Stone of Destiny Welcomed to the Abbey
westminster-abbey.org wrote on April 29:
“A service to mark the arrival of the Stone of Destiny at Westminster Abbey was held on Saturday 29th April. The stone, an ancient symbol of Scotland’s monarchy, will play a central role in the Coronation of HM The King in the Abbey on 6th May.
“The Stone of Destiny was for centuries used in the inauguration of Scotland’s kings. In 1296, King Edward I brought the stone to Westminster. He placed it within the Coronation Chair, the oak seat he commissioned in 1300-1301 and which has been the centrepiece of coronations for more than 700 years.
“In 1996, the UK government announced that stone was to be returned to Scotland, but would come back to the Abbey for coronations. It has travelled from its home in the Crown Room at Edinburgh Castle where it is visited by millions of people each year.
“Today’s service was conducted by the Dean of Westminster, the Very Reverend Dr David Hoyle… Among those speaking at the service was the Right Honourable The Lord Lyon King of Arms, who said in his address: ‘The Stone was taken from its place in the Abbey of Scone to this Abbey Church in 1296 by command of King Edward I in an act of enmity. It was returned to Scotland in 1996 by command of Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in an act of amity and now comes again to this place by command of King Charles III as an act of unity and a symbol of friendship.’”
To conduct a religious service for the “stone of destiny” borders on idolatry. Note our two Q&As on the stone of destiny. https://www.eternalgod.org/what-do-we-know-of-the-stone-of-destiny-part-1/ and https://www.eternalgod.org/what-do-we-know-of-the-stone-of-destiny-part-2/
The Veneration of the Cross
The New York Times wrote on May 5:
“The coronation of King Charles III on Saturday will feature a processional cross containing what are said to be two pieces of the cross on which Jesus was crucified. Pope Francis recently gave the pieces to the new British monarch. These ‘fragments of the Relic of the True Cross’ were donated by the Vatican in early April ‘as an ecumenical gesture,’ the Vatican spokesman, Matteo Bruni, said in a statement. The pieces were set, under glass, at the center of a cross that was commissioned by Charles, as Prince of Wales, to celebrate the centenary of the Church in Wales, which split off from the Church of England in 1920.
“Of the many Christian relics that have been venerated over the centuries, the True Cross has been among the most important. The first historical references to it date to the fourth century, and adoration of the relic grew over the centuries — as did the number of fragments said to be from the cross. The theologian John Calvin wrote in a 1543 treatise, ‘If we were to collect all these pieces of the True Cross exhibited in various parts, they would form a whole ship’s cargo’…
“The legend that Helena, the mother of the Roman emperor Constantine who decriminalized Christianity in 313, brought pieces of the cross back from the Holy Land, became wrapped up in the Roman Catholic Church’s efforts to give political legitimacy to Christian rulers. Charlemagne, the first Holy Roman Emperor, sought relics of the cross for his cathedral at Aachen…
“It became common practice for European rulers to ask the pope in power for fragments of the cross, which the Holy See safeguarded in several locations in Rome… The Vatican did not say where the fragments given to King Charles had come from.
“After the coronation, the processional cross… will be shared between the Anglican and Catholic Churches in Wales…”
The veneration of the cross constitutes idolatry and blasphemy. Please read our Q&A on the use of crosses . Also, please read our two Q&As on the origin of the sign of the cross. https://www.eternalgod.org/what-is-the-origin-of-the-sign-of-the-cross-should-christians-make-the-sign-of-the-cross-part-1/ and https://www.eternalgod.org/what-is-the-origin-of-the-sign-of-the-cross-should-christians-make-the-sign-of-the-cross-part-2/
Changed Words, But No Change in Substance
Daily Mail wrote on May 6:
“The words of the Homage of the People were toned down at the eleventh hour… For the first time in history, every citizen of the UK and all the other nations of which the monarch is head of state had been asked to ‘make their homage in heart and voice to their undoubted King’. It was to make the ceremony more of a ‘People’s Coronation’, as previously only members of the aristocracy were called upon to make such a pledge.
