Sunday, July 31, 2016
An After School Satan Club could be coming to your kid's elementary school
SALEM, Mass. — It's a hot summer night, and leaders of the
Satanic Temple have gathered in the crimson-walled living room of a
Victorian manse in this city renowned for its witch trials in the 17th
century. They're watching a sepia-toned video, in which children dance
around a maypole, a spider crawls across a clown's face and eerie,
ambient chanting gives way to a backward, demonic voice-over. The group
chuckles with approval.
They're here plotting to bring their
wisdom to the nation's public elementary school children. They point out
that Christian evangelical groups already have infiltrated the lives of
America's children through after-school religious programming in public
schools, and they appear determined to give young students a choice:
Jesus or Satan.
"It's critical that children understand that there are multiple
perspectives on all issues, and that they have a choice in how they
think," said Doug Mesner, the Satanic Temple's co-founder.
On
Monday, the group plans to introduce its After School Satan Club to
public elementary schools, including one in Prince George's County,
petitioning school officials to allow them to open immediately as the
academic year starts. Chapter heads from New York, Boston, Utah and
Arizona were in Salem on July 10 talking strategy, with others from
Minneapolis, Detroit, San Jose, New Orleans, Pittsburgh and Florida
participating online. The promotional video, which feels like a mash-up
of a horror movie trailer and a "Saturday Night Live" sketch, will serve
to promote the new club along with its website - Afterschoolsatan.com.
The
Satanic Temple - which has been offering tongue-in-cheek support for
the fallen angel in public arenas that have embraced prayer and
parochial ceremonies - is bringing its fight over constitutional
separation of church and state to the nation's schools. More...
The Vatican is the only country in Europe that refuses to open all of its World War II archives
On Friday, Pope Francis
is to become the third Roman Catholic pope to visit Auschwitz. John
Paul II was the first Polish pope in the church’s 2,000-year history.
Auschwitz is less than an hour from where he was born, and his 1979
visit was poignant. Every bit as dramatic was the 2006 visit by the German-born Benedict XVI who had at 14 been a member of the Hitler Youth.
But
Francis’ visit could be the most significant ever if he uses the
symbolic backdrop to break with the policies of six predecessors over 70
years and order the release of the Vatican’s sealed Holocaust-era archives.
The
debate over the church’s secret wartime files is not new. The Vatican
is the only country in Europe that refuses to open all of its World War II
archives to independent historians and researchers. The issue is more
than simply an academic debate over the appropriate rules for public
disclosure of historically significant documents. The church’s files are
thought to contain important information about the Holocaust in
Nazi-occupied Eastern Europe. The Vatican had eyes and ears in the
killing fields: tens of thousands of parish priests who sent letters and
reports to their bishops, who in turn forwarded them to the secretary
of state in Vatican City. One of the monsignors in charge of reviewing
those thousands of reports was Giovanni Battista Montini, later Pope Paul VI.
It
is little wonder that historians are eager to study the Vatican’s
Holocaust-era papers. The accounts by the parish priests may help answer
lingering questions of when and what the Vatican knew about the Nazi
murder machinery. The files are likely to shed light on whether the
wartime pope, Pius XII,
could have done more to try to stop the Holocaust. Also buried inside
the secret archives are the early records of the scandal-ridden Vatican
Bank, created during World War II. Those documents could resolve
conclusively how much business the Vatican did with the Third Reich, as
well as the extent of insurance company investments that yielded
enormous profits from life insurance policies of Jews sent to Auschwitz,
which I uncovered in my own reporting.
And
finally, the church’s secret files might resolve the debate over
whether several postwar refugee-smuggling networks that were run from
Rome separately by an Austrian bishop, a German priest and a Croatian
priest — and through which Nazi criminals escaped — were freelance
operations, or instead parts of a program that had the pope’s blessing.
The
church has since the 1960s released some wartime files, while refusing
unfettered access by historians. In the 1990s, the administration of
President Bill Clinton ordered federal agencies to release
relevant Holocaust files, and also spearheaded an effort that persuaded
several dozen other nations to do the same. The Vatican was an outlier.
The
2013 election of Pope Francis held out the promise for a change in the
church’s longstanding policy of secrecy. While still the archbishop of
Buenos Aires, he had been asked about the dispute over the Holocaust-era
files. The Vatican, he answered, “should open them and clarify
everything.” Many Vaticanologists thought he would use a 2014 visit to
Israel to free the files. But Francis did not say anything publicly
about the papers on that visit.
