Roman Catholic Church grabs chance to attack birth control pill

Viagra scientist Dr. Simon Campbell and the "father of the pill" Dr. Carl Djerassi (hungarian-born) pictured in front of Damien Hirst's Virgin Mother artwork at Burlington House, London.

Roman Catholic Church grabs chance

to attack birth control pill

Guradian.co.uk. , Wednesday 7 January 2009

Roman Catholic leaders have pounced on a „confession” by one of the inventors of the birth control pill who has said the contraceptive he helped create was responsible for a „demographic catastrophe”.

In an article published by the Vatican this week, the head of the world’s Roman Catholic doctors broadened the attack on the pill, claiming it had also brought „devastating ecological effects” by releasing into the environment „tons of hormones” that had impaired male fertility.

The assault began with a personal commentary in the Austrian newspaper Der Standard by 85-year-old Carl Djerassi. The Austrian chemist was one of three whose formulation of the synthetic progestogen Norethisterone marked a key step towards the earliest oral contraceptive pill.

Djerassi outlined the „horror scenario” that occurred because of the population imbalance, for which his invention was partly to blame. He said that in most of Europe there was now „no connection at all between sexuality and reproduction”. He said: „This divide in Catholic Austria, a country which has on average 1.4 children per family, is now complete.”

He described families who had decided against reproduction as „wanting to enjoy their schnitzels while leaving the rest of the world to get on with it”.

The fall in the birth rate, he said, was an „epidemic” far worse – but given less attention – than obesity. Young Austrians, he said, were committing national suicide if they failed to procreate. And if it were not possible to reverse the population decline they would have to understand the necessity of an „intelligent immigration policy”.

The head of Austria’s Catholics, Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, told an interviewer that the Vatican had forecast 40 years ago that the pill would lead to a dramatic fall in the birth rate in the west. „Somebody above suspicion like Carl Djerassi … is saying that each family has to produce three children to maintain population levels, but we’re far away from that.”

Schönborn told Austrian TV that when he first read Pope Paul VI’s 1968 encyclical condemning artificial contraception he viewed it negatively as a „cold shower”. But he said he had altered his views as, over time, it had proved „prophetic”.

Writing for the Vatican daily, L’Osservatore Romano, the president of the World Federation of Catholic Medical Associations, José María Simón, said research from his association also showed the pill „worked in many cases with a genuinely … abortive effect”.

Angelo Bonelli, of the Italian Green party, said it was the first he had heard of a link between the pill and environmental pollution. The worst of poisons were to be found in the water supply. „It strikes me as idiosyncratic to be worried about this.”

A leading gynaecologist and member of the New York Academy of Science, professor Gian Benedetto Melis, called Simón’s claims „science fiction”, saying that the pill blocked ovulation only.

source> http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jan/07/catholic-church-birth-control-pill

photo>http://www.rsc.org/AboutUs/News/PressReleases/2006/greatideas.asp

 

Atheist buses denying God’s existence take to Britain streets

Atheist buses denying God’s existence take to Britain streets

Telegraph.co.uk., 07 Jan 2009

:: Atheist adverts declaring that „there’s probably no God” have been placed on 800 buses around Britain after an unprecedented fundraising campaign. ::

Organisers originally hoped to put the message on just a handful of London buses, as an antidote to posters put up by religious groups which they claimed were „threatening eternal damnation” to non-believers.

But after the campaign received high-profile support from the prominent atheist Prof Richard Dawkins and the British Humanist Association, the modest £5,500 target was met within minutes and more than £140,000 has now been donated since the launch in October.

Enough money has now been raised to place the message – „There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life” – on 200 bendy buses in the capital for a month, with the first ones taking to the streets .

A further 600 buses carrying the adverts will be seen by passengers and passers-by in cities across England, Wales and Scotland, from Aberdeen and Dundee to York, Coventry, Swansea and Bristol.

In addition, two large LCD screens bearing the atheist message have been placed in Oxford Street, central London, while 1,000 posters containing quotes from well-known non-believers will be placed on Underground trains for two weeks starting on Monday.

They feature lines doubting the existence of God, and celebrating the natural world, written by Albert Einstein, Katharine Hepburn, Douglas Adams and Emily Dickinson.

It is the first ever atheist advertising campaign to take place in Britain, and similar adverts are now also running on public transport in America and Spain.

Ariane Sherine, a writer who first thought of the atheist bus adverts, said: „You wait ages for an atheist bus, then 800 come along at once. I hope they will brighten people’s days and make them smile on their way to work.”

The campaign has even been welcomed by religious groups for increasing the profile of debate about faith, and although there was tight security outside the launch event by the Royal Albert Hall, the campaigners have not received any threats from fundamentalists.

