Popular Article: 'Doomsayers Say Benedict Fits World End Prophecy'

Wow, this article was Yahoo News' most popular article of the day, being emailed almost 1600 times. Very interesting...


From Reuters
But ask Internet doomsayers eyeing a 12th century Catholic prophecy and they'll tell you it was all stitched up more than eight centuries ago and that judgment day is nigh.

The prophecy -- widely dismissed by scholars as a hoax -- is attributed to St. Malachy, an Irish archbishop recognized by members of the Church for his ability to read the future.

Benedict, believers say, fits the description of the second-to-last pope listed under the prophecy before the Last Judgement, when the bible says God separates the wicked from the righteous at the end of time.


Read the rest here...

These are some related and interesting finds via Google:
The Future of the Pope @ Catholic Planet... Personally, I think this writer stretches things a bit, but worth a read anyway.

Prophecy of the Popes @ Wikpedia.., Didn't read this one, so can't comment on it, but Reuters recommends it if that means anything.

Saint's Prophecy: Only Two Popes Remain @ Newsmax.com... Very interesting considering the date of publication. Based on this article, I'd say St. Malachy was dead on and a true prophet. Either that or the Catholc Church is up to more tricks, and Joseph Ratzinger, familiar with the prophecy, purposefully chose Benedict as his Pontificate.

Who knows? Not even Jesus, according to the Holy Bible.

~ The Scribe.

P.S. - You'd either have to be a fool or in utter denial to not realize that something is around the corner.

Jesus' Wood Not Attracting Enough Attention

For those of you with a sense of humor. There's been two apparitions of Jesus, and this time it's on a bathroom door and on a wooden chair. Personally, if I were going to make fun of these people, I'd say they were crazy. But I'm not going to make fun of them.

~The Scribe

Photo credit: First Coast News, WTLV

Pope John Paul II Could Be GOD's Enemy

I have nothing personal against the late Pope John Paul II. I did not know the man personally, but I'm vaguely familiar with a lot of his opinions and actions in the religious and secular world. I don't look to comment on any of that, however. What is really bothering me since his death, is the way these so called 'pilgrims' and 'the faithful,' as they are being called by the media, are treating him.

It irked me at first when I saw how crazy people were getting over this one man, who did do a lot for... the world? Catholicism? World hunger? Poverty? Communism? What?

But it's the last straw when people are calling for this man to become a saint. What's worse is how some people are practically making Karol Wojtyla out to be some kind of deity. He was not GOD, and I really wish people would stop comapring him to Jesus Christ. Pope John Paul II only worked for GOD and The Holy Son--I hope.

I read on CBSNews.com: 'Some said they had come not only to pray for John Paul, but also to pray to him. Many Roman Catholics believe John Paul, who died April 2 at age 84, was a saint.'

I don't know if it's a Catholic thing, or what, but to pray to someone other than GOD? That seems blasphemous to me. If it's a Catholic thing, that is praying to saints and whatnot, then I'm gonna bite my tongue so as not to offend any Catholics. I'll just say, Jesus had many disciples...previous and present. At no point did Jesus ever instruct anyone to pray to anyone other than THE HOLY FATHER, GOD. I'm not even sure if Jesus even instructed anyone to pray to him, The Holy Son. This is all so confusing.

Usually, I'd do some research before posting, but this one thing with the way people have been 'god-i-fying' the pope has just been grating on me. I will do some research, however, on Catholicism and the whole thing concerning praying to those who are not GOD. I will do a follow-up post. And I'm interested to hear anyone else's opinion on this and/ or reaction to my comments.

~The Scribe

Sidenote: I just caught the last 15 minutes of "Revelation," that new television series based on the Biblical book of the same name. I'm really into that whole apocalyptic stuff, so I was hoping this show would be decent. But from what I've seen so far, it's pretty bloody cheesy. And if anything, it's doing a bad PR job for the Creator. But I'm sure the writers and creators weren't putting GOD first in all of this. Anyone else seen it? --What do you think?

China & Russia Attack Taiwan, An Apparition of Satan, More!

Interesting News Article:

"Genes may help determine how religious a person is, suggests a new study of US twins. And the effects of a religious upbringing may fade with time.

Until about 25 years ago, scientists assumed that religious behaviour was simply the product of a person's socialisation - or "nurture". But more recent studies, including those on adult twins who were raised apart, suggest genes contribute about 40% of the variability in a person's religiousness."

Whatever that means.

Read the rest of the story at Newscientist.com

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This is to gratify the ‘End Timers,’ or ‘Revelationists’ as I call them.

