Saturday, June 20, 2009

What shall it profit?


For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
Mark 8:36
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Friday, June 19, 2009

Continued activism urged at annual religious liberty forum in Washington

Congressman Cleaver calls for focus on commonalities instead of differences
19 Jun 2009, Washington, D.C., United States
Ansel Oliver/ANN




U.S. Congressman Emanuel Cleaver II urged religious freedom proponents to focus on commonalities instead of differences during his keynote address of the Religious Liberty Dinner in Washington, Thursday, June 18. Cleaver, a democrat, represents the state of Missouri's 5th district. [photo: Megan Brauner]



A United States congressman told religious freedom proponents in Washington D.C. yesterday that while much has been done to further religious freedom, more needs to be done.

Emanuel Cleaver II, co-chair of the International Religious Freedom Caucus, said religious liberty violations are often committed unintentionally by governments fearful of losing control and actively exercising power.

"Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, freedom of conscience and freedom of religion, yet persecutions and atrocities are still taking place," Cleaver told some 300 attendees of a religious freedom forum.

His remarks at the 7th Annual Religious Liberty Dinner in Washington D.C. underscored the case of hundreds of millions of people still mistreated because of their faith now more than 60 years after Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Some experts estimate there are more than 300 people around the world persecuted for their faith, ranging from prohibition of conversion to cases of workplace discrimination.

"The choice to privately or publicly practice a religious belief or the choice to abstain from a religious belief or the choice to change one's own religious beliefs is unmistakably fundamental to human rights," Cleaver said.

Political differences were set aside for the evening. An ordained United Methodist Minister and a democrat, Cleaver implored religious leaders focus on commonalities instead of differences. He also mentioned that last year's speaker, Trent Franks, a republican and also a member of the International Religious Freedom Caucus is in Cleaver's opposing party. But [he] and I are twins when it comes to religious freedom," Cleaver said.

Other past speakers include Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who was the time a senator from New York, as well as Senators John Kerry and John McCain.

The annual event is sponsored by the North American Religious Liberty Association, Liberty magazine and the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Freedom of conscience supporters use the forum as an opportunity to meet the key people in Washington and those able to influence policy in other countries.

The dinner was also an opportunity for sponsoring organizations to share reports on current religious freedom work. Since 2005, the International Religious Liberty Association (IRLA) has held 20 worldwide festivals to recognize countries where religious freedom is guaranteed and practiced. The organization's secretary-general, John Graz, said that while true religious freedom is non-existent in too many countries, religious freedom exists in more than 150 countries.

Several religious liberty proponents were also recognized for their work.

The recipient of the Religious Liberty Dinner's International Award, Denton Lotz, is the former general secretary of the Baptist World Alliance. He currently serves as the IRLA president.

"We're here tonight as coreligionists of all different traditions because we believe that religious freedom is an inherent right for all humanity," Lotz said. "We believe that where religious freedom is denied, all other freedoms are denied."

Rabbi David Saperstein received the National Award for his work as director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism. He also serves on the White House Advisory Council on Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships.

This year's A.T. Jones medal was awarded to Alan J. Reinach, president of the North American Religious Liberty Association--West. The attorney and Seventh-day Adventist minister represents employees who have suffered religious discrimination.



"Source: Adventist News Network"

Source: http://news.adventist.org/2009/06/continued-activism-u.html
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Former Adventist Church president for West Indies region knighted by Queen

Sir Patrick Allen joins the Order of St. Michael and St. George

15 Jun 2009, Silver Spring, Maryland, United States
Mark A. Kellner/News Editor, Adventist World






Britain's Queen Elizabeth II knighted governor-general of Jamaica Sir Patrick Allen when he was presented his credentials during a private audience in Buckingham Palace. Allen, former church president for the West Indies region, was made a knight commander of the Order of St. Michael and St. George. [photo: Mark Kellner]

The first Seventh-day Adventist pastor to serve as governor-general of Jamaica is now a Knight Commander of the Order of St. Michael and St. George. Queen Elizabeth II knighted Sir Patrick Allen, former president for the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the West Indies region, in a June 12 ceremony at Buckingham Palace.

The order is "awarded to men and women of high office, or who render extraordinary or important non-military service in a foreign country," according to the British monarchy's official Web site.

Allen became Jamaica's sixth governor-general February 26, shortly after stepping down as the church's president in the region.

Allen said that while he missed church work, he was "sure and confident that this is what the Lord wants me to do now."

"As much as I miss it, I am aware that my service is in a broader scope," Allen said.

Elected president of the West Indies region in 2000, Allen began his pastoral service in the church in 1981, after a decade of working for the Jamaican government.

"Source: Adventist News Network"

Source: http://news.adventist.org/2009/06/former-adventist-chu-1.html
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World Renowned Canadian Novelist Michael O'Brien Warns about Globalization and New World Order


By John-Henry Westen

OTTAWA, April 1, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In an extensively researched article, 'Globalization and the New World Order,' which has been reproduced widely during the past week, the well-known Canadian author, Michael D. O'Brien, discusses recent developments in globalization and what they may portend for the future. (To read the complete article see: http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009_docs/GlobalizationFinal.pdf)

O'Brien warns that the globalization we are currently experiencing has the unprecedented potential for bringing about a one-world government, with the subsequent dangers to individual and national freedoms. O'Brien cites the devastating effect of the E.U. and the U.N. on the "moral and psychological geography of man," notably through their anti-family and anti-population policies.

He notes that the original post-war founders of the European Economic Community, from which the E.U. evolved, envisioned a federalism of independent states informed by Christian ethics. Says O'Brien: "This concept was gradually and deliberately mutated by secular humanists into its present openly anti-Christian policies and the creation of a continental super-state. The process has proven so effective in shifting self-determining nations into submission to larger governing bodies that it cannot help but be emulated on a still larger scale."

Citing John Paul II's encyclical Centessimus Annus and the writings of Benedict XVI, O'Brien points out that no truly human system of government can exist unless it places itself "at the service of human freedom in its totality." This cannot be bypassed, O'Brien argues, "without immense negative consequences in terms of human misery and destruction of human life. This concept must be a non-negotiable part of the foundation of any authentically human system of economics and government."

To read the complete article see: http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009_docs/GlobalizationFinal.pdf

The following excerpts from the article are especially to be noted:

QUOTE: "Those who undertake the building of an ideal planetary society will find that it is a great deal less easy to accomplish than they anticipated. That will be their moment of testing. In the best-case scenario, they might come to admit that genuine diversity and a broad spectrum of independent sovereignties is, after all, a healthier system of governing the people of the world-imperfect as always, but the best means of maintaining freedom. Or, driven by a pride that approaches the level of satanic, they may push onward, imposing the new order regardless of the opposition, dismissing whatever valid arguments the resistance may put forward. And if the resistance is strong, a very big stick will be needed. There will be imprisonment for those who resist (or even dissent from) the perceived 'common good.' The new rulers will justify the loss of freedoms by promoting everywhere the illusion that the successful realization of the dream is the highest good, worth any sacrifice. ('It is better that one man should die than the entire nation be destroyed,' said Caiaphas).

Translated into modern terms: 'It is better that nations should die, and some of their peoples die, than our window of opportunity for global control be lost.' Formed by and living by the deformed ethic of 'the end justifies the means', they will consider themselves to be the true visionaries, the saviours of the world. In a phrase, this is secular messianism. (see the Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 676)

QUOTE: "It is in the nature of secular messianists to believe that if mankind will not cooperate, then mankind must be forced to cooperate- for its own good, of course. They recognize that the leap from an era of nation-states to an era of one world government will not be achieved without conscious effort and a good deal of chance. They would be blind not to see the grave problems in the present world as opportunities, as necessary creative disintegration, as the catalyst in the transforming experiment. In such a situation, management by crisis overrides authentic exercise of human freedom and responsibility. But this alone will not achieve their goals. They must also capture the popular imagination with a new global ethic, one that sweeps aside the protests of those who adhere to traditional morality, consigning us to 'the garbage heap of history,' and establishing a dangerously self-righteous moralism in its place (for example, environmentalism as eco-spirituality, or the negation of gender as 'liberation')."

