Pope Benedict, the church, Brady bunch, PNP audit

FRANKLIN JOHNSTON

Friday, September 24, 2010

ALL churches in Jamaica owe their origins to the Pope and the trend to abuse by some -- from Rasta to revivalist is disrespectful and ignorant. As 3,000 local church leaders meet for a talkfest, this fragile 83-year-old head of the Vatican state and the Catholic Church visits the UK. His job is serving God and man. To some he is "antichrist", to most a lighthouse. His shock and sadness at the crimes of some priests, and his soft rant at "militant secularism" pushing good values to the margins resonate with us too. His trip is the second to the UK by a Pope in 600 years and the first State visit. He gave the Queen lost gospels from 500 CE. I would like "a read"! The Pope is first among equals as our conduit for the Bible. The British church fought the slave trade and slavery; yet after 178 years our churches make no progress on "mental slavery". Whether by illiteracy or denial we make up a past and they approve our fictions being princes and queens in Africa, exiled and so we will not toil. Some form a group of 89 members and say it's the true church.

They speak in tongues; say they have visions of some deacons lusting, hell fire and lottery numbers, yet none of martyrs or thinkers of the global church; all are limited by the little they know. Ask your pastor about the church in 1962, 1862 and 1000? What says he? The Pope is an affront to ignorance as he embodies 2,000 years of faith with archives to show good and bad, crusades and Inquisition! Your pastor got a Bible, a vision to start a church; a penchant for fine robes, titles, ham and eggs prayer breakfasts, but no vision to tackle state corruption or a mission to subdue the land, produce and live in love — imagine that! The riches of many new churches are an affront to poverty. Are some pastors in the pocket of politicians? Who is using whom? They stipple our landscape with tasteless buildings paid for by the poor; they get honours, land and permits — a sop for keeping us quiet! British churches delivered for us! These have not! Foreign missions acted and removed our chains. For 30 years Wilberforce was dedicated to freedom for blacks he didn't know! Our churches collude in keeping us in mental slavery! Is corruption on their agenda? No! New MPs for old? No! I went to Westminster Cathedral and lit a candle for my sins, my friends and my nation -- anything for JA! The Pope is our link to 2,000 years of Christ's blood, guts and glory! Pastors cannot ignore politics, they were born in it. The Pope called Henry VIII to account, so the king beheaded Sir Thomas! Our bishops "see an' blin', 'ear an deaf". Who will say "Bruce, enough!"

The Pope's armour-plated Benz M class Popemobile is as incongruous as his elite Swiss Guard and his retro-red shoes - emblem of blood of martyrs. Let us "hail the man" as the patriarch of all Christians in the West and invite him to JA. Sir Thomas Moore, the Pope's envoy, refused to annul King Henry's marriage. The king executed him in 1535, took England out of the Catholic (universal) church and had royal sex with Anne Boleyn. This break-up was not the Pope's doing, and now for the first time a Pope visits Lambeth Palace and Westminster Abbey, the Anglican power base. All churches derive from one man who could not keep his pants on! What a bam-bam! Anglican, Adventist, Baptist, Rasta, Church of God, all exist because the king desired a woman, the Pope said, "No, stay with your flippin' wife", and lust tore apart the global church! Even today new churches are born of lust and sex. The Pope just visited Westminster Cathedral and love flowed; brown faces of Eastern Catholic priests in mufti and British youth of all colours testify that faith is strong! Our churches want "repentance healing, renewal", why not protest and action? They have the numbers. Prayer is OK, but why not call out members to picket Gordon House and demand good government? Is there a Daniel?

The Bruce, Brady, Manatt debacle is in a primal twist --the don, JLP hacks, suborned writers and civil servants, now a heavyweight! Bruce disowns Brady! Adopt him, Portia! The man "gie weh 'im fren Dudus an now 'im fren Harold". Who next? Brady is credible in and out of the JLP and knows if we follow the money we find truth. No lawyer goes abroad with US$50k, no contacts, no client and no brief. Bruce is playing "business as usual" but is seen by many as damaged goods, a weak heir, disloyal, indecisive, power-hungry, he "sang sankey" and many in the JLP rejoice at his misery! Revenge is better cold! It is as Seaga left it; autocratic, arthritic, no one dares open his mouth! Bruce is no match for Brady; can he buy him off by retraction, apology or rewards? The executive must regret not taking his resignation and they will not fight Brady as he can exhume bodies and make the Dudus episode seem a tea party. I fear for his safety. The spotlight moves to donors, so watch things escalate. What can good JLP donors do now? The donor of the US$50k is the key. If he comes out freely, he clears his name and sanitises all honest donors! He runs a private firm; gets legal permits, contracts and deposits; is an old friend of the JLP; affects the Abe Issa mantra and donates to both parties as "business must always be in power". He has nothing to fear. He is the "game changer" we must pray for. He is the catalyst to make it OK for all of us to support a party openly, if we so wish! This donor is not tribal or criminal and to be a pioneer in our twisted nation is a hard decision to make. He may begin an avalanche of openness; a catalyst to a Parliamentary vote for disclosure! Sir, you can change the tone of our politics! In the sweep of history Bruce is nothing, but our country we can count in history if we defeat the Goliath of ignorance and secrecy and prosper. Please help us. Stay conscious, my friend!

Congratulations to the PNP on a watershed audit! Transparency begins here. Please ensure the next audit is vouched by a registered public auditor and the donor schedule given to the OCG and the taxman "for their eyes only". Most big firms are on both JLP and PNP lists anyway. Whoever loses, business always wins. More power to you!

