Terrorists distribute materials in Bethlehem teaching jihad, kidnappings, 'infidel' beheading
Please read this article from Worldnetdaily which describes Al-Qaida distributing training materials and videos to Palesitinians in Bethlehem. According to local sources, the al-Qaida materials were mass produced and were provided to young Muslim men in Bethlehem.
Local Christian leaders speaking to WND said they cannot confirm any al-Qaida groups present in Bethlehem, but stated they are concerned by what they said was growing radicalization and militancy among Palestinian groups who reportedly have been targeting Christians in the city.
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Monday, May 14, 2007
Proponent of intelligent design denied tenure by ISU
The Ames Tribune
By: William Dillon
05/12/2007
Guillermo Gonzalez, an assistant professor of astronomy and physics who argues for the theory of intelligent design, was denied tenure this semester by Iowa State University.
"I was surprised to hear that my tenure was denied at any level, but I was disappointed that the president at the end denied me," Gonzalez said during a telephone interview with The Tribune Friday.
Gonzalez filed an appeal with ISU President Greg Geoffroy on Tuesday, May 8. Geoffroy has 20 days to respond.
While his work is heralded as "path-breaking" by supporters of intelligent design as a way of offering a new theory supporting design in the universe, Gonzalez has come under criticism by the mainstream science community for incorporating the theory of intelligent design into his work.
Opponents maintain that proving intelligent causes or agents is not science but rather the study of theology and philosophy. Some also have accused Gonzalez, an openly non-denominational Protestant, of thrusting religion into science.
In the summer of 2005, three faculty members at ISU drafted a statement against the use of intelligent design in science. One of those authors, Hector Avalos, told The Tribune at the time he was concerned the growing prominence of Gonzalez's work was beginning to market ISU as an "intelligent design school."
The statement collected signatures of support from more than 120 ISU faculty members before similar statements surfaced at the University of Iowa and the University of Northern Iowa.
According to ISU's policy on promotion and tenure, evaluation is based "primarily on evidence of scholarship in the faculty member's teaching, research/creative activities, and/or extension/professional practice."
In addition to that criteria, Gonzalez's department of astronomy and physics sets a benchmark for tenure candidates to author at least 15 peer-reviewed journal articles of quality. Gonzalez said he submitted 68, of which 25 have been written since he arrived at ISU in 2001.
"I believe that I fully met the requirements for tenure at ISU," he said.
Gonzalez said he would rather not comment on why he believes he was denied tenure.
On Friday, Geoffroy declined comment on why Gonzalez was denied tenure.
"Since an appeal is on my desk that I will have to pass judgment on, it is not appropriate for me to offer any comment," he wrote in an e-mail to The Tribune.
In addition to his research and teaching at ISU, Gonzalez is a senior fellow at the Discovery Institute, a conservative Seattle think tank leading the intelligent design movement.
John G. West, associate director of the Center for Science and Culture at the institute, said he sees this as a clear case of "ideological discrimination" by ISU against Gonzalez. He said he thinks the statement against intelligent design drafted at ISU played a large part in the eventual denial of Gonzalez's tenure.
"What happens to the lone faculty member who doesn't agree and happens to be untenured," he asked. "That is practically, with a wink and a nod, a call to deny him tenure."
Faculty members typically leave a university if they are denied tenure.
ISU considered 66 faculty cases for promotion and tenure during the past academic year. Only three, including Gonzalez, were denied tenure.
By: William Dillon
05/12/2007
Guillermo Gonzalez, an assistant professor of astronomy and physics who argues for the theory of intelligent design, was denied tenure this semester by Iowa State University.
"I was surprised to hear that my tenure was denied at any level, but I was disappointed that the president at the end denied me," Gonzalez said during a telephone interview with The Tribune Friday.
Gonzalez filed an appeal with ISU President Greg Geoffroy on Tuesday, May 8. Geoffroy has 20 days to respond.
While his work is heralded as "path-breaking" by supporters of intelligent design as a way of offering a new theory supporting design in the universe, Gonzalez has come under criticism by the mainstream science community for incorporating the theory of intelligent design into his work.
Opponents maintain that proving intelligent causes or agents is not science but rather the study of theology and philosophy. Some also have accused Gonzalez, an openly non-denominational Protestant, of thrusting religion into science.
