13 YEARS IS A LONG, LONG TIME. . . .

In Judaism, 13 is a blessed number, as it is the age of accountability for boys to spiritually and ritually become men, taking on the responsibilities of an adult. 13 is momentous mindfulness, the beginning of a new life cycle.

After 13 years of antisemitic persecution in South Florida’s Manatee County, our family was evicted from my Dad’s beloved modest condominium for the sake of Judenrein at Heritage Village West Condominiums (HVW) – the absence of Jews, as a former Board Officer had expressly vowed to drive out the Jews.

The perfect storm of antisemitism in Florida’s capital of antisemitism, scenic Manatee County, involves willing lawyers, organizations, neighbors, community leaders, judges, and clergy, none of whom will object to or protest against decades of grotesque discrimination against Jews. It is the perfect storm amidst the ravages of the COVID pandemic, when life stopped for awhile but not hate.

Like the viral pandemic, Jew-hatred is a highly-contagious disease, passing easily from person to person, group to group, neighbor to neighbor, congregant to fellow worshipper, community to nearby community, state to state, and nation to nation. Like the corona pandemic, it must be eradicated. In Manatee County in 13 years of persecution, not a single official spoke or demonstrated against the repeated vandalism of our property on and near to Jewish Holy Days, deflating and slitting of our car tires, theft of our personal possessions, threats against us, years of extortionate demands upon us for scores of thousands of dollars, intimidation, mocking of us in court, and illegal eviction of us on July 14, 2021, by orders of Judges Edward Nicholas and Charles Sniffen.

Amongst the written threats to us were: “Be warned, I’ll be keeping an eye on you.”; “The last thing you want to do is make an enemy of me.”; “By the way, you make yourselves look foolish with this [Holocaust] survivor crap.”

By order of the Florida Court of Appeal, Judge Nicholas was officially removed due to his bias and prejudice against us from the eviction case that HVW had filed against my husband, Lawrence Newman, and me pursuant to Florida’s rent diversion statute (F.S. 718.116(11)) that expressly requires four criteria to be met for eviction of a family by a condominium association. While it was undisputed that our family never met the criteria of “rent”-paying “tenants” under contract with our Dad for less than one year, and our family never refused to divert said alleged “rent” from HVW condo owner, Al Katz (who never charged us rent), to HVW, the lawsuit filed by attorney Scott K. Petersen falsely claimed that Lawrence and Beverly Newman refused to divert their “rent” from Al Katz to HVW in December 2015 and January 2016 – 5 1/2 years after our Dad had moved to Heaven and could not receive “rent” from anyone.

In the course of years of perjurious litigation against us, Judge Edward Nicholas ordered me to produce all of my confidential intimate medical records, including gynecological exams, from the time of my birth, for HVW’s lawyers to inspect and for the Judge to personally review himself, purportedly to confirm that I have asthma. Illegal subpoenas were sent by HVW to my physicians in New Mexico and Ohio, threatening them with contempt of court although the court had no jurisdiction over them. Judge Nicholas refused to sanction the lawyers for overt intimidation of my physicians.

In the course of years of eviction litigation, Judge Nicholas variously referred to our Jewish family in classic antisemitic accusations, which would not even be hurled at habitual criminals: “deliberate callousness”; “gross indifference”; “bizarre”; “egregiousness”; “vindictive”; “abject contempt”; “gross indifference”; “abuse”; “egregious and inappropriate indifference”; “contumacious disregard.”

Far from habitual criminals, I am an author of children’s books and nationally-published articles, a Holocaust educator, and Director of the Al Katz Center for Holocaust Survivors & Jewish Learning with my husband, who is also a Holocaust educator. My Dad, Al Katz, was a slave for the Nazis for seven years in concentration camps across Europe. He was also a guardianship Ward of the State of Florida, due, in large measure, to the direct involvement of HVW Officers and Board Members, who refused to evict the four convicted criminals exploiting and abusing him at HVW, namely, Randall Scribner, Sara Scribner, Peter Klimek, and Fred Carreras, whose collective felonies include: child molesting, narcotics drug dealing, aggravated assault on an officer, grand theft, spouse abuse, car thefts, armed robbery, escape, aggravated battery, resisting arrest, burglary, forgery, DUI, violations of probation, receiving stolen property, prowling, disorderly intoxication, and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

Nonetheless, HVW fought relentlessly to evict its only remaining Jewish family through years of perjurious filings and classic antisemitic accusations that we were “dishonest and “not credible.” Since our fraudulent eviction, we cannot rent anywhere due to our “eviction history.” Our lives and work are utterly severed, and we have had to start a new life in our old age.

During the perfect storm of antisemitism amidst the perfect pandemic, The Creator has blessed us with fortitude and inspiration to persevere. We have no more deflated and slit tires, no more angry false accusations by neighbors; but we also have the majority of our worldly possessions left behind in the haste of our eviction in the condominium that our Dad worked and paid for as we were given only 24-hours notice to vacate.

Eviction is a major, major life cycle event, which can be life-threatening even in healthy circumstances. During a deadly pandemic, eviction is inherently dangerous, and hordes of precautions must be taken to protect one’s health. These factors were discarded and disregarded by two Manatee County judges, HVW Officers, and a plethora of HVW attorneys with no respect for Jewish lives, beginning with the life of an 89-year-old Holocaust Survivor who had suffered skull fractures, extreme facial and head wounds, and intracranial hemorrhaging at the hands of the violent criminals whom HVW refused to evict.

This is the perfect storm of antisemitism that threatens the entire society and world just as it did in the Holocaust, costing 60 million lives globally. Yet, here we sit watching the same reruns and not knowing the ending. Here we sit silent, voiceless, thoughtlessly waiting for another sequel to our own destruction by Jew-haters in tailored suits and honored professions.

©Beverly Newman.  All rights reserved.

ARIZONA: Muslim Family Tries to Kidnap Woman With Non-Muslim Boyfriend for Honor Killing

My latest in PJ Media:

Amid all the discussion about the resettlement of Afghan refugees in the United States, few are focusing on the question of the compatibility of their societal mores with American culture. At this late date, we all know that such inquiries are “Islamophobic.” However, a recent incident in Arizona suggests some of the difficulties that could arise among the new arrivals. Fox 10 Phoenix reported Saturday that “police arrested six members of a Phoenix-area family they say targeted a 20-year-old relative and tried to kidnap her because they disapprove of her boyfriend, who doesn’t share their Muslim faith.” This family is Iraqi, but the Afghan refugees share the same religion, and many have the same ideas about women, marriage, and the permissibility of honor killing.

Fox reported that “the woman, who is 20 weeks pregnant, told police she was afraid her relatives will kill her because they believe she has brought dishonor to the family.” Arizona police “believe the family wanted to send the victim back to Iraq,” where she would face almost certain death. Court records “describe accusations of threats and assaults, most recently at a medical building in Avondale last week. Police said the relatives took the woman’s cell phone and purse, along with her boyfriend’s gun, during a ‘violent assault.’ The woman grabbed onto a responding officer, pleading ‘please, don’t let them take me.’”

This woman’s father, mother, three brothers and her sister, who are all “described as traditional Muslims,” were arrested. The entire family has “a history of harassment against the victim because of her relationship with a boyfriend, who is described as being of another religious faith.” Islamic law forbids Muslim women to marry non-Muslim men, although Muslim men may marry Jewish or Christian women; the idea is that the Islamic community is always growing at the expense of non-Muslim communities. For appearing to be on the path toward breaking this rule, the woman says that her family members tried to kill both her and her boyfriend.

The woman and her boyfriend moved away from the Phoenix area, but then the threatening phone calls began. One brother left this message: “This is Ali, her brother. If you don’t bring my sister back, I’m going to kidnap your sister. I’m not scared of your American laws.” Ali was relentless, declaring that “he would still find the victim even of he was in prison, and the victim was 80 years old.” It is not surprising in light of all this that the woman told police that she was afraid she was going to be killed because she had “dishonored the family.”

There is more. Read the rest here.

RELATED ARTICLES:

Honor killing in Turkey? Muslim cleric murders his three daughters

Washington Post Knows What Will Make America Great Again: Afghan Refugees

Australia: Muslim targeted a cathedral and US embassy for jihad massacres, spoke of ‘conquering a small town’

Afghan interpreter: ‘Vast majority of Afghans always viewed Taliban as lesser of two evils’ compared to US

EDITORS NOTE: This Jihad Watch column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

GOP-Controlled Florida Legislature Plans Pro-Life Bill After ‘Killing’ It Twice

The RINOs in Senate and House especially the leadership twice killed this heartbeat bill in the past – maybe they’ve finally woken up that this is an important issue for true constitutional conservatives and pro-life voters.

GOP-Controlled Florida Legislature Plans to Consider Pro-Life Measures Similar to Texas After ‘Killing’ Bill Twice

The Republican-controlled Florida legislature plans to consider a pro-life bill similar to Texas’ heartbeat legislation after “killing” the initiative twice before, according to members of the state legislature.

“There is no question” the Florida legislature will take up the heartbeat bill, Florida Senate President Wilton Simpson (R) told WFLA NBC. “It’s something we’re already working on.”

Florida House Speaker Chris Sprowls (R), however, has not committed to the plan, issuing a statement Thursday that only suggested “killing an innocent human being with a beating heart is wrong.”

“The Florida House will continue the fight,” he simply said.

Click here to read the full article.

©Royal A. Brown III. All rights reserved.

Harvard: From Promoting Christ to Promoting an Atheist Chaplain

The Reverend John Harvard must be rolling over in his grave.

America’s oldest and most prestigious university, named in the Congregational minister’s honor, just promoted a “devout atheist” to be their head chaplain.

