Who is choosing who? Is it leaders choosing people for them or are it people who choose the leader?
In history we can see that more than once people followed the wrong leader, but we also can see how the Divine Creator had chosen Him a people, who not always remained faithful.
Human pride made that people went astray from the Most Precious and Most Righteous Leader, the God above all gods. It is man’s self-reliance and whimsy that brought him into all kinds of difficulties.
Today, man still has a lot to learn about humility and dignified recognition.
*
To remember
Humility = virtue asserted by every religion + every spiritual tradition > understood by very few.
Humility = self-forgetfulness.
A leader, particularly one in a spiritual position, must live a paradox.
natural + lamentable temptation to see leadership status as a privilege => affirmation of one’s own superiority.
best leaders = people do not notice their existence.
Focus on self, whether in praise or in criticism =/= humility.
leader of a people must forget himself => no room for selfishness
leader = clear channel for the people’s will + for wisdom => no room for his own desires, his own aggrandizement, his own ego.
Beware the rich man bearing gifts.
For the leader to be among the wise => first necessary a measure of wisdom be found in the people.
people follow a venal leader, keep him tightly bound with restraints of law + of their own suspicion => can do little good, dares do little harm, + law + people restrain him.
Humility is a virtue asserted by every religion and every spiritual tradition and understood by very few. It’s something that was brought home to me recently by an exploration of the phenomenon of leadership.
A leader, particularly one in a spiritual position, must live a paradox. He is “above” the rest in certain ways: taking greater responsibility, providing guidance and help to others that they cannot as easily do for themselves, upholding the highest standards of thought and behavior. If he starts to think of himself as above the rest, though, he hampers his ability to fulfill his function as a leader. There’s a natural and lamentable temptation to see leadership status as a privilege, and to take from it affirmation of one’s own superiority. It’s very difficult to avoid doing this, but the very best of leaders do.
Define problem right = you’re halfway to a solution.
Define problem wrong = you’ll probably never solve it => You’ll waste all your time looking for a solution that doesn’t exist.
Flip side of defining the problem wrong = what computer programmers call GIGO: “Garbage in, garbage out.” >>> If assumptions are wrong = if your logic is flawless =your conclusions will be wrong.
social problems < base assumptions on optimism rather than realism => go straight from errors in their premises to errors in their conclusions.
When you start with incorrect information but make mistakes in thinking, then you might get the correct answer just by blind luck. (it does happen)
Why are the great monotheistic faiths – Judaism, Christianity, and Islam – chronically unable to fulfill their own self-professed goal of creating individuals infused with moral sensitivity and societies governed by the highest ethical standards? = seems to define problem incorrectly, based on an incorrect assumption about what religion can accomplish.
Judaism taught world about universal moral law under God, improving societies and people from ancient times to the present day.
Christianity added emphasis on individual conscience + individual rights, helping to develop Western ideals of freedom and personal dignity.
Islam = great improvement on earlier practices in the region where it developed, giving at least some rights to women + , in the medieval era, fostering a high civilization to which Jews contributed.
<< cannot do = make all individuals + societies ethical all the time, + can’t do it because it’s impossible.
=> limitation imposed by human nature, + fact people are not all alike
problem > message must be simple, clear, consistent, + realistic + achievable + allow occasional failures, providing a way to recover from them and get back on the right track.
Define the problem right, and you’re halfway to a solution.
Define the problem wrong, and you’ll probably never solve it. You’ll waste all your time looking for a solution that doesn’t exist. That applies in every area of life, such as religion, relationships, science, and social problems. The best movie mystery of 2008 turned on mis-identifying the problem to be solved.
The flip side of defining the problem wrong is what computer programmers call GIGO: “Garbage in, garbage out.” If your assumptions are wrong, then even if your logic is flawless, your conclusions will be wrong. Garbage in, garbage out.
Ironically, it’s the best and brightest people who are most susceptible to GIGO errors when they think about social problems.
Their kind hearts make them want to believe the most optimistic things, so they often base their assumptions on optimism rather…
Last year 50 000 Jews left France for better pastures. In Belgium we also find many who preferred to go to Israel and to face the difficulties there between Palestinians and Israeli soldiers.
When rabbi Prosper Abenaim first arrived at La Courneuve’s Ahavat Chalom synagogue in 1992 there were over 4,000 Jews in the neighbourhood then and at that time it was a struggle to fit them all into the synagogue on Yom Kippur. Today, at this Paris suburb’s only Jewish facility, he serves sweet tea to his synagogue’s most frequent and reliable guests: machine gun-toting troops of the French Legion which entered the seen on January 2016 to defend Jews in this heavily Muslim and crime-stricken municipality bordering the capital. This dwindling community, which has lost thousands of congregants over the past two decades to Israel and safer areas of Paris has now on some mornings, troops outnumbering worshippers.
That wasn’t the case when Abenaim first arrived at La Courneuve’s Ahavat Chalom synagogue in 1992. There were over 4,000 Jews in the neighbourhood then and it was a struggle to fit them all into the synagogue on Yom Kippur.
“The shul overflowed onto the street,”
Abenaim recalled.
Since then, improved economic fortunes and repeated anti-Semitic attacks have driven out all but 100 Jewish families from the neighbourhood, where drug dealers operate openly on streets that residents say police are too afraid to patrol. The remaining Jews are mostly a greying bunch, stuck here for financial reasons.
“We have two big problems, extremism and criminality, and they often mix,”
said Abenaim, who lives in Paris’ affluent and heavily Jewish 17th arrondisement and has encouraged his congregants to leave for Israel.
“I understand why people don’t want to raise children here. I’m here myself only because of my duties. Otherwise, I’d be in Israel.”
Rudy Abecassis, a Marseille-born computer specialist who moved to the Paris region in 2009 to find work, had a good job at a time of rising unemployment. In 2016 his family also left behind their comfortable lives and moved to Israel, joining nearly 8,000 French Jews who Abecassis said
He had found a nice life in France and he loved France for it, leaving it with sorrow. For him it being important
“to live in a Jewish country of our own, where we are not outsiders who need to be tolerated.”