By JIM YARDLEY (NY Times)

BEIJING, March 18 - Russia's military chief Yuri Baluyevsky this week outlined plans with Chinese officials for joint military exercises and sought to play down any concerns that the first-ever war games between the two countries could further aggravate rising regional tensions.

General Baluyevsky, in the midst of a four-day trip to China, said the military exercises reflected a shared desire by China and Russia to develop closer strategic military ties and are "not targeted at any third country," […such as Taiwan, as some media outlet are suggesting.]

Read the rest of the story



By Mohammed Assadi

JERICHO, West Bank (Reuters) - Israeli forces began pulling back from Jericho on Wednesday, a move that may boost Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas in his bid to commit militants to a ceasefire so he can talk peace with Israel.

Read the rest of the story

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Well, it’s about time…

(AP)
MICHIGANTOWN, Ind. - Could it be... Satan? A central Indiana pet shop owner says a turtle that was the only animal to survive an October fire has developed an image of Satan's face on its shell.

Read the rest of the story

And in case you’re wondering, the owner says “he can see a goatee and a pair of pointy horns” on the turtle’s back. Score one for Lucifer! Still, I'm sure someone has seen an apparition of Jesus this morning, or is seeing one right now, or will see one tonight...

~ The Scribe.

The Church of Satan Is A Joke

I came across this article at the Village Voice recently called 'Sympathy For The Devil.' It's an interesting article for various reasons, one of which is that a young man is claiming that his attackers chose him because he is a Satanist; therefore, it was a hate crime.

While reading this article, I learned a lot of things. First, 'Satanists do not believe in God or the devil; rather, Satan is a metaphor for personal empowerment and rebellion.' Second, ' "We are a real religion," says High Priest Gilmore. The Church of Satan has legal status as a "corporation sole" just like any other church. The United States military allows its members to inscribe "Church of Satan" on dog tags. And military chaplains' guidebooks feature a page on its beliefs. '

I was stunned by both items.

One I have found that may be true, while the other I cannot find evidence of. The one that seems verifiable is the one concerning the U.S. military. While searches on the internet don't result in any results specific to the United States military, there is an article from the U.K. Telegraph concerning a British Soldier. It's called 'The Devil and the deep blue sea.'

The one that seems to be an utter lie is 'Satanists do not believe in God or the devil.' That's a crock of shit that can't even be proven by their own Official Church of Satan Website.

If you read their Statements, it's quite clear that they look at Satan as a real person and not as some metaphor for a state of being (what a crock!). For example, one of their Statements reads 'Satan has been the best friend the Church has ever had, as He has kept it in business all these years!' Another example is a re-telling of Lavey (the founder of the church) baptizing his daughter. This is also found on the official website. It starts the re-telling, 'LaVey recited an impressive invocation, later adapted for inclusion in The Satanic Rituals: "In the name of Satan, Lucifer..." '

If satanists don't believe in the devil or GOD as living beings, then why do they in their official literature call the devil by one of most common names after calling him satan? If they simply believe that satan is metaphorical for an attitude or a way of life, why add Lucifer? Hmm. Sounds like bull to me.

And if you believe in the existence of one, that means you believe in the existence of the Other, in this case GOD. You cannot be pro something or someone unless you are opposing something or someone else. And satanists embrace the devil whom they call Lucifer and reject GOD whose name is infinite.

Though the tone of this article is very anti-satanism, I did originally approach the subject with an open mind, not bringing any of the things I had heard about to the table. I delved into that article with curiosity and it sparked my desire to learn more about the church of satan by their own words. And since they do indeed believe in and worship the devil whom they call Lucifer, I have to reject them completely. And if I had the energy, I could easily debunk the few scriptures and instances they pinpoint in the Holy Bible GOD's Word and twist to support their own claims. But it's really not that important. To live life as a satanist, you are living in ignorance and fear and consciously spitting in GOD's face--yes, all at the same time.

Revising The Bible

This story was originally published on March 15, 2005:

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For readers of the Bible confused by its archaic language, such as its use of the term "stoned" for a form of execution rather than the effects of smoking dope, help is at hand.

One of the world's most widely read Bibles, the New International Version, has been modernised by a team of 15 American and British scholars and is published today.

Read the rest...

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I think it's great to want to make the Holy Bible easily comprehensible for all by putting it in plain language, but I wonder if they aren't ever tempted to add their own interpretations once in a while?

And one has to be wary of all this 'new translations' because some of them sometimes do tend to have different meanings or insinuations of the same thing. I can't remember a specific example that I encountered not too long ago. I'm not knocking the fact that there are now several different translations of the same Book, but it would be wise to always cross-reference whatever interpretation you're reading with the King James Version and at least one other translation.

