Monday, December 10, 2012

Atheists around world suffer persecution, discrimination: report

By Robert Evans | Reuters – 5 hrs ago


GENEVA (Reuters) - Atheists and other religious skeptics suffer persecution or discrimination in many parts of the world and in at least seven nations can be executed if their beliefs become known, according to a report issued on Monday.

The study, from the International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU), showed that "unbelievers" in Islamic countries face the most severe - sometimes brutal - treatment at the hands of the state and adherents of the official religion.

But it also points to policies in some European countries and the United States which favor the religious and their organizations and treat atheists and humanists as outsiders.

The report, "Freedom of Thought 2012", said "there are laws that deny atheists' right to exist, curtail their freedom of belief and expression, revoke their right to citizenship, restrict their right to marry."

Other laws "obstruct their access to public education, prohibit them from holding public office, prevent them from working for the state, criminalize their criticism of religion, and execute them for leaving the religion of their parents."

The report was welcomed by Heiner Bielefeldt, United Nations special rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, who said in a brief introduction there was little awareness that atheists were covered by global human rights agreements.

The IHEU - which links over 120 humanist, atheist and secular organizations in more than 40 countries - said it was issuing the report to mark the U.N.'s Human Rights Day on Monday.

According to its survey of some 60 countries, the seven where expression of atheist views or defection from the official religion can bring capital punishment are Afghanistan, Iran, Maldives, Mauritania, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Sudan.

The 70-page report lists no recent cases of actual execution for "atheism" -- but researchers say the offence is often subsumed into other charges.

In a range of other countries - such as Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Kuwait and Jordan - publication of atheist or humanist views on religion are totally banned or strictly limited under laws prohibiting "blasphemy".

In many of these countries, and others like Malaysia, citizens have to register as adherents of a small number officially-recognized religions -- which normally include no more than Christianity and Judaism as well as Islam.

Atheists and humanists are thereby forced to lie to obtain their official documents without which it is impossible to go to university, receive medical treatment, travel abroad or drive.

In Europe, sub-Saharan Africa and Latin and North America, countries which identify themselves secular give privileges to or favor Christian churches in providing education and other public services, the IHEU said.

In Greece and Russia, the Orthodox Church is fiercely protected from criticism and is given pride of place on state occasions, while in Britain bishops of the Church of England have automatic seats in the upper house of parliament.

While freedom of religion and speech is protected in the United States, the report said, a social and political climate prevails "in which atheists and the non-religious are made to feel like lesser Americans, or non-Americans."

In at least seven U.S. states, constitutional provisions are in place that bar atheists from public office and one state, Arkansas, has a law that bars an atheist from testifying as a witness at a trial, the report said.

(Reported by Robert Evans)


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Files on Accused LA Priests Could Soon Be Public

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By By GILLIAN FLACCUS Associated Press
LOS ANGELES December 10, 2012 (AP)




Secret files kept for decades by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles on priests accused of sexually abusing children could soon become public as a five-year legal battle over their release reaches its endgame.

A judge will hear final objections Monday from accused priests and is also expected to begin hashing out a timeline for the release of thousands of pages of top-secret church documents on abusive clerics. Plaintiff attorneys have been trying to gain access to the files since a $660 million settlement in 2007 called for their disclosure.

Earlier this year, the California Supreme Court declined to intervene after a lower court ordered the release of some of the files, setting the stage for a larger disclosure.

Both attorneys for the church and the plaintiffs said they expected the documents would be made public within a month and no later than February after Monday's critical hearing. Private files on Franciscan friars accused of abuse were released earlier this year after a similar legal fight.

"There are explosive documents that are going to be coming out," said lead plaintiff attorney Ray Boucher, who has seen some of the material while reviewing it with archdiocese attorneys in preparation for the release.

"I don't think there's any question but that the information that will be forthcoming ... is beyond anything the public has seen so far."

The files contain letters between church leaders, including the recently retired Cardinal Roger Mahony, letters to and from the priests themselves, notes and memos about reports of suspected abuse, medical and psychological records and — in some cases — paperwork petitioning for a particular priest's defrocking by the Vatican.

Michael Hennigan, an archdiocese attorney, said the church is committed to releasing the documents but wants to make sure the privacy rights of priests are protected.

Plaintiffs in particular want to see if — and when — archdiocese officials were warned about their alleged abusers or if the church avoided civil and criminal action by not reporting to police or shuffling accused clerics from parish to parish or diocese to diocese.

The archbishop has apologized for his handling of the sex abuse scandal and has acknowledged missteps in how he handled several highly publicized cases, including that of former priest Michael Baker.

Baker told Mahony at a retreat in 1986 that he had molested two young boys but the archbishop has said he didn't alert anyone because the priest told him the children were illegal immigrants who had returned to Mexico.

That case seriously tarnished Mahony's reputation and prompted a criminal grand jury probe that never resulted in charges.

When the Los Angeles archdiocese settled its abuse cases in 2007, lead plaintiff attorney Boucher estimated that Baker's conduct accounted for $40 million of the total.

The former priest was arrested in 2006 as he returned from a vacation in Thailand and ultimately sentenced to 10 years in prison for molestation.

Source

Walter Veith Responds to EUD and is Banned in German Churches by German Adventist Leaders


UPDATE REPORT: Walter Veith Responds to EUD and is Banned in German Churches by German Adventist Leaders



On the left: Bruno Vertallier (president of the Inter-European Division), on the right: Walter Veith


An inquiry is currently underway in Germany concerning Walter Veith and anti-semitism charges. In our previously published report, the circumstances and dialogue that took place in this incident are outlined. On December 4, 2012, the EUD made the decision 45 in favour, 4 opposed, and 1 undecided to ban Walter Veith from speaking in German SDA Churches for the second time. The previous ban took place in 2004 due to his lectures on Bible translations and what was termed as "conspiracy theories" which were highly disapproved of by German leaders. The ban was lifted in 2010, but now has been reinstated.

Readers should note that there have been no complaints from Jews in regards to Walter's comments, nor have any non-SDAs had issue with the contents of his series. All complaints and disapproval originated from fellow SDA brethren, specifically those associated with the private news agency EANN (similar to Spectrum), and from Church leadership that sided with the accusers. The ban from speaking in German SDA Churches stems not from any public offence actually made, but rather from leadership so desperate to be politically correct that they rather sacrifice truth. Or is there a more sinister reason for their strong opposition to this message??

The following letter was sent on December 5, 2012 by Walter Veith to Bruno Vertallier in response to his November 30, 2012 letter of disapproval and request to meet.


Dear Brother Vertallier

Thank you for your letter to which I would like to respond. Firstly, I never received any e-mails from you as you might have sent them to an old address and our telephone lines have been stolen so you would not have been able to reach me on the land line. Secondly, from the tone of your letter it is obvious that you did not accept my explanation of the ‘small yellow cloth’ phrase and I therefore assume that you suppose that it was intentionally derogatory towards the Jews as a people. It seems as though some people are bent on assuming evil intent because that is what they want to hear. The fact of the matter is that my lectures are too close to home for some and therefore every word is placed on the gold scale to find something objectionable and they refuse to accept my explanation that it was an issue of language barrier and nothing else.

