Real Clear Religion

WHAT'S SO GREAT ABOUT CHRISTIANITY?

gen@realclearreligion.com — 2007-11-28T18:30:04-08:00

Here is an interesting interview with Catholic Dinesh D'Souza about the reported growth of atheism and the common falacies which are spread by atheists about Christianity. D'Souza's recent book, What's So Great About Christianity is intended to counter the flurry of pro-atheist books that are now on the market. I have heard that it is an incredible defense of the faith. It is currently on the N.Y. Times bestseller list.

AWAITING THE POPE'S RESPONSE TO THE LETTER FROM 138 MUSLIMS

gen@realclearreligion.com — 2007-11-27T08:42:12-08:00

Chiesa recently published a very interesting article by Sandro Magister entitled Why Benedict XVI Is So Cautious with the Letter of the 138 Muslims. Although there has not yet been a formal response from Pope Benedict to the letter, there have indeed been responses by Christian groups. One such response which was authored and signed by 300 scholars who were mostly Protestant is summed up by Magister: "The message lavishes praise upon the letter of the 138. It endorses the letter's contents, or the indication of the love of God and neighbor as the "common word" between Muslims and Christians, at the center of both the Qur'an and the Bible. And it prefaces everything with a request for forgiveness to "the All-Merciful One and the Muslim community around the world." "This is the reason given for the request for forgiveness: "Since Jesus Christ says: 'First take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor's eye' (Matthew 7:5), we want to begin by acknowledging that in the past (e.g. in the Crusades) and in the present (e.g. in excesses of the 'war on terror') many Christians have been guilty of sinning against our Muslim neighbor." Pathetic--if this is the best response Christians can muster --civilization is truly on the brink. But thank God the world still awaits the Pope's response with the hope that it will be a dialogue based upon truth and dogma, and not upon feelings and self-loathing false charity. But what kind of dialogue with Islam does Benedict XVI want? Magister does a very good job of analyzing what we can expect from the Pope based upon previous statements. As an indicator Magister points to an address to the Roman curia, on December 22, 2006 where the pope explained: "We Christians feel in solidarity with all those who, precisely on the basis of their religious conviction as Muslims, work to oppose violence and for the synergy between faith and reason, between religion and freedom." Of course that is not to say that there necessarily exists practicing muslims that fit the Pope's description--since Islamic dogma does not acknowledge the synergy between faith and reason and between religion and freedom. This may explain some of the Pope's caution and delay. Magister states that Pope Benedict's vision is the same as that which the authorities of the Holy See have demonstrated each time they speak on these topics such as... "...[the]message addressed to the Muslims last October, on the occasion of the end of Ramadan, from the pontifical council for interreligious dialogue, headed by cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran... has at its center "freedom of faith and its exercise," as a task for all the religions, in keeping with the "plan of the Creator." Magister states that even before this- in January of 2004 the pope in a conversation with the secular philosopher Jürgen Habermas conceived of dialogue with Islam and the other religions in Munich... "On that occasion, Ratzinger said that a universally valid "natural law" is far from being recognized today by all cultures and civilizations, which are divided from each other and also divided on this issue within themselves. But he indicated the way in which "the essential norms and values known or intuited by all human beings" may be illuminated and "keep the world united." The way is that of a positive bond between reason and faith, which are "called to reciprocal purification" from the pathologies that expose both of these to domination by violence." But Magister believes that the lecture in Regensburg on the need for "synergy between faith and reason" is the most fully elaborated foundation of Benedict's vision. With the violent reaction from the Islamic world to the Regensburg speech I am certain the pope is carefully arming himself with the truth for the long and treacherous journey of dialogue with Islam.

BRTISH TEACHER ARRESTED & FACES 40 LASHES FOR NAMING TEDDY BEAR MOHAMED

gen@realclearreligion.com — 2007-11-26T10:51:34-08:00

From Dailymail: A British teacher is facing 40 lashes from a Sharia court in Sudan where she has been accused of insulting Islam by naming a teddy bear Mohamed. Gillian Gibbons, 54, was being interrogated at a police station in the capital Khartoum today. She had been working at one of the city's exclusive British schools for the past three months since giving up her job in Liverpool. Twenty out of 23 pupils voted for Mohamed, which is also the name of one of the most popular boys in the class. Mrs Gibbons had wanted to call the bear Faris but was overruled by the children, said a teacher who asked not to be named. Children were asked to take the teddy home each weekend and keep a diary of his activities, writing entries in a book called: "My Name is Mohamed." The bear itself was not marked or labelled with the name in any way. Sudanese police have now seized the book and even want to interview the seven-year-old girl who first brought the teddy to school. One pupil said: "She's a lovely teacher, and I don't think she deserves any of this because the students are the one who chose the name, not her. "The teddy bear is not a symbol of anything bad and I'm sure that she did not mean any harm. I hope she's okay and we should all pray that Allah helps her." A news item on the Sudanese Media Centre website - closely associated with the Sudanese government - said Mrs Gibbons could be prosecuted under "Faith and Religions" laws.

THE FRUIT OF THE REFORMATION--ATHEISM

gen@realclearreligion.com — 2007-11-24T19:27:11-08:00

The town of Wittenberg Germany where Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of the Castle Church has undergone enormous changes including what some may call the curse of atheism. From chicagotribune: "The wooden doors of Castle Church were long ago replaced by ones made of bronze, but what comes as a far greater disappointment to Protestant pilgrims, especially those from America, is that only about 15 percent of Wittenberg's inhabitants identify themselves as Christian. "Most of the others proudly celebrate their atheism. "We knew that Christianity had taken a hit during communist times, but to come here, to the land of Luther, and to find so many people outside the church, yes, it was a surprise," admitted Stephen Godsall-Myers, a Lutheran pastor from Pennsylvania. "The situation is even starker when the pilgrims make their way to the town of Eisleben, Luther's birthplace. There, only 8 percent of the population calls itself Christian. "What theologians and academics describe as the de-Christianization of Europe began more than a century ago, but in eastern Germany the process was greatly accelerated under the communist rule of the former German Democratic Republic." Yes, Germany suffered through the devastation of communism--but this cannot account for the domination and speed with which atheism has spread in the historical heart of the Reformation and throughout the entire continent. What Germany suffers from is de-Christianization brought on by the Reformation. It is indeed the Reformation itself that has led to the devastation of faith and the growth of atheism throughout the West. It is also the Reformation that has led to the massive loss of common sense and healthy fear of the potential Islamization of the whole of Europe. When Martin Luther stood against the authority of the Catholic Church he stood against Christianity as a viable concept for unbelieving modern man. He stood as a brand new mini-pope that would inaugurate all the atheistic mini-popes. Instead of standing with Christ he stood with all the authors of heresies including Mohammed, himself. Luther ushered in the one concept that plagues modern man's mind and prevents his attainment of truth in all its glory--relativism. When the authority of the Church was denied--protesting Christianity became relativistic. Man became the creator and author of his own version of "truth". Every pastor became free to interpret what he saw as God's final word on any given moral issue. And when a disagreement inevitably occurred another denomination was born. Thanks to the Reformation the atheist citizenry of Wittenberg no longer have a "visible" Christianity to return to. To the unbeliever the landscape of religion on the whole let alone Christianity, is fraught with confusion due to division and splintering. This is why Islam is viewed by so many in the de-Christianized West as simply another religion which is no better than Christianity-- rather than a dangerous and destructive heresy that threatens our civilization. Additionally, the rise of militant atheism that dismisses all Christians as "nuts" is a natural outgrowth of the confusion bought about by the Reformation. The very idea of one Church possessing the truth and being ordained by God as His Church is not only absolutely foreign, but is repugnant to the modern mind. And with the dismissal of authority in Christianity came the dismissal of the entire concept of absolute truth. The division and damage done not only to souls but also to Western Civilization by splintered and perpetually dividing Christianity is untold. We need Catholic missionaries to restore the concept of truth to our world. God in his mercy has restored the liturgy to the Catholic Church--which I and so many others believe has the potential to restore the world to Christ.

ITALY TO GIVE TAX CREDITS TO 20 & 30 YEAR-OLDS TO ENCOURAGE THEM TO LEAVE PARENT'S HOME & RAISE BIRTH RATES

gen@realclearreligion.com — 2007-11-22T09:37:19-08:00

“Above all the grace and the gifts that Christ gives to his beloved is that of overcoming self.” St Francis of Assisi Italy--the land with one of the most graying populations in the world--is attempting to kick its 30-somethings out of their parent's homes in order to boost the birth rate. With nearly two-thirds of 30-34 year olds still living at home it seems the country could use a modern day St Francis to rescue it from apostasy and contraceptive driven suicidal sex. "We want the bamboccioni to move out," Finance Minister Tommaso Padoa Schioppa recently said, using a term that evokes grown babies still attached to mamma's apron strings." "Now Italy's center-left government is proposing a ¤999 ($1,431) yearly tax credit on rents for people ages 20 to 30, hoping that will encourage young adults to start living on their own and start a family. But experts say the measure, though encouraging, is not enough to undo cultural and economic factors keeping young men and women at home." "The problem," says Alessandro Rosina, who teaches demography at Catholic University in Milan, "is not just that Italy's birthrate of 1.3 is one of the lowest in Europe, but that is has been stable at that level for too long." "Young Italians have found a new formula for la dolce vita," writes journalist Beppe Severgnini on his popular blog, "Italians."" Why would the average Italian 30 year-old leave the nest for a life of sacrifice and committment to one person? It certainly will not happen due to tax credits. Going from momma's apron strings to the government's does not transform boys into men and girls into women. Rather it is only through a return to the Faith and ultimately God's grace that will make man who has been accustomed to living for self, and self alone, awaken to the dire demographic predicament that a once Catholic nation now finds itself in. Nothing on earth --including secularism and socialism -- can match the tranformative powers that Christianity has on men and even nations. Thus only a return to the Faith will prompt the young Italians to take on the role of men and women and fathers and mothers. Excerpts taken from Christian Science Monitor.

MORE ATTACKS ON PRIESTS

gen@realclearreligion.com — 2007-11-21T08:27:37-08:00

At what point is Western Culture considered officially dead? We have hate crime laws to protect openly proud sinners--but there is no such protection for priests or religious who are attacked --further evidence of the failure of atheistic secularism to dispense justice and equity. All things holy and sacred have become a target for ridicule or attack. We have robberies being committed in pews, sex pranks in sanctuaries and leftist invasions into churches during mass. But take heart: "...fear ye not them that kill the body, and are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him that can destroy both soul and body in hell". From BBC: Attacks on priests are "a symptom of a fundamental shift towards a culture of violence and aggression", a spokesman for the Catholic Church has said. Fr Tim Bartlett was speaking after three priests were robbed in two separate incidents at the weekend. Two priests were robbed at knifepoint in Cookstown on Monday and a third priest was robbed in west Belfast. First Minister Ian Paisley condemned the robberies and called for swift action to bring the thieves to justice. Fr Bartlett, secretary to the Church's Commission on Social Affairs, said: "Priests, by their nature and vocation, are prehaps perceived to be more likely to be trusting, rather than concerned about their own security. "Sometimes this can make them more prey to such attacks." Priests are generally encouraged to keep their security under review but he said there was no move to change the policy of keeping churches open, as places of prayer and spiritual refuge. Fr Bartlett said there had been a general increase in such attacks, but it would be wrong to exaggerate it. Mr Paisley said: "I hope that quick action will be taken to bring those, who brought about these acts, to the law and that they will pay the price for their breaking of the law," he said. In Cookstown, two men broke a window in the house at Convent Road where the two priests lived at 0245 GMT on Monday. They ransacked downstairs and woke one of the curates, threatening him with a knife before taking cash and a car. Father Liam McKinney was sleeping when the thieves woke him. "My bedroom door burst open. There were two young men in their early 20s. They demanded money, a knife was produced and I was led down to the other priest's bedroom," he said. "In many ways, you are trying to watch the knife. You don't know what is going through your mind. It is a mixture of fear and adrenaline. It was an experience that I hope never to have to repeat." The thieves took £400 and one of the men's car. One of the priests managed to break away from the robbers and raise the alert. The priests have strengthened their security following the robbery. In west Belfast, a priest was returning to St John's Presbytery at the weekend, when the thieves took money from a charity collection. In September, another priest was assaulted during a burglary at a parochial house in County Down. The priest, believed to be retired, was asleep upstairs in the house at Drumnaconagher Road, Crossgar, when he was awoken by an intruder who pushed him to the ground. He suffered a cut to the head. The intruder then fled. A number of rooms had been ransacked and money was stolen.

