Blogs4Life and Me
As I mentioned before I left, I attended the Blogs4Life conference in Washington last Monday.
Several of the others bloggers present have already blogged on it – many on the day of it, while I’m about 8 days late. And blogging is supposed to be about instant news media!
It was fascinating to meet so many bloggers from so many different roles, religions and backgrounds. Blogging is a much more potent force in American life than here and it was interesting to observe how strongly so many of those present felt about blogging as a personal ministry especially when the blogger was evangelical Christian. I don’t think Catholics, or Irish people for that matter tend to think about “ministry” in their personal lives – well I don’t anyway.
A few things stood out for me –
1. My blogging hero, Kathryn Jean Lopez, of NRO’s The Corner was due to attend (the main reason I attended at all!), but she couldn’t because she had the flu and telephoned in instead. She chatted about her blogging and how the Corner evolved (basically someone in an editorial meeting said they should try something new, and 2 million visitors a month later they’re one of the most respected blogs around) She was pretty cool and sounded really nice and down-to-earth.
2. The makers of A Distant Thunder, Jonathan and Deborah Flora, a new 35 minute film on partial birth abortion, spoke about their supernatural court room thriller. It looked kinda scary but very challenging – check out the trailer.
3. Charmaine Yoest, blogger and organiser of the conference, played a clip originally posted to the FRCblog from an abortion clinic in Kansas. It was a 911 call from an abortion clinic worker regarding a Christin Gilbert, a 19-year old with Downs Syndrome who had returned to the clinic after an abortion, bleeding. She was now unconscious and the clinic worker refused to tell the emergency operator what was wrong with the woman. She also requested that the ambulance use “no sirens, no lights”. Listen to it yourself here.
I was horrified to think that an abortion clinic worker could be so remiss in her basic duty as a human being, to delay 40sec on a 911 call while a woman lay bleeding and unconscious. Christin later died. May she rest in peace.
I disagree with the concept of Operation Rescue, a pro-life group who monitor abortion clinics and do street counselling – I feel that there are more democratic and reasonable ways to defend the most basic human right of all, the right to life, but they may have a role in a culture where health care workers at abortion clinic are more worried about their reputation than actually providing a professional and caring service.
Check out a few other Bloggers4Life = LaShawn Barber (who published a column that day at townhall about Margaret Sanger’s racist tendencies); Faithmouse, a cartoonist who was at the conference with his lovely wife and ProLifeBlogs, a pro life blog aggregator.
Several of the others bloggers present have already blogged on it – many on the day of it, while I’m about 8 days late. And blogging is supposed to be about instant news media!
It was fascinating to meet so many bloggers from so many different roles, religions and backgrounds. Blogging is a much more potent force in American life than here and it was interesting to observe how strongly so many of those present felt about blogging as a personal ministry especially when the blogger was evangelical Christian. I don’t think Catholics, or Irish people for that matter tend to think about “ministry” in their personal lives – well I don’t anyway.
A few things stood out for me –
1. My blogging hero, Kathryn Jean Lopez, of NRO’s The Corner was due to attend (the main reason I attended at all!), but she couldn’t because she had the flu and telephoned in instead. She chatted about her blogging and how the Corner evolved (basically someone in an editorial meeting said they should try something new, and 2 million visitors a month later they’re one of the most respected blogs around) She was pretty cool and sounded really nice and down-to-earth.
2. The makers of A Distant Thunder, Jonathan and Deborah Flora, a new 35 minute film on partial birth abortion, spoke about their supernatural court room thriller. It looked kinda scary but very challenging – check out the trailer.
3. Charmaine Yoest, blogger and organiser of the conference, played a clip originally posted to the FRCblog from an abortion clinic in Kansas. It was a 911 call from an abortion clinic worker regarding a Christin Gilbert, a 19-year old with Downs Syndrome who had returned to the clinic after an abortion, bleeding. She was now unconscious and the clinic worker refused to tell the emergency operator what was wrong with the woman. She also requested that the ambulance use “no sirens, no lights”. Listen to it yourself here.
I was horrified to think that an abortion clinic worker could be so remiss in her basic duty as a human being, to delay 40sec on a 911 call while a woman lay bleeding and unconscious. Christin later died. May she rest in peace.
I disagree with the concept of Operation Rescue, a pro-life group who monitor abortion clinics and do street counselling – I feel that there are more democratic and reasonable ways to defend the most basic human right of all, the right to life, but they may have a role in a culture where health care workers at abortion clinic are more worried about their reputation than actually providing a professional and caring service.
Check out a few other Bloggers4Life = LaShawn Barber (who published a column that day at townhall about Margaret Sanger’s racist tendencies); Faithmouse, a cartoonist who was at the conference with his lovely wife and ProLifeBlogs, a pro life blog aggregator.
Labels: Bioethics
posted by Auds | 22:37
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