Time for another occasional update almost ending up with a weekly pattern.
‘
War on terror is sacred’: Orthodox Church praises Putin decision on Syria airstrikes
A senior cleric of the Russian Orthodox Church has said his church fully supports Moscow’s plan to render military aid to the Syrian government. He added representatives of other major religions would throw their weight behind the anti-terrorist effort.
“We have an inter-religious council in Russia and I can say with confidence – the coming statement of this body that unites Orthodox Christians, Muslims, Jews and Buddhists will support our state’s decision. The decision with which our state again assumes a special role in the Middle East and in particular in Syria,” Vsevolod Chaplin told reporters on Wednesday.
He also noted the decision not only fully complied with the norms of international law, but also mirrored the views of most Russian people.
“The active position of our country has always been connected with protection of the weak and oppressed, like the Middle East Christians who are now experiencing a real genocide. Russia’s role has always been in protecting peace and justice for all Mideast peoples.”
He stressed the main objective behind the operation in Syria was not in fulfilling some political or economic ambitions but in protecting the weak. “Terrorism is immoral and we need to protect those who are being driven from their lands by war,” Chaplin noted.
He also emphasized that terrorism was the most significant threat humanity is currently facing. “Whatever they are trying to justify terrorism with, it cannot be justified. Thus, any fight against terrorism is moral, we can even call it a holy fight,” Chaplin told reporters.
https://www.rt.com/politics/317045-war-on-terror-is-sacred/Pope’s Kim Davis meeting does not indicate support: Vaticanhttp://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/popes-kim-davis-meeting-does-not-indicate-support-vatican/article26631236/http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/10/the-vaticans-pr-war-over-kim-davis-and-the-pope/408637/The Vatican on Friday distanced Pope Francis from Kim Davis, the focal point in the gay marriage debate in the U.S., saying she was one of dozens of people the pope greeted as he left Washington and that their encounter “should not be considered a form of support of her position.”
After days of confusion, the Vatican issued a statement Friday with its version of Francis’ Sept. 24 encounter with Davis, a Kentucky county clerk who was jailed for refusing to issue same-sex marriage licenses.
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“We wouldn’t expect the pope to weigh in on the particulars of any case,” Staver said Friday. “Rather, the meeting was a pastoral meeting to encourage Kim Davis in which Pope Francis thanked her for her courage and told her to ‘Stay strong,“’ Staver said in a statement. “His words and actions support the universal human right to conscientious objection.”
Ore. shooter left behind online portrait of a loner with a grudge against religionAs the horrific details of the mass shooting at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Ore., slowly came together on Thursday evening like a grisly jigsaw puzzle, one crucial piece remained missing.
A portrait of the shooter.
Mercer was mixed race, according to an Internet dating profile that appeared to come from him, yet his e-mail address referenced an iron cross, a symbol often associated with Nazis. He described himself as a “lover,” but posed with guns and posted photos glorifying violence.
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And for reasons unknown, he apparently bore a deadly grudge against organized religion.
“Not Religious, Not Religious, but Spiritual” he wrote on one dating Web site, also listing membership in a group called “Doesn’t Like Organized Religion.”
On Thursday morning, those two aspects of his personality apparently drove Mercer to go on a rampage, shooting at least 16 people at Umpqua Community College, killing nine and injuring seven.
According to survivors, Mercer asked his hostages if they were Christians.
“The shooter was lining people up and asking if they were Christian. If they said yes, then they were shot in the head. If they said no or didn’t answer, they were shot in the legs,” a witness said in a text message to the Roseburg Beacon News, according to its publisher.
Yet, the picture of Mercer remains murky.
“He appears to be an angry young man who was very filled with hate,” law enforcement officials told the New York Times.
