A mother, mom, mum, momma or mama, is a woman who has raised a child (to whom she may or may not have given birth) in the role of parent. Because of the complexity and differences of a mother's social, cultural, and religious definitions and roles, it is challenging to define a mother to suit a universally accepted definition. The male equivalent is a father.

Biological mother

In the case of a mammal such as a human, a pregnant woman gestates a fertilized ovum. A fetus develops from the viable fertilized ovum or "embryo." Gestation occurs in the woman's uterus from conception until the fetus (assuming it is carried to term) is sufficiently developed to be born. The woman experiences labor and gives birth. Usually, once the baby is born, the mother produces milk via the lactation process. The mother's breast milk is the source of anti-bodies for the infant's immune system and commonly the sole source of nutrition for the first year or more of the child's life.

Non-biological mother

''Mother'' can often apply to a woman other than the biological parent, especially if she fulfills the main social role in raising the child. This is commonly either an adoptive mother or a stepmother (the biologically unrelated wife of a child's father). The term "othermother" or "other mother" is also used in some contexts for women who provide care for a child not biologically their own in addition to the child's primary mother.

Surrogate mother

A surrogate mother is, commonly, a woman who bears an embryo, that is from another woman's fertilized ovum, to term for a couple biologically unable to have children. Thus, she carries and gives birth to a child that is she not the biological mother of. Note that this is different from a woman who becomes pregnant via in vitro fertilization.

Currently, with advances in reproductive technologies, the function of biological motherhood can be split between the genetic mother (who provides the ovum) and the gestational (commonly known as a surrogate) mother (who carries the pregnancy).

Lesbian motherhood

The possibility for women in same-sex relationships to become mothers has increased over the past few decades thanks to new techniques and technology. Modern lesbian parenting originated with women who were in heterosexual relationships who later identified as lesbian as changing social conditions and attitudes provided more options and acceptance for those with homosexual orientations. Another way for lesbians to become mothers is through adopting and/or foster parenting. There is also the option of self-insemination and clinically assisted donor insemination, these are forms of artificial insemination. As fertility technology has advanced, more lesbians have become mothers through in vitro fertilization.

Social role

Mothers have historically fulfilled the primary role in raising children, but since the late 20th century, the role of the father in child care has been given greater prominence and social acceptance in some Western countries.

The social role and experience of motherhood varies greatly depending upon location. The organization Save the Children has ranked the countries of the world, and found that Scandinavian countries are the safest places to give birth, whereas countries in sub-Saharan Africa are the least safe to give birth. This study argues a mother in the bottom ten ranked countries is over 750 times more likely to die in pregnancy or childbirth, compared to a mother in the top ten ranked countries, and a mother in the bottom ten ranked countries is 28 times more likely to see her child die before reaching their first birthday.

Mothers are more likely than fathers to encourage assimilative and communion-enhancing patterns in their children. Mothers are more likely than fathers to acknowledge their children's contributions in conversation. The way mothers speak to their children is better suited to support very young children in their efforts to understand speech (in context of the reference English) than fathers.

Since the 1970s, in vitro fertilization has made pregnancy possible at ages well beyond "natural" limits, generating ethical controversy and forcing significant changes in the social meaning of motherhood. This is, however a position highly biased by Western world locality: outside the Western world, in-vitro fertilization has far less prominence, importance or currency compared to primary, basic healthcare, women's basic health, reducing infant mortality and the prevention of life-threatening diseases such as polio, typhus and malaria.

Also around the 1970s, Western attitudes towards the role of women and mothers in society began to change. Females were given more opportunities within the workforce and this resulted in more females becoming mothers for the first time at a later age. This trend peaked within the 1990s, but has since returned to a more traditional view point of fathers being the main breadwinner and mothers taking responsibility for the home and children.

US motherhood statistics

Assorted and non-inclusive statistics on motherhood from the US Census Bureau:

82.5 million women are mothers of all ages in the United States.

68% of women aged 15–44 are mothers in Mississippi, considered high in comparison to a national average for same age group of 56%.

82% of women aged 40–44 years old are mothers.

4.0 million women give birth annually, approximately 425,000 were teenage mothers (aged 15–19) and more than 100,000 were aged 40 or over.

25.1 years of age is the national average age of women for their first births, a record high an increase of 4 years since 1970.

40% of annual births are the mother's first. Another 32% are the second-born; 17%, third; and 11%, fourth or more.

35,000 births in 2002 were attended by physicians, midwives or others outside a hospital facility.

55% of mothers with infant children in 2002 were employed, down from the record 59% in 1998, the first significant decline since the Census Bureau began collating such data in 1976. In 1976, 31% of mothers with infants were employed.

63% of employed women with infant children are college-educated.

72% of employed women, between ages 15 and 44 are mothers without infants.

687,000 child day-care centers operated in the USA in 2002. Of these, 69,000 centers employed close to 750,000 workers and another 618,000 were self-employed persons or companies without paid employees. Many mothers use such centers to juggle the demands of motherhood and career.

Religious

Nearly all world religions define tasks or roles for mothers through either religious law or through the deification or glorification of mothers who served in substantial religious events. There are many examples of religious law relating to mothers and women.

Major world religions which have specific religious law or scriptural canon regarding mothers include: Christians, Jews, and Muslims. Some examples of glorification or deification include the Madonna or ''Blessed Virgin Mother Mary'' for Catholics, the Hindu Mother Goddess, or Demeter of ancient Greek pre-Christian belief.

Synonyms and translations

The proverbial "first word" of an infant often sounds like "ma" or "mama." This strong association of that sound with "mother" has persisted in nearly every language on earth, countering the natural localization of language.

Familiar or colloquial terms for ''mother'' in English are: ''Mom'' and ''mommy'' are used in the USA, Canada, South Africa, Philippines, and the West Midlands of England.

''Mum'' and ''mummy'' are used in the UK, Canada, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, and Ireland.

''Ma'', ''mam'', and ''mammy'' are used in Netherlands, Ireland, the Northern areas of the United Kingdom, and Wales; it is also used in some areas of the United States.

''Maa'', ''aai'', ''amma'', and ''mata'' are used in India and sometimes in neighboring countries, originating from the Sanskrit ''matrika'' and ''mata''

In many other languages, similar pronunciations apply:

''mamá'', ''ma'', and ''mami'' in Spanish language

''mama'' in Polish, German, Russian and Slovak

''māma'' (妈妈/媽媽) in Chinese

''máma'' in Czech and in Ukrainian

''maman'' in French and Persian

''ma'', ''mama'' in Indonesian

''mamma'' in Italian, Icelandic and Swedish

''mamãe'' or ''mãe'' in Portuguese

''mā̃'' (ਮਾਂ) in Punjabi

''mama'' in Swahili

''em'' (אם) in Hebrew

''ima'' (אמא) in Aramaic

''má'' or ''mẹ'' in Vietnamese

''mam'' in Welsh

''eomma'' (엄마, ) in Korean

In many south Asian cultures and the Middle East, the mother is known as ''amma'', ''oma'', ''ammi'' or "ummi", or variations thereof. Many times, these terms denote affection or a maternal role in a child's life.

Famous motherhood figures

Bachue

Bithiah

Demeter

Yashoda

Dewi Sri

Eve

Gaia

Isis

Jocasta

Juno

Kwan Yin

Mary

Parvati

Queen Maya

Sita

Venus

See also

References

Further reading

Category:Family Category:Human development Category:Mythological archetypes Category:Motherhood

af:Moeder ang:Mōdor ar:أم an:Mai arc:ܐܡܐ (ܒܝܬܝܘܬܐ) ay:Tayka az:Ana bn:মা bjn:Uma zh-min-nan:A-bú be:Маці be-x-old:Маці bh:माई bo:ཨ་མ། bs:Majka br:Mamm bg:Майка ca:Mare cs:Matka cy:Mam da:Mor de:Mutter et:Ema es:Madre eo:Patrino eu:Ama fa:مادر fr:Mère gd:Màthair gl:Nai gan:娘 ko:어머니 hi:माता hr:Majka id:Ibu it:Madre he:אמא kn:ತಾಯಿ mrj:Ӓвӓ la:Mater lv:Māte lt:Motina lij:Moæ ln:Mamá hu:Anya mk:Мајка mg:Reny ml:അമ്മ mr:आई ms:Ibu nah:Nantli nl:Moeder nds-nl:Moor (meens) ne:आमा new:माँ ja:母親 no:Mor nn:Mor nrm:Mère oc:Maire or:ମା pnb:ماں pl:Matka pt:Mãe ro:Mamă qu:Mama ru:Мать scn:Matri si:අම්මා simple:Mother sk:Matka (biológia) so:Hooyo sr:Мајка sh:Majka fi:Äiti sv:Moder tl:Ina ta:தாய் te:తల్లి th:แม่ tg:Модар chr:ᎤᏂᏥ tr:Anne uk:Мати ur:ماں vi:Mẹ war:Iróy wuu:姆妈 yi:מוטער yo:Ìyá zh-yue:阿媽 bat-smg:Muotėna zh:母親

name	Pat Robertson
birth name	Marion Gordon Robertson
birth date	March 22, 1930
birth place	Lexington, Virginia, United States
occupation	Televangelist
spouse	Adelia Elmer
children	Timothy Bryan Robertson Elizabeth Faith Robertson Gordon Perry Robertson Anne Carter Robertson
parents	Absalom Willis Robertson Gladys Churchill }}

Marion Gordon "Pat" Robertson (born March 22, 1930) is a media mogul, television evangelist, ex-Baptist minister and businessman who is politically aligned with the Christian Right in the United States.

