Adrian Agard, executive producer of Barbados Gospelfest – photo credit: Barbados Today
Christians appear to be the biggest supporters of pirated gospel music releases. That is the assertion of Adrian Agard, who, has, for the past 15 years, been operating “Things Gospel”, a music, book, and stationery store.
Agard, who is also executive director of Gospel Fest, said the pirates seemed to recognise the lure which gospel music presents, and were taking advantage of it. Wherever a fellow is pirating, and sets up somewhere, he is always playing gospel music,” noted the veteran impresario.
Source:page 29 of Barbados Today dated 15 November, 2013
Pray tell me, Mr. Agard: Is everyone who plays gospel music a Christian, or is it the prerogative of everyone who lives in our country to buy and play whatever music she/he likes, or wants to give to someone?
At this time of the Muharram Mourning Ceremonies, especially for the Shia Muslims of the world, we are reminded that we can never be guided by reductionist tendencies alone. On the 10th day of Muharram of 680 AD or 61 AH in the Islamic calendar, Prophet Mohammed’s grandson, Imam Hussein Ibn Ali (PBUT), was martyred at the epic Battle of Karbala, in modern day Iraq.
These highly significant events continue to influence the affairs of all of mankind to this very day. Imam Hussein’s example of self-sacrifice and resistance against injustice is indeed instructive to all justice seeking peoples everywhere. It serves as a powerful connection to the beautiful and the sublime.
Of course, any goodness in this world has to be properly located within an ocean of evil. Within Islam itself, some Sunnis, tend to want to dampen the recognition of these events as sacred. A quarrel which has its genesis in a 1433 year old argument as to whom The Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) left in charge. This argument is the basis of a divide between the two dominate currents of Islam.
A panel of bishops is set to spark a fresh row over homosexuality by paving the way for the Church of England to relax its stance on gay clergy – read Mail Online article Don’t make gay vicars promise not to have sex
If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them – (Leviticus 20:13)
On the same day the Advocate’s editorial lamented the virtual impossibility of screening the content of the various electronic media because of its instantaneous nature, and instead called on individuals to rely on their personal integrity and their ability to consider the implications and possible ramifications of their words, one of your editorial staff saw fit, with ample time to reflect, to let see the light of day the diatribe submitted by Mr. Henderson Ward on your editorial letters page. Should such proscriptions and prescriptions be taken to heart by Barbadians, Barbados would become the only Taliban outpost in the Western World, (somewhat ironic considering Mr. Ward’s reference material), and would literally be the final word not only on homosexuals but adulterers as well.
As Mr. Ward enlightens us, “One thing you can be sure of, and it has never been breached during man’s entire existence, and that is that God has never branded something as evil or abominable or perverse at one time and at some later date called it good or wholesome. This has never happened and will never happen, absolutely not, for the God of Creation cannot lie…”. Since God cannot lie and certainly cannot be questioned, His literal word, available to all by means of the Bible, must serve as our final authority on all things moral. Two issues in particular seem to have led to our current state of moral degeneracy, and Mr. Ward is quick to identify them as well as to offer a Biblical solution, and I quote: In Old Testament times adultery was punished by death, “And the man that committeth adultery with another man’s wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbour’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.” (Leviticus 20:10) Somewhat wistfully, it seems to me, Mr. Ward laments “but today, as far as I know, no country in the world does that.” Those living in fundamentalist Islamic states, at least the women, would beg to differ.
Zoe requested we share the following with the BU family.
For I am the LORD: I will speak, and the word that I shall speak shall come to pass; it shall be no more prolonged: for in your days, O rebellious house, will I say the word, and will perform it, saith the Lord GOD. —
Female figurines and inscribed prayers to a “divine couple” found in temples in Israel suggest that the “one God” of the Bible may not have been entirely alone – read full article
Yahoo! News/AFP – Tel Motza: The site where the female figurines were found
There has been much debate recently about gay marriage and its acceptability or otherwise. Most of the debate hinges on what the Bible says and in defence of the status quo the phrase “marriage is between one man and one woman” keeps occurring. The argument is then taken further to say that if gay marriage is allowed, why isn’t polygamy, for example.
It now appears that the Bible was not that prescriptive about what constituted an acceptable marriage. From the DesMoinesRegister.com, an article written by religious scholars about what the Bible actually says:
“The debate about marriage equality often centers, however discretely, on an appeal to the Bible. Unfortunately, such appeals often reflect a lack of biblical literacy on the part of those who use that complex collection of texts as an authority to enact modern social policy. As academic biblical scholars, we wish to clarify that the biblical texts do not support the frequent claim that marriage between one man and one woman is the only type of marriage deemed acceptable by the Bible’s authors.” The fact that marriage is not defined as only that between one man and one woman is reflected in the entry on “marriage” in the authoritative Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000): “Marriage is one expression of kinship family patterns in which typically a man and at least one woman cohabitate publicly and permanently as a basic social unit” (p. 861).
The phrase “at least one woman” recognizes that polygamy was not only allowed, but some polygamous biblical figures (e.g., Abraham, Jacob) were highly blessed. In 2 Samuel 12:8, the author says that it was God who gave David multiple wives: “I gave you your master’s house, and your master’s wives into your bosom. … And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more” (Revised Standard Version).
