Consistent Life News · Consistent Life News An international network for peace, ... very through eugenics to current abortion ... Kissinger, and Ford are all

Jim McGinissa Splendid Teacher

of Nonviolence

We are saddened to report that JimMcGiniss, who along with his wife

Kathleen are endorsers of our Mission State-ment, died of a heart attack during hismorning walk, on Thursday, August 13.Consistent Life, and the whole peace andjustice community, deeply regret the lossof this remarkable, gifted, and dedicatedservant of peace.

Jim and Kathy co-founded and ran TheInstitute for Peace and Justice (IPJ). In1973, they wrote Educating for Peace andJustice, a Manual for Teachers, which wentto eight editions and was used in both publicand religious educational settings. This wasfollowed by the Parenting for Peace andJustice tapes and book. These were enor-mously popular and influential. The bookwas translated and republished in Spanish,German, and Hindi. Kathleen and Jim thenfounded the Parenting for Peace and JusticeNetwork and Program. These programs ex-tended to Canada, Australia, Ireland, thePhilippines, and Nicaragua.

With the rash of school killings in the1990s, IPJ worked with schools, congrega-tions, parishes, youth groups, and prisons topromote the Pledge of Nonviolence. TheIPJ expanded the Teens Acting for Peaceprogram from St. Louis to ten other commu-nities. IPJ also worked with the ViolentOffender Program and other ex-offenderprograms. In 1995, Jim and Kathy wererecognized for their work as Pax ChristiUSA Teachers of Peace.

Jim’s books covered a wide range ofpeace and justice issues: He wrote Solidar-ity with the People of Nicaragua, JourneyInto Compassion, Bread and Justice: To-ward a New International Economic Order,Journey Into Compassion: a Spirituality for

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Consistent Life NewsConsistent Life NewsConsistent Life NewsConsistent Life NewsConsistent Life NewsAn international network for peace, justice, and lifeAn international network for peace, justice, and lifeAn international network for peace, justice, and lifeAn international network for peace, justice, and lifeAn international network for peace, justice, and life Issue # 11

December 2009

Respect Life versusAssisted Suicide

by Veronica Whitty

Editor’s Note: Respect Life isthe United Kingdom’s branch ofConsistent Life. Its members areinvolved in many peace and jus-tice activities, and Respect Lifeurges them to unite as publicsignatories of the Consistent LifeMission Statement, which “willencourage and strengthen us inour work against the forces whichdiminish respect for l i fe.”Veronica Whitty (with Dan &Carmel Martin and NoreenMcAllen) is one of the Directorsof Respect Life. She has ex-pressed Respect Life’s concernsabout recent attempts to changeUK law on assisted suicide. Thefollowing is from a recent lettershe wrote to Keir Starmer, theDirector of Public Prosecutions.

I read that you have been askedto draw up guidelines concern-

ing assisted suicide. In consider-ing the question, for which you have mysympathy, I would like to suggest thefollowing for your consideration. Up-permost in my mind are the consequencesof setting guidelines for assisted sui-cide. How will you frame such guide-lines so that they protect the weak, eld-erly, infirm, and disabled from feelingthat they are a burden and should availthemselves of assisted suicide for thesake of their families? How will yousafeguard a conscience clause for medi-cal professionals who cannot in con-science administer a lethal dose?

No doubt you will scrutinise what hashappened where assisted suicide has al-ready been permitted, i.e. the Nether-

lands and Oregon. You will have discov-ered that in the Netherlands elderly peoplehave been given lethal doses to maketheir beds available in hospital for otherpatients. You will be aware that in Or-egon poor people with terminal illnesseshave been offered lethal doses wherethey cannot afford medical treatment.You will have discovered that 50% ofthose who have asked for lethal doseshave not taken them. Belgium has legal-ized euthanasia. In all three places safe-guards have proved useless and the me-dia is not reporting the troubling aspectsof information about the issue.

