Posted on 06/25/2007 12:39:01 PM PDT by ZGuy
Last week, a German court sentenced a 55-year old Lutheran pastor to one year in jail for “Volksverhetzung” (incitement of the people) because he compared the killing of the unborn in contemporary Germany to the holocaust. Next week, the Council of Europe is going to vote on a resolution imposing Darwinism as Europe’s official ideology. The European governments are asked to fight the expression of creationist opinions, such as young earth and intelligent design theories. According to the Council of Europe these theories are “undemocratic” and “a threat to human rights.”
Without legalized abortion the number of German children would increase annually by at least 150,000 – which is the number of legal abortions in birth dearth Germany. Pastor Johannes Lerle compared the killing of the unborn to the killing of the Jews in Auschwitz during the Second World War. On 14 June, a court in Erlangen ruled that, in doing so, the pastor had “incited the people” because his statement was a denial of the holocaust of the Jews in Nazi-Germany. Hence, Herr Lerle was sentenced to one year in jail. Earlier, he had already spent eight months in jail for calling abortionists “professional killers” – an allegation which the court ruled to be slanderous because, according to the court, the unborn are not humans.
Other German courts convicted pro-lifers for saying that “in abortion clinics, life unworthy of living is being killed,” because this terminology evoked Hitler’s euthanasia program, which used the same language. In 2005, a German pro-lifer, Günter Annen, was sentenced to 50 days in jail for saying “Stop unjust [rechtswidrige] abortions in [medical] practice,” because, according to the court, the expression “unjust” is understood by laymen as meaning illegal, which abortions are not.
Volksverhetzung is a crime which the Nazis often invoked against their enemies and which contemporary Germany also uses to intimidate homeschoolers. Soon, the German authorities will be able to use the same charge against people who question Darwin’s evolution theory.
Indeed, next Tuesday, the Council of Europe (CoE), Europe’s main human-rights body, will vote on a proposal which advocates the fight against creationism, “young earth” and “intelligent design” in its 47 member states.
According to a report of the CoE’s Parliamentary Assembly, creationists are dangerous “religious fundamentalists” who propagate “forms of religious extremism” and “could become a threat to human rights.” The report adds that the acceptance of the science of evolutionism “is crucial to the future of our societies and our democracies.”
“Creationism, born of the denial of the evolution of species through natural selection, was for a long time an almost exclusively American phenomenon,” the report says.
“Today creationist theories are tending to find their way into Europe and their spread is affecting quite a few Council of Europe member states. […] [T]his is liable to encourage the development of all manner of fundamentalism and extremism, synonymous with attacks of utmost virulence on human rights. The total rejection of science is definitely one of the most serious threats to human rights and civic rights. […] The war on the theory of evolution and on its proponents most often originates in forms of religious extremism which are closely allied to extreme right-wing political movements. The creationist movements possess real political power. The fact of the matter, and this has been exposed on several occasions, is that the advocates of strict creationism are out to replace democracy by theocracy. [...] If we are not careful, the values that are the very essence of the Council of Europe will be under direct threat from creationist fundamentalists.”
According to the CoE report, America and Australia are already on their way towards becoming such undemocratic theocracies where human and civic rights are endangered. Creationism is “well-developed in the English-speaking countries, especially the United States and Australia,” the report states.
“While most curricula in Europe today unashamedly teach evolution as a recognised scientific theory, the same does not apply to the United States. In July 2005, the Pew Research Center conducted a poll that showed that 64% of Americans favoured the teaching of intelligent design alongside the theory of evolution and that 38% would support the total abandonment of the teaching of evolution in publicly owned schools. The American President George W. Bush supports the principle of teaching both intelligent design and the theory of evolution. At the moment, 20 of the 50 American states are facing potential adjustments of their school curricula in favour of intelligent design. Many people think that this phenomenon only affects the United States and that, even if it is not possible to be indifferent to what is happening on the other side of the Atlantic, it is not the Council of Europe’s role to deal with this issue. That, however, is not the case. On the contrary, it would seem crucial for us to take the appropriate precautions in our 47 member states.”
Though one may disagree with people who take the Book of Genesis literally (believing that God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh), surely secularist political organizations telling people what they may or may not believe, constitute a far greater threat to human rights than religious institutions telling their faithful how to vote. In the voting booth people are free to do what they like, whilst in contemporary Europe people are no longer free to publicly voice their own, deeply felt opinions in public.