Let me spell it out for you: In my home language (Afrikaans) all diminutives are endearing and express empathy and we even have double diminutives and triple diminutives to express feelings. In German diminutives are often deemed derogatory and since German and Afrikaans share phrases it is natural for me to use Afrikaans nuances when speaking German. In fact I got into trouble before in Germany for saying that someone had a ‘small heart’ (kleines Herz) as opposed to ‘large heart’ (groβes Herz). In Afrikaans someone with a small heart (klein hartjie –which by the way is a double diminutive) is kind, full of empathy, gentle, easily hurt, or endearing, but in German it means ‘hard-hearted’ or ‘stingy’. In Afrikaans one would use the phrase ‘small cloth’ to distinguish it from the opposite extreme such as a large cloth like a bed sheet and no one would even think to interpret it otherwise. I therefore reiterate that I did not mean it in a derogatory sense and that I harbor no anti-Semitic sentiments. Moreover, having grown up in Africa and not in Germany, I was never associated with discrimination against the Jews nor did I ever side with or share any sentiments with those who did. On the contrary, discriminatory ideologies are abhorrent to me.

My statements have been wrenched out of all proportions and since the actions of the SDA leadership in German-speaking Europe during the war were not exactly exemplary (as is clear from their apology in the 2005 declaration on anti-Semitism and also the recent reiteration of that declaration) I assume that you overreacted for fear that the past should haunt you. In line with that declaration, I too am against all forms of discrimination on the grounds of race or religion and stand firmly for religious liberty but I draw a clear line of distinction between the theological issues and the racial issues involved. It seems to me that some find it difficult to distinguish between the two because they carry this burden of guilt. The fact that the SDA church in Germany shares this guilt does, however, not give them the right to transfer this baggage onto me and to swing to the opposite extreme of discriminating against the ‘antitypical Jews’ who preach the Three Angels’ Messages. If they do this, then their confession becomes a repentance of King Saul without the change of heart, because they demonstrate by their action that they are just as willing now to repeat their folly as they were then.

As Seventh-day Adventists we have been called to present a particular message – the Three Angels’ Messages - which will end in the clarion call to all who are trapped in Babylon to ‘Come out of her, My people’. The false ideologies must be laid bare and Babylon will be exposed or else no one will know what they are to come out of. The trumpet must give a certain sound so the people can rally under the Lord’s banner. This is the aim of my lectures and this should be the aim of every SDA evangelist as we are admonished ‘not to let anything else occupy our minds’. Modern Babylonian ideologies are closely associated with a literal state of Israel and must therefore be exposed as false and this alone is the aim of my lectures. The preaching of the Three Angels’ Messages is uncomfortable to those within our ranks who wish to be so politically correct that they are willing to sacrifice truth for worldly acceptance.

The German leaders never consulted me before issuing a public statement to the churches and thereby did not follow the Biblical process as outlined in Matthew 18:15-20, thereby aligning themselves with the accusers. Furthermore, the legal procedures that have been initiated against me are also out of harmony with Scripture and since the leadership has not distanced itself from this process, they too are in breach of the Biblical admonition in this regard. Your letter to me clearly shows that the EUD position is no different from the above and therefore I now have no choice other than to place this response and some concerns of my own in the public domain as well.
The modern ecumenical tendencies in our midst becloud the presentation of the Three Angels’ Messages and it seems that our representatives in Europe (as published recently in a German SDA journal) cannot even give a reason as to why we believe that the papacy is the antichrist or why we as a church deem it necessary to hand out the ‘Great Controversy’. Are we not admonished against ecumenical associations and will this not be a stumbling block to the propagation of our message?


Why is it that not a word of remonstrance is heard when false practices are brought into the church? Most of leadership seems unconcerned when Spiritual Formation comes into our ranks like a flood in spite of the fact that it has its roots in Jesuitical spirituality (as dealt with extensively in my lecture ‘The Jesuits and the Counterreformation’). We go even further and advertise books with these sentiments in official church publications. Why was there no public rebuke when a speaker at one of our institutes in Europe advocated blessings by Wiccan witches and why was this speaker even permitted to speak at other SDA institutes? Were those involved ever given letters of rebuke? I am aware that this is not only a European problem and that other institutes have permitted Jesuits and other such speakers to speak at Adventist forums.


Why is it that our youth is led astray at official gatherings with music and performances that have no semblance of heaven? I have watched shocking videos of youth and church leaders in Europe engaging in events that would even make other denominations blush. Are we so bent on apostasy that concerned brethren are driven to cry between the porch and the altar for all the evil that is done in Israel? Even Conference Presidents have expressed their deep sadness with regard to this issue to me personally. Again, I acknowledge that this is a worldwide problem, but that the leadership should lead the way in this apostasy, is indeed astounding.


Why is it that we willingly adopt the practices of non-SDA mega churches and emerging church theologies that change our message and our outreach to one of ‘correction of social injustices’ rather than a message of salvation? It seems this is the new wave. Did those who teach these things ever receive letters of rebuke? Is it right that these new methods should be drummed into our students and that we should embrace these practices when we are not only admonished by the Spirit of Prophecy that we should steer clear of such things but are even warned that they would come in like a flood. Do we really want to be part of this fulfillment of prophecy or should we do all in our power to stop it?


Why is it that there was no official letter of rebuke from Europe when most of the delegates of that territory voted against the clarification of our position regarding the literal Six-day Creation? Why are evolutionary ideologies not only embraced in our ranks, but the ‘princes of Israel’, who are supposed to lead the flock in the ancient paths align themselves publicly with this apostasy? When the testimonies that were once believed are marginalized and relegated to the ‘trash heap of nineteenth century literature’, then the road to perdition is sure to follow. Why are leading figures allowed to slight and ridicule the testimonies and no action is taken against them? Does the Spirit of Prophecy not form part of our fundamental beliefs?


Where does Europe stand when it comes to the ordination issue? Irrespective of where we stand on the issue personally, why are there rumblings of secession from the ranks because pet theories are placed above church unity? Did Christ pray in vain for unity? Is it necessary to print an additional watered-down evangelically-minded Sabbath School lesson book just to avoid the sentiments expressed in the Spirit of Prophecy and hereby cause divisions in the church in Europe and indeed in the world?


The list could go on and on but I will leave it there. There are many voices of concern regarding these issues, not least of which is that of Elder Ted Wilson who stands out like a beacon of hope and I believe that God has placed him there for a time like this. It is shameful how he was and still is treated by some in our ranks. We can no longer remain silent in the face of these things or else we will be found wanting. We will have to meet these challenges head on (“Iceberg ahead – meet it!”) and may God be gracious to us during the shaking which must come.

Regarding the issue of Freemasonry and the Jesuits, these matters are clearly outlined in the Spirit of Prophecy and I feel that further discussions would not be fruitful. If we disregard the Spirit of Prophecy, how will we ever understand our SDA mission? Therefore nothing that I could say would change your perceptions. I have stated my case in the past and up to date have never received any reply regardingthese documents and I append them again for your clarification.

