Immoral behavior

[Shammu]

 For sale: 13-year-old virgin

By Sue Ryan in Bharatpur
Last Updated: 2:40am BST 14/04/2008

Thirty miles west of the Taj Mahal, on the road to the pink city of Jaipur, tourists on buses pass a sight that the guide books rarely mention.

A mile beyond the town of Bharatpur in Rajasthan, where the highway is being widened to four lanes, traffic slows down for roadworks. But the workmen who lounge by their bulldozers have their eyes on something else - a cluster of makeshift shelters where girls, several under 18 and at least two younger than 15, can be seen strolling or sitting, in view of the dusty carriageway.

Tonight, one girl in particular is attracting attention as she sits on a stool by a fire so that she can be seen by passing vehicles. Her heavily made-up, striking face and beautiful pink sari make her look as if she were on her way to a party. But the truth is different. Suli, 14, is a virgin and a bidding war is being held for the right to be the first to sleep with her.

The collection of shelters where she lives houses 59 families, all members of the Bedia tribe, which has a long tradition of caste-based prostitution. Girls born here become prostitutes in a rite of passage into "adulthood" as routine as marriage is to the rest of Indian society.

The "first time" is a valued commodity for which the middle-class businessmen who pass this way are prepared to pay a premium.

The normal rate is 100 rupees (£1.30) but a virgin is sold to the highest bidder for anything over 20,000 rupees. If she is very pretty, the community would hope to get up to 40,000 rupees. For this, the man can have access to the girl for as long as he likes - several hours, days, or even weeks. When he tires of her, there is a celebration. Because it is considered unlucky for a girl to keep the money from her first time, it is spent instead on an extravagant party. Jewellery is bought for her and for her relatives, goats are slaughtered and alcohol runs freely. There is dancing, and offerings are made to the gods.

Once a girl has lost her virginity she cannot marry. The choice has been made and the community celebrates it - this is her non-wedding night.

Suli said she was happy to enter the trade. "I chose it," she said, though she admitted being "a little" frightened. "I do not know how it is going to be. I know other girls who are in the trade but I have not asked them how it is."

She claimed it did not matter what the man looked like. "I will go with whoever pays the highest price," she said, before running off as her mother called her for supper.

Nita, a virgin in the hut next door, has four sisters, all prostitutes. She wears jeans and a skimpy top, and giggles a lot. One sister boasts that as Nita is particularly pretty, they hope to get 40,000 rupees (£600). "We have been offered 25,000, but it is not enough."

Nita is only 13 but has opted to follow her sisters into the trade. It is her own "choice", because, she giggled, "I won't have to do any housework."

But in avoiding making chapatis, Nita has signed up to a life in which she will deal with 20 to 30 clients per day, until she reaches her forties. After that, when she is no longer considered desirable, she will depend on any children she may have for support.

Two of her sisters, Ritu, 35, and Manju, 25, have built one of the few stone houses in their village, for which they paid the equivalent of £14,600, and are proud of their success. "There was a lot of poverty, we had nothing to eat," said Manju. "What you see now has come with hard work." They support 50 family members - 35 children and 15 adults.

Elsewhere in India, the birth of a boy is celebrated with dowries paid by the bride's family, one of the reasons given for the high abortion rate for female foetuses. But in the villages around Bharatpur there is a shortage of girls to marry, and the custom is for the boy's family to pay the girl's family a large lump sum before the wedding can take place.

Possibly because the money comes from prostitution, and because any granddaughters will be destined for the trade, the sums are high.

Ritu and Manju paid for four of their five brothers to marry, and now support their sisters-in-law, nieces and nephews.

They earn between 1,000 and 1,500 rupees a day. It was more before the government knocked down their shelters to make room for the highway.

"We need a shelter by the road," they said. "Tell the government to build us somewhere we can work. We used to have 25 or 30 clients a day, now the average is 10 or 15." They said they were able to keep their rates up because they could provide a nice room and running water for their clients, who are mostly married businessmen from Agra.

The prevalence of caste-based prostitution in certain tribes in the region - the Bawaria, Nuts, Bedias, Kanjars and Sansis - came to light after a raid on a brothel in Delhi. Now an attempt is being made to break the cycle by which the girls of each generation enter the trade.

Dr KK Mukerjee, a social work professor at the University of Delhi, who was commissioned by the government to research the scope of prostitution, has founded a group, known as GNK. Supported by Plan International, a child-centred community development agency, the organisation has set up a hostel to look after prostitutes' children.

Many of the women said they did not wish their daughters to follow them into the trade. Ritu and Manju each have a daughter, whose fathers were clients. "My daughter will get educated, and not enter this profession," said Ritu. "I have seen what it is like. I don't want it for her."

A young boy at the hostel told proudly how he had persuaded his grandmother not to push his aunt into prostitution. "My grandmother said that she would kill herself if my aunt did not go into the trade and earn money," he said. "But I persuaded her, and my aunt got married."

For sale: 13-year-old virgin

[nChrist]

I grieve for Israel and for our own country which seems determined to bring judgment on itself but this is my opinion. I'm afraid, it's only a matter of time.............