Paul Woolley, director of Theos, a theology think tank which donated £50 to the cause, said: „The posters will encourage people to consider the most important question we will ever face in our lives.”

Some atheist supporters of the campaign were disappointed that the wording of the adverts did not declare categorically that God does not exist, although there were fears that this could break advertising guidelines.

Prof Dawkins, the renowned evolutionary biologist and author of The God Delusion, said: „I wanted something stronger but with hindsight I think it’s probably a good thing because it makes people think. It’s just food for thought – people will have conversations in pubs when they see these buses.”

Hanne Stinson, chief executive of the British Humanist Association, said the adverts were „overwhelmingly positive” and were intended to reassure agnostics and atheists that there is nothing wrong with not believing in God.

The campaign's modest £5,500 target was met within minutes and more than £140,000 has now been donated. Photo PA

source> http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/4141765/Atheist-buses-denying-Gods-existence-take-to-streets.html

photo> http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/picturesoftheday/4160159/Pictures-of-the-day-7-January-2009.html?image=22

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1106924/Theres-probably-God–stop-worrying-enjoy-life-Atheist-group-launches-billboard-campaign.html

 

Curge apa sfintita la robinet, in Timisoara

Curge apa sfintita la robinet, in Timisoara

:: Vrei nu vrei, bea Grigore agheasma! Zicatoarea se potriveste manusa oricarui timisorean, intrucat Bega a fost sfintita astazi! Asadar, apa care curge acum la robinetii din casele timisorenilor s-a transformat in agheasma. ::

Ca in fiecare an de Boboteaza, la Uzina de Apa din Plopi s-a tinut o slujba speciala, iar preotul a sfintit apele, pentru ca locuitorii orasului sa fie feriti de necazuri.

Aquatim a facut o adevarata traditie din acest moment. Angajatii Statiei de tratare a apei nr. 1 din Timisoara au primit si ei binecuvantarea preotului.

In ziua de Boboteaza, in comunitati de pretutindeni au loc astfel de slujbe de sfintire a apei.

sursa> http://www.agenda.ro/news/news/14771/curge-apa-sfintita-la-robinet-in-timisoara.html

Nota> sunt doua intrebarile care imi vin in gand in timp ce postez aceasta stire> prima este ridicata de catre un comentator ‘Anonim’ care se intreaba retoric, si eu cu el: „nu stiu cit de crestineasca este folosirea apei sfintite la toaleta…”, iar la a doua cred ca este vorba mai mult de pronia lui Dumnezeu, ce se revarsa peste toti timisorenii, de la Vladica pan’ la opinca,  spre curatire sufleteasca, intarire intru credinta si, cum spune in rugaciunea de la sfintirea apei intru Agheazma (Mare), spre „aratarea biruintei Ortodoxiei”.

O stire (vezi mai jos) ce arata starea poporului asteaptand inghesuit sa ia agheazma de la Catedrala Mitropolitana, unde Ps. Paisie Lugojeanul a slujit slujba sfintirii apei intru Agheazma (prietenii stiu de ce), ne ofera, intr-o parabola de zile mari,  paradoxul romanului de rand, care isi da coate pentru a inainta un pas inainte spre capul cozii sa apuce un litru de Agheazma, cand, de fapt, prin fapta preotul prezentata mai sus, belsugul e in casa lor, izvorand direct de la… robinet.

Exista si un risc, ca lumea sa nu mai ia Agheazma din butoaiele din fata Catedralei, ci sa stea acasa confortabil, deschizand numai robinetul.  Mantuirea e gratis si e pentru toti. Este si asta o forma de departare de biserica, insa la romani te poti astepta de la orice.

dan.camen.

Apa sfinţită, păzită de jandarmi, la Catedrala Mitropolitană

Câteva mii de credincioşi au format mai multe cozi la Catedrala Mitropolitană din Timişoara pentru a lua apă sfinţită, de Bobotează. Preoţii au pregătit butoaie cu 2.000 de litri de aghiasmă, dar pe seară, apa se terminase. Oricum, apa de la robinet a fost sfinţită la prânz, de către un preot care a mers la Uzina de Apă. Tradiţia cu sfinţirea apei care va curge prin robinetele timişorenilor durează de mai mulţi ani. Cel care a sfinţit apa a fost preotul ortodox Zaharia Pereş.

