Lose the religion or lose the subsidy

Amplify’d from www.theglobeandmail.com

Lose the religion or lose the subsidy

LYSIANE GAGNON

This is a textbook case of going from one extreme to the other. For decades, the Quebec government slept in the bed of the Roman Catholic Church. Nowadays, its secularist agenda is so radical it applies to three-year-old kids.

Earlier this month, Family Minister Yolande James announced a ban on religious instruction in subsidized daycare centres. Ms. James’s ministry will triple the number of inspectors, to 58, and violations will be punished by the suppression of funding, which amounts to $40 a day per child, since parents pay no more than $7 a day.

How will these bureaucrats make the distinction between culture and religion? Showing an amazing lack of subtlety, Ms. James seemed to think that would be easy enough. For instance, a daycare centre would be allowed to display a Christmas tree (a cultural symbol, she decreed – which is highly debatable since Christmas is a Christian holy day). The teachers could set up a Nativity scene but couldn’t tell the kids who the baby doll in the manger was.

Presumably, by the same token, a Jewish daycare centre could have a menorah but would be forbidden to tell the children why one candle should be lit every day. And Muslim toddlers couldn’t be told why their parents don’t eat when the sun is up, since Ramadan is a religious, rather than a cultural, custom.

Crafts, role-playing and songs with religious connotations will be banned. Religious objects might be allowed but “in small quantity” and shouldn’t serve for religious instruction. And here’s the best part of this rather comic scenario: A rabbi, a priest or an imam could visit the centre – as long as they don’t talk about religious matters!

At a Montreal daycare centre run by Catholic nuns, a parents association was so terrified at the prospect of losing governmental subsidies that it decided to apply the guidelines six months before they’ll be implemented. So the week before Christmas, the little kids sang insipid Bing Crosby ballads instead of beautiful traditional carols such as Silent Night.

“We’ve never indoctrinated our children in 30 years of existence,” said Sister Rousselle of the Don Bosco daycare centre, “but celebrating Christmas without being able to talk about Jesus, for me this is not Christmas.”

Daniel Amar, executive director of the Quebec Jewish Congress, wondered how bureaucrats would be able to distinguish between religion, custom and tradition. “In Quebec, secularism has become the new religion.” The idea of inspectors patrolling daycare centres to censor the innocent activities of children is repulsive, indeed.

Salam Elmenyawi of the Muslim Council of Montreal wants to challenge the policy in court in the name of religious rights. Pierre Anctil, a specialist in intercultural relations, thinks the guidelines will be difficult to apply, and he, too, believes they might be unconstitutional. “This is a delicate question, and the state’s involvement might lead to arbitrary decisions.” Mr. Anctil was part of a consultative committee set up by the Family Minister to look into the projected guidelines, but he soon realized “the decision was already taken and it was non-negotiable.” He quit after the first meeting.

The irony is, these guidelines contradict Quebec’s current policy on religious private schools. Confessional grade schools and high schools are partly subsidized (for about 60 per cent of the cost per child) and are allowed to teach religion as long as they follow the province’s curriculum.

More related to this story Quebec bans religious teaching in publicly subsidized daycares Quebec’s bureaucrats will have to play God Read more at www.theglobeandmail.com

 

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/jy4o

Amplify’d from www.wired.com

Docs Detail CIA’s Cold War Hypnosis Push

By Spencer Ackerman

It was an innocent time, the mid-1950s. America wasn’t yet cynical about its geopolitical games in the Cold War. Case in point: In order to maintain its spying edge over the Russkies, the CIA considered the benefits of hypnosis. Two memos from 1954 and 1955 dredged up by Cryptome show the CIA thinking through post-hypnotic suggestion in extensive, credulous detail. How, for instance, to pass a secret message to a field operative without danger of interception? Encode it in a messenger’s brain, an undisclosed author wrote in 1954, so he’ll have “no memory whatsoever in the waking state as to the nature and contents of the message.” Even if a Soviet agent gets word of the messenger’s importance, “no amount of third-party tactics” can pry the message loose, “for he simply does not have it in his conscious mind.” Pity the poor waterboarded captive. But the counterintelligence benefits of hypnosis are even greater. Picture this course of action, the memo’s author proposes: Hypnotize a group of “loyal Americans” to the point of inducing a “split personality.” Outwardly, they’d appear to be “ardent Communists,” who will “associate with the Communists and learn all the plans of the organization.” Every month, CIA agents will contact them, induce a counter-hypnosis, and these Manchurian Candidates will spill. (Meanwhile, Communist Party meetings on the Lower East Side of Manhattan were open to the public.) While admittedly “more complicated and more difficult,” the agency’s hypno-enthusiast wrote, “I assure you, it will work.” That’s the level of assurance the memos’ authors provided. A 1955 follow-up openly sneered at the “cautious pessimism” and “congealed pig-headedness” of “academic experts in hypnotism,” waving it away with a pitch to dabble in hypnosis “in a way no laboratory worker could possibly prove.” Indeed, the memo concludes, the CIA had already made some headway: Narcotics were iffy choices for inducing intelligence-useful trances, but on the whole, “drug-assisted hypnosis is essential in CIA work.” The agency’s mind-control experts gave up some helpful tips, according to the 1955 memo. It’s easier “to hypnotize large numbers of people” than individuals” — alas, there’s no useful elaboration on that point — and in no circumstance can the hypnotizer fail to get a subject to snap out of his trance. Still, responsible mind-control advocates could scarcely avoid presenting the potential drawbacks of their own courses of action. Since there’s no rigorous scientific way of determining “what limits ‘belief’ may be changed by hypnosis,” that means a “double-think Orwellian world of hypnosis, while unlikely, is not utterly fantastic.” As it turns out, successful mind control could get out of hand rapidly. Who would have thought? The CIA’s aborted experiments in hypnosis are long-documented. (There was a pretty good National Geographic Channel exploration of them not long ago.) Its impulses to master the human mind led to the mass LSD tests called MK-ULTRA, which became the subject of acrimonious congressional inquiries. And three years ago, the CIA’s document dump of its so-called “Crown Jewels” of decades-old secrets went into further detail about its hypnotism fetish. But in case you find yourself unmoved by the disclosures, consider that you have no foolproof way to determine that you aren’t yourself the subject of mental conditioning. One of the many benefits of hypnosis, the 1955 memo notes, is a resistance to Commie brainwashing. “Hypnosis may be able on the one hand to pre-condition a subject against the pressure” of enemy influence, it asserts, “or after the fact to help undo the damage.” How do you know they haven’t gotten to you, too? Check out the full memos: CIA Hypnotism 1954

