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automatismoateo · 4 years

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A God that rapes human beings, and even delights in the act, is not a God that is worthy of any worship. via /r/atheism

Submitted July 20, 2020 at 05:39PM by MelodicEarth2 (Via reddit https://ift.tt/2ZKHnGr) A God that rapes human beings, and even delights in the act, is not a God that is worthy of any worship.

"I [God] will gather all the nations to Jerusalem to fight against it; the city will be captured, the houses ransacked, and the women raped." (Zechariah 14:2)

"Does disaster come to a city unless the LORD has done it?" (Amos 3:6)

Raping women by conquering lands is a very corrupt human behavior throughout history, a very scary and disgusting human behavior indeed. Read about the Red Army, how those whom the armies conquered had raped all the women ages 8 to 80, forcing themselves into their bodies. Try reading the diaries of the women who were raped. And you do realize little girls were raped as a result of God's decree as well right? The soldiers partaking in the Red Army invasions were told not to do such things, but they still engaged in those evil acts. Imagine when God sets your heart to conquer a land, how much more atrocious and uninhibited your actions would be to those women, those little girls? In their eyes they were nothing but meat supplied by God. And Jesus caused it all. The mothers tried to kill themselves along with their daughters to escape this fate of being mass raped.

Why is the Bible immoral? Well, we see the evil of human beings, how they rape children and women whom they conquer in war. The victims of these rapes, lets say they go to the Bible for comfort, surely, the great God, the righteous judge of all the earth must have an answer to these sort of things? Surely God would never condone, never act in such a way that these vile men during the Red Scare did, right? And she opens the Bible and what does she read?

She reads that God does the exact same thing, and delights in it-- the rape of women.

The LORD does whatever pleases him, in the heavens and on the earth" (Psalm 135:6).

God did not regret this action, rather, it was a judgement, and the Bible tells us:

“Yes, Lord God the Almighty, true and just are your judgments!” (Revelation 16:7)

We are to celebrate his judgements.

A God that does this to human beings doesn't deserve any persons' worship. The question is not whether God exists or not, the question is, would a moral man worship an immoral God? The answer is yes. They will, just as moral men blindly followed Hitler, while he baked Jews in the ovens -- all the while God burns those who disagree with him in Hell.

Women have felt the pain of rape because of Jesus Christ. Christians shouldn't go telling people that Jesus loves them without telling them that Jesus also used human beings to cause pain and suffering to others. Like playthings. A Christian is telling people that a rapist is loving, or even worse, hiding the fact that this god is a rapist, and imploring others to believe in him.

Jesus in the New Testament admits that he is the God of the Old Testament, "Before Abraham was, I Am", which of course is God's name, the Tetragrammaton, YHWH. So he just admitted that he is the God which made mount Sinai smoke and shake. Also, John tells us in the New Testament that the vision of God which Isaiah saw in the Old Testament was in fact Jesus Christ, indicating again the God of the New Testament, Jesus Christ, was the one that had these girls raped. It's his own confession. In addition, the Biblical concept of God is a Trinity. This means that when God rained down rocks and fire upon Sodom and Gomorrah, Jesus was not absent, nor was he opposed to the act. Rather he was there, with Father and Holy Spirit all in unison making the act happen. This is the same with every other case of God's atrocities in the Old Testament, whether it is rape or murder.

Here is the answer to why God treats human beings in the way that he does:

"When a potter makes jars out of clay, doesn’t he have a right to use the same lump of clay to make one jar for honorable use and another to throw garbage into? (Romans 9:21)

God looks at many human beings as trash. That's why he can mercilessly drown us, burn us, toy with us, rape us. God looks at humanity in this way, he created them so that's why he tortures them like a child torturing a pet. That's why in the Bible God specifically ordered the kidnap and rape of women. God is worse than the most wicked of men. But Christians share this same mentality, they look at human beings as trash -- wicked, sinners, they even look at themselves in that manner. We can talk all day about the follies and so called sins of human beings, but all this from a God that is worse than any devil or man. It is an immoral burden to place upon people. In the passage you read in Zechariah, God is the one bringing the evil and the good, again, playing with human lives as he sees fit. So what if there is rape and murder as a result of your toying with man?

We can throw away our own reasoning and say man can't decide morality for themselves. But I'll tell you this, it isn't to be decided by this God. We look at God as the one that decides what morality is and isn't, yet his actions are contrary to what is stated of him in the Bible, "Will not the judge of all the earth do that which is just?" A 6 year old knows that these acts are evil. The human spirit knows what evil is.

"Thus says the LORD, ‘Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house. And I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in broad day light." (2 Sam. 12:11)

God is angry with David for killing a husband and raping the wife. Did God stop the killing and rape? Nope. God sat by and watched, doing nothing. God decides to punish David and one of the punishments is to take David’s wives and allow them to be raped. Um…what…the…heck?!?! The women get raped. That’s David’s punishment. This is God. He’s supposed to be all-knowing. How is it not possible that part of that all-knowing does not involve coming up with a punishment that doesn’t punish the innocent? This leads us to 3 options, and only 3 options. Either God is truly stupid and thus immoral, or there is no God, or God is immoral while not being stupid-- which amplifies his immorality to an even greater degree.