Tolerance is the big word we have to look for these days. When we hear small children saying Jews are dangerous people we can wonder what they hear their Muslim parents telling about Jews.
Most Jews in France are not affiliated with any synagogue, while the majority of those who are belong to Orthodox synagogues. The third major current of Judaism in France is the Conservative or Massorti movement (with a.o. rabbi Haim Fabrizio Ciprian in Marseille). Next to them there are the Liberal and Reform Jews. The “Libérale” in French corresponds to the Reform movement in the UK and the US, though for some Americans its approach might appear to be midway between Reform and Conservative.
‘For French who do not have the American connection, if you’re Jewish, Israel is the easy place to go. Otherwise the other ambitious entrepreneurs of that age who are not Jewish and are not going to think of going to Israel tend to go to London, which is now the seventh largest ‘French’ city.”
says the American Rabbi Tom Cohen from the synagogue Kehilat Gesher in Paris’s 17th arrondissement.
In those suburbs Rabbi Michel Serfaty is not afraid to go to talk to the Muslims and to create events for Muslim kids. He also created a community or “French Jewish Muslim Friendship Association” for which he hopes to recruit several more young people to help with community outreach in the largely Muslim, immigrant communities where most people have never even met a Jewish person.
A poster for the French Jewish Muslim Friendship Association, which works in many poor, immigrant neighborhoods. – Eleanor Beardsley/NPR
The rabbi is convinced that Jews can live together in peace with Christians and Muslims as well with atheists. He also believes they can help and foster each other and can work together to build up France’s future.
“In these places they often have specific ideas about Jews,”
says Serfaty.
“And if they’re negative, we bring arguments and try to open people’s eyes to what are prejudices and negative stereotypes. We try to show children, mothers and teenagers that being Muslim is great, but if they don’t know any Jews, well this is how they are, and they’re also respectable citizens.”
The rabbi takes advantage of funding from a government program that helps youths without work experience find their first job. First of all Serfaty takes time for the Muslim youngster and unites them by creating opportunities to have games, like a football match together. Two days ago we could see on television how a coloured boy was proud to present his equip, which was constructed of youngsters from different origin. Serfati lets them feel how other young kids feel and have similar aspirations. He tries taking away the borders and wrong ideas their parents or some radicals imposted on them.
The rabbi offers them also tuition and for a period of three years, gives them valuable training in mediation and community relations. Serfaty’s recruits also study Judaism and Islam. And he takes them on a trip to Auschwitz, the Nazi concentration camp.
Though French laws on secularism forbid him from asking applicants about their religion, he tries to have also Muslim employees for his work, who harbour no anti-Semitic feelings, which is not always so easy to find.
The people helping the rabbi are aware of the task to are wake up people’s consciences. They say
“This is a job that counts and we could have a real impact if there were more of us.”
Rabbi Michel Serfaty, third from right, and employees of his French Jewish Muslim Friendship Association. He says he has only grown more determined to do his bridge-building work since the terror attacks in Paris in January. – Eleanor Beardsley/NPR
Now there is also signed a manifesto where is demanded that the fight against this democratic failure that is anti-Semitism becomes a national cause before it’s too late. By the people who put their signature under it can be found politicians from the left and right including ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy and celebrities like actor Gerard Depardieu.
The signatories condemned what they called an “quiet ethnic purging” driven by rising Islamist radicalism particularly in working-class neighbourhoods. They also accused the media of remaining silent on the matter.
“In our recent history, 11 Jews have been assassinated — and some tortured — by radical Islamists because they were Jewish,”
the declaration says.
Condemning the “dreadful” killing, President Emmanuel Macron had reiterated his determination to fighting anti-Semitism.
“French Jews are 25 times more at risk of being attacked than their fellow Muslim citizens,”
Ask any traveller about his strongest experience and a story of an encounter invariably follows. When we meetpeople not only face to face , but ‘heart to heart’, we experience this as something special.
When travelling, each one of us recognizes the feeling of being out of one’s comfort zone.
Far away everything is different. Also the people. When we position ourselves at eye level of the ‘foreigner’ , we come to know him with an open mind , we enter his world and everything becomes different.
Trust that we give, we also receive.
Margot Kässmann responding to a question from the audience following her lecture on “Multicultural Society – Roots, Resistance, and Visions” at the University of Freiburg. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
When we accept that someone is different, a certain chemistry is created. We should not only look at the exterior, but we should keep listening. In this way prejudices and predispositions do not get a chance and the ‘foreign exterior’ will make place for a ‘recognizable interior’. We will experience that wealth is to be found in being different, exactly within the differences. In this sense, people we called ‘foreigners’ at first, are in fact a blessing. The only condition is that we open our heart and allow ourselves to be moved.
In this way foreigners become friends
If our society feels strongly about pluralism we should not be satisfied with an ennobled form of permisiveness that preaches tolerance. In our multicultural society pluralism only has a chance of survival if we go towards the other person and if we are really interested in who he or she is , regardless of whether he/she is a foreigner , of another religion or conviction.
Intercultural dialogue depends upon authentic pluralism
It is essential to allow the other person’s truth , in which a ‘ heart to heart’ encounter is the golden key. In this way a meeting close to home can become a rich experience worth telling. We are only asked to go outside and to let the world in.
Dutch version / Nederlandse versie: Ga naar buiten. Laat de wereld binnen.
Equipping The Saints on the 24th of December 2014 found himself enjoying that Christmas Eve evening by watching one of his favourite of all time films and he had to talk to you about the movie, and the times.
