More Ethiopian Jews arrive in Israel

1And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath driven thee,
And shalt return unto the LORD thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart, and with all thy soul;
That then the LORD thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath scattered thee.
If any of thine be driven out unto the outmost parts of heaven, from thence will the LORD thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee:
And the LORD thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and he will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers. Deuteronomy 30:1-5

As reported by Ynet News, February 5, 2012:

Seventy-one olim from Ethiopia arrived in Israel on Thursday accompanied by lay leaders from the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA).

Included in the delegation are 20 lay leaders from UJA-Federation of New York headed by Alisa Doctoroff, Chair of the Board, UJA-Federation, and John Ruskay, executive vice president & CEO of UJA-Federation.

The olim arrived in Tel Aviv at 2:30 am and were chaperoned to their absorption center in Kiryat Gat, where they will begin their absorption process in Israel.

The mission traveled to Ethiopia to meet the remaining members of the community and visit the Jewish Community Center and school in Gondar before escorting the olim to Israel.

In Israel, the delegation plans to engage in discussions on the future of Ethiopian olim with Jewish Agency and JDC representatives. They also plan to celebrate early Tu B’Shvat festivities.

The UJA-Federation generously donates over $3 million annually to Ethiopian aliyah and absorption in Israel, as well as medical and educational services for those still in Ethiopia. At the moment, there are more than 6,000 Ethiopian Jews (Falash Mura) seeking to make aliyah to Israel.

“Seeing first-hand the hardships that the Jews of Ethiopia face, and joining them as they come home to Israel, truly illustrates why making the dream of aliyah a reality is such an important part of our work,” said John S. Ruskay.

“But our obligations go much deeper than simply bringing them to Israel. We believe it is our responsibility to give the Jews of Ethiopia the tools to succeed once they arrive.

"Multiple UJA-Federation initiatives, done with our overseas agencies, help ensure these new olim are able to put down roots in Israel and lead full and productive lives.”

However, it seems that Ethiopian Jews who are already in Israel aren't necessarily happy with the way they're regarded by the Israeli government, as stated by Efrat Yerday in Ynet News, January 18, 2012:

The Knesset Committee on Aliyah and Absorption recently held an urgent meeting where the absorption minister declared that Ethiopian Israelis should be thanking the State of Israel. This outburst is a telling indication of the minister’s perception about the government’s and citizens’ obligations and duties to their country.

The notion that Ethiopian olim should thank the government is a patronizing attitude coming from someone who herself is a new immigrant. It also took the minister of absorption about a week to officially condemn the racism exposed in Kiryat Malachi; moreover, she did it only when the situation got out of control.

The minister’s patronizing attitude towards Ethiopian Israelis apparently trickles down to her Ministry. Just look at the official guidelines adapted solely for Ethiopian immigrants, whereby government housing grants are permitted to Ethiopian Israelis only on condition that their apartments are purchased on designated, predetermined streets and addresses (in impoverished and weak neighborhoods, thereby perpetuating the cycle of poverty.)

As spokeswoman for the Israel Association for Ethiopian Jews (IAEJ), I often encounter obstacles in our work with the Ministry of Absorption. For example, our ongoing challenge in grasping the Ministry of Absorption’s procedures that would allow immigrants to receive housing grants have been met with a closed door at the Ministry’s offices...

...The absorption minister loves to emphasize at every opportunity that we are supposed to be thrilled by her visit to Ethiopia - as if it was a personal visit paid from her own pocket. At the same time, she emphasizes that the distance between Ethiopia and Israel is 300 years - implying that Ethiopia, and thus Ethiopian immigrants - are backward and caught in the past.

In light of the above, the minister of absorption can’t possibly faithfully represent Ethiopian Israeli immigrants whom she is supposed to serve.

See also 20 years ago: Thousands of Ethiopian Jews are airlifted to Israel

December 17, 2015 update: As reported by JNi.Media, November 16, 2015:

The Netanyahu cabinet on Sunday approved unanimously to fly to Israel the remaining Falash Mura who are still in transit camps in Ethiopia. Then those camps will be shut down and there will be no more organized aliyah from Ethiopia to Israel.

Falash Mura is the name given to Ethiopian and Eritrean Jews who converted to Christianity under pressure from the missionaries in the 19th and 20th centuries. The term refers both to Jews who did not adhere to Jewish law, and Jews who converted to Christianity, either voluntarily or by force.

Beta Israel (Hebrew: House of Israel or Community of Israel) are Jews who lived in North and North-Western Ethiopia, in more than 500 small villages. They renewed contacts with other Jewish communities in the later 20th century, and following halachic and constitutional considerations, Israel decided in 1977 that the Israeli Law of Return applied to them. The Israeli and American governments launched operations to transport the Ethiopian Jews to Israel from 1979 to the 1990s.

Today, Ethiopian Jewry is still not fully integrated into Israeli society. They remain on a lower economic and educational level than average Israelis, and marriages between Ethiopian and non-Ethiopian Jews are not common. According to a 2009 study, 90% of Ethiopian-Israelis are married to other Ethiopian-Israelis. As many as 57% of Israelis consider a daughter marrying an Ethiopian unacceptable and 39% consider a son marrying an Ethiopian unacceptable. A 2011 study showed that only 13% of high school students of Ethiopian origin felt “fully Israeli.” (Wikipedia)

In May 2015, Israeli Ethiopians demonstrated in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem against racism, after a video was released, showing an Israeli Ethiopian soldier being brutally beaten up by two Israeli police.

However, according to Ha’aretz, 90 percent of the younger generation of Ethiopians in Israel have high-school education, almost the same percentage as the Jewish population in general (93 percent). The rate of matriculation is “only” 53 percent, but that is almost four times the figure for the first generation (16 percent). And 20 percent of second-generation Ethiopian Israelis have higher education (a number becoming doctors), almost four times the rate of the first generation (5.7 percent). Employment among Ethiopians has jumped from 50 to 72 percent in 12 years, with women rising from 35% to 65%. And the percentage of Ethiopian Israelis working in janitorial services has fallen to only 5 percent.

Seven Ethiopian-Israeli have gone on to become Knesset MKs, and Ethiopian Jews have risen to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the IDF.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement: “Today we have taken an important decision, to bring to Israel within the next five years the last of the communities with links to Israel waiting in Addis Ababa and Gonder.” The PM noted that this is an important move for Ethiopian families in Israel who have been split up.

The newcomers would have to undergo a conversion, as well as be taught Jewish values and the history of the Zionist movement.

Chairman of the Committee for Immigration Absorption and Diaspora, MK Avraham Negusa (an Ethiopian-Israeli), who has been in the forefront of the fight to bring remaining Jews of Ethiopia for the past 25 years, congratulated Netanyahu and Interior Minister Silvan Shalom on today’s decision.

“This is a great day for the Jewish people,” Negusa said. “For thousands of years Ethiopian Jewry prayed to return to Israel and waited for nearly a decade torn from their families. Today their prayers were answered.”

60 years ago: The surveillance society already exists in Britain

Unlike the U.S.A. and Canada, in the United Kingdom and many other countries, one is required to pay a fee for a license in order to own a television set. In the U.K., the fee is used to subsidize the British Broadcasting Corporation. However, as might be expected, there have always been people who've attempted to obtain television sets without paying the fee for a license. On February 1, 1952, a "television detector" was unveiled in London. As reported by BBC News:

A new method for tracking down users of unlicensed television sets has been unveiled in the UK. The first TV detector van was demonstrated in front of Postmaster-General, Lord De La Warr and Assistant Postmaster-General Mr Gammans...

...The units consist of three horizontal loop aerials fixed to the roof of a van which receives signals from TV sets and converts them to radio waves to give audio and video information.

Its inventors insist the system is sensitive enough to pick up the vast majority of television receivers, whether the aerial is external or internal.

Detector vans will pass slowly along roads and will be able to pin-point where receivers are in use. TV detection officers will make doorstep inquiries as they go along.

50 years ago: The birth of the Antichrist?

If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder,
And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them;
Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him.
And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath spoken to turn you away from the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the LORD thy God commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee. Deuteronomy 13:1-5

But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die.
And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the LORD hath not spoken?
When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him. Deuteronomy 18:20-22

For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, II Thessalonians 2:7-9

According to American astrologer and psychic (and false prophetess) Jeane Dixon:

A child born somewhere in the Middle East shortly before 7:00 A.M. (EST) on February 5, 1962 will revolutionize the world. Before the close of this century, he will bring together all mankind in one all embracing faith. This will be the foundation of a new Christianity, with every sect and creed united through this man who will walk among the people to spread the wisdom of the almighty powers.

I included the simply because it cited Mrs. Dixon's prediction; I reject the idea that she was a "prophetess of God." Is the Antichrist someone who matches the criteria laid down by Jeane Dixon? Possibly, but since her record of fallibility marked her as a false prophet, I'm not taking her word for it. Is the Antichrist alive today? I believe that may be the case, but he hasn't yet been revealed. In any event, I accept the Bible as my only authority on prophecy, and I'm looking for the coming of the Lord rather than the coming of the Antichrist.

Clergy rebel against Church of England's ban on sodomite "marriages"

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

Walter Martin has been credited with saying, "Bad exegesis leads to bad theology, which leads to bad morality." The item below is an example; the C of E's faulty approach to the Bible has led the clergy to embrace perversion that's condemned by God. Could their rebellion have something to do with a disproportionately large percentage of C of E clergy being sodomites and lesbians? As reported by Agence France-Presse, February 2, 2012:

The Church of England faced a rebellion from its clergy Thursday over a ban on gay civil partnership ceremonies on its premises.

