Author: Daniel Greenfield One fine day religion died. Morality shortly followed it. Any values based on some antique prophets or philosophers went into the rubbish bin. The table was cleared and its blankness was the new world, the terra nova, the blank slate of a revolution in human ideas. Unfortunately there was nothing to actually put there. It had all been thrown away. What followed was a condensation. A Reader's Digest edition of all the moral codes that had come before it. The unnecessary sections were trimmed. The scissors were wielded mercilessly destroying everything... except for one thing. All that remained was victimology. Thousands of years of human thought, of civilizations grappling with the inner darkness and the outer light, of the angels and demons of human nature, of thoughts on government, duty and freedom were reduced to one endless reform movement forever battling to save the oppressed from an oppressor. Often the oppressor didn't exist. Sometimes the oppressor was an intangible notion, like whiteness of skin or the economic system that requires people to work for a living or the idea that nations should have borders. Every system must invariably delve within itself, building up abstractions and arming white knights of ghost and shadows to do battle with ideas of ideas. Victimology was no different. Victimology was elegantly simple. Its core premise was that we should all be nice to each other. Despite the reams of academese it wreathed itself in, it was absurdly free of content and context. It did not matter, at least initially, who you were or what you believed. The old arguments over which moral system was right were irrelevant. Religion even more so. All that mattered was being a good person. And a good person was someone who fought oppression, instead of actively oppressing or passively oppressing by entering a conversation without coming to terms with the conceptions of his own whiteness, his own maleness, his own heteroness or otherwise failing to check his own privilege at the doorway to the restaurant of Victimology where baked guilt was always on the menu. The old religions had been silly things relying on signs and wonders. The old philosophies with their ponderings and speculations, the old white men talking old white men talk to each other, even sillier. They had all failed to check their privilege and free the slaves, set up abortion clinics and teach gay teenagers that it gets better. They had, in short, produced nothing worthwhile except for the incessantly privilege-checking civilization they now lived in, its university in debt up to their ivory towered necks to build new campus buildings to house new administrative offices for the office of Transgender Equality, and its governments which were in even more debt to finance the universities and the billions in privileges checked, unchecked and signed away on the dotted line for wealth redistribution matrix. Victimology was better. Victimology was simple. You were either a good person or a bad person. And it was easy to tell which. Good people had Equal stickers on their cars. Bad people though equal was a sugar substitute instead of support for gay marriage. Good people wished they had the time to volunteer at a homeless shelter. Bad people wished that the homeless would stop urinating on their steps. Good people were broken up about all the suffering in the world. Bad people kept plopping out kids without even knowing about Nestle's depredations in Latin America or the history of the United Fruit Company or the plight of the uninsured. The best people of all however were victims. Some were survivors. Many were underprivileged. Others were overlooked. Most were unhappy and only privilege, the privilege that they fancied everyone else had and they didn't, could make them more vocally unhappy. The Western frontier had closed. The frontier of space had never opened. But Victimology had opened a great new frontier and all sorts of folks were coming through its gaping door. There were men who wanted to marry men and men who wanted to be women. There were men who wanted bakeries to sell them wedding cakes for their marriages to other men and called in the authorities when the bakeries wouldn't comply. Like the Rwandan orphans and the homeless and the migrant workers and the survivors of Disease X and the Somali family living in Maine on food stamps... they too were victims. Victimology had become theology. It didn't even need to be elaborate like Liberation Theology. It was a stark conflict between the victims and their oppressors. And if the victims sometimes looked like the oppressors and the oppressors like the victims, that was blasphemy and heresy. No one was burned at the stake for it, not counting the occasional tire necklaces in the homeland of one of the new religion's greatest triumphs, but they lost their jobs, their reputations and social standing. In an ironic twist, the very ideology that had torn down any connections between church and state, that had hunted down every one of Cecil B DeMille's Ten Commandments tablets, that threw conniption fits if somewhere students put their heads down for a moment of silence or a penny of government money was diverted from the vast educational bureaucracies of the public school system to a religious institution, had been instrumental in creating the new State Church of Victimology. The creed of Victimology had become supreme. Like all state churches, it overturned Freedom of Religion. Catholic and Jewish institutions were required to cover abortions to protect the victim, who was not, contrary to some expectations, the baby being killed. Wedding photographers were forced to participate in gay weddings. There was only one religion now and its prophet was an angry lawyer. There was to be no morality outside Victimology. There was to be no religion outside Victimology. For many liberal churches and synagogues, the transition was easy. They had already abandoned any of their old creeds for the smooth featureless creed of Victimology whose services were social work, whose prayers were protest chants, whose rites took place at the voting booth and whose holy day was April 15. (There is also a lesser holiday around the middle of January and Labor Day is a time to slap on a fresh "Unions Gave Us the 5-Day Work Week" bumper stickers on the Prius in your school faculty parking lot.) The generations raised under the shade of Victimology, like the children born into most religions, saw nothing wrong with any of this. Unlike most religions, Victimology was absurdly simple. It had its contradictions, but it had also mastered a glibness of rhetoric and a simplicity of slogan so that few would ever even notice. It was the religion of niceness. And wasn't that what all the religions had really been about? What could possibly be wrong with being nice to others... so long as they believed the same things you did or were victims of oppression which gave them license to believe they had the right to cut your head off while shouting Allah Akbar or Down With the White Devil or Tell the Truth About Area 51. Outwardly Victimology eliminated the context and the context was who got to decide who the oppressed and the oppressors were. Victimologists insisted that it was self-apparent. They wrote voluminous revisionist histories and their media outlets released a terrifying flood of news stories that were little more than Victimological propaganda so that the narrative was everywhere. And that helped keep Little Victimologists from wondering why the polar bears hadn't all died yet or stormed the California coast or why nothing seemed to ever fix race relations or why people who killed kids were the worst monsters ever... unless they were their mothers. Religion is in no small part narrative. It is the story of heroes and villains who convey values through their struggles. Victimology had countless heroes and villains and their narratives always conveyed values. Everything was politicized, which is to say it became religious. Not since the Puritans, had Americans been subject to this much religion in daily life, to this many witch hunts and so many witchfinders expert at identifying the inner struggle between good and evil in every aspect of daily life from breakfast cereal (Do you know what transporting oat flakes from Peru does to the planet?) to clothing (Do you know the company that makes that is against gay marriage) to just about anything (did you check your privilege before entering this trans-safe space?). America had once again become a religious nation. There was no God involved. But that was no longer needed. God, it turned out, was the collective liberal conscience of the well-to-do fighting to right wrongs while armed with prophetic morality and Vibram sneakers purchased through the local sporting goods co-op. And the church... was everywhere. There was no need to go to a special building at a special time. The worship services were going on everywhere all the time. They were taking place at work during your sensitivity training, they were there when you turned on the TV to see what was on and they followed you through your conversations, in the newspapers and books you read, on the radio, on the internet, the regulations you followed, your paycheck deduction tithes for wealth redistribution and all the many hypocrisies, fallacies and absurdities whose service you paid lip to. It was all very convenient, very modern and very American in its cheerful ubiquity. It had at its core that corporate faith in streamlining, in eliminating useless features, whether of toasters or religions, to give consumers only exactly what they wanted at a price that they would think was cheap. Victimology was what the same industrial processes that had simplified and broken down everything else had done to religion. It had taken the simplest, most practical and most understandable aspect of them, mixed in heavy doses of the Marxism that was popular around the time that modernism became an obsession, and distilled the ultimate modern religion. First there were the poor. And then there were the identity groups. And finally there was the whole planet groaning under the weight of the capitalism that had liberated the poor. Modernity had replaced God and it was forced to find a replacement for the devil as well. It had dispensed with the Angel of Death and so it made its own angel, not in the racks of nuclear bombs, but in the spirits of its ideas. Environmentalism was modernity's angel of death, its devil, its final destroyer. The bullet it fired into its own brain to undo itself once and for all. The Church of Victimology did to modern civilization what environmentalism did to industry. It was the bullet fired recklessly into its own brain. Victimology was an endless industrial-grade reform movement that never stopped. It was a guillotine with a billion knives that needed victims to keep going. The more victims it found, the bigger it got and the bigger it got, the more victims it needed. And for each victim, it needed oppressors to expose and denounce, to drag before the bar of justice and public opinion, to demean and to destroy. With its whole moral structure invested in victims, it couldn't be allowed to run out of them. It had to create them, to plant them on protected plantations, ply them with welfare checks and loose morals, or invent them out of whole cloth, drag them out of social movements and the frantic insanity of lunatic perverts. The more insane the whole thing became, the faster it had to spin the narrative to keep anyone from realizing that, and the more demented its Victimologist followers became. Victimology ate cities and then states and then entire countries. But what it was really eating was civilization. It was the mad superego of a mad civilization seeking a moral high in its own eventual martyrdom on the altar of the endlessly deferred suicidal principles that would destroy it. The Church of Victimology had been born by destroying all the ideas that came before. It was only fitting that it would not stop destroying until it had also destroyed everything that had come after it.
Source: the Sultan Knish blog - 09.29.2013
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[Related Article: Progressives and Blacks]
[Related Article: Obama's Thug America]
Month: September 2013
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The Church Of Victimology
The Church of Victimology -
Sinners In Hell
Sinners In HellAuthor: Ron Graham
Source: Rapture Ready
“He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not on the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.” (John 3:36)
Have you ever thought about what allows a person to live eternally with God, and why some will spend eternity in hell? There is a very simple answer. It almost seems too simple. Any Christian should know the answer to this, but with all of the false teaching around many people get confused. Do you think a person will spend eternity in hell because they sin?
