Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

Why Same-Sex 'Marriage' and Religious Liberty Can't Coexist
Jun 23rd, 2009
Commentarychristianpost.com
Categories: Commentary;Persecution;Moral Decline

As more states-like Iowa-approve same-sex “marriage,” conservatives are claiming that freedom of religion is in peril. Same-sex “marriage” supporters accuse them of engaging in hysterical gay-bating. Who’s telling the truth?

Let me share some stories with you from an excellent news broadcast produced by National Public Radio. Then you decide.

Two women decided to hold their civil union ceremony at a New Jersey pavilion owned by the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association. This Methodist group told the women they could not “marry” in any building used for religious purposes. The Rev. Scott Hoffman said a theological principle-that marriage can only exist between one man and one woman-was at stake.

The women filed a discrimination complaint with the New Jersey Division of Civil Rights. The Methodists said the First Amendment protected their right to practice their faith without being punished by the government. But punish the Methodists is exactly what New Jersey did. It revoked their tax exemption-a move that cost them $20,000.

Then there’s the case of the Christian physicians who refused to provide in vitro fertilization treatment to a woman in a lesbian relationship. The doctors referred her to their partners, who were willing to provide the treatment. But that wasn’t good enough. The woman sued. The California Supreme Court agreed with the woman, saying that the doctors’ religious beliefs didn’t give them the right to refuse the controversial treatment.

In Massachusetts, Catholic Charities was told they had to accept homosexual couples in their adoption service, or get out of the adoption business. They chose correctly-get out of the business.

In Mississippi, a mental health counselor was sued for refusing to provide therapy to a woman looking to improve her lesbian relationship. The counselor’s employers fired her-a move that was backed up by the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.

In New York, the Albert Einstein College of Medicine at Yeshiva University refused to allow same-sex couples to live in married student housing, in keeping with the school’s orthodox Jewish teachings. But in 2001, the New York State Supreme Court forced them to do so anyway-even though New York has no same-sex “marriage” law.

In Albuquerque, a same-sex couple asked a Christian wedding photographer to film their commitment ceremony-and sued the photographer when she declined. An online adoption service was forced to stop doing business in California when a same-sex couple sued the service for refusing, on religious grounds, to assist them.

Convinced? Clearly, homosexual “marriage” and religious liberty cannot co-exist-because gay activists will not allow them to. As marriage expert Maggie Gallagher puts it, same-sex “marriage” advocates claim that religious faith “itself is a form of bigotry.”

I know this may sound alarmist, but it’s true. If we don’t work to stop this juggernaut, we may soon find ourselves hunted down at work, at school, and even at church-as others have been-by those determined to force us to accept as a moral good what God calls evil.

Public security minister draws ire for Temple Mount visit
Jun 23rd, 2009
Daily NewsJpost
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel;Anti-Israel

Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch on Tuesday made a rare visit to Jerusalem's Temple Mount, drawing condemnations from the Islamic Waqf, who charged that the tour was a "provocation."

Waqf Director Azzam el-Ahmed told the Palestinian Ma'an news agency that the visit had not been coordinated in advance and that he did not know the reason for the tour.

The visit is "a dangerous, pathetic provocation," said MK Taleb A-Sanaa (United Arab List). "Aharonovitch is unwelcome at the Al-Aqsa Mosque and his purpose was to incense the Muslims and try to show them who's in charge."

A-Sanaa asserted that the tour was only intended to "inflame the area" and warned that the minister would "suffer the consequences of the visit."

However, according to Aharonovitch's media advisor, Tal Harel, the visit was routine, lasting some two hours, during which the minister was briefed by the officials charged with securing the compound.

Aharonovitch was accompanied by Police Commissioner Insp.-Gen. David Cohen and Jerusalem police chief Cmdr. Aharon Franco.

Harel rejected charges that the tour was intended to create a provocation, saying that it had not only been coordinated in advance with the Waqf but that representatives of the Islamic supervisors of the site actually escorted Aharonovitch and his entourage.

"There will always be such comments," he told The Jerusalem Post, adding that the tour was "completely professional" with "no special reason for the timing; nothing unusual."

The real provocation, Harel added, was caused by those who criticized the visit.

"Those who wish to create provocations will create them, irrespective of the trip to the Temple Mount," he said.

Aharonovitch (Israel Beiteinu) already ignited a firestorm of controversy about a week ago after he told an undercover police officer disguised as a drug addict that he resembled an Araboush - an extremely derogatory Hebrew term for Arabs.

