Orthodoxy vs Rome vs Protestantism - part 1

Part 1 (Protestantism)

Posted on January 17, 2011 by castleman711

Since I have been on all sides of the fence (3 way fence) and have sat and entertained the 3 major views on authority in the Christian world, I have decided to give a basic overview of each system, and why I ultimately chose Orthodoxy...Read Entire Article

10 Essential Conditions for Coming to Know God’s Truth and Finding Life.

10 Essential Conditions for Coming to Know God’s Truth and Finding Life.

By Fr. Tom Hopko

1. The belief that the truth of things can be known, and the desire to know the truth and to do it, wherever it leads, is most essential. Indeed it is everything. When people have this desire and seek truth in order to do it, and are ready to do it whatever it takes to find it, know it and do it, God promises that they will find, and understand and live. In a sense, this desire and seeking is all that is necessary.



2. The seeking person must read the New Testament through, slowly and without judgment of details, at least two or three times, taking the time needed to do this. They should let go of what is not clear, and focus on what they can understand, what is clear to them. It would also be helpful to read a Psalm or two everyday. (30-Day Psalms) (30-Day Gospels)



3. The person must pray, as they can. If they claim to be Christian, at least somehow, they should say the Lord’s Prayer, and other prayers of the Church tradition, and attend Liturgical services, without serving or singing or reading. If they are not Christians, or are unsure, they must at least pray, “to whom it may concern,” saying something like, “if you are there, teach me, lead me, guide me…”



4. The person must eat good foods in moderation. A couple of days a week (like Wed and Fri) the person should fast; eating much less than usual. During this search the person should abstain from all alcohol, tobacco and drugs. Except a minimal amount of wine with meals. If overeating or drinking, smoking or drug-taking is a problem, the seeker must get formal help, like, for example, a 12 step program.



5. The person should abstain from all sexual activity unless they are married and expressing love (and not just having sex). There should be no TV or Internet porn. If sex is an addictive problem, they must take steps to get formal help.



6. The person should sit alone and still in silence for at least a half hour each day. They should watch their thoughts, but not engage them. They should say a very short prayer while doing them, to avoid engaging their thoughts.



7. The person should give at least a couple of hours a week to charitable work, and should give away some of their money (if they can) in a sacrificial way. They should do this, as far as possible, without anyone knowing what they are doing.



8. The person should open their life fully to at least one other trustworthy person, telling absolutely everything, without editing or hiding anything: their thoughts, dreams, temptations, actions, sins, fears, anxieties, etc.



9. The person must regularly talk with someone trustworthy specifically about their family of origin: their family history going back as far as possible, their childhood, relations with their parents and grandparents and siblings, their spiritual and religious history, their sexual history, education, etc.



10. The person must find a community of friends with whom to struggle to know the truth and to find life. The search cannot be done alone. We need each other.

Liberal Smear Machine

Liberal Smear Machine Backfires After Gunman Found To Be Occultist, Pot-Smoking Left Winger

Effort to conflate killer with anti-big government conservatives falls apart

Alex Jones & Paul Joseph Watson

Prison Planet.com

Monday, January 10, 2011

A full scale demonization campaign against conservatives, free speech and the Second Amendment on behalf of Democrats and the establishment media in the wake of Saturday’s shootings has sensationally backfired after it emerged that gunman Jared Lee Loughner was a left-wing, pot-smoking liberal who was into dressing like the grim reaper and dabbling in the occult.

In their fervor to tear down the First and Second Amendments, Democrats and their allies in the corporate media hastily characterized Loughner as an anti-government right-winger in their rush to link him to the Tea Party and Sarah Palin, a connection that is still being invoked as Dems seek to rush through gun control legislation as well as a bill that could make criticism of government a form of hate speech.

However, precisely as Alex Jones forecast on his show last night, it has emerged this morning that Loughner is a devil-worshipper wannabe who idolized fake human skulls and dressed up like the grim reaper.

How often have you witnessed a “tear partier,” an anti-government activist or a conservative engage in any of the following behaviors, all of which are confirmed to have been conducted by Loughner. (1) (2) (3) (4)

- Burning the American flag

- Being a “left-winger” and a “liberal”

- Smoking pot

- Having long hair

- Dressing up as the grim reaper

- Dabbling in the occult by worshipping a replica of a human skull

- Expressing the desire to be a woman

- Describing Karl Marx’s Communist Manifesto as a favorite book

Does it sound like Jared Lee Loughner was a right-wing conservative, as the liberal smear machine is attempting to claim?

Despite the fact that Loughner’s former classmate described him as “quite liberal” and “left wing,” the New York Times, Washington Post, along with a host of statist blogs like Huffington Post and the Daily Kos, were beating the drum for so-called right-wingers (opponents of Obamacare or big government) to be politically silenced in the name of “toning down the rhetoric”.

In reality, Loughner’s political views were all over the map, sharing characteristics of conservatism, liberalism and libertarianism. He was a fundamentally disturbed and deranged individual, which was the main reason for the carnage he become embroiled in, not because he was a tea partier influenced by the resistance against big government, as the establishment is now trying to claim.

The haste with which the attack machine had manufactured Loughner’s persona before his name was even known as a dangerous right-winger proves that the establishment had already embarked on a sickening plan to exploit the tragedy mere minutes after news of the shootings broke.

We don’t even have a clear motive for why Loughner apparently targeted Congressman Giffords. Indeed, since both Giffords and federal judge John Roll were both very conservative in their policies towards gun control and immigration, how do we know that Loughner’s anger wasn’t rooted in leftist rage?

Another key facet to this story is the fact that Loughner’s mental instability was well known on his campus, and yet “College authorities ignored repeated warnings that the drug-taking 22-year-old was a potential danger, a former teacher claimed last night.”

Despite the fact that Loughner’s profile is now confirmed as a black-clad, occult-dabbling, pot smoking unstable loner, in a similar mould to Columbine killers Harrison and Klebold, the establishment is still blaming so-called right-wing radio and talk show hosts for the tragedy and demanding that Americans “tone down their rhetoric,’ which is a mere euphemism for a brazen attempt to stifle criticism of the state altogether.

Speaking to Fox News, the father of the 9-year-old girl killed as a result of Loughner’s rampage commendably labeled the tragic events a “random act” and said that the death of his daughter should not be exploited to revoke freedoms.

Speaking on the subject of how travel became a nightmare after 9/11, John Green said, “We don’t need any more restrictions on our society,” as a consequence of the shootings, and said that tragic events such as those that led to the murder of his daughter was the price Americans have to pay for freedom.

*********************

Paul Joseph Watson is the editor and writer for Prison Planet.com. He is the author of Order Out Of Chaos. Watson is also a fill-in host for The Alex Jones Show. Watson has been interviewed by many publications and radio shows, including Vanity Fair and Coast to Coast AM, America’s most listened to late night talk show.