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PDF versionA Benedictine for president?
by Maureen Fiedler on Aug. 31, 2011
"I would invest half of our defense budget in children, young people and in energy conservation.
The New York Times' Sunday opinion pages had a unique contribution this week from a Benedictine prioress. She was one of 12 people not normally engaged in politics who were asked what they would do if they were actually president of the United States.
She is Sr. Mary David Walgenbach, OSB, Prioress of the Holy Wisdom Monastery in Middleton, Wis. She said:
I would expand the Peace Corps and AmeriCorps and grow both for the next 10 years. A benefit would be two years of free college for two years of service. I'd ask corporations to fund two years of college or a trade school for young women and men from homes stricken with poverty.
I would fund energy-saving improvements -- insulation of houses, solar panels and replacement of inefficient furnaces for households making less than $30,000 a year and develop a sliding scale for those earning more than $30,000 a year. I would help small businesses retrofit their buildings.
I would require members of Congress to participate in a weeklong workshop on dialogue, negotiation and compromise before the next session. All sessions would begin with 10 minutes of silence."
What I love most of all is that "10 minutes of silence" for members of Congress! It's a great start for a presidential platform.
To read more, and also others' contributions, click here.
I love this!
I love this!
The monastic vocation is a
The monastic vocation is a noble one but I think this prioress does not know what she is talking about in terms of money. The people on the outside of the monastic walls, the people who have to make a buck in order to survive, are the ones who should be in the office where the buck stops!
believe me, paulie, any
believe me, paulie, any prioress has enormous financial responsibilities, usually more responsibly husbanded than many a bishop, such as Braxton, and is very well aware of every penny in order to keep her sisters and numerous guests alive and happy.
she is the BEST person to husband our nations moral and financial resources
starting with killing the military
The prioress of any monastery
The prioress of any monastery certainly knows what she is talking about when it comes to money. Look at how the founding sisters at the then Priory of Regina Laudis (yeah, cute movie, Come to the Stable, thanks Clare, but nothing to do with the bitter reality) and where they now are.
In fact, the most excellent choice for president of these United States, and the most penny wise, that we can possibly receive is the Reverend Sister Joan CHittister OSB, former President of US Benedictine Prioresses.
Thank God she's not our
Thank God she's not our president. Why doesn't she run on her platform and see what people think of her candidacy? Otherwise, she should stick to her fantasies.
Hers are mine, except stop
Hers are mine, except stop short. Give ALL of the military's moneys to the widows and orphans, as Saint James the Great writes that religion pure and simple is helping widows and orphans in their distress.
Let the military hold a fudge brownie sale and see who's buying.
sounds good, BUT where are
sounds good, BUT where are you going to get the money for all of this. Were already in tremendous debt and social security is in danger.
I guess the NCR does have a
I guess the NCR does have a sense of humor after all.
dude, disband the military
dude, disband the military and all of its hydra agencies entirely
then we could really fund some real good Gospel stuff
and that ten minutes of silence in Congress?
make it ten hours
please
I think she was pretty clear
I think she was pretty clear on where she would get the money.... by cutting the defense budge in half.... Just sayin'! ;)
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