TV Gameshow - Who Wants To Convert From Atheism?
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What happens when you put a Muslim imam, a Christian priest, a rabbi and a Buddhist monk in a room with 10 atheists?
Turkish television station Kanal T hopes the answer is a ratings success as it prepares to launch a gameshow where spiritual guides from the four faiths will seek to convert a group of non-believers.
The prize for converts will be a pilgrimage to a holy site of their chosen religion — Mecca for Muslims, the Vatican for Christians, Jerusalem for Jews and Tibet for Buddhists.
But religious authorities in Muslim but secular Turkey are not amused by the twist on the popular reality game show format and the Religious Affairs Directorate is refusing to provide an imam for the show.
“Doing something like this for the sake of ratings is disrespectful to all religions. Religion should not be a subject for entertainment programs,” High Board of Religious Affairs Chairman Hamza Aktan told state news agency Anatolian after news of the planned program emerged.
The makers of “Penitents Compete” are unrepentant and reject claims that the show, scheduled to begin broadcasting in September, will cheapen religion.
“We are giving the biggest prize in the world, the gift of belief in God,” Kanal T chief executive Seyhan Soylu told Reuters.
via Turkish TV gameshow looks to convert atheists | Entertainment | Reuters.
U.S.-Israel A Potential Diplomatic Train Wreck
A best-selling author and former political consultant to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu believes the U.S. and Israel are headed for a diplomatic train wreck over the alleged “peace process” with the Palestinians.
The Associated Press has reported that, under pressure from the United States, Israel is reducing its security presence in four West Bank towns. Israeli and Palestinian defense officials say Israel is granting U.S.-trained Palestinian security forces greater autonomy in the four towns. The ability of Palestinian security forces to maintain law and order is key to Mideast peacemaking because Israel needs to be convinced that a future Palestinian state will not threaten its security.
Joel Rosenberg is the author of Inside the Revolution: How the Followers of Jihad, Jefferson, and Jesus are Battling to Dominate the Middle East and Transform the World. He thinks the Israelis have already made too many concessions.
“I see a diplomatic train wreck coming between the United States and Israel over this so-called ‘peace process’ and Washington’s insistence on essentially forcing Israel to make territorial concessions,” he notes.
Most Israelis do not trust Barack Obama, according to Rosenberg.
“Only 34 percent of Israelis see President Obama as a friend, as an ally; whereas more than 85 percent saw President Bush as a friend and ally,” Rosenberg points out. “There are deep concerns in Israel about where President Obama is taking the U.S.-Israel relationship.”
Billy Graham - Atheism Is A Fad Only Fools Follow
Yes, atheism has been in the public eye more in recent years, largely because of a few atheists who’ve captured the public’s attention through their books. They aren’t large in number, but they do tend to be aggressive in promoting their ideas.
Why have they drawn so much attention? One reason, I believe, is because they know how to use the media very effectively. They also appeal to people who want to be free from God or any moral restraints. Like the philosophers of Paul’s day who were constantly looking for new ideas to debate, many people today eagerly latch on to the latest fad (see Acts 17:21). Atheism attracts their attention, at least for a while.
In reality, however, modern atheists have very little new to say. In fact, atheism has been around for thousands of years; even the Psalmist, writing hundreds of years before Christ, referred to them: “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God’ ” (Psalm 14:1).
Don’t be misled by those who claim God doesn’t exist, because he does. And the ultimate reason we know it is because he came down from heaven and walked on this earth in the person of Jesus Christ. Christ was God in human flesh, and he proved it by rising from the dead.
Thousands March In Jerusalem Gay Pride Parade
June 29, 2009 by admin
Filed under Moral Decay
About 2,000 participants in a gay pride parade have marched peacefully through Jerusalem.
In past years, the gay pride event in the holy city provoked violent protests, even stabbings, by ultra-Orthodox Jews and extremists. But this year, except for one egg-throwing incident, there were no clashes.
Police said they arrested the egg-tossing protester. Others put up signs and demonstrated in an ultra-Orthodox section of Jerusalem, far away from the parade.
The marchers waved rainbow and Israeli flags and donned rainbow dresses, shirts and headbands.
The parade was more restrained Thursday than a gay pride march in more secular Tel Aviv earlier this month. One marcher scolded another for removing his shirt, saying, “This is Jerusalem.”
Police sources said Wednesday that this year the parade is not expected to stir violent protests.
Police believed the controversial event would run smoothly as leaders of the ultra-Orthodox community - who in past years have led anti-gay protests - decided not to protest to avoid exposing their young people to the issue of homosexuality.
As a result, only 1,600 police officers were assigned to the parade, compared with 12,000 in 2006.