Accountability in the Netherlands has

∞

Lynd Ward

Issue 11 December 2009

Consistent LifeP.O. Box 9295

Silver Spring, MD 20916-9295(866) 444-7425 (Toll free) Fax (413) 485-2881

[email protected] http://www.consistent-life.org/CafePress store: http://www.cafepress.com/lifecounts

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Respect Life vs. Assisted Suicide(Continued from Page 1)

the Long Haul, A Call to Peace andmany more.

Asked what led him to his peace andjustice work, Jim said, “in Memphis, whenDr. King was killed, I saw and challengedovert racist acts that night and felt I wasbeing called, along with my wife Kathy, toa life that included working for racial jus-tice. After Robert Kennedy was assassi-nated... I sensed that God was calling me tostep up to the plate and do what I could toend the war in Vietnam and promote racialand economic justice.”

Jim’s latest book is Praying for PeaceAround the Globe: a Resource for Prayerand Action. It is a loving and thoughtful

collection of prayers for those suffering indifferent parts of the world. Each prayer isprefaced with background on the problemspeople face in that part of the world.

Jim’s commitment, “In the face of esca-lating violence, escalate love.”

“We have lost one of the true lights ofour movement,” stated Dave Robinson,Pax Christi USA Executive Director. “Jim,in his work with Kathy, helped all of us inthe peace movement to see that our com-mitment to nonviolence did not only meanworking for peace at the national and inter-national levels, but that we were called toact for peace and practice justice at homewithin our families, our churches, and ourlocal communities.” ∞

Messages of sympathy and support canbe sent to:

Kathleen McGinissThe Institute for Peace and Justice475 East Lockwood Ave.St. Louis, MO 64119

Jim McGiniss(Continued from Page 1)

been hampered by the under-reporting ofassisted suicide. A doctor who fails toreport a suicide remains unaccountable.Legislation there has not made euthanasiatransparent. Patients must make it clearthey do not want to be allowed to die or tobe put to death in the event of becomingincompetent.

Following the 2009 Law Lords [Britain’shighest court] ruling [that could removethe fear of prosecution for people whotravel abroad to help others in assistedsuicide], Simon Gillespie, Chief Execu-tive of the Multiple Sclerosis Society said,“Debbie Purdy’s victory has pushed MSinto the spotlight, but there is far more toliving with MS—even in its more severeform—than planning how to die. Thereare 100,000 people with MS across theUK and most will live about as long asany of us. The key to living well with MSis access to the right care and support,including palliative care when it isneeded. Most palliative care resourcesare focused on cancer and cases like thisshow why the government’s end of lifecare strategy is so important.” [Pro-lifeadvocates objected that the Law Lordshad changed the law without referenceto Parliament. Disability rights groupsobjected to any change in the law.]

I hope you will call for more hospicesto be opened and existing ones to beexpanded so no one needs to fear deathwithout proper palliative care in a com-passionate surrounding. There are stages

of dying necessary for the dying andthose close to them which allow accep-tance of this inevitability. We live inrelationship with others and suicide andassisted dying violate that relationship....

We live in a Britain which is nowrelativist so that the ground of our ethicsshifts according to our current opinionsand judgments. Because this issue hasbeen shifted into the area of privacy ithas been removed from its true area:ethics. This is borne out by the shiftshown by the Law Lords. Certainly pri-vate life should be respected but the LawLords said in the Diane Pretty case in2002 that Article 8 of the European Con-vention of Human Rights “related to themanner in which a person conducted herlife, not the manner in which she de-parted from it.” Seven years later, in theDebbie Purdy case, they have stated theopposite—that assisted suicide is “partof the act of living” and therefore relatedto privacy. Judges have stretched themeaning of words. They are merely ex-pressing their own opinions.

When debated in the House of Lords,two attempts to introduce legislation infavor of suicide have been resisted viadebate and voting on the issue. The Houseof Lords is made up of articulate, oldercitizens. They have shown the way. Weshould heed their wisdom.

I hope earnestly that you will notchange the current approach to suicide,assisted or otherwise. ∞

In the face of

escalating violence,

escalate love.

