UNESCO in Paris will host the first meeting of the 'Courtyard of the Gentiles'

Amplify’d from www.romereports.com

UNESCO in Paris will host the first meeting of the 'Courtyard of the Gentiles'

December 28, 2010.  This office is working around the clock, in order to get a new foundation off the ground and running – one which would promote dialogue between believers and nonbelievers.  This Vatican-born foundation, the Courtyard of the Gentiles, is spearheaded by Father Laurent Mazas. Mazas says the organization was inspired by a speech Benedict XVI made in December 2009. Benedict XVI  (21/12/2009)  “The Church should open a sort of 'Court of the Gentiles,' in which people might in some way latch on to God.” The Courtyard of the Gentiles was a historical free space in the Temple of Jerusalem that was reserved for Gentiles, who wished to pray there to one God, yet not take part in the mystery. Nearly 2,000 years later and through this foundation, the Catholic Church will organize a landmark open forum with non-believers, in order to discuss the reasons for believing, and also topics like medicine and culture. Fr. Laurent Mazas Director, Court of Gentiles “The main idea is organizing meetings of an advanced intellectual and cultural level about different topics, relating to for example, transcendence, the existence of God. Also to say to non-believers: look at today's world, the current situation that we are living in together, globalization. We have to walk together and reflect together on the sort of human race that we want.” Gaia Zanini Court of Gentiles “Themes are mostly centered around fundamental anthropological questions, like faith-based questions and also the relationship a person has with their own religion and how this has an effect on their social life.” The inauguration of the Courtyard of Gentiles will kick off in Paris under the title, “Enlightenment, religion and common reason”. The ceremony will welcome politicians, intellectuals and philosophers and will be celebrated in March of 2011 at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris. The ceremony will continue to unfold, in the Notre Dame Cathedral of Paris. Fr. Laurent Mazas Director, Court of Gentiles “It will be an event geared towards young believers and non believers, a joyous event with diverse aspects, and at the same time a vigil of prayer organized inside a very holy place, in order to also invite non-believers and believers.” The organization is also planning similar meetings in Bologna, Stockholm, Prague and Santo Domingo, and they are working on having events in Russia, Spain, the United States and Canada. Father Laurent hopes that the event will spark thought-provoking debate between believers and non-believers. It's a meeting that he hopes will enrich the lives of both. For now, we'll just have to wait and see how this ground-breaking event unfolds in Paris. PVB/SC FF/CTV GDP -WP- Read more at www.romereports.com

 

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/jxyy

Catholics On Their Way Out

Amplify’d from www.americamagazine.org

On Their Way Out

What exit interviews could teach us about lapsed Catholics

William J. Byron

E ver since Larry Bossidy, a former C.E.O. of Allied Signal and the Honeywell Corporation, raised the question of conducting interviews with lapsed Catholics, I have been giving it a lot of thought. Mr. Bossidy is a devout Catholic and the co-author (with Ram Charan) of a bestselling book, Execution, which Bossidy likes to explain is about effective management in business, not about capital punishment. He addressed a meeting of the National Leadership Roundtable on Church Management a couple of years ago and pointed out that if businesses were losing customers at the rate the Catholic Church in the United States is losing members, someone would surely be conducting exit interviews. His observation was prompted by data on declining church attendance released by the Pew Research Center.

Immigration, largely Hispanic, is still shoring up the aggregate numbers for the Catholic Church in the United States, but there has been a dramatic decline in Sunday Mass attendance and church life among U.S.-born Catholics, not to mention the drift of Hispanic Catholics toward Pentecostal sects.

The church in America must face the fact that it has failed to communicate the Good News cheerfully and effectively to a population adrift on a sea of materialism and under constant attack from the forces of secularism, not to mention the diabolical powers that are at work in our world.

An exit interview, if used creatively, could help church leaders discover ways of welcoming back those who have left, even as it helps leaders find ways to strengthen the current worshipping community. This interview could also help identify what else might need to be taught to those called to positions of parish leadership. The church would have nothing to lose by initiating exit interviews.

As a long-time writer of a biweekly column called “Looking Around” for Catholic News Service, I devoted a recent column to the exit interview idea and was inundated with responses from readers. Many indicated that they had been waiting to be asked why they left. The high response rate is all the more unusual because the column appears only in diocesan newspapers around the country. Evidently, respondents who claim to be no longer “in the boat” are still keeping in touch. Many of my respondents identified themselves as older persons.

I asked: Does anyone know why the ranks are thinning at Catholic weekend worship? There are several obstacles to finding out. First, pastors and bishops tend not to think like business executives, so the practice of conducting exit interviews is not likely to occur to them. Second, no one is sure how to reach those Catholics who are no longer in the pews. Third, we do not know precisely what to ask. This is not to say, however, that the problem cannot be investigated.

What Should We Ask?

