Mommy Life

March 29, 2009 11:54 AM

Feldkamp plane crash - part 2

I understand Chelsea's comment, if you and the rest of your readers don't.  You appear to be implying that the death of those 14 people was a kind of divine retribution for the sins of their father/grandfather.  Do you really believe God works that way? I hope not.

Like Chelsea, unless you are making that connection, it's difficult to see what the two facts have in common or why it would have been important for the news story to have covered Feldkamp's source of wealth one way or the other.

I suspect you won't let this appear on your blog, and that's OK.  Your blog, your rules.  I won't see it either way.  I've continued reading over the years despite the fact that my politics are quite different than yours because I thought fundamentally we had the same values, but when you appear to be gleeful or smug over these deaths, I realize we are really on two very different pages.  I plan to unsubscribe as soon as I finish this message.

Thanks for the years of advice and entertainment. 
Nancy

Love,

Posted in Pro-Life Issues | Permalink

Comments

It's not smug, nor gleeful, nor evil, to note that God punishes sin. He punishes it both in this world and in the next. Would I want God not to punish the grandfather for what's he's done? No - God declares himself to be a just God, a God who cannot tolerate sin. He's also merciful -- he's given this man years to turn from his ways, and will probably give him more. As Barbara says, he is almost certainly giving this tragedy to get this man's attention.

It all depends on whether you see this event as being in God's control, or not. Scripture says he is sovereign in the lives of men. God has his own ways, his own causes and effects. I, for one, do not apologize that the first thought I had when Barbara posted this article is that there might be a connection. I look for God's hand in things - I assume it's there. I prefer God's hand in it - whether for mercy or for justice - than thinking that it is a random event of chance.

The people in that plane are in God's hands, no matter which side of death they're on. It's important to remember that.

Posted by: mary kathryn | March 29, 2009 12:38 PM

I saw nothing at all in the article that indicated a "gleeful" or "smug" attitude about the plane crash victims.

There has been however, persistant smugness and gleeful callousness committed by Mrs. Feldcamp, for years, over the fate of the innocent unborn babies executed by her husband's business.

Apparently Nancy either overlooked, or endorses, that much more apparent evidence of smugness and gleefulness over the brutal and barbaric killing of THOUSANDS of innocent babies, which paid for the private plane and the trip to the millionaires-only ski resort.

Pro-aborts only pretend compassion when it's politically, or financially, profitable for them to do so. And then falsely accuse pro-lifers of callousness.

Posted by: Anonymous | March 29, 2009 1:24 PM

Again, who is gleeful? Why in the world would we be gleeful? I would be heartbroken to learn that a terrorists child was killed, or a murderers or any other person living in sin.

I don't know of ANYONE who reacts gleefully to the death of a child. I think that there is a fundamental misunderstanding going on here that stims from two very different world views.

Liberals can not seem to fathom that we can have compassion for the deaths of the family while also praying that the deaths bring the father to God.

My prayer would be the same, and has been the same for anyone facing tragedy. It is simply that their hearts turn to God. I pray they are not hardened by the incident and that it ultimately brings glory to God. This prayer has special importance when the person who suffered such a loss is currently so far from God.

Posted by: Lauren | March 29, 2009 1:55 PM

The only smugness comes from pro-aborts. God is like the silversmith, keeping the metal in the fire until He sees His image. And if it's this tragedy that brings the doc around, then it needs to be this tragedy. Truth is truth, you can't hide from it. I happen to look at this tragedy as "It's in God's plan." and I have to accept that.

Posted by: Dirtdartwife | March 29, 2009 2:18 PM

A few thoughts:

1) Thank you for posting about the family, because when the news broke I thought, "wow, they were rich. Wonder who they were." I was kind of surprised that the media didn't talk more about their family background. Now I kind of understand why: it is a contentious issue on top of a huge downer--the death of a bulk of a family. Plus, the super wealthy, even those who made their money through other industries, don't like to talk about their wealth or how they made it.

