j UEFA Club Financial Control Body adjudicatory chamber announces decisions By www.uefa.com Published On :: Wed, 22 May 2013 11:15:00 GMT 029 - Six clubs fulfil conditions set out by CFCB Full Article media releases
j Justice Committee stresses new laws on family breakdowns must be properly funded if they are to help children By www.scottish.parliament.uk Published On :: 2020-05-07 05:45:19 The Scottish Parliament’s Justice Committee is backing Scottish Government plans to change the law on deciding parent-child contact in family breakdown cases. Full Article
j Saskia's Albanian journey By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Fri, 07 Jun 2019 14:10:54 +0000 Saskia perseveres through language learning and connects with a young Albanian girl who becomes a follower of Jesus. Full Article
j Ordinary woman, extraordinary journey By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Fri, 16 Aug 2019 14:28:46 +0000 God uses Janet to reach people through one-on-one encounters at a bookshop in a closed country. Full Article
j Student teacher's job after Penn State graduation: U.S. Marine Corps By news.psu.edu Published On :: Mon, 04 May 2020 15:08 -0400 Come May 18, College of Education student Gabriela Marsh will commission as second lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps. She graduated from Officers Candidate School in August 2019, completed her senior year at Penn State in the Navy ROTC program and commissions with the Marines in mid-May. Full Article
j Doctoral candidate wants to help blind people, just like himself By news.psu.edu Published On :: Fri, 08 May 2020 14:11 -0400 JooYoung Seo, a doctoral candidate in the College of Education’s Learning, Design, and Technology program, has secured a highly competitive internship with RStudio that will allow him to help people just like himself — those with severe visual impairments. Full Article
j Saskia's Albanian journey By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Fri, 07 Jun 2019 14:10:54 +0000 Saskia perseveres through language learning and connects with a young Albanian girl who becomes a follower of Jesus. Full Article
j Ordinary woman, extraordinary journey By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Fri, 16 Aug 2019 14:28:46 +0000 God uses Janet to reach people through one-on-one encounters at a bookshop in a closed country. Full Article
j New Generations Project By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Fri, 17 Jun 2011 15:33:20 +0000 Two years ago, one of the main networks of evangelical churches in France launched the Nouvelles Générations (New Generations) project to train young Christians for the work of ministry and to build up of the body of Christ. Full Article
j Join a one-year team in France By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Thu, 28 Feb 2013 12:18:47 +0000 A 20-member church and a volunteer pastor seek long-term help for sharing the gospel with the 24,000 people in their town. Full Article
j Joy and sunlight By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Thu, 28 Feb 2013 12:14:26 +0000 An OM outreach participant shares the gospel with another group of hikers during a walk down a mountain in France. Full Article
j Small steps towards justice By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Thu, 28 Feb 2013 12:07:08 +0000 An OM France couple works among trafficked women and fights for justice before government officials. Full Article
j JBL Link Portable By www.pcmag.com Published On :: The JBL Link Portable speaker offers Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity along with AirPlay 2, Chromecast, and hands-free Google Assistant support in a waterproof design with solid audio performance for its size. Full Article
j California's Ethnic Studies Curriculum, Criticized for 'Anti-Jewish Bias,' to Be Revised By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Wed, 14 Aug 2019 00:00:00 +0000 California's proposed curriculum guide in ethnic studies is being sent back for substantial revision after a pileup of criticism that it's anti-Semitic. Full Article Curriculum+and+instruction
j Without Rules, Credit Recovery Is Just an 'Easy Ticket to Graduation,' Report Says By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Thu, 21 Nov 2019 00:00:00 +0000 Too many districts that use a lot of credit recovery to enable students to finish high school don't have sufficient policy safeguards to ensure that those catch-up courses are high quality, according to a new report. Full Article Curriculum+and+instruction
j Referee Meler hopes U17 final just the start By www.uefa.com Published On :: Sat, 19 May 2018 11:51:00 GMT "I know it is the beginning of a long path," said Halil Umut Meler ahead of refereeing the U17 EURO final in England. Full Article Refereeing
