Dalai Lama accepts the Theosophical Society's invitation to bring his fortune cookie "wisdom" to Chicago

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction. Proverbs 1:7

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding. Proverbs 9:10

In general terms, Tenzin Gyatso, the Dalai Lama, is said to be the 14th rebirth in a long line of spiritual masters, each of whom is believed to be a human emanation of the bodhisattva (enlightened being, or "wisdom-being") Avalokiteśvara (a bodhisattva embodying the compassion of all Buddhas--those awakened to the natural law, or dharma). As I've said before, I’m sick and tired of hearing about and from the Dalai Lama and his alleged wisdom. According to the Scriptures cited above, he doesn’t have even the beginning of wisdom, since he doesn’t fear the Lord.

On July 17, 2011, "His Holiness" was in Chicago, charging people $75-$125 per ticket to hear him speak on the topic Bridging the Faith Divide: Compassion in Action, inspired by his recent book Toward a True Kinship of Faiths: How the World's Religions Can Come Together. It seems the occasion was indeed being used to further the agenda of uniting the world's religions. As reported by Manya A. Brachear in the Chicago Tribune, July 16, 2011:

...This weekend, Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th dalai lama and spiritual leader of troubled Tibet, will bring tidings to Chicago that address religious tensions head on and prescribe what it takes to ease them.

The anticipation of his arrival inspired a dozen religious communities to undertake an unusual artistic endeavor that will provide the backdrop to the Dalai Lama's appearance Sunday on the campus of the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Framing the Dalai Lama on stage will be a dozen towering religious icons created by artists of other traditions. Roman Catholics decorated a star and crescent of Islam. Native Americans created the nine-pointed star of the Baha'i faith. An African-American Protestant congregation on the South Side incorporated the design of the 4,000-year-old symbol of Zoroastrianism, a tradition some didn't know existed before the project.

"It's an amazing show of support and unity that different people of different faiths actually came together," said Nina Norris, a member of St. Matthias Catholic Church in Chicago's Lincoln Square neighborhood. "The fact that it's guided under the Dalai Lama is maybe the only way it could happen."

Invited by the Theosophical Society in America, the group that hosted the monk's first visit to the Chicago area in 1981, the Dalai Lama will present a public talk Sunday at the UIC Pavilion.

On Monday morning at downtown's Harris Theater for Music and Dance, he will join a rabbi, a pastor and a Muslim scholar for a panel discussion titled "Building Bridges: Religious Leaders in Conversation with the Dalai Lama." The panel will be moderated by Eboo Patel, founder and executive director of the Chicago-based Interfaith Youth Core.

Tim Boyd, president of the Theosophical Society in America, which is based in Wheaton, said the Dalai Lama thought for three seconds before he accepted his invitation during a private audience last year. After all, it was his introduction to the Theosophical Society in India 55 years ago that opened his eyes to the plethora of world religions beyond his own, Boyd said.

"It was the first time he had met people who believed there was value in the religions of the world and there was a certain essence they all shared," Boyd said. "At that time, he was a 21-year-old monk. To him, Buddhism was all that he knew and all that he thought was appropriate. After that meeting, he left there a changed man."

While the Dalai Lama since has championed common ground, compassion and conversation among people of different religious traditions, he has sharpened that focus in recent years on easing religious tensions. He released a book last year titled "Toward a True Kinship of Faiths," in which he explores how to avoid viewing religious differences as sources of conflict...

...Dirk Ficca, executive director of the Council for a Parliament of the World's Religions, said it's the Dalai Lama's example of balancing a contemplative Buddhist discipline with his rock star persona that has inspired such a broad fan base. Since he appeared at the first modern-day Parliament of the World's Religions in 1993 in Chicago, the Dalai Lama has become a mainstay at the international interfaith gatherings, held every five to six years since. In fact, Ficca said, once a location is chosen for each parliament, the next question is, "Can the Dalai Lama be there?"

"For billions of people who might not be interested in organized religion, nevertheless the Dalai Lama is a symbol that spirituality is important," Ficca said. "He carries enormous weight, and he's a source of energy and inspiration for folks in that camp."

He has no interest in converting everyone to Buddhism, Ficca said. On the contrary, he prefers to see everyone acting out their respective faiths. His message goes beyond Buddhism to a much broader audience.

"He stands on the juncture between the inner life and engagement in the world," Ficca said. "He calls anyone of good will to be engaged in the world and make a difference..."

...Organizers reached out to a dozen faith communities including Jains, Zoroastrians, Christians, Jews, Buddhists and Muslims to add their own creative flourishes to blank slates in the shape of religious symbols built to occupy the stage with the Dalai Lama.

"What's amazing is a group of Jains (followers of an Indian faith that espouses pacifism) got together and thought about the Buddhist icon and … blessed that faith with their own labor and contemplation," Lasko said. "It's come to pass in this incredible way. A project like this is amazing in that it exposes you to a whole lot of good will in the world."

April Tsosie, 34, a member of the Navajo tribe, said the project not only allowed them to bridge the faith divide, but also a generational divide in her own community. Youth and senior citizens from the American Indian Center ventured from their Uptown facility to the Baha'i Temple in Wilmette, where symbols from many traditions adorn the architecture and now adorn the icon.

"The best thing about the journey was having people realize similarities between tribal beliefs and Baha'i. That was really enlightening," Tsosie said.

Elder Rita Rupert-Hester of Progressive Community Center the People's Church in Bronzeville said members of her group researched the depiction of a winged guardian spirit representing the human soul, which Zoroastrians call the Faravahar.

Church members learned that the three layers of feathers on the wings, represent the core of Zoroastrian ethics: good thoughts, good words and good deeds.

As associate minister of the South Side church, Rupert-Hester said she plans to incorporate that ethic into a future sermon.

She also hopes to invite the Zoroastrians to break bread with her congregation and see the cross in their church designed by their pastor. She hopes the Zoroastrian community recognizes that they depicted the Faravahar with just as much care as they would have given that cross.

"When they see it, we want it to represent the spirit of how they feel about their symbol as we feel about ours — that it's beautiful and that it ought to be represented beautifully and spiritually."

And what did this spiritual master say when he addressed the audience at UIC Pavilion? According to Ms. Brachear on July 17, 2011:

The Dalai Lama was in a jolly-good mood on Sunday, and so was his audience.

More than 8,000 spectators lined up in the heat and patiently waited to pack the pavilion at the University of Illinois in Chicago. The Tibetan spiritual leader had come to give a lesson about overcoming religious strife.

But for many in the crowd, it was much more than a lecture by His Holiness, Tenzin Gyatso, the world-renowned Buddhist monk and 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet. It was an intimate conversation with an avuncular old friend who doesn't take himself too seriously, but came to share a few wise words about overcoming the conflicts that keep us from enjoying life.

“If you're not in a hurry, I'm quite free,” he said checking his watch when the master of ceremonies suggested time was running out.

But his message was short and sweet: it all comes down to happiness.

“More and more people are showing spiritual interest in what I call inner values,” said the Dalai Lama, 76, who in March gave up political authority over the Tibetan government-in-exile to focus on his spiritual role. “We all come from a mother's womb … everyone wants (a) happy life … everyone has a right to further that desire.”

Happiness begins with honesty, which creates trust, which leads to friendship, which means happiness, he said.

Religion has nothing to do with it, he said, adding that moral principles are not rooted in religious doctrine, but the pursuit of happiness. Even people who identify as secular share that goal with people of faith, he said.

“When I say secular, I don't mean negative feelings toward religion,” he said.

The Dalai Lama also explained that science and faith can co-exist and, in fact, work in concert to teach the world about interdependence.

“Faith and reason must go together,” he said. “You must investigate reality. Nobody can say I know everything.”

Matt MacGregor, 29, of Indianapolis appreciated the Dalai Lama's point that respect extends to non-believers.

“That's a word that's incredibly inclusive,” said MacGregor who runs a global health care foundation.

Phillip Sylvester, 45, who splits his time between Chicago's Gold Coast and Miami, said he suspected the Dalai Lama would have an open mind about religion, but still wanted to hear it firsthand.

“We are all bound by the same things. The truth is all religions are instilled with the same meaning,” said Sylvester, a self-acclaimed globetrotter. “You can travel around the world and learn that or come here...”

...After his remarks, the Dalai Lama and event organizers watered a dozen Aspen saplings on stage that later will be planted near Foster Beach. While the saplings will be planted individually, their roots will become intertwined, symbolizing the Dalai Lama's belief that the world's religions can co-exist.

And as reported in the same newspaper by Michael Tarm on July 17, 2011:

The only politics the 76-year-old touched on was the decision earlier this year by Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn to sign legislation banning capital punishment. He praised Quinn, who briefly joined the Dalai Lama on stage.

"This state abolished the death sentence," the Tibetan Buddhist monk said. "When I heard that, I immediately shook hands with the governor (before the event started) and said congratulations. ... I really appreciated it."

Once on stage, dressed in crimson-red and gold robes, he gave Quinn a traditional blessing by placing a simple white silk scarf around the governor's neck. In response, Quinn bowed slightly and tapped his hand on his heart.

A law ending the death penalty took effect July 1. Quinn signed it after years of stories of men sentenced to die for crimes they didn't commit. Illinois had executed 12 men since 1977, but none since 1999.

