Category: Bible Scripture

Church of Sweden archbishop screams ‘Allahu akbar,’ says Muhammad is prophet, successor says Muslims welcome to join

BY ROBERT SPENCER

SEE: https://www.jihadwatch.org/2023/03/church-of-sweden-archbishop-screams-allahu-akbar-says-muhammad-is-prophet-successor-says-muslims-welcome-to-join;

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.

This is the last gasp of a dying church (and a dying civilization). A culture that has no identity of its own and welcomes those who wish to conquer and subjugate it is a culture that will soon be a matter of history. These two archbishops are signposts on the way to the demise of the Church of Sweden, and of Sweden itself as a non-Muslim country.

“The Archbishop: Muslims can join the Church of Sweden,” translated from “Ärkebiskopen: Muslimer kan vara med i Svenska kyrkan,” Samnytt, January 26, 2023 (thanks to L.):

Outgoing Archbishop Antje Jackelén received harsh criticism for her religious relativist stance, not least in relation to the controversial religious ideology of Islam. She adopted the Swedish variant of “Allahu akbar” as her language of choice and said she could not put the peaceful healer Jesus before the warrior and mass murderer Muhammad as a prophet. Now Jackelen’s successor goes a step further and welcomes all Muslims to the Church of Sweden.

Martin Modéus has been appointed as the new archbishop in the Church of Sweden. For more conservative and traditional Christians, it is out of the frying pan and into the fire after eight years with the controversial Antje Jackelén. In a debate article in the left-liberal Dagens Nyheter, Modeus presents himself as the heir and further developer of the religious relativism for which his predecessors became famous and criticized.

The fact that Modéus is speaking out in this way is caused, among other things, by the fact that the Center Party’s supposed new party leader, Muharrem Demirok, who has already been in several storms before taking office, has also declared that he is a Muslim but also a member of the Church of Sweden. Many have reacted against this, but Modéus takes the opposite stance – being a Muslim and not a Christian does not constitute an obstacle to being part of the Church of Sweden, he believes.

That the Christian way of “relating to faith” would be a requirement in the Church of Sweden, Modéus emphatically opposes – all ways, even the Muslim, are equally legitimate and needed in the country’s churches.

A requirement to be a Christian in order to be part of a Christian congregation is regarded by the new archbishop as a recent “ideologization of the concept of religion.” However, the claim is contradicted by many who believe that what is new and ideological instead is the idea that it is just as well to believe in Allah and Muhammad in a Christian congregation as in Jehovah and Jesus.

In the Church of Sweden, under the leadership of Archbishop Martin Modéus, “you define what you believe in based on your own terms.” According to Modéus, the fact that the Church of Sweden receives a diversity of non-Christian beliefs “is an asset.”

Modéus wants the country’s churches to function more as clubs for general social community than places where a common Christian belief is shared. In this, he claims to have been inspired by one of the ideologues of Dagens Nyheter’s editorial page, Björn Wiman.

The Church of Sweden has lost many members. This is due, among other things, to the fact that more and more Swedes have adopted a secular outlook on life, but in many cases also to the fact that you do not recognize yourself in the “left-wing church” it has turned into, which nowadays functions more as one of the Social Democrats’ many corporative legs in Swedish society.

However, many Swedes remain members, by birth and unfettered habit, that they have not come to terms with leaving or are simply not aware that they are members of something they never actively chose to join. Even outspoken critics retain often their membership in order not to lose the right to vote in church elections and thus the opportunity to influence the future direction of the Church of Sweden.

However, the Church of Sweden needs new members to replace those who fall away, and the large group of immigrant Muslims is therefore attractive. According to Modéus, it is by opening the church doors to them that you can still claim to be a “people’s church.” That the church should be something only for believers or cultural Christians is “far too narrow,” the archbishop asserts in the DN article.

‘Unconstitutional’: In Massachusetts, Leftists Want to Give Islam Privileged Status

'Unconstitutional': In Massachusetts, Leftists Want to Give Islam Privileged Status

BY ROBERT SPENCER

SEE: https://pjmedia.com/culture/robert-spencer/2023/03/19/unconstitutional-in-massachusetts-leftists-want-to-give-islam-privileged-status-n1679717;

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.

Just in case you’re not celebrating diversity enthusiastically enough yet, here is more reason to start waving those diversity pom-poms: a new bill in Massachusetts would give Muslims privileged status. Here we see it yet again: “diversity, equity and inclusion” efforts are inherently and in always and every case a gateway to the preferential treatment of the Left’s favored groups.

“Islam must dominate, and not be dominated,” said Hassan al-Banna, the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, and the old jihadi would be mighty pleased with these recent developments in Massachusetts. In line with the fact that Islamic texts and teachings frequently exhort Muslims to subjugate Infidels (who must be made to “pay the jizya with willing submission and feel subdued,” according to Qur’an 9:29), and never envisions the two living as equals under secular law, some Muslims in the Bay State are working with their Leftist allies toward achieving a privileged position that other groups do not enjoy.

Focus On Western Islamism (FWI) reported Wednesday that “the Massachusetts state legislature is considering a bill that would promote and privilege the participation of Muslims in state politics.” That seems innocuous enough on its face, but actually, this bill would require the state to do for Muslims what it does for no other group. The bill, which is entitled “An Act promoting the civil rights and inclusion of American Muslims in the commonwealth,” would “establish a commission charged with promoting the participation of Muslims in the governance of the state.” Yes, Muslims are specifically named.

This commission would “identify and recommend qualified American Muslims for appointive positions at all levels of government, including boards and commissions, as the commission considers necessary and appropriate.” No such commissions exist for Jews, Christians, Hindus, Buddhists, atheists, or anyone else. Hassan al-Banna would be delighted.

FWI notes that the executive director of the Massachusetts chapter of the Hamas-linked Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), Tahirah Amatul-Wadud, “posted a celebratory tweet about the introduction of the bill.” It shows Amatul-Wadud standing next to one of the sponsors of the bill, Massachusetts State Senator James B. Eldridge (D-Islamopandering), despite the fact Amatul-Wadud has served as the lawyer for Muslims of America (MOA), “which has sent its members to Pakistan for extremist indoctrination and military training.” Nothing to be concerned about in that, right?

Amatul-Wadud has also “promoted the conspiracy theories put forth by MOA’s founder, Pakistani cleric Mubarak Ali Gilani,” retweeting an article that “claims that the terror group ISIS (and indeed, Wahhabism itself) is a creation of British intelligence, that 9/11 was an inside job, that WTC-7 was destroyed by controlled demolition, and that America was manipulated into fighting Nazi Germany and Saddam Hussein for the benefit of the Jews.” Of course! In such circles, Islamic antisemitism is never far beneath the surface.

Steve Resnicoff, director of DePaul College of Law Center for Jewish Law and Judaic Studies, stated the obvious when he called the Massachusetts bill “an unprecedented and unconstitutional effort to promote one religion, Islam, over all others,” and said that “it would clearly violate the principle of separation of church and state,” as it “calls for the creation of a government entity that would broadly endeavor to benefit the interests of Muslims.”

Related: UN Secretary-General: ‘For Well Over a Millennium, Islam’s Message of Peace Has Inspired People’

Massachusetts attorney Karen Hurvitz agrees with Resnicoff: “The proposed legislation seeking to aid Islam is unconstitutional on its face… Perhaps the proponents of this legislation are unaware of the First Amendment or its history. Perhaps they are used to the 26 countries where Islam is the official religion and where the practice of other religions is not permitted. That is not the United States.”

Not yet, anyway. But there will be more bills of this kind as the Left’s passion for diversity increasingly reveals itself as a way to get special favors and privileged status for its in-groups.

That initiative coincides neatly with the supremacist imperative of traditional Islam, which some Muslims in the West are only too happy to collaborate with Leftists in order to further. And given the fact that Islam, with its monarchical Allah exercising sole and absolute, unquestionable power, lends itself to authoritarian government.

That’s another reason why Leftists, whose taste for authoritarianism is increasingly obvious, are only too happy to introduce bills of this kind and promote Islam above and beyond all other religions. In the authoritarian state toward which the Left is working, the more people who believe they have a religious obligation to obey the ruler, the better. Muhammad commands just that in the famous hadith: “You should listen to and obey your ruler even if he was an Ethiopian (black) slave whose head looks like a raisin.” (Bukhari 9.93.7142) Perfect.

Cops Arrest Boyd Family and Handcuff Child for Walking With a Cross in Montana

In March 2021, during the pandemic, the Boyd family started their journey walking across the United States looking for opportunities to share the good news of the gospel. While traveling through Montana, they were aggressively harassed by a local resident who then lied to law enforcement about how the altercation unraveled. With no supporting evidence, the officers sided with the resident and then arrested and charged the Boyds with felony assault. Each family member was also slapped with a $50,000 bail and placed in ankle monitors. Twelve-year-old Josiah was handcuffed and taken to Child Protective Services. The Boyd children, Josiah and Bethany, speak out about their terrifying experiences and why Americans must stand up to domestic religious persecution.

TAKEAWAYS

This family had served extensively as missionaries overseas for two decades before the Covid pandemic grounded their ability to travel

The Boyds never experienced mistreatment from law enforcement in more than 40 foreign countries, only kindness and respect

The Boyds started walking with a cross from the North Carolina coast in 2021, covering more than 5,000 miles before the Montana mayhem occurred

The urgent message the Boyd family is sharing while on their long trek across the U.S. is that America must repent and turn back to God

 

🛠 TOOLS AND RESOURCES FROM THE EPISODE

12-year-old Josiah’s Testimony: https://bit.ly/3JqYdRs

Boyds Facing 20 years in Prison Video: http://bit.ly/3ZUqdlV

Montana Authorities Frame Missionaries: http://bit.ly/3JaxN52

Unethical Montana Cops Video: http://bit.ly/3yLhUxg

Donate to the Boyd Family: https://fpgm.org/donate

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Massachusetts bill ‘an unprecedented and unconstitutional effort to promote one religion, Islam, over all others’

DID CATHOLIC MASSACHUSETTS BOW TO THE POPE'S MANDATE?

BY ROBERT SPENCER

SEE: https://www.jihadwatch.org/2023/03/massachusetts-bill-an-unprecedented-and-unconstitutional-effort-to-promote-one-religion-islam-over-all-others;

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.

“Diversity, equity, and inclusion” is inherently and in always and every case a gateway to the preferential treatment of the Left’s favored groups.

“Massachusetts Bill Privileges Muslims in State Government,” by Dexter Van Zile, Focus On Western Islamism, March 15, 2023:

The Massachusetts state legislature is considering a bill that would promote and privilege the participation of Muslims in state politics. The bill (“An Act promoting the civil rights and inclusion of American Muslims in the commonwealth”), put forth by lawmakers from central and north Massachusetts in January, would establish a commission charged with promoting the participation of Muslims in the governance of the state. In particular, the commission would “identify and recommend qualified American Muslims for appointive positions at all levels of government, including boards and commissions, as the commission considers necessary and appropriate.”

The bill is “an unprecedented and unconstitutional effort to promote one religion, Islam, over all others,” said Steve Resnicoff, director of DePaul College of Law Center for Jewish Law and Judaic Studies. “It would clearly violate the principle of separation of church and state.”

It would be one thing if the proposed commission were intended to combat discrimination against Muslims, Resnicoff said, but that’s not the case with this bill. “Instead, it calls for the creation of a government entity that would broadly endeavor to benefit the interests of Muslims,” he said.

In addition to identifying and recommending Muslims to serve in appointive positions in the state government, the commission would also advocate for the community. Such advocacy would target leaders in the fields of business, education, health care and state and local governments. It would also “serve as a liaison between government and private interest groups” on matters of interest to the state’s Muslim community.

