Archive for the ‘world-view’ Category
When have you not been impressed by human interactions with animals? I’m saying never. Indeed our relationship with animals, land or sea, has always been, at the very least, intriguing. From curious killer whales, to birds and gorilla’s many others of our fellow earth creatures have proven to be willing to interact with us humans.
So what is the point? May I suggest we are part of a symphony of creation, perhaps in the likeness of an orchestra conductor!
By that I mean our Creator has given us a beautiful association with all His creation. When he stated to the original human couple; ‘to have in subjection’* all other life on earth, he actually granted us humans an untold connection and stewardship of all other life forms from birds to mammals!
For example basic communication with many creatures are being discovered in recent times by serious students of the environment. Perhaps you have seen some of them on PBS TV channels, as I have.
Its a clear lesson for all of us on planet earth; we have been created and blessed to joyfully communicate and lovingly care for the fellow creatures of earth by our wise heavenly Father.
Please see this relevant post:
Paradise Lost to Paradise Regained!
* Genesis 1:28
This article by Neil Macdonald seems like it has not received the attention it should have. This link to the published article still works; https://www.cbc.ca/news/opinion/grand-jury-report-1.4798291
Here is a slightly edited version and PLEASE NOTE: HORRIFIC DOCUMENTED CASES OF CHILD ABUSE IN THE ORIGINAL ARTICLE ARE NOT INCLUDED IN THIS REPRINT.
By secular standards, the Catholic Church is a corrupt organization and
Federal authorities should treat it like one!
Neil Macdonald · CBC News · Posted: Aug 26, 2018 4:00 AM ET | Last Updated: August 26, 2018
WARNING: This column contains disturbing details
Imagine for a moment that a big, admired multinational corporation, one selling a beloved product, was employing large numbers of male pedophiles and rapists, operating in rings all over the world, and that their crimes had been uncovered in Australia, Ireland, Canada, the Philippines, Belgium, France, Austria, New Zealand, Argentina, Chile, Britain, Germany and the United States, and, further, that senior executives had systematically covered up and suppressed evidence, transferring and enabling hundreds of predators, betraying thousands of victims.
What would happen to the company is not terribly difficult to imagine.
At a minimum, the U.S. government would likely use its Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) law to go after not only the rapists and molesters, but also the company’s executives, up to and including its CEO if possible, seizing the company’s assets and seeking the harshest possible prison terms. That’s the sort of thing RICO was invented for. The company would almost certainly collapse. But of course no company’s warranty guarantees everlasting life, and no company maintains that its CEO is chosen by God.
Grand jury report: (continued) The Roman Catholic church does, which is the only explanation for why, after the release of a grand jury report that detailed more than 1,000 cases of sexual abuse in Pennsylvania over several decades by more than 300 predators in clerical collars, many of whom are still alive, millions of American Catholics continued to attend mass.
(DISGUSTING GRAPHIC DOCUMENTED CASES ARE DELETED FROM THIS REPRINTING HERE)
‘We showed no care for the little ones’: Pope’s letter vows to end sex abuse, coverups
Pennsylvania’s attorney general, Josh Shapiro, told reporters last week that high church officials “routinely and purposefully described the abuse as ‘horseplay’ and ‘wrestling,'” choosing to transfer the pedophiles to other congregations (where they’d have a whole new selection of horseplay partners), or send them away for prayerful reflection before returning to duty.
Unfortunately, though, Shapiro said, the statute of limitations has run out in most of the cases, or the priests involved had died. Pity, Shapiro was implying, because if they could, authorities would vigorously pursue and prosecute and imprison not only the perpetrators, but their enablers and protectors. Or not. Actually, probably not. Inevitably, that scale of prosecution – we are talking about inflicting severe damage to the Catholic Church in the United States – would require steadfast political will, and seriously, what politician seeking re-election wants to alienate 24 per cent of Americans, many of whom, despite clear evidence of the church’s moral rot, insist on believing it is infallible? Pope Francis released an open letter to the world’s Catholics after the Pennsylvania revelations, basically repeating the company line. (Alessandra Tarantino/Associated Press)
The same goes elsewhere. Revelations of horrors in all the above-mentioned Western countries (here in Canada, there was documented abuse in Quebec, British Columbia, Ontario, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, where the church’s Mount Cashel orphanage was operated as sort of a prison for child sex slaves resulted in dismissals of some church officials, some lawsuits and a handful of criminal convictions, but not much more than that.)
