Tag Archives: barack obama

Organizing for Action: Barack Obama’s New Community Organization

Posted on June 15, 2013 | Comments Off

Lay Catholic Logo

President Obama as Barack the Organizer exposes the purely partisan nature of Alinskyian political organizing.  It’s the Chicago Way.

By Stephanie Block

OFA logo 2One of the most frustrating experiences a congregant can face is watching his faith community join an Alinskyian community organization (also referred to as a socialist community organization by “Lay Catholics”.) Sooner or later, he will approach the pastor, complaining that the organization is “just another political” group. The pastor patronizingly retorts that it isn’t.

OFA logoPresident Barack Obama, however, is providing the chastened congregant with new ammunition. The Obama campaign for reelection has morphed into a non-profit entity called Organizing for Action.[i] Jon Carson, who directed Obama’s Office of Public Engagement during the president’s first term and is now executive director of Organizing for Action, has made a YouTube presentation[ii]…  See below:

…(as has the president’s wife, Michelle[iii]) for the initiative. Carson invites folks – yes, it’s very folksy – to join the group and form a lobbying machine for Obama’s agenda, which is currently working on passage of comprehensive immigration reform legislation, gun control legislation, and a progressive budget. It links to BarackObama.com, so there’s no question who’s the lead organizer.

Are the Alinskyian community organizing networks involved in Organizing for Action? As it would have been awkward for non-profits to have been directly involved with the Obama reelection campaign, it is not surprising that Organizing for Action, rising from that campaign, is not immediately associated with them. However, there are hints that a marriage has been proposed and is forthcoming.

For instance, Ana Garcia-Ashley, Gamaliel’s executive director, writes:

“As we came upon Election Day, these relationships [that Gamaliel has forged with ‘electoral organizing allies’] may have saved our democracy. … We now have in place a powerful alliance of relationships that allowed us to navigate undeterred through these threats to our democracy. Now we can take next steps together. We seek to create a just world, built around our faith values. We will work together to repeal the laws that limit our democratic rights, and go even further, working to change the system that created the Great Recession and several concurrent wars. As leaders of the new progressive movement in America, we envision an economy that works for all, and with the fire of our faith we will work together to make that dream a reality.”[iv]

There has also been reportage about the convening of various religious left coalitions recently, specifically around the three issues that Organizing for Action has chosen for its opening salvos.

Gun Control:

Sojourners chief Jim Wallis blamed the National Rifle Association as a primary reason for violence in America, citing phenomenally high gun-murder rates in Chicago (but never mentioning Chicago’s strict gun control).[v] Along with the PICO National Network, it used the occasion of the Newtown shootings to lobby 100 senators with a letter, primarily signed by clergy, urging support for gun-control legislation.[vi]

Metro Industrial Areas Foundation, a New York City affiliate of (the Industrial Areas Foundation, founded by Saul Alinsky) the premier Alinskyian organizing network, joined with their Chicago affiliate, United Power for Action and Justice, in a campaign “to shut down the most irresponsible gun dealers in its metropolitan area.”[vii]

Comprehensive Immigration Reform:

The Interfaith Immigration Coalition, which is promoted by Faith in Public Life, includes Sojourners, many of the prominent, dissident Catholic groups (NETWORK, Pax Christi, Leadership Conference of Women Religious, etc.), national denominational entities with strong Alinskyian organizing ties, the PICO National Network and Interfaith Worker Justice.

Of course, this is nothing new.

Throughout the years, Interfaith Worker Justice has coordinated vigils, rallies, and “pulpit swaps” for comprehensive immigration reform. The Southwest Industrial Areas Foundation has coordinated “clergy preaching for the pulpit” on the topic. Gamaliel has run National Prayer Vigil Campaigns and a Civil Rights of Immigrants Campaign. The White House has held gatherings of “faith leaders,” hoping to craft coordinated messages of “religious” support for its efforts. These groups have been working together for a long time.

Obama’s Budget (not Paul Ryan’s):

Congressman Paul Ryan’s (R-Wisc.) proposal for a federal budget based on his understanding of Catholic social principles such as “subsidiarity” and fiscal discipline became a focal point against which the Alinskyian organizing networks and their allies enthusiastically rallied.

The PICO National Network, Interfaith Worker Justice, and others (including NETWORK, Catholics United, Sojourners, and Faith in Public Life) staged “Loaves and Fishes” actions “to highlight the need for moral and political courage in federal budget negotiations.”[viii] NETWORK specifically attacked Ryan’s proposed budget cuts, orchestrating a well-publicized “Nuns on the Bus” tour through nine states.[ix]

In Summary

Clearly, there isn’t a one-to-one correlation here but an observation that fellow travelers, well, travel together. They share the road and the destination, which is important to understand when the Alinskyian organizations protest that they’re “not political.” No, they’re “not political…” just like Obama’s Organizing for Action is “not political.”

Change Agents V1Stephanie Block is a Spero News columnist and author and also edits the New Mexico-based Los Pequenos newspaper. She recently published her four-volume work on Alinskyian political organizing, ‘Change Agents’, available at Amazon.  CLICK HERE to get ‘Change Agents.’

