Christian subversion and missionary activities -2

[acharya]

I will remove it after the message has gone thru

[acharya]

In or around 1982 the now much maligned post modern "Christian Fundamentalist" movement was born. Back then we were called "Born Again Christians"

I was one of them. I used to hang out on street corners on the weekends in ill fitting suits I bought at the local thrift store hammering "Jesus Loves YOU" into the ears of every passerby that had no interest. Of course to their backs as they rejected the "word of GOD" coming from my lips I added, "you'll burn in HELL".

Champ. I spoke in tongues and I knew the bible inside and out. The greatest credit I give to the bible as a "living word" (which by the way can be assigned to every word ever written by anyone about anything in this universe) is that it actually starting speaking to me and told me to run away from these false prophets. And you know who they are? They are people that condemn other people in the name of Jesus.

My friend. Check your self before you wreck yourself.

[acharya]

Just don't see the point of discussing something that is very personal to each of us. Each person has a belief in what jesus represents to them. I don't want to mess with yours. You keep it and be happy.

I have been down that road many a time and the truth is it will lead no where.

In all the years of my being a "born again" I only observed hate masked as love towards those that reject the "belief" that Jesus is our savior.

One can hear it in the argument. Once I left the born again scene I used to be approached by fundamentalist christians on the street.

Like you they didn't know me from Adam. Like you they assumed that I needed to know about Jesus. And when you made the statement/assumption that most on this thread did not know Jesus, you reminded me of my encounters with these well wishers.

The thing is I am a very malicious person. Armed with the knowledge of the bible I used to drive some of these loving christians to try to beat me up. All to show myself that in fact professing to love god and me through their relationship with jesus was all smoke and mirrors.

[acharya]

That being said, I am not dismissing the Bible as a whole, after all is contains the story of Christ. Not the entire story mind you just the official version. There is the matter of the Dead Sea scrolls. Why are they not in the Bible? Guess they were not considered “The Word of God”.

I tend to think of the Bible like this: It starts with a creation myth and evolves towards Christ consciousness.

Deepak asked just last week I believe, and I am paraphrasing, “How long should people who practice tolerance put up with intolerance”? Well, Good question Deepak. I guess I found my limit and I will have to work on expanding my level of tolerance.

However, I find it difficult to tolerate it, when people proclaim that my soul and the souls of the wonderful people I have met here is somehow condemned, unless everybody follows their dogmatic, narrow view of the world.

[acharya]

Taking the Bible literally is the only way to be a Christian. So-called moderate and liberal Christians are not Christians but merely moderates and liberals.
There is no such thing (or should not be) as a religion “a la carte”. People have been adjusting their religion and their churches according to how far they have to drive, the personality of the priest, the kind of people who attend mass, the kind of music or activities it organizes.

A religion is either orthodox (not quite the same as fundamentalist but almost) or it has no reason to be. It is not up to the candidate member to set the norms or the principles, it’s the churches role. A member must accept the dogma, the creed and the scriptures as they are or not at all. That is the nature of religious dogmas; it’ all or nothing. Religion is exclusive by nature, not inclusive. I have always been astonished to see over a dozen pages of (Christian) churches in the phone book.

As for Jesus, he is almost irrelevant in the light of all of this. Christian religion is focused on obedience and salvation and redemption of believers only (see the creed) it’s not about the Second Jesus you mention. If you admire his moral principles of the Second Jesus, create a club called the “Good People Club” but don’t go into religion. And to comment on other aspects of Jesus would take too long here.<b> Let me just say that we know more about a man who lived 630 years before Christ himself: there is, by the way absolutely no physical, historical evidence that Jesus ever existed (Sorry Simon): curious, No!

</b>

[acharya]

I was born a Presbyterian in the island of Trinidad. Our ancestors had come from India in the 19th century to work on the sugar estates of the Caribbean. Larger numbers went to Trinidad, Guyana and Suriname. Today I can best describe myself as having no religion. I simply follow no path. Christianity is dying in Trinidad and they ( the Church) dont even know it. Its basicially dead in Western Europe. I beleive that fundamantalist doctrines that preach " my way is the best way" will bascially morph into irrelevence in the 21st century.
<span style='color:orange'><b>
In noting the death of religion, we must now examine why Hinduism ( Sanatan Dharma) has survived since the beginining of what we perceive as time. I beleive that 1000 years from now Hinduism will be around albeit not in present form..and therein lies the secret of its success. It is flexible and its teachings can be used to fit any civilizational context. Its what the business academics call a learning organization.</b></span>

[acharya]

