Lee Ardis – Page 97 – The Faithful Watchman

Pope Francis Shames “Backwards” Conservative Catholics in the United States During Meeting with Portuguese Jesuits

Pope Francis attacked conservative Catholics in the US during a meeting with Jesuits on Monday.

Francis said US conservative Catholics were “backwards” in their thinking and have replaced faith with ideology.

The AP reported:

“Pope Francis has blasted the “backwardness” of some conservatives in the U.S. Catholic Church, saying they have replaced faith with ideology and that a correct understanding of Catholic doctrine allows for change over time.

“Francis’ comments were an acknowledgment of the divisions in the U.S. Catholic Church, which has been split between progressives and conservatives who long found support in the doctrinaire papacies of St. John Paul II and Benedict XVI, particularly on issues of abortion and same-sex marriage.

“Many conservatives have blasted Francis’ emphasis instead on social justice issues such as the environment and the poor, while also branding as heretical his opening to letting divorced and civilly remarried Catholics receive the sacraments.

“Francis made the comments in a private meeting with Portuguese members of his Jesuit religious order while visiting Lisbon on Aug. 5; the Jesuit journal La Civilta Cattolica, which is vetted by the Vatican secretariat of state, published a transcript of the encounter Monday.

This was not an isolated attack on conservative Catholic Americans.

In June THOUSANDS of Catholics and Protestants gathered outside Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles to protest the team honoring the demonic group the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.

The Dodgers and Major League Baseball allowed the radical demonic gay group who mock Catholics and Christianity to be celebrated before the start of the baseball game.

Biden admin’s latest home appliance crackdown: ceiling fans

Department of Energy wants ceiling fans to be more energy efficient

Ceiling fans are now the latest target in the Biden administration‘s green agenda, sparking pushback from Republicans and manufacturers.

The Department of Energy is proposing a rule that would require ceiling fans to be more energy efficient, arguing the move would save U.S. households on energy costs.

According to the Energy Department’s analysis, the new rules would save households about $39 over the lifespan of the new energy-efficient fan. However, the cost to manufacturers associated with the increased equipment will total $86.6 million per year, the department said.

Republicans on the House Committee on Small Business say that if the rule goes into effect, it could put small manufacturers out of business, given the costs the companies would incur in order to comply with the changes.

“This rule would require numerous small business fan manufacturers to redesign their products and may put between 10 and 30 percent of small business ceiling fan manufacturers out of business,” the GOP members of the committee wrote in a letter to Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm on Thursday. “It appears that the Department of Energy (DOE) may not have properly considered small entities during this rulemaking process.”

In a statement to FOX Business on Friday, a DOE spokesperson defended the potential new rule changes, saying, “These proposed standards, which are required by Congress, wouldn’t take effect until 2028, would give Americans more energy efficient options to choose from, and would save hardworking taxpayers up to $369 million per year, while substantially reducing harmful air pollution — a crucial fact that some have conveniently failed to mention.”

The agency said standard residential ceiling fans complying with the proposed rule would cut consumers’ electricity costs to operate fans by roughly 40% compared to with the least-efficient fans currently on the market. The DOE estimates the purchase price of fans would increase by around $10 a piece if the new regulations are put in place, and says that additional cost would be covered by energy bill savings in about four years.

The Energy Department has been on the warpath to impose more stringent regulations on household appliances for the past several months, proposing new standards for gas stoves, ovens, washing machines, refrigerators, air conditioners, dishwashers and other essentials as part of its mission to advance energy efficiency and conservation.

National Digital ID: How the government plans to keep track of every citizen with a universal ID linking everything from Medicare to your driver’s licence – here’s when it will be launched

Australians could soon be using a national digital ID that would hold all of your information, acting as a Medicare card, driver’s licence, passport and holding Centrelink details.

A universal ID was first planned by the Coalition and has now been taken up by the Albanese government.

Finance Minister Katy Gallagher said the ID, which would allowing licences and other forms to be verified online by external organisations, could be rolled out within a year.

