The Forces of Darkness gather and Spit venom

 The view from the Tavern over the past few days has been seeing spite, nastiness, sheer spits-in-the-eye of good people on both sides of the Pacific. In Australia and in America, the heart wavers watching the sheer banality of evil. But it does not falter.

There are still Good people who will fight for what is right. They need our prayers. They need our resolve. The taps in the bar are being pulled as I speak.

SAY not the struggle naught availeth,
         The labour and the wounds are vain,
The enemy faints not, nor faileth,
         And as things have been they remain.

If hopes were dupes, fears may be liars;
         It may be, in yon smoke conceal'd,
Your comrades chase e'en now the fliers,
         And, but for you, possess the field.

For while the tired waves, vainly breaking,
         Seem here no painful inch to gain,
Far back, through creeks and inlets making,
         Comes silent, flooding in, the Main.

And not by eastern windows only,
         When daylight comes, comes in the light;
In front the sun climbs slow, how slowly!
         But westward, look, the land is bright!

 

Bearing that hopeful message in mind, let's look at staid old Melbourne first.

 

People who Love, marched in Melbourne yesterday, peacefully, quietly, respectfully, for the souls of babies, victims of abortion. They marched peacefully for the souls of their killers too.

 

They were met with hatred.

 

Andrew Bolt tells us....

 

Pro-Abortion Thugs @ March for the Babies 2013 - Melbourne, Australia 

http://blogs.news.com.au/heraldsun/andrewbolt/index.php/heraldsun/comments/the_left_is_the_home_of_the_modern_totalitarian/
 

They are socialists who say they stand for peace and tolerance. They are feminists who want equal dignity and opportunity for all.  

Now watch these modern barbarians intimidate, abuse, assault and steal from people who are trying to peacefully express a different point of view on abortion:

 

What was planned as a silent walk by peaceful people was assaulted with high volume noisy music, some with filthy lyrics, played by people on bikes who were repeatedly  riding into the crowd and knocking people over; nasty young people wearing communist t-shirts, Feminist signs crudely written on t-shirts, even the ubiquitous 'Peace' symbol, tearing the caring and loving signs from people's hands and stamping on them and the knocking over of signs on the steps of the building.

And so the pro-choice rent-a-crowd 

showed themselves for what they are. 

 

 

 

A Victorian MP says he was assaulted and egged when pro-choice and anti-abortion groups clashed in Melbourne on Saturday. 

 

 

An organiser of the anti-abortion march, Liberal MP Bernie Finn, says he and others from his group were assaulted by pro-choice activists who held a counter-demonstration.

 

The Left is the home of the modern totalitarian. It is the excuse for the bully.

John Jalsevac came by to give an account.

 Australian March for Babies turns violent:  pro-life activists, MPs assaulted by pro-abortion mob

HTTP://WWW.LIFESITENEWS.COM/NEWS/AUSTRALIAN-MARCH-FOR-BABIES-TURNS-VIOLENT-U.S.-PRO-LIFE-ACTIVISTS-MPS-ASSAU

MELBOURNE, Australia, Oct. 12 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) –  

American pro-life activist Bryan Kemper says he is bruised and sore, but recovering, after a mob of pro-abortion counter-protesters attacked him and his team of pro-life activists during the March for the Babies in Melbourne, Australia.  

Kemper, the founder of Prolife Stand True Ministries, told LifeSiteNews.com today that he was thrown to the ground and repeatedly kicked. Several other members of his team were also roughed up. 

Pro-life Victoria Member of Parliament Bernie Finn also told the press that he was “belted in the head” and pelted with eggs, and that fellow pro-life MP Andrew Elsbury was thrown to the ground and stomped on. 

“What we saw today was literally a  

public mugging on the streets of Melbourne and Victoria Police let it happen,”  

Finn fumed. “We had people being assaulted, being kicked, being stomped on and they sat back and watched.” 

Trouble began brewing even before the march began, said Kemper. When the pro-life activists tried to begin the march, they were blocked by the mob of about 200 pro-abortion protesters.  

“So we all sat in protest and started praying,” he said. “Then the police let them start attacking us.”  

The pro-abortion protesters steal the pro-life signs from the stage set up by the March for Babies organizers.

After this the pro-lifers tried to begin marching again, but the counter-protesters pushed back, preventing them from doing so. The standoff continued for over an hour, before the pro-lifers decided to change their route.  

