Why Did Republicans Lose?

I was in the tank for Barack Obama for a reason for President. I believe in him. I will never apologize for it! I don’t agree with his abortion and pro choice issue but I voted for him still because the rest of his message was for the common good of his fellow man and woman. He was not talking to the elite of America when he asked for our vote but to you and I, the simple folk. That is not a message that John McCain could sell but he was weighed down by the recent history of his own political party. John McCain was honorable, his party and the members of it were not. My own faith and leaders of it were accused of abuse against children. Catholic Priests abusing children and the dare to have a voice on this election? And when they hid the crimes, moved priests around, and they still think themselves innocent. Now they want to claim the higher moral road?

Republican political party officials disgraced the political offices they held over and over again. You can literally Google Search Tom Delay that was the Senate President disgraced and resigned from office, Denny Hastert, the Speaker of the House disgraced and forced to resign. One Republican representative after another in our nations government betrayed the trust of the people. Sex accusations and just out right abuse of power led many Republican members of congress to resign in disgrace. The fish rots from the head and George Bush and his administration contributed to this deception. The political base did not do that to them, the people they thought that they elected to serve are to blame for their actions. They are the ones to blame.

It goes beyond that. Faith came into play and the Catholic faith came into play when John McCain accepted the endorsement of Reverend John Hagee. A man that declared all Catholics Bastards and Whores of the Christian faith. To which John McCain had to withdraw his acceptance of the endorsement. Still, all of us Catholics are bastards of the true faith of Jesus Christ. We are damned to hell unless we sign over a check to Reverend John Hagee. Um, I do not have a pen ready any time soon.

Politics is a double edged sword if you bring your faith fully into it. Faith and politics will never agree unless you want to live in a religious run state? In South Carolina there is one parish Priest that thinks that anyone that voted for Barack Obama needs to go to confession before taking communion. As a Catholic I can not see how the logic of this parish priest is relevant to our nation and out greater political structure. Over at Yahoo News they have this opinion piece…

SC priest: No communion for Obama supporters

By MEG KINNARD, Associated Press Writer Meg Kinnard, Associated Press Writer – Thu Nov 13, 6:33 pm ET

COLUMBIA, S.C. – A South Carolina Roman Catholic priest has told his parishioners that they should refrain from receiving Holy Communion if they voted for Barack Obama because the Democratic president-elect supports abortion, and supporting him "constitutes material cooperation with intrinsic evil."

The Rev. Jay Scott Newman said in a letter distributed Sunday to parishioners at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Greenville that they are putting their souls at risk if they take Holy Communion before doing penance for their vote.

"Our nation has chosen for its chief executive the most radical pro-abortion politician ever to serve in the United States Senate or to run for president," Newman wrote, referring to Obama by his full name, including his middle name of Hussein.

"Voting for a pro-abortion politician when a plausible pro-life alternative exists constitutes material cooperation with intrinsic evil, and those Catholics who do so place themselves outside of the full communion of Christ's Church and under the judgment of divine law. Persons in this condition should not receive Holy Communion until and unless they are reconciled to God in the Sacrament of Penance, lest they eat and drink their own condemnation." - Yahoo News

If the Catholic Church ran the world then we would have forgiven the terrorists that killed 3000 people on 9/11 in New York City and that would be the end of it. But this priest wants the election to be all about abortion. Not that you as a person could have a choice if you don’t even believe in it till the circumstances happen to be you and or your daughter. Your daughter is raped by her brother, by her uncle, by even her farther, or for that matter by a complete stranger. Rape is good with the Catholic faith and as a Catholic I have an argument here with it. Excommunicate me for it! I will defend a woman’s right, a child’s right and choice to abort a child under duress. Tell me once when a man was ever raped against his will and the end result was a child from that crime! Just give me one example. It's easy to talk about creation of human beings when you supposedly take a vow against sex. Then your own infrastructure hides your own members sex crimes against children. The Catholic Church does not have a bully pulpit to stand on right now and for them to try and influence voters is pretty much against church doctrine as well.

