USA: Mike Pence altered a Biblical quote to cut Jesus out of it for RNC speech - by Sarah K. Burris

Jesus didn’t take the wheel Wednesday night as Vice President Mike Pence addressed the Republican Convention. In fact, Jesus was removed entirely, according to a Washington Post report.

Pence said, “Let’s run the race marked out for us. Let’s fix our eyes on Old Glory and all she represents. Let’s fix our eyes on this land of heroes and let their courage inspire. And let’s fix our eyes on the author and perfecter of our faith and freedom and never forget that where the spirit of the Lord is there is freedom — and that means freedom always wins.”

For Christians who read their Bible, this may seem somewhat familiar. He was loosely citing two different verses in the speech.

For Christians who read their Bible, this may seem somewhat familiar. He was loosely citing two different verses in the speech

The other was, 12:1-2, reading, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off every encumbrance and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with endurance the race set out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Instead of saying, “let us fix our eyes on Jesus,” Pence changed it to say, “let us fix our eyes on Old Glory.” 

He also described Jesus (Old Glory in his text) as “the author and perfecter of our faith and freedom.” Freedom doesn’t appear in the Hebrew text.

Read more at:
Mike Pence altered a Biblical quote to cut Jesus out of it for RNC speech – Raw Story

USA: Pence uses first coronavirus briefing in months to peddle lies

Mike Pence on Friday convened the first White House coronavirus task force briefing in nearly two months, amid a spike of coronavirus cases in some of the largest states in the country.

Pence used his time to lie about the Trump administration's response to the virus and distort the reality that millions of Americans find themselves in.

Read the complete report at:
Pence uses first coronavirus briefing in months to peddle lies

USA - coronavirus: Pinocchio and brown nosing Pence casts off reality and insists everything's under control - by David Smith's

The Baghdad Bob of Washington was on top form on Friday, reassuring an anguished nation that up is down, square is round and an all-time high of daily coronavirus infections is proof positive that America has flattened the curve.

Sans face mask, Pence was holding his first White House coronavirus task force briefing in nearly two months – not at the White House at all but at the health department, a sign of diminished status since the halcyon days when Donald Trump pondered the efficacy of bleach.

The vice-president will have impressed his boss with his "truthiness".

Read more at:
Pinocchio Pence casts off reality and insists everything's under control | David Smith's sketch | US news | The Guardian

USA - Ireland: Mike Pence accused of humiliating hosts in Ireland

Mike Pence accused of humiliating hosts in Ireland: 'He shat on the carpet'

Read more at:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/sep/05/mike-pence-ireland-shat-on-the-carpet?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Blogger

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Germany: Pence met with silence after mentioning "Fuhrer" Trump in Munich speech - by Tal Axelrod

 Vice President Mike Pence was met with silence on Friday when he mentioned President Trump at a security conference in Munich.

"I bring greetings from the 45th president of the United States of America, Donald Trump," Pence said, before being met with a lengthy silence.

Pence traveled to Germany this week for the annual Munich Security Conference along with a bipartisan delegation, including Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.).

In remarks on Friday, Pence knocked North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies, whom he said "still need to do more."

"The United States expects every NATO member to put in place a credible plan to meet the 2 percent threshold. And, by 2024, we expect all our allies to invest 20 percent of defense spending on procurement," he said.

Pence on Friday also blasted China and Russia in front of delegations from both countries.

"Under President Trump's leadership, the United States has also made it clear that China must address the longstanding issues of intellectual-property theft, forced technology transfer, and other structural issues in China that have placed a burden on our economy and on economies around the world," he said.

Pence later noted the U.S.'s move to withdraw from the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. The decision to withdraw has triggered questions about the potential impact on European security and the global strategic environment amid weakened U.S.-Russia relations.

 Read more: Pence met with silence after mentioning Trump in Munich speech

USA: MLK's son criticizes US VP Pence for using father's memory to push border wall

MLK's son criticizes Pence for using father's memory to push for border wall

Read more at:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2019/jan/21/kamala-harris-2020-president-election-run-mlk-day-live-updates?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Blogger

USA: Vice President Pence Faces Heightened Scrutiny Over His Relationship with Paul Manafort - by Gwendolyn Smith

The "American Nightmare" has become a reality

Pence has remained largely in the background of the Trump presidency, often working behind the scenes on policy and other issues while Trump takes center stage. As Trump's fortunes have waned, however, those in his orbit are being reexamined.

The line of succession would call for Mike Pence to replace Donald Trump should he be removed from office. Many have feared what a Pence presidency would look like, given his actions as the Governor of Indiana against the LGBTQ community, women, and others.

