JudgeNot:
<< Dale - did you click on the URL and read the story? It is happening in San Diego - among other places...    >>

  Yes, I see. A sad story for San Diego. I remember camping out at a county park as a Boy Scout. I can certainly remember seeing Scouts camping at a city park, as an adult. It's difficult to see why this would be controversial.

  In general, I don't take World Net Daily seriously as a source of information. About half the stories in World Net Daily are from the Washington Times, which is owned by the Unification Church. In the vernacular, the Unification Church is "the Moonies."

  Wondering if I had the story right on that, I asked an aquaintance who is a member of the Unification Church if they really own the Washington Times. He assured me that they do, through some series of shell corporations.

  Dawn in Reply #36 on March 12:
<< This symbol represents the eye of the Egyptian god Horus. The Masonic all seeing eye, the Eye of Providence symbol on US dollar bill are all derived from the Eye of Horus.

I have sent a photo to your email of just two artifacts from the British Museum of the Faience Wedjat Eye amulet from the Third Intermediate Period 1068-661 BC and Faience pectoral c.1250 BC that depicts the all-seeing eye.  >>


  I was off of this Board (and all other boards) for several weeks after you sent me the pictures of the Egyptian eye of Horus.
  I will have to say that I don't believe that either of these pictures looks anything like the eye or eye and pyramid on the US Great Seal. Both of these Egyptian pictures shows an eye with wings. I don't see how this connects with either the Masonic All Seeing Eye or the eye on the US Great Seal.
  It looks to me like the whole idea is just another rumor, just another conspiracy theory.

    Where has this happened? Or why do you believe it is going to happen?

  I am aware that some local United Fund or United Way organizations are refusing to fund the Boy Scouts. Some school board members in Florida, where I live, have expressed a hostile attitude toward the Boy Scouts in the last few years.

  It is strange that this is happening. The Boy Scouts have welcomed members of all faiths, including Buddhists.

 Ebia in post #70:
<< Since when does 50,000 equal 800,000? >>

  I hadn't seen that figure for the Rwandan genocide. Nevertheless, you could pause to admit that 50,000 murders is far too many, especially when people are targeted for death because of their religion.
  I wouldn't take the notion that Peter founded the Catholic Church seriously. I would date the beginning of anything we can recognize as the Catholic Church from the first time the Bishops assembled to elect a Pope, a Bishop of Rome.
  As for Calvinists, I have clashed with them over persecutions carried out by John Calvin and John Knox.
  You say that Methodists are a mere spin off from the Anglicans. Yet the Methodists invented Sunday School, Bible study, and so had a lot to do with creating the modern Christian church, where we seek to understand God's word. In contrast, the medieval Catholic church was a mystery rite where the priests performed a magical rite in a foreign language.

  DreamWeaver,
                     I notice that you didn't reply to my post on why you think that Nelson Mandela still rules South Africa.

  << The United Nations destroyed two free nations (Rhodesia and South Africa), two nations which were not politically correct, and so, were forced to their knees. The UN spread vicious lies about Rhosesia and crippled the nation economically, finally turning it over to avowed Communists led by black radical Robert Mugabe - who promptly renamed it Zimbabwe.  >>

  Maybe Mugabe calls it Zimbabwe because that's what most of the people who live there call it.
  Do you have any clue how Robert Mugabe came to power in Rhodesia? Hint: It has something to do with Margaret Thatcher.

  Ebia in reply #66:
<< You're still being inconsistant by holding the whole RCC accountable for the actions done in it's name in the past, but not the protestant churches collectively for the actions done by their founders.  >>

  Let's try a few examples. The Methodist Church was founded by John Wesley. The Baptist Church was founded by Roger Williams. The Quakers were founded by George Fox. The Moravian Church goes back to the teaching of Jan Hus, who was burned at the stake by a Catholic king sixty years before Martin Luther.
  Neither Jan Hus, George Fox,  John Wesley, nor Roger Williams ever persecuted anyone.

  Michael_Legna in reply # 48:
<< So you have shown me nothing new, just another Protestant claiming exaggerated numbers with no supporting evidence or independent sources to substantiate their prejudice. >>


  How about the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre, the massacre of the Huguenots, the French Protestants?  The feast day of St. Bartholomew is August 24 and the massacre happened in 1572.
  Encyclopedia Brittannica, 1946:
  "The initiative for the crime rests with Catherine de' Medici" who "persuaded the king [of France] that the massacre was a measure of public safety".
  "The massacre began on Sunday at daybreak, and continued in Paris until September 17. Once let loose, it was impossible to restrain the populace. From Paris the massacre spread to the provinces till October 3. The Duc de Longueville in Picardy, Chabot-Charny...at Dijon, the Comte de Matignon in Normanday and other provincial governors refused to authorize the massacres. Francois Hotman estimates the number killed in the whole of France at 50,000. Catherine de' Medici received the congratulations of all the Catholic powers, and Pope Gregory XIII commanded bonfires to be lighted and a medal to be struck."

