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First, an apology for making this a cacused thread. I know that Fundamentalist Protestant FReepers will feel cheated at having their religious beliefs explained by one not of their number, but to leave the thread open would be to invite thousands and thousands of posts, each and every one of them quoting the "new testament" to "prove" this and that. While I am no longer a Fundamentalist Protestant or chr*stian of any kind, I nevertheless used to be one and feel competent to explain their beliefs to Orthodox Jews--especially when those beliefs are so misunderstood and misrepresented. I also feel...

Religious Wrongs by: Malcolm A. Kline, May 01, 2009 The harassment of the elderly by Gay Rights activists in California may not have an equal on the opposite side but there is at least one group claiming scriptural support for old-fashioned bigotry. The Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas promises “religious opinion & commentary on current events” through websites with names like Godhatestheworld.com and others too vile to name here....

Art as Propaganda for Evolution April 10, 2009 — Should a scientific theory be propagated by appeal to scientific evidence, or by appeal to emotions through visualization?  Nature this week contained two articles that shamelessly praised art as propaganda for evolution.  Surprisingly, one of them mentioned Charles Darwin as someone “at the cutting edge of visualization.” Endless Forms:  Carl Zimmer reviewed an exhibit currently at the Yale Center for British Art, Endless Forms: Charles Darwin, Natural Science and the Visual Arts.1  The title is taken from the last sentence in the Origin where Darwin said that endless forms most beautiful...

There are Extra Terrestrial Creators or "Gods" out there in this universe and they know we are here. Stranger than fiction we are changing as we accept our destiny. (Here´s your answer Blossom Goodchild) We can all experience what I experienced. The future is about something wonderful happening and living to tell about it to others on earth. There is a plan for each person who dies after living on earth. My message is to share the truth that there is life after death and that each person's memories will continue on. We will all view our lives and be...

A coalition that represents fundamentalist Mormons has issued a statement objecting to the LDS Church's attempts to deny their claim to a shared Mormon heritage. The Principle Voices Coalition, based in Salt Lake City, said that members "strenuously object to any efforts to deprive us and others of the freedom to name and describe ourselves by terms of our own choosing." Two weeks ago, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints launched a media campaign aimed at distinguishing itself from the breakaway sects. The church said its effort was primarily aimed at clarifying the difference between the LDS Church...

Last week I received the following e-mail, and I felt it would be best to share my response here on the blog. Dear Mr. White, For someone considering converting to Catholicism, what questions would you put to them in order to discern whether or not they have examined their situation sufficiently? Say, a Top 10 list. Thanks. When I posted this question in our chat channel a number of folks commented that it was in fact a great question, and we started to throw out some possible answers. Here is my "Top Ten List" in response to this fine inquiry....

No matter who becomes the next president of the United States, the American people have already won a great victory -- with the total disintegration of the once all-powerful Religious Right.... Today, the religious right has splintered into as many different factions as O.J. Simpson has alibis. Unable to find one candidate who fits the bill of being both true-blue on the issues and electable, America's ayatohlahs have divided their loyalties. Indeed, in some cases, they've even declared war against each other. The National Right to Life League has endorsed Fred Thompson, even though he opposes a constitutional amendment to...

Bush apologizes to Wiccan widow Published: Sept 2, 2007 at 10:16 AM WASHINGTON, Sept 1 (UPI) -- U.S. President George Bush apologized to a Nevada Wiccan who was left out of a presidential meeting with relatives of soldiers killed in combat. Rebecca Stewart, who sued to have the Wiccan symbol placed on her husband’s grave marker in a military cemetery, told The Washington Post the president called her to apologize. She said she explained to Bush the faith she and her husband shared. Sgt. Patrick Stewart was killed in Afghanistan in 2005. Stewart said she heard about the private meeting...

A U.S. defense analyst and author says Americans should be very concerned about some radical Muslim paramilitary compounds that have sprung up around the country and that are surrounded with "No Trespassing" signs. Hear This Report Greg Copley, president of the International Strategic Studies Association (ISSA), says the compounds are often populated with former U.S. convicts who were converted to Islam in prison. These convicts, he contends, are connected to a Pakistani organization. "Islamberg in New York, Ahmedabad in Virginia, and Holy Islamville in South Carolina, and so on are places which have been formed largely by Jamaat ul-Fuqra," Copley...

Rudolph W. Giuliani's first inauguration as mayor here was a family affair. His 7-year-old son, Andrew, mugged for the cameras as Papa Rudy toasted his television hostess wife, Donna, as "my partner, my inspiration and my lover." Then daughter Caroline, 4, hid behind her hat as the couple kissed that Jan. 2, 1994. Thirteen years later, that familial unit is nowhere to be seen in the Giuliani presidential campaign. The once rambunctious Andrew, now a burly Duke sophomore, has indicated that he has no plans to stump for his father — he's too busy working on his golf game. Neither...

