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01/05/2005
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Due to the holidays, our next issue will be published on Tuesday, January 11.
Our staff wishes everyone a jolly Christmas and a new year abundant with
happiness and tranquility.
1) Armenian American Campaign Contributions Hit All-time High
2) ARS Campaigns for Tsunami Victims
3) Western Prelacy Steps up Fundraising Drive for Tsunami Victims
4) Glendale, Pasadena, and Montebello ARS Continue Circle of Giving
5) For a Life-Centered Spirituality: A dialogue with the youth
6) TABDC?
1) Armenian American Campaign Contributions Hit All-time High
–ANCA study reveals well over $5 million in donations to federal candidates
and committees during 2004 elections
WASHINGTON, DC–Armenian American campaign contributions hit a record high
this election cycle, with more than $3.9 million in documented donations
and an
estimated $5 million in total campaign contributions to federal level
candidates and committees, according to a study released today by the Armenian
National Committee of America (ANCA).
“These findings confirm what we see across the country every day: the steady
growth of Armenian American involvement in the American political process–as
campaign contributors, policy advocates, party activists, and informed
voters,”
said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. “Even more than in years past,
the
depth and scope of Armenian American campaign contributions this election
cycle
reflect our community’s broad reach across the political spectrum.”
Among the findings in the ANCA study of higher-level (over $200) campaign
donations by Armenian Americans with common Armenian surnames:
Federal candidates/committees: $3,942,106 (4754 donations)
Republican candidates/committees: $1,506,706 (1548 donations)
George W. Bush: $347,105 (350)
Republican National Committee: $429,746 (209)
Nat’l Republican Congressional Committee: $139,699 (277)
Nat’l Republican Senatorial Committee: $23,740 (26)
Democratic candidates/committees: $1,396,833 (1585 donations)
John Kerry: $336,578 (395)
John Edwards: $55,350 (59)
Howard Dean: $31,495 (71)
Wesley Clark: $17,500 (22)
Dick Gephardt: $15,500 (18)
Democratic Nat’l Committee: $121,718 (84)
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee: $61,402 (14)
Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee: $40,857 (25)
Among the Members of Congress who received the highest levels of campaign
contributions from Armenian Americans were Armenian Caucus Co-Chairs Rep.
Frank
Pallone (D-NJ) and Rep. Joe Knollenberg (R-MI), Senate Majority Whip Mitch
McConnell (R-KY), “Schiff Amendment” author Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), and
Genocide Resolution lead sponsor Rep. George Radanovich (R-CA).
Terms of the ANCA study:
The ANCA examined public records of contributions by donors with common
Armenian surnames in Federal Election Commission filings for the first seven
quarterly reporting periods of the 2004 election cycle.
Left out of the study, for technical reasons, were two important categories:
1) Armenian American donors who do not have common Armenian last names and 2)
Armenian American donors whose contributions to a particular federal candidate
or committee did not aggregate to $200 during the 2004 election cycle. This
latter category covers a large number of smaller-dollar donors, including many
who contributed via the internet. While it is not possible to compile totals
for these two categories, they can safely be estimated, based on past Armenian
American giving patterns and overall US political campaign demographics, at
over two million dollars. Contributions to state and local candidates or
committees were not covered by this survey.
2) ARS Campaigns for Tsunami Victims
GLENDALE–In response to the devastating Tsunami in Southeast Asia, the
Armenian Relief Society of Western USA (ARS-WR) has called on its communities
to donate generously to a special ARS Tsunami Fund.
“How can we as Armenians not remember the generosity of the world community
when the entire world opened their hearts and gave tremendous support
following
the 1988 Spitak earthquake that took the lives of thousands?” asked Angela
Savoian, Chair, ARS-WR Regional Executive. “In turn, we must do our part in
helping the victims of this overwhelming disaster that has left millions in
parts of Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, Malaysia, and the Maldives in
such dire straits.”
The Boston-based ARS Central Executive has already made a contribution to the
American Red Cross and has appealed to its entities in 24 countries to
mobilize
their membership and communities to also provide assistance.
ARS-WR chair Angela Savoian launched the start of the fundraising campaign
for
the tsunami victims, at the ARS-WR regional membership Christmas party on
January 4; following her announcement, members, who had gathered from chapters
across the Southland from San Diego to the San Fernando Valley, observed a
moment of silence for the 160,000 victims of the tragedy.