[Related Article: The Sedgefield Community in Ashland, VA]No, there won’t be one single person in hell because they were sinners here on earth. A person will be in hell because of their rejection of the remedy that God provided to take away their sin. Jesus Christ paid the price and gave us a free gift. If you do not accept that gift then you have made your choice. All human beings, both Christians and non-Christians, are sinners and whether or not you want to admit it that’s just the simple truth. Yep, we’re all a bunch of sinners. The only reason some of us avoid hell is because we have said yes to God’s remedy. There is no other way.
[Related Article: Please Wake Up, Please!]Jesus the Christ is God’s only remedy, which will fully deflect our punishment. His only begotten Son paid the price for all of our sins past, present, and future.
[Related Article: Prayer Requests for Richmond, VA]“And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God.” (Hebrews 10:11-12)
The “Man” referred to in this passage is, of course, Jesus Christ. Since Jesus is the full payment for the sin of this world there is no other sacrifice available for forgiveness of sins. If you sin or should I say, when you sin, there is nothing you can do to make that right. You cannot do any works that will take that sin away. You cannot deny yourself food, you cannot say prewritten prayers, you cannot ascend a flight of stairs on your knees, nor can you go to a mere human to be absolved from your sin. There is nothing you can do to take that sin away. There is no other sacrifice than Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection that takes sin away. A person does not go to hell because of sin. Rejection of Jesus Christ is the reason for multitudes spending eternity in hell.
[Related Article: Repent Or Perish]Why reject the truth? Why reject something God made so easy to accept? Stubborn pride, self-will, believing lies instead of truth, and thinking that you are a good person who doesn’t need a Savior are just a few excuses. So many want to complicate what Jesus did, but the truth is, accepting His sacrifice is easy for us, but what Jesus accomplished on that cross was far from easy for Him.
“And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.” (Matthew 26:39)
Too often we focus on only one aspect of Jesus’ character. Either we see Him as just a man and forget that He was also fully God, or we see Him as God and forget that He became human. “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). When Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane prior to His arrest, He knew what He was about to face. Not only would He suffer pain and humiliation by the hands of His human tormentors, He would be standing in our place.
This means He bore our sins and for the first time He would be separated from God the Father.
[Related Article: Concerns for Company and Coworkers]“And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? That is to say My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?.” (Matthew 27:46)
The pain would pass, but the separation from God the Father was what He asked God to let pass from Him. Because we live sinful lives and every day we need to ask forgiveness we get used to this feeling of separation. We cannot possibly imagine how forsaken Christ felt as He hung on that cross, separated from God the Father, when He became sin in our stead.
There is no other sacrifice for sin. Jesus asked that God the Father would allow the cup to pass from Him if there was another way. But the cup did not pass from Him. There is no animal sacrifice that can take sin away, nor can praying while counting beads, or fasting, or anything that we try to do instead of accepting Christ’s free gift.
“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me.” (John 14:6)
That makes it very clear. There is no other way of salvation but through our faith in Jesus Christ and His finished work on the cross. Those who reject Jesus will remain unforgiven. When they die they will be sinners in hell. At that point there is no turning back.
[Related Article: Is Jesus Really the Only Way?]
In the verse from Matthew 26:39 above, we can hear the anguish of Jesus. He knew what was coming and His human nature wanted the company and support of His closest friends. He had asked Peter, James, and John to be with Him.
“Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with Me.” (Matthew 26:38)
Although it was Christ’s passion to die for His creation, He knew what He was facing. He wanted the support of His friends. We get an even clearer understanding of His agony from Luke:
“And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.” (Luke 22:44)
There was nothing easy about what He was about to face. Accepting His free gift of salvation may seem easy for us, but for Jesus there was nothing easy concerning what was involved in what He accomplished on that cross. It wasn’t the nails that held Him there; it was only His love for His creation that held Him on that cross until death.
We all sin, but those who have accepted Christ as their Savior, are forgiven. John wrote to fellow Christians:
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)This is not a license to sin. Paul makes it clear that our faith in Christ should make us not want to sin:
“What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?” (Romans 6:1-2) [Related Article: The Grace of God]Our desire needs to be to remove sin from our life. Christians do sin but when we ask forgiveness, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins. But we should hate sin in all its forms – thoughts, words, and deeds – and take no pleasure in it. As we draw nearer to Jesus, our desire for sin will diminish.
Many people who reject Christ just don’t understand the eternal consequences of their choice. Hell is temporary, but the judgment on sin is eternal. You don’t just cease to exist when you die and the torment you will feel is eternal. In Luke chapter 16 we read of an incident that Jesus told of a rich man who died and found himself in Hell. Before the cross there were two sides to Hell (also known as Sheol). There was the place where the faithful went, commonly known as Abraham’s Bosom. After Christ’s resurrection the faithful went with Him to Heaven. There is also the torment side where those who are not faithful go. It still exists and will be emptied at the White Throne Judgment.
[Related Article: Why Most People Will Reject Genuine Grace]“And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.” (Luke 16:23-24)
That doesn’t sound like a place anyone would choose to be. But it gets worse. When the final judgment comes at the Great White Throne Judgment, each person who does not have their name written in the Book of Life will be judged according to their works. Uh oh, that doesn’t sound good. In fact, it is worse than we can imagine.
“And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” (Revelation 20:15)
This punishment will be forever. This lake of fire is also the final destiny for the devil, the beast, and the false prophet “…and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.” (Revelation 20:10b)
“But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear Him, which after He hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, fear Him.” (Luke 12:5)
Who is it that has the power to cast a person into hell? It is true that Satan and his minions try their best to keep humans from accepting Christ, but he has no power of judgment. Only God will judge and His judgment is completely fair. He has told us in no uncertain terms what sin is and the penalty of sin. He has had mercy on us and has shown perfect love when He stepped into His creation to die on that cross for our salvation. He only asks us to believe.
So, what can we do? Yes there are sinners in hell, but their sin didn’t send them there. It was their choice to reject Christ’s sacrifice and it was that choice by which they condemned themselves to hell. What about today on this earth? Everyone sins whether we have accepted Christ’s free gift or not. The difference is that Christians have accepted God’s free gift…the only way for sin to be forgiven.
[Related Article: The Narrow Path]“The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29)
Only believing in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ can take sin away. Do you know someone who has not accepted this free gift? Today is when you need to talk with them. What about you? Do you have any doubts about your salvation? Will you be one of those unforgiven sinners in hell who rejected Christ?
Time is running out. Will the Rapture happen leaving you behind? Perhaps you will have an unexpected heart attack. If you or a loved one dies before accepting Christ, you will be one more sinner in hell. Don’t let that happen. Commit yourself to Jesus and talk to your friends and family now…tomorrow may be too late.
[Related Article: The Doctrine Of Repentance] -
Standing Against Richmond, VA
Richmond, VA and the Greater Richmond Area
Includes Ashland, Atlee, Elmont, Mechanicsville, Glen Allen, Short Pump, Sandston, Varina, Henrico County, Hanover County, and Metro Richmond.
Constitution of the United States, Amendment I:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.**************This site currently under construction***************[Related Article: The Sedgefield Community]
Jer 6:10 To whom shall I speak, and give warning, that they may hear? behold, their ear is uncircumcised [unholy, impure, carnal], and they cannot hearken: behold, the word of the LORD is unto them a reproach; they have no delight in it.
Jer 6:11 Therefore I am full of the fury of the LORD; I am weary with holding in...PRAYER REQUESTS: Richmond, VAIsa 55:6 Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:
Isa 55:7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
Please pray for a service tech. working for AHR Locksmith Service in Ashland. Pray that she would be convicted of sin, righteousness, and judgment. Pray for her deliverance and freedom from feminism and an antichrist spirit of pride, rebellion, and spiritual lawlessness.Please pray for the employees at HD Supply (Technology Dr. - Glen Allen). Pray that the Holy Spirit would bring conviction of sin, righteousness, and judgment. Please pray for the employees here who are enslaved by political and spiritual deception; and who are being crippled by the pride, arrogance, and rebellion which is captivating the Black communities of Richmond VA and the greater Richmond Area, including the counties of Hanover and Henrico....pray for those at this location who have been conditioned by an antichrist educational system, political system, and entertainment industry to embrace and believe the ungodly lies of the Feminist movement. Please pray for A. Bowles and J. Farmer.
[Related Article: Ten Lies of Feminism]
Total Hearth (N. Hamilton St.)...........Clint:
Orkin Pest Control (Leadbetter Pl. - Hanover Airpark) Please pray for the employees at this location, and the service techs. here. Pray for their conviction of sin, righteousness, and judgment. Pray that they would be delivered from antichrist spirits of pride, arrogance, and rebellion. Please pray that there would be accountability for the lawless and unsafe driving habits exhibited by those driving Orkin vehicles in the Richmond area....
Hanover Olympiad (Hanover Airpark) - Please pray for staff, management, and patrons...pray for their salvation and deliverance.
Please pray for those who are employed by McKesson (Landmark Rd.) in Richmond. Pray overall for the salvation of those who have been led astray by ungodly and antichrist worldviews (supporting abortion, homosexuality, atheism, evolution, liberalism, and secular-humanism). Pray for the spirit of lawlessness which I have documented being perpetuated by these employees as they reveal their ignorance and arrogance on Landmark Rd., Parham Rd., Staples Mill Rd., and Janway Rd.
Pray for those who are being crippled and enslaved by the pride, arrogance, and lawless rebellion within the Black community of Richmond, VA.
Related Article: The Delusional Among Us!Please pray for many of the service techs. at Tolley Electrical Corp. in Ashland. Pray for the salvation and deliverance of those who are either unable or unwilling to respect and adhere to the simplest of traffic laws. Pray that they would be convicted of sin, righteousness, and judgment. Pray for their deliverance from pride and arrogance; and that they would be set free from the antichrist worldviews and attitudes of the evil and corrupt world around us.
