Monday, May 12, 2014

Weird Washington Monument History






Great Escapes


05.12.14


From indignation over a bare-chested statue of Washington to a gift from the pope tossed in the Potomac, here are 10 interesting facts about the newly reopened Washington Monument.

After being damaged by an earthquake nearly three years ago and then closed for repairs, the Washington Monument will reopen to the public on Monday.


On August 23, 2011, a 5.8-magnitude earthquake opened cracks in the monument wide enough for light to shine through, damaged the elevator, and broke off stone. To repair the damage and to prevent further damage, 2.7 miles of new sealant was placed between stones, and 53 stainless steel saddle anchors were bolted into the monument. In addition, stone rescued from the steps of Baltimore townhouses was used to replaced loose chunks of marble on the monument. The repairs cost an estimated $15 million, but the price tag was cut in half by a donation from David M. Rubenstein. During the repairs, 500 feet of scaffolding covered the monument—however, the remaining distance to the top was only reachable by ladder.

In honor of the restoration of this iconic memorial, here are 10 interesting facts you may not have known.

It was not the first memorial to George Washington in the capital.

Upon the 100th anniversary of the founder’s birth, it became quite conspicuous that no major memorial existed to honor Washington. So, in 1832, Congress commissioned Horatio Greenough for a statue of the first president, which was to be located in the Capitol rotunda. When it was finished and installed in 1841, the 11-foot-high statue of Washington called “Enthroned Washington,” inspired by Phidias’s Zeus Olympios, all bare-chested and wearing sandals, was so unpopular it was moved outside in 1842, and then eventually dropped in the Smithsonian’s lap to hide away in a museum. It was once described as “the most reviled public statue ever erected” in the U.S. The statue now belongs to the American Art Museum and is, according to the museum’s website, not currently on view. It turns out this was not Greenough’s only run-in with controversy. His other major work that was supposed to be displayed in the Capitol, “The Rescue,” (more popularly known as “Daniel Boone Protects His Family”) was also removed and placed in storage in 1958 for being seen as a justification for Indian removal. It depicted a white settler, assumed to be Boone, protecting a white mother and child from a nearly naked Indian about to whack them with a tomahawk.

So get the government out of the way.

It turns out the genesis of the current Washington Monument began with a private group, not the government. In 1833, the Washington National Monument Society was founded to finance a monument to the founder that would be “unparalleled in the world.” Chief Justice John Marshall was the society’s first president, and was succeeded upon his death in 1835 by former President James Madison. After a decade-long fund drive and a design competition, they picked a winning design by Robert Mills in 1845.

The original design was a lot fancier than what we have today.

Robert Mills, the man who won the commission, was a man of ambition. He had already designed a major 178-foot monument to Washington in Baltimore (the oldest surviving one) two decades prior. He had also just been designated Architect of Public Buildings for Washington, D.C., and would design the General Post Office (now the Hotel Monaco), Old Patent Office Building (American Art Museum), and the Treasury Building.

His original design, however, called for a circular temple with 30 columns, each 12 feet wide, ringing the obelisk at its base, and on top of the temple a statue of Washington in a chariot. Inside the colonnade there were supposed to be statues of 30 famous Revolutionary War heroes.

It had quite the kick-off.

The monument got off to a great start. Congress donated 37 acres for the project, President James K. Polk, Dolley Madison, Betsey Hamilton (Alexander Hamilton’s widow), George Washington Parke Custis, and future presidents James Buchanan, Abraham Lincoln, and Andrew Johnson all showed up on July 4, 1848 for the laying of the cornerstone. The Speaker of the House, Robert C. Winthrop, gave a two-hour speech.

But the coolest part may have been what was placed inside a zinc case in the cornerstone. Allegedly included were copies of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, a portrait of George Washington, all national coins then in circulation including the $10 gold eagle, the American flag, and newspapers from 14 states. Historic items also got a spot, such as the bylaws of Powhatan Tribe No. 1 and a copy of the constitution of the first organized temperance society in America.

The cornerstone itself was laid by the Grandmaster of the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of D.C, Benjamin French, who wore George Washington’s Masonic apron and sash, as well as the Masonic gavel Washington used on the cornerstone of the U.S. Capitol. And in case you aren’t familiar with Masonic rituals, French tipped vials of corn, wine, and oil on the stone, which are the traditional Masonic symbols.

Unfortunately, by 1854, construction came to a halt as the money dried up. The architect, Mills, died in 1855. Congress initially allocated $200,000 to finish the work, but then rescinded the appropriations before it was spent.

People got a little crazy with the stones.

In the original plan from Mills, he wrote that the monument’s “material is intended to be wholly American, and to be of marble and granite brought from each state, that each state may participate in the glory of contributing material as well as in funds to its construction.” However, to cut costs—and to increase its prominence—the Washington National Monument Society accepted stones from Native American tribes, companies, foreign countries, and professional organizations. Evidently the opportunity for advertising was too enticing for some. The Templars of Honor and Temperance, for instance, had theirs inscribed “We will not buy, sell, or use as a beverage, any spiritous or malt liquors, Wine, Cider, or any other Alcoholic Liquor.”

But the real insanity came with a memorial stone of marble donated by Pope Pius IX. The anti-Catholic, anti-immigrant American Party, aka the “Know-Nothings,” went berserk, stealing the stone and reportedly throwing it into the Potomac in protest. Then, to make sure the monument stayed “American,” the Know-Nothings took over the Washington National Monument Society through fraudulent elections in 1853, which was the impetus behind Congress rescinding the appropriations. The group remained in power until 1858, during which time they added 13 courses to the monument, all of which had to be removed when construction began again years later.

It has suffered its share of indignities.

During the Civil War, the grounds of the now stubby Washington Monument—described by Mark Twain as looking like “a hollow, over-sized chimney”—were used as a cattle pen for the Union Army. There was also a slaughterhouse behind the monument. It became known as the “Washington National Monument Cattle Yard.”

After the war, it became known as “Murderer’s Row,” as it became the destination of escapees and deserters.

No, the monument isn’t two different colors.

It’s actually three.

Decades after Congress seized control of the project, in 1876, on the centennial, Congress appropriated $2 million for the completion of the monument, and turned over the project to the Army Corps of Engineers.

Unfortunately, the Maryland quarry where the stone had originally come from was no longer available, so the builders imported stone from Massachusetts. After several courses were added using this stone, the builders proved unhappy with the color (it’s brownish color is still visible) and quality, and switched instead to another quarry in Maryland for the final two-thirds of the monument. Thus the three shades.

It was once the tallest structure in the world.

Washington, D.C., today may be known for its incredibly flat skyline, but when the Washington Monument opened on February 21, 1885 (one day before Washington’s birthday), it was the tallest structure in the world. Rising 555 feet and 5.125 inches, it passed the Cologne Cathedral to claim the record, only to be surpassed by the Eiffel Tower in 1889.

Today, there is some controversy of its title as the world’s tallest freestanding masonry structure, as both the Anaconda Copper Mine smokestack and the San Jacinto Monument outside Houston are both taller.

Its once high-end top has become worthless.

While plentiful and cheap today, aluminum was once an extremely valuable metal. On the top of the obelisk is a 100-ounce aluminum cap, which acts as a lightning rod. At the time, the capstone was the largest single piece of cast aluminum, and was put on exhibit at Tiffany’s in New York City before being delivered to Washington. While at Tiffany’s, the cap was placed on the floor so people could jump over it and say they jumped over the top of the Washington Monument. On the western side of the capstone is the history of the construction. On the other side, it reads “LAUS DEO,” meaning “Praise be to God.” The capstone was set on December 6, 1884.

It’s been a magnet for some intense stories

Since opening to the public, the Washington Monument has managed to attract its fair share of public incidents.

In 1982, anti-nuclear weapons activist Norman Mayer was shot and killed by U.S. Park Police after he drove a white van that he claimed was loaded with 1,000 pounds of TNT to the base of the Washington Monument. Eight tourists were trapped inside until Mayer let them out, and buildings in the area were evacuated. Hours into negotiations, Mayer attempted to drive off. He was shot and killed—and no explosives were found in his van.

In 1908, Washington Senators catcher Gabby Street attempted to catch a ball being dropped from the top of the Washington Monument. After letting 12 balls slam into the ground and bounce, Street, who caught for notorious flamethrower Walter Johnson, managed to catch and hold onto the 13th.