Amongst the bad news for Trump last week was the indictment of Trump's former campaign manager, Paul Manafort. Manafort was found guilty last week on eight counts of financial crimes in his fraud trial.

It was Paul Manafort who chose Mike Pence as Donald Trump's vice president, with the president reportedly preferring Chris Christie for the role.

The link between Manafort and Pence is leading to additional scrutiny for the vice president, as people ask just what Pence knew about Manafort and his connections.

Many are also curious about Pence's involvements with former adviser Mike Flynn, questioning if he lied to protect the general in January of 2017 when he declared that Flynn had not discussed, "anything having to do with the United States' decision to expel diplomats or impose censure against Russia" with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.

Read more: Vice President Pence Faces Heightened Scrutiny Over His Relationship with Paul Manafort | Alternet

USA: The 25th Amendment Could Doom Trump — And Mike Pence Would Play A Crucial Role - Seth Millstein

Yes indeed. Mike Pence could safe the Republican party from possible, if not certain defeat, in the mid-term elections, and also "rehabilitate" the tarnished image of the US Right-Wing Evangelical movement, by invoking the 25th Amendment of the US Constitution.

This is only feasible, if Pence is able to work a deal with his Republican party members in Congress and some Democrats to get 2/3 of the House in favor, to invoke this somewhat obscure 25th Amendment, whereby Trump would be declared mentally unfit to remain President and Pence would become President.

Read more: The 25th Amendment Could Doom Trump — And Mike Pence Would Play A Crucial Role

Middle East Christian Communities: Why Did Christian Leaders in the Middle East Shun Vice President Pence's Visit?

The Middle East At Easter: "the US 
want Jesus to be a political Jesus"

According to Israeli news outlet Haaretz, Christian leaders in the Middle East shunned Vice President Mike Pence in his recent trip to their countries.

Christian leaders in Egypt and Jerusalem reportedly decided to boycott his visit, in an attempt to protest President Trump’s December 7th recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Pence was unable to visit Bethlehem, the city where Jesus was born, because it is located in the occupied region of the West Bank controlled by the Palestinian Authority who declared that Pence was ” unwelcome in Palestine.”

Pence declared that recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital is the “only true foundation for a just and lasting peace.” Arab Christians apparently disagree, wanting East Jerusalem to be the capital of a non-Israeli Arab state. Protestors held signs that read, “Pence you are desecrating our land. Pence go home.”

Pence reportedly completed his visit to the Middle East without meeting with any prominent Christian leaders from Egypt, Jordan and Israel. In his meeting with the Egyptian president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, Pence raised the issue of protecting Egypt’s Christians from persecution.

After meeting with King Abdullah of Jordan, Pence’s remarks made clear their disagreement over a two state solution: “Friends occasionally have disagreements, and we agreed to disagree on recognizing Jerusalem. We agreed all parties need to come to the table. I hope I impressed on him our earnest desire to restart the peace process.”

In his speech to the Knesset today Pence used religious symbolism, quoted from the bible, and explained his support for Israel as a moral and religious obligation, not solely a political one. His speech was interrupted by numerous standing ovations by Israeli  Knesset members.

According to The Associated Press, Palestinian Christians reject Pence’s “brand” of Christianity:

They argue that such streams of evangelical Christianity have used religion to whitewash Israel’s harsh policies during its half-century-old rule over millions of Palestinians.

“For me, it’s a sick ideology,” said Munib Younan, the recently retired bishop of the small Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land and former president of the Lutheran World Federation, an umbrella for churches with millions of believers.

 “When I say Jesus is love, they want my Jesus to be a political Jesus,” Younan, 67, a Jerusalem-born Palestinian, said in a recent interview at his West Bank church.

The AP adds that while Christian Arabs are a minority living in the West Bank, they lived peacefully next to their Muslim Arab neighbors, describing their neighborhoods as places “where the pealing of church bells often blends with the Muslim call to prayer.”

Note EU-Digest - Jesus Christ represents love, not hatred or violence, and if politics and fanaticism was not injected into the Middle East as a result of  foreign interventions,  historical peaceful coexistence would still prevail there today.   

Read more: Why Did Christian Leaders in the Middle East Shun Vice President Pence's Visit?

USA Politics: Mike Pence Preparing 2020 Election Run Against ‘Weak’ Trump? - by Jason Le Miere

Mike Pence’s press secretary has denied an explosive report from The New York Times Saturday that the vice-president is among a group of Republicans already preparing a “shadow campaign” for president in 2020. President Donald Trump is just over six months into his first term and has never suggested that he would not seek re-election for a second term.

