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Infiltration By The Church Of Rome

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« on: September 22, 2013, 08:35:23 am »

Infiltration By The Church Of Rome

Lecture at the Opening Session of the European Institute of Protestant Studies
By Dr Brian Green, London
President of the British Council of Protestant Christian Churches
We are living in a day when there are many assaults on the true Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. There are: -

(1) Continual attacks on the truths of the Gospel.

Many of our religious leaders deny the deity of our Lord; the substitutionary atonement of the death of our Lord and His bodily resurrection, the plenary inspiration of the scriptures and the doctrines of the Gospel.

(2) Constant emphasis of the social Gospel.

The world sees the church as a place to do good in such areas as Refugee help and working amongst the deprived. Whilst we acknowledge the necessity for concern for those who have need, we would question whether this is the prime consideration of the Christian church.

The socialist society has brought about the present Drug Culture and tbe Pornographic explosion with its violent attitude.

(3) The many "goals" propagated by the false sects.

The Jehovah' s Witnesses, Mormons and the Christian Scientists still seek a hearing upon our streets, together with the proliferation of the many New Age brainwashing movements.

(4) The increase of heathen religions.

We are faced with the alaming fact that Islamic Mosques, Hindu and Sikh Temples and other religious buildings are now being erected at a faster rate than Christian churches in our land.

(5) The superficial attitude of Evangelicals.

We as Evangelicals have shut our eyes to what is happening around us and become insular in our work for God.

The greatest attack on the true Church of Jesus Christ is the insidious infiltration of the Roman church into Protestantism. We learn from history of the various ways Rome has used in the past attempting to undermine and destroy Protestantism.

The Church of Rome has used in its strategy open persecution when countless numbers were tortured on the rack and many more put in prison for their faith. The flames of the fire and the use of the bullet have been the means of killing so many who dared to stand against popery.

Rome has used slander and contempt in order to gag the outspoken and fearless, is order to stop the truth. Rome has not been above undermining a whole nation to execute its purpose and aim. It was Lenin who taught his followers the strategy of 'undermining the economy' of a country in order to take over, and we have witnessed the success of this strategy all over Europe during the last century. Rome is a big player in the world of high finance, and although she loves her wealth, her main aim is the manipulation of the economies of the countries it invests in. Rome has been known to be active in the damaging of a Nations moral health, as it subtly promotes pornography and drugs, so that it can take over weak and corrupt nations with its religious and political systems.

Although in Britain we have been subjected to a great deal of the Roman strategy as I have indicated, today her ways are more of stealth, secrecy and surreptitiousness. That is why it is important to highlight infiltration as one of our great dangers today. The dictionaries' definition of infiltration is very interesting: 'to cause to enter gradually and imperceptibly'. It gives the example of occupying troops or the work of spies.

It is my conviction that this has been Rome's strategy for a long time within our nation. The media its largely controlled or greatly influenced by the Roman Church, and every word or movement of the Pope is reported as if it were the most startling, amazing or urgent thing to report. Our schools, colleges, legal system, political structures, Government and even the Royal family have all been infiltrated by the Jesuit strategy.

It is even more alarming to see the same this happening in the Protestant Church. In England we have a state church which still claims the vast majority of the population as its members, even though many will never darken its doors. The Church of England was the continuing church after the Reformation, but it was never thoroughly reformed. Since the Reformation it has canied on with many of the 'popish' ways of the former church. As someone has apply put it 'it came out of Rome, but Rome never came out of it' .

Recently it was reported in the press that over 1000 so-called 'priests' had left the Church of England to convert to Rome, mainly over the issue of the decision to appoint women 'priests'. All these were 'High' churchmen who already accepted the doctrines of the Church of Rome, and the only difference they had before their move to Rome was that they looked to Canterbury rather than the Vatican! Those that are left fall into a number of categories, but mainly into two - Liberals and Evangelicals. The Liberal wing of the church seems to disregard the 39 Articles as irrelevant and practise a sort of 'spiritist' religion. The Evangelical side of the church pays lip service to sound doctrine but still practises popery with its insistence on vestments, the swinging of incense, the sign of the Cross, the read prayers, the display of an , 'altar' for the sacraments, thus necessitating a relegated pulpit on the side, prayers for the dead, the division of 'priest' and laity and the constant remembrance of saints' days. It seems to me that the Church of England has always been ready for a bloodless coup!

I want to look at three main areas - the World Council of Churches, the Charismatic Movement and the recent Evangelicals and Catholic dialogue, where it seems to me that great infiltration is taking place.

(1) The World Council of Churches

I begin with the WCC because it seems to me that historians will call this the Age of Ecumenism, the Era of Unity or the Time of Reconciliation. This has been brought about mainly because of the work of the World Council of Churches.

The WCC was inaugurated fifty years ago at Amsterdam, Holland, in 1948, but the Ecumenical movement dates back to the Edinburgh missionary conference of 1910. The avowed purpose was to unite all Christians under one banner, and in order to do this its basis of fellowship is very wide to include all shades of opinion and interpretation. The enlarged basis of Article 1 of the Constitution was agreed at their New Delhi assembly:

"The World Council of Churches is a felowship of Churches which confess the Lord Jesus Christ as God and Saviour, according to the Scriptures, and therefore seek to fulfil together their common calling, to the glory of One God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit."

These seem to be fine words at first glance that all of us could accept and applaud. However, the WCC issues a clarification document (page 182):

(a) That the foundation is not a touchstone, where the faith of Churches or persons can be judged.

(b) That the World Council of Churches does not concern itself with the manner in which the Churches will interpret the foundation.

(c) That it is left to the responsibility of every Church to decide whether it will co-operate on this basis.

The clarification document undermines the solid basis which the WCC begins with and allows any interpretation, any opinion and any Church of a so-called 'Christian' persuasion to participate in its membership.

It is interesting to note, therefore, that the Roman Catholic Church is not a official member of the WCC. It considers it is too liberal and wide in it s views for its full participation. However at local levels it is actively involved and is fully committed to the doctrine committee of the WCC which is called 'The Faith and Order Commission', where it is represented by twelve theologians who have worked together with the WCC considering three essential areas for unity:

(a) Baptism: The commission have already concluded that all who have a 'valid' baptism word be regarded as children of God and be able to participate in a future one-World Church.

(b) Eucharist: The Roman Catholic view of the Eucharist, as being the actual body and blood of our Lord, has been accepted by most and will form part of the proposed dominating World Church.

(c) Ministry: The debate concerning the ministry goes on, but it is agreed that a form of Episcopalian hierarchy is necessary with one Super-Head, thus paving the way for a future Pope to be that person.

Rome does not regard the so-called Christians in the WCC as heretics any more, but as separated brethren. The week of prayer for Christian Unity is always infiltrated by Roman Catholic priests, and the Friday of the week is devoted to special prayers that they might "unite separated brethren with the Chair of St. Peter's". Hence we see something of the subtle infiltration by the Church of Rome.

(2) The Charismatic Movement

We are all aware of the influence of the Charismatic Movement as it has swept through Churches in every part of the world. Emphasising the outward manifestations of tongues, prophesying and the supernatural, it has been described as 'a wind, fire or downpour from Heaven'. Healings of all kinds have been reported, some very bizarre, such as puppies raised from the dead, washing machines healed, petrol tanks supernaturally filled and people slain in the Spirit! The so-called 'Toronto blessing' has followed on swiftly behind the Charismatic Movement with even greater claims of supernatural experience. Whilst some have claimed to bark like dogs 'in the Spirit', others profess to have actually to have been to Heaven and back in the body!

There are many serious objections we have to this false movement as it deceives so many professing Christians, but are enquiry is concerning the participation of Rome within the ranks of this latest manifestation.

Some years ago a group of men burst on the Charismatic scene referred to as the Kansas City Prophets. This group became part of the World Vineyard Fellowship with its emphasis on visions, revelations and prophecy. Many of these men have now become leaders of the Promise Keepers movement. Where did they originate? Many came from the Catholic Charismatic Word of God community in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.

In 1975 Pope Paul VI endorsed this renewal movement during a massive rally in the city of Rome. Pope John II greeted the 4th International conference of Charismatic leaders, held in Rome in May, 1981, with these words: "Your choice of Rome as the site of this conference is a special sign of your understanding of the importance of being rooted in that Catholic unity of faith and charity which finds its visible centre in the see of Peter." David DuPlessis was acknowledged to be the leader of the Movement at that time throughout the world, he was hailed as Mr. Pentecost and was said to have done more that any other one person to influence the Protestant Church to be Charismatic and ecumenical. When asked a question with regard to unity with the Roman Church he replied that he looked for "nothing less than full ecumenicity"- meaning total unity with Rome under the Pope.

The Charismatic movement has done more to promote false unity with Rome than the Roman Counter-Reformation movement and the WCC combined. The subtle influence and infiltration by Rome has been seen here more vividly than at any time since Martin Luther nailed his famous 95 Theses to the Church door at Wittenberg.

In 1971 the first known service was held at Guildford Cathedral where Roman Catholics, traditional Protestants and Pentecostals shared the same platform. Writing afterward, Michael Harper, a Curate of All Souls', Langham Place, London, and a leader of the infant Charismatic movement, said that it was "a moment when the walls of prejudice collapsed and prisons of entrenched doctrines were opened". Somebody else said: "Guildford revealed the world-wide, ecumenical scope of the new movement."

Before this, in 1967, Roman Catholic prayer groups had formed at the university of Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana, USA, seeking the Charismatic experience. They saw this as a means of bringing the 'separated brethren' back to the Mother Church of Rome under the Pontiff. Since those early days, barriers have been broken down, doctrine disregarded and Protestants and Catholics have joined together for worship, service and conference, but always with Rome being the dominant force.

This, surely, is another important way in which Rome, in keeping with her overall strategy, has infiltrated the Protestant Church.

(3) The Evangelicals and Catholics Together Movement

ECT is a new movement to promote an understanding between Evangelicals and Catholics so that they can work together towards a common mission. Encouraged to forget the past, to recognise what they have in common and to concentrate on evangelising a secular society together. These seem to be fine words and have been welcomed universally by many. The Vatican is said to have welcomed the movement with enthusiasm, as well it might.

Dr Jim Packer, a leading evangelical theologian and one of the endorsers of the CCT document, states: "Things are not as they were", and concludes: "ECT is a good beginning. I stand with it, I cannot do otherwise, and I thank God. Now I wait to see what God will do with it." The beginning of the movement is described as "peeping behind each other's doors". Gerald Coates, evangelical house church leader, declares: "We must stop fighting the battles of the past; it is time for Evangelicals and Catholics to get together to explore what God might have in mind for us." Charles Colson, one of the instigators of the new movement and one of the writers in the book defending the position of ECT, speaking for Evangelicals, says: "The divisions between us are not the battle of the hour."

It seems to me that it is essential for us to ask ourselves urgently:

(1) Is this God working, or is it a repackaging of Roman ecumenism?

(2) Have we, as Protestants and inheritors of the Reformation tradition, been deceived all along in our position, or is Rome adopting a new guise to seduce?

(3) Is this movement of watershed significance to us or should we recognise it as a subtle attempt to entangle us again with the yoke of bondage?

In 1985 Charles Colson, who founded the Prison Fellowship Ministries, as Chairman invited Rev Richard Neuhaus, a former Lutheran, but now a foremost Jesuit priest, and Carl Henry, the long-time editor and founder of Christianity Today, to address a gathering of Christian leaders. At that meeting they sensed "the Holy Spirit was moving them to do more".

There was a common acceptance the Christian culture was no longer an influence on modern society, that envy, greed and hatred rules people's lives and that crime without conscience has caused violence to increase to alarming proportions. To add to this, religion had become an irrelevancy to the majority of people. Charles Colson points out that Christians are losing the battle against the contemptuous media, an unrestrained consumerism, sexual libertinism, a hostile academia and the omnipresent hedonistic entertainment industry. He concludes: "Christians are both surrounded and outnumbered." In 1986 Neuhaus published his book The Naked Public Square which describes a sick society without an answer to its dilemma. George Wiegel, Roman Catholic President of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington DC, suggests that there are "substantive reasons why the attempt to reclothe the naked public square is a joint task for Evangelicals and Catholics".

A historic meeting was held in New York in September of 1992. At this meeting were the seven Roman Catholics and eight Evangelicals who would eventually produce the ECT text. The main concern of the meeting was that "animosities between Evangelicals and Catholics threatened to mar the image of Christ by turning Latin America into a Belfast of religious warfare".

The Drafting Committee of the ECT document was made up of George Weigel, the Lay Catholic Theologian; Kent Hill, President of Eastern Nazarene College; Charles Colson; and Richard Neuhaus. The final document was approved in March 1994 and endorsed by a wider number of people a little later on. Besides the leading Catholic participants and endorsers we find the names of many so-called Evangelicals: Charles Colson, Prison Fellowship; Dr Hill, Nazarene College; Dr Land and Dr Lewis from the Southern Baptist Convention; Dr Miranda, Assemblies of God; Mr Brian O'Connell, World Evangelical Fellowship; Dr John White, National Association of Evangelicals; Dr Bill Bright, Campus Crusade for Christ; Bishop Frey, Trinity Episcopal School; Ralph Martin, Renewal Ministries; Dr Mouw Fuller, Theological Seminary; Dr Noll, Wheaton College; Dr Packer, Regent College; and Rev Pat Robertson, Regent University. There are many more that these who enthusiastically wished to add their names as endorsers.

The main thought of the ECT statement is:

(i) The Past must be forgotten.

Colson writes:

"The divisions between us are not the battle of the hour. [...] The controversies that divide us are far less significant than the common threat that confronts us." The divisions and controversies which Colson mentions are those that began at the Reformation and are still the same today.

(ii) There is more that unites Evangelicals and Catholics than divides them.

They say that both believe in the Trinity and therefore the deity of Christ, His virgin birth and bodily resurrection, that He is the only Saviour of men and that the scriptures are divinely inspired. Both affirm together the Apostles' Creed as an accurate statement of Scripture and truth. The vehicle of the World Council of Churches is rejected in Colson's words: "This new ecumenism bears no relationship to new ecumenism which seeks unity by disregarding doctrinal differences"; and again: "The ecumenical movement among liberal Protestants sought to unite various denominations by eliminating doctrinal distinctions."

(iii) All Catholics and Evangelicals must be regarded as brothers and sisters in Christ. This is clear from their statement: "All who accept Christ as Lord and Saviour are brothers and sisters in Christ. [...] He has chosen us to be His together.

(iv) Together the two groupings have strength. It is estimated that the Catholic Church has 1 billion adherents, whilst the Evangelicals have 300,000, although some would put this figure higher.

(v) A commitment to a common task of evangelising the non-believing world. The ECT statement contains the words: "We hope together that all people will come to faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour." Believing they preach the same gospel, they propose to work together for the salvation of souls.

You may ask how two seemingly irreconcilable groups have come this far. There have been many previous ventures of co-operation and unity, and these have been the evolution of this present movement. There have been:

The World Council of Churches

In 1960 the Pope sent Catholic observers to the New Delhi Assembly of the WCC, and since that time the Catholic Church has taken an active role as observer in many of the agencies of the WCC.

The Vatican Council II (1962-1965)

Some have concluded that the main purpose of this modern-day council was ecumenism. It was from this council that Rome began speaking about "separated brethren", and in section 3 of the Decree on Ecumenism "men who believe in Christ and have been properly baptized are brought into a certain, though imperfect, communion with the Catholic Church".

The Picket Lines

Evangelicals have already acted together over many religious and social concerns. The persecuted church in the communist countries, children's rights, anti-abortion, a pro-life ecumenism, euthanasia, embryo experimentation and human rights are some of the issues on which, protesting vigorously, Evangelicals and Catholics have worked together.

The Billy Graham Contribution

In the 1960's, Graham started his co-operative evangelicalism, with Catholics making up a considerable portion of those who attend his meetings and who if they make a response are sent back to the Catholic Church for counselling. A crusade was held in American Catholics' most hallowed location - the football stadium of Notre Dame University, in 1977, where Graham received a doctorate. He was entertained by the Abbot of the Shrine of the Black Madonna in Poland in 1978, and in 1981 Pope John Paul II granted him an audience at the Vatican.

The Charismatic Renewal

Mark Noll of Wheaton College writes in his contribution: "The spread of the Charismatic Movement has done a great deal to reduce the barriers between Catholics and Evangelicals." Dr Packer writes: "Charismatic gatherings, where the distinction between Protestant and Catholic vanishes in a Christ-centred unity of worship, fellowship and joy, are a further example working side by side."