Francis last discussed the issue in a November 2014 interview with the Israeli newspaper Yediot Ahronot. The
pope asked: “Did Pius XII remain silent in the face of the
extermination of the Jews? Did he say all he should have said? We will
have to open the archives to know exactly what happened.” According to
Francis: “There is an agreement between the Vatican and Italy from 1929
that prevents us from opening the archives to researchers at this point
in time. But because of the time that has passed since World War II, I
see no problem with opening the archives the moment we sort out the
legal and bureaucratic matters.”
The 1929 agreement Francis cited is the Lateran Pacts
between the Vatican and Benito Mussolini’s Fascist Italy. It gave the
church full sovereignty over Vatican City. The agreement declared that
the pope was not only the equivalent of a secular monarch but also
endowed with divine rights. Instead of preventing the church from
releasing its archives, as Francis suggested, the agreement invests the
Vatican with inviolable powers to set its own policies independent of
any interference from Italy. All that is required to open the
long-sealed archives is a papal decree.
Jewish
advocacy groups, human rights organizations and concentration camp
survivors hope that Francis’ commitment to reform will trump the desire
of Vatican traditionalists to keep the documents buried forever. On the
very grounds where the Nazis murdered more than a million victims, most
of them Jews, Pope Francis can do much more than have a photo
opportunity and offer a generic condemnation of the depths of human
depravity. By freeing the Vatican’s Holocaust-era files he will pay a
singular and lasting tribute to the dead. NY Times
Friday, July 29, 2016
The message of the True Witness finds the people of God in a sad deception, yet honest in that deception
God is leading out a people. He has a chosen people, a church on the earth, whom He has made the depositaries of His law. He has committed to them sacred trust and eternal truth to be given to the world. He would reprove and correct them. The message to the Laodiceans is applicable to Seventh-day Adventists who have had great light and have not walked in the light. It is those who have made great profession, but have not kept in step with their Leader, that will be spewed out of His mouth unless they repent. The message to pronounce the Seventh-Day Adventist Church Babylon, and call the people of God out of her, does not come from any heavenly messenger, or any human agent inspired by the Spirit of God.
The True Witness says, "I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door, and knock; if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne" (Revelation 3:18-21). 2SM 66
The message to the church of the Laodiceans is a startling denunciation, and is applicable to the people of God at the present time.
"And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write: These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of My mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked."
"And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write: These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of My mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked."
The Lord here shows us that the message to be borne to His people by ministers whom He has called to warn the people is not a peace-and-safety message. It is not merely theoretical, but practical in every particular. The people of God are represented in the message to the Laodiceans as in a position of carnal security. They are at ease, believing themselves to be in an exalted condition of spiritual attainments. "Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked."
What greater deception can come upon human minds than a confidence that they are right when they are all wrong! The message of the True Witness finds the people of God in a sad deception, yet honest in that deception. They know not that their condition is deplorable in the sight of God. While those addressed are flattering themselves that they are in an exalted spiritual condition, the message of the True Witness breaks their security by the startling denunciation of their true condition of spiritual blindness, poverty, and wretchedness. The testimony, so cutting and severe, cannot be a mistake, for it is the True Witness who speaks, and His testimony must be correct.
It is difficult for those who feel secure in their attainments, and who believe themselves to be rich in spiritual knowledge, to receive the message which declares that they are deceived and in need of every spiritual grace. The unsanctified heart is "deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked." I was shown that many are flattering themselves that they are good Christians, who have not a ray of light from Jesus. They have not a living experience for themselves in the divine life. They need a deep and thorough work of self-abasement before God before they will feel their true need of earnest, persevering effort to secure the precious graces of the Spirit. 3T 252, 253
The first chapter of Isaiah is a description of a people professedly serving God, but walking in forbidden paths
The course pursued by Israel toward God called forth these words. It was a proof of the people's perversity that they manifested less gratitude, less attachment, less acknowledgment of ownership, toward God than the animals of the field manifest toward their masters. . . . The first chapter of Isaiah is a description of a people professedly serving God, but walking in forbidden paths (MS 29, 1911).
The professed people of God had separated from God, and had lost their wisdom and perverted their understanding. They could not see afar off; for they had forgotten that they had been purged from their old sins. They moved restlessly and uncertainly under darkness, seeking to obliterate from their minds the memory of the freedom, assurance, and happiness of their former estate. They plunged into all kinds of presumptuous, foolhardy madness, placed themselves in opposition to the providences of God, and deepened the guilt that was already upon them. They listened to the charges of Satan against the divine character, and represented God as devoid of mercy and forgiveness. The prophet writes of them, saying: "Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evil-doers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward" 4BC 1137
Judah's Rebellion
1The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
2Hear,
O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the LORD hath spoken, I have
nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.