Hello DreamWeaver,

Brother, we both know what the Bible says will most definitely happen, sooner or later. Anti-Jewish Sentiment and Anti-Christian sentiment will increase around the world, including the two against each other. Anti-Christian sentiment is already escalating by some we consider the LEAST likely - Israel. I might be naive, but I don't think that the same is true in the reverse by Christians. I might also be surprised to find out how little most Christians know about Bible Prophecy. Knowledge of GOD'S WORD is the key to this issue between Jews and Christians, but Christians should expect that most Jewish people DO NOT want to hear the Christian message. On the other side of the coin, Christians should know that GOD most certainly want us to distribute HIS GOOD NEWS to the Jewish people. This is going to be an interesting problem that most Christians should anticipate to grow WORSE - NOT BETTER. As Christians, we should attempt to please GOD, regardless of the consequences.

Brothers and Sisters, what should Christians really expect of our government if these ARE the approaching End Days of this Age of Grace? Let's go even further and wonder how many Christians are familiar with Bible Prophecy. How many Christians actually believe what the Bible says will MOST DEFINITELY HAPPEN? It's a Promise from GOD, so I would think that Christians who doubt Bible Prophecy have a BIG PROBLEM with GOD! It isn't a matter of "IF", rather a matter of "WHEN". The RAPTURE OF THE CHURCH WHICH IS THE BODY OF CHRIST, The Tribulation Period, THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST, and the RULE AND REIGN OF CHRIST FROM THE THRONE OF DAVID IN JERUSALEM is AN ABSOLUTE BIBLE FACT!

Brothers and Sisters, let's talk about some BLUNT Bible facts right now that ALL Christians should think about. Any self-professed Christian who doubts or denies any Promise of GOD needs to examine themselves to determine if they REALLY ARE IN CHRIST! If the problem is a matter of ignorance regarding the contents of the Holy Bible, it's far past time for Christians to find out what the Bible and GOD SAYS is ABOUT TO HAPPEN! Bible Prophecy is GOD'S WORD, and ALL recorded Bible Prophecy has a 100% Rate of HAPPENING EXACTLY AS GOD SAYS THAT IT WILL!

Brothers and Sisters, most Christians who have even lightly studied Bible Prophecy think that we are approaching the End Days of this Age of Grace. If we are, what does this mean for you and your family if you are Christians? What does this mean for you and your family if you ARE NOT SAVED? DON'T YOU THINK THAT IT'S TIME TO FIND OUT?

Love In Christ,
Tom

Ephesians 1:18-23 NASB I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

[nChrist]

Matthew 24:23-31 NASB
"Then if anyone says to you, 'Behold, here is the Christ,' or 'There He is,' do not believe him. "For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect. "Behold, I have told you in advance. "So if they say to you, 'Behold, He is in the wilderness,' do not go out, or, 'Behold, He is in the inner rooms,' do not believe them. "For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes even to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be. "Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather. "But immediately after the tribulation of those days THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED, AND THE MOON WILL NOT GIVE ITS LIGHT, AND THE STARS WILL FALL from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. "And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the SON OF MAN COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF THE SKY with power and great glory. "And He will send forth His angels with A GREAT TRUMPET and THEY WILL GATHER TOGETHER His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.

Matthew 24:32-44 NASB
"Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near; so, you too, when you see all these things, recognize that He is near, right at the door. "Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away. "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. "For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. "For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be. "Then there will be two men in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. "Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one will be left. "Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. "But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. "For this reason you also must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.

Revelation 11:1-13 NASB
Then there was given me a measuring rod like a staff; and someone said, "Get up and measure the temple of God and the altar, and those who worship in it. "Leave out the court which is outside the temple and do not measure it, for it has been given to the nations; and they will tread under foot the holy city for forty-two months. "And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for twelve hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth." These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. And if anyone wants to harm them, fire flows out of their mouth and devours their enemies; so if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this way. These have the power to shut up the sky, so that rain will not fall during the days of their prophesying; and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood, and to strike the earth with every plague, as often as they desire. When they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up out of the abyss will make war with them, and overcome them and kill them. And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which mystically is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. Those from the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations will look at their dead bodies for three and a half days, and will not permit their dead bodies to be laid in a tomb. And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and celebrate; and they will send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth. But after the three and a half days, the breath of life from God came into them, and they stood on their feet; and great fear fell upon those who were watching them. And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, "Come up here." Then they went up into heaven in the cloud, and their enemies watched them. And in that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell; seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.

Ezekiel 7:1-9 NASB
Moreover, the word of the LORD came to me saying, "And you, son of man, thus says the Lord GOD to the land of Israel, 'An end! The end is coming on the four corners of the land. 'Now the end is upon you, and I will send My anger against you; I will judge you according to your ways and bring all your abominations upon you. 'For My eye will have no pity on you, nor will I spare you, but I will bring your ways upon you, and your abominations will be among you; then you will know that I am the LORD!' "Thus says the Lord GOD, 'A disaster, unique disaster, behold it is coming! 'An end is coming; the end has come! It has awakened against you; behold, it has come! 'Your doom has come to you, O inhabitant of the land. The time has come, the day is near--tumult rather than joyful shouting on the mountains. 'Now I will shortly pour out My wrath on you and spend My anger against you; judge you according to your ways and bring on you all your abominations. 'My eye will show no pity nor will I spare. I will repay you according to your ways, while your abominations are in your midst; then you will know that I, the LORD, do the smiting.

