on my own continual needs in this area.

Golf is a great game because one can never perfect it.  One can bowl a 300 game or pitch a perfect game, but one cannot shoot an 18 at golf.  (Ok, it’s “theoretically” possible but gimme a break, ok?)

Likewise, I do not think it is possible to be perfectly humble, if for no other reason than that at the moment we realized we had achieved perfect humility we might be filled with a sense of pride at the accomplishment.  Thus, our struggle for humility goes on like the struggle on the golf course – always hoping to be a little bit better the next time.

Prayer is the humility of the man who acknowledges his profound wretchedness and the greatness of God. He addresses and adores God as one who expects everything from Him and nothing from himself.

Faith is the humility of the mind which renounces its own judgement and surrenders to the verdict and authority of the Church.

Obedience is the humility of the will which subjects itself to the will of another, for God’s sake.

Chastity is the humility of the flesh, which subjects itself to the spirit.

Exterior mortification is the humility of the senses.

Penance is the humility of all the passions, immolated to the Lord.

Humility is truth on the road of the ascetic struggle.

St. Josemaria Escriva – Furrow, 259

Have a humble day.

What Can Brown Do For You????? Scratch Another Pro Abortion CINO!

The victory by Scott Brown in Massachusetts tonight is a victory for Catholics.  Brown, a protestant, defeated Martha Coakley, the Massachusetts Pro Abortion Attorney General.  Coakley, like Nancy Pelosi and the late Ted Kennedy whose Senate seat they were fighting for, likes to call herself Catholic.  She is anything but.  CINO candidates like this must be defeated.

And while it would be nice to say (and maybe someday we will be able to) that the race swung because a couple of million Massachusetts Catholics said no to abortion and no to CINOs, this race swung on other political issues (although she did opine that maybe Catholics should not work in emergency rooms that might be called upon to provide abortion services. How considerate.)

This all leads me to an excellent post appearing tonight from Adore te Devote on the very subject of pro-abortion politicians who call themselves Catholic.

I don’t care who you are!  If you willfully and publicly dissent against and advance teachings that contradict the Faith and Morals of the Catholic Church, you have separated yourself from us all,  and therefore you may be “Catholic” in name and by baptism (for by virtue of this, there is always hope…I’m a sinner, too, and screw up a LOT), but you LOSE the right to proclaim in conjunction with a public life and advancement in the eyes of others, a Faith you obstinately REFUSE,  ESPECIALLY if  you’re using it for your political advancement to purposefully fleece those who are even more uncatechized than you!

Read the whole post here and send to your local CINO politicians and friends.

What IF Pat Robertson Was Right?

The tragedy in Haiti this week brought us images of unspeakable carnage and suffering.  It has brought images of people rallying to bring relief.  It has also brought images of many with a public platform making statements, appeals and comments.

One such statement came from Pat Robertson.  Let me preface by saying that I do not know much about Pat Robertson.  I do not follow his ministry.  I do not read about him and when he ran for President, I supported others.  That said, I do not think he is stupid.  He may not be right about a lot of things and he may even be struggling with the effects of aging, I have no idea, but I don’t think he is stupid and he is certainly not a bad man.

While asking for prayers and support for the victims, he commented that in 1791, Haitian slaves made a “pact with the devil” to free themselves from the French and that ever since then it has been one tragedy after another.  And while he perhaps added some additional dialog with Satan and some sociological observations that are more opinion than fact, there is quite a bit of historical evidence to indicate that “something happened” in 1791.  I believe it was this evidence or “true story” as he called it, to which he was referring.

Here are some points to consider:

• The story should never have been about Pat Robertson but rather about the Haitian story he told.
• No one can say with factual certainty to what degree God did or did not have a direct hand in what happened in Haiti and so the topic should not be silenced.
• The prospect that it even COULD be true is horrifying.
• People in media have an agenda in direct conflict with God and conservative Christianity and will compromise all journalistic integrity to pursue it.
• Christians and especially Catholic Christians should be careful not to fall into their traps.

