9/19/24 – Y’all, don’t treat people like they’re dumb. Of course, people should learn and grow, but it’s a matter of whether or not people perceive it as such or as opportunistic flip-flopping to get elected. Walz’s change in position related to gun restrictions seems like a genuine change as a) the society changed (even Gen X didn’t have this level of gun violence, it’s was just starting at that time) and b) he was a teacher, and, naturally, he probably had a strong reaction to kids being gunned down in their classrooms. In case the media forgot, voters are also human beings, and they understand that people change and grow because they have likely done so themselves. They also intuitively understand the conditions under which this happens organically and the ones under which it’s being forced.
Having read several articles about undecided voters (and channeling Holden), there is a considerable number of them who view Harris as phony and flipflopping to get elected. Are they wrong? The truth is that on some issues, probably not. Unfortunately, we have an election system where politicians stake more extreme positions during primaries and move toward the center during the general election. It’s BS, and it really needs to stop. See ranked-choice voting. So, of course, voters find politicians opportunistic and phony. It’s because they’re being opportunistic and phony. Instead of trying to gaslight them with some phony evolution in ideology or policy position, make the authentic parts shine such that they outweigh the inauthentic parts in voters’ minds. Stop BSing voters and simultaneously claiming to be better than a certain person.
9/18/24 – A certain person loves himself so much, he can’t possibly love anybody else. A cautionary tale for us all.
9/18/24 – One thing is for sure: narcissism is rotting people’s body, mind, and soul. Also coming out of the Jewish tradition, Christianity has historically placed a lot of emphasis on discipline in thoughts, words and deeds. This is not fashionable right now, but it is the way to live, and it desperately needs to make a comeback. Tip to pretty much everyone: stop seeking attention and start seeking goodness, truth, and beauty. Attention-seeking is not a healthy way to live a life. Instead, focus on substance and soul consciousness.
Caravaggio (clearly an Italian name) is known for a style of painting called chiaroscuro. (Also Italian, think clear and obscure combined. Another tip: If you’re trying to learn a Romance language, one of the easiest ways to remember the vocabulary is to find the English version of the same word, e.g. clair(e), also meaning light, is French for clear, and clarity is similar to the Latin root, clar(a/um/us).) Chiaroscuro is basically strong contrast but with paint or similar medium not photography. (If you’re an artist, you know that this effect has historically been easier to achieve with paint and the like than with photography, which is highly sensitive to light and speed.) In Caravaggio’s depiction, the Greco-Roman mythological figure Narcissus stares longingly at his own reflection. The figure is light, and the reflection is dark upon even darker water. Contemplate the poetry in the painting for a bit.
In his depiction, narcissism might seem to be focused on one’s looks, vanity, but it doesn’t have to be focused on personal appearance. It frequently takes other forms, such as attention-seeking. Let’s consider all the different ways one might seek attention: wanting to be famous, wanting to be on stage, wanting “followers” and “likes,” wanting to be published, wanting one’s name on other things, wanting people to admire you, and on and on. If “fame” happens, which, unfortunately, it does even to people who don’t seek it, let it be a byproduct of seeking the good, the true and the beautiful. You must also actively reject the allure of gazing upon yourself. To refer to Michelangelo (yes, again), he signed his name once in a flex of ego. He didn’t do it again, and he really didn’t need to. The latter part of his life was focused on a project that does not bear his name and is not associated with his name alone: the redesign of the Vatican. He simply felt called by God to do the work.
Let us all consider: when you have a bunch of followers, fans and such, does it change the quality of your work and your personal development? Are you trying to please them to maintain and grow this following, or are you trying to please, in religious terms, God, the only audience that matters? There needs to be a purity of intention or the quality of the work and of your person will become compromised. Another considerable benefit is that you’ll have a life in which you can more fully enjoy simple pleasures because you’re more present. Instead of looking into murky water to find even the slightest reflection of yourself, no matter how dark the figure, raise your eyes to God, to our creator of light, and say, I am here to do your will and to bring you, not myself, glory.