I find myself not thinking that the Catholic faith is not in line with the reality of the world around them. As much as I love my faith, the real world is not playing the same game. We as Catholics need to find our way back to the original message of Jesus Christ. If we can not, then so goes the faithful. Maybe we can hate the sin but love the sinner again? If we can not then Jesus and his message is lost to reach out for the lost among us. I think it is to late for that now and it angers me as a die hard Catholic!

I can honestly say that I don’t think that anyone is ever pro abortion but that is a political message left to spin by politicians and political groups that have no idea how many levels of government that this plays into, but politics should never play into my faith and my faith should never play into politics. Seperation of Church and State is there for a reasons. No member of the Catholic faith should be denied communion based on politics. What is a sin to one person is common sense to another. This is America and not the Vatican! This is the new Catholic faith that is not beholden to the Pope that is omnipotent.

Papamoka

McCain Hagee

At this moment I feel bad for John McCain. With his former attitude and denial of the facts when he accepted the endorsement of Reverend Hagee but did not feel himself liable for his comments against we whores of the Catholic faith, he still needed Hagee. He needs that Christian Conservative Evangelical vote. Those folks in George Bush’s back yard and solid support base. Even when Hagee apologized for the comments bashing Catholics, McCain stood by him. It should have raised a flag of concern from the McCain campaign but it didn’t. It wasn’t important enough for McCain, it didn’t matter that millions of Catholic voters still felt offended even if the Catholic League felt the apology full of sincerity. As the D List comedian Kathy Griffin pointed out, the Catholic League is one guy with a computer and does not represent most Catholics. He certainly does not represent this pissed off Catholic!

Then we get Hagee saying that God made Hitler construct the Holocaust because all of the Jewish people in the world needed to return to Israel? Hitler was an instrument of God for the sake of Israel? Now McCain is interested and wants to know more about Hagee? Did he or his campaign not look into Hagee to begin with? Most politicians don’t accept an endorsement unless they are in step with them in the first place. Maybe in the eyes of John McCain it is okay to bash a Catholic because we have all of the monster sex abuse on children issues to deal with but what about a nut job explanation on why Hitler was part of God’s plan?

John McCain thinks that he can walk away from Hagee’s former endorsement but he can not. Now he sits in the same seat as Obama with the need to explain further why he did not know the hate monger that endorsed him. Using the excuse that he didn’t attend his church does not give him an out. This is a Presidential election and if his choice of accepting and endorsement was wrong then what about his choices for the Supreme Court if elected President of the United States?

How many other hate mongering, Catholic and Jew bashing friends does he have in the background that overlooked what was an obvious bad choice?

One thing is certain and that is the fact that this election is going to go negative and it will go negative fast and furious. The Christian Right is losing its voice in government because of blind faith and I don’t have any sympathy for them in that respect. You can flick through every single page of the bible you want but Jesus Christ was never about subjugating the poorest of the poor for the gain of the few.

John Hagee and John McCain are two very different people but they are the same mentality. One is selling the word of God for a dollar and the other is selling his soul for the sake of the office of President. I feel bad for John McCain because he was the voice of reason prior to the George Bush Presidency. Somewhere along the path to today he lost his voice from yesterday.

Papamoka

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No Thanks Pastor Hagee

As a Catholic I take serious offense to the accusations of Pastor Hagee who is a buddy to John McCain in the latest race for President of all of the United States of America. While the main stream media has been attacking Barack Obama with his association with Reverend Wright they have taken a pass on the McCain/Hagee connection. As a voter I was just as ticked off at the racist comments by Reverend Wright as most people should be and I was glad to see Obama distance himself emphatically from those thoughts. It was a wise move for someone that wants to represent all of the people of America.

John McCain has no problem other than saying he does not agree with Pastor Hagee but is not refuting his endorsement. When questioned he pulls out an attack on Obama and Wright which I find interesting in the fact that he isn’t willing to face the facts behind Hagee. It comes down to more or less blaming your association to someone else to deflect attention and blaming a tree for jumping out in front of your car. Damn those jumping trees and ecologist for it!

