.
Sunday, April 05, 2015
Saturday, April 04, 2015
Why Evangelicals Should Love The Pope
Read article
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/04/05/opinion/sunday/why-evangelicals-should-love-the-pope.html?_r=0&referrer=
.
Presbyterian Church in Apostasy Accepts Gay Marriage
Bible Flock Box 2
Published on Mar 18, 2015
The Presbyterian Church has been in the news recently about their official decision to accept same-sex marriage. This endorsement of homosexuality in the church is contrary to the Bible and, in fact, puts the church in apostasy.
If you enjoy my content and would like to support my Christian ministry with a donation, you can do so @ http://tinyurl.com/donate2bfbonline
Your donations make a difference and help keep my ministry going.
Free online Bible study guides: http://tinyurl.com/FreeBibleStudies
Presbyterian Church recognizes same-sex marriage: http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/presbyteri...
This video contains the folowing royalty-free video look: "LOOP 87 - HOLY BIBLE" from http://movietools.info/video-backgrou...
.
.
Fragen Antworten - Bill Hughes - (Questions & Answers - Bill Hughes)
Fragen Antworten Bill Hughes
Botschaft für diese Zeit
Published on Mar 23, 2015
Konferenz März 2015 in Bad Hersfeld
(Conference, March 2015 in Bad Hersfeld - Germany)
.
.
Die neue Weltordnung – Offenbarung 17 und 18 - Bill Hughes 2 - (The New World Order - Revelation 17 and 18)
Die neue Weltordnung – Offenbarung 17 und 18 Bill Hughes 2
Botschaft für diese Zeit
Published on Mar 26, 2015
Konferenz mit Bill Hughes, März 2015 in Bad Hersfeld
(Conference with Bill Hughes, March 2015, Bad Hersfeld - Germany)
.
.
.
.
Sonntag muss Kirchtag sein [Sunday must be (a) feast day]
Sonntag muss Kirchtag sein
Martin Kilian aus Washington am Samstag den 4. April 2015
Kleine Geschichte
In den 50er-Jahren war der Gottesdienst für die ganze Familie noch Pflicht. Foto: Getty
«Der amerikanische Sonntag ist eine runde Sache: Man steht auf, frühstückt im Bademantel Eier mit Speck und Bratkartoffeln («House Fries»), dazu Waffeln mit Ahornsirup und Butter mitsamt Kaffee sowie einem Mimosa-Cocktail aus Champagner und frischgepresstem Orangensaft. Eine Bloody Mary tut es natürlich auch. Danach geht der echte Amerikaner zurück ins Bett zum Workout-Sex oder zum Jagen, Fischen und Sammeln. Er ist ein passionierter Jäger und Sammler.
Wer einen ruhigeren Ablauf seines freien Tages vorzieht, platziert sich schon morgens vor den TV und sieht fern. Es gibt Shows mit Celebrity-Köchen oder Werbefernsehen und auf CNN sogar Krisen aus aller Welt. Da der Aktienmarkt ruht, sind sonntags weder Gewinne noch Verluste zu verzeichnen. Die Kreditkarten hingegen ruhen nicht, denn bereits um zehn Uhr öffnen die Einkaufszentren und laden zu hemmungslosem Shopping am Tag des Herrn ein. Für alle, die arbeiten müssen – und das sind viele Amerikaner! – , findet der Sonntag am Dienstag oder sonstwann statt.
Dieser lässige Umgang mit dem Sonntag erregt den Unmut von Leuten, die den sittlichen wie moralischen Niedergang Amerikas beklagen und allerorten Teufelswerk wie die Homoehe wittern. Dass die Amerikaner immer weniger in die Kirchen strömen, obschon auf ihren Geldscheinen ausdrücklich vermerkt wird, sie vertrauten «auf Gott», erregt zudem seit geraumer Zeit den Unmut der Gegner einer allzu saloppen Interpretation des Sonntags.
Sie will die Moral in die Gesellschaft zurückbringen: Staatssenatorin Sylvia Allen. Foto: Gage Skidmore/Flickr
Was sie wirklich denken, enthüllte kürzlich eine gewisse Sylvia Allen, von BerufRepublikanerin im Staatssenat von Arizona. Frau Sylvia repräsentiert die Kleinstadt Snowflake, was auf deutsch «Schneeflocke» bedeutet, jedoch weniger herzig ist, als man denkt. Denn Snowflake wurde 1878 von Erastus Snow und William Jordan Flake gegründet. Snow und Flake - alles klar? Synapsen okay? Die Gründerväter waren Mormonen, auch Frau Sylvia bekennt sich zu diesem Glauben.
Nun begab es sich unlängst, dass der Senat in Arizona mal wieder die Erlaubnis zumTragen verdeckter Schusswaffen in öffentlichen Gebäuden debattierte. Eine derartige Erlaubnis ist nicht ohne: Leute mit versteckten Ballermännern könnten durch die Korridore von Gerichten und Finanzämtern streifen und andere Leute massakrieren, wie dies leider dann und wann in Amerika geschieht. Frau Sylvia freilich suchte die Schuld nicht bei den Schusswaffen, sondern in den «verdorbenen Seelen» der Menschen.
Und deshalb verlangte sie eine «moralische Wiedergeburt» Amerikas sowie ein Ende der Erosion von Religion. «Wahrscheinlich», entfuhr es ihr, «sollten wir ein Gesetz debattieren, das jeden Amerikaner dazu verpflichtet, am Sonntag die Kirche seiner Wahl zu besuchen». Moment mal! Das ist extrem heavy! Vor allem, da Frau Sylvia sich wehmütig an die fünfziger Jahre erinnerte, als alle Läden am Sonntag geschlossen waren und die Leute in die Kirche gingen, statt sich sonntags mit Mimosas und Sex zu vergnügen. Oder eben jagen und sammeln zu gehen.
Beten statt gamen: Kinder vor einem Altar. Foto: Getty
Einmal davon abgesehen, dass Afroamerikaner in den fünfziger Jahren hinten im Bus sitzen und Homosexuelle um ihr Leben fürchten mussten und Frauen insgesamt weniger als ihre Haustiere zu sagen hatten und Richard Nixon Vizepräsident war: Wie bitte soll der Zwangsbesuch in der Kirche «meiner Wahl» administrativ vonstatten gehen? Was ist mit Atheisten und Agnostikern? Mit Theisten und Heiden? Zorastergläubigen? Punks? Santeria? Und wer soll den Transport Widerstrebender in die Kirchen bezahlen? Gibt es eine spezielle Polizeitruppe?
Fragen über Fragen werden laut. Es scheint, als habe Frau Sylvia ihre «moralische Wiedergeburt» eher nachlässig durchdacht. Das Konzept hat offenkundig profunde Lücken. Da gilt es nochmals nachzufassen! Frau Sylvia?
Martin Kilian, Washington
Er ist Amerikaner und Reisender durchs amerikanische Hinterland. Ihn interessiert ziemlich alles zwischen Boston und Seattle, San Diego und Miami. Er lebte unter anderem in Athens, Georgia, und Washington DC und wohnt derzeit in Charlottesville, Virginia. Gelegentlich fliegt er nach Europa und bewundert die Putzigkeit des Alten Kontinents.
---------------------------------
(I do not speak German, still I wanted to share this article; So, I tried several online translators, and this seems like the best I could find. Please forgive the bad grammar, it's a computer generated translation.)
Sunday must be (a) feast day
Sunday must be (a) feast day
Martin Kilian from Washington on Saturday the 4 April 2015
little story Church Thanksgiving
In the 1950s, the church service for the family was still required. Photo: Getty
«The American Sunday is a round thing: one stands up, in a bathrobe, breakfast eggswith Bacon and fried potatoes («House fries»), to waffles with maple syrup and butteralong with coffee and a Mimosa cocktail of champagne and fresh squeezed orange juice.» Of course, it is a Bloody Mary. Then the real Americans goes back to bed to the workout sex or hunting, fishing and gathering. He is a passionate Hunter and collector.
If you prefer a quieter end of his free day, placed already in the morning before the TVand watch TV. There are shows with celebrity chefs or commercial television and CNN even crises around the world. Since the stock market are neither gains nor losses recorded on Sunday. The credit cards, however, does not rest, because already at teno'clock the malls open and invite to uninhibited shopping on the day of the Lord. Forall those who work have to - and that many Americans! -takes place the Sunday to Tuesday or sonstwann.
This casual handling of Sunday aroused the resentment of people who complain about the moral as moral decline of America and everywhere smell Devil's work such as the gay marriage. That Americans always less in the churches flock, although on their money explicitly, stated they trusted «God», also aroused the displeasure of theopponents of a too popular interpretation of the Sunday for quite some time.
She wants to bring back the morality in the society: State Senator Sylvia all. Photo:Gage Skidmore/Flickr
What they really think, revealed a certain Sylvia Allen, of professional recently Republican in the State Senate of Arizona. Mrs Sylvia represents the town snowflake,what means, but less herzig on german «snowflake», than one might think. Snowflake was founded in 1878 by Erastus snow and William Jordan Flake? Snow and Flake - allright? Synapses okay? The founding fathers were Mormon, also wife Sylvia is committed to this belief.
