tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19888444631803735322024-03-14T13:20:46.954-05:00The Quixotic IconoclastThis space is devoted to random thoughts about ministry, life, and most importantly of all -Jesus. While it may center around issues of faith, the Quixotic Iconoclast reserves the right to wax philosophical about politics or social justice.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger48125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1988844463180373532.post-62836522015984315632021-01-01T04:35:00.006-06:002021-01-01T04:41:35.068-06:00Letter from a Confederate Conscript<p>This letter was picked up by a member of the Mounted Rifles in a deserted Confederate camp on the Chowan River, about thirty miles from Winton. </p><p>It was headed: “Read it if you want to, you thieving scalp-hunter, and forward, postpaid, to the lord high chancellor of the devil’s exchequer on earth, Jeff Davis, Richmond, Va.” </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6hQeRxWWMZpHIIUyKKMweE0xcgmC0GO3f7HXqIVC75dUh8u3e_43m7B6mk98UUFtca5DhR_1sHApuzV2tQqWfn9D7K6nQWr0Yxx7Vtl6gtjRzokHeS7qXkj8c0rApmNU5ZuM2HvsRnS4/s500/skirmish.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="317" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6hQeRxWWMZpHIIUyKKMweE0xcgmC0GO3f7HXqIVC75dUh8u3e_43m7B6mk98UUFtca5DhR_1sHApuzV2tQqWfn9D7K6nQWr0Yxx7Vtl6gtjRzokHeS7qXkj8c0rApmNU5ZuM2HvsRnS4/s320/skirmish.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>“Headquarters ‘Scalp-Hunters’ Camp Chowan, N. C., January 11. </p><p>Excellency Davis: It is with feelings of undeveloped pleasure that an affectionate conscript intrusts this sheet of confiscated paper to the tender mercies of a Confederate States mail-carrier, addressed as it shall be to yourself, O Jeff, Red Jacket of the Gulf and Chief of the Six Nations—more or less. He writes on the stump of a shivered monarch of the forest, with the pine trees wailing round him,’ and ‘Endymion’s planet rising on the air.’ To you, O Czar of all Chivalry and Khan of Cotton Tartery! he appeals for the privilege of seeking, on his own hook, a land less free—a home among the hyenas of the North. Will you not halt your ‘brave columns’ and stay your gorgeous career for a thin space? and while the admiring world takes a brief gaze at your glorious and God forsaken cause, pen for the happy conscript a furlough without end? Do so, and mail it, if you please to that city the windy, wandering Wigfall didn’t winter in, called for short Philadelphia. </p><p>The Etesian winds sweeping down the defiles of the Old Dominion and over the swamps of Suffolk come moaning through the pines of the Old State laden with music and sigh themselves away into sweet sounds of silence to the far-off South. Your happy conscript would go to the faraway North whence the wind comes and leave you to reap the whirlwind with no one but your father the devil to rake and bind after you. And he’s going. </p><p>It is with intense and multifariously proud satisfaction that he gazes for the last time upon our holy flag—that symbol and sign of an adored trinity cotton, niggers, and chivalry. He still sees it in the little camp on the Chowan, tied to the peak of its palmetto pole, and floating out over our boundless confederacy, the revived relic of ages gone, banner of our King of few days and full of trouble. And that pole in its tapering uprightness typifying some of the grandest beauties of our nationality; its peak pointing hopefully toward the tropical stars and its highest end—run into the ground. Relic and pole, goodbye. ‘Tis best the conscript goes; his claim to chivalry has gone before him. Behind he leaves the legitimate chivalry of this unbounded nation centered in the illegitimate son of a Kentucky horse-thief. </p><p>But a few more words, illustrious President, and he is done done gone. </p><p>Elevated by their sufferings and suffrages to the highest office in the gift of the great and exceeding free people, you have held your position without a change of base, or purpose of any sort, through weary months, of war and want, and woe; and though every conscript would unite with the thousands of loyal and true men in the South in a grand old grief at your downfall, so too will they sink under the calamity of an exquisite joy when you shall have reached that eminent meridian whence all progress is perpendicular. </p><p>And now, bastard President of a political abortion, farewell. </p><p>‘Scalp-hunters,’ relic, pole, and chivalrous Confederates in crime, goodbye. Except it be in the army of the Union, you will not again see the conscript. </p><p>NORM. HARROLD, of Ashe County, N. C.”</p><p>>>Moore, Rebellion Record (Rumors and Events), vol. VII, 87-88.</p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1988844463180373532.post-80600199440391033682019-05-07T17:18:00.001-05:002019-05-08T19:53:52.283-05:00A Harmony of the Stories Concerning the Risen Christ<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<u>[1Corinthians 13] that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried</u><br />
<br />
Luke 23<br />
50 Now there was a man named Joseph, from the Jewish town of Arimathea. He was a member of the council, a good and righteous man,<br />
51 who had not consented to their decision and action; and he was looking for the kingdom of God.<br />
52 This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.<br />
53 Then he took it down and wrapped it in a linen shroud and laid him in a tomb cut in stone, where no one had ever yet been laid.<br />
54 It was the day of Preparation, and the Sabbath was beginning.<br />
55 The women who had come with him from Galilee followed and saw the tomb and how his body was laid.<br />
56 Then they returned and prepared spices and ointments.<br />
<br />
On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.<br />
<br />
<u>[1Corinthians 13] that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures</u><br />
<br />
Matthew 28:<br />
1 Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary [Mark 16] the mother of James and Salome, with some of the women of Galilee who followed Jesus brought spices they had bought and prepared[Luke 23], so that they might go to see the tomb and anoint him. As they walked through the pre-dawn streets [John 20] they were asking one another [Mark 16] “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?” As they approached the tomb, the sun rose, and there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it.[John 1]<br />
<br />
And looking up, the women saw that the stone had been rolled back—it was very large. [Mark 16]<br />
<br />
[Comment: The women left home before dawn. At dawn as they approached the tomb, the earthquake happened with the resurrection of Christ, when the angel rolled away the stone.]<br />
<br />
[John 1]<br />
3 The angel’s appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow.<br />
4 And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men.<br />
<br />
5 But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified.<br />
6 He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay.<br />
<br />
Mark 16<br />
5 And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed.<br />
6 And he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him.<br />
7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.”<br />
[Luke 24] but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.<br />
<br />
Luke 24<br />
4 While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel.<br />
5 And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?<br />
6 He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee,<br />
7 that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.”<br />
<br />
[Comment: There is no reason that we cannot assume that several angelic messengers spoke to the women as the approached, entered, and left the tomb.]<br />
<br />
[Mark 16]8 And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to [any of the guards or anyone around the tomb], for they were afraid. [Matthew 28] So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples.<br />
<br />
<br />
[Comment: The narrative at this point requires that Mary Magdalene heard the angelic messages, but was overwhelmed and confused and failed to grasp the meaning. At this point she considered that his body had been removed, but was not sure of more than that. Given the subject nature of resurrection of the dead, and the honest confusion so commonly recorded in the Gospels among the disciples on other matters, this is a reasonable assumption.]<br />
<br />
John 20<br />
2 So Mary Magdalene ran [quickly] and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.”<br />
<br />
[Luke 24]Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them also went to tell these things to the apostles,<br />
<br />
Matt 28<br />
9 And behold, Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him.<br />
10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.”<br />
<br />
[Luke 24]11 But [when the women told their story to the Apostles,] these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them.<br />
<br />
[Comment]The narrative flows well if we assume that Mary ran ahead of the others, and that Jesus appeared to the rest of the women on the way. This also explains why Jesus appeared later to Mary Magdalene.]<br />
<br />
[Comment: There are clear commands here to tell “my brothers” and “Peter and the disciples” to meet Jesus in Galilee. The gathering in Galilee was obviously significant. Given the very understandable confusion surrounding those who witnessed the resurrection of Christ, the narrative will assume that Jesus did not count on them getting that command across clearly, but chose to appear himself to the disciples to direct them to Galilee. This is supported by his later appearance to the disciples when they were fishing in the sea of Tiberias in that region.]<br />
<br />
[Matthew 28]<br />
11 While they were going, behold, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests all that had taken place.<br />
12 And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they gave a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers<br />
13 and said, “Tell people, ‘His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.’<br />
14 And if this comes to the governor's ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.”<br />
15 So they took the money and did as they were directed. And this story has been spread among the Jews to this day.<br />
<br />
[John 20]<br />
3 So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb.<br />
4 Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first.<br />
5 And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in.<br />
6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there,<br />
7 and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus' head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself.<br />
8 Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed;<br />
9 for as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead.<br />
10 Then the disciples went back to their homes.<br />
<br />
11 But Mary [comment: who had followed them back to the tomb] stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb.<br />
12 And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet.<br />
13 They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.”<br />
14 Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus.<br />
15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.”<br />
16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher).<br />
17 Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”<br />
18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”—and that he had said these things to her.<br />
<br />
<br />
[Luke 24]<br />
13 That very day two of them [disciples] were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem,<br />
14 and they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened.<br />
15 While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them.<br />
16 But their eyes were kept from recognizing him.<br />
17 And he said to them, “What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk?” And they stood still, looking sad.<br />
18 Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?”<br />
19 And he said to them, “What things?” And they said to him, “Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people,<br />
20 and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him.<br />
21 But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened.<br />
22 Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning,<br />
23 and when they did not find his body, they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive.<br />
24 Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see.”<br />
25 And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!<br />
26 Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?”<br />
27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.<br />
<br />
<br />
28 So they drew near to the village to which they were going. He acted as if he were going farther,<br />
29 but they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent.” So he went in to stay with them.<br />
30 When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them.<br />
31 And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight.<br />
32 They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?”<br />
33 And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem.<br />
<br />
<u>[1Corinthians 13] that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.</u><br />
<br />
<br />
[John 20]<br />
19 On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”<br />
20 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.<br />
21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.”<br />
22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.<br />
23 If you forgive the sins of anyone, they are forgiven; if you withhold forgiveness from anyone, it is withheld.”<br />
24 Now Thomas, one of the Twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.”<br />
<br />
[Luke 24]And they [the disciples from the Emmaeus walk] found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together,<br />
34 saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!”<br />
35 Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread.<br />
36 As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, “Peace to you!”<br />
37 But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit.<br />
38 And he said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts?<br />
39 See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.”<br />
40 And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet.<br />
41 And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?”<br />
42 They gave him a piece of broiled fish,<br />
43 and he took it and ate before them.<br />
44 Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.”<br />
<br />
[John 20]<br />
26 Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”<br />
27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.”<br />
28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”<br />
29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”<br />
<br />
30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples [during the 40 days before his ascension], which are not written in this book;<br />
31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.<br />
<br />
[Comment: This narrative harmonizes the various appearances of the risen Christ to his disciples by melding the timelines together.]<br />
<br />
<u>[1Corinthians 13] Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.</u><br />
<br />
<br />
[Matt 28]<br />
16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them.<br />
<br />
<br />
[John 21]<br />
1 After this Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias, and he revealed himself in this way.<br />
2 Simon Peter, Thomas (called the Twin), Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were together.<br />
3 Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.<br />
<br />
4 Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus.<br />
5 Jesus said to them, “Children, do you have any fish?” They answered him, “No.”<br />
6 He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish.<br />
7 That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea.<br />
8 The other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, but about a hundred yards off.<br />
<br />
9 When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire in place, with fish laid out on it, and bread.<br />
10 Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.”<br />
11 So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, 153 of them. And although there were so many, the net was not torn.<br />
12 Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” Now none of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord.<br />
13 Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and so with the fish.<br />
14 This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.<br />
<br />
15 When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.”<br />
16 He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.”<br />
17 He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.<br />
18 Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.”<br />
19 (This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, “Follow me.”<br />
<br />
20 Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them, the one who had been reclining at table close to him and had said, “Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?”<br />
21 When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about this man?”<br />
22 Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!”<br />
23 So the saying spread abroad among the brothers that this disciple was not to die; yet Jesus did not say to him that he was not to die, but, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?”<br />
<br />
24 This is the disciple who is bearing witness about these things, and who has written these things, and we know that his testimony is true.<br />
<br />
25 Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.<br />
<br />
[Matt 28]<br />
[16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. -repeated for clarity]<br />
17 And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted.<br />
18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.<br />
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,<br />
20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”<br />
<br />
[Comment: The flow of narrative requires us to break Luke 24 between verses 44 and 45, and assume a visit to Galilee and return to Jerusalem.]<br />
<br />
<u>[1Corinthians 13] Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. </u><br />
<br />
[Luke 24]<br />
45 Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures,<br />
46 and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead,<br />
47 and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.<br />
48 You are witnesses of these things.<br />
<br />
49 And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”<br />
<br />
[Acts 1]<br />
He ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me;<br />
5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”<br />
6 So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”<br />
7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.<br />
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”<br />
<br />
[Luke 24]<br />
50 Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them.<br />
51 While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven.<br />
[Acts 1]<br />
9 And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.<br />
10 And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes,<br />
11 and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”<br />
[Luke 24]<br />
52 And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem [[Acts 1] from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey away] with great joy,<br />
53 and were continually in the temple blessing God.<br />
<br />
[Comment: Bethany is in the slopes of Mount Olivet]<br />
[Acts 1]<br />
12 Then they returned to Jerusalem<br />
13 And when they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas the son of James.<br />
14 All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.<br />
<br />
<u>[1Corinthians 13]Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. 9 For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.</u><br />
<br />
Acts 9:<br />
1 But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest<br />
2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.<br />
3 Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.<br />
4 And falling to the ground he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?”<br />
5 And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.<br />
6 But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.”<br />
7 The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one.<br />
8 Saul rose from the ground, and although his eyes were opened, he saw nothing. So they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus.<br />
9 And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.<br />
10 Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.”<br />
11 And the Lord said to him, “Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying,<br />
12 and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.”<br />
13 But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem.<br />
14 And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name.”<br />
15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel.<br />
16 For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.”<br />
17 So Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”<br />
18 And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized;<br />
19 and taking food, he was strengthened.<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1988844463180373532.post-46548156416103218402018-11-24T17:34:00.003-06:002019-05-07T17:11:48.869-05:00A Christian Response to Immigrant Groups<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
How should we as Christians living in the United States view immigration?<br />
<br />
In what way should we differentiate between legal and illegal immigrants?<br />
<br />
Are some immigrant groups acceptable and some not?<br />
<br />
On the question of how many immigrants should be allowed into the United States, it's difficult to establish a clear Biblical answer. Many of the faithful were refugees at some point in their lives -Moses, Ruth, Naomi, King David, and even our Lord Jesus himself. What if immigration policies had prevented them from fleeing persecution and famine? Yet there's not a clear distinction of how many refugees a country is obliged to receive.
The question of number is ultimately a political one.<br />
<br />
But how refugees are treated, when they do come, is a different matter. The Bible is very clear on that issue.<br />
<br />
Matthew 25:35
'For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in;<br />
<br />
'The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt; I am the LORD your God.<br />
<br />
'When you reap the harvest of your land, moreover, you shall not reap to the very corners of your field nor gather the gleaning of your harvest; you are to leave them for the needy and the alien. I am the LORD your God.'<br />
<br />
What about illegal immigrants? Should the government overlook that? Clearly not.<br />
<br />
Romans 13:1-2
Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves.<br />
<br />
Yet the individual Christian is not given any justification to treat an illegal alien differently than any other person. If we are to love even our enemies, that clearly applies to an illegal alien.
What should a Christian response look like to the refugee seeking asylum, to the immigrant whether legal or not? To the Muslim?<br />
<br />
Every immigrant family should be met at the airport or at the border by a Church family. They should be welcomed and have a place to stay. There should be food for them to eat. They should have help finding a job and putting their children in school. If you want them to become a part of the community, to assimilate, then show them how.<br />
<br />
We had a Muslim couple in Tyre, Lebanon who moved to Pennsylvania. A Church there met them and cared for them. The next Sunday morning they were posting pictures of their children in Sunday School. When I visited a few years ago, the husband introduced me to the leader of their home Bible study.
This is how we ought to be engaging every immigrant family.
