VATICAN CITY (AP) — Catholic and Muslim representatives plan to meet in Rome in the spring to start a “historic” dialogue between the faiths after relations were soured by Pope Benedict XVI’s 2006 comments about Islam and holy war, Vatican officials said.
Benedict proposed the encounter as part of his official response to an open letter sent to him and other Christian leaders in October by 138 Muslim scholars from around the world. The letter urged Christians and Muslims to develop their common ground of belief in one God.
Three representatives of the Muslim scholars will come to Rome in February or March to prepare for the meeting, the head of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue, Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, told the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano this weekend.
He did not give a date for the larger meeting, except to say it would take place in the spring.
Pope John Paul II kissing the Koran
The agenda, he said, would cover three main topics: respect for the dignity of each person, interreligious dialogue based on reciprocal understanding, and instruction of tolerance among the young.
“The meeting with a delegation of some of the 138 Muslims, planned for Rome next spring, is in a certain sense historic,” Tauran was quoted by L’Osservatore as saying.
Benedict angered Muslims with a speech on faith and reason in September 2006 in Germany in which he cited a medieval text that characterized some of the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad as “evil and inhuman,” particularly “his command to spread by the sword the faith.”
The pope later said he was “deeply sorry” over the reactions to his remarks and that they did not reflect his own opinions. The Vatican has been working ever since to improve relations with moderate Islam.
Thirty-eight Muslim scholars initially wrote to Benedict soon after his 2006 speech, thanking him for his clarifications and his calls for dialogue. But the Vatican never officially responded to that initiative, and a year later the number of signatories of a new letter had swelled to 138.
In the letter, the Muslim scholars, muftis and intellectuals draw parallels between Islam and Christianity and their common focus on love for God and love for one’s neighbor. They also note that such a focus is found in Judaism.
“As Muslims and in obedience to the Holy Quran, we ask Christians to come together with us on the common essentials of our two religions,” the letter says. “Let this common ground be the basis of all future interfaith dialogue between us.”
Noting that Christians and Muslims make up an estimated 55 percent of the world population, the scholars conclude that improving relations is the best way to bring peace to the world.
Church leaders and analysts have praised the initiative, and Benedict met with one of the 138 signatories in October, when they both attended an interfaith peace meeting in Naples.
But that meeting was somewhat soured when some Muslim participants complained in a communique that Benedict had neglected to comment publicly on the open letter, and over published comments by Tauran about the unwillingness of Muslims to critically discuss the Quran.
The Vatican No. 2, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, followed up within a month with a formal letter on behalf of Benedict to one of the 138 signatories, Jordan’s Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad bin Talal, inviting representatives of the scholars to meet with the pope.
The prince, who is a special envoy to Jordan’s King Abdullah II, responded by confirming the agenda of the meeting and saying three representatives of the scholars would travel to Rome in February or March to lay its groundwork.
The terraced gardens and classical-style Bahai World Centre in Haifa.
Theirs is a vision of the world governed by a world legislature, world court and a world executive, all overseeing freedom of movement, disarmament and an international military to ensure peace.
HAIFA, Israel (AFP) — Dominating a holy mountain in Israel is the nerve centre of the world’s fastest growing major religion, preaching global unity and world peace from one of the most troubled countries on earth.
Founded less than 170 years ago, the Bahai faith believes that Persian-born prophet Bahuallah, who died in Israel, brought a message of unity, equality and world federation to save mankind from the plagues of the modern world.
The shrine to the Bab, a messenger whose mission prepared humanity for the coming of Bahuallah, the beautiful Bahai terraced gardens and classical-style World Centre in Israel’s port city of Haifa are lauded by some as the eighth wonder of the world.
Believers wait years to come on pilgrimage and 600 Bahais from more than 60 countries volunteer for unpaid service to administer the centre.
“My parents worried because of the news on TV about bombs, but for me I was going to the holiest spot on the planet,” said 24-year-old IT worker Bhojraj Parmar from India, a technician at the Bahai headquarters.
Not even a two-and-a-half-hour interrogation by anxious Israeli security officials upon arrival put him off.
“I don’t really mind,” he said. “I’m supposed to be cooperative with the government. It’s for security.”
Numbering five million believers in every continent reading literature translated into more than 800 languages, the Bahai faith is growing faster than any other religion but Zoroastrianism with its some 200,000 adherents.
