America land of plenty - REALLY!

 I know that is the view most of the world has of the United States, but if that is true please tell me why government food assistance is growing at such an alarming rate that one in four Americans is enrolled in one of the 15 federal feeding programs. There are 42 million Americans on food stamps and 30 million kids getting free breakfast and lunch at public schools. Fifty million Americans do not have enough food or they are uncertain of whether they can get enough food to feed their families. One in six Americans reported running out of food at least once a year. In many European countries, by contrast, the number is closer to one in 20.

The USDA researchers attributed the rise in use of federal food programs to the recession, and indicated that many of the food banks have reported serving people who never expected to require assistance to feed their families. The number of Americans using food programs will grow even more, before things get better.

In the United States more than half of hungry households are white, and two-thirds of those with children have at least one working adult—typically in a full-time job. In 2006 the U.S. government replaced “hunger” with the term “food insecure” to describe any household where sometime during the previous year people did not have enough food to eat. I do not think using politically correct words make people who are not getting enough to eat feel better. Just like not saying the words ‘Muslim Terrorist” make Muslim Terrorist love us or respect us anymore.

I heard a U.S. politician ask if hunger is really a problem why are there so many overweight Americans. The answer is hunger and obesity are two sides of the same coin, people making trade-offs between foods that’s are filling and foods that are nutritious may actually contribute to obesity. For many of the hungry in America, the extra pounds are the results of poor diet and are unintended side effect of hunger itself.

As the face of hunger has changed, so has its address. The town of Spring, Texas, is a suburb of Houston where I am from. There are curving streets and shade trees and privacy fences. The suburbs are the home of the American dream, but they are also a place where poverty is on the rise. As urban housing has gotten more expensive, the working poor have been pushed out. Today hunger in the suburbs is growing faster than in cities.

In the 90’s I vacationed in Hawaii and was shocked when a waitress told me that three families were living together and all the adults held down two jobs and were having a hard time surviving. I returned to Houston and shared the story with many. I decided then I would never want to live in Hawaii. But, today we have the same problem in Houston. There are families where all adults are working, but their income is not enough to keep the family consistently fed without assistance. The root problem is the lack of jobs that pay wages a family can live on, so food assistance has become the government’s—and society’s—way to supplement low wages.

We hear American people and American politicians talking about the 99% and the 1%, but what about the 16% who don’t have enough food to eat. President Obama recently described economic inequality as “the defining challenge of our time.” The Democratic Party has decided to make inequality the main theme of their political campaigns. And yet, despite the current vogue in Washington for talking about inequality, the same political leaders have paid little attention to the hunger crisis which is now ravaging America’s poor communities.

The Democrats criticize the Republicans for not caring about the poor, but it does not seem to me the Democrats are really willing to champions the poor. All I have seen from Obama and his administration is a lot of talk about the poor and little action. Democrats tend to frame inequality as either an abstract issue or a division between the rich and the middle class. It doesn’t surprise me that there’s this huge disconnect, because the people most affected by poverty aren’t part of the conversation.  The Democratic and Republican politicians are having a national conversation on poverty without poor people.

Thirty percent of households with seniors indicated that they have had to choose between food and medical care and 35 percent had to choose between food and paying for heat/utilities. Nearly 1 million seniors living alone do not have enough food to eat on a regular basis or rely on food banks and charities.

Veterans are more than twice as likely to need help with food – a disgrace.

With all the poverty the USDA recently found that about 96 billion pounds of food available for human consumption in the United States were thrown away by retailers, restaurants, farmers and households over the course of one year. Fresh fruits and vegetables, fluid milk, grain products, and sweeteners accounted for 2/3 of these losses. This is not all the fault of retailers, restaurants and farmers the Federal government must take some of the blame because of Federal Laws that prohibit these products from being given to food pantries or directly to the poor because the government claims they fear food contamination.

The total cost of hunger - loss of work due to sickness, free clinics, etc. – is said to be about $90 billion a year. In contrast, it would only cost about $10 billion to $12 billion a year to virtually end hunger in the United States.

The world already produces more than 1 ½ times enough food to feed everyone on the planet. That's enough to feed 10 billion people, the population peak we expect by 2050. The major problem is people cannot afford to buy food.

Hunger must stop being a silent crisis in the United States! Hunger in America is something the American government seems to not want the world to know about. If they did they may realize they may not be able to depend on America too much longer for foreign aid.

More conspiracy stories or facts - I do not know!

On a recent Sunday following Mass Cardawe and I were in a coffee shop in Davao, Philippines. An American who has lived in China for the past 15 years was at the table next to us. He teaches English in China and makes documentaries. He showed me one of his documentaries on The Bush family if true it was shocking.

The conversation came up because he asks me what I thought about the China and Philippine problems over the Spratley Islands. He then began to tell me how the Bush family and the mafia was involved in the dispute. How the Bush family and his cronies wanted the United States to have financial problems and finally have to bankrupt and they would blame it on China and Russia. They were using the China/Philippine dispute as a means to their end.

I did some research and there are some conspiracy stories backing up what he claimed in our four to five hour conversation. What the gentlemen was saying was shocking to me because I had not heard all of these things before (some I had) and I consider myself a news junky and history freak. I do not know if they are true or not. I do know that for the past ten years I have had difficulty trusting my government because our leaders have been caught in so many untruths, especially since Obama took office. What is the truth of the gentlemen’s story I really do not know?  I will share with you what he told me – you decide.

He said Henry Ford along with one hundred other U.S. money powers involved in banking, mining, steel and oil were behind Hitler and helped Germany get started because they saw a way of making a profit off of war. (I BELIEVE THERE IS A MILITARY ENTERPRISE (CORPORATIONS) IN THE UNTIED STATES THAT LIKE WARS).

The Rockefellers of Standard Oil Company and Chase Bank, the Rothschild’s, the Schiff’s, the Warburg’s, and the Bushes were among the other supporters. The powers of financial capitalism had a far reaching goal, nothing less than to create a world system of financial control in private hands able to dominate the political system of each country and the economy of the world as a whole. (I BELIEVE THERE ARE WEALTHY POWERS AROUND THE WORLD THAT SUPPORT ONE WORLD ORDER BECAUSE IT IS PROFITABLE TO THEM AND I DO NOT BELIEVE IT IS GOOD FOR THE PEOPLE OF THE WORLD).

They have covertly manipulated politicians and nations into wars for over a century and descendants of the families continue to do so to this day. Their ultimate goal was and is to establish a “New World Order”, a totalitarian one-world government ruled by the very few and very rich. President George Herbert Walker Bush was not the first or only prominent man to proclaim this “New World Order”. Hitler, President Woodrow Wilson, author H.G. Wells and many other politicians, writers and businessmen have worked behind the scenes for “New World Order”.

Samuel Prescott Bush (1863-1948: George W. Bush’s great grandfather) founder of the Buckeye Steel Castings Company in 1894, Remington Arms Company and Chief of the Ordnance, Small Arms and Ammunition Section of the War Industries Board for World War I pushed for the United States to enter into World War I. He sold weapons made by manufacturers such as his own Remington Arms Company to 75% of the WWI combatants on both sides.

Congressional committee hearings in 1934 by U.S. Senator Gerald Nye attacked Bush and other weapons salesmen as war profiteers and “Merchants of Death.” Salesmen from these companies had helped to manipulate the nations into World War I and then made unimaginable profits from the sales of the weapons, at the taxpayer’s expense.

