'Christianophobia'

Conservatives Accuse Watchdog Group of 'Christianophobia'

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request on Wednesday: A liberal government watchdog group has asked the Secret Service to release its records of prominent conservative Christian leaders' visits to the White House, but one of those leaders called the request "an act of Christianophobia."

More....

The Secret Service has 20 business days to respond to the request for records pertaining to James Dobson of Focus on the Family, Gary Bauer of American Values, Wendy Wright of Concerned Women for America, Louis Sheldon and Andrea Lafferty of the Traditional Values Coalition, Paul Weyrich of the Free Congress Foundation, Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council, Don Wildmon of American Family Association, and Jerry Falwell of Liberty University.

Prayers For Cardinal McCarrick

From The National Catholic Reporter Cover Story:
Inside or outside church structures, Catholics engage change --at “The Catholic Church in America: 2006” Conference -Cardinal McCarrick, keynote speaker at The Catholic University conference actually "called it like it is". This was awesome!

“We became a contraceptive society,” fearful of commitment, said McCarrick. Sex became just another commodity, Sunday Mass an option, Catholic education no longer worth the sacrifice, religious education a place where children “learned how to sing songs” rather than the meaning of the sacraments. The Second Vatican Council (1962-65) was misinterpreted by those who said that “we must open up to everything.” One result of the tumult: The church was ill-prepared to deal with sex abuse issues when they arose publicly in the late 1980s, said McCarrick.

Pope Benedict announces next Assembly of Synod of Bishops in 2008 about the Word of God in the Church

“The Word of God in the Life and the Mission of the Church,” to be held at the Vatican, October 5th – 26th, 2008.

ABC-Offensive Again-"Ugly Betty"

And so the persecution continues. We need to continually offer up these sufferings and do so more fervently, to His Sacred Heart.

On this First Friday-Feast of the Sacred Heart I offer prayer for the offense against His Sacred Heart and His sons-His priests and the continue attack on the priesthood.

The ABC's new fall show-"Ugly Betty" -provided me the opportunity to change the channel and offer prayer for the Body of Christ. Salma Hayek -executive producer, went to far in last night's episode. She and another actor were a part of the embedded storyline. While "Betty" is busy on the phone, Betty's recently widowed father can be seen in his 'easy chair', watching television-a Spanish speaking program where the characters of the program are in dialog. The characters- a pregnant (unmarried) woman and priest (in collar) holding a bible and rosary. Their exchange begins with conversational confusion and accusation towards the priest-where she proclaims he is the father of her child. Of course the dialog was portrayed like Abbott and Costello dialog. When he finally understands that HE is the father of her child, they dash towards each other in a large embracewith his bible and rosary flopping around in the embrace. End of that scene and back to Betty.

So disgusting! It never really stops. This gratuitous scene was not needed AT ALL! I am truly disappointed in Salma Hayek for this scene and that she was the actual actress portraying the unmarried woman hugging and kissing a priest.

Examination of Conscience-Using the Beatitudes

Of course I consider the source (and publish date of 2002)--Pax Christi-Examination of Conscience based on the Beatitudes.

An examination of conscience is a way to hold ourselves accountable before God and each other for the evil we do and the good we do not do. Some refer to it as an examination of consciousness: scanning our motives, thoughts, and actions to detect our loyalty to or betrayal of the priorities of the reign of God. The delicate and difficult part in this process involves what we hold as our guide for accountability. For centuries the blueprint for good conduct was the list of Ten Commandments, until Jesus proposed a very different set of guidelines with the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:1- 13).

Key word---the use of "was the list"....really? Whoa.
The question begs...what happened to the Ten Commandments? So, if we don't know that they exist then we can continue to sin? Oh, I forgot the author explains that the Beatitudes are to be used as a measure to accountability-not the Ten Commandments! Duh! NOT!

The Beatitudes would be fine for "the good we do not do", but let's not throw out the Ten Commandments too!

TEN COMMANDMENTS

China Jamming Test Sparks U.S. Satellite Concerns

China jamming test sparks U.S. satellite concerns

China has beamed a ground-based laser at U.S. spy satellites over its territory, a U.S. agency said, in an action that exposed the potential vulnerability of space systems that provide crucial data to American troops and consumers around the world.

Sisters of Mother Teresa Under State Control

Sisters of Mother Teresa under state control in UZBEKISTAN

The local Justice Ministry is inquiring into the legality of the Missionaries of Charity’s presence in the country. The authorities plan to crackdown on foreign NGOs, considered bearers of "Western ideas”.

And...

In Uzbekistan, 90 per cent of the population is Muslim and violations of religious freedom are commonplace. The government’s aim is to control every aspect of society.

"Tomorrow Is Today"

The good side of the Internet is that it has provided a whole new way of story-telling by allowing others to promote and view independent films.
Why can't Hollywood produce films that tell a story? This one looks pretty interesting-a movie about LIFE! And what's wrong with promoting a movie about life? Instead of the garbage that continually propagates death and violence?

"Tomorrow Is Today"-Trailer

More on the Election...Rock the Vote & Facebook

Rock the Vote and Facebook Encourage 2006 Voter Participation

The Rock the Vote registration program on Facebook is part of a nationwide, nonpartisan effort by fourteen partner organizations to register 350,000 young voters in 2006, coordinated by Young Voter Strategies, a nonpartisan project at The George Washington University's Graduate School of Political Management with support from The Pew Charitable Trusts.

