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.
THE REAL JOE DONNELLY https://www.joedonnelly.com/ A DEMOCRAT "MODERATE" IN APPEARANCES ONLY WHAT YOU DON'T KNOW WILL KEEP HIM IN OFFICE INDIANA: "HE DOES SUPPORT UNIONS"; BUT "DON'T SAY THAT TO PEOPLE"~BOUGHT BY UNIONS, SENATOR DONNELLY MASKS SUPPORT FOR UNIONS
"He does" Support Unions, But "don't say that to people!" IN Senator Donnelly Masks Union Support, Says Wife Jill Donnelly
• "I wouldn't say anything about unions… just say he's for working families."
• "Right to Work is a headline to pay people less than what they – but we can't say that."
• Jill Donnelly: "He does" Support Unions, Just "don't say that to people!"
• Campaign Volunteer and Union Member: "… his career began through organized labor" "He’s got like a 98% AFL-CIO voting record"
• Donnelly Has to Play Down Being Liberal "especially in Indiana, just because like, it's so conservative."
• "I know for a fact that he's losing voters [be]cause of Kavanaugh… [be]cause he voted no."
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational and research purposes:
Festivals and other celebrations for “El Dia De Los Muertos”—or “The
Day of the Dead”—are currently underway in cities nationwide and around
the world. The annual Latin American-Roman Catholic observance is meant
to honor the lives of deceased loved ones, but with the belief that the
spirits of the departed temporarily find their way back to their
families to remember the things they once loved.
“God is calling us to follow Him and to ‘come out from among them
(the pagans, heathen and unbelievers) and be separate’ (2 Cor. 6:17),”
Mike Gendron of Proclaiming the Gospel Ministries in Plano, Texas told
Christian News Network.
“As Christians seek to abide in God’s word, they will become like the
Psalmist who gained understanding from God’s word and hated every false
way (Ps. 119:104). He wrote, ‘How blessed are those who observe His
testimonies, Who seek Him with all their heart They also do no
unrighteousness; They walk in His ways” (Ps. 119:2-3).” HISTORY AND TRADITIONS OF ‘THE DAY OF THE DEAD’
The three-day observance, which begins on Oct. 31 and ends on Nov. 2,
is believed to have originated in Mexico with the Aztecs, and was
merged with Roman Catholicism after the conquistadors began taking over
South American empires.
“When the Spanish conquistadors arrived in Mexico in the early 1500s,
they encountered the native Nahua peoples, including the Aztecs. When
autumn came, the conquistadors witnessed the extended rituals celebrated
by these people honoring both death and the fall harvest,” one report
outlines.
“For the Aztecs, the goddess Mictecacihuatl (literally translated as
‘Lady of the Dead’) presided over these harvest rituals. The
celebrations were built around fires and incense, costumes of animal
skins, images of their dead and offerings of ceramics, personal goods,
flowers, foods and drink,” it notes.
As various Roman Catholic orders sought to convert the people, the
traditions continued much in the same way, but the celebration was moved
to the first of November to coincide with the Catholic observances of
All Saints Day and All Souls Day.
To this day, those of a Latin American heritage observe El Dia De Los
Muertos as a way to remember their loved ones who have died. While
different from Halloween, the holiday utilizes images of skulls and
skeletons in both decoration and costume. Face-painting and other art
often involves intricate design as celebrators depict themselves as a
skeleton for the day. Sugar or chocolate skulls are a common edible creation, and pan de
muerto (bread of the dead) is also often made to look like a skeletal
figure. Altar including cross and artwork of virgin MaryMost
commonly, observers create a candle-lit altar, known as an ofrenda
(offering), that features a photo of the deceased person with a number
of their favorite foods and/or drinks, as well as other items that they
enjoyed in their life. Certain elements are left with the belief that
the spirits of the departed can “find their way back” to their families
during the celebration.
“Every ofrenda also includes the four elements: water, wind, earth
and fire. Water is left in a pitcher so the spirits can quench their
thirst. Papel picado, or traditional paper banners, represent the wind.
Earth is represented by food, especially bread. Candles are often left
in the form of a cross to represent the cardinal directions, so the
spirits can find their way,” outlines El Paso, Inc.