Sitting in a chair at the edge of a stage, the Dalai Lama, who fled Chinese-occupied Tibet in 1959, focused his talk on bridging the divide between religions. A giant cross, a crescent moon, a menorah and other religious symbols were set around him -- a large red and blue Tibetan flag off to one side.

"When I was in Tibet, I thought our religion was best and other religions were -- so so," he said with his trademark giggle, the large crowd laughing in response.

But after settling in India as an exile and becoming familiar with those of other faiths in that country, including Hindus and Muslims, he said he it quickly struck home that they all had similarities at their core.

"All religious traditions carry the same message ... of love, tolerance, compassion ... self-discipline, justice, truth," he said.

He implored people not to become so closely attached to their own religions that they block out all they could learn from other faiths.

I don't know about you, but from someone who's the 14th rebirth of a long line of spiritual masters supposedly possessing centuries of wisdom that the rest of us don't have, I expect something more profound than "everyone wants a happy life...faith and reason must go together...all religious traditions carry the same message..." He says nothing that any other New Ager or religious syncretist hasn't said--and people pay $75-$125 to hear this!? His pronouncements remind me of those of Chauncey Gardner in Being There, the simple-minded character whose aphorisms on gardening, and comments such as "China--full of Chinese!" were taken as great pearls of wisdom by political and cultural leaders. Compare the bland utterances of the Dalai Lama with some of the statements from the Lord Jesus Christ (for which He charged no price):

But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.
Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.
For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.
And a man's foes shall be they of his own household. Matthew 10:33-36

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.
Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous,
And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.
Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets.
Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.
Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell? Matthew 23:27-33

I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins...
...And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him...
...I know that ye are Abraham's seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you.
I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father.
They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham.
But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham.
Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.
Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me.
Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.
Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not. John 8:24, 29, 37-45

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. John 14:6

His audiences reacted with comments such as:

And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine:
For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. Matthew 7:28-29

The officers answered, Never man spake like this man. John 7:46

On July 18 the Dalai Lama furthered the agenda of religious syncretism when he shared a platform with a liberal female "pastor," a rabbi, and a Muslim scholar. The female "pastor" is president of the National Council of Churches, which, of course, represents apostate mainline Protestant churches. If the name Michael Lerner sounds familiar, he's been credited as a "guru" for U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.

As reported by Manya A. Brachear of the Chicago Tribune, July 19, 2011:

Three religious scholars reflected upon oneness, humanity and compassion with His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama on Monday, capping the Tibetan spiritual leader's fifth visit to Chicago.

The rabbi, pastor and Muslim scholar shared their thoughts with the Dalai Lama before a sold-out crowd at Harris Theater for Music and Dance in Millennium Park. Eboo Patel, who founded the Interfaith Youth Core after an encounter with the Dalai Lama 13 years ago, moderated the panel.

Each religious leader shared how values of other religious traditions, namely Buddhism, had enriched their own spiritual journey. For example, Rabbi Michael Lerner, activist and editor of Tikkun magazine, talked about not letting attachment to reality discourage him from seeking ideals.

Ingrid Mattson, professor of Islamic studies at Hartford Seminary in Connecticut, and the Rev. Peg Chemberlin, president of the National Council of Churches, shared similar experiences.

"This is how people from different religions ought to talk to one another," Patel said after the event. "You ought to focus on what you're committed to, what you admire about other people's religions and how to apply that value in the world in a way that serves other people."

During the course of the conversation, the Dalai Lama issued a call to action for individuals to build bridges in their communities, families and nations.

"These different philosophies (are) simply a different way to approach, but same goal," the Dalai Lama said of the world's religions. "I've found more and more friends."

The Dalai Lama arrived in the U.S. this month to perform an ancient Tibetan Buddhist rite called a Kalachakra — 11 days of prayers, blessings, teachings and meditation in Washington.

He also delivered a public talk on the National Mall and met with President Barack Obama before flying to Chicago for a lecture Sunday at the University of Illinois at Chicago and the event at Harris Theater...

...Patel said one doesn't have to meditate or be a monk to host productive conversations.

"Everybody can choose to focus conversations between different religions on matters of shared values rather than matters of deep disagreement," he said.

Members of the audience said they felt empowered to follow his example.

Wheaton College alumni create support group for sodomites and lesbians

Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:
Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:
And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.
Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them. Romans 1:24-27, 32

Wheaton College still has a reputation as "evangelical," but, like evangelicalism generally, has been going in a liberal direction for many years (see my post Today's Evangelicals, Tomorrow's Liberals--A Warning from 1983 (January 13, 2010). When many people think of Wheaton College, they think of illustrious alumni such as Billy Graham and Elisabeth Elliot--who attended decades ago--and assume that Wheaton is still as it was then; the evangelical reputation endures, long after the reality has changed.

Although the college's president seems to support the official position of prohibiting homosexual behaviour, he expresses agreement with the overall desire of the sodomite/lesbian support group OneWheaton--a typical example of an evangelical leader talking out of both sides of his mouth at the same time. It comes as no surprise to this blogger to see the following news item, as reported by Jenn Zimmerman in the Chicago Tribune, May 3, 2011:

Alumni from Wheaton College have formed an organization to provide support for the gay community on the conservative Christian campus.

OneWheaton seeks to offer "a safe space" for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning community, said group spokeswoman Kristin Winn. The LGBTQ community, according to Winn, is not widely accepted on campus because of the school's official position against "homosexual behavior."

Organizers began reaching out to students last week by passing out informational fliers outside a chapel service.

Soon after, Wheaton College President Philip Ryken sent an internal email to all students, faculty and staff that cited passages in the Bible that condemned homosexual behavior.

Ryken also wrote, "We stand with LGBTQ persons before God as persons created in God's own image, and also as sinful persons in need of God's forgiveness and love."

Ryken added that the overall desire of OneWheaton to "affirm the full humanity and dignity of every human being, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity" is something the college agrees with.

Winn, a 2007 graduate, said the idea for the group began last year as media coverage focused on the rise in teen suicide in the gay community. As someone who struggled with her own sexual orientation at Wheaton, she often feared losing her support system if she came out.

She said OneWheaton has more than 300 alumni and students who have publicly pledged their support.

"Pastafarian" wins religious freedom case in Austria

Today's satire is tomorrow's reality. As reported by Matthew Day in the Daily Telegraph, July 13, 2011:

An Austrian has won the right to be photographed wearing a pasta strainer for his driving licence on grounds of religious freedom.

Niko Alm announced the decision on his blog saying that after three years of struggle a psychologist had passed him fit drive (sic) and so he could wear the kitchen implement for the official picture.

A self-styled "pastafarian", Mr Alm said he belonged to the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, which lampooned religion. "Today I was able to get my new driving licence, and in it you can clearly see that I'm wearing a colander on my head to demonstrate my allegiance to the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster," Mr Alm wrote in his blog.

"My headwear has now been recognised by the Republic of Austria."

The spaghetti church was founded in 2005 in opposition to pressure on the Kansas school board in the United States to teach the theory of intelligent design in biology class as an alternative to evolution, and since then it has engaged in a light-hearted campaign against religion.

Key to the beliefs of pastafarians is that the world was created by the Flying Spaghetti Monster, but, owing to the monster being inebriated at the time of creation, it has a flawed design.

Irish leader Enda Kenny blasts Vatican's reponse to allegations of child abuse on the part of priests

As reported in the Irish Times, July 14, 2011:

The Vatican’s approach to clerical abuse inquiries in Ireland has been branded a disgrace by the Taoiseach today.

In the wake of the report into the Catholic Church’s response to allegations of abuse in the diocese of Cloyne, Enda Kenny warned new laws would not be stopped by canon rules.

The Taoiseach said the Government’s concerns must now be dealt with. “I think this is absolutely disgraceful that the Vatican took the view that it did in respect of something that’s as sensitive and as personal with such long-lasting difficulties for persons involved,” he said.

"The law of the land should not be stopped by a collar or a crozier," Mr Kenny said.

Tough new laws to force the disclosure of information on child sexual abuse are to be introduced in response to the Cloyne report. The withholding of information about serious offences against a child will be made a criminal offence, Minister for Justice Alan Shatter announced yesterday following the publication of the report on the handling of sex abuse claims in the diocese of Cloyne.

Further measures, including a statutory child protection code, are to be announced by Minister for Children Frances Fitzgerald tomorrow.

Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Eamon Gilmore met papal nuncio Archbishop Giuseppe Leanza over the findings of the report today.

Speaking after the meeting, Dr Leanza said he was "very grateful" to Mr Gilmore for the meeting. "I think it has been a useful meeting . . . he has given me a copy of the report, and I will bring it immediately to the attention of the Holy See.

He reiterated the Catholic Church's "total commitment" to take "all necessary measures" to ensure the protection of children.

Mr Gilmore said the Vatican’s intervention in Irish affairs was “absolutely unacceptable” and “inappropriate”. He said he had told Dr Leanza that an explanation and response was required as to why the Vatican had told priests and bishops they could undermine Irish rules.

“I want to know why this state, with which we have diplomatic relations, issued a communication, the effect of which was that very serious matter of the abuse of children in this country was not reported to the authorities,” he said.

Mr Gilmore said the Vatican had conveyed a message that somehow it was “all right to evade responsibility” for reporting these matters to the Irish authorities.

