George Handlery's twelve comments in his "the week that was" are right on concerning the West's squeamish reaction to Russia's invasion of its sovereign neighbor Georgia ...3. Discreetly, it is being suggested that counter-measures and reactions to Georgia are to be of a sort that will not anger Russia. Absurdly, this self-created inhibition implies that strong aggressors (real or alleged) should only be criticized with their consent.This is classic championship chess only in the deadly game of geopolitical oneupmanship ... our opponent makes his move and slaps the switch on the game clock, only the West is not aware the clock is ticking. In this case Russia takes our non-response response as weakness and confusion.
Concurrently, this kind of squeamishness teaches the aggressor that he is to claim early, possibly before the fact, the status of the insulted party.
It creates a welcome opportunity to become confused in the case of those who do not like clear-cut cases if these result in tough going. Thereby the claimed victim status becomes protection against having to impose effective sanctions on the impostor.
[...]
5. Reacting to Russia’s handling of Georgia sheds light on another inhibition. Suggestively we are asked, “are we overreacting to the crisis?” The question is made to imply that the dangerous error of exaggeration is being committed.
No, in fact we are systematically under reacting. Here we should realize that it is exactly this manicured response that is the most dangerous one among our alternatives.
How come that the mistake which we love to make is our typical response? The case is similar to the abuse of cold medicine that combats symptoms. We search for palliatives to counter-act an event that is firmly embedded in an unfolding reality.
6. Moscow’s hegemonial action in Georgia sent a message. Indeed, the message was intended and calculated by Moscow. The question is what we will learn from the un-coded smoke signals we have seen rising.
Sadly, that is exactly what it is! The world's bleeding heart do-gooders have defeated us before we can even get our of the gate!11. A crucial detail of the “Georgia business” tends to get lost in the selective reporting of the event.Woe to those whose courage fails them when a clear and present threat is pointed at their hearts!
Not accidentally, this writer is alert to the matter that is easily repressed by most of us. The reason has to do with the conditioning that [normal] backgrounds can give us.
A policy of systematic atrocities against conquered enemy populations is part of the way some countries fight their wars. Russia is one of them. Mass rape, looting, the destruction of property can uproot conquered populations that are located in disputed territory. Well-planned spontaneous indiscriminate violence, if applied with stern vigor, produces high returns. [HT: Pankukas] It might make the victims submissive, demoralized and ultimately acquiescent when the conqueror imposes his system upon them.
Showing posts with label Western Civilization. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Western Civilization. Show all posts
Monday, August 25, 2008
GEORGIA: What to do now that we've revealed no trump?
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
RELATIVISM: Great contribution to the subject at David Thompson!
For those of you who like to keep fresh on your apologetics from a Judeo-Christian/Western point of view, David Thompson has an excellent post of the subject of relativism ... though his reference point is not a defense of the Judeo-Christian worldview but rather from a defense of historical western thought.For some, it is ideologically intolerable that so called ‘Western ways of knowing’ should be largely preeminent in their effectiveness and rewards. If certain ways of looking at the world tend to produce advantages, both materially and culturally, this must somehow be ‘unfair’ and subject to correction, or at least disdain. Thus we arrive at assertions that, for instance, the scientific method and expectations of evidence should not be “privileged” above other, less reliable modes of thinking.Thompson is one of my favorite contemporary thinkers; not all but most of his posts are pleasing to the windmills of my mind! It's worth the trip [here].
In common usage, this levelling of knowledge claims reduces analysis to mere opinion or lifestyle choice, and is corrosive to critical thought for fairly obvious reasons. In order to maintain a pretence of ‘fairness’ and non-judgmental equivalence, there are any number of things one cannot allow oneself to think about, at least in certain ways.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
GEORGIA: Our allies are watching!
The largest television audience ever may be focused on the 2008 Beijing Olympics at this time but the most important audience is focused on the West's response [HT: NER] to Russia's outrageous and taunting invasion of a sovereign neighbor.
Russia's intent is clear in the eyes of the world -- they want and are in the process of deposing a duly and democratically elected government ... all for military and idealogical reasons. [See here as well.]
Russia knows she will suffer no long term consequences from a world which tolerates totalitarianism, coddles petty fascists, and nods approvingly at inhumane behavior.
This reality, in light of the West's shallow response to the very real threat of soft-jihad [see here also] and America's involvements in Iraq and Afghanistan, gave Russia the stage it needed to do its dirty deed.
Much of the West's future will depend on what it does corporately from this point on. My personal concern (vis a vis my kids and their kids) is that there is no corporate West to respond at this time.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
SHARIA: Arriving on your doorstep soon!
This is the kind of subtle change that is taking place all over the Western landscape, as Islam continues to find lackeys and capitulators among the leftists of the world.
We can look but we will not find any academics or activists crying "censorship" here (see also here).
MUSLIMS: They can't be appeased once they're offended!
A new wave of deadly unrest in Indian Kashmir is a reminder that a peace process between India and Pakistan has failed to alleviate the frustrations of the region's Muslims ... .Therein lies the problem! Using simple observation and anyone's general history of Islam, we must conclude Muslim "frustrations" can't be alleviated until everything is going their way, and only their way.
