French “Satanic defenestration” story thrown out the window
Apart from the strikes against pension reform, one of the big stories in France that made headlines around the world these past few days has been about 12 people of African origin who reportedly jumped out of an apartment window in a Paris suburb to flee from a man they thought was the devil. A four-month old baby died in the incident. The initial stories spoke of satanic rituals, maybe something to do with voodoo, and a crazed collective leap into the dark.
The drama was said to have begun when a woman awoke late at night to find her husband walking in the bedroom naked. As one report put it:
She began screaming ‘it’s the devil! it’s the devil!’, and the man ran into the other room where 11 others adults and children were watching television. One woman grabbed a knife and stabbed the man before other family members pushed him out through the front door.
When the man forced his way back in, they all began screaming in terror and leapt from the balcony screaming ‘Jesus! Jesus!’ The naked man also leapt from the balcony after them, detectives said.
A four-month old baby died in his mother’s arms, while a two-year-old was critically injured.
Google News found 396 stories in English on this and 375 in French. But you can’t believe everything you read about belief. If the story sounded incredible, maybe that’s because it was.
A magistrate investigating the case has now thrown the “Satanic defenestration” story out the window. “There was no question of satanism or Satan,” magistrate Michel Desplan told journalists in Versailles on Monday. Police found religious books in the apartment, but “that’s nothing exceptional for a family of evangelicals.”
U.S. televangelist Pat Robertson says Haiti cursed by devil pact
Controversial U.S. televangelist Pat Robertson said on Wednesday that earth-quake devastated Haiti was cursed because of a past pact that the island’s inhabitants had made with the devil. The comments, which have spread like wildfire through the blogosphere and eslewhere on the Internet, were made during a broadcast of his Christian Broadcasting Network.
“They were under the heel of the French … and they got together and swore a pact to the devil. They said, ‘We will serve you if you’ll get us free from the French.’ True story,” Robertson said in a matter-of-fact tone on the broadcast. “And so the devil said, ‘OK, it’s a deal. .. But ever since, they have been cursed by one thing after another,” he said.
Haiti’s slave revolt led to the establishment in 1804 of the first republic run by freed black slaves and has long been an inspiration for national liberation movements especially in Africa.
Robertson, a former Republican Party presidential candidate, has made controversial comments before. In 2005, he called for the assassination of Venezuelan President Chavez, a constant critic of then President George W. Bush. Robertson later said he was misinterpreted and eventually apologized.
He has also claimed in the past to have a direct line to God. In January 2007 he said God told him a terrorist attack would result in “mass killing” in the United States in the second half of 2007.
Here’s the video of his comments. Let us know what you think of them.
People like Pat Robertson are those who bring the teachings of the Holy Bible under dispute. These denominations must be disowned by all leading Theologians and Main Stream Churches. Simply a Nut.
Text of Mehmet Ali Agca’s letter before release from prison
Following is the full text of an open letter issued on Wednesday in Istanbul by lawyers for Mehmet Ali Agca, the man who shot Pope John Paul in 1981. Agca is due to be released from a Turkish jail on Monday January 18.
OPEN LETTER 13 January 2010
1 = Terrorism is the Evil of the Devil.
2 = All religions prohibit and condemn Terrorism.
3 = The AL QAEDA is a psychopathic criminal NAZI organization. And remember that the Oklahoma City bomber TIMOTHY MCVEIGH was a NAZI too.
4 = The terrorist HITLER, the terrorist OSAMA BIN LADEN, the terrorist APO (jailed Kurdistan Workers Party leader Abdullah Ocalan), the terrorist POL POT are the common enemies of all religions and all nations in the world.
5 = The Arabic world must never misuse any religion for their national problems.
Age-old haj stoning of devil pillars in modern multistory complex
Around two million Muslim pilgrims stoned pillars symbolising the devil in a narrow valley in Saudi Arabia on Friday at what has traditionally been the most dangerous stage of the haj pilgrimage. The pillars stand at Mena, where Muslims believe the devil appeared to the Prophet Abraham.
The Jamarat Bridge in the valley of Mena outside the holy city of Mecca, where pilgrims stone the walls three times over three to four days, has been the scene of a number of stampedes, including one which killed 362 in 2006. But Saudi Arabia has erected a massive four-level building with several platforms for throwing stones to ease congestion and prevent stampedes at the Jamarat stoning areas.
Throngs of predominantly white-clad pilgrims filled the road that leads them to and from the Jamarat Bridge. Some stopped to buy fried chicken nuggets while groups from different countries formed human chains with their fellow countrymen to move more quickly through the crowds.
“Fighting evil temptations is a daily chore for every Muslim,” said Mohammad Haq Shahinaz from Pakistan, holding hands with his wife as they struggled to push ahead in the crowded road to the Jamarat bridge. “But by stoning these concrete pillars here we indicate that we only worship Allah and we will not follow Satan’s path.”
Fathi Ahmed Mohammed from Egypt Egyptian threw seven stones at the pillar, calling out “Allahu akbar” after each throw. “We thanked Allah for His grace and … prayed for the unity of Muslims to glorify Islam and help us prevail over the infidels and the Jews,” he said.
The devil is a being of violence and death. Stoning is a violent act. And so the devil is getting what is already his. Taking up the sword does not abolish evil. It feeds it.What man intends for evil God turns into good. Perhaps those pillars should be carved into something beautiful. Then the devil would be no more because good works have rendered him powerless.To “fight temptation” one only needs to turn the desires of the heart away from transient things and towards the pure good of love.Then there is not temptation. The love of God provides all of the pleasure and joy that anyone could need. Moving far beyond the ability of any temptation. The devil is the mind of man that goes against that nature of the heart, which is the desire for pure good.Pure good is pure love. All else is transitory and false. Let the mind serve the heart and bring forth the good in the world by way of pure love. Then the devil is no more. He will have become the servant of the Most High.
-
Resident FaithWorld Expert
-