He is the founder of numerous organizations and corporations, including the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN), the Christian Coalition, Flying Hospital, International Family Entertainment Inc., Operation Blessing International Relief and Development Corporation, CBN Asia and Regent University. He is the host of ''The 700 Club,'' a Christian TV program airing on channels throughout the United States and on CBN network affiliates worldwide.

The son of U.S. Senator A. Willis Robertson, Robertson is a Southern Baptist and was active as an ordained minister with that denomination for many years, but holds to a charismatic theology not traditionally common among Southern Baptists. He unsuccessfully campaigned to become the Republican Party's nominee in the 1988 presidential election. As a result of his seeking political office, he no longer serves in an official role for any church. His media and financial resources make him a recognized, influential, and controversial public voice for conservative Christianity in the United States.

Life and career

Family

Robertson was born in Lexington, Virginia, into a prominent political family. His parents were Absalom Willis Robertson, a conservative Democratic United States Senator, and his wife Gladys Churchill (née Willis). He married Adelia "Dede" Elmer on August 26, 1954. His family includes four children, among them Gordon P. Robertson and Tim Robertson and, as of mid-2005, 14 grandchildren.

At a young age, Robertson was nicknamed ''Pat'' by his six-year-old brother, Willis Robertson, Jr., who enjoyed patting him on the cheeks when he was a baby while saying "pat, pat, pat". As he got older, Robertson thought about which first name he would like people to use. He considered "Marion" to be effeminate, and "M. Gordon" to be affected, so he opted for his childhood nickname "Pat". His strong awareness for the importance of names in the creation of a public image showed itself again during his presidential run when he threatened to sue NBC news for calling him a "television evangelist", which later became "televangelist", at a time when Jimmy Swaggart and Jim Bakker were objects of scandal.

Education and military service

When he was eleven, Robertson was enrolled in the preparatory McDonogh School outside Baltimore, Maryland. From 1940 until 1946 he attended The McCallie School in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He graduated with honors and enrolled at Washington and Lee University, where he majored in history. The claim that he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa is not substantiated by the Phi Beta Kappa membership directory. He also joined Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. Robertson has said, "Although I worked hard at my studies, my real major centered around lovely young ladies who attended the nearby girls schools."

In 1948, the draft was reinstated and Robertson was given the option of joining the Marine Corps or being drafted into the army; he opted for the first.

In his words, "We did long, grueling marches to toughen the men, plus refresher training in firearms and bayonet combat." In the same year, he transferred to Korea, "I ended up at the headquarters command of the First Marine Division," says Robertson. "The Division was in combat in the hot and dusty, then bitterly cold portion of North Korea just above the 38th Parallel later identified as the 'Punchbowl' and 'Heartbreak Ridge.' For that service in the Korean War, the Marine Corps awarded me three battle stars for 'action against the enemy.'"

However, former Republican Congressman Paul "Pete" McCloskey, Jr., who served with Robertson in Korea, wrote a public letter which said that Robertson was actually spared combat duty when his powerful father, a U.S. Senator, intervened on his behalf, and that Robertson spent most of his time in an office in Japan. According to McCloskey, his time in the service was not in combat but as the "liquor officer" responsible for keeping the officers' clubs supplied with liquor. Robertson filed a $35 million libel suit against McCloskey in 1986. He dropped the case in 1988, before it came to trial and paid McCloskey's court costs.

Robertson was promoted to first lieutenant in 1952 upon his return to the United States. He then went on to receive a Bachelor of Laws degree from Yale University Law School in 1955. However, he failed to pass the bar exam, shortly thereafter underwent his religious conversion, and decided against pursuing a career in law. Instead, Robertson attended the New York Theological Seminary, and was awarded a Master of Divinity degree in 1959.

Religious career

In 1956 Robertson found his faith through Dutch missionary Cornelius Vanderbreggen, who impressed Robertson both by his lifestyle and his message. Vanderbreggen quoted Proverbs (3:5, 6), "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths", which Robertson considers to be the "guiding principle" of his life. He was ordained as a minister of the Southern Baptist Convention in 1961.

In 1960, Robertson established the Christian Broadcasting Network in Virginia Beach, Virginia. He started it by buying a small UHF station in nearby Portsmouth. Later in 1977 he purchased a local Leased access cable TV channel in the Hampton Roads area and called it CBN. Originally he went door-to-door in Virginia Beach, Hampton Roads, and other surrounding areas asking Christians to buy cable boxes so that they could receive his new channel. He also canvassed local churches in the Virginia Beach area to do the same, and solicited donations through public speaking engagements at local churches and on CBN. One of his friends, John Giminez, the pastor of Rock Church Virginia Beach, was influential in helping Robertson establish CBN with donations, as well as offering the services of volunteers from his church.

CBN is now seen in 180 countries and broadcast in 71 languages. He founded the CBN Cable Network, which was renamed the CBN Family Channel in 1988 and later simply the Family Channel. When the Family Channel became too profitable for Robertson to keep it under the CBN umbrella without endangering CBN's non-profit status, he formed International Family Entertainment Inc. in 1990 with the Family Channel as its main subsidiary. Robertson sold the Family Channel to the News Corporation in 1997, which renamed it Fox Family. A condition of the sale was that the station would continue airing Robertson's television program, ''The 700 Club'', twice a day in perpetuity, regardless of any changes of ownership. The channel is now owned by Disney and run as "ABC Family". On December 3, 2007, Robertson resigned as chief executive of CBN; he was succeeded by his son, Gordon.

Robertson founded CBN University in 1977 on CBN's Virginia Beach campus. It was renamed Regent University in 1989. Robertson serves as its chancellor. He is also founder and president of the American Center for Law and Justice, a public interest law firm that defends Christians whose First Amendment rights have allegedly been violated. The law firm, headquartered in the same building that houses Regent's law school, focuses on "pro-family, pro-liberty and pro-life" cases nationwide.

Robertson is also an advocate of Christian dominionism — the idea that Christians have a right to rule.

In 1994, he was a signer of the document Evangelicals and Catholics Together.

Pat Robertson was a fundraiser for the Nicaraguan Contras. In March 1986, he told ''Israeli Foreign Affairs'' that South Africa was a major contributor to the Reagan administration's efforts to help the anti-Sandinista forces.

1988 presidential bid

In September 1986, Robertson announced his intention to seek the Republican nomination for President of the United States. Robertson said he would pursue the nomination only if three million people signed up to volunteer for his campaign by September 1987. Three million responded, and by the time Robertson announced he would be running in September 1987, he also had raised millions of dollars for his campaign fund. He surrendered his ministerial credentials and turned leadership of CBN over to his son, Tim. His campaign, however, against incumbent Vice President George H. W. Bush, was seen as a long shot.

Robertson ran on a standard conservative platform. Among his policies, he wanted to ban pornography, reform the education system, and eliminate departments such as the Department of Education and the Department of Energy. He also supported a constitutional amendment requiring a balanced federal budget.

Robertson's campaign got off to a strong second-place finish in the Iowa caucus, ahead of Bush. He did poorly in the subsequent New Hampshire primary, however, and was unable to be competitive once the multiple-state primaries began. Robertson ended his campaign before the primaries were finished. His best finish was in Washington, winning the majority of caucus delegates. He later spoke at the 1988 Republican National Convention in New Orleans and told his remaining supporters to cast their votes for Bush, who ended up winning the nomination and the election. He then returned to CBN and has remained there as a religious broadcasting broadcaster.

Books

Episcopalian professor of theology Ephraim Radner accuses Robertson of espousing anti-semitic beliefs in the book:

Business interests

Robertson is the founder and chairman of The Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) Inc., and founder of International Family Entertainment Inc., Regent University, Operation Blessing International Relief and Development Corporation, American Center for Law and Justice, The Flying Hospital, Inc. and several other organizations and broadcast entities. Robertson was the founder and co-chairman of International Family Entertainment Inc. (IFE).

Formed in 1990, IFE produced and distributed family entertainment and information programming worldwide. IFE's principal business was The Family Channel, a satellite delivered cable-television network with 63 million U.S. subscribers. IFE, a publicly held company listed on the New York Stock Exchange, was sold in 1997 to Fox Kids Worldwide, Inc. for $1.9 billion, whereupon it was renamed Fox Family Channel. Disney acquired FFC in 2001 and its name was changed again, to ABC Family.

Robertson is a global businessman with media holdings in Asia, the United Kingdom, and Africa. He struck a deal with Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based General Nutrition Center to produce and market a weight-loss shake he created and promoted on ''The 700 Club''.

