Amplify’d from www.thehollywoodnews.com

Dan Brown is adapting The Lost Symbol for the big screen

by Paul Heath

Author Dan Brown is to adapt his own novel THE LOST SYMBOL for the big screen. The book once again features Robert Langdon as the main protagonist, and is the latest in the series which started with ANGELS AND DEMONS and THE DA VINCI CODE. Upon it’s release in 2009, The Lost Symbol sold a staggering 1 million copies in its first day, and remained at the top of the bestseller’s list for six weeks. It is also the fastest selling adult novel of all time.

Here’s the synopsis: The Capitol Building, Washington DC: Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon believes he is here to give a lecture. He is wrong. Within minutes of his arrival, a shocking object is discovered. It is a gruesome invitation into an ancient world of hidden wisdom.When Langdons mentor, Peter Solomon prominent mason and philanthropist is kidnapped, Langdon realizes that his only hope of saving his friends life is to accept this mysterious summons.It is to take him on a breathless chase through Washingtons dark history. All that was familiar is changed into a shadowy, mythical world in which Masonic secrets and never-before-seen revelations seem to be leading him to a single impossible and inconceivable truth.

Brown has been hired by Columbia Pictures to pen the screenplay, but the project does not yet have the commitement of ‘A&D’ and ‘Da Vinci’ director Ron Howard (who is busy adapting Stephen King’s The Dark Tower), or Tom Hanks, who portrayed Langdon in the first two movies.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter Read more at www.thehollywoodnews.com

 

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Seems there’s a ‘perfect storm’ developing in the tiny village of Pech de Thauze in France, known as Bugarach. In an attempt to counter the storm the mayor has threatened to call in the military in December of 2012 due to the increasing number of UFO enthusiasts, end of the world in 2012 believers and various mystics and their followers have begun to descend upon on the tiny village in the past few years. Equally intriguing, the ties to the famed French science fiction writer Jules Verne and the nearby village of Rennes-Le-Chateau. The more than rumors Jules Verne may have encryptd ‘important Masonic and Rosicrucian secrets and sacred symbolism’ in his books to solve the ‘ages’ old mysteries surrounding Bugarach Mountain and the village of Rennes-le-Chateau.

Amplify’d from deathby1000papercuts.com

UFO Enthusiasts Swarm Small French Village: Mysteries of Bugarach Mountain and Jules Verne

French science fiction author Jules Verne: Less than six degrees to secret societies and UFO's?

Seems there’s a ‘perfect storm’ developing in the tiny village of Pech de Thauze in France, known as Bugarach. In an attempt to counter the storm the mayor has threatened to call in the military in December of 2012 due to the increasing number of UFO enthusiasts, end of the world in 2012 believers and various mystics and their followers have begun to descend upon on the tiny village in the past few years. Equally intriguing, the ties to the famed French science fiction writer Jules Verne and the nearby village of Rennes-Le-Chateau. The more than rumors Jules Verne may have encryptd ‘important Masonic and Rosicrucian secrets and sacred symbolism’ in his books to solve the ‘ages’ old mysteries surrounding Bugarach Mountain and the village of Rennes-le-Chateau.

From Mysteries of Templar Treasure and the Holy Grail: The Secrets of Rennes-Le-Chateau:

Verne’s ‘Clovis Dardentor’ was published in 1896, twenty seven years after Verne’s classic, ‘Journey to the Center of The Earth’.

Online, the book, The Secret Message of Jules Verne – Decoding His Masonic, Rosicrucian, and Occult Writings:

An exploration of how Jules Verne used his writings to encrypt important Masonic and Rosicrucian secrets and sacred symbolism – Investigates Verne’s connections to the prominent secret societies of his time: Freemasons, Golden Dawn, Angelic Society, and Rosicrucians – Reveals how certain of Verne’s works hold the key to deciphering the Rennes-le-Chateau mystery – Explores Verne’s relations with other authors whose works reveal similar esoteric influence: George Sand, Gaston Leroux, Bram Stoker, and Maurice Leblanc Prolific author and pioneer of the science fiction novel, Jules Verne also possessed a hidden side that was encrypted into all his works–his active participation in the occult milieu of late-nineteenth-century France. Among the many esoteric secrets to be found are significant clues to the Rennes-le-Chateau mystery, including the location of a great treasure in the former Cathar region of France and the survival of the heirs to the Merovingian dynasty. Verne’s books also reveal Rosicrucian secrets of immortality, and some are constructed, like Mozart’s The Magic Flute, in accordance with Masonic initiation. The passe-partout to Verne’s work (the skeleton key that is also the name of Phileas Fogg’s servant in Around the World in Eighty Days) lies in the initiatory language he employed to inscribe a second or even third layer of meaning beneath the main narrative, which is revealed in his skilled use of word play, homonyms, anagrams, and numerical combinations. The surface story itself is often a guide that tells the reader outright what he or she should be looking for. Far from innocuous stories for children, Verne’s work reveals itself to be rich with teachings on symbolism, esoteric traditions, sacred geography, and the secret history of humanity.

Over at the Daily Mail, the report the mayor of the tiny French village Bugarash is threatening to call in the army in December of 2012 after ‘UFO enthusiasts’ have begun to ‘swarm’ the village.

Daily Mail:

The mayor of a tiny French village has called for the army to seal it off from a swathe of UFO hunters and rapture believers who believe it is one of the few places on Earth that will survive Armageddon.

Picturesque Bugarach is located in the Aude region of southwest France and is home to just 189 people.

But in the last few months it has been inundated by ET enthusiasts who believe the Pic de Bugarach, a 4,000ft mountain at whose base the village sits, is an ‘alien garage’. According to some, aliens have been biding their time beneath the mountain waiting for end of the world, when they will leave taking some lucky humans with them.

The end date of the ancient Mayan calendar, December 21, 2012, is taken by many to refer to the date of Armageddon when human civilisation will cease to exist. People who have flocked to the French village believe Bugarach is one of several ‘sacred mountains’ which will be spared from destruction.

According to the Mayor, UFO enthusiasts began to show up in Bugarash ten years after a man reported seeing a UFO and the sound of humming coming from the mountain. Websites in the US have been selling tickets for trips to the village. The appearance of mystical workshops and prayer meditation.

Over at the website Phantoms and Monsters, a report of a UFO encounter at Bugarach in 2009. The report of a couple who encountered an ‘alien’ who informed them there would be a devastating earthquake in Chile.

Over at the website Societe Perillos, more details about Burgash Mountain dubbed the ‘Magic Mountain’ and the report of mysterious underground caverns.

