KJV NEWS

CAIRO (AFP) - US President George W. Bush said in an interview to be published on Saturday that a final settlement to the Middle East conflict would only come about once an independent Palestinian state was in place and that such a state would probably not be created by 2005. (Bush did not mention that this new state would be Islamic & Ruled by Sharia Law - which is already the Law in the areas under PA Control)

'Jesus Christ' not welcome at public meetings according to Anti Defamation League
Jewish group claims any reference at government meetings 'unconstitutional'

WND - Feb 2/06 - Any reference to "Jesus Christ" during a prayer at a government meeting is "unconstitutional."

That's the opinion of the Jewish defense group the Anti Defamation League which is urging a Florida community to adopt a policy banning sectarian prayers making reference to any specific deities

"If invocations are done, they have to be, according to (a 1983) Supreme Court decision, such that they do not advance any particular faith or belief," ADL spokesman Andrew Rosenkranz told the Palm Beach Post. "The reason being, you try and make as many people included as possible so that nobody feels that they're being left out of any particular prayer."

The New York-based Anti Defamation League is focusing its attention on Wellington, Fla., where the issue of inclusiveness came up at the suggestion of a councilmember last year.

Local clergy have been permitted to recite prayers at the start of village meetings, and some reportedly mention Jesus Christ by name.

Rosenkranz wrote Mayor Tom Wenham, saying the allowing of Jesus' name "sends a clear message of exclusion to citizens not of that faith."

Full Story Here

Young Man (Teen) Stands up to Establishment, files federal complaint against school

BOSTON (Reuters) - Jan 27/06 - A 17-year-old male high school student has filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights accusing his public school of discriminating against boys.

Doug Anglin said girls are treated better at Milton High School in Massachusetts, are less likely to be punished and more likely to be encouraged to perform well academically, according to a copy of the December 9 complaint.

The complaint in Milton, an affluent Boston suburb, defies the conventional image of American schools giving more attention to boys than girls.

The Office for Civil Rights said on Thursday it was evaluating the complaint.

Full Story Here

Republican Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas recently converted to Catholicism in a quiet ceremony - People - Brief Article

* Republican Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas recently converted to Catholicism in a quiet ceremony. Brownback, who has worked closely with Catholics and evangelical Christians on restricting stem cell research and opposing human cloning, made the step in Washington on June 27, the Washington Post reported. A former United Methodist, he did not discuss the reasons for his conversion. The ceremony was performed at the Catholic Information Center in Washington by John McCloskey, a priest who belongs to Opus Dei, a conservative Catholic organization.

http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1058/is_16_119/ai_90534271

Vatican Clamps Down on Info From Meeting

VATICAN CITY - AP - Oct 5/05 - The Vatican clamped down Wednesday on information emerging from a meeting of the world's bishops after some prelates said the release of details of their debates was hindering the open discussion of sensitive topics like giving communion to Catholic politicians who support abortion rights.

The Vatican press office has arranged for daily briefings in five separate languages to give media summaries of the closed-door discussions of the Synod of Bishops, an Oct. 2-23 meeting to give Pope Benedict XVI advice on running the church.

Journalists also receive extracts of the bishops' prepared speeches. The briefings, however, provide information about the "free discussion" period — the hour at the end of each day when bishops can take the floor to discuss certain topics.

Several issues emerged during the first such briefing Tuesday, including a request by the senior American at the Vatican, Archbishop William Levada, for the synod to discuss whether Catholic politicians who support abortion rights should be given Communion.

In addition, Patriarch Gregory III Laham, patriarch of Antioch of the Greek-Melkite Church, said there was no theological foundation for a celibate priesthood, according to the Italian summary of the meeting. The Eastern rite churches, which are loyal to Rome, allow married priests.

Bartunek did say that during the Tuesday free discussion, two prelates joined Levada in asking for discussion on whether Catholic politicians who support abortion rights should receive Communion: Cardinal Edmund Szoka, a Vatican-based American, and Cardinal Alfonso Lopez-Trujillo, a Vatican-based Colombian. But the spokesman provided no details.

Full Story Here

VATICAN CITY - Oct 3/05 - AP - A senior cardinal on Monday reaffirmed the celibacy rule for priests and played down the shortage that has left many churches without clergymen to celebrate Mass, saying at the start of a meeting of the world's bishops that access to the Eucharist was a gift, not a right for Catholics.

Cardinal Angelo Scola, the key moderator of the Synod of Bishops, also reaffirmed that divorced people who remarry without getting an annulment cannot receive Communion. But he said the synod would have to study the issue and hinted that certain aspects of it should be reconsidered, saying church tribunals that grant annulments should be more efficient.

The comments by the Venice patriarch came in an introductory speech, delivered in Latin, on the first day of the meeting on the Eucharist during which some 250 bishops from 118 countries will discuss issues surrounding the Mass and make recommendations to Pope Benedict XVI.

Scola's comments drew immediate, if nuanced, criticism from two bishops who appeared with him at a press conference — a hint of the debates that will likely ensue behind closed doors in the next three weeks.

Monsignor Luis Antonio Tagle of the Philippines said the synod had to "squarely" confront the priest shortage, recounting how on his first Sunday as an ordained priest he celebrated nine Masses — and that this was the norm in his country.

"People long for the Eucharist and they believe that it is the Eucharistic gift that will make them fully the church," he said. "Our seminaries, thanks be to God, are fuller, but the Catholic population is increasing at a rate which is much higher and faster than the increase of the priests."

He said he didn't have the answer to the problem, but many church reform groups have called on the synod to discuss the celibacy rule, saying the priesthood would grow if clergymen were allowed to marry.

Scola, however, repeated what the church regards as the benefits of a celibate priesthood and said the synod should instead talk about better distribution of priests in the world.

He said the Eucharist was a "gift, not a right or a possession" for Catholics.

