Roman Catholic Blog

The Feast Of Saint Rita Of Cascia: Saint Of The Impossible, May 22

Today is the feast of St. Rita of Cascia. (1386 - 1457) [She died on May 22nd]

St. Rita, also known as Margarita of Cascia and Rita La Abogada de Imposible, is the patron saint of the impossible.

Many people are devoted to St. Rita. Here is a forum for those with a devotion to her: Forum of St. Rita

Here is St. Rita's story: Saint Rita

St. Rita was born in the year 1381 in the village of Roccaporena near Cascia, Italy. Her parents, Antonio and Amata Lotti, considered her from birth a very special gift from God, for Rita was born to them as they were already advancing in age. As a young girl Rita frequently visited the convent of the Augustinian nuns of Cascia and dreamed of one day joining their community. Her parents, however, promised her in marriage, according to the custom of the day to Paolo Mancini, a good man of strong and impetuous character. Rita accepted her parents' decision, resolved to see this as God's will for her. The young couple were joined in marriage and soon twin boys were born to them. Rita found herself occupied with the typical concerns of wife, mother, and homemaker of Roccaporena, while Paolo was employed as a watchman for the town. In Cascia, as elsewhere, a great rivalry existed between two popular political factions, the Guelphs and the Ghibellines. As a minor official of the town, Paolo often found himself drawn into the conflict and the strain which this caused probably accounts for the tension which he sometimes brought into the Mancini household. Her husband was a man with a violent temper which developed into brutality. He often kicked and struck his young wife for no other reason than he might be angry for losing at gambling. By her prayer, patience, and affection, however, Rita was able to ease the stress and worry her husband experienced, but she was not able to shield him altogether from the dangers to which society exposed him.

Her two sons, despite St. Rita's influence, turned to the evil ways their father taught them.

One day as Paolo was returning home from work he was ambushed and killed. The pain which this unexpected and violent death inflicted upon Rita was only compounded by the fear she felt that her two teenage sons, moved by the unwritten law of the "vendetta," would seek to avenge their father's death. Rita's only recourse was to prayer and persuasion. Her sons died at an early age (from natural causes) a short time later, but not before they repented and received the last sacraments and were thereby removed from physical and spiritual danger. Despite the great burden she could still thank God that they had died in peace, free of the poison of murder to which hatred and revenge might have otherwise drawn them.

Now alone in the world and without family responsibilities, St. Rita once more turned to thoughts to the desired vocation of her youth, that of joining the Augustinian Nuns of Saint Mary Magdalene Monastery. Some of the religious of the community, however, were relatives of the members of the political faction considered responsible for Paolo's death, and so as not to tempt the harmony of the convent. Rita's request for admission was denied. Fortunately, she was not to be easily dissuaded from following what she knew to be God's plan for her life. She implored her three patron saints, - John the Baptist, Augustine, and Nicholas of Tolentino - to assist her, and she set about the task of establishing peace between the hostile parties of Cascia with such success that her entry into the monastery was assured.

At the age of thirty-six Rita pledged to follow the ancient Rule of Saint Augustine. For the next forty years she gave herself wholeheartedly to prayer, works of charity, striving especially to preserve peace and harmony among the citizens of Cascia. With a pure love she wanted more and more to be intimately joined to the redemptive suffering of Jesus, and this desire of hers was satisfied in an extraordinary way. One day when she was about sixty years of age, she was meditating before the image of Christ crucified as she was long accustomed to doing. Suddenly, a small wound appeared on her forehead, as though a thorn from the crown that encircled Christ's head had loosed itself and penetrated her own flesh. For the next fifteen years she bore this external sign of stigmatization and union with the Lord. In spite of the pain she constantly experienced, she offered herself courageously for the physical and spiritual well being of others.

During the last four years of her life, Rita was confined to bed and was able to eat so little that she was practically sustained by the Eucharist alone. She was nevertheless, an inspiration to her sisters in religion and to all who came to visit her, by her patience and joyful disposition despite her great suffering.

