Obama to talk to School Children at Noon: What?

Prepared Remarks of President Barack Obama
Back to School Event

Arlington, Virginia
September 8, 2009

The President: Hello everyone – how’s everybody doing today? I’m here with students at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia. And we’ve got students tuning in from all across America, kindergarten through twelfth grade. I’m glad you all could join us today.

I know that for many of you, today is the first day of school. And for those of you in kindergarten, or starting middle or high school, it’s your first day in a new school, so it’s understandable if you’re a little nervous. I imagine there are some seniors out there who are feeling pretty good right now, with just one more year to go. And no matter what grade you’re in, some of you are probably wishing it were still summer, and you could’ve stayed in bed just a little longer this morning.

I know that feeling. When I was young, my family lived in Indonesia for a few years, and my mother didn’t have the money to send me where all the American kids went to school. So she decided to teach me extra lessons herself, Monday through Friday – at 4:30 in the morning.

Now I wasn’t too happy about getting up that early. A lot of times, I’d fall asleep right there at the kitchen table. But whenever I’d complain, my mother would just give me one of those looks and say, "This is no picnic for me either, buster."

So I know some of you are still adjusting to being back at school. But I’m here today because I have something important to discuss with you. I’m here because I want to talk with you about your education and what’s expected of all of you in this new school year.

Now I’ve given a lot of speeches about education. And I’ve talked a lot about responsibility.

I’ve talked about your teachers’ responsibility for inspiring you, and pushing you to learn.

I’ve talked about your parents’ responsibility for making sure you stay on track, and get your homework done, and don’t spend every waking hour in front of the TV or with that Xbox.

I’ve talked a lot about your government’s responsibility for setting high standards, supporting teachers and principals, and turning around schools that aren’t working where students aren’t getting the opportunities they deserve.

But at the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, and the best schools in the world – and none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities. Unless you show up to those schools; pay attention to those teachers; listen to your parents, grandparents and other adults; and put in the hard work it takes to succeed.

And that’s what I want to focus on today: the responsibility each of you has for your education. I want to start with the responsibility you have to yourself.

Every single one of you has something you’re good at. Every single one of you has something to offer. And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is. That’s the opportunity an education can provide.

Maybe you could be a good writer – maybe even good enough to write a book or articles in a newspaper – but you might not know it until you write a paper for your English class. Maybe you could be an innovator or an inventor – maybe even good enough to come up with the next iPhone or a new medicine or vaccine – but you might not know it until you do a project for your science class. Maybe you could be a mayor or a Senator or a Supreme Court Justice, but you might not know that until you join student government or the debate team.

And no matter what you want to do with your life – I guarantee that you’ll need an education to do it. You want to be a doctor, or a teacher, or a police officer? You want to be a nurse or an architect, a lawyer or a member of our military? You’re going to need a good education for every single one of those careers. You can’t drop out of school and just drop into a good job. You’ve got to work for it and train for it and learn for it.

And this isn’t just important for your own life and your own future. What you make of your education will decide nothing less than the future of this country. What you’re learning in school today will determine whether we as a nation can meet our greatest challenges in the future.

You’ll need the knowledge and problem-solving skills you learn in science and math to cure diseases like cancer and AIDS, and to develop new energy technologies and protect our environment. You’ll need the insights and critical thinking skills you gain in history and social studies to fight poverty and homelessness, crime and discrimination, and make our nation more fair and more free. You’ll need the creativity and ingenuity you develop in all your classes to build new companies that will create new jobs and boost our economy.

We need every single one of you to develop your talents, skills and intellect so you can help solve our most difficult problems. If you don’t do that – if you quit on school – you’re not just quitting on yourself, you’re quitting on your country.

Now I know it’s not always easy to do well in school. I know a lot of you have challenges in your lives right now that can make it hard to focus on your schoolwork.

I get it. I know what that’s like. My father left my family when I was two years old, and I was raised by a single mother who struggled at times to pay the bills and wasn’t always able to give us things the other kids had. There were times when I missed having a father in my life. There were times when I was lonely and felt like I didn’t fit in.

So I wasn’t always as focused as I should have been. I did some things I’m not proud of, and got in more trouble than I should have. And my life could have easily taken a turn for the worse.

But I was fortunate. I got a lot of second chances and had the opportunity to go to college, and law school, and follow my dreams. My wife, our First Lady Michelle Obama, has a similar story. Neither of her parents had gone to college, and they didn’t have much. But they worked hard, and she worked hard, so that she could go to the best schools in this country.

Some of you might not have those advantages. Maybe you don’t have adults in your life who give you the support that you need. Maybe someone in your family has lost their job, and there’s not enough money to go around. Maybe you live in a neighborhood where you don’t feel safe, or have friends who are pressuring you to do things you know aren’t right.

But at the end of the day, the circumstances of your life – what you look like, where you come from, how much money you have, what you’ve got going on at home – that’s no excuse for neglecting your homework or having a bad attitude. That’s no excuse for talking back to your teacher, or cutting class, or dropping out of school. That’s no excuse for not trying.

