To begin with, the topic of the sermon for Sunday, July 19, 2009 was extremely thought provoking. One of my prayer partners had a wonderful conversation with me about the meaning of the word itself and how it is applicable to church. Well, hang on heathcliffe, what an awareness of not only our attitudes as Christians, but also our attitudes and perceptions of others that we feel are different from ourselves.
In doing research on the topic itself before church, I came across many cultural and societal differentiations as well as spiritual. The most comprehensive statement was found on the MOST website and is as follows: “An attitudinal orientation of hostility against non-natives in a given population.” After much thought, meditation and prayer, I have reached a conclusion in my life that perhaps I need to work on better understanding various cultures even within Houston itself.
The feelings that I am having are of a migrant worker status, very transitory here in Houston, and not to be taken seriously. In other words, I to shall pass on to the next job, the next adventure, the next whatever, and will no footprint here in Houston, because it is not the way things have been done. I hear the demeaning way people talk about each other, IE: Wetback, Spic, Kike, Tennessean, Californian, Northerner, among others, and here I have concluded that being an outsider with different ideals, norms, situations, that I am not allowed to express these ideas, because of some preconceived notion that I and people like me will take over and change things. A great fear here in Houston, perhaps founded or perhaps unfounded, this remains to be seen.
In my feelings, growth does not mean destruction, knowledge leads to wisdom, communication with understanding leads to a melding and appreciation of various cultures and societal norms. Perhaps we are all afraid of the realities that surround us, varying ideologies, varying ways of doing things, each one not superior, but just a way of doing things. In my way of thinking and feeling, there is not a right way or a wrong way, there are just many ways to do anything and everything.
Without creating alarm, perhaps the question could be “What Would Jesus Do?”. We tend to leave that question as a stand alone question, however, I do see things a bit differently, and follow up with the question, “How Would Jesus Do It?” Just another way of looking at a very popular question in our Christian way of life. Are we Acting as a Christian should Act (by perception), or are we putting our Christian way of live into Action itself? Acting a part is exhilarating, to say the least, but actually living the life is a whole different concept perhaps, that many are not familiar with. Acceptance and understanding are majors parts of feeling and sharing love. Going on the premise that we are all sinners and are save by grace, are we not all equal in the eyes and sight of God? The bible speaks in Romans as well as throughout the New Testament of the differences that already existed in the Christian Faith, and the acceptance/understanding issues of the day. Perhaps we have not learned yet that in our cultural diverseness, there is a great strength and power for learning other ways, and while we may not adhere to them personally, they are all valid ways of expressions of faith, hope and love.
I believe for now, these are enough questions to approach a situation in all our lives and carry forward from here…
The Indian offshoring industry uses a three-pronged strategy to purge Americans out of the I.T. industry:1. DENIGRATE2. DISCRIMINATE3. DISPLACE
If you ever watch Prof. Vivik Wadhwa, NASSCOM shill, TiE chapter founder, and failed businessman, on something like CNBC, he first denigrates the typical American I.T. worker. He makes sordid generalizations like "these are washed up coders with no new skills." This myth gets parroted in the media by the likes of Business Week "journalists" Steve Hamm and Moira Herbst.
In 1993 the federal law Pub.L. 103-160 (10 U.S.C. 654) was passed that prohibits anyone who "demonstrate(s) a propensity or intent to engage in homosexual acts" from serving in the armed forces of the United States, because it "would create an unacceptable risk to the high standards of morale, good order and discipline, and unit cohesion that are the essence of military capability."
16 years ago this law was progress. Today the law is antiquated and irrelevant.
It seems logical that sexual activity of any kind, by anyone, discussed or performed while fulfilling military duties would "risk the high standards of morale, good order and discipline and unit cohesion that are the essence of military capability." So why would a persons sexual intent be a topic of discussion or behavior while on duty?
Socially acceptable behavior, values and morals are not the divine providence of the “straight” men and women of the United States of America. Sexual orientation is not a precondition for promiscuity nor is it a guarantee of holiness. Straights and gays alike have high standards, faults and vices but these are not determined by their sexual orientation.
Each person is born to this world with a genetic code. Soon science will determine what percentage of who we are is determined by our DNA and what percentage is dictated by social conditioning.
In the mean time the United States of America is threatened by losing valuable, highly educated and skilled members of the U.S. military due to their sexual orientation. Men and women who have committed their lives to protecting the United States of America are targeted for discrimination because of fear and prejudice. This act of discrimination in the military must be stopped thru legislation.
President Obama I respectfully request that you and the current administration make every effort to repeal the federal law “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” Pub.L. 103-160 (10 U.S.C. 654) of 1993 and replace it with a law that offers protection against discrimination due to sexual orientation for all men and women that serve in the military of the United States of America.
