Yes we can

Yes we can…

Anyone who has ever read any of the words I have posted here on behalf of our order knows how strongly I am against George W. Bush and his policies. They got the country into both war and massive debt. Am I Democratic? Yes, you bet I am. But that is not why I am delighted at the election of Barack Obama as president of the United States.

Down through the decades the words of Dr. Martin Luther King of echoed through my mind and across the nation…

…I have a dream

This week part of that dream was realized.

Beyond that we have a president elect who has sought to bring Americans together and move America as a country past racism. Has it happened? Not yet? Will it? I hope so…but just like the old joke about a thousand lawyers at the bottom of the ocean “It’s a good start.”

Sadly I have already read words by someone I will not dignify by putting their name to the words:

“Obama's post-racial promise Barack Obama seduced whites with a vision of their racial innocence precisely to coerce them into acting out of a racial motivation.”

Its almost as if the individual concerned is upset that our president elect wants to move the nation past racism. As an individual I have been subject to a lifetime of hatred. As someone who is a nun and was born inter-gendered it continues – daily. When I see a president who is determined to a difference is such a way it moves me to the depths of my soul. I am glad to have lived to see this day.

But will Obama be able to deliver on campaign promises?

Not since Franklin Delano Roosevelt has a president elect inherited such massive problems as Obama has been left to face. It is as if the man was been faced with a broken nuclear reactor, handed a pair of tweezers and told “fix it.” Already there have been republic politicians in the news complaining about a Democratic Congress and a Democratic presidency touting to the news cameras “the last time the Democrats controlled the Congress and the Presidency they choked on the responsibility.”

What in the hell does that even mean?

Does it mean that there are Congressmen and Congresswomen who would rather see our nation in the pits of a greats depression just to see Barack Obama fail as a president? If so my response is, time to give up your seats in the house and senate to someone who will aid the nation in a bipartisan manor.

Will Obama succeed? Will he lead America out of a financial crisis? Will he bring an end to the war? No one knows for sure, no matter how much politicians with bile in their mouths and anger in their hearts my think they do…

…but I hope he will.

Julie Whitefeather

What's love got to do with it

What's love got to do with it?
By Julie Whitefeather

“I come here for a breath of fresh air now and then. I do appreciate your blog. I am single—and am very frustrated in my search to love someone. When I look at couples around me—straight or gay—I silently thank my creator that love exists. It is such a blessing. How anyone could hate someone for loving? Thank you for having the courage to encourage love.” – Jo Ann

What’s love got to do with it?

It is often said that “The prophets longed for these times.” What that means, is the common thought that we are living in the last days. Whether we are, or are not, who can say? I often kid with Mother Superior that my retirement plan is the second coming.

Still, people have been talking about the imminent return of Christ since the Ascension.

Now you might ask yourself what any of this has to do with love. The answer, however, is simple. Whether or not these are the end times there are definitely signs of the times in which we live. One of the saddest aspects of those times is that life and love are cheap commodities. The grim aspect of war is not a new advent in the history of mankind. It has been going on throughout all of recorded history. Still, life has never been considered so cheap and expendable as now. We live in an era of push button war fare, where humans are killed at the push of a button. It’s amazing, really, at how efficient human beings have become at killing themselves.

Yet while we are growing ever more efficient at death we seem to have a growing difficulty with love. There is a line from an old Beatles song that says “money can’t buy me love” but that doesn’t stop anyone from trying. When love, whether of a sister, or a sweetheart, should be a bastion of hope, rarely is this the case. It is not surprising that this is the case either. When people aren’t busy placing money over family, the same individuals are often busy entrenched in the ludicrous notion that other human beings need their approval. Instead of the notion that “it is not enough that I succeed, all others must fail” this is often supplanted with “it is not enough that I hate, others must hate, including themselves.”

Perhaps, in the end, one of the reason human beings have become so efficient at killing each other is that they have such a difficult time of loving one another. Yet if this is a sign of the times, there is also another sign of the times.

That sign is that there are still people in the world who are willing to stand up for what is right. There are still people in the world who are willing to love instead of hate. Who are willing to fulfill Christ’s greatest commandment “love one another as I have loved you” and do so without adding on provisionary statements.

One of the signs of the times is that there are still people with the courage to encourage love.

Go with God,

Julie Whitefeather

Don't ask...

Don’t ask…

One of the founding principles of the Sisters of Embracement is just that – embracement. In fact Mother Superior drives me to work in the mornings and we were talking about just that. We (as in the Sisters of Embracement we, not the royal we) are not talking about tolerance. Anyone can tolerate someone else, given a strong enough willpower. We are talking about embracement of other people, and their paths to God. We are talking about Christians who follow God’s greatest (and in many ways most difficult) commandment from the New Testament “love on another as I have loved you.” Now it may seem obvious here but I would note he didn’t add “unless you don’t happen to agree with who they are.” This is not to say there is not such a thing as righteous indignation. As a priest named Father Fratus once pointed out to me “Even Christ drove the money lenders out of the temple and overturned the tables.”

That being said, you would probably be surprised at the amount of hate mail that just the paragraph above generates. It is not enough for the world’s major religions to preach intolerance of any path to God but their own; it often seems that their members feel it necessary to turn others to their way of thinking.

More than once I have been called a heretic, which isn’t that bad when you consider that one of the same people told us that, also told us they considered Mother Teresa of Calcutta a heretic as well. All I can say is “I am not worthy”…that is some marvelous company to be in.

So if you read any of the essays here and feel that it is necessary to try and get me to hate another human being or somehow feel that God doesn’t love them because you cannot accept them or their path to God…

…please don’t ask. Don’t try and twist the words of whatever Holy Book or path to God you follow into some labyrinthine maze of ill-logic to try and convince me to hate another human being or refuse to accept their path to God. As grandmother used to say, “you may as well save your breath to cool your porridge” – the second any comment begins to turn to the above twisted logic it is deleted unread.

There are many paths up the mountain, but they all lead to the summit…find yours. Let others find theirs.

Sister Julie

The unwanted prayer

Anyone who has followed my writing knows that I am writing four columns, editing a book, and writing another. This is on top of working fourty hours a week, doing elder care 24/7 and working on starting a podcast. This doesn't leave alot of time to stop by this little blog site these days. But when someone recently posted a comment to an old "in the news" I wrote I was sure it had to be responded to. The article I wrote was about a man and his extended family who were making it a point to "picket" the funeral of veterans with signs that says "God Hates you"; and this because the people doing the picketing are certain that God hates people who are gay and lesbian. Here is the comment that was posted:

"Praise God you do not keep up with your blasphemous blog. You are in my prayers."

Well the interesting thing, as anyone knows me has heard, if someone uses scriptures from the Christian Bible such as Leviticus 18:22 to justify a God of love hating anyone, let alone someone who is gay or lesbian, that same person needs to turn over to Leviticus 25:44-46:

"If you need slaves, you may buy them from the nations around you. You may also buy the children of foreigners who are living among you. Such children born in your land may become your property, and you mayleave them as an inheritance to your children whom they must server as long as they live" - Leviticus 25:44-46.

