30-references

Shall I Speak Up
or Just Go Along with Our Revered Leaders?

The following two quotes are variations of the same message. They are the words of Martin Niemoller, the well-known German Protestant Pastor who survived the Nazi Holocaust.

They came for the Communists, and I didn't object -
        For I wasn't a Communist;
They came for the Socialists, and I didn't object -
       For I wasn't a Socialist;
They came for the labor leaders, and I didn't object -
      For I wasn't a labor leader;
They came for the Jews, and I didn't object -
      For I wasn't a Jew;
Then they came for me -
       And there was no one left to object.

The quote below is from Pastor Martin Niemoeller" as he spoke before the United States Congressional on 14 October 1968. They appear in the Congressional record on page 31636:

When Hitler attacked the Jews I was not a Jew, therefore I was not concerned. And when Hitler attacked the Catholics, I was not a Catholic, and therefore, I was not concerned. And when Hitler attacked the unions and industrialists, I was not a member of the unions and I was not concerned. Then, Hitler attacked me and the Protestant church -- and there was nobody left to be concerned.

The Hundredth Monkey: ...

Your participation in life on Earth today is important. WHY? Because you just might be the Hundredth Monkey -- the one who tips the balance for all humanity toward peace, freedom, joy, and harmony. If you think this is nonsense, let us give you an overview of the book by Ken Keyes, Jr. called The Hundredth Monkey.

Researchers on a small island off Japan had been studying the native monkeys for some years. As part of the research project, in the early 1950's, scientists placed sweet potatoes on the sand for the monkeys to eat. The monkeys ate the sweet potatoes, dirt and all until one young monkey started washing her sweet potatoes in a stream. Soon the monkey's mother and several other young monkeys were also washing their potatoes.

Gradually, the phenomenon of washing the sweet potatoes grew until in 1958, there were dozens of monkeys washing their potatoes. No one knows exactly how many monkeys were washing their potatoes, but for the sake of the story, we'll say that number was 99. Then one morning the hundredth monkey started washing his/her sweep potatoes, and something phenomenal happened. By the end of that day almost every monkey on the island started washing his/her potatoes.

As striking as that event was, it was overshadowed by the fact that the monkeys on several other islands suddenly started washing their sweet potatoes. Because there was no physical connection between the monkeys on those other islands, one must ask: "What caused this transformation to suddenly leap across "empty space" and ocean waters into the minds of the monkeys on several other islands?"

The only explanation so far given is that the added energy of this hundredth monkey somehow created an ideological breakthrough. In other words, when a certain critical number achieves an awareness, this new awareness may be communicated from mind to mind.

This means that when only a limited number of people know of a new way, it may remain the conscious property of these people only. But there is a point at which if only one more person tunes-in to a new awareness, the invisible, collective energy field is strengthened so that this awareness is picked up by almost everyone!

So, what does this mean for you? It means YOU could be the Hundredth Monkey -- the one who tips the balance for all humanity toward peace, freedom, joy, and harmony.

<http://www.hundredthmonkey.net>

http://www.pro-truth.net/30-references.html#TheHundredthMonkey ...

The Multi-Front Attack on Reproductive Rights

In the ant-abortion war, the forced-motherhood peddlers have determined the playing field, defined the language, taken the offensive, are very efficiently orchestrating a unified and coordinated, multi-front assault on abortion rights, on religious rights, on economic freedom, and on sexual freedom. They are running an incredibly effective spin-the-truth campaign. They have a clearly defined, long-term plan for accomplishing their objectives - - a plan which incorporates the highly effective Kaizen approach to problem solving. They are ruthlessly and very effectively attacking their opposition on several fronts. Here are some of their most obvious battlefields:

The No-Choice Political Hit List: The ultraconservative religious leaders spearheading the anti-abortion war strongly oppose sex education; they oppose birth control; they oppose birth control research; they oppose stem cell research; they oppose all funding to domestic, foreign, and third-world health programs that in any way include birth control or sex education; they oppose every religion except their own; until recent years they have been notorious, racial bigots; they vehemently oppose anything that depicts sexual activity; and they also strongly oppose sex itself, unless, of course, it’s in strict accordance with their religious dogma.