“But Charles reportedly approved the last-minute change which came after a string of commentators criticised the new addition as divisive.
“The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, will now ‘invite’ a show of support from the congregation rather than a ‘call’ to those in the Abbey and elsewhere to swear allegiance to the King…”
But they were still supposed to, and they did say:
“I swear that I will pay true allegiance to Your Majesty, and to your heirs and successors, according to the Law. So help me God.”
Swearing allegiance to a man, according to the law of man (which would supersede the law of God), constitutes idolatry and blasphemy.
Many more problems were present during the ceremony. As we previously reported, the fragrant chrism oil that was used to anoint King Charles during his coronation was “made sacred” in Jerusalem. A ceremony took place in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where the “holy oil” was consecrated by the Patriarch of Jerusalem, Theophilos III, and the Anglican archbishop in Jerusalem, Hosam Naoum. It had been created using olives harvested from two groves on the Mount of Olives, at the Monastery of Mary Magdalene and the Monastery of the Ascension (compare the Guardian, May 3, 2023).
It is true that we read that God anointed David with His holy oil (Psalm 89:20), but the oil with which King Charles III was anointed did not become holy when in a religious ceremony, the oil was consecrated and “made sacred” by Eastern Orthodox and Anglican figure heads; this borders on idolatry and blasphemy.
The entire ceremony crowning King Charles III and his wife Camilla had little, if anything, to do with a service which would have been pleasing to God. The service was also permeated with false religious doctrines and practices. For instance, apart from praying to the Trinity, the Archbishop of Canterbury spoke at one time about the “Father of the Holy Spirit.”
What is important for us to recognize is that another Jewish descendant of David sits on the Throne of David, according to God’s unconditional promise to David that he would never lack a descendant to sit on his throne. This recognition has no bearing on the King’s righteousness and the righteousness of the clergy, the politicians and the people. In fact, God is very angry with the sins of the UK, including the sin of false worship and idolatry, and punishment is looming.
The Power of the Pope
Crux wrote on May 7:
“When King Charles III and Queen Consort Camilla were crowned yesterday, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s Secretary of State, was on hand in Westminster Abbey to represent Pope Francis and the Holy See… he’s considered a contender to become pope himself someday…
“Popes haven’t been crowned since 1963, when Paul VI became the last pontiff to don the papal regalia in a coronation ceremony… in theory a future pontiff could decide to resurrect the triregnum, the three-tiered tiara with which popes were once invested to symbolize their role as ‘father of princes and kings’…
“A pope is still a temporal monarch, albeit over an extremely small state… Francis still is invested with the power to decide all matters, secular and spiritual, within the Vatican’s territory, from doctrine to traffic laws. In ecclesiastical terms the pope’s authority certainly remains absolute. Canon 882 of the Code of Canon Law makes it clear: ‘The Roman Pontiff, by reason of his office as Vicar of Christ, and as pastor of the entire Church has full, supreme, and universal power over the whole Church, a power which he can always exercise unhindered.’”
The Catholic Church and the Church of England are not that different, as the coronation service of King Charles III clearly showed, which was “Catholic” to the core. The difference is the role of the Pope who was replaced in England with the King. Henry VIII broke with the Pope and the Roman Church simply because Pope Clement VII refused to grant him annulment of his marriage to Katherine of Aragon so he could wed Anne von Kleefes. The desire of the Roman Church to bring the Church of England (one of the daughter churches) back into the fold of the “mother church” has become obvious in recent years.
“Jesus Values” Not Welcome
On May 6, 2023, Fox News reported the following:
“An Arizona School District settled a religious discrimination case Thursday two months after it was accused of illegally terminating a contract while its members blasted the Christian ‘Jesus’ values of a university… On Wednesday evening, the board restored a contract with the university…
“Alliance Defending Freedom, who represented the university, said the school board ‘showed blatant hostility to ACU’s beliefs’ when it questioned how one could ‘be committed to Jesus Christ’ and yet, at the same time, respect LGBTQ students and board members.