Nearly 100 clergy from the London diocese, which has 470 stipendiary priests, signed a letter to The Times newspaper urging that priests be allowed to follow their individual conscience on whether to hold civil partnership ceremonies in their churches.

The Church of England said in December it would not permit civil partnership ceremonies on its premises without the express permission of its general assembly.

New laws allowing same sex “weddings” in places of worship in England and Wales came into force that month, though no religious group is obliged to host them.

Civil partnerships for same-sex couples were introduced in Britain in December 2005, giving them similar rights to married heterosexual couples. However, the partnerships cannot legally be referred to as marriages.

The Times said the letter illustrated the growing anger running through mainstream Anglicanism on the issue and the scale of the protest would likely be mirrored in many of the church’s 44 dioceses, creating tension between ordinary priests and the church leadership.

“We, the undersigned, believe that on the issue of holding civil partnership ceremonies in Church of England churches, incumbents/priests in charge should be accorded the same rights as they enjoy at present in the matter of officiating at the marriage of divorced couples in church,” the letter read.

“Namely, that this should be a matter for the individual conscience of the incumbent/priest in charge.”

The Church of England is to review its approach to same-sex relationships this year to clarify its position on an issue which has threatened to tear the worldwide Anglican communion apart.

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, the Church of England leader and the Anglican communion’s spiritual head, has struggled to maintain unity amid disagreements over the consecration of female bishops in Britain, and of openly gay bishops in the United States.

Brian Leathard of St Luke’s in Chelsea, west London, was among those who put their names to the letter.

“Our motivation in sending this letter is pastoral,” he told The Times.

“For those of us at the front line, there is no sense of hiding behind a blanket ban on holding civil partnership ceremonies in Church of England churches.

“More and more people are coming to us, and feel that we are turning them away without actually being able to hear their story. They have a genuine desire for the Church’s fullest ministry, for us to bless their loving relationships.”

Rabbis argue over "Kosher Jesus"

When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?
And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.
He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?
And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. Matthew 16:13-17 (see also Mark 8:27-29)

As the old saying goes, where there are two Jews, there are three opinions. In this case, both rabbis are wrong. As reported by Randy Boswell in the National Post, January 27, 2012:

Two of North America’s leading orthodox rabbis — including a prominent Jewish scholar in Canada — are facing off over the proper place of Jesus Christ in the teachings and traditions of Judaism.

Sparked by the publication next week of the book Kosher Jesus by the high-profile and controversial U.S. rabbi Shmuley Boteach, Immanuel Schochet of Toronto is calling it “heretical,” after apparently seeing an advance copy.

“It is forbidden for anyone to buy or read this book, or give its author a platform in any way shape or form to discuss this topic,” he said.

At the centre of the debate are questions involving Jesus’s roots as a Jew, and whether “the Jewishness of Jesus,” as Mr. Boteach puts it, should lead modern Jews to “rediscover” and celebrate the extent to which the Old Testament books of the Bible shaped the thinking of Jesus.

“It’s time these universal Jewish ideas that have so influenced the world be traced back to their original source,” he has written in defence of his book.

“It’s time that the Jewishness of Jesus be rediscovered by Christians.”

But Mr. Schochet, a strong critic of Christian evangelizing of Jews and whose writings often highlight the divide between the two religions, struck back last week. “While it is not normally my style to write letters of condemnation, having read the book, I feel it poses a tremendous risk to the Jewish community,” the emeritus professor of philosophy and religion at Toronto’s Humber College and rabbi at the Congregation Beth Joseph wrote in a posting on the Jewish news website The Algemeiner.

“I have never read a book, let alone one authored by a purported frum [religious] Jew, that does more to enhance the evangelical missionary message and agenda than the aforementioned book.”

He added: “The grossly distorted message of the book violates basic premises of original and authentic Jewish tradition, thus unavoidably must be rejected for being heretical. It is my sincerest hope that the author recognizes the error of his ways and looks to make amends by retracting the book.”

The Swiss-born Mr. Schochet, who emigrated to Canada in 1951, was not available Friday for further comment.

For his part, Mr. Boteach defended himself, also online at the Huffington Post.

While describing Mr. Schocet as “someone whose writings and lectures I have long admired,” he said, “I must retain the right to defend myself against the appalling and libelous charge of heresy.”

He said his book “goes back to the original Gospel source materials to uncover the real story of Jesus,” as he was “prior to later Christian editors significantly modifying the story to accommodate the Romans.”

March 14, 2012 update: Rabbi Boteach has announced his intention to run for the United States House of representatives in 2012. As reported by Jewish Telegraphic Agency, March 14, 2012:

NEW YORK (JTA) -- Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, the author and media personality, announced his candidacy for a New Jersey congressional seat.

In a statement Wednesday, Boteach announced that he will be seeking the Republican nomination in northern New Jersey’s 9th Congressional District. Boteach had said previously that he was considering a run.

The Democratic-leaning northern New Jersey district has a fierce redistricting-induced Democratic primary battle taking place between two incumbents, Reps. Bill Pascrell and Steve Rothman.

Boteach’s stated platform includes support for school vouchers, a flat tax and making marital counseling tax deductible in order to lower the divorce rate. He has criticized what he sees as an excessive Republican focus on sexual issues such as gay marriage.

Boteach, who once was affiliated with the Chabad movement, bills himself as “America’s Rabbi.” He hosts a show on TLC called “Shalom in the Home” and is the author of several books, including “Kosher Sex,” “Kosher Adultery,” “The Kosher Sutra” and, most recently, “Kosher Jesus.”

May 12, 2012 update: Jewish Christian apologist Michael Brown has written a book rebutting the position of Rabbi Boteach. The Real Kosher Jesus (2012) is available from Chosen People Ministries.

Muslim and Jewish scholars hold dialogue in Calgary

As the Lord Jesus Christ's return draws nearer, the world's religions are increasingly finding fellowship with one another, but not on the basis of truth as revealed in the Bible. As reported by Mario Toneguzzi in the Calgary Herald, October 15, 2011:

Rabbis and Islamic scholars in Calgary are meeting to discuss their views on the meaning and relevance of their religion's holiest scriptures.

They will be presenting their views on their holy books and what makes them holy and what the holy books say about peace and interfaith relations.

The Word of God for Divine Guidance will be held Wednesday, Oct. 26, at 6: 30 p.m. at the Beth Tzedec Congregation, 1325 Glenmore Tr. S.W., and is free and open to the public.

Rabbi Shaul Osadchey, of the Beth Tzedec Congregation, said the idea came following an Ahmadiyya conference last spring of Christian, Jewish and Muslim scholars.

He extended an invitation to have the next conference at his synagogue.

"It will be the first such conference at a Jewish house of worship and is intended to draw a large number of Jews and Muslims into a constructive dialogue about their respective traditions," he says.

The topic of the conference will explore questions about the nature of the sacred texts of the two religions - the Torah and the Qur'an.

Osadchey and Rabbi Howard Voss-Altman of Temple B'nai Tikvah will discuss this topic with Islamic scholars Maulana Mahmood Butt and Mualana Mukhtar Cheema.

There will also be time for questions following the panel presentation.

Conference organizers Mohammed Atif and Osadchey say this is a step forward in Jewish-Muslim relations by noting "that education and dialogue offer the best opportunities for Jews and Muslims to better understand each other and to eliminate myths and stereotypes..."

"...The intensity of the conflict in the Middle East emanates from a variety of complex historical, political, economic, social and religious factors," says Osadchey. "The heat from that strife fans out globally until the embers land in local communities. However, Jewish and Muslim communities in Calgary, for example, lead lives in which the political and economic issues in the Middle East are not directly pertinent to their daily lives. Only the social and religious aspects remain as potential obstacles for interfaith co-operation.

"The goal of the Ahmadiyya-Jewish conference is to douse stereotypes and misinformation about our respective religions to find common ground to forge a peaceful relationship. In turn, the local level can serve too as a type of interfaith model that can be emulated in the Middle East.

"To date, I am unaware that such a Muslim-Jewish dialogue in Calgary has taken place, let alone in a synagogue. Members of the host congregation Beth Tzedec and members of B'nai Tikvah will have the opportunity to welcome Muslims into a Jewish institution and within the comfort of their sacred space hear about the values and teachings of Muslims. The Ahmadiyya Muslim community will similarly be exposed to a Jewish house of worship and to thereby demythologize their perceptions."

A special tour of the synagogue is planned by Osadchey for the Muslim guests. A followup conference is being planned at the Ahmadiyya mosque to bring the Jewish community into their Muslim holy space.

For a positive view of antichrist "interfaith" activities in Calgary, see the blog That We May Know Each Other: Calgary Interfaith Initiatives

Lutheran pastor assumes important Anglican post in Canada

The movement to unite all religions seems to have superseded--at least in the amount of attention it receives--the ecumenical movement of liberal "Christianity," but liberal "Christian" ecumenism is still with us. As reported by Brenda Suderman in the Winnipeg Free Press, October 1, 2011:

The first Anglican church in Western Canada, St. John's Anglican Cathedral is poised to make history again with the appointment of a Lutheran pastor as priest of the cathedral and dean of the diocese.