Finally, on October 15, 1923, a mother fell through the guardrail for the elevator shaft trying to prevent her 3-year-old child from falling. The child was found on the 400-foot level, bruised and crying, but alive. The mother died after falling all the way to the 270-foot level. It was the third death at the monument before safety screens were introduced. A man had killed himself by jumping out the window at the top, while a woman had done so by jumping down the elevator shaft.

The Washington Monument re-opened to the public for tours on Monday,
May 9
May 12, 2014.

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U.N. Panel Could Find Vatican Guilty Of Torture




by
May 11, 2014 7:33 AM ET


Listen to Story
Weekend Edition sunday

2 min 11 sec



This week the Vatican faced a U.N. panel investigating priest sex abuse. The panel called for an end to what it called a Vatican "climate of impunity."



RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. I'm Rachel Martin. The Vatican got a grilling this past week for its handling of the clerical sex abuse scandal. The setting - a United Nations hearing in Geneva. Meanwhile in Rome, a new advisory board to Pope Francis held its first meeting on the sex abuse crisis.

In a moment we'll hear from a member of that board whose personal story of abuse may be hard for some listeners to hear. But first, NPR's Sylvia Poggioli reports on that U.N. committee looking into the Vatican's response to sexual abuse.

SYLVIA POGGIOLI, BYLINE: In February, the U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child accused the church of systematically placing its own interests over those of sex abuse victims by using a code of silence to protect predator priests. The Vatican reacted angrily.

This week, facing another U.N. committee - this one on torture - the church was better prepared. For the first time, it released comprehensive statistics on how many priests have been defrocked over the last decade for raping and molesting children. The number is 848. More than 2,500 other priests received lesser penalties.

Still, the Vatican's ambassador to the U.N. in Geneva, Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, insisted the Holy See can implement international law only within the borders of the tiny Vatican city state. Members of the U.N. panel dismissed this claim, noting the Vatican's broad powers to appoint bishops and defrock priests worldwide.

The U.N. committee will issue its report in two weeks. Should it find that rape and molestation of children constitute torture and inhuman treatment, it could expose the Catholic Church to a new wave of lawsuits. Days before the U.N. hearing in Geneva, members of the Pope's own commission on sex abuse pledged to hold church authorities accountable for failing to report suspected abusers.

Boston's archbishop, Cardinal Sean O'Malley, said current church laws could be applied to keep children safe, but he said protocols must be strengthened. Archbishop O'Malley acknowledged there is so much ignorance around this - so much denial. Sylvia Poggioli, NPR News, Rome.


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A Voice For Abuse Survivors Within The Catholic Church



by NPR STAFF
May 11, 201410:51 AM ET

Listen to the Story

Weekend Edition Sunday

8 min 32 sec





Marie Collins (left) and Vatican spokesman father Federico Lombardi leave at the end of a press conference at the Vatican on May 3, 2014. Collins, a clergy abuse survivor, was chosen as a member of Pope Francis' abuse advisory board. Riccardo De Luca/AP




Each week, Weekend Edition Sunday host Rachel Martin brings listeners an unexpected side of the news by talking with someone personally affected by the stories making headlines.

For decades Marie Collins has advocated on behalf of sex abuse victims and spoken out against the way the Catholic Church has handled the crisis.

Collins was selected by Pope Francis to sit on the new commission he set up to try to right past wrongs and to make recommendations for dealing with pedophile priests in the future.


“ I certainly had no expectation that I would ever be asked to do anything in the Vatican ... particularly with my history of criticism of the church.

- Marie Collins

Collins is one of four women on the new commission and the only member who is also herself a survivor of clergy sexual abuse. She told NPR's Rachel Martin about the abuse, how she overcame it and went on to help other victims.

When Collins was 13 years old she had an operation at a children's hospital. It was her first time from home and she was scared, she says. The chaplain of the hospital began coming by a lot, including in the evenings to read to her.

"He made me feel secure, and I suppose also, the way these men work, they make you feel special," she says.

The chaplain then arranged for the nurse that was supposed to be in the ward to leave, and that's when the abuse began.

"It started off as a game, and then it proceeded from there," she says.

Collins says the abuse affected her for the rest of her life. She says she went into the hospital a confident little girl who was sure of herself, and came out an entirely different person.

"I thought I was a bad person," she says. "As with most survivors of abuse, you blame yourself; you think it is something about you that's bad."

Collins says she spent the next few decades suffering from very severe depression, at one point not leaving her home for four years. She didn't speak about it until about 25 years later, when she spoke to a therapist about the abuse.


Collins was not her abuser's only victim, and he was eventually convicted and jailed. After her case went public, other survivors came forward and he was further convicted of abuse committed over three decades.

One of the positive aspects of the commission Collins was placed on, she says, is that there are no restrictions or mandates placed up the members. And though she is currently the only member on the commission that is a survivor of clergy sexual abuse, she says survivor input is going to play a role in the future.

"You can have all of the professional expertise, but I think survivors who have lived through — not just the abuse, but the attitudes of the church and the mishandling by the church — the more insight you have [is] better for the future," she says.

In the past, Collins says, she has called for more accountability for those who protect abusers and the implementation of strong child-protection measures. Now she can do that from within the church.

"I want to see change, I'm hopeful for change, and that's why I'm in the commission," she says.

Collins says she knows there are those that think this is simply public relations "window dressing" and that no survivor should be taking part. She says she understands that, but feels this is a unique opportunity for critics of the abuse crisis in the Catholic Church.

"I still think it is very important for a survivor to take the opportunity to go in there and say all of those things from the inside."


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Saturday, May 10, 2014

Pope Francis Calls For 'Legitimate Redistribution' Of Wealth To The Poor


AP | by NICOLE WINFIELD
Posted: 05/09/2014 8:35 am EDT
Updated: 05/09/2014 12:59 pm EDT

























VATICAN CITY (AP) - Pope Francis called Friday for governments to redistribute wealth to the poor in a new spirit of generosity to help curb the "economy of exclusion" that is taking hold today.

Francis made the appeal during a speech to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the heads of major U.N. agencies who are meeting in Rome this week.

Latin America's first pope has frequently lashed out at the injustices of capitalism and the global economic system that excludes so much of humanity.

On Friday, Francis called for the United Nations to promote a "worldwide ethical mobilization" of solidarity with the poor in a new spirit of generosity.

He said a more equal form of economic progress can be had through "the legitimate redistribution of economic benefits by the state, as well as indispensable cooperation between the private sector and civil society."

Francis had a similar message to the World Economic Forum in January and in h is apostolic exhortation "The Joy of the Gospel." That document, which denounced trickle-down economic theories as unproven and naive, provoked criticism in the U.S. that he was Marxist.

Francis has denied he's Marxist, and spent years in Argentina battling Marxist excesses of liberation theology. But he has said from the outset that he wants a church that "is poor and for the poor" and ministers to the most marginal of society.

On Friday, he urged the U.N. to promote development goals that attack the root causes of poverty and hunger, protect the environment and ensure "dignified" labor for all.

"Specifically, this involves challenging all forms of injustices and resisting the economy of exclusion, the throwaway culture and the culture of death which nowadays sadly risk becoming passively accepted," he said.

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LDS leaders meet with Seventh-day Adventist leaders


Recommended by Emily Eyring

For the Deseret News

Published: Friday, May 2 2014 1:20 p.m. MDT

Updated: Saturday, May 3 2014 8:07 a.m. MDT




Leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, including Elder L. Tom Perry, center, met with leaders of the Seventh-day Adventist Church on Thursday, April 24.

Ansel Oliver, Adventist News Network


Summary


Leaders of two religious groups that are committed to defending religious freedom and families met in Maryland last week.

Leaders of two religious groups that are committed to defending religious freedom and families met in Maryland last week.

"On Thursday, 24 April, Mormon leaders Elder L. Tom Perry and Elder Ronald A. Rasband met with senior leaders of the Seventh-day Adventist Church at their worldwide headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland. Elder Perry and Elder Rasband were warmly received, enjoyed a tour of the faith’s headquarters facilities and discussed opportunities for partnering on religious freedom initiatives," according to mormonnewsroom.org.

Adventist Church Vice President Lowell Cooper expressed appreciation for the visit.

Read more about this meeting on mormonnewsroom.org.


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Seventh-day Adventist Newspaper Ad Sparks Sunday Law Debate





April 28, 2014 1:06 PM EDT


West Palm Beach, FL (PRWEB) April 28, 2014

A two-page, center spread, newspaper advertisement that appeared in the San Francisco Examiner on Sunday, April 27, 2014, pages 12, 13, is stirring up a heated debate on the Biblical Sabbath.