“[One] School board member… blasted the university for ‘teaching with a Biblical lens.’”
One thing is clear: If you are committed to Jesus Christ and His teachings, you cannot at the same time believe in the correctness of the LGBTQ movement.
Unemployment Down, But Is This Really Good News?
Thomson/Reuters wrote on May 5:
“U.S. employers boosted hiring in April while raising wages for workers, pointing to sustained labor market strength that could see the Federal Reserve keeping interest rates higher for some time…
“The Fed raised its benchmark overnight interest rate by another 25 basis points to the 5.00%-5.25% range on Wednesday… Fed has hiked its policy rate by 500 basis points since March 2022.
“Some economists… believe that the labor market is overstating the health of the economy, pointing to the divergence between consumer spending and job gains as well as a continued decline in worker productivity. Consumer spending stalled in February and March. Productivity has declined on a year-year basis for five straight quarters, the longest such stretch since the government started tracking the series in 1948.
“Economists also noted that job growth was becoming more concentrated in the leisure and hospitality industry as well as state and local governments… With risks of a recession mounting… the hiring landscape could change quickly…”
Worldwide Financial Bank Crisis
LifeSiteNews wrote on May 8:
“With almost eight months left to run in 2023, this year’s banking collapses already eclipse those of the financial crisis of 2008 – and 2009 – combined… Collectively, the three big banks that have collapsed in 2023 had more assets than all 25 banks that collapsed in 2008 did… Signature Bank, New York, NY and Silicon Valley Bank, Santa Clara, CA collapsed in March 2023, joined by First Republic Bank, San Francisco on May 1.
“… The tree is rotten from the roots… At present, confidence in banks is falling all over the West… Even if only half of uninsured depositors decide to withdraw, almost 190 banks with assets of $300 billion are at a potential risk of impairment… if a bank run begins in these… institutions, it is likely to lead to a far greater crisis…
“Overall, the outlook for the U.S. banking sector looks dire…
“Reuters reports that billions have been withdrawn from U.K. and European banks by depositors, fearing a repeat of the meltdown of Credit Suisse. The crisis in confidence is not limited to the USA… Four major banks in Britain reported losses from two to eleven billion pounds over the first three months of 2023, with German and French deposits showing falls of up to 8 percent…
“The practice of information warfare is universally degrading. Both the banks and President Joe Biden have reassured the public there is no cause for concern. These remarks must be understood in the context that rumors – especially of the truth – can be fatal to confidence in banks.
“The truth of the matter is that printing money backed by promises on debt is a fools’ bargain…
“It is astonishing to see the West once again threatened by a major financial crisis…”
Joe Biden: “My Son Did Nothing Wrong!”
Professor John Turley wrote on May 6:
“During an interview with MSNBC Ruhle asked, ‘Sir, there is something personal that’s affecting you. Your son — while there [are] no ties to you — could be charged by your Department of Justice. How will that impact your presidency?’
Biden answered, ‘First of all, my son’s done nothing wrong. I trust him. I have faith in him. And it impacts my presidency by making me feel proud of him.’…
“Yet, there are mounting allegations over the President’s involvement… and recent allegations of potential criminal conduct by the President… the Justice Department and the media have worked tirelessly to avoid ties between Hunter Biden’s foreign dealings and the President…
“The media continues to struggle to avoid even referencing the allegations against the Bidens… That is why it was hardly surprising that Ruhle also did not press Biden on his continued false claims of not knowing anything about his son’s business interests despite pictures and a tape recording that clearly refute those denials.
“Ruhle also ignored Biden’s absurd claim that Hunter did ‘nothing wrong.’ Obviously, he has done a great number of ‘wrong things’ from tax violations to gun violations to prostitution violations to a massive corruption scandal. Yet, once again, Biden went unchallenged. There was not even the slightest pushback to ask if Biden seriously did not view these actions as wrong in any way.”