The entire region is limestone, and hence there are numerous caves. Bugarach has its fair share of underground caverns, some of which are unknown to the general public, some of which are known to certain “initiates” and some which have perhaps never been discovered. It is an area with large underground salt deposits, specifically in the neighbouring Rennes-les-Bains, whereas Rennes-le-Château is often said to have a large underground water tank, which might go as deep as several hundreds of metres. The underground network is complex, largely unexplored, and runs for miles. It is known that an underground river near Bugarach is connected as far west as Salses… no doubt before entering into the Mediterranean basin. The river does not appear on any maps, but underneath the surface, it runs its course.

And,

Verne drew the reader’s attention towards Bugarach, using many of the toponyms in the area in his novels. There is the reference to a “Clovis Dardentor”, which has been explained as being of interest to the mystery of Rennes-le-Château. In this novel, the hero seeks a fabulous treasure which he can find only by using geographical data and a select few documents. Alas, the deposit is impossible to locate – very much like Saunière’s.

Rennes-le-Chateau, a village located near Bugarach. Included in the article about Magic Mountain, the legend of Daniel Bettex, a Swiss man who, in 1960, allegedly died during an exploration of Bugarach Mountain. Bettex’s belief, Bugarach Mountain contained one of the secret entrances to a ‘mythical underground world’.

The death of the Daniel Bettex, in, on or under Bugarach, has become a local legend. Outside of France, it is known of, but details of the events are often scant or missing from the accounts. As such, it is largely unreported. Bettex was one of those who, since 1960, were attracted to the mountain and carried out curious investigations. Various prospections of the area were carried out, often discreetly. Often, these expeditions led to rumours, sometimes to entire fabrications. In some cases, a written report was produced, but that did not mean there was no room for amazement or further questions. Some left behind sufficient evidence that opened up even more questions, though in all these cases, a clear revelation was never on the cards.

Rumors Bettex may have been discovered the Lost Ark of the Covenant:

A rumour circulates all the quicker if it is known as a secret. Thus, one statement went that Mr. Bettex was searching for the Ark of the Covenant, that he had located it, as evidenced by his photographs: it was under Bugarach! It was also stated that Bettex was a member of the Rosicrucian order. This assertion is not easily verifiable, but it seems that he was indeed a member of a secret organisation – which was more discrete than the Rosicrucian movement. But the question remains whether his membership had any bearing at all on his research that he carried out in Bugarach… How he came to research Bugarach is known: Roché pointed it out to him…

Another rumour stated that General Moshe Dayan had become personally interested in Bettex’s research. With such notorious Israel officials now apparently interested in him, Bettex’s public profile went up with several points… and the rumour of the Ark of the Covenant became more and better known. It is even stated that the General had contacted Bettex personally, warning him, advising him, to stop everything if he discovered the artefact, and especially not to touch anything… Bettex must surely have been familiar with his Bible, which clearly spells out the dangers of touching the Ark… it did not require the general to point this out.

Back to Rennes-le-Chateau, a village whose history is as ‘strange’ as Bugarach with claims of ties to the Knights of Templar, Freemasons, and a mysterious secret society called Prieure du Notre Dame du Sion, or Priory of Zion, and the equally mysterious priest, Berenger Sauniere.

From Mysteries of Rennes-le-Chateau and the Prieure du Sion:

Here are the basic outlines of the mystery of Rennes-le-Château. It was clear that Berenger Sauniere, the parish priest of the small village during the late 19th and early 20th century, had been receiving vast sums of money to refurbish the local church and also to build many structures in the area, such as his Tower of the Magdalene (Tour Magdala). Sauniere died in 1917, leaving the secret of where he got his fabulous wealth to his housekeeper, Marie Dernaud, who promised to reveal it on her deathbed — but sadly she had a stroke which left her paralyzed and unable to speak before her death in 1953. Speculation was rife on the source of the parish priest’s money. Was it the lost treasure of the Templars or the Cathars in the area? Might it have been buried Visigothic gold? Or was he blackmailing the Church with some terrible secret? The evidence that points to the last possibility is that Sauniere’s confession before his death was so shocking that the priest who heard it denied him absolution and last rites.

The mystery is rendered greater by a series of parchments found by the cleric in 1891, which contained an easily discovered cipher. They were apparently written by his predecessor, Abbe Antoine Bigou, confessor to Marie d’Hautpoul, in 1781. (The same cipher appears on her tombstone.) The parchments were, on the face of it, Latin transcriptions of passages from the Gospels, but they contained deeper mysteries. Sauniere also appears to have left certain other “clues” in the highly unusual redesign of his church and of the other structures in the area. Hidden within those Latin parchments was a message in French:

“THIS TREASURE BELONGS TO DAGOBERT II KING AND TO SION AND HE IS THERE DEAD.”

Within the second parchment was an even stranger message:

SHEPHERDESS NO TEMPTATION THAT POUSSIN TENIERS HOLD THE KEY PEACE 681 BY THE CROSS AND THIS HORSE OF GOD I COMPLETE THIS DAEMON GUARDIAN AT MIDDAY BLUE APPLES.

A third cipher that appears, not in the documents, but at Shugborough Hall’s Shepherd Monument, is the curious “D.O.U.O.S.V.A.V.V.M” which has never been translated.

And,

The Prieure du Notre Dame du Sion, or Priory of Zion, is said to be the cabal behind many of the events that occurred at Rennes-le-Château. According to the Prieure’s own documents, its history is long and convoluted. Its earliest roots are in some sort of Hermetic or Gnostic society led by a man named Ormus. This individual is said to have reconciled paganism and Christianity. The story of Sion only comes into focus in the Middle Ages. In 1070, a group of monks from Calabria, Italy, led by one Prince Ursus, founded the Abbey of Orval in France near Stenay, in the Ardennes. These monks are said to have formed the basis for the Order de Sion, into which they were “folded” in 1099 by Godfroi de Bouillion. For about one hundred years, the Order of the Temple (Knights Templar) and Sion were apparently unified under one leadership, though they are said to have separated at the “cutting of the elm” at Gisors in 1188. (The Templar order was then destroyed by King Phillipe Le Bel of France, in 1307.) Sion appears to have been at the nexus of two French antimonarchical movements, the Compagnie du St.-Sacrament of the 17th century (acting on behalf on the Guise-Lorraine families) and the Fronde of the 18th, as well as behind an attempt to make the Hapsburgs emperors of all Europe in the 19th — the Hieron du Val d’Or. It appears that there are vast connections between Sion and numerous sociocultural strata in European thought — Roscicrucianism, Freemasonry, Arthurian and Grail legends, “Arcadianism,” Catharism, chivalry, etc. Read more at deathby1000papercuts.com

 