In 1944, Bush was awarded a huge government contract to make armor casings for WWII. Most of the records and correspondence of Samuel Bush’s arms deals have been burned “to save space” in the National Archives. This pattern of the systematic deletion of large portions of the public records is typical of all the Bushes. (DESTRUCTION OF PAPERS IS TYPICAL OF ALL GOVERMENTS AND IN THE UNITED STATES TYPICAL OF BOTH THE REPUBLICAN AND DEMOCRAT PARTIES).

George Herbert Walker (George W. Bush’s other great grandfather)  was a Wall Street banker and director or president of G.H. Walker and Co., J.P. Morgan and Co., Guaranty Trust Co., W.A. Harriman and Co., and Union Banking Corporation. Walker made his fortune building up the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany, financing their oil, coal, steel, and manganese industries, among others. As President of Union Banking Corp. (UBC), he laundered money for Hitler and supplied raw materials essential for Germany’s waging World War II. His most prominent partners in financing Hitler’s war machine were Averell Harriman and Prescott Bush. Their Consolidated Silesian Steel Corporation owned 1/3 of a complex of steel-making, coal-mining, and zinc-mining activities in Germany.

 Friederich Flick a German owned two-thirds and was sentenced to 7 years imprisonment by the Nuremburg Tribunal, but the American partners were never tried. When the U.S. government seized the Silesian-American Corp. in 1942 under the “Trading with the Enemy Act,” George Herbert Walker was still the senior director of the company.

Prescott Sheldon Bush (George W. Bush’s grandfather; 1885-1972, Yale, Skull & Bones, class of 1917):  was a Wall Street banker, Vice President of W. A. Harriman and Co., and director or senior partner in Union Banking Corporation (UBC) and Brown Brothers, Harriman, and a manager of Silesian-American Corp., the Holland-American Trading Corp. and the Seamless Steel Equipment Corporation, all which were Nazi front organizations run by the Bush-Harriman bank, UBC.  

Union Banking Corporation (UBC) was exposed as a de facto Nazi front organization by the U.S. government in Congressional hearings, Prescott Bush, Harriman, and George Herbert Walker continued doing business with the Nazis for 8 months after the U.S. entered World War II. When the US government seized control of UBC under the “Trading with the Enemy Act,” all the shares were owned by Prescott Bush, E. Roland Harriman, three Nazi executives, and two other Bush associates (Four of the eight directors were members of Skull and Bones, class of 1917).

The US government also seized several subsidiaries run by the Bush-Harriman bank (UBC), including The Holland-American Trading Corp., the Seamless Steel Equipment Corp, the Silesian-American Corp., and the Harriman Fifteen Holding Company and determined that huge sections of Prescott Bush’s empire were operated on behalf of Nazi Germany and had greatly assisted the Nazi war effort. Bush and Harriman each received $1.5 million in compensation for their seized assets from the United States Government. (U.S. TAXPAYERS).

Not only were Prescott Bush and the other directors of UBC legally front men for the Nazis, they hired, armed and instructed Hitler’s Nazi army. Prescott Bush later served as a director of Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc., Prudential Insurance, Dresser Industries, Inc., Hydrocarbon Research, Inc., Wanadium Corp. of America, and U.S. Guaranty Trust, among other companies, until 1952 when he was elected U.S. Senator from Connecticut.

A major part of the Bush family fortune is due to the “Hitler Project”, which included the slave labor and Holocaust at Auschwitz.

Our 41st president’s political life has been intertwined with four of the most powerful and profitable business enterprises on the planet, banking, oil, the arms/intelligence industries, and sales of illegal drugs. He began his career as an oil salesman for Dresser Industries and went on to co-found his own oil company, Zapata Petroleum Corp. of Houston. This would spin off to Zapata Offshore and Pennzoil/Zapata. Bush was president of Zapata Oil from 1954 to 1964 and Zapata Offshore from 1964 to 1966.

Persistent reports (PERHAPS CONSPIRACY REPORTS) indicate Bush was also an undercover CIA agent in the early 60’s, playing a prominent role in the “Bay of Pigs” invasion of Cuba. As Ambassador to China, Bush helped Kissinger oust Cambodian leader Lon Nol and install Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge. More than 2 of a total 7 million Cambodians perished under Pol Pot, an estimated 32% of the population. (I DO NOT KNOW HOW MUCH OF THESE STATEMENTS I BELIEVE).

In 1976, Bush became Director of the CIA. When elected Vice President in 1980, he put his family fortune into a blind trust under the control of his close friend, William Stamps Farish, III, who also had inherited much of the Auschwitz death camp fortune. Farish’s grandfather was president of Standard Oil and controller of the global cartel between Standard Oil and the German I.G. Farben Corp., which operated the Auschwitz slave labor camps to produce artificial rubber and gasoline from coal. There, Jews and political opponents of Hitler were worked to death or murdered.

Some of Bush’s other notable, but generally under-reported, contributions include:

1) Helping to orchestrate the “October Surprise,” in which the Iranian government was bribed or coerced into holding the American hostages until after the 1980 election, thereby helping to ensure Carter’s defeat and a Reagan/Bush victory. (I TEND TO BELIEVE THERE MAY BE SOME TRUTH TO THIS STATEMENT).

2) The assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan two months after he took office. The Hinkley family is a Houston oil family and long-time friends of the Bushes. Their son tried to kill President Reagan and was declared mentally incompetent to stand trial. (CONINCDENT OR TRUTH I HONESTLY DO NOT KNOW).

3) Presiding over the Savings and Loan/HUD scandal, in which taxpayers were made to pay over $500 billion for bailing out failed S&Ls. Son Neil Bush, director of Silverado Savings and Loan in Denver, is reported to have personally profited by about $1 billion. (THIS I BELIEVE).

4) As VP and therefore Head of the National Security Council’s Groups on Crisis Management, Drug Addiction, and Terrorism, Bush directed the Iran-Contra drug scandal, in which the secret government (comprised of ex-CIA and military intelligence operatives and businessmen) diverted profits from illegal arms sales to Iran to illegally fund the revolutionary Contras of Nicaragua and the Mujahedeen of Afghanistan. (THIS I BELIEVE). Under CIA protection, these covert operators flew vast quantities of cocaine and heroin into the poor neighborhoods of America, again using drug profits to fund the illegal covert war in Nicaragua, etc. (THIS I BELIEVE).

5) Under Bush’s watch, the CIA spent over $3 billion dollars fomenting holy war (“Jihad”) and training and funding the Mujahedeen terrorists (including Osama bin Laden), their networks, and training camps in Afghanistan. Thus, the Taliban, the Mujahedeen, and Osama bin Laden were established as CIA assets. Not coincidentally, under CIA supervision during the 80’s, Afghanistan became the number one heroin producer and exporter in the world. In 2000, the Taliban government banned the production of poppies (heroin). However, after the invasion of Iraq and installation of an American puppet government, Afghanistan is again the number one heroin producer in the world. (THIS I BELIEVE).

6) Under Bush’s supervision of the first “War on Terrorism,” hundreds of thousands of Innocent civilians were killed, tortured and disappeared in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Nicaragua. Another million or so each, again mostly civilians, were killed in the U.S. supported and funded wars in Afghanistan and Iraq/Iran. (THIS I QUESTION).