Ezekiel 7:14-20 NASB
'They have blown the trumpet and made everything ready, but no one is going to the battle, for My wrath is against all their multitude. 'The sword is outside and the plague and the famine are within. He who is in the field will die by the sword; famine and the plague will also consume those in the city. 'Even when their survivors escape, they will be on the mountains like doves of the valleys, all of them mourning, each over his own iniquity. 'All hands will hang limp and all knees will become like water. 'They will gird themselves with sackcloth and shuddering will overwhelm them; and shame will be on all faces and baldness on all their heads. 'They will fling their silver into the streets and their gold will become an abhorrent thing; their silver and their gold will not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD. They cannot satisfy their appetite nor can they fill their stomachs, for their iniquity has become an occasion of stumbling. 'They transformed the beauty of His ornaments into pride, and they made the images of their abominations and their detestable things with it; therefore I will make it an abhorrent thing to them.

Ezekiel 7:25-27 NASB
'When anguish comes, they will seek peace, but there will be none. 'Disaster will come upon disaster and rumor will be added to rumor; then they will seek a vision from a prophet, but the law will be lost from the priest and counsel from the elders. 'The king will mourn, the prince will be clothed with horror, and the hands of the people of the land will tremble. According to their conduct I will deal with them, and by their judgments I will judge them. And they will know that I am the LORD.'"

[nChrist]

Ezekiel 38:14-23 NASB
"Therefore prophesy, son of man, and say to Gog, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "On that day when My people Israel are living securely, will you not know it? "You will come from your place out of the remote parts of the north, you and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a great assembly and a mighty army; and you will come up against My people Israel like a cloud to cover the land. It shall come about in the last days that I will bring you against My land, so that the nations may know Me when I am sanctified through you before their eyes, O Gog." 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Are you the one of whom I spoke in former days through My servants the prophets of Israel, who prophesied in those days for many years that I would bring you against them? "It will come about on that day, when Gog comes against the land of Israel," declares the Lord GOD, "that My fury will mount up in My anger. "In My zeal and in My blazing wrath I declare that on that day there will surely be a great earthquake in the land of Israel. "The fish of the sea, the birds of the heavens, the beasts of the field, all the creeping things that creep on the earth, and all the men who are on the face of the earth will shake at My presence; the mountains also will be thrown down, the steep pathways will collapse and every wall will fall to the ground. "I will call for a sword against him on all My mountains," declares the Lord GOD. "Every man's sword will be against his brother. "With pestilence and with blood I will enter into judgment with him; and I will rain on him and on his troops, and on the many peoples who are with him, a torrential rain, with hailstones, fire and brimstone. "I will magnify Myself, sanctify Myself, and make Myself known in the sight of many nations; and they will know that I am the LORD."'

Ezekiel 39:1-7 NASB
"And you, son of man, prophesy against Gog and say, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I am against you, O Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal; and I will turn you around, drive you on, take you up from the remotest parts of the north and bring you against the mountains of Israel. "I will strike your bow from your left hand and dash down your arrows from your right hand. "You will fall on the mountains of Israel, you and all your troops and the peoples who are with you; I will give you as food to every kind of predatory bird and beast of the field. "You will fall on the open field; for it is I who have spoken," declares the Lord GOD. "And I will send fire upon Magog and those who inhabit the coastlands in safety; and they will know that I am the LORD. "My holy name I will make known in the midst of My people Israel; and I will not let My holy name be profaned anymore. And the nations will know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.

Ezekiel 39:17-22 NASB
"As for you, son of man, thus says the Lord GOD, 'Speak to every kind of bird and to every beast of the field, "Assemble and come, gather from every side to My sacrifice which I am going to sacrifice for you, as a great sacrifice on the mountains of Israel, that you may eat flesh and drink blood. "You will eat the flesh of mighty men and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, as though they were rams, lambs, goats and bulls, all of them fatlings of Bashan. "So you will eat fat until you are glutted, and drink blood until you are drunk, from My sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you. "You will be glutted at My table with horses and charioteers, with mighty men and all the men of war," declares the Lord GOD. "And I will set My glory among the nations; and all the nations will see My judgment which I have executed and My hand which I have laid on them. "And the house of Israel will know that I am the LORD their God from that day onward.

Ezekiel 39:25-29 NASB
Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, "Now I will restore the fortunes of Jacob and have mercy on the whole house of Israel; and I will be jealous for My holy name. "They will forget their disgrace and all their treachery which they perpetrated against Me, when they live securely on their own land with no one to make them afraid. "When I bring them back from the peoples and gather them from the lands of their enemies, then I shall be sanctified through them in the sight of the many nations. "Then they will know that I am the LORD their God because I made them go into exile among the nations, and then gathered them again to their own land; and I will leave none of them there any longer. "I will not hide My face from them any longer, for I will have poured out My Spirit on the house of Israel," declares the Lord GOD.

Isaiah 2:1-5 NASB
The word which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. Now it will come about that In the last days The mountain of the house of the LORD Will be established as the chief of the mountains, And will be raised above the hills; And all the nations will stream to it. And many peoples will come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, To the house of the God of Jacob; That He may teach us concerning His ways And that we may walk in His paths." For the law will go forth from Zion And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. And He will judge between the nations, And will render decisions for many peoples; And they will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, And never again will they learn war. Come, house of Jacob, and let us walk in the light of the LORD.

