Day: February 26, 2023
Interfaith Shrine Features Muslims Denouncing Others There
Catholic Cardinal Opens ‘Abrahamic Family House’ With Muslims Praying Prayers Denouncing Jews and Christians
BY ROBERT SPENCER
Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.
Cardinal Michael Fitzgerald, the Roman Catholic Church’s apostolic nuncio emeritus to Egypt and apostolic delegate emeritus to the Arab League, as well as a past president of the Pontifical Council for Irreligious, er, that is, Interreligious Dialogue, on Sunday represented Pope Francis at the first prayer service in St. Francis of Assisi Church in Abu Dhabi, which is part of the new Abrahamic Family House, an interfaith shrine that comprises not just a church, but also a synagogue and a mosque. What could possibly go wrong? Plenty.
“The place of prayer,” Fitzgerald announced happily, “should also be a place of joy, and I hope that this will be true for all of us here present.” Fitzgerald also expressed the hope that the new three-in-one house of worship would be “a house of prayer for all the peoples.” Maybe it will, but Fitzgerald and his colleagues are ignoring the fact that the Islamic prayers held in the building three days before the St. Francis of Assisi Church was inaugurated were hardly as welcoming to non-Muslims as the Christians and Jews have been to the Muslims.
ChurchMilitant.com reported Wednesday that Fitzgerald also said: “Worship opens us up to others, instilling in us care for justice, encouraging us to act with integrity. We cannot truly pray to God without remembering the other members of the Abrahamic family, and indeed of the human family.” Meanwhile, however, one of the other “members of the Abrahamic family” was not quite as generous. Muslims “had earlier prayed the Maghrib prayer in the mosque section of the shrine on Thursday evening.” According to a Muslim jurist who converted to Christianity, this was not the wonderful manifestation of interfaith harmony that Fitzgerald assumed it to be: “Remarkably, Cdl. Fitzgerald, an acclaimed Islamic scholar, ignored the fact that the Maghrib prayer contains Surah Al-Fatiha, which is one of the most anti-Christian and anti-Jewish texts in the Qur’an. The inclusion of this prayer, which is considered indispensable in Muslim worship, tells us everything we need to know about how serious Muslims are about interfaith dialogue.”
Indeed. The Fatiha (Opening) is the first sura (chapter) of the Qur’an and the most common prayer of Islam. If you’re a pious Muslim who prays the five requisite daily prayers of Islam, you will recite the Fatiha seventeen times in the course of those prayers. The final two verses of the Fatiha ask Allah: “Guide us to the straight path, the path of those whom you have favored, not of those who have earned your anger, or of those who have gone astray.”
The traditional Islamic understanding of this is that the “straight path” is Islam, while the path “of those who have evoked Allah’s anger” are the Jews, and those who have gone “astray” are the Christians. The classic Qur’anic commentator Ibn Kathir explains that “the two paths He described here are both misguided,” and that those “two paths are the paths of the Christians and Jews, a fact that the believer should beware of so that he avoids them.” Ibn Kathir is not alone; in fact, most Muslim commentators believe that the Jews are those who have earned Allah’s wrath and the Christians are those who have gone astray.
Related: Pope Benedict Unleashes Posthumous BOMBSHELL on the Catholic Church
So as Cardinal Fitzgerald opened his “house of prayer for all the peoples,” one of the three principal groups included in it was praying not to be like the other two, but to be guided instead to the truth. What’s more, as I explained to Church Militant, no matter how friendly the relations are between the groups in the Abrahamic Family House, this friendliness will not lead Muslims to abandon core Islamic doctrines regarding how Christians wrongly proclaim Christ’s divinity and are under the curse of Allah as a result (cf. Qur’an 9:30; 5:17).
As in all other cases, Muslim/Christian dialogue is seen on the Muslim side as an opportunity to proselytize for Islam and intimidate Christians into fearing to discuss the rampant Muslim persecution of Christians, for fear of harming the dialogue. This interfaith shrine in Abu Dhabi is Pope Francis’ house of cards. It will result in nothing lasting except the continued ignorance and complacency of Catholics regarding the threat of Islamic jihad. Leftist Catholics such as Fitzgerald who think this is a positive step are being naïve. At best.
Biden Regime Again Shows Its Hatred of the Freedom of Speech
President Biden’s latest nominee for the federal appeals court that oversees New York and Connecticut has suggested criminalizing speech against “oppressed groups” and led trainings that taught law school graduates about how “microaggressions” can “kill you.”
