Some readers may be receiving intermittent server errors (500 Internal Server Error) when trying to connect to my blog’s homepage. I’ve contacted Yahoo hosting about the issue and am waiting to hear back. Your patience is appreciated.
A statement by the Patriarch and Local Heads of Churches In Jerusalem:
“Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God.” (Matthew 5:9)
Christian Zionism is a modern theological and political movement that embraces the most extreme ideological positions of Zionism, thereby becoming detrimental to a just peace within Palestine and Israel. The Christian Zionist programme provides a worldview where the Gospel is identified with the ideology of empire, colonialism and militarism. In its extreme form, it laces an emphasis on apocalyptic events leading to the end of history rather than living Christ’s love and justice today.
We categorically reject Christian Zionist doctrines as false teaching that corrupts the biblical message of love, justice and reconciliation.We further reject the contemporary alliance of Christian Zionist leaders and organizations with elements in the governments of Israel and the United States that are presently imposing their unilateral pre-emptive borders and domination over Palestine. This inevitably leads to unending cycles of violence that undermine the security of all peoples of the Middle East and the rest of the world.
We reject the teachings of Christian Zionism that facilitate and support these policies as they advance racial exclusivity and perpetual war rather than the gospel of universal love, redemption and reconciliation taught by Jesus Christ. Rather than condemn the world to the doom of Armageddon we call upon everyone to liberate themselves from the ideologies of militarism and occupation. Instead, let them pursue the healing of the nations!
We call upon Christians in Churches on every continent to pray for the Palestinian and Israeli people, both of whom are suffering as victims of occupation and militarism. These discriminative actions are turning Palestine into impoverished ghettos surrounded by exclusive Israeli settlements. The establishment of the illegal settlements and the construction of the Separation Wall on confiscated Palestinian land undermines the viability of a Palestinian state as well as peace and security in the entire region.
We call upon all Churches that remain silent, to break their silence and speak for reconciliation with justice in the Holy Land.
Therefore, we commit ourselves to the following principles as an alternative way:
We affirm that all people are created in the image of God. In turn they are called to honor the dignity of every human being and to respect their inalienable rights.
We affirm that Israelis and Palestinians are capable of living together within peace, justice and security.
We affirm that Palestinians are one people, both Muslim and Christian. We reject all attempts to subvert and fragment their unity.
We call upon all people to reject the narrow world view of Christian Zionism and other ideologies that privilege one people at the expense of others.
We are committed to non-violent resistance as the most effective means to end the illegal occupation in order to attain a just and lasting peace.
With urgency we warn that Christian Zionism and its alliances are justifying colonization, apartheid and empire-building.
God demands that justice be done. No enduring peace, security or reconciliation is possible without the foundation of justice. The demands of justice will not disappear. The struggle for justice must be pursued diligently and persistently but non-violently.
“What does the Lord require of you, to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8)
This is where we take our stand. We stand for justice. We can do no other. Justice alone guarantees a peace that will lead to reconciliation with a life of security and prosperity for all the peoples of our Land. By standing on the side of justice, we open ourselves to the work of peace – and working for peace makes us children of God.
“God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.” (2 Cor 5:19)
His Beattitude Patriarch Michel Sabbah
Latin Patriarchate, JerusalemArchbishop Swerios Malki Mourad,
Syrian Orthodox Patriarchate, JerusalemBishop Riah Abu El-Assal,
Episcopal Church of Jerusalem and the Middle EastBishop Munib Younan,
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land
To which I say Amen.
Tip ‘o the biretta to Fr. Jim Tucker.
Last night Keith Olbermann of MSNBC’s Countdown with Keith Olbermann delivered a masterful retort to Donald Rumsfeld’s diatribe against the vast majority of Americans who do not agree with this administration’s pursuit of war.
A transcript of his remarks is available at Crooks and Liars. See Keith Olbermann Delivers One Hell of a Commentary on Rumsfeld where in part he says:
Sadly, we have no Winston Churchills evident among us this evening. We have only Donald Rumsfelds, demonizing disagreement, the way Neville Chamberlain demonized Winston Churchill.
History – and 163 million pounds of Luftwaffe bombs over England – had taught us that all Mr. Chamberlain had was his certainty – and his own confusion. A confusion that suggested that the office can not only make the man, but that the office can also make the facts.
You can also view his comments in a better format at TMP Café in Olberman Our New Murrow.
What shocked me about Rumsfeld’s speech was the following (from a transcript of his remarks at Stars and Stripes):
And in every army, there are occasional bad actors, the ones who dominate the headlines today, who don’t live up to the standards of the oath and of our country. But you also know that they are a very, very small percentage of the literally hundreds of thousands of honorable men and women in all theaters in this struggle who are serving our country with humanity, with decency, with professionalism, and with courage in the face of continuous provocation.