And over here at MSNBC-Newsweek

Hmmmm...check out the sponors of Rock the Vote...there are more then 14. To sign up other partners go here.

That's right folks...GET OUT THE VOTE...TALK TO YOUR TEENS & YOUNG ADULTS! This election isn't just about the war issue...it's also about LIFE... PERIOD!

Drum Beat Grows Stronger....

Media Briefing on New Voter Suppression Strategies; Report Suggests Disenfranchisement in Battleground States and House Districts

So its already begun...want to set "it" up just in case the election in November can be stolen!

The outcome of November's elections may hinge on who is able to cast a vote on Election Day. Both parties are gearing up for massive ballot security operations -- booking hotel rooms and recruiting squads of lawyers in battleground states. But the real challenges to voting are happening already. Sweeping changes in the way many battleground states regulate voter registration and conduct elections may lead to a quiet electoral crisis that could disenfranchise thousands in November.

"We had Abortions" Campaign

Response to- "We had Abortions" Campaign- Another petition campaign as "17 states now have trigger laws or pre-Roe bans that will ban abortion if the Supreme Court were to reverse Roe v. Wade." They are working overtime to make sure Roe v. Wade will not be overturned!

Pitiful:

In its 1972 debut issue,Ms. magazine ran a bold petition in which 53 well-known U.S. women declared that they had undergone abortions—despite state laws rendering the procedure illegal. These women were following the example of a 1971 manifesto signed by343 prominent French women, who also declared they had abortions.

And....-33 years after Roe—even though abortion is a very common, necessary and important procedure for millions of women in the U.S.

Why not make the killing of an innocent child sound like a routine procedure---i.e. teeth cleaning. That way its much easier to justify your actions-MURDER!

"Compassion"-Statue Unveiled

"Compassion" Terri Schindler Schiavo Memorial Sculpture

Commissioned by Stephen G. Peroutka, chairman of the National Pro-Life Action Center
(NPLAC), and created by artist Ron Berry, this beautiful sculpture represents the compassion Terri Schiavo received during her last moments. An angel comforts and shields Terri with one wing and motions heavenward with the other in anticipation of the final outcome. The four cherubs perched around the base face away from Terri toward the four corners of the earth, charged with the judgment on humanity for allowing such a travesty to happen.

October - Month of the Rosary

How lazy and or spoiled are we when we can't even make a conscious effort to recite the daily rosary? Such blessings of love and protection are bestowed upon us when we go to Jesus through the Mother of God in this rich devotion. Prayers for this awesome Priest and his family.

China: my vocation came from rosary prayed in my family

My faith was influenced by my grandparents and by education within the family. Apart from the Chinese New Year, my family gave a lot of importance to Christmas. We Chinese Catholics live in a Communist, atheistic environment that denies, oppresses and derides religion. Although I received a Communist and atheistic education, my faith grew thanks to the witness of my grandparents and my family. Even during the Cultural Revolution, I remember that all my family would say the Rosary and Vespers together in secret, with the windows and doors closed: for more than 10 years, we spent Christmas night thus, without Mass and without priests.
~Fr. Pietro Song Zhichun

Miracle

Neighbor Catches Baby Who Fell 3 Floors

A Call for Prayers

Abortion and Business at Top of Supreme Court's Docket

When the court does convene, one case it will face this year is of importance to many religious Americans. The court will decide whether the law known as the Partial Birth Abortion Ban of 2003 is constitutional.

The court is being asked to determine if the law is acceptable even though it does not contain a health exception for the would-be mother. The decision will most likely be divided, and a key justice affecting the outcome will be Justice Anthony Kennedy, in his 19th year on the court, who has taken over the role of swing voter since Sandra Day O'Connor retired last year.

While the court already looked at the health exception in 2000 when it struck down a Nebraska law, the federal law, which was written differently than the state bill, may be treated differently by the court. Kennedy supported the Nebraska law in 2000, writing the minority dissent.

"There are certainly enough votes to flip the issue if Justice Kennedy continues to take the same position," said Georgetown University law professor Randy Barnett.

"Red Mass" 2006

Archbishop Stresses Ties Between Morality, Faith At Mass With Justices
Four U.S. Supreme Court justices attended Mass celebrated by Archbishop Wuerl asking for God's blessings and guidance as they begin today their work on the highest court in the U.S.

Yes, we need to pray hard for each of them. We ask that the Holy Spirit come upon all justices this day and that all the angels protect and guide them in fulfilling GOD'S PLAN for this blessed country. May their Guardian Angels this day--love, guide, and rule their hearts, mind, and soul-so that they remain faithful to GOD the giver of life.

A snipet of Archbishop Wuerl's homily:

"The assertion by some that the secular voice should alone speak to the ordering of society and its public policy, that it alone can speak to the needs of the human condition, is being increasingly challenged," Wuerl said.

"Looking around, I see many young men and women who, in such increasing numbers, are looking for spiritual values, a sense of rootedness and hope for the future," he said. "In spite of all the options and challenges from the secular world competing for the allegiance of human hearts, the quiet, soft and gentle voice of the spirit has not been stilled."

Religious faith, the archbishop said, has long played an important role in U.S. society, from the Mayflower Compact, which established law, to the Declaration of Independence. George Washington, he said, told Americans in his farewell address that "we cannot expect national prosperity without morality, and morality cannot be sustained without religious principles."

"What is religion's place in public life?" Wuerl asked. "Politics and faith are mingled because believers are also citizens. Both church and state are home to the very same people."