In 1999, Robertson entered into a joint venture with the Bank of Scotland to provide financial services in the United States. However, the move was met with criticism in the UK due to Robertson's views on homosexuality. Robertson commented that “In Europe, the big word is tolerance. You tolerate everything. Homosexuals are riding high in the media ... And in Scotland, you can't believe how strong the homosexuals are." Shortly afterward, the Bank of Scotland canceled the venture.

Robertson's extensive business interests have earned him a net worth estimated between $200 million and $1 billion.

A fan of Thoroughbred horse racing, Robertson paid $520,000 for a colt he named Mr. Pat. Trained by John Kimmel, Mr. Pat was not a successful runner. He was nominated for, but did not run in, the 2000 Kentucky Derby.

According to a June 2, 1999, article in ''The Virginian-Pilot'', Robertson had extensive business dealings with Liberian president Charles Taylor. According to the article, Taylor gave Robertson the rights to mine for diamonds in Liberia's mineral-rich countryside. According to two Operation Blessing pilots who reported this incident to the state of Virginia for investigation in 1994, Robertson used his Operation Blessing planes to haul diamond-mining equipment to Robertson's mines in Liberia, despite the fact that Robertson was telling his ''700 Club'' viewers that the planes were sending relief supplies to the victims of the genocide in Rwanda. In response to Taylor's alleged crimes against humanity, the United States Congress passed a bill In November 2003 that offered two million dollars for his capture. Robertson accused President George W. Bush of "undermining a Christian, Baptist president to bring in Muslim rebels to take over the country." At the time Taylor was harboring Al Qaeda operatives who were funding their operations through the illegal diamond trade. On February 4, 2010, at his war crimes trial in the Hague, Taylor testified that Robertson was his main political ally in the U.S., and that he had volunteered to make Liberia's case before U.S. administration officials in exchange for concessions to Robertson's Freedom Gold, Ltd., to which Taylor gave a contract to mine gold in southeast Liberia. In 2010, a spokesman for Robertson said that the company's arrangements — in which the Liberian government got a 10 percent equity interest in the company and Liberians could purchase at least 15 percent of the shares after the exploration period — were similar to many American companies doing business in Africa at the time.

Political activism

After his unsuccessful presidential campaign, Robertson started the Christian Coalition, a 1.7 million member Christian right organization that campaigned mostly for conservative candidates. It was sued by the Federal Election Commission "for coordinating its activities with Republican candidates for office in 1990, 1992 and 1994 and failing to report its expenditures".

In 1994, the Coalition was fined for "improperly [aiding] then Representative Newt Gingrich (R-GA) and Oliver North, who was then the Republican Senate nominee in Virginia." Robertson left the Coalition in 2001.

Robertson has been a governing member of the Council for National Policy (CNP): Board of Governors 1982, President Executive Committee 1985–86, member, 1984, 1988, 1998.

On November 7, 2007, Robertson announced that he was endorsing Rudy Giuliani to be the Republican nominee in the 2008 Presidential election.

While usually associated with the political right, Pat Robertson has recently begun endorsing environmental causes. He appears in a commercial with Al Sharpton, joking about this, and urging people to join the We can Solve it Campaign against global warming.

In January 2009, on a broadcast of ''The 700 Club'', Robertson stated that he is "adamantly opposed" to the division of Jerusalem between Israel and the Palestinians. He also stated that Armageddon is "not going to be fought at Megiddo" but will be the "battle of Jerusalem," when "the forces of all nations come together and try to take Jerusalem away from the Jews. Jews are not going to give up Jerusalem — they shouldn't — and the rest of the world is going to insist they give it up." Robertson added that Jerusalem is a "spiritual symbol that must not be given away" because "Jesus Christ the Messiah will come down to the part of Jerusalem that the Arabs want," and that's "not good."

Controversies and criticisms

Controversies surrounding Robertson include his earlier work as a faith healer, his claim that some Protestant denominations harbor the spirit of the Antichrist, and his claims of having the power to deflect hurricanes through prayer; he has also denounced Hinduism as "demonic" and Islam as "Satanic." Robertson has issued multiple condemnations of feminism, homosexuality, abortion and liberal college professors. Robertson also had financial ties to former presidents Charles Taylor of Liberia and Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire, both internationally denounced for their human rights violations. Robertson was criticized worldwide for his call for Hugo Chavez’s assassination and for his remarks concerning Ariel Sharon's health as an act of God.

The week of September 11, 2001, Robertson discussed the terror attacks with Jerry Falwell, who said that "the ACLU has to take a lot of blame for this" in addition to "the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays, and the lesbians [who have] helped [the terror attacks of September 11th] happen." Robertson replied, "I totally concur." Both evangelists came under attack from President George W. Bush for their statements, for which they later issued apologies.

Less than two weeks after Hurricane Katrina killed 1,836 people, Robertson implied on the September 12th broadcast of ''The 700 Club'' that the storm was God's punishment in response to America's abortion policy. He suggested that September 11 and the disaster in New Orleans "could... be connected in some way".

On November 9, 2009, Robertson said that Islam is "a violent political system bent on the overthrow of the governments of the world and world domination." He went on to elaborate that "you're dealing with not a religion, you're dealing with a political system, and I think we should treat it as such, and treat its adherents as such as we would members of the communist party, members of some fascist group."

Robertson's response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake also drew controversy and condemnation. Robertson claimed that Haiti's founders had sworn a "pact to the Devil" in order to liberate themselves from the French slave owners and indirectly attributed the earthquake to the consequences of the Haitian people being "cursed" for doing so. CBN later issued a statement saying that Robertson's comments "were based on the widely-discussed 1791 slave rebellion led by Dutty Boukman at Bois Caiman, where the slaves allegedly made a famous pact with the devil in exchange for victory over the French." Various prominent voices of mainline and evangelical Christianity promptly denounced Robertson's remarks as false, untimely, insensitive, and not representative of Christian thought on the issue.

In 1995 Sita Ram Goel sent him Goel's book "Jesus Christ: An Artifice for Aggression", and a letter in protest to Robertson's remarks towards the religion of Hinduism.

Predictions

Several times near New Year, Robertson has announced that God told him several truths or events that would happen in the following year. "I have a relatively good track record," he said. "Sometimes I miss."

1982: Doomsday

In late 1976, Robertson predicted that the end of the world was coming in October or November 1982. In a May 1980 broadcast of ''The 700 Club'' he stated, "I guarantee you by the end of 1982 there is going to be a judgment on the world."

2006: Pacific Northwestern tsunami

In May 2006, Robertson declared that storms and possibly a tsunami would hit America's coastline sometime in 2006. Robertson supposedly received this revelation from God during an annual personal prayer retreat in January. The claim was repeated four times on ''The 700 Club''.

On May 8, 2006, Robertson said, "If I heard the Lord right about 2006, the coasts of America will be lashed by storms." On May 17, 2006, he elaborated, "There well may be something as bad as a tsunami in the Pacific Northwest." While this claim didn't garner the same level of controversy as some of his other statements, it was generally received with mild amusement by the Pacific Northwest media. The History Channel's initial airing of its new series, ''Mega Disasters'', debut episode "West Coast Tsunami", was broadcast the first week of May.

2007: Terror attack

On the January 2, 2007, broadcast of ''The 700 Club'', Robertson said that God spoke to him and told him that "mass killings" were to come during 2007, due to a terrorist attack on the United States. He added, "The Lord didn't say nuclear. But I do believe it will be something like that." When a terrorist attack failed to happen in 2007, Robertson said, in January 2008, "All I can think is that somehow the people of God prayed and God in his mercy spared us."

2008: Worldwide violence and American recession

On the January 2, 2008 episode of ''The 700 Club'', Pat Robertson predicted that 2008 would be a year of worldwide violence. He also predicted that a recession would occur in the United States that would be followed by a stock market crash by 2010. However, there was a decrease in overall deaths for the period, and the American economy had already entered a recession in 2007, with increased household debt and the collapse of financial institutions.

2008: Mideast meltdown

In October 2008, Robertson posted a press release on the Georgian Conflict speculating that the conflict is a Russian ploy to enter the Middle East, and that instability caused by a predicted pre-emptive strike by Israel on Iran would result in Syria's and Iran's launching nuclear strikes on other targets. He also said that if the United States were to oppose Russia's expansion, nuclear strikes on American soil are also pending. "We will suffer grave economic damage, but will not engage in military action to stop the conflict. However, we may not be spared nuclear strikes against coastal cities. In conclusion, it is my opinion that we have between 75 and 120 days before the Middle East starts spinning out of control."

2009: Economic chaos and recovery

On the January 1, 2009 broadcast of ''The 700 Club'', Robertson said, "If I'm hearing [God] right, gold will go to about $1900 dollars an ounce and oil to $300 a barrel." He also suggested that Americans would broadly accept socialism. Despite these predictions, he also said that economically, "things are getting ready to turn around."