Christianity however does not allow personal questioning; it's a sin to question God or the Church. Religions pretend to know all of the answers. And when religion tries to impose a vision of God that has no founding and for which it has no authority, I feel offended.
Gunther brings up interesting statements which illustrate what I have been saying all along. Gunther is probably neither a moderate nor a liberal. He is extremely orthodox when he says ‘for the sake of truth we can’t simply negotiate a “deal”… to form a compromise (on the Truth)’. This means that Christianity is holding The Truth and the only Truth and that it automatically excludes all other concepts of God. “Religion (any religion) is exclusive”; quoting me.
Religion has no problem being ambiguous, or even contradictory. Gunther reminds us that ‘we have to keep engaging in dialogue’ and that Christians are ‘called into meeting other people’. What for? If Christianity is all the Truth and nothing but the Truth then dialogue is hypocrisy. Calling people into love, forgiveness, mercy, compassion, dialogue, mutual respect is an illusion, a delusion or at best a lie, because of the fact that Christianity has the Truth, period.
<span style='color:red'>
Dialogue would only mean that I , the Christian, will systematically try to teach you, the Hindu, the Muslim, or the non-believer, my truth and show you your errors on which I will not “negotiate”.
That is why I say Christianity (and nay other religion) can only have a fundamentalist face; whether it is ugly or not is a matter or opinion. The only other face it can have is one of hypocrisy which leads to pseudo-dialogues, pseudo-compassion, pseudo-forgiveness and so on.</span>
By the way, the Pillar of Christianity is not Jesus but Adam. Without Adam there is no need for Jesus, because without the original sin there is no need for salvation. So again I say, if your sole interest in the Christian religion is the moral principles of love compassion and so forth create a Love and Peace Club or a Good People Club but before you adhere to a religion be sure to do your home work and study the tenets and dogmas.

[acharya]

For Jesus to come back, it is necessary that he lived first, then secondly that he died, and lastly that he could or did come back to ‘life’. That is a lot of ‘ifs’ and absolutes that should generate more than just words of faith and on which we could exchange chapters of debate.

Josephus wrote one sentence mentioning the brother of Jesus some 60 years after the death of Christ. On the Roman side not a scribble. Nor is there anything said by the Hebrews. Where if you please is the evidence, notably concerning resurrection? Don’t you think that an event of such proportions would have left tons of written material by the historians of the times? Or is this Resurrection something of a metaphore?

[acharya]

Allow me to go straight to the point and just make a few quick, direct comments.
1. In lawyer’s terms, proof is fact that can be allowed as evidence in a court of law or admitted as the result of scientific experimentation for example.
2. Whomever may have mentioned Jesus in historical documents did so in a context which would not constitute proof of any kind because probably based on hearsay and because too indirect. There is no mention worthy of attention about resurrection.
3. We know more and have more direct proof about certain slaves of the time of Jesus than we do about him. How can any respectable historian be considered seriously when he writes about a man who died 60 to 100 years before their time?
4. Even texts written close to a hundred years after Jesus’ death and obviously biased by their origin, contradict each other; Matthew and Luke can’t agree on where Jesus was born; was it Nazareth or Bethlehem for example?
5. Yes the New Testament mentions historical places and historical persons such as Pilate and Herod, but that is not a proof of anything except that those who wrote it had learned about them. It’s like Homer, the legendary writer of the Illiade who mentions at least one historical place, Troy. Does this mean that the Cyclops he speaks of and the Greek Gods are real as well?
6. Even if we were to find Jesus’ birth certificate tomorrow, it still wouldn’t prove that what the New Testament (made of a hodge-podge of texts hand-picked by the early Church), nor the Old Testament is a repository of a truth or the truth in a literal sense.
7. It is easy to demonstrate that the Bible as a whole is not reliable as a literal truth. I have picked on Christianity because of the original subject, but this can be said of all scriptural religions.
8. Too many people confuse belief and religion. Religion is an institution with creeds and dogmas and dictates. Belief is an intuition of sorts, a hope to understand the world without necessarily proclaiming a truth and dictating a set behavior. Shamanism is an institution as soon as people grant one man (or woman) the exclusive power to access God, but it has at least one respectable element; it leaves God as a mystery, which he is essentially, to be discovered through a personal quest.

[acharya]

In the same context, western society is so much into secularism and equal rights, human rights etc. And yet christians are the ones who take away the rights of children and put the burden of the cross around the neck of these innocent little ones. The way I picture it is they (the christians) are converting each and every child into a labor force to carry this huge and enormously heavy cross on their backs and shoulders. I dont think Jesus wanted a part of all this at all. Then how can we say that Christianity is about Jesus Christ? I think the present day religion that dominates the world is only about money and power.

So where did India and hinduism go wrong? Why is a hindu nation being made to carry the burden of the crucifixion when she had nothing to do with Jesus' murder? And is it not surprising that the biggest murder of the world is considered only a crucifixion with the words : HE DIED FOR US: rather than a criminal offence? The religion thrives on this fact and so do the people who follow it.

Each and every one of us has the right to believe in whatever religion we believe in but who gives christianity the right to impose this major crime on innocent human beings, using money as a major tool?

The same fact applies to Islam. There is no account of the amount of violence and murders committed by islam. Islam has changed the face of hindu society with their oppression of 1400 years. Who is asking for accountability? In fact oil bearing islamic countries are considered powerful and successful in the world and India, a hindu country, a third world country.