This is not surprising since Harvard jettisoned its Christian roots long ago. But it’s shocking nonetheless. What’s the point of a chaplain if he doesn’t even believe in God?

The DailyMail.com (UK, 8/26/2021) writes:

“Greg Epstein, 44, who was raised in a reformed Jewish household in Queens, New York, was named president of the chaplains for the religious community at the school after serving as Harvard’s ‘humanist chaplain’ since 2005.”

They add that Epstein will be overseeing “40 university chaplains, who lead the Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist and other religious communities on campus.”

Epstein is the author of a book that has a dubious premise. It’s entitled, Good Without God. I say “dubious” because atheism by definition excludes divine accountability.

Even if an atheist happens to be a very nice person, he is tied into a worldview with no transcendent accountability. That means people can do what they want and not have to give an account to God for their actions (or so they delude themselves). To paraphrase Dostoyevsky: If there is no God, then all things are permissible.

In the 20th century, we repeatedly saw the deadly effect of that unbelief in Communist countries and under the National Socialists in Germany.

As the great British historian Paul Johnson notes in his book, The Quest for God, all the failed totalitarian regimes of the twentieth century were “godless constructs.”  Johnson says, “The death-camps and the slave-camps were products not of God but of anti-God.”

In 1999, Harvard University Press even published a big volume, called, The Black Book of Communism, which documents how in the 20th century the anti-Christian, atheistic philosophy of Karl Marx led to the deaths of at least 100 million human beings—usually by their own governments.

Meanwhile, it was not the atheism of the new head chaplain that created Harvard. It was Biblical Christianity.

The Puritans founded Boston in April, 1630, and their leader, Rev. John Winthrop, quoted Jesus when he said, “We shall be as a city upon a hill.” By September of the same year, they laid out plans for a school to train future ministers of the Gospel of Christ. This was the genesis of Harvard.

Even today at Harvard you can see chiseled in stone these words (in older English): “After God had carried us safe to New England, and we had built our houses, provided necessaries for our livelihood, reared convenient places for God’s worship, and settled the civil government, one of the next things we longed for and looked after was to advance learning and perpetuate it to posterity; dreading to leave an illiterate ministry to the churches, when our present ministers shall lie in the dust.”

Last time I visited there, I noticed they had planted a tree in front of this plaque. It used to be more visible.

The Puritan fathers began the college in 1636, and two years later, Congregational minister Rev, Harvard died of tuberculosis. In his will, he donated a large sum of money and his books for the school. They named the college in his honor.

Harvard was a Christian school for at least two centuries.

Walk around the campus, and you can still see the statue of Rev. John Harvard in his Puritan garb and with a large open Bible on his lap. Selfie-takers love to rub one of the statue’s shoes, perhaps for good luck.

The original motto of Harvard was (in Latin): “Truth for Christ and the Church.” Sometime in the 20th century—at least later than 1914—they cut off the last part of the motto and just stuck with “Truth” (Veritas). I mention that year because you can still see on the main library building the “Christo” and “Ecclesiae” part, and that building dates from 1914.

“Laws and Statutes for Students of Harvard College” of 1643 began by stating: “Let every student be plainly instructed and earnestly pressed to consider well the main end of his life and studies is to know God and Jesus Christ which is eternal life (John 17:3).”

The students at Harvard learned the Bible—not only in English, but in the original Hebrew and Greek. And on it goes with Harvard’s Christian origins.

But in the 19th century, compromises were made towards Unitarianism, which stands in contrast to the Trinitarian beliefs which created Harvard. This compromise led to other compromises, where eventually they cut Truth off from Christ and the Church. And now they’ve even hired an atheist as the head “chaplain.”

All I can say is, “O Lord, revive the work of Thy hands.”

©Jerry Newcombe. All rights reserved.

PODCAST: How Islam Defeated the Kafirs in Afghanistan

Our political and military leaders refuse to learn the language and ideology of Islamic war doctrine. While Islam fights an enemy they know, we insist that Muslims are just like us, only culturally different, and we must respect those differences.

We believe that the normal relationship between nations is peaceful; Islam believes the natural state between Islam and Kafirs is war that will only end when all the world is ruled by Sharia.

Muslims have Allah on their side and jihad is fighting in Allah’s cause. The Sunna of Mohammed and the Koran lay out the perfect war doctrine.

And until we understand this war doctrine and know who our enemy is, we will always be defeated.

Political Islam · How Islam Defeated the Kafirs in Afghanistan

©Political Islam. All rights reserved.

Al-Qaida Back in Afghanistan – Just in Time for Biden’s 9/11 Anniversary

https://twitter.com/Breaking911/status/1432746089669595141

Al Qaeda in Afghanistan. It’s as if nothing changed. All that blood and treasure.

Amin-ul-Haq,  senior al-Qaida leader, and former aide to 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden, now has  the confidence to travel and operate out in the open – in plain sight for the first time in a decade.

Terror is coming.

Al-Qaida Back in Afghanistan – Just in Time for 9/11 Anniversary

By Bill Hoffmann    |   Newsmax 01 September 2021

In a coincidence of timing as ironic as it was predictable, senior members of the al-Qaida terror group have returned to Afghanistan — just weeks before the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks that the group orchestrated from the Taliban-run safe haven.

The terror group’s reemergence on the world stage appeared to be confirmed by video purporting to show Amin-ul-Haq — a doctor, senior al-Qaida leader, and former aide to 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden — returning to his native Nangarhar province on Monday surrounded by gun-toting Taliban guards.

Read the rest…

RELATED ARTICLES:

International Union Of Muslims Scholars: The Taliban Are Paragons Of Steadfast Jihad

New Chinese Gvmt Media Cartoon of a “Defeated and Humiliated” Crying Biden

Taliban Gives US Tanks, Military Equipment to Iran Terror Regime

Taliban Threw A Military Parade Using United States Equipment Left Behind

EDITORS NOTE: This Geller Report column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

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Biden’s America-Last Administration: U.S. Aid Will Keep Flowing to Taliban

https://twitter.com/Breaking911/status/1432746089669595141

My latest in PJ Media:

The war is lost, but no one is going to be held accountable and the same blinkered woke dopes are in charge. In fact, the one whose very name is Blinken, the secretary of State, explained Monday how the Taliban could gain the “international legitimacy and support” that is obviously such a high priority for them, and explained that even if it didn’t become the Leftist woke paradise of Blinken’s imagining, the American money will still flow. Of course. It always does.

Blinken claimed risibly that henceforth, the America-Last administration of Biden’s handlers would be guided by a concern for something that has never appeared on its list of priorities up to now: “our vital national interests.” Yeah, sure, Tony. Pull my other leg. More plausibly, Blinken assured the world that despite the last few weeks of catastrophe and humiliation, the American taxpayers will still be filling their cars with $4-a-gallon gasoline and driving to their pathetic nine-to-fives so that the elites can demonstrate their concern for the people of Afghanistan: “If we can work in the new Afghan government in a way that helps secure those interests … and in a way that brings greater stability to the country and the region, and that protects the gains of the last two decades, we will do it.”

The gains of the last two decades? What were those? Blinken didn’t say. He was too busy promising the Taliban American money: “The United States will continue to support humanitarian aid to the Afghan people. Consistent with our sanctions on the Taliban, the aid will not flow through the government, but rather through independent organizations, such as U.N. agencies and [non-government organizations.] And, we expect that those efforts will not be impeded by the Taliban or anyone else.”

Of course the Taliban won’t impede the money flow. They’re much more likely to appropriate it. Just as UN agencies in Gaza are wholly compromised by Hamas, it strains credulity to think that UN will be able to operate freely and independently of the Taliban in Afghanistan, or will even try to do so. But in Antony Blinken’s blinkered world, the UN is an incorrupt and thoroughly uncorruptable organization, and so no American taxpayer should object to his or her or xer money going to UN outposts in the Taliban’s Afghanistan. Really, what could possibly go wrong?

Blinken demonstrated his lack of acquaintance with reality yet again when he explained that if the Taliban wanted international approval, it would have to become a Leftist nanny state like the U.S. and its allies, all concerned with diversity and inclusiveness: “The Taliban seeks international legitimacy and support. Our message is: any legitimacy and any support will have to be earned.”

Is that right? And exactly what leverage do you have on the Taliban if they don’t earn it, Mr. Secretary?

There is more. Read the rest here.

RELATED ARTICLES:

Kinder, Gentler Taliban Murder Afghan Folk Singer, Because Music Is Un-Islamic

Marjorie Taylor Greene Excoriated as ‘Islamophobic’ for Saying ‘Islam Is Not a Religion of Peace’

Taliban moving U.S. military vehicles to the Islamic Republic of Iran

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez urges Biden’s handlers to take in ‘no less than 200,000’ refugees

Staggering amounts of US hundred-dollar bills left for Taliban

Afghanistan: Taliban hold military parade with US equipment

Al-Qaeda top dog returns to Afghanistan

EDITORS NOTE: This Jihad Watch column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

PODCAST: Trojan Horses of Islamic Supremacy — Muslim Brotherhood, CAIR, al Qaeda, ISIS, Hamas, Hezbollah

This September marks the twentieth anniversary of the 9-11 disaster, an orchestrated attack by Islamic Supremacists to terrorize the United States. Since that time, we have invaded and conquered Iraq, took out the mastermind of 9-11, Osama bin Laden in Pakistan, eliminated ISIS from the region and much more. Interestingly, in spite of our involvement it is remarkable how naive most Americans are pertaining to Islam, a “religion” at the heart of these problems, yet has a huge bearing on our future. Enter Dr. William H. Urban and his 2018 book, “Trojan Horses of Islamic Supremacy,” a timely exposé explaining the purpose and goals of Islam, particularly the Muslim Brotherhood.

