Miguel’s Weblog

On this Sabath Day I would like to share with you the 178th Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that took place last weekend in Salt Lake City, USA.

By David Haldane, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

The Mormon Church has to be among the most outgoing on earth; in recent years its leaders have reached out to, among others, Latinos, Koreans, Catholics and Jews.

One of the most enthusiastic responses, however, has come from what some might consider a surprising source: U.S. Muslims.

“We are very aware of the history of Mormons as a group that was chastised in America,” says Maher Hathout, a senior advisor to the Muslim Public Affairs Council in Los Angeles. “They can be a good model for any group that feels alienated.”

Which perhaps explains an open-mosque day held last fall at the Islamic Center of Irvine. More than half the guests were Mormons.

“A Mormon living in an Islamic society would be very comfortable,” said Steve Young, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints attending the event.

The sentiment is echoed by Muslims. “When I go to a Mormon church I feel at ease,” said Haitham Bundakji, former chairman of the Islamic Society of Orange County. “When I heard the president [of LDS] speak a few years ago, if I’d closed my eyes I’d have thought he was an imam.”

Though the relationship has raised eyebrows and provided ammunition for critics of both religions, Mormons and Muslims have deepening ties in the United States.

What binds them has little to do with theology: Mormons venerate Jesus as interpreted by founder Joseph Smith, while Muslims view Muhammad as god’s prophet. Based on shared values and a sense of isolation from mainstream America, the connection was intensified by 9/11 and cemented by the Southeast Asia tsunami. It is especially evident in Southern California, with large Mormons and Muslim populations.

The Mormon Church has become the biggest contributor to Buena Park-based Islamic Relief, touted by its administrators as the West’s largest Muslim-based charity. Relief officials say the church has donated $20 million in goods and services since the 2004 tsunami, equal to about 20% of the charity’s annual budget.

Brigham Young University in Utah, the church’s major institution of higher learning, features what is thought to be one of the world’s best programs for translating classic Islamic works from Arabic to English. Though created primarily for academic purposes, the results have impressed Muslims flattered by the close attention.

“It shows they have a keen interest in the Muslim world,” said Levent Akbarut, a member of the Islamic Congregation of La Cañada-Flintridge.

And Mormons and Muslims say they often are co-hosts of educational and social programs at which, though some may be angling for long-term doctrinal influence, very little open proselytizing of each other seems to take place. “We have a very close and friendly relationship,” said Keith Atkinson, West Coast LDS spokesman.Mormons “explain our faith to anyone who will listen” and “treat Muslims like anybody else,” said Elder Dallin H. Oaks, a member of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles, one of the church’s top governing bodies in Salt Lake City. But Oaks added that “we don’t preach to people who would be disenfranchised” or likely offended by the effort.

Arnold H. Green, a history professor at BYU, has traced how early Mormons in the 19th century were hounded by accusations that church founder Smith was the American Muhammad. The first Mormons angrily denied any connection to the Muslim prophet but gradually accepted some comparisons, particularly that both religions were founded by post-Christian prophets with strong sectarian views. “As the church grew into a global faith,” Green wrote in a 2001 essay, “its posture toward Islam became . . . more positive” until, today, “the two faiths have become associated in several ways, including Mormonism’s being called the Islam of America.”

Both religions strongly emphasize family. They tend toward patriarchy, believing in feminine modesty, chastity and virtue. And although Islam discourages dancing involving both sexes, Mormons report that church-sponsored “modesty proms” commonly draw Islamic youths.

Both faiths adhere to religion-based health codes, including prohibitions against alcohol, but Mormons and Muslims share something more: membership in quickly growing minority religions that many other Americans have sometimes viewed with suspicion and scorn.

“We both come from traditions where there has been persecution in the past and continues to be prejudice,” said Steve Gilliland, LDS director of Muslim relations for Southern California. “That helps us Mormons identify with Muslims.”

A recent national survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press and the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life found that although a thin majority of those polled expressed positive opinions of Muslims and Mormons, the number was significantly less than those favoring Roman Catholics or Jews.

More than half the respondents said they had little or no awareness of the precepts and practices of either faith. But 45% saw Islam as more likely than other religions to encourage violence, and 31% said that Mormons weren’t Christian.

Armand L. Mauss, a Mormon and professor emeritus of sociology at Washington State University specializing in religious movements, said that unlike mainstream Christians and Jews, Muslims and Mormons “tend to make fairly stringent demands for religious conformity on their members.” These practices, he said, include discouraging marriage outside the religion and observing dietary laws, such as the Mormon prohibition against tobacco, alcohol and caffeine.

But the clincher, according to Mauss, is that both communities “have been stung in recent years by the recurrence of scandals over which they have no control.” For Muslims, the obvious example is 9/11.

Uma professora tirou o telemóvel a uma aluna de 9º ano pois esta estaria a brincar com ele durante a aula.

Não há respeito pelos professores e funcionários. Não há sanções apropriadas para quem tem extrema falta de educação e violência. NÃO ACONTECE NADA.