7) Presiding over invasions into both Panama and Iraq in which some 8000 Panamanians and over 200,000 Iraqis were killed. The U.S had illegally sold tens of billions of dollars’ worth of weapons, including chemical and biological weapons, to Saddam Hussein during the 80’s to help him build the strongest regional power in the Middle East. (THIS I BELIEVE). Evidence indicates that Saddam was more or less set up for the Gulf War when U.S. Ambassador Glaspie told him the U.S. had no interest in his border dispute with Kuwait, it was a trap. (I FIND THIS HARD TO BELIEVE).

However, there were also perks for this hardworking politician/businessman. According to retired Brigadier General Bowen (in The Immaculate Deception: The Bush Crime Family Exposed), Bush and Saddam Hussein split about $250 billion in Persian Gulf oil kickbacks during the 1980’s, which were laundered through the scandal-ridden Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI). (I FIND THIS HARD TO BELIEVE).

In 1988, Project Censored awarded the honor of “Top Censored Story” to the story of George Bush, revealing “how the major mass media ignored, overlooked or under-covered at least ten critical stories reported in America’s alternative press that raised serious questions about the Republican candidate, George Bush, dating from his reported role as a CIA “asset” in 1963 to his Presidential campaign’s connection with a network of anti-Semites with Nazi and fascist affiliations in 1988.”

Bush Sr. became a highly-paid consultant for the Carlyle Group, America’s 11th largest military contractor. In this capacity, he went to Saudi Arabia to meet with the Bin Laden family and the Saudi Royal family in 1998 and 2000. The Carlyle Group stood to make billions of dollars from Jr. Bush’s “War on Terror.” Thus, Bush Sr. was still profiteering handsomely from his insider connections. (THIS I BELIEVE).

George W. Bush (1946-present, Yale, Skull & Bones, class of 1968). As governor of Texas, the 43rd president of the United States presided over the execution of 52 inmates, including mentally retarded prisoners more than any other governor in US history until Ex-Governor Perry of Texas took the honor from him. He did, however, pardon one death row prisoner, a serial killer. (THIS I BELIEVE). As governor, he changed pollution laws to benefit energy companies and made Texas the most polluted state in the nation (I QUESTION THE POLUTION CLAIM SINCE I AM FROM TEXAS AND NEVER HEARD ANY TEXAN COMPLAINING ABOUT A POLLUTION PROBLEM. HE WOULD ALSO HAVE TO HAVE THE SUPPORT OF THE TEXAS CONGRESS TO CHANGE LAWS).

Other contributions of Ex-President George W. Bush:

1) Presiding over the government’s complicity and cover-up of the killing of about 3,000 people at the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. (I QUESTION THIS CLAIM.)

2) Presiding over the greatest rollback of Constitutional civil liberties in the history of the country. The Patriot I and Homeland Security Acts, passed in 2001 and 2002, respectively, along with the pending Patriot II Act eliminate or threaten Constitutional rights guaranteed in our 1st, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments. (I SUPPORTED THESE CHANGES).

3) The high-tech massacre of many thousands of innocent and defenseless Afghani and Iraqi civilians who posed no security threat to the U.S. whatsoever and had no part in the crimes of 9-11. The two primary resources thereby controlled are opium and an oil pipeline in Afghanistan and, of course, oil in Iraq. The Bush administration, obviously responding to demands from the major oil companies, is clearly pursuing a strategy to dominate the world’s last, greatest fossil fuel reserves in the Persian Gulf and Caspian Basin. (THERE IS ALWAYS COLLATERAL DAMAGE IN WAR AND AMERICANS DO NOT UNERSTAND THAT).

4) Leading a “pre-emptive” war against Iraq in violation of international law (including the UN charter, the Nuremburg Tribunal and the Geneva Accords) and on the basis of entirely false pretexts. Representative Henry Waxman (D-CA) carefully documents 237 lies told by the Bush administration in their efforts to convince the American people, the Congress, and the UN to go to war in Iraq. Interestingly, this document is no longer on the web. (PRESDENT BUSH WAS NOT THE ONLY WORLD LEADER TOLD THAT SADAM HAD WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION SO I FIND IT DIFFICULT TO AGREE WITH THIS CLAIM).

5) Proposing an endless “War on Terror” (i.e., military conquest abroad in service of resource looting for international corporations and a police state at home to suppress dissent), when, in fact, evidence shows that the “War on Terror” is a fraud and that the greatest purveyor of terror in the world, by far, is the U.S. government, with its CIA, School of the Americas, etc. (I DEFINITELY DO NOT AGREE WITH THIS STATEMENT AND WOULD THINK ONLY A HATER OF THE UNITED STATES WOULD MAKE SUCH STATEMENTS).

6) Presiding over the loss, mostly by outsourcing, of some 2.5 million American jobs in his first two years in office. (OBAMA CAME ALONG AND FOLLOWED IN BUSH’S FOOTSTEPS AND THE NEXT PRESIDENT WILL DO THE SAME BECAUSE THE U.S. CANNOT NEGOITATE GOOD TRADE AGREEMENTS).

7) Granting trillions of dollars’ worth of tax cuts to the richest 2% of Americans. Thereby, spending the $7 trillion surplus he inherited from Clinton and allowing the federal deficit to exceed $7 trillion, mainly by granting gigantic tax cuts to the rich and making huge increases in military spending. (THIS IS TRUE, BUT OBAMA HAS INCREASED THE DEFICIT MORE THAN ALL THE OTHER PRESIDENT’S PUT TOGETHER).

8) Presiding over one of the greatest Wall Street scandals (and stock market crashes) of all time (the Enron scandal, the creation of artificial gas shortages in California, etc.). (THIS IS TRUE).

9) De-funding and thereby further crippling our education, social services, health care, etc. (THE SOLUTION TO EDUCATION, SOCIAL SERVICES AND HEALTH CARE IS NOT MORE MONEY SO I DISAGREE WITH THIS STATEMENT. I WOULD SUPPORT SOME MORE DEFUNDING BECAUSE THERE IS TOO MUCH WASTE).

10) The worst environmental record of any U.S. president in history, including the systematic weakening and rollback of all major environmental laws and regulations. (ENVIROMENTAL LAWS HAVE GOTTEN OUT OF HAND AND THEY ARE CRIPPLING OUR ECONOMY).

Four generations of Bushes have been instrumental, along with other Wall Street and international bankers, in creating and financing a series of great enemies (including the Soviets, the Nazis, Ho Chi Minh, Saddam Hussein, and Osama bin Laden). They and their international business partners, which typically include enemy leaders, have reaped tremendous profits from the wars they have orchestrated. The Bushes have been intimately involved in all the most profitable businesses, including banking (usury), energy (oil), sales of illicit drugs, and weapons/intelligence. Three generations of Bushes have been involved in America’s most elite secret society, Yale’s Skull and Bones, which many believe to be Satanic. (SATANIC I DO NOT KNOW - DESIRES ONE WORLD GOVERNMENT THAT IS TRUE). The “Great Plan” which they have been working so hard to usher in calls for the destruction of the United States of America as a sovereign nation and the establishment of a “New World Order” (DESTRUCTION OF THE INDEPENDENCE OF THE UNITED STATES AND OTHER FIRST WORLD COUNTRIES WOULD BE THE RESULTS OF ONE WORLD GOVERNMENT), effectively a “Fourth Reich of the Rich.” Thus, they are all guilty of the highest crimes against humanity and the American people. (THIS STATEMENT OF CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY TO ME IS A BIT TOO DRAMATIC).

