Monday, September 18, 2006

Pope Embraces Orthodox Church

In his quoting of14th-century Byzantine emperor, Manuel II Palaeologus the Pope is not quoting a Latin/Catholic Church father but rather a member of the old church, the Byzantine Orthodox Church. The Church of Russia rather than the Catholic Church of Rome or the church of Paris or the Holy Roman Empire. Who was the Emperor the Pope quoted. An Emperor and consequently the Head of the Orthodox Church, which the Pope convinently did not mention the latter role.

An Emperor and Church Father who ruled at the time of the begining of the Ottoman Empire and Turkish expansion. At the time of the historic Dracula and the Balkan wars against the Turks.

At a time when Europe once again would leave Byzantium to its fate under the Muslims because of Catholic sectarianism. Just as Catholic Europe had deserted it before during the Crusades, when it wasn't raping it on the way to Jerusalem.

Of course this is also a clever backhanded compliment a slap at the Omnipotence of the Orthodox Church as much as it's a slap at Islam.

This is very important the Pope was thus killing two birds with one stone in quoting Palaeologos. He condemns as outmoded the idea of the Orthodox Church being the New Rome. And he attacks Religion, read Islam, as political state military power, since the Vatican asa Spirtual City State perse has none. The Popes reading is that Islam remains too closely tied to State Power. Of course the role of the State in Catholic countries in the world can also be looked at, so people who live in glass houses....


Telling is the comment by Baum aboutManuels letters and writings....
Just as in the sixty-eight preserved letters between 1383 and 1417 few specific, day-to-day news items are to be found, so also in his theoretical writings the emperor distances himself from every-day reality.

Just as this current Pope has.Vatican experts say Pope 'unrepentant'



Orthodoxy and Islam

The Balkan Orthodox view on Islam in the context of the Ottoman conquest and rule during the 14th-15th century


Dialog with one "Persian"/ of the emperor Manuel II Palaeologos /1391-1423/. The writing is valuable because of its original character. It should be considered as one of the few polemic writings in the Byzantine tradition based on private observation and direct contact with Muslims. The author also shows deep knowledge of the Byzantine tradition and the previous polemic writings against Islam. The book of M. Palaeologos is written in the end of the 14th century and is a kind of record of his conversation with a Muslim scholar /muderis = professor/ in Ankara, in whose house the emperor spent the winter of 1391. There are many reasons to include this source in our survey. First, as we already mentioned the story is based on a real dialogue between the author and a learned Muslim . Second, the writing is providing us with Islamic teachings, unknown till then in the Byzantine tradition. For example, the teaching about the mortality of the angels; the existence of logic among the animals; That Mohammed has a higher place in the Heaven hierarchy than the angels, etc. Third, the thoughts of Manuel II Palaeologos about the Byzantine political doctrine. He dropped behind the traditional Byzantine view that the only true religion - Christianity is spread through the world by the only legitimate empire - Byzantine and by the only legitimate emperor, the emperor of Constantinople - the New Rome. For him the state and military success are not a part and do not come to confirm the truth of particular religious system. In his writing we see a refusal of the doctrine about the messianic role of Byzantine in the world's history as a unifier of the Oicumene.



Manuel II Palaeologus (1350 - July 21, 1425) was intellectual, soldier, statesman, and Byzantine emperor (1391-1425). He was son of John V Palaeologus, and when his father died, in February 1391, he escaped fron the turkish camp where he was kept as prisoner, and came to Constantinople to regain his throne (he had been crowned co-emperor in September 1373). The situation of the Greek Empire was desperate. Turks had conquered most of the byzantine provinces, had devastated and pillaged the big cities and had enslaved thousands women, young boys and girls. Manuel was forced to pay tribute to the Sultan Bayezid and was forced to follow him to his raids against the Greek cities. His chagrin was strong when he observed the Ottomans destroy and plunder the cities of Euxenus Pontus (Black Sea) and other cities of Minor Asia. When he asked Turks the names of christian cities that were pillaged and devastated, he received the answer: "the way we destroy them their name is also disappearing from earth...".

In 1396, Manuel made a journey to western Europe to appeal for help. He was graciously received in Rome, Milan, London, and Paris; he stayed in the french capital for two years. His visit did much to promote cultural ties between Byzantium and the West, but military aid was not forthcoming. As the historian Runciman describes "the french and english aristocracy received the king of Greeks with honor and respect and the intellectuals were happy to exchange views with such a sophisticated and educated person. They had already come in acquaintance with the classical greek studies thanks to Chrysoloras Manuel who was a pioneer in spreading Greek literature in the West."

Despite the agreement no military help came from the west. Europeans in reality prefered to support Muslims and not the Orthodox Christians. The same time, people and clergy back in Constantinople opposed to the union while emperor and army were in favor of it.

