Spiritual Articles

Here you'll find a number of spiritual articles for spiritual growth. Why not stay awhile and take a spiritual journey through our spiritual articles. Please bookmark this page and check back often as we'll be constantly adding new articles as we come across them.

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Free Spiritual Tools Ebook

Now you can quickly download this free spiritual tools ebook. It is filled with links and resources to a variety of the newest tools you can use to grow spiritually. Enliven your spiritual journey with some powerful resources that will keep you positive and motivated and accomplishing what you want in life.

Within this free spiritual ebook you'll also find links to free downloads of software and ebooks. If you have a website feel free to give this ebook away to your visitors.

Download your free copy of the Spiritual Tools Ebook by right clicking here. The ebook is in PDF format so can be enjoyed by both PC and Mac users.

For more spiritual tools you can use for spiritual growth click here. Be sure to bookmark that page as I'll be updating it often with the best spiritual tools you can benefit with.

Free Brandable Motivational E Book 50 Spiritual Movies - How Many Have You Seen?

50 Spiritual Movies is a free spiritual e book freely brandable with your money-making affiliate links. The spiritual book is in PDF format so can be enjoyed by both PC and Mac users.

This ebook reviews spiritual movies, motivational movies and inspirational movies. You may also find reviews on metaphysical movies and even a reincarnation movie review. The ebook also reviews the Spiritual Cinema Circle a unique spiritual movies club that finds the best in spiritual cinema to share with its members.

Started by Stephen Simon, the Spiritual Cinema Circle, is a dvd movie club that is unique in the respect that it highlights films of a spiritual nature. If you've ever seen a Stephen Simon movie (like Somewhere in Time with Christopher Reeve or What Dreams May Come with Robin Williams) then you know what to expect. Although the films aren't primarily G-rated fare like you'd get with the very popular Disney Movie Club, they will often tug at your heart like the Disney movies.

There are no movie downloads with this spiritual cinema club. It is better than an ordinary online movie rental club in the respect that you never have to return the movies - they're yours to keep. Each month you'll receive a steady supply of spiritual cinema in the form of foreign films, short films or shorts, independent films, documentaries and feature length spiritual movies.

After joining the club, many have started a spiritual circle where they gather once a month to share these spiritual dvds.

What the online movie rental clubs have is lots of variety. If you are interested in more than just spiritual films try the industry leader Netflix.

The last time I looked the Spiritual Cinema site even had some inspirational and motivational movie clips. Click below to visit:

Spiritual Cinema Site

Now you can combine a fun-time at the movies with an opportunity for spiritual growth and enlightenment. Take a spiritual journey over to the 50 Spiritual Movies site now to check it out or if you need to contact us:

Click Here to go to the Spiritual Movies site.

While there you may want to read some of the great inspirational articles. Out of the hundreds of spiritual articles you'll find at this spiritual site, below are links to some of my favorites.

• Retreat and Surrender...Your Stress
• What two secrets allow you to turn any movie you watch into a spiritual experience? Click here to have the secrets revealed.
• Creating a Prosperity Mindset by Randy Gage. Randy can be "a bit blunt." However it is that tell it like it is quality that has won him many adherents. And, the veracity of his message doesn't hurt either.
• Evaluating Your Associations - Part 1 by Jim Rohn
• Evaluating Your Associations - Part 2 by Jim Rohn

For more great spiritual articles Click here.

Now You Can Make Money and Help Others with Your Own Branded Copy of 50 Spiritual Movies - and it's Free!

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Reform Rabbis Shift to Acceptance on Intermarriage

(RNS) In a major shift, Reform rabbis have publicly acknowledged intermarriage as a "given" that calls for increased outreach and understanding, rather than a threat to Jewish identity that must be resisted at all costs.

The Central Conference of American Rabbis, which represents nearly 2,000 Reform rabbis from around the world, embraced the change during its annual convention in San Francisco.

Traditionally, the Reform movement -- the largest and most liberal slice of mainstream Judaism -- has wavered on whether to sanction weddings between Jews and non-Jews; Conservative and Orthodox clergy will not officially perform such ceremonies.

