Life Matters

In this episode of Life Matters Commissioner Johnston examines the aftermath of the 2018 General Election. There are several important principles to be learnt in looking at how candidates addressed the life issues, and in particular those candidates who are willing to stand and declare what they are against - that is to say what the pro-abortion opponent's actual position is.

The vast majority of Americans do not support unlimited abortion on demand, for any reason or for no reason in particular - this is the actual meaning of "choice" In the 2018 election, although the Democrats did win a majority in House of Representatives, it was substantially smaller than expected. Also, the Republicans increased their position in the United States Senate, opening the door for more Judicial and Administration appointments.

Donald Trump who has become an icon of American politics, and he has done so by directly challenging his opponents and clarifying their dishonesty in framing his position. But by also framing their position he has created an unexpectedly new form of politics. He is the first American president to so directly challenge his own media coverage.

In many ways he has become an media "Colossus," that is to say, an impressive overarching character on the American political landscape. People either love him or hate him and he personally doesn't mind either way.

When it comes to the pro-life issue the need to clearly declare what the facts are and not be bothered if others are uncomfortable with them is a defining element of why we must explain the real facts of abortion, the real facts of intentionally killing another human being. Whether it be in the womb, or a sick or elderly individual, the intentional killing of another innocent person is the very issue at hand in the right to life debate. Failure to clarify that is simply failure.

In 2018, candidates who were willing to do so found they did retain their pro-life base and added to it. Candidates who are uncomfortable with the conflict tended to not inspire or create any sense of great interest. In California, Congress members Denham, Kim, and Mimi Walters were expected to lose, but by defaulting their opponents they stood strong. This is an ongoing principle in the very real battle of ideas with which we are faced.

In this final episode covering election season, Brian gives an overview as to why the "Right to Life" is an essential concept when it comes to laws, law making, and the current elections.

The Right to Life presumes an important foundational element to our legal system. It is a statement that the government has certain duties, principally the duty to protect the lives of the governed, and specifically the innocent governed. The 'non-innocent', the miscreant, it has a duty to restrain in its protection of the innocent vulnerable.

So determination of 'guilt or innocence' is one of its jobs, and government has ascribed that job to the courts. It is important to note that before 1973 it was recognized that human beings were innocent before birth, and that every state in the nation had laws protecting that child. That was up until the Roe v. Wade decision.

Roe did not say that children were 'guilty' and could therefore be killed, it did something even more sinister: the court merely said it didn't think the child was a human being, and therefore ALL of those laws which had been passed in the several states protecting that innocent human life could be dismissed.

"Roe has no foundation in either law or logic," said Sandra Day O'Connor years later. Interestingly, it appears that the desire to protect the illogic of Roe v. Wade was the motivating factor in the defamation of Justice Kavanaugh. But in so doing, the unsubstantiated assertions, repudiated by even the supposed witnesses, were offered in all seriousness based on a VERY different premise.

"Innocent until proven guilty" was no longer the predicate of this view of law and truth. 'Assertion is guilt' and proving guilt is no longer necessary for some people who wish to be rid of a 'problem' and appear to use law and justice to do so.

This violation of America's essential legal premise was clearly the 'weapon' used against Justice Kavanaugh, as it is also used against other human beings unable to defend themselves.

Brian concludes this episode talking about specific elections in this election year.

Brian reviews some of the many situations where one vote has made a difference. He spends special time reflecting on recent California elections.

As important as voting is, it is meaningless and even dangerous if there is not some understanding of the principles being voted on. We don't vote to simply vote. We vote to implement policy via the people we put in place.

With a special focus on this election cycle, Brian then ticks through the significant races in California. Perhaps the most important are the Congressional seats as these seats may determine Congressional leadership in Washington, DC.

Finally, there is an important emphasis on local elections: Supervisor, City Council, School Board; these are the elections most easily influenced and it is those positions that have great influence on the community. Planned Parenthood regularly targets these lower-level offices.

In this edition of Life Matters Commissioner Johnston builds on the basic premise of what the 'Right to Life" really is. It is not about your opinion or your feelings. It is not about your personal religion. It is about a simple fact often asked in the history of Western Civilization: "Does the law protect the innocent? And if not, why not?"

Brian begins from a rather extraordinary source, the Catholic Catechism (2273). The Catholic Catechism itself declares that this issue is not religious in nature, but is instead the basic element of any civil society... religious predilection is not the debate. A just government will protect those innocent lives that are dependent upon it, or it is not a just government.

Brian also explores several films that underscore this essential premise. One is a Western film, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.

Drawing from his experience as an English teacher, Brian explains that movies are about much more than meets the eye. Like all good stories, they actually have an undergirding theme - the theme of Liberty Valance is very clear, and it is not gunfights.

Another new film also gets our attention. Brian interviews John Sullivan, producer of Gosnell. Be sure to get to the theaters opening weekend, Oct 12, 2018. It is an excellent and engaging film and is not your typical 'abortion film.'

The right to life is a very specific idea that our founding fathers put in the founding documents of our nation. They were reflecting a cultural value they'd inherited through Western Civilization - the idea that human life is significant, that human beings are not merely animals. Therefore, the laws should protect vulnerable human beings from the predations of people who would take advantage of them, including the government.

We are in a battle of ideas. If you do not engage in the issues that are threatening the culture of life, then you risk being taken in this battle. If you casually them aside, or reduce them to mere passing emotions, or personal religious inclinations, you are hurting rather than helping. We want to equip you to help fight the battle. It is a battle over objective facts, and today we want to encourage you to fight by becoming engaged in the election season.