Why are christians and muslims allowed their own countries, and yet allowed to destroyed India, this little hindu country in this vast world?

[acharya]

I do appreciate however your concern for the way my life may end but I don’t think it’s any of your business and I don’t see when and where that makes me a god of any sort. I would be interested in knowing what you seem to know that I don’t and that is how my life will end, in your opinion; it can only be your opinion of course unless you have direct access to god yourself.

Yes I do declare that religion is irrational and nothing else because it is easily demonstrated. What seams to bother you and those who have your convictions is that you cannot conceive of believing in god without religion. But it is very liberating and certainly not depressing. I don’t have to live in a world in which I have to drag my God around because of some sort of permanent guilt syndrome.

Your God menaces on a permanent basis. I ask you, how can you live in that kind of permanent guilt trip? On the contrary, I do not fear per se my God, I am in good terms with him. This is a concept that you cannot understand because you are prisoner of a dogma dictated by your religion.

The problem is, your religion does not know God any better than I do but once again I do not proclaim to know the truth, I still seek it every day. I do know that I will not find it in religion. But I do pray every day, how about you?

I believe that prayer should be an intimate and private relationship between us and God (or what we perceive as God) and not to be indecently exposed in public. Some people indulge in public prayer like some harlots indulge in public exhibition of their bodies and these people ‘wear their prayer’ as if it were a badge.

A very wise Native American, Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce nation once said, in 1873; “We may quarrel with men sometimes about things on earth, but we never quarrel about the Great Spirit. We do not want to learn that (from the Catholics or the Protestants)”.

If democracy and freedom are so important to modern man, why then do so many people still enchain themselves to religions that dictate their relationship to god(s)? The truth is, religion is the antonym of freedom and of democracy in our relationship to God. There has never been, in the history of mankind a more totalitarian institution than institutionalized religion.

No religion can be authentic if it forbids analyzing the Creator or the Creation and especially under the express threat of some sort of divine punishment. If there is a Creator of any dignity and mercy, He can certainly not punish anyone who uses the brain they were given to analyze and question the world we live in and its’ creator.

“I do not feel obliged to believe that some God who endowed us with sense, reason and intellect had intended for us to forgo their use.”
Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)

[Guest]

<b>State control on temples, funds siphoned off, no preservation</b>
By Jagan Kaul & Krishan Bhatnagar

Government control of Hindu religious infrastructure is the instrument
of decimating Hindu religion and culture. Hereunder are the examples
of the abusive control by states in South India that are virtually
engaged in demolishing the Hindu religious infrastructure. The
abundance of available evidence has proved beyond any doubt that under
government control, the Hindu temples have not only been exploited
injuriously but are also being driven to their ultimate extinction.

Nationwide, the famous temples of Jagannath Puri, Tirupati, Kashi
Vishwanath, Vaishno Devi, Shirdi, Guruvayoor, Chamunda Devi,
Dattapeeth, Kali Mandir of Patiala, Amarnath, Badrinath, Kedarnath,
etc. have already been taken under the government control.

Andhra Pradesh: AP government's continuing blitzkrieg against Hinduism
with massive sale of temple lands seems a policy of looting temples
for bringing down Hinduism.


Andhra Pradesh government is going all out for controlling the entire
spectrum of Hindu religious institutions. The Endowment Minister Shri
Diwakar Reddy announced on March 12, 2007 that AP government plans to
take over all temples, mutts and religious trusts in the state.
Furthermore, the government is planning to amend the AP Endowments Act
to enable the endowments commissioner to oversee the day-to-day
administration of mutts.

Injurious Governance: As per recent information there are more than
1,84,000 temples under government control, which is taking away all
the donations given by devotees in the form of cash, clothes,
jewellery or in any other form. In return only 18 per cent of the
revenue is given back for the maintenance of temples and to pay
salaries of priests. More than 40,000 priests are earning salary below
Rs. 500 per month and over 3,000 priest earns 400 for the whole year.
The major chunk of money is used by government for various schemes
under Indira Yojna, Rajiv Yojna, etc, which in no way help either the
Hindu community or Hindu temples.

In 2004, the AP government engineered the entry of JRG Wealth
Management Limited, an organisation owned by Christians, into the
decision-making and procurement process of prasadam materials for use
in Tirupati temple. Furthermore, the criminal destruction of
centuries-old historic Mandapam at TTD with official participation has
been universally condemned by all Hindu ranks and has generated
enormous resentment. The fact that even with huge battalions of staff
for oversight, the government could not protect the temple lands
simply proves incompetence and indifference of the authorities in
performing their responsibilities. Such an irresponsible establishment
cannot and must not be trusted to handle these centuries-old estates
and temples belonging to Hindu community.