Danger Room What's Next in National Security Previous post Next post Docs Detail CIA’s Cold War Hypnosis Push By Spencer Ackerman December 28, 2010  |  7:00 am  |  Categories: Spies, Secrecy and Surveillance It was an innocent time, the mid-1950s. America wasn’t yet cynical about its geopolitical games in the Cold War. Case in point: In order to maintain its spying edge over the Russkies, the CIA considered the benefits of hypnosis. Two memos from 1954 and 1955 dredged up by Cryptome show the CIA thinking through post-hypnotic suggestion in extensive, credulous detail. How, for instance, to pass a secret message to a field operative without danger of interception? Encode it in a messenger’s brain, an undisclosed author wrote in 1954, so he’ll have “no memory whatsoever in the waking state as to the nature and contents of the message.” Even if a Soviet agent gets word of the messenger’s importance, “no amount of third-party tactics” can pry the message loose, “for he simply does not have it in his conscious mind.” Pity the poor waterboarded captive. But the counterintelligence benefits of hypnosis are even greater. Picture this course of action, the memo’s author proposes: Hypnotize a group of “loyal Americans” to the point of inducing a “split personality.” Outwardly, they’d appear to be “ardent Communists,” who will “associate with the Communists and learn all the plans of the organization.” Every month, CIA agents will contact them, induce a counter-hypnosis, and these Manchurian Candidates will spill. (Meanwhile, Communist Party meetings on the Lower East Side of Manhattan were open to the public.) While admittedly “more complicated and more difficult,” the agency’s hypno-enthusiast wrote, “I assure you, it will work.” That’s the level of assurance the memos’ authors provided. A 1955 follow-up openly sneered at the “cautious pessimism” and “congealed pig-headedness” of “academic experts in hypnotism,” waving it away with a pitch to dabble in hypnosis “in a way no laboratory worker could possibly prove.” Indeed, the memo concludes, the CIA had already made some headway: Narcotics were iffy choices for inducing intelligence-useful trances, but on the whole, “drug-assisted hypnosis is essential in CIA work.” The agency’s mind-control experts gave up some helpful tips, according to the 1955 memo. It’s easier “to hypnotize large numbers of people” than individuals” — alas, there’s no useful elaboration on that point — and in no circumstance can the hypnotizer fail to get a subject to snap out of his trance. Still, responsible mind-control advocates could scarcely avoid presenting the potential drawbacks of their own courses of action. Since there’s no rigorous scientific way of determining “what limits ‘belief’ may be changed by hypnosis,” that means a “double-think Orwellian world of hypnosis, while unlikely, is not utterly fantastic.” As it turns out, successful mind control could get out of hand rapidly. Who would have thought? The CIA’s aborted experiments in hypnosis are long-documented. (There was a pretty good National Geographic Channel exploration of them not long ago.) Its impulses to master the human mind led to the mass LSD tests called MK-ULTRA, which became the subject of acrimonious congressional inquiries. And three years ago, the CIA’s document dump of its so-called “Crown Jewels” of decades-old secrets went into further detail about its hypnotism fetish. But in case you find yourself unmoved by the disclosures, consider that you have no foolproof way to determine that you aren’t yourself the subject of mental conditioning. One of the many benefits of hypnosis, the 1955 memo notes, is a resistance to Commie brainwashing. “Hypnosis may be able on the one hand to pre-condition a subject against the pressure” of enemy influence, it asserts, “or after the fact to help undo the damage.” How do you know they haven’t gotten to you, too? Check out the full memos: CIA Hypnotism 1954 CIA Hypnotism 1955

Image: Library of Congress, via Ephemera Assemblyman See Also: CIA Secrets: Hypnosis, Soviet Mars Missions, and Ed Koch Vets Sue CIA Over Mind Control Tests Pentagon’s Black Budget Tops $56 Billion Top Pentagon Scientists Fear Brain-Modified Foes Read more at www.wired.com

 