QUOTE: "The history of oppressive governments is the history of politicians attempting to save the world on their own terms, cut off from the guiding principles of moral absolutes. ….If we seek to understand our times with any proximate coherence, we should understand this: Every system of totalitarian rule, including and between the poles of brutal tyranny and soft-spoken control, have this in common: 1) the rejection of binding moral absolutes established by a transcendent Being; and thus: 2) the minimizing of the absolute value of human life, and 3) the elevation of the State (malignant and seemingly benign alike) as the final arbiter of good and evil.

QUOTE: "The truth is that all systems that seek to rule the Family of Man with either total or selective contempt for some portion of that family, in the end will destroy the family itself. Such systems are inherently anti-human, and thus they are also anti-Christ. It is a simple fact that all the worst manifestations of the spirit of Antichrist in history have been immediately preceded by apostasy from the Christian faith. We are now living in the midst of the greatest apostasy from the Christian faith in the history of the Church. This apostasy has been made possible not only by the external pressures brought to bear on believers by the spirit of the world, by the sins and errors of unbelievers. It has occurred largely because of the internal betrayal of the Faith by false teachers who have arisen among us, those who gradually seized our institutions in the particular churches (university faculties and other levels of education, some seminaries, diocesan organs of formation in faith, catechetical programs, and so forth) and turned them to their own purposes, which were far from the mind of Christ and far from the heart of the Church."
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In the Days of Noah (Noe)


5And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

6And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.

7And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.

8But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.......


Genesis 6:5-8.



And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.

Luke 17:26
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Thursday, June 18, 2009

Federal Reserve to gain power under plan


Targets dangers to economy
By (Contact) Tuesday, June 16, 2009


The Federal Reserve, already arguably the most powerful agency in the U.S. government, will get sweeping new authority to regulate any company whose failure could endanger the U.S. economy and markets under the Obama administration's regulatory overhaul plan.

The final plan due to be released on Wednesday -- which originally aimed to streamline and consolidate banking and securities regulation in one or two agencies -- now is expected to sidestep most jurisdictional disputes and simply impose across the board standards to be applied by all financial regulators, according to administration and industry sources.

The most likely candidate for elimination is the Office of Thrift Supervision, whose failure to detect and forestall problems at Countrywide, IndyMac, Washington Mutual and other freewheeling mortgage lenders is thought to have contributed to the financial crisis.

The decision to concentrate sweeping new powers at the already overstretched Fed is not without controversy. Sen. Christopher J. Dodd, chairman of the Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, which must approve any regulatory overhaul, has raised objections to that approach, and so has Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Sheila C. Bair.

TWT RELATED STORIES:





Ms. Bair advocates an alternative where a council of top bank regulators would make decisions on whether to step in, regulate or close major corporations like the American International Group whose failure posed a risk to the whole economy and financial system. The Fed stepped in to save AIG last year without having such powers, but the result was a costly and muddled bailout that no one wants to repeat.

To accommodate dissenting views, the administration will propose that a council of regulators advise the Fed, although the Fed will have the final say, according to administration officials. The new powers augment the Fed's existing broad authorities to intervene to prevent crises that could seriously damage the markets and economy.

"What we're trying to do is focus on the things that were at the core of the problems we saw in the crisis," said Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner at a Time Warner Economic Summit in New York on Monday.

"When you have too many people involved, there's an accountability problem," he said. "At the core of making the system stronger is to give one place in the system clear accountability, responsibility and authority for preventing future crises."

Mr. Geithner said that while the administration would have preferred a more streamlined regulatory structure with fewer agencies, ensuring fewer gaps in oversight and less opportunity for "regulatory arbitrage" by lenders, it would have had to start "from scratch" to accomplish that. It decided instead to work within the patchwork of multiple agencies established over the past century or so in response to various financial crises.

While the administration decided against merging the Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission, it will insist on plugging the extensive gaps that have allowed some of the largest securities markets in world history, known as derivatives, to develop without oversight or regulation.

"All derivatives contracts will be subject to regulation and all derivatives dealers subject to supervision," Mr. Geithner said in an opinion piece Monday co-authored by National Economic Council Director Lawrence H. Summers, adding that "regulators will be empowered to enforce rules against manipulation and abuse."

Mr. Geithner said a key part of the plan will impose stiffer requirements for setting aside reserve capital by large financial institutions whose far-flung and risky activities around the world pose the greatest threat of disrupting markets.

Strengthening protections for consumers and investors, possibly through a new commission charged with monitoring the development of new loans and instruments in the marketplace, also will be an important new element of the plan, he said.

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U.S. military teaches 'protesters' are 'low-level terrorists'


HOMELAND INSECURITY


U.S. military teaches 'protesters' are 'low-level terrorists


'Become 'dangerous citizen' by 'repeating the very phrases Founding Fathers used'
Posted: June 17, 200910:00 pm Eastern
By Bob Unruh© 2009 WorldNetDaily

Just weeks after a scandal erupted over a Department of Homeland Security report that described as "right-wing extremists" those who oppose abortion and support secure national borders, another report is revealing that the Department of Defense is teaching that protesters are "low-level terrorists."

The newest action to define those who disagree with positions adopted by the government or administration of the United States was revealed by blogger Dennis Loo at Salon.com.
He cited a complaint filed by the northern California branch of the American Civil Liberties Union demanding that the Department of Defense change its instructions and those who have been given the training be told of the modifications by "sending out corrective materials."

According to the ACLU letter, the DoD's "Annual Level 1 Antiterrorism (AT) Awareness Training for 2009" tells department personnel "that certain First Amendment-protected activity may amount to 'low-level terrorism.'"

Specifically the training "Knowledge Check 1" asks, "Which of the following is an example of low-level terrorism activity?"

The multiple choices are: Attacking the Pentagon, IEDs, Hate crimes against racial groups and Protests.

The correct answer in the training course is "Protests."

According to Loo, the use of the term apparently is routine.

"I have just learned of a scholarly conference paper presented earlier this year that underscores the fact that the DoD training's use of 'low-level terrorism' is hardly an anomaly. 'Low level terrorism' is a term regularly being used by state security agencies," he wrote.

He cited a document at the February convention in New York titled "Labeling 'Low Level Terrorism': The Out-Definition of Social Movements."

Wrote a participant in the Salon forum page, "One of the best ways to get yourself a reputation as a dangerous citizen these days is to go about repeating the very phrases which our Founding Fathers used in their struggle for independence."

Said another, "Yep, when regular legally protected political protest is becoming classified by the powers-that-be, we know we have turned another corner into darkness. Perhaps this is the era the Great UN-enlightenment."

Blogger Jim Bovard added, "I still believe that we have not yet seen the tip of the iceberg of federal efforts to classify political protests or opposition to the government as terrorism."

Blogger Josh Richman at at the Costra Costa Times said, "I guess I'm surprised not only that the government hasn't yet learned its lesson about equating the exercise of our cherished constitutional rights with terrorism, but also that it's so incredibly obvious in doing so."

"Teaching employees that dissent on issues of public concern is something to be feared, rather than encouraged, is a dangerously counterproductive use of scarce security resources, making us less safe as a democracy," the ACLU letter to the Pentagon said.

"DOD employees cannot accomplish their mission of protecting our nation and its values unless they understand that those values encompass the right to criticize our government through protest activities. It is imperative that they are taught the difference between political, religious or social activism and terrorism."

"Peaceful protest is not terrorist activity, it is protected by the First Amendment and is one of the cornerstones of our democratic society," the ACLU said. "The fact that the views espoused may be unpopular or may be critical of the government is hardly a reason to treat engaging in dissent as a suspect activity."

The earlier DHS report was "Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment." WND has posted the report online for readers to see.

It also has prompted, as WND has reported, a lawsuit by Thomas More Law Center.

Law Center President Richard Thompson said the promise by DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano to "reword" it truly is "scary because we know they are still going to maintain some kind of targeting for various people that she's never apologized to or never retracted [her accusations]."

The report linked returning veterans with the possibility of terrorism and when it was released and created such a furor for Napolitano she has given several explanations for it, including that she would have reworded the report and that it was issued by a rogue employee.

She later apologized to veterans for having linked them to terror.

But Thompson noted that the report also targeted as "potential terrorists" Americans who:


Oppose abortion


Oppose same-sex marriage


Oppose restrictions on firearms


Oppose lax immigration laws


Oppose the policies of President Obama regarding immigration, citizenship, and the expansion of social programs


Oppose continuation of free trade agreements


Are suspect of foreign regimes


Fear Communist regimes


Oppose a "one world" government


Bemoan the decline of U.S. stature in the world


Are upset with loss of U.S. manufacturing jobs to China and India, and more
And Thompson told WND no apology has been offered to the members of any of those classes of citizens.

