the defining moment

Pope Benedict XVI is demonstrating interfaith leadership by example with the Catholic-Muslim Forum which is now scheduled for November of this year (details below). As with my post on March 6th, congratulations for the pontiff are in order! After his not-so-funny choice of theological quotations infuriated Muslims from around the world, the Pope is dutifully making amends on the way to the Forum. The Pope is showing us by his word and deed that he is able to overcome and transcend the small-minded thinking and behavior of the past which has led to needless bloodshed and enmity between Christians and Muslims.

Where will all of this goodwill lead humanity if our Father in Heaven has anything to say about it? One (global) Family Under God! It will seem to many to be a long and treacherous road filled with dangers and toils along the way. However the simple practice of dutifully loving one’s enemy travels faster than the speed of light and has the power to breakthrough any barrier!

First he announces that he is planning to pardon Martin Luther. Now this! If the Pope continues to open his heart and mind at this rate, the next thing you know he will announce his own engagement to be married to a hand-picked disciple of the Rev. Dr. Sun Myung Moon! And if he does, he won’t have to be concerned with the usual well-justified fear of excommunication!

At the risk of sounding redundant, let me repeat my earlier recommendation of an interview with Rev. Dr. Jeff Utter, Pastor of Bixby Knolls Christian Church in Long Beach, California who astutely reveals for fellow Christians (including Catholics) everything you ever wanted to know about interfaith dialouge, but were afraid to ask on “The Defining Moment Television Talk Show.” Watch it here.

As reported by ReligionAndSpirituality.com:

Catholic-Muslim dialogue ‘a long road’

ReligionAndSpirituality.com
March 7, 2008
The recently launched dialogue between Catholics and Muslims “is a long road that may last decades, but one that will bring us to recognize ourselves as brothers, even in our diversity,” Egyptian Jesuit Fr. Samir Khalil Samir, an expert on Islam, told AsiaNews. He was commenting on the creation of a permanent Catholic-Muslim Forum Wednesday by Vatican officials and signatories of the October open letter to Christian leaders titled “A common Word” signed by 138 Muslim scholars.

The Forum will convene in Rome Nov. 6-8 with 24 religious leaders and academics from both faiths on the theme “Love of God and Love of Neighbor.” Discussion points will be “theological and spiritual foundations” and “human dignity and mutual respect.” Pope Benedict XVI will receive the participants at the conclusion of the working session, AsiaNews reported Friday.

Regarding human rights and mutual respect, Fr. Samir said, “In fact from the Christian standpoint, man - the image of God - has an absolute dignity … Behind this concept lies the entire program for dialogue,” he said.

“Mutual respect means: you have your principals and you have the right to express them, but you cannot force me to recognize them as being valid for me. Let us take the expression from the Koran: ‘To you be your religion; to me my religion’ (Koran 109:6) as Mohammad … said to the unbelievers in Mecca.”

Martin Luther’s Defining Moment

The recently “excommunicated” Catholic Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo came to our studio in Los Angeles in 2006 and spoke about how Martin Luther had no intention at all of causing a split in the Catholic Church but that rather, he simply wanted to draw attention to the corruption within the church.

An excerpt of his interview is available here on Youtube.

As reported on ReligionAndSpirituality.com:

Pope to rehabilitate Martin Luther

ReligionAndSpirituality.com
March 6, 2008
Pope Benedict XVI is preparing to rehabilitate Martin Luther, saying the founder of the Protestant Reformation did not intend to split Christianity but only to purge the Church of corrupt practices. The pontiff will issue his findings in September at his annual seminar of 40 theologians called the Ratzinger Schlerkreis at Castelgandolfo, the papal summer residence. Vatican insiders say the Pope will argue that Luther, who was excommunicated and condemned for heresy, was not a heretic, the TimesOnline reported Thursday.

Cardinal Walter Kasper, the head of the pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, said the move would help to promote ecumenical dialogue between Catholics and Protestants. It is also designed to counteract the impact of July’s papal statement describing the Protestant and Orthodox faiths as defective and “not proper Churches.”

The move is part of a drive to soften Benedict’s image as a conservative hardliner as he approaches the third anniversary of his papacy. The Vatican also plans to erect a statue of Galileo, who was also tried as a heretic, to mark the 400th anniversary next year of his discovery of the telescope.

This issue is highlighted in great detail by Unification Theologian Dr. Dietrich Seidel in his Defining Moment interview taped in our studio in the Spring of 2007.

Watch it here: In Search of Catholic-Protestant Reconciliation

We at The Defining Moment are gratified that the Vatican’s about-face on Luther’s motivation coincides with Archbishop Milingo’s & Dr. Seidel’s asssesments. Hopefully we won’t have to wait another almost 500 years until the Vatican un-excommunicates Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo and repeals the man-made celibacy rule.

