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Sunday, April 13, 2014

Anti-Islamic Email Circulating Among Catholic Bigots

Dear John,

Thanks for your email.

When the following writing is properly edited and posted to my blog I will send you the link.

For now, I send this draft. 

I think Catholics who "get off" on blanket vilification of Islam are running tremendous moral and spiritual risk. 

Even if Islam were an intrinsic enemy of Christianity, we are called to "Love your enemies. Do good to those who persecute you." 

"Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you"

The Old Testamental trivia that biblical literalists choose to focus -- against the backdrop of the Major Moral Exhortations that Jesus himself uttered -- reveals a loss of perspective-and-proportion that Thomas Aquinas would have evaluated as "intrinsically sinful."

Consider.

Muslims are famous for their charity - giving, on average, a greater percentage of their earnings than American Christian counterparts. 


In Islam, Charity is known as The Third Pillar and it is taken very, very seriously. 

Although I cannot find a similar statistic for the United States, please read the following "Religion News Service" article entitled "Survey: UK Muslims give more to charity than Jews, Christians." http://www.religionnews.com/2013/07/24/survey-uk-muslims-give-more-to-charity-than-jews-christians/


Lest we forget, Muslims comprise 0.6% of the U.S. population -- about one in 200. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_in_the_United_States

Given this statistically insignificant number, t is not surprising that we don't hear much about their efforts although the following report is eyepopping. 



Muslim Charity Rated as Top 10 Charities in the U.S


PR Newswire
August 22, 2013
USNewswire/ -- Helping Hand for Relief and Development (HHRD) was recently awarded the recognition of being amongst the top 10 Highly Rated Charities Relying on Private Contributions by Charity Navigator. HHRD is currently ranked 6th and received a score of 68.95 in Financial Performance, and 70 in Accountability & Transparency; with the overall score of 69.25 out of 70, making HHRD among the privileged Top Four Star Charities.
President of the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) Naeem Baig congratulated the HHRD team by stating, "we pray for the continued success of Helping Hand and the strengthening of their efforts to bring relief to the poor and needy across the globe. This is a proud moment for all American Muslims."
Charity Navigator is the nation's largest and most-utilized evaluator of charities. It has developed an unbiased, objective, numbers-based rating system to assess over 6,000 of America's best-known charities.
HHRD is a global humanitarian organization responding to human sufferings in emergency and disaster situations all over the world regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, class and religion. HHRD also has partners ranging from small community support groups to national alliances along with our international networks. HHRD has 13 offices in North American and approximately 300 employees worldwide. It also has offices in Jordan for the Middle East, Kenya & Somalia for Africa, Pakistan for South Asia and in Burma and Thailand for South East Asia.
HHRD has successful relief programs in Haiti, Kenya, Somalia, India, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Tunisia, Pakistan, Kashmir, Bangladesh, Burma, Thailand, and Indonesia; as well as seasonal programs, disaster relief, poverty alleviation, orphan support and medical care in 55 countries. For further information visit www.hhrd.org or call 1-888-808-4357(HELP).
Helping Hand for Relief and Development is a 4-star Charity Navigator charity and a member of Inter-Action.  It is a non-profit 501 (c) (3) tax exempt organization. Tax ID# 31-1628040.
For more information please contact:
Public Relations
313-279-5378
SOURCE Helping Hand for Relief and Development

***

Alan here... 
In proper context, Obama did not say "The USA is not a Christian nation." What he actually said was actually true: http://www.factcheck.org/2008/08/obama-and-the-christian-nation-quote/
If Jesus were present when "the Christian" who composed the following sentence ---  "I am asking all of you to go to the polls in 2014 and be united in replacing all Senators and Reps with someone who will respect the Catholic Church, all Christians, and all Religions with perhaps the exception of Islam" --- I believe he would not disown the sonofabitch because the sonofabitch already disowned Jesus.

I suspect Jesud would react similarly to those who applaud the deliberate exclusion of Islam as evidenced in the following whopper: "Oh, by the way, on MUSLIM HERITAGE IN America.  Have you ever been to a Muslim hospital, heard a Muslim orchestra, seen a Muslim band march in a parade, know of a Muslim charity, ever seen Muslims shaking hands with a Muslim Girl Scout, or ever seen a Muslim Candy Striper volunteering in a hospital?Have you ever seen a Muslim do much of anything that contributes positively to the American way of life?"