Thompson said as part of his preparation for the lawsuit, his organization has uncovered "additional information" that "creates even more concern that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is unconstitutionally targeting Americans merely because of their conservative beliefs."

Thompson said that information will be released in due course.

"This report was the tip of the iceberg," Thompson said at the time. "Conservative Americans should be very outraged."

The Thomas More Law Center filed its lawsuit against Napolitano and the DHS on behalf of nationally syndicated conservative radio talk show host Michael Savage, Gregg Cunningham of the pro-life organization Center for Bio-Ethical Reform Inc. and Iraqi War Marine veteran Kevin Murray.

It alleges the federal agency violated the First and Fifth Amendment constitutional rights of these three plaintiffs by targeting them for disfavored treatment and chilling their free speech, expressive association, and equal protection rights. The lawsuit further claims that DHS encourages law enforcement officers throughout the nation to target and report citizens to federal officials as suspicious rightwing extremists and potential terrorists because of their political beliefs.

Fairfield University - Conference on Mission in US Jesuit Higher Education


Agenda of the Director General: P. Adolfo Nicolás, S.J.*


June18-21, 2009
Fairfield
: Conference on Mission in US Jesuit Higher Education

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Source: http://www.apostleshipofprayer.net/news/Agenda-Nicolas-en.aspx
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*P.S.. The meeting will take place at Fairfield University in Fairfield, Connecticut.
The Superior General of the Jesuits,
Adolfo Nicolas will attend ; He is also known as the black pope.
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Marvellous things did he in the sight of their fathers


Psalm 78


1Give ear, O my people, to my law: incline your ears to the words of my mouth.

2I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old:

3Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us.

4We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done.

5For he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children:

6That the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children:

7That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments:

8And might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation; a generation that set not their heart aright, and whose spirit was not stedfast with God.

9The children of Ephraim, being armed, and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle.

10They kept not the covenant of God, and refused to walk in his law;

11And forgat his works, and his wonders that he had shewed them.

12Marvellous things did he in the sight of their fathers, in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.

13He divided the sea, and caused them to pass through; and he made the waters to stand as an heap.

14In the daytime also he led them with a cloud, and all the night with a light of fire.

15He clave the rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink as out of the great depths.

16He brought streams also out of the rock, and caused waters to run down like rivers.

17And they sinned yet more against him by provoking the most High in the wilderness.

18And they tempted God in their heart by asking meat for their lust.

19Yea, they spake against God; they said, Can God furnish a table in the wilderness?

20Behold, he smote the rock, that the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed; can he give bread also? can he provide flesh for his people?

21Therefore the LORD heard this, and was wroth: so a fire was kindled against Jacob, and anger also came up against Israel;

22Because they believed not in God, and trusted not in his salvation:

23Though he had commanded the clouds from above, and opened the doors of heaven,

24And had rained down manna upon them to eat, and had given them of the corn of heaven.

25Man did eat angels' food: he sent them meat to the full.

26He caused an east wind to blow in the heaven: and by his power he brought in the south wind.

27He rained flesh also upon them as dust, and feathered fowls like as the sand of the sea:

28And he let it fall in the midst of their camp, round about their habitations.

29So they did eat, and were well filled: for he gave them their own desire;

30They were not estranged from their lust. But while their meat was yet in their mouths,

31The wrath of God came upon them, and slew the fattest of them, and smote down the chosen men of Israel.

32For all this they sinned still, and believed not for his wondrous works.

33Therefore their days did he consume in vanity, and their years in trouble.

34When he slew them, then they sought him: and they returned and enquired early after God.

35And they remembered that God was their rock, and the high God their redeemer.

36Nevertheless they did flatter him with their mouth, and they lied unto him with their tongues.

37For their heart was not right with him, neither were they stedfast in his covenant.

38But he, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not: yea, many a time turned he his anger away, and did not stir up all his wrath.

39For he remembered that they were but flesh; a wind that passeth away, and cometh not again.

40How oft did they provoke him in the wilderness, and grieve him in the desert!

41Yea, they turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel.

42They remembered not his hand, nor the day when he delivered them from the enemy.

43How he had wrought his signs in Egypt, and his wonders in the field of Zoan.

44And had turned their rivers into blood; and their floods, that they could not drink.

45He sent divers sorts of flies among them, which devoured them; and frogs, which destroyed them.

46He gave also their increase unto the caterpiller, and their labour unto the locust.

47He destroyed their vines with hail, and their sycomore trees with frost.

48He gave up their cattle also to the hail, and their flocks to hot thunderbolts.

49He cast upon them the fierceness of his anger, wrath, and indignation, and trouble, by sending evil angels among them.

50He made a way to his anger; he spared not their soul from death, but gave their life over to the pestilence;

51And smote all the firstborn in Egypt; the chief of their strength in the tabernacles of Ham:

52But made his own people to go forth like sheep, and guided them in the wilderness like a flock.

53And he led them on safely, so that they feared not: but the sea overwhelmed their enemies.

54And he brought them to the border of his sanctuary, even to this mountain, which his right hand had purchased.

55He cast out the heathen also before them, and divided them an inheritance by line, and made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents.

56Yet they tempted and provoked the most high God, and kept not his testimonies:

57But turned back, and dealt unfaithfully like their fathers: they were turned aside like a deceitful bow.

58For they provoked him to anger with their high places, and moved him to jealousy with their graven images.

59When God heard this, he was wroth, and greatly abhorred Israel:

60So that he forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent which he placed among men;

61And delivered his strength into captivity, and his glory into the enemy's hand.

62He gave his people over also unto the sword; and was wroth with his inheritance.

63The fire consumed their young men; and their maidens were not given to marriage.

64Their priests fell by the sword; and their widows made no lamentation.

65Then the LORD awaked as one out of sleep, and like a mighty man that shouteth by reason of wine.

66And he smote his enemies in the hinder parts: he put them to a perpetual reproach.

67Moreover he refused the tabernacle of Joseph, and chose not the tribe of Ephraim:

68But chose the tribe of Judah, the mount Zion which he loved.

69And he built his sanctuary like high palaces, like the earth which he hath established for ever.

70He chose David also his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds:

71From following the ewes great with young he brought him to feed Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance.

72So he fed them according to the integrity of his heart; and guided them by the skilfulness of his hands.
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Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Security at Places of Worship: More Than a Matter of Faith


June 17, 2009


By Scott Stewart and Fred Burton



In recent months, several high-profile incidents have raised awareness of the threat posed by individuals and small groups operating under the principles of leaderless resistance. These incidents have included lone wolf attacks against a doctor who performed abortions in Kansas, an armed forces recruitment center in Arkansas and the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. Additionally, a grassroots jihadist cell was arrested for attempting to bomb Jewish targets in the Bronx and planning to shoot down a military aircraft at an Air National Guard base in Newburgh, N.Y.
In addition to pointing out the threat posed by grassroots cells and lone wolf operatives, another common factor in all of these incidents is the threat of violence to houses of worship. The cell arrested in New York left what they thought to be active improvised explosive devices outside the Riverdale Temple and the Riverdale Jewish Community Center. Dr. George Tiller was shot and killed in the lobby of the Reformation Lutheran Church in Wichita. Although Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad conducted his attacks against a Little Rock recruiting center, he had conducted preoperational surveillance and research on targets that included Jewish organizations and a Baptist church in places as far away as Atlanta and Philadelphia. And while James von Brunn attacked the Holocaust Museum, he had a list of other potential targets in his vehicle that included the National Cathedral.
In light of this common thread, it might be instructive to take a more detailed look at the issue of providing security for places of worship.


