OBAMA SAYS RELIGIOUS SCHOOLS ARE DIVISIVE.

Obama offends Catholics in the UK, says religious schools are divisive

The Catholic media is up in arms over comments President Obama made during a speech while in Northern Ireland for the G8 summit. Obama made what is described as “an alarming call for an end to Catholic education,” in spite of the fact that it is considered “a critical component of the Church.”

Fr. John Zuhlsdorf
Photo credit: Facebook

In front of an audience of about 2,000 young people, including many Catholics, Obama claimed that Catholic education divides people and blocks peace, according to the Scottish Catholic Observer.

“If towns remain divided—if Catholics have their schools and buildings and Protestants have theirs, if we can’t see ourselves in one another and fear or resentment are allowed to harden—that too encourages division and discourages cooperation,” Obama said.

Catholic World News noted:

Ironically, President Obama made his comments just as Archbishop Gerhard Müller, the prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, told a crowd in Scotland that religious education upholds the dignity of the human person. Archbishop Müller said that Catholic schools should promote “all that is good in the philosophies of societies and human culture.”

Fr. John Zuhlsdorf quoted the Observer’s article on Fr. Z’s blog and added:

Another example of what this man wants: total isolation of any religious values in the private sphere alone. Pres. Obama is working either to intimidate or legislate or even TAX religious freedom out of the public square.

Off the top of my head, I can’t think of a foreign visit to a Islamic nation where he told people on his arrival that they shouldn’t have madrasas.  Can you?

Did he when visiting, say, Israel, say “You Jews shouldn’t have synagogue schools and you muslims shouldn’t have mosque schools.”  I can’t remember.  Did he?

Each of the articles drew numerous public comments, most suggesting that Obama be more concerned about the public schools in the United States than their parochial schools, which are working just fine.

source: BIZPACREVIEW

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Video Virtual Tour of the 9/11 Memorial. Beautiful. Wonderful. Peaceful.

About the 9/11 Memorial....

Wonderful.  Wonderful.  Wonderful.  Beautiful.  Beautiful.  Beautiful.
Here is an interactive site that helps you to understand the meaning of the memorial and tells you all you need to know about the reasons for the various components.  For those of us who are not able to be there today, this is a wonderful site to view such a beautiful memorial that begins to bring peace to a site of suffering.

http://www.911memorial.org/

9/11 10 years on: The rebirth of Ground Zero - video

Jonathan Ielpi was one of 343 New York City firefighters who died at the World Trade Centre on 11 September 2001. When his body was recovered, his father Lee, a retired firefighter, came to Ground Zero to carry his son out. Ten years later, Lee explains what the 9/11 memorial means to him

Here is one story.



Here are some other stories that can make you count your blessings and add the respect to those who are grieving today and have been grieving for the past 10 years.

Living with 9/11: the politician

5 Sep 2011: For the past few years, Margaret Chin has been trying to help the area and its residents around the vicinity of the World Trade Centre to recover from the devastation

Living with 9/11: the police officer

5 Sep 2011: Frank Lione had cancelled his NYPD shift on 11 September - but he ended up ferrying body parts from Ground Zero in the small hours

Living with 9/11: the widow

5 Sep 2011: After Marian Fontana's firefighter husband Dave died on 9/11, her life descended into almost overwhelming chaos, but throughout it she vowed to Never Forget

Living with 9/11: the Pentagon

5 Sep 2011: 'I saw a mushroom cloud. I was thinking nukes': a civilian employee recalls the moment American Airlines Flight 77 smashed into the Pentagon

Living with 9/11: the family

5 Sep 2011: Cat MacRae was 23 years old when she was killed in the September 11 attacks. Her parents and younger sister talk about how they have coped with their grief

Living with 9/11: the therapist

5 Sep 2011: Dr Paula Madrid was 25, living on Manhattan's Upper West Side, and newly qualified with a doctorate in clinical psychology, when the events of 9/11 kick-started her career

Living with 9/11: the charity worker

5 Sep 2011: After losing her brother, Edie Lutnick found that caring for others helped her to heal

Living with 9/11: the anti-terror chief

5 Sep 2011: Richard Clarke recalls his feelings on the day of Osama Bin Laden's death and reveals his anger at the way the aftermath of 9/11 was handled

Living with 9/11: the Muslim American

5 Sep 2011: Linda Sarsour lives in Brooklyn and is from a Palestinian American family. She has become increasingly involved in community activism since the September 11 attacks

Living with 9/11: the child

5 Sep 2011: One of 3,000 boys and girls who lost a parent during 9/11, Eamon Stewart wanted nothing more than a normal childhood

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/series/living-with-9-11

The Climate of Freedom.

"We seek peace, knowing that peace is the climate of freedom." -- Dwight D. Eisenhower

Sabbath Day, March 30, 2008

John 14:27 - Jesus, quoted by John

"Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."

We can apply these words to our lives today. We live in tumultuous times and can be dragged down by the despair that we see around us, especially on the news, in these last days.

While it is important to be critically aware of what is happening in the world around us so that we can provide our talents to reach out and serve our family, community, and country, it is important to retain peace within ourselves.

Search out those uplifting things each day that can create the internal peace you desire. Good music, uplifting literature, meditation, prayer, exercise. Look at the beauty that is all around. The beauty in the simple things such as the blue sky, the flowers that are beginning to bloom, the sounds of birds flying over, the smile of a neighbor, and so many others. All of these things were put on this earth by our loving Heavenly Father to remind us that all is not lost, that there is beauty even in the turmoil of the world.

Gratitude can help create an awareness of the beauty. When you wake in the morning, be thankful that you can rise from a bed, that you have shelter, that you have running water, that you can have a warm shower, that you have employment, that you have reliable transportation, or any of those "simple" things that can be easily taken for granted. For many, those things I just listed would be considered luxuries.

Keep peace within yourself and within your home and you will carry that throughout your day, affecting others with your positive energy in ways that you never thought possible.

Sabbath Day, March 9, 2008

When things have become so chaotic lately, the words that have come to my mind are, "Be still and know that I am God".

I think of these words in the chaos and begin to see the beauty. I see the blue in the sky, realize the beautiful view I have of the Rocky Mountains (on all sides of my home), and hear the beautiful song of the geese as they fly overhead.

God has placed marvelously beautiful things on this earth. He wants us to notice them and enjoy them. Through doing this, I find peace among the chaos.