Members of the commission — who would serve three-year terms — would be appointed by officials including the state governor, the attorney general, and members of the state legislature. In addition to state funding, the 11-member commission would be authorized to solicit donations to cover the cost of its operations, which would include the hiring of a paid executive director, staffers, and volunteers.

A sheet promoting the bill’s passage says a commission is necessary because the perspective and experiences of American Muslims “are often absent in policy conversations on issues that directly impact the community.”

The proponents of the bill, Senator James B. Eldridge (D-Middlesex and Worcester) and Representative Vanna Howard (D-17th Middlesex), have not responded to repeated requests for comment — including a personal visit to the Statehouse — but it appears the bill was filed with input from the Massachusetts chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).

In February, Tahirah Amatul-Wadud, CAIR-MA’s executive director and chief legal officer, posted a celebratory tweet about the introduction of the bill. It shows Eldridge standing alongside Amatul-Wadud, an astonishing scene, given Amatul-Wadud’s professional background.

Writing in The American Spectator in 2017, Orwin Litwin reported that Amatul-Wadud, was “deeply enmeshed in one of the most dangerous extremist groups in the United States.” In addition to serving as a lawyer for the group in question, Muslims of America (MOA), which has sent its members to Pakistan for extremist indoctrination and military training, Amatul-Wadud has promoted the conspiracy theories put forth by MOA’s founder, Pakistani cleric Mubarak Ali Gilani. Litwin reports that in 2015, Amatul-Wadud “shared a Facebook post “from MOA of a long and unhinged 2014 article by Sheikh Gilani himself.”

Litwin reports that in the article Amatul-Wadud retweeted, “Gilani claims that the terror group ISIS (and indeed, Wahhabism itself) is a creation of British intelligence, that 9/11 was an inside job, that WTC-7 was destroyed by controlled demolition, and that America was manipulated into fighting Nazi Germany and Saddam Hussein for the benefit of the Jews.”

The article Amatul-Wadud promoted on Facebook declares, among other things, that “there was no need for America to go to war against Hitler. Hitler was not the enemy of America or the American people. There was a mutual animosity between Hitler and the Jews. So, the American people paid a very heavy price for fighting someone else’s war.”

CAIR-MA has not responded to repeated requests for comment on the bill from FWI.

“The proposed legislation seeking to aid Islam is unconstitutional on its face,” said Karen Hurvitz, a Massachusetts attorney who serves as legal counsel for Education Without Indoctrination, a group that fights against anti-American and anti-Israel propaganda in K-12 schools. In particular, it flies in the face of 1947 Supreme Court ruling, Everson v. Bd. Of Education which states, “The ‘establishment of religion’ clause in the First Amendment means at least this: Neither a state nor the Federal Government can … pass laws which aid one religion, aid all religions, or prefer one religion over another.”…

Efforts to elicit a response from the American Civil Liberties Union, which regularly inveighs against the influence of conservative Christians on government policy in the United States, were unsuccessful.

Biden’s “Epiphany”: Not Supporting Transgender Madness Is ‘Close to Sinful’~NO WONDER HE HAS A VACATION HOUSE IN GAY REHOBOTH BEACH, DE

Biden said he had an “epiphany.”

Ο Joe Biden υπόσχεται να πολεμήσει την πολιτική τρανσφοβία: «Η απαγόρευση των trans δικαιωμάτων είναι αμαρτία»

Kal Penn & President Biden Talk Same-Sex Marriage

Joe Biden joins Kal Penn to discuss his evolution on same-sex marriage and how the government can protect the transgender community.

BY ROBERT SPENCER

SEE: https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/robert-spencer/2023/03/14/biden-says-opposing-the-mutilation-of-children-is-close-to-sinful-n1678275;

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.

Old Joe Biden appeared on Comedy Central’s The Daily Show Monday night, where the guest host Kal Penn, star of the deathless classic Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay, asked him about same-sex marriage and boys who want to become girls and girls boys. In response, Biden struck a moral tone, suggesting that support for same-sex marriage and the genital mutilation of children in pursuit of delusions and fantasies was simply the decent position to take, and darn it, Lunchbucket Joe didn’t see why it had to be any more complicated than that.

As we have all come to expect by now, Biden lied when he told a story that he has told before about his alleged “epiphany” on same-sex marriage. As Matt Margolis shows here, Biden claims to have begun to support same-sex marriage as a teenager, when he saw two men kissing. This was the 1950s when no one was talking about same-sex marriage and it was extremely rare to see homosexuals kissing in public, so his story is dubious on its face. But Matt demonstrates that Biden opposed same-sex marriage decades after that, casting his entire “epiphany” into doubt. Old Joe even threw in his patented insistence “I’m not joking,” which he often says when he’s in the middle of telling a lie.

Then, when Biden turned to a discussion of today’s fashionable gender madness, the conversation got even worse.

Penn had asked the ostensible president about what the government could do to protect the “trans kids who are dealing with all these regressive state laws that are popping up right now.” Biden replied, “Transgender kids is a really harder dnnnn. Thing. What’s going on in Florida,” and here he paused, shaking his head, weary at the evil of it all, “is, as my mother would say, close to sinful.”

What’s going on in Florida? Last October, the Florida Board of Medicine voted to ban the mutilation of children in the name of attempting to aid them to pretend that they’re of the opposite sex. At a Board workshop on this issue, a woman named Chloe Cole, who had embarked upon the path that she thought would make her a man, described the monstrousness of the procedures involved in abetting these delusions:  “My breasts were beautiful, now they’ve been incinerated for nothing. Thank you, modern medicine. At 13, I started taking puberty blockers and testosterone, and at 15, I underwent a double mastectomy in which my breasts were removed and my nipples were grafted. And yet, at 16, after years of medically transitioning, I came to realize that I severely regretted my transition.”

Woke doctors sold Cole a lie: “During my diagnosis for dysphoria and the consultations for these treatments, the overall picture of my life just went completely unaddressed….I was introduced to inappropriate content and an echo chamber of far-left ideology, such as that sex and gender are separate, women are inherently victims, men are inherently superior in every way, and that dysphoric children need hormones and surgeries in order to live.” This Mengelian manipulation is what Old Joe Biden was saying it’s “close to sinful” to stop.

Old Joe rambled on semi-coherently, claiming to be on the side of the good and loving: “It’s terrible what they’re doing. It’s not like a kid wakes up one morning and says, ‘You know, I decided I want to become a man’ or ‘I want to become a woman’ or ‘I want to change.’ I mean, what are they thinking about here? They’re human beings. They love. They have feelings. They have inclinations that are… I mean, it just, to me, is, I don’t know, is, it’s cruel.” No. What’s cruel is putting children on a path that they think will help them attain their delusions, only to find that it’s impossible for them to discard what they are and become something else.

Related: Biden Claims He Had an ‘Epiphany’ on Same-Sex Marriage as a Teen, but We Have the Receipts

What’s cruel is Old Joe Biden pretending that any of this butchery and mutilation is compassionate. But he is determined to protect these Frankensteinian, life-destroying procedures by law: he said that we need to “make sure we pass legislation like we passed with same-sex marriage. You mess with that, you’re breaking the law and you’re going to be held accountable.”

Will Biden himself ever be held accountable for the human cost of his misplaced “compassion”? Almost certainly not. He’s more likely to get a Nobel Prize than to face the repudiation and shame that should be coming to him for endorsing this inhuman social contagion. Still, Biden’s appropriation of religious language to support this disgusting barbarism is one of the most disgraceful episodes of this singularly repulsive man’s noxious career.

From Queer to Christ: How God Can Rescue People from LGBTism

God can and does rescue people from homosexual lifestyles, transgenderism, and other sins, explains former homosexual George Carneal, author of From Queer to Christ: My Journey Into the Light, in this interview on Conversations That Matter with The New American magazine’s Alex Newman. Carneal was immersed in the world of LGBT for many years, which the media and the culture glamorize, and he says the reality is that it is fraught with pain and suffering. However, Christ set him free from that. Now, Carneal wants to sound the alarm and warn young people about the spiritual and even physical horror involved.  

Red States are FIGHTING BACK AGAINST THE FEDS!!!

DR. STEVE TURLEY: I sat down for a conversation with my friend Conrad Franz (@WorldWarNow on YouTube) about some of the potential futures we are facing in America and as nationalists around the world. The issues of sovereignty, border security, political separation, the fall of the globalist world order, and more are at the forefront of western political conversations! I hope you enjoy it!

‘1984’ Is Now, as Britain Outlaws Thinking the Wrong Thoughts

'1984' Is Now as Britain Outlaws Thinking the Wrong Thoughts

UK Passes Law BANNING Silent Prayer

BY ROBERT SPENCER

SEE: https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/robert-spencer/2023/03/08/1984-is-now-as-britain-outlaws-thinking-the-wrong-thoughts-n1676571;

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.

Yes, it has come to this. By a resounding vote of 299 to 116, the UK’s House of Commons on Wednesday outlawed thinking the wrong thoughts in the wrong place. According to the Catholic Herald, MPs including the Conservative government’s Home Secretary Suella Braverman and Attorney General Victoria Prentis rejected an amendment that would have protected “private prayer and consensual conversations within any ‘censorship’ zone.” “Censorship” zones are areas around abortion centers.

The vote comes just a day after a pro-life activist, Isabel Vaughan-Spruce, was arrested for the second time in several weeks for praying silently outside one of the centers for sacrifices to Moloch. “I’m not protesting,” Vaughan-Spruce explained. “I’m not engaging in any of the activities prohibited.” But she was thinking the wrong thoughts and thus had to face what British authorities call “justice” in these dark days.

Jeremiah Igunnubole, who is legal counsel for a firm that has represented people who have been arrested for thought crimes outside of abortion centers, observed that the vote was a “watershed moment for fundamental rights and freedoms in our country.” Yes, indeed. In fact, it is a signpost of the end of freedom in Britain.

Igunnubole continued: “Parliament had an opportunity to reject the criminalization of free thought, which is an absolute right, and embrace individual liberty for all. Instead, Parliament chose to endorse censorship and criminalize peaceful activities such as silent prayer and consensual conversation.” And of course, an extremely dangerous precedent has been set: “Today it’s abortion. Tomorrow it could be another contested matter of political debate.”

According to the Herald, the new law criminalizes “any form of ‘influence’ outside of all abortion facilities, including silent prayer.” Offenders will be fined £100 ($118) the first time they are arrested for wrongthink; if court proceedings are deemed necessary, the fines could increase to £1,000 ($1,183). Amid the debate over this measure, a Conservative MP, Andrew Lewer, injected a note of sanity: “Police shouldn’t be asking ‘What are you thinking about?’” Indeed. And what if the person praying denies the offense? The World Economic Forum has been touting brain implants, and it’s easy to see how handy they’ll be for British police: the bobbies (do they still call these sinister Orwellian figures “bobbies”?) will simply be able to consult a readout of your thoughts, and if prayer shows up, you’ll have to pony up.

Lewer continued to point out what should have been obvious to everyone and prevented even a single MP from voting for this measure: “Censorship of this sort is a notoriously slippery slope. It might not be your thoughts that are criminalized today, but I think we should all be careful not to open the door to that tomorrow about some other opinions that people may hold about something else.” Now that the door has indeed been opened, Conservative MP Sir John Hayes spelled out the implications: “We now have people arrested for praying, interrogated by the police, asked what they’re praying about, what they’re thinking. This is dystopian. It’s like a mix of Huxley, Philip Dick, and all that.” Quite right, old fellow, and don’t forget that Orwell chap, eh wot?