Keep another Obama from

[i] Ken Thomas, “New nonprofit to promote Obama agenda,” The Guardian, 1-18-13. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/feedarticle/10618562 : “In an unprecedented move, President Barack Obama’s vaunted political organization is being turned into a nonprofit group — funded in part by corporate money — to mobilize support behind the president’s second-term agenda.”
[ii] Jon Carson, “Executive Director of Organizing for Action, Outlines Next Steps:”
[iii] “The First Lady on the Launch of Organizing for Action:” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYT68Uii1dk
[iv] Ana Garcia-Ashley, “Show Me What Democracy Looks Like,: Huffington Post, 11-7-12.
[v] Mark Tooley, “Religious Left Wants Control of More than Guns,” Front Page Magazine, 1-18-13.
[vi] Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA), “Newtown rabbi joins Muslim, Christian clergy in urging gun controls,” 3-12-13. Letter and signatories: http://www.piconetwork.org/tools-resources/document/letter-from-Newtown-with-signers-2013-03-10.pdf
[vii] Alec Harris and The Rev. David Brawley, “Gun control without waiting for Congress Wield the buying power of police departments and the military,” New York Daily News, 2-7-13.
[viii] Faith in Public Life Press Release, “Faith Community to Congress: ‘It Doesn’t Take a Miracle to Make a Moral Budget’,” 3-18-13.
[ix] Allison Kilkenny, “The Resistance Continues as Citizens Fight Budget Cuts,” The Nation, 6-26-12.

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Organizing for Action: the Democratic Party’s New Machine (Alinsky/Socialist Community Organization)

Posted on April 23, 2013 | Comments Off

President Obama as Barack the Organizer exposes the purely partisan nature of Alinskyian political organizing.  It’s the Chicago Way.

By Stephanie Block

OFA logo 2One of the most frustrating experiences a congregant can face is watching his faith community join an Alinskyian community organization (also referred to as a socialist community organization by “Lay Catholics”.) Sooner or later, he will approach the pastor, complaining that the organization is “just another political” group. The pastor patronizingly retorts that it isn’t.

OFA logoPresident Barack Obama, however, is providing the chastened congregant with new ammunition. The Obama campaign for reelection has morphed into a non-profit entity called Organizing for Action.[i] Jon Carson, who directed Obama’s Office of Public Engagement during the president’s first term and is now executive director of Organizing for Action, has made a YouTube presentation[ii]…  See below:

…(as has the president’s wife, Michelle[iii]) for the initiative. Carson invites folks – yes, it’s very folksy – to join the group and form a lobbying machine for Obama’s agenda, which is currently working on passage of comprehensive immigration reform legislation, gun control legislation, and a progressive budget. It links to BarackObama.com, so there’s no question who’s the lead organizer.

Are the Alinskyian community organizing networks involved in Organizing for Action? As it would have been awkward for non-profits to have been directly involved with the Obama reelection campaign, it is not surprising that Organizing for Action, rising from that campaign, is not immediately associated with them. However, there are hints that a marriage has been proposed and is forthcoming.

For instance, Ana Garcia-Ashley, Gamaliel’s executive director, writes:

“As we came upon Election Day, these relationships [that Gamaliel has forged with ‘electoral organizing allies’] may have saved our democracy. … We now have in place a powerful alliance of relationships that allowed us to navigate undeterred through these threats to our democracy. Now we can take next steps together. We seek to create a just world, built around our faith values. We will work together to repeal the laws that limit our democratic rights, and go even further, working to change the system that created the Great Recession and several concurrent wars. As leaders of the new progressive movement in America, we envision an economy that works for all, and with the fire of our faith we will work together to make that dream a reality.”[iv]

There has also been reportage about the convening of various religious left coalitions recently, specifically around the three issues that Organizing for Action has chosen for its opening salvos.

Gun Control:

Sojourners chief Jim Wallis blamed the National Rifle Association as a primary reason for violence in America, citing phenomenally high gun-murder rates in Chicago (but never mentioning Chicago’s strict gun control).[v] Along with the PICO National Network, it used the occasion of the Newtown shootings to lobby 100 senators with a letter, primarily signed by clergy, urging support for gun-control legislation.[vi]

Metro Industrial Areas Foundation, a New York City affiliate of (the Industrial Areas Foundation, founded by Saul Alinsky) the premier Alinskyian organizing network, joined with their Chicago affiliate, United Power for Action and Justice, in a campaign “to shut down the most irresponsible gun dealers in its metropolitan area.”[vii]

Comprehensive Immigration Reform:

The Interfaith Immigration Coalition, which is promoted by Faith in Public Life, includes Sojourners, many of the prominent, dissident Catholic groups (NETWORK, Pax Christi, Leadership Conference of Women Religious, etc.), national denominational entities with strong Alinskyian organizing ties, the PICO National Network and Interfaith Worker Justice.

Of course, this is nothing new.