Awareness: The First Step
Until there is awareness of the threat, little can be done to counter it. In many parts of the world, such as Iraq, India and Pakistan, attacks against places of worship occur fairly frequently. It is not difficult for religious leaders and members of their congregations in such places to be acutely aware of the dangers facing them and to have measures already in place to deal with those perils. This is not always the case in the United States, however, where many people tend to have an “it can’t happen here” mindset, believing that violence in or directed against places of worship is something that happens only to other people elsewhere.
This mindset is particularly pervasive among predominantly white American Protestant and Roman Catholic congregations. Jews, Mormons, Muslims and black Christians, and others who have been targeted by violence in the past, tend to be far more aware of the threat and are far more likely to have security plans and measures in place to counter it. The Jewish community has very well-developed and professional organizations such as the Secure Community Network (SCN) and the Anti-Defamation League that are dedicated to monitoring threats and providing education about the threats and advice regarding security. The Council on American-Islamic Relations has taken on a similar role for the Muslim community and has produced a “Muslim community safety kit” for local mosques. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) also has a very organized and well-connected security department that provides information and security advice and assistance to LDS congregations worldwide.
There are no functional equivalents to the SCN or the LDS security departments in the larger Catholic, evangelical Protestant and mainline Protestant communities, though there are some organizations such as the recently established Christian Security Network that have been attempting to fill the void.
Following an incident, awareness of the threat seems to rise for a time, and some houses of worship will put some security measures in place, but for the most part such incidents are seen as events that take place elsewhere, and the security measures are abandoned after a short time.
Permanent security measures are usually not put in place until there has been an incident of some sort at a specific house of worship, and while the triggering incident is sometimes something that merely provides a good scare, other times it is a violent action that results in tragedy. Even when no one is hurt in the incident, the emotional damage caused to a community by an act of vandalism or arson at a house of worship can be devastating.
It is important to note here that not all threats to places of worship will emanate from external actors. In the midst of any given religious congregation, there are, by percentages, people suffering from serious mental illnesses, people engaged in bitter child-custody disputes, domestic violence situations and messy divorces. Internal disputes in the congregation can also lead to feuds and violence. Any of these situations can (and have) led to acts of violence inside houses of worship.


Security Means More than Alarms and Locks
An effective security program is more than just having physical security measures in place. Like any man-made constructs, physical security measures — closed-circuit television (CCTV), alarms, cipher locks and so forth — have finite utility. They serve a valuable purpose in institutional security programs, but an effective security program cannot be limited to these things. Devices cannot think or evaluate. They are static and can be observed, learned and even fooled. Also, because some systems frequently produce false alarms, warnings in real danger situations may be brushed aside. Given these shortcomings, it is quite possible for anyone planning an act of violence to map out, quantify and then defeat or bypass physical security devices. However, elaborate planning is not always necessary. Consider the common scenario of a heavy metal door with very good locks that is propped open with a trashcan or a door wedge. In such a scenario, an otherwise “secure” door is defeated by an internal security lapse.
However, even in situations where there is a high degree of threat awareness, there is a tendency to place too much trust in physical security measures, which can become a kind of crutch — and, ironically, an obstacle to effective security.
In fact, to be effective, physical security devices always require human interaction. An alarm is useless if no one responds to it, or if it is not turned on; a lock is ineffective if it is not engaged. CCTV cameras are used extensively in corporate office buildings and some houses of worship, but any competent security manager will tell you that, in reality, they are far more useful in terms of investigating a theft or act of violence after the fact than in preventing one (although physical security devices can sometimes cause an attacker to divert to an easier target).
No matter what kinds of physical security measures may be in place at a facility, they are far less likely to be effective if a potential assailant feels free to conduct preoperational surveillance, and is free to observe and map those physical security measures. The more at ease someone feels as they set about identifying and quantifying the physical security systems and procedures in place, the higher the odds they will find ways to beat the system.
A truly “hard” target is one that couples physical security measures with an aggressive, alert attitude and sense of awareness. An effective security program is proactive — looking outward to where most real threats are lurking — rather than inward, where the only choice is to react once an attack has begun to unfold. We refer to this process of proactively looking for threats as protective intelligence.
The human interaction required to make physical security measures effective, and to transform a security program into a proactive protective intelligence program, can come in the form of designated security personnel. In fact, many large houses of worship do utilize off-duty police officers, private security guards, volunteer security guards or even a dedicated security staff to provide this coverage. In smaller congregations, security personnel can be members of the congregation who have been provided some level of training.
However, even in cases where there are specially designated security personnel, such officers have only so many eyes and can only be in a limited number of places at any one time. Thus, proactive security programs should also work to foster a broad sense of security awareness among the members of the congregation and community, and use them as additional resources.
Unfortunately, in many cases, there is often a sense in the religious community that security is bad for the image of a particular institution, or that it will somehow scare people away from houses of worship. Because of this, security measures, if employed, are often hidden or concealed from the congregation. In such cases, security managers are deprived of many sets of eyes and ears. Certainly, there may be certain facets of a security plan that not everyone in the congregation needs to know about, but in general, an educated and aware congregation and community can be a very valuable security asset.


Training
In order for a congregation to maintain a sense of heightened awareness it must learn how to effectively do that. This training should not leave people scared or paranoid — just more observant. People need to be trained to look for individuals who are out of place, which can be somewhat counterintuitive. By nature, houses of worship are open to outsiders and seek to welcome strangers. They frequently have a steady turnover of new faces. This causes many to believe that, in houses of worship, there is a natural antagonism between security and openness, but this does not have to be the case. A house of worship can have both a steady stream of visitors and good security, especially if that security is based upon situational awareness.
At its heart, situational awareness is about studying people, and such scrutiny will allow an observer to pick up on demeanor mistakes that might indicate someone is conducting surveillance. Practicing awareness and paying attention to the people approaching or inside a house of worship can also open up a whole new world of ministry opportunities, as people “tune in” to others and begin to perceive things they would otherwise miss if they were self-absorbed or simply not paying attention. In other words, practicing situational awareness provides an excellent opportunity for the members of a congregation to focus on the needs and burdens of other people.
It is important to remember that every attack cycle follows the same general steps. All criminals — whether they are stalkers, thieves, lone wolves or terrorist groups — engage in preoperational surveillance (sometimes called “casing,” in the criminal lexicon). Perhaps the most crucial point to be made about preoperational surveillance is that it is the phase when someone with hostile intentions is most apt to be detected — and the point in the attack cycle when potential violence can be most easily disrupted or prevented.
The second most critical point to emphasize about surveillance is that most criminals are not that good at it. They often have terrible surveillance tradecraft and are frequently very obvious. Most often, the only reason they succeed in conducting surveillance without being detected is because nobody is looking for them. Because of this, even ordinary people, if properly instructed, can note surveillance activity.
It is also critically important to teach people — including security personnel and members of the congregation — what to do if they see something suspicious and whom to call to report it. Unfortunately, a lot of critical intelligence is missed because it is not reported in a timely manner — or not reported at all — mainly because untrained people have a habit of not trusting their judgment and dismissing unusual activity. People need to be encouraged to report what they see.
Additionally, people who have been threatened, are undergoing nasty child-custody disputes or have active restraining orders protecting them against potentially violent people need to be encouraged to report unusual activity to their appropriate points of contact.
As a part of their security training, houses of worship should also instruct their staff and congregation members on procedures to follow if a shooter enters the building and creates what is called an active-shooter situation. These “shooter” drills should be practiced regularly — just like fire, tornado or earthquake drills. The teachers of children’s classes and nursery workers must also be trained in how to react.


Liaison
One of the things the SCN and ADL do very well is foster security liaison among Jewish congregations within a community and between those congregations and local, state and federal law enforcement organizations. This is something that houses of worship from other faiths should attempt to duplicate as part of their security plans.
While having a local cop in a congregation is a benefit, contacting the local police department should be the first step. It is very important to establish this contact before there is a crisis in order to help expedite any law enforcement response. Some police departments even have dedicated community liaison officers, who are good points of initial contact. There are other specific points of contact that should also be cultivated within the local department, such as the SWAT team and the bomb squad.
Local SWAT teams often appreciate the chance to do a walk-through of a house of worship so that they can learn the layout of the building in case they are ever called to respond to an emergency there. They also like the opportunity to use different and challenging buildings for training exercises (something that can be conducted discreetly after hours). Congregations with gyms and weight rooms will often open them up for local police officers to exercise in, and some congregations will also offer police officers a cup of coffee and a desk where they can sit and type their reports during evening hours.
But the local police department is not the only agency with which liaison should be established. Depending on the location of the house of worship, the state police, state intelligence fusion center or local joint terrorism task force should also be contacted. By working through state and federal channels, houses of worship in specific locations may even be eligible for grants to help underwrite security through programs such as the Department of Homeland Security’s Urban Areas Security Initiative Nonprofit Security Grant Program.
The world is a dangerous place and attacks against houses of worship will continue to occur. But there are proactive security measures that can be taken to identify attackers before they strike and help prevent attacks from happening or mitigate their effects when they do.



