I'm still not tolerating intolerance

There is a big bru-ha-ha that started with Bill O'Reilly causing a ruckus at The View and sparked this exchange on The O'Reilly Factor which resulted in NPR's recent firing of Juan Williams. At first, I didn't know what to make of it but after mulling it around for a day, I have to say that I agree with their decision to terminate his contract.

You might not be able to control feeling fear when you see a Muslim dressed in traditional garb on your flight. I myself am guilty of having felt this way in the past. That being said, there is a lot you CAN do.

1. You CAN recognize that the fear is irrational based on ignorance and limited experience with the Muslim culture/world.
2. You CAN realize that giving voice to this fear begins to legitimize it in your mind and in others.
3. You CAN be aware that there is a significant group of radicalized Islamophobes who try to block the construction of new mosques, vandalize existing mosques, harass people who look as if they could be Muslim, organize Koran burnings, and believe all Muslims are terrorists.
   
4. Being aware of this group, you CAN realize that it is best to be careful and not use your position in the media to add fuel to their fire.

I am going to try extra hard to fight this irrational fear the next time the situation arises. I know that most Muslims are peaceful people and have more similarities with me than differences. I am going to remind myself that this discrimination is a struggle for any ethnicity added to our giant melting pot, and has gone back to way before the slaves came from Africa, the massive influx of Europeans, and the Mexicans that have been coming across our borders.

To fear any of these groups is not rational. It is based on ignorance pure and simple. I may not be the smartest person on this planet but I will do my best to rise above this mindset.

Thoughts on prayer

I came to the conclusion recently that I don't believe in the power of prayer. My thought process went something like this: A. God is omnipotent. B. Good things happen to bad people. C. Bad things happen to good people. D. Both B & C seem to happen randomly. Therefore, if prayer had any impact, wouldn't good things happen to good people more and bad things happen to bad people more? Also, wouldn't it be safe to assume that millions are praying for starving Africans yet they keep starving. If God is omnipotent, and prayer worked, wouldn't starving Africans be seeing some kind of relief by now?

Here's the problem, though. I've been praying all my life. I can't just stop. I can't just quit saying bedtime prayers with my kids. My husband is currently out west in all that crazy weather. I can't not pray for his safe return. I know it's crazy to be so ambivalent about prayer but I don't know how to move on to the next step and be at peace.

I wish everyone but do not pray for everyone to have peace this holiday season!

Muslims are just people!

So I just watched this clip of a bunch of McCain supporters talking about crazy stuff. They all are convinced that Barack Obama is a closet Muslim or something (he's not). What really gets me is that, in their minds, Muslim = Terrorist. McCain and Palin KNOW this and are feeding this frenzy. I find it completely disgusting and feel sorry for them.

I just want to share a few examples of nice Muslims. Just in case anyone else is thinking Muslims are scary.

Benazir Bhutto - First Muslim female head of state for Pakistan. Assasinated on December 27, 2007. She was a brave woman. She had been exiled twice and came back to again run for public office. She knew her life would be in danger but she did it anyway. Now THAT is putting your country first!

Kareem Abdul Jabbar - I guess he's a famous basketball player or something. I've seen him on TV (not playing basketball). He seems nice.....

Dave Chapelle - Now he's a funny guy! OK - he looks scary in this picture but that's only because he's playing the artist formerly known as Prince. Prince is a scary person (not Muslim, though)! His music is awesome, but he gives me the heebie jeebies! But, back to my point. You see?! Muslims can be funny too!

Keith Ellison - Congressman representing Minnesota. Has anything blown up since he's been if office (he started January 2007)? NO. That just goes to show you that Muslims can be just as ineffective in congress as Christians, Jews or Atheists. Rep. Ellison doesn't flaunt his religion much but can you blame him with the climate out there?

I think everyone who is scared of Muslims should go to therapy where they have to sit in a room with a Muslim and see that they're normal people who share many of the same beliefs as the rest of us.

Everyone say it with me, "BEING MUSLIM IS NOT BAD OR SCARY."

No thanks...

My son came home from school the other day begging to go to this:

He has a little friend who doesn't believe dinosaurs existed who was handing these cards out in class. It was a tough explaining to a seven year old that as cool as it would be to see a strong guy rip a license plate in half, it was a trick to get him to go to church. You could see the wheels turning. How come we don't have any WWF wrestlers standing next to Father Joe on Sunday and squeezing washcloths (what exactly is that guy doing???). All our lame church does is sing and pray and stuff! I was more thinking, "What kind of bizarre church lures people in with greased up muscle men?" I looked 'em up online. It's very cryptic. I can't determine a denomination. I guess this Power Team spectacle is their way of not being "a bunch of bologna."

I don't think this church is the answer to all my religious uncertainty, though - muscle men or not.

Is God egocentric????

There other day, in a conversation about God, I asked what happens to someone who lives their whole life with kindness, compassion, and selflessness but who does not believe in God? Of course those who I put the question to all believed in an afterlife. I don't think any of them felt comfortable with this question, though.