We don’t know what happened in 1791.  There is no video.  There are no old newspapers.  We do know that there are many people who believe, and have believed long before Pat Robertson said anything, that some sort of “pact” was made.  In fact, there was talk in 1991 of renewing the pact and I have since read that there are those who believe the pact was renewed.  So this has been quietly going on for more than 200 years and really has nothing to do with Pat Robertson.

I admit it.  I am not an expert on Haitian history.  Nor am I an expert on “pacts with the devil.” So when I first heard that he said this, being completely unfamiliar with any “Haitian pact with the devil,” I looked for information about it online.  There were several articles that discussed the history, legends, theories and evidence pro and con and concerns about those who wanted to renew the pact, etc..  I had assumed that Pat Robertson was not delusional and would not create a “true story” out of thin air and wanted to educate myself.

Yet the media, whose job it is to inform, instead made the story about Pat Robertson.  No one bothered to try to find out what he was talking about.  The sharks smelled blood in the water.  They took his comments out of the context of the relief and prayer appeal he was making.  Many then even presumed to ascribe additional thoughts and comments to them and presented him as a complete loony.  Thus instead of discussing Haitian history and society and maybe even how he got it right or wrong, they simply assassinated his character.

Why?  Well, there is a general incompetence and laziness in news these days that is well documented.  There is also the need to “build ratings” and everyone knows that a good public humiliation is more entertaining than a history and sociology discussion about a country that were it not for the earthquake, none of them could care less about.

Sadly, the torrent of Pat Robertson bashing now takes up most of the search results where people formerly could have found information on Haitian history.  I guess everyone can be an expert now on Pat Robertson bashing since it seems to be more important anyway.

Is there something besides media incompetence in play here?  Consider:  What if Pat Robertson is, even accidentally, right.  What if there is/was a “pact with the devil” or something like it that results in an absence of God and His protection?  Or worse, results in His wrath?

It is a horrifying premise.  And in the same way that none of us know FOR SURE what happened in 1791, nor do we know FOR SURE how God operates in the world.  But we do know the ugly legacy of the past 200+ years in Haiti.  One COULD argue that they did not NEED a pact with the devil to bring about God’s wrath.

The earthquake in Haiti has been called “biblical” by the secular media.  How ironic.  And there are similar disaster stories throughout the bible presented as God’s wrath.  If the Church teaches that it is possible that God may have used what we would call a natural process of evolution in His Creation, could He not also use other “natural events” to achieve His purposes?   Is it not possible?

I think that the POSSIBILITY of this is so horrifying to most, that they feel it must be immediately dismissed and those who would hint at such a possibility must be destroyed.  After all, the old testament stories are just that – “STORIES” right?  And if there IS a God and this IS how He works, might we be next?  We’ve not exactly been good boys and girls lately.  So kill the messenger and everything will go away.  In fact it is so horrifying that even religious writers and bloggers have distanced themselves from the possibility by jumping on the “Bash Pat Robertson Bandwagon.”  The fact remains that no one can say FOR SURE that God had nothing to do with it.  So why then can we not even discuss it?

Of course, the other issue for the media is that they would first have to acknowledge the existence of God so this was really a no-brainer for them.

Anyone who believes in God and professes anything other than “everyone who dies immediately goes to heaven with his or her pets and iPhones” is subject to immediate ridicule.  And all rules are off.  Pat Robertson was viciously attacked not just for his ideas but also for his age.  They get away with calling him senile because of the topic.  People who call Jimmy Carter senile for some of the loony things he says, are derided for being insensitive to seniors.  Practicing Catholics are also still an approved target of bigotry.  Just ask the Catholic League.

In conclusion our first concerns should obviously be the Haitian people and doing all we can to bring some good out of an unspeakable horror.  But let us not lose sight of those who would remove God from our society in every way possible.  And while I am not saying that they have “made a pact with the devil,” Satan would be very happy with their efforts.  Let us be ever vigilant, ever prayerful and not let ourselves accidentally fall into the trap of their ways of thinking and behavior.

Let us glorify God with humility and charity in all things.  And let us be open to seeing God in ALL things…

Magazine Reveals: Sarah Palin Is Pro-Choice

I love it.

