Making A Difference

By Tony Magliano 

At a recent White House press conference, President Joe Biden said, “I respect those who believe life begins at the moment of conception. I don’t agree, but I respect that. I’m not going to impose that on people.” 

But, Mr. President, it’s not a matter of belief. It’s a matter of well established science that human life begins at conception. 

Years ago I attended a pro-life conference hosted by Americans United for Life (see: https://bit.ly/2VCb4ub) where the late highly distinguished French pediatrician and geneticist Dr. Jerome Lejeune – who discovered the extra chromosome that causes Down Syndrome –  was the keynote speaker. After his presentation, I was able to ask him a most important question. I said, Dr. Lejeune, when does human life begin? And in his beautiful French accent he said, “At conception, of course.” And I followed up by asking him if any of his colleagues disagreed with him. And he replied, “No, we all know when life begins. But we don’t all agree as to when life deserves protection.”  

For Lejeune, a devout Catholic who was declared “Venerable” by Pope Francis – it was logically and morally crystal clear that human life deserves protection at the beginning. That is, at conception! 

Lejeune was a selfless defender of unborn human life, and thus a powerful opponent of abortion. He was often called upon by various governments to give expert testimony as to the fact that human life begins at conception/fertilization (see: https://bit.ly/2XkUajZ). 

With scientific clarity Lejeune stated: “To accept the fact that, after fertilization has taken place, a new human has come into being, is no longer a matter of taste or of opinion. The human nature of the human being from conception to old age is not a metaphysical contention. It is plain, experimental evidence” (see: https://bit.ly/3lmohA5).  

As eloquent as Lejeune was in revealing the scientific truth that human life begins at conception, he is not the only scientific voice declaring this fact. There are many other experts who fully agree that human life begins at conception  (see: https://bit.ly/3k3EuKU). 

Is there ever a morally acceptable reason to kill a new-born baby – for any reason whatsoever? Of course not. And likewise, there is never a morally acceptable reason to kill an unborn baby. 

Check out the compelling photo and story of tiny Samuel Alexander Armas reaching outside his mother’s womb holding the finger of his surgeon (see: https://www.justthefacts.org/samuel-armas/.  

Knowing the full humanity of our unborn brothers and sisters, how can we possibly ignore the ongoing brutal threats of abortion facing them? Instead, let’s do all within our power to pray, educate, motivate, witness and lobby to end abortion – with no exceptions. And in conjunction with that, let’s strive likewise to support women struggling in difficult pregnancy situations, giving them the help they need to carry their unborn babies to term, and to continue that needed help after giving birth.  

And if somehow, you still need more convincing that scientifically, human life begins at conception and that the unborn are beyond all doubt human beings, than watch this marvelous PBS/TED Talk video titled “Conception to birth” (see: https://bit.ly/3Eh627Q) and put your doubts to rest! 

 – Tony Magliano is an internationally syndicated Catholic social justice and peace columnist. He is available to speak at diocesan or parish gatherings. Tony can be reached at tmag6@comcast.net.  

 By Tony Magliano 

At any moment, the world could be within 30 minutes of history’s worst disaster – nuclear war!  

As we remember the tragic anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombings of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and August 9, 1945, it would do us well to seriously consider that nuclear weapons today threaten the entire world. 

Before his death, Dr. Bruce Blair, a former military officer responsible for 50 Minuteman nuclear missiles in Montana, and co-founder of Global Zero (https://www.globalzero.org/) –  an international organization dedicated to eliminating all nuclear weapons – shared with me a frightening little known fact: Both the United States and Russia each have hundreds of nuclear warheads still aimed at each other.  

And what’s even worse, these weapons of mass destruction are programmed at launch ready alert – otherwise known as hair-trigger alert – meaning they are fully armed and ready to be launched within just 30 minutes of a perceived nuclear attack.  

The risk of misinterpreted information or system failure could lead to accidental nuclear war. The world has already experienced several close calls. 

On Jan. 23, 2020 the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists’ Science and Security Board, together with 13 Nobel Laureate consultants, dramatically moved their famous Doomsday Clock to 100 seconds before midnight – warning how extremely near humanity is to a global catastrophic midnight posed by the increasing threats of nuclear war and climate change. 

On Jan. 27 the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists’ Science and Security Board issued their 2021 Doomsday Clock statement warning that it is still 100 seconds to midnight! 