Rev. Paul N. Johnson, an ordained minister in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, takes over as incumbent priest of the cathedral and dean of the diocese of Rupert's Land in January 2012, becoming the first Lutheran minister to hold those offices in Canada and perhaps the world.

"This is the first time, as far as we know, that a Lutheran will be serving an Anglican diocese as dean," says Johnson, 56, who spent seven years as assistant to the national Lutheran bishop and is now interim priest at All Saints Anglican Church.

"To me it's a very positive sign of movement in the right direction between the churches."

Johnson's posting comes a decade after the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada and the Anglican Church of Canada signed the Waterloo Declaration, which provides for full communion between the two denominations. Both groups recognize each other's baptisms, sacraments and ordinations, which means a Lutheran pastor can serve in an Anglican parish and an Anglican priest can be called to a Lutheran church.

"We are delighted to hear of this appointment, especially as it indicates another step in deepening our full communion," says ELCIC National Bishop Susan Johnson.

Nationally, a dozen Anglican priests work in Lutheran churches and nine Lutheran pastors are serving Anglican congregations.

In Manitoba, two Lutheran pastors in addition to Johnson are serving in Anglican parishes in the diocese of Rupert's Land, says Bishop Donald Phillips.

As dean, Johnson becomes senior clergy in the 65-parish diocese and would take over administrative duties if the bishop became incapacitated, says Phillips.

He says naming Johnson to the post demonstrates how trust and familiarity have developed between the two denominations over the past 10 years...

...The Waterloo Declaration outlines how the two groups can work together, but it also represents hope that Christian denominations will continue to find more common paths, says the head of the Anglican Church of Canada.

"It's been about working closer together, not so much for the sake of the (two) churches, but for the sake of the world. And a common witness is a stronger one," says Primate Fred Hiltz, who visits Winnipeg on Sunday for the installation of Maylanne Maybee as principal at the Centre of Christian Studies.

Finding a common witness is what motivates Johnson, a past vice-chair of the Canadian Council of Churches and a committed ecumenist. He says he comes to his new post not as a Lutheran pastor serving an Anglican congregation, but as a minister of the Christian church.

"I don't want them to all become Lutherans, I want us all to be Christians together," says Johnson, who was born in Papua New Guinea, where his parents were Lutheran missionaries.

"Theologically, spiritually, ontologically, God has made us one in Christ."

For the people of St. John's Cathedral, hiring a Lutheran pastor for an Anglican congregation is more than another footnote in the history books.

The people of the cathedral are confident that appointing Johnson as priest of the cathedral and dean of the diocese is noteworthy beyond the Anglican Church.

"This signifies to other churches to be looking beyond themselves," says Peter Moodie, the people's warden of St. John's.

"I think we need to look beyond ecumenical issues to interfaith issues. So I see this as moving in the right direction."

United Church of Canada minister welcomes yoga into his church

The falling away from the true Christian faith prior to the return of Christ continues to gather momentum, as exemplified by the hopelessly apostate (i.e., not "Christian") United Church of Canada. As reported by Mario Toneguzzi in the Calgary Herald, October 1, 2011:

A Calgary Christian church and community is embracing the tradition and practice of yoga.

"I went to yoga and I thought I was going for a workout but what I realized, it was a workout for your body, yes, your mind and your spirit for sure," says Rev. John Pentland of Hillhurst United Church.

"And as I listened to the conversation of the instructor, I was really struck with the similarity in language between the language we might use on Sunday and language she uses in a practice.

"And even the word practice. I love the word practice. I often will say on Sunday morning, 'We come to our practice,' as a way of thinking that worship is a practice. It's something we're learning all the time."

While in the yoga class, Pentland listened intently to the speaker use language the Christian language is familiar with.

Awakened.

Opening your heart. Practice.

Breath.

"Those are all words we would use in a Christian worship service," says Pentland. "I was intrigued with that."

Pentland, along with congregation member Hillary Higgins, delivered a sermon during the summer on yoga.

Starting this morning, Kriyayoga Meditation Calgary is renting out space at the church for its regular practice group meeting on Saturday mornings. And many members of the Hillhurst congregation have taken up yoga practice, as well.

"The world has become smaller. We are starting to see the connections in all the world religions and even in the practices," says Pentland. "I don't think (yoga) is antithetical. I think it actually complements Christianity.

"And one of the key aspects I hear in yoga which I think is true in Christianity is the phrase 'opening your heart.' When I heard that phrase, I started to figure out what it means theologically. I called a Jewish rabbi and asked him about it. He said the heart was central in Jewish tradition. It wasn't just a place of emotion, it was a place that contained the intellect, the psyche, the whole understanding of who you are. Knowledge. So the opening of our heart to me is what any good religion does.

"The Scriptures will talk about a closed heart. Fat heart. Hard heart. I think spirituality is about cracking the heart or hatching the heart is a better word. So the way I like to think of it is there's stuff around our heart and the spirit is trying to hatch it open and that's what I think is a common denominator with the Jewish faith, the Christian faith, the yoga tradition and practice."

Beth Workman, a member of the Hillhurst congregation, is a yoga teacher and is studying yoga therapy at Mount Royal University. She teaches yoga out of her home, attended by many members of the congregation.

"Most people are coming for stress reduction. They're looking for ways of getting some ease from the stress in their life and some practices around that," says Workman, "but they're finding a lot more. They're entering with the bodywork, then getting experiences with the breath work, and then they're finding some peace and some relief from the noise in their heads, which is opening a space for other to come in."

Higgins says yoga unites our full spirit, mind and body which allows us to come into the full potential of ourselves.

"Yoga has given me a space to identify the many masks I wear throughout the day," she says. "Although these masks or personas can serve us well, sometimes they can disguise our authentic self.

Yoga gives me a tool box to shine who I am forward in this world. Yoga gives pause to the world around us, and just for a moment allows us to connect with that which was, that which is and that which will come."

She says that when we have an experience in our life, we sometimes store that energy in our body which manifests in muscle tightness, stress or pain. And stressful encounters will be held in the heart. Yoga gives people a space and physical practice to open the heart.

"We find space and openness by not only relaxing the body but allowing the mind to release the past," explains Higgins. "Through pranayama (breathing exercise) and flow of prana (energy), we can find letting go of the past opens us to the present."

Pentland says he has no concerns about incorporating yoga within the Christian tradition. Jesus Christ talked about the body, mind and spirit. He spoke of the body as the container of a person's spirit.

"So I think practices like meditation, which is part of what yoga is, the physical exercise and the thinking of opening your heart is profoundly spiritual," he says. "I would say that we're going to find that connection more often than we think. The way I define spirituality is seeing the sacred connections in all of life. Whether you're Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, a yoga practitioner, it's about seeing the connections, and yoga helps you do that."

When Pentland looked up the meaning of the word yoga, he found a definition regarding union. Another one was yoke. He thought of Jesus' phrase in the Bible of asking people to come to Him - all those who are weary. His yoke is easy and His burden is light.

"I thought about it in the sense that often we create religion that is burdensome or heavy-laden. Bondage. Jesus using the word yoke was actually not to be about a burden, but to be about a freedom, a lightness. I really like that when I think about yoga."

Another important connection between yoga and Christianity is the aspect of letting go.

"The church has always been about it, but the church has been perceived about achieving something. Yoga is about letting go and that letting go is embodied in Jesus. Jesus let go all the time."

For another article on this subject, see Many yoga practitioners find spirituality — and some religious leaders object by Douglas Brown, published in The Denver Post on April 4, 2011. For a biblical examination, see Dave Hunt's book Yoga and the Body of Christ (2006). See also the Sola Sisters post Yoga Alliance Shows Its Hindu Teeth, and click on the links at the bottom of the article for further reading from Christian Answers for the New Age.

Canadian Anglican priest returns to the pulpit after serving time in prison for indecent assault--and then resigns in the wake of negative publicity

Now the overseer is to be above reproach,
He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil’s trap. I Timothy 3:2a,7 (NIV)

"Rev." Wayne Lynch may be qualified for leadership by the standards of the Anglican Church of Canada, but not by the standards of God. It should hardly need saying that paying one's debt to society doesn't equal being above reproach in the church of Jesus Christ; that forgiveness and restoration to fellowship in the body of Christ (assuming that Mr. Lynch is, in fact, a true member of the body of Christ) doesn't mean restoration to a position of leadership within the church; and that being a "nice, fine person, a gentleman" doesn't prevent someone from being biblically disqualified from a position of leadership in the body of Christ. As reported by Sheila Dabu Nonato of Postmedia News, February 1, 2012:

After seven years of therapy and following consultation with high-ranking church officials, an Anglican priest who was convicted of indecent assault more than a dozen years ago, is back at his Nova Scotia parish, but with restricted duties.

Rev. Ron Cutler, a bishop of the diocese of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, told Postmedia News that Rev. Wayne Lynch has been permitted to celebrate the Eucharist at Annapolis Royal's St. Luke's Anglican Parish. Lynch returned to the parish two years ago and performs some duties every second month.

"He is permitted to preach, but has very rarely done so. He is permitted to baptize, marry or conduct funerals. Once again, this would be at the request of the rector of the parish," Cutler wrote in an email.

"To my knowledge, he has not led either of these liturgies, although he has assisted," he wrote.

His return is generating controversy within the congregation. Lynch's friend, Leslie Marcus, said he's been "told that some members of his church are disturbed about his connection with the church."

