Orwellian Revelation

Almost 70 years after George Orwell created the all-seeing dictator Big Brother in the novel ``1984,'' Britons are being watched as never before. About 4.2 million spy cameras film each citizen 300 times a day, and police have built the world's largest DNA database. Prime Minister Tony Blair said all Britons should carry biometric identification cards to help fight the war on terror. During the past decade, the government has spent 500 million pounds ($1 billion) on spy cameras and now has one for every 14 citizens, according to a September report prepared for Information Commissioner Richard Thomas by the Surveillance Studies Network, a panel of U.K. academics.

By 2016, there will be cameras using facial recognition technology embedded in lampposts, according to the Surveillance Studies report. Unmanned spy planes will monitor the movements of citizens, while criminals and the elderly will be implanted with microchips to track their movements, the report says. Most controversial of all are Blair's biometric ID cards linked to a national register holding every citizen's fingerprints, iris or face scan. Starting in 2010, anyone renewing or applying for a passport will have to get one.

• JJ Commentary: Forget about Orwell. These are direct indicators of the New World (Dis)Order creating the end-time one-world government prophesied by Jesus in the Revelation 13.

No Amnesty for Senator McCain

The latest scuttlebutt on Capitol Hill is that Senator John McCain (R-AZ) and his friend Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) are planning to introduce a new immigration bill that is even more liberal than their past "amnesty" bill. They're calling it a fast-track to citizenship for illegal aliens. US Border Patrol agents haven't been happy with Senator John McCain (R-AZ) since he voted for the first Amnesty Bill (S. 2611). And they're not being quiet about their collective anger over the senator's actions and remarks.

But, according to members of the agents' union local 2544, Senator McCain has never been a friend to rank-and-file Border Patrol agents. Local 2544 represents US Border Patrol agents in Arizona, McCain's home state. "He routinely ignores correspondence from Border Patrol agents and often gives the impression that he is just too big and too important to deal with us," they said. "He attempts to undermine our mission at every turn and actively supports the criminals who violate our laws. He always trys to downplay the fact that illegal aliens knowingly and willingly violate our laws, and he is a close ally on immigration matters with Senator Ted Kennedy, who we believe is the biggest disgrace of all time in the United States Senate."

• JJ Commentary: Senator McCain would be the worst possible choice for President. Not only is he weak on immigration, he is also weak on abortion, marriage and other evangelical issues

Procreative Idiocy

A 67-year-old Spanish woman became the world's oldest mother after she gave birth to twins in the northern city of Barcelona on Saturday, a hospital official said. The woman, whose identity has not been revealed by Sant Pau hospital, gave birth by caesarian section on Saturday having previously undergone in vitro fertilization in the United States, according to the national news agency EFE. The previous holder of the oldest mother record was 66-year-old Romanian citizen Adriana Iliescu who gave birth to baby Eliza Maria in Jan. 2005.

• JJ Commentary: Giving human beings god-like control over procreation opens the door to all kinds of stupid, if not immoral, acts. Pity these twins. When they turn 13 their mother will be 80, if still alive.

Politically Correct Religion

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has sent a message to Pope Benedict XVI urging greater understanding between religions. Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki arrived in the Vatican City Wednesday to deliver in person Ahmadinejad's message, his latest letter in a series of missives to world leaders, the official news agency IRNA reported. "President Ahmadinejad insisted in his letter on the common teachings of the prophets and the importance of establishing new political and human relations based on those teachings. "The unjust relations that exist at the moment require the cooperation of different religions to remedy them," Jahandideh quoted the letter as saying.

• JJ Commentary: This from someone who threatens to annihilate the Jews. However, this is the mantra of the New World (Dis)Order who want to establish a politically correct one-world religion that is “inclusive” and “tolerant.” Christianity is exclusive. Jesus is the “way” and the only way

Santa Replaces Christ

ANKARA, Turkey — Some residents of a Turkish town were horrified by the decision to install a Santa Claus statue, replete with cotton-candy beard and red-and-white outfit, in place of a more solemn sculpture of St. Nicholas that was a gift from the Orthodox Christian community, and featured him with a halo and an open bible. St. Nicholas served as bishop of Demre in the 4th century A.D. From there, the legend of his generosity spread around the world and became interwoven with mythical stories of the jolly gift-bringer. For many Orthodox Christian Russians, St. Nicholas is an object of deep veneration rather than the father Christmas known to millions around the world.