Moral Issue - Boy Rapist Gets Life

Here's an interesting moral issue for you from a story at the UK Mirror:

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"A BOY of 12 was locked up for life yesterday after becoming Britain's youngest convicted rapist.

The powerfully built youngster pounced on a petite 32-year-old special needs teacher during a one-to-one tuition session.

After attacking her he stole her car and sped at over 100mph down the A1 before being caught.

The boy had endured a lifetime of foul abuse from the age of three, Teesside crown court heard. He was taken into care when his alcoholic, heroin-smoking mother was jailed for rape and indecently assaulting two minors.

The woman's former boyfriend said: "There was something twisted and evil about the family." Police said: The boy was cool and showed no emotion." "

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I found this story interesting because of the age and mental state of this kid--now the UK's youngest convicted criminal. The judge in this case didn't seem to have any kind of compassion for the kid. Though he may appear physically mature and is 'powerfully built' he is apparently a 'special needs' child and has a history of sexual abuse among other things. Shouldn't locking up a kid for life with these issues be illegal? He obviously needs help and some serious therapy. I'm not saying he shouldn't be held accountable, but punishing a special needs sexaully abused child for his entire life is morally (and should be legally) wrong. That's just me.

What do you say?

~The Scribe

Physicist Wins Spirituality Prize

"(LA Times) Charles Townes, the UC Berkeley professor who shared the 1964 Nobel Prize in physics for his work in quantum electronics and then startled the scientific world by suggesting that religion and science were converging, was awarded the $1.5-million Templeton Prize on Wednesday for progress in spiritual knowledge."

Read the rest...

Vatican Releases Video of Pope Speaking

You know, I think it's real sad when this is what's considered news. The headline might as well say, 'Pope Not Dead Yet'. I understand his position, but why can't they let the man rest? He should just retire and relax while he still can. While he's in a condition like this there's absolutely nothing useful that he can do. He's just wasting what little energy and life he may have left.

"VATICAN CITY (AP) - The Vatican released a video Friday with Pope John Paul II speaking, the first time the pontiff has been heard publicly since a throat operation last month to help him breathe. The video was taken of a meeting Friday with Tanzanian prelates in the pope's hospital room. He says a few words in a husky voice, including "va bene," Italian for "OK." "

Read the rest...

Spanish Muslims Issue Fatwa Against Bin Laden

"MADRID (Reuters) - Spain's leading Islamic body has issued a religious order declaring Osama bin Laden (news - web sites) to have forsaken Islam by backing attacks such as the Madrid train bombings a year ago.

The Islamic Commission of Spain timed its "fatwa" for Friday to coincide with the first anniversary of the attacks, which killed 191 people and were claimed in the name of al Qaeda in Europe."

Read the rest...

Ex-Korn Guitarist Brian "Head" Welch Baptized

Wow, this guy is really serious about turning his life around. I guess he did have his spiritual awakening. Accordin to APNews:

'Former Korn guitarist Brian "Head" Welch was baptized Saturday in the Jordan River, just weeks after quitting his band, drug habits and rock-and-roll lifestyle for religion.'

'Welch said the ritual baptism had washed away his anger. "You know when you get angry and it builds up? I felt like hurting someone before, now I feel like hugging people," he said.'

Read the rest of the story here...

~The Scribe

Christians Are Nuts!

...Or so it may seem to folks who aren't into religion or spirituality in any kind of way. You know Christians believe in the Holy Spirit and angels and all that. Well, Christians also accept the existence of demons and the devil himself. I have to admit that, even though I am of the faith and acknowledge the supernatural aspects of this faith, sometimes actually hearing (or in this case reading about) a Christian's account of supernatural experiences sometimes sounds crazy to me. I can only imagine how crazy we 'religious' nuts must sound to those outside the faith. Anyhoo, this posting was prompted by a story over at Christian International News concerning John Debney, the guy who scored Mel Gibson's 'Passion' movie. Anyway, in the interview Debney talks about the obstacles he faced while working on the film. One of those obstacles was satan as he says. For example, he said at one point: "I had never before subscribed to the idea that maybe Satan is a real person, but I can attest that he was in my room a lot and I know that he hit everyone on this production.” Not to be mean or anything, but doesn't that sound a little nuts to you? Anyway, you can read the rest of the story here...