Original poster for the 1947 Christmas comedy-drama film written and directed by George Seaton and based on a story by Valentine Davies
Seaton, George American screenwriter and director original name George Stenius April 17, 1911 South Bend, Indiana, U.S. July 28, 1979 Beverly Hills, California American screenwriter and film director who was perhaps best known for his work on Miracle on 34th Street (1947) and The Country Girl (1954), both of which earned him Academy Awards for best screenplay. The son of Swedish immigrants, raised in Detroit, got his breakthrough with the holiday classic about a young girl (Natalie Wood) who begins to believe that the elderly man (Edmund Gwenn in an Oscar-winning performance) hired to play Santa Claus at Macy’s department store might actually be St. Nick. After a jealous fellow employee frames him for an assault, Kringle is placed in a mental hospital. At the ensuing sanity hearing, Kringle and his attorney attempt to prove that he is indeed Santa Claus.
The actor John Johnson who played the official Santa Claus for St. Albans finds that Gwenn who starred in the 1947 holiday film classic, helped set the standard for what a movie Santa Claus is supposed to be. When we were children looking forward for the many presents we could find under the Christmas tree we nearly every year got to see a performance of a homespun Christmas Street with a group of neighbours smitten by sugar-plum dreams and equipped with lots of extension cords, Santas, Snoopys, and inflatable snowmen, nativity scenes and teddy bears, model trains and flashing rooftop sleighs. In several stage versions we got to see as a child the scoundrels were mad more obvious and there were more of them. Also according to the times and popularity of names, the names of some of the characters were adapted to be more contemporary and to find more recognisable characters.
Some of our friends had lost their dad in the war and others had their parents working so hard that they had not so much time for their kids. also the writer of 121714 – Christmas In The 50s his step-father was usually away from home working as a merchant seaman, so his mother would take his younger brother, sister, and him “downtown” on shopping excursions.
My mother was very good at shopping and not letting us know that all of the wrapped boxes “were not really ours.” As with many downtown shopping areas in America “in the 50s,” we had streets in my home town that were lined with tall buildings, such as Sears, Penny’s, Woolworth’s, McCrory’s, Kress’s, and you know the rest of them. The streets were nicely decorated with “Christmas” markings (not Happy Holidays yet!). The store personnel would always say, “Merry Christmas,” without the fear of being fired! {121714 – Christmas In The 50s}
Here in Belgium in front of nearly every big store there were Christmas singers for a good cause and the Salvation Army was unmistakably part of the Christmas Season picture. In town you could not pass one shopping street without finding a Salvation Army band singing carols, around their little ‘fire’.
At that time the shops were still so incredibly decorated we just went to gaze in front of the shopwindows for all the magic bringing us into many special Christmas dreams. Everywhere you could feel the special spirit and people seemed much more friendly than the rest of the year.
My family didn’t have a car, so we would always ride a city busy or take a cab. The drivers were very friendly and would also give “Christmas greetings” to us. {121714 – Christmas In The 50s}
Global warming had not reached us and we still could find real Winters with freezing cold days, having people to warm themselves very warm.
Equipping The Saints can remember the long kelly green coat that his mother wore;
she always had a wide black belt around the coat; and, she would have on black high heels – she had given up on wearing a hat and white gloves (sort of what Aunt Bea would wear!). And, we didn’t have a television at home. {121714 – Christmas In The 50s}
We at home having one of the first television had that extra dimension in the holiday period able to see the Christmas specials in the salon, after we had spend hours of reading in the library of the house and having had nice Christmas sweets in the lounge and some interesting chats in the parlour.
The writer of 121714 – Christmas In The 50s was very envious of the people of his age who were able to do their “downtown shopping” in the cities of Boston, Philadelphia, New York, St. Louis and the other large cities.
The stores that are mentioned in “Miracle On 34th Street,” such as Macy’s, Gimbel’s, Stern’s, Bloomingdale’s, McCreery’s and Hearns must have been wonderful places to shop. In the movie, a Macy’s store employee referred a shopper over to Gimble’s for an item that cost $2.98; can you imagine that? the price or the courtesy! {121714 – Christmas In The 50s}
The Christmas window displays seen in the film were originally made by Steiff for Macy’s. Macy’s later sold the window displays to FAO Schwarz in New York. FAO Schwarz then sold the windows to the Marshall & Ilsley Bank of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where they are on display every December in the bank’s lobby on North Water Street. {Miracle on 34th Street (in the United Kingdom first released as The Big Heart}
On the stage as well on the screen many versions saw the light and tried to bring some nice atmosphere in the Winter Holiday season. today there doe snot seem such a search for family warmth and ‘togetherness’ any more and the shops do not make so much work for decorating their shop-windows. In the shops and at the Christmas markets everything focusses on material gadgets and on alcoholic drinks, whilst non-peaceful music is yelling out of the loudspeakers. Though I must agree it sometimes was too much of having for weeks all those Christmas songs and jingle bells coming out our ears. 😉
Equipping The Saints thinks rightly that many of our age have those “Miracle on 34th” times of Thanksgiving and Christmas memories neatly and protectively stored in the wonderful areas of our minds. He writes
I can vividly remember how J.C. Penny looked on Broughton Street; Sears & Roebuck was actually located about a mile away. Lerner’s was a dress store, kind of high-end, that made me really think that I was in New York… I trust that you will always cherish those memories, just as I do.
America in her generous bid to be tolerant and welcoming, has completely lost the essence of benevolence. She has allowed tolerance not only consume and blind her, but now, the many she welcomed with open arms are threatening to usurp her original self and traits. I know this country has seen many ugly sides such as slavery and denigration of fellow man, I do not speak of these times or traits, but rather of true fellowship of his ways and words, and the freedom to practice so, without being labeled one ridiculous thing or the other.
What about these generosities be reverted and extended to the people of America who still have traditional values and beliefs, regardless of how politically incorrect some may view their take?
I have a different sort of memory myself growing up in Christmas times back in Nigeria. It was a period of joy and celebration for us. A time when parents travelled back with families from cities to small hometown and villages, so the extended kin can all gather to celebrate our Lord and gift.
Many kids got their very own new cloths or shoes for the first time that period because parents saw it as a good time to reach deep into very thin pockets to give as Christ gave to their kids.
Total strangers would give kids money or sweets, and families would invite strangers off the streets to sup or dine with them. It depicted true brotherhood and such were glory days.
