Anglican Unscripted Episode 111

Jul 30, 2014
         

Anglican Unscripted is the only video newscast in the Anglican Church. Every Week Kevin, George, Allan and Peter bring you news and prospective from around the globe. Please donate at http://anglican.tv/donate

00:00 Kevin and George do a follow up story on Nashotah House

God is pursuing with omnipotent passion...

God is pursuing with omnipotent passion a worldwide purpose of gathering joyful worshipers for Himself from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. He has an inexhaustible enthusiasm for the supremacy of His name among the nations. Therefore, let us bring our affections into line with His, and, for the sake of His name, let us renounce the quest for worldly comforts and join His global purpose. If we do this, God’s omnipotent commitment to His name will be over us like a banner, and we will not lose, in spite of many tribulations. ...John S. Piper image

Military: Gay Pride Parades Are OK, VBS Is Not: Why Did ISIS Destroy the Tomb of Jonah?: Cohabitation, rather than marriage...more

Military: Gay Pride Parades Are OK, Vacation Bible School Is Not  ..."We had a lot of disappointed kiddos because of the National Guard being unwilling to allow a Humvee and a few soldiers to spend an hour at a Baptist Church," another Guardsman said. "It makes we wonder what I'm actually fighting for."

But I believe this soldier's observations and analysis truly sum up our nation's current state of affairs.

"I will never understand why it's OK for the military to march in a gay-pride parade but not be allowed to spend an hour talking to children who look up to them (soldiers)," the Guardsman said. "I honestly never thought I'd see the day that this would happen in my hometown."...

Why Did ISIS Destroy the Tomb of Jonah?
On Friday, the media reported that ISIS, the Islamist group that has established a “caliphate” in parts of Syria and Iraq, had destroyed the centuries-old Tomb of Jonah in Mosul, Iraq. Present-day Mosul encompasses the site of the ancient Assyrian capital of Nineveh, where, the Bible teaches, the Prophet Jonah preached. Although this is disputed, a tradition holds that Jonah was buried within the city, on Tell Nebi Yunus, or Hill of the Prophet Jonah.

An Assyrian church stood over the tomb for centuries. After the Muslim conquest, the church became a mosque; the structure that ISIS destroyed last week dated to the 14th century. In addition to the tomb, the mosque once held the supposed remains of the whale that had swallowed Jonah, including one of its teeth. At some point, the tooth disappeared. In 2008, the U.S. Army presented the mosque with a replica.

Last week, ISIS closed the mosque and prevented worshipers from entering. Then it wired the structure with explosives and reduced it to rubble. You can see a video of the explosion here, taken by a Mosul resident, who mutters, in Arabic, “No, no, no. Prophet Jonah is gone. God, these scoundrels.”...

Cohabitation, rather than marriage, is now the more common form of first union   ...Moving in together is becoming less and less likely to lead to having a future together. That’s not to say that all cohabiters are in the same boat regarding their destination. Those who are engaged (or have clear plans to marry) before moving in together are far more likely to eventually marry—but as Guzzo shows, even they are becoming less likely to do so. Related to this, my colleagues and I have shown, in numerous studies, that couples with clear plans to marry before cohabiting, along with those who marry without cohabiting, tend to have happier marriages and lower odds of divorce than those who move in together before having a clearly settled commitment to the future in marriage.v (We believe this is largely because, while cohabiting unions obviously break up often, they are harder to break off than dating relationships because it becomes harder to move out and move on. So some people get stuck in a relationship they would otherwise have not remained in.)...

Federal Court To Atheist Group: The Ground Zero Cross Stays

France ready to offer asylum to Iraqi Christians
France announced on Monday that it will offer asylum to those forced to flee Iraq as the Islamic State (IS) continues to tighten its grip across the country.

Referring to the thousands of Christians and other religious minorities persecuted by extremist Sunnis, the Foreign and Interior ministers, Laurent Fabius and Bernard Cazeneuve, said in a statement that France is "outraged by these abuses that it condemns with the utmost firmness."

"We are ready, if they so desire, to help facilitate asylum on our territory," the statement said...

A Message from Bishop Lawrence at the Close of the Trial

July 27, 2014

Excerpt:
...Then there was the strong cast of witnesses on behalf of the Diocese. Chancellor, Wade Logan, painted for the court a most helpful background of what a diocese is and how it functions both corporately and ecclesially. Canon Lewis reported on the various Diocesan Conventions and canonical changes which brought us to the place of dissociation from TEC. Mr. Robert Kunes testified on behalf of the Trustees of the Diocese. These three witnesses presented the foundation of our diocesan case. They were followed by a representative witness from every congregation participating in the law suit. I could hardly be more proud of them. Some endured quite vigorous cross-examination. It was moving (and at times for me a heavy burden) to hear parish witnesses again and again testify that they “…wanted to stay in communion with the Diocese of South Carolina and Bishop Lawrence.” I wished their fellow parishioners could have seen the courage and clarity with which they represented them.

We also had witnesses in rebuttal to the case made by TEC attorneys. Our diocesan administrator, Nancy Armstrong, combed through centuries of diocesan records to contrast monies that have come into the diocese from TEC and its various related agencies with monies sent by the diocese to TEC. This was in rebuttal to the one-sided presentations given by witnesses from the National Church (including UTO grants which any woman from our DCW can tell you are from contributions from the pews in congregations around the country and not from some National Church budget). In summary the court learned that for every 81 cents given by The Episcopal Church and its various entities to us in South Carolina and our congregations for ministry; the diocese sent $100 to TEC ($100 to 81 cent ratio), therein undermining the defendants’ one-sided presentation of the “facts”. In fifteen minutes of testimony she undermined hours of tedium and an endless parade of documents from so-called experts for the National Church. When Mr. Runyan called to the stand the renowned professor and historian, Dr. Allen Guelzo, author of some 16 books and a foremost historian of the Civil War era and 18th and 19th centuries of American intellectual history we were treated to a breath-taking tour de force disputing the alleged hierarchical assumptions of the national Episcopal Church. Others in this rebuttal stage of the trial were Fr. Robert Lawrence from Camp St. Christopher, the Rev. Greg Kronz, who chaired the Bishop’s search committee and Chancellor Wade Logan who once again punctuated our case. On the last day, I was called finally to the stand.

But I need to say, and can hardly say it enough, undergirding it all—felt at times in palpable ways—the prayers and intercessions from tens of thousands of the saints within the diocese and around the world upholding us in prayer. Some of these intercessors came to the courtroom to pray while testimonies and cross-examinations were taking place. Others of you prayed from home, perhaps on a lunch break, or while driving to and from your work place. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!...

Full letter here

No struggle will come your way apart from God’s purpose...