So pardon me while I go out and buy a few immigrants...by the way, just how many Canadians CAN I own?

Sound stupid doesn't it? Want to know what IS blasphemous my friends? THIS CRAP THAT SPEWS FORTH FROM BIGOTS CLAIMING THAT GOD HATES GAYS AND LESBIANS. When Christ gave everyone a new commandment in the New Testament, it was to love one another as we love Him - no exceptions, no qualifications, no privisos. This is fortunate for the bigots out there, for God loves them as well.

So if refusing to hate someone for who they love is blasphemous, then count me amoungst the blasphemers.

Julie

In the news...

Veterans Day…

We just celebrated Veterans Day in the U.S.A. – but not everyone celebrates Veterans day the same way. How do the members of the “Topeka based Westboro Baptist church” honor veterans? As you can see by the photograph, by going to military funerals and holding up signs saying “You’re going to hell” and “God hates you” Which God is this I wonder? By which name? Certainly not the God that goes by the name God, Allah, and Yahweh. Here is a quote from an associated press article in USA Today:

“The church routinely pickets military funerals with signs reading "Thank God for dead soldiers" and "God hates fags," saying God is punishing America for its immoral ways.” - $11M Verdict in funeral protesters case, USA Today (source: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-10-31-funeralprotesters_N.htm)photo credit: Associated Press

While these people who have somehow deluded themselves into thinking they are the voice of God are busy shoving Leviticus 18:22 in peoples faces to justify hatred of Gays tell them to flip over to Leviticus 25: 44-46 and tell me how many Canadians I can own. At least now they have 11 million reasons to reconsider their bigotry. No matter what you may or may not think of a particular war and its reasons, the simple fact of the matter is that the young man who was buried at the funeral in case died for his country and his beliefs.

Prayer in school?

Forget even the most remote possibility of prayer in school, and now even hugs are right out. An associated press article entitled “Girl Serves Detentions for Hugs” reported the following:

“Two hugs equals two days of detentions for 13-year-old Megan Coulter. The eight-grader was punished for violating a school policy banning public displays of affection when she hugged two friend Friday.”

Thank Heavens that school districts in this country haven’t stopped at ending prayer in schools but are continuing to quash rebellion by ending hugging.

The Vatican working hard to protect us all…

So while you are all waiting for the Vatican to work out exactly how many Canadians we can own in the USA they are busy protecting us from the villainies of gay men and lesbian women…no…really. Stop that laughing. Here is a quote from an associated press article entitled “Priest only pretending to be gay”…(source: http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/10/14/gay.monsignor.ap/)

“A Vatican official suspended after being caught on hidden camera making advances to a young man said in an interview published Sunday that he is not gay and was only pretending to be gay as part of his work. In an interview with La Repubblica newspaper, Monsignor Tommaso Stenico said he frequented online gay chat rooms and met with gay men as part of his work as a psychoanalyst.

He said that he pretended to be gay in order to gather information about "those who damage the image of the Church with homosexual activity."

Vatican teaching holds that homosexual activity is a sin.

‘It's all false; it was a trap. I was a victim of my own attempts to contribute to cleaning up the Church with my psychoanalyst work,’ La Repubblica quoted Stenico as saying.”

As for me, one nun in the U.S.A, I will continue in my delusional beliefs that God loves everyone no matter who it is. That when God, in the person of Jesus Christ “love one another as I have loved you” he meant no exceptions…even bigots who protest at military funerals or priests who pretend to be gay to protect us.

Troubling Times

I received the following comment to the post “Pope Benedict has turned his back on God.” I am copying it here for the sole reason of modifying one of the explicatives – not that I have never sworn in my life. The modification was more out of respect for any readers. Here is what Jenn McWhorter had to say:

“This is, in part, why I left the Roman Catholic Church and went to the Reformed Catholic Church, which, in addition, not being full of ***hats like Ratzinger, accepts all people, regardless of gender identity, sexual orientation, etc.” – Jenn McWhorter

This is an issue, as you can imagine that is a painful one for me. Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict, was John Paul’s the choice for pope. More is the pity now that he is in the process of undoing some of the good works that John Paul did. This is not to say that Pope John Paul was perfect. There were issues with his period as pope as well.

All in all, what is most troubling is to see an era when many faiths move toward a lack of acceptance of other paths to God.

Truly Troubling times,

Sister Julie

Why is it a bad thing?

I recently received the following comment to this blog:

"What the Pope has done is to let the world to know that the Catholic Church is the ONE TRUE Church, founded by Christ. He desires for all souls to come to Christ's Church. How can that be a bad thing?"

The Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta put it this way:

"There is only one God, and He is God to all; therefore it is important that everyone is seen as equal before God. I've always said we should help a Hindu become a better Hindu, a Muslim become a better Muslim, a Catholic become a better Catholic. We believe our work should be our example to people. We have among us 475 souls - 30 families are Catholic and the rest are all Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs - all different religions. But they all come to our prayers."

"There are so many religions and each one has it's different ways of following God."

- Blessed Mother Theresa

Christ is Jewish. If you therefore believe that Christ and God are one then God is Jewish. Don’t think so? Arch Bishop Fulton Sheen put it this way. Christ said no man comes to the Father but through the Son. Therefore if we believe in God at all we implicitly believe in Christ whether we acknowledge it or not.

“Therefore all men are implicitly Christian” – ArchBishop Fulton Sheen.

The apostles are Jewish. The Mary the Mother of God is Jewish In fact one of the debates between St. Paul and many of the other apostles was that they though you first had to be Jewish in order to be Christian. The Pope has told all Jews that they are wrong. Their religion is wrong. He has told all Christians that do not follow his way that THEY are wrong. He is condemned all Muslims as evil. What he has done is spread hatred and derision. He has taught people that the ONLY path to God is Catholicism and THAT is wrong.

Pope Benedict has turned his back on God

Again, my apologies for not keeping this site up to date - it had become my impression the no one still read this blog. Recently, I received an email from someone who has read one of my columns. She told me that she HAD read this site. Perhaps another reason I had been reticent in writing on this blog was because of what was to be the next, and perhaps saddest entry. The day has come that I thought would never come in the Catholic Church. The day has finally come that Pope Benedict has turned his back on God.

Why would I say this? Let me start out with a quote by the Blessed Mother Theresa of Calcutta.

"There is only one God, and He is God to all; therefore it is important that everyone is seen as equal before God. I've always said we should help a Hindu become a better Hindu, a Muslim become a better Muslim, a Catholic become a better Catholic. We believe our work should be our example to people. We have among us 475 souls - 30 families are Catholic and the rest are all Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs - all different religions. But they all come to our prayers." – Blessed Mother Theresa of Calcutta.