Unwarranted and Illegal Actions: Against the spirit of the law, strong
opposition and wishes of the Hindu community the AP government wants
to: a) take away Rs 500 crore from TTD (Tirupathi Tirumala
Devasthanam) supposedly for irrigation projects on top of Rs. 1,500
crore it already owes to them; b) build a ropeway at TTD for turning
the sacred shrine into a tourist attraction thus commercializing and
desecrating the deeply revered shrine and vitiating its religious
sanctity; and c) to take over the 500-year-old Chilkur Balaji temple
so efficiently run by the pujaris and locals. These highly
provocative, unsettling and expeditious measures amongst many others
are being taken without any public debate or the approval of the Hindu
community, who are the real owners.

TIRUPATHI (AP)


The world famous Tirupathi Tirumala Temple is under complete control
of the ruling government of Andhra Pradesh. The temple receives an
annual income of Rs three thousand one hundred crore in the form of
direct cash collected from (a) Hundi collections (b) Donations towards
annadanam scheme © Large amount of donations collected from devotees
(d) Thula Bharam (e) Renting out 12,000 cottages to devotees on daily
basis (f) Sale of prasadam (including ladoos) (g) Leasing of premises
to commercial establishments including shops and hotels on the hills
(h) Profit from export of tonsured hairs of devotees (i) Profits from
TTD publications (j) Income generated from sale of Sewa Tickets (k)
Television rights

Apart from this, the TTD also generates income in the form of
collecting and pledging the same for government schemes.

In the financial year 2005-06, the TTD collected 2,400 kilograms of
gold, 2,33,000 kgs of silver and 543 kgs of other precious stones
including diamonds, rubies etc. from devotees.

SIMACHALAM (AP)


Situated 15 kilometres from the port city of Vishakhapatnam,
Simachalam is the ancient temple of Narasimha Swamy. Very recently the
temple has come under the siege of Christian missionaries, who have
illegally occupied over 300 acres of temple land with the help of
Christian land mafias and local Congress leaders. The devotees are
restricted at the foothills by the Christians who abuse our God as
demons and physically try to stop Hindus by luring them to provide
them basic day-to-day needs. On many occasions the devotees have
complained to the local administration, who are watching all this
helplessly. In a span of 20 months, four churches and three convent
schools have come up in the vicinity of the foothills and a small
temple of Hanuman has also been demolished overnight.

BHADRACHALAM (AP)


Bhadrachalam is a famous temple dedicated to Sri Ramchandra and
situated on the banks of the sacred river Godavari. Today this temple
is also under the siege of Christian missionaries who have influenced
the government to donate 884 acres out of 1289 acres of the temple
land for their activities. The temple which had a passage of eight
entrances has been left with a narrow passage for the devotees to
enter the temple.

ARASAVALLI (AP)


At Arasavalli, which is practically the same as Srikakulam, the
headquarters of the northernmost district of Andhra, there is a temple
of Lord Surya. Temples dedicated to the worship of Lord Surya are rare
in our country.

Seventh Day Adventist Church has constructed a church right in front
of both the entrances. The number of devotees visiting the ancient
temple has come down by 85 per cent in just one year.

SRISAILAM (AP)


Srisailam is situated in the thick and inaccessible forests of the
Nallamalai hills, in the northeastern portion of the Nandikotkur taluk
of Kurnool District. It lies on a straight line west of Vijayawada. It
is 73 miles north of Nandyal railway station.

Puranas have described this abode of Mahadev as Pranta Jyotirlinga
which is surrounded by mountains. The Endowment Department has sold
over 1,600 acres of temple land surrounding the temple to various
Christian organisations including Tribal Gospel.

MANGALAGIRI (AP)


Mangalagiri is situated on the Bezwada-Guntur road and is about eight
miles by road from Vijayawada. On the top of the Mangalagiri hill
there is a famous temple called the Panakala Nrusimhaswamy temple,
which has been attracting pilgrims for a very long time, and from all
parts of the country. The nearest railway station is Mangalagiri on
the Guntur-Vijayawada line but to visit the temple, the better course
would be to get down either at Vijayawada or at Guntur and take a bus.

This anicent temple, which has the largest Gopuram—approximatel y 14
floors, constructed by King Yudhishthra, has been under the attack
from Christian Missionaries. Due to poverty over 35 per cent of the
population are forced to convert to Christianity and others are
coerced to convert. Hindus are forced to visit the temple between 10
A.M and 1 P.M because of fear of attack from Christians who are
residing in large number at the foothills.

AHOBILAM (AP)


Ahobilam is located in Karnool District of Andhra Pradesh in the hills
of the eastern ghats, about 400 km northwest of Chennai. The temple
consists of nine shrines to Lord Narasimha located around a 35-km
circle in dense forest.

Not many know, Ahobilam is the same place where Lord Narasimha had
taken incarnation and had killed the demon Hiranayakashyap. Lot of
evidence are available even today - e.g.: (a) Place where Lord
Narasimha appeared, (b) Cave school of Prahalad, © Vascul (door
entrance) on which Lord killed the demon; (d) Palace remains of demon
Hiranayakashyap.