Works

''Shout it from the Housetops'' an autobiography with Jamie Buckingham (1972, repr 1995)

''The Secret Kingdom'' (1982)

''Answers to 200 of Life's Most Probing Questions'' (c1984)

''Beyond Reason: How Miracles can Change your Life'' (1985)

''America's Dates with Destiny'' (1986)

''The Plan'' (1989)

''The New Millennium'' (1990)

''The New World Order'' (1991)

''Turning Tide: The Fall of Liberalism and the Rise of Common Sense'' (c1993)

''The End of the Age'' (1995, fiction)

''Bring It On'' (2003)

''The Ten Offenses'' (2004)

''Courting Disaster'' (2004)

See also

''The 700 Club''

Christian Broadcasting Network

Christian right

Christian fundamentalism

Christian Coalition of America

Christian Zionism

Moral majority

Operation Blessing

References

Further reading

Rob Boston. ''The Most Dangerous Man in America? Pat Robertson and the Rise of the Christian Coalition''

Harrell Jr., David Edwin ''Pat Robertson: A Life and Legacy'' (2010) 442 pages. Scholarly biography draws on documents and interviews in seven countries

David John Marley. ''Pat Robertson: An American Life'' -

External links

Official Pat Robertson Website

Brian Ross. Some Question Robertson's ''Katrina'' Charity, ABC News, September 9, 2005.

"Preacher: God told him about storms, tsunami"

Robertson Denounces Hinduism as 'Demonic'"

2000 lbs. leg press

Robertson talks about his prostate cancer surgery with Laparoscopic Radical Prostatectomy

NPR Audio Report: Televangelist Robertson Urges U.S. Hit on Chavez

Archive of American Television interview with Pat Robertson

Category:Article Feedback Pilot Category:1930 births Category:Living people Category:American anti-communists Category:American businesspeople Category:American Christian ministers Category:American Christian religious leaders Category:American Christian writers Category:American Christian Zionists Category:American people of Scottish descent Category:American racehorse owners and breeders Category:American religious leaders Category:American television evangelists Category:Anti-Masonry Category:Apocalypticists Category:Christian fundamentalism Category:Christianity conspiracy theorists Category:Conservatism in the United States Category:Criticism of feminism Category:Criticism of Islam Category:People from Lexington, Virginia Category:People from Staten Island Category:People from Virginia Beach, Virginia Category:Regent University people Category:Religious scandals Category:Southern Baptists Category:United States Marine Corps officers Category:United States presidential candidates, 1988 Category:University and college founders Category:Washington and Lee University alumni Category:Yale Law School alumni

ar:بات روبرتسون da:Pat Robertson de:Pat Robertson es:Pat Robertson eo:Pat Robertson fa:پت رابرتسون fr:Pat Robertson he:פט רוברטסון nl:Pat Robertson ja:パット・ロバートソン pt:Pat Robertson ru:Робертсон, Пэт simple:Pat Robertson fi:Pat Robertson sv:Pat Robertson

name	Sami Yusuf
born	July 1980 (age 31)|1980|7|1)
birth place	Tehran, Iran
instrument	piano, keyboard, violin, tar, santour, tombak, oud, tabla
genre	Spiritique
associated acts	Ian Brown, Sezen Aksu, Conner Reeves
occupation	musician, composer, producer, multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter
years active	2003–present
label	ETM International 2009–Present
signature	SYSig.png
website	SamiYusufOfficial.com
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Sami Yusuf is a British singer-songwriter, composer, producer and multi-instrumentalist musician of Azerbaijani origin . He is also sometimes believed to have Pakistani links in the family, which are an influential reason for him singing in Urdu sometimes.

In 2003 Yusuf released his debut album ''"Al-Mu`allim"'' at the age of 23, selling over two million copies. Following the release of his second album ''"My Ummah"'' in 2005, Yusuf was heralded as "Islam's Biggest Rock Star" by ''Time'' magazine for his success in attracting a relatively young fan base from diverse regions across the world, many of whom were of Muslim backgrounds. Yusuf has sold over 9 million albums. In October 2010, following a five-year hiatus, Yusuf’s third official album ''"Wherever You Are"'' was launched, manifesting his self-coined genre “Spiritique”. Yusuf is involved in humanitarian initiatives, supporting, among others, Islamic Relief and Save the Children.

Early life

An ethnic Azeri born in Tehran, Yusuf was raised in London from the age of three. He initially began composing simple melodies starting at the age of three, and performing on stage for the first time around the age of nine. His “defining moment” musically occurred when his father loaned him a book on the basics of the Tombak [Persian instrument]. Upon returning from a tea break, his father found that the young Yusuf had mastered the book that had taken months for his students to finish. As a teenager he was a devotee of classical music and classical icons like Chopin and Mozart, admitting that he listened to Classic FM radio station for hours in a day. He went on training professionally in several other instruments including the santoor, piano, violin, oud, setar, tar, and daf under the guidance of traditional teachers, as well as professional musicians. While producing and demo-recording for another singer, he became aware of his own singing abilities which were further developed by the encouragement of his family. Divided between pursuing a musical career or studying law at King’s College London, Yusuf opted for music while committed to “doing something dignified and respectable”. Though he claimed to having been always spiritual, he reconnected with his Islamic faith through a “religious awakening” at the age of nineteen. He then set out to share his experience with the other young British Muslims he felt were direly in search of an identity especially post 9/11. Yusuf self-produced and released his debut album “Al-mu’allim” at the age of 23, pioneering an innovative trend other Muslim artist would seek to emulate and promote, termed "Islamic pop".

Professional career

(2003–2004) – Al-Mu'allim

Shortly before traveling to Egypt to study Arabic, Sami Yusuf released his debut album ''Al-Mu`allim'' in July 2003, a primarily percussive album comprising eight tracks. The radiant cube and purple background of the album cover symbolized “the light of the Prophetic message illuminating the darkness of the night”. Its feature song, "Al-Mu’allim", became an instant hit in the Middle East, North Africa, and South-East Asia topping the charts in Egypt and Turkey for twelve consecutive weeks, selling over two million copies worldwide. Believing that music can be a "powerful medium to promote ideas and establish dialogue within society”, he coalesced Eastern percussive instrumentation and Western melodies in “Al-Mu’allim” with a focus on the English and Arabic languages. The last track, “Supplication”, was used in the Golden-Globe award-nominated film, “The Kite Runner”. Though the album was described as a “project to define British Muslim identity” in a post 9-11 period — with explicitly religious themes praising the Prophet Mohammad and Allah in songs like “The Creator” and “Ya Mustafa” — it reached the ears of unexpectedly diverse range of listeners, constituting of various nationalities, ages, and races. Redirecting the current of Muslim music through his songs and professionally-produced music videos (“Al-Mu’allim” and “Supplication”), Yusuf had “unintentionally” cultivated grounds for a fresh genre of music coined "Islamic Pop" by setting a new benchmark in the religious music industry. The journal ''Transnational Broadcasting Studies'' analyzed the main causes of his success by attributing it to Yusuf’s ability to blend “a religious worldview with a mainstream form of entertainment, and in doing so, [communicating] a personable, accessible expression of the Islamic faith that is in harmony with the modern world and incorporated into the mundane activities of daily life”.

(2005–2009) – My Ummah

Yusuf gained worldwide recognition following the release of his second album, ''My Ummah'', in July 2005. This album appeared in both musical and percussive versions and includes fourteen tracks. The album’s thematic elements include empowerment of women in “Free”, raising awareness of the plight of victims of conflict-laden regions like Palestine and Darfur in the respective tracks of “Try Not to Cry” (featuring Outlandish) and “Make A Prayer”; “Muhammad” was dedicated to the victims of the 2004 Beslan school massacre, whereas “We Will Never Submit” protested against acquiescence to oppression. The album, both Eastern and Western in sound, utilized wide-ranging musical instrumentation from classical instruments like piano, violin, flute and drums to ethnic instruments like oud, santour, tar, drums, tombak and more. "My Ummah" was an embodiment of Yusuf’s "utopia for the Muslim World or humanity at large". Considered a breakthrough album , it sold over four million copies globally and was received enthusiastically by a diverse range of listeners, particularly young people, who identified closely with the topics included therein. ''Transnational Broadcasting Studies'' discussed the exposure of Muslim youth to a new dawn of Islamic “art with purpose”, accrediting this opening to Yusuf’s music that had the power "to both preserve core cultural identity and promote spiritual and material progress“. Yusuf's music video featuring the Afghani folklore “Hasbi Rabbi” became a regional hit in Egypt, and was used to launch Vodafone Egypt’s value-added-service (VAS) platform Vodafone Live. The video portrays Yusuf in multiple characters and locations: as a practicing Muslim businessman in London, a teacher playing soccer and tutoring in Taj Mahal, then a professional Volinist jubilantly laughing and chatting with his bandmates in Turkey, and finally as a jovial carpenter in the lively bazaar's of Egypt. Recognized by ''The Independent'' as the "Voice of Islam", Yusuf emphasized that he was not a "preacher", rather a musician with a message who believes in the urgent need for “a wave of people to come along and bridge the gaps, because we have so much in common, so much to learn from each other”. A major addition to his artistic repertoire was Oscar-winning director Marc Forster's proposal to Yusuf to compose a credit-piece for the Golden Globe award-nominated film, ''The Kite Runner''. Due to time constraints on both sides however, the credit piece was never realised but “Supplication”, a track from Yusuf’s debut album, was used to voice one of the film’s climactic scenes. Reluctant to be dubbed as “Islam’s Biggest Rock Star” by ''Time'', Yusuf later explained that he does not "want to be a rock star ... a popstar. ... I just want to make good music, and do what I feel I’m confident in doing ... and that’s music”.