3The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider.
4Ah
sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers,
children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have
provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward.
5Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.
6From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment.
7Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire: your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.
8And the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city.
9Except the LORD of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah.
Meaningless Offerings
10Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.
11To what purpose is
the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full of
the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight
not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats.
12When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts?
13Bring
no more vain oblations (offerings); incense (prayers) is an abomination unto me; the new
moons (revivals) and sabbaths (worship), the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting.
14Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them.
15And
when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea,
when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of
blood.
16Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil;
17Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.
18Come
now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as
scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like
crimson, they shall be as wool.
19If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:
20But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.
Zion Corrupted
21How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers.
22Thy silver is become dross, thy wine mixed with water:
23Thy princes are
rebellious, and companions of thieves: every one loveth gifts, and
followeth after rewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the
cause of the widow come unto them.
24Therefore
saith the Lord, the LORD of hosts, the mighty One of Israel, Ah, I will
ease me of mine adversaries, and avenge me of mine enemies:
25And I will turn my hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy dross, and take away all thy tin:
26And
I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counsellers as at
the beginning: afterward thou shalt be called, The city of
righteousness, the faithful city.
27Zion shall be redeemed with judgment, and her converts with righteousness.
28And the destruction of the transgressors and of the sinners shall be together, and they that forsake the LORD shall be consumed.
29For they shall be ashamed of the oaks which ye have desired, and ye shall be confounded for the gardens that ye have chosen.
30For ye shall be as an oak whose leaf fadeth, and as a garden that hath no water.
31And the strong shall be as tow, and the maker of it as a spark, and they shall both burn together, and none shall quench them.
Wednesday, July 27, 2016
Venezuela’s government accepts proposal for Vatican mediation in crisis
President Nicolas Maduro has accepted a proposal by the opposition to
ask the Vatican to facilitate dialogue with Venezuela’s socialist
government.
The Union of South American Nations’ Secretary General Ernesto Samper
met late on Thursday with Maduro and afterward announced that he would
ask Pope Francis to send a representative to Venezuela. Samper was in
Caracas along with former Spanish President Jose Luiz Rodriguez Zapatero
in an effort to revive a two-month-old attempt to bring the sides
together to resolve the country’s economic and political crisis.
The opposition has pushed for Pope Francis’s intervention but also
conditions its support for dialogue on the release of people it
considers political prisoners and a commitment by Maduro to hold a
recall referendum this year.
Vatican spokesman, Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, said on Friday
that “in the past, the Holy See has manifested its willingness, in case
the basis is there for its contribution to the dialogue.”
He added: “However, at the moment, no formal communication has
reached the Nunciature or the Secretariat of State spelling out the
substance and details of such a request.” Catholic Herald
Democrats join Pope Francis on climate change
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A year ago, Pope Francis issued the encyclical Laudato Si’, his
clarion call for international action to address the existential crisis
of climate change. Yesterday, the Democratic party signaled it’s with
the program by approving a platform that recognizes climate change as “an urgent threat and a defining challenge of our time.”
Of greatest significance is a section on global threats that declares
the United States must take the lead in “forging a robust global
solution to the climate crisis.” Here’s what that means:
We are committed to a national mobilization, and to leading a global effort to mobilize nations to address this threat on a scale not seen since World War II. In the first 100 days of the next administration, the President will convene a summit of the world’s best engineers, climate scientists, policy experts, activists, and indigenous communities to chart a course to solve the climate crisis.
The contrast with the Republican platform
could not be starker. That document calls the United Nations’
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change “a political mechanism, not an
unbiased scientific institution.” It rejects “the agendas of both the
Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement.”
Opining that climate change “is far from this nation’s most pressing
national security issue,” the Republicans pledge their support for “the
development of all forms of energy that are marketable in a free economy
without subsidies, including coal, oil, natural gas, nuclear power, and
hydropower.” Without actually denying climate change, they have set
forth a blueprint for doing nothing about it.
That’s not to say that the Democratic agenda doesn’t leave a good
deal to be desired. It proposes to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees
Celsius, a level that some climate scientists believe will have
disastrous consequences and which in any event cannot be achieved if, as
the platform proposes, 2050 is the target date for having the economy
running entirely on clean energy and reducing greenhouse gas emissions
by 80 percent.
