Category: Religion

Religion

Casting A Big Net: Pope Says Atheists Can Get Into Heaven Too

By Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger

130412182419-pope-francis-one-month-story-topFunny thing. You can learn a lot about politics listening to religious leaders — especially the one’s who’ve suffered a precipitous decline in prestige and influence by marching out of step with the mainstream. In words as surprising as his election to the Throne of St. Peter, Pope Benedict has issued a game changer. Atheists can get into Heaven, too. Pope Francis is in the habit of saying daily Mass for the people at St. Martha’s House with invited guests, and when he does so he gives an off-the-cuff homily. Here’s his dialog with an imaginary questioner:

“‘But, Father, this [person] is not Catholic! He cannot do good.’ Yes, he can. He must. Not can: must! Because he has this commandment within him. . . .

“Instead,” the Pope continued, “the Lord has created us in His image and likeness, and has given us this commandment in the depths of our heart: do good and do not do evil”:

“The Lord has redeemed all of us, all of us, with the Blood of Christ: all of us, not just Catholics. Everyone!

“‘Father, the atheists?’ Even the atheists. Everyone! And this Blood makes us children of God of the first class! We are created children in the likeness of God and the Blood of Christ has redeemed us all! And we all have a duty to do good.”

“‘But I don’t believe, Father, I am an atheist!’ But do good: we will meet one another there.”

Continue reading “Casting A Big Net: Pope Says Atheists Can Get Into Heaven Too” →

Bizarre, Criminal law, International, Politics, Religion

Mentor of A Murderer: Cleric Praises London Killer and Former Student

article-2329089-19F1FAAA000005DC-790_634x4762013-05-24T142550Z_2_CBRE94N0VTD00_RTROPTP_2_BRITAIN-KILLINGIf you want to know what kind of man could commit the grotesque act this week in butchering a man on a London street while posing for cameras, you might want to meet his teacher. In Tripoli, Lebanon, Syrian-born cleric, Omar Bakri, founder of banned British Islamist group Al Muhajiroun, saw the same video that we saw. While we recoiled at the savagery, Bakri rejoiced in what he called the “courage” and faith of Michael Adebolajo in murdering Lee Ridgy. Our disgust was matched by the cleric’s delight in seeing a former student murder in the name of Islam. He gave the interview as his son, Osama, played at his feet . . . yes, named after that Osama.

Continue reading “Mentor of A Murderer: Cleric Praises London Killer and Former Student” →

Bizarre, Congress, Politics, Religion, Society

Pro-Life Congressman Fined For Allegedly Pressuring Patient Into Abortion and Improper Sexual Relationships

220px-Scott_DesJarlais,_Official_Portrait,_112th_CongressRep. Scott DesJarlais (R-TN) is a pro-life Republican who has long run on family values. Those values however were no where in sight in the recent findings of the Tennessee Board of Medical Examiners which ordered DesJarlais to pay a fine for having sexual relations with patients and allegedly pressuring one patient to get an abortion. However, the cost of such conduct will be $500.

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Criminal law, International, Religion, Society

London Rocked By Butchering Of English Soldier By Muslim Extremists

article-2329089-19F1FAAA000005DC-790_634x476London and the world is reeling from the video from yesterday of two Muslim men who killed and mutilated the body of an English soldier and then asked people to film them as they raved about their atrocity. The men reportedly screamed “Allah Akbar” as they butchered the soldier. A man now identified as Michael Adebolajo is shown promising onlookers that “you and your kids will be next.” In the midst of this horror scene however there was inspirational moments including a woman who gets off her bus to confront Abebolajo covered in blood and holding a meat cleaver.

Continue reading “London Rocked By Butchering Of English Soldier By Muslim Extremists” →

Constitutional Law, Free Speech, Politics, Religion, Science, Society

Is It Getting Cold In Here?

Stock Photo of the Consitution of the United States and Feather Quillby Gene Howington, Guest Blogger

That free speech is under attack by the governments local and Federal should be manifestly apparent from the stories that have appeared of the last few years here at Res Ipsa Loquitur.  In articles from our host, myself and my fellow guest bloggers, we’ve seen open attacks on free speech as a right proper, attacks on anonymous political free speech, the prosecution and persecution of whistleblowers and the erosion of shield laws protecting reporters and attacks on free speech and pluralism  in general in the form of blasphemy laws just to name a few of the threats that have come to our attention. What is most troubling is that the Federal government has stepped up their efforts to outright infringe upon the free speech rights of citizens and the press and chill the right however possible. Free speech is critical for the function of democracy. Without dissent, there can be no debate, only the dictates of the strong over the weak which is by definition tyranny. That is one of the reasons that it was so important that the Founders protected it in the 1st Amendment. However, they felt in particular that the freedom of the press was a not just free speech, but a very special kind of free speech that merited both special mention and protection in the 1st.  The 1st Amendment reads in relevant part:

Congress shall make no law [. . .] abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press”.