All these have brought into being the position where Catholics and Evangelicals meet with a common belief, attitude and action.

Great names of the past are quoted as if they were in favour of a united front with Rome. These include John Calvin, John Wesley and Gresham Machen. Even Martin Luther is called in a Catholic book, a reformer of the Church. They speak in a derisory manner of Fundamentalism in 1890 as a mainstream, but in the 1990's as marginal.

Their Hopes

In the ECT statement, the participants reveal their hopes under various headings.

Witnessing together

The full statement title reads: "Evangelicals and Catholics Together - The Christian Mission in the Third Millennium". In the statement they say: "As the second millennium draws to a close, the Christian mission in world history faces a moment of daunting opportunity and responsibility. If in the merciful and mysterious ways of God the Second Coming is delayed, we enter upon a third millennium that could be, in the words of John Paul II, 'a springtime of world missions'."

The question of proselytising is discussed, and although again Evangelicals make noises about evangelising all, including Catholics, Mark Noll speaks for the main body of opinion when he accepts that it is "at best dubious and at works simply wrong for Catholics and Evangelicals to proselytise across the Catholic-Protestant border". In the official ECT statement it is put clearly that there is "a necessary distinction between evangelising and what is today commonly called proselytising or sheet-stealing. We condemn the practice of recruiting people from another community […]."

The assumption is that all Evangelicals are Christians and all Catholics are Christians.

Praying together

Although the Evangelical side states that ECT is not about a total union with Rome, it is obvious that this is the ultimate aim of those participating from the Catholic side. The ECT statement says: "As Evangelicals and Catholics we pray that our unity in the love of Christ will become ever more evident as a sign to the world of God's reconciling power."

Avery Dulles, SJ, acclaimed as a leading Catholic theologian, takes his subject, in the supporting chapters, to the ECT statement: "the unity for which we hope". He envisages a visible unity in one faith and Eucharist fellowship, in order that the world may believe.

Searching together

The ECT statement declares "for a fuller and clearer understanding of God's revelation in Christ and His will for his disciples".

They list some of the differences between the two sides:

The nature of the church - visible or invisible?
The authority of scripture or the teaching of the church?
Individual freedom or magisterium?
The priesthood - apostolic or all believers?
The sacraments - symbols or means of grace?
Supper - sacrifice or memorial?
Baptism - means of regeneration of testimony to regeneration?
This acknowledgement of serious disagreements shows how wide the chasm is between Evangelicals and Roman Catholics in their doctrine and practice.
Their Haste

Working towards a common mission in the third millennium is the objective given by the ECT. There has been much expectancy in many quarters, as we near the new millennium, emanating especially from the Vatican, with the Pope speaking of the coming "springtime of world missions". The year 2000 AD has long been a target date in Rome's mind for evangelism.

The aim is to convert as many people as possible to Roman Catholicism by December 25, 2000 AD, when it is planned that the incumbent Pope will make a worldwide satellite telecast to a potential audience of five billion people.

It is more than significant, then, to find Evangelicals and Catholics together with an identical purpose.

Again our question must be: Which Gospel is to be preached in order to attract people to genuine faith in Jesus Christ in order that they may experience forgiveness of sins?

Their Heresy

It is not popular to speak or write against heresy, but the Scriptures are strong in their language against all who distort, pervert, take away from or add to the Gospel of Christ. Paul, writing to the Philippians, warns: "Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers" (Phil. 3:2); and to the Galatians: "[...] if any man preach any other gospel [...] let him be accursed." We indict those who seek to forward the Evangelicals and Catholics Together movement as deceivers and brand the document as encouraging a false gospel.

The acclaim that it has received only goes to show the bankruptcy of the so-called Evangelical Church with its lack of knowledge and understanding of the past and its lack of appreciation of what the Word of God teaches concerning the one and only true gospel. The Roman Catholic Church has not changed since the Reformation. Its language has, but its substance remains as before. The central act of worship for the Catholic Church is the Mass, where the sacrifice of Christ upon the Cross is re-enacted. The Roman Church states that "in the most holy sacrament of the Eucharist there is truly, really and substantially the Body and Blood, together with the Soul and Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ" and that there is made "a conversion of the whole substance of the wine into the Blood". Our forefathers called this "a mockery and blasphemous fable".

In one of the supporting chapters in the published book of the ECT document, Avery Dulles, the leading Jesuit theologian, says: "Of equal unitive significance with baptism is the one eucharistic bread, the means whereby the baptized partake of the body of Christ, by partaking of which the faithful enter into his saving death." Rome has not changed in its doctrine.

The Roman Catholic Church still proclaims its dogma of an infallible Pope. Dulles comments on this: "It is hard to see how Catholics could consider themselves to be fully reconciled with the churches that did not acknowledge the papacy as the bearer of divinely instituted Petrine ministry."

With all these unbiblical dogmas and unscriptural practices, how can Evangelicals have a common mission with Catholics? There are two questions which need to be asked and answered.

What is a Christian?

We may feel we could answer this simple question. However, in the context of our examination of the ECT document it is essential that we ask this urgently. In the ECT statement they suggest that "there are different ways of becoming a Christian", no doubt referring to the different expressions of the churches. Surely there is only one way of becoming a Christian. The Roman Catholic contributors in the document made no secret of the fact that they think differently from the Evangelical contributors on how an individual becomes a Christian. They continue in line with the official Roman Catholic teaching that all who belong to the Church of Rome and are partakers of her sacraments are in the process of becoming Christians. Avery Dulles tells us: "Any valid baptism causes the baptized to be truly incorporated into the crucified and glorified Christ, and reborn to a sharing of the divine life." Despite the new language used by Rome, such as "born again Catholics", "Evangelical Catholics" - Catholics who love the Lord and challenging adult Catholics to accept Jesus Christ as personal Saviour - the official teaching in the Catholic Catechism remains the same: "Baptism is the sacrament of spiritual rebirth. Through the symbolic washing with water and the use of appropriate ritual words, the baptized person is cleansed from all his sins and incorporated into Christ." This is baptismal regeneration which leads to a corporate salvation. We believe the Bible speaks of a personal salvation which is the free, unmerited gift of the God of grace. It is not through the church, baptism or any works or ritual that the individual is born again: it is simply that the operation of the Holy Spirit causes the individual to be born again. Of course we believe there are true believers in the unbiblical dark Church of Rome and they need to be delivered from this bondage.

What is the Gospel?

The mission must have a gospel to proclaim - but which gospel? Is it to be the Catholic gospel of works, merit and gained righteousness? The Bible tells us that our salvation is not of works, "lest any man should boast" (Eph. 2:9). Elsewhere Paul reminds us that in the flesh "dwelleth no good thing" (Rom. 7:18). Writing to the Philippians, he tells them to have "no confidence in the flesh" (Phil. 3:3); yet Rome teaches baptism and faith and works and obedience to the church as the way of being saved.

In the ECT statement they affirm together that salvation is by being justified by grace, through faith, because of Christ. This is the crux of the issue: there are missing words!

The Reformers stated that we are justified by grace through faith alone, by Christ alone. Martin Luther called "justification by faith alone" the article upon which the church stands or falls". Sola fide was the reason why the Reformers left the Church of Rome. Without this there is no Gospel. Of course Rome could adopt Sola fide, but it never will because this would mean the fall of its whole religious system. Evangelicals could abandon the historic position of Sola fide, but this they are reluctant to do. The only other course of action is to regard this important doctrine as not essential to the Gospel. This is the option that been chosen by the evangelical compromisers of ECT. This is an alarming and sad betrayal of the Gospel. To omit the all-important and qualifying word "alone" is at least insufficient and inadequate and obscures the Gospel. At its most serious it is the presentation of another gospel and according to Galatians 1 should be accursed.

How is sinful man saved? Spiritually his mind is alienated, his eyes are blind, he is deaf to hear, dumb to sing praise and dead in trespass and sins. He needs to be made clean before a holy God. He requires righteousness to be able to stand before God and obtain eternal life.

Is there anything this dead, sinful man can do to save himself? Rome says yes: by its system of works or merit. The Bible says no: salvation is all of grace. God quickens us from our spiritual death, cleanses us through the blood of the Saviour and clothes us with the righteousness of His dear Son. He imputes righteousness to us for our salvation and imparts righteousness to us for our Christian lives. We are justified by grace alone through faith and by Christ alone.

We conclude by giving a strong warning that the "Evangelicals and Catholics Together" movement is another guise of the Devil, the angel of light, to distort, deceive and damage the work of the true Church of Jesus Christ.

Galatians 5:1 exhorts us: "Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage."

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« Reply #1 on: September 22, 2013, 08:36:41 am »

The Jesuit Agenda and the Evangelical/Protestant Church

Understand the Times/Lighthouse Trails Special Report

www.understandthetimes.org

According to Bible prophecy, a one-world religion that will offer the promise of peace throughout the world is going to commence prior to Christ’s return. To most, this global body will seem like a wonderful thing and very possibly will be a pseudo-Christianity (coming in the name of “Christ”); however, contrary to how the masses will view it, it will actually help establish and set up the antichrist and his one- world government.

In order for this to happen, all religions must come together in an ecumenical plan. Today, as part of this Satanic scheme, the evangelical/Protestant church is being drawn seductively into the Roman Catholic church, largely through what we call “The Jesuit Agenda.” Incredibly, while the evidence is obvious to some, the majority of proclaiming Christians are not at all aware it is happening.

So, what should we expect if we are in the time when such a system unfolds? First, many who once were Protestant and evangelical will become ecumenical and eventually assimilate with the Roman Catholic church. Second, all religions will unite in solidarity of purpose. Understanding the Jesuit Agenda is essential if we are to understand how this worldwide deception will come about.

Who are the Jesuits?

Since its foundation, the Catholic papacy has been zealous and often brutal in its endeavor to establish the kingdom of the Pope (of whom it is believed within the Catholic church is headed by Jesus Christ). In fact, the Pope has been referred to as the “Vicar of Christ.” This determination was witnessed during the Inquisition where countless thousands, if not millions, died cruelly for resisting Rome. Foxe’s Book of Martyrs describes many of these atrocities.

While many believers in Christ during the Reformation period attempted to spread the truth that God’s Word was truly God’s Word and could not be squandered and kept hostage by the papacy and the Catholic Church, it was not long before the Counter Reformation was founded to bring the “Separated Brethren” back to the “Mother of All Churches.”

This Counter Reformation was largely headed by Ignatius Loyola, the man who founded the Jesuit Order in the mid 1500s and launched an all-out attack against those who dared stand against the papacy and Rome. This excerpt from Foxe’s Book of Martyrs gives us an idea of the nature and determination of this Counter Reformation:

The emperor Ferdinand, whose hatred of the Bohemian Protestants was without bounds, not thinking he had sufficiently oppressed them, instituted a high court to prosecute the reformers upon the plan of the Inquisition, with this difference, that the court was to travel from place to place and always to be attended by a body of troops. This court was conducted chiefly by Jesuits and from their decision there was no appeal, by which it may be easily conjectured that it was a dreadful tribunal indeed.

This bloody court, attended by a body of troops, made the tour of Bohemia. They seldom examined or saw a prisoner, for the soldiers were permitted to murder the Protestants as they pleased and then to make a report of the matter to them afterward.(1)
You see, the Jesuits were commissioned by the Pope to do whatever it took to end the Protestant Reformation. The 1540 Constitution of the Jesuits states:

[L]et whoever desires to fight under the sacred banner of the Cross, and to serve only God and the Roman pontiff, His vicar on earth, after a solemn vow of perpetual chastity,- let him keep in mind that he is part of a society, instituted for the purpose of perfecting souls in life and in Christian doctrine, for the propagation of the faith . . . Let all members know, and let it be not only at the beginning of their profession, but let them think over it daily as long as they live, that the society as a whole, and each of them, owes obedience to our most holy lord, the pope, and the other Roman pontiffs, his successors, and to fight with faithful obedience for God. (Emphasis added.)
 While most Christians think that the Counter Reformation is a thing of the past because we are not seeing Inquisitions today, this movement continues until today and with renewed effort through various avenues of the evangelical/Protestant church. In a way, it is more insidious than the Inquisitions, because now it has infiltrated Christianity and is being disguised as the “new” Christianity. (Rick Warren promotes it as the “new” or second reformation.) But disguised or not, it is the Jesuit Agenda, and it is bringing about ecumenism and a one-world religion. And at the same time, it is attempting to destroy the message that so many died for -  the message that Jesus Christ is not found in a wafer and a cup of juice to be re-crucified day after day but has died once and for all for the sins of man and offers a salvation that is an entirely free gift, unearned to those who believe on Him (Hebrews 7:27; 10:11-14).

Who Was Ignatius Loyola?

After a serious injury in the military and during a lengthy rehabilitation, Ignatius Loyola (b. 1491, d. 1556) turned his focus from “military enthusiasm to ghostly fanaticism.(2)  Ignatius assumed the name and office of Knight of the Virgin Mary, seeing himself as Mary’s favorite. Ignatius wanted to start a new order, The Society of Jesus (or the Jesuits) and presented the idea to the Pope. He told the Pope that the idea had been inspired by heavenly revelations. At first, the Pope hesitated, but when Ignatius added a fourth vow (in addition to the regular poverty, chastity, and obedience), “absolute subservience to the pope,” promising to do whatever the Pope wanted and go wherever he wanted, the Pope agreed and sent the new order out to “invade the world.” While other monks of other orders sought to separate themselves from the world, the Jesuits went out into the world and obeyed whatever command the Pope gave. Often this was to win the world with the sword. No violent act was withheld if the order came from their top “general.” (3)

In time, the Jesuits entered the education system, especially that of the Protestants. The Jesuit maxim was: “Give us the education of the children of this day – and the next generation will be ours.”(4) The Reverend W. C. Brownlee, D.D. stated: “They pretended to be converted and to enter into Protestant churches.” One Jesuit even boasted that the Jesuits were successfully able to imitate the Puritan preachers. They used trickery and deception to become “all things to all men.” Within 48 years, there were eleven thousand Jesuits around the world, quite a large number for back then. (5)

By 1773, the order was abolished because of their horrible reputation of bloodiness, deception, and immorality. However, they were reinstated fully in 1814 by Pope Pius VII. Even by this time, the influence and infiltration into the United States by the Jesuits was significant.

In 1857, the Reverend W.C. Brownlee, D.D. compiled a book of a translated document called Secret Instructions of the Jesuits (found on the Boston College Libraries website, for one). While Catholic sources say that the Secret Instructions of the Jesuits is an untrue document, there is enough evidence to indicate that it is true indeed. Naturally, it is so indicting against the papacy and the Jesuit Order that one can understand from a human point of view why Catholic sources would say the document isn’t true. But the facts are that the Jesuit Order was performing brutal cruel acts to bring the world to “Christ” and the Mother Church and that they were infiltrating every area of society to do so. This cannot be denied. Brownlee’s book would be a worthwhile read for those who wish to understand more of the history of the Jesuits.

The Jesuit Oath

It is said that the ancient Jesuits took the Jesuit Oath. This has been refuted by Catholic sources as a true oath taken by Jesuits of the past; nevertheless, there is evidence enough that the oath did exist to include excerpts of it in this report. We have taken these excerpts from a book titled Political and Economic Handbook by Thomas Edward Watson published in 1916, and found in the Harvard College library.

I do declare from my heart, without mental reservation, that the Pope is Christ’s Vicar General and . . .  He hath power to depose Heretical Kings, Princes, States  . . .  that they may safely be destroyed. Therefore, to the utmost of my power I will defend this doctrine. . . . I do further declare the doctrine of the Church of England, of the Calvanists [sic], the Huguenots, and other Protestants to be damnable and those to be damned who will not forsake the same.

I do further declare that I will help, assist, and advise all or any of His Holiness agents in any place wherever I shall be; and to do my utmost to extirpate [exterminate] the heretical Protestant doctrine, and to destroy all their pretended power. (p. 437)

In another version of the Jesuit Oath, the Jesuit is asked to promise that he will make “relentless war” against “all heretics, Protestants” and to “hang, burn, waste, boil, flay, strangle, and bury alive these infamous heretics” (found in U.S. House Congressional Record, 1913, p. 3216).

