Tony Blair's Leap of Faith

TIME [Time Warner] - By Michael Elliott - May 28, 2008 BETHLEHEM -- In 1910, when Bethlehem was a town in a sleepy province of the Ottoman Empire, a local man built a magnificent house on the main road from Jerusalem to Hebron. Made from the region's limestone-whose shades, from pale honey to dazzling white, give the Holy Land its distinctive palette-the house was built around courtyards and fountains in the Ottoman style; frescoes and mosaics graced its walls and ceilings. In the 1930s, the man's family went bankrupt. The house was later used as a prison by the British, when they governed Palestine under a League of Nations mandate; it then did service as a police academy and a school. But in 2000 the old house was converted into a hotel. Closed during the second intifadeh, the Jacir Palace InterContinental reopened its doors in 2005. On the evening of May 21, hundreds of business leaders from the region and beyond flowed through the halls of the hotel, past banks of honeysuckle and jasmine, into the garden, where cooks grilled chicken on giant charcoal burners and served baba ghanoush, tabbouleh and baklava. Participants at a conference on investment opportunities in Palestine, they talked up the prospects of the local information-technology industry (whose products, which can be whizzed to markets electronically, are not subject to the whims of Israeli border guards) and bragged about the performance of the Palestine stock exchange. At the center of the crowd-trim, smiling and looking a lot more relaxed than he did a year ago, when he resigned as Britain's Prime Minister after 10 years at the post-was Tony Blair, the special envoy to the Middle East of the U.S.-Russia-European Union-U.N. "Quartet" of powers. On May 30 in New York, Blair, 55, formally unveils The Tony Blair Faith Foundation, which, among other things, is dedicated to proving that collaboration among those of different religious faiths can help address some of the world's most pressing social problems. A quick look around the crowd at the Jacir Palace, and you might think that Blair's work was already done-here were Jews, Christians and Muslims working together to make life better for ordinary Palestinians. A more measured assessment would lead to a different, more depressing conclusion. The Jacir Palace is a few minutes' walk from a checkpoint at the looming security wall that Israel built after the second intifadeh, to physically separate the Jewish state from the West Bank. In Bethlehem, a long-established Arab Christian community is shrinking in the face of growing Islamic militancy. Even the Church of the Nativity (carved up by the Orthodox, Catholic, Assyrian, Coptic and Armenian denominations, a symbol of the divisions within Christianity) has not been immune to the clash of faiths. In 2002 Palestinian militants took refuge there, and together with civilians inside the church, were besieged by Israeli soldiers for 39 days. Blair understands very well that the Palestine-Israel conflict is about land, about culture, about competing narratives of history-but that it is also about faith. "Muslims often say of extremists," he says, "It's really got nothing to do with religion. And I say to them, These people say that they're doing it in the name of God, so we can't say that it doesn't matter. It does matter." In two long conversations with Blair recently, I explored his conviction that religion matters-that it shapes what people believe and how they behave, that it is vital to understanding our world, that it can be used to improve the lot of humankind. But if not engaged seriously, Blair thinks, faith can be used to induce ignorance, fear and a withdrawal of communities into mutually antagonistic spheres at just the time that globalization is breaking down barriers between peoples and nations. "Faith is part of our future," Blair says, "and faith and the values it brings with it are an essential part of making globalization work." For Blair, the goal is to rescue faith from the twin challenges of irrelevance-the idea that religion is no more than an interesting aspect of history-and extremism. Blair and those working with him think religion is key to the global agenda. "You can't hope to understand what's happening in the world if you don't know that religion is a very important force in people's lives," says Ruth Turner, 37, formerly a top aide to Blair in 10 Downing Street, who will head the foundation. "You can't make the world work properly unless you understand that, while not everyone will believe in God or have a spiritual life, a lot of people will." Blair, she says, has been thinking about these issues "for decades and decades and decades." Over time, says Blair of the foundation's work, "this is how I want to spend the rest of my life." Doing God In Blair's home country (which is also mine), that comment will be met with a snort of derision. Blair is deeply religious-the most openly devout political leader of Britain since William Ewart Gladstone more than 100 years ago. He handles questions about religion deftly. He doesn't back down. His longtime press secretary and consigliere, Alastair Campbell, remembers Blair in 1996 at a school in Scotland where a gunman had killed 16 children and a teacher. In a bloodstained classroom, Campbell asked Blair, "What does your God make of this?" Blair, says Campbell, stopped and replied, "Just because man is bad, it does not mean that God is not good." There was, says Campbell, a force, a sense of conviction in Blair. All of which would be fine if Blair were, say, a U.S. politician-and so expected to profess his faith even if he didn't have much of one. But, at least in its public aspect, Britain is one of the most aggressively secular societies on the planet. Though Blair went to lengths not to make a big deal of his faith when in office ("We don't do God," Campbell once said, though he now insists he did so only to get rid of a journalist who had overrun his allotted time), that did not stop the British from making fun, or worse, of Blair for his religious beliefs. For many Britons, the fact that Blair led them into a deeply unpopular war in Iraq is reason enough to question his sincerity. And the supposed "God is on our side" messianism of George W. Bush-Blair's geopolitical partner-is widely loathed in Britain. But long before Iraq or his association with Bush, Blair's faith was a source of something like contempt. For many in the British media, there is no fault worse than to be a sanctimonious "Creeping Jesus." During Blair's time in office, the satirical magazine Private Eye ran a regular (and very funny) column in the form of a parish newsletter, with Blair cast as the cloyingly earnest vicar of St. Albion church. Over the years, I have been struck by the vehement unwillingness of people in Britain to accept that Blair's faith is genuine or that it might provide genuine insights into our global condition. His religiosity was "incomprehensible," one well-known intellectual sniffed recently; I have heard Blair's recent conversion to Catholicism, a faith that has long had a following among posh Brits (think Brideshead Revisited), explained on the grounds of "snob appeal." This is nonsense. Blair's parents were not churchgoers. But John Rentoul, Blair's first biographer, pointed out years ago that Blair's faith had been noted by those around him since he was a small child. Blair "rediscovered" his Christianity, he told me, while a student at Oxford in the 1970s. He was part of an informal late-night wine-and-cigarettes discussion group led by Peter Thompson, a charismatic Australian student and Anglican priest then in his 30s. (Thompson, who now lives in Melbourne, does not talk about his relationship with Blair.) I went up to Oxford just before Blair did; it was absorbed with sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll, with a sprinkling of student politics on top, and to espouse religion of any sort was to mark yourself as something of a freak. (My own family was deeply religious, something I successfully hid from my Oxford friends for years.) Those in Oxford's "God squad," Blair remembers, were at "the cutting edge of weirdism." Thompson, by contrast, Blair told me, was "an amazing guy-the first person really to give me a sense that the faith I intuitively felt was something that could be reconciled with being a fun-loving, interesting, open person." In 1974 Blair was received into the Church of England at his college chapel. Blair's faith took on an extra dimension when he met and married Cherie Booth-like him, a young lawyer-after graduating. Blair's wife is a devout Catholic; not a posh Catholic, but a Liverpool-Irish, working-class, convent-educated girl with cousins who became priests. In her recent memoir, Cherie makes plain the centrality of religion to their relationship. Of the young Blair, she says, "Religion was more important to him than anyone I had ever met outside the priesthood." She and Blair would spend hours "talking about God and what we were here for. I don't think it would be too strong to say it was this that brought us together." Their four children have been brought up as Catholics, and Blair has worshiped at Catholic churches for more than 20 years. But Britain, for all its secularism, is still nominally a Protestant nation with an established Protestant church; when Princess Anne's son Peter Phillips-11th in succession to the throne-married on May 17, his Canadian wife had to renounce her Catholicism. It was not until Blair left office that his long spiritual journey reached a destination that many had long anticipated, and he was received into the Catholic Church. What Came Before Blair says he converted to catholicism to fully share his family's faith. But he plainly enjoys being part of a worldwide community with shared values, traditions and rituals. And why not? In a sense, the Catholic Church has long embodied the attributes of globalization that now engage Blair. Long before there were multinational companies, long before there were global NGOs like M�decins Sans Fronti�res, long before there were international organizations like the U.N., there were religions-communities of faith with a global reach, whose adherents tramped from one end of the earth to the other, saving souls. To be sure, in their zeal to convert, missionaries often mixed faith with cruelty, as Spain's blood-drenched conquest of Mexico in the name of God abundantly proved. But as Nayan Chanda of the Yale Center for the Study of Globalization argued in his recent book Bound Together, the great religions were also intimately associated with the growth of trade and human contact. "For all the horror it visited upon people," wrote Chanda, "missionary activity had the effect of shrinking the world. The spread of proselytizing faiths brought dispersed communities into contact." Coffee, for example, traveled with Islam (which forbade the consumption of wine), spreading from Yemen throughout the Arab world, then into Turkey and Europe. The constant back-and-forth of Buddhist scholars between India and China nourished the Silk Road as an avenue of commerce. Sometimes religious divines explicitly advanced the process of globalization long before anyone knew of the word. I collect maps of the provinces of China drawn by Martino Martini, a 17th century Italian Jesuit missionary whose exquisite cartography revealed China to the world-and, indeed, to the Chinese themselves. In the past decade, however, this old connection between religion and globalization has been augmented in a surprising way. Faith-based groups and social activists, two communities that long treated each other with distrust, thinking themselves poles apart politically, have come together to tackle issues of global poverty and health. For once, you can date precisely when a movement took off: it was in June 1999 at the G-8 summit of industrial democracies, in Cologne, Germany. I vividly remember arriving in town, expecting debate to be dominated by a rehash of the Kosovo war, which had ended that week. But Cologne had been hijacked by tens of thousands of supporters of Jubilee 2000, a campaign to forgive debts owed by the world's poorest countries. With its roots in Europe's churches, Jubilee 2000 brought together, in a great ring around the city, hymn-singing, sandal-wearing nuns, teenage kids and veterans of progressive politics. As Bono of the rock band U2 puts it, the movement saw "activists, punk rockers and priests marching in step." In Cologne, Bono and his fellow Irish rocker Bob Geldof had an audience with Blair. Bono says that Blair was "the first head of state with whom we didn't have to argue that debt cancellation was not about charity, but justice." (Campbell remembers the meeting a little differently. Blair, he writes in his diaries, said debt relief was like Mount Everest. Bono replied, "When you see Everest, Tony, you don't look at it, you f___ing climb it.") I had breakfast with Blair in his hotel room the next morning, anxious to know how the talks on Kosovo had gone. In hindsight, I'd missed the key point of the weekend; in its Cologne communiqué, the G-8 countries committed themselves to debt relief, proof that a new and powerful alliance had been born. Blair now wants to tap into the global links that have been built between development activists and people of faith. "Faith," he says, "can be a civilizing force in globalization," which will doubtless be the theme of the course on the topic that he will be teaching at Yale this fall. His foundation will seek to partner with organizations to advance the U.N.'s eight Millennium Development Goals adopted in 2000. Blair's first target is malaria, which kills around 850,000 children each year; many of these deaths could be easily avoided by prophylactic bedding. "If you got churches and mosques and those of the Jewish faith working together to provide the bed nets that are necessary to eliminate malaria," says Blair, "what a fantastic thing that would be. That would show faith in action, it would show the importance of cooperation between faiths, and it would show what faith can do for progress." In its work in support of the Millennium Development Goals, the foundation will use its funds-it aims to build up a war chest of several hundred million dollars-to work with others active in the developing world. Rick Warren's Saddleback Church, for example, uses church-based clinics to provide basic health care in Africa. (Warren will serve on the foundation's advisory board.) I spoke by phone recently to Ari Johnson, 25, a Harvard medical student now working in Mali, West Africa, with Project Muso Ladamunen, a small Washington-based organization, who made Blair's point for him. "We've seen how potent the involvement of communities of different faiths can be," Johnson says, describing an international fund-raising effort around the Jewish festival of Sukkot to raise bed nets for Mali. But inspiring though such tales may be, Blair will not find his work easy. Religion is not an uncontroversial matter in the developing world-witness the Catholic Church's doctrine on abortion and contraception or the discrimination that women face in many Islamic societies. Moreover, in many nations, the legacy of the "war on terror" and the invasion of Iraq-both of which Blair is deeply associated with-have soured the environment for anything that looks even remotely like Western Christian proselytizing. That is why the foundation stresses that it hopes to work with groups from six faiths: the Abrahamic trinity of Christianity, Judaism and Islam, together with Buddhists, Hindus and Sikhs. But Blair's history as a partner of Bush-and hence the skepticism with which his good faith is held-means he has high hurdles to leap if he is to turn his fine words into action. Coming Together Blair says his foundation will try to ensure that faiths encounter one another "through action as much as dialogue." But the dialogue is important. In our conversations, Blair kept harking back to the idea that people of different faiths need to learn more about one another and understand where they can work in common. The alternative, he thinks, is that religious people will be tempted to define themselves in exclusion to others rather than in cooperation with them-with potentially disastrous results. Says Bono: "I think he wants to dedicate the rest of his life to decrying the concept of a clash of civilizations." Bono told me that Blair once gave him a copy of the Koran, at a time when Blair was reading a passage from the holy book every night to try to understand Islam better. Eboo Patel, a young Muslim from Chicago who is the founder and executive director of the Interfaith Youth Core, hopes Blair will bring a new dynamism to an interfaith movement that can sometimes seem to consist of the same people meeting endlessly to discuss the same issues. One senses, however, that it is not just relations among faiths that Blair wants to influence. It is also the relationship between those who rejoice in their faith and those who think religion is something quaint, the stuff of history books. And here Blair's religious agenda intersects another of his concerns: the growing distance between U.S. and European attitudes toward the world. Blair has enough old-fashioned British reserve to have his doubts about the way religion is used in the American public square. Whenever Blair was on a foreign trip, says a close aide, his staff had to find him a church in which to worship each Sunday-and then try to make sure that the press didn't learn of it. By contrast, says this aide, "Bush and Clinton are always photographed coming out of church holding a Bible." But at the same time, Blair insists that Europeans need to understand the importance faith has in American life-and recognize that in its all-pervasive secularism, it is Western Europe, not the U.S., that is out of step with much of the rest of the world. "Europe," says Blair, "is more exceptional than sometimes it likes to think of itself." That is true. But it is also true that if Blair's foundation is to take off, it will need support from Europe-and especially from his home country-as much as from the U.S. That is by no means assured. By the time he left office, Blair was deeply unpopular in Britain, and not just because of Iraq; Britons were tired of what they saw as a government of constant spin, tinged, toward the end, with sleaze. Though Blair's successor, Gordon Brown, has seen his own popularity plummet, there is no sign yet that Blair's reputation in the U.K. has been rehabilitated. Blair is always careful to downplay the role his faith played in complex matters of life and death, such as the invasion of Iraq. "You don't put a hotline up to God and get the answers," he says. At the same time, he plainly thinks his faith has helped him make tough decisions. "The worst thing in politics," he says, "is when you're so scared of losing support that you don't do what you think is the right thing. What faith can do is not tell you what is right but give you the strength to do it." But in a nation like Britain, where cynicism is a way of life, that distinction-between faith as a guide to action and faith as an aid to decision-is almost bound to be lost. Blair, the chattering classes of London will say, is the same smug, self-satisfied politician, immune to criticism, that he always was. In nearly 25 years of watching Blair, I've never thought that was a fair judgment, and having spent time with him in the past few weeks, I'm more persuaded than ever that it's wrong. Blair is not without faults. In the Middle East, where he has so far achieved little concrete success as the Quartet's envoy, it is uncomfortably common to hear the claim that he spreads himself too thin. He can, no question, come across as a bit cocksure in the rightness of his judgments. But he swims in deep waters. He is convinced, he told me, that in the rich world, "without spiritual values, there is an emptiness that cannot be filled by material goods and wealth." He understands that faith is what gives meaning to the lives of billions, and he passionately believes that the world would be a better place if people of faith harnessed their talents together in aid of the common good. Perhaps most important, his faith is not exclusive. Blair has a generosity of spirit that enables him to see that beliefs other than his can contribute to mutual goals. "I think he knows he has a steep incline ahead on a long journey," says Bono. "And I don't think it will be his considerable powers of persuasion or his winning smile that will have him seated at a table breaking bread, or taboos. It will be the true respect in which he holds the other pilgrims." http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,1810020,00.html FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of religious, environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Francis Schaeffer's son: Dad 'worse' than Obama's pastor