THE FAILURE OF THE SECULARIZATION AND MUNDANIZATION OF THE LITURGY

gen@realclearreligion.com — 2007-11-20T13:49:02-08:00

buy unique gifts at Zazzle ...Excerpts from Una Voce by Prof. Mattei's Fontgombault: "The Mass, which is the sacred action par excellence, has always been regulated by a rite, which is to say, its ordo, according to the words of Saint Augustine: "totum agendi ordinem, quem universa per orbem servat Ecclesia." With the liturgical reform, the essence of the Sacrament which remains valid and retains its efficacy, did not change, but, according to the expression of Cardinal Ratzinger, a new rite was "fabricated" ex novo. ...It can be defined as the whole of the formulas and practical norms which must be observed in order to accomplish a specific liturgical function, even if the term sometimes has a broader meaning and designates a family of rites (Roman, Greek, Ambrosian). ..."In theory, the Novus Ordo of Paul VI established a collection of norms and prayers which regulated the celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in place of the ancient Roman rite; in fact, the liturgical praxis revealed that one found oneself with a new protean rite. ...It consists equally in the will to conceive the altar as a "table," in order to underline the aspect of the banquet in place of the sacrifice; in the celebratio versus populum, substituted for versus Deum, with, as a consequence, the abandonment of the celebration toward the East, which is to say toward Christ symbolized by the rising sun; in the absence of silence and of recollection during the ceremony and in the theatricality of the celebration accompanied often by songs which tend to desacralize a Mass in which the priest is often reduced to the role of "president of the assembly"; in the hypertrophy of the liturgy of the Word in comparison to the Eucharistic liturgy; in the "sign" of peace which replaces the genuflections of the priest and the faithful, as a symbolic action of the passage in the liturgical action from the vertical dimension to the horizontal; in Holy Communion received by the faithful standing and in the hand; in the access of women to the altar; in concelebration, tending to the "collectivization" of the rite.... The elimination in particular of the words Mysterium Fidei from the Eucharistic formula, can be considered, as Cardinal Stickler observed, as a symbol of the demythification and so the humanization of the central core of Holy Mass. "The main theme of these innovations can be expressed in the thesis according to which if we want to render faith in Christ accessible to the man of today, we must live and present this faith to the interior of contemporary thinking and mentality. The traditional liturgy, by its incapacity to adapt itself to the contemporary mentality, distances man from God and renders itself guilty of the loss of God in our society. The reform proposed to adapt the Rite, break down the essence of the Sacrament, in order to permit the Christian community this "participation in the sacred" which cannot be grasped through the traditional liturgy. ..."The phrase 'active participation,' apparently so modest, complete and conscious, is an indication of an unlooked-for background," observes Fr. Angelus Häussling, in stressing the connection between the participatio actuosa of the liturgical reform and that which, in the school of Karl Rahner, has been called the "anthropological turn" (anthropologische Wende) of theology. "It does not seem excessive to affirm that the participatio actuosa of the community appears to be the ultimate criterion of the liturgical reform from the perspective of a radical secularization of the liturgy. Such a secularization consists of the extinction of the Sacrifice, the sacred action par excellence, which will be replaced by the profane action of the community that glories in itself, or, according to the words of Urs von Balthasar, aims to respond to the praise of the Grace of God with a "counter-glory" purely human. "It is not truly the priest, in persona Christi, that is to say God Himself, who acts, but the community of the faithful, in persona hominis, in order to represent the exigencies of this modern world which a disciple of Rahner defines "as holy and sanctified in its profane state, that is to say holy under the form of anonymity." Opposed to a "divine, sacred, and plurisecular Word" which has as a consequence "a liturgy regarded as sacred and separated from life," is a Word of God which "is not pure revelation, but also action: it realizes that which it manifests"; it is "the absolute self-realization of the Church." "The distinction, proposed by Rahner, between the "secularization" which must be positively admitted as an inevitable phenomenon, and the anti-Christian "secularism," which would only be a form deviating from secularization, is captious. In fact, the word secularization, while having a number of different senses, is commonly understood to be the same as secularism, as an irreversible process of "mundanization" of a reality which is progressively liberated from all its transcendent and metaphysical aspects. "This secularization presents itself in fact not only as a de facto acceptance of the continuing secularization of the present-day world, but also as the idea of a process that is irreversible, and, insofar as it is irreversible, true. This secularization is "true" because the truth is in every way immanent in history; the sacred is "false" because of its illusion of transcending history and of affirming a qualitative distinction between the faith and the world, between transcendent and transcendental.... This philosophy of history is founded on the myth, proper to illuminism, of the world become "adult" which must liberate itself from the values of the past, recovering from the childhood of humanity, in order to attain to a level of life entirely rational.... This maturity has been carried to its ultimate coherence by Gramscian Marxism, which represented the development in the twentieth century of the philosophy of the Enlightenment and secularism's point of arrival as radical immanentism.... The latter represented for Catholic progressivism the first philosophy that had succeeded in transporting its criterion of truth into praxis and which, in the success of this praxis, seemed to demonstrate the truth of its thought. "The affinity between the theological vision of Tyrrell, founded on the primacy of lex orandi over lex credendi, and the concept of the "self-realization" of the Church in the pastoral and in the liturgy of Karl Rahner, has been remarked. However, the authorities of the first modernism were developed by progressive theology from within the perspective of thought which is no longer simply positivist but Marxist, a perspective of thought that puts the finishing touches to a process judged necessary, which sinks its roots into the philosophy of the Enlightenment and into Protestantism, and further still, into the intellectual movement that put an end to medieval society. ...The liturgical reform presents itself then as the Word of the new theology which takes flesh, that is to say praxis, in "self-realizing" the Church by the new secularized liturgy. ..."As we have been able to observe, the problem goes well beyond the liturgy itself: it touches upon all of the decisions concerning the relations between the Church and modern civilization; it refers to the necessity of a theology of history. Above all it cannot be resolved in abstract fashion but must take into account what has occurred in the Church in the course of these last thirty years.... But then the truth which results from this praxis has not been a rapprochement between the Church and the world but on the contrary an extraneous thing ever enlarging between the Church and the world, and which attained its current dimensions in the crisis of faith since admitted to by everyone. ...In subordinating itself to this cultural project, the new progressivist theology proposes the "deconstruction" of all that it has "fabricated" in the course of these last thirty years, beginning with the liturgical reform that it now considers constructed according to an abstract and "bureaucratic" model. ...When adoration of the Divine Trinity disappears, when in the liturgy of the Church the faith does not manifest itself in its fullness, when the words, thoughts, intentions of man stifle it, then the Faith will have lost its place of expression and its domicile. ..."In line with these considerations, one can deduce practical conclusions which I will permit myself to set forth in the spirit of love for the Church and the Truth. "1) From the point of view of Catholics faithful to the Tradition, priests and lay persons, the solution of the whole problem, in the short term must be sought, in my opinion, within two "invariables": on the one hand it is necessary that the "traditional" faithful recognize, not only in theory but also in all its practical consequences, the fullness of the jurisdiction which belongs to legitimate ecclesiastical authority. On the other hand it is clear that ecclesiastical authority cannot legitimately demand that priests and faithful do positively whatever it might be that goes against their own conscience. ..."2) In regarding things, not from the point of view of Catholics faithful to the Tradition, but sub specie Ecclesiae, it seems to me that the only way ecclesiastical authorities can reasonably go in the meantime, is that indicated by the formula "reform of the reform."... But if it is true, as the traditionalists themselves maintain, that the liturgical reform succeeded in carrying out a true "Revolution," at the very moment it affirmed its continuity with Tradition, how can we deny to a reform of a contrary spirit, the possibility of arriving, even gradually, at a return to Tradition? On the other hand it must be clear that the "reform of the reform" would not make any sense if it "offered," or better, imposed on "traditionalists," the demand that they abandon a rite to which, in conscience, they do not want to renounce; it makes sense, on the contrary, if it is proposed to the universal Church in order to rectify, at least in part, the current liturgical deviations. ...In a phase that some would consider too long but which, in reality, is only urgent, for it admits of no shortcuts, it is necessary to renew with a theological, ecclesiological and social vision, founded on the sacred dimension, that is to say on a project of resacralization, a society diametrically opposed to it in its project of secularization and of de-Christianization, of which we suffer the dramatic consequences.... Action on the plane of lex orandi will have to parallel action on the plane of lex credendi in order to reconquer the fundamental principles of Catholic theology, beginning with a theologically exact conception of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. ...However, the new forms of the sacred, whether it be New Age religiosity, or that of Islam prospering in the West, eliminate the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ and with it the idea that man can be saved solely by the gratuitous Love of God, by His Sacrifice, and that to such a gift, man must respond by also embracing the Cross of redemption.... Sacrifice supposes a mortification of the intelligence which must bend itself to the Truth, on a line exactly contrary to that of the self-glorification of the human thought that characterizes the last centuries. "But how are we to imagine a reconquest of the idea of sacrifice, which is at the heart of the Catholic vision of history and of society, without this idea being lived? ..."To the principle of hedonism and self-celebration of the "I" which constitutes the core of the plurisecular revolutionary process that attacks our society, it is necessary to oppose the lived principle of sacrifice. A Catholic reconquest of society is impossible without a spirit of penitence and of sacrifice, and without this reconquest of Christian principles and institutions, it is difficult to imagine a return to the authentic liturgy and to its heart: the adoration due to the one true God. ...It may be for that reason that at Fatima the Holy Virgin indicates the road of penitence as the only one by which the contemporary world can be saved.

POPE GETS RADICAL IN ORDER TO BEGIN THE CATHOLIC REFORMATION

gen@realclearreligion.com — 2007-11-15T20:38:27-08:00

Here is a very interesting article from the Times Online about Pope Benedict and his ambitious commitment to reform and liberation of the Latin liturgy. This, despite attempts from many bishops including those in England and Wales to halt the reform. It seems his pontificate is having a tremendous impact on many break-away groups including the conservative Traditional Anglican Communion. "Two and a half years after the name "Josephum" came booming down from the balcony of St Peter's, making liberal Catholics weep with rage, Pope Benedict XVI is revealing his programme of reform. And it is breathtakingly ambitious. The 80-year-old Pontiff is planning a purification of the Roman liturgy in which decades of trendy innovations will be swept away. This recovery of the sacred is intended to draw Catholics closer to the Orthodox and ultimately to heal the 1,000 year Great Schism. But it is also designed to attract vast numbers of conservative Anglicans, who will be offered the protection of the Holy Father if they covert en masse. The liberal cardinals don't like the sound of it at all. Ever since the shock of Benedict's election, they have been waiting for him to show his hand. Now that he has, the resistance has begun in earnest - and the Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, is in the thick of it. "Pope Benedict is isolated," I was told when I visited Rome last week. "So many people, even in the Vatican, oppose him, and he feels the strain immensely." Yet he is ploughing ahead. He reminds me of another conservative revolutionary, Margaret Thatcher, who waited a couple of years before taking on the Cabinet "wets" sabotaging her reforms. Benedict's pontificate moved into a new phase on July 7, with the publication of his apostolic letter Summorum Pontificum. With a stroke of his pen, the Pope restored the traditional Latin Mass - in effect banned for 40 years - to parity with the modern liturgy. Shortly afterwards, he replaced Archbishop Piero Marini, the papal Master of Ceremonies who turned many of John Paul II's Masses into politically correct carnivals. Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor was most displeased. Last week, he hit back with a "commentary" on Summorum Pontificum. According to Murphy-O'Connor, the ruling leaves the power of local bishops untouched. In fact, it removes the bishops' power to block the ancient liturgy. In other words, the cardinal - who tried to stop Benedict issuing the ruling - is misrepresenting its contents. Alas, he is not alone: dozens of bishops in Britain, Europe and America have tried the same trick. Murphy-O'Connor's "commentary" was modelled on equally dire "guidelines" written by Bishop Arthur Roche of Leeds with the apparent purpose of discouraging the faithful from exercising their new rights. A few years ago the ploy might have worked. But news travels fast in the traditionalist blogosphere, and these tactics have been brought to the attention of papal advisers. This month, Archbishop Malcolm Ranjith, a senior Vatican official close to Benedict, declared that "bishops and even cardinals" who misrepresented Summorum Pontificum were "in rebellion against the Pope". Ranjith is tipped to become the next Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship, in charge of regulating worldwide liturgy. That makes sense: if Benedict is moving into a higher gear, then he needs street fighters in high office. He may also have to reform an entire department, the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, which spends most of its time promoting the sort of ecumenical waffle that Benedict abhors. This is a sensitive moment. Last month, the bishops of the Traditional Anglican Communion, a network of 400,000 breakaway Anglo-Catholics based mainly in America and the Commonwealth, wrote to Rome asking for "full, corporate, sacramental union". Their letter was drafted with the help of the Vatican. Benedict is overseeing the negotiations. Unlike John Paul II, he admires the Anglo-Catholic tradition. He is thinking of making special pastoral arrangements for Anglican converts walking away from the car wreck of the Anglican Communion. This would mean that they could worship together, free from bullying by local bishops who dislike the newcomers' conservatism and would rather "dialogue" with Anglicans than receive them into the Church. The liberation of the Latin liturgy, the rapprochement with Eastern Orthodoxy, the absorption of former Anglicans - all these ambitions reflect Benedict's conviction that the Catholic Church must rediscover the liturgical treasure of Christian history to perform its most important task: worshipping God. This conviction is shared by growing numbers of young Catholics, but not by the church politicians who have dominated the hierarchies of Europe for too long. By failing to welcome the latest papal initiatives - or even to display any interest in them, beyond the narrow question of how their power is affected - the bishops of England and Wales have confirmed Benedict's low opinion of them. Now he should replace them. If the Catholic reformation is to start anywhere, it might as well be here."

THE WAR ON THE CATHOLIC CONSCIENCE--PORTUGUESE GOVERNMENT ISSUES ULTAMATUM TO DOCTORS WHO REFUSE TO PERFORM ABORTIONS

gen@realclearreligion.com — 2007-11-15T14:50:39-08:00

The war against the Catholic conscience continues. Every person is free to believe what they choose as long as it is not Catholic dogma. Any and all non-Christians from sodomites to atheists are free to put their beliefs into action and even involve themselves in politics. But Catholics must either magically detach themselves from their consciences or stay out of politics altogether. With the onslaught of totalitarian secularism the list of careers from which Catholics are banned, or should be banned is growing every day. Pharmacy, foster care, politics and the judiciary are fast becoming taboo for Catholics who truly live their Faith and follow their Church. And in Portugal the government has given doctors who refuse to comply with their new abortion laws an ultimatum: From Rueters: LISBON, Nov 15 (Reuters) - Portuguese doctors have rejected a government ultimatum to remove an ethical ban on performing abortions after this deeply Catholic country approved the practice in July. "Pedro Nunes, the head of Portugal's Medical Association, said doctors had every right to object morally to an abortion, which is stated to be wrong in the association's ethical code, despite government threats to take him to court. "Having an opinion and ethical principles is what separates rational beings from a flock of sheep," Nunes said on Thursday. The ethical code states doctors must respect human life from its beginning and the practice of abortion constitutes a grave ethical failure. "This has nothing to do with abortion. It has to do with doctors having the right to have their own opinion," Pedro Nunes, who represents around 35,000 doctors, told reporters. "The health minister threatened to take us to court if we did not change our code ... but the code can only be changed by doctors and not by a health minister." "Health Minister Antonio Correia de Campos, a socialist, recently said the Medical Association's code conflicts with the new abortion law that allows women in Portugal to have an abortion during the first 10 weeks of pregnancy. "The law came into force in July after 60 percent of voters in a referendum approved the practice, bringing Portugal closer into line with most European nations. "The Health Ministry recently said 2,404 legal abortions had been performed between July and October 19, mostly through medication pills." "Nunes said doctors had every right to ask themselves whether a human life begins upon conception or only after a series of weeks inside a woman's body. "If a doctor firmly believes that a human life begins upon conception he shouldn't perform abortions," said Nunes. Doctors who work in Portugal's state-owned hospitals can claim their conscience forbids them to carry out an abortion or refer the woman to a different doctor. "Nunes did not say how many doctors had declined to carry out abortions since the ban was lifted."

THE DIABOLICAL MEDIA

gen@realclearreligion.com — 2007-11-14T21:29:15-08:00

"For there is more than one way of sacrificing to the fallen angels" St Augustine There is no question that the television has contributed to the demise of Western Civilization. Fr. John Hardon, S.J. used to say that the media was engaged in a Luciferian conspiracy against the truth. But the media not only detests truth it also assaults us with the promotion and glorification of evil. So much of our complacency and apathy toward sin today stems from voluntarily drinking in the poison that flows from the secular liberal media.