“On October 31, All Hallows Eve, the children make a children’s altar
to invite the angelitos (spirits of dead children) to come back for a
visit. November 1 is All Saints Day, and the adult spirits will come to
visit,” also writes author Frances Ann Day.
“November 2 is All Souls Day, when families go to the cemetery to
decorate the graves and tombs of their relatives. The three-day fiesta
is filled with marigolds, the flowers of the dead; muertos (the bread of
the dead); sugar skulls; cardboard skeletons; tissue paper decorations;
fruit and nuts; incense, and other traditional foods and decorations.”
Intermountain Catholic reports that Roman Catholic observers often
include a cross on their altar, explaining that “[a] salt cross on the
altar is meant to purify the spirits; an ash cross is set to help the
spirits to get out of Purgatory.”
“Three-tier altars represent Heaven, Purgatory and Earth. They can
also represent Heaven, Earth and the other world, according to the
Aztecs; or in the Catholic tradition, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit,”
the outlet also explains. “Seven-tier altars represents the seven levels
that must be passed through to reach Heaven.”
Some theorize that the souls of the dead are carried by Monarch
butterflies since the first of the colorful winged insects reach Mexico
around Nov. 1.
“The local people have long believed the monarchs are the returning
spirits of their deceased relatives, mysteriously arriving at the same
time each year, coinciding with the Day of the Dead. Aztec tradition
holds that the souls of the departed will return as hummingbirds and
butterflies,” outlines Natural Habitat Adventures.
Festivals and parades are also a part of the Day of the Dead celebration, with much music, dancing and eating.
The 2017 Disney-Pixar animated film “Coco” centers on the Mexican
holiday and a boy named Miguel, who travels to the Land of the Dead—the
“land of his ancestors”—and meets some of his deceased relatives, who
are now skeletons. He encounters his great-great grandfather, who he
learns was a musician in life, just as Miguel aspires to be. Miguel is
informed that he must return to the land of the living by sunrise by
obtaining a “blessing,” or he too will be among the dead.
The film grossed $807 million at the box office. AMERICAN CELEBRATIONS Screenshot/FacebookA
number of celebrations for The Day of the Dead are taking place in
American cities nationwide, in the form of festivals, art exhibits,
fireworks displays, movie screenings and eatery specials, and activities
for children.
On Oct. 28, a Day of the Dead festival
was held in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma in the Plaza District, featuring
face-painting, an art show, music and dance, and a “Skeleton Parade-Day
of the Dead Procession.”
In Waco, Texas, a special Dia De Los Muertos exhibit opened on Oct. 31 at the Art Forum of Waco, which included an ofrenda, artwork and face-painting.
The annual Dia De Los Muertos fireworks celebration is scheduled for this evening at Woodlawn Lake Park in San Antonio, and a Muertitos Fest
is being held in the city both Friday and Saturday, featuring a
best-dressed contest, “a multidisciplinary showcase of student art,
altars to honor the departed, family folk art workshops, food booths, an
artisan mercado as well as live cultural performances highlighting
local dancers, musicians and entertainers.”
In El Paso, a Dead of the Dead festival
is scheduled for tonight at North Star Elementary School, which will be
showing the aforementioned Disney “Coco” movie on the lawn.
Face-painting and bouncy houses will also be a part of the event.
A Day of the Dead festival
was held from Oct. 28-30 at St. Mark’s Church in the Bowery in New York
City, with altars, folk art, sugar skulls, mask-making and music.
“This tradition is rooted in the native Mexican belief that life on
earth is a preparation for the next world and of the importance of
maintaining a strong relationship to the dead. Join us and dedicate our
ofrenda (altar) to your departed loved-ones by placing copies of
photographs,” the event webpage reads.
The Newark Public Library in New York is hosting a teen lock-in Day of the Dead event on Friday night, with food, games, crafts and “scary movies” rated PG-13 to R.
In Coral Springs, Florida, a Day of the Dead Margarita Festival
is scheduled for Friday and Saturday, featuring a live mariachi band,
margaritas and tequilas, face painting, cotton candy and popcorn, sugar
skull coloring pages for children, and the urging to “dress to impress.”
The city of Birmingham, Alabama presented its 16th annual Day of Dead festival on Friday, with altars, art, dance, food and children’s activities.