In Germany, believing abortion to be as murderous as the holocaust is a crime, and educating your own children is a crime too. In France, saying that “homosexual behaviour endangers the survival of humanity” is a crime, and so is the distribution of pork soup to the poor. In Belgium, speaking out against immigration is a crime.
In the latest issue of the Dutch conservative magazine Bitter Lemon the Dutch author Erik van Goor writes that European courts are silencing conservative and orthodox citizens. Freedom of speech no longer exist, says van Goor.
“While many in the West still idolize the second-hand fighters for free speech, such as [Ayaan] Hirsi Ali and Theo van Gogh, the true victims of curtailment are deliberately kept under wraps. Hirsi Ali, [Pim] Fortuyn and Theo van Gogh were not curtailed by the state or by court, Johannes Lerle is. The former voiced mere opinions – expressions of a public opinion which one may or may not value or believe. The latter – Dr Lerle – shows that what is at stake is not merely opinions, but a moral order which is being questioned; a reality of life and death which is at risk.”
Hirsi Ali, Fortuyn and van Gogh did not defend Europe’s traditional Christian moral order. People such as Johannes Lerle and Christian Vanneste, the French parliamentarian who was convicted for “homophobia,” do. The latter are being persecuted by Western Europe’s political regimes – a phenomenon which is ignored completely by the Western mainstream media, who participate in the persecution.
bump
Thus come the islamists.
Can Nicoli Carpathia be very for behind?
From whence the angst and fear of a Theocracy? If America had wanted a Theocracy they missed the best chance at it in 1778 or thereabouts. We had roughly 200 years to establish a Theocracy in this “Christian” nation and it didn’t happen. What in the world brings liberals to such fears of something that will never happen because of Christians?
(How long will it also be before some secular forces in Europe try to find a way, maybe through some type of international crime treaty, to silence pro-life Christians in the US. The Left cannot stand criticism or even to allow an alternative voice. When the left starts to get in its full power-stride, it will do all it can to silence every non-approved voice.)
“Can Nicoli Carpathia be very for behind?”
You forced me to educate myself a bit.
I’m afraid I’m behind on the “Left Behind” series, but did track down
the character (and the fellow that portrayed him).
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0192963/
(So much for the “Bible Belt” folks being monolithic; I attended a
very conservative/fundamentalist college and haven’t read any of
the “Left Behind” books!)
this is sickening...
the lutheran guy proves more than what he claimed; that is the german legal system is a buch of neo-nazis in that they squash free speech to promote their new holocaust!!
i’m in that country right now, i hope I don’t get arrested for saying this! but it sickens me.
Guess it's time for me to shuffle off this vale of tears. This is where I came in back in '36.
The Pastor is a political prisoner. Time to start trashing the German scum as the fascist thugs that they are.
I’m sure the New York Times and ABC will cover this and condemn it for the next 10 weeks.
What this means is that evangelicals are making inroads in Europe and the Euro elite don't like it one little bit. A certain percentage of evangelicals will go the young earth route. Those are who we are seeting in this article. But behind them, are almost certainly a lot more evangelicals. They will be persecuted for their faith in Jesus; not for their belief in one interpretation of Genesis.
More evidence of the thriving spirit of Antichrist alive and well in the world today.
But don't you know that "error has no rights?"
Hey, just because our lives have no ultimate meaning doesn't mean we still don't "need" to know the truth of how things work to navigate through this world! [/sarcasm]
Just wondering if our members from the Church of Darwin are for or against this turn of events brought to us by the socialist EU collective.
“What this means is that evangelicals are making inroads in Europe and the Euro elite don’t like it one little bit. A certain percentage of evangelicals will go the young earth route. Those are who we are seeing in this article. But behind them, are almost certainly a lot more evangelicals. ..” ~ ModelBreaker
And throughout their “report” those “elites” betray the fact that they are well aware of the real reason why they’re getting so much heat from the religious community.
I am providing some of the telling excerpts below:
Doc. 11297 - 8 June 2007
The dangers of creationism in education http://assembly.coe.int/Main.asp?link=/Documents/WorkingDocs/Doc07/EDOC11297.htm
Report
Committee on Culture, Science and Education
Rapporteur: Mr Guy LENGAGNE, France, Socialist Group
[...]