2) I don't think Nancy or Chelsea were making Feldkamp into a victim and you, Barbara, into a villian. I think they were saying that tragedy is heartbreaking and terrible and that no one, even the worst person in the world, deserves to lose a bulk of their family in an accident. That said, Barbara, I don't think you were being smug in light of Feldkamp's pain. I think you were highlighting something that wasn't reported in the mainstream media--trust me, I read/watch a lot of it. I come to your blog, Barbara, because I always find something that I didn't find reading NYTimes, Drudge, CNN, Le Monde (yes, you read that correctly) etc. Thank you for your reserach and digging. I don't always agree with what you say, but you always make me think.

Posted by: anon | March 29, 2009 2:20 PM

I, too, couldn't remotely see anything "gleeful" or "smug" in the way that Barbara posted the rest of this story; only the addition of important information that gives us a better picture of this family.

There is a C.S. Lewis quote that I think puts this man and the tragedy of losing so many at once into prespective: “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conscience, but shouts in our pains. It is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world”

I've experienced this and have observed others that I thought were experiencing God trying to get our/their attention.

While I truly want to hear, feel, see, experience God in a gentle way, I have lived in such a selfish way that He needed to get my attention in a huge way--He needed to shout.

If God is using this pain (loss) as his megaphone for Feldkamp (notice I said "for", not "to"), them maybe He hasn't given up on him.

Posted by: von | March 29, 2009 2:34 PM

I didn't see anyone gloating over those deaths. I started and stopped several times before responding to the original post, because I knew that not everyone would see this event in the same light. I can only say to those who are angry: Many of us have experienced God's intervention numerous times in our own lives, even through tragedy. Because we allowed life's events to cause self-examination, evaluation of our beliefs, and contemplation of life's meaning and the afterlife, we were enabled by God to see something more than the event itself.
But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear. Matthew 13:16

Posted by: evergreen | March 29, 2009 2:49 PM

Interesting comments. I wonder what Nancy will think of Jesus when He returns as the LION and the wicked are gathered into bundles of weeds to be cast into the fire; or when the goats are separated from the sheep and are again cast into the fire?

What of the children in Sodom? Weren't they innocent? We cannot possibly comprehend God's reasons, His mercy or judgment, let alone try to put human limitations on Him. People have had warning enough. Ignorance of God's law and continued disobedience is no excuse.

Perhaps this was just an accident, perhaps not. That's not for any of us to say, only God knows. But there is a certain inescapable irony in it all. It is what it is and if God wills that something good come from it, then His will be done. Our opinion of it regarding God's will is only a means to our own salvation or damnation. We are His children and not to question Him in disobedience.

"The eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love." Psalm 33:18

God's Blessings,
Bob Cavalcante
http://CatholicConservativeAmerican.blogspot.com

Posted by: Bob Cavalcante | March 29, 2009 4:44 PM

Hmmm. It seems that Nancys opinion of you was well made up BEFORE she read this post of yours.

The post that she refers to and in which she discerns your supposed gleeful smugness doesn't actually carry any of your own comment.
You put up another writers piece and linked to it.
Kinda hard therefore to see how Nancy could have come to this conclusion about your own thoughts on the matter unless she had already decided what you thought.
Surely there is a kind of grim irony in the fact that the plane belonging to the abortion provider crashed into a cemetery so close to a monument to the victims of abortion?

The entire story is tragic.
Christians have a fundamentally different attitude to tragedy which is mostly completely lost on people with a materialist perspective on life.
We see Gods hand in everything, ultimately working all things together for good. We look back and see how God has used our darkest moments to lift us further up into His wonderful light.
We see that nobody is beyond redemption. No one is 'written off'. That's why we can pray and hope for the conversion of people like Bud Feldkamp.
that's why we can simultaneously sorrow over the immense and unthinkable awfulness of the loss that has afflicted him, and also hope that, as with so many others before, this may be the moment when he chooses life.