Where you are right now doesn’t have to determine where you’ll end up. No one’s written your destiny for you. Here in America, you write your own destiny. You make your own future.

That’s what young people like you are doing every day, all across America.

Young people like Jazmin Perez, from Roma, Texas. Jazmin didn’t speak English when she first started school. Hardly anyone in her hometown went to college, and neither of her parents had gone either. But she worked hard, earned good grades, got a scholarship to Brown University, and is now in graduate school, studying public health, on her way to being Dr. Jazmin Perez.

I’m thinking about Andoni Schultz, from Los Altos, California, who’s fought brain cancer since he was three. He’s endured all sorts of treatments and surgeries, one of which affected his memory, so it took him much longer – hundreds of extra hours – to do his schoolwork. But he never fell behind, and he’s headed to college this fall.

And then there’s Shantell Steve, from my hometown of Chicago, Illinois. Even when bouncing from foster home to foster home in the toughest neighborhoods, she managed to get a job at a local health center; start a program to keep young people out of gangs; and she’s on track to graduate high school with honors and go on to college.

Jazmin, Andoni and Shantell aren’t any different from any of you. They faced challenges in their lives just like you do. But they refused to give up. They chose to take responsibility for their education and set goals for themselves. And I expect all of you to do the same.

That’s why today, I’m calling on each of you to set your own goals for your education – and to do everything you can to meet them. Your goal can be something as simple as doing all your homework, paying attention in class, or spending time each day reading a book. Maybe you’ll decide to get involved in an extracurricular activity, or volunteer in your community. Maybe you’ll decide to stand up for kids who are being teased or bullied because of who they are or how they look, because you believe, like I do, that all kids deserve a safe environment to study and learn. Maybe you’ll decide to take better care of yourself so you can be more ready to learn. And along those lines, I hope you’ll all wash your hands a lot, and stay home from school when you don’t feel well, so we can keep people from getting the flu this fall and winter.

Whatever you resolve to do, I want you to commit to it. I want you to really work at it.

I know that sometimes, you get the sense from TV that you can be rich and successful without any hard work -- that your ticket to success is through rapping or basketball or being a reality TV star, when chances are, you’re not going to be any of those things.

But the truth is, being successful is hard. You won’t love every subject you study. You won’t click with every teacher. Not every homework assignment will seem completely relevant to your life right this minute. And you won’t necessarily succeed at everything the first time you try.

That’s OK. Some of the most successful people in the world are the ones who’ve had the most failures. JK Rowling’s first Harry Potter book was rejected twelve times before it was finally published. Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team, and he lost hundreds of games and missed thousands of shots during his career. But he once said, "I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."

These people succeeded because they understand that you can’t let your failures define you – you have to let them teach you. You have to let them show you what to do differently next time. If you get in trouble, that doesn’t mean you’re a troublemaker, it means you need to try harder to behave. If you get a bad grade, that doesn’t mean you’re stupid, it just means you need to spend more time studying.

No one’s born being good at things, you become good at things through hard work. You’re not a varsity athlete the first time you play a new sport. You don’t hit every note the first time you sing a song. You’ve got to practice. It’s the same with your schoolwork. You might have to do a math problem a few times before you get it right, or read something a few times before you understand it, or do a few drafts of a paper before it’s good enough to hand in.

Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need it. I do that every day. Asking for help isn’t a sign of weakness, it’s a sign of strength. It shows you have the courage to admit when you don’t know something, and to learn something new. So find an adult you trust – a parent, grandparent or teacher; a coach or counselor – and ask them to help you stay on track to meet your goals.

And even when you’re struggling, even when you’re discouraged, and you feel like other people have given up on you – don’t ever give up on yourself. Because when you give up on yourself, you give up on your country.

The story of America isn’t about people who quit when things got tough. It’s about people who kept going, who tried harder, who loved their country too much to do anything less than their best.

It’s the story of students who sat where you sit 250 years ago, and went on to wage a revolution and found this nation. Students who sat where you sit 75 years ago who overcame a Depression and won a world war; who fought for civil rights and put a man on the moon. Students who sat where you sit 20 years ago who founded Google, Twitter and Facebook and changed the way we communicate with each other.

So today, I want to ask you, what’s your contribution going to be? What problems are you going to solve? What discoveries will you make? What will a president who comes here in twenty or fifty or one hundred years say about what all of you did for this country?

Your families, your teachers, and I are doing everything we can to make sure you have the education you need to answer these questions. I’m working hard to fix up your classrooms and get you the books, equipment and computers you need to learn. But you’ve got to do your part too. So I expect you to get serious this year. I expect you to put your best effort into everything you do. I expect great things from each of you. So don’t let us down – don’t let your family or your country or yourself down. Make us all proud. I know you can do it.

Thank you, God bless you, and God bless America.

