Religion in the News

I read that a Roman Catholic priest in California kicked 55 parishioners out of church because they insisted on kneeling during mass. Huh?! Apparently the Vatican says that a priest can make the "kneeling" decision himself.. and this priest is upset that these folks keep kneeling when he told them not to. He says that disobeying his order is a mortal sin.

I also read another item about kneeling.. kind of.. The Maylaysian space program has developed a device that can determine the direction of Mecca, even from orbit. That way, they can continue to pray properly, even in orbit. They are still working on how to kneel in zero gravity.
(At least they are allowed to kneel.)

Another item: a Ukranian man yelled out "God will save me, if he exists!" as he jumped into the lion's den at a zoo. The lion must have been an atheist, because it promptly gobbled him up.

Of course, you remember the joke about the Christian martyr who escaped from the lion's clutches because he asked the lion to make sure he said a prayer before he ate him... or the other Christian martyr who escaped from a lion when he whispered in the lion's ear that before he ate him, the lion should give an appropriate little speech.. and the lion was afraid to speak in public. (You get the idea.)

Dan Brown fans will no doubt have looked up the Opus Dei organization after reading his books and/or seeing the DaVinci Code movie. The organization now numbers 85,000 members in 80 countries. Its kind of a secret organization, and apparently accepts religious members who want to "sanctify" themselves through "personal, familial, and social duties."

I've read that the spiked "cilice" worn around the upper thigh for two hours a day is meant to "mortify the flesh" for some members. Some also flog themselves while reciting prayers. Time magazine recently did an interesting article about the organization.

Some politicians see the conflict in the Middle East as a fulfillment of Biblical prophecy. This is very scary to me. I would like it better if such politicians and preachers would read the Bible in its original language.. or even better, the works on which some books of the Bible are based. Also, Biblical prophesy should be viewed in context of the time when it was made or reported.

I also read that televangelist, Pat Robertson, who is 76 years old.. says that he can leg-press one ton (2,000 pounds).. quite a bit more than the record. Wow! More power to him! (No!, I take that back, he has too much power and influence over too many people, in my opinion.)

And finally, I read that the patriarch of Cambodia's monk population said that he would allow all 40,000 of his monks to watch the World Cup playoffs, as long as they stayed silent and impassive.

In Toastmasters, we tell people that there are three things that a speaker should not talk about in public: Politics, Sex and Religion. (But aren't these three things what interests people the most?) Today, I have put out some thoughts about religious issues to try to trigger some response from whoever might someday read this blog.