Now it came recently, that the Arizona Senate again debated the permission to carry concealed weapons in public buildings. Such permission is not without: people with hidden shooting men could through the corridors of courts and tax offices and massacring people, like this unfortunately then and when happens in America. Mrs. Sylvia however sought blaming not the guns, but in the «corrupted souls».
And that's why she demanded a «moral rebirth» America's, as well as an end to the erosion of religion. «Likely», it said, «should we are debating a law that required every American to attend the Church of his choice on Sunday» Wait a minute! This is extremely heavy! Especially, since Mrs. Sylvia wistfully remembered the fifties, as all the stores on Sunday were closed and the people in the church went instead to enjoy Sunday with Mimosas and sex. Or just hunt and gather to go.
Praying instead of reading: Children before an altar. Photo: Getty
Even apart from African-Americans back had to sit in the 1950s in the bus and fear homosexuals for their lives and women had a total to say less than their pets, and Richard Nixon was Vice President: how should please the compulsory visit to the Church of «my choice» take administratively place? What about atheists and agnostics? With theists and pagans? Zorastergläubigen? Punks? Santería? And who should pay for transporting resistive in the churches? There is a special police force?
Questions about questions be loud. It seems rather carelessly, wife Sylvia have thought through their "moral rebirth". The concept has evidently profound gaps. There it is again to cover up! Mrs Sylvia?
Martin Kilian, Washington
He is American and Traveler through the American hinterland. Interested in pretty much everything between Boston and Seattle, San Diego and Miami. He lived in Athens, Georgia, and Washington DC and currently resides in Charlottesville, Virginia. Occasionally, he flies to Europe and admired the Putzigkeit (quaintness) of the old continent.
Bitte übersetze diesen Artikel für mich.
Danke.
.
Connection Between God's Moral Law and Laws of the Physical World.
There is a close relation between the moral law and the laws that God had established in the physical world. If men would be obedient to the law of God, carrying out in their lives the principles of its ten precepts, the principles of righteousness that it teaches would be a safeguard against wrong habits. But as through the indulgence of perverted appetite they have declined in virtue, so they have become weakened through their own immoral practices and their violation of physical laws.
The suffering and anguish that we see everywhere, the deformity, decrepitude, disease, and imbecility now flooding the world, make it a lazar house in comparison with what it might be even now, if God's moral law and the law which He has implanted in our being were obeyed. By his own persistent violation of these laws, man has greatly aggravated the evils resulting from the transgression in Eden. --RH, Feb 11, 1902.
.
Law: Mandatory Sunday Worship!
LAW: MANDATORY SUNDAY WORSHIP!
Published on Apr 2, 2015
A Senator In The United States Wants CHURCH ATTENDANCE ON SUNDAY TO BE MANDATORY!
.
.
S.D.A promote Sunday and Women's Ordination?
Only in Sunday Churches women are being ordained as "ministers", so it is clear that Seventh Day Adventists are becoming like the Sunday Churches. What a terrible scene! This is not a seventh Day Adventist Belief and i am 100% against it.
Notice the following quotations below:
The heart breaking information in provided in the Video below, so please watch it and share it with as many people as you can. May God bless you.
Source
.
.
.
Notice the following quotations below:
"The enemy of souls has sought to bring in the supposition that a great reformation was to take place among Seventh-day Adventists, and that this reformation would consist in giving up the doctrines which stand as the pillars of our faith, and engaging in a process of reorganization. Were this reformation to take place what would result? The principles of truth that God in His wisdom has given to the remnant church would be discarded. Our religion would be changed. The fundamental principles that have sustained the work for the last fifty years would be accounted as error. A new organization would be established. Books of a new order would be written. A system of intellectual philosophy would be introduced. The founders of this system would go into the cities, and do a wonderful work. The Sabbath, of course would be lightly regarded, as also the God who created it. Nothing would be allowed to stand in the way of the new movement. The leaders would teach that virtue is better than vice, but God being removed they would place their dependence on human power, which, without God, is worthless. Their foundation would be built on the sand, and storm and tempest would sweep away the structure." (Miscellaneous Collections, Page 81.3)
"Who has authority to begin such a movement? We have our Bibles. We have our experience, attested to by the miraculous working of the Holy Spirit. We have a truth that admits of no compromise. Shall we not repudiate everything that is not in harmony with this truth?" (Miscellaneous Collections, Page 82.1)
"A mind trained only in worldly science fails to discern the deep things of God, but the same mind, converted and sanctified, would see the divine power in the word. Only the mind that is cleansed by the sanctification of the Spirit can discern heavenly things." (Miscellaneous Collections, Page 82.2)
"When the people accept and exalt a spurious sabbath, and turn souls away from obedience and loyalty to God, they will reach the point that was reached by the people in the days of Christ. . . . Shall anyone then choose to hide his banner, to relax his devotion? Shall the people whom God has honored and blessed and prospered, refuse to bear testimony in behalf of God's memorial at the very time when such a testimony should be borne? Shall not the commandments of God be more highly esteemed when men pour contempt upon the law of God?" -- (Manuscript 15, 1896).
The heart breaking information in provided in the Video below, so please watch it and share it with as many people as you can. May God bless you.
Source
.
.
.
Friday, April 03, 2015
LRLTV Special Report: April 3rd, 2015
Published on Apr 3, 2015
Where is this debate about homosexual marriage going? David Mould believes it is going beyond the Supreme Court to a Constitutional Convention in which mandatory church services on Sunday will be debated.
.
Thursday, April 02, 2015
Senator Allen would like to mandate (Sunday) church attendance
YouTube
0:28
Senator Allen would like to mandate church attendance
Scott Berlin
Published on Mar 25, 2015
Senator Sylvia Allen, while discussing a gun bill, proposed the idea of mandating church attendance on Sundays to "bring back the soul of the country".
.
.
Mormon Arizona State Senator Sylvia Allen Suggests (Sunday) Church Attendance for Corrupt Souls
Mar 31, 2015 01:41 AM EDT
State Senator Sylvia Allen joked about a mandatory church attendance law last week during a concealed gun permit meeting in Arizona. Photo: Kylee Gauna
While the moral code of the country is in unquestionable decline in recent years, one Arizona state senator suggests mandatory church attendance as the solution.
State Sen. Sylvia Allen (R) made the comment while debating concealed weapons permits at the Senate Appropriations Committee meeting last Tuesday. Allen was making the point that gun violence has less to do with carry permits and more to do with currupted souls.
"It's the soul that is corrupt. And how we get back to a moral rebirth in this country, I don't know since we are slowly eroding religion at every opportunity that we have," she said. "Probably we should be debating a bill requiring every American to attend a church of their choice on Sunday to see if we can get back to having a moral rebirth."
While Allen later called her words a "flippant comment," she went on to explain that the statement stems from the way she was raised in the 1950s in relation to how things are now.
"I remember on Sundays the stores were closed," Allen said in an interview with the Arizona Capitol Times. "The biggest thing is religion was kicked out of our public places, out of our schools."
As expected, news of Allen's comment spread like wildfire with many upset that a non-existent "separation of church and state" definition in the First Amendment means that Allen should apologize or resign. "This woman, Sylvia Allen, is a total idiot," one commenter on the Arizona Capitol Times interview said. "Can you imagine how she would handle a real crisis in government now? Get her out of office, people!!!"
And despite Allen saying that people should "attend the church of their choice," many are targeting Christianity for their rebuttals. "What a vile human being. Morality? With christians the highest in prisons and atheists less than 1%, I'd say churches need to be converted to homes for the homeless but religion is a disease that needs eradicated," another commenter said.
Steve Farley, the Democratic state senator at the meeting who first highlighted Allen's comments on his Twitter page, suggested that Allen's comment was misguided. "Even if you believe that would stem the moral decay, I think the Constitution makes it very clear that our country is founded on the pillar of separation of church and state."
In reality, the separation of church and state is not something expressly written in the First Amendment, as any career government official should probably know. Thomas Jefferson coined the phrase "wall of separation between church and state" in a letter to the Danbury Baptist Association in 1802 where he was reassuring the committee that the government would not interfere in the church's manner of worship. But the phrase has been misconstrued in recent years to mean the opposite of what Jefferson intended in his letter and in the First Amendment.
And although Allen suggested the "new law" in a mocking tone while chuckling, State Senator Farley told his Twitter followers that the mandatory church attendance law was something that Allen "calls for."
Sylvia Allen is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and she has served in the Arizona State Senate since 2008. Her current term is due to end on January 1, 2017.
Source
While the moral code of the country is in unquestionable decline in recent years, one Arizona state senator suggests mandatory church attendance as the solution.
State Sen. Sylvia Allen (R) made the comment while debating concealed weapons permits at the Senate Appropriations Committee meeting last Tuesday. Allen was making the point that gun violence has less to do with carry permits and more to do with currupted souls.
