I am not sure how to start this post really. It could either start with a question or it could start with something that has happened to me in the last few months.

But, perhaps I will start with the question…

The question would be this. If you have two people who are living their lives according to their own conscience, yet they are diametrically opposed and both parties disagree with each others way of life, are they both discriminating against each other?

Let me elaborate further… When disagreement happens between two people does that mean discrimination has occurred in some form against one another’s opinion? And if they both vehemently disagree, is it fair for only one say to say that the other is being discriminating only? Or is it safe and right to say both have discriminated against each other?

PS: I am sick of this word (discriminate) already! But I really would like to hear your answers.

This morning I get up early with hubby, and he said…

“A weird thing happened to me last night. There was this light that was hovering around my head, and there was this funny electronic beeping sound!” …”I think aliens were trying to abduct me or something, it was really strange! This light just appeared and moved all around my head as I was going to sleep, but then would disappear when I stirred… I really do think it was aliens! It was freaking me out!”

Well… I just cracked up laughing!

I just had to tell him the truth about the aliens…

“Emmm, well, last night…. you were snoring really loudly. And I wondered to myself if you have ever heard yourself snoring. So…. I went and got my mobile phone and used that to record the snoring. Obviously when I press the phone to record you, the screen lights up! And I was holding it around your head trying to get the phone close enough!”

I could not stop laughing for hours at how he must have felt!

Just to keep you updated…

[the] full transcript of HonestReporting’s interview with Mideast analyst and media expert Tom Gross about the Mohammad al-Dura affair. Click to view the interview.

A little boy was supposedly shot and France 2, a state-owned French TV channel, got hold of some film and not only broadcast it, they took the highly unusual step of making copies and handed video cassettes to rivals like CNN and the BBC. France 2 correspondent Charles Enderlin said that, first of all, the boy had died and secondly, that Israel had killed this boy. In fact, it later transpired that Charles Enderlin had not even been in Gaza that day – he was in Ramallah, and a freelance Palestinian cameraman had given Charles Enderlin the film.

Almost immediately there were questions about who shot this boy. Later on, there were questions about whether the boy had actually been shot at all. The angle the boy appeared to be shot at did not come from the direction of where Israeli soldiers were stationed. How could Israeli soldiers be responsible for shooting this boy when they weren’t positioned in the line of fire, people asked?

And whether the boy had actually been shot at all is not clear. It soon transpired that the Palestinians that day deliberately play-acted many other scenes for the cameras. We know that because film taken by Reuters cameramen shows various such scenes: for example, Palestinians being carried into Red Crescent ambulances looking like they were seriously injured and then, minutes later, getting out of the ambulance laughing and so on. So it is known that other scenes were staged at the Netzarim Junction that day. The film France 2 provided was very inconclusive.

A court action has been going on for some time in Paris that will hopefully be resolved soon.

Others will go further than me and say that they’re sure they’re staged. I’ve looked at the pictures, examined the case carefully; I’m not a forensic expert, and I’m not working as a lawyer. But as far as I can see, there are very reasonable doubts that the film footage is authentic, and even if the boy died there are very reasonable doubts that Israel was responsible for his death.

So, for France 2 to tell the world that Israel, in effect, murdered a helpless child, and then provide film footage to international TV networks when it wasn’t true, is very inflammatory. (source)

• Previous Posts

You simply must go over to see Chris Elrod’s post on Pete!  Praise God for His Grace!

Barack Obama is making headlines and those head lines have very spiritual and religious overtones!
There is this site called “Is Barack Obama the Messiah?” and on that site I found the following…

For the very first time in my life, I feel compelled to stand up and to speak out for the man who I believe has a new vision for America, . . . I am here to tell you, Iowa, he is the one. He is the one!”

“We’re all here to come together – to appreciate our uniqueness and to treasure our diversity, and we’re here to evolve to a higher plane . . . The reason I love Barack Obama is because he is an evolved leader who can bring evolved leadership to our country. . . .

. . . When you listen to Barack Obama, when you really hear him, you witness a very rare thing. You witness a politician who has an ear for eloquence and a tongue dipped in the unvarnished truth…(source)

What puzzled me is this. As I watched the youtube it quotes accurately on what Oprah had said about Obama, except for one thing… “and we’re here to evolve to a higher plane…The reason I love Barack Obama is because he is an evolved leader who can bring evolved leadership to our country.”

