PRESIDENT TRUMP SPEAKS AT THE 2018 HOUSE & SENATE REPUBLICAN MEMBER CONFERENCE
White Sulphur Springs, WV
THE CHURCH MILITANT Ephesians 5:11-"And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them". This Christian News Blog maintains a one stop resource of current news and reports of its own related to church, moral, spiritual, and related political issues, plus articles, and postings from other online discernment ministries, and media which share the aims to obey the biblical commands to shed light on and refute error, heresy, apostasy, cults, and spiritual abuse.
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research purposes:
Two days after the executive order, I became the lead plaintiff in Sarsour vs. Donald J. Trump, a lawsuit filed by the Council on American-Islamic Relations against the Muslim ban based on Trump’s clear anti-Islam bias during his campaign.The temporary ban was against countries of concern to minimize threats to Americans from jihad attacks, violence and cultural practices not fitting for any democracy; but Sarsour teamed up with CAIR to present the ban as a victimization of Muslims. Jihad by immigration is one form of conquest for Islamic supremacists. Trump’s ban stymies that global objective.
Amidst the vitriol directed at me as a Palestinian Muslim-American activist, the hardest thing for me as a mother has been explaining to my beautiful, aware, Palestinian Muslim-American children why the country they love is banning people who look like them and share their faith from coming here.Banning people “who look like them?” In terms of looks, how, pray tell, can one definitively tell who is a Muslim Palestinian? In the case of Sarsour herself, she once admitted that it was her hijab that transformed her from “some ordinary white girl in New York City” into a “person of color.”
thousands of examples of Palestinian incitement against the Jewish state and the Jewish people. There are even numerous instances of the glorification of Hitler on the Facebook pages of some government-supported Palestinian schools and in children’s publications funded by the Palestinian Authority. Such messages, propagated daily in P.A. media and classrooms, are internalized by the population at large — and children in particular.Sarsour plays the ultimate victim card as she issues her propagandist call to uprising “shoulder to shoulder,” resembling a Palestinian intifada in which the Palestinian people view themselves as oppressed victims of Israel despite their repeated (and ongoing) attempts to obliterate Israel:
There have been dark times like slavery, the treatment of native Americans and the internment of Japanese Americans. During those dark times, a silent majority turned a blind eye to grave injustice, and we cannot let it happen again. Let us commit to standing shoulder to shoulder against the coming storm. People are counting on us.Arabs are still holding black slaves, wiping out Christianity in the Middle East, throwing gays off the highest roof headfirst, murdering apostates, infidels, minority groups and raping infidels. The usual list goes on, while Sarsour and her ilk turn a blind eye to these grave injustices and spread their propaganda, getting their water-carriers to do the same. Linda Sarsour is stirring uprising against Trump and against any movement that stands in the way of her Islamic supremacist agenda.
It was almost a week after the 2017 Women’s March — possibly the largest single-day protest in U.S. history — that President Trump signed an executive order temporarily banning immigrants and refugees from seven Muslim-majority countries. At the time, I was sitting with friends in Los Angeles and found myself in tears. I couldn’t believe it._______________________________________________________
The new administration was wasting no time in keeping their campaign promises to target the communities I love and belong to. Soon after the executive order was signed, a tweet went out asking people to show up at airports across the country in order to stand up against the order.
I went to Los Angeles International Airport and saw an image that continues to fill my heart with hope — hundreds of people demanding entry for Muslim immigrants and refugees from countries placed on the travel ban. As a Muslim American who has been working to defend the rights of Muslims in the post 9/11 era, this act of solidarity was especially important and meaningful.
Two days after the executive order, I became the lead plaintiff in Sarsour vs. Donald J. Trump, a lawsuit filed by the Council on American-Islamic Relations against the Muslim ban based on Trump’s clear anti-Islam bias during his campaign. We were not going to sit back. We were going to organize and fight back regardless of the consequences.