What is the nature of the sexual act contemplated in Deut. 21:10-14?:

"When you go forth to war against your enemies, and the Lord your God has delivered them into your hands, and you have taken them captive, And you see among the captives a beautiful woman, and desire her, and take her for a wife -Then you shall bring her home to your house, and she shall shave her head and do her nails, And she shall remove the garment of her captivity from her, and remain in your house and weep for her father and mother a for month, and after that you may approach her and have intercourse with her, and she shall be your wife. And if you do not want her, you shall send her out on her own; you shall not sell her at all for money, you shall not treat her as a slave, because you "violated" her."

We shall focus on the expression "violated her," 'initah in Hebrew, from the root 'anah. It is in the translation of this word that an attitudinal difference between the Targumim becomes apparent. In 2 Samuel 13;11-14, the story of Amnon and Tamar, the root 'anah is used twice: "do not violate me," and then "he overpowered her, he violated her, and he lay with her." If we understand "and he lay with her" to mean "and he had intercourse with her," we may understand from the juxtaposition of the two concepts that 'anah can be considered sexual violence. That is, in this instance the use of 'anah together with "had intercourse" seems to imply actual rape.

This seems to be the case as well in Gen.34:2, the story of Dinah and Shechem. There the text says: "He [Shechem] took her, and he lay with [had intercourse] with her and he violated her [vaye'anehah]." 'Anah alone would not mean necessarily rape, but simply sexual violence of some sort. Rape is again implied here by the use of 'anah and "had intercourse" together.

The idea of rape may also be expressed with other terminology. In Deuteronomy 22:25, 28 we find the verb "had intercourse" used with the verbs "took hold of," "grabbed", to imply the idea of forced intercourse i.e. rape. The verb 'anah is used alone in Lamentations 5:11, Ezekiel 22:10, and Judges 19:25, and from the context in these instances seems to imply rape.

We must recognize, however, that though it is important to determine what is meant by 'anah in Deuteronomy 21:14, rape is only one way of exerting sexual violence. Clearly sexual violence is conveyed in all the quoted instances where 'anah is used. Thus although there is no specific mention of rape in Deuteronomy 21:14, the word 'initah implies that the woman's consent (if any) to intercourse was due to her circumstances.

The expression 'initah is particularly poignant, a point that seems to have been recognized in both the Onqelos and Neophyti Targums. Onqelos actually uses the root 'anah in his translation, while Neophyti 1 has "you have exercised your power/authority [reshut] over her." Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, on the other hand, considers 'anah to be only actual intercourse, translating with the verb shamash, and thus failing to transmit the Bible's sensitivity to the captive's powerlessness.

Numbers 31: 17-18

17 "Now therefore, kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known a man intimately. 18 "But keep alive for yourselves all the young girls who have not known a man intimately.

So what do you think God/Moses, or whomever had in mind; sweet-talk and flirt with the young girls? These sex deprived 50 year old, 30 year old, 25 year old guys hitting on these children and teenagers?

The texts says Israelite warriors are commanded to kill everyone except young virgin women, whom they are permitted to keep for themselves.

Men. Capturing women. Capturing young women. Capturing virgin young women.

It's incredibly obvious what it's saying.

The mere idea of the God of heaven ordering the death of women and innocent children so outraged Thomas Paine that he said such a scenario was sufficient evidence in and of itself to cause him to reject the divine origin of the Bible (1795, p. 90). In fact, he condemned the Bible for its moral atrocities, and even went so far as to blame the Bible for virtually every moral injustice ever committed. He wrote:

Whence arose the horrid assassinations of whole nations of men, women, and infants, with which the Bible is filled; and the bloody persecutions, and tortures unto death and religious wars, that since that time have laid Europe in blood and ashes; whence arose they, but from this impious thing called revealed religion, and this monstrous belief that God has spoken to man? (p. 185).

As you read the Bible,

You suddenly notice the children of Israel are precisely all the time being ordered to covet. Being enjoined to covet, being told they must envy and hope to annex the lands, the animals and the women of neighboring tribes. They kept going by greed. By the thought that soon, all these peoples properties shall be ours. And that we'll be licensed to take it by force, and kill them and have the land but not their people. This is perhaps why there are no prohibitions against, say, slavery, rape, genocide, or child abuse in the 10 Commandments.

It's not a matter of leaving these out or applying situational ethics to a time that was not ours. It's not that. Such things have always been known of and usually deplored. It's more I fear that such terrible things as rape, enslavement, genocide and child abuse, were just about to be mandatory during this time. They're just about to be forced on people as things they must do if a conquest was to continue,

#reddit

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jo-the-schmo · 6 years

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Mending...Ch.2

Mending Rachel

A/N: Okay, so, I cried while writing this…So, y’all better appreciate this!

Warnings: Gay?

Word count: 1792

Tags: @happypineappleapple @sunsetleslie @sweaterkitty-fluff (if anyone else wants to be in the tags, tell me)

Mending Angie

She stared down at the worn piece of paper in her hand. A shaking hand, filled with sorrow that shook itself went down to the core of her being. She remembered making at least four different versions of this speech, she had been so proud of it. Tears rhythmically dripped onto her hand, rolled down her thumb, and collected against the parchment as she tried to hold back those very tears. She had to have recited it a hundred times by now, but she still felt compelled to do it once more, because no one was ever going to hear it.

