The Weekly
News In
Review newsletter is a service
provided by Understand The Times that is a
compilation of the news articles
posted on our site during the previous
week.
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November 2 - Evolution Doesn't Contradict Bible, Cardinal Affirms
Article: Creation / Evolution - Creation / Evolution Debate
Comment from
UTT:
To
say that God used evolution to
creation is a contradiction of terms.
Evolution means matter,
chance and time. Creation is based on the fact
that a Creator is required,
bringing things into existence by design.
ROME, NOV. 3, 2008 (Zenit.org).-
There is
no incompatibility between the scientific
theory of evolution and the
Christian understanding of creation,
says the archbishop of
Vienna.
The prelate explained that
there is no
contradiction between
evolution and a belief in creation, but rather a
"conflict between two
diverse concepts of man and his rationality,
between the Christian vision
and a rationalism that pretends to reduce
man to the biological
dimension."
Citing
various addresses from Cardinal Joseph
Ratzinger, before and
after his election as Pope, the Austrian
cardinal explained that "there are many proofs in
favor of evolution."
In the same vein, Bishop
Marcelo Sánchez Sorondo, chancellor of the
Pontifical Academy of the
Sciences, explained to Vatican Radio that
the theory of evolution is even
closer to the biblical account of
creation than many other
theories.
According to the pontifical
academy official, the
Church "is open to what
science says. What's more, it's very interested
in science, because it speaks
of nature. The Church has always
believed that nature was
created by God and that man forms part of
nature."
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November 3 - Islam: Muslims pin hopes on Vatican interfaith talks
Article: Ecumenical Movement - Other Reiligions Uniting with Roman Catholics
Comment from UTT:
Dialogue
between Roman Catholic and
Islamic leaders continues to take place with
the goal of finding common
ground.
Rome, 3 Nov. (AKI)
- Muslim scholars due to meet
Pope Benedict XVI and Vatican officials in
Rome on Tuesday hope the
landmark talks will help defuse continuing
tensions between Islam and
Christianity. Milanese imam Yahya Pallavicini
is part of the delegation of
Muslim scholars taking part in the first
round of interfaith talks with
the Vatican.
"In
the Islamic world, there are high hopes that
the talks will present a great
opportunity for dialogue,"
Pallavicini, vice-president of
the Islamic Religious Community in Italy
, told Adnkronos International
(AKI).
Closed-door talks are taking
place on Tuesday on 'Love of God and Love
of One's Neighbour' and
on 'Human Dignity and Mutual Respect' on
Wednesday.
Twenty-four Muslim scholars
led by the Grand Mufti of Bosnia, Mustafa
Ceric, will attend the talks.
They are representing
the Common World Group, a
broad coalition of Muslim leaders and scholars
who are pursuing dialogue
between the world's two largest religions.
A total 275 prominent Muslims
have now signed The Common World
Manifesto, a document urging
Christian churches to reach mutual
understanding to safeguard
global security, based
on shared principles of love of
God and neighbour.
"Our delegation
intends to take forward and
promote dialogue with the
Roman Catholic Church that respects the
identity of both faiths, but
which can promote brotherhood under
a single God and
uphold human dignity worldwide," said
Pallavicini.
"For us, it is important
that
we can have a
genuine exchange of ideas with the
Pope, which there will be.
Benedict XVI has agreed to receive all
participants at the talks and to
engage with them," Pallavicini
told AKI.
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November 1 - Bush to attend UN dialogue on religions
Article: One World Religion
Comment from UTT:
The
road to one world
religion widens as the United Nations hosts a
meeting that will
be attended by George Bush.
U.S. President George W. Bush
will join the leaders of more
than half a dozen countries at an upcoming
General Assembly
meeting to promote a global
dialogue about religions,
cultures and common values, a U.N.
official said Friday.
General Assembly President Miguel d'Escoto
Brockmann has sent
invitations to all 192 U.N. member states to the
high-level meeting on Nov. 12-
13 and expects at least 20 or 30 world
leaders to attend, his
spokesman Enrique Yeves said.
The meeting is
a follow-
up to a three-day interfaith conference
in Madrid organized by King
Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and King Juan
Carlos of Spain in July which
brought together Jews, Muslims,
Christians, Hindus, Buddhists
and representatives of other religions and
sparked hopes of a
new relationship
among religions.
In a final declaration,
participants urged the United Nations
to play a
role, saying they hope to follow
up "recommendations in enhancing
dialogue among the followers
of religions, civilizations and cultures
through conducting a special
U.N. session
on dialogue."
