Saturday, April 3rd, 2004

Time	Event
1:21p	I found out about this site a while ago, but it somehow kept slipping my mind and I don't think I ever posted about it... Jesus No Republican Would Jesus be a Republican in America today? Jesus of Nazareth was a man famous for being a paragon of virtue and yet the epitome of humility, a man who gave the rich a hard time, while associating with the dregs of society, much less like a Conservative Republican than a Liberal Democrat. This site was created by Ray Dubuque, who also created Liberals Like Christ. I've seen him around the internet, and in Yahoo groups, but today is the first time I've seen his "about me" page that tells something of his history. Ray is the younger of two sons born in Chicago to a very devout Roman Catholic family. All his early schooling was in parochial schools, where a really dedicated priest turned him on to what Catholics were then calling the "Social Gospel", and which Conservatives today cannot distinguish from "socialism" or "communism". Wanting to be like his saintly mentor, Ray then spent twelve years in Catholic seminaries. including four extra years devoted to the study of the empowering and liberating philosophy of Aristotle, theology of Thomas Aquinas and Good News of Jesus Christ. After earning the equivalent of a Master's degree in Theology at Catholic University of America, in D.C., and being ordained a priest, he became a seminary professor. When, however, he saw his church take a U-turn after the Second Vatican Council and start heading back to the dark ages again, he lost any hope that the Roman Catholic Church would be reformed in his lifetime and became a minister in the United Methodist Church, where the Reformation had already taken place. Before leaving the church, however, Ray used every opportunity to preach this powerful sermon, challenging the Roman Catholic hierarchy, on behalf of the voiceless people in the pews, and then sent a copy of it to the Pope and to every Catholic bishop in America. Ray then married Jane, one of the most genuine Christian women imaginable, who like Ray had outgrown the R C church. Jane had five children at the time, but the Dubuques were persuaded by the teaching of Jesus ("when you did it to the least of these, you did it to ME") to rescue and adopt five more children, three of them severely handicapped and to promote the adoption of many more by others. Wow--color me impressed! (Comment on this)
6:51p	I just got an e-mail from People for the American Way. Please pass this info along to any lists or blogs you frequent. "With members and supporters like you, it is hard to imagine that a day might come when People For the American Way's voice for democracy, fairness and justice would be muted. But we, and almost all other nonprofit advocacy groups, are facing the unimaginable because of proposed rules being considered in April by the Federal Election Commission. The FEC - an appointed body of three Democrats and three Republicans - is considering new rules that would muzzle virtually all nonprofit advocacy groups, right in the middle of this critical election year. These over-reaching, unjustified rules would severely limit, if not outright prohibit, People For and other nonprofits from engaging in advocacy activities that are vital to our democracy, such as registering voters in the months before a federal election or informing voters of federal officials' policy positions and the potential impact of those positions. Urge the FEC to reject the harmful and unwarranted rules on nonprofit free speech and advocacy - send a free fax to the FEC today: http://www.pfaw.org/go/FAX_the_FEC/ Note: The FEC's deadline for comments is April 9th, but we encourage you to get your comment in by April 8th to make sure it is considered. Outside of a few brief articles, little media attention is being paid to this enormous threat to freedom of speech and democratic debate. We really need your help to spread the word, especially to friends and family members who belong to nonprofit organizations. The FEC's proposed rules would affect nearly every type of nonprofit: big and small; activist- and research-oriented; left-wing, right-wing, and centrist. If you or a friend works for, or sits on the board of, a nonprofit, urge that an organizational letter of opposition be sent." (Comment on this)

<< Previous Day

2004/04/03 [Calendar]

Next Day >>