Fonte: Democracia em Portugal

Agora a minha pergunta à Sra. Ministra: “Qual é avaliação que espera esta professora? Será que ela age mal ou é a aluna? Como é que a Sra. reagiria nesta situação? No meu tempo isto daria suspensão ou até expulsão.“

“[Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego] knew that they could trust God–even if things didn’t turn out the way they hoped. They knew that faith is more than mental assent, more than an acknowledgment that God lives. Faith is total trust in Him.

“Faith is believing that although we do not understand all things, He does. Faith is knowing that although our power is limited, His is not. Faith in Jesus Christ consists of complete reliance on Him.”

Dennis E. Simmons, “But If Not . . .,” Ensign, May 2004, 73

Originally uploaded by Tierecke

Será que não há ninguém na Segurança Social que olhe para este senhor e que lhe dê a possibilidade de ter um novo rosto? Será que não há médicos em Portugal ou empresários que estejam interessados em ajudar este senhor? Um País que deixa um cidadão chegar a este ponto o que é que se pode chamar? E a Igreja passa por isto e não vê?

Lembro-me quando ele ainda tinha esta doença em estado inicial e fiquei chocado ao ver esta imagem! Vamos ajudar este homem? Acho que a blogosfera pode ajudar muito neste caso se todos dermos as mãos!

The new site about Jesus Christ is just gone live!

Ruzie is geen prettige gebeurtenis. Het kan soms de situatie verergeren, omdat het gauw al lang niet meer gaat om de zaak zelf, maar om een reflex waarin we de aanval kiezen als verdediging. En hoewel meningsverschillen normaal en belangrijk zijn binnen een relatie, is ruzie nooit de oplossing van het probleem.

“Behandel anderen zoals je wilt dat ze jullie behandelen,” zegt Jezus (Lucas 6,31) Niemand vindt het prettig als een ander ruzie met je maakt. Dus als je deze regel toepast, zou er eigenlijk geen plaats in ons leven voor ruzie moeten zijn.

Hier zijn 7 tips om ruzie te voorkomen:

1. Leer actief te luisteren.

Wie antwoordt zonder eerst te luisteren, handelt dwaas (Spreuken 18,13)

Goede communicatie in een relatie betekent niet alleen dat je je goed kunt verwoorden, maar vooral dat je goed kunt luisteren. Probeer in je op te nemen wat de ander je zegt, en geef het terug om er zeker van te zijn dat je de boodschap begrepen hebt (“Ik hoor je zeggen dat … klopt dat?) Stel vragen als je het echt niet snapt. Let op de gevoelens die een ander uitdrukt, die zijn vaak belangrijker dan wat er precies gezegd wordt.

2. Blijf bij jezelf

Oordeel niet, dan zal er niet over je geoordeeld worden. Veroordeel niet, dan zul je niet veroordeeld worden. (Lucas 6,37)

Begin zinnen met “ik”: “ik voelde me genegeerd toen je..” in plaats van “je negeerde me…”. Het is soms moeilijk te bedoeling van een ander te beoordelen. Je weet soms niet waarom een ander op een bepaalde manier handelt, en als je een verkeerd oordeel velt, is de ander beledigd of verongelijkt. Maar je weet heel goed hoe je je voelt. Breng dat over.

3. Blijf in het heden

Blijf niet staan bij wat eertijds is gebeurd, laat het verleden nu rusten. (Jesaja 43,1

Haal geen oude koeien uit de sloot en generaliseer niet. Gebruik nooit woorden als “nooit”, “altijd”, “moet”, “elke keer”. Blijf in het heden. Oude koeien en beschuldigingen in algemene zin roepen altijd verdediging op of erger: een tegenaanval, maar ze leiden zelden tot begrip of inzicht.

4. Blijf bij de zaak

“Hoe meer hout, des te harder het vuur brandt, hoe hardnekkiger de ruzie, des te heviger ze wordt.” (Jezus Sirach 28,10)

Haal er niet van alles bij, blijf bij de ene zaak waar het meningsverschil over bestaat. Als je met allerlei andere verwijten en kwesties op de proppen komt, wordt de situatie onoverzichtelijker, de oplossing onwaarschijnlijker en de verdedigingsreflex van de ander sterker.

5. Stop voor je begint!

Wie een ruzie begint, ontketent een stortvloed; staak de strijd voordat hij losbarst. (Spreuken 17,14).

Als je voelt dat je overhit begint te raken is het beter om het strijdperk tijdelijk te verlaten om af te koelen voordat je terugkomt op het meningsverschil. Denk na over de oorzaak van je reactie. Waardoor werd je geraakt? Wat maakte het bij je los? Boosheid? Verdriet? Angst? Hoe kan ik in de toekomst voorkomen dat ik opnieuw zo van streek raak?