The ad headline reads "Liberty of Conscience Threatened" and predicts that Sunday laws will once again be enforced here in America. The two, full-page ad goes on to describe that the Bible commands us to observe the Sabbath on Saturday, the seventh day of the week.

"The ad is part of a nationwide campaign to educate and warn the public that Sunday laws will become more and more increasingly dangerous to religious liberty," says Pastor Raphael Perez of the Eternal Gospel Church, an independent Seventh-day Adventist Church in West Palm Beach, FL that was founded in 1992.

Other ads have appeared in the New York Times, LA Times, USA Today, Miami Herald, and in over 250 daily newspapers according to the Eternal Gospel Church's website.

Pastor Perez believes that church and state will unite in the efforts to save our culture and family structures from completely deteriorating. He claims that a national Sunday law will be offered as a solution by these "interest groups" to combat the ills of society.

"What they don't understand is that in their efforts to 'save' our society, these Sunday laws will actually have a negative social impact because they are a threat to the freedom of conscience," Pastor Perez explains.

The advertisement cites many sources from both the media and from the Bible that seems to suggest that a Sunday law is in the horizon.

"The concern we have is that when the state begins to enforce religious festivals and compels people to observe the first day of the week [Sunday law], this will inevitably lead to discrimination and persecution and will trample the conscience of minority groups," Pastor Perez continues. "Seventh-day Adventists, Sabbatarian Christians, Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, agnostics, and atheists are all entitled to equal rights and to impartial protection under the laws of government."

Pastor Raphael Perez, a former Catholic who once attended a Roman Catholic Seminary identifies himself as a "Seventh-day Adventist believer."

One the foundational tenets of the Seventh-day Adventist faith is that its members keep Saturday, the seventh day, as the Biblical Sabbath and not Sunday as do the Protestants and Catholics. The Roman Catholic Church is identified in the ad as the party responsible for the change of the day of worship.

The ad concludes with a one thousand dollar offer to anyone who can produce a Bible verse that states that Jesus or His disciples transferred the solemnity of the seventh-day Sabbath to Sunday, the first day of the week.

About the Eternal Gospel Church: The Eternal Gospel Church was founded in 1992 by Seventh-day Adventist Believers, and has been engaged in a world-wide newspaper, radio, and billboard campaign for over 20 years with the goal of teaching people about the present truth for this time. They also have been giving a warning message about the dangers of Sunday laws, the union of church and state, and modern spiritualism.

Eternal Gospel Church
http://www.eternalgospel.com
eternalgospel(at)att(dot)net
1-800-769-2150

Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/2014/04/prweb11800160.htm  Something is wrong with this 'original link'.

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Search the Newspaper's (The San Francisco Examiner) site for the actual ad on pages 12&13:   http://edition.pagesuite-professional.co.uk/launch.aspx?eid=f08dd265-5d72-4ef9-a808-3f21c9078fcd&skip=true
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Seventh-day Adventist Church: Pasadena Public Health Director Dr. Eric Walsh does not represent church





Eric Walsh


By Lauren Gold, Pasadena Star-News


Posted: 05/06/14, 3:05 PM PDT

More stories on Pasadena Public Health Director Dr. Eric Walsh

PASADENA>> The Southern California Conference of Seventh-day Adventists issued a statement Tuesday stating that Pasadena Public Health Director and SDA associate pastor Dr. Eric Walsh does not represent the views of the church.

Walsh is an associate pastor at the Altadena Seventh-day Adventist Church and is paid by the conference; however, “he does not hold ministerial credentials from the Adventist Church, does not speak on behalf of the Seventh-day Adventist denomination, and as far as we know, does not represent his views as anything other than his own,” spokeswoman Betty Cooney wrote.

“The Seventh-day Adventist church has a long history of defending the rights of everyone to believe, practice and express their personal religious convictions,” Cooney said. “Questions regarding exactly what Dr. Walsh said in previous years, their meaning, intent, and whether or not he has changed his mind, should be addressed to Dr. Walsh.”

Walsh has come under fire in recent weeks for discriminatory statements against homosexuals, Catholics, Muslims and other groups in religious sermons that have been posted online. Walsh has been placed on administrative leave from his position at the city of Pasadena while City Manager Michael Beck conducts and investigation to look into whether Walsh’s personal views have influenced his job performance.

Walsh’s sermons came to light after he was invited to speak at Pasadena City College commencement, following a scandal in which the college uninvited Oscar-winning screenwriter, actor and gay rights advocate Dustin Lance Black. Walsh backed out last week and Black has been re-invited and will speak at the commencement this weekend.

Many groups across the country have spoken out on Walsh’s statements, some, like the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights and the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, calling for his removal. Others have defended Walsh’s right to freedom of speech and religion, saying the city may open itself to a lawsuit if it terminates him.

Cooney said the Seventh-day Adventist Church does not discriminate against groups of people based on sexual orientation, race or other factors.

“The Seventh-day Adventist Church recognizes that every human being is valuable in the sight of God, and seeks to minister to all men and women in the spirit of Jesus,” Cooney said.


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"Behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves."


The servants of Christ are not to act out the dictates of the natural heart. They need to have close communion with God, lest, under provocation, self rise up, and they pour forth a torrent of words that are unbefitting, that are not as dew or the still showers that refresh the withering plants. This is what Satan wants them to do; for these are his methods. It is the dragon that is wroth; it is the spirit of Satan that is revealed in anger and accusing. But God's servants are to be representatives of Him. He desires them to deal only in the currency of heaven, the truth that bears His own image and superscription. The power by which they are to overcome evil is the power of Christ. The glory of Christ is their strength. They are to fix their eyes upon His loveliness. Then they can present the gospel with divine tact and gentleness. And the spirit that is kept gentle under provocation will speak more effectively in favor of the truth than will any argument, however forcible.

Those who are brought in controversy with the enemies of truth have to meet, not only men, but Satan and his agents. Let them remember the Saviour's words, "Behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves." Luke 10:3. Let them rest in the love of God, and the spirit will be kept calm, even under personal abuse. The Lord will clothe them with a divine panoply. His Holy Spirit will influence the mind and heart, so that their voices shall not catch the notes of the baying of the wolves.

The Desire of Ages, p.353
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Happy Sabbath


Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.

Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:

But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

Exodus 20:8-11
(King James Version)

Thursday, May 08, 2014

Vatican Calls on Israel to Safeguard Holy Sites






JERUSALEM May 8, 2014 (AP)






The Roman Catholic official in charge of the Vatican's properties in the Holy Land on Thursday urged Israel to safeguard Christian holy sites, following a number of vandalism attacks on churches and monasteries ahead of a visit by Pope Francis.

Vandals have recently scribbled anti-Arab and anti-Christian graffiti on several Christian holy sites and properties, including an attack this week on the Vatican's Notre Dame Center in Jerusalem.

Israel's Shin Bet internal security agency says it fears there could be similar attacks as the pope's visit approaches at the end of the month. He is scheduled to visit Jordan, the West Bank and Israel from May 24 to 26.

The "Custody of the Holy Land" issued a statement expressing concern about the attacks and said the uptick in violence appeared to be connected to the visit. It called on Israel to "work urgently against extremist elements" to ensure peace and safeguard Christian holy places.

In recent years, vandals believed to be Jewish extremists have attacked mosques, Christian holy sites, Arab properties and even Israeli military bases and vehicles in Israel and the West Bank to protest what they perceive to be the Israeli government's pro-Palestinian policies. The attacks are known as "price tag."

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said Thursday that police had arrested a 25-year-old Jewish extremist who confessed to involvement in at least 10 vandalism attacks aimed at Arab targets.

Rosenfeld said police have "stepped up" patrols and surveillance across the country, and that thousands of police officers would be deployed during the pope's visit to ensure it goes smoothly.


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Bishops to hear reports on marriage, family, sex abuse at June meeting




Nation

By Carol Zimmermann
 

 
Miami Archbishop Thomas G. Wenski, center left, and other members of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops attend their annual fall meeting in 2013 in Baltimore. The bishops will meet June 11-13 in New Orleans for their spring general assembly. (CNS photo/Nancy Wiechec)



Posted: 5/7/2014 WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The U.S. bishops, meeting in New Orleans June 11-13, will discuss today's economy and its impact on marriages and evangelization. They will also review their efforts in preventing sexual abuse of children, strengthening marriage, helping typhoon victims and preparing for upcoming church-sponsored events on family life.