Fox News contributor and New York Post journalist Miranda Devine warned that Biden is setting the stage for pardoning his son Hunter if he was to be indicted and convicted of numerous crimes.
Biden a News Media Evader
The left-wing Washington Post editorial board slammed Biden for not doing more press conferences, calling him a ‘news media evader.’ Here are excerpts from the board’s opinion, entitled “Biden no longer does press conferences. That’s not acceptable,” continuing:
“President Biden hasn’t dropped the microphone; he appears to have lost it. Mr. Biden is turning into a news media evader, and it’s harmful to his presidency and the nation. In the past 100 years, only Presidents Richard M. Nixon and Ronald Reagan averaged fewer news conferences than Mr. Biden…
“The president and his team promised transparency. Instead, he is stonewalling the media… Taking questions from the media promotes public accountability. It also shows that the president is willing to defend his positions and instills confidence that he can do the job. It is widely known that Mr. Biden is gaffe-prone and that news conferences are not his forte. But as he runs for a second term, he should be eager to show he can handle all aspects of the job…”
Trump Found Liable in Sexual Abuse Case
Breitbart wrote on May 9:
“A jury in New York found former President Donald Trump liable Tuesday for sexual abuse and battery of writer E. Jean Carroll three decades ago, though not liable for rape, and awarded $5 million in civil damages against him.
“The jury also found Trump defamed Ms. Carroll in his reactions to her lawsuit, which was encouraged by anti-Trump lawyer George Conway and backed by Democrat mega-donor Reid Hoffman, an associate of the late convicted sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein. The jury reached its decision after a few hours of deliberations, after a trial in which U.S. Judge Lewis Kaplan, a Bill Clinton appointee, allowed character evidence, including the infamous Access Hollywood tape, to be used.
“Trump decided not to testify in his own defense. Instead, video of his deposition in the case was played, in which he said he did not recall Ms. Carroll and that he would not have been attracted to her (or her lawyer)…
“… the judge controversially allowed other women to testify that they had similar experiences with Trump. Typically, such evidence of character — purporting to prove that a defendant committed a specific act based on an alleged propensity to commit similar acts — is inadmissible except in a few very specific circumstances.
“Because the case was not a criminal case, the plaintiff’s legal team was allowed to comment negatively on Trump’s refusal to testify, and the jury was allowed to draw negative inferences from it.
“Former President Trump reacted on Truth Social, his social media platform, saying: ‘I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA WHO THIS WOMAN IS. THIS VERDICT IS A DISGRACE – A CONTINUATION OF THE GREATEST WITCH HUNT OF ALL TIME!’…. Trump is planning to appeal the jury’s decision.”
The Daily Mail added on May 9:
“Trump… insisted he was denied a fair trial by a biased Manhattan jury and judge… Manhattan is a staunchly Democrat borough, and the former president is widely loathed in his hometown. ‘What else can you expect from a Trump-hating, Clinton-appointed judge, who went out of his way to ensure the result of this trial was as negative as it could possibly be,’ he asked. ‘Speaking to and in control of a jury from an anti-Trump area, which is probably the worst place in the United States for me to get a fair trial. We’ll be appealing this decision…’
“Trump’s comments echo those of his attorney, Joe Tacopina, who said outside court on Tuesday that a Manhattan jury was ‘always’ going to rule against Trump… There is no possibility of Trump being charged with attacking Carroll, as the legal time limit has long since passed.
“For similar reasons, she initially filed her civil case as a defamation lawsuit, saying Trump’s derogatory denials had subjected her to hatred, shredded her reputation and harmed her career. Last fall New York state gave people a chance to sue over sexual assault allegations that would otherwise be too old. Carroll was one of the first to file…”
What more needs to be said?
