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Jose Juarez is a shaman, a Mesoamerican healer from a village in Mexico. He owns a botanica, called New Age Store Leecatzin, in Clifton's Botany Village. In the background an Aztec drawing represents life, strength and prosperity, with a reminder to rem A shaman helps clients with a variety of problemsAlbert Ponce had a broken spirit. Life for the 25-year-old Clifton resident had recently hit a bumpy patch. He couldn't land a job working in an office. He didn't want to settle for a retail job, or working in a factory; he wanted to make use of his business...

The increasingly protracted battle between the FLDS community and the state of Texas has prompted a number of discussions about the Texas polygamous group and the Mormons. A MormonTimes.com reader identifying himself as Tom Jones sent a question to the site's "Mormon Q&A section," where answers and discussion on topics of interest are addressed by the Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research (FAIR). Jones' question reads: Since the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has much more in common with the mainline LDS Church than the LDS Church has in common with mainline Christianity, why is it...

The report claims more than 50,000 women a year have deserted their congregations over the past two decades because they feel the church is not relevant to their lives. It says that instead young women are becoming attracted to the pagan religion Wicca, where females play a central role, which has grown in popularity after being featured positively in films, TV shows and books. The study comes amid ongoing controversy over the role of women in all Christian denominations. Last month its governing body voted to allow women to become bishops for the first time, having admitted them to the...

ANTIOCH — A year after a suspected arson fire destroyed the Islamic Center of the East Bay, Mohammad Chaudhry stood in an asphalt parking lot and gestured toward a new building rising on the same spot. "Beauty will emerge from the ashes," said Chaudhry, founding president of the Islamic Center. On Wednesday night, close to 50 people gathered at the Islamic Center's West 18th Street site for a prayer service and vigil to mark the anniversary of the fire and to mark the unity that somehow came out of the incident. The new mosque, still under construction, is set to...

GRANTS PASS, Ore. - When Agnes Baker Pilgrim, who turns 84 in September, wakes up each day, she said she's usually grinning. ''People would think I'm nuts if they saw me early in the morning,'' said Baker Pilgrim, who's believed to be the oldest living member of the Takelma Indian Tribe. ''I wake up with a big smile ... because I got another day. I give so many thanks because the Creator gave me another day!'' As the moderator of the International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers, Baker Pilgrim returned in late July from a trip to Rome to try...

Dottie Zimmerman is a 63-year-old mother of three, an award-winning religion teacher at a Toledo Catholic school, a former Ursuline nun, and a director of the Children's Theatre Workshop. For the last five years, Mrs. Zimmerman also says she has been "channeling" Padre Pio, letting the dead Italian Catholic saint mystically speak through her. It is a "gift," she said, and although she never asked for it she believes she must use it to help others, especially children. Last month, Mrs. Zimmerman channeled the saint during a meeting of the Toledo Lightworkers Co-op, a group of people who explore alternative...

Aren’t there some striking parallels between the Jesus and Mithra stories? Hardly. Before reading this list, a little background on the Mithraic religion is in order. Mithra was a Persian god dating back to roughly 1400 B.C. It later sprang up in Rome after Christian times, with a severely different story to it. Here is the list given, with my responses: 1. Mithra was born of a virgin on December 25th in a cave, and his birth was attended by shepherds. There is no support for the idea that Mithra was born of a virgin. And since nowhere in...

CANTERBURY, UK, August 18, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Gene Robinson has castigated a fellow Anglican bishop for publicly disapproving of his crusade to inculcate "gay" values into the Anglican Communion. In an interview with SXNews, an Australian homosexual news website festooned with explicit sexual advertising, Robinson complained that the Sydney archdiocese is "bigoted" because its archbishop, Dr. Peter Jensen, boycotted the Lambeth conference, held this month in Canterbury, England. Gene Robinson is the active homosexual whose consecration as Episcopal bishop of New Hampshire caused a crisis in the global Anglican Communion. He called the Sydney archbishop's defence of Christianity "ironic" given...