...Vatican expert Rev. Thomas Reese said Scola's suggestion that tribunals be made more efficient was significant, since many Catholics complain that they cannot get annulments because it takes too long or because their dioceses do not have the resources to process the applications.

The synod continues through Oct. 23 with speeches and discussions, during which bishops will draft proposals to be voted on by the entire synod and sent to the pope for his consideration.

Full Story Here

Harry Potter and the Decline of the West
By Spengler

July 20/05 - What accounts for the success of the Harry Potter series, as well as the "Star Wars" films whence they derive? The answer, I think, is their appeal to complacency and narcissism. "Use the Force," Obi-Wan tells the young Luke Skywalker, while the master wizard Dumbledore instructs Harry to draw from his inner well of familial emotions. No one likes to imagine that he is Frodo Baggins, an ordinary fellow who has quite a rough time of it in Tolkien's story. But everyone likes to imagine that he possesses inborn powers that make him a master of magic as well as a hero at games. Harry Potter merely needs to tap his inner feelings to conjure up the needful spell.

CHRISTIANS GET A BAD RAP IN ‘KINGDOM OF HEAVEN’

By Dr. Tom Snyder, editor of MOVIEGUIDE®

HOLLYWOOD, CA (ANS) -May 5, 2005 - “Kingdom of Heaven,” the new movie about the Muslim conquest of Jerusalem in 1187, falsely blames Christian leaders for bringing the Muslim army down on the city, says Dr. Ted Baehr, publisher of MOVIEGUIDE®, a non-profit Christian publication for families.

“In reality,” notes Dr. Baehr, “Jerusalem had been a Christian city for three centuries before 638, when the Muslims first conquered the Holy Land and began destroying Christian and Jewish holy sites. Christian soldiers took back the city in 1099 and held it until Saladin and his ruthless Muslim armies began trying to conquer the Holy Land again in about 1174.”

Added Dr. Baehr, “Many people make the mistake of thinking that Jerusalem is a holy site for Muslims, Jews and Christians. When Mohammed founded Islam in the seventh century, however, Jerusalem was only considered a holy city by Christians and Jews.

Fired Christian Radio Host Sees Ecumenism Behind Dismissal

By Jim Brown
April 18, 2005

(AgapePress) - An evangelical Christian talk-show host is speaking out after being fired from the largest Christian broadcasting network in the country for questioning whether certain Roman Catholic beliefs were biblical.

Pastor and Pittsburgh radio talk-show host Mark Minto was fired recently from WORD-FM, a station owned by California-based Salem Communications. Minto says he was terminated after telling listeners that Catholic beliefs such as purgatory and devotion to Mary had no basis in scripture. He explains that listeners had called in to ask whether he believed Pope John Paul II went to heaven after his death.

"I responded by opening the Bible and making it very plain and clear of Jesus' words, that unless a man be born again he will never enter nor see the kingdom of heaven -- and that salvation is something that is personal [and] intimate between an individual and their Creator, who's God," Minto says.

"But you know," he adds, "Jesus said 'I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and no one comes to the Father but through me.' So I made it clear to them that unless the pope was born again and truly had the spirit of the living God dwelling within him, he would not enter into heaven."

Louisville Rally Calls for End to Democrat-Led 'Pattern of Discrimination'

By Allie Martin and Jody Brown
April 25, 2005

(AgapePress) - During a nationwide broadcast over the weekend, evangelical Christian leaders sounded the call for religious liberty, saying it's time for the U.S. Senate to stop filibusters against people of faith who have been nominated to the federal bench.

An estimated 5,000 people filled Highview Baptist Church in Louisville, KY, on Sunday evening for "Justice Sunday: Stopping the Filibuster Against People of Faith." Event coordinator Family Research Council reports the simulcast also went into 61 million households in 44 states -- numbers that FRC president Tony Perkins describes as "an amazing response."

Why such a response? Perkins thinks it is because "people of faith" are realizing that actions in Washington -- in this case, a Democratic-led filibuster against President Bush's conservative, pro-life judicial nominees -- have a direct impact on their lives.

"It's time to bring some transparency to the process and it is time to give these nominees an up-or-down vote," the FRC president said before the broadcast. "This is not about faith, but a debate and fairness for people of faith, any faith."

The event kicked off with retired Judge Charles Pickering leading the Pledge of Allegiance. Then a variety of speakers encouraged voters to contact their senators and ask them to vote to end filibusters on judicial nominees. Focus on the Family Action founder Dr. James Dobson said the unconstitutional use of filibusters to prevent Christians from serving as judges must stop.

"It's not right; it's wrong," Dobson said. "And I think this is one of the most significant issues we've ever faced as a nation, because the future of democracy and ordered liberty actually depends on the outcome of this struggle."

Dobson added that Christians have the right as citizens to seek a change in courts that seem "determined to redesign the culture according to their own biases."

Chuck Colson of Prison Fellowship Ministries said the Senate has been holding the judiciary "hostage" through filibusters that have stopped ten of President Bush's judicial nominees. Colson explained that America's founding fathers had good reason to establish a "balance of powers" in the nation's new government.

"[They knew] there had to be three co-equal branches of government -- otherwise, being disposed to sin as we are and believing in the fall [of man], there could be abuses," Colson remarked. "And so three branches of government were set up, all to be independent and to balance one another. [But] what the Senate minority is trying to do [now] is, by a filibuster, to seize what they lost at the ballot box and to prevent the appointment of judges."

Mohler: 'Pattern of Discrimination'
The president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville told those in attendance that there is a clear pattern of discrimination in the Senate against conservative, Bible-believing judicial nominees.

"This pattern of discrimination against those who hold deep convictions about human life and the institution of marriage must come to an end," Mohler stated, accusing those who are discriminating of blocking the constitutional process.

"They're saying we're just trying to speak on behalf of evangelical Christians. No, we're speaking as evangelical Christians," the seminary president said. "But I'm going to speak on behalf of former Alabama Attorney General William Pryor who, when he faced the Senate Judiciary Committee, was confronted by some who said they opposed him because of 'deeply held personal beliefs.'"

