Dear Fernando,
The World Congress of Families (WCF) in Australia was a great success. The first day of the Congress our amazing Family Watch team, led by Annie Franklin, premiered for the first time in Australia our documentary “Cultural Imperialism: The Sexual Rights Agenda,” which was very well received.
A nongovernmental organization (NGO) leader from South Africa interviewed me about “Cultural Imperialism,” which he said he will be putting on his TV station right before he airs the entire documentary to millions of viewers throughout Africa. He reported that the few people he has already showed the documentary to say “Cultural Imperialism” opened their eyes to threats they did not know about previously, has helped them to see more clearly, and has encouraged them to counteract the threats to the family in their areas.
Our Family Watch team also staffed our Family Watch booth (special thanks to Laural Bills and Kimberly Ells, who has just become the president of Family Watch’s new Utah chapter) where people from all around the world signed our “I Stand for the Family Petition,” and many picked up copies of our documentaries and our book.
I am excited to announce that we screened the final cut of our new documentary “Understanding Same-Sex Attraction,” which features the testimony of four men and their successful journey in overcoming their unwanted same-sex attraction as well as experts in the field who soundly debunk the widespread “born that way and can’t change“ myth. This documentary was also very well received, and many came up to our booth afterward looking for copies so they could share this important information in their countries. The documentary will soon be available on our website.
I was invited to speak in one of the workshops on United Nations issues and to be on a panel in one of the main plenary sessions. In my presentation on “The Human Rights Agenda and the War on the Family,” I described how legitimate rights like the right to life are being manipulated and distorted to promote an anti-family, anti-life agenda in policymaking venues across the world, but especially at the UN.
A prime example of this was the report issued just this past week by the UN’s alleged expert or Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health. Mr. Grover basically said in his recent report to the UN Human Rights Council (see A/HRC/23/41) that in order to fulfill the right to health, nations must legalize abortion and sex work (prostitution), under the banner of alleged “sexual and reproductive health and rights.”
On the flight home I had a conversation with a Catholic priest who was sitting next to me. He counsels women of different faiths before and after they have abortions. I was surprised when he related that a number of the women who decide to go ahead with the abortion ask him to bless the aborted baby afterward.
I tried to imagine this, but I couldn’t wrap my mind around it. I asked him what happens if the body of the baby has been dismembered, as is often in case during the abortion procedure. He said they always have it wrapped up neatly where he can only see the head and that the blessings he gives really don’t do anything for the baby but is more to help the parents who many times have regretted the abortion after it is done.
The priest told me that a number of women don’t want to talk to a priest or are sometimes wary of him because they don’t have the same beliefs. I gave him a copy of our book and showed him the section on abortion, which describes in detail different abortion procedures and lists the numerous complications that can hurt the women who choose abortion. He said he would love to use it in his work. He agreed that some of the women that don’t respond to a religious approach may respond to the facts about abortion presented in the book.
After we had talked for some time, he told me his flight the previous day had been cancelled and the airline had just told him to come to the airport to catch the flight we were on. He felt that it was meant to be that we sat next to each other and had this conversation. I told him I didn’t believe in coincidences either.
As with all the World Congress of Families meetings we have helped sponsor, this one in Sydney was a huge success. The next one is scheduled in Moscow in 2014, and I hope that any of you who might be able to attend will begin to make plans to do so. I promise it will be a worthwhile and rewarding experience.
