Author: Alan Caruba Sunday, July 14, 2013 The thing about a police state is that it tends to creep up on you. One day you think the Bill of Rights is intact and the freedoms you take for granted are intact, but the next day you find out that under the National Defense Authorization Act (HR 1540), signed into law by President Obama on December 31, 2011, you can be arrested and detained without recourse to an attorney or the courts. HR 1540 kills the concept of Habeas Corpus by permitting the detention of U.S. citizens without trail. In 2009 the National Emergency Centers Act, HR 645, was introduced for the establishment of “internment camps.” I have not been able to determine if it was passed and signed into law, nor have I found any explanation why the Congress of the United States either passed or even considered these laws. The 2001 Patriot Act was justified as a response to 9/11 and revised in 2012. It gives the government unprecedented powers of surveillance and enforcement in the name of deterring terrorism. One of Obama’s many executive orders permits him to “commandeer” all domestic U.S. resources, including food and water supplies, energy productions, and transportation, even in times of peace, with no congressional oversight. On March 16, 2012, the National Defense Resources Preparedness EO expands on a law from the 1950s as the Cold War was heating up and there were fears of a conflict with the Soviet Union. President Obama, obsessed with leaks to the press, has now turned the entire federal government into a workplace where employees are expected to report “suspicious activity” of their co-workers. Failure to do so could result in penalties including criminal charges. Though figures differ, by 2010 there were an estimated 2.5 million full-time federal employees. According to an article by Jonathan S. Landay and Marisa Taylor, two reporters for McClatchy newspapers, the October 2011 executive order mandating the program is “based on behavioral profiling techniques that are not scientifically proven to work, according to experts and government documents.” The program, deemed flawed, “could result in illegal ethnic and racial profiling and privacy violations.” As Americans have been learning in airports across the nation, the Transportation Security Authority routinely engages in profiling and highly intrusive physical “pat downs” that many find humiliating. In 2011, the TSA’s “VIPR teams” conducted an estimated 8,000 unannounced security screenings at subway stations, bus terminals, seaports, and highway rest stops in which Americans were required to show some proof of identity. This is the same administration that opposes voter ID, but not when the police functions of the TSA are concerned. In bits and pieces, news of activities at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been reported and, when the dots are connected, some very scary conclusions can be reached. Why has DHS purchased 1.6 billion bullets as of March of this year? That is reportedly twenty times more than the amount of bullets expended in the Iraq War. Why is the DHS reportedly sending thousands of heavily armored vehicles and combat gear to cities and towns around the nation for use by police forces that are increasingly being militarized? One can find a list of actions by the Obama administration that, together, portray preparations for the implementation of a police state as Americans are detained, as per a DHS report, because they are deemed to be potential terrorists because they hold beliefs and ideologies that include: - “being fiercely nationalistic (as opposed to international in orientation)” And those are just some of the “suspicious” activities or beliefs that can get you hauled off to a detention camp without the benefit of a trial. While there have been a handful of incidents where terrorist acts have been perpetrated by those inspired by Islam, they do not justify preparations that clearly suggest the Obama administration anticipates a perceived national uprising against the federal government. Indeed, a number of marches in Washington, D.C. are planned, including one on September 9. The legislation that has been passed and the executive orders put in place suggest that there are plans in place to ensure that the implementation of a police state can be swiftly imposed on Americans, contrary to all the protections of the Constitution. Indeed, given their existence, are we not already living in a police state?
Source: Canada Free Press
- America's Tyranny Threshold
- After America There Is No Place To Go
- Barack Hussein Obama: The Man Behind The Mask
- Dangerous Times: Barack Obama's Perversity
- “anti-global”
- “suspicious of centralized federal authority”
- “reverent of individual liberty”
- “believe in conspiracy theories”
- “a belief that one’s personal and/or national ‘way of life’ is under attack”
- “a belief in the need to be prepared for an attack either by participating in paramilitary preparations and training or survivalism”
- “impose strict religious tenets or laws on society (fundamentalists)”
- “anti-abortion”
- Trusting God As Freedom Fades
- DHS Reveals New Surveillance Plans
Month: October 2013
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Are We Living In A Police State Yet?
National Defense Authorization Act, HR 1540Are Americans Living in a Police State?- 3:42 PM
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Obama, the Nazis, and Change
Obama Continues To Use Nazi Germany
As His Template For Socialist Victory In AmericaObama’s Groundhog Day nightmare for the American people
Source: NTEB
- Barack Obama, or Adolf Hitler?
- After America, There Is No Place To Go
- The Time Is ShortFor four years now, we have been telling you and telling you, over and over, the astonishing parallels between the rise of Adolf Hitler and the rise of Barack Obama. We mapped out 13 similarities between Hitler and Obama that make our case clearly and concise. Now Bloomberg today puts out a story that Obama’s government would be the ONLY nation since Nazi Germany to declare default. Are you surprised…not even a little? Didn’t think you would be.
Germany’s past is America’s future.From Bloomberg: Reneging on its debt obligations would make the U.S. the first major Western government to default since Nazi Germany 80 years ago.
Germany unilaterally ceased payments on long-term borrowings on May 6, 1933, three months after Adolf Hitler was installed as Chancellor. The default helped cement Hitler’s power base following years of political instability as the Weimar Republic struggled with its crushing debts.
“These are generally catastrophic economic events,” said Professor Eugene N. White, an economics historian at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. “There is no happy ending.”
The debt reparations piled onto Germany, which in 1913 was the world’s third-biggest economy, sparked the hyperinflation, borrowings and political deadlock that brought the Nazis to power, and the default. It shows how excessive debt has capricious results, such as the civil war and despotism that ravaged Florence after England’s Edward III refused to pay his obligations from the city-state’s banks in 1339, and the Revolution of 1789 that followed the French Crown’s defaults in 1770 and 1788.
Failure by the world’s biggest economy to pay its debt in an interconnected, globalized world risks an array of devastating consequences that could lay waste to stock markets from Brazil to Zurich and bring the $5 trillion market in Treasury-backed loans to a halt. Borrowing costs would soar, the dollar’s role as the world’s reserve currency would be in doubt and the U.S. and world economies would risk plunging into recession — and potentially depression.
Senate Talks
Senate leaders of both parties are negotiating to avert a U.S. default after a lapse in borrowing authority takes effect Oct. 17, even as senators block legislation to prevent one and talks between the White House and House Republicans have hit an impasse. Democratic lawmakers said Oct. 12 that the lack of movement may have an effect on financial markets. After Oct. 17, the U.S. will have $30 billion plus incoming revenue and would start missing payments sometime between Oct. 22 and Oct. 31, according to the Congressional Budget Office.Serial Defaulter
Germany, staggering under the weight of 132 billion gold marks in war reparations and not permitted to export to the victors’ markets, was a serial defaulter from 1922, according to Albrecht Ritschl, a professor of economic history at the London School of Economics. That forced the country to borrow to pay its creditors, in what Ritschl calls a Ponzi scheme.“Reparations were at the heart of the issue in the interwar years,” Ritschl said in a telephone interview. “The big question is why anyone lent a dime to Germany with those hanging over them. The assumption must have been that reparations would eventually go away.”
While a delinquent corporation may go out of business, be broken up, sold to a competitor, or otherwise change its shape, sovereign defaulters are different. Weimar Germany deferred payments, stopped transfers, reformed the currency and wrote down debt, wringing a series of agreements from its creditors before the Nazis repudiated the obligations in 1933.
It took until the 1953 London Debt Agreement to lay to rest the nation’s reparations difficulties, essentially by postponing any payments until after reunification in 1990 of East and West Germany, according to Timothy Guinnane, Professor of Economic History at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. The U.S., eager to ensure Germany was a bulwark against communism, pressured creditors to agree to debt relief, according to Guinnane.
‘Economic Strain’
“The U.S. was not being generous or magnanimous in the London Debt Agreement, it rarely is,” Guinnane said in an e-mail. “Rather, it understood that if Germany was forced to repay all the debts it technically owed, it would put the new Federal Republic under intolerable political and economic strain.”Payments on about 150 million euros ($203 million) of bonds issued to fund reparations ended in October 2003, according to the Associated Press.
After sovereign defaults and before a nation is allowed to borrow again, some sort of repayment is typically made, Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff wrote in their 2009 book on sovereign bankruptcies “This Time Is Different.” While Russia’s Bolshevik government refused to pay Tsarist debts, when the country re-entered debt markets it negotiated a token payment on the debt, according to the book.
Germany, France
Germany and France have both defaulted eight times since 1800, according to Reinhart and Rogoff. While Germany was sufficiently big and strategically important to be helped to peaceful prosperity by its creditors, default typically doesn’t end well for smaller nations.The U.S. has even failed to honor its obligations to the letter in the past. In 1979 it was late making payments on about $122 million of bills, blaming technical difficulties that the Treasury said stemmed from a failure in word processing equipment, Terry Zivney and Richard Marcus wrote in August 1989 in “The Financial Review.”