WHITE HOUSE. GOV

Catholic Femina Speaks: I understand the president wanting to talk to children, presidents in the past have given talks to kids... but not a talk like this. Our children do not need to hear about the heardships of President Obama's life or his second chances. Talking about Harry Potter and Michael Jordan just seems like a waste of time or a ploy for popularity with kids. Obama is saying that he is fixing up their classrooms and he expects great things. Children should not be confused by a president who see them as an asset that he wants to capitolize on. If they were babies in the womb he woul want to kill them; since they are sitting at a desk he will endoctrinate them to support the Obama administration.

Take your kids out of school today, or at least opt for them to miss the president's speech.

Bishops Against Universal Health Care

Bishops have been speaking out against universal health care. Some of the Catholic media has been presenting the view that the United Stated Council of Catholic Bishops entirely supports public health care, but this is now being show as false. In a posting on the Catholic Key Blog Archbishop Joseph Naumann of the Kansas City, Kan., archdiocese and Bishop Robert Finn of the Kansas City-St. Joseph diocese said: “The right of every individual to access health care does not necessarily suppose an obligation on the part of the government to provide it.” They continued to say “when the individual has a personal, monetary stake or a financial obligation to pay even a portion of the cost of medical care, prudence comes to bear — with greater consistency — on such decisions, and unnecessary costs are minimized.” In another recent statement Bishop R. Walker Nickless of Sioux City, Iowa wrote: “the Catholic Church does not teach that ‘health care’ as such, without distinction, is a natural right.” The Catholic Church does not have a teaching that states that all people are entitled to have free health care… it is that all people are to be treated with dignity. The distortion of recent papal writings and the socialist agenda that has been promoted is not Church teachings. Kansas City

Catholic Femina Speaks: I am very happy that this error has been corrected… not all bishops want universal healthcare. It will hurt many people and promote the culture of death. People who read this must understand that all people are entitled to dignity, but that is not an over-reaching statement that contrives to forcibly tax the wealthy to pay for the poor. In other words Catholics are already providing health care through Catholic Charities and other organizations without government interference. Our pro-choice, pro-euthanasia, culture of death government will not promote the dignity of humanity and these bishops know it. They are not promoting the government health care because it is not a means to help people but a ploy to further the Obama agenda.

Boycott Gay Ice Cream!

Catholic Femina Speaks: When I go for a pint, I am not speaking of beer... I love the creamy deliciousness of Ice Cream, but I will no longer be purchasing Ben & Jerry's who has introduced a flavor that is homosexual... The Chubby Hubby Ice Cream has been changed to Hubby Hubby Ice Cream in support of Freedom to Marry.

China Abortions Top 13 Million!

“The one child policy causes more violence toward women and girls than any other policy on the face of the earth,” said Reggie Littlejohn, a one child policy expert and president of the newly-founded Women's Rights Without Frontiers. “Forced abortions and forced sterilizations are an unacceptable form of population control. Many women develop critical health problems for the rest of their lives and the emotional impact resulting from forced abortions contributes to the high rate of female suicides.”

Wei Linrong from Guangxi Province, a devout Christian and anti-abortionist, was forcibly injected with poison that killed her unborn child, according to a National Public Radio (NPR) report. Ten family planning officials visited her home and drove Wei and her husband to a maternity hospital. Wei was put through nearly 16 hours of contractions before a stillborn emerged, blackened by the effects of drugs. The body was then thrown away like “rubbish” by nurses, according to NPR. Wei was seven months pregnant. He Caigan, an unmarried 19-year-old, was forced to abort her child at nine months in the same manner, according to the report by NPR. The operation caused her prolonged physical pain and emotional trauma. The one child policy was introduced in 1979 to curb the apparently growing problem of overpopulation. Years earlier, under Mao Zedong’s rule in the 1950s, Chinese people were encouraged to produce children to boost the country’s labor and military forces.

China Daily, a state-controlled newspaper, recently published annual abortion figures of 13 million and a live birth rate of 20 million, as recorded by China’s National Family Planning Commission. The Chinese citizens are forced to get a permit in order to have a baby to begin with, single women are forbidden from having children, and married women with one child are forcibly sterilized or given an Intra-Uterine Device (IUD). The sterilizations are carried out on the local level, and there are monetary incentives for the provinces with the higher numbers. Individuals with very little experience perform sterilizations and abortions; resulting in the prolonged injuries of countless women. Furthermore, the cultural preference to male children that has caused a sex crisis in China indicates that nearly 50% of female fetuses must be aborted. Abandoned children are another huge problem; parents who divorce and want another child in a new marriage abandon the child from their previous relationship to have another. The affects of this law extend to every level of society and the leader in China could very easily change this evil edict. Epoch Times

Catholic Femina Speaks: I had a female friend, who was an exchange student from china. She had no cousins, aunts, or uncles. The family unit was totally the parents and grandparents. When she came to the United States for college she was thrilled by the family dynamics with siblings and cousins. She confessed that as a child she used to imagine that she had a sister. My friend married and stayed in the US because she wanted reproductive freedom; sounds like a slogan to have abortions… but abortions are not freeing. As china demonstrates the freedom to not have a child takes the right of the person away. My friend said that there are so many more men than women in China that friends of her parents would be angry that she would not return to marry in their country. My friend’s father was sad to loose his only family, but her mother expressed different feelings. Her mother is a wealthy and successful business woman, but when she learned that her daughter wanted to stay in the US and have more children, her mother said she was envious and longed for more children. Her mother was successful and wealthy, able to buy anything to make her happy, except have a baby. She praised her daughter. I was touched by the understanding.

