Wishing you all a Merry Christmas!
READERS CAN FIND MY VIEWS ON ABUSE AND ABUSE-RELATED ISSUES AT ANNA WALDHERR A Voice Reclaimed, Surviving Child Abuse
https://avoicereclaimed.com
Comparison between Cobbe portrait, Chandos portrait, and Droeshout engraving of William Shakespeare, Source http://shakespeareportrait.freehosting.net/index.html, Author Brice Stratford (PD)
The spiritual will of John Shakespeare – William Shakespeare’s father – has long been among the evidence strongly suggesting that William Shakespeare was raised a Catholic [1][2][3]. Multiple eminent scholars have affirmed this including EK Chambers, GB Harrison, John Henry de Groot, and Edmond Malone [4].
The handwritten will was found in 1757 during renovation of the home in which William Shakespeare was born. It is thought to have been written around 1581, when William Shakespeare was 17 y.o.
The will, itself, is a declaration of faith, expressing the strong desire to receive the Last Rites and die a Catholic in good conscience. It was a crime in Elizabethan England punishable by death to harbor a priest within one’s home. Consequently, there was every likelihood a priest would not be available at the time of a believer’s death.
Charles Borromeo
In 1923, a scholar discovered a comparable spiritual testament attributed to Cardinal Charles Borromeo, a central figure at the Council of Trent (1545-1563) and Counter-Reformation reformer [5][6][7][8]. In fact, the spiritual will of John Shakespeare corresponds phrase for phrase with Borromeo’s Testament of the Soul (Il Testamento dell’Anima ) from the middle of Item 3 to the end.
Borromeo was initially thought to have authored the Testament of the Soul in response to a plague which killed some 17,000 in Milan between 1576-1578. Because of the large number of deaths, priests were not often available to provide Last Rites. The Testament of the Soul would have been a way to circumvent this.
Actually, an earlier version of Barromeo’s Testament of the Soul (dated December 1560 with his own name on it) was listed among his possessions at the time of his death. The same form may have been revised and re-used during the plague in Milan. Read more…
High-resolution, near-infrared image of vertical cloud known as L483 captured by NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope, Source Actively forming star system Lynds 483 (NIRCam image) https://esawebb.org/images/weic2503a, Author NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI (CC Attribution 4.0 International)
“Beauty is truth, truth beauty,” – that is all Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.”
—Ode on a Grecian Urn, John Keats [1]
In his Ode on a Grecian Urn the poet John Keats examined the relationship of beauty in art, nature, and human experience to truth.
Keat raised the profound question of whether beauty and truth are subjective or objective. Since the Enlightenment and more so in the postmodern world, the belief has been that beauty is merely a matter of taste and objective truth entirely unknowable.
But that has not always been the case.
Plato identified a just community as one living in harmony with objective reality, and in accord with eternal beauty, truth, and goodness.
“He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts…” (Eccl. 3: 11).
Many Scriptures demonstrate God’s concern for beauty. That concern is reflected in the creation, the building of the temple, and descriptions of the new heavens and new earth. Moreover, God made mankind to experience and appreciate beauty. We need only look up at the stars to recognize this. Read more…
“The Rich Man and the Poor Lazarus” by Henrick ter Brugghen (1625), Centraal Museum (Accession No. 11241), Netherlands, Source/Photographer https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/nwGdfR1Asi9YSQ, (PD)
“There’s a place in the world for the angry young man
With his working class ties and his radical plans
He refuses to bend, he refuses to crawl
And he’s always at home with his back to the wall
And he’s proud of his scars and the battles he’s lost
And he struggles and bleeds as he hangs on his cross
And he likes to be known as the angry young man”— “Angry Young Man”, Billy Joel
The plight of the poor should concern anyone with a conscience. But the means available to alleviate that plight – or purportedly alleviate it – are not all equally valid in the eyes of God.
Conflict
The activist Saul Alinsky has been lionized by the political left (even in Christian circles) as a champion for the poor and disenfranchised [1][2].
Alinsky emphasized community organization and conflict as key strategies for social justice. But he advocated the use of any means necessary to achieve the ends he considered laudable – means which included deceit, fraud, and character assassination, in an effort to motivate the “have-nots” and demonize his adversaries.