 It seems obvious that unless and until the Bush dynasty and their associates (international bankers, corporate and military leaders, secret societies, etc.) are exposed and brought to justice, they will continue to orchestrate and profit from future wars to the detriment of all humanity. (I AM AGAINST ANY FAMILY HAVING MORE THAN ONE MEMBER IN OUR FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, BUT THIS SHOUD BE DECIDED BY THE VOTERS).

I know some of what he said to be true and I find some farfetched and just more conspiracy talk that a lot of people enjoy engaging in. I also realize that a lot of Americans have lost hope and are disappointed in our government leaders and it is easy for conspiracy stories to get started and once started they seem to get a life of their own. I have not lost hope, but I definitely am disappointed and unhappy with our leaders both Democrat and Republican. I am disappointed that the American people seem to be getting more and more ignorant of what is going on in our government and this is resulting in our electing poor leaders.  

I have honestly tried to back up the claims made in the coffee shop and claims found on the Internet and I honestly do not find any that I view as really credible. But, then I ask myself who is credible when it comes to the news. As far as I can tell all media today is bias and has an agenda, especially mainstream media that is owned and controlled by a few families - that happen to be extremely wealthy. Is it even possible for the average American or average citizen of the world to get the truth anymore? This is a sad commentary for the news media.

 

 

Teachings of Pope Francis - Part V

Our goal is not to proselytize but to listen to needs, desires, disappointments, despair and hope. We must restore hope to young people, help the old, be open to the future and spread love. We need to include the excluded and preach peace.

You cannot know Jesus without having problems. We only come to know Jesus on the daily path of life … in order to know Jesus; we need to enter into a dialogue with Him. If you don’t pray, you don’t know Him.

What will my cross be like? We do not know, but there will be a cross and we need to ask for the grace not to flee when it comes.

Faith contains the memory of our encountering God.

A people who do not take care of their elderly and their children have no future. The only commandment which brings with it a blessing is the fourth, the commandment which regards honoring our parents and the elderly.

God is in every person’s life even if the life of a person has been a disaster. You must try to seek God in every human life. There is always a space in which the good seed can grow.

Charity is simple: worshiping God and serving others.

Let us respect creation, let us not be instruments of destruction! Let us respect each human being. May there be an end to armed conflicts. May hatred yield to love, injury to pardon and discord to unity. Let us listen to the cry of all who are suffering and who are dying because of violence.

We can all flee from God. This is a daily temptation: not to listen to God, not to hear His voice, not to hear His promptings His invitation in our hearts.

Are you able to find the Word of God in the history of each day or do your ideas so govern you that you do not allow the Lord to speak to you?

Today let us all ask ourselves do I remain caught up in forms of material security, taking refuge in my own projects and plans. Do I truly let God into my life?

God asks us to be faithful to Him in our everyday life, even if we are sometimes unfaithful to Him, He remains faithful to us. He never tires of stretching out His hand to lift us up, to encourage us to come back and tell Him of our weakness, so that he can grant us His strength.

Saying “thank you” is such an easy thing and yet so hard! How often do we say “thank you” to one another in our families? These are essential words for our life. “Sorry,” “excuse me,” “thank you” - If families can say these three things, they will be fine. How often do we say “thank you” to those who help us. All too often we take everything for granted! This happens with God. It is easy to approach the Lord to ask for something, but do we thank Him.

God invites us to pray. Prayer makes us feel God’s presence. Persevering prayer is the expression of faith in God.

If money and material things become the center of our lives they seize us and make us slaves.

The Kingdom of Heaven is for those who do not place their security in material things, but in love for God.

 

Sexual abuse among Protestant and Catholic leaders.

Many Protestants are naïve and dishonest when they imply that the pedophilia and sexual abuse problem is unique to the Catholic Church. Protestants can be very arrogant when pointing to Catholics.  The fact that most Protestant ministers are married does not mean they do not commit sexual sins.  There is really no data which demonstrates whether religion plays a role in this phenomenon. We do not know if sexual abuse is higher or lower in fundamentalist, evangelical and other Protestant denominations than the Roman Catholic Church.

There is no denying we Catholics had or probably still have a problem with sexual abuse in our church. I believe what was worse than the abuse itself, if anything could be worse, is the payoffs and cover-ups by the church. I think there was more internal outrage among Catholic to the church hierarchy simply transferring the abuser to another parish. It is hard to accept that the church hierarchy cared more for our priest than our people. Their actions seem to say they cared more for the abuser than the abused.

There is evidence of sexual abuse within fundamentalist, evangelical and other Protestant denominations. Sexual abuse is found throughout society. It is believed one in four girls is sexually abused as a child. The most shocking to me is approximately 1% of girls are abused by their own fathers before puberty.
 
Dr. James Dobson of Focus on the Family discussed a crisis among Pastors of non-Catholic churches. He reported that 21% of evangelical/Protestant pastors had had inappropriate sexual contact with members of their congregations. Sixty percent of evangelical pastors, most of whom are married, have a problem with pornography. In a 1984 study, 76% of pastors knew of another evangelical pastor who had sexual intercourse with a member of their congregation. The majority of these cases of improper sexual behavior involved an adult member who consented to the activity, but some were assaults on children and youth. Sin is sin!

Joe Barron, one of the 40 ministers at Prestonwood Baptist Church, one of the largest churches in the United States with 26,000 members, was arrested for solicitation of a minor after driving from the Dallas area to Bryan, Texas, in order to allegedly engage in sexual relations with what he thought to be a 13 year-old girl he had met online. The "girl" turned out to be an undercover law enforcement official.

FBI agents raided Tony Alamo Christian Ministries headquarters as part of a child pornography investigation. This investigation involved allegations of physical abuse, sexual abuse and allegations of polygamy and underage marriage. Reverend Tony Alamo was convicted on ten counts of transporting minors across state lines for sexual purposes, sexual assault and other crimes. He was sentenced to the maximum punishment of 175 years in prison.

Wayne Bent the founder of Lord Our Righteousness Church was convicted of one count of criminal sexual contact of a minor and two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. He was sentenced to 18 years with eight years suspended.

James Truxton was an elder of the First Evangelical Free Church in Fullerton CA. women came forward to accuse Truxton of molesting them when they were children. The church removed Truxton as an elder and revoked his membership. Unfortunately, the accusations came more than 6 years after the abuse events and he could not be prosecuted under the state's statute of limitations. Later another woman came forward and the statute of limitations did not affect the case and he was convicted.

Daniel Vasquez is the pastor of an evangelical church and is being investigated following allegation that he sexually abused 30 boys. Vasquez denies the allegations, and says that the accusations are fabricated by members of his congregation who have been involved in a dispute with him.

Eddie Long is pastor of the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, near Atlanta, GA. It is the largest Baptist megachurch in the U.S. Three male adult members of the church have filed a lawsuit accusing him of coercing them into sexual relationships when they were youths aged 17 or 18 in his congregation. Long is one of the most homophobic black leaders in the religiously based anti-gay movement. A fourth young member of one of Long's churches has accused Long of coercing him into a sexual relationship during a journey that they took to Kenya in 2005. His lawsuit claims that Long convinced him that "... engaging in a sexual relationship with his pastor was a healthy component of his spiritual life."  In other words Reverend Long’s philosophy is ‘do not do as I do, but do as I say’. This isn't the first allegation against a religious leader who has crusaded against gay marriage and homosexuality.