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1988844463180373532.post-89217028096043535052018-07-13T00:32:00.001-05:002018-07-13T00:38:02.838-05:00Disciplining Children<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
A good home has good rules, and a Christian home has godly rules. Your children need rules. They crave limits that give them the safety and security to explore and be creative. Whatever else your rules might be, they must first of all be consistent. They must be consistent with the word of God, and consistently applied and enforced.<br />
<br />
My wife and I have four children. Having one now seems like hardly having any at all. You can gang up on the child. Having two children was different because we could no longer gang up on them, but at least we could split them up –divide and conquer. When the third child came along, suddenly we were outnumbered. We were playing zone defense. The fourth child just made the zones wider.<br />
<br />
One thing we learned early on was consistency. The rules are the rules. When the rules aren't really the rules, kids get confused. All of a sudden they have to find out what the boundaries really are. Your kids will look for boundaries, and they won’t be happy until they find them.<br />
<br />
It’s unfair to your kids to punish them for breaking the rules one time, and let them slide the next time. All of a sudden they understand that it’s not about the rules –it’s about Mom or Dad’s mood swings.<br />
<br />
You need clear rules about everything. They need to know what they can watch on TV, what they must eat at dinner, when they can use the telephone, how much time they can spend on the computer. Is it okay to make exceptions? Yes, but only if it is done beforehand and with the understanding that the rule is being suspended just this one time, not changed. For example, my oldest son is allowed one hour of video games per day. On Friday nights we have movie night, and I may allow him to play longer.<br />
<br />
You need clear communication. The word “obey” has worked very well in our home. If one of our children is not doing what they are told, I will say “Obey me and do this.” My child understands at that point that there will be no further discussion, talk, or warnings. If obedience is not immediate, the children know that I will act firmly. Like the rising and setting of the sun, justice will surely be administered.<br />
<br />
Discipline needs to be fair, swift, and consistent. There are lots of ways to discipline children, and so long as the discipline is effective and not harsh, most of them are okay. Consistency is more important than your choice of technique.<br />
<br />
Here are some guidelines for judging appropriate discipline.<br />
<br />
1. Never discipline in anger. Your children need for you to be in control. When you are not in control of yourself, they can sense that and it frustrates them. When you are angry, your discipline will not be consistent. You will make rash threats that you don’t mean, or worse yet you may injure your child. We use timeouts in our home, but it’s primarily used to give the parent a chance to calm down before actual discipline is carried out.<br />
<br />
2. Pick your battles, not everything is worthy of a battle. I say this with reluctance, so let me explain. Choose your battles carefully ahead of time. If the behavior is not serious enough to go the distance in correcting, then you may want to let it go, especially if you are in a situation where discipline will be awkward.<br />
<br />
But, if the behavior is serious enough to be corrected, then stick to your guns. Don’t ever, ever start to discipline your children and then back down. Never. Once they sense your weakness, it’s like blood in the water. They’ll eat you alive. Always win. Sometimes you may have to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Maybe you’ll just have to give your child a lollipop, but make the child be quiet and say please. Find some shred of victory.<br />
<br />
3. Realize that even children need to express anger from time to time. You have to give your child a way to express their emotions. There has to be some outlet. We don’t allow our children to be mean or disrespectful, but we do allow them to speak their mind. “Daddy, I’m mad at you” is okay. “Daddy, you are an idiot” is not okay.<br />
<br />
With younger children, you may need to talk them through this process. They will have to be taught appropriate ways to express anger. Be patient with them.<br />
<br />
4. Choose the best time and place to discipline. Always discipline in private. Grabbing your kid up and whacking him on the bottom in the checkout line at Wal-Mart is not a good idea. If you are consistent with discipline, you won’t have to do it. The promise that they will be punished in the car will work if they know that it really will happen.<br />
<br />
If my wife and I are driving down the road, and one of the children misbehaves, we don't ignore it, yell threats, or swipe a hand around in the air. I stop whatever else I am doing to correct my children. Nothing else that I am doing is more important than teaching them. I pull over to the side of the road, and calmly (okay, I might get peeved sometimes, but I never yell) make the standards understood. If there is then disobedience, a spanking will follow. I do not allow my children to be rebellious.<br />
<br />
5. Choose your words carefully and speak in a soft tone of voice. Words matter –they mean things. Never, ever insult or degrade your child. Address the bad behavior and make it known that you will not accept such behavior. Never raise your voice in anger. This conveys hatred to the child. You want to change the behavior, not demean the child.<br />
<br />
How do you know what behavior to correct? The best answer is that we don’t need to just address the issue at hand, but we need to look into the heart.<br />
<br />
Proverbs 4:23<br />
Above all else, guard your heart,<br />
<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>for it is the wellspring of life.<br />
<br />
The behavior of a child reflects what is in his or her heart. A child who takes toys doesn’t just need to correct that behavior, that child needs to learn generosity. A child who hits doesn’t just need to correct that behavior, that child needs to learn compassion. Help your child to guard his heart against sin. Pray over your child every day –you will get an incredible blessing, and so will your child.<br />
<br />
Luke 6<br />
43“No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. 44Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers. 45The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.<br />
<br />
Changing only the outside behavior doesn’t solve the problem.<br />
<br />
Imagine that you planted an apple tree. After a couple of years it bears some apples, but they are bitter and wormy. So, you go to the store and buy shiny, tasty apples and tie them onto the branches. You haven’t helped the tree at all. It still bears bad fruit. Likewise putting your focus only on behavior modification is useless. Work on your child’s heart.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
I want to say a word or two about corporal punishment. What I am about to say is only for Christian parents. If you are not a Christian, do not try this at home.<br />
<br />
We often hear the proverb “Spare the rod and spoil the child.” That’s not anywhere to be found in the Bible. Proverbs 13:24 actually says “He who withholds his rod hates his son, But he who loves him disciplines him diligently.” That’s a strong statement, folks. Sometimes the rod of correction is the only medicine. You owe it to your child to discipline lovingly and diligently. When you withhold from them what is their right, you are showing contempt for your child.<br />
<br />
The rod of correction is still fashionable with God. Hebrews 12:6 says : For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, And He scourges every son whom He receives.”<br />
<br />
The sting of physical pain is nothing compared to the life of an undisciplined person with no boundaries or morality.<br />
<br />
Proverbs 23<br />
13<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Do not withhold discipline from a child;<br />
<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>if you punish him with the rod, he will not die.<br />
14<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Punish him with the rod<br />
<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>and save his soul from death.<br />
<br />
Let me tell you what has worked for me. We only spank for defiance and disobedience. We never punish our children for mistakes. Sometimes I’d like to pinch their heads off, mind you, but I never punish for mistakes, even really stupid ones. But if I have placed something out of bounds, then I will spank them for disobeying my rules. I don’t spank them for getting into the cookie jar, I spank them for doing it when I have forbidden it.<br />
<br />
We use a flat paint-stirring stick. The one gallon stick is suitable for younger children, the five gallon for older. It is light enough that it won’t cause injury, and yet delivers a sting on the seat of the pants. Never use your bare hands. Hands are for loving, rods are for correcting. We always spank our kids on the legs or their bottom. Those are not places where it will seem like an attack. We have a system of one to five licks. One is a reminder, five is for something serious like disrespecting an elder.<br />
<br />
First the crime is reviewed. Guilt is established. This is not a time where they can argue, all comments are from the bench. The sentence (including the number of licks to be applied) is then laid out and explained. Punishment is then administered. Immediately we embrace our child and tell them that we love them. We explain that what they did was wrong, and that was why they were spanked. Finally, we lay out our expectations for better behavior, and encourage our child to do better. If you will follow this pattern, your children will get a lesson from their spanking, instead of just a sore bottom.<br />
<br />
There are many other means of discipline that we use for behavior that is not disobedient or defiant. We withold privileges like television or toys. We confine our child to the bed. Confining your child to their room is like throwing Brer Rabbit into the Briar patch –they have Nintendo or toys to play with. Make sure they stay in bed.<br />
<br />
Whatever forms you use, remember the principles.<br />
<br />
1. Never discipline in anger, always in love.<br />
2. Pick your battles, not everything is worthy of a battle. <br />
3. Realize that even children need to express anger from time to time.<br />
4. Choose the best time and place to discipline. <br />
5. Choose your words carefully and speak in a soft tone of voice. </div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1988844463180373532.post-63303464703820795792017-08-17T23:31:00.001-05:002021-08-26T08:14:40.729-05:00Confederates speaking on Confederate Motives<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
<u>Statements from the Confederate Constitution:</u></h3>
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<br />
Article I Section 9(4)<br />
No bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law denying or impairing the right of property in negro slaves shall be passed.<br />
<br />
Article IV Section 2(1)<br />
The citizens of each State shall be entitled to all the privileges and immunities of citizens in the several States; and shall have the right of transit and sojourn in any State of this Confederacy, with their slaves and other property; and the right of property in said slaves shall not be thereby impaired.<br />
<br />
Article IV Section 3(3)<br />
The Confederate States may acquire new territory; and Congress shall have power to legislate and provide governments for the inhabitants of all territory belonging to the Confederate States, lying without the limits of the several states; and may permit them, at such times, and in such manner as it may by law provide, to form states to be admitted into the Confederacy. In all such territory, the institution of negro slavery as it now exists in the Confederate States, shall be recognized and protected by Congress, and by the territorial government: and the inhabitants of the several Confederate States and Territories, shall have the right to take to such territory any slaves lawfully held by them in any of the states or territories of the Confederate states.<br />
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<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
<u>Statements from Confederate States' "Declaration of Causes" for secession.</u></h3>
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
<u><br /></u></h4>
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
<u>Alabama:</u></h4>
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<br />
Upon the principles then announced by Mr. Lincoln and his leading friends, we are bound to expect his administration to be conducted. Hence it is, that in high places, among the Republican party, the election of Mr. Lincoln is hailed, not simply as it change of Administration, but as the inauguration of new principles, and a new theory of Government, and even as the downfall of slavery. Therefore it is that the election of Mr. Lincoln cannot be regarded otherwise than a solemn declaration, on the part of a great majority of the Northern people, of hostility to the South, her property and her institutions—nothing less than an open declaration of war—for the triumph of this new theory of Government destroys the property of the South, lays waste her fields, and inaugurates all the horrors of a San Domingo servile insurrection, consigning her citizens to assassinations, and. her wives and daughters to pollution and violation, to gratify the lust of half-civilized Africans.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Be it resolved, That the State of Alabama, fully concuring with the State of South Carolina, in affirming the right of any State to secede from the confederacy, whenever in her own judgment such a step is demanded by the honor, interests and safety of her people, is not unmindful of the fact that the assaults upon the institution of slavery, and upon the rights and equality of the Southern States, unceasingly continued with increasing violence and in new, and more alarming forms, may constrain her to a reluctant but early exercise of that invaluable right.<br />
<br /></div>
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
<u>Georgia:</u></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-weight: normal;">The people of Georgia having dissolved their political connection with the Government of the United States of America, present to their confederates and the world the causes which have led to the separation. For the last ten years we have had numerous and serious causes of complaint against our non-slave-holding confederate States with reference to the subject of African slavery. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
An anti-slavery party must necessarily look to the North alone for support, but a united North was now strong enough to control the Government in all of its departments, and a sectional party was therefore determined upon. Time and issues upon slavery were necessary to its completion and final triumph. The feeling of anti-slavery, which it was well known was very general among the people of the North, had been long dormant or passive; it needed only a question to arouse it into aggressive activity. </div>
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<br /></div>
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
<u>Mississippi:</u></h4>
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<br />
"Our position is thoroughly identified with the institution of slavery-- the greatest material interest of the world. Its labor supplies the product which constitutes by far the largest and most important portions of commerce of the earth. These products are peculiar to the climate verging on the tropical regions, and by an imperious law of nature, none but the black race can bear exposure to the tropical sun. These products have become necessities of the world, and a blow at slavery is a blow at commerce and civilization. That blow has been long aimed at the institution, and was at the point of reaching its consummation. There was no choice left us but submission to the mandates of abolition, or a dissolution of the Union, whose principles had been subverted to work out our ruin."</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<div>
It [hostility to slavery] has grown until it denies the right of property in slaves, and refuses protection to that right on the high seas, in the Territories, and wherever the government of the United States had jurisdiction.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
It refuses the admission of new slave States into the Union, and seeks to extinguish it by confining it within its present limits, denying the power of expansion.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
It has nullified the Fugitive Slave Law in almost every free State in the Union, and has utterly broken the compact which our fathers pledged their faith to maintain.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
It advocates negro equality, socially and politically, and promotes insurrection and incendiarism in our midst.</div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b><u>South Carolina:</u></b></div>
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<br />
But an increasing hostility on the part of the non-slaveholding States to the institution of slavery, has led to a disregard of their obligations, and the laws of the General Government have ceased to effect the objects of the Constitution.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Those States have assume the right of deciding upon the propriety of our domestic institutions; and have denied the rights of property established in fifteen of the States and recognized by the Constitution; they have denounced as sinful the institution of slavery; they have permitted open establishment among them of societies, whose avowed object is to disturb the peace and to eloign the property of the citizens of other States. They have encouraged and assisted thousands of our slaves to leave their homes; and those who remain, have been incited by emissaries, books and pictures to servile insurrection.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
A geographical line has been drawn across the Union, and all the States north of that line have united in the election of a man to the high office of President of the United States, whose opinions and purposes are hostile to slavery. He is to be entrusted with the administration of the common Government, because he has declared that that "Government cannot endure permanently half slave, half free," and that the public mind must rest in the belief that slavery is in the course of ultimate extinction.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<div>
This sectional combination for the submersion of the Constitution, has been aided in some of the States by elevating to citizenship, persons who, by the supreme law of the land, are incapable of becoming citizens; and their votes have been used to inaugurate a new policy, hostile to the South, and destructive of its beliefs and safety.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
On the 4th day of March next, this party will take possession of the Government. It has announced that the South shall be excluded from the common territory, that the judicial tribunals shall be made sectional, and that a war must be waged against slavery until it shall cease throughout the United States.</div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
<u>Texas:</u></h4>
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In all the non-slave-holding States, in violation of that good faith and comity which should exist between entirely distinct nations, the people have formed themselves into a great sectional party, now strong enough in numbers to control the affairs of each of those States, based upon an unnatural feeling of hostility to these Southern States and their beneficent and patriarchal system of African slavery, proclaiming the debasing doctrine of equality of all men, irrespective of race or color-- a doctrine at war with nature, in opposition to the experience of mankind, and in violation of the plainest revelations of Divine Law. They demand the abolition of negro slavery throughout the confederacy, the recognition of political equality between the white and negro races, and avow their determination to press on their crusade against us, so long as a negro slave remains in these States.</div>
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We hold as undeniable truths that the governments of the various States, and of the confederacy itself, were established exclusively by the white race, for themselves and their posterity; that the African race had no agency in their establishment; that they were rightfully held and regarded as an inferior and dependent race, and in that condition only could their existence in this country be rendered beneficial or tolerable.</div>
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That in this free government *all white men are and of right ought to be entitled to equal civil and political rights* [emphasis in the original]; that the servitude of the African race, as existing in these States, is mutually beneficial to both bond and free, and is abundantly authorized and justified by the experience of mankind, and the revealed will of the Almighty Creator, as recognized by all Christian nations; while the destruction of the existing relations between the two races, as advocated by our sectional enemies, would bring inevitable calamities upon both and desolation upon the fifteen slave-holding states.</div>
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<b><u>Jefferson Davis, President, CSA:</u></b></div>
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"If slavery be a sin, it is not yours. It does not rest on your action for its origin, on your consent for its existence. It is a common law right to property in the service of man; its origin was Divine decree." </div>
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"African slavery, as it exists in the United States, is a moral, a social, and a political blessing."</div>
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"You too know, that among us, white men have an equality resulting from a presence of a lower caste, which cannot exist where white men fill the position here occupied by the servile race. The mechanic who comes among us, employing the less intellectual labor of the African, takes the position which only a master-workman occupies where all the mechanics are white, and therefore it is that our mechanics hold their position of absolute equality among us."</div>
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"It [slavery] was established by decree of Almighty God...it is sanctioned in the Bible, in both Testaments, from Genesis to Revelation...it has existed in all ages, has been found among the people of the highest civilization, and in nations of the highest proficiency in the arts...Let the gentleman go to Revelation to learn the decree of God - let him go to the Bible...I said that slavery was sanctioned in the Bible, authorized, regulated, and recognized from Genesis to Revelation...Slavery existed then in the earliest ages, and among the chosen people of God; and in Revelation we are told that it shall exist till the end of time shall come. You find it in the Old and New Testaments - in the prophecies, psalms, and the epistles of Paul; you find it recognized, sanctioned everywhere."<br />
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<u>John C Pelot, Chair, Opening Speech, Florida Secession Convention:</u></h4>
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The People of a portion of the States who were parties to the Government were early opposed to the institution. The feeling of opposition to it has been cherished, and fostered, and inflamed until it has taken possession of the public mind of the North to such an extent that it overwhelms every other influence. It has seized the political power and now threatens annihilation to slavery thoughout the Union. </div>
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At the South, and with our People of course, slavery is the element of all value, and a destruction of that destroys all that is property. </div>
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This party, now soon to take possession of the powers of the Government, is sectional, irresponsible to us, and driven on by an infuriated fanatical madness that defies all opposition, must inevitably destroy every vestige or right growing out of property in slaves. </div>
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<u>George Williamson, Commissioner of Louisiana, to the secession convention of Texas:</u></h4>
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Louisiana looks to the formation of a Southern confederacy to preserve the blessings of African slavery, and of the free institutions of the founders of the Federal Union, bequeathed to their posterity. </div>
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Louisiana supplies to Texas a market for her surplus wheat, grain and stock; both States have large areas of fertile, uncultivated lands, peculiarly adapted to slave labor; and they are both so deeply interested in African slavery that it may be said to be absolutely necessary to their existence, and is the keystone to the arch of their prosperity.</div>