Mohler explained that Pryor is a Roman Catholic, and that is his Catholic beliefs to which his critics were referring. "Those are his deeply held personal beliefs," Mohler said -- then added this warning: "If it's a Roman Catholic attorney general from Alabama [being discriminated against] today, it could be you or it could be yours tomorrow."

Mohler says Christians have to be concerned about who's serving on the courts. "Religious liberty is on the line here -- because the courts also hold, by their constitutional role, a responsibility to defend our religious liberty," he explained. "But in far too many cases judges have constrained and violated our religious liberty -- and so now are some members of the United States Senate."

Note: We do not know if Mohler spoke out against the Decision of former Alabama Attorney General William Pryor who worked hard to remove Alabama Supreme Court Justice Moore from the Bench for his Support of the Ten Commandments and the Underlying Christian Foundations of American Law

It's as if the Reformation had never happened

The Pope's death exposes the erosion of confidence in our institutions

The Guardian - Ap 5/05 - The real dynamic behind this new pragmatic ecumenism towards Catholicism comes from the severe modern erosion of commitment and confidence in the national institutions handed down to us by history, notably by the Reformation and the Glorious Revolution. Legislation, such as the Acts of Supremacy in 1534 and of Settlement in 1701, has bequeathed us an established church, a limited monarchy and a system of parliamentary government. But the whole edifice is now in need of some serious repair work.

Yesterday the competing demands of a prince, a pope and a prime minister seemed to be turning into a constitutional version of the scissors-paper-stone game. Why does a papal funeral require a premier to postpone a dissolution of parliament? Or the heir to the throne to defer his marriage? Is it more important for the Archbishop of Canterbury to conduct a royal wedding or to attend the obsequies in Rome? Could the princely nuptials be postponed to the middle of a general election campaign? It is impossible to answer such questions without priorities.

There are three ways of dealing with delicate and uncertain constitutional relationships of this kind. The first is to do things by the rules. Yet if Britain had been going by the rules, there would have been no question where the duty of the prime minister and the archbishop lay. They would have put the remarriage of the Prince of Wales first and ignored the coincidence of the funeral in Rome. Because the rules are an anachronism, they did the opposite.

The second is to make it up as you go along. This is essentially what the advisers to the prince, the premier and the primate are all doing. They may be responsible for ensuring that the rules are maintained, but in the final analysis they too are in awe of John Paul's celebrity and are keen to be popular. So they juggle the pieces in order to have the best of both worlds - joining the big event at the Vatican, then tidying up the business at Windsor, leaving the stage free for the launch of the general election.

There is, though, a third way. As this week shows, our constitutional relationships are currently in a rare muddle. We are reduced to picking and mixing among the elements of the inherited constitutional settlement, rather than honouring and celebrating it as a whole with indiscriminate confidence, as we should. We improvise inconsistently. This week our established leaders will do honour to Catholicism on Friday, then perpetuate Catholicism's subordination on Saturday.

As a result we have an Act of Settlement which simultaneously contains provisions which are inspiring - such as the independence of the judiciary - and others which are absurd - like the bans on Catholic monarchs or consorts. If there is one over-arching lesson for Britain from the swirling political, religious and constitutional issues of the moment it is surely that we need a new Act of Settlement, one which defines the proper spheres and relationships of the crown, the government, the parliament, the judiciary, the component peoples and their faiths in 21st- rather than 18th-century terms. And if we want to decide whether Charles should be king or Camilla should be queen, we can do that at the same time too, much as they did when they specified the succession to Queen Anne in 1701.

Friday, April 8, 2005

ITALIAN EVANGELICALS: "A VERY ROMAN POPE"
Roman Catholicism has “Not Moved One Centimeter”

By Wolfgang Polzer
Special to ASSIST News Service

ROME (ANS) -- While Italian evangelicals are joining millions around the world mourning the death of Pope John Paul II, they are also recognizing the theological differences between Roman Catholicism and the evangelical faith.

The Italian Evangelical Alliance (IEA) issued a statement in Rome, April 7. Beyond the feelings of grief and loss which evangelicals share, the passing of the pope calls for serious reflection. According to the Alliance, John Paul II’s pontificate of 26 years stands “in many ways as a parable of present-day Roman Catholicism, in which the salient features of the Roman Catholic Church in her present-day outlook can be clearly seen.”

In spite of apparent ecumenical and inter-religious openness the traditional Roman Catholic belief system “has not moved one centimeter”. The Alliance: “While respecting his person and zeal, John Paul II has been a very Catholic, yet very Roman pope.”

In 1999 the IEA issued a document on Roman Catholicism, in which it stated that the evangelical faith is theologically alternative to the Roman Catholic system. According to the document Roman Catholicism is an ambiguous system of faith – “a Yes and No to the Gospel at the same time”.

While recognizing many areas of common ethical concern with Roman Catholicism, the Alliance emphasizes that the calling of the evangelical faith is to be “a confessing and exclusive Yes to Jesus Christ, in the power of the Spirit and to the glory of God the Father”.

The statement closes: “A pope like John Paul II, who had as his motto totus tuus (completely yours) addressed to Mary surely is not a pope who has been close to an evangelical spirit.” Italy has 57.7 million inhabitants; more than 90 per cent belong to the Roman Catholic Church, while Protestants account for approximately one percent.

Theological Seminary President Takes Early Leave After Lesbian Marriage Controversy

Christian Post - Apr 04/05 - The president of an Reformed Church-affiliated Seminary left his position three months early partly because of his involvement with a gay wedding ceremony last year.