Source: http://www.stratfor.com/weekly/20090617_security_places_worship_more_matter_faith

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The Woman and the Dragon


Revelation 12


1And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:

2And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.

3And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.

4And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.

5And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.

6And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.

7And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,

8And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.

9And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

10And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.

11And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.

12Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.

13And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child.

14And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.

15And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.

16And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.

17And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
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Study the Revelation


Study the Revelation

To John the Lord opened the subjects that He saw would be needed by His people in the last days. The instruction that He gave is found in the book of Revelation. Those who would be co-workers with our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ will show a deep interest in the truths found in this book. With pen and voice they will strive to make plain the wonderful things that Christ came from heaven to reveal. {8T 301.4}

The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto Him, to show unto His servants things which must shortly come to pass; and He sent and signified it by His angel unto
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His servant John: who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw. Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand." Revelation 1:1-3. {8T 301.5}

The solemn messages that have been given in their order in the Revelation are to occupy the first place in the minds of God's people. Nothing else is to be allowed to engross our attention. {8T 302.1}

Precious time is rapidly passing, and there is danger that many will be robbed of the time which should be given to the proclamation of the messages that God has sent to a fallen world. Satan is pleased to see the diversion of minds that should be engaged in a study of the truths which have to do with eternal realities. {8T 302.2}

The testimony of Christ, a testimony of the most solemn character, is to be borne to the world. All through the book of Revelation there are the most precious, elevating promises, and there are also warnings of the most fearfully solemn import. Will not those who profess to have a knowledge of the truth read the testimony given to John by Christ? Here is no guesswork, no scientific deception. Here are the truths that concern our present and future welfare. What is the chaff to the wheat? {8T 302.3}
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Note: Bolds added for emphasis.
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Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Pike Knew



By Philip Jones
6-15-9

In a letter that he wrote to Italian Freemason Giuseppe Mazzini [2], dated August 15, 1871, Albert Pike [1] the most prominent of American Freemasons at the time and a man still revered as a Masonic `God` outlined plans for three world wars, that he said would be necessary to bring about the One World Order. For a short time, this letter was on display in the British Museum Library in London, and was copied by William Guy Carr, former Intelligence Officer in the Royal Canadian Navy, and author of `Pawns in the Game.` Carr summarizes:

"The First World War was to be fought so as to enable the Illuminati to overthrow the powers of the Tzars in Russia and turn that country into the stronghold of Atheistic-Communism. The differences stirred up by the Agentur of the Illuminati between the British and German Empires were to be sued to foment this war. After the war ended, Communism was to be built up and used to destroy other governments and weaken religions.

World War Two was to be fomented by using the differences between Fascists and Political Zionists. This was to be fought so that Nazism would be destroyed and the power of Political Zionism increased so that the sovereign state of Israel could be established in Palestine. During world war two International Communism was to be built up until it equalled in strength that of united Christendom. At this point it was to be contained and kept in check until required for the final social cataclysm.

World War Three is to be fomented by using the differences the agentur of the Illuminati stir up between Political Zionists and the Leaders of the Moslem world. The war is to be directed in such a manner that Islam and Political Zionism (including the State of Israel) will destroy themselves while at the same time the remaining nations, once more divided against each other on this issue, will be forced to fight themselves into a state of complete exhaustion physically, mentally, spiritually and economically."

In his book, `Terrorism And the Illuminati,` [3] Canadian author David Livingstone further explains Pike's intentions:

"Pike then told Mazzini that, after World War Three had ended, a global social cataclysm will be provoked that will be greater than the world has ever known:

"We shall unleash the Nihilists (meaning terrorists) and the atheists, and we shall provoke a formidable social cataclysm which in all its horror will show clearly to the nations the effect of absolute atheism, origin of savagery and of the most bloody turmoil. Then everywhere, the citizens, obliged to defend themselves against the world minority of revolutionaries, will exterminate those destroyers of civilization, and the multitude, disillusioned with Christianity, whose deistic spirits will from that moment be without compass or direction, anxious for an ideal, but without knowing where to render its adoration, will receive the true light through the universal manifestation of the pure doctrine of Lucifer, brought finally out in the public view. This manifestation will result from the general reactionary movement which will follow the destruction of Christianity and atheism, both conquered and exterminated at the same time."
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Conspiracy Prosecutions For Religious Organizations And Clergy



A NATIONWIDE PUBLIC INTEREST RELIGIOUS CIVIL LIBERTIES LAW FIRM
1055 Maitland Center Cmns.
Second Floor
Maitland, Florida 32751
Tel: 800•671•1776
Fax: 407•875•0770
www.LC.org

1015 Fifteenth St. N.W.
Suite 1100
Washington, DC 20005
Telephone: 202•289•1776
Facsimile: 202•216•9656
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Suite 2775
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Tel: 434•592•7000
Fax: 434•592•7700
liberty@LC.org

THE IMPACT OF HATE CRIMES LAWS UPON
RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS AND CLERGY
Copyright © 2001-2007

THE IMPACT OF HATE CRIMES LAWS UPON
RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS AND CLERGY

(An Excerpt of Document)


B. Conspiracy Prosecutions For Religious Organizations And Clergy


If Hate Crimes legislation is adopted, the immediate impact could prove disastrous for
religious ministers and organizations who advocate peacefully against the homosexual lifestyle.
Currently, every State has conspiracy laws that prohibit conspiracy to commit crimes. It is
conceivable that preaching or teaching against homosexual conduct could be prosecuted as
conspiracy to commit a hate crime. For instance, a minister could preach a sermon that urges those
listening to “actively oppose the promotion or acceptance of the homosexual lifestyle in their
community.” An individual who hears this message and applies it in a way prohibited by a Hate
Crimes Bill could be prosecuted under the law and the minister could also be prosecuted for
conspiracy.

One frightening example is the so-called “Philadelphia 11” case. Eleven Christians were
arrested in Philadelphia for signing and preaching in a public park at a homosexual street festival.
Five of them were held and charged with crimes that were based upon Pennsylvania’s hate crimes
law and could have totaled a possible 47 years in prison. The charges hung over these individuals
for months until a judge finally dismissed them. Hate Crimes laws can and will be used to silence
those who are peacefully opposed to the homosexual lifestyle.

For instance, many gay activists accused Christian conservatives of causing the death of
Matthew Shepard. On the Today Show on October 12, 1998, shortly after the murder of Matthew
Shepard, reporter Katie Couric stated:


  • Some gay-rights activists have said that some conservative Christian political
    organizations, like the Christian Coalition, the Family Research Council and Focus
    on the Family are contributing to this anti-homosexual atmosphere by having an ad
    campaign saying, “If you’re a homosexual, you can change your orientation.” That
    prompts people to say, “If I meet someone who’s homosexual, I’m going to take
    action and try and convince them or try to harm them.” Do you believe that such
    groups are contributing to this climate?11

Wyoming Governor Jim Geringer, who was asked the question, stated in reply that he would not
“trade one type of stereotype or hate for another” and that listeners shouldn’t “categorize people
unfairly.” Id.