Surprising Number of Teens Believe They Will Die Young
June 29, 2009 by admin
Filed under Stories Of Interest
A surprising number of teenagers - nearly 15 percent - think they’re going to die young, leading many to drug use, suicide attempts and other unsafe behavior, new research suggests.
The study, based on a survey of more than 20,000 kids, challenges conventional wisdom that says teens engage in risky behavior because they think they’re invulnerable to harm. Instead, a sizable number of teens may take chances “because they feel hopeless and figure that not much is at stake,” said study author Dr. Iris Borowsky, a researcher at the University of Minnesota.
That behavior threatens to turn their fatalism into a self-fulfilling prophecy. Over seven years, kids who thought they would die early were seven time more likely than optimistic kids to be subsequently diagnosed with AIDS. They also were more likely to attempt suicide and get in fights resulting in serious injuries.
Borowsky said the magnitude of kids with a negative outlook was eye-opening.
via IndyStar.com | AP National | The Indianapolis Star.
Pope: Bones Found in Rome Tomb Belong to Apostle Paul
Pope Benedict XVI says bone fragments found in a tomb beneath the floor of Rome’s Basilica of St. Paul Outside-The-Walls are probably remains of the Apostle Paul.
The pontiff announced Sunday that carbon dating tests run on the fragments, which were found inside a stone sarcophagus discovered beneath the floor of the basilica, confirm that they date from first or second century.
“This seems to confirm the unanimous and uncontested tradition that they are the mortal remains of the Apostle Paul,” Benedict said, speaking Sunday at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside-The-Walls.
Christians have traditionally believed St. Paul was buried beneath the main altar of the basilica, which was built in the late fourth century. The 8-foot-long sarcophagus containing the bone fragments was discovered in 2002.
The pope’s announcement came on the eve of the Feasts of St. Peter and St. Paul, a major feast day for the Roman Catholic Church.
Paul and Peter are regarded by the faithful as the greatest early Christian missionaries.
Ark of The Covenant Not Going To Be Revealed
June 29, 2009 by admin
Filed under Stories Of Interest
Yesterday, millions were waiting to watch eagerly the Ark of the Covenant revealed. A day passed but it was not made public. “No, the ark is not going to be revealed. Nobody could touch it. If you do so, God will smite you.” Abune Paulos Aba Gebremedhin said.
Paulos puts the blame on the Adnkronos journal, which originally posted the news, and rectification later on.
“…I am here to say what I saw, what I know and I can testify. I did not say that the Ark will be shown to the world.” Paulos is quoted to say on Adnkronos web site site.
Paulos also talked of building a museum in Axum, a structure that will receive and retain the treasures built for centuries and centuries to Axum, the news posted on Adnkronos site revealed.
The museum, funded by the foundation of the prince and that should be built within two years, could also be placed the Ark of the Covenant, but this needs to be decided by the Holy Synod, the supreme body of the Orthodox Church of Ethiopia, according to Aba Gebremedhin.
China Calls To Replace Dollar With World Currency
China’s central bank has reiterated its call for a new reserve currency to replace the US dollar.
The report from the People’s Bank of China PBOC said a “super-sovereign” currency should take its place.
Central bank chief Zhou Xiaochuan has loudly led calls for the dollar to be replaced during the financial crisis.
The bank report called for more regulation of the countries that issue currencies that underpin the global financial system.
“An international monetary system dominated by a single sovereign currency has intensified the concentration of risk and the spread of the crisis,” the Chinese central bank said.
The dollar fell after the report was released. The US currency dropped 1% against the euro to $1.4088, and declined 0.8% versus the British pound to $1.6848.
Ark Of The Covenant To Be Unveiled Friday?
June 25, 2009 by admin
Filed under Stories Of Interest
The patriarch of the Orthodox Church of Ethiopia says he will announce to the world Friday the unveiling of the Ark of the Covenant, perhaps the world’s most prized archaeological and spiritual artifact, which he says has been hidden away in a church in his country for millennia, according to the Italian news agency Adnkronos.
Abuna Pauolos, in Italy for a meeting with Pope Benedict XVI this week, told the news agency, “Soon the world will be able to admire the Ark of the Covenant described in the Bible as the container of the tablets of the law that God delivered to Moses and the center of searches and studies for centuries.”
The announcement is expected to be made at 2 p.m. Italian time from the Hotel Aldrovandi in Rome. Pauolos will reportedly be accompanied by Prince Aklile Berhan Makonnen Haile Sellassie and Duke Amedeo D’Acosta.