Just for giggles I watched one of Pastor Hagee’s television broadcasts and frankly I wasn’t surprised to hear and see what he had to say. Things I have never herd from any of my Catholic priest during Mass in my entire life. Counterfeit Christians was his topic for the days broadcast and in it he referenced my faith in terms not labeling the Catholic faith as directly linked to Satan but we pretty much have Satan as the basis of our faith. He rambled on about fearing God and that runs counter to my faith and understanding of a loving God. Fearing God is far more important in Pastor Hagee’s thought process if it instills fear in his flock to blindly follow him. Then he went on about the direct connection from a child’s bottom and the brain which was his direct reference of spare the rod and spoil the child aka child abuse.

What surprised me with his sermon was the continual thought that fear of God, fear of Jesus not loving you, fear of not being part of his flock was the only message he had to sell. Then the commercials came on and the guy has books and videos and all kinds of self serving profit making devices working for him to sell God to the people. With the commercial break over he goes on to tell us that following his true spirit with God is the only way to go and that you no longer have free will. Doing God’s will is your only path and those that do not follow that path will never see the gates of heaven. Sounds like a radical terrorist statement to me but I could be wrong. What happened to free will? In my opinion, Hagee equates free will to how much he can fleece from his flock and that is what he is all about. Money first, God second. Someone has to pay for the multi million dollar operation he has built based on fear and Catholic bashing.

Pastor Hagee is nothing more than a guy making a dollar off of the fear of many lost souls. I’m not questioning his followers faith in God or their following of Jesus Christ, I am questioning the false thoughts of a man at the pulpit. Anyone that tells you that his Jesus or his God is better than yours is someone to be very skeptical of. In the words of Pastor Hagee, the devil will unleash many false prophets and that pretty much puts him in the hate game. Go sell your hate aka used cars (no offense to used car sales people) somewhere else Pastor.

In Pastor Hagee’s apology to the media on all of the coverage of his Catholic bashing, I’m sure coverage on the blogosphere at sites like this he absolutely denied that he has ever had a message of hate against Catholics. See the post and video that I put up earlier and judge for yourself. Or you could click here for the video. He refers to the Catholic Church and Hitler in the first few minutes of the video. Hitler only proposed doing what the Roman Church has done for eight hundred years but just more efficiently. In his apology he immediately refers to most Catholics as charity grubbing unclean people in need of his divine intervention five days a week. Well thank you Pastor Hagee! We are an unwashed and unclean people, all of us Catholics. That was very big of you but Catholic Charities all across America works seven days a week and it never ends year to year.

For the record, if Pastor Hagee wants to come after my faith, my church, my church leaders, I will be at their back to defend the Catholic faith. I’m an American Catholic Renegade and my faith is the foundation for my existence. We American Catholic’s have pretty much had enough of money grabbing self righteous idiots declaring that they have intimate knowledge of what God or Jesus Christ is to the modern man. Attack our church doctrine and you attack our purpose for existing on this planet that is never about ourselves. When your declare my God and my Jesus Christ, two of the same religious entities, not accepting me or my children into heaven then you are a false prophet from any religious perspective known to man. Some would call Pastor Hagee a Christian Jihadist. I would have to agree with that. I would prefer the term that John Hagee is a Christian Terrorist. You will never see the gates of heaven if your check does not clear.

Why does John McCain still consider this man worthy to associate his name with by the Hagee endorsement? When asked about it he points the finger elsewhere because his own thoughts betray him for the price of a few votes.

Anyone that calls themselves an American Catholic is not about hate or any form of screw you because you think xyz on any issue. John McCain by not speaking up for Catholics and all of the behind the scene charities that we do is spitting in our faces and does not deserve even one Catholics vote.

If you think McCain would not sell his own soul for the White House then check out what the Gun Toting Liberal has in his latest piece. Rod Parsley, another religious fanatic preaching the end of Islam. McCain has no problem with his endorsement either!

Papamoka

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American Catholics and the Pope

In my life, my Catholic faith is a foundation to live by. It isn’t by any means binding in the full teachings of the church as an American. More or less it is a standard of faith in God and Jesus Christ and how I should proceed or act in my life. It isn’t an easy faith to follow when everyone else is playing by different rules or no moral rules at all. That by no means states that I’m a jerk and the confessional gives me a pass on forgiveness. What it means to me is that I treat people with respect no matter their lot and life and when I can I offer help to all in any way that I can, I do.