Manuel II PALAIOLOGOS (1391-1425 A.D.)

Wilhelm Baum
Univeristät Graz, Austria


After his father's death, Manuel fled from the sultan's camp and hastened to Constantinople, in order to forestall his nephew's plans. After his return, he married (on the tenth of February, 1392) Helena Dragash, the daughter of the Serbian prince Constantine of Serres. In the national museum in Sofia is preserved an icon which empress Helena had brought along for her father who fell in battle against the Turks in 1395. Both Manuel and Helena were crowned by the patriarch Antony IV. The archimandrite Ignatius of Smolensk has left us a description of the coronation. The pompous ceremony was supposed to strengthen the people's morale and demonstrate self-confidence.

Byzantium, however, held to the bitter end onto the dogma that its ruler was the only legitimate emperor and hence was the head of the civilized world. Nonetheless Antony stressed in 1393 in his missive to the Grand Prince that precisely because of the Turks' stranglehold the exceptional position of the emperor in the Christian world had to be emphasized. "The emperor occupies in the church that place which no other secular ruler can occupy. Many other emperors in the course of history have advanced religion, summoned ecumenical councils, confirmed the canons, fought against heresies, set up primacies (i.e., rankings of patriarchal seats) as well as provinces and dioceses. All this justifies their value and their place in the church.... patriarchs, metropolitans, and bishops therefore everywhere respect the name of the emperor... For Christians there is no church without emperor.



Also See:

Pope

Catholic Church




Find blog posts, photos, events and more off-site about:
, , , , , , , , , ,

, , , , , , , ,, , ,

, , , , , , , ,

Two Hours Wait For A Bag


The security paranoia has gotten so bad that the Vancouver International airport was shut down for a security check for two hours because a bag got lost.

It's not terrorism we have to fear but the fear and terror that is inculcated in our new authoritarian security state.

I think I'll stick to trains and buses.



Find blog posts, photos, events and more off-site about:
, , , , , ,

Good On Ya

A blow for smokers rights. Ignore the stupid law and let the businesses who haven't the guts to fight it take the fall. I like it. That Sean Penn what a bad boy.

Sean Penn listens to a question as he smokes a cigarette during a news conference

Sean Penn listens to a question as he smokes a cigarette during a news conference for the film 'All the Kings Men' at the Toronto International Film Festival in Toronto, Sunday Sept. 10, 2006. (CP PHOTO, Adrian Wyld)

Penn's smoking to cost swanky hotel $600 in fines

CTV.ca News Staff

The swanky downtown Toronto hotel that allowed actor Sean Penn to light up and smoke a cigarette during a Toronto International Film Festival news conference, will be levelled with more than $600 in fines.

Images of Penn lighting up, then puffing casually away during the event at The Sutton Place Hotel made headlines around the world on Wednesday.

Though Penn -- who was in town for the premier of All The King's Men -- won't face charges, Ontario's Health Promotion Minister Jim Watson confirmed the hotel will be issued two tickets. One is for $240 for failing to post no-smoking signs, and another is for $365 for not attempting to stop Penn from smoking.


Also See:

Smoking



, , , , ,
, , , , ,

, , , , ,


An Honest Politician


Finally an honest politician. Honestly.....Hungary PM: we lied to win election

The prime minister of Hungary has confirmed the legitimacy of a leaked tape recording in which he says his government lied to win April's election and "lied in the morning; lied in the evening" during office.





Find blog posts, photos, events and more off-site about:
, , , , , , , ,

Tories Get Tough On Crime Logic

Ya gotta love the Conservatives. They stay on message. Despite the massacre last week at Dawson College the Prime Minister, the Minister of Public Safety, and the Justice Minister all say the same thing.

Justice Minister Vic Toews has spent the last few months touring the country as the government's champion of law and order, the paladin of uncomplicated, retributive justice. Lock the criminals in jail and keep them there. Enough of liberal molly-coddling.

"Canadians are fed up with the soft approach to crime that has been taken for so long. They want their government to get tough on criminals and send a clear message that violence will not be tolerated in our communities ...I believe that violent offenders deserve more than a slap on the wrist. People who commit serious crimes deserve a harsher penalty than sitting back and enjoying the comforts of home."

Problem is what kind of minimum sentence do you give to a guy who commits a random act of violence and then dies in the shoot out.

Also See:

Gill




, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,, , , , , Kimveer, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Hillier's War

General Hillier in the fine tradition of all Colonel Blimp type military brass using the troops to gain prestiage has his war.

And the result is this.
Canadians killed at much higher rate than NATO allies: report


Also See:

The Vimy Myth

Afghanistan





The image “http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4319/673/320/2006-08-31-Troops.jpg” cannot be displayed, because it contains errors.