Rabbi Dennis Prager joins us, and underscores the need to accept the civic responsibility of participating in elections. This is true of all people, but in particular for religiously inclined people.

Pastor Rob McCoy also joins us to discuss doing due diligence in getting to know what issues candidates stand for and in understanding the significance of local elections.

Go to NRLC.org to find more information about pro-life candidates.

The right to life, the principle that every individual is unique and that every human life is valuable and should be protected are important concepts that are enshrined in the founding documents of the United States.

Today we will talk about the culture that emanates from those ideas which is important because it is the culture that we've inherited as citizens but one that is also under attack. So often we can take these ideals that our culture is rooted in for granted and fail to see that what is inherently ours as human beings, our right to life, can be taken from us if we don't fight against laws and ideas that fail to protect that right to life.

We experience a variety of seasons throughout our existence: life seasons, natural seasons, holiday seasons, etc, but today we are considering Election Season. Election Day is not the be all, end all of an election. Many people may find themselves overwhelmed with the information thrown at them throughout a campaign. Many are uninformed. Many are disinterested and therefore, many people do not vote and miss the opportunity to help make a difference in society.

We have an election "season" in order to prepare for Election Day. Just as we have holiday seasons, ample time to prepare for the primary holiday, so must we use the election season to prepare to vote on Election Day. It is the time to truly get to know candidates and the policies they stand for, to educate ourselves, and by the mere act of voting, we empower ourselves to make a difference, to make change, to defend our right to life, to protect ourselves, and to stand up for those who can't protect themselves.

We must equip ourselves to stand up for the right to life during this time and by participating in election season and on Election Day we exercise our civic responsibility and fight for what is right and just.

Brian interviews Jim Wilson, Author, lecturer, Anglican priest, regarding his new work Generation, a novel exploring the deeper issues of the 1960's.

Brian explains how Life Matters explores the ideas of the right to life, that every life has a significance that can not be readily recognized, yet is given by our sheer humanity. "Endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights," was how America's founders put it. But this was a reflection of the ideas which they had inherited up to that moment. They had inherited the values of Western Civilization.

At its heart Western Civ is built on the premise that human beings are not mere 'smart animals', but that we are more, that we are spiritual entities. This assertion lies at the heart of our assertions regarding the nature of mankind, and the moral duty of the law to protect the lives of those who cannot protect themselves.

It is this cultural premise that is under attack at this moment. Our culture is trying to determine if the core values of Western Civ should be retained, or if a 'new order', a tribalism of new cultural norms and control is a 'better way.'

Rev. Wilson discusses the foundation of the Right to Life, and how his novel is actually an exploration of 'what is true'? What is right? What values should we as individuals and we as a society embrace, and why?

Brian joins Alexandra Snyder of Life Legal Defense Foundation at the State Capitol as they discuss AB 282, a measure to expand assisted suicide marketing in California.

Assisted suicide was legalized in California in 2015 but has been in court challenges, led by Life Legal Defense. On June 15, 2018 an appeals court again removed the stay on the law, and it will apparently remain legal until the case works its way up to the State Supreme Court.

It is therefore legal at the moment for you to ask a doctor for lethal medication in California. What is NOT legal is for third parties, other people to encourage you to kill yourself. If AB 282 becomes law, it will be legal for third-parties, heirs, nursing home staff, anyone else for that matter, to encourage and promote suicide to a vulnerable patient.

The way the measure is written it may also authorize mass-marketing via radio and television. Suicideologists and psychologists strongly warn against ANY positive portrayal of suicide in mass communications as viewers can easily see themselves as eligible candidates and follow those emotions.

This measure greatly expands the societal reach and cultural influence of voluntary euthanasia.

The facts matter!

In this program Brian is on the other side of the table in his interview with Craig Roberts, host on "Life Line" on SF Bay area's KFAX.

This is a more careful analysis of polls and of the language used by pollsters, NOT in an attempt to discover public opinion, but instead to intentionally form public opinion. This is being done in the summer of 2018 precisely because advocates of abortion on-demand fear the approval by Judge Brett Kavanaugh may pose a threat to abortion-on-demand.

This unconscionable misrepresentation of legal facts, the nature of the Roe decision, and the actual feelings of Americans about abortion needs to be understood. A recent NBC poll on "Roe v. Wade' is contrasted with a contemporaneous Gallup poll that examines when and why abortions are done.

Make sure that you and your friends and family understand what the real abortion situation is in America.

Once China fell to Communist control in the 1940's, a deafening silence was all that could be heard from its people and even its government. Bits and pieces were known of the on-going 'Cultural Revolution'. Mao's decades long, vice-like grip on the lives of millions slowly loosened only to be wrenched from his dying hands by more faceless, less iconic members of the politburo. In the early 1980's the still VERY Communist China slowly allowed foreigners access to its culture and its people.

Steven Mosher was a young Stanford graduate student and one of the first foreigners allowed direct involvement with the people of rural China. His knowledge of the language allowed him an unprecedented and immediate rapport with these oppressed people.

Today he is recognized for his heroic work in revealing the forced-abortion, one-child policy of Communist China. He has gone on to write many books on both China and the deadly myth of 'overpopulation'. He serves as the President of the Population Research Institute. He is recognized as a clarion voice for the pro-life movement in the United States and around the world.