“A toast to the groom…, to the bride…from your s-sister who is always by your side… To your union and the h…hope that you provide… May you always be sa-satisfied…But I needn’t say such a thing…as I know that you always will b-be…” It broke her heart so much. She didn’t even flinch when she heard her door open.

“Angelica! My angel…” It was her mother, rushing to be by her side. Her eyes were puffy and irritated. “I am so sorry…” She whispered to the weeping angel, wrapping their arms tightly around each other.

“It’s not fair…It’s not fair, Mom! What kind of world does this?” Angie was no longer just sad, she was angry. It didn’t make sense, being so full of despair that you were enraged.

“Shhh…I know, my darling…I know.” Angie pulled away from her mother.

“I was going to be her bridesmaid! Her maid of honor! She was going to be my sister….” She paused for a moment, words faltering. “She was my sister…” Looking at the black fabric clinging to their bodies only made her feel worse. Angie pushed herself up off of her bed, pacing around the room. Her mother could only watch, she knew her daughter, knew that she would not be able to comfort her. Angie was the never type to need comfort to begin with, it was very rare for her to be this upset. “I have to do something!” Angie screamed.

“Angelica…There is nothing you can do. I know it hurts but-“ Eliza was cut off.

“No! There were so many things that she wanted, for herself, for me, for everyone! But no one is doing anything about it! Philip can’t even get out of bed!”

“Hush! He is right next door!” Eliza reminded her.

“Mama, I can’t just sit around anymore! There has to be something…” She looked over at her desk, a single book lay on its flat surface, the binding facing the room. Antony and Cleopatra. TT had suggested it to her, thinking that she’d enjoy this portrayal of Cleopatra. Her gaze trailed up the mirror the book sat it in front of. Her hair had grown a bit since last year, it was now close to shoulder length. “She wanted people like me to feel safe. To feel equal. To feel at home in my home.” A glimmer of an idea began to form in her head. She stepped over to the book, opening it to the marked page. Daddy will probably kill me for doing this… She ripped out the ribbon attached to the binding that functioned as the bookmark. She stared at her reflection as she pulled her hair up, tying it off with the ribbon. Eliza stared on in confusion.

“What are you doing, Angie?” She questioned.

“Mama, you’ve said it, I’ve said it, she’s said it, this country is run by men. Things will only get done by men, until someone changes it. TT, wanted to be that person. She wanted to change this place for the better, but she never got a chance to find a way to do it. But I’ll do it for her, and for me, and for everyone like me.” She looked back at her mother, walking over and kneeling down to her level. “Do you understand, Mama?” She asked.

Eliza knew well, there was nothing that was going to change her daughter’s mind. She had already lost one daughter, she was scared to lose another. But, she also trusted the young woman’s strength. She had never met a more intelligent woman, other than Titania and her own sister. So, she gave a tight-lipped smile, and nodded her head.

“Yes…, I understand, my little angel.” They held each other’s hands and stood up together. Eyes now dry, they made their way downstairs to her father’s study. She opened the door to find her father staring at his desk. She let go of her mother’s hand and got her father’s attention. She took a few minutes to explain her plan to him, but he seemed very uneasy.

“Daddy, she can’t die in vain! You’re a brilliant man but there is only so much that you can do…please…” It broke her heart to see her father look so disheveled. Nonetheless, he stood up and placed his hands on his daughter’s shoulders.

“You are a brilliant young woman, you know that I will always support you…And I know that she would be very proud of you.” He kissed her forehead and smiled fondly. “Very well, we’ll start the preparations. I’ll send you off as soon as possible. But what’s our story?” He asked, she thought to herself for a moment.

“I’m your nephew, I just immigrated over here for a new life and education. And my name is Antony Hamilton.”

M͚̼e͍͎̤͚͚ͅn̤̪̗̝̤͡d͍͇ḭ̷̢̠̗̹͎͉̜̬́n̸͇̭̙̹͝g̨̫̮̱ͅ ̦͖A̷͟͏͓̦͓̣͉͈̻ͅn͓̰͓̝̮̞̤g̷̛̩̬͝i̵̪̘͚̣̰̪͢e̬̜

“I don’t know, I’m just surprised that you’d want to come to a museum when you live history every day.”

“Well, I like to show interest in what my girlfriend likes. So, you can shut your cute mouth!” Phoenix jabbed. Ever since you two ‘made it official’ he’s been trying to call you his girlfriend, like a nerd.

“You’re a dork.”

“Excuse me, I am not a whale penis.” You snorted at what he said.

“What the fuck, Phoenix?”

“I am, truly, an intellectual.” He turned his head to you, over-dramatically. You pushed some of the long, curly hair that had fallen over his buzzed side.

“C’mon, Mr. Intellectual, I’ve got a paper I need inspiration for.” You tightened your grip onto the hand you were holding and pulled him along behind you to the next room.

The walls were lined with paintings of important figures during the 1800s. You had always focused more on the actual Revolutionary period so when your professor gave out your newest assignment, you had a feeling that you should branch out into other centuries. You weren’t sure why you had the feeling, you just did. What kind of class makes you write a theory on historical figure? This is what happens when you have fairly young professors, they end up being secret history nerds…kinda like me! You were excited about this project to say the least. There were cases under some paintings with belongings inside of them. Posts stood beside them that gave some explanation into who every person was. None of the paintings interested you, until you got to the last on in the hallway. You had almost walked past it, but it was what was in the case that caught your attention.

