Monday, March 23, 2009

My visit to St. George's



I visited the small Russian parish in Cincinnati yesterday for Liturgy. I had been wanting to go for awhile but just hadn't made it yet. It's set in an older neighborhood near Blue Ash.

It took a little while to find it but then I saw the little cupola at the end of the road and parked my car. It definitely reminds me of the small parishes dotted all over Russia. Before I left my house I wondered if I should bring a headscarf, since that is the traditional wear in Europe. Well, my instincts were right as I saw a couple of women hurriedly draping their heads before making the sign of the cross and entering the building.

I tried to slip in unnoticed but it was impossible. Two women turned around and saw me. Trying to avoid a faux pas, I circled my head with a finger and shook my head. No problem...they had a box of scarves right there. A lady handed it to me and said, "Ah, you are American peoples?"
Gee, no give away there right?

When I entered the tiny room I crossed myself and tried to find a place to stand. In most Orthodox churches, people stand for the majority of the Liturgy which can last over 2 hours. It's a bonus if you can find chairs or benches. So I stood there amidst mostly Russian women on the left side while the men stayed on the right. I kept fiddling with my scarf; it wouldn't stay on my head and I was getting very hot standing next to all these women wearing wool clothing.

The choir mostly sang in Russian then some English. It was beautiful. But I couldn't really tell when communion began and ended. I stayed back while most of the others jockeyed for a position. There was no organization to the chaos whatsoever.

After the service I went forth and took the blessed bread. As I went back into the front room for coffee hour, a woman stopped me, pointing to my sweater. I had something on it. I almost flicked it off then realized it was a crumb of the bread. She grabbed it fast and put it in my mouth. Anything that is blessed or sacred is never to fall to the ground or tossed away...like our flag I suppose.


I met some nice people during coffee hour, many who didn't speak good English. But I don't know any Russian save for a few words so I commended them.

Most people assumed I wasn't Orthodox but when I told them they wanted to know all about why I had chosen to do so. Most cradle Orthodox cannot really grasp why Americans want to join their church. I tried to explain about the televangelists, the making a commodity out of God, and reducing the church to an entertainment venue as reasons. I think they understood but I also think many of them have not been exposed to it so could not make a comparison for themselves.

These people truly have faith and don't question it. They don't let the trappings of our society dictate their lives. Maybe that's the bliss of coming to America as an outsider.

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Kathleen Sebelius

This woman is the worst choice for an HHS secretary I have ever seen. My main beef with her is the fact that she supports late term abortions and abortions without parental consent. Late term abortions are an abomination of human life.

George Tiller, the famous doctor in Wichita KS, known as "Tiller the baby killer" has performed many of these in his office. I've seen the interviews with the young women he has performed these horrible abortions on, and they are heartwrenching.

His website makes my stomach turn. http://www.drtiller.com/




Abortionist Tiller Admits to Performing Abortions the Day Before DeliveryHis Speech at National Education Association

By John-Henry Westen

ARLINGTON, VA, March 19, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Notorious partial-birth abortion specialist Dr. George Tiller of Wichita, KS, was caught on hidden video admitting to aborting babies a day before the mother's due date. Students for Life of America (SFLA) today released the video which was made at the Feminist Majority Foundation's annual Women's Leadership Conference held at the National Education Association (NEA) on March 9.

The video reveals Dr. Tiller showcasing massive and graphic pictures of children with fetal abnormalities that he had aborted, so as to make the case for late-term abortions as necessary medical procedure. SFLA's Executive Director Kristan Hawkins, who videotaped the conference and interviewed Tiller clandestinely, commented on the gruesome pictures of aborted children Tiller showed, saying, "One had an extra arm: could not that child had survived and received corrective surgery? Was violently killing the child the only way to go?"

"Pro-lifers are regularly condemned for displaying pictures of aborted babies, but here the pro-abortion crowd and the NEA are more than happy to showcase these graphic images, and even gave Dr. Tiller's presentation a standing ovation," added Hawkins.

Tiller, who currently faces 19 criminal charges for illegal late-term abortions in the state of Kansas, at first feigned ignorance of the Born Alive Infants Protection Act, a federal bill signed into law in 2002 that protects born children from murder and illegalizes infanticide. However when questioned further about the measure he spoke of his ideological objection to the legislation, saying, "Let's say you have 15 or 16, you had 1 slip out with a heartbeat; that is not a viable fetus, but that is born alive or has a heartbeat. Then you have to take that non-viable fetus and rush it directly to the hospital against the woman's wishes."

Given that the conference featuring Tiller was held at the National Education Association, it is probable that a good number of the more than three million members of the NEA would be voicing opposition if they were made aware of the situation.

"As a pro-life teacher, I can say this illustrates why I am no longer a member of the NEA," said Marla Mercer, a West Virginia teacher and former member of the National Education Association. "The NEA should not be involved in this issue; here they are hosting this controversial abortionist and his slideshow of babies he has aborted. There is no way any of my money will ever be used to advance the radical pro-abortion agenda of Planned Parenthood and the NEA."



Kathleen Sebelius, as governor of Kansas, received campaign donations from this man, and had no interest in prosecuting him.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Rush and bigotry

I watched the Rush Limbaugh speech during the CPAC conference. Wow, he really brought the house down! His speech was far more inspiring than any I have heard from Nobama. People tell me all the time that he is a bigot, a fat liar, etc etc. when they have not bothered to LISTEN to the man (because they make assumptions based on what they see on CNN or what their other liberal friends tell them) yet they hang onto Nobama's every word as if it was gold and don't bother to critically examine him.

If you're going to criticize something at least take the TIME to examine both sides before you rush to judgment.

I remember Joe Biden making a comment something along the lines of "when you go into a 7 eleven at 11pm all you see are Indian people."

Who's the bigot here???