In the summer of 2005, three faculty members at ISU drafted a statement against the use of intelligent design in science. One of those authors, Hector Avalos, told The Tribune at the time he was concerned the growing prominence of Gonzalez's work was beginning to market ISU as an "intelligent design school."
The statement collected signatures of support from more than 120 ISU faculty members before similar statements surfaced at the University of Iowa and the University of Northern Iowa.
According to ISU's policy on promotion and tenure, evaluation is based "primarily on evidence of scholarship in the faculty member's teaching, research/creative activities, and/or extension/professional practice."
In addition to that criteria, Gonzalez's department of astronomy and physics sets a benchmark for tenure candidates to author at least 15 peer-reviewed journal articles of quality. Gonzalez said he submitted 68, of which 25 have been written since he arrived at ISU in 2001.
"I believe that I fully met the requirements for tenure at ISU," he said.
Gonzalez said he would rather not comment on why he believes he was denied tenure.
On Friday, Geoffroy declined comment on why Gonzalez was denied tenure.
"Since an appeal is on my desk that I will have to pass judgment on, it is not appropriate for me to offer any comment," he wrote in an e-mail to The Tribune.
In addition to his research and teaching at ISU, Gonzalez is a senior fellow at the Discovery Institute, a conservative Seattle think tank leading the intelligent design movement.
John G. West, associate director of the Center for Science and Culture at the institute, said he sees this as a clear case of "ideological discrimination" by ISU against Gonzalez. He said he thinks the statement against intelligent design drafted at ISU played a large part in the eventual denial of Gonzalez's tenure.
"What happens to the lone faculty member who doesn't agree and happens to be untenured," he asked. "That is practically, with a wink and a nod, a call to deny him tenure."
Faculty members typically leave a university if they are denied tenure.
ISU considered 66 faculty cases for promotion and tenure during the past academic year. Only three, including Gonzalez, were denied tenure.
'Christians will be first to leave city'
Jerusalem Post
May 14, 2007
By ETGAR LEFKOVITS
As the number of Christian residents in the Holy Land continues to drop, an adviser to Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupolianski called on the government on Sunday to ease restrictions on family reunification for Christian Arabs living in the capital.
"The first ones who will disappear from the city are the Christians," Motti Levy, the mayor's adviser for Christian and Arab affairs, told The Jerusalem Post in a telephone interview.
"Our task as a municipality is to ease matters for the dwindling Christian population, and not to make things harder for them," he said.
About 10,000 Christians live in Jerusalem.
Levy noted that the ongoing exodus comes as the increasingly-educated and professional Christian residents emigrate to the West for better job opportunities and a higher quality of life.
"They are victims of their own success," he said.
In unusually frank language, the former Foreign Ministry official conceded that the economic situation in the capital was "not good" and equated the exit of middle-class Christians to that of Israelis leaving the city for better jobs in central Israel, or a better quality of life in the suburbs.
"So long as our situation in Jerusalem deteriorates, the Christians are the first who are willing to leave," Levy said. "Jesus is not going to make them stay in Jerusalem."
He noted that restrictions on family reunification for Palestinians made it difficult for Christians who found a spouse in the West Bank to live with them in the capital.
Levy said there was room for Israel to show flexibility on the issue because of the low number of Christian Arabs in the city.
Jerusalem has 720,000 residents, 66 percent of whom are Jews and 34% are Arabs.
Around 420,000 Jerusalemites - 57% of whom are Arabs and 43% of whom are Jews - live in areas that were added to the city after the Six Day War, according to city statistics released Sunday by the Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies.
Meanwhile, the two-decade-old trend of Israelis leaving Jerusalem continued last year.
Some 17,200 Israelis left the capital last year, compared to 10,900 people - including 2,500 new immigrants - who moved to the city.
More than half of those who left moved to Jerusalem's suburbs, the survey found.
Over the last five years, the suburbs of Beit Shemesh, Betar Ilit, Ma'ale Adumim, Modi'in Ilit, Mevaseret Zion and Givat Ze'ev attracted the largest number of former Jerusalemites.
A recent study by Hebrew University demographer Prof. Sergio Della Pergola predicts that if the situation - and Jerusalem's borders - remains unchanged, only 60% of Jerusalem's residents will be Jews by 2020, with the remaining 40% Arab. Another survey forecast that the number of Jewish and Arabs in the city will reach parity in a quarter century.
