Monday 9 November 2009

What a Baas! Henk's Dutch fans speak out

De beweging 'Catholics for Choice' is een door eugenetische organisaties en abortusindustriëlen gefinancierde lobbybeweging, die noch Rooms-katholiek is, noch een spontane beweging is. Het is een ordinaire lobby. De heer Henk Baars is over zijn tijd. Hij is 57 jaar, maar steekt nog vast in het jaar 1968. Dat noem ik pas star denken; daarvan blijken met name vrijzinnigen last te hebben. Dat deze man, met zijn anti-katholieke uitspraken en tegenspraak met het rooms-katholieke geloof, meent ook nog bij de Kerk te moeten kunnen werken met volle bezoldiging, tekent zijn gebrek aan realiteitsbesef. De jaren '70 en '60 zijn voorbij!

Another white man joins the CFC team

Dear friends and colleagues,

I am delighted to announce that Henk Baars crazy name, crazy guy has become the new Anti Catholics for a Porn Merchant's Choice European coordinator. Henk has a lifelong commitment to pretend Catholicism, ie abortion reproductive and sexual rights see, told you so and women's equality in the church and society which is why I'm sure you'll agree that notwithstanding the fact that he's got old turkey neck and gizzzards, he's just the kind of man who knows what women want, what they really really want . In addition, he has a deep-seated knowledge of Catholic theology which will stand him in good stead when it comes to telling lies about the Church's teaching on abortion and a long-standing dedication to working for social justice which he'd never dream of bragging about. Henk's leadership in various Dutch and European progressive Catholic organizations which are too numerous to name, not that he spreads himself thin or anything has enriched the movement which will one day storm the world but now only has a small number of enlightened devotees and the cause of progressive Catholicism which is miraculous since he has nothing to do with it and women's rights which is even more miraculous considering his gender. For the past four years, he has served as a member of CFC's European Advisory Group and is a regular contributor to the media though, despite his best green ink efforts, he has not always published by editors, most of whom are controlled by the Vatican on issues that are important to CFC. He is a key figure in CFC's investigative opposition research work in Europe the smear campaigns and witch hunts for which we are so justly famed. Henk will work to promote our perspectives in both the public policy sphere and the media in partnership with Anti Catholics for Choice's European Advisory Group. He is based in The Hague (Den Haag).

In addition to his work with Anti Catholics for a Porn Merchant's Choice, Henk manages a wide variety of social projects located in the poor and like really icky neighborhoods of The Hague for Stek (for City and Church or voor Stad en Kerk), the most important Protestant church in the city. In 1985, Henk co-founded and eventually became president of the Eighth of May Movement (named for the date the pope visited Holland), an organization that drew more than 10,000 (rough estimate) dur brains and pretend Catholics to its annual gatherings where he wowed the crowds with his funky clog dancing and mooning routines . As a result of his work with this organization and his insistence that he was a tomato who was being persecuted by an onion, he was refused employment with Catholic organizations and chose to continue his work for social justice and salad emancipation with Protestant-run service organizations without any fanfare whatsoever.Henk started out as a pastor as all Catholic clergy do in a steel mill in IJmuiden, and later worked in Amsterdam as a pastor in both the shipbuilding industry and the world of finance where he mastered double-entry accounting and was known as a complete banker. He was an unelected community leader in the diocese of Haarlem and the coordinator of a team that helped expand the work of Non Catholic parishes. Henk is vice president of Marienburgverenigin g, the most important progressiveetend Catholic lay movement in the whole wide world, the universe, the solar system and a board member of the oldest peace movement in Holland, 'Kerk en Vrede' (Church and Peace) in which capacity he has acted as a successful human shield in the following war-torn zones: Basra, Helmand Province, Sudoku and La la land.

I remain available to you for any questions or comments about CFC's international work, whether in Europe, Asia, Africa or the Americas, as well as through the UN system. Please also feel free to contact Henk directly about CFC's European activities. We look forward to working together with you.

Very best wishes, Gladiolus Gorgonzola-Fandabidosi
Director, International Programs

Guess who's been peeking at Anti Catholics for Choice Watch

Someone at "Catholics" for a "Free" Choice, that's who.

Whoever it was - probably some intern - spent a long time here; checking in at 09.04 eastern and staying until 10.19, then taking a break (coffee and a Danish?) and coming back at 11.51 for a quick three minute review.

Poor sod having to trawl through all this content, make notes and feed them carefully into a database labelled "anti choice opponents" or whatever.

Look, just stick ACFCW on Opposition Watch and you and me are safe, yeah?

Sunday 8 November 2009

Anti Catholics for Choice Watch in America Magazine's Blog

Here

The work goes on.

Exposing the lies; revealing the truth.

Saturday 7 November 2009

April 21 2005: Marjorie Reiley Maguire in the National Catholic Reporter

Marjorie Reiley Maguire used to be a member of Anti Catholics for Free Choice (CFFC) as it was then known in the 1980s. When she left the organisation, she wrote a letter about it to the National Catholic Reporter.