From my personal perspective, I look at any kindness I show as a pay it forward sort of event. When shown kindness and compassion it is hoped that the person receiving it pays it forward to another person in their life. I don’t see the results of my actions but then again I do. Many people have touched my life when I needed it most and it isn’t important to give names because the act of caring for someone else is self rewarding. You know when you are helping someone and that warm feeling in your belly is all that you need to know that you are doing good. That is the goal that Jesus would have wanted for me as a person to follow.

As a Catholic somewhat involved in the faith I know the many good deeds that the church does for the many in need. It isn’t broadcast on the news or spoken of in the halls of government. They just do what they do and many that have been helped have come back to give help to the poor and down and out. Doing something that helps another person no matter who they are is something that is addictive and it begets more action by those helped. Helping out someone that is down and out no matter what action you take is addictive. That is something that you never need to go to meeting for to overcome this particular addiction. That is somewhat the foundation of the Catholic faith when you really think about it.

In America, the Catholic faith has been under strong attack for many misgivings and rightfully so. Pedophile Priests are not something we as Catholic’s want in our flock. It is a shame on our church and something we as members bare on our shoulders every day. When the church does not correct it with undoubtedly sound results then it is a cross the members of the faithful have to face and carry.

It is pretty clear that the years of child molestation by very mentally sick Priest’s will carry forward for many years to come. I have no sympathy for the animals and bastards that harmed children and yet as a Catholic I am supposed to forgive. Forgiveness comes far more easily when the monster disguised as Priest’s are behind bars. That is what an American Catholic thinks in the nutshell. A crime against children is a crime against the future of families. How can you raise your family as Catholic if the crimes are passed over or ignored by the people that are the leaders of the church?

I wish Pope Benedict a fruitful trip to his flock in America but he should think deep into his heart and soul and ask for the forgiveness of his lost flock. The issue of pedophile priest’s will not go away over night or for a generation or two. Shame of his flock and our church goes deep into the American spirit and festers with the neglect of the church policing itself. Where they saw a wrong doing they looked the other way and that was wrong no matter how you look at it.

In the mean time, the faithful of the church will still give and give again and again. The work of serving the poor never ends and in that respect I am proud to be a Catholic. In the numerous cases of child abuse I am somewhat ashamed to be a Catholic and that is a dilemma that many American Catholic’s face.

Pope Benedict in his visit to America can change that ideology of American Catholic’s if he has the courage to do so.

Papamoka

Cross posted at To the Center

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Catholic’s, McCain & Hagee

Us Catholic’s are a tough lot. Hell we have to deal with the shame of the child molesting priest issue that went underground for decades but we all own that shame together as Catholic’s. It is a shame that should never be forgotten by every single Catholic.

Mind you as church organizations go the Catholic faith is very strict with its teachings but very liberal with its actions. Caring for the poor, feeding the homeless, clothing people, offering assistance in many areas of life without care as to whether you are a Catholic or not. There are no flares fired off to make notice of our churches response to people in need, its just done.

With that being said, there is a religious Christian war going on in American politics that is based in hate. Christian, and hate are two words that should never go together when talking about the American Christian experience of faith. Love thy brother does not have the word “except” in it. Down at the bottom of the page there is no italicized notes with a list of who is not to be loved. If you think this war is happening in both political parties then you would be dead wrong. This issue is totally owned by the “My God is better than your God” Republican Party and Reverend John Hagee is heading up the battle with his endorsement of John McCain. Over at the Washington Post they have this great read on it…

Hagee Endorsement of McCain Has Risks

By LIBBY QUAID
The Associated Press
Monday, March 3, 2008; 6:23 PM

SEDONA, Ariz. -- Endorsed by an influential Texas televangelist, Republican John McCain endeared himself to one group of voters but risked alienating another with the pastor's anti-Catholic views.

The controversy has been mild so far, but still, every vote counts in a presidential election that is expected to be closely contested.

Evangelical or born-again Christian voters were key to George W. Bush's victories, but so were Roman Catholics, who chose Bush over their fellow Catholic John Kerry in 2004 and over Al Gore in 2000.

The televangelist, San Antonio megachurch leader John Hagee, has referred to the Roman Catholic Church as "the great whore" and called it a "false cult system" and "the apostate church"; the word "apostate" means someone who has forsaken his religion.