9/18/24 – This is a highly relevant and interesting question. Again, thank you to the Jewish people for thinking about these worthwhile questions, which effectively consider not just how to live a meaningful life but one that connects us more deeply to the divine, starting millennia ago. There are numerous types of work, which category, e.g. melakhah (creative) and avodah (menial toil), do types of work fall into? Also, does their categorization depend on individual tastes or habits? Also, when we labor with our bodies, is it spiritually different from laboring with our minds, both of which can be creative? (Michelangelo, yes, it’s an obsession, labored with both, and clearly he was driven by a desire to connect with the divine.)
In the Christian tradition, specifically, coming out of the Benedictine tradition, we say “ora et labora,” pray and work, and work, even repetitive, uncreative tasks, can be treated as a form of prayer. In general, work can be divine and an integral part of our fulfillment. However, our identity is still supposed to be centered around God, not our jobs. This likely overlaps with the Jewish tradition, a certain distance that needs to be maintained with work.
Where Christian and Jewish traditions depart is on the elaboration of what types of work are not allowed on the Sabbath. So, this opens up ambiguity for the rest of us, such as Christians, who don’t have the detailed guidance. What exactly constitutes work? What work should we avoid, and can our own preferences substitute for the missing religious guidance? For secular people, they often don’t think about this in religious terms for obvious reasons. It’s usually thought about in terms of work/life balance. This is even more ambiguous, as there isn’t even a mandate to set aside a single day primarily to worship God.
Not to disagree with the author of The Atlantic piece, Sara Tillinger Wolkenfeld, but simply to consider, say one hates doing the dishes but loves folding the laundry, would this latter task be work (menial toil)? Technically, it’s a chore, but as Lydia Sohn, author of The New York Times piece, asks, do we really want to outsource all of this type of labor? Instead, might we approach it, to use eastern spiritual language, as an opportunity for Zen.
Productivity Is a Drag. Work Is Divine.
The Household Chores You’re Avoiding Are Key to a Deeper Life
9/17/24 – Maybe a certain person would get shot at less if he toned down his demagogic rhetoric. Until then, maybe the money that taxpayers, including the majority of the country that loathes the man, pay should be redirected to secret service for the Haitian immigrants and the school children who had to evacuate their school because of a certain person’s hateful rhetoric. A certain person should hire and pay for his own security detail.
9/16/24 – Many Christians find Einstein’s, a Jew who fled Europe during WWII, General Theory of Relativity and Lemaître’s, a Catholic priest, Big Bang Theory convincing. People can knock themselves out with a theory that isn’t testable or pray that one day it will be, but until it is, just don’t waste our time. No offense, but such is science. Happy Monday!
9/16/24 – Who knew that physicists and economists had so much in common. Apparently, both groups have a penchant for mistaking (mathematical) beauty for truth. Also, what applies on a micro level may not apply on a macro level. So, one would be wise to be cautious about trying to get fundamentally different dynamics to fit together like one jigsaw puzzle.
9/16/24 – “After the service, some parishioners gathered at Rose Goute Creole restaurant for a traditional Haitian meal of rice and beans, fried plantains and pork.” Sounds delicious, but where are the cats and dogs? Remember: As Christians, we are called to lean in to our suffering. Look upon our Lord on the cross, an innocent man crucified based on false allegations, a death he freely chose. We all have a cross to bear. May we do so filled with the grace of the Holy Spirit. May our suffering bring us closer to God. May we embrace it.
To our beautiful Haitian sisters and brothers: Don’t be afraid. God is with us. Jesus didn’t leave us orphaned. The vast majority of Americans stand with you. We don’t believe the lies, and we don’t practice the hate. We try to love as Jesus loved us. Don’t let hateful people change you for the worse. It’s not easy, but when they show you hate, you show them love. Let us be instruments of God’s peace.
