BY MIKE CETERA
Aurora resident Al Signorelli asks an important, if somewhat loaded, question in comparing the response to Planned Parenthood's new clinic with how the community responds to violence: When will residents show the same passion and become outraged when a young man or woman is slain?
From Signorelli's call to OpenLine:
While (abortion) always elicits passion on both sides, it totally amazes me that crime and violence, our safety, and most importantly that of our children, does not. Where are the protesters when the bullets are flying and people are killed on our streets? What about those lives? Where is the outrage?
Signorelli has been among the more vocal residents calling for some outrage since his teenage son was murdered in 2002. But the truth is, people do get outraged after a murder; it just doesn't last for very long. The same is bound to happen with the protests outside Planned Parenthood. They will eventually taper off, only to be reignited when the topic of abortion once again heats up.
Still, the crux of Signorelli's lament is confounding. Why don't we sustain our anger -- to demand action -- to stop our sons and daughters from being killed?
Staff writer Justina Wang wrote about this issue last year in her story "City of Apathy?"
At best, the success of the efforts from the past decade has made the many anti-violence groups and programs unnecessary. At worst, the apathy of a community so used to hearing about gangs and crimes has eaten them away."In 10 years, we've had a number of spurts when a violent act occurred that generated an emotional surge - but that eventually died out," said Pastor Roy Brown of Progressive Baptist Church. "Among all the wonderful things we have done, I don't think we have come anywhere near the objective of addressing the violence in our community because we have not been persistent."
I've covered a number of community meetings/rallies following murders. People are full of energy to do something, but the momentum always dies soon after that meeting. It becomes too easy to grow jaded and declare that nobody has the will to keep these things alive.
Yes indeed. We have many examples of this in Aurora. Look at the total unresponsivness when a murder happened on what used to be one of Aurora most prominent streets-Lehnertz Avenue. The community surrounding this area was mute. They did not even react, publicly at least. It is my understanding that the alderman for the area lived just feet from where it happened. So here we have not even an initial outpouring of emotion and demands for action. This is the true definition of being jaded and also shows the impact of good and/or bad leadership.
The group Cease Fire also is an orginization that has advocated to stop the murders, but they too wane and loose focus. Eventually it is up to the community to say enough is enough, react, and develop as well as participate in long-term goals that make their community safe for all.
Of course everyone with a heart is outraged when anyones life is taken!!
One of my grandsons best friends was brutally murdered 2yrs. ago..
He wasnt in a gang, he just happended to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.....We loved him and he will miss him our entire lives....
I personally feel that our younger generation will never respect any form of life if we in fact do not do our best to stop the inhumane murdering of our most innocent, the unborn babies...
How can we as parents, grandparents etc. even expect these young people to respect life when adults passed a law that allows Drs,
(who were meant to save lives) to brutally stop the beating heart of the most defenseless of us all????
Children learn by example, what example has abortion taught them??
Early sex and pregnancy can be taken care of at the corner clinic!!! They lose respect for themselves, eachother, life in general......
Mother Teresa said: "A nation that kills its unborn will never find peace".....
our younger generation will never respect any form of life if we dont do something about people like YOU.
who feel that it is better to pray over a matter than actually DO something.
WHAT ABOUT THE BABIES THAT ARE ALREADY HERE?????
what about the babies that are neglected, live in disease ridden homes, have their egos and self esteem eaten away by people who never wanted them there in the first place...
THESE are the people that are the YOUNGER GENERATION. these are the people you need to help. if you help them, i guarantee the problems you see with abortion today will not be there anymore. its a vicious circle that no one seems to see.
they need examples patty as you so rightiously claim. WHILE YOU ARE OVER AT THE ABORTION CLINIC SHOWING THEM PICTURES OF DEAD BABIES (which must be SO good for the child)THEY ARE BEING NEGLECTED.
i'm sure both you and i are lucky enough to have had parents that loved us and showed us and taught us. I hate to burst your bubble Patty, but we are the growing few.
the youth of today is struggling. WHEN will people realize that the problem is not abortion, it is the neglect of the children that you've "SAVED".
if you spend HALF as much energy that you are using on your little tirade against the PP in Aurora on the CHILDREN of Aurora, i guarantee you abortion rates will fall, crime rates will fall, school dropout rates will fall and Aurora would be an all around better place.
think about it. pray about it. do something about it. you are fighting a losing battle if you don't.
