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My Faith: Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN), from Catholic to Muslim
CNN ^ | 9/1/11 | Chris Welch

Posted on 09/02/2011 9:07:47 AM PDT by marshmallow

Minneapolis, Minnesota (CNN) –Prior to 2006, few people even knew that then-Minnesota state legislator Keith Ellison was a Muslim. Because of his English name, he said, no one thought to ask.

But five years ago, when he ran for a seat in the United States House of Representatives - a race he would go on to win - word of his religious affiliation began to spread.

“When I started running for Congress it actually took me by surprise that so many people were fascinated with me being the first Muslim in Congress,” said Ellison, a Democrat now serving his third term in the House.

“But someone said to me, ‘Look Keith, think of a person of Japanese origin running for Congress six years after Pearl Harbor–this might be a news story.’”

Though Ellison's status as the first Muslim elected to Congress is widely known, fewer are aware that he was born into a Catholic family in Detroit and was brought up attending Catholic schools.

But he said he was never comfortable with that faith.

“I just felt it was ritual and dogma,” Ellison said. “Of course, that’s not the reality of Catholicism, but it’s the reality I lived. So I just kind of lost interest and stopped going to Mass unless I was required to.”

It wasn’t until he was a student at Wayne State University in Detroit when Ellison began, “looking for other things.”

(Excerpt) Read more at religion.blogs.cnn.com ...


TOPICS: Catholic; Islam; Theology
KEYWORDS: blackmuslims; islam; keithellison; muslim
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To: CynicalBear

Going by that response, who was with Jesus when He promised the Holy Spirit?

Much of the Gospels were written from memory, from having “remembrances” over and over so that what was written would be true.

The Apostles weren’t taking notes so those remembrances are important to us, so that we might know that Jesus is Lord.

So, does that meant the previous statement that the Holy Spirit shall teach you all things, and when He says the Holy Spirit will lead them to truth is also meant only for the Apostles who were with Him when He said it?


2,341 posted on 09/09/2011 10:57:42 AM PDT by Jvette
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To: CynicalBear

I will have to get back to later on the rest, as I am off to work.

Have a great and blessed day, CB.


2,342 posted on 09/09/2011 10:58:49 AM PDT by Jvette
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To: Jvette; smvoice
>>but since a protestant is free to believe anything, not surprising.<<

Believe anything? It seems a rather scurrilous accusation after being told over and over that it must be in scripture “to see if it is true” for us to believe it.

2,343 posted on 09/09/2011 10:59:24 AM PDT by CynicalBear
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To: Jvette
>>So, does that meant the previous statement that the Holy Spirit shall teach you all things, and when He says the Holy Spirit will lead them to truth is also meant only for the Apostles who were with Him when He said it?<<

Many have been promised to be indwelt with the Holy Spirit. Only the Apostles were told the Holy Spirit would bring “to their remembrance” what He said to them.

2,344 posted on 09/09/2011 11:04:14 AM PDT by CynicalBear
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To: Hacksaw
>>OK, it was the Catholic Church's fault that Calvin burned Servetus at the stake.<<

Fault? The Catholics sentence him to be burned at the stake but he escapes releases them from the fact that they did practice the act of burning at the stake? I wouldn’t release either the Catholic Church nor Calvin from the guilt on that one.

2,345 posted on 09/09/2011 11:08:48 AM PDT by CynicalBear
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To: Jvette
"Time Past". "But Now." "Ages to Come." Eph., Chapter 2.

"I am the Way, the Truth and the Life" "I have rightly divided that Jesus is Lord." a comma and adding an "and" does not constitute rightly dividing. lol! Do you want to be stand before God not being ashamed in your work for Him, or do you just want to make Him LOL!

2,346 posted on 09/09/2011 11:10:59 AM PDT by smvoice (The Cross was NOT God's Plan B.)
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To: Alex Murphy
>>I have no desire to try to justify the persecution or execution of heretics<<

Then you use three paragraphs to do just that. Historical context doesn’t stand with those who claim to follow Christ. No where in the New Testament is the execution of even a heretic justified. The very fact that those executions were practiced and even decreed by the Catholic Church tells me the sincerity of following Christ. The question arises that if one is filled with the Holy Spirit can a policy like that even be allowed to exist in the church being completely contrary to the New Testament.

2,347 posted on 09/09/2011 11:19:42 AM PDT by CynicalBear
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To: CynicalBear; 1000 silverlings; Alex Murphy; bkaycee; blue-duncan; boatbums; caww; ...
Many have been promised to be indwelt with the Holy Spirit. Only the Apostles were told the Holy Spirit would bring “to their remembrance” what He said to them.