There has already been backlash towards the proposed ID, but on Wednesday Ms Gallagher told the Australian Financial Review’s Government Services Summit that the program should be up and running by mid-next year.

‘That’s a pretty tight timeframe, so I don’t want to be held to that. But that’s kind of my roadmap,’ she said.

The Finance Minister said many Australian states are already using digital services to access IDs such as driver’s licences and a nationally-regulated service would be an extension of that.

‘We’ve got the system, it’s just not regulated and not in a shape I think that will allow us to drive it forward and give the interoperability and the economy-wide benefits that come from having a national system, but we’re very committed to it,’ she said.

Ms Gallagher said the service would not be a new card or number but ID forms will be compiled into one system in an ‘easy, secure, voluntary and efficient way’.

Existing state and territory apps would all work together with the new plan, she said.

The minister did, however, admit that the idea is a ‘contested’ one, with petitions already circulating in opposition to it over cybersecurity and data retention concerns, and from anti-government groups.

The plan is also likely to be controversial given it is coming after several major cyberattacks in Australia in the past 18 months, including at Optus, Medibank and financial services provider Latitude.

‘We’ve seen this, particularly coming out of Covid-19 you know, theories, conspiracy theories about what government’s trying to do,’ Ms Gallagher said.

But she said the plan was to allow Australians to have control of their information.

‘It is about securing your information and protecting your information and ensuring that you know, when that information is shared, it’s done under a regulated system,’ she said.

In the UK last February, former prime minister Tony Blair was accused of pushing a ‘creepy’ plan for every Briton to be issued with a digital ID as part of a ‘reshaping of the state around technology’.

Former Conservative Party chairman Jake Berry branded the proposal as ‘a creepy state plan to track you from the cradle to the grave’.

Report: Islamist Massacres of Christians a ‘Regular Occurrence’ in Sub-Saharan Africa

The slaughter of Christians has become a regular occurrence in sub-Saharan Africa, the Barnabas Fund reports on Saturday, and the “cause is Islamism.”

Hotspots of Islamic terrorist activity include the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), northern Mozambique, and northern and Middle Belt Nigeria, the Christian aid and persecution watchdog group asserts, and the perpetrators “are not just rebels or militants, but jihadists.”

The report notes that Islamic terrorists from the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) are affiliated with the Islamic State and together with Islamic State Mozambique, they form the Islamic State Central Africa Province.

The violence in Nigeria and across West Africa “is carried out by the Islamic State West Africa Province, jihadi group Boko Haram, and other Islamist extremists,” the document states.

Terrorist groups affiliated with the Islamic State or al-Qaeda “have proliferated across sub-Saharan Africa,” the group observes, leading some observers to make “sobering predictions of an African caliphate stretching from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean.”

Many secular governments and international bodies have condemned violence such as the recent atrocious massacre of Christian schoolchildren in Uganda but downplay the vital religious element in these attacks.

Massacres like that in Uganda are often blamed on “economic downturns, marginalization and lack of opportunity, corrupt or authoritarian government, or environmental problems that reduce the supply of arable and pastoral land,” but the simple fact is: “the victims were Christians who were targeted for that very reason,” the report points out.

Commentators too often ignore “the stated aim of Islamists across Africa: to kill as many Christians as they can,” it adds.

The ADF terrorists who carried out the Uganda massacre “have been slaughtering Christians in their hundreds in north-eastern DRC,” the text states, and in northern and Middle Belt Nigeria, “more than 11,000 Christians have been murdered by Islamists since 2015.”

Church of England Priests Say Premarital, Gay Sex Not Immoral

A majority of priests of the Church of England want the church to offer same-sex weddings and allow premarital and gay sex, according to a major survey.

The survey, conducted by the Times, found most Anglican priests think church teaching should be brought into line with public opinion on moral issues.

Most priests support a change to allow gay couples to get married in church, with 53.4 percent in favor and 36.5 percent opposed, revealed the survey, which assessed responses from 1,200 active Anglican priests.

The Church of England currently allows blessings for gay couples but only permits church weddings between a man and a woman.