Charges black minister's 'anti-America' rhetoric mild by comparison WORLDNETDAILY - By Art Moore - March 21, 2008 The anti-America rhetoric of Barack Obama's Chicago pastor is mild in comparison to pronouncements made by Francis Schaffer in the 1970s and 1980s, charges the late evangelical thinker's son. Frank Schaeffer, who has written a book distancing himself from his evangelical roots, asserts in a newspaper column that Obama has been unfairly "smeared" by his association with Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr., the Illinois senator's self-described spiritual mentor and moral compass. Schaeffer, writing in the Baltimore Community Times, charges "the far-right Republicans and the stop-at-nothing Clintons are using the 'scandal' of Obama's preacher to undermine the first black American candidate with a serious shot at the presidency." "Every Sunday thousands of right-wing white preachers (following in my father's footsteps) rail against America's sins from tens of thousands of pulpits," Schaeffer writes. "They tell us that America is complicit in the 'murder of the unborn,' has become 'Sodom' by coddling gays, and that our public schools are sinful places full of evolutionists and sex educators hell-bent on corrupting children." . . . . In his column, Frank Schaeffer, meanwhile, argued "right-wing preachers" say, "as my dad often did, that we are, 'under the judgment of God.' They call America evil and warn of imminent destruction. By comparison Obama's minister's shouted 'controversial' comments were mild. . . . He argues that "while Dad and I crisscrossed America denouncing our nation's sins, instead of getting in trouble we became darlings of the Republican Party." "We were rewarded for our 'stand' by people such as Congressman Jack Kemp, the Fords, Reagan and the Bush family," Schaeffer writes. "The top Republican leadership depended on preachers and agitators like us to energize their rank and file. No one called us un-American." 'Christian Manifesto' The highly influential Francis Schaeffer, who died in 1984, is known for his intellectual defense of Christianity and challenge to secular humanism, which he described as a worldview in which "man is the measure of all things." He was featured in two film series produced by his son that were widely viewed in evangelical churches in the 1970s and 1980s, "Whatever Happened to the Human Race?" and "How Should We Then Live? The Rise and Decline of Western Thought and Culture.' An ordained Presbyterian minister, Francis Schaeffer and his wife Edith, also an accomplished author, came to Switzerland from the U.S. in the 1950s and established L'Abri Fellowship, which became a crossroads for many spiritual seeker and now has branches around the world. Many evangelical leaders today regard him as an important influence on their thinking, and he is credited with helping inspire political activism by evangelicals, particularly the pro-life movement. Schaeffer's "A Christian Manifesto" in 1981 - a response to the communist and humanist manifestos - spoke of a decline of commitment to objective truth in society's institutions that had come about "not because of a conspiracy, but because the church has forsaken its duty to be the salt of the culture." In his column, Frank Schaeffer referred to "A Christian Manifesto," calling it an "immensely influential America-bashing" book that "sailed under the radar of the major media who, back when it was published in 1980, were not paying particular attention to best-selling religious books." He points to a passage in the book in which his father wrote: "If there is a legitimate reason for the use of force [against the U.S. government] ... then at a certain point force is justifiable." Frank Schaeffer writes that when his father purportedly "denounced America and even called for the violent overthrow of the U.S. government, he was invited to lunch with presidents Ford, Reagan and Bush Sr." Francis Schaeffer did say Christians had an obligation at the time of Hitler to defy the state, just as they do now to stop abortion. But he made it clear he was not advocating theocracy. "State officials must know that we are serious about stopping abortion," he wrote. " … First, we must make definite that we are in no way talking about any kind of theocracy. Let me say that with great emphasis. Witherspoon, Jefferson, the American founders had no idea of a theocracy. That is made plain by the First Amendment, and we must continually emphasize the fact that we are not talking about some kind, or any kind, of a theocracy." Frank Schaeffer points to another passage as purported evidence of his father's "anti-American" rhetoric. "In the United States the materialistic, humanistic world view is being taught exclusively in most state schools. ... There is an obvious parallel between this and the situation in Russia (the USSR). And we really must not be blind to the fact that indeed in the public schools in the United States all religious influence is as forcibly forbidden as in the Soviet Union. ... " When "A Christian Manifesto" came out, Frank Schaeffer argues, "no conservative political leader associated with his father" was "running for cover." Instead, he says, his father was a guest at the White House, "a hero to the evangelical community and a leading political instigator." If his father's words were put in the mouth of Obama's pastor or any black American preacher, "people would be accusing that preacher of treason," he contends. "Yet when we of the white religious right denounced America, white conservative Americans and top political leaders called our words 'godly' and 'prophetic' and a 'call to repentance,'" says Frank Schaeffer. He declares the "hypocrisy of the right denouncing Obama, because of his minister's words, is staggering." "They are the same people who argue for the right to 'bear arms' as 'insurance' to limit government power," he says. "They are the same people that in the early 1980s roared and cheered when I called down damnation on America as 'fallen away from God' at their national meetings where I was keynote speaker, including the annual meeting of the ultraconservative Southern Baptist convention, and the religious broadcasters that I addressed." Today, he says, "we have a marriage of convenience between the right-wing fundamentalists who hate Obama, and the 'progressive' Clintons who are playing the race card through their own smear machine." - - - - http://www.worldnetdaily.com/?pageId=59599 FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of religious, environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Terrorists' assignment: Protect Barack Obama