Yeah, so they could teach it and preach it and WRITE IT DOWN so that we would know the certainty of what was said instead of depending on word of mouth.

When you look at how the doctrines about Mary have changed/evolved over the years, one can only image what would have happened to the accounts of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, had that not been committed to paper (so to speak)

Speaking of writing, when Jesus wanted John to communicate with the seven churches mentioned in the book of Revelation, He didn't tell John to go form a committee and vote on it.

Rev 1:9-11 9I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet 11saying, "Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea."

Rev 1:17-20 17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, "Fear not, I am the first and the last, 18and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades. 19 Write therefore the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this. 20As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

Rev 2:1 1"To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: 'The words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands.

Rev 2:8 8"And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: 'The words of the first and the last, who died and came to life.

Rev 2:12 12"And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: 'The words of him who has the sharp two-edged sword.

Rev 2:18 18"And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: 'The words of the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze.

Rev 3:1 1"And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: 'The words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. "'I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead.

Rev 3:7 7"And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: 'The words of the holy one, the true one, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens.

Rev 3:14 14"And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: 'The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s creation.

2,348 posted on 09/09/2011 11:29:02 AM PDT by metmom (For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, & do not submit again to a yoke of slavery)
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Comment #2,349 Removed by Moderator

To: metmom
That criticism lacks credibility

No, it's accurate.

and rings hollow coming from a church which demands unshakable adherence to rigid doctrinal points of view and imposes the threat of hellfire and damnation for not submitting to the dictates of the RCC.

Prove it.

For a Catholic to disagree with the RCC is to imperil his soul.

Wrong!

2,350 posted on 09/09/2011 11:37:42 AM PDT by Judith Anne ( Holy Mary, Mother of God, please pray for us sinners now, and at the hour of our death.)
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To: marbren; bkaycee
Thank you so much for your encouragements, dear brother in Christ!

Truly the words of God are spirit and life whereas the words of men are neither.

It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, [they] are spirit, and [they] are life. – John 6:63

And again,

For the word of God [is] quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and [is] a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. - Hebrews 4:12

God's Name is I AM.

2,351 posted on 09/09/2011 11:51:22 AM PDT by Alamo-Girl
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To: Quix; smvoice

To quote smvoice “Nobody knows de trouble I see...”


2,352 posted on 09/09/2011 12:02:30 PM PDT by Judith Anne ( Holy Mary, Mother of God, please pray for us sinners now, and at the hour of our death.)
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To: Alamo-Girl
Thank You Alamo-Girl. One thing about knowing God's Word is it must be read daily. Then the Spirit can bring it back to your mind.

John 14:26 (NIV) 26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.

Here is the appropriate verse. :) Easy to find with google. I know I have read it hundreds of times. Maybe at least a verse with every FR posting is a good idea!

2,353 posted on 09/09/2011 12:02:59 PM PDT by marbren (I do not know but, Thank God, God knows)
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To: metmom
"When you look at how the doctrines about Mary have changed/evolved over the years,

Some dogma and doctrines are explicit, stated directly and repeatedly in Scripture and others, such as the Trinity, Sola Scriptura, and the Assumption are determined implicitly by looking at the body of the Revealed Word, as Pope Benedict XVI puts it ""a totality in which the individual elements enlighten each other and open the way to understanding". Rancor aside, I would like to understand how you determine which implicit doctrines you choose to support and which you reject?

2,354 posted on 09/09/2011 12:03:51 PM PDT by Natural Law (For God so loved the world He did not send a book.)
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To: Natural Law
If it agrees with anything Catholic, it's rejected. Simple. If it disagrees with anything Catholic, and especially if it offends a Catholic or could offend a Catholic, it's accepted. It's that shallow.
2,355 posted on 09/09/2011 12:18:59 PM PDT by Judith Anne ( Holy Mary, Mother of God, please pray for us sinners now, and at the hour of our death.)
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To: metmom; smvoice; CynicalBear; Iscool
"I simply find it incredulous that any human would dare criticize or pass judgment on God for writing the written word of Scripture when God Himself wrote it. Obviously God saw the value in doing so. Who are we to criticize God for doing that?"

If Protestantism is really correct that Scripture is the ONLY thing necessary for Salvation why is it that Protestant services are not comprised entirely of Bible reading and why are there so darned many Protestants publishing theological works and dissertations? Wouldn't they by redundant or superfluous?

