November, 2006

The word Al Qaeda has become world wide known as an infamous blood- thirsty terrorist organization that has dared to attack American main land. Even after five years of pursuit by the world’s most powerful military and intelligence net work, the top leaders are evading arrest and have regrouped. It is feared by most of the countries in the world. The top leaders of Al Qaeda fled to lawless North West mountainous areas of Pakistan when Taliban fell from power under the combined onslaught of US led allied forces and Afghan Northern alliance forces. Osama Bin Laden with US $27 million bounty on his head reportedly escaped from Tora Bora bombings in Afghanistan with his most trusted lieutenants. His escape from the caves is attributed to refusal to deploy American ground troops by Pentagon. (1). Apart from them, the Taliban terrorists with Al Qaeda connection such as Mullah Dadullah( The former Taliban intelligence chief), Mullah Omar(Founder of the movement), Maulvi Obaidullah(Former Defense Minister), Jalaluddin Haqani( Former minister of tribal affairs) escaped from the US forces and are reportedly hiding in Pakistan. Al Qaeda’s deputy Ayman Al Zawahiri one of the most wanted criminal after Bin Laden and number two on the list of wanted of Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of USA is also reportedly hiding in Pakistan. Although USA and Pakistani commandos are conducting search operations, the terrorist leaders are still at large. It is nearly five years since the hunt for these criminals is on inside Pakistan. America claims that when a person chooses to hide, his capture becomes very difficult. It is also claimed by US government that nearly three fourths of Al Qaeda leaders engaged in 9/11 attack and plotters are already eliminated in the war on terror (2). As a matter of fact although Taliban and Al Qaeda are different organizations both are synonymous to each other and are to be tackled with equal vigor, determination and ferocity.

continue reading "Al Qaeda is Still Strong and Active. It is Time To Go Full Steam Against Them"

In hope that someone might be reading out there, and in need of this particular form of help...Debbie heard today that her friend at work lost her son yesterday to suicide.

This season seems to be marked by this peculiar characteristic. It is the best of things; it is the worst of things.

Two kinds of people I want to say something to here: One is the person who is undergoing a crisis that suddenly becomes too intense to bear. Understand, the human mind and heart can experience times when the sense of being alone and destined to bring a simple conclusion, that it can act in a moment and affect a great deal more than is current. I am not speaking of heaven/hell; I have in mind the many who love you but whose love escapes you at the moment.

continue reading "Beloved, You Are Not Alone"

Last week someone created an account here under the name John_Smith_666. I thought it strange, but just watched to see what would happen. Well today, Mr. Smith tried to blast a few comments at the rate of about 3 per minute—a bit fast for the average human—but the spam filter caught him. Anyway, I checked him out.

continue reading "Number of the Beast"

I have known many levels of the dogma of Original Sin. They all have one thing in common -- they stem from the Genesis account of the Fall of Adam.

While degrees of imposed guilt and freedom may differ, most use the original story of Adam/Eve as a base for teaching that man is basically Lost and this is due to Sin. From that has grown theologies of how to be saved, how to live a life of obedience, how to escape the fires of hell. Many Christians are not aware of the developmental aspects of these theologies -- simply assuming they are True.

continue reading "Is Humanity Basically Evil?"

Twenty-five years ago, I met a cute nursing student in the back row of Dr. Strauss' Political Science class. We'd both add/dropped into this class from other sections after classes began, and found ourselves in the back row because seats were assigned the first day of class. She was a sophisticated junior in her last semester on the main campus (the nursing college had a separate campus), and I was a former Navy airdale and a freshman in my first semester of mechanical engineering. She had put off taking the state required class as long as possible, and I wanted to get it over with as soon as possible. But it turned out to be an interesting course and the beginning of the rest of our lives.

continue reading "Happy Anniversary to Us"

Prof Dr Colonel (Retired) K Prabhakar Rao

The expected has arrived at last. The iron grip of Republican Party in USA after several years has loosened, rather split open by the recent victory of Democrats in the recent elections of November 2006. Yet, President George W Bush would continue for another two years influencing world scenario. Welcoming the new members after their success, the president in no uncertain terms declared that the present struggle against the terrorist threat would continue (1). Republican Party suffered in these recent elections as a result of resentment against certain policies of American administration such as war on Iraq, mounting American soldiers’ death, policy against immigrants (including illegal), internal security measures such as monitoring of Internet and other activities. The elections have revealed that youngsters have voted in bulk. The most crucial time for USA after World War II came when Al Qaeda struck at the twin towers of World Trade Center on 9/11, 2001 and this has been described as Pearl Harbor of the century. President George W Bush in an appropriate way reacted at that crucial hour and waged war against Afghanistan that harbored Osama Bin Laden and demolished power of Taliban. Next, war was waged against Iraq under Saddam Hussein who emerged as a very powerful and evil ruler disturbing the peace in the region and threatened American interests. Democrats have derived great advantage of this war in which Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) were not physically found. In fact the war on Iraq was taken up fearing the WMD in the arsenal of Saddam Hussein. Democrats claim that the threat of WMD was nothing but a cover up to eliminate the Iraqi ruler by the Bush administration more as personal vendetta.