Each time, the Pope or one of his high subalterns would lament human frailty, and drone on about the sacred duty to protect the most vulnerable, while privately fighting to thwart civil suits or conspiring to keep facts from investigating authorities.
Pope Francis, who enjoys the most saintly reputation of any recent pope (except for John Paul II, who was actually made a saint, despite all the ugly revelations on his watch) released an open letter to the world’s Catholics after the Pennsylvania revelations, basically repeating the company line: gosh, sorry, that was terrible, we must do better, God bless you all, go in peace.
Noting first that “most of these cases belong to the past,” (don’t all cases belong to the past?) the Pope banged on for 2,000 words about feeling the pain of the vulnerable, and the necessity of ensuring it doesn’t happen again (and again and again and again), but his central theme was expressed right off the top in a line from Corinthians: “If one member suffers, all suffer together with it.”
Yes. Of course. Let’s compare the spiritual suffering the Pope claims the revelations have caused him to that of a child being sodomized by an adult stalker in a clerical collar, a monster the boy probably doesn’t think he’s even allowed to complain about.
Resisting change
The right thing for the Pope to do would be to waive his sovereign privilege (he is a sitting head of state), and invite criminal authorities to freely and fully access church records worldwide, and drain the holy swamp. He might also consider at this stage ordaining women, because women are God’s creatures too, perfectly able to spiritually guide the faithful, and, umm, don’t tend to rape children.
But the privileged old men who run the church aren’t going to allow any of that. They’re a bit like gun control opponents, opposing an obvious solution on doctrinaire grounds.
There actually have been a few attempts to use the RICO statute against priests, notably in Cleveland, but jurors did not convict
When former Oklahoma governor and former federal prosecutor Frank Keating, a practicing Catholic, compared the church’s obsession with secrecy to the Mafia’s, Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles demanded his ouster from a church board examining clerical abuse. Keating resigned from the panel.
Mahony, who covered up sexual abuse by priests in California, according to church records, retired peacefully at age 75. Only after a court order compelled the Los Angeles archdiocese to open its files on abuse was Mahony gently rebuked by the church.
The National (news cast)
Pope Francis condemns priestly sexual abuse.
Pope Francis condemned priestly sexual abuse and its cover-up by the Catholic Church, in a public letter. In addition to demanding accountability, Francis begged forgiveness for the pain suffered by victims and said Catholics must be involved in any effort to root out abuse.
By any secular standard, the Catholic Church is a corrupt organization. It in fact sets the standard for impunity.
Cardinal Bernard Law, who presided over the coverup of the church’s famous Boston sex abuse scandals, was plucked and brought to Rome by Pope John Paul II, where he resided until he died at the Vatican, beyond the reach of American prosecutors.
Earlier this year, after Bishop Juan Barros of Chile was accused of covering up clerical abuse, Pope Francis denounced the accusers’ “calumny.” When it turned out that there was merit to the accusations, and that the Vatican had been informed of the problem, Francis claimed he’d been misinformed. A few weeks later, all 34 of Chile’s bishops tendered their resignations. Francis eventually accepted three of them.
And now, Catholic activist Susan Reynolds has gathered thousands of signatures on a letter demanding the resignation of all American bishops. It would be the right thing to do, but at a guess, the very notion amuses America’s bishopry, comfortable in their armour of piety.
RICO, aggressively deployed by federal prosecutors using wiretaps, search warrants and informants, would be far more effective. They can’t all flee to Rome.
This column is part of CBC’s Opinion section. For more information about this section, please read this editor’s blog and our FAQ.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Neil Macdonald
Opinion Columnist
Neil Macdonald is an opinion columnist for CBC News, based in Ottawa. Prior to that he was the CBC’s Washington correspondent for 12 years, and before that he spent five years reporting from the Middle East. He also had a previous career in newspapers, and speaks English and French fluently, and some Arabic.
More by Neil Macdonald
CBC’s Journalistic Standards and Practices|About CBC News
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I’ve touched on this subject before but am compelled to add to it because of ongoing observations. As a senior citizen, I feel very blessed to have been able to observe ‘some’ of nature throughout many years now, without being a back-woods hermit or luddite*.
Though I cannot claim to have been on African Safari’s, or an explorer in deep sea quests, yet from my viewpoint and experience it is utterly obvious that we have only begun to appreciate the complexity and diversity of life on planet earth.
