The Anglican archbishop of Canterbury, Rowlan Williams, recently proposed the United Kingdom to establish separate courts, based on Sharia Law, for British Muslims. He says it will promote “social cohesion” and will free Muslims from being forced to choose between "the stark alternatives of cultural loyalty or state loyalty."

The archbishop’s rogue proposal and subsequent rationale should serve as a warning for all Western countries, including the United States, where immigration influx is challenging cultural identity.

In an interview with BBC News, Archbishop Williams nuanced his proposal by saying religious courts could limit themselves to civil judgments about marital and financial disputes, for example, and would not necessarily fall into human rights abuses. "Nobody in their right mind would want to see in this country the kind of inhumanity that's sometimes been associated with the practice of the law in some Islamic states; the extreme punishments, the attitudes to women as well."

His caveat is unconvincing on more than one level.

Apart from my incredulity regarding a Western country successfully moderating Sharia Law (especially given the contradicting interpretations of its various forms even among Muslim scholars), I find particularly disquieting the archbishop’s implied thesis that society cannot create a secular justice system that respects religious plurality and the rights of all of its citizens. It would seem the archbishop gives his blessing to the idea that a Western state is incapable of creating just laws applicable also to Muslims.

Archbishop Williams explained his view in this way: "[In the United Kingdom] there's one law for everybody and that's all there is to be said and anything else that commands your loyalty or allegiance is completely irrelevant in the processes of the courts — I think that's a bit of a danger."

What? The very purpose of civil law is to order society for everyone. This order always implies freedom of religious practice. When civil law and religion are both based on truth, they are not in conflict. Good law makes possible the practice of good religion. If they clash, one is disordered, and should be amended.

Archbishop Williams is correct in alerting us to the danger of civil law that infringes on religious liberty, including a church’s right to regulate its internal affairs. But in the absence of such liberty, the solution is to rectify the civil system, not to set up separate religious courts.
Perhaps we can best understand the archbishop’s preference for parallel courts if we accept a Muslim worldview that Islam should control every aspect of society, including the courts and the halls of government. The archbishop’s implicit support for this Islamic tradition is consequence, I would suggest, of a false understanding of cultural inclusiveness. We should never accept traditions, even religious traditions, as good simply because they are different from ours, or because they have long been attributed to God’s will by some people.

Even further, if a cultural tradition is in conflict with the dictates of reason — like this example of suppressing a state’s right to certain independence from religious authority — it can’t be in accordance with God’s will and we do a disservice to its adherents by pretending it may be.
The object of true faith is one and the same as the creator of human reason.

When we deny this, or forget this, we open the door to fundamentalism and are left with nothing with which to defend against radical, pseudo-religious propositions.

Here is the crux of the issue, as I see it: if a Muslim in the United Kingdom is being forced to choose between “the stark alternatives of cultural loyalty or state loyalty," as the archbishop has suggested, it is fair to conclude either a sector of Muslim culture in the United Kingdom or the British state itself is intrinsically flawed and should be changed.

Moderate Muslim scholars should be the first and loudest voices to reject the Anglican archbishop’s proposal as bad for Islam, bad for the United Kingdom and as a terrible precedent for the prospects of cultural integration worldwide.

God bless, Father Jonathan
• E-mail Father Jonathan

As soon as politics, for the sake of politics, becomes a society’s principle passion — its object of hope, its pearl of great price — that society has already subjected itself to a type of totalitarianism. Unwittingly, it has relinquished a citizen’s and a people’s privilege and responsibility of self-determination. It has bet the outcome of the common pursuit of happiness on the eventual good actions of chosen elite.

In this context of moderating, or of channeling, our expectations of politics and politicians, I find it helpful to remember often that Adolph Hitler was elected democratically. By force of personality, and by a sordid alignment of the political stars, he was able to manipulate the German electorate to put their trust and their fortune in him. On that fateful Super Tuesday, of sort, voters chose the easy way out of difficult times. They crowned an earthly messiah who in the subtlest of terms — at first — promised salvation here and now.

Then, as now, “change” and “hope” were in the air, and the effect on the voting public was hypnotic.

Our best defense against political hypnosis of this type is “contemplation.” This is the uniquely human activity of silent — yes, silent — reflection on existential questions including who we are (as individuals and as a nation), where we are going, and the best way to get there. Contemplation prepares the soul to recognize messages of real beauty, goodness, and truth. It also enables us to pick out the impostors along the way.