Back in 1971, John N. Kotre conducted a study of 100 young Catholic adults. Fifty of these, by their own definition, were still in the church; 50 were not. All were graduates of Catholic colleges; all were enrolled at the time of the interviews in graduate school at either the University of Chicago or Northwestern University. Kotre published the results of the study in a book that has been reissued under the title The View From the Border: Why Catholics Leave the Church and Why They Stay (Aldine Transaction, 2009). It contains a 400-item questionnaire that could be helpful to anyone interested in designing a briefer survey instrument that could be useful now.

Assuming that it is possible to connect with those who are not showing up on Sundays, here are seven starter questions one could pose:

• Why have you stopped attending Sunday Mass regularly? • Are there any changes your parish might make that would prompt you to return? • Are there any doctrinal issues that trouble you? • Does your pastor or anyone on the parish staff know you by name? • Are you in a mixed-religion marriage? • Do your children go to church? • Did you ever really consider yourself to be a member of a parish community?

The point is to find a way to elicit honest answers to open-ended questions aimed at identifying specific Catholic doctrines or practices that may have been factors in the break. I presume that there may be misunderstandings of doctrine that require attention. Whether the respondent is male or female is relevant, as is an assessment of how the respondent regards the status of women in the church. The quality of preaching and the worship environment are also important factors that encourage or discourage attendance and participation. So what do those who no longer show up think about those elements of Catholic worship? If a person has stopped going to Mass, he or she is separated from reception of the Eucharist. Hence, it would be important for the church to find a way to re-educate (or, perhaps, educate for the first time) those who have left about the centrality of the Eucharist in Catholic life.

A good exit interviewer can find ways to detect secular political influences, as well as social class considerations, that might influence the decision to leave a Catholic worshipping community. Lay expertise in designing and implementing an exit-interview schedule is surely needed, along with a commitment on the part of parish and diocesan authorities to use it.

In the absence of good data, church leaders might be accused of sleepwalking into the future or walking with eyes and ears closed to those they want to serve.

What Readers Told Me

One reader of my column agreed that information gained from exit interviews might help in the training of parish leaders. He wrote: “We need top-line leadership—leaders who can think like business executives since they are running multimillion-dollar organizations. Tell them to read The Art of the Start by Guy Kawasaki (former marketing head of Apple Inc.) and the book that guided me through very tough times in telecommunications, namely, The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader, by John C. Maxwell.”

A woman who described herself as a “human resources manager and very well informed about the benefits of doing exit interviews,” said: “I just recently turned 50, and I can tell you that I am pretty much the teenager in my parish. Most of my friends have abandoned their faith. You hit the nail on the head! I wish the Vatican would listen.”

Another woman who identified herself as “a cradle Catholic, educated exclusively in Catholic schools, married to a practicing Catholic, raised five children in the faith, taught C.C.D., was involved in the marriage preparation program in our parish—in short, one of the active practitioners of the faith,” said she had opted out because of “the recent church teaching on end-of-life issues; the moving, instead of removing, of priests and bishops involved in the molestation of children; the headstrong opposition to the use of condoms in Africa to prevent the spread of AIDS; and the absence of any priest I can talk to.” She added: “I’ve stopped going to Mass because I can’t in good conscience say the Creed, as I don’t think this is a ‘holy’ church, and I don’t feel I can receive the Eucharist under these circumstances.”

“Exit interviews for departing Catholics or those just not attending Mass is a nice thought,” said a 69-year-old retired businessman, “but it is obvious to me that there are two reasons for the drop in Mass attendance and withdrawal of financial support: (1) the pedophile issue and (2) the exclusion of women and married men from the priesthood.”

“I miss the Catholic church I grew up with,” said a woman who once wanted to speak to a priest but was unable to explain precisely why to the person who answered the rectory telephone. “When you figure out what is wrong, give us a call,” she remembers the receptionist telling her many years ago. “Needless to say, I did not call back.” She recounted other bad experiences with her local parish and noted with a tone of regret: “Our priests used to walk the neighborhoods and stop and talk with the children, the teenagers and families. Back then, the clergy had time to talk with you about God.”

“Why did I leave?” wrote a retired business executive with experience on his parish council. “It’s simple. Dealing with the top-down organizational structure was like trying to change the direction of a bulldozer heading right at me. It was frightening, suffocating and frustrating. It went against my natural tendency to get involved in real change. I gave up on it like thousands of people have given up their right to vote.”

Another retiree, who recently re-read (approvingly) the documents of the Second Vatican Council, recalled his past experience at work of an organizational shift that did not meet its desired objective because “the leadership focused on the new thing but lost focus on the good old thing.”

“I am on the knife edge between staying and leaving the church,” he said. He offered these reasons: “(1) I no longer trust the management; (2) I have no way of influencing the selection or change of a priest or bishop; (3) the clergy sex abuse scandal continues to grow; and (4) the continuing lawsuits continue to drain my spirit.”

Is It Too Late?

“Personally, I think exit interviews are too late,” remarked a former military man. “The church can find plenty of ideas from those still in the pews.” As for himself, he wrote: “I only go to Mass to punch my ‘stay-out-of-hell-for-another-week’ card. I don’t celebrate the Mass; I endure it.”