j A perfect start - U17 ambassador John O'Shea By www.uefa.com Published On :: Fri, 03 May 2019 07:04:00 GMT For UEFA European Under-17 Championship tournament ambassador John O'Shea, winning this competition with the Republic of Ireland in 1998 paved the way for a glittering career. Full Article general
j DJ Khaled Talks About The All In Challenge To Feed Struggling Americans | TODAY By www.youtube.com Published On :: Mon, 27 Apr 2020 23:00:07 GMT Source: www.youtube.com - Monday, April 27, 2020All Related Full Article
j Jimmy Kimmel’s Quarantine Monologue – Trump Won’t Wear Masks & Jane's Pancake Stand-off By www.youtube.com Published On :: Thu, 07 May 2020 03:49:26 GMT Source: www.youtube.com - Wednesday, May 06, 2020All Related Full Article
j Sober Convos 3: Jobs & Restaurants By www.youtube.com Published On :: Sun, 01 Mar 2020 00:29:05 GMT Source: www.youtube.com - Saturday, February 29, 2020All Related Full Article
j Penn State junior named Udall Scholar By news.psu.edu Published On :: Thu, 07 May 2020 10:44 -0400 Tim Benally, a junior majoring in psychology at Penn State, has been awarded a Udall Undergraduate Scholarship. Full Article
j Impacts of the coronavirus pandemic on the Criminal Justice System By news.psu.edu Published On :: Fri, 08 May 2020 11:37 -0400 Penn State researchers provide informed commentary on the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the criminal justice system (CJS), focusing on its efforts to contain the spread of the virus through the three core components of the CJS — courts, corrections, and policing – as well as opportunities going forward. To read more, visit the "Insights from Experts" website — a partnership of Penn State's Social Science Research Institute and the Center for Health Care and Policy Research. Full Article
j What's Wrong With Standardized Testing? Watch John Oliver Offer His Analysis By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Mon, 04 May 2015 00:00:00 +0000 In a sprawling but nuanced examination, comedian John Oliver explained why the U.S. standardized testing system exists and the harms it creates. Full Article Nochildleftbehind
j Joe Biden, Gun-Free School Zones Champion, Busing Critic, Is Running for President By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Thu, 25 Apr 2019 00:00:00 +0000 As a U.S. senator and vice president, Biden focused on preschool, gun-free school zones, and the Obama administration's response to the Newtown, Conn. school shooting in 2012. Full Article Nochildleftbehind
j Jabra Elite Active 75t By www.pcmag.com Published On :: Jabra's Elite Active 75t earphones improve upon the original pair with a more secure fit and a waterproof design for a real true wireless winner. Full Article
j Jerusalem archbishop blesses city with True Cross relic By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Mon, 06 Apr 2020 13:00:00 -0600 CNA Staff, Apr 6, 2020 / 01:00 pm (CNA).- Unable to lead the traditional Palm Sunday procession through Jerusalem, Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, OFM, apostolic administrator of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, blessed the city with a relic of the True Cross on April 5. The annual procession, which recalls Christ’s entry into the city and the beginning of Holy Week, was cancelled in line with international efforts to curb the spread of COVID-19, with public gatherings and events suspended in Israel. “We decided since we cannot have the palm procession, to have anyway a moment of prayer this afternoon,” said Pizzaballa on Sunday. The archbishop led a short, multi-lingual “moment of prayer” at Dominus Flevit, a church located on the Mount of Olives. The church, which is shaped like a teardrop, overlooks the city, and was built to mark the Gospel account of Jesus weeping as he envisioned the destruction of Jerusalem. The prayer service ended with Pizzaballa raising a relic of the True Cross over the city in benediction. Jerusalem, said Pizzaballa, “is a symbol of the church, the symbol also of humanity. It is the house of prayer for all the people, according to the scriptures.” “So when we cry [over] Jerusalem, together with Jesus, we cry [over] all our human fraternity, for this difficult moment we are living, for this sad Palm Sunday, this Easter we have to celebrate.” Pizzaballa said that sadness over being unable to celebrate the liturgical feasts of Holy Week is real, but “maybe, in a way also very true, very essential.” “Today we have not celebrated the solemn and beautiful entrance of Jesus to the city of Jerusalem like every year, with faithful from all the parishes of the diocese and with pilgrims from all over the world,” Pizzaballa said during the prayer service. “We have not raised our palms