[Related Article: Concerns for Company and Coworkers]Please pray for some individuals at Hill Phoenix (Battery Brooke Pkwy.)...please pray for some who may or may not have entered this country legally; praying for deliverance from false doctrines. Please pray also for those who have been ensnared by the pride, rebellion, and spirit of lawlessness which is crippling the Black Community in Richmond, VA and the Greater Richmond Area.
Pray for Evergreen Enterprises (Midlothian Tnpk.) in Richmond. Please pray for employees who may or may not have entered this country legally. Pray that some of them would be delivered and set free from the heresy and false doctrines of Roman Catholicism. Please pray also for a number of employees at this location who have been led astray by the false religion of Buddhism. Pray for spiritual deliverance and genuine salvation through repentance and faith in the soul-cleansing death and literal, physical resurrection of Jesus Christ. Please remember to pray for the employees who have been led astray by the lies and deceptions of their religious and political leaders. Pray that they would be delivered from the spirits of pride, arrogance, and lawless rebellion which are crippling and enslaving the Black community of Richmond.
Jump Start (Carolina Ave.): Please pray for the employees at this location who have been led astray by the lies and deceptions of their religious, political, amd community leaders.
Please pray for the employees at Qubica / AMF in Mechanicsville. Please pray for those who are enslaved by antichrist spirits of pride, arrogance, and rebellion. Pray that they would be see the truth of God's word and be set free from the political and religious deception which is destroying our nation.
Please pray for the owners, management, and employees at Richmond Restaraunt Service, in Ashland, VA. Please pray for the employees here who have been led astray and deceived by the lies, propaganda, and false doctrines of their religious, political, and community leaders. Pray for a young woman in the Receiving office; please pray that she would be convicted of sin, righteousness, and judgement. Please pray that she would be delivered from the pride, arrogance, and lawless rebellion which is crippling and enslaving the Black community of Richmond VA, and the Greater Richmond Area, including Hanover and Henrico county.
[Related Article: Divorce and Remarriage; What Does the Bible Say?]
[Related Article: Deception In the Church]Wm. R. Hill & Co.:
North James Estates: Please pray for the residents at this location who have been crippled by the deceptions and lies of their spiritual, religious, and community leaders. Pray that they would be delivered from the rebellion, lawlessness, and arrogance which is enslaving the black community in Richmond.
Dominion Harvest (delivery driver)..................
Please pray for C. Wood (Henrico County), of Richmond. Pray that she would be convicted of sin, righteousness, and judgment; leading to repentance and genuine salvation in Jesus Christ.
Pray that she would be set free from a rebellious, proud, and arrogant heart. Pray also that she would be delivered from a spirit of Feminism which is crippling the hearts and minds of many women in the Richmond area.
Please pray that there will be genuine accountability in her life regarding her crazed and reckless driving habits (as documented on Parham Rd.)....B.W. Wilson -
GPS Cab - Please pray for a cab driver operating for this company. Pray for the safety of their passengers, and that the drivers would be convicted of sin, righteousness, and judgment. Pray that he would receive salvation and deliverance from arrogance and rebellion.
Hermitage Steel -
- Ball Office Products: please pray for some of the delivery drivers at this location. Pray that they would be convicted of sin, righteousness, and judgment. Pray for those who have been politically and spiritually deceived by their community and religious leaders. Pray that they would be delivered from spirits of arrogance and lawlessness....
Karn Custom Woodwork (Rhoadmiller St.) -
Please pray for an employee with J.W. Garner, Inc.......
Please pray for some of the drivers over at Airport Taxi in Richmond. Pray for their salvation and deliverance from pride, arrogance, and rebellion.
Please pray for A. Evans: please pray that this young woman would be delivered from an antichrist spirit. Pray that she would be convicted of sin, righteousness, and judgment; leading to genuine salvation (born-again relationship with Jesus Christ). Pray that she would be delivered from the pride, arrogance, and lawless rebellion which is crippling and enslaving the black communities of Richmond VA, and the Greater Richmond Area including the counties of Hanover and Henrico.
FSA Delivery (Carolina Ave):
Accent Draperies: Please pray for the employees at this location who have been enslaved and deceived by the political and spiritual deceptions of their religious and community leaders.
Please pray for the delivery drivers and internal staff at Accurate Courier Express in Metro Richmond. Pray especially for those who are blinded and ensnared by the lies and deceptions being promoted by their political, religious, and community leaders. Pray that these employees would be convicted by the Holy Spirit of sin, righteousness, and judgment leading to a genuine New Testament relationship with Jesus Christ and freedom from the pride, arrogance, and rebellion which is crippling the Black communities of Richmond VA and the Greater Richmond Area including the counties of Hanover and Henrico...
- Sansbury Bakery / World's Best Cheesecake: Please pray for the employees at this location who may or may not have entered this country legally. Pray for their deliverance from the satanic stronghold of false religion and rebellion.
- PPD (2200 Tomlynn St.): please pray for the young people employed here; praying for their deliverance from antichrist worldviews and teaching. pray for those who have been ensnared by the lies and deceptions of the Feminist agenda.
- Virginia Blood Services: .......
- Electrical Equipment Company in Metro Richmond:
- Please pray for a man employed at W. H. Stovall and Co. in Ashland. Pray for his conviction of sin, righteousness, and judgment. Pray that he would be delivered from arrogance and lawless behavior, and that he would repent and receive Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior.
Pray also for a woman working in the office at this location who is under the influence of a feminist spirit as evidenced by her arrogance and rebellion. Pray that she would repent and surrender her life to Jesus Christ.Please pray for Scott at East Coast Metals (N. Meadow St.)...pray that he would be convicted of sin, righteousness, and judgment. Pray that he would be set free from religious deception and ignorance. Pray that he would be delivered from spirits of pride and rebellion which are enslaving and manipulating his heart, mind, and conversation.
Please pray for Diane at Sherwin-Williams (Ownby Lane) in Richmond; praying for conviction of sin, righteousness, and judgment. Please pray that she will be delivered from spiritual darkness and receive Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior. Pray for her deliverance from a spirit of feminism.
Jer 6:16 Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.
Jer 6:17 Also I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet. But they said, We will not hearken.
Jer 6:18 Therefore hear, ye nations, and know, O congregation, what is among them.
Jer 6:19 Hear, O earth: behold, I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not hearkened unto My words, nor to My law, but rejected it.Please pray for staff and management at UCI/Hahn Automotive/Auto Value in Richmond VA (Rhoadmiller St.). Pray that the Holy Spirit would bring the conviction of sin, righteousness, and judgment upon this location. Pray for the individuals who are not saved; that they would repent and receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Pray for those who have been enslaved and deceived by the demonic lies of Feminism. Pray that there would be professional standards for the delivery drivers within the Auto Value division, and that the daily habitual habits of lawlessness and arrogance would be exposed and eliminated. (The ignorance and lawless arrogance of these delivery drivers can be found on Youtube). Pray for those who have been into captivity and ignorance by the lies and deceptions of their political, religious, and community leaders.
Related Article: Social Justice - Part One
Please pray for the employees at Hildrup Moving and Storage (Dabney Rd.). Pray that there would be conviction of sin, righteousness, and judgment upon the hearts and minds of all employed therein. Pray for the employees who have been led astray by the lies and deceptions of their religious, political, and community leaders...pray that they would be set free from the arrogance, pride, and lawlessness which is crippling and enslaving the black community of Richmond VA and the greater Richmond area including the counties of Hanover and Henrico.
Arrow Electronics (N. Lakeridge Pkwy.) in Ashland.......Wayne.........
Tarantin Industries, Inc. (Coach Rd.)............
Please pray for the management and staff at Color Tree Group (Tomlynn/Jaque St. and Villa Park Rd.). Pray for the conviction of sin, righteousness, and judgment. Pray for individuals working in the office who have been deceived and twisted by the lies and false doctrines of the Feminist movement. Please pray for those who have been led astray by the propaganda and deceptions of their religious, political, and community leaders. Pray for the deliverance of those who are under the influence of spirits of lawlessness and rebellion, as evidenced (and documented!) by their behavior and conduct on Dabney Rd., Tomlynn St., and Jaque St.
Please pray for the employees at K-2 Trophies (Jaque St.) Please pray for the young people here who have been enslaved and warped by the state-run educational system (evolution, atheism, homosexual agenda, feminism, and secular-humanism). Pray also for those who have been spiritually and mentally crippled by the lies and deceptions of their community, political, and religious leaders.
Please pray for a driver with Freedom Cab.....pray for conviction of sin, righteousness, and judgement. Pray for his salvation, and freedom from the pride, arrogance, and lawless rebellion which is crippling and enslaving the Black community in Richmond VA and the Greater Richmond Area, including the counties of Hanover and Henrico.
Please pray for some of the cab drivers employed by Airport Taxi...
[Related Article: Barack Obama: The Man Behind the Mask]
Please pray for the employees at the Sears Retail Outlet on Tomlynn St. Pray for those who have been led into captivity by the lies, propagandas, and deceptions of false doctrine, dead religion, and an antichrist politcal party. Pray for those who are enslaved by the demon spirits of pride, arrogance, and rebellion which are manifesting themselves within the Black communities of Richmond, VA and the greater Richmond Area including the counties of Hanover and Henrico.
Isa 59:1 Behold, the LORD'S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear:
Isa 59:2 But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.
Isa 59:3 For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness.
Isa 59:4 None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth: they trust in vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity.Pray for a woman driving for Care Van Transportation. Pray for her salvation and deliverance from the pride, arrogance, and rebellion which is crippling and enslaving the Black community of Richmond, VA. Pray for the safety of those who are being transported by her.