The Jesuit Agenda Today:

While we are not saying that Jesuits today are murdering Protestants if they don’t convert to Catholicism, we are saying that the determination and efforts to convert Protestants back to the Mother Church still exist. Basically, while the methods may have changed, the plan and objectives have not. The following quote from an article titled “Essay on Popery” by Rev. Ingram Cobbin M.A. (taken from one edition of Foxe’s Book of Martyrs) is insightful:

The Jesuits, though at times expelled or pretendedly so from Rome, have been its awful emissaries to augment its power.  The intrigues and deceptions of these men would fill volumes, and the conveniency of their creed to deny or affirm anything, or assume any profession as it may serve their purpose, is too well known to need recapitulating here.  These men have at times assumed so much that every papal state has alternately ejected them; and large numbers are now in this country—doubtless many under false colours —waiting the most favourable opportunities to corrupt the rising generation, and, as much as possible, restore the dark days of former ages.  The Jesuits are unchangeable.
The Jesuits were driven in the past to bring back the lost brethren, and they are driven today with the same vision. Today, that vision is part of the pope’s Eucharistic Evangelization, drawing people to the Eucharistic Christ. The Eucharistic Evangelization is discussed at length in Another Jesus: The Evangelization of the Eucharistic Christ and in several articles on the Understand the Times website.

 Jesuit (Mystical) Spirituality and the Protestant/Evangelical Church

So if the methods of converting lost or prodigal souls back to Rome have changed, what is the method to accomplish these goals today? It is largely through what is called Jesuit Spirituality. A 2002 book titled Contemplatives in Action: The Jesuit Way reveals how the Jesuit order has had and continues to have a “great influence” in people around the world. It attributes this “vitality” to “its spirituality” which has also “evoked fierce loyalty and fierce opposition.”(6)

What is the spirituality of the Jesuits that was so controversial? By their very roots, Jesuits are proponents of mystical prayer practices. The founder of the Jesuits, Ignatius Loyola, created “spiritual exercises” that incorporated mysticism, including lectio divina. Today, millions of people worldwide practice the “Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius Loyola.”

One Jesuit priest who resonates with the mystical spiritual outlook is Anthony De Mello (d. 1987), author of Sadhana: A Way to God. De Mello is often quoted today by contemplative and emerging authors and embraced the mysticism of Hinduism. He stated:

To silence the mind is an extremely difficult task. How hard it is to keep the mind from thinking, thinking, thinking, forever thinking, forever producing thoughts in a never ending stream. Our Hindu masters in India have a saying: one thorn is removed by another. By this they mean that you will be wise to use one thought to rid yourself of all the other thoughts that crowd into your mind. One thought, one image, one phrase or sentence or word that your mind can be made to fasten on. – Anthony de Mello, Sadhana: A Way to God (St. Louis, the Institute of Jesuit Resources, 1978), p. 28 (cited from A Time of Departing, by Ray Yungen, p. 75).
Ray Yungen explains that Sadhana “is very open in its acknowledgment of Eastern mysticism as an enrichment to Christian spirituality.”

It doesn’t take a long search to find De Mello within the evangelical/Protestant camp. In fact, Richard Foster, one of the pioneers of the evangelical spiritual formation (contemplative) movement wrote the introduction to one of De Mello’s books, The Sacrament of the Present Moment. In A Glimpse of Jesus, popular contemplative author Brennan Manning quotes De Mello. Amazon shows that De Mello’s book, The Sacrament of the Present Moment is cited in 82 books, some of which are written by some of evangelicalism’s most popular authors: John Ortberg, Richard Foster, Jan Johnson, Philip Yancey, and Calvin Miller – incidentally all these are contemplative advocates.

Another example of Jesuit influence in the evangelical/Protestant church is the Be Still DVD, where Richard Foster quotes 18th century Jesuit priest, Jean Nicholas Grou as saying: “O Divine Master, teach me this mute language which says so much.” This “mute language” Grou speaks of is the mystical “silence” practiced by contemplatives and mystics throughout all religions.

One of the key figures in the “new” progressive Christianity today is Leonard Sweet. Sweet has partnered on a number of occasions with Rick Warren and speaks at evangelical events frequently. In Sweet’s book, Quantum Spirituality, he states:

 Mysticism, once cast to the sidelines of the Christian tradition, is now situated in postmodernist culture near the center. . . . In the words of one of the greatest theologians of the twentieth century, Jesuit philosopher of religion/dogmatist Karl Rahner, “The Christian of tomorrow will be a mystic, one who has experienced something, or he will be nothing.” [Mysticism] is metaphysics arrived at through mindbody experiences. (p. 76)
How fitting that Sweet would quote a Jesuit priest’s prediction about the “Christian” of the future.

Tony Campolo, another popular figure in the evangelical church, reveals something quite interesting in his book, Letters to a Young Evangelical. In the book, he explains the role mysticism had in him becoming a Christian. He explains:

I learned about this way of having a born-again experience from reading Catholic mystics, especially The Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius Loyola. (p. 30, see “Coming to Christ Through Mysticism,” Oakland )
For skeptics who may need further evidence that Jesuit Spirituality has come into the evangelical/Protestant church, consider this. In 2006, Baker Books, one of evangelicalism’s top book publishers, released a book titled Sacred Listening: Discovering the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius Loyola written by James Wakefield. A publisher description of the book states:

Central to the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), the Spiritual Exercises is a manual used to direct a month-long spiritual retreat. Now adapting these time-honored Exercises specifically for Protestant Christians, James L. Wakefield encourages readers to integrate their secular goals with their religious beliefs and helps them reflect on the life of Jesus as a model for their own discipleship.(7)
Wakefield’s book, devoted to the Jesuits and Ignatian Exercises, should be proof enough that the Jesuit Agenda has entered the Christian church and that mysticism is the tool by which the Jesuit Agenda is largely being brought into the lives of countless evangelicals and Protestants. Is it any wonder Wakefield’s book found praise within the Jesuit community? Armand M. Nigro, professor emeritus at the Jesuit school, Gonzaga University, said:

As a Jesuit for 62 years, I have been formed by the Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola, our principal founder. I rejoice, then, at the long-awaited publication of Sacred Listening. It will be for its readers, I hope, a classic manual for spiritual growth in genuine mystical prayer. (on back cover of book)
Incidentally, Eugene Peterson, author of The Message wrote an endorsement of Wakefield’s book on the front cover.

These are just a few of a great many examples where the “Jesuit Spirituality” has come into the Protestant church; thus this new modern (post-modern) mystical method to accomplish the goals of the papacy is working.

If Protestants and evangelicals can be convinced to practice mysticism (i.e., contemplative), this conditions them to begin embracing Rome and even all religions. It’s important to understand that mysticism is the bridge that unites all the religions of the world. In order to unite them, there would need to be a uniting, common denominator, so to speak. That common uniting medium is mysticism. Thomas Merton recognized this. In a conversation he was having with a Sufi master, the topic of Christian atonement arose. The Sufi master said this was an area they could never agree on, to which Merton replied:

Personally, in matters where dogmatic beliefs differ, I think that controversy [atonement] is of little value because it takes us away from the spiritual realities into the realm of words and ideas . . . in words there are apt to be infinite complexities and subtleties which are beyond resolution. . . . But much more important is the sharing of the experience of divine light, . . . It is here that the area of fruitful dialogue exists between Christianity and Islam.(8) (Emphasis added.)
 
Tilden Edwards, co-founder of the Shalem Institute (where Ruth Haley Barton was educated), would agree with Merton. He said, “This mystical stream [xe "contemplative prayer"xe "contemplative prayer"xe "contemplative prayer"contemplative prayer] is the Western bridge to Far Eastern spirituality” (Spiritual Friend, p. 18). And in a New Age book titled, As Above, So Below, the author states (quoting Aldous Huxley) that “the metaphysical [mystical] that recognizes a divine reality” is the “highest common factor” that “links the world’s religious traditions.” And even evangelical-turned-emerging author Tony Campolo recognizes this commonality in mysticism when he states: “Beyond these models of reconciliation, a theology of mysticism provides some hope for common ground between Christianity and Islam” (pp 149-150).

Incidentally, when we say all the religions of the world uniting, we include the New Age movement (perhaps one of the largest “religions” in the world today). New Agers believe that in order to enter into an age of enlightenment (or Age of Aquarius), the world needs to become “vibrationally sympathetic,” meaning that a sufficient mass (critical mass) of people will need to engage in mystical prayer.(9)

The Counter Reformation Continues

Jesuit influence in the world today is everywhere: in the business world, in education, in government, and yes, in the evangelical/Protestant church.  According to Contemplatives in Action: The Jesuit Way, there are over one million people living in the United States alone who have graduated from Jesuit high schools, colleges, and universities (Introduction, p. 1)

While there have often been tensions between the Pope and the Jesuit Order over various issues, the current Superior General of the Jesuit Order, Adolfo Nicolas Pachon, reassured the Jesuit commitment to Rome when he stated:

The Society of Jesus was born within the Church, we live in the Church, we were approved by the Church and we serve the Church. This is our vocation...[Unity with the pope] is the symbol of our union with Christ. It also is the guarantee that our mission will not be a 'small mission,' a project just of the Jesuits, but that our mission is the mission of the Church."(10)
Where Else in Evangelicalism is the Jesuit Evangelism Showing Up?

Earlier this year, Understand the Times released an article titled Jerry Boykin and the Calvary Chapel Connection. It was a difficult article for many to read. People do not want to think that Christian leaders and pastors they have trusted for years would be so foolish as to associate with and promote someone who is part of a group that wants to bring the “lost brethren” back to the Mother Church. But the fact is that a high officer in the Vatican’s Jesuitical, “Knights of Malta” was a featured speaker at a Calvary Chapel sponsored Preach the Word prophecy conference.

Another example, and I believe an important one, has to do with one of the most well-known and influential evangelical organizations in America. Robert Siciro is a Protestant turned Catholic Paulist priest, and he is one of the featured speakers in the very popular Truth Project by Focus on the Family. While the Paulist Order is not a Jesuit Order, it has basically the same objective as the Jesuit order with regard to winning souls for the Catholic church. According to one Catholic source , the Paulist order is “A community of priests for giving missions and doing other Apostolic works, especially for making converts to the Catholic faith.” Robert Siciro is  President of the Acton Institute, an ecumenical think tank where, incidentally, there are scores of articles  by or about those in the Catholic faith, including a number of Jesuits. Now, through the Truth Project, thousands and thousands of evangelical/Protestant Christians have been introduced, by way of proxy, to the Eucharistic Evangelization.

The Fatima Plan
For those who are not convinced that we are headed toward a one-world religion for “peace,”  take a trip some time to Fatima, Portugal where annual pilgrimages bring people from the religions of the world  to pray to “the queen of heaven,” also called “our lady of Peace.”
Pope John Paul II was dedicated to Mary and especially “Our Lady of Fatima.” He believed this entity saved him from an assassin’s bullet on May 13, 1981, on the anniversary of the so-called apparition’s appearance (to have first occurred in 1917).

People from all around the world have been coming to Fatima to pray to “Our Lady.” At a gathering for “world peace” in Fatima, Jesuit priest Jacques Dupuis  stated:

The religion of the future will be a general converging of religions in a universal Christ that will satisfy all. The other religious traditions in the world are part of God's plan for humanity and the Holy Spirit is operating and present in Buddhist, Hindu and other sacred writings of Christian and non-Christian faiths as well. The universality of God's kingdom permits this, and this is nothing more than a diversified form of sharing in the same mystery of salvation.(11)

Fatima is just another avenue through which the Jesuit Agenda is being accomplished.

In Summary
Perhaps the best way to understand the Jesuit Agenda that undermines biblical Christianity is to recognize the move toward a so-called “social gospel” that unites the religions of the world for the cause of peace. Like mysticism, this social gospel is a vehicle through which all religions will be united. Who would have believed this could have happened to the Protestant evangelical church? But we have already been warned in Scripture that Satan’s ministers are “transformed as the ministers of righteousness” (2 Corinthians 11:15).
Rick Warren has been one of the many pied pipers of this move to unite through “good works.” Called “America’s pastor,” Warren has become the evangelical/Protestant spokesperson for a one-world religion. His Purpose Driven model has become the battle cry for let just all get along and do good. We can work together as one for one common purpose – peace in the world.

Willow Creek has helped to escalate this global religious body through their Global Leadership Summits, where they are “bringing people together from all nationalities to complete our shared Kingdom assignment in the Church and beyond”(12) (emphasis added). Warren and Hybel’s  global agenda is moving full force throughout the earth today.

Rick Warren and Bill Hybels - protégés of Peter Drucker, by the way - have advanced the Jesuit Agenda by leaps and bounds. Many of these “new” Christianity, new reformation leaders have ignored the prophetic warnings of Jesus Christ’s soon return based on the signs we see from Bible prophecy. Instead, they promote the establishment of the kingdom of God with all the world’s religions.

The emerging church movement, which has been widely propagated by Warren, Hybels, and a host of other Christian figures, has been used by Satan to quickly bring about this worldwide deception by introducing mystical experiences and the social gospel to an entire generation of young people. Sensual experiences that tickle the flesh of the postmodern generation are often the same ones that Rome has used in the past to convince the faithful that they have encountered the God of the Bible. History reveals that history is repeating, and the same tools of delusion are being used over and over.
 

Those who shine the light on the Jesuit Agenda are considered to be conspiratorial crackpots. The prophets of the past when they exposed the Babylonian worship by the leaders of Israel were also deemed to be crazy, as have been Bible-believing Christians since Christianity began. One of those was John Huss  (1372-1415). John Foxe describes what happened:

[Huss] compiled a treatise in which he maintained that reading the books of Protestants could not be absolutely forbidden. He wrote in defense of Wickliffe's book on the Trinity; and boldly declared against the vices of the pope, the cardinals, and clergy of those corrupt times. He wrote also many other books, all of which were penned with a strength of argument that greatly facilitated the spreading of his doctrines. . . . (13)
Eventually Huss was arrested, and when he was brought before the council (of the papacy), he was mocked and called “A ringleader of heretics,” to which he replied,

My Lord Jesus Christ, for my sake, did wear a crown of thorns; why should not I then, for His sake, wear this light crown, be it ever so shameful? Truly I will do it and willingly.(14)

At 43 years of age, John Huss was burned at the stake, singing hymns during the brutal execution. Why was he called a “ringleader of heretics”? For standing up for biblical truth against the Pope and Rome.

Discerning Christians should be asking many questions. But one question that stands out foremost is: why are so few saying anything about the Jesuit Agenda? Do they see it but are afraid to speak? Or do they see it and are part of it?

Speaking of questions, Jesus asked one: “[W]hen the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8). Will He find it in the pastors and theological professors? Will He find it in your own church? Or will He only find those who have remained silent?

Just as God raised up others to carry the torch of truth after Huss was eliminated from this earth, God will and is raising up others today who are willing to risk all to stand for the truth and speak against the lies.

To believers who are standing fast, look up, for “your redemption draweth nigh” (Luke 21:28).

Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. Be not ye therefore partakers with them. For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;) Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. . . .  See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. (Ephesians 5:6-11, 15-17)

Notes: http://www.understandthetimes.org/commentary/c97.shtml
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« Reply #2 on: September 22, 2013, 06:59:55 pm »

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« Reply #3 on: September 27, 2013, 01:58:16 pm »

This is a pretty good, thorough article(although I have a few issues with Ian Paisley). Some comments...

(2) Constant emphasis of the social Gospel.

The world sees the church as a place to do good in such areas as Refugee help and working amongst the deprived. Whilst we acknowledge the necessity for concern for those who have need, we would question whether this is the prime consideration of the Christian church.

The socialist society has brought about the present Drug Culture and tbe ****ographic explosion with its violent attitude.

This is how the whole Sunday School movement got started - thinking they can "deliver" kids living in poverty in cities, so they ended up compromising the gospel. Even worse, the SSM eventually lead to the national public school system.

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(3) The many "goals" propagated by the false sects.

The Jehovah' s Witnesses, Mormons and the Christian Scientists still seek a hearing upon our streets, together with the proliferation of the many New Age brainwashing movements.

Speaking of church buildings - if anything, this church buildings agenda has conditioned people to believe that ANY "worship" building is good, which is why I and my family ended up falling for Christian Science briefly 5 years ago(when we went to Boston, the home of its founder Mary Baker Eddy). CS was another form of mind control, New Age brainwashing.

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(5) The superficial attitude of Evangelicals.