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The people of Louisiana would consider it a most fatal blow to African slavery, if Texas either did not secede or having seceded should not join her destinies to theirs in a Southern Confederacy. If she remains in the union the abolitionists would continue their work of incendiarism and murder. </div>
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The people of the slave holding States are bound together by the same necessity and determination to preserve African slavery. The isolation of any one of them from the others would make her the theatre for abolition emisaries from the North and from Europe. Her existence would be one of constant peril to herself and of imminent danger to other neighboring slave-holding communities. </div>
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That constitution the Southern States have never violated, and taking it as the basis of our new government we hope to form a slave-holding confederacy that will secure to us and our remotest posterity the great blessings its authors designed in the Federal Union. With the social balance wheel of slavery to regulate its machinery, we may fondly indulge the hope that our Southern government will be perpetual.</div>
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<u>Alexander Stephens, Vice President, CSA:</u></h4>
The new constitution has put at rest, forever, all the agitating questions relating to our peculiar institution African slavery as it exists amongst us the proper status of the negro in our form of civilization. This was the immediate cause of the late rupture and present revolution.The constitution, it is true, secured every essential guarantee to the institution while it should last, and hence no argument can be justly urged against the constitutional guarantees thus secured, because of the common sentiment of the day. Those ideas, however, were fundamentally wrong. They rested upon the assumption of the equality of races. This was an error.<br />
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Our new government is founded upon exactly the opposite idea; its foundations are laid, its corner- stone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery subordination to the superior race is his natural and normal condition. This, our new government, is the first, in the history of the world, based upon this great physical, philosophical, and moral truth.<br />
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One of the most striking characteristics of insanity, in many instances, is forming correct conclusions from fancied or erroneous premises; so with the anti-slavery fanatics. Their conclusions are right if their premises were. They assume that the negro is equal, and hence conclude that he is entitled to equal privileges and rights with the white man. If their premises were correct, their conclusions would be logical and just but their premise being wrong, their whole argument fails.<br />
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Many governments have been founded upon the principle of the subordination and serfdom of certain classes of the same race; such were and are in violation of the laws of nature. Our system commits no such violation of nature’s laws. With us, all of the white race, however high or low, rich or poor, are equal in the eye of the law. Not so with the negro. Subordination is his place. He, by nature, or by the curse against Canaan, is fitted for that condition which he occupies in our system.<br />
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<u><br />Jospeh E. Brown, Governor of Confederate Georgia:</u></h4>
Among us the poor white laborer is respected as an equal. His family is treated with kindness, consideration and respect. He does not belong to the menial class. The negro is in no sense of the term his equal. He feels and knows this. He belongs to the only true aristocracy, the race of white men. He black no masters boots, and bows the knee to no one save God alone. He receives higher wages for his labor than does the laborer of any other portion of the world, and he raises up his children with the knowledge, that they belong to no inferior cast, but that the highest members of the society in which he lives, will, if their conduct is good, respect and treat them as equals.<br />
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Discover even more on Confederate motives at this link:<br />https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/06/what-this-cruel-war-was-over/396482/<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1988844463180373532.post-35744595889370362092017-01-30T13:44:00.000-06:002017-01-30T13:48:50.835-06:00On Christian Syrian Refugees<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">A lot of statistics are floating around the internet about Christian Syrian refugees, and almost all of them are based on assumptions that ignore the situation of Christians living in Syria. In fact there are very few Christians fleeing Syria because they tend to live in areas which have not been hardest hit by the conflict. Almost all refugees fleeing Syria are Sunni Muslims simply because almost all of the fighting has take place in Sunni areas.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Christian Population centers in Syria</span></td></tr>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">Here’s a typical evaluation of the numbers of Syrian Christian refugees, taken from National Review: </span></span></div>
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<span class="s1">The United States has accepted 10,801 Syrian refugees, of whom 56 are Christian. Not 56 percent; 56 total, out of 10,801. That is to say, one-half of 1 percent. The BBC says that 10 percent of all Syrians are Christian, which would mean 2.2 million Christians. . . .</span></blockquote>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">Herein lies the problem: This assumes that Christians are dispersed evenly throughout Syria and have suffered equally in the fighting. In fact, that is not the case. </span></span>Some Christians have fled their homes because of fighting, especially from Aleppo and Hasakah, but also in much smaller numbers from other cities like Homs and Hama. Most Christians live in areas (mainly large cities) that have been and still remain under government control. For them, there has been nothing to flee. They are still living in their homes. </div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">Christians are more affluent than the average Syrian Muslim, and have better options for remaining in Syria, or at least in the nearby region. Some have come to Lebanon, where they are readily accepted into the nation’s substantial Christian minority. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">The arguments about why Christians are not in refugee camps are made by people who are simply inventing statistics and are unaware of the cultural dynamics. If there are 2.2 million Syrian Christians (a reasonable figure), and 25% of Syrians have fled their country, then they reason that there must be a half-million Syrian Christian refugees outside Syria. A Newsweek article was based around this purely invented figure, and even suggested that there might be as many as one million Christian refugees:<br />
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<a href="http://europe.newsweek.com/us-bars-christian-not-muslim-refugees-syria-497494?rm=eu"><span class="s2">http://europe.newsweek.com/us-bars-christian-not-muslim-refugees-syria-497494?rm=eu</span></a></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">The truth is that Christians have better options, including staying at home, and are using them. The same is true for Alawites, Druze, and other Syrian religious minorities. The rebellion is largely Sunni, and the fighting is taking place in Sunni areas. This is why almost all refugees are Sunni. Everyone living in the camps is Sunni. So, almost all of the refugees with the direst need are Sunni. We should not be passing over those with the greatest need to favor those who usually have better options.</span></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1988844463180373532.post-75418141884011360712016-12-03T07:00:00.001-06:002016-12-03T08:57:32.735-06:00History Repeats Itself-Murder in the Caliphate<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
It appears that the leader of the Islamic State, Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, <a href="http://www.iraqinews.com/iraq-war/isis-leader-abu-bakr-al-baghdadi-suffers-severe-poisoning/">was poisoned</a> back in September along with three of his aides. He has <a href="http://www.syriahr.com/en/?p=56153">summoned other leaders</a> to choose his<a href="http://www.muslimpress.com/Section-world-news-16/106470-isis-leader-choosing-successor-in-the-event-of-his-death"> successor as Caliph</a> in case assassins manage to kill him.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8cztWuK7CaZMb1abG-2oa0wnBMrb41d-tdw3s6DeYkIlbqQ5yeHStNvJFB1p-hqwSu1LYpyHLQYy3OaIs0eAllWqZGdn64n6YJk1UsuF60UCeG7HEJY-kJ1rk2W34zPAJ6c29EicfXC8/s1600/image-813264-galleryV9-glxi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="295" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8cztWuK7CaZMb1abG-2oa0wnBMrb41d-tdw3s6DeYkIlbqQ5yeHStNvJFB1p-hqwSu1LYpyHLQYy3OaIs0eAllWqZGdn64n6YJk1UsuF60UCeG7HEJY-kJ1rk2W34zPAJ6c29EicfXC8/s400/image-813264-galleryV9-glxi.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Why would anyone want to poison this guy?</span></td></tr>
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If we take a look at history, this is a reflection of the close similarity between the Islamic State and the earliest leaders of Islam. After the death of Mohammad, the Muslims chose a new leader to be their Caliph. The first four such leaders chosen are called by Sunni Muslims the "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rashidun">Rightly Guided Caliphs</a>." These were all companions of Mohammad, who ruled in the years soon after his death.<br />
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All of them, Mohammad and his Companions, were men of conquest. Mohammad said that he earned his living from "under the shadow of the tip of my spear" and the Islamic State magazine "Dabiq" presents a lengthy discussion of this in issue 4, beginning on page 10. He lived from the spoils of conquest. Though Mohammad was himself poisoned, he did not die of that incident but was weakened by it and died of illness three years later. His first successor, Abu Bakr, also died of illness. The remaining "Rightly Guided Caliphs" died violent deaths.<br />
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Umar-<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umar#Assassination">Assassinated</a> by a slave after village was attacked<br />
Othman-<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uthman#Assassination">Assassinated</a> by rebels during war<br />
Ali- <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali#Death">Assassinated</a> by a religious extremist who wanted war<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiztD7gnYYAYGrW5ZafB2FF3srnbWWANreXEgVVkGFR7bbH4m36WvXYePabTB4vVDA5RfNYZo8fmxhabakyqKv_F8EWE5EEJpBg-QONZngLJPrJf7qbZ3I9KfAXmQL_tVUeebVUa69z6k/s1600/Mohammad-Hassan-Hussein.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiztD7gnYYAYGrW5ZafB2FF3srnbWWANreXEgVVkGFR7bbH4m36WvXYePabTB4vVDA5RfNYZo8fmxhabakyqKv_F8EWE5EEJpBg-QONZngLJPrJf7qbZ3I9KfAXmQL_tVUeebVUa69z6k/s400/Mohammad-Hassan-Hussein.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Mohammad and his grandsons Hassan and Hussein<br />with his companions in better times</span></td></tr>
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The Caliphate of Ali was divided, with a rival Caliph <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muawiyah_I">Muawiyah</a> controlling the Levant and Egypt. The next Caliph, Hassan, resigned after making an agreement agreed to allow Muawiyah to reign until his death, with Hassan as his successor. It did not take long for Muawiyah to decide that his own son Yazid should instead be his heir, and he arranged to have <a href="http://www.sibtayn.com/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5941:mu-awiya-s-plot-to-poison-imam-hasan-as&catid=576&Itemid=671">Hassan poisoned -by Hassan's own wife.</a><br />
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Hassan's brother and rightful heir Hussein was later killed by the army of the treacherous Yazid at a battle in Karbala in Iraq. He was beheaded by an enemy leader who had agreed to allow him to say prayers, and then <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Karbala#Death_of_Husayn_ibn_Ali">cut off his head when he knelt to pray</a>. This event marks the complete rupture between Sunni Muslims (with Yazid), and those who would become Shia Muslims (with Hussein).<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ1hXLrClIstF5WlHoR7QXMJG5NLKqsqWTf6dOPrAPYdWPnxPlXFL4ekXkbN9bz3YbJawijWQsnl7US6U3FnotN_swRrEIHa8qpsKaQ-lIqSW22329UHI6iurm8wl894QPQin9Nu3ngoE/s1600/Hussein+death.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ1hXLrClIstF5WlHoR7QXMJG5NLKqsqWTf6dOPrAPYdWPnxPlXFL4ekXkbN9bz3YbJawijWQsnl7US6U3FnotN_swRrEIHa8qpsKaQ-lIqSW22329UHI6iurm8wl894QPQin9Nu3ngoE/s400/Hussein+death.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Death at Karbala</span></td></tr>
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Why is this history relevant? Muslims have worked over many centuries to build an Islam that allows for peace and tolerance. Most of them are kind, decent people who want to live that way. There are schools of theology (primarily <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madhhab#Sunni">four for Sunnis</a> an one for <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ja%27fari_jurisprudence">Shia</a>) that interpret the Quran and the life of Mohammad in a different light than the Islamic State.<br />
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What you see in the Islamic State is a desire to throw away Islam as we know it, modern Islam, and revert back to tribal barbarism. It is not the Islam of your Dentist, or even of most Muslims.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlxM55dj_bWCEvfIrKjJnoUVu58u-6Z12CFNM8Bikj-WsBX3hrgU9khlZ9HJE19FCeI00x28qrfZM_cxMn9YIvPmDBN6AaktjdJwwkn3-xexnhx3VPkj-QpELHdxrfc9ytj33CYCtObog/s1600/muslim-dentist.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlxM55dj_bWCEvfIrKjJnoUVu58u-6Z12CFNM8Bikj-WsBX3hrgU9khlZ9HJE19FCeI00x28qrfZM_cxMn9YIvPmDBN6AaktjdJwwkn3-xexnhx3VPkj-QpELHdxrfc9ytj33CYCtObog/s400/muslim-dentist.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Unless he does this, in which case you are in trouble.</span></td></tr>
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It is the Islam of the Islamic State. It is the Islam of Al-Qaeida. It is the Islam of Saudi Arabia. It is the Islam that we see lived out in the time of the "Rightly Guided" Caliphs. It is the Islam of terror.<br />
<br />
Why has this version of Islam come back to the forefront after being dormant so long? It has always been lurking around in the Saudi Peninsula, where it originated. That is the root and the reservoir of violent extremist Islam. A Saudi preacher of this theology, ibn Abdu Al-Wahab, allied with the house of Saud and together they established <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emirate_of_Diriyah">an Islamic State in the late 18th century</a> much like the one we see in Syria and Iraq today. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnBSAASx_C1IeggDcI85jVGRjPNSW_QGlFLpUXtn3lKFp_XCOYCXk-YIfujPM0yUm6dzqWPdcuzGYpq8OmLINHwqmkBmJQ3KZrtwSJzco0Fp0eHvnPu2kxf-NT6KppdgX4Az5PYZ1itbA/s1600/First_Saudi_State_Big.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnBSAASx_C1IeggDcI85jVGRjPNSW_QGlFLpUXtn3lKFp_XCOYCXk-YIfujPM0yUm6dzqWPdcuzGYpq8OmLINHwqmkBmJQ3KZrtwSJzco0Fp0eHvnPu2kxf-NT6KppdgX4Az5PYZ1itbA/s320/First_Saudi_State_Big.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The First Islamic State - Emirate of Diriyah</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
The Wahabi theology lives on and is exported by wealthy Saudis who build Mosques and pay extremist Wahabi preachers with oil money. All around the world, they are slowly spreading this extremism. The genie is out of the bottle. We have already poured fabulous wealth out on the Saudi princes. They have already set up worldwide organizations to promote their beliefs. We have already armed them with the latest and most powerful armaments that their oil money (which came from us) could buy from our factories.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
What can we do? We can attack the ideology, and not the many Muslims who don't really believe it and whose belief systems have rejected it. We can quit trying to portray every Muslim as a terrorist. We can give up the stupid comparisons of refugees to skittles. Not every Christian is a Klansman, and not every Muslim is a terrorist. Maybe we could quit pouring weapons into the region? Those weapons almost always seem to end up in the hands of extremists.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
We can also share the Gospel with them. We've done a lot of horrible things with our religion (as Christians) over the centuries, but in it's earliest days Christianity was a religion of peace. When we look at the companions of Jesus (the Apostles) we see something very different about them. They were men of peace, not military conquest. They did not kill for their faith, but instead they were killed for their faith.</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUQrvELPDnlqIOHteE779yo7kFbObozFp_kS4Q0CPSHzNHXZLvUhERA5YWFykQ3UqpAk9hNKnfPt2qINPlWTsoJ92yCaoS2OFtZGfqX5jz-bJUE4vIo5KQAi4lxoVrVea7DYfMzeJ1faE/s1600/death+of+apostles.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUQrvELPDnlqIOHteE779yo7kFbObozFp_kS4Q0CPSHzNHXZLvUhERA5YWFykQ3UqpAk9hNKnfPt2qINPlWTsoJ92yCaoS2OFtZGfqX5jz-bJUE4vIo5KQAi4lxoVrVea7DYfMzeJ1faE/s400/death+of+apostles.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Deaths of the Apostles</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
It is wrong to suggest that Muslims are a violent people and that Christians are not. That simply isn't the case. Christian nations are just as involved in the blood-letting as Muslim nations. Our corporations have reaped a huge windfall from weapons sales to all sides. Christian nations have made the worst of the good example of the Apostles, and Muslims have made the best of the bad example of the Companions.<br />
<br />
But if we are to look for a way out, where do we look? Whether Muslim or Christian, our only hope is Jesus. The answer is not a religion, or a system, but a person -Jesus. His Apostles were different because he changed them. We should be different because he changes us.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1988844463180373532.post-8943627173962625162016-11-21T12:50:00.007-06:002017-01-30T12:33:21.602-06:00Islamophobia is Irrational<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
Having lived among Muslims in Muslim neighborhoods in a Muslim majority country for over five years now, I am constantly confused and disappointed by the denigration of Muslims in the West. This generally comes from two groups: those who have never met a Muslim, and those who have met them in a war zone. While the latter group does know something about Muslims that is valid, what they know is how Muslims act when they are being shot at, frightened, gassed, bombed, beaten, starved, tortured, and killed. This is not a political statement, simply a description of a war zone.<br />
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<div style="text-align: left;">
In my experience, most commentators are simply passing along what they have heard from other commentators. Even those who have a background in the Middle East often come from areas where they lived in seclusion from Muslims. Years ago I asked one lady who grew up in Lebanon about a Muslim custom and she said "I don't know, I was never in the home of a Muslim." Being from the Middle East didn't give her any particular knowledge of Muslims because she actively avoided contact with them. If you really want to know what Muslims are up to, I suggest that you <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9dwHYu_EK4">meet a Muslim.</a></div>
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A friend recently asked my opinion of an anti-Muslim video, and when I watched the video it was immediately obvious that the person who made it had no personal knowledge of Muslims or their culture and religion. It was recycled video clips. I won't link it here because that would promote it, but the upshot was that fear of Islam is rational. Because the (stated) aim of the video was to promote fear, it was long on emotion and short on fact. The video presented four distinct themes, which I will comment on here.<br />
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<br />
Myth #1 - All terrorism is Muslim terrorism.<br />
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Since the video was made from a US perspective, we can look at terrorist acts in the US to see if this is true. The FBI has published a <a href="https://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/terrorism-2002-2005#terror_05sum">list of domestic terror attacks</a> in the last few decades in the US. What is clear from this list and other sources is that the <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2010/US/01/06/muslim.radicalization.study/">danger of Muslim attacks in the US has been greatly exaggerated </a>by those who sell fear, or those whose agenda is to, as one professional fearmonger put it, "to scare the bejeezus outta ya!"<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://i2.wp.com/www.loonwatch.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/piechart2.jpg?resize=491%2C491" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://i2.wp.com/www.loonwatch.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/piechart2.jpg?resize=491,491" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Terrorism by groups 1980-2005</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Since this data was compiled in 2005, the FBI's greatest concern has been the <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2015/02/19/politics/terror-threat-homeland-security/">resurgence of right-wing hate groups </a> and <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/20090801/second-wave-return-militias">militias</a>.<br />
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Myth #2 - Only Muslims can't live with others in peace.<br />
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This myth simply ignores the many cases of religious strife around the world between other groups. The maker of the video is probably hoping that no one will bother doing a few quick google searches. In the <a href="http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-christians-say-under-siege-in-modi-s-government-after-rape-attacks-2069281">case of Christians</a>, they are being <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/world/2016/03/14/christian-persecution-by-hindus-rises-in-india-say-humanitarian-groups.html">attacked by Hindus</a>, being <a href="http://chiesa.espresso.repubblica.it/articolo/7058?eng=y&refresh_ce">attacked and killed by Buddhists</a> in several places, and they are being <a href="http://northkoreanchristians.com/">killed by atheists.</a> Even <a href="http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Tribal-oaths-and-animism-forced-on-Lao-Christians-to-renege-on-their-faith-26136.html">animists persecute Christians</a>.<br />
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The video maker in this case is either very ignorant (most likely) or willing to tell a bald-faced lie.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc7pU99hlOLcBP7g3SoMGsZWTBxTHznim9rNzBwQgs0TtLIgywnXjaeJNZwnEHAm-E3hTyxSjvJo1ht1rL1ooFfQQ_Ax3yaU2puR4WDg8X6KQE-ItIMnw34dYmyqTrZ8naritdYTtOU-o/s1600/319106-pti-delhi-christians-protest-sq.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc7pU99hlOLcBP7g3SoMGsZWTBxTHznim9rNzBwQgs0TtLIgywnXjaeJNZwnEHAm-E3hTyxSjvJo1ht1rL1ooFfQQ_Ax3yaU2puR4WDg8X6KQE-ItIMnw34dYmyqTrZ8naritdYTtOU-o/s400/319106-pti-delhi-christians-protest-sq.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">There are no Muslims in this photo.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br />
<br />
Myth # 3 Only Muslims are unhappy with their countries.<br />
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Ironically, the maker of this video is likely to be among those who complain the loudest about illegal Mexican immigration to the US. Those Mexican people (Christians) are unhappy with their country (Christian) and want to come to the US. In fact <a href="http://www.migrationpolicy.org/programs/data-hub/charts/largest-immigrant-groups-over-time?width=900&height=850&iframe=true">if we look at the top ten immigrant groups in the US,</a> none of them are from Muslim countries. The maker of the video obviously made no effort to learn the actual facts before jumping to conclusions.<br />
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<dl style="color: #f2f2f2; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.2em;">
<dt style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Place of birth for the foreign-born population in the United States</dt>
</dl>
<table class="wikitable" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; border-collapse: collapse; border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); color: black; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 1em 0px;"><tbody>