May 14, 2007
By ETGAR LEFKOVITS
As the number of Christian residents in the Holy Land continues to drop, an adviser to Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupolianski called on the government on Sunday to ease restrictions on family reunification for Christian Arabs living in the capital.
"The first ones who will disappear from the city are the Christians," Motti Levy, the mayor's adviser for Christian and Arab affairs, told The Jerusalem Post in a telephone interview.
"Our task as a municipality is to ease matters for the dwindling Christian population, and not to make things harder for them," he said.
About 10,000 Christians live in Jerusalem.
Levy noted that the ongoing exodus comes as the increasingly-educated and professional Christian residents emigrate to the West for better job opportunities and a higher quality of life.
"They are victims of their own success," he said.
In unusually frank language, the former Foreign Ministry official conceded that the economic situation in the capital was "not good" and equated the exit of middle-class Christians to that of Israelis leaving the city for better jobs in central Israel, or a better quality of life in the suburbs.
"So long as our situation in Jerusalem deteriorates, the Christians are the first who are willing to leave," Levy said. "Jesus is not going to make them stay in Jerusalem."
He noted that restrictions on family reunification for Palestinians made it difficult for Christians who found a spouse in the West Bank to live with them in the capital.
Levy said there was room for Israel to show flexibility on the issue because of the low number of Christian Arabs in the city.
Jerusalem has 720,000 residents, 66 percent of whom are Jews and 34% are Arabs.
Around 420,000 Jerusalemites - 57% of whom are Arabs and 43% of whom are Jews - live in areas that were added to the city after the Six Day War, according to city statistics released Sunday by the Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies.
Meanwhile, the two-decade-old trend of Israelis leaving Jerusalem continued last year.
Some 17,200 Israelis left the capital last year, compared to 10,900 people - including 2,500 new immigrants - who moved to the city.
More than half of those who left moved to Jerusalem's suburbs, the survey found.
Over the last five years, the suburbs of Beit Shemesh, Betar Ilit, Ma'ale Adumim, Modi'in Ilit, Mevaseret Zion and Givat Ze'ev attracted the largest number of former Jerusalemites.
A recent study by Hebrew University demographer Prof. Sergio Della Pergola predicts that if the situation - and Jerusalem's borders - remains unchanged, only 60% of Jerusalem's residents will be Jews by 2020, with the remaining 40% Arab. Another survey forecast that the number of Jewish and Arabs in the city will reach parity in a quarter century.
Friday, May 11, 2007
'Vote for Romney is vote for Satan'
Christian leader follows up Sharpton attack on Mormons
Worldnetdaily.com
May 10, 2007
While some evangelical Christians are defending the presidential candidacy of Mormon Mitt Romney from an attack by Al Sharpton, another prominent pastor is going further in his condemnation – saying a vote for the former Massachusetts governor is a vote for Satan.
That's the word from Bill Keller, host of the Florida-based Live Prayer TV program as well as LivePrayer.com.
"If you vote for Mitt Romney, you are voting for Satan!" he writes in his daily devotional to be sent out to 2.4 million e-mail subscribers tomorrow.
Sharpton, the Democratic Party activist and former presidential candidate, has been widely condemned for singling out Romney's faith as an issue in the campaign.
"As for the one Mormon running for office, those who really believe in God will defeat him anyways, so don't worry about that; that's a temporary situation," he said.
Keller also comes out swinging against the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints as a cult.
"This message today is not about Mitt Romney," he writes. "Romney is an unashamed and proud member of the Mormon cult founded by a murdering polygamist pedophile named Joseph Smith nearly 200 years ago. The teachings of the Mormon cult are doctrinally and theologically in complete opposition to the Absolute Truth of God's Word. There is no common ground. If Mormonism is true, then the Christian faith is a complete lie. There has never been any question from the moment Smith's cult began that it was a work of Satan and those who follow their false teachings will die and spend eternity in hell."
"I guess what I can tell you is it shows that bigotry can still rear its ugly head in society," Alex Burgos, a spokesman for the Romney campaign, told WND. "It's sad that anyone would target a fellow American on the issue of faith."
"We really have no comment," Kim Farah, a spokeswoman for the Mormon church, told WND.
Keller is also critical of other evangelicals who have reached out to Romney.
