Where was God as the shooter fired through stained glass windows, hitting kids and the elderly? Shock jock Tom Leykis used to have a weekly segment called something like "This Week in God" talking about how frequently church and Godly activities were the subjects of disaster, suggesting there was no such God overlooking and protecting His worshippers.
A dozen coincidences? There has been a string of intentional false alarms ("swattings") across the country reporting school shootings, reports Gary Hoffman (KFI). This started last Thursday, first at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, and then within minutes and hours another at Villanova and soon hoaxes at ten other schools: U of Arkansas; U of Colorado, Boulder; Louisianna State of Alexandria; Iowa State; Kansas State; U of New Hampshire; Northern Arizona; U of South Carolina; U of Tennessee; West Virginia U; and then Villanova got another threat.
A mass school shooting occurred during the first week of classes at a Minneapolis Catholic school, the Minnesota governor [failed Democratic candidate Tim Walz?] said. There was no immediate information on any injuries, but later it was found two children, 8 and 10, were murdered and 17 19 others (15 of them children) injured. A transsexual American, Robin, 23, then unalived herself in line with her programming. Police Chief Brian O'Hara is distraught by his department's failure in this matter. Read more watered-down coverage: bit.ly/46h6rWP #minnesota #minneapolis #live
Himanshu (@H_Singh1708) The suspected Minneapolis church shooter, Robin M. Westman, had a now-deleted YouTube channel with videos showing guns, a manifesto in Russian and English, and a church map. His content displayed extreme views, including pro-Russian, pro-trans, pro-communist, and anti-Trump, anti-Christian, anti-Semitic, and anti-Indian messages, mixing controversial topics and online memes.
Republican New Yorker Ex-Pres. DJ Trump admires his future and guns (nytimes.com)
I am God. I inspired Crooks to shoot, I redirected the bullet, and I saved Trump. I am that I am.
.
Nothing happens unless I will it
(RNS) — I’m glad Donald Trump is alive, and I’m quite confident God is, too.
But my understanding of Christian theology makes me certain that God did NOT save the former president from assassination.
Nearly immediately after word of the shooting broke, pastors and politicians took to social media to thank God for saving Trump.
“God protected President Trump,” Florida VP hopeful Sen. Marco Rubio posted on Twitter (X). Franklin Graham chimed in.
I'm God's candidate. See my lead earring?
Robert Jeffress, senior pastor at First Baptist Church in Dallas, said it was “a demonstration of the power of Almighty God,” calling it “inexplicable apart from God.”
Was it all staged with fake blood?
Jeffress, a longtime Trump supporter, went further: “I believe God spared Donald Trump’s life for a purpose…for the purpose of calling our nation back to its Judeo-Christian foundation.”
Theology — the attempt by finite human minds to try to make sense of a "God" who is infinitely bigger than human imagination — can be tricky.
But in this case, it’s not that hard to see that there is something wrong with a theology that says God intervened to save Trump, which implies in an awful way that God [or the Gnostic's Demiurge] redirected the bullet into the person who was killed at his rally, or the two people who were grievously injured.
One of the few things we can say definitively about God is this: God is love. This idea is at the heart of the Christian faith.
The New Testament says, “No one has ever seen God, but if we love one another God abides in us….” The Apostle Paul wrote, “All the law is summed up into this command — Love. Love God and each other.”...
My bad. I made Crooks do it without practice
If our theology [and worship of an openly genocidal Old Testament God calling for us to murder, massacre, abduct, rape, enslave, and kill by stoning anyone said to be displeasing] does not make us more loving, then we should question our theology.
In the words of theologian Barbara Brown Taylor, “The only clear line I draw these days is this: When my religion tries to come between me and my neighbor, I will choose my neighbor…Jesus never commanded me to love my religion.” More: God did not save Donald Trump (RNS via MSN)
Shane Claiborne
[Shane Claiborne is an author, activist, and co-director of Red Letter Christians (redletterchristians.org). The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily represent those of the publishers at Religion News Service (RNS, religionnews.com).]
In previous years, Pope and future San Francis[co] was happy to rub women's feet during Holy Week.
This year, he's not feeling so well. In fact, he's going to sit this Easter out if that's alright with the Catholic world. He's busy attending to his body.
God has not given him the health to head the world's oldest corporation in charge of making God's will known to sinners or how to pay indulgences or say Hail Marys to make up for their wicked and evil sinfulness.
