Dear Infertility Sister:
I’m writing because I know that you’re hurting. I know it’s not easy being you. I know you feel wounded and alone.
I know that it doesn’t make sense that you are being excluded from experiencing what your own mother, sisters, aunts, cousins, and friends have all been able to do without any trouble.
I know that you feel immeasurable desperation to have control and a say in when to have a baby. You wonder why everyone else gets to plan and choose and you don’t.
I know you feel powerless at the hands of your body. I know you hate your body because it has betrayed and rejected you and made you its victim. When you were a little girl, your body deceived you into believing that one day you’d get to have a baby. Sometimes you remember when you played with...
Lifestyle
I write as one who has been invited to the Basque Country on many occasions to meet with genuinely sincere individuals and groups who are committed to the search for a just and lasting peace in that beautiful region of Spain. On each of my visits, I have become increasingly aware of many parallels between the situation in that country and the recent history of Northern Ireland.
For all of these reasons I was greatly encouraged by recent news of the long-awaited first step towards the total decommissioning of the weaponry of ETA. Sadly, as I read of the dismissive response of the Spanish Government through Interior Minister Jorge Fernandez Diaz, my euphoria was short-lived and was swiftly replaced with a deep sense of concern as well as disappointment. To then read of your...
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Friends,
I write this letter to ask for your support in heading a transformative left-wing project.
As you know, I presented myself in the open primaries of Izquierda Unida with the objective of being the candidate to head a new government. More than eight thousand persons were inscribed to participate in the primaries, and more than forty thousand of you have joined this process since the beginning, all a sign of the will to transform our country. In the end, I was the only candidate who gathered the required amount of support. I interpret it is a firm support from the members, which I value and feel an enormous gratitude for.
While I feel sufficiently supported by you, I also want to count on the support of all left-wing people who want a dignified future for our society. For...
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Dear Minister Morenés,
On behalf of the International Association of Conference Interpreters (AIIC), the International Federation of Translators (FIT), the International Association of Professional Translators and Interpreters (IAPTI), and Red T, a non-profit organization dedicated to the protection of translators and interpreters in high-risk settings, we urge you to grant asylum to local Afghan linguists who served the Spanish Armed Forces.
The undersigned, representing over 80,000 translators and interpreters worldwide, are concerned about the fate of our Afghan colleagues after Spanish troops withdraw from the Badghis region at the end of September. Your ministry confirmed the existence of a plan to ensure their safety after El Mundo published articles about them and Unión de...
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Brethren,
Without any hesitation the doctrine of the Word of God is the single greatest doctrine where our faith is concerned. (Rom. 10:17) Without a doubt we believe that God has preserved His Word for the English speaking world through the King James Version of the Bible. We would all agree that without an authority, we have no basis for our faith and hence our preaching.
For years the convictions that were just stated have been shared by Spanish speaking Christians as well. It is their belief that God has preserved His precious Word in the Spanish language through the Reina-Valera version of the Bible. With the same dogmatism that we believe in the absolute authority of the King James Bible for the English-speaking world, we believe in the absolute authority of the Reina-Valera Bible...
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Dear Spanish ladies,
I know you aren’t always at the cutting edge of fashion, what with the mullet still a popular hairstyle, wearing leggings as pants, and confusing style with the sporting of designer labels – and I don’t expect you to be. But I felt particularly pressed to speak up about a recent disturbing trend that I have seen everywhere for over a year now–summer and winter–that has me cringing: Flesh color ed pantyhose worn under short shorts.
I get it ladies – you want to wear the shorts, but want some coverage and don’t want the lady parts hanging out. But nude hose are not flattering and are never fashionable. They look dated and crappy on the waitresses and chambermaids who are still forced to wear them, and they look dated and crappy on you. Just remind yourself when you...
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Dear Mr. Griñán,
The International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) welcomed the public statement made by the spokesperson of the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE), Ms. Soraya Rodriguez, on March 4, announcing that it would appeal to the Constitutional Court against a bill limiting the power of the judiciary to investigate and prosecute serious crimes under international law. This legislative move by the Spanish government has damaged Spain’s international credibility in Europe as it contravenes both the Spanish Constitution and international law.[1]
We note however that so far your Party has not taken action, and we are concerned that the time window for such an appeal to the Constitutional Court is limited.
The International Campaign for Tibet, together with many Spanish citizens...
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Dear Spanish host family,
In 1997 we sat around the table together in your middle-class apartment with the marble flooring. When my Spanish was bad we sang songs from The Little Mermaid in English. You overfed me with your omnipresent table bread. We drank yellow Fanta. When my Spanish was good we talked politics and you asked me about the death penalty and I explained how Texas was “básicamente un país distinto.”
I can’t remember your names. Dad, are you Juan?
You let me make you scrambled eggs. You’d never seen scrambled eggs before.
So, here’s the deal: Americans are all the same, and I am an American. We are enthusiastic at first, heartbreakingly sincere at times, but with a disappointing lack of follow-through that undercuts it all in the end. I would apologize for that...
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Dear Mr. Wallace,
In the last year the ACL has released significantly more statements on homosexuality than on all other social issues combined. This bias brings into question the agenda of the ACL and suggests that it is not one of advancing Christian values, but rather of promoting the narrow social interests of a niche clique with a radical social agenda.
Your organisation openly supports legislation to allow schools to expel students for being gay. You are in effect supporting segregation on the basis of biological traits. This is no different to the radical ‘Christians’ who 50 years ago supported segregation based on another biological trait – race. If you sincerely support segregating schools on the basis of sexuality, you are indeed intent on turning back time and restoring...
2,640
Dear Miriam Quiambao,
Congratulations on standing up for the truth given by God in the Bible! Literally interpreting the Bible is what we should really do. The word of God is the word of God. Those who believe in God shouldn’t doubt the Bible: each word in the Bible, each punctuation mark, each syllable was written by the owner and creator of the universe, period. I love your zealous and unwavering faith that everything that the Bible says is true and that we should follow it.
I know that we should take the Bible as it is. There’s no doubt that God forbids cross-dressing; Deuteronomy 22:5 says that. Leviticus 18:22 implies that homosexuality is an abomination to God’s eyes as well. But I’m having some problems with other verses in the Bible. Please help me with what to do about them...
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