Pope Benedict started out, before he was pope by telling the world he though all Jews had to convert to Christianity in order to be saved. It didn’t matter to him that the apostles were all Jews. It didn’t matter to him that Christ was a Jew. It didn’t matter to him that Mary the Mother of God was a Jew.

He followed this up with a pronouncement that Islam was “evil and inhuman”. During the week of September 14, 2006 he delivered a speech at a German University. The following is a quote from an article about the speech.

“The emperors words were, he said: ‘Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached.’” - Pope Benedict quoted in an article from BBC news, found at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5346480.stm

In what is perhaps the saddest event since the foundation of the Catholic Church, Pope Benedict has denounced all other faiths but Catholicism as being false. Here is a quote from an associated press article (found at http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2007/07/10/pope_other_christians_not_true_churches/?page=2):

“LORENZAGO DI CADORE, Italy --Pope Benedict XVI reasserted the primacy of the Roman Catholic Church, approving a document released Tuesday that says other Christian communities are either defective or not true churches and Catholicism provides the only true path to salvation.” - By Nicole Winfield, Associated Press Writer, July 10, 2007

Can it get worse? Yes it can. Read on – another quote from the same article.

“The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which Benedict headed before becoming pope, said it was issuing the new document Tuesday because some contemporary theological interpretations of Vatican II's ecumenical intent had been "erroneous or ambiguous" and had prompted confusion and doubt.

The new document -- formulated as five questions and answers -- restates key sections of a 2000 text the pope wrote when he was prefect of the congregation, "Dominus Iesus," which riled Protestant and other Christian denominations because it said they were not true churches but merely ecclesial communities and therefore did not have the "means of salvation."

The commentary repeated church teaching that says the Catholic Church "has the fullness of the means of salvation."

"Christ 'established here on earth' only one church," said the document released as the pope vacations at a villa in Lorenzago di Cadore, in Italy's Dolomite mountains.

The other communities "cannot be called 'churches' in the proper sense" because they do not have apostolic succession -- the ability to trace their bishops back to Christ's original apostles -- and therefore their priestly ordinations are not valid, it said.” - By Nicole Winfield, Associated Press Writer, July 10, 2007

A recent article in the Chicago Tribune by Robert McClory entitled “Pope’s latest moves setting church apart” discussed these events surrounding “restoring” the Latin Mass. The article ended with these words:

“If it is the pope’s intention to create a small and obedient church of the elect, that is what he may get before this train is fully unloaded.” – Robert McClory

How true. The pope has denounced Judaism, Islam and all other Faiths. He has denounced all other Christians who are not Catholic.

What the pope has done is turn his back on God.

Digging himself in deeper

Well my friends, I have been offered another column so now I write two columns as well as work forty hours a week to help support the convent...busy times for me.

But on to the news.

First let me state that before I am anything else I am a Christian and I am a nun. I am not a protestant Christian, and I am not a Catholic Christian. I AM JUST A CHRISTIAN.

However, the associated press released an article today, which the local paper entitled "Pope's statement again riles Proestants." Well my friends, not just protestants, but this nun has her dander up as well. First let me quote the first paragraph of the article.

LORENZADO DI CADORE, Italy - Pope Benedict XVI reasserted the primacy of the Roman Cathoic Church, approving a document released Tuesday that says other Christian communities are either defective or not true churches and Caholicism provides the only true path to salvation.

My friends, I am not sure who Pope Benedict XVI speaks for, but he has long since stopped speaking for, and more than likely with, God. Benedict has voiced his hatred for Jews and Muslims in the international press and now all of Christianity that doesn't follow his path to God. He is determined to pull down any hope of unity among faiths and spread as much discord as he possibly can.

Whether it appeals to Benedict or not, the Jewish faith, the Christian faith, and the Musim faith all have the same progenitor and ALL worship the same God - whether it appeals to Benedict or not. There is no cathoic heaven, no protestant heaven, and no muslim heaven. THERE IS ONLY HEAVEN. It is ironic that one of the prayers said at ever cathoic mass includes "I believe in one holy catholic and apostolic faith..." When I was a novice I spoke to a monk named "Brother Fred" about this. He told me that by "catholic" it means "universal". How ironic that a church that a pope that purports to believe in a "universal church' does everything to ensure that there isn't one. Instead he seems to spend his time sewing seeds of hatred and discord amongst all of the world's faiths. His move of isolationism has made him the embodiment of the old joke, which I have shared with you before.

"When you die and go to Heaven, Saint Peter will show you around. He will pass a locked door and point to it saying, 'Don't bother him, thats the former Pope Benedict XVI. He thinks he's alone up here.'"

Yes, before anyone asks, I still consider myself Catholic. I just wish that Benedict XVI was not.

You have to be taught how to hate

“You have to be taught how to hate by 6, or 7 or 8.” This is more than just a line from the musical “South Pacific” it is the rock solid truth. Today my work day started as the target of bigotry. On the way in to work I held the elevator for a few co-workers but one would not get on – he refuses to ride the elevator with me. Yet no one ever considers themselves a bigot, even when they are. Fewer still even consider the source of the bigotry.


Our order does elder care – round the clock 24/7. In particular we care for a woman who was born 85 years ago this month, and raised in the deep south. She hates policemen. You have but to ask her and she will tell you. It is also readily apparent when we take her anywhere. One day I asked mother superior why. It turns out that where and when she was raised policemen used to steal – and then find a young black man who couldn’t afford to defend himself and arrest him for the crime. Result? Young black men spent months and sometimes years in jail for crimes they never commited.


Now you may tell yourself, after you have done the math, that this has to be at least 70 years ago. Why then does she still hold such opinions today? Is it simply a grudge that has been held for 70 years? Perhaps that is part of it. More to the point, however, are people who reinforce the image. An example in this case is the Chicago Police officer who was arrested a number of years back for being a major drug lord in Chicago’s Humbolt Park area.


But incidents that encourage bigotry are not always so blatent. Just like not all policemen are bad, the reverse is sometimes held to be true. I had a co-worker who thought that bigots didn’t come in colors. I told her a story once. I told her how the man who used to be a chief legal counsel where I work took it upon himself one day to distribute an abstract of a law suit to every supervisor where I work. What was it about?


First, the individual concerned thought it applied to me, where it does not. Many of my co-workers have no idea what a hermaphrodite is. The abstract was about a pilot for TWA who was fired for having a sex change – no other reason. The judge in this case originally ruled that the equal employment opportunity act did not apply to this individual as a result. Now think about this for a moment. Why did this man distribute this abstract? He was trying to get every supervisor to believe that I was not protected by the equal employment opportunity act. The co-worker I told this to had a hard time believe it. She said, “He would never do that. He would understand about bigotry. He is a black man and has been treated that way himself.” My reply was simple. “Don’t you think that bigots come in colors?” The rest of the story, as a popular broadcaster used to say is this: The chief legal counsel left (to be a judge God help us all). What he did not know are sever aspects that applied here. The case was overturned on appeal and the pilot won so much money she founded an avionics firm with it. Me? Well simply put, my birth certificate says female on it thank you very much. My reply? I spoke to my State Senator about the issue, who in turn wrote to our office and spoke to them about it. No such issue ever arose again.