But that was when things started to get really ugly.  

“As we got to the stage the pro-aborts took over our stage and starting stealing banners and signs,” said Kemper. “That is when I was knocked to the ground and kicked and stepped on.”  

“Eventually we got our stage back and finished but many of our people were assaulted. But we never gave up and I gave my speech.” 

“The police were useless,” Kemper said.  

Kemper sent out an emergency appeal on Facebook during the event, pleading for prayer. “Near riot situation we are being attacked as we march. Prayers please. Very bad. I've been hit many times already,” he said. “They are surrounding us. Police won't arrest them. I am in front protecting our people. This is the craziest thing ever. Over a thousand. This is scary."   

Despite the violence on the part of the pro-abortion protesters, no arrests were made. A spokeswoman for the police downplayed the seriousness of the day’s events in remarks to Sky News.  

“No one has been charged with assault and no matters have been brought to the attention of police," she said.  

The organizer of the pro-abortion rally, Liz Walsh, admitted that there had been a “scuffle.”  

“Part of that was standing our ground and not wanting to be intimidated by people who want to shame women for having control over their own reproductive lives,” she said. 

Let's just read that again, shall we.

We should find Mz Walsh and tell her that it is not about 'shaming': it is not about 'having control':

IT IS ABOUT THE LIVES OF BABIES 

   

The annual March for Babies marks the passage in 2008 of the Abortion Law Reform Act, which organizers of the event describe as “one of the most extreme abortion laws in the world.”  

The law legalized abortion in the state up until the point of birth.
The first sign that this year’s march might not go as smoothly as previous years came the night before the march, when Kemper was delivering a speech to the Youth for Life dinner.  

A group of pro-aborts burst into the room and started chanting.  

“I stopped the talk and cleared a whole table of people and asked them to sit down, have some food and wine and join us,” Kemper wrote on the Stand True Facebook page shortly before the March.  

“They did. They sat there for about 10 minutes listening before getting restless again and they left without incident. 

“It was obvious they did not expect to be welcomed and loved instead of yelled at, I can't wait to see them all at the Australian March for Life today and talk to them.”

If you can find the video on your tube (I have seen it there) you will see their tactics. Loud noise; swearing; screaming in faces; body-bumping; tearing down banners.

Bill Muehlenberg had this to say, succinctly:

So This Is What “Pro-Choice” Really Means 

Now that we all witnessed firsthand what the “pro-choice” mob is all about, at least we now have a crystal clear picture of what choice actually means for these folks. Now we can see exactly what they think of choice, and how they use it. 

It is now perfectly demonstrable that choice for these guys means this: 

-choosing to terrorise innocent men, women and children
-choosing to disrupt legal and peaceful events
-choosing to damage, vandalise and destroy other people’s property
-choosing to scream, shout, yell and curse at the top of one’s lungs
-choosing to use profanities and blasphemies nonstop
-choosing to bully, harass and assault innocent children and elderly people
-choosing to spew hatred and vile bile to everyone in sight
-choosing to close down democracy and destroy our very freedoms
-choosing to be as ugly and barbaric and demonic as possible
-choosing to attack police, show contempt for authorities, and vilify all who disagree
-choosing to steal thing, wreck things, trample on things and destroy things
-choosing to intimidate, persecute and attack all those who dare to think differently
-choosing to shut down entire city centres
-choosing to violate one law after another
-choosing to act like spoiled brats and utterly selfish infants
-choosing to promote hate as goodness, intolerance as tolerance, and vice as virtue
-choosing to behave like feral animals and never have to apologise for it
-choosing to hold society to ransom for one’s diabolical agenda
-choosing to treat the public with contempt
-choosing to take no responsibility for one’s action
-choosing to take away other people’s choices in the name of choice
-choosing to use mindless and relentless violence in the name of non-violence 

But this has always been how the pro-choice crowd has been. They are of course part of the larger world of the secular left, and this group has long been known for its real hatred and contempt of anything decent, worthwhile, and of virtue.  

They champion everything that is ugly, hideous,  

demonic and anarchistic.

We have seen exactly the same when speakers try to deliver men's rights talks in Canadian Universities.
 

In Tasmania the evil powers are introducing laws that would fine and jail the pro-life marchers, not simply have the cops stand by and let pro-abortionists kick the peace-seekers and knock them over.

