The Religious Right would like to remind everyone that they still stand for intolerance, oppression, and denial of individual freedom. It's a good thing they have Chuck Colson to instruct young evangelicals to focus on those things instead of on the environment and social justice.
Citing the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s call to civil disobedience, 145 evangelical, Roman Catholic and Orthodox Christian leaders have signed a declaration saying they will not cooperate with laws that they say could be used to compel their institutions to participate in abortions, or to bless or in any way recognize same-sex couples.
“We pledge to each other, and to our fellow believers, that no power on earth, be it cultural or political, will intimidate us into silence or acquiescence,” it says.
The manifesto, to be released on Friday at the National Press Club in Washington, is an effort to rejuvenate the political alliance of conservative Catholics and evangelicals that dominated the religious debate during the administration of President George W. Bush. The signers include nine Roman Catholic archbishops and the primate of the Orthodox Church in America.
They want to signal to the Obama administration and to Congress that they are still a formidable force that will not compromise on abortion, stem-cell research or gay marriage. They hope to influence current debates over health care reform, the same-sex marriage bill in Washington, D.C., and the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which would prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation.
They say they also want to speak to younger Christians who have become engaged in issues like climate change and global poverty, and who are more accepting of homosexuality than their elders. They say they want to remind them that abortion, homosexuality and religious freedom are still paramount issues.
“We argue that there is a hierarchy of issues,” said Charles Colson, a prominent evangelical who founded Prison Fellowship after serving time in prison for his role in the Watergate scandal. “A lot of the younger evangelicals say they’re all alike. We’re hoping to educate them that these are the three most important issues.”
"The most pathetic truth about humanity is that there are many people for whom you can take excrement, put it in a crystal bowl and then make them eat it when you say it is chocolate. The second most pathetic truth is that when I say this to people, they nod their heads and think I am talking about someone else." ~ Bonzo Dogman ~
CHALCHIUHTLICUE:Goddess of Youth and Beauty. Due to circumstances beyond our comprehension, she arose as a fruit-laden prickly pear tree standing in a river.
She prefers flowers to a human sacrifice, but that didn't stop her from flooding the entire world to drown the wicked. The entire Fourth Age of the world was destroyed. Perhaps her tempestuous husband TLALOC talked her into it.
"The second thing that inclines me to preach on this just now is that few things have had a more pervasive effect on our lives nationally and globally in recent years than the financial turmoil around the world. We need to hear at least some of God's perspective on this."
LONDON (Reuters) - The Church of England published a prayer on Tuesday to help comfort Britons who lose their jobs in the financial crisis.
"Hear me as I cry out in confusion, help me to think clearly, and calm my soul," says the "Prayer On Being Made Redundant."
The church, part of the global Anglican church, also offered a prayer for those who keep their jobs but suffer stress and feelings of guilt when colleagues are fired.
"Who will be next? How will I cope with the increased pressure of work?" asks the "Prayer For Those Remaining In The Workplace."
As many as 600,000 Britons could lose their jobs this year, a report from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development forecast last month.
Shreeya Bajracharya adjusts a traditional lamp while posing for the photographer as the newly appointed Goddess Kumari at Bhaktapur in Kathmandu September 29, 2008.
By Gopal Sharma
BHAKTAPUR, Nepal (Reuters) - Nepal's new Maoist-led government has appointed a 6-year-old girl as a "living goddess" in the ancient city of Bhaktapur, for the first time snapping the link between the ancient ritual and the ousted monarchy.
For centuries, the head priest of the Nepali monarchy appointed the "Kumaris" in several towns in the Kathmandu valley. But with the abolition of the monarchy in May, that position has also disappeared.
Instead, officials at the state-run Trust Corporation overseeing cultural affairs appointed Shreeya Bajracharya as the new Kumari of the temple-town of Bhaktapur near Kathmandu, Deepak Bahadur Pandey, a senior official of the agency said.
"The government authorized us to appoint the Kumari and we have done that for the first time," Pandey said.
The Himalayan nation abolished the 239-year-old monarchy and became a republic in May, following elections in April that saw the country's Maoist former rebels emerge as the biggest political party in the 601-seat constituent assembly.
The Maoists now head the new government.
Shreeya was enthroned on Sunday amid prayers by Buddhist priests and will be worshipped by devout Hindus and Buddhists until reaching puberty, the girl's caretaker Nhuchhe Ratna Shakya said, adding: "She is pretty and nice."
Shreeya, in a golden costume with her eyelashes blackened by mascara, was sitting on a carved throne, a butterlamp burning by her side, when a Reuters team visited her on Monday.
Asked what she wanted to become in future, a quiet Shreeya just said: "nurse." She loves to eat biscuits and flattened rice, a common Nepali food, her aides said.
Shreeya replaces her controversial predecessor, Sajani Shakya, who retired earlier this year, after nine years in the divine role.
Sajani made international headlines in 2007 after she visited the United States to promote a film by a British company about the Kumari system.
Some religious authorities criticized the trip, saying it was against tradition. She retired at the request of her family.
Under the Kumari tradition, girls selected from Buddhist Newar families through a rigorous cultural process become the "living goddesses."
The Kumaris are a major tourist attraction and are considered by many as incarnations of the goddess Kali and are revered until they menstruate, after which they return to the family and a new one is chosen.
Nepal's Supreme Court ordered the government last month to safeguard the Kumaris human rights after complains that the practice went against the child living a normal life.
Doing a search on one website, I got the result "God Not Found"...