The bishops will hear presentations on "Marriage and the Economy" and "the New Evangelization and Poverty" on the second day of their gathering before they close for executive sessions.

The first day will be filled with reports on upcoming events, including presentations on the Oct. 5-19 extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the family and the World Meeting of Families, set for Sept. 22-27, 2015, in Philadelphia.

The synod at the Vatican this October will bring together presidents of bishops' conferences, the heads of Eastern Catholic churches and the heads of Vatican offices to discuss "pastoral challenges to the family in the context of evangelization."

Pope Francis has said the synod will take up the subject of church teaching and practice on marriage, including the eligibility of divorced and civilly married Catholics to receive Communion.

In preparation for the synod, the Vatican issued a survey for Catholic families and a handful of U.S. bishops have released some of the results of their responses submitted to the Vatican at the end of January.

The bishops will hear a presentation by Philadelphia Archbishop Charles J. Chaput and Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, president of the Pontifical Council for the Family, on the World Meeting of Families taking place in Philadelphia next September.

Organizers say the meeting will be open to families and people of different faiths, including no faith at all, and is meant to engage the wider society in dialogue and to strengthen families.

The bishops will also hear a report from Catholic Relief Services regarding relief efforts in the Philippines in the wake of last November's Typhoon Haiyan. U.S. dioceses raised $24.5 million for these relief efforts. The amount collected includes $6.4 million specifically designated for humanitarian aid and $18.1 million to be equally divided between humanitarian aid and long-term church reconstruction and other programs.

Other items on the agenda for the meeting include:

-- An update and vote on a proposal by a working group on the bishops' statement linking church teachings to political responsibility.

-- The annual progress report of the bishops' efforts to protect children and young people from sexual abuse, presented by Francesco Cesareo, chairman of the National Review Board.

-- Debate and vote on the renewal of the bishops' Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty, formed in 2011, for an additional three-year term.

-- An update on the work of the USCCB subcommittees on the Catechism and the Promotion and Defense of Marriage.

-- Debate and vote on the request for renewal of the "recognitio," or Vatican approval, for the national directory for the formation, ministry and life of permanent deacons.

The bishops will also be consulted on proceeding with the cause for canonization of Father Paul Wattson, founder of the Franciscan Friars and Sisters of the Atonement at Graymoor in Garrison, N.Y.

The priest, who was born in 1863 and died in 1940, initiated the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity in 1908. Initially an Episcopal priest, he was ordained a Catholic priest in 1910.

He founded St. Christopher's Inn, a refuge for homeless men; The Lamp, a monthly magazine devoted to Christian unity and the missions; a radio program; and an organization to distribute donations. He also co-founded the Catholic Near East Welfare Association.

- - -

Editors: Coverage of the meeting is open to credentialed media. Sessions open to the media will be Wednesday, June 11 and Thursday, June 12. Reporters seeking to cover the meeting need to download a credential application form at www.usccb.org/about/media-relations/upload/application-news-media-credentials.pdf and submit it by June 1.


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'The stealthy but rapid progress of the papal power—all will be unmasked'


The sins of Babylon will be laid open. The fearful results of enforcing the observances of the church by civil authority, the inroads of spiritualism, the stealthy but rapid progress of the papal power—all will be unmasked. By these solemn warnings the people will be stirred. Thousands upon thousands will listen who have never heard words like these.

The Great Controversy, p.606 (1911).
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Bill Clinton Preaching to the Choir


Bill Clinton: ‘Policy Matters’ Despite Being Misunderstood, Distrusted




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The Clinton Lectures video



Bill Clinton Gives First of Lecture Series at Georgetown video April 30, 2013



April 30, 2014 – Policymaking today tends to be “dimly understood, often distrusted and disconnected from the consequences of the policy being implemented,” President Bill Clinton (SFS’68) said today in a speech at Georgetown.

The 42nd president of the United States, who delivered the second of his Clinton Lectures at Georgetown talks, said he observed this “most intensely” in regard to the Affordable Care Act.

When a policymaker is a political leader being followed by the press, he said there is a “craving that borders on [addiction] to have a story line,” and once that’s settled, “a craving which borders on blindness to shoehorn every fact, every development, everything that happens into the story line, even if that’s not the story.”

Too Much Cynicism

Clinton, who first welcomed his wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, to her seat in the university’s historic Gaston Hall to cheers and thunderous applause, also noted he has spent a lifetime “really believing that policy matters.”

“The disagreements are important, but it’s not very helpful to overlay them with too much cynicism and pretend it doesn’t matter, and it’s all just a roll of the dice,” he said.

The Four Ps






Georgetown President John J. DeGioia greets former President Bill Clinton during Wednesday’s lecture in Gaston Hall. 






Though some made fun of him while he was president for his attention to details, Clinton said that focus often resulted in sound policies and economic stability.

The Clinton Lectures at Georgetown are designed to explore the people, events, lessons and principles that shaped the Georgetown alumnus’ career in public service.

During the first lecture last April, he said that young people interested in public service should focus on four areas – “people, purpose, policies and politics.”

At the second lecture today, Clinton defended the economic policies he employed that resulted in a balanced budget, a middle-class tax cut and noted the creation of the Children’s Health Insurance Program and other initiatives.

Personal Commitment

The lecture was webcast live with students at the Clinton School of Public Service at the University of Arkansas watching.

Diondra Hicks (C’15) a psychology major in Georgetown College, presented Clinton with questions submitted by students at both universities.

Georgetown President John J. DeGioia introduced the former president.

“All of his accomplishments demonstrate President Clinton’s deep and personal commitment to the power of cooperation…of working together for the betterment of society,” DeGioia said, “a similar commitment that is at the core of the tradition that animates our Georgetown community. Ours is a tradition that asks of us to use our skills and our talents to make an impact in the world.”

America’s Happiest Protestant

Clinton thanked his wife for coming and joked that she hadn’t “had to sit through one of these for ages.”

He also noted that his former Georgetown professor, Rev. Otto Hentz, S.J., was in the audience, and thanked him for reminding him “that if I had been a Catholic I could have been a Jesuit.”

Hentz famously asked a young Bill Clinton in his undergraduate years if he had considered becoming a Jesuit.

Clinton also called himself “America’s happiest Protestant when the new pope took his holy office."

"I’ve been thrilled by that," he said, "and I think all the Jesuits in the world should be proud of him.” 

Second Series

This is the second time Clinton has given a series of talks at Georgetown.

In 1991, as the governor of Arkansas and a Democratic candidate for president, he presented three “New Covenant” speeches to students on Responsibility and Rebuilding the American Community, Economic

Change and American Security.

“This is an historic day on our campus,” DeGioia said at last year’s Clinton lecture. “We celebrate the inaugural lecture in a series that we believe will have a deep and meaningful impact not just within our university community but throughout the academy and the world of policy, politics and global affairs.”

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Related


Former President Bill Clinton Remarks on His Career

April 30, 2013
"One of our own"
DeGioia, John J. President Georgetown University



Former President Bill Clinton gave the first of a series of lectures on the people and events that shaped his career. He spoke at Georgetown University, where he graduated from the School of Foreign Service in 1968. Following his remarks he responded to questions from the audience. close