Jer 4:22 For my people are foolish, they have not known me; they are silly children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.
Pray for the management and employees at Air Conditioning Equipment Sales, Inc. (Impala Dr.).............
Please pray for the shipping/receiving crew at Direct Buy (West Creek Pkwy.) Pray for a young man at this location who has been led into a prison of ignorance and hate by the lies, deceptions, and propaganda of his religious, political, and community leaders.
REPENT OR PERISH, RICHMOND VA!You are NOT "good people"!Please pray for a salesman at Horizon Forest Products (Hermitage Rd.), praying for his repentance and salvation. Pray that he would be set free from an arrogant and lawless heart.
Please pray for D. Abad at a Walmart (Short Pump)....praying for her conviction of sin, righteousness, and judgment. Pray that she would be set free from a false religion and receive Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior.
Please pray for the management and employees at Dominion Technical Sales (Waco St.) Pray for a young woman working within the DTS office; pray that she would be convicted of sin, righteousness, and judgment leading to genuine salvation through Jesus Christ.
Jer 2:19 Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord GOD of hosts.
Jer 2:20 For of old time I have broken thy yoke, and burst thy bands; and thou saidst, I will not transgress; when upon every high hill and under every green tree thou wanderest, playing the harlot.Please pray for the sales, merchandising, and warehouse staff at Loveland Distributing Co. (Dabney Rd.).......
Please pray for management and employees at Amerisource Bergen (JEB Stuart Pkwy.) in Glen Allen. Pray for those who are ensnared by the spirits of pride, arrogance, and lawless rebellion - manifested by their behavior as they enter and exit the company property and also on J.E.B. Stuart Pkwy., and Brook Rd.
"...it’s so important to know this. In a time like this of tolerance…false teaching will always cry – “intolerance.” It’ll always say — “you’re being divisive; you’re being unloving; you’re being ungracious” — because it can only survive when it doesn’t get scrutinized. And it cries against any intolerance; it cries against any examination; any scrutiny, “just let us embrace each other; let’s love each other; let’s put all that behind us.”
False doctrine cries the loudest about unity. [So] listen carefully when you hear the cry for unity; because it may be the cover of false doctrine encroaching. And if ever we should follow 1st Thessalonians 5 and examine everything carefully (v.21) — it’s when somebody is crying ‘unity, love, and acceptance’”(Online source)." (Dr. John MacArthur)Please pray for a woman in the office at Liphart Steel (Rosedale St.)
A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land;
The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof?
(Jeremiah 5:30-31)Please pray for a delivery driver working in the West End for American Tire Distributors.
Manchester Industries -L. Pemberton.............
Jer 7:23-28 But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you.
But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward.
Since the day that your fathers came forth out of the land of Egypt unto this day I have even sent unto you all my servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them:
Yet they hearkened not unto me, nor inclined their ear, but hardened their neck: they did worse than their fathers.
Therefore thou shalt speak all these words unto them; but they will not hearken to thee: thou shalt also call unto them; but they will not answer thee.
But thou shalt say unto them, This is a nation that obeyeth not the voice of the LORD their God, nor receiveth correction: truth is perished, and is cut off from their mouth.Foster's Refrigeration, Heating, and Air Conditioning - service techs.
Unity In the Body of Christ...how then shall we answer the deception and false teachings that threaten our faith?
N.B. Handy (Ranco Rd.) - delivery drivers, warehouse staff
Richmond Housing and Redevelopment Authority - service/maintenance staff, employees, (conduct and behavior while operating city and personal vehicles (documented on Brook Rd., Hermitage Rd., etc.)
Isa 66:3 ...Yea, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations.
[B]Isa 66:4 [I]I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them; because when I called, none did answer; when I spake, they did not hear: but they did evil before mine eyes, and chose that in which I delighted not.Please pray for a delivery driver for Floramax....
Please pray for those employed by the City of Richmond working primarily out of the Parker Field location (located between N. Boulevard, Hermitage Rd, and Robin Hood Rd.) . Pray for a large number who have been deceived by the political and religious lies of heir community leaders. Pray that they would be delivered from spirits of pride, arrogance, and lawless rebellion which are leading the Black community of Richmond astray.
C L Electric (service techs)......
Alkat Electrical Contactors Inc., - please pray for one of their service techs...
McGeorge's Rolling Hills RV (Ashland):RELATED ARTICLES:
An Open Letter to Richmond, Va (pilgrimpassing.com)
Salvation (for Richmond VA) (Orble.com)
A Thanksgiving Message for Richmond VA (Orble.com)
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Central Planning, Evil, and Gun Control
The Central Planning Solution to EvilAuthor: Daniel Greenfield
Source: the Sultan Knish blog - 09.22.2013We are not a violent society. We are a society sheltered from violence. No one in Rwanda spends time wondering what kind of man would murder people. They probably live next door to him. If your neighborhood is diverse enough, you might be unfortunate enough to live next door to war criminals all the way from Eastern Europe to Africa.
Guns are how we misspell evil. Guns are how we avoid talking about the ugly realities of human nature while building sandcastles on the shores of utopia.
It's not about the fear of what one motivated maniac can do in a crowded place, but about the precariousness of liberal social control that the killing sprees imply.
The gun issue is about solving individual evil through central planning in a shelter big enough for everyone. A Gun Free Zone where everyone is a target and tries to live under the illusion that they aren't. A society where everyone is drawing peace signs on colored notepaper while waiting under their desks for the bomb to fall.
That brand of control isn't authority, it's authority in panic mode believing that if it imposes total zero tolerance control then there will be no more shootings. And every time the dumb paradigm is blown to bits with another shotgun, then the rush is on to reinforce it with more total zero control tolerance.
Zero tolerance for the Second Amendment makes sense. If you ban all guns, except for those in the hands of the 708,000 police officers, some of the 1.5 million members of the armed forces, the security guards at armored cars and banks, the bodyguards of celebrities who call for gun control, and any of the other people who need a gun to do their job, then you're sure to stop all shootings.So long as none of those millions of people, or their tens of millions of kids, spouses, parents, grandchildren, girlfriends, boyfriends, roommates and anyone else who has access to them and their living spaces, carries out one of those shootings.
But this isn't really about stopping shootings; it's about the belief that the problem isn't evil, but agency, that if we make sure that everyone who has guns is following government orders, then control will be asserted and the problem will stop.
It's the central planning solution to evil.
[Related Article: Stand Your Ground Against the Left]We'll never know the full number of people who were killed by Fast and Furious. We'll never know how many were killed by Obama's regime change operation in Libya, with repercussions in Mali and Syria. But everyone involved in that was following orders.
There was no individual agency, just agencies. There were orders to run guns to Mexico and the cartel gunmen who killed people had orders to shoot. There was nothing random or unpredictable about it.
Gun control is the assertion that the problem is not the guns; it's the lack of central planning for shooting people. It's the individual.
A few million people with little sleep, taut nerves and PTSD are not a problem so long as there is someone to give them orders. A hundred million people with guns and no orders is a major problem. Historically though it's millions of people with guns who follow orders who have been more of a problem than millions of people with guns who do not.
Moral agency is individual. You can't outsource it to a government and you wouldn't want to.
The bundle of impulses, the codes of character, the concepts of right and wrong, take place at the level of the individual.
Organizations do not sanctify this process. They do not lift it above its fallacies or do a very good job of keeping sociopaths and murderers from rising high enough to give orders.
[Related Article: Corporate Media and Gun Control Data]
Gun control does not control guns, it gives the illusion of controlling people, and when it fails those in authority are able to say that they did everything that they could short of giving people the ability to defend themselves.
We live under the rule of organizers, community and otherwise, committed to bringing their perfect state into being through the absolute control over people, and the violent acts of lone madmen are a reminder that such control is fleeting and that attempting to control a problem often makes it worse by removing the natural human crowd-sourced responses that would otherwise come into play.
[Related Article: The Psychopathology Of the Liberal Mind]
People do kill people and the only way to stop that is by killing them first. To a utopian this is a moral paradox that invalidates everything that came before it, but to everyone else, it's just life in a world where evil is a reality, not just a word.
Anyone who really hankers after a world without guns would do well to try the 12th Century which was not a nicer place for lack of guns. The same firepower that makes it possible for one homicidal maniac to kill a dozen unarmed people also makes it that much harder to recreate a world where a single family can rule over millions and one man in armor can terrify hundreds of peasants.
Putting miniature cannons in the hands of every peasant made the American Revolution possible. The ideals of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution would have meant very little without an army of ordinary men armed with weapons that made them a match for the superior organization and numbers of a world power.
Would Thomas Jefferson, the abiding figurehead of the Democratic Party, who famously wrote, "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants", really have shuddered at the idea of peasants with assault rifles, or would he have grinned at the playing field being leveled?
But the Democratic Party is no longer the party of Thomas Jefferson. It's the party of King George III. And it doesn't like the idea of armed peasants, not because an occasional peasants goes on a shooting spree, but because like a certain dead mad king who liked to talk to trees, it believes that government power comes before individual liberty. Like that dead king, it believes that it means this for the benefit of the peasants who will be better off being told what to do.
The question is the old elemental one about government control and individual agency. And tragedies like the one that just happened take us back to the equally old question of whether individual liberty is a better defense against human evil than the entrenched organizations of government.
[Related Article: Catastrophic Failure Of Human Government]
Do we want a society run by kings and princes who commit atrocities according to a plan for a better society, or by peasants with machine guns? The kings can promise us a world without evil, but the peasant with a machine gun promises us that we can protect ourselves from evil when it comes calling.
It isn't really guns that the gun controllers are afraid of; it's a country where individual agency is still superior to organized control, where the trains don't run on time and orders don't mean anything. It's afraid of individual power.
