3rd Millennium Gateway Spirituality - Nonduality, Enlightenment InsideNONDUALITYNONDUAL FAQ3MG POSTSSPIRITUALITYCOSMOLOGYFRONTIERSRELIGIONSENVIRONMENTABOUT 3MG3rd Millennium GatewayA Guide and Index to Genuine Spirituality 3rd Millennium SpiritualityHoliday NoticeDuring this holiday season of giving and generosity, please remember that the Salvation Army is a fundamentalist organization which actively discriminates against gays and others in its employment policies, while accepting taxpayer money."As part of President Bush's 'faith-based initiative,' US taxpayers gave the Salvation Army's children services division $47 million this year [2005] -- 95% of its total budget. Several Salvation Army employees refused to take the Salvation Army's pledge 'proclaiming Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord,' reveal which church they belong to or identify gay co-workers -- and were summarily fired." - (see Welcome to Faith-Based America)Until the Salvation Army decides to treat all people with equal dignity and respect, the act of re-directing your charitable contributions to deserving organizations who do not maintain policies of discrimination will contribute to a morality of tolerance and social justice for gays and others. Please spread this message to your relatives and friends.The religion of the future will be a cosmic religion. It should transcend a personal God and avoid dogmas and theology. Covering both the natural and the spiritual, it should be based on a religious sense arising from the experience of all things, natural and spiritual as a meaningful unity.- Albert Einstein -Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.- Buddha -One can know one's Self only with one's own eye of knowledge, and not with somebody else's.- Ramana Maharshi -In oneself lies the whole world, and if you know how to look and learn, then the door is there and the key is in your hand. Nobody on earth can give you either that key or the door to open, except yourself.- J. Krishnamurti, You Are The World -Nonduality3MG is a Nonduality site. Nonduality has many different expressions and names, such as Zen Buddhism, Taoism, Advaita Vedanta, and others. In Western philosophy, it is sometimes called monism, which means simply that reality is one without separation. In essence, Nonduality teaches that nothing exists but consciousness, and consciousness is what you are. It is not a religion, or a system of belief, or an ideology. In fact, it does not require belief of any kind; all it requires is self-discovery. It is nothing more than seeing, understanding, or awakening to one's own nature, which can occur in a split second. It is a completely natural shift from a separate identity to an inclusive identity. (For more information, see Frequently Asked Questions About Nonduality.)When Buddha, whose name means "the awakened one," was asked what made him different from others, he replied simply, "I am awake." He also taught that enlightenment is already inherent in all beings. Everyone, therefore, is a potential Buddha; everyone can awaken spiritually. But there are as many gateways to becoming awake as there are people. Each person is unique; each approaches and expresses spirituality differently. Yet, each gateway is also an illusion; upon passing through the gate, it is instantly self-evident that there never was a gate blocking the way. The discovery is humorous, because it reveals that what you have searched for you have never lost or can ever lose. The search is as silly as a fish swimming in a lake and looking for water.The search is fulfilled in the discovery of your own nature, but the truth of your nature is always available, always self-evident, always obvious. It is ever here, ever now, always who and what you already are. Thinking that it is elsewhere, or must be found, is what classic Nonduality texts call illusion. ...there is nothing whatever mysterious about this matter...the apparent difficulty is due to our conditioning...an inability to perceive the obvious owing to a conditioned reflex which causes us persistently to look in the wrong direction!- Wei Wu Wei -Nonduality Reviews And CommentaryGina Lake's Latest Book, Embracing the Now: Finding Peace and Happiness in What Is, Reviewed!"Happiness isn't something to attain or achieve but something to notice." - Gina LakeAlso, an excerpt from the book:Happiness Is Here Right Now "If we stay in the moment long enough, we experience essence rejoicing in life - relishing the experience of being alive in this ever-changing and mysterious moment." A New Book - Highly Recommended! Living from the Heart by Nirmala is a compilation of 3 books - From the Heart, The Heart's Wisdom, and Love is for Giving. Part 2 can be downloaded for free at his site, Endless Satsang. The complete book is available at the site as a printed paperback.Two excerpts from the book:Living