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/jy4b

Blessed Mary - Mother of the Son of God

Amplify’d from endrtimes.blogspot.com

Blessed Mary - Mother of the Son of God

Column By Donna Haerich And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb… Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord” (Luke 1:42, 45). In that tiny babe of Bethlehem, both God and Mary gave to the world a gift of themselves. “To assure us of His immutable counsel of peace, God gave His only-begotten Son to become one of the human family, forever to retain His human nature.” (1) So it was not mere happenstance that the infant Jesus carried the genetic make-up of his mother Mary, a legacy that would be his throughout eternity. Just who was this woman, Mary, whom the Almighty Son of God would not only voluntarily take on her DNA but be willing to lay helpless, vulnerable and trusting in her arms? One of the most striking characteristics of Mary was her adventurous spirit, her proclivity for always being where the action was. She certainly could not be classified as a homebody. In fact, if Scripture is to be believed, she was seldom at home at all! Every mention of Mary places her in a different geographic location. (2) Following the angel’s visitation, she left Nazareth and went to Judea to see her cousin, Elizabeth. Three months later, she returned to Nazareth to face Joseph with the news of her pregnancy. Their dilemma resolved, they journeyed together to Bethlehem and arrive just in time for Jesus’ birth. Within thirty-three days, Mary walks to Jerusalem to dedicate her firstborn and hears a prophetic message directed specifically to her. Shortly thereafter, she, Joseph and the young child leave Palestine altogether. As expatriates it is possible they lived for a time among the large Jewish community in Alexandra , Egypt, assimilating the Greek language and taking advantage of the scholarly atmosphere that thrived in that region. Returning to Nazareth, via Judea, the record reflects that it was family custom to go down to Jerusalem for the yearly celebrations. As an active participant, Mary was not hesitant to speak out openly when confronting her son who just happened to be standing among the temple scholars. When Mary is mentioned next, she is in Cana of Galilee coordinating a wedding. After this event Scripture says that she went down to Capernaum for a few days and then returned to Nazareth… via Jerusalem. Once back in Nazareth, her sons urged her to return to Capernaum with them in hopes that her influence would be persuasive in convincing Jesus to stop his foolish activity before he endangered himself and others. Mary did not bring Jesus home. In fact there are indications that she left Nazareth for good and joined the group of women who accompanied Jesus thus becoming an apostolic witness to his miracles and teachings. Mary was there at the cross and at the empty tomb. She witnessed his ascension and was present in the upper room when the Holy Spirit descended. When tongues of fire rested on her head, she praised God and prophesied as she had in the beginning when the Spirit overshadowed her at Jesus’ conception. The woman who gave birth to the Son of God also helped give birth to the movement that would carry His good news to the world. Tradition has it that Mary accompanied the apostle John in his travels living for a while with him in the city of Ephesus. I like to believe that she is the “elect lady” to whom John addressed his second letter -written to encourage the “children” of her ministry and edify the believers who met in her home-church. (3) Luke’s carefully researched and documented account of the nativity has details that only Mary would have known. He records her song of the mysteries of incarnation and election – that God would become one with the humble and that she would be chosen to participate in that purpose. What she treasured and pondered in her heart is the very essence of the Christmas story we enjoy today. Mary, a sensitive, creative poet who sang the Magnificat and recalled the Angel’s Song; Mary, a reflective, insightful student of Scripture and history, whose son’s education was admired and praised by leading scholars; Mary, an adventurer, world traveler, boldly courageous in a society that dictated the woman’s role; this is the blessed woman whom God chose be mother, friend and disciple of his Son. (4) 1.Ellen White, The Desire of Ages, Pacific Press Publishing Association, page 25> 2.Matthew 2:11, 13-15, 21-23, 49,50; 27:56,61 Mark 8:31-35; 15:40,47 Luke 1:26,39,56; 2:5, 22,34, 41, 58; 8:1-3; 23:55, 56; 24:1 John 2:1, 12, 13; 19:25,27 Acts 1:12, 14, 2:1-4 3.Addressed to “the elect lady” whom John loves as do “all who know the truth” fits Mary. Other phases connect the message to Mary: “Just as you heard it from the beginning” “Do not lose what you have worked for, but receive a full reward.” “Who abides in the teaching has BOTH the Father and the Son.” (And yes, I am aware of the ‘dating problem’.) 4.This article on Mary has been expanded from a short essay previously published in the Journal, Ponderings. Volume 2. No 6, Page 15. Comments Very nice. I am always glad when I see Protestants unafraid to reflect on the person of Mary. She has so much to teach us. Posted by: Fr. Jim (not verified) 24 December 2010 at 5:37 Source: http://www.spectrummagazine.org/article/column/2010/12/24/blessed-mary-mother-son-god . Read more at endrtimes.blogspot.com

 

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/jy3k

A Great Reformation

Amplify’d from endrtimes.blogspot.com

A Great Reformation

"The enemy of souls has sought to bring in the supposition that a great reformation was to take place among Seventh-day Adventists, and that this reformation would consist in giving up the doctrines which stand as the pillars of our faith, and engaging in a process of reorganization. Were this reformation to take place, what would result? The principles of truth that God in His wisdom has given to the remnant church, would be discarded. Our religion would be changed. The fundamental principles that have sustained the work for the last fifty years would be accounted as error. A new organization would be established. Books of a new order would be written. A system of intellectual philosophy would be introduced. The founders of this system would go into the cities, and do a wonderful work. The Sabbath of course, would be lightly regarded, as also the God who created it. Nothing would be allowed to stand in the way of the new movement. The leaders would teach that virtue is better than vice, but God being removed, they would place their dependence on human power, which, without God, is worthless. Their foundation would be built on the sand, and storm and tempest would sweep away the structure.'

