Category: Spiritual

Spiritual healing includes mental, physical and soul

Aptos, California psychologist: We look like our gods ….

Muslim women's rights?

We look like our gods….said the Catholic priest. If your god is a thug you will be a thug… What came to mind was the book, A GOD WHO HATES by Wafa Sultan. Published in 2009 by St. Martin’s Press, New York, N.Y.

If your god hates, you will hate.

Ms. Sultan, a medical doctor, writes about how Muslim women are treated by men — with hate — because of the Muslim god they worship.

She tells the story of her grandmother who was Ms. Sultan’s ideal. Her grandmother had 3 sons and 2 daughters by the time she was in her early 20’s. Small pox killed the boys. Girls are worth little. The grandfather, head of the village, forced his wife within a week of their death, to solicit the hand of a young woman in marriage. For the next 15 years until her death, the grandmother served the second wife and her husband and the ten boys the second wife bore him. She accepted the humiliation.

As a 4th year medical student she witnessed how male Muslim gynecologists took advantage of sick situations: Muslim families would bring their daughters to get “fixed”. The young girls were sexually abused and pregnant because of male relatives. The male Muslim gynecologist demanded huge sums of money to take care of the problem — “fix” the pregnancy and broken hymen.

Muhammad is Muslim men’s ideal. The Prophet contracted his marriage to Aish when she was six years old and he was fifty. The marriage was consummated when the girl was age nine. Wives of Muhammad, by Bint al-Shati describes the day for Aisha in her own words. What kind of a “prophet” marries a 9 year old?

Quote from A GOD WHO HATES: “Of all Muhammad’s marriages his marriage to Safia was the most horrific…Safia was a Jewish woman whose husband,father and brother Muhammad had killed when raiding the Khaybar tribe. She was taken prisoner by one of Muhammad’s men. He…married Safia the same day he killed her husband, brother and father… ”

One tribe was always raiding another. The tribes lived always in fear of another raid. The dessert environment was difficult. Are these excuses? Sounds like the Old Testament which is filled with violence.

What a difference between the Prophet and Jesus. Jesus did not marry nor mistreat women.

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Jewish World Review

Is the Divine beyond us or within us?

By Rabbi David Aaron

Misconceptions of Biblical proportions about the Creator

http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | The Torah (Exodus 25:8) recounts that G-d instructed the Israelites to build a sanctuary, telling Moses, “Let them build a sanctuary and I will dwell in them.” Note that G-d did not say, “I will dwell in the sanctuary.” G-d said, “in them.”

Is G-d beyond us or within us?

One day my son Ananiel and my two daughters, Leyadya and Ne’ema, burst into my study. They had obviously been fighting over something and were very upset. I could see that I was chosen to be the lucky arbitrator to resolve another case of sibling rivalry. They shouted at each other, “You go, you ask Daddy.” “No, no! You go, you go.” Finally Ananiel, who was five at that time, took the challenge and said, “O.K., O.K. Daddy, isn’t it true that G-d is a boy?”

Ne’ema and Leyadya, ages eight and nine, had tears in their eyes. I could hear them silently pleading with me, “Please no, please no. Tell us it’s not true. It’s bad enough our brother is a boy. Surely, G-d is really a girl.”

I said to them, “G-d is not a boy and G-d is not a girl. G-d is beyond that. We may talk about G-d as if He is a boy. But we really don’t mean it literally.”

They all looked at me in shock and confusion. There was this awkward silence, and then suddenly my son blurted out, “You’re wrong! He’s a boy.” And he stomped out of the room.

Unfortunately, many adults actually believe that G-d is male. And it seems from a first glance at the Book of Genesis that the Torah would agree. Throughout G-d is referred to as “He.” Although in much of Jewish tradition we find G-d described as a father and king, there are references to G-d also as a “She,” as mother or queen.

However, those of us who are in the know understand that all this is metaphor.

According to Kabbalah, G-d is beyond descriptions that use neat and easy logical categories of either/or.

Most people think that G-d is infinite. But that is incorrect. The infinite is that which goes on and on in space. However, G-d created space and is therefore not bound to the laws and limitation of space. If we describe G-d as infinite, what we really mean is that G-d is spaceless. Infinite is the opposite of finite, while spaceless means “free from the limitations of space.” The One who is spaceless is free to be both beyond space and within space simultaneously. Therefore, G-d is beyond this finite world and yet G-d completely inheres every inch of the earth.

Most people think that G-d is eternal. But that is incorrect. Eternity would be that which goes on and on in time. But G-d created time and is therefore not confined to the limitations of time. If we describe G-d as eternal, what we really mean is that G-d is timeless. The eternal is the opposite of the temporal, while timeless means “free of the limitations of time.” The One who is timeless is free to be both beyond time and within time at the same time. Therefore, G-d is both beyond time and yet within every moment, completely filling it with His entire presence.

And when we say that G-d is One, we really mean that G-d is non-dual. One is limited; it is the opposite of many. But non-duality is free of the confines of one or many. Non-duality is free to be beyond the many and within the many. Therefore, G-d is beyond you, me, and everyone else in this world, and yet also within us.

How can the unlimited be expressed within the limited? How can the unlimited G-d be expressed within time, space, and finite beings?

If the unlimited could not be expressed within the limited, then that would be a limitation. Ultimate freedom must include the freedom to choose to be restricted. Otherwise freedom wouldn’t be free; it would imply a limitation of choices — you could not choose to be restricted and limited.

Therefore, according to Kabbalah, G-d is free to be both beyond time and within each moment, beyond space and within every inch, beyond multiplicity and within billions of finite human beings. G-d is free to be manifest as one hundred percent transcendent and yet also one hundred percent immanent.

Of course, this is a contradiction and is not logical. However, we have to always be reminded that all this is from our limited point of view. From G-d’s perspective there are not two aspects to the Divine. It is only when we describe the divine truth with our limited language that we need to speak in this paradoxical way. As one sage put it, Kabbalah is not the path to paradise but to paradox.

Kabbalah explains that the manifestation of divine transcendence is identified with the power of masculinity. However, the manifestation of divine immanence is identified with the power of femininity.

In Kabbalah, masculinity is the power of rational detachment, the ability to see from outside as an objective observer. Femininity is the power to empathize, to be intimate, the ability to feel a situation from the inside, as a participant.