Isaiah 9:2-7 NASB
The people who walk in darkness Will see a great light; Those who live in a dark land, The light will shine on them. You shall multiply the nation, You shall increase their gladness; They will be glad in Your presence As with the gladness of harvest, As men rejoice when they divide the spoil. For You shall break the yoke of their burden and the staff on their shoulders, The rod of their oppressor, as at the battle of Midian. For every boot of the booted warrior in the battle tumult, And cloak rolled in blood, will be for burning, fuel for the fire. For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.

Isaiah 65:17-25 NASB
"For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former things will not be remembered or come to mind. "But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; For behold, I create Jerusalem for rejoicing And her people for gladness. "I will also rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in My people; And there will no longer be heard in her The voice of weeping and the sound of crying. "No longer will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, Or an old man who does not live out his days; For the youth will die at the age of one hundred And the one who does not reach the age of one hundred Will be thought accursed. "They will build houses and inhabit them; They will also plant vineyards and eat their fruit. "They will not build and another inhabit, They will not plant and another eat; For as the lifetime of a tree, so will be the days of My people, And My chosen ones will wear out the work of their hands. "They will not labor in vain, Or bear children for calamity; For they are the offspring of those blessed by the LORD, And their descendants with them. "It will also come to pass that before they call, I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear. "The wolf and the lamb will graze together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox; and dust will be the serpent's food. They will do no evil or harm in all My holy mountain," says the LORD.

[Shammu]

Oprah Starting Her Own Cult?

Thursday , April 17, 2008
By Roger Friedman

Oprah Winfrey may have gone too far in exploiting and distributing the teachings of a questionable New Age writer.

On Monday night, Winfrey conducted her weekly Web "event" seminar with New Age writer Eckhart Tolle. His message: "Life is the dancer and you are the dance."

Got that?

The seminar was No. 7 in a series of 10. On the first 90-minute Webcast with Tolle, Oprah extolled the author’s virtues, calling his best-selling "New Earth" book "one of the most important books of our time," the seminars one of "the most exciting things I’ve ever done."

Imagine that Winfrey considers her conversations with Tolle, a man with a shady and un-checkable background, more important than her schools in Africa and Mississippi for underprivileged children, more important than her Angel Charity network or her zillion-dollar syndicated TV show. Tolle must be something else!

But it’s not like Winfrey is endorsing Maya Angelou or Toni Morrison, serious, educated artists with portfolios. Tolle is more like Kilgore Trout, Kurt Vonnegut’s science-fiction crackpot alter-ego.

And what’s different about the Tolle connection for Winfrey is that for the first time in her much-applauded Book Club’s history, she’s gone into business with the author. And the author is not one of a novel, memoir or cookbook; he’s the mysterious creator of a philosophy that Winfrey endorses and suggests her readers live their lives by.

But is Eckhart Tolle an appropriate spiritual leader? He told an interviewer that he stopped going to school at age 13 and didn’t resume any education for at least a decade. In the same interview he says he graduated "with the highest mark at the London University."

The press rep at the University of London says there’s simply no way to verify that. "You might as well say you graduated from here," joked the person I spoke to. Clever.

He says in interviews that he had a personal epiphany in 1977 at age 29 after a life of suffering from suicidal depression. For the next 15 years, no one knows much about what happened to him, and he’s not saying. He says he spent time wandering and sitting in London’s parks, with "no relationships, no job, no home, no socially defined identity," but a sense of "intense joy."

In seminar 1, Oprah’s new guru tells her: "I was living in England, and I had this strong impulse one morning … I had to move to the West Coast of North America without knowing why … So I moved to Vancouver and then I took a Greyhound bus to California, knew only one or two people, and I said, 'Why am I here?'"

"Three weeks passed, somebody put me up in a room near San Francisco, and suddenly this came. I bought a notepad and suddenly the strong stream came through and I wrote, 'What Is Enlightenment?' The beginning of 'The Power of Now.' The moment I wrote that, I knew this is the book that wants to be born. So rather than me wanting to write a book, there was a book that wanted to be written."

And so on.

Oprah’s response to this: "It’s like Michelangelo says the angel’s in the marble and he just cuts away the marble."

Well, not quite.

His books, "The Power of Now" and "A New Earth," are the same gobbledygook as most New Age stuff. They’re all about self-empowering and how to find out who we are. "Awakening" is Tolle’s key word. Tolle is very busy enforcing moments of silence and showing his readers how to find their "pain-body."

Nothing new there. And nothing new for Oprah, who’s now so wildly wealthy that she’s exceeded literally any famous person she might interview. Parade magazine puts her 2007 income at $260 million, the most of any celebrity and $150 million more than Steven Spielberg, the most successful filmmaker of all time. So what can she do besides anoint presidential candidates or start a religion?

Indeed, Winfrey already has flirted with several cult-like New Age deals. She’s enthusiastically embraced the Scientology celebrities like Tom Cruise and John Travolta. She’s even gone into business with Kirstie Alley, whom she’s planning to give a forum in her own talk show.

She’s also promoted televangelist Marianne Williamson’s kooky "Course of Miracles" and a book of New Age clichés by Australian Rhonda Byrne called "The Secret." (There’s a good piece on the latter at salon.com.)