'Maybe the Israelis will try something,' hints militant bodyguard WORLDNETDAILY - By Aaron Klein - July 20, 2008 JERUSALEM - Members of the most active West Bank terror organization are set to serve in security forces being deployed to protect Sen. Barack Obama during his trip to the West Bank tomorrow, WND has learned. Obama is due to visit Israeli officials in Jerusalem and leaders of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank city of Ramallah as part of a wider Middle Eastern and European tour that includes Jordan, France and Germany. According to security officials coordinating deployments of forces with the PA for Obama's Ramallah visit, members of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, Fatah's declared military wing, have been called upon by the PA to participate in the protection of Obama, particularly in securing the perimeter during a scheduled meeting with PA President Mahmoud Abbas. . . . Brigades leaders, speaking to WND on condition of anonymity, confirmed they will participate in protecting Obama as official members of the PA's security forces. Many Brigades members, including the group's chiefs, serve openly in Fatah's Force 17 presidential guard units and the Palestinian Preventative Security Services; hundreds of Force 17 and Preventative officers are slated to secure Ramallah during Obama's visit there. The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades members are slated to serve in a third ring of security forces patrolling the periphery of Abbas' Ramallah compound during the Palestinian leader's meeting with Obama. . . . Various high-profile Al Aqsa Brigades terrorists serve in Fatah's security forces, including those in Ramallah. The current chief of Fatah's Force 17, Abu Hayyet, is accused by Israel of planning or involvement in at least 10 deadly terror attacks, according to Israeli security officials. - - - - http://www.worldnetdaily.com/?pageId=70124 FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of religious, environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