National Catholic Register has the details.

Archbishop Niederauer Corrects Nancy Pelosi’s Definition Of Free Will

It is with great joy that I report that Archbishop Niederauer of San Francisco has written about Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s errant expression of Catholic teaching regarding free will.  I wrote on her scandal at length a little over a week ago when officially awarding Speaker Pelosi the 2009 CINO Award.  This most recent outrage was part of an interview in Newsweek magazine.  I expressed my hope that it would become a teaching moment for our bishops and now Archbishop Niederauer has stepped up to the plate.

He writes:

It is entirely incompatible with Catholic teaching to conclude that our freedom of will justifies choices that are radically contrary to the Gospel—racism, infidelity, abortion, theft. Freedom of will is the capacity to act with moral responsibility; it is not the ability to determine arbitrarily what constitutes moral right.
What, then, is to guide the children of God in the use of their freedom? Again, the bishops at the Council provide the answer—conscience: “Deep within his conscience man discovers a law which he has not laid upon himself but which he must obey. Its voice, ever calling him to love and to do what is good and to avoid evil, sounds in his heart at the right moment . . . . For man has in his heart a law inscribed by God . . . . His conscience is man’s most secret core and his sanctuary. There he is alone with God whose voice echoes in his depths.” (GS, No. 16) Conscience, then, is the judgment of reason whereby the human person, guided by God’s grace, recognizes the moral quality of a concrete act. In all we say and do, we are obliged to follow faithfully what we know to be just and right.
How do we form and guide our consciences? While the Church teaches that each of us is called to judge and direct his or her own actions, it also teaches that, like any good judge, each conscience masters the law and listens to expert testimony about the law. This process is called the education and formation of conscience.

Let’s thank and pray for Archbishop Niederauer, pray for all of our bishops and pray for the lost sheep like Nancy Pelosi that they may be guided home and bring those they’ve led astray home with them.  Read the rest of the Archbishop’s column here.

Marriage Penalty In Health Bills

Seems yet another government program designed to “help the poor,” has a marriage penalty. Married couples would pay more for their government insurance premiums than those living together.  I suppose the good news is that there is no exception made for those in “non-heterosexual relationships.”

These excerpts from the Wall Street Journal:

For an unmarried couple with income of $25,000 each, combined premiums would be capped at $3,076 per year, under the House bill. If the couple gets married, with a combined income of $50,000, their annual premium cap jumps to $5,160 — a “penalty” of $2,084…

Democratic staff who helped to write the bill confirmed the existence of the penalty, but said it cannot be remedied without creating other inequities…

If the bill passes in its current form, it would be far from the first example of federal and social benefits creating incentives to remain single. Under current law, marriage can have a negative impact on a person’s ability to claim the earned income tax credit and welfare benefits including food stamps…

Many people who would receive benefits under these bills would also benefit from the stability and support of a good marriage.  How many women and children in poverty suffer due to a broken marriage?  Why put another barrier there?  For years we’ve seen the choices that are made between marriage and welfare benefits programs.  This is one more brick in the foundation for building a servile, dependent class of people.  And it is one more reason to defeat these bills (as if we needed another).

Everything Is Still Very Much Up To Date In Kansas City

Stunning and spectacular shots that will warm your heart and soul during these bitterly cold winter evenings in KC.  These come courtesy of Kansas Catholic.

On Wednesday, January 6, 2010, the Feast of the Epiphany, the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles, a traditional community in the Diocese of Kansas City-Saint Joseph (MO), had four postulants undertake the investiture in the Benedictine Habit. This happened at the Oratory of Old Saint Patrick in Kansas City, MO.

Click here for more and many thanks to Kansas Catholic for braving the elements and many hours on snowy highways to bring us these shots.

Congratulations Nancy Pelosi And Thank You…

Congratulations to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the landslide winner of the 2009 CINO (Catholic In Name Only) Award.  Congratulations also to the other finalists:  Patrick Kennedy, Joe Biden, Kathleen Sebelius and Dick Durbin.  Speaker Pelosi and the finalists win a spiritual bouquet of masses, rosaries and chaplets said for a reformation of their consciences and for their conversion back to the faith.