Today, it’s completely different. There are rapes, murders, crime of all imaginable sorts, and small hometowns and villages now overrun with thuggery, kidnapping ,rage and you name it.
The utopia Christmas no longer exits, and kids are no longer happy with sweets, new clothes and shoes or a simple supper. Everyone wants a mac, kindle, I Phone 6 or tablet, …
People of faith and followers of Christ are made to feel inferior for having an opinion and the very government that should protect everyone’s right to free worship, is now the same stifling some who want to celebrate our Lord.
We don’t all have to believe in the same thing, but the founding fathers of these united states as many mistakes as they made, in my humble opinion got one thing right… That is stating firmly that In God We trust. America is not and will never be anything other than In God We trust. If only present people will allow us follow our oath.
***
A fragment of the 1947 film with the little Dutch Girl and Mary Field as her Mother, where the child shows the true spirit of Christmas, to be with some one loved. After she tells the Santa she does not need anything else than to say with the nice lady she sings the Dutch Saint Nicholas song in Dutch “Sinterklaas kapoentje”
The Christians who are asking to be tolerant do not ask to be tolerant to violence. They ask do be concerned about those in need, and they ask to sincerely investigate all things and not to make conclusions too fast, putting everybody on the same line. Like after the Parisian attacks, so many people getting to shout to get all the refugees out and to stop them entering the European Union because they would be bringing Islam over our regions.
Русский: скромная одежда для muslims и non-muslims (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Most of the from violence fleeing people are not practising Muslims and they just want to be spared of any fundamentalist teaching reigning over their life. We should not straight ahead think those people would bring radical Muslim teaching to our regions. Even when lots of them may be Muslim it should not frighten us that they would convert people here. If they are able to convert people to Islam others should ask themselves
People may think they don’t have to tolerate everything that crosses their path or that we or others think they should tolerate. {Churches response to Radical Muslims} It is given to everybody in our democratic countries to utter their opinion. We always should make that clear to any body entering our regions and certainly to those who want to live in our regions. Those who come to live in our states should very well know that here there shall have to stay freedom of speech and freedom of religion. Such freedom of speech makes it also possible that there shall be people who take a stand against those teachings they consider false and against tolerances, that plague, divide and destroy the people of God.
Though what we see today is that certain Christians do think that those refugees would come in here in Europe or in other parts of the Northern hemisphere to
No, it is an idea that many want to pose because they are afraid of their own identity being hurt. In case they would stand strong enough in their shoes they should not worry. Christians should even be joyful because this would give them more opportunities to preach their faith and convert others to their faith. Is it not because so many Christians do not preach any more and are themselves not active in the Witnessing process that they consider those who are preaching as a danger. As such we also find a lot of aversion and opposition against Jehovah Witnesses, Christadelphians, Mormons and other preaching believers.
Christians should know there is a Big Battle coming. They should prepare themselves and their children for it, but also should warn others around them for the dangers that shall come over our world. But they also should know that in the Holy Scriptures is written that one of the signs of the Last Days shall be that religion shall come to rise against religion. Those religious groups fighting against each other should not make us afraid but should make us even more prepared to go out in the world and to preach the Truth. In case our teachings are founded on the Truth, we should not have to worry. We also know that man can kill man but they shall not be able to take man away from God when that man is in God.
The Ethnic composition of Muslims in the United States, according to the United States Department of State based on the publication of Being Muslim in America as of March 2009 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
We do know many Americans do think they are the centre of the world and that Islamic leaders saw America as the central power of Christianity. We have no idea where they got that from, but for sure it is true that radical Muslims do consider Christendom (and not Christianity) as their arch-enemy. In case they should know better Christianity than they should be more moderate and recognise that not all Christians do worship a threeheaded god. They should know that there are also many Christians who worship only the OneTrue God, Allah, The ElohimHashemJehovah. If they knew their history they should be able to see why Mohammed was the right person in its time on that place, but that throughout history there have always been true worshippers of the Only One True God, the God of Abraham (Ibrahim).
Everything about the West they view as Christian, all that we find valuable they hate; democracy, transparency, the rule of law, human rights, the separation of religion from governments are all discredited in the eyes of the jihadis (Wayne Grudem; Politics according to the bible). {Churches response to Radical Muslims}
That is today’s biggest problem, that those fundamentalist Muslims are doing exactly the same thing as the fundamentalist Christians from some centuries ago but also from those today.
Certain Christians do want to believe there are some extra-terrestrial demons hovering around, which they call devils, under the leadership of their head-devil Satan who organise a world-war against Jesus. They forget that according to the Holy Scriptures a satan is any adversary, like Peter was called a satan. so they teach people
so that you have a sound response either in your own mind or when people are attempting to discredit the truth that this is a battle between satan and the Jews and satan and Christians. {Churches response to Radical Muslims}
They are right in the fact that it is a satan who goes into battle with the world of God. The adversary of will trample hard. He knows the end shall be coming near and it is high time to go into the counter-attack. Real believers of God have to see that and should recognise the dangers of getting pulled in the trap to act also against the Will of God.
God is a God of love and order. He wants us to feel respect for all creatures, including those who do not love God. We should not kill them but should present them a life full of hope and glory. With our strength of faith we should bring them over the line, getting them to see where the true expectations of God are.
The real reason radical Islamists attack America, may be born out of a want to create an Islamic State and to destroy Jews & Christians, but it is mainly also because they consider the West interfering with their politics and hindering their cause in their own regions, which do not belong to America nor Europe.
It’s important that we understand the background. These attacks are not caused by people experiencing poverty or oppression in poor nations. This was started and is maintained by well-educated upper class, largely college-educated mostly wealthy men. (Wayne Grudem: politics according to the bible) {Churches response to Radical Muslims}
We even should come to see who are really backing ISIS and providing them with the necessary funds to get all that weapon arsenal.