Contemplation and politics are not mutually exclusive. In fact, the contemplative man or woman is usually the most interested in social wellbeing and the most engaged in its pursuit. He sees politics as a means to prepare the human soul for more important activity (like loving and being loved), instead of as an end in and of itself. He sees the politician as a man or a woman called to collaborate in the ordering of society for the good of the human person, such that every citizen, buoyed first by the family and then by community organizations, may pursue and achieve his natural and supernatural ends.

The contemplative soul knows the answer to society’s ills will never be found in a single, earthly messiah. Instead, he looks for statesmen with a plan to assist people in helping each other.

I’m not making this stuff up, at least not altogether. A glance back at the political philosophy of Plato and Aristotle, of 2400 years ago, puts my thoughts into perspective. In his Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle argues that moral education should be the main purpose of the political community, as part of the broader ideal of an ordered society: “The main concern of politics is to engender a certain character in the citizens and to make them good and disposed to perform noble actions.”

To the Western ear, this political philosophy may evoke fears of government intrusion, of the legislation of morality. But understood properly, it is an invitation to flee from any politician who promises to build a society based on anything but the virtue and enterprise of its citizens. A candidate, who promises to make us happy by freeing us from moral restraints, by doing all the work for us, by being the biggest and best administrator of a nanny state, is in fact, promising “change” and “hope” that the contemplative person would reject instinctively as contrary to the recipe for human flourishing.

Contemplation brings peace and serenity in the face of political uncertainty. If politics is about the creation of an ordered society, where people can be good and moral, where families can flourish, and where local communities can solve their own issues, our job on Super Tuesday is less daunting than it may appear. We are simply looking for a candidate who can best remove obstacles on our path to finding our own solutions.

If that candidate doesn’t exist, the contemplative soul chooses the lesser of two, or three evils, and goes on with life, happily. After all, he knows no politician will answer for him the most important questions life poses, like who we are, where we are going, and how we are going to get there.

If this Tuesday is “super” because we can choose a president, then every day is “supreme” because we can always choose to love and be loved, to build a life on solid rock from the Supreme Father of the universe.

Let’s allow ourselves some silence – this Wednesday. We may end up with a better president for it, and even if we don’t, we will at least have scribbled on our souls the first draft of the virtue of contemplation.

God bless, Father Jonathan

   Six years years ago we were attacked on our own soil, and shown the intent and effects of true evil. We were all changed individually, and as a country.

Remember this day in the framework of terror and fear, evil will prevail. Use our power to vanquish fear and evil, and we will ignite the beacon of freedom and hope.

As a Christian, I know the power of forgiveness. As a man, I am powerless to forgive evil. And I will never forget the senseless murder of the innocent.

Pray for peace.
Remain strong and vigilant.

Some of you may have followed last week's link to learn about the new book “150 Best Jobs For Your Skills” by Michael Farr and Laurence Shatkin. On Friday, we learned how Farr and Shatkin uncovered the number one requirement for the highest-paid jobs these days as good thought-processing skills. Now, we’ll look at how they also identified social skills as the number one requirement for the fastest-growing opportunities out there.

(By the way, when visiting the book publisher’s site, I learned that they offer several “Webinars,” the newest thing in teleconferencing. There’s something not quite right about this new hybrid term, as if “web” and “seminar” had a one-night stand and decided not to pursue anything the next morning. One can see the intention behind the term, but perhaps this one would have been better left in separate beds.)

Anyway, this social skills stuff is a potentially frightening arena for all of us. There is nothing like an ongoing quest for work/life balance to highlight our lack of social skills. We may not be proud of going into a fetal position underneath our desk when a deal goes south, or the fact that our spouses now know the eleven different version of grunt with which we communicate over breakfast each morning, but that’s how we’ve learned to live. Yet, as with last week’s entry, it need not be. Another round of Googling has turned up several helpful suggestions for improving our social skills, such as:

1. IMPROVE SELF-CONFIDENCE THROUGH EYE CONTACT. Apparently, if you don’t look a person in the eye, you could be revealing disinterest, or even be lying. Luckily, you can avoid working on this social skill by always sending e-mails.
2. SHOW INTEREST IN THE OTHER PERSON. Rather than dominating the conversation with stories about yourself, encourage reciprocation by starting a little back and forth. This allows both you AND the other party to take turns fighting boredom while the other is talking.
3. ASK EVOCATIVE QUESTIONS. Inquiries which prompt a simple yes or no answer stop things dead. Rather than asking “did you have a good flight?” try “what was the in-flight movie?” You’d be surprised how much of a connection can be made with another person simply by establishing a mutual disdain for Ben Affleck and his politics.
4. LISTEN. Really take in what the other person is saying, and respond directly to it. It does no good to stand there while a client talks about his strategy for expanding market awareness and then blurt out “who doesn’t love cheese?”
5. BE WELL-READ AND KNOWLEDGEABLE. Note: no longer a requirement in politics.
6. TAKE RISKS. I assume this means asking for what you want in a forthright and pleasant manner, and not appearing at a staff meeting wearing nothing but your Tasmanian Devil tie.
7. MOVE AT YOUR OWN PACE. It’s important to know that developing better social skills is a long process, and that you will make mistakes. Try out your new communication techniques on your children, because if you fail with them, the humiliation they will heap upon you will be far greater than anything some silly old client could dish out.

