THE POPE''S COMMENTS ABOUT BEING SAVED THROUGH OTHER RELIGIONS

 

Pope Francis in a crowd

Photographer: Clemens Van Lay

Royalty free photo on Unsplash

In our fractious times in which certain groups of people seem to enjoy reacting with outrage and telling everyone else about it, our poor Papa is being criticized for his poor wordsmanship once again.

This time it is because he said that "all religions are paths to God," during a trip to East Asia and Oceania.

Apparently, he went on to say, "they are like different languages that express the Divine," and the outrage gang promptly lost their minds.

Mostly, I think that our Pope tries to paraphrase the Catechism, and it gets lost in the translation. It seems to me that he appears to be trying to express a nuanced, complex thought in more simple language.

Author Tom Hoopes points out something similar in his September 19th article, Did Pope Francis Just Say That all Religions are Equally True? in a Media & Culture Newsletter of Benedictine College in Atkinson, KS,  and his recent book What Pope Francis Really Said. [See: ARTICLE LINK]

If you read the short article, he talks about the process he uses to analyze the Pope's comments. He deconstructs the comment, and figures it out, but especially with the latest comment, it is clear that our Pope is not deviating from the Catechism:

"Those who, through no fault of their own, do not know the Gospel of Christ or his Church, but who nevertheless seek God with a sincere heart and, moved by grace, try in their actions to do his will as they know it through the dictates of their conscience - those too may achieve eternal salvation."

This topic immediately brings to mind my own conversion from Hinduism to Catholicism.

I am today a committed Catholic BECAUSE of a Hindu group that introduced me to the Catholic mystics. I was a nun, living very comfortably in a Hindu-based convent, where I was led to read extensively about the Catholic contemplative saints, such as Teresa of Avilla, Jane de Chantal, Francis de Sales, Brother Lawrence, Thomas Merton, and others. I had a massive conversion experience and left the convent to get Baptized and become Catholic.  It was VERY difficult for me to leave that place because I LOVED the life. I was very comfortable there. Although it was a group monastic experience, we all had a certain amount of private time to ourselves and, for me, the balance was just right, especially because of the 4 to 5 hours a day that was available for meditation, which I loved.

Through that Hindu-based group, and especially through Swami Swahananda, I was also able to attend a small meeting between Pope John Paul II and religious leaders from other religions in 1987, in which my Hindu teacher, the Pope, a Zen monk and a Jewish rabbi all delivered remarks about ecumenism and related topics. I had been invited to the meeting by my Hindu Swami, since he was one of the speakers on the dais, even though I had left the Hindu convent. He knew I was leaving to become Catholic.

I was GOBSMACKED by the suffering evidenced so exquisitely by the obviously saintly pope, who appeared to be a walking sacrifice to the Lord. God definitely introduced me to some of the finer points of the mystical life and the magnitude of the Catholic mysteries through that Hindu faith and my Bengali teacher.

Another interesting feature of this situation is that, when this group set up the convent rules and routines, they copied the Catholic convents, using them as their model for the new Hindu convent, which was established sometime around 1950, in Hollywood, I believe.

Based on my experiences, my personal view on this topic is that our great Lord is elegant in his expressions of allurements to Him. It makes perfect sense to me that He can and DOES use the vehicle of other religions to carry some of His truth. After all, is there any place in which God is not allowed to reside? Indeed, can one keep Him away?

He has certainly spoken to me through other religions. I left my religion-hating home when I was 17 and immediately began my spiritual search, going first into Scientology, then Nicheren Shoshu and Zen Buddhism, then Vedanta style Hinduism, and now, for many years, Catholicism. I have read about other religions, such as Tibetan Buddhism, without setting foot on those paths, as well.

Sometimes the Lord has "spoken" to me by discouraging me from avenues that were clearly going in the opposite direction of where He intended me to go. But sometimes He makes me work very hard for something, just to impress upon my mind how very much it means to me. For example, my road into the Catholic Church was EXTREMELY difficult because there is a tendency among some members to treat it as if it is an exclusive country club meant only for "cradle Catholics" of a certain background.

It is easy for me to believe that, for those people whose desire for the True Lord is sincere, He takes them from where they are and leads them. I do not see why those people who yearn for God would be ignored by our Blessed Lord. Surely, He loves us too much for anyone to be lost simply because they took the wrong train to their desired destination (their "desired destination" being the One True God.)