There are apparently as many Christians as Muslims in Lebanon (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Please let us always remember
“There are peaceful Muslims in the world that simply want to live their lives just like you and want their children to live peaceful and successful lives. The problem is not the peaceful Muslims but the radical Muslims. There are 1.2 billion Muslims, not all are radical. The radicals are 15-25% according to all intelligence reports around the world. That leaves 75% who are relatively peaceful people.” {Churches response to Radical Muslims}
We should concentrate much more on those peaceful Muslims as well on the peaceful Christians and should react to those Muslims and Christians who want to destabilise the world by their messages of hate and intolerance.
German TV channel ZDF documentary about people who arrive in Germany with the idea that their ideology stands above the German constitution
The documentary does question if Germans are maybe too tolerant towards immigrants from non-western and Islamic regions, and the documentary implies that they might be too tolerant because of the terrible history of Germany.
A community where people want to live in peace together requires respect from the citizens for each other and respect for the democratic rules of the ‘guest’ country.
We may not forget that respect also has to be earned and to say that tolerance ends where notolerance is shown to us is creating a danger zone. Better is that there were no tolerance is shown to some one, to try to find out the reasons why there is such attitude against such people. Often no tolerance comes from taking a wrong attitude because there is a fear being fed by not enough knowledge about those people. Too many Westerners do have a wrong idea about Islam and have also prejudiced ideas about people fleeing the war zones in the Middle East.
Several difficulties between the different groups trying to come to the West have their seeds also in their will to stay strongly to their own believes and not willingness to open themselves to other believes or ideas.
From the beginning those who want to enter the European Union have to learn this has to be a place where there is demanded an openness to different ideas, different believes and where there is a demand to give everybody a fair chance to develop in total freedom, respecting the freedom of the others. Freedom can there only be when everybody is willing not to restrict the freedom of the other. Though there have to be some limitations which demands that there can be found a consensus so that everybody can live undisturbed.
*
To remember
documentary maker thinks: we should make every refugee understand that if they want to stay => they have to accept our system of values
The German TV channel ZDF broadcasted a documentary that shows what kind of conflicts there are between immigrants and refugees that arrive from Islamic and non-western countries. Usually, I wouldn’t suggest to watch a TV broadcast from ZDF as they are often biased against German citizens, but over the last time they started to report more about conflicts that they denied previously, maybe because it’s no longer possible to hide the facts.
This documentary is about conflicts between immigrants or refugees, not so much about conflicts between them and German citizens, anyways, it gives you an impression what kind of effect this has on German citizens as well. The documentary is about people who arrive in Germany with the idea that their ideology stands above the German constitution, and the documentary does question if we Germans are maybe too tolerant towards immigrants from non-western and Islamic regions, and the documentary…
Freedom of thought can only be secured when everybody has access to unbiased quality education. All those fining asylum should have to learn that freedom and peace can only be there where every one respects the freedom of others inclusive the freedom of religion, in public places finding no restriction of any member of the community.
Ralie from the humble little country of Bulgaria, who believes in people’s power to use common sense and reach their own conclusions, presents a record of his life pre- and post-immigration brings his two cents worth of opinion
*
To remember:
Both sides of the debate flinging accusations on the entire scale from “xenophobes” to “betrayers of Europe”
there aren’t many people thinking what to do with the refugees once they’ve arrived
fearing they will “take our jobs” and “turn Germany into a caliphate”
lot of sense in upholding European values of tolerance and solidarity <= they have stood the test of time and war, + have proven themselves invaluable in times of humanitarian crisis
yes, build mosques, but respect the secular ideas which made your escape possible, keep your culture, but respect the people who gave you a new home on their own land.
On Sunday night hundreds gathered in in Zion Square, Jerusalem for a memorial to the 16 years old high school student from Jerusalem, Shira Banki, who died from injuries suffered in a knife attack at the city’s gay pride parade.
Shira Banki, 16, one of six stabbing victims at the Jerusalem gay pride parade, died from her wounds at a Jerusalem hospital. (Facebook)
Banki had died hours earlier at Hadassah Medical Center in Ein Kerem, where she had been fighting for her life after being stabbed in the chest and stomach on Thursday. She was one of six stabbing victims. She was marching to support her gay friends, her family said in a statement. The family agreed to donate her organs, Hadassah hospital announced.
“Our magical Shira was murdered because she was a happy 16-year-old – full of life and love – who came to express her support for her friends’ rights to live as they choose,”
the family statement said.
“For no good reason and because of evil, stupidity and negligence, the life of our beautiful flower was cut short. Bad things happen to good people, and a very bad thing happened to our amazing girl.”
The statement also expressed
“hope for less hatred and more tolerance.”
Israeli politicians from across the spectrum expressed sorrow about the teen’s death.
Tel Aviv gay pride parade 2007. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Lifestyle and Readers Digest Magazine founded by Marcus Ampe on the 26th of March 2014
Welcome
New to this site. You may like to read this first
If this is your first time you visit us, you might like to know about our aims and intentions.
This site does not want to be a specific religious site, though now and then religious articles may be presented. The main interest on this site is about worldly matters, social affairs and the behaviour of human beings in this universe.
Our aim is to bring first articles about our responsibility in the progress of human relations and peace involvement.
Please find to read about our aims and aspirations:
Messengers of Peace and Positivism – Boodschappers van Vrede en Positivisme
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Club members their own blog-writings – Clubleden hun eigen persoonlijke blogs
Articles by Guestwriters members – Artikelen bij Gastschrijvers leden
Most club members "From guestwriters" do not have their own blog, but shall write under their own name as "Guestspeaker" on the Lifestyle magazine Stepping Toes.