As we know, there are legitimate reasonable restrictions on free speech such as defamation, incitement and threats (particularly threats of violence).  So before we look at the two present instances of the chilling of free speech – one a local story about a graduation and one the national story concerning the DOJ accessing the phone records for hundreds of reporters working for the Associated Press – let us first ask examine what is meant by the term “chilling free speech”.

Continue reading “Is It Getting Cold In Here?” →

Politics, Religion

IRS “Targeted” Catholic League

-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger

140px-US-InternalRevenueService-SealBill Donohue, president of the Catholic League, writes: “Just weeks after Barack Obama was elected president in 2008, I was notified by the IRS that the Catholic League was under investigation for violating the IRS Code on political activities as it relates to 501(c)(3) organizations.” So, that would be when George W. Bush was the President. The recent media attention directed towards IRS investigations of Tea Party, 501(c)(4), organizations, was just too enticing for Donohue. For 501(c)(3) organizations, the IRS requires that the organization “may not participate in any campaign activity for or against political candidates.” It might be interesting to see how well the Catholic League upheld its commitment to this requirement.

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Constitutional Law, Free Speech, Politics, Religion, Society

Satanic Tweets: Head of Saudi Religious Police Warns Citizens That Use of Twitter Destroys Chance For Heaven

640x392_46796_188122150px-Twitter_2012_logoSheikh Abdul Latif Abdul Aziz al-Sheikh, the head of Saudi Arabia’s religious police, has gone public with a renewed attack on the use of social media sites, particularly Twitter. He warned citizens that the use of sites like Twitter guarantees that the user “has lost this world and his afterlife.”

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Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Free Speech, International, Politics, Religion

Report: Chinese Police Beat Tibetan Monk To Death After Found With Dalia Lama Tapes

220px-Dalai_Lama_1430_Luca_Galuzzi_2007cropFlag_of_the_People's_Republic_of_ChinaA Tibetan monk named Kardo was reportedly beaten to death by Chinese police after they found him in possession of recordings of speeches by exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama.

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Criminal law, International, Religion, Society

Saudi Arabia Orders Man To Receive 300 Lashes And Six Years In Jail For Helping Woman Convert To Christianity

300px-Fomfr_whipSaudi Arabia has added yet another infamous case of religious intolerance and hatred after a Lebanese man was given 300 lashes with a whip and sentenced to six years. His crime? Simply helping a Saudi woman who wanted to convert to Christianity. While Saudi Arabia continues to object to any slight of Islam in Western Countries, the Kingdom continues to deny the human right of people to choose their faith — and impose medieval punishments for those who try to exercise their faith under the Sharia system. The woman fled the Kingdom in the hope of being able to worship the God of her choice.

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Academia, Animals, Environment, International, Politics, Religion, Science, Society, Uncategorized

A Meditation on Fear

Submitted by: Mike Spindell, guest blogger

220px-The_Thinker,_RodinSometimes I’ll be watching something and a thought will occur to me and it will stick in my mind and lead me into a meditation on a more global idea that remains with me as I try to puzzle it out. A train of thought set off this week was a TV program in which a person had to deal with aging and it was clear that their fear of their own mortality that controlled their actions. The program is forgotten and unimportant in this piece, but it did start me spending much time extrapolating the implications from that situation. This represents the rude beginnings of a theory I’ve developed, sans research, on why many people respond the way they do to the world, especially in a sociopolitical sense. Feel free to attack it, because it is merely a product of my tangled thought processes and in truth I don’t even know if it is particularly original, or the result of my synthesis of much I’ve learned and read through the years.