Didn't know you had a fetish, Father. - It's Pontiff
One would think Satan would lay off the pontiff during this most glorious part of the liturgical calendar, but there's no rest for the wicked, proving that Pope Francis deserves the sainthood headed his way as his golden parachute when he steps down from the Vatican, Inc. (Unlimited).
1. The Papacy: The belief in the Pope as the successor of Saint Peter, the Bishop of Rome, and the leader of the global Catholic Church. is rooted in tradition and interpretations of passages like Matthew 16:18–19, but no explicit office of the Pope is detailed in the Bible.
Dr. Fran, Ryan Kohls, Aug. 25, 2023; Ashley Wells, Sheldon S. (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
DR. FRANCESCA STAVRAKOPOULOU on the Bible, Jesus, death threats, God's wife Asherah (Queen of Heaven?), New Atheism, and that guy Jordan Peterson
(Ryan Kohls) This is an in-depth interview with atheist Professor of Hebrew Bible and Ancient Religion at Exeter University, England, author of God: An Anatomy. For a transcript and more go to: whatiwannaknow.com/francesca-stavrakapoulou.
Timecodes
0:00 - Intro
0:50 - Stavrakopoulou: An Anatomy
2:04 - Being an atheist Biblical scholar & response to critics
5:35 - What is the Bible?
7:47 - What is the most misunderstood thing about the Bible?
9:15 - Contradictions in the Bible
12:00 - How are is an atheist biblical scholar?
12:53 - Biases of Christian biblical scholars
15:03 - Probability of Moses/Abraham/Noah's existence
18:00 - Did people in biblical times believe in existence of Abraham/Moses?
21:02 - Did Jesus Christ really exist?
23:00 - Other Jesus-esque figures who existed at the same time
24:22 - Why/how did Christianity become a global phenomenon?
27:14 - Death threats and why some Christians are afraid to study biblical history
29:51 - Antisemitic tropes about God of Old Testament vs. New Testament
33:53 - When did Christians start believing the Bible was infallible?
37:50 - Role of Enlightenment in biblical infallibility theory
40:31 - God's forgotten body and the book God: An Anatomy
47:13 - God's wife Asherah and roots of patriarchy/sexism
51:30 - New Atheists (Dawkins, Harris) and their perspective on the Bible/religion
54:52 - Jordan Peterson, modernity, and Judeo-Christian values
56:55 - Humanism and Prof. Stavrakopoulou's worldview
Is the Pope woke? Pope Francis hints that Catholic Church could bless same-sex [LGBTQIA+] couples
I like gay priests. I mean, who am I to judge?
For centuries, Catholics have referred to the Bible to define marriage as a sacred covenant between a man and a woman.
While the Catholic Church has largely been opposed to acknowledging same-sex unions, times have changed and many are becoming more accepting of the LGBTQ+ community.
Although the Catholic Church has not been receptive to gay marriage throughout history, Pope Francis recently offered a glimmer of hope for the gay community.
The pope suggested that the Catholic Church may be open to blessing same-sex unions, which is a major step in one direction.
A Big Win for Same-Sex Couples?
"Yum." says feline reptilian in Drake video
Five conservative cardinals asked Pope Francis to “affirm church teaching on homosexuality” prior to a meeting of the Catholic Church where LGBTQ+ Catholics would be a topic of discussion.
The Vatican published a letter that Pope Francis wrote to the conservative cardinals, in which he signaled that same-sex blessings could be practiced as long as they weren’t confused with “sacramental marriage.”
LGBTQ+ Advocates Are Pleased With the Progressive Movement
The letter is said to “significantly advance” efforts to welcome LGBTQ+ Catholics into the church without judgment.
New Ways Ministry, an organization that advocates for the LGBTQ+ community within the church, was overjoyed by the pope’s unexpected change of heart, saying that it’s “one big straw towards breaking the camel’s back” toward gay people becoming more accepted in the Catholic religion.
Same-Sex Couples Have Largely Been Disregarded by the Catholic Church
Historically, the Catholic Church has been a longstanding opponent of gay marriage. However, Pope Francis has been vocal about his support for civil laws offering legal benefits to same-sex couples.
Additionally, Catholic priests in certain parts of Europe have been blessing same-sex unions without the Vatican’s stamp of approval.
Pope Francis’ groundbreaking new stance is a huge shift from the Vatican’s official position on gay unions.
The Bible and the Church Have Been Opposed to Same-Sex Unions for Centuries
Pope Francis’ response to the conservative cardinals is a giant step forward for the LGBTQ+ community.