Eliminating Abortion Availability: In additions to attempting to outlaw abortion, the no-choice leaders have undertaken a campaign to restrict access to abortions services in every way they possible can. Their goal is to eliminate the places where pregnant women can turn to for abortions and leave only their own so-called-counseling centers, centers where abortion is simply not mentioned as an option.

Buying Hospitals: The Roman Catholic Church is using its tremendous wealth to literally buy hospitals and then prohibit abortions in those hospitals.

Gag Rule: Then there's the anti-abortion masterpiece of hypocrisy, The Global Gag Rule.

Selecting Judges and Influencing the Choice of Political Appointees: The no-choice leaders have been very successful at taking control of the Republican Party. "Resident" Bush and Attorney General Ashcroft are two of their most blatant successes. Filling political appointments such as selecting federal judges is another and equally sinister plan. Some of these judgeship positions are for the life of the appointee, ant thus the no-choice voice if put into positions as federal judges will have an extremely long-term influence on the American political system.

Governor Davis Recall: One of their recent scams, (July 2003) revolved around the Orange County Republican Congressman Darrell Issa. Issa, an ultra conservative right wing anti-abortionist, spent about Million dollars of his own money initiating the recall of California Governor Gray Davis. Issa then declared his candidacy for governor to replace Davis.

How does this relate to abortion? If you think Issa did this on his own, guess again. Who do you think was behind him. Right, the anti-abortionist. The California battle was another step in their intention to create a Christian America. Davis was a Democrat and strongly pro-choice. Issa was a republican and an ultra conservative right wing anti-abortionist.

The law which allows for the recall was passed with the intention of providing a means of eliminating corrupt politicians. The law was misused to attack someone whom the anti-abortionists didn't like.

Because of the economic circumstances, Davis was vulnerable. Everything wrong was blamed on him and as the scapegoat, the public was given the impression that if he was removed form office, all the problems would magically disappear. In their mindless, sheep mentality, the anti-choice followers went out protesting and working diligently to fulfill the wishes of their no-choice leaders.

The recall cost you and me about fifty-five million dollars. That money came from our already over-stretched city and county budgets. As of this writing (November 2003) the plans are to cut funding for social services from the budget. To find this money, government-run, healthcare clinics are about to be shut down which means sources of birth control information, and abortion services will be eliminated. This is in perfect alignment with one of the goals of the anti abortionists. That goal is to eliminate to places where pregnant women can turn to for assistance.

To bottom line this: The ant-abortionists succeeded in spending about $55,000,000 in tax payers money to eliminate an pro-choice governor and to close down health care clinics because they provide abortion and birth control services.

Arson and Vandalism: Dozens of women's health care clinics have been vandalized, burned down, or otherwise destroyed. Dozens more have been forced to close or never allowed to open. Why? Because, as part of their services, they provide abortions.

Harassment, and Murder: Literally hundreds of health care service providers have had their live severely interfered with by anti-choice supporters. Several have been seriously injured or murdered. The intention is to intimidate, threaten, and scare others away from providing abortion services.

Can you think of any just and honorable cause that has to resort to Hitler-style tactics to promote its mission? More Evidence

http://www.pro-truth.net/30-references.html#Multi-FrontAttack ...

What the Bible Is to the Anti-abortion Leaders

The quote below is from the web site of The Journey Church, 3001 East H Street, Russellville, AR 72812.**

The Bible: "The Bible is God's Word to us. It was written by human authors, under the supernatural guidance of the Holy Spirit. It is the supreme source of truth for Christian beliefs about living. Because it is inspired by God, it is truth without error."

Can't Acknowledge Errors or Other Possibilities: The above quote demonstrates how the anti-abortionists have put themselves in a very small box. The only possible interpretation of the Bible is a literal interpretation and the only possible literal interpretation is their own literal interpretation. They deny the validity of everything else and they deny everyone else's beliefs.