One of those who visited her some few months before her death was privileged to witness first hand the extraordinary things wrought by Rita's requests. When asked whether she had any special desires, Rita asked only that a rose from the garden of her parents' home be brought to her. It was a small favor to ask, but quite an impossible one to grant in the month of January. Nevertheless, on returning home the woman discovered to her amazement, a single brightly colored blossom on the bush just as the nun had described. Picking it, she returned immediately and presented it to Rita who gave thanks to God for this sign of love. Thus the saint of the thorn became the saint of the rose, and she whose impossible requests were granted became the advocate of all whose own requests seem impossible as well. As she breathed her last, Rita's final words to the sisters around her were, "Remain in the holy love of Jesus. Remain in obedience to the holy Roman Church. Remain in peace and fraternal charity."

St. Rita's body is on display in a glass case in the Basilica of St. Rita in Cascia, Italy. Her body has been seen in different positions in the glass case in which her remains are displayed and her eyes have opened and closed unaided.

St. Rita is the patron saint of: abuse victims; against loneliness; against sterility; bodily ills; Dalayap, Philippines; desperate causes; difficult marriages; forgotten causes; impossible causes; infertility; lost causes; parenthood; sick people; sickness; sterility; victims of physical spousal abuse; widows; and wounds.

St. Rita's Shrine in the United States: National Shrine of Saint Rita of Cascia

St. Rita's Shrine in Italy: Basilica Di Santa Rita Da Cascia

You can learn more about St. Rita by reading this book, available online: Saint Rita of Cascia: Saint of the Impossible

St. Rita is a powerful intercessor. Because of the many miracles reported to have been wrought at her intercession she received in Spain the title of La Santa de los impossibiles.

I personally know people who have been greatly helped by her assistance. That is why I encourage you to ask her to pray for you.

Oration To The Saint Of The Impossible

O excellent St. Rita, worker of miracles, from thy sanctuary in Cascia, where in all thy beauty thou sleepest in peace, where thy relics exhale breaths of paradise, turn thy merciful eyes on me who suffer and weep! Thou seest my poor bleeding heart surrounded by thorns Thou seest, O dear Saint, that my eyes have no more tears to shed, so much have I wept! Weary and discouraged as I am, I feel the very prayers dying on my lips. Must I thus despair in this crisis of my life? O come, St. Rita, come to my aid and help me. Art thou not called the Saint of the Impossible, Advocate to those in despair? Then honor thy name, procuring for me from God the favor that I ask. (Here ask the favor you wish to obtain.) Everyone praises thy glories, everyone tells of the most amazing miracles performed through thee, must I alone be disappointed because thou hast not heard me? Ah no! Pray then pray for me to thy sweet Lord Jesus that He be moved to pity by my troubles and that, through thee, O good St. Rita, I may obtain what my heart so fervently desires.

(Pray the Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be to the Father, three times.)

Those wishing to offer a novena should repeat this prayer for nine days.

Below is an image of the incorrupt body of St. Rita:

Dennis Prager: California Decision Will Radically Change Society

Here's the link: California Decision Will Radically Change Society

Here's a quote:

Americans seem mesmerized by the word "change." And, by golly, they sure got it last week from the California Supreme Court. It is difficult to imagine a single social change greater than redefining marriage from opposite sex to include members of the same sex.

Nothing imaginable -- leftward or rightward -- would constitute as radical a change in the way society is structured as this redefining of marriage for the first time in history: Not another Prohibition, not government taking over all health care, not changing all public education to private schools, not America leaving the United Nations, not rescinding the income tax and replacing it with a consumption tax. Nothing.

Unless California voters amend the California Constitution or Congress amends the U.S. Constitution, four justices of the California Supreme Court will have changed American society more than any four individuals since Washington, Jefferson, Adams and Madison.

And what is particularly amazing is that virtually none of those who support this decision -- let alone the four compassionate justices -- acknowledge this. The mantra of the supporters of this sea change in society is that it's no big deal. Hey, it doesn't affect any heterosexuals' marriage, so what's the problem?