No struggle will come your way apart from God’s purpose, presence, and permission. What encouragement this brings! You are never the victim of nature or the prey of fate. Chance is eliminated. You are more than a weather vane whipped about by the winds of fortune. ...Max Lucado image

Anglican Unscripted Episode 110

Jul 28, 2014

Anglican Unscripted is the only video newscast in the Anglican Church. Every Week Kevin, George, Allan and Peter bring you news and prospective from around the globe. Please donate at http://anglican.tv/donate

Story Index
00:00 Kevin and George discuss this week on AU
02:30 Jeff Walton reports on trouble in the Diocese of VA
07:40 Allan Haley gives the low down on Legal Victories in Illinois and South Carolina

A.S. Haley: Analyzing the Quincy Decision

July 28, 2014

On July 24, 2014 the Illinois Appellate Court for the Fourth District filed its opinion in the appeal taken by the Episcopal Church (USA) from a judgment entered against it by the Hon. Thomas J. Ortbal in September 2013. The three justices on the panel joined in a twenty-page decision that affirmed Judge Ortbal’s judgment in all respects: the (Anglican) Diocese of Quincy properly amended its governing documents so as to secede from ECUSA and cease being a member diocese in 2008; the real and personal property remained with the withdrawing diocesan corporation under Illinois law, and neither was subject to any express or implied trust claims by ECUSA; and ECUSA could not, after the Diocese had completed its vote to withdraw, purport to remove the diocesan trustees or officers and replace them with people from its remnant group that decided to stay with the national Church.

The opinion by the appellate court is a model of clear reasoning, and needs little commentary to be understandable by a lay person. It begins by explaining precisely how the dispute came about, and traces the facts up to the time of the original lawsuit brought by the Anglican Diocese after ECUSA’s attorneys had persuaded the Diocese’s bankers to put a freeze on all of its funds on deposit with them.

Then the opinion summarizes the proceedings leading to, and evidence offered at, the trial before Judge Ortbal in April and May of 2013. The key testimony was mostly received on the question of whether or not ECUSA could be said to be a “hierarchical” church with respect to its member dioceses.

Readers of my posts have known the answer to that question for a long time. ECUSA, the national Church, likes to claim that dioceses do not exist apart from the national Church; but the truth runs the other way: the national Church would be nothing without its member dioceses—and particularly those pre-existing dioceses corresponding to the former Church of England in each of nine former colonies. Representatives from those nine dioceses (referred to at the time not by the word “diocese”, but rather as, e.g., the “Protestant Episcopal Church in the State of Maryland”) met together in Philadelphia and New York over a five-year period beginning in 1785, and eventually agreed to come together in a General Convention (“calling together”) of all of their nine separate churches in a deliberative body that could adopt uniform standards of worship and discipline to be shared among all of them.
the rest

Report: Hamas Used Child Labor to Build Terror Tunnels; Hundreds Killed

by Joel B. Pollak
27 Jul 2014

Hamas killed hundreds of children in the construction of its extensive tunnel network, built partly to carry out attacks on children across the Gaza border in Israel. That report--confirmed by Hamas itself--emerged in 2012, not from the Israeli government, but the sympathetic Journal of Palestine Studies, in an article that otherwise celebrated the secret tunnel system as a symbol of Palestinian resistance to the Israeli "siege" of the Gaza Strip.

The article, "Gaza's Tunnel Phenomenon: The Unintended Dynamics of Israel's Siege," was published in the Summer 2012 edition of the Journal by Nicholas Pelham, who writes for the Economist and the New York Review of Books, according to his bio. It is receiving new attention thanks to Myer Freimann of Tablet, an online journal of Jewish affairs, whose post about Hamas's use of child labor has gone viral in social media... the rest

Bp. Julian Dobbs: A Haunting Peace

July 27, 2014

Excerpt:
...As I paused there at the site, the experience was almost haunting. A callery pear tree which was discovered at Ground Zero severely damaged, with snapped roots and burned and broken branches, has been nursed back to life and stands as a living reminder of resilience and survival.

The 16 acre site in Manhattan attempts to bring peace to the horrific events of September 11, 2001. However, there is no peace for thousands of Christians in Syria and Iraq who suffer today at the hands of Islamic terrorists determined to eliminate Christianity and reestablish an Islamic caliphate. The agenda of ISIS is the agenda of the 911 terrorists – covert to Islam, pay the special Jizya tax or die.

The last remaining Christians of Mosul in Iraq have been running for their lives after the Islamist militants who control the Iraqi city threatened to kill them if they did not convert to Islam or pay the Jizya tax. The ultimatum was issued giving Christians until noon on Saturday (July 19) either to comply or leave Mosul without taking any of their possessions with them.

Those fleeing were robbed at checkpoints set up by ISIS; the militants stole the Christians’ cars, money, food, jewellery, mobile phones and anything else they were carrying, even medicines. Over 85 families reported having all their possessions taken; hundreds of Christians had to walk over 40 miles to reach safety after ISIS stole their cars, arriving at Tel Afar exhausted and dehydrated.

A colleague of mine in Iraq wrote in an email last week describing the situation faced by Christians. In one large Christian area, ISIS has demanded that the water supply be turned off in an attempt to cause the Christian residents to flee for their lives... the rest image

Patriarch decries 'mass cleansing' of Mosul Christians

Mosul's Christians ask, 'Where is the conscience of the world?'

'They are savages,' say Christians forced to flee Mosul by Isis

Anglican Vicar: End of Christianity in Iraq Is 'Very Near'

by Mary Chastain
26 Jul 2014

Andrew White, the vicar of the only Anglican church in Iraq, told BBC Radio 4 that Christianity is coming to an end in the Middle Eastern country. The Islamic State, formerly known as ISIS, is forcing Christians out of towns and into isolation.

“Things are so desperate, our people are disappearing,” he said. “We have had people massacred, their heads chopped off. The Christians are in grave danger. There are literally Christians living in the desert and on the street. They have nowhere to go.”

"Are we seeing the end of Christianity?” he continued. “We are committed come what may, we will keep going to the end, but it looks as though the end could be very near."

ISIS told Christians in Mosul, home to one of the largest Christian communities in the world, to convert to Islam, pay a protection tax, or die. The majority chose to leave, and for the first time in over 2,000 years, there are no Christians in Mosul. ISIS even marked Christian homes with an "N" for Nazarene.

"There is not a single Christian family left in Mosul," said Bashar Nasih Behnam, who left with his two children. "The last one was a disabled Christian woman. She stayed because she could not get out. They came to her and said you have to get out and if you don't we will cut off your head with a sword. That was the last family."... the rest image

Archbishop Dr. John Sentamu publishes prayers for Mosul
  The Archbishop of York, Dr. John Sentamu, has today published three prayers highlighting the worsening situation in Iraq where Christians and Muslims are being killed by ISIS forces...

Stamp Them Out’: On Josh Barro and the New Sexual Moralism

NRO
By Andrew Walker and Owen Strachan
July 24, 2014

Last night, New York Times reporter Josh Barro tweeted out a disturbing message: “Anti-LGBT attitudes are terrible for people in all sorts of communities. They linger and oppress, and we need to stamp them out, ruthlessly.”