"It's the soul that is corrupt. And how we get back to a moral rebirth in this country, I don't know since we are slowly eroding religion at every opportunity that we have," she said. "Probably we should be debating a bill requiring every American to attend a church of their choice on Sunday to see if we can get back to having a moral rebirth."
While Allen later called her words a "flippant comment," she went on to explain that the statement stems from the way she was raised in the 1950s in relation to how things are now.
"I remember on Sundays the stores were closed," Allen said in an interview with the Arizona Capitol Times. "The biggest thing is religion was kicked out of our public places, out of our schools."
As expected, news of Allen's comment spread like wildfire with many upset that a non-existent "separation of church and state" definition in the First Amendment means that Allen should apologize or resign. "This woman, Sylvia Allen, is a total idiot," one commenter on the Arizona Capitol Times interview said. "Can you imagine how she would handle a real crisis in government now? Get her out of office, people!!!"
And despite Allen saying that people should "attend the church of their choice," many are targeting Christianity for their rebuttals. "What a vile human being. Morality? With christians the highest in prisons and atheists less than 1%, I'd say churches need to be converted to homes for the homeless but religion is a disease that needs eradicated," another commenter said.
Steve Farley, the Democratic state senator at the meeting who first highlighted Allen's comments on his Twitter page, suggested that Allen's comment was misguided. "Even if you believe that would stem the moral decay, I think the Constitution makes it very clear that our country is founded on the pillar of separation of church and state."
In reality, the separation of church and state is not something expressly written in the First Amendment, as any career government official should probably know. Thomas Jefferson coined the phrase "wall of separation between church and state" in a letter to the Danbury Baptist Association in 1802 where he was reassuring the committee that the government would not interfere in the church's manner of worship. But the phrase has been misconstrued in recent years to mean the opposite of what Jefferson intended in his letter and in the First Amendment.
And although Allen suggested the "new law" in a mocking tone while chuckling, State Senator Farley told his Twitter followers that the mandatory church attendance law was something that Allen "calls for."
Sylvia Allen is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and she has served in the Arizona State Senate since 2008. Her current term is due to end on January 1, 2017.
Source
How the presidential candidates found their faith (Updated 4/4/15)
NEWSWEEK
By Matthew Cooper / April 2, 2015
It was built in the 1920s in the Spanish Mission style, topped by one of those red clay tile roofs so popular in South Florida back then. The Catholics laid their foundation just a short walk from the famed Biltmore Hotel (modeled on the Giralda, the tower of the Seville Cathedral in Spain), and named their church in honor of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, also known as “the Little Flower.” These days, Coral Gables is majority Cuban-American, the Church of the Little Flower’s pastor, the Reverend Michael W. Davis, tells me, which might also explain why he is so comfortably bilingual. Unlike so many Catholic parishes in the U.S., Davis says, his still boasts packed pews and “reflects a vibrant community.” He adds playfully that the church’s lovely setting makes it a “wedding factory.”
On a more serious note, Davis explains the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA)—the Catholic conversion program. He tells me about it because Little Flower’s most famous parishioner is a convert: Jeb Bush, the former governor of Florida who’s already touted as the Republican front-runner in the upcoming presidential race, attends Mass frequently with his wife, Columba, and their daughter, Noelle. “[He’ll be] gone all week, and yet he regularly makes the liturgy,” Davis says.
Jeb, of course, hails from one of America’s great preppy families, one more strongly associated with J. Press suits and Kennebunkport tennis than a La Santa Misa (a Mass conducted in Spanish). The Bushes are famously of the Episcopal wing of Protestantism, whose origins trace back, in part, to Henry VIII’s peevish break with Rome. Jeb, which is an acronym for John Ellis Bush, joked in 2013, “[I’m] no longer a WASP; I guess I’m whatever a W.A.S.C. would be”
As a young man, Jeb showed no interest in Catholicism, the Vatican or much of anything except, perhaps, baseball and weed. He attended Phillips Academy Andover, like his brother George W., the 43rd U.S. president, and played baseball there, like his father, the 41st. While at Andover, he took a semester abroad, working with the poor in Leon, Mexico, where he was quickly and deeply smitten with a local young woman, Columba Garnica de Gallo.
They married when she was 20 and he was 21; in addition to exchanging vows, they exchanged languages: He became fluent in Spanish, and she learned English. It took the rest of the Bush clan some time to get used to having a Catholic in-law, and this being the mid-’70s—a time of coups and juntas across Latin America—it probably caused a few ripples for Columba’s family that her new father-in-law was head of the CIA.
They later married and lived in Texas and did a stint in Caracas, Venezuela before settling in Miami in 1980, where Jeb carved out a living in real estate, investments and finally politics. The couple attended Mass together, and their children were baptized and given confirmations, but Jeb didn’t convert. This wasn’t owing to any great desire to retain his ties to the Episcopal Church, friends say. He just didn’t feel moved to take on the course of studying and then going through the rites to become a full-fledged Catholic.
Jeb Bush waves to the crowd during his Florida Governor inauguration ceremony, January 7, 2003, in Tallahassee, Fla. Bush, the former governor of Florida who’s already touted as the Republican front-runner in the upcoming presidential race, attends Mass frequently with his wife and daughter.
That changed in 1995. He took RCIA, the gateway to conversion, at the Church of the Epiphany in Miami, when he was 43. Jeb has said he was motivated “by the faith of my wife. I didn’t want to raise our children in a mixed marriage,” although that explanation is a little puzzling since Jeb’s children were 20, 19 and 13 at the time. He has also acknowledged that there were strains in his marriage back then, many of them related to his 1994 campaign for governor. It was Jeb’s first run for office, and it weighed heavily on Columba, who has never cottoned to the role of being a hand-waving, ribbon-cutting, speech-giving candidate’s wife.
“You’re away from home. There’s stress,” says one person close to Jeb, explaining the clouds over the marriage then. What’s more, Jeb lost that race. Sure, the Bush men had seen defeat over the decades, but Jeb’s loss was particularly disheartening for him in a year when so many Republicans were swept into office nationwide, and when his brother George got elected governor of Texas despite starting out as a big underdog. Like so many people—regardless of whether they’re pols—Jeb turned to religion in hard times.
That emotional trough may have been the catalyst for his conversion, but Jeb soon became an enthusiastic Catholic who loved the ritual and the sacraments. He even started carrying a rosary in his pocket—a habit that continues to this day—but he retained his father’s reluctance to talk about his faith. “He’s not a cufflinks Catholic,” says Jim Towey, president of Ave Maria University, near Naples, Florida, and a longtime friend of Jeb’s. By that, he means Bush isn’t showy about it. “Faith isn’t something he talks a lot about,” says Towey, who ran the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives in the George W. Bush White House.
A former lawyer, Towey dedicated his life to Christ after a mission to Calcutta to work with Mother Teresa, and he became her counsel in America. “Like a lot of people who convert, [Jeb] has a zeal about it and a joy,” he says. He recalls taking Jeb and Columba to Tijuana to meet with priests who had worked with Mother Teresa. The visitors were greeted with a song at the bus stop, a welcome that stirred something in Bush. “You could see his joy. He was moved to tears,” Towey says.
Jeb’s road to Catholicism is a telling example of the noble and knotty, maddening and comforting, always contradictory and confusing ways faith and politics intersect in America. We like to say we are independent thinkers basing our votes on carefully crafted political beliefs and goals, but we often vote with our tribe. We’re a church-going people, but we elect a diverse set of presidents—some who profess to having been saved, like George W. Bush, and some with a decidedly more secular mien, like Barack Obama. This year’s growing gaggle of presidential aspirants is an intriguing snarl of inconsistencies when it comes to faith—much like the rest of America.
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz stands on stage while speaking to a crowd gathered at Liberty University to announce his presidential candidacy March 23, 2015 in Lynchburg, Va. Cruz was born to lapsed Catholics, but his father, Rafael, a Cuban exile, became born again when Ted was a toddler. MARK WILSON/GETTY
So while the media obsesses about Hillary Clinton’s emails or Ted Cruz’s pugilism or Chris Christie’s girth, one the biggest stories of the 2016 campaign will be how faith has changed the candidates themselves—and how it may decide which of the dozen or so likely candidates will be sworn in as our next president on January 20, 2017.
Consider for a moment the messy, mixed messages of that Inauguration Day, a pageant that’s so peculiar and so right for a republic that says it loves God but bans organized prayer from our schools. It’s a ceremony that’s secular, yet shrouded with religious references and symbolism. The incoming president lays his hand on the Bible—and so far it’s only been a man and it’s only been a Bible—and pledges to God that he will defend a Constitution that forbids a religious test for public office. It is both inspiring and contradictory. And when it comes to God and politics, so are we all.