It seems to me that most who believe in God think that it is a requirement to believe in Him in order to end up in heaven. As I mull this over, I have to wonder about a God who would condemn a person who lives in accordance with His commandments for the sole reason of a disbelief in Him. If this is how God operates, I find it very egocentric. I can't believe that God would have this character flaw so therefore come to the conclusion that belief in God is not a requirement for admission into heaven.

I guess that it's good though that I've come back to the conclusion that there is a God because I was going back on forth with that for awhile. There was a podcast recently that help me with that struggle to believe. It's an American Public Media show called Speaking of Faith and the podcast talked about God from a scientific perspective which was refreshing. Most religious people I've heard have to suspend rational thought when they talk about their faith but John Polkinghorne didn't do that. Speaking of Faith is a great show and I'm enjoying exploring the faiths of others and broadening my limited Catholic-influenced perspective.

Your own, personal Jesus

I saw this in Walmart the other day and thought, this is too much! I cracked up at the description under Jesus: "God's son" (just in case you didn't know).....

Notice too, the positioning of Jesus next to the dinosaur. I'm sure deliberately done to get a rise out of creationists!

I can see parents buying these for their kids and then hear them at home, "Tommy! Don't throw Jesus across the room! You'll go to hell!"

Did you wear green today???

If you did, then the jokes on you! Apparently, today is not St. Patrick's Day at all. I only know this because my daughter came home on Sunday and said that her little friend announced during the Palm Sunday procession that St. Patrick's Day was moved to last Friday. I asked her who had the right to move this holiday and she said, "Our church does." So today, I went out and looked it up. I was totally floored to find out that the Catholic church actually has proclaimed that St. Patrick's Day is NOT today. Their reason? It's Holy Week and we should not be doing anything fun. What about non-Catholics? Catholics don't care about them because the world should apparently revolve around us and our beliefs.

I think to counterbalance this proclamation, I will have a party every day this week and a big juicy steak on Good Friday. If my blogging mysteriously stops you'll know I've been struck by lightening.

The list of things my church does to make me crazy is growing .......

Scary Atheists

The USCCB recently reviewed The Golden Compass suggesting that instead of a boycott, it may be appropriate for Catholic parents to "talk through any thorny philosophical issues" with their children. Then, on December 10th, they withdrew their review with no explanation. Hmmmm. The Catholic League calls for an all out boycott. Of course all this guarantees that I MUST now read the books and see the movie! I respect the beliefs of atheists just as much as I do Muslims, Hindus, Buddists, and any other belief out there (exceptions for Scientology and Mormons - sorry guys, I like you, I just think your beliefs are a little whacked out). I don't find atheists scary or dangerous at all. In fact, I read a FANTASTIC essay by Penn Jillette (off Penn & Teller) explaining how a person can be good and an atheist at the same time. At first, I thought that I wouldn't take my kids to see the movie but I'm rethinking that. I don't want them to turn into atheists (but, if they do, I won't try to dissuade them). I don't really think that will happen to ANY kid who goes and sees the movie anyway. So with that being said, check out my daemon then go take the test and let me know what your daemon is!

Bee sweet!

I was in Walmart today (as I am almost every other day of the year) and I saw these cute little honey containers. I was looking for something to give my kids at Children's Liturgy tomorrow and I started wracking my brain trying to figure out how honey bees could tie into the messages of the readings. A light bulb finally went off and here's what I came up with. The kids are going to love 'em! :)

At least I'm promoting The Bee Movie and not The Golden Compass right?

Intolerance again

I took this picture of a poster at my local post office. Look! Someone loves Muslims because the tore a heart-shaped hole out of the Eid greetings stamp.

For those of you not familiar, Eid ul-Adha is a religious festival celebrated by Muslims worldwide as a commemoration of Ibrahim's (Abraham's) willingness to sacrifice his son Ismael for Allah. Men, women, and children are expected to dress in their finest clothing, share their feasts with the poor and hungry, and are expected to visit their relations, starting with their parents, then their families and friends. Sounds nice, huh? The festival moves around because it's set by the Islamic calendar which is lunar. This year it will be celebrated on December 20th.

Turns out I was wrong in my previous post on this topic and you CAN purchase these stamps now! I think that's awesome and I've decided that in the spirit of tolerance towards all faiths, all my Christmas cards will be sent using these stamps!

Homemade Christmas Cheer

Two weeks ago, I had to host a gathering of Catholic ladies. We call ourselves "Mother's Fellowship" and we gather once a month to talk about things spiritual and not-so-spiritual. My hosting duties followed shortly after the latest priest pedofile scandal in the news and I wasn't too gung-ho to discuss anything related to my disappointing church (see my previous rant on this topic here). Instead, I thought I'd share ideas of homemade gifts that I've gathered from places like Family Fun, blogs (I love this idea from Chef Messy), and magazines. I gathered the supplies to make this yummy cookie mix which everyone got to put together and take home.