<tr><th scope="col" style="background-color: #f2f2f2; border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em 0.4em; text-align: center; width: 130px;">Top ten countries</th><th scope="col" style="background-color: #f2f2f2; border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em 0.4em; text-align: center; width: 80px;">2013</th><th scope="col" style="background-color: #f2f2f2; border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em 0.4em; text-align: center; width: 80px;">2010</th><th scope="col" style="background-color: #f2f2f2; border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em 0.4em; text-align: center; width: 80px;">2000</th><th scope="col" style="background-color: #f2f2f2; border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em 0.4em; text-align: center; width: 80px;">1990</th></tr>
<tr><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em 0.4em;">Mexico</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em 0.4em;">11,584,977</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em 0.4em;">11,711,103</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em 0.4em;">9,177,487</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em 0.4em;">4,298,014</td></tr>
<tr><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em 0.4em;">China</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em 0.4em;">2,383,831</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em 0.4em;">2,166,526</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em 0.4em;">1,518,652</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em 0.4em;">921,070</td></tr>
<tr><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em 0.4em;">India</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em 0.4em;">2,034,677</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em 0.4em;">1,780,322</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em 0.4em;">1,022,552</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em 0.4em;">450,406</td></tr>
<tr><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em 0.4em;">Philippines</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em 0.4em;">1,843,989</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em 0.4em;">1,777,588</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em 0.4em;">1,369,070</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em 0.4em;">912,674</td></tr>
<tr><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em 0.4em;">Vietnam</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em 0.4em;">1,281,010</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em 0.4em;">1,240,542</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em 0.4em;">988,174</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em 0.4em;">543,262</td></tr>
<tr><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em 0.4em;">El Salvador</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em 0.4em;">1,252,067</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em 0.4em;">1,214,049</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em 0.4em;">817,336</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em 0.4em;">465,433</td></tr>
<tr><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em 0.4em;">Cuba</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em 0.4em;">1,144,024</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em 0.4em;">1,104,679</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em 0.4em;">872,716</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em 0.4em;">736,971</td></tr>
<tr><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em 0.4em;">South Korea</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em 0.4em;">1,070,335</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em 0.4em;">1,100,422</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em 0.4em;">864,125</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em 0.4em;">568,397</td></tr>
<tr><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em 0.4em;">Dominican Republic</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em 0.4em;">991,046</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em 0.4em;">879,187</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em 0.4em;">687,677</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em 0.4em;">347,858</td></tr>
<tr><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em 0.4em;">Guatemala</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em 0.4em;">902,293</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em 0.4em;">830,824</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em 0.4em;">480,665</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em 0.4em;">225,739</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
Myth #4 - Only Muslims Have Terror Organizations.<br />
<br />
The video listed many terror organizations operating in the Muslim world. Some were duplicates, rather like listing "KKK" and "The Klan" as distinct groups. Others are long disbanded, and some are simply a rebranding of the same group. But there are many terror organizations active in the Muslim world, so surely that makes them especially evil and violent, right?<br />
<br />
While there is no official national catalogue of terrorist groups operating in the US, the Southern Poverty Law Center does keep an extensive <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch">list of hate groups</a>, some of which are not very hateful at all, and others of which are terrorist by nature -everything from Klansmen, Black Panthers, White Nationalists, Ecoterrorists, Nazis -the list is long. The State Department keeps a <a href="http://www.state.gov/j/ct/rls/other/des/123085.htm">list of terror organizations</a>, both active and "delisted." On both lists are groups from around the world -South Americans, Irish, Japanese, Cambodians, Indians -there are plenty of groups on the lists which are not Muslims.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWEK2vySBmykD3j4BlYCv268bZ9CHTZmE0m2MQJ_GE05i9bcA-HPM53DTaZRxBRP1y3EGYawSYTFEFqFvYBLDEUL-8RSSBh_fa966P6kl9uNCd9L6_V_fmv35d-j3lInH-0-959yfQKKI/s1600/NATO+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWEK2vySBmykD3j4BlYCv268bZ9CHTZmE0m2MQJ_GE05i9bcA-HPM53DTaZRxBRP1y3EGYawSYTFEFqFvYBLDEUL-8RSSBh_fa966P6kl9uNCd9L6_V_fmv35d-j3lInH-0-959yfQKKI/s400/NATO+3.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Terror cells often look more like this.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
There is a conversation to be had about radical Islamist violence. There are hard questions to be asked about Wahabi Islam and the export of violent, radical ideology. There are questions about rampant arms sales and the arming of dangerous groups for political purposes.<br />
<br />
Promoting fear of Muslims does not do anything to advance this dialogue. In fact, it shuts it down. Reasonable Muslims are not going to respond with engagement if they are lumped in with extremists by the ignorant.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1988844463180373532.post-19770592607513349682016-11-19T10:53:00.000-06:002017-01-30T12:33:39.456-06:00#christmaswithoutrefugees<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="letter-spacing: -0.24px; margin-bottom: 6px; text-align: left;">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”</span></div>
<div style="letter-spacing: -0.24px; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.” (Matthew 2)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">What if our Lord Jesus had been shunned or rejected in his time of need? What would Christmas be like if he had been thrown along with his family back into the clutches of Herod? It was God's plan that he be a refugee. Remember that. It was God's plan that his Son Jesus be a refugee.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixx11Hgpi3815POVX88id9cw-jyXQncj3SEwa2-PzyZ4rzFcObROTNO_EicJQ_B9Qo6uI-gxK8YrURNT9ksqYcTdrSzZbwijY5BJtsJZ0Q_dQRrN7M9kCzH6IubKSx8oNQZbdJk0b43tg/s1600/norefugees.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixx11Hgpi3815POVX88id9cw-jyXQncj3SEwa2-PzyZ4rzFcObROTNO_EicJQ_B9Qo6uI-gxK8YrURNT9ksqYcTdrSzZbwijY5BJtsJZ0Q_dQRrN7M9kCzH6IubKSx8oNQZbdJk0b43tg/s400/norefugees.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Our nativity scene at home</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I will be sharing some pictures with the hashtag #christmaswithoutrefugees during the season where we celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus, and his escape to Egypt as a refugee. Will you join me?</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvteWak8empT7-8Iufr9kBWVUZnhZfyqqVRax3qQ3aguWhPlJpeHg6pc_KL-aPwqhVV1lB8hmWxCT-ngnRvMpenjCpbItQPykNTbTSpNGoWdJJXQSEl93FtHqQx6rGeIDB0Z4V7ZJyxWc/s1600/fe8c61c48c213c0abd122efacf4d7f40.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvteWak8empT7-8Iufr9kBWVUZnhZfyqqVRax3qQ3aguWhPlJpeHg6pc_KL-aPwqhVV1lB8hmWxCT-ngnRvMpenjCpbItQPykNTbTSpNGoWdJJXQSEl93FtHqQx6rGeIDB0Z4V7ZJyxWc/s400/fe8c61c48c213c0abd122efacf4d7f40.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Did the refugees beam up?</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga6dr1SinygjwaM0UEw3QYzSnRUoAAjXm3S9hjH1HLAe3eyvP0q6yG_2_6fAaBVr3pymGn3-ObmQhRSVaNzmwuYOqRO5bz8UaqVW4va88TkDlYrrNP3YJwuPoIGz9oMxhJgUQUqBH4MNQ/s1600/PC120008.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga6dr1SinygjwaM0UEw3QYzSnRUoAAjXm3S9hjH1HLAe3eyvP0q6yG_2_6fAaBVr3pymGn3-ObmQhRSVaNzmwuYOqRO5bz8UaqVW4va88TkDlYrrNP3YJwuPoIGz9oMxhJgUQUqBH4MNQ/s400/PC120008.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Made by Maronite nuns, but missing the refugees.</td></tr>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1988844463180373532.post-20231667449757811972016-10-15T10:55:00.001-05:002016-10-15T11:04:50.598-05:00The Supreme Court Myth<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
The idea is being put forward by both major parties that the future of <i>Roe v. Wade</i> hangs in the balance because of Supreme Court nominations that will be made during the next 4-8 years. People are urged to vote for a candidate that they might otherwise abhor, so that their side can prevail in <i>Roe v. Wade.</i> Is that true? Can we solve this just by supporting the right party?<br />
<br />
The best case study for this idea is the 1992 decision in<i> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planned_Parenthood_v._Casey">Planned Parenthood v Casey</a>.</i><br />
<br />
At the time of the decision, Republicans had been in control of the White House for 12 years. Because President Carter made no nominations to the Supreme Court, Republicans had nominated every Justice appointed since 1969. Eight of the nine sitting Justices were appointed by Republicans. Only Justice White, appointed by President Kennedy, was the nominee of a Democrat. This was the perfect opportunity for Republican nominees to overturn <i>Roe v. Wade</i>. They had an 8-1 majority over Democrat nominees.<br />
<br />
The Justices were:<br />
<br />
Blackmun (Nixon)<br />
Stevens (Ford)<br />
<br />
Souter (Bush)<br />
O'Connor (Reagan)<br />
Kennedy (Reagan)<br />
<br />
Rheinquist (Reagan)<br />
Scalia (Bush)<br />
White (JFK)<br />
Thomas (Bush)<br />
<br />
The first five, all appointed by Republican Presidents, upheld <i>Roe v. Wade</i>. Six of the nine Justices were Reagan-Bush era nominees, and they best they could do was an even split among the six.<br />
<br />
The last four expressed their dissent against <i>Roe. v Wade</i>. The only Justice appointed by a Democrat voted pro-life. Five Republican nominees, with no Democrat nominee among them, upheld <i>Roe. v. Wade.</i><br />
<br />
The evil of abortion will not be struck down by Presidential appointments. The people of America have to repent of the blood on our hands. We have to adopt an ethic that does not just value the lives of the unborn, but all lives -poor, old, criminal, Muslim, soldier, black -and we are not ready to do that.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1988844463180373532.post-85047391089350105882016-10-08T07:11:00.000-05:002016-10-08T07:12:32.514-05:00Between Two Fires<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><br /></span>
<span class="s1">Sometimes we have to make hard choices in life, and often we seem to have to choose between two bad options. In the US, people say that we are “between a rock and a hard place.” Here in the region of Tyre, we say that we are “between two fires.” Which one is it better to be burned by? That’s a great analogy for tough choices.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">As Christians, how do we apply a Biblical morality to making those hard choices? This is especially important when other people will also be burned by the fire we choose.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Jesus gave us some important teachings to guide us through times like these. He was often tested by being given two bad choices. People wanted to know which bad choice he would prefer. In these cases he never allowed himself to be blinded by the illusion that there are only two choices.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Here’s one of the best examples of Jesus making an ethical choice when offered two unethical options:</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span class="s1">John 8:</span><span class="s1">Jesus returned to the Mount of Olives, but early the next morning he was back again at the Temple. A crowd soon gathered, and he sat down and taught them. As he was speaking, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. They put her in front of the crowd.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span class="s1">“Teacher,” they said to Jesus, “this woman was caught in the act of adultery. The law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?"</span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span class="s1">They were trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him, but Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span class="s1">They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” Then he stooped down again and wrote in the dust.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span class="s1">When the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest, until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman. Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?”</span><br />
<span class="s1">“No, Lord,” she said.</span><br />
<span class="s1">And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.”</span></blockquote>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"></span></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"></span></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"></span></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"></span></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Notice that the Pharisees brought “a woman” who had been caught “in the act” of adultery. Could they not catch the man? They then lied and told Jesus that the law of Moses says “to stone her.” It says, actually, to stone them both. But conveniently, they only caught the woman. Was the man one of them?</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">For the Pharisees, this was never about justice. They would have brought the man along, too, if they were interested in justice. This was about forcing Jesus to make one of two bad choices. These were political choices, to be clear. He could ally himself with the Pharisees by sanctioning her stoning. This would anger the Romans, of course, who did not allow upstart locals to administer executions. Jesus could have allied himself against the Pharisees by repudiating stoning. He would have been portrayed as an ally of the Hellenistic, liberal left who sold out to the Romans.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Jesus was trapped between two fires. Neither choice was just or good. </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">So Jesus chose goodness and justice. Was his choice likely to challenge either of the two predominant political parties? No. The Romans remained in charge of the government, and the Pharisees remained in control of religious life. Yet Jesus remained in possession of his own personal moral and ethical values. He chose neither fire. They both conspired later to burn him together, but he never sold out his moral and ethical beliefs to the lesser of two fires.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">If you are sure that your choice of evils is the right thing to do, consider these words of Jesus:</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span class="s1">“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.”</span></blockquote>
</div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<br />
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">There’s only a small space between those two fires. Most people won’t find it. They’ll follow the wide and easy path laid out for them. They’ll tell you that any path off the wide path is the wrong direction. They’ll tell you that not choosing the first fire is the same as choosing the second one. Don’t listen to them, listen to Jesus. </span></div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1988844463180373532.post-70125825124731480872016-09-16T16:37:00.000-05:002016-09-16T17:01:10.025-05:00Patriotism: Symbolism vs. Substance<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
The recent row in professional football about saluting during the national anthem or kneeling in protest has sparked a national debate about what it means to be patriotic. What does it mean to be a patriotic, loyal, freedom-loving American?<br />
<br />
I submit that we are talking about the wrong things. Our national debate is focused on a symbol. We are ignoring substance. The slogans and memes abound, and for the most part they are meaningless.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgssFHOnlOEyQCY0eFrwqtIESEV1kfG3L_fVa-LYZF2uscrHpLl7j_EOuz9q96Hy-GDq-33DxYieXIVpj8VpERZLqwXhgTQeHzun1VTUvi1l84RL3tpYKbfWwd-bRcGKriWxbjvzov5rXY/s1600/14212203_1626995840931753_5211969984956742760_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgssFHOnlOEyQCY0eFrwqtIESEV1kfG3L_fVa-LYZF2uscrHpLl7j_EOuz9q96Hy-GDq-33DxYieXIVpj8VpERZLqwXhgTQeHzun1VTUvi1l84RL3tpYKbfWwd-bRcGKriWxbjvzov5rXY/s400/14212203_1626995840931753_5211969984956742760_n.jpg" width="372" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Except for this meme, which is meaningful.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
When we say "Blue Lives Matter" and "We support our law enforcement officers" is that really true? Does saying those words constitute support, or is it just an effortless way to signal our empty patriotism to everyone around?<br />
<br />
If you want to support police officers, how about <a href="http://www.waff.com/story/33053283/douglas-police-working-to-get-first-aid-kits-to-all-marshall-county-officers#.V9cQ4bB7HAE.facebook">buying a life-saving first aid kit</a> for each officer? Nothing says "thank you for your service" like doing something to <a href="http://www.waff.com/story/33053283/douglas-police-working-to-get-first-aid-kits-to-all-marshall-county-officers#.V9cQ4bB7HAE.facebook">save that officer's life.</a> When an officer is bleeding from a beating, stab, or bullet wound, ten thousand "likes" on facebook will not stop the flow of blood.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCUwTa9TjTPOqdC2MmZChQgz8gwDxUegNbjAlyC_xEk22ldro2cUCONIKgXzMqkKZTsz2MSLMzpdPL2Mo9k2YQg5R7AY0qYxxZ3DhVCu6UN-Brz40d__UXgDSpNyAblNqd6ADHpLDVY7Q/s1600/officer_beaten.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCUwTa9TjTPOqdC2MmZChQgz8gwDxUegNbjAlyC_xEk22ldro2cUCONIKgXzMqkKZTsz2MSLMzpdPL2Mo9k2YQg5R7AY0qYxxZ3DhVCu6UN-Brz40d__UXgDSpNyAblNqd6ADHpLDVY7Q/s320/officer_beaten.png" width="185" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thanks for the thousands of likes, <br />
that made it all better.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
If you want to support homeless veterans, how about <a href="https://www.hfotusa.org/building-homes/veterans/williams/">picking up a hammer and building a home </a>for a needy veteran? Nothing says "thank you for your service" like doing something to <a href="https://www.hfotusa.org/building-homes/veterans/williams/">give that veteran a home</a>. When that paralyzed veteran can't run his wheelchair down the stairs, ten thousand "likes" on facebook will not get him to the bathroom.<br />
<br />
On a national level, "supporting the troops" should mean a lot of things that we often ignore. It should mean funding the VA well enough that they can all access the health care and benefits they are due. That means we agree to pay more taxes for that, and vote for people who will fund the VA. It should mean decent pay for our troops. That means we agree to pay more taxes for that, and vote for people who will give the raises. It should mean being extremely reluctant to send our troops on missions where they will be wounded and killed. That means we agree to pay less taxes for wars, and vote for people who will make fewer wars.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizBzmHMDVHYVnnF6O3UcAAxb1QaSNFM9fnm7lit6PyisIUTiwAGtcI52vEmnXLaqvTtaQvYTHq-9JOCVRERUD83PJvb1O_NEbnB_xypn8KaVB8x46NK5zJxNyT3eY1fy11dAq6CGMpdwY/s1600/ThisIsWrong.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizBzmHMDVHYVnnF6O3UcAAxb1QaSNFM9fnm7lit6PyisIUTiwAGtcI52vEmnXLaqvTtaQvYTHq-9JOCVRERUD83PJvb1O_NEbnB_xypn8KaVB8x46NK5zJxNyT3eY1fy11dAq6CGMpdwY/s320/ThisIsWrong.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">What could explain the recent upsurge in concern<br />
for the plight of homeless veterans?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
On a national level, "supporting our law enforcement" should mean a lot of things that we often ignore. It should mean decent pay for our officers. That means we agree to pay more taxes for that, and vote for people who will give the raises. It should mean funding academy training to provide more than a meager 8 hours of conflict resolution training, compared to the more than 100 hours of combat training. It should mean body cams for all officers, because in most cases body cams provide evidence that protects officers from wrongful accusation. It means we agree to pay more taxes for those ideas, and to vote for people who will enact them.<br />
<br />
When people wave the flag, don't assume they are patriotic. They might just be attention-starved. When people salute for the anthem, don't assume they are patriotic. They might just be jingoistic. When people recite the pledge, don't assume they are patriotic. They might just be conformists.<br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSOQ-D8tvFhtPmbEWf41d8i-UHltEWyeVmu0XcjT2VKSfi2_FLEOEWIEO8F61Biik5gbkuDUeao1hmERkGlS_L2agoeQoGkYei8jnBUTt29KszlARtAiTtdJZTojZeun-Wk3tTMtFJiQk/s1600/a002767_edit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSOQ-D8tvFhtPmbEWf41d8i-UHltEWyeVmu0XcjT2VKSfi2_FLEOEWIEO8F61Biik5gbkuDUeao1hmERkGlS_L2agoeQoGkYei8jnBUTt29KszlARtAiTtdJZTojZeun-Wk3tTMtFJiQk/s400/a002767_edit.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Which of these men is a patriot?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Hint: Not the one with the flag.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
People are patriots when they are doing something to make the United States of America a better place for all Americans. They are patriots when they serve, work, and sacrifice for their fellow countrymen. They are patriots when they show the best of America to the world, both in affirmation and constructive protest.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-P9CGE1ZNth96umLkL7FNJQuAidSwSn4sU4jX19KLAvbKpH-noGBRIS5MMqKLzqY0SIhvoVtDe4xGx0-h4M0jJ88O_q5JHxQGTTcqdXBdBOczUvnMifVQXI7HXAr8OW77OewKApEGhbQ/s1600/1723d224d5f4b707ee3e90792eec6e2d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="295" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-P9CGE1ZNth96umLkL7FNJQuAidSwSn4sU4jX19KLAvbKpH-noGBRIS5MMqKLzqY0SIhvoVtDe4xGx0-h4M0jJ88O_q5JHxQGTTcqdXBdBOczUvnMifVQXI7HXAr8OW77OewKApEGhbQ/s400/1723d224d5f4b707ee3e90792eec6e2d.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">Murica!</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1988844463180373532.post-5705976265970126912016-07-16T23:35:00.000-05:002016-07-16T23:36:15.420-05:00A War to Define Islam<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
Islam encompasses a wide range of beliefs about how one
should live and interact with the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It is a mistake to think that one can simply declare what Islam teaches,
or what Muslims believe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>An examination
of the whole spectrum of belief of those who call themselves “Muslim’ is beyond
the scope of an article, or perhaps even a single book.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This article will briefly outline three major
belief systems within Islam that are very relevant to the conflicts in the Middle
East that are impacting the world today.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0PwQ7qObTyFOIjga67Q4dfCKO-bRSTPlojuq363cTxeYJwUyHbqwxjEyJHVeZcXZBLGBzm3OFYKIz_conHdpCl036TBwpTKoNuzwbgxMlUb0RXdFh8dQROO9dCszZ5kvHPtf04z1BS94/s1600/PA240002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0PwQ7qObTyFOIjga67Q4dfCKO-bRSTPlojuq363cTxeYJwUyHbqwxjEyJHVeZcXZBLGBzm3OFYKIz_conHdpCl036TBwpTKoNuzwbgxMlUb0RXdFh8dQROO9dCszZ5kvHPtf04z1BS94/s320/PA240002.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shia Procession in Tyre</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<u>Shia<o:p></o:p></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
About 10-15% of Muslims worldwide identify as Shia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are located primarily in the region
between Iran and Lebanon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The center of
Shia power is Iran, but they also are the largest religious group in Iraq,
Bahrain, Lebanon, and Azerbaijan, and close to half the population of Yemen.