Yet 25 years of demographic studies have documented a growing trend toward intermarriage, with as many as half of American Jews now marrying outside their faith. With Jews making up less than 3 percent of the U.S.

population, and less than 1 percent around the world, Jewish leaders have long warned that mixed marriages weaken Jewish identity and threaten long-term survival.

The traditional view of Judaism as an ethnicity, passed down through the mother, also fuels this conflict, including heated debates about whether "half-Jews" meet requirements for enrollment in religious schools, Israeli citizenship, and other faith-based endeavors.

"When a Jew marries a Jew, there is a greater likelihood of Jewish continuity," admitted CCAR President Rabbi Ellen Weinberg Dreyfus, in her group's announcement on Monday (March 8). "But in the case of intermarriage, the opportunity for Jewish continuity is significant, especially if there is effective rabbinic leadership."

The Reform rabbis' last statement on this issue, in 1973, had reiterated its 1909 stance that "mixed marriage is contrary to the Jewish tradition and should be discouraged." Rabbis were encouraged to provide conversion opportunities for non-Jewish spouses and educational opportunities for their children.

After a task force spent three years studying the issue, the CCAR maintained that Reform rabbis may still opt not to officiate at interfaith weddings as "a deeply personal matter of conscience."

But now that the group's attitude about intermarriage has officially changed, Dreyfus expressed hope that clergy will make greater efforts to welcome interfaith families into religious activities and life-cycle events like bar and bat mitzvah ceremonies for their children.

"Ignoring intermarriage won't make it go away," she said. "We want to embrace it as an opportunity."

The new position is not a formal policy or resolution, but rather a semi-official "recognition" of changing times based on the task force's 10-page report.

"In the past, there was a great focus on how to prevent intermarriage," the report said. "Today we are more likely to focus on how to deal with intermarriage as a given in our society with the goal of positive Jewish engagement of the family."

For the Jewish Outreach Institute, an New York-based organization that works to include interfaith families in Jewish life, the official announcement confirms what's been going on for years at the grassroots level.

"We're very excited by it," said Paul Golin, the group's associate executive director. "As an intermarried person myself, I'm now curious to see what kind of programming comes out of it."

He added, "There's lots of details to work out, but the first step is acknowledging that attitudes have changed, and it's great that this is finally happening."

By NICOLE NEROULIAS
Copyright 2010 Religion News Service. All rights reserved. No part of this transmission may be distributed or reproduced without written permission.

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Pope's Brother Admits Striking Students, Denies Knowledge of Abuse

VATICAN CITY (RNS) The elder brother of Pope Benedict XVI admitted striking members of the German boys' choir that he led for three decades, but denied knowing that some of the boys were victims of clerical sex abuse.

"I must admit that I often became depressed, because (the boys) did not achieve the results I wanted, and at the beginning I often handed out slaps, though afterwards my conscience pricked me for doing so," Monsignor Georg Ratzinger, who led the Regensburg cathedral choir from

1964 to 1994, told the German newspaper Passauer Neue Presse in an interview published Tuesday (March 9).

Ratzinger denied knowledge of any sexual abuse but admitted knowing that another Catholic priest, the longtime headmaster of the choir boys' boarding school, gave students "very violent slaps ... for very trifling reasons."

Because the school was an independent institution, Ratzinger said, he lacked the standing to report the headmaster to the authorities.

On Monday (March 8), the Web site of the German magazine Der Spiegel reported charges that the headmaster, identified in press reports only by the initial "M," regularly administered naked beatings and forced students to participate in group sexual encounters.

The Regensburg choir is only the latest Catholic institution to be embroiled in a spreading clerical sex abuse scandal in the pope's homeland.

On Friday (March 12), Benedict will meet with Archbishop Robert Zollitsch of Freiburg, president of the German bishops' conference, to discuss at least 170 abuse allegations involving children at Catholic schools. The charges, which surfaced in January, have prompted prosecutors to launch an investigation.