Their Slippery Slope: If they acknowledge that even one tiny word in the Bible has more than one meaning, that acknowledges that the entire bible might have more than one interpretation. And that would lead to the possibility that some of their proclamations might be wrong. The infallibility of the Roman Catholic Pope. also comes into open question. They simply cannot acknowledge the possibility that they could be wrong.. As a result they spend an inordinate amount of time, money, and effort defending the un-defendable. Here's an alternative..

Why do they do this? For an answer and an in-depth discussion of this issue, see the page titled: Abortion and Christian History,. particularly note the section titled: Is Christianity Being Threatened..

For another point of view, see the page titled: Was Reincarnation Edited Out of the Christian Bible?

** If you go to the Journey Church web site, you can also read a sample of fundamentalist beliefs about: God, Jesus Christ, The holy Spirit, Human Beings, Salvation, and Eternity.

http://www.pro-truth.net/30-references.html#WhatBibleIs ...

Martin Luther:

Catholic Monk, Martin Luther posted his famous "95 Theses" on the church door on October 31, 1517. His protest against Roman Catholic dogma sparked a major rebellion and triggered the European revolution know as the Reformation)

After years of extreme dedication to the church, Luther came to the realization that church intermediaries between a human being and God were irrelevant and unnecessary. He said that salvation was a function of God's grace and was neither a product of one's physical activities nor of ones devotion to the Roman Catholic Church.

The belief that one needed to work or to suffer in order to connect to "a God out there somewhere" was seen as a manipulative fairytale set upon the masses by church leaders in order to dominate, control and extract money.^°

In the early sixteenth-century, Martin Luther threw the belief that people have a direct connection to God squarely into the face of Pope Leo X. That concept challenged the Roman Catholic Empire and forever changed human history. His revelation sparked the revolution which historians today refer to as "The Reformation." The revolution, previously unprecedented in speed and scope, put an end to the strangle hold that the Roman Catholic Church had on Europe and put an end to what historians refer to as "The Dark Ages."

One has to wonder why that was and still is such a controversial concept because the Christian Bible, in words of Jesus, clearly supports that perspective.

"And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites [are]: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, [and in churches and on TV and in public schools] that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. "Matthew 6:5-6

Was Luther right? Is the need for a church intermediary only a manipulative fairytale set upon the masses by church leaders in order to dominate, to control and to extract money? Look at the evidence. Draw your own conclusions.

To see the truth of this and the power of having a direct connection to God, one has but to study the life of Martin Luther. See Bibliography for information on a historical documentary on his life and the transformation he triggered.

http://www.pro-truth.net/30-references.html#MartinLuther ...

The Chromosome Claim The Chromosome Claim ...

The Chromosome Claim:

And then there's the chromosome claim. Some anti-abortionists get very technical about eggs and sperm cells and explain their union in great detail using language only a technical expert would understand.

(http://www.abortiontv.com/WhenDoHumanBeingsBegin2.htm)

In essence, they say:

1) All normal, human, male cells, with the exception of the sperm cells, have forty-six chromosomes. The sperm cells have only twenty-three chromosomes.

2) All normal, human, female cells, including the egg, have forty-six chromosomes.

3) When the sperm (with its twenty-three chromosomes) enters the egg, it instructs the egg to "get rid of" twenty-three female chromosomes which it does.

4) The sperm then replaces the removed twenty-three with its own twenty-three, again making a total again of forty-six chromosomes.

The "Therefore" Claim:

Then in normal no-choice logic, the anti-abortionist proclaim that because the egg has forty-six chromosomes and still has the ability to grow into a physical body, the now fertilized egg is an a brand new, never-before-existing, separate, complete, eternal, everlasting, sovereign, human being to be accorded full human rights:

Even though the egg has been an integral part of the woman’s body since her birth,

Even though it is still totally dependent upon her for its survival, and

Regardless of the wishes and desires of the woman in whose body the egg resides.

