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LGBT ban: Slovenian PM backs Hungary
Slovenia — Another political leader from central Europe is supporting Hungary’s dedication to traditional family values.
Slovenian prime minister Janez Janša, 62, backed his Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orban, 58, last week after the latter faced heavy criticism from fellow EU leaders regarding a law that bans LGBT promotion in school education material and TV content for people under 18.
During a joint press conference with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Janša emphasized the importance of respecting the differences and national sovereignty of each member state.
“There are differences that need to be taken into account and respected and I think there’s a clear division between national and European competences,” he said.
Insisting that perception of European values differs from member state to member state, Janša added:
“If you now judge a person based on imaginary European values which everyone perceives differently, and dual standards are used, then I think that this is the fastest road to collapse.”
Hungary’s controversial law was passed at the Hungarian National Assembly on June 15, with 157 votes to one. It generated heated debate at the EU summit two weeks ago, with a number of prominent EU leaders expressing their disapproval.
This included European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who qualified the Hungarian bill as “a shame” and said that it “goes against all the fundamental values of the European Union.” This opinion was also expressed by German Chancellor, Angela Merkel who said in a statement to the Bundestag: “I believe this law is wrong. It is incompatible with my idea of politics.”
The mid-June debate took an even more controversial turn when Prime Minister Mark Rutte of the Netherlands stated: “It’s my intention on this point to bring Hungary to its knees.” He even went as far as to suggest that Hungary should either “accept LGBT rights” or “leave the EU.”
His sentiments were echoed by a former president of the Council of the European Union, Portuguese prime minister Antonio Costa, who said: “It’s not acceptable that those who don’t accept EU values are part of the European Union.”
Emmanuel Macron took a more cautious approach to the question, stating: “We now have democratically elected leaders supported by their people who are taking decisions which are against the fundamental values of Europe. This is no simple issue.”
In response to Rutte’s suggestion that Hungary should leave the EU, the French president added: “When you have an issue with a member state, you solve it by maintaining contact. If you exclude someone as soon as there is a problem you will lead people (…) to think that their values are closer to the values of conservative Russia What a regression!”
Last week, Poland seemed to be the only EU member state to back Hungary. The nation’s education minister, Przemysław Czarnek, told Polish conservative magazine Sieci on Monday that “we should copy these regulations on Polish soil in their entirety!” But with Slovenia assuming the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union last Thursday, Hungary may have found a significant new ally.
Beginning his presidency of the Council, the Slovenian prime minister expressed his concerns for the stability of the Union over issues such as these, echoing president Macron’s statement on the danger of excluding member states from the political arena. In doing so, Janša made an obvious reference to Brexit.
“If the debate on the future of the European Union excludes people in advance, then I think that the European Union will indeed continue to shrink,” he said.
In 2015, Slovenia went back and forth over the question of so-called LGBT rights. A law legalizing same-sex “marriage” and adoption by homosexual couples was passed in March of that year. It was overturned following a popular referendum which took place that December.
A bill was eventually passed in 2016 allowing civil unions, granting all privileges of marriage to same-sex couples with the exception of joint adoption. A petition for a second referendum was launched, but this time it was not allowed to go ahead, and the bill eventually passed into law.
The will of the Slovenian people, clearly expressed in the December 2015 referendum, echoes that of many other central European nations on LGBT issues, including same-sex “marriage” and adoption by same-sex couples. These nations include Croatia, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, Latvia, and Lithuania.
In addition to their take on LGBT issues, these countries share strong historical and cultural similarities. All are currently EU member states, all were once part of the Soviet Bloc, and many are historically Christian nations that witnessed a strong resurgence of Christian and conservative values in their social and political life following the fall of the Soviet Union. This phenomenon can also be observed in Russia.
This shared identity has created a rift between western EU member states and the rest of the EU which French president Macron described as a new “East-West divide” at the EU summit.
In a gesture of solidarity towards Hungary and Poland, Slovenian Prime Minister Janša insisted on the value of central and eastern European countries for the EU, stating: “The EU without central Europe is not a European union – it will be just a shell and we should all be aware of it.”
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കാത്തിരിപ്പ് സമയം വെട്ടിക്കുറയ്ക്കും; ഇന്ത്യക്കാർക്ക് ആശ്വാസമായി 2025-ൽ പുതിയ യുഎസ് വിസ നിയമനം
യുഎസിൽ ജോലി ചെയ്യാനും യാത്ര ചെയ്യാനും ആഗ്രഹിക്കുന്ന ഇന്ത്യക്കാർക്ക് പുതുവർഷം ആശ്വാസം പകരും. 2025 ജനുവരി 1 മുതൽ, ഇന്ത്യയിലെ യുഎസ് എംബസി, നോൺ-ഇമിഗ്രൻ്റ് വിസ അപ്പോയിൻ്റ്മെൻ്റുകൾ ഷെഡ്യൂൾ ചെയ്യുന്നതിനും റീഷെഡ്യൂൾ ചെയ്യുന്നതിനുമുള്ള പുതിയ നിയന്ത്രണങ്ങൾ അവതരിപ്പിക്കും.
ഡിപ്പാർട്ട്മെൻ്റ് ഓഫ് ഹോംലാൻഡ് സെക്യൂരിറ്റി (DHS) H-1B വിസ പ്രക്രിയ നവീകരിക്കുന്നതിനുള്ള പുതിയ നിയമങ്ങൾ വെളിപ്പെടുത്തിയതിന് തൊട്ടുപിന്നാലെയാണ് ഈ പ്രഖ്യാപനം.