I applaud the Pope on announcing that he is on the verge of formally admitting that the excommunication of Martin Luther was a historical mistake. It takes courage to admit the mistakes of a supposed infallable institution. May God Bless Pope Benedict XVI for his announcement and may this action lead to more of the same in the coming days, weeks, and months. It’s definitely a step in the right direction!

With such an amazing array of evidence coming from so-called “past-life regression” work, it is very understandable why so many people are misled into believing that reincarnation is real. While the phenomena underlying the theory of reincarnation is very real, reincarnation is not. So what explains the real phenomena?

The best explanation I have come across so far is the principle of “Returning Resurrection” which offers the understanding that the real phenomena of “past life” experience is the result of cooperation from spirit beings from the other side who once lived on earth. Spirit persons do have the ability to relate very closely with human beings here on earth. In fact, most of us are influenced on a regular basis by spiritual beings including our ancestors, whether we are aware of it or not.

There is an enormous and costly drawback to “buying into” the myth of reincarnation. By falsely advancing the notion that we will return to this earth over and over again after our life ends, the precious and extraordinary value that our one life on this earth represents for the attainment of eternal happiness and fulfillment loses its meaning and significance. Why? Because if we fail to discover and work to fulfill the purpose of our life while on earth, we can simply restart over and over again until we get it right. No responsibility. No accountability. No worries. When a human being is fully present to the purpose of their life and the reality that we only have one life to live, people do their utmost to make the most of every moment and every opportunity to develop themselves accordingly. Their search for eternal truth and the meaning of life takes on greater urgency and importance.

Why do spirits return from the other side to cooperate with those living on the earth? By so doing, they are able to overcome their limitations and mistakes from their own earthly lives and gradually progress to higher levels or realms within the Spirit World allowing for a higher quality of life. Some may ask “What’s the difference between overcoming one’s limitations while one is alive on this earth vs. waiting until one reaches the Spirit World?” The answer is that the process of becoming a person of unconditional love who lives selflessly for the sake of others is much easier and faster on the earth than in the Spirit World.

Edward Hartley is someone who began researching these issues many years ago after having had a near-death experience.

Watch Edward’s interview with The Defining Moment and listen to his compelling explanation about “Returning Resurrection” from our London-based studio here.

May they all be one, just as, Father, you are in me and I am in you, so that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe it was you who sent me. I have given them the glory you gave to me, that they may be one as we are one. With me in them and you in me, may they be so perfected in unity that the world will recognise that it was you who sent me and that you have loved them as you have loved me. (John 17, 21-23)

If Jesus Christ were on the earth and able to speak directly to the Pope and Protestant Christian Leaders, what would he say to them concerning the division of the body of Christ as manifested in the ongoing separation and disunity between Catholics and Protestants?

This question was posed to Dr. Dietrich Seidel, Adjunct Professor of Theology at the Unification Theological Seminary in New York in a recent interview on The Defining Moment Television Talk Show.

Hear what he has to say and more on this subject here.

It has the makings of the world’s finest shared conspiracy. That is to say a conspiracy of low expectations and miserable failure. Who are the players? Everyone who has anything to do with the Catholic church. Who are the central figures? Let’s take a look.

The Protestants are happy to sit back and watch the Titanic sink. The Protestants don’t love the Catholic church. They realized it was sinking and found their savior when Martin Luther nailed the 95 theses to the church doors in Wittenburg in 1517. The Protestants discerned that mandatory celibacy was enslaving men of good conscience into lifelong servitude to a power-hungry hierarchy with a very mixed history of good and evil deeds. Luther recovered his manhood when he reintroduced priestly marriage by his own example.

Priests, in general, don’t have issues with servitude. Its denying oneself the possibility of procreation and congugal love that is the killer. With celibacy, the men in charge have been able to carry out the affairs of the church without having to ever have to take into consideration the concerns of a priest’s spouse, let alone a cadre of them. The church does not have to support the families of a priest. No private property. And when that priest passes into the next world, there are no assests to distribute to the priest’s non-existent family. It’s a huge money-saver in the same way that slavery in America was a huge money-saver.

The Catholic hierarchy seems to be more invested in maintaining the status quo than they are in safeguarding the church’s future. Why aren’t they concerned about the future of the church? The leadership is rotting from the inside as evidenced by the fact that they do not have the ability to do what’s necessary to solve the moral corruption of the priesthood. This moral decay is the result of denying priests the opportunity to marry. If there was once a legitimate purpose and meaning for mandatory celibacy it passed by a long time ago. Any CEO or company president who loved his company and his employees when faced with a crisis of the magnitude of the wholesale abuse of thosands of children by priests would ask himself or herself at least two questions. What is the root cause of the crisis? How can it be solved once and for all?

