Obama: All Religions Are Equal…But Some Are More Equal Than Others…..[Satire]

Canada Free Press/ Willian Kevin Stoos

The recent turmoil in the Middle East, the assassination of our ambassador to Libya and three other of our fellow Americans, the rise of militant Islam and the President’s attempts to clarify the Obama Doctrine on Religion in the World led the President to make an urgent call this week. He needed to clarify the position of his administration on the subject of religion, and when the President needed to put the word out, there was only one person to call.

The man who walks with kings and princes, the man named Most Trusted Reporter of World Events 2012 by MSNBC and Most Admired Conservative Reporter, 2012 by the Ed Show—Hugh Betcha, Ace Reporter and Head of the Stoos Views Media Conglomerate Religious Affairs Bureau, U.S.  

The President seemed a little nervous as he invited his close friend, Hugh, into the Oval Office and beckoned him to sit in Hugh’s favorite leather chair next to the President’s desk, as the President puffed on a Marlboro and wolfed down a Big Mac hurriedly. “Don’t tell Michelle please,” he asked the reporter, “she is on this stupid healthy foods kick,” Obama winked. “Truth be told she sneaks a Whopper or two herself under cover of darkness. Sends out the Secret Service for them, you know,” Obama winked. “Look at her rear and, well….”

Then the two settled in for business. Hugh, unafraid to ask the tough questions as always wasted no time.

“’Piss Christ’—taxpayers paid thousands of dollars to some weirdo who peed in a bottle and inserted a crucifix—the holiest of symbols for Christians everywhere—and it has been resurrected recently, God only knows why. How does your policy apply to this situation? “

“Easy, that is art, pure and simple. That is why the taxpayers paid for it—so the public could enjoy it. Far be it from me to interfere with any artist in this country. Free expression and all that.”

“ What about the future must not belong to those who would insult the Prophet of Islam—does that hold true for those who insult the Savior of the Christians? “
“Well, no….”

“Should the “artist” who peed on Jesus and stuck Him in a bottle be arrested just as the man who produced the cheesy film insulting the Prophet was? “
“Of course not…there is a big difference. “

“Which is?”

“Christians do not riot and kill people when someone pees on their Savior; however, we must be sensitive to the fact that, had someone peed on the Prophet, the Islamists would go ballistic. Don’t you see the logic? “

“No.”

“—well, it is simple—we do not want to offend anyone, that is the test.”

“ You mean offend the Islamists?”

“ Well… yes, they seem more sensitive and we must honor their feelings.”

“And the coverup of “IHS” on the wall of the church at Georgetown—Jesus’ name in Greek is IHS you understood that when you ordered it covered up with black plywood right?”

“ Well, once again, we do not want to offend anyone. Just imagine if I, the President of the United States gave a speech in front of the name Jesus—well, my word, a lot of folks would be offended by that. They might think we are a Christian nation or something.”

“Who would be offended by the image of Jesus’ name above your head? “

“Well, the Islamists of course. They might think I was a Christian or that the country was Christian. I am trying my best to bring peace to the region. Imagine if the radical Islamists thought I was a Christian. They might take that as an insult to the Prophet.”

“And bowing to the Muslim King of Saudi Arabia on your Groveling Tour—wassup with that? “

“There again, he, being Keeper of the Holy Places and a revered Muslim leader, I must show respect and prove that America is nothing special—just another nation among nearly 200 in the world. Bowing to the Muslim King is most appropriate and I thought kissing his hand was a nice touch too. Had I been able to bend over—which was not possible at the time since I threw out my lower back playing B-Ball with the boys—I would have kissed his shoes too but could not pull it off.”

“ Who says that the President of the United States must grovel before any religious leader?”

“ It is the Obama Doctrine, pure and simple. You know, kowtow to lesser countries who are not superpowers, act like we are one of many and nothing exceptional and the world will love us. Especially since I am President—being born Muslim and all you know.”

“So lemme recap, Mr. President will you?  Lessee—covering up Jesus’ name when you speak somewhere—okay? “

“Yup.”

“Paying taxpayer dollars to cover Jesus in urine—okay? “

“Check. “

“ Making a cheesy film insulting the Prophet of Islam not okay? “

“Of course, the future must not belong to those who insult the Prophet. We found a way to arrest that SOB.”

“Kissing Muslim Kings and bowing to them—okay?”