Throughout the years, Interfaith Worker Justice has coordinated vigils, rallies, and “pulpit swaps” for comprehensive immigration reform. The Southwest Industrial Areas Foundation has coordinated “clergy preaching for the pulpit” on the topic. Gamaliel has run National Prayer Vigil Campaigns and a Civil Rights of Immigrants Campaign. The White House has held gatherings of “faith leaders,” hoping to craft coordinated messages of “religious” support for its efforts. These groups have been working together for a long time.

Obama’s Budget (not Paul Ryan’s):

Congressman Paul Ryan’s (R-Wisc.) proposal for a federal budget based on his understanding of Catholic social principles such as “subsidiarity” and fiscal discipline became a focal point against which the Alinskyian organizing networks and their allies enthusiastically rallied.

The PICO National Network, Interfaith Worker Justice, and others (including NETWORK, Catholics United, Sojourners, and Faith in Public Life) staged “Loaves and Fishes” actions “to highlight the need for moral and political courage in federal budget negotiations.”[viii] NETWORK specifically attacked Ryan’s proposed budget cuts, orchestrating a well-publicized “Nuns on the Bus” tour through nine states.[ix]

In Summary

Clearly, there isn’t a one-to-one correlation here but an observation that fellow travelers, well, travel together. They share the road and the destination, which is important to understand when the Alinskyian organizations protest that they’re “not political.” No, they’re “not political…” just like Obama’s Organizing for Action is “not political.”

Change Agents V1Stephanie Block is a Spero News columnist and author and also edits the New Mexico-based Los Pequenos newspaper. She recently published her four-volume work on Alinskyian political organizing, ‘Change Agents’, available at Amazon.  CLICK HERE to get ‘Change Agents.’

[i] Ken Thomas, “New nonprofit to promote Obama agenda,” The Guardian, 1-18-13. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/feedarticle/10618562 : “In an unprecedented move, President Barack Obama’s vaunted political organization is being turned into a nonprofit group — funded in part by corporate money — to mobilize support behind the president’s second-term agenda.”
[ii] Jon Carson, “Executive Director of Organizing for Action, Outlines Next Steps:”
[iii] “The First Lady on the Launch of Organizing for Action:” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYT68Uii1dk
[iv] Ana Garcia-Ashley, “Show Me What Democracy Looks Like,: Huffington Post, 11-7-12.
[v] Mark Tooley, “Religious Left Wants Control of More than Guns,” Front Page Magazine, 1-18-13.
[vi] Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA), “Newtown rabbi joins Muslim, Christian clergy in urging gun controls,” 3-12-13. Letter and signatories: http://www.piconetwork.org/tools-resources/document/letter-from-Newtown-with-signers-2013-03-10.pdf
[vii] Alec Harris and The Rev. David Brawley, “Gun control without waiting for Congress Wield the buying power of police departments and the military,” New York Daily News, 2-7-13.
[viii] Faith in Public Life Press Release, “Faith Community to Congress: ‘It Doesn’t Take a Miracle to Make a Moral Budget’,” 3-18-13.
[ix] Allison Kilkenny, “The Resistance Continues as Citizens Fight Budget Cuts,” The Nation, 6-26-12.

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“Catholics For Obama” Bears False Witness on Human Dignity and the Common Good

Posted on November 5, 2012 | 2 Comments

President Obama’s “Catholics For Obama” has a comparison called The Choice For Catholics In This Election.  They talk about promoting “Human Dignity” and the “Common Good” through the President’s positions on five issues.  I will explain how Barack Obama uses these Catholic social teaching terms falsely.  Here is “Catholics For Obama’s” introductory paragraph (with my critiques in red):

Human dignity and the common good are values that define the Catholic faith, and they’re at the core of President Obama’s commitment to a thriving middle class and a fair, strong economy. Catholics support President Obama because (He uses Catholic Social Teaching (CST) terminology like “human dignity” and the “common good” to get the trust of Catholics.  Catholics loyal to President Obama use terminology associated with CST in order to manipulate the issues of abortion, war, same-sex marriage, immigration reform, etc. These CST terms are; “Human dignity”, “common good”, “social justice” and “just war.” They will also manipulate the following terms common to Catholics; justice, pro-life, preferential option for the poor, care for the environment, etc. Their use of these terms confuses many Catholics, causing them to vote contrary to their conscience.  See Left at the Altar: How the Democrats Lost the Catholics and How the Catholics Can Save the Democrats by Michael Sean Winters.) he understands the importance of an active faith in pursuit of the common good. This has been the story of his life, guiding him from his work with Catholic churches (where he worked for a Saul Alinsky-Inspired community organization to inject contradictory propositions into the Church and helped to plant the seed for the anti-Catholic ObamaCare and it’s HHS mandate) on the South Side of Chicago through his career as a public servant. President Obama’s record, character and values make the choice in this election stark and clear. Join Catholics for Obama and learn more about the President’s positions on the issues at http://www.barackobama.com/catholics.