BackStabbed: Law of the Sea - Conservatives denounce GOP & Bush Administration support of treaty giving U.N. Sovereignty

Leaders of the conservative movement yesterday openly broke with the Bush administration over the Law of the Sea Treaty, which they say sacrifices U.S. sovereignty.
They warned Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, Tennessee Republican, and other members of his party in Congress that their continued backing of the treaty could cost them the support of conservative voters.
"The conservative movement is opposed to the Law of the Sea Treaty and to the administration's support of the treaty," American Conservative Union Chairman David A. Keene said at a press conference, held during a break in sessions on the second day of the 32nd annual Conservative Political Action Conference.

Sen. James M. Inhofe, Oklahoma Republican and chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee, which has held hearings on the treaty, said that if ratified, the treaty could force the United States to concede too much power to the United Nations.
He also said it could undermine America's ability to protect itself from terrorist attack by restricting shipboard inspections.
The treaty gives the United Nations power to regulate and settle disputes among member countries regarding all aspects of the seas' resources and the uses of the ocean, including navigational rights, territorial sea limits and conservation and management of the marine environment.

Sunday, March 13, 2005

GUNMAN KILLS EIGHT AT NON-EVANGELICAL CHURCH SERVICE

By Jeremy Reynalds
Special Correspondent for ASSIST News Service

MILWAUKEE, WIS. (ANS) -- Police said Sunday they don't know why Terry Ratzmann burst into a Wisconsin church service and opened fire, killing seven people and then himself.

Ratzmann, 44, stopped to reload his handgun during his assault Saturday on a Living Church of God service at a Sheraton Hotel in Brookfield, CNN reported police said.

No suicide note or other documents have been found, and there was nothing in his background “that would jump out, as to why he would have done this,” CNN reported Brookfield police Capt. Phil Horter said.

CNN reported police said Ratzmann entered the service about 20 minutes after it began, saying nothing prior to pulling out his gun and opening fire. He shot 22 rounds, stopping to reload an additional magazine into the handgun.

A woman who witnessed the shootings, however, said Ratzmann did speak, telling worshipers he had three clips of ammunition and he intended to kill all of them -- and himself.

According to CNN four victims remained hospitalized Sunday. The victims ranged in age from 10 to 72; the 10-year-old was among those recovering. The victims were in the same general area of the room, police said.

“This is a terrible tragedy,” read a statement posted on the Charlotte, North Carolina-based Living Church of God Web site . “We are cooperating with the authorities to find out what happened. Information is still coming in. We have deep concern and are fervently praying for the injured and for the families of the deceased.”

WHAT IS THE LIVING CHURCH OF GOD?

Even though some media (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4345827.stm and www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/11127224.htm) have been describing the Living Church of God as evangelical, it is not.

Described by one newspaper as a “small, obscure church” (www.jsonline.com/news/state/mar05/309134.asp), the Living Church of God is a splinter group, led by Roderick Meredith, of the formerly controversial Worldwide Church of God (WCOG) founded by Herbert Armstrong.

Meredith has reportedly said (htp://home.datawest.net/esn-recovery/artcls/all_noth.htm), “The Living Church of God is carrying on the teachings and practices ... of Herbert Armstrong more than any other group on earth! ... LCOG is the true Church of God which teaches and practices Apostolic Christianity.”

The Watchman Fellowship commented (www.watchman.org/cat95.htm#W) that WCOG formerly rejected the essential doctrines of evangelical Christianity, denied the doctrine of the Trinity, [denied] the full deity of Jesus Christ and [denied] the personality of the Holy Spirit.

“The church epitomized the somewhat eclectic set of beliefs and practices that became known as Armstrongism,” the Watchman Fellowship wrote. “Beginning in the early 1990's under the leadership Armstrong’s successors, Joseph W. Tkach and his son Joe Tkach, this group has undergone remarkable doctrinal transformation. They now hold to a traditional evangelical position on the nature of God and the gospel, teaching the Trinity and salvation by grace alone, through faith alone. Large numbers of its membership have left to join splinter groups (such as Meredith’s Living Church of God) that still teach classic Armstrongism.”

AllAfrica - Mar 11/05 - Christians of different churches in Zimbabwe eagerly await the new Bible in the Shona language whose ecumenical translation was completed some time ago.

Quoting the Bible Society (Bible House), the Zimbabwe-based Jesuit Communications said the text is being typeset in Nairobi, Kenya.

"A staff member of Bible House is going to Nairobi to assist in the process," Jesuit Communications said in its publication, Intouch with Church and Faith (Number 31, of March 11, 2005). "The printing will be done in China or South Korea, which are offering the most favourable terms. Also Brazil was considered. There are still problems about raising the necessary foreign currency. It is hoped that the new Shona Bible will become available before the end of the year."

The publication said that the old version, Bhaibheri rinoera, of 1979, "which contained so many faults and omissions that a completely new translation became necessary" is still being reprinted, due to a great demand.

An ecumenical team that included the Catholic priest Fr Ignatius Chidavaenzi of Chinhoyi Diocese worked for many years to come up with proper translation.

(AgapePress) - Feb 18/05 - After holding lengthy public debate on the matter, a school board in rural Virginia has decided to continue offering Bible classes in the district.

The six-member Staunton School Board voted 5-1 in favor of retaining Weekday Religious Education (WRE) in schools. The program, under which parents give written permission for their child to leave the school campus for non-denominational religious education, has been in existence in Staunton for more than 50 years. However some parents in the district, with aid from the American Civil Liberties Union, have assailed the program, arguing it has no place in public schools.

Jack Hinton heads a group affiliated with the Virginia Council of Churches, which funds and administers the Bible classes. Hinton says opponents of WRE "fallaciously" claimed the program would negatively affect learning standards required under President Bush's No Child Left Behind Act. He explains those opponents changed their tune when proponents of the program began to move.

"Shooting down the opponents' argument and the threat of a lawsuit carried all the way possibly to the Supreme Court -- and we were prepared [to do that] -- gave pause to the school board," Hinton says, "and they opted wisely not to pursue it any further."

