According to these a-holes, helping to relieve the crushing poverty, starvation, diseases and other evils of overpopulation creates is a sin.
Pro-Lifers Against Buffett-Gates Alliance
Warren Buffett’s new philanthropic alliance with fellow billionaire Bill Gates won widespread praise this week, but anti-abortion activists did not join in, instead assailing the two donors for their longtime support of Planned Parenthood and international birth-control programs.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, to which Buffett has pledged the bulk of his $44-billion fortune, devotes the vast majority of its funding to combating disease and poverty in developing countries. Less than 1 percent has gone to Planned Parenthood over the years.
“The merger of Gates and Buffett may spell doom for the families of the developing world,” said the Rev. Thomas Euteneuer, a Roman Catholic priest who is president of Human Life International.
Referring to Josef Mengele, the infamous Nazi death camp doctor, Euteneuer said Buffett “will be known as the Dr. Mengele of philanthropy unless he repents.”
Wow,
mac zealots and the religious right have something in common…….
Rob
I think this guy doesnt speak for the rest of the Catholic world..
I don’t think they’re attacking them for ‘relieving crushing poverty,’ but for paying for abortions. It’s also silly to suggest that’s what’s causing poverty.
These people never cease to amaze me. They make their little signs and wave them in front of abortion clinics, claiming that doctors and women are murderers. Then on Sunday morning they go to church and worship a god that they claim supported bloody wars and caused a genocidal flood that killed the same fetuses they fight so hard to protect.
The greatest gift of religion is to blind you to your own hyposcrisy. Sweet indeed is the deep slumber of the “righteous.”
Only to be expected from these lunatics, surely.
So what do you suppose is the likelihood that this will result in a push to adopt Linux in order to boycott MS?
I can’t imagine Rome has much alternative to releasing a statement like this — but I also tend to suspect that other groups may use the “merger” as an opportunity to get ink for the anti-abortion message.
Would be good to be wrong — an increase in charitable giving would have a decent shot at offsetting the effect, given that such a modest portion of the Gates Foundation’s dough has been spent for family planning. Sure, it might eat into funds that otherwise would go towards condemning homosexual flag burning, but life is difficult that way. Supposedly there’s a plan involved in all of this, so it should make sense to somebody. Eventually.
Why is this hard to understand? The abortion debate has been taken over by politicians and the simple argument is lost.
For people who believe that a fetus is a person (whether they are religious or not), having an abortion = killing a person. so whether the money is used for 1 million abortions, or to pay for someone to go in and arbitrarily kill 1 million people they view this as the same. See? simple to understand why they would be pissed….
Now, someone who doesn’t feel a fetus is a person, doesn’t have the above issue. They feel that preventing 1 million lives (and therefore conserving resources) is a very good way to help prevent poverty.
If people on both sides of this issue would simply look at this issue for the other’s perspective, maybe we could have some civil dialog about it.
k — nice try on the straw man. Except, the nutcases put contraception under the same heading as abortion. And they never support a woman’s right to choose.
You’re the one stuck with dubious allies and ideology from the Dark Ages.
Kenneth Boulding’s Dismal Theorem is this: when the only limits on population growth are starvation and misery, then the population will grow until it is starving and miserable.
Contraception, family planning, and abortion are limiters of population that come before starvation and misery. To the extent that the Catholic Church successfully opposes these limiters, then, it is on the hook for the resulting starvation and misery.
Viva la Foundation! Down with the Church!
I’ve never had any difficulty understanding the argument “from the other point of view”, I’ve just never seen any means of supporting that view.
The only one who can speak for Catholics is the guy with the funny hat.
Funny Hat Boy doesn’t speak for the Catholics I know.
IF they are offering abortion as a solution to poverty, why stop at killing the unborn? why not kill the poor born too? no poor people no poverty, right?
“Contraception, family planning, and abortion are limiters of population that come before starvation and misery. ”
some people might have choosen miserable life over no life at all.
my concern is that we oughtn’t bring our culture upon others until we can decide as a nation whether our culture is good, its reckless.
Until they solve the root political and societal problems in some of these countries, most of this aid money is wasted.
Good article by Walter Williams
http://townhall.com/opinion/columns/walterwilliams/2006/06/27/202718.html
[deleted]
Information and control is our greatest gifts.
being able to control Aids, birthrates, syphilis, STD’d, and population controls, CAN be a marvealous thing.