Winfrey is nothing if not gifted at recognizing what’s already popular in the culture and exploiting it. But her association with Tolle is way over the top. It involves sponsorships with General Motors (Chevy), 3M Corp. (Post-Its) and Skype Internet phone service. In one broad stroke, she’s managed to accomplish what Scientology never has achieved: bringing corporate America’s implicit approval into religion.

What’s interesting is not so much Tolle, with his German accent and blank stare, proselytizing his nonsense. He talks a lot, literally, about looking at flowers and trees in a new way, much like Chauncey Gardner in "Being There."

It’s more about Oprah herself, free associating, selling out her own world as she gushes over those flowers and trees. For example, in seminar 1, she socks it to Hollywood, the source of 50 percent of her guests. This is the same Oprah who does a live special the day after the Oscars and often plugs the worst films just to get ratings.

In that segment, Oprah seems to forget who she is to score points with Tolle, or rationalize why she’s involved in this beyond the corporate money being reaped:

"Everyone complains about the media and the movies. I mean, if you just look at the Academy Awards this year, and the kinds of movies that were made this year, and it’s all a reflection of who we are. You say in the book," Winfrey says to Tolle, "that we’re the species that will go and watch people be maimed and killed and murdered for our entertainment."

We can assume she wasn’t talking about "Juno," "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly," "The Savages," "Enchanted," "Atonement," "La Vie En Rose," "Michael Clayton," "Elizabeth: The Golden Age," "Into the Wild," "Away from Her" or "Charlie Wilson’s War" — all films that had nominations. Just three films featured overt violence this year — "No Country for Old Men," "There Will Be Blood" and "Sweeney Todd."

But it’s the zealous excitement in Winfrey’s eyes when she says it that makes the difference. Those three films are now the whole Academy Awards, and therefore "the media." You can already feel hearts pounding! She’s right! Hollywood had better look at flowers and trees in a new way.

What makes Oprah’s seminars even more creepy are the "study groups" she has lined up for Tolle at bookstores and other locations around the world. They’re all hooked up to the seminars through Skype, and the members can ask questions. They all have that same glazed-over look as people giving testimonials on late-night infomercials.

"I consider this to be a sacred moment when we can all come together … and share in this work," Winfrey says at the start of seminar 6. And why not? You’ll notice that she, not Tolle, has the sole copyright on the broadcasts. Ka ching!

But don’t worry about Eckhart Tolle. His "power of now" is all about his store. All roads lead to his merchandise, which is prominently featured on his Web site and accessed from Oprah’s.

His is a costly philosophy. Books, tapes, DVDs — all of it becomes quite expensive when added up, making Tolle no different than Scientology, Kabbalah or any other shiny new religion. Tolle even sells teaching tools "for professionals" — "A Guide for the Spiritual Teacher and Health Practitioner" — even though it’s unclear what is the basis of his own educational background.

Are we supposed to take this seriously? As Tolle, himself, says to Oprah, "It’s better to laugh at madness."

Oprah Starting Her Own Cult?
~~~~~~~~~~~

Y'all may want to check out Cults, Different groups, right here on Christians Unite forum.

[Shammu]

Praying Passenger is Removed From Plane at New York Airport

Thursday , April 17, 2008

NEW YORK  —
A passenger who left his seat to pray in the back of a plane before it took off, ignoring flight attendants' orders to return, was removed by an airport security guard, a witness and the airline said.

The Orthodox Jewish man, who wore a full beard, a black hat and a long black coat, stood near the lavatories and began saying his prayers while the United Airlines jet was being boarded at John F. Kennedy International Airport on Wednesday night, fellow passenger Ori Brafman said.

When flight attendants urged the man, who was carrying a religious book, to take his seat, he ignored them, Brafman said. Two friends, who were seated, tried to tell the attendants that the man couldn't stop until his prayers were over in about 2 minutes, he said.

"He doesn't respond to them, but his friends explain that once you start praying you can't stop," said Brafman, who was seated three rows away.

When the man finally stopped praying, he explained that he couldn't interrupt his religious ritual and wasn't trying to be rude. But the attendants summoned a guard to remove him, said Brafman, a writer who had been visiting New York to talk to publishers.

The plane, Flight 9 to San Francisco, took off without the man. It landed at its destination as scheduled, Brafman said by telephone from his home there.

Robin Urbanski, a spokeswoman for United Airlines, a subsidiary of UAL Corp. with headquarters in Chicago, confirmed the man was taken off the plane and put on another flight Thursday morning.

Urbanksi said flights cannot depart if all passengers are not in their seats, which risks a delay, and it is important that passengers listen to the instructions of the flight crew.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs area airports, and the Transportation Safety Administration, which handles airport security, said Thursday they weren't involved in the incident.

http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,351638,00.html
~~~~~~~~~

Well, if he was muslim, most likely nothing would have been said.

[Shammu]

Father, Son Banned From U.K. Swimming Pool for Not Being Muslim

Thursday , April 17, 2008

A father and his 10-year-old son were barred from swimming at a U.K. sports center because they are not Muslims, the London Daily Mail reported Thursday.

The father, identified only as David T., told the newspaper that he and his son were stopped before going for a swim at the Clissold Leisure Centre in east London on Sunday morning.

What the father and son didn’t know was that the pool had been holding a "men-only modesty session" for Muslims at the time, one of several early morning get-togethers aimed at community groups with strict segregation rules, the Daily Mail reported.

"I asked whether my son and I could go as we were both male," David T. told the paper. "I was told that the session was for Muslims only and that we could not be admitted."