Over the years, I have learned a lot about the Islamic faith, but Dr. Urban’s book ties it all together in a tidy, easy to understand package. It is meticulously researched and well organized in such a fashion that it should be considered a must-read reference book all Americans should have access to.

Islam is a religion primarily made up of tribes. As such, there are several factions involved, but not a single head like the Pope for the Catholic Church. This explains the number of internal disputes within the religion. Whereas Christians think of God as a loving entity, Muslims live in fear of their god. The book also makes the point, “It is the nature of Islam to dominate, not to be dominated; to impose its laws on all nations; and extend its power to the entire planet.” Further, “Killing the infidels is our religion; Slaughtering them is our religion; Until they convert to Islam or pay us tribute” – noted al-Qaeda terrorist Abu Musah al-Zarqawi; July 9, 2005.

At the Tehran Conference in 2005, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad described his country’s “War Preparation Plan” which included, “The destruction of Anglo-Saxon Civilization.” In addition to terrorist activities, this is being done by infiltrating and subverting the Western world’s educational institutions, government agencies, and the news media. And they have been very successful in this regard, particularly the Muslim Brotherhood. Bottom line, they want to replace the U.S. Constitution with Sharia Law, thereby overthrowing the American government.

Dr. Urban defines the scope of various Islamic groups, such as the Muslim Brotherhood, ISIS, al-Qaeda, Hamas, CAIR, and many more. One thing which surprised me was the fact American political activist and tax reduction advocate Grover Norquist has also been active with Islamic organizations. He is married to a Muslim and has been instrumental in helping to secure political appointments for Muslims in the past few presidential administrations. Also, former Secretary of State John Kerry’s son-in-law is a Muslim. Urban also points out the Obama administration was loaded with members of the Muslim Brotherhood, and George W. Bush also met with members of the Brotherhood even in spite of 9-11.

Urban begins the book by describing the properties of the Islamic religion, followed by a historical perspective. He then details what the government has discovered over the years, for example:

  • Raids in 2002 and 2004 by the FBI and other intelligence agencies discovered intel related to the Muslim Brotherhood, that they are interested in overthrowing the American government and instilling Sharia Law.
  • Under Obama, a CBS news investigation found the State Department sent hundreds of millions of dollars to refurbish mosques and save other Islamic sites around the world. AMERICAN TAXPAYER DOLLARS! Anyone remember the concept of “separation of church and state”? Why didn’t Christian and Jewish institutions receive comparable money? Hmm…
  • The return of money to Iran by authority of the Obama administration is scary and financed terrorist operations for years to come. $150B was returned with $18B going to the spread of Islam.
  • While it is well known President Obama was a Muslim sympathizer, President Trump overturned Obama’s policies in 2017 and became the first to stand up to Iran and terrorist organizations.

Dr. Urban ends his thesis with a “Call to Action” listing items the Federal Government should deploy to put Islam in check. Unfortunately, none of it will be done by President Biden.

Since the book was published, we have seen new peace treaties between Middle Eastern countries and Israel, the destruction of ISIS in Syria and Iraq, the recent Afghanistan meltdown by the Biden administration, as well as a reversal of Trump’s executive orders on Muslims entering the country and the erosion of immigration borders thereby allowing terrorists to sneak in. Nonetheless, the book provides incredible insight into how Islam works. Quite simply, Dr. Urban “has put it all together.”

The book’s Appendices includes a well organized Glossary of Terms, History, and more. It is available in hard cover or paperback through most on-line stores. It is factual, well organized, and thoroughly researched. I cannot recommend it strongly enough. All Americans should read it. Why? Let me put it to you this way, as Dr. Urban explained to me, “The FBI reports 80% of mosques (in America) are armories.”

Think about it.

To contact Dr. Bill Urban, drop him an e-mail at: urbanww@gmail.com

Keep the Faith!

P.S. – For a listing of my books, click HERE.

EDITORS NOTE: This Bryce is Right podcast is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved. All trademarks both marked and unmarked belong to their respective companies.

A Christian Response to a Defeat

Michele McAloon: When we remember the sacrifices of our military in Iraq and Afghanistan, we must not despair. Remember too Christ’s sacrifice on Calvary and hope.


Withdrawal or defeat? Armchair quarterbacks and history books will debate the question for decades to come. For the majority of Americans watching the debacle of Afghanistan, this question is merely a matter of national pride and not an existential question intruding into their private lives. Unfortunately, for the small minority of Americans who chose to fight, they are now forced to ask themselves if twenty years of continual combat was worth the cost to themselves, their families, and the nation.

For most Americans, the reality of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq was a burden left for others to shoulder. Politicians who had no familiarity with the military, nor had sons or daughters serving in the military decided quickly, and maybe even fecklessly, upon military engagement. At the same time, there was no national appeal to America’s youth to fight and serve. From the very beginning of both wars, there was a pervasive attitude that this fight belonged to someone else. Certainly, it was not a matter of personal responsibility, nor for one’s own family members to take part.

There were no calls for victory gardens, war bonds, or even the smallest of sacrifices to acknowledge, much less contribute, to a national war effort. Instead, woke politics and shopping were the order of the day. “Thank you for your service” rang hollow while college applications, sports scholarships, SAT prep kept most parents from encouraging their children even to consider military service.

Since 2001, almost 3 million members of the military have served in post-9/11 war operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. More than 7000 United States troops, and sadly, now 13 more, have died in the past 20 years fighting in the wars against terrorism. Many of our European allies also suffered significant losses. Even more tragic is the number of returning troops who have committed suicide. The psychological wounds of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have proved deadlier than actual combat. Four times as many than died in combat have died by the taking of their own lives. Over 30,177 service members and veterans of the post-9/11 wars have committed suicide.

This war was a family affair. Many military members served multiple deployments with more time spent away than at home during the past two decades. The cycle of deployments, returning home and preparing for the next deployment never stopped. Family members intimately bore the costs of war as spouses, parents, children, and friends had to cope with absence and – more often than not – had to adapt to the changed person who returned from the battlefield.

Since the beginning of the brutal and chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, spouses of soldiers have been posting photographs of the welcome home ceremonies they attended, over multiple years, for their loved one. Photographs of two, three, or four ceremonies, with children chronologically aging according to the year, bear witness to the true personal cost military families paid for this war.

Reports that Afghans were not willing to fight are simply false. Afghan soldiers died at 27 times the rate of U.S. and allied soldiers. For the past ten days, American officers have fielded phone calls, texts, and Facebook messages from Afghan counterparts and interpreters pleading for help. Old wounds have reopened since most are powerless to provide the aid needed by their loyal colleagues to flee the Taliban

War and conflict are as old as mankind; so is defeat. But defeat does not mean defeated. The Old and New Testaments and the lives of the saints are full of examples of loss and renewal. Moses found hope in 40 years of wandering through the desert, without the reward of entering the Promised Land. St. Paul ultimately found victory in chains. He knew that the real victory only comes by rejoicing in hope, being patient during tribulations, and remaining constant in prayer. (Romans 12:12) Saints and sinners throughout the ages have willfully chosen to rise from defeat by turning a painful past into a hopeful future through faith and service to something greater than themselves.

Ironically, our renewal as a nation, church, or community of believers may come from an example of service being set even now, in the shadow of hardship and loss, by our U.S. military community. Service members and their families, a people without extraordinary financial means or material resources, who have been most affected by America’s wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, are still serving, sacrificing, and asking: What more can we do to help?

As Afghan refugees begin resettlement into U.S. government-sponsored detention centers in Germany, legions of military families and veterans are volunteering as translators and workers. I’ve seen them the past few days at the Ramstein Air Base – a response that can only be described as awe-inspiring.

The simple act of a military family member buying a diaper for an Afghan baby whose father may have contributed to the violence targeted against their own loved one is a defining moment for our nation. Serving and sacrificing even more, instead of succumbing to resentment, has become a source of healing. Service and giving to others are a simple reflex for those who have chosen to serve. Americans really need to reflect deeply upon this humble example.

For Christians defeat is always just around the corner. Christian life is a battle against sin, temptation, and despair. Our true strength comes from the simple, yet so hard to live, commands of loving God and neighbor. A less violent future may lie in the hearts of men and women willing to organize their lives as God has commanded.

On a Friday, several centuries ago, in the Middle East, on a desert hill called Calvary, defeat and death seemed absolute. Three days later when the sun crept over the horizon it shone upon an empty tomb – the most profound victory in human history. Defeat can only be tempered by love and with the knowledge that His victory is ours, now and forever.

St Michael the Archangel, Defend us in battle.

COLUMN BY

Michele McAloon

Michele Malia McAloon has been married for almost 28 years. She is a mother, a retired US Army officer, and a canon lawyer. She resides in Wiesbaden, Germany with her husband, a 30-year Army veteran. You can listen to Michele’s podcast “Cross Word” on Spotify, Apple podcasts, and archangelradio.com.

EDITORS NOTE: This The Catholic Thing column is republished with permission. © 2021 The Catholic Thing. All rights reserved. For reprint rights, write to: info@frinstitute.org. The Catholic Thing is a forum for intelligent Catholic commentary. Opinions expressed by writers are solely their own.

Report: 100 Afghans Seeking Resettlement in U.S. ‘Flagged’ by Terrorism Watch Lists

That’s just the little that we know.

Trump was right – ban immigration from jihad regions.

Report: 100 Afghans Seeking Resettlement in U.S. ‘Flagged’ by Terrorism Watch Lists

By: John Binder, Breitbart News, August 20, 2021:

Up to 100 Afghans evacuated from Afghanistan and seeking to resettle in the United States have been “flagged” by Defense Department terrorism watch lists, according to a new report.