We as Evangelicals have shut our eyes to what is happening around us and become insular in our work for God.

Yep, it's as if the modern-day attitude of Christians is that if they attend church, pay attention to the sermon, read their "devotionals" daily, and pay their "tithe", everything will be fine.

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These seem to be fine words at first glance that all of us could accept and applaud. However, the WCC issues a clarification document (page 182):

(a) That the foundation is not a touchstone, where the faith of Churches or persons can be judged.

(b) That the World Council of Churches does not concern itself with the manner in which the Churches will interpret the foundation.

(c) That it is left to the responsibility of every Church to decide whether it will co-operate on this basis.

Yeah, this seems to be the attitude of modern-day pastors - when you want to expose evil and wickedness, they have this "don't judge" attitude.

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(a) Baptism: The commission have already concluded that all who have a 'valid' baptism word be regarded as children of God and be able to participate in a future one-World Church.

Even though the modern-day church doesn't exactly have the RCC view of baptism, nonetheless they will make a HUGE deal out of it(ie-if you are a new believer and want to be a member of these churches, then you have to be baptized). And FWIW - 501c3 churches get tax benefits when they do baptisms.

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(2) The Charismatic Movement

The whole Christian Rock/CCM movement is also part of the RCC/Charismatic movement meant to break down the walls. Now churches in America by and large have embraced this.

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(3) The Evangelicals and Catholics Together Movement

ECT is a new movement to promote an understanding between Evangelicals and Catholics so that they can work together towards a common mission. Encouraged to forget the past, to recognise what they have in common and to concentrate on evangelising a secular society together. These seem to be fine words and have been welcomed universally by many. The Vatican is said to have welcomed the movement with enthusiasm, as well it might.

It seems like 90% of churches you go to nowdays, the pastors are praising the Pope, attending RCC worship services, attending ecumenical/interfaith meetings, etc. It's as if they really believe the RCC are our brothers in Christ. Talk about delusional!

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Dr Jim Packer, a leading evangelical theologian and one of the endorsers of the CCT document, states: "Things are not as they were", and concludes: "ECT is a good beginning. I stand with it, I cannot do otherwise, and I thank God. Now I wait to see what God will do with it." The beginning of the movement is described as "peeping behind each other's doors". Gerald Coates, evangelical house church leader, declares: "We must stop fighting the battles of the past; it is time for Evangelicals and Catholics to get together to explore what God might have in mind for us." Charles Colson, one of the instigators of the new movement and one of the writers in the book defending the position of ECT, speaking for Evangelicals, says: "The divisions between us are not the battle of the hour."

Another reason why churches in America have gotten so bad - they're using rotten bibles like the NIV, that they don't have the proper sword as a defense(but instead a wet noodle-arm), that ultimately they end up turning to "prominent" men like Chuck Colson for answers, who themselves don't point you to the word of God.

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There was a common acceptance the Christian culture was no longer an influence on modern society, that envy, greed and hatred rules people's lives and that crime without conscience has caused violence to increase to alarming proportions. To add to this, religion had become an irrelevancy to the majority of people. Charles Colson points out that Christians are losing the battle against the contemptuous media, an unrestrained consumerism, sexual libertinism, a hostile academia and the omnipresent hedonistic entertainment industry. He concludes: "Christians are both surrounded and outnumbered." In 1986 Neuhaus published his book The Naked Public Square which describes a sick society without an answer to its dilemma. George Wiegel, Roman Catholic President of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington DC, suggests that there are "substantive reasons why the attempt to reclothe the naked public square is a joint task for Evangelicals and Catholics".

And that's what these ecumenical leaders have done - pick a few hot button topics like abortion, gay marriage, violence in the media, etc, and end up using them to stir up and manipulate the emotions of their flock. For example, you saw it after the Columbine shootings - they started making a huge fuss over violence in the media. Yes, it was all and good that they exposed it, but 1) Not once of using this situation to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with others, and 2) NOT a word about these poisonous SSRI drugs that these school shooters were taking(which also has darn tremendous harm to the youth as well).

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The Drafting Committee of the ECT document was made up of George Weigel, the Lay Catholic Theologian; Kent Hill, President of Eastern Nazarene College; Charles Colson; and Richard Neuhaus. The final document was approved in March 1994 and endorsed by a wider number of people a little later on. Besides the leading Catholic participants and endorsers we find the names of many so-called Evangelicals: Charles Colson, Prison Fellowship; Dr Hill, Nazarene College; Dr Land and Dr Lewis from the Southern Baptist Convention; Dr Miranda, Assemblies of God; Mr Brian O'Connell, World Evangelical Fellowship; Dr John White, National Association of Evangelicals; Dr Bill Bright, Campus Crusade for Christ; Bishop Frey, Trinity Episcopal School; Ralph Martin, Renewal Ministries; Dr Mouw Fuller, Theological Seminary; Dr Noll, Wheaton College; Dr Packer, Regent College; and Rev Pat Robertson, Regent University. There are many more that these who enthusiastically wished to add their names as endorsers.

When I got saved in 2006(or I thought I was saved at the time), I started reading a lot of "Christian" books - one pattern I noticed was that there were some that edified with scripture about what the Christian faith is, and would warn about these "prophets" like Pat Robertson who made so many false predictions, but nonetheless their attitude was like, "Yeah, Robertson was wrong, and I'm warning you, but he's still a brother in Christ".

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The Picket Lines

Evangelicals have already acted together over many religious and social concerns. The persecuted church in the communist countries, children's rights, anti-abortion, a pro-life ecumenism, euthanasia, embryo experimentation and human rights are some of the issues on which, protesting vigorously, Evangelicals and Catholics have worked together.

And not a word about these SSRI Big Pharma drugs, nor forced vaccinations.

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The Billy Graham Contribution

In the 1960's, Graham started his co-operative evangelicalism, with Catholics making up a considerable portion of those who attend his meetings and who if they make a response are sent back to the Catholic Church for counselling. A crusade was held in American Catholics' most hallowed location - the football stadium of Notre Dame University, in 1977, where Graham received a doctorate. He was entertained by the Abbot of the Shrine of the Black Madonna in Poland in 1978, and in 1981 Pope John Paul II granted him an audience at the Vatican.

And to boot - Graham and his son Franklin played the role of "good cop" since the "religious right" came about in 1980's. While the RR had the appearance of being "bullies"(this whole "culture wars" was by design to polarize the country), the Grahams acted like they were friends to everyone. No wonder why they were very popular among the heathen world.

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Great names of the past are quoted as if they were in favour of a united front with Rome. These include John Calvin, John Wesley and Gresham Machen. Even Martin Luther is called in a Catholic book, a reformer of the Church. They speak in a derisory manner of Fundamentalism in 1890 as a mainstream, but in the 1990's as marginal.

To be frank, I figured - for the most part, Wesley was very highly regarded among mainline Churchianity(as was Matthew Henry, Calvin, Luther, etc). To be frank, I don't even recall the heathen world saying bad things about them(although they never said good things). And Wesley helped pushed the whole Sunday School Movement in the Methodist Church.

Also, Henry and Wesley held to this RCC Historicism eschatology belief - which is NOT the proper 7 year trib end times view(but instead somehow, Revelation is interpreted symbolically, Rev 13 was a system that came to pass a long time ago, and its prophecies came to pass gradually). Even former Catholic Charles Spurgeon held to this view(another "prominent" evangelist).

FWIW, I used to think that we needed to respect those who have different eschatology beliefs(except for Preterism) - but THIS TOO is a heresy b/c from my experiences, those with different eschatology beliefs different from the proper future, end times view are also messed up doctrinally.(ie-for the most part, they scoff at end times prophecies)

Ultimately, even though Spurgeon, Henry, Wesley, Luther, and some of these "prominent" evangelists held to and defended the KJB, it wouldn't surprise me if they themselves are Vatican agents.


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The mission must have a gospel to proclaim - but which gospel? Is it to be the Catholic gospel of works, merit and gained righteousness? The Bible tells us that our salvation is not of works, "lest any man should boast" (Eph. 2:9). Elsewhere Paul reminds us that in the flesh "dwelleth no good thing" (Rom. 7:18). Writing to the Philippians, he tells them to have "no confidence in the flesh" (Phil. 3:3); yet Rome teaches baptism and faith and works and obedience to the church as the way of being saved.

And it's this way in the modern-day churches as well - saying stuff how we need to be there all day on Sundays and then on Wed nights. Saying how we need to give full attention in Sunday School and or the pastor's sermon, otherwise we're letting the devil harass us. Saying how we need to "tithe". The list goes on.

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We conclude by giving a strong warning that the "Evangelicals and Catholics Together" movement is another guise of the Devil, the angel of light, to distort, deceive and damage the work of the true Church of Jesus Christ.

Modern-day churches don't even know how the devil operates.

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« Reply #4 on: September 27, 2013, 06:11:28 pm »

The Jesuit Agenda and the Evangelical/Protestant Church

Understand the Times/Lighthouse Trails Special Report

www.understandthetimes.org

In time, the Jesuits entered the education system, especially that of the Protestants. The Jesuit maxim was: “Give us the education of the children of this day – and the next generation will be ours.”(4) The Reverend W. C. Brownlee, D.D. stated: “They pretended to be converted and to enter into Protestant churches.” One Jesuit even boasted that the Jesuits were successfully able to imitate the Puritan preachers. They used trickery and deception to become “all things to all men.” Within 48 years, there were eleven thousand Jesuits around the world, quite a large number for back then. (5)

So we pretty much can say that they were behind this Sunday School Movement which infiltrated churches(which didn't originate in Catholic Churches)! Ultimately, it ended up planting the seeds for the national public school system - and the people who helped carry it out came from other denominations(ie-a Anglican philanthropist and John Wesley).

 
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Jesuit (Mystical) Spirituality and the Protestant/Evangelical Church

So if the methods of converting lost or prodigal souls back to Rome have changed, what is the method to accomplish these goals today? It is largely through what is called Jesuit Spirituality. A 2002 book titled Contemplatives in Action: The Jesuit Way reveals how the Jesuit order has had and continues to have a “great influence” in people around the world. It attributes this “vitality” to “its spirituality” which has also “evoked fierce loyalty and fierce opposition.”(6)

And don't forget how they control the oppositions, like the "religious right" and the "truth" movement.

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To silence the mind is an extremely difficult task. How hard it is to keep the mind from thinking, thinking, thinking, forever thinking, forever producing thoughts in a never ending stream. Our Hindu masters in India have a saying: one thorn is removed by another. By this they mean that you will be wise to use one thought to rid yourself of all the other thoughts that crowd into your mind. One thought, one image, one phrase or sentence or word that your mind can be made to fasten on. – Anthony de Mello, Sadhana: A Way to God (St. Louis, the Institute of Jesuit Resources, 1978), p. 28 (cited from A Time of Departing, by Ray Yungen, p. 75).
Ray Yungen explains that Sadhana “is very open in its acknowledgment of Eastern mysticism as an enrichment to Christian spirituality.”

It doesn’t take a long search to find De Mello within the evangelical/Protestant camp. In fact, Richard Foster, one of the pioneers of the evangelical spiritual formation (contemplative) movement wrote the introduction to one of De Mello’s books, The Sacrament of the Present Moment. In A Glimpse of Jesus, popular contemplative author Brennan Manning quotes De Mello. Amazon shows that De Mello’s book, The Sacrament of the Present Moment is cited in 82 books, some of which are written by some of evangelicalism’s most popular authors: John Ortberg, Richard Foster, Jan Johnson, Philip Yancey, and Calvin Miller – incidentally all these are contemplative advocates.

It seems like a lot of secular pagan practices and traditions are rooted in Hinduism - having visited India last summer, can't say I'm surprised(as a lot of people from India come to America for education, and then bring to the table their Hindu traditions).

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In Summary
Perhaps the best way to understand the Jesuit Agenda that undermines biblical Christianity is to recognize the move toward a so-called “social gospel” that unites the religions of the world for the cause of peace. Like mysticism, this social gospel is a vehicle through which all religions will be united. Who would have believed this could have happened to the Protestant evangelical church? But we have already been warned in Scripture that Satan’s ministers are “transformed as the ministers of righteousness” (2 Corinthians 11:15).
Rick Warren has been one of the many pied pipers of this move to unite through “good works.” Called “America’s pastor,” Warren has become the evangelical/Protestant spokesperson for a one-world religion. His Purpose Driven model has become the battle cry for let just all get along and do good. We can work together as one for one common purpose – peace in the world.

Willow Creek has helped to escalate this global religious body through their Global Leadership Summits, where they are “bringing people together from all nationalities to complete our shared Kingdom assignment in the Church and beyond”(12) (emphasis added). Warren and Hybel’s  global agenda is moving full force throughout the earth today.

Rick Warren and Bill Hybels - protégés of Peter Drucker, by the way - have advanced the Jesuit Agenda by leaps and bounds. Many of these “new” Christianity, new reformation leaders have ignored the prophetic warnings of Jesus Christ’s soon return based on the signs we see from Bible prophecy. Instead, they promote the establishment of the kingdom of God with all the world’s religions.

Yep - Warren, Hybels and the Emergent Church are putting the final nail in the coffin. A lot like how Obama is doing the same thing in the political world.

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« Reply #5 on: September 30, 2013, 11:11:12 am »

While both of these long articles are very thorough(and explain a lot of the details), at the same time I'm surprised they didn't mention anything about these false perverted bibles that came out of the Vatican.

Pt being that the pages of these perversions, like the NIV, VERY subtlely preach PROCESS salvation(meaning you have to continually work for it). It's blatant in a few passages, but for the most part, a lot of these passages that distort are VERY subtle.

No wonder why the modern-day church system preaches the same 'ole "This is how you get saved..." message almost every single week.
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« Reply #6 on: October 28, 2013, 04:32:14 pm »

Is Your Church Doing Spiritual Formation?
http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/newsletters/2013/newsletters20131021.htm#22

LTRJ Note: In conjunction with this article below, you may wish to read this also: "Letter to the Editor: The Affects of “Spiritual Formation” in a Christian Church."

Is your church involved in a Spiritual Formation program? If so, you might want to ask the question, what does Spiritual Formation look like? It’s a fair question, and one, that if not asked, could end up surprising you when your church changes in ways you never imagined.

In a 2002 Christianity Today article, it stated: “Spiritual Formation is in.” The article reveals who is largely responsible for starting the movement:

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Now many evangelical seminaries offer programs in spiritual formation. Renovare, which Richard Foster and others founded in 1989 to cultivate spiritual formation (especially among evangelicals), today offers retreats and resources worldwide.

Foster began his organization Renovare in 1989, but 11 years earlier (1978) his book Celebration of Discipline first came out, and that has been a Spiritual Formation primer ever since.

The Christianity Today article defines Spiritual Formation as:

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Formation, like the forming of a pot from clay, brings to mind shaping and molding, helping something potential become something actual. Spiritual formation speaks of a shaping process with reference to the spiritual dimension of a person’s life. Christian spiritual formation thus refers to the process by which believers become more fully conformed and united to Christ.

Such a definition would hardly send up red flags. But what this definition excludes is how this “process” of conforming and uniting to Christ takes place, and who is eligible to participate in such a process.

The “how” is done through spiritual disciplines, mainly through the discipline of the silence. The silence is an altered state that is reached through mantra meditation, breath prayers, or some other meditative practice. The idea behind it is that if you go into this silent state, you will hear from God, and He will transform you to be like Christ. The “who” (who can practice these disciplines and become like Christ) is anyone (according to Foster and other proponents of Spiritual Formation). A Christian, a Buddhist, a Muslim, even an atheist — anyone at all can benefit from the spiritual disciplines and become like Christ (the question is which Christ).

According to Rick Warren, the Spiritual Formation movement is a “wake up call” and a “valid message” to the body of Christ. 1He acknowledges that Richard Foster is a key player in the movement. Brian McLaren, a leader in the emerging church movement, names Richard Foster as one of the “key mentors for the emerging church.”2It is noteworthy that McLaren and Warren (two of the most influential figures today3) each recognize Foster’s role and contribution. Two and two do add up here. McLaren sees Foster’s mystical affinities, and that’s why he says Foster is a key mentor – mysticism is the energy behind the emerging church movement. Without it, there would be no emerging church. Rick Warren considers Foster’s spirituality important because Warren too adheres to the mystical.  Thus, these two heavy-weight “evangelicals” see mysticism as crucial for their agendas.