According to The Rutherford Institute, a non-profit civil liberties group in Charlottesville, Virginia, the school board may have been in trouble had they chosen otherwise. John Whitehead, the Institute's president, says programs such as WRE are "wholly consistent" with the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and the religious heritage of the nation.

"[F]ar from being illegal," Whitehead stated earlier this month, "Stauton's [WRE] program is in the best tradition of cooperation between the state institutions and the people represented by those institutions." And any claims the program is constitutionally suspect, he added, "must be rejected."

There may have been another factor behind the board's decision, according to Hinton. He contends the board may have been influenced by a high-profile Christian attorney, former Paula Jones attorney Gil Davis, who lobbied on behalf of WRE proponents.

"The very presence of [Davis] and the threat of a lawsuit based on First Amendment rights, and [the opposition's hostility] to religious freedom and the exercise of it, I think turned the tide," he says.

Hinton says 95 percent of eligible students in grades 1 through 3 have participated in the WRE program, which is supported by 85 percent of the Staunton community.

LANGLEY, Va. (AP) - And now, a look into the future: al-Qaida, out; murky and scattered new terror cells, in. Hollywood, out; India's Bollywood in. America as dominant superpower, out; China and India as world players, in.

At least, that's what U.S. intelligence future-gazers predicted Thursday. "How we mentally map the world of 2020 will change radically," said the National Intelligence Council chairman Robert Hutchings at the release of his panel's new report, Project 2020. Newly arriving powers "have the potential to render obsolete the old categories of East and West, North and South."

The unclassified forecasts offer a range of scenarios about the world 15 years on. Officials caution they are not meant to be predictions certain to come true but rather long-term outlooks designed to stimulate debate at the start of a new administration, in the works months before President George W. Bush won.

The council predicts an emergence of new global players - almost certainly China and India - but whether these new players fit into the world co-operatively or competitively remains an important uncertainty for the United States.

Council vice-chairman David Gordon said the changes ahead could be "a very bumpy ride." Among them, he said, the integration of one billion low-paid workers will cause global shifts in rich and poor countries alike. Changes will be experienced politically, economically and even culturally, as Korean pop singers gain international popularity and India's Bollywood movie industry outshines Hollywood.

"Of course, the United States is in good shape to participate in this world but it will be a world that will be much more competitive for us," Gordon said.

Hutchings said this new order will raise the stakes for Arab countries, which may join in globalization trends or experience further alienation and humiliation. Terror threats, too, will change.

A team of analysts, consulting with over 1,000 international experts over the last year, assembled Project 2020, which follows projects 2010 and 2015

BBC - Dec 6/04 -The war on terror has made the world less safe and is not addressing the underlying causes of conflict, Pakistan's president has told the BBC.

In an interview for the Newsnight programme, it was suggested to Gen Pervez Musharraf the world was less safe - in part because of the campaign.

"Absolutely," he said, adding that the social grievances that helped recruit terrorists were not being addressed.

WASHINGTON - Nov 27/04 -President Bush's re-election insures that more federal money will flow to abstinence education that precludes discussion of birth control, even as the administration awaits evidence that the approach gets kids to refrain from sex.

Congress last weekend included more than $131 million for abstinence programs in a $388 billion spending bill, an increase of $30 million but about $100 million less than Bush requested. Meanwhile, a national evaluation of abstinence programs has been delayed, with a final report not expected until 2006.

Ten state evaluations, compiled by a group that opposes abstinence-only education, showed little change in teens' behavior since the start of abstinence programs in 1997.

The president has been a strong proponent of school-based sexual education that focuses on abstinence, but does not include instruction on safe sex

Naval technician Chris Cranmer, 24, has been allowed to register by the captain of HMS Cumberland, based at Devonport Naval Base in Plymouth.

The move will mean that he will now be allowed to perform Satanic rituals on board the vessel.

According to the Sunday Telegraph, Mr Cranmer realised he was a Satanist nine years ago.

Mr Cranmer said that was when he stumbled across a copy of the Satanic Bible, written by Church of Satan founder Anton Szandor LaVey.

He said: "I then read more and more and came to realise I'd always been a Satanist, just simply never knew."

Mr Cranmer, who is from Edinburgh, is now lobbying the Ministry of Defence to make Satanism a registered religion in the armed forces.

Former Tory minister Ann Widdecombe said she was "utterly shocked" by the Royal Navy's decision.

"Satanism is wrong. Obviously the private beliefs of individuals anywhere, including the armed forces, are their own affair but I hope it doesn't spread."

She added: "The Navy should not permit Satanist practices on board its ships.

Thursday, November 18, 2004

ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOPS JOIN "CHRISTIAN ALLIANCE"
U.S. Coalition Includes Evangelicals, Protestants and Catholics

By Michael Ireland
Chief Correspondent, ASSIST News Service

WASHINGTON, D.C, (ANS) -- Roman Catholic bishops from around the country this week considered joining the broadest alliance of Christians ever formed in the United States, according to news sources covering their meeting in the nation’s capital.

The proposed ecumenical alliance, called Christian Churches Together in the U.S.A., would include evangelicals, mainline Protestants, Orthodox Christians and Catholics. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops took up the issue during its fall meeting Wednesday.

The group hopes to collectively represent Christian views on different issues. The Catholic Church in other countries belongs to similar interdenominational organizations.

The nation's Roman Catholic bishops voted Wednesday to join the new alliance that would be the broadest Christian group ever formed in the United States, linking American evangelicals and Catholics in an ecumenical organization for the first time.

The alliance, called Christian Churches Together in the U.S.A., is set to kick off next year. It would include mainline Protestants, Orthodox Christians, and black and other minority churches. With about 67 million U.S. members, the Catholic Church would be the largest denomination.

"It's not to create some kind of megabody or megachurch," said Bishop Stephen Blaire, chairman of the ecumenical committee for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

"It is a forum for participation so that we can pray together, grow in our understanding together and witness together our faith," he said.