Related: The Church of England May Go Gender-Neutral

There are, meanwhile, a few more important matters that British police could be doing instead of spending their time arresting people for thinking the wrong thoughts. Another MP, Eddie Hughes, pointed out that “Given the other crimes that were going on in Birmingham at that time,” that is, the time that Isabel Vaughan-Spruce was arrested for praying silently, “it is important to see that the police had clearly determined that the most important thing they had to do at that particular time was not to deal with knife crime or with people stealing tools out of other people’s vans to stop them earning a living but to arrest and interrogate a woman who was silently praying outside a clinic that was closed. Surely that shows a sense of complete disproportionality on the part of the police.” Yes, it does, and it’s going to get worse.

MP Ian Paisley (not to be confused with the late Northern Irish preacher) added: “Despite the level of crime across this society—I think there were over 500 knife crimes last year—are we actually going to ask the police to get engaged and be detained in questioning people about what they are thinking in certain parts of the United Kingdom? That is a complete waste of police resources and police time, and it should not be done.” It should not, but now it will be. And the Biden regime, no friend of the freedom of speech itself, is watching and (silently) taking notes.

The Catholic Church’s LGBTQ Odyssey Welcome to the full-fledged freefall.

BY JOSEPH HIPPOLITO

SEE: https://www.frontpagemag.com/the-catholic-churchs-lgbtq-odyssey/;

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.

As it confronts perhaps the ultimate challenge to its credibility, the Catholic Church finds itself in full-fledged freefall.

Two American bishops publicly and strongly disagree about whether LGBTQ Catholics need to repent of their sexual behavior. One, the recently appointed cardinal of San Diego, argued for what he called “radical inclusion” without repentance. Another, a specialist in canon law, did more than disagree vigorously. He called his fellow prelate a heretic who should be relieved of his position.

Meanwhile, as his church burns, Pope Francis imitates that great Roman violinist, Nero.

San Diego Cardinal Robert McElroy, whom Francis promoted in August, called for “radical inclusion” of LGBTQ Catholics and removing “structures and cultures of exclusion” in a Jan. 24 article for America, the Jesuit magazine. Those “structures” include a doctrine demanding that anyone engaging in sexual sin becomes ineligible to receive Communion, which Catholics call the Eucharist, “without previous sacramental confession,” canon law states.

“The exclusion of men and women because of their marital status or their sexual orientation/activity is pre-eminently a pastoral question, not a doctrinal one,” wrote McElroy, who criticized “a theology of eucharistic coherence that multiplies barriers to the grace and gift of the eucharist. Unworthiness cannot be the prism of accompaniment for disciples of the God of grace and mercy.” (Emphasis in original)

For McElroy, neither repentance nor sexual behavior matters.

“The distinction between orientation and activity cannot be the principal focus,” he wrote, “because it inevitably suggests dividing the LBGT community into those who refrain from sexual activity and those who do not.”

In disregarding repentance for sexual sin, McElroy went even further.

“The effect of the tradition that all sexual acts outside of marriage constitute objectively grave sin has been to focus the Christian moral life disproportionately upon sexual activity,” he wrote. “The heart of Christian discipleship is a relationship with God the Father, Son, and Spirit rooted in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The church has a hierarchy of truths that flow from this…Sexual activity, while profound, does not lie at the heart of this hierarchy.”

McElroy, in perhaps his most passionate rhetoric, apparently views anything other than blind acceptance as hate.

“It is a demonic mystery of the human soul why so many men and women have a profound and visceral animus toward members of the LGBT communities,” he wrote. “The church’s primary witness in the face of this bigotry must be one of embrace rather than distance or condemnation.”

Compare McElroy’s views with the Catholic catechism:

“Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity, tradition has always declared that ‘homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered.’ They are contrary to natural law. … Under no circumstances can they be approved.”

In the Bible, Leviticus listed homosexuality among other sexual behaviors considered “detestable.” Jesus defined marriage as a union between a man and a woman. Paul, a former Pharisee, described homosexual acts as “shameful” and practicing homosexuals as unable to “inherit the Kingdom of God.”

Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield, Ill. quoted the catechism in his rebuttal to McElroy, which appeared on Feb. 28 in First Things magazine. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops recently elected Paprocki as chairman of its Committee on Canonical Affairs and Church Governance.

” … it is contrary to a ‘truth which is to be believed by divine and Catholic faith’ to reject or condemn ‘a theology of eucharistic coherence that multiplies barriers to the grace and gift of the eucharist,’ as if no such barriers existed,” Paprocki wrote in quoting McElroy’s article. “They do exist, and they are a matter of divine revelation.”

Paprocki also quoted several sections of canon law in asserting that “a cardinal of the Catholic Church, like any other Catholic who denies settled Catholic teaching, embraces heresy, the result of which is automatic ex-communication from the Catholic Church,” he wrote.

Promoting heresy, Paprocki continued, would result in a cleric losing any offices, powers, and privileges, and could even mean being defrocked if the problem is serious or long-standing. But Paprocki added a pivotal stipulation.

“Only the pope can remove a cardinal from office or dismiss him from the clerical state in the case of heresy or other grave crimes,” he wrote. “If he does not do so, the unseemly prospect arises of a cardinal, excommunicated … due to heresy, voting in a papal conclave.”

So what will Francis do? Probably nothing, which reflects his passive strategy to promote the LGBTQ agenda.

As FrontPage Magazine reported in December, Francis uses his rhetoric to defend historic teaching. He even called gender theory “ideological colonization” and supported the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith’s decision in 2021 not to allow German bishops to bless same-sex unions.

But the pope’s actions reveal apathy toward, if not support for, homosexual behavior and activism.

As FrontPage Magazine reported in the same article, Francis’ appointments reflect his attitude. One is Cardinal Vincenzo Paglia, president of the Pontifical Academy for Life and the former president of the Pontifical Council on the Family. Before coming to Rome, Paglia commissioned and personally supervised work on a homoerotic painting for his cathedral. That painting featured a scene showing the semi-nude archbishop embracing a semi-nude male.

As president of the now-defunct Pontifical Council for the Family, Paglia in 2016 approved a sex-education program for teens that a Catholic psychiatrist called “the most dangerous threat to Catholic youth that I have seen over the past 40 years.”

Another appointment is the Rev. James Martin, America’s editor-at-large who serves as a communications advisor. Martin regularly uses his speaking engagements and media platforms to promote the LGBTQ agenda. For example, Martin told a gay man at Villanova University in 2017, “I hope in 10 years you will be able to kiss your partner (in church) or, you know, soon to be your husband. Why not? What’s the terrible thing?”

Two years later, Martin admitted on Twitter that the Bible “clearly condemns” homosexual sex. “The issue,” he continued, “is precisely whether the biblical judgment is correct.”

In 2021, Martin tweeted opposition to a pastoral letter condemning gender ideology from Bishop Michael Burbidge of Arlington, Va. In February 2022, Martin likewise responded to a legal opinion from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who stated that prescribing hormone blockers and sex-change surgeries for children constituted child abuse under state law. That March, Martin opposed a proposed Idaho law banning similar procedures on children.

Not only has Francis yet to discipline Martin. The pope invited him to the Vatican in November to discuss “the joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties, of LGBTQ Catholics,” Martin tweeted. The time was “indeed punctuated with smiles and laughter, and after which I indeed felt elated,” he added.

So Francis’ subtle sabotage benefits McElroy, one of his most important allies. As FrontPage Magazine also reported, McElroy stated in a voting guide for California’s 2020 primary that the pope’s positions on immigration and the environment mattered more than the church’s historic opposition to abortion and contraception.

Two-and-a-half years later, Francis made McElroy a cardinal.

The crisis holds serious implications beyond theology. As FrontPage Magazine’s Christine Williams reported, a student at a Catholic high school in Canada was suspended for insisting that only two sexes exist. That student, Josh Alexander, led a student walkout in November to support girls who opposed having transgender boys use their restrooms. Alexander and the girls tried to convince Principal Derek Lennox to intervene but Lennox did nothing.

St. Joseph’s Catholic High School suspended Alexander after the walkout. When Alexander tried to return once his suspension ended, the school had him arrested for trespassing.

Alexander, who calls himself a “born-again Christian,” tried to get support from a local priest, who refused to talk with him.

“I’m kind of shocked at how little response there has been from the church,” Alexander said on a podcast. “I even phoned one of the local churches the other day, and the pastor just told me he didn’t want to speak to me. I can’t imagine a leader of a church telling a 16-year-old kid he wouldn’t even have a discussion with him.”

But another priest reached the breaking point when Francis publicly advocated ending anti-sodomy laws in interviews surrounding his February trip to Africa and called upon bishops to lead that effort.

“It struck me that a lot of the Holy Father’s public comments revolve around this issue of homosexuality, as though that were the centerpiece of his ministry,” the Rev. Jason Charron said on video Feb. 8. “You don’t hear a whole lot of comments coming from him calling for the defense of persecuted Christians in, oh, I don’t know, places like China?”

Charron ended by posing a provocative question:

“Who do you belong to, Francis? Do you belong to Christ or do you belong to Sodom?”

************

BREAKING: Pope Francis showed his ultimate intent regarding the issue on March 7 by appointing Jesuit Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, archbishop of Luxembourg, to his circle of close advisors, the Council of Cardinals. Last year, Hollerich publicly rejected the church’s historic teaching on homosexuality in an interview with a German Catholic news service.

“I believe that this is wrong,” Hollerich said. “But I also believe that we are thinking ahead here in teaching. As the Pope has said in the past, this can lead to a doctrinal change. Because I believe that the sociological-scientific foundation of this doctrine is no longer correct. I believe that it is time for us to make a fundamental revision of doctrine.”

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Joseph Hippolito

Joseph Hippolito is a freelance writer and a regular contributor to FrontPage. His commentaries have appeared in The Federalist, The Stream, Human Events, American Spectator, Wall Street Journal, Jerusalem Post, and National Post.

“Pensacola Christian College Cancels King’s Singers Concert Over [Homosexual] ‘Lifestyle’”

A recent image of vocal group The King's Singers.

Feb. 15 - LTRP Note: The following is posted for research and informational purposes. Pensacola Christian College will no doubt be labeled as hateful, homophobic, and intolerant for canceling a music concert after learning that one of the members of the renowned UK singing group is “gay.”* Already, news sources and social media outlets throughout the western world are condemning the school. This is how far our society has declined to the point that everyone, regardless of beliefs and convictions, must accept and embrace homosexuality.

By Christopher Lugo
News 5 WKRG—Florida

The King’s Singers are out of a gig after Pensacola Christian College decided to cancel their performance due to the lifestyle of one of the artists “contradicting Scripture.”

According to a statement posted on the college’s Facebook page, the college “cannot knowingly give an implied or direct endorsement of anything that violates the Holy Scripture, the foundation for our sincerely held beliefs.”

“At the same time, the college also recognizes everyone is created in the image of God and should be afforded the dignity of kindness,” the college said in their statement. Click here to continue reading.

*According to a NY Times article, Jonathan Howard (a member of the group) said that actually, two members of the group are “gay.”