Ted Haggard left New Life Church of Colorado Springs, Colo., in 2006 after a male prostitute said Haggard paid him for sex. Haggard denied the allegations, but later admitted to "sexual immorality" and started a new church in June 2010 after he saw mental counseling and was healed of desiring sex with men. He has made a fortune off his book covering his sexual problems.  

Reformation.com lists allegations involving 838 Protestant ministers who have been accused of sexually abusing children: 147 Baptist Minsters, 251 fundamentalist/evangelical ministers, 140 Anglican/Episcopalian Ministers, 38 Lutheran Ministers, 46 Methodist Ministers, 19 Presbyterian Ministers and 197 misc. Church Ministers. I think I have provided enough facts that sexual abuse is NOT unique to the Catholic Church.

I do not think the percentage of abusers is higher among Catholic priests than among Protestant ministers. But, individual priests probably have more victims because they operate longer before they are caught. Some people view celibacy as an unnatural lifestyle (I do for those that do not want to be celebrate). They speculate that a higher percentage of priests are abusers than are Protestant ministers, because of the Catholic Church’s celibacy requirement. The implication is that if celibacy were made optional, then priests could marry and wouldn't abuse children. Most Protestant clergy are free to marry, and most heterosexual ministers and pastors do marry and evidence show that it has not slowed or prevented their sexual abuse problems.

What many do not realize is that there are married Roman Catholic priests. The existence of married priests within the Roman Catholic Church came about when the Episcopal Church decided to ordain females, about 95 Episcopal ministers in the U.S. were so distressed by the idea of sharing the priesthood with women that some converted to Roman Catholicism in order to remain in a purely male priesthood. The church allowed them to remain married. The number has grown over the years. 

The Christian mission field is a “magnet” for sexual abusers, said Boz Tchividjian (the grandson of Rev. Billy Graham), a Liberty University law professor, prosecutor and pastor who investigates sexual abuse. When comparing evangelicals to Catholics on abuse response he said, “I think we are worse than Catholics, too many evangelicals have sacrificed the souls of young victims.”

Protestant organizations also suffer from covering up sexual abuse. Protestant Mission agencies especially (where abuse is most prevalent) often don’t report abuse because they fear being barred from working in foreign countries. Abusers will get sent home and might join another agency. What data they have released shows 25 percent that are put out of the mission program for good are repeat cases.

Many religious leaders of all denominations and non-denomination discourage whistle-blowing by condemning it as gossip in order to try to keep people from reporting abuse. People of the church are told to protect the reputation of Jesus. I do not think Jesus wants his reputation protected by committing a crime and encouraging people to lie.

Frankly, I do not understand why the Catholic Church has taken a well-deserved beating in the courts and in the court of public opinion as former altar boys, orphans and ordinary parishioners come forward with appalling stories of sex abuse. Yet, equally horrendous violations by Protestant clergy fail to generate the same level of outrage.

Maybe it is because the Catholic Church is thought of as one monolithic entity. Maybe it is because the Catholic Church is a centralized hierarchy which makes Catholic offenders easier to sue and guarantees deep pockets. The lawsuits in turn generate their own news cycle and bring victims out of the closet. Maybe it is because most Americans are Protestants; the Catholic sex abuse scandal is a story about "them" and Protestant sex abuse is a story about "us," which makes it less gratifying and more uncomfortable. Maybe it is because most Americans find the idea of celibacy peculiar. It makes for a more interesting narrative than a generic story about abuse of authority. I am sure there could be many other reasons such as jealousy, prejudices, ignorance and just plan evil.

Sexual abuse is a crime regardless of who the violator is and should be punished to the fullest extent of the law. Sadly, we have a long way to go to solve the problem if a solution is even possible. But, I beg the leaders of all churches, denominations and religious organizations to not cover it up – let justice for those violated occur!

Mapecon "The Christian" extermination company in the Philippines.

I have had Mapecon's service for eight years in Davao, Philippines. The chemical work and the service technicians do an excellent job. They are the reason I have stuck out eight miserable years with an office staff and branch manager that does not know the meaning of SERVICE.

Until this year I had monthly service. They were suppose to come the second Thursday of each month before nine o'clock. That never happen! You call and call and call. Eventually they may get out the last day of the month at 4p.m.  Yes, they really expect you to sit home day after day and wait on them.

Service begins at the top and I guess because the office staff is around the branch manager all day the staff sees that he does not care about service so they do not either. Now the technicians are out in the field all day and are not exposed to the branch manager so they are not polluted or contaminated by him.

I changed to every other month because I got tired of dealing with them monthly. I spend more time trying to get them to come out now than ever before.

They were suppose to have come in November and I have not seen them regardless of the times I have called. They have missed two of the scheduled visits. That means I paid for two services on the yearly contract that I did not get.

Christian company  as they advertise! I do not think so because I would think a Christian company would keep its promises!

Does someone not sell a computer program that allows an exterminator to keep up with their schedule? If so why not sell one to Mapecon Davao.

I would not recommend Mapecon to anyone it is not worth the headache to get them to do what they contracted to do!

At what age are children old enough to take communion?

 

Churches such as Methodist, Presbyterian and some nondenominational churches believe that children should not be excluded from Communion because it sends the wrong message to children. They suggest that Jesus forbid the exclusion of children from His presence, so excluding children from the communion table says they are unwelcome and unloved by God.

The Catholic Church says that children can understand that communion is a mystery and should be taken with understanding, much as the position Paul took in 1 Corinthians 11:27-29, “So if anyone eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord unworthily, that person is guilty of sinning against the body and the blood of the Lord. That is why you should examine yourself before eating the bread and drinking from the cup. For if you eat the bread or drink the cup unworthily, not honoring the body of Christ, you are eating and drinking God’s judgement upon yourself.”

I do not think children that are unable to comprehend the meaning of communion should be allowed to take communion. I believe if children don’t feel they are excluded from God, it is possible that excluding them from participation at the communion table can create a healthy spirit of anticipation for later inclusion in the sacrament. Churches who believe that children should understand the sacrament before taking their first communion can encourage parents to educate their child about the sacrament, provide classes that educate children or include an explanation prior to communion and in kids’ Sunday school classes.

Some say parents should decide when their child is capable of understanding why we celebrate communion. I do not agree with that because some parents are irresponsible in taking communion themselves. It is naïve for us to think that all parents partake of communion with the right attitude. I know of people that took communion from me that took it because they would be embarrassed not to and in reality they should not have been taking it.

I have had parents in my parish tell me I have told my child when they feel they are old enough to date, drink, smoke, have sex or use drugs they can as long as they tell me in advance. I have had parents tell me I have told my child if they are going to have sex, drink, smoke or use drugs I would prefer they do it in our home. Do we want these same parents allowing their children to make the decision as to when they should take communion? I don’t think so.

I read of a man that stated, “I have been talking about our child taking communion extensively with a friend of mine. We both have daughters who are three years old. His daughter has not yet expressed an interest in taking communion. Mine has, and we have decided to allow her to participate. My friend has a real hang up about this, believing that communion is solely for those who have already made a decision to trust in Christ. I have studied the Scriptures carefully, and there seems to be nothing directly on point that would prevent our child from taking communion. Besides Jewish children in the O.T. and today partake of the Passover meal and that is similar to communion. They both are to teach about what God has done for us.”  This statement is a perfect example of why I do not want the church to allow parents to make the decision as to what age is appropriate for their child to take communion.