Robert Kennedy Jr. Favored by the Public
Newsmax wrote on May 5:
“There’s a high likelihood President Joe Biden may not be able to run again in 2024, but Democrats [the DNC or the Democratic National Committee] and the ‘propaganda fake news’ are ignoring Robert Kennedy Jr., a Democratic contender, says former Rep. Devin Nunes… ‘Kennedy is … at 16% of that poll you put on the screen. But I’ve actually seen him at 20% in other polls. And that didn’t bode well, considering that the fake news has totally ignored that Kennedy is even running,’ Nunes said Friday…
‘That tells you there’s something going on underneath in the Democratic Party, where you have 16[%] to 20% of them — with virtually no news coverage — that wants to vote for Kennedy,’ he added…
“Last week, a Fox News poll showed him at 19%. A survey from YouGov published a few weeks ago tested Kennedy’s image alongside a dozen other political figures, including Biden, former President Donald Trump, and other congressional leaders. Nearly half of Americans had a favorable view of him (48%) compared with just 28% unfavorable.”
Kennedy Not to Join Trump
Newsmax reported on May 10:
“Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. shot down speculation Wednesday on whether he would join former President Donald Trump on a ticket for the 2024 election. ‘Just to quell any speculation, UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES will I join Donald Trump on an electoral ticket,’ Kennedy tweeted. ‘Our positions on certain fundamental issues, our approaches to governance, and our philosophies of leadership could not be further apart.’…
“Kennedy’s comments come a day after a Rasmussen Reports survey found a majority of Democratic voters would back President Joe Biden for the party’s 2024 nomination, despite their ‘admiration’ for Kennedy…
Reaction to Kennedy’s tweet poured in from across the Twittersphere, with many asking him to reconsider…”
Kennedy Warns of Financial Censorship
Fox News reported on May 5:
“Robert F. Kennedy Jr., promised Thursday to protect Americans from ‘financial censorship’ if elected president, arguing that financial companies acting out of ‘fear’ of the government pose a threat to freedom that transcends partisanship…
“Kennedy… accused western governments of ‘financial censorship of political enemies’ during the COVID-19 pandemic. In a Twitter thread, he pointed to the Canadian government’s financial sanctions against ‘Freedom Convoy’ protesters, comparing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s actions to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s freezing of assets belonging to opposition leader Alexei Navalny. ‘It’s not outlandish to imagine that even here in America, your bank account could one day be frozen because of your politics, or comments you’ve made on social media,’ Kennedy wrote.
“‘After all, in 2010, Paypal, Visa, and Mastercard suspended WikiLeaks, at the behest of the U.S. State Department. GoFundMe blocked U.S. accounts from sending funds to Canadian truckers… backing down only when faced with a lawsuit. PayPal modified their acceptable use policy to fine users $2,500 for spreading what they deemed to be misinformation, a change they rescinded under pressure. Nonetheless, thousands of customers are currently suing PayPal for the arbitrary seizure of their accounts,’ he continued.”
In addition, Kennedy “blames the CIA for the Nov. 22, 1963, assassination of his uncle, President John F. Kennedy — proclaiming it ‘beyond a reasonable doubt.’… ‘The evidence is overwhelming that the CIA was involved in the murder, and in the cover-up.’ The US government’s official investigation… concluded Lee Harvey Oswald acted as a lone wolf in the fatal shooting, and that there was no credible evidence he was part of a conspiracy to assassinate the 35th president” (The New York Post, dated May 7).
That Oswald did NOT act alone should be obvious from all the available evidence.
Kennedy’s Take on the Russian-Ukrainian War
Modern Diplomacy wrote on May 8:
[In an interview, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. said the following:]“Let’s be honest: it’s a US war against Russia… President Biden has said that… his intention [is] to get rid of Vladimir Putin. His Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, in April 2022, said that our purpose here is to exhaust the Russian army… The commander of the special forces unit in the Ukraine… has said 80% of his troops are dead or are wounded and they cannot rebuild the unit. Right now, the Russians are killing Ukrainians at a ratio of either 1:5 or 1:8, depending on what data you believe.