The Torah teaches that the first human being was created in the image of G-d. However, the verse that expresses this in Genesis is very strange. Here is the translation from the Soncino Press version, chapter 1, verse 27: “And G-d created man in His own image, in the image of G-d He created him; male and female He created them.”

Was the first human being a “him” or a “them”? The answer is yes! The first human being was a single whole entity that included two sexes. The first human was not really male but actually beyond genders — including both male and female.

At a Jewish wedding ceremony, a blessing is recited that might seem puzzling: “Blessed are You, G-d, King of the universe, who created the human being in Your image.” It might seem that this blessing would be more appropriately recited at the birth of a child than at a wedding. However, when a child is born you really do not see the full image of G-d. The full image of G-d is only manifest when the male and female unite.

The manifestation of G-d as outside of time, space, and finite beings is described as masculine. The manifestation of G-d as within time, space, and finite beings is described as feminine.

Therefore, G-d is not male or female. G-d is not beyond us or within us. G-d is beyond the either/or.

It is up to us to become a living sanctuary; to think, speak and act in ways that empower us to experience G-d’s joyous truth.

Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in uplifting articles. Sign up for the daily JWR update. It’s free. Just click here.

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JUST RELEASED! Rabbi Aaron’s latest!
The Secret Life of G-d

You’ve been inspired by our master teacher’s weekly column. He’s provocative. He makes you think. You should consider purchasing his books. Sales help fund JWR.

JWR contributor Rabbi David Aaron is the founder and dean of Isralight, an international organization with programming in Israel, New York South Florida, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and Toronto. He has taught and inspired thousands of Jews who are seeking meaning in their lives and a positive connection to their Jewish roots.

He is the author of the newly released, The Secret Life of G-d, and also the author of Endless Light: The Ancient Path of Kabbalah to Love, Spiritual Growth and Personal Power , Seeing G-d and Love is my religion. (Click on links to purchase books. Sales help fund JWR.) He lives in the old City of Jerusalem with his wife and their seven children.

© 2005, Rabbi David Aaron
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com

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The meaning of “eternal life”?

Lent is here. Lent  for the Christian church is the 40 days before Easter. Easter is the celebration of the Risen Lord.  Jesus Christ came that all might have  Life.

What is “eternal life”? In the Episcopalian service the priest says, “and keep us in Eternal Life…”  During the Catholic Mass the priest says, “and in the end bring us to Eternal Life”.

What does Theologika  have to say about what is “eternal life”  — is it here and now or after we physically die?  

For more info on Theologika go to http;//www.theologika.net or send email to Randy and Kathy Ponzos@theologika.net Theologika has in depth, accurate information on christian theology.Theologika



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What to do in Aptos, CA on Sat. at 5: Mass at Resurrection Catholic Church

Fr. Ron Shirley, Resurection Church, Aptos, CA

When I look around the Feb. 13, Sat. 5 pm service at Resurrection Catholic Church, Aptos, CA I see many of the same people sitting in the same pew as the week before. The Liturgy has a sameness that provides a reassuring security. And I see many people I have never seen before.

I see a diverse congregation: families, and singles, old and young, many different ethnicities. One woman looked like she might have come in a horse and carriage. Wearing a red jacket, she is formally dressed with a striking black hat and veil. There were visitors from other cities and states.

Fr. Ron Shirley presided. He opened with a few brief remarks about what it is to be holy – to know our holes and weaknesses and to seek God to be made whole.

His homily was brief: two toasts to a couple at a marriage feast. He holds a wine glass up to make the toasts. The first toast, made by a friend of the bridegroom, included comments such as, may you always be rich and well thought of. And may you always be happy… The second toast, offered by someone not well dressed nor invited to the celebration, was quite different. May you be poor at times and turn to God… May you feel empty at times …and be filled by God. May you at times cry …

Fr. Ron’s brief messages connect the gospel and biblical readings to a Christian, spiritual life. He tells stories that are easy to remember. And worth remembering.

Pastor Shirley concluded the service with the words, The Mass never ends…it must be lived! Go forth to serve…” Ah, yes!

For more information go to:

Resurrection Catholic Church


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COPA & “relational power” comes out of Saul Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals?

Some acronyms say a lot: Mothers Against Drunk Drivers (MADD) concisely makes its point.

COPA is not such an acronym. It is not “wanna cup-a tea…” Why that acronym?

It is hard to wrap your brain or mouth around “communities organized for relational power“.

Is that deliberate? Undoubtedly. A fuzzy acronym lacking clarity (COPA) is better when the ultimate goal is something people might resist: re-distribution of wealth.

COPA talks about “relational power”. What in the world is “relational” power? Is that what a work supervisor has over the supervisee? Is that what the home room teacher has over students as they wait to be dismissed from school?

“Relational power” What in the world is that? As the priest blesses the wine to become the blood of Christ during the Eucharist what is the “relational power” of the priest to the congregation? Magician? Conduit of God’s Love? Relational power. What a mouthful.

Think about it. What is the best way to organize a community for socialistic, Alinsky type goals?

Of course, use the “progressive” and “liberal” churches. Get the titular heads of the organizations to sign on. That is relatively easy to do.

Churches and other faith organizations typically are not democratic. The head of the churches typically set policies and people rarely disagree with their priest, rector, minister or rabbi.

Yes, housing is expensive in Santa Cruz County. Though it certainly is aloft less expensive than it was before Nov. 2009.

The article below appears on the web site for Temple Beth El in Aptos, CA.
Communities Organized for Relational Power in Action (COPA)

“Temple Beth El [in Aptos, CA] is an active participant in this interfaith effort to improve our communities. COPA is a network of 35 faith-based and nonprofit institutions in Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties. COPA’s activities are based on the concept of “relational organizing”—a process of deepening and broadening our understanding of each other that identifies potential areas for action on behalf of our members. Relational organizing includes one-to-one meetings, house meetings, research actions, and community actions. This model can develop in two ways, one identifies and serves the needs of the congregation, and the other prepares us to work together for a better (broader) community.

Our primary action had been an initiative to alleviate the shortage of affordable housing in Santa Cruz County. Then our focus was on negotiating with Standard Pacific to develop housing on the Par 3 property in Aptos. The development was to have 90 units, a mix of rental and ownership, that will be affordable by very-low-income, low-income, and moderate-income households.

