-I have been on a journey that took a significant turn for me in 1994 when I realized that the organization in which I had placed by hopes and dreams had no help for me in the midst of a crisis. I found out they shoot their wounded soldiers...so I became a non denominational minister. I had no group, no affiliation, no set of common leaders to follow, no magazine to read, no career ladder to follow.
There followed a period of healing, and struggle. I began attending the church of a minister whose gentleness and welcoming spirit gave us a place to sit and evaluate.
The struggle part was, of course, about money. How does a minister who quit a situation pay his bills?
This is an odd way, not of bringing my readers,(O ye few, and faithful??) to tell you that this independence of thought has been quite liberating, and has led to liberating thoughts in many many areas of my life. A moderation if you will, a willingness to listen to peoples struggles, backgrounds, stories... a third way, a middle road.
So, I am willing to think that a mix raced American, raised for a while in a Muslim country, might just instinctively bow to a Muslim dressed in tradition Muslim Formal attire. It might be radically against my own traditions and culture, but I still remember those early days of my conversion when I purposely wore shorts and a T shirt to evening service to see if I would be despised by the wealthy Presbyterians in our downtown congregation, dressed in Suits, even in the evening service. The vitriolic obsession of Sean Hannity is turning my stomach, and I am still a very conservative republican type. So we are locked in a fight about whether or not we are a "Christian" Nation. And, sometimes the Christian hatred of Christians defending our Christian nation......well....it makes me feel all alone again.
Newt Gingrich reminded Hannity that George W Bush both bowed and kissed the same rich oil leader. Please, let's watch our tone and our vitriol in this public discourse.
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NEGLIGENCE ITALIAN
"A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself; but the simple pass on , and are punished." (Proverbs 27.12)
Three days ago a level 6 earthquake shook central Italy produced many hundreds of deaths and property damage.
The historic town of L Aquila east of Rome is the most affected as a result, leaving over 250 dead, 1000 injured and 70,000 homeless.
It is believed that there are more people alive under the rubble so that the rescuers are making every effort to salvage and lifting people out of the places destroyed.
This unfortunate fact also sparked the controversy over an Italian scientist named Giampaolo Giuliani, who predicted this earthquake a month ago, but authorities discredited and Giuliani was forced to remove their ads on the Internet to create panic among the population.
This is a sad episode for the Italian people not only by the loss of human lives but also because they act much negligence before a warning of disaster in that area.
Add to this the unfortunate statements of Silvio Berlusconi, Italian President, suggested that the victims take the situation as a weekend camp.
It seems that the president minimizes the location of pain experienced by people in the town of L 'Aquila, in the best tradition of his countryman historical Emperor Neron.
I prefer to think that this was a fortuitous event that could have happened to any country, but it seems to be a punishment from God to a nation whose negligent authorities have taken as an Easter weekend camping and having fun.
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