and olive branches to cry out ‘Hosanna’ to our king, Jesus the Christ.” Instead, the archbishop asked Catholics in the Holy Land and around the world to consider what the Lord may be trying to say during these times. He noted that, while the people of Jerusalem in the Gospel greeted him with cheers on Palm Sunday, Jesus knew that “He came to Jerusalem, not to be on the throne like David, but to be put to death.” “The meaning that Jesus attributes to his ‘triumphal entry’ is different from the meaning that the people of Jerusalem saw in it,” he said. “Perhaps this is the lesson that Jesus wants to teach us today. We turn to God when there is something that harms us. When we are in trouble, suddenly we all want to ask big and difficult questions.” While people may be praying for an end to the COVID-19 pandemic as we often do for solutions to other problems, the archbishop said that “Jesus responds in His own way” to these prayers. “Precisely because Jesus says ‘yes’ to our deepest desires, He will have to say ‘no’ to our immediate desires,” he said. Drawing comparisons between this year's Palm Sunday and the biblical Palm Sunday during Christ's earthly life, Pizzaballa said the story of Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem “is a lesson on the discrepancy between our expectations and God’s response.” The crowd who greeted Jesus was disappointed that their salvation was not immediate, said Pizzaballa, but “Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem is truly the moment when salvation is born.” “The ‘Hosannas’ were justified, even if not for the reasons the Jerusalemites had supposed,” he said. This remains true today, he explained. Although it may seem as though God is not answering prayers and leaves people “disappointed,” this is in part because “our expectations remain without an apparent response.” Christianity, he said, “is based on hope and love, not certainty,” and that while God will not answer all problems with certainty, “He won’t leave us alone.” “And here, today, despite everything, at the gates of His and our city, we declare that we really want to welcome Him as our King and Messiah, and to follow Him on His way to His throne, the cross,” he said. “But we also ask Him to give us the strength necessary to carry it with His own, fruitful love.” Full Article Middle East - Africa
j Jane and John go to college, and so do their parents By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Wed, 17 Aug 2016 00:00:00 -0600 By Sr. Joan L. Roccasalvo, C.S.J.In a week or two, freshmen from around the country will begin their college education. The first year, the most important of the four, is meant to build a strong academic foundation for the remaining three years and even beyond. Freshmen year often awakens in the student a love for learning. In college, self-identity is chiseled out, attitudes and values mature, friendships and new loves, discovered. The halls of university academe can be an exciting place to hope and dream about one’s future. Attending college is both a privilege and responsibility. Here the phrase, noblesse oblige applies (literally, nobility obliges): Those who have received much are expected to share their gifts with others to make society a better place in which to live. Seeking a Liberal Arts Education Colleges typically organize their curriculum around their mission statement. An institution of higher learning worthy of its name offers a core curriculum, also known as the humanities or liberal arts. Some have general requirements. The humanities offer a splendid array of disciplines, and one of them will be chosen as the focus of students’ special attention in junior and senior year. Courses include: foreign language(s), linguistics and literature, philosophy, theology/religious studies, social sciences, the refining arts—music and art. The liberal arts develop the student as an intellectually rounded person exposing students to disciplines that broaden their horizons and add meaning to life. It has been said that a specialist without a liberal arts background is only half a person. Importance of the Humanities Did you know that two-thirds of humanities majors find satisfying positions in the private sector? If the college one attends does not require the humanities, here are eight benefits for choosing them on one’s own: They help us understand others through their languages, histories, and cultures. They foster social justice and equality. They reveal how people have tried to make moral, spiritual, and intellectual sense of the world. The humanities teach empathy. They teach us to deal critically and logically with subjective, complex, and imperfect information. They teach us to weigh evidence skeptically and consider more than one side of