So just what does Spiritual Formation look like? That’s easy. Richard Foster has the answer to that. When he told Ray Yungen several years ago that Thomas Merton tried to awaken God’s people, what he meant was that Thomas Merton saw one element missing within Christianity – the mystical element. Merton had learned from a Hindu swami named Dr. Bramachari that Merton could obtain mystical properties from Christians like the Desert Fathers – he didn’t need to leave his own tradition.

But Merton realized that most Christians didn’t know about this. So, he set out to bring mysticism (i.e., contemplative prayer) to the Christian world. However, Merton died an early death in 1968 and was unable to accomplish his goal. But somewhere between 1968 and 1978, Richard Foster picked up the mantle of Thomas Merton and carried it forward. Now today, tens of thousands of churches, maybe even yours, are going forth with Thomas Merton’s message of Spiritual Formation. But in essence they are going forth with the Hindu message of: God is in all things (panentheism), and God is all things (pantheism). Such a message contradicts the Gospel message of Jesus Christ – that man is sinful, he is heading for eternal destruction because of sin, and he needs a Savior, and that Savior is God (i.e., Jesus Christ) who paid the price for us with His shed blood.

Just remember, when you find out that your church is going to do a Spiritual Formation program, think about these words by Thomas Merton:

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The most important need in the Christian world today is this inner truth nourished by this Spirit of contemplation . . .  Without contemplation and interior prayer the Church cannot fulfill her mission to transform and save mankind. (cited in A Time of Departing, 2nd ed., p. 129)

I am speaking of recognizing the hidden truth that we are one with all people. We are part of them and they are part of us . . . When we encounter another person . . .  we should walk as if we were upon holy ground. We should respond as if God dwells there. (cited in ATOD, 2nd ed., p. 169)

This “Spirit of contemplation” is what fuels the Spiritual Formation movement. Merton believed that God dwelled in all people – Richard Foster believes this too. The question you must ask yourself is, do you believe that also? If not, then Spiritual Formation does not belong in your church or in your family’s spiritual structure.
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« Reply #7 on: October 28, 2013, 04:34:19 pm »

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Foster began his organization Renovare in 1989, but 11 years earlier (1978) his book Celebration of Discipline first came out, and that has been a Spiritual Formation primer ever since.

The same year the NIV bible was put into the market.
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« Reply #8 on: November 07, 2013, 11:01:03 pm »

http://www.speroforum.com/a/MWLACKHORJ30/74543-Big-money-and-Catholic-bishops-in-lockstep-with-Common-Core-education-reform#.UnyEUTHTnIU
'Big money' and Catholic bishops in lockstep with Common Core education reform

The US Conference of Catholic Bishops accepts Gates Foundation grant to implement the Commmon Core curriculum in Catholic schools.

11/7/13

Catholic Education Daily recently broke the news that The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation – criticized in pro-life circles for its “family planning” grant program encouraging the use of contraceptives in developing countries – paid the National Catholic Educational Association (NCEA) more than $100,000 to support teacher training and materials on implementing the Common Core school standards.

In addition, the Gates Foundation has given money to DePaul University for Leading with Algebra, “a partnership between DePaul and the Chicago Public Schools to support the implementation of the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics in algebra for grades 6-8.”  It has also awarded the Cristo Rey Network to implement Common Core in the nationwide network of Catholic schools.

It’s no secret that The Gates Foundation has been pushing Common Core for public education.  “Subsidizing the Common Core State Standards in English language arts and mathematics, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has committed more than $76 million to support teachers in implementing the Common Core—a standardized national curriculum.”[ii]

Other groups have benefited from the foundation as well: “The Gates Foundation since January 2008 has awarded more than $35 million to the Council of Chief School Officers and the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices, the two main organizations charged with drafting and promoting common standards. …Achieve, Inc., a Washington, D.C.-based education-reform organization, received $12.6 million from the Gates Foundation in February 2008, according to data provided to the Washington Post by the foundation.  The Fordham Institute has accepted more than $1.4 million from the Gates Foundation, including nearly $960,000 to conduct Common Core reviews.”[iii]

But what does Common Core have that the Gates Foundation thinks Catholics need? 

In the lengthy list that researcher Betsy Kraus has compiled of the particular dangers Common Core poses for Catholic school children, there are three that may address this question.  They are:

· - “Changing Christian principles and beliefs into ‘opinions’,”

· - “Collecting health and personal information on the child and family from K-12 and beyond, storing the information in Data banks, and making the information available to others without permission from the parents,” and·       

 -  “Teaching environmental ‘sustainability’ based on the United Nations ‘Agenda 21’,” which, among other things promotes population control
.[iv] 

Working backwards through this list, the Gates Foundation’s interest in population control is a matter of public record.  “The Gates Foundation has been so successful in their family planning initiatives that the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) awarded their annual Population Award in 2010 to the Foundation.”[v]

Catholics, as an institutional body, have proved resiliently unmoved by population control arguments.  The clever videos produced by the Population Research Institute present Catholic thought on this issue in a particularly accessible manner. [vi] 

Individual Catholics, by contrast – such as Melinda Gates – chafe against Church teaching.[vii]  Money targeting educational programs that have a population control component serves multiple interests.

And what, precisely, are the components within Common Core that promote acceptance of population control? 

Hold on to that question while you consider the second danger mentioned above from Kraus’ list, namely the collection of health and personal information on school children and their families that is stored in “data banks.” As part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (an continued in the 2011 budget), which set aside over $100 billion for education reform, $4 billion was used specifically to encourage states to implement various educational policies, such complying with Common Core standards and building data systems.

“Robust Data Gives Us the Roadmap to Reform,” is the title of Secretary Arne Duncan’s address to the Fourth Annual Institute of Education Sciences Research Conference in 2009. “In addition to $250 million in the Recovery Act for statewide data systems, we have requested nearly $690 million for IES' activities, an increase of more than $70 million from last year's budget.  Among other things, that money will pay for a longitudinal study of teachers and an international assessment of adult competencies. We will also launch a national survey to examine the participation of our youngest learners in preschool as well as the levels of parent and family involvement in education.”[viii] 

Lest one gather from this that all the data collected is purely academic, digging deeper uncovers that there are behavioral and health elements, too.  Judy Willis, a neurologist and teacher who is an advocate of Common Core, writes: “The CCSS [Common Core State Standards] goals support cognitive actions that are the executive functions for a global economy,” writes Dr. Willis. “We cannot let this educational goal be subverted through the challenges posed by the tests themselves or how they are used.”  There will be a new group of high-risk students: “Previous high achievers are showing fight/flight/freeze stress responses when tested with single-response questions.”  “[T]eachers describe profound emotional reactions including anger, hostility, retribution (such as false accusations of teacher misconduct) and more subtle but equally disturbing behavioral changes of withdrawn participation and effort, depression, and more sick-day absences.” [ix]

Children’s reactions must be carefully monitored and assessed.

Health standards, such as those mandated in Kentucky, go beyond merely instructing students about the factors assuring optimal health but require students to demonstrate “the ability to use decision-making skills to enhance health,” and demonstrate “the ability to use interpersonal communication skills to enhance health and avoid or reduce health risks.” They must demonstrate “the ability to practice health-enhancing behaviors and avoid or reduce health risks” and demonstrate “the ability to advocate for personal, family, and community health.”

Not only are these remarkably invasive goals for a school, they presume a set of values, which in public schools has been at a profound variance with Catholic thought.  Proposed National Sexuality Education Standards, designed to be incorporated into the national health standards, are a stunning example of that, whose advisory committee includes representatives of Planned Parenthood and the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network.  Here we find that “students need opportunities to engage in cooperative and active learning strategies, and sufficient time must be allocated for students to practice skills relating to sexuality education” and “need multiple opportunities and a variety of assessment strategies to determine their achievement of the sexuality education standards and performance.”[xi]

As this article is being prepared, there is proposed Senate Bill (SB 374) titled, “An Act Requiring Behavioral Health Assessments for Children,” that would mandate every public school student in grades 6, 8, 10 and 12 and each home-schooled child at ages 12, 14 and 17 “to have a confidential behavioral health assessment, the results of which shall be disclosed only to the child's parent or guardian, and (2) each health care provider performing a child's behavioral health assessment to complete the appropriate form supplied by the State Board of Education verifying that the child has received the assessment.”  It is not suggested that this information is to be, at the present time, part of the school’s data collection but the act of mandating such assessments is already a remarkably intrusive step.

The last danger to Catholic school children from Common Core under consideration here is its systematic approach to changing a student’s values.  Curriculum, it has been said, follows assessment.  If assessments mandate behaviors (demonstrations), then Common Core-supportive curricula must include techniques to ensure behavioral change.  “For the children to pass the assessments, won't the teacher have to employ the same public school behavioral techniques and computer technology to achieve the proper psychological adjustment of the child? The attitudinal adjustment of the child is embedded in the curriculum, in order to conform to the constant computer mini-assessments and tests.”[xii]

The “big money” pouring into Catholic schools to support Common Core, therefore, isn’t to improve academic achievement but to create a “new” citizen with the “right” values.   Catholics, with their counter-cultural beliefs, evidently need a bit more fiscal infusion to move parochial education into lockstep with the world.  But…we’re getting there. 
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« Reply #9 on: November 08, 2013, 02:28:27 am »

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to create a “new” citizen with the “right” values.

Yep, that's socialism.
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« Reply #10 on: November 20, 2013, 11:09:47 am »

First off, the writer of this article(Brent Bozell) is a popular "liberal media" critic(has his own site, and has regularly appeared on FOX and other MSM shows). He also was educated at Roman Catholic institutions(and is a Catholic).

With that being said - look how the RCC craftily starts all of these pro and anti "opposition" groups, and from there will more craftily play off of each other within their own teams. Almost a decade ago, I remember Bozell appearing on Scarborough's MSNBC show, and both acted like they were good friends. And Scarborough himself acted like a "friend" to conservatives by pulling off this same "But it's the liberal media's fault!" act.(Scarborough is a Catholic too, BTW)

Now fast-forward to our present day - look how much confusion they are bringing onto their same audience!

http://news.yahoo.com/joe-scarborough-doesnt-care-gop-victory-080000961.html
Joe Scarborough Doesn't Care about GOP Victory

Brent Bozell's column is released twice a week.

11/20/13

By L. Brent Bozell 8 hours ago
 
Joe Scarborough is out with a new book again, lecturing conservatives on the best road forward. Here's the first sign it should be ignored (just like the previous ones): It will be reviewed by The New York Times, while Mark Levin's truly important, best-selling books are not.

It's the same formula for the Scarborough TV tour: an appearance next to Barbara Walters on ABC's "The View," spots on "CBS This Morning" and "Charlie Rose: The Week" on PBS. The liberal media really want Scarborough to tell Republicans what to do. And why not? Might that be because their recommendations are similar?

Scarborough insists Republicans have to moderate, moderate, moderate. "We" need a Republican Party that enables more of President Barack Obama's political dreams, because that's what the people want ... or at least media people.

It's annoying faux conservatives look to real conservatives to give credibility to views antithetical to conservatives. Scarborough cites William F. Buckley as he declares in the book, "We have to stop electing amateurs who serve as little more than ideological indulgences, who exploit resentments that play well enough among the base, but whose positions make them nonviable in general elections." Why is this? "There is no substitute for victory, and I for one am damn tired of my party losing presidential elections."

There is not a comma in this passage that isn't dishonest. Where would this man be today if Republicans weren't "electing amateurs" like him in the Newt Gingrich wave of 1994? Were Scarborough's positions, so in line with the conservative base when he was elected, "ideological indulgences"? This is a man who has found a real home at MSNBC.

**So Bozell is saying Newt Gingrich is some great conservative? Roll Eyes

In fact, Scarborough isn't at all "damn tired" of Democrats winning the White House. On "The View," he declared a willingness to vote for a Democrat if Republicans keep on their current MSNBC-upsetting path. Would anyone who watched "Morning Joe" in 2008 or 2012 believe that Scarborough took to the air with every breath to ensure Obama was defeated?

**Well, it could be worse, much worse - thanks to Dom Imas not being able to keep his mouth quiet, Scarborough's prime time slot was moved to Imas' very, very early morning slot 6 years ago. Otherwise, Scarborough's propaganda would be upon a much bigger audience now.

I'm sorry if that question was a choking hazard. Let's take just a few samples of evidence from 2012, when Republicans nominated Mitt Romney.

—On March 31, Scarborough mocked Romney for mutilating himself (rhetorically) — "He is a cutter, a political cutter" — and then ridiculed a poll result showing the GOP losing by 25 to Obama among women. "I guess that idea of chaining women to a radiator in the kitchen, that the Republicans wanted to put on platform, not going over."

—On April 4, Joe "Damn Tired of Losing" Scarborough announced on his show: "I've yet to meet a single person in the Republican establishment that thinks Mitt Romney is going to win the general election this year. They won't say it on TV because they've got to go on TV, and they don't want people writing them nasty emails. <SET ITAL> I obviously don't care. <END ITAL>"

—On Sept. 8, Scarborough appeared on "Today" to trash Romney's chances. "This is one of the worst weeks for any presidential candidate in a general election that any of us can remember ... Unemployment is still 8 percent-plus, the economy is still in tatters, and Mitt Romney is blowing this race." At the end of the segment, he added, "I'm going to go put a bag over my head now, so I will talk to you soon."

—On Sept. 14, Scarborough lashed into Romney for a "horrific, irresponsible press conference" after the attacks in Benghazi. (Romney spoke before word came of four Americans dying.) "If Mitt Romney had kept his mouth shut, if he had not acted like a rank amateur, if he had not embarrassed himself — and by the way internally the campaign understands they screwed up, he's moved on, they know that. So no conservative can say, `Oh, the mainstream media, blah, blah.' ... Romney got in the way of the media looking at the president."

—On Sept. 28, Obama-loving CBS late-night host David Letterman publicized "Morning Joe" with the title "Joe Scarborough: Sweet Jesus." CBS then played an MSNBC clip that began with an incredibly standard campaign event where Romney encouraged the crowd to chant "Romney-Ryan." It ended when the camera switched back to the set showing Scarborough with his hands covering his face in shame as he said, "Sweet Jesus!" The Letterman audience roared.

—On Oct. 29, Scarborough appeared on "Today" to insist Hurricane Sandy would help elect Obama. "Mitt Romney had momentum ... This was Mitt Romney's best weekend, and it stops. The momentum stops."

If Scarborough were really "damn tired" of losing, he might wonder why he's crushed daily in the ratings by "Fox & Friends." It's not just ideologically indulgent Republicans he's tried to defeat; it's all Republicans. Please, Joe, no more lectures about your conservative credentials.

L. Brent Bozell III is the president of the Media Research Center. To find out more about Brent Bozell III, and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

**Uhm, Brent, why didn't you expose Joe YEARS ago like you're doing now? Roll Eyes Back in the 2004, Joe was pulling this same stunt during the Kerry/Bush election(where he said stuff siding with Kerry for almost a regular basis that Fall).
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« Reply #11 on: November 20, 2013, 11:26:24 am »

Everything you could possibly want to know about Joe Scarborough: scandle!!  Huh M-u-r-d-e-r....  Shocked

http://forum.prisonplanet.com/index.php?topic=190527.msg1130579#msg1130579
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« Reply #12 on: November 20, 2013, 11:31:32 am »

Everything you could possibly want to know about Joe Scarborough: scandle!!  Huh M-u-r-d-e-r....  Shocked

http://forum.prisonplanet.com/index.php?topic=190527.msg1130579#msg1130579

Yes, I remember this - it was around the same time the whole Gary Condit/Chandra Levy scandal/murder broke - the Condit one got tons of MSM coverage, but the Scarborough coverage nil. Who knows - maybe Joe was given that MSNBC gig to help keep everything quiet. And of course, it turned out Condit was innocent(although for some reason, the attorney he chose was the same guy that represented Scott Petersen - which only made him look guiltier).
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« Reply #13 on: November 20, 2013, 01:29:38 pm »

Mika Brzezinski's daddy put Joe there I suspect so she could keep an eye on him to make sure he paid his homage to those he was beholden to that cleaned up his "mess".
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« Reply #14 on: November 28, 2013, 06:41:04 pm »

Posting this here b/c even these so-called "conservative" media outlets are deep with the Vatican as well. It seems like the media outlets that push the Vatican/RCC the MOST are these so-called "conservative" media outlets(ie-FOX, Hannity, the typical "liberal media bias" expose sites, etc) - not surprising b/c it's these media outlets that target Christians.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/nov/26/obamas-call-close-holy-see-embassy-slap-face-catho/
11/26/13
Obama’s call to close Vatican embassy is ‘slap in the face’ to Roman Catholics

The Obama administration, in what’s been called an egregious slap in the face to the Vatican, has moved to shut down the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See — a free-standing facility — and relocate offices onto the grounds of the larger American Embassy in Italy.