I have watched the video three times now and cannot hear that in her speech! But what she does say is that Obama is one man who has moral authority and that he speaks the unvarnished truth…

She speaks of Obama’s moral authority and his tongue being dipped in the unvarnised truth… hey! But what about his moral stand on abortion? Would anyone care to tell me where his morals are when it comes to the issue of abortion? Apparently he is an advocate for partial birth abortions. I have also heard it said that he is so extreme left, that if he was to roll over in bed he would wake up on the extreme right side, or words to that effect!

One thing I know for sure is that Obama according to some is becoming Messiah-like. Just because he is on the left do not think for one moment that spirituality/religion is not finding its way in through the back door.

Related:

Obama the Messianic

A savior offering messages of “the truth” and hope.

By Rich Lowry

In her stump speeches on Obama’s behalf, Oprah zeroed in on the heart of the matter: Obama’s post-political messianism. In South Carolina, she declared that it isn’t enough for candidates to tell the truth, “We need politicians who know how to be the truth.” One wonders if in the news reports, it were merely a transcription error that “the truth” wasn’t rendered in divinized capital letters.

Michelle Obama spoke in the same terms: “We need a leader who’s going to touch our souls. Who’s going to make us feel differently about one another. Who’s going to remind us that we are one another’s keepers. That we are only as strong as the weakest among us.”

This isn’t merely overpromising. It’s a creepy inflation of a political figure into a secular version of the Second Coming. Oprah implied the same thing, quoting a film in which an old, long-suffering woman asks every child she meets — in a question fraught with messianic symbolism — “Are you the one?” Oprah continued, referring to Obama, “It’s a question the entire nation is asking — is he the one? South Carolina — I do believe he’s the one.”

Just three things of interest, very important things…

• Decline of the dollar - “Euros Accepted” signs pop up in New York City

In the latest example that the U.S. dollar just ain’t what it used to be, some shops in New York City have begun accepting euros and other foreign currency as payment for merchandise.

“We had decided that money is money and we’ll take it and just do the exchange whenever we can with our bank,” Robert Chu, owner of East Village Wines, told Reuters television.

The increasingly weak U.S. dollar, once considered the king among currencies, has brought waves of European tourists to New York with money to burn and looking to take advantage of hugely favorable exchange rates.

• EU and the Arab League to seek closer cooperation

The EU High Representative for the Common Foreign And Security Policy, Javier Solana yesterday expressed his conviction that the Maltese initiative to hold the first ever European Union-Arab League conference will be kept up.

Speaking to The Times on his arrival at the conference venue at the Westin Dragonara in St Julians, Mr Solana said he was pleased to be here for this important meeting.

“After having met with the Arab League on many occasions in different formats, now is the first time we meet at a specific meeting between the Arab League and the 27 EU member states.

“We like the idea very much and now we have to see how we can cooperate in this format.”

Asked what he expected to come out of the meeting, Mr Solana said there were no specific issues that had to be dealt with. What was more important was to strengthen cooperation between the EU and the Arab League.

• Canadians come to realize England’s Islamic crisis is ours as well

The United Kingdom, from common language and shared heritage, offers us our best window into what is happening in Europe. This is especially so when we try to come to grips — if we have the courage to do so — with the historically sudden irruption, and rapid spread, of Islam across Europe.

There are parallel developments in all the nations on the Continent: high immigration rates from Islamic countries, comparatively high birth rates among that immigrant population, and the radicalization of their young in Wahabi mosques financed by the oil wealth of Arabia. But for many English-speaking Canadians, it is the British experience that brings the phenomenon home.

The demographic issue is at the centre of much controversy. There can be little dispute over the statistical facts, which are quite dramatic, and as exhilarating from an Islamist point of view, as they are ominous for those who fear the loss of everything associated with western civilization. For, owing to the prior triumph of the leftist “multicultural” ideology, which holds that one “culture” is as good as another, and therefore it is wrong to preserve our own way of life, there is considerable opposition to discussing these facts.