To Anon,
Read the sad but true statistics.......Child abuse has risen since Roe V Wade became a law......
And, not that this has anything to do with the subject on this blog, but this is in reference to your comment that you and I were probably raised by 2 loving parents.....I did have 2 loving, God fearing parents until the age of 5.....
It was discovered in my mothers 6th month of pregnancy that there was a life threatening disease ravaging her body~~the Drs. wanted to take the baby and try to save her...She would not let her baby's life be taken......My brother was born 2 mos. early, and she died when he was 3 mos. old~I wasnt quite 5.....My father married a woman who did not care to raise us, so my brother and I were raised separately by 2 different grandparents....
Yes, there were lots of tears and heartaches for both of us....
But my mother gave us 2 lifelong lessons that carried us thru~~
Her belief in God, and the fact that every baby deserves a chance at life.....
I am a very happily married woman, mother of 3 wonderful children, and my 4th grandchild is on the way.....
My brother is happily married, also the father of 3, with 4 beautiful grandchildren......
When we are conceived, given a soul and a beating heart by our Creator there is no guarantee how long our life will be on this earth...Even if we live to be 100, it is a very short time compared to eternity....But myself and many others believe that only Our Lord has the right to end that life.......
Thank God there are so many that believe that all life is sacred, and will let their voices be heard for those who cant speak for themselves..
your reply has nothing to do with what i said. you conveniently redirect the issue.
i'm very sorry your mother died when you were so young, but i say yet again, you did have people who LOVINGLY raised you. and even if you didnt, you seem to have found something that gives you hope and makes you a happy person.
i am telling you to think about all those children don't have that luxury......who are lost and do not have people in their lives who care about them.
and as for your "statistic" i can only say that i hope you realize that that "statistic" is not a controlled one. There are many things that can influence child abuse.... did child abuse go up BECAUSE of roe vs. wade? NO
there are so many things wrong with that statement i can't even begin to point them out.
you are concentrating so hard on one issue and ignoring the others that influence it. open your eyes.
Anonymous,
Perhaps you have the solution to your own question.....
I merely gave my opinion which happens to be that I firmly believe that the young people of today will follow by example....
When they can point to a building where they know unborn babies are being aborted because of a law that adults have allowed, how can anyone expect them to respect life at any stage or age?????
Murder is an outrage no matter who the victim is.......
And you are very correct, I am a happy person and I do have hope because of my belief in Our Lord...
I believe that everyone can benefit from being taught the 10 commandements, again it goes back to one of the most important, NOT to kill!!! How do we preach this to anyone if we stand by and allow the destruction of these unborn babies???
As for me, I will continue to pray peacefully because I do believe that this atrocity must stopped.......
Patty, you are an inspiration. I don't think I could have said it any better than you. What a wonderful mother you had, that her love transcended death to deliver one of life's most important messages-that to shoot an unborn baby in the head or to sever its head with a butcher knife is murder. Wouldn't most people agree to that? Oh, but suctioning a baby limb by limb is somehow not murder, but the same result. Oh the irony. Much better for some to live with the knowledge they have murdered than to live with the knowledge that they forfeited their child to a loving couple? Too tough to subdue the guilt they face from abandoning their responsibilities, they resort to murder-the evidence is buried and forgotten. Oh if that was only so.
The problem here is that at some point, sooner or later, the human Spirit will have to deal with the defiance of God's commandment, "Thou shalt not kill".
While a very secular world can rationalize and justify a murder, the soul who has allowed this horrific offense can not, even if denial is in full force. At some point they will meet this ghost head on. It is not natural to kill your child. The soul has no allowance for this.
That is why we should be ever concerned about the future of the facilitators of abortion, as well as the lives suffocated in the name of convenience. Drive through murders--accepted by society, but never by God.
When someone posts their justification of abortion, citing neglected or abused children, they seem to be discounting adoption options. Is it somehow easier to reconcile the soul to murder?
