Circle Of Protection

The Circle of Protection is a religious group that works to end poverty. They believe that America needs programs to assist the poor and vulnerable. Both presidential candidates were asked about their views on poverty and programs that work towards its end. Mr. Romney had a chance to speak about his views about poverty and his plans to end it. Romney said that he wishes to work with religious groups to end poverty. He said that he has a 5 year plan to help reduce the poverty rate. He believes that the end of poverty is linked to the health and strength of the economy If elected, he plans to create job programs that will create 12 million new jobs by 2016 to boost the economy. He believes that these jobs will help many people get back on their feet and out of poverty. He also says that he is a proponent of the entitlement programs as long as they are need based. Romney plans to cut budgets in order to be able to afford his plan; however, he believes that the budget cuts will not have a big effect because of the boosted economy. President Obama also had a chance to speak on his views on ending poverty. Mr. Obama promises to continue to create a faith-based administration, if reelected. He also believes we must rebuild our economy to be profitable and get out of poverty, but his vision is slightly different from Mr. Romney's. Obama says that the key to rebuilding the economy is rebuilding the people, slowly. He says that tax breaks for the upper class will only hurt the middle and lower classes, the people who need the most financial support. He proposes a balanced budget that allows America to create jobs with better wages, while still boosting the economy.Obama is different from Romney in this sense because Romney's plan is faster, and possibly more direct. Obama's plan is slower because he believes that his slower plan will benefit those who need financial assistance. Both candidates show great faith and spirituality. Both Romney and Obama are committed to ending poverty and raising up the lowly.In this way, both are committed to upholding Catholic social teachings of charity and justice.Obama speaks of brotherhood and sisterhood and reaching out to help our brothers and sisters, like the Catholic Church teaches. Romney speaks of reaching out to help those who are in need. Both candidates present principles of Catholic Social Teaching, but one cannot help notice the political background of their statements. Romney makes statements more favorable to republicans such as tax cuts and budget cuts. Obama talks about more programs for the poor and keeping taxes low for the middle and lower classes. I think that it is important to realize these political backgrounds while examining candidates and their views.

Project Home

The vision of project H.O.M.E is "None of us are home until all of us are home." This statement really exemplifies the true mission of Project H.O.M.E. Project H.O.M.E works toward ending worldwide homelessness. Project H.O.M.E works for justice by ensuring that everyone has a place to call home. In addition to a physical house, project H.O.M.E gives homeless men, women, and children health care and addiction counseling.Project H.O.M.E also provides works of charity such as food from their cafe or clothes from their thrift store; however, even their acts of charity work toward justice because they provide more than temporary fixes. Project H.O.M.E offers many different programs to help people get back on their feet. They are unlike most shelters because they offer more than a place to sleep and a couple of meals. Project H.O.M.E focuses on ending homelessness. In order to accomplish this, they help people from start to finish. They offer entry level to permanent, affordable housing. They also treat homeless people with addiction and/or mental illnesses. Project H.O.M.E also offers job training and hires homeless men and women to work at its cafe and thrift store. All of these aspects allow homeless men, women, and children to break out of the cycle of homelessness and become self sufficient. I think there most important program is job training. By offering job training and jobs, project H.O.M.E teaches people to become self-sufficient. It offers these people opportunities they didn't have before. It also gives homeless people a sense of empowerment and confidence because they are earning their money and supporting themselves. This confidence is essential to creating a better future for themselves. Project H.O.M.E is truly working for justice

9/11

All people are called to forgiveness. It has been said time after time that one should not hold a grudge. After the horrible tragedy that occurred on September 11, 2001, many people felt that they would never been able to forgive and many did not want to. As a nation, we wanted the terrorists to pay for everything they did to our friends, families, and neighbors. We wanted them to feel the pain we felt in losing our loved ones; however, eleven years later, some people are starting to have a different perspective. It has also been said that time heals all wounds, but 1 year, 11 years, or 100 years won't heal this wound. Losing our brothers and sisters in the tragedies of 9/11 was horrifying. Many people refuse to forgive Osama Bin Laden because they are so horrified by his actions; however, hating him will not bring our loved ones back. There is nothing we can do to go back to September 10, 2001 and prevent this from happening. All we can do now is move on. Forgiving Osama is part of moving on. Jesus calls us to forgive "70 times 7" which means to forgive always. God forgives us for every sin even when we don't say we are sorry. In order to emulate God, we are called to forgive Osama even though as far as we know, he felt no guilt for the rest of his life. We must forgive him even though, as far as we know, he was never sorry.God's forgiveness knows no limits and neither should ours. Forgiving Osama may be the most difficult feat of the lives of the people in our nation. I believe we are called to forgive, but not forget. We must never forget what happened on 9/11, but our remembrance from this day forward should not be the acts of Osama. We need to remember the people who perished and the lives they led. We need to remember the families that suffered and the children who grew up without parents. Lastly, we need to remember those who risked their lives to save others. We should honor all of the firemen and women, police officers, and doctors that went headfirst into burning buildings to rescue people. We should be proud to have these heroes in our midst. We will never forget those who died and those who sacrificed their lives to save others. Like them, we must put the needs of other above our own. We must focus on the unity we felt as a nation after 9/11. We will never forget what happened or the people who died, but we can learn to forgive the man who was responsible. Forgiveness is the only way to move on.