He also has linked Adolf Hitler to the Catholic church, suggesting it helped shape his anti-Semitism.

McCain said he does not agree with some of Hagee's past comments. "It's simply not accurate to say that because someone endorses me that I therefore embrace their views," McCain told reporters at a news conference Monday in Phoenix. - Washington Post

Just checking facts and we have this video from YouTube…



John McCain needs to look in the rear view mirror of his campaign and think about this endorsement more clearly. No matter how McCain spins this in the desire to hold on to the Bush Evangelical right vote he will loose the Catholic vote in large blocks. That is where the weakness of the McCain campaign will be in the general election. Pitting one Christian based religion against another Christian based religion offers no hope or change from the Bush full speed ahead of separation of the people. Good luck with that one Johnny! Here is your cross, you earned it, wear it well.

My family was from the old school, marry an Irish girl and marry a Catholic girl. I got one out of two right but one thing is true of both my wife and I is that our Catholic faith is one issue we never argue over. Our faith is our rock and we stand on it many times to keep our heads above the tides of life. To have someone call our faith a bastardization of religion or a whore just bothers me.

As for John Hagee, from this die hard Catholic, you sir are a money grabbing hypocrite. You call my church a group of “Whores”? You call my faith a “False Cult”. Then you call us a “Nazi” shaping tool of Adolf Hitler! I’ll turn the other cheek. Hit me again as you drive away from your multi million dollar church and studios in your luxury car to go to your personal mansion paid for by believers only looking for any beacon of hope that is the beginning of their faith.

Two words for the most self righteous Reverend John Hagee, “False Prophet”. Somewhere in the bible is a story about being very aware of men preaching God’s word and directing hate towards our fellow man. Again, God and Hate are two words that should not be used together if you are a minister, priest or a Reverend. In politics this endorsement is tantamount to forsaking an entire people for the favor of one.

In the battle for Christian voters John McCain is selling out his own self respect for votes from just one religious political group. What would he do as President? In acceptance of this endorsement he has basically endorsed the same words of Reverend John Hagee and called all of us in the Catholic faith “Whores”! As a practicing Catholic I resent it. If this is what the Republican Party is all about then I would suggest Catholic Republican’s jump ship in the general election simply for this endorsement.

There is no back peddling on this very central Catholic issue and Senator McCain will not back off or denounce John Hagee’s endorsement. That is the issue to stand and fight for as Catholics come November. Our faith is not a whore!

I have to run, as a Catholic I have to say a couple dozen Hail Mary’s and a ton of Our Father’s for this post…

Papamoka

Cross posted at MichaelLinnJones.com

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Pregnancy and College Choices

Picture Courtesy of Holy Cross College

When a young woman becomes pregnant and is in college it raises many a question for the expectant mother. College is hard enough for her as it is and having a pregnancy to deal with adds to the emotional battle that is college life. On campuses across our nation the right to life and the right to choice, AKA the Big Bad word known as Abortion, rages on with the passion that it deserves from both sides of the argument. To suggest a woman’s right to choose is not an argument is to think that the issue is paper or plastic at the supermarket and it is not.

Potentially, this is the first time for the child that is now in college that is faced with a realistic life or death question. This isn’t a pizza or taco’s question. This is the big time decisions that Mom or Pop made for her all of her life. Being pregnant, being in college, facing your parents if you want to keep the baby, facing your friends if you want to keep the baby or making the opposing decision, Big Bad Word again, Abortion should always be up to the woman that is pregnant.

This issue happens every single day and what actually happens to the woman that choose life or the other big bad word is wrong. Keeping the baby should not ostracize the student. Support or the lack there of is interesting and the Worcester Telegram has this to say about The College of the Holy Cross…

Complex issue requires support

Feminists For Life say colleges should help pregnant students

By Mark Melady TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

WORCESTER— Abortion opponents and abortion rights advocates on college campuses can join forces to keep pregnant students in school, a member of an anti-abortion group said at the College of the Holy Cross last night.

“It’s amazing to see those two groups who constantly fight each other working together to see that their fellow student continues her education,” Angelica Rosales of Feminists For Life told about 30 students at Kimball Theater.