That complexity and diversity of life on earth speaks volumes to me. It says that there is a power and intelligence far beyond human capability, yet still within our capacity to appreciate… if we are humble enough.
Humility is sadly lacking in most of humankind. Philosophers throughout the ages prefer to theorize, even that somehow we may only exist in a dream world. Descortes famously said ‘I think therefore I am!” A complex belief that internal thought and doubt are the only things we can trust. Even today’s science suggests by sheer accidental means we have developed into the ultimate life-form on earth. Even worse, that we are capable of managing our own affairs, and even all other life-forms of the earth wisely. Clearly real facts have proven otherwise!
These assumptions, supported by never-ending, conflicting and unsupported fanciful theories, strikes me as the greatest weakness of our kind, otherwise known as absolute arrogance!
Countless generations of mankind. even those of first nations peoples, has proven beyond a doubt we desperately need superior guidance to manage our affairs and care for all life on earth, including the environment. This may well be the simple, primary purpose of human life.
Its becoming more obvious to thinking people every day; this unique and beautiful planet was never intended to be managed in isolation from its designer and builder. Isn’t it about time we humbly and respectfully acknowledge that basic truth?**
*luditte: a person opposed to new technology or ways of working.
** He is “the Creator of the heavens, . . . the Former of the earth and the Maker of it.” (Isa 45:18) He is “the Former of the mountains and the Creator of the wind” (Am 4:13) and is “the One who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all the things in them.”
For further development of this theme, please visit: ‘From Paradise Lost to Paradise Regained’
The following article is intended for ‘good eggs’, pardon the pun. If it offends, I’m sorry sometimes the truth hurts, but it is still ‘truth’ that should be acknowledged.
Even a rudimentary research effort will help to answer the question, ‘is the celebration of Easter an insult to our Father in heaven? Even superficial research reveals the truth; ergo Encyclopedia Britanica states:
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“The English name Easter is of uncertain origin; the Ang-Saxon priest Venerable Bede in the 8th century derived it from the Anglo-Saxon spring goddess Eostre.” Others link it to Astarte, the Phoenician fertility goddess who had the Babylonian counterpart Ishtar.
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Hares, rabbits: These are symbols of fertility “handed down from the ancient ceremonial and symbolism of European and Middle Eastern pagan spring festivals.
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The American Book of Days well describes the origin of Easter: “There is no doubt that the Church in its early days adopted the old pagan customs and gave a Christian meaning to them.”
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My comments: The ‘adoption’ of a purely pagan custom by Churches of Christendom had the obvious political purpose of appealing to a far wider non-christian audience than the minority of purely bible-based Christians. To this day that fact holds true. So to answer the question; “Could Church ‘adoption’ have God’s blessing,” consider just one, of many, scriptural principles;
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“a little leaven ferments the whole lump.” (Galatians 5:9) In scripture, leaven being often used as a symbol of corruption! So you be the judge; Could the ‘adoption of pagan practices’, such as Easter, possibly have God’s approval, or is it more likely an insult to Him..?
It won’t please recruiters, but I cannot recommend joining the Royal Canadian Navy. As a 5 year recruit from Vancouver it had seemed like a good escape from teenage reality. Although I had held down a couple of jobs in Vancouver, the future just wasn’t bright. So at 17 I joined the RCN and travelled to their Cornwallis Nova Scotia boot camp
Boot camp did challenge my youthful spirit, and a subsequent posting to the navy frigate Lauzon was exciting. However my ‘Oiler’ designation was not.
So going through the necessary command structure I requested a change to ‘Radar Plotter’. It required a several week course ashore, which I topped. Then followed a 20 month draft assignment to HMCS Athabascan, a so-called ‘greyhound of the fleet’ veteran of the Korean war, followed by a similar period on the Quinte, a coastal Mine Sweeper.
Although there were some highlights, viewing amazing stars at sea is beyond imagination, a sea full of porpoises from horizon to horizon, and sweeping instant storms. For me there were some personal benefits, such as learning and accepting discipline, and visiting a few ports in Europe and the East Coast of the US. And of course I was singularly fortunate not to have been involved in wartime conditions during all 5 years.
However negatives included fending off homosexual predators, and vicious street gangs, at many, if not all, ports I visited, and that was in the 70’s. So I can only imagine today’s conditions.