BENEATH THE SPIN • ERIC L. WATTREE
Carrie Prejean: Are Progressives Becoming as Intolerant as Conservatives?
I've always been proud to consider myself a progressive, because being a progressive meant that I was open-minded, willing to assess every issue on its own merit, and I'm tolerant of varying points of view. But it seems that many of today's "progressives" have corrupted the term. Though many of these people call themselves progressives, they are not progressive thinkers–they are progressive in name only. Over the years they seem to have somehow lost their way, and as a result, have managed to redefined the term "progressive" to simply mean, not conservative.
A case in point is the unconscionable way in which the so-called progressive community has demonized Carrie Prejean after she indicated, almost apologetically during the Miss America Pageant, that she thought marriage should be between a man and a woman. Why in the world did she say that?!! Thereafter, she was called a bitch, seminude photos of her have been posted on the Internet, and she's been generally, dragged through the mud. It is unbelievable that people who call themselves progressive could do that to that young woman.
Received this from the consultants@bankerscompliance.com which is a Banker's Compliance Consulting Blog. Read below how these consultants tell the banks how to make it difficult for the consumers to get the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) information regarding discriminatory lending practices.
It is apparent from this article many financial institutions are discriminating illegally.
Put a message on this blog for them to stop this practice and report them to the Federal Reserve and FDIC as a consumer complalint. Ask them to send a letter to this blog to stop sending messages encouraging illegal practices.
________________________
My message to this blog and to Federal Reserve / FDIC
As banking consultants, your encouraging the banks to make it difficult for the consumers to get the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) information regarding discriminatory lending practices, is encouraging banks to hide those activities and make them inaccessible. Stop encouraging illegal practices.RETRACT THESE STATEMENTS IMMEDIATELY! It is apparent from this article many financial institutions are discriminating illegally.Your activities are being reported to the Federal Reserve and FDIC.
HMDA Data Requests Posted: 22 Apr 2009 10:00 PM PDT We are hearing that many banks have recently had requests for their HMDA Data. While you are required to make this information available, you are not required to provide it for free or provide the data electronically.
Monday, March 16 2009 @ 05:52 PM CDT
Contributed by: Anonymous
Views: 185
Remember above all this is an issue of protecting the rights of doctors against discrimination based on moral convictions. In violation of federal labor laws. It is not so much an issue of abortion or religion. However closely related lets stick to the issue.
You have strong convictions, but President Obama says that doesn’t matter. He’s ready to rescind the Conscience Clause.The Conscience Clause was implemented by former President George W. Bush to give physicians and nurses the choice to act according to their conscience — to not participate in abortion procedures if it conflicts with their personal convictions. If President Obama makes this damaging move, if he reverses the Conscience Clause, pro-life doctors and nurses will be forced into performing abortion procedures, despite their individual beliefs... more
It's a frustrating circumstance when you are fired for following the rules, Barack. Some of us actually are brave enough to report harassment and discrimination when we experience it, and anyone who has been harassed knows that the experience is no laughing matter. When we are fired for following correct procedures to report violations of our EEO rights and then not only penalized for it by our employer, but then left out in the cold by the very government we are all busy filling out paperwork for to figure what we owe you or what we get back as a refund. There are apparently too many reports to handle in the COLD COLD state of Utah...and believe me, we have some cold and disrespectful people in our gloriously snowy state.
I give you another recent example of someone...a mentor, just trying to go to work every day and make her dollar. She wasn't trying to get rich the way her offender was talking about it.
http://cityweekly.net/index.cfm?do=article.details&id=FA61588F-14D1-1357-9C47D0934F95C710
Truth commissions worked in South Africa to encourage confession, resolve mysteries, increase transparency, resolve conflicts, decrease corruption, reduce bias and discrimination, and allowed the country to get beyond conflict, to forgive, to accept the past, and to move on in a more honest, united and open manner.
Would this not work in the United States. We should begin a pilot project run by US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald in C[r]ook County.
President-elect Obama has made his first of what I hope will be very few blunders. In selecting Rick Warren to be on stage in an official capacity (or at all) for his inauguration, he has insulted the GLBT community AND their allies. Warren played a part in the recent anti-gay proposition that passed in California and has spoken out against the civil right of marriage for our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters.
I encourage any and all of you who agree with me to speak out about this and let's get Barack on the decent and moral side of this issue. I know that I will be condemning this move in my church and local newspaper.