Secret Tapes: The History Of Xenu, As Explained By L. Ron Hubbard In 8 Minutes Click here to hear 8.03 min. audio Most of what we know about Scientology's "supreme ruler" we learned from South Park: 75 million years ago, the evil alien brought humans to earth in a spaceship and killed them; the psychic trauma of the event has affected us ever since. The Church of Scientology, embarrassed by the story, has always tried to hide its existence. Until now. The Church has been playing a cat-and-mouse game with YouTubers, getting it removed in many cases; we have the...

Eye of the storm Wednesday, 13 August 2008 By his very existence, the Reverend Gene Robinson – the openly gay Anglican bishop of New Hampshire – is an agent for change in his church, and society at large. He spoke with Peter Hackney. He is friendly, mild-mannered and avuncular. He doesn’t seem like someone who’d tear an entire church apart. Yet Gene Robinson, the first openly gay bishop in the history of the Anglican Church, has been accused of doing just that. So controversial is he that at the recent Lambeth Conference, the decennial conference of Anglican bishops from across...

Tom Cruise likes to ramble on and on about the wonders of Scientology and how much it helps people. However, when it comes to Tom, it looks like Scientology has come up a little short! NOTE: The Author of this comic requests that you visit his site and refrain from copying the cartoon in the thread. Thanks much!!

Rowan Williams believes that gay sexual relationships can “reflect the love of God� in a way that is comparable to marriage, The Times has learnt. Gay partnerships pose the same ethical questions as those between men and women, and the key issue for Christians is that they are faithful and lifelong, he believes. Dr Williams is known to be personally liberal on the issue but the strength of his views, revealed in private correspondence shown to The Times, will astonish his critics. The news threatens to reopenbitter divisions over ordaining gay priests, which pushed the Anglican Communion towards a split....

An explosive article appeared Wednesday in the London Times entitled “Rowan Williams: Gay relationships 'comparable to marriage'”. Ruth Gledhill, the Religion Correspondent of the Times may have blown the lid off of the perceived pause in the internal battles threatening the the Church of England after the Lambeth Conference. Ms. Gledhill wrote: “Rowan Williams believes that gay sexual relationships can “reflect the love of God” in a way that is comparable to marriage, The Times has learnt. Gay partnerships pose the same ethical questions as those between a man and woman and the key issue for Christians is that they...

<p>New York (AP) -- The spiritual leader of the world's Anglicans is urging an extended ban on consecrating another gay bishop until their troubled fellowship can be healed.</p> <p>Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams made the plea Sunday, the final day of the Lambeth Conference, the once-a-decade Anglican meeting in Canterbury, England.</p>

Cardinal Kasper’s address to the Lambeth Conference of Anglican bishops was straight and to the point. LONDON (London Times) - The Roman Catholic Church has finally ended all hope that Anglican priestly orders will ever be recognized as valid. In an address to the Lambeth Conference of 670 Anglican bishops from around the world, the cardinal who heads the Council for Christian Unity said the dialogue between Anglicans and Catholics would be irrevocably "changed" as a result of the ordination of women and the recent vote to go ahead with consecrating women bishops. Cardinal Walter Kasper also reiterated the Vatican's...

When people begin studying the history of the church, the result frequently is disillusionment. It is quite a messy business. Even the great councils that devised the foundational doctrines of Christianity resembled political conventions more than a solemn assembly of priests speaking in hushed tones. People who only months before were being fed to lions by the Romans debated points of theology with similar ferocity, and in some cases the meetings devolved into brawls. Closely held beliefs, when they clash with others, held just as passionately, will produce sparks. It's all too easy to pronounce the other side heretical, and...

Hmong elders and cultural advisers were on hand to witness, and even videotape, the ceremony. Xang Vang now runs the Hmong American Mutual Assistance Association in Minneapolis, but he's always had a fondness for Frogtown. It was where he bought his first home in America, and where many other Hmong refugees got a new start in life. "That's why we Hmong dominate Frogtown -- to be Hmongtown," he jokes. The Hmong Funeral HomeAnd the Hmong Funeral Home on Dale Street was the first of its kind for the entire Twin Cities. For a while, it was the only place where...

The Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, has challenged an American woman bishop to produce evidence to back up her claim that bishops beat their wives. Other bishops also criticised the US Episcopal Church's Bishop Catherine Roskam after she said at the Lambeth Conference in Canterbury that men beat women "because they can". She said: "We have 700 men here. Do you think any of them beat their wives? Chances are they do. The most devout Christians beat their wives... many of our bishops come from places where it is culturally accepted to beat your wife." About 670 bishops, nearly...

CANTERBURY, England -- Gene Robinson's bodyguard didn't have to worry this time. The 40-year-old man who rushed over to Robinson, the first openly gay bishop in the worldwide Anglican church, just wanted to shake his hand. "Thank you for bringing the church into the 21st century, for moving things forward," said Martin MacCiarrain, a government employee. The bodyguard, a retired policeman who trails the American bishop because of death threats, eased back. On Sunday during a sermon Robinson delivered in London, a long-haired man had suddenly leapt up screaming at the American bishop: "Repent! Repent!" Since Robinson, 61, was consecrated...

Multiple people have suffered gunshot wounds in what witnesses describe as a mass shooting inside a church in West Knoxville Sunday morning. The shootings happened at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church on Kingston Pike. A witness who spoke to 10 News said police had arrived and one person was being detained at the scene. A children's production of "Annie" was taking place as part of the normal Sunday service at the time of the shooting, the witness, who is a member of the church, said. The gunman walked into a packed sanctuary and opened fire. The number of people...

History's humongous wheel turns and turns and turns again. Over time, mud and sludge accumulate on even the sprucest institutions. Take the 500-year-old Anglican family of churches, Christianity's third-largest, after Rome and Eastern Orthodoxy. With Anglicanism's biggest family event under way - the every-10-years gathering of bishops and archbishops in England - what the world sees, accurately or not, is a family in moral and spiritual disarray. --snip--For all that, Anglicanism's public troubles proceed from the takeover of Western Anglicanism by theological activists whose purpose is the remolding of Christianity into something less like the old-time religion than like the...

Lebanon, Indiana - A woman is recovering in a Boone County hospital after injuring herself with a three-foot sword over the weekend. Katherine Gunther put a hole in her left foot in a cemetery early Saturday with a sword she was wielding as part of a Wiccan ceremony. "The I plunged the sword into the ground and my foot was there," said Gunther, a practicing Wiccan. "I don't do animal sacrifices or anything like that." "I didn't even know they existed in Lebanon, 'til I got the call," said Keith Neher of the Lebanon Police Department. The ceremony involves finding...

The Archbishop of the Episcopal Church of the Sudan today declared that Gene Robinson, the openly gay Bishop of New Hampshire, "should resign for the sake of the church." In a press conference at the decennial Lambeth Conference, the Most Rev. Dr. Daniel Deng Bul said that homosexual ordination "is not what is found in the Bible" and that it is "not the norm of the Anglican world."

A leading Anglican bishop has condemned conservatives as "demonic" for using his church as a punch bag. The Bishop of Washington, the Right Rev John Chane, a leading liberal in the Episcopal Church in the United States, accused conservatives of leading the church in a "dangerous" direction. *** "I think it's really very, very dangerous and I think it's demonic ... the Episcopal Church has been demonised. It has been a punching bag and I'm sick of being a punching bag as a Bishop and I'm sick of my church, my province being a punching bag.

James Tramel went from convicted murderer to priest while in prison, a transformation that the Episcopal Church used to successfully lobby for his parole and celebrate him before politicians and the press. But the church is now grappling with the sexual abuse of a parishioner under his care. Tramel has been suspended for sexual misconduct, temporarily stripped of his priestly authority and left searching for a new job. The San Francisco-based Episcopal Diocese of California now faces questions of whether, in its haste to proclaim Tramel's story, it redeemed and promoted him too quickly. Convicted of second-degree murder in a...

Protest disrupts bishop's sermon The man standing up and heckling the bishop Openly gay US bishop Gene Robinson was forced to halt a sermon at a west London church after being heckled. As Bishop Robinson began his sermon a member of the congregation repeatedly called him a "heretic" and said "repent, repent, repent". He began his sermon by saying how sad it was that the Anglican Communion was tearing itself apart. But he was stopped when the man in the congregation shouted that the schism was the bishop's fault.