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Masonic Roots May Be Traced To Moses (Musa) 4,000 B.C. And Ancient Egypt

Amplify’d from www.finalcall.com

Masonic Roots May Be Traced To Moses (Musa) 4,000 B.C. And Ancient Egypt

By Mother Tynnetta Muhammad

THE CULTURALREVOLUTIONBEGINS | IN SEARCH OF THEMESSIAH

“And nothing prevents people from believing, when the guidance comes to them, except that they say: has Allah raised up a mortal to be a messenger? Say: Had there been in the earth angels walking about secure, We would have sent down to them from the heaven an angel as messenger.” –Holy Qur'an, Surah 17, verses 94-95

In my current research covering some of the deeper roots of modern Masonry with its use of symbolic language and signs, it appears that traces of its cryptic messages can be traced to the history of Moses, the Great Law Giver and Builder of modern Western civilization. It is the Jewish people in particular who emerge as the greatest benefactors of Moses' teachings causing them to excel over their other brethren of the Caucasian Race. To better understand this historic background, we must turn to Moses' work and mission which converges into two distinct assignments. On the one hand we must review the biblical account of Moses in Egypt and his freeing of a few hundred thousand Israelites,a sign of the Black Man's history in America today, and a little known history of Moses,as taught by the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, which shows him as the great civilizer of the White Race in the caves and hillsides of Europe. In the Jewish Kabbalah system, the language used to conceal great truths centers around the use of letters, numbers and words with cryptic or hidden meanings behind the scriptural texts which is generally only known or interpreted by the Jewish Rabbis and other scholars.

Inset) Red fezzes bearing Arabic names are showcased on a wall inside the George Washington Masonic Memorial in Alexandria, Virginia. In 1922, construction began on the Detroit Masonic Temple. It’s made of white limestone, houses over a thousand rooms and is the largest Masonic Temple in the world. Photo: Courtesy, 'The Million Man March Book'

This cryptic or symbolic language may have been taught to them by Moses who had a knowledge of the ancient Egyptian wisdom and was raised by Almighty God, Allah, to bring them into Rulership over others. Knowing that the White race would be given the dominion and the rule over others, the Jews emerged as an elite group in the mastery of this symbolic language and the skills of Tricknollogy. With these skills, they were able to master and rule over their White brethren and to exercise their dominion over the Indigenous populations of the earth. This secret history of the White race and the Jewish people was taught by the Honorable Elijah Muhammad and revealed to the public for the first time upon the Coming of His Master Teacher, W. Fard Muhammad, the Great Mahdi. While studying some of the secret rituals that have passed into Masonry, the study of our Nation of Islam's Lessons demystifies the secrets of their successful rule. We read in our lessons how and why the White race was caste out of Arabia 6,000 years ago due to their mischief-making and causing trouble in the Holy Land as we read in the Book of Genesis about Adam and Eve's exile from the Garden. They were literally gathered together and exiled across the Arabian dessert into West Asia or Europe where they were left alone without a guide until the coming of Moses (Musa) 4,000 B.C. They were made to walk 2200 miles and were stripped of their garments except for a covering or apron to cover their private parts. Everything was taken from them except the language. It's interesting to note that the Hebrew language is composed of 22 letters, (2200 miles), witheach letter, as in the Greek language, representing a number which is associated with extensive inner meanings. By using this literary technology wisely, they can keep back the truth of its meaning from the masses of the people while they continue to rule while hiding the Truth, until today. While crossing the Arabian desert, soldiers were mounted on camels with scimitars or swords directing them on their way. We find this emblem of the sword being shown prominently among the Shriners and Masons who display it on top of their red fezzes and in their secret fraternities that can be traced back to their early history beginning 6,000 years ago. Upon entering the first three degrees of Masonry, their wearing of the apron, and their being stripped of all worldly goods and money are part of the formalities associated with their initiation replicating what happened to their forefathers for disobeying God's Divine Laws, whether they are aware of this secret Knowledge or not. When they arrived in Europe, they were abandoned and remained in a savage condition for 2,000 years until Almighty God, Allah, sent them Moses or Musa to civilize them. Moses taught them how to build a home for themselves, how to stand upright, and how to cook and season their meat rather than eating it raw. Moses also taught them how to master the Original Man and People for a certain period of time and helped them to prepare for a higher civilization in which they would dominate and subordinate all others? They were taught the careful use of language and symbols to hide the Truth while keeping the masses of the people ignorant, blind, deaf and dumb to its inner meaning. Returning to the masonic ritual, we were told by our 33rd degree masonic guide at the Masonic Temple in Detroit, Michigan, that when the 33rd degree is conferred, there is a place set for the President of the United States and other dignitaries to be in attendance. During the ceremony, a ring is bestowed on the finger of the 33rd degree candidate which is passed down from the previous wearer of which they are never the owners. We were also told that the highest Commanding Officer of the Marines must be a 33rd degree Mason. What does all of this secrecy mean being practiced in our midst? It means that the hiding of truth in symbolic language is known by the elite ruling class of this world and is hidden from the masses until a certain period of time, which is now, when all Secrets are being revealed. Almighty God, Allah, (the Son of Man) has appeared at the end of this World's Order of Satan that has ruled under Falsehood and Deception; and the Truth that has been Hidden has been Revealed among the People who sat in the Darkness of ignorance to bring about a Universal Change in World Civilization. The Honorable Elijah Muhammad's writing in Chapter 4 of “Our Saviour Has Arrived,” speaks on the consequences of, “The Hidden Truth,” in these words: “They are doing everything they possibly can to deceive the Black man and woman into thinking that they (white people) hold out greater and better promises for a future to the Black man and woman in America than Allah (God). This will deceive many of our people.” “Say: Allah suffices for a witness between me and you. Surely He is ever Aware of His servants, Seeing. And he whom Allah guides, he is on the right way; and he whom He leaves in error, for them thou wilt find no guardians besides Him. And We shall gather them together on the day of Resurrection on their faces, blind and dumb and deaf. Their abode is hell. Whenever it abates, We make them burn the more.” –Holy Qur'an, Surah 17, verses 96-97 To be continued. Read more at www.finalcall.com

 

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Amplify’d from www.hollandsentinel.com