CATHOLIC BISHOPS ORDERED TO REMOVE CRUCIFIXES AT JERUSALEM'S WESTERN WALL & SHARING A CATHOLIC CHURCH WITH MUSLIMS

gen@realclearreligion.com — 2007-11-13T21:55:34-08:00

Austrian officials say their nation's 13 Roman Catholic bishops were barred from praying at Jerusalem's Western Wall when they refused to take off their crosses. For more CNS. Now there is a Catholic Church that turns into a mosque. Such a sad site to see those who have personally lost their faith--facilitating and compromising with a religion that is wholly intolerant of Christians and doing so in the name of "religious dialogue".

POPE BENEDICT --THE MOST INDISPENSIBLE MAN OF OUR TIMES & THE CHURCH-- THE MOST INDISPENSIBLE INSTITUTION OF OUR TIMES

gen@realclearreligion.com — 2007-11-11T13:52:28-08:00

A book entitled, Twentieth-Century Catholic Theologians by Fergus Kerr is receiving quite a bit of attention. It was recently reviewed by Spengler of the Asia Times and was also previously reviewed at First Things in May. What I find most interesting is not the book itself but how growing numbers of those who are not Catholic-but who understand the grave threat that radical Islam poses to the West --have begun to look to the Church for answers--and are indeed finding that truth does indeed rest with her. It seems the growth and spread of Islam and its quest for domination could potentially bring about just the opposite --a resurgence of Catholicism in the West. It would not be the first time that God has used the enemies of His people to chastise them and call them home. Anyway--Here is Spengler's view of the book but more importantly his view of the indispensible nature of Pope Benedict and the Catholic Church to the war on radical Islam: "To win a gunfight, first you have to bring a gun, and to win a religious war, you had better know something about religion...If we are in a fourth world war, as Norman Podhoretz proclaims, it is a religious war. The West is not fighting individual criminals, as the left insists; it is not fighting a Soviet-style state, as the Iraqi disaster makes clear; nor is it fighting a political movement. It is fighting a religion, specifically a religion that arose in enraged reaction to the West. "None of the political leaders of the West, and few of the West's opinion leaders, comprehend this. We are left with the anomaly that the only effective leader of the West is a man wholly averse to war, a pope who took his name from the Benedict who interceded for peace during World War I. Benedict XVI, alone among the leaders of the Christian world, challenges Islam as a religion, as he did in his September 2006 Regensburg address. Who is Joseph Ratzinger, this decisive figure of our times, and what led the Catholic Church to elect him? Fr Kerr has opened the coulisses of Catholic debate such that outsiders can understand the changes in Church thinking that made possible Benedict's papacy. Because Benedict is the leader not only of the Catholics but - by default - of the West, all concerned with the West's future should read his book." "The pope has no strategic agenda apart from reconciliation and peacemaking. His work is to shepherd souls, not soldiers. But Benedict is the first pope in the past century to draw a bright line between Islam on one hand and Judeo-Christian revealed religion on the other, and that may destine him "not to send peace, but a sword", like his predecessor. This makes Benedict the most indispensable man of our times, and the Catholic Church, the founding institution of the West, its still-indispensable institution...." Could this be the beginning of the return to the Church. Pope Benedict has become the leader of the Western world by default in the battle against Islam. Not only that -- his church is the only voice that stands against artificial contraception which has led us to the point where Islam poses a grave danger to the survival of the West... "Radical Islam threatens the West only because secular Europe, including the sad remnants of the former Soviet Union, is so desiccated by secular anomie that it no longer cares enough about its future to produce children. Muslims may form a majority in Russia by mid-century, and may dominate Western Europe 100 years hence. Without the demographic decay associated with the decline of religion, radical Islam would be a minor annoyance to the West rather than a deadly adversary. "I have ridiculed Washington's search for a "moderate Islam" and its efforts to "democratize" the Muslim world. One cannot simply teach political systems, or as Immanuel Kant put it, devise a constitution for devils, if only they be rational. More than mere rationality is at stake. " "The Church has produced a few great leaders, but it is desperately short of sandals on the ground. Where is the monastic order that will fight the spiritual battles of the Church as the Dominicans did in the 12th century, the Jesuits in the 16th, and the Benedictines in the 19th? Where are the missionaries who will preach Christianity to Muslims? Perhaps they are being trained now in secret Protestant seminaries in China, but not by the Catholic Church. "For the time being, the West has only one public figure to enunciate its fundamental character and interests, and that is Pope Benedict XVI. Fergus Kerr has done a service in making him more comprehensible to the broad public. Kerr's book has been criticized by specialists over matters beyond the scope of this review, and beyond my competence to assess (see, for example, R R Reno's review in First Things, May 2007). For the requirements of lay readers, though, it is a godsend. Alan Bloom in The Closing of the American Mind claimed that the semi-educated American undergraduate is the intellectual slave of some German philosopher. The truth is even more disconcerting: the "American mind", such as it is, runs in tight little circles around issues that the theologians of the Catholic Church have debated for centuries."

SAUDI KING AND HIS GIFT FOR THE POPE

gen@realclearreligion.com — 2007-11-09T12:32:28-08:00

We all heard how the King of Saudi Arabia visited the pope this past week and that the Pope expressed his grief over the discrimination of Christian minorities in Muslim lands. But what most of us do not know is that the two exchanged gifts--Pope Benedict XVI gave the Saudi monarch an old painting of the Vatican while the king's gift to the pontiff was a sword. From newyorksun.com: "As a gift from from a leading Islamic fundamentalist nation, a sword is about as clear a symbol of intolerance as there can be; and indeed, swords are used for public decapitations in Saudi Arabia on Fridays. The U.S. State Department's yearly human rights report cites Saudi Arabia for bigotry toward non-Muslims, including "harassment, abuse, and even killings at the hands of the Muttawa (religious police)." "The newspaper L'Osservatore Romano said the Vatican hoped the meeting with the Saudi king would produce a frank dialogue on Christian worship — in Saudi kingdom and in the wider Arab world, where Christians' basic rights to practice their religion have been curtailed by Islamist terror of the same brand preached and practiced in Saudi Arabia. The pope pleaded for equal treatment for Christians as is granted to millions of Muslims in the West. "Abdullah, for his part, insisted on a joint statement that supports a just solution for the Middle East crisis — which is Morse code for Saudi Arabia's desire to see a Hamas-style Islamic state take over Israel. The Saudis also asked for a resumption of the Muslim-Christian dialogue that this pope ended as he came to office, noting that the discussion had turned into a monologue on Islam's supremacy." "In short, nothing happened in what was billed as the first encounter of the head of the Catholic church and the leader of an Islamic fundamentalist nation. "...Paradoxically, even as the king made his push for more love inside the Vatican, his creed prohibits diplomatic relations with the Holy See. A Vatican embassy in Saudi Arabia cannot be allowed, as it would raise a cross. Expatriate Christians are not even allowed to wear one, hold a private church service in their homes, or retain bibles, all of which are confiscated at the border. "Clearly, Benedict consented to pseudo-dialogue to soothe millions of moderate Muslims angered by his 2006 prescient remarks linking Islam to violence. In reality, it is far more incumbent upon those moderates to stand up to their fundamentalist preachers and Islamist radicals and the flood of Saudi money funding both. Abdullah had visited the Vatican twice before, as crown prince and deputy prime minister. The next time he returns, it might be best to leave the sword behind.

QUEBEC --LONGING FOR ITS CATHOLIC ROOTS?

gen@realclearreligion.com — 2007-11-08T14:57:29-08:00

Take time to watch this music video--pay close attention to the lyrics. The song was voted song of the year by the Quebec public. From globeandmail.com: "The song – whose title is a play on words that evokes both history and decline – was originally rejected by radio stations when it was released in 2004. Programmers thought its preachy tone praising great-great-grandfathers for clearing the land, and dissing their descendants for selling it off to become civil servants, would not fly with listeners. They thought the song's glorification of great-great-grandmothers with 14 kids, and its contempt for young women who today cover up their “stupidities” by getting an abortion, was definitely not Top 40 material. "Its lyrics sparked living-room discussions and newspaper editorials, all of which became even more salient when the debate over the “reasonable accommodation” of religious minorities by Quebec's lapsed-Catholic majority broke out. Within weeks, the whole province was thrust into the cauldron of identity politics, as Quebeckers grappled with what it means to be Québécois in an era of increasing religious and ethnic diversity." As one social commentator put it: "It simply speaks to a prevailing sense among many young Quebeckers that their society has lost its bearings and that one way to get them back is re-embrace what it has always meant to be a Québécois in the first place: their language, families and memory. There is so far scant evidence that this desire to “re-root” is driving young Quebeckers back into the pews. Nor are they marrying in the church in greater numbers. Indeed, Quebec leads the nation, and the world, in common-law unions. But that does not mean young Quebeckers are willing to purge their society of its Catholic traditions, something that, next to sovereignty, was job one for many of their baby boomer parents. And parents have decried Ministry of Education plans to replace classes on church catechism with a course on world religions and ethics, beginning with the 2008-2009 school year. Quebec's public schools were deconfessionalized almost a decade ago, and catechism classes are no longer mandatory. Still, the vast majority of parents – thirty-somethings, for the most part – enroll their kids in such classes, even though they themselves rarely attend Sunday mass. Why? Because such classes serve not just to teach kids about Catholic doctrine; they are a way to teach them about Quebec's history and traditions. The Quiet Revolutionaries ...fought tooth and nail to get religion out of Quebec's public institutions and they don't want to go there again. But many, mostly younger, Quebeckers, those who never felt the church's claws, don't carry the same baggage toward something their own parents never showed or taught them: faith. Quebec is surely not on the cusp of some Catholic revival. But the success of Dégénérations...does suggest there is a longing among the post-Quiet Revolution generation to fill the vacuum that was left when their elders sent the priests a-packing. It's as if, on the eve of the 400th anniversary of Champlain's founding of Quebec, they want desperately to remember what their parents have spent a lifetime trying to forget. It's as if they were truer to the spirit of a famous line in Louis Hémon's classic 1913 novel Maria Chapdelaine: “In Quebec, nothing must die and nothing must change.” Let's hope and pray that this is an indication of what is to come in the West. Maybe the younger generations who have been neglected by their parents spiritually are lamenting the abandonment of Catholicism and the peace that comes from a "simple" life free from the tortures of living in mortal sin and in defiance of God's laws.

TO UNDERSTAND THE CALIPHATE IS TO UNDERSTAND THE NEXT MOVES OF RADICAL ISLAM

gen@realclearreligion.com — 2007-11-06T18:49:31-08:00

Here is a talk given by Robert Spencer of Jihad Watch about the next moves of Radical Islam.

ADULTERY AND DIVORCING THE BRIDE OF CHRIST

gen@realclearreligion.com — 2007-11-03T06:05:55-07:00

"If anyone saith that matrimony is not truly and properly one of the seven sacraments of the evangelic law, instituted by the Lord ; but that it has been invented by men in the Church; and that it does not confer grace; let him be an anathema." Council of Trent In man's search for religion and truth one would be wise to look for the religion that is a sign of contradiction in this world. (Luke 2:34) The Catholic Church today stands as the only religion that is a sign of contradiction since it is the only voice that consistently condemns all the world's favorite sins and takes the unpopular positions on the hot moral issues of the day. The vitriol that the enemies of Catholicism display is one of the greatest indicators that the Church is effective in its God given mission. Yet one by one protestant churches have acquiesced to the world's ways. One of the most obviously destructive issues that protestants have conceded on is the acceptance of casual divorce and adulterous remarriage. On this matter, protestant denominations have ceased to follow Jesus' express words about adulterous remarriage... "Whosoever shall put away his wife and marry another, committeth adultery against her. And if the wife shall put away her husband, and be married to another, she committeth adultery." Mark 10:11-12 How can so many Protestant Churches miss the sinfulness of adulterous remarriage? How can so many churches overlook the clear teaching of Jesus--and permit those who are living in adultery to also act as ministers and leaders of churches? These same churches are also ready and willing to welcome fallen away Catholics who are living in adultery into their churches--with the deception that they are saved--despite their ongoing mortal sin. It is truly a spiritual blindness that has overtaken those who call themselves followers of Christ. This blindness is the inevitable outcome of the protestant divorce from the the Bride of Christ--the Catholic Church. This divorce cut protestants off from the life of Christ because they have simultaneously rejected the Eucharist--which is Jesus. "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you." John 6:53 As Fr. John Hardon S.J. used to say: "protestantism is a graceless old testament Christianity". Without grace and the living life of Christ one fails to be a contradiction to the world but instead becomes one with it.

NEW ZEALAND STRUGGLES WITH A LOOMING DEMOGRAPHIC CRISIS

gen@realclearreligion.com — 2007-11-02T20:23:44-07:00

Like so many nations, New Zealand is putting tremendous resources into determining why young people are not having babies. At least in New Zealand they seem to have touched upon the obvious as the source of the problem In new book, entitled The New Zealand Family From 1840: A Demographic History, Janet Sceats and her husband of 45 years, Professor Ian Pool, argue society is failing both those would-be mothers and parents who feel guilty about the parenting compromises they were forced to make to maintain careers. "In many ways New Zealand has failed its families...Family policy instruments and the socio-economic environment, rather than coming to the aid of the family, may be exacerbating the situation and putting undue pressure on households." So they have rightly concluded that socialistic tools have not worked and have actually harmed families. Beyond that-- here is where the "genius" comes: "The prime facilitator of these changes has been the contraceptive pill. Apart from allowing couples to postpone childbearing, the pill also had an impact on marriage. Whereas fewer than 10 per cent of women born in the 1940s lived with a partner before age 25 without marrying, 60 per cent of those born in the 1960s did so. And where marriage had once been the "valve" that turned on childbearing, just living together was not." One never hears that the West's demographic crisis is caused by the contraceptive pill. Rather there is usually a diabolical blindness and/or avoidance of the real source of the problem. But the wisdom does not stop there... "Ironically, Sceats says, women have won "reproductive choice" in terms of the right not to have children - but now see the right to choose to have children slipping away from them. "Think about all the energy that went into enabling people to control fertility," she says. "Now we have some people who would actually like to have kids but will end up not having children, and we don't put so much energy into that."

