The History Of Christmas In Five Parts

Wake Up Messianics, You Could Be Next

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Mom’s religion dominates custody hearing

A Maryville woman who went to court on Aug. 14 for a child custody hearing says she was persecuted because of her religious beliefs at the hands of the Blount County judicial system.

According to Jo Anne White, what was supposed to be a standard child custody hearing turned into an almost hourlong “Bible study” in the courtroom in spite of the repeated protests of her attorney, Kevin W. Shepherd.

After a detailed discussion of her religious beliefs — documented in court reporter transcripts obtained by The Daily Times — and a brief recess to chambers, Blount County Circuit Court Judge W. Dale Young awarded temporary custody of White’s two children to her ex-husband. The custody will be reviewed again in Circuit Court on Dec. 1

More details about how this affects you at the link above.

Heiress accuses W. Palm church of exploiting her mental illness

1st babtist heiress
Originally uploaded by wdjacobson.

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Had Lucinda Bennett not gotten swept away in a wave of religious fervor, she could be living in an oceanfront condo in Palm Beach, her only worry how to spend her $1.8 million inheritance.

Instead, having given away the condo and the bulk of her great-grandmother's fortune to the venerable First Baptist Church West Palm Beach, the 37-year-old is living in a small house in rural northeast Florida and worrying about putting food in her mouth and gas in her car.
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"I'm mad at the Lord, and I'm mad at these pastors that took my money, and took advantage of me knowing I was mentally ill," she said during a November 2005 deposition.

Sometimes, she testified, the anger was overwhelming.

"I'm so angry now I can't control my car when I'm on the road. I was so angry a couple of years ago I almost drove my car off the road. I was suicidal, and I'm figuring this is getting to the point now where I cannot manage myself because I'm working so hard and the prosperity hasn't come in that these pastors said, 'Oh, you're going to outgive God, and God is going to give back to you.'"
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But Bennett's days of devotion to church leaders are clearly over.

She has embraced Orthodox Judaism and wants to study to be a rabbi.

She works selling odor control equipment to sewage treatment plants and credit card machines to business start-ups. With little money coming in, she said she can barely afford gas to get to temple, much less the $4,000 cost of rabbinical studies.
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As for First Baptist, it reports robust financial health.

In a recent newsletter to members, leaders reported they expected to reach their goal of $4.25 million in offerings for the fiscal year that ended Saturday. That is nearly $400,000 more than was collected the previous year.

"Clearly our giving this year is beyond anything we anticipated," they wrote. "To God be the glory!"

Spirit Filled Sun Worship

DSCF0467
Originally uploaded by wdjacobson.

Well, at least it's spirit filled.

Pope hailed 'for praying towards Mecca'

ISTANBUL, Turkey (Reuters) -- Pope Benedict wound up a fence-mending visit to Turkey on Friday amid praise from the local press for visiting Istanbul's Blue Mosque and praying towards Mecca "like Muslims".

The pope, who sparked protests across the Muslim world with a speech two months ago seen as criticizing Islam, looked relaxed and pleased as he entered the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit for a mass at the end of the sensitive four-day trip.

His first visit to a mostly Muslim country, held under tight security for fear of protests by nationalists and Islamists, was highlighted by a series of conciliatory gestures culminating in a stop on Thursday afternoon in Istanbul's famed Blue Mosque.

"The Pope's dreaded visit was concluded with a wonderful surprise," wrote daily Aksam on its front page.

"In Sultan Ahmet Mosque, he turned towards Mecca and prayed like Muslims," popular daily Hurriyet said, using the building's official name.

His gestures, including support for Ankara's bid to join the European Union and praise for Islam as a peaceful faith, seem to have persuaded the Turks to move beyond the tension following his speech quoting a Byzantine emperor as calling Islam violent.

But in Islam's Middle Eastern heartland, Arab commentators still call for Benedict to issue a full apology for his speech. Shocked by the protests it triggered, the Pope has said he did not agree with the controversial quote but has not apologized.

Catholic officials also presented the mosque visit, where Benedict stood in silent prayer while Istanbul Grand Mufti Mustafa Cagrici prayed aloud, as a key moment of reconciliation.

"I would compare the Pope's visit to the mosque to Pope John Paul's gestures at the Western Wall," said veteran Vatican mediator Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, referring to Pope John Paul II's prayers at Jerusalem's Western Wall in 2000.

"Yesterday, Benedict did with the Muslims what John Paul did with the Jews."

The Spirit of the Inquisition is Alive & Well

Cardinal urges legal action against Da Vinci Code
Sun May 7, 2006 10:13 AM ET

By Philip Pullella

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - In the latest Vatican broadside against "The Da Vinci Code", a leading cardinal says Christians should respond to the book and film with legal action because both offend Christ and the Church he founded.

Cardinal Francis Arinze, a Nigerian who was considered a candidate for pope last year, made his strong comments in a documentary called "The Da Vinci Code-A Masterful Deception."