Unfortunately, no government of Andhra Pradesh took any interest to
develop or provide facilities to the oldest temple on this earth.
Poojas and aartis are conducted in only three temples daily and
annually once for the remaining nine temples which are in thick forest.

The negligence on the part of the government is helping Christian
missionaries to illegally occupy Temple land and they have slowly
taken up the task to destroy the ancient remains of Hindu temples.

In Tamil Nadu, H.H. Shankara-charya, whose status is not less than
that of the Pope for Hindus, was arrested on Diwali night. He was
humiliated, put in jail without bail and treated like a common
criminal. Such a barbaric action against the most revered leader of
the highly civilized and non-violent faith was tantamount to a serious
assault on Hindu religion and psyche. It is over two years now and
neither the case against him has been proven nor has he been exonerated.

The statue of E V Ramasamy Naicker - Periyar for the devotees of
Dravidianism has been allowed to be installed in front of the
Rajagopuram of Srirangam temple. He was a known Hindu-baiter and will
obviously hurt the sentiments of many. He was a man who made a life
out of mocking the Hindu sensibilities and sentiments. But he did that
in his individual capacity. By installing his statue, where Hindus
congregate in large numbers, the government seems to have given
institutionalised legitimacy to his acts.

In Kerala: The government hastily promulgated an ordinance on February
4, 2007 to disband the Travancore and Cochin Autonomous Devaswom
Boards and usurped its authority. The timing, intent and integrity of
the said ordinance was extremely suspicious and questionable
particularly in view of the impending session of the state Assembly
and the existence of a three man commission appointed by the High
Court for investigating the allegations of corruption.

In the current fiscal year, secular Kerala's treasury was filled with
Rs 268 crore solely by the revenue from temples under Travancore
Devaswom Board, Cochin Devaswom Board and Guruvayur Devaswom. How much
of the money has been used for temple maintenance and Hindu causes is
not revealed.

According to the latest reports, out of tens of thousands of temples
that have abnormally been rendered dysfunctional, only a few hundreds
are currently fully operational. As if that is not enough, under the
Kerala Land Reforms Act, 13,000 acres of Guruvayoor's land has been
reduced to 230 acres amounting to 98 per cent land loot. The revenue
of this Hindu entity is subject to misuse, even loot by the state
authorities. In order to appease the officially inspired Christian
protesters and promote their electoral base the `secularist'
politicians unilaterally abandoned the construction of railway line
from Kottayam to Erumeli to Hindu Hill shrine.

<i>(The writer can be contacted at Hindu Jagaran Forum (USA), e-mail
krishna.kb@verizon. net)</i>

[Guest]

<b>Catholic Church Reverses Teaching on Limbo</b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->VATICAN CITY (April 21) - Pope Benedict XVI  has reversed centuries of traditional Roman Catholic  teaching on limbo, approving a Vatican report released Friday that says there were "serious" grounds<b> to hope that children who die without being baptized  can go to heaven</b>.

Theologians said the move was highly significant - both for what it says about Benedict's willingness to buck a long-standing tenet of Catholic belief and for what it means theologically about the Church's views on heaven, hell and original sin - the sin that the faithful believe all children are born with.

Although <b>Catholics have long believed that children who die without being baptized are with original sin and thus excluded from heaven,</b> the Church has no formal doctrine on the matter. Theologians, however, have long taught that such children enjoy an eternal state of perfect natural happiness, a state commonly called limbo, but without being in communion with God.
............
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

So now they will skip lords word. <!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->

[dhu]

Tell an indian mother that her child is a sinner. You will get a slap in the face.

[G.Subramaniam]

Xtian patient dies after being stopped treatment by missionary hospital


http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070422/asp/...ory_7680212.asp

Bills unpaid, treatment stops
- Patient dies, hospital wakes up to ‘mistake’ in deny-medicine note
A STAFF REPORTER

Calcutta, April 21: A patient died at a city hospital today, less than 24 hours after its authorities asked medical staff to stop his treatment and medicine supply as his dues had not been cleared.

Patrick Cranston, 57, passed away at 1.45 am at Mission of Mercy Hospital — formerly Assembly of God Church Hospital — in Park Street. He was admitted to the ICCU in extremely serious condition on Wednesday afternoon.

Cranston was suffering from diabetes, cardiac disorder and a host of other ailments.

Yesterday morning, the hospital authorities sent a note to the ICCU sister-in-charge, asking her to stop all services to Cranston. The reason: his treatment dues were “much higher than the stipulated norms of the hospital”.

According to the hospital’s rules, services to a patient have to be stopped if the dues run up are anything above Rs 5,000. Cranston owed the hospital Rs 24,000.

However, according to a Supreme Court judgment [Parmanand Kataria v Union of India (1989) 4 SCC 286], a private health care institution must treat an emergency patient even if he is not able to foot the bill at the moment.