This is rather shocking. Barro is no angry blogger writing manifestos in his basement. He is a respected reporter from a prestigious newspaper that prides itself on equanimity in the face of heated debate. Yet he seems, by any reasonable measure, to be fomenting a campaign to rout out all dissenters from the sexual revolution. Erick Erickson wrote a brief response to Barro’s tweet, to which Barro replied that he thinks that “we should make anti-LGBT views shameful like segregation. Not saying we should off people.”

Okay. But “stamp out,” intensified by the qualifier “ruthlessly,” means something quite a bit stronger than inviting your interlocutor to tea and crumpets to discuss differences.

Barro’s sexual fundamentalism wants any dissent marginalized and he’s not reluctant to admit that. This attitude, which is emblematic of the increasing intolerance in many sectors of culture towards those with traditional beliefs about sexuality, penalizes citizens for their beliefs. What we see playing out, once more, is that for liberalism to take root, it must take root by authoritarian impulse where the lies of the sexual revolution, to be cemented, must be enforced through acts of social and legal coercion... the rest

In these tweets, Barro has shared his honest opinion: that the New Sexual Moralism will tolerate no dissent. We commend him, gravely, for his honesty. The logic of this sentiment leads to exactly one conclusion: When it comes to promoting gay rights, all must come to heel. There will be no debate. There will be no room for disagreement. To disagree, in fact, is to “linger and oppress” and cannot be allowed.

Higher Calling, Lower Wages: The Vanishing of the Middle-Class Clergy

As full-time pastors become a thing of the past, more and more seminary grads are taking on secular jobs to supplement their incomes.
DAVID R. WHEELER
July 22, 2014

For someone seeking a full-time job as a church pastor, Justin Barringer would seem to have the perfect résumé. He’s a seminary grad, an author and book editor, and a former missionary to China and Greece. But despite applying to nearly a hundred jobs over the course of two years, Barringer, who lives in Lexington, Kentucky, could not secure a full-time, salaried church position.

So he splits his time among three jobs, working as a freelance editor, an employee at a nonprofit for the homeless, and a part-time assistant pastor at a United Methodist Church. “I am not mad at the church,” Barringer says. “However, I wish someone had advised me against taking on so much debt in order to be trained for ministry.”

Barringer’s story is becoming increasingly typical as Protestant churches nationwide cut back on full-time, salaried positions. Consequently, many new pastors either ask friends and family for donations (a time-honored clerical tradition) or take on other jobs. Working two jobs has become so common for clergy members, in fact, that churches and seminaries have a euphemistic term for it: bi-vocational ministry... the rest

Working multiple jobs is nothing new to pastors of small, rural congregations. But many of those pastors never went to seminary and never expected to have a full-time ministerial job in the first place. What’s new is the across-the-board increase in bi-vocational ministry in Protestant denominations both large and small, which has effectively shut down one pathway to a stable—if humble—middle-class career.

Stand Firm: Appellate Court Affirms Lower Court Decision in Quincy Appeal

July 25, 2014

NOTE from Jackie:  Allan [Haley] is still travelling and will comment on this as soon as he can.  I am posting a small excerpt from the decision but it can be read in its entirety here.  While we wait for Allan to find a place with wifi, let’s celebrate the good news!

An examination of the evidence reveals nothing to demonstrate an express trust, an implied trust, or any other interest vested in the Church. As stated, neither the deed nor the Discretionary Agency Agreement provides for an express trust in favor of the Church. Further, our review of the Diocese’s constitution and canons does not suggest diocesan assets were ever impliedly held in trust for the Church. After Jones, the Church adopted a trust canon (Title I.7.4, referred to by the parties as the Dennis Canon). That canon provides parish property is held in trust for the Diocese and Church and restricts a parish’s ability to dispose of its property. However, it appears undisputed the Church’s canons do not contain similar language with respect to diocesan property being held in favor of the Church. In addition, Bonner testified the Dennis Canon does not apply to property owned by a diocese. Our review of the record reveals nothing to suggest the opposite conclusion. Accordingly, the trial court’s findings in this regard are not against the manifest weight of the evidence.
¶ 55 In sum, the evidence presented demonstrates title to the funds and real property lies with the Diocese. Following our review of the record, we cannot say the trial court’s findings
were arbitrary, unreasonable, or not otherwise based on the evidence. Nor can we say the opposite conclusion is clearly apparent in this case. As a result, the court did not err in finding in favor of the Diocese. We commend the trial court for its detailed order, which we found quite helpful in reviewing this matter.
¶ 56 III. CONCLUSION
¶ 57 For the reasons stated, we affirm the trial court’s judgment and deny the Church’s motion to substitute party.
¶ 58 Affirmed; motion denied.

Found here/comments

Time alone with the Lord Jesus each day...

"Many Christians backslide...They are unable to stand against the temptations of the world, or of their old nature. They strive to do their best to fight against sin, and to serve God, but they have no strength. They have never really grasped the secret: The Lord Jesus will every day from heaven continue His work in me. But on one condition—the soul must give Him time each day to impart His love and his grace. Time alone with the Lord Jesus each day is the indispensable condition of growth and power."
...Andrew Murray image

Birds on the Wires

Here

WH Caves on Religious Accommodations to HHS Mandate; Obamacare OK’s Fake Accounts and Fake Promises...more

Cuomo's Office Hobbled Ethics Inquiries by Moreland Commission
With Albany rocked by a seemingly endless barrage of scandals and arrests, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo set up a high-powered commission last summer to root out corruption in state politics. It was barely two months old when its investigators, hunting for violations of campaign-finance laws, issued a subpoena to a media-buying firm that had placed millions of dollars’ worth of advertisements for the New York State Democratic Party.

The investigators did not realize that the firm, Buying Time, also counted Mr. Cuomo among its clients, having bought the airtime for his campaign when he ran for governor in 2010.

Word that the subpoena had been served quickly reached Mr. Cuomo’s most senior aide, Lawrence S. Schwartz. He called one of the commission’s three co-chairs, William J. Fitzpatrick, the district attorney in Syracuse.

“This is wrong,” Mr. Schwartz said, according to Mr. Fitzpatrick, whose account was corroborated by three other people told about the call at the time. He said the firm worked for the governor, and issued a simple directive:

“Pull it back.”...

Air Algerie Flight AH5017 disappears from radar
An Air Algerie flight carrying 116 people from Burkina Faso to Algeria's capital disappeared from radar early Thursday, according to the the plane's owner.

Air navigation services lost track of the Swiftair MD-83 roughly 50 minutes after takeoff from Ougadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, at 9:55 p.m. ET Wednesday, the official Algerian news agency said. That means that Flight 5017 had been missing for hours before the news was made public... 

Christianity and non-Hindu religious activity banned
Church leaders in India have petitioned Chhattisgarh state to reverse its ban on non-Hindu religious activity, according to Morning Star News.