(2005–2009) Dispute with Former Label

In a contractual dispute lasting from 2008 to 2009, Yusuf legally separated from his former record label Awakening. He claimed the "third" album, ''Without You'', released by Awakening in January 2009, was released without his prior “blessings nor consent”. He stated: “I therefore wish to make it perfectly clear that an album any such recordings could only be put on to the market against my wishes and without my approval”. In mid-2009, he signed a five-album contract with the UK-based record label ETM International.

(2009 – present) – Wherever You Are Pre-Release

In July 2009, Yusuf was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters degree in recognition of his “extraordinary contributions to the field of music” by Roehampton University in southwest London. Earlier in the year, he was selected to serve as the first Global Ambassador of HH Sheikha Moza Bint Nasser’s (Qatar's First Lady) intitiative, Silatech, which seeks to engage “the public, private and civil society sectors to promote large-scale job creation, entrepreneurship and access to capital and markets for young people”. Ranked in the “Top 500 Influential Muslims of 2009 (and 2010)”, a publication edited by Georgetown University’s John Esposito and Ibrahim Kahlin, Yusuf was described as an “internationally popular British singer-songwriter whose music has revolutionized the nasheed industry. ... He is also known for his extensive involvement in charity work”. Yusuf released his video single, “You Came To Me,” in four languages (English, Arabic, Turkish, and Persian) in the summer of 2009. ''Rolling Stone'' magazine called the style by which Yusuf sung the track’s lyrics “touching”, listing it as one of the key tracks of the “Wherever You Are” album. SamiYusufOfficial.com announced the release of “Wherever You Are”, Yusuf’s third official album, in March 2010, introducing it as “A renaissance. A Rebirth. A New Beginning”. Meanwhile in the following summer, Yusuf shared his music video “Healing” sung in English and Arabic that was created in cooperation with the KSA-based International Medical Center. It was also listed as another key track by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine. In reference to the song’s underlying philosophy of generosity in lines like “Heal and you will be healed/…Give and you will receive/It’s nature’s order”, Yusuf’s wrote on his blog: “I hope it helps, albeit in some small way, in showing that every single one of us can be a healer”. Amidst the torrential monsoons that wreaked havoc in Pakistan and affected 20 million lives in the summer of 2010, he promptly released a charity single entitled “Hear Your Call”, performed in English and Urdu, to raise funds for the displaced Pakistanis in a joint-effort with the UN-sponsored charity organization Save the Children. The song was featured on a short film by the United Nations Office for Coordination of Human Affairs (OCHA) appealing for renewed donations towards the relief effort. Prompted by the protests and clashes that transpired in Egypt in February 2011, Yusuf released a free track entitled “I’m Your Hope”, dedicating it to the “Shabaab” or youth. The lyrics are in English and Arabic. Sami Yusuf has expressed keen interest on initiating his own “record company to help artists and talents that are not supported” in the near future.

(2009–Present) Wherever You Are: “New Chapter” and“Spiritique”

Performing live in the Maida Vale Studios, Yusuf explained that “It's 2009, I have different challenges, I've got different issues and I will not sing religious-themed music just for the sake of business – it's got to be what I feel”. After a five-yearlong hiatus, Yusuf released his third, official studio album named ''Wherever You Are'' in October 2010, welcoming what he termed a “New Chapter” in his professional career and music. ''"Spiritique"'' is Yusuf’s self-coined musical and philosophical classification of his music. Spiritique, according to Yusuf, is a blend of both the “oriental and occidental” sounds, underpinned by spirituality that “will utilize music as a facilitator for spiritual appreciation, regardless of race and religion”. Yusuf considers it his new sound and “something [he] wants to stand for from now”. With the exceptions of songs like “No Word is Worthy”, “You Came To Me” and "Salaam" (though the latter is more of a 'humanitarian ode' than religiously themed) the 12 track-set album purposely draws less upon religious content leaving room for interpretation for listeners of all backgrounds. Yusuf maintains, however, that it follows the “same principles and ingredients [of] honesty, [and] sincerity”. Introducing the album in its official trailer as a “mini diary of events” that occurred from 2007 to 2010, Yusuf emphasized that the content is essentially a reflection of his worldview: “This third album is about who I am and the reality of the day and age we are living in. It talks about the hypocrisy. ... it’s quite dark”. Songs like “Give the Young A Chance”, featuring lyrics by Ian Brown, incorporate heavy usage of metaphors, likening the youth to “jewels” and allusions to “gardens where birds will sing lullabies” and “sweet scents fill the air”. British singer-songwriter Conner Reeves and Turkish singer Sezen Aksu also collaborated with Yusuf in the track “Without You”. “In Every Tear, He Is There” song, another track collaboration with Conner Reeves, concludes with an African choir singing “In Every Tear/ That is where/He is There” repeatedly in Zulu. “Fragile World”, Yusuf’s admittedly own favorite track, is reflective of the “dark” experiences he underwent throughout the years. Though predominantly performed in English, several tracks include verses in Arabic, Malaysian, Persian and Urdu. It has been given 3.5 stars out of 4 by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine, and commended as a “beautifully produced album”. Sami Yusuf has visited Turkey, UAE, and Qatar to promote “Wherever You Are” and is due to travel to Egypt, Singapore, Malaysia, and Jordan in the near future, plus an upcoming European tour scheduled for spring 2011. The video for "In Every Tear He Is There" has been released and that for "Make Me Strong" is due for release in 2011.

Notable Tours/Concert Performances

Yusuf’s tours and concert performances throughout the past eight years have been extensive. His more notable tours include sold-out concerts in the Royal Albert Hall and Royal Concert Hall in the UK in 2006, in addition to a comprehensive Germany tour in 2007. He performed to crowds of thousands in Bosnia, Canada, France, Belgium, Finland, Austria, Greece, and the Netherlands (which he considers one of his favorite concerts). He toured the United States in 2006 and 2007, singing at venues in Los Angeles, Detroit, Dallas, Chicago, and New Jersey in venues like the LA Shrine Auditorium. In the Middle East and Asian regions, he performed to tens of thousands in Egypt’s Cairo and Alexandria, Qatar, Kuwait, UAE, Algeria, Bahrain, Syria, Jordan, Tajikistan, and Saudi Arabia. He received a record crowd of 250,000 in Istanbul, Turkey earning the name “Islam’s Biggest Rock Star” in ''Time'' magazine. In an early concert in Azerbaijan, Yusuf experienced what he likened to a “hero’s welcome” in his ancestral homeland. Over 50,000 people attend his shows in the Casa Music Festival in Casablanca, Morocco in 2007, exceeding by double the venue’s space limit. In the highly publicized concert at Wembley Arena [dubbed the press as the “Muslim Live Aid”], which served as a milestone event where approximately two million pounds were raised for the relief effort in Darfur, Sudan. It was warmly received by a thank-you video message by the British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown. Performing in The Velodrome in Capetown, Durban, and Johannesburg in his 2008 South Africa Tour, Yusuf accompanied the Agape Children Orphanage’s choir, singing along with their feature song “We Are Together” – the title of a multi-award winning HBO film on the Agape Children’s Orphanage. After performing in the Moroccan Fez Wold Sacred Music Festival in 2009, he agreed to do a free concert for the locals that drew in approximately a hundred thousand attendees, with one day’s notice. Packing venues again in Faruma Arena, Denmark, Grugahalle in Germany, and De Doelen in Netherlands, Yusuf introduced his forthcoming album, “Wherever You Are”. Sami Yusuf has visited Turkey, UAE, and Qatar to promote “Wherever You Are” and is due to travel to Egypt, Singapore, Malaysia, and Jordan in the near future. An upcoming European tour is scheduled for spring 2011.