Now on the face of it, this might encourage me to hate people who are black, but it does not. Still the conduct of individuals on a daily basis encourages bigotry. Sometimes they are simple things – like the man who refused to ride an elevator with me (as he always does). Other examples? Individuals who refuse to speak to me because of who I am. Still others who refuse to speak to me UNLESS THEY NEED SOMETHING (and even then they usually send me email to spare them having to actually address me in person). People who are talking to others, laughing and talking – and then the smile runs away from their face as I pass by. Oh yes, I have spent a lifetime of watching smiles run away from faces.


In the end, people have to be taught how to hate, fortunately some people either refuse to learn the lesson or unlearn it later in life. But the bigotry is not always taught by parents. Sometimes it is both taught and reinforced by people in the world around us – people who sometimes think they are doing nothing wrong at all.



God be with you,



Sister Julie

The Faces of Protest - then and now

photo credit above left: AP Photo/Lauren Victoria Burke)

These are the faces of protest – war protest. On the left, a recent associated press photograph of Cindy Sheehan at a press conference. On the right, a now famous photograph of shooting at a Kent State protest of the Viet Nam War. The faces are decades apart, but the cause is the same. They protested wars that were started by evil men. Like the old adage about history, it seems that human beings are doomed to repeat the same mistakes over, and over again, endlessly.

Remember Ms. Sheehan? I certainly do. This is the woman who protested the War in Iraq “outside the president’s Texas ranch” for 26 days in August 2005 – a protest that eventually reached 300 people. But to say it was “outside the presidents home” is misleading. They were not allowed to get closer than one mile away from George W’s home. On February 2006 she was arrested for having the audacity to wear a T-shirt in the galley of the U.S. House of Representatives that read “2,245 Dead. How many more?" at the George W’s State of the Union address. The House rules, it seems, disallows protests in the gallery. We wouldn’t want the president reminded of the some of the deaths he was busy telling us what a great job he was doing now would we?

The Viet Nam war ended with the withdrawal of the troops by Richard “peace with honor” Nixon – but only after America was forced out of Viet Nam. What will it take to get America out of the War that the president started this time?

In the mean time, Ms. Sheehan has ended her efforts at ending the war. I can understand why. As Ms. Sheehan herself put it:

“I have been wondering why I’m killing myself and wondering why the Democrats caved in to George Bush.” – Cindy Sheehan.

She said it best, perhaps, in what she called a “resignation letter” in her online diary:

“Good-bye American…you are not the country that I love and I finally realized no matter how much I sacrifice, I can’t make you that country unless you want it. It’s up to you now.” – Cindy Sheehan.

Sadder still, is the fact that no matter how much Americans my want the war to stop. No matter how many Americans DEMAND it. It is not up to just us. That is because we have leaders that are no longer have a government “by the people, for the people, and of the people” as Abraham Lincoln once put it. We have a government by a handful of powerful people who represent their own interests only. Those people are known by the initials G.O.P. I hope, I pray, that there is a way to remove the troops sooner than an anticipated removal of Republican Politicians in 2008.

Another Face of the War

It is a group that no mother wants to be qualified to join – American Gold Star Mothers.

No mother should have to bury their child.

But there are times when they do.

Who are gold star mothers? The best way to explain is with a quote from the history on their website located at: http://www.goldstarmoms.com/agsm/WhoWeAre/History/

“Often the question has been asked, “Who is a Gold Star Mother?” During the early days of World War I, a Blue Star was used to represent each person, man or woman in the Military Service of the United States. As the war progressed and men were killed in combat, others wounded and died of their wounds or disease, there came about the accepted usage of the Gold Star.” – American Gold Star Mothers

First let me put a face to a name. This is the woman who founded this group, Grace Darling Siebold:




Who is this woman? What caused her to found this group? Again, I will let the American Gold Star Mothers themselves explain:

“When the United States entered World War I in 1917, George Vaughn Seibold, 23, volunteered, requesting assignment in aviation. He was sent to Canada where he learned to fly British planes since the United States had neither an air force nor planes. Deployed to England, he was assigned to the British Royal Flying Corps, 148th Aero Squadron. With his squadron, he left for combat duty in France. He corresponded with his family regularly. His mother, Grace Darling Seibold, began to do community service by visiting returning servicemen in the hospitals.

The mail from George stopped. Since all aviators were under British control and authority, the United States could not help the Seibold family with any information about their son.

Christmas Eve, 1918, the postman delivered a package to the Washington, DC residence of George and Grace Seibold. The package was marked, "Effects of Deceased Officer, First Lieutenant George Vaughn Seibold, Attached to the 148th Squadron, BRFC." No other information was provided.
After months of inquiry, the family received official notice. "George was killed in aerial combat during the heaviest fighting over Baupaume, France, August 26, 1918." His body was never recovered.

Grace, realizing that self-contained grief is self-destructive, devoted her time and efforts to not only working in the hospital but extending the hand of friendship to other mothers whose sons had lost their lives in military service.” – American Gold Star Mothers

Sadly, there are many new faces who are eligible for membership in this group – the war in Iraq has changed all that.

“Its ranks [American Gold Star Mothers] dwindled substantially, threatening its survival, as members grew older and died. But the Iraq War and the war in Afghanistan are making thousands of women eligible for membership.” – Susan Sarkauskas, Daily Herald for May 28, 2007, “War-torn Mothers”

This is the face of the war that is closer to home. These aren’t civilians in countries that are a half a world away. These are the children of parents in our communities. This is another face of the war that George W. Bush started. This is a face of the war that it is important for everyone to see. It is the face of young men and women who died too soon – some of them, missing in action, will never come home..

Win one for the "Gipper"

Win one for the “Gipper”…er…Cheney

Following on the footsteps of George W. who just addressed the graduating class of the United States Coast Guard, Dick Cheney addressed the graduating class at West Point. Perhaps the thought is to “get them while their young” - it seems to work.

When the facts don’t fit, Dick doesn’t seem to mind trying the old trick of pounding a square peg in a round whole and MAKE them fit. Like George W., if Dick can’t find a smoking gun anywhere, he will put one in someone else’s hand. In an obvious denial of reality he delivered the following quote in this speech to West Point graduates:

“We’re fighting a war over there because the enemy attacked us first. These are men who glorify murder and suicide. Terrorists are defined entirely by their hatreds.” - Dick Cheney

Dick is forgetting the small factor that I mention in yesterday's column - namely Iraq DIDN’T attack us first - before we attacked THEM FIRST they had never killed a single American civilian.