A Mystery in the Middle East

STRATFOR - By George Friedman - April 10, 2008 The Arab-Israeli region of the Middle East is filled with rumors of war. That is about as unusual as the rising of the sun, so normally it would not be worth mentioning. But like the proverbial broken clock that is right twice a day, such rumors occasionally will be true. In this case, we don't know that they are true, and certainly it's not the rumors that are driving us. But other things - minor and readily explicable individually - have drawn our attention to the possibility that something is happening. The first thing that drew our attention was a minor, routine matter. Back in February, the United States started purchasing oil for its Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR). The SPR is a reserve of crude oil stored in underground salt domes. Back in February, it stood at 96.2 percent of capacity, which is pretty full as far as we are concerned. But the U.S. Department of Energy decided to increase its capacity. This move came in spite of record-high oil prices and the fact that the purchase would not help matters. It also came despite potential political fallout, since during times like these there is generally pressure to release reserves. Part of the step could have been the bureaucracy cranking away, and part of it could have been the feeling that the step didn't make much difference. But part of it could have been based on real fears of a disruption in oil supplies. By itself, the move meant nothing. But it did cause us to become thoughtful. Also in February, someone assassinated Imad Mughniyah, a leader of Hezbollah, in a car bomb explosion in Syria. It was assumed the Israelis had killed him, although there were some suspicions the Syrians might have had him killed for their own arcane reasons. In any case, Hezbollah publicly claimed the Israelis killed Mughniyah, and therefore it was expected the militant Shiite group would take revenge. In the past, Hezbollah responded not by attacking Israel but by attacking Jewish targets elsewhere, as in the Buenos Aires attacks of 1992 and 1994. In March, the United States decided to dispatch the USS Cole, then under Sixth Fleet command, to Lebanese coastal waters. Washington later replaced it with two escorts from the Nassau (LHA-4) Expeditionary Strike Group (ESG), reportedly maintaining a minor naval presence in the area. (Most of the ESG, on a regularly scheduled deployment, is no more than a few days sail from the coast, as it remains in the Mediterranean Sea.) The reason given for the American naval presence was to serve as a warning to the Syrians not to involve themselves in Lebanese affairs. The exact mission of the naval presence off the Levantine coast - and the exact deterrent function it served - was not clear, but there they were. The Sixth Fleet has gone out of its way to park and maintain U.S. warships off the Lebanese coast. Hezbollah leaders being killed by the Israelis and the presence of American ships off the shores of Mediterranean countries are not news in and of themselves. These things happen. The killing of Mughniyah is notable only to point out that as much as Israel might have wanted him dead, the Israelis knew this fight would escalate. But anyone would have known this. So all we know is that whoever killed Mughniyah wanted to trigger a conflict. The U.S. naval presence off the Levantine coast is notable in that Washington, rather busy with matters elsewhere, found the bandwidth to get involved here as well. With the situation becoming tense, the Israelis announced in March that they would carry out an exercise in April called Turning Point 2. Once again, an Israeli military exercise is hardly interesting news. But the Syrians apparently got quite interested. After the announcement, the Syrians deployed three divisions - two armored, one mechanized - to the Lebanese-Syrian border in the Bekaa Valley, the western part of which is Hezbollah's stronghold. The Syrians didn't appear to be aggressive. Rather, they deployed these forces in a defensive posture, in a way walling off their part of the valley. The Syrians are well aware that in the event of a conventional war with Israel, they would experience a short but exciting life, as they say. They thus are hardly going to attack Israel. The deployment therefore seemed intended to keep the Israelis on the Lebanese side of the border - on the apparent assumption the Israelis were going into the Bekaa Valley. Despite Israeli and Syrian denials of the Syrian troop buildup along the border, Stratfor sources maintain that the buildup in fact happened. Normally, Israel would be jumping at the chance to trumpet Syrian aggression in response to these troop movements, but, instead, the Israelis downplayed the buildup. When the Israelis kicked off Turning Point 2, which we regard as a pretty interesting name, it turned out to be the largest exercise in Israeli history. It involved the entire country, and was designed to test civil defenses and the ability of the national command authority to continue to function in the event of an attack with unconventional weapons - chemical and nuclear, we would assume. This was a costly exercise. It also involved calling up reserves, some of them for the exercise, and, by some reports, others for deployment to the north against Syria. Israel does not call up reserves casually. Reserve call-ups are expensive and disrupt the civilian economy. These appear small, but in the environment of Turning Point 2, it would not be difficult to mobilize larger forces without being noticed. The Syrians already were deeply concerned by the Israeli exercise. Eventually, the Lebanese government got worried, too, and started to evacuate some civilians from the South. Hezbollah, which still hadn't retaliated for the Mughniyah assassination, also claimed the Israelis were about to attack it, and reportedly went on alert and mobilized its forces. The Americans, who normally issue warnings and cautions to everyone, said nothing to try to calm the situation. They just sat offshore on their ships. It is noteworthy that Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak canceled a scheduled visit to Germany this week. The cancellation came immediately after the reports of the Syrian military redeployment were released. Obviously, Barak needed to be in Israel for Turning Point 2, but then he had known about the exercise for at least a month. Why cancel at the last minute? While we are discussing diplomacy, we note that U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney visited Oman - a country with close relations with Iran - and then was followed by U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. By itself not interesting, but why the high-level interest in Oman at this point? Now let's swing back to September 2007, when the Israelis bombed something in Syria near the Turkish border. As we discussed at the time, for some reason the Israelis refused to say what they had attacked. It made no sense for them not to trumpet what they carefully leaked - namely, that they had attacked a nuclear facility. Proving that Syria had a secret nuclear program would have been a public relations coup for Israel. Nevertheless, no public charges were leveled. And the Syrians remained awfully calm about the bombing. Rumors now are swirling that the Israelis are about to reveal publicly that they in fact bombed a nuclear reactor provided to Syria by North Korea. But this news isn't all that big. Also rumored is that the Israelis will claim Iranian complicity in building the reactor. And one Israeli TV station reported April 8 that Israel really had discovered Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction, which it said had been smuggled to Syria. Now why the Bush administration wouldn't have trumpeted news of the Syrian reactor worldwide in September 2007 is beyond us, but there obviously were some reasons - assuming the TV report is true, which we have no way of establishing. In fact, we have no idea why the Israelis are choosing this moment to rehash the bombing of this site. But whatever their reason, it certainly raises a critical question. If the Syrians are developing a nuclear capability, what are the Israelis planning to do about it? No one of these things, by itself, is of very great interest. And taken together they do not provide the means for a clear forecast. Nevertheless, a series of rather ordinary events, taken together, can constitute something significant. Tensions in the Middle East are moving well beyond the normal point, and given everything that is happening, events are moving to a point where someone is likely to take military action. Whether Hezbollah will carry out a retaliatory strike or Israel a pre-emptive strike in Lebanon, or whether the Israelis' real target is Iran, tensions systematically have been ratcheted up to the point where we, in our simple way, are beginning to wonder whether something has to give. All together, these events are fairly extraordinary. Ignoring all rhetoric - and the Israelis have gone out of their way to say that they are not looking for a fight - it would seem that each side, but particularly the Americans and Israelis, have gone out of their way to signal that they are expecting conflict. The Syrians have also signaled that they expect conflict, and Hezbollah always claims there is about to be conflict. What is missing is this: who will fight whom, and why, and why now. The simple explanation is that Israel wants a second round with Hezbollah. But while that might be true, it doesn't explain everything else that has happened. Most important, it doesn't explain the simultaneous revelations about the bombing of Syria. It also doesn't explain the U.S. naval deployment. Is the United States about to get involved in a war with Hezbollah, a war that the Israelis should handle themselves? Are the Israelis going to topple Syrian President Bashar al Assad - and then wind up with a Sunni government, or worse, an Israeli occupation of Syria? None of that makes a lot of sense. In truth, all of this may dissolve into nothing much. In intelligence analysis, however, sometimes a set of not-fully-coherent facts must be reported, and that is what we are doing now. There is no clear pattern; there is no obvious direction this is taking. Nevertheless, when we string together events from February until now, we see a persistently escalating pattern of behavior. In fact, what we can say most clearly is that there is escalation, without being able to say what is the clear direction of the escalation or the purpose. We would like to wrap this up with a crystal clear explanation and forecast. But we can't. The motives of the various actors are opaque; and taken separately, the individual events all have quite innocent explanations. We are not prepared to say war is imminent, nor even what sort of war there would be. We are simply prepared to say that the course of events since February - and really since the September 2007 attack on Syria - have been startling, and they appear to be reaching some sort of hard-to-understand crescendo. The bombing of Syria symbolizes our confusion. Why would Syria want a nuclear reactor and why put it on the border of Turkey, a country the Syrians aren't particularly friendly with? If the Syrians had a nuclear reactor, why would the Israelis be coy about it? Why would the Americans? Having said nothing for months apart from careful leaks, why are the Israelis going to speak publicly now? And if what they are going to say is simply that the North Koreans provided the equipment, what's the big deal? That was leaked months ago. The events of September 2007 make no sense and have never made any sense. The events we have seen since February make no sense either. That is noteworthy, and we bring it to your attention. We are not saying that the events are meaningless. We are saying that we do not know their meaning. But we can't help but regard them as ominous. http://www.stratfor.com/ FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of religious, environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Media in love with Obama?

Recent polls, McCain agree: Press is twitterpated WORLDNETDAILY - July 22, 2008 A new poll demonstrates Americans believe by a more than three-to-one ratio that the news media is trying to help Sen. Barack Obama win the presidential election this fall, a perception that John McCain has now taken advantage of in a humorous new feature on his website. McCain's front page invites visitors to vote for their favorite of two YouTube videos that feature clips of reporters gushing in affection over the presumptive Democrat candidate and confessing a media bias. Meanwhile, a Rasmussen Reports telephone survey taken even before Americans raised their eyebrows over the New York Times' acceptance of an Obama op-ed piece and rejection of McCain's, found that 49 percent of voters believe most reporters are trying to help Obama with their coverage. Similarly, only 14 percent believe the media is helping Sen. John McCain, and a mere one in four voters (24 percent) believes most reporters offer unbiased news coverage. McCain's website is now poking fun at the media for creating this perception with its new "Media Love" campaign. "It's pretty obvious that the media has a bizarre fascination with Barack Obama," the site reads. "Some may even say it's a love affair. We want you to be the judge. Click here to watch the new video and vote today!" You can view the video that was leading the voting when WND went to press below: [See link below for video] A second, related report released by Rasmussen shows Americans see bias not only in coverage of the candidates, but in major issues as well. A full 50 percent of Americans polled believe the media is making economic conditions seem worse than they really are, and 41 percent believe reporters are trying to make news of the Iraq war seem unfairly negative. Only 25 percent think most reporters present fair coverage of the economy, with the same percentage believing the American people are getting an unbiased picture of Iraq. The poll that asked about candidate coverage found self-described Democrats to be far more trusting of the media than their Republican counterparts. A plurality of Democrats (37 percent) see news coverage as unbiased in the presidential campaign, while 27 percent perceive a slant toward Obama and 21 percent a slant toward McCain. Among Republicans, 78 percent believe reporters are giving Obama a boost, and a mere 10 percent judge the coverage unbiased. Independents, it seems, tend to agree more with the Republicans. Half of the unaffiliated respondents (50 percent) believe reporters are helping Obama, 21 percent perceive unbiased coverage, and a mere 12 percent see a pro-McCain slant. Coupled with the perception of bias is an underlying mistrust of the media, with less than one in three (30 percent) doubting most reporters would hide information hurtful to their preferred candidate, while 25 percent were unsure and 45 percent stating they believed reporters would cover up news that didn't fit their bias. The mistrust of the media, also heavier among Republicans than Democrats, seems to correlate with the way Americans perceive economic issues. Republicans, for example, who are more likely to see media as bashing the economy, are also more likely to view the economy positively. Democrats – who trust the media more and see less of an unfair negative slant – view the economy more negatively. Of those polled, 59 percent of Republicans affirmed the United States has the world's best economy, while a mere 18 percent of Democrats would make the same judgment. The poll also showed Republicans are far more likely to trust a stockbroker than a reporter for their economic news. http://www.worldnetdaily.com/?pageId=70272 FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of religious, environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

9/11 third tower mystery 'solved'