The Santa character later took on the white beard of the pagan god Odin and Odin's eight-legged flying horse became eight reindeer. The ability to enter houses down the chimney comes from an old Norse legend, and the tradition of leaving him cookies and milk is derived from a medieval German tale. In the 12th century, French nuns began to give gifts in St. Nicholas' name on his feast day, Dec. 6. St. Nicholas gift-giving was later blended with the three wise men bearing gifts for the newborn Jesus and associated with Christmas. The image of today's Santa is a product of Coca-Cola commercials in the 1930s. And Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer, was created for an ad campaign for the Montgomery Ward department store chain.

Less than half of British children between the ages of seven and 11 are aware that Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus, according to a BBC poll published on Tuesday. Just 44% of 1,063 children questioned understood that Christmas returns each year for the birth of Christ. Among the children questioned, 29% said Christmas was primarily about thinking of others, while 24% said it more about giving than receiving presents

• JJ Commentary: That’s the devil’s way, twist the truth, twist it some more until finally we are left with a pagan fairy tale to replace saints and Christ.

Xmas Greed

The poor showing of "The Nativity Story" this Christmas season is bad news for people of faith who hope Hollywood will make more feature films their families can enjoy, according to Christian movie reviewer Ted Baehr. "It's a very serious setback," said Baehr, founder and publisher of Movieguide and chairman of the Christian Film & Television Commission. The poor showing is all the more significant, Baehr told WND, because, unlike blockbusters "The Passion of the Christ" and "The Chronicles of Narnia," "Nativity was produced by a major studio, New Line Cinema.

Right now, Baehr noted, the easy money is made on "extremely bigoted, anti-Christian movies" such as "Borat" and "Jackass 2." Baehr said the performance of "Nativity" is especially disappointing because it's an exceptionally good film that adheres closely to the Bible. But as of Tuesday, "Nativity," with a production budget of $35 million, has an estimated gross box office of just $24.6 million in the U.S. since opening Dec. 1.

• JJ Commentary: CHRISTmas “spirit” has been replaced with Xmas greed, and people don’t want to be reminded of what this season is really all about, because then they might not get their plasma TV

Only One True God

In a greeting to the world's Christians for the coming new year, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said he expects both Jesus and the Shiite messianic figure, Imam Mahdi, to return and "wipe away oppression." "I wish all the Christians a very happy new year and I wish to ask them a question as well," said Ahmadinejad, according to an Iranian Student News Agency report cited by YnetNews.com."My one question from the Christians is: What would Jesus do if he were present in the world today? What would he do before some of the oppressive powers of the world who are in fact residing in Christian countries? Which powers would he revive and which of them would he destroy?" asked the Iranian leader. "If Jesus were present today, who would be facing him and who would be following him?"

• JJ Commentary: Sounds suspiciously like more than one question. So I have one question for him. What will Jesus think of those nations and religions who deny that He alone is God?

God Out, Devil In

Almost all Americans have premarital sex, says a report published Tuesday that analyzes federal data over time and suggests programs focusing on sexual abstinence until marriage may be unrealistic. The study, which used statistics from the 1982, 1988, 1995 and 2002 National Survey of Family Growth, asked about 40,000 people ages 15-44 about their sexual behavior and traced the trends in premarital sex back to the 1950s. Of those interviewed in 2002, 95% reported they had had premarital sex; 93% said they did so by age 30. Among women born in the 1940s, nearly nine in 10 did. At the same time, people are waiting longer to marry; 2005 data show median age at first marriage is just over 25 for women and 27 for men.

• JJ Commentary: Hmm. The 1950s. Back when abortions weren’t legal and prayer was still in the schools. Think there might be a connection? You betcha. Kick God out, welcome the devil in

North American Union

Robert Pastor, a leading intellectual force in the move to create an EU-style North American Community, told WND he believes a new 9/11 crisis could be the catalyst to merge the U.S., Mexico and Canada. Pastor, a professor at American University, says that in such a case the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America, or SPP – launched in 2005 by the heads of the three countries at a summit in Waco, Texas – could be developed into a continental union, complete with a new currency, the amero, that would replace the U.S. dollar just as the euro has replaced the national currencies of Europe.