Red-faced managers at the complex said their staff was wrong to turn away the swimmers.

"The member of staff the user spoke with at the time was mistaken when referring to the session as Muslim only," a leisure center spokesman told the Daily Mail. "The men's modesty session is not a private [event] and is, therefore, open to the public. Muslim men and others can attend."

Father, Son Banned From U.K. Swimming Pool for Not Being Muslim

[Shammu]

Methodists defer key Israeli divestment measure

By Michael Conlon, Religion Writer Thu Apr 17, 5:37 PM ET

CHICAGO (Reuters) - United Methodist Church officials on Thursday put aside a proposal that called for the church to divest some of its holdings in companies profiting from Israel's West Bank occupation.

The proposed measure called on the 8 million-member church -- the third-largest U.S. denomination -- to divest any holdings it had in Caterpillar Inc. by January 1.

The Peoria, Illinois, heavy equipment manufacturer sells bulldozers that the Israeli Army has used to demolish buildings in occupied territories.

About $5 million of the church's $17 billion pension portfolio is invested in Caterpillar, according to the church.

The Methodist General Board of Church & Society said it would not present the measure at the church's quadrennial policy-setting General Conference next week in Texas because the dialogue it already sparked with Caterpillar had produced positive results.

Thursday's decision does not mean that the divestment issue is dead when the Methodists meet in Fort Worth from April 23 to May 2. There are several other proposals, including a broader one stating that the church has $141 million invested in several companies "that enable the occupation to continue" and that should be dumped.

The board said the other proposals still deserve consideration by the meeting.

Caterpillar and the proposal from the General Board of Church & Society, however, had been considered a central measure for the debate, according to Rabbi Gary Greenebaum, director of interreligious affairs for the American Jewish Committee.

The church and society board said "Caterpillar has opened discussions with the board, issued a statement denouncing immoral use of its equipment, and has agreed to continued dialogue," the board said in a statement.

It said face-to-face discussions beginning in January between the board and Caterpillar executives, including chief executive James Owens, resulted in the company condemning "illegal or immoral use of any Caterpillar equipment."

Owens is a member of the church.

The divestment concept has been considered off and on by several U.S. churches but none has actually dumped any stock in companies they say are making money by selling products or services to Israel.

The statement from the church and society board said the Presbyterian Church USA and the Roman Catholic Dominican Sisters recently withdrew shareholder resolution on human rights they had planned to present at Caterpillar's annual meeting.

That action came "in light of its stated expectations that customers will use its products in an environmentally responsible manner and consistent with international humanitarian law and norms," the board said.

Methodists defer key Israeli divestment measure

[Shammu]

Israel is not now and never has "occupied" Judea and Samaria. Israel has reconquered the land God gave them from the Arab Islamic invaders. Reference........ Ezekiel 37 (Amplified Bible)

[Maryjane]

The more I reqd thi the more I think about.."set your mind on things above"..

[nChrist]

The more I reqd thi the more I think about.."set your mind on things above"..

AMEN MARYJANE!

Sister, for Christians our HOME is ABOVE, and many of us are becoming pretty anxious to go HOME. EVIL is pretty quickly taking over this world, and this world is becoming an unpleasant place. However, this world has always been unpleasant compared to HOME, and Christians have work that GOD wants us to do. For now, our part is to yield to GOD and ask HIM to use us however HE Will for HIS Glory. Regardless, our time here on this earth will be short, but our time at HOME in HEAVEN will be for Eternity. May GOD give us all the guidance, strength, and courage to do HIS Will until HE takes us HOME.

Love In Christ,
Tom

Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable GIFT, Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour Forever!

[Shammu]

Down's syndrome boy charged after playground spat with Asian girl

By NATASHA COURTENAY-SMITH
17th April 2008

Until recently, Fiona Bauld thought her 18-year-old son Jamie had not fully grasped the gravity of the situation he found himself in.

It brought her solace that her child, who has Down's syndrome and the mental age of a five-year-old, hadn't fully comprehended the charges of racism and assault against him, let alone begun to contemplate the consequences.

But one night shortly after Christmas, as the family watched TV, Fiona realised to her horror that Jamie was not as oblivious as she'd hoped.

A scene featuring a prison appeared on screen, at which point Jamie said quietly: "I don't want to go to jail, Mum. Please don't let them take me away." He then burst into tears.

"I rushed over, put my arms around him and told him everything was going to be fine," says Fiona.

"All through this nightmare I've done my best to put on a smile and act normally around Jamie, simply to protect him from everything that was happening. But that night, as he sobbed in my arms, I wasn't sure everything would be OK.

"My worst fear was that Jamie would be taken away somewhere that I wouldn't be able to protect him. I said: 'Jamie, you're not going to prison', but I found myself in tears, too."

When Fiona - who lives in Cumbernauld, Lanarkshire, with her husband James, 46, a telecommunications contractor, and their daughter Stephanie, 17 - uses the word "nightmare" she is making no understatement.

Hers is a situation so ridiculous it would be laughable, had the potential ramifications not been so serious.

Her story also serves as a disturbing example of how extreme political correctness can allow minor of incidents to be blown out of all proportion.

The events which have brought her such anguish in recent months begun with what was effectively a playground spat between two individuals with special needs.

