Monterey Bay Forum

This epitomizes Christian faith and actions and God intervening … (more…)

My Kingdom is not of this world… said Jesus Christ. The Islamic Kingdom is of this world and there is no separation between mosque and state says the Anti Johadist. More below: (more…)

Meatless Friday for American Catholics? The return of the Tridentine Mass in Latin?

Pope Benedict XVI lifted restrictions on the old Latin Mass in 2007 which has excited a disproportionate interest among the young.

Now bishops in England and Wales, if they have their way, will require Catholics to abstain from meat every Friday year-round.

Will American bishops follow their lead?

Sociologists such as Roger Finke and Rodney Stark have observed that churches tend to lose vigor when they relax demands on adherents, especially those tenets and practices that cut against the grain of wider society. In economic terms, lowering the “costs” of membership in this way ends up diminishing its benefits, among other ways by loosening the bonds of community.
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So, according to some sociologists, being different from others by having unusual religious practises enhances a sense of identity for those in that religion.

What makes Episcopalians different that fosters their sense of identity? Perhaps that Henry VIII had multiple wives so today Episcopalians stand up for the legal rights of those who are “out”. Right now that includes bisexuals, the transgendered and persons with sexual identity issues.

How about Jehovah’s Witnesses? What fosters their sense of identity that keeps them strong? Jehovah Witnesses are different because they do not salute the flag, refuse to serve in the armed forces and require that the government pay for bloodless liver transfusions (as blood transfusions are not allowed).

And then there are the 300 million Muslims. What makes them different which supports their Islamic sense of religious identity? Some say that Islamic religion has as its basis Sharia law which promotes female genitalia cutting, and has different laws for women than men.

In Aptos, CA there is a catholic church and an episcopalian church a couple blocks from each other. Both churches frequently sing the same opening hymn: All are Welcome. But if you want to be identify with either church is it because of how that group differs from others and that those differences cement bonding between members?

What I notice casually is that Catholics tend to play more bingo, gamble and serve more wine than Episcopalians.

Other than saying the Apostles’ Creed Episcopalians are free to interpret it as they choose. Or ignore it all together. Local Episcopalian churches in Santa Cruz County don’t seem to be growing. Is it because they need different ways of identifying with each other — that separate them from other religions — than currently exist? There is an emblem that identifies Episcopalian churches which some Episcopalians put on the back fender of their cars. I saw one recently and wondered, Is this what Episcopalians have to offer as how they identify?

My guess is that meatless Fridays and Latin Masses will become popular as a way for Catholics to identify.

DrCameronJackson@gmail.com

Was bin Laden a faithful Muslim using jehad to impose Islamic sharia law on the west? Is it OK to using violence to impose faith on others? Are there different classes of people — and infidels are to be treated differently than other Muslims? Just exactly what kind of a religion is Islam?

Bin Laden’s death brings to focus the methods he used which sprang from his religion. Anyone who seriously reads the Quaran will observe that violence is permissible and recommended as a course of action.

In his address at Regensberg, Pope Benedict looks to the universities where, using reasonable discourse — and no violence– persons from multiple disciplines seek the truth, inquire into faith, discuss the nature of God. Do the laws of nature come from a caring God who is in a loving, faithful relationship with his People? Or is there no god that created the universe?

Pope Benedict’s Regensburg speech inflamed some Muslims precisely because the Islamic faith views God as capricious, all powerful and not necessarily at all reasonable or loving towards human beings. Pope could not talk as he does about the origins of European civilization, a combination of Greek reason, Roman laws, faith and love.

And Pope Benedict looks at the West’s weaknesses …. (more…)

“A Seattle public school has decided that Easter eggs are super offensive and not politically correct. They’ve renamed them Spring Spheres — even though eggs are not spheres.”

“In my old hometown in New Jersey the town Easter egg hunt was changed to “Spring Celebration. With Bunny.”

It may only get worse. Stay tuned.

Can we jest about politics without threat of jihad?

An attempt:
And the Taxpayer People, sorely burdened sent Servant JohnB to The Great Portals for Golden Relief, For 40 days & nights he fasted & cried many a tear.

Please Great Ones – until we can agree on how much Relief — pay our warriors their fair wages for the year. They are shot at daily.

And a Voice replied, No, paying soldiers is only a distraction.

Inside The Great Portals Father Reid murmured to Mother Spirit Pelosi, Where is our Son, Prophet Obama? And Spirit Pelosi replied, Our Son left to announce a New Promise to spend four more years.

Then out of the rushing of air and a flight of white doves a Voice surrounded JohnB which said, Leave! Take these tablets. Give them to son Ryan who will explain them. And you will have true tax Relief.

written by DrCameronJackson@gmail.com

DrCameronJackson@gmail.com
General Petraeus denounced the burning of the “holy Koran” March 20, 2011 as hate speech. With due deference to the General’s extraordinary military abilities, he should stick to what he does excellently –engage in war against our enemies.

Bill O’Reilly on Fox News 4-6-2011 said that there are no moderate Muslims condemning the violence in the Middle East related to the burning of the Koran. O’Reilly should check out physician Dr. Jasser who founded American Islamic Fourn for Democracy which is a moderate voice opposed to sharia law and supportive of state/ mosque separation. Why not ask Dr. Jasser on to explain his views on the radicalization of Islamic youth in America? (more…)

What is known about the background of Terry Jones — who burned a Koran in Florida recently and, as a result, a bunch of people died?

One member of the church says things changed slowly over time after Sylvia and Terry came to lead the church in 2001 … That same member thinks the burning was done as a publicity stunt… (more…)

MEDIA CONTACTS Gregg Edgar for American Islamic Leadership Coalition
gedgar@gcjpr.com
602-690-7977

written by DrCameornJackson@gmail.com
Dr. Jasser outlines how young Muslim men via education from their mosques come to accept “a separatist ideology”. Did that same process occur in Saudi Arabia which lead to the 9/11 attacks on America? Fifteen of the nineteen Islamic terrorists in 9/11 were from one country — Saudi Arabia. So it should be relatively easy to examine Saudi Arabia’s history to see whether the same kinds of changes in society that occurred there are related to similar changes in America.

How do “moderate” Muslims that oppose sharia law come to terms with what Dr. Wafa Sultan discusses in A God Who Hates? Her name is not on the list of the American Islamic Leadership Coalition. Have they asked her to join? Could she, in good conscience, join? What say you? (more…)

Which do you prefer: “Yea, thou I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil..” or “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil…”

The Greatest Book in the English Language
By Jonathan Aitken from the March 2011 issue

“It is received Washington wisdom that nothing great was ever created by a committee. But the rule has one stunning exception — the King James Bible, which celebrates its 400th anniversary this year, with no end to its spiritual longevity or literary influence in sight.
“The King James Version (KJV) was born out of political compromise and royal patronage. Church life in 16th-century England was characterized by high and often violent tensions over vernacular translations of the ancient Latin version of the Bible known as the vulgate. Early translators such as William Tyndale and John Rogers were burned at the stake. When the Reformation gathered momentum after Queen Elizabeth came to the throne in 1558, the Puritans popularized the Geneva Bible, which went through 70 editions selling more than half a million copies. But when James succeeded Elizabeth, the new and scholarly king (called “the wisest fool in Christendom”) identified footnotes in the Geneva Bible that he deemed to be subversive of royal authority. (more…)