Based on my own experience, all I can say is I believe there are much better paths for a youth to take than joining the RCN, please choose wisely!
Please visit my posting: Paradise lost to Paradise Regained
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There is no doubt the Taliban, now taken control in Afghanistan, are even more convinced that God is on their side! How very typical this is of humans throughout all of history, no matter how great or small the ruling empire may have been, or how many people they ruled over, Babylonians, Assyrians, Egyptians, Romans, British or American, just to name a few, all share this one religious thought; ‘God is on MY side!’
Well I’ve got news for all forms of national sovereignty* the one and only true God and father of mankind Himself declares he is ‘not on your side‘! Not yesterday, not today, not ever!
The real distinction to be made is ‘claims to have God on YOUR side’, rather than being ‘on side WITH God’!
How can this be said? Of course the historical failures of virtually all human governments confirms this fact, but please read on;
First; consider the universally admitted fact that ‘we’ (namely all mankind) ‘are imperfect.’ If anyone doubts this basic truth please raise your hand!?
Second; similarly, why would God, our heavenly Father, support continuous changes of imperfect human governments, much less never ending wars and conflicts between them?
Third; as mentioned, if God actually supported a particular human government, why have not one of them successfully brought lasting ‘peace and security’ to its subjects , much less fair and equitable distribution of material benefits to its subjects, no matter how long it lasted!?
No ‘the jury is not out’. The plain fact is God has set an unalterable agenda for establishing ‘His’ rulership (a.k.a. sovereignty)! One government that will rule the entire earth. The Kingdom Jesus said we should pray for as recorded in the Bible at Matthew 6:10*. There is no doubt IT will bring true peace and security for all who adopt it, because those who refuse to subject themselves to that just and righteous government will simply be no more, that is his true purpose, not support for imperfect unqualified human governments.
- * Please read: ‘Our Father, let your kingdom come on earth as in heaven’. (Matthew 6:10.)
- ‘..the wicked will be no more…..But the meek will possess the earth, And they will find exquisite delight in the abundance of peace…the righteous will possess the earth and they will live forever on it.’ (Psalm 37:10,11,29)
What we may never know, and what we can know!
Through a variety of tests on Earth and throughout the universe, physicists have measured no changes in time or space for any of the fundamental constants of nature.
There are 28 numbers that completely determine all the physics of the known universe. In many experiments, nobody has ever observed any variation in the fundamental constants.
While physicists continue to search for a new theory to replace the incompatible Standard Model and general relativity, it appears that the constants we know and love are here to stay.
Please Note; the following excerpts arecredited to a post by Ryan F. Mandelbaum, (and someadded comments from this blogger)
Mr Mandelbaum is a science communicator specializing in quantum computing and birds:
There is a realm the laws of physics forbid us from accessing, below the resolving power of our most powerful microscopes and beyond the reach of our most sensitive telescopes. There’s no telling what might exist there.
Since the beginning of human inquiry, there have been limits to our observing abilities. Quantum mechanics and the Standard Model of Particle Physics have worked wonders at clarifying what goes on inside of atoms. However, with each of these successful theories comes hard-and-fast limits to our observing abilities. Today, these limits seem to define true boundaries to our knowledge.
On the large end, there is a speed limit that caps what we can see. It hampers any hope for us to observe most of our universe first-hand. The speed of light is more than just a speed limit. So we must contend with several horizons beyond which we can’t interact.
Another boundary lives on the other end of the scale called the ‘Planck scale’, the smallest meaningful numbers that quantum mechanics allows us to define. Zoom in between molecules, into the center of atoms, deep into their nuclei and into the quarks that make up their protons and neutrons. It’s a built-in limit to our understanding of the universe.
These fundamental limits, large and small, present clear barriers to our knowledge.
Our theories tell us that we will never directly observe what lies beyond these cosmic horizons or what structures exist smaller than the Planck scale. However, the answers to some of the grandest questions we ask ourselves might exist beyond those very walls. Why and how did the universe begin? What lies beyond our universe? Why do things look and act the way that they do? Why do things exist? Exploring the unanswerable belongs to philosophy or religion.
Walls that stop us from easily answering our deepest questions about the universe… well, they don’t feel very nice to think about. But offering some comfort is the fact that 93 billion light-years is very big, and 10^-35 meters is very small. Between the largest and the smallest is a staggering space full of things we don’t but ‘theoretically can know’.