6. Los het probleem op

Wees eensgezind; wees niet hoogmoedig… vergeld geen kwaad met kwaad… overwin het kwade door het goede. (Romeinen 12, 16-21)

Doe er wat aan! Als je echt van streek bent door iets, stop het dan vooral niet weg. Koester geen wrok terwijl je niets onderneemt. Een probleem dat niet opgelost wordt, komt vanzelf weer terug. Als mensen ruzie maken, laat het zien dat er iets is dat voor beide personen belangrijk is (en dat is soms iets anders dan de aanleiding voor de ruzie). Dat moet je bij jezelf en bij de ander op het spoor zien te komen. Als je tot rust bent gekomen zijn er drie stappen die je moet zetten:

1. Beschrijf de situatie die het conflict veroorzaakte, zonder te oordelen – blijf bij een beschrijving van de feiten. Vraag of je weergave klopt met de waarneming van de ander.
2. Vertel de ander wat de situatie bij jou teweeg bracht. Blijf bij een weergave van je eigen gevoel en reactie. Geef de ander de ruimte om dit ook te doen.
3. Zeg hoe jij denkt te voorkomen dat het conflict in de toekomst terugkomt; vertel de ander wat jij nodig hebt. Vraag de ander hoe die het conflict wil oplossen.

7. Toch ruzie? Vergeef elkaar

“Vergeef, dan zal je vergeven worden.” (Lucas 6, 37)

Ondanks alle goede bedoelingen kan het toch voorkomen dat een ruzie ontstaat, en dat je elkaar kwetst. Laat het nooit “vanzelf” overgaan. Durf vergeving te vragen voor jouw aandeel in de ruzie. Dat is niet hetzelfde als je eigen mening aan de kant zetten of bakzeil halen! Vergeving vragen is een teken van kracht en moed, het kan het vertrouwen in elkaar herstellen.

Bron: Katholiekleven

Every year is the same theatre, but this year it started a lot earlier. Yes, I mean the rush to sell you the so called Christmas Presents. Probably it was always like that but I remember when I was a kid my Mom used to take me downtown Lisbon, Portugal, to see the Christmas lights and Santa Claus in the shops. Lisbon was now not only beautiful but just as beautiful as paradise itself! It was heaven on Earth! When I turned 18 I spent Christmas for the first time in Brussels, Belgium, and I enjoyed the cold, the one-day trips to the Christmas Markets in Aachen, Köln and Monschau, Germany, and then returning home via the small roads to see the Christmas decorations in the people’s homes.

Suddenly all changed, in 1993 I was walking downtown Brussels and I realized the big "selling fever", the shops did everything to sell their products and people were in such a rush to buy Christmas Presents but turning their faces away when homeless begged for a coin or for a piece of food. Since then Christmas is not Christmas anymore unless I do a few things. Together with my family we read the Bible, Luke 2, and after dinner we go to people’s houses and we sing Christmas Carols for them. We also invite people without family to spend Christmas eve with us and that way we have a very nice Christmas spirit in our home.

Life is not easy, and like many families, we use the Christmas extra money to stabilize our finances, and in 13 years of marriage we only gave a present to each other and to our children once or twice. But no one can take the best part from us, and that is, the sharing of a nice Christmas spirit with each other and with others around us.

Ontem a Melani, a minha amiga Croata escreveu-me. Grande surpresa! Thanks Melani!!!!

As many of you know, I am for quite a while at home on a sick leave from work, so life has not been that easy lately. Many times I think that recovery would be faster but many people have told me that to recover I have to be patience and that it will take time. I have many ups and downs. Writing this blog is for me a great therapy because it obliges me to think and to keep my ideas in their proper place.

My Doctor wants that I take long walks and that I go bike riding, but that is not always that easy. My mind needs to be willing, but I make an effort. One of the places where my mind can find some peace and rest is at the Vrijbroekpark here in Mechelen. There I have long walks, there I sit down and admire the beauty of those beautiful pinetrees, roses and dalias. There I have also some talks with people passing by. Yesterday as I was walking there with my dog (for the first time since I am home), I met a lady in her 60s. She also had a small dog and we talked a lot. I can’t remember the time but it was for a long time. She told me about her life and I told her about mine. She took the time to listen to me and to give me advise, she gave me the support with such love that is beyond comprehension. She has a lot more love in her heart than many church ministers I met throughout my lifetime! I felt so much love in her heart that I spent the entire day thinking of her. I know that God has put her on my way yesterday, and therefore I know her in my mind as the angel of the park. I hope that one time or another we can be someone else’s angel.

Een eerste website is toch altijd een introductie van mezelf naar de buitenwereld. Wie ben ik? Wat doe ik? Wat zijn mijn intresse? Ik ga het niet allemaal publiceren, want ik ben ook erg op mijn privacy gesteld. Echter heb ik een ruime intresse. Met hobby’s waarvan ik kan zeggen dat mijn hart van vol is en mijn mond van overvloeit. Voor mijn leven heb ik een motto waarbij verschillende elementen mij moed, hoop en licht geven. De titel: ‘Gedreven door het licht’ laat zien dat de zon, met haar warmte, vriendelijkheid en licht, mij motiveert om de persoon te worden die ik wens te zijn. De zon maakt ieders dag lichter, vrolijker en gelukkiger. Zo is het ook mijn streven om hetzelfde effect te hebben. Vandaag ben ik nog geen zon, maar laat ik hopen dat ik al wel een zonnestraal in jouw leven ben.