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gen@realclearreligion.com — 2007-11-02T17:18:07-07:00

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BRITISH SCHOOL ORDERS STUDENTS AND TEACHERS TO DRESS LIKE MUSLIMS FOR A DAY

gen@realclearreligion.com — 2007-10-31T17:06:00-07:00

"It seems that whoever is not a relativist is someone who is intolerant. To think that one can understand the essential truth is already seen as something intolerant. However, in reality this exclusion of truth is a type of very grave intolerance and reduces essential things of human life to subjectivism. In this way, in essential things we no longer have a common view. Each one can and should decide as he can. So we lose the ethical foundations of our common life." Cardinal Ratzinger, 2002 FROM THE SUN: A school was yesterday accused of making teachers dress up as Asians for a day – to celebrate a Muslim festival. Kids at the 257-pupil primary have also been told to don ethnic garb even though most are Christians. The morning assembly will be open to all parents – but dads are BARRED from a women-only party in the afternoon because Muslim husbands object to wives mixing with other men. Just two members of staff – a part-time teacher and a teaching assistant – are Muslim. Yesterday a relative of one of the 39 others said: “Staff have got to go along with it – or let’s face it, they would be branded racist. “Who would put their job on the line? They have been told they have to embrace the day to show their diversity. But they are not all happy.” The day aims to belatedly mark Eid, the end of Ramadan. Sally Bloomer, head of Rufford primary school in Lye, West Midlands, insisted: “I have not heard of any complaints. “It’s all part of a diversity project to promote multi-culturalism.”

PAINTBALL JIHAD

gen@realclearreligion.com — 2007-10-31T10:40:13-07:00

"... the time will come when anyone who kills you will think that by doing this he is serving God. People will do these things to you because they have not known either the Father or me." John 16:2-3 If you have ever participated in paintball then you know how effective such training could be for jihad--and right in our own backyard. From NewsScotsman.com: U.K. An undercover police officer who went paintballing with a gang of suspected extremists was told it was preparation for jihad, a court heard yesterday. The agent described how up to 25 young men travelled from east London for a day of outdoor activities in Berkshire. But the officer told Woolwich Crown Court the alleged ringleader of the group, Mohammed Hamid, 50, quickly revealed the trip's true purpose. The man, known as Dawood, said: "He told us the training was in preparation for jihad." Five men are on trial accused of plotting to stage terrorist training camps at various UK locations. They deny the offences and the trial continues.

MASSIVE APPEAL TO LATIN TRADITION

gen@realclearreligion.com — 2007-10-28T22:05:44-07:00

Here is an interesting article on the growth of the Latin Mass. From the Washington Times: Roman Catholic churches nationwide are rushing to accommodate a surge in demand for the traditional Latin Mass, which is drawing a surprising new crowd: young people. Since July, when a decree from Pope Benedict XVI lifted decades-old restrictions on celebrating the Tridentine Mass, seven churches in the Washington metropolitan area have added the liturgy to their weekly Sunday schedules. "I love the Latin Mass," said Audrey Kunkel, 20, of Cincinnati. "It"s amazing to think that I"m attending the same Mass that has formed saints throughout the centuries." In contrast to the New Order Mass, which has been in use since the Second Vatican Council in 1969 and is typically celebrated in vernacular languages such as English, the Tridentine Mass is "contemplative, mysterious, sacred, transcendent, and [younger people are] drawn to it," said the Rev. Franklyn McAfee, pastor of St. John the Beloved in McLean. "Gregorian chant is the opposite of rap, and I believe this is a refreshing change for them." Susan Gibbs, the director of communications from the Archdiocese of Washington, said the attraction demonstrated by the young adults is "very interesting." Besides the liturgy"s rich historical content and spiritual significance, the younger generations show an interest in the old becoming new again, said Louis Tofari of the Society of St. Pius X, an order of clergy that opposed the reforms of the Second Vatican Council. "People who never grew up with the traditional Mass are finding it on their own and falling in love with it." The Tridentine Mass helps people in their 20s and 30s who have grown up in a culture that lacks stability and orthodoxy see something larger than themselves: the glory of God, said Geoffrey Coleman of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter"s Our Lady of Guadalupe seminary in Denton Neb. The Tridentine Mass "detaches me from the world and lifts my mind, heart and soul to heavenly things," said Michael Malain, 21, of Houston. Kirk Rich, 21, of Oberlin, Ohio, remembers the first time he attended a Tridentine Mass and recalls thinking that a new religion had been invented. "That"s certainly what it seems like when comparing the two forms of the Mass," Mr. Rich said. The biggest difference between the two forms is that the Tridentine Mass is always celebrated in Latin, except for the homily. The priest also leads the parishioners facing east, the traditional direction of prayer. The New Order Mass can be celebrated in Latin, but usually is not. There are also differences in some of the prayers, hymns and vestments. As a result, the overall feel of the Tridentine Mass is more solemn and serious. "The coffee social is after the traditional Latin Mass, not in the middle of it," said Kenneth Wolfe, 34, of Alexandria. "No one can say, with a straight face, that the post-Vatican II liturgy and sacraments are more beautiful than the ones used for hundreds and hundreds of years." Like the churchgoers now demanding the celebration of the Tridentine Mass, the priests learning the rite are usually younger as well. The Society of St. Pius X trains priests in the liturgy of the Tridentine Mass and has received as many as 25 requests a week for instruction since July. "The phone was ringing nonstop, and I was getting e-mail after e-mail,' Mr. Tofari said. "The response was absolutely incredible; most of the people who call are below the age of 30." The Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter has collaborated with Una Voce America to host workshops for clergy in Denton, Neb. Una Voce America, which promotes the celebration of the Tridentine Mass, usually teaches the rite to 12 students a session. But in September, it increased that number to 22 to meet the increased demand for training. Many priests think the changes approved by the pope will do more than bring young people into the church. They think the celebration of the Tridentine Mass will increase the faith of many followers. The Rev. Paul Scalia, 37, has been celebrating the Tridentine Mass at St. Rita Church in Alexandria. He said the increase in young attendance is evidence that the Mass is something living and life-giving. "The beauty is tremendous, as it draws us to God, who is beauty Himself," Father Scalia said.

MARTYRDOM IS A REALISTIC POSSIBILITY FOR EVERY CHRISTIAN- SAYS POPE

gen@realclearreligion.com — 2007-10-28T20:45:33-07:00

Father Hardon used to say that heaven was very, very expensive. Christianity is a hard road--but Christians do not hear this critical message today. "Come as you are" Christianity waters down the message of Christ to the point where true conversion is unnecessary. The time has come to cease the talk that the Christian walk is easy, and that heaven awaits all despite their works. The time has come to stop compromising Christ's message for the sake of human respect-- because in the end anything less than the truth is not persuasive. We must reveal the truth about the Christian life-- that it is a radical battle against self and the dominant culture in which martyrdom may be a real possibility. While we may not be asked to shed our blood, our witness may cost us dearly in sacrifice and suffering for love of Christ and His Church. Despite the many difficulties of true conversion and commitment we are not without His grace to see us through. At the recent beatification of 498 Spanish martyrs the Pope spoke of martyrdom as a real possibility for the followers of Christ. From Asia News: "The beatification of 498 martyrs from the Spanish Civil War and yesterday’s beatification of a Polish nun, Sister Celina Chludzińska Borzęcka, gave Benedict XVI to opportunity to touch upon a central tenet of the faith: martyrdom. Indeed martyrdom is a “realistic possibility” for every believer who lives his or her faith coherently. But in addition to the giving one’s life as a result of an act of violence there is also the “silent” gift in “everyday life” made by those who dedicate themselves to the poor, i.e. those who give an “important witness in the secularised societies of our times.” “The contemporaneous inclusion of such a large number of martyrs to the list of the Blessed,” said the Pope, “shows that the supreme witness of blood is not an exception reserved only to a few individuals, but is a realistic possibility for the entire Christian people. We are in fact talking about men and women who vary in terms of age, vocation and social background but who paid with their life their faithfulness to Christ and the Church. The words by Saint Paul that echo in this Sunday’s liturgy are fitting: “For I am already being poured out like a libation,” aid Timothy, “and the time of my departure is at hand. I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith (2 Tim, 4: 6-7).” “The month of October, which is dedicated in particular to the missionary action, thus ends on the luminous witness of the Spanish martyrs,” Benedict XVI stressed. “Their example bears witness to the fact that the Baptism commits Christians to participate with courage to expand the Kingdom of God, going as far as sacrificing their very lives. Not everyone is called to violent martyrdom,” the Pope added. But “there is also a bloodless ‘martyrdom,’ which is no less significant, like that of Celina Chludzińska Borzęcka, wife and mother, widow and nun who was beatified yesterday in Rome. She is the silent and heroic witness of so many Christians who live the Gospel without compromises, performing their duties, generously devoting themselves to serve the poor. Their everyday martyrdom is a very important witness in the secularised societies of our times. It is the peaceful battle of love that every Christian—like Paul—must indefatigably fight.” At the end, “the race to spread the Gospel commits us till death,” said the Pope.

DENIAL OF JESUS REQUIRED FOR PEACE WITH ISLAM

gen@realclearreligion.com — 2007-10-25T18:02:26-07:00

"Do you suppose that I came to grant peace on earth? I tell you, no, but rather division; for from now on five members in one household will be divided, three against two, and two against three..." Luke 12:51 "But he that shall deny me before men, I will also deny him before my Father who is in heaven." Matthew 10:33 The liberal media gushed at the so called "unprecedented letter of peace" from Islam to Christians. But to those who actually read it and understand the critical differences between Islam and Christianity-- the letter was at best a sham and more likely a threat to Christians. The letter began with the following damming preface which defined the terms of negotiation at the outset: "In the Holy Qur’an, God Most High enjoins Muslims to issue the following call to Christians (and Jews—the People of the Scripture): Say: O People of the Scripture! Come to a common word between us and you: that we shall worship none but God, and that we shall ascribe no partner unto Him, and that none of us shall take others for lords beside God. And if they turn away, then say: Bear witness that we are they who have surrendered (unto Him). (Aal ‘Imran 3:64)" Rather than an offer of peace it amounts to a threat--the only way peace can be obtained is to bow down and worship Allah. All negotiations naturally cease when Christ's divinity is denied, and a demand is made to worship the god of Mohammed. A recent article in the New York Sun by Daniel Johnson said it quite well: "In the case of the letter, what appears to be a peace offering turns out, under scrutiny, to be an implied threat. The letter demands that Christians accept the identity of the teaching of the Koran and the Bible on the oneness of God and the love of neighbour. Leaving aside the profound problem of the Trinitarian conception of the Christian God, there is a theological gulf between Muslim and Christian doctrines on the relationship of faith and reason — as Pope Benedict made clear in his Regensburg lecture last year. But the ulema — the Islamic religious authorities — have always been the main barrier to any attempt to reconcile rationality with the literal interpretation of the Koran. "...Now these same scholars make no mention of the many passages in the Koran that denounce Jews and Christians — or, indeed, the entire doctrine of jihad. Their olive branch comes with the proviso that Christians, not Muslims, are the aggressors: "As Muslims, we say to Christians that we are not against them and that Islam is not against them — so long as they do not wage war against Muslims on account of their religion, oppress them and drive them out of their homes." "For Christians to accept this document as the basis for negotiation would be tantamount to accepting the monstrous lie that Muslims are everywhere under attack from the West. "Fortunately Benedict XVI is too good a theologian to be bamboozled by such rhetoric. He has consistently said that relations with Islam must be based on reciprocity. Without an honest acknowledgement that Islam is not suffering persecution, that on the contrary its adherents are everywhere persecuting other faiths with the full support of their religious leaders, there can be no serious dialogue. "So the ulema's offer of reconciliation proves to be an ultimatum — the same one that Mohammed himself uttered in 632: "I was ordered to fight all men until they say: 'There is no god but Allah.'" The clerics who claim leadership over Islam behave as if their faith had stood still since the 7th century. Those who defy history are doomed to become history."

CHURCH OF IRELAND PARISHES SEEK TO BECOME ROMAN CATHOLIC

gen@realclearreligion.com — 2007-10-24T17:26:16-07:00

"A federation of Christians is inconceivable in which each member retains his own opinions and private judgment in matters of faith. Pope Pius XI. From Independent Catholic News via Michael Kelly, Deputy Editor The Irish Catholic: "Three Church of Ireland parishes have asked to be received into full communion with the Catholic Church The Irish Catholic newspaper reports this week. The parishes, in counties Down, Tyrone and Laois are members of the 'traditional rite' within the Church of Ireland.    The Irish Catholic newspaper, has learnt that the members of these parishes, along with traditional Anglicans from twelve other countries, have signed a letter to the Vatican seeking "full, corporate, sacramental union" with the Catholic Church under the authority of the Pope. The dramatic move would see the entire parish communities received in to the Catholic Church.    While only a few hundred Anglicans in Ireland will be affected, the move, if approved by the Vatican, would see 400,000 Anglicans worldwide admitted into the Catholic Church, the paper reports.   The traditional rite of the Church of Ireland emerged in 1991 after the House of Bishops of the Church of Ireland decided to start ordaining women. Traditionalist Anglicans decried the move as a "defiance of both Scripture and Tradition."   A spokesman for the traditional rite confirmed that the members of the traditional rite of the Church of Ireland did hope to be received into "full communion with the See of Rome".   A decision was made at a plenary meeting of the Traditional Anglican Communion (TAC), the umbrella organisation for traditional Anglicans, to petition Rome for such a move earlier this month.   According to a statement from the TAC "the bishops and vicars-general unanimously agreed to the text of a letter to the See of Rome seeking full, corporate, sacramental union.   "The letter was signed solemnly by all the College and entrusted to the Primate and two bishops chosen by the College to be presented to the Holy See," the statement added.   A spokesman said "the letter was cordially received at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.   "The Primate of the TAC has agreed that no member of the College will give interviews until the Holy See has considered the letter and responded," he said.   It is rare for entire Anglican communities to seek corporate communion with the Catholic Church whereby every member of the parish becomes Catholic and the parish effectively becomes part of the Catholic Church. There have been a number of high-profile individual conversions. Most recently, Anita Henderson, wife of the Church of Ireland Bishop of Killala was received in to the Catholic Church in a private ceremony in Ballina, Co Mayo.   In the US, the so-called 'pastoral provision' allows Catholic bishops to establish 'Anglican Use Catholic parishes', which use a liturgy adapted from Anglicanism. However, the parishes are in full communion with the Holy See and accept all Catholic teachings.