This lack of acknowledgment -- or even awareness -- of how society-changing is this redefinition of marriage is one reason the decision was made. To the four compassionate ones -- and their millions of compassionate supporters -- allowing same-sex marriage is nothing more than what courts did to end legal bans on interracial marriage. The justices and their supporters know not what they did. They think that all they did was extend a "right" that had been unfairly denied to gays.

Another reason for this decision is arrogance. First, the arrogance of four individuals to impose their understanding of what is right and wrong on the rest of society. And second is the arrogance of the four compassionate ones in assuming that all thinkers, theologians, philosophers, religions and moral systems in history were wrong, while they and their supporters have seen a moral light never seen before. Not a single religion or moral philosophical system -- East or West -- since antiquity ever defined marriage as between members of the same sex.

That is one reason the argument that this decision is the same as courts undoing legal bans on marriages between races is false. No major religion -- not Judaism, not Christianity, not Islam, not Buddhism -- ever banned interracial marriage. Some religions have banned marriages with members of other religions. But since these religions allowed anyone of any race to convert, i.e., become a member of that religion, the race or ethnicity of individuals never mattered with regard to marriage. American bans on interracial marriages were not supported by any major religious or moral system; those bans were immoral aberrations, no matter how many religious individuals may have supported them. Justices who overthrew bans on interracial marriages, therefore, had virtually every moral and religious value system since ancient times on their side. But justices who overthrow the ban on same-sex marriage have nothing other their hubris and their notions of compassion on their side.

Be sure to read the rest at the link.

Also worth reading:

Pope restates gay marriage ban after California vote

Bishop Vigneron To The Faithful Of The Oakland Diocese On The California Supreme Court Decision Allowing Same-Sex Marriage

No wiggle room: Vatican says no exceptions to ban on homosexuals in seminaries

Any thoughts?

"It's Perfectly Normal" – Sex Education For Ages 10 & Above

Any thoughts?

California Supreme Court Overturns Homosexual "Marriage" Ban

Dante and Virgil in Hell by William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1850)

Here's the story: California Supreme Court Overturns Homosexual "Marriage" Ban

Quote:

The California Supreme Court has overturned a ban on gay marriage, paving the way for California to become the second state where gay and lesbian residents can marry. The case involved a series of lawsuits seeking to overturn a voter- approved law that defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman.

With the ruling, California could become the second state after Massachusetts where gay and lesbian residents can marry.

"What happens in California, either way, will have a huge impact around the nation. It will set the tone," said Geoffrey Kors, executive director of the gay rights group Equality California.

California already offers same-sex couples who register as domestic partners the same legal rights and responsibilities as married spouses, including the right to divorce and to sue for child support. It's therefore unclear what additional relief state lawmakers could offer short of marriage if the court renders the existing ban unconstitutional.

A coalition of religious and social conservative groups is attempting to put a measure on the November ballot that would enshrine California's current laws banning gay marriage in the state constitution.

The Secretary of State is expected to rule by the end of June whether the sponsors gathered enough signature to qualify the marriage amendment, similar to ones enacted in 26 other states.

My thoughts:

This isn't really surprising. This is typical liberal activity, using courts to accomplish what can't be done by allowing people to vote on the matter. Hopefully, this will wake people up and provoke a movement to return to sanity that will include a reversal of this foolish decision, which essentially amounts to judicial legislation and circumvented the will of the majority of California voters.

Catholic Answers has an excellent article, titled, Gay Marriage, which is well researched and discusses in detail the various diseases and pathologies associated with homosexuality. The article gives many reasons why society, as a whole, should seek to protect marriage as a union between one man and one woman and not grant legal protections for homosexual unions, as such.

See also:

Procter & Gamble Promotes Explicit Open-Mouth Homosexual Kissing

You Decide: Has "The Cafeteria Is Closed" Blog Reopened The Cafeteria Over The Issue Of Legal Recognition For Homosexual Unions?

Any thoughts?