Fine Gael chairman Charlie Flanagan called for Dr Leanza to be expelled from Ireland.

Elsewhere, Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin said Bishop John Magee should not be excluded from the prospect of a jail term if he is prosecuted as a result of investigations into the Cloyne report...

...The report found that the Bishop of Cloyne, John Magee, misled the minister for children by claiming the church’s guidelines for handling abuse cases were being fully complied with. It also found he falsely told the Health Service Executive (HSE) that allegations of abuse were being reported to gardaí.

In fact, two-thirds of complaints made between 1996 and 2008 were not reported to the Garda and no complaint was passed to the HSE during this period.

Senior Vatican spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi issued an emphatic “no comment” when asked about the Cloyne report. He did not rule out making a comment at a later date, by which time the Holy See would have had a chance to assess the report fully.

Another example of today's "conservatives" just conserving what liberals have done

I've been predicting for some time that it was only a matter of time before sodomite and lesbian "marriage" would be promoted as a "conservative value," so it comes as no surprise to this blogger to see alleged conservative David Frum saying that he had been wrong to oppose this abomination:

Washington (CNN) -- I was a strong opponent of same-sex marriage. Fourteen years ago, Andrew Sullivan and I forcefully debated the issue at length online (at a time when online debate was a brand new thing).

Yet I find myself strangely untroubled by New York state's vote to authorize same-sex marriage -- a vote that probably signals that most of "blue" states will follow within the next 10 years.

I don't think I'm alone in my reaction either. Most conservatives have reacted with calm -- if not outright approval -- to New York's dramatic decision.

It wasn't too many years ago that support for sodomite and lesbian "marriage" wasn't even a liberal value. As recently as the 1997 federal election campaign, the governing Liberal Party of Canada promised that they would never legalize sodomite and lesbian "marriage." Of course, they did, and the current Conservative Harper government has gone right along with this. Unfortunately, the United States continues to adopt bad Canadian Trudeaupian policies. As the saying goes, the acceptance and promotion of homosexuality isn't a sign that God's judgement on a society is coming--it's a sign that His judgement is already under way.

For a related post concerning "conservatives" becoming liberals, see this 1983 warning from Dr. Samuel Tow.

HT: Vox Popoli, The inevitable drift left, posted July 8, 2011

More British women in their 40s are having abortions

Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people. Proverbs 14:34

More evidence of the suicidal madness of a once-great nation, as reported by Laura Donnelly of the Daily Telegraph on May 28, 2011:

The number of women having abortions in their 40s has risen by almost one third in a decade, according to new figures.

Experts said the dramatic rise reflects increased sexual activity among older women, and higher numbers of single women and divorcees – who are far more likely than previous generations to have casual sex or short-term relationships...

...The government statistics disclose that the number of abortions for women aged 40 and over has risen by more than 30 per cent since 2000. In total, 8,179 women aged 40 and over terminated pregnancies last year – including more than 650 women above the age of 45, and 21 women aged 50 and over.

Ann Furedi, chief executive of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, said: "I think women are generally remaining sexually active for longer, and women in their 40s increasingly see themselves as sexual players – whether or not they are in relationships – in a way that they didn't even a decade ago."

Many older women, especially those who came off the contraceptive pill because of their age, were inclined to take chances with contraception, only to be "stunned" when they found themselves pregnant, she said.

The figures include women who had tried to get pregnant in their 40s, only to opt for termination when screening disclosed a high chance of abnormalities such as Down's syndrome – the risk of which rises with age, said Mrs Furedi.

However, most abortions among older women took place before 12 weeks, which is when the first antenatal screening takes place. Among women aged 35 and over [there aren't figures for 40+ on this], just 2,200 abortions occurred after that point.

Josephine Quintavalle, from the Pro-Life Alliance, said: "These figures are extraordinarily depressing – when we see high rates of teen pregnancy we often end up debating whether ignorance is to blame, but you would think that by the age of 40 women would have some idea how things work. It seems incredible that at that age, any woman would take such reckless chances."

The figures reflect large-scale social changes in recent years.

The percentage of single women in Britain has more than doubled in the past three decades, with 43 per cent of women under 50 never having married in 2009...

...Separately, studies have established that men and women in their 30s and 40s are less likely than teenagers to practise safe sex.

While almost 70 per cent of those aged between 16 and 19 use a condom when having sex with a new partner, the figure is less than 35 per cent among those aged between 35 and 44, according to a study published in the International Journal of Epidemiology.

And in 2008, an international study suggested British men and women were the most promiscuous western industrial nation.

The academic study, which examined the numbers of one-night stands, sexual partners and attitudes to casual sex among 14,000 people in 48 countries, found Britons were the most promiscuous – ahead of Australia, the US, France, the Netherlands, Italy and Germany.

At the same time, women are having babies past the age of 40 in dramatically increasing numbers – echoing the increase in abortions.

Figures published earlier this year showed that some 27,000 babies were born to women over 40 last year in Britain, a number which has doubled over the past two decades.

Many are having their first baby at 40 or above, something which was exceptionally rare in previous generations.

A report last year by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development concluded that women in Britain are among the latest to start having families.

The average age for a women having her first child in this country is almost 30, compared with 25 in the United States, and 28 and a half in France.

Fertility treatments have partly fuelled the increase in births over 40, but some of those treatments end in termination.

Last year, statistics disclosed than an average of 80 abortions a year are carried out in England and Wales following IVF treatment – many likely to be because of the higher rates of abnormalities associated with late motherhood, particularly Down's syndrome.

And many women do not have children at all: a study of women in their late 40s found that some 19 per cent arrive at the menopause childless – a figure exceeded by only three countries in Europe: Germany, Finland and Italy, was there a higher percentage of women who ended their reproductive lives childless.

David Willetts, now minister for universities and science, sparked controversy in opposition when he said that a "Bridget Jones generation" of well-educated young women who cannot find a suitable match was fuelling the collapse of the family.

Because more women than men were gaining degrees, women struggled to find a partner with good career prospects, and men were no longer given the opportunity to "bring home the bacon", which was bad for families, he said.

A simple faith is all that's needed for salvation--if the faith has the correct object

And there were also two other, malefactors, led with him to be put to death.
And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left...
...And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us.
But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation?
And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss.
And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.
And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise. Luke 23:32-33, 39-43

But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Hebrews 11:6

Yesterday I attended the funeral of a man whose son has been a good friend and brother in the Lord. The deceased was the son of a pastor and the twin brother of a pastor, and although he didn't pursue the vocation of a pastor, he nevertheless was a good and faithful servant. He didn't have a university degree, just enough education to be qualified for a livelihood as a plumber (at which he was very successful).

This man was described as having a simple faith; he didn't know many passages of Scripture by heart, but he lived out the ones he did know. In thinking about this man and his "simple faith," it makes me glad that all that is required for salvation is to have faith in the right object, and enough knowledge to know that Jesus Christ is Lord and Saviour. I'm glad that Hebrews 11:6 says "without faith it is impossible to please him," not "without a degree or advanced knowledge in theology it is impossible to please him."

Today's "Vacation Bible School" offers more "vacation" than "Bible"

And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:
And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. Deuteronomy 6:6-7

As reported by Jessamy Brown of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram on June 19, 2011:

Call it vacation Bible school on steroids.

At The Hills Church of Christ in North Richland Hills, more than 6,300 people attended last week's "Summer Spectacular" event designed to bring the story of Noah's ark to life, complete with a petting zoo and a Broadway-style musical that recounted the tale over three nights.

It's a stark contrast to the VBS days of the past, when kids made praying hands out of plaster and listened to Bible stories before nap time.

Today's summer-based schools are more akin to day camp than Sunday school, with churches using elaborate props, electronics and themed curricula that can be bought from church denominations or publishers.

The materials make it easier for church officials to plan the events and provide lessons that connect to the religious concepts they want to emphasize, church youth directors say.

"I like to say it's not your mom and dad's VBS," said Patty Weaver, children's minister at The Hills. "We believe that God's word is so powerful that if we make it culturally relevant then it will really penetrate the heart of the child. It just needs to speak to their world today. We need to make sure we're telling it in a way that connects with children."

Today, Travis Avenue Baptist Church in Fort Worth launches its VBS program, which is advertised on a billboard on Interstate 35W.

Children in kindergarten through sixth grade will participate in the "Big Apple Adventure." They'll do games and activities to help them learn a concept each day, all based on landmarks they would see on a New York City trip.

The church sanctuary is being decorated in a 15-foot backdrop of Times Square. Officials rented a Statue of Liberty prop from the Tarrant Baptist Association that it made for a training session, said Scott Eudaley, children's minister.

Theme programs

Travis Avenue Baptist started using themes in the late 1990s to help make the program more engaging to today's youth, Eudaley said.

First United Methodist Church of Mansfield is also using the "Big Apple" theme at its vacation Bible school this week...

...The "Big Apple" program is produced by Nashville-based LifeWay Christian Resources. A basic sampler kit costs $69.99 and includes clip-art decorations, Bible study cards, leader guides and a music CD, according to LifeWay's website.

The Hills created its own curriculum for the Summer Spectacular, enlisting an army of volunteers to decorate the church with huge rainbows, life-size stuffed animals and a paper cutout of an ark in each classroom.