“We need to remove our Aegis missile systems, which house the Tomahawk missiles — nuclear missiles — from 70 miles from the Russian border. When the Russians put nuclear missiles on Cuba, 1,500 miles from Washington DC, we were ready to invade them, and we would have invaded them if they hadn’t removed them. The way they got removed ultimately is: my uncle and father made a deal with Ambassador Brennan and Khrushchev, who they had a close relationship with and they could talk directly to at that point. The deal was: ‘we will remove our Jupiter missiles from Turkey, on your border, because we know that’s intolerable to you.’
“Russia has been invaded twice in the previous 100 years [Actually, Russia was invaded at least three times by European forces]. One could see why they wouldn’t want nuclear missile systems in hostile countries on their border… my uncle always said, if you want to actually achieve peace, you’ve got to put yourself in the other guy’s shoes and you’ve got to figure out the local pressures on him too…
“What happened in the Ukraine is that the US supported essentially a coup d’etat in 2014, against the democratically-elected government of Ukraine…”
Russia’s Victory Celebration
Thomson/Reuters wrote on May 9:
“Putin has repeatedly likened the war in Ukraine… to the challenge Moscow faced when Adolf Hitler invaded the Soviet Union in 1941…
“The Soviet Union lost 27 million people in World War Two, including many millions in Ukraine, but eventually pushed Nazi forces back to Berlin, where Hitler committed suicide and the red Soviet Victory Banner was raised over the Reichstag in 1945…
“As many as 354,000 Russian and Ukrainian soldiers have been killed or injured in the Ukraine war, which is now in its 15th month and could well grind on well beyond 2023…
“This anniversary falls less than a week after Russia accused Ukraine of attacking the Kremlin citadel with two drones in an attempt to kill Putin. Kyiv has denied any involvement…
“Along with the 1812 defeat of French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, the crushing of Nazi Germany is Russia’s most revered military triumph, though both catastrophic invasions from the west left Russia deeply sensitive about its Western borders.”
Tucker Carlson to Launch His Own Show on Twitter
The Daily Mail wrote on May 9:
“… the fired Fox News host revealed he is relaunching his show on Twitter. The ousted television host made the announcement in a three-minute video posted to his Twitter page on Tuesday, in which he slammed the mainstream media and said anyone who tries to tell the truth ‘will be fired.’
“Sources close to Carlson have previously said he is preparing for ‘war’ against the network (Fox News) as he fights to be released from his $25 million-a-year contract, which prevented him from joining rival networks or starting one of his own.
“But Musk on Tuesday denied any special agreement had been reached with Carlson. ‘I also want to be clear that we have not signed a deal of any kind whatsoever. Tucker is subject to the same rules & rewards of all content creators,’ Musk tweeted, in response to Carlson’s video.”
Axios added on May 9:
“Carlson… accused the network Tuesday of fraud and breach of contract — and made a host of document demands that could precede legal action… The aggressive letter from his lawyers to Fox positions Carlson to argue that the noncompete provision in his contract is no longer valid — freeing him to launch his own competing show or media enterprise…
“The Twitter move would seem to technically violate Carlson’s contract with Fox, but his lawyers’ letter effectively holds that Fox breached the contract first…”
The Danger of the EU Army
The European Conservative wrote on May 5:
“Before the 2016 EU referendum, leading Remainers insisted that we Brexiteers were ‘dangerous fantasists’ when we warned about the rise of a European Union army. But as the EU accelerates its drive towards a militarised supra-state, we are surely entitled to ask: who are the dangerous fantasists now?
“When European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker called for a Europe-wide security force in 2015, Leave campaigners led by then-UKIP leader Nigel Farage MEP seized upon it as proof that they had been right all along…
“Arch-Remainer Nick Clegg… declared that ‘Jean-Claude Juncker and Nigel Farage are both dangerous fantasists when it comes to this issue. It’s not going to happen.’…
“Meanwhile the forward charge towards a militarised EU has accelerated… Just this week, Brussels unveiled its plan to pump €500 million into European factories producing ammunition shells… European Commission industry chief Thierry Breton urged European manufacturers to get into ‘war economy mode.’