The vote came as the bishops worked to wrap up business at their fall meeting, which ended Thursday.

It is considered a biblical imperative for Christians to find ways to build unity among their different denominations. Pope John Paul II has made such efforts a priority of his pontificate.

The bishops approved the proposal 151-73. Blaire, of Stockton, California, called Wednesday's vote "important and historic."

The Catholic Church has ongoing ecumenical dialogues with many denominations. However, some evangelical and Pentecostal churches have resisted participating.

In the floor debate Wednesday, New York Cardinal Edward Egan noted those churches were worried that such talks risked "watering down their faith."

In fact, the evangelical Southern Baptist Convention, which has more than 16 million members and is the largest Protestant denomination in the country, has so far not agreed to fully join Christian Churches Together.

Blaire said that among the evangelicals who have agreed to participate are the Salvation Army and the International Pentecostal Holiness Church.

The bishops voted to join Christian Churches Together in the U.S.A., an ecumenical alliance that would be the broadest Christian group ever formed in the United States, even including the current National Council of Churches.

While the group, scheduled to start in 2005, also includes mainline Protestants, Orthodox Christians, and black and other minority churches, it marks the first formal Catholic cooperation with many American evangelical churches. However, such conservative Protestant groups as the Assemblies of God and the Southern Baptist Convention are not involved.

With more than 60 million members in the United States, the Catholic Church would be the alliance's largest denomination by far, news sources said.

Former Labor Secretary Robert B. Reich has declared war on evangelical Christians. At least we can be grateful for his candor.

For years the liberal-left and its minions in the media and judiciary have waged a relentless -- albeit a covert -- offensive against Judeo-Christian values and done everything short of homicide to drive religious expression from the public square. Reich makes explicit what has for some time been the stealth strategy of progressive politics.

What will a Bush Victory mean for Islamists moved into positions of prominence thanks to the White House ?

On the afternoon of September 26, George W. Bush gathered 15 prominent Muslim- and Arab-Americans at the White House. With cameras rolling, the president proclaimed that "the teachings of Islam are teachings of peace and good." It was a critically important moment, a statement to the world that America's Muslim leaders unambiguously reject the terror committed in Islam's name.

Unfortunately, many of the leaders present hadn't unambiguously rejected it. To the president's left sat Dr. Yahya Basha, president of the American Muslim Council, an organization whose leaders have repeatedly called Hamas "freedom fighters." Also in attendance was Salam Al-Marayati, executive director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council, who on the afternoon of September 11 told a Los Angeles public radio audience that "we should put the State of Israel on the suspect list." And sitting right next to President Bush was Muzammil Siddiqi, president of the Islamic Society of North America, who last fall told a Washington crowd chanting pro-Hezbollah slogans, "America has to learn if you remain on the side of injustice, the wrath of God will come." Days later, after a conservative activist confronted Karl Rove with dossiers about some of Bush's new friends, Rove replied, according to the activist, "I wish I had known before the event took place."

If the administration was caught unaware, it may be because they placed their trust in one of the right's most influential activists: Grover Norquist. As president of Americans for Tax Reform, Norquist is best known for his tireless crusades against big government. But one of Norquist's lesser-known projects over the last few years has been bringing American Muslims into the Republican Party.

And, as he usually does, Norquist has succeeded. According to several sources, Norquist helped orchestrate various post-September 11 events that brought together Muslim leaders and administration officials. "He worked with Muslim leaders to engineer [Bush]'s prominent visit to the Mosque," says the Arab-American pollster John Zogby, referring to the president's September 17 trip to the Islamic Center of Washington. Says Zogby, who counts Norquist among his clients, "Absolutely, he's central to the White House outreach." Indeed, when Jewish activists and terrorism experts complained about the Muslim invitees to Adam Goldman, who works in the White House public liaison's office, Goldman replied that Norquist had vouched for them. (Goldman denies this, but two separate sources say they heard him say it.) "Just like [administration officials] ask my advice on inviting religious figures to the White House," says Paul Weyrich, another top conservative activist, "they rely on Grover's help [with Muslims]."

Norquist denies being involved in "micromanaging the specifics" of White House meetings, but admits "I have been a long time advocate of outreach to the Muslim community." In fact, the record suggests that he has spent quite a lot of time promoting people openly sympathetic to Islamist terrorists. And it's starting to cause him problems. Weyrich, echoing other movement conservatives, says he is "not pleased" with Norquist's activity. According to one intelligence official who recently left the government, a number of counterterrorism agents at the FBI and CIA are "**ssed as hell about the situation [in the White House] and **ssed as hell about Grover." They should be. While nobody suggests that Norquist himself is soft on terrorism, his lobbying has helped provide radical Islamic groups--and their causes--a degree of legitimacy and access they assuredly do not deserve.

"Islam is a vibrant faith. Millions of our fellow citizens are Muslim. We respect the faith. We honor its traditions. Our enemy does not. Our enemy doesn't follow the great traditions of Islam. They've hijacked a great religion." -- President George W. Bush, October 11, 2002

President George W. Bush welcomes American Muslim Leaders and Ambassadors from Islamic nations to the Iftaar Dinner in celebration of Ramadan in the State Dining Room Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2004.

President's Ramadan Message - 2004
October 15, 2004

I send warm greetings to Muslims in the United States and around the world as they begin observance of Ramadan, the holiest season in their faith.

Ramadan commemorates the revelation of the Qur'an to Muhammed. By teaching the importance of compassion, justice, mercy, and peace, the Qur'an has guided many millions of believers across the centuries. Today, this holy time is still set aside for Muslims to remember their dependence on God through fasting and prayer, and to show charity to those in need.

American history has taught us to welcome the contributions of men and women of all faiths, for we share the fundamental values of religious freedom, love of family, and gratitude to God. Americans who practice the Islamic faith enrich our society and help our Nation build a better future.