They have centralized structures of religious authority, and their own school
(Jafari) of Islamic law. The original divide between the Shia and the Sunni
majority was political, but 1300 years of division have led to some significant
theological differences and religious practices.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<br />
While extremism is not unknown among the Shia, they are not influenced by the
current wave of Wahabi extremism plaguing the Muslim world. They are doing more
than perhaps any other group to combat the Islamic State, since that group has
declared them all apostates. My own experience living among the Shia of
southern Lebanon has been very positive; they are generally a kind, tolerant,
and gracious people.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBnvJQMIoNhyFkr-5Z2qiR6HEaAkjd0CQIcfIrh5sPgMzx5L65PGE9rIaTLfVRHC_P2j6wBMYum3wEMS4beEoXY-CB-_ELyBSyYIfk7FouCAUKk06cUZx1gPI8fVICQ17l48T6q00U83g/s1600/IMG_6682.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBnvJQMIoNhyFkr-5Z2qiR6HEaAkjd0CQIcfIrh5sPgMzx5L65PGE9rIaTLfVRHC_P2j6wBMYum3wEMS4beEoXY-CB-_ELyBSyYIfk7FouCAUKk06cUZx1gPI8fVICQ17l48T6q00U83g/s320/IMG_6682.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sunni Civil Observance in Sidon</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<u>Sunni</u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
About 85% of Muslims identify as Sunni, and can be found
around the globe. The foremost institution of Sunni theology is Al-Azhar
University in Egypt, but there is no central authority to give rulings on
Islamic Law for Sunnis.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Religious
rulings have no more authority than the reputation of the scholar or
institution making the ruling. In some nations, there are legal codes which
officially adopt or reject religious rulings and a council normally determines
those codes. There are four main schools of Sunni jurisprudence (Hanafi, Hanbali,
Shafi, Malaki) which have their own interpretations of Islamic Law and tend to
be prevalent in a different region. They differ on what rules or precedents are
used to determine law.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Of particular interest is the Hanbali school, which is
prevalent in the Gulf region.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
school tends to rely more on textual sources from the Quran, sayings of
Mohammad, the life example of Mohammad, and well-published scholars.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because of their reliance on fixed, immutable
texts this school is the least flexible in adapting Islamic law to the modern
world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is why Saudi Arabia still
chops off heads and publicly flogs women.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It is why women cannot drive cars, or travel with permission of a male
authority. My personal experience living among the Sunni of Lebanon has also been largely positive. They are generally kind, but less tolerant than the Shia.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI9LoKxm1F2aArTQeXDRYyfTLaoKhktFY_t39AhtX2-blpvJZLPRzViowI_x6l_AtKqt8MdIgvsaaZ8y6CKikl31xLtWyNAG85Ws0-WcpvMPiaW5Ca92KF7QE3ItvdpAyspssWWlACLfY/s1600/Screen+Shot+2015-06-26+at+6.25.30+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI9LoKxm1F2aArTQeXDRYyfTLaoKhktFY_t39AhtX2-blpvJZLPRzViowI_x6l_AtKqt8MdIgvsaaZ8y6CKikl31xLtWyNAG85Ws0-WcpvMPiaW5Ca92KF7QE3ItvdpAyspssWWlACLfY/s320/Screen+Shot+2015-06-26+at+6.25.30+PM.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Who gets to define Islam?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p> </o:p><u>Sunni-Wahabi</u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
From the Hanbali school is derived a sub-school of Islamic
jurisprudence known as Wahabism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is
historically confined to the Arabian Peninsula, but enjoys the support of
perhaps 20% of the population. It is the product of an 18<sup>th</sup> century
Hanbali scholar named Mohammad Abdul-Wahab. He decried the moderation of Islam
found in the four prevalent Sunni schools of Islamic law, and called for a return to
the early forms of Islamic thought as found in the Quran, sayings of Mohammad,
and life example of Mohammad. Abdul-Wahab also argued that the early rulers of the
Muslim people who had been Companions of Mohammad were also good exemplars of
Muslim faith.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He formed an alliance with
the house of Saud, a powerful Arabian clan, and together they conquered much of
the Arabian peninsula (from the Ottomans) and established an Islamic
State.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ideologically it was much like
the one being formed today in Syria and Iraq.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The Turks eventually sent Egyptian troops to crush the alliance and
reclaim their lands for the Ottoman Empire.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The ideological foundations of Wahabism lay dormant in the
deserts of Arabia for many decades.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
the period following World War I the discovery of oil and the colonial
aspirations of Europe brought new power to the house of Saud.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As they amassed vast fortunes, the Saudi
princes spent billions building Mosques around the Muslim world, and eventually
in the West, where they installed Wahabi preachers to spread their belief
system far and wide. It was also a convenient way to export troublesome
preachers who showed increasing skepticism of the western-influenced Saudi
billionaires.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It is this belief system which gave rise ideologically to
Al-Qaeida, and eventually to the Islamic State.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Both groups see themselves as heirs of the banner of Mohammad, but a
banner bereft of the centuries of moderation and theological scholarship.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their Mohammad is the original tribal
warlord, a conqueror unashamed to wade in the blood of his enemies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In their online magazine “Dabiq,” the Islamic
State carefully lays out a scholarly basis for their teachings and beliefs as
being “authentic” Islam.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Their Mohammad and their Islam is different than that which
is taught and preached by the five schools of modern jurisprudence. The
differences are so great, in fact, that the Islamic State has declared that all
Muslims who do not follow their teachings and pledge allegiance to them are
apostate. By declaring all other Muslims apostate (takfir), the Islamic State
can then justify killing them in a war to purge Islam of the impure teachings
of the modern schools.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirMfLddQ9nF1ipBzo4g8-3utGM3XvBY1FFy1AgstcNmEEkqx2pBUWuDS3DS7GR6RCDLoDHYEal2L91H0-4X1X3oAkjnJ4gbt0h02Pk_acvd23h3_7-l3du2E6SSh_snO0eGJEj1TEYfw0/s1600/Screen+Shot+2015-06-26+at+9.00.36+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirMfLddQ9nF1ipBzo4g8-3utGM3XvBY1FFy1AgstcNmEEkqx2pBUWuDS3DS7GR6RCDLoDHYEal2L91H0-4X1X3oAkjnJ4gbt0h02Pk_acvd23h3_7-l3du2E6SSh_snO0eGJEj1TEYfw0/s320/Screen+Shot+2015-06-26+at+9.00.36+PM.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A war that may redefine Islam</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<u>Conclusion<o:p></o:p></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
These three groups are locked in a violent regional war
which is raging from Yemen to Lebanon, and spilling over into the rest of the
Muslim world, and even into the West.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The Sunni-Shia divide is an ancient one, and unlikely to be settled any
time soon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Saudi Arabia and Iran are
competing for regional dominance, and using that divide as part of their
struggle. The Islamic State is fighting both sides as they work to purify Islam
and bring about the apocalypse which will usher in world-wide Islamic rule.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Only Sunni Muslims can eradicate the Wahabi extremism that
spawned the Islamic State and is infecting Islam around the world. This is
something that the US cannot change. It cannot be bombed out of existence. It
must be preached out of existence, and the institutions that produce extremist
preachers must be brought down. The alternative to this stifling level of
control is to offer complete freedom of religion, but that concept is not to be
found in any of the five modern schools of Islamic law.<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1988844463180373532.post-85888765277275476872016-07-12T00:42:00.001-05:002016-07-12T00:59:17.785-05:00Why You Don't Get to Blame the Police.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">It’s time to stop blaming the police for a problem that is not their fault. It's time for the people to own the problem.</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Is the problem of police involved shootings of black men real? <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/study-finds-police-fatally-shoot-unarmed-black-men-at-disproportionate-rates/2016/04/06/e494563e-fa74-11e5-80e4-c381214de1a3_story.html">Yes. Unarmed black men are killed in police involved shootings at a much higher rate than other groups. </a> Who is to blame for this?</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://thesocietypages.org/toolbox/files/2015/04/Screen-Shot-2015-04-08-at-5.24.30-PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://thesocietypages.org/toolbox/files/2015/04/Screen-Shot-2015-04-08-at-5.24.30-PM.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
We can’t blame unarmed black men for being shot. That’s the moral equivalent of blaming women for being raped. Even if an unarmed man is not fully cooperative with the police (which he should do) that does not call for the death penalty.</div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">If the unarmed black men are not to blame, should we blame the police? This may come as a shock to some people, but there’s not an annual national meeting of police officers to decide how many black men they will shoot in the upcoming year. There are plenty of communities around our nation where this is not a problem. In many cities, police are protecting and affirming the rights of Black Lives Matter and other protest groups. In many cities the protest groups are showing respect for the police. </span><br />
<span class="s1"><br /></span>
<span class="s1">In many cases, we force police officers to choose from several bad options, and then condemn them for choosing a bad option.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Let’s put the blame where it belongs -voters. Us. We elect the politicians who set up our city law enforcement structures and appoint leaders who determine the tone and conduct of those police. Ferguson, Missouri is an example of this problem. A Department of Justice investigation revealed that Ferguson generated about 20% of city revenues through a Byzantine system of traffic fines, court fees, and charges in a system rigged to prey upon the poor. In Ferguson that mostly means blacks. At the same time Ferguson voters enjoyed some of the lowest property tax rates in the St Louis County area. Now that the fines and fees scheme has been exposed, <a href="https://www.fergusoncity.com/DocumentCenter/View/1915">voters are facing unpopular tax increase </a>proposals.</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.theroot.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/childrensmarch1963575se.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="158" src="https://www.theroot.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/childrensmarch1963575se.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Voters ultimately determine the practices and policies of law enforcement in their cities. There is not a better example of this than Bull Connor, the infamous former Commissioner of Public Safety in Birmingham, Alabama. This bigot led Birmingham police in some of the most brutal and repressive violations of human rights in the modern era of American law enforcement. Beatings, shootings, and torture were all carried out in the name of preserving segregation. Bull Connor ordered fire hoses to be used on black children. He ordered attack dogs to be unleashed on black children. Yet Bull Connor remained in his office, and directed Birmingham law enforcement, because voters loved his policies. Deep down in their racist hearts, they wanted him to hurt those children, to do whatever it took to keep Birmingham “safe.”</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://vineyardgazette.com/sites/default/files/article-assets/main-photos/2013/bh_birmingham_protests.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://vineyardgazette.com/sites/default/files/article-assets/main-photos/2013/bh_birmingham_protests.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Stop blaming the police, voters. Stop pretending that they are somehow doing this apart from the public will. If your city is killing black men, then your city is the problem. The problem is not police. The problem was Selma. The problem was Birmingham. The problem today is Baton Rogue. The problem is Ferguson -a city that is 2/3 black but with <a href="https://www.fergusoncity.com/171/Council-Members">a majority white mayor/council </a>government paying the city expenses on the backs of poor blacks.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<br />
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Vote for leaders who will respect the roles of law enforcement officers and stop using them as a source of revenue generation. Elect people who will establish realistic guidelines for their police officers to engage the public in ways that de-escalate confrontational situations. Start addressing the problem in your home town.</span></div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1988844463180373532.post-40422818582619176812015-11-30T13:13:00.002-06:002016-01-28T17:46:55.433-06:00Heretics Hall of Shame III<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
It has been a while since I have inducted anyone into the "<a href="http://quixoticiconoclast.blogspot.com/search/label/Heretics%20Hall%20of%20Shame">Heretics Hall of Shame</a>." It's not for lack of (un)worthy candidates (<a href="http://www.christianpost.com/news/creflo-dollar-will-get-70-million-gulfstream-g650-jet-says-church-world-changers-board-says-it-is-necessary-for-ministry-139858/">Creflo Dollar)</a> but a lack of the required combination of sufficient moral outrage and sufficient time. When it comes to calling for murder in the name of Jesus, though, that definitely gets an induction.<br />
<br />
Joshua Feuerstein is a shameless heretic. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igYmwRh70HM">The linked video</a> provides the proof.<br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiesBpb6UAZA5HIUs7rBjKF3l5LWeMbKE981k7VqfavcRSxCDQafvs3RtykbeJ1amdFFG3631MSvEH19ldLqCed4EQsjtBeIlHHh_45oIQNTqCnpcsPMq6CIMEZr7KYDwJO4LcJQti6lcM/s1600/jf1a-1024x517.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiesBpb6UAZA5HIUs7rBjKF3l5LWeMbKE981k7VqfavcRSxCDQafvs3RtykbeJ1amdFFG3631MSvEH19ldLqCed4EQsjtBeIlHHh_45oIQNTqCnpcsPMq6CIMEZr7KYDwJO4LcJQti6lcM/s400/jf1a-1024x517.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Do not follow this heretic and drink in his lies.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
It was about people like you that Jesus said:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: #fdfeff; color: #001320; line-height: 20px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.</span></span></blockquote>
<br />
You are a terrorist, and there is nothing of Jesus in your teaching.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><u>Ted Sessoms, Heretic</u></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><u><br /></u></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFiFzLp5osD6LxLleutauB6v3_KeqHjxV3hCGQtTJFLJ0WZFhl4vMi0I8MGNsMgfhYnDqszLBfSb9fgOTQoIDaTSqKJS08JmpvmDN6ENrhyphenhyphenx7Bk2yG4JarnVX5oOY0vHl8GkK-Qo2zYeg/s1600/Screen+Shot+2016-01-29+at+1.23.40+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFiFzLp5osD6LxLleutauB6v3_KeqHjxV3hCGQtTJFLJ0WZFhl4vMi0I8MGNsMgfhYnDqszLBfSb9fgOTQoIDaTSqKJS08JmpvmDN6ENrhyphenhyphenx7Bk2yG4JarnVX5oOY0vHl8GkK-Qo2zYeg/s1600/Screen+Shot+2016-01-29+at+1.23.40+AM.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: italic; line-height: 21.6px;">"At the risk of being an outcast or considered a narrow-minded bigot,</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="color: #4c4c4c; font-family: , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 21.6px;">Well, Ted, when you say stuff like "</span></span><span style="font-family: , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: italic; line-height: 21.6px;">Perhaps our leaders should study the Old Testament when God gave specific instructions to destroy these people (even their women, children and animals)" </span><span style="font-family: , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 21.6px;">that's not really a risk. That's a guarantee that people will think you're a narrow-minded bigot. It's not because they are uninformed about the Old Testament, it's because you are a narrow-minded bigot.</span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 21.6px;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; font-style: italic; line-height: 21.6px;">
It is not a matter of loving your neighbor. My neighbors are the people that value the same standards of life and way of life that I value.</div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; font-style: italic; line-height: 21.6px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; line-height: 21.6px;">
Ted, that's a much different answer than Jesus gave to the question "Who is my neighbor?" You remember Jesus, right? Wore sandals, died on the cross? </div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; font-style: italic; line-height: 21.6px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; font-style: italic; line-height: 21.6px;">
"We owe it to our children and grandchildren to make good decisions for their future in America.</div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; font-style: italic; line-height: 21.6px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; line-height: 21.6px;">
No, you owe it to your children and grandchildren to get your head out of politics. You owe it to them to quit looking for Old Testament instructions to Israel to justify your fear and bigotry. You owe it to them to teach and model obedience to Jesus Christ. Anything less makes you what you are, a false teacher<span style="color: #4c4c4c;">.</span></div>
<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1988844463180373532.post-65549539097765262142015-11-21T14:38:00.001-06:002016-04-17T11:34:34.459-05:00The truth will set you free<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<a href="https://www.truthorfiction.com/">Truth or Fiction</a> -<a href="http://www.snopes.com/"> Snopes</a> - <a href="https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/1325808?hl=en">Google Reverse Image Search</a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Truer words were never spoken than when Jesus said "Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." It is important for everyone to guard the truth. As a follower of Jesus, I believe it is crucial for his followers to go the extra mile in operating in the truth.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Facebook is wasteland of lies. Somewhere out there in that wasteland is a sinister lie machine, turning out vast quantities of false memes. Why do so many of them get posted on Facebook? Intellectual laziness, partly, but also because most people don't think they need to verify the truth of something if they already think it is true.<br />
<br /></div>
<div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHz60Jnkz_9qwqODmxAqqcq09Lmn8VFKt2XcnMrZoihkkPM4gM49URtlom4joGk2dUghfOkZy6sXF21sP_A-7lE6cqscpzqw4hC5EgHjbCP42aP9s83jTH3Ay-yFZ0F2g3KeYjWmG1OM8/s1600/TheWasteLand_770x323.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="134" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHz60Jnkz_9qwqODmxAqqcq09Lmn8VFKt2XcnMrZoihkkPM4gM49URtlom4joGk2dUghfOkZy6sXF21sP_A-7lE6cqscpzqw4hC5EgHjbCP42aP9s83jTH3Ay-yFZ0F2g3KeYjWmG1OM8/s320/TheWasteLand_770x323.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small; text-align: left;">There is no truth here, just a wasteland of lies.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
<div>
We naturally believe things that agree with our views. We look for things to confirm what we believe. <a href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/terms/confirmation_bias.htm">Confirmation bias</a> is at the root of how Facebook works. It is designed to show you more of what you want to read. Just as in the final days preachers will tell people "what their itching ears want to hear" now Facebook shows us what our itching eyes want to see.<br />
<br /></div>
<div>
So in the wasteland of lies, how do you know whether to post that awesome-looking meme? You could do what most people do and post it without caring about the truth, or you could verify it.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Here are two good and easy methods:</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
1-<a href="https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/1325808?hl=en">Google Reverse Image Search.</a> Instead of searching for an image, you search with an image. Click on the photo and select "search google for this image. You can see for yourself where it came from. This might require sorting through a lot of links and re-posts.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
2-Consult a fact checker. <a href="https://www.truthorfiction.com/">turthorfiction.com </a>and <a href="http://snopes.com/">snopes.com</a> are both widely used and reputable sites. If you don't like one, then use the other.</div>
<div>
<br />
You could also simply pull a keyword or two out and research it.<br />
<br /></div>
<div>
The Apostle Paul praised the Bereans because they did not just take him at his word. They tested his words against the scriptures to see if they were true. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Truth matters. The truth will set you free.<br />
<br />
Below is a graveyard of false memes drawn from the wasteland of lies, along with a simple way of disproving them.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1vadDDGRFmXhxTUOi7a7tetrHcBZ6TSjaBoAc3V48C964oHXEPDEUM8x8-odZSrA1l0jsY7yP_fEDH44Bh5U8ryQHBR9hDScBLJoi95qfynxQ9Vl4sO8-mtlB_dFXopXiENobl83q5-o/s1600/12227829_712657235503072_4147277712414459318_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1vadDDGRFmXhxTUOi7a7tetrHcBZ6TSjaBoAc3V48C964oHXEPDEUM8x8-odZSrA1l0jsY7yP_fEDH44Bh5U8ryQHBR9hDScBLJoi95qfynxQ9Vl4sO8-mtlB_dFXopXiENobl83q5-o/s320/12227829_712657235503072_4147277712414459318_n.jpg" width="248" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Google his name, he has a Wiki.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Nidal Hassan is actually a natural-born US citizen born in Arlington, Virginia. This one takes ten seconds. He is infamous, and has a Wiki. Google his name and read the Wiki.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAS9BRuBjWCuoSejEiIn-wXpbAChyCVnC-7rrQVvxiU1cl8lPwgjlof0nfSAv0-7IOcZYDVakxvVZTEwFt1oBIPvFcstcdFog3_3BaBRiBtfrFaBtvGzz-eDocyH4M7Q_neqjILiysok8/s1600/ca47c5fc4058279af202a66d6617f438ba6afdcd0cfe782e979730d3b4044cf8_large.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAS9BRuBjWCuoSejEiIn-wXpbAChyCVnC-7rrQVvxiU1cl8lPwgjlof0nfSAv0-7IOcZYDVakxvVZTEwFt1oBIPvFcstcdFog3_3BaBRiBtfrFaBtvGzz-eDocyH4M7Q_neqjILiysok8/s320/ca47c5fc4058279af202a66d6617f438ba6afdcd0cfe782e979730d3b4044cf8_large.jpeg" width="296" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Google Reverse Image Search</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