The laws in China are brutal and hurt millions of families. The physical pain and the emotional scares will take decades to undo. China is committing genocide of their people. I pray that this will end and the women of China will be freed.

Muslim Peaceful Takeover

Catholic Femina Speaks: We need to evangelize and spread the word of God!

Catholic Health Association Retracts Obama Care Support

Sr. Carol Keehan, DC, president and chief executive officer of Catholic Health Association, said: “our message has always been clear: health care must respect and protect human dignity from conception to natural death. In that spirit, coverage for everyone is a moral imperative and a matter of social justice.” This was the motivation to make the advertisement begging Americans to accept the health care bill and not wait for reform. Keehan has been asking for health care reform, and is excited about the prospect of Obama Care… The confusing advertisement leads Americans to believe that CHA supports the present health care reform, and they do not mention abortion, euthanasia, or the death panels. CHA is one of a few organizations such as Planned Parenthood who have been pushing this bill. The message is “I can’t wait for health care reform,” sounds like CHA is calling Americans to turn a blind eye to the moral issues at hand. In a recent statement Keehan claims: “to date, CHA has not endorsed any health care reform bill, but our message to lawmakers is unchanged: Health reform should not result in an expansion of abortion, and it must maintain conscience protections for health care providers who do not want to participate in abortions or other morally objectionable procedures.” She has been trying to clarify that the advertisements are for “health care reform;” not necessarily anyone person’s reform plan… But President Barack Obama is the first one to speak about his plan on the advertisement and he is followed by people asking for health care. CNA

Catholic Femina Speaks: If CHA was not promoting Obama care, I don’t know what would be. Keehan was excited about having money for her organization and didn’t think through the repercussions of accepting money from the government. She also ignores the success of Catholic healthcare based on donations, and how these donations would stop if people are over-taxed to pay for the new Obama Care. Universal health care is not a good option and I think that Keehan is seeing the full picture a little late. She sat with rose colored glasses on and believed the liberal media; she thought that the government would help people. She ignored the abortions on demand, the QALY system, and the death panels. She took her own interpretation of what she hoped health care reform would be and presented it. Keehan was sadly wrong; she is admitting her error in a round-about way. Hopefully Catholics will realize that Keehan is not an authority on the health care reform of President Obama and look for more reliable sources in the future.

Catholic Health Association Advertisement?

Catholic Femina Speaks: This is a Video that the Catholic Health Association has made, I thought it sounded like they supported the Obama Care; and did not care about waiting for pro-life or euthanasia to be removed... You decide!

Public School Insanity

The World Net Daily “Most likely you've heard Einstein's definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Nowhere is this more obvious today than with political and religious conservatives, the so-called right. What do I mean? Next month the right will send millions of their own children to public schools that are literally controlled by the left – meaning that it is only the liberals' "values," "morals" and curriculum that are taught in our government schools.”

Some may ask if this is true – can liberals actually be running the schools? Is it possible that there is a direct link between our country's precipitous slide into socialism and decades of indoctrination in leftist school ideologies? You be the judge. Read below what the founder of today's schools and other public school advocates have said over the years:

"I believe that ... [public] education is the fundamental method of social progress and reform ... this conception has due regard for ... socialistic ideals." and "There is no God and there is no soul. ... There is no room for fixed ... or moral absolutes."

– John Dewey, father of modern public education and signer of Humanist Manifesto 1930

"Education is thus a most powerful ally of humanism, and every American school is a school of humanism. What can a theistic Sunday school's meeting for an hour once a week and teaching only a fraction of the children do to stem the tide of the five-day program of humanistic teaching?"

– C.F. Potter, signer of Humanist Manifesto 1930

"... [E]very child in American entering schools at the age of 5 is insane because he comes to schools with certain allegiances toward our Founding Fathers, toward his parents, toward a belief in a supernatural being, toward the sovereignty of this nation as a separate entity. ..."

– Chester Pierce, professor of education at Harvard (1970)

"The old order is passing. … Social controls cannot be left to blind chance. ... Man must be the builder of new forms of social organizations. … Here [public] education must play a stellar role."

– Dan W. Dodson, professor of educational sociology at N. Y. University (1970)

"We are the biggest potential political striking force [union] in this country, and we are determined to control the direction of [public] education."

– NEA President Catherine Barrett (1972)

"Public schools promote civic rather than individual pursuits. ... We must focus on creating citizens for the good of society. … Each child belongs to the state."