EX-CATHOLIC MIKE GENDRON-PROCLAIMING THE GOSPEL: Discerning Truth in a World of Deception

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes:

We are living in a world where truth is being twisted, manipulated, and suppressed by hypocritical politicians, government agencies, religious leaders, corrupt scientists, and the liberal media. Our debased culture is redefining truth and reality. No one knows who to trust or how to avoid being misled or deceived. The only way we can be victorious is to fight the good fight of faith against worldly ideologies. We can never let a lie of the devil go unabated and we must be discerning. This means we must examine everything and hold onto what is good (1 Thes. 5:21).
What Is Discernment?
Discernment distinguishes truth from error in order to prevent false teaching from infiltrating the church. The Hebrew word “bin” and the Greek word “diakrino” are used hundreds of times in Scripture to make distinctions, to separate things at their points of difference. It calls for black-and-white thinking and a refusal to color issues gray. Those who apply discernment consistently in every area of life are sure to walk in the wisdom of our Lord (Prov. 2:1-6).
Why Is Discernment Necessary?
Satan is the god of this world and the father of lies (John 8:44). We need to be aware of his schemes to deceive, corrupt, falsify, blind, destroy, devour and kill. We need to discern good from evil and expose those who call evil good and good evil. The apostle John exhorted Christians to make judgments concerning doctrinal and spiritual issues: "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world" (1 John 4:1). All Christians are called to judge righteously by using the Word of God as the plumb line for discerning truth from error. And judge we must because the Father of Lies deals in half-truths, and his fatal lies are often coated with a thin veneer of truth to deceive the unsuspecting.
Why Do We Need Discernment?
Christians need discernment to know and prove the will of God so that we will not be conformed to this world (Rom.12:2). We also need to test the veracity of every teaching of man (Acts 17:11). Without discernment we could not identify the counterfeits from the genuine. Paul warned us that “Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore, it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness.” (2 Cor. 11:13-15). We also need discernment to avoid being "tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine by the trickery of people, by craftiness in deceitful scheming" (Eph. 4:14).
Why Do We Need to Discern the True Gospel?
We live in a very deceptive age! An age that does not deny the Gospel but one that distorts and dilutes the gospel! This is the strategy of Satan. His legions of liars use religious language to hide the deadly poison in his false and fatal gospels. Over a billion professing Christians have been woefully deceived by his gospel of works and religious rituals. That is why Paul exhorts us to "examine ourselves to see if we are in the faith" (2 Cor. 13:5). Have we repented and believed the true Gospel?
God’s eternal Son left the glories of heaven to be conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of a virgin to take on human flesh. He lived in perfect obedience to God’s Law and then was crucified as the perfect sacrifice to satisfy divine justice for sinners. He bore man’s sins, suffered God’s wrath, died in man’s place, was buried, and was raised on the third day to show divine justice was satisfied. This is the Gospel that has divine power to save those who believe (Rom. 1:16). It is the Gospel that promises eternal life, without any fear of condemnation, because of the perpetual intercession and protection of the Good Shepherd (Heb. 7:25; John 10:28; Rom. 8:1).
Discerning the Times
Clearly, we are in the last days when many "will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths" (2 Tim. 4:3-4). So many Christians are following deceitful personalities rather than the Word of God. As truth-bearers, we must "reprove, rebuke, and exhort" those who are being deceived by using God's inspired Word as our supreme authority (2 Tim. 4:2). We may be labeled as intolerant, divisive or unloving, but there is much at stake if we are not passionate for the truth - the glory and honor of our Savior, the sanctity of His Church and the purity of His Gospel.
Our world will continue its opposition to God because of the forces of wickedness in heavenly places. We must remember that nations and cultures will come and go, but the souls of men will last throughout eternity. That is why the battle for eternal souls is the one war that really matters. It is a battle between the truth of God's Word and the damning lies of Satan. Let us gird our loins with truth as we put on the full armor of God and report for duty!
Evangelicals Continue Unity with Catholicism
Highly influential Evangelical leaders and pastors continue to confuse the Body of Christ by signing unity accords with Roman Catholics. Because of their widespread influence, many Christians do not know if the Roman Catholic Church is a mission field that needs to be evangelized or a Christian denomination that is made up of brothers and sisters in Christ. Perhaps, that is why my message on the seven major errors of Catholicism went viral with a half million views on YouTube. Many of the high profile evangelical leaders who have signed the Manhattan Declaration are listed here.
This unity accord states, "We are Christians (Catholics, Orthodox and Evangelicals) who have joined together across historic lines of ecclesial differences…to proclaim the Gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in its fullness.” This statement is completely false, deceptive, and misleading. Evangelicals and Catholics do not proclaim the same Gospel. The Catholic Church has distorted the Gospel of Christ and is under the same divine condemnation as the Judaizers (Gal. 1:6-9). Whereas the Judaizers were condemned for distorting the Gospel by adding only one requirement, the Catholic Church has added five requirements for salvation including baptism, sacraments, good works, participation in the Mass and law keeping.
Evangelicals who signed the Manhattan Declaration should consider if they are being disobedient to Scripture. God's command is clearly stated: “Do not be bound together with unbelievers” (2 Cor. 6:14). Not only are Catholics unbelievers, but their their church has issued 100 anathemas on those who do not believe their "infallible" dogmas. Those who signed unity accords with Catholics are also implying the Reformation was a mistake and that Catholics do not need to be evangelized.
More than ever we need to contend for the Gospel and recognize the Roman Catholic Church is a huge mission field made up of over 1.3 billion precious souls. There is no more critical issue in the Church today than guarding the purity and exclusivity of the Gospel. It is the rudder that must guide the Church through stormy waters that have been stirred up by every wind of doctrine (Eph. 4:14).

 

Southern Baptist Convention Cuts Rick Warren’s Church Loose

Rick Warren and his wife (far right) with Stacie Wood and Andy Wood.

Stacie Wood

Rick Warren Address SBC Messengers in Anaheim (2022) 8 Months Ago:

Asbury "Revival" Examined, Rick Warren's Church Ousted From SBC

BY CHRIS QUEEN

SEE: https://pjmedia.com/culture/chris-queen/2023/02/25/southern-baptist-convention-cuts-rick-warrens-church-loose-n1673684;

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.

Rainbow-Adorned Priest Delivers Woke Sermon: ‘God Is Trans’

WATCH: Rainbow-Adorned Priest Delivers Woke Sermon: 'God Is Trans'

BY BEN BARTEE

SEE: https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/benbartee/2023/02/24/watch-rainbow-adorned-priest-delivers-woke-sermon-god-is-trans-n1673518;

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.

“God is gay. God is a lesbian. God is trans. God is gender non-binary,” the priest instructs his flock.

The benign message the gentleman is attempting to convey, in his own Social Justice™ way, is apparently some sort of New-Age airy abstraction that God is in everyone or whatever. “God is you, and you are God,” he says at one point. (Although I don’t think that’s theologically correct.)

But the manner in which he delivers that message is deliberately provocative by listing every sexual and ethnic identity he could think of as a descriptor for the divine sovereign.

This is your brain on Social Justice™. Subtlety, as evidenced by his rainbow surplice, is lost on these people. There is no sacred idea or concept they won’t subvert to insert their own worldly agenda.

But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned; and in their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.
– 2 Peter 2:1-22

Israel Passes Law to Strip Terrorists of Citizenship~Twelve Hundred Synagogues Desecrated Judaism This Past Shabbat~Jew-Hate in the Muslim World; Could it have something to do with Islam’s holy texts?

Meanwhile, Biden continues to finance the Palestinian Authority's Pay-For-Slay terror scheme.

BY

SEE: https://www.frontpagemag.com/israel-passes-law-to-strip-terrorists-of-citizenship/;

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.

The Israeli parliament on Wednesday passed a law to strip terrorists of their citizenship for receiving financial rewards from the Palestinian Authority.

The new legislation, which received 94 votes in a 120-member Knesset, also gives the Israeli government the power to deport terrorists to the Palestinian Authority-controlled West Bank, as well as bar their reentry into Israel.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government presented the bill after Israeli Arabs gave a “hero’s welcome” to a terrorist who was released after serving a 40-year prison sentence for kidnapping and murdering an Israeli soldier in 1983. Karim Younis, an unrepentant terrorist, “was greeted by family, friends, and supporters chanting and carrying him through the streets on their shoulders,” the Jerusalem Post reported on January 5.

The Arab Knesset members were enraged at the new legislation. They slammed the law for being “racist” towards convicted terrorists who happen to hold Israeli citizenship. “The decision, which could potentially affect hundreds of Palestinian citizens and residents of Israel, was condemned as racist by Arab lawmakers as well as Palestinian officials,” the left-wing Israeli newspaper Haaretz lamented.

“Knesset passes law to strip terrorists who receive PA stipends of Israeli citizenship,” by Carrie Keller-Lynn, The Times of Israel, February 15, 2023:

The Knesset approved a law on Wednesday to strip convicted terrorists with Israeli nationality of their citizenship — provided they receive funding from the Palestinian Authority or an associated organization.

The law, an amendment to Israel’s 1952 Citizenship Law, applies to both Israeli citizens and permanent residents incarcerated following a conviction for terror, aiding terror, harming Israeli sovereignty, inciting war, or aiding an enemy during wartime, and enables the interior minister to revoke their status after a hearing.

The law enables citizenship to be revoked even if the person lacks a second citizenship, provided they have a permanent residence status outside of Israel. Once citizenship is revoked, the person would be denied entry back into Israel. (…)

Registering rare cross-Knesset support, the law passed with the support of 94 MKs on its third and final reading, with 10 lawmakers voting against. While its main sponsor was Likud MK Ofir Katz, it also counted members of the opposition’s right-wing and center-left lawmakers among its cosigned supporters.

Heralding the legislative victory, Katz said that the law is “the dawn of a new era,” stating from the Knesset floor that” I know and feel from the bottom of my heart that such laws are our true mission as elected officials.”

“I say unequivocally, a terrorist who receives money from the Palestinian Authority should fly from here to Gaza, anywhere else. Do not stay here. He won’t be here,” Katz said.

The PLO-run Palestinian Authority operates a multi-million dollar “Pay-For-Slay” scheme, which hands out generous salaries and allowances to terrorists and their families. According to the Israel-based watchdog Palestinian Media Watch, the “Palestinian Authority Martyrs Fund” paid out around $150 million in 2020 alone.

The so-called humanitarian aid to Palestinians restored by the Biden White House — revoking President Donald Trump’s 2018 decision to cut such funding, is also diverted to finance this “Pay-for-Slay” terror financing scheme, a Jerusalem Post article noted in April 2021. In 2022, Biden administration gave $316 million to the terrorist-ridden Palestinian Authority.

__________________________________________________________________

As usual, the Left destroys everything it touches.

BY DENNIS PRAGER

SEE: https://www.frontpagemag.com/twelve-hundred-synagogues-desecrated-judaism-this-past-shabbat/;

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.

This past Shabbat (Sabbath) was a dark day in American Jewish history. Once again — this time within Judaism — the rule that the Left destroys everything it touches was exemplified.

Twelve hundred American synagogues participated in “Repro-Shabbat.” “Repro” is short for “reproductive rights.” The idea, which originated with a left-wing organization called the National Conference of Jewish Women (NCJW), was to have as many synagogues as possible promote the idea that Judaism supports a woman’s right to abort the child she is carrying at any time in her pregnancy and for any reason, that the human fetus is never a human being — even five minutes before it is born — and that it has no innate right to live.

That this is the position of the American Left is a given. That it is counter to science and to common decency is also a given — as is most of what the Left stands for: “Men give birth”; sexual identity is “nonbinary”; young children should attend drag queen events; a person’s sex or “gender” is not a biological fact, but a subjective feeling; men who say they are women must be allowed to compete against women in sports and be placed with women in women’s prisons; young girls who say they are boys and want their breasts surgically removed should have their breasts removed; boys and girls as young as elementary-school age who say they are not a boy or a girl must have this belief “affirmed” by schools, psychotherapists, physicians and society; and schools are duty bound not to inform these children’s parents if their child identifies as the opposite sex at school and is treated as such there. These are among the many examples of left-wing nihilism.

And these are the positions of the NCJW. What is more disturbing, however, is that the NCJW and 1,200 synagogues regard the left-wing view of abortion — that it is never immoral — as the position of Judaism.