The new offices will be in a separate building on the property, Breitbart reported.

And while U.S. officials are touting the relocation as a security measure that’s a cautionary reaction to last year’s attacks on America's facility in Benghazi, several former American envoys are raising the red flag.

It’s a “massive downgrade of U.S.-Vatican ties,” said former U.S. Ambassador James Nicholson in the National Catholic Reporter. “It’s turning this embassy into a stepchild of the embassy to Italy. The Holy See is a pivot point for international affairs and a major listening post for the United States, and … [it’s] an insult to American Catholics and to the Vatican.”

Mr. Nicholson — whose views were echoed by former envoys Francis Rooney, Mary Ann Glendon, Raymond Flynn and Thomas Melady — also called the justification for closing the existing facility a “smokescreen,” Breitbart reported.

“That’s like saying people get killed on highways because they drive cars on them,” he said in the report. “We’re not a pauper nation … if we want to secure an embassy, we certainly can.”

Moreover, the existing facility has “state of the art” security, he said.

Mr. Flynn, meanwhile, said the administration’s announcement reflects a hostility toward the Catholic Church.

“It’s not just those who bomb churches and kill Catholics in the Middle East who are our antagonists, but it’s also those who restrict our religious freedoms and want to close down our embassy to the Holy See,” he said in the National Catholic Reporter. “[There’s no] diplomatic or political benefit to the United States” from the relocation at all, he added.

Catholic Vote, a publication for the Church community, called the move “an unmistakable slap in the face” that clearly communicates that the United States cares little for the diplomatic facility.

And Mr. Nicholson went on, as Breitbart reported: “It’s another manifestation of the antipathy of this administration both to Catholics and to the Vatican — and to Christians in the Middle East. This is a key post for intermediation in so many sovereignties but particularly in the Middle East. This is anything but a good time to diminish the stature of this post. To diminish the stature of this post is to diminish its influence.”

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« Reply #15 on: February 18, 2014, 10:33:55 am »

Recently we've been discussing here how the Constitution(1st amendment) and US government was set up for just that - that government should be SECULAR, or otherwise if they favor one religion(whether Christianity or otherwise), then they would have to favor them ALL.

Pt being that look at the rhetoric in this article - No, I don't endorse this op-ed piece, but nonetheless look at the Hegelian Dialectic/rhetoric game Rome's "culture wars" has been used to deceive Christians.

http://news.yahoo.com/christian-sharia-law-america-104500940--politics.html
Christian Sharia Law in America
2/18/14

The question isn’t: Will conservatives push to enact laws based on the Bible? We are way beyond that.  The real questions are: 1. How many more of these laws do they want to impose? And, 2. What will our nation look like if their crusade is successful to bring America’s laws into agreement with “God’s law”?

To some on the right, America is a “Christian nation”—like Saudi Arabia is a Muslim nation—meaning that our nation’s laws should be based on their religious text. These forces aren’t moved by Thomas Jefferson’s famous letter in which he spoke of the need to create, "a wall of separation between church and state.” Nor will they be swayed by citing Ronald Reagan’s words, "Church and state are, and must remain, separate.”

**Uhm, NO! This whole "a wall of separation between church and state" is nothing but propaganda promoted by Churchianity as well - the 1st amendment in the Constitution specifically says the government can't favor one religion over another. BIG difference! And if Reagan really believed what he said here, then he would have pushed for legislation to get rid of 501c3.

Just last week we saw another example of creeping Christian Sharia Law with a bill passed by Kansas’ House of Representatives that would allow people and businesses to deny services to same sex couples if it violated their “religious beliefs.” This proposed law would in essence legally sanction discrimination against gay Americans because same sex marriage is not approved by the Bible.  Similar bills are pending in other State's including Mississippi, Idaho, and Arizona.

And in the past few years, we have seen pro-life Christian groups successfully lobby State legislatures to restrict access to abortions. They have also raised religious, not public policy, objections to the government funding birth control.

**Yeah, and they did almost nothing with this issue when the younger Bush was in office for 8 years(along with a GOP Congress most of the time)! And they had to wait until NOW to do something?

But here’s the alarming thing: These views are no longer the fringe of American politics. They are increasingly become mainstream conservative fare.

We saw that in 2012 when Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum declared his belief that the laws in our country must “comport” with God’s law. Santorum also argued in opposition to marriage equality, that our nation’s values “are based on Biblical truth… And, those truths don’t change just because people’s attitudes may change.”

**Santorum is also a Knights of Malta member, FYI.

And former Governor Mike Huckabee, who is considering running for president in 2016, proclaimed during his 2008 presidential race that our laws should be in accordance with God’s. In fact, Huckabee, an ordained Southern Baptist minister, went as far as to say: “…I believe it’s a lot easier to change the Constitution than it would be to change the word of the living God. And that’s what we need to do is amend the Constitution so it’s in God’s standards rather than trying to change God’s standards so it lines up with some contemporary view…”

**But somehow Huckabee doesn't have a problem with Catholics like Phyllis Schaefer who's pushing for "religious freedom"?

Does Huckabee have a shot at winning in 2016?  Well, recent polls show he’s currently the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination.

Since we can’t talk the Huckabees and Santorums out of their views, then we should take a look at some of the more concerning passages from the Bible in case they truly mean it when they say our laws should be revised to agree with God’s law:

1. If a woman is found not to be a virgin on her wedding night, “she shall be brought to the door of her father’s house and there the men of her town shall stone her to death.”  Deuteronomy 22:20-21

KJB says much different -
Deuteronomy 22:20  But if this thing be true, and the tokens of virginity be not found for the damsel:
Deu 22:21  Then they shall bring out the damsel to the door of her father's house, and the men of her city shall stone her with stones that she die: because she hath wrought folly in Israel, to play the wh0re in her father's house: so shalt thou put evil away from among you.


To boot - this passage of scripture is given to ISRAEL!


2. “Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then Eve.” 1 Timothy 2:10-13.

So does this mean FOX News and "conservative" talk radio will clean house of their female employees too?

3. “If a man commits adultery with another man's wife—with the wife of his neighbor—both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death.”    Leviticus 20:10 (Unlikely conservatives will push for this law because with it would mean too many politicians would be put to death.)

4. “Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.”  Leviticus 20:9

Leviticus 20:9  For every one that curseth his father or his mother shall be surely put to death: he hath cursed his father or his mother; his blood shall be upon him.(KJB)

Then these GOP politicians et al might as well cut ties with all of their rock music and rock music supporters, b/c they have a lot of railing against the parents in their music
.


5. “For six days, work is to be done, but the seventh day shall be your holy day, a day of Sabbath rest to the Lord. Whoever does any work on it is to be put to death.” Exodus 35:2

Exodus 35:2  Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be to you an holy day, a sabbath of rest to the LORD: whosoever doeth work therein shall be put to death. (KJB)

**Uhm, the NT church is NO longer under the OT law, so this commandment is moot.

Sure, some will say Huckabee, Santorum, and their supports don’t want to impose laws based on these extreme verses.  Actually recent history tells us a different story. With each success the right has seen, they have become more embolden and pushed for even more radical laws.

For example, not too long ago mainstream abortion opponents did not object to abortions in the case when a woman was raped. But in light of their recent success in restricting abortions, mainstream conservatives now advocate a stricter version of “God’s law” with no abortion exceptions—meaning that women would be sentenced to carrying a rapist’s child to term.

**Don't find anything wrong with the latest view at all - but nonetheless they've waited until NOW to change it? FYI, the Southern Baptist Convention supported abortions once upon a time ago, believe it or not!

In upcoming elections, we need to ask any candidate who cites the Bible as the rationale for their political position specifically how far do they intend to take that. At least then we won’t be surprised when they push to pass laws to silence women or stone women to death who aren’t virgins on their wedding night.
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« Reply #16 on: February 19, 2014, 04:06:42 am »

The one thing that I realized recently that I haven't seen as yet is not one of those "Christian" businesses have fought back when sued by gays. Seems they have a case for being forced to do something against their religious beliefs. Imagine if a Muslim person was forced to eat pork. SAME difference. It goes against what they believe, and thus being forced to do it violates their beliefs. I cannot see how people don't see that for alleged Christians.

Those people are in the world, and trying to be involved in the world, so maybe they need to approach the world's courts, seeing churchainity is part of the world.
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« Reply #17 on: March 20, 2014, 02:32:11 pm »

http://ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/bill-donohue-asks-march-nyc-gay-pride-parade
Bill Donohue asks to march in NYC Gay Pride Parade
by Jamie Manson    |  Mar. 20, 2014

Yes, you read that headline right. Bill Donohue, the very vocal head of the Catholic League, has emailed organizers with a request to march in this year's New York City Gay Pride Parade.
 
But no, Donohue's inquiry is not a sign that he has had any kind of personal realization. He plans to march with a banner that reads, "Straight is Great."

Donohue's plan was announced today on the website of GLAAD, the nation's leading lesbian gay, bisexual and transgender media advocacy organization. (The press release also offers a litany of Donohue's previous anti-LGBT statements.)

As GLAAD notes, Donohue said recently in an interview with EWTN's "The World Over," "If I wanted to get into their gay pride parade with my own float with big banners saying 'straight is great,' they would have a right to feel put-upon and I wouldn't do that to them."

Donohue was responding to the decadeslong battle over the barring of gay and lesbian organizations from marching in the New York City St. Patrick's Day Parade. The issue was reignited this year because Mayor Bill de Blasio, in a significant break with tradition, refused to participate in this year's parade because of the ban. (The Guinness beer company also pulled their support of the event over the issue.)

So far, LGBT organizations have responded by warmly welcoming Donohue to the celebration.

GLAAD's president and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis said, "As a fellow Irish New Yorker, I'm hoping Bill will march with me at NYC Pride. I look forward to the day when I can march openly with Bill in the NYC St. Patrick's Day Parade, and not be turned away because of who I am."

David Studinski, march director of NYC Pride, said, "Mr. Donohue and his group are free to participate in the 2014 March. His group's presence affirms the need for this year's Pride theme, 'We Have Won When We're One.' Straight is great -- as long as there's no hate," he said.

Chris Frederick, managing director of NYC Pride, added, "Straight allies are great. We have thousands of straight people participating in the Pride March, including Catholic groups, who support LGBT youth, families and married couples."

Donohue's participation could also spark his first conflict with one of his most ardent supporters: Cardinal Timothy Dolan. For years, Dolan has banned the Church of St. Francis Xavier from marching in the parade with a banner that reads, "A Roman Catholic Parish in New York City."

Assuming that the "Gay is Great" sign will also read "The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights," one must wonder if Dolan will place a similar restriction on Donohue's banner.

Stay tuned ...
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« Reply #18 on: March 22, 2014, 04:37:38 pm »

Yet another example over where the RCC/Jesuits play both sides of the fence...

http://www.christianpost.com/news/melinda-gates-talks-catholic-faith-and-funding-contraceptives-to-fight-aids-116459/
Melinda Gates Talks Catholic Faith and Funding Contraceptives to Fight AIDS
3/20/14

American philanthropist Melinda Gates talked about her Roman Catholic faith and funding contraceptives in the global fight against AIDS, noting that many Catholics disagree with official church doctrine on the contraception issue.

"Even though I am Catholic I believe in contraceptives, just like the majority of Catholic women in the United States who report using contraceptives, and I shouldn't let that controversy be the thing that holds us back," Gates, co-founder of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, shared at the TED 2014 conference in Vancouver on Tuesday, The Vancouver Sun reported.

The Catholic Church teaches against the use of contraception, defining it as "any action which, either in anticipation of the conjugal act (sexual intercourse), or in its accomplishment, or in the development of its natural consequences, proposes, whether as an end or as a means, to render procreation impossible." This includes sterilization, condoms and the birth control pill.

Results of a far-reaching poll of Roman Catholics around the world commissioned by Univision were released in February and showed that contraception is the issue Catholics disagree with the most when it comes to doctrine. Seventy-eight percent of respondents to the poll of 12,048 Roman Catholics across five continents said that they support the use of contraceptives, with support as high as 91 percent in Latin America.

Gates noted that women in developing countries have been asking for years for contraceptives as a means to fight AIDS and other transmittable diseases.

"We have backed away from contraceptives as a global community. We knew that 210 million women were saying they wanted access to contraceptives. And we weren't providing them because of the political controversy in our country," Gates said, sharing that she has been able to raise $2.6 billion to help provide contraceptives for women.

Last week, her husband Bill, the Microsoft founder who recently regained his spot as the richest man in the world, revealed that his family goes to a Roman Catholic Church, and credited their philanthropic endeavors to religion and morality.

"The moral systems of religion, I think, are super important. We've raised our kids in a religious way; they've gone to the Catholic church that Melinda goes to and I participate in. I've been very lucky, and therefore I owe it to try and reduce the inequity in the world. And that's kind of a religious belief. I mean, it's at least a moral belief," Bill Gates said in an interview with Rolling Stone in its March 27 issue.

The Gates Foundation, founded in 2000, funds programs for various causes around the world, including advancing science and technology to save lives in developing countries, developing agriculture, water and sanitation, financial services for the poor, and education programs in the U.S., to name a few.
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« Reply #19 on: March 23, 2014, 03:41:26 am »

Quote
We've raised our kids in a religious way; they've gone to the Catholic church that Melinda goes to and I participate in. I've been very lucky, and therefore I owe it to try and reduce the inequity in the world. And that's kind of a religious belief. I mean, it's at least a moral belief," Bill Gates said

Didn't know she is Catholic. Bill however seems to be holding to his atheist views.

For Gates, it's not a religious or moral belief, but an accounting belief.
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« Reply #20 on: April 11, 2014, 02:51:00 pm »

http://theweek.com/article/index/259823/catholicism-george-w-bush-and-the-cluelessness-of-the-religious-right
Catholicism, George W. Bush, and the cluelessness of the religious right

Bush's theological-political vision lies in tatters. But many on the right are unable to understand why.

4/11/14

Once upon a time, the religious right's leading intellectuals told themselves an inspiring story. It went something like this: From the time of the Puritans all the way down to the early 1970s, American public life was decisively shaped by the moral and spiritual witness of the Protestant Mainline's leading churches: The Congregationalists, Presbyterians, Lutherans, Methodists, Baptists, and Episcopalians.

But then the Great Collapse began, as these venerable churches sold their souls to the counterculture, abandoned the moral and religious tenets of historical Christianity, embraced a series of increasingly left-wing and anti-American causes, and saw their numbers (and then their cultural influence) plummet. Today these churches are an intellectual and demographic shell of their former selves.

This was a potentially disastrous development, depriving America of the theologically grounded public philosophy that it needs in order to thrive. But as luck — or providence — would have it, the decline of the Mainline churches set in at the precise moment when two other monumental cultural and religious developments unfolded: The rise of a politicized form of Protestant evangelicalism and a revival of intellectual and spiritual energy in the Catholic Church under Pope John Paul II. The time was ripe for evangelicals and Catholics to come together to form a successor to the Mainline churches.

The public philosophy promulgated by this new-fangled amalgam of evangelicalism and Catholicism (with the former supplying the foot soldiers and the latter providing the ideas) would be staunchly opposed to abortion and euthanasia. It would be strongly anti-communist. It would be passionately pro-capitalist. It would favor using military force to promote democracy. And it would re-describe the United States, its history, and its form of government in providential-theological terms, with the rights espoused in the nation's founding documents declared to derive directly from medieval concepts of natural law.

Once the country (or at least a sizable majority) embraced this public philosophy — turning it into a governing philosophy — the United States would supposedly flourish as never before, protecting the unborn, unleashing economic liberty at home, defending democracy and fighting tyranny abroad, and most of all bringing the nation back to its properly Christian roots after the silly season of the 1960s.

It is exceedingly odd that Joseph Bottum has written a book — An Anxious Age: The Post-Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of America — devoted to elaborating this story as if it were original to him, when in fact it is derived almost entirely from the writings of the man for whom both of us once worked: The late Fr. Richard John Neuhaus.