Acclaim/Recognition

“Islam’s Biggest Rock Star” – Time Magazine (2006) “Biggest Star in the Middle East” – Guardian (2006) “King of Islamic Pop” – Al-Jazeera (2007) IOL Star of 2009 (2009) 500 Most Influential Muslims in 2009 (2009) BBC’s 30 More Famous Britons (2009) First Global Ambassador of Silatech (2009 – Present) Doctor of Letters Award – Roehampton University (2009) 500 Most Influential Muslims in 2010 (2010)

Collaborations

Outlandish – Try Not to Cry, I’ve Seen (2005)

Erkan Mutlu – Wherever You Are (2010)

Sezen Aksu – Wherever You Are (2010)

Ian Brown – Wherever You Are (2010)

Conner Reeves – Wherever You Are (2010)

Charity Work/Humanitarian Initiatives

Charity Event for Disabled Children – Cairo, Egypt (2005) Evening of Inspiration – Islamic Relief/UK Tour (2006) Evening of Inspiration – Islamic Relief/US Tour (2006) Evening of Inspiration – Islamic Relief/US Tour (2007) Wembley Arena – UK (2007) Agape Children’s Orphanage concert – South Africa (2008) Telethon Fundraiser for Gaza (2009) Gaza Rally – Istanbul, Turkey (2009) First global ambassador of Silatech (2009) “Hear Your Call” – Save the Children, Pakistan (2010) “I’m Your Hope” (2011)

“In Every Tear, He Is There” – Haiti, South Africa (2011)

Discography

''Al-Mu`allim'' (2003) – 3 Million ''My Ummah'' (2005) – 4 Million

''Wherever You Are'' (2010) – N/A

Soundtracks (Singles)

"Supplication" – Adapted in “The Kite Runner” (2007)

"A Thousand Times" (2007)

"Palestine Forever" (2009)

"Anything For You" (2009)

"You Came to Me" (2009)

"Healing" (2010)

"Hear Your Call" (2010)

"I’m Your Hope" (2011)

"In Every Tear, He Is There" (2011)

"The Source" (2011)

Music Videos

Al-Mu’allim – Dir. Hani Osama

Supplication – Dir. Hani Osama

Hasbi Rabbi – Dir. Hani Osama

Mother – Dir. Hani Osama

Asma Allah – Dir. Hani Osama

Healing – Dir. Jacob Viit Kusk

You Came to Me – Dir. Jacob Viit Kusk

In Every Tear He Is There – Dir. Jacob Viit Kusk

Hear Your Call (Official) – Created by Daniyal Noorani

I’m Your Hope (Official) – Directed and edited by Kareem Shaaban

References

External links

Sami Yusuf's Official Website

Category:1980 births Category:Living people Category:British singer-songwriters Category:English Muslims Category:People associated with the Royal Academy of Music Category:Iranian singer-songwriters

ar:سامي يوسف az:Sami Yusuf bs:Sami Yusuf da:Sami Yusuf de:Sami Yusuf es:Sami Yusuf fa:سامی یوسف fr:Sami Yusuf id:Sami Yusuf it:Sami Yusuf ml:സാമി യൂസുഫ് arz:سامى يوسف ms:Sami Yusuf nl:Sami Yusuf uz:Sami Yusuf ro:Sami Yusuf ru:Юсуф, Сами sq:Sami Yusuf sv:Sami Yusuf tr:Sami Yusuf ur:سامی یوسف

Theotokos (, transliterated Theotókos) is the Greek title of Mary, the mother of Jesus used especially in the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Eastern Catholic Churches. Its literal English translations include ''God-bearer'' and ''the one who gives birth to God''. Less literal translations include Mother of God. Roman Catholics, Anglicans, and some Protestants use the title Mother of God more often than Theotokos. The Council of Ephesus decreed in 431 that Mary is Theotokos because her son Jesus is one person who is both God and man, divine and human.

Etymology and translation

Theotokos is a compound of two Greek words, Θεός ''God'' and τόκος ''parturition, childbirth''. Literally, this translates as ''God-bearer'' or ''the one who gives birth to God''; historian Jaroslav Pelikan translated it more precisely as "the one who gives birth to the one who is God". However, since many English-speaking Orthodox find this literal translation awkward, in liturgical use, ''Theotokos'' is often left untranslated, or paraphrased as ''Mother of God''. The latter title is the literal translation of a distinct title in Greek, Μήτηρ του Θεού (translit. ''Mētēr tou Theou''). ''Mother of God'' also accurately translates the Greek words Θεομήτωρ (translit. ''Theomētor''; also spelled Θεομήτηρ, translit. ''Theomētēr'') and Μητρόθεος (translit. ''Mētrotheos''), which are found in patristic and liturgical texts, e.g.

Λαβομένη η Θεοτόκος των εκ του αχράντου και παναμώμου αυτής θυσιαστηρίου σαρκωθέντα ζωοποιόν και ανέκφραστον άνθρακα ως λαβίδι ... επί τούτοις παρουσιασάμενος ο δίκαιος και τη προτροπή είξας της διακονησαμένης Θεώ προς ανθρώπους Θεομήτορος ... περιφανώς ιερά θεομήτωρ εξετέλει.

In many traditions, ''Theotokos'' was translated from the Greek into the local liturgical language:

! Language	! Translation(s)	! Transliteration
	والدة الاله	''Wālidat Alelah''
	Աստուածածին	''Astvadzatzin''
Bulgarian, Church Slavonic, Macedonian, Russian	Богородица	''Bogoroditsa''
		''Ti.Theotokós''
	ღვთისმშობელი	''Ghvtismshobeli''
Latin	''Deipara'' ''Dei genetrix'' ''Mater Dei''
	''Născătoare de Dumnezeu'' ''Maica Domnului''
	Богородица / Bogorodica Мајка Божија / Majka Božija	''Bogoroditza'' ''Mayka Bozhia''
	ܝܳܠܕܰܬ ܐܰܠܳܗܳܐ	''Yoldath Aloho''
	Богородиця Мати Божа	''Bohorodytsia'' ''Maty Bozha''
	Bogurodzica Matka Boska	''Bogurodsitsa'' ''Matka Boska''
	Bohorodička Matka Božia	''Bohorodichka'' ''Matka Bozhia''

Translation of the phrase ''mother of God''

Mother of God

The English term ''Mother of God'' is mostly used as an imprecise translation of ''Theotokos'', and frequently requires explanation. The other principal use of ''Mother of God'' has been as the precise and literal translation of Μήτηρ Θεού, a Greek term which has an established usage of its own in traditional Christian theological writing, hymnography, and iconography. In an abbreviated form ΜΡ ΘΥ it often is found on Eastern icons (see illustration above), where it is used to identify Mary.

A hymn normally sung as part of the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom includes both titles in close proximity, in both cases referring to Mary, showing that the titles are not synonymous: "It is truly fitting to call you blessed, the ''Theotokos,'' ever-blessed and wholly pure and the ''Mother of our God'' (...", emphasis added.) The difference between the two terms is that the former, ''Theotokos'' explicitly refers to physical childbearing, while the latter, ''Mother of God'', describes a family relationship but not necessarily physical childbearing.

Within the Christian tradition, ''Mother of God'' has not been understood, nor been intended to be understood, as referring to Mary as Mother of God ''from eternity'' — that is, as Mother of God the Father — but only with reference to the birth of Jesus, that is, the Incarnation. This limitation in the meaning of ''Mother of God'' must be understood by the person employing the term. To make it explicit, it is sometimes translated ''Mother of God Incarnate''.

However, those reading or hearing the English phrase ''Mother of God'' as a translation of a Greek text cannot — unless they know the Greek text in question, or obtain additional information — know whether the phrase is a literal translation of Μήτηρ Θεού or an imprecise rendering of Θεοτόκος or one its Latin equivalents or equivalents in other languages.

Theology

Theotokos specifically excludes the understanding of Mary as Mother of God in the eternal sense. Christians believe that God is the cause of all, with neither origin nor source, and is therefore without a mother or father, or any relation except for what is homoousian to Him: only the persons of the Holy Trinity. He is ontologically separate from all other beings, as Creator to creation. This stands in contrast to classical Greco-Roman religion in particular, where a number of goddesses appear as the physical mothers of other divinities which were considered gods in their own right (cf. polytheism).

On the other hand, most Christians believe God the Son is begotten of God the Father "from all eternity" (see Trinity and Nicene Creed), but is born "in time" of Mary. ''Theotokos'' thus refers to the Incarnation, when the Second Person of the Holy Trinity took on human nature in addition to his pre-existing divine nature, this being made possible through the cooperation of Mary.

Since mainstream Christians understand Jesus Christ as both fully God and fully human, they call Mary ''Theotokos'' to affirm the fullness of God's incarnation. The Council of Ephesus decreed, in opposition to those who denied Mary the title ''Theotokos'' ("the one who gives birth to God") but called her ''Christotokos'' ("the one who gives birth to Christ"), that Mary ''is'' ''Theotokos'' because her son Jesus is one person who is both God and man, divine and human. (Some Protestants still insist that Mary cannot be truly ''Theotokos'', but only ''Christotokos''.) Cyril of Alexandria wrote, "I am amazed that there are some who are entirely in doubt as to whether the holy Virgin should be called ''Theotokos'' or not. For if our Lord Jesus Christ is God, how is the holy Virgin who gave [Him] birth, not [''Theotokos'']?" (Epistle 1, to the monks of Egypt; PG 77:13B). Thus the significance of ''Theotokos'' lies more in what it says about Jesus than any declaration about Mary.