This one has no key words, and no famous people in it. While it might otherwise be impossible to bust this lie, Google Reverse Image Search makes this one a snap. Liars usually steal their photos, it turns out. In this case these photos were taken years ago in Australia.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFG2mVUvgeiHvEtYRFI9RGNvj1NAD0qKLhBqh-PRmmkpfSBFK3UhDKI2XFZtFJznXXyuu70eqOwFGzStzL27XQ5PRbTzXg0UnqF_0Ev9F8-kvuVC4INOR_ocwYuQCNd7qhy-rPYKL9rug/s1600/isis-in-refugees.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFG2mVUvgeiHvEtYRFI9RGNvj1NAD0qKLhBqh-PRmmkpfSBFK3UhDKI2XFZtFJznXXyuu70eqOwFGzStzL27XQ5PRbTzXg0UnqF_0Ev9F8-kvuVC4INOR_ocwYuQCNd7qhy-rPYKL9rug/s640/isis-in-refugees.jpg" width="499" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Keywords for a fact checker</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
This false meme has enough key words in it for an easy search on a fact checker. A quick search on snopes.com with the keywords "ISIS flag Germany" reveals that the photo is from 2012, before there was an ISIS. Black flags are common in the Muslim world, and have different messages written on them.</div>
<div>
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</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1988844463180373532.post-14785606456096544932015-11-20T14:59:00.000-06:002017-01-30T12:34:23.089-06:00Are refugees an invading army of terrorists?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
"This is my country now," said Abu Abdullah. "No one can say I am Iraqi. I am an American. If I need to defend my country, even to attack Iraq, I am ready to do that." <br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPiTvGEOvxy1jsrL9SPTlCASuKdzwHDYf_mK55h8ktxxTzNb_BbOr9v4YJsL711jp67rGEu5PpEBxzSzvK3faGNUzDpIvyd7QW94YJZ7o-GbHLcfCCo-mES-g2duL_L-77vZXD80GpZJ8/s1600/hsmkhan-funeral-photo-01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="151" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPiTvGEOvxy1jsrL9SPTlCASuKdzwHDYf_mK55h8ktxxTzNb_BbOr9v4YJsL711jp67rGEu5PpEBxzSzvK3faGNUzDpIvyd7QW94YJZ7o-GbHLcfCCo-mES-g2duL_L-77vZXD80GpZJ8/s200/hsmkhan-funeral-photo-01.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Muslim father buries his son with honor at Arlington</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
On a recent visit to Nashville, Tennessee, I visited newly arrived refugees from the Middle East. I was reminded how important it is that Americans understand this situation clearly so that our nation can respond in a way that reflects our national values. There's so much false information being hyped by merchants of fear and politicians desperate for votes.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkezkpbt57CBYkZzAEbMRi9-z4pEao6o6UWUQyeoBCeKcl3zKULuVa5KihaiH_eU1tK_Vr7GbXYfIdSBcU7jTpZhpIApBP2MySGNdeSV6z4CixtVAyKYKCdHVVJh217oQAOFPklX0DODA/s1600/hsmkhan-gravesite-photo-may-2008-001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="149" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkezkpbt57CBYkZzAEbMRi9-z4pEao6o6UWUQyeoBCeKcl3zKULuVa5KihaiH_eU1tK_Vr7GbXYfIdSBcU7jTpZhpIApBP2MySGNdeSV6z4CixtVAyKYKCdHVVJh217oQAOFPklX0DODA/s200/hsmkhan-gravesite-photo-may-2008-001.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rest in Peace, Humayun Khan, American Hero</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Najib is a recent immigrant from the northern Iraqi region of Kurdistan. "I'm tired, I've been working ten hours every day, six days every week," he said. "But freedom takes work. If you want the freedom you have to go out there and work for it." He is excited that his children are in school and learning English. He's hoping to bring over many of his brothers and sisters who still live in the war-torn region. <br />
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These immigrants are hoping for their children to fit into the new culture. "We want the children to learn English," said Mohammad, who arrived from Baghdad less than a month ago. "It's the language of the world. Arabic is limited." He described the situation in his area of Baghdad as being so bad that one could not safely leave the house. <br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim7Y5lJ_hU7QZWpnqKTXCJaCuy7qhgOOWboib1nQQc2zUlUDG1SUivtwtYIEpJXE1BccFcgH4t5VkJEYtVWdI8vovT227S2ho3lOcZNgSXpRfYD06oWi04qelxrX8zErxO_cDK-jnFHuQ/s1600/12049679_646341142173465_3243745961468899461_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim7Y5lJ_hU7QZWpnqKTXCJaCuy7qhgOOWboib1nQQc2zUlUDG1SUivtwtYIEpJXE1BccFcgH4t5VkJEYtVWdI8vovT227S2ho3lOcZNgSXpRfYD06oWi04qelxrX8zErxO_cDK-jnFHuQ/s320/12049679_646341142173465_3243745961468899461_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">This facebook meme sums up the anti-Muslim arguments.</span></span></td></tr>
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"I am looking for work. I am ready to work, I just need help to get my social security card." Ahmad has been in the US less than two months. He is hoping to get work and establish himself so that he can bring over his family. It is normal for the young men to come first, and brings wives, sisters, and parents later. <br />
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There are many political pundits decrying the dangers of accepting these Muslim refugees. There are supposed plots to infiltrate America and Europe with terrorist cells who will impose Sharia Law on unsuspecting westerners.<br />
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This is the question before us. Are they coming to kill us and then take over? Is this a cloaked Islamic invasion?<br />
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Myth#1 They are coming here to Islamize the West.<br />
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I spend a lot of time in the homes of Syrian refugees, talking to them about their despair and hopelessness, and also their hopes and dreams. They hate radical Islam. They are fleeing from it. One family that I know well fled specifically to keep their children from being radicalized in school. One father described to me his desire to live in any area that is not under the rule of Islam. Instead of flooding to the Islamic State, Muslims are fleeing it by the millions, and t<a href="http://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2015/09/22/442520787/the-flood-of-syrian-refugees-puts-isis-on-the-defensive">heir rejection of the Islamic State is a major embarrassment and challenge to the legitimacy</a> of the Islamic State.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4kKJie4_Q2z9-8yDMIGs4mcLa9V5KC-79Oz7apD0em9Ojio4wOX7rZqZcrsDb2XOJPduGJfdtBggjY6Ox4wP679EC3sxciEpO7TxiyAeXx9cCNA4KMuyYXe24e2Pz7BtzK67tju_wHUM/s1600/Mideast+Syria+Women+Refugees-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4kKJie4_Q2z9-8yDMIGs4mcLa9V5KC-79Oz7apD0em9Ojio4wOX7rZqZcrsDb2XOJPduGJfdtBggjY6Ox4wP679EC3sxciEpO7TxiyAeXx9cCNA4KMuyYXe24e2Pz7BtzK67tju_wHUM/s400/Mideast+Syria+Women+Refugees-1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
The reasons that they are fleeing to the West are not surprising. <a href="http://www.unhcr.org/560558b06.html">UNHCR lists many of the major reasons</a>, including poverty and loss of hope. My Syrian friends often express that they no longer see a future in Syria even if the war ends soon. Whole cities are laid waste. Families are broken apart by death and division. Many people are injured both physically and psychologically from the war.<br />
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Myth #2 The Islamic State is sending a "secret army" to infiltrate the West<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNIxCWdJVoDejX0_ttH-Qn0OVxTerLFYGGPsu2b_Ux4efkwSz8rlRd38r7dpEf5SgCTp_l-x9-AUIVXBRaH4dtbMUKoRi5ImQLMKYIFeKIDInS5Upj03saeIIDPIcHe3NQTTS2cPDIPe8/s1600/Screen+Shot+2015-10-02+at+9.14.06+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNIxCWdJVoDejX0_ttH-Qn0OVxTerLFYGGPsu2b_Ux4efkwSz8rlRd38r7dpEf5SgCTp_l-x9-AUIVXBRaH4dtbMUKoRi5ImQLMKYIFeKIDInS5Upj03saeIIDPIcHe3NQTTS2cPDIPe8/s320/Screen+Shot+2015-10-02+at+9.14.06+PM.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Traveling to join the Islamic State is the example of Abraham</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
People are spreading this because they are ignorant of the beliefs and practices of the Islamic State. The Islamic State preaches "Hijrah" which is the call of all Muslims to come and live in the Islamic State. It is preached as a religious duty for men and women to move to and live in the Islamic State, just as the early Muslims all flocked to Medina to join the first Islamic State in the days of Mohammad. They <a href="http://media.clarionproject.org/files/09-2014/isis-isil-islamic-state-magazine-Issue-3-the-call-to-hijrah.pdf">devoted an entire edition of their online magazine</a> to describing how important it is to come and live in the Islamic State. They want the refugees more than the West wants them, but the refugees don't want to live under their oppressive rule. <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2015/11/16/the-islamic-state-wants-you-to-hate-refugees/?tid=sm_fb">The Islamic State wants you to fear and reject refugees </a>so that they will be forced to return to the domain of the Islamic State. Don't let them manipulate your fear and use you for their evil purpose.<br />
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Myth #3 The US will be overrun by chaos like Europe<br />
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Europe is not being overrun by chaos, but even if that were the case, it will not happen in the US. When people use what is happening in Europe to predict what will happen here, they forget something very important: The Atlantic Ocean. Europe is working to control an immigration situation that is building at their borders. <a href="http://www.rescue.org/frequently-asked-questions-about-refugees-and-resettlement">Refugees who come to the US </a>will do so on an airplane, as part of a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=211&v=1t6kaCWHa80">tightly controlled process</a>. The Muslim population in the US is less than 1%, and taking on an additional 200,000 refugees will raise it to -still less than 1%. <a href="http://www.cfr.org/united-states/muslims-united-states/p25927">Muslims are dispersed</a> throughout the US population and have shown very little tendency to form enclaves.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZd085w_eVV0tMgsjm-sCvMlidDpqAPhtOys9ux72d1_MKHkNIpexu-TiINRAD2OZD2COgW1DimI1Olsk8dJStDXL0lE8w74O-SFJ0hRslwCwn6AKW8LBM5F5qxdvISSj1CjwIIEpT6G4/s1600/1130-525x394.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZd085w_eVV0tMgsjm-sCvMlidDpqAPhtOys9ux72d1_MKHkNIpexu-TiINRAD2OZD2COgW1DimI1Olsk8dJStDXL0lE8w74O-SFJ0hRslwCwn6AKW8LBM5F5qxdvISSj1CjwIIEpT6G4/s200/1130-525x394.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">These men are not imposing Judaism on anyone</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Myth #4 They will establish Sharia Law<br />
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The Constitution does not allow any religious law to be imposed on people. If Muslim immigrants want to live under Sharia court ruling, they can do what numbers of Jewish and Catholic citizens already do -voluntary arbitration. It's not legally binding unless both parties agree for it to be so. Are there any areas in the US where citizens are forced to live under Jewish of Catholic law? Again, most of them have no desire to live under Sharia Law anyway, and the ones who do cannot ever force it on anyone else.<br />
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Myth #5 They will stay on welfare<br />
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Muslim Americans are <a href="http://www.pewresearch.org/2007/05/22/muslim-americans-middle-class-and-mostly-mainstream/">middle class and main stream</a>. They are well educated, well integrated into society, and at least as affluent as the national average. This is especially true of immigrant Muslims. Poor Muslims are often converts from the spread of Islam among poor, black Americans in prison populations.<br />
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Myth #6 We should send them back<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmT9ivQfIC1Q8A8He9n_PZl7gXoBhDVNlEYv0W0Zu3L4FflZMyVpAOd9JUsclb3oWX32LWk3LeHizHU1shy7SLazEDHn3c2NyMQ5D6X84PwJXEVhbSrn9xNWQdDe9uWGrHksVNqZ98FaE/s1600/4221396001_4523185953001_4522976325001-vs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmT9ivQfIC1Q8A8He9n_PZl7gXoBhDVNlEYv0W0Zu3L4FflZMyVpAOd9JUsclb3oWX32LWk3LeHizHU1shy7SLazEDHn3c2NyMQ5D6X84PwJXEVhbSrn9xNWQdDe9uWGrHksVNqZ98FaE/s320/4221396001_4523185953001_4522976325001-vs.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
This is an evil idea. Sending refugees back into a war zone is wicked. We look back now in horror at the stories of Jewish refugees who were turned away. We recoil at the idea that ships had to return Jews to their deaths because no one wanted them, or trusted them. The voices of fear and bigotry caused our nation, and others, to commit an evil act. We must not listen to those voices again. We must rebuke them. For the people fleeing the Islamic State, ad the butchery of the Assad regime, this is life and death.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1988844463180373532.post-82920539170180136052015-11-19T13:15:00.000-06:002017-01-30T12:34:47.512-06:00Veterans vs. Refugees: A False Dichotomy<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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In the debate over whether the US should welcome Syrian refugees, a meme has emerged on Facebook pitting veterans against refugees. The argument made is some version of "We should take care of our veterans before taking care of refugees." While that statement taken as written may be true, it presents a false dichotomy.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyQii9XJMAcTyxbuz3gZNJVM7AwtDjSo6vhDC2fWyoaJI5fS_K-rqVBSlyKRz0BTxM9GxwHC7VnU7yr951cjD7YMt98x-dMJHGQeTlxE5PyxHUiJcWy5QlnrhHa1Lu17cs044JbraKyVI/s1600/12115970_10153776368432625_2681462586280517140_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyQii9XJMAcTyxbuz3gZNJVM7AwtDjSo6vhDC2fWyoaJI5fS_K-rqVBSlyKRz0BTxM9GxwHC7VnU7yr951cjD7YMt98x-dMJHGQeTlxE5PyxHUiJcWy5QlnrhHa1Lu17cs044JbraKyVI/s400/12115970_10153776368432625_2681462586280517140_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Do we really have to choose between them?</span></td></tr>
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What is a false dichotomy? It is when someone tries to convince you that there are only two choices, when there are actually more than two. It is a false ethical dilemma. People who post memes like the one above may not know that they are creating a false ethical argument, and hopefully this post can help them see that. Plus, I've replied to it so often that I am tired of typing it out every time. Now I can just link this blog post. So can you!<br />
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First, I am a veteran, and the son of a veteran. My wife and I are both from families with traditions of military service. If anyone calls me anti-veteran for this post, I will call that person an idiot. Publicly. I am very pro-veteran and it annoys me to see veterans exploited as a tool of argument by people who are anti-refugee or anti-immigrant. People who exploit veterans in that way are the ones being anti-veteran.<br />
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What are our other, and hopefully better choices? I'm glad you asked. There are plenty, but I especially like this one:<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_kdlwZOcy_Jq-hvr07jO7Aujzh7c-KL3hTfCSFW_9JNcy61L3go4p_piq8LxOgARQT0S0FKhc1aAKMGOYCQkijlzoxaoH7KPmzL7XyYtIGchPYWiIIwfzuRN7L_ZUfnxgY-1_u-HVnkE/s1600/corporate-welfare-piggy-bank.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_kdlwZOcy_Jq-hvr07jO7Aujzh7c-KL3hTfCSFW_9JNcy61L3go4p_piq8LxOgARQT0S0FKhc1aAKMGOYCQkijlzoxaoH7KPmzL7XyYtIGchPYWiIIwfzuRN7L_ZUfnxgY-1_u-HVnkE/s400/corporate-welfare-piggy-bank.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">How about we start here?</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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The US gives out corporate welfare to the tune of <a href="http://www.cato.org/publications/policy-analysis/corporate-welfare-federal-budget"> $100 billion</a> a year. Some estimates are much higher, depending on what is considered welfare. These figures <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/taxanalysts/2014/03/14/where-is-the-outrage-over-corporate-welfare/">should outrage conservatives</a>. How can we claim free enterprise when <a href="http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2015/06/corporate-welfare-wastes-taxpayer-and-economic-resources">the government is feeding corporations</a>? That's not the free market. I have many friends who are small business owners and the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/12/01/us/government-incentives.html">government is not lining up</a> to subsidize their luxury jet, or even just their fishing boat.<br />
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I will use this conservative estimate because there might be some cases where building a road to a plant is a good idea. In fact, just to be safe, let's cut it down to half and just eliminate 50 billion in corporate welfare. What can we do with 50 billion?<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqK97qQIxZ490UEE5XSTPuZL4PbhoRkrB7SwKbpvPZLL9P0Y79PaJc_4iSAwdr7BUGSOSV-plAF_IOWXnlUue-ALrQTWBxMe-447_Qu5y-jO79dIVAcc3c_WdPdPYtdOfKkjuWCd8LQAM/s1600/Screen+Shot+2015-11-19+at+8.25.49+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqK97qQIxZ490UEE5XSTPuZL4PbhoRkrB7SwKbpvPZLL9P0Y79PaJc_4iSAwdr7BUGSOSV-plAF_IOWXnlUue-ALrQTWBxMe-447_Qu5y-jO79dIVAcc3c_WdPdPYtdOfKkjuWCd8LQAM/s400/Screen+Shot+2015-11-19+at+8.25.49+PM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Current expenditures on veterans=@ $27 billion</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
We could take just 27 billion dollars of that and double our expenditures on veterans. That's right! If we eliminated subsidies for <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2011-06-29/jet-tax-break-cited-six-times-by-obama-would-cut-debt-by-about-3-billion">luxury corporate jets,</a> we could help homeless veterans find somewhere to live. Instead of handouts to <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/04/business/04bptax.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0">Royal Dutch Shell Corporation</a>, we could provide better medical care for wounded or disabled veterans. Instead of a <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/15/boeing-state-taxes_n_4281100.html">$13 Billion subsidy for Boeing</a> we could provide a higher pension for our retired service members.<br />
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So let's take just half of the $100 billion in corporate welfare (leaving half of the welfare for the super-rich) and spend $27 billion to double our payouts for veterans. Double! That thought ought to make every patriotic American stand up and salute while eating apple pie.<br />
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Why aren't we already doing this? Why has there not been an outcry that homeless veterans should come before corporations and billionaires?<br />
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Because this meme is not at all about veterans. It just uses veterans. It exploits them to play on patriotism to pit them against refugees.<br />
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There's plenty of money to do whatever we need for our veterans, and to help refugees in need. Are we will to take our corporations and billionaires off of the government dole? If not, why do you favor giving money to rich corporations instead of helping our veterans and refugees?<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1988844463180373532.post-52645649434269217082015-02-17T16:57:00.002-06:002015-03-01T13:24:32.330-06:00Before We Send Our Sons and Daughters to Bleed and Die...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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It now seems inevitable that US ground troops will enter combat in Iraq and Syria. <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2015/02/11/politics/isis-aumf-white-house-congress/index.html">President Obama has asked for Congressional authorization</a> for the limited use of ground troops in the war on ISIL. Congress is ready to approve the measure, with the only complaints from his opponents being that the President's request was too limited in scope and would not authorize enough troops.<br />
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Before our nation sends our sons and daughters to bleed and die in Iraq and Syria, we owe it to them to closely examine what our leaders are sending them to do. Jesus said that we should "count the cost" before making such important decisions. So let us examine the progress of this ongoing conflict involving ISIL (AKA ISIS, Islamic State), and what an expanded US role might look like. Before we send our sons and daughters to bleed and die, shouldn't we consider the cost?</div>
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First, we should ask, who is funding ISIL? The nasty truth is that our <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/06/14/america-s-allies-are-funding-isis.html">US allies among the Sunni nations are funding ISIL</a>. In addition to black market oil sales in Turkey, ISIL is also funded by the <a href="http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/syrian-antiquities-funding-isil-smuggled-through-turkey-en-route-to-europe.aspx?pageID=238&nID=78489&NewsCatID=375">sale of illegal antiquities through Turkish black markets.</a> Before we send our sons and daughters to bleed and die, shouldn't our allies stop funding ISIL?</div>
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Second, we should ask, where will this war be fought? ISIL controls territory in Iraq and Syria. The US will begin the war by clearing ISIL out of Iraq. Then, when ISIL attacks continue across the border, we will have to invade Syria to stop them. <a href="http://www.yementimes.com/en/1808/news/4216/AQAP-announces-support-for-ISIL.htm">But then there are also ISIL in Yemen</a>, where forces have pledged loyalty to the Islamic State. <a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/02/egypt-bombs-isil-targets-libya-mass-beheadings-150216063339037.html">ISIL is active now in Libya</a>, where they are fighting the Egyptian government after beheading 21 Egyptian Christians. As Bahrain enters the war against ISIL, <a href="http://america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2014/11/bahrain-electiondemocracyisisextremism.html">they face a Shia uprising at home</a> because of extreme sectarianism. Before we send our sons and daughters to bleed and die, shouldn't we know where the war will be fought?</div>