You see, I once edited Neuhaus' monthly magazine First Things. When I quit to write a book denouncing the ideological project outlined above, Neuhaus brought on Bottum (then the literary editor of The Weekly Standard) as my successor. When Neuhaus died in January 2009, Bottum became editor-in-chief of the magazine. (Twenty-one months later he was summarily dismissed by its governing board for reasons that have never been publicly explained.)

Bottum, a published poet, is a gifted prose stylist. That gives a distinctive flair to his version of the story. But the story itself, in every detail, comes straight from the writings of Neuhaus and his small circle of ideological compatriots: Michael Novak, George Weigel, and Robert P. George foremost among them.

In Bottum's hands, no less than in the essays and books in which it was originally formulated, the story has some explanatory power. The decline of the Mainline churches is indeed a significant event in recent American cultural and political history — and one that has received insufficient attention from both scholars and intellectuals. (My colleague Michael Brendan Dougherty's thoughtful reflections on Bottum's treatment of the topic can be read here.)

But the story also obscures far more than it clarifies. For one thing, Bottum can't seem to figure out if the problems he identifies with post-Mainline America (including the absence of a unifying, overarching moral consensus and the subsequent rise in acrimonious conflict in our political culture) are a result of Protestant Christianity's inability to defend itself against an aggressive form of secularism, or if, instead, what we call secularism is actually just a desiccated form of Protestantism (hence the reference to a "post-Protestant ethic" in his subtitle). Either way, Protestant Christianity is to blame for America's problems.

Which is why Bottum (following Neuhaus and the others) turns to Catholicism for a solution.

The closest we've come to seeing this theological-political vision in action was in George W. Bush's second inaugural address. You remember: It was a speech that consisted of a series of sweeping assertions about America's God-appointed task to end "tyranny in our world." (Bush made more than 50 references to "freedom" and "liberty" in a speech of 2,000 words.)

For Bottum, this was "the most purely philosophical address in the history of America's inaugurations," one that deployed "a Catholic philosophical vocabulary" rooted in natural law theory to "express a moral seriousness the nation needs."

That's one way to look at it.

Here's another: The speech was a crude expression of American parochialism and pious self-congratulation — the kind of address you'd expect from someone who believed toppling Saddam Hussein was a sufficient condition for creating a functioning democracy in Iraq, and who thinks that presidential rhetoric can rise no higher than paraphrasing the lyrics to "Onward Christian Soldiers." It was the speech of a simple-minded man leading a simple-minded administration.

The most interesting and original thing in Bottum's book is a new-found pessimism about the practical prospects for the theological-political engagement he still favors. But I would be more impressed with this darkening mood if it grew out of a realization that great political leadership involves far more than moralistic sermonizing — and that something as partisan and sectarian as a Catholicized version of the Republican Party platform could never serve as the unifying, overarching moral vision of a pluralistic liberal democracy.

Instead, we're left with vague, evasive statements about how "Catholicism as a system of thought proved too foreign" to play its appointed role as cheerleader for American exceptionalism.

Poor Joseph Bottum. Poor religious right.

They're down for the count, splayed out on the mat. And they haven't got a clue about what the hell happened.
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« Reply #21 on: April 15, 2014, 10:14:24 pm »

http://www.dw.de/catholic-malta-legalizes-same-sex-civil-unions/a-17567045
Catholic Malta legalizes same-sex civil unions
4/15/14

Staunchly Catholic Malta has legalized same-sex civil unions and has given gay couples the right to adopt children. The vote comes nearly three years after the Mediterranean island nation legalized divorce.

The Maltese parliament legalized same-sex unions and gay adoption on Monday in a 37-0 vote, signaling a major change in social policy for a conservative country where Catholicism is the state religion.

"Malta is now more liberal and more European, and it has given equality to all its people," Labour Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said.

The opposition Nationalist Party abstained from the vote, saying that although it supports civil unions, it has doubts about adoption rights for gay couples.

A crowd of hundreds of people, gathered outside parliament in the capital Valletta, cheered the passage of the law.

The Catholic Church in Malta opposed the legislation. Bishop Charles Scicluna said that although the proposal had some good points, it was not in the best interests of children.

Although traditionally a staunchly Catholic country, Malta has become more culturally liberal in recent years. In 2011, the island nation legalized divorce in a popular referendum.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Uhm...Roman Catholicism has ALWAYS been liberal! They've always supported social justice, homosexuality, the list goes on.
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« Reply #22 on: April 18, 2014, 11:32:59 am »

I read 2 years ago that Truett Cathy came up with the company's marketing statement with a Catholic priest(but can't find the link now). For some reason, I had a feeling the whole thing with Chick-fil-A vs the sodomites was just that...a little show show(albeit to help this place of business make an extra buck).

This is from a Catholic source, but nonetheless...

http://www.catholic.org/news/business/story.php?id=47203
The Chick-fil-A-First-Amendment-Marketing-Nuclear Weapon
8/8/12

NASHVILLE, TN (Catholic Online) - Now that some of the Chick-fil-A furor has died down and rabid defenders of "tolerance" have shown themselves to be complete hypocrites, it might be appropriate to explore the interesting Catholic principle that inspired millions of people to stand in line for hours in defense of Dan Cathy, his company, and his right to support "Biblical marriage."

While the liberal mainstream media was certainly "baffled" enough (to put it charitably) by the tsunami of support to barely cover it, and has no apparent clue why Americans keep behaving in such surprising ways, one openly gay man seemed to understand perfectly. YouTube personality, Antoine Dodson, came out to show support for Chick-fil-A employees, and freedom of speech and belief last week in Huntsville, Alabama, dining Wednesday on Chick-fil-A's spicy sandwich.

"I'm here for supporting the employees," Dodson said. "The gay community is fighting against Chick-fil-A, but they're not thinking about where this leaves the employees. So I'm here to be in support of the employees and I'm also coming to get that spicy chicken sandwich."

Marketing Genius

What should have figured prominently in last week's news has absolutely been largely ignored, but I suggest that in the coming years it will be recounted in every Marketing and Economics textbook. While neither Dan Cathy nor his father is Catholic, their business model reflects Catholic moral teaching on subsidiarity, an organizing principle stating that a matter ought to be handled by the smallest, lowest, or least centralized authority capable of addressing that matter effectively.

Last week's illustration of freedom of speech and religion at work in America proves in no uncertain terms that subsidiarity works. One of Chick-fil-A's core operating principles is that its marketing should be done on the lowest, grass-roots, community level. Marketing strategy at quick-service food chain, Chick-fil-A Inc., aims for emotional connections and customer satisfaction rather than the movie merchandising tie-ins and big-budget campaigns of its competitors. It is the "David and Goliath" marketing approach.

**Sounds a lot like Agenda 21 at work here...the lowest, grass-roots, COMMUNITY level?

If one thinks about it, he almost never sees a television advertisement for Chick-fil-A, except during a CFA Bowl game. Billboards are customary methods of publicity for CFA, but the main marketing thrust of this company is community.

Subsidized somewhat by the CFA Corporation, franchisees are constantly investing in their communities by giving away, yes GIVING AWAY, thousands of dollars of food and merchandise each year. Every month, through a screening process, CFA supports local families, businesses, schools, organizations, and non-profits in their communities through Family Nights, Spirit Nights, gifts of merchandise, contributions of free food, and/or free appearances by the CFA cow mascot.

When they launch a new product, say, the spicy chicken sandwich that came out in 2010, CFA often employs reservation-based, free sampling of the new offering for loyal customers who are signed up for announcements through franchise websites. Then, CFA marketing directors everywhere routinely go into their communities with CFA cow mascots and give away those and other products at soccer fields, college campuses, local businesses, and even pass them out randomly at street intersections. 

About the spicy chicken sandwich launch, Vice President of Brand Strategy and Design, William F. "Woody" Faulk, illustrated the CFA marketing approach, saying, "We want to invite our customers to taste the flavor and quality of this spicy sandwich, but we don't want a cattle-call setting where we won't be able to extend 'second mile' service to our customers. This reservation system provides a more personalized way to introduce our exciting menu addition."

When Faith Works in the Marketplace

Founder Truett Cathy determined early on that his faith should be the guiding force behind every CFA business effort. "All throughout the New Testament there is an evangelism strategy related to our performance in the workplace. ... Our work should be an act of worship. Our work should be our mission field. As long as we are stateside, let's don't think we have to go on mission trips by getting a passport. ... If you're obedient to God you are going to be evangelistic in the quality of the work you do, using that as a portal to share [Christ]," he said to the Baptist Press in July.

Indeed, last Wednesday, there were local reports of extra nuggets in every order on a record business day that was originally proposed by the company to be Customer Appreciation Day, but turned into Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day. Yet it was not simply a statement on marriage that inspired support. It was the company's habitual practice of over-the-top commitment and dedication to customers that showed itself to be effusively reciprocated by its customers.

This business model and philosophy, informed by faith, is what inspired a marketing strategy that precipitated last week's "Chick-fil-A-First-Amendment-Marketing-Nuclear Weapon." No doubt, it will go down in business history as genius, but CFA customers know and appreciate that it has been many faithful years in the making.

It was the Baptist Press interview that spawned all the vehement opposition and inspired a tsunami of support in response to the vitriol perceived by loyal customers against Cathy's company. CFA customers are happy to pay full price, receive second-mile service, and are loyal enough to recommend Chick-fil-A to others. As the nation witnessed last Wednesday, they are also Raving Fans who will come out in droves to support the community business that has supported them with great sincerity for so long.

Years from now when students are in Marketing 101 classes they will be studying last Wednesday, in which an unorthodox, grassroots marketing strategy, combined with one transparent, uncontrived, sincere public statement of faith, created six months worth of business and enough social media coverage in a single day to flout months of traditional advertising.

**BUT...ye cannot serve God and mammon!

Boom. Subsidiarity genius. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Be ye not deceived by this! Chick-fil-A is NO different from any other fast-food, corporate fascism entity like McDonald's, Wendy's etc - they use a lot of these processed foods with poisonous ingredients in them like MSG that the FDA turns a blind eye too.

Matthew 6:1  Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.
Mat 6:2  Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
Mat 6:3  But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:
Mat 6:4  That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.
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« Reply #23 on: April 18, 2014, 02:24:16 pm »

I know both parties are merely opposite sides of the same coin - but nonetheless from what I've seen, by and large, the GOP has been in complete denial over Frankie's liberalism comments over the last year(ie-they say how the "liberal media" somehow "misquoted him"). IOW, the reaction would have been completely different if either Obama or Pelosi had said, "If gays do the will of God, who am I to judge?" OR "Atheists can be saved if they do good works and obey their consciences" OR "Capitalism is tyranny".

Ultimately, you see how Rome is pulling the strings from BOTH sides(ie-on the other end of the spectrum, there was Catholic Piers Morgan and his gun control rants on CNN).

http://news.yahoo.com/pope-remaking-gop-094500220--politics.html
How the Pope Is Remaking the GOP
4/18/14

When Jeb Bush stepped up this month to declare illegal immigration “an act of love,” he provoked precisely the conservative pile-on you’d expect. The right’s favorite crabby uncle, Charles Krauthammer, dourly pronounced the comments “bizarre.”. Rep. Raul Labrador accused Jebbie of pandering.  Noted intellectual Donald Trump declared Bush’s thinking “ridiculous” and “dangerous.” And God help anyone who ventured onto sites like RedState.com. Most perfectly, fake-winger Stephen Colbert eulogized, “He will be missed.”

In the midst of all the huffing and grumping, it was easy to miss the smaller, quieter sounds of satisfaction emanating from some of Bush’s fellow Catholics, particularly those on the social-justice-minded end of the spectrum. For these faithful, the governor’s assertion—with its decidedly biblical ring—was yet another sign of the change in conversation being driven, even within the fetid swamps of U.S. politics, by the wildly popular Pope Francis.

READ MORE Russian Spy Planes in U.S. Skies

A little over a year into Francis’s tenure, debate continues to rage throughout the church over the question of just how radical this pope really is, and the degree to which he might shift the Catholic spotlight from issues of sexual morality onto those such as poverty, immigration, torture, and even the environment. Not that issues of poverty and human dignity haven’t always concerned church leaders: “They just never got much attention if they didn’t involve a conflict over some sexual issue,” says John Carr, who served 25 years as the director of justice, peace, and human development for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). But in the Francis era, says Carr, “the same work takes on added meaning and, you hope, takes on added visibility and passion.”

A fair number of bishops have always been deeply committed to the social doctrine of the church, but that isn’t what made headlines,” says Michael Sean Winters, who writes for the National Catholic Register. “Now it makes headlines.”

And where the headlines go, the politicians soon will follow.

Case in point: In his first pastoral visit last July, the pope journeyed to Lampedusa, a tiny island off the coast of Sicily through which more than 200,000 migrants and refugees have entered Europe since 1999. Lamenting “global indifference” to the plight of migrants and refugees, Francis threw a wreath into the Mediterranean in remembrance of those who had lost their lives there.

Such acts send a powerful signal, says Kevin Appleby, head of migration policy for the USCCB. This, in turn, inspires like-minded advocates to “lead the charge” on the issue, as when a contingent of U.S. bishops traveled to Nogales on April 1 to celebrate Mass across the U.S.-Mexican border, conduct their own wreath-laying ceremony, and, while they were at it, call on Congress to quit dorking around and do something about our nation’s dysfunctional immigration system.

Five days later came Jeb Bush’s “act of love” moment, which Carr found “stunning,” and Appleby found encouraging
. “When someone like Jeb Bush comes out and makes a comment that humanizes immigrants, I think it is in part inspired by the Holy Father,” says Appleby, who has been working on this issue with the USCCB for about 15 years. “In some ways, the Holy Father is providing some cover. Not intentionally. But for those who are sympathetic to his message, he provides cover to be more courageous and to speak about the issue from the human side.”

Conversely, the pope makes it awkward for political leaders of faith to ignore the human costs of poverty or the need for immigration reform, asserts Winters. “It’s really hard to justify, say, your opposition to immigration as coherent with your religious principles when you have the pope and the bishops out front saying otherwise.”

Sure enough, in the wake of Bush’s “act of love,” the proudly Catholic Bill O’Reilly rushed forward to claim that Jeb had stolen the line from him.  Meanwhile, Marco Rubio, a champion of comprehensive immigration reform until it tanked his popularity with the GOP base, felt compelled to wade back into the issue—even if his on-the-one-hand-on-the-other-hand, good-immigrants-versus-bad-immigrants hair-splitting made him look more impotent and befuddled than ever. At least the poor guy gave it his best shot.

Carr, who now heads Georgetown University’s fledgling Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life, sees something similar happening with poverty and income inequality. Which makes sense: We are, after all, talking about a pope who, in his first apostolic exhortation, denounced unfettered capitalism as “a new tyranny.” “I would say that Pope Francis’s first miracle is to get political leaders in the U.S. to talk about poverty,” quips Carr. The president frankly acknowledged that the pope’s leadership has influenced him. Paul Ryan says what the pope is calling for is what we need in this country. We weren’t hearing that a year ago, two years ago.”

That said, Carr acknowledges that while “the tone and the content of the discussion” have changed, “what is not clear is whether that leads to a change in policies or priorities.”

Indeed, Rep. Paul Ryan may talk a good game about the poor, but his policies still give social-justice advocates an ulcer. Similarly, John Boehner may have invited the pope to address a joint session of Congress, but that doesn’t mean the speaker is looking to become his party’s point man on immigration reform.

Still, the wheels of government—like those of the church—move slowly. And just getting Washington talking about these issues in even a slightly new way is seen by many social-justice advocates as a solid first step.

**Yep - ensnare them into the discussion ring FIRST - that's what happened at my Catholic HS, when my "religion" teacher showed us a pro-sodomite Hollywood movie in the late 80's.

Pope Francis is out to challenge “couch potato Catholics,” politicians most definitely included, chuckles Carr. He points with delight to passages from the pope’s Evangelii Gaudium that address the role of political leaders, including: “I beg the Lord to grant us more politicians who are genuinely disturbed by the state of society, the people, the lives of the poor! It is vital that government leaders and financial leaders take heed and broaden their horizons, working to ensure that all citizens have dignified work, education, and health care.”