In 1935, the Supreme Court ruled the federal government was within its rights to reject claims for payment in gold on bonds that gave holders the option to demand the metal. Because the terms of the contract weren’t fully honored, some would argue that was tantamount to a default.
In 1790, the U.S. deferred interest payments on debt assumed by the new federal government until 1801, according to Reinhart and Rogoff.
Court Pursuit
Serial defaulters Argentina and Greece have retained political, if not economic independence. The Latin American nation failed to meet its commitments five times since 1951 and in 2001 gained the record for the largest-ever restructuring, a distinction it held until overtaken by Greece in 2012. Argentina’s bondholders are still pursuing the nation through the courts.Including 2012, Greece has defaulted six times since 1826, three years before it gained independence, and has spent more than half the years since 1800 in default, according to Reinhart and Rogoff.
The biggest emerging-markets defaults in the past 15 years illustrate the cycle of contagion that typically marks sovereign debt crises.
Russian Restructuring
Russia halted payments on $40 billion of local debt in 1998 after oil, its main export, plunged 42 percent amid a global economic slowdown triggered by the Asian financial crisis. By the time it devalued the ruble and defaulted that August, the government had drained about half its foreign reserves and made an unsuccessful bid to increase the $22.6 billion international aid package it had received.Russia’s debt restructuring prompted investors to pull out of emerging markets, plunging Argentina into recession. By December 2001, when the South American country halted payments on $95 billion of bonds, the economy had contracted three successive years, cutting into tax revenue and pushing foreign reserves down to almost a six-year low.
Those defaults took place because events had rendered the nations insolvent, something that doesn’t apply to the U.S., said the LSE’s Ritschl. “The only situation that really parallels the U.S. situation at present is the U.S. situation,” he said. “There’s really no doubt about the solvency of the U.S. Treasury.”
source – Bloomberg- 7:53 PM
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Is Hell For Real?
HELL IS FOR REAL!Author: Mike Taylor
Source: Rapture ReadyRomans 6:22-23 But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
- Praying for the Sedgefield Community in Ashland, VAI got into a discussion with a friend of mine who seems to be confused about the doctrine of sinners and their destination of an ever burning hell. In talking with this person, I was aware that he didn’t believe a loving God would ever send any one to an eternal torment known to us as hell, or Gehenna. Is he right? Is a loving God unwilling to send anyone to a terrible place called in the bible in 53 different passages, hell or a place burning with fire and brimstone? Is the concept of a eternal hell a figment of some minister’s imagination or a denomination’s attempt to force people to the altar for fear of being cast into hellfire?
- Is Punishment Eternal?First, let me quote a minister that doesn’t believe in an eternal hell and that God is a God of Love:
“For centuries, many ministers have been preaching "hellfire and brimstone" sermons and promoting a religion of fear by teaching that the unsaved face an eternity of torture. The common teaching is that incorrigibly wicked people will be tormented forever in some fiery, macabre manner in a terrifying place called hell. This horrible fate usually conjures up in people's minds visions of an ever-burning hellfire where sinners are continually roasted on spits, and a devil with horns and a tail runs around sticking his captives with a pitchfork.”
It is hard to convince some folks that God is not only a God of love, but also the God of judgment. He is a God of justice, a God of consuming fire, and a God who will not allow sin into His presence. Are we talking about the same God?. Do you mean the same God that told the Israelites when they entered Canaan to not spare man, woman, or child from the sword, but to slay them all? Do you mean that God? If it’s the same God of the Bible, what did He say about it?
- Is God Angry Anymore?When Jesus spoke of the parable of the rich man and Lazarus being separated by a huge gulf and the rich man being in torment, was He just telling a story? Was He stretching the truth, just to make a point? Let’s look at the passage. This is Jesus speaking:
Luke 16:19-24 "There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:
And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores,
And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.
And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;
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."
- Salvation (for Richmond, VA)Since our Lord was sinless and only told what is true, it would make sense that He would not tell a falsehood, just to make a point. Jesus spoke of things spiritual that were being played out in the natural realm. Do we think that He was just joking and He didn’t mean it as He spoke it, and exactly as we take it?
Some denominations and well-meaning Christians believe that hell is a synonym of the grave. They go to great lengths to prove that Hades, the grave, and hell are all the same thing. Then why does so many Old Testament and New Testament writers under the guidance of the Holy Spirit make so much about the wages of sin and the eternal destruction of the soul in hell? Let’s take a journey to look at some of the scriptures that point to the fallacy of not believing that the penalty for not having Jesus Christ cover your sins with His own shed blood is an eternal home in hell’s unquenchable fire.
- Sinners In HellKing David spoke of it in Psalms 9:16-17: The LORD is known by the judgment which he executeth: the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.
- Hell BoundProverbs 23:13-14 Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die.Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell.
If you punish your child, you will not save him from the grave. We all will die, but what is spoken of here is delivering yourself from something beyond the grave. We call it Hell!
Isaiah 5:14-15 Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it.
And the mean man shall be brought down, and the mighty man shall be humbled, and the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled.
Isaiah spoke of a place where man will be brought down and will be humbled. We all die, so it’s not speaking of only the grave, but something beyond the grave.Isaiah when he spoke of the final destination of Lucifer because of his sin against God, he wrote these words:
Isaiah 14:12-17 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.
Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.
They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms;
That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners?Understand that hell and the Lake of Fire was designed for Lucifer and his demon angels that fell because of rebellion. It was never designed for mankind that was made in the image of God. Satan had to attempt to thwart God’s judgment on himself. If he could get man to fall, then it possibly could thwart God’s perfect creation and maybe judgment on Lucifer himself. But God knew that to redeem what had been stolen by Satan, a perfect sacrifice had to be slain, and Jesus was slain from the foundation of the world. So God sent His only Son into the world to redeem mankind, as the kinsman redeemer. But it would cost Him His life, because sinful man is worthy of death. So Jesus paid the penalty for all who believe on His name and follow His example.
- Repent Or Perish, by J. MeltonSatan wants you to disbelieve in a place called hell. Satan wants to deceive you, and blind you to this Biblical truth. Satan knows it is his final destination and he will not go down without taking anyone and everyone he can, with him. He has tried for many thousands of years to thwart the judgment of God and make Him somehow, a liar and to make void his sentencing to a devil’s hell.
Jesus spoke of it further in Matthew 5:22, "But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire."
If you search your concordance for the word hell, verses before this one in your bible, does give you a feeling that hell in some scriptures, not all, depicts the grave and some point to beyond the grave, but this is where the Lord of Creation identifies what hell means. There is no fire in the grave, but of a place beyond the grave where the wicked and the sinner may end up. Hence it spoke of it plainly in Lazarus and the rich man Through the gospels, and I won’t quote each and everyone of them for the sake of brevity, Jesus makes an analogy of removing the sinful and offending part from you so that you will not be cast into hell. If it be the grave, then all parts of the departed end in the grave. Jesus speaks of something more.
Then there is the time when Jesus in His righteous anger railed against the Jewish authorities for the iniquity in dealing with the people:
Matthew 23:31-33 Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets.
Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.
Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?
How much more plain can Jesus be? Did He not give enough clues to the final destination of all who are not redeemed by His own shed blood?The kicker for me is found in Revelation 14, which speaks of the reward of those who take the mark of the beast.
Revelation 14:9-11 And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,
The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:
And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.Now tell me reader, if this hell fire is a parable, and hell is only the grave and there is not eternal torment for the sinner and the wicked, then why is the smoke of the torment rising before the Lamb and His holy angels, forever, and ever, and ever…sounds like eternity to me and proof that there is a final fiery judgment on sinful mankind!!
When I pointed this simple fact found in your bible out to my friend, he had not an explanation. No quick comeback and no answer to the Words of our Lord, written by John the Apostle. I fear for people who don’t believe the simple words of your bible. One denomination actually believes that “all will be saved after the Great White Throne judgment.”. This scenario believes that all will stand before the Ancient of Days, and be judged, but sentence will not be carried out until they have a “full chance” at believing in the name of Jesus Christ and finding forgiveness. Now I can’t speak for God, as God is sovereign, all powerful and all merciful. All that have not had a chance at hearing, God can do what He wills with them, but to all who have heard the gospel and think they have a “second chance” at redemption play the Russian roulette of the fool.
- That None Should PerishPaul makes a point in Hebrews that we should take seriously this side of eternity:
Hebrews 9:26-28 For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.You who are reading this, I don’t mean to scare you to the altar because you fear an ever burning fire called Hell !! But I wish to convey the harsh reality that all who are not found with their name written in the Book of Life at the Great White Throne judgment will receive their just reward, and it’s all because of their own will, not Gods. I propose Holy Spirit conviction come upon you, and you make a plea for changing your life and repenting of your former life and living for God for the rest of it. Don’t come to the Lord for the wrong reason. Fear is the beginning of wisdom, but a true repentant and humble heart is what God desires.