Over the past year, this administration has put forth multiple versions of the Muslim ban, worked to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, targeted undocumented immigrants in mass deportation sweeps and employed manipulative, hateful rhetoric against our communities. Their shameless use of the courts to defend what they know is immoral and unconstitutional further shows their disregard for our nation’s laws. It has been both a privilege and an inspiration to stand with people resisting each effort, because behind the policy arguments are real people whose lives are being upended.
Each Muslim ban has separated families, many of whom live in my community in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. I know Yemeni-American fathers who are longing to see their children but are in visa limbo in countries like Ethiopia, Egypt and Djibouti. Syrian refugees — who have already suffered in the journey to leave their homes — have been further separated from half of their families because of the ban.
As a result of my advocacy on behalf of Muslims and standing unapologetically against this administration, I have been met with vicious attacks, smear campaigns and death threats. Amidst the vitriol directed at me as a Palestinian Muslim-American activist, the hardest thing for me as a mother has been explaining to my beautiful, aware, Palestinian Muslim-American children why the country they love is banning people who look like them and share their faith from coming here. How do I explain to teenagers why this administration has such contempt for them and their faith? The key for them has been our friends and their acts of solidarity, which have helped me and my children cope with this pain and trauma.
Since the horrific attacks of 9/11, Muslims in America have been met with racial and religious profiling by all levels of law enforcement. We’ve endured unwarranted and blanket surveillance, deportations and registration programs. We’ve also been erroneously placed on no-fly lists and experienced an exponential rise in hate crimes against our communities. We often found ourselves advocating in small groups, or alone.
But over the last year, I felt a shift.
This year was the first time we saw allies mobilizing for Muslims and fighting back against the racism and bigotry directed at us. My visible participation in the Women’s March in 2017 and the very successful anniversary earlier this month has been a heartwarming experience for Muslims across the world. It was inspiring.
No matter how many Muslim bans or other ugly policies are introduced by Trump and his administration, one thing is clear — when we fight together, we win every time. Muslims cannot do this alone, and we should not do it alone. I ask my fellow Americans not to be distracted and to keep the focus on building power…
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research purposes:
The following is an announcement from the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-WA):Islamic doctrines of jihad, hatred, and intolerance, and human rights abuses against women, Christians, Yazidis and others, including the LGBTQ community, apostates and infidels are the plague of humanity in our era. Yet again and again these repulsive abuses are discounted in favor of the Muslim victimology narrative. Muslim Brotherhood affiliates and jihadists are adept at hoisting the flag of victimhood high above those they victimize. Victimhood is a supremacist marketing strategy, and now some Jewish and Christian leaders are buying into it.
Over 90 Christian, Jewish, and Muslim clergy have made commitments to promote religious freedom for all Americans as the beginning of a national movement.
We pledge to and call upon our fellow citizens to treat our Muslim neighbors with fairness, dignity, and respect, and to uphold, through word and deed, a commitment to the American ideals of pluralism and religious freedom and against any religious ban. We will advocate for legislation, media portrayals, and political speech that promotes these basic American values and commitments for American Muslims.The temporary travel ban from countries of concern was raised by Jasmin Samy, Civil Rights Director of CAIR-Washington. She presented the ban as “anti-Muslim,” bigoted, and the cause of “extreme hardship” for Muslim families, when in reality it was aimed at protecting Americans from the jihad terror and violence that the world has seen bring chaos to Europe and come close to wiping out Christianity in the Middle East. These jihadis have also targeted Muslims: over 11 million Muslims have been murdered by their coreligionists since 1948 for not being Muslim enough.
Over 90 Christian, Jewish, and Muslim clergy have made commitments to promote religious freedom for all Americans as the beginning of a national movement.
One year after President Trump signed Executive Order 13769 (commonly called the Muslim Ban), faith leaders from across the country spent three days together to strategize on how to best counter anti-Muslim bigotry and promote religious freedom for all Americans. Methodist, Baptist, Muslim, Jewish, Lutheran, Episcopal, Catholic, Mormon, Evangelical, Presbyterian, and other faith leaders came together across their diverse religious traditions to promote a culture that treats all Americans with the same dignity, fairness, and respect.