After being raised by religion-hating, immoral and unloving people, it would have been easy for me to have been tripped up by any one of a number of religions I studied or practiced. 

The outrage police would be astonished at how many similarities in thought and spiritual practice many religions share among them. Truth is, indeed, "seeded" throughout.  

So, I do hope that our dear Pope's detractors will soon find some peace of soul within themselves and stop this constant fault-finding.

God bless us all.

Silver Rose

FRIENDSHIP

"I understood that every flower created by Him is beautiful,

that the brilliance of the rose and the whiteness of the lily do

not lessen the perfume of the violet or the sweet simplicity 

of the daisy. I understood that if all the lowly flowers wished

to be roses, nature would no longer be enameled with lovely

hues. And so it is in the world of souls, our Lord's living garden."

~ Saint Therese of Lisieux ~

My standard of friendship is the same for others as it is for myself.  Honesty, kindness and other signifiers of good character are important to me, as well as a sympathetic nature. I mourn with those that mourn and rejoice with those who rejoice, and I appreciate the same treatment from those I gift with my friendship.

Social status, wealth or poverty have no bearing on whether or not I would choose to befriend a person.

In response to Jesus' commandment to love my neighbor, I actually try to exhibit love and friendship toward whomever comes into my field  of activity. I am not perfect, and I do fail to do as well as I might toward this goal, but it does remain a goal of mine.

I firmly believe that the motives of other people should not be impugned without significant evidence, so I make a practice of assuming that, with the exception of a small percentage of sociopaths and misanthropes, no one deliberately chooses evil.

Believing that someone is wrong about a topic is not the same thing as attacking their character.

"Nothing is sweeter than to think well of others."

Saint Therese of Lisieux

Even with regard to the current political climate, I do not reject friends because they voted for Donald Trump. Adherence to my political views is not essential for friendship because I do not live on that plane of existence.

I do not impute evil motives to people who voted for Trump. Because I am pro-life, I almost voted for him. Then I researched the matter. I believe that most of Trump's supporters, if they understood the truth about him, would no longer support him. I credit most of them with being well-meaning, but misguided. They believe what he and his representatives say. I cannot account for why they are unaware of or discount the facts that are reported widely by professional journalists. I often find this frustrating, but it still is not enough to dissuade me from being friends.

A category by themselves are those who are "one issue voters" who choose to ignore or avoid knowledge of Trump's defects because they feel that the abortion issue is more important than anything else and they believe he will appoint judges to the Supreme Court who will make abortion illegal again.

I don't believe this method will accomplish the hoped-for aim. I also don't agree with the assumption that making abortion illegal is more important than anything else, but I certainly understand why some people come to that decision. These issues are complex, weighty and difficult. I choose to believe that people of good faith are doing the best they can to do the "right" thing.

Although I have never rejected a friend because of their support for a political figure or party, I have been rejected by friends and acquaintances who are mad that I don't support Trump. They are mad when I write about his lies and criminal activities. They accuse me of hate, and they break off the friendship, even though it patently obvious that Trump's words and actions are hateful. Objecting to hate is not hateful.

It has surprised me that many of these fair-weather friends have been Christians of various stripes. I perceive that what Trump does and says is the opposite of what Jesus said to do and say, and yet some Christians tell me "the hand of God is on Trump."  I am flabbergasted by the cognitive dissonance. I really don't understand it, and probably never will.

While most people around the world are disgusted by our "president," there is an Irish reader of my blog, who has several times donated toward it, who has suddenly started writing me unpleasant emails, from Ireland, of all places, where she is a big "supporter" of Donald Trump, which puzzles me. She's known since 2016 that my research has garnered my disapproval of the liar-in-chief. She can't vote for him, and his policies will not affect her, but she is so invested in him that she is mad at me for not being likewise inclined and feels insulted by what I have written about him. The whole thing is very odd.

I suspect that my so-called "Irish" reader is actually an American posing as an Irish person to hide their identity. I don't assume that my suspicion is a fact. That would be wrong. But I HAVE often wondered why that person has such a strong investment in the president of another country on the other side of the planet.

