Wednesday, May 07, 2008

New Bishop of Des Moines

Bishop Richard Pates, formerly an auxiliary bishop of the Twin Cities, has been appointed the new bishop of the Des Moines Diocese. When you google his name, you may find this article he wrote to address the stem cell research debate in Minnesota. I found this quote particularly interesting...

Our principles surrounding the inherent dignity of human life, and our conviction that deliberately destroying human life for research purposes regardless of a human’s development is morally wrong are not only held by religious adherents but by a wide spectrum of Minnesotans. Since you and I are the same persons at every stage of development, any direct intervention to end life at any point means a particular person no longer exists. We should not be forced by our state government to pay for the direct killing of innocent human persons with our tax dollars. To ask us to do so is to ask us to violate our core principles - the very foundation of our beings.

Bishop Pates understands that, if we are to be successful in warding off all threats to human life, we have to do so in language that is not intrinsically religious. Sure, it's a part of our faith but it is also the first principle of the list of human rights of the constitution along with liberty and the persuit of happiness. We have to listen to the wisdom of men like Bishop Pates in order to win the hearts and minds of our pro abortion opponents.

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