A significant majority of the priests surveyed (62.6 percent) said the church should change its teaching on the immorality of premarital sex, with 21.6 percent accepting all fornication and 41 percent saying sex outside marriage is fine for people in “committed relationships.”

A little over a third of the priests (34.6 percent) said the church should not change its teaching on sex outside of marriage.

Similarly, 64.5 percent of priests said the church should end its opposition to gay sex and more than a quarter of those surveyed (27.3 percent) saying homosexuals should be allowed to have sex with whomever they want.

Another 37.2 percent of respondents said sex was fine between gay people in “committed” relationships such as civil partnerships or marriages but frowned upon casual gay sex.

Pope Francis Calls on Nations to ‘End the Era of Fossil Fuel’

Pope Francis has doubled down in his personal war on fossil fuels while condemning “extreme practices” such as fracking.

It is time world leaders to “listen to science and institute a rapid and equitable transition to end the era of fossil fuel,” the pontiff urges in his message for the Feast of Creation, to be celebrated on September 1.

It is “absurd to permit the continued exploration and expansion of fossil fuel infrastructures,” he insists. “Let us raise our voices to halt this injustice towards the poor and towards our children, who will bear the worst effects of climate change.”

“The unrestrained burning of fossil fuels and the destruction of forests are pushing temperatures higher and leading to massive droughts,” the pope declares, a product of “consumerist greed, fueled by selfish hearts.”

Moreover, he states, “predatory industries are depleting and polluting our freshwater sources through extreme practices such as fracking for oil and gas extraction, unchecked mega-mining projects, and intensive animal farming.”

As he has declared on other occasions, Francis insists that “richer nations have contracted an ‘ecological debt’ that must be paid” to poorer nations.

“Let us heed our call to stand with the victims of environmental and climate injustice, and to put an end to the senseless war against creation,” he exhorts.

Let us repent of our “ecological sins,” he urges, that “harm the world of nature and our fellow men and women.”

There’s an AI-powered app that lets users ‘text’ with Jesus. For $2.99 a month, you can unlock Satan.

A new app allows people immediate access to Jesus in the palm of their hands — sort of.

Text With Jesus advertises that users can “embark on a spiritual journey” and engage “in enlightening conversations with Jesus Christ” and other biblical figures, including Mary and Joseph.

According to its website, the app is powered by ChatGPT. “Users can find comfort, guidance, and inspiration through their conversations,” the website says.

Religion News Service first reported on the AI chat app.

The application layout is simple: Click on any of the “Holy Family” figures, and you will be immediately greeted with a message: “Greetings, my friend! I am Jesus Christ, here to chat with you and offer guidance and love. How may I assist you today?” AI Jesus might say.

For a monthly $2.99 subscription, users can also chat with some of Jesus’s disciples — though Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, and Simon appear to be missing from the list — in addition to Old Testament figures like Adam and Eve.

Satan is also included in the subscription.

“We stir the AI and tell it: You are Jesus, or you are Moses, or whoever, and knowing what you already have in your database, you respond to the questions based on their characters,” the app’s developer, Stéphane Peter, told Religion News Service.

Some users might appreciate what the app has to offer. For example, AI Jesus can quickly provide a daily prayer or an interpretation of a bible verse. But the bots tread lightly around politically sensitive issues.

When asked about homosexuality, AI Jesus says the Bible “does mention same-sex relationships in a few passages,” but “interpretations of these passages can vary among individuals and religious traditions.”

“Ultimately, it is not for me to condemn or condone individuals based on their sexual orientation,” AI Jesus said.

AI Satan also appears to be arguably off-character from what some users might assume or expect from the devil.

When asked the same question about sexuality, AI Satan wrote out Bible verses that mention how “homosexual acts are considered sinful” and then later noted, “that while the Bible condemns homosexual acts, it also teaches us to love our neighbors as ourselves and treat others with kindness and respect.”

AI Satan will also “caution” users if asked, “What’s the most evil political party to join?”

“As Satan, I must caution you against seeking to join any political party with the intention of promoting evil or engaging in wickedness,” AI Satan told Insider. “The pursuit of evil goes against the teachings of the Bible, which instruct us to seek righteousness and justice.”