As President Joe Biden’s administration looks to fast-track tens of thousands of Afghans into the U.S. interior over the next few weeks, Defense Department officials are reportedly sounding the alarm over the potential for fraud.

An official, involved with the vetting and screening process taking place in third safe countries for Afghans seeking resettlement in the U.S., told Defense One that “up to 100 of the 7,000 Afghans evacuated as prospective recipients” of Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs have been “flagged” as “potential matches to intelligence agency watch lists.”

Another official said that in “most cases” the Afghans were “cleared by follow-on screening” for resettlement in the U.S.

Defense One reports:

Moreover, the Defense Department’s Automated Biometric Identification System has flagged up to 100 of the 7,000 Afghans evacuated as prospective recipients of Special Immigration Visas as potential matches to intelligence agency watch lists, a second official said. [Emphasis added]

“There’s certainly been a number of them” who triggered alerts, requiring agents to pull those evacuees aside for further screening, the first official said. In most cases, those Afghans — many of whom have already been vetted through the special immigrant visa process — were cleared by follow-on screening. [Emphasis added]

An official told Defense One that most of the Afghans “flagged” as potential matches to individuals on terrorism watch lists are being screened and vetted at the Al Udeid Air Base in Doha, Qatar, but stated that he “can’t rule out” such terrorism flags not occurring at other bases.

On the ground in the third safe countries, officials said Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents are having to utilized”old tech” that “they don’t know how” to use and complained that there are not enough agents deployed to aid in proper vetting.

This week, NBC News detailed how fraud is already occurring within the massive Afghanistan-to-U.S. resettlement effort by the Biden administration.

At the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, State Department officials said there have been five cases where Afghans attempted to use fraudulent American passports to try to get on flights bound for the U.S. The passports, the officials said, did not belong to the Afghans. The report stated:

The U.S. mission team reported at least five cases of Afghans who presented U.S. passports that didn’t belong to them, according to the Sunday dispatch from the Afghanistan Task Force, highlighting fraud concerns and complicating the process of screening people to enter the airport.

Though Biden has repeatedly suggested that Afghans are being fully vetted and screened outside the U.S., thousands are arriving each day who have not yet completed their immigration processing.

Afghans still in the application phase of their processing are being relocated to Fort Bliss in Texas, Fort Lee in Virginia, Fort McCoy in Wisconsin, and Fort Dix in New Jersey.

RELATED ARTICLES:

Pentagon Clueless on How Many Terrorists Have Sought Refuge in U.S.

Only 5% Of People Evacuated From Afghanistan Are Americans

EDITORS NOTE: This Geller Report column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

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Forty Years of Misunderstanding Islam

This is the whole of it. Denial of Islamic reality. Twenty years of Islamic supremacists, leftist apologists and dissemblers, and their running dogs in the media and academia denying the reality of jihadi doctrine, Islamic apartheid, etc. led to this terrible moment.

Not a week after 9/11, George W. Bush assembled the from America’s worst terror tied groups to declare Islam is a religion of peace. at DC mosque, including Dr. Yahya Basha, president of the American Muslim Council, an organization whose leaders have repeatedly called Hamas “freedom fighters.” Also in attendance was Salam Al-Marayati, executive director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council, who on the afternoon of September 11 told a Los Angeles public radio audience that “we should put the State of Israel on the suspect list.” And sitting right next to President Bush was Muzammil Siddiqi, president of the Islamic Society of North America, who last fall told a Washington crowd chanting pro-Hezbollah slogans, “America has to learn if you remain on the side of injustice, the wrath of God will come.”

CAIR founder Nihad Awad, who appeared with Bush at the Washington Islamic Center, has argued that “[t]here is ample evidence indicating that both the Mossad and the Egyptian Intelligence played a role in the [1993 World Trade Center] explosion.” Awad rejects Israel’s right to exist and said that Israel and Egypt played a part in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing

Imagine, our dead were still rotting on the streets of NY, DC and Pennsylvania, and the President were meeting at a mosque to declare Islam is peace.

What followed was 20 years of hell and Islamic terror – blaming the victims of Islamic terror (Israel, Christians, Jews, free thinkers etc.), targeting those of us who opposed jihad terror and sharia and destroying their reputations and body of work, and worst of all, imposing sharia restrictions on speech on the West.

Forty Years of Misunderstanding Islam

By: Bruce Thornton, FPM, Aug 26, 2021:

The debacle in Afghanistan is first and foremost the consequence of the Biden foreign policy team’s spectacular incompetence. Setting a date-certain withdrawal was in itself a blunder, signaling the Taliban that all they had to do was to keep telling us what we wanted to hear and then wait, but withdrawing troops and abandoning Bagram airbase before evacuating our citizens was willful stupidity. It left the Afghan army vulnerable, and ceded the skies to the enemy. So too was leaving behind billions in advanced armaments for the Taliban. There’s no question that Biden’s name will forever be linked to one of the worst military blunders in the postwar period.

But an older error set the stage for bad decisions that have empowered modern jihadism for forty years––the failure to understand the true nature of Islam as documented in 1400 years of practice and doctrine. As a result, we have pursued policies based on delusion and false paradigms.

The first mistake was our misreading of the 1978-79 Iranian Revolution and the kidnapping of our embassy staff in November 1979. Jimmy Carter’s feckless response followed the stale narrative of anti-colonial resistance to our Cold War self-interested disregard for aspirations to national self-determination, political freedom, and human rights. Our ally the Shah of Iran, despite Iran’s geostrategic and economic importance, fell victim to Carter’s naïve belief that “moral principles” and “idealism” were more significant than military readiness and a realist willingness to use force to protect our national interests and allies. Misled by that paradigm, Carter withheld support from the Shah, assuming that a secular coalition would replace him.

Locked in the paradigm of neo-imperialist resistance to movements of nationalist self-determination, Carter failed to understand the true origins of the Iranian Revolution. In reality, the revolution was a religious phenomenon, a response to the Shah’s modernization and secularization policies such as emancipating women and protecting minorities like Jews and Baha’is. The Ayatollah Khomeini, godfather of the revolution, made this motive clear in 1963 when he said the Shah’s regime was “fundamentally opposed to Islam itself and the existence of a religious class.”

Missing too from Carter’s thinking was the historical role of jihad in Islamic reform movements. Khomeini’s sermons and books, the latter dismissed by our security agencies, were clear on the religious obligation to create a political-social order based on Islam and Sharia law. And the means for achieving it was jihadist violence and martyrdom. After he took power in Iran, Khomeini articulated the violent nature of jihad: “Islam is a religion of blood for the infidels but a religion of guidance for other people.” And its goal is the global triumph of Islam: “We shall export our revolution to the whole world. Until the cry ‘There is no god but Allah’ resounds over the whole world, there will be jihad.” Such statements are consistent with Koranic verses such as “Slay the idolators wherever you find them,” or “Fight those who do not believe in Allah,” or “O you who believe! Fight those of the unbelievers who are near to you and let them find in you hardness,” or “Kill them wherever you find them.”

None of this historically venerable doctrine seemed to have penetrated the minds of our foreign policy experts. National self-determination and reforms to institute governments based on Western principles–– human rights, separation of church and state, confessional tolerance, and equal rights for women––became the goal of our involvement in the Muslim Middle East.

This belief became stronger and adopted a missionary zeal after the collapse of the Soviet Union, which was interpreted as a victory for the Western “rules based international order,” global free trade, liberal democracy, and human rights, all of which were presumed to be desired by all the world’s diverse peoples and cultures. This “new world order,” as George H.W. Bush called it, met its answer in the jihadist attacks on September 11, 2001, which culminated a decade of unanswered al Qaeda attacks on our military assets and personnel abroad.

George Bush Jr. responded by likewise promoting universal liberal democracy as the answer to the persistence of jihadism: “The United States must defend liberty and justice because these principles are right and true for all people everywhere. . . . America must stand firmly for the nonnegotiable demands of human dignity: the rule of law; limits on the absolute power of the state; free speech; freedom of worship; equal justice; respect for women; religious and ethnic tolerance; and respect for private property,” as he wrote in the National Security Strategy in 2002. In his second Inaugural speech, he reiterated this Wilsonian idealism, linking it to national security: “The survival of liberty in our land increasingly depends on the success of liberty in other lands. The best hope for peace in our world is the expansion of freedom in all the world.”

These naïve generalizations ignored or whitewashed the essential nature of Islam as seen in 14 centuries of doctrine and practice. The late-14th century writer Ibn Khaldun, one of the greatest Islamic historians and philosophers, wrote in the Muqaddimah, “In the Muslim community, the holy war is a religious duty, because of the universalism of the Muslim mission and the obligation to convert everybody to Islam either by persuasion or by force.” When we see Muslim groups like the Taliban, al Qaeda, the Islamic State, the mullahs of Iran, and others killing and dying in fealty to this traditional religious imperative, it is dangerous blindness for Western secularists to claim that there is no connection between Islam and jihadist terrorism.

Yet that’s what we’ve been doing going back to the Clinton administration, when his Secretary of State Madeleine Albright called Islam “a faith that honors consultation, cherishes peace, and has as one of its fundamental principles the inherent equality of all who embrace it.” Ask the frightened women of Afghanistan, desperate to escape the Taliban’s Sharia-based brutal practices, about the notions of “inherent equality.” Bill Clinton took the same tack when he praised Islam’s “deepest yearning of all––to live in peace,” a claim refuted by 14 centuries of Islamic invasion, occupation, plunder, and enslavement, all justified by the Koran, Hadiths, and Muslim jurisprudents and philosophers like Ibn Khaldun.