Theirs is a vision of the world governed by a world legislature, world court and a world executive, all overseeing freedom of movement, disarmament and an international military to ensure peace.
“The central theme of Babaullah’s social teachings is that humanity is one single race and the day has come for its unification into one global society,” says a glossy English-language brochure.
Far from creating a “monstrous big brother,” Bahais believe their faith is the most suited world religion to sustain modern, progressive society.
They believe in promoting sexual equality, universal education and religious tolerance, and eliminating prejudice, extreme wealth and poverty, — teachings that they say hold the answers to global warming, erosion of family life and racism.
An army of 80 paid gardeners keeps the 21 terraces on Mount Carmel next to the Mediterranean in tip-top condition. The gardens took 10 years to create, and along with two other buildings finished in 2000, cost 250 million dollars (170 million euros).
–Bahais admit ‘irony’ of preaching global unity in Israel –
Although they receive only modest stipends to cover food and basic expenses, Bahai volunteers describe their mission as “life-changing” or “priceless.”
Kenneth Chadwick, 24, from Michigan, grew up in a Bahai household but his epiphany came as a student when he found himself briefly paralysed on the dorm-room floor after fervent prayer.
One week after graduation he came to Haifa as a volunteer.
“For the first time, I understood what faith was, what love was. I felt what it was like to have a connection with God. It was a religious experience that completely changed my life. I felt like I was born again.”
Dressed smartly in a shirt and tie for his clerical work at the Universal House of Justice — the nine-member, all-male world governing body, Chadwick is a serious young man whose hands tremble as he tries to explain his mission.
Given that Israel has among the most insecure yet heavily-armed borders in the world in a region with no imminent prospect of disarmament, he acknowledges a “certain irony” over the location of the Bahai headquarters.
Parmar even sees Israel as a model for the Bahai world commonwealth.
“I love Israeli people for the fact that they are very united. Israel wouldn’t be a possibility if the Jewish people weren’t united. We’re grateful to Israelis. We wouldn’t be here without them,” he said.
But the country, created 60 years ago as a Jewish state, is deeply opposed to any form of missionary activity. Anyone wishing to convert has to go abroad. Bahai spokesman Douglas Moore is “not aware” of any Israeli Bahais.
“It’s enough for me that I’m Jewish. It’s enough of a burden. Don’t give me another,” laughed Haifa Mayor Yona Yahav, when asked if he thought about signing up after waxing lyrical about the Bahais’ contribution to his city.
“I’m Jewish, I believe in my God. I don’t care what they do,” said Zehorit Barashar, a 22-year-old security guard who kicks out those who break the rules and wears a gun “to save these guys” because Bahais do not carry weapons.
The Bahai-Israel relationship is mutually beneficial. Bahais promise not to convert Israelis but provide a tourist magnet keeping the local economy afloat.
Unlike Christian, Muslim and Jewish organisations, Bahais keep totally aloof from politics. And none of their institutions carry out aid work in Israel or the Palestinian territories.
Israel grants them freedom to run their World Centre.
“We are very proud that the holiest place for the Bahais is situated in Haifa. The way they have done the whole area, the mountain, is outstanding. It is considered the eighth wonder of the world,” said Yahav.
The Bahai gardens are the main tourist attraction in Haifa, he said.
Dignitaries and foreign ambassadors are invited to learn about the faith and asked for help to curb persecution in Iran, where more than 200 Bahais have been executed or killed since the 1979 Islamic revolution.
Bahais believe in progressive revelation, that the world’s great religions trace one divine plan from Abraham, Krishna, Moses, Zoroaster, Buddha, Jesus and Mohammed, to Bab and Babuallah in 19th-century Persia.
The year 2007 is the Bahai year 167. Years are divided into 19 months of 19 days, with extra days before new year’s day on March 21 devoted to gift-giving. There are nine holy days and a one-month sunrise to sunset fast.
Not all are smitten.
“It’s a bit too artificial,” said Swiss tourist Egiolio Spada, pointing at the grass. “For instance, if you look at the green it seems plastic.”
. . .
“In searching for a new enemy to unite us, we came up with the idea that pollution, the threat of global warming, water shortages, famine and the like would fit the bill…The real enemy, then, is humanity itself….Bring the divided nation together to face an outside enemy, either a real one or else one INVENTED for the purpose…”
- The First Global Revolution: A Report by the Council of Rome
WASHINGTON - A coalition of religious leaders urged Congress on Wednesday to ensure that the poor and most vulnerable are protected from the effects of climate change.