The gathering at the Muslim Association of Puget Sound (MAPS) began on January 28th, the one-year anniversary of the nationwide protests at airports in response to the Muslim Ban, and ended January 30th, the one-year anniversary of Acting Attorney General Sally Yates refusing to defend the Muslim Ban and being dismissed by President Trump.
More than 90 faith leaders signed the “Faith Over Fear” pledge. The full text of the pledge is as follows:
“We pledge to and call upon our fellow citizens to treat our Muslim neighbors with fairness, dignity, and respect, and to uphold, through word and deed, a commitment to the American ideals of pluralism and religious freedom and against any religious ban. We will advocate for legislation, media portrayals, and political speech that promotes these basic American values and commitments for American Muslims. As a leader in my community:
Organizers of the event included Reverend Terry Kyllo from Neighbors in Faith, MAPS-AMEN executive director Aneelah Afzali, Shoulder-to-Shoulder executive director Catherine Orsborn, and CAIR civil rights director Jasmin Samy. Their comments are below.
- I pledge to reject exclusionary policies that discriminate on the basis of religion, race, culture, or country of origin.
- I will nurture relationships, build communities, confront challenges, and advocate for legislation, media portrayals, and political speech based on our shared American values of fairness, dignity, and respect for all people.
- I commit to examining and addressing myself and my community for language and practices that exclude, demean, or diminish Muslims.
- I commit to dismantling anti-Muslim bigotry by educating myself and using my platforms to educate my community, on how to address and counter common misperceptions and myths about Islam and Muslims.
- I will include my community in relationship-building, education, and actions that affirm the inherent dignity of every member of our society.”
Terry Kyllo, Director, Neighbors In Faith:
“As I engaged faith leaders across western Washington, I realized that faith leaders are key to turning the tide on Islamophobia. They are in every neighborhood, in every town, in every state. They have read their history and know what happens when we dehumanize a group, and that it does nobody any good. But they kept asking how they could respond to the top anti-Muslim assumptions and what they and their faith communities can practically do. This event grew from their questions.”
Aneelah Afzali, Executive Director, MAPS-AMEN (American Muslim Empowerment Network of the Muslim Association of Puget Sound):
“A year after introduction of the unconstitutional and cruel Muslim travel ban — and in the face of an industry spending millions upon millions each year to promote a narrative of fear and divisiveness by spreading misinformation about Islam and conspiracy theories about Muslims — it is more important than ever for us to unite as Americans and affirm the equal rights and dignity of all. This conference of faith leaders seeks to launch a national movement to effectively and positively combat Islamophobia using facts over fiction, love over hate, and faith over fear.”
Catherine Orsborn, Executive Director, Shoulder-to-Shoulder:
“The one year anniversary of the Muslim ban is the perfect time for faith communities to be coming together to show that we aren’t going anywhere, but are digging into the long-term work of creating more fair and inclusive communities. We will continue to stand alongside one another in challenging policies that don’t comport with our national ideals, as we work to make our country a better place for all of us.”
Jasmin Samy, Civil Rights Director, Council on American Islamic Relations Washington:
“The Muslim ban has caused extreme hardship among American Muslims in our community, cutting them off from their families and further fueling an anti-Muslim climate in this country. It is crucial that people of all faiths stand together against bigotry and prejudice….
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research purposes:
While hounding and censoring those who dissent from the hard-Left
line. Google, YouTube and the rest are not neutral platforms in the
slightest degree. Their hegemony must be ended, or the freedom of speech
will be a dead letter.Why are Google and YouTube sponsoring a day-long symposium featuring a roster of speakers including known Islamist anti-Semites, as well as known militant Islamists who are long time Israel bashers and Hamas supporters? And why are Google and YouTube providing a forum for Islamists who approve of Sharia-imposed “death by stoning?”
This Wednesday’s online conference by the British-based Imams Online features a rogues’ gallery of Islamists and virulently anti-Semitic, anti-Israel speakers – and it’s all being done “in official partnership with Google and YouTube.
One of the conference’s three primary goals is “Tackling Rising Islamophobia and the Far Right Threat.”…
…spreading the false claim of rising Islamophobia actually can be seen as a national security threat. This is because that concept is based upon the false notion that there is a Western conspiracy against Islam – and that is the primary claim and motivation that induces jihadi terrorist attacks on western targets….