Those who do have their own website can be looked at underneath:
Please do find those independent authors their recent postings on their own website:
Van de schrijvers die een eigen blog hebben kan u op hun site als laatste artikels vinden:
Recent Posts on the other Lifestyle Magazine: Stepping Toes
“Many in the church have turned their back on serious study, and have embraced an anti-intellectualism which refuses to learn anything from scholarship at all lest it corrupt their pure faith. It is time to end this stand-off, and to re-establish a hermeneutic of trust (itself a sign of the gospel!) in place of the […]
Many who call themselves Christian do like to follow Augustine, even more than Christ. they do agree with him that reading the Bible is no longer necessary once God had fully cultivated faith, hope, and love in us (On Christian Doctrine, 1.39). In other words, according to them, once we are mature in Christ, the […]
Pew Research Center asked thousands of Americans where they find meaning in life. Their responses were rich, thoughtful and varied. Here are just a few examples of what they told us… “That’s a gosh darn big question for a survey like this, I’m used to the check boxes. I find meaning in career, family, spiritual […]
GOD DESIGNED HUMAN NATURE FOR LOVE By Jesse Morrell Everything God created has a function and a design. God created human nature. Therefore, human nature has a proper function and a design. What is the proper function that human nature was designed by God for? “For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by […]
Nederlandse Reformatorische christenen beweren dat wij mensen vanuit onszelf niets zijn. Dat zou maar heel erg zijn. Gelukkig is dat niet zo en mogen wij er op aan dat elk menselijk wezen, gelovig of niet gelovig, wel degelijk “iets” en zelfs “iemand” is. Ieder individu heeft een eigenwaarde en heeft ook iets te betekenen in […]
President Trump, long a trafficker in anti-Semitic stereotypes, treated American Jews to a classic anti-Semitic canard Tuesday afternoon. When asked about two Congresswomen, Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar, who had been barred from Israel at Trump’s own behest, he broke out an oldie but a goodie from the closet of anti-Semitic tropes. “Any Jewish people […]
Gelooft u het getuigenis van God, zijn Zoon en zijn dienaren? #2 Zonde. Overtreding van Gods wil Omdat God de mens maakte met een vrije wil, en daarmee vrijheid om te kiezen, kunnen wij zowel doen wat Hem behaagt als mishaagt. Dit laatste noemt God zonde. Maar wat is zonde precies en hoe komt deze […]
Het bewijs van Gods bestaan 1. De weg van veel goden naar geen God Een in het kader van ‘Bijbel en Wetenschap’ telkens weer opduikende vraag is: kun je Gods bestaan wetenschappelijk bewijzen? Of heeft de wetenschap juist bewezen dat Hij niet bestaat? Er zijn in principe twee manieren waarop je de beantwoording van zo’n […]
“Het is jammer dat als je kritiek op een religie uitoefent dat je dan opeens wordt neergezet als een boze, ‘witte’ man. Tegen dat ‘witte’ en dat man zijn kan ik niets doen. Boos ben ik eigenlijk nooit. Maar wat veel moslima’s met mij doen is precies wat ze mij verwijten.” ~Jan Jaap de Ruiter […]
We may not forget that reducing the greenhouse gas emissions shall not only have an impact at global warming of 1.5, 2, 4 and 6°C but shall have implications for food, water security, energy security, flooding, infrastructure, ecosystems, health, and human migration. The increase in global mean surface temperature (GMST), which reached 0.87°C in 2006–2015 […]
Already months we can find youngsters coming on the streets to wake up politicians, opening their eyes for the miserable predicament for our climate and conservation of plants and animals. This week, leaders from some of the most heavily polluting industries on the planet – shipping, aviation, iron and steel to name a few – […]
The European Union is only e very tiny part of the world surface. In that Union loads of languages are spoken and it is very important to come to a harmonious co-existence of 24 official languages. It is one of the most distinctive features of the European project. Multilingualism is not only an expression of […]
Great-Britain has its own Trump, who likes to put the whole country at his hands and the European Union at his feet. Boris Johnson is fully aware that he does not have the backing of the House of Commons. Like with so many other matters, he tried to ignore it. Because he felt it would […]
Seventy-six years have passed, but few people have ever heard of Mann, even though she could easily have become a hero and a symbol. Perhaps her story sounds too far-fetched; perhaps it was simply shunted aside by the many other stories of heroism and horror in the Holocaust. But on September 1, the 80th anniversary […]
“Without a single change in the law by Congress, the Trump public charge rules mean many more U.S. citizens are being and will be denied the opportunity to live together in the U.S. with their spouses, children, and parents,” said Ur Jaddou, a former Citizenship and Immigration Services chief counsel and now director of the […]
Originally posted on Croatia, the War, and the Future: Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, President of Croatia (L)Ivan Penava, Mayor of Vukovar (R)Photo: uredpredsjednice.hr When the Constitutional Court of Croatia (of any country) evidently and blatantly misses the beat of its own country’s heart (and reason for existence – in the case of Croatia that reason is victory…
Next year’s Bible School to be held between August 3rd – 8th, at Harper Adams University, Newport, Shropshire, TF10 8NB, UK, God willing, has as theme ‘Great and Marvellous are Thy Works’ . Bro Mark Whittaker from Crewe shall talk about ‘Signs and Wonders’ The Miracles of Jesus. Roger Varleyfrom Birmingham Hall Green brings us […]
Faith Talks are short video presentations which give insight to personal stories and Bible explorations that have inspired and touched the lives of individuals. Faith Talks are faith-building tools that can be viewed independently or used collectively in a group setting. At the heart of each Faith Talk is the desire to sustain a relationship with God, […]
The Agape in Action currently have a very long list of children on the list waiting for sponsorship. Some of these kids, though they are in desperate circumstances, have been waiting for sponsorship for more than one year. All of these children are from Christadelphian families or have been taken in by Christadelphians. Francis was […]
An excerpt from Deuteronomy for Disciples by Brother Alfred Nicholls, page 108 As Israel concludes this year’s celebration of Yom Kippur yesterday, we do well to remember that atonement comes through the Lord Jesus. Moses does not spare to underline the wickedness of the people. Their rebellion at Horeb took place while he was in […]
The 2019 Eastern Winter Study will take place in the pleasant location of Letton Hall, Shipdham, Norfolk, IP25 7SA; beginning after lunch on 27th December and concluding after breakfast on 30th December. This year, God willing, we are looking forward to studies on “Studies in Luke’s gospel” by Bro. John Benson (Stevenage). The aim of […]