Locust Swarms Destroying Crops Across Ethiopia
June 25, 2009 by admin
Filed under Stories Of Interest
Locusts are destroying crops in seven regions of Ethiopia, where people rely on subsistence agriculture.
What causes these Biblical-sounding events? Why a swarm? Scientists discovered a few years back that at low densities, the insects were unorganized and went their separate ways. But when the group’s density increased, the bugs fell into an orderly line and began to follow the same direction.
Israel Peace Talks In Paris Called Off
A meeting between Israel’s prime minister and a senior US envoy has been canceled amid growing differences over settlement building in the West Bank.
Israeli newspaper Yediot Aharonot said the US put off the meeting in response to Benjamin Netanyahu’s refusal to heed US demands to halt settlement activity.
But Mr Netanyahu’s aides say it was the prime minister who cancelled Thursday’s meeting with George Mitchell in Paris.
They said “more professional work” was needed, without adding further details.
Instead, Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak is now scheduled to travel to Washington on Monday to meet Mr Mitchell.
Mr Netanyahu has arrived in Paris from Rome, on his first trip to Europe since he took office.
Cash To Become Extinct As Chips Take Off
June 24, 2009 by admin
Filed under new world order
Cash is accelerating down the path to extinction as new technologies threaten to mark the end of loose change within a decade.
Bank and credit union bosses say cash won’t be alone, with wallets and credit cards also likely to disappear too.
They told The Advertiser’s round table forum that cash and cards will be replaced by computer chips embedded in mobile phones, watches or other portable devices.
Can 3rd Temple Be Built Without Destroying Dome Of The Rock?
A new Jewish interfaith initiative launched last week argues building the Third Jewish Temple in Jerusalem would not necessitate the destruction of the Dome of the Rock.
“God’s Holy Mountain Vision” project hopes to defuse religious strife by showing that Jews’ end-of-days vision could harmoniously accommodate Islam’s present architectural hegemony on the Temple Mount.
“This vision of religious shrines in peaceful proximity can transform the Temple Mount from a place of contention to its original sacred role as a place of worship shared by Jews, Muslims and Christians,” said Yoav Frankel, director of the initiative.
The Interfaith Encounter Association at the Mishkenot Sha’ananim’s Konrad Adenauer Conference Center in Jerusalem is sponsoring the program, which includes interfaith study and other educational projects.
According to Islamic tradition, the Dome of the Rock, built in 691, marks the spot where Muhammed ascended to Heaven.
But according to Jewish tradition, Mount Moriah, now under the Dome of the Rock, is where the Temple’s Holy of Holies was situated.
Until now Jewish tradition has assumed that destruction of the Dome of the Rock was a precondition for the building of the third and last Temple.
However, in an article that appeared in 2007 in Tehumin, an influential journal of Jewish law, Frankel, a young scholar, presented a different option.
His main argument is that Jewish doctrine regarding the rebuilding of the Temple emphasizes the role of a prophet.
What the World Thinks of God - Poll Results
Britain is one of the most secular nations in the world, a new poll in 10 countries finds
Levels of religious belief and activity in the UK are far lower than in almost all other countries surveyed across the globe in a special poll undertaken for the BBC.
The ICM poll of 10,000 people in the USA, UK, Israel, India, South Korea, Indonesia, Nigeria, Russia, Mexico and Lebanon was carried out for What the World Thinks of God - BBC TWO, Thursday 26 February, 9.00pm.
It reveals that only 46% of respondents in the UK said they have always believed in God - 27% less than the average.
Only Russia (42%) and South Korea (28%) were lower.
Furthermore just 52% of UK respondents believed God (or a Higher Power) created the universe, compared to 85% in the USA, 83% in Mexico, 99% in Indonesia and 96% in Lebanon.
The highest levels of belief are found in the poorer nations of Nigeria (98%), India (92%) and Indonesia (97%).
However, the USA - the richest nation polled - has a very high level of belief.
Only 13% of those polled in America said they found it hard to believe in God (a Higher power) when there was so much suffering in the world.
Yet this compares to more than half (52%) of those polled in the UK - the highest of all the countries - and more than twice the average. The figures for Lebanon were 2% and Nigeria 12%.
The survey found that only 19% of those in the UK said they would die for their God/beliefs.
This compares to 37% in Israel, 90% of those polled in Indonesia and Nigeria, and 71% in the USA and Lebanon.
A staggering 78% of those polled in the USA claimed to have studied religious texts, by far the largest figure, followed by 51% in Nigeria and 42% in the UK. This compares to an average of 33%.
The poll also looked at the place of religion in the world.
Almost a third (29%) of people in the UK believe that the world would be a more peaceful place without beliefs in God but very few people in other countries agreed.