"I have watched in horror over the past weeks as one evangelical Christian leader after another has either endorsed, supported, or just as bad, refused to denounce Romney's run for the White House and those Christian leaders who support him," Keller writes. "Last weekend Pat Robertson, founder of CBN and Regent University, had Romney deliver the keynote address to the graduates of Regent. Regent is one of the great Christian colleges in this nation, and Robertson allowed this cult member to deliver the commencement address. Is he out of his mind? Do you think there would ever be a true Gospel preacher giving the commencement address at Brigham Young?"
But the focus of his appeal to followers is to discredit Mormonism as a legitimate faith in line with the tenets of Christianity.
"I have been warning you for years now about this cult born out of the pits of hell and responsible for sending millions of souls to eternal damnation," Keller says. "For the nearly 200 years this cult has been in existence they have strived for mainstream acceptance. They are the most devious of all the cults since they have always tried to portray themselves as 'just another Christian group' when in fact, they are no more Christian than a Muslim is! Their deception starts with their name, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Sounds like a Christian church doesn't it? Some Mormons have recently changed their name to simply Community of Christ to disguise even better who they are in an attempt to lure people in."
Keller goes on to say that when LDS members talk of God and Jesus they are not talking about the God and Jesus of Christianity. He claims Romney's high-profile candidacy for the presidency is an important effort by the church to gain credibility and respectability.
"There are reportedly 12 million Mormons worldwide, half of those in the United States," he says. "The worldwide holdings of the Mormon cult are in the tens of billions of dollars. Mitt Romney is the first member of this cult who has had the legitimate opportunity to help them achieve their goal of mainstream acceptance while holding the most powerful office in the world. Romney will have the full resources of this cult behind him in his bid for the White House."
He says if Romney wins the White House, millions of people will be attracted to Mormonism.
"Those who follow the false teachings of this cult, believe in the false jesus of the Mormon cult and reject faith in the one true Jesus of the Bible, will die and spend eternity in hell," he charges. "Romney getting elected president will ultimately lead millions of souls to the eternal flames of hell!"
Keller also criticizes Romney for political flip-flops on issues like abortion, citing a recent report that his wife donated money to Planned Parenthood, the largest abortion provider in the world.
"Please take some time today and pray for Mitt Romney and all those who have been deceived by the lies of the Mormon cult," Keller adds. "The fact is that unless they renounce those lies and turn to faith in the one true Jesus of the Bible, they will die and spend eternity in hell. Pray also for these Christian leaders who have for whatever reason, foolishly aligned themselves with Romney. Pray the Holy Spirit will convict them and that they will renounce Romney and find a candidate to support who will hold to Biblical values. There is no excuse, no justification for supporting and voting for a man who will be used by satan to lead the souls of millions into the eternal flames of hell!"
Keller was a businessman convicted of insider trading in 1989, a crime for which he served more than two years in federal prison. After getting out, he received a degree in biblical studies from Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, and has been in full-time ministry ever since.
Worldnetdaily.com
May 10, 2007
While some evangelical Christians are defending the presidential candidacy of Mormon Mitt Romney from an attack by Al Sharpton, another prominent pastor is going further in his condemnation – saying a vote for the former Massachusetts governor is a vote for Satan.
That's the word from Bill Keller, host of the Florida-based Live Prayer TV program as well as LivePrayer.com.
"If you vote for Mitt Romney, you are voting for Satan!" he writes in his daily devotional to be sent out to 2.4 million e-mail subscribers tomorrow.
Sharpton, the Democratic Party activist and former presidential candidate, has been widely condemned for singling out Romney's faith as an issue in the campaign.
"As for the one Mormon running for office, those who really believe in God will defeat him anyways, so don't worry about that; that's a temporary situation," he said.
Keller also comes out swinging against the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints as a cult.
"This message today is not about Mitt Romney," he writes. "Romney is an unashamed and proud member of the Mormon cult founded by a murdering polygamist pedophile named Joseph Smith nearly 200 years ago. The teachings of the Mormon cult are doctrinally and theologically in complete opposition to the Absolute Truth of God's Word. There is no common ground. If Mormonism is true, then the Christian faith is a complete lie. There has never been any question from the moment Smith's cult began that it was a work of Satan and those who follow their false teachings will die and spend eternity in hell."