Selected Messages, Vol. 1, pp. 204, 205. Read more at endrtimes.blogspot.com

 

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/jy3h

Where is the Church

Amplify’d from endrtimes.blogspot.com

Where is the Church

Adventist Church to mark 150th anniversary of its name Heritage leader urges reflection on its significance, modern impact 21 Sep 2010, Silver Spring, Maryland, United States Ansel Oliver/ANN As the Seventh-day Adventist Church prepares to mark 150 years of the denomination's name on October 1, leaders are urging members to reflect both on the name's significance and the impact they've made in their local community. When church pioneers met in 1860 to name their movement, David Hewitt introduced the name "Seventh-day Adventist," which became the name of the publishing work, and ultimately the church itself. [photo courtesy White Estate] It was in 1860 that pioneers meeting in Battle Creek, Michigan chose the name for a movement that had about 2,500 adherents in Northeastern United States and southeastern Canada. Today, that movement has more than 16 million adult baptized members and operates the largest Protestant network of schools and hospitals worldwide. Regarding the name selection, Adventist Church co-founder Ellen White later wrote, "The name Seventh-day Adventist carries the true features of our faith in front, and will convict the inquiring mind." "Seventh-day" refers to the denomination's day of worship, taken from the Fourth Commandment in the book of Exodus. "Adventist" refers to the Second Advent of Jesus, or the Second Coming. "I think the name has been used through the years in a very positive way because its members have decided to make a difference here and now in anticipation of the Second Coming," said Jim Nix, board chair of Adventist Heritage Ministry, a church corporation that preserves denominational historical sites. Nix, who is organizing the anniversary commemoration, said he hopes members will spend time on Sabbath, October 2 reflecting what it means to continue the legacy of the name leaders took in 1860. Additionally, he is urging members to consider what difference the name is making in their community. "I'm afraid that if some Adventist churches closed, nobody would notice," Nix said. "Some people may not like that conclusion, but if that's the case maybe they can think about what they can do to make a real difference in their local area." Though the name came to describe the church, it was originally chosen for the early movement's publishing work. In 1860, leaders called a general meeting, which brought together 25 ministers, with church co-founder James White urging the formation of an organization that could legally own a publishing house. Without a legal name, however, it could accomplish little. Many favored "Church of God," including White, but some soon found the name presumptuous. Besides, other movements were already employing the name. David Hewitt, a Battle Creek resident, then introduced and formally proposed the name "Seventh-day Adventist," which would come to brand not only the publishing work, but the movement itself. Nix says he is proud to belong to the 150-year-old movement. "You go to a family reunion and you're all Jones or a Smith and you feel a sense of pride. We're all Seventh-day Adventists, and that's my spiritual family name," he said. "This church has done some great things over the past 150 years. Let's use this anniversary to think about how we can do more," Nix said. For more information, visit 150sda.org. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sadly things like this trademark infringement will further diminish our witness in the world because the leadership thinks that they are protecting the Truth by bringing litigation against commandment keeping brethren who have separated from the apostasy that the the GenCon leadership have neglected to reprove.. SDA NEWS RELEASE and EMERGENCY RELIGIOUS LIBERTY CONFERENCE INVITATION February 16, 2010, a Day of Infamy at Guys, TN The General Conference of Seventh-day Adventist attorneys, escorted by a Federal Marshal and Creation Seventh Day Adventist Church defense attorney will visit the CSDA Church house located at Guys, TN on Old Hwy 45 (at Stateline) on February 16, 2010. Their purpose will be to enforce a Permanent Injunction and Contempt Order handed down by Judge J. Daniel Breen, U. S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee Eastern Division. It is so ordered that the Plaintiffs (General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists and General Conference Corporation of Seventh-day Adventists) take down the CSDA Church signage and remove all “offending articles” including “all labels, signs, packages, wrappers, receptacles, and advertisements bearing the SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST mark, or bearing the words SEVENTH-DAY or ADVENTIST, or the acronym SDA, either together, apart, or as part of, or in combination with any other words, phrases, acronyms or designs, or any mark similar thereto or likely to cause confusion therewith, and all plates, molds, matrices, and other means of making the same” with all expenses charged to the Defendant. From Tennessee: Creation church of Seventh-Day & Adventist church property is destroyed and incarceration of members threatened through direct legal trademark enforcement by the General Conference of Seventh-Day Adventists. An excerpt of an appeal by the CSDA church: …, we stand convicted by conscience, and find ourselves compelled to protest the actions of the General Conference in both registering its trademarked name and bringing litigation against those it considers to be heretical, thus employing the strong arm of civil government against conscientious dissenters such as ourselves. The GC of SDA retained the law firm of Adams and Reese (it’s Nashville office) to prosecute this case. Ellen G. White has the following to say regarding such lawsuits: When troubles arise in the church we should not go for help to lawyers not of our faith…These men [SDAs who hire lawyers not of our faith] cast aside the counsel God has given, and do the very things He has bidden them not to do. They show that they have chosen the world as their judge, and in heaven their names are registered as one with unbelievers. Christ is crucified afresh, and put to open shame. Let these men know that God does not hear their prayers. They insult His holy name….III SM 299 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Below is a link to the news story: http://dailycorinthian.com/view/full_story/6372953/article-Creation-Seventh-Day-Adventist-Church-members-protest-court-order?instance=main_story_left The defendant has been ordered to pay attorney’s fees and costs of $35,567 to the plaintiff. Sad, sad times. How low will the GC go? (Excerpt) . Source Read more at endrtimes.blogspot.com

 

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/jy3d

Amplify’d from gawker.com

Texas Pastor Pulls a Grinch on Parishioner's Home

On Christmas Eve, a Dallas pastor, Sandy McGriff, was arrested for breaking into her friend's home and allegedly stealing fur coats, a laptop, and designer purses. McGriff says she thwarted two burglars, but an eyewitness has a different story.