“ Of course, elevates us in the world of public opinion.”

“ Declaring that we are not a Christian nation—okay? “

“10-4. We are not a Christian nation and I do not want anyone to think for a moment we are.”

“Damning the United States from the pulpit of a black liberation Church that you attended—okay?”

“Of course we have free speech here in the United States in case you missed that—provided of course that the speech is not offensive to certain groups. “

“Like the Islamists? “

“Well… “

“How about ordering Catholic hospitals or other Catholic employers to offer sterilization and abortion services to their employees under the HHS insurance mandate? Any problems forcing Catholics to violate their own religious beliefs?”

“ Nope, the right to abortion is far more sacrosanct that the right to religion. “

“Says who?”

“ Says me—and as President I get to make those kind of decisions.”

“ How about ordering Muslims to eat pork—okay with that?”

“ Nope, far too offensive to Islam and might cause a riot.”

“I understood you are considering an offer to speak at Notre Dame again is there any truth to that? “

“Well, we might; but only if they cover up Touchdown Jesus….”

“How do you feel about telephone poles, Mr. President?”

“ Well, we are studying that issue now as you know. “

“And why?”

“Well driving down the highway I noticed that some look like crosses and, someone might be offended. And also, a lot of folks I noticed are wearing crucifixes outside their clothing for all to see. Then there are those crosses on top of some churches, in plain view, and…..”

Obama's top faith adviser blasts anti-jihad ad

WND/ By Bob Unruh

It took only hours after the posting of a pro-Israel slogan in New York City for opponents to launch a violent spray-paint attack against the message and for a religious adviser to Barack Obama to use the conflict to try to raise money for his own campaign.

At the center of the ruckus is an attempt by New York transit authorities to censor the message “In Any War Between the Civilized Man and the Savage, Support the Civilized Man. Support Israel. Defeat Jihad.”  Read more >>

Historian says piece of papyrus refers to Jesus' wife

By Laurie Goodstein

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — A historian of early Christianity at Harvard Divinity School has identified a scrap of papyrus that she says was written in Coptic in the fourth century and contains a phrase never seen in any piece of scripture: "Jesus said to them, 'My wife …'"

The faded papyrus fragment is smaller than a business card, with eight lines on one side, in black ink legible under a magnifying glass. Just below the line about Jesus having a wife, the papyrus includes a second provocative clause that purportedly says, “she will be able to be my disciple.”

The finding is being made public in Rome on Tuesday at an international meeting of Coptic scholars by the historian Karen L. King, who has published several books about new Gospel discoveries and is the first woman to hold the nation’s oldest endowed chair, the Hollis professor of divinity.

The provenance of the papyrus fragment is a mystery, and its owner has asked to remain anonymous. Until Tuesday, King had shown the fragment to only a small circle of experts in papyrology and Coptic linguistics, who concluded that it is most likely not a forgery. But she and her collaborators say they are eager for more scholars to weigh in and perhaps upend their conclusions.

Even with many questions unsettled, the discovery could reignite the debate over whether Jesus was married, whether Mary Magdalene was his wife and whether he had a female disciple. These debates date to the early centuries of Christianity, scholars say. But they are relevant today, when global Christianity is roiling over the place of women in ministry and the boundaries of marriage.

The discussion is particularly animated in the Roman Catholic Church, where despite calls for change, the Vatican has reiterated the teaching that the priesthood cannot be opened to women and married men because of the model set by Jesus.

King gave an interview and showed the papyrus fragment, encased in glass, to reporters from The New York Times, The Boston Globe and Harvard Magazine in her garret office in the tower at Harvard Divinity School last Thursday. She left the next day for Rome to deliver her paper on the find on Tuesday at the International Congress of Coptic Studies.

She repeatedly cautioned that this fragment should not be taken as proof that Jesus, the historical person, was actually married. The text was probably written centuries after Jesus lived, and all other early, historically reliable Christian literature is silent on the question, she said. More >>

Islam, Authoritarianism and Intolerance

Why Nations Fail/

thedailybeast.com

Yesterday’s news might be seen as a confirmation of Samuel Huntington’s Clash of Civilizations idea, pitting Islam against the West.