Apparently, once Muslim have been "offended," they've no mechanism in their teachings to consider the interests of others as more important than their own. Nor do they have any teaching to love their neighbors as themselves.
Their only observable teaching in these cases is thuggery and butchery.
The greatest commandment in Judaism and Christianity is to love God with your all in all ... Muslims loudly profess they love their Allah with all their being, even to the point of death, but fail miserably when it comes to the second greatest command: to love their neighbors ... even Muslim neighbors.
To Jews and Christians, this is supposed to be our second most important commandment from God.
This is a dangerous situation for the world ... what with Muslim unrest from the Philippines to Spain, from Denmark to Morocco, from Georgia to Sudan, and Western China to Kashmir.
If the followers of Islam continue on this path, the global community will rise up against the threat and stop it ... I hope, maybe, perhaps, possibly ... well maybe the recent global reaction to Russia's invasion of Georgia tells a different story.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
GEORGIA: A place where the West's myopic self absorption will prove deadly!
GEORGIA: A place where the West's myopic self absorption will prove deadly!
I'm watching NBC's local Sunday Morning news program and I'm shocked by twenty minutes of national and international news without a mention of the war in eastern Europe (the Caucasus aka Georgia). [UPDATE: 40 MINUTES IN - it's mentioned]
We are on our way to church in a few minutes and don't have time to view other news; but if the world doesn't get it, at least a few people are laboring online to document the Russian aggression ...Thus we see the war in the Caucasus evolve into a litmus test for the basic institutions of the West itself. If those institutions fail, especially in the eyes of its most vulnerable members, then the suffering in Georgia will, in the long run, be mere prelude. [The Brussels Journal]I rarely use the old saw "I told you so" but this morning I am saying, "I'm telling you so!"
In 1936 the world ignored Hitler and the Axis powers; years later they asked each other, "Wasn't anyone watching? Didn't anyone notice what was going on?"
ALSO: Ralph Peters, NYPost [HT: Black Kettle]
Tuesday, August 05, 2008
DANGEROUS THINGS: Good grief, what must they be thinking!
Our way of life is crumbling right before our eyes ... and few have the courage of their convictions to declare the emperor naked!Union leaders say implementing the holiday was important for the nearly 700 Muslims, many of them Somalis, who work at the plant that employs a total of 1,200 people.Did it ever occur to them they're no longer in Somalia?
And what about the Jewish workers, who would like Rash Hashanna or Yom Kippur off?
Oh, that's right, the Somalis threatened to behead all managers and burn the plant down if that's even mentioned.
And where are the politically correct that whined Christmas into "Holiday Season" and Easter into "Spring Break"? And what of the remaining 500 employees? How many Christians and Jews are now being forced to celebrate a pagan holiday?
But then, who really cares?
UPDATE: Tyson Workers Overturn Labor Day Replacement HT: New English Review
Saturday, August 02, 2008
TRAITORS 'R US: Why it's difficult to see Muslims as loyal!
It would be nice to believe that foreign national Muslims, legally residing in Western nations, could be loyal to their adopted homelands ... but the truth is far from that fiction.
In this day and age, believing in Lahlah-land can be fatal on the battlefield and in your local marketplace.
The UK is now aware that British Muslims are serving as insurgents in Afghanistan and fighting against British military interests there.
British Brig. Ed Butler is quoted in the Telegraph ..."There are British passport holders who live in the U.K. who are being found in places like Kandahar."I guess it would go something like this: "I say old sot, let's don our turbans, strap on one of those vest things there, and take a goodly stroll to the market! Say what chap?"
Earlier this year, it was revealed that RAF Nimrod spyplanes monitoring Taliban radio signals in Afghanistan had heard militants speaking with Yorkshire and Midlands accents. [...]
Butler, 46, said he had seen evidence that terror groups based in southern Afghanistan were plotting with Muslim extremists in Britain to carry out terror attacks in the UK. "There is a link between Kandahar and urban conurbations in the UK," said Brig. Butler. "This is something the military understands but the British public does not."
I know, I know, "not all Muslims are like that!" You're right, I admit it. And not all snakes are like Black Mambas, or other poisonous varieties either. But I'm still distrusting of everything that slithers and has no legs; more so when my family is threatened by them.
These are hard times for civilized people, believing the difficult to believe, turning the other cheek, and blind tolerance will get our loved ones killed ... if not soon, soon enough.
HT: New English Review
Friday, July 25, 2008
THE RICH: An answer to a key question only the rich care about!
HT: David ThompsonSounds like a good question ... the brain terminal has the answer. If you're a liberal, a relevantist, a democrat, a socialist/communist, a politician, or just a confused fascist, then you for sure don't want to read this.... if the rich aren’t paying their fair share ... how much tax would “the rich” have to pay before it becomes fair?Another excellent question might be, "What would the government and the entitled do if the rich suddenly lost their wealth?"
And on another note: I've always believed in a flat tax, but now I wonder!
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
DEMOCRACY: Heading down the tunnel of irrationality!