But really, I don't think it matters what you ACTUALLY say. They are hearing something else.
Another example of this kind of twisted perception is the recent brouhaha over the Pope 'condeming millions to death in Africa' because of his (actually) very thoughtful, very measured and very true comments on the failure of condom initiatives in the fight against HIV.

Posted by: Clare | March 29, 2009 5:11 PM

My thoughts:

First and foremost, this was a sad tragedy. I can't help but be heartbroken for the family.

Secondly, I absolutely do hope and pray that Bud Feldkamp is ultimately led to Christ, by this event and by all the events of his life.

I believe that God works through all things, always furthering His plan for the good of all, even when all we see is heartache. God is always working on our hearts and in our lives, even when we don't know Him or turn away from Him.

Knowing Barbara, I certainly do not think she ever intended to be gleeful or smug over these senseless (to us) deaths.

The only place where I part is that I hesitate to say that I know what God's purpose was here. Maybe it was the obvious: turn Bud Feldkamp's heart toward Him. Maybe it was something less obvious -- something we don't even know about. I know that God is at work because He is at work in all things. Not a sparrow falls from the sky that He doesn't know about it. I'm just saying... you know, when Job said, "Yes, I see what You're doing here, God! I know why You allowed this!" -- God smacked him down.

I don't say don't try to discern God's will, of course. Just that we can't always be sure we know what it is when He hasn't told us. As for me, whatever God was doing, I pray His will be done.

Posted by: Michelle Potter | March 29, 2009 5:40 PM

And as others on Prolifeblogs have correctly noted, this scripture
raises important concerns for those in the deadly
"business" of abortion.

"Since you did not hate bloodshed, bloodshed will pursue you."
Ezekiel 35:6

Posted by: Leslie Hanks | March 29, 2009 6:08 PM

I see the whole story as a sobering irony. I certainly don't feel gleeful or smug about it. Awed, maybe.

I mean, how many memorials are there for victims of abortion in this country? It is a pretty amazing coincidence, if it is a coincidence.

There but for the grace of God we go. Does Nancy understand that?

Posted by: Marie | March 29, 2009 8:07 PM

I'd not be one to read "divine retribution" into it. After all, Fast Eddie built up that abortion empire and it's not like God smote HIS family. (Does he have one?) Tiller's kids are all healthy after the tens of thousands of other people's kids he's sent up his crematorium smokestack. If God smites people's families because of their participation in abortion, He's pretty picky and choosy about it.

This seems to be more of a "play with fire and you might get burned" sort of thing -- this guy chose Death as an investment strategy (as my daughter said, "Well, it's recession-proof!"). Invite Death to come close and you might find out that Death isn't a monster you can tame.

Posted by: Christina | March 29, 2009 8:28 PM

My experience is that the sins of the father are very much visited upon the children, especially mortal sins. I think its terrible that all these people lost their lives in this plane crash, but I also think there is a connection between the father owning a network of abortion clinics and this loss. I can't help it. Sure many evil people get away with murder and many innocent people suffer unjustly but when the two line up like this its hard not to think there might be some connection when the Bible so clearly warns us about it. And it makes me that much more concerned about my own life and my own behavior and what kind of consequences I could bring on my kids by my poor choices. The facts are that we cannot expect to spend our lives offending God without any direct effects.

Posted by: Jo Flemings | March 29, 2009 9:15 PM

Nancy, I think it is cowardly of your to make an assumptive attack on someone, and then claim to being signing off never to read Barbara's response in defence, or any other comments. Typical liberal coward.
Marie

Posted by: Marie White | March 30, 2009 12:11 AM

There is no such thing as coincidence and we are wise to pay attention when God speaks to us, as He so obviously was here.
I appreciate that Barbara brought this to our attention. There was nothing smug about it.

Wake up, America! Look at the warnings God is giving us!

Posted by: sandra | March 30, 2009 7:20 AM

Barbara merely reported the facts and let it up to the readers to form their own conclusion.

Had this happened to the family of B. Madoff or an AIG bonus recipient, it would not have taken weeks for us to hear about it. The main stream media would have wasted no time. There would have been immediate soundbites from the public commenting things like "Karma" and "What goes around comes around" on TV 24/7.

