Things to make them go hmmmm . . . .

Them legislators, that is. We must shake up their notions of who their constituency is. Let them know about you and the issues you care about. A mentor told me once that if you don't tell someone about how they are bugging you, then it is YOUR problem, not theirs. Let's make it their problem.

To start, find your legislator. Then, contact your legislator in a personal way. Inviting them to dinner, is a perfectly fine way to interact. It is done all the time. Across Connecticut each night, hungry, tired legislators show up on the steps of their constituents to be refreshed and enlightened about everyday people. They are not 3-headed beasts (usually), and even then, they don't eat much. It doesn't have to be fancy or formal. Just extending the invitation will, how shall I say . . . raise your profile with the selected legislator. Wouldn't it for you?

Another very fine way to approach your legislator, a method I prefer, is to send a hand-written note from the heart. These people have largely heard the technical and objective pro and con of every argument. Hand written notes provide them with props to wave on the chamber floor, when they vote against same-sex marriage, cloning-to-kill, Plan B mandates, etc. They love them, they carry them around, they show them to their colleagues, they make a difference. Don't even think of sending an e-mail or a typed letter. Drag out the stationery your Aunt Kathy gave you at your Sweet 16, and send a one-pager, in blood. NO, wait, pen is better, and tell them what you think. Keep it simple and secular. Please, by all means, mention that you are Catholic, but don't get yourself marginalized by overdoing it. Even Jesus, in Matthew 10:16-17 said, "Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, . . ."

If you want a shared experience, you have an opportunity on March 22, 2007 to attend Catholic Concerns Day at the State Capitol in Hartford. We'll be there! Now, to the issues . . .

Abortion
At some point this session, thanks to a small, hardy group of pro-life activists, the Connecticut General Assembly's Select Committee on Children will be having an Information Forum on Parental Notification. Just to get the legislature talking about abortion, and to hold a formal meeting to discuss issues surrounding abortion, is a success! Please write to your legislator and ask them to support any legislation that prevents our minor children from being victimized in the name of sexual freedom.

Plan B
See my post on this weighty issue. On the bright side, it is fun to hear liberal legislators debate whether life begins at conception or implantation.

I know, it seems silly, but yes, FATHERHOOD
Our legislators need to know that you think fathers matter. Senate Bill 858 sponsored by Senator Gary Lebeau, and Representatives Marie Lopez Kirkley-Bey and Douglas McCrory is a start. It asks the legislature to fund a study to review the connection between fatherlessness and poverty. From here, we will have a basis to ask the legislature to permit abstinence programs in Connecticut. We remain a state that refuses to accept federal money to subsidize these programs.

GAY "MARRIAGE"
Again, how does this affect us? With the increasing absence of God in our culture, the State has become the standard by which many people determine truth. It is a powerful teacher. Licensing marriages by the State, minus a gender, institutionalizes and sanctions raising children without fathers. Obviously, after gay "marriage" I will continue to know that mommies and daddies are very much needed, that a happy marriage with a mom and dad is best for my children. Hopefully, my daughter will also be instilled with that sensibility. But, what about my future son-in-law? Growing up in a world were a marriage can be anything you want, will he place the same value on his contribution? The state already, on many levels, ameliorates the importance of fathers for society. Gay "marriage" will continue and increase that trend.

So, with humility, with love, with courage, and with the knowledge that the Holy Spirit can only work if you do, please contact your legislators.