Isaiah 30:19-25 O people in Zion, inhabitant in Jerusalem, you will weep no longer. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry; when He hears it, He will answer you. Although the Lord has given you bread of privation and water of oppression, He, your Teacher will no longer hide Himself, but your eyes will behold your Teacher. Your ears will hear a word behind you, "This is the way, walk in it," whenever you turn to the right or to the left. And you will defile your graven images overlaid with silver, and your molten images plated with gold. You will scatter them as an impure thing, and say to them, "Be gone!" Then He will give you rain for the seed which you will sow in the ground, and bread from the yield of the ground, and it will be rich and plenteous; on that day your livestock will graze in a roomy pasture. Also the oxen and the donkeys which work the ground will eat salted fodder, which has been winnowed with shovel and fork. On every lofty mountain and on every high hill there will be streams running with water on the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall. BBC NEWS [PSB operated by BBC Trust] - By Mike Rudin, BBC, Conspiracy Files - July 4, 2008 The final mystery of 9/11 will soon be solved, according to US experts [Experts? how do we know?] investigating the collapse of the third tower at the World Trade Center. The 47-storey third tower, known as Tower Seven, collapsed seven hours after the twin towers. Investigators are expected to say ordinary fires on several different floors caused the collapse. Conspiracy theorists [Notice how immediately the BBC paints a picture that these are only "conspiracy theroists", in other words, friut-cakes -- but when you read further they actually are professionals who look at these things for a living] have argued that the third tower was brought down in a controlled demolition. Unlike the twin towers, Tower Seven was not hit by a plane. The National Institute of Standards and Technology, based near Washington DC, is expected to conclude in its long-awaited report this month that ordinary fires caused the building to collapse. That would make it the first and only steel skyscraper in the world to collapse because of fire. The National Institute of Standards and Technology's lead investigator, Dr Shyam Sunder, spoke to BBC Two's "The Conspiracy Files": "Our working hypothesis now actually suggests that it was normal building fires that were growing and spreading throughout the multiple floors that may have caused the ultimate collapse of the buildings." 'Smoking gun' However, a group of architects, engineers and scientists say the official explanation that fires caused the collapse is impossible. Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth argue there must have been a controlled demolition. The founder of the group, Richard Gage, says the collapse of the third tower is an obvious example of a controlled demolition using explosives. "Building Seven is the smoking gun of 9/11… A sixth grader can look at this building falling at virtually freefall speed, symmetrically and smoothly, and see that it is not a natural process. "Buildings that fall in natural processes fall to the path of least resistance", says Gage, "they don't go straight down through themselves." Conspiracy theories There are a number of facts that have encouraged conspiracy theories about Tower Seven. * Although its collapse potentially made architectural history, all of the thousands of tonnes of steel from the skyscraper were taken away to be melted down. * The third tower was occupied by the Secret Service, the CIA, the Department of Defence and the Office of Emergency Management, which would co-ordinate any response to a disaster or a terrorist attack. * The destruction of the third tower was never mentioned in the 9/11 Commission Report. The first official inquiry into Tower Seven by the Federal Emergency Management Agency was unable to be definitive about what caused its collapse. * In May 2002 FEMA concluded that the building collapsed because intense fires had burned for hours, fed by thousands of gallons of diesel stored in the building. But it said this had "only a low probability of occurrence" and more work was needed. But now nearly seven years after 9/11 the definitive official explanation of what happened to Tower Seven is finally about to be published in America. The National Institute of Standards and Technology has spent more than two years investigating Tower Seven but lead investigator Dr Shyam Sunder rejects criticism that it has been slow. "We've been at this for a little over two years and doing a two or two and a half year investigation is not at all unusual. That's the same kind of time frame that takes place when we do aeroplane crash investigations, it takes a few years." With no steel from Tower 7 to study, investigators have instead made four extremely complex computer models worked out to the finest detail. They're confident their approach can now provide the answers. Dr Sunder says the investigation is moving as fast as possible. "It's a very complex problem. It requires a level of fidelity in the modelling and rigour in the analysis that has never been done before." Other skyscrapers haven't fully collapsed before because of fire. But NIST argues that what happened on 9/11 was unique. Steel structure weakened It says Tower Seven had an unusual design, built over an electricity substation and a subway; there were many fires that burnt for hours; and crucially, fire fighters could not fight the fires in Tower 7, because they didn't have enough water and focused on saving lives. Investigators have focused on the east side where the long floor spans were under most stress. They think fires burnt long enough to weaken and break many of the connections that held the steel structure together. Most susceptible were the thinner floor beams which required less fireproofing, and the connections between the beams and the columns. As they heated up the connections failed and the beams sagged and failed, investigators say. The collapse of the first of the Twin Towers does not seem to have caused any serious damage to Tower Seven, but the second collapse of the 1,368ft (417m) North Tower threw debris at Tower Seven, just 350ft (106m) away. Tower Seven came down at 5.21pm. Until now most of the photographs have been of the three sides of the building that did not show much obvious physical damage. Now new photos of the south side of the building, which crucially faced the North Tower, show that whole side damaged and engulfed in smoke. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7485331.stm Ed Note. If you think WT7 was brought down by fire see these videos: This one by CNN has a cop warning that the building is about to come down: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwjmqkjwnvQ
Here is another short video concerning the WT7 collapse and controlled demolitions: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-c-6qkbxd0
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Is Judgment falling on the anti-Christian, anti-Israeli Press?

Ed Note: A collection of article regarding the industry wide downturn in circulation and ad revenue for Newspapers. There has been a decline occurring for some time due to an aging subscriber base as well as technological changes such as the Internet having had an effect on the industry. However, these concerns are considered within projected circulation numbers and even in some cases certain news organizations such as The New York Times have gained circulation due to growing online subscriptions. But this recent downtrend has caught nearly everyone off guard forcing newsgroups to re-evaluate projected circulation numbers (from which ad revenue is based) and has led to sudden layoffs, staff reductions and even talks of certain publications shutting down their presses for good. Certainly the terrible economy is playing a part in all of this, but I can’t help but wonder if a press that has been so anti-Israel in the face of any rational reasoning and anti-Christian as well is now facing some well deserved judgment from the One whom avenges His people. LA Times to cut 250 jobs, including 150 news jobs ASSOCIATED PRESS - By Ryan Nakashima - July 2, 2008 LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles Times plans to cut 250 positions, including 150 jobs in the print and online news departments, amid a continuing industrywide slump in ad sales, the paper's editor said Wednesday. The decline in advertising, fueled by a weak real estate market, has boosted the copy-to-ads ratio above the industry target of 50-50, giving readers more stories than they can digest, while the paper competes for attention with the Internet and TV, editor Russ Stanton said. - - - The move followed an announcement last week that the paper's parent, Tribune Co., is exploring the sale of its headquarters in Chicago and the building in downtown Los Angeles that houses the Times. A half-dozen major newspapers announced layoffs last week totaling about 900 jobs. Also Wednesday, Journal Sentinel Inc. said it would cut about 10 percent of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's 1,300 full-time employees, and Media General Inc. said it would lay off 21 newsroom employees at The Tampa Tribune by early fall as part of a one-fifth cut in its news staff. - - - - http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080702/la_times_cuts.html?.v=1 Tampa Tribune plans to cut one-fifth of newsroom ASSOCIATED PRESS - July 2, 2008 TAMPA, Fla. - The Tampa Tribune plans to lay off 11 newsroom employees this week and another 10 by early fall as part of a one-fifth cut in the news staff. Along with the 29 people who took voluntary buyouts and tendered resignations, the job losses announced Tuesday will leave the Tribune with a news staff of about 200, the paper said Wednesday. The cuts, part of a corporate reduction announced in May, are the latest sign of how the newspaper industry is being hurt by a weakened economy and the emergence of the Internet as an alternative medium for advertising. - - - - http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D91LSILO1&show_article=1 FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of religious, environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Most Doctors Aren’t Using Electronic Health Records

NEW YORK TIMES [NYTimes Group/Sulzberger] - By Steve Lohr - June 19, 2008 A government-sponsored survey of the use of computerized patient records by doctors points to two seemingly contradictory conclusions, and a health care system at odds with itself. The report, published online on Wednesday in The New England Journal of Medicine, found that doctors who use electronic health records say overwhelmingly that such records have helped improve the quality and timeliness of care. Yet fewer than one in five of the nation’s doctors has started using such records. Bringing patient records into the computer age, experts say, is crucial to improving care, reducing errors and containing costs in the American health care system. The slow adoption of the technology is mainly economic. Most doctors in private practice, especially those in small practices, lack the financial incentive to invest in computerized records. The national survey found that electronic records were used in less than 9 percent of small offices with one to three doctors, where nearly half of the country’s doctors practice medicine. - - - - http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/19/technology/19patient.html?ex=1371614400&en=ff467606eb24767e&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of religious, environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Even the Leaders Think the Homosexual Activist Movement in Canada is Going Too Far

