Tag Archives: historic
As an historic nuclear weapons treaty is reached, G20 leaders miss the mark on North Korea
In North Korea's eyes, its nuclear program is the only guarantee of regime survival.
Reuters/KCNA
Joseph Camilleri, La Trobe University
Over the weekend, more than 120 countries adopted a treaty at a UN conference that prohibits the production, stockpiling, use or threatened use of nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices. Australia was a notable absentee. So were the nine countries that possess nuclear weapons.
While the UN conference was taking a major step toward the elimination of nuclear weapons, the US and its allies – notably Japan, South Korea and Australia – were hoping to use the G20 summit in Hamburg to focus attention on the danger North Korea's nuclear ambitions pose.
However, the declaration issued at the end of the G20 does not even mention the issue. We can now expect a UN Security Council resolution that condemns North Korea's latest missile test and applies slightly tougher sanctions.
The glaring contradiction between the boycott of the nuclear ban negotiations and the preoccupation with the North Korean nuclear threat does not seem to have dawned on the US and its allies.
Kim's misguided provocation and Trump's futile bluster
North Korea's apparently successful intercontinental ballistic missile test last week is widely seen, and portrayed by the regime itself, as part of a relentless drive to develop a reliable long-range nuclear weapon capable of striking the US.
The US responded to the latest test by declaring the policy of "strategic patience" is now over. In a speech delivered in Poland prior to the G20, US President Donald Trump warned he is considering "some pretty severe things" in response to North Korea's "very, very bad behaviour".
Donald Trump's pre-G20 speech in Warsaw.
Yet America's options are limited. In the first five months of his presidency, Trump's strategy was to cajole China into taking a more confrontational stance with North Korea. But there are limits to what China is able or prepared to do.
Trump then intimated the use of tougher sanctions against North Korea, possible financial or trade sanctions against China for failing to do more, and even the direct use of military force.
However, resorting to these coercive tools is unlikely to have the desired result. History tells us harsh economic sanctions are often counter-productive. They impoverish economies, strengthen dictatorships, and drive dissent underground.
As for a military strike on North Korea, it could well lead the regime's leader, Kim Jong-un, to launch a devastating strike against America's allies, – notably Japan and South Korea. This might include the use of chemical, biological and possibly nuclear weapons. Such a turn of events may even drag China into the conflict.
More promising is the policy of strategic caution advocated by Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, which they reiterated in their separate meetings with Trump on the sidelines of the G20 summit.
Both Russia and China argue North Korea can be persuaded to halt nuclear and missile tests if, in return, the US and South Korea suspend their joint military exercises. This would be a prelude to the resumption of talks involving the US and North Korea that could lead to undertakings for all sides to refrain from the use of force or other aggressive measures.
This more pragmatic stance is close to the position of South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who argued in Hamburg that the focus should be kept on further sanctions and dialogue.
Why the treaty?
Nothing said at the G20 summit will resolve the North Korean crisis, for it is but a symptom of a deeper ailment.
The US and Russia, which between them account for 92% of the world's nuclear weapons, are clearly intent on preserving and modernising their nuclear arsenals. They and other nuclear-armed countries have steadfastly resisted repeated calls for nuclear disarmament – even though Article 6 of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty requires them to do just that.
The nuclear weapons treaty that has just emerged is a direct response to the morally and legally culpable inaction of the nuclear-armed countries – something the G20 summit did not and could not do.
Put simply, the treaty is a comprehensive effort to bring the rule of law to bear on all aspects of the nuclear assault on the planet. It designates a nuclear-weapon-free world as "a global public good of the highest order", on which depend:
… human survival, the environment, socioeconomic development, the global economy, food security and the health of current and future generations.
The treaty's provisions are robust and thorough. In addition to prohibiting production, possession and deployment, each party to it undertakes never to test, transfer or receive from any recipient any nuclear weapons or explosive devices, and never to assist anyone or receive assistance from anyone to engage in any such activity.
Countries are further prohibited from ever allowing nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices to be stationed, installed, deployed or tested in their territory, or anywhere under their jurisdiction or control.
But there's more to the treaty than this. It specifically acknowledges the unacceptable suffering and harm caused to the victims by nuclear weapons, as well as of those affected by the testing of nuclear weapons, in particular indigenous peoples.
The treaty also reinforces the legal obligation of relevant countries to provide appropriate remedies to the victims of nuclear testing, and effective repair of environmental damage.
Those who have been busy drafting and redrafting the treaty have taken great care to make room at a future date for those countries that have not participated in the negotiations – in particular nuclear-armed countries and their allies. A well-crafted set of procedures allows for the progressive, transparent and carefully verified dismantling of their nuclear activities.
Nothing said at the G20 summit will resolve the North Korean crisis.
Reuters/Kay Nietfield
Australia's negative role
The dramatic events of the last week raise troubling questions for the future direction of Australian foreign policy. Why is it that Australia has been absent from the negotiations leading up to the adoption of this treaty?
More than that, why has it done all in its power to thwart the initiative?
The reasons are not hard to find. There is within Australia a firmly entrenched but dangerous mindset that America's military might, including its nuclear arsenal, underwrites Australia's national security.