from the Heart (An Excerpt) "You may think it matters what happens. But what if the only thing that matters is where you are experiencing from, where you are looking from? What if you could experience all of life from a spacious, open perspective where anything can happen and there is room for all of it, where there is no need to pick and choose, to put up barriers or resist any of it, where nothing is a problem and everything just adds to the richness of life? What if this open, spacious perspective was the most natural and easy thing to do?" Love Is for Giving, Not for Getting (An Excerpt) "Love is both simpler and more mysterious and subtle than we have imagined it to be."Another New Free E-book - Also Highly Recommended! Beyond No Self by Nirmala. "The spiritual journey is a movement away from over-identification with the body and mind to the rediscovery of our true identity as infinite Being, and this can be two different movements." (Beyond No Self can also be downloaded at Nirmala's site, Endless Satsang.)Two New Articles by Nirmala:1. You Cannot Be Harmed "Consciousness is affected but not harmed." A reassuring perspective on life's difficulties.2. Exploring Emptiness "What is it about emptiness that makes us want to move away from it?"Nondual Social Awareness And ActionIn the Bhagavad-Gita (the Song of God, which is a classic Hindu scripture of spiritual understanding), when Arjuna expresses spiritual doubts about going into battle, his teacher Krishna does not tell him to withdraw; instead, he urges him to fight. Although it is sometimes claimed that withdrawal from social and political issues is a sure sign of enlightenment or spiritual insight, that position says more about one's own individual temperament, conditioning and interests than about Nonduality itself. The claim is often nothing more than disguised apathy or depression, a rationalized attempt to divorce oneself from life. It may include an underlying assumption that there is something wrong with the manifest world, and that there is something better about the unmanifest.But there is no division between the manifest and the unmanifest. Nonduality, a translation of the Sanskrit word Advaita, means "not-two," which means "no-separation." It follows from that understanding, as J. Krishnamurti and others have repeatedly affirmed, that you are the world. Its condition is your responsibility. If your house is on fire, you will take action to try to save it. And that is likewise true if you see that your society or the world is on fire and that you can do something about it.One such threat today comes from the growing tyranny of religious absolutism and inflexibility as people rush blindly to demand certainty in a world that is by nature uncertain. It is a dangerous, uncompromising form of spiritual darkness that inevitably leads to conflict and oppression. In response, 3MG takes a stand on controversial issues such as, but not limited to, women's equality and gay rights, which are most heavily and irrationally under attack by many established religions and which expose the heart of their authoritarian mentality. In addition, 3MG disseminates information supporting tolerance and diversity; it questions religious authority, particularly when religion attempts to impose itself through political institutions. But, most importantly, 3MG encourages individuals to look into themselves to discover their own true nature and freedom through spiritual awakening.There is no enlightenment outside of daily life. - Thich Nhat Hanh -The fundamentalist approach is dangerous, for it is attractive to people who look to the Bible for ready answers to the problems of life. It can deceive these people, offering them interpretations that are pious but illusory, instead of telling them that the Bible does not necessarily contain an immediate answer to each and every problem. Without saying as much in so many words, fundamentalism actually invites people to a kind of intellectual suicide. It injects into life a false certitude, for it unwittingly confuses the divine substance of the biblical message with what are in fact its human limitations. - The Vatican in the 1993 document, The Interpretation of the Bible in the Church. -Religious, Political, Social News & CommentaryPeople place their hand on the Bible and swear to uphold the Constitution. They don't put their hand on the Constitution and swear to uphold the Bible. - Jamie Raskin, Professor of Constitutional Law, American UniversityA Voice Crying In The Wilderness -- The essence of morality is compassion, not authoritarian commandments. If you listen carefully, underlying the shrill bullying voices of right-wing extremists dominating American culture today, you can still find the alternative voice of reason, moderation and compassion. It's called liberalism, and you can find it at Common Dreams, Moving Ideas, Working