Through a variety of tests on Earth and throughout the universe, physicists have measured no changes in time or space for any of the fundamental constants of nature.
There are 28 numbers that completely determine all the physics of the known universe. In many experiments, nobody has ever observed any variation in the fundamental constants. While physicists continue to search for a new theory to replace the incompatible Standard Model and general relativity, it appears that the constants we know and love are here to stay.
Indeed, some things may always be beyond human knowledge. For example the Bible teaches:
“By faith we perceive that the systems of things were put in order by God’s word, so that what is seen has come into existence from things that are not visible.” (Hebrews 11:3), also that God exists “from everlasting to everlasting.” (Psalm 90:2) In other words, God had no beginning and will have no end. From a human point of view, “the number of his years is beyond (human) comprehension.” (Job 36:26) and finally “…we will never find out the work that the true God has made from start to finish.” (Ecclesiastes 3:11)
Please visit my post; “From Paradise Lost to Paradise Regained!” https://wp.me/pWQGc-JU
Einstein is famously quoted as saying ‘imagination is greater than intelligence!’ So what really is ‘imagination’ we may ask? A good definition is: ‘the faculty of forming new ideas, images or concepts not present to the senses’. Space-time was ‘imagined’ by Einstein in ways most of us may not. However should the concept of imagination be considered?
For example, how difficult is it to imagine life on earth is the creation of a vastly superior, although unseen, entity?
(Romans 1:20) puts it this way: “…his invisible qualities are clearly seen’ from the world’s creation onward, because they are perceived by the things made, even his eternal power and Godship, so that they are inexcusable.”
The context shows that those unable or unwilling to recognize by simple observation a Creator of all things are truly ‘inexcusable’, in other words lacking imagination!
Science is defined as ‘truth’, so what does factual science teach us? Indeed real science confirms that all life on earth is unique. That’s not speculation, or theory!
Clearly anyone failing to acknowledge all life on earth, and the earth itself, as a very special creation, must be described as ‘inexcusable’. Especially so as more and more universal discoveries of stars and galaxies via new space telescopes are now being made every day!
However there are, sad to say, those who will stubbornly deny that human, plant, and animal observation is, of itself, sufficient evidence of creation In reality imagination is lacking in such ones. Ironically those self same persons will describe themselves as informed or enlightened, they are failing to acknowledge the obvious wisdom, and creative power in plain view.
Make no mistake, God himself describes such ones as ‘inexcusable’, because of willful blindness to acknowledge observable truth. Indeed all life has a message for us, from flora and fauna, birds to whales, ants to elephants, and earth’s amazing environmental cycles, to name just a few things;; all teach us about the love and wisdom of a far, far, superior intelligence and unfathomable power of our creator; if we simply exercise humble imagination!
Thanks for visiting; please also see my post: Paradise Lost to Paradise Regained!
This is about life, not war, not disease, just plain life, not only human life but observed nature.
It’s important to acknowledge the adaptability of literally ‘all’ life on earth. Yes I do mean adaptability, not evolution, which is a totally ‘unnatural’ concept.
Adaptability is, rather, a well proven and observable characteristic of perhaps all living things, including plants and animals. Yes, ability to adapt to changing, even very challenging environmental conditions, good or bad, is not exclusive to humans.
The simple basic truth is; our earth is the only place in the physical universe known to support life, period. What adaptability implies is that life on earth is well designed, exclusively designed for earth’s environs! Nowhere else in the cosmos, has it been shown that humans, animals, or any life on earth could adapt and survive in very difficult conditions, as often happens on our planet!
That said, exceptional ability to adapt to change has nearly reached a tipping point owing to long-term damage done to earth’s environment. In other words there are now foreseeable ‘red lines’ as to how much further life on earth can adapt to centuries of negative impacts on the environment! Concerns about potential ‘extinction events’ are already becoming a mute point!
Living on the moon or mars is now well known to be a completely foreign concept, very far from practical reality for any of earth’s (adaptable) life forms. Knowledge gained about those environments is more and more evidence that all life as we know it is designed exclusively for earth alone! The well known expression ‘mother earth’ is therefore not without substance.
Isn’t it time to humbly acknowledge this basic truth?
Such honest acknowledgment is an essential ‘beginning’ to appreciate an all wise and loving Creator who has generously granted all life on earth even with great ability to live and adapt to change… within limits!
please visit Paradise Lost to Paradise Regained for truly encouraging information.