What this society condones, it embraces. A very dear friend of mine told me that long ago. 22 years ago, she considered aborting a child inside of her. She already had 3 children and was not married. She had the baby, married the father, and that child is now on her way to Europe, accepted by one of the world's finest theatre and fine arts academies.
Patty is right. Only God should choose who lives and who dies. Our souls will eventually suffer if we take those reins from Him.
i certainly did not and will not EVER justify abortion by citing neglected or abused children.
all i said was that if people put as much effort into those children as they do unborn ones, abortion would not be as big of a problem. i cited those neglected and abused children as babies who need help just as much as the unborn ones.
i never discounted adoption either. you people seem to read only what you want to read.
also, i do not believe in abortion. but unlike you, i have realized that our youth is lost and struggling and if we do not help them, abortion will be the least of our worries.
When one considers the ramifications of "Bad Parenting" and the possibility that one parent or both my eventually hurt or neglect their own "unwanted children" i.e. The Vaughn Family of Oswego perhaps it's time for society to at least consider the option exercised by some individuals not to carry their pregnancies to a successful birth and one also must consider that in making this decision they may be dealing with their own moral leanings and should have the "Right-to-choose" without interference of some do-gooders in the "Right-to Life" movement in this country.
Right-to-Lifers need to get a "Life" and respect other peoples right to fowwow their beliefs as to family planning which is now guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution.
A fetus is its own being. The mother has a say over her own body, but there is a separate being inside of her. People other than the mother have a right to protect the fetus because they are affecting a different person. Nonpregnant females and males have a right and a responsibility to be involved in the issue.
I have two major points of contention for the pro-lifers. 1) I am a firm believer inthe freedoms that we enjoy in this country and as such I completely respect and actually encourage your right to protest whether I agree with your point of view or not. However, the pictures that had the little kids not only attending but carrying their own signs completely disgust me! they have absolutely NO idea what that sign means, why they are carrying it or the ramifications of the protest. it should distgust all of you that you have so indoctrinated and propagandized your "beloved children and their life" that you would use them for such a cause. Until they can reasonably come to their own judgement (not your judgement imposed on them) then they have no reason to be there! 2) For a country that purports to be champion of religious freedom, you sure are trying to impose a politcal and legal action based on the appeal of YOUR strong religious views as the guiding crux of your argument. There are plenty of people in this country that do not share your religious views (and those that have none at all) that do not see the issue quite as black and white as you seem to. Your actions as pursued, if successful, amount to nothing more than religious persecution--you are persecuting those that do not share your beliefs and trying to enforce it through law. Does that sound like religious freedom and tolerance? As the law stands, those that diagree with your personal view can choose to have an abortion, while those that share your belief simply choose not to--and I am sure that within your families you will push for the same. The problem is I am not in your family and I, as well as many others, do not share your views. That sounds pretty tolerant to me. So until you can come up with an arguement that goes beyond the obsurd of "prayer and God's will, or actions taken as a sign from God" you should redirect your efforts to an "agenda" that actually affect everyone in this country. I think you all should focus on yourselves and your families and leave me and mine alone. With the amount of intrusion you are advocating in the lives of others, you probably think the Administrations domestic warrantless wiretapping is a good thing and is welcomed in your home?!
P.S. How is that prayer thing working out for ya? Is the building gone yet?
Todd,
The children who learn at a young age that murder is evil, especially the murder of the most innocent, may just have the chance to grow up and actually respect all life....Life from the moment of conception to natural death......
It is confusing enough for our young ones to grow up in a country which allows babies to be tortured and destroyed in their mothers wombs....How does one explain to their child that murder is wrong, but it is o.k. to kill a child who never got the chance to take their 1st breath??
We cant understand how or why our young people in the community are murdering eachother.....Has anyone stopped to think that maybe they become cold hearted and immune to violence because we adults allow the weakest, most defenseless of humans to be abused and murdered??
You mention that we adults are imposing our judgment on the children....What about the babies whose mothers are allowing them to be brutally murdered.....What rights do these babies have???
Abortion ends a life.....It doesnt take a religious person to understand that fact......Anyone with an ounce of common sense must realize what an atrocity it is to rip apart a human being, and throw them in the garbage!!!!
And does anyone truly believe that the babies who are being burned, stabbed, pulled apart etc. do not feel pain????