100. At the same time, it is necessary to consider the causes of such a challenge to the theory of evolution. This theory leaves itself open to many attacks but that could perhaps be explained by the poor way in which it is taught, especially from the epistemological point of view.
101. These reflections lead us to conclude that better teaching or the more appropriate teaching of the sciences and evolution might enable the dissemination of alternative pseudo-theories such as those of the creationists to be combated effectively. It is necessary to avoid doubt entering individuals minds with regard to fundamental scientific knowledge. This importance of quality science teaching that is better suited to the realities of daily life was highlighted in the report on students’ declining interest in scientific studies. ..”
[...]
The position of the Vatican and the Christian religious movements
75. For a long time, the Catholic Church was opposed to transformism and then to evolutionism. However, this opposition has to be understood in the context of the more general mistrust of science prevailing at the time, given the international climate of socialism, which it saw as a consequence of evolutionism. Thus, for a long time there were clashes between the positivist revolutionaries and the Catholics who supported the restoration of the monarchy. The Catholic Church has clearly demonstrated for a very long time that it is creationist. After the Second Vatican Council the Catholic Church was more discreet and almost remained aloof on this issue. This was until 1996, when, on 23 October, Pope John-Paul II recognised that Darwin’s theories were “more than a hypothesis”. ...
76. In the tradition of his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI now welcomes the role of the sciences in the evolution of humanity: ...In early September 2006, he brought together a group of former students and colleagues at Castel Gondolfo for a seminar on the evolutionism versus creationism debate. He published the conclusions of this seminar in mid-April 2007 in German under the title “Schöpfung und Evolution” (Creation and Evolution). ... The Pope rejects ..the theory of evolution, which hides its own weaknesses and does not want to see the questions that arise beyond the methodological capacities of science. The theory of evolution is considered too pervasive by the Catholic Church, which seems above all to be worried about the influence of social Darwinism and the evolutionist theories concerning economic matters and medical ethics. ..”
[...] End excerpts.
Note what a misleading statement this is: “...This was until 1996, when, on 23 October, Pope John-Paul II recognised that Darwin’s theories were “more than a hypothesis”.
In reality, this is precisely what the pope said:
“...What is the significance of such a theory? To address this question is to enter the field of epistemology.
A theory is a metascientific elaboration distinct from the results of observation, but consistent with them. By means of it a series of independent data and facts can be related and interpreted in a unified explanation. A theory’s validity depends on whether or not it can be verified; it is constantly tested against the facts; wherever it can no longer explain the latter, it shows its limitations and unsuitability. It must then be rethought.
Furthermore, while the formulation of a theory like that of evolution complies with the need for consistency with the observed data, it borrows certain notions from natural philosophy.
And, to tell the truth, rather than the theory of evolution, we should speak of several theories of evolution.
On the one hand, this plurality has to do with the different explanations advanced for the mechanism of evolution, and on the other, with the various philosophies on which it is based. Hence the existence of materialist, reductionist, and spiritualist interpretations. What is to be decided here is the true role of philosophy and, beyond it, of theology.
Consequently, theories of evolution which, in accordance with the philosophies inspiring them, consider the spirit as emerging from the forces of living matter or as a mere epiphenomenon of this matter are incompatible with the truth about man. Nor are they able to ground the dignity of the person. ...”
Excerpted from:
Theories of Evolution http://www.firstthings.com/ftissues/ft9703/articles/johnpaul.html
John Paul II
Copyright (c) 1997 First Things 71 (March 1997): 28-29.
Address to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, October 22, 1996. bttt
Many of us don't need a fairytale to base our lives on, nor would ever think of turning to mythology to explain the natural world.
Then stop worshiping at the neo-pagan alter of the Church of Darwin. Not only do Darwinists believe a fairytale, they are now busy trying to install it as an official state sanctioned religion, complete with all the enforcement mechanisms one would expect from totalitarian minded materialists.
I hate what the Europeans are doing as much as you. I am particularly saddened to hear what happenned to that Pastor in Germany mentioned in the article.
At least six lies on two sentences! Are you trying for a new record?
==At least six lies on two sentences! Are you trying for a new record?
No, I would never think of trying to top you.
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