- The Narrow PathRevelation 20:11-15 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.But Jesus stands in the gap. He has paid he ultimate price for your sins, His life and shed all of His blood to wash you perfectly clean and make you acceptable before God the Father in Heaven.
- Prayer Requests for Richmond, VAIn the closing verses of the final book of our bible, Jesus makes this final plea:
Revelation 22:16-17 "I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.
And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely."Jesus makes an open invitation to all who will come and sit at His feet and believe in the only Begotten Son of the Father, Jesus the Christ (Messiah). He wishes for all to be joined unto Him and live forever, but He will not usurp your own will. He will not force you. He said, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice and open unto me, I will come unto him and sup with him, and he with Me. “Revelation 3:20. He desires that all come to repentance and to accept His free offer of grace. All you have to do, is believe in the One whom God has sent. Then become a new creature in Jesus Christ and follow the Lord in baptism as a first sign of obedience. Then live unto obedience the things He wrote in His Word.
- Why Most People Will Reject the Free Grace of GodII Peter 3:9-11 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering towards us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,The Lord is coming soon, as a thief in the night…meaning suddenly and without warning. He wishes you to be with Him and not suffer what is coming. Chances are you will be counted with the sinner, as salvation will be hard to obtain, and be easily lost because of tribulation and the demonic forces working overtime for the destruction of your soul. Don’t give Satan a chance to take you with him. Make that decision for Jesus Christ right now, while there is still time. But time is growing short. Because my friend, Hell if for real!!
- Repent!- 5:26 PM
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The Left Against The Right
Left vs. RightAuthor: Tommy Hunter
Source: Rapture ReadyI cannot remember in my 49 years on this earth when our country has been more divided than it is right now. I think it is becoming more and more true that we have in fact become two nations within one. If we continue on the current path, there is absolutely no way that our once great nation can survive.
The Lord Jesus said, “A kingdom divided against itself cannot stand.” (Mark 3:24)
Something that is very obvious is the political parties, Democrats and Republicans, are both becoming obsolete. I personally will not affiliate myself with either party, because both are totally self-serving and corrupt. The news media, which has become nothing but a tool of Satan and his kingdom of darkness, is mentioning the political parties less and less, but is using descriptive names for the people in those two parties. And those names are: Left and Right, Liberal and Conservative.
It is no secret that the news media has very little to say positive about those on the Right (aka Conservative). They are always labeled as haters, bigots, racists, intolerant...and the ones who are always keeping the president from carrying out his agenda for the nation. The government shutdown is currently being blamed on the Right. President Barack Hussein Obama said the day after the shutdown, “House Republicans continue to tie funding of the government to ideological demands…all to save face after making some impossible promises to the extreme RIGHT wing of their party.”
- The Psychopathology Of the Liberal MindThose on the right, specifically evangelical Christians, have been listed by the Department of Homeland Security, under the Obama Administration, as the number one terrorist threat to the United States! Not Al Qaeda, not the KKK, not Muslims! Bible-believing, church-going evangelical Christians are the biggest threat to our nation! Don’t believe me...look it up!
- So Now I'm A Terrorist?
- Judgment, Not WarningThis focus on the Left and the Right, those who are called “left-leaning” or “right-leaning” has more to do with the end-times than I could have realized. If you go look into the political affiliations of any nation, their parties are also described as: Left and Right. The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party is described as Right wing.
That’s one of the reasons he and our president don’t get along. Our nation was once described as a “center-right leaning” nation. Now according to polls, if you believe them, we have now become a “center-left leaning” nation. I want to briefly present the facts about the Left and the Right. Psalm 9:17 states, “The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.” That said, the facts below, will deal specifically with morality.
- The Breakdown of Moral Discipline In AmericaFacts about the Left:
1. Supports abortion-on-demand for any reason whatsoever.
2. Supports gay marriage in all 50 states.
3. Believes that Jerusalem is not the legitimate capital of Israel and that the Jews are occupiers of land that should belong to the Palestinians (at the Democratic National Convention in 2012, the delegates actually booed when Jerusalem was readmitted into the Democratic platform as the capital of Israel.)
- The Lie Of Palestinian Territory
- The Palestinian Authority's Inconvenient Truths4. Believes that God should have no place in our schools or government. (More boos at the DNC convention last year when God was put back into the Dem platform).
- Christianity and Public Schools5. Believes in evolution, and disparages anyone who would even have the nerve to believe that God created the world.
- Creation, Evolution, and ScriptureFacts about the Right:
1. Against abortion and believes that life begins at conception.
2. Believes that marriage is a holy institution ordained by God between a man and a woman.
- Examining Homosexual Myths3. Believes that the Land of Israel, along with Jerusalem, belongs to the Jews and no one should force them to give up their land.
4. Believes that the USA was founded on the Bible (Word of God), and that the nation’s children should be able to freely demonstrate their faith in the schools.
5. Believes that a holy God created the heavens and the earth.
There is much more I could list, but these facts are the extremes of both sides. And everything I have listed can be verified. The intense focus on the Left and the Right in what I believe to be the last days—is falling right in line with the Word of God. We know that the news media lifts up and applauds those on the Left, and lambasts and denigrates those on the Right. But the Left is good, tolerant, and all-loving while the Right is evil, hate-filled and on “the wrong side of history.”
- Deconstructing Liberal ToleranceYou will be hard-pressed to find any news channel (cable or local) that has anything good to say about those on the dreaded “Right.” But what does God have to say about the Left and the Right, and let me tell you, He has A LOT to say:
“A wise man’s heart is at his RIGHT hand, but a fool’s heart at his LEFT.” (Ecclesiastes 10:2)
“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His RIGHT hand, but the goats on the LEFT.
Then the King will say to those on His RIGHT hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’ Then the righteous (the RIGHT) will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink?
When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’ “Then He will also say to those on the LEFT hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.
“Then they (the LEFT) also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” (Matthew 25:31-46)“But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the RIGHT hand of God, and said, “Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the RIGHT hand of God!” (Acts 7:55, 56)
“Which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His RIGHT hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.” (Ephesians 1:20, 21)
“Now this is the main point of the things we are saying: We have such a High Priest, who is seated at the RIGHT hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens.” (Hebrews 8:1)
Hmmm? I guess The LORD GOD YHWH didn’t get the memo that the “LEFT” is where it’s AT in 2013! Now I know there are those who will say, “I'm not an extremist. I’m a Moderate. I like to be in the middle...not the extreme Left or the extreme Right.” And we have been told by the mainstream media that our government would work better if everyone would become more moderate and move to the middle. Well there is a Scripture for all of you who want to be considered Moderates:
“These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God: “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm [MODERATE], and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.” (Revelation 3:15, 16)
LEFT versus RIGHT: Time is running out. The Lord Jesus Christ is returning very soon to get His Bride (the church). Which side will you choose?
I report...you decide. MARANATHA!- 9:16 PM
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America Is Burning
America: Not Shining but BurningAuthor: Daren Jonescu
Source: American Thinker - 09.10.2013The human mind naturally protects itself from considerations that would interrupt the appealing flow of everyday life. This fact alone explains the continued unwillingness of many thinking people to wonder aloud whether there is still hope for the survival of the United States of America as founded. Too early to voice such a dire concern, you say? On the contrary, it is far too late.
[Related Article: Trusting God As Freedom Fades]Through most of her history, America has stood as a unique object of admiration and envy to allies and enemies alike, and the most powerful attractive force of the modern era for men seeking prosperity and practical freedom. She has stood, in that expression adapted from the Sermon on the Mount by John Winthrop, and updated by Ronald Reagan, as a "shining city on a hill."
These two images together -- the attractive force and the light in the distance -- explain America's role in the modern psyche. She has been a kind of sun, holding a complex system of political aspiration in orbit around herself. She has played this role not only, or even particularly, through direct involvement in the lives of other nations, but also and primarily through her place in the minds of men around the world whose moral and political thoughts bent in arcs defining variations on the theme of respect for the dignity of the individual man -- arcs that, for over two centuries, had America as their spiritual center.
Human things change, however, all too often for the worse. Modernity's entropy is turning admiration to dread, envy to smug satisfaction, as the world begins to recognize the radically altered aspect of the light now emanating from the former land of the free. To adapt poet Stevie Smith's famous trope, "Not waving but drowning," it is now clear that our modern hope for the perpetuation of freedom and prosperity is not shining but burning.
The prospect of America in ashes, almost unthinkable only yesterday, must cause, and I believe is causing, a radical shift in the modern psyche. The old confidence inspired around the world by that seemingly inextinguishable light -- our presumption, against the rising tide of Statism, that America, at least, would resist -- is being "fundamentally transformed" into a blood-brotherhood of the fighting minority within her borders and a few kindred spirits from abroad, united in a last-ditch effort to save America from herself. The city on the hill is itself the battlefront now, its ramparts crumbled, and its defenders vastly outnumbered. Surrender is not an option, but all delusional optimism and defeatist pessimism aside, it is simply too early to tell whether this fight can be won.