“This is the third of EU leaders’ current three tracks for increased military spending. Track two commits the EU to spend €1 billion on procuring arms and missiles over the next year…
“Russia’s invasion of Ukraine provides EU leaders with a plausible pretext for their new ‘war economy’ policies. But… they have been working to turn their dream of a centralised EU security policy into reality for many years: from Juncker’s call for an EU army in 2015, through Chancellor Merkel and President Macron’s explicit endorsement of that idea in 2018, to the EU’s 2022 ‘Military Mobility 2.0’ action plan for the rapid movement of large-scale forces. If it wasn’t for the all-too-real war in Ukraine, they would no doubt have found some other excuse…
“EU member states are now faced with the real prospect of security forces armed and commanded from Brussels. They may have to ask the question that we Brexiteers posed to British voters: in a democracy, who do you want to decide if you go to war? Your elected national government, or a centralised, militarised EU super-state?”
Such a centralized, militarized EU super-state IS prophesied to happen. Please read our free booklet, “The Ten European Revivals of the Ancient Roman Empire.”
European Parliament Displays Jesus with Gay Sadomasochistic Slaves
Fox News reported on May 7:
“Conservative European politicians raged over artwork at the European Parliament in Brussels that depicted Jesus Christ delivering the Sermon on the Mount while surrounded by gay men dressed in leather BDSM outfits. The image, which was part of a photography exhibition by lesbian Swedish artist Elisabeth Ohlson that ran in a restricted part of the EU Parliament building from May 2 to 5, was an attempt to display Jesus as supportive of LGBTQ rights, the artist said…
“Another piece of Ohlson’s work featured in the exhibit depicted a naked Black man in the position of Christ on the cross while a naked White man cradled him…
“The art had previously been rejected for display at the EU Parliament in the early 2000s.
“The art drew condemnation from some Italian, Spanish and Polish members of European Parliament, who described the work as blasphemous...
“Ohlson has stoked outrage before… She toured Sweden in 1998 with a series titled ‘Ecce Homo,’ which displayed images of Jesus featuring themes promoting homosexuality, transgenderism and BDSM fetishism.”
This is SO blasphemous!
Hungary Wants Trump to Return as President
Newsmax wrote on May 5:
“Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban is calling for former President Donald Trump to return to the White House… ‘I’m sure if President Trump were president today, there’d be no war inflicting Europe and Ukraine,’ he continued…
“Earlier this month, Orban urged the former president to ‘keep on fighting’ amid intense legal battles surrounding the Stormy Daniels payment and other controversies.
“In a similar vein, last year Trump praised and endorsed the Hungarian leader as he was seeking a fourth successive term as prime minister against a united opposition. Orban won the election by a 20-percentage-point margin, 54% to 34%…
“Orban has faced some criticism from within the European Union for his populist beliefs…”
Last week’s CBS News and YouGov poll found Trump on top of the field at 58%, a 35-percentage-point lead over DeSantis at 22%. Former United States Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley came in at 4%. Former Vice President Mike Pence tied with entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy at 5%.
EU Bans Ukrainian Grain
Deutsche Welle wrote on May 7:
“An agreement signed by Ukraine and Russia last year, mediated by Turkey, on a Black Sea grain corridor has been poorly implemented. Ukrainian grain exports via the sea route have repeatedly come to a standstill. This has caused the price of Ukrainian grain to drop and fluctuate considerably.
“Large-scale grain deliveries from Ukraine to the European Union only became possible after Russia’s invasion… Just over a year ago, Brussels abolished tariffs and import quotas for Ukrainian agricultural products as a sign of solidarity and as an effort to buoy up Ukraine’s economy.