The lesson for junior high students included a PowerPoint presentation.

At the end of each night, families crowded pews in the auditorium to watch a 42-member cast in Noah: God Keeps His Promises, a musical written by a church member with lyrics set to songs by contemporary artists such as Lady Gaga.

As the old saying goes, "What you win them with is what you win them to," or put another way, "what wins them is what keeps them." If all you're providing to children in church is entertainment, that's the only thing that will keep them there. What does a "Big Apple" theme have to do with the Bible? And wouldn't an old hymn or two provide better Christian instruction for children than lyrics to songs by Lady Gaga?
This nonsense isn't just found in Fort Worth. From the religion Calendar of the Edmonton Journal on July 2, 2011:

Wii Love Pizza, July 9, at 5: 30 p.m., Zion Baptist Church, 11908 132nd Ave. Games night for 12-to 20-year-olds. For more information, call 780-454-1347 or visit zionbaptist.net

Vacation Bible School, July 18 to July 22, 9: 30-11: 30 a.m., Callingwood Road Presbyterian Church, 6015 184th St. Fun, crafts, songs, stories and snacks for kids ages four to 12. To register, call 780-487-8531 or e-mail crpc-pas@telus. net....

...PandaMania Vacation Bible School, Aug. 8 to 12, from 9 a.m. to noon each day, Zion Baptist Church, 11908 132nd Ave. Kindergarten to Grade 6. Register at 780-454-1347 or zionbaptist.net

Canada's Conservative Harper government quizzes Chinese Christian on theology before denying his refugee claim

As reported by Douglas Quan of The Vancouver Sun on June 8, 2011:

A Chinese migrant seeking refugee status in Canada on the grounds that he faced persecution at home for his Christian beliefs was repeatedly asked by the Immigration and Refugee Board last year to describe what Jesus was "like as a person."

The man's inability to attribute human characteristics to Jesus formed part of the board's decision to deny his refugee claim. The details are contained in a recent Federal Court ruling, which dismissed the man's application for a judicial review of the board's decision but did agree that the board's line of questioning about Jesus was "somewhat awkward."

Wu Xin Wang came to Canada in April 2007 on a temporary work permit and made his claim for refugee protection in January 2008.

In documents filed with the immigration board, he claimed that he had received a call from his wife in China, who told him that officials from China's Public Security Bureau had visited their home and were investigating illegal church activities.

Before his move to Canada, Wang said, he had been a member of an underground Christian church and sometimes acted as a lookout during church services.

In assessing Wang's refugee claim, board adjudicator Daniel McSweeney asked Wang: "So tell me about Jesus as a person. What was he like?

"Jesus is son of God," Wang said.

"I am not asking who he was or what he did. I am asking what is he like as a person," McSweeney said.

"Jesus was conceived through the holy ghost and was born in this world," Wang replied.

The answer did not satisfy the board member. "Anybody could memorize a creed and recite the creed. I want to know what you believe and what you know of Jesus as a person."

"In my heart he is my saviour," Wang answered.

"That is not . again, tell me what Jesus is as a person and this is the last time I am going to ask you."

"I am sorry, I really do not know how to answer."

Last August, the board denied Wang's refugee claim after finding that he was not credible and that his professed religious beliefs and practices in China and Canada were merely an attempt to bolster his refugee claim. The board said it came to that conclusion in part of because of Wang's inability to answer the question about Jesus or to describe certain core beliefs of the Pentecostal Church. It also found that Wang had made several inconsistent statements.

Wang applied to the Federal Court to review the board's decision.

In a written ruling May 26, Federal Court Judge David G. Near said he could see no reason to overturn the decision.

It doesn't seem to occur to anyone with the Immigration and Refugee Board that Mr. Wang's difficulty in answering the questions may result from difficulty in understanding the English language. As well, thre are reportedly not enough Bibles in China to meet the demand, so it's possible that Mr. Wang may only know the rudiments of the Christian faith. Fortunately, in order to be saved one only has to possess enough faith to trust in the work of Jesus Christ on the cross as payment of the penalty for one's sins.

Another dissident congregation leaves the Anglican Church of Canada

Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you. II Corinthians 6:17

Another example of those who've finally had enough from an apostate church. And once again, a building that was built and paid for by Bible-believers is stolen by liberals.

As reported by Kelly Patterson in the National Post on June 27, 2011:

It was a historic moment in Ottawa as a subdued crowd of about 300 filed out of St. Alban’s Anglican Church on King Edward Avenue on Sunday, leaving behind a place where some have roots going back to Confederation.

Founded in 1865, the church where Sir John A. Macdonald worshipped has been in the spotlight ever since a showdown over same-sex marriage and other issues led the congregation of St. Alban’s to leave the Anglican Diocese of Ottawa, and, after a bitter battle, the building they have called home for 146 years.

“This is kind of historic. We’re in a new era,” said Sheila Lang, 79, as her grandchildren — the seventh generation of her family to attend the church — played in the reception hall of the Ottawa Little Theatre, where the congregation, now called the Church of the Messiah, will meet until it finds a permanent home. Meanwhile, the diocese will establish a new congregation at St. Alban’s, with a relaunch planned for Friday.

The move is historic in a broader sense, Ms. Lang added: “This is a societal shift,” in which traditional Christian values are “eroding and we see the church trying to accommodate the eroding values.

“But we are not deviating…. We stand on the Bible and the Word of God.”

Reverend George Sinclair urged the congregation not to dwell on grief over losing St. Alban’s, but instead to embrace the change as an opportunity for renewal.

“We are entering a time of new dreams and new visions,” he said on the stage of the theatre, flanked by reproductions of three stained-glass windows Macdonald’s wife donated to St. Alban’s after his death. “A church that just has the building, but does not have the dreams and visions that come from God, is on its way to dying,” he warned...

...In an interview after the service, Rev. Sinclair said the move was “an issue of conscience, and for us. Conscience trumps buildings.”

The immediate catalyst for the church’s break with the diocese was the latter’s 2007 decision to allow the blessing of same-sex marriages. But Rev. Sinclair added that his church was also responding to a general sense that the Anglican Church of Canada has been drifting away from Jesus’s teachings.

“If you end up thinking you’re smarter and nicer and wiser than the master, in what way are you still his disciple? The Bible is very clear on certain things, as to what is right or wrong,” he said.

A few months after the diocese gave same-sex marriage the green light, his congregation voted almost unanimously to leave the diocese and the national Anglican body, realigning instead with a breakaway organization called the Anglican Network in Canada. In October 2008, St. George’s Anglican Church on Metcalfe Street in Ottawa followed suit.

Rev. Sinclair said he had hoped to negotiate an amicable settlement, but in May 2010, the diocese filed a lawsuit against the rectors and wardens of both churches for the buildings and property.

“Legally, canonically and morally we believe that we own St. Alban’s,” Rev. Sinclair said, but faced with a time-consuming and expensive legal ordeal, he and the rector of St. George’s opted for mediation, under which his church got cash in return for vacating the building. (St. George’s kept their building, but it is now called St. Peter and St. Paul’s Anglican Church.)

Rev. Sinclair is glad the church has found a temporary home in the urban core, where it can pursue its mission to help the most needy, but concedes that it will be a challenge to find venues for the church’s many activities. For the time being, the church will use community centres and borrowed church halls for events such as potluck dinners, choir practices and youth groups.

Raelians want to reclaim the swastika

As reported by Postmedia News on July 2, 2011:

TORONTO — An extraterrestrial-centric religious sect will attempt to “reclaim: the swastika in Toronto on Sunday.

Members of the International Raelian Movement have chosen the city’s gay pride festivities as their venue to celebrate a second annual event they call World Swastika Rehabilitation Day.

“The goal is to return the swastika’s true meaning of peace and harmony to this ancient symbol regretfully hijacked by the Nazis,” said movement spokeswoman Brigitte Boisselier in a press release.

The Raelians, who believe human scientists from another planet, called Elohim, created all life on Earth, represent themselves with a swastika intertwining with a Star of David.

Their symbol speaks to “the infinity of time,” Boisselier said.

She cited the swastika’s historical use by “many peaceful religious groups, especially in Asia,” as reason to reclaim it.

The Raelian movement was sparked in the early 1970s by sect leader Claude Vorilhon, also known as Rael.

I find it appropriate that the Raelians are using the occasion of a sodomite pride parade to call for the reclamation of the swastika.

Russian astronomers expect to encounter alien civilizations within 20 years

As reported by Interfax on June 27, 2011:

ST. PETERSBURG. June 27 - Russian astronomers hope to find extraterrestrial civilizations in 20 years, Director of the Russian Academy of Sciences' Applied Astronomy Institute Andrei Finkelstein told a Monday press conference.

"The genesis of life is as inevitable as the formation of atoms. There are fundamental laws, which apply to the entire universe. There is life on other planets and we will find it in 20 years," he said.

Finkelstein believes that aliens will look like earthlings: they will have two legs, two arms and a head. "Possibly, they will have a different color skin, but the same happens here. While we have been searching for extraterrestrial civilians, we have been waiting for messages from space, not the other way," he said.

About 1,000 exoplanets, i.e. planets circling around stars like the Sun, have been found, and 10% of them resemble the Earth, researchers said. There will be life on such planets if there is water.