While preoccupied with the War on Terror, America is in danger of going the way of England and Canada; who've allowed power hungry ideologues to co-opt their language, to revise word meanings for political ends, and to take these two bastions of democratic history to the brink of McCarthy-like (even Nazi-like) insanity.This just in (23 July 11:25 AM) ... an update on Congressional efforts to stop State from issuing "no-go" lexicon.
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... Modern McCarthyism | The Brussels JournalDemocracy, for sound reasons, is predicated on the existence of dissenting opinions, discussion, and open debate. The harassment of individuals at their employment, solely on the basis of party affiliation, private or perceived opinion can have absolutely no place in a democracy.And yet in England, one can lose his employment and/or her membership in an organization for just such reasons and without public outcry.
While in Canada one is hauled before a politically-based, unconstitutional tribunal of multiculturalists to answer for one's speech or opinion.
Let me paraphrase a commenter's take on the UK situation ...[this has become] a threat to the livelihood of any dissenter to the prevailing, and increasingly stifling political ideology. This has not only created a climate of fear and resentment among the general public, it has helped to establish an anti-intellectual consumer politics, in which ill-conceived, unworkable ideas are presented to the public as pearls of wisdom.Now consider for a moment the number of words and views we Americans are tacitly "forbidden" from saying or even thinking ...WORDSIt doesn't matter that our words are used in a valid context or that our views are based on fact and/or solid reason ... it just doesn't matter! Yet in the founding of this nation, men wiser than all of us determined that the most unreasonable speech and irrational view had a place in our democratic republic.
How about "queer" and "homo," or "dike" and "fag"; how about "nigger" and "darkie," or "terrorist" and "zealot"; and how about "chick" or "broad."
VIEWS
How about concepts and ideas that result in being called a "sexist," "misogynist," "xenophobe," "fascist," "racist," "homophobe," "Islamophobe," "insensitive," "fundamentalist," or "intolerant."
Consider also, the multitude of lawsuits by Muslim fanatics who've shackled Homeland Security programs and first-responder personnel due to "racist" and "profiling" claims.
On the other hand, how many of us have turned up our noses when a friend is discovered to be a Communist or a Socialist, or a neighbor to be a white supremacist or member of NAMBLA? How many of us snicker at Fred Phelps and his disgusting Wichita congregation? How many mock Louie Farakan and his legion of best-dressed, black men in America? How many of us want them stopped "by the government" just for their ideas or opinions?
Worse, how many stand silently by while, rightly or wrongly, Americans and/or American groups are vilified by ignorant or unthinking fellow Americans? What is your reaction to jokes about Rush's views or Gore's luke-warming opinions? Those freedoms we cherish so much must be available to all Americans, no matter how offensive they seem on the surface.
Take away one American's freedom and you take away all Americans' freedoms.Democracy, for sound reasons, is predicated on the existence of dissenting opinions, discussion, and open debate.Short of an individual's or group's actions, we must support all of America's right to disagree ... openly!
How about you? Are you guilty? Or would you like me to shut up and go away? Or be shut down?
Friday, July 18, 2008
AMERICA: A nation built on an idea not a bloodline!
Braggistan in the America of the Imagination by Andrew Klavan, City Journal Summer 2008Andrew Klavan has written an excellent piece on his recent experience at Braggistan, a training site at Fort Bragg in North Carolina. The facilities and "Capstone exercises" are intended to prepare our men and women for duty in Afghanistan.
Keep in mind, for most of them, defending themselves and each other is a secondary assignment - reconstruction and building infrastructure is their primary assignment.They’re being deployed in Afghanistan to try to help build a civil society there in the after-wreckage of the Taliban.At any rate, Klavan is writing about a third assignment of our military - public relations. A task they are failing miserably at! Here, in his words, is the reason it is critical to our nation and the world ...Now you may say that capturing the imagination isn’t the job of our fighting forces. But this is America, remember: we’re a country of the imagination, a living state of mind. We’re not connected to one another by bloodlines or any depth of native memory. We’re the descendants of an idea that every generation has to learn to hold in its collective consciousness. More than in any other country, it matters in America who we think we are and what we believe we’re doing.Therein lies the dysfunction: those responsible for teaching the next generation this timeless truth have failed in their collective responsibility.
The author points out that while liberals and the entertainment industries are tearing our military and nation apart, with their anti-American propaganda, the military is missing a classic opportunity to tell the real story.Our academies, the news media that train in the academies, and the entertainment industry that’s informed by the news media have become ... a sort of alternative state of the imagination, a kingdom of lies founded in the muck of hysterical guilt, historical distortion, and philosophical solipsism. In their fantastic and labyrinthine narrative, our fascist foes are Nemesis, the emanation of our own sins, and therefore our military can only be the mad or foolish servants of evil.Go here and read the entire piece in context ... worth the trip.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
ONE WORLD: A religion for all - the complicity of world leaders!