We have seen this in Canada, where journalists Mark Steyn and Ezra Levant have been hauled before “human rights tribunals” — kangaroo courts in which defendants are stripped of all the traditional protections of court law, and where judgments may be passed against them by people with no legal qualifications on the basis of whim and hearsay.

Mr. Steyn, in particular, stands accused of having openly discussed demographic questions. Mr. Levant stands accused of having published materials the mainstream media had been cowed into suppressing by the fear of Islamist violence.

In both cases, the journalists are being prosecuted by Muslims who advocate the imposition of Shariah law, but are using an apparatus that was designed by the Left for the persecution of those expressing right-wing views.

The British system works differently, and the media in Britain remain more robust than the media in Canada, and willing to report things that would be studiously ignored in a Canadian newsroom. On the other hand, by sheer force of numbers, and the intimidation value of several Islamist atrocities on London’s streets, the “fear factor” in Britain is much higher, and the Labour government has proved much more responsive to Islamist demands.

The chief, and most consistent Islamist demand, is for the imposition of Shariah law, at least for Muslims, but ideally by the whole state. In fact, many Shariah courts are already operating informally in Britain, dealing mostly with routine civil questions of marriage, divorce, inheritance, and financial disputes, but sometimes with crime. For instance, a Shariah court in the London district of Woolwich was allowed recently — apparently with the co-operation of police — to pass judgment on unnamed Somali youths in a knifing incident. (The assailants were released in return for an apology to their victim.)

In various other ways, Shariah is being recognized, semi-formally. For instance, although bigamy remains nominally a crime in Britain, the Labour government has approved new social provisions by which extra welfare payments, council housing privileges, and tax benefits may be claimed by polygamous households, and the cash benefits to which the extra wives are now entitled may be paid directly into the account of their husband.

Related:

• SAUDI PUBLICATIONS ON HATE IDEOLOGY INVADE AMERICAN MOSQUES by Freedom House the Center for Religious Freedom (Pdf file)

I have a link that is a critique of Wahhabism from an Islamic point of view.  Interesting to note is that during Ottoman Rule the British backed Wahhabism according to the article provided…

[...]their false love of religion traces back to a dajjal who went by the name of Muhammad bin Abdul-Wahhab, who was a man sponsered, educated, paid, and helped by the British to eradicate the Uthmani (a.k.a. Ottoman) empire, as well as the rest of the Muslim ‘Ummah from within.

I may add more links, but this will do for now!

I would normally blah, blah, blah about all of this Hagee stuff.  But I just wanted to share a link with you about the ongoing  controversy, here tis…

As Messianic Jews we appreciate the support for Israel and the Jewish community that many Christians have shown in recent years. This remarkable change in Jewish-Christian relations corrects centuries of Christian anti-Semitism and promises to bear much fruit in the coming years. In particular, we recognize the important work that Pastor John Hagee has accomplished in rallying thousands of Christians to this cause. At the same time, we must note serious concerns about some of Pastor Hagee’s doctrinal positions, particularly as expressed in his recent book, In Defense of Israel. These teachings contradict biblical doctrine, undermine thetestimony of Jewish followers of Jesus, and weaken the cause of Christian supporters of the Jewish people. (Read more here)

Rapid response to counter latest evo-establishment attacks

The powerful and influential US National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is determined to attack creation. Their last book, distributed free to over 100,000 teachers, was thoroughly refuted by CMI’s Dr Jonathan Sarfati. That refutation became the biggest-selling creation book of all time, Refuting Evolution.

Now NAS has put out another effort, supposedly with the ‘latest and greatest’ evolutionary arguments.

However, scientist and logician Jonathan Sarfati has now, in a major (booklet-length) web publication, demolished the NAS’s latest claims with ease.

Spread the news-there’s no cost

By sharing this email (with its link to Sarfati’s web booklet, below) with as many folk as you can, and asking them to do the same, this powerful information can arm and equip many believers. And we pray that many eyes will be opened to seeing the logical and scientific fallacies of the ‘goo to you’ philosophy.

See our web response called Science, Creation and Evolutionism that refutes the NAS publication. A PDF booklet for you to forward is available here.

Use it widely-pass it on-print it out.

