Do Unto Others

I am working on a couple of items concerning Pope Francis but the Paris atrocity has taken center stage and on my Facebook page, a relative called me out because I had previously posted a message about our moral obligations to the displaced of the Middle East who are also victims of ISIL. After Paris, how could I now defend my position?

What follows is my response. It's a bit harsh, but  Christians envision a judgment of God much harsher than any words I can write.

In my opinion, anyone who claims to be a Christian who can turn his or her back on the plight of those being driven from their homes is at best a hypocrite. At the worst they should await the judgment: "Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.  For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,  I was a stranger and you did not welcome me..." Matthew 25: 41-43

In the parable of the Good Samaritan, all of the "good" people passed by the stranger in distress, no doubt fearing that he may be a robber or some such. The Samaritans were a people despised in Israel because their religion was a heretical hodgepodge of Jewish and pagan belief.

I have had Moslem-American clients. They were hard working Americans and some were quite successful. Many of them began running newsstands and some of them wound-up owning restaurants.

There was a very touching story about the impact of the Paris atrocity on American Moslems published on the Huffington post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/message-of-support-for-muslims_56479bfbe4b08cda34891bcf  Read and weep. Many did.

That doesn't mean we should clasp vipers to our bosom. It does mean that we should vet as carefully as we can those who seek shelter. I would think we should get their fingerprints, their picture of sufficient resolution and maybe even a DNA sample before admittance. That will take some work and expenditure. Maybe some will object but we do require visas of even casual visitors.

But the sleeping giant of an issue is climate change because the dislocation of millions of people has started and will become the greatest challenge of the next generation. It is predicted that by 2100 the Persian Gulf area will be uninhabitable because temperatures will be in the range of 170 F or so. That's about 80 million who will be displaced.

I don't have to worry about that except that I have grandchildren who I care about who may be around then (Or their children if they as lucky as Rene and I).

--------------------------------------------------------

This is not a book promo, but if you are interested I have written a book: "The Coming of the Quantum Christ: The Shroud of Turin and the Apolypse of Selfishness.

http://johnklotz.blogspot.com/2015/01/the-coming-of-quantum-christ-has-arrived.htm

It includes a 15% discount code on the printed copy which is beautifully illustrated.

The Coming of the Quantum Christ

The Coming of the Quantum Christ: The Shroud of Turin and the Apocalypse of Selfishness is now available in a Kindle and Nook editions.

Kindle is linked here: KINDLE

Nook is linked here: NOOK

What they say:

Barrie Schwortz 
Editor, shroud.com 
Documenting Photographer, 1978 Scientific Examination of the Shroud "Meticulously researched, thoughtfully written and handcrafted with love and respect for the subject matter, this book is a must read for anyone fascinated by the Shroud of Turin 
and what it might mean to the world." 

Daniel Porter, 
Editor, shroudstory.com 
"It is the best book ever written about the Shroud. Actually, it is not just about the Shroud. The Coming of the Quantum Christ is about what the Shroud is about. It is about the confluence of streams of human understanding that meet in the study of the Shroud. Religion converging with science is one. Our history meeting our future is another. This book makes us think. " 

David Rolfe, Independent Movie Producer 
Winner, BAFTA Award for The Silent Witness 
"John Klotz brings a lawyer's mind to an analysis of the Shroud and what, if genuine, it might mean for us. His assembly of the evidence for authenticity is meticulous and he relays it in an unfolding chronicle which also reveals the twists, turns and human frailties that have bedeviled the Shroud’s reputation and left it in limbo to anyone who has never taken the time and trouble to dig a little deeper. It is far reaching in its scope and conclusions. Hold on to your hats.”

Joseph Marino 
Author, Wrapped-up in the Shroud 
"John Klotz has made a most impressive case for the argument that the Shroud of Turin is the actual burial cloth of Jesus. He thoroughly summarizes the history of the Shroud, including the politics involved in the controversial 1988 C-14 dating, as well as the scientific evidence that has been gathered since the late 19th century, including how the latest cutting-edge theory of quantum mechanics applies to the cloth. Heavily footnoted and lavishly illustrated with both color and black & white photos, this book should be in the collection of anyone interested in the Shroud, whether a novice or a trained scientist." 

Annette Cloutier, 
Author, Praey to God: A Tasteful Trip Through Faith 
"Rarely does a book centered on one specific subject, in this case the Shroud of Turin, mirror a true integration of life. John Klotz’s genius in writing The Coming of the Quantum Christ is that he carefully and freely managed to integrate the whole of our current society and wrap it around the Shroud of Turin. The result of which The Coming of the Quantum Christ is the most exhilarating book ever written thus far on the investigations and the implications of the Shroud of Turin vis à vis the human condition. It is a clear and concise literary masterpiece, a must read for everyone interested or even just curious about the Shroud of Turin, Christ, and Life itself." 