“Man, that’s one bitchin’ hat!” Phoenix pointed out the old hat in the case. But you recognized it. Is that really…? It was certainly more worn down than you remember, but it had the same ridiculously sized feather. You’ve never felt so bittersweet to see that stupid feather. That’s Philip’s hat…the one that Laf gave him as a birthday present… You looked over at the post to try and confirm your suspicion. You read it aloud.

“Antony Hamilton lived between 1784-1857. He immigrated over to New York at the age of 19 from Charleston, Nevis in the Leeward Islands, same as his more well-known uncle, Alexander Hamilton. After his uncle’s death in 1804, Antony became one of the prime caretakers of the family. At the age of 21, he married his beloved wife, RoseMary Bennett. Although he was never able to have children of his own, claimed to the infertility of his wife, he was one of the hopeful supporters of his Aunt Elizabeth’s orphanage. He adopted many of the children into his home, helping to raise them as if they were truly his own. He graduated from the same college as his uncle and cousins, then became one of the most outspoken politicians of his time. He was often criticized for his very modern beliefs but was admired for his energy and tenacity. He was one of the first politicians to truly take a stand on women’s rights, stood with his Aunt while fighting against slavery, and was even rumored to have been an advocator of LGBT+ Rights. Although it, to date, has not been confirmed, it has been rumored in a few documents of other politicians he had met throughout his life. He truly did forward our modern ideals but unfortunately due to his beliefs, is often not credited in our history books for his work.”

“This guy sounds pretty great, that’s fucked up that we don’t talk about him. I mean, I’m in a musical about his uncle and I’ve never heard of him!” Phoenix exclaimed. You looked back over at the description of the hat.

“Antony Hamilton was well-known for wearing this hat almost every day. Most of his peers found the look to be ridiculous, but Antony often quoted his reasons for wearing it. ‘It makes me feel like a leader, and reminds me of someone very important to me that wore this same hat, my older sister. She once told me that we have no control over who tells the story of our lives. It was not until later that I learned from my uncle that she had quoted former President Washington. Even still, I follow her words. I wish to bring forth the many teachings she bestowed upon me. I wish for nothing but a world with fewer errors. A world whose future is as bright as the midnight stars.’”

“That sounds like something you would say.” Phoenix chuckled. You lifted your head up, your mind blank, and finally looked up at the painting that hung on the blank walls. You saw a figure wearing that very hat, kneeling down on one knee, their peach colored coat grazing the floor. They were kissing the hand of a woman wearing an emerald green dress, a faint smile on both of their faces. You felt a tear roll down your cheek. “Woah, are you okay, Y/N?” Phoenix asked in concern, squeezing your hand.

“I…I think I know who I’m going to write my paper about…” You sniffled.

Angie…I am so happy for you…I need to give Anna a hug when I get back…

#Mending

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project-hecatomb · 4 years

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Michael Swift's Gay Manifesto was first published in February 1987 and was titled "Gay Revolutionary." It was reprinted in the Congressional Record without the opening line describing it as an "eruption of inner rage on how the oppressed desperately dream of being the oppressor."

The opening line is included below. The rest is public record. Knowing that this is a "desperate dream" and printed in one of the largest homosexual publishing circulations in 1987, hardly supports the defense that this is a satire, especially when one considers how much has come to pass since it was published.

There is a difference between a homosexual and a homosexual movement. God loves all of us, we all have sinned and while we were yet sinners, yet He loves us. It has been difficult for all Christians to stand up to this movement because no one wants to point out the sins of others. But while we are so carefully being quiet, outrageous teachings have been attempted in our public schools. Pastors have been threatened with lawsuits, small businesses are being forced to participate in activities they would rather not cater because it is against our faith. Did anyone really want a pastor to be forced to marry them or was/is there an agenda to be had?

Our children are targeted. It is not easy to post this and I have been threatened, but I cannot sit down and be silent while the wolves come for our children.

********

This essay is an outré, madness, a tragic, cruel fantasy, an eruption of inner rage, on how the oppressed desperately dream of being the oppressor.

We shall sodomize your sons, emblems of your feeble masculinity, of your shallow dreams and vulgar lies. We shall seduce them in your schools, in your dormitories, in your gymnasiums, in your locker rooms, in your sports arenas, in your seminaries, in your youth groups, in your movie theater bathrooms, in your army bunkhouses, in your truck stops, in your all male clubs, in your houses of Congress, wherever men are with men together. Your sons shall become our minions and do our bidding. They will be recast in our image. They will come to crave and adore us.

Women, you cry for freedom. You say you are no longer satisfied with men; they make you unhappy. We, connoisseurs of the masculine face, the masculine physique, shall take your men from you then. We will amuse them; we will instruct them; we will embrace them when they weep. Women, you say you wish to live with each other instead of with men. Then go and be with each other. We shall give your men pleasures they have never known because we are foremost men too, and only one man knows how to truly please another man; only one man can understand the depth and feeling, the mind and body of another man.