“On April 7, 2023, however, Poland unilaterally imposed import bans on Ukrainian grains after mass protests by farmers there over falling prices… This was quickly followed by similar bans in Hungary, Slovakia and Bulgaria. In late April, the EU Commission retroactively legalized this ban, which has now also been extended to include Romania and covers wheat, corn, rapeseed, sunflower seeds and sunflower oil.
“At the same time, the EU Commission emphasized that the transit of Ukrainian grain through these nations to third countries remains permitted. The restrictions initially apply until June 5, after which they can be extended indefinitely…
“Because of the EU import bans, 12 to 15 million tons of grain from last year’s harvest will remain in Ukrainian silos… For Ukrainian farmers, this uncertainty in relations with European business partners is even worse than current financial setbacks… Tensions with the EU weaken Ukraine, making the country even more vulnerable to Russian blackmail…”
It is obvious that Ukrainians are not happy with Europe’s anti-Ukrainian position.
Once You Start Burning (or Prohibiting) Books…
Deutsche Welle wrote on May 9:
“On a rainy night in May, German writer Erich Kästner [“The Parent Trap”] stands among NAZI SA officers and onlookers before a burning pyre that illuminates Berlin’s Opernplatz, now called Bebelplatz. Men in black SA uniforms throw piles of books on to the fire. Kästner listens as his name is shouted into a microphone: ‘Against decadence and moral decay! For discipline and decency in family and state! I hand over to the flames the writings of Heinrich Mann, Ernst Glaeser and Erich Kästner!”…
“It’s the night of May 10, 1933. In Berlin and in 21 other cities in Germany, bonfires are fed with books. It’s an act of barbarism that continues to reverberate to this day…
“Many of the writers and intellectuals whose books were burned had already left Germany by that point… By the time the Nazis seized power and Adolf Hitler became chancellor, on January 30, 1933, it was clear to them that they had no future in Germany… By May 1933, more than 200 writers had been blacklisted; a year later, more than 3,500 written works had been banned…
“Erich Kästner was possibly the only author to witness the burning of his own books on the night of May 10, 1933…He… remained in Germany, somehow keeping his head above water over the next years. As a non-Jew, he was able to survive the period until the end of the Nazi dictatorship in 1945…
“What is today Bebelplatz in Berlin features a memorial to the book burnings, a 1995 work by Israeli sculptor Micha Ullmann titled, ‘The Empty Library’… A plaque nearby says, ‘Where books are burned, eventually people will also be burned.’
“Those words, written by the German-Jewish poet Heinrich Heine in 1820, became horrifying reality in Nazi Germany… his words referred to book burnings in medieval Spain.
“The Nazis were by no means the inventors of this barbaric act, which has a long tradition. Books (and people) were burned across the centuries-long histories of both Christianity and Islam, as well as in ancient Greece and China, and in more recent times, in Iran and Russia.
“Authoritarian regimes all over the world fear the power held by the free word to call their dominance into question — and in the case of the Nazis, so much so that among the works they burned on May 10, 1933, were those by Heinrich Heine, more than 70 years after the poet died in exile in Paris.”
And today, every time we hear about prohibiting or censuring books or free speech, we should take note and wake up.
Syria Readmitted
Reuters wrote on May 7:
“The Arab League readmitted Syria on Sunday after more than a decade of suspension, consolidating a regional push to normalise ties with President Bashar al-Assad in a move criticised by Washington.
“The decision said Syria could resume its participation in Arab League meetings immediately… Russia, an Assad ally, hailed Syria’s readmission.”
The Arab world, in opposition to Israel, is coming together.
Acknowledgement and Disclaimer
These Current Events are compiled and commented on by Norbert Link. We gratefully acknowledge the many contributions of news articles from our readership. The publication of articles in this section is not to be viewed as an endorsement or approval as to contents or accuracy of the selected articles, but they are published for the purpose of pointing at worldwide developments in the light of biblical end-time prophecy and godly instruction. Our own comments are provided in italics.