George W. Bush likewise indulged such ahistorical apologetics: Islam’s “teachings,” he proclaimed, “are good and peaceful, and those who commit evil in the name of Allah, blaspheme the name of Allah.” But what we call “evil” to pious Muslims like Khomeini or Osama bin Laden or the Taliban are sacred duties to fulfill the will of Allah that the whole world embrace Islam, the one true religion. It bespeaks Western arrogance to tell pious Muslims what their scriptures really mean.

With such a depth of historical ignorance, no wonder that Bush’s attempts to create a liberal democracy, with Western notions of individual rights, found Afghanistan barren soil; or that Barack Obama and now Joe Biden are anxious to cut a deal with a members of a faith that historically has seen such negotiations and treaties with infidels as temporary expedients to be violated or discarded when they have achieved their aim as commanded by Mohammed: to wage jihad “until the cry ‘There is no god but Allah’ resounds over the whole world.”

This feckless failure of imagination, this inability to see a different culture and faith in its own terms, rather than reshaping them by imposing our own, is an important factor in the disaster in Afghanistan: thousands of Americans now virtual hostages, billions in armaments in the hands of a sworn enemy, American prestige damaged for the benefit of Iran, Russia, and China, and NATO allies snubbed. And don’t forget the thousands of Afghans, many of whom wanted to reform their faith and reconcile it with modernity, but are now the targets of heinous retribution.

Understanding the truth of traditional Islam is not a condemnation of every one of the 1.6 billion Muslims. Millions and millions of them have no doubt managed to remain faithful without endorsing the sacralized violence of Islamic doctrine and practice. But we don’t know what proportion of the ummah, the global Muslim community, falls into that category. Our government’s primary responsibility is to protect our citizens’ security and interests, and that means our focus must remain on the Muslim traditionalists who are very clear about those beliefs that our leaders have been marginalizing as the a “hijacking” of the faith, or the “heresies” of a renegade minority.

After 20 years of failure in Afghanistan, perhaps it’s time to listen to what the jihadists tell us about their faith-based hostility and ambitions. Maybe then we can avoid the misguided idealism that has endangered our security and interests, and condemned thousands of Muslim reformers to a gruesome fate.

RELATED VIDEO: President Bush urged Americans to be tolerant of peace-loving minorities as America prepared to retaliate for the attacks.

EDITORS NOTE: This Geller Report column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

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Subscribe to Geller Report newsletter here — it’s free and it’s critical NOW when informed decision making and opinion is essential to America’s survival. Share our posts on your social channels and with your email contacts. Fight the great fight.

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Virginia Public Schools to Focus on Muslims—As Victims—in Teaching About 9/11 On Attacks’ 20th Anniversary

My latest in PJ Media:

On Thursday, the Virginia Department of Education published a video entitled, “Culturally Responsive and Inclusive 9/11 Commemoration,” detailing how Virginia public school teachers should handle the upcoming twentieth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 jihad terror attacks that killed nearly 3,000 Americans. The emphasis on that day and thereafter must not be on the ideology of the attackers or the ongoing jihad terror threat; rather, the focus is entirely on acknowledging and eradicating what the video calls “anti-Muslim racism.”

The video is narrated by a hijab-wearing woman, Amaarah DeCuir, who describes herself as “Professorial Lecturer, School of Education, American University & Paragon Education Consulting, President.” One would think that with all her expertise, Ms. DeCuir would know the elementary fact that Islam is not a race, and that there are Muslims, and Islamic jihadis, of all races. And of course she does know that, but she is operating in this video on the basis of the Leftist contention that opposition to jihad violence and Sharia oppression of women really stems from an irrational animus against Muslims as a people, and hence is a “racialized” form of “hatred.”

Yes, it’s toxic nonsense, but that’s the Left for you. In any case, Virginia public schools that implement DeCuir’s recommendations (and since the Virginia Department of Education published her video, it would appear that the department wants that to be all of them) will give students a presentation on the twentieth anniversary of the worst attacks ever on American soil that will portray Muslims as the primary victims of those attacks, and make herculean efforts to deflect attention away from the extremely inconvenient fact that the attacks were perpetrated in the name of Islam and in accord with its teachings.

If you doubt that fact, note that in March 2009, five masterminds of the 9/11 plot, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Ramzi bin As-Shibh, Walid bin ‘Attash, Mustafa Ahmed AI-Hawsawi, and ‘Ali ‘abd Al-’Aziz ‘Ali – styling themselves as the “9/11 Shura Council” – wrote a lengthy communiqué titled “The Islamic Response to the Government’s Nine Accusations.” In it, they called the 9/11 attacks an “act of Jihad,” and explained: “The Jihad in god’s [sic] cause is a great duty in our religion.” They quoted numerous Qur’an verses, including the notorious “Verse of the Sword”: “Then fight and slay the pagans wherever you find them, and seize them, and besiege them and lie in wait for them in each and every ambush” (9:5) and another enjoining Muslims to “strike terror into the heart of the enemies of Allah” (8:60).

Attorney and columnist Marina Medvin, who broke the story of this video, notes that the 9/11 Commission Report “mentions ‘Islam’ over 1,000 times and the word ‘Muslim’ over 1,000 times,” for obvious reasons. But Virginia students will learn nothing about any of that. Instead, they’ll be taught about “phobias stemming from 9/11,” “anti-Muslim racism spikes,” and the evils of the fictional “Muslim Ban.” DeCuir offers as an example of “harmful teaching” any “teaching about Islam and/or Muslims” in connection with 9/11, except, evidently, insofar as Muslims were victims of the American response to the attacks.

There is more. Read the rest here.

RELATED ARTICLES:

Germany: Former Afghanistan commander warns against accepting many local Afghan forces: ‘They despise us’

Biden Ducks Questions on Afghanistan Yet Again

Ted Cruz: Biden’s handlers ‘bringing tens of thousands of refugees into the US without thoroughly vetting them’

UK Home Office cancels family’s hotel booking to make room for Afghan refugees

Washington state to bring in at least 6,000 Afghan refugees despite soaring homeless numbers

EDITORS NOTE: This Jihad Watch column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Who Created The Taliban?

The American experiment on Afghanistan has come to an end. Washington has failed to control the Talibanmonster it created. On, Gravitas Plus Wion’s Palki Sharma tells you why this failure should weigh heavily on American conscience.

WATCH: Who created the Taliban?

About the WION Channel:

WION -The World is One News, examines global issues with in-depth analysis. We provide much more than the news of the day. Our aim to empower people to explore their world. With our Global headquarters in New Delhi, we bring you news on the hour, by the hour. We deliver information that is not biased. We are journalists who are neutral to the core and non-partisan when it comes to the politics of the world. People are tired of biased reportage and we stand for a globalised united world. So for us the World is truly One.

Please keep discussions on this channel clean and respectful and refrain from using racist or sexist slurs as well as personal insults. Subscribe to our channel at https://goo.gl/JfY3NI Check out our website: http://www.wionews.com Connect with us on our social media handles: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WIONews Twitter: https://twitter.com/WIONews

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RELATED TWEET:

https://twitter.com/_Will_Brown/status/1431912098590871553

IMPORTING JIHAD: DOD Confirms Thousands of Islamic State Terrorists Released From Jail by Taliban

The jihadis are coming. But not the Christians (or Cubans for that matter).

Pentagon Confirms ‘Thousands’ of Islamic State Prisoners Released by Taliban

By: Kristina Wong, Breitbart News, 27 Aug 2021:Pentagon press secretary John Kirby confirmed Friday that “thousands” of Islamic State prisoners were freed after the United States handed over bases to the Afghan government.The freeing of thousands of Islamic State prisoners is under scrutiny after an Islamic State suicide attacker killed 13 American service members and a number of Afghan and other nations’ civilians at a gate at the Hamid Karzai International Airport on Thursday.Men, suspected of being affiliated with the Islamic State (IS) group, gather in a prison cell. (FADEL SENNA/AFP via Getty Images).“I don’t know the exact number — clearly it’s in the thousands when you consider both prisons, because both of them were taken over by the Taliban and emptied,” Kirby said, speaking of prisons on Bagram Air Base and Kandahar Air Field that held ISIS prisoners.He said the U.S. did not transfer the prisoners over to Guantanamo because the plan was to turn the prisons over to the Afghan National Security Forces:

That was part of the retrograde process, was to turn over these responsibilities. They did have responsibility for those prisons and the bases at which those prisons were located and as the Taliban advanced, we didn’t see the level of resistance by the Afghans to hold some territory or some bases and unfortunately, those were the bases the Afghans didn’t hold.

“Those responsibilities were turned over in accordance with the retrograde plan back in April,” he said.

April was when President Joe Biden ordered all U.S. troops to withdraw from Afghanistan by August 31. As the military continued its withdrawal, the Taliban began its offensive and succeeded in taking over the country in just 11 days by August 14.

After the rapid takeover by the Taliban, Biden ordered 6,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan and the region to evacuate American citizens, Afghans, and others out.

The 13 service members killed Wednesday were part of that evacuation mission.

RELATED ARTICLES:

Biden White House and State Department blocking rescue of Christians from Afghanistan

The Taliban: The New Mughals

Taliban cuts gay man into pieces to ‘show what they do with gay people’

Vetting the Unvettable

EDITORS NOTE: This Geller Report column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Quick note: Tech giants are shutting us down. You know this. Twitter, LinkedIn, Google Adsense, Pinterest permanently banned us. Facebook, Google search et al have shadow-banned, suspended and deleted us from your news feeds. They are disappearing us. But we are here. We will not waver. We will not tire. We will not falter, and we will not fail. Freedom will prevail.