(source: Stephen Zunes, "An Annotated Overview of the Foreign Policy Segments of President George W. Bush’s State of the Union Address," Foreign Policy In Focus, January 29, 2003. Segments of President George W. Bush’s State of the Union Address," Foreign Policy In Focus, January 29, 2003 which can be found at http://www.michaelmoore.com/warroom/f911notes/)

Joining George W. and his increasingly popular tactic of trying to scare the American public in to an act of contrition for having had the audacity for wanting the death stopped, Dick gave his own version of “win one for the Gipper”…

“The security of this nation depends on the outcome.” - Dick Cheney

No doubt Dick was referring to one particular person, Osama Bin Laden, whose family are former business associates of ex-president George H.W. Bush. George W. and Dick seem wont to use Osama as some sort of a touch stone, probing whatever nation they are ready to destroy next.

George Bush's Bloodbath

Photocredit: J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE / AP

George W. has his war chest – with no deadline for troop withdrawal mandated. There appears to be no end to the war in sight. In fact he told the American Public today to expect it to get worse. The war has been financed through September of this year (2007). Now George W. has warned the American public to expect a “bloody” August.
What has George W. got in mind for your August? Here is an example below:


This dead baby and more than 600,000 civilian dead others brought to you courtesy of President George W. Bush
Photocredit: www.robert-fisk.com

“BAGHDAD, Oct. 10 [2006] — A team of American and Iraqi public health researchers has estimated that 600,000 civilians have died in violence across Iraq since the 2003 American invasion, the highest estimate ever for the toll of the war here.” – The New York Times

Remember the old song “War” whose chorus goes like this?

War! huh-yeah
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing
Uh-huh

War! huh-yeah
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing
Say it again y'all

War! huh good God
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing
Listen to me?

Lets add a new line:

War! huh good God
What is it good for?
Making the family of George W. Bush money – and a lot of it…

Whatever the motives of George W. was for starting the war in Iraq, and mind you he did start it – an unprovoked war on a country that had never killed a single American.

(source: Stephen Zunes, "An Annotated Overview of the Foreign Policy Segments of President George W. Bush’s State of the Union Address," Foreign Policy In Focus, January 29, 2003. Segments of President George W. Bush’s State of the Union Address," Foreign Policy In Focus, January 29, 2003 which can be found at http://www.michaelmoore.com/warroom/f911notes/)

Whether George W. thinks God told him to do it as the article cited in my column yesterday,"Bush: God told me to invade Iraq" by Rupert Cromwell, or whether it is simply unfinished business from the Gulf War the family of George W. Bush, namely his father stands to make a lot of money from it. Why? Here is why…

What corporation (in the year 2003) was the eleventh largest defense contractor in the United States? Say it, say it, say it again – yeah

The Carlyle Corporation

(source: “By virtue of its holdings in companies like U.S. Marine Repair and United Defense Industries, Carlyle is the equivalent of the eleventh-largest defense contractor in the nation. It has $16.2 billion under management and claims an average annual return of 35%.” Phyllis Berman, “Lucky Twice,” Forbes, December 8, 2003 http://www.michaelmoore.com/warroom/f911notes/)

What President of the United States has a father who was a Senior Advisor and is a stock holder in the Carlyle Corporation? Say it, say it, say it again – huh- yeah!

George W. Bush, whose father retired on 10/03 from the Carlyle Corporation, who is a stock holder.

(source: http://www.hereinreality.com/carlyle.html)
(source:” Even The Carlyle Group, that super-secret international defense private equity conglomerate so chock full of former world leaders (former US presidents George H W Bush and Bill Clinton and former British prime minister John Major) as current and former principals that it is sometimes seen more as a villain in a James Bond film than as an investment vehicle, is getting into the act. Carlyle recently eschewed its normal investments in death and destruction to buy out Philosophy, Inc, a purveyor of soaps, shampoos and other personal and skincare products.” – The highs and lows of buyouts By Julian Delasantellis , The Asia Times, February 22, 2007)

And what corporation that is a defense contractor for the United States once had as investors the very same family that George W. Bush now claims is his reason to continue his war with Iraq? Say it, say it, say it again –

The Carlyle Corporation

(source: "Following the attacks on September 11, the bin Laden family’s investments in the Carlyle Group became an embarrassment to the Carlyle Group and the family was forced to liquidate their assets with the firm." Kurt Eichenwald, “Bin Laden Family Liquidates Holdings with Carlyle Group,” The New York Times, October 26, 2001. http://www.michaelmoore.com/warroom/f911notes/)

This death and destruction has been brought to you by George W. Bush and his dear old dad…

Pay no attnetion to that man behind the curtain

Photo above: Frank Morgan as the Wizard in “The Wizard of Oz” is revealed by Dorothy’s dog Toto as who he really is.

In a move reminiscent of the famous line from The Wizard of Oz – “Pay not attention to that man behind the curtain” – once again George W. is trying to misdirect our attention. Fortunately the particular curtain that George W,’s diatribe is hidden behind this time is 10 pages of newspaper. Thank goodness he isn’t front page news this time. There is perhaps a reason for this. The caption of George W. delivering a commencement speech to the U.S. Coast Guard academy reads as follows:

“Trying to rally support for an unpopular war, President Bush used declassified intelligence Wednesday to equate the U.S. led fight in Iraq with the broader battle against al-Qaida.”

It is not enough that the funding for his war – and make no mistake my friends, this is HIS war and no one else’s – is “in the bag” as they say. It appears as if George W. is not satisfied with winning, everyone else must loose. In this case the people who are losing are not just those who will die in Iraq, but all of humanity.

Here are some quotes, from the Associated Press, from George W.’s commencement speech…

“In the minds of al-Qaida leaders, 9/11 was just a down payment on violence yet to come.”

“It is tempting to believe that the calm here at home after 9/11 means that the danger to our country has passed.”

“Here is America, we are living in the eye of a storm. All around us, dangerous winds are swirling and these winds could reach our shores at any moment.”

Well my friends, the biggest wind of the moment seems to be coming from a blowhard president trying desperately to build up the failing support of the American public for his war. This is a president who has to hold disaster relief for Americans ransom to get his funding.

The first point is this. Even if George W. is correct, stepping up or even continuing the war will not weaken terrorism – it will exacerbate it. Back in graduate school I did my master’s thesis on the causes of terrorism. Terrorism, my friends, is a “war in the shadows” and I am not the first one to call it that (if you can find the original quote, feel free to chime in). You cannot blow up terrorism with tanks. You cannot root it out with missiles. And a war will not stop it. Tell me you want to spend more money on the United States Coast Guard, and keep them here at home? I am all for it. Tell me you want to put PROFESSIONALS in airport security in this country and I will back you 100%. But trying to literally “scare up” some support for his war is just pathetic. My only guess is that George W. wants to ensure that widows and mothers all over the world have more to mourn about this Memorial Day.