Please dont knock praying.....I could give you a list of so very many occurrences in my life, my families life, friends, etc. that have no other explanation except for the power of prayer....
But, that isnt what this blog pertains to......As for my family and myself, we will continue to pray that Roe V Wade is reversed......
Norma McCorvey who is Jane Roe in the Roe V Wade catastrophe is herself trying to get the law reversed.....Through prayer she came to realize what a horrific law she helped to bring about....She admitted that she lied to the judge and had never been raped, but she had some pro choice lawyers who convinced her to do so....Abortion became legal, but she never did have an abortion, she gave her baby up for adoption......Ironic isnt it????
As a mother and grandmother Todd, I have come to realize that all the material things in the world that are given to children can never equal the importance of teaching our young ones to follow the 10 commandments......And, the one which states NOT TO KILL, to me, is the most important......
Please go to youtube.com and type in: planned parenthood exposed..
This undercover report just might make you and others realize what a deceiving organization planned parenthood is........
They have a revenue of half a billion dollars a year, and do not care about woman at of any age.....They are all about money....
Patty,
I thank you for your reply, however, the biggest problem with your rebuttal is the simple fact that you assume everyone shares your idea regarding conception as the start of HUMAN life. that is merely my point. Your arguments ring very true to those that take that stand. My point is simply for you to recognize that not everyone shares that view for whatever reason, but most commonly on religious grounds. Therefore to try to impose your beliefs on others or even all is the atrocity.
On the issue of the young kids, my point is what if when those children grow up, they decide on own and through their own examination of life, evidence, whatever that life starts at a time that is different than your belief. That is my point. Let them make that decision when they can. until they can make that decision, don't even put them in that position. Regardless of how you look at it the image of chilren holding pro-life signs is propaganda.
As for your prayer comment. Just because something is unexplainable does not mean it is derived from prayer. If that is what you believe personally, then fine. but to assume the same for everyone else is niave.
My argument still stands. What you do in your home effects you and quite honestly I don't care until it affect me! People using planned parenthood does not!
Todd,
Did you take the time to look at the report on planned parenthood which was taped by an undercover reporter???
Doesnt anyone see thru their maliciousness in putting their building in a middle/upper class neighborhood surrounded by homes, retail businesses and the saddest of all, a highschool with young teenaged girls???
They smuggly pass out condoms to these girls, when the condoms fail, they welcome them back to conveniently get rid of what they sometime refer to a 'fish-like' being growing within this girl!!!
And in Illinois this all can be done without parents ever knowing what their child has been thru!! Read the statistics, so many of these young girls turn to drugs and alchohol because they are ridden with guilt.....
And what worse propaganda is there, than this!!!!
Today even scientists agree that that the tiny being in a womans womb is indeed a human being!! People can be in denial all they want, but when one of those so called Drs at planned parenthood invade a females body and destroy the child within them, they are destroying a human being with a beating heart....A child who never had a chance or a voice, a child who never harmed anyone or anything....
I dont know if you have children, but I just cannot imagine if one of my own had come to me at one point in their life and told me that they no longer believed that life started at conception, I would have felt that I failed my child, had failed as a mother!!!!
If you had a daughter who didnt believe that human life started at conception, and she eventually married, then one day proudly announced she was pregnant, would that being within her now be human because she was ready to have a baby, but it wouldnt be human if she decided to have an abortion????
The entire abortion reasonings are hippocritical!!!!!! And as a parent and grandparent I can see how our young ones are so dismayed at what they are being taught by pro choice people.......
Responsible adults must teach the youngest of children that ALL LIFE is sacred, and all life needs to be respected.....
We live in the United States of America, we were raised to be proud to be a part of the this country~this one nation under God!!
But, how can any nation find peace and hope when it has a law which allows the innocent babies to be brutally tortured and tossed into the garbage?????
One further point. Maybe our children become coldhearted because there isn't anyone at home to warm their hearts. It is a very hard stretch (as with most of your causal argument) to place abortion as a contributing factor to youth violence. how many youths charged with a violent act have declard their action justifiable because of Roe v. Wade? I would guess not many if any at all.
no matter how you slice it, parents are continually finding ways to shift blame for the actions of their children. It can't possibly be them. If one wants to begin searching for blame, start at home and again let me handle my family and my home on my own!