Madrid: World Capital of Dialogue and Religious Pluralism | The Brussels JournalSoren Kern writes what must be a tongue in cheek summary of The World Conference on Dialoque in The Brussel's Journal today.The conference is being organized by the Muslim World League (also known as the World Islamic League) following an initiative by King Abdullah, whose country is the birthplace of Islam, a religion of peace. The Muslim World League also happens to be the principal agent for the propagation of Wahhabi Islam in Europe. In 1987, it was elected as a “Messenger of World Peace” by the United Nations.The WCD is a self-absorbed orgy of self-important global personalities and philosophies, so clueless, so misguided, and so ignorant of eternal truths they're capable of doing lasting damage to this world, unknowingly introducing the system necessary for a global government, and setting the stage for a faux-messiah to reveal himself.
I'm uncertain if Kern is aware of the implications of his terminology and phrasing but if so, it is a masterful turn on globalism and its prophetic implications.
No matter what we do, the "one world" prophecies of the bible will take place ... God has ordained it and that's all that can be said about them.
Some generation of humanity will be alive when sin's gestation is complete and the Great Tribulation is birthed. Sadly, some apostate incarnation of "the church" will exist as well.
As I read Kern's piece I was reminded of Paul's warning "when we hear peace and safety," run like hell! Over and over the author highlights topics, papers, and quotes using the term "peace" at the conference.Also attending are leading personalities specialized in dialogue and useful topics such as “life of human societies, international cooperation, human rights, security and peace and living peacefully together.”It is a truth that the principals behind globalism know little or care little about the orthodoxy of ANY of the religions of the world.The aim of the event is to promote dialogue between the world’s main religions, and, as some observers suspect, to establish a one-world religion based on Islam.They are, for the most part, virtual atheists, mouthing spiritual platitudes to attain and retain the ears and wealth of the "unwashed" masses. Their psuedo-altruism is actually a satanic dance, choreographed to an inaudible tune, shepherding the lost to a disbelieved but guaranteed Armaggedon.The conference, which seeks to promote openness, consists of five closed-door round tables. They will be followed by a final communiqué to be issued on July 18.Click on over to TBJ to read up on the five round tables. So why is Spain romancing the Saudi stone? Because ...[Spain's president] Zapatero[,] (like his Saudi counterparts, but for different reasons) views Judeo-Christianity as public enemy number one because it is the main impediment to the realization of his vision for a socialist multicultural utopia in which everything goes. And he hopes his pact with Islam will accelerate Spanish history.
Zapatero and his socialist advisors believe Muslims are the “useful idiots” of the left. [While on the other hand] Muslims believe Zapatero and his socialist friends are the “useful idiots” of Islam. Such is the future of Spain.
Friday, July 04, 2008
ISLAM: The making of strange bedfellows!
Diane West, NRO, has written ...
I have come to believe that the Western way of life – which I’ll define in brief as life lived according to Judeo-Christian-evolved morality and liberty – is imperiled by the demographic spread and influence of Islamic ideology and laws.She says what many have realized for some time: we're our own worst enemies, preventing "ourselves from undertaking a hard-eyed appraisal of Islamic ideology ... and engaging in a serious discussion of ... it."
[...]
In the cause of not-giving-offense – the highest cause of Westerners-turned-multiculturalists – we have prevented ourselves from undertaking a hard-eyed appraisal of Islamic ideology as a whole, jihadism included, and engaging in a serious discussion of how to contain it. [HT: Brussels Journal]
Recently I've found well-reasoned, anti-Islam apologetics available to the public both online and off-line. The above is an example; found this morning as I prepared to publish the following.
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The thoughts and opinions of internationally acclaimed novelist Ian McEwan have encouraged my hope that it is not too late to stop the global, Muslim tsunami; McEwan ... in defense of a friend under attack as an Islamophobe ... told reporters ...He was glad to leap to the defence of his old friend Martin Amis [CRIB link] when the latter's attacks on Muslims brought down charges of racism on his head. He made an exception of the Islamic issue out of friendship to Amis, and because he shares the latter's strong opinions.A few days ago I realize how often I felt like Diogenes, yet instead of looking for a man of honesty, I'm looking for men of honesty whose honesty results in courage and conviction. Perhaps I've found one in David Thompson, who wrote in a recent post ...
"A dear friend had been called a racist," he said. "As soon as a writer expresses an opinion against Islamism, immediately someone on the left leaps to his feet and claims that because the majority of Muslims are dark-skinned, he who criticises it is racist. This is logically absurd and morally unacceptable."Last year, I wrote a short post titled It’s Okay to Dislike Islam. In it, I argued:I like that: "unearned deference" and "unilateral exemption";One of the creeping, unanalysed [sic] myths of our time is that it is somehow wrong to dislike Islam, or any part thereof, and wrong to take a dim view of its tenets and demands, and wrong to take a still dimmer view of the figure who founded it. I can practically hear the distant tutting and grunts of disapproval. Poor Islam. Poor Muslims. Their beliefs are being mocked. How hurtful. How “racist”. How terribly unfair.At the time, I feared I might be stating the blindingly obvious.