For Change, and many other sites."The progressive-liberal values are America's values, and we need to go back to them." - George Lakoff in America Devastated By Conservative Moral And Political Philosophy. Should religious extremists be allowed to use the power of government and the courts to impose their values on you? Keep religious freedom alive in America by supporting strict separation of church and state. For more information, visit these organizations dedicated to Separation of Church and State.When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross. - Sinclair LewisMalaysia Outlaws Yoga For Muslims "The Islamic authorities have issued a ruling, known as a fatwa, instructing the country's Muslims to avoid yoga because of its Hindu roots."The New Liberal Order "Liberalism, which average Americans once associated with upheaval, now promises stability instead."Uncertain Times For Religious Right "The Republican Party as it exists today could not exist without the Christian evangelical vote and the conservative Catholic vote. Now the Republican Party can't win with them alone - as we've learned."Keith Olbermann's "Special Comment" on Prop 8 This video is from MSNBC's Keith Olbermann about the passage of California's Proposition 8 which banned gay marriage. It's an eloquent statement of why the passage of Prop 8 is so tragic.The Authoritarians by Bob Altemeyer, Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Manitoba - a free e-book. "Authoritarians get a lot of their ideas about how people ought to act from their religion...they tend to belong to fundamentalist religions that make it crystal clear what they consider correct and what they consider wrong."Endangered Species: In More Danger "...it's difficult to avoid the conclusion that the White House is simply trying to dismantle as much of the nation's framework for environmental protection as possible in its last months in office."In Defense of Liberalism "One of the great fallacies in modern lore is that liberalism stands for nothing and liberals have no core beliefs. The right wing, from the Pope to the President, has impugned the left by unfairly portraying it as a valueless movement mired in moral relativism."Under New Proposals, Some Rape Victims Wouldn't Get Emergency Contraception "Conservatives are proposing a federal rule that would go so far as to allow providers to deny rape victims emergency contraception."Did Right-Wing Shock Jocks Motivate Knoxville Killer? "Hateful talk about one's enemies undermining the nation leads to hateful acts in response."The California Marriage Decision and Basic Civics "Central to our system of government is the premise that there are laws which even the largest majorities are prohibited from enacting because such laws violate the constitutional rights of minorities."Court Approves Evil Gay Agenda "...cultural conservatives still have no idea exactly why they hate gay marriage. There is still zero articulation. There is a complete lack of fact or understanding and I have yet to meet a single person of any political stripe who can adequately explain exactly why gay marriage is so dangerous, or who's threatened, or how."Military Makes Mincemeat of Church-State Separation "Maybe the reason the misperception persists that there are no atheists in foxholes is that nonbelievers must either shut up about their views or be hounded out of the military."An Atheist Goes Undercover to Join the Flock of Mad Pastor John Hagee "One thing about this world: Once a preacher says it, it's true. No one is going to look up anything the preacher says, cross-check his facts, raise an eyebrow at something that might sound a little off."Malaysian Woman Can Leave Islam "Malaysians are rarely allowed to renounce the faith - those who do can be prosecuted under stringent laws."Girl Thrown On Fire For Being 'Low Class' "The girl is a Dalit, or an 'untouchable,' according to India's traditional caste system."Atheist Soldier Harassed "Known as 'the atheist guy,' Hall has been called immoral, a devil worshipper and - just as severe to some soldiers - gay, none of which, he says, is true."Saudi Women 'Kept In Childhood' "For Saudi women, reaching hood brings no rights, only responsibilities."When Muslims Become Christians "The idea of killing apostates has become a resurgent theme in recent years..."Documents: Bush Asked For Weaker Smog Standard "Never before has a president personally intervened at the 11th hour, exercising political power at the expense of the law and science, to force EPA to accept weaker air quality standards than the agency chief's expert scientific judgment had led him to adopt. It is unprecedented and an unlawful act of political interference."President Weakens Espionage Oversight "What the Bush administration has systematically done is to try to limit both internal oversight - things like the Intelligence