All the more must be praised the commitment of wise Christian and Jewish, who since the Second Vatican Council have contributed to abate the two millennia of Christian persecution and hatred for the descendants of what had been the people of Jesus and the Apostles , and bring each other to recognize that large part of spiritual heritage that the two faiths have in common.
I had cause to read the principles stated on the ‘about‘ page of the website iPetitions.
Under the heading of ‘Tolerance’ the following is stated:
We will not accept any petition which discriminates on grounds of race, class, sex, ethnicity, political affiliation, or sexual orientation. We reserve the right to refuse any petition which we feel does not contribute to an open and democratic exchange of ideas.
I noted the absence of religion, so do iPetitions allow for discrimination on the grounds of religion?
I recently blogged about an article written by Andrea Minichiello Williams entitled: London Riots Symptom of a Deeper Malaise.
I was unhappy with what I viewed as a conflation between the rise in mental health problems, with the London riots.
Some folk agreed with my observation and others didn’t.
I noticed today that Andrea’s blog post has been amended to remove the reference to mental illness.
I’d like to express my thanks to Andrea for taking this action.
A quick heads up to let you know that Chavah Internet Radio has expanded and moved to:
I first blogged about this last August and asked Judah to write a few words introducing the project and here’s what he said:
Chavah is internet radio for Yeshua’s disciples with a certain Messianic Jewish slant. Inspired by Pandora, Chavah is frictionless, easy to listen to, no sign-up required, and only the best of the Messianic music genre. Hope you enjoy!
If you love music with the ‘Jewish slant’ as I do, then I thoroughly recommend this to your attention.
Happy listening.
The pendulum of popular belief about Satan tends to swing between two extremes. On one side there are those who believe that he doesn’t exist at all, or if he does exist. he is a mere impersonal evil “force,” sort of a collective evil that finds its origin in the sin of society. On the other side there are those who have a preoccupied fixation, a cultic focus of attention upon him that diverts their gaze from Christ.
Either way Satan gains some ground. If he can persuade people that he does not exist, he can work his wiles without being detected or resisted. If he can get people to become preoccupied with him, he can lure them into the occult.
This is great news and Neil Addison even used the Equality Act to defend the nurses right to conscientious objection.
All the details are here and Neil concludes:
Personally I hope that this use of the Equality Act will be of assistance for pro-life Doctors and Nurses and Pharmacists who find themselves being pressurised to participate in Abortion in particular these new forms of Abortion induced through pills. Now they are not only are protected under s4 of the Abortion Act but they are also protected from Harassment, Victimisation or Discrimination because of their pro-life stand.
So called ‘blasphemy laws’ are used in Islamic nations to persecute, subjugate and intimidate religious minorities – such as Christians – and so I read with interest about a UN Human Rights Committee statement on freedom of speech, which states:
Laws restricting blasphemy as such are incompatible with universal human rights standards.
Although this will be trumpeted as a triumph for secularists, this would – if adhered to – also set Christians free from the accusation of blasphemy.
Though most in the Coptic Orthodox community send their children to Catholic school, they are not Catholic themselves. The differences are slight — they use the same liturgies, though Orthodox Christians differ from Roman Catholics in their belief that the Pope is a human being, not a divine figure — which has meant Coptic Orthodox children most often are sent to Catholic school.
Some interesting stats over on the British Religion in Numbers website today, conducted by ComRes on behalf of Premier Christian Media:
Here’s a few:
Asked how important they considered various socio-religious issues to have a campaign on, the number of Christians replying ‘very important’ or ‘important’ ranged from 85% on abortion to 95% on parenting and the family.
93% each opted for campaigns on care of the elderly and freedom of religious expression, 92% for marriage, 91% for the persecuted Church, and 87% for lobbying on euthanasia or assisted suicide.
In particular, ‘pro-life and end of life issues were of greater concern to young people aged between 18-34 years compared with those over the age of 65’, whereas ‘youth related issues were of greater concern to over 65s compared to young people (under 35s)’.
In terms of gender, the single most notable variation was over attitudes to abortion, 79% of male and 91% of female Christians regarding it as very important or important to campaign on this topic. There were smaller gaps (84% versus 92% and 89% versus 95% respectively) on euthanasia and marriage.
More on the BRIN website and the original research results are available here in PDF format.
Fascinating article today over on the Beliefnet Blog by Ronald Pies, M.D., professor of psychiatry, busting the myths surrounding antidepressants, then looking for the cause of these misconceptions and couching the answer within the Puritan mindset.
Do take the time to read it all – it’s only a short piece – but here is the conclusion:
So why is there so much hostility directed at these medications? (The same question could be raised with respect to psychiatry and psychiatrists, but that’s another story). I believe that a good deal of the animus arises from our Puritan heritage, and its attitude toward suffering, sin, and expiation. For the Puritans of New England, disease was essentially a divine punishment for Man’s original disobedience to God. As historian An Vandenberghe has put it, for the Puritans, ‘Even though there were more than two thousand different diseases…the primary cause of all of them was the “Sin of our First Parents.”’ There was also a strong link between disease and personal sin: the person whose tooth ached probably did something nasty with his teeth!
Now, when psychiatrists see patients with severe major depression, these unfortunate souls often express the view that their illness is a “punishment” of some sort. Some believe that God is punishing them for their sins. But this attitude, in a less extreme form, pervades our society’s views about depression—that it is, in some sense, the “fault” of the depressed individual. Some clinicians who argue that depression has an “adaptive” value often begin with the premise that depression represents the person’s “failure to resolve their social dilemmas”—a clinical euphemism for blaming the sufferer. The logical extension of this line of reasoning is that the depressed individual must somehow “repent of his ways”—for example, by ruminating on his problem until it is solved, or by “pulling himself up by his bootstraps.”
In this view of depression, taking a “drug”—the term “medication” is almost never used by those opposed to antidepressants—represents a weak-willed dodge. Antidepressants are seen as merely “covering up the real problem” or as “a crutch.” This attitude is extraordinarily unhelpful for those struggling with a potentially lethal illness. Although I prefer to begin with psychotherapy in most mild-to-moderate cases of depression, the more severe bouts usually require medication. Often, the combination of medication and therapy works better than either one alone. And I use a non-Puritanical metaphor in framing the issue for my patients. I say, “Medication isn’t a crutch, it’s a bridge between feeling awful and feeling better. You still have to move your legs to get across the bridge, and that’s the work of therapy.”
Let me know you thoughts.