First was the headline news that Islamist militants, angered by a trailer posted on YouTube depicting Prophet Muhammed as a sexual predator, homosexual and child molester, attacked the US Consulate in Benghazi, set the Consulate ablaze, and killed ambassador Christopher J. Stevens and three members of his staff. There were violent protests elsewhere, including in Egypt.

Second was the perhaps equally disturbing news from Pakistan of an 11-year-old illiterate Christian girl (described as “slow” by the news reports) now freed from jail but still running from the mob, threatening to kill and burn her and her family, because of “blasphemy” (she’s accused of burning pages from an Islamic textbook).

Add to this the general poverty and authoritarianism of the Middle East and North Africa and other Islamic countries (especially if you leave out oil wealth), the case seems open and shut.

There are many versions of why Islam is at the root of authoritarianism, backwardness and poverty in these countries. Perhaps the most famous one argues that Islam, by failing to recognize the separation of religion and state, naturally leads to authoritarianism. In a now famous book, What Went Wrong, historian Bernard Lewis popularized a version of this idea. He wrote, for example:

The idea that any group of persons, any kind of activities, any part of human life is in any sense outside the scope of religious law and jurisdiction is alien to the Muslim thought (page 100).

He went on to compare Islam to Christianity in this regard:

From the beginning, Christians were taught, both by precept and practice, to distinguish between God and Caesar and between the different duties owed to each of the two. Muslims received no such instruction. (Page 103).

Though popular, this view doesn’t seem entirely well grounded in history or scripture.

First, as we argued in Why Nations Fail, there is another obvious explanation for extractive economic and political institutions in the Middle East and North Africa: the legacy of Ottoman rule and institutions.

Second, the close relationship between politics and religion is not confined to Islam. Rulers have used religion to cement their power or support their attempts to conquer new lands throughout the ages. For example, though colonialism was not a religious endeavor, religious rhetoric and the project of converting heathens to Christianity did play a role in motivating the Spanish and the English alike and provided a pretty good “cover story”.

Third, it is true that secularism, in any of its forms, has been all but absent in Muslim lands, but this is at least as much because politics has co-opted religion rather than the other way around.

Fourth, there is really nothing in the Koran or even the Hadith about constitutions or how the government should be organized and operated.

But the question remains: it’s unlikely to be a coincidence, nor easily explained by the Ottoman legacy, that most Muslim countries are not democratic and almost totally lack civil society, and most branches of political Islam are intolerant and often violent.  More >>

Espia-Embajador cubano en Nicaragua creando su red

by Chris Simmons

Source:  Havana Times

Eduardo Martinez Borbonet al centro cuando entrego sus cartas credenciales

Last week, the president of the Council of Churches of Cuba, Joel Ortega, participated in a dialogue with religious leaders, academics and social activists at Nicaragua’s Universidad Evangelica Martin Luther King, reported the Prensa Latina news agency.

Cuban Ambassador Eduardo Martinez Borbonet described the Nicaraguan evangelical churches as playing an “active” role in the solidarity movement with the island.  The meeting was also attended by Nicaraguan pastor Sixto Ulloa, who is the human rights ombudsman; and Freddy Franco, the national coordinator of the solidarity with Cuba movement there.

Editor’s Note:  In December 1998, First Secretary Eduardo Martinez Borbonet,  Third Secretary Roberto Azanza Paez and Attaché Gonzalo Fernandez Garay were expelled from the United States for their role as “Wasp Network” Case Officers.   All three Directorate of Intelligence (DI) officers had been serving under diplomatic cover at the Cuban Mission to the United Nations (CMUN). 

Guataqueria kubiche: Consejo de Iglesias de Cuba realiza culto por la salud de Chávez

Aqui >>

Jesus’ Birthplace in Danger: Will UNESCO Choose PA Hype over Expert Findings?

