Sorry, Iospehus, I don’t have any scruples about these types of things.

I speak as one who worked in a grocery store and had the displeasure of selling prophylactics on two occasions (once, because I knew the guy, I could be fairly certain a statutory rape would be involved). I thought up all sorts of ways of avoiding that in the future (hiding the condoms while I was on duty, etc.), but I never could justify it. My confessor told me that I was a more or less remote accessory and that I was an employee, not the manager, so my sin was venial at most.

But, speaking feasibly, for the time being we are in the minority. The most likely response of the population would be to ban any and all opposition to abortion — including peaceful sidewalk protests. Let’s say ten clinics get destroyed, and let’s say no innocent people die. Yes, babies are saved. To that extent, a great good has been done. But let’s say that as a result all peaceful protests are banned and the pro-life cause is utterly repudiated by the leaders of the Republican Party, in an attempt to distance themselves from violence (the day is coming . . .). Then the protests and sidewalk counseling, which may save even more lives under legal abortion, is gone. One of the positive aspects (if there can be one) of legalized abortion is that those women who make this evil choice often have to pass by protesters and counselors. Before abortion was legalized, this was all very back-alley, and there was little to no opportunity to appeal to women at the last moment. I don’t know how all of this will be judged. IF there is a sound objection to clinic “disabling,” then I think it must be imprudence.

I don’t see where getting caught factors into it.

T.P.: I’ve never been able to swallow this argument that it’s more prudent for us to refrain from “illegal” anti-abortion activity in order to stop abortion sooner. (Even assuming that this would, in fact, be in the case, that it ends sooner.) We have a moral obligation to defend the innocent, and it seems a very reasonable human reaction to want to rush in to prevent the massacre of innocents. So that we shouldn’t be worried about the consequences, but about our primary duty to defend innocent life when it is about to be killed right in front of us. The consequences are in God’s hands, especially in cases like this where we really don’t know how things would turn out in the long run.

I take your point, though, about living inside the Nazi regime when there didn’t appear to be any end to it. That’s a good thought experiment. It might help us think about the cases when we should be willing to give ourselves up to certain death or punishment and those when we should remain in opposition, but silently for the time. (Not that I’m saying either living with the Nazis or now, with abortion, is suited for the latter.)

But if I were a Pole or Portuguese and the EU tried to use armed force to open abortion clinics against the local government’s will? Then I think it would be justified to “disable” the clinics they set up.

As for condom dispenser disabling, who would ever know that this was the result of traditionalist Catholics? I bet the owners would just figure that some jerk put gum in the coin slot. You remove an occasion of sin and prevent someone from profiting from sin. They won’t put security cameras in restrooms to observe you doing it. I would say that this is one way to redress the situation, and it might be more effective than trying to arrange a boycott (although that might work in certain more conservative communities).

Fr. John A. Hardon, SJ said, “Civil laws are not always morally binding.”

Well, the angel of the Pool of Probatica (John 5) visited only that place. God put two cherubim at the gates of Eden to block Adam and Eve from returning. In addition to demonic possession, there is demonic infestation. Fr. Amorth, the Vatican’s chief exorcist (do you think that he and “the Vatican’s chief latinist” ever talk?), basically identifies demonic infestation as the cause of haunted houses and poltergeists.

Additionally, we combat demonic forces by means of holy water, which is a partly physical agent. We believe that saints’ spiritual power is somehow localized in their relics, such that veneration of the relics gives glory to the saint and God can use the relic as a vehicle of spiritual transformation. The Catholic Church does not draw a sharp line between the spiritual and physical/spatial realms.

I’m still wondering about the suggestion that it is morally licit to destroy condomn dispensers . . . this doesn’t strike me as something licit - well, or no more licit than it would be to destroy abortuary facilities or equipment. I’ve always wanted such destruction to be licit . . . and at the same time I could never quite get myself in the position of understanding why it was illicit

Unlike condoms themselves, which are arguably inherently evil, condom dispensers can dispense anything that comes in small packets of a certain shape.

Many you will see dispense medicines as well as condoms or novelty items like temporary tatoos (which are wierd, but not immoral!).

TPC, I assume your house and auto were blessed by a priest, and he used holy water. Upon entering a church you use holy water, to drive away distractions and devils. Saint Benedict saw little black devils whispering in the ears of his monks during office. (I find that true and yet funny to picture especially the way the saint describes it-in a very un politically correct way.) The priest sprinkles the congregation with holy water before sung Mass. Most likely you have crucifixes and holy pictures in your home. So, you may find some comfort when traveling, to bring along with your holy water bottle a small self-standing crucifix and a laminated picture of Our Lady to put on the table.

If anyone is in the position of planning a trip or a conference for matters Catholic or otherwise, a brief inquiry about the hotel’s standards or lack thereof might help change things for the better.

Before this thread it had never even occurred to me to wonder, when staying in a hotel room, whether previous guests had been watching porn there.

Now that’ll probably be the first thing that will pop into my head the next time I walk into one.

I really think it is probably better not to go around speculating about where other people, including people you don’t even know, have been sinning. It’s not a savory subject to be dwelling on, and it’s neither your job nor even your business to be worrying about it. The idea that devils linger in packs at the site of former sins waiting to attack you sounds crazy to me (where has the Church ever taught that?), but in any case as long as I wear my scapular I figure I have some protection against devils wherever they may lurk.

That’s my word on the matter.

Go ahead and disable condom dispensers if you like, but a word about TV-smashing — whether or not it’s immoral, it’s presumably illegal, so be prepared to be charged for it at some point.