Laura joins me in sending our best wishes.

GEORGE W. BUSH

At a black-tie dinner on November 5^th, nearly 300 conservative activists and politicians gathered at Washington’s May Hotel to recognize a prominent fixture in their community: tax-advocate and conservative coalition-builder Grover Norquist.

The talk that evening was of the honoree’s tireless efforts to advance his libertarian objective of down-sizing federal, state and local governments by reducing their revenues. He was toasted for organizing nationwide initiatives to memorialize Ronald Reagan, notably with the renaming of the capital’s National Airport after the former President.

Most in the audience were surely unaware that the effect of their tribute – if not its organizers’ intended purpose – was to provide urgently needed political cover for a man who has been active on another, far less laudable and, in fact, deeply problematic front: Enabling a political influence operation to advance the causes of radical Islamists, and targeted most particularly at the Bush Administration. The growing influence of this operation – and the larger Islamist enterprise principally funded by Saudia Arabia – has created a strategic vulnerability for the nation, and a political liability for its President.

The Islamist Connection: Abdurahman Alamoudi

The association between Grover Norquist and Islamists appears to have started about five years ago, in 1998, when he became the founding chairman of an organization called the Islamic Free Market Institute, better known as the Islamic Institute.¹ The Institute’s stated purpose was to cultivate Muslim-Americans and Arab-Americans whose attachment to conservative family values and capitalism made them potential allies for the Republican Party in advance of the 2000 presidential election.

If successful, such an outreach effort could theoretically produce a windfall in votes and campaign contributions. Consequently, it enjoyed the early support of Karl Rove, when he was then-Governor Bush’s political advisor, and who knew Norquist from their days in the College Republicans.

Unfortunately, some associated with the Islamic Institute evidently had another agenda. Abdurahman Alamoudi, for one, a self-described “supporter of Hamas and Hezbollah,”² the prime-mover behind the American Muslim Council (AMC) and a number of other U.S.-based Islamist-sympathizing/supporting organizations, saw in the Islamic Institute a golden opportunity to hedge his bets.

For years, Alamoudi had cultivated ties with the Democratic Party and its partisans, and contributed significant amounts to its candidates. These donations had given Alamoudi access to the Clinton White House and enabled him and his associates to secure the right to select, train and certify Muslim chaplains for the U.S. military.³

By the end of the 1990s, an AMC spin-off called the American Muslim Armed Forces and Veterans Affairs Council and a like-minded organization, the Islamic Society of North America, were responsible for selecting all U.S. Muslim chaplains.⁴ One of these appointees – Army Captain Yousef Yee – has lately been in the news. Yee has been removed from his duties ministering to Taliban and al-Qaeda detainees at Guantanamo pending military judicial proceedings for, among other alleged misconduct, mishandling classified material.

For an Islamist-sympathizer like Alamoudi, the opportunity to determine who would minister to Muslims in the U.S. military was an important strategic prize. It built upon a Saudi-sponsored initiative dating back to the time of Operation Desert Storm to convert members of the American armed forces to Wahhabi Sunnism,5 the religious doctrine of the Islamic radicals. It has been reported that Saudi Arabia provided more than 100 such service personnel⁶ – including Captain Yee⁷ – with free trips to Mecca to make the hajj. (The nature and implications of these Islamist initiatives are under investigation by the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Terrorism Subcommittee, chaired by Senator Jon Kyl, R-AZ, and by the Defense Department’s Inspector General.)

In the mid-1990s, Alamoudi also had a hand in the recruitment and placement of another 75-100 so-called “Islamic lay leaders” for the U.S. military. According to the Wall Street Journal, he arranged for “an arm of the Saudi government” called the Institute of Islamic and Arabic Sciences to train “soldiers and civilians to provide spiritual guidance when paid Muslim chaplains aren’t available.” The Journal also reports that there are signs that “the school…disseminates the intolerant and anti-Western strain of Islam espoused by the [Saudi] kingdom’s religious establishment.”⁸

The right to select military chaplains not only offered Alamoudi and his colleagues the chance to recruit still more Islamists with specialized and highly useful skill-sets. It also was an invaluable legitimating credential to be wielded against those who might otherwise regard the American Muslim Council and its leader with suspicion, or worse.

It would, therefore, have been important to retain this role even if the Democratic presidential candidate, Al Gore, were to lose and Republicans come to power. Hence, Abdurahman Alamoudi took an interest in one of the GOP’s most assiduous and influential networkers, Grover Norquist.

It seems unlikely that even in Alamoudi’s wildest dreams he could have imagined the extent of the access, influence and legitimacy the American Muslim Council and allied Islamist organizations would be able to secure in Republican circles, thanks to the investment they began in 1998 in a relationship with Norquist.

The investment began when Alamoudi wrote two personal checks (a $10,000 loan and what appears to be a $10,000 gift) to help found Norquist’s Islamic Institute.9 In addition, Alamoudi made payments in 2000 and 2001 totaling $50,000 to Janus-Merritt Strategies, a lobbying firm with which Norquist was associated at the time.10

For Islamic believers, the idea of translating the Qur'an (Koran/Coran) is absurd

More on the deleterious influence of Grover Norquist on anti-terror policy. From Frank Gaffney in FrontPage mag: "Why is an associate of groups sympathetic to radical Islamists a policy director at the Department for Homeland Security?"

March 04 - BBC - The Disney Company has signed a deal to co-finance and distribute a new film of CS Lewis's children's classic The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

The film is expected to reach cinemas by Christmas 2004 and may lead to a number of movies based on the seven books in Lewis's Narnia Chronicles.

Walt Disney chairman Dick Cook said it had "the potential to be just the start of an extraordinary series".

Earlier in the year CS Lewis publisher HarperCollins signed an agreement with the CS Lewis Company making them the primary publisher of Lewis's works.

HarperCollins has since developed plans to write new books based on the existing titles, which have already sold more than 65 million copies worldwide.