The Australian government's opposition to the nuclear ban treaty is the logical consequence of its subservience to US strategic objectives and priorities. It is the extension of longstanding policies that have led Australia to entanglement in protracted, costly and unwinnable wars – in Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq and now Syria.
It is the result of Australia's psychological insecurity, and the tendency of governments to try to demonstrate at every opportunity that we remain America's most faithful ally.
Yet there are other options. Australia has much to gain from actively supporting efforts to prohibit and eliminate nuclear weapons, and from collaborating with like-minded countries and international organisations to develop an effective long-term nuclear disarmament agenda.
Such a process would create immense possibilities for easing tensions in the Asia-Pacific region – not just in the Korean peninsula, but in China-US and China-Japan relations, and in the South China Sea.
Public support for such a transition is greater than many would think. The nuclear ban treaty is the beginning, not the end.
Joseph Camilleri, Emeritus Professor of International Relations, La Trobe University
Posted in G20, Kim Jong Un, news, North Korea, Politics	| Tagged article, G20, historic, leaders, news, North Korea, nuclear, Politics, treaty, weapons | Leave a comment
Australia: Cardinal George Pell Charged with Historic Sex Offences
Posted on July 1, 2017 by particularkev
Posted in Australia, crime, news, Roman Catholicism, video	| Tagged Australia, cardinal, charged, crime, George Pell, historic, news, offences, Roman Catholic, Roman Catholicism, Roman Catholics, sex crime, video | Leave a comment
Vatican Library prepares to reopen after three years of restoration
The Vatican Apostolic Library will be reopened again this month after three years of reconstruction. As its director explained to Vatican Radio, it aims to be a cultural aid, to offer a glimpse of the "great truth of the world of God," reports Catholic News Agency.
Vatican Radio interviewed the library's prefect, Msgr. Cesare Pasini about the grand reopening set to take place on Sept. 20.
Noting a series of initiatives scheduled to mark the reopening of the library this fall, the prefect also spoke of the value of the library to all people.
He said that by reopening the library, "we not only show scholars and the world what we have done … but we remodel ourselves on this fundamental spirit, on our mission, so that we don't just make it a place to consult books."
The library, which allows scholars from all walks and creeds to study its volumes, has an aspect of universality and cultural preservation because it conserves materials "for today and tomorrow," he said.
Msrg. Pasini also promotes culture by allowing works to be "used, seriously studied and then probed to find any further fragment of truth.
"There are many truths," he said, "historic truths, truths that make investigations into the reality of things, and these little truths form part of the great truth of the world of God."
In an article he wrote for last Sunday's edition of the L'Osservatore Romano, Msgr. Pasini described some of the 15,000 letters and e-mails his office has received hoping for the prompt conclusion to the restoration work and describing the library's importance to studies. Responding to the interest, he said that in looking around the now "silent and shining" library, he has seen that "only the friendly presence of our scholars is lacking." He added, "may they know that they are warmly awaited."
Archivist of the Vatican Secret Archives, Cardinal Raffaele Farina, will present the renovated, restored and restructured library in an on-site press conference next Monday.
Posted in Books, Christianity, Roman Catholicism, Vatican City	| Tagged aid, aims, archivist, article, aspect, awaited, Books, cardinal, Cesare Pasini, Christian, Christianity, Christians, conclusion, conserves, consult, creeds, cultural, culture, described, director, edition, emails, fall, find, form, fragment, friendly, fundamental, glimpse, God, grand, great, historic, importance, initiatives, interest, interviewed, investigations, L'Osservatore Romano, lacking, letters, library, life, little, mark, materials, mission, Msgr., new, offer, office, on-site, ourselves, part, people, Prefect, prepares, presence, present, preservation, press conference, probed, promotes, prompt, Raffaele Farina, reality, received, reconstruction, remodel, renovated, reopen, restoration, restored, Roman Catholic, Roman Catholicism, Roman Catholics, schedules, scholars, series, seriously, shining, show, silent, spirit, studied, study, things, today, tomorrow, truth, universality, value, Vatican, Vatican Apostolic Library, Vatican Library, Vatican radio, Vatican Secret Archives, volumes, walks, warmly, works, world, wrote | Leave a comment
Pro-Democracy Advocate Released from Prison
Her new Christian faith deepens; authorities allow evangelist Luis Palau to address pastors.
HO CHI MINH CITY, March 30 (CDN) — A Protestant prisoner of conscience who had called for democratic freedoms in Vietnam was released earlier this month after serving a three-year sentence for "propagandizing to destroy the Socialist Republic of Vietnam."
Attorney Le Thi Cong Nhan's sentence had been reduced by one year after an international outcry over her sentencing. She was released on March 6. Remaining in prison for another year is her colleague, Christian lawyer Nguyen Van Dai.
The 31-year-old Cong Nhan had also supported a labor union that sought to be independent. Now serving an additional three-year house arrest sentence, Cong Nhan said in a surprisingly frank interview with Voice of America's Vietnamese language broadcast on March 9 that she has no intention of giving up her struggle for a just and free Vietnam and accepts that there may be a further price to pay.
Cong Nhan, arrested in March 2007, received a Vietnamese Bible from a visiting delegation of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom – with official permission from Vietnam's minister of Public Security – early in her incarceration, but she had to struggle constantly to retain it. Twice she went on a hunger strike when authorities took the Bible away from her.