The Church of England's ruling body has voted to go ahead with the ordination of women bishops. But the Church was facing a damaging split after members of its General Synod threw out compromise proposals on females in senior ranks. All safeguards demanded by traditionalists were rejected. Sky News correspondent Mike McCarthy said: "It's a historic and very significant moment for the Church of England. "The real test now is how many people will leave (the Church). There are certainly going to be many wrestling with their consciences." The Synod members voted to approve work on a national statutory code...

It has become a cliché to say that the Church of England is in a mess. But a new chapter of messiness began just recently with the “marriage� of two Anglican clergymen in a festive ceremony in St Bartholomew’s church in London. One of the men is a doctor at the nearby famous St Bartholomew’s Hospital. The wedding – in grand style, with music and flowers and “Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today…� and vows and bouquets – received widespread publicity.  At no time among any Christians at any stage since Christ himself walked this earth – or...

Pop icon Madonna is using kabbalah to brainwash Yankee star Alex Rodriguez into believing they are "soulmates," the ballplayer's estranged wife is telling friends. Cynthia Rodriguez, who has bolted to rocker Lenny Kravitz's Paris pad to avoid the limelight, is blaming the Material Girl for breaking up her five-year marriage, a close friend told the Daily News. The 34-year-old stunner has revealed to close confidants that she discovered a note her husband wrote professing his true feelings to Madonna. "I believe he was having an affair with Madonna," she told a friend, who spoke anonymously for fear of angering A-Rod....

An Episcopal Church court has found a Pennsylvania bishop guilty of concealing his brother's sexual abuse of a minor during the 1970s. Bishop Charles Bennison Jr. could be suspended or removed permanently from ministry, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported Thursday. Bennison's lawyers said they planned to appeal the decision. A sentence is not likely to be handed down before late August, the newspaper said. Bennison, 64, became head of the five-county, 55,000-member Diocese of Pennsylvania in 1998. He was suspended in October after a special review committee of the Episcopal Church USA charged him with two counts of "conduct unbecoming a...

The crisis in the Church of England over homosexuality is a personal one for the Archbishop of Canterbury himself. Whether you are a supporter or not, a Christian or a non-believer, it is increasingly clear - as the threat of schism over homosexuality and women priests intensifies - that the leader of the Established Church is in a false position. Dr Rowan Williams portrays himself as radically inclined, yet on homosexuality he has aligned himself with a conservative cause. --- This false position arises because there is every reason to believe that he is going against his conscience, and that,...

The Archbishop of Canterbury has rounded on rebel Anglicans seeking to bypass his authority over issues such as homosexuality and women priests. Dr Rowan Williams adopted unusually forthright language to accuse the hardline traditionalists of lacking legitimacy One of his staff even suggested the rebels were becoming a "Protestant sect". The Archbishop's comments follow the creation at the weekend of the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (Foca), a global network for millions of Anglicans unhappy at the ordination of the openly homosexual Bishop of New Hampshire, Gene Robinson. Dr Williams called for patience from those who want to create an...

Marriage laws, lack of church commitment from newlyweds make faith leaders think twice. Some clergy think churches should divorce themselves from the wedding business.The controversy over same-sex marriage – along with a growing sense that many couples who marry in churches never return – has prompted faith leaders to say it's time to reconsider how California couples tie the knot.After the California Supreme Court ruled gay marriage legal, the bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of California began encouraging all couples to marry outside the church. "I urge you to encourage all couples, regardless of orientation, to follow the pattern of...

The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)'s highest governing body voted Friday in favor of a proposal that would allow for the ordination of non-celibate gays and lesbians. The 218th General Assembly, meeting in San Jose, Calif., this week, voted 380-325 to send the overture – that would delete the requirement that clergy live in "fidelity within the covenant of marriage between and a man and a woman, or chastity in singleness" – to the denomination's 173 presbyteries for approval. Adding to the blow to conservatives, the Assembly also adopted a supplementary authoritative interpretation of the PC(USA) constitution that would allow gay and...