Israel: Daily Alert/

Jesus' birthplace in the Church of the Nativity/ pixnpens.blogspot.com

The upcoming meeting of UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee is liable to find that the “Birthplace of Jesus: the Church of the Nativity and the Pilgrimage route in Bethlehem” is under urgent danger and worthy of special UN protection. The PLO, which became a member of UNESCO in October 2011, claims there is an “emergency situation” that needs to be addressed by “an emergency measure.” Yet the PLO’s submission has been completely rejected by the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) – a Paris-based entity that advises the World Heritage Committee.
After a comprehensive investigation, ICOMOS reported: “[T]he Church of the Nativity and the Pilgrimage route in Bethlehem, Palestine, should not be inscribed on the World Heritage List on an emergency basis….Contrary to the Palestinian submission now before the UNESCO committee, the Church of the Nativity was neither ‘severely damaged,’ nor ‘under imminent threat.’”
The expert evaluation is public and known. Yet does anyone expect the 21-nation UNESCO committee to rule based on objective findings? (UN Watch)

Judge shuts down mega-mosque construction

WND/

Work on a mega-mosque already well along in the construction process in Murfreesboro, Tenn., has been shut down – the existing building’s future uncertain – by a court’s ruling the county avoided the legal process required for granting building permission for the project.

The ruling said the county’s actions effectively violated the state’s Open Meetings law during the time when the mega-structure was being approved.

“The court finds that the action of the county was not sufficient to provide the type of notice to citizens of the county that such matters were to be considered at the meeting of the Rutherford County Regional Planning Commission which should be expected under our law,” said the opinion made public today from the Chancery Court of Tennessee, 16th District.

“Under the mandates of the statute, the court then finds that the actions of that commission regarding the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro were in fact void and of no effect.”

While there was a notice of the meeting in a local newspaper, the paper itself had “virtually no paid circulation,” and there was no showing of any notice on the county’s cable television station or on its website.

“The court assumed there was no ill intention or willful deception on the part of the county,” the ruling continued.

“We do not attribute any sinister motives to the county, though we note the undercurrent of the argument presented by the plaintiffs. We simply find that the county failed to publish the meeting…”

The opinion noted that under the county regulations there is not an entitlement to a public hearing, but there is a requirement that the public be properly notified.

It further said that the denial of permission for a building to be used “as a religious meeting place” must be done in a non-discriminatory manner.

Gary Kreep of the United States Justice Foundation, one of the attorneys working with the plaintiffs in the case, told WND the next step likely will be a renewal of the attempts by the county to grant building permission. He credited other attorneys on the case, Joe Brandon and Tom Smith, with arguing the case successfully.

He said the plaintiffs contended the process ignored several factors, including that the land where the now-unusable building stands formerly was a pig farm, which is supposed to be anathema to Muslims.

He called it a “political power move” on the part of the powers who wanted the mosque to be built.

The Muslim organization building the mega-mosque had obtained permission for nearly 53,000 square feet of buildings on its lot of land, and the first 12,000-square-soot section was nearly done.

Rutherford County officials have said that they don’t expect any buildings to be torn down, even though the process was violated.

Pamela Geller, publisher of AtlasShrugs.com, also is the author of the WND Books title “Stop the Islamization of America: A Practical Guide to the Resistance” and “The Post American Presidency: The Obama’s Administration’s war on America,” published by Simon Schuster.

She revealed how the Department of Justice, which though it has named the Islamic Society of North America, the Council on American-Islamic Relations and other key Muslim groups and figures as unindicted co-conspirators in a scheme to fund the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, filed a friend-of-the-court brief demanding that the case against the Murfreesboro mosque be dismissed.

Partido Comunista de Cuba premia el trabajo político-religioso del Centro Martin Luther King

ain.cu

el aparato pasandole la mano a un segmento de la manada servil agraviada por las distinciones otorgadas a los cardenales de la ignominia. seguramente otras ya estan programadas.
---------------------------------------- 
Por: Rev. José Carlos Pérez

Organizaciones y personalidades políticas del Gobierno y Partido Comunista de Cuba reconocieron la labor política religiosa que desempeña el progubernamental Centro Martin Luther King (C.M.L.K) ( foto abajo a la derecha) , el pasado viernes 27 de abril en el cine-teatro Avenida, Ciudad de la Habana.

La prensa cubana notificó que el Vicepresidente del Buró político y Vicepresidente de Estado Esteban Lazo expresó que el Centro ha hecho visible “nuestra realidad en muchas partes del mundo”.

Por su parte el fundador y director del C.M.L.K, el Rev. Raúl Suarez reafirmó su incondicionalidad al régimen cubano al pronunciar  sus reiteradas palabras  de “alianza estratégicas entre cristianos y marxistas”. Mas >>

Isaiah 9:10 Code suggests watchful eye on specific day

WND/

WASHINGTON – If the world makes it through the end of the Mayan calendar this year, a pattern of recent economic disasters based on the Hebrew calendar portends what some suspect we will be the biggest U.S. financial calamity yet Sept. 13, 2015.