She described CFFC, as an "anti woman organisation" and that its agenda is “the promotion of abortion, the defense of every abortion decision as a good, moral choice and the related agenda of persuading society to cast off any moral constraints about sexual behavior.” It was groups like CFFC, not the Catholic Church, which was "hung up on sex", she noted.

In her letter she also included this killer statement: “When I was involved with CFFC, I was never aware that any of its leaders attended Mass. Furthermore, various conversations and experiences convinced me they did not.”

Memo to Sara Morello: Sue me, if you think you're bad enough

It's not libellous to say this:

[Anti Catholics for Choice is] an astroturf corporately-funded anti-Catholic group with next to no members, which tells lies about the Catholic Church's teachings on abortion, engages in witch hunts against Catholics in public life, has an adulterous population-controller as its in-house "theologian" and takes money from porn merchants.

I'm sure that Elfriede knows very well that she isn't a Catholic. She should stop telling public untruths and pretending that she is one.


Fact: The ultimate defence against a libel action is the truth.

Sara Morello, vice president of Anti Catholics for a Porn Merchants Choice, makes an unsubtle hint about libel and defamation law

Dear friends,

Although I do not usually post to this list, as vice president of Catholics for Choice and a canon lawyer, I feel I must offer some clarifications. First, the accusations posted here about Catholics for Choice are unfounded. At CFC, we strive to be an expression of Catholicism as it is lived by ordinary people. We are part of the great majority of the faithful in the Catholic church who disagrees with the dictates of the Vatican on a wide variety of issues, including sexuality, respect for women in the Church and the world, and the role of the institutional Church in public policy making.

We are part of the great majority who believes that Catholic teachings on conscience mean that every individual must follow his or her own conscience ― and respect others' right to do the same. Catholics for Choice's mission is to shape and advance sexual and reproductive ethics that are based on justice, reflect a commitment to women's well-being and respect and affirm the capacity of women and men to make moral decisions about their lives. CFC works in the United States and internationally to ensure that all people have access to safe and affordable reproductive healthcare services and to infuse our core values into public policy, community life and Catholic social thinking and teaching. None of this is grounds for excommunication. Second, excommunication is a very serious penalty in the Catholic Church, and accusations about a person’s standing in the Church should not be made lightly as they can be detrimental to a person’s reputation.

In regard to excommunication as a penalty for procured abortion, I recommend to you a brochure from Catholics for Choice which can be found on our Web site (Notes on Canon Law No. 1<http://www.catholicsforchoice.org/topics/abortion/documents/2004notesoncanonlaw1_001.pdf>). At a most basic level, Bishop Bruskewitz of Lincoln, Nebraska, USA, has no jurisdiction over Catholics for Choice. To debate his claims of excommunication in this forum would give them more credence than they deserve and would further a false presumption of their merit. Catholics for Choice does indeed respect a woman’s right to make choices about becoming pregnant and about continuing or terminating a pregnancy, as only she knows what her conscience tells her is the right thing to do. None of us can make that determination for another. We understand that not every Catholic joins us in a prochoice position. However, we feel that ours is a position grounded in our tradition and our faith. We offer a brief exposition of our position here: Prochoice Catholicism 101<http://www.catholicsforchoice.org/topics/abortion/documents/ProchoiceCatholicism101.pdf>. We respect others’ right to disagree, and ask them to respect us. In charity, it is inappropriate for any of us to make claims about another person’s relationship with her Church or with God.

I have known Elfriede Harth for many years, and her work for progressive Catholicism, both during her work with Catholics for Choice, and now independently, has been both admirable and dedicated. The public accusations made against her in this forum are unfair, ungrounded, and unkind. I hope that IMWAC members would disavow them as such. Catholics for Choice has long worked with IMWAC and other progressive Catholic groups throughout the world and we look forward to continued opportunities to do so. We are represented in Europe by our European Coordinator, Henk Baars, and are advised by progressive Catholics across the continent, and in the Americas, Asia, and Africa. We stand ready to continue our work with IMWAC and others who look for a more progressive, representative voice of Catholics in the Church and the world.

Should any of you wish to contact me with questions about Catholics for Choice or the positions I have put forward here, I welcome your direct communiqué to me at http://uk.mc249.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=smorello%40catholicsforchoice.orgmailto:http://uk.mc249.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=smorello%40catholicsforchoice.org.

Respectfully, Sara Morello, JCL Vice President, Catholics for Choice

Gladys Melo-Pinzón PhD. International Program Director Catholics for Choice 1436 U Str. NW. Suite 301, Washington DC 20009 Phone: 1 (202) 986-6093 Fax: 1 (202) 332-7995 www.catholicsforcho ice.org<http://www.catholicsforchoice.org/>