It soon escalated into a seven-month criminal investigation that could have resulted in Fiona's son being hauled before a court and left with a criminal record.

Last September, Jamie - who is 18 but cannot even tie his own shoelaces, needs help on the lavatory, mustn't be left alone in the house and still relies on his mother to tuck him up in bed at night - had an altercation with an Asian girl of a similar age, also a pupil at the special needs department of Motherwell College in Lanarkshire, where Jamie is a student.

Put quite simply - girl irritated boy, boy pushed girl and told her to go away. Then, girl responded by telling her teacher.

The two were sent their separate ways and their parents informed about the falling out.

Given their mental ages, it was no more significant than a playground spat between two five-year-olds. That should have been the end of it.

Instead, a notice was placed in the local newspaper - it is not known by whom - asking for witnesses to a "racial assault" at the college on the day in question.

Whether this notice led to the police investigation, or whether the family of the girl contacted them directly is still not clear. Either way, just over a week later, Jamie was charged with racism and assault.

It was an insane example of overzealous political correctness; a local zero-tolerance policy on racism taken to its extremes without any common sense being applied, let alone consideration for the unusual circumstances of the individuals involved.

After months of stress and fear, the Baulds' ordeal came to an end yesterday when, in a remarkable climbdown, the Crown Office issued a formal apology to the family for any distress caused over the past seven months.

All charges have now been dropped, but this, says Fiona, is not enough.

Not only have they encountered confusion, red tape and a lack of compassion in their dealings with the Scottish legal system, they are left fearing that Jamie will forever have a blot on his reputation as a result of being charged at all.

"Our family has been put through a terrible ordeal over nothing," says Fiona. "It is utterly ridiculous that the authorities brought adult charges against our son, who was not only innocent, but clearly unable to comprehend why he was in trouble.

"For instance, when the police arrived to interview Jamie, he welcomed them with a big smile and a handshake. As they read him his rights, he said thank you for coming to see him, and agreed with everything they said."

Those with Down's syndrome often agree with whatever they are told simply to please other people.

Fiona continues: "I said: 'Do you realise he doesn't understand what you are saying?' while the police officers shifted uncomfortably and admitted they had no training in dealing with anyone with special needs.

"But the official process had by then swung into action. From that point on, it seemed there was nothing my husband or I could do to halt it."

It's clear that Fiona dotes on her son. Not only is she frequently tearful as she recalls the past seven months, but she describes how she happily gave up her career in hairdressing to become Jamie's full-time carer.

It was, she says, the only thing she could do given the circumstances she found herself in.

"We had no idea before Jamie was born that he had Down's syndrome, and we were told the diagnosis when he was just 24 hours old," she recalls.

"At the time, I was deeply upset - to the point where I had to be sedated. But that passed, and if I'd known what I know now, I wouldn't have given two hoots about the diagnosis.

"By the time I fell pregnant with his sister, my attitude was that if she has Down's syndrome too, then that's fine by me. I adored Jamie, and didn't wished things had been different."

Raising Jamie has, nonetheless, been far from an easy task. He has suffered from respiratory and bowel problems, which have seen his parents spend weeks sitting at his hospital bedside.

On two occasions - when Jamie was ten months old and when he was four - Fiona and James were told to prepare themselves for the worst.

"Hospitals have become a second home to me over the years," says Fiona. "I've spent weeks - months even - at Jamie's bedside. But I've always seen him as a fighter, and no matter what the doctors have told me, I've always known I'll be bringing my boy home again.

"Thankfully, he's always proven me right, refusing to give up even when doctors said there was no hope."

Since reaching his teens, Jamie's health has improved and Fiona has watched her son blossom.

"Jamie has got through school, and is now doing a life skills course at Motherwell College, which makes me burst with pride," she says. "He has friends, he's sociable and chatty.

"He's a very loving, kind person. He dotes on his sister, and if she is out, he refuses to go to bed until she gets in."

Indeed, so placid is Jamie, says Fiona, that he steadfastly refused to respond to the provocation of a year of severe bullying at secondary school.

"One boy really started picking on Jamie when he was about 14, and made his life a misery," says Fiona. "He punched him in the face, kicked him on numerous occasions, ripped his clothes and even smashed his glasses.

"Jamie used to come home and tell us he couldn't hit this boy back because they were friends. My son simply has not a got a streak of violence in him, and is so laid back that we always joke that he's horizontal."

With this in mind, Fiona was instantly doubtful when she heard Jamie was being accused of hitting the girl at college. She wasn't, however, surprised to hear a dispute had taken place, because her son had already complained of the girl in question.

cont'd next post

[Shammu]

"Before this incident at college, Jamie had told us on a couple of occasions that this girl kept following him, staring at him and putting her face really close to his without saying anything," says Fiona.

"We told him just to ignore her, and she'd soon get bored.

"Then, on September 4, we got a call from the college saying they'd had a falling out and Jamie had hit her. I talked to him, and he was adamant he hadn't hit her, but had pushed her away when he was eating lunch.

"I didn't take the event lightly at all - Jamie was meant to be staying with his aunt that night, but I grounded him, and we took away his Playstation for a few days, too.

"I believed him when he said he hadn't hit her, but I'm not a lax parent and I don't make allowances because of his disabilities. I wanted to make it clear to Jamie that falling out with students and pushing other people was not a good thing."