We have written to one another, off and on, for the last few years, and I was enjoying the spiritual friendship, but I really don't know who she is, whether she has given me her real name, or even if she really is Irish because, while I am pretty much transparent, here in blogland, she is using a phony email address through a service that disguises your real one. Who is she, really?

I wasn't about to take back what I said about Trump, but she was disingenuously claiming those comments had insulted her so that she could lambaste me, on the one hand, with criticisms of Democrats (with whom I do not identify and to whom I feel no loyalty) and self-congratulatory digs about having donated money, on the other hand. The chastisements were exhausting.

While I won't drop a friend because of some political affiliation, I will send someone packing who is dishonest with me or harasses me, which is what I had to do with this "Irish" woman.

"One measure of friendship consists not in the number

of things friends can discuss, but in the number of things
they need no longer mention."

Clifton Fadiman

Stepping back from this particular situation, I note that this phase in our political life has created an overall atmosphere of harsh dishonesty I find alarming, because it is fracturing relationships and sowing a general discord - apparently, around the entire planet and not just in America!  I thank God that I have a handful of kindly well-wishers remaining who, though they may disagree with me on one issue or another, are people of sterling character who do not abuse me.

If I have anything of value to offer readers about this topic, I would encourage everyone to consciously develop a criteria for friendship, based upon the values that you hold in common, rather than befriending someone because they voted for the same guy you did last time around or because they have a pleasing personality.

Silver Rose

Sannyasini Kaliprana

IS YOUR OPINION BASED ON FACT OR IMAGINATION?

I have never been very interested in politics. My interests lie elsewhere. But, during election cycles, I would learn the minimum necessary to ensure that my particular world view was represented, I would vote, and then I would forget it until the next election cycle. I had enough confidence in our constitution and our government that I figured the experts knew what they were doing. Nothing was perfect, but what could be?

This was pretty much my approach in 2016. In fact, I was going to vote for Donald Trump because he was, supposedly, a pro-life candidate. I am pro-life, but not convinced that making it illegal is the way to eliminate abortions. In addition, now that it has been legal for more than 40 years, I seriously doubt that putting the toothpaste back into the tube is possible. However, if I can vote for a candidate that is pro-life, rather than just anti-abortion, I do that.

When the Access Hollywood video came out, and I heard Trump's disgusting brags about grabbing women by "the pussy" and all the rest of it, I knew that my lazy approach to politics was over. I had to do some research. The more I learned about Trump, the more convinced I became that he was very bad for our country. I voted for Hillary Clinton as the lesser of two evils.

Since Trump came to power, I have continued to stay abreast of the news, as well as taking the time to research all the facts for each issue that has arisen. This includes watching Fox "News." (I put "News" in quotes because it does not qualify as a news channel. It is entirely opinion and propaganda.) The research skills that I developed as a writer and genealogist has helped me navigate an area in which I had little experience beforehand.

This morning I watched a video by a female judge whose opinions lay on the far right of the spectrum. She was speaking on the Fox Channel, and I take it she is a regular contributor. She labels anyone who finds fault with Trump as being "crazy."

One of the most well-known fallacies of classical logic is when someone uses an "ad hominem" argument in a debate. This is called a "fallacy" because it is not logical, i.e., one cannot arrive at a reliable conclusion by using that particular line of reasoning.

Instead of addressing the issues and defending their hero with facts, the Fox propaganda machine attacks the person who presents the facts.

In the video I watched this morning (I insert a link to it below), this woman is calling the presenters of fact "crazy", but when you watch the video clips she offers as supposed evidence of said craziness, what you see are reasonable people, seasoned professionals of the Washington political machine and other experts, expressing concern over Trump's behavior. Nothing looks or sounds crazy in those clips at all. There is no hyperbole. There is no false equivalency. There are no ad hominem arguments, and, even though it seems to ME that Trump is behaving in a really crazy fashion, they're not calling him crazy. They are calling into question what he says and does but they aren't falsely impugning his character and dismissing him as "crazy." There are legitimate questions about what he is doing - questions for which there are no answers OR there are several, competing answers.

SEE THE VIDEO HERE

NOTE: In the Fox "News" video, only snippets of interviews are shown in the video clips that are highlighted. I have seen the full interviews elsewhere, and I can tell you that divorcing the presentation of facts from the conclusions at the END of the interview makes a big difference in one's comprehension of the material being discussed.