On Monday (March 8), German Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger denounced what she called the church's "wall of silence" around sex abuse. She specifically cited a 2001 letter signed by Benedict, then known as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, which reserved preliminary investigation of abuse charges to the Vatican itself.

The German revelations come amid growing reports of clerical sex abuse in other European countries, including Austria, Ireland and the Netherlands.

-- Francis X. Rocca
Copyright 2010 Religion News Service. All rights reserved. No part of this transmission may be distributed or reproduced without written permission.

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Supreme Court to Weigh Limits of Kansas Church's Hate Speech

WASHINGTON (RNS) The U.S. Supreme Court agreed on Monday (March 8) to decide whether the father of a fallen soldier can sue religious protesters for picketing at his son's funeral with signs that read "Thank God for dead soldiers."

The case will test the boundaries of the Constitution by weighing whether extreme speech that inflicts emotional pain -- especially at sensitive venues such as memorials -- should be protected by the First Amendment.

Members of Westboro Baptist Church, led by pastor and founder Fred Phelps in Topeka, Kansas, have protested at military funerals to express their belief that America is being punished for tolerance of homosexuality.

Westboro protestors traveled to Westminster, Md., to picket at the funeral of Marine Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder, who killed in combat in Iraq on March 3, 2006.

They marched around the outskirts of St. John's Catholic Church and the cemetery with signs that read "God Hates the USA," "Fag troops" and "Pope in hell." After the funeral, Phelps also posted material on his Web site against the fallen Marine, saying his father had "taught Matthew to defy his creator" and "raised him for the devil."

Snyder's father sued Phelps for invasion of privacy and for intentionally inflicting emotional distress. Snyder received $10.9 million in damages but a judge modified the jury's amount to $5 million.

The decision was reversed last September by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The court threw out the verdict on the basis of the First Amendment's protection of free speech.

"Whatever that U.S. Supreme Court does is going to be beautiful because now the whole world is looking at this situation," said Phelps' daughter, Shirley Phelps-Roper, a church spokeswoman. "It's given us a huge megaphone and furthermore, we get to talk to the conscience of this nation that's responsible for this horrible mess that this country is in."

-- Kimberlee Hauss
Copyright 2010 Religion News Service. All rights reserved. No part of this transmission may be distributed or reproduced without written permission.

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Bishops of Hiroshima, Nagasaki Seek Nuclear Ban

TOKYO (RNS/ENI) The Roman Catholic bishops of Hiroshima and Nagasaki -- the only cities in the world that were leveled by atomic bombs -- are urging world leaders to abolish nuclear weapons.

Nagasaki Archbishop Joseph Mitsuaki Takami and Hiroshima Bishop Joseph Atsumi Misue released a joint statement ahead of a nuclear security summit scheduled for April in Washington, and a review conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in New York in May.

"We, as the bishops of the Catholic Church of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan, which is the only country in the world to have suffered nuclear attacks, demand that the president of the United States, the Japanese government and the leaders of other countries make utmost efforts to abolish nuclear weapons," the bishops said.

Takami was born in March 1946,in Nagasaki, the second city to suffer from an atomic-bomb attack in August 1945 during the World War II. He was in his mother's womb when the Japanese city was bombed days after Hiroshima experienced the first nuclear attack.

The bishops said the sin of the atomic bombings in the two cities "should be borne not only by the United States" but "also the other countries, including Japan, which have kept on waging wars throughout their history".

The bishops asked the United States to "limit the purpose of retaining nuclear weapons to deterring others from using such weapons only" as a first step "toward the elimination of nuclear weapons" around the world.

The bishops urged Japan, which has a bilateral security treaty with the United States, to "demonstrate and implement what Japan itself will do toward the total abolition of nuclear weapons." They accused Japan of "an extremely passive attitude" to U.S. nuclear arms reduction policies, because the country is under the protection of a U.S. nuclear umbrella.

In a related move, nine British churches have joined the World Council of Churches and others in "Now is the Time" campaign, which seeks to put all bomb-grade material under international control. The coalition also seeks to make the use and possession of nuclear weapons illegal through a new Nuclear Weapons Convention.