~ The Scribe

Rap And Religion

I've been meaning to write something concerning music and religion for a while. I don't know how many of you have encountered this, but in the church I grew up in it was pretty common to hear preachers talking against hip hop music. They often said it was devil music or some crap like that. In my opinion, if the lyrics aren't builing up satan, then it's not explicitly devil music. There are songs of course, which do fall into that category, and I think there's even a genre of music that's completely pro-evil, or whatever you want to call it (death metal?).

Anyway, my point is, one musician who really rehased this subject is Kanye West. He's primarily known (when it comes to this subject), for his song 'Jesus Walks.' He received a lot of praise and criticism for this track. A lot of people called him a hypocrite because they claim his lifestyle doesn't reflect the trappings of a true Christian.

I found two articles of inerest that deal with this subject well:
1. At the Washington Post - 'Rap Gets Religious'
2. At MTV - Finding My Religion

Check 'em out and tell me what you think.

Peace.
~ The Scribe.

Why Jesus Died, Part 3

God's Love 4 U / Why Jesus Died

Part 3

Cardinal Verse: Matthew 26:39

So in the first installment, we covered the problematic condition of humans, God's reaction to us, and the solution that He came up with, which was sending Jesus to live among us for some hands-on instruction, if you will. In the second installment, we discussed the crux of Jesus' teachings, and the people's reaction to them. In this final installment, I suppose we should touch on whether Jesus' existence among us really had an impact, and if so, what kind. That is, was God's plan and Jesus' mission successful?

I'm assuming that many take the fact that Jesus was eventually crucified to be a mark of failure on his part. Like, if he was the Son of God, why did let himself pretty much be murdered like that? It's okay--there are no stupid questions...

First off, it was known from the get-go that Jesus' death was a part of the entire plan. Remember, Jesus was around to set the supreme example of a being dedicated to God. He was also the sacrificial lamb, remember. He pretty much paid the price for our crimes against God, and at the same time played the role model / teacher. While he was alive, he performed many miracles, bestowed a crap load of wisdom, and just a made a generally interesting impression on many minds. Here's where it gets tricky, though.

He came back to life. You know the story, he was crucified on a Friday, and came rose from the dead on Sunday (I think it was Sunday anyway).

"And they shall mock him, and shall scourge him, and shall spit upon him, and shall kill him: and the third day he shall rise again." - Mark 10:34


I know this part takes a serious leap of faith, because there are many of us who just generally believe that there is nothing after death. Some of us also agree that when people die they stay dead. I say some of us because throughout life many people experience certain "phenomenons" let's say. But, unfortunately, folks, this is the true test of your faith concerning God. And it's pretty much a "you do" or "you don't" kind of thing. But we'll cover that in-depth another time.

So Jesus comes back from the dead, returns to his disciples and apostles and re-assures them of the righteousness of the path he has laid out for them. Most of us know that his apostles remained true, their faith being boosted by experiencing such an event. They travelled, wrote, and taught everyone they could about the Gospel, or Good News, as Jesus' life & teachings came to be donned.

Did Jesus' teachings catch on? Now that's a stupid question. Here are some simple statistics to kind of drive my point home.

1. Christianity is the most adhered to religion on the planet, with 2 billion followers according to the BBC

2. The Bible is the most published and purchased book on the planet, and has been translated into over 2,000 languages. Source

3. The human timeline of history evolves around two time periods--both of which are rooted in Jesus' existence. We use the term "A.D." which is the "Abbreviation for the Latin phrase "Anno Domini," which means "in the year of our Lord." Used to refer to dates starting with the year 1 (i.e., this is the year A.D. 2000). We use this, of course, when discussing events which occur after Jesus Christ's birth. We use "B.C." which means "Before Christ" when discussing events which occurred before Jesus' birth. Interesting, considering we still argue about his actual existence.

I think these three facts, which are pivotal to how we conduct things on this planet, are excellent examples of just how much Jesus Christ affected humanity, and just how well he succeeded in his mission.

What's Your Definition of Religion?

Here are some interesting definitions of the term 'religion' as offered by Google.com: 1. a strong belief in a supernatural power or powers that control human destiny; "he lost his faith but not his morality"

2. institution to express belief in a divine power; "he was raised in the Baptist religion"; "a member of his own faith contradicted him"

As for me, when I often hear the term 'religion' used it usually brings to mind a type of static, generic definition. Saying something like, 'He was raised in the Baptist religion' is like saying 'He's a Democrat' or 'He's a teacher.' Know what I mean? I feel like true religion or faith, as I prefer to call it, has been so warped and diluted with all the rigid, narrow-minded and often hateful crap churches, preachers, etc. have put into it.

Anyway, that's me. What's your definition?

~ The Scribe