The appeals comes as lawmakers in the coming months plan to consider legislation that would combat global warming.
The representatives from groups such as the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, National Association of Evangelicals, National Council of Churches and the Union for Reform Judaism said Congress should require a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.
A compromise bill proposed by Sens. Joe Lieberman, a Connecticut independent, and John Warner, R-Va., was expected to advance from a Senate Environment and Public Works subcommittee on Thursday.
The religious leaders planned to press the bill’s sponsors “to strengthen and improve protections for the poor and vulnerable as (the) legislation moves forward,” said Paul Gorman, executive director of the National Religious Partnership for the Environment.
The church leaders, in a conference call with reporters, outlined their priorities for the legislation. They include helping low-income families deal with the impact of higher energy prices that result from new climate policies and making sure that vulnerable people are shielded from the environmental effects of global warming.
The group said it will seek to have 40 percent of the emissions-related revenues from climate change legislation directed to help such people. The Lieberman-Warner bill calls for a 5 percent allocation for such purposes.
“While not all of us agree on much,” said the Rev. Michael Livingston, president of the National Council of Churches, “we do agree on the need to protect God’s creation. It has become clear that global warming will have devastating impact on those in poverty around the world.”
The Rev. Richard Cizik, vice president for governmental affairs for the National Association of Evangelicals, said 84 percent of evangelicals support mandatory limits on greenhouse gases. He said it is not a matter of political persuasion but “of moral leadership.”
Added Bishop Thomas Wenksi of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops: “Those who contribute least to the problem are likely to suffer the most.”
In terms of celebrity trendiness, Kabbalah has been overtaken by Scientology in recent years. However, the number of Kabbalahists continues to grow “exponentially,” Laitman said.
“The global crisis will eventually force everyone to search for a solution, and the solution exists here,” he said.
Ask most Americans what they know about Kabbalah and their answer will be “Madonna practices it.”
Dozens of other celebrities do, too, including Demi Moore, Ashton Kutcher, Roseanne Barr, Rosie O’Donnell and Donna Karan.
Rav Michael Laitman, one of the world’s leading authorities on Kabbalah, says he’s grateful for the attention American celebrities have brought to Kabbalah, an ancient science with more than 2 million followers worldwide. However, he is critical of the way the celebrities follow the teachings and doesn’t consider them real Kabbalahists.
“Kabbalah is very, very far from what Madonna is doing … as much as I know, she doesn’t study according to the authentic sources,” said Laitman, speaking through a Hebrew translator, adding that he’s never met the Material Girl nor studied with her.
“The celebrities are not attracted to the real Kabbalah, but the psychological compensations — to make themselves feel better.”
What’s real Kabbalah, then? Find out Sunday, when Laitman makes a rare Chicago appearance to discuss this mysterious science on how everything in the inner and outer worlds is connected.
During a free lecture at Oakton Community College’s Skokie campus, Laitman will explain how Kabbalah (pronounced “kahbah-lah” with the accent on the “lah”) can solve problems ranging from the war in Iraq to your own personal strife. He’ll also clear up misconceptions, such as that Kabbalah is a religion or involves mysticism, Judaism or red bracelets.
Laitman’s stop here is part of a nine-city U.S. tour to promote his new book, “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Kabbalah,” which he wrote, he said, so curious people can begin to learn about it through conversational writings. If you don’t want to buy the book, he suggests going to www.kabbalah.info, a free, no-need-to-sign-up Web site run by his Kabbalah institute that’s filled with solid information and study materials.
In terms of celebrity trendiness, Kabbalah has been overtaken by Scientology in recent years. However, the number of Kabbalahists continues to grow “exponentially,” Laitman said.
“The global crisis will eventually force everyone to search for a solution, and the solution exists here,” he said.
President George Bush has repeated his belief all religions, “whether they be Muslim, Christian, or any other religion, prays to the same God” – an assertion that caused outrage among evangelical leaders when he said it in November 2003.
Bush made the statement Friday in an interview with Al Arabiya reporter Elie Nakouzi.
Al Arabiya is Al Jazeerah’s top competitor in the Mideast.
