On the February 7, 2007 edition of The 700 Club, Robertson stated that people who have too much plastic surgery "got the eyes like they're Oriental" and stretched his eyelids in a manner stereotypical of Asians.
Let's hope people have very short memories and that most of China doesn't know how degrading Robertson's actions were.There are five recognized religions by the state, namely Buddhism,
Taoism, Islam, Catholicism, and Protestantism.
CBNNews.com (Pat Robertson's Christian Broadcasting Network)- President Bush plans to promote human rights, including freedom of worship, while in China for the opening ceremonies of the Olympic games.
The President, a devout Christian, will also attend church, a top aide said Wednesday.
'When he goes to church on Sunday (Aug. 10) he will make a statement afterwards in which he discusses his view on religious freedom in China,' said Dennis Wilder, national security council director of Asian Affairs.
it, China may have more little old ladies in nursing homes than he can imagine! In the meantime, Pat had better start leg-pressing elephants again to get in shape for China's "Pulpit Pimp Olympics".
About 1995 B.B. (Before Bush), I was traveling in Vienna, one of the most beautiful -but rude and stuffy- cities in the world. In Die Graben (main shopping street), we talked with a woman who spoke wonderful English. We commented on the arrogance of the Viennese. "How odd," she said, "because we think Americans are TOO outgoing and friendly."The report reveals that Whitehall had been secretly planning the war during 2002 (!!). In fact, the Blair government was so paranoid about leaks that it kept the pending invasion ("TELIC") secret from even most senior UK military leadership until the end of the year:
"The unrest and violence following the fall of the Saddam Regime were recognised by British Officers in mid-2003 as indicators of insurgent activity, but it took longer for US commanders to accept this, and to take suitable counter-measures.""Freedom" "Democracy" "Liberty" "Democratic elections" - the only buzzwords (sometimes the only words) to come out of Bush when people realized that there were no WMDs. "Civil War?" "Insurgency?" "Sunni?" "Shiite?" "Abu Graib?" What are those words? Bush: "Dammit, I said Freedom and Democracy - EVERYBODY knows what I'm talking about! And that's all I need to say! I wowed them in Lithuania and Albania with those words!"
Now Bush is finally using the word most foreign to him during the last seven years: diplomacy. He stresses it time and again. But let's face it: he really doesn't care about anything concerning Iraq and Afghanistan.
Those are things the next guy will have to deal with.
McCain and Obama should be taking lessons in diplomacy - right now. If, as President, neither one comes through and nor patches things up with three-quarters of the world's population, then it's all over.
Finis.
Just a thought.
I'd say "Things can't get any worse" But that would make me look stupid.
Unique bone chandelier at the Ossuary of the RomanEvolution
Praying for health
Jul 31st 2008
From The Economist print edition
Mr [Corey] Fincher, [University of New Mexico] and his colleague Randy Thornhill wondered if disease might be driving important aspects of human social behaviour, too. Their hypothesis is that in places where disease is rampant, it behooves groups not to mix with one another more than is strictly necessary, in order to reduce the risk of contagion. They therefore predict that patterns of behaviour which promote group exclusivity will be stronger in disease-ridden areas. Since religious differences are certainly in that category, they specifically predict that the number of different religions in a place will vary with the disease load. Which is, as they report in the Proceedings of the Royal Society, the case.
So religious doctrines may really be a way of saying "stay away from me." The exclusivity of many Christian churches in the U.S. certainly demonstrates the theory of using religion as a form of protection and isolation: it's the "WE are right and YOU are wrong" of most denominations that separate them. Almost infinitesimal differences in doctrine act as moats which become more difficult to cross as the denomination becomes more powerful. Missionaries serve the purpose of "only we can save/protect you."Proving the point involved collating a lot of previous research. Even defining what constitutes a religion is fraught with difficulty. But using accepted definitions of uniqueness, exclusivity, autonomy and superiority to other religions they calculated that the average number of religions per country is 31. The range, though, is enormous—from 3 to 643. Côte d’Ivoire, for example, has 76 while Norway has 13, and Brazil has 159 while Canada has 15. They then did the same thing for the number of parasitic diseases found in each country. The average here was 200, with a range from 178 to 248.