The note signed by Mariamma George, assistant to medical administrator Jatrik Biswas, said: “Please stop all services and indenting medicine for bed no. ICCU 2 — Patrick Cranston from now onwards until further intimations.” A copy of the note is with The Telegraph.

A doctor said the sister-in-charge was “horrified” when she got the note. “She is a human being and cannot stop services to such an ailing patient,” the doctor said.

But with the pharmacy stopping supplies, there was little the doctors could do. As Cranston started sinking, they began gathering free medical samples and injections to revive him but to no avail.

Biswas said there had been “a mistake” in the note. “Instead of ‘all non-emergency services’, it was mistakenly written ‘all services’ in the note.”

Cranston, a former employee of Shipping Corporation of India, was a resident of Picnic Garden Road. He was brought to hospital by his niece, Andrea Walsh, who stays in the same building.

“I heard screams from his apartment and rushed in. He used to live alone and the door was ajar. I saw him frothing at his mouth and he was stiff. I immediately took him to hospital,” she said.

A doctor said Cranston had high blood sugar and was comatose when he was admitted.

“Later, we found he was suffering from meningitis. There was also a possibility of encephalitis but we could not establish it as we don’t have MRI facility and the patient wasn’t in a condition to be taken away.”

State health minister Surjya Kanta Mishra said an inquiry would be started after a formal complaint was lodged.

“Earlier, we have cancelled the licence of medical institutes guilty of negligence.”

Police said the family had not lodged any formal complaint. “We are still to receive the original copy of the note…. We are not doctors, so we can’t comment,” said Ajoy Kumar, DC (south).

The hospital’s doctors have denounced the decision to stop treatment. They have threatened to quit if the hospital does not assure them such incidents will not be repeated.

[Guest]

<b>U.S. Air Base = "God's House"</b>
Wired News
Tuesday, April 17, 2007

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->A couple of weeks ago, someone forwarded me this press release out of the U.S. military's Bagram Media Center in Afghanistan. It caught my eye only because it's not a typical headline for an official U.S. military press release: "Revival Rocks God's House."

Religion2_2 Here's a bit of the release, which talks about a three-day Christian "<b>revival service" held last month at the Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan:</b>

<i>Enduring Faith Chapel Gospel services hosted the first Spring Revival at BAF March 21-23.

    The theme for the services, “Having faith that pleases God,” was taken from the concept pointed out in Hebrews 11:6 of the King James version of the Holy Bible, which reads, “… without faith, it is impossible to please God.”

    “Faith is what you believe in and it affects everything around you,” said Chap. (Maj.) Terry Simmons, Enduring Faith Chapel Gospel services chaplain. “I believe God had great impact on our BAF community. I believe God has more plans to influence and move through us in BAF and Afghanistan.”

    The services were open to all members of the BAF community to come and worship. Each night, two ministers from the gospel service brought forth a message of hope, faith and encouragement. The gospel choir and dance team also contributed to the services through various performances, demonstrating their faith.

    “In order to obtain faith, we have to be obedient to God’s commandments that are given to us,” said Sgt. 1st Class Kadesha Thompson, 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade. “[We as Christians cannot] allow our faith to be wavered by anything.”

    “Faith is developed by the word of God, by trials and past experiences,” Simmons said. “Faith is only developed in your relationship with God.”</i>

No one, least of all me, would question service members' right to worship freely. <b>I'm just curious what DANGER ROOM readers think of the U.S. military issuing a press release about a religious service in which "the Spirit of God moves in and grips men and women in such a way that suddenly the community becomes God-conscious."</b>

UPDATE: Noah here.  Xeni sends along this NPR report, from 2005, on evangelicals in the military.  <b>It turns out that 40 percent of active duty personnel -- and 60 percent of chaplains -- are evangelical, compared to only 14 percent of the U.S. population.  Interesting. </b>

Also, here's a story I filed from Iraq, on Jewish soldiers, for the Forward.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->


<b>Evangelical Chaplains Test Bounds of Faith in Military</b>
NPR

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->All Things Considered, <b>July 27, 2005 </b>·  The idea of a chaplain along the lines of the ecumenical Father Mulcahy of television's M*A*S*H is fading away in the military.

<i>The percentage of Evangelical Christian chaplains is higher than their faith's representation in the ranks. The military directs them not to proselytize. But many say that would force them to deny a basic tenet of their faith.</i>

Web Extra: <b>'The Soldier's Bible' Draws Fire</b>

By Jeff Brady

Walk into just about any Christian bookstore and you are likely to find a copy of The Soldier's Bible. The leather cover comes in a choice of green for the Army, black for the Navy, burgundy for the Marines, blue for the Air Force and -- just released -- blue for the Coast Guard.

These are handsome Bibles with gilt edges, just the right size for a service member to stuff into his or her pack. Printed on the front is the emblem for the appropriate branch of the armed services. And that's a problem.

