After mass on Sunday an unhinged man tried to use his obtuseness to try and pick a fight with me. It did not work. My homily about not changing the word of God into something it is not was apparently lost on him. Society and God’s truth often clash. The abortion issue is one of those things that clash with truth, as does assisted suicide. First off they are not political issue they are moral issue. There are a lot of people who do not understand that or do not care. I also touched on suicide of Brittany Maynard who committed suicide with the blessings of her mother, step-father, husband and the state of Oregon. She was applauded for her bravery, taking control of her situation and dying with dignity. RUBBISH! She wasn’t brave she was a coward, and her family were ghoulish enablers. When Robin Williams, Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain committed suicide it was reported as a series of great tragedies. Kate Spade was a high-end designer who combined sleek, utilitarian shapes and colorful palettes in an entirely new way. She also had battled crippling depression. She was 55. Anthony Bourdain was called the “original rock star” of the culinary world. This made Anthony Bourdain’s death all the more tragic. He continued to struggle with his mental health throughout his life. He was 61 years old. After suffering for many years from depression, paranoia, memory loss and insomnia, Williams died by suicide at his home in Paradise Cay, California. Over the length of his career, he was awarded the Grammy, several Emmy’s and an Academy Award. He was given many tributes by fellow performers and others in the industry he worked in after his suicide. He was 63 years old when he died. So I must ask why was Ms. Maynard, celebrated as brave and applauded by many for her suicide, while Kate Spade, Anthony Bourdain and Robin Williams suicides were looked at as tragedies? Would they have been less tragic if the state allowed their deaths, or a physician were involved? Now let’s look at the issue of abortion. Once again it is not a political issue although it has been made into one. Nor is it a religious issue per se. It is a moral issue…a life issue. So when is killing a child something to be celebrated? Yet there are people who do celebrate it. DEMONIC! And now in the history of our so-called civilization there are people screaming for the “right” to kill an unborn child up until the moment of birth. DEMONIC! And what is even more disturbing and DEMONIC is the call for letting a baby born alive after a failed abortion attempt get no medical treatment and die. I don’t care what you call it or the reason for it, in actuality letting a baby outside of the womb die is called infanticide. If the mother does not want the baby there are plenty of people who do. So at this point in our society there is no respect for life. That leads me back to the unhinged and obtuse man and his rant about gun violence. If a society has devalued the lives of the sick and the unborn, (or born alive after a botched abortion), wouldn’t it be logical that there are mass shootings because there is a greatly diminished respect for life. So shooting an adult, a teenager or a child means nothing to the perpetrator…because respect for life has been greatly diminished and means nothing. I would never own a gun not that I believe it is wrong or immoral but because I am a person who constantly loses his wallet, keys, phone and glasses. Could you imagine me with a gun. People ask, why does it keep happening? Well, what do you expect in a country that has cheapened the meaning of life for years. This leads to other issues against life…less final I admit, but still Demonic. Of course, I am going to leap to the Church and the sexual abuse issue. If you respect life you are not going to molest children, use your position of power against children or other adults, twist the word of God to justify sin or ignore it totally. There are other issues I know but my own obtuseness blinds me. I do have to say that global warming, poverty, joblessness do not rise to the issues of abortion and suicide. They are in a different category. But the Church and her weak response not only to the issue of sexual molestation by clergy but also to any sexual relationships that clergy are involved in and other abuses they may have participated in. I know this is going to be hard to believe but there are some priests, some of them bishops, who twist and change the word of God and allow error to run roughshod over truth. And lest we forget there is only one truth, and that truth can be acted upon by anyone of good will. But there is still only one truth.