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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: Judith Anne

You still can. :o)

I do NOT have it out for you or anyone else. I am pleading for the straight Gospel, nothing added. I don’t want anyone to misunderstand it or reject it for any reason. The love of Christ constrains me.


3,781 posted on 09/16/2011 7:50:01 PM PDT by boatbums ( Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us.)
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To: Jvette; CynicalBear; metmom
Messiah's Second Advent:

"And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and supplications; and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shll be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn."Zech. 12:10.

"In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness." Zech. 13:1.

"And one shall say unto him, What are those wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends." Zech. 13:6.

He will have the same body He had while on this earth. Wounds and all. But it will be a glorified body. Just as our bodies will be glorified like unto His.

3,782 posted on 09/16/2011 7:51:22 PM PDT by smvoice (The Cross was NOT God's Plan B.)
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To: Natural Law

Acts 18:8

And Crispus, the ruler of the Synagogue, with all his family, had faith in the Lord; and a great number of the people of Corinth, hearing the word, had faith and were given baptism.

A great number of the people of Corinth. So, did Paul or did Paul not command baptism for the great number of the people of Corinth? Or just Crispus and Gaius, as Paul asserts later?


3,783 posted on 09/16/2011 7:52:26 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: Judith Anne

Oh, yeah, and the household of Stephanus.


3,784 posted on 09/16/2011 7:53:46 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: boatbums

The love of Christ constrains me.

Well said! Me too, believe it or not. If you knew the posts I’ve deleted before hitting The Button!

For tonight, I pray that God will bless and keep you, and those whom you love, especially if they’re Catholic.


3,785 posted on 09/16/2011 7:57:37 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: boatbums

LOL!


3,786 posted on 09/16/2011 7:57:42 PM PDT by smvoice (The Cross was NOT God's Plan B.)
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To: Natural Law

I don’t hink I mean that post 3783 to go to you, but I don’t think the person it was meant for is reading anything posted by a Catholic, anyway, so...


3,787 posted on 09/16/2011 8:01:43 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: Natural Law; smvoice; RnMomof7
Mark 10:37-39
They replied, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.” “You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said. “Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?” “We can,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with

Any ideas about what "baptism" Jesus was talking about here? It wasn't water baptism, because he had already been baptized by John the Baptist at the start of his minstry.

3,788 posted on 09/16/2011 8:02:48 PM PDT by boatbums ( Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us.)
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To: Mad Dawg
Now, see, there you go back to the "sides" thingy. ;o)

I have tried to not get involved with the current "Mary" conversation and only posted this verse from Hebrews as a response to a statement that Paul never made an exception to the "all have sinned" doctrine. I have learned over the years, that it is not "profitable" to dispute some dearly held beliefs of Catholicism. I think it is a distraction from the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We aren't saved by what we think about Jesus' mother, but what we think about Jesus.

3,789 posted on 09/16/2011 8:13:47 PM PDT by boatbums ( Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us.)
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To: boatbums
"Any ideas about what "baptism" Jesus was talking about here?"

That's irrelevant to the discussion. He was not commanding them to be baptized.

3,790 posted on 09/16/2011 8:17:55 PM PDT by Natural Law (For God so loved the world He did not send a book.)
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To: Mad Dawg
Thanks, I appreciate that. I will also state that among the few Catholics with whom I dialog on this forum, Mad Dawg is the most humble, peace-loving and charitable. And, oh, yeah, humble. :o)
3,791 posted on 09/16/2011 8:21:54 PM PDT by boatbums ( Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us.)
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To: boatbums; Natural Law; RnMomof7; metmom
I think it is the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.

"That word, I say, ye know, which was published throughout all Judea, and began from Galilee, AFTER the baptism which John preached (water): How GOd anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power; who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him." Acts 10:37,38).

"And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord:" Isaiah 11:2.

And then came Acts Chapter 2. And they were indeed baptized with the baptism He was baptized with.

3,792 posted on 09/16/2011 8:33:55 PM PDT by smvoice (The Cross was NOT God's Plan B.)
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To: Not gonna take it anymore
I never believed what I read here. I may have been Protestant and thought I was a Christian but, I never did an altar call. I literally couldn’t and I was just a child at the time. I was not baptized. I was unlearned and untaught. For whatever reason I just didn’t believe what I heard. In fact at one point my mother was afraid I was becoming an atheist and had the local Methodist pastor come to our home and answer my questions. He did not impress me. And yes, these are honest questions. I am not a gotcha type of person.