Fines of $65000 and a year in jail is planned for anyone even praying silently near the main abortion mill in central Hobart.

 

But meanwhile across the oceans in America, President Obama is trying his evil best to make people suffer. Vulnerable and honourable people like veterans - and catholics.

Steve brings us the news....

http://www.catholicvote.org/military-priests-face-arrest-for-celebrating-mass-in-defiance-of-shutdown/
Military Priests Face Arrest for Celebrating Mass in Defiance of Shutdown

Our government is out of control. 

First, it was the World War II veterans who had to break down barriers to see the open air, un-attended memorial erected in their honor.  A memorial which is on public land but is supported – including the National Park Service fee – with private funds.  

This week there was more security surrounding this memorial — just to keep elderly veterans out — than there was at our embassy in Benghazi the night it was attacked. 

And for what? To inflict as much pain as possible through this government shutdown. It’s called Washington Monument Syndrome, and it’s pure political theater.

First he came for the Veterans, and you did nothing:
then he came for the Catholics and you did nothing:
then he came for YOU.

But now there’s a story just coming to light that takes things even further.  

According the Archdiocese for Military Services, GS and contract priests (who are paid by the federal government as independent contractors in places where there aren’t enough active-duty priests to meet the needs of Catholics in military service) are being forbidden from celebrating Mass, even on a volunteer basis. 

If they violate this restriction, they face possible arrest.    

FOR CELEBRATING MASS.  

From John Schlageter, General Counsel for the Archdiocese:

 

There is a chronic shortage of active duty Catholic chaplains. While roughly 25% of the military is Catholic, Catholic priests make up only about 8% of the chaplain corps. That means approximately 275,000 men and women in uniform, and their families, are served by only 234 active-duty priests.   

The temporary solution to this shortage is to provide GS and contract priests.   These men are employed by the government to ensure that a priest is available when an active duty Catholic Chaplain is not present.   

With the government shutdown, GS and contract priests who minister to Catholics on military bases worldwide are not permitted to work – not even to volunteer.   

During the shutdown, it is illegal for them to minister on base and they risk being arrested if they attempt to do so. 

As an example, if a Catholic family has a Baptism scheduled at the base chapel at Langley AFB this weekend, unless they can locate a priest who is not a GS or contract priest, they should consider it cancelled.    

Likewise, a Marine who attends Sunday Mass at the Quantico Chapel will have to go elsewhere this weekend.  If you are a Catholic stationed in Japan or Korea and are served by a Contract or GS priest, unless you speak Korean or Japanese and can find a church nearby, then you have no choice but to go without Mass this weekend.   

Until the Federal Government resumes normal operations, or an exemption is granted to contract or GS priests, Catholic services are indefinitely suspended at those worldwide installations served by contract and GS priests. 

At a time when the military is considering alternative sources of funding for sporting events at the service academies, no one seems to be looking for funding to ensure the Free Exercise rights of Catholics in uniform. Why not? 

This shutdown impacts Catholics in the military worldwide. In the DC-metro area, it specifically impacts bases like Quantico. On the Facebook page for the Archdiocese, Catholic military members commenting on the story are not happy. Comments include:

“This is outrageous!!! Especially threatening them with arrest to voluntarily do their job.” 

“Unbelievable! I was worried about this because our priest is contracted as well. It is bad enough to be furloughed but to not have a Mass to attend, is a real downer,” 

“Just one example, a couple is getting married tomorrow at a large Air Force Base that is staffed by a Contract priest. That priest did all of their marriage prep, and has gotten to know the couple very well over the past few months. But with the shutdown, he cannot perform their wedding. Instead of the priest that the couple has come to know and love, an active duty priest has to be sent in to perform the wedding of two people who are strangers to him and he to them.” 

” Is anyone up there going to start a protest?! A rosary ?!?!? A nice Catholic riot maybe?! PLEEEAAASSEEE?! SOMEONE?! ANYONE?! Any real Carholics out there?!!!!???!”

 

This is outrageous.  

It is a violation of the First Amendment.  

It is a prohibition of the free exercise of religion to order priests under penalty of arrest that they cannot volunteer their time to offer Mass to the faithful on base.  

This cannot be allowed to stand. 