In May 2005, Pastor was co-chairman the Council on Foreign Relations task force that produced a report entitled "Toward a North American Community," which he has claimed is the blueprint behind the SSP declared by President Bush, Mexico's then=President Vicente Fox, and Canada's then-Prime Minister Paul Martin.

• JJ Commentary: The Council on Foreign Relations is one of the key New World (Dis)Order organizations and the North American Union is one of their key objectives now that the European Union is a reality

The "Peaceful" Religion

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Palestinian gunmen killed three young children of a senior Palestinian intelligence officer Monday, pumping dozens of bullets into their car as it passed through a street crowded with schoolchildren — in an apparent botched assassination attempt that could ignite widespread factional fighting. There was no immediate claim of responsibility, and the Islamic militant Hamas group denounced the drive-by attack. However, senior officials in the intelligence service, which is allied with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and his Fatah Party, blamed Hamas for the shooting.

• JJ Commentary: This is the result of a religion that teaches its adherents to kill those who stand in their way, whether they be “infidels” or their own people

Government Waste

WASHINGTON — One year after Katrina, the government is still squandering tens of millions of dollars in wasted disaster aid, including $17 million in bogus rental payments to people who had already received free trailers and apartments, federal investigators said Wednesday. At the same time, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has recovered less than 1% of the $1 billion it wasted on fraudulent hurricane assistance after the August 2005 storm, highlighting a need for stronger controls the next time a major hurricane strikes.

Last week, a federal judge in Washington ordered the Bush administration to resume housing payments for thousands of people displaced by Katrina, criticizing FEMA for a convoluted application process. FEMA is appealing that ruling.

• JJ Commentary: Institute stronger controls and there will be a howl of protest. Such is life in a fallen world where you’re “damned if you do and damned if you don’t.” The problem isn’t government, it’s sin, and only Jesus Christ can fix it

Constitution Party

As Hillary Clinton begins her own preparations to run for the presidency, the deciding factor of who will be the next commander in chief may have less to do with whomever is chosen as the Democrat or Republican nominee, and more to do with the choice of the Constitution Party. This weekend at a national committee meeting in Manchester, N.H., Howard Phillips and the Constitution Party he founded set in motion the plans to launch its own third party candidate for president. "The time has never been better for a third party dark horse candidate to grab the White House," Phillips said.

He affirmed that by next July, his party intends to nominate a presidential candidate, with possibilities for the ticket including Minuteman Project founder Jim Gilchrist, former Republican presidential candi-date Alan Keyes, Baptist pastor Chuck Baldwin, and author and WND columnist Jerome Corsi. The Constitution Party is also strongly supportive of Republican Congressmen Tom Tancredo and Ron Paul, but there is no decision yet that either would leave their home in the Republican Party to pursue a Con-stitution Party nomination. Tancredo has said numerous times he is considering a run for the presidency.

The “Seven Principles” of the Constitution Party are:
1) Life: For all human beings, from conception to natural death;
2) Liberty: Freedom of conscience and actions for the self-governed individual;
3) Family: One husband and one wife with their children as divinely instituted;
4) Property: Each individual's right to own and steward personal property without government burden;
5) Constitution: and Bill of Rights in-terpreted according to the actual intent of the Founding Fathers;
6) States' Rights: Everything not spe-cifically delegated by the Constitution to the federal government is reserved for the state and local juris-dictions;
7) American Sovereignty: American government committed to the protection of the borders, trade, and common defense of Americans, and not entangled in foreign alliances

• JJ Commentary: The Constitution Party’s stated objectives are to “restore our government to its Con-stitutional limits and our law to its Biblical foundations.” The two-party system is broken. Both are immersed in special interests and big government. Biblical values are set aside for political expedi-ency. We will be starting a local chapter of the Constitution Party soon

Democracy or Republic

The government wants to make the citizenship test for immigrants more meaningful, requiring a better understanding of America's history and government institutions. The government on Thursday was to unveil 144 draft questions that it plans to try out on immigrant applicants in 10 cities where it is testing a new citizenship exam. Citizenship and Immigration Services, part of the Homeland Security Department, has been working for several years to redesign the test.