Dr Franklin Johnston is an international project manager with Teape-Johnston Consultants currently on assignment in the UK. franklinjohnston@hotmail.com

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COMMENTS (13)

howie J
9/25/2010

Mr. Johnston if you believe in the Queen of Sheba and the Ethiopian Eunuch, I see no reason why you can’t believe that there once lived a great African Muslim King by the name of Mansa Musa who in the 14th century on his way to pilgrimage in Mecca brought along with him tons of gold and gave it away to the poor along the route.
Sir, if you don’t know about the history of Islam in Africa, you are missing some 800 years of history prior to Europeans coming to Africa. It is only by reading Arab history that you begin to understand Africa before Europeans.

howie J
9/25/2010

Mr. Johnston if you believe in the Queen of Sheba and the Ethiopian Eunuch, I see no reason why you can’t believe that there once lived a great African Muslim King by the name of Mansa Musa who in the 14th century on his way to pilgrimage in Mecca brought along with him tons of gold and gave it away to the poor along the route.
Sir, if you don’t know about the history of Islam in Africa, you are missing some 800 years of history prior to European coming to Africa. It is only by reading Arab history that you begin to understand Africa before Europeans.

howie J
9/25/2010

The Center for Early African Christianity
http://www.earlyafricanchristianity.com/
The first popes were Africans. This was at a time when the color of a man’s skin was of no more significant than the color of his eyes. In the 4th century AD the center of Christianity was moved from Alexandria to Rome. Most of the ceremonies which the Roman Catholics now practice were established right there in Alexandria. Europeans have polluted the peaceful message of Christ and have turned it into a doctrine of hate, lies and war. True Christianity is only found in Ethiopia and Egypt amongst Africans.

Peter Lawrence
9/25/2010

I don't see a difference between sabbath-keeping churches and the Sunday-keeping ones. BOTH are arbitrary. Sabbath keepers hold to a Babylonian Lunar tradition where the EVE of a holyday was used by astronomer -priests to locate the home planets of their Gods. The 4th command mandates a seventh DAY ,i.e. sunrise-to-sunrise. Further this is only a rite of celebration of the creative process anyway. It is not possible to have a unified sabbath, because ther is NO UNIFIED DAY on earth.Times

Yellow Belly
9/24/2010

The remnant keeps the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus which is the spirit of prophecy. See Rev 19:10.
So a church is prophecy based and commandment keeping then it is on the way to not being of Rome.
The remnant is a remnant of the church in the Apostolic age, where the gospel was taken to all the world. Study the book of Acts to see 9 direct references to Sabbath keeping and numerous implied. There are churches here that do not owe Rome anything. Now read Rev 18:1-5

Yellow Belly
9/24/2010

Rome is indeed the mother of Harlots and Most of the churches are classified as her daughters.
Yet there is one called the remnant. Revelation 12:17 And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
Any church that keeps all 10 commandments (excludes Sunday keeping churches) keep the commandments. Rome is steeped in idolatry. So rule her out.
continued

carlos king
9/24/2010

Good day Dr. Johnston, aside from the doctrinal errors (Catholic Church is the mother/universal church, Pope is the "first among equal" etc), this is another useful and thought provoking article. And our political problems and patriot's hearts will stop breaking when the electorate start to vote for a PERSON and not a party. Wouldn't it be wonderful if a community start looking within for reps. in Gordon House instead of voting for the party's imposed choice? Oh what a wonderul day that would be

howie J
9/24/2010

Mr. Johnston, I started reading your column and then have to stop to check the bottom for your area of specialization. I noticed that you are a project manager. Therefore, I have to assume by the quality of your poor research quality of your material that your views on history and religion are based mostly on emotion. I have never taken a course in religious studies or history, but because I don’t trust people like you, I have to go off and do my own research and I have been at it now for over 6 years, during which time a constant stream of books, journals and documentaries have been streaming into my way.

Peter Lawrence
9/24/2010

As a matter of fact there have been more spiritual miracles in Africa (esp by Simeon Toko) and India( Lord Sai Baba) than anywhere else. Toko simply baffled the great RC church. In the Belgian Congo, some baffled euro medics to find the secret of his powers. On guise of wanting to remove a growth the opened him up and removed heart for inspection. While doing so Toko, reportedly, rose from the Op. table and chided them, ordering that his heart be replaced., so that the "son of man" be glorified

Peter Lawrence
9/24/2010

Of all established christian churches the RC is the most knowlegeable. It is hard to surprise the RC church re ANYTHING. The last time this happened was by the African Avatar Simeon Togo, where the reigning Pope sent to ask him if he was an incarnation of Christ. NO ONE has ever done miracles TOGO did, if reports are true.E.G. Colonial Racists chopped him to pieces Put parts in crocus bag . When returned to feedbody sharks, Togo reassembled himself. Gunmen ran screaming, begging for mercy.

Jason Whitcher
9/24/2010

While I don't agree on all your points I will take note on what you've said. We blame the PNP/JLP for the crime & other prevalent problems yet we have, in proportion, more churches than most nations. How can so many churches be so impotent? I do agree we love the robes & that many are limited in their thinking but at the same time most pastors are not rich men but good men struggling to make ends meet as they obey the call of God. But you are right, some one needs to rise up.

ESTEBAN AGOSTO REID
9/24/2010

What if the donor is Dudus ?!!

Duncan Bertram
9/24/2010

The man says all church came forth from the pope and the king who couldnt keep his pants on. Rasta was before the pope, before england, before the beginning and having no ending. What a controversy, look how buju in a captivity.

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Pope Benedict, the church, Brady bunch, PNP audit