"I guess what I can tell you is it shows that bigotry can still rear its ugly head in society," Alex Burgos, a spokesman for the Romney campaign, told WND. "It's sad that anyone would target a fellow American on the issue of faith."
"We really have no comment," Kim Farah, a spokeswoman for the Mormon church, told WND.
Keller is also critical of other evangelicals who have reached out to Romney.
"I have watched in horror over the past weeks as one evangelical Christian leader after another has either endorsed, supported, or just as bad, refused to denounce Romney's run for the White House and those Christian leaders who support him," Keller writes. "Last weekend Pat Robertson, founder of CBN and Regent University, had Romney deliver the keynote address to the graduates of Regent. Regent is one of the great Christian colleges in this nation, and Robertson allowed this cult member to deliver the commencement address. Is he out of his mind? Do you think there would ever be a true Gospel preacher giving the commencement address at Brigham Young?"
But the focus of his appeal to followers is to discredit Mormonism as a legitimate faith in line with the tenets of Christianity.
"I have been warning you for years now about this cult born out of the pits of hell and responsible for sending millions of souls to eternal damnation," Keller says. "For the nearly 200 years this cult has been in existence they have strived for mainstream acceptance. They are the most devious of all the cults since they have always tried to portray themselves as 'just another Christian group' when in fact, they are no more Christian than a Muslim is! Their deception starts with their name, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Sounds like a Christian church doesn't it? Some Mormons have recently changed their name to simply Community of Christ to disguise even better who they are in an attempt to lure people in."
Keller goes on to say that when LDS members talk of God and Jesus they are not talking about the God and Jesus of Christianity. He claims Romney's high-profile candidacy for the presidency is an important effort by the church to gain credibility and respectability.
"There are reportedly 12 million Mormons worldwide, half of those in the United States," he says. "The worldwide holdings of the Mormon cult are in the tens of billions of dollars. Mitt Romney is the first member of this cult who has had the legitimate opportunity to help them achieve their goal of mainstream acceptance while holding the most powerful office in the world. Romney will have the full resources of this cult behind him in his bid for the White House."
He says if Romney wins the White House, millions of people will be attracted to Mormonism.
"Those who follow the false teachings of this cult, believe in the false jesus of the Mormon cult and reject faith in the one true Jesus of the Bible, will die and spend eternity in hell," he charges. "Romney getting elected president will ultimately lead millions of souls to the eternal flames of hell!"
Keller also criticizes Romney for political flip-flops on issues like abortion, citing a recent report that his wife donated money to Planned Parenthood, the largest abortion provider in the world.
"Please take some time today and pray for Mitt Romney and all those who have been deceived by the lies of the Mormon cult," Keller adds. "The fact is that unless they renounce those lies and turn to faith in the one true Jesus of the Bible, they will die and spend eternity in hell. Pray also for these Christian leaders who have for whatever reason, foolishly aligned themselves with Romney. Pray the Holy Spirit will convict them and that they will renounce Romney and find a candidate to support who will hold to Biblical values. There is no excuse, no justification for supporting and voting for a man who will be used by satan to lead the souls of millions into the eternal flames of hell!"
Keller was a businessman convicted of insider trading in 1989, a crime for which he served more than two years in federal prison. After getting out, he received a degree in biblical studies from Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, and has been in full-time ministry ever since.
Evangelicals meet to focus on orphans
By: Erin Emery
Denver Post
Colorado Springs - Evangelical Christians want to ignite a movement in the nation's churches to help the world's 143 million orphans, a crisis that evangelicals are calling the "greatest social opportunity" in generations.
Some of the nation's most prominent evangelicals, including Rick Warren, author of The Purpose Driven Life, met at Focus on the Family for a conference to rekindle a long-standing Christian tradition of caring for orphans.
At the conference, which runs through Friday, 350 people - representatives of adoptive and foster-care agencies, churches and ministries - will discuss how to build alliances between state foster-care agencies, to minister to HIV/AIDS orphans and to teach churches to do child placement as a ministry.
In the United States, 500,000 children are in foster care and 115,000 children are available for adoption, Warren said. People in the United States adopt about 23,000 children annually from foreign countries.
Warren, whose Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., has seen congregants adopt hundreds of children, said it is simply not good enough to talk about faith - live it. He posted several Bible passages on an overhead projector, including James 1:27: "Look after orphans and widows in their distress."