During a day-long fundraising campaign on January 15, volunteers will be
stationed at ARS-WR headquarters, located at 517 W. Glenoaks, Glendale, CA
91202-2812, to accept monetary donations for the ARS Tsunami Fund; local
dignitaries and the press are invited to visit the center at 3:00 p.m.
Donations may also be mailed directly to the ARS-WR, to the above address. All
donations are tax-deductible.
3) Western Prelacy Steps up Fundraising Drive for Tsunami Victims
Faithful urged to give generously during upcoming holiday services
LA CRESCENTA–The Armenian Prelacy’s fundraising efforts for the victims
devastated by last week’s Tsunami in Southeast Asia will continue throughout
all Prelacy parish churches in the Western United States. Prelate Archbishop
Moushegh Mardirossian launched the fundraising drive last week with a special
prayer during services, and collection drive, both last Sunday and on
Christmas
Eve.
The drive at churches will continue during Christmas Day services on January
6, through Sunday, January 9.
4) Glendale, Pasadena, and Montebello ARS Continue Circle of Giving
GLENDALE–Armenian Relief Society (ARS) members say the ARS takes with one
hand, but gives out with both. The ARS of Western US accomplished that this
holiday season as it received and generously donated gifts to the needy, once
again, bringing joy to children during the Christmas season.
“The Social Services offices and our entire membership and staff work
so hard to benefit and serve our people locally and abroad,” said Angela
Savoian, Chair of the ARS Regional Executive Board. She added, “We are humbled
by the generosity of our donors who allow us to fulfill our
commitments.”
During the week of December 20,
the
ARS Social Services Center in Montebello handed out baskets to needy clients
from surrounding communities. Then, on January 4, the ARS Social Services
Center in Glendale gave gifts to needy children from surrounding cities of
Glendale, Burbank, and Pasadena. In a festive atmosphere at the ARS Glendale
headquarters, nearly a hundred children sang and recited poetry for Santa, as
he handed gifts to them one by
one.
Among the donators were Vahan and Anoush
Chamlian Armenian School in Glendale; HyeRiders, a motorcycle club; Alpha
Epsilon Omega, an Armenian fraternity; the Arcadia Police Department; and the
Armenian Social Work Caucus of Cal State Los Angeles School of Social Work.
The
Commerce Casino, a giving and regular donor to ARS projects, donated one
thousand dollars to provide Christmas gifts to the needy. The gifts also
included sweaters donated through the efforts of Congressman Adam Schiff’s
(D-CA 29th District) district office.
Cong.
Schiff arranged for the donation of sweaters from Pasadena resident Sam C. Y.
Ip, President and CEO of TOP-In Fashion, to the ARS and eight other non-profit
organizations. On December 14, ARS Regional Executive member and Pasadena
resident, Maral Nashalian-Arsenian met Cong. Schiff and his staff at the
warehouse, where the donated clothing was being distributed to the agencies.
Nashalian remarked, “We wholeheartedly thank Congressman Schiff for his
continued support and for facilitating the donation of the very much needed
630
sweaters for distribution to needy families here and
abroad.”
Pasadena was once again the place
to be
for a toy ride and coin drive for the ARS organized by the HyeRiders. The
donors were motorcycle riders, Armenian and non-Armenian, who came to the
Pasadena Armenian Center on December 18, with toys and donations in hand. ARS
Executive Accountant-Controller, Jassik Jarahian, provided support to AREV, a
young women’s group who organized the coin drive, while ARS Regional
Executives
were on hand to provide information about on-going ARS programs within the
Western Region and in
Armenia.
The Alpha Epsilon Omega, a fraternity
whose top priority is academic achievement, delivered gifts to the ARS
headquarters in Glendale during the last week of December for distribution
here
and
abroad.
The ARS helps the needy year round.
When
ARS members arrive in a remote village in Armenia or Artsakh bearing gifts, an
ordinary summer day turns into a holiday for the villagers, especially for the
children. The ARS Regional Executive expresses sincere gratitude to all who
have provided financial and moral support throughout the year for any one of
the ARS projects or funds. The circle of giving continues “from your heart, to
our heart, to the hearts of those we serve.”