Here are the positions on five issues “Catholics For Obama” says that the President pursues “human dignity” and the “common good” (with my critiques in red on how he violates human dignity and the common good):

  1. Economic Recovery and the Dignity of Work
    1. President Obama believes we need to keep moving
      America forward and has a real, achievable plan to
      create an economy built to last with a strong middle
      class at its core.  (Under President Obama 23 million Americans are unemployed, underemployed or have given up looking for employment.  Catholicism teaches “Unemployment almost always wounds its victim’s dignity and threatens the equilibrium of his life. Besides the harm done to him personally, it entails many risks for his family.”- Catechism of the Catholic Church, Section 2436 written in context of the Seventh Commandment, “You shall not steal”)
  2. Tax Fairness
    1. President Obama believes our tax system should reflect
      our values, reward hard work and responsibility, and ask everyone to do their fair share. President Obama supports tax reform that reflects the common sense idea that millionaires and billionaires shouldn’t pay a lower tax rate than many middle-class families.  (President Obama has made the false claim and implies here that the wealthy pay a lower income tax rate than the middle-class.  He is actually comparing the capital gains rate of a wealthy person to the income tax rate of a middle-class person.  This is a terrible deception and an example of class warfare.  Pope Leo XIII said, “The great mistake made in regard to the matter now under consideration is to take up with the notion that class is naturally hostile to class, and that the wealthy and the working men are intended by nature to live in mutual conflict. So irrational and so false is this view that the direct contrary is the truth.)
  3. Access To Affordable Healthcare
    1. President Obama passed historic health reforms so
      no American will ever go broke just because they get
      sick. Obamacare is also preventing millions of Americans with preexisting conditions from being denied coverage—increasing the security of all families.  (ObamaCare is socialism, which the Catholic Church condemns.  The Church advocates for universal healthcare but, not through government centralized planning.  ObamaCare also gave us the religious freedom crushing HHS mandate that forces Catholic and other institutions to pay for abortions, sterilizations and contraception.)
  4. Auto Rescue
    1. President Obama made the tough call to rescue
      the auto industry when it was on the brink. He saved
      local businesses and more than a million jobs up and
      down the supply chain, sparing countless families
      and communities from financial ruin.  (He closed local businesses known as auto dealerships.  Over 2,200 dealerships were closed by Obama’s “Auto Task Force” and over 120,000 dealership employees lost their jobs.  Even the head of Obama’s “Auto Task Force” admitted that closing the dealerships was unnecessary because the dealerships were not even owned by the automakers.  Many of those family owned dealerships are in financial ruin because of Obama’s decision.)
  5. Supporting Women And Families And Reducing The Number Of Women Seeking Abortions
    1. President Obama has fought to protect critical social
      safety net programs that support women and families
      against cuts advocated by Mitt Romney and the Ryan
      Republican budget.  (He promotes the HHS mandate (see above.)  Reducing abortions through contraception is not Catholic.  He promotes Planned Parenthood’s so-called service of abortion and he makes up services that they don’t provide like mammograms.  He supported born alive abortion.)

    †

    The President promotes Isaiah 5:20, not human dignity or the common good.

    O Holy Spirit, strengthen us to defend all that is holy.

    Peter L. Hodges Sr

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Obama vs. Catholicism on Same-Sex Marriage: Catechism 2357-60 and Pius XI’s “On Christian Marriage”

Posted on November 2, 2012 | Comments Off
Barack Obama supports so-called, same-sex marriage.  This is in direct opposition to Catholic teaching on the sacrament of marriage.  Catholics must defend marriage and will have a chance on November 6, 2012 at the ballot box in Maine, Maryland, Minnesota and Washington.  President Obama has put himself on the ballot with this issue as well.
This is the story from the May 10, 2012 White House Blog about President Obama’s support of so-called, same-sex marriage.  It is titled, President Obama supports Same-Sex Marriage (click here for the White House Blog story)  Below is an excerpt from the story:
“Yesterday, during an interview with ABC News, President Obama said, “I think same-sex couples should be able to get married.””
Here is his exclusive interview to ABC about his support for Same-Sex marriage:
•
•
Marriage is a sacrament.  One of the Seven Sacraments.  Marriage must be defended by Catholics.
Below is Catholic teaching on homosexuality and the sacrament of marriage in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC):
CCC 2357     “Under no circumstances can they (homosexual acts) be approved.”
CCC 2358     “They (homosexual persons) must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity…”
CCC 2359     “Homosexual persons are called to chastity… they can and should gradually and resolutely approach Christian perfection.”
CCC 2360     “Sexuality is ordered to the conjugal love of man and woman.  In marriage the physical intimacy of the spouses becomes a sign and pledge of spiritual communion.  Marriage bonds between baptized persons are sanctified by the sacrament.”
Also, see Pope Pius XI’s Encyclical titled Casti Connubii (On Christian Marriage) Paragraphs 48 & 49, where he warns us about those who try to degrade marriage:
48.    “And since, in order that the deceits of the enemy may be avoided, it is necessary first of all that they be laid bare; since much is to be gained by denouncing these fallacies for the sake of the unwary, even though We prefer not to name these iniquities “as becometh saints,”[44] yet for the welfare of souls We cannot remain altogether silent.”
49.    “To begin at the very source of these evils, THEIR basic principle lies in this, that matrimony is repeatedly declared to be not instituted by the Author of nature nor raised by Christ the Lord to the dignity of a true sacrament, but invented by man. Some confidently assert that they have found no evidence of the existence of matrimony in nature or in her laws, but regard it merely as the means of producing life and of gratifying in one way or another a vehement impulse; on the other hand, others recognize that certain beginnings or, as it were, seeds of true wedlock are found in the nature of man since, unless men were bound together by some form of permanent tie, the dignity of husband and wife or the natural end of propagating and rearing the offspring would not receive satisfactory provision. At the same time they maintain that in all beyond this germinal idea matrimony, through various concurrent causes, is invented solely by the mind of man, established solely by his will.”