Andrew Goldenkranz and Carolyn Coleman lead the COPA Committee at Temple Beth El.”

So, is COPA “your cup-a tea” ? Do you think that the Tea Parties organized to tell the government what the People think of higher taxes and less freedom would use the COPA model? Who runs the financial books on COPA?

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Aptos psychologist: How to STOP gang violence? www.freedomOK.net/wordpress

How to stop–at least put a major crimp — in gang violence? What are YOUR ideas?

These are mine. By the way, this is NOT a Saul Alinsky COPA approach ….

1. UNIFORMS: Public schools will agree that they will require that all students (K- grade 12) wear uniforms at school and to and from school. To and from school, note. Schools will enforce the uniform rule Consequences for breaking the uniform rule will be clearly set out and enforced. The parents will choose what kind of uniforms and what consequences for breaking the rule. The uniforms must fit the students in a reasonable, normal manner — not extremely tight or loose. Top of the pants can be no lower than an agreed upon number of inches from the waist.

2) NO TATOOS, MAKE UP AND CLEAN APPEARANCE. Girls and boys are to be clean and wear clean clothing. No cosmetic make-up or visible tatoos allowed for school age boys or girls. Consequences stated for breaking the rule. Dirty hair and clothing? Go to thegym and take a shower and put on clean clothing.

3) FAMILIES WILL CONTROL WHERE & WHEN CHILDREN GO. Families commit to control where & when children go out from after school to time to be home for the night. Both schools and faith organizations can assist in making these Agreements. This has to be by choice and made indvidually by families and children with schools and thier faith organizations.

4) COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS WILL SUPPORT FAMIY COMMITMENT TO CONTROL CHILDREN’S BEHAVIOR. Strengthen School/ Parent and Faith Organization/ Family Agreements with school/ community events (pot lucks, park activities, athletic events for families) which provide structured time for families to do fun, safe activities together. Provide weekly safe activities for families.

COMMUNITY NON-PROFITS. Faith organizations and community organizations should collaborate to strengthen values of honesty, non-violence, and cooperative behavior. Possible ways could include Affirmation of Family Values (akin to renewal of baptismal vows) done by faith organizations with their members.

POLICE: Spread Neighborhood Watch (know your neighbor, make your neighborhood safe for children, report suspicious behavior, increase more police walking the beat).

This is to start a conversation… What say you? written by Cameron Jackson, Ph.D., J.D. DrCameronJackson@gmail.com


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“Affordable housing” supported by COPA faith organizations

written by Cameron S. Jackson DrCameronJackson@gmail.com

Temple Beth El, Resurrection Catholic Community and St. John’s Episcopal are 3 faith organizations that are members of COPA in the Aptos, CA area. I believe that about 10+ faith organizations in Santa Cruz County came together about 4-5 years ago. I was at one of the original meetings.

Let’s work for “affordable housing” in Santa Cruz County was the way it was presented. We were all supposed to “tell our stories” so the community “could come to know how others live”.

Here’s a story about how people live in Santa Cruz County:

My hair stylist in Capitola is a Buddhist from Thailand. Her second husband was a Catholic American who brought her to America. She later had two more husbands and is currently divorced.

To save money she lives with her sister who is a cook in a Thai restaurant. The sister has a cheap (less than $200 a month) Housing Authority one bedroom apartment. Not supposed to house relatives but my hair stylist and her adult son live there. Or at times they sleep where they work. My hair stylist has paid off a $35,000 debt to the bank in Thailand and she goes back to visit Thailand most years for a month. She gets free food from her sister the cook.

My question about COPA: What entity maintains the books for the monies given by faith organizations to COPA? The money goes somewhere. Where?

Community Organizing through Places of Worship
Written by Freedom Advocates
Monday, 02 November 2009

“I have just learned that my Monterey Bay Area church has given large sums of money to a political Interfaith Network organization called COPA. COPA stands for Citizens Organized for Relational Power in Action.

“COPA is a member of Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF) which was founded by Saul Alinsky in the 1940’s. Alinsky authored two books that are used as manuals by socialist and communist change agents – Reveille for Radicals in 1946 and Rules for Radicals in 1971.

“It is a serious concern that the money I’V been giving to my church is being used for political and radical ideological purposes without my knowledge or authorization. There are many Interfaith Networks operating under different names throughout the country and most of them like COPA, are members of IAF.

“In their own words,

Industrial Areas Foundation helps build broad-based, non-partisan organizations of dues-paying member congregations, schools, unions, business associations, and non-profits committed to building power for sustainable social and economic change.

Alinsky in his book writings puts it like this,

You do what you can with what you have and clothe it with moral garments. Make the enemy live up to his/her own book of rules. You can kill them with this. They can no more obey their own rules than the Christian church can live up to Christianity.

Believing that the ends justify the means, Alinksy stated that,

In action, one does not always enjoy the luxury of a decision that is consistent both with one’s individual conscience and the good of mankind.

“So churches are being used for political purposes rather than for spiritual reasons. COPA affiliated churches use congregational capital to influence local politicians and intensely advocate for so-called “affordable housing” developments built by well paid so-called, “non-profit” developers.

“The reality is that our money is funding an undisclosed massive subsidy for building projects benefiting individuals who are very ineffective at cost containment. This should give pause to anyone thinking that COPA and IAF are organizations out to help the downtrodden. Those downtrodden are the means, the pawns, in COPA’s game plan.

Where was I when these political shenanigans were being discussed? Was it part of a sermon or simply handled as a financial transaction behind closed doors? It’s alarming that I and my fellow congregants missed the discussion about morphing my church into an instrument of socialist/fascist economic change. This is antithetical to what I believe in.

Your church may be doing this too. Go to the IAF Industrial Areas Foundation “affiliates” page. Click on your region on the left side of the page. In our area, COPA was formerly known as CCIS – Central Coast Interfaith Sponsors.

Congregations across the country find themselves attached to COPA-like organizations with names like Washington Interfaith Network (WIN), Communities Helping All Neighbors Gain Empowerment (CHANGE), Tying Nashville Together (TNT) or Southeastern Wisconsin Common Ground.