every question. Humanities students build skills in writing and critical reading. They encourage us to think creatively. They develop informed and critical citizens. Without the humanities, democracy could not flourish. (Curt Rice, “Here are 9 reasons why humanities matter. What’s your number 10?”) Listening to the Parents Before the 1990s, most parents were satisfied with the college education of their sons and daughters who had graduated with more than a passing knowledge about great ideas and universal questions. In recent years however, an increasing number of parents have expressed dissatisfaction: “I spent $100,000.00 for my daughter’s (my son’s) education at a four-year private college. She graduated with a degree in Peace Studies. She has no job.” Content of subject matter and intolerance of diverse opinions are two major concerns. Content of Subject Matter Too many colleges have abandoned required courses—no foreign language, no language arts. What great literature and poetry are students studying? A prevailing attitude sees the Great Books Tradition as little more than the political opinions of dominant groups. What of philosophy and religious studies? Why aren’t students exposed to the ancient philosophers who wrestled with perennial questions: Who am I? What am I doing, and why am I doing it? What is the purpose of my life? Few colleges offer a course in world religions. As for history and American government, they’re bunk. War after war—it’s all an inventory of political grievances; our American government is composed of corrupt politicians. And what of art and music history? Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Bernini? Are they the preserve of dead white males, a phrase used by collegiates? Is the answer offering the “gutter phenomenon” of Rock, Rap, or Hip-Hop which use orgiastic and foul language and offering shock art like the photograph, “Piss Christ,” by Andres Serrano? A few years ago, why did Syracuse University offer a course called “Hip-Hop Eshu: Queen B*tch 101?” To exalt Lil’ Kim? Parents are willing to spend generously on education that expands the mind with a classic education but not for studies whose content is without purpose. Why should they squander hard-earned dollars on a core curriculum that is a sham or on courses that entertain pubescent students with a degraded popular culture? Such institutions are caricatures of what used to be referred to as higher education. Liberal Intolerance Until the 1990s, the phrase: "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it" was operative on college campuses. Today, those who speak what is opposed to the majority must refrain from giving their opinions that are open to critical and healthy discussion. In former days, institutions required students to challenge each other to think clearly and logically about a topic. In class, the Socratic methodology was employed to insure that students’ views could be articulated without reprisal. In Jesuit education for example, students are required to argue both sides of an issue, including those topics that are abhorrent to defend or condemn. To give one example, if a person holds to what he or she considers a good action, does intention alone make for a moral act? As students work their pros and cons, eventually someone will cite Hitler whose good intention was to exalt the German people beyond all others. However, he ostracized German Jews whom he derided as polluting the German race. This view led to the barbaric means he took to achieve his end—their annihilation. The conclusion to the discussion? The immoral end does not justify a moral means or intention. The intention and the end must together be moral acts. Since the 1990s, intellectual diversity has gradually muffled honest debate. A Confession of Liberal Intolerance Recently, the liberal columnist, Nicholas Kristoff, published two essays in the New York Times on the present status of liberal thinking in this country: Nicholas Kristoff’s “Confession of Liberal Intolerance” and “The Liberal Blind Spot.” Some of his observations apply to what unsuspecting freshmen might find on certain campuses with varying degrees of intensity. Increasing numbers of liberal professors and students pride themselves on their diversity and their tolerance of diversity—diversity of various minority groups but not of conservatives—Evangelical Christians, and practicing Catholics. Kristoff calls this “liberal arrogance”—“the implication that these groups don’t have anything significant to add to the discussion.” The unwritten motto may be: “We welcome people who don’t look like us, as long as they think like us.” Or, “I disapprove of what you say, so shut up.” Or I close my mind to what you may want to say because it’s not