An international symposium on the search for extraterrestrial civilizations opened at the Applied Astronomy Institute on Monday to sum up the results of the 50-year-long search for alien life forms. The Project Passive SETI was started up in 1960 to listen for possible signals from other planets.

There is also the Active SETI program, in which radio signals are being sent for contacting aliens.

According to Alissa de Carbonnel of Reuters:

Finkelstein's institute runs a program launched in the 1960s at the height of the Cold War space race to watch for and beam out radio signals to outer space.

Halifax's first sodomite/lesbian church closes

Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them. Romans 1:24-32 As reported by Gwyneth Dunsford in the Halifax Chronicle-Herald on June 26, 2011:

Halifax’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people are without spiritual anchor after their church of 20 years closed on Sunday. Around 50 people gathered at Safe Harbour Metropolitan Community Church on Veith Street to hold one last worship service. The congregation of 27 decided to disband on April 17 after a vote at their annual general meeting. "We reached a point in our history where we realized we couldn’t go on," says Jane MacConnell, the vice-moderator of the church. "The biggest (reason) being the financial side of things." Realizing they could not pay their pastor at least $36,000 a year, Safe Harbour decided to close. Since 2008, average attendance at services increased by a third, while donations decreased. Treasurer Bob Fougere says it’s unrealistic to expect a congregation of 27 people to financially support a church, and that personality conflicts also contributed to the church’s closure. "When you get involved with church, there is always internal politics that goes on," says Fougere. "But those internal politics are even more sensitive, the smaller (the church) gets." The church has struggled since 2008, when its pastor of 17 years died. Rev. Darlene Young was integral in Safe Harbour’s success and replacing her proved difficult. Rev. Bob Bond was Safe Harbour’s interim pastor from early 2009 until January 2010. "I was there as their intentional interim pastor and my role was to help (Safe Harbour) to have a healthy approach in filling the pulpit," says Bond, from his home in Kalamazoo, Mich. In a letter dated March 2011, Bond questioned Safe Harbour’s approach in hiring his replacement, Rev. Jennifer Paty. Bond wrote: "I believe the selection of (Paty) was for the wrong reasons. I knew from my arrival at (Safe Harbour) that some influential people in the congregation had decided on (Paty) as the next pastor for the church. . . . Power struggles were conducted to make certain the right people were in power positions to make this happen." Paty left Safe Harbour in late April and refused to comment on the church’s closure or the circumstance around her hiring. Bond says the congregation was informed about the church’s potential closure over Facebook. This move caused "significant hurt and anxiety" to churchgoers, states Bond in his letter. "My concern is that the rumour mill . . . was depriving people of feeling that they were a part of the church and the decision-making," said Bond. Fougere says the Facebook posts about Safe Harbour’s closure were written by people who had "no idea" what was going on. "There is no doubt that closing the church will hurt people’s feelings," says Fougere. "But there was no power struggle in the church. There were interpersonal relationships that were difficult, but there was no power struggle per se."... ...Safe Harbour was the first church in HRM to accept lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people. The denomination of Metropolitan Community Church was founded in 1969 to offer Christian fellowship to gays and lesbians who were not accepted by other faith communities. In Canada, Safe Harbour was the only Metropolitan Community Church congregation east of Toronto... ...Tim Doufar has been a member of Safe Harbour since 1993, yet sees the church’s dissolution as a step forward for gay people. "Thankfully (Safe Harbour) is closing," says Doufar. "When Troy Perry founded the (denomination) . . . he was hoping there would be no need for the (Universalist Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches). Now (gays) are accepted in my home church, the Anglican church." Doufar said it’s only a matter of time before all churches accept gay people.

That does indeed seem a natural progression: the increasing acceptance of sexual deviance within mainline (and, eventually, evangelical) churches will make special sodomite/lesbian churches unnecessary. As blogger Vox Day notes:

Let's see if the usual signs of the church death spiral are there. Female pastor? Check. "Reverend Darlene Young" and "Reverend Jennifer Paty". Homophilic? Check. "Safe Harbour was the first church in HRM to accept lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people."...Eventually, even the most would-be tolerant Christians are going to notice that once a church starts throwing out the clear teachings of the Bible, it leaps into the death spiral that killed Safe Harbour and is now in the process of relegating the Anglican church to the dustbin of history.

Vox Popoli, Killing the Churches, June 26, 2011 HT: Vox Popoli

Manitoba atheist whines that regulations against prayer in school aren't being enforced

As usual, the lone atheist demands that everyone must conform to his desires; in the words of Vox Day, "most atheism is little more than a juvenile psychological disorder" ("Godlessness is more than a-theism," May 25, 2011). As reported by Nick Martin of the Winnipeg Free Press on June 24, 2011:

Children pray in public-school classrooms during school hours throughout Manitoba -- apparently in violation of provincial rules that the department of education says it will not enforce.

The Lord's Prayer is being read over the intercom by the principal or in classrooms by teachers.

Schools allow parent councils to organize petitions for religious exercises through the schools, and in a few cases, directly help organize them.

Parents receive yes-or-no ballots and are told they must fill in and sign forms if they do not want their children to pray in a supposedly secular school.

And there are even schools in which non-praying students are expected to stand quietly in their classrooms while their classmates recite the Lord's Prayer all around them.

Every one of these actions violates Manitoba's guidelines on religious exercises in secular public schools, says Dauphin lawyer and atheist Chris Tait.

But the province says its only recourse is to remind school divisions about guidelines -- after that, it's up to individuals to take their complaints to the Manitoba Human Rights Commission or the courts.

It was back in 1986 that Tait was suspended several times for refusing to stand during the reciting of the Lord's Prayer in his MacGregor Collegiate classroom. That led to a historic 1992 court case in which the Court of Queen's Bench struck down mandatory school prayer in Manitoba.

More than 20 Manitoba school divisions are violating the province's guidelines on religious exercises, said Tait. He filed Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act applications to school divisions and provided the results to the Free Press.

"I think it's very deliberate that they ignore (the guidelines)," Tait said. "They're on a project to push through a religious agenda. They're getting people to co-operate that aren't of the Christian faith."

Education Minister Nancy Allan declined a request to be interviewed. An aide to the minister bumped inquiries to David Yeo, director of the education administration services branch.

The province reminded school divisions of the guidelines in a meeting last fall, Yeo said.

"The issue whether prayer should exist in public schools is a controversial one. The Public Schools Act permits it," Yeo said. "Ultimately, school boards are legally autonomous entities."

When the province gets a complaint, it reminds the school division about the guidelines, but beyond that, it's up to individuals to pursue complaints with the Manitoba Human Rights Commission or with the courts, Yeo said.

"School boards have the responsibility to implement it appropriately. The recourse is to the commission," Yeo said. "At the end of the day, it's the finders of fact which can issue a remedy. That's the commission or the court."

Former residents of boarding schools launch lawsuit against Rosminian Order Roman Catholic priests

As reported by Randy Boswell of Postmedia News on June 23, 2011:

After decades of quiet suffering and bottled rage, a Canadian man from Montreal is leading a group of 22 former residents of Catholic boarding schools in Britain and Tanzania - including four fellow Canadians from Quebec, B.C. and Alberta - in a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against Rosminian Order priests alleged to have physically, sexually and emotionally abused the children in their charge during the 1950s.

Francis Lionnet, a 63-year-old communications consultant, is spearheading a compensation bid that has already prompted a BBC documentary on the case and led this week to a formal apology from Britain's top Rosminian official.

Another ex-pupil involved in the case is Bill Tierney, a Montreal Gazette columnist and former mayor of the West Island community of Ste. Anne de Bellevue.

"I apologize without reservation on behalf of the Rosminian brethren in the U.K. to all those who have suffered," Father David Myers said in a statement released Wednesday, the day after BBC's airing of the film Abused: Breaking the Silence, in which several of the alleged victims told their stories.

"Such abuse was a grievous breach of trust to them and to their families. We are appalled by what was done to them," Myers added. "I and all my brethren are deeply shocked at what has happened and acknowledge our inadequate response."

Lionnet was an eight-year-old boy in 1956 when he arrived at the Grace Dieu school in Leicestershire, England. He claims to have been beaten and abused during his time there and to have witnessed the abuse of several other pupils at the school, housed in a sprawling manor in the countryside.

Lionnet immigrated to Canada in 1996 and later worked as a senior communications officer at NSERC, the federal science and engineering research fund.

He told Postmedia News on Thursday that, like other former pupils at the school, he thought often about his experiences at Grace Dieu, but only began organizing the legal fight in 2009 after a discussion with a fellow graduate about their memories of a particular priest's violent actions.

In his own mind, Lionnet said, he had been "kicking the crap out of this priest for hours and hours every year all my life. You know? We all were."

But after leaving the school, "we were scattered around the globe," he said of his former classmates, explaining why it took decades to re-connect with other ex-pupils, including those from a Tanzanian school run by the Rosminians, and finally confront the Catholic order with a litany of abuse allegations.

"It just took two of us to take leadership of it," Lionnet said, describing how he subsequently approached Myers with the dossier of complaints.

Letters of apology from several priests, in which they acknowledged that serious abuses took place, were received by the former pupils, he said. But Lionnet was told by the order that he and the other complainants had no moral right to seek financial compensation.