No. It's not unfair at all. What’s unfair is a demand for unearned deference and a unilateral exemption from the testing of ideas. What’s unfair, indeed despicable, are efforts by Islamic groups to cow dissent and stifle criticism with a well-rehearsed pantomime of victimhood and the projection of false motives. Pretending to be hurt in order to assert one’s will over others [CRIB link], or to gain unreciprocated favours, or to exert control over what others may say and think, is cowardly and malign. Let me say that once again. It’s cowardly and malign.the first being the expectation of social profit without incurring any expense for that status, and,That the inmates have taken over the asylum is evidenced in worldwide capitulation to both expectations by individuals, groups, corporations, governments, NGOs, religious personalities (also here), and agencies of governments.
the second, being the expectation one is free to do to others what one will not tolerate in return from those same others (again without cost for that freedom).
That the line between peaceful Joe Muslims and authoritarian fanatic Muslims has been blurred is no secret, but to blame those in the West for the blurring is cowardly. I'll no more accept the blame for this blurring than a Muslim should for the blurring of the line between myself and Fred Phelps as Baptist preachers; that blurring began in my backyard.
Muslims chant "unfair, unfair"; but as Thompson points out, criticism of Islam is not unfair:What’s unfair, indeed despicable, are efforts by Islamic groups to cow dissent and stifle criticism with a well-rehearsed pantomime of victimhood and the projection of false motives.The West has been found standing on the road, showing their support for the poor Muslim victims, when in fact they've been trooping by naked as Jaybirds:It is a widespread notion that deeply held convictions are at least entitled to respect - when in reality there is no “at least” about it, and no entitlement either. The challenging of beliefs is an often brutal business, but the ensuing and almost inevitable hurt is emotional and not physical. There is nothing wrong in this; it is how knowledge advances. [Oliver Kamm; HT - David Thompson]What concerns me about my joy at finding fellow travelers on this road is that one is pro-homosexual and anti-religious and another is as liberal as liberal can be. Who knows where the others stand?
For all I know McEwan would despise the society I would like to see and Thompson would consider me a religious sycophant. But on the issue of Islam and its demands on the world today we're in agreement and that is all that truly matters at this juncture.
Muslims, their supporters, and those who believe there is a politically correct way to live life have, sans debate, foisted the lie that ALL people and ALL ideas deserve respect upon the world. Governments, especially leftist/socialist entities (read EU and UN), have likewise come to believe it is their job to ensure such respect is forthcoming from those with whom they disagree.Ideas have no claim on our respect; they earn respect to the extent that they are able to withstand criticism. [quote by Kamm]Our litigious society is the direct result of the convergence of two social pressures:first, the insatiable appetite of the legal community to attain ever greater altitudes of legal gobbledygook and the servile response of justices to such attainments and,Modern Islam has exploited these pressures well, using our laws and courts to prove just how well.
second, a permissive, egalitarian mindset that informs bad behavior such behavior is the fault of any number of others, each of which needs to be sued ... but under no circumstance must the actor to take responsibility for his or her actions.
Someday a generation will exist to judge this generation. I wish to be counted as one who stood up to the inmates and tried earnestly to recapture the keys to the control room. Though the following was written on the subject of abortion, I found it germane to this post:Future generations may well condemn our society's countenance of abortion in the same way we look back in wonder and revulsion at those who defended slavery. Men such as William Wilberforce and Abraham Lincoln are rightly revered today for their opposition to that peculiar institution -- but we must recall that they were outnumbered and reviled in their time.As author McEwan told the NYT last year ...
Indeed, both men were stretched to the limit of their political skills, and their lives, to obtain justice. The nobility of their cause, though clear to us, was nowhere near apparent to their contemporaries. Then, as now, the most dreadful things can become convention if enough folks go along. [Theo Caldwell, National Post; HT: The Black Kettle]"All religions make very big claims about the world, and it should be possible in an open society to dispute them. It should be possible to say, 'I find some ideas in Islam questionable' without being called a racist."Notice McEwan's prerequisite: "an open society." Islam will not tolerate an open society in their totalitarian world; even if a "peaceful" Islam exists and wants such a society, Islam's leaders will not allow it!
Let's put a stop to this for the sake of generations to come!
Thursday, June 26, 2008
ISLAM: And the Last Days!
It is just my opinion, but two things seem certain to me as we enter the leading edge of the one and only Last Days: first, there will be a worldwide war with Islam (and, if I am correct about the last days, Islam will gain the appearance of victory) and, second, signs of these last days will increase geometrically in the years ahead.
For the average man to keep track of current indicators is impossible; it must boggle the mind of even those trained in such a discipline.
Consider just one report from this morning's news ...The war against free speech is advancing rapidly: Associated Press reported Thursday that “Muslim countries have won a battle to prevent Islam from being criticised during debates by the UN Human Rights Council.” Council President Doru-Romulus Costea explained that religious issues can be “very complex, very sensitive and very intense…This council is not prepared to discuss religious matters in depth, consequently we should not do it.” Henceforth only religious scholars would be permitted to broach them.The UN's tentacles are everywhere present in this era; we've been warned for decades about the danger.