Yet Another Biden Appointee Hates Freedom of Speech
Meditating on the so-called “fighting words” exception to the First Amendment — which applies to speech deemed likely to provoke violence — Kahn wrote: “The ultimate inquiry of the fighting words exception is whether a speaker’s words would reasonably result in a violent reaction by its intended recipient.”
BY ROBERT SPENCER
Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.
How much does the Biden regime hate the freedom of speech that the First Amendment guarantees to Americans? Last year, it tried to establish a Disinformation Governance Board to restrict speech that opposed its agenda but had to back down after a public outcry. Then there was Biden’s handlers’ collusion with the Big Tech giants to silence dissenters from the regime’s COVID narrative. And now comes Maria Araujo Kahn, the regime’s nominee for the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, a “diversity trainer” who has called for the criminalization of speech she dislikes. Is there no one at all connected with this appalling administration who actually believes in freedom?
The Washington Free Beacon reported Friday that Kahn, who is currently an associate justice of the Connecticut State Supreme Court, “has argued for curtailing the First Amendment and conducted training sessions that say ‘microaggressions’ can ‘kill you.’” As is so much of today’s fetid cultural swamp, “microaggressions” are an invention of the Left; apparently the idea is that giving someone an unkind glance when asked one’s pronouns, or fleetingly appearing irritated and bored during a windy and fact-free lecture about systemic racism, is a heinous crime that calls for anti-free speech legislation.
As absurd as this is, Kahn appears to be deadly serious about it, as Leftists always are. “Since 2013,” the Free Beacon notes, she has given “at least a dozen diversity trainings and presentations to lawyers across the country.” According to her Senate Judiciary Questionnaire, she has been busy offering the kind of presentations that would make one prefer to have one’s teeth pulled out with rusty pliers and no anesthesia. A popular one is evidently “Turn Off Auto-Pilot: Cultural Competence, Implicit Association, and Racial Anxiety,” which she has inflicted on hapless audiences more than once. She must really pack ‘em in for that one.
The Free Beacon adds that “to prepare for one of those trainings, offered to graduates of Fordham Law School, participants were instructed to watch an animated video, ‘How Microaggressions Are Like Mosquito Bites,’ that depicts a man-sized mosquito telling a dark-hued college student to ‘try a less challenging major’ and then sucking him dry.” That Whitey! Where is a flyswatter when you need one? In this video, a voice intones: “Some mosquitoes carry truly threatening diseases that can mess up your life for years. And other mosquitos carry strains that can even kill you.” Yes, Whitey will stop at nothing: “The video then cuts to a mosquito holding a gun next to a dead body. ‘I felt threatened,’ the insect tells officers at the scene of the crime. ‘It looked like he was up to trouble, ok?’” Yeah, happens every day. But there is payback in Maria Araujo Kahn’s world: “Another clip depicts a black woman murdering several mosquitos with a flamethrower after they ask to touch her hair.” Ah, proportional justice at last!
Related: Is GOP Free Speech Party or Not? Sen. Tom Cotton Sinks Press Freedom Act
Kahn also appears to be as earnest about restricting speech as she is about “microaggressions.” In a 2020 opinion, according to the Free Beacon, she suggested that “courts should criminalize speech that offends ‘oppressed groups.’” She wants to expand the “‘fighting words’ exception to the First Amendment—which bans speech likely to spark violence—on the grounds that some groups are unlikely or unable to physically retaliate against insults. That means they ‘must endure a higher level of offensive speech before being afforded legal remedies,’ she wrote.” Where are racial minorities being verbally abused on a regular basis in the U.S., as Kahn seems to assume is happening? She doesn’t say, but she nonetheless “laments that bigots can ‘verbally assault certain oppressed groups’—especially women and the disabled—’ without fear of criminal prosecution.’” Yeah, once again, that happens every day.
Kahn, understandably enough given her fascism and disdain for dissent, “did not respond to a request for comment” from the Free Beacon. Yet last September, Kahn “sailed through the Senate judiciary committee with little pushback. A final vote on her nomination could come as soon as next week.” Will Senate Republicans ask her about her distaste for the freedom of speech? Will they challenge her on her commitment to the First Amendment? The Biden administration’s obvious opposition to the most important foundation of any free society ought to be the first and foremost element of the loyal opposition’s case against the regime. Yet Republican leaders rarely mention it at all. This only enables those who hate and want to destroy the freedom of speech to keep on advancing, largely unopposed.
Pew Reports 63% of U.S. Men Are Alone
BY LINCOLN BROWN
SEE: https://pjmedia.com/culture/lincolnbrown/2023/02/24/pew-reports-63-of-u-s-men-are-alone-n1673551;
Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.