All laws banning homosexual activity will be revoked. Instead, legislation shall be passed which engenders love between men.

All homosexuals must stand together as brothers; we must be united artistically, philosophically, socially, politically and financially. We will triumph only when we present a common face to the vicious heterosexual enemy.

If you dare to cry faggot, fairy, queer, at us, we will stab you in your cowardly hearts and defile your dead, puny bodies.

We shall write poems of the love between men; we shall stage plays in which man openly caresses man; we shall make films about the love between heroic men which will replace the cheap, superficial, sentimental, insipid, juvenile, heterosexual infatuations presently dominating your cinema screens. We shall sculpt statues of beautiful young men, of bold athletes which will be placed in your parks, your squares, your plazas. The museums of the world will be filled only with paintings of graceful, naked lads.

Our writers and artists will make love between men fashionable and de rigueur, and we will succeed because we are adept at setting styles. We will eliminate heterosexual liaisons through usage of the devices of wit and ridicule, devices which we are skilled in employing.

We will unmask the powerful homosexuals who masquerade as heterosexuals. You will be shocked and frightened when you find that your presidents and their sons, your industrialists, your senators, your mayors, your generals, your athletes, your film stars, your television personalities, your civic leaders, your priests are not the safe, familiar, bourgeois, heterosexual figures you assumed them to be. We are everywhere; we have infiltrated your ranks. Be careful when you speak of homosexuals because we are always among you; we may be sitting across the desk from you; we may be sleeping in the same bed with you.

There will be no compromises. We are not middle-class weaklings. Highly intelligent, we are the natural aristocrats of the human race, and steely-minded aristocrats never settle for less. Those who oppose us will be exiled.

We shall raise vast private armies, as Mishima did, to defeat you. We shall conquer the world because warriors inspired by and banded together by homosexual love and honor are invincible as were the ancient Greek soldiers.

The family unit-spawning ground of lies, betrayals, mediocrity, hypocrisy and violence--will be abolished. The family unit, which only dampens imagination and curbs free will, must be eliminated. Perfect boys will be conceived and grown in the genetic laboratory. They will be bonded together in communal setting, under the control and instruction of homosexual savants.

All churches who condemn us will be closed. Our only gods are handsome young men. We adhere to a cult of beauty, moral and esthetic. All that is ugly and vulgar and banal will be annihilated. Since we are alienated from middle-class heterosexual conventions, we are free to live our lives according to the dictates of the pure imagination. For us too much is not enough.

The exquisite society to emerge will be governed by an elite comprised of gay poets. One of the major requirements for a position of power in the new society of homoeroticism will be indulgence in the Greek passion. Any man contaminated with heterosexual lust will be automatically barred from a position of influence. All males who insist on remaining stupidly heterosexual will be tried in homosexual courts of justice and will become invisible men.

We shall rewrite history, history filled and debased with your heterosexual lies and distortions. We shall portray the homosexuality of the great leaders and thinkers who have shaped the world. We will demonstrate that homosexuality and intelligence and imagination are inextricably linked, and that homosexuality is a requirement for true nobility, true beauty in a man.

We shall be victorious because we are fueled with the ferocious bitterness of the oppressed who have been forced to play seemingly bit parts in your dumb, heterosexual shows throughout the ages. We too are capable of firing guns and manning the barricades of the ultimate revolution.

Tremble, hetero swine, when we appear before you without our masks.

#illuminati #agenda #governmentoverreach #elite #destructionofhumanity #antichrist #populationcontrol #revelations #revelation

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pope-francis-quotes · 7 years