Arinze's appeal came some 10 days after another Vatican cardinal called for a boycott of the film. Both cardinals asserted that other religions would never stand for offences against their beliefs and that Christians should get tough.

"Christians must not just sit back and say it is enough for us to forgive and to forget," Arinze said in the documentary made by Rome film maker Mario Biasetti for Rome Reports, a Catholic film agency specializing in religious affairs.

"Sometimes it is our duty to do something practical. So it is not I who will tell all Christians what to do but some know legal means which can be taken in order to get the other person to respect the rights of others," Arinze said.

"This is one of the fundamental human rights: that we should be respected, our religious beliefs respected, and our founder Jesus Christ respected," he said, without elaborating on what legal means he had in mind.

A transcript of the documentary, due to be screened in Rome later this month just before the release of the film version of the best-selling book at the Cannes Film Festival, was made available to Reuters.

The book, written by Dan Brown, has sold more than 40 million copies.

The novel is an international murder mystery centered on attempts to uncover a secret about the life of Christ that a clandestine society has tried to protect for centuries.

The central tenet of the book is that Jesus married Mary Magdalene and had children.

"Those who blaspheme Christ and get away with it are exploiting the Christian readiness to forgive and to love even those who insult us. There are some other religions which if you insult their founder they will not be just talking. They will make it painfully clear to you," Arinze said.

This appeared to be a reference to protests by Muslims around the world over cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad.

Last month, another broadside against "The Da Vinci Code" was launched by Archbishop Angelo Amato, the number two official in the Vatican doctrinal office which was headed by Pope Benedict until his election last year.

Amato urged a boycott of the film and Arinze, like his fellow cardinal, also blasted the credibility of the book.

"'The Da Vinci Code' presents (Christianity) wrongly ... any film produced on the basis of that book is already in error from the word go, no matter how interesting it might appear," Arinze said.

Catholic group Opus Dei has told Sony Pictures that putting a disclaimer on the movie stressing it is a work of fiction would be a welcome show of respect toward the Church.

In the novel and film, Opus Dei is characterized as the latest in a series of secretive groups that worked over the centuries to obscure truths about Jesus Christ.

Opus Dei is a controversial conservative Church group whose members are mostly non-clerics and are urged to seek holiness in their everyday professional jobs and lives. It has rejected criticisms that it is secretive and elitist.

The movie, which is being released by Sony Pictures division Columbia Pictures, stars Tom Hanks. Sony Pictures is the media wing of Japanese electronics giant Sony Corp.

Perry apologizes for having messianic leader represent Jews

Star-Telegram | 07/16/2005 | Perry apologizes for having messianic leader represent Jews: "Perry apologizes for having messianic leader represent Jews

The Associated Press

AUSTIN - Gov. Rick Perry has apologized for inviting a messianic Jewish leader to represent the Jewish faith at a bill signing where the man delivered a prayer in the name of Jesus.

David Stone wore a Jewish prayer shawl when he delivered a benediction at Fort Worth's Calvary Christian Academy where Perry signed a bill that imposes more limits on late-term abortions and requires minor girls to get written parental consent for abortions.

Stone is the leader of Fort Worth's Beth Yeshua congregation, which believes Jesus is the Messiah. Traditional Jews believe that the Messiah has yet to appear and consider Stone's view heretical.

The Beth Yeshua Web site says Stone graduated from a Bible college and was ordained by the Assemblies of God.

Perry spokesman Eric Bearse said the governor's office did not know Stone was a messianic Jew until after the prayer. Bearse said Perry met with members of the Jewish community last month to apologize.

Members of the Anti-Defamation League sent a letter to Perry complaining about Stone's participation and the choice of Calvary Christian Academy as the ceremony's venue.

Linda Burger, executive director of the American Jewish Committee in Houston, said Jewish officials who met with Perry appreciated the apology.

'He said somebody on his staff messed up,' Burger said in Friday's online edition of The Dallas Morning News.

In an e-mail inviting religious groups to participate in the bill signing, Perry's campaign said it wanted to fill the venue with 'pro-family Christian friends.'

About 1,000 people gathered inside the gymnasium for the ceremony, which was rife with religious references. During the program, Perry also signed a resolution to amend the Texas Constitution to ban same-sex marriages."

Pope terror 'snub' angers Israel

Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday deplored attacks in 'countries including Egypt, Turkey, Iraq and Britain'.

Israel said he had failed to mention a 12 July suicide bombing in Netanya that killed five Israelis.

The foreign ministry said it would be interpreted as 'granting legitimacy to... terrorist attacks against Jews'.

'We expected that the new Pope, who on taking office emphasised the importance he places on relations between the Church and the Jewish people, would behave differently,' the ministry said in a statement.

The Vatican embassy declined to comment.

Pope Benedict has accepted an invitation to visit Israel but has yet to comment on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in public since taking office in April. "