Find blog posts, photos, events and more off-site about:
, , , , , , , , ,
, , , , , , , , , , , ,, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,, , , , , , , , , , , ,, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Tags







Papa Devil

Before Mad Magazine had its fold up back page there were heretical fold ups of the Pope.....Call them the popular comics of the Reformation.


http://courses.ats.rochester.edu/hahn/eng150/milt04.JPG

When protestantism originated, that is the religious protesters; the heretics, the Waldensians, and other radical anabaptist sects who had been hunted and killed by the Catholic Church Inquisition.

They used these pictures and coins to depict the Pope as the devil. Just a little sectarian blasphemy I thought I would share with you. In light of the Popes recent comments on Medival philosophy of the same time period. And since he was in charge of the modern day Inquisition they seemed appropriate.

Just say the devil made me do it.

For an excellent overview of the popular anarchist revolutionary spirit of the Reformation see Murray Bookchins the Third Revolution.






The image “http://www.christophereimer.co.uk/images/m/8646.jpg” cannot be displayed, because it contains errors.

Waldensian Coins of the two headed pope turn him upside down and he is the Devil

The image “http://www.christophereimer.co.uk/images/m/9092.jpg” cannot be displayed, because it contains errors.

"Dubbelkop Van Paus en Duivel" (Double-head - Pope and the Devil) - Anonymous - c. 1600 - Catarijneconvent Museum, Utrecht, The Neederlands.

The image “http://research.yale.edu/divdl/images/eire4.gif” cannot be displayed, because it contains errors.

Title / Description: Devil & Monk-Bagpipe
Location / Provenance: Germany
Date: 1525
Object Type: image - woodcut
Commentary: Negative images of monasticism abounded in the Middle Ages, but most aimed to lampoon and criticize corrupt monks and monasteries that were not living up to their vows, or abused their privileges. Erasmus, too, poked fun at monasticism as shallow and overly-focused on external piety. The Protestant Reformation went much further, launching a full-scale assault on monasticism as inherently corrupt and unnecessary. This image combines the older medieval tradition with the new Protestant message: monasticism must be abolished because monks are the tools of the devil. Here, a demon plays a bagpipe that nobody could fail to identify as a monk's head. Part of the message could be missed now, centuries later, for in the sixteenth century the bagpipe was commonly recognized as an instrument that signified lust. Protestant propaganda against monasticism seized on the idea that vows were seldom observed by monks and nuns--especially the vow of celibacy, and numerous accounts were published that described in detail how the cloisters were dens of iniquity. It became commonplace to reveal, for instance, that the remains of buried infants and fetuses could be found in great numbers inside cloisters. Many graphic accounts of what "really" went on in monasteries and convents, written by former monks and nuns, became a popular genre of Protestant propaganda literature. [Woodcut by Erhart Schon]
Source: Eire, Carlos M. N. , Private slide collection.



The image “http://research.yale.edu/divdl/images/eire16.gif” cannot be displayed, because it contains errors.

Title / Description: Catholic clergy in Hell
Location / Provenance: Germany
Date: 1540's
Object Type: image - woodcut
Commentary: This woodcut by Matthias Gerung focuses on one of the simplest and most appealing messages of the Reformation: the corruption of the Catholic church, and especially the corruption of its clerics. Divine wrath consumes the corrupt Catholic clergy as they are swallowed whole into the mouth of Hell.
Author of Commentary:Carlos Eire
Source: Eire, Carlos M. N. , Private slide collection.




Also See:

Pope

Catholic Church

Gnostic

Antinominalist Anarchism

Support Our PeaceMakers


Find blog posts, photos, events and more off-site about:
, , , , , , , , , ,

, , , , , , , ,, , ,
, , , , , , , , ,

, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Mike Duffy Makeover

Scoop Alberta style. Yep while the Press Gallery continues its low intensity war with the PMO the CTV/Global/Bell network has made peace with the PM. In this case a remade Mike Duffy appears to have scooped an interview. He is skinnier, pockfaced and decidedly right wing of opinion.

Opps I'm sorry thats not Mike its David Rutherford of Corus Media group; Qr77 Calgary/CHED radio Edmonton fame.
" I have biases like everyone else and I don't hide them."

The right wing mouthpiece of the Reform wing of the Conservative party. Man if you lived here and ever listened to this guy well you would know that all that comes out of either Klein or Harper, or Manning before him, is pure policial wisdom. Mike wasn't on the show today Rutherford was, with a fawning interview with his old Calgary pal Harper.

It was political softball. Not hardball. Rutherford empitomizes the right wing talk show hosts that dominate the Corus Radio, Canwest, Global media universe in Canada.