O Holy Spirit, strengthen us to defend all that is holy.

Peter L. Hodges Sr.

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Mitt Romney Publishes Impressive “Romney-Ryan vs. Obama-Biden On the issues for Catholics”

Posted on October 29, 2012 | Comments Off

Governor Mitt Romney’s “Romney-Ryan vs. Obama-Biden On the Issues for Catholics” (click here for printable pdf) impressively shows how he will support and defend Catholic values against the assaults of President Obama and Vice President Biden.

†

The piece highlights:

  1. Religious Freedom
  2. Sanctity of Life
  3. Marriage & Family
  4. Education
  5. Jobs & Economy
  6. Healthcare

See the graphic of “Romney-Ryan vs. Obama-Biden On the Issues for Catholics” below and share with your friends.

Here is Governor Romney’s TV spot for Catholics for Romney that calls for protecting religious freedom from President Obama’s assaults.

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Catholicism Rejects Barack Obama’s Belief in Governmental Redistribution and His “Trick” (Audio)

Posted on September 19, 2012 | Comments Off

Below you can listen to audio tape of Barack Obama espousing a major contradictory proposition to Catholicism;  Governmental redistribution of wealth.

Obama says:

“My suggestion I guess would be the, the, the, the TRICK… the trick is figuring out how do we structure government systems that pool resources and hence  facilitate some redistribution.  Because, I actually believe in redistribution.”

The Catholic Church rejects his idea of governmental redistribution (which is centralized planning, collectivism and thus socialism) in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC):

CCC 1883     “Excessive intervention by the state can threaten personal freedom and initiative… a community of a higher order should not interfere in the internal life of a community of a lower order, depriving the latter of its functions..”

CCC 1885    “The principle of subsidiarity is opposed to all forms of collectivism…“

(The principle of subsidiarity is defined as:  A community of a higher order should not interfere in the internal life of a community of a lower order.)

CCC 2425    “The Church has rejected the totalitarian and atheistic ideologies associated in modern times with “communism” or “socialism.”

CCC 2429    “Everyone has the right of economic initiative… and to harvest the just fruits of his labor…”

CCC 2431     “The responsibility of the state.
Economic activity, especially the activity of a market economy, cannot
be conducted in an institutional, juridical, or political vacuum… it presupposes sure guarantees of individual freedom and private property… the principal task of the state is to guarantee this security, so that those who work and produce can enjoy the fruits of their labors…

What’s the “TRICK” that Barack Obama is talking about in his quote above and the audio below?

His TRICK is the use of manipulation and euphemism.  The only way to structure government systems to facilitate governmental redistribution of wealth is to make the people believe you are doing something else.  To get the people to believe you are doing something else, you have to deceptively use terms they are comfortable with.  For example; Obama repeatedly says he believes in fairness.  His use of the term fairness is a euphemism for redistribution.

Click below for the audio recording of Barack Obama’s statement:

O Holy Spirit, strengthen us to defend all that is holy.

Peter L. Hodges Sr.

-END-

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George Washington versus Barack Obama on Religious Freedom

Posted on August 13, 2012 | 2 Comments

Barack Obama is no George Washington when it comes to respecting religious freedom. Let’s compare how important Catholic and Protestant clergy have responded to both of these presidents regarding our first, most cherished American liberty.

Responses from clergy regarding Barack Obama

In his January 19, 2012 address to American Catholic Bishops, Pope Benedict XVI recognized threats to religious freedom by Obama without stating his name (the HHS mandate was announced the next day.):
“…it is imperative that the entire Catholic community in the United States come to realize the grave threats to the Church’s public moral witness presented by a radical secularism which finds increasing expression in the political and cultural spheres… Of particular concern are certain attempts being made to limit that most cherished of American freedoms, the freedom of religion.”

In an interview on February 21, 2012 Rev. Franklin Graham expressed his willingness to practice civil disobedience in the face of Barack Obama’s attack on religious freedom:
“I am very concerned, because what they tried to do to the Catholic Church in mandating contraception, I don’t believe the compromise is a true compromise. You’re still paying for it, but it’s going to be paid for now through the insurance carrier, who is then going to charge you… I think every Christian out there should be concerned that we will be forced to bring people into our organizations, and put them on our payrolls, when we know that they are opposed to everything that we believe… at that point, I would just have to break the law and take it all the way to the Supreme Court and fight it…”

