Comment

Comment by And So You Were Born on May 29, 2012 at 4:10pm

Hello,

We would like to introduce to you a new children's interactive book application, "And So You Were Born." This is a book that teaches kids to appreciate their family, to have faith in God, and to have respect for others in the world. Much of this is done through subliminal messaging in the the text, allowing the book to still have a fun vibe. This book promotes Christian values and to have tolerance of other religions. 

This book is actually a book application on the Apple Store. It differs from traditional books because it is highly interactive and encourages its readers to play with the pictures and the text. For example, when the reader touches a picture of a star, it will light up, twinkle, or turn into a shooting star. This occurs with every illustration in the book. Along with that, the book is highly customizable. Parents have the choice of adding their child’s name in the book so when the narrator reads the text, it will show and say his/her name. In addition to that, they can personalize it to include the child’s birthday, parents’ names, friends, and religion. There is a voice and video recording feature that further enhances the interaction between the reader and the text. Aside from the actual book, the app comes with puzzles, a matching game, and an area where the reader can paint.

Here are a few links for more information about the book:

http://itunes.apple.com/app/and-so-you-were-born/id491119484?mt=8

www.andsoyouwereborn.com

https://www.facebook.com/AndSoYouWereBorn
http://app-score.com/and-so-you-were-born/

The book instills positive values into children early on and we truly think books with similar messages to this can make a significant difference in the world.

Thank you

Comment by Nugroho Angkasa on April 16, 2011 at 7:23am

This note was written by Gerard Barrie on the 36th day of Anand Krishna's hunger strike. Today is the 39th day, his life is in danger in every walking hours. SOS Urgently need a quick respond to press Indonesian Goverement.

http://freeanandkrishna.com/en/ Thanks

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Sign the petition and also pass it on: Today, Wednesday April 13rd, 2011 is the thirty sixth day of Anand Krishna's hunger strike and he is very close to death in an Indonesian Police Hospital as it seems he is being systematically starved to death rather than being offered the chance of a fair trial.

Sign the petition at www.gopetition.com -Free Anand Krishna - do not silence his voice of nationality, harmony mission, and his principal of unity in diversity

 

This is a totally bizarre case possibly involving false memory syndrome and what appears to be denying the accused anything remotely resembling a fair trial to such a degree that that he had no choice but to go on hunger strike from March 9th,2011 in a non-violent struggle for a just trial for him and justice for others in his home country of Indonesia.
Today, Wednesday April 13rd, 2011 is the thirty sixth day of Anand Krishna's hunger strike and he is very close to death in an Indonesian Police Hospital as it seems he is being systematically starved to death rather than being offered the chance of a fair trial.

He has lost 25 kg weight can hardly open his eyes or speak some words.

 

Although it appears quite obvious that there is something more sinister involved in this process other than an accusation of sexual harassment using as evidence what could well be false memory syndrome, I am contacting you in the hope that you can shed some light on the situation in order for Anand Krishna to get the fair trial that every human being deserves.

 

I must also point out that the Indonesian judicial system has a notorious reputation for corruption, so much so that in 2002 the UN inspector described it as one of the worst cases he had seen.

 

Anand Krishna has been detained in prison from March 9th 2011 after he had been attending court since August over an accusation of sexual harassment from one of his former students,a nineteen year old woman who had this realization after undergoing hypnotherapy.

 

Dewi Pratomo  admitted in the media that she had been practicing hypnotherapy for twenty years although the Hypnosis Motivation Institute (HMI) said that she had just completed her distance learning education in February 2009. (email of the Director of Distance Education HMI, Elaine Perliss C.Ht. at elaine@hypnosis.edu dated Dec 15, 2010).

Another Hypnotherapist Wowiek Prasantyo Mardigu also claimed in the court that he had undertaken a 9 months long training with the Hypnotherapy Training Institute (HTI), but the director of the institution denied his claim (an Email from the director of the HTI -

 

Randal Churchill at churchill@hypnotheraphy.com dated on Dec 21, 2010 confirmed that this was not true).
In court, Mardigu, also said that he would do anything according to the order of the clients who had paid  him. 
Dewi Pratomo also claimed in the media that after isolating the accuser from the outside world for four  months and conducting forty five sessions of hypnotherapies, she had successfully recovered repressed memories of the accuser and there was sexual abuse.

 

However, according to many hypnotherapy experts, forty five sessions of hypnotherapy within four months was not only UNETHICAL, but also could lead to implanting false memories. ( no programe in AAF was designed or offered that isolated a person from the outside world)

 

Therefore on March 9th,2011 on this evidence and the evidence of the accuser, Anand Krishna was ordered to be detained despite his serious health condition and full cooperation in attending court proceedings since August and remains in detention on hunger strike today even though the trial has been going on close to eight months with no evidence and no substantial witness

 

His lawyer Darwin Aritonang SH has pointed out that this detention clearly violates the law and the human rights figure and lawyer Adnand Buyong Nasution has also expressed his doubts over this procedure saying "I have been practicing my occupation in the field of law for 50 years.This is the first time I saw something like this. There is a judge who already pronounced a defendant guilty before he delivers the official verdict of court."

Dewi Pratomo, Tara’s personal theraphist, was also allowed by court to become expert witness in the trial,thereby denying any chances of objectivety and conflict of interest.

Right now, the case is only relying on the expert witness, the two hypnotheraphists whose educational and proffessional credentials are in serious doubt and the prosecuting lawyer also Criminal Lawyer, Dr Satrio from Indonesian University, who is a known supporter of the Islamic Defender Front FPI.