But the larger issue is not just this war, but ANY war. Remember back when George W. started the war? He told us all about prayer to God for guidance to got to war? Well an article published by “The Independent” by Rupert Cromwell (source: news.independent.co.uk) talks about just that:

“The revelation comes after Mr Bush launched an impassioned attack yesterday in Washington on Islamic militants, likening their ideology to that of Communism, and accusing them of seeking to "enslave whole nations" and set up a radical Islamic empire "that spans from Spain to Indonesia". In the programmeElusive Peace: Israel and the Arabs, which starts on Monday, the former Palestinian foreign minister Nabil Shaath says Mr Bush told him and Mahmoud Abbas, former prime minister and now Palestinian President: "I'm driven with a mission from God. God would tell me, 'George, go and fight those terrorists in Afghanistan.' And I did, and then God would tell me, 'George go and end the tyranny in Iraq,' and I did.’”

I am not sure what God George W. is praying to that tells him to start wars and go kill people, but it isn’t any God I know. But that does lead me to a larger point. Why would God allow this war? I am sure many have asked themselves just that. One the face of it, the short answer is simply “Free will”. God didn’t start the war, a man did – a man named George W. Bush. Some people have pointed out to me that God led the Israelites into war in the old testament. The Old Testament in the Bible is full of scenes of such as the Egyptian Armies being drown at the bottom of the Red Sea, and the people of Jericho being smashed under their own walls – all at the hand of God. I had this same discussion with mother superior this morning. We discussed what God, in the person of Jesus, said in the New Testament:

"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” – Matthew 5:17

Many times I have discussed God’s new commandment – “love one another as I have loved you.” So God has not abolished the old testament. If you fulfill His new commandment to love one another as He loves us you will be in obedience with God’s will. But remember that Christ taught that it is important to obey the spirit of the law and not just the letter of the Law. When God has spoken to Mankind, he has done so in ways they can best understand. When Mother Mary spoke to St. Bernadette at Lourdes she did so in ways that she could understand – Bernadette had to memorize the words “immaculate conception.” Above all, one thing is important and that is this:

ONLY GOD HAS THE RIGHT TO TAKE A LIFE – NO ONE ELSE

Today, my friends, I will leave you with a short story by none other than Mark Twain. It is called “The War Prayer” – read on .

The War Prayer
by Mark Twain

It was a time of great and exalting excitement. The country was up in arms, the war was on, in every breast burned the holy fire of patriotism; the drums were beating, the bands playing, the toy pistols popping, the bunched firecrackers hissing and spluttering; on every hand and far down the receding and fading spread of roofs and balconies a fluttering wilderness of flags flashed in the sun; daily the young volunteers marched down the wide avenue gay and fine in their new uniforms, the proud fathers and mothers and sisters and sweethearts cheering them with voices choked with happy emotion as they swung by; nightly the packed mass meetings listened, panting, to patriot oratory which stirred the deepest deeps of their hearts, and which they interrupted at briefest intervals with cyclones of applause, the tears running down their cheeks the while; in the churches the pastors preached devotion to flag and country, and invoked the God of Battles beseeching His aid in our good cause in outpourings of fervid eloquence which moved every listener. It was indeed a glad and gracious time, and the half dozen rash spirits that ventured to disapprove of the war and cast a doubt upon its righteousness straightway got such a stern and angry warning that for their personal safety's sake they quickly shrank out of sight and offended no more in that way.

Sunday morning came -- next day the battalions would leave for the front; the church was filled; the volunteers were there, their young faces alight with martial dreams -- visions of the stern advance, the gathering momentum, the rushing charge, the flashing sabers, the flight of the foe, the tumult, the enveloping smoke, the fierce pursuit, the surrender! Then home from the war, bronzed heroes, welcomed, adored, submerged in golden seas of glory! With the volunteers sat their dear ones, proud, happy, and envied by the neighbors and friends who had no sons and brothers to send forth to the field of honor, there to win for the flag, or, failing, die the noblest of noble deaths. The service proceeded; a war chapter from the Old Testament was read; the first prayer was said; it was followed by an organ burst that shook the building, and with one impulse the house rose, with glowing eyes and beating hearts, and poured out that tremendous invocation

*God the all-terrible! Thou who ordainest! Thunder thy clarion and lightning thy sword!*

Then came the "long" prayer. None could remember the like of it for passionate pleading and moving and beautiful language. The burden of its supplication was, that an ever-merciful and benignant Father of us all would watch over our noble young soldiers, and aid, comfort, and encourage them in their patriotic work; bless them, shield them in the day of battle and the hour of peril, bear them in His mighty hand, make them strong and confident, invincible in the bloody onset; help them to crush the foe, grant to them and to their flag and country imperishable honor and glory --

An aged stranger entered and moved with slow and noiseless step up the main aisle, his eyes fixed upon the minister, his long body clothed in a robe that reached to his feet, his head bare, his white hair descending in a frothy cataract to his shoulders, his seamy face unnaturally pale, pale even to ghastliness. With all eyes following him and wondering, he made his silent way; without pausing, he ascended to the preacher's side and stood there waiting. With shut lids the preacher, unconscious of his presence, continued with his moving prayer, and at last finished it with the words, uttered in fervent appeal, "Bless our arms, grant us the victory, O Lord our God, Father and Protector of our land and flag!"

The stranger touched his arm, motioned him to step aside -- which the startled minister did -- and took his place. During some moments he surveyed the spellbound audience with solemn eyes, in which burned an uncanny light; then in a deep voice he said:

"I come from the Throne -- bearing a message from Almighty God!" The words smote the house with a shock; if the stranger perceived it he gave no attention. "He has heard the prayer of His servant your shepherd, and will grant it if such shall be your desire after I, His messenger, shall have explained to you its import -- that is to say, its full import. For it is like unto many of the prayers of men, in that it asks for more than he who utters it is aware of -- except he pause and think.
"God's servant and yours has prayed his prayer. Has he paused and taken thought? Is it one prayer? No, it is two -- one uttered, the other not. Both have reached the ear of Him Who heareth all supplications, the spoken and the unspoken. Ponder this -- keep it in mind. If you would beseech a blessing upon yourself, beware! lest without intent you invoke a curse upon a neighbor at the same time. If you pray for the blessing of rain upon your crop which needs it, by that act you are possibly praying for a curse upon some neighbor's crop which may not need rain and can be injured by it.