Oversight Board - and effective external oversight by the Congress. It's profoundly disappointing if you understand American history, and it's profoundly harmful to the United States."Report: Anti-Semitism On The Rise Globally "The report details physical acts of anti-Semitism, such as attacks, property damage, and cemetery desecration. It also lists manifestations such as conspiracy theories concerning Jews, Holocaust denial, anti-Zionism and the demonization of Israel."Theocracy Rejected: Former Christian Right Leaders 'Fess Up "My doubts really began when I realized that the people we were working with on the Religious Right were profoundly anti-American. ... When I was working with the Religious Right, they seemed be rooting for the failure of America. Bad news was good news for them."Role Of The American Press Revealed "Serving the politically powerful, functioning as the PR arm of the political establishment, is what they want to do, what they believe they should be doing."Boycott Jamaica "It is time to hand an ultimatum to Jamaica's public officials: Stop allowing rampant abuse of gay people or your economy will be crippled."God's Country "At the time of the massacre, Archbishop Peter Akinola was the president of the Christian Association of Nigeria, whose membership was implicated in the killings."Survey: Americans Switching Faiths, Dropping Out "More than one-quarter of American s have left the faith of their childhood for another religion or no religion at all, the survey found."A Matter Of Islamic Faith "Why don't the moderates stand up? That's a question posed not just in Pakistan but across the Muslim world and indeed in the West."Top Scientists Want Research Free From Politics "This interference has been directed at climate change research, new birth control drugs, species protection, consumer safety studies and agricultural research, the scientists said."Map Shows Toll On World's Oceans "There's nowhere really that escaped. It's quite a shocking map to see."Trafficking In Human Slavery "Like any other market - and it is a perverse kind of market - there is a supply in terms of people who are duped, coerced or tricked, and a demand, people who may be buying the sort of commodities we are talking about. And there is the act of connecting the supply and demand - those who do the trafficking."Pleas For Condemned Saudi 'Witch' "Human Rights Watch has appealed to Saudi Arabia to halt the execution of a woman convicted of witchcraft."Violations Of 'Islamic teachings' Take Deadly Toll On Iraqi Women "The women are killed, police say, because they failed to wear a headscarf or because they ignored other 'rules' that secretive fundamentalist groups want to enforce."Tragic Protest Of Iraqi Kurdish Women "Some believe that religion is to blame - if a woman does something wrong, so the theory goes, she faces burning in hell."Out of the GOP's Closet "Consider this incomplete sampling of politically prominent 'social conservatives' who preach the conventional virtues to their constituents while practicing something else in their off-hours."Catholic Church Allowed Female Priests In First Millennia "The Catholic church ordained women for the first 1,200 years of Christianity, says a new book by a U.S. scholar."Sentenced to Death: Afghan Who Dared To Read About Women's Rights "A young man, a student of journalism, is sentenced to death by an Islamic court for downloading a report from the internet."Big Business Says Addressing Climate Change 'Rates Very Low on Agenda' "The survey demolishes George Bush's insistence that global warming is best addressed through voluntary measures undertaken by business...."God's Profits: Faith, Fraud And The Republican Crusade For Values Voters "It is through revelation knowledge that the Word of Faith movement has created its alternate universe in which rational thought is rejected and where the media, intellectual thought, science, and any type of critical thinking are scorned."Is Religion A Threat To Democracy? Faith Talk On The Campaign Trail "Voters reward faith talk because they want candidates to offer them symbols of immutable moral order. The root of the problem lies in the underlying insecurities of voters, in a sense of powerlessness that makes change seem so frightening, and control - especially of others - so necessary."Now the Theocrats Want 'American Religious History Week' "...the religious right seeks to rewrite American history, turning the founding fathers into Christian fundamentalists."End Death By Stoning, Iran Urged "According to the law, men are buried up to their waists and women up to their breasts before being pelted with stones until they die."Scholars Protest Papal Visit "They say he condoned the 1633 trial and conviction of Galileo for heresy. The astronomer had argued that the Earth revolved around the Sun."Is Prayer Good For Your Health? Prayer for