Recent Posts by the Brethren in Christ: Broeders in Christus
Lots of people have a lot of difficulties to come to accept the Biblical Truth. Those who call themselves already Christian are the most difficult to convince that the real Christian has to hold on to other teachings than the standard or main church teachings. Lots of Christians think they are saved for ever, when […]
Veel mensen hebben veel moeite om de Bijbelse waarheid te accepteren. Degenen die zichzelf al christen noemen, zijn het moeilijkst te overtuigen dat de echte christen zich aan andere leringen moet houden dan de standaardleer of hoofdkerkleer. Veel christenen denken dat ze voor altijd gered zijn, toen ze hun kinderdoop kregen en verkondigen dat ze […]
Hippie beweging en kerk In veel West-Europese landen en de Verenigde Staten trad er na de tweede wereld oorlog een geboortegolf op die jongeren deed revolteren tegen de rangorde of machtsstructuur in de maatschappij, maar ook tegen vele oer-conservatieve gebruiken. Zij wensten niet zo maar alles te aanvaarden wat hen werd voorgelegd en gingen daarom […]
Het Heilige Roomse Rijk niet enige wijze De Rooms Katholieke Kerk had voor jaren zich voorgedaan alsof zij de enige was die het volledige inzicht had omtrent het Woord van God. Voor die Kerk kon alleen maar een godgeleerde van hun kring de Bijbel ten volle uitleggen. Toen de leerstellingen en praktijken in de middeleeuwse […]
In de 17de en 18de eeuw, in het Zuiden van Frankrijk, vonden verscheidene jongeren van vervolgde ouders dat ze de geestelijke gedachte en de lezing van de Bijbel moesten verdedigen.
In Scripture, all things are directed towards a man who was a servant of servants, in whom people should come to have faith. First we saw the connection with Eve and her seed, and in this article you may see the connection with Abraham.
Already in the Old Testament we find the focus on a son of man who is called the son of God, who shall be the most pure set apart (holy) servant of God who was been told about in the Garden of Eden, to be the one bruised.
Many Old Testament writers wrote about the prophet to come, about whom is spoke in the book of Moses and who shall be the special “Seed of a woman” given by God and who will bruise Satan’s head whilst his heel would be bruised with nails on the wooden stake.
Jewish and Christian literature since the time of Yeshua or Jeshua have pointed to Genesis 3:15 as the first reference to the Messiah in the Torah. Genesis 3:15 NHEBJE I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will bruise your head, and you will bruise his […]
The first human beings had chosen to go their own path. As any good father would do when his children had done something wrong, God punished them. But as a loving Father He in His great mercy promised for a solution and preserved David’s bloodline and the Messianic promise. Mankind had chosen Yet, we each […]
Recent Posts: Belgian Biblestudents - Belgische Bijbelstudenten
Matthew 23:23-24 – Woe 4: A Disregard for Justice and Mercy || Luke 11:42 MT23:23 “WOE to you hypocritical Scribes and Pharisees because you tithe[1] the mint, dill, and cummin,[2] but you leave out the weightier matters of the Law:[3] justice and mercy and faith.[4] The former is necessary to perform[5] but also the latter. […]
Matthew 23:16-22 – Woe 3: Blind Guides and Gold MT23:16 “WOE to you blind guides who say, ‘It is useless to swear by the Divine Habitat;[1] but if you make an oath[2] by the gold of the Divine Habitat it is binding.’ MT23:17 Blind morons,[3] which is greater: the gold or the Divine Habitat which […]
Matthew 23:15 – Woe 2: Evangelists of Gehenna MT23:15 “WOE to you hypocritical Scribes and Pharisees, because you travel over land and sea[1] to make a single proselyte;[2] and, when he becomes such [a convert to Judaism] you make him a son of Gehenna[3] twice as much as you. * [1] Travel over land and […]
Matthew 23:13-14 – Woe 1: Shutting Up the Kingdom || Luke 11:52 MT23:13 “WOE to you hypocritical Scribes and Pharisees, because right in front of people[1] you are closing the door to the Realm of Heaven.[2] You do not enter and you prevent those who might from entering.[3] MT23:14 [[Woe to you hypocritical Scribes and […]
Matthew 23:1-12 – Prominence and Humility || Mark 12:38, 39; Luke 20:45, 46 MT23:1 Then Jesus spoke to the crowds as well as his disciples, saying: MT23:2 “The Scribes and Pharisees sat down on the seat of Moses.[1] MT23:3 So, everything they preach to you, do and observe;[2] but do not imitate their actions,[3] for […]
Recent Posts by bible Scholars: Bijbelvorser = Bible Researcher
As Bible scholars, historians and archaeologists we would always love to find the most hidden places and love to come to know more about what happened in the past. We are fully aware that archaeology doesn’t provide 100% certainty on what we are looking for or on what we find. With our hands we are […]
When driving through Gaza one cannot miss all the damage of the ongoing battle between Hamas and Israel. Gaza has a “second face: the face of culture, the face of tourism,” says Hassouna, who teaches archaeology at Gaza’s Islamic University. “We want to be Gaza open, for the people, for the world. Only that.” Records […]
In the Bible we can find a peaceful region which in our days has become very difficult to get a reasonable picture from. Worse than in Roman times it is now a place of indiscriminate assaults on civilian populations. Confined in the crowded, sandy coast enclave of 2 million, where poverty and unemployment hover around […]
From the time of Alexander the Great in the fourth century B.C.E., Jews lived in a world in which Greek culture carried a certain prestige and offered a route to political influence. Hellenistic and Roman-era art from the Biblical world shines a spotlight on Judean identity and cultural influences during a formative period in the […]
You must love your neighbor as yourself.—Jas. 2:8. James added: “If you continue showing favoritism, you are committing sin.” (Jas. 2:9) In contrast, love will move us to avoid any discrimination based on education, race, or social status. Indeed, impartiality needs to be more than a veneer. It must be a genuine part of our […]
First of all to come to a good relationship with some one, one has to talk with that person and has to listen to what that person has to tell. God talks to the people by the way of His Word, presented to mankind by the many Bible translations, so that most people can read […]
The One Who created everything and Who gave His Word, did all He did with a purpose and out of love. The Bible teaches us that “God is love.” (1 John 4:8) Everything God does is motivated by love. Out of love created man in His image also with the intention to have a good relationship […]
In the previous writings we saw that the Divine Creator gave His Word to the world so that people could come to know Him. The Bible is a gift from God. It gives us information that we can’t find anywhere else. For example, it tells us that God created the heavens, the earth, and the […]
Elul, the month to reflect and to prepare oneself to perfect oneself plus preparing oneself to enter a new phase in facing the Elohim, coming closer into the Divine presence.