The church has never really been accepting of homosexuality and has often spoken out against it. The Bible makes several references against homosexuality, such as in Leviticus 18:22, saying “You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.”
In 2021, the Catholic Church’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith stated that the church could not bless same-sex unions because “God cannot bless sin.”
The Pope Is Becoming More Open to Gay Rights
In the pope’s new letter, he stands firm in his belief that marriage is between a man and a woman, but he has broadened his horizons when it comes to same-sex unions as long as they aren’t legally binding. More
God's Plan: Drake to step down from making music allegedly due to stomach illness
I killed those fans. I was so full of ego and high. - Man up, Biznatch! Be tough like Drizzy
.
Fun dark spirits drive Drake to fame and fortune.
For the time being, Drake (the Jewish Canadian "all-American rapper") is going to retire from making music or performing. His "stomach hurts," he says, and needs time to heal. It's not because of the big news on TV or being in trouble for those fans who died at his and Scott's big concert. Will he return to make big Young Money? If the Devil has anything to say about, as well as his fellow demon-influenced artists on the label (Lil Wayne and Nikki Minaj). It's funny -- queer, odd, coincidental -- did Drake plan this, or is this all a part of "God's Plan," the name of his big hit song (a big dud and waste of earworm). Can genius.com or anyone else get to the real root of Drake's departure? Speculation is all over the mainstream news. Don't worry. Drake will be in Calabasas, an affluent L.A. suburb in or near the Valley. Justin Bieber might come over, or the Kardashians, maybe even neighbor Kanye "Kookoo" West.
Eds., Wisdom Quarterly; Bedazzled (2000 remake), Making of Bedazzled
Long ago, in a universe (called "Hollywood") far, far away, a remake was undertaken. It was of a brilliant British cult classic, a retelling of the old German tale about Dr. Faust: a man sells his soul for seven wishes. Peter Cook (as Beelzebub) and Dudley Moore (as Stanley Moon) satirize popular Christian misconceptions, poking holes all over the religion or at least the beliefs about it most of us as Westerners carry around about it. Someone saw that property, fell in love with it, bought, and proceeded to ruin it. It might not have been so bad, but at the last minute a giant mistake was made.
Following the original, Stanley Moon (recast with Brendan Fraser as "Elliot") wishes for fame in the form of "sex, drugs, and rock 'n roll." He wishes to be a popular rock star. The scene was filmed at the Olympic Auditorium in the middle of Los Angeles with lots of extras. It was very funny and raunchy. But the producers or director decided, probably with the aid of one or more ill-informed focus groups, that it was too much.
The hilarious and pivotal scene was deleted and replaced by a nonsense historical piece with Elliot as Pres. Lincoln getting shot in the Ford Theater. Idiotic. The rentable DVD has the deleted scene restored, but it's not nearly enough. Someone on the staff at Wisdom Quarterly was an extra on the day that scene was filmed, because KROQ 106.7 FM, Los Angeles, invited listeners to miss school or work to come down and be in a Hollywood production. The upshot is the original is much funnier, much smarter, and much more original than anything Hollywood does to a property it options.
The author of Origins of Schizophrenia Revealed, Phillip Craig Garrido, is accused of kidnapping 11 y.o. Jaycee Lee Dugard in 1991 and raping, falsely imprisoning, and fathering her two children. Lisa Campbell (center) and UCB officer Ally Jacobs at news conference today taking credit for his arrest (AP/SF Chronicle, Paul Chinn).
BERKELEY, California — Two quick-thinking police employees at the University of California Berkeley campus described today how they set in motion Jaycee Lee Dugard's release after nearly two decades of captivity when they encountered her alleged captor on campus. Phillip Garrido, a white male who was distributing bizarre religious material with two girls, seemed incoherent and mentally unstable, Lisa Campbell said. The girls wore drab-colored dresses, were unusually subdued, had unnaturally pale complexions, and appeared robotic and rehearsed when they spoke... More>>
All materials on this site are submitted by editors and readers. All images, unless otherwise noted, were taken from the Internet and are assumed to be in the public domain.
In the event that there is still a problem, issue, or error with copyrighted material, the break of the copyright is unintentional and noncommercial, and the material will be removed immediately upon presented proof.
Contact us by submitting a comment marked "private."
Do not follow this journal if you are under vinaya or parental restrictions. Secure protection by Sucuri.
Wisdom Quarterly: American Buddhist Journal is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at creativecommons.org/about/licenses.