healing. What, if anything, does it accomplish? Is it actually dangerous?Religion-Politics Mix Gives Rise To Fear "Hand in hand with the growing public acceptance of professions of Christian faith on the campaign trail is the implicit idea that this is the one faith that is true and correct, and which qualifies its holder for the presidency."Why I Believe Bush Must Go "Bush and Cheney are clearly guilty of numerous impeachable offenses. They have repeatedly violated the Constitution. They have transgressed national and international law. They have lied to the American people time after time. Their conduct and their barbaric policies have reduced our beloved country to a historic low in the eyes of people around the world. These are truly 'high crimes and misdemeanors,' to use the constitutional standard." - George McGovernNational Academy of Scientists Defends the Teaching of Evolution "The report says creationism, based on the explanation offered in the Bible, and the related idea of 'intelligent design' are not science and, as such, should not be taught in science classrooms at public schools." Science, Evolution and Creationism can be read online or downloaded in PDF file format. Also, an abbreviated version is available for download as a PDF file.Looking at America "There are too many moments these days when we cannot recognize our country."Coming Out: Former 'Ex-Gay' Minister Speaks Out "I've seen what I believe is a higher incidence of risky behavior and alcohol and drug use among a lot of people who go through an ex-gay ministry. A lot of it is because of spiritual conflict that emerges going through that, feeling betrayed by God, feeling betrayed by the church."Battle Over Word For 'God' "A church and Christian newspaper in Malaysia are suing the government after it decreed that the word 'Allah' can only be used by Muslims."Unholy Dust-up At Nativity Church "Members of rival Christian orders have traded blows at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, with four people reported wounded in the fray."Fear, Loathing And The Crisis Of Confidence "The sentiments are symptoms of a deep crisis of confidence in our public institutions - a crisis that is a predictable reaction to a government that now all but admits it breaks laws, hides information and disregards the public."Everything I Need To Know About The Regressive Right I Learned In Junior High "Regressive conservatives aren't really so hard to figure out. You just need to know the key."California's Clean Air Initiative Thwarted "...the EPA's decision leaves little doubt that the Bush Administration, with a year left in office, has no interest in meeting environmentalists halfway - or perhaps, at all." See,also, EPA Chief Is Said To Have Ignored Staff "...this administration ignores the science and ignores the law to reach the politically convenient conclusion."The Conservative Golem "After years spent injecting religion into US politics, right-wing pundits are afraid they may have gone too far."Are We Electing A President, Or A Pastor-In-Chief? "Whether you're religious or not, the marriage of religion and politics is cause for concern."A Feckless Leader "Liberals ignore him, conservatives walk over him and through his stunning lack of leadership he has lost control of the Anglican Church."Islamic Iraq: 'Bad' Women Raped and Killed "Women are being killed by militia groups in southern Iraq for not conforming to strict Islamic ways, the police say. And, increased threats from militia groups is driving many women away from their homes."The Politics of Religion In America "What in the name of God is going on in American politics?"What Your Brain Looks Like On Faith "Do believers believe that Jesus was born of a virgin the same way that nonbelievers believe that Chevrolet makes cars and trucks?"Straight Like Me "Despite its rhetoric that 'freedom from unwanted homouality is possible,' Exodus officials seem quietly aware that few, if any, of the thousands of people who participate in their ministries actually change their ual orientation."Some Churches Cut Out Civil Wedding Ceremonies "It's a new strategy to achieve legal marriage for gays and lesbians, with supporters hoping to push toward a society that views civil and religious marriage as separate institutions."