Melanie S

Posted by: Melanie | March 30, 2009 7:52 AM

Gleeful or smug? I don't see anyone with those attitudes.

I think a fear of God is healthy, though. People who live such evil lives that they willingly and knowingly kill thousands of babies SHOULD fear God. (We all should fear/respect God and His power to give and to take.)

From all accounts - this particular abortion provider was confronted time and time again over many years by concerned individuals. People who picketed his clinics prayed for his soul, for his family. They prayerfully asked him to think of his own children, and the legacy he was leaving behind for them. He continued to shrug off his great responsibility and his wife chose to laugh at the pictures of aborted children.

Divine punishment? I don't know. I'm not quick to say that - but I'm not quick to say that it isn't, either. Sin has consequences. Sin hurts, sin kills. God does not deal with each of us in the same way - but he does eventually deal with sin. I think that out of his great love he gives us every opportunity to turn from sin and to turn to him - but sin always has a price. Not every abortion provider will lose their family - but I am willing to go out on a limb and say that I doubt they have perfect love and peace in their lives. Those who bring death can not prosper forever. Sometimes, rather than divine retribution, I believe that God might choose to remove his protective hand.

And frankly - let us remember the magnitude of the activity we are talking about here. We are talking about regularly and unrepentedly killing babies. That's a pretty big deal.

I personally don't have a hard-hearted view. I feel great sorrow - for the babies who died, for the families, and for the grandparents. I pray that their hearts are made tender.

Posted by: Holly | March 30, 2009 8:34 AM

It's sad a family perished, but they profit from abortions and they crashed in a Catholic cemetary (!)....next to a shrine to aborted babies (!)...this alone should be newsworthy and if nothing else, cause the pro-choice crowd to go "hmmm", that is darn interesting. Why is nothing in the news about the facts here??!!! Thanks Barbara to "waking me up" to the mainstream media and helping me to speak out, even when I might lose friends over it.

Posted by: Kim Moore | March 30, 2009 9:47 AM

Let us be thankful that, through Barbara, we were able to read the "rest of the story". Are we not to learn from what we see and read? Are we to have all of life's stories edited to protect the fragile stack of cards some need to get through life?

I do blame "Christianity Lite" for the world view of people who want only to believe that God provides life's picnics, but none of the tragedies that also mold us into his more understanding believers.

Having a child with DS was by far, the best illustrator of how active God is in my life. In my own Catholic "lite" years I simply prayed that God place me where he wanted and needed me. How wonderful was it that I was blessed by what I deem as his mission for me. I could have seen my son as God's punishment, but my son himself has proved that to be so far from the truth.

This family's tragedy is terrible, and we can all agree to that, but this Sunday's sermon touched on this.

Our priest discussed what a "full life" was and retold stories of funerals of children, and that it seemed such a waste. He disagreed, and pointed out that even though their years may have been brief, they did live the fullness of thier lives.
This loss does not have to be in vain, but for a very definite purpose.
We can only make assupmtions about that purpose was, but I know the human part of us wants to imagine that the loss of that plane full of family members may have acted as the fulcrum of change for a single man or an entire industry.

We can all pray that God comforts that grandfather in his terrible loss.

Posted by: Kelly | March 30, 2009 1:03 PM

There will, and always should be, abortion clinics readily accessible to all who made need/require their services. What Mr. Feldkamp has done is provide an extremely valuable service (by keeping them in business?). God forbid a doctor ever tells me my unborn child has Down's Syndrome or something similar (resulting in a lifelong struggle for the child), you bet I'll be running straight to the abortion clinic. Without a doubt.

It's ridiculous that anyone is even making a connection between the tragedy and the location. If you do, you should be ashamed of yourself. and watch your own back instead.

Posted by: Megan | April 1, 2009 10:42 PM

Megan. You blow my mind about wanting to kill your unborn baby should he/she have Down syndrome. Perhaps you don't know any who come from a loving home. I do. Her name is Marissa.