Denver Post
Colorado Springs - Evangelical Christians want to ignite a movement in the nation's churches to help the world's 143 million orphans, a crisis that evangelicals are calling the "greatest social opportunity" in generations.
Some of the nation's most prominent evangelicals, including Rick Warren, author of The Purpose Driven Life, met at Focus on the Family for a conference to rekindle a long-standing Christian tradition of caring for orphans.
At the conference, which runs through Friday, 350 people - representatives of adoptive and foster-care agencies, churches and ministries - will discuss how to build alliances between state foster-care agencies, to minister to HIV/AIDS orphans and to teach churches to do child placement as a ministry.
In the United States, 500,000 children are in foster care and 115,000 children are available for adoption, Warren said. People in the United States adopt about 23,000 children annually from foreign countries.
Warren, whose Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., has seen congregants adopt hundreds of children, said it is simply not good enough to talk about faith - live it. He posted several Bible passages on an overhead projector, including James 1:27: "Look after orphans and widows in their distress."
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Pope's Words on Abortion Nudge, But Don't Shake U.S. Political Races
By: Greg Simmons
Fox News
WASHINGTON — Pope Benedict XVI's agreement that Roman Catholic politicians in Mexico City who voted to legalize abortion should be denied the rite of Communion could have an effect on the 2008 presidential race in the United States.
The pontiff's comments put five of seven Catholic candidates at odds with their church.
Reporters aboard the pope's flight to Mexico City on Wednesday asked if he supported the decision by bishops there to excommunicate politicians who had voted to legalize abortion in the first trimester.
The pope responded that excommunication for those promoting abortion is "nothing new, it's normal, it wasn't arbitrary. It is what is foreseen by the Church's doctrine."
His comments later were clarified by the papal press office to say that neither the pope nor the Mexican bishops had declared the politicians excommunicated.
The press office director explained that the Church teaches that the promotion of abortion is not compatible with receiving the rite of Communion, one of seven Catholic "sacraments," or major holy rites.
U.S. Catholic officials say that position is nothing new, and U.S. politicians generally are free to participate in the sacrament regardless of their abortion beliefs, although individual church leaders can decide not to allow the practice.
It is longstanding tradition that any Catholic who supports, believes in, or approves of abortions should not present themselves for Communion without first going to confession, another of the Catholic sacraments, said Susan Gibbs, spokeswoman for the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., where a standing Catholic president would practice his or her faith.
"There's nothing new here," Gibbs said. "We'll see if there's anything new as we go forward."
"This is basically restating policy," said Sister Mary Ann Walsh, communications director for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the organization that represents the 195 U.S. archdioceses.
Abortion politics is an issue that is playing heavily lately in the presidential race, and it is an issue high on many Catholics' agenda.
Rudy Giuliani is the only Republican candidate who has established himself as an abortion-rights candidate. Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback and former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson, the other Catholic GOP contenders, are firm anti-abortion advocates.
All four Catholic Democratic contenders — Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware, Sen. Christopher Dodd of Connecticut, Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio, and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson — support abortion rights.
Click here for more...
Fox News
WASHINGTON — Pope Benedict XVI's agreement that Roman Catholic politicians in Mexico City who voted to legalize abortion should be denied the rite of Communion could have an effect on the 2008 presidential race in the United States.
The pontiff's comments put five of seven Catholic candidates at odds with their church.
Reporters aboard the pope's flight to Mexico City on Wednesday asked if he supported the decision by bishops there to excommunicate politicians who had voted to legalize abortion in the first trimester.
The pope responded that excommunication for those promoting abortion is "nothing new, it's normal, it wasn't arbitrary. It is what is foreseen by the Church's doctrine."
His comments later were clarified by the papal press office to say that neither the pope nor the Mexican bishops had declared the politicians excommunicated.
The press office director explained that the Church teaches that the promotion of abortion is not compatible with receiving the rite of Communion, one of seven Catholic "sacraments," or major holy rites.
U.S. Catholic officials say that position is nothing new, and U.S. politicians generally are free to participate in the sacrament regardless of their abortion beliefs, although individual church leaders can decide not to allow the practice.
It is longstanding tradition that any Catholic who supports, believes in, or approves of abortions should not present themselves for Communion without first going to confession, another of the Catholic sacraments, said Susan Gibbs, spokeswoman for the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., where a standing Catholic president would practice his or her faith.