More on the goings on of Mr Gordon Browns government…

New sharia row over Chancellor’s plans for ‘Islamic bonds’

A new sharia law controversy erupted last night over Government plans to issue special “Islamic bonds” to pay for Gordon Brown’s public-spending programme by raising money from the Middle East.

Britain is to become the first Western nation to issue bonds approved by Muslim clerics in line with sharia law, which bans conventional loans involving interest payments as “sinful”.

The scheme would mark one of the most significant economic advances of sharia law in the non-Muslim world.

It will lead to the ownership of Government buildings and other assets currently belonging to British taxpayers being switched wholesale to wealthy Middle-Eastern businessmen and banks.

[..]The attempt to embrace Islamic financing would also appear to be at odds with Mr Brown’s promise to promote Britishness and British values and institutions.

The Treasury has already faced heavy criticism for removing Britannia from 50p coins.

[...]The Treasury proposal follows the heated debate over the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams’s claim that the spread of elements of sharia law in parts of Britain was “inevitable”. (read more here)

I am seriously thinking of starting a new category called “British-Arabia” … but for now you can find related posts here and another post called “The fall of Britain” here.

Apparently there is a call from some Cardinals, over 500 of them, to request a fifth Marian Dogma…

Five cardinals have sent a letter inviting prelates worldwide to join them in petitioning Benedict XVI to declare a fifth Marian dogma they said would “proclaim the full Christian truth about Mary.”

The text, released last week, includes the petition that asks the Pope to proclaim Mary as “the Spiritual Mother of All Humanity, the co-redemptrix with Jesus the redeemer, mediatrix of all graces with Jesus the one mediator, and advocate with Jesus Christ on behalf of the human race.” (read more here)

I wonder if Rick Warren who would be happy to form an alliance with Catholicism to establish his P.E.A.C.E plan and others who have signed the “Evangelicals and Catholics Together” who are intent on building ecumenical bridges would have a problem with Mary’s co-redemptrix status?

Roger Oakland says that…There are a number of evangelical Protestants who have signed an agreement with Roman Catholics with regard to unification with Rome (Evangelicals and Catholics Together). Further, Rick Warren has stated that he is willing to form an alliance with the Roman Catholic Church to establish his PEACE plan.

The new Marian Dogma is ecumenical in nature…

The petition states: “We believe the time opportune for a solemn definition of clarification regarding the constant teaching of the Church concerning the Mother of the Redeemer and her unique cooperation in the work of Redemption, as well as her subsequent roles in the distribution of grace and intercession for the human family.”

Ecumenism

Pointing to ecumenical concerns, the petition continues: “It is of great importance [...] that people of other religious traditions receive the clarification on the highest level of authentic doctrinal certainty that we can provide, that the Catholic Church essentially distinguishes between the sole role of Jesus Christ, divine and human Redeemer of the world, and the unique though secondary and dependent human participation of the Mother of Christ in the great work of Redemption.”

They want to voice a clearer expression of Catholic Church Marian doctrine when they say…

The text adds that the move would be “the ultimate expression of doctrinal clarity at the service of our Christian and non-Christian brothers and sisters who are not in communion with Rome.”

In a press statement released along with the letter, the cardinal co-sponsors reiterated the same ecumenical concern and said the proclamation of a fifth Marian dogma would be a “service of clarification to other religious traditions and to proclaim the full Christian truth about Mary.“

They also want dialogue concerning Mary…

“This initiative also intends to start an in-depth worldwide dialogue on Mary’s role in salvation for our time. [...] Should this effort prove successful, a proclamation would constitute a historical event for the Church as only the fifth Marian dogma defined in its 2,000-year history.”

And of course is it all about “The New Evangelization” in regards to Mary’s role for humanity…

Cardinal Aponte Martínez, one of the cardinal co-patrons said: “I believe the time is now for the papal definition of the relationship of the Mother of Jesus to the each one of us, her earthly children, in her roles as co-redemptrix, mediatrix of all graces and advocate.

“To solemnly proclaim Mary as the spiritual mother of all peoples is to fully and officially recognize her titles, and consequently to activate, to bring to new life the spiritual, intercessory functions they offer the Church for the new evangelization, and for humanity in our serious present world situation.”

• Dogma Proclamation can be found here in response to this letter.

Related

• Purpose Driven Lent Part II