La Catedrală, cozile au fost supravegheate de poliţie şi jandarmi, după ce oamenii s-au înghesuit să ajungă la butoaie.

sursa> http://www.banateanul.ro/ultima-ora/apa-sfintita-pazita-de-jandarmi-la-catedrala-mitropolitana-37075

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Fotografii de la sfintirea apei Bega la Uzina de Apa din Plopi

foto> http://www.agenda.ro/news/images/14771/1/curge-apa-sfintita-la-robinet-in-timisoara.html?id=50096

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Fotografii de la Catedrala Mitropolitana

din Timisoara de Boboteaza 2009

foto> http://www.agenda.ro/news/images/14763/2/scandal-la-apa-sfintita-de-la-catedrala.html?id=50049

 

Munţii Făgăraş: ‘Tradiţionala’ sfinţire în spirit ecumenist a bisericii de gheaţă de la Bâlea Lac

Munţii Făgăraş: ‘Tradiţionala’ sfinţire în spirit ecumenist

a bisericii de gheaţă de la Bâlea Lac

Singura biserică de gheaţă din România, cea de la Bâlea Lac, aflată la peste 2.000 de metri altitudine, în Munţii Făgăraş, a fost sfinţită marţi de trei prelaţi de la cultele romano-catolic, greco-catolic şi evanghelic, a anunţat constructorul bisericii, primarul oraşului Avrig, Arnold Klingeiss.

„Am mai fost în biserici de gheaţă, în Italia. Am fost azi fraţi întru credinţă, aici în această biserică. Suntem într-o perioadă în care Dumnezeu ne vrea mai buni, mai toleranţi”, a declarat unul dintre prelaţi, Ioan Ştefan Crişan, preot greco-catolic.

La slujba ecumenică nu a fost prezent, nici în acest an, vreun preot ortodox. Mitropolitul Ardealului, ÎPS Laurenţiu Streza consideră inoportun faptul ca un preot creştin ortodox să oficieze slujbe într-o biserică care se va topi.

Arnold Klingeiss, constructorul bisericii pentru al treilea an consecutiv, a precizat, marţi, ca deja au fost anunţate două cupluri care doresc să îşi boteze copiii în biserica de gheaţă.

Pentru construcţia bisericii de gheaţă au fost necesare câteva tone de gheaţă luate din lacul Bâlea. Clădirea inedită, cu o suprafaţă de 40 de mp, a fost ridicată în zece zile, având altarul format dintr-o sculptură în gheaţă, care Îl înfăţişează pe Iisus răstignit pe cruce. În biserica de gheaţă încap maxim 30 de enoriaşi.

sursa> http://www.antena3.ro/stiri/romania/sibiu-biserica-de-gheata-romaneasca-de-la-balea-lac-sfintita_61520.html

Nota> sublinierile si boldirea textului imi apartin. In primul rand o biserica, la ortodocsi (si la catolici si greco-catolici), este sfintita de  un ierarh, nu de un preot, astfel ca intrebarea pusa Inaltpreasfintitului Laurentiu il viza direct pe dansul, nu pe preotul ortodox din acea zona. Raspunsul dat de Ips. Laurentiu este unul oficial si evaziv, insa nedeplin dpdv. ortodox.

Si trainicia constructiei este un element important in vederea sfintirii, dar mai cu seama credinta in numele caruia este ridicata acea biserica> „Este un Domn, o credinta, un botez”. *(Epistola catre Efeseni 4, 5). Apoi, pe baza acestei credinte este sfintita biserica, dar nu prin reprezentantii a trei sau patru culte, iar aceia preoti. Este un ghiveci, este forma din ce in ce mai fatisa a miscarii ecumeniste ce ia amploare in spatiul Ortodoxiei romanesti. Este contra invataturii Mantuitorului si a sfintilor sai ucenici si apostoli aratata in cuvantul de mai sus.

Daca acele doua cupluri isi vor boteza copiii in acel iglu cu cruce deasupra, va veni si vremea intrebarii retorice, pe care mai devreme sau mai tarziu, dupa ce se vor ‘dezgheta’ la minte, acei parinti si-o vor pune> intru ce credinta ne-am botezat copilul?… caci ce fel de botez este acela savarsit de trei preoti si pastori laolata proveniti de la trei ‘credinte’ diferite.

Acesta este rodul indiferentismului religios actual din Romania, parte a secularizarii tot mai acute, ce duce la gasirea unor noi forme ‘cool’  si ‘la moda’ de manifestare religioasa.

dan.camen.

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Fotografii din ‘bisericuta’ de gheata – ianuarie 2008

foto> http://schi-romania.blogspot.com/2008/01/biserica-de-ghea-de-la-blea-lac-fost.html (tot aici gasiti si amanunte legate de sfintirea din ianuarie 2008 a ‘bisericutei’ de gheata)