Jim McGiniss

∞

Maafa 21: Black Genocide in 21st Century America

reviewed by Rachel MacNair

It’s been clear for a long time that thelethal effects of racism include the kill-

ing of unborn children, especially thosetargeted by living in a racial-minority neigh-borhood where the abortion clinics dispro-portionately go. The thesis of this two hourand 17 minute documentary is the histori-cal development from the end of U.S. sla-very through eugenics to current abortionpolicy. “Maafa” is the Swahili word formajor catastrophe. The documentation isextensive and presented in a way that isengaging and primarily factual. It’s a smoothand professional-looking presentation. Thisis easily the best film I’ve seen for connect-ing racism, as well as poverty, to abortion.

Maafa 21 is produced by Life Dynam-ics, so no sympathy to the consistent lifeethic is to be expected. Other material fromthis group has asserted that the purpose ofthe ethic is to water down the abortion issueand to scold prolifers for not taking a standon other issues. The “Life Talk” talk-showDVDs they put out every month are nor-mally quite strident, including exceedinglyvaluable content mixed with commentarythat would be best edited out were we towish to use any of the material. Yet theseflaws are for the most part absent from thisdocumentary. Inasmuch as there is stri-dency, it’s the kind of fuming against rac-ists and large corporations and shockingbehavior of politicians that anyone activein the peace movement would be accus-tomed to and comfortable with. Yet thetone is primarily one of presenting docu-mentation, which of course is more effec-tive than mere ire.

Partisan politics are treated in a mannerconsistent-life audiences would appreci-ate. Republicans Eisenhower, Nixon,Kissinger, and Ford are all quoted in waysthat will startle (especially Nixon, with hisvoice on tape). Democrats Johnson andClinton are only briefly mentioned for whatthey actually did, without polemic. A com-mentator at the end states outright that he’sindependent because both Democrats and

Republicans have been problematic.The film first makes the case that

slavery’s end led to the eugenic philoso-phy. This is well-established long beforethe topic of abortion is even mentioned.Specific individuals, organizations, andactions are presented in such a forthright

manner that some watchers have reportedneeding to stop the film in the middle andrecuperate from their anger before goingon with the rest. Even those of us whohave been familiar with much of the his-tory of racism have an ample amount tolearn and become upset about.

Religious language is minimal, and thearguments are not based on religion at all;no scripture is ever quoted. There is asermon presented at the end, but it is morelike summing up the case in a commonAfrican-American art form, intended to

be inspirational. That section is an add-onand can easily be skipped in a presentationif conditions warrant. The film is in this waysuitable for both religious and non-religiousaudiences.

One weakness of the film is that some ofthe history at the beginning starts talkingabout Darwin in a way that I can just barelyhear the criticism of evolution being made.Actually, the information is factual—Dar-win really did make a horrifying commentabout the “savage” races being displaced—and with the film’s thesis, this part of thehistory did fit. I can just see abortion de-fenders with heavy stereotypes jumping toconclusions here.

Another thing to watch out for is that inthe later parts of the film, birth control isoften mentioned in the same phrase withabortion, and is stated as being a euphemismfor a genocidal agenda. Some of the pointsmade are quite valid—for example, in Haiti,90% of the women have access to birthcontrol, but only 20% have access to cleanwater, and what does this say about what aidreally means and what motivates it? Thefilm never engages the question of any posi-tive and non-racist uses for family planningtechniques, nor does it mention natural fam-ily planning. Some people will hear an im-plication that Black women are supposed tobe churning out baby after baby—that im-plication is not actually there, but it’s notguarded against either.

All in all, I think it’s an excellent re-source we’ll want to be using in someway. Life Dynamics reports that sales areflying, and I’ve seen excitement elsewhereas well. African-American media outletsare picking up on it, and word is thatbootlegged copies are circulating inHarlem. It’s proven to be quite convinc-ing to people who have not otherwiseunderstood the pro-life message.∞

Editor’s Note: To see a trailer or to orderMaafa 21: Black Genocide in 21st CenturyAmerica see www.maafa21.com.