She had become a Christian shortly before her arrest, and she told Voice of America that while in prison she was able to read the entire Bible.
"In prison the Lord became my closest friend, my teacher, and the one who carried my burdens with me," she said. "When I was released from prison, I received many words of praise and of love and respect – I became a bit worried about this, as I do not consider myself worthy of such. I believe I must live an even better and more worthy life."
Her prison experience has confirmed her calling and faith, she said.
"As a direct result of my prison experience, I am more convinced than ever that the path that I have chosen is the right one," Cong Nhan said. "Before prison I was just like a thin arrow, but now I have become a strong fort."
Luis Palau Allowed to Speak
While Christians in several parts of Vietnam are still subject to abuse from local officials, the country's national authorities have continued to allow high-profile Christian events. On March 17, renowned U.S. evangelist Luis Palau was allowed to address more than 400 pastors in a day-long event at the New World Hotel in Ho Chi Minh City.
Palau, who had arrived in Hanoi with his entourage on March 13, had addressed nearly 200 Hanoi area pastors at an evening event at the Hanoi Hilton on March 14. The two events were streamed live on http://www.hoithanh.com, a popular website that reports on Protestant news in Vietnam. Hundreds of Vietnamese in Vietnam and abroad were estimated to have watched the presentations.
The events were deemed significant, if not historic, by Vietnam's Christian leaders. Very rarely is a prominent foreign Protestant leader allowed to address Vietnamese leaders, especially one from the United States.
The events were significant also in that they brought together leaders from virtually all segments of Vietnam's fractured and sometimes conflicted Protestant groups, Christian leaders said. The gatherings included leaders of open churches and house churches, registered and unregistered churches, and urban and even ethnic minority groups from Vietnam's remote mountainous regions.
Two representatives of a Mennonite church headed by activist pastor Nguyen Hong Quang, however, were turned away by police.
Palau and Mike McIntosh, pastor of San Diego mega-church Horizon Christian Fellowship, strongly challenged the Vietnamese church leaders to strive for unity. The assembled pastors were challenged to put aside past conflicts and suspicions for the sake of the Kingdom of God in Vietnam, with Palau saying that unity was a requirement for God's blessing on their churches and nation.
Some Vietnamese leaders responded by expressing remorse for their divisions and committed to start working toward reconciliation.
Organizers and participants said they hope such short events will lead to larger gains. Though the Luis Palau Association had originally planned for a two-day event for 2,000 pastors, most agreed this was an unprecedented first step toward a bigger goal. With an invitation from all segments of the Protestant community in Vietnam in hand, the Luis Palau Association is prepared to help organize evangelistic festivals in Vietnam in 2011, the centenary of Protestantism in Vietnam.
"There is still a long way to go, but we are seeing miracles piling up," said one senior Vietnamese leader. "It could happen!"
One prominent overseas Vietnamese leader wondered if Palau's visit to Vietnam could be compared to Billy Graham's visit to Moscow during the Soviet Communist era.
Also sharing testimonies during the March 17 event were Rick Colsen, a top Intel executive, and John Dalton, Secretary of the Navy under President Clinton.
Posted in Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, Christianity, Communism, Luis Palau, Mennonite, Russia, USA, Vietnam	| Tagged 2007, 2011, able, abroad, abuse, accepts, activist, additional, address, advocate, allow, area, arrest, arrested, arrived, arrow, aside, assembled, attorney, authorities, away, became, before, believe, better, Bible, bigger, Bill Clinton, Billy Graham, blessing, broadcast, brought, burdens, called, calling, carried, centenary, challenged, chosen, Christian, Christianity, Christians, churches, closest, colleague, committed, Communism, communist, communists, community, compared, confirmed, conflicted, conflicts, conscience, consider, constantly, convinced, day-long, deemed, deepens, delegation, Democratic, destroy, direct, divisions, early, entire, entourage, era, estimated, ethnic, evangelist, evangelistic, evening, events, executive, experience, expressing, faith, festivals, first, foreign, fort, fractured, frank, free, freedoms, friend, gains, gatherings, giving, goal, God, groups, Hanoi, Hanoi Hilton, happen, headed, help, high-profile, historic, Ho Chi Minh City, hope, Horizon Christian Fellowship, house arrest, house churches, hunger strike, incarceration, independent, Intel, intention, international, interview, invitation, John Dalton, just, Kingdom, Labor, language, larger, lawyer, Le Thi Cong Nhan, lead, leaders, life, live, local, Lord, love, Luis Palau, Luis Palau Association, mega-church, Mennonite, Mike McIntosh, minister, minority, miracles, Moscow, mountainous, nation, national, navy, new, New World Hotel, news, Nguyen Hong Quang, Nguyen Van Dai, official, officials, open, organize, organizers, originally, outcry, overseas, participants, past, pastors, path, pay, permission, Persecution, piling, planned, police, popular, praise, prepared, presentations, President, price, prison, prisoner, pro-democracy, prominent, propagandizing, Protestant, Protestantism, Public Security, rarely, read, received, reconciliation, reduced, regions, registered, released, remorse, remote, renowned, representatives, requirement, respect, responded, result, retain, Rick Colsen, right, sake, San Diego, seeing, segments, senior, sentence, sentencing, serving, sharing, short, significant, Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Soviet, speak, start, step, streamed, strive, strong, strongly, struggle, subject, supported, suprisingly, suspicions, teacher, testimonies, thin, together, top, toward, turned, U. S. Commission on international Religious Freedom, Union, unity, unprecedented, unregistered, urban, USA, Vietnam, Vietnamese, visit, visiting, Voice of America, watched, Website, words, working, worthy | Leave a comment
Christians in Vietnam Hold Another Historic Celebration
Largest-ever event in northern part of country encourages house churches.