Getting older has its problems. Hair loss, high blood pressure, and joints that suddenly no longer work like they used to are just a few. But when it comes to marriage and relationships, I thank God every day that my wife and I got married when we did. I cannot imagine being a single man today. First of all, there is no way I could keep track of all my alleged microaggressions, mansplaining, manspreading, cis-gendered patriarchal, imperialist… wait, what were we talking about again?
Second, I would have no idea if my significant other was actually a woman. She might be a woman, a trans woman, a man who identifies as a woman, a trans-man, or a nonbinary woman who identifies as a lesbian mountain goat. Try finding a greeting card and anniversary gift for that person.
Just before Valentine’s Day, when love was in the air and men were staring helplessly at the flower cooler at the grocery store, Pew Research issued an interesting set of facts about who is getting into relationships and who is not. According to Pew, six in ten young men report being single, and not “married, living with a partner or in a committed romantic relationship.” Pew reports:
When looking at age and gender together, 63% of men under 30 describe themselves as single, compared with 34% of women in the same age group. Younger men are also far more likely than older men to be single – a pattern that is not as straightforward among women. Women ages 18 to 29, for example, are just as likely as women 65 and older to report being single.
So while 63% of men between 18 and 29 are single, just 34% of women in the same age range are single. Additionally, most single adults aren’t even in the market for a significant other. Fifty-seven percent said they weren’t interested because they have “other priorities.” Oddly enough, Pew also states that single men are more likely than women to look for “romantic experiences.” Half of them want a committed relationship or a casual date. But while 42% of single people in the U.S. are looking for a girlfriend, husband, wife, or date, that number is down from 49% in 2019.
According to Breitbart, the report indicates that overall, American young men are more likely to be single, sexually uninvolved, or simply friendless. American Principles Project President Terry Schilling told Breitbart:
Men are more under attack than ever. A majority of college graduates are now women, and men are making less in the workforce. And because women expect their partner to make more than them, it’s leading to a great isolation of American men. On top of the economic attacks on men, there’s been a rise in unfettered access to pornography online so now we’re seeing a rise in not just involuntary celibate men, but a growing number of men opting out of relationships altogether. The service economy combined with the disastrous sexual revolution have wreaked havoc on our country. We need to recalibrate.
Schilling also said that the rate of suicide is four times higher for men than for women. Men are also lagging in education and degrees and are feeling isolated, which may play a role in mass shootings.
This has been the legacy of the “Boys Are Dumb — Throw Rocks at Them” t-shirts and other gear disparaging boys. But it has also been the result of girls-only STEM classes and other things meant to empower girls at the expense of boys. All of these things were meant to “level the playing field.” What they did was create an underclass, made up at least in part by boys who never had an interest in advancing the patriarchy but who also knew they were not welcome anywhere. And so began their spiral into porn and video games because they knew there was no point in leaving the house.
Congratulations feminists, you have your revenge. But because many of the men who did do terrible things are dead, retired, or are simply too self-involved to care, you inflicted that revenge on the closest people available. And in the process, you may have created another generation of men on which to blame things. The solution is not to carpet bomb an entire demographic.
To have the men that women want and society needs, boys and young men need role models — men who can help them make the transition from childhood to adulthood. They do not need another lecture on how toxic they are. I grew up with that, and ultimately, it damaged my relationship with my mother. We need men just as much as we need women. And those men do not need to be hiding out with a gaming console or glued to their phones because they have come to believe that the world does not want them anymore.
Southern Baptist Convention Cuts Rick Warren’s Church Loose
Rick Warren Address SBC Messengers in Anaheim (2022) 8 Months Ago:
Asbury "Revival" Examined, Rick Warren's Church Ousted From SBC
BY CHRIS QUEEN
Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.
Earlier this week, the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) cut ties with Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church. The influential Southern California-based congregation had been part of the SBC since its founding, but the denomination dismissed Saddleback over a decision that founding pastor Warren made shortly before he retired.
In 2021, Warren ordained three women as pastors, which caused the SBC to consider disciplining the church or kicking it out of the denomination. One of those women, Stacie Wood, the wife of lead pastor Andy Wood, is a “teaching pastor.”
On Tuesday, the SBC Executive Committee deemed Saddleback to be “not in friendly cooperation with the Convention,” which is the terminology for removing a church from the convention. The committee cited the fact that Saddleback has “a female teaching pastor functioning in the office of a pastor” in its decision.