A 2003 attempt also was given a tryout in some cities, but it failed and was scuttled. The redesign is aimed at making sure applicants know the meaning behind some of America's fundamental institutions. The new U.S. citizenship exam that will be tried out in 10 cities early next year asks applicants less about historical facts and more about the meaning of democracy.

• JJ Commentary: That’s odd. America is a republic, not a democracy. An unwitting error? Not likely. Spreading democracy is the mantra of the New World (Dis)Order. (By the way, a democracy is when everything is voted on by the masses; a republic is when we vote for representatives who vote for us)

Sin Opens the Door

NEW ORLEANS — Crime is bedeviling a city trying to recover from Hurricane Katrina. There have been 147 people killed in New Orleans this year, police say, down from 204 by this time in 2005. But the city's population is about half what it was before Katrina flooded 80% of the city, forcing an almost-complete evacuation. That means New Orleanians are murdering each other at a rate of 73.5 murders per 100,000 residents. That figure is above that of the nation's most murderous city — Compton, Calif., whose rate was 67 murders per 100,000 people in 2005, according to the latest FBI statistics.

Because many traditionally violent areas flooded and remain nearly empty, crime has moved to upscale, high-traffic areas such as the Marigny, the French Quarter and Uptown, leaving residents with one more reason to question their decision to remain in the city. And while 70% of murders are drug-related, there's an upswing in a new kind of crime: brutal, domestic violence that he attributes to the stress of living in post-Katrina New Orleans.

• JJ Commentary: When will people learn that a sin-ridden city opens the door wide for the devil and all sorts of evil.

Unity?

ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) — Pope Benedict XVI called divisions among Christians a "scandal to the world" and recalled the faith's deep roots in Europe at a joint ceremony Thursday with the spiritual leader of Orthodox Christians at his ancient enclave. Benedict has made outreach to the world's more than 250 million Orthodox a centerpiece of his young papacy and has set the difficult goal of full unity between the two ancient branches of Christianity, which split nearly 1,000 years ago over disputes including the extent of papal authority.

It's also a key part of the pope's drive to reinforce the Christian bonds in Europe and around the world. He said all Christians should "renew Europe's awareness of its Christian roots, traditions and values, giving them new vitality."

• JJ Commentary: Hard to believe that the Pope is calling for unity when Catholicism has long positioned itself in exclusive terms, as in the long-running, often deadly conflict with Protestantism in England and Ireland. But he’s right. Jesus called for unity in his last recorded prayer in John 17 where He warned that disunity would cause the world not to believe in Him

Expand Immigration?

President Bush said Tuesday that he wants more countries in a program that allows foreigners to stay in the USA without visas, despite criticism that the move could open the door to terrorists. "We want people to come to our country," Bush said in Tallinn, Estonia, one of several European countries that have asked to be included in the visa-waiver program, in which 27 foreign countries now participate. "It's in our nation's interest that people be able to come and visit."

Bush said his administration aims to add more countries to the program, created to facilitate tourism and business travel 15 years before the 9/11 attacks increased fears of terrorism. He pledged to ensure that "those that want to continue to kill Americans aren't able to exploit the system."

• JJ Commentary: Not able to exploit the system? Naïve at best. Seems like a dangerous idea given our problems with immigration, but a definite New World (Dis)Order strategy to eliminate our national borders

Sodom & Gemorrah

Out-of-wedlock births in the United States have climbed to an all-time high, accounting for nearly four in 10 babies born last year, government health officials said Tuesday. While out-of-wedlock births have long been associated with teen mothers, the teen birth rate actually dropped last year to the lowest level on record. Instead, births among unwed mothers rose most dramatically among women in their 20s.

Experts said the overall rise reflects the burgeoning number of people who are putting off marriage or living together without getting married. They said it also reflects the fact that having a child out of wedlock is more acceptable nowadays and not necessarily the source of shame it once was.

• JJ Commentary: This is the result of the attacks against the sanctity of marriage and another marker on our road to Sodom and Gemorrah.

The Gutless Church

As homosexuals and lesbians in Africa celebrate the legalization of same-sex "marriage" in South Africa, the head of one of the continent's leading church associations has chosen not to speak out on the matter. Rev. Mvume Ndadala, general secretary of the All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC), said in comments made through a personal assistant that the AACC represented a "diversity" of Christians, and it would be inappropriate to give a common perspective on the issue.