FOSTER CHILD TO BE REMOVED FROM CHRISTIAN COUPLE WHO REFUSE TO TEACH CHILD ABOUT HOMOSEXUALITY

gen@realclearreligion.com — 2007-10-23T21:21:28-07:00

Once again the right to engage in sodomy trumps the legitimate rights of Christians--and in the midst of it all children must suffer. God help us. From This is London: "They are devoted foster parents with an unblemished record of caring for almost 30 vulnerable children. But Vincent and Pauline Matherick will this week have their latest foster son taken away because they have refused to sign new sexual equality regulations. To do so, they claim, would force them to promote homosexuality and go against their Christian faith. The 11-year-old boy, who has been in their care for two years, will be placed in a council hostel this week and the Mathericks will no longer be given children to look after. The devastated couple, who have three grown up children of their own, became foster parents in 2001 and have since cared for 28 children at their home in Chard, Somerset. Earlier this year, Somerset County Council's social services department asked them to sign a contract to implement Labour's new Sexual Orientation Regulations, part of the Equality Act 2006, which make discrimination on the grounds of sexuality illegal. Officials told the couple that under the regulations they would be required to discuss same-sex relationships with children as young as 11 and tell them that gay partnerships were just as acceptable as heterosexual marriages. They could also be required to take teenagers to gay association meetings. When the Mathericks objected, they were told they would be taken off the register of foster parents. The Mathericks have decided to resign rather than face the humiliation of being expelled. Mr Matherick, a 65-year-old retired travel agent and a primary school governor, said: "I simply could not agree to do it because it is against my central beliefs. "We have never discriminated against anybody but I cannot preach the benefits of homosexuality when I believe it is against the word of God." Mrs Matherick, 61, said they had asked if they could continue looking after their foster son until he is found a permanent home, but officials refused and he will be placed in a council hostel on Friday. She said: "He was very upset to begin with. We are all very close, but he's a mature young man and he's dealing with it." The couple, who have six grandchildren and one greatgrandchild, are both ministers at the nonconformist South Chard Christian Church. When they first started fostering they took in young single mothers and their babies. More recently they have been caring for children of primary school age. Mr Matherick added: "It's terrible that we've been forced into this corner. It just should not happen. "There are not enough foster carers around anyway without these rules. "They were saying that we had to be prepared to talk about sexuality with 11-year-olds, which I don't think is appropriate anyway, but not only that, to be prepared to explain how gay people date. "They said we would even have to take a teenager to gay association meetings. "How can I do that when it's totally against what I believe?" Religious campaigners say the couple are the latest victims of an equality drive which puts gay rights above religious beliefs. Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders have complained that the rules force them to overturn long-held beliefs. The Mathericks are planning to fight their case in the courts with the backing of the Lawyers' Christian Fellowship. The same organisation is backing Christian magistrate Andrew McClintock who resigned from the family courts in a row over gay adoption. He says he was forced to resign because he was not allowed to opt out of cases where he might have to send a child to live with gay parents. The Mathericks' case comes at a time when there is a chronic shortage of foster parents, who work on a voluntary basis. An extra 8,000 are needed to plug the gaps in the service. Researchers have found that continually moving children from home to home can have a devastating impact on their education and general welfare. But a report last year revealed that the shortage of carers meant that some children in care are being forced to move up to three times a year. David Taylor, Somerset County Council's corporate director for children and young people, said: "No decision has been made about the deregistration of Mr and Mrs Matherick. "The council is committed to promoting the interests of children and young people and welcomes foster carers from all backgrounds and faiths."

ISRAEL TO COME UNDER SHARIA LAW SAYS ISRAELI MUSLIM CLERIC

gen@realclearreligion.com — 2007-10-22T21:36:31-07:00

A leading Israeli Arab Muslim cleric said that the Jewish state will very soon cease to exist and the whole country will come under Sharia law to reconstitute the Islamic Caliphate. From Israeltoday: "In an interview with a local Arabic-language newspaper, Sheikh Kamal Khatib, deputy head of northern Israel's Islamic Movement, insisted that the world is "on the threshold of a new era. The future belongs to Islam and the Muslims." Khatib said that in preparation for the coming Islamic takeover, Muslims who hold Israeli citizenship like himself should begin to actively rebel against the state by refusing to cooperate with and forming alternatives to the Israeli authorities. Also at the weekend, Khatib's boss, Sheikh Raed Salah denounced current peace negotiations leading to a two-state solution to the Israeli-Arab conflict as an "evil Israeli scheme." Salah, who is also an Israeli citizen, has long maintained that that Muslim world must not recognize Israel's right to exist." Photograph by Annie Griffiths Belt

POPE CONDEMNS HATE AND VIOLENCE IN THE NAME OF GOD AND RELIGION

gen@realclearreligion.com — 2007-10-21T15:07:30-07:00

"To hate no man." St Benedict, Rule No 4 "No religion is from God which contradicts our sense of right and wrong" Card. Newman NAPLES, Italy, OCT. 21, 2007 (Compiled from various news sources): Pope Benedict XVI urged the world's religious leaders not to allow God's name to be used to justify violence. "Faced with a world lacerated by conflicts," the Holy Father said, "where at times violence is justified in the name of God, it is important to re-emphasize that religion can never be a vehicle of hate; never, in the name of God, can we justify evil and violence." "On the contrary," he added, "because they speak of peace to the human heart, religions can offer precious resources for building a peaceful humanity." "In 2002, after the dramatic events of Sept. 11 of the previous year, the same John Paul II again called religious leaders to Assisi to ask God to stop the grave threats to humanity that were looming, especially because of terrorism. "In respect of the differences of the various religions, we are all called to work for peace and to an active commitment to promote reconciliation between peoples. It is this authentic 'spirit of Assisi' which is opposed to every form of violence and abuse of religion as a pretext for violence." The pope's statements coincided with a three-day meeting of religious leaders from around the world on the role of religion and culture in creating a violence-free world. In attendance were Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I, the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, Israel's chief rabbi Yona Metzger and the imam of the United Arab Emirates, Ibrahim Ezzeddin.

GOOD NEWS FOR THE CHURCH: ATHEISTS ARE ANGRY

gen@realclearreligion.com — 2007-10-18T15:05:14-07:00

"The lady doth protest too much, methinks." William Shakespeare, Hamlet. The rise of militant atheism actually portends well for the Church. I am hopeful that as a civilization we have finally climbed out of the depths of our lukewarm apathy toward God and have entered a new era where man has become either HOT or COLD for Jesus. It may not bode well in the short term for believers in the wordly sense because the result is persecution. But the battle has begun and this fire will test the sincerity of our faith and ultimately prove the truth of Christianity to Christ's enemies. After all--"it is hard for [atheists] to kick against the goad". Acts 26:14 When an unbeliever becomes angry in discussing the faith it may mean that they are actually closer to conversion than if they display "toleration" and a distant and withdrawn "respect". Toleration reveals one's apathy while intolerance the opposite. Witness how very tolerant so many atheists are of Buddhism, Hinduism or even Islam while they condemn Christianity. In this intolerance lies something very meaningful and mysterious--that at the name of Jesus a very tender nerve has been struck in the depths of an unbeliever's soul. It is in this apparent anger and coldness that a recognition of truth may lie. Recall that the Devil also fears the Name of Jesus, who conquered him on the Cross. Even our Lord prefers those who are cold toward Him than those who can take or leave Him. I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: Revelation 3:14-22 Christ is essentially saying that he prefers outright rejection of the faith to the lukewarm. For so long our nation and the West as a whole has been steeped in apathy toward God. We attend Church when it is convenient, we condemn those as "too religious" or fanatical who seek to truly live the Christian faith--while we embrace all the world's enticements. We have become exactly what Christ spoke of in Revelations: we are rich, we are drowning in possessions and we think we have all we need. But the lukewarm who are silent in the face of evil, compromise everything in the pursuit of riches, and "have nothing against religion" are more repulsive and worthy of condemnation than the radically angry atheists. The faith stagnates and rots in times where lukewarmth prevails. It is in the trenches where saints and martyrs are created and ultimately the church will grow. The faithfulness of truly devout believers who persevere on the narrow road and who reject all that the culture of death represents will bear witness to the undeniable truth of Christ and His Church. The Church may ultimately suffer in numbers but at least its members will be as HOT as the atheists are COLD.

U.K.: PRIEST GETS VISIT FROM HATE CRIME POLICE FOR EXPRESSING VIEWS ON MUSLIM VEIL

gen@realclearreligion.com — 2007-10-14T16:14:46-07:00

Hate crime laws are simply the precursor to official dhimmi status. The politically correct laws that have been enacted in the West are only ushering in the eventual reign of Islam by making us all cowards that surrender the truth for human respect and the lie of wordly peace. From Daily Mail: A priest has been interviewed by police on suspicion of inciting racial hatred for expressing his Christian views in his parish newsletter. Father John Hayes, 71, was quizzed for more than an hour after commenting on the case of a Muslim girl who went to court over her wish to wear a full veil in class. A sergeant and community support officer turned up without warning at his presbytery after an allegation was made to a Scotland Yard 'hate crimes' unit. The inquisition in Hornchurch, East London, prompted a furious row about policing priorities. In the past 12 months there have been five murders, 33 rapes, 424 robberies and 2,267 burglaries in the local police borough of Havering. Yet, despite being accused of turning a blind eye to the inflammatory remarks of some Muslim preachers of hate, the Met still found time to quiz Mr Hayes. Last night the priest said his 'offending' remarks had concerned Shabina Begum, who, represented by Cherie Blair QC, claimed unsuccessfully that it was her human right to be allowed to wear her jilbab, a loose gown, in class. After hearing an interview with the girl, Mr Hayes suggested in his internet bulletin to his parishioners that it was never possible to convince anyone by argument in matters of religion. "My point was that you have to demonstrate what it means to be Christian through your actions," he said. "Apparently someone in my congregation was unhappy with my comments and, after waiting a year, went to the police to say he had been 'disturbed' by it." A fortnight ago officers knocked on the door of his home next to St Mary's Church, Hornchurch. They said they had been sent by a superintendent. "They said they had come to see if I had intended to incite racial hatred," the priest said. "I was pretty surprised. It seemed to me that political correctness had gone haywire in this situation. "They were very polite and cordial, but I did say to them that surely they had better things to be doing with their time. "We had a long, civilised discussion and I didn't give an inch. "They seemed satisfied and when they eventually left the sergeant told me 'that's the end of the matter'. I felt the whole thing was a bit of a storm in a teacup." He added: "I have the greatest respect for Islam. There are so many more similarities than differences in our religions that I feel it is a great pity we concentrate on the few things that divide us." The decision to quiz Mr Hayes has infuriated many Met officers. A source at the Metropolitan Police Federation, which represents rank and file officers, said: "What happened is a gross error of judgment and possibly even an abuse of power. "The senior officer who decided on this course of action should be called to account. "It is yet another example of the political correctness which is blighting the Met. It is plain bonkers." Mr Hayes, who became the priest at St Mary's 13 years ago, said one of his main aspirations was to bring people of different backgrounds together. On Saturday night he organised a 'One World' evening, where his congregation brought traditional cuisine from their country of origin. He said: "You can talk about integration until you are blue in the face, but at the end of the day it's better to do this through actions - like getting people together over some food!"

SCHWARZENEGGER SIGNS BILL FORCING SCHOOLS TO PROMOTE HOMOSEXUALITY TRANSSEXUALITY & BISEXUALITY

gen@realclearreligion.com — 2007-10-14T13:34:35-07:00

"Every school a homosexual, bisexual, transsexual indoctrination center" SACRAMENTO, Oct. 12 /Christian Newswire/ -- Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed into law two bills requiring all public school instruction and activities to positively portray transsexuality, bisexuality, and homosexuality to children as young as kindergarten. He has also signed bills undermining marriage and infringing upon the moral conscience of business owners, churches, and nonprofit organizations. Late Friday, Schwarzenegger signed SB 777 (transsexual, bisexual, homosexual indoctrination of schoolchildren by requiring changes to all instruction and activities) and AB 394 (transsexual, bisexual, homosexual indoctrination of students, parents, and teachers via "anti-harassment" training). Signing the bills was a switch for Schwarzenegger, who vetoed nearly the same bills last year, in the midst of his reelection campaign. "Arnold Schwarzenegger has delivered young children into the hands of those who will introduce them to alternative sexual lifestyles," said Randy Thomasson, president of Campaign for Children and Families (CCF), which helped lead the statewide charge against these bills. "This means children as young as five years old will be mentally molested in school classrooms. Shame on Schwarzenegger and the Democrat politicians for ensuring that every California school becomes a homosexual-bisexual-transsexual indoctrination center." SB 777 prohibits any "instruction" or school-sponsored "activity" that "promotes a discriminatory bias" against "gender" (the bill's definition includes cross-dressing and sex changes) and "sexual orientation" (the bill's definition includes bisexuality). Because no textbook or instruction in California public schools currently disparages transsexuality, bisexuality, or homosexuality, the practical effect of SB 777 will be to require positive portrayals of these sexual lifestyles at every government-operated school. Otherwise, "discriminatory" schools will be subject to intimidation and lawsuits by the State Department of Education. Under SB 777, which will go into effect on January 1, 2008, the following could be eliminated from California public schools because they are deemed to have a "discriminatory bias":

ABOMINATION AND DESOLATION IN THE TEMPLE OF GOD

gen@realclearreligion.com — 2007-10-10T22:34:57-07:00

Betrayal Blasphemy and Sacrilege: San Francisco Catholic Archbishop George Niederauer Gives Communion to Blasphemous ‘Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence’ "He who has dipped his hand into the dish with Me is the one who will betray Me. The Son of Man indeed goes, as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed. It would be better for that man if he had never been born."

U.K.: CLERGY FACE SEVEN YEARS IN JAIL FOR PREACHING FROM THE BIBLE UNDER HOMOSEXUAL HATE LAW

gen@realclearreligion.com — 2007-10-08T21:50:32-07:00

"You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; such a thing is an abomination." Leviticus 18:22 "Do not be deceived; neither fornicators nor idolaters nor adulterers nor boy prostitutes nor sodomites nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor robbers will inherit the kingdom of God." 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 From Daily Express: "Vicars could face up to seven years in jail for simply preaching from the Bible under Government plans to criminalise incitement of homosexual hatred. Jack Straw yesterday announced proposals similar to the controversial incitement of religious hatred laws to target those who stir up hostility based on sexual orientation. The Justice Secretary is considering extending any new law to include incitement against transexuals. Religious groups warned it could lead to preachers being prosecuted for emotionally expressing their firmly-held beliefs and will restrict freedom of speech. They said gay rights were being given priority over Christian values and that believers felt under threat. Ministers insisted any new law is aimed at extremists, and that people would not be prosecuted merely for expressing an opinion. But sources admitted it would be up to police and the Crown Prosecution Service to decide whether charges should be brought in any individual case. Colin Hart, director of The Christian Institute, said: “In a democratic society people must be free to express their beliefs without fear of censure from the state. “A homophobic hatred law would be used by those with an axe to grind against Christians to silence them. People shouldn’t face prison for expressing their sincerely-held religious beliefs.” An Institute spokesman added: “The criminal law will extend to the pulpit and we could have vicars standing before a court trying to defend themselves.” Massoud Shadjareh of the Islamic Human Rights Commission said: “If someone is reading the Bible and calls homosexuality an abomination, is that going to be incitement? There are similar passages in the Koran and the Talmud. “I was against the incitement to religious hatred legislation. Either you water it down until it becomes pointless or you have a situation where you deprive people the right to have access to freedom of speech.” Mr Straw wants the new offence added to the Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill currently going through Parliament. It will mirror the incitement to religious hatred law which carries a maximum penalty of seven years. Richard Underwood of the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches said: “I think Christians feel under threat here. Lots of Christians do not subscribe to the gay lifestyle but have a great heart. “But gay rights always trump Christian rights, despite the fact this country based its laws on Christian rights for many hundreds of years.” The Ministry of Justice insisted a new law would not prohibit “criticism” of homosexuals. Gay and lesbian rights group Stonewall, which has been lobbying for such a law for several months, claimed it would not affect the right to express beliefs “in temperate terms”.