Deploring the absence of any feedback mechanism to hear from the voiceless laity, another senior citizen suggested that the church should have a uniform job description for the parish priest. “How can you run any organization,” he asks, “when each leader brings with him his own set of rules?” In the absence of a published job description, he argues, the parishioners will have their own separate perceptions of the role of the priest. “No priest can live up to each perception; nor should every priest be free to create his own job description.”

“Aren’t you sorry you asked?” said one of the above respondents at the end of her e-mail message to me. Not at all. I just wish I could improve the organizational acoustics in the church so that leaders could hear what the people of God want to say. Leaders must try to discern the presence of the Spirit in what laypeople are saying and find the pastoral courage it will take to implement necessary change.

In 2010 the decennial U.S. census was conducted, and the term “census enumerator” became familiar in news stories. I wonder if dioceses could or would enlist and train volunteers to follow a uniform set of questions and conduct telephone interviews with persons who self-identify as no longer “in” the church. With expert lay assistance, the diocese would have to design the questionnaire and engage the parishes to find telephone numbers or e-mail addresses of those willing to participate. Then the diocese, again with lay help, would have to figure out how best to respond to the data it collects.

If there is no official interest at the parish or diocesan level for taking a page from the business world and employing exit interviews, one has to wonder about the quality of both diocesan and parochial leadership.

Have you left the church, or considered leaving? Why? Post your comments on America's Facebook page.

William J. Byron, S.J., is university professor of business and society at St. Joseph’s University, Philadelphia, Pa. He is the author, most recently, of Next-Generation Leadership: A Toolkit for Teens, Twenties & Thirties, Who Want to be Successful Leaders (University of Scranton Press). Read more at www.americamagazine.org

 

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/jxyk

Masonic lodge marks birth with resurgence

Though there was a period in the 1980s when the Vatican forbade Catholics to join the Freemasons, Barsoum said “somewhere along the way, the Vatican retracted that” and there are a number of Catholics in the lodge.

Amplify’d from www.projo.com

Lodge marks birth with resurgence

By Richard C. Dujardin Journal Staff Writer

John Barsoum, master of the Freemason Jenks Lodge in Pawtucket, speaks at Monday night’s 200th anniversary festivities, flanked by nutcrackers created by the wife of a lodge member. The Providence Journal / RICHARD DUJARDIN

PAWTUCKET, R.I. –– As they reflect on their history, members of the Jenks Lodge of Freemasonry realize that the 1970s and 1980s were not a good time for their lodge.

After hitting a peak in membership in the 1960s, the fraternal and charitable organization began to see a slow and alarming downturn in membership as the lodge struggled with not much success to attract new and younger members.

But as longtime master mason Raymond Brisson of West Warwick tells it, something curious began to take place in the 1990s, a spurt in membership that has continued up through this year when members were able to officially accept into their ranks 18 new “master” masons, helping to swell the ranks to some 250, ranging from men in their 20s to Norman “Jake” Jacobson, now 102.

“We were wondering what was going on, and discovered a lot had to do with Dan Brown and his ‘Da Vinci Code.’ ”

The book, which weaves a tale involving the legendary Knights Templar and their quest for the Holy Grail, piqued the interest of quite a number of people, Brisson says, and perhaps may be one reason why Jenks Lodge was able to hold its 200th anniversary dinner Monday on an upbeat note.

This 1924 photo commemorates the 75th anniversary of the Holy Sepulchre Commandery of the Knights Templar, who were associated with the Freemason Lodge in Pawtucket. The Providence Journal

For the record, the lodge’s history goes back a bit further, to March 7, 1808, when nine master masons and one apprentice met at the home of Ebenezer Tyler at Main Street and East Avenue to draft a request that they be allowed to break off from Providence’s St. John’s Lodge 1 and create yet another lodge in Pawtucket, at that time a mere village of 51 houses clustered around the Blackstone River in what was then North Providence.

Tom Holton, the lodge’s junior warden and historian, says some of those early founders included the likes of a member of the Smithfield Town Council and a former member of the General Assembly, David Wilkerson, who invented the slate lathe, an ironsmith and many others.

“We are not a religious organization, but members do have to believe in a higher being,” says the Lodge’s master, John Barsoum. “As long as you believe that, you can be from any religion.”

Though there was a period in the 1980s when the Vatican forbade Catholics to join the Freemasons, Barsoum said “somewhere along the way, the Vatican retracted that” and there are a number of Catholics in the lodge.

To be sure, the lodge membership is still not as high as it was in the 1920s when photographs show a few hundred members of the Holy Sepulchre Knights Templar from Pawtucket, posing for a picture in front of a building.

According to Barsoum, Masons around the world raise $1.2 million a day for various charities, though the biggest recipients of their charity have been the Shriners Hospitals, whose burn centers have provided care to victims of severe burns, often at no charge, and which treated many of the victims of Rhode Island’s Station nightclub fire in 2003.