2,356 posted on 09/09/2011 12:39:22 PM PDT by Natural Law (For God so loved the world He did not send a book.)
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To: Natural Law; metmom; smvoice; Iscool
>> If Protestantism is really correct that Scripture is the ONLY thing necessary for Salvation<<

Scripture is God’s word to us as to what IS necessary for salvation. Do you even know what Sola Scriptura means? It’s God’s way of giving us a benchmark for what is true and to protect us from charlatans, false teachers, and Anti Christs. We are admonished to search the scriptures to “see if these things be true” even if it were Paul and Silas who are the teachers. If not for the scriptures we would fall for “doctrines of men” like the bodily assumption of Mary and falsely placing her between us and Jesus.

2,357 posted on 09/09/2011 12:54:43 PM PDT by CynicalBear
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To: boatbums; Cronos
The "Documentary Links" provided were from sites with known evangelical/fundamentalist agendas which do not accurately reflect historical or spiritual reality but are intended to serve as a feeding ground for those who worship their own interpretations, ones not inspired by the Holy Spirit.

The Church Councils WERE the Church at large. Only Catholicism/ Orthodoxy share this historical continuity while the reformation was took 1500 years to occur. Sure, there was contention every year in the Church since the Ascension of Christ and the Church faced the Gnostics and the Arians but these disappeared, a sign of the indwelling of the Spirit in the Church. Did God take a break until Luther? The secular humanistic atheistic crowd blames the Church/ Orthodoxy for the compilation of the Bible at Hippo/Carthage at the same time your associates take a diametrically opposite different approach.

In post 2219 Cronos adequately explained to you the use of the Septuagint by Jesus and the salient fact that this same Septuagint contained the deuterocanonical works.It appears it is good enough for Jesus but not for the evangelicals.

Herein lies the essence of the problem associated with your type.You stated "I believe". It is never what YOU Believe it is about what Jesus teaches divorced from individual Evangelical agendas.Your acceptance of these agenda driven evangelical groups numbering well into the tens of thousands is the essence of your problem and robs your beliefs of any credibility. What the evangelical "Roll your own" expresses as belief ( Harold Camping/ rapture/ Dispensationalism) does not correlate to objective historical reality or the will of God

Thus the real problem with "Roll your own" Christianity is its independent nature numbering well over 30.000 plus, each insisting on individual interpretation of Sacred Scripture. How can these evangelical groups rail on the inclusion of Books into scripture yet fail to see the problems that accompany the individual interpretation of scripture.How does th Holy Spirit decide which of these myriad discrete groups to give an indwelling.

No sporting event is played without an umpire/referee, the governments have fallible court systems but your group has nothing to render a verdict save their their your own prideful consciences.Pride was the sin of Lucifer.

It is time to stop the "I believe" and start conforming you will to that of Jesus accepting Him and not your conscience as your Savior.

2,358 posted on 09/09/2011 1:00:56 PM PDT by bronx2 (while Jesus is the Alpha /Omega He has given us rituals which you reject to obtain the graces as to)
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To: Judith Anne
What shallow is - is taking it personally. Unless you devised the Vatican/RCC man made teachings.

Teachings that opposes God's Word and taught as God's Truth will and should be attacked! We are to hate evil. And not to see/know/acknowledge how their teachings on Mary alone is in opposition to His Word on SO MANY levels is truly spiritual blindness. The RCC is an organization built on WORLDLY principles. There is no room for the Spirit in that - so spiritual blindness is a given. And the HOLY SPIRIT is needed to understand HIS WORD.

"The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.'

And that's why God's Word is not the final authority in the Catholicism world. Vatican/RCC say it needs to be taught it. And do so with man made teachings according to it's worldly principles. The two don't mix! And just one example is - what the world considers a mother. Jesus makes it very clear in His kingdom who/what a mother is - using his own mother as an example.

So that 'hating catholics' fails flat and more so for those who have catholics that make up the greater part of their family. My grammar school friend, a former catholic, did not hate me because she told me the Truth as God used her to open my eyes through His Holy Spirit inspired Word. But neither did I have my defenses up trying to defend 'man-made' to God inspired - so, unknowingly, at the time I allowed the Holy Spirit to enter.
2,359 posted on 09/09/2011 1:09:55 PM PDT by presently no screen name
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To: marbren
Thank you so much for that beautiful Scripture!

Maybe at least a verse with every FR posting is a good idea!

I think that is a splendid idea, dear brother in Christ! Here's one to go with your last:

But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him. - I John 2:27

God's Name is I AM.

2,360 posted on 09/09/2011 1:12:23 PM PDT by Alamo-Girl
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