Why do otherwise intelligent people watch this blather? Why do they parrot the Fox conclusions all over social media and in their conversations? Why do they give any credibility to Fox's obvious bias and hatred toward anyone who finds fault with the policies, words, and/or behavior of Trump?

On the fact of it, Fox is operating as a partisan arm of the hard right political movement. I suspect that people who watch it are not looking for reportage of the "news," since there isn't any. Apparently, they want to hear someone repeating back to them the opinions they already hold. Dissenting facts are irrelevant to them. They have no interest in hearing what any experts have to say about what Trump is doing, unless the expert agrees with their already-formed opinions. I have been told that nothing I offer will have any effect whatsoever on the die-hard opinions of Trump supporters. When Trump claimed that he could shoot someone on 5th Avenue in broad daylight and no one would care, he was right.

I have had plenty of opportunities on social media to have exchanges with Fox News devotees, and most of them seem to get some kind of emotional satisfaction from hearing their prejudices repeated back to them. The nastier the opinion, the more they seem to like it. I am STILL shocked by the memory of hearing people shriek "lock her up!" It is frightening on so many levels.

Mostly, I have encountered people for whom nothing matters but making abortion illegal and overturning Roe v. Wade. I happen to think this is a pipe dream and that there are better ways to lessen the number of abortions in our country than to make them illegal. The problem with abortion is that women want them. They will have them, legal or not. It is the WANTING that needs to be addressed - not the legality. My disagreement is with the method that anti-abortion activists have decided is "the" method for stopping abortions, especially since the G.O.P. has so many other policies that are positively hostile to life on the planet.

It is a lot easier to make a law criminalizing it than it would be to evangelize the culture so that no one felt that they had to have an abortion or that they wanted to have one. Abortuaries would be empty if no one wanted an abortion, and, because of that fact, I am not obsessed with making it illegal, but there are plenty of people who ARE.

These "one issue" voters are Trump supporters. Apparently, they believe that the end justifies the means, which is why they do not care how many of our allies turn their backs on us. They do not care that our president is promoting authoritarian figures and dictators. They do not care that American wages have plummeted while prices for health care have soared. They do not care that there are more than 40 million poverty stricken people but food assistance has been slashed under Trump. They do not care about the safety of our drinking water. They do not care about protection of the environment. They do not care about endangered species. They do not care that we have lost 40 billion dollars in solar energy business because of Trump. They do not care if Trump lies continually, and they do not care what any of the experts have to say. All they care about is making abortion illegal, and it is going to backfire on them.

When you sacrifice the rest of the planet for the sake of unborn children, you are pitting one "class" of human beings against another. Thinking that unborn babies are more vulnerable than other populations, is a mistake. Poor people stuck in the vise-like grip of poverty and hateful governmental policies are just as helpless as the baby in the womb. They too are being killed, but at a much slower rate, more excruciatingly torturous and drawn out, but killed nonetheless. Also, when you withdraw protections for the environment, as Trump has done, you risk trying to inhabit a planet that will not support ANY type of life, born or unborn. One has to have a cohesive view with a long gaze over the horizon.

At the very least, I wish that people on the right were more honest. Instead of slandering "the left" they need to answer for themselves. If Donald Trump does something inexplicable, no one should be forced to abandon their first amendment right to inquire about it, and, if the hard right mouthpieces do not like the questions, they might try getting their dear leader to give some answers that make sense and do not change with his mental tides.

Silver Rose

DONALD TRUMP AND SATAN

"You shall worship the Lord your God

and only Him shall you serve."

As a religious woman, truth is naturally important to me, but truth is in short supply these days when considering the state of our government. I feel compelled to speak out, because it appears that some of my fellow Christians have abandoned devotion to truth, giving a pass to a corrupt businessman who was made president through the machinations of enemy foreign powers and who lies continually, unreservedly, shamelessly and unrepentantly.

Apparently, they expect a completely amoral, dishonest and corrupt businessman to act in the best interests of Christians. Why?

Every day, some fresh horror is revealed, and Trump blithely lies his way out of it, destroying the reputations of good people and institutions as he smashes his way through the halls of government, firing anyone who disagrees with him or does not accede to his every demand.