And that is important in any long struggle or long war, where any kind of moral or intellectual confusion about who and what is right or wrong, can weaken the ability of free societies to persevere.
So Mr. Rumsfeld is stating that former military leaders and servicepeople who have come out against this war are traitors to their oath and to their country? Wow!!! I wonder what he thinks of his boss when he uses the Constitution as toilet paper.
Mr. Rumsfeld then he goes on to call the rest of us morally and intellectually confused? Cool, because if we were we wouldn’t see, nor would we care about, the loss of our freedoms and the high cost of our misadventures.
WSJV in Bush Sounds Off Against War Critics reports that President Bush’s speech in front of the American Legion’s national convention included the following:
The president said years of pursuing stability in the Middle East was proven a mirage after Sept. 11, 2001. Now, only a nation that commits itself to freedom can help itself and the rest of the world to defeat terror.
I take it that means that those who have pursued peace are idiots and that peace can only be obtained at the end of a gun?
Who knew? Now that I am aware of my moral and intellectual ineptitude, as well as the fact that I am an idiot, I can go out and buy some guns and give peace a chance.
For my part I will pray that our dear Lord grant the light of wisdom to our leaders. I will pray that their moral and intellectual darkness be eliminated, and that they see the truth. I will pray that they cease calling evil good and good evil and that they see that war is not peace.
God have mercy on us all.
Ojcze Przedwieczny! Na cześć i chwałę Twoją a dla zbawienie mego i świata całego, ofiaruję Ci pokorę, umartwienie, mękę, cierpliwość, miłość, śmierć i wszystkie zasługi Jezusa Chrystusa, i błagam Cię abyśmy owoców Jego okupienia wiecznie doznawali. Przez Chrystusa Pana naszego. Amen.
…and Derek the Ænglican states while commenting on “The Liturgical Spectrum”:
One of the ironies of the modern world, of course, is that nobody can remember exactly why we ordain with a red stole (though it’s white in some places). Yes, red is for Pentecost…which means the new deacon/priest has an expensive bit of liturgical formalwear to be worn exactly one day out of the year… It makes a lot more sense in an establishments [sic] that celebrates the martyrs. Not only is it handy and frequently used, but it gives a slightly different cast to the notion of ordination and the priesthood; you are reminded, through color, of the martyrs and your place in their ranks. It is incumbent upon you to hold true to the witness for which they died and to remind people not only of their sacrifice but why the faith is something worth dying for…
Jeff Culbreath at Hallowed Things comments on California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s signing of SB 1441, a Bill that seeks to prevent any government funding of any private institution that follows a code of conduct contrary to the wishes of the State. In California: The Slide Continues he states:
Today, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed SB1441 into law. This tyrannical bill further marginalizes Californians with traditional beliefs by preventing “parochial schools, such as private, Christian, Catholic, Mormon, and many other religious universities, from receiving student financial assistance if they also maintain a student code of conduct preventing behavior deemed immoral by their religious beliefs.— Homeschoolers could be impacted, as many California homeschoolers use public charter school programs or the homeschooling programs of registered private schools. The remainder of California homeschoolers are independently registered as “private” schools with the state: these should not be affected (unless they are somehow receiving state assistance), but the stage is set to go after them next.
I follow Huw Raphael’s line of thinking. In Dance all you want he states:
Religious groups accept money from the state and then discover that the state can change the rules.
Oopsie.
Any school, college, daycare provider, business or entity, social service agency, hospital, or other organization that provides services to the state and receives state funding for those services must set aside their moral/religious views or face an elimination of contracts and funding. There are no exceptions in the new California Law.
Now I do not expect a huge change in the landscape of California’s educational, healthcare, or social service network. Nothing will happen right away because the state will only selectively enforce the law when someone or some group is denied services. Everyone will cover their ears and sing a merry tune in the meantime, at least until they get slapped. Then there will be a lot of hand wringing.
Newer Christian organizations (at least under Bush initiatives) and Catholic organization (for a long time now) have tied themselves too tightly to the cash flow coming from the government. Sure, government is a cash cow – but it is also a golden calf.
We are being offered another opportunity to witness to the strength of our faith. Which will it be, values or money?
I do not pray for success, I ask for faithfulness. — Mother Teresa
Church leaders should heed those words.
Rozdawco dóbr wszelkich, wszechmogący Boże, który chciałeś aby święta Róża, przez łaskę niebieska wezwana, blaskiem dziewictwa i cierpliwości była ozdobą Indyj, daj nam sługom Twoim, abyśmy wonią cnót jej idąc do Chrystusa zbliżyć się mogli. Amen.
On this Solemnity of the Beheading of the Baptist I think it is right to reflect on the trend toward making public expressions of faith a crime.
There is a slow moving degradation of our ability to witness to Christ without outright persecution.