One could be excused for thinking that this Bible was put out by the military. But it's not. Holman Bible Publishers of Nashville developed, printed and distributes The Soldier's Bible at its own expense.

Still, critics think the emblem on the front brings up legal questions -- and may even violate the Constitution's ban on government-established religion.

What's especially troubling to some is that this particular Bible is clearly evangelical. Holman Bible Publishers is owned by the Southern Baptist Convention. On the first few pages, there's a "Plan for Salvation" that says you must be baptized as an adult believer to have eternal life.

Printed in the back are inspirational words from military leaders such as Lt. Gen. William Boykin. He raised a few eyebrows back in 2003, when he said of his battle against a Muslim warlord in Somalia, "I knew my God was bigger than his. I knew that my God was a real God and his was an idol."

Evangelicals are playing an increasing role in the military. Department of Defense statistics show that 40 percent of active duty personnel are evangelical Christians. Sixty percent of taxpayer-funded military chaplains are evangelical.

"It does raise the question of whether we are, effectively, as a country -- with tax dollars -- promoting a particular evangelical religious viewpoint," said Barry Lynn of Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

Add to that a privately funded evangelical Bible that looks official, and critics say the military has a problem that needs to be addressed.

The Army says the use of its emblem "is authorized in publications and other printed matter of an official or quasi-official nature." The Army's Institute of Heraldry is the keeper of the emblem. If you want to put it on a T-shirt or bumper sticker, you first have to get permission from Stanley Haas at the Institute.

Haas says to his knowledge, Holman was never granted permission to put the Army's emblem on The Soldier's Bible. But he also doesn't keep a list or database of people who've been given permission.

Haas says people simply write in to request permission and he writes back, telling them yes or no. He says that normally, permission would not be granted for anything religious.

But Ricky King, product development manager with Holman, says the company has written permission on file from each branch of the service.

When asked how the Army enforces its rules on use of the emblem, Haas said he doesn't have the staff to go around the country looking for violators. So, he said, the rules are "almost unenforceable."

Army Chief of Chaplains David Hicks says he's perplexed how anyone would conclude this is the Army's official Bible. The front of the book states that Holman is the publisher.

Still, Barry Lynn of Americans United for Separation of Church and State says the military should enforce its own rules and require Holman to remove the emblem from its Bibles.

"If they haven't even sent a letter suggesting that these be removed, then one thinks that perhaps the military is just winking at this and is not planning to do anything about it," Lynn said.

Chaplain Hicks says it would be a shame if military emblems have to be removed from The Soldier's Bible: "It just brings us together as a group of people and gives us an opportunity to identify with our Army as a band of soldiers and believers."

<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->


<b>Non-Christians Claim Bias at Air Force Academy</b>
NPR

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Day to Day, <b>May 4, 2005</b> · Jeff Brady reports from Denver, Colo., about recent allegations of religious intolerance in the U.S. Air Force Academy. <b>Some non-Christian cadets and staff members are claiming they are being discriminated against because of their religious beliefs.</b><!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

[Guest]

From other IF thread:
<!--QuoteBegin-SwamyG+Apr 21 2007, 08:49 AM-->QUOTE(SwamyG @ Apr 21 2007, 08:49 AM)<!--QuoteEBegin-->Look at this site: http://www.geocities.com/prakashjm45/aar...versy.html
[right][snapback]67587[/snapback][/right]
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->Yes, do look at it. It's a hoot.
Count how often the site owner, Indian christian 'Prakash' Mascarenhas, refers to Ganapathi, Durga and other Gods and Swamis as 'demon'.

This is the same dude that previously had a whole page on why 'pagan' names are okay for Indian christians, because he himself was called Prakash back then and felt the need to legitimise it. Apparently, he's finally changed it to the more western Lucio now. At least Lucio is NT derived, even if the original was Roman.

The Roman catholic church is a heretic church to this guy, which he contrasts with his hero:
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->For a comparision of the attitude of a <b>true Catholic</b>, according to the <b>First Commandment</b>, towards the pagans, see:
St. Francis Xavier in the Fishery Coast: Set all Afire!<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->Ah, yes, the good old 1st commandment... Many Gods are ever a pain for christoislamism, and this good christian Lucio wants the church to set us straight - the way his idol Xavier did!
Lucio also refers to Hindus as 'pagans' throughout the page. So what else is new.

But I must say, this page of his is memorable for many reasons, it's got so many pictures of our Gods on it, mostly with Hindus next to them.