"But isn't there such a thing as forgiveness?" said Marcus, a 74-year-old retired university professor. While Marcus said he does not condone what Lynch did - "molesting a young person" in the 1970s - he said he's surprised the issue is being brought up decades later.

"He's paid his price, his dues to society," Marcus said.

A reconciliation process between Lynch and his diocese began seven years ago, Cutler said, when Lynch was given one-time permission to celebrate at a Eucharist service with then-Nova Scotia and P.E.I. Bishop Fred Hiltz, who is now the Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, to mark the 90th birthday of Lynch's mother.

In a May 25, 2005 letter to Anglican clergy in his diocese, Hiltz wrote of his intention to invite Lynch to attend the service at St. Luke's Church.

In the letter, Hiltz referred to Lynch's 1999 charges and conviction of "indecent assault arising from incidents dating back some 20 years."

Lynch received a conditional sentence of two years less a day and an 18-month probationary period.

He completed the sentence and participated in ongoing therapeutic counselling, Hiltz wrote.

"From time to time over the last three years, Wayne and I have had conversations about the possibility of his restoration as a priest in good standing with permission to function under special circumstances as determined by the bishop in consultation with the rector, wardens and Council of the Parish of Annapolis," Hiltz said.

"I will take into account a number of factors, and I will seek the counsel of others, endeavouring to make the most appropriate decision for Wayne and for the church," he continued, noting that he would take "great care" in making decisions on the matter.

Meanwhile, Cutler said Lynch's reconciliation process with the Anglican Church has included therapy, mentoring by the parish rector and regular consultation with the diocesan bishop.

He also noted that Lynch "is not permitted any other priestly function, other than liturgical."

Some parishioners declined to comment on the case while others, such as Marcus and Audrey Barteaux, said Lynch deserves a second chance.

"I think he's a lovely person and the church has forgiven him, and why doesn't everybody else forgive him?" said Barteaux, who's attended the parish for two years.

Marcus met Lynch at a cafe almost four years ago and would often chat about politics and the monarchy.

He said he was "totally shocked" to learn of Lynch's background from a recent media report, but described his friend as "a very nice, fine person, a gentleman."

February 6, 2012 update: Mr. Lynch has resigned his position at St. Luke's. As reported by Gordon Delaney in the Halifax Chronicle-Herald, February 3, 2012:

ANNAPOLIS ROYAL — A former Nova Scotia man who was sexually assaulted by an Anglican priest says he was shocked to learn his abuser had again been performing duties at a small Annapolis Royal church.

The priest resigned Thursday in the wake of the controversy.

In an interview from his Ottawa home, Glenn Johnson said he was "flabbergasted" that Rev. Wayne Lynch had been performing duties at St. Luke’s Anglican Church before his resignation.

"I would think that the church would know better."

Johnson, 48, was sexually assaulted by Lynch in the late 1970s while serving as an altar boy at All Saints Anglican Church in Brooklyn, Queens County. He was 13 at the time.

After harbouring the secret for years, Johnson went to police in 1999 and Lynch was charged with indecent assault. He pleaded guilty. The court was told at the time that Lynch, now 61, performed oral sex and masturbated him while he was in his early teens. The abuse continued for two years until he was 15.

Lynch was sentenced to house arrest for two years less a day, followed by 18 months’ probation. Johnson said he was told by the church at the time that Lynch would never be permitted to perform church duties again.

"As far as I knew, when he was convicted, part of the arrangement was that he would no longer be a priest," he said.

As news spread this week about the priest’s recent activities at St. Luke’s Anglican Church, the Right Rev. Ron Cutler confirmed Thursday that Lynch has resigned.

"Today, Wayne Lynch submitted his resignation from any and all participation in the life of the parish of Annapolis. The resignation has been accepted," Cutler, suffragan bishop of the Diocese of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, said in an email to Johnson.

Lynch did not respond to interview requests.

Earlier Thursday, a spokesman for the group Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests said he was told that Lynch resigned in light of the controversy.

"These victims are sick and tired of everything being shoved under the rug," said Dave Mantin.

He had asked the 271 members of the group to call the Anglican diocese to complain.

"It’s just completely crazy to think you could put a convicted pedophile in front of new children and think the parish is going to allow it," Mantin said. "We have to make sure, as a society, that this doesn’t continue."

In the email, Cutler reiterated statements about Lynch’s former duties made to CTV News earlier this week.

Cutler told the television network that Lynch had slowly been regaining responsibilities over the past 10 years at St. Luke’s.

Cutler said Lynch was able to preach and read the gospel as part of Sunday liturgy, but he had no pastoral responsibilities.

With the rector’s permission, Lynch was allowed to perform marriage ceremonies, baptisms and funerals, Cutler said.

Lynch voluntarily relinquished his licence after his conviction but asked to be reinstated after he served his sentence, Cutler said.

The church believes in reconciliation "if at all possible," he said. The Anglican diocese reached an out-of-court cash settlement with Johnson in 2000 after he filed a lawsuit against the church. Under the conditions of the settlement, neither side can discuss the amount.

But Johnson said he still suffers emotional trauma from the abuse and is receiving counselling twice a week.

He said there were people in the church who had no idea they had "a pedophile doing church functions for them."

Johnson said Lynch should not have been given church duties.

11th century Jewish scrolls discovered in Afghanistan

As reported by Amie Ferris-Rotman of Reuters, January 23, 2012:

A cache of ancient Jewish scrolls from northern Afghanistan that has only recently come to light is creating a storm among scholars who say the landmark find could reveal an undiscovered side of medieval Jewry.

The 150 or so documents, dated from the 11th century, were found in Afghanistan's Samangan province and most likely smuggled out – a sorry but common fate for the impoverished and war-torn country's antiquities.

Israeli emeritus professor Shaul Shaked, who has examined some of the poems, commercial records and judicial agreements that make up the treasure, said while the existence of ancient Afghan Jewry is known, their culture was still a mystery.

"Here, for the first time, we see evidence and we can actually study the writings of this Jewish community. It's very exciting," Shaked told Reuters by telephone from Israel, where he teaches at the Comparative Religion and Iranian Studies department at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

The hoard is currently being kept by private antique dealers in London, who have been producing a trickle of new documents over the past two years, which is when Shaked believes they were found and pirated out of Afghanistan in a clandestine operation.

It is likely they belonged to Jewish merchants on the Silk Road running across Central Asia, said T. Michael Law, a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow at Oxford University's Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies.

"They might have been left there by merchants travelling along the way, but they could also come from another nearby area and deposited for a reason we do not yet understand," Law said.

'Sold elsewhere for 10 times more'

Cultural authorities in Kabul had mixed reactions to the find, which scholars say is without a doubt from Afghanistan, arguing that the Judeo-Persian language used on the scrolls is similar to other Afghan Jewish manuscripts.

National Archives director Sakhi Muneer outright denied the find was Afghan, arguing that he would have seen it, but an advisor in the Culture Ministry said it "cannot be confirmed but it is entirely possible".

"A lot of old documents and sculptures are not brought to us but are sold elsewhere for 10 times the price," said advisor Jalal Norani, explaining that excavators and ordinary people who stumble across finds sell them to middlemen who then auction them off in Iran, Pakistan and Europe.

"Unfortunately, we cannot stop this," Norani said. The Culture Ministry, he said, pays on average $1,500 for a recovered antique item. The Hebrew University's Shaked estimated the Jewish documents' worth at several million dollars.

Thirty years of war and conflict have severely hindered both the collecting and preserving of Afghanistan's antiquities, and the Culture Ministry said endemic corruption and poverty meant many new discoveries do not even reach them.

1000 U.S. "Christians" want to convert to Judaism and settle in Samaria

I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan. Revelation 2:9

Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee. Revelation 3:9

I don't know if the item below is relevant to these passages in Revelation, but it's interesting. It should be kept in mind that when Jewish media outlets use the word "Christian," they often use the term to refer just to North American or European gentiles, not necessarily to actual believers in Jesus Christ. As reported by Yair Altman of Ynet News, April 14, 2011:

Will US Christians settle in Samaria? About 1,000 Americans have signed a document requesting to convert to Judaism, move to Israel, and settle in Samaria.

The group members are seeking to serve in the IDF and later establish communities based on the Kibbutz movement model.

The document was presented to Yisrael Beiteinu Knesset Member Lia Shemtov, who met with the group's representative last week and promised to offer her help in facilitating the initiative.

The Christian group's representative, Baruch Avrahamovich, said he was hopeful that MK Shemtov would be able to elicit the government's support for the initiative.

Ironically, the venture received a boost through the help of priests at some 70 different churches in the US, who last summer urged their followers to boycott Avrahamovich and his new community. The broad media coverage attracted many new participants to the initiative.

The Christian group seeks to purchase land in Samaria, and Avrahamovich says that in Missouri alone a community of some 400 people is already keeping the Shabbat.

"They manage collective kibbutz life and aspire to create such community in Samaria, or in any area that would like to absorb people who truly love Israel and the Jewish religion," he said.

MK Shemtov expressed her support for the idea, noting that "bringing hundreds of educated, established people to Israel will help in developing Samaria and reinforcing it as an inseparable part of the State of Israel. We are dealing with people who wish to undergo Orthodox conversion, contribute to the economy, and even to serve in the IDF."

Officials at the Samaria Regional council confirmed that they were approached about the initiative, but noted that according to the Law of Return, only Jews can move to Israel and receive citizenship.

