Ireland Christian?
On July 18, 2005, Zenit published an interesting speech by Dublin Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, Primate of Ireland, about the Western Civilization and Ireland in particular, as well as the true God and the true meaning of faith. We quote a few excerpts from the speech, as follows:
“A few weeks ago I was surprised by a remark on a German television talk show by Gregor Gysi, the leader of the German Communist Party, who when asked about his worries about German society said: “‘Ich fuerchte eine gottlose Gesellschaft’ — ‘I fear a Godless society.’ It was an unusual comment from the leader of a communist party, with its roots in the former East Germany. As the television debate continued, this declared atheist noted that German society needs the moral framework that only those Christian roots embedded in his society can give. He noted that even the highly moralistic code of the communist ideology in the German Democratic Republic was effectively rooted in Christian principles. These comments struck me in particular since the speaker was never a Christian. He is personally of Jewish background and the territory of the German Democratic Republic was that part of Germany where religious practice was always and still is exceptionally low…”
Addressing the situation in Ireland, as well as the Christian God and true and false faith, Martin continued to point out the following accurate principles:
“Of course one should really begin with the question, is Ireland Christian today?…But let me come back to the question of what people mean when they answer a survey saying they believe in God.
“Belief is a complex matter. Because of its nature it is difficult to quantify. People will answer questions about belief in different ways. Belief is not identical with Church affiliation. There are non-practicing Catholics who are genuine believers and there are also many who practice but who may not really believe… Religious faith is faith in God, but not in some generic God of our own creation. For the Christian, God is not an anonymous element or power within or above the universe… Christians believe in a God who has spoken, who has revealed himself, who has entered into dialogue with humankind, a dialogue of love… That relationship was described by Pope Benedict XVI in his inaugural address in St. Peter’s Square now some months ago: ‘We are not some casual and meaningless product of evolution. Each of us is the result of a thought of God. Each of us is willed, each of us is loved, each of us is necessary’… We have never fully abandoned ourselves to the God who can make us free, but still cling on to the things we falsely feel can bring us security. Faith is always a leap in the dark, but in the confidence that Jesus has not left us orphans. We will never be able to lead others into the depths of faith and the joy of our hope if we remain entrapped in the limitedness of our current world vision.”
Terror in Egypt
On July 22, 2005, The Associated Press published an article about another terror attack in a tourist resort in Egypt. This attack followed similar ones in Turkey and London. The indiscriminate mass murder by fanatic terrorists is clearly a sign of Satan’s involvement and possible possession of those criminals, proving that Satan’s wrath is great, as he knows that his time is getting shorter. AP pointed out:
“Three car bombs exploded in quick succession in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheik early Saturday, ripping through a hotel and a cafe packed with European and Egyptian tourists. Security officials said at least 45 people died [later reports confirmed the death of at least 88 people] in the deadliest attack in Egypt in nearly a decade… The dead included British, Russian, Dutch, Kuwaitis, Saudis, Qataris and Egyptians, a security official said… The attacks came nine months after a series of explosions hit several hotels in the Sinai resorts of Taba and Ras Shitan, about 100 miles northwest on the Israel border. Egyptian authorities said that attack, which killed 34 and prompted a wave of arrests in Sinai, was linked to Israeli-Palestinian violence.
“Saturday’s bombings were the deadliest since 1997, when Islamic militants killed 58 foreign tourists and four Egyptians at the Pharaonic Temple of Hatshepsut outside Luxor in southern Egypt. President Hosni Mubarak has a residence in Sharm el-Sheik, at a resort several miles outside Naama Bay and often spends weeks there at a time in the winter. But during the summer, he stays at a residence in the northern city of Alexandria… Thousands of tourists are drawn to Sharm for its sun, clear blue water and coral reefs. It also has been a meeting place where world leaders have tried to hammer out a Mideast peace agreement. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas met there in February and agreed to a cease-fire.”
More Terror in Britain?
On July 22, 2005, Reuters reported that more terrorist attacks might soon occur in Great Britain. The article pointed out:
“Militant Islamists will continue to attack Britain until the government pulls its troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan, one of the country’s most outspoken Islamic clerics said on Friday. Speaking 15 days after bombers killed over 50 people in London and a day after a series of failed attacks on the city’s transport network, Sheikh Omar Bakri Mohammed said the British capital should expect more violence.”