What does this lamebrain think? That American Islamics all wear turbans and that they wear their religion on their sleeve?

The author's ignorance is only rivaled by his stupidity.

Muslims Don't Contribute to America? Think Again.

By Hesham Hassaballa, January 31, 2014 
In the Name of God: the Infinitely Merciful and Compassionate Beloved Lord
It is a tired, old claim by Islamophobes that Muslims haven't contributed to either the history or social fabric of this country. Michigan Republican National Committeeman Dave Agema recently waded into that muck by sharing a post that asked such questions as
Have you ever been to a Muslim hospital? Have you heard of a Muslim orchestra? A Muslim marching band? Have you witnessed a Muslim charity? Can you show me one Muslim signature on the Constitution, Declaration of Independence, or Bill of Rights? Have you ever seen a Muslim do anything that contributes positively to the American way of life?
Georgetown Researcher Nathan Lean responded in an extraordinary fashion in the Detroit Free Press:
■ American Muslims have a substantial presence in the health care industry. The Islamic Medical Association of North America, one of many such organizations,estimates that there are more than 20,000 Muslim physicians in the United States. Similarly, an analysis of statistics provided by the American Medical Association indicates that 10% of all American physicians are Muslims. While no Islamic hospitals exist in the United States, per se, several Muslim-based health clinics do. And let’s not forget that the hospital itself is not an American invention — it’s an Egyptian one. For that matter, the father of modern surgery wasn’t an American Protestant pioneer, either, but a 10th-Century Muslim physician from Spain, Abu al-Qasim al-Zahrawi.
■ Criticism over the absence of Muslim orchestras in the United States rings hollow, as well. Few orchestras are comprised exclusively of members from one particular faith, and many are organized along ethnic or other lines. The National Arab and New York Arabic Orchestras are two examples of groups whose members include numerous Muslims. Similarly, marching bands are obviously affiliated with high schools or universities, not mosques or churches, and surely Muslim students make up these musical groups, which, as it turns out, trace their roots back to the military bands of the Muslim Ottoman empire. The violin, too, finds its origins within the 10th-Century bowing instruments of Islamic civilization.
■ Muslim charity groups in the United States are too numerous to catalog, though the Bay Area Islamic Networks Group, the UMMA Clinic in Los Angeles, the Chicago-based Inner-City Muslim Action Network and Dearborn’s ACCESS are examples of groups that provide crucial services and empower the underprivileged. In 2013, the Muslim charity Helping Hand for Relief and Development (HHRD) was rated among the top 10 charities in the United States.
■ Agema is correct, however, to point out that there are no Muslim signatures on the U.S. Constitution, the Declaration of Independence or the Bill of Rights. That’s because the first major wave of Muslim immigration to the U.S. occurred in the mid-to-late 19th Century — nearly 100 years after those documents were written. But the beauty of America is that the rights enshrined in our founding documents protect everyone, regardless of their time of arrival or their religious identity.
■ It’s also the case that Muslim Americans designed the Sears (now Willis) and Hancock towers in Chicago, developed the chemotherapy mechanism that treats brain tumors and revolutionized this country’s original art form: jazz. They also contribute through their service as educators, lawmakers and soldiers and are on the front lines of campaigns to end some of today’s most egregious civil rights abuses.
It is amazing how some of the most beautiful, grandiose theories can be destroyed by ugly little facts...
***