Alinsky began his best-known work, Rules for Radicals, with the following statement:
“Lest we forget at least an over-the-shoulder acknowledgment to the very first radical: from all our legends, mythology, and history…the first radical known to man who rebelled against the establishment and did it so effectively that he at least won his own kingdom – Lucifer.”
In an interview with Playboy Magazine, he stated:
“Hell would be heaven for me. All my life I’ve been with the have-nots. Over here, if you’re a have-not, you’re short of dough. If you’re a have-not in hell, you’re short of virtue. Once I get into hell, I’ll start organizing the have-nots over there [3].”
These remarks may sound clever to some, cheeky. But they are extremely revealing.
Satan, the Father of Lies, is motivated by pride and an icy hatred of mankind. Alinsky, too, was motivated by hatred, in his case for all those he viewed as unjust. But it is a lie that we must be motivated by hate to overcome injustice. Read more…
Euripides, Louvre Museum (Accession No. Ma 343 – LL 15), Paris, France, Source/Author Jastrow (PD)
The great tragedian Euripides, now acclaimed worldwide, was not beloved in Athens during his lifetime [1][2A]. He held a mirror up to society, exposing its many flaws rather than glorifying its achievements.
Ancient Athens is today lauded as the cradle of democracy, much as America (actually a republic) is celebrated as its powerful proponent. But Athenian democracy lasted only around 200 years, and was restricted to free males over the age of 18 [3][4]. Women and slaves (who outnumbered citizens) had no voice.
Like modern day America, Athens was beset by political turmoil, social discontent, and vehement debates about everything under the sun. Athens had endured military defeats, and a plague. But the city still believed itself chosen by the gods to reign over the world. Read more…
“Guernica” by Pablo Picasso (1937), Museo Reina Sofia, Madrid, Spain, Source https://www.wikiart.org, Copyright © Pablo Picasso
Pablo Picasso painted “Guernica” both to memorialize civilians massacred by German Nazis and Italian Fascists during the strafing and bombing which destroyed a small town by that name during the Spanish Civil War, and to protest the atrocities of war [1][2]. Sadly, Guernica was far from the last such destruction.
Indeed, another genocide is in progress in Sudan…the second there in our lifetimes [3][4A].
Background
A military coup in 1989 destroyed democracy in Sudan, with dictator Omar al-Bashir suspending the constitution and dissolving parliament [4B]. A 30 year reign under strict Sharia Law, countless human rights abuses, and a 22 year civil war followed.
Infrastructure (including the country’s critical oil pipeline) was decimated by scorched earth tactics on all sides during this time. As a result, the country’s economy cratered. All the while, safe haven was given to terrorist organizations like Al-Queda and ISIS.
After the bloodless removal of al-Bashir by the military in 2019, inflation increased by 300%. Another coup followed in 2021. However, the authoritarian structures al-Bashir had put in place remained. A second civil war then broke out in 2023 after a power struggle within the military government.
Humanitarian Crisis and War Crimes
Millions are helpless victims of the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, as the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) now wrestle over territory. The RSF, it should be noted, is linked to human rights violations such as the systematic murder of men and boys (including infants) on an ethnic basis, and the use of rape as a weapon of war [4C][5]. These are nothing less than war crimes.
Some 24.6 million face starvation; 19 million lack safe water; 12 million have been displaced [6][7A]. The horrors being perpetrated parallel the pattern in Darfur 20 years ago [7B]. As many as 150,000 have already been killed in this second brutal civil war [4D]. Some believe that total may be as high as 400,000 [8]. Read more…
Architectural model of Abrahamic Family House, Abu Dhabi, Author US Embassy Jerusalem, (Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic)
Chrislam is a syncretic religion which combines the teachings and practices of the Abrahamic faiths of Christianity and Islam [1][2A].
Chrislam represents an attempt to bridge the gap between Christianity and Islam. The goal (laudable on its face, but misleading) is to build tolerance, trust, and mutual understanding, in order to foster peace and justice [3].
Historically, Chrislam arose in Nigeria in the 1970s. The God of the Judeo-Christian Bible and the Allah of the Quran are considered to be the same deity by Chrislam.
Consequently, Chrislam recognizes both the Bible and Quran as holy books, and reads from both during services. Both Christian and Muslim holidays are celebrated equally, including Eid al-Adha, a feast commemorating Abraham’s supposed sacrifice of his son Ishmael at Allah’s command (a false claim) [4A].