That's a Nice Story but...

What that chromosome numbers game actually means is like all other aspects of the abortion controversy -- it's subject to human interpretation which brings us right back to speculation, conjecture, guess work, and personal opinions -- or as it's usually referred to in religious circles: It's just another "The Leap of Faith."

The bottom line:

It means exactly what you believe it means.

Then many of us have to ask:

What is the credence of all this? What is the numbers game all about? Every healthy human egg has the potential to grow into a physical body when given the right conditions and circumstances.

We ask: "What does this all mean?" And, above all, we ask: "What relevance does all this have to the abortion controversy?"

http://www.pro-truth.net/30-references.html#The%20Chromosome%20Claim ...

Bigotry Is Alive and Well:

Big D You cannot have freedom of religion if you do not first have freedom from religion. If you’ve studied American history, you will remember the first settlers (after the Native Americans ^[1]) came to this country to escape religious persecution.

T.L.C. And how long were they here before they proceeded to peddle their own brand of religious persecution?

Big D Not long.

T.L.C. Are you saying that the present-day, forced-motherhood leaders have created their own version of religious persecution based on their American, Christian heritage called Puritanism? That's just a variation of the theme: "one-way-my-way."

Big D Yes, only today, we don’t call it persecution, we call it bigotry. Some of the forced-motherhood promoters are still supporting racial discrimination, and many are still calling the Eastern Religions demonic.

T.L.C. Are you saying the no-choice leaders are bigots?

Big D Absolutely not! Again, I’m merely pointing out evidence of behavior. What label you put on that behavior is your own judgment, not mine. But if you want to know if the shoe fits. . .

Again Big D reached into “her” bikini top and this time took out a copy of Webster’s Dictionary. “She” handed it to me and asked me to look up the word bigot. I took the book, opened to the B’s and found bigot, then read the definition out loud.

T.L.C. “Bigot: A person who holds blindly and intolerantly to a particular creed, opinion, etc.” “A narrow-minded, prejudiced person.”

Big D Now look up prejudice, please.

After a moment of looking, I found prejudice and read the definition out loud. There were four definitions. I chose the one that seemed most relevant to our discussion.

T.L.C. “Prejudice: A judgment or opinion held in disregard of the facts that contradict it.”

Big D So in the anti-abortion controversy, which side is holding blindly and intolerantly to an opinion in disregard of the facts that contradict that opinion?

T.L.C. The answer is again obvious. If we were keeping score in this discussion like one might do in a sporting match, the score at this point would be Common Sense about twenty and the anti-abortionists zero.

^[1] As a culture, Native Americans believe that life begins at first breath, so if the anti-abortionist had their way, still another group with a long-standing social and religious structure, would be denied its freedom of religion.

http://www.pro-truth.net/30-references.html#Bigotry ...

Democracy Versus Republic

In a Republic the people don't make the decisions. The people elect the representatives who make the decisions. The decision makers are elected for a certain period of time. If the people don't like what an elected official does they choose to elect someone else when his/her term in office has ended. The process is orderly and follows rules of law.

The representatives make decisions based on human values such as those listed here:
1)    Ethics -- Is this action in the highest and best good of all concerned?
2)     Practicality, efficiency, and functionality -- Will this action produce
         the desired results?
3)    Logic and reason -- does this action make sense?
4)    Consequences° -- what will this action produce? Who or what will be
        hurt or damaged by this action?   How can we work together
         to get this problem behind us?
5)    Service -- Will this action produce the highest good for the greatest
         number at the lowest cost, cost being measured by the expenditure of:
              time,
              money,
              effort,
              resources consumed
              damage, grief and misery produced,
              loss of life (human or other life forms)?

6) Gain or Loss -- Who will gain? What will they gain? Who will loose?
What will they loose?

In a Democracy the majority makes the decisions. A democracy is a disguised form of mob rule. He with the most political power rules. Regardless of ethics, functionality, logic, practicality, or what is labeled, "morality," the majority imposes its will on the minority.