– William H. Seawell, professor of education (1981)

"... [T]he battle for humankind's future must be waged and won in the public school classrooms by teachers who correctly perceive their role as proselytizers of a new religion. … The classroom must and will become an arena of conflict between the old and the new – the rotting corpse of Christianity ... and the new faith of humanism. ..."

– John Dunphy, 1983 (Secular-Humanist)

"We do not need any more preaching about right or wrong. The old 'thou shall nots' simply are not relevant. Values clarification is a method for teachers to change the values of children without getting caught."

– Dr. Sidney Simon, creator of "Values Clarification"

Catholic Femina Speaks: There is very little that I can add to this... the public schools are a place of corruption and ignorance is not true bliss. If you put your children under the care of the state you can expect them to reflect this. Pope Benedict reflected on this yesterday, the feast of St. Monica the mother of St. Augustine. She tirelessly worked for the conversion of her son, and the Holy Father is calling all parents to follow her example. To parent a child is to guide them through the world and help them find their way to God; and the state is never going to facilitate this.

Obama To Police the Internet! Will You Be Affected?

A new bill has just been purposed by the Senate that gives President Obama the ability to "declare a cybersecurity emergency." "Non-governmental" computer networks and do what's necessary to respond to the threat. Other sections of the proposal include a federal certification program for "cybersecurity professionals," and a requirement that certain computer systems and networks in the private sector be managed by people who have been awarded that license. This bill, if passed will be used to stop the spread of news to the American people so that the Obama Administration can do whatever they want. CNET
Catholic Femina Speaks: This bill is really upsetting; the president will be able to end your Internet access based on his discretion. We have seen in the past that Obama uses all measures to promote his agenda; including trying to confuse the American people , spy on bloggers, pretending to have messages from God, and this will be no different. Stealing the freedom of the American people to pass bills without their knowledge is the real source of this bill. Obama has tried to shut down grass roots movements, and he has been unsuccessful. The internet has been a tool to assure America’s freedom. We cannot let this happen, the Obama Administration wants to pass bills that force Americans to do things that they would not freely choose otherwise. We need to stand up for our right to freedom of speech. “Cybersecurity” is just another way to hurt Americans.

Vaccinating Massachusetts Destroys Personal Freedoms

Catholic Femina Speaks: Watch this video and listen to the meausres that the legislators are puting in place. This bill is not just about the swine flu... It has the potential to force Massachusetts residents to obey the state with the threat of marshall law in matters that 'the state' deems nessecary. Mandatory vaccines is opening the door to making mandatory other medical matters; such as mandatory contraceptives, abortions, and euthanasia. Stamping out freedom with 'health' as the trojan horse is the quickest way steal other freedoms from the people.

KENNEDY DIES

Pray For his soul...

Faithful Prefer Tridentine Mass!

A survey conducted by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate has found that Catholics in the United States with an opinion on the subject favor the availability of the extraordinary form of the Mass by a two to one margin, with the majority having no opinion. When asked “Do you favor as an alternative to the newer Mass, bringing back the older Latin Tridentine Mass for those who would prefer this option?” 25% favor the option, 12% oppose it, and 63% have no opinion.
Support for the extraordinary form option is higher among older Catholics, those who attend Mass weekly, political independents, and those with graduate degrees.
A similar survey conducted in 1985 found that Catholics favored the option by a 40%-35% Catholic Culture
Catholic Femina Speaks: I enjoy the Tridentine Mass, when I have the option I attend mass in Latin. I attended mass as a child in Latin with the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter. I believe that in many ways the Tridentine Mass is more reverent with the priest facing the altar, and ultimately God rather than the distracting congregation. I love the Communion rail! I know that the Latin language is more traditional and can be a universal mark of the church because it is at the heart of the faith. I know that the Latin language adds mystery to the mass and makes people pay attention because they have to follow along in their missals rather than dose off...

Stimulus Package For Sex Research

The Obama Stimulus package has dedicated funding to research the sexual behavior in humans and some animals as it can be pertained to humans. This research comes with a price tag of nearly $700,000; and is definitely not going to be used to promote morality or monogamy. Some of the National Institutes of Health are studies that include:

* Examine "barriers to correct condom use" at Indiana University, at a cost of $221,000.

* Study "hookups" among adolescents at Syracuse University. Study's cost: $219,000.

* Evaluate "drug use as a sex enhancer" in an analysis of "high-risk community sex networks" at the University of Illinois, Chicago. That study will cost $123,000.

* Study how methamphetamine, thought to produce an "insatiable need" for sex among users, "enhances the motivation for female rat sexual behavior." Some $28,000 has been awarded for the University of Maryland at Baltimore study. NY Post

Catholic Femina Speaks: Well, we have theology of the body instituted by former Pope John Paul II and it appears President Obama is looking to introduce other purposes for human sexuality. Pro-creation of children and spousal love were not on the research funded by the stimulus package. Rather, “teen hook-ups, condoms, and drugs” are the basis for this study. Our country is truly loosing its morality, because we are not working to stop these perversions of human sexuality. Obama is giving money to research them, ultimately leading to a spread in this behavior. People constantly say that they do not want the Catholic Church in their bedroom… what about the government? Is ‘Big Brother’ running a porn industry? These studies are degrading to the human person and it is atrocious that our tax money will be funding it!