continue reading "American Policy in the Middle East After Republican Party Debacle"

We live in an increasingly global world. While this probably sounds silly and obvious to some, the truth is that there are still many political and religious arguments that naïvely assume that nation states and religious denominations can act and live within themselves—that the policies they make and live by are for themselves alone. Others assume that economic (business) problems can be off-loaded to countries and regions with looser laws and cheaper labor costs. However, there is little that goes on in this world—on this planet—that will not affect other parts of the globe in some way. In an increasingly complex world, the butterfly effect teaches us that we can neither off-load nor ignore the problems of others in other regions or other religions. We are in this boat together.

continue reading "Globalization"

Prof Dr Colonel (Retired) K Prabhakar Rao

continue reading "ARE ARABS REGROUPING TO DESTROY ISRAEL?"

Think of blog entries as letters, essays, articles or opinions. Blog posts are usually posted to the front page of the site, with the latest piece inserted at the top, pushing earlier posts downward and, eventually on to the second and subsequent pages. Questions or other conversation starters can also be blog entries. But the better tool for general conversation is topic in the discussion forum. If you'd rather start a new topic for discussion, you can submit new forum topics here.

continue reading "What is a blog post, and how do I create one?"

Prof Dr Colonel (Retired) K Prabhakar Rao

Taliban was ousted from Power in Afghanistan after the intense pounding by the US led allied forces immediately after Sept 9, 2001 attack on World Trade Center in New York. Taliban was created by Pakistan in their Madrasas to counter Soviet occupation forces in Afghanistan duly abetted by Western agencies and after the pull out of Soviet troops Taliban assumed the power in the State. The country returned to the most medieval and obscured ideology where women were forbidden from going to schools. Men were judged by the measured lengths of the beards. The country became a den for drug trafficking as a source of revenue. Al Qaeda emerged in Afghanistan as a notorious outfit and the top leaders including Bin Laden were harbored in Afghanistan. The regime of Taliban turned fundamentalist and the terrorists even hijacked an Indian air craft with passengers to Afghanistan to get the release of fellow Kashmiri terrorists who were imprisoned in India. Taliban destroyed statues of Bamian Buddhas that were nearly 1600 years old against world opinion. Attack on World Trade Center was planned by Al Qaeda and consequently Taliban were thrown out after the attack on American main land by the terrorists (1). Large numbers of Taliban escaped into neighboring Pakistan and are hiding in Waziristan, the most difficult tribal land. These areas were known as North West Frontier Agencies during the British rule in Indian Sub Continent. There is a very great sympathy for Taliban in Pakistan. This was also evident from the rushing of thousands of Pakistani fundamentalist and crazy youth wielding all types of weapons crossing the border and rushing into Afghanistan, yelling and shrieking when US forces attacked and invaded Afghanistan to capture Bin Laden and dethrone Taliban.

continue reading "Taliban is Getting Stronger and Reviving"

I'm not sure how I got to the Great Story website, but I thought you guys might find it interesting. The story they relate, and relate to, is a familiar one:

“[It] is a way of telling the history of everyone and everything that honors and embraces all religious traditions and creation stories. It is the sacred narrative of an evolving Universe of emergent complexity and breathtaking creativity and cooperation — a story that offers each of us the opportunity to find meaning and purpose in our lives and our time in history.”

continue reading "The Great Story"

This is a site devoted to Eastern and Western Spirituality, the Occult, Magick, Kabbalah, Numerology, Runes, Tarot, Alchemy and related subjects. It is written by Douglas Buchanan, who has been writing occult and restricted material since the 1950's.

