What The? Memorial Shaman Is Catholic?
I thought the inclusion of a native American Shaman to offer the opening prayer at the Tuscon Obama rally was strange and unnecessary.
I didn’t know the half of it…
He is a Catholic.
(CNSNews.com) – Wednesday night’s memorial service for the shooting victims in Tucson did not open with a prayer from a Jewish rabbi, a Protestant minister or a Catholic priest–it began with a Native American “blessing” that left many puzzled about what it meant and why it was performed.
The prayer, which did not use the word “God” and did not make the traditional request for God’s comfort for the bereaved that many might have expected, did mention the Creator and called for “honoring” the Seven Directions, including “Father Sky” and “Mother Earth”–and remembering our “fellow creatures” who “crawl on the earth” and “slither on the earth.”
The blessing was presented by Dr. Carlos Gonzales, an associate professor at the University of Arizona College of Medicine.
…
“It’s basically a way of acknowledging God’s Creation, and it’s a way of acknowledging by honoring those cardinal directions and what they have to say to us,” he added. “For example, the east is where the sun comes up in the morning, and as the sun comes up, it lights the path of the world, therefore the East is seen as having the power to guide us and to give us vision and to help us through as we walk on this earth.”It would be a mistake, however, to call the Native American beliefs he was expressing a religion, Gonzales said.
“It’s not truly a religion, it’s more of a way of appreciating spirituality,” Gonzales told CNSNews.com. “I’m Yaqui and Yaquis have been Roman Catholics since 1650. We were one of the first tribes in Mexico to actually peacefully absorb Catholicism; however we have always practiced Catholicism in our own unique manner, incorporating traditional beliefs, and so I grew up as a Roman Catholic with a Yaqui variation.”
“In reality, I’m Catholic, but the spirituality I’ve come across with traditional healers is one of the most beautiful things I’ve seen, and it’s a way of approaching people and it’s an additional way of healing that has actually helped me to be a better family doc.”
First Obama gave us fake doctors, now he gives us a real doctor but a fake Shaman.
I don’t know what to think of all this other than its is incredibly stupid. But I suppose that anything is better, in the eyes of the White House, other than a direct acknowledgment of God.