Good Fundamentalism Bad Fundamentalism   At the age of semantics meaning a lot, it is evident that this term is reserved very selectively. I dare the MSM on fundamentalists such as: secularists, or anti-warriors.   1) "Anti War" warriors beat up ordinary innocent passers by in France (2003).   2) Radical secularists are on an all out war on religion in America, via ACLU and other.   3) Hatred towards practicing Christians in liberal Europe, the anti-Bush bashing manifesting in denigrating his Christianity is part of it.   4) A minority within a minority, radical gays in a secular minority...

Dr. Tawfik Hamid doesn't tell people where he lives. Not the street, not the city, not even the country. It's safer that way. It's only the letters of testimony from some of the highest intelligence officers in the Western world that enable him to move freely. This medical doctor, author and activist once was a member of Egypt's Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya (Arabic for "the Islamic Group"), a banned terrorist organization. He was trained under Ayman al-Zawahiri, the bearded jihadi who appears in Bin Laden's videos, telling the world that Islamic violence will stop only once we all become Muslims. He's a...

Demise of multiculturalism can help root out terrorism Jonathan Alter - For the Journal-Constitution Wednesday, June 28, 2006 Multiculturalism, rest in peace. There may have been no obituary for the notion that every group and every belief in a multiethnic society is deserving of mutual respect and tolerance. But thanks to jihadism, multiculturalism and moral relativism --- its necessary counterpart --- are now 6 feet under. Signs of multiculturalism's demise first began to appear in Holland, a nation that officially embraced its precepts in 1983. In theory, the Minderhedennota, or minorities policy, extended the Dutch tradition of tolerance to a...

What does the enlightened, freedom-loving, tolerant and inclusive West have in common with fundamental Islam? Both are overwhelmingly repressive in what they consider to be "acceptable" speech. The latest evidence of this is the conviction and sentencing of Clifford Irving, whose denial of the Holocaust earned him three years in an Austrian jail

Last May, I had the pleasure of participating in the Kansas State Board of Education’s “evolution” hearings. Readers may recall that I contributed an essay, “Darwin or Lose,” to the “Darwin’s Last Stand?” issue (July/August 2004), in which I discussed how the use of courtroom-style litigation tactics by spokesmen for “mainstream science” has deformed the scientific debate over the origin of life and its diversification into the vast array of different species we see today. The hearings gave me an opportunity to see first-hand the use of such tactics. High-Profile Hearings The teaching of evolution became a high-profile issue in...

Rabbi gives his take on Christian Exodus http://goupstate.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050907/NEWS/509070349/1051 Rabbi Yossi Liebowitz will discuss the expansion of Christian Exodus into South Carolina tonight on Comedy Central's "The Daily Show.." Rabbi gives his take on Christian Exodus DUDLEY BROWN, Staff WriterSpartanburg Rabbi Yossi Liebowitz expects to be on Comedy Central's "The Daily Show" tonight for a conversation about some of South Carolina's newest citizens.He's a bit nervous. Liebowitz will appear with a Baptist minister and a member of Christian Exodus on the 30-minute show, which is known for its satire and exaggeration. "I've got fear and trepidation about it because it's...

Boys from Africa are being murdered as human sacrif ices in London churches. They are brought into the capital to be offered up in rituals by fundamentalist Christian sects, according to a shocking report by Scotland Yard. [snip]

Both believed in the Bible, but one group wanted to separate from modern culture while the other wanted to engage it Excerpted from Beliefnet's new book, "The Beliefnet Guide to Evangelical Christianity." In the early 1940s, a distinct split grew between evangelicals and fundamentalists over how to apply the “fundamentals” of faith to the modern world. In 1941 Rev. Carl McIntire founded the American Council of Christian Churches, an extreme group that favored separatism from hostile cultural forces. Some went so far as to refuse contact with anyone who did interact with the culture. Not all “fundamentalists” (that is, those...

OPEN FORUM With God on their side Frank Schaeffer Sunday, May 22, 2005 It is perhaps not coincidental that Cardinal Ratzinger, the most fundamentalist Roman Catholic cardinal, was chosen as the new pope. Fundamentalism is the big story of the 21st century. Ask anyone trying to teach evolution in a public school. Consider the 50 million copies sold of the "Left Behind" series about the second coming of Christ. Or listen to mullahs earnestly explain how to apply seventh-century religious law to so-called modern life -- say, why women should not be allowed to vote. Or watch Tom DeLay and...

June 17, 2005 has been announced as the date for Iran's presidential election, which the conservatives seem likely to win. Although many candidates are planning to run for Iran’s presidency, the majority will be from the conservative ranks, consolidating their power in an already “reformist-frail” government. A tight competition is likely between Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a conservative-leaning pragmatist and Ali Larijani, former head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, who is preferred by the conservative alliance.