This post is similar to the one that I wrote just a few days ago, but the weariness of the people around me has been unrelenting. It seems that every time that I answer the telephone the person on the other end is stressed, tired, hurting, and guilt-ridden. And most of these folks have some bad religion to thank for it all. I thought that I would write a few thoughts to remind myself - and anyone who stumbles across these ramblings - that good religion exists, and that it invites us into the fullness of life and the wholeness of being.

continue reading "good religion, bad religion"

The really good things in life—happiness, love, joy—are not facts but truths. They cannot be learned as doctrine because they do not exist in doctrine. They have always been, but they only become under the right circumstances.

continue reading "Faith, Myth and the Truth Becoming"

From Library Journal
After 20 books (e.g., Technopoly, LJ 1/92), Postman, social critic par excellence, has returned to his original turf: education. Sharp, witty, and frequently quotable, he demolishes many leading popular themes as lacking in meaning. Education without spiritual content or, as he puts it, without a myth or narrative to sustain and motivate, is education without a purpose. That purpose used to be democracy and could still be, if only we were willing to look for the elements that unite rather than separate. Postman considers multiculturalism a separatist movement that destroys American unity. Diversity, however, is one of the themes he would employ in teaching language, history, and culture. Postman offers a number of positive and uplifting themes around which a new education philosophy could be formulated, some of which are far-fetched or extreme but nonetheless interesting. A most welcome addition to the education debate; highly recommended for all libraries.

Each of us lives our lives somewhere along a continuum of faith. At one end of that line is full-blown, vibrant, purposeful, faithful living, while on the other end of this faith continuum is utter meaninglessness—nihilism.

This is not the “faithfulness” that you may have heard mentioned in religious circles that describes dutiful adherence to rules and gold-star attendance at meetings and functions. Neither is it a “faithfulness” that puts others above oneself at all costs. That's codependence. Nor is it faithfully coughing up the right answers to the right theological questions. It is instead a life full of faith in meaningful living.

continue reading "Faith, Meaning, And Life in the Ages"

From Publishers Weekly
Borg follows up two of his previous releases about the Bible and Jesus with a volume that could easily have played on those titles, because this highly readable book is essentially about looking at Christianity again for the first time. In that respect, it provides a valuable glimpse into the essence of Christianity for those who have left the faith because they no longer believe its doctrines and those who are trying to remain in the faith while questioning its doctrines. With those people in mind, Borg emphasizes the transformational aspect of Christianity by examining the "emerging paradigm" that is gradually replacing the belief-centered paradigm of the last several hundred years. The new paradigm, Borg writes, is about loving God and loving what God loves, rather than rigidly adhering to a specific set of beliefs. In exploring this new way of "being Christian," Borg offers a middle ground for conservative and liberal Christians, though it's unlikely conservatives will conclude, as he does, that Jesus was not really the Son of God, nor are liberals likely to begin using the term "born again," as he advocates. Still, there's much here that both sides can agree on, possibly helping to bring them a step closer to the unity that has eluded them for centuries. As always, Borg writes with clarity and precision, which should also help the ongoing conversation.

From Amazon.com

Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl is among the most influential works of psychiatric literature since Freud. The book begins with a lengthy, austere, and deeply moving personal essay about Frankl's imprisonment in Auschwitz and other concentration camps for five years, and his struggle during this time to find reasons to live. The second part of the book, called "Logotherapy in a Nutshell," describes the psychotherapeutic method that Frankl pioneered as a result of his experiences in the concentration camps.

Church is a place where people come together to seek spiritual nurture and to offer themselves for the transformation of the world. If there is one thing that the church absolutely has to be it is a place of connection, care, and challenge. Yet time and again I witness the isolation of people in church and those who work in churches.

As a pastor in a church, one of the great privileges of my job is to hear people's stories. It is a sacred and holy experience to sit with someone and to listen to their dreams, their histories, their joys, and their struggles. On the days during which someone has honored me with their story I come home fully aware of the Divine that exists in the sharing of our lives.

continue reading "why isoloation and the church shouldn't go together...remembering baptism"

Please be patient as the menus and their contents change. I don't like making changes like these on a live system but I hope the changes will be minimal and quickly settled.

Your comments about menus and general navigation is greatly appreciated. The goal here is make most everything a visitor could want easily found with a minimum of clicks. And experimentation is the only way I've found to do it. I've struggled with this for several week, and the lack of a complete solution is standing in the way of other changes.

continue reading "Changing Menus"

Hello Faith Commons!

I need to go to Church. I need help. I need community. I need closeness, I need reassurance, I need feedback, I need people and I need friends. I cannot be alone.

Where do I find a church though? The ones here, in my local home, in Nashville, TN, I can't do them, at least not right now, I feel like I'm pretending. I even tried. I wish this place where a church. I mean, I think it already is. Just the small amount of reading and interacting with you guys has been so beneficial to me. How many places on the Internet talk about Christianity, Buddhism, Atheism, Politics, Post Modernism, Emerging Church, God, Peace, and The Future in such a stable environment? Is there a way to make it closer, faster?

continue reading "I need Church, I need closeness"