At their celebration at their lodge at 50 Pleasant St. Monday night, Brandt Evans, of the Warren Lodge and a historian with the George Washington Institute for Religious Freedom based at Touro Synagogue in Newport, said that while many believe Freemasonry came to Rhode Island only in the 1700s, there are documents that point to the existence of a lodge of freemasons among Portuguese Jews who were settled in Newport in 1658.

Richard Lynch, another local Freemason who has done interviews for the History Channel, said he also believes there is evidence to support his theory the famed stone tower in Newport, that some people believe was constructed by Vikings, was the work of freemasons who brought their stonecarving talents with them from Europe.

rdujardi@projo.com Read more at www.projo.com

 

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/jxxs

Vatican emerges from WikiLeaks as a key player on global scene

By John Thavis

Catholic News Service



VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- If there's one clear conclusion that can be drawn from the Vatican-related WikiLeaks disclosures, it's that the United States takes the Vatican and its diplomatic activity very seriously.



In memo after memo in recent years, officials of the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See have reported back to Washington on the impact of papal trips, statements and documents; on the Vatican's behind-the-scenes efforts to head off conflicts; on church-state tensions in Latin America; on the evolution of Catholic teaching on bioethics; and even on the international repercussions of ecumenical affairs.



When a Vatican agency organized a conference on genetically modified foods, the U.S. embassy paid attention. When the Vatican condemned human trafficking, embassy officials met with Vatican counterparts to broaden areas of cooperation on that issue.



And when Pope Benedict XVI said in 2007 that "nothing positive comes from Iraq, torn apart by continual slaughter as the civil population flees," the embassy quickly objected, telling a high-level Vatican official that Iraq was experiencing positive developments and that the papal comments were not constructive.



Reading the cables, it's hard to imagine that before 1984, the United States did not have diplomatic relations with the Vatican. Today, the U.S. Embassy has five diplomatic officials and a support staff of 14, and is considered one of the busiest delegations accredited to the Vatican.



To anyone still wondering why so much attention is being paid to the world's smallest state, a U.S. Embassy cable of 2009 -- prepared for President Barack Obama ahead of his first meeting with Pope Benedict -- gave the answer:



"The Vatican is second only to the United States in the number of countries with which it enjoys diplomatic relations (188 and 177, respectively), and there are Catholic priests, nuns and laypeople in every country on the planet. As a result, the Holy See is interested and well-informed about developments all over the globe," it said.



Since that memo was written, the Vatican has established full diplomatic relations with Russia, bringing the total to 178 countries. That leaves only about 16 countries off the list, places such as China, Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan. The Vatican also maintains delegations to nearly 20 international institutions, including the United Nations.



The WikiLeaks cables have described Vatican diplomats as generally well-informed and as influential lobbyists behind the scenes. What's amazing is that the Vatican accomplishes all this with a relatively tiny diplomatic corps -- a few hundred bishops and priests who were hand-picked and trained at a little-known diplomatic academy in downtown Rome.



The academy has only 30 or so priest-students, who spend years studying papal diplomacy, diplomatic style, diplomatic history and international law. By the time they graduate, they are expected to be fluent in four languages.



Most of the graduates go on to serve at lower-level positions at a Vatican nunciature, or embassy, and are rotated to new posts after a few years. Some may be brought back for a turn at the "Second Section" of the Vatican Secretariat of State, a kind of international nerve-center where about 35 prelates keep tabs on the entire world.



Eventually, they may become papal nuncios, or ambassadors. The nuncio's job differs from that of a normal ambassador in several respects, however. For one thing, a nuncio acts not only as the pope's representative to a foreign government, but as the pope's liaison with the local Catholic population. Much of his time, therefore, is spent dealing with internal church affairs.



In a broader sense, unlike other ambassadors, the papal nuncio is promoting a moral agenda, not the commercial or political interests of his government. A primary focus of papal diplomats in recent decades has been human rights, peaceful resolution of conflicts and protection of core social values. Those concerns show up repeatedly in the WikiLeaks cables.



In Rome, the Vatican also communicates with U.S. diplomats through various agencies of the Roman Curia, in particular the pontifical councils that deal with justice and peace, migration, health care, charity work and the family. Embassy officials seek out experts who work at these councils for briefings on the Vatican's position and -- as one can now read in detail -- report it all back to the U.S. State Department.



Vatican officials, of course, also are reading the WikiLeaks cables with interest. So far they seem unsurprised at the content. Much of the U.S. Embassy's effort seems geared toward enlarging areas of U.S.-Vatican cooperation, which has never been a secret objective. The cables show the Vatican as open on some issues, such as human trafficking, but clearly wary of becoming too closely identified with the policies and initiatives of the world's biggest superpower.



Occasionally, there are frank assessments of differences, as in a U.S. Embassy memo from July 2001, which forecast continued problems with the Vatican over Israel, the death penalty and Iraq.



"The Vatican will continue to oppose U.S. efforts to isolate Saddam Hussein. We should recognize that the Vatican will not support our efforts in Iraq, and investigate ways to limit Vatican interference with our objectives," the cable said tersely.