Obamanation - The Cult Of Barack Hussein Obama

It's nice to see that Barack Obama's supporters have reasonable expectations, rooted in a firm grasp of his personal and political background; as evidenced by the devotional artwork above and the images found here: Reach Out and Touch Faith

Note: I'm pretty sure NRO got their title idea from this song: Depeche Mode - "Personal Jesus"

More evidence of the disturbing religious fervor many of Obama's supporters have for him, despite (or perhaps, because of) his consistent pro-abortion record, can be seen in these videos produced by will.i.am of Black Eyed Peas: "Yes We Can" and "We Are The Ones"

This video parodies the fantasies of Obama supporters: Video: “Obamatopia” [Warning: The Lord's name is taken in vain once, but it's done to illustrate how Obama's supporters view him.]

As I've said before, the Obama's followers have a view of him that is essentially consistent with the song below, which should be his campaign theme song:

Obama's supporters don't care that he doesn't have the experience necessary to be President of the United States. They don't care that he's never been elected to an executive office (like state governor). They don't care that Obama has been connected, for over 20 years, to a church that promotes racism, or that he's friends with murdering terrorists. They don't care that his wife constantly complains about America. They don't care that Obama has been endorsed by Hamas. They don't care that Obama doesn't respect the religious beliefs of Christians who don't share his views.

To quote Rush Limbaugh: "Obama has become, to a lot of people, an idea of what they want him to be. So they project their perceptions onto him, and that's exactly what he wants." (From: Obama is Damaged Goods, but Radical Hillary Can't Close the Deal)

Barack Obama, ladies and gentlemen, is a blank canvas upon which anybody can project their fantasies, or their desires. You look at Democrats in the audience, and they're swooning. He's saying nothing. He's saying nothing better than anybody in my lifetime ever has. The reason he says nothing so well is because everybody thinks that he's saying what they want. So they're able to project onto Obama their fantasies. If they believe in allowing somebody to marry a dog, they think Obama will support it. Therefore, I would like today to announce a tentative decision, I'm stilling thinking about it, to endorse Barack Obama, since everybody is asking who am I going to endorse, and here's why. Barack Obama is pro-life. Barack Obama is a Constitutionalist. Barack Obama believes in limited government. Barack Obama is in favor of health care savings plans. Barack Obama loves free markets and wants to protect them. Barack Obama is strong on national defense. Barack Obama is a tax cutter extraordinaire. Barack Obama makes my leg tingle when I hear him speak. Barack Obama will end the designated hitter rule. Barack Obama will establish a college football playoff once and for all so we will genuinely have a champion. Barack Obama will get to the bottom of Spygate. Barack Obama will offer free beer Fridays. Whatever you want Obama to be, folks, he's a blank slate, he's an empty canvas, and this is the nature of his appeal. Whatever people fantasize about, whatever they want, they are confident Obama supports it, too.

(From: Rush Endorses Obama Because He Is Anything You Want Him to Be)

See also:

Barack Obama: There Will Be Bamboozling

Obama’s biggest general election liability: His bitter half

Video: Gazans running phone bank for Obama

Obama: I want to be president of all 57 states

Rush Limbaugh: Let's Tweak The Media: Obama to Campaign in 57 Islamic States

RUSH: Hey, folks, you want to tweak the Drive-By Media with me right now? Want to participate in tweaking the Drive-By Media? You are aware, probably, that Barack Obama lost his bearings recently and said that he was going to campaign in all 57 states. You heard this? And everybody chalked it up to, "Well, he's tired." You know, this is a Dan Quayle moment. I mean, Dan Quayle goes out there and misspells potato, and we still get jokes about it. Barack Obama says he's gonna go out and campaign in 57 states, he was just tired, you know, it's been such a long campaign, he's been so many places, he probably thinks there are 57 states. Well, I have here a printout from a website called the International Humanist and Ethical Union. And here is how the second paragraph of an article on that website begins. "Every year from 1999 to 2005 the organization of the Islamic conference representing the 57 Islamic states presented a resolution to the United Nations commission on human rights called combating --" yes, H.R., get ready for the phone calls up there.