  In other words, Protestants were killed because of their religion and not because of anything in particular that they were doing. The massacres took place over at least five weeks and killed about as many people as the Rwandan genocide. Further, the Pope approved of a religious massacre that happened over the objection of the provincial governors--the State authority!
  The St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre may be why France is a maddeningly irreligious Catholic country today, instead of one with a substantial Protestant population.

  If you think Nelson Mandela rules South Africa, you haven't seen a news story from there in years.

  Dawn in post #34:
<< As for Osirus being called the 'creator' - you will have to take that up with Albert Pike whom I was quoting.  >>

  I suggest that you look up Osiris in a reference book. Then look up Ra.

  Dawn:
<< The origins of the symbols and their meanings are ancient and can be very easily verified with historical sources and artifacts.  >>

  I've seen pictures of Egyptian buildings, inscriptions and artifacts from many sources. Every encycopedia has a few photos. I've recorded documentaries on Egypt, read books on the architecture, read translations of a few of the manuscripts.
  Now about the "All Seeing Eye" ... never heard of it, as an Egyptian idea. If you're claiming that the All Seeing Eye was part of the Egyptian belief that the Freemasons adopted, then show me one photo from Egypt with an "All Seeing Eye."
  I don't believe there is one.

  Symphony in post #2:
<< Thank you, Dale.
But does anyone care? >>

  Perhaps the question is, will the papers print it? Last fall, while the controversy over the homosexual Episcopal Bishop was at its height, folks argued the matter in the letters column of our local papers. Then one of our two local papers, which happens to be owned by the New York Times, came out with a statement that they would print no more letters on that subject. Why? The New York Times has supported homosexuality for decades. Where I live most people are against it. So a paper that supports homosexualilty has nothing to gain by debate. They know their side would lose.
  Our other paper is not quite so supportive of homosexuality, but they also have a limited tolerance for the whole subject. Their columnists have devoted about two sentences to homosexuality in the past year, unless I missed something. Likewise, they seem to have a quota of letters to the editor on that subject. I've been able to get some letters in, then they stopped printing them.
  It would seem to me that we haven't scratched the surface of what needs to be said on the subject. But even our most conservative editors only want so much. They apparently think, ho hum, enough.

  << Did you read the article yet on the incompatibility of Freemasonry and Christianity?  >>

  No, and you haven't shown me much reason to think I should.

  One of the reasons this concerns me is that the claim that there are pagan Masonic symbols on the U.S. Great Seal, and so on the dollar bill, is spread by those who want people to believe that the Federal Constitution of 1791 is somehow anti-religious. Oddly, many of those who have picked up this rumor are the same religious conservatives who keep telling us that the Founding Fathers were all devout Christians.
  This leads to complete confusion.

  It is true that Benjamin Franklin was a Mason. However, Franklin had little influence on our national symbols: he thought the bald eagle was a poor choice!

  Dawn in reply #30:
<< The reverse side of the seal was officially rejected in 1883 by an official committee.    >>
  Then why is it on the dollar bill today? The Great Seal of the U.S. was adopted by the Continental Congress in 1782, not rejected in 1783. It sounds like you are quoting a member of the Anti-Masonic movement of the early American Republic. Their views are not representative and cannot be trusted.

  << The all-seeing eye represents the Egyptian gods Osirus and Horus - the Egyptian sun god. Freemasonry uses that ancient pagan symbol and high degree Freemasons are well aware of it's origins as Albert Pike noted 'The Blazing Star has been regarded as an emblem of Omniscience, or the All-Seeing Eye, which to the Egyptian initiates was the emblem of Osiris, the Creator' (Pike, Morals and Dogma'. p16-26).  >>

  Osiris in not a creator god in Egyptian mythology. Ra is the closest thing they had to a creator, and Ra is also the sun god. (Not that it's easy or safe to generalize about Egyptian mythology.)


  << Many of the symbols and secrets of Freemasonry have descended from ancient Egypt whose mysteries descended from ancient Babylon.  >>
  This cannot be true since Egypt is older than Babylon.
  According to the Encyclopedia Brittannica, 1946, organized Freemasonry was founded in London in 1717, although some of the fraternal clubs that joined this organization may go back to the 14th Century.

  << You did not honestly think that the designers of the Great Seal just come up with the symbol by themselves, did you?  >>
  The reverse side of the Great Seal was designed by William Barton, an expert in heraldry and numismatics.

  JudgeNot:
               << I guess that my point is, that there are those on this website that choose to single out Catholics and Baptists for their practices (or non-practices) while ignoring denominations that are overtly accepting teachings that are quite obviously non-Christian.  >>

  You probably know that the United Church of Christ, UCC, or Congregationalists, have accepted homosexual unions for well over ten years now. Interesting, since the Congregationalists are the surviving remnant of the Puritans.
  Of course, the Metropolitan Community Church, was founded as a church for homosexuals. I'm told that their doctrine is rather conservative except for the thing about homosexuality.
I know that the Metropoliltan Community Church met on a college campus, state or county property, in Georgia, near Atlanta.

  JudgeNot:
              << There have been threads on this forum asking if Catholics are Christian and asking if Baptists are Chritstian ... >>

  It would be interesting to know how the Christianity of Baptists would be questioned.