00:00:01
Unidentified Speaker DEAN OF THE FOREIGN SERVICE SCHOOL. [ APPLAUSE ] >>> GOOD MORNING, IT'S MY PLEASURE AND PRIXFLTH TO WELCOME YOU HERE TO THE CLINTON LECTURES...
00:00:52
Unidentified Speaker PRESIDENT CLINTON, IT IS AN HONOR TO WELCOME YOU BACK TO THE HILLTOP AND KEER DEEPLY GRATEFUL FOR SUSTAINED COMMITMENT TO GEORGETOWN AND...
00:01:23
Unidentified Speaker ARKANSAS, CLINTON SCHOOL OF PUBLIC SERVICE. AFTER PRESIDENT CLINTON DELIVERS HIS LECTURE HE'LL TAKE QUESTIONS FROM THE STUDENTS AND STUDENTS...
00:07:18
Unidentified Speaker WHATEVER SHE WANTED. I OFTEN SAY THE GREAT THING ABOUT BEING A FORMER PRESIDENT IS YOU CAN SAY WHATEVER YOU PLEASE. AND SAD THING IS NOBODY...
01:04:39
Unidentified Speaker CURRICULUM, WHICH I THINK HAS BEEN DONE. YOU NEED TO KNOW ALL MY CLASSMATES AND I WERE HERE, WE DID NOT HAVE A SINGLE ELECTIVE UNTIL THE...
01:18:44
Unidentified Speaker TEACH AND WHY? >> I WOULD LIKE TO TEACH A CLASS IN INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS AND POLITICS. BECAUSE I BELIEVE THAT IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT...
01:19:19
Unidentified Speaker WHAT ARE ITS BIGGEST CHALLENGES, WHAT EVIDENCE DO WE HAVE ABOUT HOW BEST WE CAN DEAL WITH THEM? SO THAT'S WHAT I WOULD TEACH NOW. ALTHOUGH...
01:20:45
Unidentified Speaker ME? >> WELL, WHAT I WOULD ANSWER TO THE SECOND QUESTION IS I GO ONCE A MONTH. I WILL BE THERE WHEN THE STUDENT IS THERE AND HAPPY TO...
01:21:17
Unidentified Speaker CHEAP. THIS IS GOING TO BE DIFFERENT. THIS KOREAN COMPANY SAOV, A HUGE COMPLEX, IS MOVING THE FIRST TEXTILE MILL THE COUNTRY HAS EVER HAD,...
01:22:50
Unidentified Speaker IT, BUT I THINK THAT BEFORE THE RECESSION WELFARE REFORM DID WAY MORE GOOD THAN HARM EVEN THOUGH THERE WERE SOME THINGS IN IT THE REPUBLICAN...
01:23:10
Unidentified Speaker MAKING, GETTING IN FEBRUARY OF '94 WHEN THE WELFARE ROLLS WERE ALL-TIME HIGH. WHEN THEY DROPPED 60% WHEN I WAS PRESIDENT, STATES HAD A LOT...
01:25:44
Unidentified Speaker BE. IT WOULD BE TOO SELF SERVING FOR ME TO DO IT. IF I WERE HERE, MY RESEARCH, I
01:25:51
Unidentified Speaker WOULD BE FOCUSED ON WHAT WE COULD DO TO INCREASE THE LEVEL OF EMPLOYMENT GROWTH AROUND THE WORLD. ONE OF THE REAL PROBLEMS WITH HAVING
01:26:01
Unidentified Speaker I.T. DRIVEN GROWTH AND, BELIEVE ME, I THINK IT HAS BEEN A GOD SEND. WHEN WE REBUILT THE FISHING INDUSTRY IN INDONESIA AND SRI LANKA AND ...
01:29:09
Unidentified Speaker A FILLIBUSTER IN THE SENATE, AND WILL THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE ALLOW ANY BILL THAT PASSES THE SENATE TO BE VOTED ON THE HOUSE FLOOR IF...
01:29:32
Unidentified Speaker DESERVES A LOT OF CREDIT. HE VARIED FROM THAT POLICY THREE TIMES THIS YEAR ALREADY INCLUDING TO ALLOW THE HOUSE TO VOTE ON THE VIOLENCE...
01:33:00
Unidentified Speaker OFFICE I DID NOT WANT TO SPEND MOST OF MY TIME JUST TALKING ABOUT CURRENT POLITICAL ISSUES OR TALKING ABOUT MY RECORD OR LEGACY. I WANTED...
01:33:17
Unidentified Speaker PRESIDENT WHERE I COULD STILL HAVE AN IMPACT. NOW, A LOT OF THINGS I CARE ABOUT AS PRESIDENT, BUT I HAVE RELATIVELY SMALL IMPACT LIKE...
01:36:51
Unidentified Speaker WELL, VERY INTERESTING. IF YOU -- I WILL NEVER FORGET, I HAD A VERY INTERESTING ENCOUNTER WHEN I WAS ATTEMPTING TO CHANGE THE PENTAGON POLICY...
01:37:21
Unidentified Speaker ISSUE. IT SAID THAT IN THE POPULATION OF THE UNITED STATES AS IT EXISTED IN 1993, VERY DIFFERENT FROM NOW. WE'RE MUCH MORE DIVERSE NOW IN...
01:40:27
Unidentified Speaker BETTER OFF WITH A SHOTGUN THAN AN
01:40:29
Unidentified Speaker ASSAULT WEAPON. TRUST ME. IT IS NOT EVEN CLOSE. SO THIS IS MOSTLY
01:40:35
Unidentified Speaker A RURAL URBAN DEAL. DO YOU REMEMBER SENATOR MURKOWSKI TALKING ABOUT THE FAR REACHES OF ALASKA AND SOMEBODY WANTS TO SELL A GUN TO THE...
01:46:23
Unidentified Speaker FORMER PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON GREETING THE AUDIENCE THERE AT GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY. PRESIDENT OBAMA EARLIER TODAY HELD A PRESS CONFERENCE IN...
01:49:21
Unidentified Speaker UP LIVE ON C-SPAN. >>> THIS WAS THE FIRST OF FOUR LECTURE THAT IS FORMER PRESIDENT CLINTON WILL BE GIVE AT GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY ABOUT...


*The transcript for this program was compiled from uncorrected Closed Captioning.

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Clinton, Bill U.S. President (Former) [D] United States
DeGioia, John J. President Georgetown University More People
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Wednesday, May 07, 2014

Sunday as Sabbath – God’s Valentine to Humanity





Sunday as Sabbath – God’s Valentine to Humanity:
A Vision for the Lord’s Day Alliance in the USA
Rodney L. Petersen, PhD 


Introductory Comments:

A friend sent around an email in January reporting that on Moody radio (a station known for its conservative brand of Christian faith), on the program the Market Place (WRMB, Boynton Beach, FL), there was a discussion of the Ten Commandments, of which only nine are still valid, said the guest. The talk host asked, “Which one is done? “Oh”, he said, “the fourth, about Sunday” This was not challenged on the air.

This email prompted another friend to remind us that a third friend once commented that when he heard someone boast about not taking a day off he would respond with, “And what other commandment are you proud of breaking”?

A Social Mandate:

We live in a society that is becoming unhinged. The Sabbath commandment (the Fourth Commandment) is sometimes referred to as the “hinge” commandment. It is found between those first three commandments oriented toward our regard of God and the balance of the commandments oriented toward our regard of neighbor. It is a means for “re-hinging” our lives.

The given context for the Ten Commandments is that of an abused and fragmented people, the Israelite slaves of Egypt, seeking to find social coherence and the social moorings that make society possible. According to the text of Exodus 20:2, these commandments, or sayings, were given by “the Lord God who brought you out of the land of Egypt”; out of 24/7 slavery and vitriol.

The Ten Commandments are foundational concepts for establishing a functional social order. In this light we might ask:
• Can we develop an intergenerational society? Then we will honor and not “dis” parents and children (Fifth Commandment).
• Can there be security of our personal identity from acts of violence? Then we will not anger or murder (Sixth Commandment).
• Are our most intimate relationships, those central to our identity, sacred? Then we will not commit adultery (Seventh Commandment).
• Is our means of livelihood, the product of our labor and extension of our very being to be protected? Then we will not steal (Eighth Commandment).
• Are social agreements meaningful and contracts to be trusted? Then we cannot lie (the Ninth Commandment).
• Is our attitude one of abundant trust in God or fear when faced with scarcity? Then we will not covet (Tenth Commandment).

Our gathering together in community to acknowledge the Fourth Commandment is a kind of covenant renewal to live in community as free citizens under God whose identity as defined in the first three commandments is greater than any political reality.

When I lived in Switzerland I was struck by the tradition and pageantry centered around Swiss Independence Day, August 1. Citizens of each town, city, or canton would gather together in the civic square to affirm allegiance to the governing covenant with arms raised. And at the end of the day bonfires would be lit on mountain tops to celebrate the renewed covenant.

This is our Sunday, a weekly celebration and covenant renewal, God’s Valentine to Humanity, to make possible personal coherence, social stability, and our “re-hinging” after 6 days of labor.

Boston area physician, co-minister with her husband of Bethel AME Church, mother and CEO Gloria White-Hammond writes of the fragmentation of our society and of our need for Sabbath in an article, “Home Alone – Seeking Sabbath.”