Perhaps saving America "from herself" is an inapt description of the crisis. For one might say that America does not need saving from Americans, but rather from an enemy that, while certainly within, cannot properly be called American at all. America, as many have noted, but as perhaps is only now fully explicable, is less a geographical area or a collection of citizens, than an idea. The idea, roughly stated, is that of man as a rational individual, naturally free to choose his path in life according to his best judgment, guided but not enthralled by the noblest traditions of the past, and managing his own social interactions through the facilities of a system of government he designs for himself -- a government he owns, rather than one which owns him -- and which therefore is constructed from its foundations as an aid to his liberty, rather than an obstacle to it.
That idea, with its concomitants, is perhaps the real America, and an individual who lives in accordance with it an American in a manner that is less like the relationship between nation-state and citizen than like that between a Platonic Idea and its material instantiations. An American, in this admittedly poetic sense, does not so much reside in America as participate in the Idea of America. This helps to explain America's appeal to men beyond her borders, not merely as a destination, but more importantly as a consolation, a steady reminder that oppression is not our natural estate, and that there is a place on earth where, in principle, man is given his due.
This understanding of "Americanism" also explains the many thinking non-Americans who have, through no outwardly obvious necessity, made America and her inherent dangers their special study. The greatest of these, Alexis de Tocqueville, wished to apply his observations on modern representative government to French political problems; and yet his choice of America as the focal point of his research seems as natural in hindsight as it might have seemed peculiar to his contemporaries. An aristocrat with a liberal mind (in the correct sense of liberal), he intuited that if you wish to study human freedom in the modern world, you must study America -- and that if you wish to learn how freedom may contain the germ of its own undoing, you will find the answer in a close examination of the American character.
Tocqueville was, if you will, the original "orbiting American." Poetic as the notion may be, it seems to define a real category that transcends the legalisms of citizenship. Who more genuinely lives and defends the principles I identified as the Idea of America -- Tocqueville, who warned of the threat of "soft despotism," or the generations of leading American thinkers and politicians who have converted his grave warning into a how-to manual?
I grew up in Canada during its most vehement period of anti-Americanism, which, not coincidentally, was the era of Canada's Barack Obama, Pierre Trudeau. My first formative political memory involves Ronald Reagan's first official visit to Canada in 1981, when I was in junior high school. A vocal minority of jeering, sign-waving "anti-imperialists" greeted Reagan in front of the Parliament Buildings when he was introduced. Trudeau, the smug showman, leaned forward on the lectern and smirkingly berated them with, "Hey, guys, when I go to the United States, I'm not met with these signs. Americans have some beefs against us too. How about a great cheer for President Reagan?" He had managed to condescend to the protesters and his guest at the same time. And yet, for all this classic Trudeauesque élan in the service of his own ego, what I saw, even then, was a small man trying to aggrandize himself next to a big man.
Six years later, Reagan paid his last official visit to Canada, and spoke to a joint session of Parliament. This time, having become a politically focused lad with libertarian leanings, I hung on the old man's every word. He spoke with clear and uncompromising principle about the glories of free enterprise as a means to prosperity, the inseparability of economic freedom and political liberty, and the need for constant vigilance against Statism. Politicians never spoke this way -- certainly not in that exhausted chamber, where the cause of freedom had long been "represented" by the Progressive Conservatives, a party whose very name was an apology for not being socialists.
Perhaps that moment, listening to that speech -- more personally affecting for being delivered in my hometown -- was the hour I became an "orbiting American," although I would not have understood it that way at the time. In fact, the seed of this notion was perhaps planted, or at least placed in a sunny window, less than a year ago by one of my American readers, with whom I had struck up an e-mail correspondence that became a friendship.
Mr. Washington (not his real name) -- I call him "Mr." in honor of the fact that he almost always addressed me as "Doctor," despite my repeated protests -- was, at the beginning of our correspondence, seventy-seven years old. He is a Navy veteran, an engineer, a businessman, a voracious reader, and an indefatigable big dreamer in that uniquely American way. Most of the best American minds seem to be of this sort. In the spirit of their nation and its founding, they tend to be experimenters and entrepreneurs of the intellect, fearless frontiersmen of thought, unafraid of being out in the wilderness alone, picking up their insights where they find them along the rough course of their investigations, and building functional shelters, rather than grand palaces, in any convenient clearing they discover. From Franklin, Jefferson and Madison to Melville, Emerson, and Hoffer, America's thinkers seem constitutionally resistant to that easy reduction to established categories which scholars use to make orderly sense of ideas they cannot actually understand.
Mr. Washington is a man in this rough-hewn New World tradition, a man of practice who respects the intellectual realm, and an honest truth-seeker who at seventy-eight was still planning for the day his ship would come in. He admires science-fiction writer Robert Heinlein and the Federalist Papers, recommends various books on the history of progressivism, stoked my interest in anti-public school crusader John Taylor Gatto, and solicited my advice on where to begin reading Thomas Aquinas and Milan Kundera.
In the aftermath of the November election, I wrote of its outcome as a monumental event in modern history, the symbolic end of a civilization, for which a radical, multi-generational rebuilding would be the only solution. Mr. Washington replied as follows:
I feel much the same way. I don't feel dour although I do feel that the US as we knew it is no more.
In a very real sense, you as a citizen of Canada, are an American -- You are one that believes in the principles expressed in the Declaration of Independence and formalized in the Constitution. That is the essence of what it means to be an American.
[Related Article: Barack Obama: The Man Behind the Mask]Today, 111 years after Theodore Roosevelt began this journey the progressives have finally taken over. We no longer have a government that defends and supports the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution. Control of both the Republican and Democrat parties belongs to the progressives.
Over those "111 years," the Idea of America has been undone, or abandoned, mainly through the corruptions of nominal Americans themselves. A compulsory education establishment borrowed from Prussia and completed by Dewey indoctrinates generations in the virtues of submission to the collective, keeping to one's place, and faith in the great god, Government. Progressivism borrowed from European intellectuals has devoured the heart of the American project, private property rights, and digested it into a grotesque Euro-illusion of "freedom" divorced from self-ownership. The land of the courageous frontiersman has willingly sacrificed its dignity and privacy in the name of a dubious security, both financial and physical, while a people identified with expressions like "Give me liberty or give me death" and "None of your damn business" is willingly granting its government powers of personal intrusiveness for which Stalin would never have dared to hope, under the self-immolating moral delusion that "If you haven't done anything wrong, you have nothing to hide."
America is now a nation ruled -- and that is the correct word -- by a self-appointed elite of ignorant snobs and power-mad degenerates to compete with the worst ruling castes of the civilized world. The U.S. federal government has, through the deliberate deteriorations of a century, finally dispensed with all but the flimsiest pretense of the principles of limited government and the rule of law that virtually defined America's historic political achievement. By turns Commodus, Nero, and Caligula, today's American ruling elite steer an intentionally debased, demoralized and indoctrinated majority down the path to a form of enslavement as non-metaphorical as it is ingenious, the kind foreseen by Tocqueville as "soft despotism." Never to be misunderstood is that by "soft," Tocqueville did not mean weak; he meant achieved through enticements, rather than through brute force. This tyranny, he warned, might be more thorough than any "hard" despotism, in that the populace so enticed will welcome the chains, rather than resist them.
[Related Article: America's Tyranny Threshold]The current administration's defining achievement -- apart from the Benghazi cover-up -- is surely the Affordable Care Act. All lies to the contrary notwithstanding, ObamaCare was and is intended as the first step towards socialized medicine, the big prize of Western progressivism, in addition to being symbolic of the combined force of a wildly disproportionate executive authority and the infinite expansion of the regulatory administrative state. Socialized medicine is the dividing line -- the one America alone among Western nations had hitherto resisted crossing -- between a nation that maintains at least a mirage of individual self-ownership, and one that has finally dispensed with the niceties and declared officially that every man, woman, and child is property of the collective. Self-preservation at the whim of the state is no natural right at all. America had abrogated its founding principles in so many ways before, but now she has joined the rest of the world in making non-freedom as concrete a reality as is possible without literal shackles. In the name of "fairness" and "equality," the value of a man's life, and his ability to prolong it, will henceforth be determined by the state -- the Declaration of Independence obliterated in 20,000 pages of bureaucratic tyranny.
Add to all of this the financial predicament of history's most prosperous nation, a brewing storm of irredeemable debt and unmeetable multi-generational obligations that will, sooner or later, cause the global economy to collapse like a house of feathers; a permanent ruling class using economic redistribution and immigration policy to create an ever-growing dependent underclass of non-voters -- or a dependable herd of voters for unlimited government, more fool-proof than any vote fraud, to be activated as needed; and a technological global surveillance state justified with arguments that would be a delightful parody of Orwellian Newspeak if only the speakers were not dead serious.