In an appalling and, at the same time, revealing interview, Omar Bakri Mohammed stated the following:
“Bakri, a Syrian-born cleric who has been vilified in Britain since 2001 when he praised the September 11 hijackers, said he did not believe the bombings and attempted attacks on London were carried out by British Muslims. He condemned the killing of all innocent civilians but described attacks on British and U.S. troops in Muslim countries as ‘pro-life’ and justified. In an interview with Reuters, Bakri described Osama bin Laden, leader of the radical Islamist network al Qaeda, as ‘a sincere man who fights against evil forces.’ Bakri said he would like Britain to become an Islamic state but feared he would be deported before his dream was realized. ‘I would like to see the Islamic flag fly, not only over number 10 Downing Street, but over the whole world,’ he said.”
London Police Kills Innocent Bystander
The Associated Press reported on July 24, 2005:
“London’s police commissioner expressed regret Sunday for the slaying of a Brazilian electrician by officers who mistook him for a suspect in the recent terror bombings, but he defended a police shoot-to-kill policy as ‘the only way’ to stop would-be suicide bombers… Witnesses said [the victim] was wearing a heavy, padded coat when plainclothes police chased him into a subway car, pinned him to the ground and shot him five times in the head and torso in front of horrified passengers. Blair initially said Menezes was ‘directly linked’ to the investigation of Thursday’s attacks, but police then said Saturday he had no connection to the bomb attempts. ‘This is a tragedy,’ Blair said Sunday of the shooting. ‘The Metropolitan Police accepts full responsibility for this. To the family I can only express my deep regrets.'”
Even though it is now clear that the police killed an innocent person, Tony Blair still defended the police’s action, as well as similar actions in the future! The article continued to state:
“He also defended the shoot-to-kill policy, saying such action only applied when lives were believed to be at risk. ‘I am very aware that minority communities are talking about a shoot-to-kill policy,’ he said. ‘It’s only a shoot-to-kill-in-order-to-protect policy.’… Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim, who was visiting London, said his government and people were ‘shocked’ by the killing, and he demanded a thorough investigation… Amorim told Straw that Brazil was in total solidarity with Britain in the fight against terrorism, ‘but of course even in the fight against terrorism we should also be cautious to avoid the loss of innocent life.'”
In a related article, AFP reported on July 25, 2005:
“Witnesses said a frightened Menezes was shot several times at close range by plainclothes officers who had chased him through Stockwell Underground station in south London on Friday after a surveillance operation. Police at the time said they opened fire because their suspect had refused to obey instructions. Blair confirmed Sunday that they were under orders to shoot suicide bombers in the head and that policy would remain. [A relative of the killed victim] said his cousin did ‘not have a past that would make him run’ from police and was simply on his way to work from his home in Tulse Hill, south London. Another cousin… said Jean Charles spoke English very well and would have understood police instructions… Menezes, who came from the city of Gonzaga in Brazil’s southeastern state of Minais Gerais, had been living legally in Britain for three years, according to his family.”
Tough questions need to be asked and answered:
How is it possible that such policies of obvious wrong police conduct, leading to the death of innocent bystanders, can be supported and maintained by the British government? Surely, the fight against supposed terrorists cannot justify the killing of innocent people, or can it? Perhaps man is willing to justify such wrong conduct, but surely God DOES NOT! NO WONDER that God is angry with Great Britain–which is none other than the modern descendant of the ancient tribe of Ephraim, the son of Joseph. Our upcoming booklet on the identity, history and future of Great Britain and the USA will discuss these facts in much detail.