LIFESITENEWS.com - By Thaddeus M. Baklinski - May 12, 2008 TORONTO -- EGALE (Equality for Gays and Lesbians Everywhere) Canada, the homosexual activist group that has consistently worked to silence opposition to homosexual activity, has sent a letter to the president and CEO of Canada Post, asking them to censor the mail. The letter, from current executive director of EGALE Canada, Helen Kennedy, asked for a meeting with Canada Post to discuss the use of the mail by record companies and bookstores to distribute music that EGALE says may promote hatred based on a person's sexual orientation. But Gilles Marchildon, the executive director of EGALE from 2003 to 2006, says EGALE has gone too far, especially in asking Canada Post to censor material. In a surprising about face, Marchildon said, "Regarding offensive lyrics by certain artists, I'm glad EGALE has raised the issue because it never hurts to underline the existence of homophobia. But I'm personally not comfortable with inviting government agencies to play a censorship role." "The danger, of course, is that once you advocate in favour of curbing freedom of expression, where does it stop and who's going to decide where the line gets drawn?" he asks. "Let us recall history. When governments have played the role of censor they've usually done it at the expense of the LGBT community and of its artistic and/or sexual freedom." The obvious double standard being pushed by the EGALE executive director seems to be wearing away the groups credibility, even within its own ranks. Marchildon said Egale has failed to explain its position in inviting Canada Post to censor. "In fact," he said, "EGALE is failing to explain much of anything to its members." In 2004, Egale discussed launching a campaign to shut down LifeSiteNews.com through harassment lawsuits aimed at bankrupting the news service, which received threatening emails from homosexual activists including those from EGALE list-serve members accusing LifeSiteNews.com of hate propaganda and some suggesting criminal prosecution under Canada's new hate crime law. Derek Rogusky, Vice President of Family Policy and Community Impact for Focus on the Family Canada said, "The reality is that gay activists want to wipe out any dissenting opinion. It is ironic that those demanding tolerance are not offering tolerance as well." See related LifeSiteNews.com article: Canadian Homosexual Activists on EGALE List-Serve Discuss How to Shut Down LifeSite http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/may/08051208.html?CFID=2327540&CFTOKEN=5ffb05bb45984ac-DF57FC28-0F25-1491-F07E17BC61EAA50A FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of religious, environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

'Demonic' grunts, barks confront prayer warriors

Film reveals vitriol, hatred directed at pro-life activists WORLDNETDAILY - January 24, 2008 A new video posted by the Catholic-based Gloria TV has documented the "demonic" behavior of pro-abortion activists who grunt, bark and shriek in the faces of pro-life prayer warriors in Vienna. With jaws slack, eyes glazed, tongues hanging out and fingers arched, the abortion activists are in the pay of prominent Vienna abortionist Christian Fiala, according to the video report, which describes the individuals as "a paid attack troop" set in motion to "harass and humiliate the pro-lifers." The video, available on the Gloria TV website, shows animalistic behavior, with growling, name-calling, barking, groaning, screaming and uncontrolled laughing and giggling sounds. Father Markus Doppelbauer, who contributes to the editing of the website, told WND that abortion remains a flashpoint topic in Austria. "Part of the socialist strategy is to systematically denigrate the pro-lifers," he said. "The socialists love to accuse them in public statements of 'psycho-terror' and other atrocities." Especially picked out as targets are members of Human Life International, which employs street workers to stand on public ground in front of abortion businesses in Vienna and Graz. Some pray quietly and others propose to help mothers-to-be arriving at the abortion businesses, the report said. He said the new video documents the "demonic screaming and satanic behavior" of the "attack troop." - - - - http://wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=59840 FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of religious, environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

U.S. Military honchos 'suppress' chaplain's Baptist services

Was told being 'born again' has 'no place' in Army life WORLDNETDAILY - By Bob Unruh - May 16, 2008 An investigation is being sought by a Christian church organization in the United States after the U.S. Army deliberately shut down a service one of its sponsored chaplains was running for U.S. military service personnel at Forward Operating Base Loyalty in Iraq. The complaint by Associated Gospel Churches, a fellowship of Independent Fundamental Christian churches, has been forwarded to the Army by U.S. Rep. Walter Jones, R-N.C., seeking an Army Inspector General investigation. Rev. G. William Baugham, the chairman of the AGC's commission on chaplains, told WND that the circumstances are particularly egregious since it appears it was a representative from another Christian denomination that closed down the service that had been operated at FOB Loyalty by Chaplain Stuart Kazarovich, who has been endorsed by the AGC. The services held by Kazarovich were shut down for five weeks, from July 8-Aug. 12, 2007, the organization's report on the situation confirmed. "Because this information is now in the public domain, the AGC acknowledges that the Fundamental Baptist service led by Chaplain Stuart Kazarovich, an AGC endorsed chaplain, appears to have been suppressed because it was offensive to the brigade chaplain," Baugham told WND in a prepared statement. - - - WND also has reported on the battle waged by Navy Chaplain Gordon Klingenschmitt, who actually was separated from the military for his decision to pray "in Jesus' name." - - - - http://www.worldnetdaily.com/?pageId=64495 FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of religious, environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Court scolds city for 'hostility' toward church

Federal judge finds fault with planners seeking to zone out house of worship WORLDNETDAILY - May 16, 2008 A federal court has taken the unusual step of criticizing San Diego for its "outright hostility" toward a Rancho Bernardo church and its failure to consider "relevant federal law." The dispute arose when Grace Church of North County approached officials with a plan to lease space in the same complex where a pair of religious institutions earlier operated. It was too much for city officials. First, the Rancho Bernardo community planning board tried to deny Grace Church a 10-year permit for the property. A San Diego city officer, however, approved a 7-year permit, compelling the board to appeal. Though community planners knew Grace Church needed 10 years to complete a long-term relocation plan, they whittled the permit down to five years, and made it non-renewable. "These things have a tendency to become quasi-permanent," warned a former planning board chair, "that's why we're kind of opposed." City officials and neighboring businessmen argued that a church would "change the complexion" of the area, that it would "send the wrong message to the business community" and that potential building occupants may not want "to be next to a church." The U.S. District Court of Southern California, however, sided with the church, and took exception to the planning board's behavior. The court cited the 2000 Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, which essentially requires governments to allow churches to operate within reason, to overrule the city's denial of the 10-year permit. Furthermore, the court stated that Grace Church had faced "decision-making that is seemingly arbitrary and pretextual." The church also had been subjected to "ignorance regarding the requirements of controlling federal law" and even "outright hostility." In southern California's high-priced land market, such disputes are not uncommon. In 2003, an Oceanside city planner suggested a ban on churches in industrial zones. In 2002, El Cajon refused Foothills Christian Fellowship a place in the Towne Center mall until a lawsuit convinced the city to relent. The Alliance Defense Fund, a coalition of Christian attorneys who work to preserve religious liberty, represented Grace Church in the dispute. - - - - http://www.worldnetdaily.com/?pageId=64496 FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of religious, environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Religion Joins Custody Cases, to Judges’ Unease