Further, what if I don't believe in the 10 commandments, are my children lessor people because of it? Again, my point is that you and your family do believe in the 10 commandments, so to live by them is great and I applaud you for having a "guideline" to follow in life. But as you may well know, this country is made up of plenty of people that live successful, happy, moral lives that do not either believe or subscribe to the 10 commandments. Knowing that, how can you propose laws based on such principles? And if your argument is that certain laws are self evident (such as not to kill), I offer you the oxford dictionary of philosophy's definition of self-evident: "not a very useful philosophical term, since what is evident by itself to one person may not be so to another".
I would like to re-emphasize my earliest point: the law, as current in place does not lead to automatic abortion, it merely gives the "living" people directly involved the choice. Those that don't agreee with the option do not utilize it (that can include both pro-life and pro-choice). As is, the law doe not take on religious undertones....a characteristic I believe is extremely important in a "free" country such as the US.
Todd,
Please read the following:
A "human being" is a living member of the species Homosapiens. Science can determine, without doubt, whether or not any living thing is a human being. Genetically, once a human, always a human. A human being, from the moment of fertilization, is genetically complete. To quote professor Jerome Lejeune: "If a fertilized egg is not by itself a full human being, it could never become a man, because something would have to be added to it, and we know that does not happen."'
Fetal development:
By 6 weeks: all vital organs are present; brain waves can be recorded.
By 8 weeks: baby responds to painful stimuli; can grasp objects.
By 10 weeks: fingerprints and footprints permanently engraved on the skin; sucks thumb.
By 11-12 weeks: inhales and exhales amniotic fluid; shows distinct facial characteristics.
By 16 weeks: fingernails and eyelashes present; high activity level (e.g., kicking).
Humanity is not something one acquires like a skill; you are either human or you are not. People may undergo socialization, societies may undergo civilization, but a human being cannot undergo "humanization." Humanity is innate, and no human being is more human than any other.
Quoted from Jerome Lejeune: "Because when people want to discard a baby they say to you it is not yet a baby. It's something which is not that. And they try to build a theory of 'humanization,' saying that in the beginning there is something which is living, something which is maybe a little human, but it is not a human being, and it is with the improvement of it that some day, by a humanization process, it will become a true human fellow.
"Well, that's curious, because nobody argues about that when we are dealing with mice, for example, or when we are dealing with cattle, or even when we are dealing with a big primate like the chimpanzee. Nobody believes that there is a progressive chimpanzification of a chimpanzee. Why, then, does he believe that there is a progressive humanization of a human being? For a very simple reason. Because it doesn't matter the size of the chimpanzee you kill, you are sure you are killing just a chimpanzee. But when you are dealing with human beings that you want to destroy, it is difficult to accept that they are similar to you. Then you get into moral trouble. And that is just the reason why people try to masquerade the truth by asking questions which have no sense. Because they would not scientifically ask those questions for any other living system than the system they will to destroy."
Define the "fetus"
When the pro-abortionist refers to "the fetus," insist that the kind of fetus be specified. The monkey fetus? The pig fetus? No. The human fetus.
Remember, the anti-lifer's goal is to dehumanize the preborn child. Forcing pro-abortionists to admit they're talking about the human fetus makes this much hard
Fact: the fetus is a being; the human fetus is a human being.
And human fetus is just scientific jargon for baby in the womb.
All babies need to be protected and loved, whether they are in the womb or in their mothers arms!!!!
Todd,
Please also read the blog which I posted today at 1:10 today...Looks like we were posting at almost the same time....
Again the point I am trying to make about children and violence, is: If children live in a country which allows unborn babies to be brutally murdered, what is that teaching them???? How can we preach to respect others and themselves, when we adults are not practicing what we are preaching.....
All religion aside, murder is still murder.....No matter what stage of human life is involved......
Points are all well taken on all sides. However, I am going to stop referring to this blog and get back to my job: Killing people to defend your right to carry a sign (as an instrument of policy of course). I assume that neither side has a problem with that do they? Or would they rather I not do my job, but complain about their security?