June 18, 2010

NEWS DIGEST

N.J. rabbi pleads guilty to money laundering in FBI sting
By Joe Ryan / The Star-Ledger

RNS-DIGEST-JUNE18

A prominent New Jersey rabbi has pleaded guilty laundering up to $1.5 million as part of a massive federal probe that uncovered insurance scams, bank frauds and the sale of knock-off hand bags.

LOL.
Not sure how to divide "turn the other cheek" vs "if you don't have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one"

Even in Christianity, Mennonites believe no violence whatsoever even in self-defense....or so a Menonite hunting buddy told me.

Don't understand the "LOL", cgb2.

Well, I don't have a lock on the truth, nor do I wear a shiny Heaven's Deputy Sheriff badge......Some dilemma, huh!
Richard

Police open crypt in child abuse inquiry
25 June 2010 | Het Laatste Nieuws Brussels

“Raid in houses of God”, headlines Brussels newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws. As part of an investigation into child abuse in the Belgian Catholic church, the police on 24 June swooped down on the residences of high ranking members of the clergy. Mechelen Cathedral was also combed, and a crypt opened, reports the daily. The State Prosecution Office defended the action insisting it had possesed “reliable information the church has hidden documents in several places.”

NEWS DIGEST

Pope grants wide authority to revamp Legion of Christ
By Richard Allen

RNS-DIGEST-JULY26

Pope Benedict XVI has granted wide latitude to an Italian archbishop to take whatever measures are necessary to reform and rehabilitate the troubled Legionaries of Christ order.

July 30, 2010

NEWS STORY

Novelist Anne Rice says `I quit being a Christian’

By Kevin Eckstrom

(RNS) Vampire novelist Anne Rice says she’s leaving Christianity—again—because she no longer wants to be identified with such a “quarrelsome, hostile, disputatious, and deservedly infamous group.”

Born and raised a Catholic, Rice left the church but returned after a 30-year absence in 1998. Best known for “Interview With the Vampire” and other vampire fiction, she later turned to spiritual writing, including a “Christ the Lord” series on Jesus’ life and a well-received spiritual memoir, “Called Out of Darkness.”

On Thursday (July 29), Rice said she has “quit being a Christian,” although she remains “committed to Christ.”

“I quit being a Christian. I’m out,” she wrote on her Facebook page, in sections that were confirmed by her publisher. “In the name of Christ, I refuse to be anti-gay. I refuse to be anti-feminist. I refuse to be anti-artificial birth control. I refuse to be anti-Democrat.” Full Story

Sounds like one of those conflicting messages, doesn't it? I am convinced in my heart that Yahushua was referring to the sword of His mouth, which He mentioned in one of His messages to the Called-Out Assemblies in the Revelation, which dissolves the conflict rather cleanly.

Don't understand the "LOL", cgb2, but I'll let it go.

Theophilus, you may be right. Perhaps Yahushua was giving approval for deterrent physical force. I certainly would have a strong compulsion to do whatever I could to keep someone from doing physical harm to my wife, especially since she is more or less helpless in her current condition. But even as a former US Marine I would find it difficult to run someone through with a sword or blast a hole through them with a firearm. It just seems so in tune with the world's violence and hatred.

This has become one of those things that makes you go, "Hmmmm."

Richard

A Catholic synod called at the Vatican to address the rising persecution of Christian in the Middle East wrapped up on Saturday with a joint statement that focused a lot of attention on demanding Israel end its “occupation” of Arab lands.

The gathering was meant to address the various acts of persecution, intimidation and discrimination that are resulting in a severe dwindling of Christian communities across the region.

But the bulk of the two-week meeting was spent discussing how Israel is the root cause of all the Middle East’s woes, including those faced by its Christians.

The final statement reflected that position. It listed the “occupation” of Arab lands, the building of Israel’s security barrier, military checkpoints, the jailing of terrorists (defined in the statement as “political prisoners”) and the general disruption of Palestinian life as some of the main reasons behind the exodus of Palestinian Christians and Muslim attacks on the Jewish state.

Cyril Salim Bustros, the Lebanon-born Greek archbishop of Our Lady of the Annunciation in Boston, Massachusetts was responsible for delivering the final statement.

In clarifying remarks, he stated that “the Holy Scriptures cannot be used to justify the return of Jews to Israel and the displacement of the Palestinians, to justify the occupation by Israel of Palestinian lands.”

He then escalated the situation by declaring that the original promises made by God to the children of Israel “were nullified by Christ. There is no longer a chosen people.”

Bustros rejected the idea of Israel as “the Jewish state,” and insisted that eventually all the so-called “Palestinian refugees” must return to the land, a sure recipe for the demographic destruction of the world’s only Jewish nation-state.

Mordechai Levi, Israel’s ambassador to the Vatican, decried Bustros’ comments and the damage they had done to strengthening ties between Israel and the Church.

The Catholic Church has for years been trying to repair its image as an institution steeped in anti-Semitism. But Bustros’ remarks make fairly clear that the Vatican remains as dedicated as ever to replacement theology - that teaching that says God has tossed aside the Jews, despite is irrevocable promises to them, and that “the Church” has instead inherited those promise

Josie wrote:

It might be that He knew we would be obliged to buy "Bibles" in these days. And doesn't the passage in Proverbs support my position? As for excusing violence by individuals against other individuals, I would reconsider the spirit behind my enthusiasm for "righteous bloodshed" if I were you. "Vengeance is mine" loses all its meaning otherwise.

No, not enough said at all.

To whom was Yahuwah speaking in the Torah? Was He addressing individuals? No. He was addressing a nation of His people. No nation on earth today can claim that privileged description. So the kinsman avenger allowance is no longer in effect.

It is a heavenly rule that whoever sheds man's blood should have his own blood shed by man. I am pretty sure that applies to murderers and muggers rather than to soldiers and policemen.

Yahushua told us, "You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.' But I say to you, don't resist him who is evil. If someone strikes you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also. If any man would take you to court and take away your jacket, give him your overcoat as well. Whoever forces you to go with him one mile, go with him two. Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from the one who would borrow from you." He did this, I am convinced, in order to quiet the likes of those who would use His words as justification for violence. Moreover, have you forgotten that Dawid was not allowed to build Yahuwah's temple because he had been a man of war and had shed man's blood? Yahushua is the Prince of Peace, and we are to be as gentle as doves ourselves.

Those who have taken it upon themselves to govern nations and states and counties and cities are charged before Yahuwah with maintaining peace and safety for their citizens. We citizens have no such authority or right before Yahuwah. You cannot produce a single scripture passage which clearly and without a doubt authorizes self-defense or one-on-one murder.

Yes, the perversity of the priests charges us emotionally and we would see them harshly punished, but those feelings do not justify wicked acts on our part.

Josie wrote:

(Buy the sword of his mouth) It might be that He knew we would be obliged to buy "Bibles" in these days. You may have a point there. Josie

Yada - China has charged the Vatican with interfering with its "religious freedom." From CNN: http://religion.blogs.cn...ontrol-of-church/?hpt=T2

The Chinese are smart. Just as they have deflected criticisms relative to the devaluation of their currency by comparing it to the Fed flooding the world with dollars, they have prompted the RCC to interfere in Chinese "religious freedoms." It's brilliant. The RCC and the "Holy Father" were shown to be controlling and impotent all at the same time.