Dear Mr. Daniels,
Recently, I was pleased to see you make a decisive and important statement regarding Purdue’s views on hate crimes and other types of intolerance, stating:
“…bigotry and hate are neither welcomed nor tolerated at Purdue University. There is no place at Purdue for those who act from hatred. If you recognize yourself in this last sentence, you are not welcome at Purdue.”
This concise speaks to your strength of character and moral fortitude, recognizing that no groups are to be treated unfairly on this campus. I believe that you care deeply about Purdue, and very much want to provide a quality education to all students. However, there is a substantial group of individuals at Purdue who need your support, but are not receiving it: atheists.
You have personally...
Philosophy
The idea for this came a few days ago. To read that letter I wrote on this post out loud to the boys (men, now) who sexually abused me, so you could see I’m okay. That I’m not defined by that past act, but am healed today, and am continuing to walk that path of healing.
I was surprised at how difficult this was to do. To face a camera and read those forgiveness words. Because the forgiveness words came at a price after the violation. There’s so much more to say about that story, things that will probably never reach the light of the page. I felt the weight of it as I read, knowing the nuances way down deep.
Warning: trigger alert. If you’re walking your own path of healing, I do share about what happened to me when I was five years old, not in graphic detail, but it’s still there...
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Dear Joseph Ratzinger; Ex Pope Benedict XVI
When you were appointed as Pope, you were appointed to a head one of the most revered and long-lasting religions in the history of mankind. You became God’s spokesman on earth. Yet not only did you make an earth-bound decision not to carry on in the job, and so break with tradition and history going back centuries, but you also insulted the God you were appointed to serve. You “admitted” that it sometimes felt as if 'God was asleep' during the troubled days of your papacy when you gave an emotional farewell in St Peter's Square before tens of thousands of pilgrims on the eve of your shock resignation.
You looked relaxed as your white "pope mobile" bore you through the famous plaza where more than 150,000 people gathered to hear your last...
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Dear Bishop James
You issued a statement in December confirming that “clergy in civil partnerships, and living in accordance with the teaching of the church on human sexuality, can be considered as candidates for the episcopate,” (or the office of bishop).
In your statement explaining the decision, you said that the House of Bishops had decided that “All candidates for the episcopate undergo a searching examination of personal life and discipline. It would be unjust to exclude from consideration for the episcopate anyone seeking to live fully in conformity with the church’s teaching on sexual ethics or other areas of personal life and discipline.”
It is a typically pompous and obscure statement that requires translation for us poor sinners and/or working class Joes. It means...
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Dear The Most Reverend Vincent Gerard Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales and Head of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales,
I write to you in response to the pastoral letter you sent to all of the Roman Catholic churches in your diocese of Westminster, which was read aloud in pulpits yesterday. In it you extolled the virtues of family life and the “vision of family [that] is rooted in the faithful love of a man and a woman”. You ended it by entreating your fellow faithful Catholics to write to their MPs to express their concern about the government’s proposals to allow same-sex couples to marry in civil ceremonies.
As a gay man who has long had an interest in gay couples being allowed to marry, I have heard...
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When my family and I started our company 40 years ago, we were working out of a garage on a $600 bank loan, assembling miniature picture frames. Our first retail store wasn’t much bigger than most people’s living rooms, but we had faith that we would succeed if we lived and worked according to God‘s word. From there, Hobby Lobby has become one of the nation’s largest arts and crafts retailers, with more than 500 locations in 41 states. Our children grew up into fine business leaders, and today we run Hobby Lobby together, as a family.
We’re Christians, and we run our business on Christian principles. I’ve always said that the first two goals of our business are (1) to run our business in harmony with God’s laws, and (2) to focus on people more than money. And that’s what we’ve tried to...
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Dear Pope Benedict XVI
In 1968, Pope Paul VI wrote “Humane Vitae”, (On Human Life);
“an act of mutual love which impairs the capacity to transmit life which God the Creator through specific laws has built into it, frustrates His design which constitutes the norm of marriage, and contradicts the will of the Author of life… and is consequently in opposition to the plan of God and His holy will.”
"Similarly excluded is every action which, either in anticipation of the
conjugal act, or in its accomplishment, or in the development of its
natural consequences, proposes, whether as an end or as a means, to render
procreation impossible"
I understand from my Catholic friends that such unnatural forms of birth control include
the Pill, the intrauterine device, foams, diaphragms,...
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Dear Mr Cameron,
You argue that gay couples should have equal rights but suggest that religious groups decide for themselves whether or not to marry same-sex couples. Why is there an opt-out for any religious groups who choose not to allow their church to be used for marriage?
The last time I checked, this country is a secular one. Churches and religions are allowed to practice their beliefs, but within the boundaries of the law. Many also have charity status and get benefits from the taxpayer. So why oh why are you allowing churches to decide that they can turn their back on the traditional values of liberalism and enlightenment in this country?
Homophobia is a crime. Yet any religion that wants to can continue to be prejudiced against homosexuality and gay marriage. It can prevent...
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Dear Angus … can I call you Angus? Do you go by Gus?
I apologize if that seems too forward, but as I watched your video testimonial, it felt like you were one of my friends. Not because I’ve watched the show — I’ve only seen a few moments in passing before I tune into Person of Interest. But because you remind me of so many of my friends when we were just entering adulthood. I really felt like I knew where you were coming from, not so much of the making-six-figures-on-a-hit-TV-show thing, but more of the realizing-the-truth-and-needing-to-speak-out thing.
Which is why I was tremendously impressed with the substance of your testimonial interview. I found it to be a refreshing example of candor and courage. That you were doing this of your own initiative and volition — as opposed to...
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Dear Lord Sacks.
Jewish religious law states that circumcision is a mitzva aseh which means a "positive commandment" to perform an act and is obligatory for Jewish-born males and for non-circumcised Jewish male converts.
My understanding is that it is only postponed or abrogated in the case of threat to the life or health of the child. It is usually performed by a mohel on the eighth day of life in a ceremony called a brit milah. Although 19th century Reform leaders described it as "barbaric", the practice of circumcision "remained a central rite" and the Union for Reform Judaism has, since 1984, trained and certified over 300 practicing mohels under its "Berit Mila Program".
A new group, Milah UK, has been launched to promote the practice of Jewish circumcision in the UK. The new...
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