LETTER — We don’t have a revenue problem, we have a spending problem

By John Thornton

Holland Township, MI — I was shocked, shocked, to read Ray Buursma’s opinion in the Dec. 15 Sentinel calling for higher taxes. Mr. Buursma did not make one statement  or comment regarding government’s irresponsible handling of the people’s tax revenues. The plain and simple fact is our government (federal, state and local) does not have a revenue problem but a spending (expense) problem.    I have always maintained the belief that we Americans are better stewards of our money than the government. What many of us have witnessed from what Mr. Buursma calls his “Republican and Democrat Friends” is that they always tend to move toward political expediency rather than basing their decisions upon right or wrong. Mr. Buursma suggests that all Americans should be required to “pay their fair share.” Later he references the confiscatory rates of foreign countries as a means to determine or persuade us Americans as to our “fair share.” Take a look at Greece, Ireland, Spain, the United Kingdom, France and Germany. Did higher taxes keep them from financial chaos? No one seems to be immune from the economic downturn we’re all facing and confiscating people’s wealth for redistribution is not the answer to our national debt problems. Socialism is not the answer to our economic woes either. The answer can be found in: Lower taxes for individuals and businesses, job creation and employment growth, and reduced government spending. I do agree with Mr. Buursma in that all of us must bear the burden (fair share) for digging ourselves out of this avalanche of economic debt. The disagreement that I have is how we go about it. The “fair share” will be how we as a people cope with a reduction in governmental services and programs. I agree with Mr. Buursma on the danger our national debt, which is more than $13 trillion. With the Republican landslide in the federal elections in November, the people have spoken. It’s time we put the government on a “financial diet.” Less spending is the answer! John Thornton Holland Township Read more at www.hollandsentinel.com

 

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Internet Access is not a “Civil Right”

Amplify’d from www.gouverneurtimes.com

Internet Access is not a “Civil Right”

Written by Michelle Malkin

22 Dec 2010   -   When bureaucrats talk about increasing our "access" to x, y or z, what they're really talking about is increasing exponentially their control over our lives. As it is with the government health care takeover, so it is with the newly approved government plan to "increase" Internet "access." Call it Webcare.

By a vote of 3-2, the Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday adopted a controversial scheme to ensure "net neutrality" by turning unaccountable Democratic appointees into meddling online traffic cops. The panel will devise convoluted rules governing Internet service providers, bandwidth use, content, prices and even disclosure details on Internet speeds. The "neutrality" is brazenly undermined by preferential treatment toward wireless broadband networks. Moreover, the FCC's scheme is widely opposed by Congress — and has already been rejected once in the courts. Demonized industry critics have warned that the regulations will stifle innovation and result in less access, not more.

Sound familiar? The parallels with health care are striking. The architects of Obamacare promised to provide Americans more access to health insurance — and cast their agenda as a fundamental universal entitlement.

In fact, it was a pretext for creating a gargantuan federal bureaucracy with the power to tax, redistribute and regulate the private health insurance market to death — and replace it with a centrally planned government system overseen by politically driven code enforcers dictating everything from annual coverage limits to administrative expenditures to the makeup of the medical workforce. The costly, onerous and selectively applied law has resulted in less access, not more.

Undaunted promoters of Obama FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski's "open Internet" plan to expand regulatory authority over the Internet have couched their online power grab in the rhetoric of civil rights. On Monday, FCC Commissioner Michael Copps proclaimed: "Universal access to broadband needs to be seen as a civil right ... (though) not many people have talked about it that way." Opposing the government Internet takeover blueprint, in other words, is tantamount to supporting segregation.

Cunning propaganda, that.

"Broadband is becoming a basic necessity," civil rights activist Benjamin Hooks added. And earlier this month, fellow FCC panelist Mignon Clyburn, daughter of Congressional Black Caucus leader and Number Three House Democrat James Clyburn of South Carolina, declared that free (read: taxpayer-subsidized) access to the Internet is not only a civil right for every "nappy-headed child" in America, but is essential to their self-esteem. Every minority child, she said, "deserves to be not only connected, but to be proud of who he or she is."

Calling them "nappy-headed" is a rather questionable way of boosting their pride, but never mind that.

Face it: A high-speed connection is no more an essential civil right than 3G cell phone service or a Netflix account. Increasing competition and restoring academic excellence in abysmal public schools is far more of an imperative to minority children than handing them iPads. Once again, Democrats are using children as human shields to provide useful cover for not so noble political goals.

The "net neutrality" mob — funded by billionaire George Soros and other left-wing think tanks and nonprofits — has openly advertised its radical, speech-squelching agenda in its crusade for "media justice." Social justice is the redistribution of wealth and economic "rights." Media justice is the redistribution of free speech and other First Amendment rights.

The meetings of the universal broadband set are littered with Marxist-tinged rants about "disenfranchisement" and "empowerment." They've targeted conservative opponents on talk radio, cable TV and the Internet as purveyors of "hate" who need to be managed or censored. Democratic FCC panelists have dutifully echoed their concerns about concentration of corporate media power.

As the Ford Foundation-funded Media Justice Fund, which lobbied for universal broadband, put it: This is a movement "grounded in the belief that social and economic justice will not be realized without the equitable redistribution and control of media and communication technologies."

For progressives who cloak their ambitions in the mantle of "fairness," it's all about control. It's always about control. Read more at www.gouverneurtimes.com

 

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Amplify’d from www.columbiatribune.com

UFO findings kept a secret

BY BILL WICKERSHAM

Grant Cameron, one of the foremost UFO scholars in the world, directs the online project known as “The President’s UFO Website” (www.presidentialUFO.com). The website has UFO-related studies and materials dated from every presidential administration starting with Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Wickersham

Cameron’s article titled “President Carter, Daniel Sheehan, and Donald Menzel: The Congressional Research Service UFO Studies for President Jimmy Carter” describes the role played by Sheehan in examining the classified sections of the U.S. Air Force’s 1969 study of UFOs known as Project Blue Book, which was never released for public distribution. (To retrieve the full article, Google “The Marcia Smith Story — The President’s UFO Study.”)

Sheehan, with whom I have met and discussed his UFO work, is a Harvard Ph.D. and law graduate who served as general counsel to the U.S. Jesuit National Headquarters — National Office of Social Ministry in Washington, D.C. In 1976, he also served as a consultant to Marcia Smith, an analyst in science and technology with the Congressional Research Service. At the beginning of the Carter administration, Smith was asked by the U.S. House Science and Technology Committee to undertake two major investigations:

To determine whether extraterrestrial intelligence existed in our galaxy.

To determine what the relationship of UFO phenomena might be to extraterrestrial intelligence.

Sheehan’s primary role was to review the classified sections of Project Blue Book and provide his findings to Smith for inclusion in her report to the congressional committee. The secret Blue Book materials were kept in a vaulted room in the basement of the Library of Congress’s Madison Building in Washington, and Smith had received permission from Air Force officials to grant Sheehan access to the vault.

Sheehan was allowed entrance into the vault by two security officers and one plainclothes official. When he entered the vault, he found a large assortment of UFO materials, including a 35 mm film projector and numerous films of far distant shots of strange vehicles.