Pope Francis reaches out to ‘Muslim brothers’ on Good Friday

By Nicole Winfield
-
Associated Press
Saturday, March 30, 2013
RELATED STORIES

ROME — Pope Francis reached out in friendship to “so many Muslim brothers and sisters” during a Good Friday procession dedicated to the suffering of Christians from terrorism, war and religious fanaticism in the Middle East.
The new pontiff, who has rankled traditionalists by rejecting many trappings of his office, mostly stuck to the traditional script during the nighttime Way of the Cross procession at Rome’s Colosseum, one of the most dramatic rituals of Holy Week.
With torches lighting the way, the faithful carried a cross to different stations, where meditations and prayers were read out recalling the final hours of Jesus’ life and his crucifixion.
This year, the prayers were composed by young Lebanese, and many recalled the plight of minority Christians in the region, where wars have forced thousands to flee their homelands. The meditations called for an end to “violent fundamentalism,” terrorism and the “wars and violence which in our days devastate various countries in the Middle East.”
Francis, who became pope just over two weeks ago, chose, however, to stress Christians‘ positive relations with Muslims in the region in his brief comments at the end of the ceremony.
Standing on a platform overlooking the procession route, Francis recalled Benedict XVI’s 2012 visit to Lebanon when “we saw the beauty and the strong bond of communion joining Christians together in that land and the friendship of our Muslim brothers and sisters and so many others.”
“That occasion was a sign to the Middle East and to the whole world, a sign of hope,” he said.
Friday’s outreach followed Francis’ eyebrow-raising gesture a day earlier, when he washed and kissed the feet of two women, one a Muslim, in the Holy Thursday ritual that commemorates Jesus’ washing of his apostles’ feet during the Last Supper before his crucifixion.
Breaking with tradition, Francis performed the ritual on 12 inmates at a juvenile detention center, rather than in Rome’s grand St. John Lateran basilica, where in the past, 12 priests have been chosen to represent Jesus’ disciples.

Before he became pope, the former Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio long cultivated warm relations with Muslim leaders in his native Argentina. In one of his first speeches as pope, he called for the church and the West in general to “intensify” relations with the Muslim world.
The Vatican’s relations with Islam hit several bumps during Benedict XVI’s papacy, when he outraged Muslims with a 2006 speech quoting a Byzantine emperor as saying some of Prophet Muhammad’s teachings were “evil and inhuman.” And in 2011, the pre-eminent institute of Islamic learning in the Sunni Muslim world, Cairo’s Al-Azhar institute, froze dialogue with the Vatican to protest Benedict’s call for greater protection of Christians in Egypt.
However, Francis’ past outreach to the Muslim community in Argentina seems to have changed that. Al-Azhar’s chief imam, Sheik Ahmed el-Tayyib, sent a message of congratulations to Francis on his election and said he hoped for cooperation.
The Vatican’s efforts to reconcile with the Islamic world have not been welcomed by all. Italy’s most famous Muslim convert to Catholicism, Magdi Allam, announced last week he was leaving the church because of its “soft” stance on Islam. Allam was baptized by Benedict XVI in 2008 during the high-profile Easter Vigil service when the pope traditionally baptizes a handful of adults. There has been no Vatican comment on his about-face.
Thousands of people packed the Colosseum and surrounding areas for the nighttime procession, holding candles wrapped in paper globes as Francis sat in silent prayer as a giant torch-lit crucifix twinkled nearby. Some in the crowd had Lebanese flags around their shoulders in an indication of the special role Lebanese faithful played in this year’s procession.
Lebanon has the largest percentage of Christians in the Middle East — nearly 40 percent of the country’s 4 million people, with Maronite Catholics the largest sect. As civil war has raged in neighboring Syria, Lebanon’s Christian community has been divided between supporters and opponents of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Overall, Christians in the Middle East have been uneasy as the Arab Spring has led to the strengthening of Islamist groups in most countries that have experienced uprisings. Thousands of Christians have fled the region — a phenomenon that the Vatican has lamented, given Christianity’s roots in the Holy Land.
“How sad it is to see this blessed land suffer in its children, who relentlessly tear one another to pieces and die!” said one of the Good Friday meditations. “It seems that nothing can overcome evil, terrorism, murder and hatred.”
Francis picked up on that message, saying Christ’s death on the cross is “the answer which Christians offer in the face of evil, the evil that continues to work in us and around us.”
“Christians must respond to evil with good, taking the cross upon themselves as Jesus did,” he said.
At the end of the ceremony, a male choir sang a haunting Arabic hymn, a reflection of the Eastern rite influence that infused the ceremony.
On Saturday, Francis presides over the solemn Easter Vigil ceremony in St. Peter’s Basilica and on Sunday, he celebrates Easter Mass and delivers an important speech. Usually the pope also issues Easter greetings in dozens of languages.
In his two weeks as pope, Francis’ discomfort with speaking in any language other than Italian has become apparent. The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said Friday “we’ll have to see” what Francis does with the multilingual greetings.
The Good Friday procession was conducted entirely in Italian, whereas in years past the core elements recounting what happens at each station would be recited in a variety of languages.
Alan: Here is an excerpt on Islam from The Second Vatican Council:  
"Upon the Moslems, too, the Church looks with esteem. They adore one God, living and enduring, merciful and all-powerful, Maker of heaven and earth and Speaker to men. They strive to submit wholeheartedly even to His inscrutable decrees, just as did Abraham, with whom the Islamic faith is pleased to associate itself…….(they do not mention that Moslems, are the followers of Ishmael the son of the slave woman from Egypt……not the beloved son of Abraham, Isaac). Though they do not acknowledge Jesus as God, they revere Him as a prophet. They also honor Mary, His Virgin
Mother; at times they call on her, too, with devotion. In addition they await the day of judgment when god will give each man his due after raising him up. Consequently, they prize the moral life, and give worship to God especially through prayer, almsgiving, and fasting……"
Alan: It seems to me that Pope Francis is reconstituting the church so that -- finally! -- it embodies the spirit of Vatican II. As this process continues -- and if, as I believe, Francis will issue an encyclical on stewardship of the earth which points to the reality of anthropogenic global warming -- there will come a moment of truth when many nominal Catholics will need to decide whether they would feel better in some fundamentalist, traditionalist or evangelical denomination, or, if they really want to be members of the Catholic Church as Vatican II envisioned "church." 
I will conclude with two questions that I have asked before...
Will you share my writing with Arthur Powers' mailing list? 
If not, why not?
(These are, of course, rhetorical questions and I will not ask them directly to see if you "pass the test.")