Obama: Image of Christ or Harbinger of Death?

“We are God’s partners in matters of Life and death”… When President Barack Obama said this I was wondering which God he was blaspheming. I came to the conclusion that the statement was intended to be Christian since the Muslim community was not offended. Obama has started a “40 days for Health Reform;” he is asking the Christian community to drop their morals in the way side and follow him into the culture of death. Life Site News

Catholic Femina Speaks: If you can’t stamp out religion, become God? Obama is trying to personify Christ, with the “partnering with God” and “40 days”… Using biblical theory to promote Christian support is only effective when the person actually imitates the Gospel. Jesus spent forty days praying for the salvation of souls, and Obama will spend his forty days collaborating to exterminate more unborn babies! I thought that Obama wanted to play God, killing the less desirable, as he feels. Now he is trying to convince Americans that he got a message from God. I am thinking that he must have developed a new version of the bible too We now have the Revised Standard, the Douhey-Rheims, the King James; now it will be the Obama Bible…maybe written in Ebonics for diversity. I hope that Americans are not fooled by the wolf in sheep’s clothing, and continue to fight against the culture of death.

What It Means To Be A "Catholic Femina"

I have been asked by blogger Salvation Is An Adventure to write the following:

Catholic Femina Speaks: The Women’s role in the Catholic Church… this has been a question that I have been answering regularly for the past seven years. In college I studied Theology, I felt God calling me to learn more about the faith. I loved what I studied and I grew spiritually as a result. Even now I am asked: “you are Catholic, why did you (a woman) study theology?” Then very quickly most people follow with the question, “Do you want to be a priest?” The mass down playing of the woman’s role in the Catholic Church is magnified by the feminist movement. Men and women are equal in the Catholic Church regardless of whether or not a woman can become a priest. Men should be priests because that is God’s plan. It was not a mistake or an over sight, Jesus chose twelve men. This was not a cultural or historical difference that needs correction, because pagan churches of Jesus’ time had priestesses. Christ created the complimentary natures of male and female; He understood the best roles in the Church for each. Men are to be priests and the Church is their bride: the Church is the bride of Christ (Eph. 5:23–32). Women cannot have an ordered relationship as a priest with the Holy Mother Church. Men are to take the Church and protect her as Christ asked St. John to protect Mary while He hung from the cross. The proper role for women in the church is as an image of Mary, she stood at the foot of the cross faithfully. Swords pierced her heart as she shared in the pain that Christ endured; this true spiritual sharing with Christ is a woman’s role in the Church. Women in the gospels fearlessly pursued the truth and Christ. This is not a lesser role to men and despite feminists desire to undermine women’s role in the Catholic Church; woman are integral to the faith. The female nature has a heart open to loving unconditionally and giving selflessly. This sharing of self is unparalleled in the Blessed Mother and should be the goal of all women. Female religious can be truly espoused to Christ and give themselves freely as is ordered in the female nature. Men cannot experience this same espousal to Christ; priests represent Christ in the sacraments, but they cannot have this relationship with Him. In marriage a man and woman co-create with God a child, but it is the woman’s role to carry that child to term and feel the Creator’s hand on her as a new life begins. It is not a man’s nature and it should not be a concern that they cannot do this, because their role is vital as well. This is the same with the Catholic Church, women have an important place and this cannot be ignored or lessened by the male role. Men and Women are complimentary. Their proper ordered roles in the Catholic Church must reflect this and Jesus was not in error when He formed the Church. As a woman when I sit in Mass I feel proud of the heritage of noble Catholic women who through humility espoused themselves to Christ and took their place as His bride. I feel that the role of married and single women in the Church is just as important as they share in union with the priest through their humble ardent desire to fearlessly love and give. Women do not need to be ordained priests or claim titles in their parish because Christ gave them a position. The female role in the Church is honorable and should never be looked down on. It is not ordination that makes saints, following the Gospel plan left by Christ is the clear path. I hope that understanding the importance of women in the Body of Christ will encourage them to courageously give of their talents in ministry, as the women of scriptures, and nobly embrace their place in the Church.

Planned Parenthood Wants Contraceptives For Children

Planned Parenthood is pushing for girls under sixteen to have unlimited access to birth control with state funded child insurance. The Planned Parenthood organization is now attacking the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), because contraceptives are not supposed to be covered for children. Gregg Trude from Right to Life of Montana said: “There is a law in Montana -- it's on the books -- that girls under the age of 16 do not have to have parental involvement or consent in anything that has to do with birth control, birth, pregnancy, or abortion. It's crazy. It's crazy,” He went on to point out that children “right now are allowed to get birth control through the CHIP program in the state of Montana, if in fact a doctor writes a prescription for it.” Apparently Planned Parenthood wants unlimited access to birth control without parental consent for all children. Culture

Catholic Femina Speaks: Planned Parenthood truly must be the hands of Satan on earth. To want developing teenagers to consume drugs that has numerous adverse affects on the body, and promotes promiscuity. Planned Parenthood is at the fore front of the abortion industry and they have been known to protect child molesters. I am concerned about the safety of a girl of twelve or so who is seeking out contraceptives, are they for herself or protection from a family member who is threatening. Planned Parenthood doesn’t care and if the girl does become pregnant they will hide the evidence from the authorities; perform an abortion and put the child in the same situation again.