(Not) Home for Christmas "All the other sailors were going to a special room to film video messages to their sweethearts. But not Quillian. She didn't record a message. She couldn't."Sweden's Biggest Church Supports Gay Marriage Bill "The Church of Sweden said Wednesday that it approves of legislation that would make laws governing marriage gender neutral."Cardinal Wants Gays Banned From Public Office "The leader of Latvia's Roman Catholics has called on political parties to ban gays from seeking public office."Is There A 'War On Christmas'? "With so much money at stake, it's imperative that the Religious Right keep the myth of the 'War on Christmas' alive."A Christmas Story "It's ironic to hear Religious Right groups portray themselves as the great defenders of Christmas – their spiritual forebears hated the holiday and even banned its celebration."Iran Executes 21-Year Old Accused Of Gay When He Was 13 "This is a shameful and outrageous travesty of justice and international human rights law. How many more young Iranians have to die before the international community takes action?" - International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights CommissionFeminist Writer Threatened By Muslim Extremists "There have been violent protests against Ms Nasreen by Muslims in West Bengal's capital, Calcutta, recently." Taslima Nasreen's Website.Shoot 'Muhammad' Teddy Bear Teacher, Say Protesters "Thousands of people have marched in the Sudanese capital Khartoum to call for UK teacher Gillian Gibbons to be shot."'Muhammad' Teddy Bear Teacher Arrested "A British school teacher has been arrested in Sudan accused of insulting Islam's Prophet, after she allowed her pupils to name a teddy bear Muhammad."Sunday School For Atheists "The lives of these young people would be much easier, nonbelievers say, if they learned at an early age how to respond to the God-fearing majority in the U.S."What Makes Us Moral "The deepest foundation on which morality is built is the phenomenon of empathy, the understanding that what hurts me would feel the same way to you. And human ego notwithstanding, it's a quality other species share."Creationist Bugaboo Back Again "We thought that the religious view of science called 'intelligent design' was dead. Suddenly resurrected, it is sparring once again with evolutionary principles. While this theological position is rallying in the classroom, we are at war with religious fanatics in nations where there is no separation of religion and state."Cardinal Asks Forgiveness For Church's Sins Against Gays, Others " 'Do I feel better because the cardinal has recognized that wrongs were done to the population? Not really, because the cardinal doesn't offer any solutions,' said Michael Hendricks, a gay activist in Montreal. 'Those wrongs are ongoing.' "Tutu Chides Church For Gay Stance "If God, as they say, is homophobic, I wouldn't worship that God."Thou Shalt Find It Impossible To Live Like the Bible Tells You To "It's not like the Bible has a section called 'And Now for Some Crazy Laws.' They're all jumbled up like a chopped salad."Saudi Court Punishes Rape Victim "A court in Saudi Arabia increased the punishment for a gang-rape victim after her lawyer won an appeal of the sentence for the rapists."Iranian Official Confirms Gay Executions "...gays deserve to be executed or tortured and possibly both."Obama Spurns Black LGBT Community for an "Ex-Gay" Musician "Sad, disappointed and more than a little hurt. That's how many Americans who are both black and gay sound these days when they talk about Barack Obama."The Evangelical Crackup "The pendulum in the Christian world has swung back to the moderate point of view. The real battle now is among evangelicals."Reconciling Catholic Faith with LGBT Children "We believe we are the church. And if we didn't work to have our children recognized as whole and holy members of the church, then we are complicit with the injustice."White House 'Eviscerated' CDC Testimony Regarding Climate Change and Health "The deletions directed by the White House included details on how many people might be adversely affected because of increased warming, according to one official who has seen the original version. Also deleted were the scientific basis for some of the CDC's analysis on what kinds of diseases might be spread in a warmer climate and rising sea level, the official added."The Professional Intolerance Movement: Fading? "...they need money to fill the coffers and sustain their ability to be professional political 'Christians.'"Mother Teresa, John Paul II, and the Fast-Track Saints "Mother Teresa is a paramount example of the kind of acceptably conservative icon propagated by an elite-dominated culture, a 'saint' who uttered not a critical word against social injustice, and maintained cozy relations with the rich, corrupt, and powerful."'Dude, You're A Fag': How Homophobia Operates In High School "Boys' homophobic harassment, talk, and predatory behavior have become so normalized that oftentimes s don't identify it as harassment."Southern Baptists Seek Laws Making 'Will Of Christ' Supreme "Apparently the 'will of Christ' just happens to dovetail with the policy goals of the far right."Jimmy Carter: US Tortures Prisoners "The U.S. tortures prisoners in violation of international law, former President Jimmy Carter said Wednesday, adding that President Bush makes up his own definition of torture."Full Horror of Burmese Junta's Repression of Monks Emerges "The hidden crackdown is as methodical as it is brutal. First the monks were targeted, then the thousands of ordinary Burmese who joined the demonstrations, those who even applauded or watched, or those merely suspected of anti-government sympathies."Why Do Right-Wingers Mock Attempts to Care for Other People? "In some sense, the meanness is the message. On the right, there's an almost lethal refusal to consider the problems of suffering of others. And it goes right back through time."Young People Rejecting Christianity, Have Perception of Religion as Homophobic "...the goal of making America a Christian nation is actually receding into the distance as successive generations turn away from the faith - in no small part because they're gagging on the overwhelming authoritarian stench that's seeped in from the extremist edges toward the great middle."Clarence Thomas Whines His Way To The Bank "Always eager to cast himself as a lynching victim, Mr. Thomas is far more trapped in the past than the 1960s civil-rights orthodoxy he relentlessly demonizes."Pope Versus President "Things haven't always been tense between Bush and Benedict. They share similar views regarding abortion, gay marriage, and other hot-button conservative issues."The Religion Of Divide And Conquer "Religion, sometimes, is a continuation of politics by other means."The Latvian Connection: West Coast Anti-Gay Movement on the March "A furious anti-gay movement in Latvia, marked by huge rallies in the capital city of Riga, has spilled over into the United States."7,000 Lashes For Being Gay "Shari'a law, as interpreted and enforced in Saudi Arabia, allows sentences ranging from imprisonment and flogging to death for 'deviant ual behavior.'"New Church-State Poll Reveals Some Troubling Results "...an astounding 65 percent of American s believe the Founders intended the United States to be a Christian nation, and 55 percent believe the Constitution actually establishes it as such."Religious Right Pressure Groups Target Public School Children For Conversion "As another school year got under way last month, public schools around the nation found themselves under siege by groups obsessed with using the schools as instruments of evangelism."The Theology of American Empire "...we are all influenced by theological foundations that we rarely see."A Tale of Two Theocracies "...how yesterday's Axis of Evil became today's soul mate in morality."Fabricated Fears About Hate Crime Legislation "Despite the ridiculousness of their claims, the powerful and cash-rich antigay lobby continues to mold opinion against this legislation with fear and falsehoods."The People v. Loving "The almost overwhelming static the anti-equality forces bombard us with daily seems at times so powerful, so insurmountable, but all that noise represents nothing more than the panic of an increasingly irrelevant conservative class."From California to Maine, Straight Allies Stand Up "They're standing straight up for gay friends and neighbors - taking the all-important step of going from privately opposing discrimination to actively speaking out against it."Was John Paul II Euthanized? "The author, who heads the anesthesiology and intensive care therapy school at the University of Ferrara, says she decided to revisit the events around John Paul's death after the Vatican took a hard line in a controversy last year in Italy over euthanasia. Indeed her accusations are grave..."A Question of Religious Tyranny "...state prosecutors have long looked for some way to penetrate the remote FLDS enclave, whose apostate refugees tell stories of exploitation of children as workers, of incest and of ual abuse."Crazies For Christ "As radical fundamentalism has spiraled out of control, many people are standing up and loudly declaring that there is simply too much God permeating our society."American Exceptionalism Meets Team Jesus "Today, fundamentalism remains a useful point of reference in understanding the human panic that can be engendered by the uncertainties attached to Enlightenment thinking - when the worldview of science tells you that nothing is dependable, that everything has to be submitted to the test of experimentation, verification."Ex-Islamists Come Out "Under some fundamentalist interpretations of Islam, apostasy is forbidden, or is a heresy punishable by death."Roy Moore In Exile "Ousted Alabama 'Commandments Judge' is waging war on church-state separation - and you won't believe the far-out folks who are helping him."Appointee Campaigns for Evangelicals "Bible study is 'more important than doing [my] job.' "Bishop Calls For Catholic Reform "Bishop Geoffrey Robinson says the Catholic Church needs to reverse 2000 years of teaching on and power as part of radical reforms from the Pope down."Courageously Defying The Holy Roman Empire, Amnesty International Stands Tall "Amnesty International has made itself quite clear. It will not be blackmailed into submission by the Church."A Self-Serving Ideology "A cabal of intellectuals and elitists hijacked the economic debate, and now we are dealing with the catastrophic effects."Out-of-Body Experience Recreated "Experts have found a way to trigger an out-of-body experience in volunteers."The Science of Out-of-Body Experiences "...the studies relate to humankind's most enduring question: what makes us ourselves in the first place? 