The ban — adopted by 50 villages in the Bastar District — could lead to the persecution of Christians and other minority communities...

Obamacare OK’s Fake Accounts and Fake Promises
...Health and Human Services is still paying the bills for the fake accounts. NBC News reports the subsidy cost for the 11 approved applications is about $2,500 a month or about $30,000 a year. “For each of our 11 approved applications,” the report reveals, “we paid the required premiums to put policies into force, and are continuing to pay the premiums...

White House Caves on Religious Accommodations to HHS Mandate  The Obama administration announced Tuesday evening that they would create a workaround to allow nonprofits to claim religious exemptions from the Obamacare contraception mandate without filing out a controversial form. The wider exemption, which will be finalized nest month, came after a series of defeats for the administration at the nation’s highest court.

At issue is EBSA Form 700, which religious nonprofits are required to sign before they are granted religious exemptions from the HHS mandate. Many religious nonprofits have complained that signing the form, which simultaneously directs insurers to provide the contraceptives, also violates their religious beliefs by making them complicit in the process. The result was something of a legal catch-22: in order to avoid acts that violate their religion, nonprofits would have had to violate their religion. Catholic and evangelical organizations such as Wheaton College, the University of Notre Dame, and Little Sisters of the Poor filed lawsuits against the Obama administration to receive accommodations without filing Form 700...
"This kind of thing is chilling for religious organizations"

Washington Dem Gov.: Enlightened Being Barack Obama Is “Bending The Arc Of The Moral Universe Forward"
That is some serious Obama worship...

Sudanese Christian woman Meriam Ibrahim arrives in Italy

Sudanese Christian woman Meriam Ibrahim arrives in Italy
Meriam Ibrahim, the Christian woman who was spared a death sentence for apostasy and then barred from leaving Sudan, met Pope Francis on Thursday after arriving in Rome to jubilant scenes following intense international efforts to free her.

Ms Ibrahim and her husband Daniel Wani thanked the pontiff for his support and he in turn thanked her for staying true to her Christian faith despite the threat of execution if she did not recant...

Added:

Meriam Ibrahim Visits Pope Francis After Finally Leaving Sudan
After finally being able to leave Sudan, the woman who was sentenced to die for her Christian faith when she was pregnant visited Pope Francis today.

“Pope Francis was very tender with her, her husband, who was in prison, and thanked her for her courageous witness to perseverance in the Faith,” Vatican spokesman Fr. Federico Lombardi said of the meeting in a statement.

Describing the meeting between the young family and the Roman Pontiff as “very serene and affectionate,” Fr. Lombardi explained that for him encounter was “a gesture of closeness and solidarity for those who suffer for their faith.”

According to Vatican Radio, Ibrahim and her husband Daniel Wani, a U.S. citizen, as well as their two children, 1 year-old Martin and two-month old Maya, who was born in prison, met the Roman Pontiff in the Vatican’s Saint Martha guesthouse at 1:00p.m. local time...

Nora Calhoun: Learning from Bodies

First Things
August 2014

The baby in my arms lacks the majority of his brain. He was born just fifteen minutes before this moment, and he is likely to die before another fifteen minutes pass. He has taken no first breath and will give no first cry. He cannot see. He cannot hear. He does not feel the warm weight of my hand as it rests on his chest and belly. I quietly weep and pray as the last gift of oxygen his mother’s body gave him dwindles and his rosy newborn glow fades to gray. His soul gently slips out of his body, and his life ends.

Ability is not what makes death significant. At birth this baby had capacities below that of a healthy fetus at ten weeks. Holding his body, living and then dead, proves to me that it doesn’t matter how early the human heart beats, how early it is possible to feel pain, or when the senses develop. No ability or strength confers human status—not being viable or sentient or undamaged or wanted. Being of human descent is enough; you cannot earn or forfeit your humanity. If this baby’s death does not matter, no death matters.

I have not always seen this so clearly. A gut repugnance and horror of abortion, which I felt from the time I first heard of it as a nine-year-old, kept me from ever being fully pro-choice. But even after my conversion to Christianity at eighteen, I didn’t want to express full opposition to the opinions of almost everyone I knew, my family, teachers, and friends. I wanted to avoid the taboo of “judgmentalism,” widely imputed to those who oppose abortion, and to maintain credibility among the feminist friends I cherished... the rest image

As the body and mind deteriorate, the dying are not less themselves. Dementia steals the faculties for expressing the self—language, memory, personality—but the self remains, albeit largely inaccessible to others. The experience of actually being with the demented and dying is one of watching someone move farther and farther away, out of earshot and eventually out of sight. It’s wrong to think, “Because I cannot access something, it does not exist.” Being with someone who is near death undermines such nonsense.

Anglican Unscripted Episode 108

Jul 23, 2014

Kevin and Allan talk about the Diocese of South Carolina Trial

Remaining Mosul Christians forced to convert to Islam: Iraqi official

25 Christian families remain trapped in Iraq’s second city following end of ISIS deadline to flee
by Dalshad Abdullah
Wednesday, 23 Jul, 2014

Excerpt:
ISIS had announced a weekend deadline for Mosul’s Christians—the majority of whom are Assyrian—to renounce their faith and convert to Islam or leave the city, forcing thousands to flee with few or no possessions.

“Around 25 Christian families remain trapped in Mosul. They are families with sick or elderly members who have not been able to get out of the city. They now find themselves under siege by ISIS,” Duraid Hikmat Tobia, an advisor to the governor of Nineveh, told Asharq Al-Awsat.

“Some of these families were attacked by militants and taken to ISIS-run Islamic Shari’a law courts. They were given the choice between [converting to] Islam or execution.”

Radical Islamists usually ask non-Muslims to choose between either paying the jizya (a tax levied on non-Muslims) or converting to Islam. However, ISIS appears to have gone one step further, threatening Mosul’s remaining Christians with death if they do not convert.

“Five families have converted to Islam so far,” Tobia said.

ISIS militants have also set fire to churches and other Christian sites, including burial grounds, in Iraq’s second city. Local and international media outlets have reported that ISIS militants have confiscated the belongings of fleeing Iraqi Christians, while eyewitnesses said that messages telling any remaining Christians to leave the city were broadcast on loudspeakers from the city’s mosques on Friday. the rest

Islam’s Religious Exemption From Criticism
...The truth of the matter is that Islam is a hybrid: it’s both a political ideology and a religion. And although the political side of Islam may turn out to be every bit as dangerous as Nazism or communism, the religious side provides considerable protection from criticism. Because of its religious nature, it seems improper to engage Islam in the kind of ideological warfare the West waged against fascism and communism.