Evangelists and Chanters
Jeb Bush’s conversion to Catholicism was a very personal journey, one that millions of his fellow Americans have made in one church or another. People in the U.S. switch faiths with remarkable frequency. There aren’t firm statistics comparing, say, conversion rates in the 19th century with those today, but social scientists believe it’s on the rise. And that’s notable if only because Americans have always been impulsive shoppers when it comes to their pew of choice. Think of the remarkable rise of that uniquely American creed Mormonism, and of charismatic evangelists like Aimee Semple McPherson and Billy Graham, and of the vast mega-churches.
According to the Pew Research Center’s Religion and Public Life Project, more than half of all Americans will leave the church of their youth at some point, which suggests that most churches and temples and mosques are launching pads, not permanent homes.
Many parishioners who flee eventually return to the fold, but the Religion and Public Life Project, in its “Faith in Flux” report, says about 40 percent of those who give up the religion of their birth don’t return. And many are joining a flock that’s one of the fastest-growing religious groups in America—those who believe in a higher being but don’t feel attached to any church. These “Nones” make up almost 20 percent of adults in this country.
Making the picture even more complicated is the question of dabbling in two religions. A relatively small number of Americans identify with more than one faith, e.g., “I’m Muslim and Lutheran.” But that doesn’t include another burgeoning group that social scientists know is out there but haven’t yet measured: Americans who identify with one religion but who also casually borrow practices from another—say, Buddhist chanting or Hindu meditation.
At times it seems as if we’re shopping for churches while pushing a cart at Wal-Mart. But we’re pious, too. America has one of the highest church attendance rates among Western countries. Around 40 percent of Americans report attending a service in the past week. That number is close to 15 percent in the U.K. And with apologies to that high priest of atheism, Bill Maher, American voters have no interest in nonbelievers. No atheist has ever made a serious run for president, and only one of the 535 members of Congress lists her religion as “none:” Kyrsten Sinema, Democrat of Arizona. And while very few of us would pick our surgeon or plumber based on his or her faith, we expect our politicians to be pious. We want to know they pray, even though we don’t seem to care all that much about how or where they pray.
Mike Huckabee greets voters at the Methodist Episcopalian Church polling station January 8, 2008 in Dover, N.H. The former Arkansas governor and minister has never strayed from his Baptist roots. DARREN MCCOLLESTER/GETTY
Harry Loved His Bourbon
But how much faith is enough? In presidential candidates, Americans are all over the map. Harry Truman was a drinking, gambling Baptist who didn’t talk a lot about his faith. Jimmy Carter drank rarely, never gambled and was a loquacious Baptist eager to share being born again. George W. Bush, an Episcopalian turned Methodist, has told journalists, and recounted in his memoir, how he stopped drinking. “I believe God helped open my eyes which were closing because of booze,” he wrote in Decision Points. He was followed in the White House by Barack Obama, who talks about his faith but in a less emotional, more intellectual way.
We don’t seem quite as bigoted as we once were when it comes to judging a candidate’s religion. Mitt Romney’s Mormonism didn’t stop him from being the Republican nominee against Obama last time around. Joe Lieberman, who is Jewish, didn’t seem to be a drag on Al Gore’s ticket, since they won the majority of votes in the 2000 presidential election. Conservative Catholic Rick Santorum polled best in the South in 2012, while John Kennedy in 1960 had to solemnly swear to Dixiecrats that he wouldn’t be taking orders from the Vatican.
But tribalism still rules at the ballot box. Among Mormons, 80 percent lean Republican, according to the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. Jews lean 65 percent Democratic. Atheists and agnostics are 71 percent Democratic. Black Protestants lean 88 percent Democratic. White Evangelicals are 70 percent Republican. And while it’s true that Catholicism is big enough to include Nancy Pelosi and John Boehner, Bill O’Reilly and Stephen Colbert, where we worship is often an excellent predictor of how we’ll vote.
Hillary Rodham Clinton speaks to the congregation at Northminster Presbyterian Church in Columbia, S.C., on January 13, 2008. Clinton has always been a devout Methodist. JOSHUA LOTT/THE NEW YORK TIMES/REDUX
As a young man, Jeb showed no interest in Catholicism, the Vatican or much of anything except, perhaps, baseball and weed. He attended Phillips Academy Andover, like his brother George W., the 43rd U.S. president, and played baseball there, like his father, the 41st. While at Andover, he took a semester abroad, working with the poor in Leon, Mexico, where he was quickly and deeply smitten with a local young woman, Columba Garnica de Gallo.
They married when she was 20 and he was 21; in addition to exchanging vows, they exchanged languages: He became fluent in Spanish, and she learned English. It took the rest of the Bush clan some time to get used to having a Catholic in-law, and this being the mid-’70s—a time of coups and juntas across Latin America—it probably caused a few ripples for Columba’s family that her new father-in-law was head of the CIA.
They later married and lived in Texas and did a stint in Caracas, Venezuela before settling in Miami in 1980, where Jeb carved out a living in real estate, investments and finally politics. The couple attended Mass together, and their children were baptized and given confirmations, but Jeb didn’t convert. This wasn’t owing to any great desire to retain his ties to the Episcopal Church, friends say. He just didn’t feel moved to take on the course of studying and then going through the rites to become a full-fledged Catholic.
Jeb Bush waves to the crowd during his Florida Governor inauguration ceremony, January 7, 2003, in Tallahassee, Fla. Bush, the former governor of Florida who’s already touted as the Republican front-runner in the upcoming presidential race, attends Mass frequently with his wife and daughter.
That changed in 1995. He took RCIA, the gateway to conversion, at the Church of the Epiphany in Miami, when he was 43. Jeb has said he was motivated “by the faith of my wife. I didn’t want to raise our children in a mixed marriage,” although that explanation is a little puzzling since Jeb’s children were 20, 19 and 13 at the time. He has also acknowledged that there were strains in his marriage back then, many of them related to his 1994 campaign for governor. It was Jeb’s first run for office, and it weighed heavily on Columba, who has never cottoned to the role of being a hand-waving, ribbon-cutting, speech-giving candidate’s wife.
“You’re away from home. There’s stress,” says one person close to Jeb, explaining the clouds over the marriage then. What’s more, Jeb lost that race. Sure, the Bush men had seen defeat over the decades, but Jeb’s loss was particularly disheartening for him in a year when so many Republicans were swept into office nationwide, and when his brother George got elected governor of Texas despite starting out as a big underdog. Like so many people—regardless of whether they’re pols—Jeb turned to religion in hard times.
That emotional trough may have been the catalyst for his conversion, but Jeb soon became an enthusiastic Catholic who loved the ritual and the sacraments. He even started carrying a rosary in his pocket—a habit that continues to this day—but he retained his father’s reluctance to talk about his faith. “He’s not a cufflinks Catholic,” says Jim Towey, president of Ave Maria University, near Naples, Florida, and a longtime friend of Jeb’s. By that, he means Bush isn’t showy about it. “Faith isn’t something he talks a lot about,” says Towey, who ran the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives in the George W. Bush White House.
A former lawyer, Towey dedicated his life to Christ after a mission to Calcutta to work with Mother Teresa, and he became her counsel in America. “Like a lot of people who convert, [Jeb] has a zeal about it and a joy,” he says. He recalls taking Jeb and Columba to Tijuana to meet with priests who had worked with Mother Teresa. The visitors were greeted with a song at the bus stop, a welcome that stirred something in Bush. “You could see his joy. He was moved to tears,” Towey says.
Jeb’s road to Catholicism is a telling example of the noble and knotty, maddening and comforting, always contradictory and confusing ways faith and politics intersect in America. We like to say we are independent thinkers basing our votes on carefully crafted political beliefs and goals, but we often vote with our tribe. We’re a church-going people, but we elect a diverse set of presidents—some who profess to having been saved, like George W. Bush, and some with a decidedly more secular mien, like Barack Obama. This year’s growing gaggle of presidential aspirants is an intriguing snarl of inconsistencies when it comes to faith—much like the rest of America.
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz stands on stage while speaking to a crowd gathered at Liberty University to announce his presidential candidacy March 23, 2015 in Lynchburg, Va. Cruz was born to lapsed Catholics, but his father, Rafael, a Cuban exile, became born again when Ted was a toddler. MARK WILSON/GETTY
So while the media obsesses about Hillary Clinton’s emails or Ted Cruz’s pugilism or Chris Christie’s girth, one the biggest stories of the 2016 campaign will be how faith has changed the candidates themselves—and how it may decide which of the dozen or so likely candidates will be sworn in as our next president on January 20, 2017.
Consider for a moment the messy, mixed messages of that Inauguration Day, a pageant that’s so peculiar and so right for a republic that says it loves God but bans organized prayer from our schools. It’s a ceremony that’s secular, yet shrouded with religious references and symbolism. The incoming president lays his hand on the Bible—and so far it’s only been a man and it’s only been a Bible—and pledges to God that he will defend a Constitution that forbids a religious test for public office. It is both inspiring and contradictory. And when it comes to God and politics, so are we all.