McGriff, who invited reporters to her home to tell her side of the story, says "something just told me to go past her house," referring to her friend, and parishioner of The Church of the Living God, Serita Agnew. McGriff says she saw two men leaving the home, but instead of calling 911, she decided to "protect" Agnew's valuables, by climbing through a window and stashing them in her car. According to the Dallas Morning News:

She grabbed a laptop from the bedroom and three designer purses and put them in the Jaguar's back seat. Police arrived about 5:30 p.m. to see her carrying two fur coats out the back door, according to the arrest warrant affidavit.

What a good friend! Oh, but Agnew's neighbor just happened to be watching, and offered a slightly different story:

Agnew's neighbor David Nanez had a different version of events. He said Monday that he had just come home from work when he saw a woman at Agnew's house. They waved at each other. Nanez said he kept watching as the woman hit the window with something. He said she tried to use an 8-foot wooden ladder to get in the window, but she slipped. So she got a 5-gallon bucket from the backyard to boost herself through the window, he said.

Police arrived as McGriff was making a second trip from her friend's home. McGriff was arrested for burglary and resisting arrest under a different name, Kathy Robinson, which she says that was an alias she used as a "troubled youth." Here's a video interview with McGriff inside her home. At 1:40, she seems to misremember what happened. Oops!

[Dallas Morning News; Image via Facebook]

Send an email to Jeff Neumann, the author of this post, at jeff@gawker.com. Read more at gawker.com

 

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/jy2w

Russian Accuser Becomes the Accused - Above the Law - NYTimes.com

URL:  http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/28/world/europe/28libel....

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/jy2o

Muslim leads Catholic Christmas procession in India for 28 years

Amplify’d from www.cathnewsindia.com

Muslim leads Christmas procession in India

Lalu Mallick

A Muslim has been leading a Christmas procession in a predominantly tribal Catholic parish in eastern India for the past 28 years.

Lalu Mallick, 48, told ucanews.com he finds inner peace and happiness when he prepares the Christmas float and leads the procession in the Virgin of the Poor Church, Ambika Kalna, West Bengal.

Mallick, a local butcher, said he started leading the procession after some local youths tried to obstruct it. “I felt the need to intervene and help the procession proceed,” he said.

The procession on Christmas Eve, with ‘live’ representation of the nativity scene, passes through the streets.

Mallick said he also helps the parish priest during major Church feasts and invites his family too to join the celebrations. He said he had to rush from Nagpur, central India, on Dec. 23, to be in time for the procession.

Parish priest Jesuit Father Sebastian Xalxo says Mallick is more active than other parishioners on Dec. 24. Mallick’s generosity is “truly noteworthy, especially when we find it hard to get people to work for the Church,” he added.

According to the priest, Mallick spends the whole day on Dec. 24 in the church. “He directs the traffic on the road during the procession and leads the float,” the priest told ucanews.com.

Parish council member Bernard Mardi says Mallick “knows and understands the significance of this feast for us, and takes part in the event with great devotion.”

According to Mardi, some people from other religion want cordial relations with Catholics, but fear ostracism from their communities.

Mallick also prepares biryani (a special preparation of rice and meat) for the priests at Christmas.

Source: ucanews.com Read more at www.cathnewsindia.com

 

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/jy26

Sen studied medicine at a Protestant-managed school in Tamil Nadu and then worked for more than 30 years to bring healthcare to Chhattisgarh’s tribal people.

Amplify’d from www.cathnewsindia.com

Activist’s life sentence widely condemned

Binayak Sen

Church groups have joined nationwide protests against the life sentence given to a human right activist who worked among tribal people in Chhattisgarh .

Students, academics and activists gathered in New Delhi yesterday to protest the sentence against Binayak Sen, a pediatrician and a human rights activist.

On Dec. 24, a trial court in Chhattisgarh found Sen “guilty of criminal conspiracy to commit sedition” and sentenced him to life imprisonment.

Sen was accused of aiding Maoists, who are waging war against the government. The court justified the sentence saying that those aiding terrorists deserved no clemency.

Maoists have killed hundreds of state and federal paramilitary forces in Chhattisgarh.

Sen studied medicine at a Protestant-managed school in Tamil Nadu and then worked for more than 30 years to bring healthcare to Chhattisgarh’s tribal people.

In 2008, he won the Jonathan Mann Award for Global Health and Human Rights. Sen was the vice president of the People’s Union for Civil Liberties and campaigned against unlawful killings of tribal people and violation of human rights in tribal areas.

One of the documents presented against Sen was a letter from the Indian Social Institute (ISI), a Jesuit-managed center in New Delhi which had been confused by the prosecution with Pakistan’s Inter Service Intelligence agency.

The verdict sparked outrage among rights activists in India and across the world.

Amnesty International called Sen “a prisoner of conscience” and noted the verdict has “violated international fair trial standards.”

The National Council of Churches in India (NCCI) condemned the verdict as “politically motivated and vindictive” and aimed at weakening people’s movements.

The NCCI, the umbrella body of Protestant and Orthodox Churches in the country, wants the state federal authorities to drop “politically motivated charges” against Sen and release him immediately.

Father Babu Joseph, spokesperson of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India, described Sen’s sentence as unfortunate.

The Divine Word priest told ucanews.com that justice must be done for social activists working among the poor in remote areas.

“Their involvement and work should be seen and judged from the right perspective rather than drawing hasty conclusions about their intention,” he added.

Redemptorist Father Thomas Kocherry, who pioneered fishermen’s movements in India, condemned the “unjust” sentence and urged fellow activists to keep protesting until Sen gets justice.

Kolkata’s Forum of Artists, Cultural Activists and Intellectuals called the verdict “fraudulent” while the Indian Community Activist Network, an umbrella body for some 25 pro-democracy organizations in the country, termed it as “emblematic of gross inequity and usurpation of democracy.”