An outspoken Democratic critic of President Donald Trump's is leading the call for Vice President Mike Pence to become the next commander-in-chief. California Representative Maxine Waters, who has become an internet sensation among the left for her frank criticism of the president in recent months, tweeted Saturday: "Mike Pence is somewhere planning an inauguration. Priebus and Spicer will lead the transition."

Read more: Mike Pence Preparing 2020 Election Run Against ‘Weak’ Trump? Vice-President’s Team Denies Explosive Claim

USA Trump Administration:Trump’s Odds of Impeachment Are Spiking Online - by Bess Levine

Since the election, millions of people the world over have comforted themselves with the thought that no matter how outrageous, incompetent, or stupid Donald J. Trump may be, at least the odds are reasonably high that he won’t make it through a full term. Sure, with Republicans controlling Congress, impeachment would be no easy feat, but sooner or later, he would have to do something that would get them to put country before politics. (Whether Vice President Mike Pence would be an improvement is, among Democrats, another subject of debate.)

While we’re probably not there yet, the events of this week—wherein Trump fired the man who was investigating his campaign for ties to Russia—have betting men and women worldwide putting more money on the odds of The Big I. Per Politico:

On the website PredictIt, traders set the Trump’s chances of still serving as president at the end of 2017 at 83 percent, as of Wednesday afternoon. That’s down from 87 percent at the close of trading Tuesday — though the price has stabilized from the low-water mark of 79 percent following the Comey news. Across the pond, where bettors have been more bullish on Trump’s potential removal, the Irish bookmaker Paddy Power told Politico on Wednesday that its Trump impeachment odds had shortened, from 10/11 (52 percent) to 4/6 (60 percent) . . .

The odds on Bovada, another offshore gambling site with a bigger U.S. footprint, are more pessimistic about Trump’s removal. Trump is considered marginally more likely than not to serve a full term as president; bettors have to wager $130 to win $100 that Trump will make it to January 20, 2021.

Of course, the G.O.P. does not appear ready to wash its hands of Trump and, as Politico points out, as of now, “few Democrats are openly talking about impeaching” him. Then again, the president is little more than 100 days into his term. Imagine what kind of unhinged, potentially impeachable acts we have to look forward to.

Read more: Trump’s Odds of Impeachment Are Spiking Online | Vanity Fair

Christianity: should Christians support war - don't let anyone fool you - the answer is NO

There is no justification for any so-called "just war"

We find many Christians around the world today who are wrestling over the concept of a "good or bad war" just as they do in their daily lives when it comes to making choices between good and evil 

In the early Old Testament times war was often seen as a holy war, a conflict initiated and led by God. Very much so as still professed by today's radical Islamists. Such a war was declared by God, Himself (Exodus 17:16; Numbers 31:1-3, 1 Samuel 15:1-3), and every facet of war had religious significance. Sacrificial rites were performed to ensure God's continued support (1 Samuel 7:8-10; 13:9).

The sacred ark of the covenant, symbolizing the presence of God, was often taken into battle (1 Samuel 4:3).

Later in Israel's history, the prophets began to see the terror of war as God's judgment against his people for their sins, and the glory of war faded (Habakkuk 1:5-11, Jeremiah 21:3-7). Israel began to look to the day when the endless cycle of war would be broken:

The law will go out from Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore. (NIV, Isaiah 2:3-4)

In the New Testament, war is universally seen as evil and Jesus emphasized peace instead. He advised us to avoid retaliation and revenge and to extend our love even to our enemies.

"You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.' But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you. You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. (NIV, Matthew 5:38-45).

The apostle Paul and other New testament writers echoed Jesus' sentiment and expanded on it.

"Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men. If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men". Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay," says the Lord. "But if your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals upon his head." Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (NAS, Romans 12:17-21)

Consequently, whatever a politician or even some pastors might tell you: there is no such thing as a good cause for a "just war".

Christians  (including President Trump and his VP Pence) who might feel the urge to wage war for what they might instinctively consider to be a so-called "just cause" should be reminded that Jesus said : "Put your sword back into its place; for all those who take up the sword shall perish by the sword." (NAS, Matthew 26:52-53) and that  while many of Jesus' apostles and many other of his followers were also martyred for their faith, but never used violence to resist their fate.

Reading the above might also shine quite a different light on the famous and still very popular military song "Onward, Christian Soldiers", a 19th-century English hymn. The words were written by Sabine Baring-Gould in 1865, and the music was composed by Arthur Sullivan in 1871 . The words were even quoted by British PM Churchill and US Given Roosevelt at the end of the second world war. 

Given that the song made a strong connections between war and Christianity the hymn was omitted from both the 1990 and 2013 hymnals of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

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