-- Hisashi Yukimoto
Copyright 2010 Religion News Service. All rights reserved. No part of this transmission may be distributed or reproduced without written permission.

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Ore. Parents Get 16 Months in Son's Faith-Healing Death

(RNS) A judge sentenced two Oregon parents to 16 months in prison on Monday (March 8), calling their decision to not seek medical care for their 16-year-old son a "crime that was a product of an unwillingness to respect the boundaries of freedom of expression."

Marci Beagley sobbed as the sentencing was read, and shortly after, defense attorney Wayne Mackeson objected to the sentence.

The parents, Jeffrey and Marci Beagley, had been found guilty of criminally negligent homicide on Feb. 2 in the death of 16-year-old Neil Beagley, who died in June 2008 of complications involved with a urinary tract obstruction.

"The idea of sending Jeffrey and Marci Beagley to prison is heart-wrenching," Clackamas County Circuit Court Judge Steven Maurer said in a lengthy explanation of his sentence. `

"I think, certainly, that I'm in complete agreement with the jurors who observed that the Beagleys are good people."

But the decision was necessary, Maurer said, because "the magnitude of their crimes simply warrants it."

Maurer touched upon religious freedoms, saying he thought the local community was very respectful to beliefs from congregations like the Followers of Christ Church, which believes in faith-healing at the exclusion of most medical care.

But there are boundaries for religious freedom, he said.

"It is up to us as a community and a criminal justice system, and government, to take very seriously that societal obligation ... and recognize that investment and interest we have in each and every child," he said.

The sentence could be a "pause for reflection" or re-examination for the Followers of Christ church, said Maurer, who added that he believed the church was capable of "softening the rigidity" of their beliefs on excluding medical care.

The courtroom was packed with Beagley supporters, including their daughter Raylene Worthington and her husband Carl Worthington. Both were tried last July for second-degree manslaughter and criminal mistreatment in the death of their infant daughter, Ava Worthington. Carl Worthington was found guilty of criminal mistreatment, while the two were acquitted of all other charges.

The two families are members of the Followers of Christ Church. The church's lengthy history of child deaths stemming from lack of medical care led to a 1999 law that eliminated the religious freedom defense in cases involving the welfare of a child.

Maurer repeated something he stated during the Worthington

sentencing: the case was not a referendum on the church, yet ignoring the church's impact on the couple would be self-deluding. "The church is imprinted upon them," he said.

Before the sentencing, prosecutor Greg Horner urged the court to impose the presumptive sentence of 16 to 18 months for the case. "Only a penitentiary sentence reflects the seriousness of this crime," Horner argued.

A strong sentence could send a deterrence message to the close-knit church community that had been closely watching the twin trials, he said.

"The court has the opportunity to deliver a clear message that this idea that one can let a child die while they're praying without medical attention is not supportable," Horner said. "It must be addressed."

Defense attorneys, meanwhile, were adamant in recommending probationary sentences without prison time, noting that both defendants had no criminal record.

"Prison would be more destructive than productive," said defense attorney Steve Lindsey, who represents Marci Beagley.

Mackeson, arguing on behalf of the father, spoke to the closeness of the Beagley family and asked the judge to note that the boy's death came just months after the couple's granddaughter, Ava, died under similar circumstances.

He also stressed the personal faith of Jeffrey Beagley, saying his father's faith was an integral part of the teenager's life. The teen's level of maturity, age, and his religious beliefs should be considered by the court, Mackeson said.

The Beagley's situation was a "unique case," Mackeson said, with "unique defendants."

By NICOLE DUNGCA (Nicole Dungca writes for The Oregonian in Portland.)
Copyright 2010 Religion News Service. All rights reserved. No part of this transmission may be distributed or reproduced without written permission.

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Pope to Meet Top German Bishop to Address Abuse

(RNS) Pope Benedict XVI will meet with the head of Germany's Catholic bishops on Friday (March 12) to discuss allegations of widespread sexual abuse of children in the pope's homeland.