The in-power elite simply exploit the public media and the social institutions. Their intention is to manipulate by deception, mis-education, half-truths, and, when necessary, outright lies. They con the public into demanding what they (the controllers) want.

Abortion is a shinning example of this. Abortion is an extremely complicated issue. Base on the limited amount of information given to the public, it's impossible for the vast majority of people to make an informed decision on this issue. Thus, many of those who support the anti-abortion position do so out of ignorance of the truth and not out of evil intentions.

The 2003, mob-rule recall of Governor Gray Davis is another example of democracy getting way out of hand.

No matter what side you are on and no matter what the issue is, to make those on the other side into bad people is not the answer. That simply provides an excuse to hate them and do violence against them. Education is the way out of ignorance.

http://www.pro-truth.net/30-references.html#DemocracyVersusRepublic ...

gag ...

The Global Gag Rule - - Hypocrisy at its Sleaziest

The Anti abortionist who so ardently claim freedom of speech for themselves are once again being the masters of hypocrisy and denying free speech to others. Their Global Gag Rule, which was reinstated by "Resident" Bush on his inauguration day in 2000, places broad prohibitions on the privately-funded activities of foreign organizations that receive U.S. aid. The Global Gag Rule's means that any organization that receives U.S. funding:

Cannot express a view contrary to the "official" view of the United States government,

Cannot speak freely about abortion or about abortion law reforms,

Cannot organize a public debate or media event if abortion is to be part of the discussion,

Cannot engage in sex education activities,

Cannot publish or express factual information about abortion during a public meeting or any media event,

Cannot engage in any public discussions about abortion,

Cannot engage in internet discussions about abortion,

Cannot testify before or give briefings to the U.S. Congress regarding abortion,

Cannot attend or speak publicly at UN conferences about abortion,

Cannot work with their governments to change abortion laws,

Cannot serve as a defense or expert witness in a trial prosecuting women for criminal abortions.

Here's how far our no-choice friends will go:

In nations where abortion is legal, organizations working to criminalize abortion or to increase restrictions on abortion access are free to say anything they choose anywhere they choose to say it, but those favoring abortion rights and abortion education are subject to all eleven of the Gag Rule restrictions listed above. If there were an Academy Award for hypocrisy, guess who'd win the first place Oscar.

The anti-abortionist-sponsored Global Gag Rule is nothing short of Global censorship!

_______________________________________

The anti-abortionist may be pro-embryo, but they certainly aren't pro-life.

By their efforts, they simply transfer death onto other people in other places.

But don't believe us. Read it for yourself is an online report about the anti-abortionists' death-peddling, misery-producing, global Gag Rule: http://www.crlp.org/pub_bo_ggr.html

_______________________________________

Examine the

List of pages exposing anti-abortion hypocrisy.°

http://www.pro-truth.net/30-references.html#gag ...

Illusions -- Some Examples:

Corporations Pay Taxes Corporations Pay Taxes ...

At one point when Ronald Reagan sat in the president's chair, the anti-abortion-peddling republicans made a big, public issue about getting corporations to pay their fair share of taxes. The common public response to that statement was, "So? Why shouldn’t corporations pay their fair share of taxes?"

The answer is simple. Because the concept is a scam. Corporations do not now nor have they ever paid taxes.

Of course, corporations do send money to the government, but to say that corporations are paying taxes is just another political con game. To see how the scam works, we simply need to take a moment and become aware of the basic economics of how a corporation functions.

They add up the costs: They figure the costs to produce the product, plus the costs for the factory, for the offices, for management and labor, plus the cost for advertising and promotion, plus a mark up for profit, plus the cost for taxes, insurance, and the like, plus however much more money they can get away with charging the customers, and that’s the selling price of their product. That’s the price the public pays.

So who pays the taxes and who’s money are corporations sending to the government? Your money, my money, and the money of very other paying customer. Corporations simply collect the tax money hidden within the cost of the product.