“Each autumn, the living invite their dead to join them in a festival
of communion—to return home again and, for a few hours, to sit by the
hearth and warm their cold bones before returning to the land of the
dead,” the event page reads.
In Los Angeles, California, a nine-day Day of the Dead festival
is currently underway, featuring a nightly procession of those costumed
as skeletons that begins and ends with a “traditional Mayan
blessing/soul cleansing.” The event also includes community altars,
skeleton face painting and a 5K “Run of the Dead.”
“For over 30 years, the merchants on Olvera Street have celebrated
Dia de los Muertos. The celebration has evolved to incorporate the
pre-Columbian, Aztec, Mayan and Catholic rituals surrounding death,” the
event website reads. “Death is a part of life, and so we honor it.”
The Los Angeles Times reports
that over 200 children from 10 Catholic schools in the city gathered
this week at Calvary Cemetery where they created altars inside the
mausoleum, and made sugar skulls and masks on the cemetery lawn while
listening to the song “Un Poco Loco” from Disney’s “Coco.”
“This is a demonstration of our strong sense of love,” Florencia
Teran, a teacher from Our Lady of Guadalupe School, told the outlet.
“We’re bringing back our culture, our tradition.”
Similarly, on Oct. 28, a Dia De Los Muertos event
was held at Calvary Catholic Cemetery in San Jose, with a description
of the occasion reading, “Celebrate the day with a reunion of sorts. It
is said that during El Dia de los Muertos, the veil between the living
and the dead disappears. Observe the spiritual side of the tradition at
Calvary Catholic Cemetery.”
Bowers Museum in Santa Ana is hosting a Day of the Dead festival
on Sunday, featuring face painting, art, and performances by Rhythmo
Mariachi Kids, Folklorico Raices de Mexico, Trio Tres Souls and Xipe
Totec Danza Azteca.
“Celebrate the Day of the Dead at Bowers! Dia de los Muertos is based
on the Mexican belief that our departed loved ones come back to earth
to be with us every year in a joyful celebration that lasts for three
days,” its event page reads.
The popular search engine Google even observed “El Dia De Los Muertos” by using a skull doodle in its logo for Oct. 2. IS IT BIBLICAL? GendronWhile
some say that the Day of the Dead is simply a way to honor those who
have died and to rekindle fond memories of years past, others state that
aspects of the observance, such as its belief that spirits of the dead
can somehow return to their loved ones—even for a day—is unbiblical.
“The pagan holidays of Samhain and the Day of the Dead embrace a
theme of communicating with the dead,” Gendron told Christian News
Network. “Satan’s first lie was ‘Ye shall not surely die.’ Since then,
he has perpetuated the lie that when you die, you aren’t really dead.
This lie convinces many people that the dead are really alive and are
able to communicate with them [and woo them back].”
“Since the spirits of the dead know nothing and their thoughts have
perished, they would not know their families or know how to find their
way back,” he said, citing Ecclesiastes 9:5 and Psalm 146:4. “The Bible
also makes it clear that these pagan practices are an abomination to the
Lord.” Gendron, a former Roman Catholic of over 30 years who seeks to lead
Catholics in Scriptural truth, said that a number of pagan practices and
traditions have been synchronized into the religion.
“The Catholic sacrament of extreme unction, when death is imminent,
originated in Babylon as an anointing for the last journey into the
mysteries of death,” he explained. “Catholicism uses bones of saints to
commemorate their dead heroes, as did Babylon.”
“Transubstantiation where round wafers are said to be changed into
the physical body of Christ and eaten is a practice similar to the
Babylonians who worshipped Baal in the same way, using round wafers as a
symbol of the sun god,” Gendron continued. “Purgatory and prayers for
the dead have served both ancient Babylon and Catholicism as a
cleansing.”
He said that he desires for those who are involved in pagan
traditions and rituals to esteem the word of God with serious honor and
reverence.
“Knowing God’s judgments against these pagan practices should cause
people to tremble in fear of Him (Ps. 119:120),” Gendron stated. “It is
my prayer that the truth of God’s word will be taken seriously and will
set people free from religious and pagan deception. We need to destroy
speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of
God (2 Cor. 10:5).”
Colossians 2:8 reads, “Beware lest any man spoil you through
philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the
rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.”