As the president and Nakouzi walked from the Oval Office to the Map Room in the White House residence, Nazouki asked, “But I want to tell you – and I hope this doesn’t bother you at all – that in the Islamic world they think that President Bush is an enemy of Islam – that he wants to destroy their religion, what they believe in. Is that in any way true, Mr. President?”
“No, it’s not,” said Bush. “I’ve heard that, and it just shows [sic] to show a couple of things: One, that the radicals have done a good job of propagandizing. In other words, they’ve spread the word that this really isn’t peaceful people versus radical people or terrorists, this is really about the America not liking Islam.
“Well, first of all, I believe in an Almighty God, and I believe that all the world, whether they be Muslim, Christian, or any other religion, prays to the same God. That’s what I believe. I believe that Islam is a great religion that preaches peace. And I believe people who murder the innocent to achieve political objectives aren’t religious people, whether they be a Christian who does that – we had a person blow up our – blow up a federal building in Oklahoma City who professed to be a Christian, but that’s not a Christian act to kill innocent people.
“And I just simply don’t subscribe to the idea that murdering innocent men, women and children – particularly Muslim men, women and children in the Middle East – is an act of somebody who is a religious person.
Friday’s statement echoes one made by Bush in November 2003 during a joint press conference with then-Prime Minister Tony Blair. A reporter noted Bush had frequently expressed the view that freedom is a gift from “the Almighty,” but questioned whether Bush believes “Muslims worship the same Almighty” as the president and other Christians do.
“I do say that freedom is the Almighty’s gift to every person. I also condition it by saying freedom is not America’s gift to the world,” Bush replied. “It’s much greater than that, of course. And I believe we worship the same god,” reported the London Telegraph.
Reaction from U.S. evangelical leaders was swift and strong.
Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention, the nation’s largest Protestant denomination, was quoted in the Baptist Press as saying the president “is simply mistaken.”
According to a Washington Post account, Land said in an interview: “We should always remember that he is commander in chief, not theologian in chief. The Bible is clear on this: The one and true god is Jehovah, and his only begotten son is Jesus Christ.”
The Rev. Ted Haggard, then-president of the National Association of Evangelicals, also contradicted the president in a press statement. “The Christian God encourages freedom, love, forgiveness, prosperity and health,” said Haggard. “The Muslim god appears to value the opposite. The personalities of each god are evident in the cultures, civilizations and dispositions of the peoples that serve them. Muhammad’s central message was submission; Jesus’ central message was love. They seem to be very different personalities.”
In November 2006, Haggard was forced to resign from NAE following allegations of drug use and sex with a homosexual prostitute.
Gary Bauer, former presidential candidate and president of American Values, said Bush’s comment was “not helpful to the president. Since everybody agrees he’s not a theologian, he would be much better advised to punt when he gets that kind of question.”
In Friday’s interview with Al Arabiya, Bush emphasized his outreach to Muslims.
“We are having an Iftaar dinner tonight – I say, ‘we’ – it’s my wife and I,” Bush told Nakouzi. “This is the seventh one in the seven years I’ve been the president. It gives me a chance to say ‘Ramadan Mubarak.’ The reason I do this is I want people to understand about my country. In other words, I hope this message gets out of America. I want people to understand that one of the great freedoms in America is the right for people to worship any way they see fit. If you’re a Muslim, an agnostic, a Christian, a Jew, a Hindu, you’re equally American.
“And the value – the most valuable thing I think about America is that – particularly if you’re a religious person – you can be free to worship, and it’s your choice to make. It’s not the state’s choice, and you shouldn’t be intimidated after you’ve made your choice. And that’s a right that I jealously guard.
“Secondly, I want American citizens to see me hosting an Iftaar dinner.”
“That’s a strong message for the Americans,” said Nakouzi.
Last year, WND reported criticism of Bush from Wafa Sultan, a native of Syria, who said the president was empowering terrorist leaders whose ultimate aim is for Islamic law to govern the world by proclaiming Islam a “religion of peace.”
“I believe he undermines our credibility by saying that,” said Sultan. “We came from Islam, and we know what kind of religion Islam is.”
They flew in from around the world, completing the final leg in a half-full charter from London that must have left an embarrassingly large carbon footprint.
But the leaders of six world religions paused for two minutes here yesterday under a grey sky, with a mirror-calm sea, and on an unseasonably warm day, to pray for the ailing planet.