NEW DELHI: With Democrat senator Barack Obama busy in the run-up to the US presidential polls, a group of well-wishers in the capital have decided to send him a symbol of his lucky charm, Lord Hanuman, to help him emerge victorious. Obama's representative Carolyn Sauvage-Mar on Tuesday received a gold-plated two-feet-high idol which she will pass it on to the Obama after it is sanctified. The idol is being presented to Obama as he is reported to be a Lord Hanuman devotee and carries with him a locket of the monkey god along with other good luck charms. An hour-long...

The Book of Mormon and the King James Version (1999) Curt van den Heuvel Introduction The King James Version of the Bible is, in all likelihood, the most successful of all the English translations. Volumes have been written on its distinctive and rhythmic style, and it is still regarded as a triumph of modern English literature. So great was the influence of the King James Version that it coloured and directed the development of the English language for decades. English speakers still uses such phrases as `a fly in the ointment', `go the extra mile', and `stick to the straight...

On the second-to-last day of school in Seattle, the fifth-grade class at B.F. Day Elementary School is bustling around the art room, cutting streamers, trying on hats and testing out their twirls. Volunteers from the Fremont Arts Council are also busy, helping students scissor through fabric, glue on streamers and parade their wares around the school......Like many Fremonsters, the kids who attend B.F. Day are excited about next Saturday’s parade.The Fremont Solstice Parade will be held on June 21st at noon- directions can be found on the Fremont Arts Council’s website.

LONDON — A "wedding"-like ceremony between two male priests broke the Church of England's rules, a spokesman for the Anglican body said Saturday. The two clergymen exchanged rings and vows last month at a ceremony in St. Bartholomew the Great in London, according to The Sunday Telegraph, a preview of which was made available Saturday. The paper said the ceremony included traditional marriage liturgy, hymns and a Eucharist. The ceremony took place in defiance of the Bishop of London, in whose diocese it took place. It is likely to embolden liberal clergy who have been reluctant to offer a full...

In 2Ne5:5 Nephi and his family and friends separate from the Lamanites 12 years after landing in the Americas. They quickly develop a complex metallurgical culture that other civilizations in history required centuries to create. Here are the cast of characters: *Nephi and family - wife and possibly a possibly some children *Zoram and his family - wife and possibly some children *Sam and his family - again a family *Jacob - a young man or boy *Joseph - an even younger man or boy *Others of Nephi's sisters - perhaps as many as 3-4 women. *"and all those who...

Church trial begins for Episcopal bishop By JOANN LOVIGLIO – 3 days ago PHILADELPHIA (AP) — An Episcopal bishop accused of concealing his brother's sexual abuse of a 14-year-old girl decades ago twice walked in during the abuse and never did anything to stop it, the now-adult victim testified Monday at a church trial. The testimony came as the trial opened for Bishop Charles E. Bennison Jr. of the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania. His brother became a priest after the abuse is alleged to have begun. A panel of bishops, priests and church members will decide whether Bennison, the leader...

He maintains he is following the Holy Spirit in calling for this radical revision of Christian orthodoxy. Yet, he argues against the clear teaching of the Scriptures and unbroken teaching of the Christian tradition that reserve sexual activity to the loving, lifelong marriage bond between a married man and woman. Clearly, Bishop Gene Robinson views himself as a liberator, and he is doing more to foster the splintering of the Anglican Communion worldwide singlehandedly than anyone else. He seems to take delight in both his celebrity and his self appointed task. Now, the controversialist crusader for homosexual equivalency with marriage...

California's Episcopal bishop has praised the state Supreme Court ruling that gives same-sex couples the right to marry and is calling on the faithful to defeat a November ballot measure that would restrict marriage to unions of one man and one woman. "For far too long the onus has fallen on marginalized people to bear the burden of inequalities that exist within the Church, and the decision by our state's Supreme Court has given us the opportunity to level the playing field," Right Rev. Mark Andrus wrote in a pastoral letter dated June 9. The letter appeared on the Diocese...