That response, he said, stiffened the group's resolve to aggressively pursue legal action...

...Tierney, 65, said Friday from his cottage in Nova Scotia that he attended Grace Dieu in 1957-58 and recalls "frightening" sounds coming from "Room X" - the place next to his own sleeping quarters where boys were beaten by an "odious priest" at the school...

...This week's apology from the Rosminian Order was welcomed by the alleged victims as a step in the right direction, according to a response issued Wednesday by the group's lawyers, Nottingham, England-based Uppal Taylor Solicitors.

Another reason for Christian parents to withdraw their children from the public school system

As reported by Andrea Sands of the Edmonton Journal on June 13, 2011:

A Christian program that operates inside seven public schools is warning parents a new school-board policy to make schools more welcoming for sexual minorities "could have a significant, negative impact" on the faithbased program.

The Edmonton Logos Society sent "an alert to parents" early this month that says the proposed policy might force teachers and principals with the Christian alternative program to go against their beliefs.

All children should be free from bullying and everyone should be treated with dignity and respect, in keeping with Jesus's teachings, the notice says.

However, if the policy developed . (it) means that our Logos teachers and principals would no longer be able to express freely in their classrooms that the homosexual lifestyle is not in accord with their Christian beliefs, and that they would be required to 'affirm' homosexual lifestyle as acceptable to traditional Christian family values, then we cannot accept this," the two-page notice says in bold lettering.

The alert, sent out in a newsletter and on the Logos website, urges parents to read the draft policy, express their opinions to Edmonton public school officials and trustees, and pray trustees won't "put teachers and principals in a position where they would be prohibited from freely expressing their Christian beliefs in the classroom. After all, this is what our program is all about."

School trustees voted 8-1 in March to create a policy for schools dealing with discrimination based on sexual orientation. A draft policy was developed and is posted on the school board website.

A key Logos concern centres around the meaning of "affirm" in the draft policy. The document says sexual and gender minority students, staff and families as well as same-sex parented families have the right to "be included, affirmed and represented in an inclusive, positive and respectful manner by all school personnel" and "have their unique identities, families, cultures and communities valued and affirmed within all aspects of the school environment."

The school board invited public feedback to the draft policy through an online survey that closed on Thursday.

The Logos newsletter encouraged concerned parents to answer the survey.

However, Logos Society president Bruce Wilkinson said it was hard to notify parents about the policy because Edmonton Public Schools blocked the newsletter from being distributed as usual. The Logos Lantern normally goes out to students in their classrooms, Wilkinson said this weekend.

This time, Logos schools and the society were told public-school policy prohibits schools from distributing politically motivated communications.

So the Logos Society enlisted parents to hand out the newsletter on public sidewalks outside the schools. About 1,100 Logos students attend seven schools across the city alongside students in the regular program...

...School board chairman Dave Colburn estimated the board has heard from "no more than a couple of dozen Christian parents" worried about the policy.

"I would hope that, by and large, the Christian community would understand the importance of respecting the dignity, safety and well-being of all of our students," Colburn said Sunday.

"It seems to me the principles of safety, respect and acceptance of all people and understanding the value of every human being would be a fundamental part of Christianity, and I'd like to think people would consider those values when they respond to the creation of this policy."

Magnetic bubbles have been discovered at the edge of the solar system

When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;
What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? Psalms 8:3-4

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth his handiwork. Psalms 19:1

Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. Revelation 4:11

And once again, scientists have to change their theories. As reported by Michael Wall of Space.com on June 9, 2011:

The edge of the solar system is a turbulent place, filled with a roiling sea of huge magnetic bubbles, new research suggests.

The find, made with the help of observations from NASA's venerable Voyager probes, shakes up prevailing views of the solar system's outer reaches. And it shows that this region, once thought to be a relatively firm shield against interstellar particles such as galactic cosmic rays, is actually more of a porous membrane.

"We will have to change our view of how the sun interacts with particles, fields and gases from other stars," Arik Posner, a Voyager program scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C., told reporters today (June 9).

Not smooth, but bubbly

Old and new views of the heliosheath. Red and blue spirals are the gracefully curving magnetic field lines of orthodox models. New data from Voyager add a magnetic froth (inset) to the mix. (Photo credit: NASA)

Our sun's sphere of influence, composed of solar plasma and solar magnetic fields, is called the heliosphere. This gigantic structure is about three times wider than the orbit of Pluto. At the edge of the heliosphere lies the heliosheath, a boundary region between the solar system and interstellar space.

For decades, scientists had thought that, in the heliosheath, the sun's magnetic field curves around in a smooth, consistent arc, forming a relatively uniform structure. [Solar System Explained From the Inside Out]

But that appears not to be the case.

The twin unmanned probes Voyager 1 and Voyager 2, both launched in 1977, are currently plying different parts of the heliosheath, more than 9 billion miles (14.5 billion kilometers) from Earth. And their observations are spurring a rethink of the region. [5 Facts About NASA's Voyager Spacecraft]

Specifically, the probes measured abrupt changes in the flow of particles, such as electrons, from one patch of space to another.

"What really struck us were the sudden differences between what Voyager 1 was seeing and what Voyager 2 was seeing," said study co-author James Drake of the University of Maryland. "We had to explain, well, why is that?"

The best explanation, according to subsequent computer models, is that the probes are flying through a frothy field of magnetic bubbles. These bubbles act as particle traps. So particle readings increase while the spacecraft are inside one, then drop when they exit.

These bubbles form as a result of the interaction between the sun's rotation and its magnetic field. As the sun spins, its magnetic field churns and twists out in the heliosheath. The folded field bunches up on itself, causing lines of magnetic force to crisscross and reconnect, forming the sea of bubbles.

Huge, sausage-shaped bubbles

The sausage-shaped bubbles are gigantic, measuring about 100 million miles (161 million km) across. And there are a lot of them...

...Voyager 1 is now about 11 billion miles (17.7 billion kilometers) from Earth, while Voyager 2 is about 9 billion miles (14.5 billion km) away. Voyager 1 is the most far-flung human-made object in the universe.

30 years ago: Edmonton police raid a downtown sodomite hangout

Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:
Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:
And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.
And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;
Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them. Romans 1: 24-28, 32

And you knew where you were then
Girls were girls and men were men;
Mister we could use a man like Herbert Hoover again--

People used to be content,
Fifty dollars paid the rent,
Freaks were in a circus tent,
Those were the days.

--from Those Were the Days by Lee Adams and Charles Strouse (opening theme song from All in the Family)

I forgot to mention this item a few weeks ago: It was in the wee hours of Saturday, May 30, 1981 that police in Edmonton, Alberta raided the Pisces Health Spa, known to be a hangout for sodomites. Four men were charged with keeping a common bawdy house, and 56 others were charged as found-ins. This incident seems to have been the Edmonton equivalent of the 1969 Stonewall uprising in New York, as far as galvanizing the sodomite/lesbian rights activists. At the time, however, one sodomite whined that homosexuals would be forced back into the closet; as a friend of mine commented, "I think that's a good place for them to go."

This past week marked the annual perversion pride parade, which has changed routes in recent years. That parade used to pass through my neighbourhood; I would stay inside as long as possible, but when I would go outside, I would see a few stragglers at the tail end of the parade, and the sights were stomach-turning. I don't think it's an exaggeration to call the event--and the movement behind it--demonic.

It seems hard to believe now, but in 1981 you could actually make jokes about the Pisces raid, and laugh at the defenses offered in court (and published in the newspapers) by some of the found-ins (my favourite was the man who said, "I'm a monosexual; I have sex with myself."). However, Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau was in the process of forcing his Charter of Rights and Freedoms (more accurately called the Charter of Wrongs and Licenses) into law as part of the constitution, and it came into effect on April 17, 1982. When this was going on from 1980-1982 I predicted that my freedom would diminish, and that the only people with any rights would be perverts, criminals, deadbeats, and malcontents. I know of a man in Calgary who fled Czechoslovakia when the Soviet tanks invaded that country in 1968, and he said in 2008 that there was more freedom in Czechoslovakia in 1968 than there is in Canada now.

30 years later, anyone who expresses any opposition to the sodomite/lesbian agenda risks being hauled before a "human rights" gestapo, and the local police chief and politicians salute this perverse and demonic lifestyle as if it's something to be celebrated instead of condemned. I don't know who said it, but I agree with it: all this promotion and celebration of homosexuality isn't a sign that God's judgement is coming on a society, but a sign that His judgement is already under way. The only good thing about it is that it's an indication that the Lord's return is getting ever nearer.

I enjoyed 1981, and that last full year of pre-Charter freedom seems even better in retrospect. I could call a pervert a pervert, and could ask a woman for a date or compliment her on her appearance (and they weren't covered with tattoos or body piercings then) without being accused of harassment. Those were the days!

May 30, 2021 update: Things have gotten worse in the last 10 years: not only do police now celebrate the annual perversion pride week, but now they raid those few churches whose pastors have the courage to defy government officials who are grossly exceeding their legitimate authority. The Covid-19 situation has shone a light on a problem that an older Canadian saint named Tom Linton identified in a conversation with me in 1996 or '97: we don't have courage in the pulpits. The number of Christian pastors who have publicly resisted the current tyranny can be counted on the fingers of both hands with several fingers left over. The overwhelming majority of pastors have proven themselves to be milquetoasts who knuckle under to Caesar at every opportunity.