HANOI, December 21 (CDN) — For the second time in 10 days, Protestant history was made in Vietnam yesterday when 12,000 people gathered for a Christmas rally here.
The event, which took place in the large square in front of the entrance to My Dinh National Stadium in the heart of Hanoi, was said to be 10 times larger than any prior Protestant gathering in history in northern Vietnam. On Dec. 11 in southern Vietnam, an estimated 40,000 people attended a Christmas celebration in Ho Chi Minh City (see "Unprecedented Christmas Gathering Held in Vietnam").
Local sources said long-requested written permission for the event, entitled "Praise Jesus Together," never came in spite of several reminders. But four days before the event was to take place, Hanoi authorities and police told organizers – in words as close as they would get to granting permission – that they would "not interfere."
"One can hardly overestimate the importance of such an event in the lives of northern house church Christians," said one long-time Compass source. "For many, this will have been the first time to join in a large crowd with other Christians, to feel the growing power of their movement, to hear, see and participate in the high quality, and deeply spiritual mass worship."
The day before the event, Christians gathered near the stadium for final prayer and to help with preparations. Witnesses said the huge public square at the entrance to the stadium was arrayed with thousands of stools rather than chairs – plastic, backless, and bright blue and red. In 10-foot tall letters, "JESUS' was emblazoned on the backdrop to the stage.
Invitations had been sent through house church networks even as official permission for the event was still pending. When church leaders decided to move ahead only days before, Christians were asked to send out mass invitations by text-message, leading some to speculate whether this may have been the largest ever such messaging for a Christian event.
Nearby Christians as well as those bussed from more distant areas began to fill the venue hours before the event. They were not dissuaded by a Hanoi cool spell of 12 Celsius (56 Fahrenheit) with a chill wind. Bundled in thick jackets, their heads wrapped in scarves, they waited expectantly without complaint.
They were not disappointed. Witnesses said the throng deeply appreciated a program of outstanding music and dance, a powerful personal narrative followed by a gospel message and an extended time for prayer for the nation. As at the previous event in Ho Chi Minh City on Dec. 11 that house church Christians had long worked and prayed for, the program featured music from Jackson Family Ministries of the United States.
In a world of globalized gospel and praise choruses, songs included hymns such as "How Great Thou Art" as well as classic praise songs such as "Sing Hallelujah to the Lord." Witnesses said the music was accompanied by tasteful, emotionally engaging dance. Top Vietnamese artists performed, including news songs by Vietnamese songwriters, and a Vietnamese choir of 80 sang, as did a Korean choir.
A young man in his 30s who now pastors two house churches told the crowd how an encounter with Jesus proved more powerful than the grip of drug addiction. His story, simply and humbly told, proved an effective bridge to a Christmas evangelistic message by Pastor Pham Tuan Nhuong of the Word of Life house church. Then the winsome Pastor Pham Dinh Nhan, a top southern house church leader, gave a disarming but strong invitation to follow Jesus, witnesses said.
Organizers said approximately 2,000 people then poured forward in response, packing the large area in front of the stage.
The final portion of the program included a time of intense prayer for the nation, with pastors confessing and praying for righteousness for Vietnam's leaders, as well as for God's protection and blessing on their land. In their prayers they claimed Vietnam for Christ, witnesses said.
A high point for the throng was the superimposing of a large white cross on a yellow map of Vietnam on the backdrop. As the Korean choir sang a spirited revival hymn, the crowd raised thousands of hands and exploded in sound.
"The sound of crying, of praise, of prayer were blended as one, beseeching Almighty God for spiritual revival in Vietnam," said one participant.
The event was streamed live at www.hoithanh.com for Vietnamese and others around the world to see.
Until recently – and still in some places – most Vietnamese meet in small groups in homes knowing at any time there could be a hostile knock on the door, a source said.
"None of these groups is registered or recognized by the government," the source said of the crowd at yesterday's event. "What you see is Christians standing up!"
In addition to this event and the Dec. 11 event in Ho Chi Minh City, a large public Christmas rally was held by the Evangelical Church of Vietnam (North) at the Hoang Nhi church in Nam Dinh Province on Saturday (Dec. 19). Some 2,500 people gathered in the church's large courtyard, with sources saying 200 responded to an invitation to follow Christ.
In Tuy Hoa, on the coast of central Vietnam, a Christmas program is planned for Saturday (Dec. 26) in a 4,000- seat theater. Many smaller events are also planned in other areas, part of an unprecedented public display by Vietnam's Protestants.
At the same time, the freedom for Christians tolerated in large cities has not reached some more remote parts of the country, where ethnic minority Christians live. In Dien Bien Dong district of Dien Bien Province, authorities on Tuesday (Dec. 15) orchestrated immense ethnic social pressure on a new Christian couple to recant. The couple told Compass that police added their own pressure.