Referring to that incident, A-Sanaa said he hoped that Aharonovitch "hadn't again repeated the unfortunate word Araboushim during his visit."

Palestinians flock to new luxury shopping malls
Jun 23rd, 2009
Daily NewsIsrael Today
Categories: Today's Headlines

The Palestinian Arabs have gone to great lengths to portray themselves as oppressed and impoverished refugees living under a brutal and strangulating "Israeli occupation."

And so it was somewhat odd when Palestinian and a select few Israeli media outlets recently reported on the wild success of a new luxury shopping mall in the northern "West Bank" town of Jenin, a location previously made famous by its abundance of suicide bomber recruits.

The five-story mall opened with a fireworks display last month, and throngs of Palestinians from the surrounding areas have made it their daily destination of choice ever since.

Stores at the mall range from those carrying typical local fare to outlets stocking expensive foreign imports like plasma TVs and high-end espresso machines, both of which are major status symbols in the region.

Ziad Turabi, the developer of the Jenin mall, said he is so confident the local Palestinian population has the money to support such shopping centers that he is currently building another one in Ramallah, and may later build in Shechem, Hebron and Tulkarm.

Fortunately for the Palestinians, the secret that they are not really being forced into poverty by Israel is not likely to be unmasked by the opening of the new shopping malls, as the international media has completely ignored the story

Obama Admin: No new Jewish homes in Jerusalem
Jun 23rd, 2009
Daily NewsIsrael Today
Categories: One World Church;The Nation Of Israel;Anti-Israel

A spokesman for US President Barack Obama on Monday reiterated that his boss views the construction of new Jewish homes on the eastern side of Jerusalem as equally unacceptable as any so-called "settlement activity" anywhere else in Judea and Samaria.

During the press briefing, a reporter asked White House Spokesman Ian Kelly for an official response to the passing of an Israeli budget that includes tens of millions of dollars for the completion of infrastructure in the eastern Jerusalem neighborhood of Har Homa and the nearby Judean town of Maaleh Adumim.

When Kelly tried to sidestep the question, the reporter persisted, asking if the administration's demand for a halt to the natural growth of Jewish communities in areas claimed by the Palestinians extended to Jerusalem.

Kelly's reply was yes, the Obama administration wants to see a halt to "all settlement activity...in the area across the [green] line," which includes the eastern half of Jerusalem liberated by Israel in the 1967 Six Day War.

On Tuesday, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak further defied Obama's demands by authorizing the construction of an additional 300 homes in the Samarian Jewish town of Talmon.

Israeli leaders across the board have said they cannot simply halt the normal flow of life in established Jewish towns, including natural growth. Many Jewish towns in Judea and Samaria have experienced explosive growth over the past decade due to the high quality of life and low housing costs they offer.

Netanyahu heads to Paris to consider peace summit proposal
Jun 23rd, 2009
Daily NewsIsrael Today
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel;Peace Process

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday departed for Paris, where he will meet with French President Nicolas Sarkozy and hear his proposal for an international peace summit aimed at jump-starting the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

Sarkozy wants US President Barack Obama to call for and oversee the summit, but needs first for Israel to back the idea. According to Israeli government sources cited by Ha'aretz, Sarkozy sees such a summit as the only way to pressure Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas to drop his current refusal to hold talks with Netanyahu.

But reports indicate Washington is not keen on the idea, at least not until Israel starts to comply with its demand that the construction of Jewish housing in Judea, Samaria and the eastern half of Jerusalem come to a complete halt.

While in Paris, Netanyahu will also meet with US Middle East envoy George Mitchell to further discuss Israel's refusal to come in line with the way Obama wants things done.

European Commision, Israel sign financing accord for twinning projects
Jun 23rd, 2009
Daily NewsJpost
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel;Revived Roman Empire

The European Commission and Israel on Monday signed a financing agreement for the development of two twinning projects in the areas of equal employment opportunities and veterinary services aimed at fostering economic integration.

"European experts will be working in Israel for extended periods of time to assist the respective Israeli institutions in conforming to EU standards," Raphael Morav, director of the Foreign Ministry's Europe Department, told The Jerusalem Post.

Foreign Ministry Director-General Yossi Gal and European Commission Ambassador to Israel Ramiro Cibrian-Uzal signed the agreement for implementation of the Annual Action Program for Israel, which is part of the European Neighborhood Policy of the European Union. The program, which was established last year, is for seven years and has a €2 million annual budget.

