"Too Muslim to Be French"

This year France's president, Nicholas Sarkozy, publicly stated that the burka was not welcomed in the country. The president stated that, "The problem if the burka is a problem of liberty and dignity for women... it is a symbol of servitude and humiliation" (Irish Times). This does not seems right to me. I understand that the country thinks they are helping Muslim women because some of them are forced to wear the burka, but I think some of them actually do choose to wear the burka. I feel like by doing this ban they are just isolating the Muslim women from the rest of France's society.

Last year in France, a Muslim woman, Faiza M., was denied citizenship because she did not sufficiently adopt French culture. Even though she is married to a French man and has three native-born children, she is denied citizenship because of the burqa she wears that does not represent French nationalism. Again this does not seem right at all. How can the French government deny citizenship to a woman just because she wears the burqa? I do not understand how they can expect everyone to totally adopt the French culture, it seems impractical. France should let people wear whatever they want because the bans and laws they have put in place as of now against Muslim culture is somewhat disturbing.

Patrick Kennedy and Communion

In the state of Rhode Island, Representative Patrick Kennedy was not allowed to take communion because Bishop Thomas Tobin forbade it. The Bishop's reason for this is that Kennedy supports abortion rights. The Bishops told Kennedy that the stance his has taken on the issue is against the Catholic Church's stance on abortion, so he was not being a good Catholic.

This does not seem fair at all, to not take part in a religious ritual just because of his stance on a political issue. First of all I do not think that church should have the right to do that. I honestly cannot believe that the Bishop would forbid someone from taking communion. One of the things that I am always taught in mass is to always forgive, so I feel like this is hypocritical of the Bishop. I think that he should just forgive Kennedy on his stance on abortion. Second of all, when it comes to politics I think what a politician should do is to put his or her religion aside when making decisions about political issues, which is what Kennedy seems to have done.

Highland Church and homosexuality

An evangelical church in the state of Denver is actually one of the few churches that will accept homosexuality. The reverend, Reverend Mark Tidd has stated that they are trying "to live and live without labels" (Denver Post). The Reverend has stated that the right thing to do to accept everyone, no matter what they may be. This congregation has lost a lot of members and many churches of the same religion disagree with his beliefs, but the Reverend still stands by his views, which I applaud.

I really admire this Reverend, I like that he is taking a difference stance among a lot of other churches and religions. I know a lot of my friends, who are homosexuals, have told me sometimes they have a hard time being Christian and a homosexual. It is also very hard for some of them to accept their homosexuality because of their faith. I am glad to see that this Reverend understands this. I am also pleasantly surprised that it is a reverend from an evangelical church that not only stands up for homosexuals, but also supports gay marriage. It is refreshing to see something different from a Christian Church.

The Catholic Church's Issues Over Same-Sex Marriage

Next month a bill is going to be voted on relating to same-sex marriage in Washington D.C. The district has been trying to stop discrimination against gays and lesbians, so there new bill proposes that there shall be no discrimination against gays and lesbians. Of course the Catholic Church does not want to accept this new bill and they have even told the District that if this bill is passed they will abandon the contracts that they have with the district (the Catholic Church in Washington, D.C. actually runs a lot of social service programs)- which the District actually needs. The Catholic Church fears this new bill because they may be forced to give employee benefits to same-sex married couples (The Post).

To me it seems as though the Catholic Church is trying to blackmail the District into doing what they want. I think that if the Catholic Church really did believe in what they teach everyday in their masses, they should continue doing their social services programs. A new bill should not stop the Catholic Church from doing good just because they disagree with some that is against their belief. I think that making the District choose between gay and lesbian rights and the Catholic Church is really appalling- the Church should not be doing that.

Hindu-Muslim Conflict

For decades now there has been a conflict between Pakistan and India. Pakistan (Muslims) was once part of India (Hindu), but due to religious differences in 1906 the country split up. Even today this conflict still continues. Last year there was attacks at ten different place in Mumbai, India. The suspects were thought to be seven Pakistanis. Things like this have continued to go on between India and Pakistan for years. It seems to be the Muslim extremists versus the Hindu nationalist.

A lot of time I just wonder why cannot countries just get along. Why cannot they just put there religious differences aside and have some kind of peace between each other? I actually remember watching the news about the attacks in Mumbai. I remember that it reminded me a lot of September 11 in the United States. Sometimes, as cliche as it may sound, I just wish there was peace in the world. I just think that killings over religious differences if ridiculous and I still cannot understand why this has to happen. I do not think I will ever fully understand why these attacks on each other happen.

The Stupak Amendment

In the new health care bill there is a new proposal that would restrict health insurance coverage for abortions. This new bill is called the Stupak amendment, it basically prevents "women who receive federal subsidies for health insurance from purchasing plans that cover abortion" (cbsnews). To me this seems to be another way those who are Pro-life and those in religious groups are trying to control the abortion issue. They are probably thinking that if women cannot afford to get abortions, then they will not be getting abortion, therefore achieving their pro- life goals. The original legislation that was made by the Democrats' seemed more logical because it gave health insurance coverage to abortions. With this new proposal, I feel like women's reproductive rights are also being controlled. I feel like the government is trying to control us and I do not like the Stupak amendement at all. I feel like instead of moving fowards, the government is going backwards. Back to a time before even the famous courtcase, Roe v. Wade.

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