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case of mercy versus justiceBy Paul PratherHERALD-LEADER CONTRIBUTING COLUMNIST The Jewish prophet Micah said this: "And what does the lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." That statement seems as pertinent today, and as complicated, as it must have sounded several thousand years ago. We're at war with terrorists who intend to destroy us. We deal daily with less dangerous, but infuriating, annoyances: self- serving politicians, crooked business partners, drug users, crabby spouses. Meanwhile, God requires us to demonstrate justice, mercy and humility -- all at the same time....

BAGHDAD, Iraq — The mother of an American journalist kidnapped in Iraq appealed for her daughter's life on Thursday, the eve of a deadline set by her captors for the release of all women in U.S. custody in the country. "Taking vengeance on my innocent daughter, who loves Iraq and its people, will not create justice," Mary Beth Carroll said in a message aimed at the gunmen holding Jill Carroll, 28. Sunni Muslim leaders in Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East joined intensifying calls for mercy. But as new video images emerged Thursday of the pale, dark-haired woman surrounded...

'We will cut them until Iran asks for mercy' By Massoud Ansari (Filed: 15/01/2006) Deep in the lawless triangle connecting Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan, eight terrified Iranian soldiers are being held hostage by a Sunni group that is vowing to "slaughter" them if Teheran does not bow to its demands. "We will chop their heads once our deadline is over," Abdul Hameed Reeki, chief spokesman of the Jundallah or Brigade of God group, told the Sunday Telegraph, slowly drawing an index finger across his neck to demonstrate the seriousness of his intent. The deadline for the men is tomorrow. The...

Army's mercy mission to save baby January 02, 2006 ATLANTA: An Iraqi baby with a life-threatening birth defect has arrived in the US for medical treatment after being sent by American soldiers who found her during a raid on her family's home. Three-month-old Baby Noor, as she is called in the US media, was taken by ambulance to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, Georgia, a pediatric hospital that is donating surgery and other care for the infant. Noor al-Zahra was born with spina bifida, a birth defect in which the spinal column fails to completely close, leaving part of the spinal...

Elijah, mighty man of God, Sat under a broom tree, Feeling sorry for himself. He was all alone, Fleeing from Jezebel, Despite the fire from heaven on Mount Carmel. But God spoke to him, saying “Eat and drink, and keep moving, Seven thousand have not bent the knee to Baal.” Jonah, preacher to Nineveh, Sat under a gourd, Feeling sorry for himself For Nineveh would not be destroyed Which was his heart’s desire But God spoke to him, Saying, “And should I not feel sorry for them? They do not know Me.” Jesus, son of Joseph, Knelt in a garden,...

Shortly after Michael and Cathryn Borden of Lititz, Pa., were slain by their daughter's boyfriend (David Ludwig), family and clergy – at least those who presented themselves to the media – indicated their readiness to forgive little Lizzie, I mean Kara Borden. Forgiveness at least implies some acknowledgment of wrongdoing. The media, for the most, wouldn't even impugn the girl. After the shootings, Borden hopped into her beau's get-away car. She told him she wanted to "get as far away as possible, get married and start a new life." Only after Borden was confronted with surveillance cameras did she confess...

Attorneys for the parents of a deceased 4-year-old boy say hospital intimidated witness. WILKES-BARRE (PA) – Officials from Mercy Hospital used “threats and intimidation” toward a former employee expected to offer testimony criticizing the hospital’s treatment of a 4-year-old boy who later died, attorneys said. The attorneys, from the law firm of Hourigan, Kluger and Quinn, called the hospital’s acts “scare tactics” used to intimidate the witness, former nurse Andrea Shaw, as part of the its ongoing effort to hide the improper care the hospital staff provided to the boy, leading to his death. The claim came from attorney Michelle...

Folks, in view of our recent national tragedy, I want to reproduce for you the Catholic Encyclopedia's article on the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy and remind all of us that this teaching has never, ever has gone out of style. It remains a divine mandate that we pursue these works of mercy every way we can: Mercy as it is here contemplated is said to be a virtue influencing one's will to have compassion for, and, if possible, to alleviate another's misfortune. It is the teaching of St. Thomas Aquinas that although mercy is as it were the...

(AgapePress) - Two Christian leaders in New Orleans are testifying to God's mercy in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. One suggests that the death toll could have been much higher had it not been for God's mercy -- and the other that God may have used the hurricane to purge wickedness from the city. Chuck Kelley is president of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, with facilities located near the southern banks of Lake Pontchartrain and in Chalmette, east of the city. Baptist Press reports that Kelley now finds himself homeless and with only a few personal belongings following Hurricane Katrina's...