CLERGY URGED TO REMOVE COLLAR TO AVOID ATTACKS

gen@realclearreligion.com — 2007-10-07T22:06:30-07:00

"If the Lord wishes that...persecutions should be suffered, the Church feels no alarm; on the contrary persecutions purify her and confer upon her a fresh force and a new beauty." Pope Pius IX (1874) Via Roger in New Zealand!-- from the BBC: "Members of the clergy are being advised to take off their dog collars when they are on their own, to reduce the risk of being attacked. National Churchwatch, which provides personal safety advice, says vicars are attacked more often than professions such as GPs and probation officers. The organisation's Nick Tolson said all clergy should consider the advice, including the Archbishop of Canterbury. The group also produces security advice for all UK churches and churchworkers. In the past decade, five vicars have been murdered. And a 2001 academic study also found that 12% of clergy had suffered some form of violence. In a survey of 90 London clergy Mr Tolson carried out last year, nearly half said they had been attacked in the previous 12 months. One vicar, from Willesden, north-west London, said his vicarage had been machine-gunned - but still did not believe he had experienced violence. Mr Tolson said: "For some clergy this is real radical stuff. The argument against it is it's their witness in the community - their way of saying, 'hello, I'm the vicar'. "That's fine when you're being the vicar. If you're visiting someone or going to an old people's home, wear your dog collar." He added: "When they are on their own, and when they are off duty -for example when they are doing their shopping in Tesco on their own - there is no need for them to wear their dog collars. "All that does is to attract people who see the dog collars, and if they are motivated towards violence, it puts them [clergy] in a very difficult situation." National Churchwatch also says that most police forces do not specifically record crime against places of worship. However, it says that crime against churches continues to be a problem, and there is "plenty we can do to help reduce it"." Thanks Roger!

SEX WITHOUT CONSEQUENCES & THE DEATH OF THE WEST

gen@realclearreligion.com — 2007-10-07T13:40:53-07:00

Margaret Sanger, a founder of planned parenthood imagined a "paradise". She did not live to see the fulfillment of this "paradise"-- but it has arrived. Her "paradise" has taken a horrendous toll in terms of not only souls, but also lives lost. It has led us down a path of cultural suicide and could eventually if not recognized, bring about the death of the West. Like the serpent's promise to Adam and Eve, Margaret Sanger visualized a world where sex reigned free of commitment and consequences. "We must teach men the overwhelming power of this radiant force...through sex mankind may attain the great spiritual illumination which will transform the world, which will light up the only path to an earthly paradise. So must we necessarily and inevitably conceive of sex-expression" Margaret Sanger In her outlook the libido of the individual becomes the sole purpose of sex. One friend said of Ms. Sanger, "She was the first person I ever knew who was openly an ardent propagandist for 'joys of the flesh'." In less than a century the majority of the West has adopted this same hedonistic view of human sexuality. Seeking out the "joys of the flesh" has become the norm while the idea of restraint of the libido i.e., abstinence before marriage, is seen as unrealistic and unhealthy repression. Sexuality has been separated from procreation which of course requires massive amounts of birth control to sustain this libido dominated lifestyle. Fruitless and childless sex has now even become an entitlement. In fact, the right to be free from all natural consequences of sex is subsidized by the state and is called "health care". Our rights involving sex are increasing all the time ...We have the right to indulge our libido in whatever way we want with whoever we please; the right to fruitless sex; the right to change our sex; the right to "terminate" the consequence of sex; the right to "protected" sex; the right to pornographic sex; the right to be free of all intolerance related to sodomy; we are even fast gaining the "right" to proclaim any and all of it "marriage". This fruitless or childless sex portends poorly for the West's demographics, to say the least. If reproduction of the human race is not a function of marital sex then marriage can be commandeered by any type of "sex-partnership". The "unitive" and the "procreative" aspects of sex must never to be separated i.e. every sex act must be open to the possibility of life. It is a simple concept with profound consequences for the future of the West. When the unitive aspect of sex is not accomplished, i.e. when man and women fail to physically unite as God intended -- then any of the following can result: IVF, human-animal hybrids, pornography/masterbation and cloning. And when the procreative aspect of sex is destroyed by the use of artificial birth control then any form of perverse sex becomes acceptable, a birth dearth occurs, real love and intimacy are destroyed while the man and woman become objects for the fulfillment of each others desires. The restoration of the unitive and the procreative aspects of sex would re-establish the reign of natural law in human sexuality and prevent perversions of not only sex but also of the creation of life. True freedom and liberation flows from following the laws of God who is the author of nature and creation. "...[W]hat looks like "liberation" turns into its opposite and shows its diabolical visage...all this has already been described with precision in the first pages of the Bible. The core of the temptation for man and of his fall is contained in programmatic statement: 'You will be like God'. "Like God" ...means free of the laws of the Creator, free of the laws of nature herself, absolute lord of one's own destiny. Man continually desires only one thing: to be his own creator and his own master. But what awaits us at the end of this road is certainly not paradise." Card. Joseph Ratzinger, The Ratzinger Report.

ORAL ROBERTS UNIVERSITY EMBROILED IN SCANDAL

gen@realclearreligion.com — 2007-10-06T20:57:41-07:00

It seems that so many popular protestant pastors are eventually undone by the love of money, sex and power. Rather than living a life of poverty, chastity and obedience--which are the evangelical virtues of the religious life, they are caught up in the wordly opposites. When men are placed on pedestals rather than Christ, and when "worship" becomes merely good preaching and pop-style hymns then this kind of corruption is the inevitable result. "Twenty years ago, televangelist Oral Roberts said he was reading a spy novel when God appeared to him and told him to raise $8 million for Roberts' university, or else he would be "called home." Now, his son, Oral Roberts University President Richard Roberts, is facing lurid allegations in a lawsuit that threatens to engulf the 44-year-old University in scandal. "Richard Roberts is accused of illegal involvement in a local political campaign and lavish spending at donors' expense, including numerous home remodeling projects, use of the university jet for his daughter's senior trip to the Bahamas, and a red Mercedes convertible and a Lexus SUV for his wife, Lindsay." "She is accused of dropping tens of thousands of dollars on clothes, awarding nonacademic scholarships to friends of her children and sending scores of text messages on university-issued cell phones to people described in the lawsuit as "underage males." But at a chapel service this week Roberts stated: "We live in a litigious society. Anyone can get mad and file a lawsuit against another person whether they have a legitimate case or not. This lawsuit ... is about intimidation, blackmail and extortion." "Oral Roberts is 89 and lives in California. He holds the title of chancellor, but the university describes him as semi-retired, and his son presides over day-to-day operations on the campus, which had a modern, space-age design when it was built in the early 1960s but now looks dated, like Disney's Tomorrowland." The lawsuit was filed by three former professors who allege they were wrongfully dismissed after reporting the school's involvement in a local political race. They also allege the following items of specific misconduct: "-A longtime maintenance employee was fired so that an underage male friend of Mrs. Roberts could have his position. - Mrs. Roberts - who is a member of the board of regents and is referred to as ORU's "first lady" on the university's Web site - frequently had cell-phone bills of more than $800 per month, with hundreds of text messages sent between 1 a.m. to 3 a.m. to "underage males who had been provided phones at university expense." - The university jet was used to take one daughter and several friends on a senior trip to Orlando, Fla., and the Bahamas. The $29,411 trip was billed to the ministry as an "evangelistic function of the president." - Mrs. Roberts spent more than $39,000 at one Chico's clothing store alone in less than a year, and had other accounts in Texas and California. She also repeatedly said, "As long as I wear it once on TV, we can charge it off." The document cites inconsistencies in clothing purchases and actual usage on TV. - Mrs. Roberts was given a white Lexus SUV and a red Mercedes convertible by ministry donors. - University and ministry employees are regularly summoned to the Roberts' home to do the daughters' homework. - The university and ministry maintain a stable of horses for exclusive use by the Roberts' children. - The Roberts' home has been remodeled 11 times in the past 14 years. One of the professors who sued the University stated that he fears for the university's survival. "All over that campus, there are signs up that say, 'And God said, build me a university, build it on my authority, and build it on the Holy Spirit ...Unfortunately, ownership has shifted." Source myway

CULTURAL SUICIDE IN THE EU--DISAPPEARING YOUTH POPULATION & ONE DIVORCE EVERY 30 SECONDS

gen@realclearreligion.com — 2007-10-04T14:25:27-07:00

A recent report released by the Institute for Family Policies, a nongovernmental organization which helps to promote family issues, reveals the shocking truth of the status of the family in the EU. Their findings are based on member states' and EU official statistics. "There are currently more elderly people than children living in the EU, as Europe's young population has decreased by 21 percent - or 23 million – in 25 years, 10 percent of which in the last ten years alone." One of every 25 EU citizens is over 65 years old. In Italy one out of every five citizens is over 65. Italy also has the least young people at 14.2%. But the greatest loss of young people is in Spain, where the young population has diminished by 44% from 1990 to 2005. "Despite these figures, the EU population has grown by 8.2% over the last 27 years, now reaching almost 500 million. This paradox can mostly be explained by an ever increasing number of immigrants coming to the EU." Acccording to the study, in the last year alone, 75% of the population growth in the EU resulted from immigration. "France and the Netherlands are the only member states where the natural population growth has been higher than the immigration inflow. In Greece, Spain and Italy birth rates have reached a critical level of 1.28 to 1.34 children per family, while among the new member states, none but Cyprus has a birth rate of above 1.30. If the sad birth rates are not enough --it gets worse. There is one divorce every 30 seconds in the EU. "From 1980 to 2005 the number of marriages in Europe decreased by 22.3 percent, while divorces increased by 55 percent in the same period." Spain is in the worst shape of all EU member states with a 183 percent increase in the divorce rate in the last 25 years. "Currently, a couple divorces every 30 seconds in Europe and over 13.5 million marriages affecting more than 21 million children ended between 1990 and 2005 in the enlarged EU, according to the document."

GO TO JAIL IN THE U.K. FOR INCITING RELIGIOUS HATRED

gen@realclearreligion.com — 2007-10-01T20:23:43-07:00

Compiled from Jurist and Guardian Unlimited: A new law criminalizing the incitement of religious hatred came into effect. The Racial and Religious Hatred Act makes intentionally stirring up hatred against people on religious grounds punishable by a jail sentence of up to seven years. The act is...seen as an important counter-balance to anti-terror laws which have been viewed as disproportionately targeting Britain's Muslim population. Critics have argued that the law will undermine the freedom of satirists, comedians and writers, and stifle legitimate discussion about religion and religious practices. Here we go with more secular legislation aimed at instilling morality in the people. There is no surprise in the fact that this state imposed secular morality is arbitrary and capricious. Who will determine what amounts to incitement of religious hate? And what will be the standards? Will a condemnation of the teachings of Mohammed land you in jail? Truth and debate will be stifled in the name of political correctness at a time when Europe needs open and honest talk about Islam and the danger it poses to the continent. Perpetually splintered Christianity--brought about by the Reformation--has permitted the enemies of Christianity a profound advantage. When a man who calls himself a Christian can arbitrarily interpret scripture to his liking and scoff at the notion of authority, he is unable to condemn those who do the same outside of scripture. We are a house divided rather than a force to be reckoned with.

SHOCKING RISE IN THE SUICIDE RATES AMONG YOUNG GIRLS

gen@realclearreligion.com — 2007-09-30T20:44:15-07:00

The suicide rate among young girls, aged 10 to 14, rose 76 percent from 2003 to 2004. Health officials are puzzled by the increase and are watching to see if it is a trend or just a "blip." Puzzled? Girls have been duped by our culture to think that fornication is empowering and fulfilling. They get this message in schools, from the sex obsessed media, and from their peers. Once these vulnerable girls engage in this soul-destroying act they experience a taste of hell on earth. The most precious gift that God has bestowed on women is frittered away and the girl is left feeling empty and used. Our creator made our sexuality for marriage and procreation--and when this is not respected sexual suicide results. Fr John Hardon S.J. stated: "Sexual suicide is the pollution of a culture by false ideas and misused technology. The result has been an erosion of true love and family life that reduces sex to a form of sexual massage... How perverted American society has become. [W]oman’s maternal sexuality is diminished, reducing her to the lowest form of male eroticism leaving her a man without the male physiology--a veritable female eunich." Women are empowered and fulfilled by obedience to God's commands and not by obedience to the diabolical lies of the world. Rather than be puzzled at these statistics--as a culture we should instead be ashamed at our silence that permits the perverse unchallenged and unimpeded access to our youth.

NEO-PAGANISM: TURNING FROM THE LIGHT BACK INTO THE DARKNESS

gen@realclearreligion.com — 2007-09-30T13:26:28-07:00

Try as you may--but it is extremely difficult to convince an adherent of neo-pagansim that the darkness into which they are headed will lead to death of not only of their soul but also of civilization. The neo-pagan soldiers who march into this dark abyss are full of pride and believe themselves to be superior to those who came before them. They believe that they are on the road to true freedom. But in fleeing from the light of Christianity and truth they will only find tyranny and chaos. "The strain of modern Humanism which comes down through Feuerbach, Marx, and Nietzsche can be called Promethean Humanism, after the figure in Greek mythology who stole fire from the gods and gave it to man...As Nietzsche saw clearly, it was not only a matter of not believing in God, once God had been denied, man could achieve true freedom only by denying all moral constraints on himself and inventing his own morality. The human will alone will become sovereign. James Hitchcock, What is Secular Humanism. But a culture that is comprised of countless wills that believe they are sovereign breeds chaos-- unless the populace succumbs to the tyranny of one man's will. Either way man's invented morality can never compete with God's sovereign absolute truths. Thus it is easy to see how neo-paganism is capable of destroying civilization as we know it. "Lo! thy dread Empire, Chaos! is restor'd; Light dies before thy uncreating word: Thy hand, great Anarch! lets the curtain fall; And Universal Darkness buries All."