Source: ucanews.com Read more at www.cathnewsindia.com

 

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/jy1r

“I took an oath to be a Jesuit once,” Brown told the audience.



The Jesuit Oath



(By Carlos Didier, Subterranean Rome, pp349-351)



"When a Jesuit of the minor rank is to be elevated to command, he is conducted into the Chapel of the Convent of the Order, where there are only three others present, the principal or Superior standing in front of the altar. On either side stands a monk, one of whom holds a banner of yellow and white, which are the Papal colors, and the other a black banner with a dagger and red cross above a skull and crossbones, with the word INRI, and below them the words IUSTUM, NECAR, REGES, IMPIOUS. The meaning of which is: It is just to exterminate or annihilate impious or heretical Kings, Governments, or Rulers. Upon the floor is a red cross at which the postulant or candidate kneels. The Superior hands him a small black crucifix, which he takes in his left hand and presses to his heart, and the Superior at the same time presents to him a dagger, which he grasps by the blade and holds the point against his heart, the Superior still holding it by the hilt, and thus addresses the postulant:"



Superior: My son, heretofore you have been taught to act the dissembler: among Roman Catholics to be a Roman Catholic, and to be a spy even among your own brethren; to believe no man, to trust no man. Among the Reformers, to be a reformer; among the Huguenots, to be a Huguenot; among the Calvinists, to be a Calvinist; among other Protestants, generally to be a Protestant, and obtaining their confidence, to seek even to preach from their pulpits, and to denounce with all the vehemence in your nature our Holy Religion and the Pope; and even to descend so low as to become a Jew among Jews, that you might be enabled to gather together all information for the benefit of your Order as a faithful soldier of the Pope.



You have been taught to insidiously plant the seeds of jealousy and hatred between communities, provinces, states that were at peace, and incite them to deeds of blood, involving them in war with each other, and to create revolutions and civil wars in countries that were independent and prosperous, cultivating the arts and the sciences and enjoying the blessings of peace. To take sides with the combatants and to act secretly with your brother Jesuit, who might be engaged on the other side, but openly opposed to that with which you might be connected, only that the Church might be the gainer in the end, in the conditions fixed in the treaties for peace and that the end justifies the means.



You have been taught your duty as a spy, to gather all statistics, facts and information in your power from every source; to ingratiate yourself into the confidence of the family circle of Protestants and heretics of every class and character, as well as that of the merchant, the banker, the lawyer, among theschools and universities, in parliaments and legislatures, and the judiciaries and councils of state, and to 'be all things to all men,' for the Pope' sake, whose servants we are unto death.



You have received all your instructions heretofore as a novice, a neophyte, and have served as co-adjutor, confessor and priest, but you have not yet been invested with all that is necessary to command in the Army of Loyola in the service of the Pope. You must serve the proper time as the instrument and executioner as directed by your superiors; for none can command here who has not consecretate his labors with the blood of the heretic; for 'without the shedding of blood no man can be saved.' Therefore, to fit yourself for your work and make your own salvation sure, you will, in addition to your former oath of obedience to your order and allegiance to the the Pope, repeat after me----



The Extreme Oath Of The Jesuits



"I, __________________________ now, in the presence of Almighty God, the Blessed Virgin Mary, the blessed Michael the Archangel, the blessed St. John the Baptist, the holy Apostles St. Peter and St. Paul and all the saints and sacred hosts of heaven, and to you, my ghostly father, the Superior General of the Society of Jesus, founded by St. Ignatius Loyola in the Pontificate of Paul the Third, and continued to the present, do by the womb of the virgin, the matrix of God, and the rod of Jesus Christ, declare and swear, that the holiness the Pope is Christ's Viceregent and is the true and only head of the Catholic or Universal Church throughout the earth; and that by virtue of the keys of binding and loosing, given to his Holiness by my Savior, Jesus Christ, he hath power to depose heretical kings, princes, states, commonwealths and governments, all being illegal without his sacred confirmation and that they may safely be destroyed. Therefore, to the utmost of my power I shall and will defend this doctrine of his Holiness' right and custom against all usurpers of the heretical or Protestant authority whatever, especially the Lutheran of German, Holland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and the now pretended authority and churches of England and Scotland, and branches of the same now established in Ireland and on the Continent of America and elsewhere; and all adherents in regard that they be usurped and heretical, opposing the sacred Mother Church of Rome. I do now renounce and disown any allegiance as due to any heretical king, prince or state named Protestants or Liberals, or obedience to any of the laws, magistrates or officers.



I do further declare that the doctrine of the churches of England and Scotland, of the Calvinists, Huguenots and others of the name Protestants or Liberals to be damnable and they themselves damned who will not forsake the same.



I do further declare, that I will help, assist, and advise all or any of his Holiness' agents in any place wherever I shall be, in Switzerland, Germany, Holland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, England, Ireland or America, or in any other Kingdom or territory I shall come to, and do my uttermost to extirpate the heretical Protestants of Liberals' doctrines and to destroy all their pretended powers, regal or otherwise.



I do further promise and declare, that notwithstanding I am dispensed with, to assume my religion heretical, for the propaganda of the Mother Church's interest, to keep secret and private all her agents' counsels from time to time, as they may entrust me and not to divulge, directly or indirectly, by word, writing or circumstance whatever; but to execute all that shall be proposed, given in charge or discovered unto me, by you, my ghostly father, or any of this sacred covenant.