"The police said they would beat me to death, and take away all my possessions, leaving my wife a widow, and my children orphans with no place to live," the husband told Compass. "I folded. I signed promising that I would no longer follow God. I really want to, but it is very, very hard to be a believer where we live, as the officials will not allow us."
Posted in Christianity, Christmas, Communism, Special Days, Vietnam	| Tagged accompanied, added, addiction, allow, Almighty, appreciated, areas, arrayed, artists, attended, authorities, backdrop, backless, beat, began, believer, beseeching, blended, blessing, blue, bridge, bright, bundled, bussed, celebration, central, chairs, children, chill, choir, choruses, Christ, Christian, Christianity, Christians, Christmas, church, cities, claimed, classic, close, coast, Communism, communist, communists, complaint, confessing, cool, country, couple, courtyard, cross, crowd, crying, dance, death, decided, deeply, Dien Bien Dong, Dien Bien Province, disappointed, disarming, display, dissuaded, distant, district, door, drug, effective, emblazoned, emotionally, encounter, encourages, engaging, entitled, entrance, estimated, ethnic, Evangelical Church of Vietnam (North), evangelistic, event, ever, expectantly, exploded, extended, featured, fill, Final, first, folded, follow, forward, freedom, front, gathered, gathering, globalized, God, gospel, government, granting, grip, groups, growing, hands, Hanoi, hard, heads, hear, heart, held, help, high, historic, History, Ho Chi Minh City, Hoang Nhi Church, hold, homes, hostile, house church, house churches, How Great Thou Art, huge, humbly, husband, hymns, immense, importance, included, interfere, invitation, invitations, jackets, Jackson Family Ministries, Jesus, join, knock, knowing, Korean, land, large, larger, largest, latter, leader, leaders, leading, leaving, live, lives, local, man, map, mass, meet, message, messaging, minority, movement, music, My Dinh National Stadium, Nam Dinh Province, narrative, nation, networks, new, northern, official, orchestrated, organizers, orphans, outstanding, overestimate, own, packing, part, participant, participate, Pastor, pastors, pending, people, performed, permission, Persecution, personal, Pham Dinh Nhan, Pham Tuan Nhuong, place, places, planned, plastic, point, police, portion, possessions, poured, power, powerful, praise, Praise Jesus Together, prayed, prayer, prayers, preparations, pressure, previous, prior, program, promising, protection, Protestant, Protestants, proved, public, quality, raised, rally, reached, recant, recently, recognized, red, registered, reminders, remore, response, revival, righteousness, sang, scarves, seat, second, see, send, signed, simply, Sing Hallelujah to the Lord, small, smaller, social, songs, songwriters, sound, southern, speculate, spell, spirited, spiritual, spite, square, stadium, stage, standing, stools, story, streamed, strong, superimposing, tasteful, text message, theater, thick, throng, time, told, tolerated, top, Tuy Hoa, United States, unprecedented, unpredented, USA, venue, Vietnam, Vietnamese, white, widow, wife, wind, winsome, without, witnesses, Word of Life, words, worked, world, worship, wrapped, written, yellow, young | Leave a comment
Anglicans who say church is ignoring Scriptures rally in London
A group of Anglicans, who are oppose the Church of England's stand on matters such as homosexual clergy, have said the formation of their group does not mean it intends to cut its ties with the 77-million strong Anglican Communion, reports Ecumenical News International.
"We are a movement for the renewal and reformation and renewed mission focus of our church. We love our church," said Bishop Wallace Benn of the southern England diocese of Lewes at the launch of the Fellowship of Confession Anglicans UK on 6 July. "We're not going anywhere," he said. "We believe that we stand for the historic Christian faith."
Posted in Anglicans, Christianity, England, Homosexuality, United Kingdom	| Tagged Anglicans, believe, bishop, Christian, Christianity, church, Church of England, clergy, communion, diocese, England, faith, Fellowship of Confession Anglicans UK, focus, formation, group, historic, homosexual, ignoring, intends, launch, Lewes, London, matters, mission, movement, oppose, rally, reformation, renewal, renewed, Scriptures, southern, stand, Wallace Benn | Leave a comment
Scholars: John Calvin was America's 'Founding Father'
More than a thousand attendees are expected to gather for a four-day conference to celebrate John Calvin's 500th birthday, reports Michael Ireland, chief correspondent, ASSIST News Service.
As America prepares to celebrate Independence Day this July 4, Vision Forum Ministries will be hosting the national celebration to honor the 500th birthday of John Calvin, a man who many scholars recognize as America's "Founding Father."
The event — The Reformation 500 Celebration — will take place July 1-4 at the Park Plaza Hotel in downtown Boston, according to a media release about the event.
"Long before America declared its independence, John Calvin declared and defended principles that birthed liberty in the modern world," noted Doug Phillips, president of Vision Forum Ministries.
"Scholars both critical and sympathetic of the life and theology of Calvin agree on one thing: that this reformer from Geneva was the father of modern liberty as well as the intellectual founding father of America," he said.