Yet the threat to the West and to the rest of the world is, by all appearances, increasing. Egyptians, Nigerians, Kenyans, Pakistanis, Filipinos, and others are finding it difficult to arrest the spread of radical Islam within their borders. In Europe, Islamization moves on apace, and no one has found the formula for resisting it. In Iraq, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has proclaimed the creation of a new caliphate state, declared himself caliph, and has called on Muslims worldwide to join him in waging war against infidels. We hear a lot about all the different forms of Islam, but the idea of the caliphate is that there should be only one unified Islam. Like communism, the caliphate is intended to be a borderless community—a trans-national and ever-expanding empire of true believers. That’s because, like communism, Islam aspires to be a universal belief system...

ISIS Kills 31 People in Baghdad Suicide Bombing; Iraq Bishops Call on Gov't to 'Stop Catastrophe' and Protect Christians
...Iraq's bishops, who addressed al-Maliki in their appeal, called on "people of conscience in Iraq and around the world" to put pressure on militants to put a stop to "the destruction of churches and monasteries, manuscripts, relics and all the Christian heritage, priceless Iraqi and international heritage. "...

France's Jews Flee As Rioters Burn Paris Shops, Attack Synagogue to chants of 'Gas the Jews"

By Jessica Elgot
23/07/2014

France's politicians and community leaders have criticised the "intolerable" violence against Paris' Jewish community, after a pro-Palestinian rally led to the vandalizing and looting of Jewish businesses and the burning of cars.

It is the third time in a week where pro-Palestinian activists have clashed with the city's Jewish residents. On Sunday, locals reported chats of "Gas the Jews" and "Kill the Jews", as rioters attacked businesses in the Sarcelles district, known as "little Jerusalem".

Manuel Valls, France's prime minister said: “What happened in Sarcelles is intolerable. An attack on a synagogue and on a kosher shop is simply anti-Semitism. Nothing in France can justify this violence.”...  the rest

“They were shouting: ‘Death to Jews,’ and ‘Slit Jews’ throats’,” David, a Jewish sound engineer told The Times. “It took us back to 1938.”

Chaldean Bishop of Baghdad: Our worst fears have been confirmed

22 Jul 2014
Marta Petrosillo

"We are speechless, because what has happened is utterly shocking. Christians have been in Mosul for centuries, and now these families have been summarily evicted from their city, from their homes, from their lives. We are profoundly concerned for the future of the Christians in this country." Such was the horrified reaction of Auxiliary Bishop Saad Syroub in the face of recent events in Mosul. The Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) spoke to the Chaldean auxiliary bishop of Baghdad, by telephone on Friday 18th July.

The jihadists of ISIS (The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) have forced the few remaining Christians in this, the second city of Iraq, to leave their homes. Desperate, the Christians immediately fled, but were then stopped at the military checkpoints by ISIS militias, who robbed them of their cars and all their possessions, telling them they must continue on foot. Most of the families headed north, towards the town of Dahuk.

"It has never happened before that the Christians were chased from their own homes as if they had no rights at all", the bishop added. "Unfortunately, however, this is the reality today in Iraq, above all in Mosul." Bishop Syroub explained to ACN that during the last few days the jihadists had begun writing on all the Christian homes the words "Property of ISIS". Next to it they wrote, circled in red, the letter N – the initial letter of the Arabic word "nasara", meaning "Christians"... the rest

"It has never happened before that the Christians were chased from their own homes as if they had no rights at all", the bishop added.

Court Deals Blow to Subsidies-Ruling Is Major Setback to Implementation of Obamacare

By Brent Kendall
July 22, 2014

WASHINGTON—A federal appeals court on Tuesday struck down the subsidies available to some consumers who buy health coverage on insurance exchanges established by the federal government, in a substantial blow to the Obama administration's implementation of its signature health-care law.

 

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, on a 2-1 vote, invalidated an Internal Revenue Service regulation that implemented a key piece of the 2010 Affordable Care Act.  The regulation said subsidies for health insurance were available to qualifying middle- and low-income consumers whether they bought coverage on a state exchange or one run by the federal government.

 

The ruling potentially could cripple the law by making subsidies unavailable in as many as 36 states where the federal government has run some or all of the insurance exchanges... the rest

DC court ruling deals new blow to Affordable Care Act   ...“We conclude that the ACA unambiguously restricts the [authorized] subsidy to insurance purchased on exchanges ‘established by the state,'” said Judge Thomas Griffith. “We reach this conclusion, frankly, with reluctance. At least until states that wish to can set up Exchanges, our ruling will likely have a significant consequences for millions of individuals receiving tax credits through federal exchanges and for health insurance markets more broadly.”...

Update: Separate US appeals court upholds Obamacare subsidies

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit upheld a federal regulations that implemented subsidies that are vital to President Barack Obama's healthcare overhaul, in direct conflict with another ruling on the issue handed down earlier on Tuesday.

A three-judge panel unanimously said the law was ambiguous, and that it would defer to the IRS's determination that subsidies could go to individuals who purchased health insurance on both federal and state-run exchanges...

A.S. Haley: Trial in South Carolina: ECUSA’s Witness again Barred from Rendering Undisclosed Opinions

July 21, 2014

Why are ECUSA and its attorneys so incapable of following the rules? Could it be that the lawlessness of 815, as aided and abetted by its attorneys, has now infected ECUSA's ability to present a civil case under the rules of court in South Carolina?

From first appearances, that would seem to be the only conclusion to draw from today's proceedings. First, let me use the account from the Episcopal Diocese's Press Office to provide the necessary background for what I shall go on to explain, and then I will put things into context:

DAY 10: DIOCESE OF SC v. THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH

TEC Attorney Admits TEC Constitution Does Not Prevent a Diocese From Leaving the Denomination

Judge Refuses to Consider Evidence about Whether TEC is Hierarchical

ST. GEORGE, SC, JULY 21, 2014 – An attorney for The Episcopal Church on Monday acknowledged that – despite TEC’s repeated claim that dioceses may not leave the denomination – there is nothing in the group’s constitution that specifically prohibits such a disassociation.

“It’s true it doesn’t say whether a diocese in the U.S. can or cannot [leave],” said Mary Kostel, attorney for TEC. “It’s arguably ambiguous.” [Ed. Note: Ms. Kostel could scarcely expect that such an outlandish remark on her part should be allowed to pass without editorial comment. What she is saying is that the absence of a specific prohibition in a governing document makes it somehow ambiguous as to whether or not the drafters still meant to prohibit the act they specifically did not prohibit. Example: The First Amendment does not contain any express language about a person's "freedom to disassociate from a group." So such a "right" must be "ambiguous" -- because it was not made express in the language of the Amendment -- and thus whether such a right actually exists is up to Congress to decide. Contrary to Ms. Kostel, what the courts have always held is that the First Amendment's "freedom to associate" necessarily embraces a corresponding "freedom to disassociate." The question of "ambiguity" in such a case does not even rise to the point of being debatable.]  the rest

Another excerpt:
...I almost never link to this site because of its many factual and legal distortions, all dressed up in rather spiteful bias, but today I shall make an exception. Steve Skardon has on his Website a remarkable first-person account of how yesterday went, viewed from the standpoint of a remnant Episcopalian who senses that things are not going well, and is struggling to understand why. If he could just see how ECUSA and its attorneys behave as though "the rules are made for other folk, not for us," he might -- in light of his own personal experience with Judge Goodstein which he recounts for the reader's benefit -- begin to get a glimmer of why that attitude does not sit well in her courtroom...