I do further promise and declare, that I will have no opinion or will of my own, or any mental reservation whatever, even as a corpse or cadaver (perinde ac cadaver), but will unhesitatingly obey each and every command that I may receive from my superiors in the Militia of the Pope and of Jesus Christ.



That I may go to any part of the world withersoever I may be sent, to the frozen regions of the North, the burning sands of the desert of Africa, or the jungles of India, to the centers of civilization of Europe, or to the wild haunts of the barbarous savages of America, without murmuring or repining, and will be submissive in all things whatsoever communicated to me.



I furthermore promise and declare that I will, when opportunity present, make and wage relentless war, secretly or openly, against all heretics, Protestants and Liberals, as I am directed to do, to extirpate and exterminate them from the face of the whole earth; and that I will spare neither age, sex or condition; and that I will hang, waste, boil, flay, strangle and bury alive these infamous heretics, rip up the stomachs and wombs of their women and crush their infants' heads against the walls, in order to annihilate forever their execrable race. That when the same cannot be done openly, I will secretly use the poisoned cup, the strangulating cord, the steel of the poniard or the leaden bullet, regardless of the honor, rank, dignity, or authority of the person or persons, whatever may be their condition in life, either public or private, as I at any time may be directed so to do by any agent of the Pope or Superior of the Brotherhood of the Holy Faith, of the Society of Jesus.



In confirmation of which, I hereby dedicate my life, my soul and all my corporal powers, and with this dagger which I now receive, I will subscribe my name written in my own blood, in testimony thereof; and should I prove false or weaken in my determination, may my brethren and fellow soldiers of the Militia of the Pope cut off my hands and my feet, and my throat from ear to ear, my belly opened and sulphur burned therein, with all the punishment that can be inflicted upon me on earth and my soul be tortured by demons in an eternal hell forever!



All of which, I, ____________________________, do swear by the Blessed Trinity and blessed Sacraments, which I am now to receive, to perform and on my part to keep inviolable; and do call all the heavenly and glorious host of heaven to witness the blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist, and witness the same further with my name written and with the point of this dagger dipped in my own blood and sealed in the face of this holy covenant." (He receives the wafer from the Superior and writes his name with the point of his dagger dipped in his own blood taken from over his heart.)



Superior: "You will now rise to your feet and I will instruct you in the Catechism necessary to make yourself known to any member of the Society of Jesus belonging to this rank.



In the first place, you, as a Brother Jesuit, will with another mutually make the ordinary sign of the cross as any ordinary Roman Catholic would; then one cross his wrists, the palms of his hands open, and the other in answer crosses his feet, one above the other; the first points with forefinger of the right hand to the center of the palm of the left, the other with the forefinger of the left hand points to the center of the palm of the right; the first then with his right hand makes a circle around his head, touching it; the other then with the forefinger of his left hand touches the left side of his body just below his heart; the first then with his right hand draws it across the throat of the other, and the latter then with a dagger down the stomach and abdomen of the first. The first then says Iustum; and the other answers Necar; the first Reges. The other answers Impious." (The meaning of which has already been explained.) "The first will then present a small piece of paper folded in a peculiar manner, four times, which the other will cut longitudinally and on opening the name Jesu will be found written upon the head and arms of a cross three times. You will then give and receive with him the following questions and answers:



Question----From whither do you come?



Answer----The Holy faith.



Q.----Whom do you serve?



A.----The Holy Father at Rome, the Pope, and the roman Catholic Church Universal throughout the world.



Q.----Who commands you?



A.----The Successor of St, Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus or the Soldiers of Jesus Christ.



Q.----Who received you?



A.----A venerable man in white hair.



Q.----How?



A.----With a naked dagger, I kneeling upon the cross beneath the banners of



the Pope and of our sacred order.



Q.----Did you take an oath?



A.----I did, to destroy heretics and their governments and rulers, and to spare neither age, sex nor condition. To be as a corpse without any opinion or will of my own, but to implicitly obey my Superiors in all things without hesitation of murmuring.



Q.----Will you do that?



A.----I will.



Q.----How do you travel?



A.----In the bark of Peter the fisherman.



Q.----Whither do you travel?



A.----To the four quarters of the globe.



Q.----For what purpose?



A.----To obey the orders of my general and Superiors and execute the will of the Pope and faithfully fulfill the conditions of my oaths.



Q.----Go ye, then, into all the world and take possession of all lands in the name of the Pope. He, who will not accept him as the Vicar of Jesus and his Viceregent on earth, let him be accursed and exterminated."



--------------------------



(Compare this to a lesser oath for a lesser 'initiated ones' that is given below)



The oath of a Catholic Priest



( By John Lyons, ex-catholic priest in a tract circulated in Glenside, Pa.)



"I do declare from my heart, without mental reservation. that the Pope is Christ's vicar-general and is the true and only head of the Universal Church throughout the world, and that by virtue of the Keys of binding and loosing given to his Holiness by Jesus Christ, he has power to depose heretical kings, princes, states, commonwealths and governments, all being illegal without his sacred Confirmation, and that they may safely be destroyed. Therefore, to the utmost of my power, I will defend this doctrine and his Holiness, rights and customs against all usurpers of the Protestant authority whatsoever, especially against the now pretended authority of the Church of England and all adherents, in regard that they may be usurped and heretical, opposing the Sacred Mother, the Church of Rome.



I do renounce and disown any alliegance as due to any Protestant king, prince, or state, or obedience to any of their inferior officers. I do further declare the doctrine of the Church of England, of the Calvinist, Huguenots, and other Protestants, to be damnable and those to be damned who will not forsake the same.