I wish to assure you that I love Christ and His truth, as given to our pioneers, with all my heart. I believe that this church will go through to the Kingdom and I will continue to do all in my power to call people into its ranks and it is my prayer that the church will unify on the true Advent message as it was preached from 1842 to 1846 {GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 35; 1 MR 52.2}. I thank God for the pioneers and godly Adventists who as late as 1952 published our first declaration of fundamental beliefs under the official auspices of the General Conference in the book “Principles of Life”. I stand by this Adventism and by the grace of God will not be moved.

I wish to make an appeal to you in the words of the Spirit of prophecy:

Seventh-day Adventists are now to stand forth separate and distinct, a people denominated by the Lord as His own. Until they do this, He cannot be glorified in them. Truth and error cannot stand in copartnership. Let us now place ourselves where God has said that we should stand.... We are to strive for unity but not on the low level of conformity to worldly policy and union with the popular churches.--Lt 113, 1903. {2MCP 559.2}

Your Brother in Christ
Walter Veith


Appended Documents:
Walter Veith's response to BRI (May 2004) – no response received to date.


"You should not believe your conscience and your feelings more than the Word which the Lord who receives sinners preaches to you." ~ Martin Luther

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Evangelist Leo Schreven Passes Away



ADVENTIST EVANGELIST LEO SCHREVEN DIES AT 51

By Record Staff


American evangelist Leo Schreven passed away on Saturday, December 1. He was 51 years old.

In a statement on their website, Schreven’s ministry, All Power Seminars, reported that the he took his own life after struggling with an ongoing complex mental health disorder.

Schreven served as an Adventist evangelist for nearly 30 years. He was known for his dynamic speaking style and emphasis on personal development and financial growth based on biblical principles. During his ministry, he spoke in many areas of the world, including the South Pacific, and many baptisms followed his meetings.

Schreven's ministry generated substantial controversy in recent times. In October of this year, Schreven apologised for strongly negative statements he made about the Seventh-day Adventist Church, saying, in part: "Although I have been unkind, hateful, critical and judgemental, I sincerely ask for your forgiveness. . . I want the next twenty years of my life to be the best, and most effective soul winning years of my life, working with the Church I love." He also announced he would be taking a six-month voluntary break from his public commitments.


Schreven is survived by his wife Tamara and daughter Cierra. The family has requested that all messages and gifts be sent to All Power Ministries, PO Box 1158, Kettle Falls, WA 99141, United States.


Source: http://record.net.au/items/adventist-evangelist-leo-schreven-dies-at-51

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Many have asked about the tragic passing of Leo Schreven. Tamara and Cierra along with the Schreven family are very grateful for the outpouring of concern and support in their time of loss and bereavement. It is not possible for them to respond to each individual message or phone call. The family is intensely grieving the loss of Leo and your prayers for them during this difficult time are most helpful as they navigate so many difficult and new realities.

1. Leo took his own life in the early morning hours of Dec 1. Unknown to most people, for many years Leo suffered from a complex mental health disorder. Every possible effort was made by Tamara, his family and very close friends encouraging him to get help. Even to the very last, the family repeatedly assured him and let him know he was loved and appreciated. This year he spiraled downward and particularly in the past few months, weeks and days, it was increasingly evident he was experiencing serious complications.

2. It is important to know that Leo's family; his parents, his two brothers and his sister are extremely supportive of Tamara. In light of Leo's mental health challenges over the years, Leo's family has supported the decisions that Tamara has had to make in the best interests of herself and Cierra.

3. It is the wish of Tamara and the family that focus be on the dignity of Leo's life by remembering how effective his ministry was in spite of the very personal, private, and real challenges he struggled with.

All Power ministry will continue. There will be growth in new directions so the ministry can continue to make available practical materials to assist people in biblical principles for daily living
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Source: http://www.allpowerministry.com/



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Related:

Leo Schreven: Taking Sabbath to the Super Bowl [UPDATED]

6 February 2011 | JARED WRIGHT|



A conversation with businessman, pastor and evangelist Leo Schreven about an ad being planned for Super Bowl XLVI in 2012.

Jared Wright: For the last several months, Facebook users have been seeing targeted ads inviting them to support a Super Bowl commercial affirming Saturday as the biblical Sabbath. What’s the story behind this initiative?


Leo Schreven: We have an amazing staff of really talented people who get together a couple times a year to brainstorm how to reach the whole world in the most effective way, in the shortest amount of time, using modern technology. The idea of the Super Bowl came out of these sessions. You have an audience of 106 million people in one place. It is the only program in the world where people watch the commercials more than the game. It is super efficient costing only 3 cents per person. Our staff loves to think out of the box and this was pretty much a no brainer way to reach the masses. We have run tests using our website, www.goallpower.com to see what percentage of people go through the whole seminar online, and what percentage become baptized members. A very conservative number shows this ad will produce 3.1 million baptisms in nine months after the Superbowl. These are not numbers picked out of the sky. We have looked at everything, - what percentage of people will see the ad, what percentage will go to the website, what percentage will go through all the seminars online, what percentage will become aware in the forty-five days following the Superbowl, etc. If our very conservative estimate comes true, then the cost will be .82 cents per person baptized. When you compare that to the NAD average of over $1,300 per soul through traditional evangelism, then the benefits are obvious. That is why we are so excited about it.

Read entire article here

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Sunday, December 09, 2012

No time to throw away in listening to fables


I was shown the necessity of those who believe that we are having the last message of mercy, being separate from those who are daily imbibing new errors. I saw that neither young nor old should attend their meetings; for it is wrong to thus encourage them while they teach error that is a deadly poison to the soul and teach for doctrines the commandments of men. The influence of such gatherings is ...not good. If God has delivered us from such darkness and error, we should stand fast in the liberty wherewith He has set us free and rejoice in the truth. God is displeased with us when we go to listen to error, without being obliged to go; for unless He sends us to those meetings where error is forced home to the people by the power of the will, He will not keep us. The angels cease their watchful care over us, and we are left to the buffetings of the enemy, to be darkened and weakened by him and the power of his evil angels; and the light around us becomes contaminated with the darkness.

I saw that we have no time to throw away in listening to fables. Our minds should not be thus diverted, but should be occupied with the present truth, and seeking wisdom that we may obtain a more thorough knowledge of our position, that with meekness we may be able to give a reason of our hope from the Scriptures. While false doctrines and dangerous errors are pressed upon the mind, it cannot be dwelling upon the truth which is to fit and prepare the house of Israel to stand in the day of the Lord.

EARLY WRITINGS, pp. 124-125.