The learning curve remains steep. That’s why the promise of a climate
change summit during the first 100 days of the next administration is
critical. With the right people at the table, this will provide the
marching orders for the World War II-scale mobilization to come.
I’d advise President Clinton to put her vice president in charge of the summit. Tim Kaine’s environmental record is far from perfect, but as governor of a coal-mining state with an endangered low-lying coastline, he learned how to negotiate the politics of climate change as well as anyone in national politics.
Plus Kaine is a Pope Francis Catholic. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if he not only has Laudato Si’ on his shelf but has read it from cover to cover. And taken it to heart. Religion News
Pope Francis Says World Is at War, but It’s Not a Religious Conflict
KRAKOW, Poland — As he began his first official visit to Poland, Pope Francis
on Wednesday said “the world is at war,” and he challenged the
conservative governments of Central and Eastern Europe to soften their resistance to migrants seeking refuge.
The
pope’s visit to the southern Polish city of Krakow to celebrate World
Youth Day, a major event on the Roman Catholic calendar, began just a
day after the horrific killing of a priest in France.
The
priest, the Rev. Jacques Hamel, 85, was celebrating Mass in a small
town in Normandy when two men with knives entered the church and slit
his throat. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack.
Francis, 79, was clearly shaken by the attack, and he appeared solemn and pensive as he headed to Poland, the first stop on a trip to Central and Eastern Europe.
“The world is at war,” he told reporters on his plane from Rome to Krakow. “We don’t need to be afraid to say this.” NY Times
5 faith facts about Dem. VP pick Tim Kaine, a Jesuit-educated Catholic
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Jul. 22, 2016
Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton announced Tim Kaine, the junior Democratic senator from Virginia and former governor of that state, as her vice presidential running mate Friday.
Kaine, a Roman Catholic, will appear with Clinton, a Methodist, at next week's Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.
Here are five faith facts about the new vice presidential candidate.
1. He was taught by Jesuits.
Kaine was raised Catholic in the Kansas City area*. His parents were so devout, Kaine told C-SPAN,
that “if we got back from a vacation on a Sunday night at 7:30 p.m.,
they would know the one church in Kansas City that had an 8 p.m. Mass
that we can make.” He attended an all-boys Jesuit high school in Kansas
City and worked for a year with Jesuit missionaries in Honduras, where he taught welding -- his father's trade -- and carpentry.
Celebrate World Youth Day! Get $10 off an NCR gift subscription. Enter code YOUTH at the checkout page.
He and his wife attend St. Elizabeth Catholic Church in Richmond, Va., which has a predominantly African-American congregation. He co-founded a men's study group there.
2. Kaine says he separates the personal from the political.
Kaine is personally against abortion and the death penalty and has
sometimes spoken against same-sex marriage and gay adoption, all of
which aligns with Catholic teaching. But he has taken different stances
in his political life. He has upheld Roe v. Wade and told Chuck Todd of "Meet the Press": "I
have taken the position, which is quite common among Catholics -- I
have got a personal feeling about abortion, but the right rule for
government is to let women make their own decisions."
As Virginia's governor, he oversaw 11 state executions. "I have a moral position against the death penalty," he said in 2012. "But I took an oath of office to uphold it. Following an oath of office is also a moral obligation."
He was fairly late to supporting same-sex marriage, saying in 2013,
"I believe all people, regardless of sexual orientation, should be
guaranteed the full rights to the legal benefits and responsibilities of
marriage under the Constitution."
And while Kaine opposed gay adoption in 2005 -- also in line with Catholic Church teaching -- by 2012 he had reversed his position.
3. He favors allowing women to become priests.
When Pope Francis visited Washington, D.C., in September 2015, Kaine
attended the pontiff's historic address to Congress. Before the speech, he issued a statement. "If
women are not accorded equal place in the leadership of the Catholic
Church and the other great world religions, they will always be treated
as inferiors in earthly matters as well," Kaine said. "There is nothing
this Pope could do that would improve the world as much as putting the
Church on a path to ordain women."
4. Kaine is a fan of Pope Francis' "Laudato Si'."
Not all Catholics thought the pontiff should write an encyclical on a
secular issue such as global warming, but Kaine agrees with Francis'
framing of the issue as one of faith. "I'm sure he's not going to opine
on whether a carbon tax is better than a cap-and-trade mechanism," Kaine said of the pope days before the encyclical was published in
2015. "That doesn't need to be where he goes -- but to say, 'You know,
you guys and everybody in power these days, you've got the next
generation's future in your hands, and you don't want to have to face
that question later in life: With the science what it was, and with you
having the opportunity to do something about it, why did you choose not
to?'"