------------------

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Hate Crimes Memo - Page 6




Matt Foreman, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force stated in a
press release that he blamed conservative Christians for what he termed was a “spike” in hate crimes
against homosexuals in 2003 and 2004. The press release stated:


  • The leaders of America’s anti-gay industry are directly responsible for the continuing
    surge in hate violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people.
    ... The right went into demonic, anti-gay hyperdrive following the Supreme Court's
    Lawrence v. Texas decision in July of 2003. Since then, church pews have been
    awash in ugly, anti-gay rhetoric and fear-mongering. ... The literal blood of thousands
    of gay people physically wounded by hatred during 2004 is on the hands of Jerry
    Falwell, James Dobson, Tony Perkins and so many others who spew hate for partisan
    gain and personal enrichment.12

As a further example by a governmental body in this country, the City and County of San
Francisco sent a letter of condemnation to several conservative Christian organizations denouncing
their role in the death of Matthew Shepard. The letter states:


  • I am writing at the direction of the Board of Supervisors concerning hate crimes
    which was discussed at their meeting of October 13, 1998. Supervisor Leslie
    Katz denounces your hateful rhetoric against gays, lesbians and transgendered
    people. What happened to Matthew Shepard is in part due to the message being
    espoused by your groups that gays and lesbians are not worthy of the most basic
    equal rights and treatments. It is not an exaggeration to say that there is a direct
    correlation between these acts of discrimination, such as when gays and lesbians
    are called sinful and when major religious organizations say they can change if
    they tried, and the horrible crimes committed against gays and lesbians.
    13

Here we have a governmental body stating there is a direct correlation between the speech of a
conservative Christian organization and hate crimes committed against homosexuals. This surely
could form the basis for a prosecution for conspiracy. The city and county of San Francisco followed
up their letter with a resolution condemning the Christian organizations for introducing an ad that
advocated homosexuals could change and linked those ads directly with hate crimes against
homosexuals.14 The resolution states:

  • WHEREAS, A coalition of religious political conservative organizations have
    introduced a nation-wide television advertisement campaign to encourage gays and
    lesbians to change their sexual orientation; and,

----------------

  • 12 See "Task Force Calls Rise in Anti-Gay Crime a Product of America’s Anti-Gay Industry,"
    Statement from Matt Foreman, Executive Director, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, April 26,
    2005, http://www.thetaskforce.org/media/release.cfm?releaseID=815.

  • 13 See Letter from Gloria L. Young to various organizations (available upon request).

  • 14 See Resolution No. 873-98, City and County of San Francisco, 10/13/98 (available upon request).


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  • WHEREAS, This coalition includes the Family Research Council, the Concerned
    Women for America, and the Center for Reclaiming America; and,


  • WHEREAS, The aforementioned organizations promote an agenda which denies
    basic equal rights for gays and lesbians and routinely state their opposition to
    toleration of gay and lesbian citizens; and,


  • WHEREAS, The radical religious political conservative coalition previously
    introduced a printed advertisement campaign which a prominent San Francisco
    newspaper chose to accept and publish; and,


  • WHEREAS, The vast majority of medical, psychological, and sociological evidence
    supports the conclusion that sexual orientation can not be changed; and,


  • WHEREAS, Advertising campaigns which insinuate sexual orientation can be
    changed by conversion therapy or other means are erroneous and full of lies; and,


  • WHEREAS, Advertising campaigns which insinuate a gay or lesbian orientation is
    immoral and undesirable create an atmosphere which validates oppression of gays
    and lesbians and encourages maltreatment of gays and lesbians; and,


  • WHEREAS, There is a marked increase in anti-gay violence which coincides with
    defamatory and erroneous campaigns against gays and lesbians; and,


  • WHEREAS, An unfortunate, extreme result of these anti-gay campaigns is violence
    and even death; now, therefore, be it
    RESOLVED, That the Board of Supervisors of the City and County of San Francisco
    urges local television stations not to broadcast advertising campaigns aimed at
    “converting” homosexuals.


It is not far-fetched or unreasonable to assume that the law will be taken to the greatest extent
possible. Those organizations and even governmental entities who believe that religious speech
advocating changes in the gay lifestyle is directly linked with hate crimes against homosexuals will
take whatever opportunity they can to silence that religious speech, even if that includes a
prosecution for conspiracy to commit a hate crime.

The possibility for a conspiracy prosecution is even more possible in states with expansive
definitions of conspiracy that only require agreement to pursue an objective that may be lawful (i.e.
opposition to the homosexual lifestyle) in an unlawful manner and that the crime committed was a
natural and foreseeable consequence of the agreement. It is conceivable that a minister who preaches
a strong sermon against the homosexual lifestyle and urges his or her congregation to do whatever
necessary to oppose the lifestyle could be prosecuted for conspiracy if a member of the congregation
who hears the sermon misinterprets it and commits an offense covered by a Hate Crimes law. This
could occur even though the minister never intended or even dreamed that violence would be used
as a result of his or her sermon on the issue but had merely chose his or her words carelessly or in
a way that could have been misinterpreted. As long as a jury could find that there was an agreement
to oppose the homosexual lifestyle (a lawful objective) and that the crime (unlawful means of


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Hate Crimes Memo - Page 8


pursuing the objective) was a natural and foreseeable consequence of the sermon, the minister could
be convicted.

For sure, the situation described above should be distinguished from the minister who
actively advocates and urges his or her congregation to commit bodily harm against homosexuals.
Such an advocate would certainly and rightfully be held accountable. However, a minister who
perhaps carelessly chooses his words but has the purest of motives could be prosecuted. Such an
outcome should not be left to the discretion of a prosecutor or judge who may have a personal
agenda to promote or to a jury inflamed by public opinion.

Surely the possibility of prosecution, even remote, could have a chilling effect on lawful free
speech by ministers or religious organizations. Organizations and ministers would be forced, in an
abundance of caution, to so water down their message, or to refuse to give it altogether to prevent
an individual from misapplying or misconstruing their call to action. This chilling effect on lawful
free speech should be avoided at all costs. While it is difficult to peer into the future and predict
whether this type of situation will happen for a certainty, it is abundantly clear that the possibility
exists for prosecution of ministers or religious organizations for their lawful speech based upon their
sincere religious opposition to homosexuality.

The chilling effect would be immediate on ministers and religious organizations who would
feel the necessity to tone down or to discontinue their opposition to homosexuality. This chilling
effect is sufficient justification to prevent the Hate Crimes Bill from proceeding to a final vote in the
Legislature.

C. Increased Federal Involvement In Prosecution Of Hate Crimes

Hate Crimes legislation authorizes increased federal involvement in investigation and
prosecution of hate crimes. Hate Crimes is typically given an expansive definition. Some definitions
are adopted from 28 U.S.C. § 994 which defines hate crimes as, “[A] crime in which the defendant
intentionally selects a victim, or in the case of a property crime, the property that is the object of the
crime, because of the actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, ethnicity, gender,
disability, or sexual orientation of any person.” This expansive definition covers any crime that is
based on the actual or perceived sexual orientation of the victim. This definition, therefore, does not
limit federal involvement in investigation and prosecution of hate crimes to just those crimes that
involve bodily injury or death. Therefore, any crime that is because of the sexual orientation or the
perceived sexual orientation15 of the victim could be subject to federal involvement. Under Hate
Crimes legislation, the Attorney General is left free to provide any assistance in the prosecution of
these crimes. This means that federal prosecutorial staff may be used in the prosecution, federal
investigative staff may be used, as well as any assistance deemed necessary by the Attorney General.
Essentially, the Hate Crimes Bill provides for a “pass through” prosecution by the federal

---------------------

  • 15 The language in the Hate Crimes Bill that punishes crimes based on the perceived sexual
    orientation of the victim is especially troubling. A prosecution on the basis that an individual
    perceived something necessarily includes an inquiry into their thoughts and opens up inquiry into
    the statements the individual made, the literature the individual read, and the influences the
    individual was subjected to. This could lead to increased vilification and possibly even prosecution
    of religious organizations and clergy who are lawfully exercising their right to free speech.

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7788



P.S.The constraints of space and time don't allow for displaying the 17 page memo;


To see the whole memo in PDF format visit link below:


Source: http://lc.org/media/9980/attachments/hatecrimes.pdf

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The LORD God is my strength



17Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls:

18Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation.

19The LORD God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds' feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places...................Habakkuk 3:17-19.
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Monday, June 15, 2009

Journalist Calls For Rounding Up 'Hate Promoters'

June 15, 12:47 PM



Bonnie Erbe who is a contributing editor for US News & World Report and hosts PBS's weekly news analysis program wrote a recent article titled "Round Up Hate Promoters Now, Before Any More Holocaust Museum Attacks". In regards to the recent shooting at the Holocaust Museum, Erbe has a suggestion, "isn't it time we started rounding up promoters of hate before they kill?" She also ties in the shooter in the museum incident with Reverend Wright.


Recently the Plains State ADL Director denounced the 1st Amendment by saying that "freedom of speech does not extend to racist groups, nor give their supporters the right to threaten and intimidate others or commit acts of violence."


It is a very dangerous sign when members of the media start calling for rounding up those who's views they find offensive and use a tragedy to support violating the 1st Amendment. She sounds exactly like the Nazi's she claims to oppose who also used events to call for rounding up those they deemed undesirable or a threat to their political agenda. Many individuals such as Ms. Erbe are using the crimes of the Nazi's to promote their own version of fascism where one can be arrested for their political views. Who gets the power to determine what is hate speech? If you have the truth on your side, which Ms. Erbe clearly does not, you don't need to round people up you dissagree with.