I do further declare that I will help, assist, and advise, all or any of his Holiness' agents, in any place wherever I shall be, and to do my utmost to extirpate the Protestant doctrine and to destroy all their pretended power, regal or otherwise. I do further promise and declare that, notwithstanding, I may be permitted by dispensation to assume any heretical religion for the propagation of the Mother Church's interest, to keep secret and private all her agents' counsels as they entrust to me, and not to divulge, directly or indirectly, by word, writing, or circumstances whatsoever, but to execute all which shall be proposed given in charge, discovered unto me by you my most Reverend Lord and Bishop."



------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



The preceeding is provided for informational purposes only and not intended to promote the Jesuits or Catholicism in any way, shape, or form.

Amplify’d from www.scpr.org

Jerry Brown: Now and Then

Dec. 28, 2010 | Frank Stoltze | KPCC Download

David Paul Morris/Getty Images

California Governor-elect Jerry Brown speaks during a news conference at his campaign headquarters on Nov. 3, 2010 in Oakland.

Next week, nearly three decades after he left it, former California governor Jerry Brown – who’s also a former Secretary of State, former Oakland mayor and former state Attorney General - returns to the governor’s office. He first served from 1975 to 1983. KPCC’s Frank Stoltze takes a look back at Brown’s first stint as the state’s chief executive.

The son of former Gov. Edmund G. “Pat” Brown succeeded conservative Republican icon Ronald Reagan as governor. At the time, many Californians hoped the young Democrat - he was 36 - would loosen the purse strings that Reagan had held so tightly.

AP Photo

Jerry Brown in 1980 with his father Edmund G. "Pat" Brown, right, also a former California governor.

But Brown didn’t, and in an interview this year he hinted at why. “My mother. She was a very orderly, very frugal woman.”

Brown's mother, Bernice Layne Brown, was the daughter of a San Francisco police captain. She married Edmund G. "Pat" Brown in 1930 when she was 22, maintained a household while her ambitious husband started a law practice and later a political career during the Depression, and raised four children - with Jerry the oldest - during the war years. Some observers called Brown tight, others thrifty like his mother. He told a reporter in 1976 that government didn’t need to spend to solve problems. “People always say, ‘Give us more. Give us more planning, more experts.' Well, I would only cite the Vietnam War: the other side had less resources, less experts, less PhDs, and they won!” Former Gov. Gray Davis served as Brown’s chief of staff.

He tells a story about the way Brown’s thrifty and political mind works. Customarily, the outgoing governor buys the incoming one a rug. Davis said Brown had refused. “One day in his office, I noticed that there was a hole in the rug,” said Davis. He had spotted a 10-inch hole in the rug that had opened up next to Brown’s desk.

“So I told him I had asked General Services to come over and repair the hole. And he said, ‘You did what?’”

“He said, ‘Do you know that that hole has saved the state at least $500 million? Legislators can’t come in here and beat me up for more money for their pet causes if the governor has a hole in his rug.’” That approach to governing didn’t always make for the best relationships with the legislature. Brown’s critics say he wasn’t the best steward of the state’s finances. In the 1970s, Sacramento Bee columnist Dan Walters was a cub reporter who covered Brown. “His decision after Proposition 13 passed was to take on a lot of the burden of local governments and schools, No. 1 – which now he said he wants to undo,” said Walters.

“And No. 2, he cut state taxes at the same time to get himself kind of in alignment with the voters - and threw the state budget into an immediate operating deficit.” It should be noted that Brown mostly signed surplus budgets. Walters also faults him for a lack of follow-through. He said Brown virtually stopped highway construction for a time with the idea of moving to mass transit, but he didn’t seem to push hard for it. Then the governor proposed a state space program. “He got an astronaut and put him on his payroll – Rusty Schweickart – and promoted a California space program,” said Walters.

“And he got a little publicity out of it and went on for awhile and then he just dropped it.” Gov. Davis said his fellow Democrat frequently changed the subject because he liked to entertain a lot of ideas. That could have to do with the years he’d spent in a Catholic seminary. But in a recent address, Brown himself pointed out his aversion to long commitments. “I took an oath to be a Jesuit once,” Brown told the audience. “I got a little tired of that.”

Brown then laughed and said, “I waited about, I don’t know how long, from 1958 to five years ago to take another vow – which is a marriage vow – so I’m real slow.” The national media loved covering Brown during his first two terms. He was the son of a political family, California’s youngest-ever chief executive, and different: he lived in an apartment instead of the governor’s mansion and rode in a 1974 Plymouth instead of a limousine. He ran for president. “Jerry Brown is a very brilliant man,” said historian and former California state librarian Kevin Starr.

“He is a somewhat enigmatic man. I think that history will judge the Jerry Brown as governor not in isolation from the ‘70s. This is act three of a three-act play.” Starr predicts a better Brown, especially since he’s seen the state’s problems as mayor of Oakland. Jerry Brown – now 72 years old, the oldest governor in America - says he’s smarter now. “The real skill here is to be able to stand back a little bit – a certain amount of role distance – not be in your role so totally that you get absorbed by it.” Brown likes philosophical talk. But he swears he remains grounded thanks to his early years with his mother. “Everything in our house was order,” said Brown. “And that gave me an opportunity to create chaos because the order was always restored. And I’ve always appreciated that interrelationship between order and chaos.” As California faces the worst fiscal crisis in its history, there’ll be plenty of room for both.

Related Stories California’s governor-elect Jerry Brown begins work on state budget (11/16/2010) Jerry Brown declares victory in California’s governor’s race (11/3/2010) Read more at www.scpr.org

 

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/jy0w