Presently, radical Islam (phooey - Islam herself) is being everywhere capitulated to; and, what with EU (see Sarkozy's divided Israel) & UN lackeys fawning all over each other, she stands in a unique position to thwart the cause of Christ and the Jews in the West like never before.
Because the War on Terror is being managed (sic) by women and sissies, Western Civilization has inadvertently given Islam an international soapbox of which Hussein, Qaddafi, the Ayatollahs, and the Taliban only dreamed.
Who would have thought a few decades ago Islam and the international community would have the leverage to bring back the Roman Church's doctrine of "only religious scholars would be permitted to [discuss religious issues]"? This is the Dark Ages again.
You may say I am overreacting to an isolated news item - not so ... see here and here and here.
HT - The Black Kettle "Free Speech Dies at the UN"
Monday, January 14, 2008
ESCHATOLOGY: The End of An Age!
It's just my opinion but I believe we crossed an invisible line in this sin-darkened world when we entered 2008.
The bible is clear that a day will come when the end will be clearly seen [See 1 Thessalonians 5:1-6 below].Some generation has to alive when that happens; up to the rapture of the church, Christians will participate in the events and culture of that day. There is no escaping the fact that some generation of believers will be known for its unholy "apostasy."
For the past two millennia believers from Paul to Pope, from clergy to laity, from apostate to fanatic have announced that their's is the age of the end ... I have books and pamphlets and magazines in my library from the 19th and 20th centuries showing just how often prognosticators have erred in this judgment.
That said, one can't escape the daily onslaught of material which reminds us of the signs of the end ... and even the Lord Himself warned us to be ever vigilant. Perhaps a reminder of His warnings would be helpful ..."It is like a man away on a journey, who upon leaving his house and putting his slaves in charge, assigning to each one his task, also commanded the doorkeeper to stay on the alert. Therefore, be on the alert--for you do not know when the master of the house is coming, whether in the evening, at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning-- in case he should come suddenly and find you asleep. What I say to you I say to all, 'Be on the alert!'"I could go on; but what I want to do is point to headlines of the past 24 hours, items culled from news feeds.Mark 13:34-37
THOUGHT POLICE GONE MAD:
Two citations -1. ... the notion that publications in the Western world could staunch the violence on the Muslim street half a world away by not reprinting [those Danish] cartoons, was ludicrous, even if most politically correct talking heads nodded knowingly at the suggestion that reprinting them would make matters worse. [National Post]And a third egregious example is that of Ezra Lavant, the former publisher of The Western Standard, went against the system in Canada and republished them; he is now on "trial" for offending Muslims by the act. The simple fact he has to defend his free speech rights before the Canadian Human Rights Commission (sic) is indicative of evil's victory in this arena.
2. The blogger TomaShot, who operated the now defunct Uutisia Suomesta website, a catalogue for various news stories and articles that dealt with immigration, Political Correctness and other Eurabia related issues, was dealt a serious blow by Finland’s judicial system today.
He was fined 825€ and ordered to close down his website. […] […] [H]As far as I know, TomaShot’s webpages contained very little of his own material, it was more of a repository for news articles and blog postse was convicted for republishing snippets of posts and articles of stories the courts deemed unflattering towards minorities. [Tundra Tabloid; HT: Black Kettle]
You say this is an isolated event? Not so - November 29, 2007, Stephen Boissoin [an Alberta Christian/activist] and The Concerned Christian Coalition Inc. were found guilty of offending the public for publicly proclaiming the biblical addresses of several anti-homosexual passages.
COMPLICITY OF UK:
Two items -1. Ministers are planning to implant "machine-readable" microchips under the skin of thousands of offenders as part of an expansion of the electronic tagging scheme that would create more space in British jails.I know, I know! I'm on record as pooh-poohing this fear; but I've changed my mind now that it is becoming a reality in the UK and planned here in at least on of the Colonies. Besides, the import of this post rests not in any one item but rather the collective and synergistic evidence.
Amid concerns about the security of existing tagging systems and prison overcrowding, the Ministry of Justice is investigating the use of satellite and radio-wave technology to monitor criminals.
But, instead of being contained in bracelets worn around the ankle, the tiny chips would be surgically inserted under the skin of offenders in the community, to help enforce home curfews. The radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, as long as two grains of rice, are able to carry scanable personal information about individuals, including their identities, address and offending record. [Independent (UK); HT: Black Kettle]2. When the Bishop of Rochester, Michael Nazir-Ali, wrote the other day that in some of Britain’s Muslim communities there were now no-go areas, the great and the not-so-good rose as one to denounce him for talking nonsense. From William Hague to Hazel Blears, people said they simply didn’t recognise what on earth he was talking about. There were no no-go areas, they cried. All a figment of the Bishop’s over-active imagination, apparently. ... Sigh.The end of Western Civilization will require the almost simultaneous end of its two centuries old allies and historical greats, the UK and the USA. Continental Europe is already toast as a pillar of Western thought and practice.