Why rabbis in Israel are hated

Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men: Isaiah 29:13

Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. Mark 7:7

Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples,
Saying The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat:
All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not.
For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.
But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments,
And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues,
And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi.
But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren. Matthew 23:1-8
Nothing seems to have changed in almost 2,000 years. According to Assaf Wohl in Ynet News on June 4, 2011:

Reports that the salary of city rabbis will be raised to up to NIS 29,000 (roughly $8,500) per month prompted thousands of angry reactions. Several rabbis were genuinely wondering about the source of what they characterized as the “hatred” towards them. After all, they serve the public faithfully.

Hence, I will attempt here to present the arguments against the Rabbinate as reflected by the responses to the recent pay raise.

Firstly, the Rabbinate has become the “military wing” of the haredi community. Through it, the haredim abuse the rest of the population. Through the Rabbinate they force Israel’s citizens to get married, divorce, convert and set their clocks the haredi way. And as we know, depriving human beings of freedom provokes fury. Hence, one needs great chutzpa to force people to behave in ways they don’t wish to adopt...

...Secondly, the Rabbinate is perceived as a corrupt body that produces nothing but jobs for its close associates. In fact, it is a sort of closed off elite that mostly takes care of the people it cares about; a body meant to feed only one sector – the haredim. The best proof of this is that the haredi rabbis and kashrut supervisors who took the Rabbinate hostage don’t even recognize the kosher certificates they issue. It’s only an income source for them.

The American model
The National-Religious Jews are kept out. Reform Jews are out, Conservative Jews are out, and anyone who doesn’t have the beard and hat required by the clique is out. And what about women? Don’t even mention that.

What kind of theocracy has been created within our democracy? Where else will you find a job that is paid by the public and is good for life, like the city rabbi position? And why do we need two chief rabbis, at an exorbitant cost?

Thirdly, there’s the issue of the economic situation and market conditions. After all, social workers, doctors and police officers are employed under disgraceful terms, yet their jobs are perceived as much more vital than the abstract, spiritual work done by the rabbis. What will happen if the rabbis strike tomorrow? The sun won’t shine? Now let’s try to imagine a day without doctors.

Meanwhile, the argument that we can say the same about humanities researchers is invalid for a simple reason: Their cost is a fraction of the cost of rabbis. Have you ever heard of a “neighborhood anthropologist” or a “chief Sephardic philosopher?”

The coercion, the costs, the hunger for power, and the translation of Judaism into money all prompt open hostility towards the Rabbinate and Judaism. The solution can apparently be found in the American model. It is precisely the separation of religion and State in the US that boosted the status of religion. Indeed, the caption “In God We Trust” can be found on every American bill. It appears that in America, the dollar trusts God. Around here, thanks to religious politicians, God puts His trust in the dollar.

Belief in reincarnation leads rabbinical court in Jerusalem to sentence a dog to death by stoning

Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men: Isaiah 29:13

Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. Mark 7:7

To quote Paul Harvey, "It is not one world." As reported by Akiva Novick of Ynet News on June 16, 2011:

A Jerusalem rabbinical court recently sentenced a wandering dog to death by stoning. The cruel sentence stemmed from the suspicion that the hound was the reincarnation of a famous secular lawyer, who insulted the court's judges 20 years ago.

Several weeks ago, according to the Behadrei Hadarim website, a large dog entered the Monetary Affairs Court near the ultra-Orthodox neighborhood of Mea Shearim. The dog scared the court's visitors and, to their surprise, refused to leave even after they attempted to drive him away.

One of the judges suddenly recalled that about 20 years ago, a famous secular lawyer who insulted the court was cursed by the panel of judges, who wished that his spirit would move on to the body of a dog (considered an impure animal by Halacha). The lawyer passed away several years ago.

Still offended, one of the judges sentenced the poor animal to death by stoning, recruiting the neighborhood's children to carry out the order. Luckily, the dog managed to escape.

The head of the court, Rabbi Avraham Dov Levin, denied that the judges had called for the dog's stoning. But one of the court's managers confirmed the report to Yedioth Ahronoth.

"It was ordered by the rabbis because of the grief he had caused the court," he said. "They didn't issue an official ruling, but ordered the children outside to throw stones at him in order to drive him away. They didn't think of it as cruelty to animals, but as an appropriate way to 'get back at' the spirit which entered the poor dog."

For Jews in Israel to believe in reincarnation may seem odd, but that seems to have been the case when the Lord Jesus Christ walked the land:

And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?
Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. John 9:2-3

Israeli rabbi says that Gentile sperm may carry traits of cruelty and barbarism

Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men: Isaiah 29:13

Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. Mark 7:7

As reported by Kobi Nahshoni of Ynet News, January 12, 2011:

Rabbi Dov Lior, a senior authority on Jewish law in the Religious Zionism movement, asserted recently that a Jewish woman should never get pregnant using sperm donated by a non-Jewish man – even if it is the last option available.

According to Lior, a baby born through such an insemination will have the "negative genetic traits that characterize non-Jews." Instead, he advised sterile couples to adopt.

Lior addressed the issue during a women's health conference held recently at the Puah Institute, a fertility clinic. His conservative stance negated a ruling widely accepted by rabbis, which states that sperm donated by a non-Jew is preferable to that of an anonymous Jew, who might pose a genealogical risk.

"Sefer HaChinuch (a book of Jewish law) states that the character traits of the father pass on to the son," he said in the lecture. "If the father in not Jewish, what character traits could he have? Traits of cruelty, of barbarism! These are not traits that characterize the people of Israel."

Lior added identified Jews as merciful, shy and charitable – qualities that he claimed could be inherited. "A person born to Jewish parents, even if they weren't raised on the Torah – there are things that are passed on (to him) in the blood, it's genetic," he explained. "If the father is a gentile, then the child is deprived of these things.

"I even read in books that sometimes the crime, the difficult traits, the bitterness – a child that comes from these traits, it's no surprise that he won't have the qualities that characterize the people of Israel," he added.

Lior condemned artificial insemination and sperm donation in general, saying that they lead to waste of sperm, unclear genealogy and other Jewish law offenses. He warned against undergoing intrauterine insemination at hospitals, where the workers may mix sperm samples for one reason or another - a major halachic violation.

On the subject of women who freeze their eggs to use at a later date, the rabbi asserted that instead they should concentrate their efforts on getting married younger.

"Our public has been influenced by a part of the Western culture in which every woman, instead of becoming a mother, needs to get a Masters Degree," he lamented. "The role of women – child rearing – is not less important than an academic degree." Lior noted that there is nothing wrong with attaining a profession, but it should not be a priority.

Israeli rabbi opposes the use of dead men's sperm to father children

Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men: Isaiah 29:13

Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. Mark 7:7

Dead man's sperm, it's no place to play,
Dead man's sperm, you'd best keep away,
Dead man's sperm, I hear Rabbi say:
"Don't have kids with dead man's sperm."
--sung to the tune of Dead Man's Curve (apologies to Jan and Dean)

As reported by Ynet News on June 16, 2011:

Rabbi Yuval Cherlow, head of the Petah Tikva hesder yeshiva, says frozen sperm must not be used for insemination purposes if its owner is no longer alive.

According to the rabbi, the deceased should be commemorated in a variety of other ways, but not by generating offspring who will be born fatherless.

Cherlow, who is considered an expert on ethics and Halacha, in the medical field as well, and is a member of different committees dealing with these issues, was asked by a reader on the Petah Tikva hesder yeshiva's website: "One of my relatives died at a young age, without having children. We know he had his sperm frozen. What should be done so that his name is not erased?"

The rabbi replied, "It's a real pity, (but) I believe it won't be right to use this sperm. His name can be commemorated by naming other newborns after him, by studying Torah and by doing justice for the transcendence of his soul."

Cherlow stressed that this was his own stance and that "there is a possibility to think differently". He explained why using a dead person's sperm for insemination was "wrong" in his opinion.

"My fundamental halachic and ethical stance is that medical technologies are there to deal with defects found in nature but not to invent new realities. Thus, I see no room for using a person's sperm after his death."

Israeli rabbi opposes men working as lifeguards in swimming pools where women bathe

Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men: Isaiah 29:13

Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. Mark 7:7

It's not just mixed bathing that's dangerous, but mixed kayaking, as well. As reported by Ynet News on June 9, 2011:

The summer season is about to begin, along with some unique halachic issues: Rabbi Yuval Cherlow, head of the Petah Tikva hesder yeshiva, has ruled that a man must not work as a lifeguard in a swimming pool where women bathe or in a kayak rental facility where visitors arrive in their swimsuits.

A reader of the yeshiva website, seeking the rabbi's opinion, said he was considering working at a kayak facility in the Jordan River as an instructor who helps visitors get into the water and explains how to use the canoe.

He also wondered if he could work as a lifeguard in a swimming pool where women bathe. He said he had searched the Internet for answers, but could only find questions by women asking if they are allowed to bathe in a pool with a male lifeguard.

Rabbi Cherlow responded that by doing so, he would be crossing a red line. "Working with kayaks means being in a very immodest place all day long," he explained. "This isn't a matter of likelihood but a matter of certainty, and it's just like going to a mixed beach."

The rabbi added that the same applies to a lifeguard in a place where there are women.