Within the Orthodox doctrinal teaching on the economy of salvation, Mary's identity, role, and status as ''Theotokos'' is acknowledged as indispensable, and is for this reason formally defined as official dogma. The only other Mariological teaching so defined is that of her virginity. Both of these teachings have a bearing on the identity of Jesus Christ. By contrast, certain other Marian beliefs which do not bear directly on the doctrine concerning the person of Jesus (for example, her sinlessness, the circumstances surrounding her conception and birth, her Presentation in the Temple, her continuing virginity following the birth of Jesus, and her death), which are taught and believed by the Orthodox Church (being expressed in the Church's liturgy and patristic writings), are nonetheless not formally defined by the Church, and belief in them is not a precondition for baptism.

Use of Theotokos in the early Christian Church

Many Fathers of the early Christian Church used the title ''Theotokos'' for Mary since at least the third century AD.

Origen (d. 254) is often cited as the earliest author to use ''Theotokos'' for Mary (Socrates, Ecclesiastical History 7.32 citing Origen's Commentary on Romans) but the text upon which this assertion is based may not be genuine.

Dionysius of Alexandria used ''Theotokos'' in about 250, in an epistle to Paul of Samosata.

Athanasius of Alexandria in 330, Gregory the Theologian in 370, John Chrysostom in 400, and Augustine all used ''Theotokos''.

Theodoret wrote in 436 that calling the Virgin Mary ''Theotokos'' is an apostolic tradition.

Third Ecumenical Council

The use of ''Theotokos'' was formally affirmed at the Third Ecumenical Council held at Ephesus in 431. The competing view, advocated by Patriarch Nestorius of Constantinople, was that Mary should be called ''Christotokos'', meaning "Birth-giver of Christ," to restrict her role to the mother of Christ's humanity only and not his divine nature.

Nestorius' opponents, led by Cyril of Alexandria, viewed this as dividing Jesus into two distinct persons, the human who was Son of Mary, and the divine who was not. To them, this was unacceptable since by destroying the perfect union of the divine and human natures in Christ, it sabotaged the fullness of the Incarnation and, by extension, the salvation of humanity. The council accepted Cyril's reasoning, affirmed the title ''Theotokos'' for Mary, and anathematised Nestorius' view as heresy. (See Nestorianism)

In letters to Nestorius which were afterwards included among the council documents, Cyril explained his doctrine. He noted that "the holy fathers... have ventured to call the holy Virgin ''[T]heotokos'', not as though the nature of the [W]ord or his divinity received the beginning of their existence from the holy Virgin, but because from her was born his holy body, rationally endowed with a soul, with which [body] the [W]ord was united according to the hypostasis, and is said to have been begotten according to the flesh" (Cyril's second letter to Nestorius).

Explaining his rejection of Nestorius' preferred title for Mary (''Christotokos''), Cyril wrote: "Confessing the Word to be united with the flesh according to the hypostasis, we worship one Son and Lord, Jesus Christ. We do not divide him into parts and separate man and God as though they were united with each other [only] through a unity of dignity and authority... nor do we name separately Christ the Word from God, and in similar fashion, separately, another Christ from the woman, but we know only one Christ, the Word from God the Father with his own flesh... But we do not say that the Word from God dwelt as in an ordinary human born of the holy virgin... we understand that, when he became flesh, not in the same way as he is said to dwell among the saints do we distinguish the manner of the indwelling; but he was united by nature and not turned into flesh... There is, then, one Christ and Son and Lord, not with the sort of conjunction that a human being might have with God as in a unity of dignity or authority; for equality of honor does not unite natures. For Peter and John were equal to each other in honor, both of them being apostles and holy disciples, but the two were not one. Nor do we understand the manner of conjunction to be one of juxtaposition, for this is insufficient in regard to natural union.... Rather we reject the term 'conjunction' as being inadequate to express the union... [T]he holy virgin gave birth in the flesh to God united with the flesh according to hypostasis, for that reason we call her ''Theotokos''... If anyone does not confess that Emmanuel is, in truth, God, and therefore that the holy virgin is ''Theotokos'' (for she bore in a fleshly manner the Word from God become flesh), let him be anathema." (Cyril's third letter to Nestorius)

Hymns

''Theotokos'' in often used in hymns to Mary in the Eastern Orthodox, Eastern Catholic and Oriental Orthodox churches. The most common is ''Axion Estin'' (''It is truly meet''), which is used in nearly every service.

Other examples include ''Beneath thy compassion'' dating from the third century, the ''Hail Mary'' in its Eastern form, and ''All creation rejoices'', which replaces ''Axion Estin'' at the Divine Liturgy on the Sundays of Great Lent.

Solemnity

In the Roman Catholic Church, the solemnity of Mary as Mother of God (Theotokos) is celebrated on 1 January, on the same day as the Octave of Christmas. Her maternity was celebrated on 11 October in pre-1970 versions of the General Roman Calendar, which some traditional Catholics still observe.

This solemnity comes from around 500 AD and was originally celebrated in the Eastern Churches.

Icons

See also

Eleusa icon

Hymns to Mary

List of Theotokos of St. Theodore icons

Notes

References

Cyril of Alexandria, ''On the Unity of Christ'', John Anthony McGuckin, trans. ISBN 0-88141-133-7

McGuckin, John Anthony, ''St. Cyril of Alexandria: The Christological Controversy'' (1994, and reprinted 2004) ISBN 0-88141-259-7 A full description of the events of Third Ecumenical Council and the people and issues involved.

Saint John of Shanghai and San Francisco,""The Orthodox Veneration of Mary, The Birth Giver of God"(2004, Sixth Printing, Third Edition). ISBN 0-938635-68-9

Ware, Bishop Kallistos, "The Orthodox Way" (1979, Revised Edition, 1995, and reprinted 1999). ISBN 0-913836-58-3

External links

Theotokos article on the ''Orthodox Wiki''

Resources on the Theotokos

Study of the Mother of the Lord the All-Holly Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary by St. Nectarios (in Greek)

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name	Henrietta Lacks
birth date	August 01, 1920
birth place	Roanoke, Virginia
death date	October 04, 1951
death place	Baltimore, Maryland
birth name	Loretta Pleasant
occupation	Tobacco farmer
spouse	David Lacks (1915–2002)
parents	Eliza (1886–1924) and John Randall Pleasant I (1881–1969)
children	Lawrence LacksElsie LacksDavid "Sonny" Lacks, Jr.Deborah (Lacks) PullumZakariyya Bari Abdul Rahman (born Joseph Lacks) }}

Henrietta Lacks (August 1, 1920 – October 4, 1951) (sometimes erroneously called Henrietta Lakes, Helen Lane or Helen Larson) was an African American woman who was the unwitting source of cells from her cancerous tumor, which were cultured by George Otto Gey to create an immortal cell line for medical research. This is now known as the HeLa cell line.

Biography

Early life (1920–1940)

Henrietta Lacks, born Loretta Pleasant, on August 1, 1920 in Roanoke, Virginia, to Eliza (1886–1924) and John Randall Pleasant I (1881–1969). Her family is uncertain how her name changed from Loretta to Henrietta; with Hennie as a nickname. Eliza, her mother, died giving birth to her tenth child in 1924. Henrietta's father felt as if he couldn't handle the children, so he took them all to Clover and distributed the children between relatives. Henrietta ended up with her grandfather, Tommy Lacks.

Later life (1941–1950)

Pleasant married her first cousin, David "Day" Lacks (1915–2002), in Halifax County, Virginia. David had already been living with Henrietta's grandfather when she moved there at age 4. Their marriage on April 10, 1941, after their first two children were born, (the first when Henrietta was just 14) surprised many in the family as they had been raised like brother and sister.

At the end of 1941, their cousin Fred Garret convinced the Lacks's to leave the tobacco farm and have Day work at Bethlehem Steel's Sparrow's Point steel mill. Soon, they moved—Day first, then Henrietta and the children—to Maryland. David bought a house for the family with the money Garret gave Day when he left to go overseas. Their house was on New Pittsburgh Avenue in Turners Station, now a part of Dundalk, Baltimore County, Maryland. This community was one of the largest and one of the youngest of the approximately forty African American communities in Baltimore County.

Day and Henrietta had five children together: Lawrence (b. 1935), Elsie (1939–1955), David "Sonny" Jr. (b. 1947), Deborah (1949–2009), and Joseph (b. 1950, later changed name to Zakariyya Bari Abdul Rahman). Joseph Lacks, Henrietta's last child, was born at Johns Hopkins Hospital in November 1950, just four and a half months before Henrietta was diagnosed with cancer. Elsie was described by the family as "different", "deaf and dumb" and eventually died in the Crownsville State Hospital in 1955. Elsie had been placed there about 1950, around the same time Henrietta discovered that she had lumps and unusual bleeding. '''

Diagnosis and death (1951)

On January 29, 1951, Henrietta went to Johns Hopkins Hospital. She went there because she felt a lump inside her. It all started when she asked her cousins to feel her belly, asking if they felt the lump that she did. Her cousins assumed correctly that she was pregnant. But, after giving birth to her fifth child, Henrietta started bleeding and it wasn't menstrual. She told Day, was then taken to the local doctor, tested for syphilis, which came back negative, and then referred to Johns Hopkins Hospital.