Haitians in Ohio find solidarity at church after chaotic week of false pet-eating claims
9/15/24 – Rosh Hashanah, the birthday of the universe, is coming. In anticipation, let’s consider a few things. One can listen to the Psalms sung in Latin or English. It’s lovely, but one wonders, how did this sound in the original Hebrew or Aramaic, or even in Syriac, which is also a Semitic language?
Shakespeare translated into another language is not the same as in the original English. Something is always lost in translation. (However, translation is still better than nothing.) If you’ve ever tried to memorize Shakespeare, it’s a lot easier to do so if you understand its melodic cadence. A word might have many synonyms (semantics/meaning), but it’s harder to find a synonym that sounds the same as the original word.
“Certainly the psalms were songs as well as poems, as the headings of many of them indicate. The religions that sprang from Judaism have all used music and chant as part of the experience of worship, and there is every reason to assume that this was influenced by the practice of the parent religion. Over the centuries, music that accompanies worship has been developed into a high art.” This is absolutely true. The church’s tradition of music comes from the Jewish tradition.
Sometimes, we say the Lord’s Prayer. Other times during the liturgical calendar, we sing it. It’s always powerful, and it’s pretty incredible how musical this simple but complete prayer can be. We sing it without any musical accompaniment. Somehow, we all know the tune. Saying the Lord’s prayer feels like praying. Singing it in unison feels more like an appeal to and a glorification of God.
Imagine you, little speck of a human being, are singing to our omnipotent, omnipresent God. “Where were you when I made the universe?” I didn’t exist, but now, my pathetic little offkey voice is singing to you, my God. We’re glorifying you, our God, through song. How incredible is that!
In the Jewish and Christian traditions, God speaks, and the universe is created, and in the Christian tradition, the Word was made flesh. Words have power, and as we approach Rosh Hashanah, let’s thank our Jewish sisters and brothers for showing us how to use words and song to express our feelings, such as our love for God and for each other.
Music and Jewish Prayer
9/15/24 – Dear Church, we aren’t one-dimensional people, and we don’t want to be one issue voters. God bless you. Happy Sunday!
9/14/24 – Assuming the Fed lowers the target interest rate (to mitigate the risk of recession), if Harris raises the federal minimum wage (which would put upward pressure on wages), and consumers save more and spend less (which would put downward pressure on prices), the economy might rebalance to a better place. Perhaps the administration could consider creating an index fund, managed by federal employees, to supplement Social Security. They could create some tax incentives to encourage using it to save for retirement. Instead of always thinking along the lines of tax cuts or even tax credits, we need to think in more creative and holistic ways.
9/14/24 – The American people deserve a second debate with Harris so that a certain person, the smartest person in the world, can show the world how superior he is – again. Make debates great again.
9/14/24 – If you’re not white and you’re a woman, you’re doubly stupid. If you’re a white man, by the superiority of your genes alone, you’re the smartest. If you’re orange, however, your orange genes make you the smartest, most superior person in the world.
The Real DEI Candidates
9/14/24 – The Harris Walz campaign needs to make Pennsylvania a priority. It needs to spend more there than a certain person’s campaign.
9/13/24 First, read this from a little over a month ago. 8/12/24 – We don’t want to indulge in it too much because we might jinx it. But we’re feeling too joyful to not indulge in it just a little bit. It’s just too good. Like when you eat one small bit of ice cream and then a little bit more, and then you stop.
Now, you get to watch two little clips, like when she baited him into the unhinged immigrants eating cats and dogs, “In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs. The people that came in. They’re eating the cats. They’re eating — they’re eating the pets of the people that live there. And this is what’s happening in our country.” And then, you get to eat a little bit more ice cream (or cats and dogs if you’re an immigrant), “Now she wants to do transgender operations on illegal aliens that are in prison. This is a radical left liberal that would do this.” But then, you must stop. You cannot – repeat cannot – eat the entire gallon of ice cream.