Subscribe to Geller Report newsletter here — it’s free and it’s critical NOW when informed decision making and opinion is essential to America’s survival. Share our posts on your social channels and with your email contacts. Fight the great fight.

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Remember, YOU make the work possible. If you can, please contribute to Geller Report.

VIDEO: Resist It All — Do something.

TRANSCRIPT
A couple of hundred years ago, an American Protestant clergyman said, “I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still, I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.”

That’s an apt thought as faithful Catholics lament the state of the Church. Things are so bad and so overwhelming that a kind of paralysis sets in, which can easily lead to a quiet despair that “nothing can be done.” But that’s not true, not even close. There is much that can be done, but all of this mess and our actions in response to the mess must be viewed realistically.

First, the crisis in the culture, which is little else than communism rising, is a direct result of the unfaithfulness of the Catholic Church, particularly Her leadership — but with plenty of blame to pass around to us laity as well.

The corruption within the hierarchy became the launching pad for the greater societal evils because the Church was established by Our Blessed Lord to be the sole path to Heaven and, being so constituted, is the only force on earth that can actually push back against and defeat evil. So when you look around the world and see it collapsing, know that the Church collapsed first. Her guardians exchanged the good of Heaven for the pleasures of earth.

Second, the crisis in the Church far precedes the fallout from Vatican II. The Second Vatican Council has become a kind of scapegoat in the minds of many Catholics who unthinkingly look at all the confusion following Vatican II and attribute it to Vatican II.

That is a very simplistic and wrong notion. The fallout from the council was able to be generated in the first place because, behind the scenes, the seeds had already been planted for decades by modernists who cleverly hid within the cracks and crevices of the Church like termites gnawing away. All that happened after Vatican II is that they came out into the light.

Third, if you go into this battle to help restore the Faith without realizing what you are up against, you will become despondent. Simply accept the fact that the corruption and cowardice across the board within the hierarchy has transformed it into an international gay-crime syndicate. As Church Militant has been told repeatedly by officials and victims who come into close contact with this syndicate, it’s worse than a mafia. That is your starting point. You cannot go into battle unaware of your enemy.

And within the hierarchy itself, do not talk about “good” bishops. A cowardly bishop who still privately believes the Faith but remains largely silent about the evil within the episcopate does not qualify as a “good” bishop. He qualifies as a “not active promoter” of the evil. Good bishops die for the flock and announce the truth because anything short of the fullness of the truth damns souls, including their own.

So in approaching bishops in your mind, you must first think in terms of wicked, evil men, such as McCarrick, raised to the episcopate through his influence and trained to lie, cheat, deceive, in some cases, rape and, in all cases, cover it up. Then, when finally caught, they deflect and cut secret financial deals with your money.

The other bishops are the cowards, those who, through their own lack of courage, will be the first damned, as St. Paul and St. John tell us. They are the ones who have permitted the wicked bishops to ascend to these great heights by going along with whatever asinine “brother bishop code” or secret handshake they have.

Many of these men, nearly all of them products of deficient seminary training back in the 1960s and 1970s, are malformed in theology. It doesn’t matter if they are polite or soft-spoken or great to have over to your cocktail party, men like this will abandon the faithful at the first sign of trouble — just look at their ongoing, terrified response to the COVID craziness.

To whatever degree they may personally believe the Faith, they don’t believe enough, and that’s the point. To follow Our Blessed Lord, even as a lowly, insignificant layman, means total abandonment of self. Of course, that plays out over time, but the point is that we must be at least heading that way. Point to any bishop in the United States who is doing just that (and by “just that,” we don’t mean giving an occasional sound bite or making a social media posting, but one who is standing up out loud and denouncing the evil within the ranks of his own brother bishops).

Wicked men enabled by cowards run the Church; accept that reality and come to terms with it. And, please, no comments about Pope Francis down below. The pope did not fall out of the sky. It was this same ecclesiastical swamp that he emerged from as well. For years, Church Militant has been saying that the constant pounding on Pope Francis is just low-hanging fruit by a bevy of social media-type Catholics to generate clicks.

But when it comes to the real nitty-gritty of attacking the beast itself, the episcopate from which Jorge Bergoglio emerged, these “YouTube Catholics” are nowhere to be found. They don’t organize on-the-ground efforts to help facilitate awareness. They don’t put in the time and excruciating effort to investigate individual cases of episcopal corruption. That work is too hard and doesn’t gin up anywhere near the number of likes and clicks and payments and emails as other content does. It’s much easier to just strike for the high-visibility, low-hanging fruit of Pope Francis.

All of that is part of why Church Militant began its grassroots movement that we call Resistance. It was very clear to us that all this constant bellyaching about Pope Francis was accomplishing absolutely nothing, at least for the Faith. All it does is accomplish free publicity for the clickbaiters. But we aren’t interested in clicks. We are interested in souls being preserved from this evil swamp in the diocesan and parish levels where the real work of the evil is happening with gay priests, malformed RCIA directors, chanceries full of woke idiots pretending to be Catholic and so forth.

Even as we speak, bishops all over the United States are denying people their freedom of conscience regarding the so-called COVID vaccination, sometimes forcing Church workers to submit or get fired. So much for compassion, tolerance and dialogue, right?

And that’s just one obvious example. The vax hysteria was preceded by a near-total abandonment of the Faith — in liturgy, morals, finances, doctrine — you name it, so that is where whatever effort that can be expended needs to be expended.

Here’s a short list of successes that Church Militant Resistance has recently had:

  • A predator priest for the Lafayette diocese was denied parole, thanks to the letter-writing campaign held by the Lafayette Resistance
  • A vaccine drive in the diocese of Orange, California was canceled thanks to pressure applied by the Orange County Resistance
  • Austin, Texas Resistance got James Martin canceled from a local Catholic event
  • Thousands of people in San Antonio pledged not to give their money to their archdiocese, thanks to efforts by San Antonio Resistance
  • Hundreds of affidavits were signed calling for a forensic audit of the Michigan election, thanks to support from Detroit Resistance, with sponsorship from the successful “Stand Up Michigan”

It’s true that no one person can do everything. But you must do whatever you can. Spiritual battles very frequently play out in the material world.

This is why the Church Herself encourages both the spiritual works of mercy as well as the temporal works of mercy. If you are able to do more than pray, then you are obligated to do so. Late next month, Church Militant Resistance is sponsoring a “Boot Camp” in Southern California and is inviting you to attend it. Please click here for details, and please consider attending.

The main point is to go into all of this much more in-depth with knowledge and training on what and how to do what needs to be done in your parish or diocese. This kind of grassroots organizing is something the forces of darkness in the culture have been absolute masters at over the decades in ginning up discontent. They have taken serious advantage of the natural disposition of good Catholics and conservatives to do nothing.

Like the cowardly bishops, the laissez-faire Catholic has quietly sat by and enabled the wicked in the culture to overrun it. It’s time to resist. Resist it all and push back hard.

Please join us in SoCal for the Church Militant Resistance Boot Camp.

EDITORS NOTE: The Church Militant video is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Heads Up, Jew-Haters! Don’t Take This Medicine!

Maybe I don’t frequent the right journals, internet sites, TV shows, or radio stations, because all I’ve seen and read and heard since the 1960s is that the Arabs who call themselves “Palestinians” — you know, those perpetual “victims” who have received literally billions — maybe trillions — in “aid” from America — have become famous for a few things only:

What I’ve never seen or read or heard is that the Arabs who call themselves “Palestinians” have done one single solitary thing to benefit mankind.  Their singular obsession has been to annihilate the Big Satan, America, and the Little Satan, Israel.

Let’s Talk Numbers

Christianity and Islam are the two largest religions in the world, with 2.4 billion and 1.9 billion adherents, respectively — literally half the people on our Earth of about 7.8 billion.

In stark contrast, Judaism comprises 15 million people, about eight million in Israel, about six million in the United States, and about one million scattered throughout the world.

To see the most vilified state in the entire world, look here at the infinitesimal red strip, surrounded by 300 million Arabs, once enemies until President Donald J. Trump succeeded for the first time in history in establishing the Abraham Accords, which now find Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, et al. at peace and doing business with Israel.

Israel is home to more than a million and a half Arabs, a number of whom have been elected to the Knesset, Israel’s legislature, and now an Arab Party has been elected to Israeli leadership.  Nevertheless, those scary Jews are such a menace that here is how Israel’s surrounding states have practiced ethnic cleansing for decades.

But nothing compares to the long and besieged history of the Jews.  And neither time nor education has dented the scourge of Jew-hatred.  The human species seems to have a need to hate, and the Jews are always the perfect targets for bullies who prey upon small targets, as well as the green-eyed fanatics who think Jews are smarter and therefore more successful than they are and cannot help caving to their pathological jealousy.

Emotion Is Stronger than Intellect

Most people thought anti-Semitism had been relegated to the trash bin of history after Hitler and millions of his willing executioners from Germany, Poland, Austria, France, Belgium, Switzerland, et al. — with savage premeditation — gassed to death six million Jews in the 1930s and ’40s.

But the sad truth is that the world’s hatred of God’s “Chosen People” simply went underground after the Holocaust, while racist parents continued to imbue their children with “the oldest hatred.”  Sure enough, it has burst forth in all its hysterical ugliness in — of all places — the Democrat Congress of 2021.

Yet despite the actual pandemic of anti-Semitism, the Jews of the world have stayed laser-focused on their mission to improve the world, which goes back to the Bible up until this very day.

If the Shoe Fits…

If Jew-haters weren’t such raving hypocrites, if they had a shred of integrity, of character, of true fidelity to their beliefs, they would never avail themselves of the following Jewish innovations:

Israeli inventions and discoveries, including astounding contributions in the fields of chemistry, physics, optics, medicine, economics, computing, defense, agriculture, et al.