We must raise up the solid foundations of our homes that have been chipped away at by the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth, and the desire for other things; repair the broken walls of our fractured churches which, because they have been divided against themselves, have not been able to stand; and restore the streets of our neighborhoods with dwellings that signify life, real life, rested life, for us and for our children, and that is the life that is more abundant. It takes Sabbath space – and many of us ground this in Sunday as Sabbath.[1]

We have a social mandate to foster Sabbath. By encouraging Sunday as Sabbath we are one with Nehemiah in rebuilding the walls of this society so that social righteousness may prevail and hope be given to all.

Sabbath as Sunday is God’s Valentine to humanity.

A Theological Mandate:

Our social mandate is not only grounded in apodictic scripture referencing but also in good theology. The value of the Sabbath in the teachings of Jesus remains unbroken. An understanding of the Sabbath as a “covenant renewal” finds grounding in Jesus’ teachings and Jewish practice. German theologian Karl Barth’s argument adds theological rationale for this: that “the Sabbath commandment explains all the other commandments, or all the other forms of the one commandment. It is thus to be placed at the head.”[2]

Or, as we said earlier, it is the “hinge” commandment.

Spiritual formation among Christians finds its first point of definition in the recognition of the resurrection of Jesus. Consciousness of this point of departure was so powerful that worship became organized around what was referred to as the Lord’s Day or Sunday in recognition of the resurrection of Jesus. The early church gathered together not only for worship on this day but for the weekly collection for the poor (I Corinthians 16:1-2), providing continuity with the emphasis on the deep inner connection between worship and ethics in Judaism (Isaiah 58:6-14; Mark 2:23-28). This Sabbath gathering with prayer and collection for the poor is a mark of spiritual formation. It follows from the two tables of the law, love of God and love of neighbor (Matt. 22:37-40).[3]

Whether as monastic communities or local assemblies of the faithful then – or as communities of faith today – this Sabbath/Sunday gathering was a kind of summary of faith and “covenant renewal” within a defining narrative.[4] It forecast the life of prayer and work through the week, providing a rhythm for spiritual vision and character formation.[5] Sabbath/Sunday observance provided the community a place and a time to work out the inevitable conflicts of life. It gave scope to the recurring challenges of how to live in community, how to live with the earth, how to understand the meaning of economy, and how to engage others.

Sunday as Sabbath Keeps the Christian

As the Rabbis put it, “Jews keep the Sabbath, and the Sabbath keeps the Jews.” We might also say, “Christians keep the Sabbath, and the Christian Sabbath (Sunday) keeps the Christian.”

Lauren Winner, a winsome spiritual writer, writes of what she misses in Christianity in reference to her Jewish background in a book titled, Mudhouse Sabbath. She details and applies Jewish Sabbath customs to her new Christian life, citing another convert to Christianity:

On Friday afternoon…we’d rush home. Flying into the kitchen we’d cook ahead for the next twenty-four hours….Sometimes I’d think how strange it was to be in such a frenzy to get ready for a day of rest. Shabbat preparations had their own rhythm, and once the table was set and the house straightened, the pace began to slow. [After showering] I’d linger in the bathroom…taking as much time as I could to settle into a mood of quietness. When I joined [my husband] Michael and his son for the lighting of the candles, the whole house seemed transformed…. Shabbat is like nothing else. Time as we know it does not exist for these twenty-four hours, and the worries of the week soon fall away. A feeling of joy appears. The smallest object, a leaf or a spoon, shimmers in a soft light, and the heart opens. Shabbat is a meditation of unbelievable beauty. [6]

This special regard given the Sabbath is matched by the president of a Jewish college whom I know who does no email on Shabbat.

Martin Luther eliminated “Saints Days” from the medieval calendar in favor of a weekly celebration of the resurrection on Sunday. Among the Reformed, New England Pilgrims and Puritans kept the Sabbath. They were often known by the phrase, “Good Sabbaths make good Christians.” And they got it right! A day devoted to the Lord – we call it “The Lord’s Day” – is a good and necessary gift from God – God’s valentine to humanity even if it meant Saturday-prepared Boston baked beans and cod.

Brooklyn Congregational Church’s minister David C. Fisher reminds us of how easy it is to turn God’s gifts into obligations burdened with rules and regulations. “The Sabbath,” he writes, “meant to be a day of sheer enjoyment and rest, got lost in a in a thicket of rules, regulations, and laws. The Puritans were notorious for enforcing church attendance and forbidding recreation, sports, even travel on Sunday.”[7] The tension between the free exercise of faith practices and what was to become the social enforcement of Sabbath/Sunday adherence, enshrined in Sunday Blue Laws keeping stores closed on Sunday until fairly recently, illustrates a tension we continue to live with in our churches.

Fisher adds, “Jesus was often a critic of Sabbath practices of his day – but he never opposed the Sabbath itself. He kept the Sabbath. He opposed rules and regulations that twisted Sabbath rest out of its original intent. He declared that God created the Sabbath for humankind and our enjoyment; God didn’t create us for Sabbath keeping” (Mark 2:27).

We might discern two practices from the tension between our desire to keep Sunday as the Sabbath but allow for freedom of expression in a society characterized by plurality.


Practice One: Jesus went on to call himself the Lord of the Sabbath. Fisher reminds us that this is a revolutionary teaching that has never been given adequate reflection in the church with respect to Sunday: What would a day devoted to the Lord Christ be like?

Practice Two: We might follow Lauren Winner’s suggestions: What if we were to draw into Christianity the Jewish Sabbath rhythm of marking the beginning of Sabbath on Saturday evening? The Puritans followed the Jewish tradition, marking the beginning of Sabbath on the previous evening, and so might we. A shared ritual meal, the invocation of the divine presence at a meal Saturday evening would establish a whole new tonality for welcoming in the Lord’s Day of rest, Sunday.

Sabbath is a foreign concept for many in our society. The restoration of Sabbath is counter-cultural. It will not easy. Our lives are complicated, busy and getting more busy and complicated all the time. Work creeps into all of life. The electronic revolution makes work impossible to leave at the office. And if you are a parent like I am, you are being stretched in every direction.

Abraham Heschel, one of the great Jewish theologians of the last century, writes in his book, Sabbath, that: “Six days a week we wrestle with the world, wringing profit from the earth; on the Sabbath we especially care for the seed of eternity planted in the soul. The world has our hands, but our soul belongs to Someone Else. Six days a week, we seek to dominate the world; on the seventh day, we try to dominate the self.” Heschel reminds us that beyond the sociological and theological value of Sabbath, there is psychological healing of the soul in its weekly practice.

Sunday as Sabbath Keeps the Church

What might the effect be on the church of marking the Lord’s Day with these two practices? The first practice allows for the freedom of choice in a society characterized by religious plurality and yet counsels serious theological engagement and mature ethical decision making. It upholds the rhythm of creative activity with voluntary self-restraint. The popular “WWJD” – “what would Jesus do” – comes into play as parents and children in the context of a community of faith wrestle with how to apportion out the obligations of life in the midst of a commitment to relationships, including that with the God in whose image we have been made (Exodus 20:11) and whose work we do (Deut. 5:15).

What might Sunday activity apart from times of worship and relationship-building look like? Donald Conroy, President of the International Consortium on Religion and Ecology, reminds us of work on this topic by Pope John Paul II in Dies Domini, that “Sunday should … give the faithful an opportunity to devote themselves to works of mercy, charity and apostolate.”[8]

This might include the work of repair (tikkun olam), a concept deeply ingrained in the Jewish community and understanding of the creation story. Elizabeth Spellman writes that the work of “repair” is so central to our human character that she thinks of humanity as homo reparans.[9]
• The restorative work of the prophet Nehemiah comes readily to mind as the rebuilding of a just civic order is required in the context of civil violence.
• From the field of biology and the health care sciences we are reminded of the need for rest for cellular renewal, a concept that has deep resonance with Sabbath rest as envisioned by the author of the Book of Hebrews (4:1-11).
• Churches that are experiencing deep fragmentation can come together around Sabbath as Sunday for purposes of human flourishing.
• A commitment to human flourishing offers much by way of networking with other religious and secular groups.
• Finally, embedded in Sabbath practice is a deep commitment to concepts of gratefulness and appreciation – of all that we have been given. The Genesis text (2:1-3) reads that God rested, blessed and made holy the seventh day. And, by this, we are reminded of the sacred nature of the environment and world in which we live, a world that psychologist Richard Louv reminds us in his book, Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder (2008) that we lose at our peril.