I'd tell you what craft magazine I got it from but I left it at my mom's house over Thanksgiving and I can't remember. Here's the recipe, though:

Layered Jar Mix

Ingredients:

All-purpose flour, 1 c
Salt, ½ tsp.
Baking soda, ½ tsp
Granulated sugar, ¼ c
Firmly packed brown sugar, ½ c
Toasted wheat germ, ¾ c
Quick-cooking oatmeal, 1 c
Dried cherries, ½ c
Golden raisins, ½ c
Sweetened flaked coconut, 2/3 c
Instructions:
Wash and thoroughly dry one-quart wide-mouth canning jar: Add ingredients to jar one at a time in the order listed(beginning with flour and ending with coconut), pressing primly with a flat-bottom glass or some other tamper after each addition. Be sure to make the layers as even as possible. Secure lid and decorate as desired.

Card Instructions for Jar:

OATMEAL FRUIT COOKIES

½ cup (1 stick) butter softened
¼ cup milk, 1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Place jar ingredients in medium bowl & stir. Set aside.
2. Place above ingredients in a large bowl and cream with a fork. Add dry ingredients to butter mixture and blend with a spoon.
3. Drop dough by heaping teaspoons onto an ungreased baking sheet, spacing cookies 2 inches apart. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes.

I want to switch to this church!

I heard a story on NPR the other day that there are STILL cases in the Catholic church of priests molesting children and being reported to higher ups. The higher ups then do nothing with the information (except maybe destroy it). The police are not contacted and the priest is not removed from contact with children. This latest case involves Father Daniel McCormack (the molestor) and Cardinal Frances George (one of the guys turning a blind eye), who was just elected president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

As a Catholic, I am outraged that,

the abuse went on for fourteen years without being addressed

no one in the Chicago archdiocese is being held accountable

Cardinal Frances George failed to immediately remove Father Daniel McCormack upon notification of the allegations

Not only is Cardinal Frances George not being held accountable, he is being PROMOTED by his peers!

I shot an email off to my local parish’s priest asking him to whom I may write a letter expressing my outrage and here’s what I found out. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops vote from within their ranks for the new President of USCCB. If you wish to put something into writing, please write to:

Mr. Jimmy M. Lago, Chancellor
Archdiocese of Chicago
The Pastoral Center
P.O. Box 1979
Chicago, IL 60690

I plan on doing that. Any other Catholics out there who feel the same should let these people know that we will not tolerate the abuse or the failure of the church to root it out and address it. Until I see a systematic change in our church, I am going to assume that all priests are pedofiles (how can I be assured they’re not, if the organization is more worried about covering it up than protecting our children) and my kids will NEVER be alone with a priest.

I Can't Tolerate Intolerance!!!

I got an email the other day with this image and a very disturbing message. The subject said, "CHRISTMAS STAMP What The Hell Is The Matter With This Country?? The message went on to convince everyone to boycott the purchase of this stamp stating "it would be a slap in the face to all those Americans who died at the hands of those whom this stamp honors."

I went out to www.snopes.com and found out that most of the content of this email was false including that this is a holiday postage stamp. In fact, it's not even available anymore except by special order. The part that bothered me the most was the mentality that allows people to think Muslim = Al-Qaeda terrorist. The message listed seven terrorist attacks separately blaming MUSLIMS (in caps) for each one. The purpose of this message was to spread hatred and intolerance towards anyone who calls themselves a Muslim. How can anyone think this is OK to send to anyone?

I'm still scratching my head because the person who sent me this is a loving mother, wife and daughter. She is a regular church-goer too. I had to send her a reply telling her how outraged I was. It was pretty harsh because, of course, I didn't wait to calm down before banging a message out and clicking send. Part of me regrets using the word "bigot" in the message but part of me doesn't........

Thoughts on Religion

I’ve come to the conclusion that religion in this world makes people do crazy irrational things. I’ve seen examples of it in many denominations. It appeared most recently on an episode of Survivor China. There was a player who described herself repeatedly as Christian. This seemed to override any of her other defining characteristics which I’m not sure was the result of creative editing or something she thought of herself. At one point, she was forming alliances solely based on others who were also Christian. Logically, this strategy didn’t make a lot of sense (for more reasons than I want to bore you with on this blog) and the end result of it was getting voted off very early in the game. Of course her take on this outcome was that was God’s will but I can tell you her actions had a lot more to do with her getting voted off than God did.

Here’s another example that I observed in the same week. I belong to a group of Catholic moms who gather once a month. (I’m not a very spiritual person so I participate to see if some of their holiness will rub off on me.) We were talking about the new addition to the church bulletin of advertisements and a few of the women said they would like to know which ones were Catholic so that they could support those businesses. I had to clamp my hand over my mouth not to say anything. Really! You would go buy something from a Catholic vendor on the sole basis of their religion regardless of the quality of the product or the relative price? Conversely, you would turn down a good deal from a Muslim or a Methodist, if there was a Catholic out there who offered an substandard alternative? This makes no sense to me whatsoever yet I know people do it all the time!

Don’t even get me started on the extremists out there whether they be Muslim, Mormon, Christian, Catholic (notice how I broke Catholic out of the Christian group – it’s the southern influence), and all the cults who pretend to be religions (yes Scientology, I’m talking about you). We’ll save that for another entry.