"You have heard your servant's prayer -- the uttered part of it. I am commissioned of God to put into words the other part of it -- that part which the pastor -- and also you in your hearts -- fervently prayed silently. And ignorantly and unthinkingly? God grant that it was so! You heard these words: 'Grant us the victory, O Lord our God!' That is sufficient. the *whole* of the uttered prayer is compact into those pregnant words. Elaborations were not necessary. When you have prayed for victory you have prayed for many unmentioned results which follow victory--*must* follow it, cannot help but follow it. Upon the listening spirit of God fell also the unspoken part of the prayer. He commandeth me to put it into words. Listen!
"O Lord our Father, our young patriots, idols of our hearts, go forth to battle -- be Thou near them! With them -- in spirit -- we also go forth from the sweet peace of our beloved firesides to smite the foe. O Lord our God, help us to tear their soldiers to bloody shreds with our shells; help us to cover their smiling fields with the pale forms of their patriot dead; help us to drown the thunder of the guns with the shrieks of their wounded, writhing in pain; help us to lay waste their humble homes with a hurricane of fire; help us to wring the hearts of their unoffending widows with unavailing grief; help us to turn them out roofless with little children to wander unfriended the wastes of their desolated land in rags and hunger and thirst, sports of the sun flames of summer and the icy winds of winter, broken in spirit, worn with travail, imploring Thee for the refuge of the grave and denied it -- for our sakes who adore Thee, Lord, blast their hopes, blight their lives, protract their bitter pilgrimage, make heavy their steps, water their way with their tears, stain the white snow with the blood of their wounded feet! We ask it, in the spirit of love, of Him Who is the Source of Love, and Who is the ever-faithful refuge and friend of all that are sore beset and seek His aid with humble and contrite hearts. Amen.

(*After a pause.*) "Ye have prayed it; if ye still desire it, speak! The messenger of the Most High waits!"

It was believed afterward that the man was a lunatic, because there was no sense in what he said.

Usually I get kissed first...

Usually I get kissed first before Democratic politicians do what they did this week in Washington D.C. George W. is determined to have his war, even if it means he has to hold disaster relief over the heads of the American People (Democratic Party) in order to get his dose of death and destruction. An Associated Press article for May 23, 2007 reported that “Democratic congressional leaders neared agreement with the Bush administration Tuesday to pay for the Iraq war without setting a timeline for troop withdrawal.” I don’t entirely blame the democratic party - after all, it is not quite as bad as the shameful thing that George W. did -

Namely, use disaster relief that should go to the American people WITHOUT A THOUGHT AND WITHOUT STRINGS ATTACHED. But George W. is determined to start wars no matter what it takes. Read on…

“Several officials said the emerging compromise bill would cast about $120 billion including as much as $8 billion for Democratic domestic priorities - SUCH AS DISASTER RELIEF FOR HURRICANE KATRINA VICTIMS AND FARMERS HURT BY DROUGHT.”

I believe at this point that both George W. and the G.O.P. must be suffering some form of mass insanity. In a country that has a health care system that is in a shambles, they are spending over 100 BILLION DOLLARS on killing people in a war that George W. Bush started in the first place..

- in a country that had nothing to do with the tragedy of 9/11
- in a country that didn’t have weapons of mass destruction

So he uses money that should have gone to help Americans in dire need to pry the money for his war out of the American people. Just when I think George W. Bush can’t sink any lower - can’t lose more of his humanity, he manages to sink to brand new lows. HOW LOW CAN YOU GO GEORGE W.???

What could be worse? Can it get worse?

Remember just a week or two ago, those same G.O.P members that said they would no longer support George W. if no progress is made in Iraq by September? It appears that by “progress” they mean stepping up the number of deaths in Iraq. Now the Republic party is proud of what it has done. Read on…

“Republicans said that after weeks of struggle, they had forced Democrats to give up their demand for a date to withdraw troops.” - Associated Press May 23, 2007

I wonder at this point if the Republic Party is more concerned with sticking it to the Democratic side of congress than the concerns of the American People, and the world, not to mention humanity as a whole.

So what does it take to get George W. to let go of some additional money for disaster victims? A war…it takes A WAR? And yes, the Republic Party feels that they have done themselves proud….

“Rep. John Boehner of Ohio, the House Republican Leader, added, ‘Democrats have finally conceded defeat in their effort to include mandatory surrender dates in funding a bill for the troops, so forward progress has been made for the first time in this four-month process.”

SURRENDER? Is that what John Boehner is concerned about? AMERICA STARTED THIS WAR JOHN!!! It makes me want to move to Ohio just so I can “not vote” for the man. The House Republic leader is proud of the fact that the Republican Party was able to force a War down the throats of the American people and the world?

Message to the politicians in both parties in Washington D.C. who feel that they somehow, in their wildest dreams, represent the “will of the people”…

USUALLY I GET KISSED FIRST

Michael Moore and "Sicko"

Photo credit:Kirsty Wigglesworth / AP

Michael Moore has a new documentary called “Sicko”. In case you haven’t heard of him he is the producer of the movie “Fahrenheit 9/11” – the film that has caused George W. Bush so much ire. The film is described by the associated press as “a ferocious attack on the U.S. health care industry” Both Michael Moore and the documentary are the talk of the Cannes Film Festival in France. Moore is using the film to tell the world about the desperate need to reform America’s health system.

As part of the film he took a group of sick Americans, including people who were rescue workers during the September 11 tragedy, to Cuba seeking medical treatment. Moore told the Associated press that the group only went to Cuba for medical treatment after failing to be admitted to the U.S. military base at Guantanamo Bay – where Moore told the associated press that the “al-Qaida suspects receive better treatment than millions of Americans”. He was given 20 days by the U.S. Treasure Department to respond to questions.

“It’s a government that’s funded by the pharmaceutical companies and the health insurers, so I’m not surprised they’re coming after me, said Moore. I’m surprised they’re doing it so soon. I didn’t think they’d want to draw attention to the movie this early on.”

“They want me to name names” Moore told the Associated Press.

To say the film has been received well at the film festive is putting it mildly. The associated press article had this headline:

“Cannes, France – In Cannes, Michael Moore is a rock star-mobbed by fans, assailed by cameras and forced to wolf down a plate of pasta between his latest interview and his next live TV Appearance.”

Mr. Moore had this to say about the film:

“It was pretty somber working on this film. We just kept thinking, the only reason this person is dying is because they hold American citizenship. If they lived in Canada or Britain or France, they’d have a chance.” – Michael Moore

When he was pulling up to a TV studio in France for yet another interview, Moore had this to say:

“The facts are indisputable. People in those countries live longer than us, they have a lower infant mortality rate, they spend only half the money that we spend per person on health care, and yet hey have a healthier nation. There’s no part of that picture that I’m painting that is untrue.” – Michael Moore.

If his work on his last movie is any indication, “sicko” should be a real eye opener.

Sister Julie

Is George W. Bush just the worst president in history or a war criminal?

Remember the adage about the three famous monkeys - “See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil”? While the picture of George W. (above left) seems to embody that phrase, unfortunately we would need to add one more monkey for him – do no evil.
In George W.’s case, however, he would fail the task miserably. And former president Carter has been telling the world why…

In an associated press article for May 19, 2007 former President Jimmy Carter called George W. Bush “the worst president in history.” Jimmy Carter goes on to say "I think as far as the adverse impact on the nation around the world, this administration has been the worst in history,"

Carter, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002, had the following to say about George W. Bush and the war in Iraq.