Evil finds heavy firepower appealing, but the firepower works both ways.
A world where the peasants have assault rifles is a world where peasant no longer means a man without any rights. And while it may also mean the occasional brutal shooting spree, those sprees tend to happen in the outposts of utopia, the gun-free zones with zero tolerance for firearms. An occasional peasant may go on a killing spree, but a society where the peasants are all armed is also far more able to stop such a thing without waiting for the men-at-arms to be dispatched from the castle.
An armed society spends more time stopping evil than contemplating it. It is the disarmed society that is always contemplating it as a thing beyond its control.
Helpless people must find something to think about while waiting for their kings and princes to do something about the killing. Instead of doing something about it themselves, they blame the freedom that left the killer free to kill, instead of the lack of freedom that prevented them from being able to stop him.
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Choose Your Path
The Narrow PathAuthor: Ron Graham
Source: Rapture Ready“Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide [is] the gate, and broad [is] the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait [is] the gate, and narrow [is] the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it,” (Matthew 7:13-14)
In the days when Jesus walked the shores of Galilee it was notable that the roads leading into the larger cities were broad allowing a huge throng of travelers to enter together. There were also narrow pathways with even narrower gates for entering such cities unobserved, and according to Jesus’ statement few enter in through that narrow gate. What Jesus is alluding to here is that many people will choose to travel the wide path, that’s those that are of the world. People who are unconcerned with God or their eternal salvation are who Jesus is talking about. They are only concerned with the daily grind of getting ahead, what they can glean out of this life, “what’s in it for me” type of attitude. “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God,” 1 Corinthians 1:18. They are blinded from the truth of the Gospel of Christ. They see no benefit in following Jesus’ teachings. They pay no attention to the idea of dying someday. They only wish to pursue pleasures that keep them content for the day. “For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness,” 1 Corinthians 3:19.
[Related Article: The Sedgefield Community]The highway which leads to death is broad and multitudes travel that path. It is a great highway in which most people will never come to realize its destructive powers. They fall into following that destructive path easily and they are persuaded of its allure by others who have already made it their life’s path. Leaving that path takes a special kind of thinking. Those who are perishing for the most part have no concept what awaits them at the end of that wide path. [Related Article: Praying for Richmond, VA]
Christ has laid out for us in advance how we are to enter into Heaven, we must enter through Him, and He tells us it won’t be easy to follow His path, “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution,” 2 Timothy 3:12. Following Jesus won’t be a cake walk. We must understand that entering in through the narrow gate and following Jesus Christ will lead to persecution and hatred from those who are still on the wide highway, many of which may well be family members of whom we love.
Everyday we are fed lies that are designed to keep us off the straight path and away from the narrow gate; this is in direct opposition to the Gospel of Christ. Through movies and television, the leftist news media, the internet, and our humanistic public schools, we are taught there is no such thing as God. In the view of secular scientists there is no other path to take other than the wide path. In their way of thinking the straight path and the narrow gate aren’t even an alternative. “There just isn’t any truth in the Bible” they say. “It’s antiquated and not reliable, stay away from it.” As you can see, people are programmed from an early age to travel the path that leads to destruction.
[Related Article: Hell Bound]With Jesus’ words taken from Matthew 7, it is clear that for a huge multitude of people what awaits them is everlasting torment once they leave this world. Why? Because they couldn’t reconcile themselves to the truth and make a lane change. For a select few in comparison, there will be everlasting life in Heaven with our LORD and Savior Jesus Christ. This is so, because we followers of Jesus Christ persevered in the face of adversity. We are admonished to hold fast to the faith. “Let us hold fast the profession of [our] faith without wavering; (for he [is] faithful that promised),” Hebrews 10:23.
There is a joy that goes along with our salvation which is frankly difficult to explain to non believers. But aside from that joy, we have God’s assurance that for those of us who have elected to travel the straight path and enter in through the narrow gate, Heaven awaits.
Hell, on the other hand doesn’t conjure up any joy whatsoever. Some foolish people make the comment, “Oh well, I’ll be with friends.” Nowhere in the scriptures are we told that Hell will be an everlasting keg party in the park. No, Jesus tells us in the Gospel of Matthew what Hell is, “The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity… And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth,” Matthew 13:41, 42. Jesus uses this phrase (wailing and gnashing of teeth) six times in the Gospel of Matthew. Therefore it must be quite significant. Hell is described as a lake of fire created for Satan and his angels. Hell was not created for man nor will God send anyone there. Those whose final destination is Hell will only have themselves to blame, not God. Adam and Eve’s rebellion led to Gods creation being cursed, and because man sinned, God dealt with it. God gives everyone on the face of this planet ample advance notice of the two destinations of which one or the other awaits us all.
In Heaven we will be surrounded by indescribable beauty and a magnificence that is beyond our wildest dreams. There will be no sorrow or pain, and shortly after our arrival, no more tears, we’ll have no complaints, only pure joy and splendor with the one and only true God of the universe.
Hell on the other hand is the ultimate in everlasting suffering. It is a place where no one in their right mind would ever choose to go. Yet it’s a place where everyone, through their own resolve, will end up for eternity if there is no repentance and acceptance of Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. For those who don't get the concept of an eternity in Hell let me explain. Going to Hell isn’t just a life sentence such as going to prison; it’s an eternal sentence with no possibility of a reprieve from the Governor, or in this case Jesus Christ our LORD. Since we’re told its everlasting that’s what I believe. Some will try to say that everlasting only means for a while. Jesus Himself uses the word everlasting four times in the Gospel of Matthew. The Greek word is aiōnios, when translated into English we get the following meanings: for ever, an unbroken age, perpetuity of time, eternity. Therefore there’s no reason to assume that those who find themselves in Hell for eternity, all because of their foolish pride, arrogance, lack of faith will ever be released from that horrible torment.
[Related Article: Is Punishment Eternal?]Narrow path or wide highway, it's a choice we must make and there is no middle ground. It’s kind of like the television game show the Price Is Right only there’s just two doors to choose from, door number 1 and door number 2. But unlike the game show, what’s behind each door is in plain view for everyone to see, and everyone on the face of this planet will play.
“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me,” John 14:6. If we choose to travel that wide path, that worldly path, that path that will lead us to destruction, we have no excuse because it was our choice. Just like the game show above, we made our choice freely. Wouldn’t it be better to choose the strait path and enter in through the narrow gate that is Christ Jesus our Lord in whom we receive eternal life?
When we die our choices are over. The very instant we die we will either be with our Lord Jesus in Heaven or in Hell for all of eternity. Don’t let anyone fool you into believing that our paths are pre-determined; we must decide for ourselves which course we are going to take, and nothing is more important than our eternal salvation. Remember this no one knows what tomorrow will bring. As fragile as these bodies of ours are, today could be the very day we enter into eternity.
[Related Article: A Fly For Oscar]“He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God,” John 3:18. Which path will you take?
The wise choose Jesus. The foolish choose…well, you know.
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The Federal Reserve (25 Facts)
25 Fast Facts About The Federal ReservePlease Share With Everyone You KnowAuthor: Michael Snyder
Source: The Economic Collapse - 09.15.2013
As we approach the 100 year anniversary of the creation of the Federal Reserve, it is absolutely imperative that we get the American people to understand that the Fed is at the very heart of our economic problems. It is a system of money that was created by the bankers and that operates for the benefit of the bankers. The American people like to think that we have a "democratic system", but there is nothing "democratic" about the Federal Reserve. Unelected, unaccountable central planners from a private central bank run our financial system and manage our economy. There is a reason why financial markets respond with a yawn when Barack Obama says something about the economy, but they swing wildly whenever Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke opens his mouth. The Federal Reserve has far more power over the U.S. economy than anyone else does by a huge margin. The Fed is the biggest Ponzi scheme in the history of the world, and if the American people truly understood how it really works, they would be screaming for it to be abolished immediately. The following are 25 fast facts about the Federal Reserve that everyone should know...
#1 The greatest period of economic growth in U.S. history was when there was no central bank.
#2 The United States never had a persistent, ongoing problem with inflation until the Federal Reserve was created. In the century before the Federal Reserve was created, the average annual rate of inflation was about half a percent. In the century since the Federal Reserve was created, the average annual rate of inflation has been about 3.5 percent, and it would be even higher than that if the inflation numbers were not being so grossly manipulated.
#3 Even using the official numbers, the value of the U.S. dollar has declined by more than 95 percent since the Federal Reserve was created nearly 100 years ago.
#4 The secret November 1910 gathering at Jekyll Island, Georgia during which the plan for the Federal Reserve was hatched was attended by U.S. Senator Nelson W. Aldrich, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury Department A.P. Andrews and a whole host of representatives from the upper crust of the Wall Street banking establishment.
#5 In 1913, Congress was promised that if the Federal Reserve Act was passed that it would eliminate the business cycle.
#6 The following comes directly from the Fed's official mission statement: "To provide the nation with a safer, more flexible, and more stable monetary and financial system. Over the years, its role in banking and the economy has expanded."
#7 It was not an accident that a permanent income tax was also introduced the same year when the Federal Reserve system was established. The whole idea was to transfer wealth from our pockets to the federal government and from the federal government to the bankers.
#8 Within 20 years of the creation of the Federal Reserve, the U.S. economy was plunged into the Great Depression.
#9 If you can believe it, there have been 10 different economic recessions since 1950. The Federal Reserve created the "dotcom bubble", the Federal Reserve created the "housing bubble" and now it has created the largest bond bubble in the history of the planet.
#10 According to an official government report, the Federal Reserve made 16.1 trillion dollars in secret loans to the big banks during the last financial crisis. The following is a list of loan recipients that was taken directly from page 131 of the report...