The WikiLeaks cables often reveal U.S. diplomats as trying very hard to figure out the Vatican, as they deal with an institution that is both a sovereign state and the center of a global religion. One "confidential" cable boiled it down to the simplest terms: "The Vatican strives to translate its religious beliefs and its humanitarian concerns into concrete policies."



END

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/jxx1

Vatican Emerges From WikiLeaks As A Key Player On Global Scene

Amplify’d from abovetopsecret.com

Vatican Emerges From WikiLeaks As A Key Player On Global Scene, page 1

www.catholicnews.com

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- If there's one clear conclusion that can be drawn from the Vatican-related WikiLeaks disclosures, it's that the United States takes the Vatican and its diplomatic activity very seriously. In memo after memo in recent years, officials of the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See have reported back to Washington on the impact of papal trips, statements and documents; on the Vatican's behind-the-scenes efforts to head off conflicts...

(visit the link for the full news article)

Related Above Top Secret Thread:

Vatican Body Asks UN To 'End Israeli Occupation'

edit on 27-12-2010 by burntheships because: add releated thread

The Vatican, a key player on the global scene? Imagine that. The WikiLeaks cables have described Vatican diplomats as generally well-informed and as influential lobbyists behind the scenes. What's amazing is that the Vatican accomplishes all this with a relatively tiny diplomatic corps -- a few hundred bishops and priests who were hand-picked and trained at a little-known diplomatic academy in downtown Rome. And who thought they were in the business of religion. Pehaps politics is a religion after all. A religion of control. And maybe its not the Bankstas alone that control the USA? Please visit this related thread for more information on The Vatican, and its quest for political power. Related Above Top Secret Thread: Vatican Body Asks UN To 'End Israeli Occupation' There, I have attempted to idenify the key players. Originally posted by burntheships Lets review the key players shall we? : Adolfo Nicolas 30th Superior General, Society of Jesus Pope Benedict the XVI Roman Papal Caesar Egyptian Osiris Vicar of Christ/Vicar of Horus Holder of the Bended Bow (his crox) Edward Cardinal Egan Archbishop of New York City "Archbishop of the Capital of the World" "The American Pope" Head: American Branch of the Knights of Malta Head: Knights of Columbus Supreme Council of the 33rd Degree American Scottish-Rite Freemasonry Council On Foreign Relations B'nai B'rith/Anti-Defamation League Central Intelligence Agency National Security Agency Federal Bureau of Investigation Office of Naval Intelligence The Pentagon Joseph A. O'Hare, S.J. President Emeritus, Jesuit Fordham University Bronx, New York Member: Knights of Malta Presider: Council on Foreign Relations Advisor to Knight of Malta David Rockefeller, CFR Advisor to Knight of Malta Henry Kissinger, CFR Advisor to Michael Bloomberg Mayor, New York City Papal Knight of the Vatican's Revived John J. DeGioia President Jesuit Georgetown University Member: Knights of Malta Member: Council On Foreign Relations Richard N. Haass Chairman: Council on Foreign Relations New York City Servant of Edward Cardinal Egan Overseer of AIPAC: American Israel Public Affairs Committee Zibignew Brzezinski Member: Knights of Malta Member: Bilderberg Group Member: Council On Foreign Relations Member: Trilaterial Commission Advisor: Jesuit Georgetown University Polish Roman Catholic Socialist-Communist Professor: Columbia University, New York Recruiter of Barry Soetoro, 1981 Barack Hussein Obama George Soros Member: Council on Foreign Relations Member: Carlyle Group Multi-billionaire Major Stockholder: Halliburton Hungarian Jew: Socialist-Communist Financial Backer of Barack Hussein Obama Friend of Rupert Murdoch Rupert Murdoch Member: Council on Foreign Relations Member: Knights of St. Gregory International Media Mogul Owner: Fox News Network Friend of George Soros Bill O'Reilly - The O'Reily Factor Sean Hannity - Hannity & Combes Joseph R. Biden Papal Knight; Jesuit Temporal Vice President: American Empire Advisor to President Barack Hussein Obama Promoter: Council on Foreign Relations Honorary Degrees: Jesuit University of Scranton, Scranton, PA Jesuit St. Joseph's University, Philadelphia, PA Barack Hussein Obama 32nd Degree Prince Hall Freemason Michelle, Member: Chicago CFR Obama: CFR-Spokesperson Trained in Romanism, Islam and Protestantism www.abovetopsecret.com... Some of us may think this is presumtuous of The Vatican to make such a statement and publish it in thier own news service. I think they are just telling it like it is. Reading the cables, it's hard to imagine that before 1984, the United States did not have diplomatic relations with the Vatican. Today, the U.S. Embassy has five diplomatic officials and a support staff of 14, and is considered one of the busiest delegations accredited to the Vatican. To anyone still wondering why so much attention is being paid to the world's smallest state, a U.S. Embassy cable of 2009 -- prepared for President Barack Obama ahead of his first meeting with Pope Benedict -- gave the answer: "The Vatican is second only to the United States in the number of countries with which it enjoys diplomatic relations (188 and 177, respectively), and there are Catholic priests, nuns and laypeople in every country on the planet. As a result, the Holy See is interested and well-informed about developments all over the globe," it said. www.catholicnews.com (visit the link for the full news article) Read more at abovetopsecret.com