READ: Harris-Trump presidential debate transcript
9/11/24 – Let’s pray for the victims and the first responders of 9/11. We love and remember them all.
9/11/24 – A certain person quoted Mike Tyson, the domestic abuser, “Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face.” Well, Kamala Harris just shook a certain person’s hand: “Everybody has a plan until someone shakes their hand.” Was it obvious to others that she kept baiting him, and he kept falling for it? Then, there was her description of a certain person inviting the Taliban, a terrorist organization, to…wait for it…Camp David. Then, there was his own pride in being played by autocrats, such as Victor Orban and Kim Jong Un. His ego is so desperate for flattery that his brain lacks even the most basic self-awareness to realize that the quality of the flatterer matters more than the quality of the flattery. Yes, that’s some fine skills and temperament for negotiation. The emperor wears no clothes, and we pray that when his supporters get bored and leave his rallies early, they might look back one last time at that diminished figure, by age and by his own demons, and see him for who he really is: an insecure con man.
9/9/24 – If a politician can actually be honest with the American people and win elections, they are worth their salt. From Americans to fellow Americans, stop expecting the sun and the moon. This is the real world not a fictional dream (or is it nightmare) where a demagogue says everything you want to hear and makes you feel so so good, but it’s total bulls—t. The truth is that you can’t get everything because that’s simply not the way the world works, yes, even for Americans.
9/9/24 – Just as it was her call to choose her VP running mate, Harris needs to approach the debate as she feels comfortable. However, if we were, by some dream or is it nightmare, in her place, we would have moderately detailed policies that are open to the direct input of the American people. We would say that we are fighting to preserve our democracy and also trying to make it more responsive to the people. Therefore, we would like to actively solicit the direct input of the American people as we refine our positions.
What would they like us to do to make the economy work better for them? How would they like us to address inflation? Typically, inflation is managed by the central bank, and they feel that they have achieved a “soft landing,” meaning they have brought it down without triggering a recession, which is the theoretical tradeoff. The central bank feels pretty good about this. Would Americans rather have a recession but inflation come down further and faster?
Some have argued that Biden was too generous with the stimulus and that the extra money he sent Americans during the pandemic, when many Americans weren’t able to or allowed to work, caused inflation. Was he too generous, or was that the right approach given the tough situation?
Others have said that inflation was caused by supply chain disruptions. Whether or not one follows macroeconomic data, supply chain disruptions were (and still are to some degree) obvious. You could see gaps on store shelves that did not exist prior to the pandemic. What would Americans like us to do to reduce this? We ask because the supply chains we have now were created by free trade economists across the political spectrum who argued that this reduced the cost of goods for consumers? Should we make everything in the United States to potentially minimize supply shocks? We can do that (with considerable re-engineering of our economy) but most everything will cost more? Is this a tradeoff Americans are willing to make?
Economists like to say that there are always tradeoffs. It’s likely the only thing they consistently get right. There are always tradeoffs. So, let’s ask the American people: would they have rather gotten less financial support during the pandemic to avoid inflation later? Would they rather have risked their lives to continue working during the pandemic when there was no vaccine so that they wouldn’t have needed the extra stimulus? Would they like to have more autarky (economic independence) but generally more expensive goods and services? We believe that Americans have the right, as part of our extraordinary experiment in self-governance that we continue to perfect, to make these value judgments and have them reflected in our policies, but they should know one important thing as they do so – there is no free lunch in economics or in life. You always have to trade something off.
9/9/24 – To our fellow Christians who don’t like a certain person, remember that we are Christians first and foremost, even before being Americans, leave alone party, and we’re asking you to set aside differences on the highly sensitive matter of abortion for this particular election. We are also asking that you understand that on this issue, for as surprising as it might seem, we fundamentally agree. The sanctity of life is not in question. It is a central tenet that is nonnegotiable. What has always set Christians apart, from the very first practitioners of the faith, is our abiding love for life and our belief in the spark of the divine that every single human being possesses. The earliest Christians would save abandoned infants that were discarded in a society, the pagan Roman Empire, that was marked by ruthlessness and callousness toward human life.