Noticeable human development began at least a million years ago in an apelike creature that was small and relatively weak, considering the predatory creatures that surrounded it. Life was a tricky proposition for that creature and the act of merely staying alive consumed its time. I would think that almost all of its day was spent in a state of fear, causing adrenalin rushes and hyper sensitivity to its environment. Those with the most fear, sensitivity and intelligence survived enough to pass on their genes to the coming generations, thus continuing the evolutionary cycle. As time and evolution passed enormous changes in brain size and other factors turned this fragile being into an omnivore predator that mastered the food chain. Yet still remaining were the instincts of fear and hyper-vigilance, since life even at the top of the food chain remained brutal and short. Those instincts protected us well until a next evolutionary step that took us to a whole new level, leaving us as unquestioned masters of life on this planet. That step is what some are calling a social evolutionary process. When humans began to band together into larger groups their place in the world increased exponentially. This “social evolution” changed the Earth and continues today, but nevertheless we are still primarily ruled by fear and by hyper-vigilance. Let me take you where this thought has led me and perhaps you can show me the flaws in my nascent “theory” and provide me with respite from its repetition in my brain. Continue reading “A Meditation on Fear” →

Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Politics, Religion

States Pass Resolution Declaring Israel As A Land Ordained By God

170px-rembrandt_harmensz-_van_rijn_079-1In states from Texas to Oklahoma to Iowa, legislators have introduced resolutions that appear to proclaim Israel as a nation ordained by God. Most recently, the Texas enrolled SR 694 — a resolution introduced by Republican Senator Ken Paxton of McKinney, Texas and entitled “Commending Israel for its relationship with the United States.” It is not the title but the first sentence that is surprising: “WHEREAS, Israel has been granted her lands as recorded in the Old Testament.” That sounds a lot like saying that the nation of Israel is ordained by God and that religious claim is being ratified by the Texas legislature.

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Bizarre, Criminal law, Politics, Religion, Society

New Jersey Sexual Assault Case Highlights Abuse Of Alleged Victims In The Orthodox Jewish Community

220px-Gottlieb-Jews_Praying_in_the_Synagogue_on_Yom_KippurWe have previously discussed the harassment and abuse of families in Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods who have accused religious figures of sexual abuse. Like Catholic and other Christian communities, the Jewish community is facing its own scandal over the response to these allegations. This ongoing controversy is at the heart of a case in New Jersey where a leading counselor and Rabbi stands accused of molesting a 12-year-old boy — and members of the Orthodox community are accused of a campaign of harassment against the boy and his family for going to the police.

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Academia, International, Politics, Religion, Society

Stephen Hawking Joins Academic Boycott Of Israel

200px-Stephen_Hawking.StarChildLeading Physicist Stephen Hawking has created an international stir by joining a boycott of Israeli academic institutions and travel to Israel after sending a letter declining an invitation to attend the President’s Conference. While Cambridge originally claimed that Hawking was not attending due to his health, Hawking sent a letter to Israeli President Shimon Peres saying that he was in fact boycotting Israel due to its Palestinian policies.

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Religion

The Liberation of “Liberation Theology”

By Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger

liberationtheologyHey guys, just back from my trip to San Francisco and what do I find on my return? Well it looks like that most calcified of religious institutions has gone  California, too? The first Pope from South America seems to have veered the church leftward with two recent messages to the faithful that said, in essence, that capitalism isn’t all that. First, in a scathing speech on Wednesday, Pope Francis slammed the type of predatory capitalism that results in the tragedy of the Bangladesh sweatshop collapse. Catering to western desires for cheap but swanky department store clothing, the human mill in Bangladesh cranked out fashion for consumers at a feverish pace. The shortcut to achieve this profit was a thrown-together building constructed of toothpicks and sealing wax. Not really — but close enough for 400 people to die and scores of others to be maimed when the structure fell. Francis took dead aim at the greed and the greedy that caused these deaths calling it “slave labor”:

“Not paying a just (wage), not providing work, focusing exclusively on the balance books, on financial statements, only looking at making personal profit. That goes against God!”

Second, on Thursday, this thoroughly modern pontiff took to social media to hammer the point. Tweeting his message, Pope Francis said “My thoughts turn to all who are unemployed, often as a result of a self-centred mindset bent on profit at any cost.”  Two and a half million followers on Twitter and over one billion Catholics got the message. Five thousand of them re-tweeted.

Continue reading “The Liberation of “Liberation Theology”” →

Academia, Free Speech, Religion

Academic Freedom Sacrificed To Religious Intimidation

-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger

200px-Florida_Atlantic_University_sealRyan Rotella, a junior at Florida Atlantic University (FAU) said that his professor, Dr. Deandre Poole, of his Intercultural Communications class, asked students in the class to write the word “Jesus” on a piece of paper, fold the paper, and step on it. By the time FOX News & Commentary got to the story, “asked” had become “directed,” “step” had become “stomp,” and the “Stomp on Jesus” firestorm was manufactured. FAU reacted by apologizing to those who were offended, immediately placing Poole on administrative leave, and banning him from FAU’s campuses.

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