Citigroup - $2.513 trillion
Morgan Stanley - $2.041 trillion
Merrill Lynch - $1.949 trillion
Bank of America - $1.344 trillion
Barclays PLC - $868 billion
Bear Sterns - $853 billion
Goldman Sachs - $814 billion
Royal Bank of Scotland - $541 billion
JP Morgan Chase - $391 billion
Deutsche Bank - $354 billion
UBS - $287 billion
Credit Suisse - $262 billion
Lehman Brothers - $183 billion
Bank of Scotland - $181 billion
BNP Paribas - $175 billion
Wells Fargo - $159 billion
Dexia - $159 billion
Wachovia - $142 billion
Dresdner Bank - $135 billion
Societe Generale - $124 billion
"All Other Borrowers" - $2.639 trillion#11 The Federal Reserve also paid those big banks $659.4 million in fees to help "administer" those secret loans.
#12 The Federal Reserve has created approximately 2.75 trillion dollars out of thin air and injected it into the financial system over the past five years. This has allowed the stock market to soar to unprecedented heights, but it has also caused our financial system to become extremely unstable.
#13 We were told that the purpose of quantitative easing is to help "stimulate the economy", but today the Federal Reserve is actually paying the big banks not to lend out 1.8 trillion dollars in "excess reserves" that they have parked at the Fed.
#14 Quantitative easing overwhelming benefits those that own stocks and other financial investments. In other words, quantitative easing overwhelmingly favors the very wealthy. Even Barack Obama has admitted that 95 percent of the income gains since he has been president have gone to the top one percent of income earners.
#15 The gap between the top one percent and the rest of the country is now the greatest that it has been since the 1920s.
#16 The Federal Reserve has argued vehemently in federal court that it is "not an agency" of the federal government and therefore not subject to the Freedom of Information Act.
#17 The Federal Reserve openly admits that the 12 regional Federal Reserve banks are organized "much like private corporations".
#18 The regional Federal Reserve banks issue shares of stock to the "member banks" that own them.
#19 The Federal Reserve system greatly favors the biggest banks. Back in 1970, the five largest U.S. banks held 17 percent of all U.S. banking industry assets. Today, the five largest U.S. banks hold 52 percent of all U.S. banking industry assets.
#20 The Federal Reserve is supposed to "regulate" the big banks, but it has done nothing to stop a 441 trillion dollar interest rate derivatives bubble from inflating which could absolutely devastate our entire financial system.
#21 The Federal Reserve was designed to be a perpetual debt machine. The bankers that designed it intended to trap the U.S. government in a perpetual debt spiral from which it could never possibly escape. Since the Federal Reserve was established nearly 100 years ago, the U.S. national debt has gotten more than 5000 times larger.
#22 The U.S. government will spend more than 400 billion dollars just on interest on the national debt this year.
#23 If the average rate of interest on U.S. government debt rises to just 6 percent (and it has been much higher than that in the past), we will be paying out more than a trillion dollars a year just in interest on the national debt.
#24 According to Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution, the U.S. Congress is the one that is supposed to have the authority to "coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures". So exactly why is the Federal Reserve doing it?#25 There are plenty of possible alternative financial systems, but at this point all 187 nations that belong to the IMF have a central bank. Are we supposed to believe that this is just some sort of a bizarre coincidence?
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...That None Should Perish
That None Should PerishAuthor: Ron Graham
Source: Rapture Ready“Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord GOD: and not that he should return from his ways, and live?” (Ezekiel 18:23) Are you wondering why Jesus is tarrying and not retuning right now for His Church? The answer is stated above by God Himself. God takes no pleasure in knowing the wicked perish.
God knows who will come to a saving relationship with His Son Jesus and who won’t. Each day that passes is another day that someone becomes a new creation in Christ and will join the rest of us in the Rapture. You and I can’t see all those who are being saved on a daily basis, but know this, not one day passes that there isn’t rejoicing in Heaven because someone has accepted Christ as their savior.[Related Article: Prayer Requests for the Sedgefield Community]
Think back, if you will, to the day you were saved, I’m sure most of us who are born again can remember that exact day. Now go back one more day, what if the Lord would have come for His Church on that day? Where would you be right now? I’ve often asked myself that same question whenever I sit and ponder why He tarries. It’s humbling to come to the correct conclusion of just why Jesus hasn’t returned yet. There are still those who will be saved, and thank God for that.
I have many family members and friends, as I’m sure many reading this commentary have who still need to come to the truth of the Gospel of Christ. My prayer is that all of those I’ve mentioned would be saved before it’s too late, but I know there’s a time coming in the very near future when God will not allow any more time to pass. That’s a sad thing to contemplate when we know so many aren’t ready. We rejoice in the fact that the Rapture of the Church can happen at any moment, but what about all those who have continued to reject Christ to that point?
[Related Article: Repent or Perish, by Rev. J. Melton]
“For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.”
(Romans 11:25)
Although we don’t know how long it will take for this complete fullness to occur, all the signs point to it happening very soon now. God alone knows who those individuals are who will make a profession of faith in Christ before it’s too late. Perhaps the next person you approach with the Gospel of Christ will be that last person God is waiting for. We should all appreciate the fact that there is an exact number of people who will be saved before Jesus Christ pulls His Church out of harm’s way, and only God knows that number.“Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water,” (1Peter 3:20)
God waited 120 years after telling Noah to build the Ark for that evil generation of people to repent. We know, historically, God sent the flood to destroy them. Why? His patience had run out. Only eight people were spared the calamity that befell earth.
God gave the Assyrians four-hundred years to repent; He stayed His mighty hand and allowed Israel to become slaves under Egyptian rule. Alas no repentance from the Assyrians was forth coming so God finally freed the Israelites and instructed them to take the land of the Assyrians and put them to death. Israel, by disobeying God and not wiping out the Assyrians, were given a “thorn in the flesh” as the Assyrians continually harassed and warred against them.
God sent Jonah to Nineveh to warn them of the coming wrath of God. They repented and God stayed His mighty hand. In time Nineveh returned to the evil it once embraced and God finally followed through with His promise and wiped out that once great city.
We know that the Israelites were time and again disobedient to God, and God chastised them for their disobedience. They would return to fellowship with God for a while but only to fall back into their old wicked ways and down would come the hammer again. “The LORD is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked,” (Nahum 1:3) The Israelites are Gods chosen people, the apple of His eye, but they too are running out of time.
Through all this rebellion it’s obvious God is longsuffering, and patient. “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9)
Old Testament or New, our God is always the same, and He’s patiently waiting to accept His Children into His Kingdom. But one day that patience will run out, and then the Church will be raptured. Left behind will be all those who tried God’s patience to the furthest extreme, basically pushing the envelope just a mite too far. [Related Article: Salvation for Richmond, VA]
Life doesn’t need to end that way for anyone. But there needs to be a change in people’s hearts, a change of mind and of direction for those who are perishing. Today we see coldness in the hearts of many in our society. The uncaring, unfeeling people with one intent in mind–it’s the pursuit for that gold cup of wealth and prosperity to the exclusion of all else. Why is it so very important to obtain so much wealth that we can’t begin to spend it, just to leave it behind when we die? God on the other hand is waiting for us to lose interest in earthly riches and pursue the riches that can only be spent in Heaven. Where is your treasure?
Jesus is waiting for everyone who is procrastinating to come to that point where they turn from the love of self, riches, and fame, and turn to the love of God. How long will He wait? Those who have made it their purpose in life to disparage God’s word, or to completely disregard the warnings of their pending destruction are increasingly playing with fire, the Lake of Fire that is. People have turned their backs on God to live a life of debauchery, fornication, homosexuality, greed, hate, malice, you name it. If it isn’t something God’s word promotes as righteousness then it is an abomination to God. Yet He’s patient to wait for those who seem to be stuck in these lifestyles to come out and begin a new life in Christ.
It’s a scary thought to think of anyone going to Hell. Family members who have come to the erroneous conclusion that there is no God, or that they have been basically good all their lives and so God won’t send them to Hell, heard this lie perpetuated by those who follow Satan himself, and they’ve fallen for it. I know many in my family are living under that same delusion. What a burden this places on the hearts of believers. God’s waiting because He doesn’t wish that any should perish. But how long will He wait?
God is patient and longsuffering, we understand that, but at some point we must also realize He will have had enough. He’s shown us many times through His favored nation, Israel, as well as the other nations that I mentioned previously, that He can and will run out of patience. What will that mean to those who haven’t put their faith and trust in His only begotten Son? For the majority of those individuals left on planet earth to cope, there will be utter destruction as a finale. A few will come to repentance and believe, but most certainly Satan will get the lion’s share.
When we read that God wants none to perish we must realize that it’s not His decision to send anyone to Hell. That decision lies in the laps of each individual on the face of this planet. So many have cursed God because they believe He’s at fault, that He damns people to Hell, that He is unloving and unfeeling.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
(John 3:16)
That scripture verse doesn’t sound unloving or unfeeling to me, but full of love, God’s love which transcends all love.God loves everyone in the world, not just those who are already saved. We humans are at fault for our disobedience to God and consequently at risk of eternal punishment in the Lake of Fire. The world blames God for every little stubbed toe, not realizing that it’s God who holds the universe in the palm of His hand. The world portrays God in an erroneous way, and people must come to understand that the world’s view is not correct, and the sooner the better. The sooner the change of mind (repentance) happens, the result will be everlasting. After all tomorrow may be too late.