Our differences are about how and to what degree we account for human sinfulness, fragility and the brokenness of our world. We do not agree on placing this burden entirely on women or indiscriminately overriding their God-given right to free will. However, this does not mean that our accommodations are limitless. They have limits, as they should, and those limits need to be reasonable for both parties, the innocent unborn and their pregnant mothers. We also agree on conservatives’ end-of-life positions to a considerable degree. We definitely agree on the immorality of assisted suicide for people with disabilities. It has been a consistent position of the faith that human beings are not disposable and are not to be discarded because they are or have become inconvenient. That is the position of people like a certain person, and we know that this is exactly the kind of person and attitude toward life that the earliest Christians rejected. Please do not mistake our willingness to make allowances for the human condition on this issue of abortion as an implicit or explicit compromise on the core value of the sanctity of life.
We are asking our fellow Christians of any and all political persuasions to understand these fundamental tenets are not in question and to vote for Harris Walz for this election with one goal: to save our democracy. Like Liz and Dick Cheney are doing, our fellow Christians would not be compromising anything about their position on abortion. They would be making a pragmatic decision that would save our nation. Many lives were sacrificed to liberate us from the British and to preserve our union. Please honor this sacrifice. Please do this for our ancestors and for our future.
After this election, Christians, across denominations, need to hold meetings to find common ground on abortion and related issues. We are well-suited to do this work, and it’s long overdue. It would help our nation heal and right the ship. If we, as Christians, who worship the same God, cannot model dialogue and constructive conflict resolution, what message are we sending the world about our faith? We tell the world that our faith is powerful and that it will transform them. We need to show this. We need to put our words into practice and use our faith for reconciliation.
Pro-life Voters Are Politically Homeless
9/8/24 – As a random and final Sunday observation: One of the odd things about taking communion in different parts of Europe is that the communion line can be chaos, with everyone basically rushing up toward the front of the church. In the United States, people are extremely respectful, calm and orderly. Two sets of pews merge into one line, or each side of the pew or pew gets its own line. In the Lutheran churches, you go up to and kneel at the altar. People wait patiently for the elderly, parents with young kids and the disabled. Nobody is ever pushy. We are in the Lord’s house, after all.
9/8/24 – Having said all of this, spending time by oneself is necessary and a form of self-care. Different people will have varying needs. One of the main problems with being in others’ company is that one has to process their words, needs, etc., and there ends up being a lot of words and emotions everywhere. It can feel like a lot. It’s helpful to consider the religious communities. They are obviously communal, yet they also spend a lot of time in quiet, solitary prayer. Finding some combination of these ways of being: alone in prayer, nature, reading, or simply silence, with community or companionship “in passing,” and with established community that is consistent and recurring, such as friends, family, neighbors and our religious communities, would likely be ideal.
9/8/24 – Both of these articles helped me remember a moment in my life that I still find remarkable. It was many years ago, and I was fairly young. I was living in Paris. It was lunch time, and I was hungry. I popped into a pleasant-looking and very typical Parisian restaurant that was catering to the lunch crowd. The restaurant was almost full, and I was seated at a small table for two. A few minutes later, the hostess asked me if I would be OK with a gentleman joining me. I said that’s fine. It didn’t take long before I realized this was not an uncommon occurrence, and there were expectations regarding La Politesse. You share the bread being the most important. It was Paris, after all. He made a gesture for me to take it first at what was my table and being a lady, which I found rather charming. You offer polite gestures and greetings but not lengthy conversation. You are simultaneously eating alone yet with company. It was civilized, orderly companionship in passing.