Anglican Unscripted Episode 107

Jul 21, 2014

Women's Ordination to the Episcopate in COE and GAFCON

Boko Haram Burns Nigerian Village, Kills Over 100; Iraqi Christians; IRS-More computer crashes...more

Fighting Erupts in Ukraine in Aftermath of Plane Crash as Netherlands Demands Bodies Returned ...“Having these people in control of the site is like leaving criminals in control of a crime scene,” Abbott said of the Russian-backed rebels....

Boko Haram Burns Nigerian Village, Kills Over 100
 Boko Haram militants killed over 100 people as they burned the village of Damboa in a horrific act of violence and terrorism. Residents who escaped the burning structures were gunned downed by militants.

“Those who could not flee surrendered and were killed by the insurgents,” a local official said.

The militants raised their flag over Damboa to demonstrate their defeat; the village lies 53 miles south of the capital city of Maiduguri...

Iraqi Christians are raped, murdered and driven from their homes – and the West is silent
 For the first time in 1,600 years, Mass is not being said in Mosul: an ancient culture has been wiped out in a matter of weeks. It's a war crime that, strangely, no one seems to want to talk about.

Mosul is the second-largest city in Iraq and the place where many Christians believe Jonah was buried. Since the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (Isis) rode into town, their faith has been forced underground. Bells have been silenced, the hijab enforced with bullets. Tens of thousands fled after being offered an unattractive choice: convert, pay a religious tax, or be put to the sword. The levy was unaffordable. According to one local news agency, Isis troops entered the house of a poor Christian and, when they didn’t get what they wanted, the soldiers raped the mother and daughter in front of their husband and father. He committed suicide out of grief.

Having driven away the worshippers, the Isis fanatics are now trying to extinguish the physical legacy they left behind. A centuries-old church has been burned to the ground; Jonah’s tomb has been desecrated. Isis wants to create the Islamic equivalent of Year Zero, a brave new world with no evidence of Christianity, women’s rights, democracy or even that most subversive of instincts, human pity...

Concern and Support for Iraqi Christians Forced by Militants to Flee Mosul-NYT  The Islamic State has issued an ultimatum to the Christians in the town of Mosul in northern Iraq, urging them to convert to Islam, pay a religious tax or face death...

Iraqi Christian Leader Condemns Sunni Militants
...worse than Mongol leader Genghis Khan and his grandson Hulagu who ransacked medieval Baghdad...

Now IRS Reports EVEN MORE Computer Crashes, Doesn’t Know If Emails Still Exist
IRS Deputy Associate Chief Counsel Thomas Kane said in transcribed congressional testimony that more IRS officials experienced computer crashes, bringing the total number of crash victims to “less than 20,” and also said that the agency does not know if the lost emails are still backed up somewhere.

The new round of computer crash victims includes David Fish, who routinely corresponded with Lois Lerner, as well as Lerner subordinate Andy Megosh, Lerner’s technical adviser Justin Lowe, and Cincinnati-based agent Kimberly Kitchens...

When Catholic Colleges Abandon Theology Requirements
...At the root of the current problem, I would suggest, is a trend that has been gaining strength for decades in the academy: the increasing secularization and professionalization of the disciplines...

Christians flee Iraq's Mosul after Islamists tell them: convert, pay or die

Iraqi Christians leave city en masse after Islamist militants threatened to kill them unless they converted to Islam or paid a 'protection tax'
By Louisa Loveluck

 19 Jul 2014

 

Christian families streamed out of the northern Iraqi city of Mosul on Saturday after Islamist fighters said they would be killed if they did not pay a protection tax or convert to Islam.
 

“For the first time in the history of Iraq, Mosul is now empty of Christians,” Patriarch Louis Sako lamented as hundreds of families fled ahead of a noon deadline set by Islamic State for them to submit or leave.
 

The warning was read out in Mosul’s mosques on Friday afternoon, and broadcast throughout the city on loudspeakers.
 

“We offer [Christians] three choices: Islam; the dhimma contract - involving payment... if they refuse this they will have nothing but the sword,” the announcement read....  the rest

Islamic State marks Christian homes in Mosul
Pictures

 Islamic State group tells Christian community in Mosul they face death if they do not embrace Islam or pay tax

"Inglorious Fruits and Vegetables" -fighting food waste

Jun 12, 2014

Intermarché launched the Inglorious Fruits&Vegetables, a film, print, poster and radio campaign, celebrating the beauty of the Grotesque Apple, the Ridiculous Potato, the Hideous Orange, the Failed Lemon, the Disfigured Eggplant, the Ugly Carrot, and the Unfortunate Clementine.

Now you can eat five a day inglorious fruits and vegetables.

As good, but 30% cheaper. The inglorious Fruits and Vegetables, a glorious fight against food waste.

And have the bright immensities received our risen Lord...

And have the bright immensities
Received our risen Lord
Where light-years frame the Pleiades
And point Orion’s sword?
Do flaming suns his footsteps trace
Through corridors sublime,
The Lord of interstellar space
And Conqueror of time?

The heaven that hides Him from our sight
Knows neither near nor far:
An altar candle sheds its light
As surely as a star;
And where His loving people meet
To share the gift divine,
There stands He with unhurrying feet,
And Heaven’s splendors shine.
...... Howard Chandler Robbins  image

Anglican Unscripted Episode 106

Jul 18, 2014

Kevin and George discuss how far ACNA has come

"The Kermit Gosnell Enabling Act of 2014"; Transgender Employee Sues Hobby Lobby; Boko Haram Church Attack...more

"The Kermit Gosnell Enabling Act of 2014"
Extreme Pro-Abortion Senate Bill Would Gut Over 200 Pro-Life Laws in America...

Boko Haram Church Attack Kills 27

Man Arrested for Murder After Slipping Abortion Pill Into Woman's Pancakes   A Kansas man has been arrested on first-degree murder charges after allegedly feeding his 8-week pregnant girlfriend an abortion pill that was mixed into her pancakes.

Scott Bollig, 30, who reportedly confessed to the crime, will stand trial for the murder of his unborn child...

Transgender Employee Sues Hobby Lobby over Restroom Use A transgender Hobby Lobby employee has filed suit against the company for discrimination by the gender-specific restrooms reports Christian Today.

Meggan Sommerville began working for Hobby Lobby in 1998; in 2009 the biological male began her transition to become a woman with the accommodation from the company. Hobby Lobby willingly changed her name in their system and Sommerville’s health insurance package assisted with her hormone therapy.