Most of us never saw this happening. We trust our places of worship and attend in order to honor God and invigorate our spiritual beliefs. Now we discover that an outside political action group is working insidiously to infiltrate our church and undermine our ethical and spiritual structure.

COPA/IAF is clear that their mission is to train parishioners in community organizing tactics in order to achieve a political result through lobbying. Sound familiar? ACORN has been in the news recently for exploiting poor neighborhoods through the use of misleading promises used in community organizing and lobbying. ACORN targets neighborhoods. COPA and IAF target places of worship and unsuspecting parishioners. COPA/IAF are coming into our churches and synagogues, misleading many of our ministers and other leaders by having them support COPA and IAF politics.

Is your church or temple involved with an interfaith congregation network and IAF? If so, you need to ask:

Is my church a member of a network or organization that supports IAF? What is the organization called?

If yes, why did our church leadership decide to join?

What was the commitment made to the organization?

Has the pastor, minister, rabbi or other spiritual leader been informed about the true nature of Interfaith Networks and Congregation Based Community Organizations?

Has the congregation been informed?

Call to action – Let your church know how you feel about affiliations with political and ideological groups such as IAF and COPA.

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What has happened in Episcopalian churches over the last 20-30 years? Why?

Roots at Ground Zero outside episcopal church
Roots at Ground Zero outside episcopal church

The Episcopalian Church used to be a welcoming church for persons hurt by their former faith. Scratch beneath the surface of many Episcopalians and you will find that about half are former Catholics. And, there are lot of Protestants from all sorts of fundamental churches who attend episcopal churches. The Episcopalian Church gave fresh air and new Life for hurting souls. That is who inhabited the pews. That was 20 to 30 years ago.

Twenty years ago, in the Episcopalian churches there was not a big focus on belief beyond reciting the Nicene Creed (“I believe in God the Father…) There were lots of liberals and lots of conservatives. And the priests who spoke expressed a variety of viewpoints.

More and more that variety of thinking no longer present. Neither in the pews nor from the pulpit.

Today the Episcopalian church is a welcoming place for liberals with a certain mind cast. Now, scratch an Episcopalian and you find first a liberal. A liberal who believes that same sex marriages are fine and dandy. A liberal who supports the Obama program whole hardly. A liberal who wants to level the playing field. One who wants to make Israel be nice to the Muslim world.

Lately, increasingly, the conservatives have fled the pews. Or been pushed out. Or feel unwelcome. Certainly the conservative views are not respected or given speaking space. What comes out of the typical priest is a palaver of support COPPA (an Alinsky type socialist group), Israel has been a bad boy, Bush had it all wrong and and let’s level the playing field. Oh, and you can work your way to heaven by giving money and time to the causes that this church supports.

Lately, in many Episcopalian and Catholic churches a popular hymn is All Are Welcome! When you look around at the “all” they all seem fairly similar in mind set.

Thus, when I read what the Episcopalian churches are doing at convention — I was not surprised. Disheartened, but not surprised. I wish Convention would address other concerns like the Biblical admonition to take care of the Widow and Orphan in our midst.

Taking care of orphans: Do you know that California law prevents grandparents older than 65 or so from taking care of their orphaned grandchildren? That’s right. If you are over a certain age and even if you were taking care of that child a grandparent is prevented from adopting or serving as a foster parent in California. That is a stupid law.

Why don’t the churches work to change California laws that hurt orphans? That seems like a better local Christian goal —

    take care of the world you immediately inhabit

— than he goals they want us to support, i.e., world wide eradication of poverty and world wide emancipation of women.

In California we put those orphan children in the Foster Care system which does not take care of them very well. And does it very expensively. Why doesn’t the Episcopalian Church focus on Biblical concerns such as the Orphan and the Widow?

I wonder whether the churches have become pawns of socialist organizations such as COPPA? It is hard to find out much about who actually RUNS COPPA.

Anyhow, see the article below about what is going on at the convention for Episcopalian churches:

The Socialist Workers Party at Prayer By: Mark D. Tooley
FrontPageMagazine.com | Thursday, July 16, 2009

“The 2 million member and fracturing Episcopal Church is currently convened in its governing General Convention in Anaheim, California, and seemingly poised, in between affirmations of same-sex unions and transgenderism, to condemn Israel as the focus of Middle Eastern strife.

“In stereotypes from another era, snooty Episcopalians once practiced anti-Semitism lite, keeping Jews out of their country clubs and not mixing socially. Later, many Episcopalians fought hard to overturn the reality behind those stereotypes. In the 1950’s and 1960’s, Episcopal leaders were in the forefront of defending Israel’s existence. Then in the 1970’s and 1980’s, much of the church endorsed Liberation Theology, which portrays Palestinians as innocent victims and Israel as the Western oppressor. Today, some Episcopal elites seem determined to return to earlier days, when the modern descendants of the ancient Hebrews were regarded with distaste.

There are no resolutions currently before this year’s Episcopal General Convention directly criticizing any government in the world, except two: Israel and the United States.

Resolutions mention human rights abuses in the Philippines and strife in southern Sudan but decline to criticize governments there, though surely Sudan’s Islamist regime, dripping with blood of millions of victims, might merit some disapproval. There is no criticism of any Muslim or communist dictatorship around the world, though Cuba’s Marxist regime is portrayed by one resolution as the victim of U.S. sanctions. In contrast, about a half dozen statements for consideration before the General Convention are aimed at Israel.

Many of these resolutions will not back it out of legislative committee onto the floor of the Episcopal General Convention. But they still reflect a disturbing anti-Israel ethos within much of the denomination.

One resolution disingenuously exploits biblical language to demand that the “Wall around Bethlehem and all other barriers to come down,” referring of course to Israel’s security barrier against Palestinian suicide bombers. “Reach down your divine hand so that the wall shall come down in Bethlehem, the birthplace of your Son, the Prince of Peace; And may the crumbling walls herald the fall of all barriers that divide us,” it intones, while saying nothing about what the security barrier guards against. “Bind us together so that love gives rise to an abundance of tenderness among all people; and may our hearts like Mary’s magnify the Lord, and may your love shower down throughout the world so all divisions are scattered and washed away.” Leaving Israeli defenseless is evidently an example of “tenderness.”

