MamaJ

The Department of Justice is suggesting that courts rule the DOMA unconstitutional. The White House may weigh in on Prop 8 in California as well, they have until Thursday. I think this is great, but how do you feel about these changes?

31 They have built the high places of Topheth in the Valley of Ben Hinnom to burn their sons and daughters in the fire--something I did not command, nor did it enter my mind.

Or do I misconstrue and it's because he likes his burnt offerings sun-dried and not charred?

In Revelations, it talks about those hoping to be invited to the wedding feast, so who's left? Some of us will be in hell and Christians are automatically invited since they are the bride. I also wonder who else sees this as a highly polygamous marriage?

give the title to someone else? Namely, Theodoric I of Septimania who was received by Charlemagne and given the title "King of the Jews". His ancestry is possibly one of the greatest lineages of antiquity. Theodoric, claimed (or others do for him) descent not only from the Merovingian Kings, but lineal descent from King David himself. Both the king and the Pope acknowledged this pedigree. Also called Makhir Natronai ben Habibi the Resh Galuta. Also called Rabbi Makir ha-David. Also called Dietrich.

"The evidence is sketchy and muddled at this distance, but a persistant account of Theodoric I has it that he was the Jewish Exilarch in Narbonne, and that he succeeded in establishing a regionally autonomous Jewish-led state around Narbonne. Makhir has been identified as being Makhir Natronai, Resh Galuta in Baghdad, ousted from that position by a cousin in 771. If true, it would be a matter of considerable interest; the Baghdad Exilarchs were reputed to be lineal descendents of the ancient Hebrew King David.What is fairly clear is that Septimania achieved an independent position in this era by some means or other, with the status of a Duchy or even possibly a Kingdom."

He was sent by Haroun Al-Rashid, Calif of Baghdad to Charlemagne, King of the West at his request, who wanted to establish in Europe a middle class based on a Jewish nucleus between 786 and 793.

You can check out his bloodline here http://www.celtic-casimir.com/webtree/3/6709.htm

Since 1967, Israeli forces have demolished 24,813 Palestinian homes. 90% of these homes were destroyed for 'administrative' reasons – because they either lacked a permit or were in an area designated for expansion by the Israeli military. No permits have been issued by Israeli authorities for Palestinian construction in the Occupied Territories since 1967. The remaining 10% of the demolitions have been 'punitive' demolitions of the homes of Palestinians accused of attacking Israel, or of their families' homes.

In the first five months of 2011, Israeli forces demolished more Palestinian homes than in the entire year of 2010, rendering homeless 706 Palestinians, including 341 minors. This is according to the most recent numbers released by the Israeli Civil Administration.

If the law passes the full Knesset, any Palestinian whose home is destroyed by the Israeli military will have to pay thousands of dollars to cover the cost of the demolition. Already, many Palestinian homeowners, mainly in Jerusalem, have been forced to pay for the forced demolition of their homes.

Full article for those interested is at http://www.imemc.org/article/61573

The oldest written religious texts were discovered in the pyramid of King Unas of the Egyptian Old Kingdom. Recent research also found the oldest Proto-Semitic text.

Read more at Suite101: Egyptian King Unas and the Pyramid Texts: The Oldest Written Religious Texts in the World | http://suite101.com/article/egyptian-king-unas-and...

Akhenaten started the first documented monotheistic religion. Humans came out of Africa, did religion also?

Christianity - All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye so to them; for this is the law and the prophets.

Matthew 7:1

Confucianism - Do not do to others what you would not like yourself. Then there will be no resentment against you, either in the family or in the state.

Analects 12:2

Buddhism - Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful.

Udana-Varga 5,1

Hinduism - This is the sum of duty; do naught onto others what you would not have them do unto you.

Mahabharata 5,1517

Islam - No one of you is a believer until he desires for his brother that which he desires for himself.

Sunnah

Judaism - What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellowman. This is the entire Law; all the rest is commentary.

Talmud, Shabbat 3id

Taoism - Regard your neighbor’s gain as your gain, and your neighbor’s loss as your own loss.

Tai Shang Kan Yin P’ien

Zoroastrianism - That nature alone is good which refrains from doing another whatsoever is not good for itself.