I cannot find an example in the New Testament where a child or a non-Christian took the Lord’s Supper. Unlike the Passover, which was eaten by the household, the Lord’s Supper was taken when the Christians gathered together to form the body of Christ. Since the Lord’s Supper is for Christians it excludes our children from partaking of it. The reason I say this is because under the New Covenant we must choose to become a Christian it is not a birthright. To choose to follow Christ implies we know what we are doing. The Passover was a command of God that the Jews were obligated to follow and under the New Covenant we are not obligated to follow Christ or take communion.

We are supposed to partake of communion in remembrance of Jesus. Just as the Passover was a reminder to the Jews of how death passed over them, which led to their freedom from slavery, the Lord’s Supper reminds us of how Jesus made eternal salvation possible for us by becoming the perfect sacrifice on the cross so we could have freedom from the bondage of sin.

When we partake of the Lord’s Supper, we proclaim His death until He comes again. Even when our children do not partake of the Lord’s Supper, when they see us partaken of it every week, they most likely will eventually ask us why we do it, and we can use that opportunity to teach them about what it represents without them partaking of it. If they do not ask we should tell them. Remember, they are not commanded to partake of it like the Jewish children were commanded to partake of the Passover.

Young children can go through motions of eating the bread and drinking the fruit of the vine, but I do not think they can fully understand what they are doing or why they are doing it. If I am correct then how can they be taking communion in a worthy manner? If they are old enough to understand the significance of the communion and everything that goes with it, then they are old enough to make a decision to become a Christian.

While we can learn much from the Old Testament, we cannot use it to justify what we do under the New Testament. The Jews under the Old Testament were commanded to observe the Passover with their household, but Christians are commanded to partake of the Lord’s Supper together when they worship God on the first day of the week. While we should encourage our children to pray, give, sing, and listen to the priest or preacher, we must not allow them partake of communion until they become Christians because they need to know what they are doing so they can partake of it in a worthy manner.

I also believe that communion has an element of ‘unity’ in it and if a child cannot understand that Christ wants ‘unity’ in the church (body of Christ) then what is the point in their taking communion with the rest of the members. Perhaps the reason the church lacks ‘unity’ is because the parents do not understand that communion is also a symbol of ‘unity’ among the church family.

Some say that a person should not take communion unless they have been baptized. I realize some churches require baptism prior to communion and as a general rule I have no problem with that, but it is not stated in Scripture that a person must be baptized before being able to receive communion. The Lord's Supper was instituted by Jesus with His disciples the evening before His crucifixion (Matthew 26:20-28). In Matthew 28:19, after our Lord's death and resurrection, He gave the Great Commission to His disciples to go into the entire world and teach His Gospel, followed with the command to also baptize the new believers.

Communion is only to be taken by believers in Jesus Christ. Baptism is intended to be an identifying mark of believers in Christ. Therefore, some churches require water baptism before a person can partake of the Lord's Supper. However, again, Scripture nowhere gives us this instruction.

Personally I would prefer baptism prior to communion, but my heart tells me that anyone who confesses faith in Jesus should be free to participate in the unifying celebration of communion. The Catholic Church requires baptism prior to communion and I certainly do not fault that view and if I were not retired I would enforce that rule.

 

Democracy - Oligarchy - Caste System?

I had a blog in 2011 and I stopped writing it and deleted most of the writings. I did it because I wrote an article that offended a newspaper reporter and an attack on me began. I said nothing in that blog that I had not heard Filipino friends say and that I had not heard on television or read in newspapers. I had been warned that foreigners do not have a voice in the Philippines and I foolishly ignored the warning. Now I am afraid that I am about to step into it again, but it is hard for me to ignore discrimination or injustice.

It may not be called a caste system, but in my opinion there is a caste system in the Philippines. I guess I should not let it bother me since it does not appear to bother Filipino’s, but it does.

The Philippines certainly is not India, but there is a distinction made between rich and poor, educated and uneducated, titled and untitled and having the right surname certainly will get you a lot of respect and privileges you may not deserve.

If you ask you will be told that the Philippines is a democracy, but I think oligarchy would best define it because it is well known and obvious that power is in the hands of a small exclusive class. This exclusive class are the rich.

I think people in the West would be surprised at how many Filipino’s have college educations. A college degree is no longer reserved for the rich. But, a college degree is not a guarantee that you will move up the social ladder. Most working in mall retail shops have a college degree. If you are from the right family and have a degree you will naturally go farther than if you are not. Your family connections are usually more important than your degree.

The uneducated are happy to get a job in farming or as maids, drivers, or child care provider. 

I have not and will not accept the cultural tradition that those who work for me should not eat at the table with me, eat at the same time I do, sit in the living room with me and watch television or carry on a conversation. They do not even want to enter through the front door because they think it disrespects me in front of my neighbors. My being a Christian and being a retired priest will not allow me to discriminate or disrespect anyone in that manner.

The Vice President of the country is looked down upon by some because of his dark skin. That reminds me of blacks in the United States who at one time thought the shade of their skin mattered. During the slave period dark skin blacks were not selected to work in the Masters house they were selected to do field work.  I have even heard some discouraging remarks made about Filipino-Chinese, but it appears to me that the Filipino-Chinese are the ones with the most money so that may be more jealousy than discrimination.

When I first moved to Davao the local bank employees told me that I did not have to wait in line or take a number. I could just walk directly to the counter. I had noticed that some people walked in and went directly to the counter while we all waited and it disturbed me, but I said nothing. Then when I was told I could do the same I became upset. I ask to speak to a bank officer and I ask why this was allowed. He laughed and said that is just the way we do it in the Philippines and you will get used to it. I have not gotten used to it and I continue to take a number and wait my turn.

This became an issue for me again when I ask a neighbor why they did not visit me anymore. They seem shocked that I ask and appeared to be embarrassed. I guess they thought the question made them lose face and that is another thing you do not do to a Filipino no matter how wrong he or she may be. I ask had I done anything to offend them and at first they said no. I kept insisting on them to tell me what the problem was and if I could fix it I would. They went on to explain to me they did not like it that I treated my ‘caregiver’ and ‘housekeeper’ as family or friends. I stood up and told them it was nice knowing them, but that was something I was not willing to change or fix for them or anyone else. I will love those Filipino neighbors from a distance from now on.

These neighbors call themselves devout Catholics and they are active in the church, and friends with all the priest in the parish, but obviously they do not know that Pope Francis warned the hierarchy of the church not to be “a closed caste” but to lead in reaching out to all who are rejected by society and the church. I would think the Pope intends for the laity to do the same.

The Philippines is a Catholic Nation and a Catholic should not accept or participate in a caste system regardless of what you may call it. If they do they are not being faithful to the teachings of Christ or the Catholic Church.

Pope John Paul II told visiting Roman Catholic bishops from India that Christians must reject divisions based on caste, saying any type of prejudices towards people violates authentic human solidarity and is a threat to genuine spirituality. Pope John Paul II also said customs or traditions that perpetuate or reinforce caste division or prejudices should be reformed. Are some groups of humans inherently superior to other groups? Not in God’s eyes.