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And so it will be in the last days



There is cause for alarm in the condition of the religious world today. God's mercy has been trifled with. The multitudes make void the law of Jehovah, "teaching for doctrines the commandments of men." Matthew 15:9. Infidelity prevails in many of the churches in our land; not infidelity in its broadest sense--an open denial of the Bible--but an infidelity that is robed in the garb of Christianity, while it is undermining faith in the Bible as a revelation from God. Fervent devotion and vital piety have given place to hollow formalism. As the result, apostasy and sensualism prevail. Christ declared, "As it was in the days of Lot, . . . even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed." Luke 17:28,30. The daily record of passing events testifies to the fulfillment of His words. The world is fast becoming ripe for destruction. Soon the judgments of God are to be poured out, and sin and sinners are to be consumed.

Said our Saviour: "Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth"--upon all whose interests are centered in this world. "Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man." Luke 21:34-36.

Before the destruction of Sodom, God sent a message to Lot, "Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed." The same voice of warning was heard by the disciples of Christ before the destruction of Jerusalem: "When ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. Then let them which are in Judea flee to the mountains." Luke 21:20,21. They must not tarry to secure anything from their possessions, but must make the most of the opportunity to escape.

There was a coming out, a decided separation from the wicked, an escape for life. So it was in the days of Noah; so with Lot; so with the disciples prior to the destruction of Jerusalem; and so it will be in the last days. Again the voice of God is heard in a message of warning, bidding His people separate themselves from the prevailing iniquity.

The state of corruption and apostasy that in the last days would exist in the religious world, was presented to the prophet John in the vision of Babylon, "that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth." Revelation 17:18. Before its destruction the call is to be given from heaven, "Come out of her, My people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues." Revelation 18:4. As in the days of Noah and Lot, there must be a marked separation from sin and sinners. There can be no compromise between God and the world, no turning back to secure earthly treasures. "Ye cannot serve God and mammon." Matthew 6:24.

Like the dwellers in the vale of Siddim, the people are dreaming of prosperity and peace. "Escape for thy life," is the warning from the angels of God; but other voices are heard saying, "Be not excited; there is no cause for alarm." The multitudes cry, "Peace and safety," while Heaven declares that swift destruction is about to come upon the transgressor. On the night prior to their destruction, the cities of the plain rioted in pleasure and derided the fears and warnings of the messenger of God; but those scoffers perished in the flames; that very night the door of mercy was forever closed to the wicked, careless inhabitants of Sodom. God will not always be mocked; He will not long be trifled with. "Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and He shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it." Isaiah 13:9. The great mass of the world will reject God's mercy, and will be overwhelmed in swift and irretrievable ruin. But those who heed the warning shall dwell "in the secret place of the Most High," and "abide under the shadow of the Almighty." His truth shall be their shield and buckler. For them is the promise, "With long life will I satisfy him, and show him My salvation." Psalm 91:1, 4,16.


Patriarchs and Prophets, pp. 166,167.
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Saturday, December 08, 2012

Transforming the World by Subverting the Church




Real Conspiracies -- Part 3

Transforming the World by Subverting the Church

Berit Kjos - October 2006






"...we have seen how Dr. Walter Rauschenbusch... and the leaders of the social-action movements in the churches decided to do away with Christian individualism and turn to outright collectivism, using the church as their instrument.... Religion was only a means toward achieving socialism. And, like all other false prophets who have infiltrated religion through he centuries, [Rauschenbusch] used a 'front' or disguise. This disguise, as we have seen, was 'The Kingdom of God.' The Kingdom was not pictured as a spiritual society into which men and women had to be born as individuals through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ as Savior, but as a collectivist society which would be brought about by... eradication of poverty, redistribution of wealth... and 'economic justice.'"[1] Edgar Bundy,Collectivism in the Churches.

"Rockefeller promoted universal ecumenism by stating in December 1917... 'I see all denominational emphasis set aside....I see the church molding the thought of the world... I see it literallyestablishing the Kingdom of God on earth."[2] Dr. James W. Wardner, Unholy Alliances: The Secret Plan and the Secret People who are Working to Destroy America.

Conspiracies have battered the Church for 2000 years -- just as God warned us. Ever since Jesus walked the narrow streets of Jerusalem, spiritual battles have challenged Christians to stand firm on His Word and resist the wide ways of the world. Today the battles rage as fiercely as ever.

The Social Gospel of the early 20th century shifted the focus of many church leaders from God's unchanging Word to the world's pliable illusions. Socialist seminary professors, pragmatic pastors, and deluded idealists validated their visions with hand-picked Bible verses that "fit" their social message. "Offensive" words like sin and redemption were redefined, contextualized or ignored. No need for the cross, since all people were considered essentially good.

Naturally, as socialist ideals tore away at the old Biblical barriers to spiritual pluralism, the change process accelerated. Even "conservative" pastors -- like their purpose-driven guides -- began to view Christianity primarily as good "deeds, not creeds."[3]



Transformational tactics

In Part 2, we documented these early strategies, patterned after the Kremlin's plan for the Soviet "church."


Infiltrate church institutions.


Adapt the Communist social campaign to America's unique beliefs, wants, and values.


Concentrate on seminaries where each new convert learns to influence thousands.


Divert the heart and purposes of the Church from the spiritual to the material.


Demonstrate tolerance toward beliefs and values that clash with God's Words.



"It’s not just tolerance, it’s to go beyond tolerance, to principle pluralism, which... means no religion has a privileged place," said Richard Cizik, who represented the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) at the prestigious 2006 Clinton Global Initiative conference. "I would say one step even further, which is to say partnership.... The fundamentalists have a pessimistic view of the future and they have this perception, unlike evangelicals and liberal Christians, that there’s an unbridgeable divide between the believer and the unbeliever.... We don’t believe that."[4]

Of course they don't. God's Word clashes with the world's vision of pluralism! That's why Jesus said, "If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.... If they persecuted Me they will persecute you... for they do not know the One who sent Me." John 15:19-20

The world readily accepts Christian love, charity, and willingness to serve the needy. It just can't accept the source of that love. It wants the fruit of God's Spirit but transplants its roots into the soil of humanism. To succeed in this assault, it fine-tunes the following strategies:

1. Infiltration, then mass conversion to a counterfeit system. In Part 2, we looked at some revealing testimonies given by former Communist leader Manning Johnson before the Committee on Un-American Activities of the U.S. House of Representatives in 1953. Here are a few more:


"The plan was to make the seminaries the neck of a funnel through which thousands of potential clergymen would issue forth, carrying with them, in varying degrees, an ideology and slant which would aid in neutralizing the anti-Communist character of the church and also to use the clergy to spearhead important Communist projects....

"This policy was successful beyond even Communist expectations. The combination of Communist clergymen, clergymen with a pro-Communist ideology, plus thousands of clergymen who were sold the principle of considering Communist causes as progressive... furnished the Soviet apparatus with a machine which was used as a religious cover for the overall Communist operation."[5]

Of course, they wouldn't call it Communism. Words like compassion and world service felt far better.


2. Communitarian partnerships

Today, more than a decade after the supposed "death of Communism," a more pleasing version is rising like the mythical phoenix out of its own ashes. It's new label? Communitarianism! Like the old system, this upgraded version would control the masses through universal surveillance, personal data files, and a hierarchy of groups or councils (originally called soviets). It's already being marketed to the public as decentralized leadership, sustainable development, supportive networks, and voluntary service.