The surest way of ensuring our happiness and success in life is by devoting ourselves wholeheartedly to learning what God expects of us (by studying His Torah), by addressing our prayers directly to Him, and by fulfilling His will.
De beweging voor een onafhankelijk Biafra blijkt de positie van het judaïsme te versterken. De vervolging van de Joden de eeuwen door is bovendien herkenbaar voor de Igbo’s.
When positively reacting to the wedding invitation, we should be willing to step in the sent one from God his footsteps and should help to spread the Good News
Joden indien zij hun oude Geschriften diepgaand onderzoeken kunnen tot de ontdekking komen wie de lang beloofde Messiach is en kunnen daarbij ook voldoende redenen vinden om die Messias of Christus te volgen en deelgenoten te worden van ‘zijn lichaam’ en alzo als Jood voor Christus door het leven te gaan.
In het Joodse geloof zijn er de apart geplaatste boeken maar ook legendes welke vertellen over de man Abraham welke wij als onze aartsvader aanschouwen, omdat de elohim hem heeft uitverkoren om de vader van velen te zijn.
De Bijbelse naam Abraham betekent ‘verheven vader’. Dit was de Chaldese naam van Abraham. Toen Abram door God werd gekozen om de stamvader te worden van Gods volk, werd hij Abraham genoemd, wat ‘vader van vele volken’ betekent.
Adam mag dan wel de eerste man zijn die de wereld kent, maar voor ons geloof is de nomade wiens naam van Abram naar Abraham verandert is door God veel belangrijker.
In voorgaand en volgend bericht gaan wij dieper op die Bijbelse figuur in.
In ons geloof kijken wij gerust ook naar het begin aller tijden maar betreft ons geloof nemen wij anderen dan Adam en Eva als onze grote voorouders. Hij die voor ons de eer krijgt om onze aartsvader te zijn is Abraham.
When having many questions an interesting blog to look at: their old and more recent Posts: Questiontime - Vragenuurtje
Volgens de Bijbel is de mens geschapen naar het beeld van God. Allah schiep de aarde en alles erop en eromheen. In plaats van dankbaar te zijn voor wat de mens van hun Schepper ontving, twijfelden ze aan Zijn autoriteit en wilden ze net zoveel kennis en macht hebben als Hij. Daarom aten ze van […]
According to Scriptures man was created in the image of God. Allah created earth and everything on it and around it. Instead of being thankful for what man received from their Creator, they doubted His authority and wanted to have as much knowledge and power like He has. Therefore they ate from the Tree of […]
The intention of this site was to be able to find answers to some serious questions and to know what others thought about it. But there were no answers from others and silence continued to form the fog.
Bedoeling van deze site was op enkele ernstige vragen antwoorden te kunnen vinden en te weten hoe anderen er over dachten. Maar antwoorden van anderen bleven uit en stilte bleef de mist vormen.
In this world we shall become even more confronted by people, be them politicians or church-leaders who would love to tell us than matters or different than we see it. Many of them will give the lie to make sure they would be more popular and receive more power. We must know that we shall […]
Recent Posts: Unmasking anti Jehovah sites and people
It is not just of this present day that real followers of God and of Christ were not liked so much and that church leaders wanted people to have in control and being considered as important persons to be spoken to by their tittle.
Coming closer to the Latter days we should know about the necessity to proclaim the Gospel or to go out to preach the Good News of the coming Kingdom of God, even when we may encounter many who would like to do everything to discourage us and to put us in a bad light.
Always there have been real followers of Jesus who only worshipped his One God, the God of Israel. Many centuries they worked and preached behind closed doors, avoiding persecution and death on the balefire. In fear of the stake for centuries the real followers of God baptised people in their faith, not demanding to be part of one or another church but being part of the Body of Christ.
An invitation to Jehovah’s Witnesses who want or did leave the Jehovah’s Witnesses organisation. for them there are many other non-trinitarian groups willing to welcome them as brothers and sisters in Christ.
it is such a grand thing to be a mother of a mother that’s why the world calls her a grandmother jou pa en ma het my lankal laat weeten ek moes jou snoesigweligin my hart laat groeiek het die dae getelwat later wekeen nou maande geword hethoe kan my hart jou langer omsluit? jy […]
ek onthou eendag lank gelede toe ek my eie gastehuis bedryf het was die kamers vol en ek was alleen op die werf in my haas het my voet aan die plaveisel vasgehaak en toe ek neerslaan nerf af het ek net so bly lê toe ek opkyk toe sien ek die mooi tuin en […]
How often do you drive down a road and notice the plants and weeds growing along its edge? You might see them if they are shockingly beautiful, but otherwise – not so much. Would you ever think a Mexican roadside weed could become a symbol of Christmas, or be linked to Christianity? Poinsettia, a name … Continue reading Flowers of the Holy Night
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alsowritten
Belgian Biblestudents - Belgische Bijbelstudenten
Bijbelvorsers
Christadelphians
Guestspeaker
Immanuel Verbondskind
jeshuaist
Vragensteller - Inquirer
lizaborstlap
Marcus Ampe
Success Inspirers' World
Relating to God