The Sunday Telegraph, which ran an opinion poll on the subject, also reported the following:Church leaders in communities with large concentrations of Muslims said that Christians were being targeted. An east London vicar who had delivered Christmas leaflets in his parish said he was told to stay away from ‘Muslim areas’. He said: ‘Despite this being a mixed area, where Muslims make up only about 15 per cent of the population, I was told that the leaflets were offensive and could make people angry.’Another churchman said his path had been blocked by Muslim youths as he drove through a district of Oldham, Lancashire, last year. ‘They wanted to know why I was coming into “their” area,’ he said.
MIDDLE EAST:
Three contributions -1. The Palestinian “right of return” entered the lexicon of American policymakers in December 2006, when the Iraq Study Group Report urged the U.S. government to support Israel-Palestinian negotiations that addresses what it termed a “key final status issue.” ...Even though the Israel in Israel since 1948 is not the true Israel of the Hebrew bible or its prophesies, that Israel is indeed the secular image of the biblical Israel and that alone should cause us to be her long-suffering ally.
A year later, White House deputy press secretary Dana Perino adopted the term, though without much notice. Out of seemingly nowhere, she informed journalists at a press briefing on November 28, 2007 that “The right of return issue is a part of the road map and it's going to be one of the issues that the Israelis and the Palestinians have to talk about during … negotiations.”
Indeed, on schedule, “right of return” emerged as a motif before and during George W. Bush’s recent trip to Israel and the Palestinian Authority, when he mentioned it three time ... [Front Page Magazine]2. Coinciding with Bush's trip, the Bush administration in Washington notified Congress on Monday that it will offer Saudi Arabia the chance to buy sophisticated Joint Direct Attack Munitions — or "smart bomb" — technology and related equipment, the State Department said. [AFP]Any one recall the Mujahideen and the military equip the USA provided them to fight the Soviets with? Does the word Afghanistan mean anything to you? In a future conflict these weapons can be used against Israel just as easily as Iran ... which is Islamic, which is Jewish?3. Israel and the Palestinians opened on Monday their most serious peace talks in seven years despite differences over what each side aims to achieve. [Reuters]Anyone remember Paul's words regarding the Last Days?"Now as to the times and the epochs, brethren, you have no need of anything to be written to you. For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. While they are saying, "Peace and safety!" then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief; for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness; so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober."You say the USA wouldn't stand for it! Remember Iran under the Shah before Iran, and Iraq before Desert Storm? Remember the US Embassy crisis in Tehran? Come on, wake up!1 Thessalonians 5:1-6
ADULTERERS, APOSTATES, MOCKERS, etc.:
Examples only, but representative of numerous others in the past couple of years ...NBC Show Criticized for Portraying Christians as Violent 'Bible Thumpers'You may think this is an overreaction to events common to our age and fallen culture ... okay! But remember, these are items occurring in only the past 24 hours on one blogger's news feeds. Hardly insignificant ... multiply these by the hundreds of feeds of the past 365 days, as compared to 365 day period say 50 years ago!
Wally the Wiener Fights Porn - XXX Church uses porn to fight porn (next week free hypodermic needles)
Megachurch leader charged with perjury - A warrant for the arrest of 80-year-old Archbishop Earl Paulk, co-founder of Cathedral of the Holy Spirit at Chapel Hill Harvester Church, was issued Monday, according to court documents.
Monday, September 03, 2007
TERROR: I told you so!
I recently posted on the foolish, immature, short-sighted, appeasing mentality of Western bureaucrats ... and I warned that the recent release of the Korean hostages, through bribery, would only embolden the terrorists.Afghanistan's Taliban plan to abduct and kill more nationals from foreign countries whose troops serve under NATO and the U.S. military in the country, a spokesman for the Islamic movement warned on Monday."Whose troops serve"! How blind our leaders have become; how earnestly they desire to repeat history.The vow comes just days after the Taliban released 19 South Korean hostages after their government struck a deal that critics said sets a dangerous precedent that could spur more kidnappings and make life even more dangerous for foreigners.The West simply doesn't grasp or understand the mind and heart of a terrorist; their juvenile, psychobabblistic thinking paints them into corner after corner. And they consider themselves educated men and women ... they may be, but they lack what I know as common sense."We consider it (kidnapping) as an arm that can help us in imparting a blow to the enemy," Taliban spokesman Qari Mohammad Yousuf told Reuters by telephone from an undisclosed location.For the most part they idolize hate, and they covet the image of fear in an enemies eyes! What else could you expect from someone who has nothing but an AK-47 or an RPG to their name; and the promise of three unearned meals a day.
Friday, August 03, 2007
GEOPOLITICS: What the future might hold!
Prior to subscribing to The Brussels Journal I thought I was well-versed in global geopolitics ... now I see that to have been a false positive; I'm about as well-versed in global geopolitics as compared to the thinkers at TBJ as a Washington page is well-versed in insider politics when compared to Newt Gingrich.In an earlier essay I noted that the preponderant nature of war had been changing over the past half century or so, from international wars between states to civil wars within states. History does not suggest that this state of affairs will continue forever. Indeed, liberal democracy faces currently two major challenges: (A) the terrorism emanating from radical Islam and (B) the renewed rise of non-democratic great powers. The first threat is the more immediate one. But, it is the lesser of the two, because it originates in stagnant and backward societies that are largely living on the economic rent from natural resources and that pose no military threat to developed societies. However, their potential use of acquired weapons of mass destruction does present a serious and growing menace. Nevertheless, it is the second threat in the form of the return of authoritarian great powers (specifically China and Russia), that is likely to be the major threat to liberal democracy’s survival in the foreseeable future.I would not have given as much thought to the realities stated in th above five years ago, as I must now! I was partially blinded by my concern over the radical nature of Muhammadan fanaticism and their amoral view of the sanctity of human life.