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8th September >> Pope Francis addresses Colombian prayer for National Reconciliation: Full text (Photo ~ Pope Francis waves to Colombians from aboard his Popemobile - AP) (Vatican Radio) Pope Francis participated in a prayer for National Reconciliation in the Las Malocas Park in Villavicencio on Friday during his Apostolic Visit to Colombia, expressing his desire to be with the Colombian people who, he said, are carrying in their hearts and their flesh the signs of tragic events they have faced. Addressing the people gathered for the prayer event, Pope Francis said he had been waiting for the moment from the time of his arrival. He said he wished to be close to the people and to see them with his own eyes, in order to open his heart to their witness of life and faith. Making the suffering the people of Colombia have gone through his own, the Holy Father said he wished to embrace them all and weep with them, asking them to pray for one another and ask forgiveness together so that together they could go forward in faith and hope. The Pope was moved as he listened to the testimonies of four people. He said their stories were not just of suffering and anguish, but also, and above all, that they were stories of love and forgiveness which speak to us of life and hope; stories of not letting hatred, vengeance or pain take control of our hearts. Please find below the official English translation of the Pope's prepared speech: Villavicencio Friday, 8 September 2017 Dear Brothers and Sisters, I have been looking forward to this moment since my arrival in your country. You carry in your hearts and your flesh the signs of the recent, living memory of your people which is marked by tragic events, but also filled with heroic acts, great humanity, and the noble spiritual values of faith and hope. I come here with respect and with a clear awareness that, like Moses, I am standing on sacred ground (cf. Ex 3:5). A land watered by the blood of thousands of innocent victims and by the heart-breaking sorrow of their families and friends. Wounds that are hard to heal and that hurt us all, because every act of violence committed against a human being is a wound in humanity’s flesh; every violent death diminishes us as people. I am here not so much to speak, but to be close to you and to see you with my own eyes, to listen to you and to open my heart to your witness of life and faith. And if you will allow me, I wish also to embrace you and weep with you. I would like us to pray together and to forgive one another – I also need to ask forgiveness – so that, together, we can all look and walk forward in faith and hope. We have gathered at the feet of the Crucifix of Bojayá, which witnessed and endured the massacre of more than a hundred people, who had come to the Church for refuge on 2 May 2002. This image has a powerful symbolic and spiritual value. As we look at it, we remember not only what happened on that day, but also the immense suffering, the many deaths and broken lives, and all the blood spilt in Colombia these past decades. To see Christ this way, mutilated and wounded, questions us. He no longer has arms, nor is his body there, but his face remains, with which he looks upon us and loves us. Christ broken and without limbs is for us “even more Christ”, because he shows us once more that he came to suffer for his people and with his people. He came to show us that hatred does not have the last word, that love is stronger than death and violence. He teaches us to transform pain into a source of life and resurrection, so that, with him, we may learn the power of forgiveness, the grandeur of love. I thank our brothers and sisters who have shared their testimonies with us, on behalf of so many others. How good it is for us to hear their stories! I am moved listening to them. They are stories of suffering and anguish, but also, and above all, they are stories of love and forgiveness that speak to us of life and hope; stories of not letting hatred, vengeance or pain take control of our hearts. The final prophecy of Psalm 85 – “Mercy and faithfulness will meet; righteousness and peace will kiss each other” (v. 10) – follows the working of grace and the petition to God: “Restore us!” Thank you, Lord, for the witness of those who inflicted suffering and who ask for forgiveness; for the witness of those who suffered unjustly and who forgive. This is only possible with your help and presence… this is already a great sign of your desire to restore peace and harmony in this land of Colombia. Pastora Mira, you put it well: you want to place all your suffering, and that of the thousands of victims, at the feet of Jesus Crucified, so that united to his suffering, it may be transformed into blessing and forgiveness so as to break the cycle of violence that has reigned over Colombia. You are right: violence leads to more violence, hatred to more hatred, death to more death. We must break this cycle which seems inescapable; this is only possible through forgiveness and reconciliation. And you, dear Pastora, and so many others like you, have shown us that this is possible. Yes, with the help of Christ alive in the midst of the community, it is possible to conquer hatred, it is possible to conquer death and it is possible to begin again and usher in a new Colombia. Thank you, Pastora; you have helped us greatly today by the witness of your life. It is the Crucified One of Bojayá who has given you this strength to forgive and to love, to help you to see in the shirt that your daughter Sandra Paola gave to your son Jorge Aníbal not only a remembrance of their deaths, but the hope that peace will finally triumph in Colombia. We are also moved by what Luz Dary said in her testimony: that the wounds of the heart are deeper and more difficult to heal than those of the body. This is true. Even more important, you realized that it is not possible to live with resentment, but only with a love that liberates and builds. And so you also began to heal the wounds of other victims, to rebuild their dignity. This going out of yourself has enriched you, has helped you look ahead, find peace and serenity and a reason to keep moving forward. I thank you for the crutch you have given me. Although you still have physical side-effects from your injuries, your spiritual gait is fast and steady, because you think of others and want to help them. Your crutch is a symbol of the more important crutch we all need, which is love and forgiveness. By your love and forgiveness you are helping so many people to walk in life. Thank you. I wish to acknowledge also the powerful testimony of Deisy and Juan Carlos. You have helped us to understand that, in the end, in one way or another, we too are victims, innocent or guilty, but all victims. We are all united in this loss of humanity that means violence and death. Deisy has said it clearly: you realized that you yourself were a victim and you needed to be given a chance. So you started to study, and now you work to help victims and prevent young people from falling into the snares of violence and drugs. There is also hope for those who did wrong; all is not lost. Of course justice requires that perpetrators of wrongdoing undergo moral and spiritual renewal. As Deisy said, we must make a positive contribution to healing our society that has been wounded by violence. It can be difficult to believe that change is possible for those who appealed to a ruthless violence in order to promote their own agenda, protect their illegal affairs so they could gain wealth, or claim – dishonestly – that they were defending the lives of their brothers and sisters. Undoubtedly, it is a challenge for each of us to trust that those who inflicted suffering on communities and on a whole country can take a step forward. It is true that in this enormous field of Colombia there is nevertheless room for weeds… You must be attentive to the fruit… care for the wheat and do not lose peace because of the weeds. When the sower finds weeds mingled with the wheat, he or she is not alarmed. Search for the way in which the Word becomes incarnate in concrete situations and produces the fruit of new life, even if it appears to be imperfect or incomplete (cf. Evangelii Gaudium, 24). Even when conflicts, violence and feelings of vengeance remain, may we not prevent justice and mercy from embracing Colombia’s painful history. Let us heal that pain and welcome every person who has committed offences, who admits their failures, is repentant and truly wants to make reparation, thus contributing to the building of a new order where justice and peace shine forth. As Juan Carlos has let us glimpse in his testimony, throughout this long, difficult, but hopeful process of reconciliation, it is also indispensable to come to terms with the truth. It is a great challenge, but a necessary one. Truth is an inseparable companion of justice and mercy. Together they are essential to building peace; each, moreover, prevents the other from being altered and transformed into instruments of revenge against the weakest. Indeed, truth should not lead to revenge, but rather to reconciliation and forgiveness. Truth means telling families torn apart by pain what happened to their missing relatives. Truth means confessing what happened to minors recruited by violent people. Truth means recognizing the pain of women who are victims of violence and abuse. I wish finally, as a brother and a father, to say this: Colombia, open your heart as the People of God and be reconciled. Fear neither the truth nor justice. Dear people of Colombia: do not be afraid of asking for forgiveness and offering it. Do not resist that reconciliation which allows you to draw near and encounter one another as brothers and sisters, and surmount enmity. Now is the time to heal wounds, to build bridges, to overcome differences. It is time to defuse hatred, to renounce vengeance, and to open yourselves to a coexistence founded on justice, truth, and the creation of a genuine culture of fraternal encounter. May we live in harmony and solidarity, as the Lord desires. Let us pray to be builders of peace, so that where there is hatred and resentment, we may bring love and mercy (cf. Prayer attributed to Saint Francis of Assisi). I wish to place all of these intentions before the image of the Crucified One, the black Christ of Bojayá: * * * O black Christ of Bojayá, who remind us of your passion and death; together with your arms and feet they have torn away your children who sought refuge in you. O black Christ of Bojayá, who look tenderly upon us and in whose face is serenity; your heart beats so that we may be received in your love. O black Christ of Bojayá, Grant us to commit ourselves to restoring your body. May we be your feet that go forth to encounter our brothers and sisters in need; your arms to embrace those who have lost their dignity; your hands to bless and console those who weep alone. Make us witnesses to your love and infinite mercy. ColombiaPope in ColombiaApostolic visitNational reconciliation08/09/2017