Activists of Hifazat-e Islam protesting against Bangladeshi bloggers. (AP Photo/A.M. Ahad)
Many Barbadians make light of the concern which BU has when we share about fissures in our democracy. For many Barbadians democracy is defined by marking and X on a ballot paper every five years as the Constitution requires. And for others it is about aligning with a political party of choice and defending any and all policies even if there is no sensible reason. Bottomline however, Barbadians continue to feel a degree of comfort to exercise our right to make decisions and be tolerant while doing so.
In stark contrast hundreds of thousands of Bangladeshi citizens have brought that country to a halt in the last 24 hours demanding that atheist bloggers be executed for defaming Islam. Tension between Secularist and Islamists is nothing new in the ME. Many of the countries in the ME form governments which maybe described as theocratic. Any attempt to compromise Islamic teachings is usually met with violent reactions by so-called fundamentalists.
With the surprising and sudden resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, a new pontiff will soon be elected. According to the “Petrus Romanus” prophecy, this pope will be the last and will bring the destruction of Rome as well as the apocalypse.
St. Malachy, a bishop, went to Rome at the request of Pope Innocent II in 1139, according to Catholic-Pages.com. St. Malachy received a vision that outlined a list of 112 popes, starting with Celestine II, who succeeded Innocent, and the last pope, Petrus Romanus, would signal the destruction of Rome as well as the end of the world. The Prophecy of St. Malachy was discovered and published by historian Arnold de Wyon in 1595. Wyon discovered the manuscript in Roman archives.
St. Malachy’s list did not outright spell out the name of each of the 112 popes. Instead, each pope was described in a Latin phrase. These phrases describe a certain feature and are vague, which leads to plenty of interpretation. The last two popes, Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI, number 110 and 111 in the Prophecy of St. Malachy, are described as “De labore Soli” or “From the labor of the sun” and “Gloria Olivae” or “Glory of the Olive,” notes Catholic-Pages.com.
Queen Elizabeth stoutly defends the Church and religion
Why does the act of praying become top of mind whenever there is a desire to be comforted? This observation is all the more real when those who invoke and participate in prayer are non believers. Those who watched The Grammys (2012) witnessed host LL Cool J kicking off proceedings with a prayer triggered by the passing of Whitney Houston. It didn’t matter that we live in a world comprised of believers, atheists, agnostics and God knows who else. The audience appeared to accede to LL Cool J’s request without rebellion.
It should be of interest to many that a debate is currently raging in Great Britain, sparked by a court decision to ban the tradition of saying prayers at council meetings. There is a rising fear among ‘believers’ that centuries old tradition of praying to kick off public meetings is under threat by the ruling. To add to the concern for Christians everywhere there was a recent court ruling in the US jurisdiction where ‘a Judge has ruled that churches must stop meeting in school buildings because a worship service is an act of organised religion that consecrates the place in which it is performed, making it a church’. The fight between the secular and non-secular is beginning to take shape. A former Archbishop of Canterbury was prompted to warn that ‘our faith is under siege’.
It has been reported in various sections of the press that Jamaica’s Prime Minister-elect, Portia Simpson Miller, plans to rely on divine guidance in her decisions on government policy, and has strongly suggested other members of government the same strategy. After all, if God is personally providing guidance, how can one possibly go wrong?
How many are aware that four Republican candidates were personally recruited by God to run for for President? Rick Perry, Rick Santorum, Herman Cain and Michele Bachman each provided detailed stories about where they were and what they were doing when God gave them the nod. So just what kind of game was God playing? He told four people to run for president, but (barring a miracle, I guess) all four of them are going to end up disappointed. Imagine the situation: God himself told you to run for President. What an endorsement! What a boon to their fund-raising! And what a downer when he fails to deliver!
While I would hope the cognitive dissonance produced by the outcome of this test of faith might serve to disabuse at least these four “chosen ones” of such thinking, there rationalizations, I am sure, will keep them firmly attached to their delusional beliefs. Should Prime Minister Simpson-Miller persist in governing according to the dictates of divine providence, one wonders what game “God” may play with the Jamaican people. A look at the world’s theocracies may offer some perspective.
In the harsh economic times prevailing there is an understandable focus on the need to make every dollar count. In an environment where there is the perception of rising crime, demon possessed children and groups labelled evil because they dare to question the cost benefit of a government delegation journeying Down Under; should we not encourage equal focus on the direction the moral campus of Barbados is pointing? Given the agenda of this government to build out a society first and foremost, a holistic concern about the kind of society we want to build should be par for the course. Why therefore do we allow the narrative to be led mostly by economic considerations?
A benefit to Prime Minister Fruendel Stuart networking with his Commonwealth colleagues last week is that he heard from British Prime Minister David Cameron first hand, if Barbados expects to get financial aid from Britain in the near future – discrimination against homosexuals will have to cease. To quote theGuardian: Britain has threatened countries that ban homosexuality with losing aid payments unless they reform, David Cameron has said. But he conceded that “deep prejudices” in some countries meant the problem would persist for years. In Barbados we are known to be tolerant of homosexuals although our laws say otherwise.
It is fair to say given the leadership position of Great Britain in the world’s leading financial institutions that in the not too distant future lending agencies like the International Monetary Fund, Inter-american Development Bank and World Bank will be adopting a similar position. Other countries will obviously follow Great Britain which will affect bilateral arrangements with those countries.
