Topic category:  Other/General

Rev. Msgr. Ellsworth R. Walden, pastor of St.Patrick's Church in Smithtown, New York, is a man of faith who watched the second presidential debate and then wrote the following for publication in his church bulletin:

"From the Pastor's Desk:

"Who and what we are is known by our thoughts, actions and words. One of the purposes of the debates between the candidates for president and vice-president of our nation is to help us to know who they are and what they stand for. In preparing to vote we need to have as much knowledge about who it is that we are seeking to lead our nation. It is not enough to allow the media to tell us what they think. As we watched the first presidential debate in the rectory we changed from the channel that had three score circles on each side of the screen. What the commentators think is not as important as what we think and believe. In a book I am starting to read now, Render Unto Caesar, with the blurb on the cover that says, 'serving the nation by living our Catholic beliefs in political life' by Charles Chaput, in chapter eight, 'Conscience and Cowardice,' it says, 'The news media that shape our views, however, have much more power than in the past. Americans now spend large parts of the day watching television, listening to the radio, or exploring the internet. More books than ever are in print, but serious reading has declined...We should know how the media work and how they work in us.' Later in this chapter Chaput says the media have two flaws: 'First in their immersive effect, they obscure large amounts of important information they don’t communicate. The need for brevity creates an artificial need for simplicity. Facts that don’t fit within the forms of appetites of the media get ignored. Second, in their persuasive effect, the new media instruct the public on how to think and what they need.' 'To survive, American democracy depends on people of character fighting for their beliefs in the public square - legally, ethically and nonviolently, but forcefully and without apology. Anything less is a form of theft from the nation’s health.'

"I only saw the last fifteen minutes of the vice-presidential debate. I was thoroughly disappointed by a statement from Senator Biden in response to what he changed or saw as an accomplishment in his career as a Senator. Biden recounted how he presided over the U.S. Supreme Court nomination of Robert Bork in 1987. He held up as a good that he did his rejection of Bork because his presence on the Supreme Court might overturn Roe vs. Wade, the legalization of abortion. Biden says he is a Catholic and carries rosary beads in his pocket. That is a great inconsistency and a scandal, as well as an example of not adhering and defending to what we believe as Catholics. It is never good, and in fact evil and sinful, to promote what is intrinsically evil, which abortion clearly is. In Luke 17:1-3 Jesus says, 'Obstacles are sure to come, but alas for the one who provides them! It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone around his neck than that he should lead astray a single one of these little ones. Watch yourselves!' Harming the most innocent and vulnerable among us is an intrinsic evil. Jesus uses this image to make it clear. The 'choice' for abortion takes a life and psychologically hurts the one having it done, and hardens the hearts of those who perform them. It is not up to us to condemn anyone, but those who promote and support this evil are putting their salvation in jeopardy and undermining the moral character of our nation. Jesus does not mince words in the above quote.

"To put abortion, the unjust and evil taking of human life, into perspective within the last 100 years:

Under the leadership of Adolf Hitler 11 million people were put to death: 6 million Jews and 5 million others that included gypsies, the handicapped, and people singled out for religious or political beliefs or sexual orientation.

Under Josef Stalin in the 1930s and 1940s between 20 and 40 million people were killed.

Under Pol Pot in Cambodia from 1975-79 two million people were killed.

Under Saddam Hussein in Iraq up to 290,000 were killed. Under Slobodan Milosevic in Bosnia, Croatia and Kosovo more than 100,000 were killed.

All of these men are seen in history as horrors. Yet what they did pales in comparison to what the leadership of our nation has made legal. Since January 22, 1973 more than 44 million children have been killed through abortion. This coming election day we have the choice to elect those who openly support this evil or to send them a clear message that their rhetoric and efforts to defend abortion must stop. How much longer will we allow our ignominious place in the history of the human race to be solidified?

"On July 16, 1977 Archbishop Oscar Romero said, 'Not just purgatory but hell awaits those who could have done good and did not do it. It is the reverse of the beatitude that the Bible has for those who are saved, for the saints, who could have done wrong and did not. Of those who are condemned it will be said: They could have done good and did not.'"

Father Walden is an exemplary priest.

Michael J. Gaynor

Biography - Michael J. Gaynor

Michael J. Gaynor has been practicing law in New York since 1973. A former partner at Fulton, Duncombe & Rowe and Gaynor & Bass, he is a solo practitioner admitted to practice in New York state and federal courts and an Association of the Bar of the City of New York member.

Gaynor graduated magna cum laude, with Honors in Social Science, from Hofstra University's New College, and received his J.D. degree from St. John's Law School, where he won the American Jurisprudence Award in Evidence and served as an editor of the Law Review and the St. Thomas More Institute for Legal Research. He wrote on the Pentagon Papers case for the Review and obscenity law for The Catholic Lawyer and edited the Law Review's commentary on significant developments in New York law.

The day after graduating, Gaynor joined the Fulton firm, where he focused on litigation and corporate law. In 1997 Gaynor and Emily Bass formed Gaynor & Bass and then conducted a general legal practice, emphasizing litigation, and represented corporations, individuals and a New York City labor union. Notably, Gaynor & Bass prevailed in the Second Circuit in a seminal copyright infringement case, Tasini v. New York Times, against newspaper and magazine publishers and Lexis-Nexis. The U.S. Supreme Court affirmed, 7 to 2, holding that the copyrights of freelance writers had been infringed when their work was put online without permission or compensation.

Gaynor currently contributes regularly to www.MichNews.com, www.RenewAmerica.com, www.WebCommentary.com, www.PostChronicle.com and www.therealitycheck.org and has contributed to many other websites. He has written extensively on political and religious issues, notably the Terry Schiavo case, the Duke "no rape" case, ACORN and canon law, and appeared as a guest on television and radio. He was acknowledged in Until Proven Innocent, by Stuart Taylor and KC Johnson, and Culture of Corruption, by Michelle Malkin. He appeared on "Your World With Cavuto" to promote an eBay boycott that he initiated and "The World Over With Raymond Arroyo" (EWTN) to discuss the legal implications of the Schiavo case. On October 22, 2008, Gaynor was the first to report that The New York Times had killed an Obama/ACORN expose on which a Times reporter had been working with ACORN whistleblower Anita MonCrief.

Gaynor's email address is gaynormike@aol.com.