Free Republic

It should have been a luxury break in the Caribbean sun. Having forked out £3,500 on a three-week holiday in St Lucia, retired policeman Anthony Griffin and his wife Pauline were naturally excited as their plane touched down. However, as they passed through immigration, Mr Griffin was stopped and told there was an international warrant for his arrest over the theft of Egyptian artefacts. Instead of booking in to a plush hotel the couple say they were separated and thrown in filthy, rat-infested police cells for two days. Tony and Pauline Griffin from Gillingham, Kent are happy to be home...

Belittling John McCain as a relic of the disco age, Democrat Barack Obama pushed his campaign Friday to a new level of counter-punching "on the issues that matter" and directed his running mate to be tougher on their Republican opponents. The changes come as national polls find McCain and his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, pulling ahead of Obama and Joe Biden, prompting some jittery Democrats to implore them to fight back harder, and Obama's camp to pledge "speed and ferocity" in that effort.

Civil War Watch Stopped Suddenly; Sub End Still Unknown Bruce Smith in Charleston, South Carolina Associated Press December 17, 2007 When scientists opened the watch belonging to the H.L. Hunley commander three years ago, they thought they had the key clue to why the Confederate submarine sank off Charleston, South Carolina. But the 18-karat gold watch now seems to raise even more questions, despite the finding announced last week that the watch did not slowly wind down but stopped quickly—perhaps the result of a concussion or rushing water. "All of us were thinking the watch pointed to the crucial moment,"...

Chapter 5 - Reaction Against The Worship Of Images And Other Superstitious Practices By The Iconoclast Emporors Of The East— Opposition to the Same Worship by Charlemagne. THE worship of images, as well as other Pagan practices, introduced into the church during the fourth and fifth centuries, were prevailing in the east as much as in the west; and I have mentioned, that the monks, particularly those of Egypt, had greatly contributed to the introduction of anthropomorphism into the Christian church. A great blow to image worship was given in the east by the rise and rapid progress of Mahometanism,...

CHAPTER 4 - Infection Of The Christian Church By Pagan Ideas And Practices During The Fourth And Fifth Centuries — General State of Christian Society During That Period — Opposition to the Worship of Angles, Saints, Images, and Relics — Vigilantius. I HAVE said that the Council of Elvira (ed:please see #36), in Spain, held in 305, prohibited the use of images in the churches. Other canons of the same council show that even then Christians were but too prone to relapse into the practices and customs of Paganism; because they enact very severe ecclesiastical penances against those Christians who...

CHAPTER 3- Position Of The First Christian Emperors Towards Paganism, And Their Policy In This Respect. I HAVE given in the preceding chapter a description, traced by one of the most learned Roman Catholic writers of our day, of the compromise between Christianity and Paganism, by which the church has endeavored to establish her dominion over the adherents of the latter. I shall now try to give a rapid sketch of the circumstances which undoubtedly have influenced the church, to a considerable degree, in the adoption of a line of policy which, though it certainly has much contributed to the...

CHAPTER 1- ORIGIN OF THE WORSHIP OF RELICS AND IMAGES IN THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. HERO-WORSHIP is innate to human nature, and it is founded on some of our noblest feelings, — gratitude, love, and admiration, — but which, like all other feelings, when uncontrolled by principle and reason, may easily degenerate into the wildest exaggerations, and lead to most dangerous consequences. It was by such an exaggeration of these noble feelings that Paganism filled the Olympus with gods and demigods, — elevating to this rank men who have often deserved the gratitude of their fellow-creatures, by some signal services rendered...

<p>The Vatican has warned Roman Catholics that buying relics is sacrilege, after reports that pieces of former Pope John Paul II's clothes were for sale online.</p> <p>The website of the Holy Diocese of Rome has been offering small pieces of John Paul II's white cassock as part of the campaign to beatify him.</p>

Who were Hunnu? Huunu artisan medallion with yak image engraving For many decades the study of ancient history of Mongols was subject to ideological directives and politics. And therefore, with the removal of political and ideological restraints after political reforms of 1990, archeology now experiences a boom.One of the hottest areas is the history of Hunnu, a nomadic tribe that ruled the vast stretches of Central Asian steppes and forced China to go into extreme effort of building the Great China wall in attempt to protect against devastating raids.The name of Atilla, the Hunnu king who led his men...

Archaeology -5th century Gupta era relic foundThis photo shows terracotta plaques with Brahmi letters, ancient forms of Bangla letters. The relics were recently found at Bhair Dhap dig site in Shibganj upazila of Bogra. PHOTO: STAR The Brahmi inscriptions show ancient formation of some Bangla letters Friday April 20 2007 12:30:03 PM BDT Hasibur Rahman Bilu, Bogra The archaeology department recently found cement-like ancient building material, known as "vajralepa", dating back to the Gupta era, during an excavation at Bhair Dhap site in Shibganj upazila of Bogra.( The Daily Star ) Rajshahi region Director of the department Abdul Khalaque said...