I’m not calling our ability to witness a ‘right’ because it is more than that —“ it is a Divine command and an obligation. The rights handed to us by governments can change in fairly rapid order. The obligations we have toward God are eternal. Regardless of the existence of a right, we must remain faithful to the Lord.
A recent case in point is the criminal charges that were pressed against Artur Boruc, a Catholic Pole who plays goal for the Celtic soccer club. Mr. Boruc makes it a regular practice to make the Sign of the Cross as soccer matches. The Scottish prosecutor thinks that doing so is a bad idea and that the Sign of the Cross —provoked alarm and crowd trouble— and —constituted a breach of the peace—. For showing his faith Mr. Boruc received a formal police caution. Some in the football crowd showed that they are little more than racists and bigots.
The opposing team at the match was the Rangers. The match occurred on their home field. Their fan club had this to say: —Boruc should have been dealt with immediately after the February 12 incident by his club.—
That’s right, lets deal with these people. I’m thinking gladiators and lions…
An excerpt from the Evening Standard article: Footballer gets criminal record for making sign of the cross follows:
Celtic goalkeeper Artur Boruc has been cautioned for blessing himself in a match against arch rivals Rangers.
The Catholic Church has condemned the cautioning of a Polish footballer for gestures which allegedly included blessing himself at an Old Firm match.
Celtic goalkeeper Artur Boruc was cautioned after complaints were made about his behaviour at Ibrox Stadium in Glasgow in front of Ranger’s fans.
Strathclyde Police investigated claims that Boruc, 26, angered a section of the home support after allegedly making the religious gesture at the start of the second half of the game on February 12.
Officers submitted a report to the Procurator Fiscal.
A Crown Office spokesman said: “The procurator fiscal has issued an alternative to prosecution in this case.
“On this occasion, the actions included a combination of behaviour before a crowd in the charged atmosphere of an Old Firm match which provoked alarm and crowd trouble and as such constituted a breach of the peace.
“This quite properly resulted in the matter being reported to the procurator fiscal for consideration. Having looked at the full circumstances in this instance the public interest has been best served by the decision to resolve the matter with an alternative to prosecution.”
The alternative to prosecution being persecution…
We are being reminded in not so subtle ways that our duties toward God are going to run up against both subtle and vehement opposition. The question for each of us is whether we will persevere. Through the intercession of St. John the Baptist may we be granted the grace of humble and final perseverance.
From today’s Office of Readings:
Precursor of Christ in birth and death
As forerunner of our Lord’s birth, preaching and death, the blessed John showed in his struggle a goodness worthy of the sight of heaven. In the words of Scripture: Though in the sight of men he suffered torments, his hope is full of immortality. We justly commemorate the day of his birth with a joyful celebration, a day which he himself made festive for us through his suffering and which he adorned with the crimson splendour of his own blood. We do rightly revere his memory with joyful hearts, for he stamped with the seal of martyrdom the testimony which he delivered on behalf of our Lord.
There is no doubt that blessed John suffered imprisonment and chains as a witness to our Redeemer, whose forerunner he was, and gave his life for him. His persecutor had demanded not that he should deny Christ, but only that he should keep silent about the truth. Nevertheless, he died for Christ. Does Christ not say: I am the truth? Therefore, because John shed his blood for the truth, he surely died for Christ.
Through his birth, preaching and baptising, he bore witness to the coming birth, preaching and baptism of Christ, and by his own suffering he showed that Christ also would suffer.
Such was the quality and strength of the man who accepted the end of this present life by shedding his blood after the long imprisonment. He preached the freedom of heavenly peace, yet was thrown into irons by ungodly men; he was locked away in the darkness of prison, though he came bearing witness to the Light of life and deserved to be called a bright and shining lamp by that Light itself, which is Christ. John was baptised in his own blood, though he had been privileged to baptise the Redeemer of the world, to hear the voice of the Father above him, and to see the grace of the Holy Spirit descending upon him. But to endure temporal agonies for the sake of the truth was not a heavy burden for such men as John; rather it was easily borne and even desirable, for he knew eternal joy would be his reward.
Since death was ever near at hand through the inescapable necessity of nature, such men considered it a blessing to embrace it and thus gain the reward of eternal life by acknowledging Christ’s name. Hence the apostle Paul rightly says: You have been granted the privilege not only to believe in Christ but also to suffer for his sake. He tells us why it is Christ’s gift that his chosen ones should suffer for him: The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed in us.
— From a homily by St. Bede the Venerable, priest
Święte męczennice, Sabino i Serafino! wstawcie się za nami do Boga i uproście nam pogardę rzeczy ziemskich, unikanie pokus, porzucenie nałogów, zamiłowanie cnoty, wytrwanie w dobrem a po śmierci koronę wiecznej chwały. Amen.