The family went away on holiday, putting the incident behind them. But on their return, they were notified by the college that the girl's family had contacted the police, who had taken it upon themselves to question other students and staff at the college.

They now wanted to talk to Jamie about allegations of racism and assault.

"I have to say, at first, the whole thing was so ridiculous I didn't take it that seriously," says Fiona. "That said, I was really annoyed about the racism part of things. Jamie is far from racist. He doesn't even realise the difference between skin colours.

"But the college said the police were coming to interview Jamie and I thought: 'OK then, it won't do him any harm.'

"I still wanted to be sure Jamie understood he shouldn't have altercations with other students, and I thought a visit from the police would help him fully grasp that fact."

However, the police interview a few days later, Jamie was charged with racism and assault.

"I was panicking and saying it was crazy, that Jamie doesn't even understand things like upstairs and downstairs, whether a door is open or shut, but Jamie stood up, shook their hands and said: 'Thanks very much'," says Fiona.

"My husband and I didn't know then that we should have insisted the officers return with someone specialised in dealing with people with special needs, or perhaps we could have stopped the entire thing there and then."

The officers, says Fiona, were pleasant enough and advised the family "the case probably wouldn't come to anything".

They said they would explain to the Procurator Fiscal (a public officer in Scotland who prosecutes in petty cases) that Jamie had Down's syndrome.

They revealed that the girl had also admitted to scratching her own face - either to her family or to police officers.

But shortly after the visit, a letter arrived from the Procurator Fiscal saying the authorities had enough evidence to charge Jamie.

2That was when all hell broke loose for us as a family," says Fiona. "I read the letter with shaking hands, and I was crying my eyes out. I phoned the Procurator's office five times and asked if they knew Jamie had Down's syndrome, but no one would talk about the case with me.

"I went to the police, and no one there seemed to know what was going on. I would have been able laugh at the total chaos and incompetence were it not for the fact that I knew that, at 18, Jamie is technically an adult.

"I was genuinely terrified that he would end up in the dock on trial for something he didn't do."

During December, Fiona asked the family lawyer to write to the Procurator Fiscal's office explaining the situation. They did not receive a reply.

"We tried to carry on as normal, but I felt as though we were living on borrowed time, and Jamie was going to be taken away from me," says Fiona.

"It was as though there was an axe hanging over our head the entire time. We were living with this terrible sense of foreboding.

"The lowest point came when we were watching the prison scene on TV and Jamie started crying. It broke my heart because it made me feel as though I'd failed him.

"My natural instinct as a mother, especially a mother of a child with special needs, was to try and protect him from everything around him, and here he was, sobbing his heart out because he was so frightened."

It was only a fortnight ago - seven-and-a-half months after the initial incident - that the family received a brief letter from the Procurator Fiscal saying he would not be proceeding with the prosecution. There was no apology.

And despite the Crown's official apology yesterday, Fiona still feels that they were the victims of "political correctness gone mad".

A spokeswoman for Down's Syndrome Scotland is also horrified by the case and called for better handling and understanding.

She says "I've never met anyone with Down's syndrome who was racist. This incident should have been contained within the college. It has been very badly handled."

Next week, Jamie is due to return to college, and his mother thinks it is likely that he will forget the happenings of the past seven months long before she does.

"Jamie has said he's happy it's all over, and he is back to being his usual sunny self," says Fiona.

"At the moment, I still feel like a nervous wreck, and I'm determined to speak out because I want the people in official positions to think twice about what they are doing, and apply common sense to unique situations like these.

"But at least we can start to get on with our lives again. Last night, as I tucked Jamie up in bed, he asked me once again whether he was going to jail.

"This time, I was able to tell him that no, he definitely, definitely wasn't."

Down's syndrome boy charged after playground spat with Asian girl

[Shammu]

Brits fear race violence will erupt

By Paul Majendie in London
April 18, 2008 07:45pm

ALMOST two out of three Britons fear race tensions could spill over into violence and half the population want immigrants to be encouraged to leave, a new poll shows.
In a country where the last serious race riots erupted seven years ago between white and Asian youths, the head of Britain's equality watchdog called the poll findings "alarming''.

"What worries me is if that friction starts to catch fire - if people genuinely believe it's going to catch fire - then we're in trouble,'' Equality and Human Rights Commission head Trevor Phillips said.

Of the 1000 people sounded out by Mori pollsters for the BBC, 60 per cent said Britain had too many immigrants.

A quarter of those polled said their area did not feel like Britain any more because of immigration.

Just 20 percent admitted to being racially prejudiced.

Immigration is a sensitive political issue in Britain where hundreds of thousands of people have come to work in recent years, many from eastern European countries joining the European Union.

The main political parties agree immigration has boosted Britain's economy but critics argue that migration has undercut British-born workers and strained public services.

The threat from radical Islam, rammed home by the 2005 London bombings that killed 52 people, sparked a debate about just how successful Britain has been as a multicultural society and provoked calls for greater integration of ethnic minorities.

The BBC poll marked the 40th anniversary of an infamous "rivers of blood'' speech by Conservative politician Enoch Powell who expressed fears about levels of immigration and how the indigenous population felt "a sense of alarm and resentment''.

"As I look ahead, I am filled with foreboding, like the Roman, I seem to see the River Tiber foaming with much blood,'' he said.

Brits fear race violence will erupt

[HisDaughter]

Them too, uh?