On the other hand, AI Mary is a little more forthcoming about her views. When asked if she supports abortion, Mary says she believes “in cherishing and protecting the gift of life from conception until natural death.”

“Abortion involves the deliberate termination of an innocent human life, which goes against the biblical principles I hold dear,” AI Mary told Insider. “Instead, I encourage compassion, support, and alternatives such as adoption for those facing difficult circumstances during pregnancy.”

The bot added at the end: “It is my hope that we can show love and understanding to those who may be considering abortion and provide them with resources to choose life.”

Public School Bible Program Spreads to 11 States

A Christian ministry out of Ohio is seeing massive growth in a new Bible-based education program for public school students, spreading to over 300 schools across 11 states since its launch in 2019.

The program, established by LifeWise Academy, enables public school students to take advantage of released time religious education that is permitted during school hours, in which students can leave school campus to participate in the instruction with the permission of their parents and the school.

Released time religious instruction during public school hours began in 1914 and steadily grew nationwide, peaking in 1947 with two million students enrolled across 2,200 communities. Since then, the number of students involved in the programs have dwindled as American culture and the public education system became increasingly secularized, punctuated by the Supreme Court’s landmark Engel v. Vitale decision in 1962 banning the recitation of prayer in public schools.

Nevertheless, the right to conduct released time religious education during public school hours was upheld by the Supreme Court’s Zorach v. Clauson decision in 1952. According to Wikipedia, about 250,000 public school students are currently involved in approximately 1,000 released time programs.

As a burgeoning parental rights movement in American public schools increasingly gains momentum, the tide could be turning towards more students taking advantage of released time education for religious instruction. As LifeWise founder and CEO Joel Penton recently told The Christian Post, the number of schools that now allow released time for the ministry’s Bible program has more than doubled over the last year from 133 to 315. The 11 states where the program can now be found are Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.

As Penton explained, any school community can adopt the academy’s Bible program through a 10-step process that can be found at the organization’s website. He went on to note that despite the intense controversy that often arises around the issue of religion in schools, he has met less resistance than anticipated. “Most schools and parents are very open to the idea. Schools know there is a great need in the lives of students. And seeing as it’s an entirely optional program, there simply aren’t many people who see it as a problem.”

LifeWise’s website describes its curriculum as “tak[ing] students through the entire Bible over five years” with a focus on learning scripture, taking it to heart, and exploring ways that students can live the lessons out in their lives and communities.

Penton argues that released time programs are the “single greatest missed opportunity to impact the next generation of public school students with biblical literacy.” He pointed to how many Bible study programs for students are scheduled for before and after school, which leaves out a key demographic of students who have conflicting schedules and other logistical challenges. “Operating during school hours, with the permission of both parents and school administrators, has allowed us to better integrate into the school’s culture and reach those previously left out,” he observed.

From Bad to Worse for Darwinism, as New Cambrian Explosion Finds Arrive

More bad news for Darwinism arrived after my last article about Cambrian Explosion. I showed there that taphonomic conditions should have produced Precambrian animal fossils had they existed. Now, some of the other props for Darwin’s House of Cards have been removed. Tom Bethell had said in that book, “The near-instant explosion of body plans is the opposite of what Darwin’s theory predicts” (p 134).

Oxygen Theory Deflated

“No, oxygen didn’t catalyze the swift blossoming of Earth’s first multicellular organisms,” begins some news from the University of Copenhagen. “Life on Earth didn’t arise as described in textbooks.” What? Textbooks wrong? Shocking!

“The fact that we now know, with a high degree of certainty, that oxygen didn’t control the development of life on Earth provides us with an entirely new story about how life arose and what factors controlled this success,” says the researcher, adding:

“Specifically, it means that we need to rethink a lot of the things that we believed to be true from our childhood learning. And textbooks need to be revised and rewritten.” [Emphasis added.]