I also want to thank Speaker Pelosi for a wonderful teaching moment she afforded us just last week.  I suspect she was merely making a last minute push for the CINO Award, but I will accept the opportunity regardless.  In an interview with Newsweek magazine, she said the following:

I have some concerns about the church’s position respecting a woman’s right to choose. I have some concerns about the church’s position on gay rights. I am a practicing Catholic, although they’re probably not too happy about that. But it is my faith. I practically mourn this difference of opinion because I feel what I was raised to believe is consistent with what I profess, and that is that we are all endowed with a free will and a responsibility to answer for our actions. And that women should have that opportunity to exercise their free will.

When I speak to my archbishop in San Francisco and his role is to try to change my mind on the subject, well then he is exercising his pastoral duty to me as one of his flock.

Ok, “concerns” are fine.  It is what we do with those concerns though that matters.  Faith seeks understanding.  If you have a concern Madame Speaker, then approach the Church and seek help reconciling your concern with Church teaching.  Remember, this is a not a House debate and simply a matter of opinion.  This is the teaching of God as transmitted by His Church through the authority passed down by His Son.  That requires a touch more assent than simply acknowledging a “difference of opinion from my esteemed colleague from the other side of the aisle.”

As for you being a practicing Catholic, based on your public declarations and actions, you are a heretic, you cause scandal to the faithful and likely have already incurred automatic excommunication though it is certainly not my place to make that declaration.  So “technically” you are likely not a practicing Catholic, regardless of what you would like to think.  The Church would be VERY happy for you to be a practicing Catholic.  However, to do so requires action, conversion and assent on your part.  It requires practice of The Faith, not of your personal collection of beliefs.  You excommunicate yourself through your own actions.  It is not an arbitrary decision on the part of your archbishop.  Ironically, if a Democrat in the House voted with the Republicans on every issue and yet called himself a practicing Democrat, what would you do?  Likely not pretty and likely not the warm inviting embrace offered by the Church.

It may be your “faith,” but it is not your Church.  The Church belongs to Jesus Christ.  He appointed shepherds to invite us under the conditions set forth by Him and these shepherds.  It’s not a matter of personal opinion, it’s a matter of Christ’s law.  You exercise your free will to accept His law and these conditions or not.  Accept and you are in.  Don’t accept and you are not.  It’s a very simple, generous and loving invitation offered to all.  But yes, you do have free will.  Serviam or Non Serviam.

Your archbishop’s role is not to “change your mind” but to help you reform your conscience.  Your conscience is not properly formed or else you would see the grave error of your thinking.  Babies are dying by the millions.  Mother’s lives are being scarred forever.  You could be a powerful force to stop this.  Instead you are choosing to remove barriers.  You might as well be reaching in and performing the abortions yourself.  Thus you either have an improperly formed conscience and should seek help or you are making a conscious choice to say no to Christ, no to His Church and no to the salvation and eternal happiness of heaven.  I pray that it is the former.  If the latter, please stop pretending to be Catholic, leave the rest of us alone and may God have mercy on your soul when you do in fact, “answer for your actions.”

Again, the red flag here is the concept of “free will.”  Yes, we have a free will.  In secular society we guide it with civil laws that govern our actions from speeding to paying taxes.   I have free will to obey speed limits and pay taxes or suffer legal consequences for the short duration of my time on Earth.  When it comes to accepting God’s offer of eternal salvation and happiness with Him in heaven forever, there are also laws and conditions that must be met or consequences that must be faced.  Souls in a state of mortal sin, who said no to God’s Truth are turned away.  Forever.  Truth is absolute.  It is not relative.  There is right and there is wrong.  Christ appointed His Church as arbiter of right and wrong.  This is a great gift.  We don’t have to guess and hope that we guessed right.  To be Catholic is also a great gift.  But to whom much is given, much more is expected.