Last week the EU said any upgrade of its relations with Israel would depend on shared values, common interests and objectives, including "the resolution of the Israel-Palestinian conflict through the implementation of the two-state solution."

"It has to be emphasized that independently of the upgrade considerations, all signed agreements are being continued," Morav said. "The 2008 Annual Action Program for Israel is part of the ongoing cooperation between Israel and the EU, and its objective is to achieve a significant level of economic integration."

European experts will be working in Israel to assist in establishing an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission within the Industry, Trade and Labor Ministry.

Last year, two twinning projects were established: to help the Transportation Ministry provide quality public transport in urban areas; and to establish the Israel Law, Information and Technology Authority.

Can Third Temple be built without destroying Dome of the Rock?
Jun 23rd, 2009
Daily NewsJpost
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel

A new Jewish interfaith initiative launched last week argues building the Third Jewish Temple in Jerusalem would not necessitate the destruction of the Dome of the Rock.

"God's Holy Mountain Vision" project hopes to defuse religious strife by showing that Jews' end-of-days vision could harmoniously accommodate Islam's present architectural hegemony on the Temple Mount.

"This vision of religious shrines in peaceful proximity can transform the Temple Mount from a place of contention to its original sacred role as a place of worship shared by Jews, Muslims and Christians," said Yoav Frankel, director of the initiative.

The Interfaith Encounter Association at the Mishkenot Sha'ananim's Konrad Adenauer Conference Center in Jerusalem is sponsoring the program, which includes interfaith study and other educational projects.

According to Islamic tradition, the Dome of the Rock, built in 691, marks the spot where Muhammed ascended to Heaven.

But according to Jewish tradition, Mount Moriah, now under the Dome of the Rock, is where the Temple's Holy of Holies was situated.

Until now Jewish tradition has assumed that destruction of the Dome of the Rock was a precondition for the building of the third and last Temple.

However, in an article that appeared in 2007 in Tehumin, an influential journal of Jewish law, Frankel, a young scholar, presented a different option.

His main argument is that Jewish doctrine regarding the rebuilding of the Temple emphasizes the role of a prophet.

This prophet would have extraordinary authority, including the discretion to specify the Temple's precise location, regardless of any diverging Jewish traditions.

Frankel considers the scenario of a holy revelation given to an authentic prophet that the Temple be rebuilt on the current or an extended Temple Mount in peaceful proximity to the dome and other houses of prayer such as the Aksa Mosque and nearby Christian shrines.

However, both Muslims and Jews have expressed opposition to the initiative.

Sheikh Abdulla Nimar Darwish, founder of the Islamic Movement in Israel, said it was pointless to talk about what would happen when the mahdi, the Muslim equivalent of the messiah, would reveal himself.

"Why are we taking upon ourselves the responsibility to decide such things?" Darwish said in a telephone interview with The Jerusalem Post. "Even Jews believe that it is prohibited to rebuild the Temple until the messiah comes. So what is there to talk about.

"The mahdi will decide whether or not to rebuild the Temple. If he decides that it should be rebuilt, I will go out to the Temple Mount and help carry the rocks."

Darwish warned against any attempt to rebuild the Temple before the coming of the mahdi.

"As long as there is a Muslim alive, no Jewish Temple will be built on Al-Haram Al-Sharif [the Temple Mount]. The status quo must be maintained, otherwise there will be bloodshed."

In contrast, Baruch Ben-Yosef, chairman of the Movement to Restore the Temple, made it clear that the Temple had to be built where the Dome of the Rock presently stands.

"Anybody who says anything else simply does not know what he is talking about," he said. "A prophet does not have the power to change the law which explicitly states the location of the Temple."

Ben-Yosef also rejected the idea that rebuilding of the Temple had to be done by a prophet.

"All you need is a Sanhedrin," he said.

Mainstream Orthodox rabbis have opposed attempts to rebuild the Temple since the Mount came under Israeli control in 1967.

The Chief Rabbinate of Israel even issued a decree prohibiting Jews from entering the area due to ritual purity issues.

However, several grassroots organizations such as the Movement to Restore the Temple, and maverick rabbis, including Rabbi Israel Ariel, head of the capital's Temple Institute and a leading member of the revived Sanhedrin led by Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, have called to take steps to renew the sacrifices on the Temple Mount and rebuild the Temple.