Unlike Christianity and Islam, which are religions only, Judaism is both a religion and a nation (or “people”). Therefore, to be considered a Christian one must affirm core Christian beliefs, and to be considered a Muslim one must affirm core Muslim beliefs. But Jewish beliefs do not determine who is a Jew. A person who is born to a Jewish mother (or in Reform Judaism, a Jewish father or mother) is a Jew no matter what he or she believes. One who is born a Jew can be an atheist or even a fascist or communist or work for Israel’s destruction — and remain as much a Jew as the chief rabbi of Israel.

That explains Jewish groups like the NCJW. The only thing Jewish about the National Conference of Jewish Women is that it is composed of Jews. Sadly, this is increasingly the case with regard to most rabbis and synagogues within Reform and Conservative Judaism, the two major non-Orthodox Jewish denominations. They are Jews who hold left-wing values. Left-wing values — unlike liberal and conservative values — are antithetical to normative Jewish values (just as they are to normative Christian and normative Western values). The founders of Reform and Conservative Judaism would turn in their graves if they were to see what has happened to the movements they founded.

The NCJW is so far left that its website promoting “Repro-Shabbat” urges people “to use gender-neutral language (such as) ‘people,’ ‘pregnant individuals,’ or ‘patients’ rather than ‘women,'” and “to say ‘women and all people who can get pregnant.'”

And how’s this for representing Judaism? The NCJW prepared a “Repro-Shabbat Playlist” on Spotify featuring such Jewish and holy songs as:

“Bitch” (Meredith Brooks).

“I Spent My Last $10 (On Birth Control & Beer)” (Two Nice Girls).

“Bodies” (Sex Pistols), whose lyrics deemed appropriate for Repro-Shabbat include “Ah! F— this and f— that. F— it all, and f**k the f**king brat.”

“I Luv Abortion” (Xiu Xiu): “When I look at my thighs, I see death / It is great, I love abortion!”

Wash It All Off (Foetus): “You’ve got Foetus on your breath / You’ve got Foetus on your breath / You’ve got Foetus on your breath / You’ve got Foetus on your breath.”

And the NCJW advises the song, “F— Men” (Ms. White) — perhaps to be sung while the Torah is being taken from the ark. Its refrain goes like this: “F— men / You don’t need those tears in your eyes / F— men. You can tell him that it’s too hard / And just leave him with a broken heart / And baby f— men, f— men, f— men.”

Non-Jews get a thoroughly perverted picture of Judaism as a result of the NCJW, the 1,200 synagogues and all the rabbis who went along with “Repro-Shabbat.” Of course, Judaism, like every legal system, allows abortion to save the life of the mother, and various religious authorities have allowed it in cases of rape or incest. But Judaism has never held that all abortions at any stage of pregnancy are morally acceptable. In fact, Maimonides, the great philosopher and codifier of Jewish law, a man almost universally regarded as the greatest Jewish thinker since Moses, declared abortion “akin to murder.”

Even an article on abortion in the largest left-wing Jewish periodical, The Forward (Aug. 1, 2018), acknowledged: “There are (no) halakhists (Jewish legal authorities) who permit abortion in all cases, i.e., that halakhah (Jewish law) is ‘pro-choice’; a cursory look at any of the sources cited would show clearly that such a position is unsustainable.”

If you ask any religious Jew, “What is the greatest Jewish sin?” he or she would almost definitely respond, “chillul HaShem” — the public desecration of God’s name.

That is what the 1,200 synagogues that celebrated “Repro-Shabbat” engaged in. Non-Orthodox Judaism, like mainstream Protestantism and much of contemporary Catholicism, is dying. Killed by the destroyer of all good things: the Left.

_________________________________________________________________

BY ROBERT SPENCER

SEE: https://www.frontpagemag.com/jew-hate-in-the-muslim-world/;

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.

Moderate Muslim Raheel Raza published a heartwarming story in Canada’s National Post Monday, entitled “I’m a Muslim and I love Israel. Here’s why.” In it, she notes that “every moment of my first trip to the Jewish state was an awakening about the misinformation I had been fed.” Raza tells numerous stories about the kindness shown to her by Jews and Israelis, and in this torn and weary world, that is heartwarming indeed. In the course of her lengthy article, however, she writes: “

Hate is a terrible ideology, and it feeds antisemitism, which is rampant in some parts of the Muslim world. Much of this is based on ignorance of facts and misinterpretation of the faith.”

Unfortunately, this is not only false but likely to foster dangerous complacency in the face of a genuine threat.

This is because, much as Islamic spokesmen in the West deny the fact, hatred of Jews is deeply embedded in Islam’s holy texts. There is a strong native strain of anti-Semitism in Islam, rooted in the Qur’an. The Qur’an puts forward a clear, consistent image of the Jews: they are scheming, treacherous liars and the most dangerous enemies of the Muslims.

The Qur’an presents Muhammad as the last and greatest in the line of Biblical prophets, preaching a message identical to theirs. The identical character of their messages may seem odd to those who know very well that the Qur’an’s contents are quite different in character from those of the Bible, but the Qur’an has an ingenious explanation for this: the original message of all the Biblical prophets was Islam, and they were all Muslims. Only later did their followers corrupt their messages to create Judaism and Christianity.

Consequently, in the Qur’an, Abraham is not a Jew or a Christian, but a Muslim (3:67); his message was identical to Muhammad’s. The Islamic claim is that the authentic Torah actually commands Jews to follow Muhammad and recognize his prophecy. Those who refuse to accept Muhammad as a prophet are, in the Muslim view, rejecting both Moses and the prophecies of the Torah. It is no surprise, then, that in the Qur’an both David and Jesus curse the disbelieving Jews for their disobedience (5:78).

Yet of course, Torah-observant Jews did not and do not accept Muhammad as a prophet, and this, according to Islamic tradition, enraged the prophet of Islam during his lifetime. According to Islamic tradition, Muhammad initially appealed energetically to the Jews, hoping they would accept his prophetic status. He even had the Muslims imitate the Jews by facing Jerusalem for prayers, and he adopted for the Muslims the Jews’ prohibition of pork. But he was infuriated when the Jews rejected him, and Allah shared his fury in Qur’anic revelation: “And when a messenger from Allah comes to them, confirming what is with them, a faction of those who have received the book cast the book of Allah behind their backs, as if they did not know.” (2:101).

Muslims should not get close to such people: “O you who believe, do not take the Jews and the Christians for friends. They are friends of one another. He among you who takes them for friends is of them. Indeed, Allah does not guide wrongdoing people” (5:51). It would hardly be appropriate for Muslims to act peaceably toward the Jews when the Jews, according to the Qur’an, are prone to war — especially against Muslims. Whenever the Jews “light a fire for war,” says the Qur’an, “Allah extinguishes it” (5:64).

In light of all this (and there is much more), an informed and committed Muslim believer will look at the Jews, and in particular at Zionism and the State of Israel, and not see a struggle over land or boundaries that can be solved through negotiations if a sufficient amount of goodwill exists on both sides. Such a believer is much more likely to see the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as an eschatological struggle against the great spiritual enemies of the Muslims, as the Jews are designated in the Qur’an: “You will find the Jews and the idolaters the most vehement of mankind in hostility to those who believe.” (5:82)

There can be no negotiated settlement, and no peace, with these treacherous, untrustworthy, mendacious enemies. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is, in short, what no policymaker, no negotiator, no one who has ever been involved with the Middle East “peace process” has ever admitted it to be: a religious war. It is wonderful that Raheel Raza has had positive experiences in Israel. But none of those experiences will end the implacable and Qur’an-based Islamic hostility toward Jews.

Why Are Churches Celebrating Sin?

Affirming sin is not the same as forgiving it.

BY SCOTT HOGENSON

SEE: https://www.frontpagemag.com/why-are-churches-celebrating-sin/;

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.

There’s a lot to celebrate in Christian worship services. Singing hymns, prayers, and learning God’s Word are all part of corporate worship, and I happily participate in that. I also participate in confession.

The Protestant tradition involves both a public and silent confession of sins. It’s an acknowledgment that we are sinful by nature, and have sinned by thought, word, and deed. Through this confession and our earnest repentance, we seek and receive forgiveness through God’s grace.

I sin every single day. I don’t like that I sin but as a member of the human race, it is an inescapable truth with which we’re stuck. As the apostle Paul wrote to Christians in Rome, “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” That includes me.

Rational people can agree that sin is bad, and I do not embrace my sin; I confess it and seek forgiveness. Jesus Christ said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him,” so I reject any celebration of my sin.

But not all sins are treated equally. Increasingly, Protestant churches are celebrating sin through the installation of ministers whose behavior promotes LGBTQ ideology.

Consider this February 15th report whose headline heralds the “First openly transgender pastor called to guide Lutheran church in North Dakota.”

The pastor’s installation was unanimously approved by the congregation of the church, which has reportedly hosted town hall meetings to discuss, among other things, whether people should be forced to deny reality by calling women men, and vice versa; and whether children should be protected from genital mutilation. One can only speculate as to how those discussions will be steered.

The article goes on to quote the new pastor saying “Historically the church hasn’t been kind to transgender people. A lot of churches still aren’t kind to transgender people.” I do not know how the pastor defines what is kind or unkind but I do know that historically, the church has believed in the word of God as written in the Bible. A lot of churches still believe what is written in the Bible.

The behavior that defines LGBTQ ideology is sinful. That’s not my assessment, that’s what Christ said. He laid it out in the Gospel of Mark when He said, “Out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”

Affirming and celebrating the behavior of LGBTQ adherents raises a question for Christians: If we’re going to celebrate this sin, what other sins are we prepared to celebrate? That’s a scary proposition and it’s already happening.

The sin of murder is celebrated through the increase of euthanasia. The sin of theft is celebrated through prosecutors who have decriminalized it through their failure to prosecute. The sins of coveting, envy, and deceit are celebrated through Critical Race Theory. The sin of slander is celebrated hourly on cable news channels.

Components of Critical Race Theory are even creeping into conservative parishes today. Whether this portends churches celebrating the sins of CRT’s advocacy for race hatred or its alignment with Marxist ideology remains to be seen.

We all sin, and through confession, repentance, and grace, God forgives us. We are also called to forgive those who sin against us. Whether these are sins of sexual immorality, envy, theft, or anything else, our duty is to forgive others as God forgives us.

But forgiving sin is not the same as affirming it.

The Bible instructs us to love one another but it also tells us to abhor that which is evil. None of my sins should be celebrated; they should be abhorred. If any pastor in the pulpit affirmed or celebrated my sins, I would walk out in the middle of that sermon and find a better church. But more churches are celebrating more sins, and it’s a colossal moral and civic hazard.

If the North Dakota pastor has been harassed, threatened, assaulted, or otherwise treated unkindly, that is flat-out wrong. Likewise, the pastor is entitled to the full enjoyment of and participation in American civic life, and I would demand that any effort to prevent the free exercise of these rights be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

But it is not unkind to believe what the Bible says. It is not unkind to call a sin a sin. It is not unkind to notice reality and natural law. These are normal behaviors. Just as I reject any affirmation of my sin, I reject any attempt to deny that which is normal and in accordance with Scripture.

In many cultures across time and space, the church has provided the moral bedrock of society. When churches celebrate sin, that bedrock crumbles and over time, so do the societies built upon it.

Klaus Schwab Believes A.I. (Artificial Intelligence) Will Make Globalists “Masters of the World”~Elon Musk Torches One-World Government at World Government Summit

Klaus Schwab Believes AI Will Make Globalists “Masters of the World”

BY LUIS MIGUEL

SEE: https://thenewamerican.com/klaus-schwab-believes-ai-will-make-globalists-masters-of-the-world/;

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.