“For Google and YouTube to provide a worldwide forum for a group that includes known antisemites and bigots is irresponsible and beyond the pale,” said Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder and dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center. “Rather than promote tolerance and human dignity, it provides them with an enormous platform to further spew their anti-Semitism and hate! We call on Google and YouTube to immediately cancel the event!”
Google’s participation in the Imams Online summit stands in sharp contrast to its ongoing censorship of pro-Israel voices, including Prager University. Google-owned YouTube has restricted access to Prager U’s pro-Israel videos and has removed dozens of other videos for no apparent reason other than Google does not like Prager’s politics. It has likewise censored pro-Israel videos by Alan Dershowitz. This double standard belies its claims of neutrality.
Google is not the first social media giant to enter into a partnership with this highly questionable Islamic group. Faith Associates, the parent company of Imams Online, partnered in 2016 with Facebook and Twitter.
And in a similar action last November, Facebook partnered with the Muslim group Faith Associates to launch an online guide entitled “Keeping Muslims Safe Online,” targeting “hate speech.” Facebook has never offered a similar guide for other religions. Simon Milner, Head of Policy UK at Facebook, stated: “We’re proud to be supporting Faith Associates in the development of their online safety guide. Facebook welcomes all communities, and there is no place for hate on the platform.”
Yet investigative journalist and lawyer Judith Bergman noted at the Gatestone Institute: “It is curious that of all the groups Facebook could have chosen to ‘protect’ – if one is to believe that Facebook intends to ‘protect’ other groups as well – it chose Muslims. Are Muslims the most targeted group in the world today? In Canada, according to fresh statistics, hate crimes against Muslims have fallen while hate crimes against Jews have risen. In the United States, according to Gatestone’s A. Z. Mohamed: ‘Since 1992… anti-Semitic incidents have been higher than those perpetrated against other groups.'”
In line with Facebook’s inexplicable decision to host a conference with speakers, some of whose public records are parallel with neo-Nazis’ statements, we decided to check the backgrounds of the speakers at the Google/YouTube conference. And what sources of information did we primarily use? Google, YouTube and Twitter.
Adam Kelwick, a Liverpool-based imam and Muslim chaplain
In a July 2017 Facebook post, Kelwick wrote: “Muslims must visit Al-Aqsa in droves and ensure their visits adhere to the instructions of a ‘principled visitation’ as outlined by the Grand Mufti of Palestine and Jerusalem.” The Mufti whom Kelwick invokes, Sheikh Ikrima Sabri, has incited violence and condoned suicide bombing, saying: “It is the Palestinian people’s right to engage in resistance until the occupation ends. As long as the resistance is legitimate, everything related to it is also legitimate.” Of suicide bombing, he said: “It is legitimate, of course, as long as it plays a role in the resistance.”
Mahmood Chandia, a lecturer at the University of Central Lancashire
Chandia “claims in one sermon that music is a way in which Jews spread ‘the Satanic web’ to corrupt young Muslims,” the Times of London reported in 2007. Chandia openly endorsed Sharia-mandated death by stoning: “Death by stoning for both men and women exists to provide a social balance in a way that other people will see adultery as a deterrent. So while the Western observer might see it as abhorrent, it exists to preserve the family lineage. It is dictated by prophetic practice which is part of the Islamic religion, the Koran.”
Shuruq Naguib, a lecturer at Lancaster University
Naguib has retweeted virulent anti-Semites and anti-Israel militants, notably Ali Abunimah of the Electronic Intifada blog; Naguib retweeted Abunimah’s tweet of his pro-BDS article, “How to boycott Israel: updated guidelines for academics.”
In it, Abunimah repeats the false claim that Israel has engaged in “horrifying destruction and mass killing in Gaza,” and called for an “international academic and cultural boycott of Israel.”
Going even farther, Naguib has tweeted support for a petition calling upon the United Nations and world governments to impose a military embargo upon Israel in light of its supposed war crimes.