Another equally even-handed resolution urges deploying all the “authority and power” of the Episcopal Church “to end the oppression and the ghetto-ization [of Palestinians by Israel] and to bring the Wall down.” A third resolution demands a Palestinian “sovereign state, independent of the State of Israel, and created from territory in the West Bank and Gaza, with Jerusalem serving as the capitol of both Israel and Palestine, and urges the Administration’s immediate and continuous engagement with representatives of Israel, Palestine, the Arab League and other countries in the region to achieve a comprehensive and enduring peace in the region and in the world.”

Still another resolution, professing to be more equitable, insists that “peace between Israel and Palestine can be achieved only by a division of historic Palestine into two sovereign states,” along the “1949 Armistice line, with mutually agreed border adjustments”; with “unrestricted opening of borders” with Gaza; with a “shared Jerusalem” serving as capital for both Israel and “Palestine”; and denouncing any “force, violence or arbitrary power by Israelis or Palestinians.”

Yet another resolution bemoans the Israeli “blockade” of Gaza, without describing that the barrier responds to Hamas rocket attacks and terrorism against Israeli civilian targets. It cites the anti-Israel Friends of Sabeel group as a resource, demanding that Israel end its “crippling blockade” and “fulfill its obligation as an occupying power under international humanitarian and human rights law to ensure the welfare of the Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip, notably its obligation to ensure the supply of essential necessities such as electrical power and to allow the movement of people and goods.” It also quotes from the Free Gaza Movement in calling Israeli policies a “man-made disaster” that “continues to devastate the people of Gaza; due to Israel’s ongoing hermetic closure of the Gaza Strip over 80% of the population there require food assistance just in order to survive.” Evidently, according to the Episcopalian writers of this resolution, neither Palestinians nor Gaza had any role in this “man-made disaster” in Gaza.

There are no resolutions before the Episcopal General Convention expressing support for Israel or concerns about terrorism or radical Islam. Of course, there is a resolution condemning the U.S. for its policy of “preventive or preemptive strike that is aimed at disrupting a non-imminent, uncertain military threat.” Another resolution confesses that “our nation’s invasion and occupation of Iraq has resulted in individual and global injustices including death and maiming of countless Iraqi innocents, displacement of millions of Iraqi citizens, silent response to atrocities, illegal confinement without representation or formal charges, torture, lack of support and care for military personnel returning home and the opportunity costs of nearly $600 billion spent.” It warns against any continued U.S. military presence in Iraq and implores “our entire nation to seek wisdom from sin committed in Iraq and let that wisdom inform future relationships throughout the world.” Of course, there are no words about Saddam’s genocides, or the murder and mayhem of insurgent groups in Iraq.

One resolution faults the U.S. for not endorsing the “U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.” Another blames the U.S. for not banning cluster bombs. Still another condemns the U.S. for its “use of torture and the practice of extraordinary rendition.” No words about torture anywhere else in the world that might distract from portraying Israel and the U.S. as the focus of evil in today’s world. In one bright spot of restraint, the proposed resolution on the Honduras “coup,” thanks to the Bishop of Honduras, is reasonable, warning against OAS sanctions that would punish Honduras in favor of the ousted leftist president.

But that bright spot is rare among otherwise slanted Episcopal proposed resolutions. As my colleague Jeff Walton reported from on site at the Episcopal General Convention, the Episcopal Priest Richard Toll, Chairman of Friends of Sabeel North America, has told supporters that previous Episcopal calls for two-state solutions are now out of date, “when the viability of two states has been destroyed, actively and consciously, by Israeli settlements in the West Bank, settler highways and, in particular, the Wall which divides the land and separates the Palestinian people into five barely contiguous isolated areas.” The Rev. Toll insisted: “The United States needs to face as a nation its complicity and support, financially and emotionally, for this [Israeli] occupation.” Not surprisingly, Toll’s Friends of Sabeel hosted Palestinian Episcopal Priest Naim Ateek of the Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center in Jerusalem to the Episcopal General Convention to tout his new book, A Palestinian Christian Cry for Reconciliation. No doubt, many Episcopalians flocked to Ateek’s anti-Israel book rally with eager and itching ears.

A draft of a moderated anti-Israel resolution heading out of committee for the General Convention floor urges “cessation of violence by all Palestinians and Israelis,” “the end of the air, water and land blockade of the Gaza Strip, “the wall in whatever its form around and through Palestinian land to be brought down,” and “an end to the on-going confiscation of Palestinian land, demolition of housing, and the displacement of people,” and a “just resolution for Palestinian refugees,” plus an independent Palestine, with a shared Jerusalem, as part of an “enduring peace.”

But can there be an “enduring peace” without a change of zealous anti-Israel attitudes among Palestinians and Arabs, who still dream of Israel’s ultimate extinction, if not militarily, then demographically? The Episcopalians seem unprepared for that question.

More widely, this year’s Episcopal General Convention, with its obsessive concern about Israel’s sins and various left-wing preoccupations, seems determined to spiral further into schism and futility.
Mark D. Tooley is president of the Institute on Religion and Democracy. Tooley authored the book Taking Back the United Methodist Church.

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Bishop Wright says below that justice is treating people appropriately, i.e., making distinctions between different people and situatons …

The Anglians Know This Will End in Schism by Tom Wright, Bishop of Duram

“In the slow-moving train crash of international Anglicanism, a decision taken in California has finally brought a large coach off the rails altogether. The House of Bishops of the Episcopal Church (TEC) in the United States has voted decisively to allow in principle the appointment, to all orders of ministry, of persons in active same-sex relationships. This marks a clear break with the rest of the Anglican Communion.

Both the bishops and deputies (lay and clergy) of TEC knew exactly what they were doing. They were telling the Archbishop of Canterbury and the other “instruments of communion” that they were ignoring their plea for a moratorium on consecrating practising homosexuals as bishops. They were rejecting the two things the Archbishop of Canterbury has named as the pathway to the future — the Windsor Report (2004) and the proposed Covenant (whose aim is to provide a modus operandi for the Anglican Communion). They were formalising the schism they initiated six years ago when they consecrated as bishop a divorced man in an active same-sex relationship, against the Primates’ unanimous statement that this would “tear the fabric of the Communion at its deepest level”. In Windsor’s language, they have chosen to “walk apart”.

Granted, the TEC resolution indicates a strong willingness to remain within the Anglican Communion. But saying “we want to stay in, but we insist on rewriting the rules” is cynical double-think. We should not be fooled.