Now Sommerville has issued a complaint with the Illinois Department of Human Rights (IDHR), arguing that the company is discriminating against her by not permitting her entrance into the women’s restroom. The Aurora location said she would be allowed use of the restroom after she undergoes sex reassignment surgery...

Obama’s America-Scandals now come so fast that each new mess makes us forget the previous one
The summer of 2014 will go down in history as the season when America fell apart. Let’s take a tour of the disasters.

Germany in 2008 enthusiastically hosted candidate Barack Obama for his so-called Victory Column speech. Now, Germans suddenly sound as if they are near-enemies of the U.S. Chancellor Angela Merkel reportedly was furious that her cell phone was tapped by American intelligence agents. She just kicked the top CIA official out of Germany, further enraged that the U.S. had recruited at least one German official to provide intelligence on the German government. Polls show that Germans find Vladimir Putin’s Russian tyranny to be almost as popular as Barack Obama’s America.

Japan is becoming similarly frustrated with the U.S. It is rearming like crazy to confront an aggressive China. Both Asian powers apparently assume that Obama won’t guarantee the security of the Japanese as America has in the past.

The Middle East is dissolving. Taking U.S. peacekeepers out of Iraq proved a disaster. The radical jihadists of ISIS are overrunning Syria and Iraq, as they extend their destruction even to the mute stones of religious sanctuaries...

Ephraim Radner: What Women Bishops Mean For Christian Unity

July 17, 2014

On July 14, 2014, the General Synod of the Church of England voted to permit women to be consecrated as bishops in their church. It followed a long, and sometimes bitter debate, and a vote in 2012 that barely fell short of the required two-thirds majority among lay representatives. Part of the decision—debated as to its enforceability—guarantees parochial opponents access to male priests and bishops.

For some, the decision was too late in coming. For others, though supportive of the concept, it is comes too early, putting another thorn in the bleeding flesh of the Anglican Communion and erecting a new barrier to reconciliation with Catholics and the Orthodox. For others, many of whom have already left the church, it is but one more sign of the inevitable slide of Anglicanism into a failed cultural accommodation with modernity’s egalitarian politics.

My own views are most sympathetic with those of the second group. Nonetheless, it should be acknowledged that the Church of England has labored hard and responsibly to reach this turning point, and, with whatever missteps, has done so in in sharp and positive contrast to several other Anglican churches around the globe. One may not accept the premises of Anglican polity, but in this case the polity has done its work with integrity according to its own self-understanding... Full essay

A.S. Haley: Huge Setback for ECUSA at South Carolina Trial-Their Expert Concedes the Case

July 16, 2014

Yesterday, July 15, was the seventh day of the ongoing trial involving Bishop Lawrence's Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina and thirty-four of its parishes, as plaintiffs, seeking to quiet the title to their real and personal property against the claims made by ECUSA and its rump group, the "Episcopal Church in South Carolina" ("ECSC"). The defendants say that the Diocese and its parishes all forfeited their property when the Diocese voted to amend its governing documents so as to make it no longer a constituent member of ECUSA.

According to the official line promulgated by ECUSA, "people may leave, but dioceses may not." ECUSA claims to be made up of 110 dioceses (actually, now 109 following the merger of Quincy into the Diocese of Chicago), but four of them are not true dioceses -- they are the rump groups set up by 815 to act as plaintiffs (or, in some cases, when they cannot organize fast enough, as defendants and counterclaimants) in the lawsuits brought to recover the bank accounts and real properties that belonged to the dioceses and their member parishes that voted to withdraw. Those rump groups, although each newly organized, have never formally been admitted as proper "dioceses" into union with General Convention, as required by ECUSA's own Constitution.

And one sees right away why: if ECUSA were to go through the formalities necessary to admit them as new dioceses, it would give away its argument that "dioceses cannot leave." Instead it has the rump groups pretend to be the ongoing original dioceses, and then has General Convention recognize them as such and seat their deputies.

Thus far, only two trial courts -- one in Pittsburgh, and the other in Fresno, California -- have been taken in by this ruse. Judges in Texas and in Illinois, meanwhile, have not. (A ruling is expected any day now from the Illinois Court of Appeals which will affirm a lower court's judgment that the [now Anglican] Diocese of Quincy properly amended its own governing documents so as to remove itself from ECUSA.)

And now ECUSA may have shot itself in the foot in South Carolina, as well. Let's have the Press Office of the Episcopal Diocese tell us what happened on Day 7 of the trial, with ECUSA and ECSC putting on their portion of the case... the rest

Stand Firm series: Getting to Know: Bishop Julian Dobbs

Jan 17, 2013
An inspiring sermon by Bishop Julian Dobbs at Glory of God Anglican Church Cocoa Florida.

Stand Firm: Getting to Know: Bishop Julian Dobbs
Stand Firm is beginning a series on "Getting to Know" the ACNA Bishops-starting with CANA/ACNA Bishop Julian Dobbs.

Singing Witness

by Peter J. Leithart
7/16/14

Christians in the US are entering a period of crisis that will lead to martyrdom. Perhaps the martyrdom will be comparatively mild: No pyres or firing squads, but only mockery, slander, ostracism. But it will still be martyrdom, that is, the opportunity - the privilege - to witness faithfully under intense cultural pressure.

How do we prepare?

Not by military exercises or organizing militias. We prepare by learning to use finger-weapons, not hand-weapons, which is to say, by learning to battle with musical instruments. We prepare by training our bodies as musical instruments, by learning to sing lustily, especially by learning to sing God’s songs. the rest image

Albert Mohler:‘Get with the Program’ — The Church of England Votes to Ordain Women Bishops

July 15, 2014

Excerpt:
As for the Archbishop of Canterbury, the church’s chief cleric, Archbishop Justin Welby said that the measure adopted Monday would mark “the start of a great adventure of seeking mutual flourishing while still, in some cases, disagreeing. The challenge for us will be for the church to model good disagreement and to continue to demonstrate love for those who disagree on theological grounds.”

That “adventure” will leave conservative evangelicals in the Church of England increasingly out in the cold, despite all the talk of “mutual flourishing.” The measure approved by the synod means that women bishops will be bishops in full, with mandatory recognition of their episcopal status by all within the Church of England. This will leave conservative ministers under the authority of bishops they do not actually believe to be bishops in fact. It is hard to imagine “mutual flourishing” in that circumstance. The measure also called for the appointment of one conservative evangelical male bishop in coming months — which means that the church has just committed itself to appoint a bishop who does not believe that at least some of his colleague bishops will meet the biblical requirements.