 

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/jxwx

Amplify’d from www.debbieschlussel.com

Alhamdillullah [Praise allah]: Your Taxes Fund Christmas Toys for … Muslim Illegal Aliens

By Debbie Schlussel

Since it’s Christmas-time, you’d think that local businesses and charities–especially the ones you forcibly fund through your tax dollars–would be sending Santa to give toys to poor kids who might otherwise not have anything for Christmas.  But you’d be wrong.  A national bank and a charity funded by your federal and state tax dollars sent Santa to give toys to devout Muslim kids in Dearbornistan, many of them illegal aliens or the anchor babies of devout Muslims. And it’s nothing more than a PR stunt, funded by you and your dhimmi bank–propaganda to claim that because Muslim kids in headscarves grab free toys from a guy dressed as Santa, they are somehow moderate and respecting of Christianity. Bull dung!

I’ve told you much about ACCESS–the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services–over the years.  With millions of dollars from the federal and Michigan governments and the United Way, it’s the Muslim-dominated Arab welfare agency that gave Islamic terrorists “job training” in how to get commercial driver’s licenses and hazardous materials hauling certificates.  ACCESS has been active in getting Muslim illegal aliens into the country and teaching them how to soak the system.  And ACCESS, which opposed laws making it illegal to donate to HAMAS and Hezbollah, helped pregnant Muslim aliens get phony Social Security numbers and defraud Medicaid, getting their kids U.S. citizenship and tax-paid delivery in one fell swoop.

Now, this organization, ACCESS–which you are funding–and Comerica Bank are providing kids who don’t even celebrate Christmas and whose parents mostly hate Christians and Christianity with Christmas toys.  As you’ll note, these kids attend Salina Elementary School, which “educates” mostly Muslim students who live on the South end of Dearborn.  Many of these kids’ parents are illegal alien devout Muslims from Yemen–Yay, Anwar Al-Awlaki/UndieBomber/Fort Hood Massacre Land!–and many of the kids are either illegal aliens or illegal alien anchor babies.

Oh, and ever the resident Muslim propagandist, Detroit Free Press “reporter” Niraj Warikoo engages in his usual commentary, claiming that Muslim illegal alien and anchor baby kids eagerly taking free tax-funded toys from dumbass Christians somehow shows they aren’t extremists. Riiight. Um, why is this editorial stuck in the middle of an alleged objective newspaper report?

It’s a striking scene that illustrates how the Muslim-American population of Dearborn is open to Christian customs and American traditions. At a time when Dearborn is under attack from outsiders and politicians who claim it’s under Islamic law, the scene inside the school Friday was an unspoken rebuttal, illustrating how different faiths and cultures work together.

PUH-LEEZE. There’s nothing “striking” or “open to Christian customs” about this, and nothing has been “rebutted” here. In fact, it’s just more affirmation of what I’ve been saying for years. American Christians (and Jews) are stupid and keep giving our enemies from within free stuff and entitlements. And their eager grabbing of this welfare is accompanied by their laughter at us . . . all the way to the bank and the bomb belt factory.

It’s not that these kids or anyone in the Muslim community has any respect for Christianity or appreciates Santa. It’s that they are takers and work the system for every last bit of free stuff and lucre they can get.

The fact that Comerica Dhimmi Bank Vice President Amal Berry-Brown is the force behind this event says it all. If she had such respect for Christianity, why did she push Sharia banking, as I’ve noted she did? And why did she force her obese, girlie-man Irish Catholic sperm donor husband to raise their kids as Muslims (a fact they bragged about in Detroit newspapers–talk about whipped)? She was on the board of ACCESS and is part of a prominent Muslim, Jew-hating, Hezbollah family from South Lebanon.

Also note that one of the ACCESS officers involved is Brigitte Fawaz-Anouti.  A few years ago, Ms. Fawaz-Anouti proudly told an Arabic language Lebanese TV program that she and the others at ACCESS and in the Dearborn Arabic community do not think of themselves as Americans and actually think very negatively of America.  Also note the presence of Jim Stokes as “Santa.”  Don’t let the fact that he’s a Christian Arab fool you.  He is one of the many Christian Arab water-carrier dhimmis for Islam.  He’s on the board of ACCESS, which tells us all we need to know.  And he’s in charge of appointments for the State of Michigan, which explains why outgoing Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm’s personnel director bragged to a meeting I attended that more than 20% of the Governor’s personnel appointments went to Arabs and Muslims, much higher than their very small percentage of the Michigan population.

The students were almost all Muslim, most of them the children of conservative immigrants from the Arab world. . . .