Lockerbie Bomber Realesed: "Humanitarian Effort?"

The December 21, 1988 terrorist attack on Pan Am Flight 103 over the skies of Lokerbie, Scotland where Abdel Baset Al-Megrahi massacred 270 people is now a thing of the past. Megrahi has been released to return as a hero to his home country of Libya. He has spent 21 years in a Scotland prison for the crimes he committed. Megrahi was the only man convicted for the massacre, of this flight headed to J.F.K. Airport in New York. Frank Lautenberg Democrat, from New Jersey, said in a statement. “Releasing Mr. Al-Megrahi also sends the wrong message about the consequences of international terrorism and increases the threat of terror in the United States.” Megrahi was said to be serving a life sentence for the horrific massacre, but after only 21 years he is free as a “Humanitarian effort” because he is dying of prostate cancer. NBC

Catholic Femina Speaks: In 1988 I was only six years old when my father’s cousin died, from what doctors called internal bruising resulting from his massive fall, in Pan Am Flight 103. Planning to spend a quiet Christmas alone with her son Michael in mourning, my great-Aunt Margaret, a middle-aged Florida elementary school teacher, had not expected what was to come. She and her living son were treated like criminals by the American government and the loss of her son was over looked. The suit-case bomb was at the fore-front of Americans’ minds and the pain of this experience was merely a side-note, the family was investigate unmercifully for the crime against humanity. It was only after Margaret Stoweand her son Michael passed away that the Libyan Government paid millions of dollars in restitution for the crimes of their citizen. Even this year the families of the victims received an additional $2 million dollars apiece. These numbers are astounding and are the source for this criminal against humanity's is release, called a “Humanitarian effort.” The families of victims have been given ample money from the Libya and the Scottish Government has not exposed any funds given to push his release… but I am certain that this bombing plot was not a single person’s effort and I believe the Libyan government is worried about any leeks from Megrahi and has worked tirelessly to have him released. This dangerous killer will be sent home to hailed as a hero during the Ramadan calbration, for massacring Christians who were returning home to celebrate the birth of Christ. No ammount of money should free this man from serving the life sentence he deserved, and I am sorry to see the world free a "Criminal Against Humanity" as a "humanitarian effort." This is just insane!

Japanese Benefit Most From Cash-For-Clunkers

“Under the cash-for-clunkers scheme, modeled on similar incentives in Europe, buyers who trade in old vehicles for those with lower fuel consumption receive a rebate of $3,500 or $4,500, depending on the fuel consumption of the replacement vehicle.” This was the brain child of the Obama administration to copy Europe to aid the American Auto Industry, but we are helping Japan instead. Americans are purchasing more Japanese vehicles than American made. “Toyota has an 18.9 per cent share of vehicles bought so far, putting it ahead of General Motors with 17.6 per cent and Ford with 15.4 per cent. Chrysler is in fifth place, after Honda… in contrast to the beginning of the year GM had a 19.6 per cent share of the overall US light-vehicle market in the first seven months of this year, compared with Toyota’s 16.3 per cent.” It would seem that the $2 Billion dollars that was supposed to help Americans is really an incentive for Japanese car manufacturers. FT
Catholic Femina Speaks: So the government is trying to help the American car industry by giving lots of money to the Japanese car companies. I think of it like a coach in a football game allowing players to play for the opponent. That coach is not likely to win, and he is very likely to advance his opponent farther beyond what he could have obtained without the help. This is not an effective way to bail-out anyone. The second question is who will be paying back this money to help boost Japanese car sales? If you answered: “me,” you were right. The American people will be paying back all the money that our government is spending through taxes. So before you take a cash for clunkers deal remember you will be paying for that incentive for a long time; it is not a car manufacturer rebate. C. F. C. is a plan to help large car companies immediately, but will hurt Americans later.

Voodoo In the White House?

President Barack Obama has threatened to turn his mother-in-law out of the White House, and not because of her end of life cost to health care! According to the recent rumors 72-year-old Marian Robinson is practicing voodoo in the White House. Robinson began practicing Sanateria, an African Spirit cult, during her husband’s illness Robinson in the 1980s and did not stop after his death. Rumor has it that Obama is furious that his mother-in-law is practicing the occult in his home and has threatened to send her back to Chicago. Atkinson's Advice

Catholic Femina Speaks:This is a rumor going around and I could not pass this up, 'voodoo?' I have to take a moment here because I hardly ever see eye to eye with the president… but I do agree that I would not have anyone practicing voodoo around my kids!