Evangelists and Chanters
Jeb Bush’s conversion to Catholicism was a very personal journey, one that millions of his fellow Americans have made in one church or another. People in the U.S. switch faiths with remarkable frequency. There aren’t firm statistics comparing, say, conversion rates in the 19th century with those today, but social scientists believe it’s on the rise. And that’s notable if only because Americans have always been impulsive shoppers when it comes to their pew of choice. Think of the remarkable rise of that uniquely American creed Mormonism, and of charismatic evangelists like Aimee Semple McPherson and Billy Graham, and of the vast mega-churches.
According to the Pew Research Center’s Religion and Public Life Project, more than half of all Americans will leave the church of their youth at some point, which suggests that most churches and temples and mosques are launching pads, not permanent homes.
Many parishioners who flee eventually return to the fold, but the Religion and Public Life Project, in its “Faith in Flux” report, says about 40 percent of those who give up the religion of their birth don’t return. And many are joining a flock that’s one of the fastest-growing religious groups in America—those who believe in a higher being but don’t feel attached to any church. These “Nones” make up almost 20 percent of adults in this country.
Making the picture even more complicated is the question of dabbling in two religions. A relatively small number of Americans identify with more than one faith, e.g., “I’m Muslim and Lutheran.” But that doesn’t include another burgeoning group that social scientists know is out there but haven’t yet measured: Americans who identify with one religion but who also casually borrow practices from another—say, Buddhist chanting or Hindu meditation.
At times it seems as if we’re shopping for churches while pushing a cart at Wal-Mart. But we’re pious, too. America has one of the highest church attendance rates among Western countries. Around 40 percent of Americans report attending a service in the past week. That number is close to 15 percent in the U.K. And with apologies to that high priest of atheism, Bill Maher, American voters have no interest in nonbelievers. No atheist has ever made a serious run for president, and only one of the 535 members of Congress lists her religion as “none:” Kyrsten Sinema, Democrat of Arizona. And while very few of us would pick our surgeon or plumber based on his or her faith, we expect our politicians to be pious. We want to know they pray, even though we don’t seem to care all that much about how or where they pray.
Mike Huckabee greets voters at the Methodist Episcopalian Church polling station January 8, 2008 in Dover, N.H. The former Arkansas governor and minister has never strayed from his Baptist roots. DARREN MCCOLLESTER/GETTY
Harry Loved His Bourbon
But how much faith is enough? In presidential candidates, Americans are all over the map. Harry Truman was a drinking, gambling Baptist who didn’t talk a lot about his faith. Jimmy Carter drank rarely, never gambled and was a loquacious Baptist eager to share being born again. George W. Bush, an Episcopalian turned Methodist, has told journalists, and recounted in his memoir, how he stopped drinking. “I believe God helped open my eyes which were closing because of booze,” he wrote in Decision Points. He was followed in the White House by Barack Obama, who talks about his faith but in a less emotional, more intellectual way.
We don’t seem quite as bigoted as we once were when it comes to judging a candidate’s religion. Mitt Romney’s Mormonism didn’t stop him from being the Republican nominee against Obama last time around. Joe Lieberman, who is Jewish, didn’t seem to be a drag on Al Gore’s ticket, since they won the majority of votes in the 2000 presidential election. Conservative Catholic Rick Santorum polled best in the South in 2012, while John Kennedy in 1960 had to solemnly swear to Dixiecrats that he wouldn’t be taking orders from the Vatican.
But tribalism still rules at the ballot box. Among Mormons, 80 percent lean Republican, according to the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. Jews lean 65 percent Democratic. Atheists and agnostics are 71 percent Democratic. Black Protestants lean 88 percent Democratic. White Evangelicals are 70 percent Republican. And while it’s true that Catholicism is big enough to include Nancy Pelosi and John Boehner, Bill O’Reilly and Stephen Colbert, where we worship is often an excellent predictor of how we’ll vote.
Hillary Rodham Clinton speaks to the congregation at Northminster Presbyterian Church in Columbia, S.C., on January 13, 2008. Clinton has always been a devout Methodist. JOSHUA LOTT/THE NEW YORK TIMES/REDUX
Aqua Buddha or Purifying Fire?
This season’s crop of presidential candidates reflects this country’s many contradictions in faith. A minority of them have stuck with their first church. Hillary Clinton has always been a devout Methodist—her only conversion was from Goldwater Girl to ’60s liberal under the tutelage of her suburban Chicago pastor, Don Jones, who took his youth group to hear Martin Luther King Jr. speak. Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor and minister, has never strayed from his Baptist roots—his latest book is called God, Guns, Grits and Gravy. Santorum has always been Catholic; he tells Newsweek his faith was invigorated while he was in the Senate, owing to factors like his parish priest in Northern Virginia, his experiences of fellowship in the Bible Study Group in the Senate and his wife’s deep faith.
Ben Carson, the renowned neurosurgeon, hews closely to Seventh-day Adventist teachings, which include observing the Sabbath on Saturday and a literal belief in creationism. (He allows that Earth may have been formed over six “periods,” but insists that however long it took, it was God and not a Darwinian struggle that made us who we are.) Carson says his faith strengthened when he had an epiphany as a teenager that took him off a path he believed was headed to prison and onto one that made him the pride of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. (He’s famous for pioneering an operation to separate twins joined at the back of the head.)
“I had a hair-trigger temper,” he tells Newsweek. “But doubt has crept out of my life over the years. I’ve seen too many miraculous things.” Carson’s presidential aspirations got a boost when he used the National Prayer Breakfast earlier this year to chide Obamacare—while standing just a few feet from the president.
But the rest of the Republican candidates are, like Jeb Bush, switchers—just like so many of the voters they are hoping to woo. Some of those shifts have been modest: Rand Paul was raised Episcopalian and is now a Presbyterian. The libertarian-leaning Republican may be best known for a very different and much less serious liturgy: In his 2010 Senate bid, Paul had to explain a college hazing ritual he took part in at Baylor University, one that forced pledges of the NoZe brotherhood to pray to a faux God, Aqua Buddha.
Other 2016 aspirants have made more dramatic moves, like Jeb’s conversion to Catholicism. Cruz was born to lapsed Catholics, but his father, Rafael, a Cuban exile, became born again when Ted was a toddler. “I’m Cuban, Irish and Italian, and yet somehow I ended up Southern Baptist,” says Cruz, who attended Baptist schools while growing up. His father is now a preacher with the Purifying Fire International ministry, founded by religious broadcasters Benny and Suzanne Hinn, and Rafael preaches more than the Gospel. (The elder Cruz has said Obama is trying to use the U.N. to take “our God, and our gun.”)
Marco Rubio’s story is just as interesting. The son of Cuban refugees, the Florida senator was born Catholic, but when his family moved West it converted to Mormonism and Rubio was baptized in the Church of Latter-day Saints. As a teenager, he came back to the Catholic fold, and he is still a Roman Catholic. These days, Rubio attends Mass, but since his wife was raised Baptist, he also spends part of Sunday at an independent Christian church near Miami. Some might say that second scoop of church diminishes Rubio’s Catholicism, but it is the kind of religious fusion, for lack of a better word, so many Americans embrace.
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker answers a question during an Associated Press interview, December 19, 2012, at the Governor's residence in Madison, Wis. Walker’s father is a retired Baptist preacher, and if he makes it to the White House, he would be the first preacher’s kid to take residence there since Woodrow Wilson. MORRY GASH/AP
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s father is a retired Baptist preacher, and if he makes it to the White House, he would be the first preacher’s kid to take residence there since Woodrow Wilson. (The same goes for Cruz.) Like many Americans, Walker now attends an evangelical nondenominational church.
John Kasich, the Republican governor of Ohio, who seems increasingly likely to join the presidential fray, was born a Catholic but became an Anglican after his parents perished in a car accident. Today, he speaks openly about his faith and how it affects his governing, even citing the Gospels to defend his decision—rare among Republican governors—to accept Obamacare funds to expand Medicaid. When you meet St. Peter at Heaven’s Gate, Kasich told an Ohio legislator, “he’s probably not gonna ask you much about what you did about keeping government small, but he’s going to ask you what you did for the poor.”
Exorcisms and Rhodes Scholars
The boy sat in the closet with the door closed, worried that his parents would find him and be saddened and angered by what he was reading. He was awed, in the truest sense of the word, by the printed words in front of him. He’d been a great student, the pride of his mother and father, who had emigrated to Baton Rouge from Punjab just a few months before he was born. But this was a traditional Indian home, and the teenage Piyush, enraptured by the New Testament, feared his parents’ disappointment at seeing him swept away by the words of Jesus.
Today, that boy is no longer Hindu, and he’s no longer known as Piyush. He’s called Bobby Jindal, the governor of Louisiana, a proud Roman Catholic. (Born in 1971, he took his nickname from the youngest son on The Brady Bunch.) And, yes, he says, his parents are OK with it now. “I used to think that I had found God, but I believe it is more accurate to say that he found me,” Jindal told Newsweek. He had flirtations with Protestant churches of various kinds as he grew up in the ’80s and ’90s, but when he attended Brown University he found a Catholic church and settled in.