5) For a Life-Centered Spirituality: A dialogue with the youth
We lived the last days of 2004 confronting an unprecedented disaster caused by
nature. This tragedy comes to add to the burden human beings and,
particularly,
youth are facing as a result of man-made tragedies, like wars, violence,
poverty, unemployment, and a sense of meaninglessness and uncertainty. These
are times when people question, pray, and yearn for spirituality.
Indeed, spirituality is a frequently and widely used word today, a word
employed in different contexts and with different connotations. In Christian
life, spirituality means being with God.
Being with God? Is this not the very meaning and purpose of Christian
life? Is
this not the way a Christian should live his or her life? God became man in
Jesus of Nazareth in order to be with us. The evangelist describes Jesus
Christ
as Emmanuel, which means God with us. In fact, in Christ, God became a man
with
us, like us, and for us in order to restore His fallen image in human beings.
Through the incarnation, by becoming man, God recovered the authentic humanity
in the human beings. In Christ, God became the true life of the world.
Christian spirituality invites us to acknowledge Christ in word and deed as
the
center of our life. Christian spirituality challenges us to follow Jesus
Christ
as the only way of our life.
Christian spirituality is life-centered. It is rooted in Christ. The
Christ-event is the recreation of life. Hence, whoever is in Christ, he or she
is endowed with a new quality of life, with the “abundant life,” the “eternal
life” (John 1: 16).
What are the significant features of a life-centered spirituality?
1. It values life as God’s gift. The existence of life on this planet is
not a
sheer accident. For centuries, the human mind has failed to understand the
origin of life. The Bible clearly affirms that God is the creator of life in
all its forms and expressions.
2. It perceives life as God centered. Being the gift of God, life must be
lived as a God-centered reality. A human-centered life is the rejection of
God;
and a life without God is a source of evil.
3. It considers the values and principles revealed through Christ as the
purpose of human life. The human being is called to live his life for the
promotion of love, justice, peace, unity, reconciliation, and other values of
the Kingdom of God.
4. It upholds life as a sacred reality. The sacredness of life pertains to
its
very nature since life comes from God and is owned by God. Therefore, any
attempt aimed at corrupting the sacredness of life and undermining its
integrity and dignity is a sin against God. As Christians, life-centered
spirituality must guide our life in a world full of life-destroying forces. In
this context I want to draw your attention to the following:
a) Globalization, in all its aspects, manifestations, and implications has
become integral to our daily life. Our individual and community life are
strongly impacted by the values and forces of globalization. This means
that we
must discern those values that enhance life, and challenge those forces of
globalization that destroy identity, morality, and community.
b) Violence, in different forms and ways, has become omnipresent in our
societies. It touches all aspects and areas of our life. Violence is the
negation of God’s gift of life. The Christian way is active nonviolence.
Life-centered spirituality rejects any way of life or form of action that
generates violence.
c) Pluralism has become an important feature of modern societies. People of
different religions, races, and cultures are living together. I consider this
living together both as a gift of God and a task. In this small globe we are
bound to live together, and therefore, must learn to respect our differences
and accept and trust each other. We must live as one community, preserving at
the same time our own religious, cultural, and human values and traditions.
Life-centered spirituality challenges the Christian to turn to God whoever,
whatever, or wherever he or she is. The world in which we live is full of life
destroying forces. Some of these forces are due to ecological disorder, and
others to moral and spiritual disorder, namely to human sin.
Millions of people lose their life each year because of AIDS pandemic;
millions of children die because of poverty; millions of people are killed
each
year due to natural disasters. We are all shocked watching on our TV screens
the horrible images of people, men and women, children and elderly, dying in
Africa because of genocide, AIDS and mal-nutrition; or in Sri Lanka, India,
Indonesia and Bangkok because of the Tsunami disaster.
The human beings, who are endowed by God’s gift of life, are destroying
everyday and everywhere, the life itself in its human and ecological
manifestations. Life, as a supreme gift of God, must be respected, preserved,
and enhanced. This is basic in our Christian faith.