Could they make their intentions any more clear?

Klaus Schwab, chairman of the globalist World Economic Forum, said at the World Government Summit in Dubai this week that as mankind advances toward innovative new technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), synthetic biology, and the metaverse, those who control these technologies will become “masters of the world.”

“Our life in 10 years from now will be completely different, very much affected, and those who master these technologies, in some way, will be the masters of the world,” Schwab told his audience.

The German WEF head, known for coining the term “The Great Reset,” also spoke of his “deep concern” that these emergent technologies “will escape our power to master [them]” if states do not implement globalist systems of governance.

“You cannot catch up with the new technologies, you have to be a front-runner because otherwise, you will be on the losing outside,” he added.

Schwab also popularized the concept of the “Fourth Industrial Revolution” — in part by writing a book with that title — which involves the aforementioned technologies. In his book, Schwab argues that the new era of technology will include transhumanism, which he defined as “a fusion of technologies that is blurring the lines between the physical, digital, and biological spheres.”

“Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies will not stop at becoming part of the physical world around us — they will become part of us,” wrote Schwab in his book. “Indeed, some of us already feel that our smartphones have become an extension of ourselves. Today’s external devices — from wearable computers to virtual reality headsets — will almost certainly become implantable in our bodies and brains.”

Schwab also used his speech in Dubai to advance his economic vision, which he terms “stakeholder capitalism.”

Said the WEF chairman:

What is absolutely essential is this cooperation of the different stakeholders of global society: government brings direct power, business brings the innovative power, civil society brings the concerned power, academia brings the power of truth, and maybe I should add media, which brings the critical dimension in this dialogue.

We need all those stakeholders to shape together the future.

Of course, what Schwab is describing is the same elitist system that organizations like The John Birch Society have for decades warned is the end goal of the globalists: A system not governed by popular sovereignty and constitutions, but by the will of the self-described “elites” in business, academia, government, the media, and Big Tech.

What will all this look like in practice? We have only to look to Communist China, which Schwab said will serve as a “role model” for his “systemic transformation of the world.” This can be seen in the fact that China has been at the forefront of enacting Schwab’s ideas, such as the use of vaccine passport apps.

While there are potential benefits and uses for many emerging technologies, the WEF crowd sees them as nothing more than instruments of control.

In particular, the idea of transhumanism opens up the possibility of wielding not only political power over the masses but direct control over their minds and bodies.

This can be seen in a recent WEF presentation in Davos, during which the organization showed a video concept for brain-wave monitoring technology that is said to allow employers to observe how hard employees are working. It can also be used to determine if workers are distracted, and even if they have feelings of attraction to one another.

“You can not only tell whether a person is paying attention or their mind is wandering, but you can discriminate between the kinds of things they are paying attention to,” the presenter said. “Whether they’re doing something like central tasks, like programming, peripheral tasks like writing documentation, or unrelated tasks like surfing social media or online browsing.”

The presentation displayed various other uses of the technology, such as waking people up if they begin to fall asleep at work by means of an MIT-made haptic scarf that gives employees “a little buzz.” It could even tell employers if employees have “amorous feelings” for their co-workers.

These concepts are not new. From Elon Musk’s “neural link” that directly connects the brain to computers (and is already working on animals), to Mark Zuckerberg’s so-called metaverse, to the installation of electrodes in the brain, to genetically engineered viruses to activate certain areas of the brain — the research on merging humans with machines has been going on for decades and raises major questions for the future of humanity.

But what is cause for concern is that now these technologies are coming closer than ever before to becoming reality. Individuals, societies, and governments will have to grapple with all of the moral ramifications they bring.

If individuals — like Klaus Schwab — who have made no secret about their desire to destroy our freedoms are salivating at the thought of having their hands on these technologies, maybe we should pause to consider whether they will truly be a net benefit to humanity.

_________________________________________________________________

Elon Musk Torches One-World Government at World Government Summit

Pakistan: Muslim throws acid on Christian when she won’t convert to Islam and enter into a relationship with him

BY ROBERT SPENCER

SEE: https://www.jihadwatch.org/2023/02/pakistan-muslim-throws-acid-on-christian-when-she-wont-convert-to-islam-and-enter-into-a-relationship-with-him;

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.

Acid attacks of this kind happen all too often to women in Pakistan and Afghanistan. They are a manifestation of the culture of violence that is created by the divine sanction Islam gives to beating disobedient women (cf. Qur’an 4:34). Celebrate diversity!

“Muslim Throws Acid on Young Christian Woman in Pakistan,” Morning Star News, February 6, 2023:

LAHORE, Pakistan (Morning Star News) – A Muslim in Karachi, Pakistan on Wednesday (Feb. 1) threw acid on a 19-year-old Christian woman for refusing his pressure to enter into relationship and convert to Islam, sources said.

Sunita Masih, who lives with her sister after the death of her parents, left the house in Masoom Shah Colony, in Karachi’s Kala Pull area, to go to work that morning. After getting off a bus at Cantt station, her Muslim neighbor, Kamran Allah Bux, threw acid on her and fled, said her uncle, John Masih.

“Sunita is just 19, but now her whole life has been physically and mentally scarred by Kamran,” her uncle said. “Even if he is convicted for his crime, will Sunita be able to live a normal life again? We all know how our society treats acid attack survivors, even though they are the victims of this heinous crime.”

Sunita Masih suffered 20 percent burns in the attack.

“My eyes, face, arms, and legs started burning as soon as Kamran threw the acid on me,” she told police from her hospital bed. “The pain was so excruciating that I collapsed on the road.”

Bux had been pressuring her to enter into a relationship with him, John Masih said.

“He would try to force her to renounce her Christian faith, assuring her that he would marry her once she became a Muslim, but she refused to surrender to his illegitimate demands,” Masih said. “Sunita had informed her siblings about Kamran’s harassment, and they had repeatedly complained to his parents, urging them to stop him, but that did not work.”

The family had registered a complaint with police to stop the harassment, but they did not act on it, he said. When all efforts failed, Sunita’s brother-in-law beat Bux, which also did not deter him, John Masih said.

The family, members of a Salvation Army church, was seeking justice for Sunita Masih, whose face and other parts of her body were disfigured in the attack.

Assistant Sub-Inspector Sagheer Ahmed of the Frere Police Station said officers had registered a case against Bux for hurt by corrosive substance (Section 336-B of the Pakistan Penal Code) and had taken him into custody.

“We obtained his two-day physical remand from a court during which he confessed to the heinous crime,” Ahmed told Morning Star News. “In his statement, Kamran claimed that he had fallen in love with Sunita and had attacked her with acid in retaliation after she rejected his marriage proposal.”…

UK: Muslims challenge Church of England’s ‘gay blessing’ and ‘identity politics’ in Church schools~Church of England Considers “Gender Neutral” Language for God

BY CHRISTINE DOUGLASS-WILLIAMS

SEE: https://www.jihadwatch.org/2023/02/uk-muslims-challenge-church-of-englands-gay-blessing-and-identity-politics-in-church-schools;

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.

Muslims in Britain are expressing “deep concern” over the Church of England’s “gay blessing” and the “identity politics” that has invaded Church of England schools, which many Muslim students attend.

Where are the concerned Christians? They are not loud enough to be heard and respected, as wokeism has invaded most mainline Churches. It is no secret that gays are being murdered in Sharia-adherent countries, and Christians who may not support the LGBTQ+ agenda are still vocal in support of the human rights of the victims. On the other hand, woke ideologues have never fought for the LGBT communities that are persecuted in Islamic countries because they are intimidated by Muslims and afraid of charges of “Islamophobia.” It is part of the woke ethos never to risk “offending” Muslims. Instead, the woke aggressively trample upon the rights of Christians in Western countries; they clearly consider Christians to be safe targets. Some Christians are now even reluctant to state their belief that God created people male and female, and that this creation forms the basis of marriage. In some churches, you will seldom if ever hear the Biblical quote: “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” (Genesis 1:27). In light of all this, how will the woke Church of England (CofE) react to these Muslim complaints? The Leftist/Islamic alliance has been solid in the West, but cracks in the alliance are becoming increasingly apparent.

Religious rights and freedoms are being increasingly violated due to Woke aggression. Far too many Christian churches have become so weak that they have embraced the Woke agenda, as well as the Islamic supremacist “Islamophobia” agenda to shut down speech that scrutinizes Islamic ideology and thus “offends”. These Churches have in essence lost their salt and have become easy targets for bullying. Until now, Muslims have been mostly quiet about the Woke agenda, but it would be intriguing to observe how the Woke Church of England will react to being confronted by Muslims. We have an idea of what they won’t do. They won’t call the deeply concerned Muslim community ‘homophobic’. Overall, we don’t see the Woke pushing LGBTQ+, correct pronouns on Muslims, or gender-affirming care on Muslim children in Madrassahs in the West. No one tramples their religious rights, but instead, gives them preference.

According to Anglican.Ink:

Paul Salahuddin Armstrong, Managing Director of the Association of British Muslims (AoBM) expressed his “deep concern”. He said: “The Association of British Muslims is concerned about the lack of open and inclusive discussions regarding the traditional understanding of marriage within faith communities. We are also concerned about the teaching of sexual identity politics in schools, including Church of England schools.”

How will the woke reconcile “inclusion” with the Association of British Muslims who reject their agenda? Anglican.Ink also stated:

“There is now the worrying potential of Muslim parents starting to withdraw children from CofE schools to protect them from sexual ethics contrary to their beliefs,” said the Revd Paul Eddy, Convenor of Anglican Orthodox, “and that can obviously lead to segregation of children of different faiths in some Muslim-majority cities if the CofE proceeds.”

Those Christians who do not support “sexual ethics contrary to their beliefs” are already marginalized, or even hated and smeared as “homophobic” or “transphobic,” including in many Christian schools which now fly the rainbow flag and host Pride parades. In 2019, the Church of England “issued advice to clergy and congregations recommending an adapted affirmation of baptism service to allow transgender Christians to celebrate their new identity and name.” But those who do not celebrate along with them are increasingly persecuted. The CofE has also instructed schools to “let children ‘explore gender identity.'”

Let’s see whether the woke CofE will attempt to convince the deeply concerned Muslims of the Association of British Muslims that they are “homophobic” and “transphobic.” Of course, they wouldn’t dream of doing such a thing. The mainstream media will also likely ignore the brewing conflict and continue to try to give the impression that only stuffy, stupid, bigoted, old, white Christians disagree with the woke agenda.

___________________________________________________________________

BY JAMES MURPHY

SEE: https://thenewamerican.com/church-of-england-considers-gender-neutral-language-for-god;

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.

The Church of England’s descent into “wokeness” is about to take another downward step. This spring, the church’s Liturgical Council will explore using so-called gender-neutral terms when discussing the Creator of the Universe.

The Church of England has recently announced that, while they will not “marry” homosexuals, they will offer blessings for such unions. In addition, Archbishop of Canterbury Stephen Cottrell recently announced that homosexual behavior is not a sin so long as it’s within the confines of a “stable, loving, committed” relationship.

The project appears to be a reaction to criticism by the current Vicar of Ilminster and Whitelackington in South Somerset, Reverend Joanna Stobart, who recently stated that she wished the church would use “more inclusive language” and refer to God in a “non-gendered way.”

“Please could the Liturgical Commission provide an update on the steps being taken to develop more inclusive language in our authorized liturgy and to provide more options for those who wish to use authorized liturgy and speak of God in a non-gendered way, particularly in authorized absolutions where many of the prayers offered for use refer to God using male pronouns?” Stobart formally asked church leaders.