In a March 2, 2012 letter to Catholic bishops, Cardinal Dolan of New York stated the following in regard to President Barack Obama’s disturbing opinions on religious freedom:
“At a recent meeting between staff of the bishops’ conference and the White House staff, our staff members asked directly whether the broader concerns of religious freedom—that is, revisiting the straight-jacketing mandates (HHS mandate requires all insurance companies to provide free contraception, including the morning-after pill and sterilizations — even to employees of religious-affiliated organizations that have a moral objection) or broadening the maligned exemption—are all off the table. They were informed that they are. So much for “working out the wrinkles.” (Obama invited them to “work out the wrinkles”) Instead, they advised the bishops’ conference that we should listen to the “enlightened” voices of accommodation, such as the recent, hardly surprising yet terribly unfortunate editorial in America (a Catholic Jesuit magazine.) The White House seems to think we bishops simply do not know or understand Catholic teaching and so, taking a cue from its own (Obama’s) definition of religious freedom, now has nominated its own handpicked official Catholic teachers.”

Responses from clergy regarding George Washington

In a 1789 letter from the Bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church, Bishops’ Thomas Coke and Francis Asbury (pictured) express their confidence in George Washington:
“We are conscious from the signal proofs you have already given that you are a friend of mankind; and under this established idea, place as full a confidence in your wisdom and integrity, for the preservation of those civil and religious liberties…”

In 1790 Bishop John Carroll (the first Catholic bishop and then archbishop in the United States) wrote “An Address from the Roman Catholics of America to George Washington, Esq., President of the United States” by:
“… you encourage respect for religion, and inculcate, by words and actions, that principle…”

In his January 1895 encyclical (letter,) Longinqua, Pope Leo XIII showed the great historical admiration the Catholic Church had and will always have for President George Washington:
“American colonies, having, with Catholic aid, achieved liberty and independence, coalesced into a constitutional Republic… and at the very time when the popular suffrage placed the great Washington at the helm of the Republic, the first bishop (John Carroll) was set by apostolic authority over the American Church. The well-known friendship and familiar intercourse which subsisted between these two men seems to be an evidence that the United States ought to be conjoined in concord and amity with the Catholic Church… for without morality the State cannot endure-a truth which that illustrious citizen of yours, whom We have just mentioned, with a keenness of insight worthy of his genius and statesmanship perceived and proclaimed. But the best and strongest support of morality is religion.”

From the above letters it is easy to see the comfort level with a president who will be respectful of religious freedom like George Washington versus a president who is harmful toward it like Barack Obama. President Obama has had no kind reply to people of faith about their religious freedom. Only disregard through his actions, like the HHS mandate which was born from the unjust ObamaCare law.

On the other hand, in correspondence dated March 1790, a humble President George Washington replied to Bishop John Carroll with a letter to Roman Catholics stating, among other things;  “And I presume that your fellow-citizens will not forget the patriotic part which you took in the accomplishment of their Revolution, and the establishment of their government; or the important assistance which they received from a nation in which the Roman Catholic faith is professed… it shall be my constant endeavor to justify the favorable sentiments which you are pleased to express of my conduct. And may the members of your society in America, animated alone by the pure spirit of Christianity, and still conducting themselves as the faithful subjects of our free government, enjoy every temporal and spiritual felicity.”

Those are great and humble words from our first leader, who protected our first American freedom, who voluntarily stepped down as President of the United States and could have been king. Now, our forty-fourth leader, who refuses to protect our first freedom, must be made to involuntarily step down by the popular suffrage or we will have a man who will continue to act unabated against religious freedom as if he is our king.

O Holy Spirit, strengthen us to defend all that is holy.

Peter L. Hodges Sr.

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“Cuba, Before and After…” by Rafael De Cardenas, has scary parallels to Obama’s America

Posted on March 21, 2012 | Comments Off

My friend Rafael “Ralph” De Cardenas first published his personal story “Cuba, Before and After…” in 1991 after encouragement to do so.  Reading this three-part story of Ralph’s experiences in Cuba, will help you see the parallel totalitarianism and parallel threats between Fidel Castro’s Cuba and Barack Obama’s America. Examples of totalitarianism and threats are in the areas of classism (haves and have-nots,) Agrarian Reform (redistribution of wealth/land,) weapons confiscation, The Money Law (nationalizing of banks and confiscation of money,) Urban Renewal Law (redistribution of wealth/houses) and violations of religious freedom (control of the Church by removing and selecting clergy.)

When Cuba was free, over 99% of its people were practicing Catholics.  Now, after the implementation of communism (which is atheistic and totalitarian) by Fidel Castro it is estimated that only 2.5% of Cubans are practicing Catholics.

Please pray for the improvement of Mr. De Cardenas’s health, the continued freedom of the United States and the future freedom of Cuba.

“Cuba, Before and After…”  Part One of Three

By Rafael De CardenasRafael "Ralph" De Cardenas

Rafael (Ralph) H. De Cardenas II comes from a long line of prominent families in Cuba. His paternal great-grandfather was a Major General of the War of Independence against Spain and Justice of the Supreme Court.  Dr. Humberto De Cardenas, his paternal grandfather served as Attorney General of Havana.  Ralph came to the United States through “Operation Peter Pan” where thousands of Cuban parents saved their children from communism.