In the 1930's Louisiana Governor Huey Long was asked if fascism could ever come to America. His response was, "Sure, only here they'll call it anti-fascism." Fascism is here in America and it is under the banner of anti-fascism.



Robert Stark is an Examiner from Los Angeles. You can see Robert's articles on Robert's Home Page.



Source: http://www.examiner.com/x-9462-LA-Ron-Paul-Examiner~y2009m6d15-Journalist-calls-for-rounding-up-hate-promoters

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How the Vatican sold its soul


How the Vatican sold its soul

A new book by the journalist Gianluigi Nuzzi lays bare a history of political bribes being paid through the Vatican's central bank

guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 3 June 2009 20.00 BST
Article history


The Vatican appears to have an enduring vocation for Italian political and financial scandal. Secrecy and intrigue were the order of the day when American archbishop Paul Marcinkus held sway in the Bastion of Nicholas V, the medieval tower housing the Institute for the Works of Religion (IOR), the Vatican's central bank.

The requirements of a clandestine global struggle against atheist communism may explain the choice of business partners such as Michele Sindona and Roberto Calvi, whose mafia links and ruinous bankruptcies brought lasting discredit on the Catholic church three decades ago.

The Vatican hoped that a goodwill payment of $240m to the creditors of Calvi's Banco Ambrosiano's would salve its conscience and erase the memory of Marcinkus's inept and dishonest banking practices. We were led to believe that a new broom, wielded by the lay banker Angelo Caloia, had since swept the premises of the IOR.

The process of reform has been slower and more painful than previously thought, however, to judge by a new book, Vaticano Spa ("Vatican Ltd"), by the journalist Gianluigi Nuzzi. According to Nuzzi, despite the best efforts of Caloia, a cavalier attitude to financial ethics appears to have continued well into the 1990s, with huge political bribes being laundered through the IOR and funds donated for charitable purposes or to pay for masses for the souls of the dead being casually misappropriated by the bank's administrators.

Nuzzi's allegations are based on internal IOR documents, more than 4,000 in all, that were smuggled out of the Vatican by a disgruntled employee. This unique violation of IOR confidentiality was made possible by an unlikely whistleblower, Monsignor Renato Dardozzi. An electronic engineer who held a top job at the state telecommunications company, Dardozzi discovered his vocation late in life and was ordained a priest at the age of 52.

He worked in the IOR under Marcinkus, participated in the joint Vatican/Italian commission that examined the IOR's role in the Ambrosiano saga, and witnessed Caloia's uphill struggle against the personnel and practices of the Marcinkus era.

Monsignor Donato De Bonis, who served as secretary general under Marcinkus, continued to work under the new regime.

In 1987, according to Nuzzi, De Bonis set up the Cardinal Francis Spellman Foundation, with its own account at the IOR. Signatories on the account included De Bonis himself. During its first six years of operation the account received some 50bn lire (£22m) and paid out 43bn.

The choice of the staunchly anti-communist Spellman as "patron" of the fund is interesting. The well-connected cardinal of New York earned the sobriquet "money-bags" for his fund-raising skills and earmarked significant sums for Italy's Christian Democrat party during the cold war years.

The Spellman fund seems to have been administered by De Bonis with promiscuous generosity. A variety of convents and clerics were to benefit, with payments ranging from the modest 1m lire paid to five mother superiors, to the $50,000 sent to the auxiliary bishop of Skopje-Prizen, for the Albanian-speaking faithful, and the $1m delivered to Cardinal Lucas Moreira Neves, the archbishop of Sao Salvador de Bahia in Brazil.

There were also payments of a more personal nature: 100m lire for one of the lawyers of Giulio Andreotti, the veteran Christian Democrat politician, $134,000 for a conference on Cicero in New York sponsored by the former prime minister, and even a 60m lire payment to Severino Citaristi, a former treasurer of the Christian Democrat party convicted on corruption charges.
Part of the massive Enimont bribe, paid to politicians to secure their approval for a reorganisation of the chemicals sector, was also bounced through the Spellman fund, according to Nuzzi. But Caloia and Dardozzi chose discretion over transparency when questioned about it by prosecutors from Milan. "Despite the full collaboration promised and publicised in the press, they limit themselves to referring only what can no longer be concealed," Nuzzi writes.

It is interesting to note that Dardozzi's motive for turning whistleblower was not unalloyed disapproval of the IOR's unethical conduct. His decision to smuggle his secret archive out of the Vatican was motivated, at least in part, by anger at the institute's refusal to pay him a commission on the sale of a valuable real estate property near Florence. The unusual monsignor wanted to leave the money to his adoptive daughter, whose health condition required expensive hospital treatment.

Whatever the reason, Dardozzi's archive offers an unprecedented glimpse of the inner workings of one of the world's most secretive and unaccountable financial institutions. The idea that a noble end – winning the cold war or funding one's favourite charity – justifies almost any means, still seems to endure at the pope's bank in the Nicholas V Tower.

Philip Willan is the author of The Last Supper: The mafia, the Masons and the Killing of Roberto Calvi. His website is http://www.philipwillan.com/
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Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2009/jun/03/vatican-central-bank


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Masonry - Behind Closed Doors 1/13

http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWuJJs36TNUhttp://

Soil Not Oil (Excerpt)

Soil Not Oil

by Vandana Shiva South End Press, 2008,160 pages, $15.00


The following is an excerpt from the book:

The industrialized, globalized food system is based on oil. It is under threat because of the inevitability of "peak oil." It is also under threat because it is more vulnerable than traditional agriculture to climate change, to which it has contributed. Industrial agriculture is based on monocultures. Monocultures are highly vulnerable to changes in climate, and to diseases and pests.


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In 1970 and 1971, America's vast corn belt was attacked by a mysterious disease, later identified as ''race T" of the fungus Helminthosporium maydis, causing the southern corn leaf blight, as the epidemic was called. It left ravaged cornfields with withered plants, broken stalks, and malformed or completely rotten cobs. The strength and speed of the blight was a result of the uniformity of the hybrid corn, most of which had been derived from a single Texas male sterile line. The genetic makeup of the new hybrid corn, which was responsible for its rapid and large-scale breeding by seed companies, was also responsible for its vulnerability to disease. At least 80 percent of the hybrid corn in America in 1970 contained the Texas male sterile cytoplasm. As a University of Iowa pathologist wrote, "Such an extensive, homogenous acreage is like a tinder-dry prairie waiting for a spark to ignite it."


Industrial agriculture is dependent on chemical fertilizers. Chemically fertilized soils are low in organic matter. Organic matter helps conserve the soil and soil moisture, providing insurance against drought. Soils lacking organic matter are more vulnerable to drought and to climate change. Industrial agriculture is also more dependent on intensive irrigation. Since climate change is leading to the melting of glaciers that feed rivers, and in many regions of the world to the decline in precipitation and increased intensity of drought, the vulnerability of industrial agriculture will only increase. Finally, since the globalized food system is based on long-distance supply chains, it is vulnerable to breakdown in the context of extreme events of flooding, cyclones, and hurricanes. While aggravating climate change, fossil fuel-dependent industrialized, globalized agriculture is least able to adapt to the change.


We need an alternative. Biodiverse, organic farms and localized food systems offer us security in times of climate insecurity, while producing more food, producing better food, and creating more livelihoods. The industrialized, globalized food system is based on oil; biodiverse, organic, and local food systems are based on living soil. The industrialized system is based on creating waste and pollution; a living agriculture is based on no waste. The industrialized system is based on monocultures; sustainable systems are based on diversity.


Living SoilEvery step in building a living agriculture sustained by a living soil is a step toward both mitigating and adapting to climate change. Over the past 20 years, I have built Navdanya, India's biodiversity and organic-farming movement. We are increasingly realizing there is a convergence between the objectives of conserving biodiversity, reducing climate-change impact, and alleviating poverty.


Biodiverse, local, organic systems reduce water use and risks of crop failure due to climate change. Increasing the biodiversity of farming systems can reduce vulnerability to drought. Millet, which is far more nutritious than rice and wheat, uses only 200 to 300 millimeters of water, compared with the 2,500 millimeters needed for Green Revolution rice farming. India could grow four times the amount food it does now if it were to cultivate millet more widely. However, global trade is pushing agriculture toward GM monocultures of corn, soy, canola, and cotton, worsening the climate crisis.