The No. 1 bestselling Christian book in America, “The Harbinger” by Jonathan Cahn, points out that the Americans two greatest financial shakings, occurred on successive Hebrew Shmitah years following the 9/11 Islamist terror attacks on the U.S., the key to the series of limited judgments the author sees as a result of America’s turning away from God just as ancient Israel did before the dispersion.

While Cahn prefers not to speculate on what, if anything, might befall America on Sept. 13, 2015, it will be the next Shmitah year – which occurs on Elul 29 every seven years on the Hebrew calendar. It is a time when debts are to be forgiven and the land, in the agricultural communities of ancient Israel were to be given a rest.

Sept. 17, 2001, was the beginning of the economic calamity associated with 9/11 when, two days earlier, Lehman Brothers, one of the nation’s largest financial firms, collapsed. Sept. 17, 2001, was Elul 29 on the Hebrew calendar. Likewise, Sept. 29, 2008, marked the next big crash. Sept. 29, 2008, fell on Elul 29.

All of this is laid out in a new documentary video called “The Isaiah 9:10 Judgment,” the leading faith video in the nation and one of the top-selling documentaries of any kind, produced by Joseph Farah and WND Films.

Farah believes the date Sept. 13, 2015 bears close watching – though he is quick to admit he has no idea what, if anything, will happen in America.

“A clear pattern has been established,” he says. “I don’t believe it’s a coincidence what happened in America on Elul 29 in 2001 and 2008. It would be foolish to ignore the possibility that a greater judgment might be in the works – especially if America continues to move away from God and His Word.”

It’s also worth noting that Elul 29, 2015, represents the eve of the Feast of Trumpets or Rosh Hashana at sundown. An unusual astronomical phenomenon, a blood red moon – or tetrad – is expected to occur that evening, according to NASA. The Feast of Trumpets begins a period known by Jews as “the days of awe” that lasts through Yom Kippur a week later.

Hebrew roots pastor Mark Biltz of El Shaddai Ministries in Washington state noted several years ago that a cluster of tetrads will occur in 2014 and 2015 – all of them on Hebrew high holidays. There won’t be any more for the rest of the 21st century.

Joel 3:31 says: “The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the LORD come.” Other biblical references can be found in Acts 2:20 and Revelation 6:12.

Whether or not anything significant occurs of a prophetic nature Sept. 13, 2015, Farah said he is immensely pleased with the documentary treatment of the message found in the best-selling book “The Harbinger” by Jonathan Cahn, which has remained on the New York Times bestsellers list for all of 2012.

More >>

3,000-year-old artifacts reveal history behind biblical David and Goliath

Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Yosef Garfinkel, an archaeologist at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, shows off an ark, or stone shrine model, that was found during excavations at Khirbet Qeiyafa, an ancient settlement southwest of Jerusalem.

Read >>

MUSLIM THREATS & INTIMIDATION force Eric Allen Bell to cancel documentary on Islam

barenakedislam 

Right now, Bell is #1,000 on the Muslim hit list. What do you want to bet a certain well-known terror-linked, inappropriately-named ‘Muslim civil rights’ group in America is behind these threats?

ORIGINAL STORY: leftist-writer-and-filmmaker-learns-the-high-price-of-telling-the-truth-about-islam

Poste deVeille (H/T Susan K)  Eric Allen Bell is an author and award-winning director of Hollywood. Very popular with the American radical left, he wrote regularly for the DailyKos site, which receives a milion visitors a day.

He directed the documentary Not Welcome on a controversial Islamic Center in Murfreesboro, Tennessee in which he presents the project’s opponents as bigots and sectarian Christians. In the weeks that followed, he deepened his research into Islam, especially in light of the victory of Islamists in Arab countries. He has published three items in which he denounced the dangerous alliance with the Islamists left, which led to his being fired from Daily Kos. Read this article in which he tells his story: The price for daring to speak the truth.

More >>

A la iglesia o a la playa: Con poca participación, Cuba celebró el Viernes Santo

BBC/ Fernando Ravsberg

Algunos fieles en Cuba participaron en la procesión del Via Crucis.