Archbishop Robert Zollitsch of Freiburg, president of the German bishops' conference, said through a spokesman that he will brief Benedict on some 170 abuse allegations involving children at Catholic schools. The charges, which surfaced in January, have prompted a possible criminal probe by prosecutors.

In addition, church officials in Regensburg confirmed on Friday (March 5) that a former member of the boys choir there -- which was directed for 30 years by the pope's own brother, Monsignor Georg Ratzinger -- had filed his own allegation of abuse. Ratzinger said he was unaware of any history of abuse, but that he would be willing to testify to prosecutors.

"Enough. We must seriously clean up our church," Germany's Cardinal Walter Kasper told the Rome daily La Repubblica. "The guilty must be condemned and the victims compensated."

Kasper, a former bishop of Rottenburg-Stuttgart, is now the Vatican's top ecumenical official and a widely respected elder statesman in the church.

The German revelations come amid growing awareness of clerical sex abuse in other European countries.

Hundreds of abuse allegations in the Netherlands that have surfaced within the last week prompted the bishop of Rotterdam to call for an independent investigation there.

Last month, Benedict met with all 24 serving Irish bishops to discuss his forthcoming pastoral letter to Irish Catholics, which will be Benedict's first major document devoted to clerical sex abuse. The Vatican says the letter will be released before Easter.

Noting the widespread nature of the problem, Kasper suggested that the pope's letter to Ireland might include a "more general analysis, that might even embrace the universal church and not just one nation.

But it is the Holy Father who must decide that."

-- Francis X. Rocca
Copyright 2010 Religion News Service. All rights reserved. No part of this transmission may be distributed or reproduced without written permission.

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Pope's Brother's Choir Faces Abuse Claims

BERLIN - An ever-widening sexual abuse scandal involving Germany's Roman Catholic Church spilled into the heart of Pope Benedict XVI's homeland Friday when a former member of a boy's choir led for 30 years by his brother claimed he was a victim.

A former singer came forward with allegations church employees had sexually abused him in the early 1960s, said Clemens Neck, a spokesman for the Regensburg Diocese which oversees the school connected to the renowned Regensburger Domspatzen boys choir.

Neck gave no details on the extent of the abuse, but insisted it happened before the Rev. Georg Ratzinger, the pope's brother, took over the choir in 1964. Ratzinger led the choir, comprised of around 500 boys and young men, until his retirement in 1994.

Ratzinger told public radio Bayerischer Rundfunk on Friday he did not know of any abuse cases at the choir and another spokesman for the diocese, Jakob Schoetz, insisted the known cases of abuse did not happen during Ratzinger's tenure.

"The cases that are known to us at this time did not take place during his tenure," Schoetz wrote.

The allegations by the former Domspatzen singer are part of a spiraling scandal that has grown from the claims of seven former pupils at a Catholic-run Berlin high school to more than 170 ex-students from several of the church's most prominent educational facilities in Germany, including the high school connected to the Domspatzen and the Ettal Monastery boarding school - both in the pope's home region of Bavaria.

A Vatican source said the Holy See did not intend to immediately issue a formal statement on the claims in Regensburg, but added German bishops will meet the pope for talks March 12.

From 1969 to 1977 the pope, then Joseph Ratzinger, taught theology at the University of Regensburg.

On Friday, the Regensburg Diocese announced it was hiring a lawyer to help it carry out a "systematic" clarification of the abuse allegations that currently range from 1958 to 1973.

"We call on all victims to contact our representative for sexual abuse cases," the dioceses said. "We would like to encourage people to come, to give a name to their suffering and, through this, to ease and eliminate the pain."

On Thursday, the Ettal Monastery boarding school said the Vatican had confirmed it would send an inspector to look into accusations of sexual abuse made by 20 alumni of the school.

Munich prosecutors last week opened an investigation into allegations of abuse against one member of the Benedictine-run school. The second priest who accused of sexual abuse has since died.

Associated Press Writer Alessandra Rizzo in Rome contributed to this report.
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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