Does it sound confusing? Here is a simple formula: Communitarian systems are based on networks of "partnerships" between the public sector (government), private sector (business) and social sector (civil society, including churches). In other words, social sector "volunteers" would serve the government (ultimately the UN agenda) providing most of the "social services" needed for the global welfare state.

The catch? The private and the social sectors must conform to the standards (personal, performance, development, etc.) determined by the public sector (the government). Instead of owning everything, it would justcontrol everything. Its standards already include "mental health," which involve pluralistic guidelines for religion and values." So within this "compassionate" and "tolerant" socialist system, Christians would no longer be free to serve God as He leads. And this is just the beginning!

As mass movements such as Rick Warren's Purpose-Driven PEACE Plan enter into partnerships with the United Nations, White House, CFR and other governmental and policy making institutions, they are pressed into an ever-changing consensus pattern.[6] To continue their determined march toward "success" (based on unconditional relationships and measurable results) they bind themselves to the evolving regulation of the global management system.

3. Collective thinking.

Purpose-Driven and Church Growth movements -- as well as the secular transformational networks driven by Peter Senge and Peter Drucker -- emphasize relational vitality and collective thinking. As Manning Johnson testified, group thinking and interdependent relationships are powerful weapons against individual resisters and a Bible-trained conscience:

"The Communists have an advantage in religious organizations due to the fact that their forces within religious groups are well organized as a totalitarian group. This gives this destructive element a great tactical advantage over all others in the religious organizations who deal with religion as individuals, operating ethics on the basis of an individual conscience before God...."

"Communist strategists counted the effectiveness of their forces not so much on numbers alone, but on the importance of individuals loyal to communism in key spots where a small group can influence large numbers.... Thus, one professor of divinity, lecturing to future clergymen, who in turn will preach to thousands of churchgoers, is, in the long run, more dangerous than 20 Red preachers, singing the praises of communism from the pulpit....

"...if an infiltrated body has 1 per cent Communist Party members and 9 per cent Communist Party sympathizers, with well-rehearsed plans of action, they can effectively control the remaining 90 per cent who act and think on an individual basis. In the large sections of the religious field, due to the ideological poison which has been filtered in by Communists and pro-Communists through seminaries, the backlog of sympathizers and mental prisoners of Socialistic ideology is greater than the 10 percent necessary for effective control."[7]


4. Small groups and the dialectic process

To "control the remaining 90 per cent" who act and think on an individual basis, former Communist leaders assigned all their subjects -- workers, managers, prisoners and students -- to local "soviets" (groups or councils) where they were trained in Georg Hegel's dialectic process. They had to


"Share" thoughts and notions. [Now cheered as "authenticity"]


"Confess" contrary attitudes. [Brainwashing and "Education Reform"]


Write "self-criticisms" for group evaluation. [When Iron Gates Yield]


"Celebrate" Communist ideals and heroes


"Commit" themselves to follow the group consensus.


Practice what the group (led by the facilitator) decides. [PRAXIS]

This dialectic process is now the centerpiece of the world's management systems. Designed to conform all minds to a common vision and mission (purpose), it calls for ground rules that ban divisive truths but demand tolerance for the world's corrupt values. [8]

This process was described in our article "Small Groups and the Dialectic Process," which summarizes the strategies taught in Leading Congregational Change (LCC). "This is a book you ought to read before you change anything," wrote Rick Warren in his hearty endorsement on the back cover.[9]

The LCC shows us that the dialectic group doesn't operate in a vacuum. It's part of a system that controls the planned transformation with vision-casting, team-building, top-down standards, force field analysis,capacity building, and service learning. To persuade church members to go along with the transformation, leaders must continually create tension through crisis, thus arouse dissatisfaction. Forget God's call to "be content" in Him. That doesn't fit the plan for continual change through unceasing agitation.

This unbiblical program follows the same Total Quality Management model embraced by governments, corporations, education systems, the United Nations and other organizations around the world. Do you wonder where the Holy Spirit fits into this scheme?

Written by James H. Furr, Mike Bonem, and Jim Herrington, the LCC was published by Jossey-Bass, which works closely with the Peter Drucker Foundation (renamed Leader to Leader). "We thank Rick Warren," it tells us, "for the opportunity to reach and refine our understanding of congregational transformation as part of Saddleback Valley Church's Purpose-Driven Church Conference. ... We also saw many applications in Peter Senge's The Fifth Discipline...."[10]

When assigned to a group, members are encouraged to eat together, play together, serve the community together, and do short-terms mission trips together. There's nothing wrong with Christian togetherness. But in this context -- created by trained facilitator/leaders -- every event becomes a practice session (praxis) in group dialogue and "Repressive Tolerance." The latter refers to "intolerance against movements from the right, and toleration of movements from the left." [See "Cultural Marxism" and "Three kinds of group relationships."][11]


Resisting Deception

Well aware of the struggles and temptations His people would face, God gave us Scriptures that both warn and equip us. Here are three worth remembering:

"As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving. Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ." Colossians 2:6-9

"And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works." 2 Corinthians 11:13-15

But "thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable...." 1 Corinthians 15:56

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See also Dealing with Resisters, The 21st Century Church, and The Mind-Changing Process.

1. Edgar C Bundy, Collectivism in the Churches: A documented account of the political activities of the Federal, National, and World Councils of Churches (Wheaton, Illinois: Church League of America, 1957), page 101.

2. Dr. James W. Wardner, Unholy Alliances: The Secret Plan and the Secret People who are Working to Destroy America, 1996, page 154. www.crossroad.to/Excerpts/books/unholy-alliances/council-of-churches.htm

3. Warren's P.E.A.C.E. Plan and UN Goals - Part 3 at www.crossroad.to/articles2/05/peace-un-3.htm

4. Clinton Global Initiative: Mitigating Religious and Ethnic Conflict at www.clintonglobalinitiative.org/NETCOMMUNITY/Document.Doc?&id=80

5. Committee on Un-American Activities of the U.S. House of Representatives, 83rd Congress, in July, 1953, page 2229. Cited by Bundy, pages 127-128.

6. Equipping Leaders to 'Lead like Jesus'? at www.crossroad.to/articles2/05/peace-un-2.htm

7. Committee on Un-American Activities, page 2278.

8. Reinventing the World at www.crossroad.to/articles2/Reinvent1.htm

9. James H. Furr, Mike Bonem and Jim Herrington, Leading Congregational Change (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2000). Back cover.

10. Ibid., Acknowledgements.

11. www.crossroad.to/charts/dialogue.htm & www.crossroad.to/Quotes/brainwashing/cultural-marxism.htm


S

Walk in the Spirit




Galatians 5 (King James Version)
...

16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.

17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

18 But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.

19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,

20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,

21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,

23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

24 And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.

25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

26 Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.