As of this writing, I have not yet received a response to my inquiry to the Archdiocese for Military Services as to what specific action steps we can take to get this problem addressed. Until we have a path to resolution, please share this story as widely as possible.  

Make people aware that Catholics serving our country are being forcibly denied access to the sacraments.  

These are the lengths the administration and the Democrats in Congress are willing to go to in order to continue inflicting as much pain as possible on the American people during the shutdown. 

UPDATE – 10/4/2013 @ 12:34PM: I received a response from the Military Archdiocese. Mr. Schlageter writes with a correction and additional information from the original release: 

There will be Mass at Quantico because of the terms of service of the contract for the priest at Quantico.  Nonetheless, 3 Masses have been cancelled at local Fort Belvoir.  I have been told but cannot confirm that Mass has been cancelled at the Navy yard.  In one situation a couple that is to be married at an Air Force Base this Saturday and did all of their preparation with a GS priest will now be married by an active duty priest who is being taken in from somewhere else.  This means that the priest that the couple got to know over the past few months will not be able to witness their marriage.   

One priest in Virginia Beach will be celebrating Mass in a local park off base. 

We are also learning that some chapel musicians will not be able to play at Sunday Mass during the furlough. 

I think that the best thing people can do is to get the message out.  I would suggest that they contact their local members of Congress, but in those cases where parishes are located next to a military base that will not have Sunday Mass, that people be kind and welcoming to their military brothers and sisters and their families. 

Please do contact your local member of Congress and welcome our service members into your parishes. And continue to spread the message about these restrictions.  

Fr. Chris Mann says:
October 10, 2013 at 2:10 pm  

I write this as a Catholic priest, a former active duty Marine and a veteran of the Gulf War. in the early 90s. In all three of these capacities, I have been and remain a loyal American, a citizen of the United States of America.  

My relatives have served in every war since the American Revolution, and some have died. Some of my ancestors were immigrants from multiple counties. My great grandmother on my dad’s side was a Native American. Through and through, my blood runs red, white and blue. 

Sadly, many of our politicians don’t seem to know what loyalty means.  

Yet more regrettable is that our president and commander-in-chief is leading the charge–it’s about the only thing he’s leading.  

It was in a Catholic school that I learned to pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America . . . One nation under God. I also went to public school; oddly we did not pledge allegiance there.
In Marine Corps basic training we were drilled to be “Semper fidelis” (always faithful)–faithful to God, to our country and to our Corps–in that order!  

We Marines didn’t always like each other, but we always knew that our brother in arms had our six (our back). Loyalty is inculcated into the moral fabric of every Marine. 

What I learned in Catholic school and in the Marines about loyalty and courage helps me to serve as a priest, and it is becoming more and more necessary to exercise great moral courage to remain “always faithful” both to God and country.  

It used to be that remaining loyal to God did not mean being disloyal to one’s country. One could do both. The trouble is that it’s becoming such that being loyal to God or loyal to country, to be American, are mutually exclusive. This is highlighted by the recent and unreasonable demand that GS and contract priests are not allowed to serve God’s people who just happen to live on a military installation. They can’t even volunteer, and they may even be arrested. 

I could offer a litany of other examples. I’ll only add the Obama Care’s faux conscience exemption and the fact that military chaplains can no longer mention the name of Jesus Christ for fear of being offensive.
I say thank you to all you priests who serve our Marines, Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen! I thank you and pray for you. 

Stay faithful to God and to the true American way we all learned to pledge our allegiance to. Be courageous. Semper Fi! This too shall pass. Politicians come and go. Jesus Christ yesterday, today and forever!

In the Tavern we think it is OUTRAGEOUS ! St Augustine is clear. An unjust Law - that is, one that goes against God's Will-  MUST be disobeyed by men of good conscience.

ALL military Officers and Troops that are catholic MUST disobey.

ALL other non-Catholic Christians MUST support them.

Steve also told us....

 

From the Trenches: Priest Threatened With Arrest, Says Mass in Park 

http://www.catholicvote.org/from-the-trenches-priest-threatened-with-arrest-says-mass-in-park/
 

Despite Saturday’s 400-to-1 House vote in favor, there’s still no word from the Senate on the reinstatement of priests affected by furlough at American military installations. I’ve heard from several current and former service members who have either seen their chapels closed or would have been unable to make it to Sunday Mass without access to alternate transportation. Joshua Mercer mentioned some others this morning. 