"If families from this group undergo proper conversion and move to Israel in line with the Law of Return, we'll of course be happy to welcome them in Samaria," one official said.

120 years ago: The death of C.H. Spurgeon

On January 31, 1892, the “Prince of Preachers,” Charles Haddon Spurgeon, pastor of Metropolitan Tabernacle in London since 1861, went to be with the Lord at the age of 57. Unlike Mr. Spurgeon, I’m not a Calvinist, but I respect him as a brother in Christ, and I appreciate his devotional writings. My favourite quote from Mr. Spurgeon is: "Discernment is not simply a matter of telling the difference between what is right and wrong; rather it is the difference between right and almost right.”

For more about and by C.H. Spurgeon, see the sites Charles Spurgeon Quotes and The Spurgeon Archive. I particularly recommend the section from the latter site on the Down-Grade controversy, which not only remains relevant, but more so with each day. I knew that Mr. Spurgeon had decided to leave the Baptist Union in 1887 because of its increasing tolerance of heretics, but I was surprised to discover that he had a brother named James who had become associate pastor at Metropolitan Tabernacle in 1868 and who chose to remain within the Baptist Union.

John and Yoko's "bed-in" was more tasteful than that of Ed and Lisa Young

I addressed Ed Young and pastors of his ilk in a previous post, and my views haven't changed. Unfortunately, like cancer, Mr. Young keeps recurring. Some of us of a certain age may remember when John Lennon of the music group The Beatles married Japanese artist Yoko Ono in 1969. The couple staged a "bed-in" in their suite at the Hilton hotel in Amsterdam for a week, and followed it with a more heavily-publicized bed-in at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal in late May and early June. Mr. and Mrs. Lennon used the Montreal bed-in as an occasion to promote the cause of peace (as they saw it), especially with regard to the Vietnam War (for film footage, see the documentary Imagine: John Lennon (1988)). "Pastor" and Mrs. Ed Young have no such lofty purpose when it comes to their bed-in--it's all about sex, with endorsements coming from the usual suspects. As reported by Anugrah Kumar in The Christian Post, January 7, 2012:

Ed and Lisa Young, founders of Texas-based Fellowship Church, will spend 24 hours in bed on the church roof next week and stream themselves discussing sex live on the Internet to encourage married couples to see firsthand the power of a healthy sex life as prescribed in their new book, Sexperiment.

Two days after their book, Sexperiment: 7 Days to Lasting Intimacy with Your Spouse, is released Tuesday, the Youngs will take part in a 24-hour “bed-in,” which will be streamed on the book’s website as they engage the audience on issues related to intimacy in marriage.

The book encourages married couples to have sex for seven straight days – a challenge that made headlines in 2008 when Pastor Young first introduced it to his church – with the promise that the “amazing results” will last far beyond the week.

“Tragically, culture has kicked the bed out of church and God out of the bed,” says Ed Young, who has been “happily married” to Lisa for almost 30 years. “It’s time to bring God back in the bed and put the bed back in the church. That’s what this bed-in is all about.”

Throughout the 24-hour period beginning at 6 a.m. Friday, Jan. 13, the Youngs will do live interviews in person as well as via Skype, answering relationship questions and highlighting their most popular teachings about sex and relationships live via Twitter and Facebook.

Sexperiment, the authors say, serves as a catalyst for people to begin a dialogue about sex and a challenge to make sex a priority in the marriage bed so couples will remain united outside the bed. The book takes readers to biblical teaching pointing to God’s purpose for sex in marriage – not only personal pleasure, but connection to each other and Him.

“God thought up sex,” says the Grapevine pastor who hosts a weekly television program that airs weekly on ABC Family. “It was His idea. And it’s not just about procreation; it’s about recreation and enjoyment. The bed-in is about empowering couples to experience the relationship and recreation that God has for them every day of their lives!”

Though many view sex as just a physical routine, the Youngs stress that it is a gift from God that is “emotional, physical, psychological, and above all, spiritual.”

“Christians tend to think that sensuality is carnality, but in actuality it’s spirituality,” they write in their book.

So why seven days? The couple says the number seven often symbolizes wholeness or completion in the Bible. “[W]e are striving for wholeness and full satisfaction in marriage. The Sexperiment can be the first step,” they write in the book.

Christian leaders are endorsing the book. “Ed and Lisa Young have modeled a Christ-centered marriage for over 25 years,” said Craig and Amy Groeschel of LifeChurch.tv. “Their straightforward, encouraging and practical teaching in Sexperiment will take your marriage to a greater depth of intimacy than you’ve ever known before.”

Steven and Holly Furtick of Elevation Church commented, “Our approach to the subject [of sex in marriage] is based on restraint rather than vision.” Sexperiment “changes that.”

“If you want to experience all of the pleasure and happiness God intended for your marriage, this book is a must-read.”

Carl and Laura Lentz of Hillsong, New York City, stated, “My wife and I look at their (Youngs') marriage, the way they still laugh with each other and live life so passionately, and are instantly inspired.”

Pastor Young is known for using out of the ordinary ways to teach his congregation. In February 2011, he literally drove a Ferrari and Rolls-Royce onto the church stage as part of a sermon illustration to tell the congregation they are a Rolls-Royce as they are made in the image of God.

Young is also kicking off a “Sexperiment” sermon series this weekend to coincide with the book’s release. The popular pastor is hoping to “change the way people see the connection between God and sex.”

“For too long, we have been falling for the world’s lies about what sex is. It’s time to get back to understanding the truth about this amazing gift – God’s truth!” he wrote on his blog.

Rob Bell says goodbye to his megachurch, hello to his own "reality" TV show

As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly. Proverbs 26:3

Rob Bell, formerly a rock guitarist, has now decided to return to the entertainment world.

As reported by Niraj Warikoo in the Detroit Free Press, January 11, 2012:

One of Michigan's most noted religious leaders said good-bye to his congregation this week as he prepares to help create a TV series loosely based on his life.

Rob Bell, the founding pastor of the Mars Hill megachurch near Grand Rapids, is moving to California, where he will continue writing books and work on a TV show for ABC with the producer of "Lost."

According to Deadline.com, the series will be called "Stronger," about the life of "Tom Stronger, a musician and teacher, and his spiritual journey." The show will feature "autobiographical elements" from the life of Bell, Deadline said.

Bell was in a rock band before he became known as a Christian pastor.

Bell did not return phone calls seeking comment, and officials at Mars Hill declined to talk about his departure. "We're not taking interviews or discussing our transition plans," church spokesman Lee Jager said...

...It was at a Time gala that Bell met Carlton Cuse, the producer and writer with "Lost," according to Deadline. Bell's last appearance at the church was during a farewell service Sunday.

In his last sermon, delivered Dec. 18, Bell told his congregation that when members of the church found out he was leaving, "for many of you it was like a bomb going off -- you didn't expect it, you weren't looking for it."

He said that "through you, I have experienced the mysterious joy of creation. ... Thank you."

Canada--with no legal obligation to do so--will recognize "marriages" of sodomites and lesbians from nations where such unions aren't recognized

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

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 1:26-32

As reported by Thandi Fletcher of Postmedia News, January 13, 2012:

OTTAWA — The Conservative government plans to change the law to legally recognize the marriages of same-sex couples who came to Canada to wed, even if the laws of their home country do not, Justice Minister Rob Nicholson said Friday.

"I want to make it very clear that, in our government's view, these marriages should be valid," Nicholson said in Toronto. "We will change the Civil Marriage Act so that any marriages performed in Canada that aren't recognized in the couple's home jurisdiction will be recognized in Canada."

The legislative change will apply to all marriages performed in Canada regardless of the laws of the jurisdiction in which the couple lives, Nicholson said.

The minister was speaking in the wake of an international controversy sparked by a Toronto court case involving a foreign lesbian couple seeking a divorce in Canada.

The couple wed in Toronto in 2005. Under a court order, they cannot be named.

In response to their application, a federal lawyer for the Justice Department contended the couple cannot divorce in Canada under this country's laws, arguing that the two never really were married.

The lawyer put forth two interpretations of the law to support his argument.

The first, he said, is that a same-sex couple's marriage is only valid under this country's laws if gay marriage is also recognized in their home country or state — in this case, Florida and England.

The second argument was that Canada's Divorce Act states that all married couples, regardless of sexual orientation, must live in Canada for at least one year in order to divorce in this country, which was not the case for this non-Canadian couple.

On Friday, the Conservative government backtracked from the position put forth by the federal lawyer.


Nicholson did not say whether the government will look at amending the residency requirement of the Divorce Act, that a couple must live in the country for at least one year in order to dissolve their marriage.


A senior government official told Postmedia News on Friday that the government will not be looking at changes to the Divorce Act, as amending that legislation could have complicated outcomes.


"That opens up a whole bunch of problems," the official said. "(It could) make Canada kind of the divorce location of choice and that would put burdens on the courts here."


Instead, the official said the government is exploring other options of dissolving marriages for same-sex couples who do not live in Canada, a concept that Nicholson has echoed.


"I will be looking at options to clarify the law so that marriages performed in Canada can be undone in Canada," Nicholson said in a statement on Thursday...

...On Friday, Nicholson repeated what he and Harper said Thursday: that the issue of same-sex marriage is not on the Conservative government's agenda.