WILL SUICIDE BOMBERS OBTAIN HEAVEN? Those who seek to terrorize others by killing themselves along with innocent people can never be assured of reaching Heaven. Among those in the Sacred Scriptures who committed suicide is Judas. And through the Word of God we know he lost his soul: “And Satan entered into Judas, who was surnamed Iscariot, one of the twelve” (Luke 22:3). “And he indeed hath possessed a field of the reward of iniquity, and being hanged (Judas hung himself), burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out....So that the field is called....’The field of blood‘”...

(IsraelNN.com) Channel 10 TV on Friday night will air its video footage depicting Negev police commander Brigadier-General Miso Shacham. Speaking to the area border police commander, Shacham is recorded instructing his forces to beat anyone who breaks away from the Kfar Maimon group, seeking to enter Gush Katif. He called for the indiscriminate use of the water cannon, giving him authority to do so without hesitation or approval, as well as telling him to use batons and “hit them hard, blows to the lower extremities to teach them a lesson”. The documented footage includes a fair share of vulgarities and...

God Names Me His Beneficiary! Into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. (1 Peter 1:4) I'M A RICH MAN - God Himself has named me His beneficiary! I came to the conclusion long ago that a Christian who places a proper value upon the true riches of eternity will have little inclination to fret and worry about being remembered here in some relative's last will and testament. Peter deals with this matter of the reality of the divine benefits, describing our future inheritance with the words "that can never perish, spoil or fade." He indicates that those...

Isaiah 55:7-9 Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God; for He will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Seventh Day Today bring to Me the Souls who especially venerate and glorify My Mercy*, and immerse them in My mercy. These souls sorrowed most over my Passion and entered most deeply into My spirit. They are living images of My Compassionate Heart. These souls will shine with a special brightness in the next life. Not one of them will go into the fire of hell. I shall particularly defend each one of them at the hour of death. Most Merciful Jesus, whose Heart is Love Itself, receive into the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart the souls of those...

Terri Schiavo, Martyr, By: Deacon Keith Fournier © Third Millennium, LLC The news out of Pinellas Park, Florida breaks the hearts of all decent people. It should shake us to the core. Terri Schiavo is dead, intentionally deprived of food and water, with the force of the raw power of government holding the hands of the executioners. She was killed deliberately, by starvation and dehydration. No Court, Legislative body or Chief Executive had the courage to stop this killing. She was deprived of her substantive due process rights by every branch of government. Terri was not dying. She was not...

He was the commander of the Aggressors. An ass-kicking group of tankers out of the 1st Armored Division. He got the bullet hole in his flak vest the old fashioned way – in the dark of the night on some Iraqi back street. And when Najaf fell he was the one who told the world about the 40 insurgents they had to take out to make it so. He’s on trial this week. For something just short of murder. His name is Capt. Roger Maynulet. A 30-year-old out of the ROTC program at Champaign-Urbana. By all accounts he is a...

John 20: 1-16 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb and we don’t know where they have put him!”So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent over and looked in at the...

IN HER 1993 NOVEL The Children of Men, P.D. James depicts the world of 2021. A mysterious infection has rendered humanity infertile--the last baby is believed to have been born in 1995--yet British authorities move forward with their program of "voluntary" euthanasia for the elderly and others who cannot meet society's standards for "quality of life." The euthanasia program, called the Quietus, involves an inspirational, music-accompanied mass march into the sea, and is depicted by the authorities as pleasant, gentle, even euphoric. But a single old woman changes her mind at the last minute, and has to be clubbed to...

I see no reason whatsoever that President Bush could not use his Presidential Pardon power to pardon Terri Schiavo. Our founding fathers granted the presidnet this power to protect the individual against evil in the judiciary. No mention is made between civil or criminal cases, and the only recourse from those opposed is the ballot box or impeachment.President Bush could pardon Terri Shiavo, pick her up in the presidential helicopter, and keep her in the Lincoln bedroom to guarantee her safety during rehabilitation. Terri's mother could file for divorce on her behalf. With access to Terri, the news media and...

p> The matter is admittedly not simple. But the Christian church has, at least until recent decades, spoken on it with a fairly unified voice. Here as in other issues related to human life and sexuality, the Roman Catholic Church has done a good job of defining and sticking by its official position. On the other hand, at the grassroots, more conservative Protestants than Catholics or any other group of Christians have taken an uncompromising position against euthanasia—to put it in the language of the Catholic Catechism, "an act or omission which, of itself or by intention, causes death in...