ROME (CNS) -- The Rome diocesan office charged with promoting the sainthood cause of Pope John Paul II continues to distribute the official prayer cards for the cause and the only authorized relics, an office spokeswoman said. "We receive dozens of requests each day and the distribution continues," she told Catholic News Service Feb. 26. The relic is a small piece of one of the white cassocks worn by Pope John Paul. The free cards and relics can be requested by letter, fax or e-mail, she said. The e-mail address is: Postulazione.GiovanniPaoloII@VicariatusUrbis.org; the fax number is: (39-06) 6888-6240. The mailing...

A rib bone and a piece of cloth supposedly recovered after Joan of Arc was burned at the stake are probably not hers, according to experts trying to unravel one of the mysteries surrounding the 15th century French heroine.Eighteen experts began a series of tests six months ago on the fragments reportedly recovered from the pyre where the 19-year-old was burned for heresy.Although the tests have not been completed, findings so far indicate there is "relatively little chance" that the remnants are hers, Philippe Charlier, the head of the team, told The Associated Press on Saturday.The fragment of linen from...

(AP) MERRICK, N.Y. In life, St. John Vianney was a revered 19th-century French clergyman who was said to be blessed with the ability to read the hearts of worshippers. In death, his own heart has became an object of worship. For reasons unknown, Vianney's body never decayed after death, and his heart and body have been encased in separate glass reliquaries in France for more than a century. The heart is being brought to the U.S. for the first time this weekend in what the pastor of the Long Island church hosting the relic calls a "historical moment for our...

GEORGETOWN - A shipwreck that could be the remains of a lost Confederate blockade runner, or possibly a vessel that predates the Civil War, was found Thursday near the entrance to Winyah Bay, researchers said. Divers from the Maritime Research Division of the S.C. Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology dove in about 13 feet of water and discovered a vessel that is about 90 feet long, with a wooden hull and a possible copper coating. The wreck could be the Sir Robert Peel, a blockade runner that was used by Confederate soldiers to get supplies to Georgetown during the Civil...

The buzz began in the chow line. "Did you hear?" asked one relic hunter. "Yeah. A Mississippi plate," said another. "Absolutely perfect." The proud new owner of the Confederate belt plate embossed with an eagle held out his treasure on his dirt-caked palm.

Unique and Exceptional Authenticated POPE PIUS X relics Current bid: US $1,876.00 End time: Mar-26-06 20:00:00 PST (5 days 10 hours) LINK

Relic of St. Andrew Given to Greek Orthodox Church Cardinal Etchegaray Presents the Donation in Rome VATICAN CITY, FEB. 27, 2006 (Zenit.org).- A Vatican official turned over a relic of the Apostle Andrew to a representative of Greek Orthodox Archbishop Christodoulos of Athens, who had requested it. Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, retired president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, gave the relic to Greek Orthodox Bishop Agathangelos on Sunday during a ceremony at Transfiguration Parish in Rome. The donated relic will be taken to Athens this week and displayed for veneration by the faithful in the Orthodox Church of...

Tashkent's hidden Islamic relic By Ian MacWilliam BBC News, in Tashkent The Othman Koran is the oldest in the world In an obscure corner of the Uzbek capital, Tashkent, lies one of Islam's most sacred relics - the world's oldest Koran. It is a reminder of the role which Central Asia once played in Muslim history - a fact often overlooked after seven decades of Soviet-imposed atheism. The library where the Koran is kept is in an area of old Tashkent known as Hast-Imam, well off the beaten track for most visitors to this city. It lies down a series...

This is remarkable film footage. This is a night vision movie from Iraq, showing live action against Iraqi insurgents. The pictures were taken from an AC-130 Specter gunship two and a half miles from the target. The guys in the picture are setting up a roadside bomb and planning to ambush an American convoy which followed a short while after the pictures were taken. They were setting up the ambush and were pacing off the distance from the bomb to where the convoy was to pass by. Turn your sound up. The level of effort these Specter crews put forth...

True-life 'Robinson Crusoe' lived atop a hill on isle off Chile 09/17/2005 The Asahi Shimbun A team led by explorer Daisuke Takahashi says it has found where the true-life 18th century model for "Robinson Crusoe" spent more than four years in the Pacific Ocean waiting to be rescued. Traces of a structure that Scottish navigator Alexander Selkirk (1676-1721) likely built after he was marooned in 1704 were found atop a hill on what is now called Robinson Crusoe Island, off the coast of Chile, Takahashi said in Tokyo on Thursday. "I have finally reached him," Takahashi said. "In times when...