THE NETHERLANDS: AN INTERNAL STRUGGLE TO RETAIN FREEDOM AND SPEAK TRUTHFULLY ABOUT ISLAM

gen@realclearreligion.com — 2007-09-27T13:24:22-07:00

Earlier this week Dutch counter terrorism chief Tjibbe Joustra told a newspaper that he has "mixed feelings" about bold remarks on Islam. "Radical remarks may push people who are already on the verge of using violence, over the edge," he said according to the report in reference to statements by opinion leaders like the liberal-right Freedom Party (PVV) leader Geert Wilders and Islam critic Ehsan Jami. In response to the Joustra's dhimmi remarks, politician Geert Wilders and Ehsan Jami, founder of the Committee for ex-Muslims, took out a full page ad in a newspaper Wednesday harshly condemning Joustra's position as an attempt to silence the truth about Islam. Wilders and Jami warned against what they see as an attempt by Islam to conquer the world. They compared the Prophet Mohammed to Adolf Hitler. "We consider that Joustra should catch terrorists instead of trying to muzzle politicians," according to Wilders and Jami. "His remarks are inappropriate for this reason alone. But we also wonder whether what Joustra claims is actually true. (...) Does Joustra really think that religious maniacs who want to use violence to please Allah need Jami or Wilders as an extra spur to move into action? Or do his remarks indicate a lack of knowledge of radical Islam that does not suit a top anti-terrorism official of his calibre?" Wilders and Jami referred to the 1960s and 1970s, when "Christianity and Jesus Christ were heavily insulted and criticised" in the Netherlands. (...) Did Christians then commit violence en masse? (...) Of course not. Such processes are unique to the Islamic ideology of hatred, violence and intolerance." "Fortunately, not all Muslims are violent," the two add. "Our criticism is aimed at the violence of Islam, the Koran and the traditions about the Prophet Mohammed. Anyone who goes into the life story of the Prophet Mohammed will come to the same conclusion, namely that he was a cruel tyrant who was not tolerant towards women, homosexuals, apostates, and who publicly beheaded countless Jews. Would Joustra have knowledge of all this?" "Strong criticism of Islam is needed," while "Joustra opts for politically correct cowardice and capitulation," according to Wilders and Jami. "If we do not take action now against the far-reaching Islamisation of the Netherlands, the '30s of the last century will make a comeback. Only then it was Hitler and now, Mohammed." "Islam is an imperialist ideology that does not like discussion. Islam is out for absolute power and will for this, just like the barbarian Mohammed in Medina, use violence and murder. Until there is only Islam and nothing other than Islam. Until we are all living according to the rules of the Koran. But that moment of unfreedom must never come. That is why the truth must be told about Islam. That is why we must not keep silent. Joustra's statements are naive and highly dangerous for the Netherlands."

POLAND-- VICTIM OF THE TYRANNY OF THE EUROPEAN COURT OF CONTRIVED HUMAN RIGHTS

gen@realclearreligion.com — 2007-09-25T13:29:56-07:00

The term "human rights" is fast becoming synonymous with the right to abort one's child and engage in sodomy. Just as I have come to loathe and detest the term "women's rights"-- I can't help but feel the same way about so called "human rights" --especially in the context of the European Court of Human Rights. The Court of Human Rights today confirmed Poland will have to pay compensation to a woman whose vision became impaired after being denied an abortion under Polish laws. Poland had appealed an order to pay the woman 25,000 euros compensation and 14,000 euros in legal fees. But the Court ruled that in refusing to allow an abortion, Poland had violated article 8 of the Convention on Human Rights. As a traditionally Roman Catholic nation, Poland has one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the European Union. Women are permitted to terminate pregnancies only if the pregnancy poses a grave health risk, the foetus is severely deformed or the pregnancy is a result of rape. As Alisa Craddock recently pointed out in Bellocution II the Death of Reason Malcolm Muggeridge once stated: "It took no more than three decades to transform a war crime into an act of compassion, thereby enabling the victors in the war against Naziism to adopt the very practices for which the Nazis had been solemnly condemned at Nuremberg". The EU and so many nations in the West are engaged in a seemingly bloodless hidden holocaust with the legal protection and promotion of abortion. But this holocaust does not remain hidden and bloodless for those who keep themselves pure and have not been spiritually blinded to the evil of abortion. And it does not remain bloodless for the children who are killed in the womb. Finally the fruit of this holocaust will not and has not remained within the walls of abortion facilities, rather it has seeped into the culture of the West and threatens death to every member of society who is or may become inconvenient or imperfect. The European Court of Human Rights and others who distort and pervert the notion of "human rights" are not content with keeping their faith in contrived human rights to themselves. But with a zeal that is only witnessed among religious fanatics they must spread their perverse beliefs far and wide. There is no tolerance for those with differing views and true diversity is not permitted. By institutionalizing paganism and enshrining child sacrifice as a human right-- the West has not only perverted the idea of "human rights" but has also extinguished the most basic human right --the right to life. Poland is only the latest victim of the abuse of human rights.

BELGIAN BISHOPS DEMAND WITHDRAWAL OF TV AD DEPICTING POT-BELLIED HIPPY JESUS

gen@realclearreligion.com — 2007-09-23T18:49:46-07:00

BRUSSELS Compiled from (AFP) and BBC — Catholic bishops in Belgium have protested a TV ad depicting a pot-bellied, hippy Jesus performing miracles and picking up scantily-clad girls up in a nightclub, a church spokesman said Friday. The ad shows a long-haired hippy Jesus grooving along as he tries to get into a nightclub and is refused entry by the bouncers. Jesus makes the sign of the cross and sweeps aside the bouncers, shrinking them so they are left in his wake as dwarves. This Plug TV version of Jesus then drinks whisky at the bar and magically turns two brown haired frumpy women into blonde babes wearing bikini tops and red horns. The Jesus character then disappears into a huge limousine with the women but his attention is distracted by an advertisement for Plug TV before he is recalled by God who is standing on a cloud, wearing a T shirt with "Number one dad" written on it. The God figure tells Jesus off for wanting to watch Plug TV as well as everything else - saying "you still want more". "We have expressed our disapproval to the president of RTL's administrative council" Jacques Santer and the ethical advertising body, demanding the withdrawal of this publicity campaign, Father Eric de Beukelaer told AFP. RTL, one of the biggest media groups in Europe, is running the ad on its main Belgian channel to promote Plug youth television, portrayed in the offending item as the coolest thing that even Jesus, with all his powers, could hope for. Plug TV and RTL-TVI defended the advert, also being shown in cinemas, arguing that it was not blasphemous but contained a message about a "laid-back Jesus addressing youth."

POPE BENEDICT-- A PROVOCATEUR OF ISLAM?

gen@realclearreligion.com — 2007-09-23T17:41:35-07:00

The media's love of divisiveness causes it to continuously portray Pope Benedict as a provocateur of Islam. Instead the Pope is a wise and responsible shepherd doing battle against evil while speaking the truth. He is not a politician seeking public approval and adulation--instead his actions are directed at pleasing God. But the truth will never be popular with the world-- as any sincere follower of Christ knows. FROM DAILYMAIL: "The Pope has again risked provoking the wrath of the Islamic world, by criticising its treatment of Christians. Benedict XVI attacked Muslim nations where Christians are either persecuted or given the status of second-class citizens under the Shariah Islamic law. He also defended the rights of Muslims to convert to Christianity, an act which warrants the death penalty in many Islamic countries. His comments came almost exactly a year after he provoked a wave of anger among Muslims by quoting a Byzantine emperor who linked Islam to violence. Yesterday, near Rome, the 80-year-old pontiff made a speech in "defence of religious liberty", which, he said "is a fundamental, irrepressible, inalienable and inviolable right". In a clear reference to Islam, he said: "The exercise of this freedom also includes the right to change religion, which should be guaranteed not only legally, but also in daily practice." Addressing the problem of Islamic extremism, he added: "Terrorism is a serious problem whose perpetrators often claim to act in God's name and harbour an inexcusable contempt for human life." Last September, radical British Muslims said Pope Benedict should be executed for "insulting" the Prophet Mohammed. Throughout the Middle East and Africa, Christians were subjected to violence in retribution for his remarks. His latest comments, however, come just days after one of the Church of England's-senior bishops warned that Muslim leaders here must speak out in defence of the right to change faith. The Bishop of Rochester, Michael Nazir-Ali, told Channel 4's Dispatches programme of his fears for the safety of the estimated 3,000 Muslims who have converted to other faiths in this country. A poll earlier this year of more than 1,000 young adult British Muslims found that 36 per cent believe those who convert to another faith should be punished by death. Pope Benedict is particularly concerned about the persecution of Christians in Iraq since the invasion of 2003. Before then, there were about 1.2million Christians in the country. But the number has dropped to below 600,000."

WHY ME? THE CROSS OF JESUS CHRIST IN YOUR LIFE

gen@realclearreligion.com — 2007-09-22T21:17:45-07:00

This is a very inspiring and courageous human being. He shows us that we have no excuses when we fail to evangelize. As Fr. Hardon used to say: "Evangelize, Evangelize, Evangelize--if you fail to evangelize you will not reach heaven".

AL QAEDA CALLS ON N. AFRICAN MUSLIMS TO CLEANSE SOUTHERN EUROPE OF FRENCH AND SPANISH

gen@realclearreligion.com — 2007-09-20T15:04:22-07:00

We must take seriously the words of Al Qaeda. If there is one thing we have learned from this heretical cult is that they are persistent about their targets. They want the return of Andalusia and the submission of the "Crusaders and their children" under Allah, just as they wanted to bring about the destruction of the World Trade Center. They have taken aim and we can either bask in our denial, or pray and fast for the conversion of Islam and the reconversion of Europe. "A Christian revolution can succeed only by the use of just those means which are beyond the ability of others to use. If faith is able to move mountains, is it powerless to shift the mighty from their seats? If Christians, who live by faith in their private lives, lay aside their faith when they approach the things of political and social life, they must be content to be towed like slaves in the wake of history." J. Maritain From Rueters: "Al Qaeda's second-in-command urged north Africa's Muslims in a video tape posted on Thursday to "cleanse" their land of Spaniards and French as a way to restore Muslim rule that once stretched into southern Europe. In an 80-minute compilation video that touched on several conflicts around the world, Ayman al-Zawahri said it was the duty of Muslims to restore al-Andalus -- the Arabic name given to parts of the Iberian peninsula under Muslim rule at various times from the 8th century. "O our Muslim nation in the Maghreb .... restoring al-Andalus is a trust on the shoulders of the nation in general and on your shoulders in particular, and you will not be able to do that without first cleansing the Muslim Maghreb of the children of France and Spain, who have come back again after your fathers and grandfathers sacrificed their blood cheaply in the path of God to expel them," he said. "So be faithful to your religion ... and to the blood of your fathers, and stand with your sons the mujahideen against the Crusaders and their children." Al Qaeda's north African wing, called al Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb, claimed responsibility for two suicide attacks earlier this month that killed at least 57 people in Algeria. The Egyptian cleric praised the actions of militants in north Africa, and suggested they were responsible for the creation of a new U.S. military command for Africa. "The forces of jihad ... in the Maghreb of Islam joined the mujahid ranks confronting the new Crusade... and so the hearts of the Caesars of Washington came apart, and they set out to plan the creation of a new command for them in Africa," he said.

CATHOLIC STUDENTS FORCED TO WEAR THE ISLAMIC VEIL

gen@realclearreligion.com — 2007-09-18T17:51:30-07:00

FROM ASIA NEWS: Jakarta (AsiaNews) –"It is happening in schools in the North of Sumatra. A Christian family raises the alarm, their daughters “have no other choice” but to dress according to Islamic customs. This is imposed by some local norms inspired by Sharia, which should only effect Muslim citizens. "The increasing numbers of local laws inspired by Sharia...are threatening the religious freedom of non Muslims, forced to wear Islamic clothes. "The latest episode reported by a Catholic family in Padang north Sumatra is worrying: Stefanus Prayog Ismu Rahardi has 3 children, 2 of whom attend state school; recently the teachers asked them to wear the Islamic veil or in Indonesian; jilbab. “It’s the first time that it has happened – says the father – and my daughters are scared, I tried to make them see the veil as a simple accessory, but they clearly understand that the problem goes well beyond aesthetics, they feel they are now in an environment that is hostile to their religion”. "The case is not an isolated one in the majority Muslim state. Since 2002 over 19 states have implemented the so-called perda syariat, norms which should however only apply to Muslim citizens. A Catholics student at a public school SMU Negeri II - Pesisir Selatan district – tells that this institute introduced the veil in 2005 and she herself has been forced to wear it. “Teachers pressured me into conforming – she says – now people see me on the streets and think that I have converted to Islam”. "Boniface Bakti Siregar, from Padang-based Catholic Affairs in the Ministry for Religious Affairs says that such perda has caused serious psychological impact to non-Muslim students. “They have no choice to stay at this state-run schools, since there are not both catholic and protestant schools in those districts which are located very far from the provincial capital of Padang”. Silence and compromise in matters of our faith will only lead the West to the same place as we find our suffering brothers and sisters.

GERMANY TREBLES THE NUMBER OF STATE DAYCARES --WHILE REVEALING DISGUST TOWARD MOTHERHOOD AND REARING CHILDREN AT HOME

gen@realclearreligion.com — 2007-09-18T11:58:24-07:00

In an attempt to halt the demographic crisis that Germany is confronted with chancellor Angela Merkel's ruling coalition approved a plan to treble the number of nurseries for children from the current level of 250,000 to 750,000, by 2013. However, the German government failed to provide families equivalent economic incentives when the mother stays at home. The supporters of this plan to nationalize daycare prove themselves to be shameless socialists who are radically anti-family and anti-child. Trebling the number of nurseries is supposed to...reverse a fertility rate of 1.3 children per woman - one of the lowest in Europe after Spain (1.3) and Poland (1.2), who scrape the bottom of the 2005 Eurostat survey. The French and Irish lead the field with 1.9 and over. 30% of married couples in Germany have no children...which is the highest percentage in the world. So-called Super-mom, Ursula von der Leyen, Merkel's minister for family and youth, is a big proponent of the legislation. Ms von der Leyen is the mother of seven children--but she apparently has no problem handing her children over to the government to be raised while she pursues more important matters like the passage of nationalized daycare. When an outgoing conservative minister, Edmund Stoiber, proposed that families where the mother stays at home receive economic incentives in the amount of 150 Euros monthly --Ursula the super-mom had this to say: 'This would only exacerbate the vicious circle in which children are confined to home, deprived of early training, linguistic improvement, exercise, and limits on television viewing,' said von der Leyen, vehemently criticising this suggestion in Die Welt at the end of July. 'Just so that their parents can add another 150 euros to their family budget.' Members of the Green party also mocked Stoiber's 'income support' proposal, as a 'Herdprämie' - literally, an award for staying at home and looking after the herd. Such disdain and contempt for motherhood and the notion of rearing one's children at home is beyond comprehension. Undermining the traditional family and establishing the government as the ideal child rearing entity will only bury the Nation known as Germany into the pages of history. If these are the people who are supposed to fix Germany's dismal birth rate--God help the Germans.