Tras cinco décadas trabajando durante el Viernes Santo, los cubanos tuvieron un feriado para poder acudir a los templos. Sin embargo, en la misa de la catedral había menos de 200 personas y la procesión del Vía Crucis no alcanzó a llenar una cuadra de fieles.

Tampoco pareció haber tenido mucha acogida que la misa del "Sermón de las siete palabras" fuera trasmitida por la televisión oficial cubana, aunque es difícil saber con exactitud cuántas personas siguieron la ceremonia en sus viviendas.

En un recorrido por una docena de casas, sólo una familia estaba viendo la ceremonia religiosa oficiada por el cardenal Jaime Ortega.

Algunos creyentes de otras religiones protestaron en internet por "el favoritismo por una divinidad particular, de parte de un gobierno que se considera a sí mismo laico, y que rige sobre un pueblo que mayoritariamente tiene una religiosidad mucho más compleja".

El físico nuclear cubano Rogelio Díaz Moreno afirmó en su blog que "por muchos Papas que vengan, no van a cambiar el hecho de que el sincretismo religioso campea en Cuba y que los Orishas (dioses africanos), esos sí, son más populares que Cristo".

Pero no todas las opiniones sobre el Viernes Santo fueron negativas.

Algunos describieron el día como una señal de que Cuba se está abriendo al mundo, y otros señalaron que es una muestra de una renovación religiosa en el país.

La celebración del Viernes Santo se llevó a cabo luego de que el gobierno de la isla decretó el festivo con "carácter excepcional", tras la reciente visita del papa Benedicto XVI.

Tras el triunfo de la revolución y hasta 1992, Cuba fue un país oficialmente ateo.

Después de la visita del papa Juan Pablo II a la isla, el gobierno declaró feriado el día de Navidad.

¿A la iglesia o a la playa?

La Catedral de La Habana no se llenó durante la misa oficiada por el cardenal Jaime Ortega.

Ante una catedral semivacía, el jefe de la Iglesia Católica cubana llamó a sus compatriotas a la reconciliación.

"Sin perdón no puede haber relaciones interpersonales sanas, ni vida social, ni reconciliación entre grupos humanos ni pueblos entre sí", dijo.

En su sermón, el cardenal Jaime Ortega insistió en el discurso evangelizador de Benedicto XVI, exponiendo la "necesidad de la fe"
entre los seres humanos para abandonar el ateísmo, que "significa soledad" pero que fue política oficial durante décadas en Cuba.

Fuera de la catedral, los "camiones remotos" de la televisión cubana trasmitían sus palabras en directo para todo el país.

Sin embargo, en un recorrido por La Habana vieja comprobamos que en pocas casas estaban viendo la misa.

Roberto Veiga, director de la revista católica Espacio Laical, le explicó a BBC Mundo que "hay ceremonias en otras iglesias, por ahora no se puede saber cuánta gente acudió".

Ni siquiera quiso aventurar la cifra de creyentes que había en la catedral durante la misa.

Antonia Lugo es una "católica desde siempre", que encontramos caminado tras la imagen de Jesús por las calles de La Habana vieja.

Dice que "hay menos gente que otros años, parece que muchos fieles aprovecharon el feriado y se fueron a la playa".

Si bien se estima que menos del 10% de los cubanos son católicos practicantes, es importante notar que la Iglesia Católica es considerada la institución más importante en la isla después del gobierno.

Procesión de católicos, disidentes y comunistas

Gladys Giz de Cárdenas y su nieta vieron la misa por televisión.

La procesión del Vía Crucis salió de la catedral de La Habana con una banda municipal al frente y el obispo Juan de Dios Hernández guiando a los fieles, cuyo número no llegaba a llenar una de las estrechas cuadras del casco antiguo de la ciudad.

Tras las primeras filas de creyentes venía un grupo de las Damas de Blanco, esposas de los presos liberados el pasado año, gracias a la gestión de la Iglesia Católica.

Durante la visita del Papa, ellas solicitaron reunirse con él, pero este rechazó la invitación.

Su portavoz, Berta Soler, declaró que decretar feriado el Viernes Santo "es una migaja que el Gobierno cubano le da a la Iglesia Católica que reclama un espacio en la televisión, la radio y los medios educacionales que no le darán".

Inmediatamente después de ellas venía la fuerza de choque, formada por un grupo de ancianos "dispuestos a defender con la vida la revolución de muchos malintencionados que han cogido esta procesión para hacer daño", explicó Mariana González.