Internanational Human Rights Court Affirms A Failure TO Protect
Mother’s File International Complaint Against United States, violation human rights of abused www.StopFamilyViolence.org MOTHERS FILE INTERNATIONAL COMPLAINT AGAINST UNITED STATES Mother's day complaint claims United States courts violate human rights of abused women and children. NEW YORK, On May 11, just before Mother's Day weekend, ten mothers, one victimized child, now an adult, leading national and state organizations filed a complaint against the United States with the Inter American Commission on Human Rights. The case claims that U.S. courts, by frequently awarding child custody to abusers and child molesters, has failed to protect the life, liberties, security and other human rights of abused mothers and their children. "For more than 30 years U.S. judges have given custody or unsupervised visitation of children to abusers and molesters putting the children directly at risk," says Dianne Post, an international attorney who authored the petition. "These horrendous human rights violations have been brought to the attention of family court systems, and state and federal governments, to no avail. We turn now to international courts to protect the rights and safety of US children." The complaint details several cases with ..ed medical evidence of child sexual abuse, yet in each instance the abusing father was given full custody of the children he abused. Several of the mothers were jailed by the courts because of their persistent efforts to protect their children from abuse, several were ordered not to speak of the abuse and not to report abuse to authorities. Every mother was denied contact with her child for some period of time though none was ever proven to have harmed them. "My life was completely shattered apart on that day and my childhood was destroyed," said Jeff Hoverson, the adult child petitioner, about the day a family court judge ordered sheriff deputies to deliver him into the custody of his abuser. "It was as if I was just kidnapped. I was torn from everything I knew....I was made into a possession rather than a child." Hoverson endured years of trauma and fear living in his father's home before escaping and returning to his mother at age 17. He is haunted by years of feeling helpless to prevent his father's night-time visits to his sisters' bedrooms. "The cases in this petition represent the proverbial tip of the iceberg," says Irene Weiser, executive director of the online organization Stop Family Violence. "We are contacted by an average of three protective mothers each week who have lost custody to child abusing fathers. This is a nationwide crisis of enormous proportion." "The lives of thousands of children and mothers have been irreparably harmed by family courts across our nation," says Joyanna Silberg, Ph.D., executive vice-president of The Leadership Council on Child Abuse and Interpersonal Violence, another national organizations supporting the petition. "The years of trauma and psychological abuse because of the courts' failings result in lasting emotional damage to the children they are supposed to protect." Studies of gender bias in the courts, conducted in the 1980's and 90's, found disturbing trends of courts minimizing or excusing men's violence against women, and favoring the abusers. In 1990 the United States Congress passed a resolution recommending the prohibition of giving joint or sole custody to abusers. Seventeen years later, the practice continues unabated. Ten years ago today, leading national organizations were joined by members of Congress in a protest in Washington D.C. to again raise awareness about the problems in family courts. Today, petitioners say, the problem is systemic and widespread in family law courts across the nation. The petition seeks a finding from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights that the U.S. has violated the Declaration of the Rights and Responsibilities of Man and the Charter of the Organization of American States and a statement of the steps that the U.S. must take to comply with its human rights obligations in regards to battered women and children in child custody cases. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights was created in 1959 and is expressly authorized to examine allegations of human rights violations by members of the Organization of American States, which include the United States. It also carries out on-site visits to observe the general human rights situations in all 35 member states of the Organization of American States and to investigate specific allegations of violations of Inter-American human rights treaties. Its charge is to promote the observance and the defense of human rights in the Americas. Dianne Post, a 1980 graduate of the University of Wisconsin law school, has worked on issues of gender based violence since 1976. In addition to private practice and legal aid, she has taught legal classes and been a consultant working or living in Russia, Cambodia, Hungary and some dozen other countries. She is currently in Vladivostok, Russia. In addition to The Leadership Council on Child Abuse and Interpersonal Violence, other national organizations supporting the international lawsuit include: National Organization for Women and the NOW Foundation, National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Justice For Children, National Family Court Watch Project, Legal Momentum, Family Violence Prevention Fund, National Alliance to End Sexual Violence, Domestic Violence Report, Sidran Traumatic Stress Institute, and the National Center on Sexual and Domestic Violence. The petition is supported by many state organizations as well. In December 2005, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a petition against the United States with the Inter American Commission on Human Rights for their failure to protect Jessica Gonzales' three children from their abusive father, who murdered them. Their petition, the first of its kind, asserted that domestic violence victims have the right to be protected by the state from the violent acts of their abusers. For additional information, contact: Irene Weiser, Stop Family Violence iw@stopfamilyviolence.org 607-539-6856 The petition and supporting ..action is available on the Stop Family Violence website on: www.StopFamilyViolence.org View the petition at: http://www.StopFamilyViolence.org/468