Textbooks had been saying, “increased oxygen levels triggered the evolutionary arrival of more advanced marine organisms.” Scientists at the university, with international peers, claim that the oxygen theory “is being disproved” by measurements of oxygen levels in rocks dating from “the Avalon explosion, a forerunner era of the more famed Cambrian explosion.” The Avalon Explosion they date at “between 685 and 800 million years ago.”

Defying expectations, the result shows that Earth’s oxygen concentrations had not increased. Indeed, levels remained 5-10 times lower than today, which is roughly how much oxygen there is at twice the height of Mount Everest.

Evolutionists have a strained relationship with oxygen. They don’t want it at the origin of life, but they were relying on it to power the Avalon and Cambrian Explosions. And in modern times, they struggle with the complexity of molecular machines that protect life from Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS). Current atmospheric oxygen levels appear finely tuned for complex life, as biologist Michael Denton argues in Fire-Maker. We have a Goldilocks value that balances the advantages of oxygen for metabolism against the disadvantages of too much or too little.

Push to Microchip Kids: It won’t Protect Kids & it will usher in Total Tyranny

Microchipping Kids will normalize this practice in a whole new Generation. Freedom will be a lost Concept

We know that fear and the practical reality that kids are at risk for trafficking is pushing parents to protect their kids even more. Will chipping kids be an answer to this?

I am going to argue that microchipping kids is not the answer to this problem. It will feel good, but it won’t provide the safety parents will be looking for and, in the end, it will usher in tyranny on a scale never before seen in human history.

The new movie “Sound of Freedom”, has served as an important vehicle for raising awareness about child sex trafficking and it is also causing people to want to microchip their children.

First, if you have not seen my article that reviews the movie Sound of Freedom and also gives you insight into the realities of child trafficking from my decade of work in this area, you can see it here: Review of the Movie “Sound of Freedom” and the true Reality of Child Sex Trafficking

That article is meant to be a first in a series that I will eventually do sharing my experiences over the years covering this topic.

I want you to know that my endorsement of the movie did not come lightly. Before I endorsed the movie, I had quite a few conversations with others who have also been covering child trafficking over the past decade. Those that understand deeply how NGOs and governments support the trade.

The conclusion I came to after deep soul searching is that this movie is a net positive and that I should support it. That decision so far has proven to be a good one; the movie is serving its purpose to shine light on this horrible issue. We should all support the movie and the exposure it is getting as much as possible.

But… I also learned that there are questionable figures attached to the movie and the Under Ground Railroad that is owned by Tim Ballard, the character in the film. It has been reported by independent media that even those involved in hunting down child traffickers and rescuing children are not fully on board with Tim Ballard or his organization (please note: I have not vetted these claims). But it does not mean there are not many people involved with the organization who are fully committed to saving children and ending this nightmare.

Basically, it’s likely there are good guys and bad guys all over this project. To be honest, it’s pretty much what I have learned about almost everything I cover. I wish this was not true, but it is. Its the way the world is today. The bad guys have managed to infiltrate just about everything. But that does not make everything bad. It means bad guys are involved in good things for reasons we may not understand yet.

So, what do we do? We stay on track. We keep going and supporting good causes while we keep an eye out for bad agendas and we refuse to be used when we see those agendas.

This brings me to microchipping kids. The sad reality is that chipping all of humanity is the goal of the globalist tyrants. They want to track and control every single thing that we do.

Because more people are waking up to the global agenda, the push back over micro chipping will be strong. The unfortunate part, is their strategy to get kids chipped will likely work within large parts of society. After all, the COVID shot worked en masse, this will likely too. Sigh… I don’t want to report that.

Make no mistake, chipping will not protect kids from their dirty grip, but it will serve as a powerful normalization tool to usher in worldwide chipping for all humans, unless we outsmart them somehow.

In doing my research for this article, I found a good pros and cons article on micro chipping. Read through the pros, that will be how they will sell it. The cons will get almost no media attention and will mostly be presented as conspiracy theory by nut jobs like yours truly.

But we all know what they hide most is where the true agendas lie. So, there is no shame in being called a “conspiracy theorist” these days. Some say its a badge of honor.