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Pope addresses Colombian prayer for National Reconciliation: Full text

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis participated in a prayer for National Reconciliation in the Las Malocas Park in Villavicencio on Friday during his Apostolic Visit to Colombia, expressing his desire to be with the Colombian people who, he said, are carrying in their hearts and their flesh the signs of tragic events they have faced.

Addressing the people gathered for the prayer event, Pope Francis said he had been waiting for the moment from the time of his arrival.

He said he wished to be close to the people and to see them with his own eyes, in order to open his heart to their witness of life and faith.

Making the suffering the people of Colombia have gone through his own, the Holy Father said he wished to embrace them all and weep with them, asking them to pray for one another and ask forgiveness together so that together they could go forward in faith and hope.

The Pope was moved as he listened to the testimonies of four people.

He said their stories were not just of suffering and anguish, but also, and above all, that they were stories of love and forgiveness which speak to us of life and hope; stories of not letting hatred, vengeance or pain take control of our hearts.

Please find below the official English translation of the Pope's prepared speech:

Villavicencio

Friday, 8 September 2017

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I have been looking forward to this moment since my arrival in your country. You carry in your hearts and your flesh the signs of the recent, living memory of your people which is marked by tragic events, but also filled with heroic acts, great humanity, and the noble spiritual values of faith and hope. I come here with respect and with a clear awareness that, like Moses, I am standing on sacred ground (cf. Ex 3:5). A land watered by the blood of thousands of innocent victims and by the heart-breaking sorrow of their families and friends. Wounds that are hard to heal and that hurt us all, because every act of violence committed against a human being is a wound in humanity’s flesh; every violent death diminishes us as people.

I am here not so much to speak, but to be close to you and to see you with my own eyes, to listen to you and to open my heart to your witness of life and faith. And if you will allow me, I wish also to embrace you and weep with you. I would like us to pray together and to forgive one another – I also need to ask forgiveness – so that, together, we can all look and walk forward in faith and hope.

We have gathered at the feet of the Crucifix of Bojayá, which witnessed and endured the massacre of more than a hundred people, who had come to the Church for refuge on 2 May 2002. This image has a powerful symbolic and spiritual value. As we look at it, we remember not only what happened on that day, but also the immense suffering, the many deaths and broken lives, and all the blood spilt in Colombia these past decades. To see Christ this way, mutilated and wounded, questions us. He no longer has arms, nor is his body there, but his face remains, with which he looks upon us and loves us. Christ broken and without limbs is for us “even more Christ”, because he shows us once more that he came to suffer for his people and with his people. He came to show us that hatred does not have the last word, that love is stronger than death and violence. He teaches us to transform pain into a source of life and resurrection, so that, with him, we may learn the power of forgiveness, the grandeur of love.

I thank our brothers and sisters who have shared their testimonies with us, on behalf of so many others. How good it is for us to hear their stories! I am moved listening to them. They are stories of suffering and anguish, but also, and above all, they are stories of love and forgiveness that speak to us of life and hope; stories of not letting hatred, vengeance or pain take control of our hearts.

The final prophecy of Psalm 85 – “Mercy and faithfulness will meet; righteousness and peace will kiss each other” (v. 10) – follows the working of grace and the petition to God: “Restore us!” Thank you, Lord, for the witness of those who inflicted suffering and who ask for forgiveness; for the witness of those who suffered unjustly and who forgive. This is only possible with your help and presence… this is already a great sign of your desire to restore peace and harmony in this land of Colombia.