American Life League On: Obama Care

Red Flag: Obama Health Care Growing Worse!

Is Obama waving white flag to blind the American people? In a surprising move on Sunday President Barack Obama claimed to be removing “the public option” from the health care plan. Instead the new proposal by Senator Kent Conrad, D-N.D., consumer-owned nonprofit cooperatives would sell insurance in competition with the private industry, not unlike the way electric and agriculture co-ops operate. The government will give these co-ops federal money to start-up of $3-$4 billion dollars, but the companies will be independently managed outside the government. Taking the “public option” out of the healthcare plan is not a major change according to Obama. "All I'm saying is, though, that the public option, whether we have it or we don't have it, is not the entirety of health care reform," Obama said at a town hall meeting in Grand Junction, Colorado; "This is just one sliver of it, one aspect of it." Yahoo News

Catholic Femina Speaks: Obama has been trying to stop grass roots movements, he has been trying to prevent people from exposing the death panel, and he has been attempting to cover up the rationing of care. All of these efforts have been foiled by the American people. A new day of the media has arrived; American citizens read the proposals before them. They don’t blindly sit by and listen to the liberal news broadcasters interpretations. Americans want to preserve their rights and are prepared to stand up for them in an Obama town hall meeting or on facebook. Obama calls removing the ‘public option’ only a ‘sliver of it;’ this is not a white flag for Americans, this is a red flag. After all the controversy over this bill the president is not conceding. He has found another way to move his agenda forward. Forming insurance co-ops with federal funding is not a means to help Americans have other options; it is an effort to put private health insurance out of business. As I wrote before; in the past health care plan Obama was not forcing anyone to take public health care, he was making it extremely difficult if not impossible to get health care else where. In this new plan only the co-ops that keep with government principles will receive the funding; pro-abortion, pro-contraceptive, and pro-euthanasia companies that work as an extension of the government. Obama can keep his nose clean by saying that there is no ‘public option,’ but in reality he has not changed the out come at all. Health care will be provided through government approved co-ops and government funding will be used to make these plans inexpensive. As history shows when the government gives funds they have control of care. Judie Brown, American Life League, said “I do not want a government who has killed 500,000 babies to have a role in my health care, and especially my end of life decisions.” I hope that Americans will see that this plan is different means to the same end. They can stand their ground and continue to fight for the Culture of Life!

Marriage at the Heart of the Vocations Crisis

In Phoenix, Arizona during the 127th annual Knights of Columbus convention, Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York pointed out four major problems with the church in America. “The four being the vocation to marriage, the state of Catholic parishes and schools, the great number of lapsed Catholics, and finally the difficulties in a culture desperate to keep the Church and morals out of the public square.” After a few moments the Archbishop pointed out that the well-spring of these problems is the vocations crisis… “We have a vocation crisis to life-long, life-giving, loving, faithful marriage. If we take care of that one, we’ll have all the priests and nuns we need for the church,” Archbishop Dolan said. Pope Benedict XVI has declared this the year of vocations and has focused this dedication on the priesthood. The Archbishop Dolan has redirected this year of prayers to the vocation of marriage. He has told the faithful that if we have good Catholic marriages vocations will be the fruit. So he is trying to use the year of priests as a focus on why we are having a shortage; and heal the root of the problem. “Only 50% of our Catholic young people are getting married,” the Archbishop said. We need to pray for all vocations so that Catholic marriage can begin producing religious again. CNA

Catholic Femina Speaks: the term “Vocations” is a very misunderstood term. Most of the time people only understand this exclusively as a “religious vocation;” while in reality it is anything that a person does for the glory of God. Every person should pursue a vocation, but most only seek a career. A career as a means of personal stability on earth, and they are not living out a vocation for the glory of God. Marriage needs to be understood as a vocation, just as every other life goal. This will begin the healing process of Catholic families. The call to a vocation should be the first driving factor and parents need to help their children learn how to listen for God so that their vocation is not drowned out by the world. “Religious vocations” are a means to glorify God, but so are the married life, single life, and careers. So we as Catholics must take the Archbishop’s suggestion and heal the base for vocations the married life so that all other vocations can flourish.

53 Year-Old to Try Out For Catholic College Basketball Team

Chris Spina, a 53 year old, realtor of Bonita Springs, Florida was 300 pounds a little over eight months ago. He told his friends and family that he would loose nearly 100 lbs. in hopes of playing college NAIA basketball at Ave Maria University. Spina works out for 3-4 hours daily and has hired a hall of fame caliber basket ball coach to hone in his skills. “I fully intend to make that team and get on the court and play,” Spina said. AMU coach Jamon Copeland coach has informed Spina that he would have a fair try out just as any other student. “Age doesn’t have anything to do with it,” Copeland said. “Ability is what I’m looking for. If there’s someone that can help us, we’ll take them, but I’m not going to take somebody just to take them.” Spina’s dream of playing college ball will be determined by his performance at the try-outs; on an early fall date yet to be announced. Naples News