Given his craven dishonesty, complete lack of ethics, barely disguised corruption and personal financial gains, why do my Christian brothers and sisters defend him?

According to modern psychology, their brains have no chance against the constant, daily onslaught of bologne. All presidents lie. But "Donald Trump is in a different category. The sheer frequency, spontaneity and seeming irrelevance of his lies have no precedent." [See Politico Magazine link, below.] "A whopping 70 percent of Trump's statements that PolitiFact checked during the campaign were false, while only 4 percent were completely true."

Links to articles about Trump's lies:

Politico Magazine - Trump’s Lies vs. Your Brain - Here’s what psychology tells us about life under a leader totally indifferent to the truth.

Washington Post - In 466 days, President Trump has made 3,001 false or misleading claims

Metro - The number of Trump lies just hit 3,000

CNN Politics - President Trump lied more than 3,000 times in 466 days

CNN - Toobin: Rudy's interview and Trump's lies create a crisis

Fact Check: Trump Blames His Own Border Policy on the Democrats

Politifact - False Statements Involving Trump

Factcheck.org - Trump's Phony "Fake News" Claims

2016: Politico Magazine - Trump’s Week of Errors, Exaggerations and Flat-out Falsehoods

Despite his authoritarian methods and constant falsehoods and misleading comments, Trump's supporters continue to cheer him on. I used to think that they were just lacking information or that they were shielded from the truth by outfits like Fox News and EWTN Nightly News that deliberately omit information that does not flatter Trump. That isn't it. Americans are not stupid. I believe that most of them can easily see just what kind of man he is. They just don't care. They dismiss it as irrelevant, or not as important as something they feel they are gaining by having this barbarian in charge of our country. They do not mind risking the stability of our government. They do not care if other countries hate us.

By supporting the man of lies, Christians become the people of the lie. Satan is "the father of lies" and anyone who supports the lies are supporters of Satan. Non-Christians are watching this and their opinion of Christianity has plummeted. Who knows how long it will be before the reputation of Christ and his people recovers? I am having to defend the Christian faith against the hypocritical acts of Christians on a daily basis these days, and this is a very odd position to occupy, considering the fact that I am a relatively new convert to the faith.

"When we are overwhelmed with false, or potentially false,

statements, our brains pretty quickly become so overworked

that we stop trying to sift through everything."

Maria Konnikova
Politico Magazine

Trump supporters have said that all politicians act this way - they all lie. That excuse, itself, is a lie. First of all, I've never seen anyone lie this much. The sheer volume of lies is almost overwhelming. It is a daily scandal. Even if another politician HAD lied so much, so often about so many, the fact that they had done so is certainly not an excuse for the present case.

Others are quick to chastise us to "forgive" the President - a supposedly "baby Christian" - but they seem to forget that forgiveness is not given to the unrepentant. Someone who deliberately lies to get ahead in life, knows that he is lying and knows that it is wrong is not getting forgiveness from the Lord who is all truth and goodness. "Baby Christians" are forgiven for their former evil lives, but are expected to make an effort to improve. Instead, Trump doubles down and increases the number and extremity of the lies. It is a sin to presume upon the future forgiveness of the Lord for sins engaged upon today.

"There are two kinds of presumption. Either man presumes upon his

own capacities, (hoping to be able to save himself without help from

on high), or he presumes upon God's almighty power or his mercy

(hoping to obtain his forgiveness without conversion and glory

without merit."

Catechism of the Catholic Church

2092

In addition to the lies, some of the behaviors would have caused enormous public outrage, were they done by any other politician. For example, can you imagine what would have happened if Barack Obama had filled key government positions with unqualified family members and had given them offices in the White House, despite their inability to pass a background check or get security clearance?  What if he had called White Supremacists "very fine people," and defended them against public outcry? What if Barack Obama had reached out to our national enemies to gain their help in winning the election?  What would have happened if Barack Obama had bragged about assaulting women and grabbing them "by the pussy" and then later denied having done that and called the 2 dozen women who came to complain about him liars who were just trying to make money off of him?