We're participating here in a tweak of the media. Obama said he's going to campaign in 57 states, and it turns out that there are 57 Islamic states. There are 57 Islamic states. "Every year from 1999 to 2005, the organization of the Islamic conference representing the 57 Islamic states," this is from the International Humanist and Ethical Union. And the title of the piece here is, "How the Islamic states dominate the UN human rights council," and there are 57 of them. So did Obama just lose his bearings, or was this a more telling slip, ladies and gentlemen? Obama's 57 states, not just a simple gaffe. He might have been thinking of the 57 Islamic states when he said he was going to campaign in all 57 states. (laughing) Can't wait 'til the Drive-Bys hear about this.

Rush Limbaugh: Separating Obama's Followers from the Movement Won't Be Easy

Any thoughts?

Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos: Celebrate TLM In Parishes – Even When It Isn’t Requested

Via What Does The Prayer Really Say?: PCED’s Card. Castrillon Hoyos: celebrate TLM in parishes even when it isn’t requested

Quote:

According to Card. Castrillion Hoyos, the Holy Father desires that the TLM be a normal part of parish life. He also says that priests should offer it in their parishes even if there is no specific request for it.

That's a very different message than the one given here: Ex-Papal Liturgist, Archbishop Piero Marini: Liturgical Renewal "Irreversible"

Background quote from Wikipedia:

Darío Cardinal Castrillón Hoyos (born July 4, 1929) is a Colombian Cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy from 1996 to 2006, and currently serves as President of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei. Elevated to the cardinalate in 1998.

Any thoughts?

Video: Hillary Clinton Tries To Work The Coffee Machine

Source: Video: Smartest woman in the world tries to work the coffee machine

Quote:

The beauty of this footage? It was apparently taken during Her Majesty’s common-man joyride/photo op this morning, replete with choreographed pit stop for gas and java. I guarantee you, right now somewhere in Indiana, some poor lackey is being berated for failing to brief her on how to work the self-serve.

Thank goodness the working class has an alternative to this out-of-touch poseur, one who appreciates them for the xenophobic, Bible-thumping gun fetishists they are.

My thoughts:

Imagine if this were a clip of George W. Bush or Dan Quayle (back in the day). This footage would have been looped everywhere. I'm not sure how much airplay it's gotten now, but I'm confident the only reason we're seeing footage like this and seeing the media report on Hillary's Bosnia whoppers is that most of the mainstream media is in the tank for Obama.

Many politicians who claim to be "champions" of the common folk are actually multi-millionaires who don't have to do the things most people have to do every day, because they have staff to do those things for them. See: Jackpot: Billary scores $109 mil since leaving office; Update: $20.4 million in 2007

Often, when they try to look like "one of the people", it looks staged: Video: Defender of the common man knocks back a shot; Update: More Hillary: Have I mentioned that I know how to shoot?

To be fair, Trent Lott didn't come off much better here: Everything that’s wrong with the Beltway GOP elite in two words

See also:

Snobs here, snobs there, snobs everywhere

Getting fat off the American taxpayer

CBS reporter on Hillary’s Bosnia trip: Yes, I can confirm she’s a shameless liar

A Tuzla greeting exposes Hillary

Walking back the Tuzla sniper-fire run

Video: Hillary “misspeaks” about Tuzla again; Update: “I was sleep-deprived”

Hillary, Serial Fabulist?

Tuzla Girl haunts Hillary

Hitchens on the Tuzla Dash, and what Hillary hides

Hillary fired for lies, unethical behavior from Congressional job: former boss

Surprise: Hillary caught in another stump-speech lie

More thoughts:

Democrats (even "Catholic" ones) don't seem to care if their candidates are liars (see the links above), friends with murderous, far-left fringe America haters, friends with racists (and possibly closet racists, themselves, as seen here and here), or even that their candidates promote the killing of unborn babies and/or infanticide.

I don't understand it.

Any thoughts?

Barack Obama: There Will Be Bamboozling

A look at Obama's pattern of "borrowing" rhetoric from uncredited sources. Is Obama a plagiarist? See for yourself.

Ann Coulter: Out Of "Context" Or Out Of His Mind?