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Adventures of Our Research ArmEditor’s Note: The following is a reporton the activities of the Institute for Inte-grated Social Analysis, Consistent Life’sresearch arm.

A s reported in our last issue,the “Heated Debates” survey asked

people to rate the persuasiveness of vari-ous arguments that connected issues. Re-sults showed that the Consistent Life Ethicwas rated as persuasive toward oppos-ing violence on an issue that the respon-dent had previously favored—but onlyif they opposed it on another issue. Thatis, people who favored the war in Iraq,capital punishment, and abortion avail-ability were basically unimpressed, butthose who already held an anti-violenceview on one issue (such as peace-move-ment pro-choicers and pro-war pro-lifers) did rate the CLE as persuasive onanother issue. Thus, we have empiricalevidence that the CLE is useful withthose who aren’t consistently in favor of

killing as a problem-solver.The full study has been presented in two

different conferences. One was UniversityFaculty for Life (UFL), where attendeeswere naturally interested in how the CLEhelps to make the pro-life case. The otherwas the Peace & Justice Studies Associa-tion (PJSA), where the presentation wassub-titled “Evidence for Pro-Peace Argu-ments that Help Convince Pro-Lifers.” Thesame PowerPoint was used in both.

Of the five arguments that respondentswere to rate, one was the idea that crimeshave decreased because babies who wouldhave grown up to commit crimes have in-stead been aborted, thus making abortionadmirable in the same way the death pen-alty is. This brought highly gratifying gaspsfrom the PJSA audience, many of whomwere likely of the pro-choice philosophyand had never heard this viciously-phrasedargument before. There had been no suchgasps in response to this argument at the


Page 4

Consistent Life Approves NewFinancial Team

by Bill Samuel, President

UFL conference, but of course active pro-lifers have already been upset by this argu-ment in the past.

This was an audience in which severalpeople had stereotypes of pro-lifers as theright-wingers that Bush kept in office,and therefore having pro-war views. Theconcept that pro-lifers were more open toanti-violence arguments was a new ideato them. One person said so outright, andthat she would require some time to gether mind around this information. Sheasked for a copy of the PowerPoint, andI noted her name as one that is quiteactive in PJSA.

A more full report of the study has beenaccepted to be published in Life and Learn-ing, the journal of University Faculty forLife. Other conference presentations andpublications are in the works. Anyone whowould like a copy of either paper or thePowerPoint can request it by e-mail attach-ment from Rachel MacNair [email protected].

At its November 1 Board meeting,Consistent Life elected Mary Rider

as Treasurer and approved DebbieBiesack serving as Bookkeeper. MaryRider, a co-founder of Consistent Life,earlier served as our Executive Directorand has served on our Board since step-ping down from that position. DuringMary’s time as Executive Director,Debbie served as volunteer AssistantDirector, and performed the same dutiesshe will now perform as our Bookkeeper.Debbie has a degree in accounting, andcurrently serves as Treasurer of eopleof Faith Against the Death Penalty. TheConsistent Life Board is delighted tohave this proven team of dedicated sup-porters serving us in this way. Debbie Biesack (left) and Mary Rider (right)


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Creative Ways to Support Consistent Lifeby Bill Samuel, President

Recently, a couple of supporters havefound new ways to provide financial

resources for Consistent Life’s program.You too may be able to take advantage ofthem.

Monthly GivingOne supporter recently arranged with

his bank to give a monthly donation auto-matically through the bank’s bill program.Most of these programs started with utili-ties and other vendors with large numbersof customers in mind. Now, however, theyallow making payments to almost any busi-ness or organization, sending them by mailif they don’t have an electronic connectionto the payee’s account. Most have provi-sions for recurring payments. Monthly do-nations are a way to contribute more thanyou could in an annual gift by spreading adonation out over the year.

