by Colin Hyde
The present Pope is controversial among the Catholics because of his embracing Muslim leaders and not condemning to hell and eternal damnation members of the human family who ignore the admonitions of Leviticus. The Catholics being somewhat divided on a number of issues, and the fact that Israel’s assault of Gaza could be viewed as a matter between Islam and Judaism, it wouldn’t be surprising if some Catholics were not onboard with the Pope calling for an end to Israel’s brutality, which he has done repeatedly, beginning way back in October. We don’t know what’s in the minds of the Catholics here, because we have been without a bishop for many months. Bishop Nicasio was seriously ill, and then he died, and his successor has not yet been named.
This past week, the Reporter said Reverend Alvin Benguche, who represents the Belize Council of Churches (BCoC) in the Senate, said the BCoC was about to “’evaluate’ its position on Israeli-Hamas Conflict”, and that decision to revisit was “based on that continued bombing and atrocities that are taking place.” The BCoC had come out in favor of Israel as it bombed the people and structures in Gaza back in October and November. The BCoC (and the NEAB -National Evangelical Association of Belize) scolded the government for breaking off diplomatic relations with Israel.
I’m sorry, leadership isn’t about “like”. The last senator the churches sent to the Senate, Pastor Ashley Rocke, might be a fine and well-liked man, but he wasn’t Senate material. He was in the hip pocket of the government. Reverend Benguche, a Methodist, has restored the respect for the church the way he has carried out his duties in government. We expect the BCoC to condemn Israel’s atrocities, which they should have done a long time ago.
The country awaits the NEAB to come to its senses and condemn what Israel is doing. We all understand the nature of the situation. Yes, the Palestinians have bad blood against the Zionists in Israel. Though God ordered us to leave revenge to Him, human beings insist on taking matters into their own hands. Some of the children of Islam living in Palestine, who have suffered greatly at the hands of the children of Moses, one day attacked Israel savagely to feed their revenge gene. And to satisfy their revenge gene, the Zionist children of Moses have been murdering innocent men, women and children daily, non-stop going on four months.
MOFA’s inaugural webinar interesting and enlightening
I was invited but wasn’t “present” at Ms. Adele Ramos’ inaugural webinar, MOFA talks (Motivation for Action), and I will accompany this apology with sincere “apologies” for almost always not being “present”. And I have to leave that at that.
Now, about the webinar, I checked in afterward. Adele was, as always, at the top of her game; and her first guest, Beverly Lemoine Gutierrez, had much to share. The guest discussed her new book, While Passing Through: Life Lessons. Bev E, as she is called familiarly, lived through some things that many have serious difficulty recovering from. The female form is especially made, yes, and some of us males take advantage. Some of us are seriously criminal in our behavior.
You know this is a matter I felt wasn’t being discussed sufficiently, but I was shut up, shot down, crushed. I won’t take the opportunity here to pick up where I had just begun, except to say that I feel Ms. Bev E didn’t crush a position I insist on, that people should stop saying there is a crime that is worse than murder. Ms. Bev E mentioned a time when she had suicidal thoughts. And then she told of how she triumphed in the end.
Hey, I emphatically declared that it was a heinous crime. Someday someone will explain to me how, why my detractors just ignored that and ran roughshod over me about my bullet points. And just for that, I’m going to sneak this in. No, maybe I had better not. Hey, great show, Ms. Adele!
No pass for killing Jesus
According to the version of the Bible used by Xavier University of Louisiana, John 11:47-53 says: “So the Pharisees and the chief priests met with the Council and said `What shall we do? Look at all the miracles this man [= Jesus] is performing! If we let him go on in this way, everyone will believe in him, and the Roman authorities will take action and destroy our Temple and our nation.’ One of them, named Caiaphas, who was High Priest that year, said, `What fools you are! Don’t you realize that it is better for you to have one man die for the people, instead of having the whole nation destroyed?’…From that day on the Jewish authorities made plans to kill Jesus.”
We know there were men who claimed to be the Messiah before Jesus came. One story says there were 16 of them. Judas the Galilean, a story by Kaufmann Kohler and M. Seligsohn in the Jewish Encyclopedia, says this Judas in 6 or 7 C.E., “headed a large number of Zealots and offered strenuous resistance…. Judas proclaimed the Jewish state as a republic recognizing God alone as king and ruler and His laws as supreme. The revolt continued to spread, and in some places serious conflicts ensued.”
About this Judas, doofgeek401 says, in AskHistorians, that “A Galilean named Judas and a Pharisee called Zadok stirred up the people in reaction to this and began a revolt which was savagely repressed by Varus…who Josephus says crucified 2000 people by the time his campaign was over.”
We know that Jesus was a direct threat to the business of the Jewish leaders. Remember He took off His belt and chased the moneychangers out of the temple. We believe in God, and we know that religion is very much about business. So many times Paul the Apostle said to those spreading the faith that if the flock didn’t care for them they were to move on. Jesus’s words and actions undermined the Jewish leaders, and as much as they feared reprisal from the Romans, if Jesus’s following became too large and aggressive, they also feared losing face with the people. You know if they lost face they would also lose pay. And so, following the counsel of Caiaphas, they set about to kill Him.
Okay, all that to come to this. We Christians say Jesus died for our sins, that salvation for us came through Him dying on the cross, and that was the only way. Some who question our faith ask why Judas Iscariot isn’t a hero to us for his selling out Jesus so they could crucify Him. Indeed, Judas did what Jesus predicted he would do, and what he had to do. But I won’t dwell on that question. Instead, I will ask why the Jews who killed Him get such a complete pass.
If we ask that question of any of our Evangelical leaders, they will say we are indebted to the Jews because it is through their line that we get The Christ. And we see the Pope noting this fact when the Jews took him to task for his kind words for the persecuted innocents in Gaza. The Associated Press (AP) said that in a letter to Jewish leaders the Pope had reaffirmed the special relationship between Christians and Jews, this after Jewish leaders had criticized him severely for words some said he had chosen when he spoke about the conflict in a meeting with their enemies.
We know we owe the Jews for the Bible. Respect. The root of Western civilization is with them. Respect. Now, if we open the Bible we see the many times they get lathered for their krayzinis and their wikidnis. Nowhere does the Bible say we are to go soft when the Jews or anybody is off course. We absolutely ought not to be praising them, justifying their murdering innocents in Gaza.