A TrueMan Fighting the Pro-Life Fight

There’s no question in my mind that abortion is a man’s issue.  I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again… if males were handling our business, women wouldn’t feel the need for abortion.  If we want the issue of abortion to go away, and for women, men, and children to receive healing, we must step up and fight.

One of my friends, my buddies, my other-brother-from-Our-Blessed-Mother is on the front lines of this battle, and I want to highlight him, his wife, his kids, and the people who are, literally, running along side him.  This man has a new role that he’s gearing up for as President of the Vitae Foundation, and on top of all of that, he is one of our nation’s heroes, an officer in the United States Air Force.

This man’s name is Lt. Col Pat Castle, PhD., and I’m blessed to know him and call him ‘brother’.  Several years ago, Pat and a few of his closest friends started a pro-life running ministry called “LIFE Runners“.  LIFE Runners has gone worldwide and has runners all over the place; running, praying, and raising money to end abortion.  It’s so powerful, they even convinced my non-running-self to run in the inaugural A+Cross America Relay.

Pat is relentless in his pursuits!  He is first and foremost a son of God, and a great husband, and a great father, and with great passion that never stops he is relentless in fighting the evil of abortion.  Vitae has honored him with the new role as President of the foundation, a great honor and a perfect spot for him to land after his long and illustrious Air Force career.  (Read about Pat and his VF role.)  Pat retires at the end of the month.

If you want to be inspired, and encouraged as a man who is willing to fight abortion, I’d get involved with Vitae, join LIFE Runners, and get Pat’s emails.  Everytime I hear from him, see something he posts, or see the aftermath that he leaves behind (GOOD aftermath!), I am undoubtedbly inspired.  Pat’s energy and efforts are effective.  There is no wasting time, no messin’ around… he gets the job done.

For all that you do and especially for the TrueMan that you are, HIGH FIVE to you, Pat!

TrueMan up!

Vikings – Filled with Faith, and Masculinity

Early on when I heard about the show “Vikings” on the History Channel, I was very intrigued.  When I watched the first episode on our Roku, it unfortunately lost me fairly quickly.  My first impressions were that the acting was subpar, and the accents were pretty distracting.  At the prompting of my good friend Jared Zimmerer, I gave it another chance and watched episode two.  Something about it began to reel me in and I have subsequently watched all of the episodes to date.

I’m intrigued by the story for many reasons.  I’ve finally decided to blog about it now especially because of the most recent episode called “Boneless”.  Vikings is the story of Earl Ragnar Lothbrok (a legendary Norse ruler), his conquests, his family, and the general life and happenings of the “Northmen.”  I enjoy watching the fight scenes, which are pretty decent.  I also enjoy the drama between the various leaders, the imagery between good & bad, right & wrong, the marriages and relationships, but there are two very impressive themes that keep me coming back.

The first is how much the show’s writers and the actors have incorporated faith into the show.  The Vikings are referred to as pagans, but that’s not what comes across the screen.  The Vikings come across, to me, as being very faithful.  They are polytheistic, but they are constantly thinking about, speaking about, and invoking their gods.  This is not something often celebrated in our culture.  Faith, especially of warriors, is often seen as unnecessary and as a weakness.  Clearly, these Viking warriors invoke their gods, and find need to be in prayer, sacrifice, and worship of their gods.  It’s hard at times to watch because they believe that their gods call for murderous, ravenous, barbaric behavior, and a crude form of justice, so naturally it doesn’t lineup with Christianity.  One flaw, typical of Hollywood… the element that shows Christians in a horrible light – as weak, superstitious dummies, incapable of personal thought and masculine leadership.  Besides that, though, I’m impressed.

I find it very interesting that faith is found as such an important and normal part of their lives.  That’s what I want to highlight… their faith that is all-encompassing.  They think about their gods constantly.  It is engrained in the show by being engrained into the lives of the characters.  The characters are constantly talking about their gods, and the imagery shows that.

The second point, and maybe even more important, is how pro-life the show is.  It seems a contrast to a barbaric, ravenous people, but in this last episode, the wife of Earl Ragnar gives birth to a child that has a limb that apparently doesn’t function fully.  They don’t really show it exactly, but they refer to him as a ‘runt’.  At one point, Ragnar discusses with his wife about the child never having a full life, and asking the question “what could his life possibly amount to?”  The wife says, “Yes, you are correct, but I love him.”  She gives the child a chance.