[Related Article: The DHS Reveals Plans for Domestic Surveillance]America now appears to be extinguishing herself into progressive tyranny more quickly than most of the nations whose continuance as "semi-free" has long depended on the gravitational force of the American example. The solar system of modern liberty is perilously close to breaking up. The resulting universal chill would likely be long and merciless.
How did it come to this, without men realizing what was happening, and rising up en masse before it was almost too late? We all know parts of the answer, though perhaps the whole truth, which cuts to the heart of our flawed human nature, will always elude us. Often, however, where ultimate wisdom is beyond our flimsy rational faculty, we may find truth in the microcosm of personal life.
June 28, 2012, the day of the Supreme Court's ObamaCare decision, may be one of those historic moments that "will live in infamy." That morning, my friend Mr. Washington sent me this:
Today seems to be a very serious day for America. About four AM your time [in Korea], high noon on our West Coast, two PM here and 3 PM in Ontario our Supreme Court will hand down a very important decision regarding whether we continue as a republic or descend further into a dictatorship. As someone has pointed out it is amazing that free men are waiting for nine mortals to make that decision. It is even more amazing that as I write I am aware that large computers are analyzing my words to see if I am subversive. Further, that the words I am using are the words being used to indicate a subversive.
Consider that these musings, casually invoking the vocabulary of totalitarian oppression, document the state of mind of a reasonable, far from paranoid citizen of modernity's erstwhile shining city. Consider, further, the decision that was ultimately rendered on that June day, and the American trajectory of the fourteen months since then.
[Related Article: Judgment, not Warning!]In the summer of 2012, Mr. Washington indicated in passing that he sensed a new bout of illness coming on. As the remark was set against the general vibrancy and optimism of the surrounding discussion, I gave it too little thought, and our correspondence carried on as usual. I received my last e-mail from him on Christmas Day. For a while, I didn't think about his absence from my inbox. Long distance correspondence is like that; long silences go with the territory. Eventually, I began to wonder, and to reconsider his remark about his health. I have tried to contact him, but have not received a reply. I have also noticed that his online reader's comments at American Thinker ceased some months back.
There were signs, and I saw them, but I allowed myself to imagine, as we usually do, that they were false alarms, temporary setbacks, or that somehow everything would turn out alright. "Surely if anything were really wrong," I told myself, "I would know, and have time to respond." I miss Mr. Washington's earthy wisdom, his clear-eyed commentary, and his unshakable faith in the future. I still want to be hopeful, but I am very worried about my friend. A stubborn cancer may finally have its way with even the hardiest soul.
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Common Core Is A Common Failure
Common Core: Reinforcing FailureAuthor: Marin Smillov, et al
Source: American Thinker - 08.20.2013There are three distinct outcomes of the educational process: skill acquisitions, learning specific content, and critical thinking. Acquiring the skills of reading, writing, and doing basic math is the initial stage of education. Good education should promote skills that will enable the student to progress to the level of content acquisition. But the purpose of education is not accomplished by a self-indulgent pursuit of content acquisition alone. Gaining knowledge should be accompanied with the ability to think critically and evaluate one's beliefs.
[Related Article: American Decay and John Dewey]How does Common Core, the latest governmental effort at educational reform (following "No Child Left Behind" and "Race to the Top") measure up to these criteria?
Government educational initiatives have continuously focused on implementation of rigorous all-inclusive educational standards. Unfortunately, the goal of implementing universal educational outcome criteria addresses the symptom and not the cause of the problem. The educational crisis in this country was not caused by lack of universal criteria for success, in much the same way that widespread obesity is not caused by the lack of criteria for healthy weight and body mass. Many Americans fail to meet the standards for healthy weight, but this is the effect and not the cause of being overweight.
The analogy with education should be apparent. While too many American students fail to meet government standards for literacy and overall academic aptitude, this too is just the effect and not the cause. Passing an academic aptitude test is neither necessary nor sufficient indication that learning has taken place. Over the last decade, it has become apparent that the exclusive pursuit of higher test scores has had a detrimental effect on the educational process as a whole. The quest for comprehensive assessments of academic outcomes has been focused on skills and has obscured the importance of learning and critical thinking.
[Related Article: Unlearn the Propaganda]This fact has been tacitly acknowledged by the latest educational criteria, which are formulated in terms of learning outcomes. The renewed focus on learning outcomes is an important step in the right direction. But merely introducing such criteria does not guarantee that learning will re-enter the educational process. Enacting uniform standards for learning outcomes will not resolve the educational crisis, in the same way that strict prohibition of alcohol failed to eliminate the problem of alcohol abuse.
Another essential element of current education reform is the uniform curriculum. Public school teachers are put in the difficult position of competing for government funding by implementing government-approved curricula and administering standardized assessments. If school funding and status is determined by test outcomes, then public-school teachers are encouraged to teach exclusively for the purpose of preparing students for standardized assessments.
There are at least two problematic assumptions underlying the implementation of Common Core standards. First, it is assumed that standardized assessments will attest to the success of all aspects of the educational process. In reality, Common Core standards, or any standardized system of assessments, are likely to evaluate the skills and the competency of the students but not their creative and critical thinking skills. Thus, there is a clear danger of neglecting an essential component of education. The second assumption behind current education reform is that with proper instruction most students will be able to satisfy the Common Core standards and proceed to college-level education. The government has fostered a strong public expectation that most high-school graduates are capable of pursuing college education. Unfortunately, this assumption is demonstrably false. The error in this conjecture is illustrated by the great number of remediation courses that many American high school graduates have to take in order to gain access to colleges and universities. As a result, we are faced with duplicate educational expenditures, overloaded classrooms, and excessive dropout rates in colleges and universities. This point is clearly reflected in the demographic makeup of the current college student population. It is projected that within a few short years the new majority at American colleges and universities will be students of over 25 years of age who are making their second or third attempt at post-secondary education.
A uniform curriculum raises serious concerns about the specter of indoctrination, dependency, and manipulation, even if implemented with the best of intentions. Centralized control over any educational curriculum is not only detrimental to science, it is also contrary to the principles of individual autonomy, democracy, and independent thinking. The essence of modern science is not captured by set core beliefs that can be all-inclusively taught and tested. Instead, the essence of modern science lies in the rigorous method of enlightened, critical, and independent thinking. The astounding progress in modern science since the 18th century has been achieved through a dynamic battle between rival scientific paradigms. The strength of science lies in fostering uncommon beliefs by a common and uncompromising commitment to critical thinking.
[Related Article: Zero Tolerance for Non-Compliance]The present argument is not directed against academic standards in general or the Common Core standards in particular. Instead it targets the naive and exaggerated hope that the implementation of a uniform curriculum and rigorous all-inclusive standards will result in improving the quality of education. The sweeping educational reforms offered by the government are driven by politicians' desire for quick solutions, even though the very metrics of the reforms demonstrate the failure of their good intentions at the expense of the taxpayers and students.
The fiscal sustainability of K-12 education and the affordability of college education are real issues that can no longer be ignored. In 2010, the educational debt of the United States population reached $830 billion and surpassed national credit card debt. There is a well-justified fear that current rates of unemployment in the United States will soon burst the educational bubble, leading to a massive default of educational loans.
Pouring money into the educational system has long been the dominant political strategy and source of profit for school administrations. For decades, politicians have allocated money and provided for generous student loans while school executives engaged in spending money and systematically raising tuition fees. The problem is that enormous educational expenditures did not translate into quality of education. The United States spends more on education by far than any other country, but the educational outcomes do not match these expenditures.
The affordability of education is an urgent issue and its solution requires more than political rhetoric and feel-good expressions of good intentions. At stake are the livelihood and the well-being of generations of Americans.
The latest hope is that online delivery will prove to be the panacea for all the ailments of the education system and especially for college education. In pursuit of volume, some academic centers have developed massive open online courses (MOOCs). The states of Florida and California are considering legislative bills allowing students to earn academic credit from accredited institutions offering MOOCs. While skepticism and caution stalled the California legislation, the Florida legislators passed a version of a bill allowing MOOCs not only for college education but also for K-12 education.
Online formats are praised as efficient, convenient, and cost-effective tools for delivering information, but they cannot cure the deep problems of the educational system. Proponents of online education often choose to ignore the hidden costs associated with the development, delivery, and maintenance of online courses. The issue of quality is also eclipsed by a hunger for effective delivery and the public's infatuation with online formats. Historically, massive production of any item has led to a considerable reduction of quality. For example, the attempt to mass-produce art with significant content led to a distorted, low-quality art trend called Kitsch. Mass-production, fast delivery, and cost-effectiveness are not substitutes for craftsmanship, especially when we desire quality of education.