The Ecumenical Patriarch, Bartholomew, the leader of 250 million Orthodox Christians, was joined by Christian bishops and a cardinal, the Grand Rabbi of Paris, Sunni and Shia scholars, and by Hindu, Shinto and Zen Buddhist leaders.
All are taking part in an Arctic Symposium, the seventh such event organised by Bartholomew since 1995 on threatened rivers and seas.
Inevitably, perhaps, the focus this year was climate change. The Patriarch said he had prayed “for the planet and for the Earth, for salvation of life and heart, for the coming generation, and for Creation.” Pope Benedict XVI sent a message of support.
The ceremony was held on a Norwegian cruise ship a few hundred yards from the Sermeq Kujalleq glacier, the probable source of the iceberg which sank the Titanic in 1912, and one of the fastest-moving in the world.
Dr Robert Correll, a glaciologist, chaired the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment, the most authoritative recent scientific review of the region. He said: “A few years ago the glacier was moving at several kilometres a year . . . it’s now heading for the sea at 15km annually, two metres an hour.
“Ice is more permeable than we thought. Melted water is flowing down through cracks in the ice. It’s as if we’re putting oil on the bottom of the glacier.”
. . . RELATED
Global Warming Doomsday Called Off
More Than Half of Analyzed Weather Stations Don’t Meet Federal Guidelines
The preliminary results show Watts and his volunteers have surveyed about a quarter of the 1,221 stations making up the U.S. Historical Climatology Network. Of those, more than half appear to fall short of federal guidelines for optimum placement.Some examples include weather stations placed near sewage treatment plants, parking lots, and near cars, buildings and air-conditioners - all artificial heat sources which could affect temperature records.
Globalists Love Global Warming Trilateral Commission, chairman of British Petroleum, CFR, Club of Rome fan hysteria to achieve world government
In his excellent article, Global warming hysteria serves as excuse for world government, Daniel Taylor outlines how the exploitation of the natural phenomenon of “global warming” was a pet project of the Club of Rome and the CFR. “In a report titled “The First Global Revolution” (1991) published by the Club of Rome, a globalist think tank, we find the following statement: “In searching for a new enemy to unite us, we came up with the idea that pollution, the threat of global warming, water shortages, famine and the like would fit the bill…The real enemy, then, is humanity itself.”
The First Global Revolution: A Report by the Council of Rome “In searching for a new enemy to unite us, we came up with the idea that pollution, the threat of global warming, water shortages, famine and the like would fit the bill…The real enemy, then, is humanity itself….Bring the divided nation together to face an outside enemy, either a real one or else one invented for the purpose…”
Al Gore’s Global Green Fascism
In a New York Times editorial, Al Gore says we need a new generational mission to combat global warming. What he really wants is government control of the economy.
Globalist politics of global fascism……
“It would seem that men and women need a common motivation, namely a common adversary, to organize and act together in the vacuum such as motivation seemed to have ceased to exist or have yet to be found. The need for enemies seems to be a common historical factor…
Bring the divided nation together to face an outside enemy, either a real one or else one invented for the purpose…
Democracy will be made to seem responsible for the lagging economy, the scarcity and uncertainties. The very concept of democracy could then be brought into question and allow for the seizure of power by extremists of one brand or the other…
In searching for a new enemy to unite us, we came up with the idea that pollution, the threat of global warming, water shortages, famine and the like would fit the bill. The real enemy [of the elites and their minions] then is humanity itself.”
- “The First Global Revolution” (1991) published by the Club of Rome. Members of the Club of Rome include: Al Gore, Jimmy Carter, Bill Gates, George Soros and author of the Kyoto Protocols Maurice Strong.
. . .
MORE References:
Key: “during times of quiet sunspot activity” as have now, and which is falsely used as the “reason that the sun can’t be causing warming.”
NASA Study Finds Increasing Solar Trend That Can Change Climate
Since the late 1970s, the amount of solar radiation the sun emits, during times of quiet sunspot activity, has increased by nearly .05 percent per decade, according to a NASA funded study.
The Science of Global Warming in Perspective
The cause of global warming is oceans heating, not greenhouse gases, as always occurs at the beginning of ice ages. When an ice age begins, global Warming occurs exactly as it is doing now. Heated oceans cause precipitation to increase. Eventually, increased snowfall will reflect away solar energy and trigger a cool-down.