There’s a scene where, during the night, Ragnar goes into where the baby is sleeping, and he takes him, walking out near the river.  As a viewer, I was spellbound, questioning what Ragnar was going to do.  He takes out his hatchet, and it looks like he’s going to kill his son, saying “there is no other way.”  The scene cuts away to Ragnar walking away from his son, leaving the viewer wondering.  This is a symbol, to me, of parents who feel like they have no other option when it comes to abortion.  There is seemingly nothing else they can.  It turns out that Ragnar didn’t kill his child, but rather, he chose life!  Even though it was incredibly difficult for him to do, he chose life!

I think it’s interesting, in our culture, that is so pro-death, so ready to discard the humans that appear to be less-than, that this show would embrace faith and would embrace concepts of masculinity (albeit flawed, tremendously), but it embraces life.  The concepts of masculinity are interwoven throughout, especially the topics of being a husband, a father, a friend, a brother, a worker/provider, a warrior, and a follower of God.   I will continue to watch.

Note: There are some potentially scandalous parts of this show, specific to sexuality.  You may choose not to watch because of that.

TrueMan up!

Because I’m Happy

Recently, World Down Syndrome Day was celebrated to bring awareness, and as an attempt at equality for those who have Down Syndrome (DS), and for those who live and work with people with DS.  I missed posting this information that day, but better late than never.

Why am I deciding to write on this topic, something seemingly distant from authentic masculinity?  I’m not the father, brother, cousin, or neighbor of someone with DS.  Why do I care?  Because, as with most social discourse, men play a vital role in doing what is right and for protecting innocent life.  In a culture that talks highly of equality, “tolerance”, and “not judging”, it’s amazingly sad to me that somehow it is acceptable to discriminate because someone looks and acts differently than you or I.

For those who may not know, Down Syndrome is a naturally occurring chromosomal arrangement; humans with 47 chromosomes (as opposed to the “normal” 46) have Down Syndrome.  Regardless of the medical side of things, we know something very important – people are people, and every human person deserves the right to life.  (Watch this awesome video giving you a tiny glimpse into the joy of life lived vigorously.  Watch it closely – it is pertinent to the discussion.)

Many (seemingly countless) pregnancies are terminated because the baby is thought or believed to have DS.  My own niece was one of these babies “thought to have Down’s” – and the doctors were wrong.  They were simply guessing, but advised the parents to terminate.  Thank God that my sister-in-law wouldn’t consider abortion. 

So here’s where the authentic masculinity comes in.  Males – be TrueMen, and stand up for life.  Defend the most vulnerable among us, and put an end to abortion-on-demand, especially for ridiculous reasons like “the quality of life of this child will not be suitable for every day living” or “they won’t be normal” or “it will be difficult to raise this child.”  If you happen to be SO BLESSED to be a father of a child with Down Syndrome, embrace the gift that God has given you.  Look at the parents of the babies in the video… they have true joy at the life and love that is their child.

It is amazing to me, how pro-life (from natural conception to natural death) our small middle-of-nowhere town is.  We have several families with children with DS, and if you asked any of them, they will tell you how radically changed they are, for the better, because of their child.  In a time in our culture where people with DS are considered diseased, sick, worthless, and/or a burden on society, we see families here embracing their gift.  A friend of ours recently told my wife, “When we first found out that our daughter had DS, I wondered what God was doing and why He chose me for this path.  Now, I realize that she’s the blessing that I needed.”

Some of you already know that I have a long-standing offer, but I will re-offer now, and certainly many more times during my lifetime.  I promise that this offer is not about me – but rather, about the babies.  The offer: if you, or someone you run into, is considering abortion, but are willing to discuss not murdering your child, even for one simple phone call discussion, I pledge to adopt your child, love them as their biological father, and pay for all of your pregnancy expenses.  This offer includes babies with Down Syndrome.  Spread the word – your baby deserves a loving family – let us help you.  I will do this for countless babies, if only to save their lives.

TrueMan up!