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Biodiversity offers resilience to recover from climate disasters. After the Orissa supercyclone of 1998, and the tsunami of 2004, Navdanya distributed seeds of saline-resistant rice varieties as "Seeds of Hope" to rejuvenate agriculture in lands that were salinated as a result of flooding from the sea. We are now creating seed banks of drought-resistant, flood-resistant, and saline-resistant seed varieties to respond to such extreme climate events. Climate chaos creates uncertainty. Diversity offers a cushion against both climate extremes and climate uncertainty. We need to move from the myopic obsession with monocultures and centralization to diversity and decentralization.


Diversity and decentralization are the dual principles needed to build economies beyond oil and to deal with the climate vulnerability that is the legacy of the age of oil. In addition to reducing vulnerability and increasing resilience, biodiverse organic farming also produces more food and higher incomes. As David Pimentel has pointed out: "Organic farming approaches for maize and beans in the US not only use an average of 30% less fossil energy but also conserve more water in the soil, induce less erosion, maintain soil quality, and conserve more biological resources than conventional farming does."


After Hurricane Mitch struck Central America in 1998, farmers who practiced biodiverse organic farming found they had suffered less damage than those who practiced chemical agriculture. The ecologically farmed plots had on average more topsoil, greater soil moisture, and less erosion, and the farmers experienced less severe economic losses.


Fossil fuel-based industrial agriculture moves carbon from the soil to the atmosphere. Ecological agriculture takes carbon from the atmosphere and puts it back in the soil. If 10,000 medium-sized US farms converted to organic farming, the emissions reduction would be equivalent to removing over 1 million cars from the road. If all US croplands became organic it would increase soil-carbon storage by 367 million tons and would cut nitrogen oxide emissions dramatically. Organic agriculture contributes directly and indirectly to reducing CO2 emissions and mitigating the negative consequences of climate change.


Navdanya's work over the past 20 years has shown that we can grow more food and provide higher incomes to farmers without destroying the environment and killing peasants. We can lower the costs of production while increasing output. We have done this successfully on thousands of farms and have created a fair, just, and sustainable economy. The epidemic of farmer suicides in India is concentrated in regions where chemical intensification has increased costs of production. Farmers in these regions have become dependent on non-renewable seeds, and monoculture cash-crops are facing a decline in prices due to globalization. This is affecting farmers' incomes, leading to debt and suicides. High costs of production are the most significant reason for rural indebtedness.


Biodiverse organic farming creates a debt-free, suicide-free, productive alternative to industrialized corporate agriculture and brings about a number of benefits. It leads to increased farm productivity and farm incomes, while lowering costs of production. Pesticide-free and chemical-free production and processing bring safe and healthy food to consumers. We must protect the environment, farmers' livelihoods, public health, and people's right to food.
We do not need to go the Monsanto way. We can go the Navdanya way. We do not need to end up in food dictatorship and food slavery. We can create our food freedom. Biodiverse, organic, and local food systems help mitigate climate change by lowering greenhouse gas emissions and increasing absorption of CO2 by plants and by the soil.


Organic farming is based on the recycling of organic matter; industrial agriculture is based on chemical fertilizers that emit nitrous oxides. Industrial agriculture dispossesses small farmers and converts small farms to large holdings that need mechanization, which further contributes to CO2 emissions. Small, biodiverse, organic farms, especially in third world countries, can be totally fossil fuel-free. The energy for farming operations comes from animals.


Soil fertility is built by recycling organic matter to feed soil organisms. This reduces greenhouse gas emissions. Biodiverse systems are also more resilient to droughts and floods because they have a higher water-holding capacity, making them more adaptable to the effects of climate change. Navdanya's study on climate change and organic farming has indicated that organic farming increases carbon absorption by up to 55 percent and water-holding capacity by 10 percent.


The environmental advantages of small-scale, biodiverse organic farms do not come at the expense of food security. Biodiverse organic farms produce more food and higher incomes than industrial monocultures. Mitigating climate change, conserving biodiversity, and increasing food security go hand in hand.


The conventional measures of productivity focus on labor as the major input (and the direct labor on the farm at that) and externalize many energy and resource inputs. This biased productivity pushes farmers off the land and replaces them with chemicals and machines, which in turn contribute to greenhouse gases and climate change. Further, industrial agriculture focuses on producing a single crop that can be globally traded as a commodity. The focus on "yield" of individual commodities creates what I have called a "monoculture of the mind." The promotion of so-called high-yielding varieties leads to the displacement of biodiversity. It also destroys the ecological functions of biodiversity. The loss of diverse outputs is never taken into account by the one-dimensional calculus of productivity.


When the benefits of biodiversity are taken into account, biodiverse systems have higher output than monocultures. And organic farming is more beneficial for the farmers and the earth than chemical farming. When agro-forestry is included in farming systems, carbon absorption and carbon return increase dramatically. Date palm and neem increase the carbon density in the soil by 175 and 185 percent, respectively.


Studies carried out by the USDA's National Agroforestry Center suggest that soil carbon can be increased by 6.6 tons per hectare per year over a 15-year rotation and wood by 12.22 tons per hectare per year. Since both soil and biomass sequester carbon, this amounts to removing 18.87 tons of carbon per hectare per year from the atmosphere.


Soil and vegetation are our biggest carbon sinks. Industrial agriculture destroys both. By disrupting the cycle of returning organic matter to the soil, chemical agriculture depletes the soil carbon. Mechanization forces the cutting down of trees and hedgerows.


Organic manure is food for the community of living beings that depend on the soil. The alternatives to chemical fertilizers are many: green manures such as sesbania aculeata (dhencha), gliricidia, and sun hemp; legume crops such as pulses, which fix nitrogen through legume-rhizobium symbiosis; earthworms; cow dung; and composts. Farmyard manure encourages the buildup of earthworms by increasing their food supply. Soils treated with farmyard manure have from two to two and a half times as many earthworms as untreated soils. Earthworms contribute to soil fertility by maintaining soil structure, aeration, and drainage. They break down organic matter and incorporate it into the soil.


The work of earthworms in soil formation was Darwin's major concern in his later years. Of worms he wrote, "It may be doubted whether there are many other animals which have played so important a part in the history of creatures." The little earthworm working invisibly in the soil is the tractor, the fertilizer factory, and the dam combined. Worm-worked soils are more water-stable than unworked soils, and worm-inhabited soils have considerably more organic carbon and nitrogen than the original soil. Their continuous movement forms channels that help in soil aeration. It is estimated that they increase the air volume of soil by up to 30 percent.


Soils with earthworms drain four to ten times faster than those without, and their water-holding capacity is higher by 20 percent. Earthworm castings, which can amount to 4 to 36 tons per acre per year, contain five times more nitrogen, seven times more phosphorus, three times more exchangeable magnesium, 11 times more potash, and one and a half times more calcium than soil. Their work on the soil promotes the microbial activity essential to the fertility of most soils.
At the Navdanya farm in Doon Valley, we have been feeding the soil organisms. They in turn feed us. We have been building soil and rejuvenating its life. The clay component on our farm is 41 percent higher than those of neighboring chemical farms, which indicates a higher water-holding capacity. There is 124 percent more organic-matter content in the soil on our farm than in soil samples from chemical farms. The nitrogen concentration is 85 percent higher, the phosphorus content 10 percent higher, and the available potassium 25 percent higher.
Our farm is also much richer in soil organisms such as mycorrhiza, which are fungi that bring nutrients to plants. Mycorrhizal association makes food material from the soil available to the plant. Our crops have no diseases, our soils are resilient to drought, and our food is delicious, as any visitors to our farm can vouch. Our farm is fossil fuel-free. Oxen plow the land and fertilize it.


By banning fossil fuels on our farm we have gained real energy—the energy of the mycorrhiza and the earthworm, of the plants and animals, all nourished by the energy of the sun.
This is an excpert from Vandana Shiva's latest book Soil Not Oil.


Vandana Shiva was interviewed in The New Economy, the Summer 2009 issue of YES! Magazine. Activist and physicist Vandana Shiva is founder and director of the Research Foundation for Science, Technology, and Natural Resource Policy in New Delhi. Her other recent books inlcude Earth Democracy, Water Wars, and Manifestos on the Future of Food & Seed.




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