NEW YORK TIMES [NYTimes Group/Sulzberger] - By Neela Banerjee - February 13, 2008 MADISON, Ala. - On a January night nine years ago, Laura Snider was saved. A 27-year-old single mother at the time, Mrs. Snider felt she had ruined her life through a disastrous marriage and divorce. But in her kitchen that night, after reading pamphlets and Bible passages that her boss had pointed her to, she realized she was a sinner, she said, she prayed for forgiveness, and put her trust in Christ. Four years later, the conservative brand of Christianity Mrs. Snider embraced became the source of a bitter, continuing custody battle over her only child, Libby Mashburn. Across the country, child-custody disputes in which religion is the flash point are increasing, part of a broader rise in custody conflicts over the last 30 years, lawyers, judges and mediators say. “There has definitely been an increase in conflict over religious issues,” said Ronald William Nelson, a Kansas family lawyer who is chairman of the custody committee of the American Bar Association’s family law section. “Part of that is there has been an increase of conflicts between parents across the board, and with parents looking for reasons to justify their own actions.” Another factor, he said, is the rise of intermarriage and greater willingness by Americans to convert. Nobody keeps track of who wins in these religious disputes, but lawyers say that judges are just as likely to rule in favor of the more religiously engaged parent as the other way around. That is because, for constitutional reasons, judges are reluctant to base their rulings primarily on the religious preferences of parents. Judges do not want to take on custody disputes rooted in religion, said lawyers like Gaetano Ferro, who until recently served as president of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. Mr. Ferro said, “How will a judge say in any rational fashion that Islam is better than Buddhism, Catholicism better than Judaism, or Methodism better than Pentecostalism?” As a result, more and more states have tried to keep custody disputes out of court by mandating mediation. But the effect has been piecemeal, and religious disputes have proven to be among the most difficult to resolve, lawyers said. From the age of 1 month, Mrs. Snider’s daughter had lived with her, and later Mrs. Snider’s new husband, Brian Snider, with occasional visits to her biological father. But in 2003, when Libby was 6, an Alabama court gave primary custody to her father, William Mashburn, after he and Mrs. Snider’s own family argued that the strict religious upbringing Libby received at her mother’s home, which involved modest dress, teachings about sin and salvation, and limited exposure to popular culture, was damaging her. “We were easy targets because we were made to look like cultists,” Mrs. Snider, 36, said. “I think whether anyone admits it or not, almost all of the ruling had to do with religion. Nothing I had done was called into question except that.” Generally, custody disputes are resolved outside the courtroom, lawyers said. Such cases have increased, however, because a generation ago, mothers almost always got custody and were responsible for nearly all aspects of children’s upbringing. But now, both parents are usually involved in raising children after divorce, and that can lead to dispute. Data regarding custody cases are not uniform, according to the National Center for State Courts, but for 10 states for which it has data from 2002, all show an increase in custody cases coming to trial. Conflicts sometimes arise when an interfaith marriage dissolves or when one parent converts to a different religion after divorce. In Oregon, a dispute between James Boldt and his former wife, Lia, was recently decided by the State Supreme Court. Mr. Boldt, the custodial parent, converted to Judaism after the divorce and sought to have their son, now 12, convert, and be circumcised. The court ruled that custodial parents could generally decide if a child should be circumcised. But given the son’s age, it ordered the lower court to ascertain his wishes. If they conflict with his father’s, the court may have to reconsider the custody arrangement, the court ruled. Tensions can emerge when one parent takes a turn toward fundamentalism. In 2006, the United States Supreme Court let stand a decision by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania that permitted Stanley Shepp to tell his 14-year-old daughter about polygamy. Mr. Shepp and his former wife, Tracey Roberts, were Mormons living in York, Pa., when they married. But Mr. Shepp espoused polygamy as a tenet of their faith. Ms. Roberts contends that Mr. Shepp spoke to one of her daughters from a previous marriage about marrying him, which he denies. She left Mr. Shepp and has primary custody of their daughter. He was excommunicated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for his polygamist views and is now part of a Mormon fundamentalist movement in Utah. Mr. Shepp petitioned for better-defined custody rights for his daughter, but Ms. Roberts objected because he had exposed the child to polygamist Mormon communities. The court upheld Mr. Shepp’s right to teach his daughter about polygamy, saying it could not find evidence that such teaching harmed her physical or mental health. Judges risk violating the separation of church and state if they try to choose the faith a child should be raised in, legal experts said. But in situations like Libby Mashburn’s, judgments about parenting can become entwined with religion. In upholding the rulings of lower courts to grant primary custody to Mr. Mashburn, the Supreme Court of Alabama said the Sniders’s involvement in missionary work took Libby away from her extended family in Alabama. The Sniders are quietly, unapologetically fundamentalist. They believe that American culture, even conservative denominations like the Southern Baptist Convention, has drifted perilously far from biblical teachings. They attend a large Independent Baptist church in Madison, where the music, the sanctuary and the congregants are unadorned and old-fashioned. Women wear skirts as a sign of modesty. They do not swim in mixed company. They eschew rock music and nearly all popular culture. They do not drink, smoke or swear. The Sniders have raised Libby, now 11, in that tradition. But it has put them at odds with Mr. Mashburn and Mrs. Snider’s family. Mr. Mashburn and his lawyer declined to comment . Mrs. Snider said she understood that Libby might wear pants at her father’s home or go to the movies. But she insisted that Mr. Mashburn not swear or drink in front of Libby or expose her to inappropriate movies and music, which, she said, he has repeatedly done. The Sniders have repeatedly appealed to win back primary custody. They are awaiting yet another decision from a hearing in November. At the last hearing, Libby, who spends about 40 percent of her time with the Sniders, testified against Mr. Mashburn. “I’m more of my mom’s religion, and my dad sometimes talks bad about my mom,” she said. “He called it a cult, and it’s definitely not a cult. It kind of makes me mad sometimes. Maybe he thinks her religion may be bad for me, but I think mainly he doesn’t like my mom and is using that as an excuse.” Some states like California and Connecticut have taken innovative steps to get parents to resolve custody issues outside court. In Connecticut, for example, those seeking a court order have to meet with a family-relations specialist in an effort to negotiate. If that fails, they attend a daylong session to settle their differences before a panel that includes a lawyer and a mental health professional. Even after a case goes to court, little may be resolved. Aaron Petty of Minneapolis and Gineen Gove of Black River Falls, Wis., had their daughter, Basyl, 17 years ago. The couple split up when Basyl was 4. Soon afterward, Ms. Gove married, and she and her husband converted to Old Order Amish. As Mr. Petty saw his daughter over the years, he became concerned, he said, when Basyl was about 11 and he learned that the Goves would not let her go to school past eighth grade, a common decision among the Amish. Mr. Petty petitioned for primary custody so that Basyl might continue her education. “This case wasn’t about religion for me,” he said. “It was about her education.” He won the case when Basyl was 14, but she disappeared. Mr. Petty said he suspected Basyl was living within the Amish community. The Goves declined to talk about the case. “I wanted to offer my daughter options for her future, in case she grew up and didn’t remain Amish,” Mr. Petty said in a phone interview. “At 12, 13, 14, making lasting drastic decisions based on faith isn’t an appropriate time.” Mr. Petty’s voice caught as he continued. “Was that case worth fighting? In hindsight, no. I haven’t seen my daughter in two-and-a-half years.” http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/13/us/13custody.html?ex=1360645200&en=2fa24bb09d77ef8e&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of religious, environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

'Gays' shut down discussion of faith

Psychiatrists pull symposium on 'The Religious Dimension' WORLDNETDAILY - By Bob Unruh - May 2, 2008 A discussion on religion, homosexuality and therapy that had been scheduled during the American Psychiatric Association's annual meeting in Washington has been shut down following an attack by a "gay" publication on some of the people planning to participate. The symposium called "Homosexuality and Therapy: The Religion Dimension," had been in the plans for months at the APA convention in Washington, and was to feature advocates for homosexuality including New Hampshire Bishop Gene Robinson of the Episcopal church and was to be moderated by Harvard psychiatrist John Peteet. Others scheduled to be on the podium included Grove City College professor Warren Throckmorton, who has studied related issues intensively, and Rev. Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. But the event, scheduled Monday, has been yanked from the schedule, according to the APA, because of the "misinformation and rhetoric" that was circulating about the issue. Peter LaBarbera, of Americans for Truth, said the reaction to a plan to talk "shows the intellectual shallowness of the gay side." "They're afraid of a debate," he said, noting it wouldn't be correct to "paint Warren Throckmorton as the religious right." "The gay activists don't want to admit ex-gays exist, when they clearly do," he said. The attack was launched by the Gay City News publication, which on April 24 denigrated Throckmorton as "a psychologist without state board certification and an advocate for 'sexual identity therapy','' and quoted opponents calling him a "spin doctor of the ex-gay myth." The article quoted those warning of the symposium's "potential harm." The APA statement on the cancellation said the organizer "decided to withdraw because a key participant who would have brought balance to the discussion had withdrawn. In addition, misinformation and rhetoric surrounding this event had risen to a level that would hinder the kind of open dialogue and interaction that was originally anticipated." - - - - http://www.worldnetdaily.com/?pageId=63198 FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of religious, environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

The Moses Code Deception

SPIRITUAL RESEARCH NETWORK - By Christopher Lawson - Revised and Update March 10, 2008 On the weekend of April 5-6, 2008, there will be a new movie released called The Moses Code. Musician, author and speaker James Twyman, who is the creator and purportedly the gifted "receiver" of The Moses Code, claims that he has been given "the key" to unlock "The Moses Code". He claims that The Moses Code is "...the most powerful manifestation tool in the history of the world." [www.themosescode.com; Interview transcript from Leading Edge, Untiy Radio, Feb 11, 2008] The Moses Code movie is presented this way:

The film focuses on the power of "Soul Manifestation," drawing upon your own innate spiritual connection to produce miracles everywhere you go. Many other films and books have focused on using the Law of Attraction to "get" the things we believe we need, eg. houses, cars or other goods. The Moses Code takes the next much more important step-how do we use this law to "give" from our soul, automatically attracting spiritual blessings into our lives. [ http://www.themosescode.com/index.php?p=Movie ]

UNLOCKING 'THE MOSES CODE' Along with a number of other incredible claims made on The Moses Code website, the basic idea behind The Moses Code is that humans can now, "for the first time in 3,500 years" - "insert a comma" into the divine Name of God [I AM THAT I AM (Exodus 3:14)] and see "miracles manifest". Now, in the 21st century, WE can begin to say an unbiblical version of God's Name - " I AM THAT , I AM ", and get what we want - so the story goes. The claim is being made by James Twyman that this is "the key" to "unlocking" the long lost "Moses "Code". Twyman also claims that in utilizing this "technique" one can "manifest divine miracles" - and that humans can have whatever they desire. AN OCCULT PERVERSION Here's the problem though. The Moses Code is based on a blatant occult perversion of the biblical Name that God ascribed to Himself. A basic straightforward reading of the biblical text will reveal what God's intention was when He revealed His Name to Moses. Exodus 3:13-15 clearly states:

13 And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? 14 And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you. 15 And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, the LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations. [Note: The above self-designation of God is also rendered as I AM WHO I AM. Emphasis and underlining added for emphasis]