"We have been clear that we have no desire to reopen this issue" be said. "Both myself and the prime minister consider the debate to be closed," Nicholson said.

However, Postmedia News columnist Andrew Coyne argued, in his January 13, 2012 column, that the government is under no obligation to recognize the "marriages" of sodomites and lesbians from nations where such unions wouldn't be recognized:

This week’s media meltdown over same-sex marriage for foreign tourists was one of the more disgraceful episodes in the long history of phoney controversies in this country: a toxic mix of shrewd lawyering, shoddy reporting and partisan opportunism, all without the slightest reference to the relevant, and easily obtainable, facts.

The debacle began with a front-page screamer in Thursday morning’s Globe and Mail. In a “reversal of policy,” it reported, the Harper government had indicated it would not recognize as lawful thousands of marriages solemnized in Canada between visiting gay and lesbian couples since the practice was formally legalized here in 2005. The story suggested the government’s “hard line” had “cast sudden doubt” on the legal status not only of these couples, most of whom stayed just long enough to pick up their licences, but of gay couples living in Canada as well.


The government’s “about-face” was “revealed” in legal papers filed in the case of a lesbian couple who, having married in Canada, now wished to divorce here, and for the same reason: as they could not legally marry in either of the jurisdictions where they happened to live, Florida or England, neither could they divorce there. Of course, by the same token divorce would hardly seem necessary. But, well, it was important to them emotionally.

Imagine their shock to be told they could not divorce in Canada, either. Not only did they not meet the one-year residency condition required of all divorcing couples, gay or straight, but there was, according to the government’s filing, no marriage to dissolve: as their marriage was not legal in the jurisdictions in which they lived, neither was it legal here. The couple’s lawyer, Martha McCarthy, professed to find this position “astonishing,” not to say scandalous, offensive, appalling, outrageous and whatever other adjectives she could get her hands on...

...You would never know from any of this that in fact there had been no change in policy: that the position advanced by the government lawyer was not new, but merely a statement of settled law. You would never know because neither the Globe nor anyone in the frothing mob it aroused bothered to ask a lawyer — other than the one contesting the case. Had they done so, they would have been told some version of the following:

Normally marriage law is relatively straightforward. Each country defines marriage for itself, and within its borders its citizens are bound by that definition. Where citizens of one country marry in another, however, responsibility is divided between the two, according to the set of common-law rules known as “conflict of laws.”

The “formal validity” of the marriage — that is, whether the vows were exchanged in the appropriate manner— is determined by the laws of the place where the marriage was performed. But the “essential validity” — that is, whether the couple were eligible to get married at all — is determined by the laws of each partner’s “ante-nuptial domicile,” the place they lived before they were married.

There’s no actual controversy on this point. It’s supported by reams of precedent. It’s not some invention of this government, or of Canada for that matter, but is part of the fabric of international law. Nor is it surprising: I’m basing this article in part on a piece by Jeffrey Talpis, professor of law at the University of Montreal, in the Lawyer’s Weekly of Sept. 22, 2006. It’s hard not to sympathize with those who were told when they came to Canada they were legally married. But the fault lies with those who misstated the law then, not those who correctly interpret it now.

Indeed, the surest proof that the government lawyer was right on this point is that you are reading about it. McCarthy knows the law as well as anyone. If she were confident of her position, she’d simply have won the argument in court. Instead, she took her case to the court of politics, with spectacular results: by the end of the day, the government was promising to change the law to permit all non-resident gay couples to divorce, followed by Friday’s “declaration” that the marriages were also legal, whatever the laws in their home countries might say.

As with my previous post on the Harper government's invitation to foreign sodomites and lesbians to apply for admission to Canada Trudeaupia as refugees, here's more evidence that "Conservatives" are just conserving what Liberals have done before them.

40 years ago: David Todd's sin finds him out

....and be sure your sin will find you out. Numbers 32:23b

On January 12, 1972, the body of Grace Todd, 32, was discovered in a freezer belonging to her husband David, 37, who had recently moved into a house in Toronto belonging to the family of a 21-year-old acquaintance named Charles Cassidy. Mr. Cassidy and his sister Catherine, their mother, and friends John Moore and Layne Jackson were watching an old episode of One Step Beyond on television. The plot involved a body in a trunk, and, while Mr. Todd was asleep in an upstairs bedroom, the others decided to pry open the freezer. They discovered the body of Mr. Todd's wife Grace, who had disappeared on July 30, 1971, but had actually been shot and killed by Mr. Todd at the end of a violent argument. Mr. Todd readily confessed, pled guilty to manslaughter, and was sentenced to 10 years in the Kingston penitentiary. The details can be found in Max Haines' book Bothersome Bodies (1977), pp. 166-176.

"Christian" witchcraft moves from Congo to England

Another inspiring episode in the wonderful history of multiculturalism; as Paul Harvey used to say, "It is not one world." If the testimony reported below is true, this incident at least shows that false teaching and unbiblical practices aren't restricted to churches in the West. As reported by Press Association, January 6, 2012:

A teenage boy was tortured and drowned on Christmas Day because a relative believed he was a witch, the Old Bailey has heard.

Kristy Bamu, 15, was in such pain after days of being attacked with sticks, a metal bar, hammer and chisel that he begged to die, jurors were told.

His brother-in-law, Eric Bikubi, was joined by his partner, Kristy's sister Magalie, in the horror, said Brian Altman QC, prosecuting, and his other siblings were forced to join in before they were all placed in the bath to be hosed down in cold water with a shower head by Bikubi on December 25 2010.

"It was only when he realised that Kristy was not moving that he stopped what he was doing and pulled him from the water. By then it was too late," said Mr Altman.

Magalie Bamu and Bikubi, both 28, of Hathaway Crescent, Newham, east London, deny murdering Kristy. Bamu also denies two charges of causing actual bodily harm to her sisters. Mr Altman said Bikubi has admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility, but this was rejected by the prosecution who say the couple carried out "the very deliberate murder" of Kristy. Bikubi had also admitted the assaults on the two sisters.

The youngsters had arrived from their home in Paris to spend the festive season with the couple.

Mr Altman said Kristy had 101 injuries and died from a combination of being beaten and drowning. Paramedics tried to save him but he was already dead.

In the living room, police found Kristy's brothers and sisters - brothers Yves, 22, and a 13-year-old, and sisters Kelly, 20, and an 11-year-old. Kelly said their holiday turned sour when Bikubi accused Kristy, herself and their younger sister of "being witches or sorcerers - practising witchcraft".

"Despite her own siblings' denials that they were sorcerers, Magalie Bamu joined her boyfriend in repeating these fantastic claims and participating in the assaults," said Mr Altman. "They beat the three of them, refusing to let them eat, drink or sleep for days, while the punishments being meted out became increasingly violent, with them using many implements found in the flat as weapons of torture."

The jury was told that in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where the defendants are originally from, witchcraft or sorcery, called kindoki, is practised in Christian churches, but if it is taken out of the church's control "it may take on a feral and indeed evil character, as we suggest it did here", Mr Altman said.

Ted Haggard supports Newt Gingrich for President of the United States

File under "birds of a feather..."
It comes as no surprise to this blogger to hear that disgraced degenerate goatherd (and I say that with all due respect) Ted Haggard is supporting the U.S. presidential candidacy of adulterous New Age convert to Roman Catholicism Newt Gingrich. As reported by Kris Coombs in the Christian Post, December 30, 2011:

Ted Haggard, former president of the National Association of Evangelicals, says he will support Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich in 2012.

“I am a Newt Gingrich fan partially because he models resurrection to me. He has been married three times, he has gone through his own infidelity, his own growth process, and his own repentance and renewal of faith so I trust him because of that,” Haggard told FOX 411.

Haggard, former pastor of the New Life Church in Colorado, was also one of former President George W. Bush’s biggest supporters during his campaign and served as Bush’s spiritual adviser.

“It is the heartbreak in life that makes us the people we want to be,” Haggard added, embracing Gingrich’s relationship faults, as other conservatives have relentlessly condemned them.

Ted Haggard refuses to stay out of the limelight

Now the overseer is to be above reproach, faithful to his wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money...
...He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil’s trap. I Timothy 3:2-3, 7 (NIV)

It speaks volumes about the state of American evangelicalism that not many years ago the National Association of Evangelicals chose infamous Colorado Springs megachurch goatherd Ted FHaggard to be their leader. Now, appropriately, he's back as a star on a television program called Celebrity Wife Swap. As reported by Jeff Schapiro of the Christian Post, January 1, 2012:

Ted Haggard, the former head of the National Association of Evangelicals who resigned five years ago following a gay sex scandal, will be featured in Tuesday's ABC premier of “Celebrity Wife Swap.” Haggard told The Christian Post that he hopes the show will “communicate hope” and show the world that his family has “resurrected” from its dark past.

“I don't think there's anybody that I know of that more reflects the resurrection of Christ than I do right now,” Haggard said. “After what we've been through, the way Christ has healed us and restored us and built our family and blessed us, it's a wonderful story of resurrection and encouragement and God's faithfulness and the faithfulness of the Scriptures and the church."

In addition to the NAE, Haggard resigned from his position at New Life Church in Colorado Springs, a megachurch he and his wife, Gayle, founded, after a male prostitute accused Haggard of paying him for sex over a three year period. Haggard was also accused of using illegal drugs during his meetings with the prostitute.