The 2021 Bulletin of Atomic Scientists statement points out that “In the past year, countries with nuclear weapons continued to spend vast sums on nuclear modernization programs, even as they allowed proven risk-reduction achievements in arms control and diplomacy to wither or die.

 “Nuclear weapons,” they continued, “and weapons-delivery platforms capable of carrying either nuclear or conventional warheads continued to proliferate, while destabilizing  ‘advances’ in the space and cyber realms, in hypersonic missiles, and in missile defenses continued. Governments in the United States, Russia, and other countries appear to consider nuclear weapons more-and-more usable, increasing the risks of their actual use” (see: https://thebulletin.org/doomsday-clock/current-time/).  

I strongly recommend that all adults and teenagers (not children) watch the still highly relevant 1983 movie “The Day After” which realistically portrays how an escalating set of events could quickly lead to a catastrophic nuclear conflict, and the horrific aftermath of a nuclear war (link to movie: https://bit.ly/3ijEy8v). And it would be very fruitful if church, university and high school groups would view it together, followed by prayer, discussion and a commitment-plan to work for an end to all nuclear weapons. 

Possessing nuclear weapons – instruments of war that are designed to inflict unimaginable far-reaching devastation to millions of people and critically wound the earth – is sheer madness. In fact, that’s what it’s called: M.A.D., that is, Mutually Assured Destruction!

In his message given at Nagasaki’s Atomic Bomb Hypocenter Park, Pope Francis said, “One of the deepest longings of the human heart is for security, peace and stability. The possession of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction is not the answer to this desire; indeed they seem always to thwart it.”

And with prophetic warning Pope Francis declared: “The use of atomic energy for purposes of war is immoral, just as the possessing of nuclear weapons is immoral, as I already said two years ago. We will be judged on this” (see: https://cutt.ly/Ne1emEG).  

It absolutely defies common sense to allow nuclear weapons to exist! 

So, will believers in the God of life and all creation prophetically oppose this madness, or will we continue to ignore it?  

Tony Magliano is an internationally syndicated Catholic social justice and peace columnist. He is available to speak at diocesan or parish gatherings. Tony can be reached at tmag6@comcast.net.  

By Tony Magliano 

Today, as I write, is the Fourth of July – Independence Day in the U.S. It’s a time when many Americans naturally feel a sense of pride.  

As the world’s oldest continuous democracy, the U.S. has served in many ways as a model for other democratic nations. Its Bill of Rights guarantees freedoms of religion, the press, speech, and the right to peacefully assemble and petition the government for a redress of grievances.  

These are excellent examples of what is lovable and healthy about America.  

But on the other hand, a healthy and holy love of country does not turn a blind eye to what is unlovable and sick about one’s country – quite the contrary. 

Think of someone you love. Now imagine that your loved one has a serious life-threatening habit, say he or she is hooked on opioids, wouldn’t you honestly acknowledge their sickness and try to get your loved one into treatment?  

In many ways the U.S. is sick and is in need of treatment. 

Every year in the U.S. approximately 900,000 unborn babies are brutally dismembered and killed by legal surgical and chemical abortions. This is sick. A civilized nation does not kill babies! 

Contrary to the rhetoric of some politicians, the U.S. is not broke. The nation has plenty of money. The problem is that it’s being squandered on astronomical military budgets and war – President Biden’s proposed fiscal year 2022 military budget is a whopping $752 billion – and is largely concentrated in the hands of a small percentage of individuals who have low overall tax rates (with many U.S. millionaires and billionaires having seen their wealth increase tremendously during the pandemic), and corporations that often pay little to no taxes – while millions of Americans are jobless, underemployed, medically uninsured and poor. All of this is a national ickness which needs healing.  

 Approximately 11 million undocumented workers – who harvest our food, repair our roads, landscape our businesses and labor in miserable slaughterhouses – are forced to live an underground existence unjustly fearing deportation. This too is sick. 

 In a world where 800 million fellow human beings live and die in extreme poverty – with little food, no clean water or sanitation, no medical care, no education, no insurance of any kind, dirt floor shacks for houses and with no hope of ever living decent lives – the U.S. government gives less than 1 percent of its annual budget for poverty-focused international assistance. This stingy response to the poorest of the poor is shamefully evil. This too is a national sickness. 

 After China, the U.S. is dumping the largest amount of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere dangerously warming our environment. This is not good stewardship of God’s creation, and is thus causing our common earth home to be sick. 