Now, we’re all ready to leap some new hurdles and compete in the job market with our top-notch social skills. Well, I better go, the man in the drive-up window is yelling at me.

Any other suggestions for being a smooth operator?

According to the new book “150 Best Jobs For Your Skills” by Michael Farr and Laurence Shatkin, the highest-paid jobs these days are the ones which require, above all, thought-processing skills. Now, I always assumed we were born with thought- processing skills. For example, “perhaps I shouldn’t plunge my hand into that engine fan,” or “oh, look, a brick wall,” are thoughts we are often forced to process on a daily basis. But it turns out there’s more to it, and that you can actually do things to improve your thought-processing skills. You’ll be sad to know they don’t involve watching “Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?” or even trying to figure out html code. No, they are common, everyday things we can all do to keep our synapses firing. A quick search around the ever-reliable Internet revealed these mind-massaging techniques:

1. JOURNALING. If your first journal entry is “this is a bunch of Oprah you know what,” then perhaps you are not ready to let this technique work for you. Also, be careful of Wall Street Journaling, a work-obsessed, carpal tunnel condition that will no longer be covered by your health plan once Rupert Murdoch takes over. Also using only golf terms to describe your day is a sign that soon you will be wearing polyester plaids, so think creatively when you write!
2. POWER NAPS. You’d be surprised how refreshing ten minutes of sleep can be. And the Monday morning meeting usually supplies just the right motivation.
3. MEDITATION. A simple discipline that requires sitting still and thinking the same thought over and over again for an hour. A simple discipline that requires sitting still and thinking the same thought over and over again for an hour. A simple discipline that requires sitting still and thinking the same thought over and over again for an hour. (now you know what a dog feels like when it chases its tail!)…. Really a quiet time is better for you than meditation or just going for a walk with ear plugs... if you live in L.A.! J
4. EXERCISE. Good news! Yes, golf counts! No, really, I checked!
5. BRAIN TEASERS. A crossword puzzle or Sudoku game can really remind you of how stupid you are. I save the kids’ brain teasers from the Sunday comics and do those instead.
6. EAT BETTER. Studies show that an improved diet also helps improve cognitive function. Now put down that double cheeseburger, pick up the dictionary and look up “cognitive function.”
7. READ A BOOK. Good news! Yes, Harry Potter counts! No, really, I checked!

Well, that covers thought-processing. However, the authors of “150 Best Jobs For Your Skills” have not only looked into the criteria for high-paying work, but have also tracked the fastest-growing jobs out there. They say that the number one requirement for these new positions is “social skills.” But, we’ll go into that next time; I’m not up to dealing with anybody right now.

Meantime, how do you keep your brain up to par? (Oops, another golf reference, sorry.)  Well there you go!

 John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods, is the latest apologist for his role as an anonymous Internet user who posted negative messages about competitor Wild Oats on financial stock forums. It may seem like a MySpace prank at first — an impulsive action from a high schooler who didn't get a prom date — but Mackey routinely posted on these message boards for eight years.

Mackey's actions were certainly opaque, and his apology seems to represent transparency. But with a recent wave of public "sorries" from visible figures — Paris Hilton, David Neeleman, Don Imus, Mel Gibson and a growing list of politicians — these megawatt mea culpas may no longer suffice. In many cases, the apology seems less about reprehensible actions and more about "I'm sorry I got caught."

While the antics of drunken celebrities, corrupt politicians and greedy corporate executives (Enron, Tyco, etc.) may not surprise us — and may sometimes be expected — Mackey's actions are more disappointing. Whole Foods, like Neeleman's JetBlue, are supposed to be the good guys — socially conscious, friendly, customer-centric companies that care about their employees, the earth and doing what's right.

They both issued very public apologies, but Neeleman's and Mackey's downfalls are decidedly different. The former faced a customer service debacle while the latter deliberately deceived stakeholders; Neeleman absorbed the blame for issues where he may not have been directly responsible and Mackey's consistently poor judgment put his company and — especially its brand — in jeopardy.