Barack Obama receiving Nobel Peace Prize

Can you imagine if Obama had multiple sexual liaisons with other women and had to pay off porn stars, embarrassing his wife and causing her untold grief? Republicans went nuts when Bill Clinton had an affair with a staffer and then lied about it. They impeached him for it - but not a word about this MOUNTAIN of corruption we have now. Barack Obama, whom Trump tried (and failed) to label as an immigrant, was certainly not a perfect man. There are many things he did while in office that I wish had been done differently - but at least the man had some integrity and dignity. HIS entourage didn't get indicted. The world gave him the Nobel Peace Prize! Trump will not be winning that, I can guarantee you.

In addition to the mountain of lies, we have incontrovertible evidence of massive corruption of the worst kind, which is, in itself, a lie in action. Trump is benefiting financially as a result of his governmentally bestowed power. Multiple governments were promised favors in exchange for money paid into Trump businesses. It isn't just Russia. Oligarchs from countries around Russia are involved. Within the last few days, we learned that Trump's people also met with officials from the Arab Emirates for assistance in gaining the election. Now that Trump is in power, governments that do not benefit Trump personally and financially are punished governmentally, such as in the case of Qatar.

Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani meets with President

Donald Trump in Saudi Arabia

Links to information about Qatar and Trump:

Slate - The Most Important Questions to Ask About the Kushner 666 Fifth Ave. Deal

TPM - Trump’s Lawyer’s Lawyer Is (Was) a Foreign Agent for Qatar

The Atlantic - What Trump's Qatar Tweets Revealed

In order to ensure that Trump's actions would not be reported upon, complained about, or worked against, he deliberately left hundreds of jobs unfilled when he came to office. He fired many people. Some resigned in anticipation of what was to come. The offices are mostly empty, except for the king's family and their servile lackeys. This type of organization is calculated to concentrate power with Trump, his family, and his sycophants. The fewer people that have access to him and his family, the safer he feels. He can conduct himself in secrecy.

What few positions he did fill were with people whose stated aim has been the destruction of the departments to which they were assigned. Betsy De Vos, for example, worked for years to eliminate the Department of Education, which she now heads. That is just one of many examples.

Over the last year, a long list of government officials have been fired by Trump. Anyone who doesn't treat him like the dictator he aspires to be, is fired. Few people left in power on The Hill have any spine and they will not stand up to him. Rod Rosenstein is about to be fired, apparently, because he will not kowtow to Trump's furious demands.

Rod Rosenstein

Read article and watch video here:

ARTICLE AND VIDEO

Background information about this matter:

Washington Examiner: Steve Bannon predicts Trump could fire Rod Rosenstein ‘very shortly’

Chicago Tribune - Rod Rosenstein's response to Trump's demand is a dangerous gamble

The New Yorker - How Much Longer Can Rod Rosenstein Protect Robert Mueller?

Now that multiple co-conspirators have been indicted by the Russia probe, and the investigation is creeping ever closer to Trump himself, Trump's hysteria has reached epic proportions, and he has invented a spy scandal and is calling it "spygate," claiming that Barack Obama had a spy embedded in Trump's campaign. His lies know no bounds. He gladly skewers the reputations of honest people in service to his massive ego and, lately, to hide his crimes. Does anyone remember, "THOU SHALL NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS AGAINST THY NEIGHBOR?"

CLICK THIS LINK FOR BACKGROUND ON SPYGATE:

President Trump Desperately Wants You to Believe 'Spygate' Is Real

Leslie Stahl just revealed in an interview that when she asked Trump why he continually trashes the news media, he told her that he bashes the press to "demean and discredit" them so that, when they report on him, they will not be believed. This is the liar trying to ensure that the lies are swallowed whole, by giving false witness.

Leslie Stahl, discussing Trump's comments to her

SEE THIS LINK TO WATCH VIDEO

AND READ ARTICLE:

ARTICLE AND VIDEO

Christians cannot allow themselves to be aligned with this man of lies whose behavior and speech is in complete opposition to the Christian faith. There is no excuse for it. Nothing is worth allying oneself with Satan, the father of all lies.