Of course, we’ve seen how flexible the shutdown restrictions really are. Despite the theatrical (and in many cases completely unnecessary) closing of national parks, memorials, and monuments, the National Mall was not only opened yesterday, but a giant stage was erected, all to host a pro-immigration rally organized by — you guessed it — friends of the Obama Administration. And naturally, President Obama’s preferred golf course at Andrews Air Force Base remains open, despite the commissary being closed. That the ongoing unnecessary furlough of those serving the spiritual needs of our nation’s service members continues is, simply put, an affront to decency. 

This morning, I got an email from a retired Marine Major whom I know personally.  

A priest he served with — Navy Chaplain Fr. Paul Shaughnessy, S.J. — has been impacted by the furlough, and was threatened with arrest if he celebrated Mass on base.  

Fr. Shaughnessy is assigned to Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story in the Virginia Beach area (formerly NAB Little Creek). According to the base’s website, it is “the major east coast operating base supporting Overseas Contingency Operations”. I’ve also been told that it is a base where at least two Navy SEAL teams are stationed. 

Fr. Shaughnessy is no stranger to conflict. He has served in active combat situations around the world, and his efforts to minister to soldiers caught in a firefight in Iraq were featured in this AOL series, Home of the Brave:

For a man who has offered sacraments under fire, one imagines government bureaucracy is not a very intimidating challenge.  

Undeterred by the restrictions he faced against saying Mass on base, Fr. Shaughnessy found a way to serve the soldiers he is so dedicated to. The following email was sent to chapel parishioners at the base last week: 

“Father Shaughnessy asked me to send you the following which explains the impact of the government shutdown on Mass this weekend on Base. Please give this information to those in your ministries and others in your network of parish members. 

NOTE : If by some miracle Congress ends the government shutdown, then Mass will return to its normal schedule. 

Catholic Mass has been declared non-essential by the Base, so contractor priests are not allowed to perform Mass on military installations during the government shut down. 

I am however required by the Church to conduct a personal Mass daily, so I invite you to join me for an outdoor Mass at Bayville Farms Park Pavilion 1 as I fulfill my religious obligations at:
1730 (5:30pm) Saturday Oct 5
0900 (9am) Sunday Oct 6
1230 p.m. Sunday October 6 

Father Paul Shaughnessy, S.J.

All I can say is, GOOD FOR FR. SHAUGHNESSY! But note the language: “If by some miracle Congress ends the government shutdown, then Mass will return to its normal schedule.” Because that’s what Catholics on base have to pray for to get their sacraments back. I’ve heard rumblings that some military chaplains feel as though they are being increasingly targeted under this administration. Creative priests like Fr. Shaughnessy are finding ways to fulfill their priestly obligations without directly violating the legal restrictions put in their way, but it shouldn’t have to come to that. 

Some have argued that no priest would be arrested for celebrating Mass, and that the ADA has never been very strictly enforced. That priests are reporting being directly threatened with arrest tells us that this time, it’s different. We’ve already seen veterans arrested for refusing to leave a war memorial in New York – not the first time it’s happened, but a particularly sensitive issue with news of the barricades and police presence in place to keep our veterans away from memorials in their honor.  

A jogger was fined $100 for just running through Valley Forge. Private businesses and homeowners that lease space or have property on federal land are being barricaded and kept from doing business or even going home. Cones were placed along the side of the road near Mount Rushmore to keep motorists from pulling over to view the monument when passing by.  

Parts of the Florida Bay have been closed down to boats and fishermen. The Grand Canyon is closed despite the State of Arizona offering to pay to keep it open. Evidently they’ve found enough staff to fine people for entering the park, however. 

These draconian measures are intended to inflict pain on the American people. Just as the President tried to talk down the markets last week — an extremely irresponsible thing to do for a man warning about the impact of US economic actions on the global financial system — his administration and those who side with his stance of “we will not negotiate” continue to rebuff attempts to restore normalcy and ease the pressure on those most impacted by the ongoing partial shutdown.

We need to keep the pressure on them. Keep sharing these stories with your friends and social networks, keep contacting your members of Congress, keep fighting the good fight. This is a critical time. We need to stand together.

 

 

The Barbarians are here. But the Gates of Hell itself shall not prevail against us.