D'Escoto "believes this is an
excellent initiative and that
it should be
broadened to talking not only
about religions but about cultures, about
all the common values we
have in our very rich philosophical and ethical
traditions in the different parts
of the world," Yeves said. "He
would like that we talk not only about dialogue,
but about joining forces in
order to work together with all these common
values to address the major
issues that we are facing right now in the
world,"
Yeves said.
In an Oct. 9 letter inviting
U.N. member states to
participate, d'Escoto said the November meeting
should serve as "a useful preparatory
step" for a
high-level interfaith and
intercultural dialogue with members of civil
society
in 2010.
King Abdullah, whose country
bans non-Muslims from
openly practicing their religion, has called for
religious tolerance and said
such dialogue is the duty of every human
being. The king also urged
fellow Muslims to reach out to non-Muslims as
a way to show that Islam is not
a violent religion.
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November 5 - No religious discrimination in Iran: Ahmadinejad
Article: One World Religion
Comment from UTT:
The statement made by Ahmadinejad
regarding the need for a
Saviour and that Muslims and Christians are
looking for that Saviour to
solve world problems is a perfect setup for
what the Bible calls the
antichrist.
TEHRAN -
President Mahmud Ahmadinejad said on Tuesday
that
there is no
religious discrimination in Iran and followers of
different religions
are living in the country peacefully. Followers
of different
religions in Iran are living side by side and they
share each other's
sorrow and joy, Ahmadinejad said in a
meeting with
Bishop of Armenian Orthodox Church in Cilici Aram I
Keshishian.
The problems of
mankind result from atheism, said the president.
Ahmadinejad
stated that mankind is frustrated with the situation of
the world and is waiting for the savior. Islam
and Christianity
believe that one day the savior will come and this
is the source of
unity between the followers of divine religions,
he opined.
War, occupation,
aggression, discrimination, and poverty must be
eradicated in the
world, Ahmadinejad stressed.
If the religious
faithful stay together they can play a constructive
role in ending the
current crises in the world, he added.
Keshishian, for his
part, expressed satisfaction that all religious
minorities live
peacefully in Iran. "In Iran,
Armenians live
with Muslims in friendship and brotherhood,"
he
stressed
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November 5 - Russia to move missiles to Baltic
Article: Wars And Rumors Of Wars
Comment
from UTT:
Statements and posturing by Russia's
president indicate that Russia
plans to make a move to regain status as
a world power with an
agenda.
Russia
is to
deploy new missiles in a Baltic enclave near
Nato member Poland,
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev says.
Short-range Iskander missiles
in the Kaliningrad region
would
"neutralize" the planned US anti-missile
shield in Poland and the
Czech Republic, he said.
The US says its
shield is a defence against
missiles from "rogue" nations,
but Moscow sees it as a direct
threat.
Mr Medvedev also said
he wanted to extend Russia's
presidential term to six years from the
current four. He did not explain
if he wanted to extend his own term, or
change the rules for his
successor. There has long been speculation that
Mr Medvedev is a stop-gap
so that Prime Minister
Putin - who served the
maximum two consecutive terms -
can
return to the top job, correspondents
say.
In his first
state-of-the nation address, Mr
Medvedev said Moscow would deploy the
Iskander missile system in the
Kaliningrad region - between Nato members
Lithuania and Poland - to "neutralize - if
necessary - the [US] anti-
missile system". Naturally, we also consider
using for the same purpose
the resources of Russia's navy," he
said. Mr Medvedev also said
Russia would jam the
US anti-missile system
electronically.
Mr Medvedev's
announcement is extremely provocative, but the
Kremlin's clear message is
that America is to blame, the BBC's
Rupert Wingfield-Hayes in
Moscow says.
Mr Medvedev
also
blamed
Washington for the global
financial crisis, but said Russia would
"overcome" the
challenge.
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November 7 - Vladimir Putin 'could return as Russian president next year'
Wars and Rumors of Wars
Comment
from UTT:
Is the world headed for a
showdown in the middle east with Russia
playing a key role according to
Ezekiel 38?
The respected business daily
Vedomosti quoted unidentified Kremlin
sources as saying that Dmitry Medvedev,
the current president, could step down after carrying
out changes to the constitution that would
allow Mr Putin to solidify his
grip on power.
In his first state of the
nation address on Thursday, Mr Medvedev
proposed amending the constitution
to allow sitting presidents to stay in power for 12
rather than eight years.
Mr Putin served as
Russia's president between 2000 and
May this year, but was forced to
shoehorn Mr Medvedev, long his protege,
into his job because of a
constitutional provision that barred him
from serving more than two
consecutive four-year terms.