Thomas Sowell: An Old Newness

Dennis Prager: Wright Speaks for the Left

OneNewsNow.com: Jeremiah Wright undermines racial reconciliation

Rush Limbaugh: Obama Throws Wright Off Planet, As Wheels Come Off the Campaign

Rush Limbaugh: Drive-Bys Praise Obama's Poll-Driven Phoniness as "Courage"

Bill O'Reilly & Karl Rove:

At first, I winced when Bill O'Reilly claimed Jeremiah Wright, a man who repeatedly accuses the United States government of creating HIV and AIDS in an effort to instigate the genocide of the black population, is "smart", but had to admit that O'Reilly may be right after I heard O'Reilly connect the dots back to Jeremiah Wright's mansion and money.

Hate peddling can be profitable, and Jeremiah Wright has indeed profited by the lies he continues to repeat. One wonders if Wright actually believes those lies (which would call his intelligence into question) or simply repeats them for financial gain, as Bill O'Reilly seems to suspect.

HotAir.com has some good analysis here: Press conference: Obama shocked, shocked at Wright’s behavior; Update: Video added; Update: Q&A highlights added

Excellent points by Allahpundit:

The bottom line: After 20 years of friendship, if Obama didn’t know Wright held these beliefs he’s a moron and if he did know he’s a fraud.

Remember when TNR [The New Republic] broke the news about Ron Paul’s neo-confederate newsletters? The big knock there wasn’t that Paul necessarily held those views himself but that his carelessness in letting them be published under his name called his judgment and competence into question. How is this [situation with Obama over Jeremiah Wright] any different? Unless someone wants to argue that Wright’s militancy is something he came to only recently, then Obama somehow spent 20 years in the pews without ever noticing that his preacher wasn’t particularly fond of America, white people, “Zionism,” etc etc. Exactly how many sermons did he miss?

More from HotAir.com: Does Obama’s repudiation lance the boil?

Any thoughts?

Ex-Papal Liturgist, Archbishop Piero Marini: Liturgical Renewal "Irreversible"

Christ Healing The Blind Bartimeus by Carl Heinrich Bloch

Here's the link: Vatican official calls liturgical renewal 'irreversible path'

Here's a section of the article:

Liturgical renewal launched by the Second Vatican Council is an "irreversible path" and has not been affected by Pope Benedict XVI's concession on wider use of the Tridentine rite, a Vatican official said.

"The pope's decision has so far not produced any change in the celebrative practice of our ecclesial communities. His gesture was only one of service to unity," Archbishop Piero Marini, who arranged papal liturgies for more than 20 years, said in an interview April 25 in the Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano.

"Therefore let's look ahead and let's continue with enthusiasm the path undertaken by the council," he said.

Late last year Archbishop Marini was named to head the Pontifical Committee for International Eucharistic Congresses.

The archbishop remains involved in international liturgical issues, and he said a revision of the committee's statutes is giving it wider authority over eucharistic congresses at the national and regional level, too.

Asked if Pope Benedict's relaxation of restrictions on the use of the pre-Vatican II liturgy signaled a halt to the liturgical reform movement, Archbishop Marini said that was clearly not the pope's aim.

The pope's decree "does not intend to introduce modifications on the current Roman Missal or express a negative judgment on the liturgical reform desired by the council," he said.

He said the decree, which reached out to disaffected Catholics, should be seen as an effort to maintain unity in the church.

Archbishop Marini said his own experience in organizing papal liturgies in more than 100 countries has convinced him that the liturgical reform movement has brought overwhelmingly positive results.

"Everywhere, the liturgy desired by the council was celebrated with lively participation and enthusiasm. Everyone understood the liturgy as proper to the local church and at the same time as an expression of the universal church," he said.

Those liturgies also demonstrated that liturgical reform has solid theological foundations, he said.

"Therefore this is an irreversible path," he said.

Liturgical celebration cannot be separated from the life of the church, the archbishop said, and this means "the church of today, not the church of yesterday or of tomorrow."

At the same time, Archbishop Marini said celebrating the liturgy according to Vatican II is not an easy thing. It takes patience, perseverance and pastoral charity, he said.