Started more than 20 years ago, the annual visit by Santa is geared towards a population in the south end of Dearborn that has high levels of poverty. Sponsored by ACCESS, Comerica Bank, and the Kiwanis Club of Dearborn, it gives more than 800 needy children, most of them Arab-American Muslims, dolls, board games, and basketballs for Christmas. It’s also about introducing a new culture.

“Most of them don’t know a great deal about Santa Claus,” said Amal Berry-Brown, a vice-president at Comerica Bank who helped distribute the gifts on Friday.

The school is in the south end of Dearborn, which has the highest concentration of Muslims in the state, many of them with roots in Yemen. They take their faith seriously, as evident by the fact that many of the girls are already wearing hijab, the Islamic headscarf, while they’re still in elementary school. . . .

“Santa is not religious in that sense,” said Brigitte Fawaz-Anouti, director of social services and special projects at the Dearborn-based ACCESS, the Arab-American group that started the event. “It’s more a celebration of the season.”

Um, isn’t Santa supposed to be short for “Saint Nicholas”? Hey, what do I know?

For the past 18 years, Santa has been played by Jim Stokes, a board member of ACCESS who is also director of appointments for the state of Michigan. His mother was a Lebanese Catholic immigrant and so he’s sympathetic to the challenges that immigrants face when they’re in a new land. When Stokes greets the kids, he occasionally drops in an Arabic phrase, but speaks mainly in English.

I nominate Santa Jim Stokes for dhimmiwit of the year. Whatta guy.

You might also like: Does Your Local Bank Have a Muslim, er . . . “Arab Affairs ... Muslim Campaign: “Evil” Christmas “Causes Rape” Terrif: DHS Chieftess Recruits Muslim Extremists to Combat ... Applebee’s Clever Veterans Day Moneymaker LinkWithin Read more at www.debbieschlussel.com

 

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/jxv2

Amplify’d from www.youtube.com

Saudi women eating Spaghetti

See more at www.youtube.com

 

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/jxuu

Saudi women eating Spaghetti

Amplify’d from www.debbieschlussel.com

HILARIOUS Video: “Burka Woman” – Roy Orbison Full-Ninja Edition

By Debbie Schlussel

Pakistani Muslim comedian, Saad Haroon, makes this clever take-off of Roy Orbison’s “Pretty Woman.”  Will he ever be able to go to Pakistan again, after such “blasphemy” and apostasy?  Doubtful.  On the other hand, since he’s admired by Al-Jazeera, the Islamic Terrorist News Network and mocks the accurate view of Muslims as dangerous (and he probably has the same views of Jews, Christians, Israel, and America as the rest of ‘em), don’t go loving this guy anytime soon. (Even if his major target is the Pakistani government.)

The thing is, as this video points out and as I’ve noted on this site many times, these women (and the men who support this) claim that covering everything but their eye-slits and toes is modesty.  Yet, they glop on very thick, dark eyeliner like a hooker and putting nail-polish on your toes–by their own religion’s standards of “modesty”–isn’t modest. It defeats the whole purpose of being covered in ugly black drapery.  After all, their big toes might turn someone one. Two words that go together like oil and water: “pretty” and “burka.”

Family Photo: “Your Sister’s Prettier”

You might also like: Muslim to DHS Employee: “I’ll Beat My Wife;” Green Card ... HILARIOUS Video: What Happens When Obama’s TelePrompter ... Checking Under the Hood: Another Reason Islamic Face Veils ... Masculinized Wonder Woman Becomes . . . Michelle Obama?! LinkWithin Read more at www.debbieschlussel.com

 