worthwhile saying, in my view. Thus we hear: “We’re tolerant. You are entitled to your truth, but keep it to yourself. And don’t force it on me.” What Is Truth? Alan Bloom, the author of The Closing of the American Mind, made the argument in the 1980s that American youth are increasingly raised to believe that every belief is merely the expression of an opinion or preference. They are raised to be “cultural relativists” with the default attitude of “non-judgmentalism” (Patrick Deneen, “Who Closed the American Mind?”). Parents object: “My son, my daughter entered college with a moral compass with a belief that there is such a thing as objective truth. But in my son’s college, only the relativity of truth and the absolutism of relativity are taught across the board. Thus, there is no longer any possibility of objective truth.” The Crisis of Higher Education We are experiencing an intellectual crisis that has already affected our work force, our politics, and our culture. College costs are escalating, while too many colleges and universities without a core curriculum or without any substantive requirements are failing this generation. Western civilization, the human culmination of centuries of learning is pummeled by a pop culture. Too many academic leaders fail to uphold the purpose of teaching Western civilization. Academic leaders don’t believe that the humanities have any fundamental influence on their students. There are no shared values. The result? The advent of identity courses: Feminist studies, African-American, Latino, LGBT studies. As long as everyone is tolerant of everyone’s classes, no one can get hurt. Yet not all institutions of higher learning fit this description. Many non-sectarian and private colleges offer a structured curriculum or a core curriculum around which other subjects are framed. At least twenty-five colleges and universities in the United States offer the Great Books tradition to their undergraduates. These books are part of the great conversation about the universal ideas of cultures and civilizations. The authors of Academically Adrift, the most devastating book on higher education since Alan Bloom’s book, The Closing of the American Mind, found that nearly half of undergraduates show no measurable improvement in knowledge or “critical thinking” after two years of college. Weaker academic requirements, greater specialization in the departments, a rigid orthodoxy and doctrinaire views on liberalism are now part of the university’s politics and cultural life. Freshmen entering college today should be aware of the crisis of liberal education which is in conflict and incompatible with the traditional aspirations of the liberal arts. Advice to Freshmen Choose your friends wisely. Confide in a very few. Find a small group of friends who are serious about studies and who know how to balance work with play. Form or join a reading group. Establish healthy eating and sleeping habits. Don’t pull all-nighters. Don’t go out on the week nights. Study for about 50 minutes. Take a ten-minute break. Then return to study. Repeat. Make a habit of this process—study, break, study. If you put your energies into academics, you will be handsomely rewarded later on. Don’t get behind in your assignments. Make certain that you are up-to-date on all of them. In the case of writing papers, get started on your research as soon as the assignment is given. Work a little on the research every day. Keep a dictionary and thesaurus at hand at all times. Make it a habit of looking up the meaning of words. Words are power and the right word is a sign of right thinking. Be your own leader. Do not follow the crowd if you sense they engage in actions contrary to your beliefs. For example: doing drugs or binge drinking. Be reflective. Reflection means going below the surface of an experience, an idea, a purpose, or a spontaneous reaction to discover its meaning to you. Find an older mentor, not necessarily a professor, but someone whom you have observed has wisdom and common sense. Place your confidence in this person as your unofficial adviser. Remember: Your college life is an open book. Whatever you do or avoid doing becomes common knowledge—quickly. Every College Has its Own Soul Every college builds its own identity, its own reputation. Some colleges are known for the seriousness with which they pursue academics. Some are known as “party” schools. Still others are best known for their sports prowess. According to John Henry Newman, the ideal university is comprised of a community of scholars and thinkers, engaging in intellectual pursuits as an end in itself. Only secondarily, does it have a practical purpose, for example, finding a job. Today, most people would scoff at this assertion. For them, today’s goal of education is to find a job. The facts however don’t lie. Those with intellectual pursuits as an end are the most likely to secure the best positions. A university is a place where one looks out toward everyone and everything … without boundaries. A university is a place where one discovers and studies truth. A person of faith holds sacred this belief. According to Newman, knowledge alone cannot improve the student; only God is the source of all truth; only God can impart truth. Today, this notion alienates students at secular colleges and universities. Full Article CNA Columns: The Way of Beauty