Pastora Mira, you put it well: you want to place all your suffering, and that of the thousands of victims, at the feet of Jesus Crucified, so that united to his suffering, it may be transformed into blessing and forgiveness so as to break the cycle of violence that has reigned over Colombia. You are right: violence leads to more violence, hatred to more hatred, death to more death. We must break this cycle which seems inescapable; this is only possible through forgiveness and reconciliation. And you, dear Pastora, and so many others like you, have shown us that this is possible. Yes, with the help of Christ alive in the midst of the community, it is possible to conquer hatred, it is possible to conquer death and it is possible to begin again and usher in a new Colombia. Thank you, Pastora; you have helped us greatly today by the witness of your life. It is the Crucified One of Bojayá who has given you this strength to forgive and to love, to help you to see in the shirt that your daughter Sandra Paola gave to your son Jorge Aníbal not only a remembrance of their deaths, but the hope that peace will finally triumph in Colombia.

We are also moved by what Luz Dary said in her testimony: that the wounds of the heart are deeper and more difficult to heal than those of the body. This is true. Even more important, you realized that it is not possible to live with resentment, but only with a love that liberates and builds. And so you also began to heal the wounds of other victims, to rebuild their dignity. This going out of yourself has enriched you, has helped you look ahead, find peace and serenity and a reason to keep moving forward. I thank you for the crutch you have given me. Although you still have physical side-effects from your injuries, your spiritual gait is fast and steady, because you think of others and want to help them. Your crutch is a symbol of the more important crutch we all need, which is love and forgiveness. By your love and forgiveness you are helping so many people to walk in life. Thank you.

I wish to acknowledge also the powerful testimony of Deisy and Juan Carlos. You have helped us to understand that, in the end, in one way or another, we too are victims, innocent or guilty, but all victims. We are all united in this loss of humanity that means violence and death. Deisy has said it clearly: you realized that you yourself were a victim and you needed to be given a chance. So you started to study, and now you work to help victims and prevent young people from falling into the snares of violence and drugs. There is also hope for those who did wrong; all is not lost. Of course justice requires that perpetrators of wrongdoing undergo moral and spiritual renewal. As Deisy said, we must make a positive contribution to healing our society that has been wounded by violence.

It can be difficult to believe that change is possible for those who appealed to a ruthless violence in order to promote their own agenda, protect their illegal affairs so they could gain wealth, or claim – dishonestly – that they were defending the lives of their brothers and sisters. Undoubtedly, it is a challenge for each of us to trust that those who inflicted suffering on communities and on a whole country can take a step forward. It is true that in this enormous field of Colombia there is nevertheless room for weeds… You must be attentive to the fruit… care for the wheat and do not lose peace because of the weeds. When the sower finds weeds mingled with the wheat, he or she is not alarmed. Search for the way in which the Word becomes incarnate in concrete situations and produces the fruit of new life, even if it appears to be imperfect or incomplete (cf. Evangelii Gaudium, 24). Even when conflicts, violence and feelings of vengeance remain, may we not prevent justice and mercy from embracing Colombia’s painful history. Let us heal that pain and welcome every person who has committed offences, who admits their failures, is repentant and truly wants to make reparation, thus contributing to the building of a new order where justice and peace shine forth.

As Juan Carlos has let us glimpse in his testimony, throughout this long, difficult, but hopeful process of reconciliation, it is also indispensable to come to terms with the truth. It is a great challenge, but a necessary one. Truth is an inseparable companion of justice and mercy. Together they are essential to building peace; each, moreover, prevents the other from being altered and transformed into instruments of revenge against the weakest. Indeed, truth should not lead to revenge, but rather to reconciliation and forgiveness. Truth means telling families torn apart by pain what happened to their missing relatives. Truth means confessing what happened to minors recruited by violent people. Truth means recognizing the pain of women who are victims of violence and abuse.

I wish finally, as a brother and a father, to say this: Colombia, open your heart as the People of God and be reconciled. Fear neither the truth nor justice. Dear people of Colombia: do not be afraid of asking for forgiveness and offering it. Do not resist that reconciliation which allows you to draw near and encounter one another as brothers and sisters, and surmount enmity. Now is the time to heal wounds, to build bridges, to overcome differences. It is time to defuse hatred, to renounce vengeance, and to open yourselves to a coexistence founded on justice, truth, and the creation of a genuine culture of fraternal encounter. May we live in harmony and solidarity, as the Lord desires. Let us pray to be builders of peace, so that where there is hatred and resentment, we may bring love and mercy (cf. Prayer attributed to Saint Francis of Assisi).

I wish to place all of these intentions before the image of the Crucified One, the black Christ of Bojayá:

* * *

O black Christ of Bojayá,

who remind us of your passion and death;

together with your arms and feet

they have torn away your children

who sought refuge in you.

O black Christ of Bojayá,

who look tenderly upon us

and in whose face is serenity;

your heart beats

so that we may be received in your love.

O black Christ of Bojayá,

Grant us to commit ourselves to restoring your body.

May we be your feet that go forth to encounter

our brothers and sisters in need;

your arms to embrace

those who have lost their dignity;

your hands to bless and console

those who weep alone.

Make us witnesses

to your love and infinite mercy.

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