She brings out the best in people with her loving smile. She brings them closer to God. And yet...she almost died at age 2 from heart problems.

It was because of this child that I met my best friend who helped me enter the Catholic Church (the very best thing I ever did). Was her struggle worth it? My husband, our five children and myself have all been brought close to God. We worship every week in church, pray everyday, and struggle to become holy. Add to this all the lives that my family touches. Like a domino effect.
All of this because her Mom and Dad wanted her to live.

Everybody struggles in life, Megan.

Struggles are what life is made of. It is what brings us closer to God.

Posted by: Sue from Buffalo | April 2, 2009 1:11 PM

Megan,

Can you please explain why limit yourself to the unborn? What if your five-year-old child were diagnosed with muscular dystrophy? What if your fifty-year-old child were diagnosed with Huntington's disease? Would you kill them in order to spare them the "struggle" that they would endure for the rest of their lives?

Posted by: Marisa | April 2, 2009 2:47 PM

All: it is fortunate that "Jesus was not himself a Christian" as Catholic author Garry Wills pursuasively argues in "What Jesus Meant."

So instead of arguing our "Christian views" we might listen to what Christ said about earthly catastrophies that happened during his earthly life.

Luke 13:2-5 "Jesus answered, "Do you think that these Galileans(whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices) were worse sinners than all the othe Galileans becaue they suffered this way? I tell you no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them--do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish."

Unlike some of His presumed followers who call themselves "Christians" the Master does NOT think that temporal tragedies are God directed Judgments against sinners. Crib deaths, accidents, crashes, are the common lot of humanity. All of us, pro-life, pro-choice, are destined to die the first death. If it happens in childhood, in young adulthood, or in age, the end result is we all will die once, and AFTER that the Judgment.

To read into the first death of any a Judgment is not something the Christ of Christians supported.

So it remains a tragedy pure and simple. I don't support the business of abortion, and I hope the Feldcamp seniors shut it down soon. But to suggest that Jesus or His Father would manipulate an airplane full of innocents unlucky enough to be related to a business man with blood on his hands to crash in a certain spot as a secret sign of God's disapproval, is also itself a sort of crime against the true character of God and His Son.
The message from this tragedy is now , Wow I sure am glad that I am not an abortionist... see what happens to them and their families. It is wow, all of us can have our lives suddenly snuffed out, so how carefully we must live to be ready at any time for that ending day. For both pro-choice and pro-lifer's alike.

Posted by: Jack | April 4, 2009 2:16 AM

I personally know the "friends" of the family that were also killed in this accident. Kristen and her husband Brent and their two beautiful children all absolutely in love with Jesus. They were the most loving wonderful christian family that I have known. Kristen's father and mother are absolutely devastated. If God did authorize "divine retribution" then why did Kristen and Brent end up in the mix? The services held here for this family were standing room only. The church was filled to overflowing and over 2,000 people attended. Brent's family are also wonderful christians as well as Kristen's parents and grandparents. Her parents work side by side with the hospital, church, and community. Kristen's mother works with young mothers, helping and encouraging them to breastfeed their babies and heading up community events to teach new parents how to properly buckle a car seat and how to care for your new born. Kristen's father has devoted his life to the health and wellness of the community by heading up programs to teach people better nutrition and the importance of physical exercise as well as the importance to a life centered around Christ. I have never met a more devoted christian man (other than my own father). There must be some other explanation as to the cause of this accident.

Posted by: anon | April 10, 2009 10:29 AM

My heart is breaking here. I've read these posts as I've been able to.

Christ said that it would rain on the just and on the unjust. I don't know if there is any connection to the abortion industry. Perhaps people are just noting the irony that a man's family, a man who's business is abortion, was killed near the Tomb of the Unborn (a memorial).

Whether they were involved or not, my heart is breaking for these people. They are loved by God, too.

Posted by: Sue from Buffalo | April 10, 2009 2:45 PM

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