Phillips pointed out: "Jean Jacques Rousseau, a fellow Genevan who was no friend to Christianity, observed: 'Those who consider Calvin only as a theologian fail to recognize the breadth of his genius. The editing of our wise laws, in which he had a large share, does him as much credit as his Institutes. . . . [S]o long as the love of country and liberty is not extinct amongst us, the memory of this great man will be held in reverence.'"
He continued: "German historian Leopold von Ranke observed that 'Calvin was virtually the founder of America.' Harvard historian George Bancroft was no less direct with this remark: 'He who will not honor the memory and respect the influence of Calvin knows but little of the origin of American liberty.'
"John Adams, America's second president, agreed with this sentiment and issued this pointed charge: 'Let not Geneva be forgotten or despised. Religious liberty owes it much respect.'
"As we celebrate America's Independence this July 4, we would do well to heed John Adams' admonition and show due respect to the memory of John Calvin whose 500th birthday fall six days later," Phillips stated.
Calvin, a convert to Reformation Christianity born in Noyon, France, on July 10, 1509, is best known for his influence on the city of Geneva, the media release explains.
"It was there that he modeled many of the principles of liberty later embraced by America's Founders, including anti-statism, the belief in transcendent principles of law as the foundation of an ethical legal system, free market economics, decentralized authority, an educated citizenry as a safeguard against tyranny, and republican representative government which was accountable to the people and a higher law," the release states.
The Reformation 500 Celebration will honor Calvin's legacy, along with other key Protestant reformers, and will feature more than thirty history messages on the impact of the Reformation, Faith & Freedom mini-tours of historic Boston, and a Children's Parade.
The festivities will climax on America's Independence Day as attendees join thousands of others for the world-renowned music and fireworks celebration on the Esplanade with the Boston Pops Orchestra.
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Sodom found? The quest for the lost city of destruction – Part 1
By Brian Nixon
Special to ASSIST News Service
I met Dr. Steven Collins in the reception area of Trinity Southwest University in Albuquerque, where he serves as provost and professor. Instead of staying at the school, we headed off to a local coffee shop.
Dr. Collins didn't look like your average jet-setting archeologist: no Indiana-Jones leather jacket, hat, or whip. Instead, Steve wore jeans, sandals, and a "Life is Good" t-shirt. And for Steve, that motto is playing out in his own life.
With his newest discoveries in Jordan, life is turning out very good for the unassuming archeologist from New Mexico.
I first got word of his recent finding at Calvary of Albuquerque, where Steve sat down for an interview with Senior Pastor, Skip Heitzig. Steve brought some convincing evidence of a monumentally significant find. Dr. Collins contends that he may have discovered the historic city of Sodom.
Steve told me in our interview that his interest in the location of Sodom began in 1996. Then, Steve was working on a dig in the West Bank north of Jerusalem, the site of biblical Ai, but was also leading archeology tours in the Near East.
It was on one of these trips that Steve began to question the traditional site of Sodom, what is known as the "Southern Theory." This theory attributes the site of Sodom to the southern region of the Dead Sea.
"I began to read Genesis 13-19, and realized that the traditional site did not align itself with the geographical profile described in the text," Steve told me.
"Now let me say," he continued, "that many scholars don't have a high view of Scripture. Some even frown upon using biblical texts as a tool for location designation. My philosophy is that the text is generally reliable and can—and should—be used (at bare minimum) as a basic guide for a geographical profile."
"When I read how the author of Genesis described the area of Sodom and then looked at the area of the traditional site in the Southern region, I said: 'This cannot be the place. There are too many differences of description.'
"Sadly, because of my work at the site of Ai, I was unable to really investigate and do research on my initial thoughts. So I let it sit for over five years."
The geographical point at issue, according to Steve, is how the text in Genesis describes the region of the Kikkar, understood as "the disc of Jordan."
Dr. Collins continued, "When the Bible uses the description of Kikkar, it is only referring to the circular region of the Jordan Valley east of Jericho and north of the Dead Sea."
"This region is the breadbasket of the area, full of freshwater and farmland," he explained. "All of this is interesting to me because Kikkar can also mean "flat bread," like a tortilla here in New Mexico."
So what's the issue?
According to Collins, "The traditional "Southern Theory" site of Sodom does not have the geographical parallels described in the text. Namely: 1. One can see the whole area from the hills above Jericho (Bethel/Ai), 2. It must be a well-watered place (described, "like Egypt."), 3. It has a river running through it (the Jordan), and 4. It must follow the travel route of Lot" (who went to the other side of the Jordan, eastward, away from Jericho.)
Though the traditional site does not have any of these geographical indicators, the site in Jordan, Tel-al-Hamman, does. How did Dr. Collins become aware of this site? That is a fascinating story in and of itself—which we'll turn to in Part 2.