Thank you again, Speaker Pelosi for this teaching moment.  I am just a middle-class layperson and a poor teacher and I pray that your archbishop and bishops around the country seize this moment to properly instruct their flocks on the difference between simply exercising “free will” and exercising it within a properly formed conscience.  I also pray that you are open to this teaching, along with the other Catholic politicians noted above.  Your “conversion” would be a powerful witness that would save many, many, many souls.

POLLS ARE NOW OPEN FOR THE 2009 CINO AWARDS

While all the nominees may be deserving, like the Heisman Trophy, there can be only one winner.  Here are the five finalists.  Please select the finalist that you feel in 2009 best publicly proclaimed his or her “Catholic faith” in word, while publicly practicing the opposite of Church teaching, creating scandal, confusion and occasion of sin.

Again, this exercise is not a judgment of souls as there is only one judge.  This is an observance of behavior meant to help correct errant ways.  These nominees all deserve our prayers and the winner will be offered a spiritual bouquet.

Nominees are in random order.  Comments are closed.

Merry Christmas!

THE 2009 CINO AWARDS – NOMINATIONS ARE NOW OPEN!!

UPDATE: 12/29/09 PM.

Nominations and comments are closed and polls are open.

The 2009 CINO (Catholic In Name Only) Award Nominations are now open.  Due to the sheer volume of possibilities, the 2009 CINO awards will be limited to elected officials in the United States, given their unique ability to affect and influence our lives.  (I certainly encourage folks in others countries to start their own CINO awards.)

The purpose of this exercise is NOT to place ourselves in judgment of others, but rather as observers of behavior within the context of Catholic teaching as set forth in the Catechism.  There is only one ultimate Judge and we are not Him.  Please act accordingly and in charity.

That said, politicians who refer to themselves as Catholic assume responsibility for all that entails.  To not live up to those responsibilities causes confusion and scandal to others and puts souls in jeopardy.  They must either live up to their responsibilities as Catholics or stop referring to themselves publicly as Catholics.  If they have questions regarding what those responsibilities are, they have a bishop who will be more than happy to help.

Meanwhile, the 2009 CINO Awards will try to identify those politicians who are presently struggling with these responsibilities, so that the rest of us might not be led astray by their example.

Please submit your nominations below, along with a short description of why this person deserves consideration.  A nominee who puts up big numbers of lapses and is consistent and obstinate in his or her defiance of Church teaching carries a lot of weight with the committee but bold, stunning, jaw-dropping offenses are also worth noting.

UPDATE: 12/14/09 PM.

I regret that I was forced to remove or edit several of the comments below.  I also removed several comments that by themselves were fine and in fact charitable responses to those who deviated from the purpose of this exercise.  I appreciate those efforts but felt it best to remove them as well as they would only make people wonder what they missed.  I also understand the passion in play here.  However, let us avoid personal attacks, pray for our bishops and priests who must shepherd us against a powerful current and pray for these nominees and help guide them home by our example.

Tom Harkin Adds To His Resume

Lest his pro-abortion record get all the “So why AM I Catholic?” attention, Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) adds this morsel to his resume, courtesy of CNA.

“At this time of challenge, Americans need committed, capable public servants working full time on their behalf,” said Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), Chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) on Thursday. “These [Equal Employment Opportunity Commission] nominees will serve Americans by protecting workers from discrimination, facilitating public service and preserving our rich national traditions in the humanities. I am pleased to move their nominations forward.”

Ok, so far so good except that the nominees include Chai Feldblum to be one of the five commissioners.

According to CNA, Feldblum has worked to advance lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights throughout her career and signed a manifesto titled, “Beyond Same-Sex Marriage: A New Strategic Vision for all Our Families and Relationships.” The declaration was released on July 26 of 2006 and supported the idea of “committed, loving households in which there is more than one conjugal partner.”

Not surprisingly, she asked for her name to be removed AFTER being nominated.  She did not renounce the manifesto, she simply asked for her name to be removed.