Why is it estimated that as many as 50% of Catholic priests may be victims of homosexual sin? Mandatory celibacy doesn’t work. They aren’t concerned about the future because their greed for power and authority is blinding them to the truth. By refusing to abandon the man-made precept of celibacy, the Pope, the Cardinals and the Bishops are doing little more than rearranging the deck chairs on the sinking cruise liner.

In addition to the priest abuse scandals which continue to this day, the Catholic church is facing a severe shortage of priests in parishes all over the world. This means that hundreds of thousands of the faithful do not have a priest to conduct the most sacred rites of the church including Holy Communion. At the same time, there are over 150,000 well-qualified priests around the world who have been dismissed and shamed by the church because they had the courage to put marriage and family above human slavery. The fact that the Catholic hierarchy ignores this reality is a prime example of when absolute power absolutely corrupts.

What is the number one reason why many highly qualified potential candiades for the priesthood choose a different vocation? Celibacy. Why are homosexuals attracted to the priesthood? Celibacy.

Celibacy is a gift and calling which can only come directly from God to a priest. If a person is not called by God to celibacy, then at best, it is slavery of the worst kind. Human beings were designed, created and equipped by God to procreate and form God-centered families. When a human being is denied this blessing which is given by God, there is only regret. Regret in this life and regret in the next life as well. Families not only have meaning in purpose during our earthly lives, but they the very building block of the Kingdom of Heaven in Heaven.

The Catholic faithful also plays a central role in the conspiracy of low expectations. By having a leadership composed of 100% single men who strive to live is if they are eunuchs, there is no one among the leadership to set an example for the faithful of God-centered family life. Since there is no standard by example from the “fathers,” the faithful are themselves their own role models. That’s putting the cart before the horse. Its the same as telling children to do the things that the parents never did themselves and then scolding them severly when they don’t do it. But actually, for the faithful it is a very convenient arrangement in the conspiracy of low expectations. In a Catholic country like Mexico, it is understood and even expected that a married man will have at least one girlfriend on the side.

How did I arrive at these riveting conclusions? I listened to Catholic Priests, Bishops, and one very courageous Catholic Archbishop from Zambia. Courageous as in Martin Luther courageous. In a similiar vain and spirit of righteousness, it was especially refreshing for me to witness the courage of a Catholic Priest of high moral standards who has faithfully practiced celibacy for decades and continues to do so to this day declare that the Pope is committing heresy by maintaining the man-made law of mandatory celibacy. Father Alan Phillip was not called by God to Celibacy. He is a celibate priest because as a young man he gave his word that he would obey the Pope. I admire and respect him immensely for his integrity and his courage to speak the truth even though it may seem that he is challenging the infallibility of the Pope. You can see his courage for yourself in my interview with him here.

Pope Benedict XVI shocked our collective conscience and stirred the anger of Muslims around the world with his speech at Regensburg University in September of 2006. His quote of Emperor Manual II Paleologos of the Byzantine Empire made its way into every news outlet on the face of the earth. “Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached.” A nun was murdered in protest adding injury to interfaith insult. The Pope declared her a martyr in the great struggle for mutual understanding.

As with most major responsibilities in life, surely there is also a learning curve involved in the process of being elevated to the position of Pope. At his advanced age, Pope Benedict cannot afford to take his time to discover the benefits of interfaith dialouge, mutual respect and cooperation among all the religions of the world.

Today on ReligionAndSpirituality.com is a new unified message from the Pope to the adherents of the Abrahamic faiths:

“Jews, Christians and Muslims,” he went on, “are called to recognize and strengthen the ties that bind us together. It was this idea that brought us to create the foundation, the objective of which is to discover ‘the most essential and most authentic message that the three monotheistic religions - Judaism, Christianity and Islam - can communicate to the 21st century world,’ with the aim of giving a fresh impulse to inter-religious and inter-cultural dialogue through the joint discovery and communication of the elements in our respective spiritual legacies that contribute to reinforcing the fraternal bonds between our communities of believers.”

Rev. Dr. Jeff Utter, Pastor of Bixby Knolls Christian Church in Long Beach, California astutely reveals everything you ever wanted to know about interfaith dialouge, but were afraid to ask in a half-hour interview on “The Defining Moment.” Watch his interview here.

Welcome to The Defining Moment for Creating the Culture of Conscience Blog.

This blog exists to highlight issues and advancements relating to the unfolding and establishment of the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth and in Heaven for all humanity.

Your collaboration and constructive participation is welcomed.

The Defining Moment Blog is edited by Bret Moss.

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