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/jxu7

Islam-Bashing Bigots Train Counterterrorism Agents

Amplify’d from www.huffingtonpost.com

Islam-Bashing Bigots Train Counterterrorism Agents

Chip Berlet

"Kill them...including the children." That's how to solve the threat of militant Muslims? This quote is from what one official involved in homeland security said was the theme of a speech by Walid Shoebat at an anti-terrorism training in Las Vegas in October 2010. Our source had turned around after Shoebat's speech and asked the woman in the chair behind them at the conference what she thought was the solution offered by Shoebat. "Kill them...including the children...you heard him," was the full response. Shoebat's Las Vegas speech was described by our source as "frightening." Bigoted trainers including Shoebat are highlighted in today's Washington Post article on "Monitoring America." Much of this information is new. Some of it was previously documented in a PRA Report, "Platform for Prejudice." Shoebat and the larger issue of how "Right-Wing Firms Train Public Servants on Terror Threats" is the topic of a new report to be issued in January by Political Research Associates (where I work). OK, not credited for our work by the Washington Post and then partially scooped on this topic just as we are about to release our report. Sigh. That's real life. Back to Shoebat. George D. Little, Director of the Institute for Criminal Justice Studies (ICJS) at Texas State University, in San Marcos, TX, also attended the Shoebat speech at the Las Vegas training. When first contacted by e-mail after the ICTOA conference, Little responded "I believe there are good Muslims like there are bad ones just like there are good Christians and bad ones." Little, however, dodged repeated questions about what he specifically thought of the content of Shoebat's speech, and now refuses to comment altogether. Shoebat is popular in Texas, having helped organize an anti-Islamic event near Fort Hood; spoken at an evangelical church; and conducted a statewide law enforcement training, "Preparing Law Enforcement Executives for the Future," co-sponsored by the state's Attorney General, Greg Abbott. Shoebat is also periodically interviewed as an expert on Islam on Fox News and is extensively quoted by the right-wing conspiracy website, World Net Daily. Another Las Vegas conference attendee, Edwin Urie, praised Mr. Shoebat's ICTOA speech. "From my perspective, Mr. Shoebat's presentation was so much on the mark, so specific, and so correct that I was concerned that he would be the target of those about whom he spoke. Maybe the objections are merely a part of that," wrote Urie in an e-mail. Urie is an adjunct professor at Henley-Putnam University and a specialist in counterrorism. Watchdogs like Bartholomew and several Muslim and human rights groups have been complaining about this problem for some time. Last month I posted here on Shoebat and his allies, and included the next two paragraphs. Shoebat has said that "Islam is not the religion of God -- Islam is the devil." According to religion writer Richard Bartholomew, "Shoebat is a pseudo-expert on terrorism, Islamic extremism, and Biblical prophecy, and he teaches that Obama is a secret Muslim and that the Bible has prophesised a Muslim anti-Christ." This means for some apocalyptic Christians that Muslims then would be allies of Satan in the End Times battle between good and evil. This battle ends when Jesus returns and with a vengeful God kills all these deemed to be non-believers in Christianity. This bloody and bigoted version of apocalyptic prophesies is rejected and condemned by the Catholic and Orthodox churches and every major Protestant denomination. Abdus Sattar Ghazali wrote about Shoebat and other anti-Islamic bigots on the website of Muslim Military Members, an organization that serves as a network for Muslims serving in the US Armed Forces. "Walid Shoebat has built a lucrative speaking career by manipulating the fears and whipping up hatred between Jews and Muslims," wrote Ghazali. Keith Davies, Director of the Walid Shoebat Foundation, disagrees. Davies claims that the Islamic "definition of Jihad quoted in Sharia law is clear and means struggle but is used in context of holy war to conquer infidels." Davies continues: This is the standard interpretation recognized by all schools of thought in Sunni and Shia Islam." [Not] every Muslim practices his religion to the letter but all that do are required to practice Jihad....So if say for argument 10% of Muslims actually practice their religion properly ( figure is probably much higher) that would be 150 million terrorists. Even if it were 1% that is 1.5 million terrorists. This interpretation of Islamic Law and its religious demands is an outlandish distortion; and yet it is being taught to our homeland security personnel. Davies, disagrees with me, and had a suggestion for me. Wrote Davies, "If you hate this country and its constitutional values of individual freedom and respect Islamic people so much, maybe Saudi Arabia could be a good place for you to live...." Shoebat's speech in Las Vegas was sponsored by the International Counter Terrorism Officers Association (ICTOA). Michael Riker, president of the ICTOA, said that "Numerous public safety personnel along with military personnel heard from Walid Shoebat" at the event. Then Riker defended Shoebat's bigoted tirade in a comment to my earlier Huffpost article (it's near the earliest). What you hear from Walid is the TRUTH. The attendees were glued to what [Shoebat] had to say and the majority of them agreed. The liberal media is afraid to hear what the truth really is. Who has been planning attacks on our country? We are in a war of ideology and if you don't know that you need to get you head out of the sand. Before you make judgment see what is really going on then make an educated decision for yourself. Federal and state agencies have turned to right-wing "experts" on "subversion" throughout U.S. history. These experts have included informers who have surfaced to spin their tales in public; or converts who claim to have been involved in skullduggery and now are sounding the alarm. In both cases, the alarmist stories these self-dramatizing demagogues tell tend to be exaggerated or even invented. The fear that there is a conspiracy to undermine the government emerges periodically throughout our history as a nation. This hunt for an exaggerated subversive enemy "Other" is dubbed a "countersubversion" panic. One government official involved in deporting thousands of innocent Italians and Russians during the "Palmer Raids" panic in the 1920s described it as a "delirium." Most of us just call it a "Witch Hunt." Whatever we call it, this countersubversion tendency has fueled episodes of political repression by government agencies and right-wing "patriotic" groups. Shoebat may be the most outlandish example of the coterie of anti-Islamic bigots and fear mongers who are training law enforcement officials and anti-terrorism agents, but the problem is corrosive. Why are tax dollars being spent to peddle prejudice against Muslims in the United States? The Washington Post report will get much needed attention drawn to this matter. The upcoming report by Cincotta documents the problem in even greater detail. The solution will depend on a thorough and public review of this sad situation by government officials, elected representatives, a vigilant media, and public outrage. = = = = = = = = = = In the original post a typo snagged the name Edwin Urie. Apologies. -cb Read more at www.huffingtonpost.com

 

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/jxt3