Since May, Mr Putin has
been Russia's prime minister, but many
believe he
remains the country's most powerful man
and are convinced that Mr Medvedev
is little more than a
cipher.
Speculation abounded last
year that Mr Medvedev would be little more than a
stopgap leader who would step down
once he had extended presidential term
limits and undertaken potentially
unpopular social reforms that could have
undermined Mr Putin's
popularity.
A spokesman for Mr Putin
denied that there were any plans for an
election next year but
refused to comment on whether or not the
ex-KGB spy had ambitions to return
to his old job.
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November 7 - Axis of evil countries "open" to Obama. Al Qaeda calls upon him to convert to Islam
Article: Misc
Comment from UTT:
It
is interesting to see how the news is
reported outside North America
regarding the election of a new president
for the United States of America.
Tehran (AsiaNews/Agencies) -
From axis of evil countries comes partial
openness to American
president-elect Barack Obama, who is being asked to
disown the stance adopted in foreign
policy by his predecessor, George Bush.
A fundamentalist group connected to Al
Qaeda instead calls upon Obama and
Christian countries to "convert to
Islam."
On Thursday, November 6, the
official news agency Irna published
a text in which Iranian president Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad
congratulates Barack Obama for his
success in the election, and calls upon
the new U.S. head of state for
"fundamental and fair" changes in foreign
policy, characterized by
"noninterference" in the domestic affairs of
other
countries.
It is
the first message of
congratulations that an Iranian
leader has sent to a newly elected
American president since 1979, the
year of the Khomeini revolution, with the
ascent to power of the ayatollahs.
For almost 30 years, the two countries
have not had official diplomatic
relations, and George W. Bush has
repeatedly included
Iran on the list of countries that are part of
the so-called "axis of
evil."
"Convert to Islam" is the
message that the leaders of Al Qaeda have issued
"to the new leaders of the White
House and their allies among Christian
countries." The text is signed
by Abu Omar al Baghdad, an association
of terrorist groups guided by the Iraqi
branch of Al Qaeda.
Partial openness to the
new American president is also coming
from North Korea, which says
it is ready to "sign agreements"
with the new U.S. administration. "We will
have dialogue if (the US) seeks
dialogue." A newspaper connected to
the Pyongyang regime, printed in Japan,
also emphasizes the
"the new
phase" into which the Korean Peninsula has
entered, and invites the new Obama
administration "to put behind it the
errors of the governments that preceded
it."
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November 7 - Turkish Village Slaughters 44 Sheep for 44th U.S. President-Elect
Article: Misc
Comment
from
UTT:
Presidential news from Turkey
for westerners to think about.
ANKARA, Turkey - Residents
of a mainly Kurdish village in southeastern
Turkey have
sacrificed 44 sheep
to celebrate the election of
Barack Obama as the 44th president of
the United States.
Dogan news agency video
Friday shows villagers in Cavustepe
village, in the province of Van, bordering
Iran,
holding Obama
posters smeared with blood. In
overwhelmingly Muslim Turkey, the practice is
believed to protect people or property from
bad luck.
The posters read
"you are one of
us" and "we
love you."
Abdulkerim Kulaz of
Cavustepe village says Obama's election and
his Muslim ancestry
have excited the villagers. Kulaz says
Obama's election was a
"proof of an end to racism in the
world."
Turkey is a close U.S.
ally.
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November 6 - Pope emphasizes necessity of human dignity for Catholic-Muslim dialogue
Article: One World Religion
Comment from
UTT:
Is it
possible for Islam and Christianity to work together for
a
common future as the present pope has
stated in the following
article?
While working together for the cause of good may be a
noble
effort, the Bible teaches the way to eternity is a narrow
road
and only through the shed blood of Jesus. Islam does
not
believe
that Jesus is the Son of God who died for our
sins.
Can
this message which is the heart and core of
Christianity be
compromised for the sake of peace. Not
according to Scripture.
Vatican City, Nov 6,
2008 / 11:37 am (CNA).-
The inaugural
Catholic-Muslim Forum reached its culmination today
with Pope
Benedict XVI emphasizing that
"only
by starting with the
recognition of the centrality of the person and
the dignity of each
human being" will Catholics and
Muslims find
common ground for building a "more fraternal
world."
Over the past two days,
Muslim and
Catholic leaders have discussed the theme
"Love of God,
Love of
Neighbor" from two main standpoints:
"theological
and spiritual fundamentals" and "the
dignity of the
human person
and mutual respect."