The Jehovah Witness' strive not to participate in a class system. They recognize that social classes have no place in the eyes of God. Therefore, they have no clergy/laity division, and they are not segregated according to skin color or wealth. Although some of them may be wealthy, they do not focus on “the showy display of one’s means of life.”

Every Jehovah Witness accepts the responsibility to share in the work of preaching the good news of the Kingdom to his or her fellowman. Like Jesus, they honor the downtrodden and neglected by visiting them in their homes, offering to teach them God’s Word. Those with a humble status in life work side by side with those who may be viewed by some as upper class. It is spiritual qualities that count, not social class. As in the first century, all are brothers and sisters in the faith. We could all learn from them when it comes to discrimination.

The liberal Democrats in the United States are desperately trying to encourage class warfare in preparation for the 2016 election. The United States imagines itself as a classless society, based on a faith in natural equality – that all are “born equal. Even if there are wide inequalities in income, wealth or education, the bowing and scraping before the ‘upper classes, is completely unknown. Accusations of “elitism” are especially damaging in a culture that instinctively rejects the idea that certain people are born to rule, and others to be ruled.

In a self-defined classless society, people will naturally not want to separate themselves from their fellow citizens. That is why, according to Pew, almost nine in ten Americans define themselves as ‘middle-class’.

At its best, America displays the culture of a true civic republic in which, every individual can “speak their minds, walk tall among their fellows, and look each other squarely in the eye.” Somebody once remarked that the only thing different about rich people in America is that they have more money. They may be better off: but they are not better. This means that a certain respect is accorded to everybody, whether they are tending pumps in a gas station or moving millions on Wall Street. “Disrespecting” somebody is a social crime in a classless republic.

I was shocked at the pedestal priest are put on in the Philippines. That is not the case in the United States. If the priest says or does something the people do not like or agree with they have no problem telling him. Wearing a clerical collar does not guarantee respect in the United States and that is the way it should be.

 No doubt, American classlessness is overstated. But it remains real to some extent, but I am beginning to wonder if it will last. It appears that Democrats see creating division among the classes as a means to get votes. There is most definitely a lower class - middle class - upper class, but movement between the classes is allowed and I do not see that ending. With hard work - education - determination - you can move all the way up. Republican candidates for President in 2016 Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz and Dr. Carson all came from poor families. Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz parents were immigrants with Cuban heritage. 

Since I have no intention of returning to the United States and I now think of the Philippines as my home I will have to accept the cultural differences, but that does not mean I have to adopt them.

 

Don't let Thanksgiving lose its true meaning?

I have lived abroad now for over ten years and I do okay until the first of November. On the first of November I begin to think about the Thanksgivings we celebrated in America. I do not know if I miss the family or the food the most. By the time Thanksgiving arrives I have dreamed of turkey, fruit salad/coconut, fresh green beans, baked ham, candied yams, pumpkin pie, pecan pie, potato salad that is not lumpy, squash casserole, homemade rolls, mashed potatoes, cranberries, stuffing/dressing and sweeten tea so many times I have had to change the pillow case ten to twenty times because I have salivated on my pillow every night.  

Each year I go through the same grieving process. It is as if my best friend has died. I know intellectually it is coming and I tell myself every year I will not let it get me down. I will get up and go about my day like all the natives of my new home who do not celebrate Thanksgiving.  It will be just another day of the year, but then the Monday before Thanksgiving arrives and the emotions begin to get the best of me.

Thanksgiving is the one holiday that defines America as a nation. It is the one day when the men of the house have no expectations except to relax and eat. Thanksgiving is the day we can eat all we want and not feel guilty. We tell ourselves New Year is just around the corner and we will make a New Year resolution to diet or exercise. Sorry ladies it is a day of long hours and hard work for you, but you know you love it. It is the day you can really show off your cooking talents to family and friends. We love you for it!

I think Thanksgiving should be an international holiday. Doesn’t every man in the world need a day to relax, eat all they want and have no expectations placed upon them.

I try to console myself by thinking of all the poor people working in retail in America that will not have the opportunity to celebrate Thanksgiving because of their greedy employers. Retail workers across the country will have to work and most have no choice in the matter. There is no mandatory paid vacation in the United States, meaning that employees could be threatened with firings if they choose to take Thanksgiving off to spend with their families. Some retailers like Kmart, refuse to make accommodations for employees’ holiday schedules. Last year, Target threatened to fire employees who took off for Thanksgiving.

Sadly because of changes in society some families have forgotten why the day was established. Its meaning has slowly deteriorated, and is now almost completely lost under a cloud of media hype, sales pitches, marketing tactics and commercialism. My oldest sister never allowed our family to lose sight of the real meaning of Thanksgiving.

I would like to take a moment to remind those American families that have forgotten and let my new friends in the Philippines know how Thanksgiving originated.

In August 1620, the Mayflower, a 180-ton ship, set sail from Southampton, England with 102 passengers they would become some of the founding pilgrims of the United States of America, and the initiators of one of this nation’s most popular holidays.

After weeks on rough Atlantic waters, battling strong winds, pounding waves and a number of problems with their vessel, the pilgrims spotted Cape Cod, off the coast of Massachusetts. The storm was so strong that they did not land at their intended destination. Their intended location was off the Virginia coast, where other pilgrims had begun colonies.

Before anchoring at Plymouth Rock and disembarking to explore the territory, the pilgrims devised the “Mayflower Compact.” This was to serve as the basis for governing their new colony, where all would have the freedom to worship God as they chose.

The compact stated, “We whose names are underwritten, the loyal subjects of our dread sovereign lord King James…Having undertaken, for the glory of God, and advancement of the Christian faith, and honor of our king and country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern parts of Virginia, do by these presents solemnly and mutually in the presence of God and one of another, covenant, and combine ourselves together into a civil body politic, for our better ordering and preservation, and furtherance of the ends aforesaid; and by virtue hereof to enact, constitute, and frame such just and equal laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions, offices from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general good of the colony: unto which we promise all due submission and obedience...”

The next few months would prove to be difficult. More than half of the original pilgrims did not survive the first, long cold New England winter. Often, two or three people would die in one day due to infection and sickness.

But, with the approaching of spring came new hope. The survivors built homes and planted crops. They made friendships with local Indian tribes, and traded with them. The passing of winter allowed the pilgrims to labor and produce and the colony flourished.

After reaping their first harvest in the fall of 1621, the pilgrims dedicated a day for thanking God for the bounty with which He had blessed them. They were at peace with their neighbors and they were especially grateful for their harvest. This allowed them to gather and store food and crops for the long cold winter ahead.

Their governor, William Bradford, proclaimed a day of thanksgiving toward God. They prepared a great feast to enjoy with family and friends from within the colony and with neighboring Indian tribes.

The following quotes from America’s God and Country demonstrate Bradford’s and the colony’s thankfulness for God’s protection and blessings: “Being thus arrived in a good harbor, and brought safe to land, they fell upon their knees and blessed the God of Heaven who had brought them over the vast and furious ocean, and delivered them from all the perils and miseries thereof, again to set their feet on the firm and stable earth, their proper element. Thus out of small beginnings greater things have been produced by His hand that made all things of nothing, and gives being to all things that are; and, as one small candle may light a thousand, so the light here kindled hath shone unto many, yea in some sort to our whole nation; let the glorious name of God have all the praise”.