"We now have endorsed the concept of pre-emptive war where we go to war with another nation militarily, even though our own security is not directly threatened, if we want to change the regime there or if we fear that some time in the future our security might be endangered," he said. "But that's been a radical departure from all previous administration policies." - former president Jimmy Carter

“Pre-emptive war”? My friends, that means George W. STARTED THE WAR. Don’t think so? Bob Woodward, the journalist who is in part responsible for bringing Nixon and the Watergate scandal to light thinks so. Here is what he had to say, in part, in a recent interview on CBS’ 60 minutes:

“And there's this low boil on Iraq until the day before Thanksgiving, Nov. 21, 2001. This is 72 days after 9/11. This is part of this secret history. President Bush, after a National Security Council meeting, takes Don Rumsfeld aside, collars him physically, and takes him into a little cubbyhole room and closes the door and says, ‘What have you got in terms of plans for Iraq? What is the status of the war plan? I want you to get on it. I want you to keep it secret.’ – Bob Woodward.

In his new book “Plan of attack” Journalist Bob Woodward gives a detailed account of how and why President George W. Bush decided to wage war on Iraq. So has George W. Bush committed a crime? You may judge for yourself, but in an article for CNN their “Find Law” columnist John W. Dean said the following:

“This administration may be due for a scandal. While Bush narrowly escaped being dragged into Enron, which was not, in any event, his doing. But the war in Iraq is all Bush's doing, and it is appropriate that he be held accountable.

To put it bluntly, if Bush has taken Congress and the nation into war based on bogus information, he is cooked. Manipulation or deliberate misuse of national security intelligence data, if proven, could be "a high crime" under the Constitution's impeachment clause. It would also be a violation of federal criminal law, including the broad federal anti-conspiracy statute, which renders it a felony "to defraud the United States, or any agency thereof in any manner or for any purpose."

-John W. Dean in his article for CNN “Is lying about the reason for a war an impeachable offense?”

Is George W. Bush the worst president in history? That covers a lot of ground my friends, but former President Carter thinks so, and I agree with him. Has he committed a crime? Can we consider him a war criminal? Only time and the courts will tell…

Jerry Falwell's legacy of hatred

Jerry Falwell was found dead on Tuesday May 15, 2007 – this week. For those of you who have never been subjected to his remarks, some of them are included below. He was the founder of a group that was ironically called “The moral majority” He was a man who proclaimed himself to be Christian yet who preached hatred of gay men and lesbian women. He believed God did not hear the prayers of Jews.

While Jerry Falwell was busy living by Leviticus 18:22 (“You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination”) he somehow missed Leviticus 25:44 (“If you need slaves, you may buy them from the nations around you”) I am not personally aware if Mr. Falwell owned any Canadians. I doubt he did however, as slavery is not acceptable as, to him apparently, preaching hatred. Most of all, when he lived Mr. Falwell forgot one very, very important part of the bible. The words of Jesus himself:

And now I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. – John 13:34

If God is the merciful loving God that I know He is, He will give Jerry Falwell a chance to make up for the hatred he preached while he was alive. Karma, as they say is Karma. So if you meet a gay teenager about 14 years from now – and if that young man looks very confused at how to reconcile his love for God with the with the legacy of hatred Jerry Falwell left. Well have a bit of pity on the young man. The young man may just be Jerry Falwell reincarnated…

Jerry Falwell’s legacy of hatred:

Jerry Falwell blamed gays and lesbians with the destruction of the Twin Towers in New York on 911 - “I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People For the American Way, all of them who have tried to secularize America. I point the finger in their face and say 'you helped this happen.” – Jerry Falwell
(source: http://archives.cnn.com/2001/US/09/14/Falwell.apology/)

Jerry Falwell did not believe God hears the prayers of Jews:“I do not believe,” Jerry Falwell told reporters, “that God answers the prayer of any unredeemed Gentile or Jew.” – Jerry Falwell
(source: http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/10806.html#more-10806)

Jerry Falwell believed Heaven will destroy Metropolitan Churches and then Celebrate:
Jerry Falwell called gay-orientated Metropolitan Churches “Brute beasts” and “a vile and Satanic system” that will “one day be utterly annihilated and there will be a celebration in heaven.” This statement was proven in court by gay activist Jerry Sloan
(source: http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/10806.html#more-10806)

Some further statements by Jerry Falwell:
"[Vice President Gore] recently praised the lesbian actress who plays 'Ellen' on ABC Television...I believe he may even put children, young people, and adults in danger by his public endorsement of deviant homosexual behavior...Our elected leaders are attempting to glorify and legitimize perversion." People for the American Way, "Hostile Climate", 1998, p.9.”
(source: http://www.hatecrime.org/subpages/hatespeech/robertson.html)

"Someone must not be afraid to say, 'moral perversion is wrong.' If we do not act now, homosexuals will 'own' America!...If you and I do not speak up now, this homosexual steamroller will literally crush all decent men, women, and children who get in its way...and our nation will pay a terrible price!" - People for the American Way, "Hostile Climate," 1997, p.15.
(source: http://www.hatecrime.org/subpages/hatespeech/robertson.html)

The State of American Healthcare

The State of American Healthcare...

The picture above is by Jon Griffon

In an associated press article dated May 16, 2007 Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel is quoted from the Journal of the American Medical Association. The article starts with the following paragraph:

“The U.S. heath care system is a ‘dysfunctional mess’ and politicians who insist otherwise look ignorant, according to a medical essay by a prominent ethicist at the National institute of Health.”

The prominent ethicist would be Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel from whom the article then offers up the following quote:

“If a politician declares that the United States has the best health care system in the world today, he or she looks clueless rather than patriotic or authoritative.” – Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel

In the article, Dr. Emanuel says that the U.S. spends $6,000 per person per year on health care, an amount that is more than 16 percent of the gross national product and more than any other country.

Six thousand dollars?

Oh would that it were. It would be a wonderful discount for us. We spend $16,200 per year for Mother Superior’s health care insurance alone. The American Health Care system is a shambles. Even if you are in perfect health, even if you have great health care insurance, you should care. Why?

Everyone gets old that’s why….

What happens when you get old? What happens if you ever reach the point where you cannot care for yourself? At our convent we take care of an elderly woman who is unable to care for herself. Consider this, however. We live in a country that is driven by greed – call it the wage/price spiral if you have taken macro economics and it happens to float your particular boat. I work in real estate as I have for years, and see an industry that not only is driven by greed, but thrives in it. We live in an economy where the it usually takes two incomes to support a family. And what happens if a relative of one of the wage earners can no longer take care of themselves? I am not talking about when someone simply needs to live with their children – I am talking about when they need around the clock care.

Years ago my parents went to a restaurant called “The oriental pearl”. When the owner of the restaurant found out what dad did for a living (he was a nursing home administrator at the time) he was shocked. “We are honored to have our old ones with us” he said. But he might not say that now. Not everyone is in a position to be able to quit there job to be able to take care of an older relative around the clock.

I hope you are not counting on the American healthcare system to take care of you under such circumstances. We have a healthcare system that is a REAL KILLER – literally.