Between this and the “Catholic” senators (Harkin included) who voted against the anti-abortion amendment to the Senate Health Bill, it has not been a good week for them.  Please contact them and ask them in this season of preparation for our Lord, to consider finding a catechism and refreshing their knowledge of their responsibilities at Catholics.  If they choose not to, that is sad but they should then stop referring to themselves as Catholics lest they add scandal and leading others astray to their list of offenses to explain at judgment.

What’s Next From NC Reporter?

The Curt Jester calls out yet another example of ignorance and heresy from the National Catholic Reporter.  Seems on this Feast of St. Juan Diego, they question his very existence.  As the Jester points out, this is officially defined as heresy and brings with it automatic excommunication.  And the author doesn’t stop with St. Juan Diego:

Pope John Paul II canonized some questionable figures, but however difficult it may be for some to venerate Josemaria Escriva or Padre Pio, at least we know they existed. With Juan Diego, that is not at all certain.

So SAINT Josemaria and SAINT Pio are questionable figures??  Really.  So the author presumes to be the judge of who is REALLY worthy of sainthood now.  Well, that will certainly save the Holy Father and the teams of Vatican investigators a lot of time and money.  Pretty impressive for someone who just excommunicated herself.  She has also written a book called Convent which one reviewer speculates might be a disguised memoir and I suspect, might reveal much of her “agenda.”

Judging from her entry for tomorrow, part of the agenda might even call for the canonization of Thomas Merton.

Our Lady of Guadalupe, St. Juan Diego, St. Josemaria, St. Pio, pray for her and for all of us.

Lead Us Not Into Temptation Starwood Hotels

I am currently away from home on business.  The meeting I am attending is in a “W” hotel by Starwood Hotels (Westin/Sheraton, etc).  It’s a very nice, upscale, contemporary hotel with outstanding amenities and service.  And thanks to the meeting rate, I can enjoy it for the price I would normally pay for a Fairfield or Holiday Inn Express.

The in-room “honor bar” is certainly the nicest I have seen.  In fact, there is an entire hutch filled with honor items from chips and salsa, to oreos, wine, nuts, a “W” ball cap and even a first aid kit.

There is also a “dishonor” item which has inspired this post.  This is a “Get Lucky” kit. An online search reveals that the company that produces this “Essentials Pleasure Set” is a company known for “high-end designer sex toys.”  For $11 I get two condoms, lubricant and a pair of mints.  Are you kidding me??  (No I’m not complaining about the price.)

My first reaction when I saw it was surprise that it would be out in the open, let alone at a hotel like this.  I’ve never seen this in a hotel room.  My second thought turned to how contraception is intrinsically evil and how I wished people would figure that out.  Third thought was for the poor single guys who go trolling for action on the road and I prayed for them.  Then I mentioned it to a friend of mine who then offered a prayer for me.  I wondered why until I realized that there was concern for me as a married man on the road.  The good news is that I guess I’m too blessed/protected/naive to know temptation in this area.  The bad news is that there are many who are not and the more I think about it, the madder I get.

I would imagine that the majority of people who stay in this hotel are married men.  Married men make up the majority of business travel and this is a business hotel in a major metropolitan downtown area.  Furthermore, the majority of these men do not bring their wives to meetings.  I would say 80% of the guests I’ve seen in this hotel are men 35-64.  The hotel knows this and chooses to place these in the rooms.  And I just checked around and this is also the first hotel in which I have been where there is no bible from the Gideons.

They are doing this in the name of service.  Like tv networks who give us a never-ending stream of crap because their research shows that we want that (and ratings support it), Starwood Hotels is simply addressing a perceived market need.  Well there is a difference between needs and wants.  Often times, what a customer thinks he wants, is not what he needs.  Weak businesses take the easy path and satisfy a want – especially when there is easy money.  Great businesses identify and satisfy needs and everyone is better for it.

It is not up to Starwood Hotels to be the Morality Police.  But nor do we need them encouraging us to break moral laws and our marriage vows.  I respectfully ask them to discontinue this product offering.  Furthermore, I ask them to consider instead a small book on fatherhood and/or motherhood in its place.  The title alone can make a mind consider priorities at a critical moment.  This is satisfying a need instead of a want.