James Twyman and The Moses Code movie and book actually change 'The Name' of God to "I AM THAT , I AM" and then utilize it as a self- affirmation to "manifest miracles". They say that the insertion of a comma is "the key" to unlock the "Code" and then God can "manifest power" through humans. But Twyman's God is not the biblical God. If Twyman's God was the biblical God, Twyman would never in a million years take the liberty to pervert 'The Name' of God into an occult technique. We say ocult technique because that is what it is. Only now it has been sprayed with biblical terminology. Much like the book and movie 'The Secret', this new "Code" claims to bring about 'The Law of Attraction'. The 'Law of Attraction' is nothing more than occultism repackaged for the masses. The idea behind the occult is to tap into so-called "unseen universal energies". How do we know? Multitudinous volumes of occult literature is jam packed with the "Law of Attraction' principles. (See also Word Faith, Positive Confession, Witchcraft, Prosperity Gospel, etc.) Just for the record, The Moses Code movie Featured Speakers list is comprised of a number of extremely well known and powerful psychic mediums, channelers, New Age intuitives, etc. We issue a strong warning here against all forms of occultism as the God of the bible Himself thoroughly condems it in every form. (For a vast listing of Scriptural warnings and condemnations of occultism see the following links: Sorcery, Necromancy, Spiritism (necromancy and sorcery), Astrology, Familiar Spirits, Witchcraft, Divination, etc. SELF-AFFIRMATIONS, DIVINE-NESS, AND ANTICHRIST Through the use of modern technology, people around the world are being trained through movies, books, audio messages, study centers, websites, etc. to claim "I AM - ness" [self-divinity], to claim to be God, or gods, or part of God, etc. (See pantheism, pan-en-theism, polytheism, occultism, New Age-ism, etc.) These so-called "methods" and "self-affirmations" of "divine-ness" and "I AM THAT, I AM" - ness are simply small prototypes of what will one day happen when The Coming World Leader, 'the Man of Sin' whom the bible calls Antichrist, sits "in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God". When Antichrist does that people will hail him as a god. This is the genius of Satan. Remember the sober warning of Paul the Apostle"

Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4)

THE MOSES CODE'S GLOBAL NEW AGE PEACE VIGIL Lastly, The Moses Code video and movie are being used as teaching tools in conjunction with a worldwide New Age peace vigil. At over 1000 locations around the globe, "Moses Code" groupies will be attempting to "shift planetary consciousness". So that our readers can see clearly that we are not misrepresenting the announcement and claim of The Moses Code, the following statement can be found on the The Moses Code homepage:

It's time for the next stage! The director of The Secret, Drew Heriot, presents...The Moses Code! Executive Producer Drew Heriot and Director James Twyman announce a film that will change the world. Join millions of people from every corner of the globe in activating a 3500 year old technology that has been banned since the time of Moses. Then on April 6th, we will activate the Code and focus it on the Middle East. For the first time a major spiritual film is being combined with a worldwide prayer vigil focused on shifting the planetary consciousness. There will be over 1000 gatherings that weekend, and you could help sponsor one in your town. Please join us for an experience that will change the world. [Bold emphasis in original; underlining added for our emphasis]

A WARNING FROM GOD HIMSELF One may ask, "Well what happens if I do "The Moses Code" and something r e a l l y d o e s h a p p e n ?" The answer to that can be found a bit further on in the book of Exodus, in chapter thirteen. We quote the following verses at length in order to clearly show the context in which the warning is given, and also to show that demonic "miracles" can and do happen when false prophets deceive people 'under the guise' of the true 'Name' of God. In the words of Yahweh Himself, the One Who claimed to be "I AM THAT I AM" (More correctly rendered "I AM WHO I AM", Exodus 3:14)

1 If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, 2 And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them; 3 Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. 4 Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him. 5 And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath spoken to turn you away from the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the LORD thy God commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee. 6 If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers; 7 Namely, of the gods of the people which are round about you, nigh unto thee, or far off from thee, from the one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth; 8 Thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him; neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him: 9 But thou shalt surely kill him; thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people. 10 And thou shalt stone him with stones, that he die; because he hath sought to thrust thee away from the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. 11 And all Israel shall hear, and fear, and shall do no more any such wickedness as this is among you.

We don't stone false teachers and false prophets today, but we are commanded in Scripture to warn people about their deceptions! - - - - - NEED TO KNOW MORE ABOUT THE MOSES CODE DECEPTION? If you would like to find out more about the spiritually deceptive nature of The Moses Code technique, you can visit our New SRN Podcast page and listen to my new audio messages we have recorded. - - - -

See Original Article for Emphasis http://www.spiritual-research-network.com/themosescode.html

FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of religious, environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

The Moses Code - Taking the Next Step Toward a World Wide Awakening

LIGHTHOUSE TRAILS RESEARCH PROJECT - Coming From The Lighthouse Newsletter - March 4, 2008 On April 5th, The Moses Code film will be released in a "unique synchronized worldwide opening" 1, just a few weeks after this week's release of the book with the same title. The book and film will most likely become best sellers with expected promotion by Oprah Winfrey and others of influence. The book/film is following the release of last year's The Secret, which has remained on the New York Times Best Seller list for over 59 weeks. The Secret, also a book/film, was highly promoted by Oprah and carries a similar-type message. In essence, both projects focus on humanity being divine and having the ability to alter our personal lives and ultimately alter the world in which we live through hidden mysteries that the projects supposedly reveal. The publisher of The Moses Code details the theme of the project:

Is it possible that nearly 3,500 years ago, Moses was given the secret for attracting everything you've ever desired? The Moses Code was first used to create some of the greatest miracles in the history of the world, but then it was hidden away, and only the highest initiates were allowed to practice it. In this book, James F. Twyman reveals the Code for the first time, showing how it can be used to create miracles in your life . . . and in the world. By practicing the principles presented within these pages, you'll discover how you can integrate the most powerful manifestation tool in the history of the world into your own life.

The Moses Code is a kind of sequel or next step to The Secret that focused on the Law of Attraction, which, if practiced faithfully, promises to help one obtain his or her hopes and dreams. The Secret tells readers and viewers how this is possible: "You are God in a physical body ... You are all power ... You are all intelligence ... You are the creator"( p. 164). Incidentally, the author of The Secret, Rhonda Byrne, thanks a group of spirit guides called Abraham for "their inspirational teachings" (p. xv). Now, The Moses Code takes followers further along the metaphysical road:

You may have been told that this Law is all about "getting" the things you want--things that you think will make your life more satisfying. But what if that's just the first step, and cracking the Moses Code depends more on what you're willing to "give" rather than "get." That would mean that you have the power to create miracles in your life right now! It would also mean that you have the ability, even the responsibility, to use that power for more than just attracting money, a better car, or the perfect relationship. You're here to use the power of Divinity itself to create a world based on the laws of compassion and peace. That's the task that lies before us.

In a YouTube trailer preview of The Moses Code, viewers are instructed to say to themselves I AM statements to help affirm their own divinity and power. In one segment, a man says, "I am the way, I am the truth, I am the light [life]." Lighthouse Trails spoke with a Moses Code staff member on March 3rd and was told that the film "was re-edited in a significant way" which led "to re-edit the trailer as well." The new trailer (which can be seen on the Moses Code website) is much different than the original one. Dropping from over 5 minutes to 1:41 minutes, the new trailer omits the I AM statements as well as any mention of some of the New Agers who are involved with the project (such as Neale Donald Walsch). In fact, the new trailer focuses mostly on the Old Testament Moses and could lead some to believe this is a Christian film about the patriarch, Moses. However, as can be seen on the Moses Code website, there is a who's who of the New Age involved with this effort. In The Secret, many New Age "teachers" were part of the project including Neale Donald Walsch, Michael Beckwith, Jack Canfield, and John Gray (Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus). The Moses Code project has a far more extensive line up of New Age presenters including Neale Donald Walsch, Andrew Harvey, Cheryl Richardson, James van Praagh, Debbie Ford, Michael Beckwith, and a number of others who are dedicated to the New Age vision for the world. The Moses Code trailer explains that on April 6th, hundreds of thousands of people are going to have the opportunity to come together in small groups around the world to "radiate this peace and use this technology [the Moses Code] focusing on the Middle East." On the Moses Code website it explains why this is being done: "It is clear to most people by now that when large groups of people gather together for a single, focused reason, miracles happen." Those who have studied New Age philosophy know that New Agers believe that when a critical mass (said to be based on a physics law) comes together in meditation, the rest of humanity will be drawn in (through a kind of spiritual magnetization), and in this oneness, the earth will be healed. The prerequisite for this to happen is a global, mass meditation by people who believe they are divine and co-creators in the universe. The Moses Code says that mysticism is the avenue through which we enter a "frequency" that draws us into a sacred space called God, and this frequency can be entered by turning to the I AM field which "helps initiate and enhance sacred experiences.... the potential is promising, particularly with regard to assisting the I AM THAT I AM breathing exercises ... developed for the Moses Code." In an interview with Moses Code author James Twyman, Twyman says that this process was originally called the Maharishi Effect which began with Transcendental Meditation practitioners. It appears that with the mass success of The Secret, a new threshold had been crossed with the public's acceptance of metaphysical practices and philosophies. What the Moses Code is designed for is to take this acceptance to a new level. The people behind these projects know that they have a narrow window of opportunity to saturate Western society before people become bored or skeptical. Everywhere one looks these days one finds people turning to the mystical and supernatural for the answers to their problems. One prominent Rabbi, who writes on current social conditions, has written that 40% of middle aged men and 33% of middle aged women suffer from various degrees of depression. 2 What better appeal would seem attractive to these millions of people than being able to change their circumstances in a quick and timely fashion. This is what books like The Secret and The Moses Code are offering, and the biblical gospel is seen by these millions as outdated and irrelevant. Our job as Christians is to proclaim the opposite, and in so doing preserve the only message that offers eternal life through Jesus Christ to those who receive Him by faith. Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils. I Timothy 4:1 For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. I Corinthians 1: 18 Database of news and research on The Secret More Information: Interview with The Moses Code author James Twyman See Link for further info and many links http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/newsletter030408.htm FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of religious, environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. 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