As long as it is clear that you don't mean us

[Plane]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080718/ap_on_re_au_an/australia_pope;_ylt=Auhrj9vE3xG4ZV3FwTeZb0P9xg8F




"In a world threatened by sinister and indiscriminate forms of violence, the unified voice of religious people urges nations and communities to resolve conflicts through peaceful means and with full regard for human dignity," Benedict told a gathering of clerics from different faiths in Sydney.

[Xavier_Onassis]

The Pope almost certainly means everyone. Even in the nastiest papacies, popes have arranged for someone else's troops to do their violent acts. But this pope is a more peaceful fellow. You aren't going to see the Swiss guards fending off the Janjaweed anytime soon.

[Michael Tee]

<<"In a world threatened by sinister and indiscriminate forms of violence, the unified voice of religious people urges nations and communities to resolve conflicts through peaceful means and with full regard for human dignity,">>

Yeah, THAT'LL happen.  Bush and Cheney pray for it every night on bended knee.

[Plane]

Last time the Pope made a statement of this nature there were a bunch of Muslims who took offense, this time he is even less specific , so we can all suppose he means the other guys.

[Xavier_Onassis]

Every preacher knows that people appreciate a sermon besty when it requires action from some other fellow.
The pope was correct about his ruminations regarding the history of Islam, but the Muslims are pretty touchy these days.

[Michael Tee]

It's indeed hilarious that Bush and Cheney, at the moment the biggest war criminals on the planet, probably endorse the Pope's sentiments publicly and go right on with their crimes and atrocities as if his words meant absolutely nothing at all. 

Hey, maybe that's because his words really .  .  .  don't . . .   Naaah.  He's the spiritual leader of the world, isn't he?

[hnumpah]

Not my world.

[Plane]

Saudi King Abdullah Commences Interfaith Dialogue Conference in Madrid, Spain


http://www.foxbusiness.com/story/audio-saudi-king-abdullah-commences-interfaith-dialogue-conference-madrid-spain/

http://www.jta.org/cgi-bin/iowa/breaking/109517.html

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008%5C07%5C19%5Cstory_19-7-2008_pg1_4

[Michael Tee]

<<Saudi King Abdullah Commences Interfaith Dialogue Conference in Madrid, Spain>>

Fine.  Great.  Long as they don't get into who's gonna be tougher than a camel to get through the eye of a needle.

[Plane]

<<Saudi King Abdullah Commences Interfaith Dialogue Conference in Madrid, Spain>>

Fine.  Great.  Long as they don't get into who's gonna be tougher than a camel to get through the eye of a needle.

I can tell you didn't open this link, this nedleing went on there.

A Muslim speaker at an interfaith conference in Spain called for a distinction between Jews and Zionists.

"We have to distinguish between Judaism and Zionism," said Izzeddin Mustafa Ibrahim, an adviser to the president of the United Arab Emirates, according to the New York Sun. "Zionism is a political system. Judaism is a religion."

Ibrahim's comments were made Thursday in Madrid during the second day of an interfaith meeting organized by King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia.

Ibrahim, who reportedly also questioned whether Judaism was capable of dialogue with Islam, was challenged on both points by Rabbi Marc Schneier, the president of the New York-based Foundation for Ethnic Understanding.

“Israel is not a political issue,” Schneier told JTA, describing his response to Ibrahim. “If you want to understand Judaism, then you need to understand that Israel is a core issue of our religion.”

The emphasis on Israel represents a shift for Schneier, who has launched several initiatives for partnership with American Muslims, including a summit last year of rabbis and imams and a twinning program between synagogues and mosques scheduled for November. Schneier had previously tried, with mixed results, to keep Israel out of the discussion with Muslim leaders.

“I believe it's an evolution in the process,” Schneier said. “I believe there is enough of a foundation to now bring this to the next level, in terms of tackling what I refer to as the elephant in the room. I think it has become crystal clear to me that those who are engaged in interreligious dialogue, the Jewish community, must express our support and our connection to the State of Israel as being a core religious issue.”

[Michael Tee]

<<“Israel is not a political issue,” Schneier told JTA, describing his response to Ibrahim. “If you want to understand Judaism, then you need to understand that Israel is a core issue of our religion.”>>

That is complete and utter bullshit.  This guy is a rabbi?  Apparently this is a rabbi who's never heard of Neturei Karta or Satmar Hasidism.  You have to wonder just how deep this guy's religious knowledge really goes.  (OK, deeper than mine, anyway)

The Satmars are ultra-religious Orthodox Jews (Hasids) following the Satmar Rebbe (a hereditary rabbi of the sect) who believes that the Jews will return to Israel when the Messiah comes and not before, and that the present Zionist settlers are "Jewish goyim," blaspheming infidels who are upsetting all of God's plans (which were apparently confided to them at some point in their, dare I say the word, religious evolution) and will be going straight to hell.  I think Neturei Karta are similar.  The Satmars and another Hasidic sect, the Lubavitchers, which are pro-Zionist, frequently come to blows in Brooklyn and other strongholds of both sects.

It's ludicrous to claim that Zionism is the core of the Jewish religion.  If it were, then every religious Jew all over the world would have moved to Israel long before now.

[Xavier_Onassis]

I suppose you could say that Jerusalem is the center of Jewish geography. But not all Jews are Zionists. I don't think that all Zionists are Jews, either. There are a lot of evangelical, end-of-the-world rapturist Christians who want all the Jews to return to Israel, so they can fulfill the weird prophesies of the Book of Revelation, and will be easier to convert when Jesus reveals himself again as the true Messiah, and the Jews will get one last chance to see the light or go to Hades with all the rest of the nonbelievers. Strangely, a belief in the Holy Spirit, which is made a rather big deal of in the four Gospels, seems to have been left out of this part of the Book of Revelation.

There is a lot of guilt at the core of both Jewish and Roman Catholic folkways, and Israel and the Pope are pretty good at laying it on believers, To immigrate to Israel, the word is "to ascend", while to leave Israel for elsewhere is the opposite "to descend" in Hebrew as spoken in Israel.



 

[Michael Tee]

<< . . . and will be easier to convert when Jesus reveals himself again as the true Messiah, and the Jews will get one last chance to see the light or go to Hades with all the rest of the nonbelievers.>>

And if the dumb schmucks still don't get it the second time round, will there be a Third Coming?   I mean, how many sales trips does this so-called god have to make before he can finally seal the deal?

[Xavier_Onassis]

And if the dumb schmucks still don't get it the second time round, will there be a Third Coming?   I mean, how many sales trips does this so-called god have to make before he can finally seal the deal?

====================================
The Book of Revelation says that Jews will only get one more chance. But then Christianity doesn't seem to like things that come in twos: there are THREE deities, and the Holy Ghost was added during the middle ages, based on some vague mumbo-jumbo in the OT.

When you come right down to it, Jesus does not seem to be as good at PR as modern American marketing (which makes no claims about being divine or free of error). In around 2000 years, not everyone in the human race has heard of Jesus, and after less than 200, MORE have heard of Coca-Cola. One of those things than could make a person go hmmmm.

You can blame human error and Satan and a variety of other things for a greater number of souls not BECOMING Christians, but just HEARING of him, well, that is entirely on his watch, if you ask me. Jesus one impressive stunt was resurrection. True, it happens on a weekly basis in US hospitals with those paddle thingies, but still, it is impressive, and Jesus only did this once. I am pretty sure that he could have done a lot better at PR if he'd done it again for a second or third time.

Curing Lepers used to be a biggie too, but we seem to have mastered this. If there are any lepers left, it's just due to poverty, or perhaps playing with the wrong armadillo.