[Related Article: Obama and Your New School Curriculum]We cannot keep kicking the proverbial can down the road while ignoring issues of educational quality and unsustainable expenditures. We need to resist the temptation to find a "silver bullet" and a fast solution to the looming educational crisis. Current government attempts at top-down education reform rest on flawed assumptions about the benefits of standardized assessments, uniform curriculums, and educational expenditures. Education issues are complex and their solutions will require the systematic efforts of the whole society and not trendy bureaucratic initiatives. Societies have survived or perished depending on their ability to reproduce capable and educated populations. Historically, quality educational systems have been created by people's convictions and commitment to the pursuit of knowledge, not by government compulsion. It is imperative that we learn from our failures and reassess the merits of centralized education reforms.
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Moral Decay, Moral Discipline, and America
The Breakdown of Moral Discipline In AmericaAuthor: Tessler
Source: ProgressiveThink.comEvery society needs a moral code to guide it and to give it a sense of direction and a sense of purpose. No one moral code is necessarily superior to any other and so the Constitution forbidding the establishment of any one religion is a correct construct. The assertion that “morality cannot be legislated” is pure hogwash. Nearly all of our laws are based upon some concept of morality whether it be a state law forbidding murder or a federal law requiring taxation of its people in order for that government to provide the necessities that such governments must provide to its people.
[Related Article: Praying for Richmond VA]It is a farce to believe that morality cannot be an inherent part of any law. The opposite is true. Morality is an inherent part of any law. The moral basis of that law may be wrong, such as the moral basis of Obamacare, but that is where the concept of passing laws “for the common good” comes into play. The question often times becomes how much of the “common good” should be legislated? If it extends to far, it becomes socialistic. If it doesn’t extend far enough, then the governed society can be undisciplined with no direction, focus or a moral compass.
It almost goes without saying that the moral discipline in America is at an all time low.
[Related Article: Prayer Requests for the Sedgefield Community]One watch of almost any show on television, a medium that is supposed to pass for entertainment, clearly reflects a society that has come to view moral restraint as an ancient and old fashioned concept. Restraint in the use of drugs, in sex and in our choice of words hardly exists any more.
“In a republican form of government, which the Constitution guarantees for the United States, elected officials are meant to set social policy for the country. They do so by embodying their view of America’s moral choices in law. (This is a particularly crucial manner for propagating morality in our republic because the Constitution rightly forbids the establishment of religion, the other major social vehicle for advancing morality across society.) In reality, legislatures discharge their moral mandates all the time, and not just in controversial areas such as abortion, gay rights, pornography, and the like.”
Source: How legalizing gay marriage undermines society’s moralsDoes Morality In America Still Exist?
In his 1963 book, The Naked Communist, best selling author Cleon Skousen lists 45 different goals that the Communists have in terms of taking over, or weakening, America. Today we call these same folks socialists since, supposedly, Communism is “dead.” Socialism is but a lesser extreme of communism. If there is was any year in the history of modern America in which we can pinpoint the beginning of the end of morality in the United States, it was 1963.
“On June 17, 1963 the U.S. Supreme Court concluded that any Bible reciting or prayer, in public schools, was deemed unconstitutional. While American’s have endured great prosperity over the past 40 years we have also lost our moral compass and direction. In reviewing the research, data supports 1963 as a focal point, demonstrating a downward slope in our moral and social decline through 2001."
Source: The Communist Takeover Of America – 45 Declared GoalsLet us be clear that there are differences between Socialism and Communism. Let us also be more clear that the goals and objectives of each form of political thinking has nearly the exact same goals and paths to “fundamentally transform” the United States. The political objectives of both of these ways of thinking is very simple: to fundamentally change America from a Constitutional Republic to a more Europeanized version of socialism.
“Socialism is commonly regarded as an economic system that seeks to achieve equality among members of society. Communism, on the other hand, is both an economic system that seeks equality among members of society and a political ideology that advocates a classless and stateless society and rejects religion. It is regarded as a more extreme form of socialism.”
Source: Socialism vs CommunismWhile all 45 of the goals of the socialists and communists address, in one form or another, basic moral underpinnings of the United States, 5 are especially critical when talking about the moral tone and demeanor of this great nation. Those five goals are:
Goal #24. Eliminate all laws governing obscenity by calling them “censorship” and a violation of free speech and free press.
Goal #25. Break down cultural standards of morality by promoting pornography and obscenity in books, magazines, motion pictures, radio, and TV.
Goal #26. Present homosexuality, degeneracy and promiscuity as “normal, natural, healthy.”
Goal #27. Infiltrate the churches and replace revealed religion with “social” religion. Discredit the Bible and emphasize the need for intellectual maturity which does not need a “religious crutch.”
Goal #28. Eliminate prayer or any phase of religious expression in the schools on the ground that it violates the principle of “separation of church and state.”Typical of socialists and communists, each of these goals appears on its surface to have a nice sounding reason for taking the liberal position. But underneath, below the surface, the real goal is, always has been, and always will be the disintegration of the United States as we know it.
[Related Article: A Tribute To Communism]Goal #24. Eliminate all laws governing obscenity by calling them “censorship” and a violation of free speech and free press.
Who is in favor of censorship? No one. The very thought of it brings up Nazi like images of the SS confiscating books and pictures or of the Communists arresting you for making a statement that is mildly critical of the state. In a political context, no one wants, nor likes censorship of speech, thought or censorship of the press.
But what of moral censorship? By lumping all obscenity laws into the political context of free speech, the socialists have succeeded in confusing folks on the differences between the two. While it is a forgone conclusion that no one may censor my opinion on the government, it has become politically correct to forbid anyone from criticizing Islam or Muslims, or creating parodies of them. But, if Christianity is the subject of the discussion, then “free speech” allows anyone with enough vitriol in their pen to write whatever they want.
And this fits very nicely into their next goal of breaking down cultural standards.
Goal #25. Break down cultural standards of morality by promoting pornography and obscenity in books, magazines, motion pictures, radio, and TV.
“The problem for many of our young people today is that they are unaware of what is considered indecent because they were never taught the basic fundamentals of good conduct by their parents. In fact, were you to ask those in their 20’s and early 30’s to define the words, vulgarity, obscenity, and swearing, I am confident that many would not know the differences.
“And, because of political correctness, teachers are often unwilling to correct the students. An advocate of free speech, I am, however, saddened as well as incensed that our lack of decency has resulted in any and all vulgarities, obscenities, and common swear words now being considered the norm.”
Source: The Use Of Vulgarities, Obscenities & Swearing In Public Speaking
[Related Article: Concerns for Company and Coworkers]Now I know that my Libertarian friends have a strong issue about this. Generally speaking, Libertarians are opposed to almost any form of censorship, even if it means expletives are repeated many times in a public broadcast.
But good taste; good manners; correct English and the avoidance of boorish words cannot ever be replaced. Basic human decency requires that we respect ourselves and the people to whom we are speaking with by not using grotesque words and phrases that offend moral values. By promoting pornography and obscenity in publications, photos and the media, then we’re essentially telling folks that the lack of such respectful restraint in the use of such immoral images and pictures is OK.
Goal #24 and Goal #25 are all about the breakdown of moral discipline in our country. By continuously using the most disrespectful, disgusting and derogatory language possible in public and in the media, then that signals to the listener, and to society as a whole, that it is OK to use such language; to not be restrained by good manners or a moral code and ultimately this undermines the discipline of our speech in society and undermines the core moral values we must have in order not to approve such behavior.
Goal #26. Present homosexuality, degeneracy and promiscuity as “normal, natural, healthy.”
[Related Article: Examining Homosexual Myths]
It has been 15 years since the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) law was passed. It states that the federal definition of marriage is between one man and one woman.
[Related Article: Hope, Change, and Early Death: Exposing Barack Obama's Hypocrisy]“In the 15 years since the passage of DOMA, the culture has drastically changed. In 1996 Congress passed the bill with an overwhelming majority and then-President Bill Clinton is even quoted as saying, ‘I remain opposed to same-sex marriage. I believe marriage is an institution for the union of a man and a woman. This has been my long-standing position, and it is not being reviewed or reconsidered.’ In 2009, when asked to restate his position, Clinton said, ‘I personally support people doing what they want to do. I think it’s wrong for someone to stop someone else from doing that.’ When reading the two quotes, it is impossible to miss the drastic shift in thinking. This is perfectly in line with Paul’s words at the end of Romans 1: ‘They not only do [sinful acts] but give approval to those who practice them.’”
Source: Defense of Marriage Act in Trouble?Today, in America, what was once considered taboo has now become the norm. We’re no longer shocked and disgusted by the antics of a singer called Madonna. She has become blase, old stuff and yesterday’s news. Now, forging ahead with a cold, calculating and media contrived image, Lady Gaga has hit the scene. Her antics, her demeanor, her dress and her speech would have shocked millions of decent Americans 2 generations ago. Today, she is the norm. And her disgusting, pitiful and morally bankrupt presentations have become almost an expected norm. That is sad.
This is the kind of stuff that clearly demonstrates what was once socially and morally unacceptable, has become the norm. A public lap dance, at half time, in the middle of the playing field, to be seen by the thousands of fans at a professional Lacrosse game.