I know many have a very difficult time believing in a God who has created a place like Hell, but God didn’t create Hell for human kind. God created Hell for Satan and all the fallen angels that rebelled against God. They have no choice where they will spend eternity, but we have. God makes it clear that we must make the correct choice. It takes a little thought, it takes a little understanding, and it takes a heart changed for God. All one must do to be saved is “that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.” (John 6:29)
The Greek word pisteuo, which is translated “believe” in English, is used in the Gospel of John ninety-nine times. Believing in the One God sent is the only prerequisite for salvation. People have had access to the English Bible for some four-hundred years now. There is no reason except for unbelief and disobedience, that anyone still living should reject the truth of the scriptures. “And He marveled because of their unbelief,” (Mark 6:6) Unbelief is a difficult thing to comprehend, even so, quite prevalent in all societies today.
Where do you stand? If you’re a born again believer in Christ that’s wonderful, praise God! But wait just a minute, where do your family members and your friends stand? God won’t wait forever.
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The Myth of Moderate Islam
The Mirage of Moderate IslamAuthor: Daniel Greenfield
Source: the Sultan Knish blog - 08.19.2012Travelers across the vast stretches of the Arabian Desert have been known to get lost and, in their thirst and exhaustion, hallucinate oases with palm trees and flowing water. Western policymakers lost in the vast stretches of madness that define the Muslim world are even more wont to hallucinate the oasis of a moderate Islam to take refuge in. Whether you're dying for a drink or a way to reaffirm your reality, a mirage is sometimes the only way you can find it.
Moderate Islam is a mirage, a projection by desperate Westerners of their own values and culture onto an entirely different religion and culture. It is a mirage that many Muslims are eager to uphold, in the same way that desert merchants might sell goblets and bowls of sand to passing travelers foolish enough to confuse water with dust. And, like travelers who think they are drinking water, when they are actually swallowing sand, it is a deception that will eventually kill the deceived.
[Related Article: What Is Islam?]
When the Western cultural elite look at Islam, they see what they have to see to avoid falling into crisis mode. Like the traveler who would rather choke on sand, than face up to the fact that he is lost in a desert, they would rather keep most things as they are, even at the cost of the extinction of the nations they preside over, than confront the full scope of the threat surrounding them. A threat that they had a hand in nurturing and feeding in the name of goals that seemed to make sense at the time.
It is easier to segregate a "Bad Islam" composed of a tiny minority of extremists from the generally "Good Islam" of the rulers of the Muslim world and the waves of Muslim immigrants washing up on their shores. This segregation has no objective reality, and is nothing but a psychological defense mechanism against experiencing the full reality of a disaster. From the Titanic to World War II, there are numerous similar situations in which the people in charge chose to ignore a growing crisis at a horrific cost.
The two primary paradigms through which Western political elites see Islam, are that of tyranny on the right, and that of the evils of Western foreign policy on the left. Bush employed the former when he defined the problem as being one of tyranny, rather than Islam. Having defined the problem in terms of a majority of "Good Muslims" oppressed by "Bad Tyrants", Bush tried to liberate the former from the latter, only to discover that there was a good deal of overlap between the two. Under Obama, we have seen the left implement its own construct of Islam, as popular resistance movements against colonial oppression, who are reacting to the evils of American foreign policy. This knee-jerk Marxist formula goes one worse than the Bush Administration by defining terrorists as "Good Muslims" and moderates as "Yankee Puppets".
But the only item of true significance to emerge from the contrast of these worldviews is the revelation that American political leaders from both sides of the spectrum still view Islam in terms of the old Cold War struggle between Communism and Capitalism. Like many generals who fight every war in terms of the last war, the political leaders of the West still see Islam in Cold War colors, which prevents them from seeing it for what it is.
While Islam shares some common denominators with Communism, as well as Nazism, it is also a quite different entity than either one. For one thing it is not Western in any sense of the word. It does not rely on a centralized leadership. It has had over a thousand years to seep into the culture of the regions it has conquered. That has made Islam into an identity in a much more profound way, than Adolf or Vladimir could have ever managed with their own crackpottery.
Islam predates the political movements such as Communism and Nazism that arose to fill a vacuum of faith in a secularizing West with dreams of racial and economic utopias. It is the original sin of the East, a ruthless religion based on stolen beliefs and stolen property. Its moment of religious transcendence was not that of the law or the spirit, but the sight of tribal rivalries uniting under a single green banner. The banner of Islam.
The powerful appeal of Islam has been rooted in that dream of unity, an idea that is hard for more civilized peoples to understand because they take unity for granted. Yet any European need only turn to the fierce struggle for an independent and united German nation in the 19th Century, or for an independent and united Italy around the same time. An eventual outcome in which both nations ruled by nationalist regimes faced off together against England and France during WW2 could be traced back to that false sense of destiny which papered over national insecurities with blood.
But nationalism requires meaningful national identities, while the Muslim world only has artificial borders drawn by colonial administrations, differences in Arabic slang and bitter familial rivalries. Despite the best efforts of Arab Socialist autocrats like Gamal Abdel Nasser or Saddam Hussein, the vaunted unity of the Arab nation failed to materialize. While Nasser admired Hitler and Hussein admired Stalin, neither was able to turn their respective countries into anything even as barely functional as Nazi Germany or Soviet Russia. Instead, Nasser got by on Soviet aid and Saddam Hussein on oil money.
Glance at a map, and you will see the Muslim world defined in terms of borders and politicians, but, as Allied troops along the Afghan-Pakistani border are discovering, the actual Muslims on the ground define themselves in terms of tribe and family, not nation. The Muslim world is a hodgepodge of dispossessed ethnic groups crammed into artificial nation states created by the UK and the UN. Nation states that have a vote at the UN, an embassy off Turtle Bay and little tangible reality.
[Related Article: Two Great Fissures In the Global Jihad]
If that sounds farfetched, consider that there is an actual debate among foreign policy experts over who really runs Pakistan. Many European observers of Turkey have a similar debate going there as well. Most of the Muslim world is run by families, like the rulers of Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Some are run by dictators who took part in military coups and hold power using the military and the secret police. These are the only forms of stable government in the Muslim world that matter.
Without a dictator or a powerful ruling family, or clique of them, civil war follows. Yemen has been torn apart by such tribal civil wars for a long time now, the latest phase of the war is being conducted with the participation of Al Queda. Anwar Al-Awlaki, the infamous Imam, did not join Al Queda merely out of anger or ideology, he did it because his Awlaki family is allied with the local Yemeni Al Queda. Think about that for a moment, and you begin to see the byzantine maze of loyalties and alliances in the vast desert of the Muslim world.
Empires and kingdoms combined church and state in order to insure that there would be no contradiction between religion and the authorities, that the will of the king would also be the will of god. Mohammed tried to make the same leap in the multicultural environs of Mecca, eliminating all religions but the one he had newly created in order to glue together the warring families and tribes. That act was and is the essential basis of Islam. Everything else is borrowed glamor from the other religions that he had subjugated and destroyed to make way for Islam.
[Related Article: The Truth About Egypt]
For Muslims, that initial bloody butchery is the only true act of religious significance that matters. Because for a brief shining moment, the internecine quarrels were brutally suppressed, and thousands of backstabbing desert tribesmen came to see themselves as something larger and greater. Of course that false unity collapsed back into warring families and tribes. Which has made it all the more of an unattainable dream. It is why Jihad is the ultimate religious act for a Muslim, and why the Caliphate is the great religious goal.
In the face of this understanding, any talk of a moderate Islam is nothing but a farce. To Muslims, Islam is what the Thousand Year Reich was to Nazis and a New World Order is to Progressive Socialists. A perfect form of global unity that must be achieved at any cost.
A moderate Muslim might pursue such a goal "peacefully" through Dawa or missionary work, but successful Muslim mass conversions have taken place either directly or indirectly through the sword. Even Muslim missionary successes in the West take place in the context of Muslim terrorism. There is no Islam without the sword, because it has no meaning or identity without violence. A non-violent Islam is nothing but a collection of tribal mores and borrowed religious ideas. It quickly recedes to the secular and the cultural, driving the Islamists to revive its core ethos through acts of violence and terror.
[Related Article: The 'Peace' of Islam]
This is what Western political and cultural leaders do not understand. The Right is correct that Islam, like Communism, can be weakened by capitalism, but it cannot be destroyed that way. Because Islam is not incompatible with business; it originated among merchants after all. The fruits of capitalism can help secularize Islam, but not without empowering the very same type of merchants who helped create it. That is why American capitalism has helped create the terrorist threat by enriching the new rulers of Mecca, the House of Saud, which has expanded its own power by funding a new Islamic invasion against its best customers in the West. And so history repeats itself again.
The Islamists have shown that they can quite effectively exploit Capitalism and Democracy to further their aims. Capitalism brought down the Soviet Union, but it could not give Russians a meaningful identity. Instead, it financed the rise of a new Russian totalitarian regime of KGB bosses and oligarchs who had grown wealthy on the profits from Western business. Even Communist China has shown that it can incorporate Capitalism and only become more of a threat by doing so.
The fundamental error conservative American political leaders made was to assume that Capitalism and Democracy were absolute forms of good, in reality they're simply tools and prisms which different cultures use to express their potential in different ways. The Bush Administration showed the limits of applying Cold War rhetoric to Islamic realities. Or treating 1.5 billion Muslims as the demographic equivalent of 1500 nuclear bombs, without ever admitting the attitude behind the diplomacy.
The Left, however, is even more wrong, falling back on its old habit of treating all enemies as resistance movements against capitalism, globalism and all the isms that they associate with First World nation states. If the Right is still echoing Ronald Reagan, the Left is still stuck on the Philippine�"American War of the 19th Century. And while the Right has shown that it can learn, the Left has only shown that it can shout the same self-destructive thing even louder. The Obama Administration is an exercise in national self-hatred. A ritual purging for the sins of Western success similar to an anorexic vomiting after every meal.