Así, con las calles más tranquilas que de costumbre, concluyó el primer Viernes Santo en Cuba en cinco décadas.

[Cuba,] Caballeros de Malta y Opus Dei [clarito como agua en pila bautismal]

En el sitio de Ichikawa >>
Tambien  Ana, de Cuba, en un mitin del OPUS DEI (Sobre medios de formación del Opus Dei en La Habana)

A tearful Chavez breaks down: 'Jesus ... do not take me yet'

 Read >>

Celina Gonzalez - "Virgen del Cobre"

Benedicto XVI en el Santuario de la Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre

La recurva del papa [y el circo kubishe]

 

En el sitio de Ichikawa

Gustavo Silva

En 1998 Juan Pablo II pasó por Cuba (enero 21-25) y largó, por entre homilías en Santa Clara, Camagüey, Santiago y La Habana, un mensaje a los jóvenes cubanos, discursos al mundo de la cultura y del dolor, así como varias alocuciones que terminaron con el presagio de que la lluvia podía ser «un signo bueno de un nuevo Adviento en vuestra historia». Todavía se espera por esa venida del Redentor de la historia de Cuba. En subsidio tenemos de vuelta a otro papa, que da pie a otro episodio más de la continuación de la política simbólica anticastrista por cualesquiera medios —excepto votos o balas— y llena de pasada otra de las lagunas de la cultura provinciana en la Isla de Cuba pintoresca: la llegada del circo.

Los cubanos fueron a ver a Juan Pablo II a poco de concurrir (enero 11, 1998) a elecciones generales. De 8,064,205 electores registrados votaron 7,931,229. Quienes no acudieron a las urnas (132,976) o fueron a votar, pero anularon (130,227) o dejaron en blanco (266,379) su boleta, formaron la contra electoral (529,582), que se irían perfilando como Tea Party sin que las figuras mediáticas y siluetas intelectuales de la disidencia hayan podido capitalizarlos jamás.

Hacia 2002 el Movimiento Cristiano Liberación (MCL) —más cercano a la Iglesia Católica que cualquier otro— tuvo la ocurrencia de recoger firmas para su Proyecto Varela, que pedía cinco peras democráticas al olmo totalitario y a tal efecto recogió 11,020 firmas y 14 mil más en segunda tanda (2004). Entre unos 8 millones de electores, 25 mil y pico no dan ni para haber entrado a la verbena democrática batistiana de 1939, que exigía contar al menos con 2% del electorado para reconocer a determinado grupo como entidad política. Continuar leyendo  Aqui >>

Olvídense del Papa [y una propuesta]

Marshall Auerback en Sin Permiso

no extrana que un pensador avance una propuesta ante la orfandad de los sujetos politicos.
---------------------------------------------
Alexis Jardines

Nuestro punto de unión: la Iglesia invisible.
Y nuestra divisa fundamental: la libertad de pensamiento.
(Carta de Hegel a Schelling)

En el año 1998, cuando Juan Pablo II aun no había abordado el avión de regreso a la Santa Sede, yo fui testigo de lo siguiente: saliendo de un edificio situado en Línea e/ 4 y 6 quedé perplejo al ver un camión del ejército y varios guardias que iban arrancando los posters de su Santidad, colgados en cada una de las luminarias del separador central de la avenida. Algún que otro transeúnte y/o vecino se les aproximaba para reprocharlos tímidamente con un «¿por qué hacen eso?»; otros le pedían de favor que les regalaran los afiches, ya que los militares destruían los retratos apenas los retiraban. Los restos paraban todos en la cama del camión. Y lo que es peor, aquellos soldados ―visiblemente enfadados― acompañaban sus violentos gestos desmanteladores con improperios dirigidos contra la figura del Papa. No sé por qué pensé en ese momento que expresaban el ánimo de Raúl Castro. Me preguntaba cómo era posible que el hermano de este último hubiera renunciado al uniforme verde olivo para recibir al Pontífice de traje y tan contento como un niño, mientras los guardias de las FAR ejecutaban las ofensivas órdenes de su ministro, a las cuales Fidel no podía estar ajeno. La visita de Juan Pablo II no fue más que una farsa, como lo será la de Benedictus XVI.