The ordination of women at Saddleback goes against the Southern Baptist bylaws according to “Baptist Faith & Message 2000,” which unambiguously states, “While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture.”
Interestingly enough, the only pastors listed with photos on the church website are the “leadership,” which includes Andy Wood, Warren, and the various campus pastors, who are all men. However, the bio for Andy Wood mentions “Pastors Andy and Stacie Wood.”
With over 23,000 in attendance and campuses throughout Southern California and in several other countries, Saddleback was the SBC’s second-largest congregation, and Warren’s influence as a pastor and author probably wasn’t lost on the Executive Committee, either. Needless to say, it was a decision that the SBC didn’t make lightly.
The committee stated that Saddleback “has a faith and practice that does not closely identify with the Convention’s adopted statement of faith,” citing the presence of Stacie Wood in a pastoral role.
Recommended: Conservative Clergyman Calls Out the Church of England’s ‘Christophobic’ Embrace of the LGBT Agenda
For its part, the church hasn’t said whether it will appeal the decision, although many in the know believe that it will appeal.
“We love and have always valued our relationship with the SBC and its faithful churches,” the elders of Saddleback said in a statement. “We will engage and respond through the proper channels at the appropriate time in hopes to serve other like-minded Bible-believing SBC churches. Meanwhile, we remain focused on following God’s leadership to love and serve our church family and the communities around our campuses.”
“Friends worldwide: I’m so touched by your love!” Warren said in a tweet that he later deleted. “We’ll respond to #SBC in OUR time & way thru direct channels.”
At the denomination’s annual convention last year, Warren stood firm on his decision to ordain women, telling those in attendance that “We have to decide if we will treat each other as allies or adversaries.”
Some churches and ministries believe in ordaining women into pastoral roles, while others — like the SBC — believe that, while there’s room for women to serve in many ways, the role of pastor isn’t one of them.
At this point, it’s not about whether the SBC or Saddleback is right about whether women should serve as pastors. Rick Warren and Saddleback have been part of the SBC for a long time, and Warren isn’t stupid. He was fully aware of the expectations and rules of the denomination.
Warren and his church chose to flaunt those rules, and the SBC has made a decision in response. Regardless of where anyone falls on the issue of female pastors, it’s commendable that the denomination stuck to its convictions rather than bowing to the whims of a large church with an “influential” founding pastor.
Physicians Group Condemns ‘Gender-Affirming Care’ for Children
BY BEN BARTEE
Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.
The independent Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) has issued an impressively strong eight-point statement on the so-called “gender-affirming care” for kids that’s all the rage with the LGBTQ+++™ ideologies (certain sections are bolded for emphasis):
1. “Physicians and medical professionals should refuse to be mandated or coerced to participate in procedures to which they have ethical or scientific objections or which they believe would harm a patient.
2. Reproduction requires a male gamete (sperm), which can only be produced by a person of XY genotype, and a female gamete (egg), which can only be produced by a person of XX genotype. Primordial germ cells are present at birth.
3. Biological sex is determined at conception by genotype and apart from rare anomalies, which result in ambiguous genitalia, sex is correctly identified at birth—and is indeed obvious.
4. The construct of gender fluidity in the current cultural discourse is controversial.
5. Through medical, surgical, and other interventions, it is possible to change the physical appearance of one’s body. Changing physical appearance does not change biological sex.
6. There has been an explosive increase in persons who identify with the construct of gender different from sex, at an age where identity is easily malleable and brain development is not fully concluded.
7. Conflicting motivations have led to a growing industry dedicated to providing “gender-affirming” procedures that are generally irreversible and have a high probability of causing sterilization. These include puberty “blockers,” sex hormones, and surgery, such as castration, penectomy, and mastectomy. They commit a patient to a lifelong need for medical, surgical, and psychological care.
8. “Gender-affirming care” in minors is medically and ethically contraindicated because of a lack of informed consent. There are inherently unknown and unknowable long-term risks, and the consequences of removing normal, healthy organs are irreversible.
This truthful account of human biology and the various pharmacological and surgical interventions aimed at transing children runs contrary to the general orthodoxy within the medical community. The likes of the American Psychiatric Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, and, of course, The World Health Organization (WHO) regularly issue statements of support of the genital mutilation and chemical castration of children — dressed up, of course, in the language of liberal Tolerance™ and Inclusion™.
The apparent mechanism that allows the AAPS to speak truth to power while most of its peer organizations toe the fashionable line is that it is independently funded. It is therefore unreliant on financial support from The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and other groups that seek to manufacture a false consensus on the topic.