5. Kaine speaks openly about his faith.
“My faith is central to everything I do,” he once told the website Patch. “My faith position is a Good Samaritan position of trying to watch out for the other person.” And in a recent C-SPAN interview
he said: “I do what I do for spiritual reasons. I’m always thinking
about the momentary reality but also how it connects with bigger matters
of what’s important in life.” NCR Online
What do Donald Trump, Tim Kaine and Pope Francis have in common?
Hillary Clinton's VP pick was educated by Jesuit priests; he remains a devout Catholic—and he supports abortion rights
Here’s a quiz: What do Donald Trump, Tim Kaine and Pope Francis have in common?
Answer: all three men were educated by Jesuits, a religious order of
Catholic priests whose most famous member is the Pope himself.
For Trump, his two years at Fordham University, a Jesuit school in
the Bronx, seem to leave little impact on his life. After his sophomore
year, Trump transferred to the Ivy league University of Pennsylvania
What compelled him to transfer from his hometown Jesuit university? “I decided that as long as I had to be in college, I might as well test myself against the best,” Trump said.
Ouch.
Tim Kaine
is a different story. Kaine, who if elected, would be the second
Catholic Vice President in American history (Joe Biden is the first),
graduated Rockhurt High School in 1976, a Jesuit school in Kansas City.
“That high school experience with the Jesuits
was a key part of my transition into an adult life where instead of
just accepting the answers of my parents or others, I’ve been a person
who wants to go out and find the answers on my own, and the Jesuits get
credit for that,” Kaine says.
After being admitted to Harvard Law School, Kaine took a year off to
volunteer with the Jesuits at a vocational school in El Progreso,
Honduras. In Honduras Kaine learned to speak Spanish, a skill he will
likely use on the campaign trail this fall.
According to Kaine, that year was a watershed time in his life. “I think of El Progreso everyday,” Kaine said. “The people, aside from my family, are the most important in shaping who I am today.”
He also claims his experiences with the Jesuits have inspired his public service:
“I do what I do for spiritual reasons. I’m always thinking about the
momentary reality, but also how it connects with bigger matters of
what’s important in life.”
Kaine grew up in a very devout family. He told C-SPAN
earlier this year that “when we got back from a vacation on a Sunday
night at 7:30 PM, they would know the one church in Kansas City that had
an 8 PM Mass that we can make.”
Kaine still attends Mass with his wife today
at a predominantly African American parish in Richmond, where he once
was a choir member before his demanding political schedule got in the
way.
Kaine has had run-ins with the Church on social issues, most notably
on abortion and the death penalty. Kaine supports abortion rights, which
is against Catholic teaching.
Asked about this issue earlier this summer, Kaine responded:
“I have a traditional Catholic personal position, but I am very
strongly supportive that women should make these decisions and
government shouldn’t intrude.”
That nuanced view will be difficult to swallow for many abortion
rights activists within the Democratic Party and with many of his fellow
Catholics who support the right to life from conception.
Kaine does, however, support many of the economic and social justice
issues at the heart of the Church’s teaching, most notably support for
comprehensive immigration reform.
During Pope Francis’s trip last fall,
Kaine said he was moved to tears by the pontiff’s address to Congress.
The Virginia Senator recently told me that he considered Pope Francis to
be his hero.
After Francis’s address last September, Kaine said that Francis should force us to “ask what our motives are as a nation.”
He said it was the pope’s role to “challenge our thinking” as we face great questions about our nation’s common good.
Let’s hope he takes the same approach if he’s lucky enough to be elected this November. Time
Tim KaineJesuit spirituality may make him an ideal candidate for one crucial progressive Democratic constituency: the ‘nones.’
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(RNS) Tim Kaine, who describes himself as “boring,” may not be the
running mate choice for Hillary Clinton that Democrats on the far left
wanted. But his Jesuit spirituality may make him an ideal candidate for
one crucial progressive Democratic constituency: the ‘nones.’
‘Nones’ are people who tell pollsters they have no institutional religious affiliation. Since they emerged in the election of Barack Obama as an important voting bloc, politicos have been struggling to figure out how to mobilize them. They comprise some 20 percent of registered voters and more than 25 percent of registered voters who favor Democrats. The Pew Research Center recently reported that nearly 70 percent of nones support Hillary Clinton.