'I'm not really interested in out-of-body experiences,' says Henrik Ehrsson, one of the study's authors and an assistant professor at the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden. 'I'm really interested in in-body experiences: how the brain keeps and updates a model of the world and the body. To have a perception of your own body is the foundation of self-consciousness.'"Christian Wife Spanking "...it's a man's god-given right to hit his wife, even if those pesky laws against domestic violence get in the way."Gay Bishop Announces Civil Union, Infuriates Church Conservatives "The only openly gay bishop in the worldwide Anglican Church has unveiled plans for a civil union with his longtime partner, unleashing an attack by church conservatives..."Akinola's Power Play "With antigay rhetoric as his tool, a Nigerian archbishop has made himself a central player in the fight over America's Episcopal Church. But in chasing his ambitions, has he failed his own country?"Putting Lies To The Test "We used to call this denial, but a few acquisitive quacks have figured out there is money to be made off conflicted clients by reassuring them that denial is healthy, if it keeps them holy."Not So Fast, Christian Soldiers "The Pentagon has a disturbing relationship with private evangelical groups." - Los Angeles TimesGod's Harvard: The New Grooming Ground of the Evangelical Movement "A small Christian school outside the nation's capital is dispatching the next round of evangelicals to the front lines of science and politics, where they will battle for control of the nation."The Great Creation Museum Deception "On opening day, a group called DefCon (Defense of the Constitution) chartered a light plane that trailed a banner overheard quoting the Ninth Commandment, 'Thou shalt not lie'."Kill Or Convert "They just can't keep their faith to themselves."A Christian Nation? "...Catholic and Protestant political figures, quarreling just as they did back in the 16th and 17th centuries - the very reason that a separation was proposed between Church and State."The Liberal Trend "The conservative era is ending."Rapture Ready: The Unauthorized Christians United for Israel Tour "I have never witnessed any spectacle as politically extreme, outrageous, or bizarre as the one Christians United for Israel produced last week in Washington. See for yourself." - Max BlumenthalWomen Ordained Catholic Priests "They are part of a movement from within the Roman Catholic Church that has been ordaining female priests since 2002..."Mike Jones on Ted Haggard and Hypocrisy "...this man is in denial. It's part of the problem with the evangelical church; it's part of the problem with the Catholic Church."Blind At The Holy See "There are only three reforms that will alter the status quo..."Hindu Woman Pressured To Convert To Islam "...under Malaysia's Islamic law, having Muslim parents makes one a Muslim and, as such, one is not allowed to change one's faith or marry a non-Muslim."More News And CommentaryThe [Roman Catholic] church hierarchy speaks with a single voice; priests, bishops, archbishops and cardinals are in fact prohibited from publicly expressing views contrary to the church's current official stance; they are even prohibited from suggesting that any church policies need to be changed. This assures that it is mainly official church pronouncements, and statements that are in agreement with the church beliefs, which reach the public.The Ontario Consultants on Religious ToleranceReligion, to many modern churches, is tantamount to a system of laws and doctrines; that is the usual thinking, but in the final analysis such an attitude bears no relation to the life of mature faith. This attitude of moral rectitude - as if faith and morality were synonymous - is closer to a fascist police mentality than it is to the attitude of Jesus.... - Donald Spoto, theologian, former monk and author ofThe Hidden Jesus: A New LifeThose who say that religion has nothing to do with politics do not understand religion. - Mahatma GandhiI have a dream. - Martin Luther King, Jr.So life's not fair - how does that excuse society? - DLTWhy does the good shepherd tend sheep? Because sheep can be milked, fleeced or eaten. - DLTBack to Top of PageInsideSOCIAL ISSUESTOLERANCE REFERENCES SCRIPTURESMILLENNIUMPHENOMENANEW AGE COMMENTARY E-MAIL |
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