Syncretic Religions
Other examples of syncretic religions include Santeria which blends West African Yoruba traditions with Catholicism; Rastafarianism which combines Christianity with Ethiopianism and pan-Africanism; and Unitarian Universalism which combines elements of Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, paganism, humanism, and other belief systems.
The House of One in Berlin has three separate sections under a single roof where worshipers can pray (a church, a mosque, and a synagogue) [4B]. These are linked by a communal room where worshipers and members of the public can come together, and learn more about one another.
The Abrahamic Family House in Abu Dhabi has a comparable arrangement, with a courtyard between buildings. Read more…
Prison Bars, Author Michael Coghlan of Adelaide Australia, (CC BY-SA 2.0 Generic)
The Marshall Project is a non-profit news organization covering the US criminal justice system [1]. Its purpose is to raise awareness about the system’s failings, and promote a more fair, effective, and humane system through journalism.
Death in Custody Data
The Death in Custody Reporting Act (DCRA) mandates that the Dept. of Justice collect information from the states about everyone who dies in law enforcement custody. Before 2000, such data was not systematically tracked by the federal government.
Unfortunately, there are still flaws in the system.
The Marshall Project earlier this year identified by name 681 individuals who died in law enforcement custody, but were not present in the database [2A]. Read more…
“The Witch of Endor – Ghost of Samuel Appearing to Saul” by William Blake (c. 1800), National Gallery of Art, Source https://www.nga.gov/artworks/11498-ghost-samuel-appearing-saul#inscription, (PD)
With Halloween approaching, our thoughts are likely to turn to candied apples, witches, ghosts, and goblins. But the Bible takes witchcraft very seriously as a dark art, a means of contacting the spirit world that unleashes demonic forces.
“You shall not permit a sorceress to live” (Ex. 22: 18).
“‘You shall not eat anything with the blood, nor shall you practice divination or soothsaying’” (Lev. 19: 26).
“‘A man or a woman who is a medium, or who has familiar spirits, shall surely be put to death; they shall stone them with stones. Their blood shall be upon them’” (Lev. 20: 27).
“There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer” (Deut. 18: 10).
“Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred…and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God” (Gal. 5: 19-21).
“But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death” (Rev. 21: 8).
Witchcraft is condemned in both the Old and New Testaments. It was considered on a par with the sin of sacrificing a child to the god Molech in a gruesome ceremony during which the child was burned alive. That correlation has not changed. Read more…
Rebecca Nurse House, Danvers, MA, Source “Witchcraft Illustrated” by Henrietta D. Kimball, Geo. A. Kimball, Publisher, Boston, 1892, Author Henrietta D. Kimball (PD)
WARNING: Graphic Images
Historically speaking, widespread witch hunts took place between 1500 AD and 1650 AD [1A][2][3]. Across Europe, an estimated 100,000 people (the vast majority of them women, most over the age of 40) were tried for the crime of witchcraft, with some 50,000 convicted and brutally executed [1B][4]. Common methods included hanging, burning at the stake, drowning, and pressing to death with heavy stones [5].
Fortune Telling and Herbal Medicine
A belief in the occult had existed since antiquity. Magic was an attempt to harness unseen forces. Astrology, palm reading, and divination were popular in the Middle Ages [1D]. Fortune telling was common as were binding spells dealing with relationships [1E].
At a time when medicine was in its infancy, charms were often combined with prayers and herbal remedies, in a genuine (if misguided) attempt to help the sick or infertile.
The Little Ice Age
“Social and economic problems, changes to the legal system, and religious upheaval all served as necessary preconditions for the age of witch-hunts [1C].”
Perhaps not coincidentally, the witch hunts occurred during the heart of what is known as the “Little Ice Age” (c. 1300 AD – 1850 AD), when cooling temperatures in Europe and elsewhere impacted crops, resulting in famines, food riots, social upheaval, and mass migrations [6].
Confessions by Torture
In the face of these challenges, concern developed that Satan might recruit individuals to undermine society. Witchcraft was consequently outlawed.
Tragically, that occurred just as the secular legal system was placing greater emphasis on confessions, often gained through torture [1F]. The illicit motives of informers (revenge, jealousy, greed, etc.) and misogynistic tendencies of judges were rarely taken into account. Read more…
A Lawyer's Prayers 