On Facebook, Naguib has shared a link to the article “Decolonization is a global project: From Palestine to the Americas.”
This article falsely claims that Israel expelled 800,000 of the “indigenous Palestinian people” from their homeland, saying “they were unable to return and became refugees as Zionist militias attacked and destroyed villages, towns and cities across Palestine.” In reality, “thousands of wealthy Arabs left in anticipation of a war, thousands more responded to Arab leaders’ calls to get out of the way of the advancing armies, a handful were expelled, but most simply fled to avoid being caught in the cross fire of a battle.”
Ingrid Mattson, professor at Huron University College at the University of Western Ontario and former President of the Islamic Society of North America
Mattson is a serial anti-Israel tweeter; she has tweeted in favor of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, accusing Israel of war crimes, along with almost any position that denies Israeli legitimacy. We are publishing just a handful so readers can get an idea of who Google has selected to speak to the entire world on Wednesday.
In 2014, during Israel’s defensive action in Gaza, Mattson falsely claimed that Israel’s actions were designed to “terrify people so they flee their homes – women, children, elderly all vulnerable.”
Mattson has engaged in moral equivalence between Israel and Palestinian terrorists, equating the terrorist bombing of a pizza parlor in Israel with Israel allegedly “bombing schools and hospitals” in Gaza, which only took place because Hamas was using them as “human shields.”
She has referred to Israel as an “Apartheid state.”
Also in connection with Israel’s 2014 action in Gaza, Mattson claimed that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sent Israeli soldiers to Gaza to “kill and be killed.”
She complained to then-Secretary of State John Kerry about what she termed “the terrorizing of Palestinian children.”
Myriam Francois, aka Myriam Francois-Cerrah, journalist
“Hamas’ status as an international pariah, means that the lack of sympathy reserved for an organisation listed as ‘terrorist’ by most countries in the West, now sadly extends to all Palestinians living in Hamas’ ruled Gaza,” Francois Cerrah wrote in 2013. She even defended rocket attacks from Gaza into Israel: “Just as the blockade of Gaza, ongoing since 2007, is a form of collective punishment, the current international unwillingness to protect Palestinian civilians on the grounds that Israel has a right to respond to rocket attacks, also represents a form of collective punishment.”
In line with this sympathy for Hamas, she has tweeted: “Israel accusing Hamas of war crimes? Oh the irony.”
She has even claimed that Israel’s “real purpose” in the Gaza operation was “to kill Arabs.”
Francois-Cerrah has also claimed that banning Sharia courts in Britain “would harm British Muslim women….while the call to ban Sharia councils is often seen as a way of protecting women, many women I have interviewed feel a ban would disempower them, by removing one of the potentially powerful avenues through which they could exercise religious pressure on their husbands or family members.” In reality, these courts have been found to be operating beyond the reach of British law and aiding and abetting the oppression of women.
Haaris Abdul Samad, imam of Hayes Muslim Centre
Even more disturbing is Abdul Samad’s support for Aafia Siddiqui, “Lady al-Qaida,” who is serving 86 years in prison for attacking American interrogators in Afghanistan.
Google’s Partner in Crime: Imams Online
If Google had done its due diligence and investigated Imams Online, it would have easily discovered that its partner had posted anti-Israeli blogs, supported Hamas, accused Israel of genocide and promoted Hamas talking points. An article that remains on the Imams Online website repeats vicious Palestinian anti-Israel propaganda:
We see the brutal killing of innocent children, vile abuses of power from police and servicemen, the frustration of years of oppression and hardships, the anguish and pain of mothers and fathers and within all that, the unwavering defiance of young Palestinians….The Islamic authorities Imams Online invokes are noteworthy. They include Yasir Qadhi, an ultra-conservative cleric who has been a Holocaust denier and believes Muslim women should not work, except as school teachers or as physicians serving other Muslim women.
As we watch in horror the senseless killing of women and children in Palestine, Imams and Islamic leaders from around the world share in the grief and speak out in outrage to ask where has our humanity gone?..