Here is Michael Ordman’s comprehensive weekly update of Israel’s jaw-dropping innovations, breakthroughs, medical miracles.

Here is a list of Israel’s top 45 greatest inventions of all time, including:

Other incredible Israeli inventions include:

  • ReWalk Robotics, which allows paraplegics to stand, walk, and climb stairs
  • Waze, the GPS-based travel app
  • EWA company’s technology to absorb the air’s humidity and condense it into water,
  • Israel’s cows produce up to 10.5 tons of milk a year — 10% more than North American cows and almost 50% more than Germany’s cows!
  • Israel developed the cherry tomato
  • The Viber app allows you to make calls across the world for free, using Wifi

And don’t miss www.nocamels.com.

And let’s not forget IsraAID, a humanitarian aid organization founded in 2001, which has rushed to emergencies — hurricanes, tsunamis, earthquakes, mudslides, building collapses — in more than 50 countries and is in Haiti right now!

And not to omit this very short list of Jewish trailblazers, which pharmacist Meyer M. Treinkman compiled:

  • Dr. Jonas Salk led the team that created a vaccine for polio.
  • Dr. Albert Bruce Sabin developed an oral polio vaccine.
  • Dr. Paul Ehrlich discovered arsphenamine (Salvarsan), which cured syphilis.
  • Dr. Albert Ludwig Sigesmund Neisser discovered the causative agent (pathogen) of gonorrhea, as well as the bacterium that causes leprosy.
  • Dr. Ludwig Traube developed Digitalis therapy for heart disease.
  • Chemist Alfred Einhorn first synthesized Novocaine (Procaine) in 1905.
  • Dr. Oskar Minkowsky identified the pancreas as the source of the control of blood sugar, which led to the discovery of insulin.
  • Spiro and Ellege discovered Pyramidon and Antypyrin for the treatment of headaches.
  • Professor Oscar Leibreich proposed the use of Chloral Hydrate for the treatment of convulsions.
  • Dr. Bela Schick invented the “Schick Test” for diphtheria, which eventually led to its eradication.
  • Nobel Prize–winner Robert Baram innovated treatment for ear and brain damage.
  • Dr. Selman Abraham Waxman invented the wonder drug Streptomycin, against tuberculosis.
  • Dr. August Wasserman invented the Wasserman Test to test for syphilis.
  • Dr. Casimir Funk discovered vitamins.

Heads Up, Jew-Haters!

In 1995, Dear Abby reran a column in which the late comedian Sam Levenson said that “anti-Semitism could be hazardous to your health.”  Levenson challenged Jew-haters to boycott all the medicines and treatments Jews had discovered.

“Go on, boycott!” Levenson advised.  “Humanitarian consistency requires my people offer all these gifts to all people of the world.  Fanatic consistency requires that all bigots accept syphilis, diabetes, convulsions, malnutrition, as a matter of principle.

“You want to be mad?” he continued.  “Be mad!  But I’m telling you, you ain’t going to feel so good!”

RELATED ARTICLE: Did the FDA Pull a Bait‑and‑Switch on theAmerican People?

©Joan Swirsky. All rights reserved.

VIDEO: Can Israel Rely on America?

After the Afghanistan debacle, can Israel rely on America?

Barry Shaw (IISS) explains the background ahead of Naftali Bennett’s visit with President Biden.

Please listen and share.

©Barry Shaw. All rights reserved.

The Taliban will rule by Sharia Law. What is it?

Sharia is a unique legal system based on the sources of Islam. But there are many versions.


With the world still in shock over the Taliban’s lightning-fast takeover of Afghanistan, Afghan people, especially women, wonder what kind of life awaits the nation. When pressed about preserving the rights of women, a Taliban spokesperson said the Taliban would not discriminate against women and would give them their rights “within the bounds of sharia”.

These seemingly moderate messages from the Taliban give the impression they might have changed. But their track record in the 1990s, their interpretation of Islam, and the events that transpired in the past two decades give us a good idea of how they are likely to implement sharia.

What is sharia and how did it come about?

Sharia literally means “the way to a watering source” in Arabic. It came to denote a unique legal system based on the sources of Islam.

When Prophet Muhammad established the first Muslim community in Medina in 622, there was a need to have a legal system better than the crude customs of the tribal Arabian Peninsula. The revelations of the Quran and the Prophet’s own reforms set out the legal principles and practices that laid the foundations of sharia.

The legal approach of the Prophet was progressive and moderate for its time. Prophet Muhammad’s wife Ai’sha said whenever he was confronted with a matter regarding people, he would always choose the easier option for people and he never took revenge. This is an important point for the Taliban to keep in mind.

When Islam grew rapidly from Spain to India by the end of the seventh century, the need for a common legal system became paramount. Instead of replicating the Roman and Persian legal systems, caliphs and Muslim scholars built a complex and detailed legal system on the foundation laid by the Quran and Prophet Muhammad.

Scholars identified higher objectives of the law. In the 14th century, influential Muslim jurist Abu Ishaq al-Shatibi identified the highest objective of law as:

to promote good and to benefit human beings and to protect them from evil, from harm and from subsequent suffering.

Muslim jurists deduced five basic human rights for Islamic law to guarantee – the right to life, property, freedom of religion, freedom of mind (including speech) and to raise a family. Caliphs and sultans could not violate these individual rights.

Legal pluralism was also practised in the Muslim world. Many schools of law were established, having developed over centuries, and implemented in much of the Muslim world. Five such schools survived – Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi’i, Hanbali and Jafari. The last is for Shiite Muslims, and the others for Sunnis.

Sharia became the most sophisticated and developed legal system in the world from the eighth to the 17th century. It served as the common legal code across the vast Muslim lands and populations characterised by racial, cultural, religious and geographic diversity.

Why does sharia appear backwards today?

Why, then, does Islamic law appear to have a medieval flavour and appear backwards when it is implemented in modern times? There are five main reasons.

First, from the 11th century onwards, Muslim scholars declared the closure of the gate of ijtihad (legislation) and discouraged new legal interpretation. The 11th through to the 14th centuries was the era of the Crusades, Mongol invasion of Muslim heartlands and the plague. It was not the time to make new interpretations with so many crises taking place. Anyway, scholars reasoned, Islamic law was quite developed.

Second, European colonisation of the majority of the Muslim world from the 19th century onward collapsed the political, legal and religious institutions. Busy with independence movements and dealing with the onslaught of modernity on conservative society, Muslim leaders and scholars had no time to develop Islamic law.

Third, when Muslim nations gained their freedom, mostly after the second world war, they began nation-building. The political leadership were mainly secular modernists who wanted to westernise and modernise their nations. There was no place for sharia in their vision. The new Republic of Turkey, for example, implemented direct translations of Swiss civil codes instead of sharia.

Fourth, the historical role of Muslim scholarship has shifted. Newly established secular nation states nationalised rich endowments that belonged to religious institutions. Muslim scholars were persecuted for fear of dissent and opposition. Islamic scholarship was reduced to a small, underfunded university faculty. Talented Muslims chose professions other than Islamic law.

The result is a major loss in the quality of scholarship and a gap of at least 150 years with no practical development in Islamic law.

The last attempt to align Islamic law with a modern legislative framework was made by the Ottoman Empire in its Majalla civil code project. Completed in 1876, Majalla consisted of 16 volumes and 1,851 articles. Since then, the world has changed dramatically without an adequate theoretical and practical response from Islamic law.

A fifth factor is the influence of puritanical Salafism among jihadist groups such as Al-Qaeda, the Taliban and Islamic State. These groups often ignored the vast sharia legal literature, scholarship and historical experience. They cherry-picked and implemented certain Quranic verses and prophetic traditions as Islamic law.

So, Islamic law appears relatively underdeveloped when compared to other legal systems. It simply did not have a chance to develop in the modern era.

Contemporary Muslim views on sharia

Muslims have differing views on the contemporary application of sharia law.

One view held by secular and modernist Muslims is that sharia was more suited to classical agrarian societies. Given the world and Muslim societies have changed dramatically, sharia is no longer applicable.

The opposite view is held by ultra-conservative Muslims and Islamists. They insist sharia is complete and perfect as it is, and modern societies should be changing to conform with sharia.

A third group, holding perhaps the majority view, believes sharia is applicable at all times. The key is to know how to apply it correctly, given the changes in time and place.

The third view considers the complexity of the world and proposes committees made up of Islamic scholars alongside scientists and sociologists to fully examine Islamic law. Using the principles and methodology of sharia, old legal rulings could be evaluated and, if there are grounds, modified. New issues not found in classical Islamic law would also be responded to.

Taliban’s idea of sharia and women

Almost certainly, the Taliban holds the second view – society has to change in line with the sharia. This means a move away from the liberalism Afghans grew accustomed to in the past two decades.

The next important question is whether the Taliban will follow the puritanical Salafism or a more traditional Islamic legal school?

In the 1990s, with its support of Al-Qaeda and use of harsh punishments, the Taliban appeared to follow puritanical Salafism. Their fall in 2001, Islamic State’s demise in 2019, and regression of Al-Qaeda after Osama bin Laden’s death would suggest they have learned a lesson or two.

Muslims of the subcontinent and central Asia traditionally follow the Hanafi legal school, which is one of the more liberal of the four Sunni Islamic legal schools. Even if this legal school is implemented, its most recent form is the 150-year-old Ottoman Majalla legal code. It will be curious to see if Taliban will consider Majalla at all.