If a bank bill payment program doesn’twork for you, you can set up a recurringpayment using a credit card or PayPalthrough the Ammado service. You can joinAmmado for free. You can make singlegifts without membership, but recurring

gifts require membership. To make a giftrecurring, set up a donation, and the systemwill then give you the option to make itrecurring. Ammado is also a good alternative(for one-time gifts as well as recurring ones)for our supporters in nations other than theUnited States, as they accept more than 30currencies, and allow us to avoid the largefees normally associated with converting adonation in a foreign currency. See: http://www.ammado.com/nonprofit/consistent-life.

Birthday Giving ProgramRecently, I had a birthday. Through the

Facebook Causes application, I let myFacebook friends know I would appreciatebeing remembered on my birthday throughdonations to Consistent Life. The total amountdonated was $392, which included somenew supporters. Consistent Life’s FacebookCauses page is at http://apps.facebook.com/causes/52624.

The Causes application routes donationsthrough Network for Good, a service to fa-cilitate giving to charities.

Use of Facebook isn’t required to have

birthday donations. At this writing, we havereceived hundreds of dollars in donations inhonor of the 40th birthday of Robert Gelinas,and we might receive more. These havecome through both on-line and mail dona-tions. Gelinas describes himself as a jazztheologian, and is Lead Pastor of ColoradoCommunity Church, an interdenomina-tional, intercultural, multi-campus church.He tells us that he prays for us frequently.

Robert Gelinas

Join Us at the Annual March for Life!We try to have a presence each year at

the annual March for Life held in Wash-ington, DC on or near the anniversary of the1973 Roe v Wade decision, which legalizedabortion in the United States. The main orga-nizer of the march is not sympathetic to us,and has threatened several of our membergroups with arrest in the past, but we defi-nitely receive much more positive than nega-tive vibes from fellow marchers. We need toshow the pro-life community and the watch-ing world that many who are pro-life on abor-tion are not anti-feminist, far-right people.

Join us on Friday, January 22, 2010 be-tween 11:30 A.M. and noon in front of theSculpture Garden, on Constitution Avenuenear 7th Street NW. The location is across fromthe National Archives and about two blocksfrom there to the rally and march. Sarah and Paul Magno at the March for Life


Page 6

W e are committed to the protection of life, which isthreatened in today’s world by war, abortion, poverty, racism, capital punishment,

and euthanasia. We believe that these issues are linked under a “consistent ethic of life.”We challenge those working on all or some of these issues to maintain a cooperativespirit of peace, reconciliation, and respect in protecting the unprotected.

W e serve the anti-violence community by connecting issues,building bridges, and strengthening the case against each kind of socially-

approved killed by consistently opposing them all.

W hen we allow abortion, we are punishing the women—who must abort their children because their men have run away—and we are punishing thechildren whose lives are terminated.... I want us to step back a little bit and say: why isthis woman and this child threatened? Why is this woman threatening to terminate thislife? What do we need to do as a society? What are we not doing right now as a society?

Wangari Maathai, of Kenya, Nobel Peace Prize Winner, 2004

If we want to reap the harvest of peace and justice in the future, we willhave to sow seeds of nonviolence, here and now, in the present.... We have really got

to create a culture in our world today where we recognize that every human life is sacredand precious and we have no right to take another human life.

Mairead Corrigan Maguire, of Northern Ireland, Nobel Peace Prize Winner, 1976

My stance on abortion is a matter of public record. I stand morally opposedto killing: war, executions, killing of the old and demented, the killing of children,

born and unborn. As I have stated publicly many times, I stand squarely within theframework of “the seamless garment” [ now called “consistent life”] ethic of life. Ibelieve that all of life is sacred and must be protected, especially in the vulnerable stagesat the beginning of life and its end.

Helen Prejean, author of Dead Man Walking

Both the military ethic and the abortion ethic are grounded in the same belief: Lifeis cheap. Iraqi life. Fetal life.... The language of the war lobby and the abortion

lobby is from the same glossary of evasions. No one likes war, say the generals. No onelike abortions, says NOW. But let’s keep the killing option, just in case. And cases keepcoming. If Iraqis are causing trouble, or Libyans, Grenadans, or Panamanians, bombthem. If fetuses pose problems, destroy them.