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Friday, December 07, 2012

Jamie Foxx Defends Calling Barack Obama 'Lord and Savior'


(Photograph: Twitter/Jamie Foxx)
Jamie Foxx is a singer-songwriter, comedian and actor.
Read more at 

By Christine Thomasos , Christian Post Reporter
December 5, 2012|9:11 am

Jamie Foxx caused some controversy when he referred to President Barack Obama as "our lord and savior" at the 2012 Soul Train Awards, but the Academy Award-winning actor is defending his actions.

Foxx, 44, drew criticism from the likes of Bill Donohue, President of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, and Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Church in California.

Donohue has been vocal about protesting Obama's policies like the HHS Mandate and released a statement calling Foxx's remarks "startling."

"It just goes to show that even though Obama did not succeed in stopping the oceans from rising (as he promised to do in 2008), he did succeed in convincing Jamie Foxx, and no doubt legions of others, that God exists," Donohue said in the statement.

Warren seemed to share in Donohue's sentiments, saying that Foxx was wrong to issue such a statement that likened the president to Jesus Christ.

"That sent shivers up my spine," Warren told Fox News last week. "There's a word for that – it's called blasphemy. It's wrong."

However, Foxx defended his actions in an interview with "Entertainment Tonight" recently. The actor who got his start doing stand up comedy simply referred to his statements as nothing more than a joke.

"I'm a comic [and] sometimes I think people get a little too tight," Foxx said. "And, it's getting a little tougher for us comedians [because] some people take it and want to make a huge story out of it, but it's a joke."

The initial comments made by Foxx at the Soul Train music awards last month likened his crowd to a church.

"It's like church over here. It's like church in here," Foxx said at the awards show. "First of all, giving honor to God and our lord and savior Barack Obama. Barack Obama." The actor's comment was met with applause and cheers.



Source: http://global.christianpost.com/news/jamie-foxx-defends-calling-barack-obama-lord-and-savior-86090/#IxgfR653buPsKLYB.99

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Happy Sabbath


He answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red.

And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowering. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times
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Matthew 16:2-3

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Voice of Russia?

I first heard of it last year. Two days ago I hear it mentioned on NPR, when they were quoted during a news radio program.  I continue to see headlines that contain fantastic titles, then when I go to the link I see the paradoxical  news source:  RT.

In case you don't readily recognize RT or what the acronym stands for?
It means Russia Today.

If you google RT you will see: RT is the first Russian 24/7 English-language news channel which brings the Russian view on global news.


RT


What baffles me about this is -
Why would I get my news from a country that has no precedent for reliable news?
A traditional totalitarian nation that has no respect for individual rights, especially FREEDOM OF THE PRESS.

This is sort of a present-day reverse Voice of America; As I think back in time, VOA or was it Radio Free Europe?  Anyway, I remember radio programs in English and Eastern European languages on short wave band targeting the countries behind the Iron Curtain, East Germany and RUSSIA (Collectively known as the Soviet Union and its Satellites aka the Soviet Bloc).  This was during the saner times of the Cold War.  Now we have Russia informing us on 'what's really going on'?    It doesn't get any stranger than this?

The land of the communist disinformation PRAVDA is now into investigative journalism?   A news entity from the home of the KGB, the Cheka is disseminating news in English?  Give me a break, comrade.  Spasiba!

For the time being I will take my chances by getting news from the Australian-British naturalized American, Knight of Malta, Media Mogul Rupert Murdoch (Murdoch Inc).

 :)
Arsenio.
..

Are Cell Phones Replacing Reality



Published on Dec 5, 2012

Can you live without your phone?

We've all become pretty attached to our cellular devices: it's a GPS, a camera, a game console, a social media portal... and half a million other things, all in our pocket! From concerts to meals to our pets, we process and experience the world through our phone. But as we see in so many mobile phone ads, the representations of these moments (whether its instagrams, foursquare check ins or Facebook shares) seem to be taking over and replacing the experience itself. In this brave new world is the mobile phone a tool, or a filter through which we experience a new reality?

Let us know what sorts of crazy ideas you have, about this episode and otherwise:
Tweet at us! @pbsideachannel (yes, the longest twitter username ever)
Email us! pbsideachannel [at] gmail [dot] com

Hosted by Mike Rugnetta (@mikerugnetta)
Made by Kornhaber Brown (http://www.kornhaberbrown.com)

CGP Grey
Copyright: Forever Less One Day
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tk862BbjWx4

Barats and Bereta - Hapi Birth Dey
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2f2PCWYAZQc

Everything is a Remix
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmwwjikTHxw

PlusEcon Response:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcCyRmHels0&feature=plcp

Paper Mentioned in Comments:
Carla Hesse - Rise of Intellectual Property
http://www.amacad.org/publications/spring2002/hesse.pdf

Music:
Roglok: http://vimeo.com/musicstore/track/21166
Level 5: Room for the Homelesshttp://www.jamendo.com/en/list/a101325/level-5
Tony Bullard: Rockin http://soundcloud.com/toekneebullard/rockin
EatMe: http://www.jamendo.com/en/artist/348390/eatme
The Grave Arcade - Graphix (Awesome Gif Idea Channel Remix!)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8g5-IC7QrNI


Want some more Idea Channel?

Here's Last Week's episode: "Should 'Happy Birthday' be Protected by Copyright?" http://youtu.be/fzbSt0QG7mY

Want another one? Here ya go: "Is Nostalgia the Reason for Adventure Time's Amazing Awesomeness?"http://youtu.be/7MVvkqbXiws

Here's Some More: "Is YouTube Making Us Smarter?"http://youtu.be/8qjge9U_MiA
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Blue Marble Turns 40 Today


Today at 11:13 AM



By Dan Amira



One of the most famous photographs of all time, Blue Marble "changed humankind’s view of Earth forever" after it was snapped by the crew of Apollo 17 on December 7, 1972, according to NASA's chief historian. Prior to the photo's release, people were under the assumption that Earth was more of a mauve color and shaped like a T-Rex.


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Ecumenists Celebrate “50 Years of Ecumenical Progress”



Published on Nov 26, 2012

Secretaries of the North American Orthodox-Catholic Theological Consultation look at progress in the 50 years since Vatican II.
*

Posted on November 29, 2012 by HmkEnoch

The Catholic News Services reported on November 26, 2012, on “50 Years of Ecumenical Progress” with a video report. The World Orthodox and Roman Catholic participants in the North American Orthodox-Catholic Theological Consultation, especially the two co-secretaries, laud the coming reconciliation between the Patriarchates and the Vatican.

In the interview Jesuit Father Brian Daley and World Orthodox Father Thomas FitzGerald praised the ecumenical endeavours. From a traditional Orthodox perspective, however, both men are heretical in their theology and teachings, and the coming planned official union between the Vatican and the Patriarchates (something that has been planned by the Jesuits since the 60s, at the very least, in terms of modern planning), will be the culmination of the heresy of Ecumenism (which teaches that the Church is divided into bodies that hold mutually contradictory formulations of dogmas).

The video montage contains images of Roman Popes Paul VI, John Paul II, and Benedict XVI along with an assortment of World Patriarchate and Monophysite leaders.

