Friday Godbytes

CNN reports about the spiritual journey of Yuri Foreman, a world-class boxer who also happens to be training to be a Jewish Rabbi. No word on whether they’ve sold to rights for “Rocky: the Rabbinical School Years”: “Thirty-one-year-old Yuri Foreman has a tight schedule today. He kissed his wife and son goodbye early and then […]

CNN reports about the spiritual journey of Yuri Foreman, a world-class boxer who also happens to be training to be a Jewish Rabbi. No word on whether they’ve sold to rights for “Rocky: the Rabbinical School Years”:

“Thirty-one-year-old Yuri Foreman has a tight schedule today. He kissed his wife and son goodbye early and then pedaled over to the gym to train. From here, he will bike over to see a rabbi.

Foreman is hitting the books, studying to be a rabbi with the same determination that helped him become a world championship boxer.”

Wired magazine has an extensive report on the FBI‘s instruction tools, alleging that the government agency teaches recruits that even “mainstream” Muslims are “violent, radical”:


“The FBI is teaching its counterterrorism agents that ‘main stream’ [sic] American Muslims are likely to be terrorist sympathizers; that the Prophet Mohammed was a ‘cult leader’; and that the Islamic practice of giving charity is no more than a ‘funding mechanism for combat.’

At the Bureau’s training ground in Quantico, Virginia, agents are shown a chart contending that the more ‘devout’ a Muslim, the more likely he is to be ‘violent.’ Those destructive tendencies cannot be reversed, an FBI instructional presentation adds: ‘Any war against non-believers is justified’ under Muslim law; a ‘moderating process cannot happen if the Koran continues to be regarded as the unalterable word of Allah.'”

Mark Juergensmeyer at Religion Dispatches claims that the War on Terror was essentially ended by the Arab Spring uprisings earlier this year:

“Perhaps it’s appropriate that I was in Cairo on the weekend of the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, since I may well have been at the place where 10 years of the War on Terror came to an end.âÂ?¨

It began at Ground Zero in New York City on September 11, 2001, and likely terminated at Tahrir Square in Egypt on January 25, 2011. Even this past weekend when I was there, tens of thousands crowded the huge traffic circle waving flags and patriotic banners. Now, however, they aren’t calling for the fall of a dictator, but for government to be true to its promise of free and fair elections. The excitement over the democratic changes in the country is palpable.”

Evangelical pastor Shane Claiborne lays down the social justice vibe at Sojourner’s God’s Politics blog, writing on the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision to halt the execution of Duane Buck in Huntsville, Texas.

“Last night, death was interrupted when the U.S. Supreme Court issued a stay of execution for a Texas man convicted of a double murder in Houston in 1995.

Duane Buck was set for execution by lethal injection sometime after 6 p.m., Thursday September 15 in Huntsville, Texas. His execution would have been the second this week and the 11th so far this year in Texas alone. Two more executions are scheduled for next week.”

And Friday’s Tweet of the Day comes from Jay Bakker, pastor of Revolution Church, who cites some holy wisdom from – who else – Bod Dylan:

@jaybakker – “People seldom do what they believe in. They do what is convenient, then repent.” ~ Bob Dylan

Donate to Support Independent Journalism!

Donate Now!