"I was pleased
to learn,"
Pope Benedict
said, "that you were able
at
this meeting to
adopt a common position on the need to worship God
totally and to love
our fellow men and women disinterestedly,
especially those in
distress and need. God calls us to work
together on behalf
of the victims of disease, hunger, poverty,
injustice and
violence." In addition, the Holy Father described
how
"for
Christians the love of God is inseparably bound to the
love ...
of all men and
women, without distinction of race and culture. ...
The Muslim
tradition is also quite clear in encouraging practical
commitment in
serving the most needy."
At the same time,
Benedict
XVI stressed that,
"Only by starting with the recognition of the
centrality of the
person and the dignity of each human being,
respecting and
defending life which is the gift of God,
and is thus sacred
for Christians and for Muslims alike - only on
the basis of this
recognition, can we find a common
ground for building
a more fraternal world, a world in which
confrontations and
differences are peacefully settled, and the
devastating power
of ideologies is neutralized."
The Pope also
lambasted
the way that
religion is robbed of its credibility when it is
coupled with
violence. "God's name can
only be
a name of peace
and fraternity, justice and love. We are
challenged to
demonstrate, by our words and above all by our
deeds,
that
the message of our religions is
unfailingly a
message of
harmony and mutual understanding. It
is
essential that we
do so, lest we weaken the credibility and the
effectiveness not
only of our dialogue, but also of our religions
themselves."
Concluding his
address
Pope Benedict
reaffirmed the efforts of the Catholic-Muslim Forum
saying, "let us unite our efforts,
animated by
good will, in order
to overcome all misunderstanding and
disagreements.
Let us resolve to overcome past prejudices and to
correct the often
distorted images of the other which even today can
create difficulties
in our relations; let us work with one another
to educate all
people, especially the young, to build a
common
future."
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October 28 - Russia determined to broaden interaction with Islamic world - Medvedev
Article: Misc
Comment
from
UTT:
Note that Russia plans to work
together and to
broaden relations
with the Islamic world in the future. What impact
will this have on
the little country of Israel?
Moscow,
October 28,
Interfax - President Dmitry Medvedev has sent
greetings
to the fourth
meeting of the Russia - Islamic World strategic
vision group in
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, the Kremlin reported on
Tuesday.
"Russia's developing
cooperation with the
Islamic states
remains highly dynamic. Your Group is playing no
small part in
this," Medvedev writes.
"Russia, a
country with observer status in the Organization of the
Islamic
Conference, intends to abide firmly to its course
to expand active
interaction with the Islamic world. I think in
connection with
this, that a broad discussion of the initiative to
further develop
interregional dialogue, proposed by King Abdallah
bin Abd al-Aziz Al
Saudi of Saudi Arabia, is of crucial importance,
taking into account
a significant role the religious factor is
playing in
international affairs," he said.
"I am also
convinced, that the implementation of
the Russia-proposed idea of forming
a
consultative
council of religions under UN aegis, will help
strengthen the
moral principles of world politics, facilitate deeper
inter-confessional
communication and, in a broader context,
promote the
dialogue of civilizations,"
the
Russian president
writes.
"The illusion of the uni-polar world is
becoming a thing
of the past in front of our eyes. Forums like yours
can contribute
significantly to the search for
ways to make the situation in the
world
healthier and to
attain a new level of global
partnership,"
Medvedev
said.
"I am
convinced that Russia's active
interaction with the
Islamic world will help build a
fairer system of
international relations, where the
factor of force will
finally stop playing the role of universal
instrument of
settling all emerging problems," he
said.
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November 9 - Farrakhan Says Obama Presidency Will Bring 'New Beginning'
Article: Misc
Comment from
UTT:
In
the past,
Farrakhan has promoted President elect Obama as
"the
Messiah" the
world has been waiting for.
Nation of Islam Minister
Louis Farrakhan
says the U.S. can expect a
"new
beginning" under the leadership of President-
elect Barack
Obama.The
75-year-old is
scheduled to make a speech on that topic Sunday at
Mosque Maryam,
the Chicago-based movement's
headquarters.
The address is
called
"America's
New Beginning: President-elect Barack
Obama."
Farrakhan has
praised Obama and publicly supported his bid for the
White
House, which Obama's campaign quickly
denounced.
In February,
Farrakhan
called Obama the "hope of the entire
world"
that the U.S. will
change for the better at a Chicago Saviours' Day
event.
Obama rejected
Farrakhan's
support because
of past comments the minister has made that many
have considered
offensive.
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We hope the Weekly News In Review has been a
blessing to you.
Sincerely,
Roger Oakland
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