If the Right has some ideas for dealing with Islam, the Left has decided that Islam is right. There is no logic behind this, but that of "The enemy of my enemy is my friend", along with unhealthy doses of orientalism and the fetishization of the Noble Savage.
American foreign policy triggers Muslim rage, as do cartoons in Europe, Jewish housing in Israel, Buddhist statues in Afghanistan, British female tourists in Dubai, a teddy named Mohammed in Sudan, and countless other "irritations". But none of these excuses is the true cause. The chief cause of Islamic outrage is that these displays of anger allow Muslims to feel a sense of power. Anger empowers small men, whether they are beating their wives or blowing themselves up in cafes. The excuses, "She made me do it", "She shouldn't have walked in front of the TV" or "She should have had dinner ready", are just that. Excuses. The real cause is the sense of power that comes with the anger. The sense of suddenly being larger than life. That anger is its own cause and its own reward. And that is what Islam gives to the Muslim. The Jihad. The Caliphate. Anger in the name of Allah.
In America, Democratic and Republican leaders primarily differ on how tiny that "tiny minority of extremists" really is, and who's to blame for their extremism. The reality that their entire view of Islam is based on a mirage is not something they are willing to accept. But to talk of the Taliban or Al Queda without speaking of Islam is as absurd as discussing the Gulags without mentioning Communism. It means that not only can the problem never be solved, but it can never even be addressed. Because we have never stated the cause.
Instead, we try to fight Islamic terrorism by cultivating alliances among the constantly churning factions of governments, militias, warlords and tribal elders, hoping to use them-- only to be used as pawns in their own games instead. That is what happened in Afghanistan and Iraq. It has happened among the Palestinian Arabs and the Yemeni government, in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, and anywhere else we try to apply Western policy-making.
[Related Article: The Muslim Brotherhood: Origins, Efficacy, and Reach]
The Muslim world has technology, but no civilization. Western nations have given to the Islamic East, the appearance of nationhood and the fruits of industry, without ever acknowledging that they were tossing pearls before swine. A pig wearing a pearl necklace is still a member of the porcine family. Only now it is a well-dressed pig. We have dressed up the Muslim world, but underneath it is not so different from the warring tribes that Mohammed tried to glue together with Islam. And that is why Islam retains the power that it does. Islam does not have a separation of Mosque and State, because there is really no state, only the mosque. The great dream of over a millennium of a transcendent global Muslim unity. A Great Leap Forward across the chasm of tribal savagery and into a Caliphate, which will undo all the achievements of all other peoples, and demonstrate once and for all that the Muslim is supreme over all the rest of the world.
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Faith In the Classroom
BACK TO SCHOOL:FAITH IN THE CLASSROOM
Source: Koinonia House - 09.17.2013
It’s that time of year again, when moms can buy four boxes of crayons for a buck, and students around the country are dragging out of bed in time to catch the bus. If you are a proud parent, now is the perfect time to have a discussion with your children about their faith and some of the challenges they may face in the coming months.
The role of religion in public schools continues to be a hotly debated issue. Some public school teachers avoid the mere mention of religion in their classrooms because they are afraid of facing a student’s lawyers or losing their job. Other teachers would like to talk about religion, but don’t know what they are allowed to say and what would be considered “crossing the line.” Many teachers, students, and parents have questions concerning religion in public schools, and may wish to take a moment to explore some of the resources available.
A publication by the First Amendment Center called Finding Common Ground: A Guide to Religious Liberty in Public Schools can be downloaded for free (click on the link listed under 'Related Links', below). Finding Common Ground is a guidebook that explains teachers’ and students’ religious rights. It gives information concerning a wide variety of subjects such as equal access, judicial court rulings, and religious holidays. Below you will also find a link to the United States Department of Education Guidelines on Religious Expression in Public Schools.
Freedom of Speech
The Supreme Court has ruled that students retain their freedom of speech and expression when at school. According to the 1969 Supreme Court decision in Tinker v. Des Moines Independent School District, a school may only silence students if they are actually disrupting school discipline. That is, a student’s freedom of expression does not give him or her the right to interrupt class. However, during free time, students are free to:
- Read their Bibles
- Talk to peers about religion and pray with their peers
- Wear clothing with Christian symbols and messages
- Pass out religious tractsEqual Access
If a secondary public school receives any federal funding and if it allows any other non-curriculum clubs (like the chess club or the glee club) to form, then it must allow students to form Bible clubs or other religiously oriented organizations on campus with the same rights to the facilities as other clubs. Religious clubs are guaranteed the right to official recognition, which means the school must offer them access to the school newspaper, bulletin boards, and the public announcement system et al. Religious clubs, however, must be student-initiated and student-led. The students may invite outside speakers, but the club must be organized and led by the students themselves.
Educational Opportunities
Because religion is such an integral part of history and politics and the human experience in general, it is a relevant topic in the classroom setting. Teachers and students are free to discuss different religions and the impact religion has on society. While teachers must maintain a neutral position with the students, students are free to offer their own personal opinions on religious matters. [Teachers are free to discuss religious issues with their own peers outside of the classroom.]
Students may write papers on religious subjects, including the Bible. The Bible has had an enormous impact on history and literature and is an important book to know, even from a secular viewpoint. Literature from Shakespeare to Faulkner is full of allusions to the Bible, which can only be fully appreciated with a working knowledge of the Scriptures.
Teachers
Teachers also retain their First Amendment rights at school, but at the same time represent the school while in the classroom and at school events. Therefore, public school teachers are not permitted to “force their religion” on students. However, teachers do have a lot of freedom to teach about religion for educational purposes. They may teach on comparative religions, including Christianity. They may discuss the impact religion has had on history and science and literature. They may even discuss religion with students one-on-one, if the student initiates and maintains the conversation and is not compelled to agree with the teacher’s position.
As school starts up again, continue to pray for those faithful teachers who are striving to teach students according to righteousness in the face of a liberal education establishment. and for those students who are willing to stand up for their faith and be a light to their peers rather than just going along with the crowd.
Related Links:
Finding Common Ground: A Guide to Religious Liberty in Public Schools
- Freedom ForumTrain Up a Child: Home Schooling
- Koinonia HouseHow to Study the Bible - DVD
- K-House StoreReligion and Public Schools
- Department of Education -
Raise the Minimum Wage and Kiss Jobs Goodbye!
Minimum Wage MadnessAuthor: Thomas Sowell
Source: American Spectator - 9.17.2013The left’s campaign to lock in high unemployment rates gains new momentum.
Political crusades for raising the minimum wage are back again. Advocates of minimum wage laws often give themselves credit for being more “compassionate” towards “the poor.” But they seldom bother to check what are the actual consequences of such laws.
One of the simplest and most fundamental economic principles is that people tend to buy more when the price is lower and less when the price is higher. Yet advocates of minimum wage laws seem to think that the government can raise the price of labor without reducing the amount of labor that will be hired.
When you turn from economic principles to hard facts, the case against minimum wage laws is even stronger. Countries with minimum wage laws almost invariably have higher rates of unemployment than countries without minimum wage laws.
Most nations today have minimum wage laws, but they have not always had them. Unemployment rates have been very much lower in places and times when there were no minimum wage laws.
Switzerland is one of the few modern nations without a minimum wage law. In 2003, the Economist magazine reported: “Switzerland’s unemployment neared a five-year high of 3.9 percent in February.” In February of this year, Switzerland’s unemployment rate was 3.1 percent. A recent issue of the Economist showed Switzerland’s unemployment rate as 2.1 percent.
Most Americans today have never seen unemployment rates that low. However, there was a time when there was no federal minimum wage law in the United States. The last time was during the Coolidge administration, when the annual unemployment rate got as low as 1.8 percent. When Hong Kong was a British colony, it had no minimum wage law. In 1991 its unemployment rate was under 2 percent.
As for being “compassionate” toward “the poor,” this assumes that there is some enduring class of Americans who are poor in some meaningful sense, and that there is something compassionate about reducing their chances of getting a job.
Most Americans living below the government-set poverty line have a washer and/or a dryer, as well as a computer. More than 80 percent have air conditioning. More than 80 percent also have both a landline and a cell phone. Nearly all have television and a refrigerator. Most Americans living below the official poverty line also own a motor vehicle and have more living space than the average European — not Europeans in poverty, the average European.
Why then are they called “poor”? Because government bureaucrats create the official definition of poverty, and they do so in ways that provide a political rationale for the welfare state — and, not incidentally, for the bureaucrats’ own jobs.
Most people in the lower income brackets are not an enduring class. Most working people in the bottom 20 percent in income at a given time do not stay there over time. More of them end up in the top 20 percent than remain behind in the bottom 20 percent.
There is nothing mysterious about the fact that most people start off in entry level jobs that pay much less than they will earn after they get some work experience. But, when minimum wage levels are set without regard to their initial productivity, young people are disproportionately unemployed — priced out of jobs.
In European welfare states where minimum wages, and mandated job benefits to be paid for by employers, are more generous than in the United States, unemployment rates for younger workers are often 20 percent or higher, even when there is no recession.
Unemployed young people lose not only the pay they could have earned but, at least equally important, the work experience that would enable them to earn higher rates of pay later on.
Minorities, like young people, can also be priced out of jobs. In the United States, the last year in which the black unemployment rate was lower than the white unemployment rate — 1930 — was also the last year when there was no federal minimum wage law. Inflation in the 1940s raised the pay of even unskilled workers above the minimum wage set in 1938. Economically, it was the same as if there were no minimum wage law by the late 1940s.
In 1948 the unemployment rate of black 16-year-old and 17-year-old males was 9.4 percent. This was a fraction of what it would become in even the most prosperous years from 1958 on, as the minimum wage was raised repeatedly to keep up with inflation.
Some “compassion” for “the poor”!
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