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, a proud Roman Catholic, sits with his daughter Selia Jindal during the Inaugural Prayer Service in honor of Gov. Jindal in Baton Rouge, La., January 8, 2012. KERRY MALONEY/AP
At Brown, Jindal even took part in what has been widely described as an exorcism, although the Rhodes Scholar avoids that label. Either way, this makes him the only candidate who has acknowledged participating in anything like that. Jindal wrote about it in a 1995 article, “Physical Dimensions of Spiritual Warfare,” for the New Oxford Review. The incident involved a fellow student, “Susan,” who had been facing medical problems and seemed to have a seizure, but not in a Hollywood, head-spinning way. Nevertheless, Jindal and friends who were holding a prayer meeting to help Susan sensed they were witnessing a spiritual crisis, and intervened. He wrote:
The crucifix had a calming effect on Susan, and her sister was soon brave enough to bring a Bible to her face. At first, Susan responded to biblical passages with curses and profanities. Mixed in with her vile attacks were short and desperate pleas for help.
That Jindal needn’t hide his participation in “spiritual warfare”—or that Huckabee is running as a preacher as much as an ex-governor—shows that we’re a long way from what might be called the Kennedy conundrum. In 1960, JFK was only the second Catholic presidential nominee of a major party. (The other, New York Governor Al Smith, lost to the Republican candidate, Herbert Hoover, in 1928.) JFK made the argument that personal faith had nothing to do with governing not just for his own purposes—to woo Protestant voters suspicious of his Catholicism—but for all politicians. He said, “I believe in a president whose religious views are his own private affair.” In other words, God is great at home but not at the office.
That personal and voluntary separation of church and state seems to be an antiquated notion. The dilemma for today’s candidates is deciding how much religion is too much, and we clearly haven’t hit the limit yet. Jeb Bush speaks for most candidates when he says, “As it relates to making decisions as a public leader, one’s faith should guide you.” And if you’re Mormon or have performed an exorcism-ish rite or attend two churches? Most voters seem to be fine with that.
Looking back at past presidents, there is no pattern, no precedence, when it comes to God and governing. Many of the great presidents seemed to follow what the MBA types call Best Practices. Thomas Jefferson attended church and believed in a supreme being, but most historians tag him a deist who believed in God but perhaps not the divinity of Christ. Whatever his inclination or ambivalence, Jefferson is the man America can thank for its freedom of religion.
Ohio Republican Governor John Kasich addresses delegates at the Republican National Convention at the Tampa Bay Times Forum in Tampa, Fla., August 28, 2012. John Kasich, who seems increasingly likely to join the presidential fray, was born a Catholic but became an Anglican after his parents perished in a car accident. TANNEN MAURY/EPA
Abraham Lincoln evoked God repeatedly as he sought to preserve the Union and, later, to end slavery. But he never joined a church—although he rented a pew when he was president. He was accused in his 1846 campaign for the House of Representatives of being “a scoffer of Christianity.” It was a charge Lincoln denied, while acknowledging, “That I am not a member of any Christian church is true.” Yet signs of his faith abounded. When freed slaves presented him with a Bible, he declared, “In regard to this great book, I have but to say, it is the best gift God has given to man.”
Ronald Reagan was born into the Disciples of Christ denomination and was famous for his lack of church attendance as president. But he believed in God, and believed that God believed in America. His frequent likening of America to the shining city on the hill—a phrase from Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount—has become a holy cliché in American politics.
Jefferson, Lincoln and Reagan showed that there are many roads to political heaven, and that it’s less important how you read the Bible than how well you use the pulpit.
Wednesday, April 01, 2015
Fear of Black Men: How Society Sees Black Men And How They See Themselves
MARCH 31, 2015 4:58 AM ET
MICHEL MARTIN
6 min 59 sec
Playlist
How does the fear of black men in America affect society, and them?Magdalena Roeseler/Flickr
It's an open secret among African-American men and boys that people are often afraid of them. This week, we've brought that conversation to the airways and social media.
We spoke with Paul Butler, a Georgetown University law professor, and Doyin Richard, a blogger at a parenting blog, Daddydoinwork.com, to talk about how these experiences have affected them.
Interview Highlights
On being racially profiled
Prof. Paul Butler: [I was] walking home in my beautiful upper-middle-class neighborhood in D.C., when the cops start following me —kind of like this cat and mouse thing. They are in their car, and you know, every time I move they move. And we get up to my house and I just stop on the street and say 'what are you doing? And then they say 'what are you doing?' I say 'I live here.' They say 'prove it.' They made me go to my porch, and then when I got there I said, 'you know what, I don't have to proof nothing.' I knew this because I am a law professor. They said, 'we are not leaving until you go in the house, because we think you're a burglar.' I say 'you're doing this because I am black.' They said, 'no, we are not, were black too,' and that was true. These were African-American officers. Even they were racial profiling me, another black man.
Blogger Doyin Richards: When I was out with my oldest daughter, who's [four-years-old], we were in a shopping mall, in a garage in Los Angeles...and there was a lady, who was with her husband. And I could tell they were just really nervous around me. And then we went to an ATM — I had to get some money — and there's another couple and I heard the woman say 'Hurry up, let's go, let's go.' Like I was going to rob them, and my daughter was all like 'What happened dad? What was that all about?' And I have to go into this conversation, 'Well honey, sometimes people look at the color of my skin and they think I am a threat to them.'
"When you're in an elevator or walking behind somebody and you feel like you have to perform to make them feel safe, it's like apologizing for your existence."
- Paul Butler, Georgetown University Law professor
On how to appear non-threatening
Blogger Doyin Richards: Sometimes if I am walking down a street or something, I am whistling Frozen songs just to prove that ... 'Hey I have kids, I am not a threat to you. I just want to go home to my family.' So often people just view this as, 'Oh gosh, you're just whining,' or 'they are just making excuses or pulling out some mythical race card that doesn't exist.' This is a real thing.
Prof. Paul Butler: When you're in an elevator or walking behind somebody and you feel like you have to perform to make them feel safe, it's like apologizing for your existence. So I am in an elevator with a white woman and I have to look down to make her feel comfortable. It's like 'excuse poor black me.' And you get angry and you get tired. But as a prosecutor, you also kind of understand where some these attitudes come from. Because while most black men don't commit any crime, of men who commit crime, a disproportionately number are African-American. And so yeah, sometimes there's a tendency to say, 'Well, gee if you other brothers weren't doing this, I wouldn't have to be in this position."
On being proud of being a black man.
Prof. Paul Butler: one problem with conversations like this, is it doesn't get across that I love being a black man. I feel connected, like when I see President Obama's swag, I get that as a black man. When I hear Jay Z's cool ... I kind absorb and relate as well. Sometime we don't talk about the joy of this identity, and how proud I am to be African-American and a man.
Source
.
The Coming Financial Collapse
Published on Feb 3, 2015
http://AdventMessage.com - The Coming Financial Collapse - Despite the stock market record run and Washington assurances that the economy is getting better, some of America’s wealthiest billionaires aren’t convinced.
In fact, their recent actions suggest some sort of market crash is on its way. Do they know something we don’t? Not really. The data is out there for everyone to see. Unfortunately, Wall Street is too busy ignoring the warning signs.
The outlook for the stock market looks bleak. Warren Buffett, John Paulson, and George Soros who are some of the wealthiest investors in the United States, understand this. And the reality of the U.S. economy has led them to see there is a real good chance the U.S. markets could experience a crash this year.
A 10,000-foot financial tidal wave is coming. In the near future millions of people are expected to lose their homes.
The world's debt far exceeds all the world’s assets. Currently the world's debt stands at 1,400 trillion dollars, compared to only 53 trillion dollars of the world GNP, or Gross National Product.
In other words, globally the world bank balance is minus about 1,350 trillion dollars. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see we're in deep trouble.
The situation is this: The U.S. has for a long time borrowed huge sums of money from the Federal Reserve System. This banking system is controlled by the Rothschild family dynasty, one of the promoters of the New World Order.
.
.
On the Lost Justice of the “Sabbath Rest”
MAR
Some of us who are older remember that Sundays were once quiet in downtown; in shopping areas, parking lots were empty. Most businesses were closed and few people had to work on Sundays. Surely there were exceptions, such as medical personnel, emergency workers, and those who ran essential services like power plants. But for most, Sunday was a day off. And although the biblical Sabbath was Saturday, in a largely Christian nation Sunday was the “Sabbath” day of rest.
In those days, Church was in the morning and then it was home to a family brunch or mid-afternoon meal. I remember back in the ’60s that after Mass our family returned home and we kids got out of our “Church clothes” to go and play—in the yard in warm months and in the basement on cold or inclement days. Mom and Dad announced the “parent hour,” making the living room off limits to us kids so they could sip coffee, read the paper, and catch up with each other. Dinner was at four or five in the afternoon; often our grandparents would join us or we went to their house. Evening featured Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom (a nature show) followed by Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color/The Wonderful World of Disney. And then came The Lawrence Welk Show, which we hated but Mom and Dad liked (we went off to play again as soon as Disney was over).