The remarks are seen here as indicating that mainline churches in Africa may be softening their stance on same-sex unions, despite the strong objections by many Christian and traditionalist Africans. The AACC is an ecumenical fellowship representing more than 120 million Christians in 39 African countries. South Africa last week became the first country in Africa to legalize same-sex "marriages" when parliament approved the move following sometimes rancorous political debate across the country.

• JJ Commentary: It is the lack of speaking out that has allowed the enemy to impose his agenda on our governments. This alone is reason enough for Christians to get involved in political issues and not remain with their heads stuck in the sand.

The Voice of God??

Two particular books, Conversations with God and Conversations with God for Teens, written by Neale D. Walsch , sound harmless enough by their titles alone. These books have been on the New York Times best sellers list for a number of weeks, and these publications make truth of the statement, "Don't judge a book by its cover/title." The author purports to answer various questions from kids using the "voice of God". However, the "answers" that he gives are not Bible-based and go against the very infallible word of God.

For instance, when a girl asks the question "Why am I a lesbian?" His answer is that she was born that way because of genetics (just as you were born right-handed, with blue eyes, etc.). Then he tells her to go out and "celebrate" her differences. Another girl poses the question "I am living with my boyfriend. My parents say that I should marry him because I am living in sin. Should I marry him?" His reply is, "Who are you sinning against? Not me, because you have done nothing wrong." Another question asks about God's forgiveness of sin. His reply "I do not forgive anyone because there is nothing to forgive. There is no such thing as right or wrong and that is what I have been trying to tell everyone, do not judge people.

• JJ Commentary: Any doubts about whether the New Age secular humanist religion has taken over the media and the hearts and minds of many, if not most, people are laid to rest with these “best sellers.” To purport to be the voice of God is blasphemy of the worst sort. To believe that this is the voice of God, is to fall victim to worst of deceptions leading only to the pit of eternal torment. Father have mercy upon them and give them one more chance to hear the voice of the One True God.

A Religion of Peace?

GENEVA (AP) — The United Nations said Wednesday that 3,709 Iraqi civilians were killed in October, the highest monthly toll since the March 2003 U.S. invasion and another sign of the severity of Iraq's sectarian bloodbath. The report painted a grim picture across the board, from attacks on journalists, judges and lawyers and the worsening situation of women to displacement, violence against religious minorities and the targeting of schools.

• JJ Commentary: Say what you will about Christianity, but we don't see Methodists killing Baptists. A Religion of peace? I think not.
  

Rest in Peace

JERUSALEM — In a landmark ruling, Israel's Supreme Court ordered the government Tuesday to recognize same-sex marriages performed abroad. The lone dissenter on the seven-judge panel was an observant Jew, highlighting the controversy touched off among ultra-Orthodox Jews and other conservative groups. Moshe Negbi, a legal expert, said the court's decision is mostly symbolic because gay couples in Israel already had many of the rights of heterosexual partnerships. The significant changes are that they will now get the same tax breaks as a married couple and be able to adopt children, Negbi said.

• JJ Commentary: Any lingering notion about whether the Israeli government is secular or religious should be laid to rest with this report.

Pee in Peace

Soon, restrooms at the University of Arizona will come in at least three varieties: men's, women's and "gender neutral". The UA has adopted a "Statement on Restroom Access" to make relieving oneself a bit less stressful for transgender people and other folks who feel uncomfortable with standard gender labeling. While not an official policy, the statement, when read to a meeting of the UA's Faculty Senate, was presented as another step in keeping with the university's policy of non-discrimination. The action moves the UA to the front of the line as the first Pac-10 school to have such a statement, said Jeanne Kleespie, assistant vice president for equal opportunity and affirmative action.

• JJ Commentary: Makes you feel proud of Arizona, doesn’t it? No, I didn’t think so. But I think it doesn’t go far enough. After all, do we want gay men sharing the rest room with heterosexual men? If we want to pee in peace, we need heterosexual and homosexual restrooms as well.

Nuclear Ambitions

HANOI (AP) — President Bush, trying to fortify global pressure on North Korea, on Saturday backed Pacific Rim leaders in demanding that the communist regime abandon its nuclear weapons program. In Hanoi for the annual summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, Bush worked to preserve U.S. solidarity with five nations getting ready to restart nuclear negotiations with Pyongyang.