That’s good news for Democrats. That is, if nones get to the polls on
voting day, which is by no means a sure thing for a population more
opposed to Trump than for Clinton. Keeping nones plugged into the
election is strategically important for the Clinton campaign.
Here’s the rub: most nones don’t think religious views of political
candidates matter. They’re far less likely than the religiously
affiliated to think organized religions can “contribute to solving
social problems,” according to Pew. Given this, candidates seeking to
mobilize them based on their non-religious status face challenges that
those courting evangelicals and other religiously affiliated voters
don’t.
Still, while nones are not, by definition, engaged by institutional
religion, the majority do believe in God or a higher power, sometimes
pray, and otherwise find the spiritual throughout their lives.
Strikingly few of them are atheists or hard agnostics. And a majority
believe religion can “strengthen community bonds” and “play an important role in helping the poor and needy.”
So, does Tim Kaine’s Jesuit Catholic background offer anything that might appeal to spiritual nones?
Between the last election season and this one, I talked with more
than 100 nones across America about their spiritual lives and surveyed
several hundred more. My research shows that the Jesuit values that shape Tim Kaine’s politics correspond in many ways to the spirituality of nones.
Nones tend to take relationships with family, friends, and, for many,
pets or other animals as the starting point for experiencing the
spiritual. Their spirituality unfolds in appreciation of the sacred
within the ordinary. Care for others, rather than any strict moral code,
grounds their ethics.
For their part, Jesuits are challenged to be “men and women for
others,” which means striving for greater achievement not for oneself,
but in order to do more (magis, in Jesuit terminology) with
your life so that the lives of others are improved. Greatness, that is,
comess not from personal accomplishment per se but in helping ordinary
people through the hardships and tragedies of life. We see Kaine’s
embrace of magis in his representation of victims of housing
discrimination as well as his equanimity, despite his personal religious
convictions, in voting for women’s reproductive choice. This
relational, service-oriented Jesuit spirituality is likely to be
appealing to nones.
Nones who shared their stories with me were cosmopolitan. They
embraced diversity, and preferred even fleeting spiritual connections
over long-held religious traditions or doctrine. They were open to
sharing spiritual experiences with others even when they did not share
religious beliefs.
The Jesuit concept of cura personalis—“care for the whole
person”—makes religious commitment a matter of valuing the
distinctiveness of each, individual person and of diversity among
people. This has marked Jesuit spirituality itself as a cosmopolitan
spirituality that sees difference as a gift from God, not as a blemish
on some imagined cultural or religious uniformity. This value is
reflected in Kaine’s work as a Jesuit volunteer in Honduras and in his
work on civil rights issues as a lawyer, a governor, and a senator.
It’s almost certain that Kaine would never mispronounce a book in the Bible,
but bumbled biblical citations don’t matter to Jesuits — as they surely
don’t to nones. What does matter to nones is cultivating diverse
relationships of mutual respect and genuine caring, and appreciating and
preserving the beauty and wonder of the world. Jesuits tend to express
this ethical, activist spirituality in the ideas of “finding God in all
things” and being “contemplatives in action.”
We’re unlikely to hear these Jesuit phrases in the campaign, but they
are the spiritual backstory of Kaine’s politics and much of what he
offers to a Clinton candidacy dogged by ethical questions. In choosing
Tim Kaine, Hillary Clinton has shifted the religious narrative of the
election away from the false equation of “religion” and “Christianity”
with radical, conservative, evangelicalism. She’s found a way to speak
spirituality to nones and also to lift up the moderate-to-progressive
Christian faith of millions of religiously affiliated American voters. Religion News
Just one hour of physical activity a day may undo the increased risk of early death
By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporter
WEDNESDAY, July 27, 2016 (HealthDay News) -- Just one
hour of physical activity a day -- something as simple as a brisk walk
or a bicycle ride -- may undo the increased risk of early death that
comes with sitting eight hours or more on a daily basis, a new study
suggests.
"These results provide further evidence on the benefits
of physical activity, particularly in societies where increasing numbers
of people have to sit for long hours for work or commuting," said lead
researcher Ulf Ekelund. He is a professor in physical activity and
health at the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences in Oslo, Norway.
"Unfortunately, only 25 percent of our sample exercised an hour a day or more," he said.
The study also found that watching TV for three hours or
more a day was linked with an increased risk of early death, regardless
of physical activity -- except among those who were the most physically
active.
However, even among those who exercised the most, the
risk of premature death was significantly increased if they watched five
hours of TV a day or more, the researchers added.
It's not TV, per se, that is associated with an increased
risk of dying early; rather, TV is a marker for sitting and not being
active, Ekelund said.