രണ്ട് പ്രഖ്യാപനങ്ങളും ഇന്ത്യക്കാർക്ക് അനുകൂലമാണ്, കൂടാതെ നടപടിക്രമങ്ങൾ കാര്യക്ഷമമാക്കാനും അപേക്ഷകരുടെ നീണ്ട കാത്തിരിപ്പ് സമയം കുറയ്ക്കാനും ലക്ഷ്യമിടുന്നു.
Sources:azchavattomonline.com
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ചിക്കാഗോ ലേഡീസ് ഫെലോഷിപ്പിന് പുതിയ നേതൃത്വം
ചിക്കാഗോ: ചിക്കാഗോ ലേഡീസ് ഫെലോഷിപ്പിന്റെ രണ്ടു വര്ഷത്തെ കോര്ഡിനേറ്ററായി സിസ്റ്റര് മോളി എബ്രഹാമിനേയും, ജോയിന്റ് കോര്ഡിനേറ്ററായി സിസ്റ്റര് ഗ്രേസി തോമസിനേയും തെരഞ്ഞെടുത്തു.
സിസ്റ്റര് മിനി ജോണ്സന്റെയും,സിസ്റ്റര് റോസമ്മ തോമസിന്റെയും പ്രവര്ത്തന കാലാവധി പൂര്ത്തിയായതിനെ തുടര്ന്നണ് പുതിയ ഭാരവാഹികളെ തെരഞ്ഞെടുത്തത്.ഫെലോഷിപ്പ് ഓഫ് പെന്തക്കോസ്തല് ചര്ച്ചസ് ഇന് ചിക്കാഗോയുടെ കണ്വീനര് ഡോ.വില്ലി എബ്രഹാമിന്റെ ഭാര്യയാണ് മോളി എബ്രഹാം.ഗുഡ് ഷെപ്പേര്ഡ് ഫെലോഷിപ്പ് ചര്ച്ചിലെ അംഗമാണ്.
ഗില്ഗാല് പെന്തക്കോസ്തല് അസംബ്ലിയിലെ സീനിയര് ശുശ്രൂഷകന് പാസ്റ്റര് സാം തോമസിന്റെ ഭാര്യയാണ് ജോയിന്റ് കണ്വീനറായ ഗ്രേസി തോമസ്.
Sources:onlinegoodnews
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Biblical Archaeology From the Holy Land Revealed: ‘You’re Almost Touching…History’
An Israeli entrepreneur on a mission to highlight biblical artifacts has brought his “treasures from the Holy Land” to America.
Oded Golan’s “Discovering the World of Jesus: Ancient Treasures From the Holy Land” experience opened Dec. 3 at Atlanta’s Pullman Yards, with hundreds of ancient artifacts surrounding the New Testament on display.
“We are bringing [a] once-in-a-lifetime experience to people to look at items that they will probably not have other opportunities to see,” Golan recently told CBN News. “The 350 items that are presented here, most of them are from the time of Christ. They were all found in the Holy Land in Israel, and they are telling the stories that are mentioned in the New Testament, but in first hand.”
He added, “You’re almost touching the history.”
Golan said some of the items are related to Jesus’ family or people living during his lifetime. These elements allow people to explore life during biblical times, seeing the behaviors and practices that unfolded during the New Testament era.
Already, audiences are loving the experience, Golan said, noting that giving a lens into the past illuminates knowledge and understanding.
“It doesn’t change faith, it doesn’t change belief, but it changed, somehow, how do you feel and how do you see the stories that are mentioned in the Bible — in the New Testament,” he said.
Golan’s story is a fascinating one, as he started collecting antiquities when he was just a child.
What started as a passion project grew into something much more — a collection he calls the “biggest and largest … in the world of biblical archaeology items.”
“When I was young, even, you know, until the age of 16, 17, I had in mind that I should be an archaeologist one day,” he said. “But … in life it was changed … but I kept archaeology as a hobby.”
And that hobby grew as he traveled all over the Holy Land and collected artifacts — relics he brings to audiences in “Discovering the World of Jesus: Ancient Treasures From the Holy Land.”
“In this exhibition, we present only items that came from a very short period of time,” Golan said. “We are talking about the early first century AD, the time of Jesus. A few items are from the 3rd, 4th, 5th century because this was the time when the first churches emerged — the cradle of Christianity.”
He believes audiences will be captivated regardless of their age or religious beliefs.
“It doesn’t matter what age you are, and what [religion] you are, and how strong [a] believer you are,” Golan said. “It’s fantastic.”
The entrepreneur also made international headlines in 2012 when he was on trial after being accused by the Israel Antiquities Authority of forging an inscription on the James ossuary, a stone relic believed to hold the bones of Jesus’ brother, James.
He was acquitted after a seven-year legal battle. The ossuary, which has been a source of contention, has an Aramaic line that reads, “James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus.” Proponents argue that the inscription pointed to evidence of Christ’s brother, James.
Ultimately, Golan was absolved of the most serious charges surrounding manufacturing elements of this inscription, among other serious charges. Some have since defended the authenticity of the artifact’s inscription, which would be the earliest reference to Jesus. Read more about the history of the matter.
Golan referred to this case while explaining he was in the “later stage” of his life – over the age of 50 — when he read the New Testament for the first time and started to understand it. Wanting to better comprehend the ossuary in his collection, he turned to the text for understanding.
Speaking about the James ossuary, he heralded the importance of the find, which is included in “Discovering the World of Jesus: Ancient Treasures From the Holy Land.” He’s hoping the collection inspires visitors to think more deeply about the past.
“You’re touching the history — almost physically,” Golan reiterated. “And that makes … a big difference compared to any other kind of exhibition. And, as I mentioned, it’s not only the artifact exhibition. It has much more than that.”
After the Atlanta run, Golan hopes to bring “Discovering the World of Jesus: Ancient Treasures From the Holy Land” to other cities across America.
Sources:faithwire
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