The Imams Online article also quotes the imam Suhaib Webb, whom the Simon Wiesenthal Center considers to be an “anti-Semite,” saying: “The events in Palestine only increase my commitment to the BDS movement and support for organizations in America that are working to give life to Palestinians.” Webb claims that effeminate men are cursed and that Muslims should fight gay marriage. He complains that American girls are “bad people” because they “don’t wear any clothes.” He accuses Jews of trying to kill Jesus and being Muhammad’s greatest antagonists, and tells his congregation that animosity toward Jews is understandable. In 2014, Webb raised $300,000 for Islamic Relief, a Hamas-linked charity designated as a terrorist entity by Israel and the United Arab Emirates.
Imams Online also invokes another imam, Omar Suleiman, also considered an anti-Semite by the Simon Wiesenthal Center, who also retails anti-Israel propaganda: “The only result that ever comes out of constant violence and oppression is the perpetuation of animosity and the birth of countless generations of young Palestinians that will grow up in an environment that disregards their humanity and forces them to continue a tradition of resistance and protection for their lives and the lives of their families.” Suleiman has a history with Google: he prevailed upon the social media giant to skew its searches so as to present only material favorable to Islam, and to hide any material critical of Islam.
In another Imams Online post criticizing President Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, it reprints a tweet from Omar Suleiman:
In still another post, Imams Online touted the “International Day of Solidarity with Palestine” and falsely claimed: “The Palestinian people are yet to attain their inalienable rights as defined by the [UN] General Assembly; the right to self-determination without external interference, the right to national independence and sovereignty, and the right to return to their homes and property from which they had been displaced.”
MCA-UK partners with Muslim Aid. Gatestone Institute reported in 2014: “Muslim Aid, a British Muslim charity, is also presently working with the Muslim Chaplain’s Association to provide ‘opportunities to become a prison mentor.’ In 2010, Muslim Aid admitted to funding two Palestinian charities that belonged to the terror groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad. In addition, a number of Bangladeshi commentators have accused Muslim Aid of funding the violent Islamist group Jamaat-e-Islami.”
All this information is publicly available; Google either did not bother to investigate Imams Online, or simply isn’t concerned about its providing a platform for virulent anti-Semitism and Islamism. In partnering with this unsavory group, Google is demonstrating what its detractors have insisted for years: it is an enabler of Islamic radicalism and extremism.
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research purposes:
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research purposes:
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research purposes:
“Jorge Bergoglio, the leader of Roman Catholicism who is also known as “Pope Francis,” placed a crown on the head of a statue of Mary during his visit to Chile on Tuesday.The Pope’s statements promotes many false doctrines that the Bible plainly declares as sinful rebellion against God:
The coronation took place during mass at O’Higgins Park in Santiago, where the tens of thousands in attendance watched Bergoglio place a crown on the head of the Christ child, and then also on the head of Mary. In Chile, the statue is known as “Our Lady of Mount Carmel,” who is also known by Roman Catholics in the country as the patron saint and “queen” of Chile.
“[T]he virgin who wanted to be called Your handmaid was chosen mother of the Redeemer, and true mother of all the living, and now exalted above the choirs of the angels, reigns gloriously with Your Son interceding for all men as an advocate of grace and queen of mercy,” he prayed during mass, moments before crowning the statue.
“Lord, look kindly upon these your servants, who by adorning with a visible crown the image of the mother of Your Son, recognize Your Son as King of the universe and invoke the virgin as queen,” Bergoglio said.” (source).
The likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl that flieth in the air, The likeness of any thing that creepeth on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth:” (Deuteronomy 4:15-18).Rather than rebuking the packed crowd for the reverence of a statue of a mortal human woman, the Pope instead crowned the statue of Mary as a god. This is idolatry. The Lord in instructing the Israelites on His law as they prepared to enter the Promised Land, sternly forbade the creation of statues for veneration or worship.
“And Adam called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.” (Genesis 3:20).Adam’s bestowing of this name not only symbolized being the first mother of humanity, but his faith and hope and God’s promise of redemption. Eve received this name after the sin of Adam and Eve and their banishment from the Garden of Eden. Though The Lord punished them for their disobedience, they were not abandoned. In Genesis 3:15, God prophesied that the “seed of the woman” would one day bruise or crush the head of Satan. It was a promise of future redemption through a child yet to be born.
“Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.” –Proverbs 30:5-6.Rather than trusting in the pure Word of God, Pope Francis, (who on prior occasions hosted Muslim prayers at his church and declared that space aliens should be baptized) chose to twist and remake Scripture as he sees fit. This is grave spiritual error.
“By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament. And they truly were many priests, because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death: But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.All of the Levitical priesthood in the Old Testament were a foreshadow of the work of Jesus Christ as High Priest in Heaven. The sacrifice of Christ – who was sinless and eternal – uniquely qualified Jesus to provide atonement for all for all time. Mary has no part in this whatsoever.
For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens. Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people’s: for this he did once, when he offered up himself. For the law maketh men high priests which have infirmity; but the word of the oath, which was since the law, maketh the Son, who is consecrated for evermore.” – Hebrews 7:22-28.
“At Mass in the Basilica of St. Mary Major on Sunday, Pope Francis said that when we go through difficult times or have problems or worries, Mary is our shield, guarding our faith and protecting us from evil.Christians, nor anyone for that matter, should ever pray to Mary or seek her “grace” or “intercession.” Mary, though chosen for possibly the greatest honor of any mortal person in history, was nevertheless, a normal human woman born with the sinful flesh nature all people born of Adam possess. Elevating Mary to a role of “intercessor” who we should pray to is blasphemy and sinful rebellion.
“Where the Madonna is at home the devil does not enter; where there is the Mother, disturbance does not prevail, fear does not win,” (source).
‘As for the word that thou hast spoken unto us in the name of the Lord, we will not hearken unto thee. But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth, to burn incense unto the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, as we have done, we, and our fathers, our kings, and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem: for then had we plenty of victuals, and were well, and saw no evil.The conquest and destruction of the Kingdom of Israel – completed in 586 BC when Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar razed the temple of God and took the Southern Kingdom of Judah captive, was a result of repeated idolatry and rebellion by the Israelites against The Lord. And as the passage above details, one of the chief sins was the worship of The Queen of Heaven.
But since we left off to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, we have wanted all things, and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine. And when we burned incense to the queen of heaven, and poured out drink offerings unto her, did we make her cakes to worship her, and pour out drink offerings unto her, without our men?
Then Jeremiah said unto all the people, to the men, and to the women, and to all the people which had given him that answer, saying, The incense that ye burned in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, ye, and your fathers, your kings, and your princes, and the people of the land, did not the Lord remember them, and came it not into his mind?
So that the Lord could no longer bear, because of the evil of your doings, and because of the abominations which ye have committed; therefore is your land a desolation, and an astonishment, and a curse, without an inhabitant, as at this day. Because ye have burned incense, and because ye have sinned against the Lord, and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord, nor walked in his law, nor in his statutes, nor in his testimonies; therefore this evil is happened unto you, as at this day.” – Jeremiah 44:16-22.
“What say I then? that the idol is any thing, or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is any thing? But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils. Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table, and of the table of devils.” – 1 Corinthians 10:19-21.Despite this, many Roman Catholics today all over the world “venerate” Mary – bowing before her and praying to her with scripted rosary prayers – the same type of “vain repetition, The Lord Jesus Christ warned us to avoid:
“But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking” – Matthew 6:7.Whether it is called veneration or praying the rosary – these practices contradict the clear teachings of the Bible. Do not be deceived.
“And it came to pass, as he spake these things, a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice, and said unto him, Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked. But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it.” – Luke 11:27-28.In the Book of Luke, a woman attempted to give Mary special praise as the mother of The Lord Jesus Christ. And Jesus immediately responded by saying the blessing should go to those who “hear the word of God and keep it.” Pray for Pope Francis to repent and for Roman Catholics to follow Biblical doctrine, not their own ideas. The Bible is clear that Jesus is our Savior – and through faith in Him Pope Francis and the many Catholics in grave spiritual error can be freely forgiven of sin.