Evidence Of The Moral Decay Of America (video) 2:27
What has happened since 1963, the year the Supreme Court banned prayers in schools, is that our students no longer had a moral reminder, a moral compass, of what their lives should be like on a daily basis. Banning prayers in schools was tantamount to telling our students to forget about morals, ethics or other restraints in conducting daily life. Now, nearly 3 generations have grown up without prayer in schools; religious attendance in churches has seriously declined and the practice of one’s religion has become an afterthought.
Which brings us to the next goal.
Goal #27. Infiltrate the churches and replace revealed religion with “social” religion. Discredit the Bible and emphasize the need for intellectual maturity which does not need a “religious crutch.”It is called “secular humanism.” And it is the most rampant and most dangerous kind of thinking that can exist in our country today. Last month I did an extensive blog post entitled Secular Humanists: Enemies of The Constitution in which I made it very clear that Secular humanists maintain that they have “adopted the term ‘secular humanism’ to describe their non-religious life stance.” And to that end, secular humanists openly admit that they oppose all organized religions by further declaring that “…secular humanism is at odds with faith-based religious systems on many issues, it is dedicated to the fulfillment of the individual and humankind in general.”
Source: What Is The Origin of Secular Humanism?“So as it stands, both Republicans and Democrats realize America is lacking a strong moral compass. Millions of American parents are trying hard to teach their children good values, but are besieged by the terrible influences beyond the home. The secularists have succeeded in drastically changing the moral tone in this country. And 80 percent of us see that change as a bad thing.”
Source: The Decline of Morality in America by Bill O’ReillyGoal #28. Eliminate prayer or any phase of religious expression in the schools on the ground that it violates the principle of “separation of church and state.”
Well, this brings us full circle, now doesn’t it? This goal has been achieved by the Communists, socialists, liberal elite crowd. They were able to do this back in 1963, and the dangerous reprecussions have followed ever since.
So what are we to do in order to reverse this ugly decline of American, Judeo-Christian morality in this country? The only solution lies not in our legislators; not in our representatives but in ourselves. In our hearts.
“The words of two widely separated individuals, … columnist Cal Thomas and the former Egyptian president Anwar Sadat, strike at the heart of the matter. Thomas writes, ‘When a building’s foundation is in disrepair, it must be replaced. This will take a change of heart and mind that requires different behavior and lifestyle choices. No politician can legislate that.’ Sadat wrote in his autobiography, ‘He who cannot change the very fabric of his thought will never be able to change reality.’ The most vital key to ultimately creating a truly reformed culture is the change that will have to occur within the ‘very fabric’ of people’s thoughts.”
Source: Legislating MoralityThe desire to change this morally bankrupt nation must come from the people who inhabit this country; its own citizens. Us.
[Related Article: Is America A Free Republic?]If we do not make this change of heart, then we will witness, and possibly our children will witness, the decline of America and the vanishing of anything that even begins to resemble morality in this country.
[Related Article: Trusting God As Freedom Fades]Sources:
- Obama recalls Roe v. Wade, backs abortion rights
- Assault on Morality in America
- The Decline of Morality in America
- Without morality, America will collapse…
- Obama Quietly Put Death Panel Back into Obamacare
- The Breakdown of Morality in America – Have we Gone Too Far to Recover?
- How Satan Destroyed America- 4:03 PM
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Liberal Media Lapdogs Ban 'Dirty' Word
Obama's media lapdogs ban 'dirty' word ...
Top outlets warn reporters to cut back on 'derogatory' term
Author: Drew Zahn
Source: World Net Daily - 10.04.2013Two of America’s largest mainstream media outlets have decided reporters should cut down on the use of the term “Obamacare,” fearing it’s gotten too negative of a connotation.
Tom Kent, the deputy managing editor and standards editor of The Associated Press who is responsible for “accuracy and balance” across the stories carried on AP’s newswire, wrote a column Tuesday telling reporters to back off using the term “Obamacare” when referring to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
“‘Obamacare’ was coined by opponents of the law and is still used by them in a derogatory manner,” Kent argued. “It’s true that the White House, and even Obama himself, have used the term on occasion. But the administration hasn’t totally embraced ‘Obamacare’ and still uses the Affordable Care Act much of the time. We’re sticking with our previous approach to ‘Obamacare’: AP writers should use it in quotes, or in formulations like ‘the law, sometimes known as Obamacare.’”
At NPR, Stuart Seidel, managing editor for standards and practices, announced in a memo ruling earlier this week that reporters should cut back on use of the term.
“‘Obamacare’ seems to be straddling somewhere between being a politically-charged term and an accepted part of the vernacular. And it seems to be on our air and in our copy a great deal,” Seidel said. “[W]ord choices do leave an impression. Please avoid overusing ‘Obamacare.’
“On first reference, it’s best to refer to the ‘Affordable Care Act’ or ‘the health care law,’” he continued. “On later references, feel free to use ‘Obamacare,’ but mix it up with other ways to refer to the law.”
Seidel’s recent ruling reflects a bit of a backtrack from only last month, when he was more accepting of the term “Obamacare.”
On Sept. 6, NPR Ombudsman Edward Shumacher-Matos quoted Seidel’s thoughts at the time from a letter the two exchanged: “Republicans coined the term ‘Obamacare’ during the debate over the Affordable Care Act, seemingly as a means to generate opposition to the president’s health care initiative. During that time, NPR avoided using the term ‘Obamacare.’
“Since passage of the legislation and its enactment into law, the president has said he rather likes the term “Obamacare” and it has gradually come into the vernacular as a shorthand for referring to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act,” Seidel reportedly wrote. “I’m confident that NPR listeners and readers understand that whatever its origins, the term ‘Obamacare’ has lost its pedigree as a politically charged term.”
Seidel’s more recent ruling, however, suggests he’s rethinking how much “charge” is in the term “Obamacare.”
The AP, to be fair, is also recognizing that whatever connotation “Obamacare” may hold for the health-care law, the original term “Affordable Care Act” is a clever piece of language manipulation.
“The Affordable Care Act is the official name of the law,” Kent wrote. “However, its very name is promotional; opponents believe it will not be affordable for individuals or the country. Also, polling indicates that not all Americans know the law by this name. AP writers can use the term when necessary to refer to the law, but should do so sparingly."
“Bottom line,” Kent ruled, “terms like ‘the nation’s new health care law’ are preferred.”
Related Articles:
- The Sovietized American Media
- Seven Media Secrets
- Barack Obama and the Media Alliance- 2:18 PM
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Persecution / Islam and Atrocities
WARNING: The following articles contain graphic images of Islamic atrocities. These images are not suitable for minors.
The Killing of Christians and the Silence of the White House
Source: American Family Association - 10.01.2013
In the past two weeks, radical Islamists have murdered hundreds of Christians around the world.
Without question, Christians are being targeted for assassination solely because of their faith in Christ. Entire families, including children, are slaughtered in their homes, churches and public gatherings.
Ironically, while Christian lives are being silenced by radical jihadists, the United States White House is silent in its response. These killings have not been condemned by the president, his secretary of state, or his administration.
Below, we have summarized the senseless slaughter of Christians over the past two weeks. Join us in asking President Barack Hussein Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry to speak out and use the influence of the United States to halt the slaughter of Christians by radical jihadists.
Sunday, September 22 - Peshawar, PAKISTAN
Islamic bombers mingled with Christians gathering after morning worship service at All Saints Church for dinner on the grounds. The Islamists blew themselves up, killing 90 Christians and injuring 120 more.Sunday, September 29 - Potiskum, NIGERIA
Members of the Islamic radical group Boko Haram shot 50 college students and burned the school as the students slept in their dorms. Although the victims included both Christians and Muslim students, the name of the assassins, Boko Haram means "Western education is forbidden."Saturday, September 21 - Nairobi, KENYA
Jihadist members of Somalia's al-Shabab took hundreds of hostages and killed 67 Christians at the Westgate Mall, after people who identified themselves as Muslims, and who could give the name of Mohamed's mother to leave.Wednesday, September 18 - Maaloula, SYRIA
Islamists arriving in this 2000-year-old village, which is one of the only places in the world where Aramaic is still spoken, announced, "We are from the Al-Nusra Front and have come to make lives miserable for the Crusaders"; (an Islamic slur meaning Christians). After many deaths, the town was retaken by the Syrian Army, but only about 20 families remain.Saturday, September 21, 2013 - Dorawa, NIGERIA
Jihadists killed a pastor and his son and burned their church in the northern state of Yobe where Islamists are attempting to impose Sharia law.Wednesday, September 25 - Derna District, LIBYA
Two Christian men, Waleed Saad Shaker, age 25, and Nash 'at Shenouda Ishaq, age 27, were traveling on a rural road when they were surrounded by a crowd of Muslim men. The Christians were robbed, tied up and beaten. Then the Muslims demanded that they recite the shahada, the declaration of conversion to Islam. When the Christians refused, they were shot. Shakar died before they were found by a shepherd. Ishaq died in hospital.TAKE ACTION!