Source
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Queen of Heaven

 2012-08-22 11:22:45

Pope: weekly General Audience



(Vatican Radio) Pope Benedict XVI held his weekly General Audience on Wednesday. Marian devotion was the theme of his remarks, on the Feast of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin. Listen to our report:

“Dear friends,” said Pope Benedict in Italian-language remarks to pilgrims and tourists gathered in the courtyard of the Apostolic Palace at Castel Gandolfo, “Devotion to Our Lady is an important part of spiritual life,” adding an appeal to the faithful, that they not fail to turn confidently to Mary in prayer, saying, “She will not fail to intercede for us with her Son.”

The Pope went on to recommend that all the faithful imitate Mary’s faith and her openness to the fullness of God’s loving design. “Mary,” said Pope Benedict,is the Queen of Heaven - close to God – and also close to each of us, a mother who loves us and listens to our voice.”
It was a theme to which the Holy Father returned during his English-language remarks:

I welcome all the English-speaking pilgrims present at today’s Audience, especially the groups from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, Japan and the United States of America. I also greet the young altar servers from Malta and their families. Today the Church celebrates the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary. May the prayers of Our Lady guide us along our pilgrimage of faith, that we may share in her Son’s victory and reign with him in his eternal Kingdom. Upon all of you I invoke the Lord’s abundant blessings!

The Holy Father also had especial greetings for the visiting Chaldean Sisters of Mary Immaculate, whose work on behalf of people in their native Iraq he praised. The Pope is in Castel Gandolfo for the Summer months, and is keeping a reduced schedule of appointments – though he is scheduled to travel to Lebanon from September 14th to September 16th.


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Thursday, December 06, 2012

The King of the North - part 2 (273)



Published on Dec 3, 2012 by OfficialADTVChannel

http://amazingdiscoveries.tv/media/1165/273-the-king-of-the-north-part-2/

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Description: Part 2 is a study of the king of the south that pushes against Catholicism at the time of the end, but it also investigates the intrigues of setting up the conditions for the final victory of the king of the north. The secret intrigues of Napoleon, the setting up of a false system of worship, and a counterfeit theology regarding the antichrist, the dispensationalist view, and the creation of the Jewish state and Zionism are all discussed. Viewers will be surprised to discover the origin of the Jews and the state of Israel. This DVD concludes the study of Daniel 11 and prepares the way for the modern fulfillment of these prophecies.
. . .

UN summit votes to support internet eavesdropping

December 6, 2012, 9:54 am By Declan McCullagh cnet.com.au


UN summit votes to support internet eavesdropping
A United Nations summit has adopted confidential recommendations proposed by China that will help network providers target BitTorrent uploaders, detect trading of copyrighted MP3 files and, critics say, accelerate internet censorship in repressive nations.
(Credit: United Nations)





Approval by the UN's International Telecommunications Union (ITU) came despite objections from Germany, which warned that the organisation must "not standardise any technical means that would increase the exercise of control over telecommunications content, could be used to empower any censorship of content or could impede the free flow of information and ideas."

The ITU adopted the confidential Y.2770 standard for deep packet inspection - only members, not the public, currently have access to the document - last month during a meeting in Dubai . A related ITU meeting in Dubai, which has drawn sharp criticism from the US Government and many internet companies, began this week.

Because Y.2770 is confidential, many details remain opaque. But a document ( PDF ) posted by a Korean standards body describes how network operators will be able to identify "embedded digital watermarks in MP3 data", discover "copyright protected audio content", find "Jabber messages with Spanish text" or "identify uploading BitTorrent users". Jabber is also known as XMPP , an instant messaging protocol, a technology also used in Google Talk.

In a joint blog post , Alissa Cooper and Emma Llansó from the Center for Democracy and Technology said that the UN agency "barely acknowledges that DPI has privacy implications, let alone does it provide a thorough analysis of how the potential privacy threats associated with the technology might be mitigated".

DPI is, of course, deep packet inspection, a technology that serves many useful purposes, including fending off network attacks, detecting malware and prioritising critical applications over ones that are less time-sensitive. But it's controversial when used for legal and extra-legal government surveillance, and some network operators have edged in this direction for advertising-related purposes as well.

Cooper and Llansó added: "Mandatory standards are a bad idea, even when they are well designed. Forcing the world's technology companies to adopt standards developed in a body that fails to conduct rigorous privacy analysis could have dire global consequences for online trust and users' rights".

Germany had asked a European telecommunications body called CEPT , which includes 48 member nations, to "take a stand" against the ITU's proposal, which was advanced by China's Fiberhome network provider. Germany's concerns about Y.2770, which is formally titled "Requirements for Deep Packet Inspection in Next Generation Networks", appear in a document ( MS Word ) made available by CEPT.

After discussions, CEPT decided that its member "countries consider that they cannot oppose" Y.2770, according to a report ( MS Word ) from its October meeting in Istanbul, meaning that no Europe-wide position would be taken against the ITU proposal.

An ITU study group describes its mission as developing recommendations for "requirements, architectures, mechanisms and functionalities" used in deep packet inspection: "This includes study on flexible and effective DPI mechanisms that allow network devices to look at the packet header and payload."

Another controversial section of Y.2770 is that it contemplates having network operators decrypt their customers' internet traffic so that it can be inspected.

A partial early draft ( PDF ) of Y.2770, called Y.dpireq at the time and was made public in 2009, does not mention encryption, BitTorrent or inspecting the contents of instant message communications.

One reason why deep packet inspection is so controversial is that it has been used by repressive regimes - dozens of which are members of the ITU - to conduct extensive surveillance against their own citizens.

A Wall Street Journal report last year described how Amesys, a unit of French technology firm Bull SA, helped Libya's Muammar Gadhafi spy on his people. Boeing's Narus unit was in talks with Libya about controlling Skype, censoring YouTube and blocking proxy servers, the Journal reported. In August, The New York Times reported that malware, known as FinSpy and sold by a British company called the Gamma Group, could activate computer cameras and microphones, and had been linked to repressive governments, including Turkmenistan, Brunei and Bahrain.

This isn't the first time that an ITU proposal has been criticised for its implication s of internet censorship. In 2008, CNET's US counterpart disclosed that the ITU was quietly drafting technical standards, proposed by the Chinese government, to define methods of tracing the original source of internet communications and potentially curbing the ability for users to remain anonymous.

A leaked document showed that the trace-back mechanism was designed to be used by a government that "tries to identify the source of the negative articles" published by an anonymous author.


Source
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From Good Jobs To Bad Jobs To No Jobs - The Tragic Downfall Of The American Worker


By Michael, on December 5th, 2012


Many of our politicians insist that things are getting better for American workers, but that is simply not true. Just look at the chart below. Back at the start of 2008, the percentage of working age Americans with a job was sitting at about 63 percent. Since then it has fallen below 59 percent and it has stayed there for over 3 years. After every other recession in the post-World War II era the employment-population ratio has always bounced back. That has not happened this time...