It was the end of an era. By the mid 1970s many “Blue laws” or “Sunday laws,” which prohibited the sale of certain products or the conducting of certain types of business on Sundays were on their way out. To heck with family, we were off the shopping mall!
It is a loss. To be fair, most of us who are well off can still observe the Sabbath (Sunday) rest if we choose. However, the poor and younger people just entering the workforce usually have little choice as to whether or not they work on Sundays. And we who are well off ought not forget that as we tramp out to the malls and restaurants on Sundays. We have choices; but in exercising those choices, in our “worship” of convenient shopping and the pleasure of movies and restaurants, we create a climate in which others have to work.
Last week I was reading from a book written by (then) Cardinal Ratzinger, who reflected on the justice of the Sabbath rest. Prior to presenting an excerpt from the book, I remind you of the text of the Second Commandment:
Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns (Ex 20:8-10).
Here is a brief excerpt of the remarks by Pope Emeritus Benedict (Joseph Ratzinger):
The Sabbath [among other things] is the day of God’s freedom and the day of man’s participation in God’s freedom. Reflecting on Israel’s liberation from slavery is central to the Sabbath theme, which is, however, much more than a commemoration. The Sabbath is not simply remembrance of what has passed, but an active exercise of freedom. This fundamental content is the reason why the Sabbath should be a day of rest to an equal degree for men and animals, for masters and servants … all the forms of subjugation that have been built up … come to an end … It is an anticipation of the society free from domination, a foretaste of the city to come. On the Sabbath there are no masters and no servants; there is only the freedom of the children of God, and creation’s release from anxiety(Quoted in Joseph Ratzinger Collected Works: Theology of the Liturgy, Ignatius Press, pp. 198-199).
This is a remarkable vision of justice that has been largely lost.
Almost no one I know links the Sabbath rest to justice. But as Cardinal Ratzinger wrote, the Sabbath rest both bound and blessed everyone. No one could be compelled to work that day in the household of any Jew; master and servant were equal and free.
Here, then, is something to consider as we plan our Sundays. I do not write this in order to make lots of personal rules for you that the Church does not. But consider that the loss of the Sabbath rest happened not that long ago. And while the modern age perhaps requires more essential workers to be in place every day of the week than in the past, the honest truth is that most people who have to work on Sundays are required to do so for the mere convenience of others. If perchance you do go to a restaurant on a Sunday, why not consider leaving a much higher tip for the waitstaff? And if you absolutely must go to the store on Sunday, consider the need for greater esteem and charity for the poor and the young who are compelled to work for your convenience.
Perhaps the libertarians and economic conservatives will balk at my concerns for “justice” and tell me that many of the poor are glad to have any job at all, and that soon enough they will move up the ladder and have the choice to work on Sundays or not. I hear you.
But think about it; think about it a lot. There was a time not so long ago when we really thought that everyone deserved a day of rest together. Sunday was a day when most people could gather with their families (for what good is a day off on a Tuesday when no one else can rest and rejoice with you?). And we all made allowances for this; we respected the just needs of others for a day of joy, a day of family, a day of worship, a day of justice when everyone was equal in a real sense.
Not so long ago …
In those days, Church was in the morning and then it was home to a family brunch or mid-afternoon meal. I remember back in the ’60s that after Mass our family returned home and we kids got out of our “Church clothes” to go and play—in the yard in warm months and in the basement on cold or inclement days. Mom and Dad announced the “parent hour,” making the living room off limits to us kids so they could sip coffee, read the paper, and catch up with each other. Dinner was at four or five in the afternoon; often our grandparents would join us or we went to their house. Evening featured Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom (a nature show) followed by Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color/The Wonderful World of Disney. And then came The Lawrence Welk Show, which we hated but Mom and Dad liked (we went off to play again as soon as Disney was over).
It was the end of an era. By the mid 1970s many “Blue laws” or “Sunday laws,” which prohibited the sale of certain products or the conducting of certain types of business on Sundays were on their way out. To heck with family, we were off the shopping mall!
It is a loss. To be fair, most of us who are well off can still observe the Sabbath (Sunday) rest if we choose. However, the poor and younger people just entering the workforce usually have little choice as to whether or not they work on Sundays. And we who are well off ought not forget that as we tramp out to the malls and restaurants on Sundays. We have choices; but in exercising those choices, in our “worship” of convenient shopping and the pleasure of movies and restaurants, we create a climate in which others have to work.
Last week I was reading from a book written by (then) Cardinal Ratzinger, who reflected on the justice of the Sabbath rest. Prior to presenting an excerpt from the book, I remind you of the text of the Second Commandment:
Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns (Ex 20:8-10).
Here is a brief excerpt of the remarks by Pope Emeritus Benedict (Joseph Ratzinger):
The Sabbath [among other things] is the day of God’s freedom and the day of man’s participation in God’s freedom. Reflecting on Israel’s liberation from slavery is central to the Sabbath theme, which is, however, much more than a commemoration. The Sabbath is not simply remembrance of what has passed, but an active exercise of freedom. This fundamental content is the reason why the Sabbath should be a day of rest to an equal degree for men and animals, for masters and servants … all the forms of subjugation that have been built up … come to an end … It is an anticipation of the society free from domination, a foretaste of the city to come. On the Sabbath there are no masters and no servants; there is only the freedom of the children of God, and creation’s release from anxiety(Quoted in Joseph Ratzinger Collected Works: Theology of the Liturgy, Ignatius Press, pp. 198-199).
This is a remarkable vision of justice that has been largely lost.
Almost no one I know links the Sabbath rest to justice. But as Cardinal Ratzinger wrote, the Sabbath rest both bound and blessed everyone. No one could be compelled to work that day in the household of any Jew; master and servant were equal and free.
Here, then, is something to consider as we plan our Sundays. I do not write this in order to make lots of personal rules for you that the Church does not. But consider that the loss of the Sabbath rest happened not that long ago. And while the modern age perhaps requires more essential workers to be in place every day of the week than in the past, the honest truth is that most people who have to work on Sundays are required to do so for the mere convenience of others. If perchance you do go to a restaurant on a Sunday, why not consider leaving a much higher tip for the waitstaff? And if you absolutely must go to the store on Sunday, consider the need for greater esteem and charity for the poor and the young who are compelled to work for your convenience.
Perhaps the libertarians and economic conservatives will balk at my concerns for “justice” and tell me that many of the poor are glad to have any job at all, and that soon enough they will move up the ladder and have the choice to work on Sundays or not. I hear you.
But think about it; think about it a lot. There was a time not so long ago when we really thought that everyone deserved a day of rest together. Sunday was a day when most people could gather with their families (for what good is a day off on a Tuesday when no one else can rest and rejoice with you?). And we all made allowances for this; we respected the just needs of others for a day of joy, a day of family, a day of worship, a day of justice when everyone was equal in a real sense.
Not so long ago …
.
BTW: The 7th day Sabbath is not SUNDAY, it's Saturday!
.
Monday, March 30, 2015
Pope Francis in Naples: Meeting with clergy and religious
Pope Francis kisses the relics of St. Januarius, in his visit to the Duomo Naples - AFP
21/03/2015 18:12
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis spoke of the ‘terrorism of gossip’ as the biggest sign of the devils work in a meeting with priests, religious and seminarians at Naples Cathedral Saturday.
The Gothic ‘Duomo’ – home to the much revered relic of St. Januarius patron Saint of Naples - was the setting for Pope Francis’ first appointment of the afternoon.
He was welcomed by Cardinal Crescenzio Seppe, the Archbishop of Naples and then surrounded by an enthusiastic group of cloistered nuns who had been given special permission to attend the encounter.
The spontaneity of the cloistered set the tone for a convivial meeting, so much so, that in what has become a classic move, Pope Francis began saying "I prepared a speech, but speeches are boring” before launching into a forty minute off-the-cuff reflection on priestly and religious life.
Pope Francis reminded the priests, religious, seminarians and deacons present to put Jesus at the center of their life and not personal problems with their bishop, other priests or members of their community. He said “If the center of your life is someone you have a problem with, you'll have no joy” and when there's no joy in life of priest or nun, ‘people can smell it’.
To seminarians, he said “If Jesus isn't center of your life, postpone ordination”, while he urged religious men and women to nurture a deep relationship with Mary saying “if you don't know the Mother, you won't know Son”.
Pope Francis also spoke of the danger of attachment to worldly goods. He said when priests or nuns are attached to money, they unconsciously prefer people with money. Here, in a humorous aside, the Pope told the story of one nun so attached to money that when she fainted someone suggested putting 100 pesos under her nose to wake her up. Instead, ordained and consecrated must always have a preferential option for the poor.
Pope Francis also tested those present asking how many could remember the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. Too many of us can't, he said. He spoke of a convent that remodeled and put TVs in every room, which hindered community life.