Israeli group "Jews Against Conversion" opposes state conversion to Judaism of Gentile soldiers in Israel

As reported by Kobi Nahshoni of Ynet News on June 11, 2011:

A group challenging the legitimacy of State-controlled conversions circulated thousands of flyers in synagogues across Israel this week, urging non-Jewish soldiers not to convert and to demand that military clergymen be installed according to their various denominations.

The group – "Jews against Conversion" – stated that the State of Israel is virtually compelling hundreds of thousand of immigrants to convert to Judaism, thus infringing on their rights.

The group's flyer lauds the "Non-Jewish heroes who fiercely defend the Israeli nation," and asserts that they deserve all of the rights Israelis enjoy, including "all of their spiritual right with God."

The group goes on to state that those "pushing (non-Jews) towards conversion do not have their best interests at heart."

They further urge non-Jewish soldiers "to avoid subjecting yourselves to the 613 laws of Judaism… You do not have to bind yourself to this restricting way, which will infringe on all ways of your life, and is hard to uphold. You do not have to uphold it!"

"Jews against Conversion" believe that State conversions are not halachic-based but rather "a political invention… and a concoction that endangers the future existence of the Jewish people."

According to the group, the rabbis controlling the process are "fraudulent," and "any conversion presided over by such rabbis will no more turn you into Jews than it would turn a rabbit into a rooster."

The group further blames the "corrupted conversion system" for the "punishment of Gush Katif," saying it was this corruption that led to the Israeli pullout from Gaza.

King Mohammed VI of Morocco promises to give up some of his powers

As reported by Souhail Karam of Reuters on June 17, 2011:

RABAT (Reuters) - Morocco's King Mohammed promised a new democratic constitution on Friday that would devolve some of his powers to parliament and the government, adding Moroccans would be able to vote for the changes in a July 1 referendum.

The reformed constitution will shift some powers to government and hold officials more accountable, but the king will retain his grip on security, the army and religion, according to a draft seen by Reuters earlier in the day.

Addressing the nation in a TV address, Mohammed said he would vote for the new charter and urged Moroccans to do likewise...

...The final draft of the reformed constitution explicitly grants the government executive powers, although the king would keep exclusive control over military and religious fields and pick a prime minister from the party that wins the polls.

Ministers, ambassadors and provincial governors, who are interior ministry representatives, would be proposed by the prime minister although the king has to approve the choices.

"The constitution gives the head of government (prime minister) the power to propose and dismiss cabinet members, to steer and coordinate government action, and to supervise public service," Mohammed said in his speech, but he added that he was "the trustworthy guide and supreme arbiter."

"Appointments in the military remain an exclusive, sovereign prerogative of the King, Supreme Commander and Chief of Staff of the Royal Armed Forces," he said.

Further, the prime minister would be able to dissolve the lower house of parliament after consulting the king, house speaker and head of the constitutional court.

The new constitution would "enshrine citizenship-based monarchy and the citizen king," Mohammed said.

Najib Chawki, an activist from the February 20 Movement, said the constitutional reform draft "does not respond to the essence of our demands which is establishing a parliamentary monarchy. We are basically moving from a de facto absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy."

The movement has called for the creation in Morocco of a parliamentary monarchy, an end to the influence of the king's inner circle, the dismissal of the government, and for officials and businessmen it accuses of corruption to be put on trial...

...Under the proposed reforms, the king would still be able to dissolve parliament but only after consulting the chairman of a newly introduced Constitutional Court, of which half the members will be appointed by the king.

The reform will introduce a Supreme Security Council which will be chaired by the king as a platform for consultations on domestic and foreign security issues.

It will include among its members the prime minister, speakers of the bi-cameral parliament and senior army officers.

The reformed constitution also recognizes Tamazight as an official language alongside Arabic, a move which looks set to appease Amazigh activists within February 20 Movement. Amazigh are North Africa's original inhabitants before Arabs conquered it in the seventh century to spread Islam.

July 4, 2011 update: On July 1, 2011, 98% of voters (with 94% of polls reporting) in a national referendum approved King Mohammed VI's new constitution. Moroccan Interior Minister Taib Cherkaoui reported a turnout of 72.65% of eligible voters, with 30% of the voters under the age of 35.

Astronomers discover early black holes

When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;
What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? Psalms 8:3-4

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth his handiwork. Psalms 19:1

Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. Revelation 4:11

Once again, the astronomers are surprised at what they discover because it didn't fit their theories.

As reported by Amina Khan in the Los Angeles Times, June 17, 2011:

Astronomers have discovered a hidden collection of supermassive, growing black holes dating back to the early universe — showing, for the first time, that black holes populated the cosmos far earlier than thought.

The findings, published online Wednesday in the journal Nature, could help scientists understand how these black holes are born, how big they grow and how galaxies develop with them.

"We know the nearest galaxies, like our own Milky Way, all have supermassive black holes in the center," said lead author Ezequiel Treister, an astronomer at the University of Hawaii. "And the question is, how did they form? How did they get there?"

Astrophysicists had theorized that black holes would be found at the center of galaxies very early in the universe. But when astronomers tried to detect them — by looking for X-ray radiation emitted by dust falling into a black hole — they came up empty.

X-rays, unlike visible or infrared light, can escape the powerful gravitational pull of a black hole.

And so Treister decided to look for high energy X-rays using NASA's space-based Chandra X-ray Observatory. Because earlier searches had failed, the team combined the signals coming from about 200 galaxies that had existed less than 1 billion years after the Big Bang.

The scientists were surprised to find that at least 30%, and possibly many more, of the galaxies contained black holes at their centers — showing that the strong association between black holes and galaxies dates to the very young universe. Astronomers hadn't been able to detect these black holes before because they were surrounded by clouds of gas and dust that obscured all but the most high-energy radiation from view.

"This paper takes that relationship [between black holes and galaxies] back to when the universe was only a billion years old — quite further back than we've been able to take it before," said Harvey Tananbaum, director of the Chandra X-ray Center at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, Mass.

"This is completely new and unexpected — no one expected this connection to start so early in the universe," Treister said.

Scientists are still not sure how these ancient black holes were formed. One theory is that several smaller black holes eventually merged together. Another suggests that individual black holes sucked in huge amounts of gas and dust and grew to supermassive size.

50 years ago: Pontius Pilate's name is found carved in stone near Caesarea

On June 18, 1961, Professor Antonio Flova, director of the antiquities department of northern Italy, announced that a University of Milan expedition had found the name of Pontius Pilate carved on a stone on the Mediterranean coast of Israel near Caesarea—the ancient capital of Roman Palestine—about 10 miles south of Haifa. Professor Flova reported that the name had been found three days earlier on a stone 31” X 23” in the ruins of a Roman amphitheatre. The stone had apparently been placed there when the building had been dedicated.

Mercury's origins may be different from those of other planets

When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;
What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? Psalms 8:3-4

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth his handiwork. Psalms 19:1

Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. Revelation 4:11

As reported by Irene Klotz of Reuters on June 17, 2011:

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. | Fri Jun 17, 2011 1:20am IST

(Reuters) - Mercury's origins may be very different from its sister planets, including Earth, based on early findings that show surprisingly rich deposits of sulfur on the ground, scientists said on Thursday.

Early findings from the first spacecraft to orbit Mercury is forcing scientists to rethink how the planet closest to the sun formed and what has happened to it over the past 4 billion years.

NASA's Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry and Ranging spacecraft -- nicknamed Messenger -- is three months into a planned year-long mission. It has also uncovered evidence of a lopsided magnetic field and regular bursts of electrons jetting through the magnetosphere.

"It's almost a new planet because we've never had this kind of observatory before," said lead researcher Sean Solomon of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, D.C.

Volcanoes appear to have played a rather large role in shaping Mercury, providing fresh material to fill its cratered face, but also possibly providing an unexpected supply of sulfur to the surface, a finding that suggests Mercury may have had different building blocks than Venus, Earth and Mars.

Scientists expected that Mercury, which is believed to have formed in the hottest, densest part of the original solar nebula, wouldn't have had the right temperatures to hang on to lighter-weight materials like sulfur.

My favourite part of the article follows:

"All of our simple ideas ... a hot planet, easily depleted of volatiles ... are not turning out to be the simple story we thought," Solomon added.

New images from Messenger reveal a massive plain of ancient lava flow, the largest of which spans 400 million square kilometers, about half the size of the continental United States.

Another surprise was the planet's lopsided magnetic field, which is stronger in the north than the south. Scientists can't yet account for the asymmetry, but one theory is that the planet's magnetic field is in the processing of flipping.

Mercury is the only terrestrial body besides Earth that has a magnetic field and one of the prime goals of the Messenger mission is to figure out how Mercury, which sports a massive iron core, was assembled. Scientists believe Mercury's core, like Earth's, is responsible for generating its magnetic field

Messenger also has been monitoring regular outbursts of electrons in Mercury's magnetosphere. Hints of the phenomenon were first detected by NASA's Mariner 10 probe, which flew past Mercury in 1974.

"We're seeing these seeing these very dynamic phenomena in the magnetosphere. It's very surprising and energetic," Solomon said.

I always find it amusing the extent to which scientists are surprised by new information, and have to then abandon or change their theories; but, of course, they're so sure that macroevolution is true.