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Wednesday, December 05, 2012

Repairing the Breach by Walter Veith - Promo



Published on Aug 14, 2012 by OfficialADTVChannel

No description available.
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Micromanaging the Muslim World or Rhetorical Lip Service?

As we observe the current events in the Muslim World we can only wonder: What is going on?
The middle east has descended into turmoil (again) just as described in Matthew 24 -  "And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet." (v. 6)

This past Monday, December 3, 2012, President Obama warned Syria's Assad while pledging to support The Opposition that (a War that started on 15 March 2011) "the use of chemical weapons will be totally unacceptable"...1.

Today, Wednesday, December 5, 2012, Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton called for respectful dialogue between Morsi Government (Mursi you never know which spelling is right) and the militants and protesters that have taken to the streets again in impressive numbers (defying the new Muslim Brotherhood Regime). 2.

I see the lips moving and I hear the voices; yet, I'm not convinced that what is being said is really intended, - something sounds hollow.  


Hegemony?  Nation Building?

Are we running the world now?




1. 


Published on Dec 3, 2012 by AssociatedPress

President Barack Obama warned Syria on Monday that the use of chemical weapons would be "totally unacceptable." U.S. officials said intelligence had detected Syrian movement of chemical weapons components in recent days. (Dec. 3)


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2.

Clinton says urgent need for dialogue in Egypt





By Claire Davenport

BRUSSELS | Wed Dec 5, 2012 9:27am EST

(Reuters) - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged Egyptians on Wednesday to discuss their differences over a new constitution, saying there was an urgent need for dialogue.

"The upheaval we are seeing now once again in the streets of Cairo and other cities indicates that dialogue is urgently needed," Clinton told a news conference after a NATO meeting in Brussels.

She called for "respectful exchanges of views and concerns among Egyptians themselves about the constitutional process and the substance of the constitution" and said it was important that the courts were allowed to function.

Opposition groups have accused Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi of making a dictatorial power grab to push through a constitution drafted by an assembly dominated by his supporters.

In Cairo on Tuesday, police battled thousands of protesters angered by Mursi's drive to hold a referendum on the new constitution on December 15.

Clinton said Egyptians deserved a constitution that protected the rights of everyone, "men and women, Muslim and Christian, and ensures Egypt will uphold all of its international obligations."

She called for a constitutional process that was "open, transparent and fair and does not unduly favor one group over any other."

(Additional reporting by David Brunnstrom; editing by Adrian Croft)


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Poll: Britain wants to return to its Christian roots

Michael F. Haverluck (OneNewsNow.com)
Saturday, December 01, 2012


In a nation that is often described as "post-Christian," a spark of revival might be on the horizon.



A breeding ground of Darwinian evolution and atheism -- and more recently, spreading Islamization -- England has been recognized as falling away from its Christian heritage for generations. But recent survey results released by Oxford University indicate that a large majority is ready for a return to its Christian roots.

And just how many Brits ascribe to the belief that Christianity should make a comeback? A YouGov poll reveals that nearly two-thirds (64 percent) of the 1,800 participants in the study believe that Christianity should be taught in schools because children need to learn about it in order to understand English history. Furthermore, 57 percent say that learning about Christianity is essential for students so that they can truly grasp English culture.

But do the English think that Christianity should be taught for reasons other than to bolster their historical and cultural knowledge? It was found that a slight majority, or 51 percent of those polled, believe that Christianity provides a moral compass that helps children decipher right from wrong.

Failed humanism ushering in Christianity?

The poll results came as a pleasant surprise to Christian leaders seeking to influence culture with the Gospel.


"It is striking that so much of the public sees the need for Christianity to be taught properly," expressed Andrea Williams, who serves as chief executive of Christian Concern. "We are often given the impression that teaching about Jesus and His message is old-fashioned and irrelevant to a modern generation. But this survey shows that many people value the Christian framework."

Instead of new philosophies, naturalistic worldviews or modern psychology, which have proliferated in England for more than a century, citizens of the island nation have come to the realization that a return to the core teachings of the Bible is the way to true enlightenment.

A substantial segment of those polled (43 percent) maintained that a greater emphasis should be placed on the teachings of Christianity in RE (Religious Education) lessons. At the same time, 37 percent of participants in the survey are concerned that many of the RE instructors cannot teach Christianity effectively because they know little about it.

These figures indicate that Christianity is not a fading religion or worldview that's being swept under the rug. The need for responsible and ethical behavior is no longer being ignored.

"This is not surprising, given that our society is increasingly confused about a basis for moral decisions, for human dignity and for community," Williams explained. "Jesus is the personal basis for this, as well as the foundation for so much of our nation's culture and history."

Reasoning behind the research

When Oxford University's Department of Education took to the streets to administer this public opinion poll, it set out to find whether Christianity should be taught through RE lessons. The team of researchers was to come away from this study with answers explaining how this world religion should be taught in the classroom with greater intensity and meaning.

Oxford's Dr. Nigel Fancourt, who is heading a project to enhance curricula in schools throughout England, notes that Christianity has typically been taught in schools in an incoherent fashion. He also contends that the presentation of Christianity to students has been too stereotypical and continues to be taught in a way that often lacks intellectual development.

Fancourt

The underlying motivation behind the project is rooted in a legal requirement that schools throughout England should teach curricula that accurately portrays Christianity as the building block for the nation's religious heritage. Consequently, it is anticipated that Christianity will be the only religion studied during the course of students' schooling in England.

A touchy but rewarding topic to teach

Despite the exclusive focus, Fancourt contends that Christianity ─ the world's most influential and widely followed religion with reportedly more than 2 billion adherents worldwide ─ will be taught objectively.

"It is treated in the same way as other religions but studied more frequently," Fancourt explained.

Even so, researchers maintain that there could be a fine line to be walked while teaching Christianity. They point out the potential and legitimate fears educators might have ─ that their delivery of instruction might be considered as evangelistic in nature.

To avoid pitfalls, Oxford's academic team is developing a free web-based introduction to teaching Christianity class. It is scheduled to go live in September and is geared to equip primary instructors at the trainee level.

Yet one secular argument conveys concern that this Christian instruction can work to exclude a majority of students who don't consider themselves Christian ─ possibly leading them to challenge their own beliefs.

"Christianity should be taught about, and taught about well, but not, as at present, to the exclusion of other approaches to life and not in any pretense that it is relevant to the developing beliefs, values and life stances of most young people, over two-thirds of whom have non-religious worldviews," asserts Andrew Copson, a member of the British Humanist Association. He contends that poll results indicate most British people see Christianity as less of a religion and more of a historical and cultural platform.

But regardless of the challenges the new curricula on Christianity may face, it is generally agreed upon by both sides of the religious spectrum that the intensified religious studies project to be implemented across British schools will work to benefit students.

"For several years, inspection reports have shown that the teaching of Christianity, which is a key part of the RE curriculum in our schools, is too weak," stated project supporter John Keast, of theReligious Education Council of England and Wales. "With almost total withdrawal of government support for RE, it is good to see a major university project, sponsored by charitable trusts, providing a positive way forward."


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