Party of one: Restaurants are catering to a growing number of solo diners
9/8/24 – Pretty certain most of us are guilty of this. It seems accurate to say that we are so much more tired than we used to be, and it’s hard to diagnose the reason(s). Many of us don’t even have as many demands as previous generations that had bigger families, and we have so many more conveniences. As an educated guess, it might be that as our societies became more individualistic, we also became more exhausted, which can easily become a vicious cycle leading to us spending less time together in person. Technology and the ever-increasing expectations regarding our professional lives, credentials, etc., might also be factors. In any case, finding ways to break out of this cycle would be good for all of us.
When Life Feels Too Busy for Friendship
9/8/24 – It’s all very tiring. Go to church. Take a break from the rest. Jesus loves you.
9/8/24 – Is Pennsylvania going to hold?
9/8/24 – Democrats would be wise to be careful with abortion. They have support among liberal Christians, but it’s not the secular, we can do anything we want with our bodies kind. It’s accommodative, not an unrestrained right, and it’s more European in law, for as surprising as that might be for the American left.
9/5/24 – David Brooks has an article, “The Junkification of American Life,” that’s also worth reading (and happens to be related to Bai’s critique). Bad habits are easier to not develop than to break. Good habits are harder to develop than to break. The entire key to living a wholesome, productive, healthy life is to try to get yourself on and stay on a virtuous cycle. Then, continuing good habits and avoiding bad habits won’t feel hard. It will feel natural, even routine.
Brooks said that once one tastes good wine, one won’t want to drink Kool-Aid. Not if one has already damaged their palate. When you do drugs, smoke, eat bad food, consume bad things in general, you’re damaging your sensibilities, your body, mind and soul, whether or not you (fully) realize it.
If you’re having a hard time exercising adequate discipline to break yourself of these bad habits, start with simple things: make your bed every day, brush your teeth twice a day, keep your bedroom clean, put your phone away at work, go to your place of worship every week. Choose something small that you could improve, and start there. The goal is to do it consistently until it becomes a routine. Then choose something a little harder. Keep repeating this process.
RE Brooks’s passing comment on ambition, see below.
8/24/23 – “Here’s the question we all need to ask ourselves:… what do I love when I long for achievement?… What do I want when I want accomplishment? What am I looking for in this aspiration?” Recently, we discussed suffering in the context of Job’s life. (See below.) Here, we discuss success in the context of Augustine’s life. One can suffer not just from deprivation, pain, loss, or other negative experiences, but we can also suffer in the midst of our success. Are we going to blame God for this too? What aren’t we going to blame God for? A well-ordered, well-directed love provides protection from the brutal onslaught of the world and the whims of fortune and provides protection from our own egos. The one we’re made for is the one who made us, and it’s only by directing our ambition to glorifying and pleasing him that we can find rest. “Be our glory, let it be for your sake that we are loved.”
PS The audio isn’t the best.
Reforming our Ambition: James K.A Smith
9/5/24 – Matt Bai has an article in The Washington Post, “I understand Trump voters. Do I also have to empathize with them?” which is in part a response to Kristof’s article, which was in The New York Times. (These are worthwhile debates to have.) As is often the case, the Gospel is a good guide for difficult questions or situations. If liberals and others, patriotic Americans, feel anger, even rage at some points, toward a certain person, that’s entirely understandable. It’s also understandable to feel hurt, anger, frustration, and so on toward his supporters without whom he would have disappeared a long time ago. The problem is that giving voice to it doesn’t help the situation, or anything really, even oneself in the long term.
As Bai described, it is true that there are those who would have their dog run over to extend tax cuts, which was a rather clever and accurate description, and there are other deplorables, yes, deplorables, such as the white supremacists who also support a certain person. (Then, there is Elon Musk who is somehow managing to carve out a special spot in the pantheon of despicable autocrats, wannabes and their enablers, by vying to “outwit” the Hitler variety, who was in fact elected, by aiming to have control over the American government, and therefore, the American people, not by election in our democracy but by buying his way to power by supporting a certain demagogue, financially and by spreading his propaganda. Has anyone noticed that both of these people also have no idea what it means to be a good man or a family man? Coincidence? No.)