Given these guys are pals well watch for yourself and see.

In a one-on-one interview with the Western Standard in June, Prime Minister Harper responded to the controversy by saying the gallery has made it easier for him to communicate his messages. "I'm free to pick my interviews when and where I want to have them," he told the Standard. "The great irony is, the result is precisely the opposite of what those doing it claim to be seeking. They say if I don't do it their way, I'll somehow gain more control over my media relations. Well, I've got more control now."

It's just like the Klein regime, which also favours CTV affiliates in Alberta giving them preferential access to the Premier for years. Paying for his fireside chats to be broadcast on the private network. It appears Harper is doing the same old Klein trick.

So if the CBC is liberal lefty media in Canada can we be forgiven for calling CTV, Corus, Canwest, now the voice of the right. Was Duffy really ill or is this an ousting of the Liberal dominated political reporting in a shift to the right. A testing of the waters to see if Rutherford has TV personality, he doesn't but hey it forced him to tone down his opinions in favour of letting others speak.

Oh and for my rightwhing friends like BBS and Dazzling Dino who always comment on how our troops in Afghanistan never were there for peacekeeping, read Harpers lips...he says "Our troops were in Kandahar doing peacekeeping, handing out candy to children" when the nasty Taliban killed them.

So one day its peacekeeping the next its warmaking. Yep this mission is clear to all of us now. Thanks CTV.




Find blog posts, photos, events and more off-site about:
, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Untested Tool

"Ignatieff is an untested tool." said Robert Fife, CTV's Ottawa Bureau Chief on Mike Duffy Live today.

Yep I agree he is a tool. As much as Harper is. Of US foriegn policy in Canada and around the world.

If the Liberals elect him leader, please please do, then the difference between them and the Conservatives will be this....

http://images.quizilla.com/S/SiNY16/1089176205_uresQuiz38.jpg


Also See

Liberal Leadership Race



Find blog posts, photos, events and more off-site about:
, , , , , ,

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

RCMP Lies Lead To Torture

The first and most important thing we learned from the O'Connor report on the Maher Arar case was..

No evidence Mr. Arar has committed any offence or is a threat to Canadian security.

So this brings into disbute all those currently being held in Canada's secret prison, who have also been identified as potential security threats.

He also found "troubling questions" about the role played by Canadian officials in the cases of three other Arab-Canadians, Ahmad El Maati, Abdullah Almalki and Muayyed Nureddin. All were tortured in Syria after traveling there on personal business, and all suspect that the RCMP and/or Canada's spy agency collaborated with their captors.

Was it really a case of post 9/11 hysteria that led the RCMP to jump to conclusions in the Arar case. Was it incompetence, a failure to clarify information from dubious sources. Or was it something more sinister, racial profiling of a political nature.

That is what we don't know from today's Arar Report because of State Secrecy.


Among other things, O'Connor's report found:

  • American officials "very likely" relied on the inaccurate information from the RCMP when they decided to send Arar to Syria, a country known to have aggressive techniques for interrogating suspects.
  • There is no evidence that Arar committed any offence, nor is there anything to suggest he is a threat to Canadian security.
  • Canadian agencies wrongly accepted information from Syrian sources about Arar after his detention, without determining whether it might have been extracted using torture.
  • In order to protect themselves and portray Arar in an unflattering light, Canadian officials leaked inaccurate details about Arar to news media.
  • Officials from the RCMP gave a sanitized summary of the Arar case to top government officials in order to cover up RCMP mistake.

What we do know is that after 9/11 the State Security Bills passed by the Liberal government went too far in giving a free hand to the State and its police, the RCMP, and its secret service, CSIS, to spy, harass, arrest and create secret files on Canadian citizens. Reports they shared with the CIA and other American agencies. Reports they lied about and covered up. And their sources of information were tainted since they came from the Secret Police operating in a country that is a dictatroship, Syria.

Meaning that there is NO real oversight of those who have been given the power of life and death over us in the name of security. Heads should role over this, including bueracrats in the government, the Head of CSIS and the RCMP, members of the Department of Foreign Affairs who failed to act on Arar's behalf.

The key players in the Arar affair

There needs to be an emergency debate in the house to get rid of the existing security act that allows for racial profiling.

The Americans refuse to accept any responsibility for their actions in this despicable affair. But in light of the expose of the secret CIA jails and use of torture and rendition, this should add fuel to the debate south of the border.

Never forget it was the Liberal Government with the collusion of the Conservatives who did this. And if Ignatieff gets in as leader of the Liberals this will remain their policy.

See:

Arar


Liberal Leadership Race


CIA



Find blog posts, photos, events and more off-site about:
, , , , , ,

, , , , , , , , , ,
, , , , , , , , , ,
, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,