The Sabbath work of repair, restoration, renewal, human flourishing, networking for the common good and appreciation are all aspects of a Sabbath spirituality that flows from living out Sabbath as Sunday in light of its constituting the Lord’s Day.

This is living in light of the resurrection; receiving God’s valentine to humanity.



[1] Gloria White-Hammond, “Home Alone – Seeking Sabbath,” in Sunday, Sabbath, and the Weekend: Managing Time in a Global Culture, ed. by Edward O’Flaherty and Rodney Petersen with Timothy Norton (Eerdmans, 2010).


[2] Church Dogmatics, III: p. 53.


[3] This material is taken from my chapter, “Just Peacemaking and Overcoming Violence: Formation for Ministry” in Formation for Life Just Peacemaking and Twenty-First Century Discipleship, ed. by Glen Stassen, Rodney Petersen and Timothy Norton (Eugene, OR:Wipf & Stock, 2013): 277-278.


[4] The value of the Sabbath in the teachings of Jesus remains unbroken. An understanding of the Sabbath as a “covenant renewal” finds grounding in Jesus’ teachings and Jewish practice. Karl Barth’s argument adds theological rationale for this: that “the Sabbath commandment explains all the other commandments, or all the other forms of the one commandment. It is thus to be placed at the head.” (Church Dogmatics, III: p. 53).


[5] Horace T. Allen, Jr., “The Lord’s Day as Anticipation and Promise in Liturgy and Word,” in Edward O’Flaherty, S.J., and Rodney L. Petersen with Timothy Norton, eds., Sunday, Sabbath, and the Weekend. Managing Time in a Global Culture (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2010): 93-104.


[6] Lauren Winner, Mudhouse Sabbath (Paraclete Press, 2003); as cited by David C. Fisher; at http://www.plymouthchurch.org/news/PCsermon030809.pdf (accessed February 2014).


[7] David C. Fisher; at http://www.plymouthchurch.org/news/PCsermon030809.pdf (accessed February 2014).


[8] John Paul II, Dies Domini. On Keeping the Lord’s Day Holy (Boston: Pauline Books and Media, 1998): 75. See Don Conroy, “Sabbath in an Age of Ecology within an Emerging Global Society,” in Edward O’Flaherty, S.J., and Rodney L. Petersen with Timothy Norton, eds., Sunday, Sabbath, and the Weekend. Managing Time in a Global Culture (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2010): 164-178


[9] Elizabeth Spellman, Repair. The Impulse to Restore in a Fragile World (Boston: Beacon, 2003).


Source


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Pat Robertson: Asteroid could destroy Earth as soon as next week


News

By Kolten Parker : April 22, 2014 : Updated: April 22, 2014 2:02pm




Photo By Michael Smith/Getty Images
Christian Coalition President Pat Robertson appears on NBC's "Meet the Press" May 7, 2000 in Washington, DC.




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SAN ANTONIO — Megachurch pastors Pat Robertson and John Hagee walk into a bar ... and a devastating astronomical event occurs and the world is destroyed.

Not to be outdone by the blood moon theory pushed by Hagee, a world-famous preacher from San Antonio, Robertson has crafted another “end of the age” theory that involves an asteroid, or, as he calls it, “a big ol' hunk of space rock” destroying the Earth, which he said could happen as soon as next week.

“I don't see anything else that fulfills the prophetic words of Jesus Christ other than an asteroid strike,” said Robertson on The 700 Club television broadcast Monday. “There isn't anything else that will cause the seas to roil, the skies to darken…”

Robertson was plugging his book “The End of the Age,” which asserts a meteor will destroy the Earth, on the Christian Broadcasting Network. The 1988 presidential candidate, who has predicted the world would come to an end multiple times, was piggy backing off of news that NASA would release information Tuesday that asteroids have struck the world much more than previously thought.

The B612 Foundation released data Tuesday reported that 26 explosions attributed to incoming asteroids have occurred near Earth, none of which were detected. Each of the 26 explosions gave about an equivalent of the detonation of 1 kiloton or more of TNT, according to NBC News.

The largest blast, which occurred in Russia in 2013 and injured 1,200 people, roughly was equal to 600 kilotons. The nuclear blast that devastated Hiroshima in 1945 was 12 kilotons, according to NBC.

“So, hey, just get ready,” Roberston said. “Get right. And stay right with the Lord
… It could be next week, it could be 1,000 years from now. But nevertheless, we want to be ready whenever the Lord says, 'I'm wrapping it up, and it's time to come home.' ”

Hagee, who also is pushing sales of his book, predicts that a “world-shaking event” would occur within the next year. Hagee, founder of Cornerstone Church in San Antonio said last week that the four total eclipses, also known as blood moons for the red color, indicate that a history-changing event soon will occur.

The first of the four blood moons occurred April 15.

The Cornerstone Church, located near Stone Oak on the North Side of San Antonio, has about 20,000 active members, according to its website.

kparker@express-news.net

Twitter: @KoltenParker


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The 2004 EU-Enlargement – a true reunification of Europe



“Ten years down the road from Eastwards enlargement of the EU, we still need to work to draw the different parts of Europe together”, so declares COMECE President Reinhard Cardinal Marx on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of Eastern Enlargement of the European Union on 1 May 2004.




When the European Union underwent the biggest enlargement in its history on 1 May 2004, many spoke of a “reunified Europe”. Not only did this enlargement welcome into the Union more new member-states than it ever had before, the moment itself was truly historic. The incorporation of the Central and Eastern European states into the European Union was the consequence of the peaceful revolutions experienced by the former communist countries in 1989. This latter turning point of such significance not only for Europe but for the whole history of the world, will again return to our thoughts when in the autumn of this year we celebrate its silver jubilee. With the 1989 revolution and the enlargement of the EU in 2004, the chapter of the twentieth century history which opened with the First and Second World Wars came to a close.

When ten years ago the countries of Central and Eastern Europe joined the European Union, it was not simply the result of a straightforward decision of a free people as was the case in earlier enlargements. These former communist countries had first to fight for their individual freedom before becoming members of the political community of the European family. The countries of Western Europe repeatedly promised those who found themselves behind the iron curtain that they would one day welcome them into their ranks. After the peaceful revolution of 1989 making these promises a reality became a concrete challenge for both the West and the East of our continent. After decades of being divided, Europe now had to grow together.

The enlargement of 2004 resulted in a real reunification of Europe. Deepening the unity between East and West within the European Union still remains a challenge. Mentalities and perspectives continue to be marked by a diversity of experience. It still remains the case that reconciliation and the sense of common calling is one of the central driving forces behind European integration. Ten years after the enlargement we still face the challenge of finding common purpose in Europe.

The churches and the religious communities in Europe have a particular duty to make their unique contribution to the family of nations which is the EU. The canonization of Pope John Paul II last weekend invites us to renew our appreciation of the contribution of this great Polish pope to the collapse of communism, to the overcoming of division within Europe and to the accession of Central and Eastern European countries into the EU. John Paul II spoke of Europe’s two lungs, one the West the other the East. Eastern and Western Europe are quite distinct. They have characteristic traits and specific identities and yet they are integral components of the same organism and live in interdependence. The legacy of St. John Paul II challenges the Church as well as the world of politics to walk hand in hand in East and West so as to reach the goal of true unity in Europe.


Brussels, 1st May 2014

Reinhard Cardinal Marx

COMECE President



Contact: Johanna Touzel, COMECE Spokesperson and Press Officer

johanna.touzel@comece.eu Tel+32 (0)2 235 05 15


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Illinois' red light on Sunday car sales




The state doesn't mind Sunday drivers. Here’s why it doesn't want Sunday car buyers.

May 5, 2014

Lauren Chooljian






Judging by how many transportation-related questions Curious City receives, we denizens of the Chicago region are obsessed with getting around and will ask about any stumbling blocks — legal or otherwise — that threaten to get in our way.

Juli Schatz of South Elgin is just one fan who’s stepped forward with a puzzler related to mobility. Here’s the gist of what she wants to know:

When did the state of Illinois begin its ban on Sunday car sales, and why?

The short answer? Turns out, auto dealers in Illinois have kept their doors closed on Sundays for more than three decades — from a law passed in 1982, to be specific. The state legislature sided with a group of dealers who argued that having a mandatory day off allowed employees to be with their families and practice their faith, without worrying that their competitors were open and could steal a sale.