Posted in Archaeology, Bible, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Middle East, New Mexico, USA	| Tagged Ai, Albuquerque, align, archeologist, archeology, area, attributes, author, average, aware, bare, basic, Bethel, Bible, big, bread, breadbasket, Brian Nixon, Calvary, circular, city, coffee, contends, continued, convincing, Dead Sea, described, description, designation, destruction, differences, DIG, disc, discovered, discoveries, Dr, east, eastward, Egypt, evidence, farmland, fascinating, finding, flat, found, freshwater, frown, full, generally, Genesis, geographical, good, guide, hat, high, hills, historic, Indiana Jones, indicators, initial, interest, interesting, interview, investigate, issue, jeans, Jericho, Jerusalem, jet-setting, Jordan, Jordan Valley, Kikkar, known, leading, leather jacket, life, local, location, lost, lot, minimum, monumentally, motto, near, Near East, New Mexico, newest, north, parallels, philosophy, place, playing, point, professor, profile, provost, quest, question, realized, recent, reception, referring, region, reliable, research, river, route, running, sandals, scholars, school, Scripture, senior pastor, serves, shop, side, significant, site, site biblical, Skip Heitzig, Sodom, southern, Southern Theory, staying, Steven Collins, story, t-shirt, Tel-al-Hamman, text, theory, thoughts, tool, tortilla, tours, traditional, travel, Trinity Southwest University, trips, turning, unassuming, understood, very, view, well-watered, West Bank, whip, whole, Word, wore, working | Leave a comment
EGYPT: STABBING, BOMBING ATTACKS STRIKE NEAR TWO CHURCHES
Copt leaving sanctuary knifed in Minya; bomb explodes near venerable structure in Cairo.
ISTANBUL, May 22 (Compass Direct News) – In separate attacks in Egypt earlier this month, a Coptic Christian suffered severe stab wounds as he left a worship service in Minya, and a car-bombing outside a venerable church in Cairo disrupted a wedding.
Without provocation, three Muslims repeatedly stabbed Coptic Christian Girgis Yousry, 21, as the army conscript was leaving the gates of the church of Saint Mary in Minya, Upper Egypt on May 2, according to Copts United.
The assault left him with severe injuries to internal organs, and he was taken to the district hospital, where he was still receiving treatment at press time.
When Yousry's father went to the police station to report the attack, the Intelligence Services officer in charge threw him out of the station. Three men implicated in the stabbing, Wael Mohammed Hagag, Mohammed Nasr Anwar and Shabaan Sayed Amin, were arrested on May 5 and have been given a 16-day initial incarceration while the investigation is underway.
All three men stand accused of attempted murder without premeditation, which carries a sentence of five to 15 years.
But Mamdouh Nakhla, president of the Al-Kalema Centre for Human Rights, said he thinks it unlikely that they will be convicted.
"From my experience over the last 15 years, in Minya in particular, all cases of attacks and murder against Christians either went without punishment and [the accused] were totally exonerated, or they were given suspended sentences," he said.
Home to Egypt's largest community of Copts (approximately 4 million), Minya is considered a hotbed of anti-Christian violence.
"I am aware of severe injustices happening to Christians who are being incarcerated for no reason," said Nakhla. "This is my experience of Minya."
Local sources told Compass that in the last few months there has been a wave of arrests of Christians who are held with no official charges. Sources spoke of cases where detainees are held for months in prison, where they are badly beaten and tortured.
"Police brutality is a widely practiced policy," said one source, "especially in rural areas, group punishment and systematic intimidation and humiliation are expected practices against all citizens, Christians included."
This month Compass learned of three illegal arrests of Christians that have taken place since November 2008. Two of the men who were detained have since been released.
"When people are released, they have been beaten and electrocuted so that they are hardly standing up," said a local Christian.
Local church leaders believe recent pressure is a response to rumors of an increase in Christian converts in Egypt due to Christian satellite programming, although arrests go beyond converts to Coptic-born Christians.
Makeshift Bomb
In Cairo, a makeshift bomb placed under a car exploded outside a renowned Catholic church building in Zeitoun district on May 9, incinerating the vehicle but causing no injuries.
Panicked passersby called police when the small explosion caused the car to burst into flames outside Saint Mary Church, which Egypt's Coptic community, citing numerous sightings of the Virgin Mary there in the late 1960s, considers a holy site.
Security forces arrived at the scene within minutes and sealed off the area. They found a second bomb, also planted beneath a car. Unable to disarm it, they were forced to detonate it in a controlled fashion, sources told Compass.
The explosion interrupted a wedding and a Bible study that were taking place inside the revered, historic building. Those in attendance were evacuated through a side gate as a precaution, reported Egyptian newspaper Watani. Boutros Gayed, the church's priest, was unavailable for comment.
The bombs were rudimentary. Cell phones were used as detonators and placed with the explosive material into a bag containing shrapnel.
Police have yet to release information about possible suspects or motives, but newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm has stated security forces are investigating possible links to a Hezbollah cell, which uses similar explosive devices.
A spokesman for Hezbollah has denied its involvement, stating that the cell was focused on supporting Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and has never had plans to carry out operations in Egypt.
The head of the Orthodox Church, Pope Shenouda, condemned the attack as criminal and pointed to sectarian motives.
"[The bombers] are attempting to tamper with the future of this homeland that they do not deserve to belong to," he said, according to Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram.
Similarities between this event and an explosion in February outside Al-Hussain Mosque, where one person was killed and 24 others wounded, have led to speculation that the attacks may be part of an attempt to inflame sectarian tensions.
Rumors also have been spread that "extremist Coptic groups" may have planted the devices in order to attract U.S. President Barack Obama's attention to their plight on his planned June 4 visit to Cairo.
"This sounds like a ridiculous suggestion, because the Copts do not even respond to attacks against them," said Ibrahim Habib, chairman of United Copts of Great Britain. "It is not in their agenda, and they have no precedence of violence."