It is time for Christians to re-examine all their beliefs around this president. There is too much at stake to do otherwise. Fortunately for us, we have the internet, without which it would be ever so much more difficult to conduct the kind of research that one will need to do in order to de-program themselves. Politifact, factcheck.org and snopes are good resources to check the reliability of whatever one does find on the internet. Stay away from inflammatory sources that are paid for by partisan organizations. Stay away from publications that are not strictly news news outlets. I love EWTN News Nightly, as a Catholic television program, but I don't rely upon it for all my news. If you are Christian, and if truth means anything to you at all, you must do this. Do it now, before the mid-term elections.

Silver Rose Parnell

ALL LIES COME FROM SATAN

Lucifer is banished from Heaven

When you become holy, the devil hates you. When you pray, it makes him scream in rage. He wants you to be HIS minion. He is jealous of God, and that jealousy is what got him kicked out of Heaven to begin with . Lies are the method by which Satan binds followers to himself, and lies are a sure sign of someone who has given themselves to the dark one.

The number, kind and degree of lies that a person spews is a sure indicator of just how much the liar is in thrall to Satan.  If you are a holy person, however, the degree to which you are merged with God is the same degree to which the Devil's people will attack you.

"Do not think that I came to send peace upon earth:

I came not to send peace, but the sword. For I came 

to set a man at variance against his father, and the 

daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law

against her mother in law. And a man's enemies shall

be they of his own household. He that loveth father

or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he

that loveth son or daughter more than me is not 

worthy of me. And he that taketh not up his cross

and followeth me, is not worthy of me"

~Matthew 10:34-38~

When we give our lives to the Lord, and if we obey his commandments, we become part of the body of Christ. As adopted sons and daughters of the Lord, we share the goodness that is God. There is no deceit in God. There cannot be! Therefore, people who lie distance themselves from God and join themselves with Satan. Liars share Satan's hatred for the goodness of God, and if a liar sees goodness in another person, the liar automatically hates the good in that person.

This is why the holier you become, the more troubles you may have. You will be the prime target of every evil that you encounter.

Some people imagine that the more holy you are, the more fun your life will be, and the more worldly success you will have. Just look at the lives of Jesus and his followers and you will realize the folly of that idea. Jesus and all but one of the apostles died in grisly fashion because they were holy.

We are called by Jesus to carry our cross. Carrying a cross isn't pretty. It is a harsh, sweaty, bloody struggle. Like Jesus, a crowd may taunt you, spit on you and call you names. They will lie about you and tear your reputation to shreds with vulgar cat calls. It isn't pretty, but we must not lose our nerve.

Saint Peter, on whom Christ built his church,

was crucified upside down

Banish the idea that love of God brings you earthly success. Quite the opposite. If you are a true believer, and if you follow our Lord sincerely, you may be in for a bumpy ride. Satan will pursue you unmercifully. He will torment you and try to turn you to him, tempting you with every earthly delight.

You may be surprised at the guise in which the Devil appears to allure you. There is no profession, no status and no beautiful visage that is automatically exempt. Satan sits within the most unexpected persons, squatting there like a fat toad, belching lies, calumny, and all manner of deceit. Satan has been a liar from the beginning, and appears in the first book of the Bible, coaxing Eve to eat the fruit of the tree of good and evil that God told her not to eat. Satan appeals to her ego, promising that she will be a God herself as a result of her disobedience, encouraging her to compete with the Lord - something with which he himself is familiar, having refused to serve God and been thrown out of heaven for it.

"And the serpent said to the woman, 'no, you shall

not die the death. For God doth know that in what 

day soever you shall eat thereof, your eyes shall be

opened: and you shall be as Gods, knowing good

and evil."

Genesis 3:4-5

If you are one of those holy people who has truly given themselves to the Lord, and you find yourself the target of lies and calumny, do not lose heart. Being attacked by liars is a sure sign that you are on the right track.

Pray for those who are trying to destroy you here on earth. They will be destroyed at the end of their lives and thrown into Hell like Satan, if they do not renounce him, not only by words, but by their actions. After all, even Satan can recite the Bible. It is one's actions that determine whether or not we really love the Lord.

Thy pride is brought down to hell,

thy carcass is fallen down: under

thee shall the moth be strewed, and

worms shall be thy covering. How 

art thou fallen from heaven, O

Lucifer, who didst rise in the 

morning? How art thou fallen to

the earth, that didst wound the nations?

~ Isaias 14:11-12 ~