The vice-chair of the Liturgical Commission, Reverend Dr. Michael Ipgrave, the bishop of Lichfield, announced that the commission has been “exploring the use of gendered language in relation to God for several years.”

“After some dialogue between the two commissions in this area, a new joint project on gendered language will begin this spring. In common with other potential changes to authorized liturgical provision, changing the wording and number of authorized forms of absolution would require a full synodical process for approval,” Ipgrave said.

So, for Anglicans, the phrase, “Our Father, Who art in heaven,” could soon be changed to “our parental unit, Who art in heaven.”

More conservative clergy have objected to considering using non-gendered language in reference to the Almighty.

“The fact that God is called ‘Father’ can’t be substituted by ‘Mother’ without changing meaning, nor can it be gender-neutralized to ‘Parent’ without loss of meaning,” said Reverend Dr. Ian Paul, a minister at St Nic’s, Nottingham.

“Fathers and mothers are not interchangeable but relate to their offspring in different ways,” Paul pointed out.

And Father Marcus Walker, the rector at St. Bartholomew in London, noted, “I just don’t think we should be misgendering God. He’s made clear what his preferred pronouns are — especially in his incarnation — so maybe we should just use them.”

Indeed, for Christians, the incarnation of God — Jesus — was indeed a male.

Still, a spokesperson for the church claimed that such a change has been under consideration for quite a while now and that God is neither male nor female.

“This is nothing new. Christians have recognized since ancient times that God is neither male nor female, yet the variety of ways of addressing and describing God found in scripture has not always been reflected in our worship,” the spokesperson told Reuters.

“There has been greater interest in exploring new language since the introduction of our current forms of service in contemporary language more than 20 years ago,” the spokesperson added.

Other Anglican branches have been exploring the idea of “gender neutrality” for God for some time now. A spokesman for the Scottish Episcopal Church — an Anglican offshoot — was quoted by the Daily Mail claiming, “The Scottish Episcopal Church has been in a gradual process of change in its liturgies over a number of years, as it moves towards less gender-specific language about both people and God.”

The spokesperson claimed that such undertakings have been in process since 1986.

“To that end, we have theological freedom in regard to how we refer to God. Ministers are free to use the language they wish — God has no gender and many choose to use gender-neutral language for God,” the spokesperson explained.

The Archbishop of Canterbury Cottrell appears to agree. In 2018, he stated, “God is not a father in exactly the same way as a human being is a father. God is not male or female. God is not definable.”

Perhaps Cottrell is correct when he says that God is not “definable.” All that we mortals have to undertake that task is His Word. But that Word — the Bible — makes clear, in no uncertain terms, that God is the Father and that His incarnation, Jesus, was most definitely a male.

The Church of England’s attempt to spin this as anything less than a capitulation to so-called woke elements of society is a joke, just as their acquiescence to the LGBT agenda last week was. And should they succeed in “gender-neutralizing” their teachings, it’s likely heresy.

 

Inside Bethel’s Insanity: Interview with Bart McCurdy & Mike Clark of Bethel Church & Christianity

Wonder If Bethel Is A False Church? Wonder No More

Ex Bethel Student Tells All - Jesse Westwood’s Testimony

Jesse graduated from the 3-year Bethel Supernatural Ministry School, where he was knighted by false prophet Kris Vallotton. Jesse walked away from Bethel’s teachings when he discovered the similarities of charismatic teachings and Mormonism. Now, he calls out false prophecies and points people to study the Bible. Jesse’s videos which describe his time at Bethel Redding are at https://youtube.com/@thewestwoodhome Jesse will be featured in the upcoming American Gospel 3 docuseries at http://www.americangospelfilm.com

Bethel and Bill Johnson’s Bridge to the New Age and Spiritual Fakery

I have been wanting to make this video for quite a while. It's based on the teaching in the book The Physics of Heaven, which is very much a "Bethel book". It is sold in their bookstore, it's endorsed by their leaders, it's written by people from Bethel, including their two lead pastors, Bill Johnson and Beni Johnson. The book is a very open appeal to Christians to embrace New Age beliefs and practices. I truly wish I was exaggerating. In today's video I'm going to share quotes from the book to demonstrate the problems with it's teachings and show it's dangers. I'll address the way they misuse Scripture to support these teachings. I'll also be sharing content from a physicist who has weighed in to demonstrate how fake the "science" of the book is. Finally, I'll share some shocking details about the deceptions in the book related to the supposed credentials of the "quantum physicist" who they lean on as an expert. Spoiler, he's not. Bethel Church in Redding California has presented itself to the worldwide body of Christ as a guide for deeper and more miraculous spiritual experiences. Since they have such a wide impact and reach and their teachings on these issues are, I am sad to say, not only reckless but dangerous and unbiblical, I feel this video is worth making.

Christian Schools Going “Woke”? Veteran Teacher Blows Whistle

Many Catholic and Protestant schools and education program providers are lining up with Common Core, Social-Emotional Learning, and "woke" propaganda, warned veteran educator and elementary director emeritus at FreedomProject Academy, Mary Black, in this episode of Conversations That Matter with The New American magazine's Alex Newman. Black, who has been teaching for around five decades, says these problems are becoming ubiquitous, and that parents must guard their children. In some cases, private schools have become even worse than government schools. Even more alarming, even many Christian textbooks for Christian schools are promoting globalism, critical race theory (CRT), and dangerous manipulation of children. 🇺🇸 The New American: http://www.thenewamerican.com/

Bishop Calls Out Biden for His “Fake Catholicism”

BY BOB ADELMANN

SEE: https://thenewamerican.com/bishop-calls-out-biden-for-his-fake-catholicism/;

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.

Days after the chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities asked Congress to pass a bill prohibiting taxpayer funding for abortions, Joe Biden was asked about it:

Reporter: Catholic bishops are demanding that federal tax dollars not fund abortions.

Biden: No, they are not all doing that, nor is the Pope.

Bishop Joseph Strickland of the Catholic Diocese of Tyler, Texas, immediately tweeted: “Mr. Biden can’t be allowed to twist the words of Pope Francis in this way.… It is time to denounce Biden’s fake Catholicism.”

It’s long past time. Biden, the master flip-flopper, was, once-upon-a-time, back in 2012, a “pro-life Democrat.”

But that was then. Now, he’s all-in for abortion “under any circumstances.” And he’s all-in for ending the Hyde Amendment that prohibits Congress from funding abortions.

Back in July, Pope Francis made his church’s position on abortion clear: “A month after conception, the DNA of the fetus is already there and the organs are aligned. There is human life.”

And then Francis added a question directed to Biden, a self-proclaimed “devout Catholic”: “Is it just to eliminate a human life?”

The question was rhetorical. Said Francis: “I leave it to [Biden’s] conscience, and [request] that he speak to his bishop, his pastor, his parish priest, about that incoherence.”

National Public Radio (NPR) exposed the conflict just days after Biden was inaugurated, posing the issue: “Biden Is Catholic. He Also Supports Abortion Rights.”

One knows that Biden is a “devout Catholic” because his first press secretary, Jen Psaki, said so. At Biden’s very first press conference, she was asked point-blank about Biden’s abortion policies. Here is her response:

I will just take the opportunity to remind all of you that he is a devout Catholic, and somebody who attends church regularly. He started his day attending church with his family this morning.

The Most Reverend Jose Gomez, archbishop of Los Angeles and president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, was far more enlightening. In his statement following Biden’s inauguration, he reminded his readers:

The bishops and Catholic faithful carry out Christ’s commandment to love God and love our neighbors by working for an America that protects human dignity, expands equality and opportunities for every person, and is open-hearted towards the suffering and weak. (Emphasis added)

And Gomez certainly expected Biden, as a “devout Catholic,” to be willing and open to “engage” with him on the touchy topic of abortion:

It will be refreshing to engage with a President who clearly understands, in a deep and personal way, the importance of religious faith and institutions.

Mr. Biden’s piety and personal story, his moving witness to how his faith as brought him solace in times of darkness and tragedy, his longstanding commitment to the Gospel’s priority for the poor — all of this I find hopeful and inspiring.

But, Gomez warned:

We cannot stay silent when nearly a million unborn lives are being cast aside in our country year after year through abortion….

I must point out that our new President has pledged to pursue certain policies that would advance moral evils and threaten human life and dignity, most seriously in the areas of abortion, contraception, marriage, and gender.

He added that those policies, as they are enacted, would affect all human beings, especially Catholics who hold that life is precious, dear, and a gift from God: “Of deep concern is the liberty of the Church and the freedom of believers to live according to their consciences.”

As Biden’s mental and physical health continues to deteriorate, the time gets nearer he will learn his final destiny. As Jesus’ Apostle John wrote in Revelation 21:8:

But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.

Pope Francis: “Proselytizing is something pagan, not evangelical, not Christian”

Pope Francis Calls Catholics to Seek the Lost "Without Proselytism"

Pope Francis I

The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as one of your citizens; you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I Hashem am your God.

Leviticus19:34 (the Israel bible)

BY Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz

SEE: https://www.israel365news.com/365692/pope-francis-proselytizing-is-something-pagan-not-evangelical-not-christian/;

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.

On Wednesday, Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church, addressed crowds gathered for his weekly general audience that convincing someone from another religion to become Christian is a “pagan” practice.

“To evangelize is not to proselytize,” the pope told crowds gathered in the Vatican for his weekly general audience. “To proselytize is something pagan, it is neither religious nor evangelical.”

Quoting the late Pope Benedict XVI, who died Dec. 31, Pope Francis said that “the church does not proselytize, but rather she grows by ‘attraction’” to the beauty of God’s love.

Evangelization “does not begin by seeking to convince others, but by bearing witness each day to the love that has watched over us and lifted us back up,” he said.

“This is not about proselytism, as I said so that others become ‘one of us’ – no, this is not Christian,” he reiterated. “It is about loving so that they might be happy children of God.”

The pontiff has spoken against proselytizing several times. In the first year of his papacy, in an October 2013 interview with La Repubblica, he said, “Proselytism is solemn nonsense, it makes no sense … I believe in God, not in a Catholic God, there is no Catholic God, there is God and I believe in Jesus Christ, his incarnation.”

In an interview with Spanish language news outlet Mundo Negro back in mid-December, which was published on January 13, Pope Francis acknowledged that he initially became a Jesuit to go as a missionary to Japan.

“I see that the Catholic Mission is not a proselytizer, but announces the Gospel according to the culture of each place,” the Pope said. “Catholicism is that, respecting cultures.”

“A missionary goes, respects what is found in each place, and helps to create harmony,” he added. “But it does not engage in ideological or religious proselytism, much less colonialism….the most serious sin that a missionary can have is proselytism. Catholicism is not proselytizing.”

Pope Francis has specifically forbidden attempts to convert Jews. In December 2015, the Vatican’s Commission for Religious Relations with Jews released a document instructing Catholics not to try to convert Jews and should, instead, work with them to fight anti-Semitism. The document emphasized that the two religions were intertwined and that God had never annulled his covenant with the Jewish people.

“The Church is therefore obliged to view evangelization (spreading Christianity) to Jews, who believe in the one God, in a different manner from that to people of other religions and world views,” it said.

“A Christian can never be an anti-Semite, especially because of the Jewish roots of Christianity,” it said.

The document coincided with the 50th anniversary of a Vatican repudiation of the concept of collective Jewish guilt for Jesus’ death and the launch of a theological dialogue that traditionalists have rejected.

 

 

Major Southern Baptist Church HELD Ecumenical Conference With Roman Catholic Speakers~FBC Orlando’s Shocking Southern Baptist Capitulation

SEE: https://thedissenter.substack.com/p/major-southern-baptist-church-to;

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes. This article was posted prior to the event.