j Essential Commands to Learn for Your Raspberry Pi Projects By www.pcmag.com Published On :: Most Pi projects run on Linux, so having some command-line chops makes the Pi much easier to work with. These commands can teach you a lot as you tinker. Full Article
j Rural Schools Group Joins National Superintendents' Organization By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Tue, 07 Nov 2017 00:00:00 +0000 The Rural School and Community Trust and the AASA, the School Superintendents Association, say the partnership will allow the two groups to expand their reach and play off each other's strengths. Full Article Ruraleducation
j Principal-Prep Programs Adapting to Meet Real-World Demands of Job, Study Finds By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Wed, 31 Oct 2018 00:00:00 +0000 Seven universities are making major changes to how they train future principals, as part of $48.5 million Wallace Foundation initiative to redesign university-based principal-preparation programs, according to a new report from RAND. Full Article Ruraleducation
j Saskia's Albanian journey By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Fri, 07 Jun 2019 14:10:54 +0000 Saskia perseveres through language learning and connects with a young Albanian girl who becomes a follower of Jesus. Full Article
j Ordinary woman, extraordinary journey By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Fri, 16 Aug 2019 14:28:46 +0000 God uses Janet to reach people through one-on-one encounters at a bookshop in a closed country. Full Article
j Wintrust Financial Corporation to Present at Raymond James 41st Annual Institutional Investors Conference By ir.wintrust.com Published On :: Mon, 24 Feb 2020 23:03:00 GMT To view more press releases, please visit http://ir.wintrust.com/news.aspx?iid=1024452. Full Article
j Wintrust Financial Corporation Announces Precautionary Decision to Help Achieve Community Health Objectives By Temporarily Closing Selected Branches By ir.wintrust.com Published On :: Tue, 17 Mar 2020 11:00:00 GMT To view more press releases, please visit http://ir.wintrust.com/news.aspx?iid=1024452. Full Article
j Wintrust Financial Corporation Announces Further Actions To Help Achieve Community Health Objectives By ir.wintrust.com Published On :: Fri, 20 Mar 2020 11:00:00 GMT To view more press releases, please visit http://ir.wintrust.com/news.aspx?iid=1024452. Full Article
j Fin24.com | INFOGRAPHIC: How junk status will affect you By www.fin24.com Published On :: Wed, 05 Apr 2017 11:59:53 +0200 With SA bonds now rated as junk or non-investment grade, life for ordinary South Africans just got worse. Full Article
j Fin24.com | WATCH: This woman has cut down her food bill to just R90 a week By www.fin24.com Published On :: Wed, 24 Oct 2018 13:32:07 +0200 A 25-year-old woman has revealed how she has cut her food waste and managed to travel. Full Article
j Anti-Catholicism: “the last acceptable prejudice” By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Tue, 05 Feb 2019 00:00:00 -0700 By Bishop Arthur SerratelliIn The Innocents Abroad, published in1869, Mark Twain humorously narrates his travels thorough Europe and the Holy Land. He goes out of his way to praise the great hospitality that Catholic priests offered to any pilgrim traveling through 19th century Palestine. They readily welcomed all, whether they came “in rags or clad in purple.” Twain was pleasantly surprised by this, because, as he readily confesses, he had been “educated to enmity toward everything that is Catholic.” Enmity toward everything Catholic! Not a thing of the past. Most recently, the hatred was aimed at one of the most charitable and benevolent group of individuals in this country, the Knights of Columbus. During the Senate Judiciary Committee’s review of Omaha-based lawyer Brian C. Buescher for the position of judge on the United States District Court for the District of Nebraska, Senators Mazie Hirono, a democrat from Hawaii, and Kamala Harris, a democrat from California, grilled Buescher on his membership in the Knights of Columbus. In their questions, they boldly gave voice to an anti-Catholic prejudice in our society. Hirono