UBU MINISTRIES

By Rev. Doc Lowrey If the "First and Great Commandment" is " Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind . " Matthew 22: 37-39 [KJV] there should be a lot of wonder about just what that means and how we accomplish it. Jesus understood this complication and rightly followed with an extrapolation on this command in verse 39, "And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." From this and other similar teachings from Jesus, we understand that this is pretty much the whole of his religion, but we often fail to see how this applies in our various life situations.

by Doc Well, we're still trying to get settled in Michigan.  I damaged a nerve (pruning trees) about a week after we moved (two years ago) and it is still not better.  Pretty much put me out of commission for most of the first year here.  I had to re-learn to do everything and dropped (and broke) several items because my sense of touch was all messed up.  It also has made my healing work very difficult, but thankfully I am still able to heal people.  Unfortunately, few seem interested in healing that is not medical or magic!  I don't get it. Since January 2008 (Happy Valley Massacre') I have had to devote most of my time to fighting Utah Government on the city, county and state levels in separate actions where they have violated our personal and organizational religious and civil rights.  This has finally been resolved as the Utah Court of Appeals has refused to review our case with the state.  So the last 3 years have been exhausting and sadly...

March 25, 2011 Losing Our Way By BOB HERBERT So here we are pouring shiploads of cash into yet another war, this time in Libya, while simultaneously demolishing school budgets, closing libraries, laying off teachers and police officers, and generally letting the bottom fall out of the quality of life here at home. Welcome to America in the second decade of the 21st century. An army of long-term unemployed workers is spread across the land, the human fallout from the Great Recession and long years of misguided economic policies. Optimism is in short supply. The few jobs now being created too often pay a pittance, not nearly enough to pry open the doors to a middle-class standard of living. Arthur Miller, echoing the poet Archibald MacLeish, liked to say that the essence of America was its promises. That was a long time ago. Limitless greed, unrestrained corporate power and a ferocious addiction to foreign oil have led us to an era of perpetual war and economic...

U.S. Supreme Court Declines to Review Challenge to "In God We Trust" "Washington, D.C. - The U.S. Supreme Court issued an order declining to review a challenge to the national motto, "In God We Trust." Brought by prominent atheist Dr. Michael Newdow, the lawsuit alleged that the motto violated the religion clauses of the First Amendment. The Ninth Circuit disagreed, ruling that the motto does not violate the Constitution because it is ceremonial and patriotic in nature. Lowell Sturgill, Jr., from the U.S. Department of Justice, argued the case along with Kevin Snider of the Pacific Justice Institute, before the Ninth Circuit.  PJI intervened in the lawsuit as a co-defendant with the U.S. defendants in the case which was originally filed in late 2005. "Since the initial decision upholding the motto by the trial court in June of 2006, we have seen a steady stream of local governments find their courage to display the motto," said Brad Dac...

by Rev. Gregory Lowrey If you missed President Obama's State of the Union Address last night, you can watch it in full HERE . As usual, there was a lot of back patting, generality and hope for a brighter future through legislation. There was also recognition that our best innovative practices are the products of visionary individuals in the private sector who do not wait for government to solve personal, local or world-wide problems. There was another message though that stood out to me more than anything else and it was shouted out without words and that was a message of intolerance and hate - two principles that are both socially destructive and overtly anti-American. When President Obama proposed rights of the children of illegal immigrants, who by law (correct me if I'm wrong, please) are granted citizenship by being born on United States soil, decrying the deportation of bright minds after the investment of American Education and the failure to retain other forei...

by Rev. Gregory Lowrey While we perhaps consider the truism that not guns, but people, kill, we might also realize that a love of murder has permeated our entire world culture, setting the stage for all kinds of socially destructive behaviors. Our fears, managed and massaged by public relations specialists in media, government, service and social organizations, even churches, are used to manipulate us for the benefit of some or other special interest.  These "special interests" do not hold your interests to have value. I appreciated Mr. Herbert's editorial and wanted to share it here for your consideration. January 10, 2011 A Flood Tide of Murder By BOB HERBERT  New York Times By all means, condemn the hateful rhetoric that has poured so much poison into our political discourse. The crazies don’t kill in a vacuum, and the vilest of our political leaders and commentators deserve to be called to account for their demagoguery and the danger that comes with it. But ...