In 1808, President Thomas Jefferson stated the matter bluntly: “I consider the government of the United States as interdicted by the Constitution from intermeddling with religious institutions, their doctrines, discipline, or exercises.”

It is as if we are now living on a new planet — one in which all the natural boundaries of sex and reproduction have been left behind. The technologies of reproduction are redefining sex, marriage, relationships, family, and the human story.

The Rev. Eric Bergman thinks he has seen the future — and it isn’t Protestant. Known as Father Bergman now, Rev. Bergman became a Catholic priest after serving for years as an Episcopalian minister. His conversion to Roman Catholicism came, he relates, after he began to ponder the moral and theological issues related to contraception.

Is the fact that fertility is falling around the world good news? You would certainly think so if you agree with the analysis cheerily offered by The Economist. That very respected journal of economic analysis recently offered a cover story that celebrated falling human fertility as “changing the world for the better.”

America has been at war over abortion for the last four decades. When the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its decision in Roe v. Wade, the court’s majority attempted to put an end to the abortion question. To the contrary, that decision both enlarged and revealed the great moral divide that runs through the center of our culture.

America is under attack, she warns, and only an all-out effort will save the Republic. Like a modern-day Paul Revere, Jane Fonda is sounding the alarm and calling patriots to action.

The secular left is a diverse amalgam of various interest groups and ideologies.  Of course, the same is true to some extent on the conservative end of the spectrum as well.  But on some issues the secular left is absolutely of one mind and voice, and the promotion of birth control and contraception is one of these issues.

Gift certificates are now a big part of the American economy.  Along with electronic gift cards, gift certificates represent a growing segment of the consumer market — and for good reason.  Who wouldn’t welcome and appreciate a gift certificate to a favorite store or service provider?