Johns Hopkins was their only choice for a hospital, since it was the only one in a close proximity to them that treated black patients. Howard Jones, her new doctor, examined Henrietta and the lump in her cervix. It was nothing he had ever seen before. He cut off a small part of the tumor and sent it to the pathology lab. Soon after, Jones discovered she had a malignant epidermoid carcinoma of the cervix Stage 1 (cervical cancer).

Lacks was treated with radium tube inserts, which were sewn in place. After several days in place, the tubes were removed and she was released from Johns Hopkins with instructions to return for X-ray treatments as a follow up.

During her radiation treatments for the tumor, a small part of Henrietta's cervix was taken off—a healthy part and a cancerous part—without her permission. The cells from her cervix were given to Dr. George Otto Gey. These cells would eventually become the HeLa immortal cell line, a commonly used cell line in biomedical research.

Lacks returned for the X-ray treatments. However, her condition worsened and the Hopkins doctors treated her with antibiotics, thinking that her problem might be complicated by an underlying venereal disease (she had neurosyphilis and presented with acute gonorrhea at one point as well).

In significant pain and without improvement, Lacks returned to Hopkins demanding to be admitted on August 8 and remained until her death. Though she received treatment and blood transfusions, she died of uremic poisoning on October 4, 1951, at 12:30 A.M. at the age of thirty-one. A subsequent partial autopsy showed that the cancer had metastasized throughout her body.

Henrietta Lacks was buried without a tombstone in a family cemetery in Lackstown, a part of Clover in Halifax County, Virginia. Her exact burial location is not known, although the family believes it is within feet of her mother's gravesite. Lackstown is the name of the land that has been held by the (black) Lacks family since they received it from the (white) Lacks family, who had owned the ancestors of the black Lackses when slavery was legal. Many of the black Lacks family were also descendants from the white Lacks family. A row of boxwoods separates the graves of white ancestors from those of the black ancestors. For decades, Henrietta Lacks' mother has had the only tombstone of the five graves in the family cemetery in Lackstown.

Legacy

In scientific research

The cells from Henrietta's tumor were given to researcher George Gey, who "discovered that [Henrietta's] cells did something they'd never seen before: They could be kept alive and grow." Before Henrietta, the cells would only survive for a few days. Scientists spent more time trying to keep the cells alive than performing actual research on the cells. Some cells in Lacks's tissue sample behaved differently than others. George Gey was able to isolate one specific cell, multiply it, and start a cell line. Gey named the sample "HeLa", after the initial letters of Henrietta Lacks' name, to protect her identity. As the first human cells that could be grown in a lab were "immortal" (did not die after a few cell divisions), they could then be used for conducting many experiments. This represented an enormous boon to medical and biological research.

As reporter Michael Rogers stated, the growth of HeLa by a researcher at the hospital helped answer the demands of the 10,000 who marched for a cure to polio just shortly before Lacks' death. By 1954, HeLa was being used by Jonas Salk to develop a vaccine for polio. To test Salk's new vaccine, the cells were quickly put into mass production in the first-ever cell production factory.

Demand for the HeLa cells quickly grew. Since they were put into mass production, Henrietta's cells have been mailed to scientists around the globe for "research into cancer, AIDS, the effects of radiation and toxic substances, gene mapping, and countless other scientific pursuits". HeLa cells have been used to test human sensitivity to tape, glue, cosmetics, and many other products. Scientists have grown some 20 tons of her cells.

Doctors still have not discovered the reason for HeLa cells' unique vigor, but suspect that it is due to altered telomerase function. There are almost 11,000 patents involving HeLa cells.

In the early 1970s, the family started getting calls from researchers who wanted blood samples from them to learn the family's genetics (eye colours, hair colours, and genetic connections). The family wondered why and this is when they learned about the removal of Henrietta's cells. No one else in the family had the traits that made her cells unique.

Recognition

In 1996, Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, the state of Georgia and the mayor of Atlanta recognized the late Henrietta Lacks' family for her posthumous contributions.

Her life was commemorated annually by Turners Station residents for a few years after Morehouse's commemoration. A congressional resolution in her honor was presented by Robert Ehrlich following soon after the first commemoration of her, her family, and her contributions to science in Turners Station.

Events in the Turners Station's community have also commemorated the contributions of others including Mary Kubicek, the laboratory assistant who discovered that HeLa cells lived outside the body, as well as Dr. Gey and his nurse wife, Margaret Gey, who together after over 20 years of attempts were eventually able to grow human cells outside of the body.

In 2011, Morgan State University granted her a posthumous honorary degree.

In media

In 1998, ''Modern Times: The Way of All Flesh'', a one-hour BBC documentary on Lacks and HeLa directed by Adam Curtis, won the Best Science and Nature Documentary at the San Francisco International Film Festival. Immediately following the film's airing in 1997, an article on HeLa cells, Lacks, and her family was published by reporter Jacques Kelly in ''The Baltimore Sun''. In the 1990s, the ''Dundalk Eagle'' published the first article on her in a newspaper in Baltimore City and Baltimore County, and it continues to announce upcoming local commemorative activities. The Lacks family was also honored at the Smithsonian Institution. In 2001, it was announced that the National Foundation for Cancer Research would be honoring "the late Henrietta Lacks for the contributions made to cancer research and modern medicine" on September 14. Because of the events of September 11, 2001, the event was canceled.

In her 2010 book, ''The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks'', Rebecca Skloot documents the histories of both the HeLa cell line and the Lacks family. Henrietta's husband, David Lacks, was told little following her death. Suspicions fueled by racial issues prevalent in the South were compounded by issues of class and education. For their part, members of the Lacks family were kept in the dark about the existence of the tissue line. When its existence was revealed in two articles written in March 1976 by Michael Rogers, one in the ''Detroit Free Press'' and one in ''Rolling Stone,'' family members were confused about how Henrietta's cells could have been taken without consent and how they could still be alive 25 years after her death.

In May 2010, ''The Virginian-Pilot'' published two articles on Lacks, HeLa, and her family, which mentions that the Morehouse School of Medicine has donated the money for Henrietta's grave as well as her daughter Elsie, who died in 1955, to finally have headstones. Her grandchildren wrote her epitaph: "Henrietta Lacks In loving memory of a phenomenal woman, wife and mother who touched the lives of many. Here lies Henrietta Lacks (HeLa). Her immortal cells will continue to help mankind forever. Eternal Love and Admiration, From Your Family"

In May 2010, HBO announced that Oprah Winfrey and Alan Ball would develop a film project based on Skloot's book.

On May 17, 2010, NBC ran a fictionalized version of Lacks' story on ''Law & Order'', titled "Immortal". An article in ''Slate'' called the episode "shockingly close to the true story."

Notes

References

Further reading

Russell Brown and James H M Henderson, 1983, "The Mass Production and Distribution of HeLa Cells at Tuskegee Institute", 1953–1955. J Hist Med allied Sci 38(4):415–43

Michael Gold, ''A Conspiracy of Cells'', 1986, State University of New York Press

Hannah Landecker 2000 "Immortality, In Vitro. A History of the HeLa Cell Line". In Brodwin, Paul E., ed.: ''Biotechnology and Culture. Bodies, Anxieties, Ethics''. Bloomington/Indianapolis, 53–72, ISBN 0253214289

Hannah Landecker, 1999, "Between Beneficence and Chattel: The Human Biological in Law and Science," ''Science in Context'', 203–225.

Hannah Landecker, 2007, ''Culturing Life: How Cells Became Technologies''. "HeLa" is the title of the fourth chapter.

External links

The Henrietta Lacks Foundation, a foundation established to, among other things, help provide scholarship funds and health insurance to Henrietta Lacks's family.

February 2010 CBS Sunday Morning Segment, "The Immortal Henrietta Lacks," featuring the Lacks Family

Slate: "Immortal: Ripped From Which Headline," story about Law and Order episode based on Henrietta Lacks

RadioLab segment, "Henrietta's Tumor," featuring Deborah Lacks.

Smithsonian magazine article">January 2010 Smithsonian magazine article

Jones Institute for Reproductive Medicine

Photographs from "Henrietta Lacks' 'Immortal' Cells" by Smithsonian.com

Surprising Science: “Fair” Use of our Cells by Sarah Zielinski, February 2, 2010, SmithsonianMag.com blog

Wired Magazine 2010 article with timeline of HeLa

The Way Of All Flesh — Documentary by Adam Curtis

Audio Interview with Rebecca Skloot about her book "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks"

Tavis Smiley interview with Rebecca Skloot about The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks book website with additional features (photo/video/audio)

New York Times review of Rebecca Skloot's book on Henrietta

Life of Henrietta Lacks

Family Talks about Dead Mother Whose Cells fight Cancer (Jet Magazine - April 1, 1976)

25 Years after Death, Black Mother's Cells Live for Cancer Study (Jet Magazine - April 1, 1976)

Category:1920 births Category:1951 deaths Category:People from Roanoke, Virginia

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