Of course, matters didn’t begin with the consecration of Gene Robinson. The floodgates opened several years before, particularly in 1996 when a church court acquitted a bishop who had ordained active homosexuals. Many in TEC have long embraced a theology in which chastity, as universally understood by the wider Christian tradition, has been optional.

That wider tradition always was counter-cultural as well as counter-intuitive. Our supposedly selfish genes crave a variety of sexual possibilities. But Jewish, Christian and Muslim teachers have always insisted that lifelong man-plus-woman marriage is the proper context for sexual intercourse. This is not (as is frequently suggested) an arbitrary rule, dualistic in overtone and killjoy in intention. It is a deep structural reflection of the belief in a creator God who has entered into covenant both with his creation and with his people (who carry forward his purposes for that creation).

Paganism ancient and modern has always found this ethic, and this belief, ridiculous and incredible. But the biblical witness is scarcely confined, as the shrill leader in yesterday’s Times suggests, to a few verses in St Paul. Jesus’s own stern denunciation of sexual immorality would certainly have carried, to his hearers, a clear implied rejection of all sexual behaviour outside heterosexual monogamy. This isn’t a matter of “private response to Scripture” but of the uniform teaching of the whole Bible, of Jesus himself, and of the entire Christian tradition.

The appeal to justice as a way of cutting the ethical knot in favour of including active homosexuals in Christian ministry simply begs the question. Nobody has a right to be ordained: it is always a gift of sheer and unmerited grace. The appeal also seriously misrepresents the notion of justice itself, not just in the Christian tradition of Augustine, Aquinas and others, but in the wider philosophical discussion from Aristotle to John Rawls. Justice never means “treating everybody the same way”, but “treating people appropriately”, which involves making distinctions between different people and situations. Justice has never meant “the right to give active expression to any and every sexual desire”.

Such a novel usage would also raise the further question of identity. It is a very recent innovation to consider sexual preferences as a marker of “identity” parallel to, say, being male or female, English or African, rich or poor. Within the “gay community” much postmodern reflection has turned away from “identity” as a modernist fiction. We simply “construct” ourselves from day to day.

We must insist, too, on the distinction between inclination and desire on the one hand and activity on the other — a distinction regularly obscured by references to “homosexual clergy” and so on. We all have all kinds of deep-rooted inclinations and desires. The question is, what shall we do with them? One of the great Prayer Book collects asks God that we may “love the thing which thou commandest, and desire that which thou dost promise”. That is always tough, for all of us. Much easier to ask God to command what we already love, and promise what we already desire. But much less like the challenge of the Gospel.

The question then presses: who, in the US, is now in communion with the great majority of the Anglican world? It would be too hasty to answer, the newly formed “province” of the “Anglican Church in North America”. One can sympathise with some of the motivations of these breakaway Episcopalians. But we should not forget the Episcopalian bishops, who, doggedly loyal to their own Church, and to the expressed mind of the wider Communion, voted against the current resolution. Nor should we forget the many parishes and worshippers who take the same stance. There are many American Episcopalians, inside and outside the present TEC, who are eager to sign the proposed Covenant. That aspiration must be honoured.

Contrary to some who have recently adopted the phrase, there is already a “fellowship of confessing Anglicans”. It is called the Anglican Communion. The Episcopal Church is now distancing itself from that fellowship. Ways must be found for all in America who want to be loyal to it, and to scripture, tradition and Jesus, to have that loyalty recognised and affirmed at the highest level.

___________________________________________________________________

Tom Wright is Bishop of Durham

for more go to: Fulcrum

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Aptos Psychologist: Has the On Faith blog gone bonkers requiring Sarah Palin resign in a certain way? Palin has “peculiar” family values? My, My! www.freedomOK.net/wordpress

Checking the On Faith blog a few minutes ago I saw it has “disappeared” from the blog. Somebody wake up and see that the woman writing it may have gone off the deep end? Judge for yourself the sanity of the woman writing the article:

Below is the article from On Faith, blog for the Washington Post:

Palin’s Peculiar Family Values

“I did not understand one word of what Sarah Palin said in her 18-minute resignation speech the other day. I really tried. What I got out of it is that she wants to spend more time on the issues she cares about, energy independence and national security. It wasn’t until the end of her incoherent explanation that she mentioned that her children were all in favor of her stepping down. One of the reasons, she said, was because they were upset that their 14-month-old brother Trig, who has Down Syndrome, was “mocked and ridiculed by some pretty mean spirited adults.”

I’d like to know the names of those mean-spirited adults who mocked and ridiculed her special needs child. I don’t believe it for a second. I think what she is talking about is that she was criticized for the way she dealt with her pregnancy with Trig and her caregiving of him after his birth.

Remember, Sarah Palin is a right-wing, evangelical Christian for whom “family values” and the role of the mother are paramount. Many right-wing Christians don’t believe women should work outside the home. Yet here was Sarah Palin, resigning as the governor of Alaska, for political reasons.

This is not putting your family first. We should not be surprised.

This is a woman who hid her pregnancy until the last two months, and who was so ambivalent about having a Down syndrome child that she admittedly contemplated aborting her child (wasn’t it nice that she had the choice to do that?). This is a woman who took off in an airplane from Arizona to Alaska after her water broke and barely made it to the hospital to deliver Trig. This is a woman who accepted the nomination for vice president with a three-months-old special needs child (all studies show that the mother’s role in infancy, especially for these children, is crucial) and an unwed 17-year-old daughter pregnant by another high-schooler.

This is a woman who took her children to the convention and paraded them on the stage, including Trig, (not in bed until late hours) and pregnant Bristol and her soon to be announced fiancé (“whatever”). This is a woman who then spent two months on the road, relentlessly campaigning, dragging the baby around with her (or not with her).

This is a woman who continued to exploit her children while she was running, and afterward, whenever she was criticized or they made a good photo op. After the election, she continued to travel, doing television, speaking and partying, making sure she stayed in the limelight. When her extended dysfunctional family, including the father of her daughter’s baby, began to surface, she blew that up into a major media event instead of keeping her silence. She then encouraged Bristol to sign up with the Candie’s foundation to go on a promotional tour with her baby to promote teen abstinence. By doing so Bristol became an adult public figure, making her a legitimate target for public criticism.