Prominent writers including novelist Piers Paul Read and CS Lewis biographer AN Wilson are among those who have denounced the plans.

"They're turning Narnia into a British version of Mickey Mouse," John G West, co-editor of The CS Lewis Readers Encyclopaedia told the New York Times.

"What they've figured out is that Harry Potter is a cash cow. And here's a way they can decompartmentalise the children's novels from the rest of Lewis."

Academics are most angry at reports that religious references will be removed

RICHMOND, Virginia (AP) -- Aug 10/04 - A judge has ruled that a gay activist must stop using a variation of the Rev. Jerry Falwell's name in the address for a Web site critical of the conservative television evangelist

Our Israel-bashing libraries
January 11, 2004

Are you ready for this one? Hamas and Fateh are not terrorist groups. They are political organizations!!! That is what it says on a website, and sadly, you do not have to be very naive to believe it. You see, a librarian put it together, and people tend to trust librarians. They think of them as knowledgeable and fair-minded. Well, maybe they shouldn't.

Harvard president's remarks, Web site ignite campus wars
[background of current events]

NEW YORK, Oct. 1 (JTA) — Even before Daniel Pipes arrived at the University of Oklahoma for a speech this week, his opponents were waiting for him.

The Oklahoma Daily campus paper carried two letters to the editor on Tuesday blasting Campus Watch, a Web site Pipes created that monitors professors and institutions it deems anti-Israeli or anti-American.

NPR accused of 'censorship'
Radio network cancels anti-evolution guest at last minute

Jun 4/04 - National Public Radio is being criticized for canceling a scheduled interview with an anti-evolution high-school biology teacher while allowing a pro-evolution teacher to appear on the program. Full Story Here

Christian churches
running on empty?
Research indicates number of Americans who don't attend services nearly doubling

Despite a 15 percent rise in the U.S. population, a new survey shows the number of Americans who don't go to church has nearly doubled in the past 13 years, rising from 39 million to 75 million.

The report by the Barna Group, a California-based consulting firm following trends related to faith, culture and leadership in the country, says the percentage of adults that is "unchurched" has risen from 21 percent in 1991 to 34 percent today.

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. - A school board in conservative Orange County refused to implement a state policy that protects transgender students, saying the measure is immoral and promotes transsexuality.

According to Home Depot policy, Christian-based organizations "need not apply" when it comes to requesting donations which benefit the community. That's because Home Depot rejects grant applications if the organization espouses Christianity.

American Baptist News Service (Valley Forge, Pa. 3/19/04)--American
Baptist Churches USA recently has witnessed the fastest growth of any
Protestant denomination, according to a report in the newly-released 2004
Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches.

SINGAPORE - Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera promote "degrading" sexuality that makes them bad role models for young girls, U.S. chart-topping Christian singer Stacie Orrico said Saturday before the MTV Asia Awards

States that Passed Anti-gay Marriage Laws (25): Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah and Virginia

Newton Upper Falls, MA- The Massachusetts Family Institute (MFI) hails today's decision by the Arizona Court of Appeals in rejecting the efforts of two homosexual men who attempted to acquire legal status as a married couple under Arizona law.

Newton Upper Falls-Results of a new poll from the Boston Globe and WBZ-TV were released today. The poll shows that 50 percent of Massachusetts residents support gay marriage while 44 percent oppose it. These results are misleading.

Newton Upper Falls, MA - A new study, released yesterday, shows that the prevailing method of sex education does not meet parents' approval.. Tracking parental attitudes on sex education, the survey contradicts accepted claims by organizations like Planned Parenthood that 80 percent of parents support "safe sex" education.

...In North Carolina, a district judge has decided to reconsider his plan to remove God from the courtroom by using neutral oaths that are often called "secular affirmations." Judge James Honeycutt had planned in early April to have a "one size fits all" oath recited in his courtroom -- and oath that would not have mentioned God.

Stephen Daniels, director of research for the North Carolina Family Policy Council, tells Family News In Focus that the judge's original plan would not be as flexible as the current system. "There's a mechanism in place to where anyone who would prefer not to invoke religion in their oath can invoke what's known as a secular affirmation," Daniels says. "So he definitely is taking an action that is held by a very small minority and applying it to the majority." Now, according to the Winston-Salem Journal, Honeycutt intends to rethink his proposal -- after members of the community expressed their disapproval of the plan.

He now plans to discuss the proposed changes with court clerks and sheriffs before making a final decision. One of the counties under Honeycutt's jurisdiction is Davidson County, where about 18,000 residents signed a petition to keep "In God We Trust," the national motto, on the country government building.

Newton Upper Falls, MA - Earlier this week (2000), using flawed data, a committee of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) announced its support for the right of homosexuals to adopt each other's children.

Most of the studies are "advocacy research" designed by activists to promote a particular conclusion.

(AgapePress) - The student newspaper at the largest Baptist university in the world has endorsed homosexual "marriage."

American Indians have suffered a great deal -- but it isn't always the non-indian's fault. In 1996, the Seattle Times won a Pulitzer Prize for uncovering widespread waste and corruption by tribal leaders across the country who exploited a federal housing program meant for the poor.

The Wisconsin Assembly approved a proposed amendment to the state constitution to prohibit same-sex marriages or civil unions. The proposal must pass both houses of the Legislature twice and be approved by voters before it can take effect.

The Kansas House backed a proposed amendment banning gay marriages and benefits that associate marriage to other relationships. The measure now goes to the Senate, which could put it before voters in November

In March 2003, the American Engineering Association reported that the U.S. high-tech sector lost 560,000 jobs--a 10 percent decline--between January 2001 and December 2002. During the same period, companies sponsored more than this number of high-tech workers on H-1B and other temporary visas.

The Islamist Connection: Abdurahman Alamoudi

For Islamic believers, the idea of translating the Qur'an (Koran/Coran) is absurd

The Faisal Gill Affair