Since the scandal, Haggard has been open to the public about his fall from grace and says he has come out of it a changed and better man. His relationship with his wife of more than 30 years is also now stronger than ever, he has said.

“Celebrity Wife Swap” paired up Haggard for one week with Steffanie Sampson, the fiancee of Academy Award-nominated actor Gary Busey, while Gayle spent the week with Busey.

The two couples make an interesting religious combination. The Haggards are evangelical Christians who currently lead Saint James Church and the Buseys follow New Age philosophies, including reincarnation. Busey and Sampson believe they are married in spirit and are currently in their 32nd lifetime together.

For the first half of the week, the swapped wives had to assume each other’s homes, and lifestyles, but in the second half they took charge of the house rules.

In spite of their very different belief systems, Haggard says Sampson fit in quite well at his home and church in Colorado.

In the first half of the week she assumed Gayle's duties, which included teaching a Bible study Gayle had prepared in advance, reading daily devotions every morning and helping to host a “thank you” barbecue for the 40 small group leaders from Haggard's new congregation.

When it was time for Sampson to take over the house, though, Haggard says she was encouraging and was “absolutely determined not to violate our faith.” He says she came into the show with the attitude that “the Haggards have suffered too much,” that they are constantly reminded of their guilt, and she decided not to bring up their past at all.

She also told Haggard that he was forgiven, and “kept emphasizing that none of us should be defined by our weakest moment.”

"So actually, you would think she was a Spirit-filled Christian because of the way she tried to be encouraging ... but she was coming from a New Age philosophy,” he said. "Very sadly, she gave me many messages that the church should have been giving me over the last five years."

He says some Christians have been supportive of him over the last few years in spite of his moral failure, though many have been critical. He thinks the show will be “insightful for judgmental Christians...”

...Haggard's church has grown to approximately 350 people since it was started in 2010, he said. St. James Church meets at Timberview Middle School in Colorado Springs.

"I think all of us need to trust God's sovereignty. And God has given the Haggard family an opportunity to minister life on ABC, and I think He set it up perfectly with the producers we had and with the Busey family. We feel very blessed and honored,” Haggard said.

Contrary to what the article states, Mr. Haggard has not been "open to the public about his fall from grace." Like Jim Bakker before him, Mr. Haggard has never admitted the specific things he was accused of (I found the homosexual prostitute's accusations far more credible than Mr. Haggard's denials). Mr. Haggard refused to complete counselling after his exposure, and bolted to start a new "church." The only time he's told the truth in recent years was, ironically, when he admitted to being a liar. I've never believed that Ted Haggard was a man of God who fell; rather, he's continued to provide evidence that he's a man of fraud who was exposed. Typical of an unrepentant sinner, he uses the word "judgmental" to criticize those who want to uphold Biblical standards of holiness for Christian leaders.

For more evidence of Mr. Haggard's lack of repentance, see Elena Garcia's interview with him in the Christian Post on February 15, 2011. The reader will note that the other fallen people of note who have been "restored" that Mr. Haggard compares himself with are secular entertainment and sports celebrities, whose positions don't require Biblical standards of holiness. One of those mentioned by Mr. Haggard, Michael Vick, has shown more evidence of repentance for his sins than has Mr. Haggard. The fact that Mr. Haggard doesn't seem to understand the difference between a popular culture celebrity and a leader in the church of Jesus Christ says enough about him and his qualifications for Christian leadership.

Jews and Muslims in Detroit team up for volunteer social service activities on Christmas Day

With California's Saddleback Church, under the leadership of Rick Warren, cancelling worship services for one weekend in December 2011 in favour of engaging in community service activities, it's only a matter of time until evangelical churches community service centres team up with Jews and Muslims for Christmas Day activities in the future. As reported by The Associated Press on December 25, 2011:

The Detroit area's Jewish community is continuing a tradition of working with Muslims to serve their Christian neighbors while they celebrate Christmas.

About 125 Muslims are expected to join about 800 Jewish volunteers Sunday for Mitzvah Day, the single largest day of volunteering by the Jewish community. It's the third year for the team-up between Jews and Muslims.

The volunteers will be helping 40 Detroit-area social service agencies at sites throughout the day.

The Jewish Community Relations Council of Metropolitan Detroit has sponsored Mitzvah Day for more than 20 years. This will be the third year that Muslims have joined the effort.

Mitzvah means "commandment" in Hebrew and is generally translated as a good deed.

King of Bahrain hosts vice-president of World Jewish Congress

As reported by ynetnews.com, January 2, 2012:

World Jewish Congress (WJC) Vice President Rabbi Marc Schneier, also president of the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding, has been received for talks in the Gulf state of Bahrain by King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa.

Schneier, who has pioneered Muslim-Jewish dialogue and cooperation, was received Wednesday by the Bahraini monarch at his palace in Manama.

During his 45-minute audience, Rabbi Schneier warmly welcomed King Hamad’s suggestion to host a gathering of Jewish and Muslim clerics in Bahrain in 2012.

“Bahrain is a role model in the Arab world for coexistence and tolerance of different faith communities, including a small Jewish community," he said. "I am deeply honored to be the first rabbi to be hosted by the king of Bahrain at his palace, and I am excited that he and his government are fully committed to building bridges between our two communities.”

Rabbi Schneier added that Bahrain was the first of the Persian Gulf states to host an exclusive bilateral dialogue between Islamic and Jewish leaders.

“King Hamad said that there was nothing more natural than for our two communities to come together, despite our difference in opinion on certain issues. He said that as ‘cousins’, Jews and Muslims had an obligation to build bridges.”

The two men also discussed the current situation in the Middle East. Rabbi Schneier said King Hamad had told him about the reforms he had implemented in Bahrain in the wake of the Arab Spring, including representatives of the opposition.

“I believe Bahrain could serve as a model for other countries in the region. I am looking forward to working with King Hamad and his government to bring our two communities closer together.”

Schneier also met separately with the Bahraini ministers of justice and Islamic affairs, Khaled Bin Ali Bin Abdulla Al Khalifa, and the minister of industry and commerce, Hassan Fakhro.

Together with hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons, Rabbi Marc Schneier heads the New York-based FFEU, which over the past years has dedicated many efforts to fostering Muslim-Jewish dialogue in North America, Europe and Latin America.

Together with its partners, FFEU recently organized the fourth edition of the Annual Weekend of Twinning of synagogues and mosques around the world.

And now for something completely different: A heterosexual Roman Catholic clergy scandal

As reported by The Associated Press on January 5, 2012:

The resignation of a Los Angeles bishop who fathered two children has shocked the nation's most populous Roman Catholic archdiocese, where Auxiliary Bishop Gabino Zavala grew up.

Zavala, 60, who once urged Catholic media to report scandals such as clergy sex abuse "in a spirit of love and mercy," had his resignation accepted on Wednesday by Pope Benedict XVI...

..."This is unexpected, sad and disorienting news for many people who know and like Bishop Zavala," archdiocesan spokesman Tod Tamberg said. "Remember, he was raised here. He has deep roots in Los Angeles and so he's very well-known here."

Tamberg said he knew nothing about Zavala's affair except that it involved consenting adults and that no church funds were used...

...Zavala was one of five auxiliary bishops in the archdiocese and was the primary pastoral and liturgical administrator for 66 churches in the San Gabriel region east of Los Angeles, Tamberg said. Archbishop Jose Gomez has selected someone to handle those duties until the Vatican can appoint a replacement.

Zavala informed the archbishop last month that he had fathered two children who live with their mother in another state, Gomez said in a letter to the archdiocese's approximately 5 million Catholics. The archbishop said Zavala told him that he had submitted his resignation to the pope.

"Since that time, he has not been in ministry and will be living privately," the archbishop said in the letter, which was posted on a Catholic blog.

Tamberg did not know the children's ages or gender.

"The archdiocese has reached out to the mother and children to provide spiritual care as well as funding to assist the children with college costs. The family's identity is not known to the public, and I wish to respect their right to privacy," the archbishop wrote...

...Zavala was born in Guerrero, Mexico, but grew up in Los Angeles. He was ordained in 1977 and was assigned to Our Lady of Guadalupe, a church in the heavily Mexican-American East Los Angeles area. He was appointed an auxiliary bishop in 1994.

In a June 2010 speech to the Catholic Media Association, Zavala spoke about the duty of Catholic media to "report the truth, because the truth does set us free," but with mercy and concern for individuals.

In his role as auxiliary bishop, Zavala spoke out in support of immigration rights and prison reforms, better conditions for the working poor and against the death penalty.

A handful of other priests have quit their post over sexual relationships, including: Florida priest Alberto Cutie, who resigned in 2009 and married his then-girlfriend; Auxiliary Bishop James McCarthy of New York, who resigned in 2002 after the archdiocese was alerted about his affairs with women; and Archbishop Robert Sanchez of Santa Fe, New Mexico, who resigned in 1993 after confessing relationships with women.

The late Archbishop Eugene Marino of Atlanta resigned in 1990 when his relationship with a parishioner was made public; the woman said she and the archbishop had secretly married.

New "tricks" from science include spatial, temporal, aural, and plasmodic cloaking

And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, II Thessalonians 2:8-9

And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,
And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; Revelation 13:13-14a

I don't know if these developments have any prophetic significance, but they're interesting. First, there was "spatial cloaking." As reported by Charles Q. Choi of The Christian Science Monitor, February 2, 2011:

An "invisibility cloak" that's able to hide items thousands of times larger than before now exists, scientists say.