Pray that God will strengthen, comfort and protect his people who live in Muslim lands.
Related Articles:
- Persecution Is A Reality
- From Arab Spring To Christian Winter
- Islam!
- The 'Peace' Of Islam#Islam: Jihadist Ritual Murder & Mutilation at the Mall
Author: Dawn Perlmutter
Source: IranAware.com - 10.03.2013During the four-day siege in Kenya’s Westgate shopping Mall, al-Shabaab jihadists raped, tortured, beheaded, dismembered, castrated, gouged out eyes, amputated fingers and hung hostages on hooks from the roof. According to a forensic medical doctor:
“They [the al-Shabaab attackers] removed eyes, ears, noses. Fingers are cut by pliers, noses ripped by pliers”
“Those are not allegations. Those are f****** truths,”
“They removed balls, eyes, ears, nose. They get your hand and sharpen it like a pencil then they tell you to write your name with the blood. They drive knives inside a child’s body. Actually, if you look at all the bodies, unless those ones that were escaping, fingers are cut by pliers, the noses are ripped by pliers.”
There were also reports that hostages were beheaded and their heads thrown out of the windows.This inexplicable savage violence is typically attributed to psychological warfare, military tactics or individual acts of brutality but for Jihadists they are justifiable sacred acts against the enemies of Islam. They are ritual murders that are consistent with a growing global Jihadist method of operation [MO]. Similar acts of torture, rape, beheading and mutilation regularly occur in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Egypt, Syria and other countries. The Westgate Mall massacre is comparable to the mass murder of 166 people by members of the Islamist Jihadist group Lashkar-e-Taiba, in ten coordinated shooting and bombing attacks across Mumbai, India on November 26 -29, 2008. During their siege operation the LeT Jihadists also took the time to sexually humiliate, torture and mutilate some of the victims before shooting them dead.
The Jihadist M.O. is also evident in murders, honor killings and war crimes. On June 20, 2006 in al-Yusufiyah outside of Baghdad, Iraq, the bodies of American soldiers Pfc. Kristian Menchaca, 23, and Pfc. Thomas L. Tucker, 25, members of the 101st Airborne division, were found mutilated beyond recognition. Like the hostages in the Westgate shopping Mall there were reports that their eyes were gouged out, they were castrated, their ears and noses were cut off and they were beheaded. Jihadist murders that involved throat slashing, multiple stabbings and body desecration also occurred in London and in Waltham, Massachusetts. On May 22, 2013 on the streets of London two jihadists used meat cleavers to publicly behead and disembowel a British soldier while shouting “Allahu Akbar”. On September 11, 2011 in Waltham, MA the suspects in the Boston Bombings and their Chechen friend are suspected of ritually murdering three men by slitting their throats from ear to ear with such force that they were nearly decapitated and of desecrating their mutilated corpses.
[Read the entire case at Prelude to the Boston Bombing]
These are just a few examples of dozens of Islamist ritual murders that involve torture, dismemberment and mutilation.Islamist mutilation entails a specific kind of ritualistic crime; a collective, provocative and incendiary desecration of the enemy. Mujahideen throughout the world expend extra effort brutalizing the enemies of Islam including women and children. To understand the significance of these violent ritualistic acts they have to be analyzed in the context of Islamist honor and shame. The primary motivations of Islamist atrocity is an irrepressible impulse to alleviate shame and a sacred duty to restore honor, serve vengeance, preserve purity, maintain tradition and save face. For Islamists honor is signified by stereotypical male characteristics such as courage, bravery, heroism, power, virility, and strength; dishonor is signified by stereotypical female characteristics such as weakness, vulnerability, helplessness and submissiveness.
Honor is what defines Islamists as men and psychologically is experienced as dignity and pride; conversely dishonor is indicated by female traits of weakness experienced as humiliation and shame. Islamists are in a constant struggle with fear of disgrace and maintaining manhood particularly those that are living in countries that they consider to be occupied or run by ‘un-Islamic regimes’. Emotions of weakness, helplessness, shame are always just below the surface triggered by a hypersensitivity to any real or perceived act of humiliation. Even a sideways glance can be misinterpreted as a questioning of manhood. Islamist recruitment and indoctrination functions to cultivate the honor shame paradigm so that boys will grow to be ruthless soldiers that require blood vengeance to restore honor and maintain power.
The fear of even the appearance of weakness or vulnerability provides one explanation for the torture of men, women and children. For Mujahideen mercy, compassion, sympathy and kindness symbolize weakness; cruelty, brutality, violence and atrocity symbolize strength. This explains incomprehensible cruel violent acts. Jihadists want to evince their strength and alleviate feelings of shame. Through murder and mutilation these Islamist jihadists experience relief from a sense of humiliation. Psychologically they equate their relief with violent atrocity. Symbolically blood cleanses their impurity. Culturally the violence is sanctioned and they are viewed as heroic. It becomes natural and moral to punish disrespect with torture, mutilation and ritual murder. Strategically it sends a message that there is no mercy for infidel unbelievers.
From a Western behavioral science perspective torture, murder and mutilation are categorized as pathological acts of violence. However, from the jihadist worldview these seemingly inexplicable acts of violence are neither random nor pathological. Atrocity has historical and theological precedents in Islam, is a socially acceptable punishment for infidels and significantly is a projection of cultural taboos. For Islamists the blood of enemies washes away dishonor, disrespect and the Western impurities that have polluted Islam. A symbolic analysis of the types of mutilation reveals jihadists motivations. Mutilating the body is a deliberate act of defilement, impurity and stigmatization. Islamists torture hostages to humiliate and shame them. Cutting off fingers, hacking off noses, cutting out tongues, castration, and dismemberment represent power and control of the body at the moment of death. The slow destruction of the body prevents the person from having any dignity in death.
Rape and gang rapes are a common form of Islamist punishment including men raping other men. The symbolic meaning of male on male rape is that the victims are being turned into women, which in a machismo and homophobia culture is one of the worst forms of humiliation. Similar to prison culture the victims become their bitch. For the same reason castration is the archetypal sign of dishonor and signifies that the victim is no longer a man. Another common form of Jihadist mutilation is gouging out eyes and/or chopping off parts of a person’s face such as lips, ears and most often the nose. It was reported that all of these atrocities were inflicted on the hostages in the Westgate Mall. Disfigurement has historical, symbolic and theological meaning in the context of Islamism. In fact mutilation is a form of judicial corporal punishment that occurs in many Islamic countries and includes among other things amputations, floggings, beheadings and stoning to death. In Saudi Arabia and Iran eye gouging is considered a legitimate judicial punishment. Surgically removing one or both eyes is based on the literal interpretation of lex talionis, the law of retaliation or best known from the formulation “an eye for an eye”. There are hundreds of women in Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, Turkey and other countries who are mutilated for dishonoring their families and men accused of being traitors, spies or simply designated as infidel unbelievers who are victims of similar atrocities.
Victims of torture and mutilations are always potential witnesses to jihadists unspoken and often imagined shame. The Somali jihadists had to gouge out the hostages eyes so they could not mock them, cut out their tongues so they could not talk about them and cut off their ears so they could not hear of their offenses. They were indoctrinated to believe that non-Muslims disregard them and think of them as less than. This imagined disrespect is experienced as shame that originates and resides in the eyes of the innocent people who unfortunately went to the mall that day. Killing the hostages kills shame, without witnesses shame no longer exists. Honor, purity and respect is restored. Torture felt good.
Simply shooting the hostages would have demonstrated weakness and sympathy. Similar to gang initiations and narco cults the Somali jihadists earned their status by brutalizing victims. Dismemberment, eye gouging, castration, beheadings, and body desecration are marks of jihad, what genteel people use to refer to as unspeakable acts. The members of al Shabaab were able to torture and mutilate because Sharia law sanctions atrocities committed against infidel enemies of Islam. Ritualizing violence legitimizes it as acceptable punishment allowing the Somali jihadists to murder in the name of Islam. According to Sharia Law mutilation is not a barbaric act, the violence is prescribed so brutality is transformed into a sacred ritual that cleanses impurities through bloodshed. For the al Shabaab jihadists torture and murder was not immoral but righteous blood vengeance that restored honor to Somali Muslims. Through murder and mutilation the jihadists acquire strength, alleviate dishonor and achieve heroic status as ruthless Mujahideen warriors. Torturing and killing the hostages transformed them from men ashamed of their status in life into badass Mujahideen, soldiers of Allah, respected by Islamists all over the world.
Dawn Perlmutter, Director and founder of Symbol & Ritual Intelligence and Associate Fellow at the Middle East Forum, is considered one of the leading subject matter experts (SME) in the areas of symbols, unfamiliar customs, ritual murder and religious violence.
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