“Community life isn't easy” Pope Francis admitted. Often because “the devil sows jealously” which is revealed in the ‘terrorism of gossip’, that can destroy others. This, he stated “is the greatest sign of the devil's work”.
But all of these dangers can be avoided by three simple things, Pope Francis concluded: Adoration, love of the Church and apostolic zeal. Warning that the Church isn't an NGO, Pope Francis said "I leave you with three things: adore Jesus, love the Church, be a missionary”.
The encounter concluded with the veneration of the relics of St. Januarius, a vile of dried blood which each March 19th on the Feast of the great patron is moved, liquefies and visibly flows again. It has become inseparable in popular imagination with good fortune.
As the Pope kissed the reliquary, cardinal Sepe announced the blood of St Januarius "is already halfway liquefied". To which Pope Francis calmly responded if the blood only half liquefied it means the Saint thinks we're only half converted. "We must keep going."
Following his encounter with the clergy and religious of Naples, Pope Francis held a closed door encounter with the sick and disabled in the Jesuit Church in Naples.
(Emer McCarthy)
.
.
Upon His merits we may rely
Manuscript Releases Volume Seven, p. 40.
.
Saturday, March 28, 2015
Morality Declines, the End Approaches... Andrew Henriques
Morality Declines, The End Approaches, While Professed Christians Reject Manna And Lust For Flesh
Published on Mar 15, 2015
2015
“Let the diet reform be progressive. Let the people be taught how to prepare food without the use of milk or butter. Tell them that the time will soon come when there will be no safety in using eggs, milk, cream, or butter, because disease in animals is increasing in proportion to the increase of wickedness among men. The time is near when, because of the iniquity of the fallen race, the whole animal creation will groan under the diseases that curse our earth... Let our people discard all unwholesome recipes...Let them teach the people to preserve the health and increase the strength by avoiding the large amount of cooking that has filled the world with chronic invalids. By precept and example make it plain that the food which God gave Adam in his sinless state is the best for man's use as he seeks to regain that sinless state.” {7T 135.2}
“We are coming to the time when recipes for cooking will not be needed, for God's people will learn that the food God gave Adam in his sinless state is the best for keeping the body in a sinless state.” {21MR 286.3}
2015
“Let the diet reform be progressive. Let the people be taught how to prepare food without the use of milk or butter. Tell them that the time will soon come when there will be no safety in using eggs, milk, cream, or butter, because disease in animals is increasing in proportion to the increase of wickedness among men. The time is near when, because of the iniquity of the fallen race, the whole animal creation will groan under the diseases that curse our earth... Let our people discard all unwholesome recipes...Let them teach the people to preserve the health and increase the strength by avoiding the large amount of cooking that has filled the world with chronic invalids. By precept and example make it plain that the food which God gave Adam in his sinless state is the best for man's use as he seeks to regain that sinless state.” {7T 135.2}
“We are coming to the time when recipes for cooking will not be needed, for God's people will learn that the food God gave Adam in his sinless state is the best for keeping the body in a sinless state.” {21MR 286.3}
.
Friday, March 27, 2015
Thursday, March 26, 2015
Dan Carlin Hardcore History - Ghosts of the Ostfront Promo
Dan Carlin
Published on Aug 27, 2012
To buy the audio series for just $5.99 please visit:
http://dancarlin.com/dccart/index.php...
Part One covering the conflict between the Germans and the Soviet Union in the Second World War. Dan gives an introduction to the subject and discusses the causes and opening moves of Operation Barbarossa.
In Part Two of the Ostfront series covering WW2 on the Eastern Front, Dan looks at the attempt to take Moscow and the many compelling stories surrounding the momentous1941 German offensive.
In Part Three of the Ostfront series covering WW2 on the Eastern Front, Dan looks at the situation in the U.S.S.R. during 1942 and early 1943, including the dreadful Battle of Stalingrad.
In the final episode of the horror story that is the Eastern Front the tale descends into unimaginable darkness as vengeance is called down on Germany. This graphic episode is not for young ears.
.
.
The Best Place to Live in the United States? Here Are 9 Maps to Consider
Michael Snyder
The American Dream
March 24th, 2015
If you could live anywhere in America during the tumultuous years ahead, where would it be? This is a topic that is hotly debated, and the truth is that there is not a single right answer. If you have a very strong family support system where you are, it might not be right to try to move 2000 miles away and start a new life from scratch. And for many Americans, moving is out of the question in the short-term because they are completely and totally dependent on employment in their local areas. But in recent years we have seen an increasing number of Americans strategically relocate to another region of the country. They can see our society breaking down and they can see the storm clouds on the horizon and they want to do what they can to prepare themselves and their families for what is ahead. So is there a “best place to live” in the United States? Are there some areas that are preferable to others? The following are 9 maps to consider…
#1 Population Density
When the U.S. economy crashes and civil unrest starts erupting in our cities, ideally you will want to be living in an area with low population density. In other words, the fewer people around the better. The map below represents population density with a series of yellow dots. As you can see, the west coast and the eastern half of the nation are generally very crowded. So if you are looking for an area with lots of “breathing room”, the area between the Mississippi River and the west coast is a good place to look.
#2 Average Precipitation
Unfortunately, the western half of the nation is also generally very dry. So if you are planning to grow your own food during a time of economic and social turmoil, that is something to keep in mind. There are a few areas between the Mississippi River and the west coast that do get plenty of rainfall (northern Idaho for example), but those areas are few and far between.
#3 Drought
The latest national map from the U.S. Drought Monitor is the next map that I have shared. The multi-year drought in the state of California is already the worst drought in the recorded history of the state, and many scientists believe that it could stretch on for many more years. But it isn’t just California that has been suffering. There are other areas in the Southwest that are starting to resemble the Dust Bowl days as well. So obviously these areas are not ideal if you plan to be self-sufficient and grow much of your own food during a time of great crisis.
#4 Average Snowfall
If you don’t like cold and snow, you will want to avoid the colored areas on this next map. And if you do plan to live in an area that gets plenty of cold and snow, you will want to have a solid plan for heating your home if the electrical grid goes down and is not available for an extended period of time.
#5 Average Homicides
In the years ahead, crime in the United States is likely to rise dramatically. If you are looking for somewhere safe, the areas that have relatively low crime rates right now will probably be better than areas that have relatively high crime rates right now. In general, rates of violent crime are higher in our major cities and in the Southeast.
#6 Taxes
For a lot of people, tax rates are extremely important when choosing a place to live. This next map shows the states where the state income tax rate is zero. But please keep in mind that there are other reasons why some of these states may be undesirable during an emergency situation.
#7 Nuclear Power Plants
We have all seen what a single nuclear power plant disaster can do in Japan. Well, in a future disaster scenario, we could potentially be facing multiple “Fukushimas” all at once here in the United States. The map below shows where nuclear reactors are located throughout America. You might want to think twice before moving in right next door to one.
#8 Tornadoes
A single giant tornado can absolutely shred the best laid plans of any family. There are some that feel completely and totally comfortable living right in the heart of “Tornado Alley”, and there are others that very much would like to avoid any area that is at high risk for tornadoes. As you can see from the map below, the highest risk areas are generally in the Southeast part of the nation.
Of course tornadoes are far from the only natural disaster to consider when choosing a place to live. For much more on all of this, check out these articles…
-“The New Madrid Earthquake That Will Divide The United States In Half”
-“East Coast Tsunami: If It Happens, MILLIONS Of Americans Could Die”
-“Why The Earthquake Near San Francisco Is Just The Start Of The Shaking In California”
-“Yellowstone Supervolcano Alert: The Most Dangerous Volcano In America Is Roaring To Life”
#9 Politics
For many Americans, moving to a politically-compatible area of the country is extremely important. The map below uses red and blue to represent the average margin of victory in recent presidential elections. The states that are very red voted very heavily for Republican candidates. The states that are very blue voted very heavily for Democratic candidates. The states that are purple were in the middle. But it is important to remember that there are areas within each state that tend to be more conservative or liberal than the state overall.
I noted more thoughts for each individual state in my previous article entitled “What Is The Best Place To Live In America? Pros And Cons For All 50 States“. But wherever you go, the truth is that no place is going to be perfect. The following is how Joel Skousen, the author of “Strategic Relocation: North American Guide to Safe Places“, put it in one of his recent articles…
The more rural you are, the higher the cost of building, maintaining equipment and commuting to civilization—and, the higher your expenses for services including utilities, alternate energy and internet connectivity. The more your priorities emphasize closeness to a community, the higher your risks will be during a social meltdown, and the more precise must be your preparations to bug out to a separate retreat. So, as you see, there are always compromises in life, no matter if you spend $50,000 on your property or millions, there is no perfect property that will meet all your criteria. Focus on what’s most important for you, your family and/or group.
That was very well said.
No matter what other people are doing, you have to make the choices that are right for you and your family.
So what is your perspective on all of this?
What do you think is the best place to live in the United States?
Please feel free to add to the discussion by posting a comment below…
Delivered by The Daily Sheeple
.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)