The difference between that threat and the threat of a non-democratic superpower is clearly revealed in the words of the paragraph above ... "stagnant and backward societies that are largely living on the economic rent from natural resources." Add to that the educational vacuum of their oppressed masses and you see why they are no longterm global threat. My bad.
Meanwhile the old Sino-Soviet bloc really is a threat; like all Christians, I just needed to wake up!
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Wednesday, August 01, 2007
ACHTUNG: Christians, give heed to the EU!
Three links from The Brussels Journal ...
Why liberals love the EU model ...In other words total fascist control ... different name, different face, but the same freedom eating state politik.Liberal politicians, like Hillary Clinton, envy Western Europe for its welfare state. They tell U.S. voters that a European-style welfare state is needed to help the poor. In reality the motives of liberal politicians are not altruistic, but egotistical.
Welfare makes people dependent on the state. It is not a coincidence that liberalism and secularism are almost synonyms. Liberals want to replace God by the state.
Why Christians and conservatives should fear the EU model ...In other words: the old saw "as Europe goes, so goes the US" is not a joke.Years ago, 180 sisters of the Catholic order of the Sisters of the Divine Savior were the pulse of the city [of Mannheim, Germany]. Today, eight remain. Every weekend, roughly 150 Roman Catholics attend mass at the Liebfrauen Church, while up to 3,000 Muslims throng the Yavuz-Sultan-Selim mosque. Since the mosque was opened in 1995, Muslim shops and youth centers have become a magnet for the Muslim community.
Mannheim is not unique. Across Europe, the Continent's fastest-growing religion is establishing its public presence after decades in basements and courtyards, changing not only the architectural look of cities, but also their social fabrics. […]
And now, the third generation is building domed mosques with minarets. Only a handful existed 10 years ago, but today 159 mosques dot Germany today, with 184 under construction, […].
Why Americans should fear the ethics of the EU ...In other words: like Hitler's Germany, Mussolini's Italy, and Hirohito's Japan ... lie like hell, just win!The European Union’s democratic deficit is notorious. [...] On top of all this, consider last week’s launch of the so-called Intergovernmental Conference to hash out the details of a “Reform Treaty” based on the agreement leaders reached at a summit in June.
It’s pretty much the same as the Constitutional Treaty that French and Dutch voters rejected two years ago. [...] The Reform Treaty is nothing but the old draft in a new guise to avoid another round of referendums. And as a result, the EU’s democratic deficit is not narrowing but widening.
HT: The Brussels Journal
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Friday, July 27, 2007
WESTERN CIVILIZATION: Sweet & Sour News!
No source links on this post, just this morning's news.
The SOUR report tells me Western Civilization is doomed and the Muhammadans are right!The Japanese love technology so much that now even sex toys are on the cutting edge, according to a report ...
The “gPod”, a phallic-shaped vibrator, is designed to respond automatically to sounds picked up by an accompanying handset, which can plug into anything from a telephone to a music player to a television.
... .“You can use it in many ways, for example hooking it up to your mobile phone,” said Ichiro Kameda, the machine's inventor. “The dildo vibrates through the same waves as a voice. So one of the ideas is that you can use it here in Tokyo when your boyfriend in New York is talking to you on the phone.”So if you're discussing business with your secretary and her eyes role and she seems to be drifting off ... you should fire her!
Then again, sometimes we see SWEET news that gives us hope ...A Painesville, Ohio, judge known for dishing out quirky sentences is making no bones about what he sees as a fowl crime.The irony of the name of the town is priceless! Go girl, go!
Municipal Judge Michael Cicconetti has ordered three men accused of soliciting prostitutes to wear chicken suits in lieu of a 30-day prison sentence, the Houston Chronicle reported.
... .
The alleged johns will also have to carry a sign saying, “No Chicken Ranch in Painesville,” a jab at the “World Famous Chicken Ranch” whorehouse in Nevada, the Houston Chronicle reported.
"We're trying to send a strong message that we won't tolerate this activity in the city," said Painesville probation supervisor David Washlock told the Chronicle.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
TROOPS: YouTube Video Says It All!
Regular readers know that I am often an irreverent preacher and operate outside other people's boxes; they also know that I have a low opinion of those with gutter-vocabularies. They should also know this fourth rendition of The SHEEP'S CRIB has as its primary focus - the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.That said, I am also a patriot and a supporter of the valuable job being done by our men and women in uniform ... this YouTube video has lousy language, but if you love our troops go watch it.
I accept the language because that's the way the lead character was in real life ... there's history involved afterall!
HT: FoxNews
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