Stop driving SUVs. It will save the Martian Ice Caps! Right….
Mars Melt Hints at Solar, Not Human, Cause for Warming, Scientist Says
Simultaneous warming on Earth and Mars suggests that our planet’s recent climate changes have a natural—and not a human-induced—cause, according to one scientist’s controversial theory. In 2005 data from NASA’s Mars Global Surveyor and Odyssey missions revealed that the carbon dioxide “ice caps” near Mars’s south pole had been diminishing for three summers in a row.
The truth about global warming - it’s the Sun that’s to blame
Global warming has finally been explained: the Earth is getting hotter because the Sun is burning more brightly than at any time during the past 1,000 years, according to new research. A study by Swiss and German scientists suggests that increasing radiation from the sun is responsible for recent global climate changes. This just shows, that even if CO2 was the cause of the current warming trend (which it isn’t), the premise that warming will keep spiraling out of control is totally unsubstantiated
Even if CO2 WAS causing warming (which it isn’t), the theoretical projections for disastrous warming spiraling out of control are totally false.
The 60-Second Climate Skeptic A Layman’s Guide to Anthropogenic (Man-Made) Global Warming
Using simple math, we see that if temperatures have risen 0.5C due to 36% of a doubling, we might expect them to rise by 1.39C for a full doubling to 0.056% of the atmosphere. But this assumes that the rise is linear — but we already said (and no one denies) that it is in fact a diminishing return relationship. Using a truer form of the curve, a 0.5C historic rise for 36% of a doubling implies a full doubling would raise temperatures by about 1C, or about 0.5C more than we have seen to date. Based on empirical evidence, we would then expect a rise of CO2 concentrations to 0.056% (a level we might expect between the years 2070 and 2100) to increase world temperatures another 0.5C. This means that the magnitude of global warming in the next century might be about what we have seen (and apparently survived) since 1940.
Depopulation: another top agenda of the elite. Global Government and Depopulation go hand in hand.
This reveals the sick globalist’s eugenics agenda using doomsday hysteria to convince us that we need to be culled, by any means necessary. Of course, he isn’t volunteering to go first.
Top Scientist Advocates Mass Culling 90% Of Human Population
A top scientist gave a speech to the Texas Academy of Science last month in which he advocated the need to exterminate 90% of the population through the airborne ebola virus. Dr. Eric R. Pianka’s chilling comments, and their enthusiastic reception again underscore the elite’s agenda to enact horrifying measures of population control.
More depopulation eugenics of Global Warming
Global Warming Fanatics Warming Up to Evangelicals
The producer of a movie on global warming that is being shown in Evangelical churches has admitted she believes earth’s true problem is too many people.
. . .
GLOBAL WARMING HYSTERIA IS AN ELITIST SCAM TO CREATE A GLOBAL FASCIST GOVERNMENT AND A SMOKE SCREEN OF HOT AIR TO JUSTIFY THEIR DEPOPULATION AGENDA.
The resource has creative ideas for using the Potter books as a basis for Christian teaching
By Eric Young
To capitalize on the “Potter” mania that is sweeping across the world, the Church of England has released a guide on how to evangelize using the popular “Harry Potter” phenomenon.
The guide’s author, Owen Smith, is a youth worker at St. Margaret’s Church in the United Kingdom and also wrote “Mixing it Up with the ‘Simpsons’” – a book that was released earlier this year by the Church of England’s publishing company in hopes of showing how Christianity is relevant to life today through issues tackled in the popular U.S. TV cartoon series.
In his latest work, “Mixing it Up with Harry Potter,” Smith enables youth leaders to draw parallels with daily life and help young people discuss ”big issues.”
“Using film scenes in which the characters make tough decisions to prompt discussion about moral choices and extracts from the books that demonstrate the power of words and their impact on others, the resource has creative ideas for using the Potter books as a basis for Christian teaching,” the Church of England announced in a press release.
Other ideas in the book include discussing stereotypes of what is ”normal” to examine how living a Christian life might cause a young person to stand out from their peers.
“The excitement and anticipation generated by the Harry Potter books show just what a great storyteller J. K. Rowling is,” said Diocese of Oxford Bishop John Pritchard, according to the Church of England. “Although the fictional world of Harry Potter is very different from our own, Harry and his friends face struggles and dilemmas that are familiar to us all.”
