Hungarian and Italian Scientologists Deliver Vital Aid to Croatian Families Devastated by Last Month’s Earthquake

Freezing temperatures add to the challenges facing victims of the 6.4 magnitude Croatia earthquake. Volunteer Ministers bring cooking and heating equipment along with other aid.

Two bright yellow vans rolled into Croatia last week. On the side of each van was the motto of the Scientology Volunteer Minister, “Something can be done about it,” one van bearing these words in Italian and the other in Hungarian.   Hungarian and Italian Scientology Volunteer Ministers carried out a joint project to bring needed aid to the victims of the 29 December 2020 6.4 magnitude earthquake in Croatia. 

One group of volunteers set off from Budapest, 410 km northeast of the region. The others came from Padova, 470 km to the west. Both vans were filled with supplies for families in and around Glina, one of the towns hardest hit by the 6.4 magnitude earthquake and some 700 aftershocks. 

This part of Croatia was already at risk before the earthquake blasted the region. It never fully recovered from the war that wracked the country in the early 1990s. And the prime minister has called for an investigation into why the earthquake caused so much damage even to buildings constructed after the conflict. But whatever the cause, the result is that local families are at risk as the winter deepens and temperatures plummet. The 6.4 magnitude earthquake and 700 aftershocks have created tremendous damage. 

Both vans were filled with urgently needed supplies. From Padova came furniture for an earthquake-damaged school. “And knowing that many homes were without power for heating and cooking,” said one of the Hungarian Volunteer Ministers, “we brought generators, heating equipment, portable stoves and convection ovens” and tools for shoring up or reconstructing damaged buildings.

“What struck me most was the red X on the walls of so many houses,” the volunteer said. “The mark signifies life-threatening damage to the homes.”

The Church of Scientology Volunteer Ministers program is a religious social service created in the mid-1970s by Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard. It constitutes one of the world’s largest independent relief forces.

A Volunteer Minister’s mandate is to be “a person who helps his fellow man on a volunteer basis by restoring purpose, truth and spiritual values to the lives of others.” Their creed: “A Volunteer Minister does not shut his eyes to the pain, evil and injustice of existence. Rather, he is trained to handle these things and help others achieve relief from them and new personal strength as well.”

On this episode of Feudal Future, hosts Joel Kotkin and Marshall Toplansky are joined by Rev. John L. McCullough, President Emeritus of Church World Service. CWS is a global ecumenical organization specializing in Development and Humanitarian Assistance, Immigration and Refugee Services, Justice and Human Rights. Headquartered in NYC with primary offices in: Bangkok, Belgrade, Buenos Aires, Elkhart (IN), Hanoi, Islamabad, Jakarta, Miami, Nairobi, Phnom Phen, Vientiane, Washington, D.C. CWS is also branded as CROP Hunger Walks, and is a major sponsor of the Ecumenical Advocacy Days. Mission Statement: Church World Service works with partners to eradicate hunger and poverty and to promote peace and justice around the world.

[4:00] Marshall opens up the discussion asking Rev. John what the impact of covid has had on faith-based organizations

[6:45] Joel and Rev. John discuss how developing countries respond to crises without relying on the government

[22:15] Marshall and Rev. John dive into the effect COVID is having on refugees and resettlement across the world

[32:00] Rev. John ends the episode with how religion will reinvent itself through this pandemic

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Related:

Learn more about the Feudal Future podcast.

Learn more about Marshall Toplansky.

Learn more about Joel Kotkin.

Learn about CWS.

Join the Beyond Feudalism Facebook group.

Read the Beyond Feudalism report.
Learn about Joel’s book, The Coming of Neo-Feudalism.

CNA Staff, Feb 1, 2021 / 07:01 pm MT (CNA).- A group of conservative scholars released a letter Sunday highlighting what they consider the most important goods for society that people of good will ought to work to conserve, citing a need for a “new consensus” among those who consider themselves conservative.

“Conservatives might disagree on many things, but disagreement is not something to avoid; in fact, a real and productive disagreement is an accomplishment,” the Jan. 31 letter from a group of scholars working with the Witherspoon Institute, a non-profit organization focused on moral reasoning in a free society, reads.

“Among conservatives, there is fragmentation and confusion. Some of this follows from the convolutions and intense debates about the last administration, but it goes beyond President Trump, revealing the fragility of the coalitions that defined the right during the Cold War and its aftermath.”

“A new consensus is needed, and we invite others to work with us toward shaping it…If we can establish the conversation partners of a post-Trump conservative coalition, then we can begin the hard work of engaging the most serious questions that face us.”

The scholars identify several “elements of our common life…central to human flourishing” that they believe ought to be focused on in public discourse. 

Under the umbrella of “marriage and life,” the scholars identified same-sex marriage, gender ideology, abortion, pornography, contraception, and social isolation as some of the most pressing problems to be addressed.

The letter comes against a backdrop of several planned or enacted agenda items from the Joe Biden administration that are at odds with a Catholic view of human sexuality.

In one of his first acts in office, Biden on Jan. 21 signed an executive order to interpret sex discrimination in federal law to include sexual orientation and gender identity. On Jan. 28, Biden issued a presidential memorandum repealing the Mexico City Policy, allowing the U.S. to again fund international pro-abortion groups through family planning funding and global health assistance.

“How can we counter technology’s worst effects on our souls while preserving the freedom of expression that makes meaningful discourse possible? How will we help young people to see the emptiness of endless consumption—of both people and things—and its insufficiency as a source of joy?” the authors wrote.

“How can we help our fellow citizens overcome the fear of commitment and suffering and recover the belief that self-giving love is worth the cost?”

“However necessary the defense of religious freedom, such freedom in itself is insufficient for the promotion and flourishing of religion, particularly at a moment when religion in America is in decline in both adherents and substance,” it said.

“Too few religious leaders and intellectuals seem prepared to provide and teach thick, meaningful religious truths in a publicly accessible and winsome way. Like so much in our moment, contemporary religion appears trapped in decadence. How can we revive and restore it?”

In terms of education, the scholars identified school choice, local control, parental rights, and quality of education as some pivotal topics.

The authors noted that “Conservatism should be governed by a sense of the primacy of the person,” and that “no law or policy or institution destructive of the human person can be just.”

“Race, equity, justice before the law, fair business practices, unions, the dignity of workers, just compensation, civil rights, taxation, respect for the contributions of women, sexual identity—these are not topics to ignore or deride. The first task is to understand. Then, from the stance of understanding and compassion, we must clearly articulate the true conditions of human well–being, working through law, civil society, family, and individual action to bring about those conditions as we are able.”