 

The Islamic Defender Front (FPI) the notoriously violent and extreme Islamic Group also attended Anand Krishna's trial on Sept 16th, 2011 although they have never been known to attend such a trial before. (for more info on this group see http://en wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic Defenders Front) 

 

Through his actions, Anand Krishna has been an advocate of peace and understanding among the people's of his country Indonesia and it seems that these unfortunate events have come about at a time when it appears that a small but very powerful section of the religious community is striving for the implementation of religious-based law in Indonesia despite the heterogeneous nature of it's population. .

He has spoken to millions through television shows,radio talks,in-house trainings,books,newspaper interviews and articles,as well as daily meetings and workshops held at Anand Ashram (affiliated with the United Nations),One Earth Retreat Center, Anand Krishna Center and Graha Indonesia which he established.

Therefore only the most callous of people would not agree that Anand Krishna should be released from detention to avoid being systematically starved to death and allowed to face a fair trial.

Comment by Fr Simon Falk on August 22, 2010 at 10:32pm

I turned on my computer today and amongst the email a report of this event was there. Sounds like a great event was had. Well done to the organizers and participants! :) http://www.cathnews.com/article.aspx?aeid=22917

Comment by Deacon Steve Herrera on February 9, 2010 at 1:57pm

This is the link, thanks Connor.

http://web.mac.com/immersiondsj/

Comment by Connor Coyne on February 9, 2010 at 11:07am

Hello Steve,

I appreciate your solution; like most good solutions, there is an elegance -- a simplicity to it. It also strikes me as allowing for the opportunity for witness/testimony, even if someone is witnessing as a bystander and not a participant.

I don't think, however, that the link you mentioned was included in the post. Would you be able to provide it?

Comment by Deacon Steve Herrera on February 6, 2010 at 11:11pm

Comment by Deacon Steve Herrera on February 6, 2010 at 10:59pm

I conduct three interfaith immersion trips in which Catholics and Buddhists do service together, engage in interfaith dialogue and pray and chant together. The model that works for my trips is to have each group pray their own prayers in the prayerful presence of the other group, not to mix the prayers but to respect the integrity of the Buddhist and Catholic prayers/chants. If a Catholic wants to join in with the Buddhist chanting, or a Buddhist wants to join in the Catholic prayers (rosary or other prayer forms) its a choice one can make. I find this to be very edifying for each group, especially in the context of service and interfaith dialogue. The web link is a glimpse of the trips I'm referring to.

Comment by Julien Hammond on January 5, 2010 at 2:48pm

One dilemma that I often face in my work relates to forms of so-called interfaith or interreligious prayer. Sometimes Catholics want to pray together with people of other faith traditions, yet they shy away from doing so because they worry (sometimes rightly)about the implications of such prayer. Can prayer be pronounced in any name but Jesus' name? Does a person inadvertenly deny their faith if they say "Amen" to a prayer prayed in another tradition (often in another language), that does not conform to the teachings of our Church? How does one witness to the Christian faith while engaging in prayer forms (words, postures, etc.) that are foreign to Christianity?
Both Popes Benedict and JPII have given us different examples of interreligious prayer forms: in the one instance (B16), it seemed to be an example of silent prayer in the company of a Muslim leader (who also prayed in slience); in the example of JPII, it seemed to be a case of many different faith leaders gathered together in one place (Assisi) with a common intention (to pray for world peace), but each going off to pray in their own way within their own specific tradition (Christians together, Muslims together, Buddhists together, etc.).
Have any of you wrestled with similar concerns/issues? Do you have a successful model of interfaith/interreligious prayer that you use (or have used) in your particular place? In your experience are there limits to Catholics engaging in forms of interreligious prayer?

Comment by Julien Hammond on January 5, 2010 at 2:25pm

In my work as ecumenical/interreligious officer in my Archdiocese, I have often found it difficult to take Nostra Aetate as the starting point for introducing Catholic audiences to interreligious dialogue. (Although I do it all the time.) Nosta Aetate holds certain tensions within itself: on the one hand, "the Catholic Church rejects nothing of what is true and holy in [the world's] religions." On the other hand, "she [the Church] proclaims and is in duty bound to proclaim without fail, Christ who is the way, the truth and the life." "The Church...urges her sons [and daughters] to enter with prudence and charity into discussions and collaboration with members of other religions." At the same time, the Church affirms that it is only "in Christ, in whom God reconciled all things to himself, [people] find the fulness of their religious life." To many of our Catholic people, to say nothing of people of other religious traditions listening to us, this type of presentation can seem like double speak.
When using Nostra Aetate, I like to emphasize the last sentence of paragraph 2: "Let Christians, while witnessing to to their own faith and way of life, acknowledge, preserve and encourage the spiritual and moral truths found among non-Christians, also their social life and culture." This always strikes me as one of the most radical (and helpful) insights in the text.

Comment by Fr Simon Falk on December 17, 2009 at 4:44am

ON SOCIAL AGENDAS OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
Connor, It can be similar here in Australia. What doesn't help is when some pro-life groups are so aggressive that they are not charitable or life-giving in how they conduct themselves. I was interested when I discovered that someone had started a facebook group that was about a consistent pro-life ethic http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2210500333. The group seemed to suggest that promoting life is about more than single issue stands on abortion or euthanasia (assisted suicide).
As a catholic priest obviously I need to be respectful of the Church's positions on issues. However, I like to remind myself first and then encourage others to, that being a people who promote life means being life-giving to ourselves and to each other across lots of little every day things as well as the controversial hot topics. That covers everything from from how we eat, to how we talk to each other and how we choose to do things that help us all give glory to God by living life to the full. The challenge is to see that important issues like abortion might be major focal points within the landscape yet connected to the many other items that do no harm and actually give life. I won't fill out the space with little examples. Thanks for your questions. Peace, Fr Simon

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