A Priest, A Rabbi, and a Lawyer – Civil Liberties Under (Blatant) Attack

Here’s a pretty good video about the HHS “Healthcare” Mandate.  If you haven’t seen the previous post from Archbishop Dolan, please click HERE to watch that video and read that post first, then watch this video.

They fail, in my opinion, to really distinguish one of the biggest problems here.  Yes, the cover the civil liberty assault well, and

certainly the Rabbi spoke well about this not being a Catholic-only issue, and so forth.  However, what they fail to mention is that there is a fundamental difference between what the Catholic Church teaches on contraception, sterilization and abortion versus the idea of “women’s health.”  No matter how it is spun, even by medical doctors (OB/GYNs at the forefront), contraception, sterilization, and abortion ARE not healthcare… they hurt women and kill babies.

For those in favor of this mandate, they state issues about, as the press secretary did over and over in his press conference, “increasing access to these important preventative services.”  This is their attempt at watering down the mandate so that it seems as though it won’t really effect that many people.  This is a lie and is a blatant one at that.

Men – as you see this Priest, Rabbi, and Lawyer doing, you must also do.  You must stand against the attacks that are befalling our country, our communities, our women and children, and our Church.  This must end.

TrueMan up!

Black and Pro-Life – Awesome Video!

I just saw this awesome video from the National Black Pro-Life Coalition (BlackandProLife.org).  Take 60 seconds and watch it.  It is true and profound.  Just because I am not black does not mean that I cannot stand up against this blatant racism and extermination of my fellow Americans.  Let our voice be heard, ABORTION MUST STOP!

Black men – I want to direct your attention to something.  You can play a vital role in the end to abortion!  Your role may be THE most important.  The statistics do not lie.  Stand up for women and children and fight to stop abortion now!

TrueMan up!

“The Day You Give Birth Is the Day Your…”

“The day you give birth is the day your opinion should matter!” screamed a young female passerby. Really? Is that all this is to you, a bunch of opinions? Really?

This was just one of the many negative comments we received yesterday while praying outside of the Planned Parenthood murder mill here in Colorado Springs. I was out with my buddy Joe, a pro-life giant – faithful to prayer and protest outside of Planned Parenthood EVERY Friday afternoon. On the outside, Joe is mild-mannered, calm and prayerful. Inside, I sense that he’s a raging bull! The fury that rages inside him, because of the injustices against the thousands of innocent unborn babies that are brutally murdered every day in the US (nearly 4,000 babies per day!), is tempered by the Holy Spirit and guided thereby to do much good in our world. He, as we all should be, is a man of action. He puts his ‘money where his mouth is’ and is out there praying every Friday for the end to abortion.

One lady driving by stopped and yelled out her window, “Wait until it’s your wife who is raped!  I’m calling the cops on you guys!”  Another female driver stopped in the middle of the intersection to deliberately give us the finger, the ‘ol Jersey salute.  She stared me down like I was the bad guy, because I was there, on my knees, meditating on the Crucifixion of our Lord and praying for babies.  Absolutely ridiculous.

Listen, if you’re not Pro-Life, you’re Pro-Death.  There’s no other distinction.  Life or Death.  You’ve never heard anybody say “It’s a life or death, or choice, situation.”  Right?  It’s way more than a choice.  Abortion is murder.  And, what’s more, THIS IS NOT SIMPLY A WOMAN’S ISSUE!  Men, this is one of those things that we MUST step up and defend.  We must protect our women and children.  We must stand up for the common good.  We must lead in this fight.  We must stand in opposition to faulty and immoral laws.  We must stand up against evil.  We must stand against our post-abortive culture.  We must stand up and say enough is enough.

On Monday of this past week, I took my family to the Rocky Mountain March for Life.  It took place on Martin Luther King Jr’s birthday.  There was a pastor from Oakland, CA there to speak to the crowd.  (I apologize for not remembering his name.)  He was a black pastor, and spoke heavily about the effects of abortion on the black women (and men, and families, and businesses, and culture and so on) in his “neighborhood”.  One thing he said, that has really troubled me the last many days, is that the vast majority of people sitting in the pews on Sunday in black churches across the country are “post-abortive”.  This means that they have been effected, either directly or indirectly, by abortion.  Meaning as well, that they may be traumatized (although usually in silence) by the negative effects of abortion.  His whole point was that it is incredibly difficult to reach out to this portion of the population, because so many people don’t want to be told that what they’ve done has been wrong, or that they’re wrong in their thinking.  So many people want to keep the status quo, instead of pushing the envelope and challenging what is wrong so that what is right can be brought out and experienced by the masses.