accused the Knights of having “taken a number of extreme positions.” And, what are those extreme positions to which she is so vehemently opposed? The Catholic teaching on marriage as a union established by God. The sanctity of human life. The rights of a child in the womb to take his or her place at the banquet of life. For many, when it comes to birthing a child, only a woman has rights. And, when it comes to marriage, only what an individual wants matters. In their eyes, God’s design for his creation cannot limit the freedom of anyone to choose as they wish. Holding to what the Catholic Church has always taught, according to their line of questioning, now disqualifies someone from public office. In effect, both senators were applying a religious test as a qualification for public office. Responding to this blatant attack on a man’s religion, on January 17, 2018, the United States Senate unanimously passed the resolution that disqualifying a member of the Knights of Columbus for a federal office actually violates the Constitution of the United States. Article VI of the Constitution states that “no religious test shall ever be required as qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.” Sadly, this recent attack on Catholicism is not an isolated incident. Last September, Senator Dianne Feinstein expressed serious concern about the qualifications of Amy Barrett for a judgeship on the 7th Circuit. Feinstein is an unflinching supporter of abortion. It was no surprise that she zeroed in on Barrett’s position on Roe v. Wade. Because Barrett is a practicing Catholic who faithfully holds to Catholic teaching on this and other hot button issues, Feinstein remarked “in your case, professor…the dogma lives loudly within you, and that’s of concern when you come to big issues that large numbers of people have fought for years in this country.” Clearly, the Senator sees no place for what the Catholic Church teaches on major moral and societal issues. It is becoming more and more obvious that the Catholic Church is being targeted as the public enemy of our society. Talk shows and news media attack the Catholic position on the right to life as misogyny and the Catholic teaching on marriage as intolerance and hatred. One can only wonder why those States that are investigating the Catholic Church on its record of protecting children are not looking into other public institutions. Why is there not a comparable investigation into their own school systems or other religious groups? Is the terrible crime of child abuse limited only to Catholics? Today’s media would even have people believe that abuse of minors is becoming more frequent within the Church. Patently false. But, too often facts do not matter when a villain is needed. Those who advocate for the radical autonomy of the individual find in the Church an indomitable opponent. The Catholic Church stands firm in her teaching on contraception, abortion, stem cell research, in-vitro fertilization, marriage and divorce. The Church teaches that every choice that touches on the gift of life and the beauty of marriage is judged by a law higher than the autonomy of the individual. And, for this reason, today’s secularists judge Catholics as public enemies to the good of the society they wish to construct. A society without God. A society without a future. Almost every day, a politician or teacher or public speaker is lambasted for a statement that is judged to be homophobic, misogynistic, racist or anti-Semitic. In some cases, not even an apology can save their careers. Yet, a free pass is given by society to any anti-Catholic view or statement. Someone can make an insulting or slanderous remark about Catholics, Catholic teachings or the Church herself and emerge unscathed. In his essay on The Significance of Jacksonian Democracy, historian and Harvard professor Arthur Schlesinger, Sr., himself not a Catholic, made the often cited assertion that anti-Catholic prejudice is “the deepest bias in the history of the American people.” According to Baylor University professor Philip Jenkins, anti-Catholic prejudice is “the last acceptable prejudice.” Full Article CNA Columns: From the Bishops