 Since my arrival in Oklahoma in 1963, I have made over two hundred speeches at schools, churches, civic functions and other meetings. I have never, until now, been asked to tell my story in print. Please bear with me, as I am a novice writer.

I was born in one of the most beautiful countries in the world. The island of Cuba has miles of tropical beach, an ideal climate and breath-taking scenery.

As a matter of history, Cuba was discovered by Christopher Columbus 27 October 1492 on his maiden voyage. The island was first colonized by the Spaniards, then the English, later by the French and once again by the Spanish. The Spanish-American War was fought on its soil. The United States intervened causing Cuba to become a republic on May 20. 1902.

Cuba is in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico only 90 miles south of Key West, Florida.  It was a rich and prosperous country. The island was the birth place of Bacardi Rum and its many tobacco plantations supplied the ingredients of the famous Cuban cigar. Because of the amount of sugar cane grown, Cuba was known as the Sugar Bowl of the World. She ranked third in Latin American beef production behind Argentina and Venezuela. Other large industries were textiles and mining.  Cuba was rich in Copper and one of the few producers of Chromate in the world.

Tourism was an important part of the economy because it was close to the United States. Rich and poor alike could enjoy the island paradise.

In 1958, U. S. statistics showed the per capita income to be $325.00 per month. The Cuban peso was worth $1.20 (American). Not bad for a country of less than six million people.

Shortly after the Spanish-American War and following the term of Cuba’s first president, subsequent presidents filled their pockets at the expense the Cuban people. By the 1950′s, Fulgencio Batista was in power. This dictator, ascended from the rank of Sergeant to General overnight. He accomplished this by revolting against the officers and killing them. One of the officers was my great-uncle, Evelio Pina. He was murdered after he surrendered. This was my father’s favorite uncle, so you can see Batista’s name was not popular in my house.

As you might surmise, despite the great economic success that Cuba was enjoying, the nation’s people were not happy with the government. They sought change. In 1956, a lawyer named Fidel Castro arrived in Cuba. With a handful of henchmen, he made his headquarters in The Sierra Maestra Mountains. The group began radio transmissions opposing Batista. I must confess that I along with almost all of the Cuban population, helped in the destruction of my own country. The rich and middle classes helped Castro the most. The man had most everyone fooled as to his intentions. His message of change resounded to all of us who were tired of corrupt governments.

Castro was arrested in Bogotá, Colombia in 1948 during a communist revolt for allegedly being one of the ring leaders. U.S. State Department files of 1964 disclose the facts. Earl E. T. Smith, the last U. S. Ambassador to Cuba, relates in book THE FOURTH FLOOR, that he took documents to the U.S. Congress in 1958 proving Castro was a communist. The documentation was the result of a lengthy investigation conducted by his embassy staff. The information was brushed aside and discounted because it was thought to bear no threat.

January 1, 1959 was the day my family and I awoke to sounds of horns blasting and the people’s shouts of joy. Cuba was finally free. Castro was coming down from the mountains to take over and reinstate democracy. He was going to again restore decency to the Cuban government. It seemed to be the beginning of a very happy new year for the majority of Cubans. I well remember my uncles rushed to help with any duties they could serve in the new government.

Castro took three days to march triumphantly from the Sierra Maestra mountains on the east coast to Havana in the west. He stopped in every city along the way to the cheers of jubilant crowds. He made his first speech in Havana’s Columbia City, which is considered the Cuban equivalent of the U.S. Pentagon. He revealed his plans for Cuba–“We are going to take from the haves and give to the have-nots.”  The communist definition of a “have” is anyone that owned anything. Private enterprise became government-owned.

The ideology of “The Revolutionary Law will prevail” led to the formation of The Peoples Tribunal. Embodied in every neighborhood was a group that acted as judges. If a person had a grudge against another individual, it was a simple matter to accuse that person of being a collaborator with the previous regime and take the case to the tribunal. After hearsay testimony by a “witness”, the accused would be sentenced with penalties ranging from 20 years prison to death by firing squad. This process ran rampant through all Cuban cities.

While in a busy park I heard the cry of an individual yell, “There he is!”  Then three militia men emptied their machine guns into the man …no questions asked.

Then came “Agrarian Reform.”  Part one included farms in excess of 20,000 acres. The government would appropriate the excess and distribute it among its people.  A few months later part two was implemented for those owning 10,000 acres with the same action.  Later, people with 150 acres were affected.  The result was the whole of the land being controlled by the government.

Our family owned approximately 20,000 acres in the production of cattle and sugar cane.  My great-grandfather said “I can buy as much land as I can afford, but I only need one house to live in.”  Upon his death it was decided by his widow and 8 sons and daughters to keep the land together by forming a family corporation. A general manager was hired to take charge of the entire operation rather than dividing it.  Each year, when the family assembled, the profits were divided. It was a lucrative and equitable arrangement.

I recall the day when the Agrarian Reform came to call.  My father and uncles were with me.  We were suddenly surrounded by 25 to 30 armed men. My father and uncles were told to choose 150 acres for themselves. Naturally they chose the land with the improvements;  the house, barns, etc. They were then informed that their new manager needed a place to live. They were told to make another selection. They were also told they would be responsible for the care and feeding of all the cattle on the land, not limited only to those found on their 150 acres. The rest of the cattle and land now belonged to the government.