Clearly, pilgrims of the Plymouth colony gave God credit for all that they had. Notice the many references to God, and their acknowledgement of how He granted them so many blessings. The pilgrim’s beliefs were firmly entrenched in the realization of God’s presence and intervention in their everyday lives. Thanksgiving Day began because of this belief. It is a day dedicated to giving thanks to God for the many things we often take for granted.

Over the years, many colonies did keep Thanksgiving, but they kept various other days of thanksgiving, at different times of the year. It is a popular misconception that the pilgrims kept Thanksgiving on the same day each year following the first celebration in 1621 and that the other colonies began keeping that same day. In fact, it was a tradition always used to highlight and show gratitude for important events, such as bountiful harvests, victories in battle, etc. Whenever these took place, the colony called for the celebration of a day of thanksgiving.

In the late 1700s, during the American Revolution, the Continental Congresses suggested the yearly observance of a day of national thanksgiving, in hopes to unite factious states.

In 1817, the state of New York adopted Thanksgiving Day as an annual holiday. By the mid-1800s, other states likewise adopted the practice. In 1863, President Lincoln appointed it as a national holiday, and gave a Thanksgiving proclamation. Each president since then has issued a proclamation, announcing the celebration of this day.

Although most ancient harvest festivals were usually influenced by paganism, history shows Thanksgiving Day as practiced in North America was unique. The originators of this day focused upon giving thanks for an abundant harvest, sorely needed for survival. Being centered on giving thanks to the Creator is a major distinction in origin that separates Thanksgiving Day from holidays tainted with pagan origins.

The pilgrims could never have imagined that America would become the global power it is today. The U.S. has continuously been at the forefront of economic prosperity, medical science, technology, food production and space exploration. Its citizens enjoy the freedoms of religion and speech. It is country known for its charitable works.

Yet Americans over the last two decades seem to be slowly forgetting where these blessings come from. Some seem to also be forgetting that there are conditions to receiving God’s blessings. The condition is obedience to God!

 Americans enjoy many blessings that others in the world do not enjoy and we should always be grateful and give thanks to God for them. Before the younger generations lose sight of God’s blessings upon America they had better study the history of Rome, Greece, Egypt, England, Portuguese, Spain and France.

As Thanksgiving Day approaches consider the many wonderful blessings you enjoy. Be grateful for these wonderful benefits. Realize that these material blessings were not given to us because of anything we have done—we do not deserve them. God has bestowed them on us—simply because of His mercy.

Before you and your family enjoy Thanksgiving dinner, or begin watching a parade or football game, be sure to take time to truly thank God in prayer for the national wealth, power and prestige God has given the United States.

I am also thankful that my sister always made sure Thanksgiving was a family day that included our offering thanks to God.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO THE PEOPLE OF THE WORLD!

 

 

Why do Filipinos ask are you Catholic or Christian?

 

Catholicism is a denomination, and is, therefore, a subset of Christianity. All Catholics are Christians, but not all Christians are Catholics. A Christian refers to a follower of Jesus Christ who may be a Catholic, Protestant, Gnostic, Mormon, Evangelical, Anglican or Orthodox, or follower of another branch of the Christian religion.

Once again I had a man ring my door bell and when I went to the gate he said, “Sir, are you Catholic or a Christian.” My reply, “Sir I am a Christian Catholic.”

The Catholic Church is the largest of the Christian Churches - about 60% of Christians are Catholic. Catholics are expected to participate in the liturgical life, celebrate and revere Jesus' sacrifice on the cross and celebrate seven sacraments Baptism, Eucharist, Confirmation, Matrimony, Anointing of Sick, Holy Orders and Confession.

Catholics use the same Bible as Protestant Christian, but we do have some additional books.  The Catholic Church protected the Bible across the ages until the Gutenberg press was invented in the 16th century. There was no Bible until 397 when the Catholic Church decided on what books belong there. Before that there were hundreds of letters and the Septuagint. Even the word Bible is not in the Bible. It was coined by Catholics. It means books.  We believe in the Virgin Birth. We acknowledge the resurrection of Christ. We believe in the ascension of Jesus Christ. We believe in the second coming of Christ. We even celebrate Mass (services) every day of the week not just one, two or three times a week. We believe that mankind needs forgiveness of sins and the Father sent his Son to save humanity from sin. We believe in eternal life, hell and heaven. We believe Jesus Christ made salvation possible. We believe in the Ten Commandments. We believe in the Trinity - Father, Son and Holy Spirit – one God.  "Trinity" is a Catholic doctrine that predates the Evangelical community by 1200 years. That word isn't even in the Bible.

When I first came to the Philippines ten years ago I had to scratch my head for a few moments because it never occurred to me that some people didn't think Catholics are Christian. I did not know if Catholics in the Philippines were being taught they were not Christians or that Protestants in the Philippines were teaching that Catholics were not Christian. I have a big problem with any organization that says "Catholics are not Christians," because they are ignoring the history of Christianity. The name Christian predates all Protestant and Evangelical Churches by over a millennium.

The Bible didn't fall out of the sky, spiral bound with a King James Version sticker on it. It has a rich Catholic history.

I even had one ask me if you are Christian then why do you say you are Catholic. That is when I started saying I am a ‘Christian Catholic’. But, to that person and other like him I ask you why do Protestant Christians say they are Baptists, Pentecostals, United, Methodist, or even nondenominational instead of simply saying I am a Christian? The word Catholic was used by the year 110 A.D. to distinguish the Church of the Apostles from heretical teachings. It means ‘universal’.

The modern Evangelical movement is a result of numerous splits that occurred after the Reformation, in the 1500's. Protestant is a word that came from some Christians protesting the teachings and rules of the Catholic Church. The only other Churches not to be in union with Rome before that are the Orthodox Church which split off in 1054 A.D.  For over 1000 years there was only one Church – the Catholic Church. Whether or not someone agrees with Catholic doctrine is their choice. But all who look at history honestly will admit that Catholics are clearly Christian.

I am disturbed even more by Catholics who will say “I am not a Christian, I am Catholic.”  There are Catholics living on my street that say that. To many Catholics, the terms “Christian” and “Protestant” are synonymous.

I am not saying that Catholics and Protestant interpret the Bible the same way. I am not saying all their doctrines agree. I am not saying Catholics and Protestants are in complete unity regarding their teachings. I am not saying Catholics are right or Protestants are right. I am not saying Catholics are wrong or Protestants are wrong. Quite honestly, I think both are right on some issues and wrong on some issues. I do not agree with all the doctrine of any ‘denomination’.

The Roman Catholic Church is indeed a Christian Church, and Roman Catholics are Christians. I agree with Alan Schreck when he says, “Satan has been able to use lack of understanding (both among Catholics and others) to divide Christians from one another and to divert their attention and energies away from proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ and advancing his kingdom on earth.”

Some Christians believe:

•Roman Catholics don’t believe that Jesus is raised from the dead - some people mistakenly think this because of the prominence of the crucifix in Roman Catholic Churches

Some Christians believe:

•Roman Catholics worship Mary and other saints. If any Catholics are they are not following the doctrine of the Catholic Church.

Some Christians believe:

•Roman Catholics believe they can save themselves apart from the work of Christ.

Some Christians believe:

•Roman Catholics believe that only Roman Catholics are saved.

I suggest before you start evangelizing for your denomination and trying to covert Catholics to Protestants you know what Catholics believe, not what you have been told they believe! I would give the same warning to Catholics, but frankly I unfortunately do not know any Catholics that try to get people to attend church with them.