From theological concepts such as sacrifice and mercy, to everyday issues such as fears and boasting, each of the guide’s 12 sessions reportedly provides a basis for an hour’s discussions and activities. The sessions include Bible verses that present the Christian perspective on the theme, and prayer activities drawing on the topic.
“Jesus used storytelling to engage and challenge his listeners,” Pritchard noted. “There’s nothing better than a good story to make people think, and there’s plenty in the Harry Potter books to make young people think about the choices they make in their everyday lives and their place in the world.”
For years now, Christians have been split on whether the Harry Potter novels have a negative influence on a person’s faith, in particular that of youth. Former Archbishop of Canterbury Dr, George Carey described the series as “great fun and a serious examination of good and evil.”
Pope Benedict XVI, however, has taken the opposite view and lambasted the megahit fantasy series, describing it as “deeply distorting Christianity in the soul before it can grow properly.”
In his introduction, the author of the newly released guide acknowledges that some Christians have expressed concerns over the influence of Harry Potter, but argues that engagement with the phenomenal success of the series is more productive than criticizing it from the sidelines.
“These sessions draw parallels between events in the world of Harry and his friends, and the world in which we are seeking to proclaim the gospel to young people,” Smith writes. “The magic in the books is simply part of the magic that J. K. Rowling has created, in the same way that magic is part of the world of Christian writers such as C. S. Lewis.
“To say, as some have, that these books draw younger readers towards the occult seems to me both to malign J. K. Rowling and to vastly underestimate the ability of children and young people to separate the real from the imaginary,” he adds.
As publication approaches for “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” J.K. Rowling’s seventh and final Harry Potter book, another “Potter” frenzy is expected to explode following last week’s release of “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,” the fifth movie from the series.
“Mixing it Up with Harry Potter” is hoping to ride on the wave and is now available for churches to purchase from a range of Christian and general booksellers. The book is designed for use with 9-13 year olds.
“In searching for a new enemy to unite us, we came up with the idea that pollution, the threat of global warming, water shortages, famine and the like would fit the bill…The real enemy, then, is humanity itself….Bring the divided nation together to face an outside enemy, either a real one or else one INVENTED for the purpose…”
- The First Global Revolution: A Report by the Council of Rome
This MI-5 agent Tony Bilderbliar also lied us all into the Iraq quagmire with his weapons of “mass-distraction” (he said it himself!) dossier, lied about Dr David Kelly, lied about the 7/7 bombings and betrayed his country by selling it out to the EU. So go figure. He is a neofeudalist Fabian Bilderberg traitor who wants to see us all either dead or totally enslaved. So screw Tony B-liar. Hopefully, the Brits will have enough sense to put him away for treason and more.
Polar bears cling precariously to the top of what is left of the ice floe. But is it due to global warming?
Tony Blair has described it as the most important document produced during his ten years as Prime Minister, and urged that the Stern blueprint, with its calls for more regulation and taxation, be adopted in full.
Like a religion, environmentalism is suffused with hatred for the material world and again, like religion, it requires devotion rather than intellectual rigour from its adherents.
It is intolerant of dissent; those who question the message of doom are regarded as heretics, or ‘climate change deniers’, to use green parlance.
And, just as in many religions, the route to personal salvation lies in the performance of superstitious rituals, such as changing a lightbulb or arranging for a tree to be planted after every plane journey.
What is so tragic is the way that this dubious ideology has achieved such dominance in our public life.
The world is heading for environmental catastrophe — or so we are constantly being told by the politicians and self-appointed experts.
They warn us that unless we take drastic action, the earth will soon be devastated by climate change and global warming.
Entire species will be lost, crops will be obliterated, floods and famine will sweep across the planet, and western economies will slide into depression.
Tonight, Channel 4 will broadcast The Great Global Warming Swindle, which suggests that the whole subject has become such a political hot potato that other explanations for climate change are not being properly examined.
Certainly, there have been many sweeping predictions of global ruin, few more emphatic than the report from Sir Nicholas Stern into the economics of climate change, which states with an air of unchallengeable conviction: ‘The scientific evidence is now overwhelming. Climate change presents very serious global risks and it demands an urgent global response.’
His study, commissioned by the Government in July 2005 and published amid much Whitehall hype in October 2006, seemed to carry all the more weight because Stern is one of the most senior civil servants in Britain, the head of the Government’s economic service.