Posted in Africa, Barack Obama, Christianity, Egypt, Hezbollah, Islam, Orthodox, Roman Catholicism, United Kingdom, USA	| Tagged accused, agenda, Al-Ahram, Al-Hussain Mosque, Al-Kalema, Al-Masry Al-Youm, anti-Christian, areas, army, arrested, arrests, assault, attack, attacks, attempted murder, attempting, attendance, attention, attract, badly, bag, Barack Obama, beaten, believe, Bible Study, bomb, bombers, bombing, Boutros Gayed, brutality, building, burst, Cairo, car, car-bombing, cases, cell, cell phones, Centre for Human Rights, chairman, charges, Christian, Christianity, Christians, church, churches, citizens, comment, community, condemned, conscript, considered, containing, controlled, converts, convicted, Copt, Coptic, Copts, Copts United, criminal, denied, detained, detainees, detonate, detonators, devices, disarm, disrupted, district, Egypt, Egyptian, electrocuted, evacuated, event, exonerated, expected, experience, explodes, explosion, explosive, extremist, fashion, Father, flames, focused, forced, forces, future, gates, Gaza Strip, Girgis Yousry, group, happening, Hezbollah, historic, Holy, homeland, hospital, hotbed, humiliation, Ibrahim Habib, illegal, implicated, incarcerated, incarceration, incinerating, increase, inflame, information, initial, injuries, injustices, Intelligence Services, internal, intimidation, investigating, investigation, involvement, Islam, killed, knifed, largest, leaders, leaving, Links, local, makeshift, Mamdouh Nakhla, material, Minya, Mohammed Nasr Anwar, motives, Muslim, muslims, newspaper, officer, official, operations, organs, Orthodox Churh, Palestinians, panicked, passersby, people, Persecution, plans, planted, plight, pointed, police, police station, policy, Pope, possible, practiced, practices, precaution, precedence, premeditation, President, press time, pressure, priest, prison, programming, provocation, punishment, receiving, recent, released, renowned, report, respond, response, revered, ridiculous, Roman Catholic, Roman Catholicism, Roman Catholics, rudimentary, rumours, rural, Saint Mary, Saint Mary Church, sanctuary, satellite, scane, sealed, sectarian, security, sentence, separate, service, severe, Shabaan Sayed Amin, Shenouda, shrapnel, sightings, similar, site, small, speculation, spokesman, stab, stabbing, stated, station, strike, structure, suffered, suggestion, supporting, suspects, suspended, systematic, tamper, tensions, tortured, treatment, unavailable, United Copts of Great Britain, Upper Egypt, USA, vehicle, venerable, violence, Virgin Mary, visit, Wael Mohammed Hagag, Watani, wave, wedding, widely, worship, wounded, wounds, Zeitoun | Leave a comment
VIETNAM UNEXPECTEDLY RESPOND TO CHURCH PROPERTY CLAIMS
In an unexpected turn of events, Communist authorities in Hanoi have responded to protests and halted construction on a piece of land that a Catholic church claims to have owned since 1928, International Christian Concern reports.
Vietnamese Roman Catholics had held several protests against the construction on land claimed by the Tai Ha Redemptorist parish, including a prayer vigil observed by one thousand people.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Le Dung announced the decision of the Hanoi People's Committee on Tuesday, according to AFP. The committee had told agencies to "stop the implementation of the project and construction works on the land of the Ba Giang lake," he said.
AFP said that a school has already been constructed on the property, and another building as well as a residential block are also planned.
Vietnam's Communist government has given mixed signals to Vietnamese Christians in recent months. Last month, it allowed unregistered house church groups and 15,000 people to hold a large, public Easter-related service at Tao Dan Stadium. It had only allowed such an event on one other occasion, at Christmastime in 2007.
On March 11, however, the government abruptly destroyed an historic church building in the Banmethuot om area. It had confiscated the building from the Evangelical Church of Vietnam (South), or ECVN(S), in 1975.
The ECVN(S) passed a resolution stating that its "Executive Council…is extremely upset and in deep sympathy with the 135,000 believers in Dak Lak province."
Eight percent of the Vietnamese population is Christian. Of these, 6.46 percent are Catholic, and .89 percent are Protestant.
Posted in Christianity, Communism, Roman Catholicism, Vietnam	| Tagged 2007, ;province, agencies, allowed, announced, area, authorities, Ba Giang lake, Banmethuot, believers, building, Christian, Christianity, Christians, Christmas, church, claimed, claims, committee, Communism, communist, communists, confiscated, construction, contructed, Dak Lak, decision, deep, destroyed, Easter, ECVN(S), Evangelical Church of Vietnam (South), executive council, extremely, Foreign Ministry, government, groups, halted, Hanoi, Hanoi People's Committee, historic, house church, implementation, land, large, Le Dung, mixed signals, occasion, parish, Persecution, planned, prayer, project, property, proprty, Protestant, protests, public, related, residential, resolution, respond, Roman Catholic, Roman Catholicism, Roman Catholics, school, service, spokesman, sympathy, Tai Ha Redemptorist, Tao Dan Stadium, unexpectedly, unregistered, upset, Vietnam, Vietnamese, vigil, works | Leave a comment