Colman McCarthy, columnist, peace studies educator

Consistent Life∞Mission

Purpose

Voices of

Peace

and Life


Seamless Garmentby Daniel Berrigan, SJ

The beauty of the “seamless garment” image! No one, not oneexposed to the rude winds of the world,No one, however lorn or lost, out in the cold.

No one rejected, no one unwanted!the unborn, the aged, ill, condemned,the expendable, “lives of no worth”-no matter the tag,everyone matters!

If these are expendable, who is precious?No one is expendable!

Everyone wrapped in a vast enfolding embrace,a garment designed by Godbequeathed to us-we wear it proudly, tend it, repair it,cherish it, design it anew,yes, lend it , offer it everywhere!a baptismal robe for the twice-born,the woof and warp of our humanity!+

Rita Corbin

SIGN US UP! We want to become members of Consistent Life of to renew our membership. Our contribution of $______ is enclosed.

Organizational Member Individual Member

Name:_____________________________________________________________________________________ Organization and Contact Person, or Individual Member

Address:__________________________________________________________________________________

Phone Number: ( )_________-__________ FAX: ( )_________-___________

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Organizational Member Dues Individual Member Dues $50 Groups under 100 members $25 Individual members $100 Groups 100-500 members $40 Household membership $200 Groups over 500 members $75 Supporter $____For Communities living in voluntary poverty $15 Low Income membership

To donate in other than American currency, please go to: http://www.ammado.com/nonprofit/consistent-lifefor on-line and other giving options, please go to: http://www.consistent-life.org/join.html

Send to: Consistent Life, P.O. Box 9295, Silver Spring, MD 20916-9295, Telephone: (866) 444-7245FAX (413) 485-2881, http//www.consistent-life.org/, E-Mail: [email protected]

Page 7

Consistent LifeMember News


Calling All Member Groupsand Organizations

Thanks as always for your ongoing support of the Consistent Life Ethic and of

our organization. In this, our quarterly news-letter, one of our important aims is to keepConsistent Life Ethic (CLE) supporters ap-prised of events, publication, and activitiesthat may be of interest to them. Has yourorganization recently published a book, newonline content, etc.? Are you sponsoring , ordo you know about, an important or inter-esting conference, rally, or other event? Letus help you get the word out! Publicationsand activities that we announce do not haveto be about the CLE itself, as long as they arerelated to at least some part of our missionstatement and are not “inconsistent” with it.We look forward to hearing from you. ∞

Consistent LifeSeries

A series of talkson the Consistent

Life Ethic began on Oc-tober 14 at Our Lady,Queen of Peace Catho-lic parish in Arlington,Virginia. The mainspeaker was MarieDennis, co-founder,with former ConsistentLife President JoeNangle, of the Assisiintentional communityin Washington, DC,and director of theMaryknoll Office of Global Concern, aCL member group. Marie’s talk pro-vided a general introduction to the CLEfrom a scientific and theological per-spective, offering Old and New Testa-ment support for the philosophy, andreferencing a number of theologians whohave drawn inspiration from the conceptof needing to strive for “right relation-

ship with [the] beauty” that is human life,and all life on Planet Earth.

Future talks in the series will cover lifeand justice issues, including predatorylending and homelessness. Consistent Lifeboard member Carol Crossed will give apresentation on abortion in January 2010.Other installments in the series are in theworks as well. ∞

Consistent LifeConsistent LifeConsistent LifeConsistent LifeConsistent LifeP.O. Box 9295P.O. Box 9295P.O. Box 9295P.O. Box 9295P.O. Box 9295Silver Spring, MD 20916-9295Silver Spring, MD 20916-9295Silver Spring, MD 20916-9295Silver Spring, MD 20916-9295Silver Spring, MD 20916-9295

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Consistent Life News · Consistent Life News An international network for peace, ... very through eugenics to current abortion ... Kissinger, and Ford are all