After examining several boxes of films, he discovered one canister that included very clear photographs of what appeared to be a crashed UFO sitting on the ground. “It had hit into this field and had dug up, kind of plowed this kind of trough through this field,” Sheehan said. “It was wedged into the side of the mud-like embankment kind of up at an angle. There were Air Force personnel. As I cranked the little handle and looked at additional photos, these Air Force people were taking pictures.

“In the photograph, they were taking photographs of this vehicle. One of the photos actually had the Air Force personnel with this big long tape measuring this thing. You could see that they had these parkas on, with little fur around their hoods. You could see that they had little name tags on their jacket. They were clearly U.S. Air Force personnel.”

After viewing the various classified materials, Sheehan shared his information with Smith. She, in turn, drafted two reports for the House Science and Technology Committee, one on the collected extraterrestrial intelligence information and the other on unidentified flying objects.

Sheehan said the first report concluded “there are from two to six highly intelligent, highly technologically developed civilizations in our own galaxy over and above our own.

“In the second report, they had drawings of different shapes of UFOs that have been sighted,” Sheehan said. “They didn’t cite any particular case, but they said that they believe there was a significant number of instances where the official U.S. Air Force investigations were unable to discount the possibility that one or more of these vehicles was actually from one of these extraterrestrial civilizations. They put this together and sent it over to the president. I ended up seeing a copy of it.”

To date, the United States has failed to fully acknowledge and disclose the classified findings of Project Blue Book.

In fact, a May 2010 Air Force statement said: “There was no evidence submitted to or discovered by the Air Force that sightings categorized as unidentified represented technological development or principles beyond the range of modern scientific knowledge.” That statement is contrary to the testimony of dozens of former U.S. military officers and government officials. And while the testimony of Sheehan does not prove the extraterrestrial visitation hypothesis, it indicates the Air Force failed to share the whole truth with the public when, over the years, it frequently said it “had nothing to hide.”

Cameron’s website contains several other very interesting UFO cover-up episodes, including one in the Clinton administration. It is a treasure trove for UFO historians and other analysts.

Bill Wickersham is an MU adjunct professor of peace studies and a member of Veterans for Peace. Read more at www.columbiatribune.com

 

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US embassy cables: Vatican archivist objects to media portrayal as 'the German Jesuit' | World news | guardian.co.uk

URL:  http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/us-embassy-cables-docum...

Monday, 13 August 2001, 11:46

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 VATICAN 004258

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DEPT. FOR EUR/WE (MENNUTI), EUR/OHI

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TAGS PREL, PHUM, KNAR, PHUM, KNAR, VT.PREL, VT.

SUBJECT: VATICAN ARCHIVES Q "THE REAL STORY"

CONFIDENTIAL

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CLASSIFIED BY A/DCM GEORGE FROWICK, REASON E.O. 12958 (B,D).



1. (C) A/DCM AND POLITICAL ASSISTANT MET WITH JESUIT FATHER PETER GUMPEL AUGUST 10 AT HIS OFFICES IN THE JESUIT CURIA TO DISCUSS THE TECHNICAL ISSUES INVOLVED IN OPENING THE VATICAN ARCHIVES. (NOTE: THIS WAS A PREVIOUSLY ARRANGED MEETING, I.E. BEFORE WE RECEIVED REFTEL. WE NEVERTHELESS DELIVERED SUBSTANTIALLY THE SAME SET OF POINTS, FOCUSING ON THE USG'S INTEREST IN PROMOTING A POSITIVE, PRODUCTIVE DIALOGUE, AND QUICKLY, AS THE HOLOCAUST GENERATION IS PASSING. END NOTE.) GUMPEL IMMEDIATELY ADVISED THAT THE ISSUE OF ACCESS TO THE VATICAN ARCHIVES RELATED TO THE WORLD WAR II ERA WAS SIMPLY AN INTERNAL MATTER OF PROCEDURE AND NOT A POLITICAL ONE. XXXXXXXXXXXX HE ASSURED US THAT HE WAS A JUDGE FOR MATERIAL USED IN THE PROCESS TO DECLARE PIUS XII A SAINT AND NOT THE PROMOTER OF THE CAUSE FOR SAINTHOOD.



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THE "TECHNICAL" PROCESS CONFIDENTIAL



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2. (C) WHEN PRESSED, GUMPEL, WITH SCHOLARLY PRECISION, EXPLAINED THE TECHNICAL PROCEDURES FOR ACCESS TO THE VATICAN ARCHIVES. THE MOST RECENT MATERIAL RELEASED FOR SCHOLARLY SCRUTINY GOES BACK FIVE PONTIFICATES. MATERIAL RELATED TO THE REIGN OF BENEDICT XV">XV (1914-1922) HAS BEEN CLASSIFIED AND CATALOGUED AND IS AVAILABLE TO RESEARCHERS. CLASSIFICATION AND CATALOGUING OF DOCUMENTS RELATING TO THE PONTIFICATE OF PIUS XI">XI (1922-1939) WILL BE COMPLETED IN 2009 AT THE LATEST. GUMPEL SAID HE HOPES FOR AN EARLIER COMPLETION DATE. (NOTE. THE PIUS XI">XI DOCUMENTS WILL CONTAIN MATERIAL RELATED TO PIUS XII WHEN, AS CARDINAL EUGENIO PACELLI, HE WAS PIUS XI">XI'S SECRETARY OF STATE Q PM EQUIVALENT - FROM 1930 UNTIL 1939.



SIPDIS END NOTE). WORK TO CLASSIFY AND CATALOGUE MATERIAL RELATED TO POPE PIUS XII (1939-1958) WOULD NORMALLY COMMENCE IN 2009. GUMPEL POINTED OUT THAT FOUR JESUITS HAD BEEN GIVEN ACCESS TO THE LITERALLY MILLIONS OF DOCUMENTS AND HAD SPENT 17 YEARS (1964-1981) SORTING OUT ALL/ALL THE DIPLOMATIC MATERIAL RELATING TO PIUS XII'S ACTIVITY DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR. THESE WERE THE PAPERS PUBLISHED IN THE 12 VOLUMES TO HAVE BEEN REVIEWED BY THE COMMISSION. (COMMENT: IT IS POST'S UNDERSTANDING THAT IT CURRENTLY IS LOGISTICALLY IMPOSSIBLE TO OPEN UP THE VATICAN ARCHIVES RELATED TO PIUS XII'S ACTIVITIES DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR. GUMPEL SAID IT CONSISTS OF SEVERAL HUNDRED BOXES (THROUGH WHICH THE JESUITS WENT PAPER-BY-PAPER EXTRACTING ALL DIPLOMATIC DOCUMENTS FOR REVIEW) AND MILLIONS OF SHEETS OF PAPER. MANY OF THESE ARE PASTORAL DOCUMENTS (LETTERS TO PRIESTS, ETC) THAT HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THE HOLOCAUST, BUT WHICH COULD PROVE EMBARRASSING TO LIVING PEOPLE. IT TOOK FOUR HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL



PAGE 04 VATICA 04258 01 OF 02 131205Z MOTIVATED, INTELLIGENT, MULTILINGUAL JESUITS 17 YEARS TO SORT THROUGH AND PUBLISH THE MATERIAL. END COMMENT.) THE VATICAN INSISTS THE OTHER DOCUMENTS WILL BE OPEN TO SCRUTINY ONCE THEY HAVE BEEN CLASSIFIED AND CATALOGUED AND NOT BEFORE. TWO ARCHIVISTS STAFF THE VATICAN ARCHIVE. GUMPEL ADMITTED THAT THIS WAS INADEQUATE AND THAT HE HAS REQUESTED AN INCREASE IN PERSONNEL PRECISELY TO SPEED US THE PROCESS. GUMPEL INFORMED US THAT THIS ARCHIVAL PROCEDURE HAD BEEN CLEARLY EXPLAINED TO THE SCHOLARS ON THE COMMISSION OVER THE COURSE OF MANY CONVERSATIONS.



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ACRIMONY FROM THE COMMISSION'S WORK



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3. (C) GUMPEL RECOUNTED AN OCTOBER 2000 MEETING HE HAD BEEN ASKED TO ATTEND WITH MEMBERS OF THE JEWISH-VATICAN COMMISSION STUDYING PIUS XII'S ROLE IN THE SECOND WORLD WAR. THE MEETING WAS TAPE-RECORDED WITH THE CONSENT OF ALL THOSE PRESENT. XXXXXXXXXXXX NONE OF THE COMMISSION MEMBERS HAD READ ALL THE PUBLISHED DOCUMENTS, AND MOST WERE NOT ABLE TO READ THE DOCUMENTS IN THE ORIGINAL ITALIAN AND HAD TO RELY ON TRANSLATED SUMMARIES. GUMPEL NOTED THAT FROM A SCHOLARLY PERSPECTIVE, THIS SITUATION WAS "LESS THAN IDEAL." THE COMMISSION'S REPORT, WHICH CONSISTED OF 46 COMPLEX QUESTIONS, GUMPEL HAD PREPARED TO ANSWER. HE WORKED



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CONFIDENTIAL PTQ0646



PAGE 01 VATICA 04258 02 OF 02 131206Z ACTION EUR-00



INFO LOG-00 NP-00 AMAD-00 ACQ-00 CIAE-00 DODE-00 DS-00 VC-00 TEDE-00 INR-00 IO">IO">IO-00 VCE-00 NSAE-00 SNIS-00 NISC-00 DSCC-00 LBA-00 PRM-01 DRL-02 SAS-00 /003W ------------------115973 131213Z /38 R 131146Z AUG 01 FM AMEMBASSY VATICAN TO SECSTATE WASHDC 0000 INFO EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE



C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 02 OF 02 VATICAN 004258



SIPDIS



DEPT. FOR EUR/WE (MENNUTI), EUR/OHI



FROM EMBASSY VATICAN/MESSAGE NO. 134/01



E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/10/06 TAGS: PREL, PHUM, KNAR, VT. SUBJECT: VATICAN ARCHIVES Q "THE REAL STORY"



UP A SERIES OF HISTORICAL DOSSIERS, INCLUDING PRIMARY DOCUMENTS. XXXXXXXXXXXX THOSE SAME VATICAN OFFICIALS, HE SAID, EXPRESSED APPRECIATION FOR FR">FR. GUMPEL'S ACUTE KNOWLEDGE OF THE SITUATION AND HIS SCIENTIFIC PROFESSIONALISM. GUMPEL MADE IT CLEAR TO A/DCM THAT EVEN POPE JOHN PAUL II IS AWARE OF THE SITUATION.



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I AM A GERMAN, NOT A NAZI



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4. (C) XXXXXXXXXXXX GUMPEL ALSO EXPRESSED CONCERN ABOUT REFERENCES IN THE MEDIA AND IN OTHER COMMENTS TO HIM AS THE "GERMAN JESUIT." GUMPEL TOLD A/DCM THAT HIS FAMILY HAD BEEN VICTIMS OF NAZI PERSECUTION AND SEVERAL HAD BEEN KILLED BY THE NAZIS. HE HIMSELF HAD TO FLEE NAZI GERMANY AS A REFUGEE, FIRST TO FRANCE AND THEN LATER TO HOLLAND. HE RECALLED THAT AT ONE POINT A REPORTER HAD PLANNED TO PRINT AN ASSERTION THAT GUMPEL WAS A NAZI HIMSELF -- SOMETHING GUMPEL SAID WAS LIBELOUS, AND WHICH HE WAS MORE THAN WILLING TO GO TO COURT TO FIGHT.



5. (C) GUMPEL SAID HE WAS NOT SURPRISED WHEN THE JEWISH- VATICAN COMMISSION DECIDED TO SUSPEND ITS WORK. XXXXXXXXXXXX HE CLOSED BY SAYING THAT THE VATICAN WANTS TO LET PASS A PERIOD OF TIME BEFORE REOPENING THIS DISCUSSION. HE SAID THAT THE VATICAN AND HE HIMSELF WERE MORE THAN WILLING TO DISCUSS ANY ANOMALIES OR QUESTIONS RELATING TO THE 12-VOLUME HISTORY ALREADY PUBLISHED. THEY JUST DIDN'T THINK THAT THE JUST-DISBANDED COMMISSION CONSISTED OF THE RIGHT MIX OF PEOPLE TO BE ABLE TO DO SO. MERANTE



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2001VATICA04258 - Classification: CONFIDENTIAL

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Radia Tapes & Wikileaks: Candid Cameras?

Amplify’d from www.southasiamail.com

Radia Tapes & Wikileaks: Candid Cameras?