The White House endorsed a statement all 21 Pacific Rim members will issue to express their worries about North Korea's first nuclear test on Oct. 9 and its missile launches in July. "I think we're pleased with that statement and I think it will be a good contribution to the diplomacy," National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley told reporters.

• JJ Commentary: The continued naïveté of the world astounds me. North Korea and Iran will not ever abandon their nuclear ambitions. They will occasionally pretend to negotiate, but that is only stalling for more time. Nor will sanctions deter them. We need to either live with this or do something about it

Wal-Mart

A book that family organizations in Canada had warned about just weeks ago found its way into the Wal-Mart stock list, and while it calls God a "fat black dyke" and provides how-to information for same-sex experimentation, the store said it's the "stuff youth need to know." It's called "The Little Black Book for Girlz: A Book on Healthy Sexuality", produced by St. Stephens' Community House in Toronto, an organization that has fled its Christian foundation.

While Wal-Mart calls it "a great mix of real-life examples and life-saving info," it includes sections called, "My First Time F---ing a Girl" and other obscenities. It has information on "safe" sex devices and assures its audience that condoms are 100 percent effective in preventing sexually transmitted diseases, even though the World Health Organization, a longtime condom supporter, admits they fail one out of five times. The graphic manual promotes lesbianism to young girls, gives explicit instructions for engaging in oral or anal sexual acts and instructs girls that only 10 percent of the population is heterosexual.

• JJ Commentary: Wal-Mart, along with Ford, has become the leading proponent of the homosexual agenda. Just as the boycott of Ford is having a tremendous impact on their bottom line, so too do we need to initiate a boycott of Wal-Mart.

Just

JAKARTA, Indonesia -- A suspected Islamic militant told judges Wednesday he took part in the beheadings of three Christian girls on an Indonesian island wracked by religious violence to avenge the deaths of Muslims, but apologized to their families."We are not cold-blooded killers," Hasanuddin, 34, told the Central Jakarta District Court. "We just wanted revenge."

• JJ Commentary: The word "just" is (mis)used time and again to just-ify and rationalize criminal behavior, whether it's the petty thief or an Islamic terrorist. "Vengeance is mine, I will repay" says God not once, but three times, in the Bible (Deuteronomy 32:35, quoted again in Romans 12:19 and Hebrews 10:30). As even the world, says, "Two wrongs don't make it right." True just-ice can only come from a holy, righteous God, not in our hands.
  

Islamic Appeasement

The head of a Minnesota-based ministry says the United States needs to take serious note of what happens when an entire continent dumps Christianity. Messianic Jewish believer Jan Markell of Olive Tree Ministries believes Europe is imploding because it has turned its back on Christ. According to AgapePress, Markell notes that while Christian churches continue to shut down all over Europe, mosques continue to spring up as the Islamic population soars in countries like Great Britain, France, and Germany. Europe has turned its back on God, the Olive Tree Ministries founder and director asserts, and she says she does not think God "takes that very kindly, when He is just plain thrown off of a continent."

Meanwhile, Markell says European officials are "appeasing or trying to appease Islam over in Europe, and you can't." Radical Islamists cannot be appeased, she says, because "they don't assimilate anywhere. They want their own society; but more frightening than that is, they want Sharia law. They want Muslim law where they move into." European governments are being "politically correct," the ministry founder observes, and she says they are thinking that "if we just do right by these Muslims that are right now burning down much of France, they're going to like us." But those who think this way are dead wrong, Markell insists, because radical Muslims "are never going to like the West.

• JJ Commentary: There is no appeasement and no cohabitation with radical Islamists, which is in fact what the Quran teaches. Only if the "infidels" (i.e. all non-Muslims) agree to live under Sharia law (i.e. become second class citizens) is there any possibility of co-mingling. Give the Islamic fascists an inch and they'll take a thousand miles if they can.

Signs of the Times

VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI has called a meeting Thursday with top Vatican officials to discuss lifting the celibacy requirement for priests seeking to marry or who have already married. Benedict called the summit to examine the implications of the "disobedience" of Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo, the Zambian prelate excommunicated in September for installing four married American men as bishops, the Vatican said Monday.