The most famous example of anger in the Gospel is when Jesus overturns the money changers’ tables in the Temple. What was his intention? To purify the Temple. He clearly chose not to take a diplomatic approach or to try to persuade people but to do so by force and with angry rebuke. Then, there are the numerous examples of Jesus trying to persuade people to follow him. He never uses anger in these cases.
The question is: what is the purpose, and what approach serves that purpose? If the purpose is to persuade voters, anger is not the way to go. It’s love and compassion. If the purpose to rid the country of the scourge of slavery, purification at any costs is the way to go. Word to the wise: we have one mutual goal – keep a certain person out of the White House. It should be ample motivation to keep you on your best behavior. Keep your eyes on the prize, your tongue in check, and listen with the ear of your heart because it will win more votes, and it’s also the right thing to do.
PS The circle example below was in response to Kristof’s piece. Feel free to practice it to get yourself in a place to do this hard work of healing our nation.
9/2/24 – Today, let’s also remember and honor the millions of people throughout the work who work without compensation, sometimes in generational debt bondage, basically slavery. They deserve to be liberated, to have dignified work and to bear the fruits of their labor. They, like all people, have rights, especially the right to be free.
IJM
9/2/24 – On this Labor Day, let’s remember that our two-day weekend was brought to us by unions and the Jewish people, the ones who taught the world the value of respecting rest as a divine mandate, a day for God. In the Catholic tradition, ora et labora.
Shabbat as Social Reform
9/1/24 – Belated Shabbat Shalom to our Jewish friends. Every Sunday, Christians’ Shabbat (Sabbath), we thank our Jewish brothers and sisters, without whom we would not have our beautiful religion. We want them to know that they gave us everything, and we are forever grateful to them. Our hearts break for the victims of Hamas’s terrorism and their grieving families. We hear, see and feel your frustration with Netanyahu’s terrible leadership. We understand the ramifications this has had on the Jewish people and the Palestinian people, who are suffering unnecessarily. May the God of Abraham help us find peace and unity.
9/1/24 – We are strongly opposed to any form of religious oppression, discrimination or persecution, and we are strong advocates for religious freedom. Usha Vance is Hindu, as is her right, and this personal choice needs to be respected. Hindus and Hinduism deserve to be treated with kindness and respect, as do people who practice any other faith or no faith.
India has always been a religiously pluralistic country. Before Hinduism arrived and became India’s majority religion, people practiced various forms of spirituality that basically worshipped nature and the creator (some still do), similar to our indigenous brothers and sisters in the United States. Christians and other religious minorities, especially Muslims, have been persecuted in India, particularly after the BJP inflamed religious intolerance.
For Indians, Kerala state has historically had a proud tradition of religious tolerance. Lean on them to revive Gandhi’s India. For Americans, remember our country was founded on religious tolerance, and when you treat religious minorities disrespectfully, it negatively impacts Christian minorities in other parts of the world.
In any and all cases, religious bigotry is unacceptable and not in keeping with Christ’s teachings. As Christians, we are called to be the hands and feet of Christ. We are asked to follow him. As Catholics, we are to be in communion with Christ. He is to live within us. Jesus never persecuted anyone. He was persecuted. Walk humbly with the Lord. Let the Holy Spirit guide your mind, heart and soul.
9/1/24 – Jesus said that we should love our enemies. The persecuted church practices this better than any other Christians in the world. In the face of brutal discrimination and persecution, they extend their persecutors grace. To our persecuted brothers and sisters in Christ, we love you, and we pray for you all the time. You are always in our hearts.
Barnabas Aid
Global Christian Relief
The Voice of the Martyrs