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POPSSometime During The Night and Early Morning of Dec 29-30 1916, Grigory Rasputin Is Murdered by Russian Nobles
Fearful of Rasputin’s growing power (among other things, it was believed by some that he was plotting to make a separate peace with the Germans), a group of nobles, led by Prince Felix Youssupov, the husband of the czar’s niece, and Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich, Nicholas’s first cousin, lured Rasputin to Youssupov Palace on the night of December 29, 1916. First, Rasputin’s would-be killers gave the monk food and wine laced with cyanide. When he failed to react to the poison, they shot him at close range, leaving him for dead. A short time later, however, Rasputin revived and attempted to escape from the palace grounds, whereupon his assailants shot him again and beat him viciously. Finally, they bound Rasputin, still miraculously alive, and tossed him into a freezing river. His body was discovered several days later and the two main conspirators, Youssupov and Pavlovich were exiled.
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POPSJesus Hated War-Why Do Christians Love It So? More from the article below: "A major unasked question is “what should be the role of religion (specifically Christianity) in the starting and perpetuation of politically motivated wars?” If war-makers mix religion and politics by invoking God’s blessings on the cannons and the cannon fodder, shouldn’t the churches, which are supposed to be the consciences of the nation, apply core Christian ethical principles to the war question and refuse to cooperate with the slaughter of fellow children of God? Sadly, for the past 1,700 years, Christian churches have not done so. They have largely failed in their moral obligation to teach and live the Golden Rule and the Sermon on the Mount."
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POPSCopernicus Burial The remains of a giant of astronomy, Nicolaus Copernicus, are to be re-buried at Fromburg Cathedral in Poland. Copernicus is famous for his book: De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres), in which he put forward his heliocentric model, in which the Sun is at the center of the universe, and showing that the motions of celestial objects such as the planets, can be explained without having the Earth atin the center of the universe. This work was furthered by Galileo, Kepler, and Newton among others.
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POPSA Christmas Day Sermon 1758: Christmas a "Superstitious" Custom
They preached-up "liberty" from this custom! This renowned Presbyterian pastor just prior to the American Revolution demonstrates the "superstition" of Christmas, while preaching about the incarnation or nativity of Christ, entirely different than is done today. He expands: Chrysostom, who lived in the fourth century, has these words, “It is not yet ten years, since this day, that is, Christmas, was plainly known to us ;” and he observes, the custom was brought to Constantinople from Rome. Now since this day was not religiously observed in the church in the first and purest ages, but was introduced as superstitions increased, and Christianity began to degenerate very fast into popery; ought not we to imitate the purity of these primitive times, and retain none of the superstitious observances of more corrupt ages? 18th century American society also did not commonly employ decorated trees (a pagan custom) if they did observe Christmas.
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POPSWhy Is The Catholic Church Firing Women? "In the last 30 years there’s been a dramatic expansion of the body of teachings to which Catholics must assent wholly to remain in good standing. As Horton pointed out, “They speak a great talk of justice for the world, but in their own church they don’t recognize it.”
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POPSWomen - The Original Sin Some would argue that patriarchal history is in fact responsible for the very civilization that women are now attaining the freedom to achieve equality within. The other way around we might still be living in caves. Who is really to say. Remember we are speaking here about religion.
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POPSGOP'S NEW PRAYER GURU "Engle's role as leader of TheCall has now received some mainstream media notice but the source of his influence is still largely unknown. Lou Engle serves, alongside Sarah Palin's prayer group leader Mary Glazier, on the Apostolic Council of Prophetic Elders, one of the key leadership groups wielding influence over a sprawling, global new incarnation of the religious right known as the New Apostolic Reformation. Peter Wagner was advisor for Rick Warren's dissertation for a Doctorate of Ministry from Fuller Theological Seminary. In a mid-December statement from Rick Warren, Letter To Uganda's Pastors, Rick Warren lied about his connection to Wagner."
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POPSGreat Renaissance Nativity Paintings Strongly suggest you click through to get the best possible images. These are beautiful! From the author: "Hi, this is Luis Miguel Goitizolo. As you may know, one of my topmost interests has always been the art of the world's great masters from the European Renaissance onwards. Here I show all of my Great Art of the World* pages with their selected master works. You just need to click the artists names"
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POPSPeople Get Ready The tropics have made momentary Bob Marley fans of Lucy and I. Which leads to "One Love." Which leads to "People Get Ready."
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POPSSanta Claus 'buried in Ireland' It is thought that the man who inspired the tradition of leaving presents under a Christmas tree, came from a wealthy family and he is believed to have given much of his fortune away. Early pilgrims visited the cathedral in Myra to pay their respects to the bishop. The bishop was originally buried at a local church in Myra, in modern day Turkey, when he died. Historians now believe his body was later moved to the abbey in Ireland by early crusaders. “St Nicholas Church is still standing and there is a slab on the ground which marks St Nicholas's grave,” he said. Few locals know of the much-loved figure’s link with Kilkenny. “It is an amazing story and yet very few people in Ireland know about St Nicholas's connection with this country,” he said. “Every year now we get visitors to the site, but still not that many.” i
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POPSVatican will be asked to remove four bishops if they don’t quit 
The Bishop of Limerick Dr Donal Murray, who was also an auxiliary bishop in Dublin before being promoted to Limerick, resigned from his position last week. It has emerged that if the four bishops — who say they did no wrong — do not stand down voluntarily on the principle of collective responsibility, Archbishop Martin will petition the Congregation of Bishops in Rome to remove them early in 2010. On Friday, the Irish Primary Principals' Network also wants the four bishops to be accountable for their actions — or inactions — in discharging their child protection responsibilities. Taoiseach Brian Cowen backed Archbishop Martin's stance, saying it was “a time for leadership and accountability” in the Catholic Church. Mr Cowen said: “The resignation of Bishop Murray is a welcome indication that those who are in positions of leadership and responsibility in the Church are facing up to their responsibility in the light of the very clear findings of the Murphy Commission.” Howeve
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POPSChurch Leaders Call for Holy Land Pilgrimage The Ministry of Tourism, eh? I have faith, this appeal has nothing whatsoever at all to do with just making money. So, take a vacation to Israel and help bring peace to the Middle East! Yay! .:) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6NsvJSGMVk
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POPS"War on Christmas" debate rages on "My advice to the lawmakers would be promote any religion you have through your private acts, and don't try to 'help' the baby Jesus by passing a resolution on his behalf. It is arrogant and ridiculous at the same time," Lynn said.
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POPSThe "patron saint of Troublemakers" :) " Blessed Mary MacKillop, the Australian nun once excommunicated and now beatified, is on her way to canonization. Is she the patron saint of troublemakers? Excommunicated today, canonized tomorrow, says John Allen, puckishly. For me, the best part of her story is how the church itself understands that sometimes even the holiest among us are occasionally at loggerheads with church leadership. (Cf. St. Mother Theodore Guerin)".
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