Dr.James Kottoor If RTI (Right to Information act) is the supreme example of the declaration of an Indian citizen’s right to know on a personal level, Radia tapes and Wikileaks are instances par excellence of extracting that right – willy-nilly -- from governments, diplomats, business corporate and power brokers who fail in their corresponding duty to function transparently on national and international levels. In the process some of our supposedly independent extractors of news, apparently have become partisan fellow travellers or manufactures of tomorrow’s news. This last twist in the turn of events is the third dimension – shameful and disturbing -- of the still unfolding scenario. “Candid Camera” used to be the name of a regular TV programme in the US, though I have not seen one this time. In it people in various walks of life are caught off guard by hidden cameras – at home, on road or in office -- and their spontaneous, cute and shocking reactions are presented for entertainment, edification and instruction. It is also a test case to find out who is well-behaved both in private and in public and who puts on a mask where, when and why, and who can be entrusted with leadership posts for the common good. Radia tapes and Wikileaks have provided for the world at large a candid camera presentation on how some of our so-called towering personalities in government or diplomatic circle, as well as our industrial tycoons, and media celebrities behave. Some have been acting irresponsibly, crookedly or shamefully in private while putting on a gentlemanly brave face in public. In a democracy we the people, we the voting public, are to be the masters and government officials only public servants. “I am the first Servant...” That is how Nehru described himself in his midnight speech. Those in government are to be honest and upright public servants. Then, where is room for secrecy in government? Have servants any right to hide things from their masters? Secrecy is the mother of all corruption. Our country is drowning in it. Thieves do the looting under cover of darkness. Daylight of transparency is the sole bulwark against wrong doing by public servants. One may never do the morally and legally right thing to save his soul. But he surely will do it to save his face, if and when he is doubly made aware of being in the glare of public gaze. Privacy and Secrecy No one has made a hue and cry about the right to privacy and secrecy except the Tatas who pays 30 crores and Ambani an equal amount to Radia for her PRO service, according to reports. Have public figures any claim for privacy? This is a much discussed and settled issue for many, not for all. But it is generally agreed that the more one’s office demands to be in the public eye, the more such a person has to forego his privacy. One is reminded here of the hen which makes hell of a noise when it lays an egg but keeps dead silent when hatching. The Industrialist trumpeted that he was not a person to pay Rs.15 crore or so as bribe to a minister to start a new domestic flight. That filled me with admiration for him. The same industrialist now goes to court to cover up some of the unflattering leaks coming out through the Radia tape. If there are no skeletons in his cupboard why should he feel nervous about his “straight forward wheeling and dealing” in private? What Tata needs in his public corporate life rolling out crores in business transactions is not privacy but transparency. US and Wikileaks That brings us to a similar plight President Obama finds himself placed, in the case of Wikileaks. “Earlier this year, President Barack Obama was ‘troubled' by the cyber attacks on Google, which were said to originate in China, and wanted those responsible to face the consequences. The more freely information flows, the stronger society becomes, he had said during an earlier visit to China. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was also strongly critical of Internet restrictions in China. Now the boot is on the other foot. Concern for free speech is nowhere in evidence as extra-legal methods are deployed to deny Americans their First Amendment rights.”(Hindu editorial: Digital McCarthyism, 5/12/10) Need more reactions? Someone suggested in New York Times that it is now China’s turn to do a tit-for-tat, that is, to declare Assange the winner of China’s Nobel Peace Prize for promoting openness, free speech and transparency in US and world over. Didn’t the US blame China for imprisoning for 11 years its free speech advocate and Nobel prize winner Liu Xiaobo? It is quite a different thing if Assange happens to be detained in UK or Sweden the model of modernity, with trumped up sex charges, involving misuse or non-use of condoms. True, some in US government like Senator Lieberman of Homeland Security and others went hysterical to call Assange a “traitor” to be prosecuted or incapacitated(meaning killed). But Obama so far has kept his cool. How can he, the custodian of free speech and expression do anything else without making himself a laughing stock? Besides Assange had received the leaks, according to reports from an American traitor in the Army and had even asked US government more than once through its embassy in UK if it had any suggestion to redact the stuff received and got no answer. Therefore Assange with foresight supplied the stuff to four prominent news organizations and websites: The Guardian(UK), El Pais (Spain), Der Spiegel(Germany) and Le Monde(France) -- the Guardian shared it with the NY Times -- to make it doubly sure that the leaks remain in public domain even if he is going to be incapacitated. Typical Reactions to Leaks Listen to some sample reactions to Wikileaks in US media: Is it right to prosecute people for believing, saying or writing what is true? First amendment gives freedom of speech and expression to all. To go against it would be a radical change in American policy. Secrecy in government would be disaster for freedom of speech and quality journalism. Besides US doesn’t have a punishable Government secret Act. Senator Lieberman wants to act against NY times. How will he stop papers like Guardian and Le monde? Secret-revealing is no Big Deal. What is to be done is to plug the leak, not muzzle the press. Is it a crime to expose truth? Honour Assange with an award “Medal of Freedom” or US citizenship. Pity, there was no Assange to reveal the ground realities during the Vietnam and Iraq wars at enormous cost to innocent lives. Those wars would never have happened had there been a Wikileaks. I fear more secrecy of governments than the bitter truths revealed by Wikileaks. Citizens of world have finally hit upon a tool to hold governments accountable. Lovers of freedom and transparency international unite, we have nothing to lose except our illusions and misplaced trust and admiration for governments and diplomats. Many are vociferous about Wikileaks, why are so few commenting on the bad behaviour -- double speak and double dealing – of US officials and diplomats abroad and at home? Internet as Whistleblower Time was when dictatorial regimes could block the free follow of refreshing information from outside world with their bamboo curtain or iron curtain and rule over people kept in ignorance with brute might. With the advent of internet, mobiles and taping to pry into private life, people are forced to come clean even in their private life. What is hacking and stealing? They are crimes only for those who hide or hoard. For the hungry man grabbing a morsel of food to quench his hunger is not stealing but taking what is his due. So it is with hacking. Extracting information which is one’s right to know is not hacking but investigative aggressive journalism. Assange’s Wikileaks is the emerging face of a heaven-sent whistleblower to suit our internet era. Any one pretending to stop the flow of heaps of classified secret information is like trying to stop with a finger the outbreak of waters from a dam of secrets breached at multiple locations. It is here that internet managers have become whistleblowers for the equitable distribution of information. Electronic media have now become the advanced face of an aggressive investigative journalism. It is in doing this job that some media personnel have fallen from grace to become accomplices or manufacturers of tomorrow’s news. Referring to it reads a headline in New York Times: Journalist in Headlines “Journalists in India Ends up in the Headlines,” by Lynsey Addario 3/12/10: “ALMOST any night of the week, Barkha Dutt can be found under the harsh glare of television lights, asking tough questions and demanding frank answers. But last Tuesday Ms. Dutt, the most famous face of India’s explosively growing 24-hour cable news business, found herself the subject of the kind of grilling she normally metes out. “Before a jury of four of her peers, she parried questions and struggled to control her anger. It was, perhaps, the toughest interview of her career. Caught on tape talking to a corporate lobbyist, she stood accused of cozying up to the powerful people she should have been covering and agreeing to pass messages to the governing Congress Party. “It is an error of judgment of enormous proportions,” thundered one of the panellists, the editor of Open Magazine, Manu Joseph. India’s vibrant and hyper-competitive news media have been celebrated as a great success story. They have played a vital role in exposing corruption; highlighting India’s growing inequality and rooting out abuses of power. “Ms. Dutt, as the 38-year-old star reporter and anchor of the biggest English-language cable news network, has become the most recognizable face of this media explosion. But the scandal threatens to undermine the reputation of members of the news media as guardians of the world’s largest democracy, and Ms. Dutt has found herself, fairly or not, at its centre.” A double edged tribute indeed to India’s free, frank and vibrant press. If Ms Burkha was picked up and highlighted in Times it was because she happened to be the most famous, not the infamous face of Indian Journalism. She was just one of the 30 or so media persons caught on the Radia tape. That included Vir Sangui whose counter point reportedly is read by lakhs, and was made to suspend his column after the tape revelations. That gives enough compelling reason to submit other media power brokers too to similar public grilling to get their version of the story, also to satisfy the legitimate complaint of Ms. Dutt: “At a moment when the public gets anxious about the state of the Indian media, I am suddenly made to answer for everybody else.” Rajdeep Sardesai, the TV journalist is quoted as saying: “The robust Indian tradition of adversarial journalism has been mortgaged at the altar of cozy networks.” Journalist’s Pastoral Profession According to Dipankar Gupta: “A journalist, like a soldier, judge or priest, belongs to a pastoral profession because he is supposed to put the collective, the flock, before private gain.“ The question is how many take it in that spirit. In that context it is worth recalling what Jesuit Fr. John Courtney Murray of Vatican Council fame said in 1963 to international journalists in Rome: "The Catholic press is not the organ of some class within the church. It does not exist to further certain interests of the church merely, especially if these interests be conceived in some narrow and rather sectarian sense. The Catholic press does not exist to glorify the clergy. The Catholic press does not exist in order to create a public image of the church that will be untrue to the reality of the pilgrim church, the wayfaring church, the church that trudges along the road of history and gets her feet dusty at times, the church that has hands by which she takes hold of dirty stuff of history... because history is rather dirty stuff... "If the church is going to guide the course of history as indeed she must, sometimes the hands of the church -- of churchmen, perhaps I should say -- get dirty. And therefore this public image of the church must be the true image, the image of the pilgrim church, the wayfaring church that we have discussed in this session of Vatican II. The Catholic press can be nothing but the vehicle of truth and of fact. Freedom therefore is the indispensable condition for the fulfilment of the social function of the Catholic press within the church and for the church. The freedom of the press to inform is nothing really but the other side of the rights of the people to be informed. And therefore, through these rights of the people to the freedom of the press knows only one limitation, and that is the people's need to know. And I think within the church, as within civil society, need of the people to know is in principle unlimited." The New Leader from Chennai published and discussed these principles in detail some 40 years ago as a prelude to what its readers were to expect from an open discussion of all relevant issue in the weekly. The message Fr. Murray conveys is relevant for all journalists, especially for those who happen to get caught in compromising situations. The writer now in Chicago can be reached at jameskottoor@gmail.com Read more at www.southasiamail.com