It is my expectation that our youth will sustain and enrich their lives by
the
spirituality that is rooted in the Bible, and experienced and witnessed for
centuries by the church. The world of today offers many kinds of
“spiritualities” with attractive names. Our youth are called to neglect the
kind of false “spiritualities” that cause moral decay, endanger identity, and
destroy community. Our youth must reject the kinds of “spiritualities” that
abuse religious principles and promote violence and death.
The Armenian Church, with its rich spiritual heritage and moral teachings,
can
offer a life-centered spirituality to our youth as they prepare themselves to
become the future leaders of our church and people.
On the eve of the New Year and Christmas, I wanted to share these few
reflections with our youth. This is not a formal message but the beginning
of a
frank dialogue with our youth because it is of crucial importance for the
future of our church and nation. Therefore, I would like to continue this
dialogue by addressing, from time to time, issues, challenges and concerns
pertaining to the present day societies in general, and the Armenian Church
and
community, in particular.
Prayerfully,
Aram I
Catholicos of Cilicia
6) TABDC?
By Garen Yegparian
You’re wondering, “What’s tabdik?” Well, I refuse to get vulgar, but it would
have been appropriate, ’cause it’s an outfit that could be described as
TARC-lite.
The Turkish-Armenian Business Development Council’s says it was organized in
1997 and posts protocols signed by both parties. It has addresses/contact
information in the EU and the US, (recently incorporated as Turkish-Armenian
Business Council) in addition to Armenia and Turkey.
Reading the documents posted on their website, it becomes clear that those
involved are of the type who can’t see beyond their commercial noses.
Everything is about trade. They are our own microcosm of the pell-mell
globalizers wreaking havoc with people’s lives world-wide. The whole thing
reeks of the “world is our commercial toy” mentality emanating from DC. One of
their big concerns is opening the Armenia-Turkey border, one of those
seems-like-a-great-idea-until-you-think proposals. This would decimate what
little productive capacity Armenia has been able to develop under a flood of
inexpensive Turkish goods. But hey, it’s commerce, therefore it must be good!
They even claim to advocate passage of the Baku-Jeyhan pipeline through
Armenia.
TABDC’s activity report reads like a stereotypical money-grubbing,
to-hell-with-the-consequences merchant’s wet dream. So? Why is this such a big
deal? How this any different from our Armenian importers and grocers
supporting
the Turkish economy?
Cultural exchanges seem to dominate the visual portions of this outfit’s
website. Sure, you might think, if we appreciate one another on that level,
other aspects of Armeno-Turkish relations will be easier. Their photo gallery
posts shots, in the following order, of founders themselves, a Richard
Hagopian
and Lalezar concert (reported in Armenian papers at the time), the Ankara
String Quartet in Yerevan, the Komitas Quartet in Ankara, the Regional
Economic
Working Group, and TABDC-EU. Note this last one.
The Diaspora is also mentioned as a participant. But TABDC’s presence in the
EU and US under that guise is very telling. Couple that with the remark
“politics is stifling…possibilities.” Then add the fact of the website’s being
marked all over with “Copyright 2003.” Finally, the New Year’s congratulatory
e-mail sent to “TABDC Mail Group Members,” a list that somehow included the
Burbank ANC, is what triggered this article.
Why, after being in existence for six-seven years, does this website get
created? Why the e-mail? Why the sudden burst of activity? Could something be
going on? If I were a suspicious type, I might think it was because of
Turkey’s
activity on the European stage and the progress it’s making there. Clearly
they
want to subdue, subsume, any discussion of the Genocide. What better way than
to claim to promote trade and amity between two “historic enemies?” Show
pictures of a bunch of smiling Turks and Turmens (you know, those folk who
carry an “ian” on their surname but are frequently indistinguishable from the
highest functionaries of the Turkish government).
Still don’t buy it? TABDC supports “the efforts of TARC.” How about Edward
Boghosian’s presence on this website? This unsavory editor’s (The Armenian
Reporter) interview with Abdullah Gul (Turkey’s Foreign Minister) is one of
the
items listed in TABDC’s list of relevant news items. In that interview, he
describes how he got the interviewthrough the good offices of his “friend,” NY
dwelling Kaan Soyak, who, now hold your breath, is the Turkish half of the
TABDC’s founding duo. The other is one Arsen Ghazarian.
Intriguing? Suspicious? I think so. Let’s add this to the slime list of US
Department of State instigated outfits.
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From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress