Thursday, February 29, 2024
Tuesday, February 27, 2024
Jordan Peterson slams Pope Francis’ fixation on ‘climate change’: ‘He should be saving souls’
Saving souls is ‘how you save the planet, not by worshipping Gaia,’ Jordan Peterson said, criticizing ‘contemptible’ efforts to make the Church ‘more relevant’ since the ‘60s and Vatican II.
Jordan Peterson
EWTN/YouTube screenshot
Clare Marie Merkowsky
Fri Feb 16, 2024 - 4:17 pm EST
BeyondWords
TORONTO (LifeSiteNews) — Prominent Canadian anti-woke psychologist Jordan Peterson blasted Pope Francis for neglecting the salvation of souls and focusing on “climate change” and criticized attempts to make the Catholic Church “relevant” since the 1960s and the Second Vatican Council.
On February 11, Peterson joined Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN) reporter Colm Flynn to discuss a sundry of topics, including his wife Tammy’s miraculous recovery from cancer, the widespread loss of faith in the Catholic Church since the 1960s, and Pope Francis’ fixation on “climate change.”
“That’s not working. It’s shallow,” he said, slamming the “guitar and hippies” that proliferated in the Church following the ’60s and Vatican II.
Peterson explained that religion is “supposed to be an invitation to the great adventure of life.”
“What’s the great adventure of life?” he questioned.
“Pick up your cross and follow me,” Peterson responded, quoting Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew.
“That’s a h-ll of an invitation,” he admitted, “but that’s the invitation, and the Church lost faith in that.”
Peterson explained that efforts in the Catholic Church to make the Gospel message more “relevant” have clouded the Gospel’s true calling.
“As soon as you say that you need to be more relevant than that what you’re doing, technically it is putting something else above that,” he said.
“Well, that’s not going to work not if the original proposition was correct,” Peterson warned, adding, “and obviously the original proposition is correct.”
Peterson explained that just as “Christ faced and triumphed over death and hell,” each person must likewise triumph over death and hell in their own lives. According to Peterson, the Catholic Church is currently not challenging Her members to take the difficult path.
“The gateway to Paradise is barred by the cherubs who have swords that flame,” he said. “It means it’s hard to get into the club, man.”
“Anything that isn’t worthy gets cut and burned away,” he warned, adding, “well of course that’s hell.”
“There’s no sugar-coating that and that isn’t what people want anyways. Young people want an adventure,” Peterson said.
He stated that the desire for adventure is the reason that young people feel called to “save the planet” from “climate change,” which “Pope Francis seems to be on about constantly when you should be saving souls.”
“That’s how you save the planet, not by worshiping Gaia,” Peterson stated, referring to the pagan name for “Mother Earth.”
“I don’t see for the life of me what the Catholic Church has to do with the ‘climate crisis,'” he continued. “Just the formulation is wrong; the priority is wrong; you save the world one person at a time.”
“It lacks faith in its own mission,” he added.
While his wife Tammy is set to enter the Catholic Church this Easter, Peterson has yet to publicly affiliate himself with one specific religion but says he remains dedicated to searching for the truth.
However, he admitted that “there’s plenty of things the Catholic Church got right,” for which he has an “appreciation.”
Clare Marie Merkowsky
Fri Feb 16, 2024 - 4:17 pm EST
BeyondWords
TORONTO (LifeSiteNews) — Prominent Canadian anti-woke psychologist Jordan Peterson blasted Pope Francis for neglecting the salvation of souls and focusing on “climate change” and criticized attempts to make the Catholic Church “relevant” since the 1960s and the Second Vatican Council.
On February 11, Peterson joined Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN) reporter Colm Flynn to discuss a sundry of topics, including his wife Tammy’s miraculous recovery from cancer, the widespread loss of faith in the Catholic Church since the 1960s, and Pope Francis’ fixation on “climate change.”
“That’s not working. It’s shallow,” he said, slamming the “guitar and hippies” that proliferated in the Church following the ’60s and Vatican II.
Peterson explained that religion is “supposed to be an invitation to the great adventure of life.”
“What’s the great adventure of life?” he questioned.
“Pick up your cross and follow me,” Peterson responded, quoting Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew.
“That’s a h-ll of an invitation,” he admitted, “but that’s the invitation, and the Church lost faith in that.”
Peterson explained that efforts in the Catholic Church to make the Gospel message more “relevant” have clouded the Gospel’s true calling.
“As soon as you say that you need to be more relevant than that what you’re doing, technically it is putting something else above that,” he said.
“Well, that’s not going to work not if the original proposition was correct,” Peterson warned, adding, “and obviously the original proposition is correct.”
Peterson explained that just as “Christ faced and triumphed over death and hell,” each person must likewise triumph over death and hell in their own lives. According to Peterson, the Catholic Church is currently not challenging Her members to take the difficult path.
“The gateway to Paradise is barred by the cherubs who have swords that flame,” he said. “It means it’s hard to get into the club, man.”
“Anything that isn’t worthy gets cut and burned away,” he warned, adding, “well of course that’s hell.”
“There’s no sugar-coating that and that isn’t what people want anyways. Young people want an adventure,” Peterson said.
He stated that the desire for adventure is the reason that young people feel called to “save the planet” from “climate change,” which “Pope Francis seems to be on about constantly when you should be saving souls.”
“That’s how you save the planet, not by worshiping Gaia,” Peterson stated, referring to the pagan name for “Mother Earth.”
“I don’t see for the life of me what the Catholic Church has to do with the ‘climate crisis,'” he continued. “Just the formulation is wrong; the priority is wrong; you save the world one person at a time.”
“It lacks faith in its own mission,” he added.
While his wife Tammy is set to enter the Catholic Church this Easter, Peterson has yet to publicly affiliate himself with one specific religion but says he remains dedicated to searching for the truth.
However, he admitted that “there’s plenty of things the Catholic Church got right,” for which he has an “appreciation.”
Monday, February 26, 2024
Sunday, February 25, 2024
Sunday
"Sunday was a name given by the heathens to the first day of the week, because it was the day on which they worshipped the sun,...”
Eadie's Biblical Cyclopedia, 1872 Edition, page 561.
Saturday, February 24, 2024
America’s Current Moral Decline is Just a Divine Setup for a Spiritual C...
America’s Current Moral Decline is Just a Divine Setup for a Spiritual Comeback
The conservative political radio host and television producer Glenn Beck conducted an interview with the Evangelical Christian actor and evangelist Kirk Cameron on February 19, 2024. During a conversation that was aired on 400 radio stations across the nation and on the Blaze TV streaming service, Kirk Cameron said that a spiritual revival is imminent and that the current pervasive moral and political corruption in society is merely a “divine set-up” where God will intervene to restore our world. In response, Glenn Beck stated, "It has to be. It has to be,” indicating his approval.
Evangelical Christians across the country are working to reshape America and bring our nation back to God through revival. There is no doubt that a movement to radically change our nation is underway, but the coming “religious” revival will not align our nation with the will of God but with the will of Rome. We have been warned that Satan will introduce into the popular churches a counterfeit revival, one that will support Sunday rest by law. Every church will be affected by the coming counterfeit revival, of which the Sunday law movement will be a key component.
“They declared that they had the truth; that miracles were among them; that great power and signs and wonders were performed among them; and that was the temporal millennium that they had been expecting so long. The whole world was converted and in harmony with the Sunday law” (Letter 6, 1884).
There are actually two revivals described in the book of Revelation, not one. The true revival that comes from God is found in Revelation 18:1–5. Under the power of the Latter Rain, the entire earth will be enlightened with the glory of God through the proclamation of the Three Angels’ Messages. But there is also a false revival in which three unclean spirits will come from the dragon (Satan), the beast (Rome), and the false prophets (apostate Protestantism) and will deceive the world through false miracles (Revelation 16:13, 14) during the mark of the beast crisis. The book, Great Controversy, also describes the two revivals in great detail:
“Before the final visitation of God’s judgments upon the earth, there will be, among the people of the Lord, such a revival of primitive godliness as has not been witnessed since apostolic times. The Spirit and power of God will be poured out upon his children. At that time many will separate themselves from those churches in which the love of this world has supplanted love for God and his Word. Many, both of ministers and people, will gladly accept those great truths which God has caused to be proclaimed at this time, to prepare a people for the Lord’s second coming. The enemy of souls desires to hinder this work; and before the time for such a movement shall come, he will endeavor to prevent it, by introducing a counterfeit. In those churches which he can bring under his deceptive power, he will make it appear that God’s special blessing is poured out; there will be manifest what is thought to be great religious interest. Multitudes will exult that God is working marvelously for them, when the work is that of another spirit. Under a religious guise, Satan will seek to extend his influence over the Christian world” (Great Controversy, p. 464).
“Yet none need be deceived. In the light of God’s Word it is not difficult to determine the nature of these movements. Wherever men neglect the testimony of the Bible, turning away from those plain, soul-testing truths which require self-denial and renunciation of the world, there we may be sure that God’s blessing is not bestowed” (Great Controversy, p. 464).
“In the truths of his Word, God has given to men a revelation of himself; and to all who accept them they are a shield against the deceptions of Satan. It is a neglect of these truths that has opened the door to the evils which are now becoming so widespread in the religious world” (Great Controversy, p. 465).
“The sanctification now gaining prominence in the religious world, carries with it a spirit of self-exaltation, and a disregard for the law of God, that mark it as foreign to the religion of the Bible. Its advocates teach that sanctification is an instantaneous work, by which, through faith alone, they attain to perfect holiness. ‘Only believe,’ say they, ‘and the blessing is yours.’ No further effort on the part of the receiver is supposed to be required” (Great Controversy, p. 471).
“The desire for an easy religion, that requires no striving, no self-denial, no divorce from the follies of the world, has made the doctrine of faith, and faith only, a popular doctrine” (Great Controversy, p. 472).
“If men feel no weight of the moral law, if they belittle and make light of God’s precepts, if they break one of the least of these commandments, and teach men so, they shall be of no esteem in the sight of Heaven, and we may know that their claims are without foundation” (Great Controversy, p. 472).
Friday, February 23, 2024
Thursday, February 22, 2024
Jayapal: Any Biden action restricting migrants seeking asylum would be ‘extremely disappointing mistake’
Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., speaks Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) said if President Biden takes executive action to restrict migrants seeking asylum at the southern border, he would be making a “mistake.”
“This would be an extremely disappointing mistake,” Jayapal wrote on X, formerly Twitter, in response to CNN’s reporting that Biden is considering blocking those who cross into the United States illegally from filing an asylum claim. “Cruel enforcement-only policies have been tried for 30 years and simply do not work.”
“Democrats cannot continue to take pages out of Donald Trump and Stephen Miller’s playbook — We need to lead with dignity and humanity,” she added, referring to the former president’s senior adviser.
Jayapal’s warning comes as Biden continues to face pressure to take action to curb the influx of migration at the southern border and an asylum system that even many Democrats have said is broken.
CNN’s reporting, while indicating no decision had been made by the White House on future steps, said the action under consideration “involves using an authority known as 212f between ports of entry to try to clamp down on unlawful border crossing.”
The news comes after months of negotiations in the Senate produced a bipartisan border agreement that would have raised standards for asylum screening and sped up the process, ended the practice known as “catch and release” and given the president more authority to close the border once crossings reach a certain threshold.
Biden endorsed the agreement at the time, saying it “includes the toughest and fairest set of border reforms in decades.”
The bill fell apart, however, after President Trump publicly opposed its passage and it became clear it had little chance of passing in the House. The failed bill was also highly criticized by progressive Democrats, including Jayapal.
A White House spokesperson, who did not comment on the executive actions proposed by the president, reiterated calls for the House GOP to agree to a bipartisan deal that includes border security, per CNN.
“The Administration spent months negotiating in good faith to deliver the toughest and fairest bipartisan border security bill in decades because we need Congress to make significant policy reforms and to provide additional funding to secure our border and fix our broken immigration system,” White House spokesperson Angelo Fernández Hernández said in the statement.
“No executive action, no matter how aggressive, can deliver the significant policy reforms and additional resources Congress can provide and that Republicans rejected,” he added. “We continue to call on Speaker Johnson and House Republicans to pass the bipartisan deal to secure the border.”
Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) said if President Biden takes executive action to restrict migrants seeking asylum at the southern border, he would be making a “mistake.”
“This would be an extremely disappointing mistake,” Jayapal wrote on X, formerly Twitter, in response to CNN’s reporting that Biden is considering blocking those who cross into the United States illegally from filing an asylum claim. “Cruel enforcement-only policies have been tried for 30 years and simply do not work.”
“Democrats cannot continue to take pages out of Donald Trump and Stephen Miller’s playbook — We need to lead with dignity and humanity,” she added, referring to the former president’s senior adviser.
Jayapal’s warning comes as Biden continues to face pressure to take action to curb the influx of migration at the southern border and an asylum system that even many Democrats have said is broken.
CNN’s reporting, while indicating no decision had been made by the White House on future steps, said the action under consideration “involves using an authority known as 212f between ports of entry to try to clamp down on unlawful border crossing.”
The news comes after months of negotiations in the Senate produced a bipartisan border agreement that would have raised standards for asylum screening and sped up the process, ended the practice known as “catch and release” and given the president more authority to close the border once crossings reach a certain threshold.
Biden endorsed the agreement at the time, saying it “includes the toughest and fairest set of border reforms in decades.”
The bill fell apart, however, after President Trump publicly opposed its passage and it became clear it had little chance of passing in the House. The failed bill was also highly criticized by progressive Democrats, including Jayapal.
A White House spokesperson, who did not comment on the executive actions proposed by the president, reiterated calls for the House GOP to agree to a bipartisan deal that includes border security, per CNN.
“The Administration spent months negotiating in good faith to deliver the toughest and fairest bipartisan border security bill in decades because we need Congress to make significant policy reforms and to provide additional funding to secure our border and fix our broken immigration system,” White House spokesperson Angelo Fernández Hernández said in the statement.
“No executive action, no matter how aggressive, can deliver the significant policy reforms and additional resources Congress can provide and that Republicans rejected,” he added. “We continue to call on Speaker Johnson and House Republicans to pass the bipartisan deal to secure the border.”
P.S.
Jayapal was born into a Tamil family in Chennai, India, to Maya Jayapal, a writer, and Jayapal Menon, a marketing professional. She spent most of her childhood in Indonesia and Singapore.[4][5] She immigrated to the U.S. in 1982, at age 16, to attend college. She earned a BA from Georgetown University and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.[6]
Born September 21, 1965 (age 58)
Chennai, Madras State (present-day Tamil Nadu), India
Citizenship
Indian (1965–2000)
American (2000–present)
Political party Democratic
-Wikipedia.
Wednesday, February 21, 2024
Charles Chiniquy
Charles Paschal Telesphore Chiniquy (30 July 1809 – 16 January 1899) was a Canadian socio-political activist and former Catholic priest who left the Catholic Church and converted to Protestant Christianity, becoming a Presbyterian Evangelical minister.[1] He rode the lecture circuit in the United States denouncing the Catholic Church.[1][2][3] His themes were that Catholicism was Pagan, that Catholics worshipped the Virgin Mary, and that its theology was anti-Christian.[4]
Photograph of Charles Chiniquy
Chiniquy founded the St. Anne Colony, a village located in Kankakee County, Illinois in 1851.[5] Fifty Years in the Church of Rome, an extensive autobiographical account of his life and thoughts as a priest in the Catholic Church, was written by Chiniquy and published in 1886.[4] He warned of plots by the Vatican to take control of the United States by importing Catholic immigrants from Ireland, Germany, and France, and suggested that the Vatican was behind the assassination of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln.[6]
Biography
Chiniquy was born in 1809 to a French-Canadian family in the village of Kamouraska, Quebec. He lost his father at an early age and was adopted by his uncle. As a young man, Chiniquy studied to become a Catholic priest at the Petit Seminaire (Little Seminary) in Nicolet, Quebec. He was ordained in 1833; after his ordination, he served his church in Quebec.[1] During the 1840s, he led a campaign throughout Quebec against the consumption of alcohol and drunkenness.[1]
Later he immigrated to Illinois in the United States.[1] In 1855, Chiniquy was sued by a prominent Catholic layman named Peter Spink in Kankakee, Illinois. After the fall court term, Spink applied for a change of venue to the court in Urbana, Illinois. Chiniquy hired the then-lawyer Abraham Lincoln, the future 16th President of the United States, to defend him. The spring court action in Urbana was the highest profile libel suit in Lincoln's career.[7] The case was ended in the fall court session by agreement.[8]
Chiniquy clashed with the Bishop of Chicago, Anthony O'Regan, over the bishop's treatment of Catholics in the city, particularly French Canadians. He declared that O'Regan was secretly backing Spink's suit against him. Chiniquy said that in 1856, O'Regan had threatened him with excommunication if he did not go to a new location where the bishop wanted to assign him. Several months later, The New York Times published a pastoral letter from O'Regan in which he stated that he had suspended Chiniquy. Since Chiniquy had continued his normal duties as a priest, the bishop excommunicated him by his letter; he vigorously disputed that he had been excommunicated, saying publicly that the bishop was mistaken. Chiniquy left the Catholic Church in 1858,[7] and subsequently converted to Protestant Christianity, becoming a Presbyterian Evangelical minister in 1860.[1]
He asserted that Catholicism was Pagan, that Catholics worshipped the Virgin Mary, and that its theology was anti-Christian.[9] He warned of plots by the Vatican to take control of the United States by importing Catholic immigrants from Ireland, Germany, and France. This was at a time of high immigration rates from those countries, in response to social and political upheaval (the Great Famine in Ireland and revolutions in Germany and France). Chiniquy claimed that he was falsely accused by his superiors (and that Abraham Lincoln had come to his rescue), that the American Civil War was a plot against the United States of America by the Vatican, and that the Vatican was behind the Confederate cause, and the assassination of U.S. President Lincoln, and that Lincoln's assassins were faithful Catholics ultimately serving Pope Pius IX.
After leaving the Catholic Church, Chiniquy dedicated his life to preach and evangelize among his fellow French Canadians, as well as other people in Canada and the United States, in order to convert them from Catholicism to Protestant Christianity. He wrote a number of books and tracts expressing his criticism and views on the alleged errors in the faith and practices of the Catholic Church.[4] His two most influential literary works are the autobiography Fifty Years in The Church of Rome[10] and the polemical treatise The Priest, The Woman, and The Confessional.[11] These books raised concerns in the United States about the influence of the Catholic Church.[4] According to one Canadian biographer, Chiniquy is Canada's best-selling author of all time.[12] He joined the Orange Order and said of it: "I always found them staunch and true. I consider it a great honour to be an Orangeman. Every time I go on my knees I pray that God may bless them and make them as numerous and bright as the stars of the heaven above."[13] When Chiniquy visited Hobart in 1879, a riot occurred when hundreds of Catholic opponents forced their way into the lecture hall. The meeting was abandoned and more than five hundred law enforcement personnel were employed for the next meeting, with thousands of protestors outside the building.[14]
Chiniquy died in Montreal, Quebec, Canada on January 16, 1899.
To this day, some of Chiniquy's works are still promoted among Protestant Christians and Sola scriptura believers. One of his most well-known modern day followers was the American Fundamentalist cartoonist and comic book writer Jack Chick, notable for being the creator of the "Chick tracts";[15] he also published a comic-form adaptation of Chiniquy's autobiography Fifty Years in The Church of Rome, titled "The Big Betrayal".[16] Chick strongly relied on Chiniquy's claims and books for writing his own anti-Catholic tracts.
Chiniquy founded the St. Anne Colony, a village located in Kankakee County, Illinois in 1851.[5] Fifty Years in the Church of Rome, an extensive autobiographical account of his life and thoughts as a priest in the Catholic Church, was written by Chiniquy and published in 1886.[4] He warned of plots by the Vatican to take control of the United States by importing Catholic immigrants from Ireland, Germany, and France, and suggested that the Vatican was behind the assassination of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln.[6]
Biography
Chiniquy was born in 1809 to a French-Canadian family in the village of Kamouraska, Quebec. He lost his father at an early age and was adopted by his uncle. As a young man, Chiniquy studied to become a Catholic priest at the Petit Seminaire (Little Seminary) in Nicolet, Quebec. He was ordained in 1833; after his ordination, he served his church in Quebec.[1] During the 1840s, he led a campaign throughout Quebec against the consumption of alcohol and drunkenness.[1]
Later he immigrated to Illinois in the United States.[1] In 1855, Chiniquy was sued by a prominent Catholic layman named Peter Spink in Kankakee, Illinois. After the fall court term, Spink applied for a change of venue to the court in Urbana, Illinois. Chiniquy hired the then-lawyer Abraham Lincoln, the future 16th President of the United States, to defend him. The spring court action in Urbana was the highest profile libel suit in Lincoln's career.[7] The case was ended in the fall court session by agreement.[8]
Chiniquy clashed with the Bishop of Chicago, Anthony O'Regan, over the bishop's treatment of Catholics in the city, particularly French Canadians. He declared that O'Regan was secretly backing Spink's suit against him. Chiniquy said that in 1856, O'Regan had threatened him with excommunication if he did not go to a new location where the bishop wanted to assign him. Several months later, The New York Times published a pastoral letter from O'Regan in which he stated that he had suspended Chiniquy. Since Chiniquy had continued his normal duties as a priest, the bishop excommunicated him by his letter; he vigorously disputed that he had been excommunicated, saying publicly that the bishop was mistaken. Chiniquy left the Catholic Church in 1858,[7] and subsequently converted to Protestant Christianity, becoming a Presbyterian Evangelical minister in 1860.[1]
He asserted that Catholicism was Pagan, that Catholics worshipped the Virgin Mary, and that its theology was anti-Christian.[9] He warned of plots by the Vatican to take control of the United States by importing Catholic immigrants from Ireland, Germany, and France. This was at a time of high immigration rates from those countries, in response to social and political upheaval (the Great Famine in Ireland and revolutions in Germany and France). Chiniquy claimed that he was falsely accused by his superiors (and that Abraham Lincoln had come to his rescue), that the American Civil War was a plot against the United States of America by the Vatican, and that the Vatican was behind the Confederate cause, and the assassination of U.S. President Lincoln, and that Lincoln's assassins were faithful Catholics ultimately serving Pope Pius IX.
After leaving the Catholic Church, Chiniquy dedicated his life to preach and evangelize among his fellow French Canadians, as well as other people in Canada and the United States, in order to convert them from Catholicism to Protestant Christianity. He wrote a number of books and tracts expressing his criticism and views on the alleged errors in the faith and practices of the Catholic Church.[4] His two most influential literary works are the autobiography Fifty Years in The Church of Rome[10] and the polemical treatise The Priest, The Woman, and The Confessional.[11] These books raised concerns in the United States about the influence of the Catholic Church.[4] According to one Canadian biographer, Chiniquy is Canada's best-selling author of all time.[12] He joined the Orange Order and said of it: "I always found them staunch and true. I consider it a great honour to be an Orangeman. Every time I go on my knees I pray that God may bless them and make them as numerous and bright as the stars of the heaven above."[13] When Chiniquy visited Hobart in 1879, a riot occurred when hundreds of Catholic opponents forced their way into the lecture hall. The meeting was abandoned and more than five hundred law enforcement personnel were employed for the next meeting, with thousands of protestors outside the building.[14]
Chiniquy died in Montreal, Quebec, Canada on January 16, 1899.
To this day, some of Chiniquy's works are still promoted among Protestant Christians and Sola scriptura believers. One of his most well-known modern day followers was the American Fundamentalist cartoonist and comic book writer Jack Chick, notable for being the creator of the "Chick tracts";[15] he also published a comic-form adaptation of Chiniquy's autobiography Fifty Years in The Church of Rome, titled "The Big Betrayal".[16] Chick strongly relied on Chiniquy's claims and books for writing his own anti-Catholic tracts.
The Vatican's Immigration War - 02.20.24
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THE VATICAN'S IMMIGRATION WAR - 02.20.24
Today's Show: THE VATICAN'S IMMIGRATION WAR
Chris discusses the massive surge of millions of illegal aliens into the United States, from the perspective of the historic immigration war waged by Rome against America since the 19th century. We discuss the historic evidence dating back to the Civil War, along with current arguments made by the Catholic bishops of America. Is the Vatican seeking control of the United States through the mass migration of illegals into our country? Also discussed is the story of an elderly couple in the U.K. who were informed that their home was to be given over to migrants.
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Tuesday, February 20, 2024
Largest multicountry COVID study links vaccines to potential adverse effects
BY JOSEPH CHOI - 02/19/24 7:23 PM ET
A new study on COVID-19 vaccines that looked at nearly 100 million vaccinated individuals affirmed the vaccines’ previously observed links to increased risks for certain adverse effects including myocarditis and Guillain-Barré syndrome.
The study was conducted by the Global COVID Vaccine Safety project and took into account 99,068,901 vaccinated individuals across eight countries: Argentina, Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, New Zealand and Scotland.
The report specifically looked at adverse events following administration of the Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca vaccines.
The researchers looked for 13 adverse events of special interest that occurred in vaccine recipients for up to 42 days after shots were administered. These conditions included Guillain-Barré syndrome, Bell’s palsy, convulsions, myocarditis and pericarditis.
Researchers observed a “significant increase” in cases of Guillain-Barré syndrome among those who received the AstraZeneca vaccine with 42 days of administration.
They also noted higher-than-expected instances of acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM), inflammation of the brain and spinal cord, among those who received their first dose of Moderna’s vaccine.
However, the study noted that when it came to ADEM there was “no consistent pattern in terms of vaccine or timing following vaccination, and larger epidemiological studies have not confirmed any potential association.”
Both mRNA vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna were associated with instances of myocarditis, inflammation of the heart muscle, which occurred more than was expected in the study, with the condition having a significant observed-to-expected ratio consistently after the first, second and third doses.
Significantly higher than expected cases of pericarditis, inflammation of the sac-like structure that surrounds the heart, were also observed following first and fourth doses of Moderna’s vaccine.
“The safety signals identified in this study should be evaluated in the context of their rarity, severity, and clinical relevance,” the researchers wrote.
“Moreover, overall risk–benefit evaluations of vaccination should take the risk associated with infection into account, as multiple studies demonstrated higher risk of developing the events under study, such as GBS, myocarditis, or ADEM, following SARS-CoV-2 infection than vaccination.”
The Global COVID Vaccine Safety project is supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Department of Health and Human Services. Several of the authors received financial support from or have relationships with government agencies including the CDC, the New Zealand Ministry of Health and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, which they disclosed as potential conflicts of interest.
Several of the researchers also reported having relationships or having previously received payments from biopharmaceutical companies Gilead Sciences Inc., AbbVie Inc., Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline.
A new study on COVID-19 vaccines that looked at nearly 100 million vaccinated individuals affirmed the vaccines’ previously observed links to increased risks for certain adverse effects including myocarditis and Guillain-Barré syndrome.
The study was conducted by the Global COVID Vaccine Safety project and took into account 99,068,901 vaccinated individuals across eight countries: Argentina, Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, New Zealand and Scotland.
The report specifically looked at adverse events following administration of the Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca vaccines.
The researchers looked for 13 adverse events of special interest that occurred in vaccine recipients for up to 42 days after shots were administered. These conditions included Guillain-Barré syndrome, Bell’s palsy, convulsions, myocarditis and pericarditis.
Researchers observed a “significant increase” in cases of Guillain-Barré syndrome among those who received the AstraZeneca vaccine with 42 days of administration.
They also noted higher-than-expected instances of acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM), inflammation of the brain and spinal cord, among those who received their first dose of Moderna’s vaccine.
However, the study noted that when it came to ADEM there was “no consistent pattern in terms of vaccine or timing following vaccination, and larger epidemiological studies have not confirmed any potential association.”
Both mRNA vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna were associated with instances of myocarditis, inflammation of the heart muscle, which occurred more than was expected in the study, with the condition having a significant observed-to-expected ratio consistently after the first, second and third doses.
Significantly higher than expected cases of pericarditis, inflammation of the sac-like structure that surrounds the heart, were also observed following first and fourth doses of Moderna’s vaccine.
“The safety signals identified in this study should be evaluated in the context of their rarity, severity, and clinical relevance,” the researchers wrote.
“Moreover, overall risk–benefit evaluations of vaccination should take the risk associated with infection into account, as multiple studies demonstrated higher risk of developing the events under study, such as GBS, myocarditis, or ADEM, following SARS-CoV-2 infection than vaccination.”
The Global COVID Vaccine Safety project is supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Department of Health and Human Services. Several of the authors received financial support from or have relationships with government agencies including the CDC, the New Zealand Ministry of Health and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, which they disclosed as potential conflicts of interest.
Several of the researchers also reported having relationships or having previously received payments from biopharmaceutical companies Gilead Sciences Inc., AbbVie Inc., Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline.
Monday, February 19, 2024
Sunday, February 18, 2024
Best Agenda 21 Quotes
Best Agenda 21 Quotes
(2030 Agenda)
Please find below a curated list of 19 of The Best Agenda 21 Quotes by notable women and men. Please consider sharing with others any of the Agenda 21 Quotes that resonate.
We are on the verge of a global transformation. All we need is the right major crisis.- David Rockefeller
We are grateful to the Washington Post, the New York Times, Time Magazine and other great publications whose directors have attended our meetings and respected their promises of discretion for almost 40 years……It would have been impossible for us to develop our plan for the world if we had been subjected to the lights of publicity during those years. But, the world is more sophisticated and prepared to march towards a world government. The supernational sovereignty of an intellectual elite and world bankers is surely preferable to the national autodetermination practiced in past centuries.- David Rockefeller
The common enemy of humanity is man. In searching for a new enemy to unite us, we came up with the idea that pollution, the threat of global warming, water shortages, famine and the like would fit the bill. …The real enemy then is humanity itself.- Aurelio Peccei
Some even believe we (the Rockefeller family) are part of a secret cabal working against the best interests of the United States, characterizing my family and me as ‘internationalists’ and of conspiring with others around the world to build a more integrated global political and economic structure – one world, if you will. If that’s the charge, I stand guilty, and I am proud of it.- David Rockefeller
In order to stabilize world population, we must eliminate 350,000 per day.- Jacques Yves Cousteau
(2030 Agenda)
Please find below a curated list of 19 of The Best Agenda 21 Quotes by notable women and men. Please consider sharing with others any of the Agenda 21 Quotes that resonate.
We are on the verge of a global transformation. All we need is the right major crisis.- David Rockefeller
We are grateful to the Washington Post, the New York Times, Time Magazine and other great publications whose directors have attended our meetings and respected their promises of discretion for almost 40 years……It would have been impossible for us to develop our plan for the world if we had been subjected to the lights of publicity during those years. But, the world is more sophisticated and prepared to march towards a world government. The supernational sovereignty of an intellectual elite and world bankers is surely preferable to the national autodetermination practiced in past centuries.- David Rockefeller
The common enemy of humanity is man. In searching for a new enemy to unite us, we came up with the idea that pollution, the threat of global warming, water shortages, famine and the like would fit the bill. …The real enemy then is humanity itself.- Aurelio Peccei
Some even believe we (the Rockefeller family) are part of a secret cabal working against the best interests of the United States, characterizing my family and me as ‘internationalists’ and of conspiring with others around the world to build a more integrated global political and economic structure – one world, if you will. If that’s the charge, I stand guilty, and I am proud of it.- David Rockefeller
In order to stabilize world population, we must eliminate 350,000 per day.- Jacques Yves Cousteau
BRICS Bank Implementing 3-Year De-Dollarization Plan
BRICS
Joshua Ramos
Source: Reuters
As the alliance continues to develop and establish the BRICS New Development Bank, it has officially announced a 3-year de-dollarization plan. Specifically, the bank is set to integrate by increasing the number of local currency transactions that take place. Therefore lessening its reliance on the greenback for developing country investment.
The bloc is set to expand its membership following a landmark invitation for six countries to join the alliance. Moreover, its expansion may well set the bloc up to be able to affect the lending model of its bank greatly. Overall, it would create a structure that facilitates alignment with an alliance strategy to move away from the dollar.
As the alliance continues to develop and establish the BRICS New Development Bank, it has officially announced a 3-year de-dollarization plan. Specifically, the bank is set to integrate by increasing the number of local currency transactions that take place. Therefore lessening its reliance on the greenback for developing country investment.
The bloc is set to expand its membership following a landmark invitation for six countries to join the alliance. Moreover, its expansion may well set the bloc up to be able to affect the lending model of its bank greatly. Overall, it would create a structure that facilitates alignment with an alliance strategy to move away from the dollar.
Source: energyintel.com / Hoverfly / Shutterstock
Also Read: Japan Accused of ‘Market Intervention’ Against US Dollar vs. Yen
BRICS Bank Seeking Local Currency Increase in 3-Year Plan
The BRICS economic alliance has undergone a massive growth period so far this year. Specifically, the bloc is set to introduce Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Egypt, Argentina, Iran, and Ethiopia to its ranks. Subsequently, the bloc is rethinking how it approaches lending and the structure of its New Development Bank.
Now, the BRICS bank has officially introduced a 3-year de-dollarization plan. Specifically, this plan is set to aid in the lending of local currencies to member countries. Therefore, it diminishes the number of transitions that are done in the US dollar. Subsequently, it aligns itself further with what has proven to be a key principle of the collective.
Also Read: Japan Accused of ‘Market Intervention’ Against US Dollar vs. Yen
BRICS Bank Seeking Local Currency Increase in 3-Year Plan
The BRICS economic alliance has undergone a massive growth period so far this year. Specifically, the bloc is set to introduce Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Egypt, Argentina, Iran, and Ethiopia to its ranks. Subsequently, the bloc is rethinking how it approaches lending and the structure of its New Development Bank.
Now, the BRICS bank has officially introduced a 3-year de-dollarization plan. Specifically, this plan is set to aid in the lending of local currencies to member countries. Therefore, it diminishes the number of transitions that are done in the US dollar. Subsequently, it aligns itself further with what has proven to be a key principle of the collective.
Source: economictimes.com
Also Read: Could Bitcoin be a Global Reserve Replacement for USD?
The Shanghai-based bank was always intended to be made by developing countries for developing countries. Yet, to truly be viable, it must continue moving away from 70% of its funds in US dollars. A process is currently implanted in a plan to lessen that figure.
The bank is eyeing a growth rate of 8% over the next three years in terms of transactions in local currencies. Specifically, the bloc currently transacts 22% in alliance currencies, which it hopes to reach 30% by the year 2026. Therefore, the development will help BRICS nations move away from US dollar lending and promote their currencies in the process.
Also Read: Could Bitcoin be a Global Reserve Replacement for USD?
The Shanghai-based bank was always intended to be made by developing countries for developing countries. Yet, to truly be viable, it must continue moving away from 70% of its funds in US dollars. A process is currently implanted in a plan to lessen that figure.
The bank is eyeing a growth rate of 8% over the next three years in terms of transactions in local currencies. Specifically, the bloc currently transacts 22% in alliance currencies, which it hopes to reach 30% by the year 2026. Therefore, the development will help BRICS nations move away from US dollar lending and promote their currencies in the process.
Saturday, February 17, 2024
The anti-Christ of products...
Tue, Feb 13, 2024 at 4:51 PM
- The Surgeon General makes the following points:The MRNA vaccines are contaminated with foreign DNA.
- The foreign DNA can enter the DNA of the vaccinated.
- The foreign DNA can change the DNA of the vaccinated.
- MRNA vaccines are the anti-Christ of products.
- We are in a spiritual war.
- Plus, much more...
The interview covers only the first 18 minutes.
Tucker Carlson 2/13/24: Could foreign DNA enter your cells through the mRNA COVID vax and change your DNA — and humanity itself — forever? Sounds nutty. It's not. "Absolutely that could happen," says Dr. Joseph Ladapo, the surgeon general of Florida. A shocking conversation.
Alternate links to Tucker Carlton's Network channel:
On X (Twitter):
Friday, February 16, 2024
Thursday, February 15, 2024
Wednesday, February 14, 2024
Tuesday, February 13, 2024
Monday, February 12, 2024
Rockefeller’s Dream: Global Governance Through ‘Climate Change’
Rockefeller’s Dream: Global Governance Through ‘Climate Change’
Like the left's “long march through the institutions,” David Rockefeller played the long game.
by PAUL E. SCATES
December 9, 2023, 10:35 PM
David Rockefeller, grandson of oil magnate John D. and longtime head of the Chase Manhattan Bank, must be laughing his head off right now, for his global government dream might come into existence through one of the most ridiculous and unbelievable scams in history, called “climate change.”
So, “global warming” was invented by men who are still committed to eliminating over seven billion humans from the earth.
Rockefeller created, funded, or joined various secret societies that spawned globalist conspiracy theories, such as the Council on Foreign Relations, the Bilderberg Group, and the Trilateral Commission, and Rockefeller often stoked those theories with provocative statements:“Some even believe we (the Rockefeller family) are … conspiring with others around the world to build a more integrated global political and economic structure — one world, if you will. If that’s the charge, I stand guilty, and I am proud of it.” [David Rockefeller, Memoirs]
“But [today] the world is more sophisticated and prepared to march towards a world government.” [1991 speech at Bilderberg meeting in Berlin]
Another Rockefeller-funded group is the Club of Rome, co-founded by Italian industrialist Aurelio Peccei and Scotsman Alexander King in 1968, whose stated goal was to reduce the world’s population to a “sustainable” level of between 500 million and 1 billion people. Their 1972 book, The Limits to Growth, explained their Malthusian vision: too many people on earth, using too much of the planet’s resources, would result in a catastrophic world-wide societal collapse within 100 years “if something wasn’t done immediately.” They believed that only a world government could implement that “something.” (READ MORE: VIDEO: Kerry Promises to Get Rid of Coal Faster. That’s Not Good.)
Fast-forward to today, when we’re scolded by climate zealots that “we only have 12 years left to save the planet” from the effects of global warming. Same scaremongering, just a shorter timeframe.
In both cases the dire warnings were just useful lies, as the Club of Rome openly admitted in 1991 in a book titled The First Global Revolution, co-authored by co-founder Alexander King. In the intro to Part II, he quoted French futurist Gaston Berger: “We must no longer wait for tomorrow; it has to be invented.” So invent they did: King noted that the end of the Cold War resulted in the sudden absence of traditional enemies against which support for global government could be justified. He wrote, “In searching for a new enemy to unite us, we came up with the idea that … the threat of global warming … would fit the bill.” (italics mine)
So “global warming” was invented, a new Frankenstein’s monster against which the gullible world would zealously unite. But, just like Miss Shelly’s frightful creature, “global warming” (later “climate change”) is an imaginary monster; the real threat to human society are the “solutions” proposed and backed by avid globalists.
I had thought that the Club of Rome was just a group of bored elitists who would quickly move on to EST, Scientology, etc., but I was wrong. In a 2017 interview, co-author of The Limits to Growth (and World Economic Forum member) Dennis Meadows said that “86 percent of the world’s population needs to be eliminated. But a benevolent dictator could accomplish that peacefully.” (italics mine)
So, “global warming” was invented by men who are still committed to eliminating over seven billion humans from the earth, men who recognize that only a global government can accomplish that task.
Another David Rockefeller protégé was Canadian millionaire Maurice (pronounced “Morris”) Strong. A high school dropout, at age 18 he met Rockefeller, who took Strong under his wing, introducing him to “the Canadian Rockefellers,” the Desmarais family. Strong went to work for them in the Alberta oil fields, and by age 28 was a millionaire, at which time Rockefeller got him his first job at the United Nations. (READ MORE: Al Gore for President)
In 1972, Strong was selected to head the UN’s new Environment Program (UNEP), where he convened the first international expert group on climate issues, and created the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Under the UNFCCC, he formed the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the body that provides the climate Assessment Reports that have been termed “the Environmentalists’ Bible” (that the computer models used for those assessments have been repeatedly and embarrassingly wrong hasn’t deterred climate zealots from renewed hysteria at every IPCC report release).
Strong is credited with coining the term “climate change” when “global warming” became awkward due to declining global temperatures starting around the year 2000. His most important legacy, though, is the UN’s Agenda 21/Sustainable Development program, unveiled in 1972 (rebranded in 2015 as Agenda 2030).
Agenda 21/2030 is the blueprint of the global government scheme, using “climate change” as its alluring mask. In the UN’s own words, it “will require a profound re-orientation of all humans, unlike anything the world has ever experienced.” Such as the massive redistribution of wealth from Western democracies to the developing world: “Between $3.3–$4.5 trillion per year … to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.” That staggering amount would cripple the Western economies, thus removing a major barrier to global government — the ultimate goal of the “climate change” ruse.
Agenda 21/2030, Chapter 4 calls for drastically reducing consumption and production of everything, which comports nicely with the Club of Rome’s 2018 Climate Emergency Plan, which calls for halving consumption/production and halting all fossil fuel investment. (Neither document addresses the millions of jobs that would destroy, or the poverty and vulnerability of the populace that would ensue.) Chapter 5 almost lets the cat out of the bag, blaming the growth of world population for “placing increasingly severe stress on our planet.” Chapter 7 calls for an end to private property, claiming that “social justice … can only be achieved if land is used in the interests of society-as-a-whole.”
Lest you think I’m misinterpreting the true goals of Agenda 21/2030, in 1991 Maurice Strong wrote in a report for the UN’s Conference on Environment and Development: “Current lifestyles and consumption patterns of the affluent middle class — high meat intake, use of fossil fuels, home and workplace air-conditioning and suburban housing — are not sustainable.” (italics mine). So “the good life” that most humans aspire to must be abandoned to “save the planet.” But is it worth saving the planet if most of us must exist only in wrenching poverty, disease, and hopelessness?
It’s telling that Strong was on the board of the Club of Rome, the group that invented “global warming” to justify its call for global government largely to eliminate seven billion people from the planet. He wrote in his autobiography (Where on Earth Are We Going?) that the death of two-thirds of humanity would be “a glimmer of hope” for the future. So the man most responsible for the decades-long climate hysteria was a committed de-population advocate. But there’s more.
Maurice Strong was also a Foundation Director of the World Economic Forum (WEF), Klaus Schwab’s “self-selected coalition” with the answers to all the world’s problems. Upon Strong’s death in 2015, Schwab credited him with being “my mentor since the creation of the Forum.” In 1973 Klaus Schwab invited Club of Rome co-founder Peccei to give the keynote address at the European Management Symposium (later the World Economic Forum), providing an influential global audience for the Club’s de-population ideas. (READ MORE: A Climate Change Believer’s Curse)
There is yet another Rockefeller connection to the UN and the WEF: Rockefeller’s longtime friend Henry Kissinger tutored Schwab for two years at Harvard’s International Business Seminar, and Schwab named him (along with Strong) as a mentor. Kissinger was the architect of the secret 1974 U.S. National Security Study Memorandum 200, which called for abortion on demand, widespread birth control, and sterilization to stem global fertility rates and “overpopulation.”
In 2019, Schwab signed an agreement with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to “accelerate the implementation of Agenda 2030 across the globe.” And oh, my, has Herr Schwab “accelerated” that process! A 2019 WEF video titled, “8 Predictions for 2030” gives the lie to the “factcheckers” at CNN, Reuters, USA Today, and others who deny that the WEF ever claimed “you’ll own nothing and be happy,” for that is the first of the eight predictions.
Aside from the questionable science of climate change, it’s the same old hackneyed lust for power and control by a small group of elites.
The video also calls for a merging of capitalism and socialism, more government intervention in the lives of citizens “for fairness,” and more public/private partnerships (once known as “fascism,” where corporations collude with government to make a shambles of Constitutional rights and free markets). Again, the aim of all this is to cripple the Western democracies, smoothing the way for globalist control. Rockefeller’s minions at the UN and the WEF are getting closer to that goal.
In his book The Great Reset, Schwab proposes “to change and move on from free-market capitalism,” replacing it with his idea of “stakeholder capitalism,” which requires companies to consider the interests of employees, customers, suppliers, and community instead of just investors (thus the ESG and DEI travesties). But Schwab’s scheme is modeled after a 1937 Nazi Shareholder Law that required companies to consider “public welfare before individual gain.” Just another lie supporting the “necessity” of draconian actions that will decimate Western societies, clearing the path for globalist control.
In light of this evidence, it seems that the “climate change” hysteria that has overtaken Western institutions has less to do with the problems associated with a changing climate and much to do with global elites’ efforts to acquire power and control for their de-population schemes, and possibly even for their own enrichment. But here is the bottom line: Eliminating fossil fuels, the basis of the modern world economy, will effectively return us to the material world of the mid-1800s, depriving the rest of us of the means and wherewithal necessary to resist the globalists’ dictates.
The unquestioning zealotry of the virtue-signaling supporters of Net Zero, “sustainable development,” and the elimination of fossil fuels are blissfully making that gloomy future a certainty, decrying “greedy capitalists” even as they mindlessly help create a real tyranny of wealthy elitist masters. (READ MORE: Whitmer Signs Michigan’s Green New Dystopia)
Aside from the questionable science of climate change, it’s the same old hackneyed lust for power and control by a small group of elites … only this time the whole world has fallen for it because it’s disguised as a noble cause to “save the planet.” But in that 2017 interview, Limits to Growth co-author Dennis Meadows explained that de-population (under the guise of climate change) was necessary “in order to maintain the survivors’ freedom and standard of living.” Not such a noble cause after all, is it?
Like the communists’ “long march through the institutions,” David Rockefeller played the long game, and placed his minions in positions of influence and power to eventually achieve his globalist dream. The Club of Rome, the UN, Agenda 2030, Klaus Schwab and the Great Reset … are all part of the pre-determined “solution” to the false crisis of “climate change,” a solution that gives them the global power and control they’d never be able to achieve otherwise. Somewhere, David Rockefeller is smiling.
Sunday, February 11, 2024
Friday, February 09, 2024
Church and State Separation Is Breaking Down Before Our Eyes
OUR TRUE HERITAGE
One of us, a non-believing member of Congress, went to the recent National Prayer Breakfast. Christian nationalists moved it to the Capitol for the first time.
Rep. Jared Huffman
Andrew L. Seidel
Updated Feb. 08, 2024 6:28PM EST / Published Feb. 08, 2024 6:09PM EST
OPINION
Photo Illustration by Luis G. Rendon/The Daily Beast/Getty
Washington, D.C. is home to hundreds of churches; any would have been a more fitting location for a Christian church service like last week’s National Prayer Breakfast than the U.S. Capitol. In the prestigious National Cathedral, for instance, 4,000 worshippers could have enjoyed Andrea Bocelli’s melodious tenor and the Christian speakers, sermons, and prayers.
Unfortunately, some members of Congress—oblivious or hostile to church-state separation—are determined to make this annual Christian ceremony a government-run, taxpayer-funded institution, stamped with the imprimatur of Congress and the president. Essentially, a state church.
Last week, Speaker Mike Johnson, a strident Christian nationalist, moved the historically private National Prayer Breakfast into the heart of the U.S. Capitol, Statuary Hall, a blow to the separation of church and state he has long scorned.
The rationale for the National Prayer Breakfast—that our leaders must unite in Christian prayer because “the challenges that face them cannot be solved in their own strength”—ignores a lot of history.
When the Constitutional Convention deadlocked in June 1787, for example, Ben Franklin noted that the founders rejected his proposal for a prayer as “unnecessary.” Maybe that was because the first congressional chaplain turned out to be a traitor; or because framers saw no need for “calling in foreign aid” as Alexander Hamilton, perhaps apocryphally, put it; or that there were “no funds” for a prayer, as one delegate argued.
Our founders were focused on something more important, the most revolutionary act they would take that summer: creating humanity’s first secular government. Separation of church and state is an American original, born of the Enlightenment and implemented as a bold experiment. No other nation had sought to protect the ability of citizens to think and worship freely by divorcing religion and government. For 237 years, this “Wall of Separation” has succeeded spectacularly at protecting religious freedom, fostering a pluralistic democracy, and forestalling the abuses inherent in theocracies.
Christian nationalists, however, have never stopped trying to undermine it.
The National Prayer Breakfast began in 1953, part of the “golden age” of McCarthy-era Christian nationalism that brought the National Day of Prayer, “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance, and “In God We Trust” as the national motto.
It was more than a response to godless communists, more than the “Jesus plus nothing” motto of the shadowy nonprofit (“The Family”) behind the breakfast; it was also about right-wing politics.
I’m a Cradle Catholic. I Don’t Want Christian Nationalism.
NOT IN THIS HOUSE
Alex Thomas
Princeton historian Kevin Kruse describes it as part of a coordinated attack on the New Deal by an unholy alliance of big business and conservative clergy. Building power and access for that alliance has defined the event ever since, as its many scandals illustrate. The breakfast has been an “influence-peddling bazaar” for lobbyists and foreign agents, riddled with anti-LGBTQ hatred. Last year, “The Family” funded a trip for 2023 Prayer Breakfast Co-Chair Rep. Tim Walberg (R-MI) to urge Uganda to “stand firm” behind it’s death penalty for LGBTQ people.
In a misguided damage control effort, Congress partially took over the event in 2023 and 2024. But they’ve created a host of new problems by holding an exclusionary Christian ceremony in the sanctum sanctorum of secular democracy.
“All faiths” were supposedly welcome, but who were they kidding? Jews, Muslims, Hindus, and other non-Christians were implicitly disinvited by “gathering in the spirit of Jesus and calling on the Lord in prayer,” at a program indistinguishable from a Christian church service.
“Nones” like us—people who identify as atheists, Humanists, agnostics, or nothing in particular—were categorically excluded. One of us, Rep. Jared Huffman (D-CA), Congress’ only Humanist, raised eyebrows by attending anyway as a quiet protest.
A congressman who loves America and wants to pray for it in his own non-religious way should never feel unwelcome in Statuary Hall. The Prayer Breakfast’s exalting of Christian privilege divides America along religious lines and flouts the equality our Constitution enshrines.
Anticipating accusations of “persecution” (the ultimate projection of Christian privilege), let us be clear: every American, and every member of Congress, is free to be Christian. But those who arrogantly seek to impose Christianity as a national religion should consider Ben Franklin’s admonition: “When a Religion is good, I conceive that it will support itself; and, when it cannot support itself, and God does not take care to support, so that its Professors are obliged to call for the help of the Civil Power, it is a sign, I apprehend, of its being a bad one.”
The co-chair of this year’s breakfast, Rep. Tracey Mann (R-KS), closed the program by proclaiming Christian prayer “our heritage.” Maybe for some, but not everyone.
A more universal part of our heritage—one that respects diversity, protects religious freedom, and is enshrined in the Constitution—is separation of church and state. Congress should reaffirm that great American heritage by fully disassociating from the National Prayer Breakfast.
U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman represents California’s 2nd Congressional District and is a co-founder and co-chair of the Congressional Freethought Caucus.
Andrew L. Seidel is a constitutional attorney, VP at Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and author of The Founding Myth and American Crusade.
One of us, a non-believing member of Congress, went to the recent National Prayer Breakfast. Christian nationalists moved it to the Capitol for the first time.
Rep. Jared Huffman
Andrew L. Seidel
Updated Feb. 08, 2024 6:28PM EST / Published Feb. 08, 2024 6:09PM EST
OPINION
Photo Illustration by Luis G. Rendon/The Daily Beast/Getty
Washington, D.C. is home to hundreds of churches; any would have been a more fitting location for a Christian church service like last week’s National Prayer Breakfast than the U.S. Capitol. In the prestigious National Cathedral, for instance, 4,000 worshippers could have enjoyed Andrea Bocelli’s melodious tenor and the Christian speakers, sermons, and prayers.
Unfortunately, some members of Congress—oblivious or hostile to church-state separation—are determined to make this annual Christian ceremony a government-run, taxpayer-funded institution, stamped with the imprimatur of Congress and the president. Essentially, a state church.
Last week, Speaker Mike Johnson, a strident Christian nationalist, moved the historically private National Prayer Breakfast into the heart of the U.S. Capitol, Statuary Hall, a blow to the separation of church and state he has long scorned.
The rationale for the National Prayer Breakfast—that our leaders must unite in Christian prayer because “the challenges that face them cannot be solved in their own strength”—ignores a lot of history.
When the Constitutional Convention deadlocked in June 1787, for example, Ben Franklin noted that the founders rejected his proposal for a prayer as “unnecessary.” Maybe that was because the first congressional chaplain turned out to be a traitor; or because framers saw no need for “calling in foreign aid” as Alexander Hamilton, perhaps apocryphally, put it; or that there were “no funds” for a prayer, as one delegate argued.
Our founders were focused on something more important, the most revolutionary act they would take that summer: creating humanity’s first secular government. Separation of church and state is an American original, born of the Enlightenment and implemented as a bold experiment. No other nation had sought to protect the ability of citizens to think and worship freely by divorcing religion and government. For 237 years, this “Wall of Separation” has succeeded spectacularly at protecting religious freedom, fostering a pluralistic democracy, and forestalling the abuses inherent in theocracies.
Christian nationalists, however, have never stopped trying to undermine it.
The National Prayer Breakfast began in 1953, part of the “golden age” of McCarthy-era Christian nationalism that brought the National Day of Prayer, “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance, and “In God We Trust” as the national motto.
It was more than a response to godless communists, more than the “Jesus plus nothing” motto of the shadowy nonprofit (“The Family”) behind the breakfast; it was also about right-wing politics.
I’m a Cradle Catholic. I Don’t Want Christian Nationalism.
NOT IN THIS HOUSE
Alex Thomas
Princeton historian Kevin Kruse describes it as part of a coordinated attack on the New Deal by an unholy alliance of big business and conservative clergy. Building power and access for that alliance has defined the event ever since, as its many scandals illustrate. The breakfast has been an “influence-peddling bazaar” for lobbyists and foreign agents, riddled with anti-LGBTQ hatred. Last year, “The Family” funded a trip for 2023 Prayer Breakfast Co-Chair Rep. Tim Walberg (R-MI) to urge Uganda to “stand firm” behind it’s death penalty for LGBTQ people.
In a misguided damage control effort, Congress partially took over the event in 2023 and 2024. But they’ve created a host of new problems by holding an exclusionary Christian ceremony in the sanctum sanctorum of secular democracy.
“All faiths” were supposedly welcome, but who were they kidding? Jews, Muslims, Hindus, and other non-Christians were implicitly disinvited by “gathering in the spirit of Jesus and calling on the Lord in prayer,” at a program indistinguishable from a Christian church service.
“Nones” like us—people who identify as atheists, Humanists, agnostics, or nothing in particular—were categorically excluded. One of us, Rep. Jared Huffman (D-CA), Congress’ only Humanist, raised eyebrows by attending anyway as a quiet protest.
A congressman who loves America and wants to pray for it in his own non-religious way should never feel unwelcome in Statuary Hall. The Prayer Breakfast’s exalting of Christian privilege divides America along religious lines and flouts the equality our Constitution enshrines.
Anticipating accusations of “persecution” (the ultimate projection of Christian privilege), let us be clear: every American, and every member of Congress, is free to be Christian. But those who arrogantly seek to impose Christianity as a national religion should consider Ben Franklin’s admonition: “When a Religion is good, I conceive that it will support itself; and, when it cannot support itself, and God does not take care to support, so that its Professors are obliged to call for the help of the Civil Power, it is a sign, I apprehend, of its being a bad one.”
The co-chair of this year’s breakfast, Rep. Tracey Mann (R-KS), closed the program by proclaiming Christian prayer “our heritage.” Maybe for some, but not everyone.
A more universal part of our heritage—one that respects diversity, protects religious freedom, and is enshrined in the Constitution—is separation of church and state. Congress should reaffirm that great American heritage by fully disassociating from the National Prayer Breakfast.
U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman represents California’s 2nd Congressional District and is a co-founder and co-chair of the Congressional Freethought Caucus.
Andrew L. Seidel is a constitutional attorney, VP at Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and author of The Founding Myth and American Crusade.
Thursday, February 08, 2024
The Greatest Need
Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Psalm 51:7.
A revival of true godliness among us is the greatest and most urgent of all our needs. To seek this should be our first work. There must be earnest effort to obtain the blessing of the Lord, not because God is not willing to bestow His blessing upon us, but because we are unprepared to receive it. Our heavenly Father is more willing to give His Holy Spirit to them that ask Him than are earthly parents to give good gifts to their children. But it is our work, by confession, humiliation, repentance, and earnest prayer, to fulfill the conditions upon which God has promised to grant us His blessing.
A revival need be expected only in answer to prayer. While the people are so destitute of God's Holy Spirit, they cannot appreciate the preaching of the Word; but when the Spirit's power touches their hearts, then the discourses given will not be without effect. Guided by the teachings of God's Word, with the manifestation of His Spirit, in the exercise of sound discretion, those who attend our meetings will gain a precious experience, and returning home will be prepared to exert a healthful influence.
The old standard-bearers knew what it was to wrestle with God in prayer, and to enjoy the outpouring of His Spirit. But these are passing off from the stage of action; and who are coming up to fill their places? How is it with the rising generation? Are they converted to God? Are we awake to the work that is going on in the heavenly sanctuary, or are we waiting for some compelling power to come upon the church before we shall arouse? Are we hoping to see the whole church revived? That time will never come.
There are persons in the church who are not converted, and who will not unite in earnest, prevailing prayer. We must enter upon the work individually. We must pray more, and talk less.—The Review and Herald, March 22, 1887.
Ye Shall Receive Power, p. 283.
(Jesuit) Priest Issues 'Red Flag' Warning About Mike Johnson Remarks
Story by Rachel Dobkin
House Speaker Mike Johnson speaks to the press at the U.S. Capitol on February 06, 2024, in Washington, DC.© Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
A priest issued a "red flag" warning on Wednesday about House Speaker Mike Johnson's remarks at an event hosted by the National Association of Christian Lawmakers (NACL) late last year.
Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, was voted in as Speaker in late October 2023 after three weeks of turmoil as House GOP members struggled to elect a leader. Johnson was picked to head the House after former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican, was ousted in an effort led by his Republican colleagues.
In early December 2023, Johnson gave a keynote speech at the NACL's annual meeting and awards gala. The NACL has been labeled as a far-right Christian nationalist group. During his speech, Johnson compared his journey to the speakership to that of Moses parting the Red Sea, a famous biblical story.
"The Lord told me very clearly to prepare, be ready. Be ready for what? Ok, I don't know. We're coming to a Red Sea moment. What does that mean, Lord?" Johnson said. "And then when the Speaker's race happened and Kevin McCarthy, who is a dear friend of mine was deposed, vacated from the chair. Oh wow, well this is what the Lord may have been preparing us for."
"And so, I started praying more about that and the Lord began to wake me up through this three-week process ... now at the time, I assumed the Lord is going to choose a new Moses and, Oh, thank you, Lord you're gonna allow me to be Aaron to Moses."
Aaron was a prophet of Moses, appointed by God, according to the Book of Exodus. Johnson talked about trying to help Majority Leader Steve Scalise, a fellow Louisiana Republican, Representative Jim Jordan, an Ohio Republican, and Majority Whip Tom Emmer, a Minnesota Republican, in their campaigns for Speaker, which were either cut short or failed when brought to a vote on the floor.
"Ultimately 13 people ran for the post. And the Lord kept telling me to wait, wait, wait, so I waited, I waited and ... when it came toward the end the Lord said, Now step forward. Me? I'm supposed to be Aaron and the Lord said step forward."
James Martin, a Jesuit priest based in New York City and editor at large of America Magazine, a monthly Catholic magazine, responded to a clip of Johnson's speech that was shared online.
"A good spiritual director will tell you that insights you feel are coming from God, which are usually subtle, must be carefully tested and weighed," Martin wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Wednesday. "One red flag for spiritual directors is, 'Then God said this.' Not everything that pops into your head during prayer is from God."
When asked his thoughts on Johnson, Martin told Newsweek: "I would rather not comment on him as a person. I'm sure he is a person of faith. This was more an observation about spiritual practices and dos and don'ts."
Newsweek reached out to Johnson's office via email for comment.
Update 2/8/24, 2:33 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with comment from Martin.
Source
Wednesday, February 07, 2024
Free to choose whether to migrate or to stay – 109th World Day of Migrants and Refugees
FREE TO CHOOSE WHETHER TO MIGRATE OR TO STAY – 109TH WORLD DAY OF MIGRANTS AND REFUGEES 22 Sep 2023
Communications Office
Stories
World Day of Migrants and Refugees 2023
24 September: World Day of Migrants and Refugees. The Church has been celebrating this day since 1914. It is always an occasion for her to express her concern for various vulnerable people, who have had to leave their homes for one reason or another; it is also an occasion to pray for them as they face many challenges.
For us, members and partners of the Society of Jesus, this is an important day. The Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) is at the heart of our social apostolate. We are actively involved in all continents in accompanying, serving and defending the rights of migrants, particularly refugees. Each year, the WDMR is celebrated on the last Sunday of September; JRS and the Society of Jesus as a whole invite us to pray and commit ourselves to the tens of millions of people forced to move and who are looking for new horizons.
Let us be guided by the words of Pope Francis in his message to us this year on the theme: “Free to choose whether to migrate or to stay”.
Photo by JRS.
“I have chosen to devote the Message for the 109th World Day of Migrants and Refugees to the freedom that should always mark the decision to leave one’s native land. “Free to leave, free to stay” was the title of an initiative of solidarity promoted several years ago by the Italian Episcopal Conference as a concrete response to the challenges posed by contemporary migration movements. From attentive listening to the Particular Churches, I have come to see that ensuring that that freedom is a widely shared pastoral concern.
Joint efforts are needed by individual countries and the international community to ensure that all enjoy the right not to be forced to emigrate, in other words, the chance to live in peace and with dignity in one’s own country. This right has yet to be codified, but it is one of fundamental importance, and its protection must be seen as a shared responsibility on the part of all States with respect to a common good that transcends national borders.
Photo by Don Doll SJ.
Indeed, since the world’s resources are not unlimited, the development of the economically poorer countries depends on the capacity for sharing that we can manage to generate among all countries. Until this right is guaranteed - and here we are speaking of a long process - many people will still have to emigrate in order to seek a better life.
As we work to ensure that in every case migration is the fruit of a free decision, we are called to show maximum respect for the dignity of each migrant; this entails accompanying and managing waves of migration as best we can, constructing bridges and not walls, expanding channels for a safe and regular migration. In whatever place we decide to build our future, in the country of our birth or elsewhere, the important thing is that there always be a community ready to welcome, protect, promote and integrate everyone, without distinctions and without excluding anyone.”
Tuesday, February 06, 2024
U.S. Jesuits bolster outreach initiative aimed at encouraging LGBTQ Catholics
The program hit a milestone with the appointment of journalist and author Michael O’Loughlin as its first executive director.
From left, the Rev. James Martin, Archbishop John Wester and the Rev. Eric Andrews at the closing Mass for the Outreach conference in New York on June 18.Cristobal Spielmann / America Media via AP file
Feb. 6, 2024, 12:42 PM EST / Source: The Associated Press
By The Associated Press
Even as Catholic dogma continues to repudiate same-sex marriage and gender transition, one of the most prominent religious orders in the United States — the Jesuits — is strengthening a unique outreach program for LGBTQ Catholics.
The initiative — fittingly called Outreach — was founded two years ago by the Rev. James Martin, a Jesuit who is one of the country’s most prominent advocates for greater LGBTQ inclusion in the Catholic Church.
Outreach, a ministry of the Jesuit magazine America, sponsored conferences in New York City in 2022 and 2023, and last year launched a multifaceted website with news, essays and information about Catholic LGBTQ resources and events.
On Tuesday, there was another milestone for Outreach — the appointment of journalist and author Michael O’Loughlin as its first executive director.
O’Loughlin, a former staff writer at online newspaper Crux, has been the national correspondent at America. He is the author of a book recounting the varied ways that Catholics in the U.S. responded to the AIDS crisis of the 1980s and ’90s — “Hidden Mercy: AIDS, Catholics, and the Untold Stories of Compassion in the Face of Fear.”
O’Loughlin told The Associated Press he’s excited by his new job, viewing it as a chance to expand the range of Outreach’s programs and the national scope of its community.
“It’s an opportunity to highlight the ways LGBT people can be Catholic and active in parishes, ministries and charities,” he said. “There’s a lot of fear about to being too public about it. ... I want them to realize they’re not alone.”
O’Loughlin says his current outlook evolved as he traveled to scores of places around the U.S. to promote his book, talking to groups of LGBTQ+ Catholics, and their families and friends, about how to make the church more welcoming to them.
Those conversations made O’Loughlin increasingly comfortable publicly identifying as a gay Catholic after years of wondering whether he should remain in the church. Its doctrine still condemns any sexual relations between gay or lesbian partners as “intrinsically disordered.”
The latest expansion of Outreach occurs amid a time of division within the global Catholic Church as it grapples with LGBTQ issues.
Pope Francis, a Jesuit who has met with Martin and sent letters of support to Outreach, has made clear he favors a more welcoming approach to LGBTQ people. At his direction, the Vatican recently gave priests greater leeway to bless same-sex couples and asserted that transgender people, in some circumstances, can be baptized.
Feb. 6, 2024, 12:42 PM EST / Source: The Associated Press
By The Associated Press
Even as Catholic dogma continues to repudiate same-sex marriage and gender transition, one of the most prominent religious orders in the United States — the Jesuits — is strengthening a unique outreach program for LGBTQ Catholics.
The initiative — fittingly called Outreach — was founded two years ago by the Rev. James Martin, a Jesuit who is one of the country’s most prominent advocates for greater LGBTQ inclusion in the Catholic Church.
Outreach, a ministry of the Jesuit magazine America, sponsored conferences in New York City in 2022 and 2023, and last year launched a multifaceted website with news, essays and information about Catholic LGBTQ resources and events.
On Tuesday, there was another milestone for Outreach — the appointment of journalist and author Michael O’Loughlin as its first executive director.
O’Loughlin, a former staff writer at online newspaper Crux, has been the national correspondent at America. He is the author of a book recounting the varied ways that Catholics in the U.S. responded to the AIDS crisis of the 1980s and ’90s — “Hidden Mercy: AIDS, Catholics, and the Untold Stories of Compassion in the Face of Fear.”
O’Loughlin told The Associated Press he’s excited by his new job, viewing it as a chance to expand the range of Outreach’s programs and the national scope of its community.
“It’s an opportunity to highlight the ways LGBT people can be Catholic and active in parishes, ministries and charities,” he said. “There’s a lot of fear about to being too public about it. ... I want them to realize they’re not alone.”
O’Loughlin says his current outlook evolved as he traveled to scores of places around the U.S. to promote his book, talking to groups of LGBTQ+ Catholics, and their families and friends, about how to make the church more welcoming to them.
Those conversations made O’Loughlin increasingly comfortable publicly identifying as a gay Catholic after years of wondering whether he should remain in the church. Its doctrine still condemns any sexual relations between gay or lesbian partners as “intrinsically disordered.”
The latest expansion of Outreach occurs amid a time of division within the global Catholic Church as it grapples with LGBTQ issues.
Pope Francis, a Jesuit who has met with Martin and sent letters of support to Outreach, has made clear he favors a more welcoming approach to LGBTQ people. At his direction, the Vatican recently gave priests greater leeway to bless same-sex couples and asserted that transgender people, in some circumstances, can be baptized.
However, there has been some resistance to the pope’s approach. Many conservative bishops in Africa, Europe and elsewhere said they would not implement the new policy regarding blessings. In the U.S., some bishops have issued directives effectively ordering diocesan personnel not to recognize transgender people’s gender identity.
Amid those conflicting developments, Martin and other Jesuit leaders are proud of Outreach’s accomplishments and optimistic about its future.
“There seems to be deep hunger for the kind of ministry that we’re doing, not only among LGBTQ Catholics, but also their families and friends,” Martin said by email from Ireland, where he was meeting last week with the country’s Catholic bishops.
“Pope Francis has been very encouraging, allowing himself to be interviewed by Outreach and sending personal greetings to our conference last year,” Martin added. “Perhaps the most surprising support has been from several bishops who have written for our website, as well as some top-notch Catholic theologians who see the need for serious theological reflection on LGBTQ topics.”
Martin will remain engaged in Outreach’s oversight, holding the title of founder.
The Rev. Brian Paulson, president of the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States, evoked both Jesus and the pope when asked why his order had embraced the mission of Outreach.
“Pope Francis has repeatedly called leaders in the Catholic church to emulate the way Jesus spent his ministry on the peripheries, accompanying those who had experienced exclusion,” Paulson said email. “I think the work of Outreach is a response to this invitation.”
Paulson also said he was impressed by Martin’s “grace and patience” in responding to the often harsh criticism directed at him by some conservative Catholics.
There was ample evidence of Outreach’s stature at its conference last June at a branch of Fordham University in New York City. The event was preceded by a handwritten letter of support sent to Martin by Pope Francis, extending “prayers and good wishes” to the participants.
“It’s a special grace for LGBTQ Catholics to know that the pope is praying for them,” Martin said.
Another welcoming letter came from Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the archbishop of New York.
“It is the sacred duty of the Church and Her ministers to reach out to those on the periphery,” he wrote to the conference attendees.
The keynote speakers included Fordham’s president, Tania Tetlow, and the closing Mass was celebrated by Archbishop John Wester of Santa Fe, New Mexico.