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Third, for whom will we be fighting? When the US enters the war in Iraq, they will be fighting alongside the Shia government against the Sunni elements of ISIL. When the US invades Syria, we will be supporting Sunni rebel allies who are also fighting the Shia (Alawite) Syrian government. In a rare moment of candor, Vice President Joe Biden said what people close to the situation in Syria have known all along. <a href="http://mideastshuffle.com/2014/10/04/biden-turks-saudis-uae-funded-and-armed-al-nusra-and-al-qaeda/">There are no moderate Muslim allied armies to back.</a> The myth that we can go in and help the "good guys" to win is a false one. There is no side in this fight worthy of our support. Before we send our sons and daughters to bleed and die, shouldn't there be something worth bleeding and dying for?</div>
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Fourth, who is training and equipping our enemies? We are. The US is training and equipping the very people that our soldiers will be fighting when they reach Syria and Iraq. <a href="http://www.news.com.au/world/iraqi-sunni-insurgents-seize-huge-cache-of-usmade-arms-and-equipment/story-fndir2ev-1226952811362">We armed ISIL </a>through weapons given to the Iraqi Army. <a href="http://freebeacon.com/national-security/isil-moving-seized-u-s-tanks-humvees-to-syria/">Lots of weapons.</a> <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/jul/15/isil-captured-52-us-made-howitzers-artillery-weapo/">Heavy Weapons.</a> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/08/isis-jihadis-using-arms-troop-carriers-supplied-by-us-saudi-arabia">We armed ISIL</a> through weapons given to militias. <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/11203825/Syrian-rebels-armed-and-trained-by-US-surrender-to-al-Qaeda.html">We continue to arm and train ISIL fighters</a> by arming and training "moderates" who then defect to ISIL and <a href="http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2015/Mar-01/289183-fsa-group-hazm-dissolves-itself.ashx">use their US training and weapons for the cause of the Islamic State</a>. Now the <a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/02/ankara-close-deal-train-fsa-turkey-150217181531857.html">US will partner with Turkey</a>, one of the greatest supporters of the Islamic State, to train "moderate" rebels. Thousands of rebels will get US training and equipment, which they will take back to Syria and use against our sons and daughters when they come to bleed and die.<br />
When our troops go into Syria, they will sooner or later fight <a href="http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2015/Feb-08/286811-new-militia-battles-islamist-rebels-near-damascus.ashx">troops of the Assad regime, and we are also arming and equipping them as well</a>. Before we send our sons and daughters to bleed and die, shouldn't we stop arming and training the people who will kill them?</div>
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Fifth, why is this our war? I do not want my son, nor any American, to bleed and die in a Sunni-Shia religious war. <a href="http://quixoticiconoclast.blogspot.com/2015/02/sunni-shia-war-primer.html">This is a religious war</a>, the two sides are aligned against one another in Yemen, Bahrain, Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon -Sunni Muslim vs. Shia Muslim. <a href="http://quixoticiconoclast.blogspot.com/2015/02/us-position-in-sunni-shia-war.html">What is the place of the US</a> in such a religious regional war? What is our compelling national interest? Oil? Gas prices in the US are hovering around $2 per gallon at the time of this writing. Before we send our sons and daughters to bleed and die, shouldn't we have a good reason to send them to bleed and die?</div>
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Is it too late to stop this insanity? I pray not. If we don't send our children to die in a Muslim religious war, then what is the proper response? Let them fight their civil war; it is theirs to fight. Let the Sunni nations deal with the consequences of their support for radicalism. Let them consider the cost of blood. We can help -food, blankets, medicines, humanitarian aid -no radical faction will be attacking us with the bandages we supplied in five years, nor will they blow up our airplanes with bread a decade from now. There is a wise approach if we are brave enough to take it. <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/submit-questions-and-comments">Email the White House.</a> Send them the link to this blog post. Before we send our sons and daughters to bleed and die, shouldn't we consider a better path?</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1988844463180373532.post-23191135057457625972015-02-17T15:50:00.000-06:002015-02-17T15:54:46.122-06:00US position in the Sunni-Shia War<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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As the US enters the ongoing Sunni-Shia war, it does so with the full understanding that our forces will be fighting on both sides of that war. In their rush to declare that this is not a war on Islam, our leaders seem to fail to understand that it is very much a religious war. This is why it will probably be a long war, and there seems to be no resolution which does not eventually require US troops on the ground in Syria.</div>
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To better understand the background of the discussion, <a href="http://quixoticiconoclast.blogspot.com/2015/02/sunni-shia-war-primer.html">read this earlier blog post.</a></div>
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The two sides of the Sunni-Shia war do have one thing in common, they both want to get rid of ISIL. The Shia have fought them since the beginning, and now that the Sunni rulers see them as a political threat, they are stepping up also to fight them. Tepidly, of course.</div>
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The major problem with our current strategy is that we want to fight this war against ISIL more than the surrounding Sunni Muslim countries want to fight it. Right now the US is leading the air strikes with token Sunni assistance. Air strikes alone cannot defeat ISIL, because they will quickly learn how to dig bunkers. Someone on the ground will have to go in and flush out the rats.</div>
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As you can see on the above map, the network of ratholes will be very extensive.</div>
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In Iraq the US is counting on Kurdish and Shiite forces, who can control the ground in their own ethnic areas, but will meet stiff resistance in the Sunni areas now controlled by ISIL. This will in fact be a recruiting boon for ISIL, who can shout to the Muslim world that the Sunnis are being oppressed by the Zionist-loving Americans and their Shiite lackeys. In order to push ISIL out of Iraq, Sunni troops are needed on the ground.<br />
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Turkey could easily provide them, but has not, nor have the other Sunni nations pledged ground troops. Why? They have a love/hate relationship with ISIL and are not determined to be rid of them. The same Sunni states that we need to defeat ISIL have had some hand in funding them.</div>
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Another problem is mission creep on bombing ISIL in Syria. On the opening day, the US began bombing non-ISIL targets. Sure they were bad guys, but not the ones we were supposed to bomb. There are lots and lots of bad guys in Syria and lots and lots of reasons to bomb them. The Assad regime is wicked and brutal, Hezbollah is fighting alongside them, and Al-Qaeida is still in Syria.</div>
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We supposedly have the needed Sunni troops on the ground in Syria (FSA) but we will have to train and equip them first. They are already talking about how this US help will allow them to overthrow the Assad regime. How long will it take until the US is bombing all sides in that part of the war? The need to destroy ISIL will morph into the need to topple the Assad regime so that we can finish off ISIL once and for all. This is how US troops will be sucked into Syria.</div>
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President Obama has called the US-led bombings a “coalition of the willing” composed of European allies and a few Sunni states. "Willing" is not enough. ISIL is determined. The US should not enter this war until the Sunnis form a “coalition of the determined” and commit ground troops. Otherwise, it will be Americans on the ground. Again. This time in Syria as well.<br />
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<u>Where might ISIL strike next?</u><br />
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ISIL has already occupied a lot of the "friendly territory" available to it, which was the source of early rapid expansion. Lebanon is not a place where many will welcome them, as they have already discovered. Hezbollah would prevent any serious ISIL incursion. There is another area where they'd be welcomed by many, and that is Jordan. </div>
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The fall of Jordan, if such happened, would be worse that the loss of Iraq. It would almost force Israel to take action, since there would now be a border with the Islamic State. It would also open up a new road for expansion into the Hijaz, which might well be one of the stronger areas of support for ISIL (among the people, not the rulers).</div>
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Jordan is fairly stable and well defended, so this is not a likely outcome, but it is a possibility. I don't think anyone foresaw how quickly the Iraqis would crumble.</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1988844463180373532.post-11998940317524257772015-02-17T15:47:00.001-06:002015-02-17T15:53:06.132-06:00Sunni-Shia War Primer<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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The first and most important thing to understand about the ongoing civil war in Syria and Iraq is that it is not two wars in two nations. It is one war between two religious groups. From Tehran to Beirut there is an ongoing war between the Sunni and Shia Muslims -a war which dates back to the very founding of Islam. It is not a fight that will be solved by western military intervention.</div>
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The current conflict arose when peaceful demonstrations against the Assad regime in Syria were met with brutal suppression by government forces. As the bloodshed of the mostly Sunni protestors grew unbearable, Sunni troops, units, and leaders of the Syrian Army defected and formed the Free Syrian Army. Early success led them to capture a number of Army and Air Force bases which supplied them with weaponry to fight effectively against the government forces.</div>
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<u>Who is ISIL?</u></div>
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ISIL stands for Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant. The actual acronym name of the group in Arabic is <i>DA'SH. </i>You will see it rendered inaccurately in western media as ISIS Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. The “SH” sound actually represents “Sham” -a reference to Greater Syria, which extends from southern Turkey to the Sinai. Their territorial ambitions are much larger than the inaccurate western name implies. The map below designates the areas covered by “Iraq and Sham”. This is the area that they envision as the nucleus for the re-establishment of the caliphate.</div>
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This group is a splinter of Al-Qaeida, originally being Al-Qaeida in Iraq. They fell under the influence of an Iraqi terrorist, Abu Bakr AlBaghdadi (real name Awwad Ibrahim al-Badri al-Samarri), who was a protege of Osama bin Laden. After the death of bin Laden, he has refused to recognize the authority of the new Al-Qaeida leadership and has taken his own initiative in Iraq and Syria. The ISIL fighters are from all over the Muslim world. Many of them have engaged in the jihadi wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, and Yemen. ISIL was initially welcomed by Syrian rebels in their fight against the Assad regime. Much of the original training was done in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and (ironically) Iran. They have fought in so many theatres with such a wide range of equipment that they are familiar with almost anything they find on the battlefield.</div>
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After ISIL entered Syria, there was an initial power struggle between Jabhat Al Nusra and ISIL. Jabhat Al Nusra was the original AlQaeida group in Syria. ISIL tried to exert authority over them and bring them into ISIL but the leadership refused and AlQaeida ruled that they should fight alongside one another in cooperation. ISIL refused this ruling and began taking control of areas of Syria and independently governing them. They have captured an oil producing region of Syria, and the revenues from black market sales fund their continuing operations.</div>
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ISIL government has imposed a very harsh Sharia law upon the populations. Women are warned to stay at home. Hands will be chopped off from thieves. Any unIslamic business is forbidden. Extreme punishments including execution by sword are visited on any who oppose the ISIL government. Now large segments of Syria and Iraq are under these harsh laws.</div>
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The ISIL are so savage, and the populations under their control have cried out so loudly, that the other rebel factions have turned on them to expel them from Syria. You have to be ruthlessly savage to be kicked out of AlQaeida for being too extreme. Currently ISIL and the Assad regime do not fight one another. Both of them fight the rebels, who are caught between the government and even more extreme Islamists.</div>
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<u>What is the Shia-Sunni war?</u></div>
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The Sunni Shia war dates back to the power struggle between the fourth caliph (leader of “all” Muslims), Ali (cousin of Mohammad), and the followers of a powerful Syrian leader named Muawiyah. Ali was ultimately assassinated by one of his former followers who belonged to the Kharijites, a group who broke away because Ali was not strong enough in asserting his authority as Caliph. Muawiyah became the fifth Caliph and the followers of Ali (thereafter called the Shia) refused to recognize him. The war ended in a bloody battle (Karbala) where Ali's son was killed and the Caliphate passed firmly into the hands of those called Sunni. This battle is remembered each year in their highest holiday of mourning by the Shia, who have not forgotten the killing of their leaders even after 1400 years.</div>
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This is key -the current Sunni-Shia war is being fought in these regions of Syria and Iraq just as it was 1400 years ago. The Caliphate passed back and forth from Sunni to Shia hands over the centuries, but the struggle to control Islam has not lessened. In modern times, Shia live mostly in Iraq and Iran, with smaller groups scattered in places like southern Lebanon and Syria (The Alawites).</div>
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<u>Who are the parties other than ISIL?</u></div>
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Iran (Shia) is the largest factor in the current war. When the (Sunni) rebellion in Syria began to threaten the Assad regime (Alawite Shia) Iran stepped in to support the Assad regime. In addition to sending their own militants (Shia) to fight in Syria, the Iranians also hired unemployed Iraqis (Shia) as fighters to defend the Syrian government. More importantly, Iran mobilized the Hezbollah (Shia) forces in Lebanon to move into Syria and fight on the side of the government.</div>
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As the rebels were overwhelmed by the Shia groups, surrounding Sunni countries sent fighters to help the rebels. AlQaeida in Iraq (Sunni) sent Islamist fighters to start the Jabhat AlNusra, with some funding from Qatar. Saudi and Kuwaiti (all Sunni) money funded the Free Syrian Army. The US (supporting both Sunni and Shia) has committed itself to fund and support the Free Syrian Army.</div>
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The Syrian Kurds have taken control of the northeastern region of Syria. They have avoided any clashes with government forces, claiming instead to be subject to the regime. Jabhat AlNusra had frequent clashes with the Kurds in the second year. Currently the Kurds are avoiding the conflict.</div>
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Update: The Kurds entered the conflict i the summer of 2014 after being attacked by ISIL and losing territory to them. With US air support the Kurds have made significant advances against ISIL.<br />
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<u>Who is fighting whom? (Shia vs. Sunni)</u></div>
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In both Syria and Iraq the fight is a religious one. In Syria the (Shia Alawite) Assad regime has the weakened Syrian Army, and a powerful Air Force that is in the hands of Alawite officers and crews. They are joined by Iranian, Iraqi, and Lebanese Hezbollah fighters, all of whom are Shia.</div>
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The rebels are fragmented groups. The Free Syrian Army is Sunni, and relatively moderate, though there are strong Islamist tendencies. There is a collection of smaller Sunni militias allied with the FSA. Jabhat AlNusra is a group of Salafist Sunni fighters from around the Muslim world that was sent to Syria by AlQaeida. These groups form a liberation front together. When ISIL first entered Syria, they were allied with this group.</div>
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The FSA/rebel groups are now fighting ISIL, whom they consider too extreme. ISIL is not currently fighting the Assad regime. The Kurds are currently not fighting any group. The Assad regime and Shia allies are fighting the FSA/rebel groups.</div>
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<u>What about Iraq?</u></div>
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The same ISIL group that sent Jabhat Nusra and ISIL into Syria are leading the fight against the Iraqi government. They number only a few thousand, but like the Pied Piper, they are collecting other anti-government groups on their march toward Baghdad. These groups are not loyal to ISIL, but will fight beside them against the government.</div>
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The Kurds have used this opportunity to move in to protect Kirkuk, which they consider their historic Capital. They will not leave Kirkuk without a fight, so the government may engage them at some point. The Kurdish Peshmerga may be the best soldiers in Iraq at this point.</div>
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The Shia Iraqi government has called home Shia troops from Syria. They are mobilizing Shia militias to protect Baghdad. Iran is sending troops to defend the Shia holy sites in Iraq.</div>
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<u>Can ISIL take Baghdad?</u></div>
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That is possible, but not probable. We have not seen the Iraqi Army fight yet, so there is no sure answer. The Shia are very strong in that region. So far, ISIL has been in “friendly territory.” There is also the likelihood that the Iraqi Air Force would be supplemented by air strikes from the US carrier group moving into the region. A siege of Baghdad is likely at this point, with some Sunni neighborhoods going to the rebels and the government holding important areas. Beirut was divided by sectarian violence for over a decade (and really still is today), and fighting in Damascus, though not heavy, has followed the same pattern.</div>
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<u>What does this mean for the US?</u></div>
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If the US intervenes in Iraq, it will mean the commitment of Air and Special (ground) forces to strengthen the Iraqi government. We will be allies of Iran in this fight. We will be aiding a government that is allied with Iran, Hezbollah, and the Assad regime. We will be on the Shia side of the fight.</div>
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In Syria, the US is already committed to supporting the other side of this same fight. We will be supporting the FSA against the government, Iranian, Lebanese, and Iraqi Shia foes. We will be on the Sunni side of the fight.</div>
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Imagine if you will, an Iraqi Shia militia that has enjoyed US support, training, and air support. They cross the border into Syria and now engage a Sunni FSA unit that has enjoyed US support, weapons, and training. We are now on both sides of the same fight.</div>
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This is a Sunni-Shia religious war. This war is over 1400 years old, and is being fought by the same sides and in the same region that it was 1400 years ago. The party of Caliph Ali (Shia) is opposing the caliphate of the Sunni on the same battlefields where they fought so long ago.</div>
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<u>What about Lebanon?</u></div>
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For now Lebanon is safe. The government has taken precautionary steps of rounding up and arresting suspected ISIL sympathizers. We are fairly distant from the current events. The ISIL is the group who set off the series of car bombs in Lebanon earlier this year, so there is a possibility of renewed violence. If Baghdad should fall, which is unlikely, then the situation becomes much more grave.<br />
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Update: A small ISIL force moved into the Arsal region of Lebanon in the summer of 2014 in a surprise incursion but was repelled by the Lebanese Army. They are currently surrounded and living in caves in the border region, where they still hold perhaps 2 dozen soldiers and policeman captured in their surprise attack.<br />
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A final map of the intertwined and complex relationships involved:<br />
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An update of the situation can be found<a href="http://quixoticiconoclast.blogspot.com/2015/02/us-position-in-sunni-shia-war.html"> in this blog entry</a>.</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1988844463180373532.post-57162634860541211612014-10-16T15:00:00.001-05:002014-10-16T15:03:10.787-05:00What to Do When You're Married to an Abuser<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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For most of us, our marriage is our
most important relationship. It builds friendships, social networks,
and may even give us children. What do we do when it turns rotten at
the core? What does one do with an abusive spouse?</div>
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The first and most important question
is whether he's hitting you. If he is, stop reading this now, grab
what little you can, and get out. Finish reading this later. Go to
your Mom. Go to your Pastor. Go to a trusted friend. You are
living with an ungodly man. Don't let him hit you or your children.
