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Weekly News In Review

September 25 - October 1, 2005
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The following articles were posted at www.understandthetimes.org this past week:

Israel Launches Airstrikes Against Hamas
Bible Literacy Project Unveils Teaching Aid
Professor Says Pope Must Reach Out
Mary Co-redemptrix: A Dogmatic Crowning for the Queen?
Bird flu 'could kill 150m people'
Author Accuses Christian Publisher of Dabbling in 'New Age' Spirituality
Courthouse Shooting: Prosecutors to Seek Death Penalty
Study: Sun's Changes to Blame for Part of Global Warming

Article: Israel and the Last Days

September 24, 2005 - Israel Launches Airstrikes Against Hamas

Israel launched a "crushing" retaliation Saturday against Hamas in Gaza with deadly airstrikes, troops massed at the border and a planned ground incursion after militants fired 35 rockets at Israeli towns - their first major attack since the Gaza pullout.

Israeli aircraft pounded suspected weapons facilities and other militant targets throughout the Gaza Strip late Saturday and early Sunday, wounding at least 19 people, Palestinian officials said. Earlier, Israeli aircraft fired missiles at cars carrying militants in Gaza City, killing two Hamas militants.

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Article: Apostasy

September 23, 2005 - Bible Literacy Project Unveils Teaching Aid

WASHINGTON (AP) Sept. 23, 2005 - An interfaith group is releasing a new textbook aimed at teaching public high school students about the Bible while avoiding legal and religious disputes.

The nonprofit Bible Literacy Project spent five years and two (m) million dollars developing "The Bible and Its Influence." The 41 contributors include evangelical, mainline Protestant, Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Jewish and secular experts.

To avoid problems, the editors accommodated Jewish sensitivities about the New Testament and attributed reports about miracles to the source rather than just calling them historical facts.

A 1963 Supreme Court decision barred schoolroom Bible recitations but said the Bible could be studied "for its literary and historic qualities" if "presented objectively as part of a secular program."

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Article: Ecumenical Movement - Other Religions Uniting With Roman Catholics

September 27, 2005 - Professor Says Pope Must Reach Out

Pope Benedict XVI faces the global challenge of both reaching out to people of other faiths and strengthening his base in the Catholic Church during his papacy, University of Virginia Religious Studies Professor Gerald Fogarty, S.J., said in Copley Formal Lounge Wednesday. Fogarty, an expert on U.S.-Vatican relations, said that the Pope has made both conciliatory and confrontational gestures toward non-Catholics in the past 50 years, making judgments about his papacy premature.

The issue of inter-religious dialogue on the one hand and dogmatism on the other is an important one for the Catholic Church, Fogarty said. In the next five years, two-thirds of the Church's world hierarchy will be replaced, potentially giving Benedict significant influence on the future direction of the Catholic Church. "Religious dialogue is necessary [to the Pope]," Fogarty said. "Evangelization is clearly one of his goals."

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Article: Roman Catholic Church and Last Days

September 29, 2005 - Mary Co-redemptrix: A Dogmatic Crowning for the Queen?

What do St. Padre Pio, St. Francis Xavier Cabrini, St. Gemma Galgani, St. Maximilian Kolbe, St. Leopold Mandic, St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, St. Jose Maria Escrivà, Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, Servant of God, John Paul II, and Sr. Lucia of Fatima all have in common (beyond their eminent sanctity as witnessed by the twentieth century)? They all repeatedly invoked Our Lady as the "Co-redemptrix" and taught the doctrine of Marian coredemption concerning Mary’s unparalleled role with and under Jesus Christ in the Redemption of the human family.

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Article: Signs of the Times

September 30, 2005 - Bird flu 'could kill 150m people'

A flu pandemic could happen at any time and kill between 5-150 million people, a UN health official has warned.

David Nabarro, who is charged with coordinating responses to bird flu, said a mutation of the virus affecting Asia could trigger new outbreaks.

"It's like a combination of global warming and HIV/Aids 10 times faster than it's running at the moment," Dr Nabarro told the BBC.

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Article: Apostasy

September 29, 2005 - Author Accuses Christian Publisher of Dabbling in 'New Age' Spirituality

A leading Christian publisher of youth ministry material is being accused of introducing young people to practices rooted in New Age Eastern spirituality.

Today, the 2005 National Youth Workers Conference kicks off in Sacramento, California, but not without criticism. The conference is sponsored by Youth Specialties, a group that one Christian author says introduces students to labyrinth walks, yoga, and contemplative prayer practices. For that reason, Cathy Mickels -- co-author of the book Spiritual Junkfood: The Dumbing Down of Christian Youth -- is advising youth workers and parents to distance themselves from the conference and Youth Specialties.

"Nowhere in God's Word does it say that you take kids on labyrinth walks, [or] that you introduce students to yoga or to contemplative prayer practices where you say a word over and over again to put yourself into what Youth Specialties says is a 'semi-conscious state,'" she states. "None of these practices are in God's Word."

She says parents and youth workers need to be aware that those who approve of putting Christian youth into this semi-conscious state "are the same people sponsoring this Youth Workers' conference."

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Article: Islam

September 29 - Courthouse Shooting: Prosecutors to Seek Death Penalty

Prosecutors Tuesday gave formal notice to alleged courthouse killer Brian Nichols that they intend to seek the death penalty if he's convicted at trial.

Defense lawyers objected when Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard tried to hand a copy of the motion directly to Nichols as he sat at the defense table.

Judge Fuller asked Nichols if he is satisfied with his counsel and the manner in which they are conducting his defense. Adams replied that he had talked with his client, and that Nichols was aware of his right to speak but preferred not to address the court. Howard objected, saying Nichols should have to respond to the question himself--even if it was done in the judge's chambers--but Fuller agreed that he would not make Nichols speak if he didn't want to.

Nichols, who reportedly recently converted to Islam while in jail, was dressed in a tan suit and occasionally spoke to his attorneys. His parents sat a couple of rows behind him, with Nichols' mother appearing to take copious notes during the hearing.

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Article: Signs of the Times

September 30, 2005 - Study: Sun's Changes to Blame for Part of Global Warming

Increased output from the Sun might be to blame for 10 to 30 percent of global warming that has been measured in the past 20 years, according to a new report.

Increased emissions of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases still play a role, the scientists say. But climate models of global warming should be corrected to better account for changes in solar activity, according to Nicola Scafetta and Bruce West of Duke University.

The findings were published online this week by the journal Geophysical Research Letters. Scientists agree the planet is warming. Effects are evident in melting glaciers and reductions in the amount of frozen ground around the planet.

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