“This guy is a real challenge to the whole libertarian-leaning laissez-faire political idea,” says Winters of Francis. “There is a palpable sense among those of us on the Catholic left that the wind is at our back in a way that it has not been in at least 40 years.”
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« Reply #24 on: May 17, 2014, 04:23:00 pm »

http://news.yahoo.com/religious-tensions-deepen-ukraine-splits-russian-orthodox-official-155306393.html
Religious tensions deepen Ukraine splits - Russian Orthodox official
5/16/14

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Religious tensions are deepening dividing lines in Ukraine's crisis, with rival churches taking political sides and Kiev slighting the Russian Orthodox Church, a senior official of the Moscow-based church said on Friday.

Metropolitan Hilarion, head of the Russian Church's foreign relations department, said other churches had clearly lined up behind the Kiev government and he cited religious differences for its decision to refuse him entry to Ukraine last week.

Hilarion told Reuters his Church, which has broad support in the Russian-speaking east of Ukraine, did not take sides and wanted to play a mediating role in the crisis. But he doubted the others would see it as impartial.

"This lack of sympathy, unfortunately, is mutual," he said in an interview at his office in Moscow's Danilov Monastery.

The Russian church's critics certainly do not see it as neutral in the crisis. Its head, Patriarch Kirill, is close to President Vladimir Putin and has supported his drive to forge closer ties with former Soviet regions outside Russia.

However, Hilarion said his Church had contacts in Ukraine that the Kremlin lacked, including between Patriarch Kirill and Ukraine's acting President Oleksander Turchinov. But he said the government did not appear interested in the offer of mediation.

Kiev's sensitivity to the activities of Russian church leaders was clearly on display on May 9 when Hilarion was barred entry after flying into the city of Dnipropetrovsk in eastern Ukraine to give a local bishop an award on his 75th birthday.

After being detained for more than two hours, Hilarion was told he could not pass the border control and had to give the waiting bishop his award at the airport. He described this as a political decision with religious overtones.

"The people who are now running Ukraine do not belong to the Russian Orthodox Church," he said, noting that acting Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk is a Greek Catholic and that acting President Turchinov is a Baptist
.

HISTORIC DIVISIONS

Ukraine has a chequered religious landscape. Alongside the Moscow-backed Ukrainian Orthodox Church are a breakaway Kiev-based Ukrainian Orthodox Church and another local Orthodox movement - both of them deemed schismatic by Moscow - and the Greek Catholic Church, which is linked to Rome.

The Moscow-backed church is spread across Ukraine but strongest in the east, while the local Orthodox churches and the Greek Catholics are found more in the centre and west, where the Ukrainian language and national sentiment are stronger.

Priests from the local Orthodox churches and especially the Greek Catholics, who follow Orthodox-style liturgies but are in communion with the Vatican, played a visible role, conducting prayers and masses, during the protests in Kiev that led to the ousting of pro-Moscow president Viktor Yanukovich in February.

Hilarion said Ukraine's crisis was not religious in nature, but added: "The situation with religious communities in Ukraine somewhat reflects the division within the Ukrainian nation
".

"The Greek Catholic Church and the schismatic groups (rival Orthodox churches) have clearly identified themselves with the current regime," he said.

Greek Catholics "always go against the Russian Orthodox Church" and their ultimate goal is "to subordinate all Ukrainian churches to the pope", Hilarion added.

Eastern Catholic churches such as the Ukrainian Greek Catholics emerged in the 16th century. The Orthodox have long accused them of trying to win over souls for Rome.

Hilarion's Church issued a statement on Friday offering its services as a moderator in Ukraine's conflict, in response to a suggestion from Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn that religious communities play a part in seeking a solution.

It echoed the tensions Hilarion mentioned, accusing other churches of exploiting "the sincere religious feelings of deeply pious Ukrainian people as a tool in a political struggle".
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« Reply #25 on: May 22, 2014, 11:00:13 am »

Revelation18:1  And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.
Rev 18:2  And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.
Rev 18:3  For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.
Rev 18:4  And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.



http://taylormarshall.com/2012/08/how-catholic-wrote-half-of-chik-fil-as.html
How a Catholic Wrote Half of Chick-fil-A’s Mission Statement

His name is Bill Soltesz. Let me introduce him.

In 2006, wen I was still an Episcopalian priest and ready to enter the Catholic Church, I went to Washington, DC to interview for a position at the Catholic Information Center. As I mentioned on EWTN recently, this was the job I received after praying the nine-day novena to Saint Jude. While in DC, I was invited by the Director, Father Bill Stetson to attend the National Prayer Breakfast with President George W. Bush.
The hotel that the Presidential Prayer Breakfast was held in was the one at which President Reagan had been shot, the Washington Hilton. Security was everywhere.

I was reading the USA Today in the lobby and enjoying a cup of coffee, when I gentlemen introduced himself. I was wearing a clerical collar and the man assumed I was a Catholic priest. His name was Bill Soltesz.

I told him that I wasn’t a Catholic priest but was praying to enter the Catholic Church soon and shared with him my story. We became instant friends and he spent the rest of the day introducing me to Catholic bishop after Catholic bishop, Tom Monaghan of Ave Maria University and Legatus (who was a relative cause for my conversion to Christianity with the baseball signature with Romans 10:9 – a story I have told on EWTN and elsewhere), priests, friars, nuns, and various other politicians and big shots in the DC circuit. It was a great day. I will always remember Bill Soltesz as the guy whom God appointed to be waiting at the door of the Catholic Church to help me enter therein.

After I accepted the position at the Catholic Information Center, I stayed with Bill Soltesz’s family. He drove me around and around until we found a home for my family in McLean, Virginia near Saint John’s Catholic Church.

He has always been a dear friend and an advocate for me in every way. He was a great encouragement to me as I was writing my first book – The Crucified Rabbi.

Bill recently shared a great story with about Chik-fil-A

Bill Soltesz worked for CFA from 1979 to 1982 when they had fewer than 100 stores.

Truett Cathy and Bill became very good friends. He invited Bill to come visit him in October of 1982. He picked Bill up at the airport and he stayed at his home over the weekend. They rode motorcycles most of the day Saturday, went to church on Sunday. One night, as they were eating their ice cream, Truett said he was planning to meet with his sons and senior staff in the next few days and try to develop a corporate purpose statement for Chick fil A.

He had a yellow pad of paper, tore off a sheet and handed one to Bill. He wrote the words “To be good stewards of the gifts that God has given us.” Bill wrote the words “To have a positive influence on everyone who comes into contact with Chick fil A.” Truett said ” I like both of these.”
Soltesz said, “It was easy for me to come up with those words because Truett and Chick fil A really did have a positive influence on my life.”
That has been the corporate purpose statement for CFA since Truett and Soltesz wrote those words on October 1982. They are inscribed in stone at the entrance to the CFA headquarters on Buffington Road in Atlanta.


So there you have it. Half of the Chick fil A purpose statement was written by a devout Baptist, and the other half by a devout Catholic.

As Paul Harvey used to say, “That’s the rest of the story!”

And last of all, thanks Bill for all that you have done.
« Last Edit: May 22, 2014, 11:01:45 am by BornAgain2 » Report Spam   Logged
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« Reply #26 on: June 01, 2014, 12:02:28 am »

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/hundreds-thousands-evangelicals-march-rio-221151608--sow.html
Hundreds of thousands of evangelicals march in Rio
5/31/14

Rio de Janeiro (AFP) - Hundreds of thousands of evangelical Christians held a "March for Jesus" Saturday in Rio de Janeiro, a show of their churches' growing heft in the world's largest Roman Catholic country.

Dancing to Christian rock, gospel and hip-hop blasted from eight enormous sound trucks, participants flooded one of central Rio's main avenues in a march that took its theme from the World Cup, which Brazil is hosting from June 12 to July 13.

"I belong to Jesus. I am a champion," proclaimed their jersey-style T-shirts, printed in the green, yellow and blue of the Brazilian flag and the national team's uniforms.

Police said 600,000 people joined the march, an annual event that routinely draws hundreds of thousands of participants bused in from congregations around the state.

Similar marches in Sao Paulo also draw six-figure crowds each year.

"We're here to represent our religion and show the power of the evangelical population, which is growing," said Jardson Carioca, a 30-year-old bus driver who came with 50 other members of his church, the Assembly of God of Vila Ponto Chic in the suburb of Nova Iguacu.

Evangelical denominations are booming in Brazil, capitalizing on an extensive network of churches with lively services and open pulpits where the faithful can have a voice without needing to be ordained pastors.

They have deftly used their own television, radio and social media networks to draw millions of Christians away from the Roman Catholic Church.

And in a country with millions of poor, evangelical churches typically teach a message of change for the better in this life and after. The local Catholic church in contrast traditionally puts the accent on the afterlife.

Just 57 percent of Brazil's 200 million people now call themselves Catholic, a dramatic plunge from 92 percent in 1970.

Evangelicals have meanwhile grown from 5.2 percent of the population in 1970 to 28 percent today.

The hoards dressed in Brazil's national colors stood in sharp contrast to recent protests against the country's spending on the World Cup, which have made headlines as the tournament approaches but drawn far smaller crowds.

Anger over the more than $11 billion being spent on the tournament drew a million Brazilians into the streets a year ago during the Confederations Cup, a World Cup dress rehearsal, but the movement has since lost its massive numbers.

Recent anti-World Cup protests in Rio, Sao Paulo and Brasilia have drawn crowds in the thousands or smaller, with journalists and street vendors sometimes outnumbering the demonstrators.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Be ye not deceived by this(somehow the RCC in Brazil is losing membership) - IOW, they're just jumping ship from one reprobate entity to another. Alot like how people nowdays are leaving their "traditional" denominations like the SBC to these reprobate megachurches. This is all by design!
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« Reply #27 on: June 04, 2014, 11:37:20 am »

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/religion/catholic-and-libertarian-popes-top-adviser-says-theyre-incompatible/2014/06/03/b027efa2-eb60-11e3-b10e-5090cf3b5958_story.html
6/3/14
Catholic and libertarian? Pope’s top adviser says they’re incompatible

WASHINGTON — Taking direct aim at libertarian policies promoted by many American conservatives, the Honduran cardinal who is one of Pope Francis’ top advisers said Tuesday (June 3) that today’s free market system is “a new idol” that is increasing inequality and excluding the poor.

“This economy kills,” said Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga, quoting Francis frequently in a speech delivered at a conference on Catholicism and libertarianism held a few blocks from the U.S. Capitol.

The pope, Maradiaga said, grew up in Argentina and “has a profound knowledge of the life of the poor.” That is why, he said, Francis continues to insist that “the elimination of the structural causes for poverty is a matter of urgency that can no longer be postponed.”

“The hungry or sick child of the poor cannot wait,” the cardinal said.

Maradiaga, who heads a kitchen cabinet of eight cardinals from around the world that Francis established to advise him shortly after his election last year, also argued that personal charity was insufficient to solve global problems.

“Solidarity is more than a few sporadic acts of generosity,” he said.

Instead, he said, solidarity with the poor, as envisioned by Catholic social teaching, calls for “dealing with the structural causes of poverty and injustice.” The cardinal stressed that the church “by no means despises the rich,” and he said Francis “is also not against the efforts of business to increase the goods of the earth.”

“The basic condition, however, is that it serves the common good,” he said.

A charismatic churchman who speaks fluent English, Maradiaga was animated in his criticism of the effects of today’s free market capitalism and he peppered his remarks with digs at economic conservatives.

Trickle-down economics, he said, is “a deception,” and he declared that the “invisible hand” of the free market — the famous theory advanced by the 18th-century philosopher Adam Smith — was instead being used as a cruel trick to exploit the poor.

Maradiaga at one point brushed aside the fierce criticism that many conservatives have leveled at Francis by noting that “many of these libertarianists do not read the social doctrine of the church.”

“But now they are trembling before the book of Piketty,” he said with a laugh, referring to the controversial best-seller on the wealth gap by the French economist Thomas Piketty. “At least it is making them think,” he added.

Maradiaga was the keynote speaker at the conference, called “Erroneous Autonomy: The Catholic Case Against Libertarianism.”

The daylong seminar waded deep into the contentious American political debate over the economy and the role of government, and it showed once again how the moral implications of that debate are playing out most vividly in the Catholic Church.

Paul Ryan, the Wisconsin Republican who chairs the House Budget Committee, is a Catholic who is also his party’s champion for budget cuts for social programs, cuts that are opposed by the church hierarchy. He is also a disciple of the libertarian philosopher Ayn Rand.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., while not a Catholic, is the GOP’s most prominent exponent of libertarian ideas and is being widely touted as a leading candidate for his party’s presidential nomination in 2016 — a race that increasingly looks as though it will serve as a national referendum on libertarian ideas.

Tuesday’s conference was sponsored by Catholic University’s Institute for Policy Research & Catholic Studies, and the speakers — bishops and theologians, as well as pundits such as Mark Shields and academics like John DiIulio — were almost universally antagonistic to free market libertarianism.

Yet it was CUA’s own business school that last year sparked a controversy by accepting $1 million from the foundation of Charles Koch, a billionaire industrialist who is an influential supporter of libertarian-style policies.

Critics accused the university of taking money to promote ideas that are opposed to Catholic social teaching. University officials rebuffed those charges, joined by many bishops and conservative Catholics who have become prominent advocates of the idea that Catholicism and libertarianism can coexist or even support each other.

That notion, however, found little backing and much opposition at Tuesday’s sessions.

Bishop Blase Cupich of Spokane, Wash., one of the U.S. hierarchy’s more prominent champions of Catholic social teaching, warned that growing inequality is creating “a powder keg that is as dangerous as the environmental crisis the world is facing today.”

Cupich said political leaders cannot wage this debate “from the 30,000-foot level of ideas” but must take into account the real-life implications of policies as they play out on the ground. “Reality,” he said, quoting Francis, “is greater than ideas.”
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« Reply #28 on: June 18, 2014, 03:09:22 pm »

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« Reply #29 on: July 01, 2014, 11:03:20 pm »

http://news.yahoo.com/anti-gay-rights-catholic-bishop-accused-same-sex-214521904.html
7/1/14
Anti-Gay Rights Catholic Bishop Accused of Same-Sex 'Misconduct'

The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis' Archbishop John Nienstedt is well-known for his outspoken statements against gay people and marriage equality. And now, the Catholic leader is under investigation by a law firm hired by the Archdiocese, based on “multiple allegations” that Nienstedt had relations with multiple men, including priests and seminarians. Although he authorized the investigation himself, the Archbishop denies the allegations are true. His archdiocese confirmed that the investigation was underway, according to the Religion News Service.

The story was first reported by the Catholic magazine Commonweal, based on an interview with the archdiocese's former canon lawyer Jennifer Haselberger. Here's what she told them, apparently based on conversations with the lawyers doing the investigation:

    "I believe that the investigators have received about ten sworn statements alleging sexual impropriety on the part of the archbishop dating from his time as a priest in the Archdiocese of Detroit, as Bishop of New Ulm, and while coadjutor and archbishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis,” Haselberger told me. What’s more, “he also stands accused of retaliating against those who refused his advances or otherwise questioned his conduct.”

According to RNS, the lawyers' lines of inquiries include an investigation into whether the archbishop had a relationship with  Rev. Curtis Wehmeyer, a priest at the center of a sex abuse scandal currently plaguing the archdiocese.

In response to the story, Nienstedt told Commonweal that "I have never engaged in sexual misconduct and certainly have not made any sexual advances toward anyone." And in a statement, Neinstedt emphasized that "The allegations do not involve minors or lay members of the faithful, and they do not implicate any kind of illegal or criminal behavior." This is not, however, the first time the Archbishop has faced criticism for alleged misconduct, including a December accusation that he groped a boy during a photo session for a confirmation into the church. That accusation did not result in charges against Nienstedt. And Neinstedt has been accused of helping to cover up the sex abuse scandal in the archdiocese.

In 2012, Nienstedt secured about $650,000 in church money to support a proposed amendment that would ban same-sex marriage in the state. That amendment ultimately failed at the polls, despite his considerable efforts to rally Catholics to vote for its passage. But he's continued to oppose same-sex relationships with fiery rhetoric, as well. He has claimed that "Sodomy, abortion, contraception, p0rnography, the redefinition of marriage, and the denial of objective truth" are "threatening the stability of our civilization," and that the source of those "threats" is satan. And earlier, the Archbishop became infamous for writing a letter to a Catholic mom, telling her she had to either reject her gay son or burn in hell forever.

This article was originally published at http://www.thewire.com/politics/2014/07/anti-gay-rights-catholic-bishop-accused-of-same-sex-misconduct/373812/
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