One particular issue that has emerged during papal trips, he said, is the fact that some Masses are now attended by hundreds of thousands of the faithful. That raises practical considerations like the number of concelebrants, the distribution of Communion and the level of personal participation, he said.

Pope Benedict has already asked for reconsideration of the role of concelebrants, and Archbishop Marini said it makes sense to look at the question through a serious study and with eventual pastoral-liturgical guidelines.

My thoughts:

We'll see, Archbishop Marini. I suspect you're wrong, though. I certainly think it's wrong to claim that Summorum Pontificum was only issued in an effort to preserve unity and avoid schism. How does the allowance of a right Archbishop Marini clearly views as old and outdated alongside the Ordo Missae promulgated by Pope Paul VI signify a movement that preserves liturgical unity?

It's clear that the archbishop is not in agreement with Pope Benedict XVI with respect to the liturgy. That is probably why he's known as ex-papal liturgist, Archbishop Piero Marini.

Any thoughts?

Procter & Gamble Promotes Explicit Open-Mouth Homosexual Kissing

The Scene Below Is From The CBS Soap Opera, "As The World Turns" And Was Originally Broadcast On April 23, 2008:

On March 3, 2008 (Before The Recent Scene Shown Above) "CNN Showbiz Tonight" Ran This Story:

Some Earlier, Controversial Scenes In the Luke And Noah Story On As The World Turns:

Here is the link to the American Family Association's page documenting the recent homosexual kiss: Procter & Gamble Promotes Explicit Open-Mouth Homosexual Kissing

Quote:

Procter & Gamble has resumed using explicit, open-mouth homosexual kissing in their soap opera, "As The World Turns." Procter & Gamble decided to include this type of content as a commitment to "diversity." Procter & Gamble stopped showing such scenes some months ago, but has now decided to again help promote the homosexual agenda which includes homosexual marriage.

[Homosexual] activists are hopeful that the Procter & Gamble effort will desensitize viewers to the homosexual lifestyle and help make the unhealthy and immoral lifestyle more acceptable to society, especially to children and youth.

My thoughts:

As previously reported on this blog, As The World Turns currently features a plot line about a male character in his late teens, Luke Snyder, "coming out of the closet" and having a homosexual relationship (see: Luke Snyder and Noah Mayer). I did a post about the Luke and Noah story here: Propaganda 101: As The World Turns' Progressive Plot Line.

Since doing the post, I discovered that there are fan sites devoted to encouraging young people to watch the story of the relationship between the characters of Luke Snyder and Noah Mayer unfold. Here are two examples: Luke & Noah & NoahandLuke.com

You can watch the entire story of Luke Snyder’s “coming out” and his relationship with Noah Mayer here:

Luke's [“Coming Out”] Story

Luke & Noah's Story

There is a blog dedicated to discussing depiction of (mostly male) homosexuality in the media, titled, AfterElton.com (with a lesbian counterpart titled, AfterEllen.com). AfterElton.com have covered the Luke and Noah plotline extensively. You can see that coverage here: AfterElton.com: As The World Turns. Here is AfterElton.com's post on the most recent homosexual kiss between the Luke and Noah characters: Gay Teens Finally Kiss Again on "As the World Turns"

Let Procter & Gamble know your thoughts on this issue. They will not likely read each e-mail, so don't feel you have to use your own words. The form letter is enough and they'll likely just be counting how many e-mails they get from the American Family Association, which will matter to them, at least on a business level.

If you do contact anyone about this issue, please be appropriate. Imprudent and/or insulting messages could conceivably (and unfairly) be used as pro-homosexual propaganda in an effort to paint anyone opposed to the Luke and Noah story as vicious and unreasonable.

Of interest: List Of Procter & Gamble Brands

Call 1-800-331-3774 to tell Procter & Gamble to discontinue the Luke and Noah story. It's a quick and easy poll with no need to leave a message or talk to an operator.

You can also call As The World Turns at: (718) 780-7675

You can also use the CBS Online Feedback Form to comment on the Luke and Noah story: CBS Online Feedback Form

Any thoughts?