When Jesus said “turn the other cheek,” he was teaching against
violence. Jesus lived in an age where people responded to insults
with violence. He was teaching that insult and injustice do not
merit a violent response. They do merit a response. Find a better
way to respond. Jesus never, ever meant that your husband can hit
you. Now go, get out of the house if you haven't already.</div>
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If he's “just” being a
manipulative, mean-spirited jerk who treats you like trash, then
don't take that either. I want to talk specifically in this blog
about a situation where a man claims to be a Christian, but mistreats
his wife. If you have married an unbeliever, against the teachings
of the scriptures, then I do pity you just as much but I have far
fewer answers for your situation.</div>
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First, much evil has been taught from
Ephesians 5:22-33. It does not mean “shut up and take it because
he's the man.” Much of this false teaching can be undone simply by
backing up one verse (to verse 21) and reading that into the context
of the passage. “Submit to one another out of reverence for
Christ.” Christians must live lives of submission to one another
-in every facet and relationship of our lives. We submit to the
authority of the Church, we submit to our parents, and we submit to
one another. What follows in Ephesians teaches the path of
submission for husbands and wives, but do not forget that both
submit.</div>
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Starting in Ephesians 5 verse 22 we
read:</div>
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Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord.<span style="color: black;">
</span>For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head
of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior.<span style="color: black;">
</span>Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should
submit to their husbands in everything.</div>
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This is usually all
we get to hear, and even that is poorly taught. The scripture tells
wives to submit to their husbands <i>as you do to the lord</i>, and
<i>as the Church submits to Christ</i>. How do we make that
submission? Do we submit ourselves to God because he is harsh with
us, and unjust? Do we submit ourselves to God because he hurts us
and dominates us? God forbid! This would make us morally superior
to God! The Bible tells us exactly why we submit to God. In 1 John
4:19 we read that “We love because he first loved us.” We cannot
love God, we cannot submit to God, except that he loved us first.
Wives, submit to your husbands in that same way -because he loved you
first. If he does not treat you with love -not just words, but deeds
also- he has no claim on your submission.</div>
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In Ephesians 5
verse 25 we read:</div>
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Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave
himself up for her<span style="color: black;"> </span>to make her holy,
cleansing her by the washing with water through the word...</div>
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How has Christ loved the
Church? How much did Christ sacrifice himself for his beloved?
Don't we sing hymns of praise to Him for these things? Isn't he our
Lord because of how he loved us and sacrificed himself for us? Has
anyone shown greater love than laying down his life? Don't you dare
to show your wife Ephesians 5:22 until you are living this example of
love.</div>
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In Ephesians
chapter 5 verse 28 Paul continues:</div>
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In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own
bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.<span style="color: black;">
</span>After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and
care for their body, just as Christ does the church—for we are
members of his body.</div>
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If you are abusing
your wife emotionally, physically, verbally, or in any other way, you
are doing it because you hate yourself. If you loved yourself you
could love her. You should hate yourself. You are a mean-spirited,
selfish, violent, self-serving, manipulative sinner. You need to
experience what real love means before you can love yourself or love
her. Quit pretending you're a religious man and run to Jesus. Run
now. Learn from Him how to love so that you can be the man she
should respect.</div>
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What do I do if he
won't listen?</div>
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Jesus taught a
simple formula in Matthew 18:15-17. Remember, if he is hitting you,
this is moot. You do not have a marriage. You should be out of the
house.</div>
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1) Talk to him
yourself in private. Let him read this. Pray that he will be
convicted. This is the hardest step, but don't skip it. If he won't
listen go to step 2.</div>
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<span style="line-height: 0.2in;">2) Take someone
with you to talk to him. It might be a family member, friend,
counselor, you need a third party involved. If he still won't
listen, go to step 3.</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 0.2in;">3) Take it to the
Church. This might mean your Elders, your Pastor, trustees, a
bishop, or some other leader or leadership group. It doesn't mean
that you get on the phone and start calling people and spreading gossip. Use whatever
accountability structures that you can find. If your Church does
not have any accountability, then it is not a Church, it is a cult.</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 0.2in;">I don't know if
this will help you in your situation, I pray that it does. Hopefully
it will at least encourage you that you should not live in misery.
The truth will set you free.</span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1988844463180373532.post-36446856017906963412013-07-21T00:13:00.001-05:002013-07-21T00:16:54.904-05:00The House of Fatteh<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I recently had the opportunity to visit a great new restaurant in the southern part of Beirut, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/House.of.Fatteh/info">House of Fatteh</a>.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkPbPKlgR3QeZKNS_LKvtL3LQ9gCQe6lAmsB4UpZdSufzACxLfGYjOnYD0ZVkQqAa9TTKUC7P5cHmDvx7kcEpEiyMFf83yV0BqfjBT6PqujYqU00uX2z55BOSTcqOdVOuiv3MitQ0l2D4/s1600/Beit-Fatteh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkPbPKlgR3QeZKNS_LKvtL3LQ9gCQe6lAmsB4UpZdSufzACxLfGYjOnYD0ZVkQqAa9TTKUC7P5cHmDvx7kcEpEiyMFf83yV0BqfjBT6PqujYqU00uX2z55BOSTcqOdVOuiv3MitQ0l2D4/s320/Beit-Fatteh.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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The name says it all -in Arabic and English</div>
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I love a great bean restaurant, and this is a great bean restaurant. First, and most importantly, it is very clean. I've eaten beans in some dives and I hate risking gastroenteritis for a good meal. Now I no longer have to do that! I can get my sense of adventure from the menu, which has dozens of bean dish choices.</div>
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The service was great. The staff was friendly and courteous, they knew the menu, and they didn't rush me. In fact, they brought me tea to drink while I was pondering the menu, and some cardamom and cinnamon to chew on as well.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilGZ1hu-7hj34IJDc00jligT_z_OTTK0gE7zGRBd_QCGnK3wNbHW9tBo4QbJtiB0rTxleUeoJFq1Phgf7BEYxYuKAWu61up5bc1RPqNR4i51ehW3jztbq-YT9Qwz-SxateJN1c-PvlOUw/s1600/tea-and-treats.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="284" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilGZ1hu-7hj34IJDc00jligT_z_OTTK0gE7zGRBd_QCGnK3wNbHW9tBo4QbJtiB0rTxleUeoJFq1Phgf7BEYxYuKAWu61up5bc1RPqNR4i51ehW3jztbq-YT9Qwz-SxateJN1c-PvlOUw/s320/tea-and-treats.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Nice. These are classy beans.</div>
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I decided that since I was at the House of Fatteh, I'd go ahead and order what may be my favorite food in the world, fatteh bilaban. The service was fast and before I could say "Hey, where's my food?" it was on the table.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4wFPzL45_Mv24sFrWnKNwVvfTBOuouXBYrspMUIkq5BtU5gEbd7ZUgAiScMQATAIiBg3cMdjtkHulM9nML0FAWw9AuTq5vGJAflrXHqlCnXO7Jan0cL7y0LlJ-N9QIF_mckSrZn8-GDg/s1600/Fatteh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4wFPzL45_Mv24sFrWnKNwVvfTBOuouXBYrspMUIkq5BtU5gEbd7ZUgAiScMQATAIiBg3cMdjtkHulM9nML0FAWw9AuTq5vGJAflrXHqlCnXO7Jan0cL7y0LlJ-N9QIF_mckSrZn8-GDg/s320/Fatteh.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Oh, yeah.</div>
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The taste was just as good as the presentation. One of the things I really like about House of Fatteh is that they manage to combine the experience of a real, authentic bean house with a very upscale and modern setting. It's beans served the way we all wish they could be served. This place screams "business lunch."</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-Y_Uk5i2BR91iYm4Y1xId0CQQokp_pn-joh_3mFTKxluzI_FLOMfZleJNndSbCNRJ5pmSfdel1ZSD4C07FtbhqFhve6YuUEEbBYJkJ6nOatrb_3540DP6Hj0oRK8NE4Hc_dctMUKvi28/s1600/spread.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="166" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-Y_Uk5i2BR91iYm4Y1xId0CQQokp_pn-joh_3mFTKxluzI_FLOMfZleJNndSbCNRJ5pmSfdel1ZSD4C07FtbhqFhve6YuUEEbBYJkJ6nOatrb_3540DP6Hj0oRK8NE4Hc_dctMUKvi28/s320/spread.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Give a client this and he will buy anything.</div>
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Did I mention that the portions are large? Sometimes it's difficult to judge the scale in a photo, so I have placed my full, distended belly in the shot to give you an idea of how much food I ate. This meal whipped me, I could not eat all of it.</div>
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This reminds me of a scene from Monty Python...</div>
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This leads me to my only complaint about House of Fatteh. Their takeout service does not take customers out to their cars after they have eaten too much to move. Those guys in the kitchen look strong enough that I think 3 or 4 of them could have managed to get me into my minivan. I did manage to make it out on my own after some effort.</div>
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The meals are also priced right. Most of the menu is in the $5-$8 range which makes it a perfect place to take your kids or your buddies. If your wife is a cheap date, take her here! In the interest of full disclosure, the owner is a friend of mine, who knows how to operate a really great bean house. Drop by the House of Fatteh and you will not be disappointed.</div>
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Jesr Sfeir, In front of Hachem Gaz Station, Beirut, Lebanon</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1988844463180373532.post-8131204192407859582013-07-13T10:09:00.000-05:002013-07-13T10:42:18.531-05:00Formula for a Successful Apology<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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You've done it. You've totally screwed up and now you need to apologize, and the words are tumbling around in your head as you try to construct the appropriate apology. Fear not! As one who has screwed up countless times, I have far too much practice in apologies, and can offer you advice based on my vast experience.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">You are soooo busted.</span></td></tr>
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A proper apology contains three elements. It is important to include all three, and a very good idea not to go beyond them -regret, confession, repentance. Here is the framework for an appropriate apology:<br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-large;"><i>"I'm sorry I did that. I screwed up. I won't do it again."</i></span><br />
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If in doubt you can use that exactly as written in almost any situation. Memorize it. Use it.</div>
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Let's examine the three components:</div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i>"I'm sorry"</i></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"> -This is the entry level apology, and we teach our children to say it, while scuffing their foot around to let us know that they really don't mean it. People want to hear our regret, at a minimum, but this is really not enough. Are you sorry you did it, or just sorry you got caught? Are you sorry I'm so difficult to please? At it's best, "I'm sorry" should also specify the offense - "I'm sorry I forgot your birthday." Failure to specify leads to confusion and an apology must be crystal clear.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Or, it can mean that your ego is so huge you can't admit fault.</span></td></tr>
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<i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">"I screwed up."</span></i><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span>-Admit it's your fault. So often people follow "I'm sorry" with an excuse for why it was really OK, or not really their fault. "I'm sorry I hit you, but your words were making me angry." That is not an apology, it is blame-shifting. Admit your own fault without blaming anyone else. "I'm sorry we had that fight. I have to listen better." Failure to accept blame turns the apology into a cloaked accusation.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i>"I won't do it again."</i></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"> -Show your maturity. If the action was worthy of an apology, it should not be repeated. This step is necessary to heal the relationship. The other person needs to know that s/he should not expect this behavior again. "I won't go out without telling you any more." Failure to repent leaves guards up and prevents a complete healing of the wound.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">What men really mean by "I won't do it again."</span></td></tr>
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You may be tempted to add to these elements. Don't. An apology should be short, sincere, complete, and simple. Turning it into a story is likely to make things worse. It will become filled with excuses, blame shifting, and denial.</div>
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"I'm sorry I did that. I screwed up. I won't do it again." You can apply this formula to many situations:</div>
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"I'm sorry I didn't clean up the dirty dishes. I should have been more considerate. I won't forget them again."</div>
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"I apologize for eating your lunch from the office refrigerator. I should have ordered delivery. I won't eat your food again."</div>
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"I'm sorry for posting that embarrassing picture of you on Facebook. I should have respected your privacy. I won't post anything else without your permission."<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ741NArG-2SVk6xEHAjs3CFRk4yGLMUSLd4JgyVmkNQpUS5rvYzYZ52hrZYJsCchorm8TxaEAFIIPpUpKPZaFBOsFCbWSOk2XgbrzdDNI-kSHXkknT5kQY4fa59YZfiUZrzeJCgm4V70/s1600/998665_671539629526127_995904577_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ741NArG-2SVk6xEHAjs3CFRk4yGLMUSLd4JgyVmkNQpUS5rvYzYZ52hrZYJsCchorm8TxaEAFIIPpUpKPZaFBOsFCbWSOk2XgbrzdDNI-kSHXkknT5kQY4fa59YZfiUZrzeJCgm4V70/s320/998665_671539629526127_995904577_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">A real pro at work here.</span></td></tr>
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Now, go forth and apologize well.</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1988844463180373532.post-34794485563287055112012-11-29T16:18:00.002-06:002012-11-29T16:19:28.455-06:00With the Cross of Jesus, Marching on Before<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">In situations of conflict Christians often find themselves accomplices in war, rather than agents of peace. We find it difficult to distance ourselves from our selves and our own culture and so we echo its reigning opinions and mimic its practices. As we keep the vision of God's future alive, we need to reach out across the firing lines and join hands with our brothers and sisters on the other side. We need to let them pull us out of the enclosure of our own culture and its own peculiar set of prejudices so that we can read afresh the “one Word of God.” In this way we might become once again the salt to the world ridden by strife. </span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">-</span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Volf, Miroslav (2010-03-01). Exclusion & Embrace: A Theological Exploration of Identity, Otherness, and Reconciliation (p. 54). Abingdon Press. </span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Volf's book is a sometimes meandering read, but it's given me occasion to think about what the scriptures teach Christians about priority. In particular, it is helping me to consider how we as Western Churches respond to events in the East. I will not engage in political commentary, but there is an issue of Christian faith which requires consideration.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">After failing to found a cohesive community at Athens with his eloquent preaching, the Apostle Paul moved on to Corinth determined to preach only one thing: "Jesus Christ, and him crucified." In the simple statement we see that the cross is the foundation of the Christian community (Volf, p. 47). It defines who belongs to the community, and the basis for interpersonal relationships within the community.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The community requires primary allegiance from members. "If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple," Jesus said (Luke 14:26). All other relationships are formed at the behest of the Cross. We honor our father and mother because it is the way of the cross. We love our wife and our earthly family because the cross leads us to love. All of our relationships are restored and prioritized by the cross. "Love one another," the cross calls to us, and so we love.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #f9fdff; color: #001320; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; text-align: justify;">And stretching out His hand toward His disciples, He said, </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #f9fdff; color: #001320; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; text-align: justify;">"Behold My mother and My brothers!"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The cross establishes our relationships with the secular world as well. We are told to live quiet lives, to submit to the governing authorities, and to honor the King. In the modern context, this means that we should be good citizens, but we are reminded that our Kingdom is not of this world. Our citizenship bows to and serves the cross. There is only one Church, which spans all cultures, through the suffering of Christ on the cross (Volf, p. 51).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Nowhere is this more relevant than the relationship between Churches in cultures that are in conflict. When there is a clash of cultures or nations, Christians must first look across the conflict and find those members of our Church that are on the other side. The first allegiance is always to the cross, and to our community founded upon it. Opposing the "enemy" must be secondary to embracing our brethren.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">In the context of the Arab world, western Churches must realize that they have communities of Christian brothers and sisters in many nations of the region. While we might be quick to support Christians in the pro-western countries, Christians living in "pariah states" and the "axis of evil" are no less deserving of our love and faithfulness, and of our embrace.</span><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0