They collect that money from their customers and pass the money along to the government, yet Reagan and his handlers withheld this information from the public and proceeded to con a lot of people into demanding that corporations pay their fair share of taxes.

Heads they win. Tails you loose. They peddled the illusion that corporations pay taxes, and they peddled that story if it were a factual truth while knowing full well it was a lie. And the public bought it, at least in part, because Reagan was their chief salesman. Its such a great con that most people stills believes it to this day.

For the complete story, see "A Blissful Yoni Dance," Volume Two "The Gift," Section titled: "The Not-So-Great Pretender."

http://www.pro-truth.net/30-references.html#IllusionsSomeExamples ...

Liberal Media Bias:

Regarding the pro-choice/no-choice media coverage, those opposing abortion rights are claiming that the media is biased on the side of preserving women's reproductive rights, that the media is prejudiced and is giving undue favor to the pro-choice side of this controversy. Is that an accurate statement, or is it simply the anti-choice voice spinning the truth?

Are people in the media prejudiced? Do they favor one side or the other? Obviously Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Riely, Sean Hannity, and numerous other talk show hosts are pure and completely objective, so we don't need to consider them. But what about the average reporter and news journalist? Are they prejudiced?

Perhaps we might start by clarifying what the word "bias" means. Webster's dictionary defines bias as: "A mental leaning or inclination; partiality, prejudice; bent." It defines “prejudice" as: " A judgment or opinion held in disregard of the facts that contradict it.”

Who is biased: In the anti-abortion controversy, which side is holding blindly and intolerantly to an opinion in disregard of the facts that contradict that opinion?

No-Choice Mentality: One has but to look at the anti-choice behavior to answer that question. Here are some references to other pages on this web site. Five Core Assumptions Pro-Choice leaders What is Life? No-choice Logic

Media Mentality: Media people are very intelligent and well educated. They have experienced and/or witnessed the world in ways that are simply not available to most other people. They have seen and heard numerous accounts on both sides of controversial issues such as abortion rights. As a group, they are the most well informed people on the planet.

No-Choice Motivation: What does the anti-choice side have to gain by claiming media bias? First, there is the hidden censorship factor, the intimidation factor. Here's the hidden message: "If you don't stop speaking the truth about what is happening, you'll find yourself in Algeria covering the news about sand storms."

Second, conflict sells and it's a multi-billion dollar business. The anti-choice leaders are nervous about the enormous amounts of money they’d lose if they did not have the anti-abortion war as a means of obtaining political favors and for attracting billions of dollars in donations. See the page titled Winning with a Losing Issue .

Media Motivation:   What do the rank and file news media people
have to gain by being bias in favor of freedom of choice?   Ahh. . .
Umm. . .   Give us a moment.   We'll think of something.   In the mean time, you tell us.

That's OK. We couldn't think of anything, either.

What Is Normal No-choice Behavior: The anti-choice leaders regularly launch media attacks against anything that contradicts their opinion. In this instance, the wisdom, knowledge, and experience of those covering the news is the target. And they usually are very successful in peddling their message because they have the enormous amounts of money required to fight an effective media war, and because Americans so readily believe without question what the those in control tell them.

http://www.pro-truth.net/30-references.html#LiberalMediaBias ...

Why We Resist Change

Fear: Fear is the primary reason why people resist change. People are afraid that as a result of change, things will be worse rather than better.

Guilt: The guilt that religious have inspired parents to pump into to the children of their followers has produced generation after generation of guilt-ridden adults. If I admit I've been wrong, then there is something wrong with me; I'm a bad person.

Low Self Image is another factor. If someone else comes up with a new idea, then there is something wrong with me for not having thought of it myself or for believing something that isn't true.

Mindlessness: Most people simply do not think for themselves. They just go along with what their leaders tell them.

The History of Change: If you look back into history, you will notice that the well established religious leaders have have been the major obstacles to change and that individuals and/or small groups of individuals with strong spiritual convictions have been the instigators of change.

http://www.pro-truth.net/30-references.html#ResistChange ...