Saturday

The Religion WAR (02-04)

Reading between the lines, thinking outside the box, and seeing the forest...
 
 
 
    The Rosary is "not some pious practice relegated to the past," Pope Benedict XVI remarked. In fact, he observed, "the Rosary is experience what is almost a new springtime. May evenings call up pleasant memories of evening appointments to pay homage to the Virgin Mary."
 
    Pope Benedict XVI met on May 5 with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams. This was the 2nd meeting between Pope Benedict and the head of the Anglican Communion.
    It came at a time when relations between the Catholic and Anglican communions are marked by serious tensions. Although ecumenical ties remain friendly, Vatican leaders have warned that the Anglican moves to ordain first women and then homosexuals as bishops are closing the door to the possibility of reunion between Rome and Canterbury.
 
    Benedict XVI is praising the Melkite Catholic Church for their work in establishing good relations with Islam. The Pope expressed this view today when he received some 300 members of the Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarchate, headed by Patriarch Gregorios III Laham. The group is on pilgrimage in Rome.
 
    This morning the Pope received His Holiness Karekin II Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians. He then met with the bishops in the patriarch's delegation who were from many diverse countries.
    At noon in the Clementine Hall, the Pope presided over the celebration of the Middle Hour, which was attended by Karekin II, the Armenian bishops, and a group of faithful apostolic Armenians from a number of countries in the East and West.
    After the Patriarch's greeting, the Pope addressed the assembly. Referring to tomorrow's solemnity of Pentecost, he affirmed that, on this day, "we will pray in a particular way for the unity of the Church. (...) If our hearts and minds are open to the Spirit of communion, God can work miracles again in the Church, restoring the bonds of unity."
 
    The Armenian Apostolic Church separated from Rome after the Council of Chalcedon in 451, over controversy arising from the council's adoption of the Christological terminology of 2 natures in 1 person.
    However, most now agree that the controversy arose over semantics, not doctrine. It has since taken steps toward unity, notably thanks to a 1996 declaration signed by Pope John Paul II and Patriarch Karekin I on the nature of Jesus.
 
Meretrix Meretricis!...
    The Vatican's official Web site launched an edition in the Church's official language -- Latin.
 
    The director of Catholic.net said the Web site is hoping to help bring about the new Pentecost that Benedict XVI prayed for during his trip to the US. It is designed to promote interaction and apostolic synergy among Catholics worldwide, through information sharing and online interactive tools.
 
Doméstico enemigo...
    Benedict XVI expressed his hope in the contribution that Latin Americans can make to the new evangelization, particularly Latinos living in the US. He said that he felt "a strong presence of the Latin American Church in the United States."
 
     He may not have been thinking about it at the time, but Pope Benedict, in the course of his recent US visit may have dealt a knockout blow to the liberal American Catholicism that has challenged Rome since the early 1960s.
    The liberal rebellion in American Catholicism has dogged Benedict and his predecessors since the Second Vatican Council of 1962-65. "Vatican II," which overhauled much of Catholic teaching and ritual, had a revolutionary impact on the Church as a whole.
 
Pagan godess worshippers...
    Proclaiming Mary as the Spiritual Mother of All Humanity would benefit ecumenical and interreligious dialogue because it would help non-Catholics to understand many things about the Mother of God, says Cardinal Toppo.
    The archbishop of Ranchi and former president of the episcopal conference of India is 1 of the 5 cardinal co-sponsors of the 2005 International Symposium on Marian Co-redemption, held in Fatima, who are asking Benedict XVI to declare a 5th Marian dogma.
    The petition urges the Pope to proclaim Mary "the Spiritual Mother of All Humanity, the co-redemptrix with Jesus the redeemer, mediatrix of all graces with Jesus the one mediator, and advocate with Jesus Christ on behalf of the human race."
    [WAR: Mary was not the Mother of God, she was the mother of Yahshua.]
 
 
 
    A judge in Malaysia ruled on Monday that a Catholic newspaper's lawsuit that seeks to secure the right to use the word "Allah" may proceed, the AP reports. In addition to revoking the prohibition, the newspaper also wants the court to rule that the word "Allah" is not for the exclusive use of Muslims.
    The Herald has argued that "Allah" is an Arabic word that predates Islam and has been used for centuries to mean "God" in the Malay language. The government says the word refers only to the Muslim God and its use by non-Muslims might confuse Muslim believers.
 