j Rush to judge others and gossip: and the devil laughs By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Tue, 14 May 2019 00:00:00 -0600 By Bishop Arthur SerratelliOn January 18, 2019, a video of Covington Catholic High School student Nick Sandmann went viral. He was at the Lincoln Memorial standing face to face with a Native American man during the March to Life in Washington, D.C. On the basis of that picture, a frenzy of condemnations from reporters, commentators and politicians were heaped upon this student, accusing him of prejudice and hatred. Misinformation and lies spread like wild fire. Finally, when the facts were uncovered, the high school student was exonerated of any wrong-doing, even though much wrong had been done to him and his family. It was a rush to judgment. On January 29, 2019, American actor and singer Jussie Smollett reported that two masked men attacked him at 2 AM near his apartment in Chicago. He claimed that the attack was racist and homophobic. After Smollett’s initial report, friends and fans, celebrities and politicians expressed outrage at this hate crime. Twitter and Instagram fueled the frenzy of self-righteous indignation. However, in just three weeks, it was discovered that the whole event had been orchestrated by Smollett. Yet, before the facts were fully known, there was the rush to judgment and much chatter. Gifted with reason, we are wired to make judgments. Discerning the good from the bad, the beautiful from the ugly, the right from the wrong, and virtue from vice: this is an essential part of our being human. However, every judgment must be founded on truth, not rumor; on fact, not fiction; on substance, not appearance. And every judgment must always be tempered with compassion. Albeit from opposite directions, the Sandmann and Smollett incidents show how quick we are to believe or disbelieve, to accuse or defend and how easily we pick a side and draw a line in the sand. And, all the while, truth grows ever more fragile. Today’s rush to judgment gathers speed along the newly constructed digital highway. We get information instantaneously and, because we want solutions just as fast, we are quick to judge. As a result of this incessant communication about other people’s lives, we live on the edge between truth and falsehood. What years ago was whispered between a few people now goes viral and can never be retrieved. As a result, in this environment, deliberately passing on stories that destroy other people’s good names is nothing less than cyber bullying. There is no area of modern society that is exempt from someone passing on false information, half-truths or blatant, deliberate lies. In a society of fast-paced information sharing, gossip has become so commonplace that people justify it as a way to right wrongs, correct others and unseat those whom they deem unfit for their chosen work. However, unlike the surgeon’s scalpel that removes the cancer, gossip is the arrow that destroys the other. As a statement sometimes attributed to Mark Twain says, “a lie can travel halfway around the world before the truth can get its boots.” In a similar vein, Jonathan Swift once wrote, “if a lie be believ’d only for an hour, it has done its work, and there is no further occasion for it. Falsehood flies, and the truth comes limping after it; so that, when men come to be undeceiv’d, it is too late…the tale has had its effect” (Jonathan Swift, The Examiner, Number 15, November, 1710). For this reason, people of good faith should be slow to judge others. And never should they gossip. People who constantly judge or criticize others truly lack compassion. Sadly, making negative judgments on others on the basis of appearances and then spreading those judgments to others is found among those who consider themselves Church-going people. It is especially found among those who set themselves as crusaders for a just cause and, then by their lack of charity, become unjust themselves. The fondness to judge and criticize others may well be a way of not facing one’s own sins. "It is often easier or more convenient to see and condemn the faults and sins of others than it is to see our own” (Pope Francis, Angelus, March 3, 2019). In speech after speech, Pope Francis has been courageously warning us of the evil of gossip. “Gossip is a weapon and it threatens the human community every day; it sows envy, jealousy and power struggles… We might welcome someone and speak well of him the first day but little by little that worm eats away at our minds until our gossip banishes him from good opinion. That person in a community who gossips against his or her neighbor is, in a sense, killing him.” (Pope Francis, Homily, Domus Sanctae Marthae, September 2, 2013). Few things can match the harmful effects of gossip, whether it be slander or detraction. Defamation inflicts grave harm on the individual and destroys the community. It is against charity and, since God is love, it is against God himself. Charles Spurgeon, one of the most popular Baptist preachers of the 19th century, summed up the evil of talking about other people by saying, “the tale-bearer carries the devil in his tongue, and the tale-hearer carries the devil in his ear.” Gossip makes the devil laugh! Full Article CNA Columns: From the Bishops
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