But the most entertaining image he's put up there has nothing to do with Hinduism, it's this one:
<img src='http://www.geocities.com/livrant/gallery/ratzinger_schwartzwalder_werewolf.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />
http://www.geocities.com/livrant/gallery/r...er_werewolf.jpg
Where'd he get this picture? Is it real?
Lucio's captioned it with: <!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Beware Of Ratzinger The Vampire From Germany's Black Forest!
A.P. Photo.: Vampire Ratzinger aka <b>Maledictus</b> V, courtesy Gary Giuffre<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->Yes, the pious True Catholic Lucio, having denounced all the popes from a certain century onwards as being uncatholic (I remember long ago reading the page where he ranted against the popes he'd disqualified), has changed Ratzinger's papal title from Benedictus to Maledictus.
Just as well, because Benedictus - Latin for Blessed - is the ancient name of the wonderful Greco-Roman God Apollo <!--emo&:clapping--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/clap.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='clap.gif' /><!--endemo-->
So Maledictus then means accursed, I'm guessing. Apparently, some catholics think that Ratty is evil, and with such a picture as proof, one can't argue with them... It's looks more convincingly like a vampire than the ones I've seen in any movie. Quite scary.

<b>Edited just above:</b> What can you do, got some words mixed up. Benedictus is Latin for Blessed, instead of 'Good' as I'd wrongly written.

Oh, and anyone else think that image of Ratty reminds them of Darth Sidious (Senator Palpatine) from Star Wars III? I expect him to shriek "Powaaahhhh" any moment know, while emitting the electrical currents of the Dark Side of the Force... His hand certainly looks poised to do so <!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='wink.gif' /><!--endemo-->

[acharya]

<img src='http://img462.imageshack.us/img462/7041/flash20001eq7.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />http://img462.imageshack.us/img462/7041/flash20001eq7.jpg


MAP OF THE WORLD FOR CONVERSION

NOTICE CHINA AND MAJOR COUNTRIES MISSING


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxz1jbPCfTQ

[acharya]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4es8mOiI2Io

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N98c5S4viZA

Chris Hedges on "American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War On America"

Aired on Monday, February 19, 2007, Chris Hedges's new book examines how Christian dominionists are seeking absolute power and a Christian state. According to Hedges, the movement bears a strong resemblance to the young fascist movements in Italy and Germany in the 1920s and '30s. Hedges is the former New York Times Middle East bureau chief and author of "War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning."


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7YTQUu-mGM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3z9hF3GCaXA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Thn9Hnu__pU


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqSnKgF-BQ

[Guest]

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Blood oozes from Indian Jesus statue, bishop confirms

Jabalpur, India Bishop Gerald Almeida has called on Catholics to engage in "soul searching" after the eyes of a life-size statue of the Sacred Heart in a church yard began to ooze a blood-like substance.

UCA News reports Church people in the central Indian diocese say that on Monday they started noticing bloodlike substance oozing from the eyes of a statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus kept in an open yard.

"I am convinced it is a miracle," Fr Paul Pappachan, the assistant parish priest, told UCA News. The red substance tasted like blood, he said. "I just can't understand it."

Bishop Gerald Almeida of Jabalpur celebrated Mass at the parish a day after the incident. On his return, he told UCA News that the bloodlike substance was still visible on the statue. The phenomenon is "a powerful indication for us to mend our ways," he concluded.

Bishop Almeida said he wants his flock to engage in "soul searching" and ask if they have been living according to God's plan. There could be "something lacking in our service, or people may have performed certain 'incorrect' actions," he said. "There need to be some reforms in our lives."

The prelate added that he will send an official letter to all Church workers in the diocese to explain the incident and to invite them to reflect on why the statue apparently shed blood.

According to Fr Pappachan, the first person who witnessed the phenomenon is Chandrawati Armo, an assistant nurse at a local dispensary.

Armo, 20, told UCA News that when she routinely cleaned the statue on the morning of 12 February, she noticed that the statue displayed a "sad expression" and she wondered why it seemed so sad that day.

After cleaning the statue, she went to get a new garland for it, she said, "but when I turned back and looked at the statue, it began to shed blood from both eyes." She said she burst into tears and rushed to tell Fr Pappachan.

"I raced to the statue and found blood oozing out of its eyes," Fr Pappachan said.

The priest said he then ascended the statue's concrete lotus-shaped pedestal and dipped his finger into the red liquid. <span style='color:red'>"After smelling it, I tasted it," he recalled. He repeated this action four times, he said, and every time he did so, he sensed the smell and taste of "real blood."</span>

According to parish priest, Fr Florentius Kujur, blood clots are also visible on the statue's hands. He told UCA News that people of all faiths now visit the statue and offer prayers, and about 400 parishioners have been praying inside the church ever since the phenomenon occurred. The news has also attracted many priests and nuns from other areas, he added.

Fr Anand Muttungal, spokesperson of the Catholic Church in Madhya Pradesh, told UCA News that the substance will be sent for DNA testing.

http://www.cathnews.com/news/702/96.php
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

Where are our "andha-shraddha unmoolan and aghori act" folks - pls send them to Jabalpur.

In a similar case in Australia:

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Archbishop says weeping statues were fraudulent

Brisbane's Archbishop John Bathersby told a media conference yesterday that a church investigation has found that oil-seeping and "bleeding" artefacts at a suburban church were fake.

http://www.cathnews.com/news/407/170.php
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->