Snip with an Ut OHHHH

The abortion issue recently flared at Holy Cross over the scheduled appearance at a conference on campus next week of Parenthood and NARAL Pro-Choice, groups with views on abortion divergent from the those of the Catholic Church.

The two organizations are part of an Oct. 24 conference in the college’s Hogan Center sponsored by the Massachusetts Alliance on Teen Pregnancy. Holy Cross is not affiliated with the conference, but is renting space to the alliance.

Bishop Robert J. McManus said the sanctity of life teaching of the church “is beyond modification or compromise” and any association with Planned Parenthood and NARAL Pro-Choice “can create the situation of offering scandal.” He warned college officials it was his duty as bishop of the Worcester diocese “to determine what institutions can properly call themselves Catholic.”

The Rev. Michael C. McFarland, Holy Cross president, declined to cancel the rental contract and said the college upholds the church’s teachings on abortion, but is “dedicated to the open exchange of ideas” and “committed to its mission of engaging with the larger culture on even the most problematic and divisive of moral and spiritual issues.” - Worcester Telegram

In my opinion, I agree with the College of the Holy Cross president. If we want our children to be responsible then we have to present both sides of the Abortion (Big Bad Word again) on the table for the woman students to decide for themselves. Mom and Pop have done their best to provide hopefully a well rounded child with a lifetime of values of their parents. What the child took away from that upbringing is who that child is as a young adult. Twenty years later they will be looking back fondly on what Mom and Pop taught them but they have a lifetime of decisions to make on their own.

If the point of the article is true and that our nations colleges are shunning pregnant students like this was the 1950’s then I say shame on them. Woman today are not the same as the woman that their mothers or grandmothers were. So much of society today places pregnancy as a bad thing and it is not. For many young adults it can be. Decisions by the woman have to be hers to make and either way the pendulum swings is her right. Hypocrisy is a double edged sword when it comes to choosing life from some college administrations.

Why do we not place the scarlet letter on the fathers for all of these children of single mothers? For the most part the mothers take the responsibility for the new life while the college student fathers walk away and that is wrong.

While we as a people feel the need to be free in everything we do when it comes to sex, the ultimate responsibility comes down to the pregnant woman. Why? Should the brilliant minds of our young woman face reality in America where you are the best and brightest until you get knocked up by the cute football or basketball player? Then it is adios, thanks for playing. Bring on the freshman class woman! Boys will be boys ya know… Girls will be girls and face the reality of keeping a child or thinking about the Big Bad Word.

I believe that if a young woman wants to keep her baby then every college should encourage her to continue her studies as long as she can. Even remotely suggesting that she take a semester off is telling the entire campus that the school does not want you there setting a bad example. And that is Pro-Life how?

As a Catholic I follow my faith and I would rather lay down with the lepers than sit in the same room as this Bishop if he discredits Holy Cross as a Catholic college.

For the record: I am Pro Life but I believe that a woman has a right to the decisions concerning her body. Jesus never threw a single stone at anyone that society and man thought was a sinner. When was the last time a Priest gave birth?

Heavenly father forgive me for I have sinned and I am absolved.

Papamoka

Cross posted at Bring IT ON!

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Arab Teachers Need Not Apply

Back in the day in the turn of the century the infestation as it was called, of the Irish and Scotch in America was a blight on the lower and middle classes of America. By sticking together as families they joined together with other families and given the time that needs to pass they inserted their lives, their history onto the fabric that is America. The Irish and the Scott’s were not alone in this effort. People from many shores foreign to our nation assimilated to the rules and laws and worked the system as they should have.

God bless them all for becoming Americans! If not for the many nationalities and their sacrifices then we would all be tea sipping European snobs with an attitude that would make the Cheshire Cat throw up. Canadian’s might just look up to us but that is a stretch.

Racism in America is not just against people of a different skin color. Religion, lands that any religion come from can scare the simplest of minds if they are told to fear it. It is so easy to spread fear when waving the flag in defense of your position given the violent act against America that was September 11th . Fear is easy, knowing the difference between extremist and an American Muslim educator are two very different things.

In the doorway to America there is a very ugly battle that is going on and fear is at the heart of it and it is happening in the schools started to change racism against an Arab, a Muslim, a Middle East culture that is not attacking America but trying to assimilate.