I understand. Thanks. Please know that you are not alone in your experience. Many people "grow up" in a church but never take to heart what is taught and some never hear the truth. Many here, including me, grew up Catholic but left by God's leading. You are where you are for a reason, and I would never tell someone to leave where they believe God has sent them. What is more important than where you are is what you believe and why you believe it. It is no sin to question and any faith that is worth anything should be able to withstand scrutiny.

Your screen name was new to me though it shows you have been a FReeper since 1999. Some of the questions you asked, and, yes, sometimes the way you asked them, sounded as if you came here with a preconceived idea about whom you are dealing with. Not everyone is out to attack you, not everyone is trying to confuse nor offend you. None are "bigots" nor "anti-Catholic". We may dispute doctrines of Catholicism but they are not meant to personally attack anyone. I hope you can see the difference.

3,793 posted on 09/16/2011 8:39:40 PM PDT by boatbums ( Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us.)
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To: Not gonna take it anymore

And, one more thing, you are HERE (on the RF) for a reason, too. Don’t ever close your mind and heart from truth. The Holy Spirit within us “bears witness” with us, meaning he lights up (illuminates) God’s truths to us. That must be cultivated.


3,794 posted on 09/16/2011 8:43:45 PM PDT by boatbums ( Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us.)
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To: boatbums; Not gonna take it anymore
None are "bigots" nor "anti-Catholic". We may dispute doctrines of Catholicism but they are not meant to personally attack anyone. I hope you can see the difference.

On that, we disagree. I can't believe you are blind to the bigotry and anti-Catholicism here. If you are, in my opinion, it's by choice.

3,795 posted on 09/16/2011 8:47:10 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: boatbums

********************************************************************************
I have tried to not get involved with the current “Mary” conversation and only posted this verse from Hebrews as a response to a statement that Paul never made an exception to the “all have sinned” doctrine. I have learned over the years, that it is not “profitable” to dispute some dearly held beliefs of Catholicism. I think it is a distraction from the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We aren’t saved by what we think about Jesus’ mother, but what we think about Jesus.
********************************************************************************
Now boatbums as long as you are not saying bad things about Jesus’s momma, you may be a-okay.

But if you are thinking or speaking unkind things about the Mother of our Lord, (the Mother of God) you may have some answering to do when you face Jesus in your final judgement.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TEL_7TS5FE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUdYeYy3NQA

Just watch and learn why I believe as I do. The first is from the Magnificat in Luke.
The second is from the Old Testament and the New Testament.


3,796 posted on 09/16/2011 8:52:23 PM PDT by Not gonna take it anymore (Catholic, Easter vigil 2008)
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To: smvoice
Satan's greatest hoax is to get people to believe they do not need God's word to show them truth.

Satan's lie. *Did God REALLY say....?????*

3,797 posted on 09/16/2011 8:53:52 PM 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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To: boatbums

I posted my reply before I saw this one.

Just so you know. ;>)


3,798 posted on 09/16/2011 8:58:07 PM PDT by Not gonna take it anymore (Catholic, Easter vigil 2008)
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To: Not gonna take it anymore
A vote! How incredible is that! That is why so many of our Christian churches now think abortion is okay. Many of them offer health insurance policies that cover abortion.

Yeah, but what's that got to do with me? The church I go to is as pro-life and anti-abortion as it comes. They do not support abortion in any way and if they did, it wouldn't be a church I'd attend any more.

3,799 posted on 09/16/2011 8:59:44 PM 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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To: smvoice; Jvette; CynicalBear; metmom
He will have the same body He had while on this earth. Wounds and all. But it will be a glorified body. Just as our bodies will be glorified like unto His.

I know that there are some religions that forbid cremation for the reason that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit and also for the resurrection. I always wondered what would happen to those obliterated by bombs. Then I thought about how anyone who is buried for more than so many years, is ALREADY turned back into dust. So while we are alive, certainly our bodies should be treated as God's temples, but when we die, our spirits are gone and our body is a shell that quickly returns to the dust. "From dust thou art, and to dust thou shalt return.". The new glorified bodies that we will inhabit will not be like our broken, aged, wrinkled deteriorating bodies, but incorruptible, free from any stain of sin or brokenness, like unto Christ's glorified body. I was looking through some pictures from about 30 years ago or so, and I thought, "That's how I want to look for eternity!"

When Jesus appeared after the resurrection to his followers, none even knew it WAS him until he said a certain thing or did a certain thing. The only remnant was the wounds of Calvary and I believe we will always see those wounds as a reminder of the great price he paid for our redemption. I love these verses from Isaiah 49:15-16

Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you!

See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me.

3,800 posted on 09/16/2011 9:06:09 PM PDT by boatbums ( Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us.)
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