An elusive group just outside of Abilene, Texas is claiming the end of the world is coming in less than a week. The House of Yahweh recently gave ABC reporter Brian Ross access to their west Texas compound. Yahweh leader Yisrayl Hawkins says a nuclear holocaust will come June 12th and only members of his group will be saved. All group members change their last names to Hawkins and live in the compound. Local authorities claim the group is dangerous and practices polygamy. Shane Dee, the local district attorney, says there's no way to describe the group except as a...

Police -- Stonington Pastor Provided Alcohol For Minors http://www.theday.com/re.aspx?re=bd09de68-90d0-408b-aa22-6d3f42ec354e http://tinyurl.com/6jdj56 Priest arrested during party after 2 girls hospitalized for intoxication Published on 6/3/2008 By Joe Wojtas Stonington - Police arrested the Rev. Mark Robinson of Calvary Episcopal Church Monday and charged him with hosting a graduation party at his Barnes Road home Sunday night that resulted in two 17-year-old girls being taken by ambulance to The Westerly Hospital for treatment for intoxication. The 50-year-old Robinson, who has led the borough church since 1993, was charged with delivery of alcohol to minors, second-degree reckless endangerment and permitting minors to possess alcohol....

"Anonymous" While we go about our daily lives--surfing the web, using it to pay bills or catching up on the latest news and chatting with friends and family--little do we realize that just beneath the digital surface of the worldwide web a war is being waged: the first Cyber World War, between a modern-day David versus Goliath. Goliath is the Church of Scientology, a multi-billion dollar enterprise, who is being systematically unmasked by the group known as Anonymous, the modern day David. ALSO at DBKP.com: * 'Anonymous' Hackers Vow to Destroy Scientology * Anonymous Issues Warning Number III to...

For the first time ever, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will host a celebration of the 1978 revelation ending the ban on blacks being ordained to the church's all-male priesthood. In past years, Genesis, a support group for Mormon blacks and their families, organized the commemoration. On June 8, the 30th anniversary festivities will feature a speech by Elder Sheldon F. Child of the LDS First Quorum of Seventy and several black members sharing their experiences. Mack Wilberg, conductor of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, will direct a multicultural choir. The LDS Church also will present a short...

LDS Leaders Define Their Concept of JESUS CHRISTBy Sandra Tanner Often Mormons will say that they believe in the same Jesus as standard Christianity. However, their leaders’ definition is very different. The current president of the Mormon Church, Gordon B. Hinckley, made a very telling comment about Jesus Christ in a talk in Geneva, Switzerland, June 6, 1998. The Deseret News reported: In bearing testimony of Jesus Christ, President Hinckley spoke of those outside the Church who say Latter-day Saints "do not believe in the traditional Christ. No, I don't. The traditional Christ of whom they speak is not the Christ...

FLAWS IN THE PEARL OF GREAT PRICE     In our new book, Flaws in the Pearl of Great Price, we have compiled some very important information concerning the Pearl of Great Price, a book accepted by members of the Mormon Church as inspired scripture. It is, in fact, one of the four standard works of the church. Since most of the material contained in the Pearl of Great Price was supposed to have been given to the Mormon prophet Joseph Smith by divine revelation, it is considered more accurate than the Bible. The "Book of Moses," contained in the first...

Mormon Tom Quinn reports on the story of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and confusion about his own faith's attitude to polygamy. Ever since the April 3 raid in which Texas authorities removed 464 children from a remote polygamist ranch, much of the world has watched with a bizarre mix of curiosity and horror as investigators shine an unwelcome light on the secretive Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS). [Snip] As novel as the whole mess might seem to the average person, there is one group that would just as soon pretend it...

Marriage for All at All Saints Church Press Release sent from All Saints Church, Pasadena this afternoon: All Saints Church, Pasadena rector, J. Edwin Bacon, Jr., announced today that the church will treat equally all couples presenting themselves for the rite of marriage. The announcement followed a special meeting of the All Saints Church Vestry, which unanimously adopted a “Resolution on Marriage Equality” [below] in response to the May 15, 2008 ruling of the California Supreme Court. “Today’s decision is consistent with All Saints Church, Pasadena’s identity as a peace and justice church,” said Bacon, following the historic vote. “It...