 

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May your Christmas be Catholic and gay

Amplify’d from onfaith.washingtonpost.com

May your Christmas be Catholic and gay

Stevens-Arroyo

The repeal of the Don't Ask Don't Tell (DADT) provision for the U.S. armed forces was welcomed by a majority of the American public, and in this season of family Christmas celebrations, the change in social attitudes towards gays and lesbians will pose some important choices for America's Catholics sitting around the holiday table.

If there are ten people in a home celebrating the birth of the Savior, chances are at least one gay or lesbian is participating in the festivities, since homosexuals account for about 10% of the population. In the past, families like mine excused homosexuality as long as it was hidden, our own form of DADT. Of course, there were always some who considered exclusion of gays and lesbians from the family home to be a virtuous practice of religion. Exclusion was not limited to sexual orientation. The coldness was often shown to divorced Catholics or those married outside the Church. It was not just Catholics either. The Broadway piece, "Fiddler on the Roof" renders a Jewish milkman dickering with God about when to bend and when not to break with tradition. Many of today's Muslims are undergoing similar conflicts with the old ways and the new demands.

But if families back then anguished over whether or not a ne'er do well nephew was invited to dinner because his relationship to his "girl-friend" was considered scandalous, the debate would have ended if the name of his partner was "Charles" and not "Charlene." Even so, Catholic teaching on homosexuality is not as far-right as for some Evangelical denominations. It is not the condition of "being gay" that is sinful in our faith: it is the practice of homosexual acts outside of marriage that is condemned (for heterosexuals too, but then they can marry in the Church). But while that distinction between "being" and "doing" separates Catholics from some, Church teaching does not allow us to join with other faiths that see no fault at all in homosexual activity. We Catholics view our ethics through the prism of the natural law. The Vatican has classified homosexuality as "objective disorder" on the natural law premise that sex is supposed to be used for procreation; when it is not, states the Vatican, the disorder is "objective." (This is shaky logic since obligatory celibacy would then also become an "objective disorder" since it does not allow sexuality to be used for procreation...but this is another long-debated issue in Catholic apologetics.)

Ironically, along with changing cultural views of homosexuality, science is now suggesting that there is a "gender orientation gene" that makes homosexuality the result of nature and not just a personal choice. Such an interpretation would reverse the theology of homosexuality today, much as Jesus reversed the belief that blindness was a punishment for sin (Jn. 9:1-3) Most of Catholic America will not be entering into theological arguments about homosexuality or divorce this Christmas as we sit alongside family members. We will soon be aware of which relatives are happy and which are depressed. I remember my joy upon seeing that a family member finally abandoned an unhappy marriage and found someone new. This feeling is based on love for the person rather than intellectual reasoning about Church law. Sometimes, I think, we should not pose as judges over other peoples' morality. Many Catholics accept divorced and remarried relatives at a Catholic Christmas celebration, because "...at least they are happy again." I can't understand how this compassion would not be extended to gays and lesbians who "come out." I see no virtue in using the Christmas dinner to denounce human happiness. I am not arguing for repeal of Catholic teaching: but only for remembering the Christmas message. If the Baby Jesus was honored with the presence of rough shepherds, pagan Magi, dumb oxen and foul-smelling asses, surely we ought not refuse to put up with our relatives for a few hours - even if they happen to belong to another political ideology, religious leaning or sexual orientation. Instead of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," a Catholic Christmas rejoices to be loved by Love Himself. Read more at onfaith.washingtonpost.com

 

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