There are many lessons in Mackey's story: the myth of Internet anonymity, the economic influence of user-generated content, managing bad PR and repairing brand reputation, the psychology of forgiveness, etc.
But the most important is about the interrelationship between leadership and trust.

The people who have fought and died and who are fighting and dying for our freedom to choose life are asking us to “make our life count” “earn it” in other words produce. With “Saving Private Ryan” coming out before 9/11 many people I think have forgotten its message. Now we are in our generations World War and we need to earn their respect, being worthy of their sacrifice for giving the “last full measure of their life” by making our life count. We don’t make our life count; by destructive protesting, spewing hate towards others, being selfish and parasitic with others, breaking vows made, to breaking trust with others. Instead we need to be living a life of respecting, honoring, serving, showing kindness toward others, creating life, creating new things to help others by starting the chain reaction of the same that was bought by the sacrifice of so many of our brightest and best.

Our “earning it” is being a difference in our Communities, Country and in the World by being a stakeholders with those things that help by; working along side Churches that are serving others, Organizations that go with that cup of cold water to those in need, write that letter or email to the lonely soldier, their families, to others in need of an hopeful word. Make your life count by stopping and seeing, listing and doing! When we are nearing the end of our life, will we hear from our heritage (kids and grandkids) that we made the sacrifice of our soldiers worth it?

Make a Difference Organizations: Operation Band Aid - operationbandaid@yahoo.com , Compassion International , Rachel’s Challenge, Water For People, Globus Relief, World Relief, Doctors for the World, Make a Wish Foundation, Salvation Army, local aide groups and the list goes on. These organizations are worth looking into and listening how you can help make others count and that makes your life count.

Yogi Berra said “If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll end up somewhere else”. Thomas Leonard said “Stop looking for direction….just get on a path” and I’m often quoted as saying “If you’re so focused on your end destination you’ll miss life’s real adventure along the way.” Some are so determined to get from point ‘A’ to point ‘Z’ they miss everything in the meantime…everything that unfolds in the process which might just take them on a better path instead.

Use, for a moment, the analogy of a person going for a power walk or walk to get exercise….watch them as they focus so intently on how far they walk, their pace, their body movements to make sure they get the most benefit from this exercise. If you watch their facial expressions, and head movements they’re looking straight forward for markers so they know how far they’ve gone, often glance at their watch to see how good a time they’re making and with their latest 3,000 I'tunes blaring from their $150.00 - sound-cancelling ear buds. They’re on auto-pilot, walking for a purpose but most of the time not noticing anything along the way. They’re not letting the world in, rather they’re in isolation from the world as they achieve their purpose, but not grow in the interim.

Do you find yourself so focused on finishing tasks, projects, getting from A to B that you miss so much along the way and finish without that sense of achievement? The reason why is you’re working towards a deadline not much else. In that case you’re not defining your direction you’re letting the path define it.

What if you took the time for conscious reflective thought to see the intention of what you’re doing, how it would make you evolve or not and in the scheme of things, what it means in your life to do what you’re doing?

And if you’re not happy with the answers you’re getting, ask what’s missing not what’s wrong with my life? If you are truly open to what is missing... you might just start on one of the best rides of your life!

"Freedom know this, that every man/woman is free To choose his life and what he'll be. For this eternal truth is given, God will force no man to heaven. He'll call, persuade, direct aright, Bless with wisdom, love, and light; In nameless ways be good and kind, But never force the human mind."~ William C. Clegg

Also, focus on Hope's eternal companion: FREEDOM.

In America, we have awesome power. We are free to hope and try... and to fail and succeed.

Use your freedom as if your very life depends on it... IT DOES!

Out of principle, I must disagree with their reasoning.  YES!

I too have serious reservations about several elements of the bill as it now stands, but my apprehension is moderated by my conviction that legislative compromise is not always equivalent to moral compromise, and sometimes it is the most honorable way forward in a very imperfect system. I don’t buy the ethical argument peddled over the last few weeks by some that offering a realistic path to citizenship (yes, a form of amnesty) to the millions of people who have entered this country illegally is, under our current circumstances, "selling out on our core principles."

Some argue that immigration compromise is not needed because all we need to do is enforce the laws that already exist. They say employers would stop hiring illegals if they knew the consequences of breaking the law were severe. Enforcing the law, they argue, would dry up the incentive (employment) for entering or staying in this country illegally. With similar logic, others argue we should drop all efforts to regularize the legal status of those already here until we fix the problem at the border. Then, and only then, they say, should we focus on what to do with the millions who are on this side of the sealed border.

I don’t think I even need to get into whether these two proposals would be fair and just, because they are not realistic in the partisan world in which we live. Who really thinks such enforcement will happen during this administration, or in any administration in the coming years. Do you think any Congress would allow this to happen?