This theory posits the possibility that the "protective" factor of religion was inadvertently the cause of so many deaths (wars). Yes, I think it's possible. It would also explain why, after so many years (thousands), no one religion or sect has ever seemed to have "gotten it right." In the U.S. it seems that there are as many Elmer Gantrys today as there are Elmer Fudds (see previous post). Each sermon, each book seems to say "it will change your life...LIKE NO OTHER DOCTRINE/PHILOSOPHY CAN!!"
His visit to Seoul, South Korea, couldn't have timed it better: several days ago, the declassification of documents give light to the fact that refugees fleeing from the onslaught of North Korean military were killed because the Army could not be certain if some of them were infiltrators. (see post below). The refugees were napalmed and strafed without any regard to gender or age. There are 215 suits against the United States (not individuals, but whole towns and villages) that are asking for reparation. The size of the massacre makes My Lai look positively minuscule! We're talking about the willful civilian massacre of thousands of people by the U.S. military as one of it's first acts of the Korean War.
executions under any governor of any state in the nation. Here is the OUR President who, in representing us, stands for the bad as well as the good: the only country to actually use nuclear weapons against military and civilians of another country. Here is OUR President who wants to go to war with a country because he believes they MIGHT use nuclear weapons. Here is OUR President who disregards an important report because he cannot imagine anyone attempting to attack us on a large scale.
SEOUL: President George W. Bush's trip to Seoul sharpened a political divide in South Korea on Tuesday: Middle-aged Christians and aging veterans in military uniforms prayed and waved U.S. flags welcoming the American leader, while young South Koreans battled riot police officers in downtown Seoul, shouting "Bush out!"
The police fired water cannons to stop the anti-Bush protesters from marching on President Lee Myung Bak's office. The demonstrators hurled bottles and garbage during sporadic, small-scale scuffles with the police. Officers detained dozens of protesters.
Beware of Aug. 6ths: they may come back to haunt you!
The Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations has called for a moratorium on executions since 1961.
In 2000, the Southern Baptist Convention issued a resolution in support of the fair and equitable use of capital punishment.
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A)
Since its first official statement on the issue in 1959, reaffirmed again in 1977 and 1978, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has opposed the death penalty.
National Association of Evangelicals Since its 1972 and 1973 resolutions on the issue, the National Association of Evangelicals has continued to support the use of capital punishment in cases involving premeditated murder as well as crimes such as hijacking and kidnapping where people are physically harmed.
In 1976, the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod asserted "that capital punishment is in accord with the Holy Scriptures and the Lutheran Confessions."
Other religions and churches:
Judaism - Against
Mormons - No stance
United Methodist Church - Against
National Council of Churches - Against
Evangelical Lutheran Church - no stance
Catholicism - nominally For
Buddhism - Against
Hinduism - No stance
Islam - For, but in Islamic countries only
Just three of the above "fors" comprise the majority of church-goers who support the death penalty in the United States. Because of the power of the Religious Right in this country we are one of the few countries that still carries the death penalty!
PEW Research Forum on Religion:
McCain supports the death penalty for federal crimes. As a U.S. senator from Arizona, he has voted to prohibit the use of racial statistics in death penalty appeals and to ban the death penalty for minors. He has also supported legislation to allow the death penalty for acts of terrorism and has said he would consider further expansion of capital punishment laws for other crimes.
- July 17, Dallas Tex. Jimmy Lee Dean is beaten in an anti-gay assault by two men not far from his home. His injuries were so severe that he was in intensive care and could not be interviewed or identified until July 22. The suspect is not currently being charged with a hate crime.
365Gay.com (New York City) The National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs said Tuesday that the number of violent crimes against LGBT people is up significantly in 2008. The coalition supports local LGBT organizations in their work to end violence.
Since the February murder of 15 year-old Lawrence King and the brutal beating of Duanna Johnson, there have been at least 13 brutal and violent LGBT hate crimes throughout the country. The organization added that the reported crimes only may be a small number of the total, since many LGBT people are reluctant to go to police, and many of the attacks that are reported are not listed by authorities as hate crimes.
One sign at a gay pride march:
Out and Proud
If you have a problem with it
Phone the Samaritans!
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