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I just watched this a moving short film from the Doorpost film contest.  The film tells the tale of three people at three different times in history.  These three have in common the question of what it is to be human and can one individual make a choice for humanity, even if it means going against the accepted grain of that society.  Enjoy;)

http://www.thedoorpost.com/...

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A couple of new studies confirm that believers are better able to cope with illnesses.  Since they seem better equipped to deal with depression and stress.

http://health.usnews.com/ar...

http://www.americanheart.or...

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Thanksgiving: The National Holy-day

Fr. George Morelli

Chaplain's Corner

For all practical purposes, Thanksgiving Day is the closest we come to a National Holyday in the United States. Historically, it has been celebrated with everything from religious thankfulness, food, frolic and of course modern commercialism. Despite this, it is still a time for many Americans to ‘count their blessings’ and get together with family and/or friends.

Sometimes our approach to life stops us from ‘counting our blessings and giving thanksgiving to God. Psychologists call this pessimism. It is the belief that “bad events will undermine everything they do.” (Seligman, 1990). It is like always seeing the cup ‘half empty’. Those with optimism, confronted with “hard knocks” approach them as a challenge and try harder. Optimists tend to see the cup ‘half full’. They are thankful for what they have and work harder.

Common to our American national heritage is the action of our first president, George Washington who in 1789 declared a national thanksgiving holiday honoring the newly ratified Constitution, proclaiming: the people could thank God for "affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness."

Thanksgiving is part of many religious traditions: St. Paul told the Romans (14:5-6): ”One man esteems one day as better than another, while another man esteems all days alike. Let every one be fully convinced in his own mind. He who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. He also who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God;” The psalmist tells us: “All thy works shall give thanks to thee, O Lord, and all thy saints shall bless thee! (Ps 145:10). The Koran states: "And He gives you all that ye ask for. But if you count the favors of God, never would you be able to number them" (14:34). A Native American Iroquois thanksgiving prayer ends with the words: “we return thanks to the Great Spirit, in whom is embodied all goodness, and who directs all things for the good of his children.”

Some have taken the words of Deuteronomy (26:10) “I bring the first of the fruit of the ground, which thou, O Lord, hast given me.' And you shall set it down before the Lord your God, and worship before the Lord your God”, and applied this as an offering to God of themselves. They forgo being with family and friends and give themselves to others in need, serving in food kitchens and the like.

However we commemorate this Holyday, let us see the fullness of the cup of gifts God has given us, and be thankful praying: “Glory to thee, who hast called me to life, … revealed to us the beauty of the universe … Glory to thee O’ God in ages!” (Akathist of Thanksgiving, Metropolitan Tryphon of Turkestan).

REFERENCES

Seligman, M.E.P. (1990). Learned Optimism. NY: Pocket Books.

V. Rev. Fr. George Morelli Ph.D. is a licensed Clinical Psychologist and Marriage and Family Therapist, Coordinator of the Chaplaincy and Pastoral Counseling Ministry of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese, (www.antiochian.org/counseling-ministries) and Religion Coordinator (and Antiochian Archdiocesan Liaison) of the Orthodox Christian Association of Medicine, Psychology and Religion. Fr. George is Assistant Pastor of St. George's Antiochian Orthodox Church, San Diego, California.

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Tomorrow is Thanksgiving when our nation gives thanks to God for His many blessings.  It is also a good psychological and spiritual practice to make a "Thankfulness List." that helps us remember the good things in our life.  So what are you grateful for this Thanksgiving holiday?

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Moral Tradition and the Assault of Gay Activists

Fr. Johannes L. Jacobse

It used to be that when the voters settled on something — even twice, the matter was decided. No more. Proposition 8, the bitterly fought constitutional amendment restricting marriage to one man and one woman that squeaked by in California recently, needs to be "overturned" — or so the homosexual activists tell us.

Overturn a constitutional amendment? If judges can overturn the amendment, then effectively we have no constitution and we will be governed by the whims of a non-elected judiciary. Say goodbye to the constitutional republic.

The call reveals something that the critics of homosexual activism see clearly: many in the movement embrace lawlessness. They are, to use a modern twist on an old philosophical term, anti-nomian — (against the law). But it's not merely the legal culture they hold in contempt. It goes deeper.

The tradition of American civil rights is a noble — and fragile — enterprise grounded in the belief that all people have inherent rights. "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights…" Truths? Created? Creator? Almost makes you think the American Founders believed that God exists and that rights flowed from Him.