In their review of 16 previously published studies that
included more than one million people, the researchers divided the
participants into four groups: those who got about 5 minutes of
moderate-intensity exercise a day; 25 to 35 minutes a day; 50 to 65
minutes day; and 60 to 75 minutes a day.
The increased risk of early death ranged from 12 percent
to 59 percent, depending on how much exercise the participants got, the
findings showed.
"Indeed, those belonging to the most active group, and
who are active about 60 to 75 minutes per day, seem to have no increased
risk of mortality, even if they sit for more than eight hours a day,"
Ekelund said.
"Sit less, move more, and the more you move the better," he suggested.
The report, which did not prove that inactivity caused early death, was published online July 27 in The Lancet.
According to Dr. David Katz, president of the American
College of Lifestyle Medicine, "This important analysis fortifies the
increasingly clear verdict from a large and growing body of evidence
addressing physical activity and health: all movement is good movement."
Evidence is clear that moderately vigorous exercise has an array of health benefits, Katz said.
"If you don't exercise but can stand often, do. If you
can't stand often but can exercise, do," he added. "Better still, do
both. It's clear: all movement is good movement."
Not only does physical inactivity increase the risk of
early death, it's expensive, according to another study published in the
same journal issue.
In that study, researchers estimated the cost of being
physically inactive based on the increased risk for type 2 diabetes,
heart disease, stroke, and breast and colon cancer. In 2013 dollars, the
study authors estimated that inactivity costs the United States about
$28 billion annually.
"The current economic cost of physical inactivity is
borne mainly by high-income countries. However, as low- and
middle-income countries develop, and if the current trajectory of
inactivity continues, so too will the economic burden in low- and
middle-income countries who are currently poorly equipped to deal with
chronic diseases linked to physical inactivity," study author Dr. Melody
Ding, of the University of Sydney in Australia, said in a statement. US News
Supplements Put Your Health at Risk
Dietary supplements are not regulated the same way as medications. This lack of oversight puts consumers' health at risk.
Tuesday, July 19, 2016
The Christian Pathway.
Christ promises, "He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." The way is plain; the will of God is manifest. We are not to live in doubt and uncertainty, and to rest satisfied while groping our way without a guide. Jesus does not, after giving us general directions, leave us to guess the way amid by-paths and dangerous passes. He leads us in a straight path; and while we follow him, our footsteps will not slide. It was Jesus that led ancient Israel, though the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night concealed him from their view; and in this important period of the world's history, he will as manifestly lead his people. The path is no uncertain one. The way is marked out, and every step is ordered of the Lord.
God has ample light and grace to bestow upon all them that fear him. Especially will he help his people in these last days, when Satan's devices are so abundant, so deceptive, and so corrupting. To those who will walk in the truth, the God of truth will give grace according to their needs. He will fill their hearts with peace, and courage, and confidence. But mercy and truth are promised only to the contrite and obedient. God has said that justice and judgment are the habitation of his throne; and those who are disobedient and rebellious will not escape the visitation of his just anger.
We cannot afford to separate ourselves from Jesus for a single hour. Without him we are in danger of being overcome of Satan, who is ever watching to suggest doubt, unbelief, and error. The world is flooded with error; it meets us on every hand. It is taught from the sacred desk, and lurks in theology, in literature, in philosophy, in science. Error perverts the judgment and opens the door to temptation, and through its influence Satan seeks to turn hearts from the truth; but an intelligent love for the truth sanctifies the receiver, and keeps him from the enemy's deceptive snares.
Satan uses some professed Christians to lead souls from the simplicity of the gospel of Christ. Worldly associates and amusements sow the seeds of doubt and skepticism. The sentiment of many worldly professors is, "Cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us." "Speak unto us smooth things; prophesy deceits." Many are daily cheating their souls with a form of godliness without the power; but the Lord has removed his smile and the inspiration of his Spirit from them. His displeasure is against them, because their deeds are evil. He demands decided changes in the life and character. Good intentions, good resolutions, good acts, cannot be accepted as substitutes for repentance, faith, and willing obedience.
The people are too willing to believe their teachers without careful thought and prayerful investigation of God's word. They love to have their consciences quieted,--love to be rocked to sleep in the cradle of carnal security. In their blind selfishness, they deceive themselves in those things wherein they are willing to be deceived. Our Saviour declared to the Pharisees, "Ye will not come to me, that ye might have life." And in his conversation with Nicodemus he said, "Every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved." So in this age; the church will neither search the Scriptures nor listen to the truth, lest her works be reproved. She is more willing to depart from the commandments of God than from the customs and friendship of the world. And because great men and worldly wise men are in her favor, because numbers and temporal prosperity are hers, she believes herself favored of God,--"rich, and increased with goods, and in need of nothing."