The first hints that cloaking devices might one day become more than just a "Star Trek" fantasy began emerging five or so years ago, and since then researchers have made such cloaks a reality by warping light.

Light is often bent in nature. For instance, mirages form when desert sands heat air that bends light rays from up above, creating illusions of water that are really reflections of the sky. The cloaking devices that scientists have created smoothly guide rays of light completely around objects so they proceed along their original trajectory as if nothing were there.

However, the first cloaking devices researchers made were useless against the human eye. To start with, they were only effective on microwave rays, not visible light. They also only worked in two dimensions, and thus could not hide three-dimensional objects.

In 2010, scientists created the first cloak that worked for three-dimensional objects against light nearly visible to humans. Still, the cloaked area was only 30 microns wide, or about one-third the width of a human hair.

Now researchers have developed a cloak that can hide three-dimensional objects against red and green lasers and ordinary white light. Although the cloaked region they demonstrated is only three-quarters of an inch (2 centimeters) wide, "there is actually no limit on the size of the cloak," researcher Shuang Zhang, a physicist at the University of Birmingham in England, told LiveScience.

All invisibility cloaks demonstrated until now were made of artificial composite structures known as metamaterials. The fabrication techniques for these metamaterials are complex and time-consuming, yielding only tiny cloaks that could only hide similarly tiny objects limited to only a few wavelengths of light in size.

In contrast, this new cloak is made of prisms of naturally occurring calcite. These crystals are each about three-quarters of an inch wide on their longest sides, much larger than the parts seen in previous cloaks.

The scientists glued two of these prisms together, forming an arrowhead shape when seen from the side. The space, or bump, under the notch of this arrowhead and whatever is within is cloaked from view.

"The cloaks can be readily scaled up to hide larger objects," Zhang said. "It really depends on how large a calcite crystal we can find in nature. According to the literature, the largest calcite crystal has a scale of 7 meters by 7 meters by 2 meters (23 feet by 23 feet by 6.5 feet). Such a crystal would enable the construction of an invisibility cloak that can conceal object a few meters wide and at least 40 centimeters (16 inches) high."

This cloak does have a significant drawback — it depends on polarization of light. One can think of all light waves as either rippling up and down, left and right, or at any angle in between, a property known as polarization. This cloak only works for light of a specific polarization — "the bump will be seen by light of other polarizations," Zhang said.

Nevertheless, the cloak might still work in the real world, Zhang said. For instance, if the sun is low in the sky, sunlight streaming into the water "will be largely polarized, and an invisibility cloak sitting on the water floor will become invisible," he said. "There could be military applications — for example, to hide something such as submarine on the seafloor."

Also, while the bump at the bottom of the cloak is invisible, the cloak itself is still visible due to a slight reflection at the interface between the cloak and its surroundings. "This reflection can be significantly reduced by putting antireflection coating on the cloak or some other means," Zhang said.

"It is still challenging to make a 'Harry Potter' type of invisibility cloak that works in air and can hide very large objects," Zhang said. "Metamaterials could be a solution, but we will have a long way to go."

Zhang and his colleagues detailed their findings online Feb. 1 in the journal Nature Communications.

Now comes "temporal cloaking." As reported by Pete Spotts in The Christian Science Monitor, January 4, 2012:

Forget wrapping an object – say, Harry Potter – in a cloak of invisibility. How about hiding an event using time?

What may be a distant dream for this year's Indianapolis Colts has been demonstrated for the first time by a team of physicists at Cornell University.

The approach is dubbed "temporal cloaking," and it builds on experiments researchers have already conducted to demonstrate that they can hide objects from view.

Indeed, scientists had already succeeded at "spatial cloaking," which involves bending light around an object in such a way as to make it appear invisible. Temporal cloaking involves interrupting light to create a seeming gap in time in which an event can be hidden.

At this point, the time gap that the scientists created is so brief – about 50 trillionths of a second – that practical implications are barely a gleam in anyone's eye. But the researchers are interested in trying to lengthen the amount of time a beam's gap remains open, says Alexander Gaeta, who led the team reporting the results in the Jan. 5 issue of the journal Nature.

In essence, the team briefly turned off a laser beam in a way that instruments receiving the beam could not detect. An observer would have no clue that the beam had blinked, and so would have no evidence of anything that happened to the beam in that 50 trillionths of a second.

University of Rochester physicists Robert Boyd and Zhimin Shi, who are not members of Dr. Gaeta's team, liken the phenomenon to traffic at a railroad crossing.

The crossing gate falls, interrupting traffic (the laser beam) as the commuter train passes. From the perspective of the train, for a brief period there is no traffic and it can freely pass (the hidden event). Yet once the gate rises, traffic resumes and speeds up. To an observer a mile or two away, the flow of traffic shows no evidence of interruption – no evidence from traffic flow that a train had ever been there.

How did the team open a gap in the laser beam?

The researchers took advantage of the fact that when light travels through a material, different colors travel at different speeds. To alter colors in a segment of the laser beam, the researchers used a laser-based device dubbed a time lens.

Typical glass lenses bend light, changing its distribution in three-dimensional space. Time lenses, on the other hand, "do really funny things" to light, altering its traits for a defined period of time, Gaeta says.

In this case, the team's modified time lenses briefly gave two adjoining segments of the green beam a red and a blue hue. When the segments passed through a specially designed length of optical fiber, the red light slowed and the blue light accelerated.

The difference opened a gap in the beam – no light – that lasted about 50 trillionths of a second.

Coming out the other side, the researchers reversed the process, slowing the blue and speeding the red, then passing them through another time lens to returning the beam to its original green color, leaving no hint of its temporary alteration.

Well, almost no hint.

To see if their technique could hide an event from view, scientists shot a different laser beam into the gap. Usually, when two laser beams interact, the effects are easy to spot. In this case, though, the effects were more than 10 times weaker than they would have been if there had been no temporal cloaking.

For now, much work will focus on gaining a clearer understanding of the physics involved and how to take advantage of them, says Dr. Shi of Rochester.

Still, he adds, the basic physics of spatial cloaking and temporal cloaking are mathematically similar.

With the addition of a cloaking approach that "plays tricks with time" to the other approach of playing tricks with light's distribution around an object in space, "hopefully we can find an easier way to create effective cloaking."

Then there's what might be called aural cloaking. As reported by David Skoumbourdis in The Epoch Times, January 5-11, 2012 (originally posted December 29, 2011, updated January 2, 2012):

Want to play music at night without bothering neighbors? Being annoyed by noises from the highway? Scientists at Germany’s Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) can help.

Inspired by the concept of an invisibility cloak that guides light waves around an object making it invisible, the researchers are developing a cloaking device that can render objects completely silent. This device uses a custom-engineered plastic material that guides sound waves around an object making it inaudible.

The material has a smart microstructure consisting of two polymers, one soft and one hard, which form a millimeter-thin plate. Sound waves are guided around a circular area in the plastic plate in such a way that vibrations can neither enter nor leave this area.

“Contrary to other known noise protection measures, the sound waves are neither absorbed nor reflected,” researcher Martin Wegener said in a press release. “It is as if nothing was there.”

The technology is presently only a proof of concept, but when mature, it could be effective at soundproofing and have a wide range of applications.

The study will be published in the journal Physical Review Letters.

February 6, 2012 update: Now comes "plasmonic cloaking." As reported by David Skoumbourdis in The Epoch Times, February 2-8, 2012 (originally posted January 29, 2012, updated February 5, 2012):

The invisibility cloak has taken yet another step toward realization, with U.S. researchers cloaking a three-dimensional object from microwaves for the first time using a technique dubbed “plasmonic cloaking.”

Previous research efforts have demonstrated cloaking two-dimensional (or flat) objects using metamaterials—artificial materials engineered to have special properties—that cause light to bend around them, creating a mirage-like effect.

Plasmonic cloaking differentiates itself with the use of plasmonic metamaterial that causes the scattered light from both the metamaterial and the cloaked object to collide and cancel out. This prevents the reflected light from the object reaching our eyes, making it invisible.

“When the scattered fields from the cloak and the object interfere, they cancel each other out and the overall effect is transparency and invisibility at all angles of observation,” said study co-author Andrea Alu in a press release.

“One of the advantages of the plasmonic cloaking technique is its robustness and moderately broad bandwidth of operation, superior to conventional cloaks based on transformation metamaterials. This made our experiment more robust to possible imperfections, which is particularly important when cloaking a 3-D object in free-space,” Alu said.

The researchers tested the material by coating a 7-inch cylinder with the plasmonic metamaterial. Microwaves were directed toward the cloaked cylinder and the resultant scattering was mapped. The results confirmed the anticipated performance of the material.

Prior experiments have demonstrated that the material can work with objects of varying shape. The one challenge remaining is to test plasmonic cloaking using visible light.

“In principle, this technique could be used to cloak light; in fact, some plasmonic materials are naturally available at optical frequencies. However, the size of the objects that can be efficiently cloaked with this method scales with the wavelength of operation, so when applied to optical frequencies we may be able to efficiently stop the scattering of micrometer-sized objects,” said Alu.

Despite the present theoretical limitations, Alu believes that cloaking small objects could have a range of applications in fields such as biomedical science.

The findings were published on Jan. 25 in the New Journal of Physics.

Click on the link to see the original article, Experimental verification of three-dimensional plasmonic cloaking in free-space.