Para lo único que pudiera servir la próxima visita papal, fuera de los objetivos personales que persiguen tanto Raúl Castro como Jaime Ortega, es para que el pueblo haga catarsis gritando a todo pulmón ¡libertad! en plena Plaza de la Revolución, pero tampoco eso sucederá. Como no tendrá lugar el diálogo entre su Santidad y los disidentes. La antigua Plaza Cívica se rellenará a tope con la chusma voluntaria, militantes de la UJC y del PCC, los presionados por las organizaciones políticas y de masas que no han encontrado una excusa plausible para ausentarse y, por supuesto, los verdaderos católicos. Se transportará buena parte de la muchedumbre desde otras provincias, en esas guaguas escolares amarillas procedentes del “Imperio”. No habrá espacio para el diálogo con los opositores («grupúsculos contrarrevolucionarios dirigidos desde el exterior por la mafia anticubana», según la interpretación a la que habrá de acostumbrarse el Papa durante su visita).

La otra cara de la moneda es que salvo los fanáticos, los beneficiados y los convencidos gracias a un déficit neuronal, el resto de los que allí se reunirán (con uniforme y sin él) no apoyan al gobierno. En cambio, callarán porque no ven otra opción. ¿Cuál es la verdadera razón del desamparo de los cubanos de la Isla que ningún Papa podrá remediar? La pregunta que me hice aquél día de 1998 en la calle Línea me la sigo haciendo: ¿cómo puedo yo parar este atropello? Tirarme contra el camión de militares era algo ridículo, pero al cabo de 14 años al menos tengo parte de la respuesta. Primero, qué ha fallado: el empalme del pueblo con la oposición y el apoyo exterior al fomento de la democracia.

El gobierno cubano parece haber tenido más conciencia de ello que el exilio y que la propia oposición interna. En cuanto a lo primero, se concentró en aislar y satanizar a los opositores, cosa que resultó efectiva, ante todo, gracias al dominio estatal de todos los medios de comunicación (incluyendo aquí los teléfonos celulares y la Internet). Con respecto a lo segundo la victoria gubernamental fue más fácil aun, propiciada por el propio exilio. En primer lugar, si un opositor recibe 50 dólares mensuales del exterior, con ello puede malamente alimentarse y vestirse; en segundo lugar, el dinero recibido no se debe destinar a esos menesteres, amén de que tal modo de pago deja al beneficiario sin capacidad de respuesta ante la acusación de mercenario. En tercer lugar, si los 20 millones liberados cada año por la USAID para el fomento de la democracia en Cuba se quedan mayormente en Miami ―sin producir los resultados esperados todos estos años y sin que la propia Agencia al parecer pretenda advertirlo― no parece haber mucho interés, ni en la capital del anticastrismo ni en Washington, en la caída del régimen cubano. Como se ve, las cosas no andan nada bien.

En el interior de la Isla la lucha frontal es necesaria, pero no suficiente. Para lograr el empalme del pueblo con la oposición hay que forjar una base de civilidad en la cual el “Pueblo” ―categoría nacionalista que alcanza su mayor expresión en los contextos totalitarios― pueda desmembrarse en asociaciones de individuos, mientras la disidencia se estructura a modo de proyectos independientes, centrados todos, desde las más diversas perspectivas, en el debilitamiento institucional. Es decir, la disidencia debe tener como objetivo no el gobierno sino las instituciones del Estado. De ellas tiene que nutrirse, de tal modo que los intelectuales y profesionales en general migren hacia los proyectos independientes, echando ―junto a las asociaciones antes mencionadas― los cimientos de la sociedad civil que habrá de acoger a la oposición política. La vía de proporcionar el financiamiento debe ser transparente y legítima. Que los 20 millones de la USAID no llegan a la Isla está mal, sin duda. Pero si llegaran, no habría una base ética y legal sobre la cual plantearse tal ayuda. Ahora bien, si lo que se fomenta mayormente son los proyectos independientes de tipo cultural, académico, medioambiental, de género y un largo etcétera, entonces estamos hablando de algo bien transparente que ocurre todos los días y en todos los países. Obviamente, se trataría de un intercambio, no de una manutención (a lo cual el gobierno cubano se ha acostumbrado desde la era soviética y, al parecer, no quiere renunciar): el financiamiento debe ser reciprocado con resultados.   

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Un minuto con Cachita/ Guama

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