But earthly prosperity is no evidence of the favor of God. Christ and his apostles teach us, both by precept and example, that the true child of God cannot enjoy the friendship of the world. If he seeks it, it will become a snare to him; he will adopt the customs, precepts, and standards of the world, and will finally become like them in spirit. But there can be no fellowship between the Prince of light and the prince of darkness. Says the apostle John, "The world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God." They are unknown, unacknowledged by the world; but their names, cast out as evil by the lovers of sin, are written in the book of life. They are the adopted heirs of Christ, the nobility of Heaven. "These are they that came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb."
But earthly prosperity is no evidence of the favor of God. Christ and his apostles teach us, both by precept and example, that the true child of God cannot enjoy the friendship of the world. If he seeks it, it will become a snare to him; he will adopt the customs, precepts, and standards of the world, and will finally become like them in spirit. But there can be no fellowship between the Prince of light and the prince of darkness. Says the apostle John, "The world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God." They are unknown, unacknowledged by the world; but their names, cast out as evil by the lovers of sin, are written in the book of life. They are the adopted heirs of Christ, the nobility of Heaven. "These are they that came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb."
Many are not growing strong, because they do not take God at his word. They are conforming to the world. Every day they pitch their tents nearer to Egypt, when they should encamp a day's march nearer the heavenly Canaan. We need individually to ask strength and grace from Heaven, that we may resist the temptation to assimilate to the world. We cannot afford to be divided in heart and purpose, first serving God, and then yielding to temptations and paying homage to the world. Many of us have grown gray in the service of Christ, in pushing the triumphs of his cross. We have fought the battles of the Lord too long, and endured too much, to permit Satan to gain the victory over us. The voice of our Leader is commanding "Go forward," and we should obey, saying, as did Caleb, "If the Lord delight in us, then he will bring us into this land."
If we commit the keeping of our souls to God in the exercise of living faith, his promises will not fail us; for they have no limit but our faith. "All things are possible to him that believeth." We may make or mar our own happiness. Many pet and excuse the defects in their characters; but these must all be remedied. Every deviation from the right is sin, and sin must be put away. We cannot afford to walk carelessly before our brethren or before the world.
Many confess their sins again and again, but do not put them away by genuine repentance. Unless we have a firm purpose and the aid of the grace of God, strong resolutions and vigilant watchfulness will be vain and powerless when temptations assail the soul; and under such circumstances some give up in despair, fearing that they must ever remain the slaves of sin. These have not a living faith in Jesus. We cannot trust in ourselves; if we do, we shall fail. Jesus has spoiled the powers of darkness; and it is through faith in his might that we shall be made strong. He will lift up a standard against Satan in behalf of every trusting, believing soul. We have the assurance that his grace is sufficient for us, and that we shall not be tempted above that we are able to bear. This is our only hope.
The apostle says, "God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." When the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the Christian church at Pentecost, great wisdom and grace rested upon the whole body of believers. This blessing was given in answer to earnest, persevering prayer; and today God is just as willing to listen to the petitions of his people. "Faithful is He that calleth you, who also will do it."
"The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness , temperance." When these fruits appear in the life, a telling influence will be exerted upon the world. The truly converted man will cease aspiring to be thought great. He will not seek for worldly honor, nor for luxury, ease, or wealth; neither will he be sensitive to reproach or neglect. "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." Self is no longer the supreme object of love; family and friends are no longer the boundary. His heart is enlarged. Jesus has the first place in his affections; he loves Christians, because he sees in them the image of his Master, and all mankind with a love that prompts him to do them good. This is the fruit growing on the true Vine, more precious in the sight of God than all the wealth and learning of earth's great men.
The unparalleled exhibition of love that was made on Calvary shows how God estimates souls. If we have this love in our hearts, we shall seek to win sinners to Jesus, that for them this great sacrifice may not have been made in vain. The language of the heart will be, "Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what he hath done for my soul." We shall say with the psalmist, "I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart; I have declared thy faithfulness and thy salvation; I have not concealed thy loving-kindness and thy truth from the great congregation." We shall rejoice to speak of the wisdom and goodness of God as shown in the way he has led his people; for we shall have proved that "the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day." Signs of the Times, March 6, 1884
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