Over at the Washington Post they have this to say about this educator stepping down because of her faith and her commitment to her school…

In New York, a Word Starts a Fire
Arabic Educator's Brief Defense of 'Intifada' T-Shirts Makes Her a Target

By Robin Shulman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, August 24, 2007

NEW YORK -- The goals were clear when Sheneen Jackson enrolled her son in one of the first public schools in the nation to focus on Arabic language and culture. First, her 11-year-old would master Arabic. Later, doors would open for him in government and diplomacy -- maybe a job at the United Nations, international travel, the prospect of contributing to Middle East peace.

Instead, Jackson discovered that the distrust and tension that infuse many Middle East issues had tainted the Brooklyn middle school.

"It's unfortunate, but I know a lot of people in New York are sensitive," Jackson, 33, a Verizon technician, said of the controversy over the school. "That's the whole premise of the school."

Officials had no sooner announced in February the formation of the Khalil Gibran International Academy than conservative columnists and media outlets attacked, suggesting the principal -- an observant Muslim Arab woman -- might push an agenda of Islamist extremism.

Snip-a-Rooooooo

Daniel Pipes, a pro-Israel conservative who created Campus Watch, a Web site dedicated to exposing alleged bias in university Middle East-studies programs, wrote in the New York Sun that the school would cause problems because "learning Arabic in [and] of itself promotes an Islamic outlook."

A group called the Stop the Madrassa Coalition coalesced in Brooklyn to fight it. Various blogs, Fox News, the New York Post and the New York Sun variously probed Almontaser's background and editorialized against the school. - Washington Post

Please read the entire piece at the Washington Post! Think about it and read on here…

Let’s call this what it is and put it out in the open. Is the Arab and Jewish fight still going on in America for the sake of calling someone else Un-American? This isn’t about being an American as much as it is attacking another American out of fear of what has been going on for thousands of years over there. This isn’t there and that is not hear! America is the melting pot of the world for a reason and we tend to accept other people from all over the world for a reason. That what makes another nation weak makes America stronger. Why that happens is not about separation of our people as much as it is about being a true American.

Can we all take a page out of the immigrant Irish Catholic’s to America and immigrant Irish Protestant’s book and pretty much say that the children of those immigrants have forgotten the hate of days and lands long gone? That s just one very obvious example.

While all of our nations nationalities have melted together and families gather for their religious belief and start schools to promote their faith, should we fear them for doing so? I don’t honestly think so. Catholic Schools populate every city in America and so do Jewish learning schools. If your family is fortunate enough your kids can go to private schools that promote your family values and sense of belonging. It’s just people gathering in an educational format that is familiar and comfortable to them as a community.

When people tell you to be afraid of any community or religion or race, then they have no clue as to who or what that community they are attacking believes or inspires their children to be as Americans. Fear of the unknown is easy, selling fear and anger is easy if you tell people who is to blame and declare them Un-American..

You can call yourself a true American no matter how many generations you are down the ladder when you accept the fact that the Statue of Liberty welcomes all. There is no limitation or religious requirement to come to our nation and become an American citizen. Spreading hate from whatever religion you demand is better than another is not American and never should be. Our shores are for all people and Americans that convert to the Muslim faith do not automatically hate people of other religions.

Religion is the battle that is over there, it isn’t here! That is the difference between living in America and living in the Middle East, a place where you could be killed for being a Christian, a Jew, or a Muslim. Freedom of religion is something our founding fathers did not limit to just the chosen faiths. They left the doors open for all.

Think about it.

Papamoka

Other folks talking about Arab issues in America...

But perhaps what is most interesting and dismaying is the sentiment simmering underneath the fear expressed by Mohammed and other New York Arabs that the community is caught in its own terrible crucible, not unlike the ordeals of predecessor communities, like the Italians, the Japanese, the Irish, and the Jews. Dozens of conversations with Arabs of different national backgrounds yield variations on the same theme. "Everyone had to suffer. This is just our time."
Many of the people interviewed for this story refused to give their last names or to have their pictures taken; this included those who had registered and claimed to be "in status." Many said they feared retribution from the authorities for speaking out, implying that being in the U.S. legally is a favor that can be taken away for speaking out of place. - The Village Voice

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