Dadisten-I-dinik, 94,5

Since outright prejudice is socially frowned upon, most of us have pushed these thoughts deep into our subconscious. Prejudice is now shown in the form of stereotypes and subconscious implicit associations. These subconscious associations impact our conscious thoughts and actions. Harvard has a test they call an IAT that will let one know if you have a hidden bias.

https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/demo/

Homophobia is like racism and anti-Semitism and other forms of bigotry in that it seeks to dehumanize a large group of people, to deny their humanity, their dignity and personhood.

I believe all Americans who believe in freedom, tolerance and human rights have a responsibility to oppose bigotry and prejudice based on sexual orientation.

Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it.

A local Islamic business owner has the sweetest children, they are polite, considerate, and so cute. The children's aunt and uncle are also Islamics and I think they have got to be two of the nicest people I've ever met. I would like to know about great Islamic people you know.

I know a retired Southern Baptist preacher who accepted a dollar yearly income to set aside money for a benevolence fund in his church. I know another man, who has past away, who would match our fundraisers for charities every time we had one. I would love to hear about some great Christians you know.

smoking cigarettes is a sin or not? Some go as far as, admonishing others in the church who do smoke. Seems such a trivial matter, but why can't they agree if God's word holds only absolute morals?

Latest Gallup poll shows that around 74% black females in America are religious and 70% black males compared to 57% white females and 43% white males. Some in the poll felt it was because of the difference in gospel music and length of time in church and in bible study, what do you think?

In the Bible, it was approved by God to have slaves, shouldn't he have known that it would become one of the greatest atrocities to humans in history and spoke against it well before it was used to enslave and mistreat the Africans?

The lesson was about Mary mother of Jesus and the Christian NT does not tell us much about her. The Jewish would have seen her as a harlot, if she was not yet married to Joseph and she was with child, as most do not believe in immaculate conception. Thus I was left with the Koran, which has a whole chapter about Mary and another chapter was about her mother and father. They were not happy that I more information about her, but instead became down right angry with me, why do you think that is and would it have bothered you?

My mother swears that I can not be smarter or know more about the Bible than her preacher. To her, everything they say is truth and they are the example we are all to follow. I was wondering, is she the exception or the norm?

By Hans Grasholm, 5-Jan-2003

I have studied all religions for the past 30 years, and it has led me to more than one enormous conclusion. Man was not smart enough to write any of the religions, and I mean the Eastern Spiritualism (the-self), Western Religions (God, - which I always have referred to as the “Extraterrestrial”) or American Creationism (Nature itself, including man). One of the oldest religious text “The Egyptian Book of the Dead” (1*) dates back more than 3000 BC. When writing was invented and the scribes and artists first wrote down what the priests had used in their prayers and litanies, they were very perplexed and hardly understood the text. What I am getting at is that all religions were not composed by humans at the time they were created. And even the Bible is very specific in that: 2 Tim. 3:16 “ALL scripture is inspired by God…,” the key word here is ’inspired’, irrespective of who wrote it down. SO WHO INSPIRED THE PROPHETS?

That brings me to the next question. If there is a God, why would there not be just ONE book, ONE religion, and ONE clear answer to all human questions? Just look at the Bible; it is written in such a way that it can be interpreted a dozen different ways, and if you do not know how to THINK, you read the Bible literally: Mt 13:13-15 “This is why I speak to them in parables, because - - -”. I have the impression that it was purposely written in this manner to create as much division as possible among humans. And with great success; how many wars has the world seen, how many people have died?; all in the name of God or religion.

So with all the different religions and every religion with hidden meanings and parables to confuse anybody, I asked myself, “is it all hocus-pocus; - what if there is no God; - then, who would be the God that inspired the scriptures? How would Aliens fit into the picture, and why? After all, there is vivid description of flying spaceships in the Bible; just read the book of Ezekiel in the Old Testament. YES, spaceships have been around for thousands of years.

Full article here if interested http://www.ufobc.ca/Reports/aliensreligion.htm

What do you think?

"A man who is convinced of the truth of his religion is indeed never tolerant. At the least, he is to feel pity for the adherent of another religion but usually it does not stop there. The faithful adherent of a religion will try first of all to convince those that believe in another religion and usually he goes on to hatred if he is not successful. However, hatred then leads to persecution when the might of the majority is behind it."

-Albert Einstein

of others and do you think introspection is endorsed by most religions?