Yet when David Letterman made his remark about her daughter being knocked up, Palin blew it up into a national media fest which lasted for a week. Letterman rightly apologized, and acknowledged that he was not referring to her younger daughter but to Bristol. Palin knew that Letterman was making a joke about Bristol, but she still dragged poor Willow into the mud as well.

Now Palin has resigned as governor. Why? Who knows? She gave so many excuses that one was left reeling. The clearest one was that it was good for the state of Alaska. Again she created another needless media storm, with another photo op surrounded by her children, including Trig, her Down syndrome child. She has been roundly criticized but also has managed to keep the spotlight on herself for nearly a week. She has signed a lucrative book contract, in which I’m sure she will discuss faith and family values. Her ghost writer is a senior writer at the Christian conservative magazine “World”. And there will be a special edition by the bible publishing house Zondervan.

I don’t know what Palin has in mind. Maybe she’ll run for President, maybe she won’t. I couldn’t care less. What I do feel sad about is her missed opportunity.

She could have stood up in front of her family and said one thing that everyone would have understood and everyone would have applauded. It would be the greatest cliché of all time and for once it could have been true. She could have said, simply, “I’m leaving so that I can spend more time with my family.” And she could have elaborated. She could have said that from now on she would use her immense celebrity, her power, her charisma, her popularity among a huge base of Christian conservatives to educate people and advocate for children with special needs.

It might seem exploitative of Trig to some who are so cynical about her that they believe everything she does is for self-aggrandizement. So what? But if she really did it she could change the our culture and the way our world views those with disabilities. She would not only be helping millions of people around the world, but her own child as well.

Leaving her job because it’s better for “the state” or to pursue her interest in energy or national security is laughable.

Sarah Palin should live up to her self-proclaimed Christian “family values” and do what she says is the moral thing to do: put her family first and help those who cannot help themselves.

By Sally Quinn | July 8, 2009; 12:39 PM ET
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Please report offensive comments below.

Why does Palin — or anyone — have to explain their behavior the way YOU want them to do it? She is her own person and can do it as she chooses.Thank goodness she does not have to be “transparent”.

I hope that Palin and people like her confront the following sort of thinking: Today, Obama says that the stimulus plan has worked as intended. Wow! Why? Because he has extended the unemployment benefits. That is “stimulus”? Is that creating jobs?

That kind of thinking is what Sarah Palin may change — the “hope” Obama promised during his campaign and the resulting “changes” that Obama has brought: quardrupling the debt and deficit on the backs of our children.

I gather readng other comments that you have a special needs child. Yet you attack another woman with a special needs child because she did not say words that you wanted — she did not step down because of him and “family values”.

You see her as powerful and you state that she “should” use that power as she nose dives into oblivion (you hope) by focusing attention on the needs of special needs children.

I see that my comment posted last night did not get printed. Do you keep the ratio of positive to negative a certain proportion?

May I have permission to post your article on my blog? I accept all Comments so long as they are not spam and not foul. Anyone can come over and post ther remarks if they cannot do so here. go to Monterey Bay Forum at www.freedomOK.net/wordpress

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Posted by: AptosPsychologist | July 11, 2009 1:52 PM
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Surprise, surprise, there really is a life outside the beltway. Perhaps Ms. Quinn hopes that memory has failed many of us who remember how she slept her way into the role of Mrs. Ben Bradlee. Ironically, the Quinn/Bradlee contingent of the WaPo has experienced the challenges of having a special needs child who is now 26 years of age. One would hope that after 26 years of experience, a parent of such a child would have at least learned a modicum of compassion and empathy for others, but it appears to not be the case with Sally Quinn. I am personally confused that this article would appear in the Faith and Religion section of Newsweek considering that when not bashing Sarah Palin, the author chose to bash Christians. Lead was recently found in the Obama’s garden at the White House. Perhaps a bit of if is seeping into the drinking water of Georgetown.

Posted by: Spartan7 | July 11, 2009 12:26 PM
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Sally, I think your piece accurately describes the Governor. She has acted irresponsibly with respect to her constituents and her family. As a follower of Christ, a father, a husband and an American, I think the Governor has every right to have a successful career in a challenging field and still be a wife and mother. However, she should never have accepted the VP nomination given all of the chaos that was going on at home as she had enough to deal with her job as the Governor of Alaska (and defending the US from Russian invaders–I couldn’t resist). I don’t think you should be criticized for putting the Palin situation in perspective since a criticism of her is not an indictment of working mothers or of evangelicals since she is a proxy for neither. Plainly put, she is a person who got in over her head and then was swept up in the emotion and excitement of election politics.

I don’t believe for a second that she is stepping down for her family. I believe she is getting her ducks in a row so that she will be considered a contender for the White House in 2012. Since she came of as woefully unprepared in the last election cycle, I suspect she will be reading newspapers and maintaing a list for future reference and taking meeting with conservative thinkers so she can position herself as the main mouthpiece in Obama criticism. This move is a calculated one and given how she has turned her back on the people of Alaska so as to step out of the heat and have no professional responsibility for the next couple of years, this is one Republican who will vote against her in 2012.

Great piece, Sally. It needed to be said.

Posted by: CommenterFLS | July 11, 2009 11:00 AM
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Sally,

Shame on you. Shame on you.

You are so sure Letterman was referring to her older daughter when it was in fact the minor younger daughter that accompanied her to NY. Did David call you to tell you behind the scenes who he was referring to? Would you have kept your silence if he was referring to one of your children, no matter how old he/she was?

Shame on Washington post for keeping you employed so you can spew your hatred.

Posted by: TexanIndian | July 11, 2009 9:08 AM
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Sally, I don’t have the patience to read all of your bizarre screed against — apparently — any mother, especially (but not exclusively) the mother of a special needs child, who dares to think she has something significant to contribute to public policy as a leader holding elected office; let’s amend that to one “who dares think she has a right to run for public office” just like any other adult.

But you blythely ignore one very important fact: Sarah Palin — as Governor, as V-P candidate, and soon as private citizen — has been a consistent voice in support of special needs individuals of all ages and their families.