 
 
    Iranian clerics have told President Ahmadinejad to stick to more worldly issues after he said the "hidden imam" of Shiite Islam was directing the country's affairs.
    Ahmadinejad has always been a devotee of the Mahdi, the 12th imam of Shiite Islam, who Shiites believe disappeared more than 1,000 years ago and who will return one day to usher in a new era of peace and harmony.
    But in a speech to theology students broadcast by state television on Monday, he went further than ever before in emphasising his belief that the Mahdi is playing a critical role in Iran's day-to-day politics.
    "The Imam Mahdi is in charge of the world and we see his hand directing all the affairs of the country. We must solve Iran's internal problems as quickly as possible. Time is lacking. A movement has started for us to occupy ourselves with our global responsibilities, which are arriving with great speed."
 
 
 
Good!...
    Britain's ancient laws of blasphemy have been abolished by MPs. A campaign to repeal the offences of blasphemy and blasphemous libel, which made it illegal to insult Christianity, was proposed in January.
 
    Conservative Christian leaders who believe the word "evangelical" has lost its religious meaning plan to release a starkly self-critical document saying the movement has become too political and has diminished the Gospel through its approach to the culture wars.
    The statement, called "An Evangelical Manifesto," condemns Christians on the right and left for "using faith" to express political views without regard to the truth of the Bible, according to a draft of the document obtained last Friday by the AP.
    "That way faith loses its independence, Christians become `useful idiots' for one political party or another, and the Christian faith becomes an ideology."
 
    Pastor John Hagee gleefully anticipates the death of hundreds of millions of people in a series of wars preparing the world for the second coming of Christ: "The end of the world is rapidly approaching . . . Rejoice and be exceeding glad."
    Worse, Hagee wants to jump start what he sees as the inevitable battle between Israel and the US and an alliance of the Islamic states and Russia: "The United States must join Israel in a preemptive military strike against Iran to fulfill God's plan for both Israel and the West."
    Hagee's bizarre interpretation of the Bible sees war with Iran as a "biblically prophesized End Time confrontation . . . which will lead to the Rapture, Tribulation and the Second Coming."
 
    If the hypocrisy whipped up over Jeremiah Wright proves anything, it's that this nation's candid conversation on race has yet to begin. Are we really to believe that neither McCain nor his camp knew anything then about John Hagee's views?
 
    In this excerpt from his new book, Matt Taibbi shares his experiences at a Hagee's boot camp for new converts.
 
 
 
    The Christian's attitude toward the state, its leaders, its military, its wars, its imperialism, and its interventionism should be a no-brainer: contempt, disdain, disgust, revulsion, abhorrence, repugnance, loathing – take your pick.
    Yet, among Christians one continues to find some of the greatest apologists for the state, its leaders, its institutions, and its evil doings. Biblical Christianity is becoming eclipsed by state and leader worship.
 
    Human beings have a natural tendency to gravitate toward the levers of power and those who operate them. Perhaps it starts as babies, when we are so powerless and dependent upon those around us.
    Why we gravitate toward power probably says more about us than it does about those in power. In fact, a variety of reasons probably exist within each of us.
 
    The slogans of political Islam remain highly resonant, whether as a programme for peaceful governance or an inspiration to wage war. Two new books explain why.
    In each of these books, there is at least one lacuna. Having made the fair point that scholarship and modern political Islam don't easily mix, Feldman should have said something about Yusuf al-Qaradawi, the hugely influential and telegenic sheikh based in Qatar who seems to straddle both those worlds quite happily.
    Juergensmeyer distinguishes between the effects of secular nationalism and transnational religion, but he says little about religious nationalism, the opportunistic but effective combination of these 2 supposed opposites.
    As any thieving Balkan warlord knows, decent people often kill in the name of a half-forgotten national cause and for a religion in which they hardly believe. Using both tricks at once is especially effective.
 
    I am an agnostic when it comes to explaining the origin of life. I don't believe yet in evolution, creationism or intelligent design. I can see flaws in all three. I just simply don't know and frankly don't think it matters whether we know or not.
    My main conflict with the evolutionists is that they wish to assert their theory as fact and to employ government power to ban discussion of creationism and intelligent design on the grounds that they are unscientific or, worse from their point of view, religious. Just remember that facts are scarcer than theories, speculation, assumptions and guesses.
 
    Russian physiologist Leonid Kitaev-Smyk has stated that most male diseases are caused by women who adhere to provocative clothes and behaviour. As a result, the Western civilization gradually turns into the society of sexually unsatisfied men and eventually unsuccessful and physically unhealthy men, the scientist considers.
    In the street men cannot satisfy all desires they have. They see naked parts of the body – miniskirts and transparent tops. The modern fashion gives rise to male lust. So there is much lust, but little satisfaction. Thus, women dig a grave for men's health with their bare legs and low-cut dresses.
 
 
 

posted by The Daily Warrior | 11:11 AM