The next thing my family was instructed to do was not to make any business transactions without clearing them with the area manager, then the provincial manager and finally the national manager’s office. Any and all private land was appropriated by the revolutionary government through the Agrarian Reform.

The people were told there would be no need for weapons. Everyone was ordered to register weapons which were ultimately confiscated, virtually disarming the population. I will never forget my father’s words as we watched Castro on television. “Son, we have made a great mistake. We have put a communist in power”.

Within a few months, Castro enforced the Money Law. All the banks were nationalized by the government. The Money Law stated no individual could have over $5,000.00 in the bank. Any amount in excess of that figure became government property. Bank accounts were managed by the government and doled out only with their approval. New bills were printed and new coins minted depicting the heroism of Fidel Castro. The old monies were declared obsolete and only $100.00 per family could be exchanged for new.

Nationalizing the housing industry, by which if you had paid more to the mortgage company than the Government estimated, you now owned that house automatically.  Also, a law was passed declaring if a person owned a house but rented it out, the tenant had to send the payments to the Urban Renewal Management who was supposed to reimburse the landlord. Nothing was ever passed on to the landlord. The authority would also estimate the value of the property and figure how many payments the tenant had made. If the payments exceeded their estimate, they would declare the tenant had bought the house by virtue of his past payments and no other payment was necessary.

The Urban Renewal law further stated that if a home had more rooms than the government thought you needed, people could be moved in to fill the rooms. In the form of a “foster family to live with you. My aunt Bertha invited her long time maid and her family to move in permanently, her thought was I better have someone I trust and know living with me.

Everything was rationed. A family was limited to one pint of milk per week if they had a child under five years old. Otherwise, a doctor’s prescription was required to obtain it. Sometimes, food could be bought on the black market. My grandfather once bought a chicken for $30.00 and an egg cost $1.25.

Working conditions were impossible. Only members of the militia were allowed to work. To obtain membership, you had to attend indoctrination classes three times a week and spend weekends volunteering to cut sugar cane from the fields. An additional requirement was to attend, with your presence recorded, all of  Fidel Castro’s speeches. Failure to attend meant the loss of your job.

Schools were converted into military training complexes. Parents could not see their children except on weekends after they passed the third grade. High School graduates could not be seen but once a month. All of the young people’s time was spent under the care and tutelage of the Cuban government.

Organized religion was virtually eliminated. Fidel Castro created the National Church of Cuba and installed Father Sardinia as its head. Sardinia was a renegade, ex-communicated priest. Castro’s militia rounded up all priests and ministers and shipped them, under cover of darkness, to Mexico. Religion was then relegated to Bible study in the home and worship with friends and family. The religious schools were taken over by the government and the religious orders were asked to leave the country.

End of Part One

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President Obama’s HHS mandate and “accommodation,” derive from Page 94 of Alinsky’s “Rules for Radicals”

Posted on March 15, 2012 | Comments Off

(Updated September 27, 2012) President Obama’s idea for the HHS mandate and “accommodation” (see video and transcript of President Obama’s “Accommodation speech”) comes from page 94 of Saul Alinsky’s book, Rules for Radicals.  See excerpt below:

“I have always believed that birth control and abortion are personal rights to be exercised by the individual.  If, in my early days when I organized the Back of the Yards neighborhood in Chicago, which was 95 per cent Roman Catholic, I had tried to communicate this, even through the experience of the residents, whose economic plight was aggravated by large families, that would have been the end of my relationship with the community.  That instant I would have been stamped as an enemy of the Church and all communication would have ceased.  Some years later, after establishing solid relationships, I was free to talk about anything, including birth control.  I remember discussing it with the then Catholic Chancellor.  By then the argument was no longer limited to such questions as, “HOW MUCH LONGER DO YOU THINK THE CATHOLIC CHURCH CAN HANG ON TO THIS ARCHAIC NOTION AND STILL SURVIVE?”"

- Page 94 of Rules for Radicals by Saul Alinsky

According to President Obama’s actions, the Church cannot hold onto its beliefs and survive in the United States he is remaking.  The Church must submit to the archaic notions of atheism and totalitarianism held by Saul Alinsky (and his followers) and Barack Obama or it will be made to suffer and face extinction.  Though President Obama is unaware that he cannot defeat the Church, he does know he has a fight on his hands because we have said, “We will not comply!”

Keep in mind, President Obama was the executive director and lead organizer of the Developing Communities Project (DCP) in Chicago, Illinois (Obama is acknowledged by DCP in this link.)  DCP was an affiliate of Gamaliel Foundation, an organization that spun off of Saul Alinsky’s, Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF.)  The President of the United States is a student of Alinsky’s methods.  The Holy Father called out his radicalism (click here.)  The President is a radical.

Pray for President Obama, that he will abandon his radical, atheistic and totalitarian methods.

O Holy Spirit, strengthen us to defend all that is holy.

Peter L. Hodges Sr.

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