Gov. Palin has taken only a handful of trips outside the state Alaska since November 08. On at least 2 of them (and probably more) — her much-publicized trips to Indiana and to New York — she attended special events for kids with Downs Syndrome and autism, raising money, awareness and support. The other side of this is, every time she leaves the state of Alaska she is slammed with absolutely bogus ethics complaints about her time and travel outside the state.

Advocating for special needs children, individuals and their families is clearly a top priority for Sarah Palin. Outside the governorship, she will be able to do this much more effectively.

And BTW, Trig most definitely has been the subject of direct and indirect derision from many adults, in print, on the net and in on-air interviews, including by the current WH occupants.

Posted by: JBinVA | July 11, 2009 7:56 AM
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Sanctimonious sally…..you are afraid of sarah palin..just as so many others on the right and left are. Speaking of faith, GOD is in charge, here, not you. i thought laura ingraham was too easy on you. we can smell a liar ..and we smelled you.

Posted by: sarahbwebster | July 11, 2009 7:20 AM
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Dear Bitter Sarah,
You really couldn’t figure out what she was saying in 18 minutes… really? Were you looking for the hidden message… Well I guess Sarah’s just smarter than you because she didn’t hint towards anything. I love it! The liberal media and how threatened they are by this intelligent and beautiful woman. Sarah is taking a break right now but you can be assured she’s coming back and she going to continue doing what you never could… being successful and happy!

Posted by: DevinFranklin | July 11, 2009 3:37 AM
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Sarah, You really couldn’t figure out what she was saying in 18 minutes… really? Were you looking for the hidden message… Well I guess Sarah’s just smarter than you because she didn’t hint towards what you wanted to hear. I love it! The liberal media and how threatened they are by this woman. Sarah’s taking a break right now but you can be assured she’s coming back and she going to do what you never could… Continue being successful and happy!

Posted by: DevinFranklin | July 11, 2009 3:30 AM
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Dear Ms. Quinn,
As a parent of a child with Down Syndrome, I understand the importance of the communication and structure garnered from a mother who does not maintain a vocation outside of the home. I, however, am an airline pilot who has not only traveled worldwide, but has exposed my son to a variety of rich cultures. In additon, I possess a Maters Degree in Special Education that affords me the ability to not only teach my son, but to understand and advocate for the services and benefits availabe to him under the law. Although I am an active woman, my now 16 year old son is an honorary member of the National Junior Honor Society, has a varsity letter in football, has earned his blue belt in Tae Kwon Do while working toward his Black Belt series, and is working toward his Eagle Scout project. He is a member of Student Council and has performed in at least 10 middle/high school productions. In addition, he skis, rides horses and enjoys swimming. He possesses a cadre of friends, both special needs and typically developing and attends more extracurricular activities than I could have dreamed possible. He is a gift to our family and others as he is a true teacher. As you have read, my son is a success and together we created the environment necessary for his achievements while I work ouside of our home in a demanding and rigorous profession. There exrists no doubt in my mind that Sarah Palin has not only cared beautifully and deeply for her family, but has done it well while pursuing an equally demanding career. We women CAN do it all – and do it well. Please refrain from the abrasive criticisms heaped upon this woman and her family. Such disdain is unbecoming to you and insulting to many of us who successfully and diligently work at careers while exceptionally caring for our families. I expect far more from you – an intelligent and career-minded mother of a special needs child.

Posted by: cfreed2161 | July 11, 2009 1:19 AM
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Sally…get real. What makes you think that you have the right to tell Sarah Palin how she should resign. And you are THE authority on motherhood? Give me a break! I think Sarah Palin rocks, and you’re mud!

Posted by: fedupp | July 11, 2009 1:16 AM
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Ms. Quinn – If you think appearing on The Factor, and given a very soft interview by Laura Ingraham, is going to make the consequences of your hate-filled rant about Sarah Palin just disappear, you are WRONG.

You, Ms. Quinn, and your elitist, smug, “liberal” fellow writers at WaPo mock standards of objectivity and honesty.

What possessed you to appear, probably for the first time, on Fox? Oh, don’t tell me – the WaPo editors finally grew a set and forced you!

And what’s the deal with you & Laura – you include her at your dinner parties in Georgetown or weekends at Porto Bello? You can’t buy everyone Ms. Quinn – there some people left who have standards of honor and dignity.

Elitism, hypocrisy, venom – you must be one very unhappy woman, Sally – unlike Sarah!

Posted by: blueskyenc | July 11, 2009 1:14 AM
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OK Sally,
If Palin had said what you suggested she say, the news media would have really been in an uproar saying ,”Oh there’s no way that’s why she’s resigning..”……….”and if not let’s make up something to put her in a bad light”.

I like Palin. She reminds me of the strong, independent, women who used to make up the fabric of this country. Too bad she moved to Alaska. Too far for me here in the South. She’s educated, smart, has VALUES (a term you and yours do not like) because it is everything that you and yours are NOT. Think of this, the reason she left was probably because of articles such as yours.

You seem to know everything about Sarah Palin, but why is it not that you cannot see the good in her. You only put down
the things that make Sarah Unique.

Posted by: uniqueMe | July 11, 2009 12:57 AM
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written by Aptos Psychologist:
I agree with Julie Pace: we want Palin to stop the “hope” to end the “change” before “change” ends us. That SAYS it all.

Another commment intriguesd me: I got educated that Alan Colmes actualy thought that Downs Syndrome could be cured by better pre-natal care. No wonder he got that off the web fast! What an idiot.

Do you know that idiot and moron used to be normal acceptable terms for talkiing about special needs children? We have come far but not far enough.

There was a great comment about you and others suffering from a Palin Derangement Snydrome !! I agree !!

I saw you on tv tonight. I thought, why are women so hard on other women?

There is an angry tone to what you write — like you are saying WHY DIDN’T SHE RESIGN THE WAY I WANT HER TO DO IT.

You want her to cite family and take care of her special needs child. And you get mad that she does not do it YOUR way.

I am sad that Sarah Palin resigned. She had her reasons and she spoke of some of them. I support her. During the campaign several times my sign with PALIN on it got ripped down.

I would think that staying in office keeps her honing her skills as a politician. Women have to do it better and do it longer. So quiting can be problematic.

I hope you read the Comments seriously. Did you write it just to get media attention?

If you would like to have a conversation about PALIN visit my blog: Monterey Bay Forum www.freedomOK.net/wordpress

On Faith

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