Extreme Weather Conditions in Europe
On July 23, 2005, the EUobserver reported about unusual weather conditions in large parts of Europe, as follows:
“Western and Southern Europe are currently facing severe drought, with the situation being the gravest in Spain, Portugal, France, Italy and Greece. Spain and Portugal are suffering their worst droughts since the launch of record-keeping in the 1940s… Brush fires have already destroyed more than three times the average annual loss for Portugal in the first half of this year… Due to the drought in western Europe, cereal production in the EU in 2005 will be at least 28 million tonnes below last year’s, which is a drop of about 10 percent… Meanwhile, Bulgaria and Romania are being swept by floods, which have already killed 20 people and inundated tens of thousands of homes in both countries over the last two weeks. More than 12,000 were forced to evacuate their homes in Romania, where at least 15 people have died in the floods. In Bulgaria, five people have been killed and at least 50,000 homes and buildings were destroyed across the country…”
Germany’s New “Left Party”
On July 21, 2005, CNN.com published an analysis about the most recent developments in Germany. The article focused on “the new ‘Left Party,’ which just days after its launch, looks set to become Germany’s third largest party, beating both Joschka Fischer’s Green Party and the Liberal party (FDP).” The article pointed out:
“The new ‘Left Party’ is a coalition of disillusioned former Social Democrats and the post-communist Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS). Since Sunday’s launch, it boasts a support base of 11 percent, which puts it safely in third place behind Angela Merkel’s CDU (44 percent) and Schroeder’s governing SPD party (27 percent). However, what makes the ‘Left Party’ a real force to be reckoned with are its two leaders — the left-wing icon and former finance minister Oskar Lafontaine and Gregor Gysi, the charismatic head of the PDS.”
Lafontaine had to resign from office in the SPD, after a highly-publicized fight with Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. Until this day, Lafontaine and Schroeder are bitter enemies.
CNN continued:
“… a recent opinion poll found that 30 percent of East Germans are planning to vote for the new ‘Left Party’ compared to only 29 percent for the CDU…
“Foreign minister and Green Party leader Joschka Fischer warned that Lafontaine’s populist approach and language were more reminiscent of the right-wing Joerg Haider in Austria and the late Pim Fortuyn in Holland, than of Karl Marx. Fischer was referring to a statement by Lafontaine, in which he said that foreign workers were taking German jobs.
“Similarly in the East German state of Brandenburg, Karl Ness, head of the local SPD party called Lafontaine ‘a preacher of hatred,’ and said that the new left party was nothing but an extension of Lafontaine’s ego… While Germany prepares for elections, the impact of Lafontaine and Gysi and their new ‘Left Party’ is likely to have more impact on Germany’s political direction than either of the two main parties would like to admit.”
Is “Weimar” raising its ugly head again? At the time prior to World War II, many different political movements, including the consistent fights between extremist parties such as the Communists and National-Socialists (Nazis), gave ultimately way to the election of Adolph Hitler. Is Germany able to cope today with Communists or neo-National-Socialists? Has modern Germany–both former West and East Germany–learned from its past? Sadly, the answer is no, as the not-too-distant future will show.
Animals Behave Amazingly
AFP recently published this amazing story about animal behavior, which causes evolutionists and scientists to wonder, grasping for answers in light of their misguided and God-defying faith in blind evolution:
“A baby hippopotamus that survived the tsunami waves on the Kenyan coast has formed a strong bond with a giant male century-old tortoise, in an animal facility in the port city of Mombassa, officials said. The hippopotamus, nicknamed Owen and weighing about 300 kilograms (650 pounds), was swept down Sabaki River into the Indian Ocean, then forced back to shore when tsunami waves struck the Kenyan coast on December 26, before wildlife rangers rescued him.
“‘It is incredible. A-less-than-a-year-old hippo has adopted a male tortoise, about a century old, and the tortoise seems to be very happy with being a “mother”,’ ecologist Paula Kahumbu, who is in charge of Lafarge Park, told AFP. ‘After it was swept and lost its mother, the hippo was traumatized. It had to look for something to be a surrogate mother. Fortunately, it landed on the tortoise and established a strong bond. They swim, eat and sleep together,’ the ecologist added. ‘The hippo follows the tortoise exactly the way it follows its mother. If somebody approaches the tortoise, the hippo becomes aggressive, as if protecting its biological mother,’ Kahumbu added. ‘The hippo is a young baby, he was left at a very tender age and by nature, hippos are social animals that like to stay with their mothers for four years,’ he explained.”