This declaration is a moral precept grounded in centuries of Western history. But as the Founders and countless others understood, any claim of rights must have at their source the belief that man indeed possesses "inalienable rights." Religion, in other words, is the wellspring of the morality that shapes and guides the culture. In our world, Christianity (and Judaism through it) is that wellspring.

Human rights then, depend on a religion that serves as the source of a shared moral tradition and shapes a consensus on basic matters of right and wrong. If that tradition is abandoned the consensus shatters, and our ideas of what constitutes a human right are shorn from their moral moorings. (Think a moral tradition doesn't matter? Reflect on Islam and see how its notions of rights differ from ours. Not religious? Think of the blood spilled over Nazism, Marxism, and other utopian replacements.)

Homosexuals are, of course, afforded the same rights as any other American. What makes the American experiment so valuable is that one need not be a practicing Christian or Jew to be accorded these rights. One can be a hostile to all things religious and still make a claim to "inalienable rights," and still be protected by them.

So what explains the aggression of homosexual activists especially toward churches in California and elsewhere? Is it just because they lost the vote or is something else at work?

The homosexual lobby argued that marriage is a fundamental right denied to homosexual couples. They overlook the fact that homosexuals already have the "right" to marry. They just can't marry a member of the same sex, just as a man can't marry multiple women, a woman multiple men, a father to a daughter, a brother to a sister, and so forth. Nothing is "denied" to them that is not denied to everyone else.

"Unfair" they protested and indeed it is. But fairness to those who seek new definitions of marriage is not a concern of the moral tradition. There are compelling reasons why the convention is what it is (children need both a mother and father being one of them), and tinkering with it fosters even greater instability and suffering — as the epidemic of broken heterosexual marriages attest.

The fact that the prohibition against homosexual marriage is grounded in the moral tradition is not lost on the activists. That's why they attack churches. Churches are the cultural institutions that represent that enduring tradition. (It's not lost on the Black community either. Most Blacks resent that the language of the Civil Rights Movement was hijacked by the homosexual lobby — 70% voted to uphold traditional marriage.)

Moreover, the aggression against these religious institutions reveals the dark underside of the movement and forces cultural "moderates" to face a stark truth: the homosexual marriage movement is not really about marriage. It's not even about "fairness." It's about forcing moral parity for homosexual behavior in the culture. Wear down the institutions and you can homosexualize the culture, the activists believe (taking a page from Gramsci's playbook). Sound far-fetched? Ask yourself why they attacked the Boy Scouts.

The attacks against the churches reveal a deep antipathy towards the moral tradition. It's anti-nomian in the deepest sense of the term: a revolt against the moral ground of culture and thus against the culture itself. This chaotic disordering — this demand that the moral and civic order be subjugated to homosexual desire — is of the same spirit that we see in the biblical story of Sodom and Gomorrah.

On a more fundamental level, the revolt is an internal antipathy externalized. The activists believe that their interior disquiet arises from prejudice in the society, rather than from within themselves (thank you Jean-Jacques). Silencing the churches attempts to silence the tradition that regards homosexual behavior as sinful. This, in turn, might silence the "this is wrong" that still rings deep, if dimly, in the conscience.

Unbridled sexual desire often drives anti-nomianism, especially in our age where the desire is defined as a constituent of self-identity ("I rut, therefore I am" — just ask Madonna and cohorts; "I am what I feel" — just ask Oprah and cohorts). In this climate, any talk about homosexuality as "sin" is strictly forbidden. When the unlawful becomes lawful however, watch out. More comes crashing down than what you bargained for.

Fr. Johannes L. Jacobse is a priest in the Antiochian Orthodox Church. He is president of the American Orthodox Institute and edits the website OrthodoxyToday.org. Fr. Jacobse is available for talks through the Orthodox Speakers Bureau.

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Does anyone know of any used book and DVD dealers that will pay cash in Bakersfield anymore?  I have a stack of stuff to clear off my book shelf.  Thanks in advance.

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In response to the Parish Priest who advised that those who are condoning the Abortion Holocaust should refrain from approaching Holy Communion; many Roman Catholic Bishops responded with admiration and support.

http://www.lifesitenews.com...

A few secularist claim that this is a violation of church and state.  They are wrong as the the Parish Priest and Bishops were advising their faithful in accordance with the traditions of their faith.  Attempts to threaten their tax free statues would be the true violation of church and state.  The reason religious confessing parties have a tax free statues is so the government can not be use taxes to force compliance on a religious body like it is common is Muslim occupied countries,

In the same line Roman Catholic Bishops admonished Obama that he not reward his Planned Parent Hood backers with forcing through inhuman anti-life legislation and executive orders.

http://www.lifesitenews.com...