SEE ALSO: https://alphausa.org/the-alpha-conference

AND: https://kingdomchange.org/article/the-catholic-charismatic-landscape

In the past, The Alpha Conference has been hosted by two ecumenical organizations — Major Change, a charismatic Evangelical organization, and Stone to Flesh, a charismatic Roman Catholic ecumenical organization. The two organizations have practically merged into one big ecumenical mess. And in the past, we've lambasted Hillsong Church for hosting the conference on their facilities.

But now that Hillsong Church is practically dead from its endless sex scandals among its leadership, Alpha seems to have found a new home—in the Southern Baptist Convention.

First Baptist Church in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, a Southern Baptist congregation according to both the Southern Baptist Convention's church search engine as well as the church's website, will be hosting the ecumenical conference this January 2023. On the church's website under the 'About' section, you will see the following, along with a link to the SBC statement of faith:

According to the Alpha Conference website, this year's conference will be held at the venue of First Baptist Church, Ft Lauderdale:

The address shown is one of the venue addresses for the megachurch which takes up roughly three city blocks:

According to its website, First Baptist Church, Ft. Lauderdale has been heavily involved in Alpha for quite a while. According to the church's website, "Alpha is a series of sessions exploring the Christian faith, typically run over eleven weeks. Each talk looks at a different question about the Christian faith and is designed to create conversation. Week to week we will gather as a group to connect over a meal, watch a video on the basics of the Christian faith, and discuss what we think in an honest and safe environment."

However, Alpha is a horribly dangerous ecumenical movement that minimizes the gospel in favor of a watered-down "mere Christianity" type of religious movement that denies many of the essential tenets of the faith. In fact, this year's conference will not only host several Roman Catholic speakers and a number of women pastors—all in contradiction to the Southern Baptist Convention statement of faith that FBC Ft. Lauderdale claims to hold to—it will also be partnering with a neighboring Roman Catholic Church to hold a Catholic Mass during the conference:

The entire idea of the conference is to bury the distinctions between biblical Christianity and other false churches, particularly the Roman Catholic Church and the New Apostolic Reformation. On the first evening of the three-day conference, participants will be able to take a 12-minute walk to St. Anthony's Catholic Church, just a few blocks away, to participate in a Roman Catholic Mass:

The Southern Baptist Convention's priorities are truly astounding. Rather than focusing on the pressing issues facing the organization, such as churches spreading false teachings and leading people astray, the Convention has instead chosen to prioritize the most crucial issue of all: rooting out the elusive and terrifying threat of Racism and White Supremacy. How could anyone possibly sleep at night knowing that these heinous evils might be lurking in the shadows? It's a good thing the SBC elites are on the case, devoting all of their time and resources to this vital cause. Meanwhile, the spread of false gospels and the endangerment of souls can go ahead and take a back seat, no big deal. So, bravo to the SBC for staying focused on what truly matters.

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FBC Orlando's Shocking Southern Baptist Capitulation

BY JUSTIN PETERS

First Baptist Church, Orlando, Florida, is one of the largest churches in the SBC. They have completely capitulated to the culture on homosexuality. In this video, you will see that their pastor says that a healthy church must include “LGBTQ, Transgendered people, sexually immoral people, and heretics. This is not hyperbole. Where is the outrage? Why has this church not been disciplined out of the SBC? Oh, and you will not believe who was identified as the “chief cornerstone” of 1 Peter 2. You might assume this thumbnail is clickbait. I can assure you it is not. Please watch the entire video. Links: Plagiarism and Sin in the SBC parts 1 and 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNdrU... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hirAE... Reformation Charlotte article on FBC Orlando: https://reformationcharlotte.org/2022... James and Jonathan Merritt (Homosexuality and Universalism in the SBC) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgSw_... My presentations on Social Justice parts 1 and 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwTa5... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLdHe...

Pope’s Moral Equivalence Between the IDF and Palestinian Islamic Jihad

BY HUGH FITZGERALD

SEE: https://www.jihadwatch.org/2023/01/popes-moral-equivalence-between-the-idf-and-palestinian-islamic-jihad;

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.

As is well known, big-hearted muddle-headed Pope Francis doesn’t take sides in the Israel-Palestinian conflict. As far as he is concerned, both sides are equally guilty of unleashing violence against the other; both deserve to be chastised and their respective acts of violence equally deplored. But of course, there is no moral equivalence between Palestinian terror groups, that plot to stab, shoot, and blow up with rockets innocent civilians, and the IDF, which seeks to defend the people of Israel by punishing and preventing such attacks. More on Pope Francis’ call for Israel and the Palestinians to stop what he calls their “spiral of death,” can be found here: “Pope calls for Israel, Palestinians to halt ‘spiral of death,'” Reuters, January 29, 2023:

Pope Francis on Sunday called on Israel and the Palestinians to engage in dialogue in pursuit of peace, deploring the recent violence in the region.

Speaking after the Angelus prayer in Rome, the Pope said he had been greatly saddened by the news of the Palestinians killed during Israeli counter-terrorism operations, as well as by the deaths of Israeli Jews in a synagogue terror attack on Friday.

Here’s the full report in the Vatican News on what the Pope said: “Pope prays for Holy Land as ‘death spiral’ widens in Jerusalem,” by Devin Watkins and Nathan Morley, Vatican News, January 29, 2023:

Pope Francis expressed his sorrow for the recent flareup in violence in the Holy Land on Sunday in his greetings following the noon-day Angelus prayer.

Since the beginning of the year, dozens of Palestinians have been killed in firefights with the Israeli army,” he said.

The Pope recalled the death of 10 Palestinians, including a woman, during an “Israeli military anti-terrorist raid in Palestine.”

He also lamented the deaths of 7 Israeli Jews who were killed, and three others who were injured, by a Palestinian as they were leaving a synagogue on Friday.

Note the order of things. The Pope first expressed his sorrow about the “dozens of Palestinians” who had been killed in firefights with the IDF since the beginning of 2023. Then he mentioned the death of ten Palestinians, most of them members of the terror group Palestinian Islamic Jihad, killed in Jenin. And only then did he see fit to mention the seven Israeli Jews who were killed in Jerusalem when he “also lamented” their deaths.

Why was Pope Francis “greatly saddened” by the deaths of eight terrorists who were in the final stages of planning a major attack? Was he “greatly saddened” by the death of Osama bin Laden? Was he “greatly saddened” by the death of ISIS leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi? Was he greatly saddened by the death of Qassem Soleimani, the leader of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps? It’s an intolerable remark, bespeaking moral myopia.

How dare the Pope compares the deliberate murders of seven Israeli civilians, including a 14-year-old boy, with the killing of PIJ terrorists who had opened fire on the IDF soldiers who had arrived at their hideout to arrest them?

“I appeal to the two governments and the international community, and I ask them to find immediately, without wasting any time, other paths which include dialogue and the sincere search for peace.”

The Palestinians have rejected every Israeli offer for a peace settlement – in 2000, 2001, and 2008 – and the P.A. will only agree to talk if Israel commits itself in advance to being squeezed back within the 1949 armistice lines, which Abba Eban once described as “the lines of Auschwitz,” and which would leave Israel with a nine-mile-wide waist from Qalqilya to the sea. With such borders, the country could be cut in two by an invader from the East within an hour. As for that “search for peace,” Pope Francis ought to be directing his remarks to the unyielding and corrupt rais in Ramallah.

The Pope appeals to “the two governments.” But “Palestine” is not a state, and the Palestinian Authority is something much less than a government. The Pope ought to have made his appeal to “both sides.”

“It is with great pain that I hear of the news coming from the Holy Land.The spiral of death which is growing every day does nothing but kill the little trust that there is between these two peoples,” he said.

The Pope’s phrase “spiral of death” suggests another deceptive phrase that has often been used about the Israel-Palestinian conflict. We are told that an attack by one side or the other is part of a “cycle of violence” for which both sides must be equally blamed. But the violence proceeds thus: it begins with a terror attack by the Palestinians, involving the kidnapping or murder of several Israeli Jews, or the launching of rockets from Gaza into southern Israel; this leads to an Israeli attack to punish the terrorists responsible or to inflict sufficient pain on the Palestinians generally that the terror group or groups involved then decide to stop – for a while — their attacks.

Israel has had to fight four wars against Hamas in Gaza, each time in order to discourage Hamas from killing Israelis, or from launching rocket and missile attacks on civilians in such southern cities as Ashkelon and Ashdod. Israel, in fact, is not continuing a “cycle of violence,” but rather, trying to end, through punishing attacks, that “cycle of violence” everyone deplores but which few understand has been the fault solely of the Palestinians, for it has always been they who begin the violence.

Pope Francis, deploring the “spiral of death,” has refrained from passing any moral judgment on the two parties. Can he really think that there is no difference between Israel, only trying to protect its people and the Palestinians who wish to destroy the Jewish state? Since 1948, when the armies of five Arab states tried to snuff out the young life of the nascent state of Israel, the Jewish state had to fight two more wars for its very survival, in 1967 and 1973. Furthermore, Israel has had to fight many smaller wars against the Palestinian terror groups – the PLO, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the PFLP, and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade – that have launched thousands of attacks on the Jews of Israel. Does the Pope fully grasp this history?

In these attacks, which Pope Francis claims are part of a “spiral of violence” that he deplores, but about which he withholds judgment as to which side is more to blame, it has always been the Palestinians who have begun the violence, or more exactly, have never stopped their violence, and Israel strikes back not in every case, but mainly when a series of attacks have been particularly deadly, or when an Israeli attack will, in the opinion of the IDF, prevent a major attack from happening. The IDF’s entry into Jenin was undertaken to arrest those PIJ members plotting an imminent terrorist attack, as the Shin Bet had warned. It had no other purpose than to prevent that attack from taking place. This worry about terror attacks in Israel has recently become especially acute because, since last spring, there has been an upsurge in those attacks, and the IDF has, as a consequence, become more aggressive in raiding terrorist dens in Jenin and Nablus, currently the two centers of terrorist activity. The IDF went into Jenin not to kill, but to arrest the terrorists. But the soldiers were met with gunfire, and a three-hour gun battle ensued. When it was over, eight terrorists lay dead. Was the IDF fighting back in Jenin part of a “spiral of death,” or was it the justified reaction of those who had first been fired on? And wasn’t the mission itself, to prevent a terror attack on civilians, also justified? One would like Pope Francis to answer those questions.

The Pope seems to think that the murders in Jerusalem of seven Israelis by a 21-year-old Palestinian were in response to the gun battle in Jenin. But the Palestinian murderer had been planning for months to become a “martyr,” as his postings on social media make clear. The battle in Jenin did not prompt his violence in Jerusalem. The Pope wants to believe that we must blame this “spiral of death” on Israel, as one side – it doesn’t matter whether it is Israel or the Palestinians since both in his view are equally culpable – attacks the other; that other side then retaliates with its own attack, and again, the first side then responds, and there is no end to this. There is no room in Pope Francis’ understanding for moral judgments to be made on either side; it’s simply a case of two parties fighting each other for no good reason. The Pope is not about to suggest that the Palestinians’ reason for fighting is to bring about the destruction of the Jewish state, and Israel’s reason for fighting is to make sure that doesn’t happen. As the Pope sees it, every Palestinian who dies is just as much to be mourned as every Israeli; the “two peoples” (the Pope does not know that the “Palestinian people” were invented in the mid-1960s, at the suggestion of the KGB) must be helped by those who, like the Pope himself, will not presume to judge matters of morality, but will only work to end their “cycle of violence.”

In July, Pope Francis spoke of the possibility of retiring. That’s the best idea he’s had in a very long time.

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