fides quaerens intellectum
Dec 07 2009
Granted, the Church Fathers – those early writers and proponents of the faith – were/are not infallible, but they stand here to show us the early tradition of the Faith. It was simply that this world is not our home, and politics not to be the profession of the Church. This newest doctrinal development, which confuses Church and State, would have been looked down upon by the men and women who descended from the Apostles.
Continue reading “The Church Fathers on Government and Public Service”
Jul 19 2009
JB at The White Report has posted two new articles on the Christian Identity Movement. They are dated, but due to a recent rise of inane comments on Twitter, Facebook, etc… the ideas of this group seem to be spreading.
Anyway, the articles are here and here.
Although the Christian Identity movement is outside the mainstream of Christianity, it does serve as an affront to Christianity. It bothers me, quickly, when someone comes preaching that garbage on this site, and it gets my temper rising fast. If you visit the comments on the posts about Arnold Murray, you will note that my temper flies very fast, so forgive that, but bare in mind, we all have faults.
I am filing it under Arnie M because he is one of the most well known hatemongers out there.
May 06 2009
According to Comedy Central FoxNews, Hawaii has declared a day for Islam. To be honest, my first thoughts are a bit of a revulsion. Perhaps it’s that separation of Church and State thing. Not sure. But I will give it time to develop.
Hawaii’s state Senate overwhelmingly approved a bill Wednesday to celebrate “Islam Day” — over the objections of a few lawmakers who said they didn’t want to honor a religion connected to Sept. 11, 2001.
The Senate’s two Republicans argued that a minority of Islamic extremists have killed many innocents in terrorist attacks.
“I recall radical Islamists around the world cheering the horrors of 9/11. That is the day all civilized people of all religions should remember,” said Republican Sen. Fred Hemmings to the applause of more than 100 people gathered in the Senate to oppose a separate issue — same-sex civil unions.
The resolution to proclaim Sept. 24, 2009, as Islam Day passed the Senate on a 22-3 vote. It had previously passed the House and now goes to Republican Gov. Linda Lingle.
The bill seeks to recognize “the rich religious, scientific, cultural and artistic contributions” that Islam and the Islamic world have made. It does not call for any spending or organized celebration of Islam Day.
Read the rest above, leave the comments here.
Nov 12 2008
There is a new religion burning up the charts this afternoon by the name of Summum. Never heard of it, really, but it turns out that it is another cooky religion.
Summum is a religion and philosophy that began in 1975 as a result of Claude “Corky” Nowell’s alleged encounter with beings he describes as “Summa Individuals.” According to Nowell, these beings presented him with concepts regarding the nature of creation, concepts that have always existed and are continually re-introduced to humankind by advanced beings who work along the pathways of creation. As a result of his experience, Nowell founded Summum in order to share the “gift” he received with others.[1] In 1980, as a reflection of his newfound evolutionary path, he changed his name to Summum Bonum Amon Ra,[2] but news stories indicate he goes by Corky Ra.
They are currently fighting a case that would allow them to put their ‘Seven Aphorisms’ in the public square. From here:
WASHINGTON, Nov. 12 (UPI) — The U.S. Supreme Court heard argument Wednesday on whether a city must accept all displays on public land if it allows one — in this case the Ten Commandments.
The case comes out of Pleasant Grove City, Utah. The city’s Pioneer Park has several “unattended” displays, including a Ten Commandment monument donated by the Eagles, a fraternal organization.
However, when a religious group called Summum, founded in 1975 and based in Salt Lake City, wanted to install its own Seven Principles of Creation (or Seven Aphorisms) monument, the city rejected the application.
A U.S. appeals court in Denver eventually ruled that if the city accepts one monument, it had to accept the other.
Lawyers for the city and the Bush administration argued that the country’s parks would be smothered in displays if all must be accepted, The Salt Lake City Tribune said. “The Vietnam Wall Memorial did not open us up to a Viet Cong Memorial,” Assistant U.S. Solicitor General Daryl Joseffer said, the newspaper reported.
Summum attorney Pamela Harris said the National Mall, where the Wall is placed, is protected by the free speech exception on federal government land, but Pleasant Grove claims the Ten Commandments monument isn’t even city owned.
A decision is expected before the court term ends in late June
And then there is more:
Continue reading “Summum: Seven Aphorisms and the the fight of religion in the public square”
Oct 18 2008
via Jesus Politics
After fighting as an Israeli soldier in the 1973 war, and troubled by the nation’s obsessive mixing of the Bible with politics, the filmmaker left for America, which he considered a “safe haven” because of its separation between church and state. Thirty-five years later, alarmed by the prominent role of religion in the 2008 American presidential campaign, he decides to make a road trip, to try and understand the phenomenon.
Rather than follow the candidates, however, Ziv decides to meet with religious activists supporting the Democratic and Republican candidates. From the Iowa Caucus and the New Hampshire and South Carolina primaries to Super Tuesday in Oklahoma, JESUS POLITICS shows the efforts of Baptist activists for Obama, Catholics and evangelicals for McCain, Christian conservatives for Huckabee, as well as the political efforts of evangelical organizations such as Christians United for Israel.
Through archival footage and discussions with author and theology historian Randall Balmer (God in the White House) and Moral Majority cofounder Paul Weyrich, the film also provides a historical overview of religion in American politics, from the Great Awakening religious revivals in the 18th and 19th centuries, through 1960 when JFK asked voters to disregard his Catholic faith, through the rise of Jimmy Carter in 1976 as a “born again” politician, and the more recent rise of the Religious New Right, and its political activism around the issues of abortion and homosexuality.
JESUS POLITICS explores themes including the social role of the church in the African-American community, the religious rhetoric of the candidates and their sometimes controversial associations with religious leaders, how moral issues such as abortion became political weapons, and how biblical interpretation is used to validate political beliefs.
Filmed across 4000 miles and seventeen states, in JESUS POLITICS Ziv weaves an historically informed but thoroughly contemporary cinematic essay, a probing look at how deeply religious faith shapes 21st cenury American politics.
Oct 17 2008
From here:
A Saturday, October 11, 2008 Associated Press story detailed how Alaska Governor Sarah Palin had “bonded” church and state, spending more than $13,000 dollars in state money to attend religious events and meetings with Christian pastors since Palin took office in 2006. During that period, Sarah Palin was listed, and still is, as being on the advisory board of a publicly supported Christian nonprofit which states on its tax records its mission is evangelizing and runs “Religion related – spiritual development” suicide prevention programs in Alaskan public schools.
Continue reading “Urging "Revolution," Palin's Religious Charity Evangelizes in Schools”
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