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Yet another assault on other peoples religious freedoms.  Gay activist disrupt a Michigan Churches service.  What is next burning crosses in peoples yards?

http://www.catholicnewsagen... 

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I think I started blogging here in 2007.  It has always amazed me the things people believed and repeat with no thought of their truth.  Since I started blogging a lot of myths have either never been proven or simply pr oven wrong.  The topic of this blog is to list how many untruths that have been widely spread on these blogs have been shown to be wrong.  Hopefully this will encourage critical thought and dialogs instead of parroting and conformity.

Here is a few to start us off:

1.  The US is a Christian country controlled by a cabal of right wing evangelicals.

2.  The war on Iraq is really a Christian Crusade.

3.  The war on Iraq is really all about oil.

4.  Drug problems would be solved if they only legalized them.

5.  Illegal aliens are sub human.

6.  Gay marriage is really a civil rights issue. 

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1. Learn to work the toilet seat. You're a big girl. If it's up, put it down. We need it up, you need it down. You don't hear us complaining about you leaving it down.

1. Sunday sports. It's like the full moon or the changing of the tides. Let it be.

1. Shopping is NOT a sport. And no, we are never going to think of it that way.

1. Crying is blackmail.

1. Ask for what you want. Let us be clear on this one: Subtle hints do not work! Strong hints do not work! Obvious hints do not work! Just say it!

1. Yes and No are perfectly acceptable answers to almost every question.

1. Come to us with a problem only if you want help solving it. That's what we do. Sympathy is what your girlfriends are for.

1. A headache that lasts for 17 months is a problem. See a doctor.

1. Anything we said 6 months ago is inadmissible in an argument. In fact, all comments become null and void after 7 days.

1. If you won't dress like the Victoria's Secret girls, don't expect us to act like soap opera guys.

1. If you think you're fat, you probably are. Don't ask us.

1. If something we said can be interpreted two ways and one of the ways makes you sad or angry, we meant the other one.

1. You can either ask us to do something or tell us how you want it done. Not both. If you already know best how to do it, just do it yourself.

1. Whenever possible, please say whatever you have to say during commercials.

1. Christopher Columbus did not need directions and neither do we.

1. ALL men see in only 16 colors, like windows default settings. Peach, for example, is a fruit, not a color. Pumpkin is also a fruit. We have no idea what mauve is.

1. If it itches, it will be scratched. We do that.

1. If we ask what is wrong and you say "nothing," we will act like nothing's wrong. We know you are lying, but it is just not worth the hassle.

1. If you ask a question you don't want an answer to, expect an answer you don't want to hear.

1. When we have to go somewhere, absolutely anything you wear is fine... Really.

1. Don't ask us what we're thinking about unless you are prepared to discuss such topics as baseball, the shotgun formation, or monster trucks.

1. You have enough clothes.

1. You have too many shoes.

1. I am in shape. Round is a shape.

1. Thank you for reading this. Yes, I know, I have to sleep on the couch tonight; but did you know men really don't mind that? It's like camping

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So much for respect for the democratic process, freedom of speech, tolerance and civil rights.  A shocking video shows an angry mob of anti Prop 8 protesters attacking a little old lady and desecrating a Cross in Palm Springs.  I am as tired of hearing from the anti-marriage crowd as anyone ,but this is simply beastly and ridiculous.

http://www.lifesitenews.com...

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In this blogs we often encounter a lot of intolerance from those who claim to be progressive.  But what of the good ole' fashion bigots.  This article says that White Supremacist groups are going upscale and targeting the middle class.

  http://www.usatoday.com/new...

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Here is a nice twist on things.  An Anglican think tank donated money to an atheist publicity stunt.  Well as Saint Paul the Apostle says "And know that all things work togather for good to those who love God" Romans 8:28

Keep up the good work guys: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/...

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Here is a amusing and thought provoking article: Seven Things You Can’t Do as a Moral Relativist

by Greg Koukl

So you’ve decided to become a moral relativist. Good for you! What could be better than doing whatever feels right? What could be worse than letting someone tell you what you should and shouldn’t do? Plus, it’s one of the easiest worldviews to adopt: Just leave everyone else alone and demand that they do the same for you, and you’ll never have to worry again about whether your actions are right or wrong. In fact, there are really only seven things that you can’t do as a moral relativist. Simply follow the rules below, and you’ll be free from absolutes forever!