This is the kind of “compromise” that pervades mainline liberal Protestantism. It shifts the church decisively to the left and calls for mutual respect. Conservatives are to be kindly shown the door. Ruth Gledhill of The Guardian [London], one of the most insightful observers of religion in Great Britain, recognized the plight of the evangelicals, though she celebrated the vote: “In the last 69 episcopal appointments, there have been evangelicals but not a single conservative one.” In this context, “conservative” means more concerned with doctrinal matters and opposed to a change in the church’s teachings on gender and human sexuality. But, as Gledhill recognized, “This wing of the church is where so much of the energy is, giving rise not just to growth, but also that necessary resource, cash.”

Yes, there is another pattern to recognize — evangelicals have the growth and the cash, just not the votes. The talk about mutual flourishing is really an argument to remain in the church and keep paying the bills.

Ruth Gledhill is profoundly right about another aspect of Monday’s vote as well. It won’t stop with women bishops. “Now the church can move into the 20th century, although perhaps not the 21st,” she wrote. “A change on gay marriage would be needed to do that.” Well, stay tuned, as they say. The same church now has bishops living and teaching in open defiance of the church’s law on sexuality as well.  the rest

Gains made after 9/11 'Reversed Singlehandedly’; Boko Haram-“Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill Christians!”...more

Former Border Patrol Deputy Chief: ‘All of the Good That Was Done after 9/11 Up to Now Has Been Reversed Singlehandedly’
Former national deputy chief of the U.S. Border Patrol Ronald Colburn:
...Colburn, who spent more than 30 years working for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, says the resulting national-security risk has to do with the “clutter” of people at the border. He says all of the gains made since 9/11 came as a result of reducing the number of people crossing the border. The Border Patrol’s task is to sort through the haystack of people as they come across, he says. “What this situation on the border is doing is growing the haystack, is adding clutter, so that those dangerous needles get through because we’re tied up capturing, instead, juvenile children from Guatemala and El Salvador,” he says. “When you see the cartels — the Zetas and MS-13 and the Gulf Cartel — laughing about this on the Internet, you know what’s behind it.”

Colburn says the “gangsters down south” enjoy social media, taking selfies, and talking about one another online. Border Patrol officials monitor the cartels’ online communications along with officials from the Department of Defense and intelligence community, he says...

Boko Haram’s Real Target: “Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill Christians!”
...Second, Shekau’s call to “Kill Christians” clarifies something important. As as a result of the Chibok kidnapping, the West sees Boko Haram as anti-women. But that’s a relatively minor part of the story. Boko Haram is not principally anti-women, but anti-Christian. The group has been carrying out atrocities against Christians for years. It’s just that the West has not found the story important...

‘Same name, new body parts’: Marvel’s Thor to become a woman   ...“The inscription on Thor’s hammer reads ‘Whosoever holds this hammer, if HE be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor.’ Well it’s time to update that inscription,” said Marvel editor Wil Moss in a statement. “The new Thor continues Marvel’s proud tradition of strong female characters like Captain Marvel, Storm, Black Widow and more. And this new Thor isn’t a temporary female substitute – she’s now the one and only Thor, and she is worthy!”...

Top Secret Drum Corps

- Edinburgh Military Tattoo 2012 -

Top Secret Drum Corps is a precision drum corps based in Basel, Switzerland. With 25 drummers and colorguard members, the corps became famous for its demanding six-minute routine performed at the Edinburgh Tattoo in 2003. With its invitation to Edinburgh, Top Secret became one of the first non-military, non-British Commonwealth acts to perform on the Esplanade at Edinburgh Castle.

Anglican Unscripted Episode 105

Jul 16, 2014
         

Anglican Unscripted is the only video newscast in the Anglican Church. Every Week Kevin, George, Allan and Peter bring you news and prospective from around the globe. Please donate at http://anglican.tv/donate

Rainbow in our neighborhood

July 14, 2104

 

Raymond shot this photo of a beautiful rainbow seen in our neighborhood-actually there is a second faint one above it.  -PD (click to enlarge)



Anglican Unscripted Episode 104

Jul 14, 2014

Anglican Unscripted is the only video newscast in the Anglican Church. Every Week Kevin, George, Allan and Peter bring you news and prospective from around the globe. Please donate at http://anglican.tv/donate.

00:00 Forward in Faith
10:40 Archbishop George Carey

New War Over High School U.S. History

By Stanley Kurtz
July 10, 2014

Excerpt:
...While the College Board has publicly released a lengthy “framework” for the new AP U.S. History Exam, that framework contains only a few sample questions. Sources tell me, however, that a complete sample exam has be released, although only to certified AP U.S. History teachers. Those teachers have been warned, under penalty of law and the stripping of their AP teaching privileges, not to disclose the content of the new sample AP U.S. History Exam to anyone.

This is clearly an effort to silence public debate over these heavily politicized and illegitimately nationalized standards. If the complete sample test was available, the political nature of the new test would become evident. Public scrutiny of the sample test would also expose potential conflicts between the new exam and existing state standards. This is why the College Board has kept the test secret and threatened officially certified AP U.S. History teachers with severe penalties for revealing the test.

The College Board claims that its highly directive new framework for AP U.S. History is actually adaptable to the preferences of particular states, school districts, and teachers. This is deeply misleading. It is true that the new history framework allows teachers to include examples of their choice. Yet the framework also insists that the examples must be used to illustrate the themes and concepts behind the official College Board vision.

The upshot is that James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, and the other founders are largely left out of the new test, unless they are presented as examples of conflict and identity by class, gender, race, ethnicity, etc. The Constitution can be studied as an example of the Colonists’ belief in the superiority of their own culture, for instance. But any teacher who presents a full unit on the principles of the American Constitution taught in the traditional way would be severely disadvantaging his students. So while allowing some minor flexibility on details, the new AP U.S. History framework effectively forces teachers to train their students in a leftist, blame-America-first reading of history, while omitting traditional treatments of our founding principles... the rest image

Just as the Common Core became an established fact before most American parents, lawmakers, and school districts even knew it existed, the new AP U.S. History Exam is about to entrench a controversial and highly politicized national school curriculum without proper notice or debate. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and a full understanding of our founding principles are on the way out. Race, gender, class, and ethnicity are coming in, all in secrecy and in clear violation of the Constitution’s guarantee that education remain in control of the states.

Church of England General Synod approves Women Bishops bill

14 Jul 2014
Church of England Press Office

The General Synod of the Church of England has today given its final approval for women to become bishops in the Church of England.

The vote in the General Synod on the measure was carried by the required two-thirds majority in the three constituent parts of the Synod: the House of Bishops, the House of Clergy and the House of Laity.

The voting results were as follows:

House of Bishops: Yes 37 No 2 Abstentions 1

House of Clergy: Yes 162 No 25 Abstentions 4

House of Laity: Yes 152 No 45 Abstentions 5

This means the first woman bishop could potentially be appointed by the end of the year.

Today's vote comes 18 months after the proposal was last voted upon in November 2012 when the proposal failed to achieve the required two thirds majority in the House of Laity... the rest at Anglican Ink

Church of England General Synod backs women bishops   The Church of England has voted to allow women to become bishops for first time in its history....BBC