Obama Weighs In on New Saint

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have now gone into unabated delight that our president has again gestured toward them. Finding meaning where none exists - Gilgoff, you've done it again!
(Sarcasm alert, libs): And of course, as a conservative, I want sick people to suffer and die horrible deaths because I don't want the gov.t to run health care!!
Father Damien was inspired by God's love and his love FOR GOD, NOT GOVERNMENT, to sacrifice his life for others. I wish Obama could begin to understand that. Government is NOT the answer to the world's problems...they are the CAUSE of any and all problems!!
Only by God's Love and being inspired by HIM will we find solutions AS INDIVIDUALS - just like Father Damien.

Donna of TX 1:03PM October 13, 2009

You missed the first urging of the Catholic church and Jesus Christi himself. Marriage is sacramental. Sexual intercourse is for the sacrament of marriage. If we would obey that first law and teach our children that, this wouldn't happen. No one is perfect, but if a pregnancy occurs because you had sex outside of marriage, that doesn't mean a child should die. And, poverty is relative. A lot of "poor" people find money for things they don't need but think they have to get because of our materialistic culture. I can't believe with all of the welfare money and college grant money, day care assistance etc... that a woman who wants to better herself can't. Don't use any of that as an excuse to deny another human being the right to live.

Christi of TX 9:55AM October 12, 2009

I don't see why it is wrong that the USA is "still" a Catholic missionary field. All Christians are called to spread the faith to the whole world-- wherever people are. Of course Catholics want everyone to be Catholic. They think Catholicism is the truth! They wouldn't be Catholic if they didn't think so!

gman of VA 12:16AM October 12, 2009

Mike asked me to "back up" my claim that all churches say they exist to make the world population tithe to their churches." Start with the fact that believers PLEDGE to tithe to support churches. The tithe is in lockstep with evangelizing-can't have one without the other or churches close. See Matt 28:20 and Acts 11;8,9. Jesus tells disciples to "go all over the world, evangelizing all nations & baptizing inhabitants in the name of the Father, Son & Holy Spirit." If tithers misS a few months of pledge payments, they usually get a visit from church membership/finance committee. Churches say they exist to help the poor, but they create poverty by forcing poor women to complete unwanted conceptions. Unwed poor moms can't send kids to college, so they become cheap labor & remain poor. Churches cause divorces after Shotgun Weddings. Those marriages happen when unwanted conceptions are not aborted because of Prolife interference. Preachers take vows of poverty and tell believers to "give to the poor"--themselves. I'm forced to subsidize churches that take tax exemption. It's a sin to lie, so why do churches say they're "non-profit" when they get INCOME tax exemption based on church income.

Auradawn veirs of CA 11:30PM October 11, 2009

auradawn veirs of CA wrote "I study FINANCIAL, economic policies of churches. They all say they exist to make the world population tithe to their preachers." My question is can you back that up? The churches I know are more concerned in helping the poor, strengthening marriages, supporting missionaries. By the way supporting the church through giving is the responsibility of those who are members of the church not the entire world.

Mike of OR 12:17PM October 11, 2009

It is significant that one of the figures in the Statuary Hall of the U.S. Congress is now Saint Damien and therefore President Obama's appreciation for his life is appropriate and a part of our national story. Father Damien's life of faith and sacrifice for the good of others can be celebrated by all of the world.

Jeanine Tweedie of HI 4:46AM October 11, 2009

I study FINANCIAL, economic policies of churches. They all say they exist to make the world population tithe to their preachers. In a 4-day session of the "Great American Catholic Missionary Congresses," in Boston Cathedral, ll00 official delegates were led by Bonzano, papal representative. A priest asked "What is the purpose of this organization?" They clapped when he said "We mean to make this nation and this hemisphere Catholic." A missionary mentioned China & its new president. He said China was "ripe for the harvest." This Damien discussion reminded me, when Mac said the statue makes DC "more Catholic." I haven't web searched yet but there must be something about "The Great American Catholic Missionary Congresses." As i recall, they began in the home of the Archbishop of Chicago around l903? No church should be trying to make all Americans live under subjugation to a religious leader. This disturbs me enough to make this comment. All citizens have the right and duty to protect the republic from being turned into a theocracy. We see what's happening in "the Muslim world," especially to women. is the USA still a Catholic missionary field?

auradawn veirs of CA 9:34PM October 10, 2009

Public officials vow to protect, preserve & defend the Constitution. It guarantees the right to be atheistic. Public officials cannot ADVANCE nor hinder religion, but he ADVANCED Catholicism & all other faiths by "acknowledging God exists." He said he offered his prayers as people of all faiths all over the world join the Holy Father," etc. He must be neutral, as a tax-paid sworn public official. The establishment clause of the First Amendment says "Congress shall make no law respecting AN establishment of religion." it doesn't say THE establishment of religion." What did the authors mean? I'm related to James Wilson. The phrase "an establishment of religion" is a noun phrase. It bespeaks a thing, not an action. It isn't about a verbal act of "establishing a state religion." When people found a church, they create "an establishment of religion," with its HQ street address, charter & bylaws. Founders meant "Congress shall make no laws respecting past, present and future ESTABLISHMENTS of religion." But see tax laws. They illegally give tax favors to churches. Patriotic grammar experts, can you validate my definition? Founders knew churches would demand Old World tax subsidy.

auradawn veirs of CA 8:56PM October 10, 2009

He offered his own prayers...he didn't ask anyone else to pray.

Nancy of PA 10:07PM October 09, 2009

See http://www.aoc.gov/cc/art/nsh/damien.cfm
The statue of Father Damien was given by the State of Hawaii to the National Statuary Hall Collection in the US Capital.
Our nation's capital will now be slightly more like a Catholic Church in that it will contain the status of a Saint.
Father Damien was truly selfless. Although he had an accuser in Dr. Hyde, no less than Robert Louis Stevenson wrote much in support Father Damien.
"Stevenson was so provoked that he wrote his famous Father Damien: An Open Letter to the Reverend Dr. Hyde of Honolulu (1890) in a hotel lobby, in uncharacteristic haste."
See http://people.brandeis.edu/~teuber/stevensonbio.html#_fatherdamienanopenlettertothereverenddrhydeofhonolulu
and note the use of the name Hyde in his famous novella "Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde "

Mac in Manassas of VA 7:32PM October 09, 2009