 The U.S. – along with Russia – possesses the most lethal nuclear arsenal in the world, and is also the leading global arms merchant – thus fueling many of the world’s armed conflicts. And this too is sickness.    

 Instead of just celebrations, perhaps the days around the Fourth of July should also include the medicine of mourning and repentance. 

 If we fairly and justly share the nation’s wealth to end all poverty and hunger, if we tirelessly strive to eliminate environmental degradation, abortion, war and war preparation, as well as every other form of injustice suffered by humanity, we will truly become what both U.S. presidents Kennedy and Reagan called that shining city on a hilltop – which other nations will be inspired to emulate. 

 To all of this Pope Francis inspiringly writes, “I very much desire that, in this time that we are given to live, recognizing the dignity of every human person, we can revive among all a worldwide aspiration to fraternity” (see: https://bit.ly/33OEUg0).  

 Tony Magliano is an internationally syndicated Catholic social justice and peace columnist. He is available to speak at diocesan or parish gatherings. Tony can be reached at tmag6@comcast.net. 

June 24, 2021 

By Tony Magliano 
Making a Difference  
 
Today, as I write, is World Refugee Day (June 20). For those of us who are not refugees – nor internally displaced people, migrants, asylum seekers – it is easy to ignore their plight involving fears of harm and death, traveling long and dangerous unknown paths, hunger, thirst, carrying the uncertainty of not knowing if a safe and decent home will ever be found, and being confronted with walls that shout-out to them: Not welcomed! Go back where you came from! We don’t want you!  
 
Instead, let’s genuinely try to understand their misery by turning to our imagination. Let’s try to imagine ourselves in their shoes.  
 
So, just imagine in the middle of the night you are awakened to the explosive sounds of war just outside of your town. Hoping that the fighting would not come to you and your family, you realize it has arrived and is quickly approaching.  
 
Just imagine that you received a text message from a Middle East terrorist Islamist group warning that if you don’t convert from Christianity to Islam you will be decapitated.  
 
Just imagine that a Central American drug gang has threatened to rape and mutilate your teenage daughter if your 10-year-old son does not join their gang.  
 
Just imagine getting news that Nigerian Fulani herdsmen have just burned the neighboring village to the ground, along with all of its farm fields, and that they are heading towards your village.  
 
Just imagine in your extremely poor economically underdeveloped country that no matter how hard you try, you simply cannot find a job to earn enough money to feed your family.  
 
Just imagine that you are a Rohingya Muslim living in Myanmar, and that the Myanmar government insists that you and your people have no right to citizenship, freedom of movement, state education, nor civil service jobs.  
 
Just imagine that it is no longer possible to grow any crops on the land of your small subsistence farm because it is bone-dry from the effects of climate change.  
 
Just imagine!  
 
What can you do? What will you do? In all of these real-life scenarios you choose the best possible chance of survival: Hoping against all hope you begin the very long, difficult and perilous journey to a country somewhere, anywhere that will maybe welcome you and your family.  
 
Despite the pandemic, a record 82 million people have been forced to flee their homes due to war, conflict, human rights violations, persecution, extreme poverty and climate change according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (see: https://bbc.in/3qk6USo).  
 
According to the UNHCR, the tiny nation of Lebanon is host to the largest number of refugees relative to its national population – where one in every six persons is a refugee. That’s equivalent to the U.S. taking in 55 million refugees! But instead, according to the Refugee Processing Center, in fiscal year 2020, the U.S. resettled only 11,814 refugees. That is unconscionable!  
 
Please email and call your two U.S. senators and congressperson (Capitol switchboard number: 202-224-3121) urging them to robustly increase funding to poorer nations like Lebanon who are struggling to host millions of refugees. And urge them to petition President Biden to authorize for this year at least 110,000 refugees as was done in past years.  
 
And there is much more we can do to help: Parishes can sponsor a refugee family (see: https://bit.ly/3gQXmeL), utilize still relevant ideas from the UNHCR tool-kit (see: UNHCR - World Refugee Day 2021 - Toolkit (PDF) and donate to Catholic Relief Services (see: https://bit.ly/3xzJ1Zr).    
 
And we can seriously reflect on the words of Pope Francis: “The human tragedy that is forced migration is a global phenomenon today. This crisis which can be measured in numbers and statistics, we want instead to measure with names, stories, families.”  
 
Tony Magliano is an internationally syndicated Catholic social justice and peace columnist. He is available to speak at diocesan or parish gatherings. Tony can be reached at tmag6@comcast.net.