His conclusions appeared to be based on powerful scientific authority, since his team of 20 or so officials had drawn on a wide range of published papers and data.
Tony Blair has described it as the most important document produced during his ten years as Prime Minister, and urged that the Stern blueprint, with its calls for more regulation and taxation, be adopted in full.
Mars Melt Hints at Solar, Not Human, Cause for Warming, Scientist Says
Simultaneous warming on Earth and Mars suggests that our planet’s recent climate changes have a natural—and not a human-induced—cause, according to one scientist’s controversial theory. In 2005 data from NASA’s Mars Global Surveyor and Odyssey missions revealed that the carbon dioxide “ice caps” near Mars’s south pole had been diminishing for three summers in a row.
The truth about global warming - it’s the Sun that’s to blame
Global warming has finally been explained: the Earth is getting hotter because the Sun is burning more brightly than at any time during the past 1,000 years, according to new research. A study by Swiss and German scientists suggests that increasing radiation from the sun is responsible for recent global climate changes. This just shows, that even if CO2 was the cause of the current warming trend (which it isn’t), the premise that warming will keep spiraling out of control is totally unsubstantiated
The deceit behind global warming
The story of how the panic over climate change was pushed to the top of the international agenda falls into five main stages. Stage one came in the 1970s when many scientists expressed alarm over what they saw as a disastrous change in the earth’s climate. Their fear was not of warming but global cooling, of “a new Ice Age”.
Global warming? Look at the numbers
In his enviro-propaganda flick, An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore claims nine of the 10 hottest years on record have occurred in the last decade. That’s been a common refrain for environmentalists, too, and one of the centrepieces of global warming hysteria: It’s been really hot lately — abnormally hot — so we all need to be afraid, very afraid. The trouble is, it’s no longer true.
A Convenient Untruth About Climate Changes
Carbon dioxide has never been proved to be the cause of global warming. At present, it comprises only .038 (38 thousandths of 1 percent) of the atmosphere, rising some 33 percent from .028 to .038 in nearly 150 years, most of which occurred before 1940 and the onslaught of motor vehicular traffic. Water vapor has been shown to be the principal greenhouse gas and comprises 95 percent of all greenhouse gases, according to U.S. government research.
Gore Science Versus Real Science
In April 2006, 60 scientists sent a letter to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper stating Kyoto is unwarranted. The signatories included Dr. Ian Clark, professor of isotope hydrology and paleoclimatology at the University of Ottawa; Dr. G. Cornelis van Kooten, professor of climate change and environmental studies at the University of Victoria; and Dr. Roy Spencer, research scientist at the Earth System Science Center, University of Alabama, Huntsville.
Pope Benedict ended a sensitive fence-mending visit to Turkey on Friday amid praise for visiting Istanbul’s famed Blue Mosque and praying there facing towards Mecca “like Muslims”.
Much of the four-day visit was aimed at easing Muslim anger over remarks he made in September on violence and the Prophet Muhammad. “I hope this visit contributes to peace and dialogue between faiths,” the pope told Istanbul governor Muammer Guler at Istanbul’s international airport.
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.
Istanbul Grand Mufti Mustafa Cagrici, who prayed with him there, said Benedict had faced Mecca and stood like Muslims do when they pray aright. “These were very nice gestures,” he told NTV television.
“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,” the popular daily Hurriyet said, using the building’s official name.
His gestures, including support for Ankara’s bid to join the European Union
Level of support for interfaith efforts aimed at building peace has dramatically increased since 9/11 At a packed workshop on inter-religious dialogue and cooperation at the UN Headquarters, Mr. Leslie Gatan, Minister of the Permanent Mission of the Philippines to the UN, described how the level of support for interfaith efforts aimed at building peace has dramatically increased since 9/11. The September 6 workshop held during the 59th Annual DPI/NGO Conference introduced the Tripartite Forum on Interfaith Cooperation for Peace, an innovative initiative which links governments, UN agencies and NGOs. It was cosponsored by the Committee of Religious NGOs at the UN (RNGO), the Soka Gakkai International (SGI), the Baha’is of the US, Religions for Peace USA, the Temple of Understanding and the United Religions Initiative and drew over 100 participants from around the world.
In terms of celebrity trendiness, Kabbalah has been overtaken by Scientology in recent years. However, the number of Kabbalahists continues to grow “exponentially,” Laitman said.