There’s a lot more I could write about this today, but will keep it for additional posts in the future.  For now, please join the pro-life movement in praying for the unborn and for the end to abortion.

TrueMan up!

LIFE Group – Runners Run, Christians Pray, LIFE Runners Do Both!

One of my favorite things to witness is when people figure out what they’re passionate about and use their passion for the greater good.  I hope that comes across here on TrueManhood.com – my passion of helping men grow into authentic masculinity in the image of Jesus Christ, the TrueMan exemplar.  As I often say, “I do this to help men who are where I was get out of that place, or if possible, help a man to never go where I was.”

One such group of people that are passionate about something and have put their passion to use for the greater good are my comrades in prayer and in the fight against the culture of death who founded The Living Faith Exchange (LIFE) Group; Pat Castle, Rich Reich, Steve Castle and others.  (LIFE Group, which can be found on the web at www.LIFEgroup413.org.)  Here’s how they got started…

FAITH JOURNEY: The Living In Faith Exchange (LIFE) Group seed was planted by the Holy Spirit during faith conversations between running partners Pat Castle and Rich Reich, while they were training in the mountains around Colorado Springs in preparation for the Pikes Peak Ascent and Air Force Marathon in 2006.  That seed grew into more faith sharing/prayer time while reading the Living Faith devotional together before work, while serving as chemistry professors at the Air Force Academy.  When Rich moved to the Univ of FL for his PhD in 2007, that morning devotion continued over email.  In Dec 2007, Pat began sharing their morning devotion emails with family and friends.  In Jan 2008, Pat’s brother Steve suggested starting a blog…Rich set it up and came up with the name…and Pat took off sharing the LIFE Group Devotions with everyone he could reach.  The name, Living In Faith Exchange (LIFE) Group, focuses on the Christian’s calling to live the faith by sharing and defending our faith.  The name also points us to the greatest of causes, LIFE, to save babies (and families).  In 2008, Pat and Rich co-founded the LIFE Runners half/full marathon team, feeding into and from the LIFE Group and focused on actively raising awareness/funds for ProLife.  Steve Castle joined as author #3 on 5 Aug 2009.  With Steve’s encouragement and Rich’s activation, on 22 Oct 2009 we began posting our devotions on Facebook.  On 10 Jun 2010, we began selecting our own verses from the daily Mass readings.  On 5 Oct 2010, Rob Rysavy sent out his first devotion as weekly author #4.  On 30 Sep 2010, we started posting a guest author devotion on Thursdays…our weekly author #5 to round out the weekdays.  On 15 Nov 2010, the authors launched our current website…and included Phil 4:13 in the name (http://lifegroup413.org).  What began as a faith conversation between Pat and Rich during a long mountain run…is now a Living in Faith Exchange between over 600 ProLife Christians!

If you’d like to get involved, visit the site and subscribe.  The devotions are great – and, if it’s not already part of your day, it might be a great way for you to start praying every day.  Another awesome thing they do, which you will see if you visit their website, is run half and full marathons in the name of saving babies and families.  What an awesome project!  Their goal for 2011 is to raise $25K for a pregnancy bus that gives pregnant women free ultrasounds.  87% of women who see their unborn child on ultrasound don’t abort.  LIFE Group runners are doing great work in decreasing the number of abortions in America.  “Runners run, Christians Pray… LIFE Runners do both!”  (You can follow LIFE Group on Facebook too.)

I want to highlight something here.  It’s how I started this post, when I spoke about passion.  When you are passionate about something, it becomes what you live for, what you put your efforts toward and an awesome way to witness to others.  Pat and Rich did this.  By remaining disciplined and devoted, they have now brought great meditations and prayers, especially prayers for the unborn and the end to abortion, to thousands of people, and brought them all to the foot of the cross and laid them down at Jesus’ feet.  Do you have something you’re passionate about?  Does something really get you going?  Can you use it for the greater good of society?  I challenge everyone to think about that and make it happen!

TrueMan up!

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