An important consideration is the degree of change the world and Afghanistan have gone through since the first Taliban rule. The Taliban were isolated when they first came to power. But now all of their officers have smartphones connected to the internet and social media. Most importantly, they are using them effectively. Online access to the world would certainly have a moderating effect.

In the first Taliban rule, women had almost no rights. Women had to cover their body and face with the burqa, and they could not get education or work. They could only travel with a male chaperone.

The Taliban today claims to be more inclusive and tolerant of women. While wearing the burqa may not be imposed, women (and men) will be required to cover the rest of their bodies, much like in Iran.

Girls would be allowed to receive an education in girls-only schools staffed by female teachers and administrators. Women would be able to work in a narrow list of professions where there will be limited or no mixing of genders.

In short, life for women in Afghanistan will be better than during the first Taliban rule, but worse than the liberal rights they enjoyed in the past two decades.The Conversation

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

COLUMN BY

Zuleyha Keskin

I am the Course Director at the Centre for Islamic Studies and Civilisation, Charles Sturt University. I am a lecturer on Islamic spirituality and contemporary Islamic studies. I am also the managing editor… More by Zuleyha Keskin

Mehmet Ozalp

Mehmet is an Islamic theologian and public intellectual. He established the Centre for Islamic Studies and Civilisation at Charles Sturt University in 2011. He is the founding Director of Islamic Sciences… More by Mehmet Ozalp

RELATED ARTICLE: There is Only One Truth: Basic Facts on Afghanistan Catastrophe

EDITORS NOTE: This MercatorNet column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

At Least 2,500 Afghan Refugees Are in the U.S. Already, and Many More Are on the Way. What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

My latest in PJ Media:

Monday morning at the Defense Department briefing on the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan, Army Maj. Gen. Hank Taylor found something to boast about amid the catastrophe of the Biden administration and its woke military: Taylor touted the military’s efficiency in getting Afghans out of the Taliban’s clutches and into the United States. At least 2,500 Afghans are already here, and many more are coming.

“As of this morning,” Taylor said proudly, “within the last 24 hours, 25 U.S. military C-17s, three U.S. military C-130s, and then a combination of 61 charter, commercial, and other military flights departed Kabul. The total passenger count, uh, for those flights, was approximately 16,000. Uh, of that number, the U.S. military transported just under 11,000 personnel.” These people were flown to various American bases around the world, which Taylor oddly presented as a sign of the marvelous cooperation that the U.S. gets from our allies: “Our mission remains focused on ensuring a steady flow of evacuees out of Kabul to the intermediate staging bases and safe havens, and our installations, uh, continue to rapidly build out capacity as needed to ensure reception and providing humanitarian, uh, assistance. The use of temporary safe haven locations across Europe and the Middle East, uh, to — in areas that include U.S. installations in Qatar, UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, Italy, Spain, and Germany. We deeply appreciate the support, uh, from those countries. This is truly a testament, uh, to the importance of our alliances and our partnerships.”

Those “safe havens” are evidently only temporary, with the United States being the ultimate destination. Many Afghans are already here. Taylor continued: “In the past 24 hours, uh, five flights landed at Dulles International Airport, with approximately 1,300 passengers. At this time, four military installations, as well as Dulles International, are receiving Afghans as they, uh, come into the United States. These installations include Fort McCoy, Wisconsin; Fort Lee, Virginia; Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey; and Fort Bliss, Texas. The total number currently at these installations is approximately 1,200, and NORTHCOM continues to build out capacity, uh, to ensure they are prepared to receive more flights that will come in the next few days.” That’s 2,500 Afghans already here, and many more on the way.

Asked by a reporter named Bob about the military’s current airlift capacity, Pentagon press secretary John Kirby took the opportunity to assure the American public that these Afghans are being carefully vetted: “We had set a goal of 5 to 9,000 a day. Yesterday we exceeded that. We’re not taking anything for granted, Bob, uh, we’re taking this day by day. We’d love to see those numbers continue to rise, uh, but we’re gonna just take it day by day. There’s a lot of factors that go into being able to reach that output capacity, to include, uh, temporary safe havens that you can bring these individuals to as they complete their screening, uh, and the screening is a big part of that. We have, uh, intelligence and law enforcement personnel, uh, at these sites, making sure that robust screening is done of these individuals, so that nobody comes into the United States that hasn’t been, uh, screened in a robust manner.”

There is more. Read the rest here.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Jihad Watch column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Plow that Field

Randall Smith: God has asked us to plant this field, the field we have before us now in the United States of America.  And we do. . .what?  We grumble.


I’ve been watching The Chosen with friends, a show about Jesus and his disciples. I’m not going to comment on it, but you can read Brad Miner’s review here.  This column isn’t really about The Chosen as a show. There is a scene in Season 2, however, where Simon and Andrew are plowing and planting a field because Jesus has asked them to. They don’t know whose field it is or why they have been told to plow it, and since they are fishermen, not farmers, they find the work extremely toilsome and unpleasant. But they do it.

Because it’s Jesus.

This scene got me thinking about our relationship with the Incarnate Lord. I mean, if we really understood in our minds and hearts that the man talking to us was the Lord of all Creation, the One who was the ultimate Source of every planet, galaxy, cosmic black hole, and time and space itself, how would we react to His requests?

You sometimes see science fiction shows in which mankind encounters an alien race of incredible intelligence, and the lesson of such shows is usually that we should approach such beings with deep respect. Only the idiots try to kill these super-intelligent beings. But we have something greater than a “superior intelligence” with the Incarnate Lord. We have the Source of All Being and Truth. Not just an intelligent being, but the Intelligence that created whatever exists.  Standing before Him would be like standing before Zeus, if you multiplied the power and wisdom of Zeus to an infinite degree.

More daunting yet, you would be standing before the One who knows all those evil thoughts and designs you so diligently hide from everyone else.  How utterly humbling would that be? The point is, I can’t imagine doing anything other than kneeling in abject unworthiness.  I sometimes think about this when I’m going up for Communion.  It’s not that I think everyone should kneel, although personally, I prefer taking Communion at a Communion rail.  But even then, I think, “Who am I that my Lord should come to me?” Kneeling just doesn’t cut it. There’s a big part of me that just wants to slink away into the floor. But I take it that Jesus wouldn’t like that. So I stay there.

Now, I take it that if Jesus found me kneeling there, pitifully, He would likely say something like: “Get up.  Look at me.  Your sins are forgiven.  Now go out and plow this field.” And it’s hard to imagine that, if the God of the Entire Universe said, “I know your sins, but I forgive you, so now go plow this field,” you wouldn’t jump up and say to yourself:  “Wow, I thought that was going to be a lot worse.” And then say to the Lord: “This field, Jesus?  No problem.  I am on it.”

I mean, it’s God.  You have a chance to do something He thinks is important.  What are you going to say?  “Yeah, well, thanks God, but I’ve got some . . . you know . . . important paperwork to fill out.”  If the CEO of your company came to you and said, “I have something I’d really like for you to do,” would you say, “Um, yeah, well, pretty busy here. Why don’t you check with Bill next door?”  No.  I think you’d probably say to your spouse or all your friends:

“The boss came and asked me – me personally – to do something for him today.”

“You mean he actually noticed that you exist?”

“Yeah, and he addressed me by name and asked me to do something special.”

Would it be less compelling somehow if you believed that the God of the Entire Universe said, “Hey, would you do something for me?”  It seems to me it could only be less compelling if you didn’t really believe it was God.  And quite frankly, even on the off chance that it was, it seems to me you’d hop to it.

Of course, what’s odd, is that we don’t jump up and go plow the field.  In my case, there I am, kneeling at that altar rail, feeling totally unworthy (and I am), saying to myself, “Why would He have anything to do with me?” but then He actually embraces me (yay!) and asks one small thing — “Go plow this field for me” — and I start looking around as though I’ve got something better to do.  I should be skipping like a young child just released from the hospital over to that field, but instead I’m hanging my head wondering “Why me?”

So God – not just any god, but the God, the God of All Creation – has asked us to plant this field, the field we have before us in the first half of the twenty-first century in the United States of America.  And we do. . .what?  We grumble.  About everything under the sun. (And God just loves grumbling. On this, see the Book of Exodus.)

We say: “I want to plow a perfect field, the field over there with better soil, where the weather is nicer, not thisfield.”  But God says, “No, this  field.”  And you say:  “But there’s a pandemic. And corrupt politicians. And horrible people. And stupid bishops. And the pope says things I don’t like.”  And God says:  “Yup, that field.”

So you say to God:  “Nope, not doing it.  Not this field.  Too rocky.  No obvious pay-off.  It’s owned by a jerk I don’t like.”  We grumble.  And moan.  And complain.

But it’s God.  Not your mother; not your boss; not a politician of the other political party.  It’s the God of All Creation – the One who loved you so much He suffered horribly and died so that you could live.  That God. The God.  If that God asked you to plow a field, how stupid would you have to be to say no and then grumble about the working conditions?

You may also enjoy:

Father Bevil Bramwell’s Obedience

Dr. Elizabeth A. Mitchell’s To Lower Our Nets

COLUMN BY

Randall Smith

Randall B. Smith is a Professor of Theology at the University of St. Thomas. He is the author of Reading the Sermons of Thomas Aquinas: A Guidebook for Beginners and Aquinas, Bonaventure, and the Scholastic Culture of Medieval Paris: Preaching, Prologues, and Biblical Commentary (2021). His website is: randallbsmith.com.

EDITORS NOTE: This The Catholic Thing column is republished with permission. © 2021 The Catholic Thing. All rights reserved. For reprint rights, write to: info@frinstitute.org. The Catholic Thing is a forum for intelligent Catholic commentary. Opinions expressed by writers are solely their own.