On Wed, Apr 9, 2014 at 7:55 PM, John Tarantino <johntarantino@nc.rr.com> wrote:

----- Original Message -----
Sent: Tuesday, April 08, 2014 12:00 PM
Subject: FW: FW: The Catholic Church in America


Subject: Fwd: FW: The Catholic Church in America

Very interesting!

Subject: The Catholic Church in America
The Charity Hospital run by the Sisters of  Charity in New Orleans, along with the Upjohn company developed the plasma system in the 1930’s that saved so many lives in WWII, Korea, Vietnam and in the middle east now.  During the Civil War most of the nurses were nuns.Whether you are CATHOLIC or not, THIS IS EYE OPENING...When the Catholic Church was founded, there were no hospitals. Today, one out of five people in this country receive their medical care at a Catholic hospital.When the Catholic Church was founded, there were no schools. Today, the Catholic Church teaches 3 million students a day, in its more than 250 Catholic Colleges and Universities, in its more than 1200 Catholic High Schools and its more than 5000 Catholic grade schools.Every day, the Catholic Church feeds, clothes, shelters and educates more people than any other organization in the world.The new Obama Health Mandate could end all this and the tax payers would have to make up the loss.Also, all Catholic adoption services would come to an end; a human disaster.There are more than 77 million Catholics in this country. It takes an estimated 50 million Catholic votes to elect a president. I am asking all of you to go to the polls in 2014 and be united in replacing all Senators and Reps with someone who will respect the Catholic Church, all Christians, and all Religions with perhaps the exception of Islam.Mr. President, you said, "The USA is not a Christian Nation". You are wrong we are a Christian Nation founded on Judeo-Christian values allowing all religions in America to Worship & Practice Freely. Something Islam will never do.
Oh, by the way, on MUSLIM HERITAGE IN America.  Have you ever been to a Muslim hospital, heard a Muslim orchestra, seen a Muslim band march in a parade, know of a Muslim charity, ever seen Muslims shaking hands with a Muslim Girl Scout, or ever seen a Muslim Candy Striper volunteering in a hospital?Have you ever seen a Muslim do much of anything that contributes positively to the American way of life? 





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