SHIP these persons to THOSE countries, and SEE what they think of living in a BOX SLUM with 1 million others in a 10 mile radius…
about the crime rates, rape murder, and so forth. about the LACk of ground to grow crops.
Did they say that or are you using up your 15 seconds of fame??
#16
“…IF they are offering abortion as a solution to poverty, why stop at killing the unborn?…”
Straw-men-are-us.
Here’s to fostering “understanding” — solely to the extent it furthers our own views, however.
to woktiny (#14), who says “some people might have choosen miserable life over no life at all.”
Just because we have concepts like “person-who-would-be-born-if-no-contraception-were-used” doesn’t mean that there IS A PERSON there. That “person” cannot be considered worthy of moral consideration. “They” have no desires, no preferences, nothing, because there is no “them”.
Thought experiment: A couple locked in a box for ten years with ten years worth of food. Should they procreate? It would mean an increase in starvation and misery. But if you consider the hypothetical offspring as worthy of moral consideration, you MUST answer yes.
I actually do understand the anti-abortion POV, but don’t go on that abortion is actually murder – it has never been punished as murder, and even now the penalty in S.D. for an abortion is nowhere near close to the penalty for murder.
and if a fertilized egg is a person, aren’t all those frozen embryos wrongfully imprisoned?
A woman goes to an abortion clinic, has an abortion, and, according to some, a child dies. With abortion outlawed desperate women will still have abortions, but instead of a clean, professional clinic the lady avails herself of the services of a back alley butcher and two people die.
The lessons of Prohibition and the damned insane “War On Drugs” have all gone unlearned: Human nature cannot be legislated.
I agree with the Reverend.
Third world family planning encourages protection from transmitting life-threatening sexually transmitted diseases like AIDS. It protects poor African girls who have 80% chance of getting raped from having to carry, bear and raise the child of their rapist.
Certainly, the morally responsible thing to do is to force poor girls to live a shortened, painful life fighting HIV (because it is very difficult to get access to HIV drugs) in which she gives birth to and raises her HIV-infected baby (who will die soon) of her rapist. I am SURE that is what Jesus would do.
(pls use tinyurl.com for long urls)
Did my last post get deleted?
[yes read the comment guidelines]
Perhaps the most appropriate thing that could be said of your article, David, is that Quentin Crisp would have loved it.
14 my concern is that we oughtn’t bring our culture upon others until we can decide as a nation whether our culture is good, its reckless.
Which part of “our culture” oughtn’t we bring upon others?
a. Abstinence only
b. Contraceptives and/or abortions
c. All of the above
… and good luck on us deciding anything “as a nation” – if the last few Presidential elections are any indication.
The instinct for the human species to reproduce or go through the motions of copulation will never be tamed, or controlled in any meaningful way, by the Pope or any other control freak.
The realistic approach is to deal with the variables in a practical way (sex education, birth control, disabilities, adoption and abortion) and provide a compassionate solutions on a case by case basis.
Not everyone believes there is a god. If you personally believe that a fetus has a soul and shouldn’t be killed, then choose accordingly. You have no right to force your beliefs onto someone else. The point at which a pregnancy should not be aborted should be determined by the segment of society that condones it, and all religions should speak only for themselves.
These Religious Zealots should by law have the word CRAZY tatooed on their head, or they should where a big red letter M on their chest for Moron.
Their body, their choice, we provide options, they provide decisions. It is not up to us to tell them to have a child or kill an unborn fetus or whatever.
I’m Donald… and I’m a FREEDOM loving person… from Canada… and Mac user… who thinks Gates is doing a good job.
For those who think an unborn child is just some kind of dubious appendage of the mother that doesn’t really count as human, just experience a premature baby looking at you at 28 weeks – like I had. Surprise… you may not see a foetus, but they’re human all right, even at 28 weeks. Then tell me its ok to terminate them at 35 weeks for the sake of convenience or legal entitlement.
RBG
Their parents where against abortion also (Think about it)…………….
Fine its ok to be pro life if thats what you believe in however not everyone feels the same way especially a woman that was raped. or a child that has no education or future….geese the list goes on….
Why do they read so deep into everything the two richiest men on the planet are giving away their life fortune to help society…..
Remind me not to invite Anti abortionists to my parties….Only Wind up dolls with Morning after pills welcome.