CONFRONTED WITH SCHISM ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY HOLDS CLANDESTINE HOMOSEXUAL COMMUNION SERVICE

gen@realclearreligion.com — 2007-09-17T19:00:18-07:00

If one's mission is to maintain unity and avoid "schism" over homosexuality, why would Rowan Williams hold a clandestine communion service for gay clergy and their partners? The only explanation is extreme arrogance or a fatal failure of judgment or both. From Timesonline: Dr Williams will celebrate the eucharist at St Peter’s, Eaton Square – the Church of England parish that is known as the spiritual home to some of the country’s most liberal and wealthy Anglican elite. There he will give an address titled “Present realities and future possibilities for lesbians and gay men in the Church”. How about the present reality and real possibility that one's church is on the brink of having no future at all due to an unbiblical and anti-Christian embrace of homosexuality? The event has been organised under Chatham House rules, which prevent any disclosure of the discussions. The event will take place at 10am on November 29. A list of the names of those who will be present will be seen only by Dr Williams. It will be shredded afterwards. The disclosure of the event could not have come at a time more likely to destabilise him. This week he is due to attend a meeting of US Episcopal bishops to discuss the crisis. He has returned from three months on holiday and sabbatical, working on a study of the Russian writer Dostoevsky. His return has been marked by a Church in disarray. Cardinal Newman in a letter to the editor of the Globe once stated: "I do hereby profess, ex animo, with an absolute internal assent and consent, that Protestantism is the dreariest of possible religions; that the thought of the Anglican service makes me shiver and the thought of the Thirty-Nine Articles makes me shudder. Return to the Church of England? No! The net is broken and we are delivered. I should be a consummate fool...if in my old age I left the land flowing with milk and honey, for the city of confusion and the house of bondage." (emphasis in original)

ITALIAN BISHOP FORBIDS LATIN MASS DESPITE POPE'S MOTU PROPRIO

gen@realclearreligion.com — 2007-09-17T12:40:36-07:00

The liberal leadership of the Church has consistently demanded obedience from the orthodox faithful yet they so often fail to obey Church teaching and their own superiors. The lack of humility is very unsettling. Naples, Sep. 17, 2007 (CWNews.com) - Bishop Raffaele Nogaro of Caserta, Italy forbade the celebrate of the celebration of the traditional Latin Mass on Sunday, September 15, despite the permission granted by Pope Benedict XVI (bio - news) for all priests to use the older liturgical form. The Italian daily Il Messagero reports that Bishop Nogaro ordered Msgr. Giovanni Battista Gionta to cancel plans for a Mass using the 1962 Roman Missal at the Shrine of St. Anne. Msgr. Gionta, who had scheduled the Mass at the request of local Catholics, posted a note at the shrine to announce that he was changing plans. "I obey the bishop," he explained. Il Messagero said that Bishop Nogaro ordered the cancellation of the Mass "so as not to set a precedent." The bishop said that he was taking action to help his people pray properly, since "to mumble in Latin serves no purpose." Elsewhere in Italy the effective date of the papal motu proprio authorizing use of the 1962 Missal was greeted more warmly. In Rome, Msgr. Granito Tavanti celebrated Mass using the older liturgical form at the basilica of St. Mary Major, in the Borghese chapel. In Loreto, Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos (bio - news) celebrated the older form of the Mass. Other celebrations of the "extraordinary form" were reported in Rome, Prato, Palermo, Legnano, and Bologna.

IRELAND: FIVEFOLD INCREASE IN MARRIAGE BREAKDOWN OVER 20 YEARS

gen@realclearreligion.com — 2007-09-15T17:03:41-07:00

Catholic countries are not immune to the apostasy that has plagued the West, but I must admit that I held out hope for Ireland. G.K. Chesterton once said of the Irish: "The average ...Irishman is close to...domesticity because he is close to the earth; he is close to doctrinal theology and elaborate ritual because he is close to the earth. In short he is close to the heavens because he is close to the earth." I suppose the increase in materialism and consumerism that was brought about by the "Celtic Tiger" boom obliterated the closeness to the earth and much of the faith. DUBLIN (AFP) — There has been a fivefold increase in marital breakdown in Ireland in the last 20 years, according to a new study released Friday. The Iona Institute, an organisation dedicated to the strengthening of society through marriage and religious practice, said that by 2006, 200,000 people had seen their marriage fail, compared with 40,000 in 1986. The report said that Ireland, which has prospered under the Celtic Tiger boom in recent years, had experienced deep economic and social changes over the last decade. "One of the biggest changes has occurred in the family," it said. "Until fairly recently, the vast majority of children were born and raised inside intact marriages. "Today, a clear majority of children are still raised in the family based on marriage, but a growing number are being raised by lone parents or by cohabiting parents. "In addition, marriage breakdown in Ireland is increasing fast." Divorce only became legal in mainly Roman Catholic Ireland a decade ago after a lengthy and divisive campaign. The report added that there had been an 80 percent increase in the number of single parent families since 1986 to 190,000. One in four children is being raised in families where the parents are not married, the study said, a figure which comes close to levels in Britain and the United States.

A SETBACK FOR THE RADICAL HOMOSEXUAL AGENDA: JUDGE THROWS OUT LAW DESIGNED TO SILENCE CHRISTIANS

gen@realclearreligion.com — 2007-09-13T18:15:44-07:00

Let us pray that this is a sign of things to come rather than simply an exception to the flood of anti-Christian laws that have been enacted throughout the West. At stake is whether the right to engage in perverse sex trumps the right to religious expression and ultimately freedom. From Lifesite: "The homosexual political movement in Britain was dealt a rare setback this week as a Northern Irish court ruled to curb some parts of notorious regulations. The Sexual Orientation Regulations of the Equality Act, that came into effect in January, would have allowed gay activists in Northern Ireland to prosecute people expressing religious oppositions to the homosexual lifestyle. The judge struck down the harassment provisions appearing in the legislation for Northern Ireland but supported the Regulations in general. According to the ruling, Christians or other religious people will now be allowed to "express their disapproval" of homosexuality in public." "The ruling comes at the moment when the Labour government is contemplating new legislation that it claims will protect people from "hostile or humiliating environments". Christian groups are warning that the proposed legislation will lead to further restrictions on religious belief. "The Daily Telegraph reports that the Lawyers' Christian Fellowship has warned that the new proposals, which may be included in a Single Equality Bill, could allow homosexuals to sue clergy for preaching against homosexual activity. The group said that churches could be sued for "gently refusing membership" to an unrepentant, practicing homosexual. "In his ruling, Mr. Justice Weatherup said he did not believe that the regulations unfairly treat evangelical Christians "less favourably than other persons to the extent that they are subject to civil liability for manifesting the orthodox belief in relation to homosexuality."

CHINESE WOMAN FOUND TO HAVE 23 NEEDLES EMBEDDED THROUGHOUT BODY FROM GRANDPARENTS WHO WERE DISAPPOINTED SHE WAS A GIRL

gen@realclearreligion.com — 2007-09-13T17:44:48-07:00

A 29-year old Chinese woman was recently found to have 23 sewing needles embedded throughout her body --which are believed to have been placed there by her grandparents when she was an infant because they were disappointed at having a granddaughter instead of a grandson. From The Independent: "Luo Cuifen knew something was wrong when she went to the doctor after finding blood in her urine, but nothing could have prepared her for the discovery of 23 sewing needles, which doctors believe were stuck deep into her as a baby by her grandparents. "Doctors suspect they wanted to kill her because her family preferred a son. Some of the needles were pushed into the fontanelle, the soft spot on the head all babies have before the bones knit. Ms Cuifen, now 29, was a second granddaughter, leaving the family no chance to produce a treasured boy child. "Under the one-child policy, most families are limited to one offspring, but in the countryside, people may be allowed to have a second if their first is a girl. "The needles are about an inch long, and X-rays show they have worked their way into her lungs, liver, bladder and kidneys, making removal difficult, said Qu Rui, a spokesman for the Richland International Hospital in Kunming, the capital of Yunnan province. More than 20 surgeons and doctors from China, Canada and the United States, experts in disciplines from gynaecology toneurology, are to operate to try to remove the first six needles today. "Over the years, Ms Luo has suffered from inexplicable anxiety and insomnia, as well as depression. At times, the needles would emerge from strange wounds on her body. Ms Luo’s grandparents are dead and there was no indication as to whether there would be an investigation."

WILDERS: CULTURAL RELATIVISM MAKES ME SICK!

gen@realclearreligion.com — 2007-09-11T21:37:55-07:00

Dutch Politician and outspoken critic of the islamization of the Netherlands, Geert Wilders, recently stated in an interview: "Cultural relativism just makes me sick. You know the kind of thing: everyone is welcome; we'll be one big melting pot of cultures. It gives me goose bumps when I hear the prime minister talking that way. Of course, we shouldn't imitate everything in a culture we ourselves criticise. Just try walking down the street with a Bible in Saudi Arabia or calling yourself a Christian in Iran." As to his promotion of the idea of banning the Koran--"I do make a distinction between people and religion. I think Islam is a terrible religion but I have nothing against people who act according to our laws and our values and that's not possible with that book [Koran] in your hand."

SOCIALIST INCENTIVES TO HAVE BABIES NOT WORKING IN GERMANY

gen@realclearreligion.com — 2007-09-11T13:07:25-07:00

The birthrate in Germany fell again in 2006 to an average of 1.33 children, giving the country one of Europe's lowest birthrates, the national statistics' office said on Monday. FROM EARTHTIMES: "Germany's birth rate is sinking despite many years of tax breaks for parents and plans to expand kindergartens to help working parents, statistics released Monday show. Last year's tally of live births in the nation of 80 million was 672,700, a drop from the previous year by 13,100, the Federal Statistics Office said in Wiesbaden." "That is the average number of children that would be born to a woman between ages 15 and 49 if she followed the current behaviour in that age group. The rate declined from 1.34 last year. "The German government has voiced concern over the low birth rate, but opinion remains divided in Germany about how to encourage more births or if it is even possible to alter the birth rate by any government policy. "Germany has a long-standing tax rebate for children and education is free. The government has agreed to expand kindergarten provision, which would help families where both parents work."

A MUSLIM WHO STANDS AGAINST EURABIA AND THE ISLAMIC CULTURE OF DEATH

gen@realclearreligion.com — 2007-09-10T12:54:41-07:00

Magdi Allam is a muslim, but no ordinary Muslim--he is a staunch opponent of the Islamization of Europe. He is an Egyptian born columnist and vice-director of Corriere della Sera, Italy’s leading daily newspaper. He has become Italy’s most prominent critic of Islam and his views have become highly regarded in more conservative Catholic circles. Allam's mother sent him to a Catholic boarding school in Egypt, where he began studying Western culture and civilization. He later immigated to Italy. He has supported a ban against building new mosques in Italy and has sought to expose underground relationships between Italian mosques and international terrorist groups. His writings and opinions have led to numerous death threats and have necessitated him to be under constant guard. But as recently as 2002 Allam was espousing a more liberal mindset that Islam is compatible with democracy and pluralism. But in recent years Allam has had a change of mind and heart that is reflected in his latest book entitled, "Long Live Israel - From the Ideology of Death to the Civilization of Life: My Story", in it Allam argues that Israel represents a culture of life, while Islam’s represents a culture of death. In a recent interview with an Israeli news agency, Allam was asked about Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. His response: “I hope that someday Israel will capture Ahmadinejad and force him to live the rest of his life between the walls of Yad Vashem.” Allam also stated, "...[F]or me, 'Viva Israele' is a song of praise to Israel's life and to everyone's life. My book opens with the words: 'What you are about to read is a declaration of faith in the sanctity of life, 'the sanctity of life of every human being...I want to tell you about my slow and tortured path from the ideology of lies, tyranny, hatred, violence and death, to the culture of truth, freedom, love, peace and life, until it ripened into absolute certainly that defending the sanctity of life is more than ever in keeping with defending Israel's right to exist". Not surprisingly, Allam is seen as an advocate of division and a promoter of "islamophobia" among liberal catholics and secularists. As a result a recent letter condemning Allam's latest book was published in an Italian journal and was signed by 230 liberals, both Muslim and Christian. It stated: “Journalism risks falling into the logic of cheering for one sports team against another, rather than being rational and analytical, above all when it’s dealing with delicate and sensitive subjects such as religion,” it said, accusing Allam of adopting the all-or-nothing logic of “totalitarian ideologies.” The appeal was signed by a “who’s who” of center-left Italian Catholic opinion, including Enzo Bianchi, founder of the ecumenical monastery of Bose; Paolo Branca, an expert on Islam and advisor to Cardinal Dionigi Tettamanzi of Milan; Alfredo Canavero, a scholar who also writes for L’Avvenire, the newspaper of the Italian bishops; and Alberto Melloni, a well-known church historian. quote from NCRcafe REGARDING THE ISLAMIZATION OF EUROPE Allam states, "Europe is already a bastion of Islamic extremism. Just look at the attack on Mike's Place in Tel Aviv, which was carried out by British suicide bombers drafted by Hamas; the massacre by Islamists in Madrid and in London; the slitting of director Theo Van Gogh's throat in Amsterdam; and the dozens of Islamic terror attacks that were prevented in Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Belgium and Holland." "This bastion exists thanks to a widespread network of mosques, Koran schools, financial bodies and charitable institutions linked to the Muslim Brotherhood; Moroccan, Tunisian and Algerian Salfists; Saudi Wahabis; Al-Qaida jihadis and Pakistani groups. This multicultural Europe, which has trampled its values and betrayed its identity, is satisfied with reacting to the obvious terror, which is only the tip of the iceberg, but is afraid to deal with terror's ideological and organizational roots." REGARDING THE IRANIAN THREAT Allam recently stated: "Israel has to prevent the Nazi-Islamic government of [Ali] Khamenei and [Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad from acquiring nuclear weapons. I don't place my faith in the United Nations and I have no illusions about the Bush administration, which now wants only to leave Iraq without losing face. And of course I don't count on a weak, cowardly and divided Europe. I believe Israel is the last bastion in Islamic terror's war against all of human civilization. Therefore I hope Israel will have a strong national unity government, determined to confront the most serious threat to world security since World War II." Sources NCRcafe and Haaretz