The Vatican stressed the meeting would not open a general discussion of the celibacy requirement but would only examine requests for dispensation made by priests wishing to marry and requests for readmission made by clergy who had married in recent years.

• JJ Commentary: In an age where Biblical principles are constantly being compromised, priests marrying is a principle without a Biblical basis, except for Paul’s stated preference. Allowing priests to marry would help minimize the problem of molestation and sexual abuse that has plagued the Catholic church these past few years.
  

MADISON, Wis. — A federal lawsuit filed Monday accuses the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs of violating the constitutional rights of Wiccans because the government does not allow its symbol on headstones in national cemeteries. But a Wiccan symbol representing earth, air, fire, water and spirit isn't recognized by the federal government for veterans' grave markers. "I honestly think there must be some people who don't want to acknowledge that the Wiccan religion should be entitled to the same rights as other religions," said Selena Fox, who is senior minister of the Wiccan Circle Sanctuary in Barneveld.

Stewart, whose husband was awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart, was rebuffed by federal veterans' officials when she sought approval to affix the pentacle to the Veterans' Memorial Wall in Nevada, but state officials said they would erect a plaque with the symbol.

• JJ Commentary: Jesus said that we’re either with Him or against Him, no middle ground. Well, the USA is either a Christian nation or it is not. When America first formed, this was not an issue. Now, through tolerance and relativism, we have opened Pandora’s box. Lord, have mercy upon us.

SAN FRANCISCO — A month after an appeals court ruled against same-sex marriage, the city and about a dozen homosexual couples have filed an appeal to the California Supreme Court. Gay marriage advocates hope to overturn the ruling that said limiting marriage to a man and a woman does not violate the constitutional rights of gays and lesbians.

In October, the 1st District Court of Appeal ruled in a 2-1 vote that, among other things, it was not the judiciary's role to define marriage — since 61% of California voters in 2000 declared marriage as a union between a man and a woman under Proposition 22.

• JJ Commentary: Talk about a Pandora’s box! For a change, the judges got it right.

Election Analysis

So, what do we make of these 2006 elections? Why did we suffer such an astonishingly severe disaster?

Political pundits explain that it was a combination of two factors: 1) Liberal voters were turned off by the war in Iraq and President Bush; 2) Conservative voters were turned off by the Republican Party and President bush because they had not followed through on the "values" agenda which got them elected in the first place.

From a spiritual perspective, I believe that the anti-Christ forces outdid Christ's army. Does that mean we didn't pray or work hard enough? That depends on how "we" is defined. The "we" who participated in the two 40-day, 24/7 "sieges" or the seven 240hour Saturdays in Yavapai County or similar efforts did as much or more than required. The "we" who comprise the rest of the body of Christ performed miserably by not voting, not caring, not praying, not working for Godly government.

Apathy, complacency were the order of the day. Worse, many Christians believe we shouldn't be involved in politics (even though the Bible says the government is on Jesus' shoulders - Isaiah 9:6). Even worse, many Christians believe the lie of "separation of church and state" which appears in no official document (just in a letter from Thomas Jeferson to the Danbury, Conn. Baptist Church).

And why did Arizona become the first state in the nation that failed to pass the marriage amendment? First, in the natural, the language that was added to the amendment to say what a no vote meant caused confusion. Second, in the spiritual realm, Satan has heard all the prophecies about revival in Arizona, about Arizona "taking the point." Therefore, he marshalled his forces (demons, people and money) into Arizona more than anywhere else. The "remnant" in Arizona fought back hard and well - but the remnant wasn't enough.

So, what does this mean for the future? What about all those prophecies? The prophecies indicate that Arizona will lead the nation into revival. Government won't line up with God until the revival happens. So this must remain our primary focus.

This end-time revival will occur within and in spite of the devil's attacks. "For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the peopel: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and His glory shall be seen upon thee" (Isaiah 60:2)

Scripture tells us that end-time government will all cometo worship the "beast" (i.e. the Babylonian system of finance and governance), so we must persevere in spitie of the situation in our nation (or any nation). "It was granted to him [i.e. Satan] to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue and nation (Rev. 13:7).

However, we know how it all turns out in the end, how we eventually will have the victory in spite of what our natural eyes and ears might show us. Therefore, the key is to persevere in faith. "Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us" (Romans 8:37).