"There's nothing new here," Gibbs said. "We'll see if there's anything new as we go forward."
"This is basically restating policy," said Sister Mary Ann Walsh, communications director for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the organization that represents the 195 U.S. archdioceses.
Abortion politics is an issue that is playing heavily lately in the presidential race, and it is an issue high on many Catholics' agenda.
Rudy Giuliani is the only Republican candidate who has established himself as an abortion-rights candidate. Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback and former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson, the other Catholic GOP contenders, are firm anti-abortion advocates.
All four Catholic Democratic contenders — Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware, Sen. Christopher Dodd of Connecticut, Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio, and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson — support abortion rights.
Click here for more...
Illegal aliens among terrorist plotters arrested in NJ
Chad Groening
OneNewsNow.com
May 10, 2007
An immigration-reform organization says the recent arrest of three illegal aliens involved in an alleged terrorist plot against American soldiers refutes the argument of people who contend that those who enter the U.S. illegally do so only in search a better life. He says the arrest of the three along with others accused of conspiring to massacre U.S. soldiers illustrates the folly of failing to secure the nation's borders.
Six foreign-born Muslims were arrested in all -- the three who were in the country illegally, two whose green cards allowed them to be in the U.S. permanently, and one a U.S. citizen. Federal authorities have charged the six men, all in their 20s, with planning to use grenade launchers and other weapons to kill as many soldiers as possible at Fort Dix, New Jersey. The plot was foiled, however, thanks to an informant who tipped off the FBI.
But Ira Mehlman of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) says there is no telling how many more would-be terrorists are in the United States who have taken advantage of the country's porous borders. "They understand what our vulnerabilities are," he asserts, "and the same open borders that allow busboys and gardeners and other workers to come across the border with impunity are going to be taken advantage of by people who intend to do us severe harm."
Mehlman says authorities were fortunate to catch the illegal aliens involved in the alleged terrorist plot this time. "We got lucky. We caught three of them," he notes, "but if there are three of them here, you can count on the fact that there are many, many more. And next time, we might not be as lucky. Next time, unfortunately, there may be many dead people as a result."
If this incident does not get the government's attention and force the authorities "to focus on their primary responsibility to protect the interests, to protect the security of this country, then I don't know what will," Mehlman says. In any event, he contends, it is clear that not all illegal aliens come to America just to find work and a better life, as their advocates claim.
Court records say that several of the Muslim men who were arrested said they were ready to kill and die "in the name of Allah," but news reports state there is no direct evidence connecting them to any international terror groups such as al Qaeda.
OneNewsNow.com
May 10, 2007
An immigration-reform organization says the recent arrest of three illegal aliens involved in an alleged terrorist plot against American soldiers refutes the argument of people who contend that those who enter the U.S. illegally do so only in search a better life. He says the arrest of the three along with others accused of conspiring to massacre U.S. soldiers illustrates the folly of failing to secure the nation's borders.
Six foreign-born Muslims were arrested in all -- the three who were in the country illegally, two whose green cards allowed them to be in the U.S. permanently, and one a U.S. citizen. Federal authorities have charged the six men, all in their 20s, with planning to use grenade launchers and other weapons to kill as many soldiers as possible at Fort Dix, New Jersey. The plot was foiled, however, thanks to an informant who tipped off the FBI.
But Ira Mehlman of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) says there is no telling how many more would-be terrorists are in the United States who have taken advantage of the country's porous borders. "They understand what our vulnerabilities are," he asserts, "and the same open borders that allow busboys and gardeners and other workers to come across the border with impunity are going to be taken advantage of by people who intend to do us severe harm."
Mehlman says authorities were fortunate to catch the illegal aliens involved in the alleged terrorist plot this time. "We got lucky. We caught three of them," he notes, "but if there are three of them here, you can count on the fact that there are many, many more. And next time, we might not be as lucky. Next time, unfortunately, there may be many dead people as a result."
If this incident does not get the government's attention and force the authorities "to focus on their primary responsibility to protect the interests, to protect the security of this country, then I don't know what will," Mehlman says. In any event, he contends, it is clear that not all illegal aliens come to America just to find work and a better life, as their advocates claim.
Court records say that several of the Muslim men who were arrested said they were ready to kill and die "in the name of Allah," but news reports state there is no direct evidence connecting them to any international terror groups such as al Qaeda.
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