So what are we going to do? We must do something. We are in a better position today to move forward on immigration reform — as imperfect as the outcome may be — than we have been in many, many years, and arguably, better than in our foreseeable future. Any significant improvement will require legislative compromise, but it doesn’t have to imply moral compromise. Suggesting otherwise, in my opinion, is the result of misguided ethics.

Let me give you another example of the type of moral reasoning I am proposing. I am against abortion of all kinds and under all circumstances, but I think it is acceptable to vote for a bill that allows for abortion under some very specific circumstances, if the bill is going to limit abortions, and if there is no better option. In these cases, one’s object and intention is not approving some abortions, but rather taking a gradual step toward a more perfect legal system. The late and great John Paul II outlined this principle of incremental legislation in his encyclical letter "Evangelium Vitae," no. 73.

Shelving this legislation permanently is tantamount to approving the status quo, where the rule of law is laughed at, our borders are left unsecured, and where millions of people are subject to a two class system and used as economic commodities. I think we can do better than that. God bless, Father Jonathan •E-mail Father Jonathan

 Blessings - Father Jonathan... Amen... process... step by step.

This prediction assumes that the United States steadfastly resists Islamo-fascism, terrorism, and jihadism during the interim. America’s steadfast policy of containment of Communism established in 1947 by Truman was necessary to slowly exhaust the energies and will of the communists. President Bush’s anti-terrorist policies, established in 2001, also require steadfast, long-term opposition until the frenzy of jihadism exhausts itself. Christian America is resilient, self-correcting, and spiritually renewing and can outlast an evil empire or a terror movement. Our Democrat Senators lead by one brings shame on the name Harry wants us to cave - LET HIM KNOW we value life more than his high price suits and presidential candidates hair cuts from others and Soros money pit... so tell him and others to shut up, man up and stand instead this insulting and dangerous whinny puny hate for Bush! 
The great challenge of a generation
“The greatest generation” fought World War II and were steadfast during the cold war and the long twilight of Soviet communism. Because of their courage and character, we are free and prosperous. Now it is our turn to fight the forces of evil, so we can pass the torch of America’s blessed heritage to the next generation.

This time, this battle is personal for all us. We are fighting for the survival of civilization, Christianity, and democracy. As Christian armies stopped the jihadist hoards at Tours and Vienna, and saved Christian Europe from extinction, this is America’s fight to preserve Christian civilization and democracy in this world. It is also a fight to save the whole world from bitter bondage to cruel Muslim dictators and terrorists. Victory is well within our power, but our patience will be sorely tested. God grant us the courage and patience to steadfastly bear the burden that providence has placed upon us.

I am glad that our president has lowered the flag at half mast and was there at VT for our fellow citizens and family who were cut down in such a cruel manner and they our deserve honoring them. Hate when it has it’s way always destroys and not only it’s object of hate but the very person hating and not from the self inflicted shot but from the heart out. One professor who survived so much hate and horror in life- first the German Camps of WWII then the Russian Communist – he didn’t run but he saved others first and then died protecting those he served.

In seeking some sense of the carnage of hate yesterday, I am thankful for one small thing, that this is rare here. That this isn’t the daily dose of evil as it is in many countries, where the count isn’t the number of people destroyed but how many times in a day it takes place.

The Middle East, Southeast Asia and Africa has seen the generations of hate this is always foaming up into violence, death, destruction of God’s children and has become a core manner of life in too many places there! The only answer is to break the chains of hate by us being willing to not negotiate with evil in our own lives and then to not be afraid to speak and act in truth to others who seek to grow the poison of hate around us!

Our responsibility is to have what God wants for us, to have soft hearts and hard feet. The problem is the world teaches that we need to have hard hearts and soft feet ti not get involves except to yell at the T.V. or complain over our Frap and we have to counter that! Meaning with our soft heart we need to go and share the hope that we have – and yes it is mostly hard walking but you have to get out of your comfort zone with the soft heart that we have been given by our Father.

What can you do? Start by sending a prayer on a card to the closest church to the college and ask what you can do to help them serve those at VT, pray for the families, pray against the evil that seeks to only destroy life and so to bind it and send it back to hell  where the author of hate lives. Then speak out against the words and actions of hate that are being used today toward those seeking to protect our country from those that live to hate. Speak out to the congress, senate the presidential candidates to man-up so to speak and step up and speak about the truth about radical Islam – Dufar is just one spot, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Uzbekistan and the other “stans”. SPEAK the Truth in Love! But speak, act by protecting like the professor and be unwilling to compromise with hate!