A Blessed Christmas from Boris Pasternak.

When I first read Doctor Zhivago I was struck by the power of its underlying theme: that Christianity transfigured human existence to the divine by reason of the birth, life and death of the God made man, Jesus Christ. That the great mysteries of Christianity were the elements of everyone's life. A child is conceived and born. We eat bread and drink wine. We suffer and we die. By reason of Christ's divinity each one of these mundane facts of life are rendered divine.

Nothing expressed the thought better than Zvivago's contemplation of his wife's pregnancy. The babe referred to is masculine, but the sentiment applies to every man and woman of woman born.

“The mother of God is asked to ‘pray zealously to her son and her God,’ and the words of the Psalm are put into her mouth: ‘My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior. For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold from henceforth all generation shall call me blessed.’ It is because of her child that she says this, He will magnify her (‘For he that is mighty hath done to me great things’): He is her glory. Any woman could say it. For every one of them, God is in her child. Mothers of great men must have been familiar with this feeling, but then, all women are mothers of great men - it isn't their fault if life disappoints them later."

Merry Christmas.
--------------------------------------------------------------
This is not a promo for my book "Quantum Christ" but if you are interested:

http://johnklotz.blogspot.com/2015_01_01_archive.html

Science and the Resurrection

There is a great deal of controversy over a book by Thomas de Wesselow, The Sign: The Shroud of Turin and the Secret of the Resurrection” Wesselow finds the Shroud of Turin to be the authentic burial cloth of Christ but denies that Christ was physically resurrected. The reported apparitions of Christ after his Resurrection were, in essence expositions of the Shroud. Wesselow is an agnostic who has stated that he doesn’t believe in miracles. I disagree but,

Those who claim the Resurrection was a miracle against the laws of nature have, perhaps, a limited view of the laws of nature. Atheist in chief Richard Dawkins writing in his epic screed against religion found the quantum theory of existence incomprehensible even though it works and was a factor in creation of the atom bomb.

“Perhaps there are some genuinely profound and meaningful questions that are forever beyond the reach of science. Maybe quantum theory is already knocking on the door of the unfathomable. But if science cannot answer some ultimate question, what makes anybody think that religion can?”

Quantum phenomena operate at times independent of time and space. Nothing is defined until it is observed. That’s what confuses so many and why they find it inexplicable. Two quantum particles can become entangled. What happens to one happens to the other simultaneously even though separated by light years..  Einstein called it “spooky,” I call it love.

Some believe that human conscience is  quantum phenomenon.  Beneath the quantum level of existence is another level of existence that defines the quanta.  None dare call it God. But as it seeks to unravel the mysteries of the quantum, science is staring God in the face, it's just that some scientists refuse to see it.

The Resurrection? Under these circumstances is not a mystery, but a piece of cake.
In October 2007, I wrote reflecting on the death of my adult son Michael. http://johnklotz.blogspot.com/2007_10_01_archive.html  

I used the scientific phrase “event horizon” as a metaphor for death: A black hole of such enormous gravity that even light can not escape its grasp. I also stated that those who love are joined in their psyches. At that time I was not aware of the concept of quantum entanglement except in a vague way.

I now believe that love is a quantum entanglement of two or more consciousnesses. Our path to the  entanglement with God is entanglement with others, but the straightest path is entanglement with Jesus Christ.
Dame Isabel Piscek has called the Shroud of Turin an event horizon of Christ’s Resurrection. I was unaware of that when I wrote in 2007. 

But as we used to sing in a hymn popular in the heady days of Vatican II:

We stand before your altar lord,
To share a common meal.
Love has brought us here today,
For love makes symbol real.


Amen and Happy Easter.

Is Christ Weeping

The following is adopted from a salon.com comment which was an "Editor's Choice"

I was baptized a Roman Catholic and I remain Catholic to my core, although the Vatican might argue about the Roman part.To me there is only one Christian message and one Christian commandment: Love.

Christ preached that all the prophesies and scripture were founded on love. A generation before Christ, Rabbi Hillel propounded the Golden Rule and stated that everything else is commentary.

As good hearted as many evangelicals are, there is an extreme with a political agenda that is anti-Christ and anti-Love. So much of the Extreme is based upon stilted, strained reading of scripture by 19th century zealots whose powers of reasoning and deduction were seriously defective. They were literally the false prophets in sheep's clothing the Bible warned us against.

The successful mega-church evangelicals with their opulent palaces contrast with Christ's praise of John the Baptist who dressed in animal hair and ate locusts and honey: "What did you go out to the desert to see, a man dressed in fine clothing?"

The concept that a heart-beat away from the presidency would be a person, like Palin, who believes that man walked with the dinosaurs is appalling. The denial of science by the Extremists is already having a dreadful impact on the education of the next generation of American scientists.

Christ wept when he foresaw the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans. Perhaps, for the abuse of His name by the Extremists, He maybe weeping now.