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Here’s an excerpt of the law Illinois still follows today:


(625 ILCS 5/5-106) (from Ch. 95 1/2, par. 5-106)

Sec. 5-106. No person may keep open, operate, or assist in keeping open or operating any established or additional place of business for the purpose of buying, selling, bartering, exchanging, or leasing for a period of 1 year or more, or offering for sale, barter, exchange, or lease for a period of 1 year or more, any motor vehicle, whether new or used, on the first day of the week, commonly called Sunday; ...

But this story about Sunday car sales goes back even further than the 1980s; Illinois has had this debate since the 1950s, with similar arguments for and against being deployed each time — including the issue’s resurrection today.

Chapter 1: Prairie State car law, in the shade of blue

The state’s Sunday auto sales ban is one of many state-level blue laws, which — as a category — prohibit certain secular activities on Sundays. It's a bent the Prairie State apparently shares with several neighbors: Iowa, Indiana, and Missouri also prohibit selling motor vehicles on Sundays. Wisconsin prohibits a dealer from selling on Sundays, unless the operator holds that the Sabbath occurs between sunset Friday and sunset Saturday.

Illinois' own ban first made its way through the legislature in 1951. Dealers wanted to allow a day off, but any single dealership couldn’t close its doors while competitors stayed open. Legislators agreed to a mandatory day off and passed a bill to make it happen, but the story got complicated as soon as the bill hit Governor Adlai Stevenson’s desk.

Stevenson’s Attorney General, Ivan A. Elliott, encouraged the governor to veto the bill, saying it likely violated the Illinois Constitution “as an interference with the right of an individual to pursue any trade or occupation which is not injurious to the public or a menace to the safety or welfare of society.”

Stevenson heeded the AG’s word, and vetoed Senate Bill 504.

“If such a restriction on Sunday trade is sound for automobiles, why should it not be extended to newspapers, groceries, ice cream cones and other harmless commercial transactions?” Stevenson wrote in a veto message. “Carried to its logical extreme, any business group with sufficient influence in the legislature can dictate the hours of business of its competitors. And if hours, why not prices?”

A short Chapter 2, and complicated Chapter 3

A nearly identical bill followed a similar path in 1957. House Bill 946 survived both houses, only to be defeated at the hand of Governor William Stratton days after passage.

The legislature made another attempt in 1961, only this time Governor Otto Kerner signed Senate Bill 597, making it a crime for any person to sell, barter or exchange any new or used motor vehicle on the day “commonly called Sunday.”

But some car dealers weren’t jazzed about their new schedules. Employees at Courtesy Motor Sales in Chicago had been able to choose any day of the week they wished for their day off, but many of them chose to work on Sundays because they made almost twice as much as they did any other day of the week. Twenty percent of Courtesy’s annual sales in 1960 were made on Sundays.

So Courtesy employees filed an injunction in Cook County Circuit Court that ended up before the Illinois Supreme Court. The salesmen and their lawyers argued the law was unconstitutional, as it singled out one specific group of sellers.

Attorney Joe Roddy was a senior in law school at the time, working as a law clerk for the State’s Attorney’s office. As the State’s Attorney was responsible for defending the statute, Roddy helped write the briefs. He also penned an article for the Chicago-Kent Law review about the case.

“It was a huge deal,” Roddy recalls. “I remember a lot of publicity. Because you know, car dealerships, everybody buys a car — even in the 60s — and the car dealers wanted to be open on Sundays. So it attracted a lot of publicity because they didn’t single out any other industry at that time.”

The Illinois Supreme Court ruled in 1962 that the law was unconstitutional, and the debate died down for a bit.

TIMELINE: The law's history

Blue (law) since 1982

In the 1980s, car dealers across the state wrote state lawmakers, arguing that a mandatory day off would protect the livelihood of sellers and would provide needed time for family or faith. A new bill banning sales on Sundays made its way through the legislature, with major support coming from trade organizations that represent car dealerships.

But the measure also had opponents.

“I think it comes with some amazement that a bill like this would come before us. We have heard time and time again from the business community that they would like less regulation by the state, and less mandates,” Senator Don Totten argued on the Senate floor at the time. “I think this runs contrary to our system of free enterprise.”

The bill ended up making it way through both houses, leaving Governor Jim Thompson with a tough decision.

“Look, I’m not a big fan of blue laws,” Thompson now says. “I think commerce should be open and free.”

And because of that, Thompson says, he did go back and forth on this one.

“It was not a simple decision,” he says. “It was more a complex decision, but I guess what impressed me was the unanimity of the opinion [of] the dealer and the employee group. And the notion that if people — in order to protect their livelihood — had to work 7 days a week, that was a pretty tough proposition, especially people with families.”

Thompson ended up signing the bill on July 13, 1982, but the law wasn’t implemented until April 1984, when the state’s Supreme Court ruled the ban was constitutional. The state has enforced a six-day sales week for dealers around Illinois ever since.

Ice cream cones and planned purchases

Fast forward to early 2014. It turns out that our question from Juli Schatz question is timely. Much to the dismay of many Illinois car dealers, Republican State Senator Jim Oberweis introduced a bill at the end of 2013 that would allow all dealers to open their doors on Sundays, should they want to.

Oberweis made the argument that his plan wouldn’t force dealerships to do anything. Having government decide when businesses can and can’t be open, he says, amounts to too much regulation.

“I believe it is wrong for government to tell a business when they can be open and when they cannot be open. That’s what they do in Russia, not in the United States,” Oberweis says. “And it becomes even worse when we learn that this is an industry supported effort. They decided they don’t want to be open themselves, and then they attempt to use government to prohibit competition on those days. That is just fundamentally wrong in my opinion.”

Oberweis says the bill likely won’t go anywhere in 2014, as too few Senate Democrats are on board with repealing the ban.

Dave Sloan, President of the Chicago Automobile Trade Association, says the bill’s also likely to fail because both consumers and dealers are happy with the current law. The CATA has been a long-time supporter of the Sunday closing law, and Sloan says he was surprised to see Oberweis’ bill come up in the first place. In his 20 years at the CATA, including their work running the Chicago Auto Show, he says he’s never heard a single complaint from a consumer over not being able to shop on Sundays.

“If the purchase of a car was an impulse buy, like if you were buying an ice cream cone from one of Mr. Oberweis’ ice cream stores, that might make a difference. But it’s a planned purchase,” Sloan says. “So if you have the opportunity to keep costs lower, and the consumer isn’t inconvenienced by that, well, then everyone wins.”

Sloan says a six-day work week helps dealers attract high-caliber employees; he argues it’s hard to find full-time salesmen who will commit to working on commission when the dealership is open seven days a week.

As time goes on, and technology advances, so too do auto sales, according to Pete Sander, president of the Illinois Automobile Dealers Association. He says compared to decades past, many more vehicles are financed during the purchase process. Since banks aren’t open on Sundays either, he says, closing a sale becomes difficult, if not impossible.

And Sander says now that both dealers and manufacturers have websites available 24/7, the average customer only visits a dealership lot an average of one and a half times before purchasing a vehicle. Five years ago, the average customer would visit a sales lot five times.

“By the time they get to the dealer on Saturday, they pretty much know what they want, and whether the dealer has what they want. It’s just a matter of negotiating the price of the trade-in, and negotiating the price of the car,” Sander says. “So it’s not like the old going from dealer to dealer to find the right car in the color and model you want, and kicking the tires as we used to do in the old days.

“It’s a much different commercial transaction now.”

Our question comes from: Juli Schatz



(Photo courtesy Juli Schatz)


Juli Schatz, who asked why Illinois banned Sunday car sales.Our look at Illinois’ ban on Sunday car sales comes courtesy of South Elgin resident Juli Schatz, who says she can’t quite put her finger on when, exactly, this seed of curiosity about Illinois’ ban on Sunday cars was first planted.

It likely happened, she says, decades ago when her dad helped her shop for a car. Schatz’s dad worked five days a week, so he was only free to kick tires or test-drive on weekends. She thought it was strange that Sunday sales were off the table.

“I asked [my dad] and he had no idea why, and that was long before the Internet or anything,” Schatz recalled. “We actually asked a couple of car dealers while we were shopping for my new used car, and they had no idea.”

Schatz says she’s been curious about it ever since. Years later, she worked in ad sales for several newspapers, including the Naperville Sun, and she had car dealerships as some of her customers.

“Same thing,” she says. “Nobody really knew. And some of these dealers had been in business for quite a while and they said, ‘You know, it’s just always been that way.’”

Lauren Chooljian is a WBEZ Reporter. Follow her @laurenchooljian.


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