Rule #1: Relativists Can’t Accuse Others of Wrong-Doing

Relativism makes it impossible to criticize the behavior of others, because relativism ultimately denies that there is such a thing as wrong- doing. In other words, if you believe that morality is a matter of personal definition, then you can’t ever again judge the actions of others. Relativists can’t even object on moral grounds to racism. After all, what sense can be made of the judgment “apartheid is wrong” when spoken by someone who doesn’t believe in right and wrong? What justification is there to intervene? Certainly not human rights, for there are no such things as rights. Relativism is the ultimate pro-choice position because it accepts every personal choice—even the choice to be racist.

Rule #2: Relativists Can’t Complain About the Problem of Evil

The reality of evil in the world is one of the primary objections raised against the existence of God. The argument goes that if God were absolutely powerful and ultimately good, then he would take care of evil. But since evil exists, one of three possible scenarios has to be true: God is too weak to oppose evil, God is too sinister to care about evil, or God simply doesn’t exist. Of course, to advance any one of these arguments means that you also have to believe in evil, which relativists can’t do. In fact, nothing can be called evil—not even the Holocaust—because to do so would be to affirm some sort of moral standard.

Rule #3: Relativists Can’t Place Blame or Accept Praise

The concepts of praise and blame are completely meaningless within relativism because there is no moral standard by which to judge whether something should be applauded or condemned. Without absolutes, nothing is ultimately bad, deplorable, tragic, or worthy of blame. Neither is anything ultimately good, honorable, noble, or worthy of praise. It’s all lost in a twilight zone of moral nothingness. Those claiming to be relativists are almost always inconsistent here (they want to avoid blame but readily accept praise), so be careful!

Rule #4: Relativists Can’t Claim Anything Is Unfair or Unjust

Under relativism, justice and fairness are two concepts that make absolutely no sense whatsoever. First off, the words themselves have no meaning; both suggest that people deserve equal treatment based on an external standard of what is right, and as I have already said several times, relativists can’t believe in right and wrong. Second, there is no such thing as guilt. Justice entails punishing those who are guilty, and guilt depends on blame, which, as I have also already proven, cannot exist.

Rule #5: Relativists Can’t Improve Their Morality

With relativism, moral improvement is impossible. Sure, relativists can change their personal ethics, but they can never become moral people. Moral reform implies some kind of objective rule of conduct as a standard to shoot for. But this rule is exactly what relativists deny. If there is no better way, there can be no improvement. Not only that, but there is no motivation to improve. Relativism destroys the moral impulse that makes people rise above themselves because there is no “above” to rise to. Why change your moral point of view if your current one serves your self-interest and feels good for the time being?

Rule#6: Relativists Can’t Hold Meaningful Moral Discussions

Relativism makes it impossible to discuss morality. What’s there to talk about? An ethical discussion involves comparing the merits of one view with those of another to find out which is best. But if morals are entirely relative and all views are equally valid, then no way of thinking is better than any other. No moral position can be judged adequate or deficient, unreasonable, unacceptable, or even barbaric. In fact, if ethical disputes only make sense when morals are objective, then relativism can only be consistently lived out in silence. You can’t even say, “It’s wrong to push your morality on others.”

Rule #7: Relativists Can’t Promote the Obligation of Tolerance

Finally, there is no tolerance in relativism, because the moral obligation to be tolerant violates the rules. The principle of tolerance is often considered one of the key virtues of relativism. Morals are individual, and so we should tolerate the viewpoints of others by not judging their behavior and attitudes. But it should be obvious that this principle fails through contradiction. If there are no moral rules, there can be no rule that requires tolerance as a moral principle. In fact, if there are no moral absolutes, why be tolerant at all? Why not force your morality on others if it’s in your self-interest and your personal ethics allow it? Just be sure not to speak when doing so.

From: http://www.salvomag.com/new...

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For those who want to research the real issues in Prop 8 here is a great article.  Don't let others tell what you should think.  Read and make your own decisions.

http://www.salvomag.com/new...

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Are those who are campaigning to attack the institution of marriage and family really concerned about civil rights.  How can we claim to be caring people when we want to condemn homosexuals to a life of misery; living a lie.  What of the rights of "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" enshrined in the US Constitution ,but more importantly God sent His only Son to guarantee to those who would be healed of all sickness.  Are we protecting the rights of the most defenseless of our society.  Let us free our minds of ideology for a little bit and ask ourselves some hard ,but honest questions.

 http://www.obamamustsee.com...